November 19

DOJ admits final Comey indictment never went before full grand jury

Under sharp questioning from U.S. District Judge Michael Nachmanoff, the DOJ admitted that instead of presenting an updated indictment to the full grand jury after one count was rejected, interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan gave only the grand jury foreperson — not the full panel — the revised version to sign. Judge Cameron McGowan Currie had also noted an apparent gap with no court reporter present during grand jury proceedings. The DOJ initially admitted the flaw, then reversed course within 24 hours claiming the full jury had reviewed it.

FTC under Lina Khan blocks Kroger-Albertsons $25 billion merger largest grocery antitrust action

A federal judge blocks the $25 billion merger of Kroger and Albertsons, the two largest supermarket chains in the U.S., after the FTC under Chair Lina Khan challenges the deal on grounds that it would harm competition and raise grocery prices for consumers. The ruling is one of the signature wins of Khan's aggressive antitrust agenda. The FTC had also challenged mergers by Meta, Microsoft-Activision, and others during Khan's tenure. The Kroger-Albertsons block comes weeks after Trump wins the election and months before Khan is removed from her position.

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Anti-LGBTQ gunman kills 5 at Club Q in Colorado Springs. GOP had amplified grooming rhetoric

On November 19, 2022, Anderson Lee Aldrich opened fire at Club Q, a gay bar and nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colorado, killing five people and injuring 25 others. Aldrich's grandfather, Randy Voepel, was a California Republican state assemblyman who celebrated January 6 as the beginning of a "1776 moment." Police and prosecutors charged Aldrich with murder and hate crimes. In the weeks before the shooting, Republican politicians including Rep. Lauren Boebert and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene had been amplifying anti-LGBTQ "groomer" rhetoric. After the shooting, far-right accounts circulated "groomer" content and praised the shooter online. The Department of Homeland Security tracked a "significant rise in homophobic and transphobic posts" following the attack. Club Q owner Matthew Haynes told Congress: "These thoughts and prayers alone are not saving lives. They're not changing the rhetoric of hate."

House passes $1.75 trillion Build Back Better Act on party-line vote Senate passage uncertain

The House of Representatives passes President Biden's $1.75 trillion Build Back Better social spending bill on a near party-line vote of 220-213, with one Republican joining Democrats. The bill includes expanded child tax credit, universal pre-K, eldercare provisions, climate investments, and expanded Medicare hearing coverage. The House passage is celebrated by the White House as a historic step, but attention immediately turns to the Senate where Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema have blocked larger versions of the package. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer pledges a vote before Christmas, but the effort ultimately collapses when Manchin announces his opposition in December.

The Trump campaign drops its Wayne County results lawsuit

Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. and individual voters filed or pursued Donald J. Trump for President, Inc. v. Benson in Michigan after the 2020 election. The case challenged Wayne County ballot processing and sought to stop certification of allegedly unlawful ballots. The primary court document records that the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the action.

DOJ charges MCC guards with falsifying Epstein monitoring records

The Department of Justice indicted Metropolitan Correctional Center guards Tova Noel and Michael Thomas on charges of falsifying records and conspiracy, alleging they logged false entries claiming they conducted required 30-minute checks on Epstein the night of his death while they were actually sleeping. The charges were the first criminal accountability action from Epstein's death; no supervisory BOP personnel were charged. Attorney General Barr announced the FBI and DOJ Inspector General were conducting parallel investigations into institutional failures at MCC New York.

Clinton holds firm as negotiations stall First 1995 shutdown ends after 5 days

After 5 days of shutdown, Republican negotiators capitulate to Clinton's insistence on protecting social programs. Congress passes a new continuing resolution that funds government agencies at reduced levels while negotiations continue on a longer-term budget accord. Both sides claim partial victories, but Clinton's willingness to keep the government closed has proven effective in preventing deeper cuts to education and healthcare. Newt Gingrich and House Republicans discover that the public blames them for the impasse, not Clinton. The shutdown's political fallout becomes apparent as polling shows Americans holding Republicans responsible. The brief resolution ends the immediate crisis but sets the stage for a second, longer shutdown when negotiations over a permanent budget deal continue to stall in December.

Jay Near publishes Saturday Press in Minneapolis accusing the police chief and county attorney of protecting organized crime, triggering Minnesota's newspaper prior restraint law

Jay Near and Howard Guilford began publishing the Saturday Press in Minneapolis in September 1927, with weekly articles alleging that Police Chief Frank Brunskill and County Attorney Floyd B. Olson were knowingly allowing Jewish gangsters to operate gambling, bootlegging, and racketeering operations throughout the city. The November 19, 1927 issue named officials and criminal figures explicitly. Minnesota's Public Nuisance Abatement Law of 1925 — drafted by Olson himself — allowed courts to permanently enjoin any newspaper deemed a 'malicious, scandalous, and defamatory' public nuisance without requiring proof that specific allegations were false.