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Former President Trump is plunging Republican lawmakers into more turmoil over his legal troubles, setting them on edge by calling for mass protests in case he is arrested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.  

As much as Republican senators try to escape from what Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) called the “chaos” and “negativity” surrounding Trump, the former president finds new ways to pull the GOP back into the orbit and make the news of the day all about him.

“It’s going to blow up our country and it’s a bunch of B.S.” Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned in a Fox News interview Tuesday.  

Graham accused Bragg of acting because of political pressure and slammed him as “George Soros-backed prosecutor” because the billionaire financier gave money to Color of Change PAC, which endorsed Bragg’s 2021 election.  

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) on Tuesday tweeted that a Trump indictment “would be a disgusting abuse of power” and “the DA should be put in jail.”  

Many other Senate Republicans are trying keep their party from becoming engulfed by the tumult surrounding Trump, which they see as a political drag heading into the 2024 election. 

McConnell in November said Republicans failed to win back the Senate because the party was associated with “too much chaos” and “too much negativity” that “turned off a lot of these centrist voters.” 

The Senate GOP leader usually plays the role of the adult in the room at moments if political crises. He’s tried this year to keep the national spotlight on President Biden and his policies instead of Trump-related dramas.  

But McConnell is away from the Capitol again this week after falling and suffering a concussion at a private dinner on March 8 and many of his Republican colleagues miss his steadying personal influence on the party. 

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), an adviser to the Senate Republican leadership team, said Tuesday that he’s not eager to see Republicans drawn into a political battle with Bragg, responding to a letter that three House GOP chairmen sent to the district attorney Monday requesting he testify before Congress. 

“I would think that there’s more than enough to do and I would hope they’d stick to the agenda they ran on when they got elected to the majority,” he said of his Republican colleagues in the House.  

Republican lawmakers who want the party to move on from Trump are worried that an indictment of the former president might boomerang on the Manhattan district attorney and have the effect of rallying GOP voters around Trump.  

“It’s likely to backfire. The case won’t survive, it’s legally frivolous,” said Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “If Bragg brings it to a jury and loses, ironically this left-wing Soros DA could play a pivotal role in reelecting Donald Trump as president.”  

“I don’t think the country is going to blow up,” Cruz said, before adding “I do think it’s likely to rally Republican primary voters behind Trump.”  

Cruz has not made an endorsement in the 2024 presidential primary. 

Trump’s calls for mass protests has stirred nervous memories of Jan. 6, 2021, and prompted police to set up crowd control barriers around the Capitol to prepare for worst-case scenarios.  

The former president’s lawyer, Joe Tacopina, warned of “all-out war” if he is indicted. 

A Manhattan courthouse where a judge was to hear a $250 million fraud lawsuit against Trump was forced to close briefly Tuesday after it received a bomb threat. 

The Senate sergeant-at-arms informed senators on Monday that there had not been any specific or credible threats against the Capitol but warned of the “potential for demonstration activity.”  

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (Ala.), one of the few Republican senators who has publicly endorsed Trump’s 2024 White House campaign, said any indictment would be an attempt at “political assassination.”  

“It’s going to look to the average person out there [as] a political assassination … going after a political candidate. It doesn’t look good for our country,” he said.  

Tuberville said turmoil surrounds Trump “because he’s outspoken and Democrats don’t like him because he stands for ‘Make America Great Again’ and that’s not really on their agenda,” he said.  

The looming indictment is giving heartburn to some Democrats, who worry that it may backfire.  Americans who survived Mexico kidnapping ‘continue to recover,’ attorneys say California bill could ban the sale of Skittles, Hot Tamales, and more

“There’s many reasons not to support Donald Trump. There’s many reasons why Donald Trump should not be president again of the United States but you should not allow the court system to be viewed as a political pawn,” warned Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who is up for reelection next year in a state that Trump carried by large margins in 2016 and 2020.

“I think it would basically have the reverse effect as what some people would think, not for the good,” he said, predicting a public backlash.  

Al Weaver contributed.  

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Springer out after 3rd base hop, ending Jays’ rally

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Springer out after 3rd base hop, ending Jays' rally

TORONTO — Blue Jays outfielder George Springer skipped into third base on a key RBI hit by teammate Alejandro Kirk, and hopped right into an inning-ending out in the fifth on Sunday against the Athletics.

Springer was called out following a replay review after Athletics third baseman Max Schuemann alertly kept his glove on the Blue Jays right fielder while Springer hopped up and down on third base.

Springer, who had reached on an RBI single that opened the scoring for Toronto, was celebrating Kirk’s double that cut the deficit to 3-2.

The out call meant Toronto slugger Addison Barger didn’t get to bat with runners at second and third.

Schuemann had just entered the game as a defensive replacement, taking over for Miguel Andujar.

The Athletics had lost five straight and 16 of 17 entering Sunday.

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Ukraine’s drone attack in Russia shows Kyiv felt it had nothing to lose

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Ukraine's drone attack in Russia shows Kyiv felt it had nothing to lose

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response.

Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault – which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes – as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor” in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War.

Ukraine war latest: Russia accuses Kyiv of ‘terrorist attack’

The Ukrainian operation – which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks – also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed the battlefield, enabling Ukraine to seriously hurt its far more powerful opponent.

Moscow will have to retaliate, with speculation already appearing online about whether President Putin will again threaten the use of nuclear weapons.

“We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even harsher,” military blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, the mission on Sunday was the culmination of one and a half years of planning, according to a security source.

More on Russia

In that time, Ukraine’s secret service smuggled first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia, sources with knowledge of the operation said.

Flat-pack, garden-office style sheds were also secretly transported into the country.

The drones were hidden in truck containers and the tops remotely lifted for the drones to be flown out to attack. Pic: SBU Security Service
Image:
The drones were hidden in truck containers. Pic: SBU Security Service

The oblong sheds were then built and drones were hidden inside, before the containers were put on the back of trucks and driven to within range of their respective targets.

At a chosen time, doors on the roofs of the huts were opened remotely and the drones were flown out. Each was armed with a bomb that was flown into the airfields, with videos released by the security service that purportedly showed them blasting into Russian aircraft.

These drones were used to destroy Russian bomber aircraft. Pic: SBU Security Service
Image:
These drones were used to destroy Russian bomber aircraft. Pic: SBU Security Service

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Among the targets were Tu-95 and Tu-22 bomber aircraft that can launch cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian side. An A-50 airborne early warning aircraft was also allegedly hit. This is a valuable platform that is used to command and control operations.

The use of such simple technology to destroy multi-million-pound aircraft will be watched with concern by governments around the world.

Suddenly, every single military base, airfield and warship will appear that little bit more vulnerable if any truck nearby could be loaded with killer drones.

Read more:
Russia investigates bridge collapses
What new Stalin statue says about Putin’s regime

The most immediate focus, though, will be on how Mr Putin responds.

Previous attacks by Ukraine inside Russia have triggered retaliatory strikes and increasingly threatening rhetoric from the Kremlin.

But this latest operation is one of the biggest and most significant, and comes on the eve of a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that are meant to take place in Turkey. It is not clear if that will still happen.

US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the two sides to make peace but Russia has only escalated its war.

Ukraine clearly felt it had nothing to lose but to also go on the attack.

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Phils moving Walker to relief in bullpen shakeup

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Phils moving Walker to relief in bullpen shakeup

PHILADELPHIA — The Phillies made moves to restructure their bullpen Sunday, removing Taijuan Walker from the rotation and recalling right-handed reliever Seth Johnson before their series finale against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Mick Abel will take Walker’s place in the starting rotation Thursday in Toronto. Reliever Jose Ruiz was designated for assignment to clear a roster spot for Johnson.

“I think Tai’s got a chance to make us a lot better coming out of the ‘pen,” manager Rob Thomson said.

Walker has made 10 appearances, including eight starts and two long relief appearances, with a 2-4 record and 3.53 ERA in 43⅓ innings. Thomson will use Walker in one-inning roles.

The 32-year-old Walker has been primarily a starter throughout his 13-year career. He is in the third year of a $72 million, four-year contract.

Abel made his major league debut on May 18, throwing six scoreless innings. The 23-year-old was the No. 15 pick in the 2020 amateur draft.

Johnson, 26, is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA and 42 strikeouts in 33 innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, transitioning from the starting rotation to a relief role. He made one appearance for the Phillies last year, allowing nine earned runs in 2⅓ innings on Sept. 8 against Miami.

Johnson was acquired by the Phillies from Baltimore on July 30, 2024, in a trade for Gregory Soto.

Ruiz had an 8.16 ERA in 14⅓ innings this season, including allowing five runs in one inning of Saturday’s 17-7 loss to the Brewers. The 30-year-old right-hander had a 5-1 record and 3.71 ERA in 52 appearances in 2024.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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