McConnell defends vote to acquit Trump: 'Our job was to defend the Constitution and respect its limits'
CNN
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell on Monday rebuked Donald Trump's incitement of the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol while doubling down on his vote to acquit the former President of the charge.
"There is no question former President Trump bears moral responsibility," McConnell wrote in an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal of the riot. "His supporters stormed the Capitol because of the unhinged falsehoods he shouted into the world's largest megaphone. His behavior during and after the chaos was also unconscionable, from attacking Vice President Mike Pence during the riot to praising the criminals after it ended." "I was as outraged as any member of Congress," the Kentucky Republican continued. "But senators take our own oaths. Our job wasn't to find some way, any way, to inflict a punishment. The Senate's first and foundational duty was to protect the Constitution."
The special counsel stressed his decision was not about the strength of his case against Trump
CNN’s 5 Things brings you the news you need to know every morning.
A Republican senator has blocked the promotion of a general who oversaw the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, according to a source familiar with the matter, as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to go after the officials involved in the withdrawal.
Special counsel Jack Smith said Monday that he is dropping his election subversion case against President-elect Donald Trump, seeking the case’s dismissal in a court filing with the judge.
President Joe Biden tapped into his presidential pardon power in the waning days of his time in office Monday, granting clemency to a pair of lucky turkeys and kicking off the holiday season.
The Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge from major tobacco companies to the Food and Drug Administration’s requirement that they place graphic health warnings on cigarette packages and in advertisements.
The family of Ajike “AJ” Owens, a Black mother of four who was shot and killed by her neighbor during an ongoing dispute over children playing near the neighbor’s home, says the 60-year-old white woman deserves “the maximum penalty under the law,” according to a statement.
Despite his campaign promises to leave the issue to the states, President-elect Donald Trump’s administration will shape the national landscape around abortion and reproductive health.
The criminal cases of actors Jussie Smollett and Bill Cosby, both Black, high-profile entertainers found guilty before their convictions were overturned, differ widely in details but share some parallels.
Uruguayans went to the polls Sunday for a second round of voting to choose their next president, with the conservative governing party and the left-leaning coalition locked in a close runoff after failing to win an outright majority in last month’s vote.
Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy are determined to force federal employees to return to the office in hopes that some will opt to quit instead. That effort is going to affect some agencies – and workers – much more than others.