Today's Liberal News

“There’s Going to Be a Fight”: Oath Keepers Trial Reveals Plan to Use Violence to Keep Trump in Office

The Oath Keepers trial, in which senior leaders of the right-wing extremist group are accused of plotting violence at the January 6 insurrection, began Monday in federal court in Washington, D.C. Prosecutors played a secret audio recording Tuesday of a meeting held by the Oath Keepers after the 2020 election in which founder Stewart Rhodes discussed plans to bring weapons to the capital to help then-President Trump stay in office.

Haiti Update: Gangs Rule Much of Port-au-Prince Amid Protests over Fuel Costs, Calls for PM to Resign

Mass protests in Haiti are condemning rising fuel prices and demanding the resignation of the U.S.-backed Prime Minister Ariel Henry. For nearly two months, street protests likened to a civil war have rocked the island nation’s capital Port-au-Prince after the government announced it would raise heavily subsidized fuel prices. We speak to Haitian activist Vélina Élysée Charlier about rising gang violence and how criminal groups are supported by the government.

Sedition trial Day 3 witness: Oath Keeper leader told me he was in touch with Secret Service

From the witness stand on Thursday, former Oath Keeper John Zimmerman of North Carolina recounted to jurors how in September 2020, he watched the extremist group’s founder, Elmer Stewart Rhodes, take a phone call from someone Rhodes claimed was an active-duty Secret Service agent. 

Zimmerman admitted he didn’t hear the person on the other end of that call, but he assumed what Rhodes told him was true.

Ben Sasse will resign from Senate later this year to become president of the University of Florida

Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse confirmed Thursday that he will resign to become president of the University of Florida, which has named the Republican as the sole finalist for the post. Multiple media outlets report that Sasse’s departure will occur before the end of the year, which would allow Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, who will leave office in early 2023, to appoint a successor.

Herschel Walker tries denying he has a child with woman he admitted having a child with

So where were we? Oh, right. On Monday, The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger reported on super-born-again Christian and Republican Georgia Senate nominee Herschel Walker paying for a woman’s abortion back in 2009. This was problematic, as Walker has gone on the record saying he is against all abortions with no exceptions—including rape, incest, and health of the pregnant person.

Americans Are Moving Into the Paths of Hurricanes

This is an edition of The Atlantic Daily, a newsletter that guides you through the biggest stories of the day, helps you discover new ideas, and recommends the best in culture. Sign up for it here.Vann R. Newkirk II, our senior editor and Floodlines podcast host, told me, “Some of the fastest-growing areas in the country have really intense flood and hurricane risks.” He explains why, and what this means for the future.But first, here are three new stories from The Atlantic.

Biden Goes to Pot

Joe Biden is an unlikely stoner hero. Three of his four Baby Boomer predecessors in the Oval Office had explored marijuana in their youth, but by the time they became president, they all disdained the stuff. But Biden, like Donald Trump, was a straight-edge who says he never touched marijuana and was skeptical of any liberalization of drug laws throughout his long career in politics.

What Puerto Rico Needs Most

President Joe Biden recently visited Puerto Rico and Florida in an effort to reassure the people there that the U.S. government would help them in the aftermath of Hurricanes Fiona and Ian. But a key difference between those two places—Puerto Rico is a “commonwealth” and Florida is a state—means each faces a very different path to recovery.