Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson hospitalized after suffering second-degree burns at truck show: Campaign
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(MOUNT AIRY, N.C.) — Mark Robinson, North Carolina’s Republican candidate for governor, was hospitalized after suffering burns at a campaign event Friday evening in Mount Airy, his campaign said.
Robinson’s campaign said he suffered second-degree burns at a truck show.
“This evening following an incident at a campaign appearance at the Mayberry Truck Show in Mt. Airy, Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson was treated at Northern Regional Hospital for second-degree burns. He is in good spirits, appreciates the outpouring of well wishes, and is excited to return to the campaign trail as scheduled first thing tomorrow morning,” Mike Lonergan, the campaign’s communications director, said in a statement.
Robinson, the current lieutenant governor of the state, has been under fire after being accused of posting inflammatory comments on the message board of a pornography website more than a decade ago, according to a report published by CNN earlier this month. Robinson has denied the accusations.
Since the release of the report, several of Robinson’s key staffers have “stepped down” from the campaign, including general consultant and senior advisor Conrad Pogorzelski, III; campaign manager Chris Rodriguez; finance director Heather Whillier; and deputy campaign manager Jason Rizk.
(PHILADELPHIA) — Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump presented different visions for the future of abortion rights during their presidential debate Tuesday.
Harris promised to sign a bill that reinstates protections for abortion rights that existed under Roe v. Wade if it reaches her desk as president while Trump would not commit to vetoing a national abortion ban if it comes to his desk.
During the debate, Trump — who claimed he wouldn’t have to veto a national ban — said he believes in exceptions for abortions in cases of rape, incest and to protect the life of the mother.
“There’s no reason to sign a ban because we have gotten what everyone wanted,” Trump said, referring to leaving the regulation of abortion up to state governments.
At least 22 states have abortion bans or restrictions in effect since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe — ending federal protections for abortion rights. Of those states, 14 have ceased nearly all abortion services and four have six-week bans in effect, prohibiting abortion care before most women know they are pregnant.
Three of the five U.S. Supreme Court justices who voted to overturn Roe were appointed by Trump when he was president.
Ten states will have reproductive rights-related questions on the ballot this November, nine of which specifically address abortion.
Voters in all six states that have had abortion questions on the ballot since Roe was overturned have voted to uphold abortion rights.
During the debate, Trump also falsely claimed that some states allow for the killing of an infant after birth. Killing a baby after birth is illegal in all 50 states.
Most states that allow abortions do so until fetal viability. But, there are no gestational limits on abortion in 9 states — including Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, Vermont and Gov. Tim Walz’s state of Minnesota — and Washington, DC.
Advocates for abortion rights say the absence of legal consequences after fetal liability doesn’t mean doctors will try to terminate full-term, healthy pregnancies. In fact, access to third-trimester procedures is limited, costly and medically complex — typically done only when a woman’s life is threatened or the fetus isn’t expected to survive.
Many Democrats say they want to pass legislation that would codify the 1973 Supreme Court decision Roe vs Wade, which protects abortion rights up until viability.
(WASHINGTON) — Attorney General Merrick Garland announced a sweeping crackdown Wednesday on dueling efforts by the Russian government to influence the upcoming 2024 election through covert networks aimed at spreading disinformation to American voters.
For months, the Biden administration has been publicly warning of Russia’s efforts to influence Americans through disinformation and propaganda to sow distrust in the election.
In a meeting Wednesday at the Justice Department, Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray highlighted both foreign and domestic incidents of attempts to influence voters, as well as pervasive and growing threats against those who administer elections.
“The Justice Department will not tolerate attempts by an authoritarian regime to exploit our country’s free exchange of ideas in order to covertly further its own propaganda efforts, and our investigation into this matter remains ongoing,” Garland said.
The Justice Department alleged that two employees of Russia Today, or RT — a Russian state-controlled media outlet, implemented a nearly $10 million scheme “to fund and direct a Tennessee-based company to publish and disseminate content deemed favorable to the Russian government.”
To carry this out, the attorney general said the two employees — 31-year-old Kostiantyn Kalashnikov, also known as Kostya, and Elena Afanasyeva, 27 — allegedly directed the company to contract with social media influencers to amplify Russian propaganda.
“The company never disclosed to the influencers or to their millions of followers its ties to RT and the Russian government. Instead, the defendants and the company claimed that the company was sponsored by a private investor, but that private investor was a fictitious persona,” Garland said.
Russian entities also created fake websites to allegedly further influence the election, officials said.
“RT has used people living and working inside the U.S. to facilitate contracts with American media figures to create and disseminate Russian propaganda here. The content was pitched as legitimate independent news when, in fact, much of it was created in Russia by RT employees who work for the Russian government,” Wray said. “The second operation reveals even more malign activities by companies working under the direction and control of the Russian government, companies that created media websites to trick Americans into unwittingly consuming Russian propaganda.”
Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco said they will continue to investigate election threats without fear or favor.
“Russia remains a predominant foreign threat to our elections, and as the intelligence community has publicly reported, and as I have previously warned, Iran also is accelerating its efforts to influence our elections, including the presidential election,” Monaco said.
Wray also delivered a blunt message for Iran and China when asked what the bureau’s response would be to those who intend to meddle in the presidential election: “Knock it off.”
The attorney general said Russia is using new techniques Russia such as artificial intelligence and other cyber techniques.
“They’re now using bot farms in a way that was not possible before, and therefore it’s a bigger threat than it ever was before. I would just say that [the] reality is that Russia has meddled in our society and tried to sow discord for decades,” Garland said.
The DOJ also announced that it’s targeting a Russian disinformation campaign referred to as “Doppelganger.”
The DOJ has seized 32 internet domains it claims have been used by the Russian government and government-sponsored actors to allegedly engage in the Doppelganger influence campaign by spreading propaganda intended to reduce international support for Ukraine, bolster support for pro-Russian policies and influence American voters, according to newly unsealed court records.
Garland on Wednesday also highlighted domestic efforts to threaten election officials around the country.
Since March, the Election Threats Task Force has participated in more than 25 engagements, trainings and tabletop exercises, including both with law enforcement partners and partners in the election community, the attorney general said.
Over the next several weeks, task force representatives will be on the ground meeting with election workers and, in early November, both in advance of and after Election Day, the FBI will host federal partners at its headquarters command center to address events, issues and potential crimes related to the elections in real time, Garland said.
“Election officials and administrators do not need to navigate this threat environment alone,” he added.
CNN first reported news of the expected law enforcement actions.
In a statement Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken outlined the steps the State Department said it’s taking to “counter Kremlin-backed media outlets’ malicious operations seeking to influence or interfere in the 2024 U.S. elections.”
The measures include introducing a new visa restriction policy to penalize adversaries, designating RT’s parent company and subsidiaries as entities controlled by a foreign government, and offering cash rewards for information on the Russian intelligence-linked hacking group RaHDit under its “Rewards for Justice” program.
“Today’s announcement highlights the lengths some foreign governments go to undermine American democratic institutions. But these foreign governments should also know that we will not tolerate foreign malign actors intentionally interfering and undermining free and fair elections,” Blinken said.
In addition, the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control said Wednesday that it’s designating 10 individuals — including several RT employees — and two entities as part of the U.S. response to “Moscow’s malign influence efforts targeting the 2024 U.S. presidential election.”
The head of a “hacktivist” group RaHDit and two associates were also part of Wednesday’s sanctions, the Treasury Department said in a statement.
ABC News’ Shannon Kingston and Molly Nagle contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — A United States Capitol Police Officer, who defended the Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6, 2021, vividly recounts the events of that day, describing it as a profoundly devastating experience for himself, his fellow officers and the nation as a whole.
Former Capitol Police Officer Winston Pingeon spoke with ABC News about the trauma of Jan. 6.
“It’s hard to relive and talk about moments like this,” Pingeon said. “I had that moment right there that I might die right here on the steps of the U.S. Capitol.”
Pingeon and his team, dressed in full riot gear, rushed to the Capitol’s west front that day, the site of some of the most brutal violence against police officers that day.
“I remember hearing radio calls of officers yelling for help that the line had been breached,” Pingeon said. “They sounded panicked and like they really needed help. So, in my mind, that was one of the first indicators, ‘hey, maybe this is not just a normal protest.'”
Pingeon recalls his team being outnumbered and says he was punched in the face by rioters who had descended on the Capitol that day to protest the certification of the 2020 presidential election results, fueled by false claims about election fraud spread by Former President Donald Trump.
“I was knocked on my back,” Pingeon said. “My helmet came down and felt like someone was on top of me and I couldn’t see anything. And I remember just thinking, I have to protect my gun, because they stole my baton.”
Pingeon wasn’t injured as severely as other officers, but he has invisible scars that may never fully heal.
He returned to work shortly after the riot and served in the Capitol Police for another nine more months as the memory of Jan. 6 became politicized. He has since left law enforcement.
“Right after Jan. 6, it seemed like everybody was on the same page,” Pingeon said. “This is not OK. Then very quickly the narrative shifted. And that was really difficult to see.”
Approximately 140 Capitol Police officers were injured by rioters, making it one of the most violent days for law enforcement in recent U.S. history.
Four officers who responded to the Capitol attack have since died by suicide.
Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died after suffering multiple strokes hours after he was pepper sprayed by rioters. The Washington DC medical examiner ruled he died of natural causes, but said his experience on Jan. 6 played a role in his condition.
Despite the deaths and injuries to officers, a months-long investigation by ABC News found conservative figures, including Trump, have begun to downplay the violence on Jan. 6, painting that day as a largely peaceful protest and recasting imprisoned rioters as “hostages.”
Derrick Evans, a former West Virginia House of Delegates and congressional candidate who served three months in federal prison for charges related to Jan. 6, repeated many of those false claims in an interview with ABC News.
“Do I think that anyone should be fighting police officers? No, I do not,” Evans said. “I think it’s wrong to do that. The police officers are the ones that really started the whole violence over there.”
Winston Pingeon reacted strongly.
“That’s not true,” he said when ABC News played video of Evans’ comments for the former Capitol Police officer. “We were there protecting. We were there to hold a line. We’re not pushing back unless we’re pushed on first. So its completely ridiculous.”
Multiple accused rioters from Jan. 6 have claimed they were incited to violence by police, but none have been successful in court.
Evans was convicted of trespassing at the Capitol and attempting to obstruct the certification of the 2020 election, a charge the Supreme Court has recently found was applied in an overly broad manner to Jan. 6 criminal cases.
“I don’t even think [Jan. 6] is really worth remembering. It’s been blown out of proportion by the media,” he said.
Meantime, the former president and his allies have made rewriting the history of Jan. 6 a centerpiece of his campaign, often saying a large number of capitol rioters deserve to be pardoned.
“If they’re innocent, I would pardon them,” Trump told ABC’s Rachel Scott during a panel at the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Convention.
A pardon is exactly what Capitol rioter Rachel Powell told ABC News she’s waiting for behind bars.
“If Trump gets that, he’s promising that he will pardon us, if he gets in and they don’t steal the next election,” Powell said.
Powell called ABC News from federal prison, where she is currently serving a more than four-year sentence for her actions on Jan. 6.
Several of Powell’s fellow Jan. 6 inmates feel the same, she told ABC News. Powell sent ABC News a photo, taken inside of her correctional facility, showing her and three other Jan. 6 inmates smiling, with the words “Trump 2024” written in marker on top.
“I would want to know why they did what they did, and I’d be curious to know if they have remorse today. I think that’s what I would want to know,” Pingeon said. “Because loyalty to one man, to alter your life negatively, to go to prison for years. I mean, I would ask them: Was it worth it?”
