Day 505: "Transparent."
1/ A man armed with a pistol, a knife, and other weapons was arrested near Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s home. Nicholas John Roske told the authorities that he traveled from California to kill the Supreme Court justice. Roske told the police that he was upset about the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, and the leaked draft opinion that would overturn Roe v. Wade. His plan was to break into Kavanaugh’s house, kill the justice, and then kill himself. (Washington Post / New York Times / Politico / NPR / NBC News)
2/ Trump, Trump Jr., and Ivanka Trump agreed to testify in the New York attorney general’s civil probe into the family’s business practices. The deal comes more than six months after Attorney General Letitia James first issued subpoenas for their testimony, which the Trumps and the Trump Organization have fought. James previously said investigators have found “significant evidence” of wrongdoing in the investigation, which is focused on whether the Trump Organization misstated the values of its real estate properties to obtain favorable loans and tax deductions. The three are tentatively set to begin testifying on July 15. (CNBC / Reuters / The Guardian / Bloomberg / NBC News)
3/ The Jan. 6 committee is in active discussions with Trump’s White House counsel about testifying publicly at one of their upcoming hearings. Pat Cipollone’s testimony, however, will be restricted to the effort undertaken by former top Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark to help Trump attempt to overturn the 2020 election. Following the Jan. 6 riot, Cipollone advised Trump that he could face civil liability in connection with his role encouraging supporters to march on the Capitol. Gregory Jacob, a senior Pence adviser, meanwhile, is scheduled to testify publicly before the Jan. 6 committee about his efforts to help Pence fend off Trump attorney John Eastman’s campaign to disrupt the transition of power. (ABC News / Politico)
4/ The FDA’s panel of independent vaccine experts recommended authorization of Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine, paving the way for the fourth shot in the U.S. The Novavax shot is a protein-based vaccine, given as two shots. Moderna, meanwhile, said its updated vaccine shows a “superior neutralizing antibody response” against the omicron subvariants compared to its original vaccine. The Omicron subvariants BA.4 and BA.5 now represent 13% of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. – up from 7.5% a week ago and 1% in early May. The Biden administration said it’s preparing for a fall and winter wave driven by Omicron subvariants that could see 100 million coronavirus infections and a potentially significant number of deaths. (ABC News / Washington Post / New York Times / NPR)
5/ The House is expected to pass the most aggressive gun control legislation in years, which will stall in the evenly divided Senate. The House bill would raise the age for purchasing semi-automatic rifles from 18 to 21, ban high-capacity magazines, require a background check for buying a “ghost gun,” and include safe storage requirements for firearms. House Democrats, however, are forcing a separate vote on each proposal in the legislation, in order to put Republicans on the record on each measure. The Justice Department, meanwhile, named a team of nine people, including an FBI official and former police chiefs, to aid in a review of the law enforcement response to the Uvalde, Texas, shooting that left 19 children and two teachers dead. Justice Department officials said they planned to conduct a comprehensive and “transparent” investigation that would lead to a report in six months. (Politico / New York Times / Associated Press / Washington Post)
poll/ 74% of Americans support raising the minimum legal age to buy a gun to 21 years old nationwide, 24% oppose. 57% support stricter gun laws in the U.S. 50% also support a nationwide ban on the sale of assault weapons. (Quinnipiac)