WTF Just Happened Today

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

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1/ Rudy Giuliani surrendered to Georgia authorities and was booked on charges that he illegally conspired to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in the state. Giuliani, who was released on $150,000 bond, told reporters that he was “very, very honored to be involved in this case because this case is a fight for our way of life. This indictment is a travesty.” He added: “If they can do this to me, they can do this to you.” Meanwhile, Trump-allied Sidney Powell also surrendered to authorities at the Fulton County Jail. Trump is expected to surrender on Thursday. (Washington Post / Associated Press / ABC News / NBC News / New York Times / CNN / CNBC / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

2/ A key witness in Trump’s classified documents case “retracted his prior false testimony” and implicated Trump and others in obstruction of justice after switching lawyers. Yuscil Taveras’ legal expenses were previously paid for by Trump’s Save America PAC. He initially testified to a grand jury that he was unaware of any effort at Mar-a-Lago to delete security footage. After hiring a new lawyer from the federal defender’s office in Washington in early July, Taveras – described as “Trump Employee 4” in court documents – changed his testimony and detailed the alleged effort by Trump, Carlos De Oliveira, and Walt Nauta to tamper with evidence. Prosecutors then filed additional charges on July 27, accusing Trump, Nauta, and de Oliveira of alleged attempts to pressure “Trump Employee 4” to delete the security footage. Taveras has not been charged in the case. (Politico / CBS News / ABC News / New York Times / Washington Post / NBC News / Axios / CNN)

3/ The South Carolina Supreme Court upheld a ban on most abortion after roughly six weeks of pregnancy. The ”Fetal Heartbeat and Protection from Abortion Act” bans abortion after embryonic cardiac activity can be detected, which is generally around six weeks of pregnancy. South Carolina previously allowed abortion until 22 weeks. T...

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