Cryptocurrency, Investing, Money, Economy, Business, and Debt:
Spot Bitcoin ETF receives official approval from the SEC
On Jan. 10, the securities regulator approved the 19b-4 applications from ARK 21Shares, Invesco Galaxy, VanEck, WisdomTree, Fidelity, Valkyrie, BlackRock, Grayscale, Bitwise, Hashdex and Franklin Templeton — approving the rule changes that allow a spot Bitcoin ETF to be listed and traded on the respective exchanges.
How early are we in the mainstream adoption curve? I went to several major news sites and none of them mentioned this on their home page. For all of them, Chris Christie suspending his campaign was the lead story.
Coronavirus News, Analysis, and Opinion:
Florida Man:
Florida school district removes dictionaries from libraries, citing law championed by DeSantis
Court Rules Against DeSantis for Suspending Attorney Who Wouldn’t Enforce Abortion Ban
The federal appeals court found that DeSantis lacked probable cause to suspend Warren
Politics:
Judge Signals Trump Is Doomed in New E. Jean Carroll Trial
With Donald Trump’s second rape defamation trial only one week away, a federal judge has rewarded the billionaire’s unceasing legal insolence and delusional defense strategy with a brutal order laying out just how punishing the court battle is going to be.
Until recently, the former president’s lawyers had been preparing for the upcoming defamation trial as if the first one never happened—seeing it as a chance to rewrite history and try to clear Trump’s name after a jury last year concluded he sexually assaulted the journalist E. Jean Carroll decades ago.
But on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan made it clear that Trump is not getting another go at whether he raped Carroll.
Trump’s Plan to Deliver Fraud Trial’s Closing Speech Falls Apart
Donald Trump wanted to deliver a closing argument at his bank fraud trial. But when his lawyers wouldn’t agree that he’d follow the rules, the judge blew the plan apart.
Bomb Threat Made at Home of Judge in Trump Fraud Trial
The danger surrounding Donald Trump’s bank fraud trial in New York escalated just hours before its final hearing on Thursday, when a bomb threat was made at the home of the judge overseeing the case.
The trial was already marred with the violence that has become synonymous with the MAGA cult, as Trumpists flooded the courthouse with death threats aimed at the judge and his law clerk, Allison Greenfield.
House GOP Proposes New Standard for Impeachment
House Republicans kicked off their push to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday with a new proposed standard for recommending the ouster of a Cabinet official: ‘gross incompetence.’
The GOP’s move to impeach Mayorkas without evidence of criminal or other improper activity beyond its policy dispute with him is unprecedented. Republicans argue that Mayorkas is not upholding existing immigration laws, but Democrats counter that the entire affair is designed to appeal to their base in an election year.
To be fair to Republicans, “High Crimes and Misdemeanors” has always been a vague placeholder. Impeachment is and always has been about politics, not criminal activity. In the 19th Century, a federal judge was impeached in the House and convicted in the Senate simply because he was an alcoholic.
White House Backs Seizing Frozen Russian Assets
President Joe Biden’s administration is backing legislation that would let it seize some of $300 billion in frozen Russian assets to help pay for reconstruction of Ukraine, a shift as the White House seeks to rally support in Congress to further fund the war against Vladimir Putin’s forces.
The administration welcomes ‘in principle’ a bill that would allow it to confiscate the funds, according to a November memo from the National Security Council to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Migrant Work Permits Now on the Table
Negotiators are weighing expediting the processing of work permits for asylum-seeking migrants as part of a potential border deal.
Local and state officials want work permit expansions included in negotiations as the migrant crisis affects more leaders across the country, straining city budgets.
Johnson Urges Party to Leave Him Alone on Social Media
Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called behind closed doors on Wednesday for his fellow Republicans to stop criticizing him and his budget negotiations on social media.
