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Fashion icon Andre Leon Talley dead at 73

January 19, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Fashion icon and former Vogue editor André Leon Talley has died at age 73, a statement released on his official Instagram confirmed late Tuesday.

“It is with great sadness we announce the passing of André Leon Talley on January 18, 2022 in New York,” the statement read. “Mr. Talley was the larger-than-life, longtime creative director at Vogue during its rise to dominance as the world’s fashion bible.”

The cause of his death was not disclosed.

“Over the past five decades as an international icon was a close confidant of Yves Saint Laurent, Karl Lagerfeld, Paloma Picasso and he had a penchant for discovering, nurturing and celebrating young designers. His byline appeared in Vanity Fair, HG, Interview, Ebony and Women’s Wear Daily and he was the editor of Numero Russia,” the statement continued. “Mr. Talley wrote several books, including Valentino, A.L.T.: A Memoir, A.L.T. 365+ and Little Black Dress for Assouline, and contributed to Valentino: At the Emperor’s Table and Cartier Panthère. He was the subject of the documentary The Gospel According to André and his recent memoir, The Chiffon Trenches became a New York Times Best Seller.”

Talley was an American fashion journalist known for his work in shaping U.S. Vogue and fashion as a whole. He was the magazine’s fashion news director from 1983 to 1987 and its creative director from 1988 to 1995. He was later made editor-at-large, a position he held until 2013.

Talley, who later became the head of Numéro Russia magazine, remained an occasional contributor to Vogue following his departure as editor, and in 2019, wrote a piece honoring his late friend, designer Karl Lagerfeld, who died in February of that year.

“In 2014, he was named artistic director of Zappos Couture, and he has been on the Board of Trustees of Savannah College of Art and Design since 2000,” the statement on his Instagram reads. “Mr. Talley was awarded the Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres from the French Republic in 2020 and the North Carolina Governor’s award for literature in 2021. He was a long-standing member of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church.”

Apart from his contributions to Vogue, the six-foot-six star, known and loved for his sense of humor, honesty and loud, luxurious personal style — especially when it came to designer caftans, was an author, curator and TV personality. He starred in “America’s Next Top Model” for four seasons, as a judge, made cameos on “Empire” and the first “Sex and the City” movie, dressed and profiled then-first lady Michelle Obama for Vogue, had a front row seat at the most prestigious couture shows around the world, became the muse and confidant of many designers — including Oscar de la Renta, whom he curated a museum exhibition for in 2018 — and, for many years, was the right-hand man of fashion’s leading lady: Anna Wintour.

In 2017, filmmaker Kate Novack released a documentary, “The Gospel According to Andre,” about the style legend — starting from his humble upbringing to his rise to the top of the fashion industry.

Throughout his career, the Durham, North Carolina, native made efforts to introduce more culturally diverse voices into the overwhelmingly white fashion industry and spoke out about his struggles with racism. In his 2020 book, “The Chiffon Trenches: A Memoir,” he recalled the emotion he felt when Edward Enninful was named the first Black editor-in-chief of British Vogue. That same year, Talley sent shockwaves across the fashion world when he spoke out about the lack of Black talent at Vogue. “At one point, I was the only Black person on Anna’s staff,” he told MailOnline.

In his 2003 memoir, “A.L.T.,” Talley described his childhood in Durham, where he was raised by his grandmother and worked as a taxi driver to save money. When it was time for college, he enrolled in North Carolina Central University, where he majored in French, and later, got a scholarship to Brown University, for his master’s. Soon after graduating, Talley got his first job in fashion as a volunteer assistant to Diana Vreeland at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Once inside the fashion bubble, he landed a position at Andy Warhol’s Interview magazine, where his career as a journalist took off, and later moved around to WWD, Vanity Fair, Vogue and various other publications.

Talley had largely stayed off social media since 2021, when he was involved in a financial mess over the ownership of the Westchester mansion where he lived since 2004, and which previously belonged to the former CEO of Manolo Blahnik.

After hearing of his death, fashion insiders and friends have taken to social media to share their condolences and honor his memory.

Designer Diane von Furstenberg wrote on Instagram, “Good bye darling André ❤️🙏… no one saw the world in a more glamorous way than you did ❤️🙏… no one was grander and more soulful than you were ❤️🙏…the world will be less joyfulI ❤️🙏 I have loved you and laughed with you for 45 years…. I miss your loud screams …I love you soooo much ❤️🙏.”

Marc Jacobs posted a throwback photo of himself with Talley on Instagram, and wrote in the caption, “I am in shock. You championed me and you have been my friend since my beginning. Our chats, the moments we shared….oh my friend. You and your passions were larger than life. I love you and I will miss you dear Andre. Rest In Peace.”

Lindsay Peoples Wagner, editor in chief of The Cut, wrote on Instagram: “Not even sure how to wrap my mind around all you’ve done, and the legacy you’ve left behind, but you gave us hope and aspirations that we never would have dreamed if it hadn’t been for you andre.”

“Thank you for your knowledge and passion for fashion and glamour,” designer Bob Mackie wrote on Instagram. “You will be missed.”

Hollywood and Broadway praised Talley as a man who dressed himself and others with a singular vision. “Rest well king,” Viola Davis wrote on Instagram.

Talley was a “truly original heart, spirit and mind. He cast a giant shadow and will not soon be forgotten,” author and actor Harvey Fierstein said on Twitter.

“For a little black gay boy who reached for the stars from the south there were few people I could look up to up there amongst the stars who looked like me just more fab except for you Andre,” playwright Jeremy O. Harris said on Twitter. “For a generation of boys Andre Leon Talley was a beacon of grace and aspiration. RIP.”

Vigil held for woman pushed in front of train and killed by stranger in NYC

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — Dozens of New Yorkers, leaders and activists came out to Times Square Tuesday night to honor Michelle Go, who was killed when she was pushed in front of a subway train by a stranger in what her family called a “senseless act of violence.”

On Saturday morning, Simon Martial allegedly pushed Go in front of an oncoming train on the N/Q/R/W line inside the Times Square-42nd Street subway station, police said.

News of Go’s death disturbed the city’s Asian American community, which has seen a rise in hate crimes over the last two years, according to Ben Wei, the founder and executive director of the nonprofit Asians Fighting Injustice. Wei’s group helped to organize the vigil in Times Square as a way to remember Go and send a message that the city did not tolerate hate.

“Today we are here to honor the memory of Michelle Alyssa Go and pay respect to the way she lived her life,” he said.

A portrait of Go, 40, was displayed on a big screen billboard behind the steps and many of the vigil members had her picture in her hands.

Go’s family said in a statement that they remembered her as a “beautiful, brilliant, kind, and intelligent woman who loved her family and friends, loved to travel the world and help others.”

Go worked as a consultant for Deloitte and spent her free time volunteering as an advocate for the homeless, according to New York ABC station WABC.

Wei said he talked with a lot of Go’s friends and co-workers over the last few days and they told him she was a caring, humble woman.

“Michelle was giving, she was the best friend that anyone could have,” Wei said.

Martial has been charged with murder and is awaiting arraignment. New York Police Department Commissioner Keechant Sewell said during a Saturday press conference that the attack was “unprovoked” and that Go didn’t appear to interact with Martial.

The investigation was ongoing. Part of that investigation will look into whether the attack was a hate crime.

ABC News wasn’t able to reach an attorney for Martial for additional comments.

Go’s family demanded justice.

“We are in a state of shock and grieving the loss of our daughter, sister and friend. We hope Michelle will be remembered for how she lived and not just how she died,” the family said in a statement. “Her life was taken too soon in a senseless act of violence and we pray that she gets the justice she deserves.”

Elected officials echoed that call during the vigil.

U.S. Rep. Grace Meng said New Yorkers are terrified by the recent jump in Asian American hate crimes. In the fall, the FBI released data that showed hate crimes against Asians was up by 76% in 2020.

Meng vowed to bring changes that would ensure that the community could walk the streets safe.

“We come together today and in the weeks and months ahead to honor the work and legacy of people like Michelle,” she said.

Mayor Eric Adams said he would increase police patrols and pair them with mental health professionals to prevent more subway attacks.

“We must ensure we have a plan of intervention and prevention,” he said at the vigil.

New baguette price sparks ire of some in France

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(PARIS) — The new price of baguettes at a leading French supermarket is sparking outrage from some.

As of last week, customers in Leclerc stores were greeted with the new baguette price — 29 cents (in Euros).

The president of the Leclerc supermarket chain, Michel-Édouard Leclerc, announced Jan. 11 that baguettes would remain at that price in Leclerc stores across France for a minimum of four months.

“Yes, blocking the price of the baguette at 29 cents is quite a symbol!” Leclerc tweeted Wednesday, officially launching the initiative, adding that: “The baguette is a benchmark for the evolution of prices and purchasing power for consumers.”

That is 10 cents cheaper than Leclerc competitors Intermarché and Super U, and 16 cents less than at Carrefour stores. Meanwhile, the average baguette price in France is 90 cents.

This new price stirred the ire of five key players in the industry that branded the measure as “shameful” and “destructive” in a joint press release signed by the national farmers’ union FNSEA, the National Association of French Milling (ANMF), the National Confederation of French Bakery and Pastry shops (CNBPF), the organization representative of the French cereals sector Intercéréales and the General Association of Wheat Producers (AGPB) on Wednesday.

“In France, there are 450,000 people doing all this work in the cereal sector. It’s not just bread, but the whole cereal industry. I think it’s denigrating the whole industry!” the president of Intercéréales Jean-François Loiseau said to ABC News, arguing that “every day, a French person eats 30 cents worth of bread on average. When Leclerc sells his baguette for 29 cents, if I follow the same proportion, it means that he offers the French to eat bread for 10 cents every day. That’s a 20-cent difference every day. Is the subject of purchasing power in France at 20 cents a day, on bread?”

In the joint statement, the five organizations emphasized the difficult circumstances they said they are facing. For many years now, they said they have been fighting to be paid more fairly, while the price of wheat has exploded worldwide in recent months, and production costs are also increasing “strongly.”

Some customers had mixed reactions to the pricing announcement.

To Youssef Aïtbaila, 39, who just bought a baguette at the boulangerie Les Pyramides in Colombes, a northwestern suburb of Paris, Leclerc “is right” because “everything has become very expensive.”

“It’s always good to be able to give everyone access to a cheap baguette because it’s true that bread has increased a lot,” said Emilie Péré, 38, a client and mother of one.

At the Leclerc store across the street, 30-year-old Justine Grangette wasn’t too thrilled about the decision, insisting that it’s part of Michel-Edouard Leclerc’s “mentality” of cutting prices. “Anyway, I will continue to buy from my local baker.”

After an increase in 2021, the purchasing power per household in France is expected to fall by 0.5% in the first half of the year according to an assessement by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Insee).

Biden administration speaks out on federal blood donation policy impacting gay men amid national blood shortage

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — For the first time, the Biden administration is commenting on the Food and Drug Administration’s long-time blood donation guidelines, which are impacting the LGBTQ+ community by preventing gay and bisexual men from being eligible blood donors.

The statement, made by a White House official exclusively to ABC News, acknowledges the painful origins of the policy and comes on the heels of the American Red Cross declaring their first-ever national blood crisis last week, as supplies at hospitals and blood banks become dangerously low.

Current U.S. policy holds that sexually active gay or bisexual men must abstain from sex for at least three months before they’re allowed to donate blood. The rule applies to gay and bisexual men who are monogamous and those who test HIV negative and are practicing safe sex. It also includes gay and bisexual COVID-19 survivors who wish to donate convalescent plasma, rich with antibodies, for research.

The restriction on blood donations came out of the HIV/AIDS crisis of the 1980s, when limited testing technology and capacity existed to screen blood for HIV. In 1983, the FDA implemented a lifetime ban on blood donations from all men who had sex with men after 1977.

The FDA removed the lifetime ban and enacted a 12-month deferral period in 2015, meaning gay or bisexual men had to abstain from having sex with other men for at least 12 months before donating blood. That deferral period was reduced to three months in April 2020 amid blood supply shortages in the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Despite cutting of deferral periods in recent years, the current federal policy remains a blanket policy covering LGBTQ+ people, and does not take into account individual risk.

“The legacy of bans on blood donation continues to be painful, especially for LGBTQI+ communities,” the White House official told ABC News in a statement. “The President is committed to ensuring that this policy is based on science, not fiction or stigma. While there are no new decisions to announce at the moment, the FDA is currently supporting the ‘ADVANCE’ study, a scientific study to develop relevant scientific evidence and inform any potential policy changes.”

In 2020, ABC News broke the story that several major blood donation organizations — including the American Red Cross, Vitalant and OneBlood — announced that they were working together in an FDA-funded study (ADVANCE: Assessing Donor Variability And New Concepts in Eligibility) to provide data to determine if eligibility based on an individual’s risk could replace the time-based deferral system while maintaining the safety of the blood supply.

While the lead researchers involved in the study previously told ABC News their goal was to present their findings to the FDA in late 2021, the FDA revealed to ABC News that the study is ongoing, amid what the American Red Cross is calling “the worst blood shortage in over a decade.”

While the American Red Cross said that there is no clear data that would suggest that changing the current blood donation policy would significantly increase the number of blood donations, if the deferral period were lifted, an additional 360,000 men would likely donate, “which could help save the lives of more than a million people,” according to LGBTQ+ advocacy group GLAAD.

In what seems like a clash over risk vs. stigma, LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and many in the medical community are aligned on the idea that the current federal policy on LGBTQ+ blood donor eligibility is largely discriminatory.

“We believe blood donation eligibility should not be determined by methods that are based upon sexual orientation and we’re committed to achieving this goal,” the American Red Cross said in a statement to ABC News.

Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, also told ABC News, “Just like other individuals throughout the country, many people have sex on a regular basis, including with partners and spouses.”

And in 2020, Dr. Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association, told “Good Morning America”: “The AMA has been a long-term advocate of using a risk-based approach, rather than stigmatizing one group of people. So we believe there should not even be the three-month deferral, but that we should use a risk-based approach.”

ABC News’ Kiara Alfonseca contributed to this report.

Fitz and the Tantrums schedule 2022 US tour

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

Fitz and the Tantrums will be making your HandsClap on the road this summer.

The band has announced a U.S. tour, set to kick off June 1 in Asheville, North Carolina. The outing, which will be co-headlined by St. Paul and the Broken Bones, wraps up June 25 in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

“We’re so excited to hit the road again,” says frontman Michael “Fitz” Fitzpatrick. “More than ever, we appreciate the awesome power of live music and the joy that it brings. We can’t wait to sing, dance, and celebrate with all of you.”

Tickets go on sale this Friday, January 21, at 10 a.m. local time. Visit FitzandtheTantrums.com for the full list of dates and all ticket info.

Fitz and the Tantrums’ most recent album is 2019’s All the Feels. Last year, Fitzpatrick released his debut solo album, Head Up High.

U2’s Bono feels “embarrassed” hearing his voice on the radio

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

When it comes to a way to like his own voice, Bono still hasn’t found what he’s looking for.

On a new episode of The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast, the U2 frontman says he feels “embarrassed” when he hears his singing, particularly on the group’s earlier recordings, explaining that, while he thinks the his band mates sound “incredible,” he finds his voice to be “very strained.”

“I’ve been in a car when one of our songs has come on the radio and I’ve been the color of, as we say in Dublin, scarlet,” Bono says. “I’m just so embarrassed.”

During the interview, Bono shares a story about a fellow rock star who had a similar disdain for the U2 frontman’s voice, the late Robert Palmer. He says Palmer once approached U2 bassist Adam Clayton and griped, “God, would you ever tell your singer to just take down the keys a little bit? He’d do himself a favor, his voice a favor, and he’d do us all a favor who have to listen to him.”

Bono adds that he feels he “only became a singer, like, recently.”

“Maybe that hasn’t happened yet for some people’s ears,” he laughs. “And I understand that.”

Another thing Bono isn’t all that jazzed about: the name U2.

“I still don’t really like the name,” he says. Guitarist The Edge adds that they only picked U2 in the first place because, of the potential candidates, it was the one they “hated the least.”

While Bono may have his own issues with his voice, that doesn’t seem to be bothering the voters for the Oscars, who placed U2’s new single “Your Song Saved My Life” — from the animated film Sing 2 — on the shortlist to be nominated for Best Original Song.

Verizon, AT&T delay 5G rollout around some airports after stark warnings from US airlines

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — A showdown between the nation’s major airlines, the FAA and AT&T and Verizon appears to be cooling after both telecom giants agreed at the last minute to pause a portion of their 5G-C rollout on Wednesday.

“At our sole discretion we have voluntarily agreed to temporarily defer turning on a limited number of towers around certain airport runways as we continue to work with the aviation industry and the FAA to provide further information about our 5G deployment,” AT&T said in a statement Tuesday.

Verizon followed AT&T saying, “We have voluntarily decided to limit our 5G network around airports. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and our nation’s airlines have not been able to fully resolve navigating 5G around airports, despite it being safe and fully operational in more than 40 other countries.”

CEOs from American, United, Delta and seven other major carriers warned of “significant” disruptions in the country’s aviation system if the 5G rollout continued as planned.

Aviation officials are concerned that the frequency used for 5G may interfere with airplanes’ radio altimeters — devices used by pilots to measure the distance between the aircraft and the ground in order to land.

In the letter, U.S. airline leaders wrote to government officials Monday asking that the wireless carriers not deploy 5G within two miles of runways at certain airports.

“This will allow 5G to be deployed while avoiding harmful impacts on the aviation industry, traveling public, supply chain, vaccine distribution, our workforce and broader economy,” the CEOs wrote.

The FAA warned pilots won’t be able to use radio altimeters to land at 88 airports closest to Verizon and AT&T’s 5G towers. Earlier this month, the FAA and wireless carriers agreed to implement “buffer zones” around 50 airports across the country to try to mitigate the issue.

Airline officials, however, said this is not enough. United Airlines said the current plan will have “devastating” impacts on its operation, impacting an estimated 1.25 million of the carrier’s passengers and at least 15,000 flights.

“We won’t compromise on safety – full stop,” United said in a statement.

Captain Dennis Tajer, an American Airlines 737 pilot and a spokesperson for the Allied Pilots Association, also called the rollout “unsafe.”

“We’re not going to fly the airplane unless it’s safe,” Tajer told ABC News. “But putting that added distraction of other systems going wrong close to the ground is not the way you run a safety culture.”

The telecom giants have insisted 5G-C Band technology is safe and has been proven in more than 40 other countries, albeit at much lower power levels than what’s planned in the U.S.

In a statement, AT&T made clear its frustration with the federal government, writing in part: “We are frustrated by the FAA’s inability to do what nearly 40 countries have done, which is to safely deploy 5G technology without disrupting aviation services, and we urge it do so in a timely manner. We are launching our advanced 5G services everywhere else as planned with the temporary exception of this limited number of towers.”

When asked why the FAA did not act over the past two years, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said, “There will be lots of time to look back and see how we got here. And I know many of you will do that. And, of course, that is understandable. But right now, over the next 24, or less than 24 hours, what we’re focused on is trying to come to a solution that will minimize travel — you know disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations — on our economic recovery.”

President Biden thanked Verizon and AT&T for the delay, saying in a statement, “This agreement will avoid potentially devastating disruptions to passenger travel, cargo operations, and our economic recovery, while allowing more than 90 percent of wireless tower deployment to occur as scheduled.”

The president said the agreement “protects flight safety and allows aviation operations to continue without significant disruption and will bring more high-speed internet options to millions of Americans.”

ABC News’ Mina Kaji, Mary Bruce and Sarah Kolinovsky contributed to this report.

Judge blocks hospital from turning off ventilator of severely ill COVID-19 patient

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(COON RAPIDS, Minn.) — A Minnesota man with COVID who had been fighting for his life for months was transferred to a new hospital days after a judge blocked another hospital from taking him off a ventilator.

The decision allowed Scott Quiner, 55, of Buffalo, Minnesota, to be moved to a hospital in Texas, where he is being treated.

Quiner was initially admitted to Waconia Hospital, and then transferred to the ICU at Mercy Hospital, in Coon Rapids, on Nov. 6, after he tested positive for the virus in late October, according to a GoFundMe page in support of Quiner’s family, and the StarTribune, which was first to report this story.

Anne Quiner, Scott’s wife, was granted a temporary restraining order last Thursday against Mercy Hospital, after doctors informed her that day that they would be disconnecting her husband from the ventilator that had been supporting him since the late fall.

The order, from an Anoka County judge, prohibited the hospital from turning off ventilation support, while Anne Quiner searched for a new facility to care for her husband.

According to the court order, Anne Quiner told doctors that as her husband’s health care proxy, she “vehemently disagree[d]” with these actions and did not want her husband’s ventilator turned off.

Over the weekend, Scott Quiner was moved to a facility in Texas for treatment, Marjorie J. Holsten, the Quiner family’s attorney, told ABC News in a statement on Monday.

“A doctor evaluated him and determined that he was severely undernourished. Scott has been receiving much-needed nourishment and hydration and medications that were not given by Mercy,” Holsten said. “He is being weaned off of the sedating drugs and has already been able to follow with his eyes movements the doctor made with his hands. He is making progress in the right direction, though he has a long road ahead of him and continued prayers are appreciated.”

Quiner remains on a ventilator but the oxygen level has been lowered, the family’s lawyer said.

Representatives from Allina Health, which operates Mercy Hospital, told ABC News that they wish the patient and the family well, and have “great confidence” in their team’s work.

“Allina Health has great confidence in the exceptional care provided to our patients, which is administered according to evidence-based practices by our talented and compassionate medical teams. Due to patient privacy, we cannot comment on care provided to specific patients,” the health system wrote. “Allina Health continues to wish the patient and family well. Any information regarding the patient’s on-going care should be directed to his current medical provider.”

Huge asteroid safely passes close to Earth

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(NEW YORK) — A comet more than three times the size of the Empire State Building got up close to Earth’s orbit Tuesday afternoon but was far enough to avoid turning into a sci-fi disaster movie, according to astronomers.

Asteroid 7482 (1994 PC1) flew by Earth around 4:51 p.m., according to NASA, which has been tracking the object for decades through its planetary defense systems.

Researchers say the asteroid, which measures 1 kilometer in diameter, came around .01325 Astronomical Units, or 1.2 million miles, away from Earth’s atmosphere.

That distance didn’t pose any threat to the Earth, according to researchers.

The last time the asteroid was this close to Earth’s orbit was 89 years ago when it flew 0.00752 AU, roughly 699,000 miles, away from the planet, NASA data showed.

The next time the asteroid will come this close to Earth will be in 2105 when it will fly 0.01556 AU, roughly 1.4 million miles, away from Earth.

Jan. 6 committee subpoenas Rudy Giuliani, obtains phone records for Eric Trump, Kimberly Guilfoyle

January 18, 2022 by WDNY Radio

(WASHINGTON) — The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol attack on Tuesday subpoenaed former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani, Jenna Ellis and Sidney Powell, who pushed unfounded claims of widespread election fraud and pushed to overturn the 2020 election results on former President Donald Trump’s behalf.

“The Select Committee’s investigation has revealed credible evidence that you publicly promoted claims that the 2020 election was stolen and participated in attempts to disrupt or delay the certification of the election results based on your allegations,” the panel wrote in letters to Giuliani, Ellis, Powell and Trump aide and attorney Boris Epshteyn.

Within the last week, the House Select Committee also subpoenaed the phone records of Eric Trump, former president Trump’s second eldest son — a source with direct knowledge has confirmed to ABC News. The subpoena was sent to a cell phone provider of Eric Trump.

The group subpoenaed Tuesday worked with Trump to contest the results of the election in the fall of 2020, traveling to key states and huddling with Trump and other White House aides in the Oval Office as the president weighed how to overturn the results.

“The four individuals we’ve subpoenaed today advanced unsupported theories about election fraud, pushed efforts to overturn the election results, or were in direct contact with the former President about attempts to stop the counting of electoral votes,” Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement. “We expect these individuals to join the nearly 400 witnesses who have spoken with the Select Committee as the committee works to get answers for the American people about the violent attack on our democracy.”

Ellis also circulated two legal memos urging former Vice President Mike Pence to reject or delay the count of electoral votes on Jan. 6, the committee said.

Giuliani urged Trump to seize voting machines after being told the Department of Homeland Security lacked the authority to do so, the committee said, pointing to a report from the news website Axios and documents obtained by investigators.

The former mayor of New York City, a close Trump confidant, spoke at the Jan. 6 rally outside the White House, urging for “trial by combat” over the election results before Trump supporters marched to the Capitol.

Powell, according to the committee, reportedly urged Trump to seize voting machines to find evidence that foreign hackers had altered the election results.

Powell, Giuliani, Ellis and Epshteyn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Dominion Voting Systems, a Colorado-based voting machine company, has filed defamation lawsuits against both Giuliani and Powell and is seeking billions of dollars in damages over their unfounded claims of election fraud. A federal judge denied both Powell and Giuliani’s efforts to have the suits dismissed.

Giuliani’s law license was also suspended in New York state last year over his claims of election fraud.

ABC’s John Santucci, Olivia Rubin and Will Steakin contributed to this report.

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