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Judge Sets Deadlines in Trump Election Case, Saying Campaign Is ‘Not Relevant’
A federal judge declared at a court hearing on Thursday that she would not let former President Donald J. Trump’s campaign for the White House affect the schedule of the criminal case in which he stands accused of plotting to overturn the 2020 election.
Hours later, the judge, Tanya S. Chutkan, fulfilled that vow by setting a schedule for the matter that moved speedily ahead and opened the possibility that prosecutors could make public more of the evidence they hope to use against Mr. Trump at trial in a court filing before Election Day.
Judge Chutkan established a series of deadlines for filings from both sides to assess the impact of several legal issues on the case, including the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting Mr. Trump some immunity from criminal prosecution for official actions he took as president.
Walz lays into Trump and the Republican Party with some of his harshest campaign rhetoric
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz used some of his sharpest language on the campaign trail Thursday in remarks going after both former President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
Speaking at a rally in Erie, Pa., Walz borrowed a line from Josh Shapiro, the state’s Democratic governor by saying that “whenever Donald Trump’s talking about America, he’s s— talking America.”
Shapiro has said numerous times that Trump is “s— talking” the country, which Walz acknowledged when he paraphrased the Pennsylvania governor.
Hunter Biden enters guilty plea in federal tax case, avoiding a trial
Hunter Biden pleaded guilty Thursday to all the charges in the federal tax case against him, a surprise move that avoids a potentially embarrassing trial for President Joe Biden‘s son.
The sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 16.
“Hunter put his family first today. And it was a brave and loving thing to do,” his attorney Abbe Lowell told reporters afterwards, saying the plea prevented a “show trial.”
Biden did not speak to reporters, but issued a statement blasting prosecutors from special counsel David Weiss’ office who he said were “focused not on justice but on dehumanizing me for my actions during my addiction.”
Georgia school shooting: Suspect’s father arrested on charges including involuntary manslaughter 2
The father of the 14-year-old suspect in Wednesday’s high school shooting has been arrested on charges that include involuntary manslaughter.
The Georgia Bureau of Investigation made the announcement on X and said a news conference will be held at 8 p.m. ET to discuss the matter.
Colin Gray, 54, was arrested on four counts of involuntary manslaughter; two counts of second degree murder; and eight counts of cruelty to children, the bureau said.
Liz Cheney endorses Harris for president
Former Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., on Wednesday endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president, the latest high-profile Republican endorsement for Democrats.
Cheney’s comments took place during an appearance at Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy.
“Because of the danger that Donald Trump poses, not only am I not voting for Donald Trump, but I will be voting for Kamala Harris,” Cheney said in a video of remarks posted to X. The university separately provided a clip of Cheney’s remarks to NBC News.
Trump and Harris campaigns agree to rules for Tuesday’s ABC debate
Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trumpare set to debate each other next week for the first time after their campaigns on Wednesday agreed to the ground rules set by host network ABC.
The Sept. 10 event in Philadelphia will use the same rules and formatas the June debate between Trump and President Joe Biden.
Both campaigns had previously agreed to hold the debate on that date, but the agreement appeared to be in jeopardy after Trump suggested he might back out and Harris’ team sought to change the rule on muted microphones.
Russian money was funneled to right-wing creators through a pro-Trump media outlet: prosecutors
Employees of the Russia-backed media network RT funded and directed a scheme that sent millions of dollars to prominent right-wing commentators through a media company that appears to match the description of Tenet Media, a leading platform for pro-Trump voices, according to an NBC News review of charging documents, business records and social media profiles.
The indictment on Wednesday of two RT employees, Konstantin Kalashnikov and Elena Afanasyeva, includes allegations that the duo implemented a nearly $10 million plan to fund an unnamed Tennessee-based company as one of their “covert projects” to influence American politics by posting videos to TikTok, Instagram, X and YouTube.
Georgia high school shooting suspect was investigated in 2023 for online threats, authorities say
A 14-year-old student suspected of gunning down four people at his Georgia high school Wednesday was previously investigated in connection with threats to carry out a school shooting, federal authorities said.
The suspect, then 13, was a possible suspect in connection with threats made online last year using photos of guns, the FBI’s Atlanta field office said in a joint statement with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office.
Within 24 hours, law enforcement officers interviewed the suspected gunman, who is not named in the statement but was identified earlier by local authorities as Colt Gray, in connection with the threats, the statement says.
Malcolm Nance: DNC 2024 RECAPEGY
Man was that a party! The Democratic Convention was noteworthy for whoshowed up and what was said as well as who did not get mentioned or a chance to disrupt … I’m looking at you #FreePalestine Protesters. Watch and enjoy.
Trump Spews Election Fraud Claims, Distances From Project 2025 In Podcast Interview
In an interview with podcaster Lex Fridman, Trump spewed some of his usual rhetoric about the 2020 election and Project 2025.
“I think the fraud was on the other side. I think the election was a fraud,” Trump told Fridman, referring to the 2020 election. “And many people felt it was that and they wanted answers. And when you can’t challenge an election, you have to be able to challenge it, otherwise it’s going to get worse, not better.”
Trump, who also falsely claimed that there is a trend of noncitizens voting, is currently facing an indictment related to his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.
Harris To Seek Huge Expansion Of Startup Tax Deduction To Help Small Businesses
Vice President Kamala Harris will propose a massive expansion of a key tax break Wednesday as part of a plan to see 25 million new small businesses created by the end of her term if she wins the White House, according to a campaign official.
The plan is to be publicly proposed at a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday, the official said. The official declined to be identified in order to freely share details of the plan before its formal debut.
The centerpiece of the plan would be a 10-fold increase in the value of the tax deduction small business owners can take for their startup expenses. Under the plan, the deduction would rise from $5,000 currently to $50,000.
Federal Judge Rejects Trump Request To Intervene In Hush Money Case
A federal judge on Tuesday rejected Donald Trump’s request to intervene in his New York hush money criminal case, thwarting the former president’s latest bid to overturn his felony conviction and delay his sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled that Trump had not satisfied the burden of proof required for a federal court to take control of the case from the state court where it was tried.
Hellerstein’s ruling came hours after Manhattan prosecutors raised objections to Trump ’s effort to delay post-trial decisions in the case while he sought to have the federal court step in.
John McCain’s son endorses Harris and hits Trump over Arlington cemetery incident
The incident involving Donald Trump’s campaign staff at Arlington National Cemetery was the last straw for Jimmy McCain, the youngest son of the late Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
In an interview Tuesday on CNN, McCain said that after last week’s events at the cemetery he registered as a Democrat and decided to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris this fall.
McCain, who recently returned from deployment at a military base in Jordan where three Army Reserve soldiers were killed in January, said he changed his party affiliation to honor his father and put “country first.”
Biden says Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to get a hostage deal
President Joe Biden on Monday said he did not think Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had done enough to secure a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas, a comment that comes amid massive protests in Israel.
Biden made the remark to reporters after a weekend during which the bodies of six hostages executed by Hamas were found in a Gaza tunnel. Among those discovered was the body of 23-year-old American Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin, whose parents had publicly pleaded for the return of their son. The pair had brought their personal appeal to the Democratic National Convention, where they were received with a standing ovation.
Polls show a changed, close 2024 race heading into Labor Day
Two words sum up the national and battleground state polls released ahead of Labor Day weekend, with fewer than 10 weeks to go until Election Day: changed and close.
Changed, because most of the surveys — conducted after President Joe Biden’s exit from the 2024 race, after the Democratic convention, and after independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. endorsed former President Donald Trump — show Vice President Kamala Harris with narrow leads nationally and in key battlegrounds.
That’s compared with polling that mostly showed Trump with a narrow edge before Biden’s departure.
White House says Biden and Harris weren’t invited to Arlington Cemetery by families of service members killed during Afghanistan withdrawal
Gold Star families did not invite President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to Arlington National Cemetery by last week to commemorate the third anniversary of the attack at Abbey Gate in Afghanistan, a White House official and a Harris aide told NBC News, rebutting separate claims made Sunday by GOP Sen. Tom Cotton and former Rep. Tulsi Gabbard.
The two were speaking about former President Donald Trump’s visit last week to Arlington National Cemetery, where he has drawn criticism for posing for photos with Gold Star families in a section of the cemetery where photos are traditionally prohibited.
Last week, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Trump’s visit was a “personal invitation by families.”
Biden and Harris rally in battleground Pennsylvania as Trump sits out Labor Day
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris joined forces on the campaign trail Monday in the marquee union town of Pittsburgh, making the case that their administration’s record on labor would again lift workers if Harris were sent to the White House.
It was a Labor Day showing in a battleground state on what is traditionally the political kickoff to the fall campaign season. But it was a tradition bypassed by President Donald Trump, who in an unusual move did not hit the trail either Sunday or Monday.
Trump does have several stops planned for later in the week, including in North Carolina and Wisconsin, as well as a town hall in Pennsylvania and a visit to the Economic Club of New York. His campaign did not respond to a request for comment.
Charlie Pierce: There’s Only One Reason CNN’s Dana Bash Asked VP Harris What She’ll Do On Day One
I suppose discussing The Interview is worth a few pixels. I thought both halves of the Democratic ticket did fairly well, and I don’t think Dana Bash was all that terrible. (She was, of course, terrible, along with Jake Tapper, in their roles as moderators of Trump-Biden, in which they allowed the former president* to gish-gallop like Secretariat on the backstretch of the Belmont.) She didn’t ask a single question I didn’t anticipate, and she elicited nothing from either candidate that I didn’t already know, although I am a bit startled by Vice President Harris’ sudden devotion to fracking, especially considering the current dangerous rise in methane emissions, which are an inevitable byproduct of the fracking process. I would have liked to hear the vice president address that very real concern, but Bash perseverated on the why-did-you-change? gotcha theme because that’s what you do in the television game.
Noel Casler: Black Books-Chapter Seven
With the smugness of a hairless cat, the thin white scion luxuriated in the South Florida sun.
“Botox don’t burn bitches!” he exclaimed to Vanky as she attempted to pass him the sunblock.
They both laughed out loud.
His more of a whinny than a guffaw, like a chipmunk on ecstasy.
She possessed a heartier laugh which was more akin to her natural throaty timbre, it had the guttural retort of a longshoreman with the flu.
Read the rest of Noel Casler’s piece at his Substack “Noel’s Notes”
Trump asks federal court to delay sentencing in his New York hush money case
Former President Donald Trump is seeking to delay the upcoming sentencing in his New York hush money case by again asking a federal court in New York to take up the case in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity.
In a 60-page filing Thursday, Trump’s lawyers urged the court to reconsider his argument to remove the case from state court to federal court ahead of the former president’s Sept. 18 sentencing.
“The ongoing proceedings will continue to cause direct and irreparable harm to President Trump — the leading candidate in the 2024 Presidential election — and voters located far beyond Manhattan,” defense lawyers Todd Blanche and Emil Bove wrote in the filing.
Trump Claims He’s A Victim Of ‘Very Bad People’ After Dustup At Arlington Cemetery
After his campaign’s staffers “abruptly pushed aside” an official at Arlington National Cemetery and ignored rules prohibiting political activity on its grounds, President Donald Trump is pushing back, saying he was the victim of a smear campaign from “bad people” out of Washington.
“Those incredible parents … asked me to go yesterday to Arlington, and I did,” Trump said at a rally Thursday in Michigan. (He was actually at the cemetery on Monday.)
“And while I was there, I was there for a long time. … While we were there, they said: ‘Could you take pictures over the grave of my son, my sister, my brother, would you take pictures with, us sir?’ I said, ‘Absolutely.’ I did. Then I said farewell, I said goodbye.”
Trump says he wants to make IVF treatments paid for by government or insurance companies if elected
Former President Donald Trump said in an interview with NBC News on Thursday that if he is elected, his administration would not only protect access to in-vitro fertilization but would also have either the government or insurance companies cover the cost of the expensive service for American women who need it.
“We are going to be, under the Trump administration, we are going to be paying for that treatment,” Trump said before adding, “We’re going to be mandating that the insurance company pay.”
Asked to clarify whether the government would pay for IVF services or whether insurance companies would do so, Trump reiterated that one option would be to have insurance companies pay “under a mandate, yes.”
Harris defends her policy changes in first interview: ‘My values have not changed’
Vice President Kamala Harris was pressed about her policy evolutions Thursday in her first interview since she became the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee, sitting alongside her running mate, Tim Walz.
The highly anticipated interview, with CNN’s Dana Bash, came after pressure had been building for Harris to answer more questions from impartial journalists and fully sketch out how her vision differs from that of President Joe Biden. She has largely avoided doing either in the 39 days since he decided not to run for re-election and endorsed her, instead.
“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective,” Harris said when she was asked about her policy evolutions, “is that my values have not changed.”
Kamala Harris Surges in Battleground States, Fox News Polling Shows
Vice President Kamala Harris has closed the gap in several critical swing states just over a month into her campaign, according to recent polling by Fox News.
The network released new surveys on Wednesday comparing Harris’ support in four battleground states to President Joe Biden‘s polling numbers prior to him suspending his reelection campaign in late July. The results found that Harris is locked in a tight race with former President Donald Trump in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina—states where Biden once trailed the GOP presidential nominee by at least 5 points each.
In Arizona, where Harris currently leads Trump by 1 point (50 percent to 49 percent), Biden was down by 5 percentage points in a Fox News poll in June. Harris also leads Trump in Georgia and Nevada by 2 percentage points (50 percent to 48 percent). Biden, on the other hand, was trailing the former president by 6 points in Georgia back in April and by 5 points in Nevada in June.
Supreme Court Rejects Biden Administration Plea To Restore Student Debt Relief Plan
The Supreme Court on Wednesday kept on hold the latest multibillion-dollar plan from the Biden administration that would have lowered payments for millions of borrowers, while lawsuits make their way through lower courts.
The justices rejected an administration request to put most of it back into effect. It was blocked by 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In an unsigned order, the court said it expects the appeals court to issue a fuller decision on the plan “with appropriate dispatch.”
JD Vance Says Kamala Harris ‘Can Go To Hell’
Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance said Wednesday that Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris “can go to hell.”
The caustic comment came in response to a reporter’s question about an “altercation” Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, where Trump reportedly posed for photos over the objections of cemetery officials.
Vance said Trump had been invited by family members of some of the 13 service members killed during the disastrous U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
Trump team downplays Arlington ‘incident’ in an effort to minimize political fallout
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is playing down reports of an altercation during his visit to Arlington National Cemetery on Monday, a move that signals its concern about potential political fallout from the incident.
“A nameless bureaucrat at Arlington whose job it is to preserve the dignity of the cemetery is doing the complete opposite in trying to make what was a very solemn and respectful event into something it was not,” said Trump campaign senior adviser Chris LaCivita, a retired Marine who was with Trump at the cemetery Monday.
Harris and Walz agree to joint sit-down interview airing Thursday on CNN
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to soon face her first post-convention test when she sits for a formal interview airing in primetime on Thursday.
CNN announced Tuesday that Harris and her running mate Gov. Tim Walz will be interviewed by anchor Dana Bash, marking the first sitdown with a reporter since President Joe Biden bowed out of the race.
The interview, airing at 9 p.m. ET, comes as Harris and Walz take a campaign bus tour of battleground Georgia and as she faced growing calls from the Trump campaign and reporters to agree to an extended questioning.
Trump says he’s accepted rules for September 10 debate, which include muted mics
Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced on Truth Social that he has “reached an agreement” to participate in a September 10 debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, noting that “the rules will be the same as the last CNN debate, which seemed to work out well for everyone.”
The rules will largely mirror the terms used by CNN for its June 27 debate, including that microphones will be muted as the other candidate speaks and no studio audience will be present, a person familiar with the matter confirmed to CNN.
Still, the Harris campaign maintains that discussions are ongoing with ABC over whether microphones will remain on during September’s presidential debate, according to a source familiar with the matter.
Harris aims to expand electoral map with two-day Georgia bus tour, Savannah rally
Vice President Kamala Harris will embark on a two-day Georgia swing on Wednesday, and analysts say it’s wise to strike in the Southern swing state while she has momentum.
The Democratic presidential nominee is coming off what even some Republicans say was a successful national convention, with Donald Trump campaign aides contending any polling spike she gets this week is merely a political sugar high that will fade.
But Harris and her team have made clear they believe the Peach State, won by President Joe Biden in 2020, is in play again.
Special counsel reindicts Trump with narrower set of accusations after Supreme Court immunity decision
Special counsel Jack Smith filed a superseding indictment against former President Donald Trump on Tuesday in which he again accused Trump of resisting the peaceful transfer of power after the 2020 presidential election. Smith narrowed the allegations after a landmark Supreme Court ruling on presidential power earlier this year.
The new 36-page charging document is based on a more refined set of allegedly criminal acts after the Supreme Court ruled Trump was immune from prosecution for some of the conduct included in Smith’s original 45-page indictment returned last year.
U.S. Judge blocks Biden administration from granting legal status to immigrant spouses of U.S. citizens
A federal judge in Texas on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration from granting legal status to unauthorized immigrants married to American citizens, granting a request from 16 Republican-led states who challenged the new policy.
The order by District Court Judge J. Campbell Barker effectively brings to a halt a large immigration program that opened just last week to an estimated half a million immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status. While preliminary and temporary, the ruling is also an early blow to one of the two major moves taken by President Biden in June on immigration, a top campaign issue in the 2024 race for president.
Democrats Sue Georgia Election Board Over New Rules That Could Delay Vote Certification
Democrats sued Georgia’s State Election Board on Monday, asking a judge to block new rules the party claims could cause “chaos” and allow local officials to potentially delay or even stop the certification of votes in November.
The suit — filed by the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic National Committee, with backing from Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign — comes after the election board voted to shift its rules regarding the certification process. In a 3-2 vote, the body gave local election officials the power to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying any results. A separate rule will also allow those officials to “examine all election related documentation created” during a race.
Special counsel Jack Smith urges appeals court to revive Trump classified documents case
Federal prosecutors asked an appeals court Monday to restore Donald Trump’s classified documents case, pushing back on the former president‘s claims that Jack Smith’s appointment as special counsel violated the Constitution.
“The Attorney General validly appointed the Special Counsel, who is also properly funded,” Assistant Special Counsel James Pearce, a member of Smith’s team, wrote in a brief filed with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. “In ruling otherwise, the district court deviated from binding Supreme Court precedent, misconstrued the statutes that authorized the Special Counsel’s appointment, and took inadequate account of the longstanding history of Attorney General appointments of special counsels.”
Trump suggests he may back out of a Sept. 10 ABC debate
Former President Donald Trump suggested Monday that he might back out of the scheduled ABC News debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Sept. 10 because he said the network is hostile toward Republicans.
Speaking in a Vietnamese restaurant in Falls Church, Virginia, Trump said he had watched ABC News’ “This Week” on Sunday and didn’t like how Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., was treated.
“When I looked at the hostility of that, I said, ‘Why am I doing it? Let’s do it with another network.’ I want to do it,” Trump told reporters.
Charlie Pierce: National Weirdo RFK Jr. Has, Unsurprisingly, Endorsed Donald Trump
Jefferson Morley—the dogged, relentless gumshoe whose pursuit of what the CIA knew about the assassination of John F. Kennedy has been invaluable in changing what the public knows about that dark watershed in American history—sent out a newsletter on Monday that contained a scene that Oliver Stone deleted from his biopic of Richard Nixon. It was a dramatization of an actual meeting between President Nixon and CIA director Richard Helms in which the two of them circle the subject of what the CIA knew of those events—Anthony Hopkins’s Nixon nervously hiding behind bluster while Sam Waterston plays Helms, as cool and cold-blooded as a viper. Every word of their dialogue carries a hidden, poisonous spine like those rockfish that paralyze divers, never so obviously as when Nixon tries to explain his efforts at a breakthrough with China, which he says might separate Russia from China and “could create a balance of power that would secure the peace into the next century.”
Dean Obeidallah: Despite what the NY Times claims: Joy actually is a strategy—a winning one at that!
The NY Times—being the NY Times—on Friday published an op-ed about Vice President Harris with the title, “Joy is not a Strategy.” This article was penned by their Deputy Opinion Editor Patrick Healy who shared how he “cringed a little in the convention hall Tuesday night when Bill Clinton said Kamala Harris would be “the president of joy.” He then criticized Harris for not laying out policy details. Of course, this article was shared by many on the right to make the point, “Even the New York Times isn’t buying Kamala’s policies or lack thereof.”
Read the rest of Dean Obeidallah’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
The Rude Pundit: Some Perspective After the DNC Hangover
The 2024 Democratic National Convention was, by most ways you could look at it, a shockingly spectacular success, even if Beyonce’ and Taylor Swift didn’t show (and, really, they’d have been in the way). The absolute exuberance on display made it plain that President Joe Biden’s decision to step aside and not seek reelection had unclenched the anxiety-puckered anuses of the Democrats, and that let them be able to cut loose, open one extra button on the shirt, loosen the belt, and have a great fucking time. The process of anointing Vice President Kamala Harris and Governor Tim Walz as the Democratic ticket was masterfully conceived and executed, and its purpose was clear: You wanna really make America great again? Kick Trump and his MAGA motherfuckers into the shitcan of history.
To put it another way, the message was “Don’t you want the crazy shit over with? Don’t you just wanna go back to normal?” And that’s a damn fine message
Harris raised $82 million during DNC, $540 million since launch, campaign says
Vice President Kamala Harris raised $82 million the week of the Democratic National Convention, bringing her total haul since launching her candidacy last month to $540 million, her campaign said.
The sum is buttressed by nearly $40 million raked in during and after Harris delivered her acceptance speech at the convention on Thursday night, campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon said in a statement, which noted the campaign crossed the half-billion-dollar mark moments before she took the stage.
The hour after the vice president’s remarks was the campaign’s best fundraising hour, O’Malley Dillon said.
WORLD Israel and Hezbollah exchange strikes before pulling back, jolting region amid Gaza cease-fire talks
What to know about the exchange of fire between Israel and Hezbollah
- Israel and the Hezbollah militant group launched their heaviest exchange of fire after months of strikes and counterstrikes. By mid-morning Sunday, it appeared to have ended, with both sides saying they only aimed at military targets.
- Authorities in Lebanon said the Israeli strikes killed three people, while Israel said one of its soldiers was killed.
RFK Jr.’s Sister Scorches Him For Setting Fire To ‘Father’s Memory’ After Backing Trump
Kerry Kennedy, sister of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., declared that her father would’ve “detested almost everything” Donald Trump represents as she slammed her brother for endorsing the former president on Friday.
“I’m outraged and disgusted by my brother’s gaudy and obscene embrace of Donald Trump,” she told MSNBC host Jen Psaki on Sunday.
“And I completely disavow and separate and dissociate myself from Robert Kennedy Jr. in this flagrant and inexplicable effort to desecrate and trample and set fire to my father’s memory.”
Sen. JD Vance Says He Will ‘Absolutely Commit’ To Not Imposing A Federal Abortion Ban
Ohio Sen. JD Vance, the Republican nominee for vice president, said he will “absolutely commit” to not implementing a federal abortion ban two years after saying he’d like “abortion to be illegal nationally.”
While appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Vance vouched for former President Donald Trump, telling moderator Kristen Welker that he believes Trump would veto a federal abortion ban if he’s elected president in the fall.
“I think he would,” Vance told Welker after she pressed him about his party’s efforts to propel a bill restricting abortion access nationwide. “He said that explicitly that he would.”
5 charged in Matthew Perry’s ketamine death as new details emerge
Five people have been charged in connection with the ketamine death of “Friends” star Matthew Perry, federal officials in Los Angeles announced Thursday.
Three of the defendants, including a doctor and the actor’s assistant, are in plea agreements for federal drug charges in connection with this death, while two others — including a second doctor and a woman reportedly known as “The Ketamine Queen” who is accused of selling Perry the batch of ketamine that killed him, were arrested on Thursday, according to the Department of Justice.
U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said investigators conducted a wide-ranging investigation following Perry’s death in October 2023 that “revealed a broad, underground criminal network responsible for distributing large quantities of ketamine to Mr. Perry and others.”
Trump says he’s ‘entitled’ to make personal attacks on Harris, citing lack of respect
At a news conference Thursday afternoon at his Bedminster golf club in New Jersey — his second in a week – former President Donald Trump said he’s “entitled” to insult his Democratic opponent — Vice President Kamala Harris — because he doesn’t respect her.
“I think I am entitled to personal attacks. I do not have a lot of respect for her. I don’t have a lot of respect for her intelligence, and I think she’ll be a terrible president. And I think it is very important that we win. And whether the personal attacks are good, bad – I mean, she certainly attacks me personally. She actually called me weird. ‘He’s weird,'” he said.
“She’s not — she’s not smart. I don’t believe she loves our country,” he added.
Biden, Harris greeted by chants of ‘Thank you, Joe’ at 1st joint event since he exited race
President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris held their first joint event since Biden exited the 2024 race and endorsed her to take his place atop the Democratic ticket.
The two walked out together to cheers to deliver remarks on stage at Prince George’s County Community College in Maryland about the economy and what their administration has done to alleviate costs for Americans.
That includes the administration’s announcement earlier Thursday that the Department of Health and Human Services reached an agreement on price negotiations for 10 commonly used drugs that they say will save Medicare enrollees $1.5 billion in out-of-pocket costs when the new prices go into effect in 2026.
Harris to unveil economic agenda that would crack down on ‘price gouging’ on food, groceries
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to release her economic agenda on Friday following calls for her campaign to zero in on policy after their unprecedented rise to the top of Democratic ticket.
Harris is set to outline her plans at an event in Raleigh, North Carolina — a pivotal battleground state both Harris and former President Donald Trump will work to win in November. Among the economic policies Harris is set to announce is a plan to provide up to $25,000 in down payment support for first-time homeowners, according to a campaign official.
The campaign is vowing that during her first term, the Harris-Walz administration would provide working families who have paid their rent on time for two years and are buying their first home up to $25,000 in down-payment assistance, with more generous support for first-generation homeowners.
Resurfaced Podcast With JD Vance Has Weird Audio About The ‘Postmenopausal Female’
Vice presidential candidate JD Vance agreed with a podcast host in 2020 that the “whole purpose of the postmenopausal female” is to help raise grandchildren.
The remark came during an appearance on a podcast called “The Portal,” hosted by Eric Weinstein, who at the time was the managing director of an investment firm founded by billionaire Vance backer Peter Thiel. Vance was speaking about how the mother of his wife, Usha Vance, took a sabbatical for a year to help take care of their newborn son.
The podcast was resurfaced by Heartland Signal.
“You can sort of see the effect it has on him to be around them, they spoil him, all the classic stuff that grandparents do to grandchildren,” Vance said. “But it makes him a much better human being to have exposure to his grandparents.”
Trump attacks Harris on the economy, but talking little policy
Trump is in North Carolina to deliver remarks on the economy, but his speech so far has not revealed any new or detailed policy positions and instead is focused on bashing Harris on inflation and immigration.
“With four more years of Harris, your finances will never recover, they’re never going to recover. Our country will never recover, frankly, more importantly. It will be unrecoverable,” he said. “Vote Trump, and your incomes will soar, your savings will grow, young people will be able to afford a home and we will bring back the American dream bigger, better and stronger than ever before.”
Poll: Dem Enthusiasm Swells After Harris Enters Race
Democrats are feeling significantly more enthusiastic about the presidential election ever since Harris entered the race, with enthusiasm jumping from 46% in June to 85%, according to the findings of a new poll released Wednesday.
The latest Monmouth University poll of 801 registered voters found voter enthusiasm among all groups rising from 48% to 68% since Biden dropped out. Democrats were the biggest contributors to this, followed by independents, whose enthusiasm has risen from 34% to 54%. Republicans’ enthusiasm has stayed the same at 71%.
Malcolm Nance: JD Vance is a Swiftboating Blue Falcon (Buddy F*cker) Here is Why.
The Republican Vice Presidential nominee, JD Vance, generally doesn’t want people to know that when he served in the US Marine Corps as a journalist (called a Combat Correspondent) deployed to Iraq, his name was not JD Vance. He was Corporal James D. Hamel. Corporal Hamel was assigned in the relatively safe, air-conditioned spaces on an al-Assad airbase in Western Iraq, where he put out press releases for the 2ndMarine Air Wing for a year. There was danger. Every US base was rocketed, and the roads were dicing with death, but writing press releases for The Eagle and Crescent base newspaper was his daily job. At the end of four years, he got out without any distinguishing award or the coveted Combat Action Ribbon. No matter, he served honorably. But his attack this week on retired Master Sargent Tim Walz, the homey beloved governor of Minnesota, went about twenty steps too far.
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Kamala Harris to release her first major economic plan as a presidential candidate
Vice President Kamala Harris is set to deliver a speech Friday to roll out her economic portfolio in Raleigh, North Carolina, marking the first time Harris has released a major policy initiative since President Biden dropped out of the race last month.
Harris is expected to announce that she will make tackling inflation a “Day One” priority, as well as outline a plan to lower costs for middle class families, take on corporate-price gouging and an overall focus on lowering costs for Americans, according to details shared by Harris-Walz campaign officials.
According to the most recent CBS News poll, only 9% of registered voters rated the condition of the national economy as ‘very good’ with the economy and inflation ranking as the top issue of concern consistently across 2024 polls. Inflation has cooled since its peak in June 2022, but many voters are still feeling the financial strains. Prices are still 20% higher overall than prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
UAW files federal labor charges against Donald Trump and Elon Musk
The United Auto Workers Union has filed federal labor charges against former President Donald Trump and Elon Musk, the union said Tuesday.
In a thread on X, the union said Trump and Musk had illegally attempted to “threaten and intimidate workers who stand up for themselves by engaging in protected concerted activity, such as strikes.”
Musk — who has endorsed Trump for president — interviewed him for two hours Monday night on X Spaces in a conversation that reached over 1 million users.
Rep. Ilhan Omar fends off primary challengers following other ‘squad’ members’ defeats
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., fended off several primary challengersTuesday, NBC News projects, a victory for progressives after two of her fellow members of the “squad” suffered defeats this summer.
Omar defeated former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, who lost to her by just 2 percentage points in the 2022 primary, and two other challengers in Minnesota’s 5th District.
Reps. Jamaal Bowman, of New York, and Cori Bush, of Missouri — also members of the progressive “squad” of lawmakers of colors — lost primaries in recent weeks that centered on the Democratic Party’s split over the Israel-Hamas war.
Walz defends his military record amid Republican attacks at first solo campaign event
Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz defended his military record Tuesday amid attacks from Republicans led by his election rival, Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, who has accused him of stolen valor.
“I am damn proud of my service to this country,” Walz, the governor of Minnesota, said in Los Angeles during his first solo event on the campaign trail.
Walz said he served in the National Guard for 24 years “for the same reason all my brothers and sisters in uniform do: We love this country.”
Harris Campaign Bashes Trump-Musk Interview as ‘Self-Obsessed Rich Guys’ Who ‘Cannot Run a Livestream’
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign bashed Elon Musk’s interview with former President Donald Trump that was hosted on X, The Platform Formerly Known as Twitter, issuing a statement that dunked on the two participants as “self-obsessed rich guys” who couldn’t run a livestream.
The chat between Musk and the ex-president got off to a late start, as many users were initially unable to tune in for over half an hour after the Space was supposed to open. The interview finally got started around 8:45 pm ET.
Musk claimed the problem was due to a “massive DDOS attack,” but the rest of Twitter/X — including Spaces — was showing normal functionality for users, and The Verge reported that several sources at X said that “there wasn’t actually a denial-of-service attack,” and there was a “99 percent” chance Musk was not telling the truth.
RFK Jr. denied ballot access in New York after judge rules he used ‘sham’ address on petition
A New York judge ruled Monday that Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s ballot-access petition in the state is invalid, delivering the first major blow to the independent presidential candidate’s bid for nationwide ballot access.
New York Supreme Court Justice Christina Ryba accepted the arguments made by Democratic voters and supported by Clear Choice PAC, a pro-Kamala Harris group seeking to combat third party candidates, which claimed Kennedy violated state law by listing a New York address as his residence on the petition despite living in California.
Ryba wrote that Kennedy’s listed New York address was not a “bona fide and legitimate residence, but merely a ‘sham’ address that he assumed for the purpose of maintaining his voter registration and furthering his own political aspirations in this State.”
Arizona abortion rights measure will be on November ballot
A ballot measure for a proposed Arizona constitutional amendment that would establish a “fundamental right to abortion” has garnered enough signatures to be on the state’s ballot.
The Arizona Abortion Access Act received 577,971 certified signatures, the Arizona secretary of state’s office confirmed Monday – nearly 200,000 more than required to appear on the November ballot. An estimated 800,000 signatures were submitted, the office said.
The measure would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution up to fetal viability, which doctors believe is around 22 to 24 weeks of pregnancy.
Trump Slurs Words In Rambling, Off-The-Rails Interview With World’s Richest Man…
Former President Donald Trump went on a two-hour tear of lies, exaggerations and fearmongering in a conversation Monday with billionaire Elon Musk on the X social media platform.
The chat between the two men, one the Republican nominee for president and the other the world’s richest man, is Trump’s latest effort to appeal to voters as Vice President Kamala Harris has continued to gain ground in the early days of her Democratic presidential bid. Musk, who has endorsed Trump, said the event was meant to let people “get a feel” for what the former president is like when he’s having a casual conversation.
Charlie Pierce: Mormons Don’t Want to Vote for Trump
I have pretty much given up on waiting for lots of people to advance The Washington Post’s mega scoop about the possibility that the Republican candidate for president might have been sublet to the government of Egypt. A consensus seems to be building that there is no “smoking gun” to prove that former attorney general Bill Barr squashed an FBI probe into the matter, which I guess is the most important part of the story, although Egyptian bankers hustling ten large in small bills into duffel bags and shipping them Trumpward seems fairly compelling in a Donald Westlake/Elmore Leonard kind of way. So, okay, let’s look at another story that’s largely sailing under the radar. The former president* seems to be losing the Mormons.
Trump flails as Harris gains momentum
Donald Trump’s campaign, which has whiffed in its early attacks on Kamala Harris’ new presidential campaign, will grapple this week for a more effective foothold after the vice president transformed an election of stunning surprises.
The ex-president has deployed some of his most trusted political tools — targeting racial identify, creating alternative realities, flinging insults and gaslighting. On Sunday, for instance, he spread a new false conspiracy theory over the size of Harris’ rally crowd in Michigan last week. But his efforts to bring down his new adversary and her policy of ignoring his provocations have so far more highlighted his own liabilities than hers and emphasized the way Harris could offer a new choice for voters.
Trump Falsely Accuses Harris Of Using AI For Massive Crowd At Rally
Former President Donald Trump on Sunday falsely accused his opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris, of using artificial intelligence to give the appearance of a more extensive crowd during a Wednesday campaign rally near Detroit, Michigan.
“Has anyone noticed that Kamala CHEATED at the airport? There was nobody at the plane, and she ‘A.I.’d’ it, and showed a massive ‘crowd’ of so-called followers, BUT THEY DIDN’T EXIST! She was turned in by a maintenance worker at the airport when he noticed the fake crowd picture, but there was nobody there, later confirmed by the reflection of the mirror like finish on the Vice Presidential Plane,” the former reality TV star posted on his social media platform, Truth Social, on Sunday.
Harris says she supports eliminating federal taxes on tips
Vice President Kamala Harris pledged Saturday to eliminate taxes on tipped wages for service workers, matching a proposal from former President Donald Trump.
During a rally in Las Vegas she held alongside her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Harris praised the work of the Culinary Workers Union, which endorsed her Friday, and vowed to continue to support policies that would benefit the union’s workers.
“When I am president, we will continue our fight for working families of America, including to raise the minimum wage, and eliminate taxes on tips for service and hospitality workers,” Harris said.
Democratic National Convention speakers include Biden, Obama and the Clintons
Several prominent Democratic figures are set to speak at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this month, two sources familiar with the plans told NBC News.
President Joe Biden, former presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have been confirmed as speakers at the convention. Obama and the Clintons delivered speeches during the 2020 DNC, which was largely held virtually to prevent the spread of Covid-19 amid the pandemic.
A source familiar said that former President Jimmy Carter’s grandson Jason Carter is also confirmed to be speaking as a representative for his grandfather.
The Rude Pundit: Harris/Walz… We Need This Joy
Something occurred to me while watching yesterday’s rally in Philadelphia kicking off the campaign for the full 2024 Democratic ticket of current Vice President Kamala Harris for president and Governor Tim Walz for vice president. It occurred to me while watching Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who had been considered a frontrunner for the VP job, pumping up the crowd like the greatest hype man in history. It occurred to me when Harris introduced Walz to a nation that, beyond those of us damned to be terminally online in the political world, knew very little about him. It occurred to me when Walz, all big dad energy, scolded the Republicans, Donald Trump and JD Vance, for their deprivations and degradations while telling the gathered 10,000 people how they needed to get out on that field and beat the cross-town rivals. It occurred to me as I felt myself getting caught up in the excitement of the moment, with the expected cheers and spontaneous chants from the audience at Temple University. And it kept occurring to me today as I saw the elated crowds in Eau Claire and Detroit.
Harris Camp Declines to Commit to Trump’s Fox News Debate Pitch, Future Debates ‘Contingent’ on Trump Showing Up on Sept. 10
Vice President Kamala Harris will not agree to a Sept. 4 debate on Fox News against former President Donald Trump but could take up his offer for multiple debates if he shows up for their scheduled Sept. 10 debate on ABC News, a report claims.
Trump proposed three debates during a lengthy press conference on Thursday afternoon. In addition to the ABC debate which Trump initially agreed to with the Biden campaign, the former president pitched debates on Fox News and NBC scheduled for Sept. 4 and Sept. 24, respectively.
Kamala Harris Takes First Questions From the Press Since Becoming Democratic Nominee
Vice President Kamala Harris took her first questions from the press on Thursday since becoming the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee.
Harris – who has received criticism for dodging questions from the press since she launched her presidential campaign last month – answered a few short questions from reporters on Thursday evening, addressing debates with former President Donald Trump and Republican attacks on her running mate Tim Walz.
“VP Kamala Harris took a few questions on the tarmac just now,” reported Politico White House correspondent Eugene Daniels in a series of social media posts. “On a sit-down interview: ‘I’ve talked to my team. I want us to get an interview scheduled before the end of the month.’”
Trump appears to confuse former Mayor Willie Brown with former Gov. Jerry Brown
Former President Donald Trump on Thursday appeared to confuse former San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown with former California Gov. Jerry Brown in recounting what he characterized as a near-death experience.
During a news conference from his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida, Trump said he once flew with Willie Brown in a helicopter that “went down” when he was asked about Vice President Kamala Harris’ past relationship with the former mayor and whether he thought the relationship had played a role in her career path.
“In fact, I went down in a helicopter with him. We thought maybe this is the end. We were in a helicopter going to a certain location together, and there was an emergency landing. This was not a pleasant landing, and Willie was, he was a little concerned,” Trump said. “So I know him. I know him pretty well.”
Trump lashes out about Harris crowd size, attacks her intelligence at bizarre press conference
In a long and, at times, rambling news conference on Thursday, former President Donald Trump repeated numerous falsehoods as he lashed out against Vice President Kamala Harris, his opponent in the presidential race.
Trump led the event, his first open news conference since Gov. Tim Walz was named Harris’ running mate, by announcing he agreed to ABC News’ Sept. 10 debate against Harris. Trump did not mention Walz by name during the news conference at Mar-a-Lago, which went on for over an hour.
Trump responded to several questions from the press but went off-topic several times to push false claims on several topics, including the outcome of the 2020 election. Here are some of the major takeaways.
Harris and Walz Make Their Appeal in Midwest Swing
The battle for the Upper Midwest began in earnest on Wednesday, with the Harris and Trump campaigns making dueling appearances in the same cities. Vice President Kamala Harris and her new running mate, Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota, wrapped up their day with a rally in Michigan, where Senator JD Vance of Ohio began his.
Another large and energetic crowd gathered to meet Ms. Harris and Mr. Walz at an airport hangar in Detroit, just hours after they spoke at a packed rally in Eau Claire, Wis. Raucous supporters spilled onto the Detroit tarmac and cheered Ms. Harris’s arrival on Air Force Two. Her campaign said 15,000 people attended the event, which appeared to make it Ms. Harris’s largest yet.
Joe Biden Gives Voters A Chilling Donald Trump Reality Check: ‘He Means It’
President Joe Biden, in his first interview since abandoning his reelection campaign last month, expressed his fears over what former president and current GOP nominee Donald Trump may do if he loses the 2024 election against Democratic rival Kamala Harris.
CBS News’ Robert Costa asked Biden if he was confident that a peaceful transfer of power would take place in January 2025.
“If Trump loses, I’m not confident at all,” Biden replied.
The Right-Wing Attacks On Tim Walz Are Weird
For the last four years, conservative and right-wing activists and pundits have been engaged in a culture war that demonizes racial justice, the LGBTQ community and progressive ideals. So, when presumptive Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris announced Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her running mate on Tuesday, the culture warriors immediately dusted off their old playbook to attack Walz.
Walz, a veteran and former teacher, has been a champion of LGBTQ rights, public education and racial equality — a platform that is anathema to Republican ideology.
As governor, he approved a measure that would provide free menstrual products to public schools, including putting them in both girls and boys bathrooms.
Trump complains about campaign as advisers try to focus on attacking Harris
As staffers and allies gathered at the GOP nominating convention in Milwaukee last month, some privately discussed what administration jobs certain people wanted — and predicted a landslide election. There was talk of spending money in states where Republicans haven’t won in decades.
Malcolm Nance: FLASH TRAFFIC – Israel-Iran War 2.0 is Coming … Maybe Within Hours
Sometime within the next 24 to 48 hours, Vice President Kamala Harris will be pulled aside or woken up, and these words will be whispered to her:
“Defense intelligence is watching the movement of over 100 Iranian ballistic missile launchers come out of their warehouses. At approximately 2200 hours East Coast time, space sensors detected ballistic missile launches. All missiles are boosting towards Israel. They are over double the number of missiles we saw in April. US Central Command and Commander Sixth Fleet have ordered their forces to engage at the president’s direction.”
Read the rest of the story at and subscribe to Malcolm Nance’s Substack
Pakistani national charged with alleged plot to assassinate Donald Trump, other public officials
A Pakistani national with purported ties to Iran was arrested last month on charges he plotted to assassinate former President Donald Trump and multiple other public officials, according to a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Brooklyn federal court.
While the criminal complaint does not mention Trump by name, multiple sources familiar with the case told ABC News one of the intended targets of the alleged plot was Trump. Other possible targets included government officials from both sides of the aisle, the sources said.
After spending time in Iran, Asif Merchant flew from Pakistan to the U.S. to recruit hitmen to carry out the alleged plot, according to a detention memo. The person he contacted was a confidential informant working with the FBI, according to the criminal complaint.
Donald Trump Claims Tim Walz Will ‘Unleash HELL ON EARTH’
GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump had an apocalyptic response to presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris picking Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D) as her vice presidential running mate on Tuesday.
In an email to his supporters, Trump claimed that Walz, an amiable Midwesterner with a record as governor that progressives love, said he would be “even worse” for the country than Harris.
“HE’S THAT BAD,” Trump’s email read.
“He’ll unleash HELL ON EARTH and open our borders to the worst criminals imaginable,” the former president added of Walz.
Harris picks Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz for running mate
Vice President Kamala Harris has selected Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her vice presidential running mate, adding a popular Midwestern state executive to the Democratic ticket as the party gears up to hold onto key northern battleground states this fall.
Harris’ campaign texted supporters Tuesday morning, calling Walz “a battle-tested leader who has an incredible track record of getting things done for Minnesota families” and asking for donations to support the new ticket.
In picking Walz, who’s in his second term and also served 12 years in Congress, Harris will have as her No. 2 someone with a proven record of winning over white working-class voters in Rust Belt states while also boasting a robustly progressive record.
‘We are the underdogs’: Harris introduces running mate Walz as a coach, veteran and protector of reproductive rights
Vice President Kamala Harris introduced her running mate to the nation at a raucous rally in Pennsylvania’s biggest city Tuesday, playing up Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s background as a teacher, football coach, national guardsman and “one of the best marksmen” on Capitol Hill.
Thousands of supporters roared as Harris and Walz alternated between playing up his bio and taking shots at former President Donald Trump and his running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio.
“We are the underdogs in this race,” Harris said. “But we have the momentum, and I know exactly what we are up against.”
Former Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis to cooperate with prosecutors in Arizona ‘fake electors’ case
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes’ office announced Monday that Jenna Ellis, a former Donald Trump attorney and one of the 18 defendants in the Arizona “fake electors” case stemming from the 2020 election, is cooperating with the prosecution.
Ellis signed the cooperation agreement Monday morning, according to the announcement, which said prosecutors are dropping the charges against her.
“This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,” Mayes, a Democrat, said in a statement. “I am grateful to Ms. Ellis for her cooperation with our investigation and prosecution.
Justice Clarence Thomas didn’t disclose additional private jet travel, Democratic senator says
The head of a Senate panel investigating Clarence Thomas said Monday that the Supreme Court justice had failed to disclose additional private jet travel.
In a letter to an attorney for conservative megadonor Harlan Crow, Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., said flight records show that in 2010 Thomas and his wife traveled round-trip from Hawaii to New Zealand aboard Crow’s private jet.
Wyden, who chairs the Senate Finance Committee, said the finding intensified his concerns that Crow was engaged in a scheme to avoid paying taxes.
Harris to embark on a seven-state campaign blitz with her VP pick
Vice President Kamala Harris will set out this week on a swing-state campaign blitz, giving her a far heavier travel schedule than her opponent, former President Donald Trump.
It will be a critical week for Harris, who is rushing to introduce herself to voters with just three months until Election Day. It will also be the first time she will appear with her yet-to-be-announced running mate.
Starting Tuesday, Harris will campaign across seven swing states over five days, one of the heaviest weeks of campaign-related travel in the general election.
Harris expected to announce her VP pick Tuesday ahead of their Philadelphia rally
Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to reveal her vice presidential pick Tuesday, ahead of their first rally togetherin Philadelphia in the evening, according to two sources familiar with the plan.
These people cautioned that the timing of the announcement is still subject to change based on when Harris makes her final decision or whether there’s a media leak that affects the current plan.
The Tuesday rollout is likely to look similar to past major announcements, including digital video and social media components, as well as a fundraising appeal, these sources said. The Harris campaign will also disseminate various text messages to its supporters throughout the day, as has been a common practice in the past around big moments. The exact details are still being hammered out.
Charlie Pierce: J.D. Vance Is Stunningly Ignorant About Khalid Sheikh Mohammed? You Don’t Say.
It was moving week, so many of the weekly specials here in the shebeen were not available. Apologies to all you regulars and to Friedman of the Plains. I’m sure Oklahoma will keep being crazy for another week. Regular hours will resume on Monday.
However, there was one development that caught my eye as being worthy of comment while I drifted off to sleep amid my many boxes. (See: George Carlin on Stuff.) The Department of Justice cut a plea deal with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the accused “mastermind” of the 9/11 attacks. The government agreed not to kill him and two of his fellow defendants. In return, I suspect he will spend his life in twenty-four-hour lockdown in delightful Florence, Colorado.
Hurricane Debby nearing landfall in northern Florida
Hurricane Debby is nearing landfall, with the eyewall moving onshore in the Florida Big Bend area, according to a special 4 a.m. ET update from the National Hurricane Center.
Landfall is when the center of the eye moves over land.
Debby has sustained maximum winds of 80 mph, with stronger gusts. It is about 40 miles west-northwest of Cedar Key, 80 miles south-southeast of Tallahassee, Florida, and is moving to the north-northeast at 12 mph.
Boosts in Democratic excitement help Harris reset the race against Trump — CBS News poll
Boosted by Democrats, younger and Black voters becoming more engaged and likely to vote, and by women decidedly thinking she’d favor their interests more, Vice President Kamala Harris has reset the 2024 presidential race.
She has a 1-point edge nationally — something President Biden never had (he was down by 5 points when he left the race) — and Harris and former President Donald Trump are tied across the collective battleground states.
Looking ahead, voters are also defining why the next few weeks could be critical.
Harris running-mate selection expected in next 48 hours
Vice President Harris interviewed at least three potential running mates on Sunday as the final hours before her self-imposed deadline to make her choice began ticking away.
Harris will announce her vice-presidential pick by Tuesday night, when she and the candidate will appear in Philadelphia for the first of seven rallies over the course of five days. The two will campaign in each of the seven most competitive states — Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Michigan, North Carolina, Georgia, Arizona and Nevada.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. posts video saying he put a young dead bear in Central Park
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.acknowledged Sunday that he abandoned a young dead bear in Central Park after he initially planned to skin the cub for meat.
Kennedy said in a three-minute video on X that The New Yorker magazine found out about the incident, the date of which is unknown, and asked him for confirmation. Kennedy described driving north of New York City to go falconing with a group when he saw a woman in a van hit and kill a young bear.
“So I pulled over and I picked up the bear and put him in the back of my van because I was going to skin the bear, and it was very good condition,” Kennedy said in the video, talking to Roseanne Barr. “And I was going to put the meat in my refrigerator.”
The Rude Pundit: Hope and Weirdness on the Campaign Trail in 2024
As much as I still viscerally despise former president, shitty artist, and war criminal George W. Bush, the man pretty much nailed it early on when, referring to the inauguration speech of Donald Trump on January 20, 2017, he said, “That was some weird shit.” That speech, where Trump shit all over the three presidents gathered there and talked about “American carnage,” was genuinely weird in that “Why the fuck is he talking about all that in this dickish way?”
It’s not the first time anyone called Trump “weird.” On his show, John Oliver has regularly gone off about Trump’s innate strangeness. And Trump’s behavior has always been on the creepy side of weird. I know she’s regretted not saying anything, but I do wonder how things would have gone if Hillary Clinton had stopped in the middle of an answer at her second debate, a town hall with Trump in 2016, when he was stalking behind her, so close she could hear his labored breathing and huffing as she answered a question, and said, “Back up, you creep. Get away from me.” They probably would have accused her of being hysterical because that’s how shitty and sexist the media was towards Clinton.
Vance takes attacks on Harris’ record to the southern border
Republican vice presidential nominee JD Vance brought his fiery campaign rhetoric on immigration to the U.S.-Mexico border Thursday as the Trump campaign drubs Vice President Kamala Harris over the Biden administration’s approach to border security.
Sharpening his attacks on Harris from the stump in recent days, Vance, the Republican senator from Ohio, visited an unfinished part of the border wall in Arizona — a stark visual to drive home the campaign’s juxtaposition of Harris’ and Trump’s records.
“It is not hard to secure the southern border. You just have to reimplement some commonsense policies,” Vance said after he received a briefing from border patrol union members, a representative from the sheriff’s department and a local rancher.
Harris campaign’s vetting team has met with 6 potential VP picks as the selection process nears its end
The vetting team for Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has met with six potential running mate contenders as her selection process nears its end, two sources familiar with the campaign said.
The six contenders are Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
All of them are around the same age as Harris, 59, or younger, and most have already stumped for the vice president on the campaign trail or in media appearances since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Trump doubles down on false racial attacks on Harris, Republican senators squirm when confronted about it
Republican senators ABC News spoke with Thursday squirmed when asked about former President Donald Trump falsely questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ racial identity during his interview at the National Association of Black Journalists convention a day earlier — as the former president doubled down on the false attack.
In a social media post Thursday morning, former President Donald Trump shared a family portrait of Vice President Kamala Harris and wrote, “Your warmth, friendship, and love of your Indian Heritage are very much appreciated.”
His social media post reiterated his false claim that Harris only emphasized her Asian-American heritage — something he mentioned during his interview at the NABJ convention on Wednesday.
Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan greeted by President Biden, VP Harris after landing on US soil
Former U.S. Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and Alsu Kurmasheva, a Russian-American journalist, are back on U.S. soil.
As they stepped off the plane, President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris greeted the three at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington.
The Americans were part of an extraordinary 24-prisoner exchange involving Russia, the United States and several other countries, the largest of its kind since the Cold War and one in which President Biden was directly involved, the White House said earlier Thursday.
Kamala Harris blasts Trump’s claim that she ‘became Black’
At an event in Houston tonight for the historically Black sorority Sigma Gamma Rho, Harris said Trump’s comments at an appearance at an annual convention of Black journalists today were divisive and disrespectful.
“It was the same old show — the divisiveness and the disrespect,” Harris said. “And let me just say the American people deserve better. The American people deserve better.”
Trump had engaged in a hostile exchange with journalists asking him questions during a panel at the event this afternoon, and he had falsely questioned Harris’ Black identity, saying that a number of years ago “she happened to turn Black and now wants to be known as Black.”
Accused 9/11 mastermind and 2 accomplices agree to plead guilty
Three men accused of plotting the 9/11 attacks, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, have reached plea agreements in the military commissions process, officials said Wednesday.
Mohammed, Walid Muhammad Salih Mubarak Bin ‘Attash and Mustafa Ahmed Adam al Hawsawi are scheduled to appear at a hearing at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, next week, according to the Office of Military Commissions.
The details of the plea agreement are unclear, but the defendants are expected to plead guilty to lesser charges that could spare them the death penalty.
UAW union endorses Vice President Kamala Harris over Trump
The United Auto Workers has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris over Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump.
The union’s endorsement shouldn’t be surprising. UAW President Shawn Fain has been outspoken against Trump. The Detroit union also has historically supported Democrats, including President Joe Biden.
It comes after Biden withdrew his re-election bid and endorsed Harris to become the Democratic nominee against Trump.
Trump falsely accuses Harris of deciding to ‘turn Black’ during a combative panel with Black journalists
Donald Trump made a combative appearance Wednesday at a conference of Black journalists during a heated question-and-answer session that at times focused squarely on the race of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Trump claimed that he did not know until a few years ago that Harris, who is Indian American and Black, was Black. He then baselessly suggested that she had decided to “turn Black” only recently for political gain.
“I’ve known her a long time, indirectly,” Trump said. “And she was always of Indian heritage, and she was only promoting Indian heritage. I did not know she was Black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn Black, and now she wants to be known as Black.”
Malcolm Nance: Let Us Fight!
You are watching history. We use this term a lot in the Trump era because of his repeated unprecedented silliness, but you are now in an era where decisions in our lives will be impacted individually. Historic is not just the documentation of the acts but the feeling that you are taking part in something greater than yourself. That is what is happening. That is the feeling inside of you. Until last week, it was angst, the worry that your decisions would be imposed on you and that you had no control over. The nazi-like march of Trump’s Republican Convention and the fears over Joe Biden’s age justifiably made you worry that your world was inevitably going end badly/ Like me, the toughest of you were ready to fight to the end for Biden. The doom was starting to form after Trump’s failed assassination. A white, male-dominated extremist dictatorship somehow seemed inevitable.
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack…
JD Vance rallies in Nevada as Trump’s running mate is dogged by ‘childless cat lady’ comments
On the campaign trail in Nevada on Tuesday, Ohio Sen. JD Vance attacked Vice President Kamala Harris as “dangerously liberal” and reiterated former President Donald Trump’s pledge to launch mass deportation operations in his second term.
Trump’s running mate is attempting to introduce himself to a national audience as the Harris campaign and other Democrats paint him as out-of-touch, hard right and “anti-woman,” with a particular focus on his anti-abortion stances and previous comments describing Harris — the Republican ticket’s likely Democratic opponent in November — and other leaders in the Democratic Party as “a bunch of childless cat ladies.”
Project 2025 winding down policy work following criticism from Trump
The Heritage Foundation official leading Project 2025 is stepping down and the group is winding down its policy work following sustained criticism by former President Donald Trump and his campaign.
Trump’s campaign said in a statement Tuesday that the announcement should put on notice others trying to link themselves to Trump and that it “welcomed” reports of the group’s “demise.”
“Reports of Project 2025’s demise would be greatly welcomed and should serve as notice to anyone or any group trying to misrepresent their influence with President Trump and his campaign — it will not end well for you,” co-campaign managers Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles said.
Harris derides Trump on border security at Georgia rally as GOP presses the issue
Vice President Kamala Harris, facing a new barrage of GOP attack ads seeking to define her early in her campaign, attacked back on immigration and border security before a fired-up crowd of thousands in an over-capacity arena Tuesday night.
Through chants of “Kamala” aimed at her and “lock him up” aimed at former President Donald Trump, Harris began her line of attack by citing her experience as attorney general of America’s largest border state, California.
“In that job, I walked underground tunnels between the United States and Mexico on that border with law enforcement officers,” Harris said. “I went after transnational gangs, drug cartels and human traffickers that came into our country illegally. I prosecuted them in case after case, and I won.”
The DNC’s virtual roll call to nominate Kamala Harris is this week. Here’s how the vote will work.
As soon as this Thursday, delegates in the Democratic Party will hold a virtual vote to select their new nominee. Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to run unopposed. Here’s more on what it means and how the vote will work:
Who gets to vote?
The nearly 4,000 pledged delegates allocated during the Democratic primary process will be voting on the nomination.
Do Biden’s delegates automatically go to Harris?
The vast majority of the party’s delegates were pledged to President Biden before he dropped out and endorsed Harris. These delegates weren’t automatically assigned to Harris, but within the 48 hours of her campaign launch, an overwhelming majority of the delegates said they would back her.
Biden rips ‘extreme opinions’ as he pushes for Supreme Court reform in speech at LBJ Presidential Library
President Joe Biden on Monday visited the LBJ Presidential Library to mark the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and gave remarks on his new proposals to reform the U.S. Supreme Court.
The remarks were Biden’s first major speech since his Oval Office address last week on his decision to exit the 2024 race.
In Austin, Texas, he discussed his administration’s work to protect civil rights and his calls for reforms to the nation’s highest court, including term limits and an enforceable code of conduct for justices as well as a constitutional amendment against presidential immunity, all of which face long-shot odds of congressional approval with a Republican-controlled House and closely divided Senate.
‘White dudes’ rally to elect the first female president
Some famous “white dudes” — including the guy who played “The Dude” — rallied in support of Vice President Kamala Harris, who would be the first female president if elected, in the inaugural event of a new group called White Dudes for Harris on Monday night.
The name may be a bit facetious, but the star-studded Zoom call attracted more than 180,000 participants and raised almost $4 million, according to organizers, who are themselves a group of white dude Democratic political operatives.
Over the nearly 3½-hour call, they said, they sold more than 5,700 White Dudes for Harris trucker caps — “not the pointy ones,” joked Ross Morales Rocketto, one of the organizers, referring to less PC gatherings of white dudes like the Ku Klux Klan.
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper backs out of consideration to be Kamala Harris’ running mate
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper has informed Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign that he does not want to be under consideration in her search for a vice presidential candidate, he said Monday night.
Cooper said in a statement explaining his decision that although he was taking himself out of consideration, he’s still backing Harris’ candidacy.
“I strongly support Vice President Harris’ campaign for President,” Cooper said. “I know she’s going to win and I was honored to be considered for this role. This just wasn’t the right time for North Carolina and for me to potentially be on a national ticket.
Charlie Pierce: President Biden Is Getting Serious About Supreme Court Reform
Somebody in the White House woke up over the weekend and discovered that they had been transported to the golden sunshine and verdant fields of DGAF Island. After several decades spent in the throes of Institutional Love as regards the Supreme Court, the president who, as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, couldn’t bring himself to investigate fully the entire array of charges against Clarence Thomas, and who oversaw the elevation of William Rehnquist to Chief Justice and the virtually unanimous installation on the Court of Antonin Scalia, now has called for the most sweeping reform of the Supreme Court since FDR tried to pack it. Or, perhaps, since the Judiciary Act of 1801. And he is not shy about the reasons why.
At least 12 killed, including children, in Golan Heights rocket attack; Israel and U.S. blame Hezbollah
A rocket attack Saturday on a soccer field in the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights killed at least 12 children and teens, and wounded several others, Israel said, hours after an Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon killed three members of the militant Hezbollah group.
The strike, the deadliest attack on Israeli civilians since the fighting between the two foes erupted on Oct. 7, raised fears of a broader conflagration in the region.
Hezbollah chief spokesman Mohammed Afif told The Associated Press that the group “categorically denies carrying out an attack on Majdal Shams.” It is unusual for Hezbollah to deny an attack.
Pete Buttigieg Spots 2 Blunt Exceptions To Trump’s Knack For ‘Broken’ Promises
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg listed off several instances where Donald Trump“broke his promise” on Sunday but named two that the former president kept to Americans.
“He kept his promise to destroy the right to choose in this country and he kept his promise on tax cuts for the rich,” Buttigieg told Fox News host Shannon Bream.
“And if you want to know what a second Trump term would be like, I would start by looking at those rare promises that he actually managed to keep.”
Trump Denies Changing For The Better After Assassination Attempt
Former President Donald Trump warned that the July 13 assassination attempt on him may have made him “worse.”
“I want to be nice,” Trump told rally-goers in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on Saturday. “They all say, ‘I think he’s changed. I think he’s changed since two weeks ago. Something affected him.’”
“No, I haven’t changed,” he continued. “Maybe I’ve gotten worse, actually. Because I get angry at the incompetence that I witness every single day.”
Harris sees boost in favorability after Biden drops out of race: POLL
Vice President Kamala Harris is enjoying a bounce in her favorability rating among Americans just days after President Joe Biden bowed out of the presidential race and endorsed her, according to an ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday.
The vice president’s favorability rating has jumped to 43%, with an unfavorability rating of 42%, according to the ABC News/Ipsos poll conducted using Ipsos’ KnowledgePanel. In an ABC News/Ipsos poll released a week ago, Harris’ favorability rating was 35%, while 46% viewed her unfavorability.
Following Biden’s July 20 announcement that he would end his reelection campaign, most major Democrats, including former President Barack Obama, endorsed Harris’ run and she hit the campaign trail.
The Rude Pundit: Harris, the Democrats, and Biden Take Back the Narrative at Last
Vice President Kamala Harris’s first rally speech yesterday as the presumed Democratic nominee for president was remarkable for several reasons. In Milwaukee, which was a special fuck-you to the savage Republican National Convention that was there last week, you could watch in real time as she grew into the role of nominee, moving from slightly stilted delivery to full-on warrior preacher by the end, latching onto the chanted phrase that will no doubt become her slogan: “We’re not going back.” That’s a perfect distillation of the significance of this moment in electoral and American history. The audience there lost their goddamn minds with glee.
Until this past weekend, there was a feeling of dutiful drudgery to the presidential election, along with a frisson of dread, for me and pretty much everyone I know. As I said over on the Threads, we understood the assignment: vote for Joe Biden to be re-elected president with the full knowledge that there was a very real chance that Vice President Kamala Harris would have to take over at some point. And it made sense, even to someone like me who wanted Biden to withdraw. Biden has been a strong president, a consequential one, and, even if I disagreed with him on some things (like Israel’s war on Gaza), the man had a hell of a record to run on. But, goddamn, it sucked to have to worry that every time he made an appearance, we had to just be thankful he didn’t stumble too much.
Harris Clinches Majority of Delegates as She Closes In on Nomination
Vice President Kamala Harris moved swiftly to assert herself as the de facto Democratic nominee for president on Monday, her first full day as a candidate, as virtually every potential remaining rival bowed out and she clinched the support of enough delegates to win the nomination.
The Associated Press said late Monday that Ms. Harris had secured the backing of more than the 1,976 delegates needed to capture the nomination in the first round of voting. The pledged support is not binding until the delegates cast their votes, which party officials said would take place between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
The Rude Pundit: At the RNC, the Rapist Finally Speaks
The delegates at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee finally got to hear from the rapist last night. Of course, the rapist is a former president, elected when it was suspected he was a rapist, and now the presidential nominee of the Republican Party, which happened after he was adjudicated to be a sexual abuser by a jury, which the judge clarified really meant “rapist.” The people there, from all 50 states, from various walks of life, primarily white, but not exclusively, were elated any time the rapist sat down in the auditorium to listen to other speakers during the convention. Well, more accurately, to fall asleep while others spoke.
A number of the delegates wore large white patches or bandages on their right ear. It was a way of showing support for the rapist because he had almost been shot and killed a few days before. We don’t know why the would-be assassin targeted him, but it wasn’t for being a rapist. One could wonder if the bullet had taken part of the rapist’s ear off, would they have cut off parts of their own flesh in sympathy. It sadly does not seem out of the realm of possibility.
Widespread technology outage disrupts flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world
A widespread Microsoft outage disrupted flights, banks, media outlets and companies around the world on Friday.
Escalating disruptions continued hours after the technology company said it was gradually fixing an issue affecting access to Microsoft 365 apps and services.
The website DownDectector, which tracks user-reported internet outages, recorded growing outages in services at Visa, ADT security and Amazon, and airlines including American Airlines and Delta.
News outlets in Australia reported that airlines, telecommunications providers and banks, and media broadcasters were disrupted as they lost access to computer systems. Airlines in the U.K., Europe and India reported problems and some New Zealand banks said they were offline.
Biden left feeling angry and betrayed by top Democratic leaders wavering on his campaign
President Joe Biden feels personally hurt and betrayed by the way so many Democrats, including some of the party’s top leaders, have left him hung out to dry as he faces the biggest crisis of his political career, according to two sources familiar with his thinking.
And privately, many of those leaders have expressed doubts about his path forward.
Former President Barack Obama’s only public comment came the day after Biden’s disastrous debate last month, when he tweeted “Bad debate nights happen“ and talked about his former vice president’s virtues. Privately, however, Obama has concerns.
Fact-checking Trump’s speech accepting the GOP nomination
Former President Donald Trump pitched a familiar worldview Thursday night: an administration that would stop wars, curb inflation and end illegal immigration.
But his third Republican National Convention speech — the longest nomination acceptance address in modern history, at 93 minutes — included a series of false claims on topics from taxes to crime to foreign policy.
Here’s what Trump said in Milwaukee and the facts behind his claims.
Trump savors convention crowd in rambling acceptance speech
Donald Trump on Thursday night formally accepted the Republican Party’s presidential nomination in a speech heavy with references to the shooting he survived last week and elongated by ad-libbed applause lines and riffs — capping a long-anticipated moment that came only after a winding and dramatic campaign.
Trump, now the first major-party presidential nominee who has been convicted of felonies, took the stage days after a 20-year-old gunman nearly assassinated him during a rally in Pennsylvania, firing a bullet that clipped his right ear and left it bloodied. He wore a white square bandage over his wounded ear throughout the convention, with some attendees wearing their own in solidarity during the weeklong event.
Malcolm Nance: Trump’s Ministry of Revenge and Retribution
Steve Bannon’s War Room Podcast has been the think tank behind the most radical and dangerous of Donald Trump’s fantasies about punishing liberalism and engaging in Civil War. So it’s no surprise that Kevin D. Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, went on to the war room to outline his plans for Project 2025. Even though Bannon was in prison and couldn’t be on this episode, his acolytes let their freak flags fly. Roberts summarized his plans to radically destroy the American civil service and staff it with tens of thousands of Trump loyalists. But his mind was not on the details. It was on the strategic template of the ideological struggle. He believed there is a war about to break out between democracy and Trumpism. He said, “… we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Trump rally shooter was reported as a suspicious person an hour before opening fire, sources say
The gunman who opened fire at former President Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania rally was reported as a suspicious person — and photographed — one hour before he began shooting, according to three sources familiar with a briefing for senators Wednesday.
Secret Service and FBI officials shared a timeline of events that revealed troubling new details about the assassination attempt and raised questions about why Secret Service officials allowed Trump to take the stage.
Thomas Matthew Crooks — who had a range finder and a backpack with him — was reported as a suspicious person one hour before he began shooting, Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said in a statement after the briefing.
JD Vance calls for a ‘big tent’ GOP in VP nominee acceptance speech
Sen. JD Vance of Ohio, a right-wing populist known for his unbending opinions, introduced himself Wednesday as a vice presidential candidate open to compromise and eager for unity, but unapologetically drawn to hot-button debates.
“We have a big tent in this party, on everything from national security to economic policy,” Vance told Republican National Convention delegates as he accepted their nomination to be Donald Trump’s running mate. “But my message to you, my fellow Republicans, is: We love this country, and we are united to win. And our disagreements actually make us stronger.”
Rep. Adam Schiff calls on Biden to withdraw from the presidential race
Rep. Adam Schiff, a prominent Democrat and leading candidate for Senate in California, urged President Joe Biden on Wednesday to “pass the torch” and exit the presidential race.
“Joe Biden has been one of the most consequential presidents in our nation’s history, and his lifetime of service as a Senator, a Vice President, and now as President has made our country better,” Schiff said in a statement.
“But our nation is at a crossroads,” he added. “A second Trump presidency will undermine the very foundation of our democracy, and I have serious concerns about whether the President can defeat Donald Trump in November.”
Biden tests positive for Covid-19 and will self-isolate in Delaware, White House says
President Joe Biden tested positive for Covid-19 on Wednesday while he was in Las Vegas for a series of events, the White House said.
In a statement, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden tested positive “following his first event in Las Vegas.”
“He is vaccinated and boosted and he is experiencing mild symptoms,” Jean-Pierre said. “He will be returning to Delaware where he will self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time. The White House will provide regular updates on the President’s status as he continues to carry out the full duties of the office while in isolation.”
Group of House Democrats pushes to delay Biden nomination
A band of House Democrats is seeking to halt the Democratic National Committee from quickly coronating Joe Bidenas the party’s presidential nominee before the August convention, warning that it could be seen as quashing the raging debate over whether Biden should stay at the top of the ticket.
More than 20 Democrats have signed onto a draft letter, obtained by NBC News, calling on the DNC to pump the brakes on holding a “virtual roll call” formally nominating Biden in a process that could start as soon as Sunday. The DNC initially had planned to do the virtual roll call ahead of the Chicago convention to address challenges of getting Biden on the Ohio ballot, but state lawmakers have since pushed the ballot deadline until after the convention.
Secret Service ramped up security after intel of Iran plot to assassinate Trump; no known connection to shooting
US authorities obtained intelligence from a human source in recent weeks on a plot by Iran to try to assassinate Donald Trump, a development that led to the Secret Service increasing security around the former president, multiple people briefed on the matter told CNN.
There’s no indication that Thomas Matthew Crooks, the would-be assassin who attempted to kill the former president on Saturday, was connected to the plot, the sources said.
The existence of the intelligence threat from a hostile foreign intelligence agency — and the enhanced security for Trump — raises new questions about the security lapses at the Saturday rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, and how a 20-year-old man managed to access a nearby rooftop to fire shots that injured the former president.
Nikki Haley, Ron DeSantis and more ex-rivals draw cheers as Trump boosters at GOP convention
Former President Donald Trump welcomed vanquished rivals at his Republican National Convention here Tuesday, keeping watch as, one by one, they stuck to a carefully stage-managed script of party unity.
There was Nikki Haley, who took more than two months to endorse him after she ended her White House bid, speaking to “those who have some doubts” about Trump. There was Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Trump ally-turned-challenger, unleashing a robust attack on President Joe Biden.
And there was Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who eight years ago in Cleveland urged conventiongoers to “vote your conscience,” thanking “God Almighty” for “turning [Trump’s] head on Saturday as the shot was fired” in an assassination attempt at a rally in Pennsylvania.
Biden Considers Pushing for Major Changes to the Supreme Court
President Biden is seriously considering legislative proposals that would dramatically alter the Supreme Court, including imposing term limits and an enforceable code of ethics on the justices, according to a person familiar with the ongoing discussions.
Mr. Biden’s proposals to overhaul the court, which could be unveiled in the coming weeks, would need congressional approval, something that is likely to be a long shot given Republican control of the House and the slim Democratic majority in the Senate.
The president is also considering calling for a constitutional amendment that could limit the broad presidential immunity that the court’s conservative majority backed at the end of its term this year, the person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the president’s deliberations have not been made public.
Trump rally shooter left few clues, baffling classmates and family as authorities search for motive
Authorities said Monday that they had accessed the phone of the person who tried to assassinate former President Donald Trump and had completed searches of his car and his family’s home in suburban Pittsburgh as ongoing efforts to understand the shooter’s motives have so far come up empty.
The FBI said its investigation remains in the “early stages,” but the immediate lack of a clear motive for Saturday’s shooting at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has only deepened the mystery around the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, more than 24 hours after authorities released his name. Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, was whisked off the stage during the shooting, which killed a former fire chief and injured two other people.
Gregg McCrary, a former FBI profiler who spent more than 25 years with the bureau, first as a field agent and then in the behavioral science unit, said the lack of information about Crooks, 20, poses a challenge for law enforcement.
Judge Dismisses Classified Documents Case Against Trump
The federal judge overseeing former President Donald J. Trump’s classified documents case threw out all of the charges against him on Monday, ruling that Jack Smith, the special counsel who filed the indictment, had been given his job in violation of the Constitution.
In a stunning decision delivered on the first day of the Republican National Convention, the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, found that Mr. Smith’s appointment as special counsel was improper because it was not based on a specific federal statute and because he had not been named to the post by the president or confirmed by the Senate.
Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric plays a prominent role in first night of RNC
Some high-profile speakers on the first night of the Republican National Convention leaned into anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, doubling down on the party’s 2024 platform, which calls for keeping “men out of women’s sports” and ending “left-wing gender insanity.”
Their speeches Monday especially targeted transgender and non-gender-conforming people.
“Let me state this clearly: There are only two genders,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.
Rep. John James, R-Mich., criticized transgender women’s playing in women’s sports, a popular conservative talking point.
Trump makes appearance at RNC Day 1 after being formally nominated with J.D. Vance
Former President Donald Trump appeared alongside his newly announced running mate Sen. JD Vance at the Republican National Convention Monday night, the first time Trump has been seen in public since Saturday’s shocking attempt on his life.
The crowd cheered Trump, whose ear was bandaged after it was grazed by a bullet on Saturday at a rally in Pennsylvania. Trump posted on social media over the weekend that he had considered postponing traveling to Milwaukee but he wrote that he “just decided that I cannot allow a ‘shooter,’ or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else.”
Trump’s appearance capped a dramatic few days for the former president, after a gunman opened fire Saturday at a his rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, killing a bystander and critically wounding two people in addition to Trump. Secret Service snipers shot and killed the gunman, who has since been identified as a 20-year-old Pennsylvania man. The FBI and Secret Service are still searching for a motive.
Charlie Pierce: Judge Aileen Cannon Finally Found A Reason To Dismiss The Pool Shed Papers Case
All the assembled awoke on Monday, the first day of the Republican National Convention, and found that the MAGA Fairy had left them a nice little breakfast bonbon as the prolonged farce that was Judge Aileen Cannon’s time in the spotlight came to its utterly predictable—and utterly dismal—end down in Florida. Having spent months trying to pick among the many reasons, and all of them preposterous, to dismiss special counsel Jack Smith’s case against the former president* in the Pool Shed Papers case. She finally settled on one, and, yes, it was preposterous.
Congress demands answers from Secret Service after Trump assassination attempt
Top leaders in Congress quickly unified to rebuke a failed assassination attempt on Donald Trump at a Saturday rally, demanding briefings and planning investigations into the incident that left the former president injured.
“Congress will do a full investigation of the tragedy yesterday to determine where there were lapses in security and anything else that the American people need to know and deserve to know,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Sunday on the “TODAY”show. “But in the meantime, we’ve got to turn the rhetoric down. We’ve got to turn the temperature down in this country.”
Johnson said he has “gotten briefings from law enforcement” and asked “pointed questions” of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Saturday night.
Former firefighter killed at Trump rally hailed as a ‘hero,’ two more victims identified
A man killed at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday has been identified as 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Sunday.
Two other Pennsylvania residents were also shot at the rally, Shapiro said. They were identified by Pennsylvania State Police as David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. They’re both in stable condition.
Comperatore was an avid supporter of Trump and excited to be at Trump’s rally Saturday in Butler, Shapiro said. He was there with his wife and two daughters and dove over them to protect them when gunshots were heard in the crowd.
Trump rally shooter identified as 20-year-old Pennsylvania man
The man who authorities said attempted to assassinate former President Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania was a member of a local gun club and worked as a dietary aide at a nursing facility.
The shooter, identified by the FBI as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was killed by at least one Secret Service sharpshooter, authorities said.
Corey Comperatore, 50, a former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, was identified as the sole victim fatally shot by Crooks during Saturday’s attempt in Butler. Two other people were injured and are stable.
‘We must stand together’: Biden calls on Americans to stop viewing their political opponents as enemies
President Joe Biden called on Americans to “lower the temperature” of political rhetoric in an address from the Oval Office on Sunday night, asking for more respectful discourse and civility in the wake of the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.
“Disagreement is inevitable in American democracy,” Biden said, but politics should never devolve into a “killing field.”
“While we may disagree, we are not enemies,” Biden said in remarks that lasted about six minutes. “We’re neighbors, we’re friends, co-workers, citizens, and most importantly, we are fellow Americans. We must stand together.”
Read the rest of the story at NBC News
The Rude Pundit: Joe Biden Is Running and That’s That (Kind Of)
(Stick with me here. You’re gonna agree and disagree with me strongly throughout the next few scribblings, but stick with me.)
I’ve been cagey, at best, about all this, so let me lay all my cards on the table here: I don’t think Joe Biden should be running for a second term as president of the United States. (Remember: Stick with me.) It’s plainly obvious that he’s declined in the last year or so, with moments of absolute command and power (like the State of the Union, which was a long four months ago). But between the debate disaster and many other appearances where he’s obviously confused or on autopilot, it’s impossible to deny what’s so clear. And it’s kind of ridiculous to see all the praise for when Biden gives a speech with energy, yelling emphatically as if that demonstrates some kind of youthful vigor. Yes, he can read words and even mean them, but all that shows is that he’s not totally incapacitated.
Biden campaign lays out path forward to staff in internal memo
President Joe Biden’s campaign Thursday laid out what it views as its path to victory in an internal memo as the Democratic Party convulses over the fallout from his shocking debate last month.
The memo, obtained by ABC News, is from campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon and campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez, who said that Biden’s “clearest pathway” to victory runs through the Rust Belt states of Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, though it insists that states such as Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina aren’t “out of reach.”
Still, the two campaign leaders conceded that “movement” after the debate is “real” but “not a sea-change in the state of the race.”
Trump asks judge to toss out guilty verdict in hush money case after Supreme Court decision
Former President Donald Trump has asked a state court judge to toss out his criminal conviction in New York, pointing to the Supreme Court’s recent immunity decision that outlines when a former president must be shielded from prosecution.
While the effort to toss out the jury’s verdict likely faces an uphill battle with Judge Juan Merchan, the last-ditch bid already succeeded in getting Trump’s sentencing date postponed.
Sentencing had been scheduled for Thursday but was delayed by Merchan last week to allow him more time to consider legal briefing on the immunity question from both sides. Prosecutors are expected to respond to the latest filing by July 24, and that sentencing is currently set for Sept. 18.
More Democrats call on Biden to step aside from 2024 race after his news conference
At least three more House Democrats called on President Joe Biden to withdraw from the presidential race Thursday after his first solo news conference in months following the NATO summit.
Even though Biden’s team felt optimistic about his performance, it remained unclear whether he did enough to repair the damage with members of his party who worry he no longer has what it takes to defeat Donald Trump and be effective for another four years.
Rep. Jim Himes, D-Conn., praised Biden as “a remarkable leader of unparalleled public service” but said it’s time to go.
‘I’m in good shape’: Biden takes questions about his mental and physical fitness
President Joe Biden vigorously defended his fitness for office in a high-stakes press conference Thursday evening, fielding several questions about his age and calls for him to step aside.
“I think I’m the most qualified person to run for president,” he said, adding that he believes he is the best candidate to beat former President Donald Trump in November. “I beat him once, and I will beat him again.”
Early in the press conference, in a moment that was immediately seized on by his opponent Donald Trump, he flubbed the name of Vice President Kamala Harris.
Fake electors get tapped as GOP convention delegates
Seven battleground states are sending fake electors and others who worked to upend the 2020 election results to represent their state parties at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where they will officially anoint Donald Trump as their presidential nominee.
The fake electors and other election deniers identified by CNN include several who are currently facing criminal charges for their efforts in helping Trump try to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. They hail from the states that were central to that plot last presidential cycle: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, according to lists published by state parties and other documents obtained by CNN.
They’ve been selected to serve as national committee members, delegates or alternates with one clear task: Make Trump’s nomination official.
George Clooney, who co-hosted recent Biden fundraiser, says president should step aside in 2024 election
Actor George Clooney, who just weeks ago hosted a fundraiser for President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign, called for the president to exit the 2024 race in a New York Times op-ed published Wednesday.
“I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced,” Clooney wrote.
“But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe ‘big F-ing deal’ Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.”
Ocasio-Cortez introduces impeachment articles against Supreme Court’s Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York introduced articles of impeachment against Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito on Wednesday, ramping up Democrats’ disapproval of the high court in the wake of ethics issues and a spate of major decisions at the close of its latest term.
It is all but certain that the resolutions will die in the Republican-controlled House, where GOP lawmakers have accused Democrats of mounting a campaign to undermine the court’s legitimacy in response to rulings on abortion, guns and presidential power they dislike. Still, the move by Ocasio-Cortez escalates Democrats’ scrutiny of the high court’s conservative justices, who hold six of the nine seats. The Supreme Court did not immediately return a request for comment.
Here’s how to watch Biden’s news conference Thursday as he tries to quiet doubts after the debate
President Joe Biden will hold a news conference Thursday, the key event in a monumental week during which the Democratic incumbent is fending off calls for him to step aside as the party’s presumptive nominee following a shaky debate performance.
It’s just the type of event that many political watchers have said Biden needs to pull off successfully to turn back demands — including from within his own party — that he withdraw from his reelection battle against presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump.
Biden has argued that he had a singularly bad night in Atlanta and that it wasn’t representative of his mental acuity. A strong performance Thursday could convince members of his party that he still has the ability both to win in November and to serve a second term. A weak effort — or stumbles similar to his debate performances — could make the calls for him to withdraw grow much louder.
Biden saw a drop in the polls post debate, but there might be hope on the horizon
A growing number of Democratic lawmakers are voicing their concerns that President Joe Biden’s poor public approval ratings will hurt the party’s prospects for retaining the Senate, which they control by a 51-49 majority, and winning back the House, where Republicans have a 219-213 majority.
Biden faces a critical week as he tries to shore up a campaign on defense since a shaky June 27 debate against Republican Donald Trump in Atlanta, which raised questions about his ability to do the job for another four years.
According to an exclusive USA TODAY/Suffolk University poll, the former president edged ahead of Biden 41% to 38% in one survey conducted immediately after the debate.
Biden, on Call With Mayors, Works to Shore Up Democratic Support
President Biden held a video call with nearly 200 Democratic mayors on Tuesday night, reiterating that he was staying in the presidential race, reminding the city leaders how best to support his campaign and discussing his second-term agenda.
Mr. Biden, his campaign and the White House have been working to dismiss and defuse Democratic criticisms about his viability after his poor debate showing. Those efforts included a gathering of Democratic governors last week at the White House, a television interview with ABC News two days later and calls on Monday to top donors, congressional leaders and a meeting of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Congressional Democrats meet amid simmering concerns over Biden reelection
Democrats in Congress met Tuesday as lawmakers returned to Capitol Hill this week for the first time following President Biden’s calamitous debate last month, which has prompted concern among the party about the path forward and calls for Mr. Biden to drop out of the 2024 presidential race.
During what’s shaping to be a critical week in Mr. Biden’s effort to remain in the presidential race, House Democrats met behind closed doors on Tuesday to privately debate his place at the top of the ticket.
The meeting, which took place at Democrats’ campaign headquarters, outside of the Capitol, lasted for nearly two hours, with members taking two-minute turns to speak. The discussion, described by Democrats as a “listening session,” seemed to mirror the larger public discourse around the president in recent days, with some Democrats affirming their support for Mr. Biden, while others called for him to step aside, and scores others saying they’d reserve judgment until they saw more of the president in public.
Biden launches NATO summit by pledging new air defense support for Ukraine
Eager to turn the page from questions about his mental fitness, President Joe Biden on Tuesday officially opened NATO’s Washington Summit by announcing what he called a “historic donation” of critical new air defense capabilities to bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia.
“Putin wants nothing less — nothing less than Ukraine’s total subjugation, to end Ukraine’s democracy, to destroy Ukraine’s culture and to wipe Ukraine off the map and we know Putin won’t stop at Ukraine,” Biden declared. “But make no mistake Ukraine can and will stop Putin.”
The commitments Biden outlined include four Patriot anti-missile batteries; the U.S., Germany and Romania will supply one each, and the fourth will be cobbled together from components provided by the Netherland and other NATO members, according to a statement from the countries.
RNC committee adopts GOP’s 2024 policy platform — including on abortion
The Republican National Committee’s platform committee adopted a new GOP platform on Monday — and it softens language on the issue of abortion, marking a shift in the party’s stance to more closely align with the views of former President Donald Trump.
The platform says that Republicans “will oppose Late Term Abortion while supporting mothers and policies that advance Prenatal Care, access to Birth Control, and IVF (fertility treatments),” according to the document obtained by ABC News.
The 2024’s brief section on abortion also states that the GOP “believes” that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution “guarantees that no person can be denied Life or Liberty without Due Process and that the States are, therefore, free to pass Laws protecting those Rights” – bolstering Trump’s view that the issue should be determined at the state level. That’s a change from the GOP’s 2016 and 2020 platforms that supported legislation that would have imposed a 20-week federal abortion ban — language that Trump ran on both cycles.
Biden sends defiant letter to Democrats says time to end questions, come together
In a lengthy letter to Democrats, President Joe Biden on Monday says it is time for the party to come together so it can have the best chance at beating Donald Trump.
“The question of how to move forward has been well-aired for over a week now. And it’s time for it to end,” Biden says. “We have one job. And that is to beat Donald Trump. We have 42 days to the Democratic Convention and 119 days to the general election. Any weakening of resolve or lack of clarity about the task ahead only helps Trump and hurts us. It is time to come together, move forward as a unified party, and defeat Donald Trump.”
White House doctor offers explanation for Parkinson’s expert’s visits
In a letter released late Monday night by the president’s physician, Dr. Kevin O’Connor, he confirmed that Dr. Kevin Cannard, the Parkinson’s expert who visited the White House eight times in an eight-month span, “was the neurological specialist that examined President Biden for each of his annual physicals.”
Canard’s visits to the White House don’t represent examinations of the president, according to O’Connor’s letter. Cannard is involved in a range of care for others beyond the president at the White House, O’Connor said in his note.
“Prior to the pandemic, and following its end, [Cannard] has held regular Neurology clinics at the White House Medical Clinic in support of the thousands of active-duty members assigned in support of White House operations,” his letter reads. “Many military personnel experience neurological issues related to their service, and Dr. Canard regularly visits the WHMU as part of this General Neurology Practice.”
Ahead Of Key Meeting, Many House Democrats Still Ridin’ With Biden
Skeptics of President Joe Biden and his ability to weather a tough presidential campaign ahead may be getting the spotlight, but the president on Monday retained the trust of many House Democrats, including in key parts of the party.
House Democrats are set to have their weekly party meeting Tuesday morning, their first since the June 27 debate and a week’s worth of cleanup and attempts at reassurance by Biden since.
Unlike most of the weekly gatherings, this one will take place off the U.S. Capitol campus and, in an unusual move, members have been warned they will have to give up their phones at the start, presumably to lessen the chances of live leaking to reporters.
Charlie Pierce: Get a Load of This Proposal to Replace Biden on the Democratic Ticket
The news site Semafor got hold of a memo containing a proposal for how the Democratic party should select its replacement candidate should the president decide to leave the race. Believe me when I tell you this: You could put the Ringling Brothers, Barnum, and Bailey to work on the problem and they couldn’t come up with a bigger circus than the one proposed in this memo. Just reading it made me long for the days of the smoke-filled hotel room, and it had me burning incense and chanting in order to commune with the spirit of Mark Hanna.
Schiff says Biden has to ‘win overwhelmingly’ or pass the torch, adds VP Harris could win against Trump
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., on Sunday said Vice President Kamala Harris could “overwhelmingly” win against former President Donald Trump but that President Joe Biden must decide whether he will remain in the race as the Democratic Party’s nominee amid backlash over his disastrous debate performance.
Asked about polling that showed Harris outperforming Trump if she replaced Biden, Schiff said on NBC News’ “Meet the Press” that he thought she would be a “phenomenal president.”
“I think she has the experience, the judgment, the leadership ability to be an extraordinary president,” Schiff told moderator Kristen Welker.
Senior House Democrats tell Jeffries they’re privately calling for Biden to step aside: Sources
At least four senior House Democrats told House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Sunday that they are calling on President Joe Biden to step down from the presidential race, according to several sources with knowledge of the discussion on the private call.
Reps. Jerry Nadler, Mark Takano, Joe Morelle and Adam Smith stated Biden should step aside and no longer continue his campaign, sources told ABC News.
This is notable — it means the top Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, the ranking member of Veteran Affairs, the highest Democrat on the Administration Committee and the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee have privately conveyed Biden should step aside.
Beryl strengthens to Category 1 hurricane, expected to make landfall in Texas
Beryl strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane Sunday night, ahead of its anticipated arrival on the Texas coast, where it could bring a life-threatening storm surge and strong winds, U.S. forecasters said.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds increased to 75 mph late Sunday, upgrading it from its status as a tropical storm, according to the National Hurricane Center, citing National Weather Service radar and reports from an Air Force Reserve hurricane hunter aircraft.
Beryl was about 65 miles south-southeast of Matagorda, Texas, and moving north-northwest at 10 mph, according to an 11 p.m. local time update from the hurricane center.
France’s left-wing parties projected to finish first in parliamentary elections, keeping far right at bay
A tense alliance between France’s centrist and leftist parties has kept the far-right National Rally party at bay, according to exit polls, with Prime Minister Gabriel Attal set to resign.
In a surprising upset for the far right, a bloc of left-wing parties is projected to finish first, while President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance is predicted to come in second. Polling agencies suggest National Rally, known in France as RN, is set to come in third, despite having swept to victory after the first round of voting last weekend and polling highest among the parties.
Voter turnout was the highest in decades at 67.1%, and official resultsare expected early Monday.
The Rude Pundit: The Supreme Court Launches an Attack on the United States… Democrats Need to Fire Back
I’ve been thinking about all the things that got us to this point, where the conservative super-majority on the Supreme Court felt free to overturn a 40-year precedent that allowed the government to actually function efficiently and then, in the same week, was just fucking fine in giving a president “absolute immunity” to commit crimes as long as they fall within “official” duties. And let’s be honest: They were giving Donald Trump and Republicans that pass. If a Democratic president had farted too loudly, this court would have found a way to have them executed immediately, and so it would be in the future.
But it wasn’t one thing that got us here. It wasn’t just the 2016 election debacle. Yes, you can fucking despise everyone who prevented Hillary Clinton from winning, from Trump voters to the New York Times to James Comey to Bernie Sanders’ voters to Susan Sarandon, but it wasn’t just 2016. You gotta go back. It was when Senator Joe Biden wanted to play nice with Republicans and allowed Clarence Thomas’s nomination to get out of the Judiciary Committee he chaired.
Malcolm Nance: Terrified?! Time to Fight the Dictatorship
In Common Sense, Thomas Pain wrote, “These times that try men’s souls …” This statement reflects at least 81 million Americans’ feelings today. We are physically sick, bewildered, and despondent that American Democracy is ending without a fight. Donald Trump being held accountable led to a political backlash by a Supreme Court that decided they were officially the MAGA Court. Trump bragged that he bought the court and that they owed him; the threats, personal pressure, corruption, and conniving finally paid off. They not only ended every case against him, but they armed him with the tools to be the first successful American dictator.
To quote the brilliant Mel Brooks in the movie The Producers, “It’s enough to make ya heave.”
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s piece at and subscribe to his Substack
Obama shares concerns after shaky debate, offers Biden his advice
Obama separately spoke directly with Biden by phone after last Thursday’s debate to offer his support as a sounding board and private counselor for his embattled former vice president, the people said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. It is unclear how directly Obama addressed Biden’s performance and his path to reelection on the call.
President Joe Biden to sit down with ABC News on Friday for first TV interview since debate
President Joe Biden will sit down with ABC News on Friday for his first television interview since last week’s presidential debate.
The president’s poor performance in the debate has garnered calls for him to drop out of the race by politicians on both sides of the aisle.
Biden will speak to “Good Morning America” and “This Week” anchor George Stephanopoulos for the interview. A first look will air on the Friday, July 5, edition of “World News Tonight with David Muir” with portions airing on Saturday and Sunday on “Good Morning America.”
Biden blames international travel for poor debate performance, says he nearly ‘fell asleep on stage’
At a campaign fundraiser in McLean, Virginia, on Tuesday evening, President Joe Biden — for the first time — attributed his poor debate performance last week to the amount of foreign travel he did in June, according to notes from a small group of reporters permitted in the event.
“I decided to travel around the world a couple of times,” Biden said, referring to recent trips abroad, including his visit to France for the 80th anniversary of D-Day.
“I didn’t listen to my staff,” he continued, adding he “came back and nearly fell asleep on stage.”
Biden said Tuesday he was sorry for his debate performance but stressed that winning the election was “critical.”
Trump’s Hush Money Sentencing Delayed Until September
Former President Donald Trump’s hush money sentencing will be delayed until September after his request to throw out his conviction.
Judge Juan Merchan set a new sentencing date of Sept. 18, according to a Tuesday court filing. Trump was initially going to be sentenced July 11.
The delay comes after Trump’s attorneys wrote a letter to Merchan asking that his conviction be thrown out. That last-ditch effort to wriggle out of accountability comes after the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision Monday that Trump has full immunity for “official acts” he took as president.
Top Biden Officials Seek to Calm Donors: ‘Breathe Through the Nose’
President Biden’s top campaign brass on Monday tried to tamp down the panic that had captured his financial base in the campaign’s most formal outreach yet to its wealthiest supporters after last week’s damaging debate.
In a Zoom audio call on Monday with about 500 members of the campaign’s National Finance Committee and some other contributors, some of the Biden campaign’s most senior officials, including the chair Jen O’Malley Dillon, the deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks and the pollster Molly Murphy, presided for an hour.
“Everyone just needs to breathe through the nose for minute,” Chris Korge, the finance chair of the Democratic National Committee, said toward the end of the call. The New York Times was connected to the call by an authorized participant.
Steve Bannon reports to prison for contempt of Congress sentence
Former Trump adviser Steve Bannon surrendered on Monday to law enforcement to begin his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress.
He entered the Federal Correctional Institute Danbury, in Danbury, Connecticut, shortly before noon to begin serving his sentence.
The Supreme Court had on Friday denied Bannon’s request to remain out of prison during the appeals process after he filed an emergency appeal on Friday with the high court.
Trump seeks to postpone sentencing and set aside verdict in his hush money trial after the Supreme Court’s immunity ruling
Attorneys for Donald Trump indicated in a letter to the presiding judge in the former president’s hush money case that they want him to postpone sentencing and set aside the trial verdict following the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling Monday.
The lawyers said they want to brief New York state Judge Juan Merchan on the relevance of the high court’s immunity decision and an argument that the decision confirmed that the Manhattan district attorney should not have been able to offer evidence at trial concerning Trump’s official acts as president.
Trump’s attorneys are seeking to throw out his conviction 34 felony counts of falsifying business records and postpone next week’s sentencing, according to two people with direct knowledge of the matter.
‘I dissent’: Biden attacks Supreme Court immunity ruling as emboldening a lawless president
President Joe Biden called the Supreme Court decision Monday providing some immunity for Donald Trump in his criminal election interference case “a terrible disservice to the people of this nation.”
“This nation was founded on the principle that there are no kings in America. Each, each of us is equal before the law. No one, no one is above the law, not even the president of the United States. [With] today’s Supreme Court decision on presidential immunity, that fundamentally changed for all practical purposes,” Biden said.
Biden said the decision means there are now “virtually no limits on what the president can do,” a sentiment that echoed the dissents written by the liberal justices on the court.
Charlie Pierce: We’re Going To Have To Talk About President Joe Biden, Candidate
As reluctant as I am to join the general scrum that resulted from the president’s desultory performance in last Thursday’s debate, the shebeen does have certain public responsibilities. However, let me say that rarely has my profession behaved so badly, and rarely has my low opinion of the Democratic Party’s essential backbone been so thoroughly justified. Exhibit A on Point One: on his way to a fundraiser in the Hamptons, the president was greeted by six people carrying signs urging him to resign. Within minutes, at least five respected members of the political media—and you know who you are—leaped on to the Xwitter machine to share a picture of these pasty jamokes like their presence meant something.
5 takeaways from striking Biden-Trump presidential debate
President Joe Biden delivered a halting performance in Thursday’s debate with former President Donald Trump — raising new questions about his future in an event largely viewed as a test of the two candidates’ fitness for office.
The two debated a slate of policies on stage in Atlanta, though little new ground was broken. Much of the focus was instead on how the 81-year-old president and his 78-year-old predecessor would handle another four years in the Oval Office — with Democrats left worrying about Biden’s performance.
Here are five takeaways from Thursday night’s clash.
Biden falters in high-stakes debate, Trump spews falsehoods
In a historic clash of personality and policy, Joe Biden and Donald Trump took the stage for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election.
The showdown provided a rare opportunity for both candidates to move the needle in what has been a stubbornly tight race for the White House, but at the end of the night, Biden’s halting performance raised new concerns among Democrats and cause Republicans to celebrate.
The debate was a rematch for Biden and Trump, who faced each other twice in 2020, but a first-of-its-kind format and a vastly different political landscape presented new challenges for the two rivals.
‘Total Nonsense’ And ‘Pure Fiction’: CNN Fact-Checker Exposes Trump’s False Debate Claims
CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale offered a breathless breakdown of the misleading claims and false statements that Donald Trump made during his first 2024 presidential debate with President Joe Biden, which the network hosted in Atlanta on Thursday.
The presumptive GOP presidential nominee’s list of false claims is “way, way longer” than the president’s, Dale noted before reeling off and then debunking the many, many falsehoods uttered by Trump.
Dale, during his near-3-minute segment, described Trump’s claim that Biden wants to quadruple people’s taxes as “pure fiction” and said his line about Biden only creating jobs for “illegal immigrants” was “total nonsense.”
Former Uvalde school district police chief charged with child endangerment after shooting that killed 21
The former school district police chief in Uvalde, Texas, who oversaw the response to the 2022 elementary school shooting that killed 21 people, including 19 children, was arrested on a child endangerment charge, an official at the Uvalde jail said Thursday.
Pete Arredondo, 52, was taken in by law enforcement officers and is accused of abandoning and endangering a child, the jail official said.
The charge was first reported by the San Antonio Express-News.
The Uvalde jail official confirmed Arredondo was being booked into the facility Thursday afternoon. Uvalde County Sheriff Ruben Nolasco said Thursday night that Arredondo was released on bond.
Glenn Kirschner: The unmistakable evidence that Judge Cannon is unfit for Trump’s classified docs case
Each new development in Donald Trump’s federal criminal case in Florida makes it increasingly clear that the impartiality of presiding Judge Aileen Cannon might, as federal law puts it, “reasonably be questioned.” That’s important because the same statute — 28 U.S. Code Section 455 — provides that when a judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned, the judge “shall disqualify” herself from the case. It’s time for a fair, impartial and independent judge to assume responsibility for this case.
There is a virtual mountain of evidence in the Florida case in favor of Cannon’s removal. Even before the case commenced, when Trump complained in a court about the FBI seizing his stuff, Cannon ordered the Justice Department to stop investigating the classified documents that were retrieved from Trump, despite them being seized under a lawfully issued search warrant. She then appointed a special master to review the evidence the FBI had taken, bringing the investigation to a grinding halt.
POLITICS Trump and Biden’s first presidential debate of 2024 is today. Here’s what to know.
President Biden and former President Donald Trump will participate in the first presidential debate of the 2024 election on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.
The debate, hosted by CNN, will be the first time either candidate has been on a debate stage since 2020. The debate will also be simulcast on other networks, including CBS and CBS News 24/7 streaming.
Trump will get the final word of the night, while Mr. Biden got to choose whether he wanted the podium on the right or left side. Their microphones will be muted except when it’s their turn to speak.
J.D. Vance says he’ll be disappointed if Trump doesn’t pick him as his running mate
Senator J.D. Vance of Ohio has long been considered one of Donald J. Trump’s top running mate choices and worked as hard as anyone to win the job — raising money for the campaign, speaking with a seemingly endless stream of cable news reporters and even sitting in the Manhattan courtroom with the former president to demonstrate his support.
Now, as Mr. Trump’s increasingly theatrical selection process enters its final phase, Mr. Vance acknowledged Wednesday that he would feel a tinge of dejection if he were not the pick.
“I’m human, right?” Mr. Vance said when asked about that scenario in an interview on Fox News. “So when you know this thing is a possibility, if it doesn’t happen, there is certainly going to be a little bit of disappointment.”
Corruption Law Allows Gifts to State and Local Officials, Supreme Court Rules
The Supreme Court limited the sweep of a federal law on Wednesday aimed at public corruption, ruling that it did not apply to gifts and payments meant to reward actions taken by state and local officials.
The 6-to-3 ruling, which split along ideological lines, was the latest in a series of decisions cutting back federal anti-corruption laws.
Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, writing for a conservative majority, said that the question in the case was whether federal law makes it a crime for state and local officials to accept such gratuities after the fact. He wrote, “The answer is no.”
Supreme Court acknowledges accidentally posting Idaho abortion case document that may preview narrow Biden admin win
The Supreme Court acknowledged Wednesday that it inadvertently posted online a document related to a pending abortion case, which Bloomberg Law obtained before it was removed from the website.
Supreme Court spokeswoman Patricia McCabe confirmed that a document was “inadvertently and briefly uploaded” to the court website but added that the ruling “has not been released.”
Bloomberg also posted a copy of the document. NBC News could not independently verify the document. It is not known whether it was a draft decision, the actual decision or neither.
Trump gag order partly lifted in hush money case ahead of first presidential debate
The judge who presided over Donald Trump’s hush money triallifted some of the restrictions from his gag order Tuesday.
New York state Judge Juan Merchan ruled two days before Trump isset to debate President Joe Biden for the first time in the 2024 campaign.
Merchan’s ruling lifted restrictions on Trump’s ability to comment on the witnesses who testified against him during his trial, as well as a part of the order barring him from discussing the jury that convicted him — essentially finding the witnesses’ and the jury’s work had concluded, so there was no fear of affecting the proceedings. The ruling preserved a part of the order barring Trump from going after court staff members, individual prosecutors and “family members of any counsel, staff member, the Court or the District Attorney.”
Judge Cannon skeptical of Trump claim FBI mishandled Mar-a-Lago search
Trump’s attorneys asked Cannon to grant what is known as a Franks hearing, a chance to show that the government intentionally misled a magistrate judge when seeking a warrant to search for classified material at Mar-a-Lago, Trump’s Florida home and private club, more than a year after he left office.
The defense lawyers argued, among other things, that Justice Department officials should have written on the affidavit that sitting presidents are unique because they do not require security clearances to view sensitive government information. Cannon was skeptical.
Latimer ousts ‘Squad’ member Bowman in Democratic primary in New York
Latimer stressed unity in remarks after his victory, telling a crowd of his supporters, “this country cannot afford to splinter into little pieces.”
“Let me try to do what I can do to bring some positive results,” he said. “I have never viewed an election as a blank check from you to me. It is a promissory note from me to you.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert wins GOP primary after switching districts
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., won her GOP primary Tuesday, NBC News projects, after she decided to run in a different district from the one where she narrowly won re-election in 2022.
Boebert defeated five other Republicans for the party’s nomination in Colorado’s 4th District, which opened up after Rep. Ken Buck announced this year that he would resign. She will be heavily favored to win the seat in the general election given the area’s rightward lean.
Boebert, who is in her second term, eked out a 546-vote victory in the neighboring 3rd District two years ago and faced the prospect of a rematch with Adam Frisch, a well-funded Democrat. Former President Donald Trump won the 4th District by 19 points, while he carried the 3rd District by 8 points in 2020, according to calculations from Daily Kos Elections.
Trump Suggest Biden Take a Drug Test As Allies Continue Attacks Before Debate
Former President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that President Joe Biden should submit to a drug test before this week’s debate, building on his unfounded claims that his rival in the November presidential election would be “all jacked up” on illicit substances when they meet in Atlanta.
“DRUG TEST FOR CROOKED JOE BIDEN???” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform. “I WOULD, ALSO, IMMEDIATELY AGREE TO ONE!!!”
Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-Texas), who served as White House physician under Trump, re-upped calls for Biden to take a series of drug tests this week, saying he had “no choice” but to ask about it. The congressman has claimed, without evidence, that Biden would be dosed with unnamed drugs to improve his performance while he is preparing at Camp David this week for the debate with Trump on Thursday.
Julian Assange Agrees to Plead Guilty in Exchange for Release, Ending Standoff With U.S.
Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, agreed to plead guilty on Monday to a single felony count of illegally obtaining and disclosing national security material in exchange for his release from a British prison, ending his long and bitter standoff with the United States.
Mr. Assange, 52, was granted his request to appear before a federal judge at one of the more remote outposts of the federal judiciary, the courthouse in Saipan, the capital of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to a brief court filing made public late Monday. He is expected to be sentenced to about five years, the equivalent of the time he has already served in Britain, according to a law enforcement official familiar with the terms of the agreement.
Inside Biden’s Camp David Debate Prep
At Camp David, a movie theater and an airplane hangar have been outfitted with lights and production equipment to create a mock debate stage. At least 16 current and former aides, summoned from Washington and Wilmington, whiz back and forth on golf carts to join President Biden in strategy sessions.
Mr. Biden is entering his fifth day of preparations at the presidential retreat in the woods of northern Maryland for Thursday’s debate against Donald J. Trump. Camp David has become the epicenter for an administration and campaign effort to help Mr. Biden shake off the rust that often comes with being an incumbent on the defense, and combat widespread voter concerns that he is too old to be an effective president.
‘I don’t appreciate your tone’: Judge in Trump documents case reprimands prosecutor
The judge presiding over Donald Trump’s classified documents case reprimanded a prosecutor from special counsel Jack Smith’s office at a hearing Monday on a proposed gag order for the former president.
“I don’t appreciate your tone,” U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon said when attorney David Harbach appeared to get exasperated as she questioned the need to modify Trump’s conditions of release. Smith’s office has challenged those conditions over Trump’s false claims that FBI agents were prepared to kill him while they were executing a 2022 search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
The tense exchange at a federal courthouse in Fort Pierce came as attorney Harbach was arguing that Cannon should bar Trump from making more inflammatory statements about FBI agents who worked on the investigation.
Charlie Pierce: It’s Unfortunately Time To Get To Know The Heritage Foundation’s ‘Project 2025’
Let us reanimate an old, beloved Monday feature of the shebeen that we used to call, What Are The Gobshites Saying These Days? We do so to memorialize the epochal encounter on Sunday between Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, and Symone Sanders-Townsend of MSNBC. Roberts quite openly—if not honestly—explained Heritage’s planned demolition of democratic self-government in favor of ruling by the faulty synapses of the modern conservative mind as best represented by the current presumptive presidential nominee. In short, Roberts was the very model of a modern major lickspittle. For example, when Sanders-Townsend thoroughly treed him on the subject of abortion, Roberts reverted to the dark imaginings of the cult.
Heat wave sizzles parts of the country as floods and severe weather force people from their homes
Little relief appears on the forecast for millions across the United States enduring record-setting heat or widespread flooding this weekend.
The National Weather Service said Sunday that the heat wave will shift from the mid-Atlantic to portions of the southeast and southern Plains by Monday. Meanwhile, widespread storms will bring the threat of flash flooding, damaging winds and tornadoes for a second day in New England.
Elsewhere, severe storms and rainfall are on the forecast.
‘Everything is at stake’ for reproductive rights in 2024, Harris says
Vice President Kamala Harris says “everything is at stake” with reproductive health rights in November’s election as the Biden campaign steps up its focus on contrasting the positions taken by Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican Donald Trump on the issue before their debate this week.
Harris’ comments come as the campaign announced it would hold more than 50 events in battleground states and beyond to mark Monday’s second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision that overturned the federal legal right to an abortion. Biden and his allies are trying to remind voters that the landmark decision in 2022 was made by a high court that included three conservative justices nominated during Trump’s White House tenure.
‘Look At The Evidence’: Karl Rove Drops Bad News For Trump Live On Fox News
Longtime Republican strategist Karl Rove delivered some bad news to Donald Trump and his supporters over the weekend.
“Take a look at the evidence,” he said on Fox News on Saturday when asked if polls have shifted since the former president’s conviction last month on 34 charges in the Stormy Daniels hush money case.
He said polls show Trump losing ground to President Joe Biden since the conviction. As a result, Trump’s modest lead over Biden has been shrinking on RealClearPolitics and other poll aggregators, and Rove predicted that Trump’s lead may be about to vanish altogether.
Trump says he knows who his vice presidential pick will be
Former President Donald Trump said Saturday that he knows who his vice presidential pick will be — and gave a clue about his or her likely debate night plans.
Asked by NBC News at a Philadelphia campaign stop whether he has decided on his vice presidential pick, Trump responded, “In my mind, yeah,” adding that the person will “most likely” be at Thursday’s debate against President Joe Biden.
“They’ll be there,” he continued. “I think we have a lot of people coming.”
Netanyahu and White House continue public disagreement over claim US withholding weapons amid Israel’s war with Hamas
The public war of words between Israel and the U.S. continued Thursday with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responding pointedly to the White House after the Biden administration again denied his claim the U.S. is withholding weapons from Israel amid its fight in Gaza with Hamas.
His response came shortly after White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, in a call with reporters on Thursday, called Netanyahu’s claim “perplexing to say the least” and two days after the White House bluntly said it “genuinely didn’t know what he’s talking about.”
In a video he released earlier this week, Netanyahu claimed “the administration has been withholding weapons and ammunitions” Israel needed to fight Hamas.
Biden campaign picks right-side podium for CNN debate, Trump will have the last word
President Joe Biden won the coin toss to secure a podium position on the right side of the stage during the CNN debate next week, but by doing so gave Donald Trump the final closing statement of the 90-minute matchup.
According to CNN, the coin landed on tails — the side chosen by the Biden campaign. The team then got to choose between podium placement or the order of closing arguments, picking to have Biden be on the right side of television and other screens but deliver his closing statement first.
Trump’s podium will be on the left side, and will have the last word by delivering his closing statement after Biden.
Judge In Trump’s Documents Case Rejected Peers’ Calls To Step Aside: Report
U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, the Donald Trump appointee assigned to his classified documents case, rejected calls from more experienced judges to step aside from the case, The New York Times reported Thursday.
Two of Cannon’s more seasoned colleagues on the federal bench in Florida, including the chief judge in the state’s southern district, reportedly asked Cannon to reconsider taking on the job when she drew the assignment in June 2023. Trump nominated her for the lifetime appointment in May 2020, even though she had never served as a judge. Of the 224 cases she’s been assigned, only four have gone to trial, and all four concerned routine matters, taking up a total of 14 trial days, the Times reported when she was assigned to the incredibly high-profile case.
Supreme Court Turns Back Stealth Attack On Wealth Tax — For Now
The Supreme Court issued a narrow 7-2 ruling on June 20 rejecting a sweeping constitutional argument that a wealthy Washington state couple brought before them that was viewed as a stalking horse aimed at preemptively striking down a future tax on wealth.
The couple, Charles and Kathy Moore, had challenged the constitutionality of the Mandatory Repatriation Tax, which was enacted as part of Republicans’ 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The MRT imposed a one-time retroactive tax on Americans who received “undistributed” income — meaning income not distributed to them by a company — from foreign corporations in which they held more than a 10% stake. The Moores argued that the tax was unconstitutional because the 16th Amendment only authorizes taxes on income, and that the unrealized gains they received from undistributed income in foreign corporations is not income.
The Rude Pundit: Louisiana Wants to Put a Sign About F***ing in Kindergarten Classrooms
The state of Louisiana, with its overwhelmingly batshit insane Republican legislature and its even more bugfuck insane Republican governor, have passed a law that requires all public-funded schools, including universities, to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom. In case you don’t know, the Ten Commandments are from the fictional book known as “The Bible.” In that epic novel, a character named Moses is given stone tablets by the character God containing ten pretty simplistic, common sense ideas, the kind of shit that fiction writers make seem way more meaningful than it actually is. I mean, c’mon, “thou shalt not kill”? No shit. Ooh, look at the big brain on God. Any fuckin’ idiot knows not to kill or steal. But, sure, let’s all pretend like this is some huge fuckin’ revelation. Oh, and only Christians and Jews give a flying fuck about what’s in this Bible thing. All other faiths and atheists can fuck off.
The law itself is completely fucking mad. This is an actual quote from the law: “At a minimum, the Ten Commandments shall be displayed on a poster or framed document that is at least eleven inches by fourteen inches. The text of the Ten Commandments shall be the central focus of the poster or framed document and shall be printed in a large, easily readable font.” There aren’t enough jacking-off gestures to make at that.
Trump Tries to Set Expectations, and Floats Excuses, for His Debate With Biden
A few minutes into his speech at a campaign rally on Tuesday, Donald J. Trump asked a question of the few thousand who’d turned up to hear him speak. “Is anybody going to watch the debate?”
Mr. Trump was in Racine, Wis., but it was clear his mind was in Atlanta, the site of his matchup against President Biden next week. He repeatedly mused about the potential scenarios, lowering expectations that he would dominate Mr. Biden and then, as if he couldn’t help himself, raising them again.
The expectations game is a particular challenge for the Trump campaign. Mr. Trump, 78, has spent months casting the 81-year-old Mr. Biden as a husk of a man who can barely walk or formulate complete sentences. Republicans have pumped out a stream of videos of Mr. Biden walking stiffly — some deceptively edited — that are meant to be proof of Mr. Biden’s decline.
Witness tells House Ethics Committee that Matt Gaetz paid her for sex: Sources
In recent weeks, House Ethics Committee investigators have conducted a string of interviews behind closed doors with numerous women who were witnesses in the yearslong Justice Department sex trafficking investigation into Rep. Matt Gaetz, multiple sources familiar with the committee’s work tell ABC News.
Investigators have interviewed at least half a dozen women who allegedly attended parties where the Florida congressman was also present and who were paid by Joel Greenberg, Gaetz’s one-time close friend. Greenberg was sentenced in 2022 to 11 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges including sex trafficking a minor and introducing the minor to other “adult men,” sources tell ABC News.
White House Responds To Netanyahu’s Claim Of The U.S. Withholding Weapons From Israel
The White House on Tuesday responded to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s allegations that the Biden administration has been withholding weapons and ammunition from his country over the past few months.
“We genuinely do not know what he’s talking about,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters. “We just don’t.”
In a 49-second video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Netanyahu said he’d recently had a “candid conversation” with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, thanking him for the support the U.S. has given Israel but also airing an apparent grievance.
New Louisiana law requires the Ten Commandments to be displayed in every public school classroom
Louisiana has become the first state to require that the Ten Commandments be displayed in every public school classroom under a bill Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed into law Wednesday.
The GOP-drafted legislation mandates that a poster-size display of the Ten Commandments in a “large, easily readable font” be in all public classrooms, from kindergarten to state-funded universities.
Opponents question the law’s constitutionality, warning that lawsuits would be likely to follow. Proponents say that the purpose of the measure is not solely religious but that it has historical significance. In the law’s language, the Ten Commandments are described as “foundational documents of our state and national government.”
North Korea’s Kim declares ‘full support’ for Russian war in Ukraine
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un assured Russian President Vladimir Putin of his “full support and solidarity for the Russian government, army and people” in the war in Ukraine, as the two leaders began talks in Pyongyang filled with exhortations about their “fiery friendship.”
Kim did not elaborate on what that support might look like but the remarks, reported by Russian media in Pyongyang, will fuel concerns the outcast leaders of two heavily-sanctioned states will use this visit to deepen their military partnership.
‘I love Milwaukee’: Trump tries to make up with the ‘horrible’ city
Donald Trump went to Wisconsin on Tuesday to rail against President Joe Biden’s new immigration measures and rally the MAGA base.
But first, he had to convince them he didn’t think the state’s largest city was “horrible,” after all — and to dispute reports he planned to stay in Chicago, not the host city of Milwaukee, during the Republican National Convention there next month.
“I love Milwaukee. I was the one who picked Milwaukee,” Trump said when he took the stage for a rally in Racine, about 25 miles from Milwaukee.
Biden Gives Legal Protections to Undocumented Spouses of U.S. Citizens
President Biden on Tuesday granted far-reaching new protections for hundreds of thousands of immigrants who have been living in the United States illegally for years but are married to American citizens.
Under the new policy, some 500,000 undocumented spouses will be shielded from deportation and given a pathway to citizenship and the ability to work legally in the United States. It is one of the most expansive actions to protect immigrants since Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, was enacted 12 years ago to protect those who came to the United States as children.
Republican senator blocks ban on bump stocks for guns brought by Democrats
Senate Democrats sought to pass legislation Tuesday banning bump stocks for firearms after the Supreme Court overruled a previous ban, but a single Republican objected on behalf of his party, effectively stalling the bill.
Backed by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., sought “unanimous consent” to pass his BUMP Actthat would prohibit the devices, which modify semi-automatic weapons to fire bullets more quickly.
The New Mexico senator said he’s a firearm owner who sees no purpose for bump stocks other than to facilitate mass shootings, as in Las Vegas in 2017, when a gunman killed dozens of people at a music festival and more than 500 people were injured.
Democrats launch summer spending blitz highlighting state legislative races
The presidential election is taking up much of the political oxygen in 2024. But Democrats are urging voters not to forget the importance of state legislative races — and they’re spending big to make sure they don’t.
The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, the Democrats’ campaign arm for state legislative races, launched a $10 million spending blitz Monday to boost key state legislative candidates and campaigns across the country, according to plans shared first with ABC News. Dubbed the “Summer of the States” campaign, the investment marks the first time the DLCC is launching a push of this size at this point in an election cycle.
Along with the money, the campaign also includes a microsite that will feature key races to watch and spotlight candidates running in them.
1st Biden-Trump debate will include microphone muting, coin flip and more
With less than two weeks until the first presidential debate, CNN announced the rules agreed on by both President Joe Biden and Donald Trump‘s campaigns.
They include microphone muting, a coin flip and more when the two candidates face off at the network’s Atlanta studio on June 27.
The debate, which is being moderated by CNN anchors Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, will run for approximately 90 minutes with two commercial breaks. There will be no live studio audience, one major change from debates past.
Steve Bannon won’t be spending his prison term in a ‘Club Fed’ as he had hoped, sources say
When former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon goes to prison, he won’t be serving time at what’s known as a “Club Fed,” the most comfortable type of facility in the federal system, as he had wanted, according to people familiar with the arrangements.
Instead of a minimum-security prison camp, where many nonviolent offenders serve their time, Bannon – now a right-wing podcaster with a following of loyal Trump supporters – is set to report next month to the low-security federal prison in Danbury, Connecticut, one of the sources told CNN.
A federal judge ruled recently that Bannon must turn himself in by July 1 to begin serving a four-month sentence for contempt of Congress even as he appeals the case. His attorneys initially thought he may be able to do his time at a camp, the sources said.
Netanyahu Dissolves War Cabinet After Key Partner Bolts Government, Israeli Officials Say
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dissolved the influential War Cabinet that has overseen the fighting in Gaza, a government spokesperson said Monday, days after a key member of the body bolted from the government over frustration with the Israeli leader’s handling of the war.
The move was widely expected following the departure of Benny Gantz, a centrist former military chief. Gantz’s absence from the government increases Netanyahu’s dependence on his ultra-nationalist allies, who oppose a cease-fire. That could pose an additional challenge to the already fragile negotiations to end the eight-month war in Gaza.
Government officials said Netanyahu would hold smaller forums for sensitive war issues, including with his Security Cabinet, which includes far-right governing partners who oppose cease-fire deals and have voiced support for reoccupying Gaza.
Charlie Pierce: The Democrats Are Doing Self-Destructive Oversharing Again, This Time About Hunter Biden
This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy. Why do Democrats insist on doing this? Why can’t they simply figure out that the press is not their friends? They believe in the notion of a “liberal media” more than most Republicans do. From Axios:
When Biden declared for president in 2019, his family was plagued by addiction, grief and soap opera levels of drama, the legal cases involving his son Hunter and daughter Ashley have shown.
Biden campaign plans robust push centered on reproductive rights ahead of Dobbs decision anniversary
The Biden campaign plans to mark the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade decision that guaranteed the federal right to abortion by barnstorming the country with messaging and events aimed at contrasting President Joe Biden’s views with those of former President Donald Trump, according to information shared exclusively with NBC News.
During the weekend before and on the anniversary of the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, the campaign will hold more than 30 events to mobilize volunteers and contact voters in cities across battleground states including Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Las Vegas.
Biden, Obama raise more than $30 million at glitzy L.A. event
President Biden and former President Obama railed against former President Trump, touted the Democratic incumbent’s policy achievements and slipped in a few jokes at a Saturday night fundraiser in downtown Los Angeles that shattered Democratic fundraising records.
“I could have done nothing and done better than him,” Biden replied when late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, who was moderating the discussion between the two Democrats, asked about the presumptive GOP nominee, whom Kimmel referred to as “Orange Julius Caesar,” before noting the strength of the nation’s economy, the low unemployment rate and other accomplishments. “We’re trying to give ordinary people a chance, just a chance.”
Trump confuses the name of his doctor when bragging about taking a cognitive test
Former President Donald Trump on Saturday confused the name of his former White House physician just moments after he said President Joe Biden should take a cognitive test.
The mix-up happened as Trump bragged that he had “aced” a cognitive test. Trump also criticized Biden, saying, “I think he should take a cognitive test like I did.”
“I took a cognitive test, and I aced it. Doc Ronny — Doc Ronny Johnson,” Trump said, confusing the name of his White House physician, Dr. Ronny Jackson, now a member of the House. “Does everyone know Ronny Johnson, congressman from Texas? He was the White House doctor.”
Biden warns Trump could select two more Supreme Court justices if re-elected
President Joe Biden on Saturday night warned about the possibility of former President Donald Trump appointing two new Supreme Court justices if he wins the presidency in November.
“The next president is likely to have two new Supreme Court nominees — two more,” Biden said at a campaign fundraiser in Los Angeles, adding that Trump had already appointed two justices who are “very negative in terms of the rights of individuals.”
“I think it is one of the scariest parts,” Biden said.
Trump, Back in Capitol, Has Thoughts on Taylor Swift, Nancy Pelosi and Milwaukee
Even hours later, few people could agree on what, exactly, former President Donald J. Trump said about Milwaukee when he met with House Republicans in Washington on Thursday.
But on a day when Mr. Trump returned to Capitol Hill to unite congressional Republicans behind him, more than three years after a group of his supporters mounted a violent effort to try to keep him in the White House, much of the focus was instead on stray comments he made, including about a populous city in a critical battleground state that will soon play host to his nominating convention.
According to various people in the room, Mr. Trump, during his meeting with House members at the Capitol Hill Club, complained that the pop music megastar Taylor Swift would support President Biden over him. Mr. Trump has previously argued that Ms. Swift, who endorsed Mr. Biden in 2020 but has not done so this year, should back him instead.
Senate Republicans block Democratic bill to protect IVF nationwide
Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic-led bill Thursday to codify broad federal protections for in vitro fertilizationin the midst of a growing partisan clash over reproductive rights in the United States.
The vote was 48-47, with just two Republicans voting for it: Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Others in the GOP said the legislation went too far, instead signing on to a scaled-back version that Democrats said was ineffectual.
President Joe Biden chastised Senate Republicans who opposed the measure in a statement Thursday night.
Clarence Thomas took additional undisclosed trips paid for by GOP megadonor, Senate committee says
Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas was given additional undisclosed trips by a GOP megadonor that were not included in his financial disclosure forms, according to documents the Senate Judiciary Committee released Thursday.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., who chairs the Judiciary Committee, released records about gifts of private jet travel provided by Thomas’ billionaire friend, Harlan Crow, that included plane trips in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
“As a result of our investigation and subpoena authorization, we are providing the American public greater clarity on the extent of ethical lapses by Supreme Court justices and the need for ethics reform,” Durbin said in a statement.
Supreme Court rejects bid to restrict access to abortion pill
In a blow for anti-abortion advocates, the Supreme Court on Thursday rejected a challenge to the abortion pill mifepristone, meaning the commonly used drug can remain widely available.
The court found unanimously that the group of anti-abortion doctors who questioned the Food and Drug Administration’s decisions making it easier to access the pill did not have legal standing to sue.
President Joe Biden said in a statement that while the ruling means the pill can remain easily accessible, “the fight for reproductive freedom continues” in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s ruling two years ago that overturned the abortion-rights landmark Roe v. Wade.
The Rude Pundit: Conservative Plans for a Next Trump Presidency Are Dumb and Frightening
(Note: I wrote this originally over on my subscriber-only Patreon page, where you can join starting at a buck a month, with more treats for $3 and $5 per month subscribers. You can even pay for a year in advance which gets you a fancy discount. Join the smart rudesters there now.)
The nutzoid right-wing Heritage Foundation (motto: “Putting ‘White’ before ‘Heritage’ would be too obvious”) has this thing called Project 2025, which is a bunch of extremist lunatics saying that a next Trump presidency would be a “unique opportunity for conservatives to start undoing the damage the Left has wrought and build a better country for all Americans in 2025.” In other words, rawdogging democracy and freedom until they’re festering with fascist syph.
They’ve created an 887-page (no, really) guidebook of the MAGA hell that they want to ensue if the Retrumpening comes to fruition. Titled Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise, it’s nothing less than a complete tearing down of the modern government and rebuilding it in the image of the worst motherfuckers who appear on Steve Bannon’s shitty podcast of doom. It’s filled with all kinds of fuckery, from firing long-term civil servants and replacing them with MAGA-certified drones to fucking up the climate even more to destroying anyone who even breathes about diversity to way more. Again, it’s 887 pages of this shit.
Pentagon downplays Russian warships arriving in Cuba
The Pentagon is downplaying Wednesday’s arrival of four Russian Navy ships in Cubaas U.S. officials acknowledge that U.S. Navy ships “actively monitored” the Russian ships as they made their way to a port of call in Havana.
At the on-camera Pentagon press briefing, spokesperson Sabrina Singh downplayed the Russian naval flotilla’s arrival in Havana noting that it’s happened multiple times over the years but acknowledged that U.S. military assets had been tracking the ships on their way to Cuba.
“We’ve been tracking the Russians plans for this,” Sabrina Singh, the Pentagon’s deputy press secretary told reporters Wednesday.
G7 leaders huddle in Italy, escaping political peril at home
When the Group of 7 pose for its ritual family photo Thursday on the rocky Adriatic coast of Italy, the image will not be of leaders at the height of their political strength.
Instead, nearly to a person, the leaders assembling at a luxury resort in Puglia find themselves weakened at home by elections, scandal or waning influence. Amid the olive trees and swimming pools, the anti-incumbent sentiments coursing through Western democracies are creating extraordinarily high stakes for global geopolitics.
Rarely has the yearly gathering of the world’s leading economies been so overshadowed by the political vulnerabilities of nearly all its members. It raises questions of how effective the “steering committee of the free world,” as US President Joe Biden’s aides have labeled the G7, can actually be amid anger and discontent from their own populations.
House Republicans vote to hold Garland in contempt over Biden interview audio
House Republicans on Wednesday afternoon passed a resolution to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio of President Joe Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur on his handling of classified documents.
The final vote was 216 to 207. Rep. David Joyce of Ohio was the only Republican who voted against the contempt resolution.
Speaker Mike Johnson called the outcome “a significant step in maintaining the integrity of our oversight processes and responsibilities.”
Inflation Flat In May As Gas Prices Subside, Giving White House, Markets A Boost
Consumer prices held steady in May, helped by a drop in what drivers paid at the gas pump, the government said Wednesday in a bit of welcome news for the White House worried about inflation’s impact on President Joe Biden’s reelection bid.
The consumer price index, the most high-profile measure of inflation, was unchanged from April to May, the Bureau of Labor Statistics said, a pause that brought the CPI’s growth over the last year down to a 3.3% rate. The flat reading in May was the best monthly showing since July 2022.
Inflation has slowed sharply from the recent peak in 2022, but high prices have meant voters still see an otherwise robust economy negatively, according to a poll by The Economist/YouGov.
Malcolm Nance: SNEAK PREVIEW… “Thinker, Sailor, Blackman, Spy – Memoir of an Intelligence Warrior”
Welcome to Baby Spy School. Get out your notebooks, kids. It’s the micro-history of Espionage.
Read the rest of Malcolm Nance’s book preview and subscribe to his Substack
Nancy Mace Defeats G.O.P. Challenger, Dealing Blow to McCarthy’s Revenge Tour
Representative Nancy Mace, Republican of South Carolina, on Tuesday defeated a well-funded primary challenger, putting her on track to win a third term. Her resounding victory also dealt a major blow to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s efforts to exact political retribution against those who voted to oust him.
Ms. Mace, 46, who once leaned center on social issues, won a Democratic seat in 2020 and claimed that all of former President Donald J. Trump’s accomplishments had been “wiped out” by his behavior on Jan. 6, 2021. But she has made a hard tack to the right over the past year as she has tried to game out her political future.
Republicans set to expand House majority with victory in Ohio special election
Republican Michael Rulli will win the special election for Ohio’s 6th Congressional District, CNN projects, helping his party expand its narrow House majority.
Rulli, a Youngstown-area state senator and an executive for his family’s grocery store chain, is projected to defeat Democratic Air Force veteran Michael Kripchak in the race for the sprawling district along the Ohio River in eastern Ohio.
Rulli will succeed former Rep. Bill Johnson, a seven-term Republican who resigned in January to become the president of Youngstown State University.
The ‘Chilling’ Trump Plan That Could Pave The Way For Authoritarianism
Donald Trump has no greater enemy than the United States’ federal bureaucracy — what he calls the “deep state.” And he has a plan to bend it to his will if he’s elected in November.
The plan, to create something called “Schedule F,” would make tens of thousands of civil servants easier to fire, fundamentally changing the nature of the federal government — and, some worry, paving the way for authoritarianism.
Schedule F is a new category, or schedule, of federal workers who are exempt from codified job protections, like being hired and fired based on merit and having the ability to appeal disciplinary action.
Hunter Biden, the president’s son, found guilty on federal gun charges after a trial that laid bare his addiction struggles
A jury Tuesday found Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden, guilty on three felony gun charges after a weeklong trial that focused on his history of drug addiction.
Biden was charged in federal court in Wilmington with three felony counts tied to possession of a gun while using narcotics; he had pleaded not guilty. The jury started its deliberations Monday afternoon and deliberated for about three hours before it returned the historic verdict.
Biden looked straight ahead at the jury as it delivered the verdict, and he nodded slightly as it was read.
Donald Trump completes mandatory presentencing interview after less than 30 minutes of questioning
Donald Trump completed his mandatory presentencing interview Monday after less than 30 minutes of routine, uneventful questions and answers, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity.
The former president was quizzed by a New York City probation officer for a report, required by law, that trial judge Juan M. Merchan can use to help determine Trump’s punishment when he is sentenced July 11 in his hush money criminal case.
Monday’s interview was conducted privately by video conferencing. Under state law, the resulting report — which may also include information about Trump’s conviction, his social, family and employment history, and his education and economic status — will remain confidential unless the judge authorizes its public release.
Judge Strikes One Element From Trump Indictment in Documents Case
A federal judge on Monday slightly narrowed the classified documents case against former President Donald J. Trump, saying prosecutors cannot charge him based on an episode in which he is said to have shown a highly sensitive military map to a political adviser months after leaving office.
The decision by the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, was more of a swipe at prosecutors working for the special counsel, Jack Smith, who brought the case than a major blow to the allegations against Mr. Trump. Even though Judge Cannon technically removed the incident from the 53-page indictment, prosecutors may still be able to introduce evidence of it to the jury if the case finally goes to trial.
Jury deliberations begin in Hunter Biden’s criminal trial after prosecutors cite ‘overwhelming’ evidence
Jury deliberations began Monday in the federal criminal trial of Hunter Biden after prosecutors laid out what they described as “overwhelming” evidence against the president’s son as he faces gun charges.
The panel deliberated for about an hour in the late afternoon before it was sent home for the day.
Abbe Lowell, Biden’s attorney, urged the jury to find his client not guilty, arguing prosecutors had offered only “speculation or conjecture” — not hard evidence — that Biden was using drugs around the time he bought a Colt Cobra revolver at a Wilmington gun store.