Politics

(WASHINGTON) — The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack said Wednesday it has evidence that former President Donald Trump and some of his associates may have illegally tried to obstruct Congress’ count of electoral votes and “engaged in a criminal conspiracy to defraud the United States” in their efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.

The committee argued in a federal court filing Wednesday that Trump may have committed two crimes as it challenged a bid by former Trump lawyer John Eastman to block investigators from obtaining thousands of pages of emails.

The panel argued that the records should not be protected by attorney-client privilege under the crime fraud exception, given that Eastman’s legal advice may have helped Trump commit multiple crimes.

“The facts we’ve gathered strongly suggest that Dr. Eastman’s emails may show that he helped Donald Trump advance a corrupt scheme to obstruct the counting of electoral college ballots and a conspiracy to impede the transfer of power,” Reps. Bennie Thompson, D-Mississippi, and Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, the leaders of the panel, said in a statement.

Eastman’s lawyer, Charles Burnham, said in a statement to ABC News that Eastman “has a responsibility to protect client confidences, even at great personal risk and expense.”

“The Select Committee has responded to Dr. Eastman’s efforts to discharge this responsibility by accusing him of criminal conduct,” Burnham said. “Because this is a civil matter, Dr. Eastman will not have the benefit of the Constitutional protections normally afforded to those accused by their government of criminal conduct. Nonetheless, we look forward to responding in due course.”

Representatives for Trump did not respond to requests for comment.

The new filing marks the first time the committee has formally accused Trump of specific criminal activities, by working to disrupt the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6 and by waging a campaign to overturn the results in key states and promote unfounded claims of widespread voter fraud.

“As the courts were overwhelmingly ruling against President Trump’s claims of election misconduct, he and his associates began to plan extra-judicial efforts to overturn the results of the election and prevent the president-elect from assuming office,” the committee wrote in its filing.

“At the heart of these efforts was an aggressive public misinformation campaign to persuade millions of Americans that the election had in fact been stolen. The president and his associates persisted in making ‘stolen election’ claims even after the president’s own appointees at the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security, along with his own campaign staff, had informed the president that his claims were wrong,” it stated.

While lawmakers on the panel cannot formally charge Trump with a crime, they have suggested their investigation would result in a criminal referral to the Justice Department, which would then decide whether to prosecute the former president.

In making their case that Trump and key allies tried to stop the counting of electoral votes and pressure former Vice President Mike Pence “to manipulate the results in his favor,” the committee cited several interviews with senior White House officials and aides to Pence, including his attorney and chief of staff.

“The evidence supports an inference that President Trump, plaintiff and several others entered into an agreement to defraud the United States by interfering with the election certification process, disseminating false information about election fraud, and pressuring state officials to alter state election results and federal officials to assist in that effort,” the committee wrote in the filing.

Eastman was subpoenaed by the committee in January for his role in crafting two legal memos that argued Pence had the authority to overturn the election results on Jan. 6.

He continued making the case for Pence to overturn the results even as pro-Trump rioters clashed with Capitol Police and sent the vice president into hiding on Capitol Hill.

“We are now under siege,” Pence’s counsel Greg Jacob wrote to Eastman, placing blame on him in a Jan. 6 email released by the committee Wednesday.

“The ‘siege’ is because YOU and your boss did not do what was necessary to allow this to be aired in a public way so that the American people can see for themselves what happened,” Eastman replied to Jacob in the middle of the riot.

Later that evening, Eastman again wrote to Jacob, “I implore you to consider one more relatively minor violation [of the Electoral Count Act] and adjourn for 10 days to allow the legislatures to finish their investigations, as well as to allow a full forensic audit of the massive amount of illegal activity that has occurred here,” according to another email released by the committee.

In the court filing, the committee wrote that this email correspondence suggests Eastman “knew what he was proposing would violate the law, but he nonetheless urged the vice president to take those actions.”

Earlier this week, the State Bar of California announced an investigation into whether Eastman violated state ethics laws for attorneys in his work with Trump challenging the 2020 election results.

Exhibits released as part of Wednesday’s court filings also included excerpts of depositions from several key witnesses the committee interviewed over the last few months, including Trump adviser Jason Miller, former Pence Chief of Staff Marc Short, and former Pence national security advisor Keith Kellogg. The interviews show what kinds of conversations took place among key figures within the Trump circle leading up to and on Jan. 6.

According to one exhibit, Miller, a senior advisor to Trump described that, “soon after the election, a campaign data expert told the President ‘in pretty blunt terms’ that he was going to lose.”

But Trump disagreed with the campaign data expert, Miller said, according to the exhibit.

In another exhibit released on Wednesday, then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Richard Donoghue told the Jan. 6 committee that Trump repeatedly pressed the Justice Department to “publicly say that the election is corrupt or suspect or not reliable” even though Donoghue himself had “personally informed” Trump “in very clear terms” that the Justice Department concluded that there’s no evidence to support major allegations of voter fraud.

Another exhibit shows a text message from Ben Williamson, an aide to Trump’s former Chief of Staff Mark Meadow on Jan. 6 warning Meadows: “Would recommend POTUS put out a tweet about respecting the police over at the Capitol — getting a little hairy over there.”

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(WASHINGTON) — The push to support military veterans plagued with health issues caused by toxic exposure to burn pits got a significant boost during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address Tuesday — his support coming just before the House was set to vote Thursday on a bill that would expedite health care and disability payments for millions of veterans.

“I’m calling on Congress: pass a law to make sure veterans devastated by toxic exposures in Iraq and Afghanistan finally get the benefits and comprehensive health care they deserve,” Biden said, calling it part of “a sacred obligation to equip all those we send to war and care for them and their families when they come home.”

Biden lamented the dangers of the toxic smoke from burn pits, which have resulted in enduring health issues for military veterans stationed overseas in Iraq, Afghanistan and Southwest Asia.

The open-air combustion of trash and other waste in burn pits is a common practice of military operations. Common materials incinerated in burn pits included human waste, paint, metal cans, food waste, unexploded ordnance, lubricant products, plastics, rubber, wood and even jet fuel.

Active-duty service members who have been exposed to these toxic chemicals are often plagued with life-threatening diseases and illness.

“And they come home, many of the world’s fittest and best-trained warriors in the world, never the same,” Biden told lawmakers. “Headaches. Numbness. Dizziness. A cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.”

Biden poignantly recalled the memory of his late son, Beau Biden, who died from brain cancer in 2015.

“We don’t know for sure if a burn pit was the cause of his brain cancer, or the diseases of so many of our troops,” Biden said. “But I’m committed to finding out everything we can.”

Approximately 82% of post-9/11 veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan reported being exposed to burn pits and/or airborne toxic materials during their service, according to Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, a nonprofit organization.

About half of those exposed believe they have symptoms associated with the exposure, and another 41 percent are unsure if their symptoms are related.

“My eyes burned. It was hard to take a deep breath when I coughed and it made chest hurt and it made me cough,” Katie Purswell, a former veteran and director of health policy at the American Legion, said during a press conference on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

“I choked on the odor from the winds when they would pick up after a while. I started waking up with bloody noses. It was difficult and painful to breathe. After I got home, I had bronchitis for a year. I don’t think my runtime has ever recovered. I just can’t take a deep breath anymore,” she said, describing the symptoms she faced following prolonged exposure to toxic burn pits while stationed overseas.

Purswell was joined by former veterans, advocates, members of Congress, and comedian Jon Stewart at the Capitol Wednesday in support of a bill the House intends to pass Thursday.

Stewart and fellow advocate and 9/11 first responder John Feal have long lobbied Congress for veterans and first responder health care, often challenging lawmakers in emotional testimony — protesting what they believe is inadequate care for the nation’s veterans.

“Last night, they were seen,” Stewart said of the president’s national address. “The president of the United States saw their struggle.”

The group is calling on Congress to pass the bill, Honoring Our PACT Act, that aims to improve health care and benefits for veterans exposed to toxic substances.

The bill would specifically designate 23 respiratory illnesses and cancers as likely linked to toxic exposures related to military burn pits and airborne hazards exposure.

Currently, the Department of Veterans Affairs decides these exposure claims on a case-by-case basis, with the exception of those filed for asthma, rhinitis or sinusitis. The burden of proving one’s illness is related to a burn pit exposure falls on the veteran, leading to delays in health care.

“There is no other toxic exposure legislation in Congress like it in scope or soundness,” Rep. Mark Takano, chairman of the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said Wednesday.

The California Democrat authored the legislation that has bipartisan support in the House.

“Without hesitation, our veterans raised their right hand to protect and defend this nation. And many are now sick as a result of that service. We made a pact with these individuals — a pact I’m afraid to say we have not yet honored,” Takano said.

Takano said his bill will address the full gamut of issues affecting toxic exposed-veterans, access to health care and benefits, while also reforming the VA’s “presumptive” decision-making process to provide health care to more than 3.5 million veterans who have been exposed.

The White House on Monday announced that the Department of Veterans Affairs is also making efforts to rework their policies — the VA proposed a rule that would recognize nine new respiratory illnesses as conditions that are presumed linked to a veterans’ military service, which would help fast track them for payouts and medical care.

Dennis McDonough, secretary of Veterans Affairs, alluded to the proposed changes during an interview with ABC News last month.

McDonough, acknowledging the “cumbersome” process veterans must go through to prove their illnesses are linked to exposure to burn pits, told ABC News that the department is working to establish the evidence to suggest even more illnesses are linked to burn pit exposure that he hopes the department will soon recognize.

The Senate Veterans Affairs Committee is undertaking its own effort to address the issue of toxic exposure for veterans as part of a three-step, bipartisan approach. But advocates, including Stewart and Feal, say the Senate’s effort doesn’t go as far in scope.

Some senators, however, are concerned that the House’s version of the bill is too pricey: the House bill calls for nearly $300 billion in spending over 10 years.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, standing next to Stewart and Feal during Wednesday’s press conference, defended the price tag.

“Don’t even talk to us about the price,” Pelosi said. “This is a cost of war that we should recognize … it’s going to be worth it. But it’s going to have a big price tag.”

“Because what we are looking at is the value of what this does for our country,” she said.

Sources familiar with the process told ABC News that members of the House and Senate will have to figure out their policy differences and take their respective bills to conference in the coming months to reach a final compromise.

The process could delay passage in the Senate for months to come before it would eventually reach Biden’s desk for his signature.

Stewart and Feal had a stark message for members of the Senate.

“Once this is done, make no mistake, then the battle shifts to the Senate. And as you know, they are excellent at killing things that are necessary. And we cannot allow it to happen,” Stewart said. “And you cannot allow this feeling of unity and hope and finally being seen to dissipate. We need all of your help to put the pressure on to make sure that the comprehensive needs that they have are passed.”

Feal warned Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that he plans to lobby him hard.

“Let Schumer know that we want a bill compatible to the honorable PACT Act. If he does not do that, then I will make his life miserable,” Feal said.

A spokesman to Schumer said in a statement to ABC News: “Leader Schumer believes strongly in this bill and will do everything he can to pass it.”

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(NEW YORK) — An Indiana bill to ban transgender girls from participating in girls sports in K-12 schools passed the state Senate on Tuesday. State legislators voted 32-18 in favor of the bill.

The bill now goes to Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb’s desk for signature. He has not explicitly said if he will sign it into law.

Holcomb previously stated that he agrees “adamantly that boys should be playing boys’ sports and girls should be playing girls’ sports.” It is unclear whether his definition of “boys” and “girls” is trans-inclusive.

Several organizations have spoken out against the legislation and called for Holcomb’s veto since Tuesday.

“With so much going on at home and abroad, it’s disappointing to see Indiana lawmakers prioritize regulating transgender student-athletes,” Amit Paley, CEO and executive director of The Trevor Project, a nonprofit focused on LGBTQ suicide prevention and crisis intervention, told ABC News. “This will likely become the second anti-trans bill enacted in 2022 and the 11th anti-trans sports ban across the country. While the rationale for these bills is based on myth and misunderstanding, the impacts they’re having are very real.”

Advocates say the bill will have a serious negative effect on transgender students’ mental and physical well-being.

“Trans kids — like all kids — just want to be able to play with their friends. This regressive and damaging legislation hurts transgender youth and doesn’t address any actual problem,” Cathryn Oakley, Human Rights Campaign state legislative director and senior counsel, said in a statement on Tuesday.

“This bill puts already vulnerable youth in more danger, and threatens the health and safety of all children in Indiana,” Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO of GLAAD, an anti-LGBTQ defamation organization, said in a statement. “Every child should have the chance to play with their friends and to belong, just as they are, and experience the lifelong benefits that being on a team can offer.”

Jay Brown, senior vice president of programs, research and training at The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, spoke on the stigma and potential consequences that bills like HB 1041 can perpetuate in the organization’s 2021 Epidemic of Violence report.

“When lawmakers discuss bills banning transgender and non-binary youth from accessing medical care, playing school sports or using restrooms, it sends a message that even from an early age transgender and non-binary people are different and unwelcome,” he said.

Authored by Republican Indiana state Rep. Michelle Davis, HB 1041 is one of several anti-trans bills being proposed around the country.

“I want to make sure that all the opportunities are provided for our young females and we protect the fair competition for them so they have all those possibilities,” Davis said at a hearing in January. Davis admitted under questioning during the hearing she could not cite any examples in Indiana of a cisgender student losing a chance to compete to a trans athlete, according to Indianapolis ABC affiliate WRTV.

Another Republican-backed bill, SB 435 or the “Save Girls’ Sports Act,” which similarly calls for a ban on transgender boys and girls participating in high school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity, passed in the Georgia Senate last week. It will have to pass in the House before going to Gov. Brian Kemp, a sponsor of the bill, for review.

ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca and Tony Morrison contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., introduced a bill on Tuesday calling for strict limitations on no-knock warrants in drug-related investigations.

The bill, named for Amir Locke, would also ban “quick-knock” warrants, nighttime warrants, and the use of explosive devices, chemical weapons, and military grade firearms while warrants are carried out.

Locke, a Black Minnesota native, was 22 when he was fatally shot by Minneapolis SWAT officer Mark Hanneman during an early morning execution of a no-knock search warrant on Feb. 2.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner has ruled the death of Locke, who was not named on the warrant, a homicide.

Hanneman has not been charged with any crime and is currently on paid administrative leave while the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension investigates the shooting.

Outcry to ban no-knock warrants once again surged after Locke’s death, leading to protests reminiscent of those immediately following the shooting death of Breonna Taylor in 2020. While Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey issued a moratorium on the request and execution of no-knock warrants in the city, concerned citizens and legislators have called for a more permanent solution.

Neka Gray, Locke’s aunt, asked that an end be put to no-knock warrants when a coalition of Black women and mothers met at Minneapolis City Hall to demand justice for Locke.

“Unfortunately, Amir won’t benefit from it. But the next person will,” Gray said. “And so what we’re asking is that this no-knock warrant, that this policy that was put in place where it only affects people that look like me, people that look like Amir, people that look like many people that are standing behind me, we’re just asking that that is changed.”

Omar discussed her bill during a press call on Tuesday.

“The use of no-knock warrants has a deep-rooted history in division, racism and the criminalization of Black and brown people,” she said. “This is yet another occurrence of police in Minneapolis utilizing tactics that deny human dignity,” she added, referring to the events that led to Locke’s death.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said President Joe Biden supports the end of no-knock warrants in a press briefing last month following Locke’s death.

“We have been engaging with, as you know, civil rights groups, a number of law enforcement groups. All agree on the need to reform the use of no-knock warrants,” she said.

Psaki also spoke about a Department of Justice policy announced by United States Attorney General Merrick Garland in September that regulates federal use of chokeholds, carotid restraints, and no-knock warrants.

The policy states that “federal agents are generally required to “knock and announce” their identity, authority and purpose, and demand to enter before entry is made to execute a warrant in a private dwelling” before entering after a “reasonable amount of time”. Exceptions may be made “in the most compelling circumstances.”

Biden briefly mentioned the Department of Justice’s policy at the State of the Union, before calling for funding the police and drawing applause.

The Locke family’s legal team issued a statement on Tuesday in response to the proposed legislation:

“We join the Locke family in applauding U.S. Rep. Omar for introducing this critically important bill. There is no doubt that no-knock warrants are a tragic and devastating failure of policy — a policy that directly led to the deaths of Amir Locke, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black and Brown people throughout the country for the past several decades.”

The statement said that while the “ultimate goal” is a ban on all no-knock warrants “it is a significant step forward.”

“We implore other members of Congress to champion this life-saving cause and pass this legislation to protect the lives and safety of those they swore an oath to serve,” it said.

ABC News’ Sejal Govindarao contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s pick for the Supreme Court, Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson, began traditional courtesy calls with senators on Wednesday as Democrats announced her confirmation battle would get underway later this month.

The hearings will start on Monday, March 21 and conclude on Thursday March 24, setting Jackson on the path to what Democrats hope will be a speedy final confirmation vote, Senate Judiciary Chairman Dick Durbin said Wednesday.

“There’s no reason to wait or delay, as far as I’m concerned,” Durbin, D-Ill., said, setting the goal to get Jackson confirmed by the full Senate by the Easter recess starting April 8.

Biden announced Friday he would nominate Jackson to fill the seat of retiring Justice Stephen Breyer. Jackson, a Harvard law graduate, was confirmed to the Court of Appeals for the D.C Circuit in a bipartisan vote last June, but faces a tougher confirmation battle for her spot on the high court. If confirmed, she will be the first Black woman to sit on the Supreme Court.

Jackson began her day on Capitol Hill with a 40-minute meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Before their meeting, Schumer said he looked forward to “hashing out all the great things that we read about and are seeing” about Jackson.

Following their closed-door discussion, he praised what he said were Jackson’s family values, empathy and ability to see things from both sides.

“I think she deserves support from the other side of the aisle, and I am hopeful that a good number of Republicans will support her, given who she is,” he said.

A few hours after their meeting, Schumer started Wednesday’s Senate session with even more praise.

“Now that I’ve met her, I’ll add another word: Belongs. She’s not only brilliant and beloved, but belongs on the Supreme Court,” Schumer said. “America will be better off — much better off — with someone like Judge Jackson on the Supreme Court.”

Former Alabama Democratic Sen. Doug Jones, designated by the White House to help shepherd Jackson’s nomination across the finish line, escorted her to a similar meeting with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, before taking her to spend time with Durbin.

Speaking to reporters afterward, Durbin said he expects Judge Jackson will garner bipartisan support, saying he is hoping to have at least a handful of GOP senators vote to confirm her.

“I think it would be good for the Senate, good for the Supreme Court if that happens,” Durbin said, adding he wants the process to be fair.

In the evenly divided Senate, Democrats can confirm Jackson to the court without any Republican support. But that’s not how Durbin and other Democratic leaders hope it will go. While three Senate Republicans voted to confirm Jackson to the federal appeals court, several have said their previous votes will not determine how they vote on Jackson.

The top Republican on the Judiciary Committee, Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley, echoed Durbin’s sentiment after his conversation with Judge Jackson. The two talked for just under 10 minutes.

He told reporters it is his responsibility to make sure the Senate has a fair and dignified process.

“We’re going to meet our constitutional responsibility of advice and consent with dignity and fairness and most importantly, thoroughness. Everybody expects us to do our job,” Grassley said.

When asked how her conversation with Grassley went, Judge Jackson replied, “Good, thanks.”

Senator Durbin has set the goal to confirm Jackson before the Senate’s easter recess, which starts April 8.

ABC’s Allison Pecorin and Trish Turner contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday joined Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.S., Oksana Markarova, in a visit to a Ukrainian church in Washington, expressing vocal admiration for the Ukrainian people.

Blinken called Markarova “our new star,” in the wake of President Joe Biden’s State of the Union speech Tuesday night where he called attention to the ambassador who was seated next to first lady Jill Biden.

“It’s in the most difficult moments that our faith is tested,” Blinken said to the audience, including Ukrainian faith leaders and activists, at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family.

He also said this is a moment for faith in democracy, peace, and “in the conviction that good will prevail over evil.”

Blinken said Russian President Vladimir Putin made a “horrific, terrible mistake,” in his aggression against Ukraine.

“We stand with them, we stand with you, and we will prevail in this struggle,” Blinken said of the Ukrainian people. He praised the Ukrainians who he said have been inspiring the world with resilience, strength and faith.

The Ukrainian people are “insisting on their freedom, insisting on their independence, insisting on their right to go forward as a sovereign, independent country,” he said.

Inside the church, Blinken lit a candle and spoke with a group of Ukrainian leaders, including Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Ukrainian American activist Ulana Mazurkevich.

The meeting united leaders of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Catholic Church, which separated in 2018.

“We’re like one family,” said the pastor, Fr. Robert Hitchens, “In family, there are disagreements over things. But, when it comes down to matters of life and death, we pull together, we work together, we pray together and we set aside any differences.”

He said Blinken’s visit honored Ukrainians in the U.S. and overseas.

“They’re not forgotten,” Hitchens said about those in Ukraine. “The government of the United States and their sisters and brothers, fellow Ukrainians, and all peoples of goodwill, and this nation are standing with them.”

Like many other members of the church, Hitchens said his great-grandparents immigrated to the U.S., but kept their Catholic faith strong.

Hitchens said his biggest fear is the threat of extinction for Ukraine, and that the church will be forced underground under Russia’s rule.

“In my heart of hearts, I know somehow Ukraine will survive and its people will still survive,” said Hitchens. “But not before there’s a whole lot of senseless hurt.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Opening statements got underway Wednesday in the case of a Texas man charged with participating in the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol and later threatening his family members if they reported him to law enforcement.

Guy Reffitt, 49, a self-proclaimed member of the far-right anti-government “Three Percenter” militia group, is the first alleged participant in the Jan. 6 insurrection to bring his case to trial. He faces five felony charges that carry maximum sentences of between five and 20 years each.

“The evidence in this case will show that the defendant attacked the Capitol on the afternoon of January 6 precisely because Congress was meeting in a joint session,” assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Nestler told the court. “At that time, he planned to light a match that would start the fire. He wanted to stop Congress from doing its job.”

“The defendant was the tip of this mob’s spear,” Nestler said.

Reffitt’s case presents a major test for the Justice Department, as the result could impact hundreds of other alleged rioters who are weighing whether to similarly take their cases to trial or enter into plea deals with the government.

Nestler said in his opening statement that the government plans to play audio recorded prior to the attack of Reffitt talking about what he planned to do to lawmakers upon storming the Capitol.

“We’re taking the Capitol before the day is over, ripping them out by their f***ing hair, every f***ing one of them,” Reffitt says in one of the audio clips. “I just want to see Pelosi’s head hitting every f****ing stair on the way out, and Mitch McConnell too … I’m packing heat and I’m going to get more heat and I am going to that building and I am dragging them out.”

In his brief opening statement, Reffitt’s attorney, William Welch III, said there was no evidence showing Reffitt assaulted anyone and that Reffitt’s statements to his family and others amounted to little more than hyperbole.

“Guy does brag, he exaggerates, and he rants — he uses a lot of hyperbole and that upsets people,” Welch said. “The evidence will show that this case was a rush to judgment.”

“Guy Reffitt did not enter the Capitol,” Welch said. “He did not break anything, he did not take anything.”

Following two days of jury selection and one-on-one question-and-answer sessions with more than four dozen Washington, D.C., residents, 12 jurors and four alternates were selected for the trial, including nine men and seven women. Their backgrounds range from a NASA employee and a natural-gas industry lobbyist to an analyst with the Pentagon and a wood crafter who works with the federal agency that maintains the Capitol complex.

Judge Dabney Friedrich acknowledged that “virtually every juror” would have some view of the assault on the Capitol, but said the goal of the jury selection was to find residents who could legitimately separate their personal feelings about the attack from the question of Reffitt’s guilt or innocence.

In a recent filing, prosecutors said they expect to call 13 witnesses in Reffitt’s trial, including representatives from Capitol Police, the FBI and the Secret Service, as well as a counsel to the Secretary of the Senate, Reffitt’s son and daughter, and a fellow member of the Three-Percenter militia who traveled with Reffitt to D.C. and has been granted immunity for his testimony.

Reffitt spoke to ABC News from jail in December, saying, “This has been disastrous for me and my family, especially for my girls, my son — actually, all of my family.”

He also said he believes he’ll be exonerated at trial.

“It’s not that hard to prove that I didn’t do anything,” Reffitt said. “It should be pretty easy.”

After nearly 14 months of evidence-gathering, more than 750 people have been arrested on federal charges connected to the riot, and investigators say they are continuing to seek hundreds more who are suspected of participating in the violence that occurred that day.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Justice Department on Wednesday announced a task force to target the assets of Russian oligarchs after President Joe Biden previewed the move in his State of the Union address Tuesday night.

“The United States Department of Justice is assembling a dedicated task force to go after the crimes of the Russian oligarchs,” Biden said. “We are joining with European allies to find and seize their yachts, their luxury apartments, their private jets. We’re coming for your ill-begotten gains.”

The U.S. says the oligarchs have ties to President Vladimir Putin and he uses them to launder or hide hundreds of millions of dollars obtained through corruption.

Dubbed Task Force KleptoCapture, the group will investigate and prosecute new sanctions, combat unlawful efforts to undermine restrictions taken against Russian financial institutions by Russians who flout the restrictions, go after oligarchs who use cryptocurrency to evade U.S. sanctions and seize the assets of Russian oligarchs.

The department says it will bring “cutting edge” resources from the deputy attorney general’s office and will be led by a career prosecutor out of the Southern District of New York.

“The Justice Department will use all of its authorities to seize the assets of individuals and entities who violate these sanctions,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland in a press release. “We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to investigate, arrest, and prosecute those whose criminal acts enable the Russian government to continue this unjust war. Let me be clear: if you violate our laws, we will hold you accountable.”

The Task Force is designed to ensure the “full effect” of sanctions leveled against the Russian government, “which have been designed to isolate Russia from global markets and impose serious costs for this unjustified act of war, by targeting the crimes of Russian officials, government-aligned elites, and those who aid or conceal their unlawful conduct,” the Department says.

Even if Russian oligarchs can’t be prosecuted in the United States, DOJ will still seize assets including personal real estate, financial and commercial assets. DOJ says they will work with their European counterparts around the world to ensure these objectives are met.

The move has bipartisan support.

Last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., floated the idea of a DOJ task force seizing Russian assets, calling it the “number one priority” of the supplemental funding bill.

“It is now time for that crowd to lose their yachts loose their luxury apartments, and to pay a price for being part of a thuggish group,” Graham said.

ABC News Allison Pecorin contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden’s first State of the Union address looked very different Tuesday night than it would have a few weeks ago — before Russia invaded Ukraine, inflation kept rising and coronavirus guidance dramatically shifted.

From the war in Ukraine to rising prices at home, here’s a look at the key takeaways from Biden’s first State of the Union address to Congress:

Calling out Putin by name

The president kicked off his speech with strong words of support for the Ukrainian people and their president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

“From President Zelenskyy to every Ukrainian,” Biden said, “their fearlessness, their courage, their determination, literally inspires the world.”

The president praised his strategy of standing in lockstep with Europe and NATO allies in imposing harsh sanctions on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, arguing they solidified the NATO alliance and that the Russian president was now “more isolated from the world than he has ever been.”

“Putin’s latest attack on Ukraine was premeditated and totally unprovoked,” Biden said. “He rejected repeated — repeated efforts at diplomacy. He thought the West and NATO wouldn’t respond. He thought he could divide us at home, in this chamber, in this nation. He thought he could divide us in Europe as well. But Putin was wrong. We are ready.”

The president also announced the U.S. would ban Russian airlines from American airspace, after Europe and Canada took similar steps Sunday.

“When dictators do not pay a price for their aggression, they cause more chaos,” Biden said.

First lady Jill Biden hosted Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Oksana Markarova, as a guest in her box. She received a standing ovation from Democrats and Republicans, many of whom wore the blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian flag.

The president devoted about one-fifth of his speech to Ukraine — and received rare bipartisan applause for much of what he said — a significant chunk in an address typically focused on partisan domestic issues.

Heavy focus on countering inflation

With low approval ratings for his handling of the economy — and inflation top of mind for Americans — Biden proclaimed: “I get it.”

“Too many families are struggling to keep up with their bills,” he said. “Inflation is robbing them of gains they thought otherwise they would be able to feel.”

He said his “top priority is getting prices under control.”

But many of his proposals will rely on a Congress that has been reluctant to pass much of his social spending proposals.

Emphasizing the need to boost domestic manufacturing, Biden also called for some specific items that would have been part of his stalled “Build Back Better” plan: cutting the cost of prescription drugs, combating climate change in order to lower energy costs, lowering the cost of child care, and instituting free, universal pre-K, among other initiatives.

He touted the nation’s economic recovery but acknowledged that factories had closed, supply chains had been disrupted and prices had gone up.

Biden said his “plan to fight inflation” was, “Lower your costs, not your wages.”

A new phase in the coronavirus pandemic

Biden acknowledged Americans were “tired, frustrated and exhausted” from the coronavirus pandemic — but also signaled the U.S. was entering a new phase.

“We’ve reached a new moment in the fight against COVID-19, where severe cases are down to a level not seen since July of last year,” he said.

He announced his administration was launching a “test-to-treat” program where Americans who test positive for COVID at drugstores could then receive free antiviral pills to treat the virus.

The president also said Americans would be able to order even more free rapid tests from COVIDTests.gov starting next week.

He warned the U.S. must “prepare for new variants” — and noted that scientists could “deploy new vaccines within 100 days” if necessary.

“Thanks to the progress we have made this past year, COVID-19 no longer need control our lives,” Biden said.

“Last year, COVID-19 kept us apart. This year we’re finally together again.”

Transformed chamber

Few masks made appearances in the House of Representatives chamber where Biden spoke.

Under new protocols announced Sunday, attendees did not have to wear face coverings. Biden did not don one like he did last year; attendance was also much more restricted in 2021.

The president hobnobbed with members of Congress at close range in a scene reminiscent of pre-pandemic State of the Union events.

All attendees had to show a negative PCR coronavirus test to gain admittance, and several Republicans boycotted the speech by refusing to test.

But the testing did turn up at least four positive cases among lawmakers.

‘A unity agenda for the nation’

Biden has made a quest for bipartisanship a hallmark of his presidency, and during his speech he proposed what he called “a unity agenda for the nation.”

In addition to listing a variety of proposals that would have been part of a larger “Build Back Better” bill that passed the House but stalled in the Senate because of opposition from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va, he called for legislation to invest in cancer research, support veterans, combat domestic violence and more.

“We can do these things,” Biden said. “It’s within our power.”

Copyright © 2022, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden tonight delivered his first State of the Union address with a main theme of how the U.S. is responding to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

As he spoke, Russian strikes were killing civilians, forces were massing near Ukraine’s capital Kyiv and Russian President Vladimir Putin showed no sign of backing down.

Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern. Check back for updates.

 

Mar 01, 11:29 pm
Iowa Gov. Reynolds delivers GOP response

Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds criticized Biden for leading the country on the “wrong track” with his foreign and domestic agenda in her GOP response to his State of the Union address.

“Even before taking the oath of office, the president told us that he wanted to ‘make America respected around the world again and to unite us here at home.’ He’s failed on both fronts,” she said.
Reynolds attacked Biden on his administration’s foreign affair policies, inflation and handling of the border. “They’ve refused to protect you,” she said.

Reynolds touted her conservative leadership in schools as a launch pad into Republican talking points on parental rights when it comes to children’s education.

“It was the right choice and keeping schools open is only the start of the pro-parent, pro-family revolution that Republicans are leading in Iowa and states across this country,” she said. “Republicans believe that parents matter. It was true before the pandemic and it has never been more important to say out loud, parents matter.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa

Mar 01, 11:13 pm
‘The state of the union is strong, because of you’: Biden concludes speech with optimistic outlook

Biden ended his State of the Union speech with an optimistic perspective.

“The State of the Union is strong, because you, the American people, are strong,” he said. “I know there is simply nothing beyond our capacity.”

Biden reiterated that America has turned every crisis it faced into an opportunity. He said he was confident the country would meet any new challenge that arises.

“We are stronger today than we were a year ago,” the president said. “And we will be stronger a year from now than we are today.”

 

Mar 01, 11:10 pm
Rep. Lauren Boebert booed after she yells out at moment Biden mentions his dead son

In an ill-timed moment, Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., shouted at the president, blaming him for the deaths of the 13 U.S. servicemembers killed in an attack at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan last summer, as Biden spoke about veterans exposed to burn pits developing “cancer that would put them in a flag-draped coffin.”

“You put them in, 13 of them!” she yelled.

But her words came out just as the president was about to mention the death of his son, Beau Biden, an Iraq War veteran who died from brain cancer in 2015.

“I know,” Biden began, attempting to reference Beau. But before he could get the sentence out Boebert shouted.

The members in the chamber immediately booed her.

“One of those soldiers was my son, Major Beau Biden,” the president continued. “I don’t know for sure if the burn pit that he lived near, that his hooch was near in Iraq and earlier than that, in Kosovo is the cause of his brain cancer, the diseases of so many other troops. But I am committed to finding out everything we can.”

Boebert later addressed the moment on Twitter, saying, “When Biden said flag draped coffins I couldn’t stay silent. I told him directly he did it. He put 13 in there. Our heroic servicemen and women deserve so much better.”

ABC News’ Mariam Khan

 

Mar 01, 10:43 pm
Justice Breyer in spotlight

Biden took a few moments to thank retiring Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer for his service on the bench and asked the justice to stand and be recognized.

Breyer has been one of the most loyal attendees of State of the Union addresses over the past 20 years — and tonight he was clearly touched by the presidential tribute.

Biden then immediately pivoted to his nomination of Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson to fill that seat.
“Since she’s been nominated, she’s received a broad range of support,” Biden said.

ABC News’ Devin Dwyer and Justin Gomez

 

Mar 01, 10:32 pm
Moving forward safely in the pandemic

On the pandemic, Biden outlined four “common-sense” steps the U.S. is taking to “move forward safely”:

1. Vaccines and treatments: “We will never give up on vaccinating more Americans,” Biden said. He also discussed progress on anti-viral treatments and announced a “test to treat” initiative for COVID-positive Americans to obtain Pfizer pills free of charge.
He also announced that starting next week Americans would be able to order even more free rapid tests at.

2. Preparing for new variants: Biden said instead of months or years, we’ll be able to deploy new vaccines “within 100 days.”

3. Ending shutdowns: Biden stressed the importance of people working in offices safely and keeping schools open. “The vast majority of federal workers will once again work in person. Our schools are open. Let’s keep it that way,” he said.

4. Vaccinating the world: Biden said the U.S. has so far sent 475 million vaccine doses worldwide, “and we won’t stop.”

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