Closing summary
We still don’t have all the answers about the recent spate of UFO shootdowns, but the US military announced it had recovered all of the Chinese spy balloon destroyed off South Carolina’s coast. As for the three other mysterious objects American warplanes downed over the US and Canada, there’s a compelling theory that one was a hobbyist’s balloon launched from Illinois. Speaking of the midwestern state, Florida’s Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, will head there next week to address a police union – just the type of thing a state politician with national aspirations would do.
Here’s what else happened today:
The justice department searched the offices of a group connected to Mike Pence, but found no new classified documents.
Joe Biden spoke out in support of John Fetterman, Pennsylvania’s Democratic senator who checked himself into a hospital for treatment of clinical depression.
Georgia’s Republican secretary of state is claiming vindication after a special grand jury unanimously found there was no evidence of fraud in the 2020 election.
Fox News’ biggest names never believed Donald Trump’s election fraud claims but parroted them anyway, newly released court filings show. This story has raised plenty of eyebrows – except for readers of the Wall Street Journal, a publication that shares ownership with the network and has yet to cover it.
On the new Index of Impunity, the US’s ranking is not particularly enviable.
Updated
With Roe v Wade overturned, the religious right is now pushing legislation in Republican-led states that would crack down on everything from drag queen performances to the sale of romance novels, Hallie Lieberman reports:
A wave of proposed legislation pushed by Republicans across the US at the state level is aimed at outlawing aspects of sexuality that could have a huge impact on Americans’ private lives and businesses.
Opponents of the laws before legislatures in various states say the planned new legislation could spawn prosecution of breast-pump companies in Texas for nipples on advertising, or a bookstore might be banned from selling romance novels in West Virginia, or South Carolina could imprison standup comics if a risque joke is heard by a young person.
The bills are part of a post-Roe nationwide strategy by the religious wing of the Republican party, now that federal abortion rights have fallen. They range from banning all businesses that sell sex-related goods to anti-drag queen bills. Tyler Dees, an Arkansas state senator who wrote an anti-porn bill, said: “I would love to outlaw it all,” referring to porn.
The most prevalent bills relate to age verification of sex-related websites. Seventeen states drafted porn age-verification bills, many inspired by Louisiana’s law that went into effect in January. Louisiana’s law requires websites featuring one-third or more pornographic content to check government-issued ID to verify users are 18 or older. Websites that don’t comply face civil penalties. Parents can sue a site if their kids access it.
Updated
