In late January, Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco confirmed that the Justice Department is “looking at” the matter, as part of an “ongoing” investigation. According to a New York Times report published this afternoon, federal investigators have “stepped up” their criminal probe.

A federal grand jury in Washington has started issuing subpoenas in recent weeks to people linked to the alternate elector plan, requesting information about several lawyers including Mr. Trump’s personal lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani and one of his chief legal advisers, John Eastman, one of the people said. The subpoenas also seek information on other pro-Trump lawyers like Jenna Ellis, who worked with Mr. Giuliani, and Kenneth Chesebro, who wrote memos supporting the elector scheme in the weeks after the election.

.....Remember, it was in early February that the public started to learn the degree to which the former president’s team was directly connected to the fake electors scheme. The New York Times reported at the time on a Trump campaign lawyer in Wisconsin receiving a memo in November 2020 “setting out what became the rationale for an audacious strategy: to put in place alternate slates of electors in states where President Donald J. Trump was trying to overturn his loss.”

That memo, sent just two weeks after Election Day 2020, was written by Kenneth Chesebro, a Trump lawyer referenced in today’s reporting. Three weeks later, the same Trump lawyer sent a second memo, shortly before actual electors were set to cast their votes, offering a step-by-step guide on what the fake electors would have to do.

He's obviously not alone. Eastman reportedly contacted state legislators, falsely advising them that they had the authority to certify fake electors, while Giuliani has been accused of helping coordinate the fake electors scheme.

In the months following the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jim Jordan seemed wholly unconcerned about scrutiny. In fact, the Ohio Republican suggested publicly that he’d be the model of transparency.

“If they call me, I got nothing to hide,” the far-right lawmaker said last summer. A few months later, during a House Rules Committee hearing, the Ohioan echoed the sentiment, insisting, “I’ve said all along, I have nothing to hide.”....

In the months following the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jim Jordan seemed wholly unconcerned about scrutiny. In fact, the Ohio Republican suggested publicly that he’d be the model of transparency.

“If they call me, I got nothing to hide,” the far-right lawmaker said last summer. A few months later, during a House Rules Committee hearing, the Ohioan echoed the sentiment, insisting, “I’ve said all along, I have nothing to hide.”....

In the months following the Jan. 6 attack, Rep. Jim Jordan seemed wholly unconcerned about scrutiny. In fact, the Ohio Republican suggested publicly that he’d be the model of transparency.

“If they call me, I got nothing to hide,” the far-right lawmaker said last summer. A few months later, during a House Rules Committee hearing, the Ohioan echoed the sentiment, insisting, “I’ve said all along, I have nothing to hide.”

Country singer Larry Gatlin has opted not to perform at this weekend's NRA Convention in Houston.

His announcement comes on the heels of Don McLean's decision to also pull out of Saturday's Grand Ole Night Of Freedom Concert at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

In a statement, Gatlin, who is known for his conservative views, said that he cannot "in good conscience" perform and that he is in support of background checks. He also suggested arming teachers could have prevented the tragedy in Uvalde.

"I pray that the NRA will rethink some of its outdated and ill-thought-out positions regarding firearms in AMERICA," he said.

The list of country singers performing at this weekend's NRA Convention is shrinking by the hour in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting.

Four acts have pulled out of Saturday's Grand Ole Night Of Freedom Concert at the George R. Brown Convention Center, including Don McLean and Larry Gatlin. The lineup was also to include Lee Greenwood, Restless Heart's Larry Stewart, T. Graham Brown, "NRA Life member" Jacob Bryant and Danielle Peck.

Here's where they currently stand:

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"In light of the recent events in Texas, I have decided it would be disrespectful and hurtful for me to perform for the NRA at their convention in Houston this week. I’m sure all the folks planning to attend this event are shocked and sickened by these events as well. After all, we are all Americans. I share the sorrow for this terrible, cruel loss with the rest of the nation.

Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the Uvalde school shooter had a "mental health challenge" and the state needed to "do a better job with mental health" — yet in April he slashed $211 million from the department that oversees mental health programs.

In addition, Texas ranked last out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for overall access to mental health care, according to the 2021 State of Mental Health in America report.

"We as a state, we as a society, need to do a better job with mental health," Abbott said during a news conference at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers on Tuesday......

Last year, The Houston Chronicle published a three-part series that showed Texas leaders failed to adequately fund or manage the state’s eroding mental health system......

In Uvalde County, a mostly rural area where a fifth of the 24,456 mostly Latino residents live in poverty, the money budgeted for “health and welfare” has ranged in recent years from $2.8 million to $3.8 million, records show.

“I hesitate to comment on how much a county should be spending because mental illness cannot fairly be blamed as the primary driver of mass shootings,” said Greg Hansch, who heads the Texas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “People with mental illness are more likely to be victims of mass shootings than perpetrators of mass shootings. Less than 10 percent of shootings involved a suspect who had mental health issues."

Gov. Greg Abbott said Wednesday that the Uvalde school shooter had a "mental health challenge" and the state needed to "do a better job with mental health" — yet in April he slashed $211 million from the department that oversees mental health programs.

In addition, Texas ranked last out of all 50 states and the District of Columbia for overall access to mental health care, according to the 2021 State of Mental Health in America report.

"We as a state, we as a society, need to do a better job with mental health," Abbott said during a news conference at Robb Elementary School, where a gunman shot and killed 19 children and two teachers on Tuesday......

Last year, The Houston Chronicle published a three-part series that showed Texas leaders failed to adequately fund or manage the state’s eroding mental health system......

In Uvalde County, a mostly rural area where a fifth of the 24,456 mostly Latino residents live in poverty, the money budgeted for “health and welfare” has ranged in recent years from $2.8 million to $3.8 million, records show.

“I hesitate to comment on how much a county should be spending because mental illness cannot fairly be blamed as the primary driver of mass shootings,” said Greg Hansch, who heads the Texas chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness. “People with mental illness are more likely to be victims of mass shootings than perpetrators of mass shootings. Less than 10 percent of shootings involved a suspect who had mental health issues."

Then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows burned papers in his office after meeting with a House Republican who was working to challenge the 2020 election, according to testimony the Jan. 6 select committee has heard from one of his former aides.

Cassidy Hutchinson, who worked under Meadows when he was former President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, told the panel investigating the Capitol attack that she saw Meadows incinerate documents after a meeting in his office with Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.). A person familiar with the testimony described it on condition of anonymity.

The Meadows-Perry meeting came in the weeks after Election Day 2020, as Trump and his allies searched for ways to reverse the election results.

It’s unclear whether Hutchinson told the committee which specific papers were burnt, and if federal records laws required the materials’ preservation. Meadows’ destruction of papers is a key focus for the select committee, and the person familiar with the testimony said investigators pressed Hutchinson for details about the issue for more than 90 minutes during a recent deposition.....

The New York Times first reported that the committee heard testimony indicating Meadows burned White House papers. The Trump White House’s unorthodox approach to document management has drawn significant media scrutiny in recent weeks — and has also caught the attention of DOJ.

A former aide to Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows told the House January 6 committee that then-President Donald Trump had suggested to Meadows he approved of the "hang Mike Pence" chants from rioters who stormed the US Capitol, two sources familiar with the matter told CNN.

Cassidy Hutchinson, the former aide, also testified that Trump complained about his then-vice president being hustled to safety while Trump supporters breached the Capitol, the sources said.

Hutchinson has answered the panel's questions during three separate sessions, CNN previously reported. She went over "new ground" with the committee last week, though it was not immediately clear what was discussed during that deposition.

Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich said that "vague leaks" from the "partisan" committee is "just an extension of the Democrat smear campaign that has been exposed time and time again for being fabricated and dishonest," adding that "Americans are tired of the Democrat lies and the charades, but, sadly, it's the only thing they have to offer."