“The Justice Department said that it no longer will secretly obtain reporters’ records during leak investigations, a policy shift that abandons a practice decried by news organizations and press freedom groups,” the AP reports.
Ocasio-Cortez Endorses Maya Wiley for NYC Mayor
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) endorsed New York City mayoral candidate Maya Wiley on Saturday, the latest effort by the Democratic Party’s left to consolidate before the June 22 primary, the Washington Post reports.
CNN reports Wiley “now has the support of two of the state’s highest profile members of Congress in Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and the Bronx, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, chair of the House Democratic Caucus.”
Trump Aide Says ‘Reinstatement’ Will Not Happen
Jason Miller told Newsmax that Donald Trump will not be “reinstated by August,” as the former president has reportedly been telling allies.
Said Miller: “It’s not true.”
Republicans Brace for Return of Trump Rallies
Playbook: “In private, many elected Republicans will confess that they are not looking forward to Trump’s return to the campaign trail. They worry about him turning off suburban voters and that his speeches will distract from their message. They say they’re ready to move on from rehashing the 2020 election and repeating the Big Lie™ — though I have a hunch that Trump will raise the topic at campaign stops.”
McEnany Whines She Didn’t Get Annie Leibovitz Photo
Trump White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany complained to Fox News that photographer Annie Leibovitz had never photographed her or Melania Trump — which she cited as evidence of the entire press corps’ moral decay.
This follows reports that successor Jen Psaki was having her picture taken by Leibovitz for a magazine profile.
California Assault Weapons Ban Ruled Unconstitutional
“U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez of San Diego ruled that the state’s definition of illegal military-style rifles unlawfully deprives law-abiding Californians of weapons commonly allowed in most other states and by the U.S. Supreme Court,” the AP reports.
McGahn Tells How Trump Undermined Mueller
“Former White House counsel Donald McGah detailed for the House Judiciary Committee on Friday how former president Donald Trump attempted to stymie a federal probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election — bombshell revelations that might once have fueled additional impeachment charges,” the Washington Post reports.
A transcript of the interview is not expected to be made public before next week.
Democrats Set to Force Filibuster Showdown
New York Times: “Schumer said he intended to bring the filibuster showdown to a head beginning next week, by forcing votes on a series of measures that Republicans oppose, including one that was blocked by a Republican filibuster in 2014 that seeks to ensure that women and men receive the same pay for equal work.”
“Mr. Schumer hinted that he could also bring forward legislation on gay rights and gun safety. Most immediately, he promised a vote before the end of June on a sweeping voting rights bill that Democrats say is needed to counter new Republican-led voting restrictions being enacted in states around the nation.
“The idea is to show Democrats refusing to change the filibuster rules that Republicans led by Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the minority leader, are going to stand in the way of legislation that has widespread support, and that the only way to win their adoption is by overturning the rules.”
Biden Agrees with End of Enhanced Jobless Aid
Washington Post: “In remarks from Delaware about Friday’s jobs report, President Biden said that it ‘makes sense’ for the $300 per week benefit to end in September, marking the first time the administration has explicitly endorsed their expiration.”
G-7 Countries Reach Agreement on Minimum Tax Rate
Washington Post: “Finance ministers for seven of the most powerful nations in the world announced an accord that could reshape the tax obligations of multinational corporations around the world.”
“The deal is a major breakthrough for the Biden administration as it seeks to enact a floor on the taxes paid by corporations worldwide. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has been adamant that the U.S. needs to work with international counterparts to prevent nations from being played off each other by firms seeking lower tax obligations.”
Meadows Sought Probe of Election Fraud Claims
“In Donald Trump’s final weeks in office, Mark Meadows, his chief of staff, repeatedly pushed the Justice Department to investigate unfounded conspiracy theories about the 2020 presidential election,” according to newly uncovered emails reviewed by the New York Times.
“In five emails sent during the last week of December and early January, Mr. Meadows asked Jeffrey Rosen, then the acting attorney general, to examine debunked claims of election fraud in New Mexico and an array of baseless conspiracies that held that Mr. Trump had been the actual victor. That included a fantastical theory that people in Italy had used military technology and satellites to remotely tamper with voting machines in the United States and switch votes for Mr. Trump to votes for Joseph Biden.”
Push to Change Elections Laws Is Similar Across States
“Passing new election laws has been one of the top priorities for Republican state legislators in 2021 — and they are working from similar playbooks to tighten or restrict the old policies even in states with very different election systems,” Politico reports.
Public Option Fizzles, But Left Apparently OK With That
“When President Barack Obama abandoned a public insurance option to win moderate support for the Affordable Care Act in 2009, progressives were enraged,” NBC News reports.
“A decade later, Joe Biden campaigned on making the public option a reality, but so far, he’s done little to get Congress to enact one. Instead of outrage, influential progressives seem to be OK watching the promise go unfilled, preferring to pursue universal health care through other means, like expanding Medicare eligibility.”
State Republican Parties Have Embraced Trump
“Months after Donald Trump left the Oval Office, Republicans at the state and local level are cementing their loyalty to the one-term president, assuring that Trump will remain the party’s future despite his November defeat,” USA Today reports.
“From espousing his discredited election conspiracy theories to threatening to secede, state and local officials are increasingly leaving aside community issues to reflect Trump’s ongoing hold of the national GOP.”
“The extension of Trump’s dominance in the GOP down to local leaders compounds the party’s consolidation behind an uncompromisingly right-wing, grievance-oriented politics that centers conspiracy theories and threats to democratic legitimacy.”
Obama Once Compared Trump to O.J. Simpson
“Barack Obama once mordantly quipped that Donald Trump’s appeal to white Americans was similar to the way Black Americans showed support for O.J. Simpson during his 1990s murder trial and subsequent acquittal, according to a new book by a former aide,” People magazine reports.
Said Obama: “Trump is for a lot of white people what O.J.’s acquittal was to a lot of Black folks—you know it’s wrong, but it feels good.”
Trump Pitched on Running for House
Former President Trump called a proposal that he run for the House in 2022 to try to win the speaker’s gavel “interesting,” The Hill reports.
“The logistics of a House run would be complicated for Trump, who would have to figure out what district to run in after the redistricting process is completed.”
Trump Thanked Arizona Senate President for ‘Audit’
“Newly released emails sent to and from Arizona state senators reveal that President Donald Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani reached out personally to urge GOP officials there to move forward with a partisan recount of the 2020 election, despite a lack of evidence of widespread fraud or other issues,” the Washington Post reports.
“Hundreds of pages of emails related to the GOP-ordered audit underway in Maricopa County were obtained by the nonprofit legal watchdog group American Oversight through a records request under the Freedom of Information Act.”
Biden Rejects Latest GOP Infrastructure Proposal
President Joe Biden rejected a slightly higher infrastructure offer from Senate Republicans on Friday — about $50 billion more from their last proposal — the latest in infrastructure talks that have dragged on for weeks, Politico reports.
