conspiracy

An assassination attempt at the White House correspondents’ dinner underscored the spectacle, chaos and violence that have defined Donald Trump’s second presidency.

As journalists rushed to report what had happened, a parallel narrative of conspiracy was already taking shape online. Conspiracy theories get far more currency than they merit – and they are a by-product of an information landscape that has been muddied by Trump.

Contributors:
John Nichols – Executive editor, The Nation
Niall Stanage – White House columnist, The Hill
Amber Duke – Editor-in-chief, Daily Caller
Suzanne Kianpour – Cohost, Global Power Shifts podcast

On our radar

Russia’s effort to tighten internet restrictions and throttle Telegram has caused a furious public backlash. The uproar has forced President Vladimir Putin to admit the measures went too far. Ryan Kohls reports.

Israel’s information war on Lebanon

Throughout two years of war, Israeli forces have used drones, AI-powered targeting and the infiltration of Lebanese communications devices and the networks they rely on – to control the population, spread terror and kill people. And it has escalated its information war, using all kinds of propaganda to deepen fear and divisions within Lebanese society. We speak to Justin Salhani about the tactics Israel is using in Lebanon.

Featuring:
Justin Salhani – Senior producer, Al Jazeera Digital

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Tuesday asked a federal appeals court to throw out the seditious conspiracy convictions of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders who were sentenced to prison terms for leading members of the far-right extremist groups in attacking the U.S. Capitol to keep President Trump in the White House more than five years ago.

Trump commuted the prison sentences of several Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders in January 2025 in a sweeping act of clemency for all 1,500-plus defendants charged in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack.

The request by the Justice Department would go a step further and erase the convictions for the extremist group leaders, including Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes.

In court filings, prosecutors asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to vacate the convictions so that the government can permanently dismiss the indictments.

“The government’s motion to vacate in this case is consistent with its practice of moving the Supreme Court to vacate convictions in cases where the government has decided in its prosecutorial discretion that dismissal of a criminal case is in the interests of justice — motions that the Supreme Court routinely grants,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing signed by U.S. Atty. Jeanine Pirro.

Juries in Washington convicted the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers leaders of orchestrating violent plots to stop the peaceful transfer of power after Trump’s 2020 election loss to Democratic President Biden.

Kunzelman and Richer write for the Associated Press.