DeSantis officially launches presidential bid, Tina Turner dies at 83: 5 Things podcast

On today's episode of the 5 Things podcast: DeSantis officially launches presidential bid

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has officially launched a bid for president. Plus, USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen breaks down the sentencing of one of the most infamous Capitol rioters, a new campaign calls for company boycotts over support of the LGBTQ+ community, USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze looks at the future of high court ethics, and Tina Turner dies at 83.

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Hit play on the player above to hear the podcast and follow along with the transcript below. This transcript was automatically generated, and then edited for clarity in its current form. There may be some differences between the audio and the text.

Taylor Wilson:

Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson and this is 5 Things you need to know Thursday, the 25th of May 2023. Today, Ron DeSantis enters the field. Plus, a notable January 6th rioter is sentenced, and we look at the future of Supreme Court ethics.

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Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is officially running for president. He entered the race yesterday after months of anticipation. And he's expected to focus his campaign heavily on culture war battles and a contrarian COVID-19 record that brought him national attention in recent years. And of course, there's his constant feuding with former President Donald Trump. He enters the race weakened by Trump's constant attacks and polling below his peak after a dominant reelection win last year. But he still holds goodwill with a segment of the Republican Party, holds a huge amount of campaign cash, and has less baggage than Trump, who was impeached twice and faces 34 criminal charges. That said, it was a rocky campaign launch. His announcement video on Twitter was hit with technical difficulties for more than 20 minutes before he was able to deliver his speech.

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A federal judge has sentenced one of the most infamous Capitol rioters to 54 months in prison. That's after he was photographed putting his feet up on a desk inside the office of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. I spoke with USA TODAY Justice Department Correspondent Bart Jansen for more. Hello, Bart.

Bart Jansen:

Hello, thanks for having me.

Taylor Wilson:

What was he convicted of here, Bart, and what's his punishment look like?

Bart Jansen:

He was convicted of eight charges at trial. He fought it at trial, which is relatively rare for the January 6th defendants; four felonies and four misdemeanors. The most serious of the felonies was for 10 years. They were all basically about obstructing an official proceeding and protesting in an unlawful area, that sort of thing.

Taylor Wilson:

And did the judge look to make an example out of him with this sentence?

Bart Jansen:

Well, prosecutors certainly wanted to make an example out of him. He was one of the most iconic figures from the riot, along with Jacob Chansley, who was shirtless wearing the horned helmet. This guy, Richard Barnett from Arkansas, made his way into the Capitol and as you said, was sitting at a desk in Nancy Pelosi's suite. He took one of her franked envelopes, I guess, to show that he had been there, put his feet up on the desk, chatted with reporters, gave many interviews outside, posted many posts on social media, and just basically promoted the riot and the goals of trying to retrieve the government.

So he was one of the most prominent figures. Prosecutors said that he should have been given more than seven years in prison, seven and a third years, and 87 months. Probation and parole said that a more standard sentence for his offenses and his background would've been about four and a half years. And his defense lawyers argued that he only deserved up to one year in jail. He'd already spent about four months in pretrial detention. So that would've been a much shorter sentence. US District Judge Christopher Cooper sentenced him to 54 months, to four and a half years. So basically splitting the difference between what prosecutors wanted as a harsher sentence and defense lawyers wanted as a lighter sentence.

Taylor Wilson:

And Bart, what's next for January 6th convictions and sentencing going forward?

Bart Jansen:

Well, we are waiting this week for some of the most significant crimes committed on January 6th. Seditious conspiracy, one of the most serious charges pressed against anyone. Prosecutors won convictions against several of the Oath Keepers, a group of retired military and law enforcement officers. The leader of the Oath Keepers, Stewart Rhodes, is a defendant prosecutors have asked for 25 years for his offense, and other members of the Oath Keepers will also be sentenced. So the results of that trial, which ran recently in DC will be known this week. And these will be some of the first sentences against people convicted of seditious conspiracy who hadn't plea bargained. So these will be the first that contested their charges and could be the harshest sentences yet. The longest sentence so far has been a 10-year sentence to a retired New York police officer who attacked other officers on that day. But seditious conspiracy, a charge of trying to overturn the federal government, is the most serious charge that's been levied. And we're going to start seeing the first sentences against people who contested those charges.

Taylor Wilson:

Bart Jansen, thanks so much.

Bart Jansen:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

With Pride Month set to begin, corporate brands from Bud Light to Target are taking fire from extremists over marketing and merchandise celebrating the LGBTQ community. Called BudLighting, the strategy aims to brand companies as woke, and it calls for boycotts over everything from Adidas gender-inclusive swimwear to a North Face marketing campaign featuring drag queen and environmentalist Pattie Gonia. More recently, people attacked LGBTQ pride displays and confronted Target employees. The company then held an emergency meeting and decided to remove or relocate some pride merchandise so it's less visible in stores.

Now, that decision is being blasted by many. Consumer psychologist Ross Steinman said Target's capitulation after a decade of supporting and profiting from the LGBTQ community could hurt its brand, and that other brands might look to the chain and follow their lead. Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom also chimed in accusing Target CEO of selling out the LGBTQ-plus community to extremists.

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Chief Justice John Roberts told an American Law Institute dinner this week that he's committed to the highest standards of conduct at the Supreme Court. The comments come as pressure mounts from Congressional Democrats for changes in the wake of a series of scandals involving Justice Clarence Thomas. I spoke with USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze to learn more. Hi there, John.

John Fritze:

Hi.

Taylor Wilson:

How did Chief Justice Roberts frame this ethics debate at this dinner?

John Fritze:

First of all, it's important to note that we don't hear very often from Chief Justice Roberts or any of the justices on criticism coming externally from the court. So I think just the broader context, it's important to note how unusual it is to hear a justice refuting or pushing back on external criticism. That said, it's not like we got a ton of specifics here from Chief Justice Roberts. What he said was that he described some of the ethics revelations that have popped up around Justice Clarence Thomas and others as an "issue of concern inside the court." So that was sort of interesting. And then he said that, "We are continuing to look at things we can do to give practical effect to the court's commitment on ethics." And that's the extent of what he gave us in terms of specifics.

Taylor Wilson:

And so no mention of Justice Clarence Thomas specifically here.

John Fritze:

Yeah, I mean, no mention of the scandals involving Thomas or others specifically. No mention of the scandals. No guidance on what he's talking about here, right? Is he talking about a code of conduct, which some advocates outside the court have asked for and certainly some members of Congress are pushing for? Is he talking about some stepped-up transparency in annual disclosure reports? I mean, there's a number of things this could be or it could be nothing. It's not like he committed to doing something next week. And by the way, it's worth noting the court has not responded to follow-up questions about what exactly did Chief Justice Roberts mean when he said this, and how soon can we expect some more clarity?

Taylor Wilson:

And Roberts mentioned separation of powers. Why the focus, John, on that when it comes to the ethics debate?

John Fritze:

First of all, you got to know that Roberts, this is like his whole thing, right? And since he has been chief, he has been very strong, very committed to this idea that the judiciary is set up as an independent branch and really shouldn't be pushed around by the other branches. I think part of his argument is like, "Look, we don't want to get the politics of Congress involved here at the Supreme Court." That's nice, but most experts think that Congress certainly could have a role in requiring a code of ethics. Not all the experts see it that way, but an awful lot do, including some conservatives. And so I don't know that there's a lot of question that Congress could do something legally or under the Constitution, but I do think there's some real questions about politically, it seems highly unlikely to me that Congress is going to be able to get a bipartisan coalition together to do something on the Supreme Court.

Taylor Wilson:

USA TODAY Supreme Court Correspondent John Fritze. Thanks as always.

John Fritze:

Thank you.

♦

Taylor Wilson:

Tina Turner has died. The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame icon died at her home in Switzerland after a long illness. Turner's life was one of musical greatness and personal trauma. She fled an abusive relationship with her musical mentor and first husband Ike Turner to reach unlikely pop stardom in the eighties with What's Love Got to Do with It. And her recording career thrived in the nineties with the albums, Break Every Rule, Foreign Affair, and Wildest Dreams, all while cultivating a younger audience with flashy music videos. She also worked on the big screen, like when she starred alongside Mel Gibson in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome in 1985. And her sexy elastic dance moves were said to have influenced Mick Jagger. Tina Turner was 83.

Thanks for listening to 5 Things. If you like the show, you can subscribe and leave us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts. And if you have any comments, you can reach us at podcasts@usatoday.com. I'm back tomorrow with more of 5 Things from USA TODAY.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: DeSantis launches presidential run, Tina Turner dies: 5 Things podcast