Morning Headlines - Thursday, Apr. 20, 2023 | Recent News

U.S. and World Headlines

IRS Whistleblower Has Told Congress That Hunter Biden Probe Is Being Mishandled

A supervisor at the IRS has told lawmakers that he has information that suggests the Biden administration could be mishandling the investigation into President Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

In a letter to lawmakers obtained by ABC News, the lawyer for the IRS whistleblower says his client is an IRS criminal supervisory special agent "who has been overseeing the ongoing and sensitive investigation of a high-profile, controversial subject since early 2020 and would like to make protected whistleblower disclosures to Congress."

Five Takeaways From The Fox News-Dominion Settlement

The most anticipated media trial of recent years was averted at the last minute Tuesday, when Dominion Voting Systems settled the defamation case it had brought against Fox News.

Dominion had been seeking $1.6 billion in damages. The company argued that its business had been badly hurt by conspiracy theories around the 2020 election — theories that, Dominion contended, had been advanced on Fox shows even though key people at the network knew them to be false.

The voting technology company and Fox ultimately settled on Tuesday, for $787.5 million.

The enormous sum spoke to the gravity of the case.

Here are the other main takeaways.

White House Escalates Political Pressure On GOP As Mccarthy Unveils Debt Limit Proposal

White House officials have spent weeks engaged in skirmishes with House Republicans over the looming debt ceiling battle.

Those skirmishes have now expanded into an all-out war.

President Joe Biden’s economic speech in Maryland on Wednesday, which leveled a series of policy and political attacks at House Republicans, serves as a critical marker for a White House moving quickly to escalate the political pressure on House Republicans as the calendar moves closer to the deadline to raise the nation’s borrowing limit.

Christians In The Holy Land Say They’re Under Attack As Israeli-Palestinian Violence Soars

Upstairs in his monastery tucked in the Old City, Brother Matteo Munari heard a commotion at the Church of the Flagellation, along the path where Jesus is said to have carried his cross on the way to his crucifixion.

Munari, 49, went downstairs and found that a 10-foot statue of Jesus had been wrested off its pedestal and thrown to the ground, its face partially destroyed. When the church’s doorman tackled the man suspected of toppling the statue on Feb. 2, Jewish ritual tassels that had been concealed under his clothes emerged, the Franciscan friar said.

“He was kind of crying. Like, ‘We have to destroy all the statues and the idols in Jerusalem,’” Munari told NBC News last week as he gazed at the smashed face of Jesus, now awaiting repair at the church, which was built in 1929 on a site that dates to the 12th century.

U.S. Tracking More Than 650 Potential UFOs, Official Says

The U.S. government is investigating more than 650 potential UFO sightings, a Pentagon official confirmed Wednesday.

Sean Kirkpatrick, director of the Defense Department's All-domain Anomaly Resolution Office, made the revelation in an appearance before a subcommittee of the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The sightings are concentrated off the East Coast and West Coast of the U.S., in the Middle East and in the area of the South China Sea, Kirkpatrick said.

Judge Rules Attorneys In Wisconsin Fake Electors Lawsuit Can Stay On The Case

The attorneys bringing a lawsuit against Republican fake electors and their lawyers in Wisconsin will be allowed to remain on the case.

Dane County Judge Frank Remington ruled against a motion to have them removed from the case yesterday.

The case was brought on behalf of Democrats by attorneys for Law Forward and the firm Stafford Rosenblum. They sued Wisconsin Republicans who posed as electors after the 2020 election. They also sued the lawyers who helped them.

That included Jim Troupis, who was the lawyer for the Trump campaign in Wisconsin after the 2020 election. Troupis argued Stafford Rosenblum had a conflict of interest because the firm had represented him and his wife for estate planning work. Suing him, Troupis argued, would be a violation of attorney-client privilege, and he wanted the firms removed from the case.

Why Fish Consumption Advisories In Great Lakes States Carry Their Own Risks

Commercial fisher Bryan Bainbridge can net several thousand pounds of whitefish or herring from Lake Superior during a successful run, but his greatest gratification comes when he returns to the dock.

Sometimes people ask if they can have some fish. He takes pride in being able to provide.

The operation is more than just business for Bainbridge, 45, a former tribal chairman of the Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa, one of six federally recognized Ojibwe tribes in Wisconsin.

“It’s a part of who we are and what we do to live,” Bainbridge said.

Drug Take Back Day Is April 22

The Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ) today announced that this upcoming Saturday is National Drug Take Back Day. More than 158 events are planned across Wisconsin on Saturday, April 22, 2023, with more than 280 participating law enforcement agencies, where Wisconsinites are encouraged to dispose of unwanted and unused medications.

“Now is a great time to clean out your medicine cabinet and safely dispose of your unwanted or expired medications,” said Attorney General Josh Kaul. “Whether you dispose of unwanted medications at a Drug Take Back event or permanent drug drop box near you, we can each do our part in the fight against the opioid epidemic.”

Drug Take Back Day provides a safe, convenient and responsible means of disposal, while also educating the community about the potential abuse and consequences of improper storage and disposal of these medications.

Former AG Eric Holder To Deliver UW Commencement Speech

Former Attorney General Eric Holder is set to give the spring commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the university announced Wednesday.

Holder will give the address during the spring commencement ceremony at Camp Randall Stadium on May 13.

Bucks Make 25 3s, Beat Heat 138-122 Without Antetokounmpo

For at least one night, the Milwaukee Bucks didn't miss Giannis Antetokounmpo at all.

Brook Lopez scored 25 points, Jrue Holiday added 24 and the hot-shooting Bucks withstood Antetokounmpo’s absence while trouncing the Miami Heat 138-122 on Wednesday, tying their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series at a game apiece.

Milwaukee shot 25 of 49 from 3-point range to match an NBA record for 3-pointers in a game as the Bucks showcased their depth by thriving without their two-time MVP. Pat Connaughton, who hadn't even played in Game 1, scored a playoff career-high 22 points and shot 6 of 10 from beyond the arc.