Politics

(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris will soon be hitting the road for a monthlong college tour, traveling to more than a dozen campuses across eight states. The trip underscores both the value Democrats are placing on younger voters and the more forceful role Harris is seeking to play on key issues like abortion access ahead of the 2024 election, after weathering two years of scrutiny and low approval ratings.

The vice president’s “Fight for our Freedoms College Tour” begins on Sept. 14 at Hampton University in Virginia. It will focus heavily on mobilizing young voters — some of whom have expressed less than favorable views of President Joe Biden — in states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, Nevada, Wisconsin and Virginia, with additional campus visits and details to come.

News of the tour, first reported by ABC News, comes as students return to school for the fall semester.

Young voters proved to be a key constituency for Democrats, boosting candidates in the last midterm and presidential election cycles. In 2020, for example, Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to win Georgia in nearly 30 years — with voters younger than 30 accounting for 21% of the returns, up from 15% in 2016 and backing Biden by more than 10 points, according to exit polls.

This year, however, Biden has faced low favorability marks from younger voters, according to ABC News/Ipsos polling.

In her tour, Harris is expected to visit a broad range of campuses, from four-year state schools to community colleges, technical colleges, apprenticeship programs and historically black colleges and universities, or HBCUs.

“This generation is critical to the urgent issues that are at stake right now for our future,” Harris said in a statement.

“It is young leaders throughout America who know what the solutions look like and are organizing in their communities to make them a reality,” she added. “My message to students is clear: We are counting on you, we need you, you are everything.”

As vice president, Harris has more recently been leading the administration’s work on reproductive rights, reducing gun violence, addressing climate change and voting access — issues that advisers expect to be central to her message as she meets with the students across the country.

In 2021, Harris was also tapped by Biden to focus on finding ways to cut back on migration from Central America — and became a target of conservatives criticizing how the White House was handling the issue.

In the last several months, Harris has taken a larger role in leading the administration’s response to several political fights. When two Black Democratic lawmakers were expelled in Tennessee, she made a last-minute stop in the state pushing for new gun restriction legislation.

In July, she delivered a speech on abortion rights in Iowa, just a few miles from where most of the entire 2024 Republican field gathered for a GOP dinner.

Several days earlier, she traveled to Florida to forcefully rebuke a set of controversial Black history standards approved by the state’s board of education that instructed middle school students should learn “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”

The intensified travel schedule is a shift for Harris, who had to remain close to Washington for the first two years of the Biden administration to cast tie-breaking votes in an evenly divided Senate.

But with Democrats holding an expanded majority in the chamber after the 2022 midterm elections, Harris has had more time to hit the road and draw direct contrasts with Republican policies — traveling to 17 states this summer and 11 school campuses this year.

The launch of the new college tour also comes as the Biden campaign makes the case for Harris as a “strong political force,” as described in a strategic memo to donors, supporters and political strategists that was obtained exclusively by ABC News last month.

Despite facing weak approval ratings, the memo highlighted polling that the campaign said shows Harris with positive marks among specific groups whom Democrats court in elections: non-white and low-income Americans.

“More important than any approval polling, however, is that the Vice President has established herself as a fearless voice on many of the issues that are most important to the core voters in the Biden-Harris coalition,” Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez and senior adviser Becca Siegel wrote in the memo.

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(NEW YORK) — Former Trump election lawyer John Eastman took the stand once again during his disbarment hearing in California on Wednesday, where he disputed two former White House officials’ claims that Eastman said former Vice President Mike Pence could reject slates of electors during a meeting with Pence and former President Donald Trump on Jan. 4, 2021.

Eastman faces 11 disciplinary charges in the State Bar Court of California stemming from his “legal strategy” aimed at having Pence interfere with the certification of the 2020 election.

Eastman said he “does not recall” making a statement that Pence could reject electoral votes despite Greg Jacobs, counsel to Pence and Marc Short, former chief of staff to Pence, testifying that he did to the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

“I never said it was a viable option under the circumstances,” Eastman said.

“Given where we ended up on Jan. 4, I find it implausible that I would have made that statement,” he added.

Prosecutors presented several press releases and statements from election officials across the country that stated there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election. When asked if he had seen any of the press releases or statements, Eastman said he “did not recall” seeing most of them.

When asked about one report that stated there was no security breach of voting machines in Antrim County, Michigan, Eastman disputed the study and said “there’s no question that votes that were cast for Trump, were reported as cast for Biden.”

During Tuesday’s hearing, prosecutors pressed Eastman about the memos he drafted for Trump to cling to power by falsely claiming Pence could reject legitimate electors during the 2020 presidential election.

Eastman was also asked about several emails he sent after the election, including some he sent to Trump attorneys Boris Epshteyn and Kenneth Chesebro.

One email prosecutors questioned Eastman about was an email he wrote in October 2020 about whether Pence had the authority to reject slates of electoral college electors in which Eastman wrote “I don’t agree with this.”

Eastman defended the email by saying he changed his position “after doing research.”

In one email shown by prosecutors, Eastman wrote “the risk of getting a court ruling that Pence has no authority to reject the Biden-certified ballots very high.”

“And danger that SCOTUS will decline to take as well,” Eastman wrote in the email to several individuals including to Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach in December 2020.

Eastman was also pressed by prosecutors about another email he sent saying the Trump campaign should avoid litigating around the Electoral Count Act and Pence’s authority on Jan 6.

When Duncan Carling, trial counsel for the California State Bar, pointed out that several election related cases in the key states Eastman had claimed there was evidence of illegality, were litigated and rejected in court, Eastman said there were significant dissents in several court cases.

Prosecutors also asked Eastman whether the so-called Trump electors met in seven states on Dec. 14, 2020 because of the “illegal actions” written in the memo Eastman authored.

“I never spoke to any of the electors so my connection there may have been a presumption,” Eastman replied. “They met because of pending litigation.”

Eastman will return to the stand on Thursday.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former President Donald Trump claimed in a new interview that he would testify in his defense if any of the four criminal cases he is charged in go to trial. At the same, he also downplayed the significance of him sitting in a courtroom instead of being out on the campaign trail.

“I look forward to testifying. At trial, I’ll testify,” Trump insisted to radio host Hugh Hewitt on Wednesday.

Trump faces 91 criminal charges across four different cases, including in state court in Fulton County, Georgia, and in New York City as well as federal charges in special counsel Jack Smith’s Jan. 6 and classified documents probes, in Washington, D.C., and Florida, respectively.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges and claimed he is being targeted because of his politics, which prosecutors reject.

Pressed by Hewitt on Smith’s classified documents case against Trump, in which he is accused of withholding government secrets after leaving office and not returning them, Trump grew irate at the repeated line of questioning over his handling of the sensitive materials, refusing to answer if he ordered anyone to move boxes of documents at his residence.

“I don’t talk about anything. You know why? Because I’m allowed to do whatever I want,” Trump claimed, using his usual defense of being “covered” by the Presidential Records Act.

Trump is charged in that case under the Espionage Act, which is a separate law from the Presidential Records Act.

Though Trump said he would “absolutely” testify in his trials, the court dates could pull him away from the trail during a crucial period of campaigning.

Taking the stand would also mark a historic and highly unusual development, as many defendants elect to use their constitutional right not to be compelled to testify — and then be subjected to cross-examination under oath — versus the benefits of being able to make their case directly to jurors.

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has ordered Trump’s 2020 election interference and Jan. 6 trial to begin on March 4, a day before Super Tuesday and also likely overlapping with his trial in New York City over hush money payments.

In a hearing in the Fulton County election case on Wednesday, prosecutors said that they anticipate that trial against all 19 defendants in the case would take four months — not including jury selection — and that the state plans to call more than 150 witnesses.

Asked by Hewitt on Wednesday how he will effectively campaign for president if he is sitting behind a defendant’s table, Trump said he and his legal team would be asking for “many dismissals.”

When asked if he’s worried about any of his allies potentially flipping on him, Trump told Hewitt, “I’m not worried about anything.”

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(AUSTIN, Texas) — A federal judge in Austin on Wednesday ordered the State of Texas to move the barriers it placed in the Rio Grande to the riverbank on the Texas side of the river. The state was also ordered not to put up any additional structures on or in the river until the final outcome of the lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice, according to the judge.

In a statement posted on X (formerly Twitter), Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said the state will appeal. The Department of Justice sued the State of Texas for placing the buoys in the Rio Grande in July. The Justice Department said in court documents Texas didn’t have the authority to put the buoys in the river because it wasn’t within the State’s jurisdiction.

“The Court is directing that the buoy barrier be moved from the main waters of the Rio Grande River to the riverbank, rather than removal entirely from the river, so that the barrier does not impede or impair in any way navigation by airboats or other shallow draft craft along the Rio Grande River,” according to a footnote in Judge David Alan Ezra’s ruling. “The evidence has established that this can be done in a rather expeditious manner, as the Governor himself ordered movement of the buoy barrier, which the federal government maintained was in part in Mexican waters to a position closer to the United States side of the river.”

The state has until Sept. 15 to work with the Army Corps of Engineers to move the buoys.

In his statement announcing the state will appeal, Gov. Abbot called the ruling “incorrect.” “Today’s court decision merely prolongs President Biden’s willful refusal to acknowledge that Texas is rightfully stepping up to do the job that he should have been doing all along. This ruling is incorrect and will be overturned on appeal,” his statement read. “We will continue to utilize every strategy to secure the border, including deploying Texas National Guard soldiers and Department of Public Safety troopers and installing strategic barriers. Our battle to defend Texas’ sovereign authority to protect lives from the chaos caused by President Biden’s open border policies has only begun. Texas is prepared to take this fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.”

Mexican officials have complained, according to court documents, about the buoys at a high level to their U.S. counterparts and have said the buoys drift onto the Mexican side of the river. Judge Ezra said in his decision that Texas wrongly interpreted the government’s stance that U.S. and Mexican relations have never been better and that the reason the United States could prevail in the case is because it adversely harms the federal government’s relationship with another nation.

“Texas has drawn the wrong conclusion,” Judge Ezra wrote. “The unprecedented strength and collaboration between the countries currently means the U.S. has more to lose than ever as a result of Texas’s actions. Texas, not a party to the talks and negotiations between the federal government and Mexico, has failed to present any evidence the barrier is not of significant concern to Mexico.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The brother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick, who died shortly after defending the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has sent a scathing letter to Republican leaders, accusing the party of choosing “lies and deceit over truth” more than two years after a violent mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

“Instead of being a wake up call for our nation to reflect on what unites us as a country, the Insurrection simply widened the divide we have among our people. It has become a war cry for the Republican Party to tear down anything or anyone that challenges their views on any subject,” Craig Sicknick wrote in the letter obtained by ABC News.

Sicknick said his family continues to be deeply affected by the death of his brother, Brian, who was brutally attacked by rioters, video shows. The 42-year-old military veteran, who worked for the Capitol for 12 years, died a day later after suffering two strokes.

A D.C. medical examiner ruled Officer Sicknick died of “natural” causes. According to the medical examiner, a stroke is specifically what caused Sicknick’s “natural” death, but the events of Jan. 6 may have contributed.

Some Republicans have pushed back on the Capitol Police’s classification of Officer Sicknick’s death as a line-of-duty death. Craig Sicknick addressed this in the letter, but didn’t mention any of those Republicans by name.

“His death was due in large part to the actions of Mr. Trump and his misguided cultists who, on that fateful day, attacked the United States Capitol with the full intent of doing serious harm to Members of Congress, even many Republicans unless they threw out over two centuries of precedent and illegally overturned an election,” Craig Sicknick stated.

The letter, addressed to all members of the Republican Party, was sent directly to congressional leadership: Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. It calls out what he says are repeated attempts to downplay the insurrection on Jan. 6.

Trump’s actions on Jan. 6 led to a slew of resignations within his own administration and prompted bipartisan outrage.

In the immediate aftermath of the attack on the Capitol, McCarthy said former President Donald Trump “bears responsibility” for what happened. Weeks later, McCarthy visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Florida and posed for a picture together. McConnell rebuked Trump, insisting he provoked the mob on Jan. 6. However, McConnell did not vote to find the former president guilty of inciting the insurrection during the Senate impeachment trial.

“Many people in leadership positions in the Republican Party dutifully supported Trump in his efforts, whether actively, or, more often, passively by not calling out criminal behavior. This is in spite of their own lives being threatened during the Insurrection,” Sicknick wrote.

“Some actually called Trump out on it, for a moment, before traveling to Mar-a-Lago and then suddenly had a change of heart. (Sound familiar Mr. McCarthy?) Funny how such things work in the swamp that Trump claimed he would drain, but actually deepened substantially,” Sicknick added.

Representatives for McCarthy and McConnell did not return ABC News’ request for comment.

In August, Trump was indicted for his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The sweeping indictment alleges Trump undertook a targeted “criminal scheme,” knowingly fueling lies to block the nation’s process of collecting, counting and certifying the results of the presidential election in order to stay in power. Despite multiple federal investigations, the former president has remained a dominant force in the party as the front-runner for the Republican nomination. Trump has denied doing anything wrong, has entered a not guilty plea and has said the charges are politically motivated.

“How much evidence does one need before making a decision that it is well past time to move on from Trump and his lackeys and move the party past this very dark time? The 60+ failed legal challenges to the election results, many in courts run by Trump appointees, wasn’t enough evidence? How does a party go from being one of overall integrity to one that, for all appearances, should meet under a big top circus tent instead of in the hallowed halls of the United States Capitol Building,” Sicknick wrote.

In 2021, Officer Sicknick’s mother lobbied Republicans to establish a bipartisan independent commission to investigate the attack. The effort was blocked by Republicans in the Senate.

Months later, Officer Sicknick was awarded posthumously a Congressional Gold Medal for giving his life to protect the Capitol on Jan. 6 — an effort a number of House Republicans voted against.

At the ceremony, Sicknick’s family refused to shake the hands of Republican leaders McConnell and McCarthy.

“The party claims it is pro law enforcement, but the actions of its leadership speak far louder than the false words they spew. The same party claims to maintain a higher moral ground than their opposition, but continuously shows that they are not capable of taking the high road,” Sicknick wrote in the letter.

He ended the letter with a warning about a party that continues to support Trump.

“Continued worship of a seriously flawed narcissist who has called for the suspension of parts of the Constitution, at least when it suits him, will lead us to a very dark place for our nation, a place from which we may not recover.”

Thirty-two months after the mob laid siege to the U.S. Capitol assaulting roughly 140 officers, more than 1,106 defendants have been charged.

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(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken related the Biden administration’s support for Ukraine during an unannounced visit to the country on Wednesday, his fourth trip to the country since Russia’s invasion, the State Department confirmed.

“We are determined in the United States to continue to walk side-by-side with you,” Blinken said as he sat opposite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday in the capital of Kyiv. “President Biden asked me to come to reaffirm strongly our support.”

During a press conference with Kuleba Wednesday evening local time, Blinken confirmed previous reports that the United States would commit over $1 billion in new aid to Ukraine. Blinken ticked through the itemized list of expenditures, highlighting what he called “significant support for Ukraine’s air defenses,” as well as funding to restore order in liberated areas.

The aid package includes an additional drawdown of up to $175 million from Defense Department stocks, $100 million in Foreign Military Financing, $90.5 million in humanitarian demining assistance, $300 million to support law enforcement, $206 million in humanitarian assistance, $5.4 million in forfeited oligarch assets, and $203 million for support to transparency and accountability of institutions, Blinken said.

Blinken shared relatively little about the U.S. assessment of Ukraine’s ongoing counteroffensive but did say “progress has accelerated in the last few weeks.”

“This new assistance will help sustain it and build further momentum,” he continued.

Asked what he observed that gave him cause for optimism, Blinken was vague.

“President Zelenskyy just returned from the frontline, so I was able to hear directly from him his assessment of the counter offensive and I think it very much matches our own, which is as I said, real progress in recent weeks,” he responded.

Earlier Wednesday, Blinken saw the human cost of the war, tweeting out photos visiting Berkovetske cemetery in Kyiv with Kuleba to “pay [his] respect to some of Ukraine’s fallen soldiers.”

Blinken expressed admiration for Ukrainian soldiers during his conversation with Zelensky, saying he was “so struck by the courage and strength, the resilience of Ukrainian soldiers.”

Ahead of the visit, the State Department said Blinken’s trip would underscore U.S. support for Ukraine.

“Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken arrived in Ukraine today to meet with senior Ukrainian officials and demonstrate the United States’ unwavering commitment to Ukraine’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and democracy, especially in the face of Russia’s aggression,” State Department spokesperson Mathew Miller said in a statement.

“The Secretary will address Ukraine’s energy, security, and humanitarian needs, and make announcements about how the United States can continue supporting Ukraine in these areas,” he continued.

Due to ongoing security concerns created by the active conflict, Blinken’s travel plans were kept private until after he arrived in Ukraine.

The secretary’s delegation departed the Washington area late Monday night, touching down in Poland on Tuesday before journeying through the night by train and reaching Kyiv Wednesday morning local time.

The secretary plans to stay in Ukraine for a second day, during which may visit cultural landmarks, but plans are fluid.

State Department officials say Blinken’s visit is meant to showcase Ukraine’s resiliency and perseverance, demonstrating how daily life vibrantly continues amid the bleakness of war.

The secretary’s visit comes as the Biden administration is waiting to see whether Congress will greenlight its request for an additional $24 billion in supplement aid for Ukraine.

Although House Speaker Kevin McCarthy previously promised his Republican-controlled chamber wouldn’t hand over a “blank check” to Ukraine, the last spending bill that contained significant aid to Ukraine passed with broad bipartisan support.

But now, for the first time since the war started, senior administration officials are privately expressing concern that support from Capitol Hill may be wavering.

Blinken’s agenda shines a spotlight on Ukraine’s recovery efforts and the administration’s overarching goal in Ukraine — moving the country towards the West and eventual membership in the European Union — rather than on the difficult realities of a conflict that many now describe as a war of attrition.

One official said the visit was a chance to “make the case” for additional funding to the American visit, as well as to ensure assistance was “maximally effective for the moment.”

The secretary’s trip also coincides with Ukraine’s highly-anticipated counteroffensive, which has resulted in modest gains compared to the country’s offensive last fall.

Earlier this week, Zelenskyy visited frontline areas to tout his military’s successes, but American officials have been reticent to ascribe any kind of qualitative assessment to the counteroffensive — encouraging observers to instead look at the big picture regarding the conflict instead of any one push.

“I think it’s really important for us to step back and look strategically at the war. So although this is the current counteroffensive, what I would say in the big picture is that Ukraine has done in my view extraordinarily well, fighting off a much bigger, better equipped adversary since the beginning of the invasion,” one senior State Department official said recently.

An official traveling with Blinken said this visit to Ukraine would provide the U.S. the opportunity to “get a real assessment from the Ukrainians themselves” regarding the counteroffensive.

“It’s always important to come at a time when we are engaged together in a new push,” they said. “Now’s a good time to come and assess.”

The official also said the visit would allow the U.S. and Ukraine to align ahead of the upcoming United Nations General Assembly later this month,

Blinken previously visited Ukraine in April 2022, when he traveled to Kyiv with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and in September 2022, when he again stopped in Kyiv for meetings and toured Irpin in the Bucha district.

He also stepped over the border into the country with Kuleba during the earliest days of the conflict, March 2022.

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(WASHINGTON) — Former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday called on Republicans to choose classic conservative principles over “the siren song of populism” he sees pervading the party, a movement largely inspired by his former running mate, Donald Trump.

“The future of this movement, of this great party, belongs to one or the other — not both. That is because the fundamental divide between these two factions is unbridgeable,” Pence said in a speech at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College.

More than halfway through his speech, Pence directly named rivals Donald Trump and Vivek Ramaswamy, and also swiped at Gov. Ron DeSantis with comparisons of populism and progressivism, which he called “fellow travelers on the same road to ruin.”

“Donald Trump, along with his populist followers and imitators – some of whom are also seeking the Republican presidential nomination — often sound like an echo of the progressive they would replace in the White House,” he said. “Like progressives the Republican populists insist government should dictate how private businesses operate. The Governor of Florida even used the power of the state to punish corporations for taking a political stand he disagreed with.”

“They want to control what Americans do with their earnings,” Pence continued. “As one of the former president’s populist proteges, Vivek Ramaswamy, wrote in his 2022 book, advocating a 59 percent death tax, we shouldn’t allow Americans to become wealthy ‘just by having rich parents.'”

The former vice president said his rivals’ unwillingness to visit entitlement reforms as a way to curb the national debt, in particular, is not conservatism but “Republicanism that prioritizes power over principles.”

“Republican populists would blatantly erode our Constitutional norms – a leading candidate last year called for the “termination” of “all rules regulations, and articles, even those found in the Constitution” …while his imitators have a demonstrated willingness to brandish government power to silence critics and impose their will on opponents.”

“Populist Republicans would have us trade in our time honored principles for passing public opinion,” he said. “That is not a trade I am willing to make. Nor should my fellow conservatives.”

Campaign advisers told reporters on a preview call Tuesday that the speech was not directed at one candidate in particular, such as Trump or biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, whom Pence has recently hammered over a slate of policy differences, but is intended to address a broader movement Pence and his campaign see rising not only in the race for president but in Congress and other flagship conservative institutions.

“The former vice president will say that there’s a fundamental divide between … limited government conservatism and populism, and that divide is unbridgeable, that populism and liberalism are on the same road to ruin,” a campaign adviser said. “And for those who may mistakenly think this is targeted at Vivek, that would be much too small and interpretation of this speech.”

Pence on Tuesday, after a town hall in Barrington, repeated his warning against what he calls “the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles.”

“There’s positions that I take as a traditional conservative that are increasingly at odds with the frontrunner in this race and with others in this field. I really do believe that we are now, after Labor Day, engaged in an important debate over the future the party that will bear upon the future of America,” he said. “It’s really a debate about whether or not the Republican Party is going to continue to adhere to the common sense, conservative agenda that has defined our movement over the last 50 years, or whether we’re going to we’re going to heed the siren song of populism unmoored to conservative principles. And it isn’t any one candidate that’s doing that.”

The former vice president said he sees Trump “some of his imitators” as “beginning to walk away” from traditional conservative positions, ticking through their differences on the war in Ukraine, entitlement reforms, the national debt, and anti-abortion policy, with Pence painting himself as the most Reaganesque in the race.

“I see not only my former running mate but other candidates in the field that are beginning to walk away from America’s commitment as leader of the free world, unwilling to talk about reforming entitlements and spending in ways that will save our country from a debt crisis facing children and grandchildren, and also trying to marginalize the cause of the sanctity of life, that’s been a central cause of our movement for generations,” he said. “So it’s about drawing that contrast and really laying out what I think will be really a very clear, clear choice in this campaign going forward.”

According to FiveThirtyEight’s presidential polling average, Trump continues to poll above 50%, while Pence remains in the low single digits, at 4.5%. Ramaswamy has jumped to 8.3%, appearing to experience a post-debate surge.

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(WASHINGTON) — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday, in his first news conference since a second freezing episode last week, said he had “nothing to add” when reporters questioned him about what caused the episodes and whether he should be more transparent.

McConnell, 81, addressed a clamor of reporters after a closed-door policy lunch with the Senate Republican Conference.

“Respectfully, can you tell us what has been afflicting you and describe, characterize, what is the level of transparency that the people of Kentucky deserve to hear about your condition?” one reporter asked.

The senator began to point to the statements from Capitol physician Brian P. Monahan, but was then interrupted by the reporter.

“We’d like to hear from you,” the reporter said.

“I know. You are hearing from me,” McConnell responded. “I think Dr. Monahan covered the subject. Absolutely. You’ve had a chance to read it. I don’t have anything to add to it. And I think it should answer any reasonable questions.”

Monahan has made two statements related to McConnell’s health. The first, released last week, said the senator was medically clear to continue his work schedule after he froze for more than 30 seconds during a press conference in Kentucky.

Doctors tell ABC News that anyone who experiences similar symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.

A second, more comprehensive, statement released Tuesday said Monahan examined McConnell himself and found “no evidence” of a seizure disorder, stroke or a movement disorder such as Parkinson’s disease.

Monahan also said he had no recommended changes to McConnell’s “treatment protocol” as he continues to recover from a fall in March in which he suffered a concussion and a fractured rib.

The statement, however, did not come to a conclusion as to what caused the episodes.

McConnell was pressed on that point by reporters Wednesday, but continued to state he had “nothing to add” to Monahan’s statements.

“I think he pretty well covered the subject,” he said.

Asked if he had any plans to retire, McConnell said he “had no announcements to make on that subject.”

“I’m going to finish my term as leader and I’m going to finish my Senate term” McConnell said.

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

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(WASHINGTON) — The Department of Homeland Security on Wednesday announced $20 million in grant funding aimed at preventing targeted violence and terrorism in the United States.

The grant money, provided by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is aimed at helping local communities prevent and combat targeted violence in the U.S. by offering money that can be used for trainings, equipment, hiring threat analysts and other resources to better protect from domestic violent extremism, according to a news release from the agency.

“As the recent racially-motivated shooting in Jacksonville made painfully clear, targeted violence and terrorism can impact any community, anywhere,” said Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas. “The Department of Homeland Security is committed to confronting this threat. Through the partnership and collaboration this grant program helps build, the department will continue to work with communities to prevent such abhorrent targeted acts from occurring.”

When Mayorkas took office in 2021, one of his priorities was to combat the rise in domestic violent extremism in the United States, which he has said is the most persistent threat in the country.

Since the establishment of the grant program in 2020, more than $70 million in grants have been given to communities in 35 states and Washington, D.C., DHS notes. Among the grants awarded this year: a nearly $660,000 grant to the Mississippi Office of Homeland Security to give threat prevention training to law enforcement, a $700,000 grant for Minnesota Department of Public Safety to develop a state threat assessment and threat management team, and a $600,000 grant to the Palm Beach Sheriff’s Office to better increase its community resource team through things like bystander training.

The Department says 41% of this year’s grant recipients have a focus in serving underserved populations — an increase compared to 25% last year.

Former Department of Homeland Security Acting Under-Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis John Cohen told ABC News these grants reflect a change in the way the department views threat prevention.

“The strength of this program is that it recognizes that today the United States deals with a threat that’s very different than the one it faced after 9/11 and it requires a different investigative and violence-prevention toolbox,” Cohen, now an ABC News contributor, said. “These grants are a step in that direction and are important because they can be local efforts to better address threats that have caused too many mass shootings in the United States already.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics (CREW), a Washington-based watchdog group, on Wednesday filed a lawsuit on behalf of a handful of voters seeking to bar former President Donald Trump from the 2024 ballot in Colorado under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment based on his alleged involvement in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

The suit — quickly dismissed by Trump’s team — marks one of the first serious challenges to his qualifications as a presidential candidate based on a 14th Amendment argument.

Section 3 states that someone isn’t eligible for future office if, while they were previously in office, they took an oath to support the Constitution but then “engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or [gave] aid or comfort to the enemies thereof,” unless they are granted amnesty by a two-thirds vote of Congress.

Supporters of this theory argue this applies to Trump because of his conduct after he lost the 2020 election but sought to reverse the results. Previous such efforts focused on other Republicans have failed, but CREW last year successfully pushed to remove a county official in New Mexico who was convicted of trespassing in connection with the attack on the Capitol.

Wednesday’s suit against Trump was filed, with CREW’s attorneys, by six Republican and unaffiliated Colorado voters, including former state, federal and local officials.

The suit accuses Trump of inciting and aiding the mob that stormed the Capitol two years ago. He was previously impeached by the House of Representatives for the same but was acquitted by the Senate and has repeatedly maintained he did not incite the rioters.

CREW President Noah Bookbinder said that the organization is bringing the lawsuit because “it is necessary to defend our republic both today and in the future.”

Trump has denied all wrongdoing and called the efforts to disqualify him under the 14th Amendment “election interference.”

A Trump campaign spokesman, Steven Cheung, blasted the new suit in a statement to ABC News.

“The people who are pursuing this absurd conspiracy theory and political attack on President Trump are stretching the law beyond recognition,” Cheung said, in part, adding, “There is no legal basis for this effort except in the minds of those who are pushing it.”

A broader campaign is emerging to keep Trump from the ballot next year because of the 14th Amendment.

John Anthony Castro — who is running for the GOP presidential nomination as a write-in candidate — has filed and docketed 14th Amendment cases in multiple states.

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., acknowledged the brewing battle during an appearance Sunday on ABC’s “This Week.”

“My sense is it’s probably going to get resolved in the courts,” he said.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said in her own statement that “I look forward to the Colorado Court’s substantive resolution of the issues, and am hopeful that this case will provide guidance to election officials on Trump’s eligibility as a candidate for office.”

A news release from Griswold’s office also outlined their view of how Colorado law is unclear on how to consider the requirements of the U.S. Constitution in determining a candidate’s eligibility.

Currently, no candidates have qualified for the presidential primary ballot in Colorado, according to Griswold’s office.

Griswold, in her role as the state’s chief elections official, is named as the defendant in the CREW lawsuit along with Trump.

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