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When former Sen. David Perdue of Georgia had his chance at Sunday night’s debate to make an opening argument for his 2022 gubernatorial bid, he bypassed offering Peach State voters a vision for the future.

“First off, let me be very clear tonight, the election in 2020 was rigged and stolen,” Perdue began his second debate with sitting GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, carried by Atlanta’s WSB-TV. Perdue said Democratic control of the federal government resulted because Kemp “caved” and allowed “radical Democrats to steal our elections.”

In fact, numerous investigations and multiple recounts all concluded that Joe Biden was the rightful 2020 winner, as were Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock.

But Perdue’s opening salvo kicked off nearly 25 minutes of bare-knuckle brawling between the two GOP rivals over who bore responsibility for the historic losses last cycle of both Donald Trump and the two incumbent Republican senators—one of whom was Perdue.

This portion of the debate, centered entirely on 2020, included a series of barbs and recriminations.

Perdue pummeled Kemp for failing to call a special session to overturn the election following Trump’s loss and claimed he had asked the governor to do so repeatedly.

But Kemp, who spent hours on Perdue’s bus campaigning for his reelection, blasted Perdue for failing to ever ask for a special session. “Folks, he never asked me,” Kemp told the audience.

Kemp also turned Perdue’s loss back on him. “You have a candidate that is going to attack my record, unfortunately, all night tonight, because they didn’t have a record there to beat Jon Ossoff in 2020,” he said.

Perdue offered, “Weak leaders take credit when things go well, and blame someone else when it doesn’t.”

Kemp retorted, “Weak leaders blame everybody else for their own loss instead of themselves.”

Kemp, who is comfortably ahead in the polls and has vastly outraised Perdue, also sought to focus some of his energy on Democrat Stacey Abrams, who will face off against whichever Republican prevails in the primary.

“Looking in the rearview mirror,” Kemp said, isn’t the key to defeating Abrams in the general election.

But both GOP candidates offered disparaging views of why their rival would fumble a matchup with Abrams. Kemp said Perdue’s loss against Ossoff was proof positive that he wasn’t up to the task of defeating Abrams.

But Perdue said Kemp “barely beat Stacey Abrams in ’18,” after Kemp eked out a victory by a 1.4% margin. In that matchup, Perdue added, he had secured Trump’s endorsement for Kemp, who no longer enjoys Trump’s backing now.

“He has divided us,” Perdue charged of Kemp. “He will not be able to beat Stacey Abrams. And if we want to protect our freedom and our values, we have to vote and we have to make sure that Stacey is never our governor.”

On that point, the candidates agreed—making sure Abrams would “never” become Georgia’s governor or “your next president,” as Kemp put it.

But if there’s was one person in Georgia who thought the entire spectacle was simply peachy, it was Abrams.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the very first ad that aired on WSB following the hour-long GOP slugfest was an Abrams spot featuring her small business with her conservative entrepreneur partner.

Georgia Democrats also got in on the action, tweeting out video of the two Republicans bickering and saying they had shown “they are bad for each other — and worse for Georgia.”

Georgia is quickly turning into the most crucial of swing states. Not only do GOP hopes of retaking the U.S. Senate majority increasingly run through Georgia, it will also be a pivotal battleground in the 2024 presidential election. Having a Democratic governor in place to blunt the GOP-dominated state legislature could literally be the difference between a Democratic White House and a Republican one.

And frankly, nothing could be better for Democrats than Perdue’s fixation on 2020 and the notion that Kemp betrayed Trump and, by extension, his MAGA base. The more Kemp nauseates Trumpers, the better. Kemp will likely prevail in the GOP primary, and a deflated MAGA base is exactly the type of boost that could help Democrats Abrams and Sen. Warnock prevail in the general election. 

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Across the country, minorities seem to be facing one similar issue: an increase in hate. Data released by the FBI has indicated that hate crimes against all minority races and ethnicities have seen a rise nationally. Multiple reports have indicated the large impact on Black folks and Asian Americans; the latest report focuses on bias against Muslims.

According to a report released by the largest Muslim American advocacy organization in the country, the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR), Muslim Americans in the United States filed at least 6,720 complaints last year. These complaints were only filed with 25 CAIR offices, so the number of actual reported bias-based incidents is expected to be higher.

According to the report, titled “Still Suspect: The Impact of Structural Islamophobia,” the complaints increased by 9% when compared to 2020. Complaints included incidents of bullying in schools, freedom of speech concerns, hate crimes, physical assaults, workplace discrimination, incarceration rights, or placement on a federal terrorist watchlist.

“These complaints clearly indicate that government discrimination and bias continue to have a disproportionate effect on American Muslims and further demonstrate that our communities continue to be viewed with suspicion,” CAIR authors wrote in the report.

Researchers noted a 28% rise in hate and bias incidents involving the forcible removal of hijabs, harassment, mosque vandalism, and physical assault.

About 2,823 complaints filed with the organization were related to immigration and travel, while 679 complaints were filed in relation to police or government overreach. CAIR’s report argued that many people are wrongfully added to federal watchlists due to the flawed process in place.

It also noted the ages and demographics of those impacted. Even popular public officials like Ilhan Omar have not been safe from Islamophobia. 

“These complaints clearly indicate that government discrimination and bias continue to have a disproportionate effect on American Muslims and further demonstrate that our communities continue to be viewed with suspicion,” the report read. 

Citing the report, CAIR called for the government to take action on “systemic Islamophobia [that] continues to threaten our community.”

“Although American Muslims are making historic progress and important contributions at all levels of our society, our 2021 civil rights data shows that systemic Islamophobia continues to threaten our community,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

“The federal government must address structural anti-Muslim bigotry in its own policies and the civil rights challenges facing Muslim communities. Everyone in our nation must be able to worship, work, travel, and attend school freely and safely.”  

While Islamophobia is not a new phenomenon, bias and crimes against Muslims significantly rose after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Previous reports indicated hate crimes against Muslims rose by 500% in the years 2000 to 2009.

According to CNN, this was in addition to the detention of thousands on the state and federal level as a result of surveillance programs like the Bush administration’s registry of people from Muslim-majority countries.

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy reportedly spent the weekend doing damage control after audio leaked of him telling fellow Republicans he was thinking about telling Donald Trump he should resign after the Jan. 6 insurrection. Because, in retrospect, Republicans have decided that they’re all pretty much okay with the attempted violent overthrow of the government in which they serve and a physical attack on their workplace.

Trump already said he’s fine with McCarthy—and McCarthy wants to make sure that all his colleagues know it, since adherence to the Big Lie remains essential for all of them, from Utah Sen. Mike Lee to McCarthy. They’re counting on the traditional media to let them get away with it, and it will probably work. Because it usually does. McCarthy even now is glossing over his part in the insurrection by distracting the traditional media with a tried and true shiny object for a distraction: the border.

RELATED STORY: Dear reporters: Please don’t parrot back whatever noted liar Kevin McCarthy says at the border today

McCarthy is at the border Monday, with Marjorie Taylor Greene, no less. Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) is another attendee. His texts to Trump’s former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, trying to gin up false fraud stories to undermine the election were leaked along with Lee’s. Given the attendees (the truly odious Conference Chair Elise Stefanik [NY] is there, too) this is nothing more than a gross stunt, but it will probably work, both to distract the traditional media and to smooth any Republican feathers that his very brief Trump apostasy might have ruffled.

Listen to Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win explain how Democrats must message to win on Daily Kos’ The Brief podcast with Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld

Take Rep. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee. He was on “Fox News Sunday” and touted the very “strong support” McCarthy is getting from Republicans. Asked if McCarthy will remain leader, McCaul said, “Absolutely. I think Kevin is in very good shape. In fact, [Trump] came out saying that this is not going to endanger his relationship with Kevin, that he’s strongly supportive.”

And then turned to the week’s talking points. “Putin invaded Ukraine,” McCaul said. “We have an invasion in my home state right on the border, every day.” As Daily Kos’ Gabe Ortiz writes, ”Because when in doubt, blame immigrants.”

It’s all going back to the Big Lie and we, unfortunately, can’t count on the traditional media to hold any of them accountable for keeping it alive. How ironic is it that they are using Putin’s invasion of Ukraine this way, equating it with the U.S. border situation, where thousands of people displaced by the threat of violence are looking for a safe place to land? When the Big Lie has it roots in Trump extorting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to manufacture lies about Joe Biden for the 2020 election.

The play here is to keep the base riled up on immigration, on all the culture war issues, on white supremacy, and on top of all that the Big Lie. It’s stunningly, horrifyingly ridiculous, and transparent that you can only imagine they’re doing it because they think it will work.

They think it will work because they have very good reason to—it always has. The traditional media is only too happy to follow the Republicans to the extremes and broadcast every bit of it because it’s easy and it’s guaranteed clicks. Trump always has been, and they’ll just keep going back to that well, regardless of the damage being done to the nation.

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In an apparent act of protest on Earth Day, a Colorado Buddhist and climate activist set himself on fire in front of the U.S. Supreme Court Building in Washington, D.C., on Friday.

Wynn Alan Bruce, 50, of Boulder, Colorado, died of his injuries Saturday. The U.S. Capitol Police tweeted about the event and Fox News reporter Chad Pergram posted a tweet with video showing the National Park Service helicopter as it landed to airlift Bruce to a local hospital.

Dr. K. Kritee, a Zen Buddhist priest and senior scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund, wrote on Twitter Sunday that Bruce’s self-immolation was “not suicide.”

“This guy was my friend. He meditated with our sangha. This act is not suicide. This is a deeply fearless act of compassion to bring attention to climate crisis. We are piecing together info but he had been planning it for at least one year. #wynnbruce I am so moved,” Kritee tweeted.

RELATED STORY: Georgia governor signs bill protecting farms from suits filed by neighbors, environmental groups

In an interview with The New York Times, Kritee said that “people are being driven to extreme amounts of climate grief and despair… what I do not want to happen is that young people start thinking about self-immolation.”

The modern-day version of self-immolation as an act of protest came into world view on June 11, 1963, in South Vietnam.

“An elderly monk called Thich Quang Duc sat down in the lotus position, crossing his legs. Some other monks poured petrol over him and then he set himself on fire and burned to death while sitting in this position,” Oxford University sociologist Michael Biggs told ABC.

The Buddhist monks were protesting their discrimination by the South Vietnamese government. The act was meant to capture the attention of the many foreign journalists working to cover the Vietnam War.

The act of setting oneself on fire to protest, although uncommon, remains a stunning event nonetheless.

In 2016, Arnav Gupta, 33, committed self-immolation in the Ellipse Park, just steps from the White House. And in the same year, Gulf War veteran Charles Richard Ingram III set himself on fire outside the New Jersey Veterans Affairs clinic, The Washington Post reports.

In 2013, according to NPR, over 100 Tibetans set themselves on fire in protest of Chinese rule.

And in 2018, David S. Buckle, 60, a prominent LGBTQ attorney known for his role as lead counsel in Brandon v. County of Richardson, the case portrayed in the film Boys Don’t Cry, set himself on fire with gasoline in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, The New York Times reports.

In an email to the Times, Buckle wrote:

“Pollution ravages our planet, oozing inhabitability via air, soil, water and weather… Most humans on the planet now breathe air made unhealthy by fossil fuels, and many die early deaths as a result—my early death by fossil fuel reflects what we are doing to ourselves.”

In an op-ed for The Washington Post titled “Self-immolation can be a form of protest. Or a cry for help. Are we listening?” author Petula Dvorak writes:

“Self-immolation near the White House or on the steps of a government building is not the final, selfish rage of someone committing a mass shooting. And it is not a lonely suicide by someone who simply wants to disappear.

These acts are an unmistakable protest, the loudest, most spectacular cry that people in pain can come up with. And we owe it to them to listen.”

If you or someone you know is in crisis, help is available. Speak with someone today.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255. (After July 2022, this emergency number will change to 988.)

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While we already knew that House GOP Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is a big giant liar, the last couple days have never made it more clear. McCarthy trumpeted the trademark McCarthy dramatics to publicly deny a report that he planned to urge the insurrectionist president to resign over the Jan. 6 insurrection. But audio tapes showed McCarthy lied, and had in fact planned to do just that.

There was never any reason to believe the words coming out of McCarthy’s mouth before. There definitely isn’t any reason now. So what’s he up to the Monday back from being majorly exposed as a fraud? McCarthy “is set to lead a group of fellow Republican lawmakers to the southern border in Texas on Monday,” CNN reports. Because when in doubt, blame immigrants.

RELATED STORY: If it seems like Republicans sound like hate group, it’s because they are sounding like hate group

We know this is a very serious visit because accompanying him are very serious individuals like Marjorie Taylor Greene, as well as noted southern border lawmakers Blake Moore of Utah and Diana Harshbarger of Tennessee. 

Listen to Jennifer Fernandez Ancona from Way to Win explain how Democrats must message to win on Daily Kos’ The Brief podcast with Markos Moulitsas and Kerry Eleveld

Taylor Greene has also been in the news in the last couple days, facing a court challenge on her eligibility for reelection to her district due to her pro-insurrection stance. Like McCarthy, Taylor Greene is a prolific liar, but during the hearing she just couldn’t seem to remember many of her bold claims. There were lots of “I don’t recall” and “I don’t remember” statements, Rebekah Sager reported for Daily Kos. Perhaps Taylor Greene should see someone about that.

We have a feeling that none of these people will have trouble speaking at the border on Monday, where they’ll have nothing to offer when it comes to policy ideas, but plenty from the “wow, that’s some racist shit” department. But this is the GOP stance. The Washington Post’s James Downie noted that Texas’ Michael McCaul went onto Fox News Sunday this past weekend to compare asylum-seekers at the border to Russians invading Ukraine. “We have an invasion in my home state right on the border, every day,” he claimed.

“Invasion” is the same racist wording used by the white supremacist terrorist who shot up McCaul’s state in 2019, Downie notes. It is a fact that this awful anti-immigrant rhetoric is no longer solely a product of the fringe right-wing, it is the Republican mainstream, and McCarthy isn’t just leaning into it, he’s pinning his electoral hopes on it, Downie continues.

”McCarthy and his fellow Republicans aren’t holding political stunts outside gas stations or supermarkets. And they’re barely even gesturing at ideas for lowering prices. Yet they’re hammering border politics. Why? Because while immigration might not sway the electorate as a whole, it fires up the GOP base that McCarthy wants to keep on his side.” 

America’s Voice and Immigration Hub had earlier this year noted more than 700 anti-immigrant ads launched by Republicans. That’s likely much, much higher now. America’s Voice had late last year also noted racist ads from House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik and Rick Scott, who heads the National Republican Senate Committee. Even Lindsey Graham, once a Republican champion of comprehensive immigration reform, has echoed racist “invasion” rhetoric.

Downie said that “whether they admit it or not,” Republicans like McCarthy “recognize that the easiest way to protect their standing in the Republican Party is to embrace the hate and stoke the same bigoted fury that led a man to open fire in a store.”

Whether they actually believe in it or are just parroting it to win elections, it is their official stance. And anything to not talk about their lies and efforts to overturn American democracy. It’ll also be up to reporters to not parrot back whatever outlandish claims McCarthy makes at the border since he’s already on the record as lying to them, but knowing what we know, keep your expectations low.

RELATED STORIES: GOP officials use white supremacist rhetoric in pushing Arizona governor to attack asylum-seekers

There are lies about migrants and the border, and then there’s Arizona Rep. Debbie Lesko

GOP teeing up racist ads going into midterms. Democrats can fight back by championing immigrants

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A warning was delivered to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows that threats of violence were swirling around Washington, D.C., in the days leading up to Jan. 6, a onetime aide to former President Donald Trump told investigators on the Jan. 6 committee. 

This testimony from Trump’s special assistant for legislative affairs, Cassidy Hutchinson, was tucked into the pages of a hefty 248-page court filing from the probe as it again pushes for Meadows to cooperate following a months-long stalemate. There is no indication yet that the Justice Department will charge Meadows with contempt of Congress four months after the House voted to advance the referral. 

Hutchinson told investigators she didn’t know if Meadows perceived the warning as genuine or speculative, but she recalled Anthony Ornato, the Secret Service agent-turned-Trump-White-House-political-adviser, approaching Meadows at least once with “intel reports saying that there could potentially be violence on the 6th.” 

What Meadows did with that information next was unclear to Hutchinson, she testified, but she remembered Meadows’ response to Ornato was, “All right, let’s talk about it,” before heading into Meadows’ office privately with Ornato for a few minutes. 

RELATED STORY: Jan. 6 warnings held back by officials at DHS, watchdog finds

This detail is just another part of what is pushing investigators to get Meadows on the record about Jan. 6. 

Meadows insists he is protected by executive privilege. The committee insists he is applying that theory falsely and too broadly. In the meantime, public hearings are coming in June. Investigators say the evidence keeps stacking up that Trump was actively engaged in an attempted coup against the former vice president and Congress in order to install himself into the White House for another four years.

RELATED STORY: ‘Prepare to be mesmerized’: An interview with Jan. 6 probe investigator Jamie Raskin

The committee wants a judge to compel Meadows’ testimony now on seven discrete categories of questions. They acknowledge they are tailoring their request despite the fact that Trump himself has not invoked privilege over his former chief of staff. 

20220422 Motion for Summary… by Daily Kos

The proposed categories would cover questions about his correspondence with members of Congress like Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, among others. Both Jordan and Perry received requests for voluntary compliance. Both have so far refused to cooperate.

When Hutchinson testified before the panel, she also told them that during a planning call before Congress met to certify the electoral votes, Perry verbally supported the idea of “sending people to the capitol” on Jan. 6.

She also named Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Colorado as some of the chief proponents inside Congress pushing the unconstitutional theory that Pence had the authority to stop the count on Jan. 6.

“I’m sure there were other individuals involved, but those are ones that I remember specifically being involved that Mr. Meadows had outreach to,” Hutchinson told the probe. 

RELATED STORY: Witness: Meadows and Jan. 6 rally organizers had deliberate scheme in place

In that same vein, if the committee gets its way, Meadows could also face questions about a Dec. 21, 2020 meeting hosted by the White House. 

At that meeting, members of the ultra right-wing House Freedom Caucus and other Republicans met to discuss their plan for “alternate electors.”

The safe harbor deadline for the Electoral College to finalize its count had passed at this point and a whole host of courts had already ruled against Trump’s claims of rampant election fraud. 

But Hutchinson told the committee that lawmakers like Jordan, Greene, and others—including Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida, Andy Biggs, Paul Gosar and Debbie Lesko of Arizona, Mo Brooks of Alabama, and Jody Hice of Georgia—were still all in. 

“They felt that he had the authority to, pardon me if my phrasing isn’t correct on this, but, send votes back to the States or the electors back to the States, more along the lines of the [John] Eastman theory,” Hutchinson testified. 

Investigators said in their subpoena to Hutchinson last November that she reportedly traveled with Trump to the Ellipse for the “Stop the Steal” rally on Jan. 6 and may have accompanied Meadows for a Dec. 30 trip to Georgia for an election audit. 

Under questioning, Hutchinson said she did not go with Meadows to Georgia in late December, a partial transcript included with Friday’s filing shows. 

Investigators also want the judge to compel Meadows to answer questions about the scheme that unfolded at the Justice Department involving Jeffrey Clark.

Clark was held in contempt of Congress after refusing to cooperate with the probe. Notably, it was Perry who introduced Trump to Clark.

Just after Christmas Eve, Clark reportedly met with Trump in secret. After the meeting, Clark launched a pressure campaign to have then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen and Rosen’s then-deputy, Richard Donoghue, tell key swing state legislatures they should install alternate electors.

RELATED STORY: Jan. 6 committee approves criminal referral for Trump DOJ official

Within days of speaking to Rosen about the alternate electors scheme, Clark drafted a letter for Rosen to approve instructing Georgia state officials to say publicly that the Department of Justice was aware of election fraud and that a special legislative session was required.

When Hutchinson was asked if she could remember any times in which Meadows, Trump, or Clark met to discuss “alternate” electors, her memory was fuzzy. 

“I remember the ideas—that concept being discussed, broadly speaking. I remember Mr. Meadows mentioning it in meetings and once or twice in passerby conversation with me, but nothing that would indicate his opinion on it, just as something that, you know, was outlined in this letter and, you know, was the topic of conversation at the time,” she said.

When asked whether Trump advocated for the Justice Department to get involved, Hutchinson said she wasn’t sure.

The committee would also compel Meadows to cough up information related to Trump instructing, directing, or trying to persuade then-Vice President Mike Pence to unilaterally refuse to count the votes on Jan. 6, especially in light of Ornato’s warning.

“But despite this and other warnings, President Trump urged the attendees at the January 6th rally to march to the Capitol to ‘take back your country,’” the motion states.

A Department of Homeland Security Office of the Inspector General report published on March 10 noted that several warnings about impending violence heading to D.C. for Jan. 6 were often kept internal. 

The agency said in its report that happened frequently because staff were poorly trained and inexperienced and worried that overreporting threats would put them under the magnifying glass following a tumultuous summer of protests throughout the country in the response to the police killing of George Floyd.

According to the watchdog report, on Dec. 21, 2020—the same day that Republicans and House Freedom Caucus members were strategizing how to overturn Trump’s loss—a field agent shared a tip with fellow analysts at the Department of Homeland Security.

It was open source and warned of a person who threatened to shoot and kill protesters at upcoming rallies tied to the presidential election. It wasn’t reported to higher ups however, the inspector general found, because it “slipped away” from the analyst after she had trouble locating follow up information.

She did not write up a report about the incident. 

But, the inspector general said, those Department of Homeland Security officials never took their concerns any higher because they considered “true threats of incitement because they thought storming the U.S. Capitol and other threats were unlikely or not possible.”

Meadows provided the committee with some 2,319 text messages before ending his cooperation last year. Some of those texts have been made public but the batch newly obtained by CNN on Monday reveal new insights into the inner workings of Trump’s White House before Jan. 6.

(This story is developing.)

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Donald Trump has been held in civil contempt and will be fined $10,000 per day until he complies with a subpoena from the New York attorney general’s office and hands over documents.  

New York Attorney General Letitia James is seeking documents from Trump relating to her civil investigation into Trump’s business practices, including whether he valued his properties differently according to what helped him financially at any given moment, inflating their values when he wanted a bank loan, and depressing them when it came time to pay taxes. Trump’s attorneys had insisted that the documents James is seeking are held by the Trump Organization, which faced a different deadline for turning them over, but James sought the contempt order and New York State Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron agreed, saying, “Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 per day until you purge that contempt.”

RELATED STORY: New York AG Letitia James asks judge to hold Donald Trump in contempt of court

Engoron said Trump’s attorneys did not show the court that they had searched for the documents, though Alina Habba, one of Trump’s lawyers, claimed to have searched his calendars and interviewed Trump himself at Mar-a-Lago. 

“President Trump does not email. He does not text message. And he has no work computer at home or anywhere else,” Habba insisted. She could have added, “and he tears up paper documents or flushes them down the toilet once he’s read them,” but the judge might not have found that compelling. “I took it upon myself to get on a plane and flew down and asked him one by one if there was anything that he had on his person that he had not given me I would need that. And he did not,” Habba said, pretending that Trump’s word is worth anything. Habba said Trump would sign an affidavit swearing that he had complied with the subpoena.

The New York Times reports that James has reason to believe Trump has more documents than he’s admitting to: “In one filing, her lawyers mentioned a filing cabinet at the company that contained the former president’s files, and noted that he used Post-it notes to pass messages to employees.”

James also noted that Trump’s lawyer said at least one file wasn’t searched because the Trump Organization said Trump wasn’t involved in preparing his own financial statements, a direct contradiction of the line on those very same financial statements saying, “Donald J. Trump is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation” of their information.

Trump’s lawyer said they would appeal the judgment, as Trump has appealed and countersued at every other point in James’ investigation. Nonetheless, longtime Trump observers say this is unprecedented:

At the same time as the attorney general’s office carries out a civil investigation, the Manhattan district attorney’s office is running a parallel criminal investigation into the same business practices.

RELATED STORIES:

Trump’s accounting firm says they can no longer represent his organization, calls data ‘unreliable’

Ex-prosecutor: Trump is guilty of fraud beyond a reasonable doubt

Letitia James must have Trump scared: He’s suing to kill New York attorney general’s investigation

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Pregnant people face structural oppression and discrimination at just about every turn when it comes to employment and, extra disturbingly, health care. This point is especially true for pregnant folks who live with more than one marginalized identity, like pregnant people of color and trans pregnant folks. Black women, for example, are routinely disbelieved when it comes to health concerns and pain management and are over three times more likely to die during pregnancy or postpartum than white women.

This context is important to keep in mind when thinking about Maye Quade, the 36-year-old openly gay progressive Black woman running for state senate in Minnesota, who had a big speech to deliver over the weekend. The purpose of the speech was to get an endorsement from the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in order to get her party’s nomination. (For reference, the DFL is basically the state’s version of the Democratic Party). Quade started going into labor at about 2 in the morning prior to the speech but did her best to push through contractions in order to give her speech and participate in question and answer rounds. Ultimately, she had to withdraw from the convention because she had to go to the hospital and her opponent, Justin Emmerich, won.

Why didn’t anyone stop the convention? Why did people expect a pregnant person, and especially a Black woman, at that, to (ahem) push through the pain? Videos of Quade from the convention are inspiring to be sure, but as many folks on Twitter are pointing out, we can’t ignore these deeper questions.

RELATED: Just when you think Republicans can’t get more transphobic, Tom Barrett’s texts appear

Here is a short clip, which is currently going viral on Twitter.

Mitchell Walstad, who serves as Quade’s campaign manager, talked to the HuffPost in an interview about what went down at the convention. According to Walstad, there were points where Quade went into a private room to have her contractions and then estimated she had between 15 and 20 minutes to go talk to delegates before the next set came. 

“There were points where it was her turn to answer,” Walstad recalled to the outlet. “And they had to switch the order and have the other candidate answer because she could not speak because she was having a contraction in front of everyone.”

According to Walstad, the team did not directly ask the convention to stop because Quade had to go to the hospital. But of course, it’s more than fair to wonder why organizers didn’t simply make the call themselves. 

Walstad fairly pointed out that if a candidate was having another sort of medical emergency, like a heart attack, they would have stopped balloting. It’s also important to point out that while some medical emergencies can appear (at least to outsiders) as out of nowhere, something like labor is generally ongoing and a deeply emotional and vulnerable experience. Having to keep yourself together in an effort to appear professional is frankly outrageous. Add to that the additional pressures Black women may feel thanks to white supremacy and structural racism, it’s pretty clear that Quade is an absolute icon and that convention organizers should have stepped in and done the right thing. 

In speaking to local outlet KSTP, Walstad said the campaign was “frustrated” at the way the convention went and said it was “discouraging” that the endorsement wasn’t suspended given the circumstances.

If you’re curious about how balloting goes, Quade was present for the first round but made the call to go to the hospital before she felt able to do more work with delegates to get enough votes for the second round. Justin Emmerich, her. opponent, got more votes in the first round, coming in at 55% compared to Quade’s 45%, but the 55% was not enough to actually win, which is why Quade hypothetically had the chance to speak directly with delegates and convince them to get their vote.

But because she was in labor, and had been for hours at that point, she made the reasonable decision to go to the hospital and thus had to withdraw from the convention. According to local outlet FOX 9, Quade’s contractions started at around 2 in the morning, and candidates gave their first speeches at 11 in the morning, followed by the question and answer sessions. And she was in labor that entire time. 

Ultimately, this means Emmerich won the final round by default (because he was at that point unopposed) and secured the party’s endorsement for the upcoming primary in August.

Quade’s wife, Alyse Maye Quade, told the outlet Quade ultimately gave birth to their child at 2 am the following morning, about 24 hours after labor began. She told the outlet that both Quade and the baby were healthy and resting.

You can watch a video of Quade at the convention below. (Labor aside, this speech is truly great and well worth a watch, but Quade’s strength and dedication are truly something to behold.)

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The Senate returns to work after a two-week recess Monday and the House will come back on Tuesday to all the same fights they were having before leaving town. The Biden administration still needs billions for COVID-19 measures, and Republicans (with help from a few Democrats) don’t want to allow that without continuing the racist immigration policies of the previous administration. That could complicate Senate passage of the other big Biden ask: more funding for Ukraine military and humanitarian aid. With the House scheduled, as of now, to be working in the Capitol just four days out of the next two weeks, the Senate is where stuff has to happen, and as usual, prospects of that happening are uncertain.

Last week, President Joe Biden announced that the U.S. is sending another $800 million of military aid and $500 million in economic assistance to Ukraine. He said that the administration will request more funding for Ukraine from Congress, probably this week. The $14 billion authorized in the big government funding package that passed in early March is nearing depletion, and Ukraine’s need is only increasing. Ukrainian Finance Minister Sergii Marchenko is in Washington now to meet with U.S. officials, requesting $2 billion a month in economic aid for April to June, and is asking for another $3 billion a month from other international partners.

That request will be part of the package the White House presents to Congress in its ask this week. The House is planning to pass the Senate’s Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022 on Thursday, a bill that makes it quicker and easier for Biden to use existing authority to enter into lend-lease agreements for military equipment with Ukraine. The administration has already been using the law to provide equipment; this will just make it quicker and easier. But it doesn’t preclude the need for a lot more money and weapons.

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Last week, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he intends to couple that Ukraine aid request with the stalled $10 billion the administration is seeking for COVID-19. The administration has actually asked for more than double that amount, but Congress—including Democratic leadership—has insisted that funding has to be clawed back from already apportioned COVID funds, which has posed a problem for other Democrats whose home states would be losing that money. A better solution, if Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Schumer are looking for one, would be to get that money from the private companies that stole an estimated $76 billion or so in fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program loans. (Disclosure: Kos Media received a Paycheck Protection Program loan. Not fraudulently.)

This is where immigration policy comes in. Senate Republicans already derailed a COVID-19 package just before Congress left for the Easter recess, refusing to allow a vote on the aid unless they get an amendment vote to force Biden to reinstate the Trump-era public health order known Title 42, restricting migrants’ entry into the country, including asylum-seekers. That order is set to expire on May 23. Republicans and a handful of Democrats are trying to keep it. As of now, there’s no resolution to that dispute in sight, largely because of the five Democratic senators who are in a position to help Republicans win.

Meanwhile, the administration just struck a deal with Pfizer to make its COVID-19 pill available at all pharmacies nationwide. The treatment would be available to people testing positive for COVID-19 who would likely face a serious case of the disease. The government has ordered 20 million courses of the drug, but can’t close the deal until Congress pays for it.

For now, though, the Senate is easing into the work with convening Monday at 3 PM ET with nomination of Lael Brainard to be vice chair of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. At 5:30 PM ET, the Senate will vote to invoke cloture on the nomination. While negotiations are happening on all the other stuff, the Senate will spend much of the floor time on the rest of the Federal Reserve nominees, including current Chair Jerome Powell, Philip Jefferson, and Lisa Cook, who will be the first Black woman on the board.

Also ongoing, according to the White House, are discussions with Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) on what they can possibly salvage from Biden’s would-be signature domestic package to fight climate change and provide a more level economic playing field with a fairer tax code, more funding for education and child care, expanded health insurance, and a repaired social safety net. Manchin scuttled all that last winter in a fit of pique and ego. Democrats want to try to salvage something by July 4 so they can head into campaign season with it. Manchin is being Manchin—while the White House is saying they’re negotiating with him, he’ll likely as not deny it.

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While 2020 will forever be remembered as the year a pandemic was declared in the U.S., a new report published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that gun violence was the leading cause of death among children and teens in that same year.

According to a letter from researchers at the University of Michigan Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention (IFIP), this is the first time guns have been the leading cause of death in this age group. The “change was driven largely by firearm homicides, which saw a 33.4% increase,” the report reads.  Gun-related suicides were up 1.1% during the same period.

In addition to an increase in gun deaths, “drug overdoses and poisoning were up by 83.6% from 2019 to 2020” in youths, making it the “third leading cause of death in that age group.”

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Dr. Jason Goldstick, a researcher with IFIP  and co-author of the letter, told The Guardian, “We knew gun violence had increased, but I was surprised by the level of increase for just one year… I can’t remember ever seeing that before.”

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For more than six decades, car accidents have been the leading cause of the death of children; now they’re second to gun-related deaths.

But as child safety has gotten better in cars, “firearm deaths haven’t made much progress. … We have had a decrease in moto vehicle deaths,” Patrick Carter, one of the authors of the research letter, told NPR. “We can do the same thing with firearms. We just haven’t been able to do that in the same amount of years yet. … It takes time to figure out what the underlying issues are with the problem and then finding the solutions.”

The Guardian reports that for Black teen boys over 15, gun violence has been the No. 1 cause of death for nearly the last ten years.

Samantha Walton, a 17-year-old from San Francisco, told The Guardian, “We have to see that violence every day. We can’t go outside and have fun without knowing that somebody just died out there. I just wonder, ‘Damn, who’s next?’”

The report acknowledges that it is “unclear” why there’s been an increase in gun deaths among kids.

A study published in February showed an increase in new gun ownership by adults in the U.S. from Jan. 2019 to Apr. 2021. Another, published in Jul. 2021, showed an increase in “new firearm ownership” within the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic—resulting in a​​ “surge in firearm injuries in young children.”

“Kids don’t buy firearms, but that doesn’t mean that it’s not possible for kids to get access,” Goldstick told NBC News.

The researchers urge more funding for the “prevention of community violence.”

“The increasing firearm-related mortality reflects a longer-term trend and shows that we continue to fail to protect our youth from a preventable cause of death shows that we continue to fail to protect our youth from a preventable cause of death,” the authors wrote.