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Biden meets with parents of American journalist Austin Tice who was abducted in Syria

May 3, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The parents of Austin Tice, an American journalist and Marine Corps veteran abducted in Syria, have already been waiting almost a decade for their son to return home. After a public plea for support over the weekend, President Joe Biden wasted no time, saying on Monday he would meet with them “today.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki provided more details on the meeting after it took place, saying in a statement that “the president reiterated his commitment to continue to work through all available avenues to secure Austin’s long overdue return to his family.”

Psaki added that Biden’s national security team “will remain in regular contact” with the Tice family, as well as the families of other hostages.

The heightened attention to Tice’s case comes after the head of the White House Correspondents’ Association paid tribute to him during the group’s annual dinner on Saturday, asking his mother to stand and be acknowledged as the president looked on.

Later in the evening, during his own remarks, Biden said that he would like to meet with her and Tice’s father.

“After the President made those comments, obviously we went into action to work to set up the meeting on Sunday and see if Debra and Mark Tice — Austin’s parents — would be available,” Psaki said during a briefing.

That high-profile moment at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner took place just days after Trevor Reed, an American and former Marine held captive in Russia for nearly two years, was freed as part of an international prisoner exchange –a deal that fell into place weeks after Reed’s parents had a White House meeting with the president of their own.

The Tices have previously met with National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, but Psaki called the audience with Biden “an additional and more significant step.”

State Department Spokesperson Ned Price added that the meeting was a testament to the administration’s commitment to bring Tice back home, adding “he has been away from his family for far too long, and we’re doing everything we can to see that comes to a successful conclusion.”

But Tice’s imprisonment poses unique challenges. Reed’s release was the result of months of intense negotiations within Moscow. But the U.S. has not had a formal diplomatic relationship with Syria since the onset of the country’s civil war in 2012 — something Tice’s mother has voiced frustration over in prior interviews.

Despite that complication, Price said the U.S. could still secure Tice’s freedom.

“You didn’t hear us share the details of those consultations before [Trevor Reed] was released. We do believe that we can best and most effectively achieve potentially successful outcomes if we do have space to conduct private conversations,” Price said. “We of course don’t have, I would say, fully normal relations with Moscow at this time and yet we were able to have a discrete, focused set of discussions regarding the effort to free Trevor Reed that ultimately were successful.”

Tice disappeared in 2012 while covering the Free Syrian Army, a group of Syrian military officials who had joined the opposition against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. A month later, a video was released showing him blindfolded, removed from a car and led by armed men up a hill, saying “Oh, Jesus.” He has not been publicly heard from since.

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $1 million for information leading directly to the safe location, recovery and return of Tice.

Russia-Ukraine live updates: Russia’s military ‘now significantly weaker,’ UK says

May 3, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “special military operation” into neighboring Ukraine began on Feb. 24, with Russian forces invading from Belarus, to the north, and Russia, to the east. Ukrainian troops have offered “stiff resistance,” according to U.S. officials.

The Russian military last month launched a full-scale ground offensive in eastern Ukraine’s disputed Donbas region, attempting to capture the strategic port city of Mariupol and to secure a coastal corridor to the Moscow-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern:

May 03, 5:32 am
Russia’s military ‘now significantly weaker,’ UK says

Russia’s military is “now significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually,” than it had been prior to its invasion of Ukraine, the U.K. Ministry of Defense said on Tuesday.

“Recovery from this will be exacerbated by sanctions,” the ministry said in an intelligence update. “This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military force.”

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 03 May 2022

Find out more about the UK government’s response: https://t.co/xvqMIBbfFS

🇺🇦 #StandWithUkraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/iZqitvBoOd

— Ministry of Defence 🇬🇧 (@DefenceHQ) May 3, 2022

Supreme Court apparently to overturn Roe v. Wade abortion case, draft opinion shows: Report

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — An apparent draft Supreme Court opinion obtained by Politico shows the panel’s conservative majority of justices is ready to overturn nearly 50 years of established abortion rights precedent since Roe v. Wade.

The document, which Politico said it obtained from a “person familiar with the court’s proceedings,” is marked “first draft” and dated Feb. 10, 2022 — two months after oral arguments were heard in the case Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. ABC News has not independently confirmed the draft.

“Roe was egregiously wrong from the start,” writes Justice Samuel Alito, the opinion’s apparent author, in a copy of the draft posted online.

The leak is an extraordinary breach of Supreme Court protocol and tradition. Never before has such a consequential draft opinion been leaked to the public before publication.

Reached by ABC News, a Supreme Court spokeswoman declined to comment.

The Dobbs case involves Mississippi’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy — well before fetal viability, the longstanding dividing line established by the court before which states cannot restrict a woman’s access to the procedure.

During arguments in December, five of the justices hinted that they were ready to do away with the “viability standard” established by Roe and a subsequent 1992 decision, Planned Parenthood v. Casey.

An unnamed source familiar with the deliberations told Politico that Justices Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett all initially supported a ruling siding with Mississippi and “that line-up remains unchanged as of this week.”

The drafting of Supreme Court opinions, however, is a fluid and dynamic process, sources familiar with the internal operations have told ABC News. The document posted suggests a majority of justices is likely to side with Mississippi, but how broad a ruling will ultimately come down remains unclear.

Chief Justice John Roberts famously changed his vote late during deliberations over the Affordable Care Act in 2012, narrowly saving the law from being struck down. A Wall Street Journal editorial this month suggested that Roberts, who reveres established precedent and the court’s reputation, may be trying to convince one of his conservative colleagues to join him in a narrower opinion.

If Alito’s opinion were to hold, as written, it would dramatically upend abortion rights across America, effectively allowing each state to set its own policy.

“The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion,” the draft concludes. “Roe and Casey arrogated that authority. We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Sandy Hook families agree to remove InfoWars as defendant in defamation lawsuit

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Families of victims of the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School have agreed to remove InfoWars as a defendant in their defamation lawsuit, hoping to end what they’ve called the “charade” of InfoWars’ bankruptcy filing.

The families accused InfoWars of “intolerable abuse” through bankruptcy, which the website sought after it and founder Alex Jones were found liable for damages after claiming the Newtown, Connecticut, shooting that killed 20 children and six staff members was a hoax.

When an entity files for bankruptcy protection, it automatically suspends all litigation pending against that entity.

“These cases were removed to this Court to serve one purpose and one purpose only: delay,” the families said in new court documents filed in Connecticut on Monday.

“Every day that these cases are frozen on the Connecticut Superior Court docket is a day that Alex Jones avoids accountability and delays trial,” the document states. “Every day they are removed harms these families’ fight for justice.”

Last month, Jones was fined $25,000 for declining to sit for a deposition for the lawsuit. The Connecticut court ultimately ordered the return of $75,000 in fines after Jones attended a rescheduled deposition later in the month.

Jones is facing a new lawsuit in Texas over accusations that the Infowars host hid millions of dollars in assets after the litigation in the Sandy Hook case began.

Jones himself did not file for bankruptcy, and it’s believed he retains the bulk of the assets that could be used to pay the families’ damage awards. The families called InfoWars and its offshoots “shell companies” that offered nothing.

“To ensure that this intolerable abuse of the removal process ends immediately, all of the plaintiffs in these case … voluntarily dismissed all of their claims against Infowars,” the filing said.

Neither Jones nor his attorneys immediately responded to ABC News’ request for comment.

The Great Resignation: Its origins and what it means for future business

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — In 2021, more than 47 million Americans quit their jobs, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics – the most resignations on record. As resignation rates remain high in early 2022, in what has been since deemed by some as “The Great Resignation,” many are wondering if there is a shift in the way Americans are viewing work.

Desmond Dickerson, the Director of Future of Work Marketing at Microsoft, describes himself as a futurist. He said that pandemic remote work was just a “kickstart” to The Great Resignation.

“If you’re leaving the job previously [before the pandemic], that means uprooting,” said Dickerson. “But now all that needs to happen is that you toss one laptop to the side and then bring in a new one… So that barrier to entry for transitioning to jobs has changed.”

The pandemic radically changed how Americans work. Many turned homes into offices and some frontline workers began risking their lives for a paycheck. After the federal government spent nearly $2 trillion in a COVID-19 relief package, the economic rebound from the pandemic accelerated.

Although some businesses are now booming, they are having to fight hard to keep employees.

In late 2020, Anthony Klotz, an associate professor of business at Texas A&M, said he saw The Great Resignation coming. During the pandemic, he says he noticed four signals: a backlog of resignations, widespread burnout, people reevaluating their relationship with work and, finally, the opportunity of remote work.

“Once the threat of the pandemic started to lift, it made sense to me that many of these individuals would enact their plans to quit their jobs… People reevaluating what work meant to them,” said Klotz. “It seemed like there was a big disconnect there between what employees, what workers wanted and what organizational leaders were hoping would happen coming out of the pandemic.”

Dickerson said that the shift in mentality is evident in new job postings.

“Throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen remote work go from the margins into the mainstream, and the data on LinkedIn is showing us that one in seven jobs that are being posted right now have a remote or hybrid work component,” said Dickerson. “In March of 2020, that number was 1 in 67.”

While some are able to work from home, frontline workers continued to work in-person during the pandemic in order to keep grocery stories, restaurants and hospitals running. Overall frontline work pays less than the remote jobs from home and many frontline workers became fed-up because they felt like they were being unfairly treated, said Klotz.

“It’s really interesting for the individuals who have in-person work that are not able to switch to remote work,” said Klotz. “I think those individuals felt especially unfairly treated by the pandemic because not only did they have to work in-person, but they also saw another half of the population who are working remotely.”

From 1980 to 2019, according to the Economic Policy Institute, there has been a continual increase in pay rates of high earners, graduates and professionals but low earners remained flat.

Nicholas Bloom, an Economics professor at Stanford University, said that the job market has now shifted and front line workers have more of a say.

“For the first time, maybe in decades, [historically low earners] can say, ‘Look, I can quit my job easily, find another job and get a pay increase at the same time,” said Bloom. “And in fact, that’s why they’re quitting. People aren’t quitting, mainly because they’re dissatisfied with their current jobs, they’re generally quitting to get another job.”

Bloom said that the flexibility of finding a new job also applies to remote workers and employers are adding permanent remote work or hybrid options to hire and retain talent.

“Nobody I talk to is thinking of going back. I’m not aware of anyone who successfully got professionals back five days a week. I just don’t think it will happen,” said Bloom.

According to Microsoft’s Work Trend Index, 53% of people surveyed said that they are putting more focus on their own mental health and wellbeing.

Dickerson said remote work has allowed people to do so.

“Organizations and leaders need to be very intentional about how they’re building this new future of work,” said Dickerson.

Before the pandemic, it was assumed that remote work would lead to unproductive results, but since then critics have been proven wrong, according to Klotz. The tricky thing is that although people can still be productive from home, some companies can still argue the value of face-to-face interactions.

”We’re in a bit of a golden age of business experimentation,” said Klotz. “The exciting thing is that the nine-to-five work week is not going to be replaced by some other single type of work arrangement. What it’s being replaced by is an almost infinite number of work arrangements.”

As people begin to adjust to things like hybrid schedules – a mix between in-person and remote work – the pandemic has opened the door to a massive shift in how companies work with their people as individuals.

“I’m regularly cautioning companies to avoid making decisions just among senior executives,” said Bloom. “We see quite large variations in how much people want to work from home, by age, by gender, whether they have kids, by race, by commute, time, by disability status.”

Klotz said he believes that even before “The Great Resignation,” a conversation of work-life balance was already happening just below the surface.

“It gives us this opportunity to really question the fundamental way that we were working with employees in 2019 and say, ‘How do we fix this to hopefully lower these turnover rates back down to where they were maybe 10 years ago or so?’” said Klotz.

Wife of slain Chinese food delivery driver speaks out as NYPD investigates his death

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Police in New York City are investigating the shooting death of a Chinese food delivery worker, who was shot in the chest on Saturday while riding his scooter in the neighborhood of Forest Hills in Queens.

Zhiwen Yan, 45, worked at a Chinese restaurant in Queens called The Great Wall for more than a decade and had three jobs to support his family, ABC’s New York station WABC reported.

Yan’s wife, Kunying Zhao, spoke out in an emotional interview with WABC over the weekend and urged police to find her husband’s killer.

America has a gun violence problem. What do we do about it?
“Somebody, somebody killed my husband, catch him, catch him,” she said as she broke down in tears. The couple have a young daughter.

Upon arriving on the scene, police found Yan unconscious and unresponsive, and he was transported by an Emergency Medical Services vehicle to the NYC Health + Hospitals in Elmhurst, where he was pronounced dead.

The motive for the shooting is unclear, and no arrests have been made, police told ABC News.

Queens Borough President Donovan Richards said his office is in touch with the NYPD to ensure that Yan’s family gets justice.

“No family deserves to experience the grief that Zhiwen Yan’s family is feeling this morning. Our thoughts are with them and everyone in [Forest Hills] who loved him,” he tweeted Monday.

New York City Council Member Julie Won also shared a message about Yan’s death and expressed support for his family.

“Delivery workers should not be seen as faceless or expendable, but deserving of life – long, full, happy life,” Won wrote in a series of tweets on Monday. “Delivery workers sit at the center of failed immigration, labor, transportation, and public safety systems that force a father like Yan Zhiwen to work 7 days a week, put his body and life on the line, and still live paycheck to paycheck.”

Mourning the loss of Yan Zhiwen who was shot last night. Delivery workers should not be seen as faceless or expendable, but deserving of life – long, full, happy life. (1/2)

— Council Member Julie Won (@CMJulieWon) May 1, 2022

Yan’s death comes amid a spate of attacks targeting Asian Americans in New York City and across the nation.

Asked if Yan’s killing was targeted, a spokesperson told ABC News on Monday that the investigation is ongoing.

The shooting also comes as New York City Mayor Eric Adams grapples with a surge in violent crime — an issue that the new mayor highlighted in his first state of the city address on April 26.

Adams also met with top NYPD brass on Saturday to discuss strategies to crackdown on the rise in major crime.

Major crime in NYC is up 41.60% this year through the week of May 1, compared to the same time last year, and so far, shootings this year through the week of May are up 4% from the same time last year and up 85% from 2020, according to NYPD statistics.

Adams rolled out the “Blueprint to End Gun Violence” — a plan that lays out policy proposals to address the crisis — in January.

Asked about the rise in major crime, Adams told ABC News Live’s “GMA3” on April 25 that addressing the problem is “my responsibility.”

“I believe, as I stated, public safety and justice, they are the prerequisite to prosperity. And I’m the mayor of the City of New York. I must have a safe city in order to turn around our economy and to make people feel safe about their city,” Adams told ABC News anchor T.J. Holmes. “But we do need help. I say this over and over again. There are many rivers that feed the sea of violence.”

Adams told WABC in February that part of his plan to tackle gun violence is cracking down on “illegal gun dealers that are flowing into our cities.” He also announced a new anti-gun unit through officers from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

President Joe Biden visited New York City in February, where he met with Adams and pledged federal support to target gun traffickers and crack down on ghost guns.

Jury finds ex-NYPD cop guilty of assaulting officer during Jan. 6 attack

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A jury on Monday found former New York City police officer Thomas Webster guilty on six charges, including assaulting a police officer, in the first federal assault case stemming from the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Webster’s trial marks the fourth time a jury has heard a Jan. 6 defendant’s case, with all four cases resulting in convictions on all charges.

Webster was found guilty of assaulting D.C. Metro Police Officer Noah Rathbun, who testified at the trial — as did Webster himself, who often spoke directly to the jury and called Rathbun as a “rogue cop.”

According to testimony and video of the riot, Webster pushed through a crowd toward bike racks that were acting as a police perimeter. Clad in a bulletproof vest and waving a Marine Corps flag, he arrived at the front of the crowd, yelling “commie mother——-” at the officers, before zeroing in on Rathbun and yelling. “take your s— off!”

“That’s what people say when they want to fight,” Rathbun said during his three-hour testimony. “It’s very common.”

Webster swung a metal flagpole in a downward motion twice before breaking apart the bike racks. As Rathbun backed away, Webster ran toward him and tackled him, then pulled at his gas mask. Rathbun began to choke on his chin strap as Webster pulled at the mask, Rathbun testified.

Video shows that Rathbun hit Webster’s face while trying to push him away, which became a cornerstone of Webster’s defense. Webster, who claimed that Rathbun had provoked the fight, said that he pulled at Rathbun’s mask as a form of self-defense.

“I felt like I was the cop and he was the protester,” Webster said on the stand.

U.S. attorneys said that Webster clearly should have known he was not allowed on Capitol grounds, pointing to the snow fencing, the bike racks that formed a police barrier, and the Metro Police’s riot gear, flash bangs and tear gas. He also should have known, they said, through his 20 years as a New York City police officer.

“Thomas Webster and Officer Rathbun both swore oaths to protect the country. But only one of them actually fulfilled that oath on Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol,” a U.S. attorney said. “And that was Officer Rathbun.”

The defense said they wanted the jury to see the “whole truth.”

“When are acts of police misconduct acceptable?” defense attorney James Monroe said. Referring to the flagpole, Monroe said, “Sometimes, a flagpole is all it is. It’s all it was.”

Webster was convicted of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer using a dangerous weapon; civil disorder; entering and remaining in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; engaging in physical violence in restricted grounds with a dangerous weapon; and engaging in an act of physical violence on Capitol grounds.

Sentencing is set for September 2. Judge Amit Mehta ruled that Webster does not have to be held in custody prior to sentencing.

New Mexico expands program that could make child care free for many families

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — New Mexico is expanding a program that waives the cost of child care, an initiative that could make child care free for many families in the southwestern state.

The announcement from Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham last Thursday said the state’s Early Childhood Education and Care Department estimates that over 30,000 more families will be able to take advantage of New Mexico’s Childcare Assistance Program starting this May, doubling the number of families who were already participating.

“Beginning May 1, 2022, all families enrolled in the state’s Childcare Assistance Program will no longer owe copays for child care services, making child care cost-free,” the announcement said.

The New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department announcement notes that the expansion will run until June 30, 2023.

Families earning up to 400% of the federal poverty level, or $111,000 for a family of four, qualify to have their child care copayments waived. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services determines poverty levels, and for 2022, the federal department set the poverty guideline in the District of Columbia and the 48 contiguous states as $27,750 for a family of four.

The cost of child care in the U.S. is a significant burden for American families.

New survey data from 2019 from the HHS’s Administration for Children and Families shows that many families spend anywhere between 10% to 20% of their household budget on child care, including early child education. Amid the pandemic, many women also stopped working to take care of their kids at home, leading to a slowdown of employees returning to the national workforce.

In New Mexico specifically, think tank Economic Policy Institute estimates that the average cost of child care is approximately $8,617 a year.

Child care workers are also in short supply, and along with the expansion of copay waivers for families, New Mexico will also provide stipends to students who are pursuing higher education in early education.

Eligible students can apply for $2,000 each semester to help pay for their schooling at a New Mexico college or university.

The state is also pledging $10 million in grants to child care establishments to build or expand child care centers in underserved communities.

New Mexicans who are interested in joining the Childcare Assistance Program can visit the state’s “Am I Eligible?” site for more information.

What Naomi Judd said about her battle with depression before her death

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — As the country music world mourns the loss of Naomi Judd, the legendary singer is being remembered for the way she spoke publicly about her battle with mental health, opening up about a struggle that is often kept private.

Judd’s death at the age of 76 was announced Saturday by her daughters, Ashley Judd, an actress and activist, and Wynonna Judd, with whom she performed as part of the duo The Judds.

The sisters wrote in a statement that they “lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness.”

“Today, we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” they said in a statement. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”

Naomi Judd, who was to be inducted into Country Music Hall of Fame, a recognition her daughters received on her behalf, told ABC News’ Good Morning America co-anchor Robin Roberts in 2016 about her battle with what she called treatment-resistant depression and anxiety.

“When people meet me, they think, because they see me in rhinestones, you know, with glitter in my hair, that really is who I am,” Naomi Judd said, speaking of her fans. “I’m sort of a fantasy ’cause I want to provide that for them, but then I would come home and not leave the house for three weeks and not get out of my pajamas, not practice normal hygiene. It was really bad.”

The “Love Can Build a Bridge” singer said her battle with depression began six years prior, in 2011, during The Judds’ encore tour and the airing of their reality TV show. Two decades earlier, in 1991, the mother-daughter duo had stopped performing together after Naomi Judd was diagnosed with hepatitis C.

Judd told Roberts she battled a “completely debilitating and life-threatening” depression that led to several stints in psychiatric wards, where she was treated with a heavy regimen of medication and electro-convulsive therapy.

Another part of Judd’s treatment for depression was to confront a difficult past that she said includes being molested by a member of her family at the age of 3.

“Nobody was there for me. In a way, I had to parent myself,” she told Roberts. “I realized that I got a raw deal, OK, now I’m a big girl. Put on your big girl pants and deal with it, and I started in therapy.”

Judd told Roberts her treatment got her to a place where she practiced “radical acceptance” and found joy in her everyday life.

She wrote about her mental health journey in the 2016 book, River of Time.

“I want someone to be able to see that they can survive,” she said. “It’s not just to help the people that have depression. It’s so the people around them can understand this is a disease.”

In addition to her daughters, Judd is survived by her husband of over three decades, Larry Strickland.

He told Roberts in 2016 that his advice for a person with a loved one with depression is to “get ready to walk that path with them because they’re going to need it. They’re going to need you every minute.”

Reading from her own book in the interview with Roberts, Judd spoke about being “still here” after her battle with depression.

“My everyday life is not only manageable, it’s even enjoyable once more. I laugh a lot. I have told my story and you can tell yours. You’re not alone. I am still here,” she said.

In their acceptance speech Sunday at the Country Music Hall of Fame, Judd’s daughters said they were sorry their mom “couldn’t hang on” to accept the honor.

“My mama loved you so much, and she appreciated your love for her. And I’m sorry that she couldn’t hang on until today,” Ashley Judd said through tears while accepting on her mom’s behalf. “Your esteem for her and your regard for her really penetrated her heart and it was your affection for her that did keep her going in these last years.”

“This is the first time I’ve talked since saying goodbye to her,” said Wynonna Judd, describing herself as both “broken” and “blessed.” “At 2:20, I kissed her on the forehead, and I walked away … the last thing we did together as a family with her is…we all gathered around her and we said ‘The Lord is my shepherd…'” before continuing to recite the 23rd Psalm.

If you or someone you know is in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741. You can reach Trans Lifeline at 877-565-8860 (U.S.) or 877-330-6366 (Canada) and The Trevor Project at 866-488-7386.

Jan. 6 committee requests interviews with three more GOP lawmakers

May 2, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House Jan. 6 committee on Monday requested the cooperation of three more House Republicans linked to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack and former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

Reps. Andy Biggs of Arizona and Mo Brooks of Alabama were among the group of far-right lawmakers who met with Trump at the White House in December of 2020.

Biggs’ name was also mentioned in connection with an effort by some House Republicans to seek presidential pardons after the riot, according to the committee.

Brooks also recently disclosed that Trump has repeatedly asked him to “rescind” the last election — in a statement made after the former president endorsed his opponent in the Alabama GOP Senate primary.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, Trump’s former White House doctor-turned-congressman, was mentioned in encrypted communications between members of the Oath Keepers militia group as someone who “needs protection,” according to court records. He also was in the House chamber at the barricade with Capitol Police officers as they held off rioters.

Already, the Jan. 6 committee has requested information and testimony from GOP Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy of California. All have refused to cooperate.

Committee members say the panel has been reluctant to issue subpoenas to sitting members of Congress to compel their cooperation, given the practical, political and legal ramifications of such an action.

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