October 19 top stories
It is October 19. Here are today’s top stories.
Sidney Powell pleads guilty
Sidney Powell, the former attorney for Donald Trump and one of the most outspoken people who made claims that the 2020 election was rigged, pleaded guilty in the Georgia election subversion case one day before her trial was set to begin.
Prosecutors in Fulton County (Atlanta area) are recommending six years probation. Powell will be required to testify at future trials and write an apology letter to citizens of Georgia.
Powell was once hailed in pro-Trump circles and QAnon supporters because she claimed she had evidence that there were hundreds of thousands of votes that were rigged and there was excitement that she would “release the Kraken” — this evidence. But multiple courts, including the Supreme Court, rejected Powell’s “Kraken” arguments. Now she’s pleading guilty to election-related crimes.
Powell is admitting that she had a role in a breach of election systems in a county in Georgia — she did this in hopes of finding evidence that the election was rigged against Trump.
CNN said Powell is the second person in the Georgia election subversion case to plead guilty. There are 17 other defendants, including Trump, who have pleaded not guilty. One of those people’s trial will start this Friday — Kenneth Chesebro. He is charged with conspiracy to commit filing false documents for his plan to have Joe Biden’s electoral ballots replaced with Trump’s ballots.
Las Vegas Aces win 2nd straight WNBA championship
The Las Vegas Aces won the 2023 WNBA championship on Wednesday night by defeating the New York Liberty in Game 4 of the WNBA finals.
The Aces became the WNBA’s first back-to-back champions in over 20 years. A’ja Wilson received the Finals MVP honors.
Leonard Cure shot and killed by Georgia deputy
Leonard Cure, a 53-year-old man who was released from a Florida prison three years ago after serving sixteen years on a wrongful conviction of armed robbery that he did not commit, was shot and killed by a Georgia deputy during a traffic stop on Monday.
A police dashcam video shows that when the deputy pulled over Cure, he ordered him to put his hands on the back of his truck. Cure said he didn’t do anything. The deputy said he was driving 100 miles per hour. The deputy told Cure to put his hands behind his back and when he refused, the deputy used his stun gun. Cure and the deputy had a physical confrontation that ended with the deputy shooting his firearm at him. The shooting is now under investigation.
Cure’s family said they believe he resisted being arrested because of psychological trauma from being imprisoned on a wrongful conviction – that the officer triggered him. Cure’s family is now represented by civil rights attorney Ben Crump. Crump said the deputy was aggressive from the start and did not attempt to de-escalate the situation.
Those who worked with Cure on his wrongful conviction said it was a very tragic situation. Cure had recently received over $800,000 in compensation for his wrongful conviction from the state of Florida and those who knew him said he was excited about his future.
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Updates on Israel-Hamas war
The United Nations has secured agreements to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza from Egypt. It will provide food and medicine to residents of Gaza, who have been suffering under a “complete siege” by the Israeli military.
The Israeli military is doing the siege to demand Hamas, who is the leading political power in Gaza, to release the 203 hostages taken in the October 7 attack that killed at least 1,400 Israelis, including at least 31 Americans.
President Biden plans to give an evening address from the White House tonight to talk about the war. News reports said he is expected to request $100 billion from Congress to provide support to Israel and Ukraine.
Gaza officials said at least 3,785 people have been killed since October 7, mostly from Israeli airstrikes. The U.S. government said it has assessed that Israel is not responsible for the explosion at a Gaza hospital, but Palestinian officials are pointing the finger at Israel.
A news report said Israeli troops are now waiting for a command to go inside Gaza.
Another American journalist detained in Russia
Another American journalist was detained and charged in Russia. Her name is Alsu Kurmasheva. She worked for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. It is the second time an American journalist was arrested with the first being Evan Gershkovich, who is accused of espionage (spying). He faces up to 20 years in prison.
In Kurmasheva’s case, she was detained while she was waiting for the return of her passports. She was charged with failure to register as a foreign agent. She faces up to five years in prison.
Kurmasheva is a dual U.S. and Russian citizen. She went to Russia in May for a family emergency and was detained when she was waiting for her return flight and had both her passports confiscated. Russian authorities accused her of collecting military information about Russian activities via the internet to send it to foreign sources.
The U.S. government has been fighting for Gershkovich’s release and is likely going to do the same for Kurmasheva. NBC News said since the start of Russia’s war in Ukraine, new draconian legislation has made reporting in the country dangerous for both Russian and foreign journalists, causing many news organizations to disband and journalists to leave the country.
Jim Jordan appears to give up bid to become speaker
Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) appears to have given up his bid to become the Speaker of the House. News reports said he will not attempt to go into a third round of voting and will instead back a plan to give the temporary speaker, Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-NC) additional powers so the House can conduct legislative business.
That is all the top stories for today. See you tomorrow and stay with the light.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/19/house-speaker-vote-live/
https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/10/19/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2023/10/17/israel-hamas-war-reason-explained-gaza/