Author: chicagoinquirer

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden excoriated “MAGA Republicans” and the extreme right on Monday, pitching personal Labor Day appeals to swing-state union members who he hopes will turn out in force for his party in November. “The middle class built America,” Biden told a workers’ gathering at park grounds in Milwaukee. “Everybody knows that. But unions built the middle class.” Later Monday, he flew to West Mifflin, outside Pittsburgh — returning to Pennsylvania for the third time in less than a week and just two days after his predecessor, Donald Trump, staged his own rally in the state. The…

by Howard Fendrich NEW YORK — Frances Tiafoe ended Rafael Nadal’s 22-match winning streak at Grand Slam tournaments by beating the 22-time major champion 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the U.S. Open’s fourth roundon Monday. Tiafoe is a 24-year-old from Maryland who is seeded 22nd at Flushing Meadows and reached the second major quarterfinal of his career. He is the youngest American man to get that far at the U.S. Open since Andy Roddick in 2006, but this was not a case of a one-sided crowd backing one of its own. Nadal is about as popular as it gets in…

CHICAGO  — Seventy-five immigrants bused from Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott have arrived in Chicago, the latest chapter of the bitter political battle over the immigration policy of President Joe Biden’s administration. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office confirmed that the group arrived Wednesday night and said the nation’s third-largest city welcomes them. Abbott is busing the immigrants from Texas as part of a strategy launched this year to share the influx of people from outside the United States with cities that have Democratic mayors. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey also has adopted this policy. At a news conference Thursday, Lightfoot called…

by Zeke Miller and Josh Boak PHILADELPHIA — President Joe Biden warned Thursday night that “equality and democracy are under assault” in the U.S. as he sounded an alarm about his predecessor, Donald Trump, and “MAGA Republican”adherents, labeling them an extremist threat to the nation and its future. Aiming to reframe the November elections as part of a battle for the nation’s soul — “the work of my presidency” — Biden used his prime-time speech at Independence Hall in Philadelphia to argue that Trump and the “Make America Great Again” allies who now lead the Republican Party are a menace…

By Michael Tarm CHICAGO — Singer R. Kelly told a federal judge Thursday that he won’t testify at his ongoing trial in Chicago on charges that accuse him of child pornography, enticement of minors for sex and fixing his 2008 state trial. The judge raised the issue minutes before attorneys for Kelly and two co-defendants began calling their first witnesses, endeavoring to counter two weeks of government testimony, including from four women who accused Kelly of sexual abuse. Addressing the Grammy Award-winner directly Thursday, Judge Harry Leinenweber asked if he had discussed with his lawyers whether to testify. Kelly, 55,…

COLUMBIA, S.C. A federal judge on Thursday ruled that constitutional protections don’t shield U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham from testifying before a special grand jury investigating possible illegal efforts to overturn then-President Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May rejected Graham’s argument that all his calls with Georgia’s secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, were protected under the U.S. Constitution’s “speech or debate” clause, which shields members of Congress from questioning about official legislative acts. She did, however, agree with lawyers for the South Carolina Republican that legislative protection applies to parts of…

WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI investigation into top-secret government information discovered at Mar-a-Lago is zeroing in on the question of whether former President Donald Trump’s team criminally obstructed the probe. A new document alleges that government records had been concealed and removed and that law enforcement officials were misled about what was still there. The allegation does not necessarily mean that Trump or anyone else will ultimately face charges. But it could pose the most direct legal threat to Trump or those in his orbit, in part because the Justice Department has historically viewed obstruction as an aggravating factor that tilts in…

NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams turned to Tiger Woods for his input before she made her recent comeback from a year-long injury absence. On Wednesday night, Woods sat courtside at the U.S. Open, throwing uppercuts in the stands to cheer Williams on to victory. “He’s one of the reasons I’m here,” Williams said after beating No. 2 seed Anett Kontaveit 7-6 (4), 2-6, 6-2 to reach the third round at Flushing Meadows in what could be the last tournament of her career. “One of the main reasons I’m still playing.” Woods was in Williams’ guest box at sold-out Arthur Ashe Stadium, two seats…

by Howard Fendrich NEW YORK (AP) — Serena Williams can call it “evolving” or “retiring” or whatever she wants. And she can be coy about whether or not this U.S. Open will actually mark the end of her playing days. Those 23 Grand Slam titles earned that right. If she keeps playing like this, who knows how long this farewell will last? No matter what happens once her trip to Flushing Meadows is over, here is what is important to know after Wednesday night: The 40-year-old Williams is still around, she’s still capable of terrific tennis, she’s still winning — and, like the adoring spectators whose…

CHICAGO (AP) — Candace Parker can appreciate that the Chicago Sky seem to dial up their best basketball whenever their backs are against the wall. That certainly was the case as Parker scored 22 points and the Sky evened the semifinal series with an 85-77 win over the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of the WNBA playoffs on Wednesday night. But what the two-time WNBA champion really wants to see the Sky is begin to play better when coming off wins instead of defeats. “I think after a win is when we need to be even more focused,” Parker said.…