BE NOT PROUD: Joe Biggs, a leader of the right wing Proud Boys, was sentenced yesterday to 17 years in prison for his conviction on charges related to the January 6^th insurrection. It’s the second longest sentence handed down to anyone involved in. the Capitol riot.

  Biggs was convicted by a Washington, DC jury of seditious conspiracy for his part in attempting to prevent the peaceful transfer of power from then-President Donald Trump to Joe Biden after the 2020 election.

  “Our Constitution and laws give you so many important rights that Americans have fought and died for and that you yourself put on a uniform to defend,” District Judge Timothy Kelly said. “People around the world would give anything for these rights.”

  During a sometimes tearful appeal, the 39-year-old Biggs said, “I know that I have to be punished and I understand,” but asked “please give me the chance, I beg you, to take my daughter to school and pick her up.”

  Dressed in prison orange, he said, “I know that I messed up that day, but I am not a terrorist.” Biggs claimed that he was “seduced” by the mob and “just moved forward.”

FIRE TRAP: At least 74 people died yesterday in a fire that swept through an abandoned five-story apartment building in Johannesburg, South Africa that had been taken over by squatters. One member of the city council said that when he arrived at the scene, people were jumping out of windows. At least 12 children were counted among the dead.

  The cause is yet to be determined, but authorities said residents would set fires inside for heat and light.  The building was considered a symptom of South Africa’s serious unemployment and housing crisis.

GIFT HORSE: In a preview to his annual financial disclosure, Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas claimed he had flown in the private jet of Texas Billionaire Harlan Crow because of increased security concerns following his vote to overturn the right to abortion.

  “Because of the increased security risk following the Dobbs opinion leak, the May flights were by private plane for official travel as filer’s security detail recommended noncommercial travel whenever possible,” Justice Thomas wrote.

  Thomas has a history of not reporting luxury travel bestowed up him by rich friends. He said in his filing that he had “adhered to the then existing judicial regulations as his colleagues had done, both in practice and in consultation with the Judicial Conference.” He wrote that he “continues to work with Supreme Court officials and the committee staff for guidance on whether he should further amend his reports from any prior years.”

ORANGE ALERT: Former President Donald Trump entered a plea of not guilty to charges that he interfered with the 2020 election in Georgia even as he sought impeachment of the prosecutor who brought the charges.

  But Republican Gov. Brian Kemp of Georgia, dismissed demands from Trump and some of his supporters for the impeachment of Fani Willis. Kemp said in a news conference at the State Capitol that, “In Georgia, we will not be engaging in political theater that only inflames the emotions of the moment.” 

  It could become the most watched trial in history. Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee ruled that all the court proceedings can be live streamed on YouTube and shown on television. 

  Earlier this week it was revealed that during a deposition in the civil fraud case brought by New York against Trump, he said, “I think you would have nuclear holocaust, if I didn’t deal with North Korea,” adding, “And I think you might have a nuclear war now, if you want to know the truth.”

  The case has nothing to do with nuclear war. Trump is accused of inflating the value of his business assets by as much as $2.2 billion in order to fraudulently obtain loans. But he claimed to own “the greatest pieces of property in the world” and said that if they were up for sale, the prices offered would be staggering.

  He claimed that his name brand alone “is worth billions and billions of dollars.”

RUDY OH RUDY: Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani appears to have made a serious tactical error and was found liable this week for defaming two Georgia election workers by repeatedly declaring that they had mishandled ballots while counting votes in Atlanta during the 2020 election.

 Federal judge Beryl Howell in Washington said the case can now go to trial only on the question of how much damages, if any, Giuliani must pay the two women. 

  Giuliani had formally admitted that he made false statements, but his lawyers said that was not intended to be an admission of liability. The lawyers and Giuliani claimed that he had a First Amendment right to say what he did, revealing how little they know.

 Judge Howell said Giuliani’s stipulations “hold more holes than Swiss cheese” and declared him liable for “defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, civil conspiracy and punitive damage claims.”

THE SPIN RACK: The 200-year-old time capsule found at West Point originally thought to contain only dust when it was opened during a live stream actually held six silver American coins dating from 1795 to 1828 and a commemorative medal. — A Texas law that bans gender-affirming care for transgender youth will go into effect today. Transgender people under 18 will be barred from accessing puberty blockers and hormone therapies.

BELOW THE FOLD: After freezing up twice on camera and being unable to speak, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell released a doctor’s letter pronouncing him “medically clear” to keep working. Nonetheless, the 81-year-old McConnell appears increasingly frail.

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