Salem News Channel

House shelves effort to impeach Trump over Iran strikes

The House voted overwhelmingly to set aside an effort to impeach President Donald Trump on a sole charge of abuse of power after he launched military strikes on Iran without first seeking authorization from Congress.

Teen Indicted In Fatal Stabbing Of Student At TX High School Track Meet

A prosecutor says a Texas teen accused of fatally stabbing another student during an altercation at a high school track meet in suburban Dallas has been indicted on a murder charge. Collin County District Attorney Greg Willis said Tuesday that a grand jury indicted Karmelo Anthony in the death of 17-year-old Austin Metcalf. Willis said the April 2 stabbing at the school stadium in Frisco “struck a deep nerve.” Anthony’s attorney, Mike Howard, indicated that he will argue that Anthony acted in self-defense. Anthony was 17 when the stabbing happened and is now 18.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Wins Democratic Primary

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, the prosecutor who oversaw the historic hush-money case against President Donald Trump, won Tuesday's Democratic primary as he seeks reelection. Bragg defeated Patrick Timmins — a litigator, law professor and former Bronx assistant district attorney — to advance to November's general election. About 70% of registered Manhattan voters are Democrats. The first-term incumbent will face Republican Maud Maron, who was a public defender for decades and previously ran for Congress and NYC's City Council as a Democrat. Bragg has long been one of the nation's most prominent prosecutors, spotlighted in TV's “Law & Order” and other shows. The DA directs about 600 attorneys in one of the biggest local prosecutors' offices in the U.S. He raised the office's profile still further by bringing the hush-money case. His predecessor, fellow Democrat Cyrus R. Vance Jr., spent years investigating various Trump dealings but didn't procure an indictment. Bragg decided to focus on how and why porn actor Stormy Daniels was paid $130,000 to clam up about her claims of a 2006 sexual encounter with the married Trump. The payment was made, through the then-candidate’s personal attorney, weeks before the 2016 presidential election. Trump's company records logged the money as a legal expense. Trump denied any wrongdoing and any sexual involvement with Daniels. But a jury last year found him guilty of 33 felony counts of falsifying business records, the first-ever felony conviction of a former — and now again — U.S. commander in chief. Trump is appealing the verdict. The Republican president has long derided the case as a political “witch hunt,” and he has kept lambasting Bragg by social media as recently as March. Bragg, 51, was a civil rights lawyer, federal prosecutor and top deputy to New York’s attorney general before becoming DA. Raised in Harlem and educated at Harvard, he's the first Black person to hold the post. His tenure had a rocky start. Days after taking office in 2022, he issued a memo telling staffers not to prosecute some types of cases, nor seek bail or prison time in some others. After criticism from the police commissioner and others, Bragg apologized for creating “confusion” and said his office wasn’t easing up on serious cases. The matter continued to animate his critics. Trump repeatedly branded Bragg “soft on crime,” and Timmins said on his campaign site homepage that the memo "has brought about increased crime and a perception of chaos in the subway and on our streets.” Timmins — who has raised about $154,000 to Bragg's $2.2 million since January 2022 — also pledged to do more to staunch subway crime, keep cases from getting dismissed for failure to meet legal deadlines, and prioritize hate crimes, among other things. Bragg's campaign emphasized his efforts to fight gun violence, help sexual assault survivors, prosecute hate crimes and go after bad landlords and exploitative bosses, among other priorities. His office, meanwhile, has been enmeshed in a string of high-profile cases in recent months. The office is using a post-9/11 terrorism law to prosecute UnitedHealthcare CEO killing suspect Luigi Mangione, lost a homicide trial against Marine veteran and Republican cause célèbre Daniel Penny in a case that stirred debate about subway safety and self-defense, and retried former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein on sex crimes charges. Mangione, Penny and Weinstein all pleaded not guilty. Bragg unexpectedly inherited the Vance-era Weinstein case after an appeals court ordered a new trial. In a jumbled outcome, jurors this month convicted Weinstein on one top charge, acquitted him of another and didn't reach a verdict on a third, lower-level charge — which Bragg aims to bring to trial a third time.

Man Charged With Supplying Chemicals To CA Fertility Clinic Bomber Dies

A Washington man charged with aiding the bomber of a fertility clinic in California has died after he was found unresponsive in federal custody. Daniel Park was arrested earlier this month after he was extradited from Poland, where he fled to four days after the attack. The 32-year-old Park was accused of supplying chemicals to Guy Edward Bartkus of California, the bomber, who died in the May 17 explosion. Prison officials say Park, of suburban Seattle, was found unresponsive in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Los Angeles on Tuesday morning and was pronounced dead at the hospital. No cause of death has been provided.

NATO Nations To Step Up Defense Spending

NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte is upbeat that the military organization will agree a massive spending hike at a “transformational summit,” as member state leaders including U.S. President Donald Trump are expected to agree a new defense spending target of 5% of gross domestic product. Russia remains the major threat in Europe, but the United States is shifting its attention to focus on security priorities elsewhere. Ahead of the meeting, Spain officially announced that it would not be able to reach the target by the new 2035 deadline, calling it “unreasonable.” Belgium signaled that it will not get there either, and Slovakia said it reserves the right to decide its own defense spending.

Trump pushing Congress to pass tax cut and spending bill

President Trump wants lawmakers to postpone or cancel their upcoming recess in order to pass his tax-cut-and-spend legislation. The 4th of July recess for Congress is right around the corner, but the president wants his so-called “big beautiful bill” finished first.

Zohran Mamdani Wins NYC Democratic Mayoral Primary In Shocking Upset

Zohran Mamdani has declared victory in New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary after Andrew Cuomo conceded the race in a stunning upset. The race’s ultimate outcome will still be decided by a ranked choice count. But Mamdani was in a commanding position after polls closed Tuesday night. The 33-year-old democratic socialist was virtually unknown outside of political circles a year ago. Cuomo was trying to make a comeback from a sexual harassment scandal. He told supporters that he had called Mamdani to congratulate him. He trailed Mamdani by a significant margin in the first choice ballots.

Netanyahu Says Israel Brought Iran's Nuclear Program 'To Ruin'

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel in its 12 days of war with Iran had removed the threat of nuclear annihilation and was determined to thwart any attempt by Tehran to revive its program. “We have removed two immediate existential threats to us – the threat of nuclear annihilation and the threat of annihilation by 20,000 ballistic missiles,” he said in video remarks issued by his office. “If anyone in Iran tries to revive this project, we will work with the same determination and strength to thwart any such attempt. I repeat, Iran will not have nuclear weapons.” He called it a historic victory that would stand for generations. He said Israel never had a better friend in the White House than President Donald Trump, whose U.S. military had dropped massive bunker-buster bombs on Iran’s underground nuclear sites in an attack over the weekend. “Our friend President Trump has rallied to our side in an unprecedented way. Under his direction, the United States military destroyed the underground enrichment site at Fordow,” Netanyahu said. He spoke hours after Trump directed stinging criticism at Israel over the scale of strikes Trump said had violated a truce with Iran negotiated by Washington, Israel’s closest ally. Netanyahu said Israel’s work was unfinished. He cited the war against Iran’s ally Hamas in Gaza, where 50 hostages remain in captivity since the Palestinian militant group carried out a surprise attack on October 7, 2023. About 20 are believed to be alive. “We must complete the campaign against the Iranian axis, defeat Hamas, and bring about the release of all the hostages, both living and dead,” he said.