Jan. 6 hearing live updates: Trump set to plead not guilty
(LOS ANGELES) — Former President Donald Trump’s election interference case resumes Thursday after months of delays, with a hearing in front of the federal judge overseeing the case.
The hearing comes a week after special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment that revised the original Jan. 6 charges to reflect the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that Trump is entitled to immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts undertaken while in office.
Here’s how the news is developing:
Trump is set to plead not guilty
At his expected arraignment at today’s hearing, Donald Trump has directed his attorneys to plead not guilty on his behalf to charges in the superseding indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith.
Trump is not expected to appear at the hearing in person, after waiving his right to be present in a filing earlier this week.
The hearing in the case was scheduled before Smith filed the superseding indictment.
(CHICAGO) — There were chants of “USA” and boasts of patriotism. Even the vice presidential candidate touted his love of guns.
No, it was not the Republican National Convention all over again, but it has been a roster of Republican speakers getting standing ovations at the Democratic National Convention by taking some of the harshest swipes at former President Donald Trump.
Every night of the DNC, GOP members from a former press secretary for the Trump White House to a former “full-fledged member of MAGA,” have been given a chance to stand at the podium and address the Democratic delegates in Chicago.
At least seven Republicans have been given time to speak to their longtime rivals — including Rep. Adam Kinzinger who was given a prime-time speaking slot Thursday night — and all of them said they’ve dumped Trump and are supporting Harris.
“I voted for Trump not once, not twice, but three times. You see, I work in construction. I work with my hands. He told us he’d look out for blue-collar workers. So, I made my first-ever political contribution to Trump and I donated to him many times throughout his presidency,” Kyle Sweetser of Alabama said during his DNC speech Tuesday night. “But then I started to see Trump’s tariff policy in action. Costs for construction workers like me were starting to soar. I realized that Trump wasn’t for me. He was lining his own pockets.”
Sweetser said he’s not “left-wing, period. But I believe our leaders should bring out the best in us, not the worst.”
Former Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan received a standing ovation Wednesday night when he told the crowd that Trump’s attempts to overthrow the 2020 election “disqualified him from ever, ever, ever stepping foot into the Oval Office again.”
“If Republicans are being intellectually honest with ourselves, our party is not civil or conservative. It’s chaotic and crazy. And the only thing left to do is dump Trump,” Duncan said. “These days, our party acts more like a cult, a cult worshiping a felonous thug.”
He said he was supporting Harris and stared into the camera to speak to his “Republican friends at home watching.”
“If you vote for Kamala Harris in 2024 you’re not a Democrat, you’re a patriot,” said Duncan, prompting chants of “USA! USA.!”
Former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham told conventiongoers that she was “a true believer” of Trump.
“I was one of his closest advisers. The Trump family became my family,” said Grisham, adding that she spent Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.
Grisham offered a behind-the-scenes look at Trump, alleging he mocks his supporters, calling them “basement dwellers.”
“On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad the cameras were not watching him,” Grisham alleged. “He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth. He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough and people will believe you.’ But it does matter. What you say matters and what you don’t say matters.”
Grisham said while working in the White House she was skewered for never holding a press briefing. She said it was because “I never wanted to stand at a podium and lie.”
“Now, here I am at a podium advocating for a Democrat and that’s because I love my country more than my party,” Grisham said during her speech Tuesday night.
Another Trump administration veteran, Olivia Troye, a former homeland security aide to Vice President Mike Pence, said her dream of working in the White House turned into a nightmare.
“I saw how Donald Trump undermined our intelligence community, our military leaders and, ultimately, our democratic process,” Troye said during her speech Wednesday night. “Now, he’s doing it again. Lying and laying the groundwork to undermine this election.”
Troye added, “Being inside Trump’s White House was terrifying, but what keeps me up at night is what will happen if he gets back there.”
Mesa, Arizona, Mayor John Giles began his DNC speech Tuesday by saying, “I have a confession to make: I’m a lifelong Republican.”
“I feel a little out of place tonight, but I feel more at home here than in today’s Republican party. The Grand Old Party had been kidnapped by extremists and evolved into a cult, the cult of Donald Trump,” Giles said. “Trump doesn’t know the first thing about public service. Like a child, he acts purely out of self-interest. We all need an adult in the White House. We’ve seen what happens when we don’t have one.”
Rich Logis of Florida told the conventioneers that two years ago he was a “full-fledged member of MAGA.”
“I believed Trump. I was a MAGA pundit. I had my own podcast. I was in a state of panic, terrified the Democrats were destroying our country,” Logis said, addressing the convention Monday night via a video link.
He said that when the pandemic hit, he began to see how important solid leadership is and described Trump’s handling of the crisis as “a major betrayal to the country.”
“So I finally stepped outside the MAGA echo chamber. I stopped listening to what Trump said and looked around with my own eyes. And I realized he had been lying about pretty much everything. Lying is Trump’s toxic superpower,” Logis said. “I made a grave mistake, but it’s never too late to change your mind.”
(LOS ANGELES) — Wildfires are exploding across the West, especially in California, where the Park Fire has now grown to be the biggest in the state this year.
There are currently 11 wildfires over 1,000 acres burning in California, according to Cal Fire. The largest of those is the Park Fire, burning in Butte and Tehama counties, just north of Chico, which grew to over 164,000 acres on Friday with just 3% containment.
Ronnie Dean Stout II, 48, has been arrested on suspicion of arson for starting the Park Fire after he allegedly pushed a burning car into a gully in Bidwell Park, near Chico, according to Butte County District Attorney Mike Ramsey.
There are more than 1,150 personnel, six helicopters and 153 fire engines assigned just to the Park Fire.
The Lake Fire, in Santa Barbara County, is the second-largest burning in the state at the moment at over 38,000 acres, though it is 90% contained after sparking July 5.
Meanwhile, farther north, the Durkee Fire in Oregon had grown to over 288,000 acres on Friday morning with 20% containment, according to the Oregon/Washington Bureau of Land Management. It was sparked on July 17 by a lightning strike and has grown to the largest fire in the country this year.
There are more than 500 people fighting the fire, as rain fell overnight in the area, providing some relief for firefighters.
Smoke spreads across several western states
The smoke from fires in Northern California and Oregon is spreading across several states, including Idaho, Montana and North Dakota, which will all see regions under “very heavy” smoke conditions — the second-worst level.
The Air Quality Index is expected to rise above 150 in Boise, Idaho, on Friday, which would put it in the “unhealthy” category, the fourth of six levels. In Butte, Montana, the Air Quality Index was forecast to be in the 100 to 150 range and “unhealthy for sensitive groups.”
(LOS ANGELES) — An actor is accused of luring at least three women into a “false sense of security” then violently sexually assaulting them without their consent, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Gabriel Olds, 52, was arrested and booked on seven felony sexual assault charges on Wednesday, LAPD said. His bail is set at $3.5 million.
Police are asking additional alleged victims of Olds or witnesses to the incidents to come forward.
On Jan. 19, 2023, a 41-year-old woman reported that Olds raped her in her home in LA. Two other adult victims later came forward and made similar reports dating back to 2013, describing consensual dating encounters that allegedly ended in violent sexual assault, police said.
Olds, a Yale University graduate, has worked as an actor and screenwriter dating back to the early 1990s, according to police. He has made many one-off guest appearances in popular shows like “Criminal Minds,” “Heroes,” “Boardwalk Empire” and “NCIS: Los Angeles.”
His victims reported that he used his status as an Ivy League alumnus to meet women and arrange dates, police said. Several women in recent years have also reported meeting him on dating applications.
Police said they have identified three women that Olds allegedly assaulted and two other women who reported lesser violent sexual conduct. Investigators believe there could be more victims nationwide due to Old’s travels.
“We heard the same story again and again,” LAPD detective Brent Hopkins said in a statement. “Mr. Olds started off charming, but then used brutal violence to carry out these rapes. Some of these survivors suffered in silence for years before finding the strength to speak up. Now that he’s off the streets, we want to make sure everyone has a chance to be heard.”