LONDON (BN24) — Chelsea bounced back from a goal down to demolish West Ham United 5-1 on Friday, further intensifying the pressure on Hammers manager Graham Potter following a series of heavy defeats in the Premier League.
West Ham got off to a dream start, with Lucas Paqueta firing a stunning shot past Chelsea goalkeeper Robert Sanchez in the sixth minute. But Chelsea responded quickly, leveling the score in the 15th minute through a header from Joao Pedro. The floodgates then opened as the visitors surged ahead.
Chelsea took the lead in the 23rd minute when Pedro Neto volleyed home a well-timed ball into the box. Enzo Fernandez made it 3-1 just before halftime, capitalizing on a pass from Brazilian teenager Estevao Willian.
In the second half, Moises Caicedo added a fourth for Chelsea in the 54th minute, following a mishandled corner from West Ham goalkeeper Mads Hermansen. Four minutes later, Trevoh Chalobah completed the rout with a fifth, sealing an emphatic win for the Blues.
Pedro’s header, flicked on by Marc Cucurella off a corner, marked his first Premier League goal for Chelsea since his recent move from Brighton & Hove Albion.
The dominant victory came despite a pre-match setback for Chelsea, with midfielder Cole Palmer being ruled out due to discomfort during the warmup. Estevao replaced him, and Chelsea’s attacking fluidity continued uninterrupted.
Chelsea were also without striker Nicolas Jackson, who was omitted from the squad as the club deals with transfer uncertainty. The win came as a much-needed relief for Chelsea, who had opened the season with a 0-0 draw against Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.
Meanwhile, the defeat only deepened the growing sense of unease at West Ham, who are already under threat of relegation after a 3-0 loss to Sunderland in their season opener. The mounting pressure on Potter, who had a long-standing relationship with Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca from their playing days at West Bromwich Albion, was evident even before the match. As the rout continued, many West Ham supporters left the stadium early, greeted by boos at halftime and more exodus during the second half.
Washington (BN24) – Ghislaine Maxwell, serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking crimes linked to Jeffrey Epstein, said she does not believe Epstein died by suicide, according to newly released transcripts from a Justice Department interview.
In the transcript of her 2020 interview with then–Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Maxwell rejected the medical examiner’s ruling that Epstein hanged himself inside a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
“I do not believe he died by suicide,” Maxwell said during the exchange, insisting she remains skeptical of the official account of his death.
Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 of grooming and trafficking teenage girls for Epstein, also addressed her relationship with President Donald Trump. She said she first met him around 1990 through her father, British media tycoon Robert Maxwell, who “was friendly” with Trump and “liked him very much.”
“President Trump was always very cordial and very kind to me,” she said. “I admire his extraordinary achievement in becoming president, and I’ve always liked him. That is the sum and substance of my entire relationship with him.”
She added that while Epstein and Trump were “friendly,” she did not believe they were “close friends.”
The transcript also included questions about a Wall Street Journal report alleging that Trump submitted a message to a birthday album prepared for Epstein’s 50th birthday in 2003. Maxwell said she remembered seeing the book but denied any recollection of a note or letter from Trump. “There was nothing from President Trump,” she stated.
Maxwell further claimed she never knew Epstein to act as an FBI source or to communicate with intelligence agencies. “If he was for real, he would’ve bragged about it,” she said, dismissing speculation about Epstein’s alleged intelligence ties as “bull—-.”
Despite her claims in the transcript, prosecutors and Judge Alison Nathan have previously condemned Maxwell for refusing to accept responsibility for her crimes. At her sentencing, the judge noted that while Maxwell acknowledged the victims’ pain, she stopped short of admitting guilt. Maxwell is appealing her conviction.
Washington (BN24) – The U.S. Justice Department on Friday released the full transcript and audio of a confidential interview with Ghislaine Maxwell, revealing her disbelief in the official finding that Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide and her insistence that she never saw President Donald Trump behave inappropriately.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced the release, stating that it was made “in the interest of transparency.” The document sheds light on Maxwell’s conversations with federal officials before her 2021 conviction on sex trafficking charges tied to her longtime association with Epstein.
In the interview, Maxwell bluntly rejected the New York medical examiner’s ruling that Epstein killed himself in a Manhattan jail cell in August 2019. “I do not believe he died by suicide,” she told Blanche, according to the transcript.
Maxwell also sought to distance Trump from any accusations of misconduct. “I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way,” she said. “The president was never inappropriate with anybody.”
Her defense attorney, David Markus, argued in a lengthy statement that Maxwell had been wrongfully prosecuted, claiming she was scapegoated following Epstein’s death. “She never committed or participated in sexual abuse against minors, or anyone else for that matter,” Markus said. “The government admitted it did not even consider her a conspirator during the Florida investigation into Epstein. The only reason she was charged is because Epstein died in prison.”
Markus further thanked both Blanche and the Trump administration for making the transcript public. “We are grateful to the Department of Justice and to Todd Blanche for allowing the public to judge for themselves,” he said. “And we are thankful to the President for his continued commitment to the truth in this matter and for refusing to cave to the mob.”
During the interview, Maxwell denied that Epstein engaged in blackmail schemes involving photos or videos. Asked directly by Blanche if she had ever heard Epstein accused of extortion or coercion, Maxwell replied: “No.”
However, prosecutors and the judge who oversaw her 2021 trial sharply criticized Maxwell’s credibility. Prosecutors said she had “brazenly lied under oath” to avoid accountability, while Judge Alison Nathan, who sentenced her to 20 years in prison, noted that although Maxwell acknowledged the pain of victims, she stopped short of accepting responsibility for her own crimes.
Maxwell was convicted of recruiting, grooming, and trafficking teenage girls for Epstein, crimes that spanned years. She was also accused of perjury for false statements in a 2016 deposition, though those charges were later dropped after her trafficking conviction. Maxwell continues to appeal her conviction from prison.
The release of her interview is the latest chapter in a case that continues to stir controversy and conspiracy theories, particularly surrounding Epstein’s death and the powerful figures linked to his social circle.
JERUSALEM (BN24) — Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz warned that Gaza City could be destroyed if Hamas does not accept Israel’s conditions for ending the war in a post on X on Friday.
The warning came a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he will give final approval for the occupation of Gaza City while also starting negotiations with Hamas, aimed at returning the hostages and ending the nearly two-year war, but only “on terms acceptable to Israel.”
Earlier this week, Hamas had agreed to a ceasefire proposal drawn up by mediators from Egypt and Qatar. Egypt and Hamas officials said the proposal is almost identical to the one Israel accepted before talks stalled last month.
The proposal would include the release of some hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel, a withdrawal of Israeli forces and negotiations over a more permanent ceasefire.
However, speaking at a meeting at the Gaza military division in southern Israel, Netanyahu told military officials on Thursday that Israel would only end the war on its own terms.
In the meantime, Israel has not indicated it intends to slow down the expansion of its offensive. The Israeli military started calling medical officials and international organizations in the north of the strip, ordering them to evacuate to the south.
The military also mobilized 60,000 additional reservists and extended the service of 20,000 currently serving.
Israeli troops are already operating in the Zeitoun and Jabaliya neighborhoods of Gaza City to prepare the groundwork for the expanded operation. The military has previously said they will be stationed where the Israel Defense Forces has not yet operated and where it believes Hamas is still active.
On Wednesday, Israel also gave approval to a settlement project in the occupied West Bank that would effectively cut the territory in two, a significant blow to the prospects of Palestinian statehood.
Settlement development in E1, an open tract of land east of Jerusalem, has been under consideration for more than two decades, but was frozen due to U.S. pressure during previous administrations.
The Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories is considered illegal under international law.
Last year, the International Court of Justice declared in a landmark ruling that Israel should end settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and end its occupation of those areas as soon as possible.
On Thursday, protesters gathered in Tel Aviv demanding the return of the hostages, holding signs that read “The people will bring back the hostages” and “How much blood will be spilled?”
Demonstrators expressed concern over Netanyahu’s plan to expand the offensive, as they believe it would further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages. Of the 50 still being held in Gaza, Israel believes about 20 are still alive.
Hundreds also gathered in Gaza for a rare protest against the war and Israel’s plan for mass relocation of Palestinians to other countries.
“We want the war on Gaza to stop. We don’t want to migrate. Twenty-two months…it’s enough. Enough death. Enough destruction,” said Bisan Ghazal, a woman displaced from Gaza City.
Plans for the expanded military offensive sparked widespread international outrage, with many of Israel’s closest allies, with the exception of the United States, calling for an end to the war.
Human rights groups have repeatedly warned of a worsening humanitarian crisis in the Strip, where most residents have been displaced, vast neighborhoods lie in ruins and where famine is at a tipping point.
On Thursday, at least 36 Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire across the Gaza Strip, including 14 who were seeking humanitarian aid, local hospitals reported.
Israeli airstrikes also destroyed a tent camp in Deir al-Balah, where residents had been told by the Israeli military to flee. No casualties were reported, but the strike destroyed around 100 tents sheltering families already uprooted by fighting elsewhere.
The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage.
Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,192 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry said, whose figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians.
Colombia (BN24) – At least 13 people, including police officers, were killed in Colombia on Thursday after a coordinated car bomb explosion and a helicopter attack that authorities say were carried out by armed groups linked to dissident factions of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC).
President Gustavo Petro confirmed that eight police officers were killed when their helicopter was struck while flying over coca-growing fields in the northern department of Antioquia. The aircraft had been transporting personnel for a coca eradication mission when it was hit by a drone strike, causing a fire and forcing it down, according to Defense Minister Pedro Sánchez. Eight others were injured in the attack.
In a separate incident in the city of Cali, a car bomb detonated near a military aviation school, killing five people and injuring more than 30 others. The Colombian Aerospace Force said the blast involved a vehicle packed with explosives, though further details were not immediately released.
Petro initially suggested the helicopter strike was the work of the Gulf Clan, Colombia’s most powerful drug cartel, claiming the attack was retaliation for a cocaine seizure that crippled the group’s operations. Later statements linked responsibility to FARC dissidents, who refused to disarm after the 2016 peace deal with the government. Both factions are known to be active in Antioquia, where coca cultivation is expanding.
Coca farming continues to drive Colombia’s drug conflict, with the United Nations reporting a record 253,000 hectares under cultivation in 2023. The surge has fueled violence between rival armed groups and security forces as the Petro administration struggles to contain the resurgence of narco-terrorism in rural regions.
WASHINGTON (BN24) — The Trump administration said Thursday it is reviewing more than 55 million people who have valid U.S. visas for any violations that could lead to deportation, part of a growing crackdown on foreigners who are permitted to be in the United States.
In a written answer to a question from The Associated Press, the State Department said all U.S. visa holders, which can include tourists from many countries, are subject to “continuous vetting,” with an eye toward any indication they could be ineligible for permission to enter or stay in the United States.
Should such information be found, the visa will be revoked, and if the visa holder is in the United States, he or she would be subject to deportation.
Since President Donald Trump took office, his administration has focused on deporting migrants illegally in the United States as well as holders of student and visitor exchange visas. The State Department’s new language suggests that the continual vetting process, which officials acknowledge is time-consuming, is far more widespread and could mean even those approved to be in the U.S. could abruptly see those permissions revoked.
The department said it was looking for indicators of ineligibility, including people staying past the authorized timeframe outlined in a visa, criminal activity, threats to public safety, engaging in any form of terrorist activity or providing support to a terrorist organization.
“We review all available information as part of our vetting, including law enforcement or immigration records or any other information that comes to light after visa issuance indicating a potential ineligibility,” the department said.
The U.S. also will stop issuing worker visas for commercial truck drivers, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday on X. He said the change was effective immediately.
“The increasing number of foreign drivers operating large tractor-trailer trucks on U.S. roads is endangering American lives and undercutting the livelihoods of American truckers,” Rubio posted. The department did not immediately respond to a question about the number of foreign truck drivers working in the U.S.
The Trump administration in past months has taken steps to enforce the requirement that truckers speak and read English proficiently. The Transportation Department said the aim is to improve road safety following incidents in which drivers’ ability to read signs or speak English may have contributed to traffic deaths.
The administration has steadily imposed more restrictions and requirements on visa applicants, including requiring them to submit to in-person interviews. The review of all visa holders appears to be a significant expansion of what had initially been a process focused mainly on students who have been involved in what the government perceives as pro-Palestinian or anti-Israel activity.
Officials say the reviews will include all visa holders’ social media accounts, law enforcement and immigration records in their home countries, along with any actionable violations of U.S. law committed while they were in the United States.
The reviews will include new tools for data collection on past, present and future visa applicants, including a complete examination of social media sites made possible by new requirements introduced earlier this year. Those make it mandatory for privacy switches on cellphones and other electronic devices or apps to be turned off when an applicant appears for a visa interview.
“As part of the Trump Administration’s commitment to protect U.S. national security and public safety, since Inauguration Day the State Department has revoked more than twice as many visas, including nearly four times as many student visas, as during the same time period last year,” the State Department said.
The vast majority of foreigners seeking to come to the U.S. require visas, especially those who want to study or work for extended periods. Among the exceptions for short-term tourist or business visits are citizens of the 40 mainly European and Asian countries belonging to the Visa Waiver Program, which grants those nationals a stay of up to three months without having to apply for a visa.
But large portions of the world, including highly populated countries like China, India, Indonesia, Russia and most of Africa, are not part of the program, meaning their citizens must apply for and receive visas to travel to the United States.
Earlier this week, the department said that since Trump returned to the White House, it has revoked more than 6,000 student visas for overstays and violations of local, state and federal law, the vast majority of which were assault, driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs and support for terrorism.
It said about 4,000 of those 6,000 were due to actual infractions of laws and that approximately 200 to 300 visas were revoked for terrorism-related issues, including providing support for designated terrorist organizations or state sponsors of terrorism.
BERN, Switzerland (BN24) — Kirk Hawkins, the founder and CEO of ICON Aircraft and a former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, died Tuesday in a wingsuit accident in the Swiss Alps after colliding with trees during a high-altitude jump near the Eiger summit. He was 58.
Hawkins had jumped from a helicopter along with three other wingsuit flyers near the Eiger peak on August 19. According to Swiss police, the American entrepreneur crashed west of the Schüssellouwinegraben area and was pronounced dead at the scene. The other participants reportedly landed safely.
Authorities have launched an investigation into the cause of the crash, which marks another fatal incident in the extreme sport of wingsuit flying, known for its high risks and breathtaking descents.
Hawkins, who co-founded ICON Aircraft in 2006 with his business partner Steen Strand, was widely known as a visionary in the aviation world. The California-based company gained attention for the development of the ICON A5, a sleek light sport aircraft designed to be user-friendly and amphibious. The aircraft, priced at around $389,000, drew praise for its innovative design and was aimed at making flying more accessible to adventure-seekers.
In an emotional tribute shared on LinkedIn, Strand mourned the loss of his longtime friend and collaborator. “I have devastating news to share. We lost Kirk, my close friend and partner at ICON Aircraft, to a wingsuit accident in Switzerland,” he wrote.
Strand described Hawkins as “the most extraordinary person I’ve ever known—or ever will know,” recalling his journey from modest beginnings to an accomplished career that included degrees from Clemson and Stanford, as well as a role flying F-16s in the U.S. Air Force.
“He devoured life experiences most of us would never touch,” Strand wrote. “He was damn good at assessing risks, probably because he took so many. He’d get you into tricky situations, but he’s also the one you wanted beside you when things got dicey.”
Hawkins’ daring approach to life was evident in both his professional and personal pursuits. His death in the Swiss Alps underscores the perils of extreme sports, particularly wingsuit flying, which involves soaring at high speeds in a special jumpsuit designed to mimic human flight.
Local authorities have not released further details regarding the cause of the accident but confirmed that a full investigation is underway.
The loss of Hawkins is being felt deeply across the aviation and adventure communities, where he was seen as both a pioneer and a risk-taker. His legacy at ICON Aircraft, particularly the development of the A5 light sport aircraft, remains a significant contribution to the future of personal aviation.
LOS ANGELES (BN24) — Rapper Lil Nas X was arrested and briefly taken to a hospital for a suspected overdose Thursday after Los Angeles police say he charged at officers responding to a report of a naked man walking on a busy boulevard.
Lil Nas X, whose legal name is Montero Lamar Hill, was booked on suspicion of misdemeanor obstructing an officer and was being held in jail.
Officers found him walking on the normally very busy Ventura Boulevard in the Studio City neighborhood shortly before 6 a.m., Los Angeles police spokesman Officer Charles Miller said.
After charging at arriving police, he was taken into custody, but the officers, suspecting a drug overdose, took him to a hospital first, Miller said. There was no further word on his condition, but he was released from the hospital and taken to jail after just a few hours.
Video obtained by TMZ appeared to show him on the street wearing only underwear and boots.
He was being held at Valley Jail in Van Nuys, near where the police found him.
Messages to Lil Nas X representatives seeking comment were not immediately answered.
The 26-year-old rapper and singer from Atlanta is best known for his breakthrough hit from 2019, “Old Town Road,” which merged country and hip-hop. The song spent a record 19 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Known for his genre-bending, innovative sounds and style, his first full studio album, 2021’s “Montero,” reached No. 2 on the Billboard album chart and was nominated for a Grammy for album of the year.
NEW YORK (BN24) — A New York appeals court on Thursday threw out President Donald Trump’s massive financial penalty while narrowly upholding a judge’s finding that he engaged in fraud by exaggerating his wealth for decades. The ruling spares Trump from a potential half-billion-dollar fine but bans him and his two eldest sons from serving in corporate leadership for a few years.
Trump claimed “TOTAL VICTORY” in the case, which stemmed from a civil lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James.
“They stole $550 million from me with a fake case and it was overturned,” Trump said, echoing his earlier social media post as he addressed police in Washington, D.C. “They said this was a fake case. It was a terrible thing.”
James, a Democrat, focused on the parts of the decision that went her way, saying in a statement that it “affirmed the well-supported finding of the trial court: Donald Trump, his company, and two of his children are liable for fraud.”
The ruling came seven months after Trump returned to the White House, his political fortunes unimpeded by the civil fraud judgment, a criminal conviction and other legal challenges. A sharply divided panel of five judges in the state’s mid-level Appellate Division could not agree on many issues raised in Trump’s appeal, but a majority said the monetary penalty was “excessive.”
“While harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award” to the state, Judges Dianne Renwick and Peter Moulton wrote in one of three opinions shaping the appeals court’s ruling. They called the penalty “an excessive fine that violates the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution.” Both were appointed by Democratic governors.
The other punishments from the original ruling, upheld by the appeals court, have been on pause during Trump’s appeal, and the president was able to hold off collection of the money by posting a $175 million bond.
Donald Trump Jr. celebrated the decision by mocking James, who had periodically posted a running tally of the fraud penalty, with interest. Over a post from James in February 2024, when the tally was nearly $465 million, Trump Jr. wrote: “I believe you mean $0.00. Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
The five-judge panel, which split on the merits of the lawsuit and the original fraud finding, dismissed the monetary penalty in its entirety while also leaving a pathway for an appeal to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals. In the meantime, Trump and his co-defendants, the judges wrote, can seek to extend the pause to prevent any punishments from taking effect.
While the Appellate Division typically dispatches most appeals in a few pages within weeks, the judges weighing Trump’s case took nearly 11 months to rule after oral arguments last fall and issued 323 pages of concurring and dissenting opinions with no majority. Rather, some judges endorsed parts of their colleagues’ findings while rejecting others, enabling the court to reach its decision.
Two judges wrote that they felt James’ lawsuit was justifiable and that she had proven her case but the penalty was too severe. One wrote that James exceeded her legal authority in bringing the suit, saying that if any lenders felt cheated, they could have sued Trump themselves, and none did. Another wrote that the original trial judge erred by ruling before the trial that James had proven Trump engaged in fraud.
In his portion of the ruling, Judge David Friedman, appointed by a Republican governor, was scathing in his criticism of James for bringing the lawsuit.
“Plainly, her ultimate goal was not ‘market hygiene’ but political hygiene, ending with the derailment of President Trump’s political career and the destruction of his real estate business,” Friedman wrote. “The voters have obviously rendered a verdict on his political career. This bench today unanimously derails the effort to destroy his business.”
Trump and his co-defendants denied wrongdoing throughout the legal proceedings. At the conclusion of the civil trial in January 2024, Trump said he was “an innocent man” and the case was a “fraud on me.” The Republican has repeatedly maintained the case and the verdict were political moves by James and the original trial judge, both Democrats.
Trump’s Justice Department has subpoenaed James for records related to the lawsuit, among other documents, as part of an investigation into whether she violated the president’s civil rights. James’ personal attorney Abbe D. Lowell has said investigating the fraud case is “the most blatant and desperate example of this administration carrying out the president’s political retribution campaign.”
Trump and his lawyers argued his financial statements were not deceptive, since they came with disclaimers noting they were not audited. The defense also noted bankers and insurers independently evaluated the numbers, and the loans were repaid in full.
Despite discrepancies such as tripling the size of his Trump Tower penthouse in financial documents, he said the financial statements were, if anything, conservative estimates of his fortune.
During an appellate court hearing last September, Trump’s lawyers argued that many of the case’s allegations were too old under statute of limitations and that James had misused a consumer protection law to sue Trump over private business transactions that were satisfactory to those involved.
State attorneys countered that while Trump insists no one was harmed by the financial statements, his exaggerations led lenders to make riskier loans and that honest borrowers lose out when others manipulate their net worth numbers.
The civil fraud case was just one of several legal challenges for Trump as he campaigned, won and transitioned to a second term as president.
On Jan. 10, he was sentenced in his criminal hush money case to what is known as an unconditional discharge, leaving his conviction on the books but sparing him jail, probation, a fine or other punishment. He is appealing the conviction.
In December, a federal appeals court upheld a jury’s finding that Trump sexually abused writer E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s and later defamed her, affirming a $5 million judgment against him. The appeals court declined in June to reconsider the decision. Trump can still attempt to get the Supreme Court to hear his appeal.
Trump also is appealing a subsequent verdict that requires him to pay Carroll $83.3 million for additional defamation claims.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (BN24) — California voters will decide in November whether to approve a redrawn congressional map designed to help Democrats win five more U.S. House seats next year, after Texas Republicans advanced their own redrawn map to pad their House majority by the same number of seats at President Donald Trump’s urging.
California lawmakers voted mostly along party lines Thursday to approve legislation calling for the special election. Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has led the campaign in favor of the map, then quickly signed it in the latest step in a tit-for-tat gerrymandering battle.
“We don’t want this fight and we didn’t choose this fight, but with our democracy on the line, we will not run away from this fight,” Democratic Assemblyman Marc Berman said during the legislative session.
Republicans, who have filed a lawsuit and called for a federal investigation into the plan, promised to keep fighting the redistricting effort. California Assemblyman James Gallagher, the Republican minority leader, said Trump was “wrong” to push for new Republican seats elsewhere, contending the president was responding to Democratic gerrymandering in other states. But he warned that Newsom’s approach, which the governor has dubbed “fight fire with fire,” was dangerous.
“You move forward fighting fire with fire and what happens?” Gallagher asked during floor debate. “You burn it all down.”
In Texas, the Republican-controlled state Senate was scheduled to vote on a map Thursday night. After that vote, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature will be all that is needed to make the map official. The redistricting effort is part of Trump’s strategy to stave off an expected loss of the GOP’s majority in the U.S. House in the 2026 midterm elections.
On a national level, the partisan makeup of existing districts puts Democrats within three seats of a majority. The incumbent president’s party usually loses congressional seats in the midterms, making control of the House a critical battleground for both parties.
The president has pushed other Republican-controlled states including Indiana and Missouri to also revise their maps to add more winnable GOP seats. Ohio Republicans were also already scheduled to revise their maps to make them more partisan.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that the Constitution does not outlaw partisan gerrymandering, only using race to redraw district lines. Texas Republicans embraced that legal precedent when their House of Representatives passed its revision Wednesday.
“The underlying goal of this plan is straight forward: improve Republican political performance,” state Rep. Todd Hunter, the Republican who wrote the bill revising Texas’ maps, said during legislative proceedings.
On Thursday, California Democrats noted Hunter’s comments and said they had to take extreme steps to counter the Republican move. “What do we do, just sit back and do nothing? Or do we fight back?” Democratic state Sen. Lena Gonzalez said. “This is how we fight back and protect our democracy.”
Republicans and some Democrats championed the 2008 ballot measure that established California’s nonpartisan redistricting commission, along with the 2010 measure that extended its role to drawing congressional maps. Democrats have sought a national commission that would draw lines for all states but have been unable to pass legislation creating that system.
Trump’s midterm redistricting strategy has shifted Democrats away from their traditional support for nonpartisan redistricting. That shift was clear in California, where Newsom was one of the members of his party who backed the initial redistricting commission ballot measures, and where Assemblyman Joshua Lowenthal, whose father, Rep. Alan Lowenthal, was another Democratic champion of a nonpartisan commission, presided over the state Assembly’s passage of the redistricting package.
Former President Barack Obama, who has also backed a nationwide nonpartisan approach, endorsed Newsom’s bid to redraw the California map, saying it was a necessary step to counter the GOP’s Texas move.
“I think that approach is a smart, measured approach,” Obama said Tuesday during a fundraiser for the Democratic Party’s main redistricting arm, noting that California voters will still have the final say on the map.
The California map would last only through 2030, when the state’s commission would draw up a new map for the normal, once-a-decade redistricting to adjust district lines after the decennial U.S. Census. Democrats are also considering reopening Maryland’s and New York’s maps for mid-decade redraws.
However, more Democratic-run states have commission systems like California’s or other redistricting limits than Republican ones do, leaving the GOP with greater flexibility to swiftly redraw maps. New York, for example, cannot draw new maps until 2028, and even then, only with voter approval.
In Texas, outnumbered Democrats turned to unusual steps to try to delay passage, leaving the state to force a delay of the vote by 15 days. Upon their return to the legislature, the Democratic lawmakers were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring.
California Republicans did not take such dramatic steps but complained bitterly about Democrats pushing the package through the Statehouse and harming what GOP State Sen. Tony Strickland called the state’s “gold-standard” nonpartisan approach to redistricting.
“What you’re striving for is predetermined elections,” Strickland said during the legislative debate. “You’re taking the voice away from Californians.”
