Elton John‘s final U.S. concert will take place this Sunday night at L.A.’s Dodger Stadium, and will be livestreamed on Disney+. But when the Rocket Man’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road finally wraps up for good some time, don’t worry — Elton will still continue to play live, though what that might look like is still up in the air.
Elton’s husband and manager David Furnishtells Variety that the Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour will definitely “be the end of all touring without a question,” but adds, “I hope he still does a one-off every now and then — or maybe, like not in Vegas, but a small residency at some point.”
He explains, “He would love to at some point go and play a lot of the songs he doesn’t normally get to play during his concerts. He has such a huge catalog and has written so many beautiful songs. I think there will definitely be a 2.0 in some shape or form.”
And of course, Elton won’t stop recording or writing songs. Furnish tells Variety that Elton is eager to “work more” with Britney Spears, his “Hold Me Closer” duet partner, and would like to do something with her “in person…because she was in L.A. and he was in London and it was recorded that way.” He adds, “She can pick up the phone and speak to Elton about it at any time.”
As for Elton’s final concerts, the first time he played Dodger Stadium back in 1975, he wore a now-iconic sequined Dodgers uniform. Furnish says for these shows, Elton will “be recreating the spirit of the Dodgers suit on stage,” with help from Gucci, who’s designed all his outfits for the tour.
Bachelorette Gabby Windey is opening up about her split from Erich Schwer.
During Monday night’s semi-finals episode of Dancing with the Stars, while prepping for her waltz routine to Des’ree‘s “I Am Kissing You” with partner Val Chmerkovskiy, the reality star revealed why it meant so much to her.
“For me, it holds a special place because I did just go through a breakup,” Gabby said. “The end of our relationship happened because we weren’t completely in step and in sync with each other on our common goals or just the way we approach life. We weren’t each other’s best match.”
The 31-year-old went on to share that she looks to her own family as role models for the kind of love she wants in her life.
“I’m just so grateful that my dad and my stepmom encompass so many fundamentals and values that I look for in a relationship, like never placing blame” she told Val. “I want to channel that kind of everlasting love in this dance.”
Gabby and Erich, 29, called it quits earlier this month, just two months after getting engaged on season 19 of The Bachelorette.
(WASHINGTON) — The 2022 midterm elections shaped up to be some of the most consequential in the nation’s recent history, with control of Congress at stake.
All 435 seats in the House and 35 of 100 seats in the Senate were on the ballot, as well as several influential gubernatorial elections in battleground states like Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
Democrats were defending their narrow majorities in both chambers and retained control of the Senate, though control of the House isn’t yet clear. But a Republican flip of the lower chamber would be enough to curtail most of President Joe Biden’s legislative agenda and would likely result in investigations against his administration and even his family.
Here is how the news is developing. All times Eastern:
Nov 15, 3:07 AM EST
Arizona Republican Juan Ciscomani projected to win House seat
Republican Juan Ciscomani will win in his election bid to represent Arizona’s 6th Congressional District, ABC News can report, defeating Democrat Kirsten Engel and flipping a House seat for Republicans from retiring Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick.
With 99% of the expected vote in, Ciscomani is leading Engel by 3,502 votes, 50.5% to 49.5%.
Ciscomani, a longtime aide to Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, is seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. He ran a focused campaign — without an endorsement from former President Donald Trump — on issues including border security, the economy and “conservative family values.”
Ciscomani tweeted a thread on Monday accepting victory and thanking Ducey for encouraging him to run and for “being a sounding board through this process”
“In the best country in the world where anything is possible, I am now honored to represent my hometown in the U.S. Congress. I am ready to serve, find solutions for our district’s challenges, & be a strong independent voice for our community,” he wrote.
He beats Engel, a former Environmental Protection Agency attorney and Arizona state senator, who served just nine months before resigning to run for the vacant seat. Her campaign focused on abortion rights, making for a competitive race in the district which covers most of Pima County, including most of Tucson and Cochise County.
Nov 15, 12:21 AM EST
GOP Rep. David Schweikert holds House seat, Dems’ long-shot hope of holding majority fades
Incumbent Republican Rep. David Schweikert will win reelection in Arizona, ABC News can report, projected to defeat Democratic challenger Jevin Hodge and hold a House seat for Republicans.
With 99% of the expected vote in, Schweikert is leading Hodge by 3,008 votes, 50.4% to 49.6%.
Hodge had led Schweikert leading into the weekend, but with larger drops in recent days from Republican areas in Maricopa County, Hodge’s odds of overtaking Schweikert faded, along with Democrats’ hopes of keeping the House.
This will be Schweikert’s seventh term in Congress but his first for District 1 after redistricting. Schweikert fought characterizations of corruption after the House reprimanded him last year for 11 ethics rules violations for improper spending by his office and his campaign. He was fined $50,000 as part of a settlement agreement to end the yearslong probe.
Hodge would have become the first Black Arizonan elected to Congress had he won and is seen as a rising star in the Democratic Party.
Nov 14, 9:23 PM EST
Katie Hobbs projected to beat Kari Lake for Arizona governor
Democrat Katie Hobbs is projected to win her race against Republican Kari Lake, ABC News reports, flipping the Arizona governor’s seat for the first time in more than a decade as midterm voters across the nation appear to have delivered a stunning rejection of election deniers and extremists in midterm contests.
Hobbs, the incumbent secretary of state, cast her matchup with Lake as a choice between sanity and “chaos.”
“Do we want to elect a governor whose entire platform boils down to being a sore loser — or a governor who’s going to get the job done for Arizona?” Hobbs said on the campaign trail, calling Lake her “election-denying, media-hating, conspiracy-loving, chaos-causing opponent.”
Hobbs served eight years in the Arizona Legislature before being elected secretary of state and gaining prominence in 2020 with her defense of Arizona’s voting system against a barrage of baseless fraud accusations that then-President Donald Trump and his allies thrust in the national spotlight.
Nov 14, 6:55 PM EST
McDaniel says she’ll run for another term leading RNC: Source
Republican National Committee (RNC) Chair Ronna McDaniel indicated Monday that she’ll run for another term atop the GOP.
A source familiar with the matter confirmed to ABC News that McDaniel signaled her reelection bid on a call with members Monday morning, during which she said she would run if party members wanted her to and that she plans to move forward seeking reelection.
Her bid for the chairmanship, which will be decided in January, comes after disappointing midterm election results for the party.
McDaniel has served three terms atop the RNC and was first elected in 2017 with an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
Should she win reelection, McDaniel would serve as party chair during the 2024 presidential election, which by party bylaws would force her to remain neutral during the race even if Trump, the de facto party leader, runs for a third time.
Nov 13, 9:47 PM EST
Hobbs’ campaign manager calls her ‘the unequivocal favorite’
Katie Hobbs’ campaign manager, Nicole DeMont, made the following statement after tonight’s vote drop from Maricopa County appeared to fall short of Republican Kari Lake’s hopes, not quite declaring victory for Hobbs but saying it’s going that way.
“With the latest tabulation results from Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties, Katie Hobbs is the unequivocal favorite to become the next governor of Arizona,” she said. “Katie has led since the first round of ballots were counted, and after tonight’s results, it’s clear that this won’t change.”
Hobbs, a Democrat, is leading Lake by about 26,011 votes in the yet-to-be-called race, according to unofficial county tallies so far. There are about 160,000 ballots left statewide.
Maricopa County dropped approximately 97,000 more ballots Sunday night, and Lake netted about 9,000 votes there. Just ahead of Maricopa, Pima County released another 12,000 votes, where Hobbs netted more votes. Pinal County also dropped 3,000 votes, giving Lake a slight boost.
-ABC News’ Libby Cathey
Nov 13, 6:24 PM EST
Election-denying candidate Doug Mastriano fully concedes in Pennsylvania race
Doug Mastriano, the election-denying candidate for Pennsylvania governor, officially conceded Sunday night to Democrat Josh Shapiro, the state attorney general, capping a week in which the state senator was silent about his defeat but never seemed poised to challenge the results, despite previously casting doubt on the integrity of the election.
“Difficult to accept as the results are, there is no right course but to concede, which I do, and I look to the challenges ahead,” Mastriano wrote in a statement. “Josh Shapiro will be our next governor, and I ask everyone to give him the opportunity to lead and pray that he leads well.”
Mastriano, one of the proponents of baseless claims of 2020 election fraud, suggested multiple times in the weeks prior to Election Day that he questioned the methods by which votes were counted this year.
In his concession statement, he argued that “Pennsylvania is in great need of election reform.”
-ABC News’ Will McDuffie and Oren Oppenheim
Nov 13, 1:42 PM EST
Cortez Masto celebrates Nevada Senate win: ‘I will always fight’
Nevada Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto took center stage on Sunday at the Carpenters International Training Center in Las Vegas to celebrate her victory in last week’s election, which ensured Democrats will retain control of Congress.
“Thank you, Nevada. Thank you. I am so grateful to every volunteer who knocked on doors, who made phone calls, who wrote postcards and letters and who had the courage to publicly stand up and fight for our state,” she said.
“To all Nevadans, whether you voted for me or not, I will always fight for you always,” she said.
Cortez Masto said her narrow win over Republican Adam Laxalt, a former state attorney general and son and grandson of former senators, was not just about her but the people of the state, working-class families and the Latinos who have continued to support her throughout her time as senator.
“Like all of you, I’ve never forgotten where I come from and where my family came from … I will continue to fight for our Latino community,” she said.
More broadly, she said, “I cannot thank you enough for all of the time, commitment, effort — everything that you put into this election. Now we celebrate, and let’s continue the work.”
Laxalt has yet to speak or concede. He had acknowledged on social media that as vote-counting continued, Cortez Masto was narrowing the gap between them and could win.
-ABC News’ Abby Cruz
Nov 13, 1:26 PM EST
House progressives speak out after midterm results
Washington Democratic Rep. Pramila Jayapal told reporters on Sunday that in the wake of her party’s surprising midterm performance, in which they bucked history to limit their losses in the House, next year’s Congress will see the “most progressive Democratic caucus in decades.”
Jayapal, chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC), said at a news conference with newly elected lawmakers that her group will have 100-plus members come January.
She said that, despite the pattern of past cycles and the Biden White House’s unpopularity, there was “no red wave” and a majority of the CPC-endorsed candidates won their races so far.
Jayapal wouldn’t say if she’ll support Speaker Nancy Pelosi if the California lawmaker runs again for leadership — or if she herself will run for House leadership.
For the lame-duck session before the next Congress starts in January, Jayapal said her group’s goals include raising the debt limit and reviving the child tax credit. She said CPC is holding an executive board meeting soon to lay out a plan.
Incoming Florida Rep. Maxwell Frost — who will be the first Gen Z member of Congress — said at the news conference that what young people care about is not “anything different than anyone else.”
“The difference is the lens in which they see those same issues,” he said.
Control of the House remained unprojected as of Sunday as vote-counting continues.
(NEW YORK) — Here are the scores from Monday’s sports events:
NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Toronto 115, Detroit 111
Charlotte 112, Orlando 105
Miami 113, Phoenix 112
Boston 126, Oklahoma City 122
Atlanta 121, Milwaukee 106
LA Clippers 122, Houston 106
Golden State 132, San Antonio 95
NATIONAL HOCKEY LEAGUE
NY Islanders 4, Ottawa 2
Calgary 6, Los Angeles 5
Carolina 3, Chicago 0
St. Louis 3, Colorado 2
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Washington 32, Philadelphia 21
TOP-25 COLLEGE BASKETBALL
Baylor 95, Northern CO 62
Northern Iowa at Virginia (Postponed)
Houston 83, Oral Roberts 45
Texas Tech 64, LA Tech 55
NW Stae 64, TCU 63
Creighton 94, Holy Cross 65
Illinois 103, Monmouth 65
UCLA 86, Norfolk State 56
(NEW YORK) — Weekly flu cases, hospitalizations and deaths have nearly doubled for the second week in a row, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
So far this season, there have been at least 2.8 million illnesses, 23,000 hospitalizations and 1,300 deaths from influenza.
By comparison, the prior week’s estimates had illnesses at 1.6 million, hospitalizations at 13,000 and deaths at 730.
Additionally, the cumulative hospitalization rate currently sits at 5 per 100,000, which is the highest at this point in the season since the 2010-11 season, as far back as statistics are available.
What’s more, 6,465 new patients were admitted to hospital this past week with flu complications, according to the CDC, compared to 4,326 the previous week.
Fourteen states — mostly in the southeast and south-central regions of the U.S. — as well as New York City and Washington, D.C., are reporting “very high” levels of influenza-like activity.
Experts have stressed that getting the flu shot is the best way to protect Americans from severe illness and death, but vaccine uptake has been sluggish in comparison with previous flu seasons during the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to CDC data, flu vaccination among children remains similar to last season but is lower than two years ago.
As of the week ending Oct. 22, the latest date for which data is available, 24.8% have been vaccinated against flu in comparison with 32.1% at this time in October 2020.
CDC data shows that flu vaccinations among pregnant women are much lower compared to previous seasons.
At the end of September, the latest date for which data is available, 21% of pregnant women were vaccinated against the flu. By comparison, 26.4% had been vaccinated by the end of September 2021 and 38% had been at the end of September 2020.
This is especially concerning because pregnant women are more likely to fall severely ill and die compared to women who are not pregnant.
Receiving a flu shot can lower a pregnant woman’s risk of being hospitalized from flu by around 40%, according to the CDC.
Additionally, a recent study jointly conducted by the CDC and the University of Auckland, in New Zealand, found that women who receive a flu vaccine have a lower risk of complications, including premature birth, low birthweight and stillbirth.
The newest data comes as the U.S. experiences a surge of respiratory illnesses, including respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV.
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services showed 78% of the estimated 40,000 pediatric hospital beds in the country are filled with patients — the highest figure recorded in two years.
ABC News’ Sony Salzman and Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
(NEW YORK) — A bus carrying 18 children in Kentucky crashed Monday morning, causing multiple injuries, according to police officials.
Kentucky State Police said the school bus exited the roadway on state Route 40 when it went over the embankment injuring the students and the bus driver.
According to Magoffin County Schools Superintendent Chris Meadows, the students and the driver suffered minor to severe injuries and were sent to local area hospitals by ambulance and helicopter.
Some students were taken to the hospital by their parents, Kentucky police said. No fatalities were reported following the crash.
“Kentucky State Police is on the scene and we are responding swiftly,” Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said in a statement on Facebook. “Please join me in praying for all those involved. We will continue to share updates as available.”
According to police officials, the students’ ages ranged from elementary to high school-aged kids. Before the crash, the bus was en route dropping off students at various schools. The school bus did not have any seatbelts, Kentucky police said.
Officials are investigating the crash.
ABC News’ Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report.
(UVALDE, Texas) — The Uvalde school district foundation tasked with building a school to replace Robb Elementary announced its proposal Monday to build a new $50 million school two miles from the site of the massacre that took 21 lives this past May.
“This was a really emotional experience for me, and I think many of the other committee members,” Natalia Arias, co-chair of the community advisory committee for the project, said Monday night during a presentation of the proposal. “We had to really think hard about what types of people needed to feel the safest and the most proud of the space.”
The proposal for the new school includes 39 classrooms across three grade levels, three science and technology rooms, two art rooms and 14 special education classrooms. The proposed site is next to Flores Elementary, an existing pre-K through first-grade school.
The proposal will be presented to the school board for approval Wednesday, when community members can share their opinions. Approximately 50 people attended the presentation Monday, including some school board members and the interim superintendent, Gary Patterson.
The group has not proposed a name for the new school, instead saying that process will take more time. The current Robb Elementary School building will be demolished, but plans to redevelop the site have yet to be released.
“The committee recognizes that not keeping the school at its current location could create a void in the local neighborhood,” Eulalio “Lalo” Diaz, a committee representative, said. “The redevelopment of the Robb site has to be thoughtful and include the wide range of stakeholders necessary to get that right.”
Robb Elementary School has a history before the May shooting. In 1970, it was involved in one of the largest demonstrations in the Chicano rights movement: a walkout protesting the firing of a beloved teacher. That history wasn’t mentioned during the proposal presentation Monday, but a spokesperson for the Charles Butt Foundation acknowledged that the activism history at Robb Elementary is something the committee has been considering.
Arias said they are working on creating “a campus that reflects the richness of the community’s culture.”
Huckabee Architects, the architecture firm that has donated a value of $8 million of their labor to the project plans, to break ground on the school in June 2023. The school will be finished in October 2024, according to the project principal, Jeff Rodriguez.
The school will be funded by donations. According to the foundation’s executive director, Tim Miller, they have secured $18 million in donations so far. This includes $10 million from the Charles Butt Foundation, the philanthropic organization of the CEO of the popular Texas supermarket chain HEB.
The prevalence of bailouts — high-speed car chases between law enforcement and immigrants crossing the border — was considered in the school’s location and design, according to the presentation. The frequency of bailouts fed a diminished sense of urgency when responding to the scene during the shooting, according to the Texas investigative report in the wake of the mass shooting.
The new school will be informed by this past but provide hope for the future, too, said committee member Bryan Perez.
“I was very cautious on, are we going to be able to embrace all the different aspects of reflecting why we’re here but also being able to move forward?” Perez said. “Knowing that we’re going to be working on creating a facility for our community that’s gonna last for nearly a century.”
Uvalde:365 is a continuing ABC News series reported from Uvalde and focused on the Texas community and how it forges on in the shadow of tragedy.
(NEW YORK) — A flood of fake accounts impersonating public figures and brands overtook Twitter last week after the launch of paid verification badges, raising fears about the supercharged spread of misinformation.
Some of the misinformation carried high stakes. A fake Eli Lilly profile garnered at least 15,000 likes for a false post announcing that the diabetes drug insulin would be given away for free. Twitter ultimately suspended the user.
A slew of other impostor accounts posed as basketball star LeBron James, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, gaming company Nintendo of America and even Tesla, the electric vehicle maker run by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk.
Twitter Blue, the newly revamped subscription service that allows users to access verification if they pay $8 a month, appeared to be unavailable on the company’s Apple iOS app for at least some users on Friday – just two days after its debut.
Before the launch of paid verification, Musk said the service would elevate users who lack the prominence previously required to attain a blue check mark. “Widespread verification will democratize journalism & empower the voice of the people,” he said.
Still, users who subscribed to the service have retained their blue check marks, leaving open the possibility of more impostors. To address the problem, Twitter has temporarily restricted verified accounts from changing their display names, the company said.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Here are some simple ways to identify fake accounts on Twitter:
Click the blue check mark on the profile page
Twitter offers one surefire way to determine whether a prankster has replicated a prominent account.
The technique depends on the prior rules governing verification. Previously, Twitter verified celebrities, politicians, journalists and prominent figures on a case-by-case basis using a government-issued ID in an effort to prevent impersonation. Users who accessed verification under the old system retained their blue check mark after the change.
In turn, Twitter allows users to easily determine whether an account was authenticated under the previous, rigorous system or under the relatively lax current one. If the account appears prominent but received verification through the subscription service, then it’s almost certainly a fraud.
If a user navigates to the profile page of the account in question, he or she can click the blue check mark that appears next to the account’s name.
After clicking the check mark, a pop-up box delivers one of two messages. If Twitter authenticated the account under the previous model, the message says: “This account is verified because it’s notable in government, news, entertainment, or another designated category.”
If Twitter verified the account through the $8 paid verification service, the message says: “This account is verified because it’s subscribed to Twitter Blue.”
If a purportedly prominent account was verified under Twitter Blue, it’s quite likely a fake.
Assess the number of followers
Typically, accounts belonging to well-known figures or brands boast a large number of followers. Musk, for instance, counts 115.5 million followers; while Walmart carries more than a million followers.
If an account claims to be a prominent figure or business but lacks a significant number of followers, that’s a dead giveaway that the user in question is likely a fake.
Check the profile picture
Another hint for account sleuths centers on the profile picture. Oftentimes, a fake account features a stock image or no image at all.
By contrast, authentic accounts offer high-quality images or authentic logos that mark the account as legitimate.
Look for a bio
Similarly, fake or bot accounts often forgo the inclusion of a bio, personal information that appears on a profile page below an account’s username.
Prominent users, however, almost always include a tagline or resume as part of their profile.
Closely examine the spelling of the username
A sneaky tactic deployed by fake accounts relies on close mirroring of the official account’s username.
Soon after the launch of Twitter Blue, a fake account popped up mimicking the streaming service Apple TV+, but the fraud carried a very slight modification.
The username for the streaming service appears as @AppleTVPlus but the impostor simply replaced the second “l” with a capitalized “i,” making the fake name appear almost identical as: @AppleTVPIus.
The lesson: Look very closely at the username of a potential fake, or even copy-paste the two usernames into a different interface that allows for easier comparison.
(NEW YORK) — Federal prosecutors in New York said Monday they have declined to file criminal charges against former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, more than a year after his apartment and office were searched by the FBI.
The grand jury investigation has concluded “and that based on information currently available to the Government, criminal charges are not forthcoming,” prosecutors said in a letter to the court.
Prosecutors asked the court to end the appointment of Barbara S. Jones, the retired federal judge who had been appointed special master in the case.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had been deciding whether Giuliani, one of Trump’s lawyers and a close adviser, violated lobbying laws when he campaigned for the ouster of then-U.S. Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch from Ukraine.
The FBI seized more than a dozen devices from Giuliani’s home and office during a search in April 2021. Jones had been reviewing the contents.
Giuliani “was very pleased” when he learned Monday he would face no foreign lobbying charges, his attorney told ABC News.
The attorney, Bob Costello, said he informed Giuliani shortly after the U.S. attorney’s office issued its letter.
“We are very pleased that they did this,” Costello said. “I’m not surprised that they did this because I saw the evidence, or lack thereof, and knew Rudy Giuliani didn’t do anything wrong.”
“They deviated from office policy by issuing a statement like this, which is very nice, because there’s a memorialization now that Rudy Giuliani didn’t do anything wrong in Ukraine.” Costello added he wished prosecutors had done it sooner.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment beyond the letter that was filed on the public docket.
Costello had denied any wrongdoing by his client speaking to ABC News at the time Giuliani’s home and office were raided last year.
“They’re trying to make Rudy Giuliani look like a criminal. He has done nothing wrong,” Costello said in April 2021.
On April 28, 2021, Giuliani was awoken by federal agents at 6 a.m. at his home on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Costello told ABC News. Agents took electronic devices, including Giuliani’s cellphone, while at his office they seized devices, including a computer belonging to longtime Giuliani assistant Jo Ann Zafonte, Costello said.
Giuliani, though he is now off the hook in the Southern District of New York, he remains a target of criminal investigators in Georgia over his role in seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
ABC News’ Lucien Bruggeman, Olivia Rubin, Mark Crudele and John Santucci contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The House Jan. 6 committee said Monday it was evaluating all of its options after former President Donald Trump sued to block a subpoena from the panel for documents and testimony.
“Former President Trump has failed to comply with the Select Committee’s subpoena requiring him to appear for a deposition today,” the committee chair, Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson, and Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the vice chair, said in a statement.
“Even though the former President initially suggested that he would testify before the committee, he has since filed a lawsuit asking the courts to protect him from giving testimony,” Thompson and Cheney said.
They said that Trump’s “attorneys have made no attempt to negotiate an appearance of any sort, and his lawsuit parades out many of the same arguments that courts have rejected repeatedly over the last year. The truth is that Donald Trump, like several of his closest allies, is hiding from the Select Committee’s investigation and refusing to do what more than a thousand other witnesses have done.”
Trump’s attorneys have described a different situation.
In their lawsuit, his lawyers argued that he retained immunity as a former president and that while other presidents and former presidents have voluntarily agreed to testify before Congress, his legal team claimed that no president has been compelled to do so.
They described the committee subpoena as “invalid” because they said it did not further a legislative purpose and claimed it was overly broad and infringed on his First Amendment rights.
Thompson told reporters Monday night that Trump’s lawsuit “kinda puts everything on hold right now” and said the committee will “take a position at some point.”
Thompson didn’t rule out a vote to hold Trump in contempt but said the panel first needed to determine how it plans to respond to the lawsuit.
“I’m saying the first thing we do is see how we address the lawsuit and at some point after that, we’ll address the path forward,” he said.
Committee member Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., told ABC News that “our three general avenues for potential response are referral for criminal contempt, an effort to get a court to compel participation through a civil contempt proceeding and then exercising inherent powers of contempt of Congress, which we haven’t done yet.”
“Beyond that, we can use the general social-shaming mechanisms of American political culture to raise the point that everybody should be complying with the law, including former presidents of the United States,” Raskin said.
The Jan. 6 committee had extended the deadline for Trump to comply with their documents request by one week. The initial deadline was Nov. 4.
The committee also asked Trump to appear for a deposition on Monday.
As ABC News previously reported, this move was expected by Trump’s team to attempt to run out the clock on the subpoena before Republicans potentially retook the House following the 2022 midterm elections.
With some midterm results still outstanding, ABC News estimates that the GOP could gain the majority in the chamber in January, though control has not been projected.
