Politics

Fox News reports: Police in Irving, Texas, have identified the man who shot and killed himself outside of GOP Rep. Beth Van Duyne’s home as former campaign staffer Chris Dillard, according to a report Thursday. Dillard, 55, served as Van Duyne’s communications director from November 2019 to April 2020 and was a prominent local GOP activist. The Irving Police Department …

From the Daily Mail: Controversial conspiracy congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene cheated on her husband with a polyamorous tantric sex guru, DailyMail.com has learned. Then after ending her affair with him, the mom-of-three moved on to a gym manager behind her husband’s back. But despite the tawdry flings, Taylor Greene stuck with her husband Perry as she made her unlikely rise …

Dallas’s NBC News affiliate reports: An unidentified man took his life in front of the home of Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne Wednesday afternoon. Irving police say the incident happened around 3:45 p.m. Officers responded to a call of a shooting on Shumard Oak Lane. When officers arrived, they found an unidentified man on the sidewalk in front of Van Duyne’s …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Gina Carano will not be returning to The Mandalorian or the Star Wars galaxy after sharing a post on social media implying that being a Republican today is like being Jewish during the Holocaust. “Gina Carano is not currently employed by Lucasfilm and there are no plans for her to be in the future,” a Lucasfilm …

The New York Post reports: Larry Flynt — the controversial porn peddler who built an empire that included “Hustler” magazine — reportedly died on Wednesday. He was 78. Flynt, who was paralyzed from the waist down in a 1978 murder attempt, succumbed to heart failure in Los Angeles on Wednesday morning, TMZ reported. The mogul was known for his myriad …

NPR reports: The NBA says every team – including the Dallas Mavericks – must play the national anthem in their arenas, after news emerged that team owner Mark Cuban had ordered the Mavericks to discontinue the long-held practice. “With NBA teams now in the process of welcoming fans back into their arenas, all teams will play the national anthem in …

Reason reports: A Reason investigation in 2014 and subsequent documentary reported that, as a prosecutor, Rod Ponton leveraged the gears of the federal government in a yearslong effort to level bogus drug charges against a woman in Alpine, Texas, ultimately succeeding at destroying her business. The target, Ilana Lipsen, was his alleged former lover; she says she had one sexual …

ESPN reports: The Dallas Mavericks have stopped playing the national anthem before home games at the direction of owner Mark Cuban, he confirmed to ESPN on Tuesday. The Mavericks do not plan to resume the tradition to play the national anthem before games in the future. Cuban, who declined further comment, made the decision after consulting with NBA commissioner Adam …

CNN reports: Embattled Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has told those close to him he wants to stay in his role under the new president, two sources tell CNN, despite his troubled tenure at the helm of the US Postal Service and his background as a supporter and donor to former President Donald Trump. President Joe Biden faces mounting pressure from …

Politico reports: The Justice Department has abandoned an arguably unprecedented lawsuit seeking to confiscate the proceeds of a book written by an aide to former First Lady Melania Trump. Government lawyers filed a notice with a federal judge Monday saying they are voluntarily dismissing the suit filed last October against Stephanie Winston Wolkoff, who served as a volunteer adviser to …

The New York Times reports: A coalition of civil liberties and human rights groups urged the Biden administration on Monday to drop efforts to extradite the WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange from Britain and prosecute him, calling the Trump-era case against him “a grave threat to press freedom.” The coalition sent a letter urging a change in course before a Friday …

Roll Call reports: Lobbyists who’ve been around a long time can regale younger generations with tales of freely roaming the Capitol — parking steps from an entrance to the temple of democracy and leisurely loitering by elevators to grab members en route to the House or Senate floors. Those days, of course, vanished long ago. And now COVID-19 has shifted …

The Baton Rouge Advocate reports: Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry on Friday sued a reporter for The Advocate and The Times-Picayune over a public-records request she filed, asking a judge to issue a declaratory judgment denying the request and seal the proceedings. The unusual action came a few days after the newspaper warned Landry that it intended to sue him …

CNN reports: A top doctor at the Russian hospital where opposition leader Alexey Navalny was treated immediately after his poisoning last summer has died, the hospital said on Thursday. Sergey Maximishin, who was the deputy chief physician of the Omsk emergency hospital, “suddenly” died at the age of 55, according to a statement released by the hospital. A spokeswoman from …

TMZ reports: Donald Trump no longer has the privilege of using Marine One whenever he pleases so his exclusive helipad at Mar-a-Lago is getting the boot. According to new building permits — obtained by TMZ — the formal process of removing the helipad from the former President’s favorite resort has begun and it looks like the job will cost about …

CBS News reports: Russian opposition leader and fierce Kremlin critic Alexey Navalny was sentenced to 3 and a half years in prison on Tuesday in a court proceeding that he condemned as politically motivated. The court gave him credit for about year of the sentence he had already served under house arrest, saying he would be required to spend another …

The Baltimore Sun reports: A pair of high-profile political figures of opposite parties — Republican Michael Steele and Democrat Tom Perez — say they are considering running for Maryland governor in 2022. Steele, the former lieutenant governor who is now an MSNBC commentator, said he will seriously consider a campaign to succeed two-term Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, who cannot run …

Newsweek reports: Supermarket chain Publix is seemingly trying to distance itself from heiress Julie Jenkins Fancelli, who is one of Publix’s founder George W. Jenkins’ seven children, following reports that she was a key funder in the January 6 rally, which culminated in rioters storming the United States Capitol. Following the article’s publication, some people called on Publix for a …

The Hill reports: Former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) said this week he is considering a 2022 gubernatorial run, setting up a potential challenge against incumbent Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R). “It’s something I’m going to think about,” O’Rourke told Buzz Adams on Texas radio station KLAQ on Monday. O’Rourke went on to hit Abbott’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic, accusing …

CNN Business reports: CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook is considering steps it can take to reduce the amount of political content in the News Feed. “One of the top pieces of feedback that we’re hearing from our community right now is that people don’t want politics and fighting to take over their experience on our services,” Zuckerberg said. Ahead of …