Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign on Friday with Maryland Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Angela Alsobrooks in Prince George’s County. Harris and Alsobrooks are expected to speak on public safety. The campaign event also takes place on “Gun Violence Awareness Day,” where Harris will highlight the Biden administration’s work on gun safety legislation.
Harris and President Joe Biden are campaigning for reelection in 2024. Alsobrooks will face Republican nominee Larry Hogan, the former governor of Maryland, for the the open U.S. Senate seat. The time and location of the campaign event were not immediately released.
Baltimore Democratic mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah is dropping out of the race.
“I’ve never done this before,” Vignarajah said of what he considers bittersweet news.
Vignarajah, 47, announced his decision Wednesday afternoon, and endorsed former Mayor Sheila Dixon’s campaign.
“This was, as you might imagine, not an easy decision,” Vignarajah said. “When we entered this race, it was because of the love I have — the love all of us have — for this great city. I still don’t know of any other city in the country that has a bigger distance between where we are and where we could be. Leadership his needed to unleash that potential.”
Vignarajah spoke of his support for Dixon, saying: “Sheila Dixon loves this city with all of her heart, she has her whole life … She has devoted herself to public service, she has devoted herself to make this city a little bit better.”
Speaking to why he’s endorsing the former mayor, Vignarajah said there’s more at stake to this election than just politics.
“When I talk to Sheila, when I hear her hopes and dreams for the city, when I hear the kinds of people that she knows are needed in government, that’s the kind of shared vision that I was excited to get behind,” Vignarajah said.
Dixon said she’s grateful and humble for Vignarajah’s supporting, saying she looks forward to working with him on his ideas, including one to create a digital tracking system for reporting issues in need of city services via 311.
“Choosing to step up out of this race is evidence of your love for Baltimore and your willingness for the best of Baltimore,” Dixon said.
As a former criminal prosecutor at the federal, state and local levels, Vignarajah ran in 2017 and 2022 for city state’s attorney. He first ran for mayor in 2020.
WBAL-TV partnered with NBC Washington, “Meet the Press,” and Maryland Public Television to bring Maryland voters a televised debate featuring the Democratic candidates for U.S. Senate.
That debate was scheduled for April 23.
Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks accepted WBAL-TV’s invitation, but U.S. Rep. David Trone’s campaign refused to commit to the debate. So, at this time, that debate has been called off.
Statement from Angela Alsobrooks’ campaign
Alsobrooks’ campaign manager, Sheila O’Connell, released a statement, saying: “Angela is committed to ensuring voters across Maryland have the opportunity to see the choice they have on the ballot in May. Angela continues to gain momentum as we approach the primary, earning key endorsements and growing her grassroots movement in Maryland. Voters know she’ll best represent us in the Senate.”
WBAL-TV is pleased to report that it and Maryland Public Television will bring voters a debate featuring the top Democratic candidates for Baltimore mayor at 7 p.m. on April 17. WBAL-TV is also hosting a debate featuring the candidates for Baltimore City Council president that will stream on April 18 on WBALTV.com and the WBAL-TV app, as well as the Very Local app.
Donald Trump’s lawyers are again asking Judge Juan Merchan to recuse himself from the former president’s New York hush money trial, seven months after the judge declined a similar request by defense lawyers. Defense lawyers filed a letter Monday arguing that Merchan’s daughter’s work for the digital consulting firm Authentic Campaigns creates an “ongoing financial interest” tied to the former president’s criminal trial.
“Under these circumstances, Your Honor has an interest in this case that warrants recusal, there is an unacceptable risk that the Court’s family relationships will influence judicial conduct, and the Court’s impartiality ‘might reasonably be questioned,’” defense lawyer Todd Blanche wrote, asking for permission to file a motion in support of recusal.
Responding in a filing Tuesday, prosecutors with the Manhattan district attorney’s office argued that the defense request for Merchan’s recusal was factually flawed, failed to provide new information, and should be immediately denied.
“There is simply nothing new here that would alter this Court’s prior conclusion that nothing about this proceeding will directly benefit Authentic or this Court’s family member, let alone this Court,” prosecutor Matthew Colangelo said.
Trump’s lawyers made a similar effort to have Merchan recused from the case last year based on $35 in political contributions he made to Democrats in 2020 — including a $15 donation to Joe Biden — as well as his role overseeing the 2022 Trump Organization trial, and his daughter’s work as a political consultant.
Merchan declined to recuse himself in an August 2023 ruling, writing that “this Court has examined its conscience and is certain in its ability to be fair and impartial.”
“Defendant has failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds. The speculative and hypothetical scenarios offered by Defendant fall well short of the legal standard,” Merchan said about the allegations related to his daughter’s work.
Merchan relied on a May 2023 opinion issued by New York’s Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics, which determined that his “impartiality cannot reasonably be questioned” based on his daughter’s work.
Listen to the oral arguments as U.S. Supreme Court takes up the Murthy v. Missouri case, a dispute between Republican-led states and the Biden administration over how far the federal government can go to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security. The hearing could set standards for free speech in the digital age.
Vice President Kamala Harris will host a cannabis policy discussion Friday featuring rapper Fat Joe, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshar and individuals who received pardons for related offenses, Politico reported.
The discussion comes as the Biden administration pushes for marijuana reform. During his State of the Union speech last week, President Joe Biden said his cabinet will “review the federal classification of marijuana.”
The judge overseeing former President Trump’s Georgia election subversion case on Wednesday dismissed six counts in the indictment, including three against the former president. Judge Scott McAfee’s order said prosecutors could seek to refile the quashed charges. It comes ahead of a highly anticipated decision over whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis from the case. It’s a win for the former president, who has not seen any of his charges across his four criminal cases dismissed.
Trump still faces more than half a dozen counts in the Georgia case. The former president and presumptive GOP presidential nominee originally faced 13 counts related to his alleged efforts to subvert 2020 election results in Georgia. Driving the news: McAfee in his Wednesday filing wrote that the six counts he’s dismissing against Trump and some of his co-defendants “contain all the essential elements of the crimes” but “fail to allege sufficient detail regarding the nature of their commission.” “They do not give the Defendants enough information to prepare their defenses intelligently, as the Defendants could have violated the Constitutions and thus the statute in dozens, if not hundreds, of distinct ways.” The counts that McAfee tossed relate to allegations that Trump and some of the co-defendants solicited the violation of oath by a public officer.
ONFIRE-TV.com – Big night for Biden and Trump: President Joe Biden and Trump dominated their Super Tuesday races across the country as they gear up for a likely November rematch. Nikki Haley announced Wednesday she is suspending her presidential campaign following a series of losses.
Heading into election day Tuesday, nearly 440,000 people have already voted in Georgia’s presidential primary, and most of them have cast Republican ballots. Early voting ended Friday with a turnout of about 416,000 in-person voters during the past three weeks, according to state election data. An additional 24,000 voters have returned absentee ballots.
