President Joe Biden said Thursday the administration continues to study a series of unidentified flying objects shot down in recent days but that intelligence officials increasingly believe they were benign balloons used for research or commercial purposes.
Biden said the intelligence community’s current assessment is that three objects shot down over North American airspace were “most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions.” That does not include the Chinese spy balloon the U.S military shot down last week.
Also, parts of the long-awaited report by a Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump and his allies were released Thursday. The grand jury recommended some witnesses should face perjury charges for lying and found there was no evidence of widespread fraud in the 2020 election.
Here’s what else is happening in politics:
- Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department’s special counsel investigating Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to media reports.
- Haley in New Hampshire: Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley holds two events in the Granite State this week after officially launching her 2024 White House campaign.
- A presidential physical: President Joe Biden had a routine medical checkup as he eyes a second term as president.
- Debt ceiling needs to be raised by summer, CBO says: The Congressional Budget Office said the U.S. Treasury will run out of money as soon as July as the president and House Speaker McCarthy continue to spar over the debt ceiling and federal spending.
Sen. Fetterman checks into hospital for ‘severe depression’
Sen. John Fetterman, D-Penn., was checked into Walter Reed National Military Medical Center for clinical depression, according to his office.
“While John has experience depression off and on throughout his life, it only became severe in recent weeks,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, said in a statement Thursday.
The Pennsylvania Democrat, who suffered a stroke during the 2022 campaign, was discharged from another hospital earlier this month after reportedly feeling lightheaded during a Democratic retreat.
Fetterman’s office said he did not suffer from another stroke.
– Phillip M. Bailey
Biden says unidentified objects likely not related to China or foreign surveillance
President Joe Biden said the three unidentified objects shot down over North American airspace were likely not related to China’s balloon surveillance program, but likely tied to either “private companies, recreation or research institutions.”
“We don’t yet know exactly what these three objects were but nothing right now suggests they were related to China’s spy balloon program or that they were surveillance vehicles from another country,” Biden said in remarks on the takedowns that occurred over the last weekend.
“The intelligence community’s current assessment is that these three objects were most likely balloons tied to private companies, recreation or research institutions studying weather or conducting other scientific research,” said Biden.
– Ken Tran
Supreme Court removes Title 42 immigration case from its calendar
The Supreme Court on Thursday removed from its calendar a major case involving a pandemic-era policy that allows for the rapid removal of migrants, known as Title 42.
The high court took the unusual step without explanation, though the Biden administration argued in a brief this month that the case might become moot given that it intends to cancel emergency declarations tied to COVID-19 the program relies on.
The justices had been set to hear arguments in the case March 1.
The administration intends to end the pandemic-era policy that allows for the rapid removal of migrants. And in November, a federal court required the administration to stop those removals. But a group of conservative state officials who say their states would be adversely affected want to step into the case and defend the use of Title 42.
– John Fritze
McConnell: Balloon briefings lack ‘any useful information’
Ahead of President Biden’s remarks on the unknown objects being shot down over the U.S. in recent days, the Senate’s top Republican said Thursday the closed-door intelligence briefings from the administration have been rather useless.
“It’s perplexing,” Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on Fox News.
“We’ve been in these briefings,” he said. “But they don’t seem to know anything.”
McConnell ramping up the criticism on Biden, a longtime friend, comes as Republican and Democratic officials have said the White House needs to provide more information.
“I’ve never been in briefings where I’ve learned so little,” he said.
– Phillip M. Bailey
President Biden to give speech on balloon, flying objects shot down
President Joe Biden will deliver remarks Thursday on a series of unidentified flying objects shot down in recent days that intelligence officials increasingly believe were benign balloons used for research or commercial purposes.
The White House said Biden’s remarks on “the United States’ response to recent aerial objects” will take place at 2 p.m. E.T. at the White House.
It will mark Biden’s first major address on the Chinese spy balloon shot down in the Atlantic Ocean and three subsequent objects shot down over North American airspace. Biden has faced bipartisan pressure from lawmakers to give a national address on the objects, which he has only sparingly discussed when asked by reporters.
– Joey Garrison
Georgia grand jury finds no evidence of election fraud
Little information was revealed Thursday in a much-abbreviated disclosure of a Georgia grand jury examination of election fraud in the 2020 election, though the panel found no evidence of election fraud.
“We find by unanimous vote that no widespread fraud took place in the Georgia 2020 presidential election that could result’ in overturning that election,” the panel concluded in perhaps the only notable conclusion contained in the nine-page release.
– Kevin Johnson
More about the investigation:New details of Georgia Trump investigation to be revealed Thursday. What we know.
Trump has slight edge on DeSantis among voters, national poll finds
Among a field of 14 Republicans considered as potential GOP presidential nominees, a new poll finds former President Donald Trump lands top of the group with Republican voters – edging out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is seen as the top competitor for Trump.
Trump received 42% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters while DeSantis received 36%, according to a new Quinnipiac University national poll released Thursday. However, Trump’s lead over DeSantis erodes slightly with a smaller candidate pool.
With only four potentially candidates to pick from, including former Vice President Mike Pence and former United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley, Trump only leads DeSantis by 2 percentage points, 43%-41% – a lead that falls within the poll’s margin of error.
– Sarah Elbeshbishi
Georgia grand jury recommends perjury charges against witnesses who appeared to lie in testimony
The section of the Georgia grand jury report released Thursday dealing with alleged lies from witnesses recommended perjury charges against unnamed witnesses.
In its entirety, it says: “A majority of the Grand Jury believes that perjury may have been committed by one or more witnesses testifying before it. The Grand Jury recommends that the District Attorney seek appropriate indictments for such crimes where the evidence is compelling.”
The witnesses were not named. Legal experts say perjury is rarely charged because it is difficult to prove, but that perjury charges could be used to build a larger case of conspiracy.
– Bart Jansen
Witnesses in Georgia Trump probe suspected lying:Raising more questions in closely watched inquiry
Georgia grand jury heard from 75 witnesses
The Georgia grand jury tasked with investigating former President Donald Trump’s attempts to interfere in the 2020 election was presented evidence from or involving 75 witnesses, according to a part of the grand jury’s final report released Thursday.
The grand jury was empaneled on May 2 and heard evidence from June to December.
– Ella Lee
Read the partial Georgia grand jury report about the Trump investigation
Part of Georgia Trump grand jury report released
A Georgia grand jury’s report examining former President Donald Trump’s attempts to interfere in the 2020 election was partially released Thursday.
USA TODAY reporters are reading through the report, and updates will follow shortly.
– Ella Lee
Trump lawyer Eastman asks to delay California bar charge proceedings
John Eastman – the lawyer who spearheaded an effort to use slates of fake electors in battleground states to overturn the 2020 election in favor of former President Donald Trump – asked the state bar of California to delay any proceedings against him until he is no longer at risk of criminal investigation so that he would not have to invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination.
“To the extent Respondent is under threat of criminal prosecution, implicating his Fifth Amendment rights, abatement of the disciplinary proceeding is arguably necessary to protect his rights and is within the Bar Court’s discretion to order,” Eastman’s attorneys wrote in a filing Wednesday.
California’s state bar in January said it would seek to revoke Eastman’s law license for violating his duty to uphold the U.S. and California state constitutions in an attempt to “usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land.”
Eastman holds law licenses from both D.C. and California.
– Ella Lee
Deputy AG announces ‘strike force’ to combat foreign technology threats
A new initiative between the Justice and Commerce departments will combat threats to national security posed by the use of “disruptive technologies” by foreign adversaries.
The Disruptive Technology Strike Force, announced Thursday by Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, will use intelligence and data analytics to “target illicit actors, enhance public-private partnerships to harden supply chains.” It will also work to catch early warning signs of threats to critical assets like semiconductors.
The announcement comes as the Biden administration looks to answer GOP calls to crack down on growing threats from China.
“Our goal is simple but essential – to strike back against adversaries trying to siphon our best technology,” Monaco said.
– Ella Lee
DOJ special counsel issues subpoena to ex-Trump chief Mark Meadows
Former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows has been subpoenaed by the Justice Department’s special counsel investigating Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, according to media reports.
The summons for Meadows, a central figure in Trump’s campaign to cling to power, was disclosed as former Vice President Mike Pence said Wednesday that he would challenge a separate subpoena from special counsel Jack Smith seeking his testimony in the Jan. 6 inquiry.
The Meadows’ subpoena was first reported by CNN.
The Justice Department declined comment. Meadows and his lawyers also did not respond to requests for comment.
– Kevin Johnson
Voter fraud case:State A.G.: Meadows, former Trump chief of staff, won’t face voter fraud charges in North Carolina
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to travel to U.S.-Mexico border
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is expected to travel to Arizona Thursday in his first visit to the U.S.-Mexico border since his January election as speaker in the newly Republican-led lower chamber.
Four GOP freshman lawmakers are set to accompany him: Reps. Juan Ciscomani, of Arizona, Lori Chavez-DeRemer of Oregon, Jen Kiggans of Virginia and Derrick Van Orden of Wisconsin.
The visit will include a briefing with agents from the U.S. Border Patrol’s Tucson sector, which covers most of Arizona’s border with Mexico, as well as an aerial tour of the border in Cochise County, according to Ciscomani’s district director, C.J. Karamargin.
– Rafael Carranza, Arizona Republic; Ella Lee
More:House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to visit Arizona border
FEC complaint: George Santos staffer posed as McCarthy aide to raise money
WASHINGTON— A staffer from George Santos’ campaign posed as a top aide to House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy to raise campaign funds — and kept up the front over the course of two campaign cycles, according to a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission Wednesday.
The complaint, filed by liberal political action committee End Citizens United, alleges McCarthy’s office was aware since 2021 the campaign staffer was impersonating the then-minority leader’s chief of staff.
The new complaint is the latest sign of trouble for the freshman Republican from New York, who has stepped down from his committee assignments, but has doubled down on his refusal to leave Congress despite calls for his resignation.
– Rachel Looker
Campaign allegation:FEC Complaint: New York GOP Rep. George Santos staffer posed as McCarthy aide to raise money
Proud Boys trial evidence: D.C. police lieutenant warned group’s leader ahead of pre-Jan. 6 arrest
A Washington, D.C., police lieutenant warned Proud Boys leader Henry “Enrique” Tarrio that a warrant for his arrest for setting fire to a Black Lives Matter banner had been signed ahead of his arrest, according to evidence presented in federal court Wednesday during the sedition trial of five Proud Boys.
Prosecutors in the high-profile trial showed messages between Tarrio, one of the five defendants, and Metropolitan Police Lt. Shane Lamond, suggesting Lamond kept Tarrio in the loop about the police department’s investigations into him and other Proud Boys.
The Proud Boys on trial are charged with sedition and other alleged crimes in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
– Ella Lee
Tipster case:D.C. police lieutenant warned Proud Boys leader ahead of pre-Jan. 6 arrest: trial evidence
In Iowa, Mike Pence vows to resist special counsel’s ‘unconstitutional’ subpoena
Former Vice President Mike Pence vowed Wednesday to resist special counsel Jack Smith’s decision to subpoena his testimony in his investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert the 2020 election, calling the move “unprecedented and unconstitutional.”
“We’ll stand on that principle, and we’ll take that case as far as it needs to go — if need be to the Supreme Court of the United States,” Pence said at an event in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. “Because to me, it’s an issue of the separation of powers.”
Pence argued he is shielded by the Constitution’s “speech or debate clause,” which protects members of Congress from law enforcement scrutiny over their speech and debate in the chamber. The clause says they “shall not be questioned in any other place.”
– Brianne Pfannenstiel
More:In Iowa, Mike Pence vows to resist special counsel’s subpoena in Trump 2020 investigation
Biden, McCarthy spar over debt after CBO releases new projections
President Joe Biden on Wednesday accused Republicans of supporting tax cuts for the wealthy and other policies that would add $3 trillion to the national debt, pushing back on their demands for spending cuts as part of raising the debt ceiling.
Biden, speaking at an electrical workers union hall in Lanham Md., singled out Republican efforts to extend expiring Trump-era tax cuts for high-income earners and corporations, which would add a projected $2.7 trillion in debt. “It would explode the deficit and leave the American taxpayer holding the bag,” he said.
His remarks came after the Congressional Budget Office released an updated budget outlook that projects the U.S. will add more than $19 trillion to the national debt over the next decade, $3 trillion more than was projected last year.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy fired back in a tweet, saying Biden’s policies have led to $13 trillion in new spending and renewing his call to “negotiate a responsible debt limit increase that gets our fiscal house back in order.”
“Democrats’ reckless spending is plunging our country into deeper debt & jeopardizing our economy,” McCarthy said. “A blank check for more spending will destroy our country.”
– Joey Garrison
Debt ceiling debate:Debt limit forecast says US could be in default by summer. Here’s how that could impact you
Not just Haley: South Carolina’s Tim Scott is also mulling presidential bid
Nikki Haley might not be the only politician from South Carolina to run for president in 2024.
Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., the Senate’s only Black Republican, has hired new political aides and is planning a trip to Iowa, all stoking speculation that he may also jump into next year’s Republican race.
Scott allies are mum on whether he will take the plunge.
“These next few weeks Senator Scott will not just talk about his faith, but also why he has faith in America,” said Jennifer DeCasper, a senior adviser to the South Carolina senator. “He is excited to share his vision of hope and opportunity and hear the American people’s response.”
Asked about Scott’s campaign-like activity, aides stayed mum.
– David Jackson
Susan Page:How do you challenge Trump for the nomination? With Nikki Haley in, let’s count the ways.
As nation reels from Michigan shooting, courts wrestle with access to guns
Should the government be able to take guns from Americans who smoke marijuana? What about people who are the subject of domestic violence protective orders?
A federal appeals court in Philadelphia grappled Wednesday with a case that questions whether Americans who have committed nonviolent felonies can be denied access to guns. It’s one of several such cases questioning who can be denied access to weapons that are percolating in federal courts in the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling last year on the Second Amendment.
The case in Philadelphia, which deals with a man who has been denied access to guns after making false statements to boost his food stamp assistance nearly three decades ago, comes as the nation is reeling from another mass shooting. Three Michigan State University students were killed and five others were wounded in a shooting Monday night.
– John Fritze
Gun access:As nation reels from Michigan State shooting, courts wrestle with access to guns
Georgia grand jury concerned witnesses lied in Trump investigation
A Georgia grand jury investigating former President Donald Trump will release parts of a long-awaited report Thursday, including a section mentioning concerns that some witnesses appeared to lie during the investigation.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered the release of parts of the report and said it “discusses the concern that some witnesses may have lied under oath during their testimony to the grand jury.” But he said the witnesses wouldn’t be named.
Even so, legal experts said the section on alleged lies on could allow prosecutors to pursue perjury charges against the witnesses and potentially broaden the investigation. “That expands the scope of potential defendants quite a bit,” said Clark Cunningham, a law professor at Georgia State University.
– Bart Jansen
Parts of Georgia grand jury report to be made public Thursday
A Georgia judge is set to provide a first – albeit abbreviated – look Thursday at a grand jury’s examination of former President Donald Trump’s attempts to interfere in the 2020 election.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled earlier this week that three sections of the panel’s report would be made public Thursday, including a passage expressing concerns that some witnesses may have lied under oath.
Yet much of the panel’s work, including specific charging recommendations and names of the witnesses suspected of lying, will remain under seal as Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis continues an inquiry launched two years ago.
Willis opened the investigation shortly after Donald Trump’s extraordinary Jan. 2, 2021 conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger went viral, later expanding the inquiry into a far-reaching criminal examination into election fraud and impaneling a special grand jury in May.
– Kevin Johnson