Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrated this Wednesday, May 22, holds a special
place in the world of cryptocurrency. It marks the first time Bitcoin was used
to purchase real-world goods. And what was the first item ever bought with
Bitcoin? Pizza, of course.
On May 22, 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made history by
spending 10,000 Bitcoins to have two (large) Papa John’s pizzas delivered to
his door. This momentous transaction has since become a legendary tale in the
crypto community, commemorated annually as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
The Million-Dollar Pizzas
To understand the significance of Bitcoin Pizza Day, we need to take a
journey back to 2010. At that time, Bitcoin was a relatively obscure digital
currency, primarily used by tech enthusiasts and early adopters. Laszlo
Hanyecz, one of these enthusiasts, decided to demonstrate Bitcoin’s potential
by using it to buy something tangible. He posted an offer on the
Bitcointalk.org forum, proposing to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas.
After a few days, on May 22, 2010, a fellow forum user accepted the
offer and ordered the pizzas for Hanyecz. This seemingly ordinary transaction
turned into a landmark event, as it was the first recorded instance of Bitcoin
being used to purchase a physical item. Back then, 10,000 Bitcoins were worth
around $41, making the cost of the pizzas quite reasonable. However, Bitcoin’s
value soon began to rise exponentially.
The Soaring Value of Bitcoin
Nine months after the famous pizza purchase, the value of those 10,000
Bitcoins had already risen to $10,000. Fast forward to 2015, and the two pizzas
would have cost him an astonishing $2.4 million. By 2021, when Bitcoin reached
an all-time high of $63,000 per Bitcoin, the value of the pizzas would have
been a jaw-dropping $630 million. It’s no wonder that Hanyecz’s purchase is
often referred to as the most expensive pizza order in history.
Who wants to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day at the largest global pizza party EVER, this WEDnesday, May 22?
Let’s play a little game of “what if.” What if Laszlo Hanyecz had
decided to hold onto his 10,000 Bitcoins instead of spending them on pizza? As
of Bitcoin’s peak value of $68,990 in late 2021, Hanyecz’s 10,000 Bitcoins
would have been worth nearly $690 million. To put that in perspective, here’s a
list of things Hanyecz could have bought with that kind of money:
Pizzas
At an average price of $15 each (in the
US), Hanyecz could have indulged in 46 million Papa John’s pizzas. That’s enough to feed a
small country!
Luxury Homes
Beverly Hills Mansion: A sprawling estate with 20,000 sq ft of living
space, 10 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a pool, and a private cinema for $100
million. He could buy 6.9 of these mansions.
Penthouse in New York City: A 10,000 sq ft penthouse with stunning city
views, 6 bedrooms, and 8 bathrooms for $80 million. He could purchase 8.6.
Villa in the French Riviera: A luxurious 12,000 sq ft villa with 8
bedrooms, a private beach, and a large infinity pool for $70 million. He’d own 9.9 villas.
Private Islands
Musha Cay in the Bahamas: A 150-acre private island with multiple guest
villas, a private airstrip, and a full staff for $50 million. That’s 13.8 islands.
Cars
Bugatti Chiron: One of the most expensive and luxurious cars in the
world, costing $3 million each. He could buy 230.
Rolls-Royce Phantom: The epitome of luxury, priced at $500,000 each.
He’d own 1,380.
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO: A highly sought-after collector’s car, sold for
$48.4 million. He could buy 14.3.
Private Jets
Gulfstream G650: A state-of-the-art private jet with a price tag of $65
million. That’d be 10.6 planes.
Yachts
Superyacht: A 200-foot luxury yacht with a helipad, multiple decks, and
lavish interiors for $150 million. Fancy 4.6 superyachts?
Fine Art
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi: The most expensive painting ever
sold at auction for $450 million. You’d end up with 1.5 of these masterpieces.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: Valued at approximately $80 million. 8.6 copies, anyone? Though we’d suggest a refund on 7.6 of them.
Entertainment
Six Flags Amusement Park: Building a new theme park costs around $300
million. But then who needs more than one?
Luxury World Cruise: A 4-month ultra-luxury world cruise on a private
yacht can cost up to $250,000 per person. He could fund a trip for 2,760
people.
Space Tourism: A ticket to space with SpaceX or Blue Origin costs
around $55 million. 12.5 people to space, please.
Charity
Endow a Scholarship Fund: He could set up a $690 million endowment
fund.
While Laszlo Hanyecz’s story might be amusing and even a little painful
to think about, it offers a valuable lesson in hindsight and the unpredictable
nature of investments. At the time of his purchase, Bitcoin was a novelty, and
its future was uncertain. Hanyecz’s transaction helped to demonstrate the
practical use of Bitcoin and contributed to its growing legitimacy as a form of
currency.
Hanyecz himself has taken the story in stride, maintaining a sense of
humor about the whole situation. In a 2019 interview with CBS, he told Anderson
Cooper that the transaction “made [Bitcoin] real for some people. It certainly
did for me.” Despite the missed financial windfall, Hanyecz’s contribution to
Bitcoin’s history is undeniable, and his story continues to inspire and
entertain the crypto community.
For more stories on the edge of the markets, visit our Trending section.
Bitcoin Pizza Day, celebrated this Wednesday, May 22, holds a special
place in the world of cryptocurrency. It marks the first time Bitcoin was used
to purchase real-world goods. And what was the first item ever bought with
Bitcoin? Pizza, of course.
On May 22, 2010, a programmer named Laszlo Hanyecz made history by
spending 10,000 Bitcoins to have two (large) Papa John’s pizzas delivered to
his door. This momentous transaction has since become a legendary tale in the
crypto community, commemorated annually as Bitcoin Pizza Day.
The Million-Dollar Pizzas
To understand the significance of Bitcoin Pizza Day, we need to take a
journey back to 2010. At that time, Bitcoin was a relatively obscure digital
currency, primarily used by tech enthusiasts and early adopters. Laszlo
Hanyecz, one of these enthusiasts, decided to demonstrate Bitcoin’s potential
by using it to buy something tangible. He posted an offer on the
Bitcointalk.org forum, proposing to pay 10,000 Bitcoins for two large pizzas.
After a few days, on May 22, 2010, a fellow forum user accepted the
offer and ordered the pizzas for Hanyecz. This seemingly ordinary transaction
turned into a landmark event, as it was the first recorded instance of Bitcoin
being used to purchase a physical item. Back then, 10,000 Bitcoins were worth
around $41, making the cost of the pizzas quite reasonable. However, Bitcoin’s
value soon began to rise exponentially.
The Soaring Value of Bitcoin
Nine months after the famous pizza purchase, the value of those 10,000
Bitcoins had already risen to $10,000. Fast forward to 2015, and the two pizzas
would have cost him an astonishing $2.4 million. By 2021, when Bitcoin reached
an all-time high of $63,000 per Bitcoin, the value of the pizzas would have
been a jaw-dropping $630 million. It’s no wonder that Hanyecz’s purchase is
often referred to as the most expensive pizza order in history.
Who wants to celebrate Bitcoin Pizza Day at the largest global pizza party EVER, this WEDnesday, May 22?
Let’s play a little game of “what if.” What if Laszlo Hanyecz had
decided to hold onto his 10,000 Bitcoins instead of spending them on pizza? As
of Bitcoin’s peak value of $68,990 in late 2021, Hanyecz’s 10,000 Bitcoins
would have been worth nearly $690 million. To put that in perspective, here’s a
list of things Hanyecz could have bought with that kind of money:
Pizzas
At an average price of $15 each (in the
US), Hanyecz could have indulged in 46 million Papa John’s pizzas. That’s enough to feed a
small country!
Luxury Homes
Beverly Hills Mansion: A sprawling estate with 20,000 sq ft of living
space, 10 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, a pool, and a private cinema for $100
million. He could buy 6.9 of these mansions.
Penthouse in New York City: A 10,000 sq ft penthouse with stunning city
views, 6 bedrooms, and 8 bathrooms for $80 million. He could purchase 8.6.
Villa in the French Riviera: A luxurious 12,000 sq ft villa with 8
bedrooms, a private beach, and a large infinity pool for $70 million. He’d own 9.9 villas.
Private Islands
Musha Cay in the Bahamas: A 150-acre private island with multiple guest
villas, a private airstrip, and a full staff for $50 million. That’s 13.8 islands.
Cars
Bugatti Chiron: One of the most expensive and luxurious cars in the
world, costing $3 million each. He could buy 230.
Rolls-Royce Phantom: The epitome of luxury, priced at $500,000 each.
He’d own 1,380.
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO: A highly sought-after collector’s car, sold for
$48.4 million. He could buy 14.3.
Private Jets
Gulfstream G650: A state-of-the-art private jet with a price tag of $65
million. That’d be 10.6 planes.
Yachts
Superyacht: A 200-foot luxury yacht with a helipad, multiple decks, and
lavish interiors for $150 million. Fancy 4.6 superyachts?
Fine Art
Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi: The most expensive painting ever
sold at auction for $450 million. You’d end up with 1.5 of these masterpieces.
Van Gogh’s Sunflowers: Valued at approximately $80 million. 8.6 copies, anyone? Though we’d suggest a refund on 7.6 of them.
Entertainment
Six Flags Amusement Park: Building a new theme park costs around $300
million. But then who needs more than one?
Luxury World Cruise: A 4-month ultra-luxury world cruise on a private
yacht can cost up to $250,000 per person. He could fund a trip for 2,760
people.
Space Tourism: A ticket to space with SpaceX or Blue Origin costs
around $55 million. 12.5 people to space, please.
Charity
Endow a Scholarship Fund: He could set up a $690 million endowment
fund.
While Laszlo Hanyecz’s story might be amusing and even a little painful
to think about, it offers a valuable lesson in hindsight and the unpredictable
nature of investments. At the time of his purchase, Bitcoin was a novelty, and
its future was uncertain. Hanyecz’s transaction helped to demonstrate the
practical use of Bitcoin and contributed to its growing legitimacy as a form of
currency.
Hanyecz himself has taken the story in stride, maintaining a sense of
humor about the whole situation. In a 2019 interview with CBS, he told Anderson
Cooper that the transaction “made [Bitcoin] real for some people. It certainly
did for me.” Despite the missed financial windfall, Hanyecz’s contribution to
Bitcoin’s history is undeniable, and his story continues to inspire and
entertain the crypto community.
For more stories on the edge of the markets, visit our Trending section.
Examine the forefront of digital research in our Latest News & Blog. Study expert analyses, technological advancements, and key industry insights that keep you informed and prepared in the ever-evolving world of digital forensics.
The Metropolitan Police has denied being the source of leaks identifying folks under investigation by the Gambling Commission for alleged bets on the date of the final election.
The On each day basis Telegraph reported that “a source shut to the Cabinet Place of work” claimed Scotland Yard had urged journalists about those being scrutinized by the making a bet regulator.
Police sources urged the BBC that the power views this as an strive and divert consideration and denies being to blame for disclosing any names.
The Met has no longer commented on the choice of its officers being investigated by the Gambling Commission, various than the constable it acknowledged final week, who modified into as soon as arrested and puzzled.
The BBC understands there are a “handful” of various officers being examined by the associated price, however the precise number stays unknown.
The regulator has no longer disclosed the identities of those it’s some distance investigating, however the names of 4 Conservatives have surfaced, together with two who are working for election.
In a commentary, the Met Police mentioned, “The allegations that the Met has leaked recordsdata are simply unfaithful.”
A senior source added, “Right here is a sad distraction technique.”
The the same On each day basis Telegraph article printed that the Gambling Commission has supplied the Met Police with recordsdata suggesting more officers could well well additionally be inquisitive in regards to the election making a bet scandal.
The Met mentioned, “We proceed to liaise with the Gambling Commission and are assessing recordsdata they have supplied.”
The BBC understands that the brand new recordsdata entails a “handful” of officers, however it’s some distance much less detailed than the solutions that ended in the arrest and questioning under caution of a member of the prime minister’s shut protection personnel final week on suspicion of misconduct in public place of work.
The Met’s overview of the brand new recordsdata is believed to be at a in actuality early stage.
Any investigation into alleged dishonest in bets on the date of the election will remain with the Gambling Commission.
(Bloomberg) — Shares of Nvidia Corp., the chipmaker at the center of an artificial intelligence boom, surged on Thursday after a bullish sales forecast showed that AI computing spending remains strong.
Second-quarter revenue will be about $28 billion, the company said Wednesday, topping the $26.8 billion predicted by analysts. Results in the fiscal first quarter, which ended April 28, also beat projections — lifted by growth in Nvidia’s data-center division.
The big question heading into the earnings report was whether Nvidia’s latest numbers could justify the dizzying run-up in its stock. The shares had gained 92% this year through Wednesday’s close, fueled by investor hopes that the company would continue to shatter expectations.
The report didn’t disappoint, and Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang stoked the excitement by talking about the dawning of a new era. “This is the beginning of a new industrial revolution,” he said in an interview, echoing one of his favorite themes. “This is really exciting.”
Read More: Five Charts Showing Nvidia’s Jaw-Dropping Rise to Chip Stardom
The shares rose 9.3% to $1,037.99 on Thursday, adding nearly $220 billion to Nvidia’s valuation. That’s far more than the entire market capitalization of Intel Corp., a chipmaker that once dwarfed Nvidia by every measure. And Nvidia’s $28 billion in projected quarterly sales would be more than twice what Intel is expected to report.
The Santa Clara, California-based company also announced a 10-for-1 stock split and boosted its quarterly dividend by 150% to 10 cents a share. The rally helped lift the shares of other companies associated with AI. Super Micro Computer Inc. and Dell Technologies Inc. rose in the wake of the results, though a broader market retreat pared the gains on Thursday.
The upbeat outlook reinforces Nvidia’s status as the biggest beneficiary of AI spending. The company’s so-called AI accelerators — chips that help data centers develop chatbots and other cutting-edge tools — have become a hot commodity in the past two years, sending its sales soaring. Nvidia’s market valuation has skyrocketed as well, topping $2.5 trillion.
In the fiscal first quarter, Nvidia’s revenue more than tripled to $26 billion. Excluding certain items, profit was $6.12 a share. Analysts had predicted sales of about $24.7 billion and earnings of $5.65 a share.
Huang, in his signature black leather jacket, has become a celebrity in the AI era. His company, which he co-founded in 1993, started as a provider of graphics cards for computer gamers. But he recognized that Nvidia’s chips were well-suited to developing AI software and that helped open a new market — and gave him a jump on competitors.
The release of OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot in 2022 then sparked a race between major technology companies to build their own AI infrastructure. The scramble made Nvidia’s H100 accelerators a must-have product. They sell for tens of thousands of dollars per chip and are often in scarce supply.
For now, much of this new revenue comes from a small handful of customers. A group of four companies — Amazon.com Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google — are Nvidia’s largest buyers and have accounted for about 40% of sales. Huang, 61, is trying to spread his bets by producing complete computers, software and services — aimed at helping more corporations and government agencies deploy their own AI systems.
Nvidia’s data-center division — now by far its largest source of sales — generated $22.6 billion of revenue last quarter. Gaming chips provided $2.6 billion. Analysts had given targets of $21 billion for the data-center unit and $2.6 billion for gaming.
Nvidia emphasized Wednesday that it wants to sell its technology to a wider market — expanding beyond the giant cloud-computing providers known as hyperscalers. Huang said that AI is moving to consumer internet companies, carmakers, biotechnology and health-care customers. Countries also are developing their own systems — a trend referred to as sovereign AI.
These opportunities are creating multiple multibillion-dollar markets beyond cloud service providers, he said.
The large-scale deployment of Nvidia chips by Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc. is one sign of that expansion. The automaker is using Nvidia gear to develop software that will operate self-driving vehicles.
Still, hyperscalers remained a critical growth driver for Nvidia last quarter. They generated approximately 45% of the company’s data-center revenue. That suggests Nvidia is in the early stages of diversifying the business.
The company’s new chip platform, called Blackwell, is now in full production, Huang said. And it lays the groundwork for generative AI that can handle trillions of parameters. “We are poised for our next wave of growth,” he said.
The company will get “a lot” of its 2024 revenue from the new Blackwell chips, Huang said. But customers aren’t easing up on orders for its existing products — a concern among some analysts. Those buyers need the current generation to help them build out their infrastructure as quickly as possible, he said.
Demand for Nvidia’s products has outpaced supply, and Huang expects that to remain the case into next year. The company is also contending with other challenges: The increasing complexity of its technology, which now includes complete computer systems, means that its supply chain has become much more complicated, he said. That makes it more difficult to increase output.
“Nobody has ever manufactured supercomputers at volume,” he said in the interview. “We’re doing the best we can.”
Read this next: Global Chips Battle Intensifies With $81 Billion Subsidy Surge
(Updates shares in fifth paragraph. A previous version of the story corrected the year-to-date stock increase.)
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Senate Democrats launch investigation into Trump’s reported offer to oil executives of regulatory rollback in exchange for donations
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to oil executives that if they donated $1bn to his campaign, he would roll back environmental regulations, if elected.
The joint investigation by the Senate budget and finance committees is targeted at the petroleum firms whose top executives were said to have attended that April dinner.
“Time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the US oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets,” finance committee chair Ron Wyden and budget committee chair Sheldon Whitehouse said in a joint statement.
Here’s more:
As Mr. Trump funnels campaign money into his businesses and uses it as a slush fund to pay his legal fees, Big Oil has been lobbying aggressively to protect and expand its profits at the expense of the American taxpayer.And now, emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens’ economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes. Such potential abuses must be scrutinized.
The supreme court allowed South Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional map to stay, at least for now, after the panel’s conservative majority ruled against a lower court’s finding that they discriminated against Black voters. The decision, which Joe Bidencalled “wrong”, was authored by Samuel Alito, a conservative justice who was yesterday revealed to have flown a flag associated with Christian extremism at a vacation property. It was the second rightwing banner to have reportedly been displayed at one of his homes, prompting the House’s top Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, amongothers, to call for him to recuse himself from cases dealing with January 6. Alito has not commented on whether he will do that.
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to roll back environmental regulations if oil executives raise $1b for him.
n
Biden and attorney general Merrick Garland both declined to comment on Alito’s flag preferences.
n
Elena Kagan, a liberal supreme court justice, dissented from the conservative ruling in the South Carolina case, and warned it would undermine future attempts to challenge racial gerrymanders.
n
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, squabbled with Biden after Senate Democrats tried and failed again to pass a bill to tighten immigration policy.
n
Louisiana’sRepublican-dominated legislature moved to restrict abortion medication – which the Biden campaign blamed on Trump.
n
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In a just-released statement, Joe Biden decried the supreme court’s ruling earlier today that South Carolina’s Republican leaders do not need to redraw their congressional map, despite claims that it excludes Black voters.
“The right to vote is the foundation of American democracy. Key to that right is ensuring that voters pick their elected officials – not the other way around. The Supreme Court’s decision today undermines the basic principle that voting practices should not discriminate on account of race and that is wrong,” the president said.
“This decision threatens South Carolinians’ ability to have their voices heard at the ballot box, and the districting plan the Court upheld is part of a dangerous pattern of racial gerrymandering efforts from Republican elected officials to dilute the will of Black voters.”
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Senate Democrats tried once again this afternoon to pass legislation tightening immigration policy, with the goal of curbing the flow of people crossing the southern border. But, just as when they first tried to move the legislation in February in a gambit to win approval of a new military aid infusion for Israel and Ukraine, the attempt failed, thanks to the opposition of Republicans who say they want even stronger anti-immigration measures.
Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security.
n
By blocking the bipartisan border agreement, Republicans in Congress said no to legislation that would hire more Border Patrol Agents, add more immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases in months and not years. They said no to new technology to detect and stop fentanyl from entering the United States, and no to resources to go after drug traffickers. They rejected an agreement that would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed.
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson alleged that Biden and his allies in the Senate are faking concern for immigration, and just want to shore up support before November’s election.
After more than three years of claiming the situation at our southern border was not a crisis while millions of illegals poured in, Congressional Democrats are attempting to throw an election year Hail Mary to cover for their embrace of President Biden’s open border policies. In the absence of a substantive legislative solution, Senator Schumer should join House Republicans in demanding President Biden reverse course and use his executive authority to finally secure the border and protect American families.
Left unmentioned by both parties were the well-documented efforts by Donald Trump to torpedo the legislation earlier this year, reportedly so he could campaign on frustration over immigration.
Another issue Democrats face is that the party isn’t united on how to handle immigration. Yesterday, Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal and Nanette Barragán, leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called the bill “inhumane”:
This framework, which was constructed under Republican hostage-taking, does nothing to address the longstanding updates needed to modernize our outdated immigration system, create more legal pathways, and recognize the enormous contributions of immigrants to communities and our economy.
n
While the investments in asylum officers and immigration judges are welcome and needed, these alone cannot address the negative effects of a new Title 42-like expulsion authority that will close the border and turn away people seeking asylum without due process. Such a policy will be a boon to cartels who prey on migrants and would do nothing to address the root causes of migration – which will continue to send immigrants to the border. It is worth remembering that under Donald Trump, such a policy was not only declared unlawful by the courts, but it also led to increases – not decreases – in illegal border crossing.
n
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At a press conference today, attorney general Merrick Garland repudiated a claim by Donald Trump that the federal agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida two years ago were given the authority to kill him.
The former president made the allegation in a fundraising email, but the attorney general said it was an “extremely dangerous” distortion of the department’s policies, which were also followed when Joe Biden’s home was searched for classified material:
Attorney General Garland on former President Trump's claim that the Justice Department had authorization to kill him during the Mar-a-Lago raid: "That allegation is false and it is extremely dangerous." pic.twitter.com/mAEfeCejwF
And here’s a recap of what exactly Trump was alleging:
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Louisiana’s Republican-dominated state legislature has moved to further tighten access to two prescription drugs used in medication abortion, the Associated Press reports.
Here’s more on the move, which comes as we await a ruling from the US supreme court on whether mifepristone, one of the drugs targeted by the new Louisiana law, can remain available nationwide:
Two abortion-inducing drugs could soon be reclassified as controlled and dangerous substances in Louisiana under a first-of-its-kind bill that received final legislative passage Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by the governor.
n
Supporters of the reclassification of mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as “abortion pills”, say it would protect expectant mothers from coerced abortions. Numerous doctors, meanwhile, have said it will make it harder for them to prescribe the medicines they use for other important reproductive healthcare needs, and could delay treatment.
n
Louisiana currently has a near-total abortion ban in place, applying both to surgical and medical abortions. The GOP-dominated legislature’s push to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol could possibly open the door for other Republican states with abortion bans that are seeking tighter restrictions on the drugs.
n
Current Louisiana law already requires a prescription for both drugs and makes it a crime to use them to induce an abortion in most cases. The bill would make it harder to obtain the pills by placing them on the list of Schedule IV drugs under the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.
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The supreme court has allowed South Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional maps to stay, at least for now, after the panel’s conservative majority turned away a request from challengers that they be thrown out for discriminating against Black voters. The decision was authored by Samuel Alito, a conservative justice who was yesterday revealed to have flown a flag associated with Christian extremism at a vacation property. It was the second rightwing flag to have reportedly been displayed at his properties, prompting the House’s top Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, amongothers, to call for him to recuse himself from cases dealing with January 6. Alito has not commented on if he will do that.
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to roll back environmental regulations if oil executives raise $1bn for him.
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Joe Biden and attorney general Merrick Garland both declined to comment on Alito’s flag preferences.
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Elena Kagan, a liberal supreme court justice, dissented from the conservative ruling in the South Carolina case, and warned it would undermine future attempts to challenge racial gerrymanders.
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Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to oil executives that if they donated $1bn to his campaign, he would roll back environmental regulations, if elected.
The joint investigation by the Senate budget and finance committees is targeted at the petroleum firms whose top executives were said to have attended that April dinner.
“Time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the US oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets,” finance committee chair Ron Wyden and budget committee chair Sheldon Whitehouse said in a joint statement.
As Mr. Trump funnels campaign money into his businesses and uses it as a slush fund to pay his legal fees, Big Oil has been lobbying aggressively to protect and expand its profits at the expense of the American taxpayer.And now, emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens’ economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes. Such potential abuses must be scrutinized.
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House minority leader Hakeem Jeffries has become the highest-ranking Democrat to call for supreme court justice Samuel Alito to recuse himself over the two rightwing flags reported to have flown over his properties.
At a press conference today, Jeffries called on Alito, a conservative stalwart on the court, to step back from cases concerning the January 6 insurrection, and warned that the party could work to pass legislation imposing an enforceable code of ethics on the court:
.@RepJeffries: "Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas are totally out of control…In the case of Samuel Alito, he definitively needs to recuse himself from any matter pending before the United States Supreme Court that has to do with the January 6th violent insurrection." pic.twitter.com/JrxMSnXdKp
The justices still have not released their opinion on Donald Trump’s petition for immunity from the federal charges brought against him for attempting to overturn the 2020 election – which culminated in his supporters’ attack on the US Capitol.
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The supreme court’s conservative supermajority has turned back a challenge to South Carolina’s congressional maps on the grounds that they were a racial gerrymander.
In a 6-3 ruling, the court’s conservatives rejected a lower court ruling that found the state’s Republican leadership had undertaken an “effective bleaching” of a congressional district, by drawing lines to exclude Black voters.
The decision’s effect is to deny Democrats the potential opportunity to pick up a seat in a state as they aim to retake the majority in the House in November’s elections.
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The supreme court will in a few minutes release its latest batch of opinions.
We do not know how many they will release, or which cases, but there are several key issues pending the before the court, including conservative attempts to limit access to abortion pill mifepristone, and to strike down a Biden administration policy that requires federally funded hospitals perform the procedure in emergencies, even in states where abortion is banned.
The justices are also considering Donald Trump’s petition for immunity from charges related to attempting to overturn the 2020 election, as well as a challenge to South Carolina’s congressional maps. Here is more on the latter:
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The New York Times found conservative supreme court justice Samuel Alito’s New Jersey vacation home flying the “Appeal to Heaven” flag, which dates back to the Revolutionary War, and has been adopted by far-right Christians:
It’s the second controversial flag found outside an Alito residence. Last week, the Times reported that shortly before Joe Biden took office, Alito’s home in Virginia flew an upside-down American flag, which had been adopted as a symbol by those who believed Donald Trump’s false claims of election fraud.
Alito told the Times his wife had put that flag up after a dispute with their neighbor, but he declined to comment about the banner found at his vacation home in New Jersey. Here’s more on this:
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Conservative supreme court justice Samuel Alitoflew a rightwing Christian flag carried by insurrectionists on January 6 outside a vacation home, the New York Times reported yesterday. The story came a week after the Times revealed that a different flag associated with Donald Trump’s election lies appeared outside his suburban Washington DC residence shortly before Joe Biden took office. The justice blamed his wife for the first episode, and had no comment on the flag flown outside the New Jersey vacation property, but to top Democrats, it is clear that Alito needs to step back from cases involving the attack on the Capitol and the 2020 election. Dick Durbin, the chair of the Senate judiciary committee, made the demand, while calling the flag “apparent ethical misconduct”, and progressive congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said the matter should be investigated.
Meanwhile, the supreme court is scheduled to, at 10am ET, issue another batch of decisions. There is no telling which cases they may weigh in on, but pending on their docket is Trump’s attempt to be granted immunity from prosecution for his 2020 election meddling attempt as well as twocases dealing with access to abortion that came after the court overturned Roe v Wade in 2022 – with an opinion Alito authored.
Biden is spending much of the day with Kenyan president William Ruto, who is on an official visit to Washington DC. The president hosts the East African leader for a state dinner in the evening – the first for any African leader since George W Bush dined with Ghana’s John Kufuor in 2008.
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Republican House speaker Mike Johnson wants to invite Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give an address to Congress, but is waiting to hear from Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer. Perhaps the Democrat will make his decision known today.
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The House is expected to vote on Republican-backed legislation to repeal a Washington DC law allowing non-citizens to vote in its local elections.
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Key events
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Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Closing summary
The supreme court allowed South Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional map to stay, at least for now, after the panel’s conservative majority ruled against a lower court’s finding that they discriminated against Black voters. The decision, which Joe Bidencalled “wrong”, was authored by Samuel Alito, a conservative justice who was yesterday revealed to have flown a flag associated with Christian extremism at a vacation property. It was the second rightwing banner to have reportedly been displayed at one of his homes, prompting the House’s top Democrat, Hakeem Jeffries, amongothers, to call for him to recuse himself from cases dealing with January 6. Alito has not commented on whether he will do that.
Here’s what else happened:
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to roll back environmental regulations if oil executives raise $1b for him.
Biden and attorney general Merrick Garland both declined to comment on Alito’s flag preferences.
Elena Kagan, a liberal supreme court justice, dissented from the conservative ruling in the South Carolina case, and warned it would undermine future attempts to challenge racial gerrymanders.
Mike Johnson, the Republican House speaker, squabbled with Biden after Senate Democrats tried and failed again to pass a bill to tighten immigration policy.
Louisiana’sRepublican-dominated legislature moved to restrict abortion medication – which the Biden campaign blamed on Trump.
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Biden calls supreme court’s ruling on South Carolina congressional map ‘wrong’
In a just-released statement, Joe Biden decried the supreme court’s ruling earlier today that South Carolina’s Republican leaders do not need to redraw their congressional map, despite claims that it excludes Black voters.
“The right to vote is the foundation of American democracy. Key to that right is ensuring that voters pick their elected officials – not the other way around. The Supreme Court’s decision today undermines the basic principle that voting practices should not discriminate on account of race and that is wrong,” the president said.
“This decision threatens South Carolinians’ ability to have their voices heard at the ballot box, and the districting plan the Court upheld is part of a dangerous pattern of racial gerrymandering efforts from Republican elected officials to dilute the will of Black voters.”
Here’s more on the court’s finding:
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Biden, Johnson squabble after GOP torpedoes Senate immigration bill
Senate Democrats tried once again this afternoon to pass legislation tightening immigration policy, with the goal of curbing the flow of people crossing the southern border. But, just as when they first tried to move the legislation in February in a gambit to win approval of a new military aid infusion for Israel and Ukraine, the attempt failed, thanks to the opposition of Republicans who say they want even stronger anti-immigration measures.
In a statement following the vote, Joe Biden accused the GOP of indifference to the issue of border security:
Congressional Republicans do not care about securing the border or fixing America’s broken immigration system. If they did, they would have voted for the toughest border enforcement in history. Instead, today, they put partisan politics ahead of our country’s national security.
By blocking the bipartisan border agreement, Republicans in Congress said no to legislation that would hire more Border Patrol Agents, add more immigration judges and asylum officers to process cases in months and not years. They said no to new technology to detect and stop fentanyl from entering the United States, and no to resources to go after drug traffickers. They rejected an agreement that would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to temporarily shut down the border when the system is overwhelmed.
Republican House speaker Mike Johnson alleged that Biden and his allies in the Senate are faking concern for immigration, and just want to shore up support before November’s election.
After more than three years of claiming the situation at our southern border was not a crisis while millions of illegals poured in, Congressional Democrats are attempting to throw an election year Hail Mary to cover for their embrace of President Biden’s open border policies. In the absence of a substantive legislative solution, Senator Schumer should join House Republicans in demanding President Biden reverse course and use his executive authority to finally secure the border and protect American families.
Left unmentioned by both parties were the well-documented efforts by Donald Trump to torpedo the legislation earlier this year, reportedly so he could campaign on frustration over immigration.
Another issue Democrats face is that the party isn’t united on how to handle immigration. Yesterday, Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal and Nanette Barragán, leader of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, called the bill “inhumane”:
This framework, which was constructed under Republican hostage-taking, does nothing to address the longstanding updates needed to modernize our outdated immigration system, create more legal pathways, and recognize the enormous contributions of immigrants to communities and our economy.
While the investments in asylum officers and immigration judges are welcome and needed, these alone cannot address the negative effects of a new Title 42-like expulsion authority that will close the border and turn away people seeking asylum without due process. Such a policy will be a boon to cartels who prey on migrants and would do nothing to address the root causes of migration – which will continue to send immigrants to the border. It is worth remembering that under Donald Trump, such a policy was not only declared unlawful by the courts, but it also led to increases – not decreases – in illegal border crossing.
While Donald Trump has already effectively clinched the Republican presidential nomination, the Guardian’s Jason Wilson reports that rightwing lobbyists are working behind the scenes to cement deeper ties between GOP lawmakers and groups supporting the ex-president’s agenda:
A powerful, rightwing lobbying group is promoting a hard-right policy agenda and cementing ties between the Republican party and the far right at at least 21 events involving senators, members of Congress, and both junior and senior political aides, documents obtained by the Guardian show.
The documents offer previously unreported details of Conservative Partnership Institute (CPI) trainings and “bootcamps” for congressional staff at CPI’s sprawling Maryland ranch, and lavish, star-studded retreats for members of Congress – mostly members of the far-right Freedom caucus – at a string of Florida resorts.
They also show how CPI, widely described as the “nerve center of the Maga movement”, enlisted its own network of affiliated organizations along with like-minded far-right organizations – some classified as hate groups by experts – as well as individual extremists to promote anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-vaccine policies, along with others premised on the false claim that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump.
The revelations raise further questions about the powerful influence exercised on Capitol Hill staffers by the well-heeled NGO, and the extent of its successes in moving Republican elected officials even further to the right.
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Attorney general Garland says Trump claim the justice department was authorized to kill him during Mar-a-Lago search is ‘extremely dangerous’
At a press conference today, attorney general Merrick Garland repudiated a claim by Donald Trump that the federal agents who searched his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida two years ago were given the authority to kill him.
The former president made the allegation in a fundraising email, but the attorney general said it was an “extremely dangerous” distortion of the department’s policies, which were also followed when Joe Biden’s home was searched for classified material:
Attorney General Garland on former President Trump's claim that the Justice Department had authorization to kill him during the Mar-a-Lago raid: "That allegation is false and it is extremely dangerous." pic.twitter.com/mAEfeCejwF
Attorney General Garland on former President Trump’s claim that the Justice Department had authorization to kill him during the Mar-a-Lago raid: “That allegation is false and it is extremely dangerous.” pic.twitter.com/mAEfeCejwF
And here’s a recap of what exactly Trump was alleging:
Joe Biden’s re-election campaign says Donald Trump is to blame for the move by Louisiana Republicans to tighten access to abortion medication.
From spokesperson Lauren Hitt:
This Louisiana bill also creates a registry, on which every single person who is prescribed abortion medication will be listed – truly state monitoring of pregnancies.
This Louisiana bill also creates a registry, on which every single person who is prescribed abortion medication will be listed – truly state monitoring of pregnancies.
The Biden campaign has banked on rising public support for access to abortion to translate into votes for the president in November. Here’s more on the latest opinion polls on the issue:
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Louisiana Republicans move to tighten access to abortion medication
Louisiana’s Republican-dominated state legislature has moved to further tighten access to two prescription drugs used in medication abortion, the Associated Press reports.
Here’s more on the move, which comes as we await a ruling from the US supreme court on whether mifepristone, one of the drugs targeted by the new Louisiana law, can remain available nationwide:
Two abortion-inducing drugs could soon be reclassified as controlled and dangerous substances in Louisiana under a first-of-its-kind bill that received final legislative passage Thursday and is expected to be signed into law by the governor.
Supporters of the reclassification of mifepristone and misoprostol, commonly known as “abortion pills”, say it would protect expectant mothers from coerced abortions. Numerous doctors, meanwhile, have said it will make it harder for them to prescribe the medicines they use for other important reproductive healthcare needs, and could delay treatment.
Louisiana currently has a near-total abortion ban in place, applying both to surgical and medical abortions. The GOP-dominated legislature’s push to reclassify mifepristone and misoprostol could possibly open the door for other Republican states with abortion bans that are seeking tighter restrictions on the drugs.
Current Louisiana law already requires a prescription for both drugs and makes it a crime to use them to induce an abortion in most cases. The bill would make it harder to obtain the pills by placing them on the list of Schedule IV drugs under the state’s Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substances Law.
The investigation into the 11 April dinner comes a day after Trump attended a Houston lunch to ask oil executives for more campaign money.
Trump attended the invitation-only meeting at Houston’s ritzy Post Oak hotel. The lunch was organized by three major oil executives, and came only a week after severe thunderstorms hit the Houston area.
Climate advocates in Texas have condemned Trump’s pleas to the oil industry as the state struggles with extreme weather exacerbated by the climate crisis.
“Houstonians are staring at Trump in disbelief as he flies in to beg big oil for funds just days after the city’s climate disaster,” said Alex Glass, communications director at the climate advocacy organization Climate Power, and a former Houston resident.
The 11 April dinner was reportedly called an “energy round table”, the Times reported.
Executives from major oil companies including ExxonMobil and EQT Corporation were in attendance.
The event was organized by oil tycoon Harold Hamm, the Washington Post first reported. Hamm and others are reportedly organizing another fundraiser for Trump later this year, which is expected to bring high donations.
Here’s more from the Times:
Over a dinner of chopped steak, Mr. Trump repeated his public promises to delete Mr. Biden’s pollution controls, telling the attendees that they should donate heavily to help him beat Mr. Biden because his policies would help their industries.
“That has been his pitch to everybody,” said Michael McKenna, who worked in the Trump White House but did not attend the event in Florida.
Mr. McKenna said the former president’s appeal to the fossil fuel industry could be summed up as: “Look, you want me to win. You might not even like me, but your other choice is four more years of these guys,” referring to the Biden administration. He added, “The uniform sentiment of guys in the business community is ‘We don’t want four more years of Team Biden.’”
The Senate Democrats’ investigation into Trump’s alleged quid-pro-quo suggestion to oil executives stems from an 11 April dinner at Mar-a-Lago, the New York Times reported.
Trump reportedly told 20 oil executives that they should donate $1b to his campaign as they would save more than that amount in “taxes and legal fees” once Trump was elected as he would repeal Biden’s restrictions on drilling that hurt their industries.
The supreme court has allowed South Carolina’s Republican-drawn congressional maps to stay, at least for now, after the panel’s conservative majority turned away a request from challengers that they be thrown out for discriminating against Black voters. The decision was authored by Samuel Alito, a conservative justice who was yesterday revealed to have flown a flag associated with Christian extremism at a vacation property. It was the second rightwing flag to have reportedly been displayed at his properties, prompting the House’s top Democrat Hakeem Jeffries, amongothers, to call for him to recuse himself from cases dealing with January 6. Alito has not commented on if he will do that.
Here’s what else is going on:
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to roll back environmental regulations if oil executives raise $1bn for him.
Joe Biden and attorney general Merrick Garland both declined to comment on Alito’s flag preferences.
Elena Kagan, a liberal supreme court justice, dissented from the conservative ruling in the South Carolina case, and warned it would undermine future attempts to challenge racial gerrymanders.
Www.oeisdigitalinvestigator.com: Senate Democrats launch investigation into Trump’s reported offer to oil executives of regulatory rollback in exchange for donations
Senate Democrats have launched an investigation into Donald Trump’s reported offer to oil executives that if they donated $1bn to his campaign, he would roll back environmental regulations, if elected.
The joint investigation by the Senate budget and finance committees is targeted at the petroleum firms whose top executives were said to have attended that April dinner.
“Time and time again, both Mr. Trump and the US oil and gas industry have proved they are willing to sell out Americans to pad their own pockets,” finance committee chair Ron Wyden and budget committee chair Sheldon Whitehouse said in a joint statement.
Here’s more:
As Mr. Trump funnels campaign money into his businesses and uses it as a slush fund to pay his legal fees, Big Oil has been lobbying aggressively to protect and expand its profits at the expense of the American taxpayer.And now, emboldened by impunity, Mr. Trump and Big Oil are flaunting their indifference to U.S. citizens’ economic well-being for all to see, conferring on how to trade campaign cash for policy changes. Such potential abuses must be scrutinized.
A former White House lawyer for Donald Trump says he should already be on trial for the classified documents discovered at Mar-a-Lago, the Guardian’s Robert Tait reports:
Donald Trump’s former White House lawyer has attacked Aileen Cannon, the judge handling the ex-president’s classified documents charges, for repeated delays, attributing her rulings to “incompetence” and “perceived bias” and saying the case should have already come to trial.
Ty Cobb, the luxuriantly whiskered attorney who served as Trump’s counsel during former FBI director Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, said decisions taken by Cannon, a Trump-appointed judge in the US district court in Florida, virtually guaranteed that the case would not be tried before November’s presidential poll.
In an interview with CNN, Cobb said Cannon had delayed on issues that most federal judges would have long since dealt with.
“I don’t think this case will move at all,” he said. “And I think the fact that she’s scheduling hearings, multiple hearings, sort of one or two motions at a time is compelling evidence of that. Most federal judges would have long ago ruled on all the pending motions.
“And frankly, this is a case that should’ve started trial yesterday or two days ago when the original trial date was set. This case could have easily gotten to trial. Only her incompetence and perceived bias has prevented that.”
Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace’s district is at the heart of the supreme court case in which the challengers to legislative maps drawn by the state’s Republican lawmakers argued that they constituted an illegal racial gerrymander.
Here’s what Mace had to say after the supreme court’s conservative majority today ruled against the challengers:
Today the Supreme Court affirmed what everyone in the state of South Carolina already knew: redistricting was not racially motivated and served in the best interest of constituencies of South Carolina. 🇺🇸#LowcountryFirst
Today the Supreme Court affirmed what everyone in the state of South Carolina already knew: redistricting was not racially motivated and served in the best interest of constituencies of South Carolina. 🇺🇸#LowcountryFirst
And here’s a recap of the decision, which could have ripple effects on congressional maps across the south:
Politico reports that Samuel Alito seemed brusque when he announced the opinion he authored that essentially allows South Carolina to use Republican-drawn congressional maps, even though challengers claimed they discriminated against African Americans:
Alito, who has been under fire in recent days over claims that the display of flags at his Virginia home and New Jersey shore house reflected bias and violated judicial ethics, delivered an unusually short, almost perfunctory summary of his opinion when the court announced its decisions from the bench Thursday morning.
Reporters in the court’s press room had only just begun to read the voting-rights ruling when he moved on to an unrelated, criminal-justice opinion he also wrote.
However, the court’s ruling, which was joined by all six conservative justices, did not completely end the challenge to South Carolina’s maps, Politico notes:
The high court’s ruling did not entirely foreclose the possibility that civil rights groups might eventually prevail in their challenge to the map on what Alito said was a distinct theory under the Voting Rights Act of diluting minority votes.
The majority ordered the case returned to the lower court for a fresh look at that issue by the panel that earlier ruled the map unconstitutional. All of those judges are Democratic appointees.
But with the state’s congressional primaries looming on June 11, and the lower court already having given the green light to use the legislature’s map this year, the chances of any changes in the map this year seem vanishingly remote.
