Author: chicagoinquirer

by Larry Neumeister NEW YORK — In an angry outburst in a New York courtroom, Rudy Giuliani accused a judge Tuesday of making wrong assumptions about him as he tries to comply with an order requiring him to turn over most of his assets to two election poll workers who won a libel case against him. U.S. District Judge Lewis J. Liman responded by saying he’s not going to let the former New York City mayor and onetime presidential candidate blurt things out anymore in court unless he’s a sworn witness. The interruption to an otherwise routine pretrial hearing in…

by Andrew Seligman CHICAGO — Sam Darnold threw for 90 of his 330 yards in overtime to set up Parker Romo’s game-ending 29-yard field goal, and the Minnesota Vikings outlasted the Chicago Bears 30-27 on Sunday after giving up 11 points in the final 22 seconds of regulation. Darnold threw two touchdown passes, Jordan Addison caught eight passes for a career-high 162 yards and a touchdown, and T.J. Hockenson had 114 yards receiving for the Vikings (9-2), who remained one game behind Detroit in the rugged NFC North. Caleb Williams threw for 340 yards and two touchdowns for the Bears…

by Kevin Freking WASHINGTON — The Senate won’t hold votes on four of President Joe Biden’s appellate court nominees as part of a deal with Republicans to allow for speedier consideration of other judicial nominations and bring Biden within striking distance of the 234 total judicial confirmations that occurred during President-elect Donald Trump’s first term. Currently, the number of judges confirmed under Biden totals 221. Republicans forced numerous procedural votes this week and late-night sessions as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., attempted to move ahead in getting more of Biden’s nominees confirmed before Congress adjourns and Republicans take control…

by Molly Quell THE HAGUE — The world’s top war-crimes court issued arrest warrants Thursday for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his former defense minister and Hamas’ military chief, accusing them of crimes against humanity in connection with the 13-month war in Gaza. The warrants said there was reason to believe Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant have used “starvation as a method of warfare” by restricting humanitarian aid and have intentionally targeted civilians in Israel’s campaign against Hamas in Gaza — charges Israeli officials deny. The action by the International Criminal Court came as the death toll from…

by Eric Tucker and Alanna Durkin Richer WASHINGTON — Matt Gaetz withdrew Thursday as President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general following continued scrutiny over a federal sex trafficking investigation that cast doubt on his ability to be confirmed as the nation’s chief federal law enforcement officer. The Florida Republican’s announcement came one day after meeting with senators in an effort to win their support for his confirmation to lead the Justice Department. “While the momentum was strong, it is clear that my confirmation was unfairly becoming a distraction to the critical work of the Trump/Vance Transition,” Gaetz said in…

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday overturned actor Jussie Smollett’s conviction on allegations that he staged a racist and homophobic attack against himself in downtown Chicago in 2019 and lied to police. Smollett’s appeal argued that a special prosecutor should not have been allowed to intervene after the Cook County state’s attorney initially dropped charges. The state’s highest court heard arguments in September. Smollett, who is Black and gay, claimed two men assaulted him, spouted racial and homophobic slurs and tossed a noose around his neck, leading to a massive search for suspects by Chicago police detectives…

by Michael Lietke U.S. regulators want a federal judge to break up Google to prevent the company from continuing to squash competition through its dominant search engine after a court found it had maintained an abusive monopoly over the past decade. The proposed breakup floated in a 23-page document filed late Wednesday by the U.S. Justice Department calls for Google to sell its industry-leading Chrome web browser and impose restrictions designed to prevent its Android smartphone software from favoring its search engine. The recommended penalties underscore how severely regulators operating under President Joe Biden believe Google should be punished following…

BY LISA MASCARO, STEPHEN GROVES AND FARNOUSH AMIRI Updated 3:50 PM CST, November 20, 2024 Share WASHINGTON — Republicans on the House Ethics Committee voted Wednesday against releasing a report on the panel’s long-running investigation into President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, former Rep. Matt Gaetz, the top Democrat on the panel said. Rep. Susan Wild of Pennsylvania said the ethics panel, which is evenly split between the two parties, voted at a lengthy closed-door meeting, and no Republican joined Democrats who wanted to release the report. Wild said she was compelled to speak up after the panel’s Republican…

by Samya Kullab, Illia Novikov, Lolita C. Baldor and Mathew Lee KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — The Biden administration announced Wednesday that it will give Ukraine antipersonnel mines to help it slow Russia’s battlefield advances, marking the second major shift on U.S. military support for Kyiv in days. After allowing Ukraine to use longer-range American missiles to launch strikes deeper into Russia, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said the shift in Washington’s policy on antipersonnel land mines for Ukraine was needed to counter changing Russian tactics. The war, which reached its 1,000-day milestone on Tuesday, has largely been going Russia’s way.…

by Jill Colvin and Eric Tucker WASHINGTON — Donald Trump says he has chosen former acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker to serve as U.S. ambassador to NATO, the bedrock Western alliance that the president-elect has expressed skepticism about for years. Trump, in a statement, said Whitaker was “a strong warrior and loyal Patriot” who “will ensure the United States’ interests are advanced and defended” and “strengthen relationships with our NATO Allies, and stand firm in the face of threats to Peace and Stability.” The choice of Whitaker as the nation’s representative to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is an unusual…