Pence would be Trump’s ‘best witness’ in election conspiracy trial, attorney says | First Thing

John Lauro says indictment is full of holes and that Mike Pence could help former boss fight off 2020 election conspiracy charges. Plus, is racism at heart of US failure to tackle deadly heatwaves?

Good morning.

Donald Trump's attorney has suggested Mike Pence could help his former boss fight off the 2020 election-related criminal conspiracy charges against Trump, claiming that the former vice-president would be the best witness" for the defense.

Will Pence testify for the prosecution? Earlier on Sunday, Pence - who is running against Trump for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination - told CBS he had no plans" to testify for the prosecution. But he did not rule it out. In response to Lauro's assertion last week that all Trump did was ask him to pause the certification, Pence said: That's not what happened."

What happened during the first breakthrough? In December, Lawrence Livermore achieved a net energy gain in a fusion experiment using lasers. That experiment briefly achieved what is known as fusion ignition by generating 3.15 megajoules of energy output after the laser delivered 2.05mj to the target, the Energy Department said. In other words, it produced more energy from fusion than the laser energy used to drive it, the department said.