February 9 top stories
It is February 9. Here are today’s top stories.
No charges for Biden in classified documents probe
Special counsel Robert Hur has released a report on his investigation into President Biden’s handling of classified documents that were found at his home in Delaware and his former office in Washington, D.C. Hur has been investigating the matter for more than a year.
The inquiry found President Biden “willfully retained and disclosed” classified files after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen but decided not to charge him. Hur passed on charging Biden but painted a damning portrait of him.
Biden’s forgetfulness was a common theme throughout Hur’s report.
Hur wrote that his assessment of Biden’s mental acuity – described as sparse and hazy. He couldn’t remember when he served as Barack Obama’s vice president, or the year when his beloved son Beau died.
“At trial, Mr. Biden would likely present himself to a jury, as he did during our interview of him, as a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” read the report. He argued that it would be difficult to convince a jury that they should convict him.
President Biden angrily fired back at the special counsel’s report, delivering remarks Thursday night at the White House. “My memory is fine. I don’t need anyone to remind me when he [Beau] passed away. I am well-meaning and I am elderly. I know what the hell I’m doing. I put this country back on its feet. I am the most qualified person to be president.”
Trump wins Nevada & US Virgin Islands GOP caucuses
Donald Trump won the Republican presidential nominating caucuses in Nevada and the U.S. Virgin Islands on Thursday, moving closer to becoming his party’s primary candidate in a likely general election rematch with Joe Biden in November.
Trump was the only major candidate competing in Nevada’s caucuses and was set to win the state’s 26 delegates to the party’s nominating convention in July.
Earlier on Thursday, Trump easily won the U.S. Virgin Islands caucuses, adding four to his delegate haul.
Trump won his third straight state after back-to-back wins in Iowa and New Hampshire last month. He needs to accrue 1,215 delegates to formally clinch the party’s nomination and could reach that number in March.
Key takeaways from Tucker Carlson’s Putin interview
On Thursday, President Putin spent two hours being quizzed by Tucker Carlson in a highly anticipated TV interview.
When asked why Russia invaded Ukraine, Putin spoke at length for more than half an hour about the history of Eastern Europe. Putin repeated his various justifications for the invasion such as well-worn falsehoods about the history of Ukraine, historical grievances about the break-up of the Soviet Union, NATO expansion and his claim that Ukraine is riddled with neo-Nazis.
Putin claims former President Bill Clinton flip-flopped on Russia joining NATO. When Putin first asked, Clinton said he thinks so then later in the evening, after Clinton talked to his team, he said no to Putin. Carlson pressed whether Russia would join and Putin said if Clinton had said yes, and eventually it might have happened.
Putin says Russia is open to releasing the WSJ journalist – Evan Gershkovich with the suggestion that, in return, Moscow wanted Germany to free Vadim Krasikov, who was convicted of the 2019 murder of a Chechen dissident in Berlin.
Putin said a solution would be possible if the U.S. stopped supplying weapons. “If you really want to stop fighting, you need to stop supplying weapons. It will be over within a few weeks, that’s it, and then we can agree on some terms. Before you do that, stop,” Putin continued.
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Woman died after robotic device burned hole in organs
According to a wrongful death lawsuit filed this week in Florida, a robotic device burned and tore a woman’s small intestine while she was undergoing surgery for colon cancer,
The woman, Sandra Sultzer, developed abdominal pain and fever after her surgery in September 2021 and needed additional procedures to close the tear. She died in February 2022 because of the small intestine injury, the lawsuit said.
Her husband, Harvey Sultzer, is suing the maker of the device, Intuitive Surgical, for damages.
The suit alleges that Intuitive Surgical knew the robot had insulation problems that might cause electricity to leak out and burn internal organs but didn’t disclose that risk to the Sultzers or the public.
It also claims that Intuitive sells its robots to hospitals that have no experience in robotic surgery and doesn’t properly train surgeons in how to use the device, known as the da Vinci.
Intuitive Surgical didn’t respond to a request for comment.
See Alex for the report on the Supreme Court on the Colorado ballot question case.
Supreme Court appears skeptical of Colorado booting Trump from ballot
Thanks, Callie.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday held oral arguments on the question of whether the state of Colorado can remove Trump’s name from its ballot. If you remember, in December, the Colorado Supreme Court said Trump cannot be on the ballot because he is an insurrectionist, that he rebelled against the government, and that he violated the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. They said Trump is disqualified from holding political office.
Trump, of course, disagreed. He appealed this to the Supreme Court and that’s what led to yesterday’s oral arguments.
News analysts said most of the Supreme Court justices, including the liberals, seemed skeptical of Colorado’s decision to disqualify. The justices expressed concern on whether any state, in the future, could simply decide to remove a candidate’s name. That would mean states would decide who is the president. The justices didn’t seem to support this idea.
News analysts said most of the justices challenged Colorado’s legal team compared with Trump’s legal team. That gives us a hint that the Supreme Court will rule against Colorado and in favor of Trump’s side, which means Trump’s name will remain on the ballot. But it is unknown when the final decision will come. It’s likely coming in the next couple of weeks because Colorado will hold its primary on March 5. The state of Maine will also have a primary on March 5. Maine also wants Trump’s name removed and is waiting on the decision on Colorado because it will impact them.
Thanks for that report. That is all the news stories for this week. Have a nice weekend and stay with the light!
No charges for Biden in classified documents probe:
https://apnews.com/article/biden-hur-garland-classified-documents-836b99fe9cbef9ba7d32602f4928efec
Trump wins Nevada & U.S. Virgin Islands GOP caucuses:
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4456585-donald-trump-nikki-haley-virgin-islands-caucus/
Key takeaways from Tucker Carlson’s Putin interview:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/02/08/tucker-carlson-putin-interview-released/
https://time.com/6693098/vladimir-putin-tucker-carlson-interview-ukraine-gershkovich/
Woman died after robotic device burned hole in organs:
Supreme Court appears skeptical of Colorado booting Trump from ballot:
https://www.axios.com/2024/02/08/trump-supreme-court-colorado-ballot-14th-amendment