“Sarasota police have recovered a cell phone video taken by Florida GOP chairman Christian Ziegler of his sexual encounter with a woman who has alleged he raped her,” the Florida Center for Government Accountability reports.
“That video, in addition to security surveillance video from the apartment complex where the woman lives, provided police investigators with graphic evidence of the October 2 sexual encounter between the two, which Ziegler has told police was consensual.”
“Federal prosecutors have filed a new criminal case against Hunter Biden,“ CNN reports.
“The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned because court documents have not been made public.”
Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN) “will file challenges with the Democratic National Committee and several state parties next week, after Democrats in Florida, North Carolina, and Tennessee left him — and all other challengers to President Joe Biden — off of their ballots,” Semafor reports.
“The super political action committee backing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ presidential bid canceled a donor event this week due to a lack of interest from invitees, the latest sign of the fresh tumult surrounding his 2024 run,” Bloomberg reports.
“The group, Never Back Down, planned to hold a luncheon ahead of the fourth Republican primary debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama — the site of the forum — according to the people who requested anonymity to discuss the cancellation. About 3,000 people were invited to purchase tickets.”
“Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has emerged as one of the most reliable supporters of the Jewish community in his hometown, which is located a handful of miles from where the deadliest massacre of Jews happened in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood of Pittsburgh five years ago. This support is changing how many in the state see him,” the Washington Examiner reports.
Said Fetterman: “I am on what I believe is the right side of this issue, I’m not concerned about a label. Israel is our key, closest ally, and we need to support them in this fight.”
He added: “If we want peace and we want a two state solution, then Israel needs to be able to destroy Hamas.”
Former Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) told CBS News she wouldn’t “do anything” to help Donald Trump in the 2024 election, days after suggesting she’d mount a third-party presidential bid.
She also didn’t rule out backing President Biden if she decided not to run.
“Egypt warned the U.S. and Israel that if Palestinian refugees flee into the Sinai as a result of the Israeli military operation in southern Gaza, it could create ‘a rupture’ in relations between Egypt and Israel,” Axios reports.
“The close relations between Egypt and Israel, especially between the military and intelligence services, have been critically important at several points in the war, including around the release of hostages.”
Former New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney (D) will announce on Monday that he will seek the Democratic nomination for governor, becoming the second candidate in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Phil Murphy in 2025, the New Jersey Globe reports.
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“I hope Democrats can understand that it isn’t xenophobic to be concerned about the border. It’s a reasonable conversation, and Democrats should engage.”
— Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), in an interview with Politico.
“David Cameron brought immigration warnings about Europe’s populist uprising to Washington this week — just as senators are trying to negotiate a border security deal,” Politico reports.
“The former British prime minister, now foreign secretary, was dispatched Washington this week for meetings with top lawmakers.”
Said Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT): “He said, these governments one after the other been falling on the left and on the right over immigration. He said he lost on Brexit because of immigration. He said, ‘If you don’t fix immigration, immigration will fix you.'”
“Georgia Republican legislators passed a new congressional map Thursday that protects their party’s dominance in the U.S. House and might violate a federal judge’s order requiring an additional majority-Black district,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“The redistricting plan, approved by the Georgia House on a party-line vote, is designed to preserve Republicans’ 9-5 advantage in the state delegation to the U.S. House. The revised districts now go to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp for his signature.”
Jonathan Last: “Trump has decided that his authoritarianism isn’t a football that needs to be hidden—it’s his special sauce. That’s new.”
“What’s not new…is that there is a constituency for this pitch. There are people who are objectively pro-dictator.”
“Those people do not constitute a majority of the American public. They might not even constitute a majority of the Republican party. But they are a much larger cohort than we imagined.”
“The question is how big that cohort can grow before liberal democracy becomes unsustainable.”
Rep. Kathy Manning (D-NC) announced she will not run for re-election after her district was gerrymandered by Republicans.
“Donald Trump filed notice on Thursday saying he will appeal a D.C. judge’s ruling that he was not immune from being charged with federal crimes for his efforts to undo the outcome of the 2020 election, either by his former role as president or the Constitution’s rules for impeachment,” the Washington Post reports.
“The notice is a minor procedural step. But it sets in motion one of the most potentially consequential parts of Trump’s legal saga as the first former president to be charged with crimes.”
“How and when the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the Supreme Court handle his appeal could have a huge impact on whether Trump — who is again running for president — goes on trial before voters go to the polls in 2024, or ever.”
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) “is expecting a new border security offer from Republicans on Thursday and further talks, possibly through the weekend, if his GOP counterparts move on their position,” Politico reports.
Said Murphy: “I’m willing to talk about it if it’s something that can get Democratic votes. Right now, there’s no question you need a huge number of Democratic votes, especially in the House, to pass the kind of package that Senate Republicans are envisioning.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
