Dean Phillips

The Democrats' Biden-Harris switch shows that the strong political party may be making a comeback.

It can represent both tradition and change. Yet it’s always humble.

New York prosecutors this week hit back at former President Donald Trump and his attempts to get out of paying $464 million in fraud damages, court records show. Attorney General Letitia James' office delivered Wednesday a 168-page argument to the New York Court of Appeals detailing the many reasons they believe Trump's appeal of his civil fraud case doesn't pass muster."For years, the Trump Organization and its top executives engaged in a fraudulent and illegal scheme to misleadingly inflate the net worth of defendant Donald J. Trump," James' team writes. "Defendants do not meaningfully dispute that they engaged in most of these deceptions to falsely inflate the values of Mr. Trump’s assets. Instead, they rely on speculative and unsupported contentions." ALSO READ: Donald Trump exploits AP photo error for new $99 'Save America' bookTrump's appeal of the landmark rulings — Justice Arthur Engoron found the former president liable for fraud in 2023 before his trial then demanded the multi-million dollar payment upon its conclusion — will head to the First Department appellate division on Sept. 26, court records show. Trump submitted a $175 million bond in the spring and mounted an appeal, which is not expected to conclude before the 2024 presidential election. The Republican presidential nominee denies wrongdoing and argues that because no one was harmed, the judgment was unconstitutional, court records show. On Wednesday, the New York Attorney General's office dismissed the question of harm as immaterial and reiterate the initial argument that Trump for years inflated the value of his assets to defraud lenders and investors. "On appeal, defendants tellingly ignore almost all their deceptions," the filing states. "It is well-established that neither reliance nor victims’ losses— which are elements of common-law fraud—is required...Indeed, one of § 63(12)’s core remedial purposes is to protect the honesty and integrity of commercial marketplaces in New York by stopping fraudulent and illegal practices before they cause financial losses to market participants or broader harms to the public."Put more simply, prosecutors' argument boils down to "Defendants are wrong on the law."

By Arjun Singh, Jackson Richman, Nathan Worcester, Samantha Flom, Stacy Robinson Contributing Writers CHICAGO — Intraparty conflicts, protests and the attempted assassination of a former president have ratcheted up political tensions [...]The post At DNC, delegates weigh in on bridging the political divide appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.

RFK Jr.’s warnings about Biden’s unpopularity and frailty proved prescient. Now he has the ability to call foul on this process in a way no Republican does.

A Texas-based telecommunications company is being ordered to pay a $1 million penalty following robocalls that used an AI-generated recording of President Joe Biden’s voice to discourage people from voting in the New Hampshire primary election, violating state election laws,...

Convention attendees had mixed feelings on whether common ground could or should be found.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) tells NTD’s Luis Eduardo Martínez he wants “compassion, decency, respect and bipartisanship” to be a platform priority for the Harris-Walz campaign.

‘She selected a guy who I think can finally speak to voters in a part of the country,’ Congressman Dean Phillips says.

Reps. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., won the nomination to another term Tuesday, unlike colleague Jamaal Bowman, a fellow progressive who lost his primary in New York in June.

Democratic Wisconsin Sen. Tammy Baldwin, left and Republican challenger Eric Hovde have been battling each other for months, making Tuesday’s primaries more of a formality.

Party says one thing and does another, over and over.

NEW YORK, Aug. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Galien Foundation, the premier global institution dedicated to honoring innovators in life sciences, today announced the 2024 Prix Galien USA Award nominees for "Best Biotechnology Product," "Best Pharmaceutical Product," and "Best Product for...

Previously known as Health Equity Heroes, the awards recognize leaders improving health care access for high-need communities with $60,000 in charitable contributions WELLESLEY, Mass., Aug. 6, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- DentaQuest, part of Sun Life U.S., today announced its 2024 Health Access...

Dr. Millard T. Jones of Lake Charles, former English professor and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at McNeese State University, passed away after a long illness on Aug. 3, 2024. He died peacefully at the age of 87 at the Baton Rouge home of daughter, Dana J. Cummings, surrounded by his devoted wife [...]

Arson story derailed newspaper coverage of Olympics.

In President Joe Biden’s announcement on social media of his decision to not run for reelection, he ticked off the many wonderful achievements during his three and a half years in the nation's highest office.

A number of Democratic lawmakers, governors and past leaders were quick to rally behind Vice President Harris as she pursues the Democratic Party's presidential nomination following President Biden's withdrawal from the race. Shortly after dropping out of the presidential race, Biden endorsed Harris as his successor, stating it is "time to come together and beat" [...]

The presidential candidate praised President Biden for stepping down and reiterated his claim that the DNC will not allow competition in the primary.

A select group of Massachusetts Democrats is about to become even more influential.President Joe Biden’s quick endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris might have been meant as a neat hand-off of the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate baton, but it is ultimately up to the delegates to next month’s Democratic National Convention — including 116 from Massachusetts — to decide who will be the party’s nominee.“Elections are always about math; this one is no different. She announced she was running for president yesterday, she started calling delegates and political leaders yesterday, she’s gathering an awful lot of support between yesterday and today. The person who gets the most delegates first gets the nomination,” Mass. Democratic Party Chairman Steve Kerrigan said Monday morning on GBH Radio in response to a question about a “coronation” for Harris. “This is not an insider game. This is just how politics works in any party and in any nation. And so this is not about a coronation, this is about organization.”The Massachusetts Democratic Party has a total of 116 delegates and eight alternates, according to the party. Sixty delegates and the eight alternates were chosen by Congressional district-level caucuses this spring and 20 at-large delegates were chosen by the Democratic State Committee. The party also has 24 “automatic party leaders and elected official” delegates and 12 “pledged party leaders and elected officials” delegates.A Democratic Party spokesman said there will be a call Monday night among the Mass. Democratic State Committee and a separate call for national delegates. The spokesman said that party delegates will be able to vote for the presidential candidate of their choice, but that the party will wait until after the calls to further discuss the next steps of the process.Kerrigan told GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” that he was on a similar call Sunday night with representatives of the 57 state, territory and other Democratic Party chapters. He said some state parties “overwhelmingly” endorsed Harris during Sunday night’s call, but Massachusetts was not one of them.“Some states are allowed the chair or the executive committee to just make those endorsements, and then get the state committee to back that up. Others, like ours, require a meeting of our state committee,” Kerrigan said Monday morning. “But what you saw was unity around the importance of beating Donald Trump and J.D. Vance, and an understanding that President Biden’s patriotism is unparalleled and his support for Vice President Harris is immeasurable.”Before last month’s debate, 62 percent of Massachusetts DNC delegates told a MassINC survey that Biden should stay in the race. When presented with the hypothetical of Biden leaving the race, 67 percent of delegates said they would be open to considering Harris and 53 percent said the VP would give the party its best chance to win this fall — by far the highest percentages of any of the dozen Democrats offered as potential candidates.More on Kamala HarrisDecision 20248 hours agoHarris wins Pelosi endorsement, claims most of the delegates she needs for the nominationnews15 hours agoLive updates: Harris, Democrats net $100 million in online donations after Biden exits raceKamala Harris9 hours agoHere's which New England politicians have endorsed Kamala Harris for presidentBiden, with Harris as his declared running mate, won the Massachusetts presidential primary on March 5 with 81.6 percent of the vote (533,096 votes in total). U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota got 4.5 percent of the 662,609 Democratic primary ballot votes cast, author Marianne Williamson received 3.1 percent, and 9.2 percent of ballots (60,236) were cast for “no preference,” according to official results.And while many Massachusetts Democrats were quick to endorse Harris to take the baton from Biden as the party’s 2024 nominee, there are some exceptions and a glaring one was removed on Monday afternoon: Gov. Maura Healey.Healey, a super-surrogate for the Biden campaign who seemed to ruffle some feathers at the White House with the way she called for Biden to reconsider his candidacy in recent weeks, issued a statement Sunday praising Biden’s service, but did not address who she would support as the party’s nominee in his place.Healey did not have any public events scheduled Monday and a spokesman for her political operation did not return a call from the News Service. But just before 2:30 p.m., the governor’s political arm issued a statement in which the governor endorsed Harris.“Kamala Harris is a proven leader who has delivered for the American people again and again. As President, she will grow our economy, reduce costs, create jobs, and make sure every woman has access to the health care she needs. She’ll lay the foundation for lower interest rates and prosperity, and she’ll support NATO and American leadership abroad. I also know she will deliver for Massachusetts and support growth, innovation and investment in our state,” Healey said. “Kamala Harris is the best person to make the case against Donald Trump. Trump is coming after our rights and our freedoms. And he will jack up costs on the middle class by gutting Social Security, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act.”Lt. Gov. Kim Driscoll also put out a statement Monday afternoon backing Harris, saying that “there is no one better prepared to stand up for our democracy, to lead on our values, to carry forward the interests of Team Massachusetts and to beat Donald Trump than Kamala Harris.”Asked about Healey’s lack of an endorsement by Monday morning, Kerrigan said on GBH Radio he does not “think anybody understands more what Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have done for Massachusetts and for the country than Governor Healey, and they’ve been fantastic partners.”“And I’ll let her speak for herself on this, but she understands what’s at stake in this election and she knows the type of leadership that Kamala Harris can bring to the table,” Kerrigan said about three hours before Healey’s statement.Before joining Biden on his 2020 ticket, Harris was among the Democrats who ran for president that cycle, but she withdrew before the voting began in the face of fundraising challenges and low polling numbers.

What effect will President Biden's departure have on down-ballot races.

On this "Face the Nation" broadcast, Sen. Joe Manchin and Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond join Margaret Brennan.

Biden's exit from the race will set off a scramble for the 2024 presidential nomination.

Guest lineups for the Sunday news shows

The Democratic National Committee is scrambling to finalize and execute a plan to compress its "virtual roll call" into the first few days of August, according to people familiar with the matter.Why it matters: Despite growing backlash from Democrats worried about officially nominating President Biden weeks before the convention, top DNC officials are moving forward to codify him as the party's nominee by Aug. 7.The goal is to use their convention week to talk up their candidate and tear apart former President Trump.Behind the nasty public debate on whether Biden should be nominated early, there are private conversations on whether there's enough time to do it securely, transparently and effectively via a virtual process. The reality of the challenge will come into sharper focus after the DNC's rules committee meets on Friday to approve a tentative plan to start voting Aug. 1. The plan won't be formally announced until after there's a credentials committee meeting on July 21.That will set up a frantic two weeks, which could be more chaotic if Biden decides to drop out of the race.Between the lines: Delegates remained concerned that the virtual voting process is really just a way to ensure that Biden is the party's nominee, and to quash the internal rebellion pushing him to step aside.There's deep skepticism about the DNC's stated reason for the virtual roll call — a Aug. 7 deadline to get on the ballot in Ohio — after Ohio changed its law.Some delegates are pleading for more time and an actual floor vote."I need to be convinced that it is necessary to vote virtually in early August," said Gilberto Hinojosa, the chair of Texas Democrats and Rules Committee member."I've always understood that that is what the convention is for," he said.Driving the news: In an internal communication Wednesday morning, the rules committee co-chairs announced that the virtual voting would not begin until Aug. 1.But for several days, there have been deep concerns among DNC officials on how they will actually collect the ballots – especially from older delegates – before Aug 7, according to people familiar with the matter.Zoom in: Before ballot counting even begins the DNC will have to communicate their plan to the public, and dubious delegates.They will also have to train state party officials and email ballots to some 4,000 convention delegates."Given COVID safety concerns during the roll call in 2020, the Convention was required to conduct a virtual vote, and there's both sufficient expertise and time to effectively execute a virtual roll call in advance of the Ohio deadline," said a DNC spokesperson."As the Rules Committee Chairs wrote in their letter to Rules Members yesterday, they are determined to ensure that President Biden is on the ballot in all 50 states in spite of the bad-faith actions of MAGA Republicans in Ohio," the spokesperson said.Zoom out: In the last 24 hours, Biden has been hit by COVID — and a series of stories about senior Democrats, like Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), suggesting that the race is unwinnable for him.Within the party, there are real questions on whether Biden will be the party's nominee.While the DNC is preparing for "additional challengers", it is still proceeding under the assumption that Biden will be the nominee.The bottom line: In a Monday email to delegates, which was mostly focused on the delegates' demographic details, the DNC asked delegates to indicate on a drop-down menu on who they will vote for: Joe Biden, Jason Palmer (who won American Samoa), Rep. Dean Phillips, or "uncommitted."Answers to that questionnaire will essentially give the DNC a whip count on how firm – or soft – support for Biden is among actual delegates.

Top Democrats believe Biden could announce a decision to step down in the race as soon as this weekend, Axios reported Thursday.

Tribune critic Michael Phillips talks with photo editor Marianne Mather about how we've to responded the iconic image.