FRIDAY 8/4/23
Judge Tanya Chutkan Thursday afternoon set August 28, five days after the first GOP presidential debate, for the first hearing in the case of United States of America v. Donald J. Trump after the former president pleaded not guilty to four charges related to his alleged pursuit of “unlawful means of discounting votes and subverting the election results.” Unlike his plea formally made by an attorney in his confidential documents case, Trump spoke up for his own plea Thursday.
Trump gave a brief comment to the press when arriving at the airport after the arraignment, but CNN (whose video shot appears above) did not carry the comments live … other than the ex-prez’s opening line about how very sad a day this was.
--TL
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Pull Quote
WEDNESDAY 8/2/23
“On January 1, the Defendant called the Vice President and berated him because he had learned that the Vice President had opposed a lawsuit seeking a judicial decision that, at the certification, the Vice President had the authority to reject or return votes to the states under the Constitution. The Vice President responded that he thought there was no constitutional basis for such authority and that it was improper. In response, the Defendant told the Vice President, “You’re too honest.” Within hours of the conversation, the Defendant reminded his supporters to meet in Washington before the certification proceeding, tweeting, “The BIG Protest Rally in Washington, D.C. will take place at 11.00 A.M. on January 6th. Locational details to follow. StopTheSteal!” –United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, Defendant
Trump co-conspirators: Five of six unindicted co-conspirators – candidates for turning evidence on the former president – have been identified by numerous political pundits and analyst, including those at The Washington Post. They are …
Co-Conspirator 1: Attorney and former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, “who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies” that 2020 re-election campaign staff would not pursue.
Co-Conspirator 2: Attorney John Eastman, “who devised and attempted to implement a strategy to leverage the vice president’s ceremonial role overseeing the certification proceeding of the presidential election.”
Co-Conspirator 3: Attorney Sidney Powell, whose baseless election fraud accusations Trump “embraced and publicly amplified” even as the president told others he considered her claims “crazy.”
Co-Conspirator 4: Jeffrey Clark, who worked with Donald J. Trump “to use the Justice Department to open sham election claim investigations and influence state legislatures with knowingly false claims of election fraud.”
Co-Conspirator 5: Attorney Kenneth Chesebro “who assisted in devising and attempting to implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification proceeding.”
Co-Conspirator 6: As-yet unknown political consultant “who helped implement a plan to submit fraudulent slates of presidential electors to obstruct the certification procedure.”
Conspicuously absent from the list is Trump’s loyal chief of staff, Mark Meadows, who is not described in any of the above, perhaps because Meadows may already have flipped on his former boss and is cooperating with Special Counsel Jack Smith.
--TL
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Trump Indicted, Again
TUESDAY 8/1/23
Donald J. Trump’s third indictment – and second federal indictment – was filed at the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C. Tuesday evening by Special Counsel Jack Smith, over the former president’s alleged involvement efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The four charges are, per NPR …
•Conspiracy to defraud the United States.
•Conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding.
•Obstruction of, and attempt to, obstruct an official proceeding.
•Conspiracy against the rights of citizens.
Trump is ordered to appear before the court on August 3, Thursday, though he may chose not to appear in person. Judge appointed to the case is Tanya Chutkan, a former public defender appointed to the bench by President Obama.
The full indictment may be found at this link: https://www.justice.gov/storage/US_v_Trump_23_cr_257.pdf
--TL
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TUESDAY 8/1/23
Step Aside, Trump Rivals – Former President Trump is “crushing it” according to a New York Times/Siena poll of Republican preferences for the 2024 presidential nominee. Trump scored 54% to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ 17%.
Former Vice President Mike Pence, Sen. Tim Scott (SC) and Nikki Haley, the former South Carolina governor and UN ambassador during the Trump administration were tied for third place with each at 3%. They might as well be running for Trump’s running mate. Scott already is according to pundit speculation, while Pence certainly is not.
Pro-MAGA tech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and anti-Trump former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie each garnered 2% of the vote.
Haley on McConnell: Haley, by the way, speaking on CBS News' Face the Nation called on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to step down in light of his 20-second "freeze" in a Capitol press conference last week.
"I think Mitch McConnell did an amazing job when it comes to our judiciary, when we look at the judges, when we look at the Supreme Court he's been a great leader. But we've got to stop electing people because they look good in a picture and they hold a baby well."
If McConnell would step down, it would be up to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, to make an appointment for the remainder of McConnell's term, ending in 2026.
Authoritarian platform?: If not quite ready to foist a more authoritarian platform on his GOP supporters, Trump appears to be taking an authoritarian position with the GOP. In a rally last Saturday in Erie, Pennsylvania, the former prez called on those rivals above to drop out of the ’24 race and threatened to go after members of Congress who fail to concentrate their efforts on investigating President Biden, The Associated Press reports. Trump also called for withholding military aid to Ukraine until the White House cooperates with congressional investigations into Biden and his family.
“Every dollar spent attacking me by Republicans is a dollar given straight to the Biden campaign,” Trump said.
Widely reported: The Republican Party of Iowa used a Brooks & Dunne tune to introduce presidential candidates as they took to the stage for its Lincoln Dinner Friday, but these specific lyrics played as Trump stepped up to the podium: "One could end up going to prison; one just might end up president."
And so it goes: Congress is off on its summer recess until Tuesday, September 5, and …meanwhile… will be updated regularly until then. Meanwhile, you can read our weekly newsletter on Substack. The first 100 Hustings readers to email editors@thehustings.news will be entered for a free subscription.
Also this week?: Political animals of all stripes are nervously awaiting a potential Trump indictment related to the January 6thattack on the U.S. Capitol. There were expectations of such charges last week, when Special Counsel Jack Smith added charges instead to his indictment of Trump for allegedly absconding with confidential documents kept at Mar-a-Lago and at the former president's Bedminster, New Jersey, golf club. Watch this space for updates. The Washington, D.C. grand jury looking into Trump’s 1/6 involvement meets on Tuesday and Thursdays.
Coming August 23: The first debate for GOP presidential candidates, in Milwaukee, location of the 2024 Republican National Convention.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa