A new CBS/YouGov poll finds that 48% of Republican voters say that it is “not very” or “not at all” important for political leaders to condemn white nationalism and white supremacy.
ISIS Plotted to Assassinate George W. Bush
“An alleged ISIS-linked operative in the U.S. was plotting to kill George W. Bush, going so far as to travel to Dallas in November to take video around the former president’s home and recruiting help from a team of compatriots he hoped to smuggle into the country over the Mexican border,” Forbes reports.
Trump’s Picks Today Spent $400K at Mar-a-Lago
“The campaigns of seven Republican candidates endorsed by former President Donald Trump spent over $400,000, combined, at his private club Mar-a-Lago in the buildup to Tuesday’s primary clashes,” CNBC reports.
Trump’s endorsements don’t come cheap.
Measure to Raise Threshold Fails to Meet Threshold
“North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger (R) announced that a proposed measure to raise the threshold for amending the state constitution will not appear on the November ballot after thousands of signatures failed to meet legal standards,” the Fargo Forum reports.
“In a letter to the measure’s sponsoring group, the state’s top election official also alleged that several signature gatherers committed fraud.”
Just Six Public Hearings?
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Anaheim Mayor Resigns In the Midst of Bribery Probe
“Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu announced that he was stepping down after being accused of bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice and witness tampering in an affidavit supporting a search warrant application earlier this month,” the Los Angeles Times reports.
It’s the latest fallout “from a sprawling federal public corruption investigation linked to the proposed sale of Angel Stadium and allegations that a secretive ‘cabal’ controlled Anaheim’s politics.”
Oregonians Could Get Record Tax Kicker
Oregon taxpayers are on track to receive a record $3 billion, personal tax kicker, in 2024 powered by “unprecedented” income tax returns, the Salem Statesman Journal reports.
Ethics Law Offers Path to Possible Trump Prosecution
“As federal investigators weigh the potential criminality of former President Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, legal experts say a decades-old ethics law — one routinely violated by members of Trump’s inner circle — could provide them a glide path to prosecution,” The Hill reports.
“The Hatch Act prohibits electioneering by executive branch officials, including the promotion of the president’s political interests, during the course of their formal duties. The law was regularly flouted by the Trump administration while in office…”
“While the ethics law has been used almost entirely administratively since it was passed in the 1930s, experts say a rarely used criminal provision of the law could be a novel and relatively straightforward strategy to ensure consequences for Trump in what is sure to be a challenging atmosphere.”
Ex-Girlfriend Says GOP Candidate Paid for Her Abortion
“Republicans in Oregon’s newly drawn 6th Congressional District last week chose as their nominee for the House businessman Mike Erickson (R), an anti-abortion candidate who has been accused of paying for an ex-girlfriend’s abortion,” the American Independent reports.
Newsom Insists He’s Not Running for President
California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) told the San Francisco Chronicle he has “sub-zero interest” in running for president in 2024.
Rioter Hoped to Attack Capitol Again at Inauguration
“A North Carolina man is accused of striking a police officer with a large metal pole and punching others with his fists during the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol,” the Charlotte Observer reports.
“For David Gietzen, however, that may have only been Act One.”
“After joining the unprecedented mob assault on U.S. democracy on Jan. 6, the 38-year-old… returned to the Capitol two weeks later on Inauguration Day planning to take part in a second violent attempt to keep Donald Trump in office.”
Alabama Primary Brought Wave of Outside Money
“In Alabama, GOP voters hold nearly all the power when it comes to electing the state’s new senator to replace retiring Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) in what Inside Elections rates a Solid Republican race this fall,” AL.com reports.
“Tuesday’s six-candidate Republican primary has drawn nearly $25 million in outside spending aimed at either boosting or attacking the three leading contenders: Katie Britt, a top aide to Shelby; Rep. Mo Brooks, whom former President Donald Trump endorsed and then unendorsed; and Mike Durant, an Army veteran and business executive who has mostly self-funded his campaign.”
It’s been a dynamic race where all three have had a reasonable chance to win at one point or another.
Kansas Senate Says ‘National Sovereignty’ Under Threat
“The Kansas Senate adopted a resolution Monday condemning proposed changes to the World Health Organization that some Republicans falsely contend would remove health policy authority from U.S. officials,” the Wichita Eagle reports.
“Without debate or a roll call vote, senators approved the resolution, which is grounded in right-wing fears of a handover of ‘national sovereignty’ to the WHO.”
Monkeypox Unlikely to Turn into Pandemic
Science: “The sudden appearance of monkeypox in 13 countries on four continents has jolted the public health community into action. A much milder cousin of smallpox that sporadically causes small outbreaks in Africa, monkeypox is thought to spread slowly and is unlikely to be a pandemic in the making. But scientists worry about the spread among men who have sex with men, who make up a disproportionate number of the cases so far.”
“The outbreak is a strange and unsettling return to the spotlight for poxviruses, a largely forgotten threat since the World Health Organization declared smallpox eradicated in 1980.”
South China Morning Post: “The World Health Organization does not have evidence that the monkeypox virus has mutated… noting the infectious disease that has been endemic in west and central Africa has tended not to change.”
Giuliani Stonewalled January 6 Committee
“Rudy Giuliani testified to the House select committee investigating the January 6 Capitol attack at length on Friday but declined to discuss the involvement of congressional Republicans in efforts to overturn the 2020 election result,” The Guardian reports.
There’s a Backup Plan, Right?
Gabriel Debenedetti: “As far as Biden’s camp is concerned, there isn’t any ambiguity about 2024 at all. He has said in private that he sees himself as the only thing standing between the country and the Trumpian abyss and has instructed his aides to redouble their planning for a rematch.”
Said an exasperated longtime Biden adviser: “People ask me with some regularity, ‘When is Biden going to come out and say what he’s going to do?’ And I say, ‘Well, he has!’”
“Relatively few people outside the White House totally buy it. With Trumpism reascendant, ambivalence about Biden’s age and political standing is fueling skepticism just as the image of his understudy, Vice-President Kamala Harris, dips even further than his.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“The national Democratic Party has done a terrible job talking about what we’ve accomplished and what we’re fighting to accomplish. Nobody is more aggravated than I am with the national Democratic Party, that we didn’t fight harder to extend those child tax credits for working people in this state.”
— Sen. Michael Bennet (D-CO), quoted by Politico.
Viktor Orbán Won’t Discuss Russia Oil Embargo
“Viktor Orbán has ruled out discussing the EU’s proposed oil embargo of Russia at next week’s summit of leaders, in a fresh blow to the union’s efforts to win backing for its landmark sanctions package,” the Financial Times reports.
