politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: Deep-red Kansas votes to protect abortion post-Roe

By Marita Vlachou

Wednesday, August 3

KANSAS OVERWHELMINGLY VOTES TO KEEP ABORTION PROTECTIONS IN STATE CONSTITUTION Kansans voted to keep abortion protections in their state constitution — a huge win for advocates that will likely set the tone for what's to come on abortion rights nationally. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice sued Idaho over its six-week abortion ban ― the first lawsuit filed by the Biden administration to protect abortion since Roe was overturned. [HuffPost]

SENATE REPUBLICANS FOLD, HELP PASS VETERANS HEALTH BILL AFTER BLOCKING IT The Senate passed a bill to expand health care and disability benefits to millions of veterans — less than a week after more than two dozen Republicans blocked it and drew outrage from the veterans' community, comedian Jon Stewart and others. It now heads to President Joe Biden to be signed into law. [HuffPost]

JAN. 6 HEARING WITNESS RUSTY BOWERS DEFEATED BY TRUMP-BACKED CANDIDATE IN ARIZONA PRIMARY Arizona state Rep. Rusty Bowers (R), who gave emotional testimony describing former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election before the Jan. 6 committee, was defeated in the GOP primary for a state Senate seat. Bowers lost to Trump-backed former state Sen. David Farnsworth, who has called the 2020 presidential election the work of the devil. Another Trump-endorsed candidate, Mike Finchem, who sought to overturn the 2020 election, won the state's secretary of state primary. [HuffPost]

FORMER WHITE HOUSE COUNSEL PAT CIPOLLONE SUBPOENAED IN JAN. 6 CRIMINAL PROBE Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone has been subpoenaed by a grand jury investigating events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, attack at the U.S. Capitol. Cipollone, who resisted some of Trump's most extreme efforts to stay in power, is the highest-ranking White House official in the waning days of Trump's presidency known to be called before the panel. [HuffPost]

TRUMP'S DEFENSE DEPARTMENT WIPED PHONES WITH JAN. 6 TEXTS The Department of Defense reportedly wiped the phones of top officials at the end of the Trump administration, deleting any text messages that could potentially provide insight about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. [HuffPost]

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U.S. WILL NOT ABANDON TAIWAN DESPITE WARNINGS FROM CHINA, PELOSI SAYS House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she and other members of Congress visiting Taiwan are showing they will not abandon their commitment to the self-governing island. Pelosi visited Taiwan despite threats from China. "America's determination to preserve democracy, here in Taiwan and around the world, remains ironclad," she said during a meeting with Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen. [AP]

PROGRESSIVE REP. RASHIDA TLAIB WINS MICHIGAN DEMOCRATIC PRIMARY Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) won her primary, disappointing centrist Democrats and pro-Israel donors who once again sought to unseat her. Tlaib, a member of the ultra-progressive "Squad" in the U.S. House, defeated three challengers, all more moderate than her. Meanwhile, Rep. Haley Stevens decisively won a contentious Democratic primary in the northern suburbs of Detroit, defeating Rep. Andy Levin, a Jewish progressive targeted by pro-Israel groups. [HuffPost]

DEMOCRATS DESPERATELY HOPING KYRSTEN SINEMA WON'T TANK THEIR AGENDA Having finally convinced red-state Sen. Joe Manchin to support a historic climate and energy bill, Democrats are now waiting to hear from their other quisling: Kyrsten Sinema. The Arizona Democrat isn't saying whether she will vote for the Inflation Reduction Act and bolster her party's chances in the November midterm elections. [HuffPost]

SANDY HOOK PARENT TESTIFIES: ALEX JONES' APOLOGIES 'ARE WORTHLESS' The parent of a child killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting testified that conspiracist Alex Jones must be held accountable for the lies he spread about his dead child over the years.

"Alex Jones' apologies are worthless," Neil Heslin, whose 6-year-old boy Jesse Lewis died in the 2012 shooting, testified. While Heslin testified, Jones went on his Infowars program to accuse Heslin of being "slow" and "on the Spectrum." [HuffPost]

TRUMP-BACKED TUDOR DIXON WILL FACE DEMOCRAT GRETCHEN WHITMER IN MICHIGAN Tudor Dixon emerged the winner in one of the messiest GOP primaries this election cycle, clinching the Republican nomination for governor in Michigan. Trump-endorsed Dixon, a conservative commentator and business owner, will face Democrat Gretchen Whitmer this fall in one of this year's most competitive races for governor. [HuffPost]

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