Closing summary
The jurors in Steve Bannon’s contempt of Congress trial returned guilty verdicts today, meaning the former Donald Trump adviser is likely to serve jail time. Bannon has vowed to appeal the decision.
Here’s what else happened today:
- Joe Biden’s Covid-19 symptoms have “improved”, the White House doctor said, and the president appeared later in the day at a virtual event to showcase declining US gas prices.
- Washington is still reeling from yesterday’s January 6 committee hearing, where the panel laid out evidence that Trump resisted stopping the riot. One presidential historian warned Americans not to be complacent about what those behind the attack were trying to accomplish.
- Trump, if elected president again in 2024, would oust tens of thousands of civil servants across the US government and replace them with his supporters, sources close to the ex-leader told Axios.
- California’s governor signed a law modeled on anti-abortion legislation in Texas that would allow citizen to sue distributors of illegal weapons or parts.
California governor signs law allowing citizens to sue illegal assault weapon distributors
In its latest attempt to stop gun violence, California’s Democratic leadership has taken inspiration from anti-abortion legislation first crafted in conservative Texas, the Associated Press reports:
California punched back Friday against two recent landmark US supreme court decisions as the state’s governor signed a controversial, first-in-the-nation gun control law patterned after a Texas anti-abortion law.
The action by Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, comes one month after conservative justices overturned women’s constitutional right to abortions and undermined gun control laws in states including California.
Newsom stitched the two hot-button topics together in approving a law allowing people to sue anyone who distributes illegal assault weapons, parts that can be used to build weapons, guns without serial numbers, or .50 caliber rifles. They would be awarded at least $10,000 in civil damages for each weapon, plus attorneys fees.
