Some news item you might have missed: • The Advocate: Mirco Olivieri (above), who was convicted for stopping an anti-LGBTQ assault during Sydney WorldPride last year, had his conviction overturned in court earlier this month. Olivieri stepped in when he saw two large men bullying a young gay man. Continue reading “WorldPride Hero’s Conviction Reversed + More News”
Trump Supporters Flooded Dem Phonelines Adding To Iowa Chaos

In case you missed it, Bloomberg News reports Trump supporters thought it would be cute to call in and clog the Iowa Democratic party phone lines adding to the chaos on caucus night.
Supporters of President Donald Trump flooded a hotline used by Iowa precinct chairs to report Democratic caucus results after the telephone number was posted online, worsening delays in the statewide tally, a top state Democrat told party leaders on a conference call Wednesday night.
According to two participants on the call, Ken Sagar, a state Democratic central committee member, was among those answering the hotline on caucus night and said people called in and expressed support for Trump. The phone number became public after people posted photos of caucus paperwork that included the hotline number, one of the people on the call said.
On Thursday morning, the Iowa Democratic Party confirmed it “experienced an unusually high volume of inbound phone calls to its caucus hotline,” which included “supporters of President Trump who called to express their displeasure with the Democratic Party.”
News Round-Up: January 7, 2020

• Washington Post: Rep. Duncan D. Hunter will resign from Congress effective January 13, more than one month after the California Republican pleaded guilty in federal court to misusing campaign funds. The six-term congressman is scheduled to be sentenced in March. He faces a maximum of five years in prison, although he is expected to serve less than one year. • Politico: Donald Trump’s reelection campaign will spend $10 million on 60 seconds of television ad time during the Super Bowl next month as the president ramps up his push for a second term. • New York Times: Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell informed Republicans on Tuesday that he planned to move forward with President Trump’s impeachment trial without committing to additional witnesses or admitting new evidence, over the objections of Democrats who are insisting on both.
“Whoever heard of a trial without witnesses and documents? It’s unprecedented.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says he and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “have very different visions about what it means to conduct a fair trial.” https://t.co/vTZuyr7OFt pic.twitter.com/yYlmHPU6b9 — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 7, 2020