Headlines June 21, 2023 from Democracy Now!

Federal Police in Brazil have revealed a top aide to former right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro had gathered documents outlining plans to stage a possible military coup last year after Bolsonaro was defeated by Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. Brazilian police found the planning documents on the phone of Lieutenant Colonel Mauro Cid, who was arrested last month for his role in falsifying Bolsonaro’s COVID-19 vaccination records.

In news from Sudan, heavy fighting has resumed in the capital Khartoum after a 72-hour ceasefire expired. On Tuesday, the Sudanese military accused the Rapid Support Forces of bombing the country’s intelligence headquarters. Meanwhile, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi says over 500,000 people have now fled Sudan since fighting began two months ago.

Filippo Grandi: “Today, right on World Refugee Day, we pass this horrible mark of 500,000 refugees from Sudan. And we know why. The fighting is really generating this huge exodus. And if there is not going to be a sustainable ceasefire and then peace, I don’t think that we will see an end to it. People will continue to be displaced inside or go outside. In fact, in addition to the 500,000, there are almost 2 million that have moved inside the country because they have nowhere else to go.”

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in New York Tuesday to begin a four-day state visit. On Thursday, President Biden will hold a formal state dinner for Modi hours after he addresses a joint session of Congress. The Biden administration is attempting to strengthen ties to India as part of an effort to counter China’s growing power in the Indo-Pacific region.

Modi is head of the Hindu nationalist BJP party. He was once banned from the United States on charges he did not intervene in a massacre against Muslims in 2002 in the Indian state of Gujarat.

Representatives Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib. have announced plans to boycott Modi’s address to Congress. In a post on social media, Tlaib wrote, “It’s shameful that Modi has been given a platform at our nation’s capital—his long history of human rights abuses, anti-democratic actions, targeting Muslims & religious minorities, and censoring journalists is unacceptable.”

Editor’s Note: An earlier version of this headline said Rep. Jamie Raskin was also boycotting the speech. In a statement Raskin said on Wednesday: “To correct the record, I am not boycotting Prime Minister Modi’s visit. I am going to my daughter’s wedding. Nor has the CPC called for a boycott. I signed a letter protesting human rights violations in India and hope that Pres. Biden will raise this serious problem with PM Modi.”

Hunter Biden, the son of the president, has reached a deal with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to two misdemeanor tax charges as part of a deal that will allow him to avoid facing prosecution on a separate gun charge. The deal caps a multiyear investigation by the U.S. attorney in Delaware, who was appointed by Donald Trump but allowed to stay in his role by President Biden. House Republicans have described the deal as a “slap on the wrist” and have vowed to continue to investigate Hunter Biden and his overseas business ventures.

Amnesty International is urging countries across the Americas to stop their racist treatment of Haitian asylum seekers, as thousands continue to flee Haiti due to worsening gang violence, extreme poverty and a deteriorating political crisis. The group denounced the mass deportations, torture, detention and violence faced by Haitians in the United States, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Chile and other nations where Haitians pass through in their search for protection.

The federal judge overseeing Donald Trump’s trial for mishandling classified documents has set an initial trial date of August 14 — one week before the first Republican presidential debate. U.S. District Court Judge Aileen Cannon set the date on Tuesday, but many legal experts expect the trial will be delayed. Cannon is a Trump-appointed judge who has served on the federal bench for less than three years. According to The New York Times, she has only overseen four short criminal trials in her time on the bench.

In labor news, Senator Bernie Sanders has launched a Senate investigation into the dangerous working conditions at Amazon warehouses. In a letter to Amazon Chief Executive Officer Andy Jassy, Sanders wrote, “Amazon is one of the most valuable companies in the world, worth $1.3 trillion and its founder, Jeff Bezos, is one of the richest men in the world worth nearly $150 billion. … Amazon should be one of the safest places in America to work, not one of the most dangerous.”

ProPublica has revealed Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito took an undisclosed luxury fishing vacation with Republican megadonor Paul Singer in 2008 and then later ruled in Singer’s favor in several cases. According to ProPublica, the billionaire hedge fund manager gave Alito a free ride on his luxury jet to Alaska for a trip where one participant bragged about drinking $1,000 bottles of wine. Alito never reported the all-expenses-paid trip on disclosure forms. Since the trip, Paul Singer’s hedge fund came before the Supreme Court at least 10 times, and Alito never recused himself. ProPublica reports Alito’s trip was organized by Leonard Leo of the Federalist Society, who has played a key role in pushing the court to the right. Hours prior to the publication of ProPublica’s report, Alito published a column in The Wall Street Journal headlined “ProPublica Misleads Its Readers.” In the piece, Alito acknowledged taking the trip, but denied violating any ethics rules.

A disciplinary hearing has begun in California for attorney John Eastman, who advised Donald Trump on ways to overturn the 2020 election. At the time, Eastman was the dean of the Chapman University Law School in Southern California. Eastman faces 11 disciplinary charges in the State Bar Court of California. The process could lead to his disbarment.

Heat records continue to be shattered in Texas and Mexico as a massive heat dome remains over the region. In San Angelo, Texas, temperatures reached 114 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday, breaking the old record by three degrees. In Laredo, temperatures hit 115 on Monday. According to the organization Climate Central, climate change is making the extreme heat five times as likely to occur in parts of Texas. On this first day of summer, meteorologists are taking part in the sixth annual Show Your Stripes day to raise awareness about the climate crisis.

A massive search effort continues in the Atlantic Ocean after a tourist submersible went missing during a trip to explore the wreck of the Titanic, which sits over 12,000 feet below sea level. Five passengers are on board, including the founder of OceanGate Expeditions, which organized the trip. For years the company ignored warnings by its own staff and experts that the company’s deep water missions could lead to a catastrophe because the submarine did not meet industry standards. Tickets for the mission reportedly cost $250,000. Passengers aboard the ship include two billionaires: Hamish Harding from Britain and Shahzada Dawood from Pakistan, who is on board with his son.

Many are questioning the massive media coverage of the Titanic adventurers in light of the lack of attention paid to the thousands of migrants lost at sea as they attempt to reach Europe fleeing persecution, poverty and the impacts of the climate crisis in their home countries. This comes as authorities in Greece have recovered three more bodies of men who drowned last week in one of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks in years. The official death toll is 81, but The New York Times reports as many as 700 migrants may have died when their overcrowded ship sank off the coast of Greece.