
Afternoon Briefing: Marines moved into Los Angeles amid protests
Former Illinois House Speaker Michael J. Madigan arrived today at the federal courthouse in downtown Chicago for his historic sentencing in a long-running corruption case that shook the state's political world to the core.
Madigan, 83, who for years was widely hailed as the most powerful politician in the state, gave a slight smile as he strode past a horde of television news cameras with his lawyers and family members without comment. Carrying a briefcase and umbrella, he then headed to the 12th-floor courtroom of U.S. District Judge John Robert Blakey.
The hearing is expected to last two hours or more. Check back at chicagotribune.com for updates.
Here's what else is happening today. And remember, for the latest breaking news in Chicago, visit chicagotribune.com/latest-headlines and sign up to get our alerts on all your devices.
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A lot of attention has been given to the Sox since the fandom of Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, for the South Side baseball team was revealed. But religious women from local orders have frequented Sox games for decades. Read more here.
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President Donald Trump's administration this week provided deportation officials with personal data — including the immigration status — on millions of Medicaid enrollees, a move that could make it easier to locate people as part of his sweeping immigration crackdown. Read more here.
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Andrew Vaughn, the No. 3 pick in the 2019 draft, had been a prominent component of the Sox lineup since arriving in the majors in 2021. But he got off to a slow start this season and the Sox optioned him to Triple-A Charlotte on May 23. Read more here.
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Juneteenth is more than just a holiday. It's a celebration of freedom, community and the rich tapestry of Black culture that continues to shape Chicago and the rest of the country. Read more here.
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After a week of tense protests over the federal immigration raids, about 200 Marines have moved into Los Angeles and will protect federal property and personnel, a military commander said. Read more here.
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Los Angeles Times
5 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Texas Republicans plan another special session to deliver Trump more GOP congressional seats
AUSTIN, Texas — Texas Republican leaders said Tuesday that they were prepared to end their stalemated special session and immediately begin another standoff with Democrats in the GOP's efforts to redraw congressional maps as directed by President Donald Trump. It's the latest indication that Trump's push to redraw congressional maps ahead of the 2026 midterm elections will become an extended standoff that promises to reach multiple statehouses controlled by both major parties. Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows confirmed the plans during a brief session Tuesday morning that marked another failure to meet the required attendance standards to conduct official business because dozens of Democrats have left the state to stymie the GOP's partisan gerrymandering attempts ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Burrows said from the House floor that lawmakers will not attempt to reconvene again until Friday. If Democrats are still absent — and they have given no indication that they plan to return — the speaker said Republicans will end the current session and Gov. Greg Abbott will immediately call another. The governor, a Trump ally, confirmed his intentions in a statement. 'The Special Session #2 agenda will have the exact same agenda, with the potential to add more items critical to Texans,' Abbott wrote. 'There will be no reprieve for the derelict Democrats who fled the state and abandoned their duty to the people who elected them. I will continue to call special session after special session until we get this Texas first agenda passed.' Abbott called the current session with an extensive agenda that included disaster relief for floods that killed more than 130 people. Democrats balked when Abbott added Trump's redistricting idea to the agenda. Burrows on Tuesday did not mention redistricting but chided Democrats for not showing up for debate on the flood response package. The redistricting legislation would reshape the state's congressional districts in a design aimed at sending five more Republicans to Washington. The scheme is part of Trump's push to shore up Republicans' narrow House majority and avoid a repeat of his first presidency, when the 2018 midterms restored Democrats to a House majority that blocked his agenda and twice impeached him. Current maps nationally put Democrats within three seats of retaking the House majority — with only several dozen competitive districts across 435 total seats. Texas Republicans have issued civil warrants for the absent Democrats. Because they are out of state, those lawmakers are beyond the reach of Texas authorities. Burrows said Tuesday that absent Democrats would have to pay for all state government costs for law enforcement officials attempting to track them down. Burrows has said state troopers and others have run up 'six figures in overtime costs' trying to corral Democratic legislators. Barrow and Lathan write for the Associated Press. Barrow reported from Atlanta.


Boston Globe
5 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
For Trump, cities like Washington are real estate in need of fixing up
'It's a natural instinct as a real estate person,' Trump told reporters as he compared his envisioned makeover of Washington to his recent gold-trimmed makeover of the White House. 'I was very good at that, and I was very good at fixing things up. I like fixing things up.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up He promised to rid Washington of trash, graffiti, potholes, homeless people and more, even as he ignored the fact that violent crime has fallen recently to a 30-year low. While Washington has struggled with youth crime, particularly robberies and carjackings, overall crime has fallen sharply in recent years. Advertisement In 2024, Washington had a violent crime rate of about 1,005 per 100,000 residents, according to data reported to the FBI. That is far less than cities with similar population sizes such as Memphis, Tennessee, and Detroit but also more than cities like Denver, Seattle and Louisville, Kentucky. Advertisement 'We're going to make it beautiful again,' Trump said. 'We're going to fix it with crime, and we're going to also, as we're doing that, we're going to start doing things that we know how to do, that I know how to do better than anybody, I guess, because of my experience from previous life.' In that previous life of real estate and business deals, Trump oversaw many failing businesses, including multiple declarations of bankrupt casinos in New Jersey. He was known to invoke crime in a way that stoked racial tension. In 1989, he bought newspaper advertisements, including in The New York Times, calling for New York state to adopt the death penalty after five Black and Latino men were arrested and later wrongfully convicted of the rape of a jogger. Even after the men, known as the Central Park Five, were exonerated, Trump never apologized. And while he has long denied any discrimination on his Trump properties, his family's business for years faced accusations of discriminating against Black tenants. Trump opened a $100 million countersuit accusing the Justice Department of defamation after the federal government in 1973 sued Trump Management for discriminating against Black people. As president, Trump has continued to stir up fears over violent crime and disorder, particularly in diverse metropolitan areas led by Democrats. And critics point out that he has done little to address underlying causes of poverty, crime and homelessness, noting that his policies have undercut safety net programs and added to inequality with tax cuts tilted toward the wealthy. Beyond Trump's actions, the federal government has significant sway over Washington. Trump can nominate judges and the U.S. attorney, who serves as the chief prosecutor in most criminal cases. Laws passed by the D.C. Council, as well as the city's budget, are subject to congressional approval. Advertisement The police union in D.C., which represents more than 3,000 officers, said in a statement that it supported the president's decision to take over the city's police force, insisting that it was needed to address 'violent crime surges, historic officer shortages and eroded morale.' But, the statement said, the takeover 'must be a temporary measure, with the ultimate goal of empowering a fully staffed and supported' police department. In his remarks Monday, Trump appeared to be espousing the widely debated 'broken windows' theory of policing — adopted by city officials during his time in New York — which is based on the idea that cracking down on low-level offenses can prevent serious crime. Trump recalled a lesson from his father, Fred Trump, who mentored him as a real estate developer. 'He used to say, 'Son, when you walk into a restaurant and you see a dirty front door, don't go in because if the front door is dirty, the kitchen's dirty also,'' Trump said. 'Same thing with the capital. If our capital's dirty, our whole country is dirty, and they don't respect us.' Trump has often seen the world through the lens of real estate and property values. On Monday, he said Russia had taken over 'very prime territory' from Ukraine. 'You know, in real estate we call it oceanfront property,' he said. 'That's always the most valuable property.' He characterized the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip as a potential real estate opportunity. Days after entering office, Trump proposed seizing control of the territory and forcibly displacing the entire Palestinian population to revamp the land into 'the Riviera of the Middle East' for tourists from around the world. Advertisement When it comes to Washington, critics say Trump is misrepresenting a city he barely knows. 'The district is a vibrant city with a rich history, and strong and diverse communities,' said Skye Perryman, the president of Democracy Forward, a left-leaning nonprofit based in Washington. 'The president is again overreaching and engaging in draconian tactics that do not make anyone safer and threaten the civil liberties and freedom of the American people,' Perryman said. 'If this can happen in one city, it can happen in any city or community.' Maya Wiley, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and a city official in New York, said she saw a through line between Trump's remarks as a real estate developer in New York City and his approach to diverse cities as president. 'He has definitely shown that he hasn't changed much from those days,' Wiley said. 'What we're seeing in this rhetoric is not just about cities and them being dirty and crime ridden. They're always coded to people of color.' Monday was not the first time Trump tried to assert control over Washington. During his first term, Trump deployed a hodgepodge of federal agents and National Guard troops to Washington in response to racial justice protests that were mostly peaceful but included some acts of vandalism. His administration also dispatched military helicopters to conduct low-altitude maneuvers to disperse protesters that are usually reserved for combat zones. But those measures stand in stark contrast to his response to one of the most violent days in the city's recent history. Soon after taking office for his second term, Trump pardoned thousands of people who had committed crimes in Washington when they rioted at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Advertisement This article originally appeared in .
Yahoo
35 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Republican Rep. LaMalfa hammered in profanity-laced town hall
Republican Rep. Doug LaMalfa got an earful at an in-person town hall in Chico, California, Monday morning -- hearing it from attendees upset about his vote for the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the Epstein files and President Donald Trump's tariffs harming Californian farmers. "No fascism in America!" one man yelled as LaMalfa explained he was "in the room" on Jan. 6, attempting to reshape the narrative around the insurrection at the Capitol. "You need to be impeached!" the man said. "Put that finger down. That's really mature," LaMalfa said as another man apparently flipped him off. MORE: 'Vote him out!': Town hall erupts in anger at Nebraska GOP congressman over Trump megabill, policies "Bull----!" the man continued to yell, calling out President Donald Trump's pardons for Jan. 6 rioters. It didn't get any easier from there. Another woman talked about LaMalfa's vote for the "Bull---- bill," further pressing the congressman on his support for the president's immigration actions. "Newsom's doing a fine job of letting people out as it is," LaMalfa said, shifting blame to California Gov. Gavin Newsom. Many attendees let the congressman hear their profane commentary without ever posing a question to the seven-term lawmaker. "We have a question on this side?" a woman moderator asked. "F--- you!" another man yelled back. As LaMalfa attempted to justify his vote for Trump's so-called "big, beautiful bill," saying the reforms target "bad apples," he was booed -- then LaMalfa said Veterans Affairs funding would not be cut, prompting some attendees to call him a "liar." A woman drew applause from a number of attendees after defending federal funding for PBS and NPR. "This bill is not going to be the be-all, end-all on the whole Medicaid question," LaMalfa said. "It's not the end of the discussion." He then explained it targets "illegal immigrants" -- drawing more groans and boos. "Liar!" one man shouted again. MORE: 'I am Trump in high heels': Rep. Nancy Mace seeks Trump endorsement at South Carolina town hall Another called him an "---hole." Many in the crowd also demanded that LaMalfa support the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files. On Monday, A federal judge in New York denied the Trump administration's motion to unseal grand jury testimony from the criminal case against Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell. "What's interesting about the Epstein issue, is that it wasn't an issue during the Biden administration," LaMalfa quipped, drawing boos. He said that he's hoping that grand jury reports will be unsealed before Congress returns from recess in early September. "It's a bad look to have this information continue to be suppressed," he added, though he acknowledged the need to redact sensitive information. "You all left. The speaker of the House released you guys so you didn't have to deal with releasing the files," a woman told LaMalfa. "Everyone should be held accountable," LaMalfa said -- stressing people deserve due process -- drawing boos again. "Are people for due process?" LaMalfa wondered aloud as he was jeered. LaMalfa, who has a seat on the Agriculture Committee and is chairman of the subcommittee on forestry and horticulture, also was criticized for his support of Trump's global tariffs. "If you're not here to either offer your resignation, why aren't you here to apologize to the farmers of the North State because of your support for the Trump tariffs?" a man who identified himself as being from Chico said. "I'm not going to do either of those things," LaMalfa said, asking the audience to engage in a productive conversation. Despite the consistently disrespectful tenor of the town hall, LaMalfa kept his composure throughout the 75-minute event, never raising his voice or returning the invective he received. "We went past our time a little bit," LaMalfa said as he concluded the town hall. "I appreciate all your comments here," LaMalfa said as one man repeatedly shouted "F--- you, Doug!"