Lori Sturdevant writes that the Graham Platner debacle recalls Minnesota’s chaotic 1990 governor’s race, when scandal forced Republican nominee Jon Grunseth out just nine days before Election Day and runner-up Arne Carlson stepped in and won.
A great story.
Alex Wagner: “Platner, accused by multiple women of violent and aggressive behavior so extreme that one of his exes characterized it as rape, never mentioned any of them, never addressed their myriad allegations, but instead bundled their accounts into a fantastical deep state plot on the part of the political establishment to keep Platner from claiming his rightful seat in the Senate…”
“It’s hard for me to believe that this is the posture of anyone other than a sociopath. Call me naive, but if most dudes were accused of rape, they would spend at least one minute out of twelve addressing those concerns—or at least the women who had expressed them.”
The Financial Times estimates that the total cost of President Trump’s vanity projects is likely to exceed $1 billion.
Charlie Sykes breaks it down:
Ed Kilgore: “The lesson of the very limited history of Senate replacement candidates is that they aren’t especially handicapped if they are running in the right place at the right time. Despite Susan Collins’s strength, Maine hasn’t gone Republican in a presidential race since 1988, and the Platner substitute will have more than three months — a bit longer than replacement candidate Kamala Harris had two years ago — to establish a clear identity and make sure Platner’s excited backers are in the fold.”
“If Collins ultimately wins, Democrats will have nobody to blame but themselves. They had one shot and now another.”
New York Times: Maine Democrats hope to replace Platner as Senate nominee. Has that ever worked?
“Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao returned to the United States from China this week after her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, was hospitalized on June 14,” USA Today reports.
“Chao’s travel during McConnell’s hospitalization fueled unfounded conspiracy theories online.”
Said a spokesperson: “The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s philanthropic endeavors. During the trip, she met with a number of people, including the U.S. ambassador. The senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.”
New York Magazine: New Mitch McConnell ambulance video adds to health mystery.
Punchbowl News: “Senate GOP leaders are about to launch into a four-week summer rush to confirm Trump’s nominees in what could finally be a productive stretch for Senate Majority Leader John Thune.”
“Next week alone, there are multiple Senate confirmation hearings for major executive branch roles, including three potential new members of Trump’s Cabinet. Their prospects for confirmation are good, despite the fact that some were at the center of recent controversies that roiled Senate Republicans.”
“Thune also plans to tee up a package of nominations and confirm them before the August recess, ensuring there’s no backlog at the start of the summer break. Thune isn’t ruling out keeping senators in town longer if there are judicial nominees in the queue.”
President Trump’s recent stock-trading frenzy was triggered by a court’s reversal of New York Attorney General Letitia James’s $500 million judgment against him, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Off the hook for that penalty, Trump quickly began investing the $175 million he had sitting in a Schwab account as collateral.
Within days, he was buying and selling dozens of stocks as an automated trading strategy put the cash to work.
“‘Iran has never won a war and never lost a negotiation,’ tweeted Donald Trump in 2020. He had just ordered the assassination of Qasem Soleimani, head of Iran’s Al Quds,” the Financial Times reports.
“Now it seems like Trump has forgotten his aphorism. Six years later, Iran has survived the recent war with America and holds the whip hand over talks. In reality, nothing substantive has been discussed between U.S. and Iranian negotiators since Trump unveiled his 14-point MoU last month in the Palace of Versailles. Dubbed by others ‘the memorandum of misunderstanding’, the piece of paper is a list of inducements for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.”
“None of the points were binding. Iran did not agree to give up control of the waterway. It simply pledged a resumption of prewar traffic and a return to nuclear talks. In exchange, it would eventually get hundreds of billions of dollars via unfrozen assets, lifted sanctions and future investments. This was not a deal. To paraphrase Tacitus, Trump baked a dessert for Iran and called it a memorandum. The problem is that Iran has all the initiative.”
“Abdul El-Sayed looks like he would rather be anywhere else,” Time reports.
“The Michigan Senate candidate makes no effort to greet the corporate executives, lobbyists, and consultants drifting around him on Mackinac Island, where the state’s political establishment convenes every spring for a gathering of power brokers and deal-makers. Ferries shuttle attendees onto the car-free island, where horse-drawn carriages move at a leisurely pace and the sprawling Grand Hotel overlooking Lake Huron becomes a hot spot for the local elite.”
“It is precisely the sort of place that El-Sayed, a former local public-health director and podcaster, denounces as the problem with American politics.”
Said El-Sayed: “I’ve been to that conference way too many times. It’s always weird.”
New York Times: “Using tips from chatbots, mechanics modified the motorcycles to allow for faster acceleration and top speed. The riders dug their own holes, filled them with broken glass and fire, and practiced jumps — sometimes with fatal outcomes — until they achieved enough aerial liftoff to mount a successful attack, defectors said.”
“The episode, recounted in a research paper by Dr. Juelich shared with The New York Times ahead of its publication on Friday, highlights how generative artificial intelligence tools are increasingly aiding terrorist groups directly on the battlefield, experts say, despite efforts by their makers to safeguard them from misuse.”
“U.S. forces sharply ramped up their attacks against Iran this week, hitting more than 170 Iranian military targets on Tuesday and Wednesday, the Pentagon said. It was one of the most intense rounds of strikes since the war began more than four months ago,” the New York Times reports.
“Analysts said the Trump administration was sending a pointed message to the government in Tehran that the United States was willing to broaden its mission again and hit sites that have both military and civilian uses.”
President Trump said “he has ‘left instructions’ should Iran succeed in their plots to assassinate him — and there’ll be hell to pay,” the New York Post reports.
Said Trump: “I’ve been on their list for a long time. That’s what we’re dealing with… The only thing is, I’ve left instructions — if anything happens, to just literally bomb them at levels that they’ve never seen before.”
“President Donald Trump said the U.S. would continue talks with Iran but considers the ceasefire between the countries to be over,” Bloomberg reports.
Said Trump: “The Islamic Republic of Iran has asked us to continue ‘talks.’ We have agreed to do so, but the United States has stated to them, in no uncertain terms, that the Cease Fire is OVER!”
“The U.S. military on Friday released a new batch of files related to UFOs, also known as unidentified anomalous phenomena, the fourth group of documents unveiled in recent months,” CBS News reports.
“Friday’s release includes a total of 40 files — 14 documents, 19 videos, four audio files and three images.”
Robert Reich: “His power doesn’t come from his being president of the most powerful nation in the world. In fact, his arbitrary tariffs, absurd war in Iran, and outright abduction of Nicolás Maduro have reduced the U.S.’s standing in much of the world.”
“Nor does his power come from his Maga base, which is now having second thoughts about supporting someone who got the U.S. involved in another Middle Eastern war, caused prices to rise, and whose administration still refuses to release the complete Epstein files.”
“Nor does his power flow from any kind of strategic brilliance or cunning.”
“Trump’s power comes from his willingness to violate all the norms, rules and laws about how U.S. presidents are supposed to act – to do anything that helps him accumulate more wealth, power, and glory, and wreak vengeance on anyone who has tried to get in the way.”
“Hungary’s government unveiled plans for a new investigative authority with the power to prosecute suspects and recover misappropriated public assets, fulfilling one of Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s key anti-corruption pledges,” Bloomberg reports.
“A bill submitted to parliament on Friday will establish the National Asset Recovery and Asset Protection Office, an independent prosecutorial body with nationwide jurisdiction over major corruption cases involving public officials and state assets.”
“It will have the power to investigate crimes, prosecute suspects, pursue civil claims to recover assets and temporarily take control of companies suspected of holding improperly obtained public wealth. The bill amends more than 100 laws to embed the institution across Hungary’s legal system.”
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.
