[After skipping a beat in June, the Federal Reserve raised its prime interest rate again in July by another quarter-point, to 5.25%-5.5%, a 22-year high. The Consumer Price Index fell to 3% last month, but the Fed won’t sleep until it’s only 2% again. Chairman Jerome Powell said he sees a path to a ‘soft landing’ for the economy, but also said rate cuts later this year are ‘unlikely’ (WSJ).]
FRIDAY 7/29/23
More Trump Charges – Donald J. Trump faces new charges as the special counsel’s office has accused the former president of trying to have security camera footage deleted showing the moving around of boxes of documents at Mar-a-Lago. There are 31 charges in the original indictment filed in the Southern District of Florida in June. Thursday’s revision adds a charge that Trump attempted to “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence,” induced someone else to do so and adds a 32nd count under the Espionage Act related to the classified national security document the former president showed to visitors at his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, according to The New York Times.
The new accusations also charged Mar-a-Lago maintenance worker Carlos De Oliveira as a new defendant who was allegedly induced to help “alter, destroy, mutilate, or conceal evidence.”
But wait, there’s more: Trump’s attorneys met with officials in the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith Thursday as prosecutors continued to advance the case of the ex-president’s alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election. It was not clear what subjects were discussed at the meeting or whether Smith attended, but, the NYT notes, such meetings typically give defense lawyers a final effort to argue against charges being filed or to “convey their version of the facts or the law.”
Many pundits were expecting the Justice Department to issue an indictment of Trump over the January 6 Capitol insurrection. August 1 would be the next potential date for that, as the grand jury in the case meets on Tuesday and Thursdays.
Your thoughts?: Will any of this slow or stop Trump’s so-far successful bid for the GOP’s 2024 presidential nomination, or will it propel him back into the White House and a potential self-pardon?
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Speaking of Pardons – Asked at the daily White House presser Thursday whether President Biden would pardon his son, Hunter, over tax evasion and gun possession charges, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, simply; “No.”
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Early Break for House -- The House GOP bailed on the federal budget Thursday afternoon as MAGA/hard-right congressmembers pushed back against agriculture and FDA funding, Politico reports, "infuriating" the Republican rank-and-file, especially those from farm-heavy districts. Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) sent the House home early, essentially starting the weekend leading into the August summer break (the Senate was scheduled to be in session Friday). Conservative hardliners were demanding tens of billions of dollars in extra spending cuts to bills already finalized in a deal between the White House and McCarthy reached last month.
Worst-case scenario: This gives McCarthy three weeks in September to work out a deal or face potential government shutdown by the end of the month.
--TL
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THURSDAY 7/27/23
Ukraine Advances Counteroffensive – Ukraine’s military forces advanced in Zaporizhzhia region in the southeast Wednesday, according to The Washington Post. The goal is to reach the Sea of Azoz, a strategically important area of Ukraine further to the south.
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McConnell Health Issues? – Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), 81, froze in front of television cameras for about 20 seconds Wednesday, with a bout of lightheadedness that forced him to briefly step down from his press conference (The Hill).
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Plea Deal Delay Bolsters Impeachment Talks – Judge Maryellen Noreika’s delay in approving a plea deal for Hunter Biden Wednesday has House Republicans pushing harder for an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, The Washington Postreports. Even before the judge called on prosecutors and Hunter Biden’s defense team to clarify that their plea agreement does not extend to business deals by the president’s son that are still under investigation, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) was under pressure from House Freedom Caucus members to advance an inquiry. House Republicans have yet to provide evidence connecting the president to his son’s business dealings.
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75th Anniversary -- July 27, 1948, President Harry Truman signed an executive order to integrate the U.S. military.
--TL
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WEDNESDAY 7/26/23
UPDATE: Plea Deal On Hold – The judge in the Hunter Biden case, Maryellen Noreika, said she is not ready to accept the plea deal between the Justice Department and the president’s son and called on both sides to submit additional briefs in two weeks (NPR). Noreika, a Trump-era appointee, asked prosecution and defense to make clear the plea deal does not convey broad immunity to Biden from potential prosecution for his business dealings. Pro-Trump Republicans on the far right have been calling on the Justice Department to investigate Hunter Biden’s foreign business dealings from the time when Joe Biden was vice president.
The plea deal was negotiated with David Weiss, the U.S. attorney from Delaware appointed by Trump five years ago to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings.
As a result of the judge’s delay, Biden pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two misdemeanors related to filing tax returns. The judge will allow Biden’s pleas to be reversed if she accepts the additional briefs. Biden could face up to one year for each tax evasion charge, plus up to 10 months for an unrelated firearms charge. ...
Biden-mania – Hunter Biden, the president’s son formally pleads guilty Wednesday to two counts of misdemeanor tax crimes and accepts a deal with prosecutors related to a separate illegal firearms protection charge, The Guardian reports. This ends a five-year investigation begun during the Trump administration but does not end Republican outrage over the plea deal, while the former president faces two criminal indictments, with a third likely on the way over his alleged involvement in the January 6 Capitol insurrection, possibly as early as Thursday.
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Federal Judge Blocks Biden’s Immigration Restrictions – A federal judge has blocked Biden’s new asylum restrictions for migrants, as a violation of federal law (The Washington Post). The White House has credited the temporary rule, which penalizes immigrants who cross the border illegally and rewards those who schedule appointments to seek asylum, for slowing the rate of illegal crossings at Mexico’s border with the U.S. The federal government has 14 days to appeal before the ruling takes effect.
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Woke Up Call – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has a novel plan to reverse his sliding popularity and grab victory in the 2024 GOP presidential race from the jaws of Donald J. Trump: Cut his campaign staff. The campaign Tuesday expanded staff cuts from 12 to a total of 38 jobs, more than one-third of his payroll, according to Politico. The initial cuts included 10 event planning positions plus senior campaign advisors Dave Abrams and Tucker Obenshain.
The spin: “Following a top-to-bottom review of our organization, we have taken additional steps to streamline operations and put Ron DeSantis in the strongest position to win this primary and defeat Joe Biden. Gov. DeSantis is going to lead the [slogan alert] Great American Comeback and we’re ready to hit the ground running as we head into an important month of the campaign.”
Why it’s an important month: DeSantis will be let in the August 23 GOP presidential debate in Milwaukee, thanks to his combo of poll numbers and donors, but as of Tuesday, he was at 18.6% of Republican voters in the polls, to Trump’s 51.9%, according to averages calculated by FiveThirtyEight.
--TL
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TUESDAY 7/24/23
Trump's Not Out in Milwaukee Debate -- Why would the clear frontrunner for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination bother to show up for the party's first debate, August 23 in Milwaukee? Perhaps so he could dominate the news for days leading up to the debate?
Former Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News Monday her former boss might attend after all, but probably will "keep everybody in suspense" to the lead-up (per The Hill). It does seem like the sort of "drama" Donald J. Trump learned as host of The Apprentice.
"If I were you," Conway continued, "I would keep that center podium warm because maybe he'll make the announcement the day of. You just never know."
Media have been warned: Cover the buildup appropriately.
--TL
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MONDAY 7/24/23
Netanyahu Wins Judicial Reform – Israel’s Knesset Monday cancelled the judiciary’s reasonableness clause, which allows the Supreme Court to block government appointees and decisions by elected officials it deems to be unreasonable, NPR reports. The Knesset’s (parliament) vote was 64-0, according to Haaretz, with 56 opponents yelling “shame” before walking out in protest. Talks between the two sides to reach a compromise broke down earlier in the day, according to NPR’s Morning Edition, which notes the new law may have an effect on the long-ongoing corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who proposed the changes months ago.
In other words; Israel joins Hungary, Poland and Turkey in the leaning-authoritarian column.
“With no constitution and a unicameral legislature, weakening of political guardrails could produce a ‘majoritarian’ government,” the American Jewish Committee said in a statement, as reported by NPR. “Majoritarian” means the “narrowest possible majority, perhaps in the heat of the moment, could upend minority rights and make other fundamental changes in the law by overturning a Supreme Court ruling.”
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called the vote “unfortunate,” and said “the United States will continue to support the efforts of President Herzog and other Israeli leaders as they seek broader consensus through political dialogue.”
Background: Isaac Herzog is the moderate-left Israeli president who addressed a joint session of U.S. Congress last week. His position in government is largely ceremonial.
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No Decisive Win in Spanish Elections – Neither mainstream conservatives nor mainstream liberals managed to claim victory in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Spain, The Washington Post reports, and the result is a “political mess” that could take weeks or months to sort out. Conservatives were expected to edge out liberals and rely on a coalition with the hard-right Vox party. Political observers feared a return to the sort of authoritarianism that ruled Spain during the Franco years up until 1975.
Prior to Sunday evening’s results, the conservative Popular Party was not expected to win a majority of Spain’s 350-seat Parliament, and thus would have to form a coalition with Vox, The New York Times reports, even as Vox has been losing popularity among voters who are moving to the center from the hard left as well as the hard right. It appears that for the time being, Spain will not go down the path of such neighbors to the east as Hungary, Poland and Turkey.
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August 23 in Milwaukee – One month from last Sunday marks the first Republican primary debate, Politico reminds us. Six of 14 declared candidates qualify to appear, based on poll results. The debate is scheduled for August 23 in Milwaukee, site of the GOP’s 2024 convention (and of the pandemic-blunted 2020 Democratic National Convention).
The six who qualify are former President Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, Sen. Tim Scott (SC) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. Trump, by far the frontrunner in the polls has said he sees no reason why he should participate.
It’s very unlikely any of those other candidates except for Christie will take the opportunity of Trump’s absence to criticism him, anyway.
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Up on the Hill – It’s the last week Congress will be in-session until after August summer break. The full House and Senate are off Monday, and in session Tuesday through Friday. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) says the Senate will take up the National Defense Authorization Act and that it will be much different from the House’s NDAA, which contains restrictions on the military providing abortions services, transgender rights and racial equality programs.
The two chambers will have much of September to reconcile their bills in time for the end of the fiscal year on the 30th of the month, though Schumer has warned he may call the Senate back in August to work it out.
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Monument to Emmett Till and His Mother – On Tuesday, President Biden will sign a proclamation approving national monuments for Emmett Till and his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, on the 82nd anniversary of Emmett Till’s birth (per USA Today). Till, a Black teenager from Chicago, was lynched in 1955 allegedly for whistling at a white woman while in Tallahatchie County, Mississippi. Mamie Till-Mobley insisted on an open casket for her son so his mutilated body would be in full view.
An all-white jury acquitted the men accused of lynching Till and dumping his body in the Tallahatchie River. One monument will be in Chicago and the other two will be in Mississippi.
--Compiled and Edited by Todd Lassa