NBC News reports: West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin, who has spent his entire decadeslong political career as a Democrat, said Friday he is leaving the party and registering as an independent, raising speculation about whether he may run for another Senate term or for governor this fall. “To stay true to myself and remain committed to put country before party, …

ABC News reports: Former President Donald Trump is set to address reporters on Friday morning — the day after being found guilty on all 34 counts in his hush-money trial. Trump will speak from the atrium of Trump Tower just feet away from the golden escalator he rode down in 2015 when he kicked off his first bid for president. …

The Associated Press reports: Trump’s campaign said it has raised a record $34.8 million in small-dollar online contributions off his conviction — nearly double its previous largest haul. The campaign advisors said nearly 30% of Thursday’s donors were new to the fundraising platform. “From just minutes after the sham trial verdict was announced, our digital fundraising system was overwhelmed with …

“There wasn’t any doubt – the nature of the indictment, the conduct of the judge, the jury instructions, the jurors themselves, the pool, the failure to move it out of Manhattan, this was a foregone conclusion. “I hope that the people of New York who are responsible for electing these judges and the prosecutor are happy. They’ve created a monstrosity. …

Education site The 74 reports: Texas elementary school students would get a significant dose of Bible knowledge with their reading instruction under a sweeping curriculum redesign unveiled Wednesday. From the story of Queen Esther — who convinced her husband, the Persian king, to spare the Jews — to the depiction of Christ’s last supper, the material is designed to draw …

“It is fundamental to our American system of justice that the government prosecutes cases because of alleged criminal conduct regardless of who the defendant happens to be. In this case the opposite has happened. The district attorney, who campaigned on a promise to prosecute Donald Trump, brought these charges precisely because of who the defendant was rather than because of …

Glorious snark from the Queens Daily Eagle newspaper: Former Jamaica Estates resident Donald Trump was convicted by a Manhattan jury on Thursday of 34 counts of falsifying business records in an effort to cover up a sex scandal he feared would ruin his chances of winning the 2016 presidential election. The jury’s verdict, which came after only two days of …

USA Today reports: Bruhat Soma entered the 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee with three smaller spelling bee victories already under his belt in 2024, and the 12-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida, won the big prize Thursday by defeating fellow 12-year-old Faizan Zaki in a spell-off. “My heart was pumping so fast when I realized I won,” Soma said. “I had …

“He got caught, you know, with his hand in the cookie jar, so to speak. So he’s not happy. This shouldn’t be a surprise but, I mean, this is how a man runs his business and I don’t think he’s gonna change who he is, quite frankly. He’s never gonna show remorse over this conviction and, you know, he’s gonna …

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk criticized the verdict that made Donald Trump the first former American president to be criminally convicted Thursday, with the Tesla boss claiming that the trial had been politically motivated. Musk moaned that the history-making outcome of the trial is bad news for all Americans. “Indeed, great damage was done today to the public’s faith …

The Associated Press reports: Donald Trump may be convicted of a felony and reside in Florida, a state notorious for restricting the voting rights of people with felony convictions. But he can still vote as long as he stays out of prison in New York state. That’s because Florida defers to other states’ disenfranchisement rules for residents convicted of out-of-state …

Axios reports: Trump lawyer Todd Blanche told CNN Thursday evening after Trump became the first sitting or former U.S. president convicted of a felony that the defense team was “prepared for a conviction” and they would “vigorously fight” by filing motions before Judge Juan Merchan in a couple of weeks. Blanche told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins the legal team would outline …

Mediaite reports: Donald Trump Jr. demoted the United States to “third-world shithole” status on Thursday after a jury in New York convicted his father Donald Trump. Like his son, the elder Trump has spoken of “shithole countries.” As president in 2018, Trump lamented the lack of immigrants coming to the U.S. from places like Norway. “Why are we having all …

Reuters reports: Supporters of former President Donald Trump, enraged by his conviction on 34 felony counts by a New York jury, flooded pro-Trump websites with calls for riots, revolution and violent retribution. After Trump became the first U.S. president to be convicted of a crime, his supporters responded with dozens of violent online posts, according to a Reuters review of …

Politico reports: Donald Trump is already trying to turn his historic criminal conviction into a campaign cash windfall. Moments after a jury handed down a guilty verdict on 34 counts of falsifying business records, Trump’s campaign flipped his website to a verdict-themed fundraising funnel. Trump followed it up by putting out a siren on his Truth Social account calling himself …

You heard J.D. Vance, I don’t know, about 15 minutes ago, say that if Trump is reelected, there needs to be a full investigation of this case: the judge, whether he had any connection to the Biden administration – we know there was a Biden administration connection with the lawyer, Colangelo, doing the prosecution — and whether Soros was involved …

CBS News reports: The minimum sentence for falsifying business records in the first degree is zero, so Trump could receive probation or conditional discharge, a sentence of no jail or up to four years for each offense. Trump would likely be ordered to serve the prison time concurrently for each count, so up to four years, total. In an analysis …

Politico reports: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg begins his press conference by thanking the jury and outlining the work they did throughout the trial, including reviewing call logs, text messages, emails and bank statements, in addition to listening to testimony. “This type of white-collar prosecution is core to what we do at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office,” Bragg says before …

“In New York today, we saw that no one is above the law. Donald Trump has always mistakenly believed he would never face consequences for breaking the law for his own personal gain. But today’s verdict does not change the fact that the American people face a simple reality. “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out …

“In 2016, the presidential race was decided based on candidates releasing lists of potential Supreme Court nominees. In 2024, I want to see lists of which Democrat officials are going to be put in prison. This is what happens when you cross the Rubicon. The battle within the Republican Party from here on out will be between those who understand …