Donald Trump’s allies in recent days have called for revenge prosecutions and other retaliatory measures against Democrats in response to the former president’s felony conviction in New York.
Prominent former White House aides like Stephen Bannon and Stephen Miller have demanded locally elected Republicans use their power to target Democrats. Ronny Jackson, a House representative from Texas, said he would encourage Congress to “aggressively go after” President Biden and his family. And Laura Loomer, a far-right activist, said that some Democrats should “get the death penalty.”
They are among a growing chorus of Republicans who say that the criminal cases against Trump are a political weaponization of the justice system. Based on that premise, they argue that Republicans should do the same thing.
Seeking legal retribution is nothing new for Trump, who in 2016 echoed chants of “Lock her up” against Hillary Clinton. But the intensity of anger and open desire to use the criminal justice system against Democrats after last week’s verdict surpasses anything seen before. Many of the calls have come from people who are expected to play larger roles in a potential second term under Trump.
New York’s governor halted its congestion pricing plan
In a stunning shift, Gov. Kathy Hochul of New York announced today that she was shelving the long-awaited tolling plan known as congestion pricing. Her move came just a few weeks before New York City was set to become the first American city to charge motorists for entering its busy downtown streets.
Hochul, who just two weeks ago defended the plan as critical to making the city “more livable,” cited economic concerns. She said she feared that a toll to drive into Manhattan’s business district would “create another obstacle to our economic recovery.”
The move angered environmentalists, transit advocates and economists, and eliminated a projected $1 billion a year for the city’s buses and subways. Hochul is said to be looking at filling the funding gap with a tax on city businesses.
Here’s how congestion pricing would have worked.
Global heat will continue to break records, U.N. said
Earth is already experiencing some of its highest temperatures in 100,000 years. Yet the United Nations weather agency announced today that there’s nearly a 90 percent chance that the planet will set yet another record for its warmest year by 2028.
War has pushed Sudan toward the abyss
A war has displaced millions in Sudan, and a looming famine threatens the lives of hundreds of thousands of children. Sparked by a feud between two generals, the conflict has turned Khartoum, Sudan’s capital and one of the largest cities in Africa, into the center of one of the world’s worst humanitarian disasters.
My colleagues spent three weeks traveling across the country, where few foreign reporters have had access. Here’s what they found.
The Tribeca Festival has some gems, if you look closely
The Tribeca Festival, which opened today, unabashedly favors abundance. It dropped “film” from its name a few years ago, underscoring its embrace of virtual reality, artificial intelligence, video games, podcasts and more. The breadth of it all can unfortunately make it easy to miss the gems, the critic Natalia Winkelman writes.
So Natalia set out to find the films worth watching. Her favorite was Nathan Silver’s “Between the Temples,” a love comedy about a dispirited cantor (Jason Schwartzman) and his adult bat mitzvah student (Carol Kane).
Learn from some of the best gardeners
This summer, the owners of more than 300 private gardens around the country are inviting visitors to explore, chat and be inspired. The program, which has been going on for nearly 30 years, is an easy way to learn from others who love gardening, our columnist Margaret Roach wrote.
Margaret herself has opened her garden to visitors for a day, which she said was eye-opening: She found that you can grow as a gardener by watching and listening as people roam around your yard.
Whooo’s got the wedding ring?
With two rings in a little pouch tied around her ankles, Juliet soared down the aisle at a recent wedding in England, briefly stealing the show from the bride and the groom who had paid nearly $1,000 for her services. Juliet is an owl — one of several trained to be a ring bearer.
Wedding owls first became popular in Britain more than 15 years ago. Their handlers trace their rise directly to the popularity of “Harry Potter,” in which owls serve as mail carriers for the wizarding world.
Have an enchanted evening.
Thanks for reading. I’ll be back tomorrow. — Matthew
We welcome your feedback. Write to us at evening@nytimes.com.
