“Israel is intensifying its campaign to thwart Iran’s nuclear, missile and drone programs with a series of covert operations targeting a broader range of key targets,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Trump Says January 6 Rally-Goers Were ‘Well-Behaved’
Former President Donald Trump called into Newsmax to defend attendees of his now-infamous Jan. 6, 2021 rally that turned into a riot at the Capitol.
Said Trump: “It was the largest group I think that I’ve ever seen or made a speech to. I’ve never seen anything like it and there they were well behaved. So many, so many people. Nobody ever talks about that.”
Al Gross Pulls Out of Alaska House Race
Al Gross (I), a leading contender in Alaska’s U.S. House race, dropped out Monday without providing a reason, Alaska Public Radio reports.
“Gross finished in third place in the June 11 special primary to fill the vacancy left by the death of Rep. Don Young. He was on track to be one of the four candidates who would advance to the special general ballot.”
“Instead, the fourth spot on that ballot will go to the next finisher — and that appears to be Republican Tara Sweeney.”
The Anchorage Daily News reports Gross urged his supporters to consider voting instead for Mary Peltola (D) or Sweeney.
Henry Kissinger’s Six Lessons
Coming soon: Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy by Henry Kissinger.
Axios notes the book is based on Kissinger’s interactions with six former leaders: Konrad Adenauer of Germany … Charles de Gaulle of France … former President Richard Nixon … Anwar Sadat of Egypt … former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher … and Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore.
Leadership: Six Studies in World Strategy
- Amazon Kindle Edition
Elon Musk Says He’s Undecided on Trump in 2024
Elon Musk declined to tell Bloomberg whether he’d back former President Donald Trump in 2024.
Said Musk: “I think I’m undecided at this point about that election.”
Musk tweeted last month that he “gave money to and voted for Hillary and then voted for Biden. However, given unprovoked attacks by leading Democrats against me and a very cold shoulder to Tesla and SpaceX, I intend to vote Republican in November.”
TMZ: Elon Musk’s daughter seeks name change to sever ties with father.
A Record Number of LGBTQ Candidates
“A record number of LGBTQ candidates are running for all levels of office this year, motivated in part by red states passing scores of laws targeting LGBTQ people,” Axios reports.
Democrats Plan Post-Roe Campaign
“In every poll running in every targeted House district around the country, House Democrats’ campaign arm is testing how voters feel about the Supreme Court likely overturning Roe v. Wade,” Politico reports.
“The group’s strategists have drafted fundraising emails that will blast out to millions of supporters in the hours after the decision comes out. They’ve cut video clips of what GOP candidates say about abortion. They’re developing analytics models to find and target voters who back abortion rights.”
“Support for Roe is at an all-time high with voters, and the Democrats’ strategy is aimed at firing up a flagging Democratic base, while also trying to compete for some of the college-educated, female, suburban swing voters who backed them during the Trump era.”
January 6 Committee to Explore ‘Fake Electors’ Scheme
“At 1 p.m., the committee will gavel in for a hearing that centers on the pressure campaign Trump and his allies mounted to get state officials to overturn the 2020 election, including attempts to advance slates of ‘alternate electors’ to flip the results in Trump’s favor,” Politico reports.
“Per a committee aide, today’s hearing will show that Trump’s efforts ‘perpetuated the public’s belief that the election was stolen and tainted by widespread fraud and lies that ultimately contributed to the violence of Jan. 6’ — and that Trump was warned in advance that his actions ‘risked inciting violence,’ including intimidation and threats against state officials and election workers.”
Washington Post: Evidence will show Trump’s personal involvement in elector scheme.
Quote of the Day
“The irony is that Pence was arguably the primary enabler of Trump… He was the mainstream traditional conservative Republican who would go to donors and not just defend Trump and his policies, but with a straight face insist that Donald J. Trump was a good man.”
— GOP strategist Rob Stutzman, quoted by the New York Times.
Justices Still to Rule on Guns, Religion and Abortion
“The Supreme Court is expected to issue at least one opinion on Tuesday as it closes out one of its most contentious sessions in recent years, including the unprecedented leak of a draft opinion that, if the majority holds, would overrule Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision recognizing abortion rights,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The court has 17 cases remaining from this term on which it still has to issue opinions, a process it normally concludes by early July.”
January 6 Panel Subpoenas Unseen Trump Tapes
“The House select committee investigating Jan. 6 sent a subpoena last week to Alex Holder, a documentary filmmaker who was granted extensive access to President Donald Trump and his inner circle, and who shot interviews with the then-president both before and after Jan. 6,” Politico reports.
“The existence of this footage is previously unreported.”
Democrats Hope to Pass Gun Bill This Week
Punchbowl News: “The bipartisan group of senators working on a gun-control bill – led by Sens. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) – is expected to file the legislative text today. They were expected to file it Monday, however, so we’ll wait and see what happens.”
“Senate Democratic leaders are hoping to pass the bill this week, before the Senate leaves town for a planned two-week recess. Without any time agreements to speed up the process, a final vote could slide into the weekend. So the sooner this gets filed, the better for supporters of the bill.”
Washington Post: Negotiators expected to release gun bill text today.
Exchange of the Day
Former Vice President Mike Pence discussed President Joe Biden committing “so many falsehoods” with former Trump adviser Larry Kudlow on Fox Business:
KUDLOW: Have you ever seen a president who refuses to accept blame, and I want to add to that, commits so many falsehoods? I’m being very polite here, calling it falsehoods – falsehoods, you know, on any given day. He’s out there saying stuff that just ain’t true. Have you ever seen anything like that?
PENCE: Never in my lifetime. I said today that there has never been a time in my life where a president was more disconnected from the American people than we see today.
Trump’s Team Setting Up Eastman to Take Blame
“With the Justice Department and Jan. 6 committee taking a close look at Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, he and his cronies could certainly use a fall guy, and it looks like they’ve found their patsy: right-wing lawyer John Eastman,” Rolling Stone reports.
“Eastman worked for Trump as the attorney devised legal strategies to overturn the election to keep the outgoing president in power. But, in recent weeks, Trump has confided to those close to him that he sees no reason to publicly defend Eastman.”
“The ex-president is also deeply annoyed with Eastman and all the negative ‘attention’ and media coverage that the lawyer’s work has brought Trump and his inner sanctum, including during the ongoing Jan. 6 hearings on Capitol Hill.”
Entirely predictable, but Trump better hope Eastman doesn’t flip.
Mike Pence Faces an Image Problem
New York Times: “To some Democrats in Congress, he has become something of a hero for resisting Donald Trump’s pressure campaign to overturn the 2020 election at a time when American democracy seemed to teeter on the brink. To Mr. Trump and his political base, Mr. Pence is a weakling who gave away the presidency. And to a swath of anti-Trump voters in both parties, he is merely someone who finally did the right thing by standing up to his former boss — years too late, after willingly defending or ignoring some of Mr. Trump’s earlier excesses.”
“The whipsaw of images creates an uncertain foundation for a potential presidential campaign, for which Mr. Pence has been laying the groundwork. Yet the former vice president is continuing with his travels around the country in advance of the 2024 primaries, as he navigates his fraught positioning.”
Nobel Sold for Ukraine Kids Sells for $103.5 Million
“The Nobel Peace Prize that Russian journalist Dmitry Muratov was auctioning off to raise money for Ukrainian child refugees sold Monday night for $103.5 million, shattering the old record for a Nobel,” the AP reports.
Missouri GOP Leader Calls Police Over Eric Greitens Ad
“Hours after former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens released a video saying he would hunt members of the Republican party who he considered not conservative enough, the Republican floor leader of the Missouri state Senate said he had contacted law enforcement,” the Kansas City Star reports.
“The campaign video posted Monday showed Greitens with a shotgun while he talked about hunting for RINOs.”
Ron Johnson Claimed People Were Begging Him to Run
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) claimed he broke his term limit promise because people were crying and begging him to run.
Said Johnson: “I didn’t want to do this… but people are literally coming up to me with tears in their eyes, streaming down their cheeks saying, ‘You got to run. You got to help us save this country!'”
