Proud Boys’ Enrique Tarrio gets record 22 years in prison for Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced Tuesday to 22 years in prison for orchestrating a failed plot to keep Donald Trump in power after the Republican lost the 2020 election, capping the case with the stiffest punishment that has been handed down yet for the U.S. Capitol attack.

Tarrio, 39, pleaded for leniency before the judge imposed the prison term topping the 18-year sentences given to Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and one-time Proud Boys leader Ethan Nordean for seditious conspiracy and other convictions stemming from the Jan. 6, 2021, riot.

Tarrio, who led the neofacist group as it became a force in mainstream Republican circles, lowered his head after the sentence was imposed, then squared his shoulders. He raised his hand and made a “V” gesture with his fingers as he was led out of the courtroom in orange jail garb.

His sentencing comes as the Justice Department prepares to put Trump on trial at the same courthouse in Washington on charges that the then-president illegally schemed to cling to power that he knew had been stripped away by voters.

Rising to speak before the sentence was handed down, Tarrio called Jan. 6 a “national embarrassment,” and apologized to the police officers who defended the Capitol and the lawmakers who fled in fear. His voice cracked as he said he let down his family and vowed that he is done with politics.

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Democrat Amo could be 1st person of color to represent Rhode Island in Congress after primary win

Former White House aide Gabe Amo could become the first person of color to represent Rhode Island in Congress after his win Tuesday in the crowded Democratic primary for the state's 1st Congressional District special election sent him on to the general election in the heavily Democratic state.

Amo, who grew up in Pawtucket the son of Ghanaian and Liberian immigrants, hopes to succeed former Democratic Rep. David Cicilline, who stepped down earlier this summer to become the president and CEO of the Rhode Island Foundation.

“This primary election shows that Rhode Islanders believe in a state where one of their sons, the son of two West African immigrants from Ghana and Liberia, could receive the love and investment of a community and go from serving the president of the United States … to being the Democratic nominee for Congress for the 1st Congressional District,” Amo told cheering supporters.

If elected, Amo said he would address “some of the critical needs of this country,” whether it be preventing gun violence, addressing the climate crisis, strengthening Social Security or protecting reproductive freedom.

“At the end of the day, protecting people so that everyone has opportunity,” he added.

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No longer stranded, tens of thousands clean up and head home after Burning Man floods

RENO, Nev. (AP) — The traffic jam leaving the Burning Man festival eased up considerably Tuesday as the exodus from the mud-caked Nevada desert entered another day following massive rain that left tens of thousands of partygoers stranded for days.

A pair of brothers from Arizona who took their 67-year-old mother with them to Burning Man for the first time spent 11 hours into early Tuesday morning just getting out of the festival site about 110 miles (177 kilometers) north of Reno.

“It was a perfect, typical Burning Man weather until Friday — then the rain started coming down hard," said Phillip Martin, 37. "Then it turned into Mud Fest."

Event organizers began letting traffic flow out on the main road Monday afternoon — even as they urged attendees to delay their exit to help ease traffic. The wait time to exit Black Rock City was about 3.5 hours as of Tuesday at about 5 p.m., according to the official Burning Man Traffic account on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Roughly 36,000 people remained at the site Tuesday by mid-afternoon, organizers said.

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Trump's comments risk tainting jury pool in federal election subversion case, special counsel says

WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith warned Tuesday that former President Donald Trump's “daily” statements threaten to taint a jury pool in Washington in the criminal case charging him with scheming to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump's provocative comments about both Smith's team and U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan — who is presiding over the case — have been a central issue since the indictment was filed last month. Prosecutors have repeatedly signaled their concerns about the impact of Trump's social media posts and Chutkan explicitly cautioned against inflammatory remarks from Trump that could intimidate witnesses or contaminate potential jurors.

The posts continued Tuesday both before and after the latest concern flared, with Trump earlier in the day circulating a New York Post story about Chutkan on his Truth Social platform and openly mocking the idea that she could be fair in his case. Later in the evening, he issued another post in which he attacked Smith as a “deranged” prosecutor with “unchecked and insane aggression.”

Tuesday's complaint from the Justice Department underscores the extent to which Trump's social media attacks are testing the patience of prosecutors and risk exposing him to sanctions from the judge, who last week set a trial date of March 4, 2024, in an effort to keep the case moving. Trump has faced admonitions in other cases, too, with a condition of his release in a separate prosecution in Atlanta being that he refrain from intimidating co-defendants, witnesses or victims in the case.

The subject surfaced again in a dispute over a motion that the Justice Department said it wanted to file under seal, with an accompanying redacted version to be filed on the public docket. Defense lawyers objected, countering that they were entitled time to review the Justice Department's filings and any proposed sealed exhibits before they could be docketed.

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Sen. McConnell's health episodes show no evidence of stroke or seizure disorder but questions linger

WASHINGTON (AP) — Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell's health episodes show “no evidence” of a stroke or seizure disorder, the Capitol physician said Tuesday, but his statement still left questions about the apparent freeze-ups that have drawn concerns about the 81-year-old's situation.

McConnell returned to work at the Capitol after the summer recess, and his office released a letter from attending physician Brian P. Monahan concerning the long-serving Republican leader’s health. The GOP leader froze up last week during a press conference in Kentucky, unable to respond to a question in the second such episode in a month.

Walking into the Senate on Tuesday, McConnell answered no questions as he smiled at reporters. He made only passing reference to the incident during a speech in the chamber, his voice somewhat muffled.

“One particular moment of my time back home has received its fair share of attention,” McConnell said. “But I assure you August was a busy and productive month for me.”

Asked later in the evening if he would holding his regular weekly press conference Wednesday, McConnell simply replied, “Yep.”

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Kim Jong Un and Putin may meet. What do North Korea and Russia need from each other?

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may travel to Russia for a summit with President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official said, in a trip that would underscore deepening cooperation as the two isolated leaders are locked in separate confrontations with the U.S.

U.S. officials also said that Russia is seeking to buy ammunition from North Korea to refill reserves drained by its war in Ukraine. In return, experts said, North Korea will likely want food and energy shipments and transfers of sophisticated weapons technologies.

A meeting with Putin would be Kim’s first summit with a foreign leader since North Korea closed its borders in January 2020. They met for the first time i n April 2019, two months after Kim’s high-stakes nuclear diplomacy with then-U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu traveled to Pyongyang in July and asked Kim to send more ammunition to Russia, according to U.S. officials. Shoigu said Moscow and Pyongyang were considering holding military exercises for the first time.

It’s unclear how far Kim and Putin’s military cooperation could go, but any sign of warming relations will worry rivals like the U.S. and South Korea. Russia seeks to quash a Ukrainian counteroffensive and prolong the war, while North Korea is extending a record pace of missile tests to protest U.S. moves to reinforce its military alliances with South Korea and Japan.

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Texas AG Ken Paxton pleads not guilty at impeachment trial and then leaves as arguments get underway

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The historic impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton began Tuesday with accusations of corruption that went unchecked for years and the Republican pleading not guilty as his party confronts whether to oust one of former President Donald Trump's biggest defenders.

But the day ended without Paxton around at all — he left and did not return after the state Senate overwhelming rejected his numerous attempts to dismiss the charges. His absence does not stop Texas' first impeachment trial in nearly 50 years but demonstrates the potential twists ahead in the coming weeks.

He was not the only one who left early: Although the start of the trial was carried live by some Texas stations and supporters of Paxton lined up before sunrise outside the Capitol, by the end empty seats in the Senate gallery outnumbered onlookers.

If convicted, Paxton could be barred from holding elected office in Texas.

“Mr. Paxton should be removed from office because he failed to protect the state and instead used his elected office for his own benefit,” said Republican state Rep. Andrew Murr, one of the House impeachment managers leading the case against Paxton.

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New book details Biden-Obama frictions and says Harris sought roles 'away from the spotlight'

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new book about Joe Biden portrays the president as someone whose middle-class upbringing helped foster a resentment of intellectual elitism that shaped his political career and sometimes caused strain with his onetime boss, Harvard-educated Barack Obama.

Biden, who spent eight years as Obama's vice president, told a friend that Obama couldn't even curse properly, according to “The Last Politician: Inside Joe Biden’s White House and the Struggle for America’s Future."

Released Tuesday and written by Franklin Foer, a staff writer for The Atlantic, the book says Biden said Obama was unable to deliver a "f—- you" with "the right elongation of vowels and the necessary hardness of consonants; it was how they must curse in the ivory tower.”

Now, as the president runs for reelection, the early frontrunner among Republicans is former President Donald Trump, whose supporters can sometimes resent the perceived elitism of Washington's political class — suggesting some overlap with Biden.

The anecdote also may resonate with Democrats. Ardent supporters of both Biden and Obama fondly recall the then-vice president telling Obama in a private aside that was captured on a hot mic, “This is a big f—-ing deal,” during the signing ceremony for Obama's signature health care law in 2010.

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Fall Movie Preview: Hollywood readies for a season with stars on the sidelines

NEW YORK (AP) — Hollywood is at a standstill. Actors and screenwriters are months into a dual strike. Film sets are dark. But the movies are still coming — or, at least, most of them. Even if that means some potentially solitary red-carpet walks.

“I’m hoping I’m not promoting the movie by myself,” says Nia DaCosta, director of the upcoming Marvel movie “The Marvels" (Nov. 10). “No one’s there to see me, either. They’re going to be like, ‘Where’s Brie Larson?’”

Though the ongoing actors and screenwriters strikes are casting a pall over the fall movie season and prompting some films to postpone, a parade of awards contenders and autumn blockbusters are on the way, nevertheless.

The fall has long been the preferred domain of filmmakers and auteurs, but this year that’s doubly so. With cast members largely prevented from promotion duties, directors — whether helming an Oscar shoo-in or superhero blockbuster — are carrying the load, albeit very reluctantly.

“I think we’re now in a new world,” DaCosta says of the strike. “Everything that’s happening is an existential search that our industry is doing. It won’t be solved in one round of negotiations. But I’m hoping that the studios can end the strike soon and get us all back to work — to work for them.”

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Colorado, Duke surge into the AP Top 25 after huge upsets; Florida State climbs into top five

No. 21 Duke and No. 22 Colorado moved into the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll Tuesday after scoring the biggest upsets of the opening weekend of the season and No. 4 Florida State jumped into the top five after its resounding victory over LSU in Week 1's marquee game.

Georgia remained No. 1 with 58 first-place votes and Michigan held steady at No. 2 with two first-place votes.

No. 3 Alabama moved up a spot and Florida State climbed four places and received the remaining three first-place votes after beating LSU, 45-24. The Seminoles are in the top five for the first time since the beginning of the 2017 season.

Ohio State rounded out the top five in the AP's first regular-season poll of the season.

LSU dropped nine spots to No. 15. Clemson, which was upset at Duke, fell 16 places to No. 25. TCU, which lost to Colorado, dropped all the way out of the rankings after being No. 17 in the preseason.

The Associated Press