State and National Government
The Virginia NAACP disagrees with the decision that Governor Glenn Youngkin has made that significantly reduces the number of former inmates with nonviolent felonies who can regain the right to vote. Youngkin reversed former GOP Governor Bob McDonnell’s policy of automatically restoring former prisoners’ rights after serving their sentences – that policy was favored by the NAACP, and followed by both previous Democratic Governors Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump said in a social media post that he expects to be arrested Tuesday as a New York prosecutor is eyeing charges in a case examining hush money paid to women who alleged sexual encounters with the former president.
Trump said in a post on his Truth Social network early Saturday that “illegal leaks” from the Manhattan district attorney’s office indicate that “THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”
Messages left Saturday with the district attorney’s office were not immediately returned. Representatives for Trump did not immediately respond to calls for comment. Trump did not provide any details on social media about how he knew about the expected arrest. In his postings, he repeated his [allegations] that the 2020 presidential election he lost to Democrat Joe Biden was stolen and he urged his followers to “PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!” That language evoked the message from the then-president that preceded the riot at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Law enforcement officials in New York have been making security preparations for the possibility that Trump could be indicted. There has been no public announcement of any time frame for the grand jury’s secret work in the case, including any potential vote on whether to indict the ex-president.
Virginia State Senator Steve Newman announced today that he is not seeking re-election to the Senate of Virginia in 2023, ending a 35-year career in public service. Newman, a Republican who represents portions of our listening area, spent 4 years as a delegate and 28 years in the State Senate. He looks forward to, quote, “spending much more time with my wife, children, and a new grandbaby. We have run a good race.” Steve Newman served under 9 Governors dating back to Douglas Wilder while in the General Assembly.
A Congressman representing our area gave his first opening statements as the Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability to Oversight chair. WFIR’s Ian Price has more.
A local expert on family nutrition says the end of enhanced SNAP benefits could spell trouble for thousands of Roanoke families — but she says help is still out there to fill in the gaps. WFIR’s Emma Thomas has that story:
