Another federal judge has allowed a Capitol insurrection defendant to stay out of jail prior to trial, BuzzFeed reports: US magistrate judge Robin Meriweather in Washington ruled on Monday that John Earle Sullivan had violated his pretrial release conditions when he bought a smartphone he wasn’t authorized to have and when he promoted his organization on Infowars, a website known for far-right conspiracy theories, the news site reported. The judge said she had “serious concerns” about the violations, but declined to send him back to jail, saying the evidence did not suggest he posed a danger. Sullivan is facing a range of charges, including disorderly conduct, obstructing an official proceeding, and aiding and abetting interference with police. Earlier today, a different federal judge approved the release of another insurrection defendant who was a Proud Boys organizer. Criminal justice activists have pointed out that defendants accused of significantly less serious offenses are often stuck in jail before trial while some of the federal defendants accused of insurrection and rioting at the US Capitol have been able to go home and travel. Black Lives Matter activists and other leftists engaged in non-violent demonstrations have faced a significant prosecutorial crackdown over the last year, and in some cases, they have been forced to remain behind bars while awaiting trial, as the Guardian reported in October: Facebook announces ban on vaccine misinformation Kari Paul Facebook has banned misinformation about all vaccines following years of harmful, unfounded health claims proliferating on its platform. As part of its policy on Covid-19-related misinformation, Facebook will now remove posts with false claims about all vaccines, the company announced in a blogpost on Monday. These new community guidelines apply to user-generated posts as well as paid advertisements, which were already banned from including such misinformation. Instagram users will face the same restrictions. “We will begin enforcing this policy immediately, with a particular focus on Pages, groups and accounts that violate these rules,” said Guy Rosen, who oversees content decisions. “We’ll continue to expand our enforcement over the coming weeks.” Groups on Facebook have been known to create echo chambers of misinformation and have fueled the rise of anti-vaccine communities and rhetoric. Under the new policy, groups where users repeatedly share banned content will be shut down. Justice department drops challenge to California"s net neutrality law The US justice department has withdrawn its challenge to a California net neutrality law aimed at protecting the open internet, Reuters reports. The DoJ, as was expected, is dropping a challenge that was launched during the Trump era. The move opens the door to the return of net neutrality laws, which are meant to prohibit internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic or offering paid fast lanes. Reuters explains: Under then-President Donald Trump, the Justice Department in 2018 argued that federal law preempted the state statute prohibiting internet service providers from blocking or throttling traffic, or offering paid fast lanes. California’s legislature voted to adopt its own statute after the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 2017 repealed net neutrality rules put in place by the administration of former President Barack Obama. California’s law, which was put on hold pending the legal challenges, reinstates prohibitions from the 2015 federal net neutrality rules. A separate challenge to the California law from industry groups is pending and a 23 February hearing is set. The loss of net neutrality rules has had serious consequences in California and elsewhere, and advocates are hoping the US will restore federal protections under president Joe Biden. Biden has not yet nominated a replacement for FCC chair. New details on impeachment schedule and structure Senate officials have released more details on the structure of impeachment proceedings, which will begin tomorrow. From the office of majority leader Chuck Schumer: On Tuesday, there will be up to four hours equally divided between the impeachment managers and Donald Trump’s counsel to present arguments on the constitutionality of the trial. The Senate will then vote on whether it has jurisdiction to try the former president, and if a simple majority votes in favor (as expected), the trial will proceed. Starting Wednesday at noon EST, there will be up to 16 hours per side for impeachment managers and Trump’s team to present their case. Each side must use their time over no more than two days, and each day’s presentation cannot exceed eight hours. After both presentations, senators will have a total of four hours to question both parties. There will then be two hours for arguments on whether to consider motions to subpoena witnesses and documents. If the Senate votes in favor of subpoenas, both parties will then be allowed to depose witnesses and conduct discovery. There will then be four hours of closing arguments before deliberations and a vote on the article of impeachment. No trial proceedings will occur Friday after 5pm or on Saturday, but will continue on the afternoon of Sunday 14 February. More on the Georgia investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the election results: David Worley, the only Democrat on the Georgia elections board, told the New York Times that the secretary of state’s administrative inquiries could lead to criminal charges: Any investigation of a statutory violation is a potential criminal investigation depending on the statute involved. The complaint that was received [against Trump] involved a criminal violation.” Worley had originally planned to introduce a motion this week referring the case to local prosecutors in Fulton county, but he told the Times that he would hold off now that the state inquiry was ongoing. One formal complaint came from John F Banzhaf III, a George Washington University law professor. He and other experts have argued the phone call could violate multiple state laws, including solicitation to commit election fraud, conspiracy and “international interference” with an official’s “performance of election duties”. Georgia secretary of state investigating Donald Trump Georgia’s secretary of state has opened a formal investigation into Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in the state, Reuters is reporting: The investigation comes after Trump was recorded in a 2 January phone call pressuring Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to overturn the state’s election results based on false voter fraud claims. “The Secretary of State’s office investigates complaints it receives,” said Walter Jones, a spokesman for the office, describing the investigation as “fact finding and administrative”. Jones told Reuters that any further legal efforts would be left to the state attorney general. In the hour-long phone call in January, Trump repeatedly attempted to get Raffensperger to corroborate baseless claims of election manipulation. “The people of Georgia are angry, the people in the country are angry,” the former president said. “And there’s nothing wrong with saying, you know, um, that you’ve recalculated.” More on Raffensperger: Paul Manafort can"t face New York prosecution, court rules Paul Manafort, Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign chairman, cannot be prosecuted in New York following the former president’s pardon, a state court of appeals has ruled. New York’s highest court has declined to review a lower court ruling on a case brought by the Manhattan district attorney against Manafort, the New York Times reports: The state was pursuing charges of mortgage fraud and other felonies. Manafort was convicted in federal court of related offenses, but then was pardoned by Trump in December. The lower court had ruled that the Manhattan prosecution violated the state’s double jeopardy law – a ruling that will now stick after the higher court declined to take on the case. Before his pardon, Manafort had been serving a seven year sentence. For more on the pardon: Judge approves release of Proud Boys organizer Hi all - Sam Levin in Los Angeles taking over our live coverage for the rest of the day. A judge in Seattle has approved the release of Ethan Nordean, an organizer with the Proud Boys, who was arrested over his role in the 6 January insurrection, Politico reports. Nordean is facing charges of destruction of government property and trespassing on Capitol grounds, and US prosecutors argued that he was a flight risk and should remain detained pending his trial. But a federal magistrate judge, Brian Tsuchida, agreed to release him with a number of conditions, including restricting his travel to the Seattle region. Prosecutors are appealing the ruling, and it’s unclear if he will actually be released. The Proud Boys are a far-right, pro-Donald Trump group that the FBI has designated as an “extremist” threat, and which Canada recently designated a terrorist threat. In court filings, Nordean’s lawyers said he was “egged on by Donald Trump” – the kind of testimony that could be referenced in impeachment proceedings. Here is more from the Guardian on the links between the Proud Boys and the Republican party: Today so far That’s it from me today. My west coast colleague, Sam Levin, will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: The rules have been set for Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which begins tomorrow. Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer said that the House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team would each have 16 hours to present their arguments. “The structure we have agreed to is eminently fair,” Schumer said. “It will allow for the trial to achieve its purpose: truth and accountability.” Trump’s legal team filed a legal brief previewing their defense for the trial. In the brief, the former president’s lawyers once again argued that the trial was unconstitutional because Trump had already left office, describing impeachment as a “brazen political act”. The impeachment managers dismissed that argument, saying in their response brief that Trump had “violated his oath of office and betrayed the American people”. The first sitting member of Congress died after testing positive for coronavirus. Congressman Ron Wright, a Republican of Texas who had previously struggled with lung cancer, died last night after two weeks in the hospital. A fourth Senate Republican has announced his retirement. Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama said he would not seek reelection in 2022. Republican Senators Richard Burr of North Carolina, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania and Rob Portman of Ohio have already announced they will not be running next year. Former Democratic congressman Anthony Brindisi conceded, three months after his House race was held. The concession came hours after the New York supreme court ruled that the state could declare Republican Claudia Tenney the winner by 109 votes, despite lingering questions over the vote count. Sam will have more coming up, so stay tuned. Agreement reached on rules for impeachment trial, Schumer says Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer announced that an agreement has been reached on rules for Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, which begins tomorrow. “The structure we have agreed to is eminently fair,” Schumer said on the Senate floor. “It will allow for the trial to achieve its purpose: truth and accountability.” Schumer said that the House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team will each have 16 hours to present their arguments. If the managers want to call witnesses in the trial, there will be a vote on whether to allow them to do so. Each side will also present a closing argument. Senators will have time for questions and deliberations. The trial will go dark on Friday night to honor a request from Trump lawyer David Schoen that he be able to observe the Sabbath. Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell agreed that the rules would ensure a fair trial. “It will give senators as jurors ample time to review the case and the arguments that each side will present,” the Republican leader said. House impeachment managers will open their prosecution of Donald Trump for “incitement of insurrection” by recounting the deadly assault on the US Capitol in harrowing and cinematic detail, rekindling for senators the chaos and trauma they experienced on 6 January. The historic second impeachment trial will open on Tuesday, on the Senate floor that was invaded by rioters, with a debate over the constitutionality of the proceedings. In a brief filed on Monday, Trump’s lawyers assailed the case as “political theater” and argued that the Senate “lacks the constitutional jurisdiction” to try a former president after he has left office – an argument Democrats promptly rejected. Exactly one week after the Capitol assault, Trump became the first president to be impeached twice by the House of Representatives. This week, he will become the first former president to stand trial. It would take 17 Republicans joining all Democrats in the Senate to find Trump guilty, making conviction highly unlikely. Nevertheless, when opening arguments begin later this week, House Democrats will try to force senators to see the assault on the Capitol as the culmination of Trump’s long campaign to overturn the result of the election he lost to Joe Biden. New York Democrat concedes House race three months after election Former Democratic congressman Anthony Brindisi has conceded to Republican Claudia Tennedy, three months after the House race was held. “Today I congratulated Claudia Tenney and offered to make the transition process as smooth as possible on behalf of our community,” the New York Democrat said in a statement. Brindisi’s statement came hours after the New York supreme court ruled that the state could declare Tenney as the winner by 109 votes. “Unfortunately, this election and counting process was riddled with errors, inconsistencies and systematic violations of state and federal election laws,” Brindisi said. “My one disappointment is that the court did not see fit to grant us a recount. Sadly, we may never know how many legal voters were turned away at the polls or ballots not counted due to the ineptitude of the boards of election, especially in Oneida County.” The House currently has 431 members, following the death of Texas Republican Ron Wright yesterday. Three seats will remain open once Tenney is sworn in. Joe Biden spoke with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today, the White House announced. “The leaders agreed to continuing close cooperation to promote a free and open Indo-Pacific, including support for freedom of navigation, territorial integrity, and a stronger regional architecture through the Quad,” the White House statement said in a readout of the leaders’ call. “The President underscored his desire to defend democratic institutions and norms around the world and noted that a shared commitment to democratic values is the bedrock for the U.S.-India relationship. They further resolved that the rule of law and the democratic process must be upheld in Burma.” The call comes amid ongoing protests in India, as farmers in the country demand that a series of new agricultural laws be repealed.