Latest Stories By Louis Jacobson

Showing 301-312 of 1260 items

Jan. 6 hearing piles on evidence: Pence didn’t have power to change 2020 election

June 17, 2022

For a month before the attack on the Capitol, former President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were locked in a running battle. Trump was adamant that Pence had the power to stop the certification of the Electoral College votes on Jan. 6. Pence was just as adamant that he did not. In the […]

The legitimacy of the Jan. 6 committee, explained

June 8, 2022

Critics argue that the House committee investigating the events of Jan. 6, 2021, is illegitimate, amounting to a political hit job by Democrats and anti-Trump Republicans rather than a sober-minded quest to prevent disorder. The critics also contend that the process of filling the committee’s seats was partisan, and that, as a result, the committee’s […]

The race for the Nevada Senate seat: A guide

June 2, 2022

Quick take Nevada, a longtime presidential battleground state, is hosting another key race in 2022 — the fight to control one of the state’s two seats in the U.S. Senate. The seat is currently held by Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Democrat first elected to the chamber in 2016. The Republican primary field features two […]

A voter guide to North Carolina’s Senate primaries

May 13, 2022

Quick take North Carolina, a state with a divided but slightly Republican-leaning electorate, is playing host to one of the key U.S. Senate contests — the race to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Richard Burr. Election Day is May 17. While polls have been scarce, former President Donald Trump’s endorsed candidate, U.S. Rep. Ted Budd, seems […]

Wild GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania coming to a close

May 12, 2022

The Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania has featured months of aggressive  attacks between frontrunners Mehmet Oz and Dave McCormick — with an unexpected third candidate, Kathy Barnette, joining the mix of possible winners. The Republican and Democratic primaries, which close on May 17, will determine the nominees to succeed retiring Republican Sen. Pat Toomey. Both […]

Why polling about abortion hides the true complexity of what Americans think

May 5, 2022

With the news leaked of a possible Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade, politicians and commentators of all stripes claimed public opinion was on their side when it came to abortion. The reality is that the data is murkier and more contradictory than either supporters and opponents of abortion rights care to admit. Partly, […]

What would state laws look like in a post-Roe world?

May 3, 2022

The leak of an early draft ruling on a hotly contested Supreme Court abortion case has focused attention on what might happen if Roe v. Wade — the five-decade-old precedent requiring national access to abortion — is overturned. Prior to the Roe decision in 1973, abortion was illegal in many states, but states were gradually […]

Trying to keep up with the omicron subvariants? Here’s a guide

May 2, 2022

Two years into the coronavirus pandemic, Americans can be forgiven if they’ve lost track of the latest variants circulating nationally and around the world. We’ve heard of the alpha, beta, gamma, delta and omicron variants, but a new greek-letter variant hasn’t come onto the scene in almost half a year. Instead, a seemingly endless stream […]

Explosion of the USS Maine

Amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, a look back at yellow journalism and the Spanish-American War

April 27, 2022

Scroll through social media feeds today and you can expect to be bombarded with dubious claims about Russia’s war in Ukraine. Many were created by or on behalf of Russia, either to cast doubt on atrocities or to condemn Ukraine and its leaders for things they didn’t do. Fact-checkers like PolitiFact work to determine the […]

International Criminal Court

War crime prosecutions in the Russia-Ukraine war: What to expect

April 26, 2022

As the Russian military continues to pound Ukraine, evidence of war crimes keeps mounting. Could perpetrators be held to account under international law? If so, how soon could that happen? And what do past war crimes prosecutions suggest about how such efforts could play out now? Nine experts helped us find out. Who conducts war-crimes […]

Destruction in Mariupol

What are ‘tactical’ nuclear weapons? And what do they mean for Russia, Ukraine and the world?

April 19, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is going poorly enough that President Vladimir Putin might decide to use what are known as tactical nuclear weapons, according to both Ukrainian and U.S. leaders. In an interview, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told CNN’s Jake Tapper that all countries should be prepared for the possibility that Putin could use nuclear […]

The race for the Missouri Senate seat: A guide

April 19, 2022

Quick Take In Missouri, a possible Republican nominee has spooked the party’s establishment, with some in the GOP fearing that a Democratic upset could take a seat that has been in Republican hands since 1987. The possible nominee is former Gov. Eric Greitens. Greitens, a decorated Navy SEAL with stints in Afghanistan and Iraq, won […]

Showing 301-312 of 1260 items