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Published by Reuters By Alexandra Ulmer (Reuters) -In a sharp rebuke of his former boss, former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence said on Friday that Donald Trump was wrong to believe Pence had the power to reverse the outcome of the 2020 presidential election that Trump has falsely claimed was stolen from him. After losing his re-election campaign to Democrat Joe Biden in November 2020, the Republican Trump in a bid to stay in office pressured Pence to block congressional certification of the results while presiding over the proceedings on Jan. 6, 2021. Pence, a loyal lieutenant during the four years of Trump’s tumultuous presidency, opted not to block certification. Trump has often disparaged Pence since then, and on Sunday issued a fresh statement saying the former vice president could have “overturned” the election. “President Trump is wrong,” Pence said in a speech to the Federalist Society, a conservative legal organization, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. “I had no right to overturn the election.” “The presidency belongs to the American people, and the American people alone. And frankly there is no idea more un-American than the notion that any one person could choose the American president,” Pence added. Pence’s comments represented his most forceful criticism of Trump to date. A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “I understand the disappointment many feel about the last election. I was on the ballot,” Pence said. “Whatever the future holds, I know we did our duty that day. John Quincy Adams reminds us: Duty is ours; results are God’s,” Pence added, quoting a 19th century U.S. president. “And the truth is there’s more at stake than our party or political fortunes. Men and women: if we lose faith in the Constitution, we won’t just lose elections, we’ll lose our country,” Pence added. Trump issued a statement later on Friday disagreeing with Pence. “I was right and everyone knows it. If there is fraud or large scale irregularities, it would have been appropriate to send those votes back to the legislatures to figure it out,” the former president said. ‘DARK DAY’ While Pence was presiding over the certification, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol in a failed bid to stop the certification. Pence and U.S. lawmakers inside the Capitol fled from the rioters. In his speech on Friday, Pence called Jan. 6 a “dark day.” His comments stand in contrast to the Republican Party, which on Friday censured https://www.reuters.com/world/us/loyal-trump-republican-party-moves-censure-us-reps-cheney-kinzinger-2022-02-04 Republican U.S. Representatives Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for joining a House of Representatives select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack. The party said the Democrat-led inquiry was persecuting “ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse.” Some Republicans aligned with Trump have made the false election claims a key part of their campaigns https://www.reuters.com/world/us/georgia-governors-race-tests-trumps-stolen-election-claims-2021-12-20 heading into the November 2022 midterm elections in which the party is seeking to win back control of Congress from the Democrats. Around 55% of Republicans nationally think the 2020 election was stolen, according to Reuters/Ipsos polls. Trump, who continues to have a strong grip over the party more than a year after he left office, has hinted he could run for president again in 2024. At a rally in Texas on Saturday, he said that if he were to win in 2024, he would pardon people charged with criminal offenses https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-says-he-would-pardon-jan-6-rioters-if-he-runs-wins-2022-01-30 in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. In a speech moments before the Jan. 6 attack, Trump repeated his false claims that the election was stolen through widespread voting fraud. Trump called upon Pence to “do the right thing” and block certification of the election results, while urging his supporters to go to the Capitol to “stop the steal.” Later, some of the rioters at the Capitol chanted “Hang Mike Pence” and some set up a makeshift gallows. Olivia Troye, a former national security aide to Pence who has become a Trump critic, said it was the first time she had heard her former boss publicly say Trump was wrong. “It’s a start,” Troye wrote on Twitter. (Reporting by Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco; Editing by Will Dunham and Kim Coghill) View the full article

Published by Radar Online Mega Spotify has reportedly removed upwards of 70 episodes of Joe Rogan’s podcast from their streaming service, but of the dozens of episodes removed, not one includes the episode that started the controversy over the spread of Covid-19 misinformation on the platform. According to Gizmodo, Spotify removed 70 episodes of The Joe Rogan Experience from their streaming platform Friday, although the most recent episode to be deleted is dated December 2018 – more than one year before the Covid-19 pandemic even started. Mega One of the first people to recognize that some of the podcast series had been removed was Michael Malice, a Ukrainian-American author and fellow podcaster who was a guest on Rogan’s show two times in the past. “Spotify has deleted two of my @joerogan appearances,” he wrote Friday, including a screenshot of the two episodes – #963 and #1197 – and a message indicating they were both removed from the platform on February 4. As Radar previously reported, this latest removal of 70 episodes of Rogan’s podcast comes in the wake of musicians – such as Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and Crosby, Stills, and Nash – demanding their music be taken off the streaming service giant’s platform over the harmful and dangerous spread of misinformation regarding Covid-19 on the host’s show. “They can have Rogan or Young. Not both,” the Heart of Gold singer wrote in an open letter after calling out Rogan for his “spread of misinformation” by having Dr. Robert Malone, who compared the United States and their vaccine mandate to that of Nazi Germany, as a guest on his show. “With an estimated 11 million listeners per episode, The Joe Rogan Experience, which is hosted exclusively on Spotify, is the world’s largest podcast and has tremendous influence,” Young continued. Young ultimately removed his content from the platform days later, while Mitchell, Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and a slew of other musicians subsequently followed suit. Mega But the removal of 70 episodes of Rogan’s show also came just one day after singer India Arie demanded her content be removed due to Rogan’s history using the N-word. “We have this person who is offensive to a lot of people and is paid $100 million,” Arie said in a video directed to Spotify on Thursday. “The backbone of Spotify is the music. You pay the musicians .003 to .005 percent of a penny and take this money generated over here and use it to invest in this guy?” “Do what you want, but take me off. Or pay me too. I mean us. Pay artists like me too. Pay podcasters of color too,” she added. Rogan eventually responded to Arie’s video two days later, admitting that “It looks f—ing horrible. Even to me.” “Instead of saying ‘the N-word,’ I would just say the word,” Rogan said in his own video Saturday, claiming the videos of him using the derogatory word were taken out of context. “I thought as long as it was in context, people would understand what I was doing.” Mega View the full article

Published by Reuters By Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel NEW YORK (Reuters) -Lawyer Michael Avenatti, who rose to fame for taking on then-U.S. President Donald Trump before a string of criminal charges ended his legal career, was convicted on Friday of defrauding a former client, porn star Stormy Daniels. Avenatti, who faces up to 22 years behind bars, had pleaded not guilty to embezzling nearly $300,000 in book proceeds intended for Daniels. The verdict by a federal jury in Manhattan followed a two-week trial in which the brash, 50-year-old lawyer represented himself. Avenatti, who is based in Los Angeles, agreed to surrender to U.S. marshals in California on Monday. Sentencing was scheduled for May 24. Following the verdict, Avenatti, who was wearing a black mask and a suit with a diamond-patterned tie, switched his gaze back and forth between the jury and down at the table he was sitting at. He vowed to appeal. “I am very disappointed in the jury’s verdict,” Avenatti said. “I am looking forward to a full adjudication of all the issues on appeal.” It was the second time in two years that Avenatti was convicted on federal charges in Manhattan. “Rather than advise his clients in their best interests, Avenatti instead used his law degree as a license to steal,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. Daniels, the prosecution’s star witness https://www.reuters.com/world/us/porn-star-stormy-daniels-testifies-against-fallen-lawyer-michael-avenatti-2022-01-27, testified that Avenatti had led her to believe her publisher had not disbursed advance payments totaling $297,500 for her memoir, “Full Disclosure,” when she asked in 2018 and early 2019 about the delays. She said she later learned that Avenatti had diverted the money to an account he controlled, without telling her. “I felt very betrayed and stupid,” Daniels said. “Michael had been lying and stealing from me.” In a statement following the verdict, Daniels’ lawyer, Clark Brewster, said his client was “relieved this nightmare is over.” “Mr. Avenatti possessed the uncanny ability to steadfastly deny the crimes and persuade others he was entitled to the embezzled funds,” Brewster said. “Stormy is pleased that the justice system worked.” Avenatti had downplayed the dispute as a disagreement over legal fees. He said his contract with Daniels, 42, whose given name is Stephanie Clifford, entitled him to a reasonable share of her book and media proceeds. Avenatti called no witnesses https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/avenatti-does-not-plan-testify-his-defense-stormy-daniels-us-fraud-case-2022-01-31 and did not testify in his own defense. Asked after the verdict whether he regretted his decision to represent himself, he said, “No. Not at all.” The highlight of the trial was Avenatti’s five-hour cross-examination of Daniels, where he sought to undermine his former client’s credibility by exposing her interest in paranormal activities https://www.reuters.com/world/us/michael-avenatti-cross-examines-ex-client-stormy-daniels-his-fraud-trial-2022-01-28. Daniels, who is producing a documentary-style TV show on ghost hunting called “Spooky Babes,” testified that she believed she could speak with the dead. The spectacle of Avenatti questioning Daniels capped a public falling-out for a pair who became cable TV mainstays in 2018 for cases they brought against Trump. Daniels is known for receiving $130,000 in hush money from Trump’s former personal lawyer, Michael Cohen, in exchange for remaining quiet ahead of the 2016 election about sexual encounters she says she had with Trump, which he has denied. Avenatti was successful in freeing Daniels from her nondisclosure agreement with Trump. He gained widespread recognition through frequent television appearances that made him a hero to some Trump opponents, prompting him to flirt with running for the White House as a Democrat in 2020 against the Republican president. But Avenatti was hit with dozens of criminal charges in March and April 2019 accusing him of cheating Daniels, defrauding several other clients, trying to extort up to $25 million from Nike Inc, and other crimes. He is appealing his conviction and 2-1/2-year prison sentence in the Nike case in New York. A federal court trial in California over the other alleged client frauds, in which Avenatti also represented himself, ended in a mistrial. The remaining charges have yet to be tried. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; editing by Alistair Bell, Jonathan Oatis and Noeleen Walder) View the full article

Published by Reuters By Shubham Kalia and Shivani Tanna (Reuters) -Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey announced on Friday a moratorium on no-knock warrants after police fatally shot a 22-year-old Black man during a raid on an apartment. The Minneapolis Police Department released video and a still image showing the man, Amir Locke, holding a gun as he twisted around beneath a blanket after being roused by officers who entered the apartment on Wednesday to carry out a search warrant. A no-knock warrant authorizes police officers to enter a property without first knocking and announcing their presence. “To ensure safety of both the public and officers until a new policy is crafted, I’m issuing a moratorium on both the request and execution of such warrants in Minneapolis,” Frey said in a statement. The incident is the latest to put the Minneapolis police department under scrutiny. Almost two years ago, George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, was killed by a white officer who knelt on his neck for over nine minutes during an arrest. Outrage over Floyd’s death sparked a nationwide movement challenging police brutality and bias in the U.S. criminal justice system. The video of Locke’s arrest, which was released on Thursday, shows police unlocking his apartment with a key, and officers shouting, “Police, search warrant, get on the ground, get on the fucking ground,” as they entered. An officer then kicks at the couch where Locke was lying and as Locke turns, an arm comes out from beneath the blanket, showing a gun held in the hand. Almost immediately, police fired at least three shots. Locke was not named in the search warrant, which was issued in relation to a homicide investigation that is being run by the neighboring Saint Paul Police Department, Minneapolis Police Department interim chief Amelia Huffman said on Thursday. Locke’s parents described their son as a talented musician, beloved member of his community, and law-abiding citizen at a news conference on Friday with their lawyer, prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump, who also represented Floyd’s family. “I’m going to fight every day, throughout the day, 365 days, to make sure that Amir Rahkare Locke gets justice for being executed by the MPD,” said Locke’s mother, Karen Locke. “We are going to make sure that we speak loudly for Amir.” In a statement released on Wednesday, the Minneapolis Police Department said that the man had a “handgun pointed in the direction of the officers.” During a news conference on Thursday, Huffman said the county’s attorney will review the facts, in response to a question noting that the video appeared to show that Locke’s gun was pointed toward the floor. “As there’s a gun emerging in your direction, you are forced to make a split-second decision on when it’s a threat,” Huffman added. In commenting on the search warrant in the homicide probe, Huffman said, “It is unclear at this time how he or if he was connected to the Saint Paul’s investigation.” She added that officers from the Saint Paul’s Police Department were at the scene later and had recovered possible evidence for the homicide investigation. According to the family’s lawyers, Locke had no criminal history and legally possessed a firearm at the time of his death. “In the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, the City of Minneapolis told the public that it was limiting the use of no-knock warrants to ‘limit the likelihood of bad outcomes.’ Less than two years later, Amir Locke and his family needlessly suffered the worst possible outcome,” Jeff Storms, another lawyer representing Locke’s family in the case, said in a statement. Taylor, a Black woman, was shot and killed when armed police raided her Kentucky apartment in March 2020. Floyd was killed in May 2020. (Reporting by Shivani Tanna and Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore, Leslie Adler and Kim Coghill) View the full article

Published by BANG Showbiz English Ken Jeong felt “disrespected” after Rudy Giuliani was revealed as a contestant on ‘The Masked Singer’. The 52-year-old actor – who is a qualified medical doctor – strongly disagrees with Giuliani’s political views and those of former US President Donald Trump, who Giuliani works for as his personal attorney. Ken stormed off the set of the show – where he is a judge – and his close pal and fellow judge Robin Thicke followed him to check if he was ok after the reveal. A source told PEOPLE: “Ken felt disrespected and was livid to see Rudy was under the mask which is why he walked off. There’s no way he could hide his feelings. “Ken has been incredibly vocal about how the previous administration handled many things but especially COVID-19 and has found a lot of what they’ve said not only wrong but dangerous. To get someone who helped to spread misinformation and call into question the accuracy of our election and democracy to appear on his show was going to set him off.” Deadline first reported the incident, adding that fellow judges Jenny McCarthy and Nicole Scherzinger stayed and chatted with the ousted contestant. Robin and Ken eventually returned to resume filming, though it is unclear how long they were off stage. Giuliani has been involved in a number of controversies in recent years, and in 2021, federal agents raided his home and office during an investigation into his work in Ukraine. His lawyer said afterwards: “Mr. Giuliani respects the law, and he can demonstrate that his conduct as a lawyer and a citizen was absolutely legal and ethical.” He was suspended from working as a lawyer New York last June after an appellate court said he made “demonstrably false and misleading statements” about Trump’s 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden. Rudy also made an infamous appearance in Sacha Baron Cohen’s ‘Borat Subsequent Moviefilm’ but later denied any inappropriate behaviour and insisted a clip in which he appeared to put his hand down his pants while leaning back onto a bed near Maria Bakalova was a “complete fabrication”. View the full article

Published by Reuters LONDON (Reuters) – A smiling Queen Elizabeth kicked off celebrations for the 70th anniversary of her accession to the British throne by inviting local community groups on Saturday to her Sandringham residence in the east of England. Sunday will mark the queen’s platinum jubilee https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/queen-elizabeth-quietly-marks-70-years-british-throne-2022-02-04, a first for a British monarch. Elizabeth, 95, became the queen of Britain and more than a dozen other realms including Canada, Australia and New Zealand on the death of her father King George VI on Feb. 6, 1952, while she was in Kenya on an international tour. The queen’s guests at Sandringham included Angela Wood, who as a cookery student in 1953 helped to create Coronation Chicken, a curry and mayonnaise-based dish invented to celebrate Elizabeth’s reign and that is still enjoyed today. The queen, wearing a light blue dress, also cut a celebratory cake baked by a local resident and heard a rendition of “Congratulations” played by a concert band, Buckingham Palace said. Elizabeth has continued to carry out official duties https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/queen-elizabeths-reign-second-golden-age-britain-2022-02-03 well into her 90s, but has been little seen in public since she spent a night in hospital last October for an unspecified ailment and was then instructed by doctors to rest. However, Buckingham Palace on Friday released footage ahead of Sunday’s landmark, showing her viewing items from previous royal jubilees, such as a fan given to her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria to mark her 50th year on the throne in 1887, signed by family, friends and politicians. Ironically Elizabeth was not destined to be monarch at her birth, and became queen only because her uncle Edward VIII abdicated to be with American divorcee Wallis Simpson. But in 2015, she overtook Victoria as Britain’s longest-reigning sovereign in a line that traces its origin back to Norman King William I and his 1066 conquest of England. This weekend’s low-key events are a prelude to more pomp and ceremony to mark the platinum jubilee in early June. The government has added an extra public holiday to the usual spring day off to make for a four-day weekend. (Reporting by Andy Bruce; Editing by Frances Kerry) View the full article

Winter Olympics 2022 Out skater Jason Brown The Winter Olympics 2022 are just getting underway and LGBTQ athletes are already thriving. The action is ready to heat up on the snow and ice this weekend. Here are the events to keep your eye on as the historic number of LGBTQ Winter Olympians aim for the medal podium. Figure Skating The figure skating team event is currently underway with Team USA leading the favored Russian Olympic Committee heading into day two thanks to an outstanding performance from Nathan Chen. The Americans currently sit atop the leaderboard with 28 points before the field shrinks from 10 teams to five after Friday’s Women’s short program. Team Canada is on the cusp of qualifying for the Team final, currently sitting two points back of fifth-place Italy. Out skater Paul Poirier turned in the best performance thus far for Canada, scoring a fourth-place finish in Ice Dance with partner Piper Gilles. Beyond the team event, the individual Men’s Skating event will begin with the short program on Sunday. Out skaters Kevin Aymoz (France) and Jason Brown (USA) will be part of the field. Both are strong competitors and look to surprise favorites Chen and two-time defending gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. Curling Mixed Doubles Curling has been a highlight of the early days of the Beijing Games. The sport boasts only one LGBTQ athlete in the field, Great Britain’s Bruce Mouat, but he is one of the best currently on the sheet. He and Jennifer Dodds are off to a great start in the round-robin tournament, currently holding second-place after their first four games. This weekend is the first of three events for Pancochova in Beijing. She will compete in the Women’s Halfpipe and Women’s Big Air in the coming weeks. Winter Olympics 2022: Previously on Towleroad Winter Olympics 2022 Start With LGBTQ Athletes Primed For The Medal Podium; Preview This Weekend’s Action In Figure Skating, Curling and Gayest Team Ever Brian Bell February 4, 2022 Read More 2022 Winter Olympics Features More Than 30 Out LGBTQ Olympians, Including First Out Nonbinary Athlete Brian Bell January 30, 2022 Read More Queen Honors Olympian Tom Daley for His Athletics and Advocacy; Diver, Knitting Entrepreneur Now ‘Officer of the Order of the British Empire’ Brian Bell January 4, 2022 Read More Tom Daley Diving into Career as Children’s Author After Gold Medal Win in Tokyo 2020 Towleroad August 23, 2021 Read More Raven Saunders’ ‘X’ Protest Gesture Did Not Violate Rules, Says USOPC Towleroad August 10, 2021 Read More Soccer Star Quinn is First Out Trans Nonbinary Olympic Gold Medalist as Canada Tops Sweden in 3-2 Shootout Brian Bell August 6, 2021 Read More Photo by Rama/Creative Commons View the full article