7. Russia is rolling in Ukraine, despite the 15,000 dead 

• Russia seems to be close to seizing the city of Mariupol, which would significantly impact Ukraine’s economy. An analysis in the magazine “Foreign Policy” says the Russian military will be in control of 80% of their coastline and the desired landbridge between all of their desired territories.

• Despite their apparent “success,” British officials have determined that roughly 15,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since the internationally condemned invasion began. Ben Wallace, England’s defense secretary, said 2,000 Russian armored vehicles and 60 aircraft have been destroyed as well. The Russian Defense Ministry offers up very different numbers and says 1,351 of its soldiers have been killed with 3,825 injured during the Russia-Ukraine war.

6. Trump held in contempt of court

• It’s been announced that former President Donald Trump has been held in contempt of court for not responding to a subpoena in New York, and he will now be fined $10,000 per day until there is a response. This decision was made by Judge Arthur Engoron.
• Engoron said, “Mr. Trump, I know you take your business seriously, and I take mine seriously. I hereby hold you in civil contempt and fine you $10,000 a day.”

5. Attempt to block transgender health care law will be heard

• A hearing has been scheduled to hear arguments in a lawsuit against the new law in Alabama that prohibits some medical treatments for transgender minors. The hearing is scheduled only three days before the law is set to take effect.
• The evidentiary hearing could last about two days. The lawsuit, which is being considered by U.S. District Judge Liles Burke, seeks to block the law from taking effect. There’s currently a request for a preliminary injunction or temporary restraining order to stall the law until the legal challenge has concluded.

4. Durant committed to hitting Britt on BLM posts

• Continuing the new front in the war for the United State Senate seat currently held by U.S. Senator Richard Shelby (R-Tuscaloosa), Mike Durant is pounding Katie Britt on her social media habits. Britt deleted multiple social media posts as she launched her campaign for U.S. Senate, and the most inflammatory of those tweets was one taking part in a Black Lives Matter-inspired blackout.
• Durant took to Twitter to comment on Britt’s posts, again, and her denial with a thread taking her to task for deleting the comments and claiming she never supported the group in the first place. Durant tweeted, “Katie Boyd Britt’s admission that she participated in woke, anti-cop and anti-conservative ‘Black Lives Matter’ virtue signaling is dangerous. He followed that with another hit on the deleting of the posts, stating, “Katie Boyd Britt trying to delete her participation in the woke BLM messaging campaign is concerning, but then for her to double down and say they should be listened to is even more appalling.”

3. ALGOP: Give the U.S. Senate candidates the chance to debate

• Alabama Republican Party (ALGOP) chairman John Wahl said that the party would like to provide a platform for U.S. Senate candidates Katie Britt, Mike Durant and U.S. Representative Mo Brooks (R-Huntsville) to debate. Wahl said they would like to protect the debate from “liberal moderators.”
• For weeks, Britt and Brooks have suggested that they were open to debate in the race, but Durant only said that he’d be open to the opportunity last week. The candidates have since been presented with three dates for a potential debate by the ALGOP. Wahl has said, “It’s important to the Alabama Republican Party that we offer a good platform to all our candidates, and one of the areas we think we can accomplish that is providing them with a fair debate.” But Britt reportedly “backed out” of a debate in Calhoun County Chamber “last minute” last night.

2. Elon Musk buys Twitter for $44 billion

• Tesla CEO Elon Musk has officially bought the social media platform Twitter after his bid of $44 billion was accepted by the company’s board. Musk has planned to make the company private, which he has been advocating for.
• Musk released a statement, saying, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”

1. The media and their Democrats are not happy about Twitter

• For years, the argument has been that if you didn’t like social media censorship you should just start your own platform, but when that happened, moves were made to shut those platforms down. When individuals on the right called for a reform of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, it was opposed as a punishment to private business, but this has now changed. U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and others have determined that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter opens the door for regulation, higher taxes and tantrums about leaving the platform. Fellow billionaire and owner of the Washington Post Jeff Bezos is spreading conspiracy theories about Chinese influence.
• White House press secretary Jen Psaki dodged a question about a potential threat to America when confronted about President Joe Biden’s potential concerns with former President Donald Trump hypothetically returning to Twitter. Psaki said, “No matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms, the power they have over our everyday lives. He’s long argued that tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause.” All this aside, Trump says he is not going back. He advised, “The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.” Trump added he would start using his own social media site “Truth Social.”