First Thing: Mark Meadows’ associate threatened ex-White House aide | US news

On Jul 1, 2022

Good morning.

Donald Trump’s former aide Cassidy Hutchinson was told by an associate of the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows not to cooperate with the House January 6 select committee, two sources familiar with the matter have said.

Hutchinson received a message from an associate of Meadows saying: “[A person] let me know you have your deposition tomorrow. He wants me to let you know that he’s thinking about you. He knows you’re loyal, and you’re going to do the right thing when you go in for your deposition.” The redaction was Meadows, the sources said, but the associate’s identity could not be confirmed on Thursday night.

Hutchinson also told the House investigators about a call from a Trump ally. “What they said to me is, as long as I continue to be a team player, they know that I’m on the team, I’m doing the right thing, I’m protecting who I need to protect, you know, I’ll continue to stay in the good graces in Trump World,” she said, adding that she was told to “bear in mind” that Trump will be reading the hearing’s transcripts.

Russian missile strikes in Odesa kill 17, Ukraine says

Emergency crews at work after Russian missiles hit an apartment building in Odesa, Ukraine, early on Friday. Photograph: Ukraine emergency services

Russian strikes on an apartment building and a recreation centre in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa killed at least 17 in the early hours of Friday, officials in Ukraine have said.

The state emergency services (SES) said that by 6am on Friday, 14 people had been killed and 30 injured, including three children, in the attack on the nine-storey residential building. Three others, including one child, were killed in an attack on the strike on the recreation centre, with one injured, said the SES.

The Guardian could not immediately confirm details of the incident. It comes after:

Outrage as US supreme court climate ruling ‘condemns everyone alive’

factory chimneys — The ruling essentially jeopardizes the federal government’s ability to regulate emissions.
Photograph: Radius Images/Alamy

Climate scientists, lawyers and activists have described the supreme court’s ruling to curb the Environmental Protection Agency’s regulatory power as “devastating”.

The court’s conservative majority voted 6-3 for leading coal producer West Virginia, which sued for the EPA to have less regulatory power over fossil fuel-fired power plants without express authorization from Congress under the Clean Air Act.

The result means it may now be impossible for the US to achieve its target of halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 through available avenues.

What did the ruling determine? The court’s said the Clean Air Act does not authorize anything other than direct regulation of power plants.
What did Joe Biden say? “The supreme court’s ruling in West Virginia v EPA is another devastating decision that aims to take our country backwards.” He added that he would “not relent” in using his lawful authorities to tackle the climate emergency.