December 22 top stories
It is December 22. Here are today’s top stories.
Vin Diesel accused of sexual assault
Actor Vin Diesel was accused of sexual assault in a lawsuit filed by his former assistant named Asta Jonasson. The lawsuit also accused Diesel of wrongfully terminating Jonasson’s employment and trying to cover up the sexual assaults.
Diesel’s attorney said the allegations are untrue, that Jonasson was an employee for only nine days and that her claim is about something that purportedly happened more than 13 years ago.
Illegal border crossings at 10,000 per day
The Washington Post said there is currently a record migration surge at the southern border that has seen over 10,000 illegal border crossings per day. U.S. authorities have shut down two major railway crossings and other ports of entry.
The Post said many migrants have arrived in the U.S. by riding freight trains through Mexico. Some migrants have entered the U.S. through breaches in the U.S. border wall. In Eagle Pass, Texas, thousands of migrants have crossed the Rio Grande.
President Biden said he would send U.S. officials to Mexico to ask for their help, to seek a firmer response from Mexico to reduce the number of migrants coming from other countries that are traveling through their country.
Supreme Court will not make immediate decision on Trump immunity
Axios reported that the U.S. Supreme Court rejected special counsel Jack Smith’s request to immediately consider whether former President Trump is immune from prosecution in his federal 2020 election interference case.
Trump’s legal team argued that he cannot be prosecuted for his actions surrounding the 2020 election because it was a part of his official duties as a president, that he is immune.
A U.S. district justice in D.C. said Trump is not immune. The decision was appealed to a higher court. Smith wanted to bypass the appeals process and let the Supreme Court answer this question, probably because he wanted Trump’s trial to begin on March 4.
But now the Supreme Court basically told Smith “no” and will let the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia consider the immunity question. Oral arguments will begin January 9. After that court issues a ruling, the Supreme Court could then decide whether it will take up the case.
Axios said this means Trump’s 2020 election trial may stretch beyond the scheduled March 4 start date.
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Updates on Prague mass shooting
On Thursday, a gunman killed 14 people at the Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. Yesterday, news reports said 15 people were killed, but this number included the gunman, who killed himself when police surrounded his position on a rooftop of a building. The gunman was a 24-year-old man who was a student at the university. He legally owned his firearms and had many guns and ammunition. The Czech Republic, unlike other European countries, does not have very strict gun laws and about 300,000 residents own guns. Only one of the 14 victims has been publicly identified — Lenka Hlavkova, who was the head of the Institute of Musicology at the university. Police said they don’t have a motive for the shooting but believe it had something to do with the killer’s life and his mental state. BBC News said he may have killed his father at a separate location and that he may have killed a man and his two-month-old daughter in a forest on December 15. The incident was the worst mass shooting in Czech history and many in the country are in mourning.
Trump pressured Detroit election workers not to certify 2020 vote
The Detroit News reported that there is an audio recording from 2020 of former President Trump pressuring two Detroit-area election officials to not certify the 2020 presidential election based on false claims of voter fraud.
Ronna McDaniel, who is a national leader in the Republican Party and a Michigan native, was on the call. McDaniel and Trump assured the two election officials that they would provide attorneys if they needed them.
The Detroit News pointed out that the revelation of the audio recording comes as Trump is facing federal charges of criminal conspiracy to defraud the U.S.
Biden pardons thousands with marijuana convictions
President Biden made thousands of people who were found guilty of use and simple possession of marijuana on federal lands and in the D.C. eligible for pardons.
President Biden said, “too many lives have been upended because of our failed approach to marijuana.”
AP News said Biden did a similar action of pardons just before the 2022 midterm elections, but this round of pardons “adds additional criminal offenses to those eligible for a pardon, making even more people eligible to have their convictions expunged.”
Those eligible for pardons can submit applications to the Department of Justice to get a certificate of pardon.
In a separate action, Biden granted clemency to 11 people who have been serving long prison sentences for non-violent drug violations, crack cocaine-related offenses.
That is all the top stories for today. Have a nice Christmas / holiday weekend. There will be no regular “Daily Moth” news next Monday and Tuesday, but we may post shorter videos on Wednesday and afterward. Stay with the light.
https://apnews.com/article/biden-marijuana-pardons-clemency-02abde991a05ff7dfa29bfc3c74e9d64
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vin-diesel-asta-jonasson-civil-lawsuit-sexual-battery-former-assistant/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2023/12/21/biden-mexico-border-surge/
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/22/world/europe/prague-university-shooting.html