“Your honor, the people rest.”
— Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, quoted by the New York Times, at Donald Trump’s criminal “hush money” trial.
“Your honor, the people rest.”
— Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass, quoted by the New York Times, at Donald Trump’s criminal “hush money” trial.
“Sen. Marco Rubio refused to commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election. Sen. Tim Scott said President Biden should take a drug test. And Rep. Elise Stefanik snapped at a television host who brought up an article questioning her support for Donald Trump,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“All three Republicans appeared on Sunday news shows, and all three are candidates in the unofficial race to become Trump’s running mate. Their performances show that being in the Trump veepstakes can entail embracing some of the former president’s controversial or unsupported claims, and facing uncomfortable moments.”
“Donald Trump came out swinging Monday morning, pushing back on claims that he froze up during a speech over the weekend and asserting that an apparent mishap involving a wobbly podium was, in fact, a stunning feat of his physical talents,” the Daily Beast reports.
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“Angling to tap into strong support for the sweeping health law he helped pass 14 years ago, one of President Joe Biden’s latest reelection strategies is to remind voters that former President Donald Trump tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act,” NPR reports.
Said Biden in a new digital ad: “Folks, he’s coming for your health care, and we’re not going to let it happen.”
Former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean (D) decided against a bid to challenge Gov. Phil Scott (R), WCAX reports.
Said Dean: “In theory, this is a winnable race. But I’ve been in state and national politics for a very long time, and there’s only one way to close a 10-point gap between two well-known candidates, and that’s to run a scorched-earth, negative attack campaign, like ones being run all over the country.”
He added: “I don’t know if a campaign like that could get me elected, but I do know that it would be really harmful to our state and to our values. I am not a candidate for the office of governor.”
“Rep. Garret Graves (R-LA) is committed to running for re-election this fall — but uncommitted on the district,” the Louisiana Illuminator reports.
“Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow a congressional redistricting plan that turned his safe-Republican 6th Congressional District into a new majority-Black seat to stay in place for the 2024 election, Graves announced he is considering what district he’ll run in.”
Washington Post: “It has been nearly two months since a judge ruled Willis could continue prosecuting the Trump case, as long as Nathan Wade, the special prosecutor she’d appointed and had a romantic relationship with, resigned. But the drama stemming from that detour has lingered.”
“The Georgia Court of Appeals last week agreed to review an appeal from Trump and several of his co-defendants seeking to overturn the order keeping Willis on the case. The review reopens the uncertainty of whether Willis will maintain control of the historic criminal case, the biggest of her career, and makes it increasingly unlikely the case will go to trial before the November election.”
“First, Willis must face the judgment of her constituents as she seeks another four-year term.”
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Donald Trump said he would consider tapping Ken Paxton for U.S. attorney general if he wins a second term in the White House, the Texas Tribune reports.
Said Trump: “I would, actually. He’s very, very talented. I mean, we have a lot of people that want that one and will be very good at it. But he’s a very talented guy.”
NBC News: “Professional line-standers are a growing part of the gig economy. But the criminal trial of a former president accused of illegally covering up hush money payments to a porn star has translated into a windfall for people who get paid to wait — and who, as the trial goes on, have increasingly been hired by members of the general public with no stake in the trial other than curiosity.”
Senate Banking Chair Sherrod Brown (D-OH) called on President Biden to replace FDIC Chair Martin Gruenberg, after damning reports of a toxic workplace culture at the bank regulator where Gruenberg has served for nearly two decades, Politico reports.
Donald Trump just sent out a fundraising appeal falsely claiming he “could even be thrown into PRISON FOR LIFE!” if the jury in his “hush money” case returns a guilty verdict, the New York Times reports.
He actually faces up to four years in prison, or probation.
Paul Bondar (R), who is running in a Republican primary against Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK), told KFOR “he recently moved to Oklahoma because he had been asked to run for that office by national political consultants.”
However, it seems like Bondar actually lives in Texas.
Michael Cohen admitted he lied to the Trump Organization about the amount he needed to be reimbursed for paying a tech firm to rig polls during the 2016 presidential campaign, The Hill reports.
“Trump’s 34 charges correspond to documents generated in repaying Cohen a total of $420,000 in 2017. Prosecutors say the amount included $130,000 to reimburse Cohen for the hush money payment at the center of the case, $50,000 for the tech firm bill and additional funds to ‘gross up’ the amount for tax purposes and pay Cohen’s bonus.”
“But Cohen admitted on the stand that he didn’t actually pay the tech firm, RedFinch Solutions, $50,000, despite telling the Trump Organization’s then-CFO he needed to be reimbursed for that amount.”
Asked Trump attorney Todd Blanche: “You did steal from the Trump Organization based on expected reimbursement from RedFinch?”
Replied Cohen: “Yes, sir.”
“Sources close to Sen. Joe Manchin, a mainstay of Democratic politics in West Virginia, say he is being encouraged to run for governor,” West Virginia Metro News reports.
“Two sources confirmed that the outreach comes from Republicans who oppose the GOP nominee for governor, Patrick Morrisey. One source said at least 20 Republicans with financial resources have reached out to Manchin, who was governor from 2005 to 2010.”
Said one: “Many Republicans who believe Manchin did a good job as governor previously are encouraging him to run again.”
“Manchin has made no decision, but also he has not dissuaded the conversations. The frequent swing vote in the U.S. Senate decided he would not run for re-election to that seat and then spent time considering whether he would run on a third-party ticket for governor before deciding against that too.”
“It is a suicidal attitude. Because one thing is to take tradition into account, to consider situations from the past, but quite another is to be closed up inside a dogmatic box.”
— Pope Francis, quoted by Axios, criticizing U.S. conservatives.
Famed white supremacist and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes streamed gay pornography on a social media account but later claimed that it was a pro-Israel hack, the Jerusalem Post reports.
Fuentes has made a number of antisemitic claims in the past, including the accusation that Jews converse with demons and engage in witchcraft.
An Israeli official told Reuters it was not involved in the crash that killed Iran’s president and foreign minister: “It wasn’t us.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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