Tucker Carlson ‘will not run for President,’ despite PAC pressure
A lawyer representing Tucker Carlson reportedly told a political action committee trying to recruit the far-right wing TV personality as a presidential candidate to knock it off.
“Mr. Carlson will not run for President in 2024 under any circumstances, and therefore your misrepresentations are damaging to Mr. Carlson and defrauding his supporters,” attorney Harmeet Dhillon wrote in a letter to the Draft Tucker PAC obtained by the Daily Beast.
The PAC launched last week with a tweet praising the former prime-time star for being “articulate” and stated he’d beat President Joe Biden in a debate.
“Republicans need a new leader that can stand up to Biden,” that tweet said.
Dhillon’s three-page cease-and-desist letter accused “Draft Tucker” organizers of “trading on (Carlson’s) good name to raise money for an organization Mr. Carlson does not support.”
—New York Daily News
Georgia records highest voter turnout among Southern states
Georgia led the South in turnout during last fall’s midterms, when voters were driven by close races, national attention and nonstop campaigns.
Both turnout data and a U.S. Census Bureau survey released this month confirmed that more voters participated in Georgia than its neighbors.
About 52% of Georgia’s voting-eligible population cast ballots in November, the top rate in the South and the 13th-highest in the nation, according to figures compiled by the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida. Nationwide, 46% of eligible voters turned out.
Georgia’s 2021 voting law curtailed ballot drop boxes, prohibited mass mailings of absentee ballot application forms and shortened the time available to request and return absentee ballots. The law also required a second Saturday of early voting in areas that didn’t previously offer it, and the measure continued to allow Sunday voting in counties that choose to provide it.
Oregon had the highest turnout among states at more than 62%, followed by Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Colorado, according to the U.S. Elections Project. Tennessee had the lowest turnout in the nation at 31%, followed by Mississippi, West Virginia, Indiana and Alabama.
—The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Defense was weak for man set for execution, Missouri agency says
Missouri’s public defender system failed to adequately represent Michael Tisius, who was sentenced to death and is scheduled for execution next month, the head of the state office said.
In the latest bid to halt Tisius’ June 6 execution, Mary Fox, director of the Missouri State Public Defender’s office, urged Gov. Mike Parson to commute Tisius’ sentence to life in prison.
Tisius was 19 years old when he murdered two Randolph County jail guards during a botched escape attempt in 2000.
During post-conviction proceedings, the court found evidence of prosecutorial misconduct and granted Tisius a new sentencing hearing. The case was handed over to another public defender, who was paid $10,000 up front on a flat-fee basis.
Fox said that attorney failed to investigate relevant mitigating evidence and failed to present expert testimony on Tisius’ mental health diagnoses and adolescent brain development.
In July 2010, the death penalty was again handed down.
—The Kansas City Star
Detention of US journalist in Russia extended
KYIV, Ukraine — A Russian court has extended Wall Street Journal journalist Evan Gershkovich's detention for three more months.
The 32-year-old is being held in Moscow's Lefortovo prison on espionage charges.
Investigators reportedly requested that he remain in prison until August 30 after investigative detention had initially been set to last until May 29.
His lawyer Tatyana Noshkina said in April that the US reporter denied the allegations after a detention appeal was rejected by the court.
The United States had demanded Gershkovich's "immediate release."
Gershkovich was arrested by the Russian secret service FSB in the city of Yekaterinburg in the Urals at the end of March.
According to the FSB, he allegedly collected secret information about the military-industrial complex for US agencies.
The Wall Street Journal has denied the accusations, emphasizing that Gershkovich was pursuing his journalistic work with his accreditation from the Russian Foreign Ministry.
If convicted, Gershkovich, who has Russian roots, faces up to 20 years in prison.
—dpa
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