Andy Borowitz: Trump Only a Few Indictments Away from Clinching G.O.P. Nomination

After the special counsel Jack Smith brought new charges against Donald J. Trump, political experts agreed that the former President is but a few indictments away from clinching the Republican nomination.

With felony counts in the double digits, Trump is well ahead of his closest rival, Ron DeSantis.

Harland Dorrinson, a prominent G.O.P. pollster, said that, “for today’s Republican voter, felony counts confer instant credibility, and, by that measure, no other candidate comes close to Trump.”

He added that the pressure is on DeSantis “to get indicted for something—and fast.”

“There’s a chance that he could be charged with human trafficking for transporting migrants from the Mexican border to Martha’s Vineyard,” Dorrinson said. “But that indictment might be too little, too late.” https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/
 

Trump has been charged by the Department of Justice with the following four counts:

    A conspiracy to defraud the United States "by using dishonesty, fraud and deceit to obstruct the nation’s process of collecting, counting, and certifying the results of the presidential election," according to the special counsel's office. This count carries a 5-year maximum sentence.
    A conspiracy to impede the Jan. 6 congressional proceeding at which the collected results of the presidential election are counted and certified. This count carries a 20-year maximum sentence.
    A conspiracy against the right to vote and to have that vote counted. This count carries a 10-year maximum sentence.
    Obstruction of, and attempt to obstruct and impede, the certification of the electoral vote. This count carries a 20-year maximum sentence. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/live-blog/trump-live-updates-grand-jury-2020-election-probe-arrives-courthouse-rcna96825

The full text of the Trump Jan. 6 indictment

Read the full text of the third indictment against former Donald Trump at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/documents/8a7503af-fde7-4061-818c-7d7e0ee06036.pdf

Trump's "delusion" defense

Trump's legal team is teasing a risky defense to his historic third indictment, the idea that the former president genuinely believed his own lies about election fraud — despite being told by dozens of his closest advisers, allies and agencies that they were baseless.

If they proceed to trial, Trump's lawyers effectively could be asking a jury to believe that the former president was delusional — undermining special counsel Jack Smith's core thesis that Trump "knowingly" sought to defraud the country.

The gambit could prove successful in court, where an already unfurling debate over the First Amendment is expected to play a starring role.

Politically, however, the "delusion defense" would force Republicans into the uncomfortable position of defending a candidate who can't be trusted to distinguish reality from conspiracy — and who now wants to be president again. https://www.axios.com/newsletters/axios-sneak-peek-7fc196ed-b283-44ec-8870-4abb679e89c6.html

Trump Fundraising Blitz Follows Latest Indictment

Within two hours after he was criminally charged for his failed efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election, a political action committee connected to Donald Trump’s campaign sent out fundraising emails to supporters.

One message – sent from the “Official Trump Store” – advertises a “limited-edition” commemorative “I Stand with Trump” T-shirt that includes the date of the latest indictment against him. “And what better way to show that YOU stood by the President’s side through *EVERY* phony indictment than your very own Limited-Edition ‘I STAND WITH TRUMP’ T-Shirt.”

Supporters who pledge $47 to his campaign will receive the shirt “for FREE,” according to the message. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/trump-indictment-shirts-campaign-donations-b2386497.html

‘Everything has fallen off a cliff': Battleground state GOPs nosedive in Trump era

Michigan’s Republican party is broke. Minnesota’s was, until recently, down to $53.81 in the bank. And in Colorado, the GOP is facing eviction from its office this month because it can’t make rent.

Around the nation, state Republican party apparatuses — once bastions of competency that helped produce statehouse takeovers — have become shells of their former machines amid infighting and a lack of organization.

Among some state GOP officials, the mood is grim. One Michigan Republican operative, who was granted anonymity because he wasn’t authorized by the state party to comment, said of that state party: They’re just in as bad a place as a political party can be. They’re broke…Their chair can’t even admit she lost a race. It’s defunct.

The demise of the GOP state parties could have a profound impact on the 2024 election. Operatives fear that hollowed out outfits in key battlegrounds could leave the party vulnerable, especially as Democrats are focusing more on state legislative races. Traditionally, state parties perform the basic blocking and tackling of politics, from get out the vote programs to building data in municipal elections. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/08/02/broke-state-gop-parties-across-the-country-00109387

Civil War-era rights law key in Trump election interference charges

Federal prosecutors base one charge, conspiring to deprive citizens of constitutional or legal rights, on a law enacted during post-Civil War Reconstruction in 1870, when federal lawmakers sought to integrate into society enslaved people who had been freed.

Prosecutors have long used the deprivation of rights statute, known as Section 241, to fight disenfranchisement of Black voters, and a string of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases have affirmed the law’s use for that purpose. https://www.reuters.com/legal/trump-election-interference-charges-include-civil-war-era-legal-rights-law-2023-08-01/

X Says It Has Sued Nonprofit That Tracks Hate Speech

In a blog post Monday evening, X announced that it had filed a lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate for “actively working to prevent free expression.”

Elon Musk has over the last year threatened legal action against tech competitors, employees and people who use Twitter, which he owns. Now he is also taking aim at an organization that studies hate speech and misinformation on social media.

The letter was at least the third legal threat or action by X Corp. in the last two months. In May, it sent a letter to Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s chief executive, accusing the tech giant of improperly using its data. This month, it also sent a letter to Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, saying it had copied Twitter’s trade secrets when creating Threads, a new social app.

X also sued Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, a leading corporate law firm, this month over what it said were unjust payments related to Mr. Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of Twitter. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/technology/twitter-x-center-for-countering-digital-hate.html
 

The Michigan Democratic governor signs ban on ‘conversion therapy’ for minors

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has signed two bills banning so-called conversion therapy, a scientifically discredited practice intended to change a person’s sexual orientation, for minors in the state. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/27/politics/michigan-conversion-therapy-ban-minors-whitmer/index.html

We don’t talk about Hunter Biden back at home

Donald Trump keeps flogging the Hunter Biden saga to cast President Joe Biden as the head of a crime family. Earlier this week, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy floated the idea of moving forward with impeachment proceedings over the matter.

But as the Hunter Biden case came to a head in recent days — with Biden pleading not guilty to tax and gun charges on Wednesday as a plea deal fell apart — some prominent Republicans were questioning the effectiveness of going after the president’s son on the issue, at all. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/27/republican-hunter-biden-focus-00108406

Republican lawsuit asks Ohio Supreme Court to block abortion rights measure from November ballot

A new lawsuit from Republicans asking the Ohio Supreme Court to block the abortion rights amendment from the November ballot comes three days after the Ohio Secretary of State's office approved the amendment for the November ballot, certifying that advocates cleared the required number of valid signatures to put the issue before voters.

Abortion rights activists call the lawsuit a dirty trick.

Anti-choice extremists know they can't win at the ballot box, so they are resorting to dirty tricks to try to silence the voices of Ohioans, said Lauren Blauvelt, spokesperson for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights. A clear majority of Ohioans support reproductive freedom, so we expected desperate challenges like this one.

According to the lawsuit, those laws include a ban on doctors performing abortions after cardiac activity is detected; a ban on abortions after a fetal diagnosis of Down syndrome; and parental consent for abortions. https://www.dispatch.com/story/news/politics/2023/07/29/gop-lawsuit-seeks-to-boot-abortion-rights-measure-from-november-ballot/70490982007/

A Very Narrow Electoral College Playing Field

The Cook Political Report's initial race ratings for the Electoral College in 2024 and finds only four states are toss-ups: Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. https://www.cookpolitical.com/analysis/national/national-politics/very-narrow-electoral-college-playing-field

How George Santos Used Political Connections to Fuel Get-Rich Schemes

In the years since Mr. Santos first ran for the House in 2020, he has become adept at finding ways to extract money from politics. He founded a political consulting group that he marketed to other Republicans. He sought to profit from the Covid crisis, using campaign connections. And he solicited investments for and from political donors, raising ethical questions.

Mr. Santos has been charged with 13 felonies for misrepresenting his earnings, collecting $24,000 in unemployment while employed, and pocketing $50,000 he solicited from political supporters through what he claimed was a super PAC. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/nyregion/george-santos-money-donors.html

Fani Willis warns Fulton leaders ‘stay alert’ as decision looms

As potential charges against Donald Trump in Georgia loom, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis warned a group of county leaders to “stay alert” and “make decisions that keep your staff safe.” https://www.ajc.com/politics/politics-blog/the-jolt-fani-willis-warns-fulton-leaders-stay-alert-as-decision-looms/3BRWYBSPXJFWDODE4WE2YVKEPE

22% of Republicans Don’t Care About Trump’s Crimes

New York Times/Siena Poll: “Mr. Trump’s grip on the Republican Party is so strong that in a head-to-head contest with Mr. DeSantis, Mr. Trump still received 22 percent among voters who believe he has committed serious federal crimes — a greater share than the 17 percent that Mr. DeSantis earned from the entire G.O.P. electorate.” https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/31/us/politics/2024-poll-nyt-siena-trump-republicans.html

Biden Orders U.S. to Share Evidence of Russian War Crimes With Hague Court

President Biden has quietly ordered the U.S. government to begin sharing evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine with the International Criminal Court in The Hague, signaling a major shift in American policy.

The decision, made by Mr. Biden in recent days, overrides months of resistance by the Pentagon, which argued that it could pave the way for the court to prosecute American troops. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/us/politics/biden-russia-war-crimes-hague.html

House Leaves Early for August Recess

House Republican leaders on Thursday punted a second government funding bill and dismissed lawmakers for a six-week break from Washington, hamstrung by conservative demands for more spending cuts and internal division over social issues like abortion.

The House’s decision to adjourn for a six-week break amid the GOP stalemate portends a rocky September, when lawmakers will return to the Hill with just three weeks left to stave off a government shutdown.

Speaker Kevin McCarthy ’s leadership team hoped to pass as many of their 12 annual funding bills as possible on the floor this month, aiming for a show of Republican unity that might bolster the House in a coming standoff with the Senate over federal funding. Now House GOP lawmakers are leaving the Capitol on a note of disarray rather than cohesion, with a single passage vote to tout on a veterans funding bill and two spending measures still stuck in committee. https://www.politico.com/news/2023/07/27/house-gop-funding-fight-00108524

Marjorie Taylor Greene to Star in Democratic Ads

• In February 2023, Rep. Greene seemingly called for a form of secession, saying, We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states. https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1627665203398688768
• In the past six months, Rep. Greene has introduced legislation to expunge the two impeachments of former President Donald Trump and start impeachment proceedings for President Joe Biden, several Cabinet-level officials, and the FBI director. https://www.congress.gov/member/marjorie-greene/G000596
• Rep. Greene has led an effort to defund federal law enforcement. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/08/12/fbi-threats-trump-search/.
• She supports a total ban on abortion and opposes rape and incest exceptions in abortion bans, at one point calling one of her colleagues, who is a rape victim herself, trash for supporting these exceptions. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/17/magazine/marjorie-taylor-greene.html
• In June of 2022, Rep. Greene proposed firearms training for children as one solution to the increase of school shootings, saying, I think children should be trained with firearms. I definitely do. I think that’s very important in response to a question after repeatedly opposing any form of restriction on firearms.  https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1540403395365855235
• She continues to oppose support for Ukraine saying  Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky wants our sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine. She recently proposing an amendment, which House Republican leadership helped bring to the House floor, that would have drastically cut funding for Ukraine. https://www.forbes.com/sites/anafaguy/2023/03/03/marjorie-taylor-greene-ramps-up-anti-ukraine-rhetoric-zelensky-wants-our-sons-and-daughters-to-go-die/
• Rep. Greene has labeled NATO not a reliable partner and called for the United States to withdraw from the 70-year-old alliance. https://news.yahoo.com/marjorie-taylor-brands-nato-not-094112344.html
• She has called for the passage of the Fair Tax, a bill that would create a national sales tax, increasing prices by 30 percent and hitting the middle class especially hard, while supporting tax cuts from the previous administration that gave tax windfalls to the wealthy and big corporations. https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1557710812185231361
• She has proposed raising the retirement age to 70 and converting Medicare into a means-tested voucher program. https://www.americanprogressaction.org/article/maga-republicans-plan-to-force-social-security-and-medicare-cuts/
• In April 2023, Rep. Greene reiterated her claim that Democrats are the party of pedophiles in a 60 Minutes interview. https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/marjorie-taylor-greene-60-minutes-calls-democrats-pedophiles-1234708093/
• In early 2022, Rep. Greene headlined a white nationalist conference organized by Nick Fuentes, a former campaign adviser to Ye—formerly known as Kanye West—and an extreme anti-woman, antisemitic, white supremacist activist, who Rep. Greene called to be reinstated on Twitter as recently as November 2022. https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-twitter-nick-fuentes-trump-blasted-1763426
• "Large Marge" was removed from House committees in the 117th Congress for a pattern of online activity approving of the execution of Democratic leaders and federal agents. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/26/marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-violence/
• Rep. Greene called the Parkland and Las Vegas mass shootings false flag operations, saying of Parkland, I am told that Nancy Pelosi tells Hillary Clinton several times a month that ‘we need another school shooting’ in order to persuade the public to want strict gun control. https://www.mediamatters.org/false-flag-conspiracy-theory/rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-facebook-2018-parkland-school-shooting-was
• One week before her election to the House in 2020, Rep. Greene claimed that the only way you get your freedoms back is it’s earned with the price of blood. https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2021/01/marjorie-taylor-greene-endorsed-political-violence-video-guns-elections-congress/
• She loaned her campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars after her then-husband’s construction company received a now-forgiven PPP loan worth more than $183,000. https://www.salon.com/2020/10/09/self-funding-qanon-candidate-gave-own-campaign-450000-after-getting-ppp-loan/
• One week after the January 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, Rep. Greene labeled her Democratic colleagues the enemies to the American people and said that they will be held accountable. https://www.mediamatters.org/january-6-insurrection/social-media-posts-rep-marjorie-taylor-greene-called-her-democratic

 

Democrats claim the GOP is withholding evidence contradicting claims in Hunter Biden probe

House Democrats are demanding the release of a transcript from a new FBI witness that they say contradicts Republicans’ claims in the expanding congressional inquiry into President Joe Biden’s son, Hunter Biden.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on House Oversight Committee, sent a letter Friday to Rep. James Comer, the Republican chair of the committee, asking him to produce the transcribed interview this month with an FBI agent who worked on the investigation into the younger Biden’s taxes and foreign business dealings. The witness was interviewed on July 17.

"This failure to release a transcript is the latest in your troubling pattern of concealing key evidence in order to advance a false and distorted narrative about your ‘investigation of Joe Biden’ that has not only failed to develop any evidence of wrongdoing by President Biden but has, in fact, uncovered substantial evidence to the contrary," Raskin wrote in the letter, which was obtained by The Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/hunter-biden-congress-republicans-irs-whistleblowers-2042e6e755d0322d07fc42b71705f6d5

Indictment in Michigan’s Voting Machine Tampering Probe

A key suspect in an alleged plot to illegally access Michigan voting machines following the 2020 presidential election says she has been indicted in the long-running probe and expects to be arraigned next week. https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/i-have-been-indicted-says-suspect-michigan-vote-machine-tampering-probe

Republicans Reframe 2024 as a Race Versus Harris – Not Biden

Republicans view President Joe Biden as ripe for defeat in 2024. But recently, they’ve been zeroing in on who they see as an even easier target: Kamala Harris.

As Harris has stepped up her role as campaign trail attack dog, GOP presidential candidates are leaning even harder into attacking the vice president as a way to highlight voters’ wariness over Biden’s age. Given that the 80-year-old Biden is the oldest person to ever occupy the Oval Office, the argument goes, a vote for him is equivalent to elevating Harris — who by many measures is even less popular than her boss — to commander-in-chief. https://themessenger.com/politics/republicans-reframe-2024-as-a-race-versus-harris-not-biden

Democratic Rep. Dean Phillips eyes 2024 challenge to Biden

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minnesota), a moderate, has been receiving encouragement to consider challenging President Joe Biden for the Democratic presidential nomination and will travel to New York City next week to discuss the possibility with donors.

A source familiar with Phillips’ thinking tells CNN the public report of his plans has spurred additional encouragement.

Phillips has said publicly he does not believe Biden should run for reelection, telling a Minnesota radio station last year that the country would be well served by a new generation of compelling, well-prepared, dynamic Democrats to step up.

Some Democrats have privately raised concerns about Biden’s advanced age, and Phillips’ planned meeting comes with age currently front-and-center on the political stage. https://www.cnn.com/2023/07/28/politics/dean-phillips-2024/index.html

Trump's rivals let GOP voters believe he's a winner — and it's coming back to bite them

Donald Trump’s primary rivals have had a hard time convincing GOP voters that they’d be more electable than the indicted former president — but they may, at least in part, have themselves to blame for it.

Most of the 2024 candidate field has spent the past two and half years validating or turning a blind eye to Trump’s false claims that he won the 2020 election, priming the Republican base to believe that Trump is a proven winner against President Joe Biden. Now they have only a few months to try to undo that perception but appear reluctant to press the case. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trumps-rivals-let-gop-voters-believe-winner-coming-back-bite-rcna96980

Ex-Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon joins push for third-party presidential bid as Democrats try to stop it

Former Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) “is joining No Labels ‘ increasingly contentious effort to lay the groundwork for a moderate third-party presidential ticket in the 2024 election.

He gives the embattled organization another prominent ally amid escalating concerns from Democratic officials that the No Labels campaign could unintentionally help Republican Donald Trump return to the White House. https://apnews.com/article/no-labels-third-party-president-2024-election-8267add25f8a9b1b01fd42e8a046513f

THE DAILY GRILL ...

Wake the fuck up you little shits. What the fuck are you all doing? Get the fuck out of here. You are defiling the space you pieces of shit. — Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-WI), to a group of teenage Senate pages were resting on the ground in the Capitol rotunda — a regular occurrence when a session goes late. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/07/rep-van-orden-defends-cursing-out-no-good-teens-at-capitol.html

VERSUS

Wonder if he told that to his fellow insurrectionists, who were beating police officers on the same ground? — Rep Marc Pocan (D-WI), about Van Orden, who used campaign funds to travel to the Stop the Steal rally. https://twitter.com/MarkPocan/status/1684631642277654528



NYT's banner headline: "JAN. 6 RIOT 'FUELED BY LIES,' INDICTMENT SAYS."
CNN’s T1 headline: "Trump indicted over efforts to overturn 2020 election."
HuffPost: "TRUMP CHARGED FOR COUP ATTEMPT."
Drudge Report: "MAGA NIGHTMARE"; "JACK SMITH CIRCLES DON."
The New York Post's front page: "CONSPIRACY TO DEFRAUD THE UNITED STATES.” https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/1690942429923fe1e8160b247/raw

VERSUS

Meanwhile, at Fox News, via its lower-thirds banners:
"THE DOJ HAS BECOME BIDEN CAMPAIGN HQ AT THIS POINT";
"THE DOJ HAS CRIMINALIZED POLITICS";
"IS JACK SMITH PRESIDENT BIDEN’S NEW UNOFFICIAL CAMPAIGN MANAGER?";
"SMITH'S INDICTMENT IS A LEGAL EMBARRASSMENT.” https://view.newsletters.cnn.com/messages/1690942429923fe1e8160b247/raw