Roger Wicker

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Congress Considers Expanding Draft to Women

Proposal is unlikely to become law amid pushback from Republicans

(Newser) - Congressional lawmakers are considering a proposal to update mandatory conscription to include women for the first time. With fewer than 1% of US adults serving in active duty combat roles and the Pentagon facing recruitment challenges, military experts in 2020 recommended Congress include women in the draft "in the...

More Senators Have COVID


More Senators
Have COVID

More Senators Have COVID

King, Wicker, and Hickenlooper all have been vaccinated

(Newser) - A Republican, a Democrat, and an Independent in the Senate all tested positive for the coronavirus on Thursday, despite being vaccinated. Sens. Roger Wicker, Angus King, and John Hickenlooper have all felt symptoms, CNBC reports. "While I am not feeling great, I'm definitely feeling much better than I...

Ricin Suspect Busted for Jailhouse Ricin Plot

Obama letter suspect 'tried to frame fake Elvis'

(Newser) - A man charged with sending poison-laced letters to President Obama and other officials has been charged with trying for a second time to frame the man first arrested in the case—an Elvis impersonator. James Everett Dutschke has been jailed since April on charges of sending ricin-tainted letters to Obama,...

Arrest Made in Ricin Case, Take II
Arrest Made in Ricin Case,
Take II
UPDATED

Arrest Made in Ricin Case, Take II

Everett Dutschke faces biological weapon charges

(Newser) - Federal agents have arrested a Mississippi man in connection with toxic letters sent to President Obama and two others, and this time they mean it. The FBI took Everett Dutschke into custody early this morning in Tupelo, reports WTVA , and he has been charged with possessing and attempting to use...

New Ricin Suspect Flees Through Woods

But authorities know how to contact Everett Dutschke: lawyer

(Newser) - Everett Dutschke, whose home was searched in connection with ricin-laced letters sent to President Obama and others, has apparently gone into hiding—though his lawyer says the FBI knows how to get in touch with him. Talking to the media earlier this week, Dutschke said, "I don't know...

Ricin Case Gets Weirder, Shifts to Ex-Suspect's Foe

Did an online feud escalate into something more sinister?

(Newser) - An Elvis impersonator, his online enemy, musical rivalries: The ricin case is getting odder and odder. Following former suspect Paul Kevin Curtis' release from prison , authorities have searched the home and former martial arts studio of Everett Dutschke, in Tupelo, Mississippi, birthplace of Elvis. Plastic-suited, gas-masked investigators left the businesses...

Senator Once Hired Ricin Suspect to Play Elvis

Roger Wicker says Curtis was 'quite entertaining'

(Newser) - Yet one more strange detail in the case of the Elvis impersonator and conspiracy theorist accused of sending toxic letters to the president and Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker. It seems that Wicker once hired the guy to, yes, impersonate Elvis, reports CNN . "He entertained at a party that my...

Cops Arrest Suspect in Mailing of Ricin Letters

Paul Kevin Curtis of Tupelo, Mississippi, in custody

(Newser) - Federal authorities have arrested a man identified as Paul Kevin Curtis of Tupelo, Mississippi, in the mailing of letters laced with toxin to President Obama and Sen. Roger Wicker, reports the Clarion-Ledger . Not much is known about the suspect at this point, though both letters were signed, "I am...

Letter to Obama Had Ricin; Senate Building Evacuated

Police questioning man with a backpack

(Newser) - A letter containing a "suspicious substance" was sent to President Obama and intercepted at the White House's off-site mail center, according to the Secret Service, and the FBI has confirmed that it has tested positive for ricin. It arrived yesterday, the same day as a letter addressed to...

Letter Sent to Senator Tests Positive for Ricin

Envelope for Roger Wicker intercepted at mail-sorting facility

(Newser) - Scary story breaking out of DC: A letter addressed to Republican Mississippi Sen. Roger Wicker tested positive for the poison ricin, reports Politico . The envelope never got to him, reports CNN , which says it was intercepted at an off-site facility that sorts mail for the Capitol. Three separate tests turned...

Dems Wield Cash in Battle for Southern Senate Seats

Unseating McConnell, Dole, others possible with funds high, GOP popularity low

(Newser) - With a huge fund-raising edge allowing for wide advertising blitzes, Democrats are pushing hard for Senate seats in red states even recently thought unwinnable, Alexander Bolton writes in the Hill. In North Carolina, Dems see a chance to unseat Elizabeth Dole; in Georgia, Saxby Chambliss; in Mississippi, Roger Wicker; and...

Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)
Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)
ANALYSIS

Senate Seats Most Likely to Flip (Only 1 to GOP)

New Dems from VA, NM, CO likely

(Newser) - The GOP's best case-scenario sees the party losing only three Senate seats this fall. Washington Post blogger Chris Cillizza runs down the races most likely to flip a vote:
  1. Mississippi: Trent Lott replacement Roger Wicker has never been elected statewide, and Barack Obama's coattails should draw in the large black
...

Wicker Will Step Into Lott's Shoes
Wicker Will
Step Into
Lott's Shoes

Wicker Will Step Into Lott's Shoes

Mississippi governor picks conservative Republican

(Newser) - Mississippi's governor has chosen Rep. Roger Wicker, a conservative Republican, to take Trent Lott's vacant seat in the US Senate until a special election can be called, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports. After 35 years, Lott quit this month, a year into his 6-year term. The timing of the special election...

13 Stories