Top 8 today

Top eight stories for today including a Michigan jury convicted a trio of men for aiding would-be kidnappers of the state’s governor; A judge ruled former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify before a grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the 2020 election; The defense rested its case in the federal antitrust trial seeking to undo an alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways, and more.

National

Former Trump chief of staff ordered to testify in Georgia election interference probe

A South Carolina judge ruled Wednesday that Donald Trump's former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must comply with his subpoena and testify before a Georgia special grand jury investigating attempts to overturn the state's 2020 presidential election results.

Then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows speaks on a phone on the South Lawn of the White House in October 2020. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

Inflation, fears about democracy driving 2022 midterm wave

Election Day is less than two weeks away, and the campaign ads and awkward family debates continue to dog voters. But unlike typical midterms elections, topics like abortion and inflation make it increasingly difficult to tell whether Congress will head in favor of Republicans, Democrats or both.

A ballot drop box is seen outside of the Milwaukee Election Commission warehouse. (Joe Kelly/Courthouse News)

Ducking 1/6 committee, fake electors look to high court

Two of the 84 fake electors who falsely claimed that Donald Trump won their states in the 2020 election brought an emergency application with the Supreme Court on Wednesday to block a subpoena from members of Congress investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Kelli Ward holds herself out as a "true elector" and a "doctor" in this video falsely claiming that Donald Trump won the state of Arizona in the 2020 election. Ward chairs the Arizona Republican Party and has a type of graduate degree called a D.O. (Youtube via Courthouse News)

Defense rests but fireworks continue at airline antitrust trial

The defense rested its case Wednesday in the federal antitrust trial seeking to undo an alliance between American Airlines and JetBlue Airways in the Northeast, but the drama continued as the Justice Department recalled its top economic expert on rebuttal and JetBlue’s top lawyer subjected him to a withering cross-examination.

Passenger flights land and take off at Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va., across the Potomac River from Washington on Jan. 19, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

Regional

Michigan trio convicted of aiding plot to kidnap governor

A Michigan jury found a trio of men charged with aiding would-be kidnappers of the state’s governor guilty of gang membership, providing material support for a terrorist act and felony firearms violations Wednesday morning.

This combo of undated file images shows, from left, Paul Bellar, Joseph Morrison and Pete Musico. The men are charged in connection with a 2020 anti-government plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. (Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and Jackson County Sheriff's Office via AP, File)

Jury wastes no time returning guilty verdict in parade crash trial

The Wisconsin man on trial over a fatal crash at a Waukesha Christmas parade last fall was found guilty of six counts of intentional homicide on Wednesday.

Darrell Brooks, the suspect in the fatal crash at a Waukesha, Wisconsin, Christmas parade last fall, silently bows his head as his dozens of guilty verdicts are read at his trial on Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2022. (Law & Crime livestream via Courthouse News)

Judge tosses Seattle Pacific University suit over Washington’s anti-LGBT hiring probe

Attorneys for Seattle Pacific University failed Wednesday to convince a federal judge it has standing to sue Washington state Attorney General Bob Ferguson for launching an investigation into the Christian school's hiring practices regarding LGBTQ individuals.

Balloons in the colors and shape of the LGBT flag above an LGBT flag. (Pixabay image via Courthouse News)

Virginia church argues against liquor license for land permit

A northern Virginia church told a Fourth Circuit panel Wednesday it shouldn’t need to get a liquor license to hold worship services on its agriculturally zoned property.

(Image by Hands off my tags! Michael Gaida from Pixabay via Courthouse News)

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