01/30/24

Good morning! It’s Tuesday, January 30th.

National Croissant Day.

Yes please! I love a croissant. A nice flakey, buttery, croissant? Come on – how could you not!

And now, the news.

Deadly Drone Strike

-via ABC News

First, we’ve got an update on the drone strike that killed three American servicemembers on Sunday. It now appears that the drone was able to slip past the US base in Jordan because American personnel mistook it for one of their own, returning from a surveillance mission.

And while the number of wounded is still being confirmed, that number has grown to at least 40 people.

Officials still believe this is an Iran-backed attack, but have not named a certain group.

The Pentagon’s press secretary again doubled down on the fact that US will hold the group responsible, responsible for the attack, she added, "We don't seek a wider conflict with Iran. We don't want to go to we don't want a war with Iran."

But that is… the only update for now.

Murdaugh’s Bid Denied

-via CBS News

A judge has denied Alex Murdaugh’s request for a new trial, after his defense team accused a court clerk with jury tampering.

Said the judge, “I mean like – we – you did it. We listened to the podcast. We saw the Netflix show.”

No no. Well… the judge ruled that even if the clerk did tell jurors to watch Murdaugh's actions and body language on the stand, which was their claim, the defense still didn’t prove that those comments influenced their decision to find him guilty.

Probably it was the evidence. If I had to guess.

Still though, the jury-tampering hearing will continue, even if it won’t affect his life sentence.

IRS Agent Sentenced

-via NBC News

Charles Littlejohn, kind of a cool name, has been sentenced to five years after the former IRS agent pleaded guilty back in October for leaking the tax returns of not just Donald Trump, but also billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk. He will also have to pay a $5,000 fine.

I looked into it and honestly, I was kind of hoping he’d have a cool statement or something.

Like, don’t do this. This is bad and unethical. But if you’re gonna do it… do it with your chest. Say something cool or fun or something.

He did say, “I made my decision with the full knowledge that I would likely end up in a courtroom.” Which… fine.

TBD House Dem Being Investigated

-via ABC News

Here’s the news I really wanted to talk about because for a couple minutes it was very exciting… until the real story came out, or part of it at least, and then it was like – eh.

So earlier on Monday, the House Clerk read a notice that the Office of Sergeant at Arms has been served a grand jury subpoena, from the Department of Justice, for documents and that the office would comply.

And it first it was very exciting because there was no information. So like… what’s up? Is this Matt Gaetz? Gaetz Goin? Is this January 6th? Is everyone on notice? There are so many republican criminals in the House, who could it be?

Turns out… it was a Democratic criminal.

So way to go, TBD criminal… ya ruined everything!

We still don’t know which House Dem is in Big Trouble Mister, but we have a little more info. Which is that they are being investigated for allegedly misusing government funds that were for personal security.

Very clearly a developing story.

You know the rules…

When we know more, we’ll know more.

Ken Paxton Seeks Transgender Records in Georgia

-via Washington Post

And now some news that made my blood boil so… use caution when listening.

Ken Paxton, who of course is the Texas AG who only narrowly avoided impeachment for obstruction of justice, harassment and abuse of office a few months ago, and then most recently was back in the news for threatening Texas hospitals to prevent them from treating Kate Cox, the woman who ultimately had to leave the state to have an abortion to end a pregnancy that was threatening her life.

So that’s Ken.

Now he is back in the news for his continued “cruel-for-the-sake-of-being-cruel” fight against trans youth who are just… trying to live. Trying to survive. And we’ve been knowing for a while that this is a focus of his, but it was recently discovered that he, the AG of Texas, has requested medical records from Georgia. Georgia is, famously, a different state than Texas. Not to blow your mind.

But he is looking in multiple states, now, for information about trans youth. The November 17th request is seeking information going back to January 1st, 2022.

He also sought the same information in Seattle.

Neither gave up the information, but it doesn’t negate the fact that he’s still asking.

Ken Paxton… never not the worst.

And that’s it. That’s the news.

I’m proud of trans youth. The LGBTQ+ community in general, but like… Ken Paxton and all of these other people are just so obsessed with making sure that folks, kids!, aren’t able to live their full and authentic lives. Meanwhile, Paxton’s out here living his most authentic life – as an absolute badman.

But more than… croissants… because you’re not flaky… I’m proud of you.