politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: Georgia DA granted special grand jury in Trump probe

Tuesday 25 January 2022

Georgia DA granted special grand jury in Trump probe

By Nick Visser

Tuesday, Jan. 25

GEORGIA DA GRANTED SPECIAL GRAND JURY IN TRUMP PROBE A prosecutor in Atlanta investigating former President Donald Trump's effort to overturn the 2020 election result in Georgia will be allowed to convene a special grand jury, which can issue subpoenas and compel testimony. District Attorney Fani Willis said earlier this month she expects to decide if she'll bring charges against the former president in the first half of this year. [HuffPost]

8,500 U.S. TROOPS ON HIGH ALERT AMID RUSSIA TENSIONS The Pentagon is putting about 8,500 U.S.-based troops on heightened alert for potential deployment to Europe in the coming weeks, an effort to reassure allies amid fears of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday: "We've always said we would reinforce our allies on the eastern flank." [AP]

JUDGE STRIKES DOWN NEW YORK'S MASK MANDATE A New York State Supreme Court judge struck down the state's public mask mandate on Monday, saying Gov. Kathy Hochul's order was unconstitutional, even if it was issued with "good intentions." Hochul brought back the mask rules in early December as the omicron variant began to spread in the state like wildfire. The judge said the power to require masks rests with the state legislature. [HuffPost]

BIDEN ON HOT MIC: 'STUPID SON OF A B**CH' President Joe Biden was caught on a hot mic calling Fox News reporter Peter Doocy a "stupid son of a b**ch" after Doocy shouted a question about inflation. Doocy later said on the air that Biden called to apologize about an hour later, telling him, "It's nothing personal, pal." [HuffPost]

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TAYLOR SWIFT VS. DAMON ALBARN Music superstar Taylor Swift was not happy with Blur's legendary Damon Albarn on Monday after he was quoted in The Los Angeles Times saying Swift didn't write her own songs. Swift took to Twitter to call the claims — which aren't true, she has the Grammys to prove it — "completely false and SO damaging." Albarn issued an apology an hour later, saying his comments were "reduced to clickbait." [HuffPost]

SARAH PALIN'S LAWSUIT AGAINST NYT DELAYED BECAUSE SHE HAS COVID A long-awaited libel trial in a lawsuit brought by Sarah Palin against The New York Times was delayed until next week after the unvaccinated former Alaska governor tested positive for COVID-19. She is suing the Times over a 2017 editorial suggesting her political rhetoric was to blame for a mass shooting in Arizona that killed six people. She dined indoors at a Manhattan restaurant two days before her positive test, despite a city requirement that all customers show vaccination proof. [HuffPost]

NOT ALL GOPers ARE KEEN ON MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE Several Republicans hope to knock Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene out of contention for another term in this year's GOP primary in her Georgia district. The extremist lawmaker is still highly favored to win, but her opponents have been focusing on voters' concerns that her outrageous rhetoric is more important to her than legislating. [HuffPost]

SHAKY STOCKS PLUMMET, THEN CLIMB BACK Wall Street ended a volatile day of trading Monday with stocks posting modest gains just hours after a steep slide that saw the Dow Jones Industrial Average lose more than 1,200 points. The market's wild swings reflects investor uncertainty over dual concerns: how aggressive the Federal Reserve will be with inflation-fighting measures and the possibility of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine. [AP]

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