Author: chicagoinquirer

by Steve Peoples NEW YORK  — The Republican Party quickly and forcefully rallied behind Donald Trump in the hours after federal agents seized classified documents from his Florida estate this summer. Four months later, that sense of intensity and urgency was missing — at least for now — after the Jan. 6 House committee voted to recommend the Justice Department bring criminal charges against him. Leading Republicans largely avoided the historic criminal referral Monday, while others pressed to weigh in offered muted defenses — or none at all. Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell called for “an immediate and thorough explanation”…

by Andrew Seligman LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — Justin Fields insisted he doesn’t plan to make 1,000-yard rushing seasons a regular occurrence. The single-season record for a quarterback is in sight, and he’ll gladly take it if he can get it. A day later, coach Matt Eberflus expressed a similar thought. He’d be thrilled to see Fields break Lamar Jackson’s record for a QB. He’s just not necessarily going to scheme to make it happen. “I think we’ll just use him the best way we can to win the football game,” Eberflus said Monday. “So we’ll take a look at it…

by Rebecca Santana WASHINGTON (AP) — Conservative states pushing to keep limits on asylum-seekers put in place during the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic are appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court in a last-ditch effort before the limits are set to expire. But with the immigration restrictions going away on Wednesday it’s unclear if the Supreme Court will intervene. The nineteen states Monday asked the court for an emergency stay that would keep Title 42 in place. “This Court’s review is warranted given the enormous national importance of this case. It is not reasonably contestable that the failure to grant…

LAKE FOREST, Ill.  — Chicago Bears offensive lineman Teven Jenkins has been released from the hospital and was seeing specialists Monday, a day after he was carted from the field with a neck injury during a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. Coach Matt Eberflus called the news “encouraging,” though he had few details about the extent of the injury. He said Jenkins was released from the hospital on Sunday and was seeing specialists to “double-check and cross-check everything.” Whether Jenkins will play again this season was not clear. “We’ll see,” Eberflus said. “We’ll see. I don’t know yet. I don’t…

by Jennifer Peltz NEW YORK  — R. Kelly’s onetime manager was sentenced Monday to a year in federal prison for calling in a shooting threatthat halted a screening of a damning documentary about the R&B star. The punishment won’t add to the time ex-manager Donnell Russell is already set to serve for a different effort to squelch sexual abuse claims against Kelly. Russell told a Manhattan federal judge Monday that he had “made bad judgments” while briefly working with the Grammy-winning, multiplatinum-selling singer. “I’m not a horrible person,” Russell said. Russell said he reconnected with Kelly, a fellow Chicagoan he’d…

by James Robson DOHA, Qatar — When it comes to soccer, money can buy the world. It can pay for the World Cup. And the world’s best players. And it can bundle them all up into a perfect package and present it to a global audience of millions. The power of money was on full display in the Qatari city of Lusail on Sunday as Argentina beat France 4-2 on penalties to become world champion for the third time and end Lionel Messi’s pursuit of the one major trophy that had eluded him in his storied career. One of the…

by Mary Clare Jalonick, Eric Tucker and Farnoush Amiri WASHINGTON  — The House Jan. 6 committee is wrapping up its investigation of the violent 2021 U.S. Capitol insurrection, with lawmakers on Monday declaring that they have assembled a “roadmap to justice” to bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump and his allies. As they cap one of the most exhaustive and aggressive congressional probes in memory, the panel’s seven Democrats and two Republicans are recommending criminal charges against Trump and associates who helped him launch a multifaceted pressure campaign to try to overturn his 2020 election loss. The committee…

by Jay Cohen CHICAGO  — Javon Hargrave slung Justin Fields to the ground, and then celebrated by drawing a door with his hands and kicking it in. Philadelphia’s defensive line is tough to stop — even with an offensive line. Hargrave, Josh Sweat and Haason Reddick had two sacks apiece Sunday, helping the Eagles hold off the Chicago Bears for a 25-20 victory. A hustling Reddick also recovered a fumble along Philadelphia’s sideline, stopping a Chicago drive in the third quarter. “First of all, we put in a lot of work. That’s first and foremost,” Reddick said. “We feed off…

by Mike Cook MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Anthony Edwards had season highs with 37 points and 11 assists and the Minnesota Timberwolves broke the franchise record for points in a game, routing the Chicago Bulls 150-126 on Sunday night. D’Angelo Russell added 28 points after missing two games and Minnesota made a season-high 23 pointers to roll past Chicago despite missing four regulars. Rudy Gobert missed his second straight game because of a sprained left ankle. Karl-Anthony Towns (right calf strain) and top reserves Jordan McLaughlin (left calf strain) and Taurean Prince (right shoulder) also sat out. Russell was a game-time…

CHICAGO — Chicago Bears offensive lineman Teven Jenkins was carted off the field with a neck injury after he got hurt on the team’s first drive Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles. Jenkins went down while blocking for David Montgomery on a running play with 12:31 left in the first quarter. The right guard was ruled out for the rest of the game. The 24-year-old Jenkins was a second-round pick by Chicago in the 2021 NFL Draft. He was surrounded by much of his team as he was loaded on to the cart. Bears wide receiver Equanimeous St. Brown also got…