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...or the one on the right. The Hustings is here for your civil, fact-based comments, whether your are liberal or conservative.

In the right column Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay takes House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to task for his support of ex-President Trump after his 34-count conviction for falsifying business records over hush-money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels. 

Here’s your chance to publicly agree or disagree with Macaulay on this issue. Simply fill out the COMMENTS section in this or the right column (appropriate for your political leanings, whether pro-MAGA, anti-Trump-right or from the left. 

Or, email editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings in the subject line. 

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In Normandy

D-DAY+80, 2024

Bannon to Prison -- A federal judge has ordered former Trump administration advisor and MAGA acolyte Steve Bannon to prison by July 1, The Hill reports. Bannon is appealing his 2022 conviction on contempt of Congress charges for failing to appear for a deposition ordered by the since-disbanded House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6 Attack on the United States Capitol.

•••

From WWII to Today – The allied effort of the U.S. and the rest of NATO to stand up to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a “direct extension” of the battle for freedom throughout Europe during World War II, President Biden observed at the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of Omaha Beach (per The New York Times). Biden’s speech was held next to the burial site where 9,388 American military are buried, most of whom were part of the invasion. 

"Democracy is not guaranteed," Biden told the crowd, which included among world leaders attending, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, but not Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, "and every generation must fight for it."

•••

Fighter Jets Hit UN School – As Israel’s fight with Hezbollah threatens to spill into southern Lebanon, there are reports of Israeli fighter jets attacking a United Nations school overnight in Central Gaza, killing at least 35 people, according to The Washington Post, which quotes Phillipe Lazzarini, commissioner of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA. 

Israeli Defense Forces spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner countered Thursday, saying 20 to 30 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters had been using a compound from inside the school.

•••

Biden Slipping? – Some Democrats and others who have worked with President Biden recently say the 81-year-old “appears slower now, someone who has both good moments and bad moments,” according to a Wall Street Journal report Wednesday. The report, which says Biden “spoke so softly at times that some participants struggled to hear him” in a January meeting in the West Wing with congressional leaders to negotiate a deal to fund Ukraine, no doubt jolted his party’s leaders.

Sources who were quoted anonymously included “(s)ome who have worked with him … including Democrats and some who have known him back to his time as vice president…” It quotes former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) saying; “I used to meet with him when he was vice president. I’d go to his house … He’s not the same person.” The WSJ notes that “White House officials dismissed many of the accounts … as motivated by partisan politics.”

But the story got little attention elsewhere Wednesday, except for News Corp. sibling Fox News, until The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, on which the host coupled The Wall Street Journal’s story with news about its recently retired CEO, 93-year-old Rupert Murdoch, marrying for his fifth time.

•••

Final Four? – Senators J.D. Vance (OH), Marco Rubio (FL) and Tim Scott (SC), and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum are the four finalists vying to become presumed Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump’s running mate, per Forbes magazine. The running mate-race remains fluid, however, and could change before the Republican National Convention begins in Milwaukee, July 15. 

There could be extra weight added to Trump’s choice, as the RNC begins four days after the ex-president is to be sentenced for his falsified business records/hush money conviction July 11.

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 6/5/24

Border Politics – “Why now?” is the question NPR’s Michel Martin repeated several times to Homeland Security Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas on Morning Edition, asking about President Biden’s executive order meant to restrict crossings at the southern border. Mayorkas, fresh off a Senate impeachment acquittal stressed the need to “properly fund” Homeland Security and the enforcement of border laws. 

Biden’s executive action Tuesday restricts the number of migrants seeking asylum and allows border officials to stop processing claims when illegal crossings surge, as they have, as we approach the November 5 elections. Capitol Hill Republicans, who in the House killed off a bipartisan border bill earlier this year, attacked the White House’s “weak” response to the crisis.  

“To protect America as a land that welcomes migrants, we must first secure the border and secure it now,” Biden said Tuesday.

Until then-President Trump referred to “shithole countries” during his administration, no one would have admitted to the glaring reason behind much of immigration restriction in the U.S. over the centuries, that of discrimination against minorities from Italians and Irish to Latinos, Hispanics and Muslims. Beside angst over criminal activities that data on undocumented aliens constantly prove to be unfounded, there are two underlying concerns: First, that undocumented immigrants will take entry level jobs from Americans – they do, but largely at minimum wage or less, and Second, the one primarily for Republicans, that the undocumented will become Democrats after they become citizens. 

•••

Has Modi’s BJP Peaked? – We would be remiss if we ignored national elections in the world’s largest democracy and fastest-growing economy, India, where nationalist Prime Minister Narendra Modi will remain prime minister, but his BJP party lost significant ground to the Congress party. 

The results are considered a shock and/or jolt to Modi and the BJP. The Election Commission of India announced Tuesday that Modi’s BJP won 240 parliamentary seats to Congress’ 99, The Times of India reports. While this might seem a pretty good result for the incumbent, that’s down from 303 seats the BJP won in 2019 elections, which was on an upward trend from 284 seats secured in the 2014 elections. We’ll keep you posted on what this means for democracy in India and around the globe, going forward.

•••

MAGA Republican Defeated in New Jersey – Trump-endorsed Mendham Borough Mayor Christine Serrano Glassner lost the New Jersey GOP primary for Bob Menendez’s U.S. Senate seat Tuesday to real estate developer Curtis Bashaw, The Hill reports. Bashaw had the influential support of most the county Republican Party organizations in the state and faces Democrat nominee Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ). 

Menendez, the Democratic senior senator from New Jersey who is under indictment with his wife on bribery charges, has said he is running for re-election as an independent.

Primaries were also held Tuesday in Montana, New Mexico, South Dakota and Washington, D.C.

--TL

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TUESDAY 6/4/24

Border Policy by Exec Order – President Biden gathers border-city mayors at the White House Tuesday -- three months after the House scuttled a bipartisan immigration bill to keep the issue alive for GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump -- with plans to sign an executive order that would greatly reduce the number of asylum-seekers allowed into the U.S., NPR’s Morning Editionreports. Although no details were leaked ahead of the announcement, the executive order is expected to significantly cut the number of immigrants allowed, according to NPR immigration correspondent Sergio Martinez Beltrán, who notes that Mexico has been cracking down on border crossings from its side at the request of the U.S.

•••

Fauci Faces Conspiracy Theoryfest – Erstwhile top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called “simply preposterous” Republican allegations that he had tried to cover up the origins of the COVID-19 pandemic at a House subcommittee hearing Monday. Leading the questions based on a litany of conspiracy theories was Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) who refused to address Fauci as a doctor and later called for him to be locked up as a “mass murderer.”

All this prompted Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) to apologize to Fauci, according to the HuffPost.

“They’re treating you, Dr. Fauci, like a convicted felon,” Raskin said of such MAGA Republicans as MTG. “Actually, you probably wish they were treating you like a convicted felon. They treat convicted felons with love and admiration.”

•••

Hunter Biden Trial, Day Two – Jury selection was completed Monday in Wilmington, Delaware, with opening statements to begin Tuesday in the criminal trial of the president’s son, Hunter Biden. He has been charged with lying on a 2018 gun license application on which he stated he was not addicted to illegal drugs.

--TL

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MONDAY 6/3/24

Trump Conviction Bump? – Down-ballot Democrats have been running better in the polls than President Biden for this November’s elections, but the expected bump in Donald J. Trump’s popularity after his 34-count conviction last week may help some of his most fervent supporters running for congressional seats, according to David Wasserman of The Cook Political Report. 

“This conviction might have some slight upside for down-ballot Republicans, not in a major way,” with a bump in turnout among pro-MAGA voters, elections analyst Wasserman told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Morning Edition Monday. That could be good news for Arizona Republican Senate candidate Kari Lake, but not for heretofore never-Trumper and Maryland Republican Senate candidate Larry Hogan.

Be sure to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s take on Trump’s remorse (or lack thereof) and House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-LA) response, now in the right column.

Hunter Biden’s turn… Trial of the president’s son on charges he lied on a 2018 gun-purchase application begins in Wilmington, Delaware, Monday. The younger Biden allegedly claimed he was not addicted to illegal drugs when he filled out the paperwork.

•••

Cease-Fire, Or Not – Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Givr and Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich threatened to resign if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agrees to a Gaza cease-fire agreement as outlined by President Biden Friday afternoon, The Hill reports. Their resignations would force new Israeli elections, as suggested by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) weeks ago. That’s something Netanyahu, whose leadership hangs from a string, does not want.

“This is a reckless deal, Ben-Givr said, “which constitutes a victory for terrorism and a security threat to the State of Israel.”

By Saturday Netanyahu already reiterated that Israel would not agree to a permanent cease-fire in Gaza as long as Hamas retained governing and military power, The New York Times reported Sunday. By Monday, NPR reports that Netanyahu has said privately he backs the proposal.

Biden said Friday the proposal would begin with a six-week cease-fire during which Hamas would release women, the elderly and wounded Israeli hostages it has held since its October 7 attack. Israel would withdraw from major population centers in Gaza, release hundreds of Palestinian hostages and allow at least 600 trucksful of humanitarian aid per day. 

•••

Mexico’s New President – Just as a U.S. president in his late 70s or early 80s is inevitable after November’s elections, Mexicans went into voting booths Sunday to inevitably elect its first female president. Climate scientist and ex-Mexico City Mayor Claudia Sheinbaum took between 58.3% to 60.7% of Sunday’s vote, The Guardian reports, easily beating Xóchitl Gálvez. Though counted as a liberal, Sheinbaum’s mentor is authoritarian-leaning outgoing Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador. 

Mexican presidents are limited to a single six-year term.

•••

Putin ‘Controls’ China – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the weekend criticized China for attempting to put thekabosh on a peace summit to be held June 15-16 in Switzerland by pressuring other countries not to attend, the Financial Timesreports. 

Zelenskyy said China is “in the hands” of Russian President/Dictator Vladimir Putin and he criticized China, once Ukraine’s biggest trade partner, for supplying Russia with dual-use equipment that the U.S. says is being used to rebuild Moscow’s defense industry.

•••

Fauci on the House Grill – A 15-month House Select Subcommittee investigating the coronavirus pandemic has failed to connect Dr. Anthony Fauci, the retired immunologist and government scientist, to the beginning of COVID-19. He faces testimony to the subcommittee beginning Monday, (The New York Times), anyway, where pro-MAGA Congress members will try to shift blame for the slow response and inevitable need for shutdowns across the country away from the Trump administration. 

The subcommittee also has uncovered emails from Fauci aides that appear to state concerns over Fauci’s public image as the agency he led for 38 years, the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, faced scrutiny over funding questions.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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Shame?

By Stephen Macaulay

The word shame goes back to the Old English. Even back in the fifth century the Anglo-Saxons described a “feeling of guilt or disgrace” and “loss of esteem and reputation.”

Over time the word has gained additional meanings, such as being related to “propriety and decency.”

House Speaker Mike Johnson (pictured above), who is a man of propriety and faith, said that Donald Trump’s 34-count felony conviction was a “shameful day.”

What he meant was that it was shameful in the context of Donald Trump being found guilty, as though there was some impropriety in the legal system.

But let’s think about this.

The case was about illegal activities. This not only has to do with lying (a.k.a., “bearing false witness”), but there was a direct association with adultery. 

Or in other words, the Trump trial ticked at least two of the boxes on the list of Ten Commandments.

Was there any proof presented that showed there was no falsifying documents? 

Was there any testimony — hand-on-the-Bible-I-swear-to-tell-the-whole-truth-and-nothing-but-the-truth testimony — that there wasn’t an act of adultery, which led to the falsification?

Did Donald Trump exhibit propriety and decency when talking about the people — from the judge to the jurors to the witnesses — associated with the trial?

So where is the shame, Speaker Johnson?

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Conviction a Win?

Donald J. Trump has become, it has been much-noted, the first-ever former American president to be convicted of a felony. Will that help him or hurt him in the November 5 presidential election? Should it?

What should Trump’s sentence be? What will it be?

This is your chance to comment on anything and everything regarding Thursday’s historic verdict in The State of New York v. Donald J. Trump, whether you lean left or right, and if right, pro-MAGA or Never-Trumper. 

Email your COMMENTS to editors@thehustings.news and indicate your political leanings in the subject line. That’s so we know whether to run your comments in this column or the one on the right. Please keep your comments civil. It will be kinda like X-Twitter, except without the echo chamber – because you’ll read civil discussion from left and right on the same page – and without the conspiracy theories and made-up facts.

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The Day After

Trump Bump in Fundraising – Donald J. Trump, convicted Thursday on 34 counts of falsifying business records in paying hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels just ahead of his 2016 election win, was to hold a press conference at Trump Tower Friday morning, NPR reports. 

Biden react… “No one is above the law.” 

But if Biden didn’t go there, his campaign communications director, Michael Tyler, did: “There is still only one way to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office: At the ballot box. Convicted felon or not, Trump will be the Republican nominee for president.”

Note: Trump has lost one vote so far; his own, as a convicted felon.

•••

Et Tu, Mitch? – Last week, Nikki Haley said she will vote for Donald J. Trump in this November’s election. Thursday night, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who might have handled retirement much in the manner of Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), wrote on X-Twitter (per The Hill); “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”

•••

Calendar – The first debate between Donald J. Trump and President Biden is June 27 on CNN. Sentencing for Trump in Judge Juan Merchan’s Manhattan courtroom is July 11. The Republican National Convention is July 15-18 at the Fiserv Forum (Fear the Deer!) in Milwaukee.

•••

There’s Got to Be a Morning After – And it starts with a huge overnight fundraising win for convicted felon and former President Donald J. Trump, conservative pundit Hugh Hewitt told Steve Inskeep on NPR’s Morning Edition. Hewitt names three Republican Senate candidates as likely winners from Trump’s fundraising haul; Bernie Moreno, challenger to Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), David McCormick, challenger to Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) and Larry Hogan, running against Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks (D), for retiring Sen. Ben Cardin’s (D-MD) seat. 

Inskeep notes that Hogan is a very moderate Republican (actually, a never-Trumper who briefly considered running for the 2024 GOP nomination), but Hewitt says the three will all fall in line for Trump and give his second term the Republican Senate majority he’ll need to carry out his MAGA agenda. 

Here we’ll note that in the case of swing-state Pennsylvania, incumbent Democrat Casey had been leading McCormick by between two and five points through early May, according to 538, and he jumped ahead to a 49%-41% lead in the May 13 average of BSG/GS Strategy Group and The Cook Political Report polls.

Aside from Trump’s fundraising success, the National Republican Congressional Committee scored its best fundraising day of the cycle by Thursday night, Punchbowl News reports, having raised $300,000, which far surpasses the $175,000 the NRCC raised the day Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) was elected House speaker.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Trump: So Many Questions, So Few Answers

By Stephen Macaulay

Should you go to Trump’s 2024 website, you’ll immediately be greeted by a photo of the former president walking away from the Marine One helicopter (presumably a more serious setting than the patio at Mar-a-Lago) and the quote:

“They’re not after me, they’re after you . . . I’m just standing in the way.”

That sounds a bit on the paranoid side.

Who are “They”?

Why are “They” “after you”?

Who is “you”?

What will “They” do to “you” should they catch “you”?

If “They” are “after you,” is Trump “standing in the way” sufficient to stop their pursuit?

So many questions. So few answers.

Then the page segues to a definition of “The MAGA Movement.”

It opens “The American Way of Life is under attack while career politicians destroy our economy and sabotage our nation’s incredible potential. We will take our country back from the corrupt Washington establishment and return power to the American people, where it belongs.”

Is “The American Way of Life” “under attack” by “They”?

What will “They” do to “The American Way of Life”?

Is there any possibility that Trump can be “standing in the way”?

If someone has been involved full time in politics since at least 2015, doesn’t that make that person a “career politician”?

Arguably the most “establishment” position in all of Washington is president. If someone (1) was president and (2) has been found liable in a civil case for sexual abuse and defamation of the abused, isn’t that a definition of “corrupt Washington establishment”?

Of course, as this is the website that is meant to present what his plan is for another stint as president you would imagine that he’d get to laying out elements of his program.

But first there is the opportunity to buy a MAGA hat, a MAGA flag or a T-shirt with his mug shot on it. (Bonus question: When did presidential mug shots become a good look?)

Almost to those policies.

But first, in all caps, there is this:

I AM YOUR VOICE.

AMERICA FIRST!

Who, exactly, is “YOUR VOICE” talking to? Could “They” be involved?

Then the policies:

  • Economic Prosperity for All
  • Secure America’s Borders
  • Restore Public Safety
  • Peace Through Strength
  • Reclaim Free Speech
  • Dismantle the Deep State

As for the first it goes on to explain, “President Donald J. Trump ended the war on American Workers.” Who was fighting the “war”? Did “They” play any part? Did anyone tell the AFL-CIO, UAW, NABTU or other trade unions that have endorsed Biden? Did anyone tell the Trump team that according to FactCheck.org the number of coal mining jobs was reduced by 8,500 and manufacturing by 154,000 during his ending the war? And that jobs were down a total 2,876,000? Is that how the “war” ended?

As for the borders, if “We created the most secure border in U.S. history,” then shouldn’t it have been built sufficiently strong so that it would last?

“We will quickly restore law and order to our country.” Does that square with this from the report released in October in which it says:

“The FBI’s crime statistics estimates for 2022 show that national violent crime decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022 compared to 2021 estimates:

  • Murder and non-negligent manslaughter recorded a 2022 estimated nationwide decrease of 6.1% compared to the previous year.
  • In 2022, the estimated number of offenses in the revised rape category saw an estimated 5.4% decrease.
  • Aggravated assault in 2022 decreased an estimated 1.1% in 2022.
  • Robbery showed an estimated increase of 1.3% nationally.”?

As for the military, it says “As Commander in Chief, President Trump rebuilt the military and kept America out of unnecessary foreign wars.” Was he preoccupied with ending “the war on American workers”?

Apparently the censorship that the MAGA folks have been performing in libraries and classrooms is not the issue. “President Trump is absolutely committed to ending the systematic censorship of the American people.” Who is performing the “systematic censorship”? “They”?

And, of course, the “Deep State.” Clearly a place that “They” inhabit. “President Trump will Drain the Swamp once and for all, and restore government by the People.” Does this square with, say, his telling oil industry execs that a $1-billion contribution to his campaign will put them in good stead?

Finally, there’s something titled “Agenda47.” Did someone forget to hit the space bar? 

Did anyone notice there are only 15 items?

It includes a series of short videos on the topics:

  • “President Donald J. Trump Declares War on Cartels” It says “when he is president again, it will be the official policy of the United States to take down the drug cartels.” Did anyone tell him that according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, “DEA’s top priority is reducing the supply of deadly drugs in our country and defeating the two cartels responsible for the vast majority of drug trafficking in the United States” right now?
  • “Ending the Nightmare of the Homeless, Drug Addicts, and Dangerously Deranged,” which has the descriptor: “For a small fraction of what we spend upon Ukraine, we could take care of every homeless veteran in America. Our veterans are being treated horribly.” While the observation is accurate, doesn’t making it sound like vets are “Homeless, Drug Addicts, and Dangerously Deranged” an absolute insult to the brave women and men who have served?
  • “Liberating America from Biden’s Regulatory Onslaught” “Onslaught”? Really?
  • “Firing the Radical Marxist Prosecutors Destroying America” Seriously: are there still “Radical Marxists” and how would you know if there was one?
  • “President Trump Announces Plan to Stop the America Last Warmongers and Globalists” Apparently these people are “in the Deep State, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the national security industrial complex.” Do they know any “Radical Marxist Prosecutors”?
  • “President Trump Announces Plan to End Crime and Restore Law and Order” The aforementioned FBI report notwithstanding, isn’t a “Plan to End Crime” a bit grandiose?
  • “President Trump on Making America Energy Independent Again” The statement is “Biden’s War on Energy is The Key Driver of the Worst Inflation in 58 Years! When I’m back in Office, We Will Eliminate Every Democrat Regulation That Hampers Domestic Energy Production.” Does he know that the U.S. is the top oil-producing country in the world — greater than Saudi Arabia, even? Does he know that oil is sold on the global market so that even if there’s an oil well in Key Biscayne the petroleum could be sold in. . .China?
  • “President Trump Will Build a New Missile Defense Shield” Doesn’t this sound like it might involve “the Deep State, the Pentagon, the State Department, and the national security industrial complex,” or does he know some guys who can do it?
  • “President Trump Calls for Immediate De-escalation and Peace” How does one perform “Immediate De-escalation”?
  • “President Trump’s Plan to Protect Children from Left-Wing Gender Insanity” Merely “Left-Wing”? Not “Marxist”?
  • “President Trump’s Plan to Save American Education and Give Power Back to Parents” Apparently “Our public schools have been taken over by the Radical Left Maniacs!” Is this a subset of the other people he’s identified?
  • “We Must Protect Medicare and Social Security” Is it deliberate that it doesn’t say “President Trump’s Plan to Protect Medicare and Social Security”? Does this mean he doesn’t have a plan?
  • “President Trump Will Stop China From Owning America” Does China want to?
  • “President Donald J. Trump Calls for Probe into Intelligence Community’s Role in Online Censorship” Did you know that there is an “illegal censorship regime—a regime like nobody’s ever seen in the history of our country or most other countries for that matter,” says Trump? 
  • “President Donald J. Trump—Free Speech Policy Initiative” Will it “dismantle the censorship cartel and restore free speech”? Does the “censorship cartel” know that he’s declared “War on Cartels”?

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From the Left, for All

As Donald J. Trump’s trial in Manhattan for falsifying business records begins what could be its final full week, numerous polls show the former president leading incumbent Joe Biden in swing states, giving Trump the potential edge in the Electoral College count.  

Is President Biden at the same stage that Trump was just after Memorial Day eight years ago, when Trump trailed Hillary Rodham Clinton, but slowly crept up to what was a statistical tie by November 2016? What happens to Trump’s poll numbers if the Manhattan jury finds him guilty in the business records/hush money case?

What about the Trump tax cuts, skewed toward the rich, which Biden, if he wins a second term, surely will want to let expire next year? 

This column is for those of you who identify as liberal or progressive or anywhere to left-of-center on the political horseshoe to voice your opinions. But because it’s on the same page as the straight news/news aggregate/analysis in the center column, and commentary from conservatives in the right column, this column is for everybody. 

We welcome your comments on these above, or any other recent issues. Use the COMMENTS section this page or email editors@thehustings.news and if you are writing for this column, please indicate so with a note like “I lean left” in the subject line.

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GUILTY!

New York v. Trump -- Falsifying business records in the first degree. GUILTY on all 34 counts. Appeal no doubt forthcoming.

Sentencing: July 11 (per NPR).

***

THURSDAY 5/30/24

It’s Day Two of jury deliberations in the Trump falsified business records/hush money trial. On Wednesday, the jury, which consists of seven men and five women, asked to rehear portions of testimony by former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and of former Trump fixer Michael Cohen (The New York Times).

Musk to Join Trump? – Presumed Republican presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and Elon Musk are in talks for a potential role for Musk in a second Trump administration, The Wall Street Journal reports in an exclusive. A role for Musk hasn’t been “fully hammered out and might not happen,” according to people familiar with the talks, though the pair have discussed ways to give Musk “formal input and influence” on policies related to the economy and border security. 

Musk runs Space-X, X and Tesla, the latter of which triggered an electric car revolution. Notable, because Trump wants to roll back the Biden administration’s programs to boost EV sales in the U.S. with strict emissions standards after 2030 and by building a national recharging network that would rely on Tesla’s Supercharger technology.

•••

Alito Won’t Recuse – Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito says he will not recuse himself on two upcoming decisions regarding the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol, after an upside-down American flag and an “Appeal to Heaven” flag were photographed outside two of his homes. Democratic members of Congress called on Alito – who blames the freak-flags on his wife -- to recuse himself. A decision on ex-President Trump’s claim of immunity in the January 6th case is imminent. 

•••

The Polls – Donald J. Trump’s popularity is “soaring,” Newsweek reports, citing surveys by polling firm Civiqs, which say 41% polled Monday have a favorable view of the ex-president compared with 55% who have an unfavorable view. That -14 point gap is Trump’s best since December 29, 2021.

Meanwhile … The New York Times’ The Upshot says President Biden still holds support among white voters, and could determine who wins Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin which “probably offer his clearest path to victory.”

--TL

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WEDNESDAY 5/29/24

In the Jury’s Hands – Jurors in Manhattan will begin deliberations in the New York district attorney’s case against Donald J. Trump accusing him of falsifying business records to cover up an affair with adult film star Stormy Daniels. Judge Juan Merchan was to give the jury deliberation instructions early Wednesday. The answer is, yes, the jury could return a verdict within hours. Or within days. Perhaps weeks?

They are not to consider lead defense attorney Todd Blanche’s “suggestion” that the former president could go to jail if convicted, a statement in his closing arguments Tuesday that drew quick and harsh admonishment from Judge Juan Merchan (Axios), who called Blanche’s statement “highly inappropriate.” 

Was it an honest mistake by Blanche, inexperienced as a trial defense attorney but with plenty of experience as a prosecutor, or was it a calculated shot at saying something in court that a jury cannot unhear? 

Blanche began his closing arguments Tuesday by attacking prosecution witness Michael Cohen, whom he called a “G.L.O.A.T.”, or “greatest liar of all time.”

In his closing arguments, prosecutor Joshua Steinglass described, “meticulously,” The New York Times reported, what he said was Trump’s scheme to “muzzle” on the eve of the ’16 presidential election Stormy Daniels’ story of their sexual encounter the prosecutor said crossed legal lines when Trump reimbursed Cohen for paying the adult film star $130,000 in hush money.

•••

Trump Won’t ‘Ban’ Birth Control – Candidate Donald J. Trump’s Project 2025 based on The Heritage Foundation’s blueprint for the coming election does not call for a ban on birth control in the wake of the ex-president’s success in overturning Roe v. Wade, according to analysis by Politico, but it would remove requirements that insurance covers male condoms and emergency contraception in favor of requiring coverage of natural family planning methods.

Coincidentally, in Trump’s business records falsification/hush money case, adult film star Stormy Daniels testified that Trump did not use a condom in their brief affair.

•••

It’s Not Antisemitism, It’s Netanyahu – In what might be described as a “well, we knew that/told ya so” moment for protesters inside Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is said to be overusing claims of antisemitism to deflect from his own problems, stifle legitimate criticism and further his political agenda, according to the Associated Press. Those problems include a years-long corruption investigation, his efforts with the help of a far-right parliamentary coalition to suck power out of the country’s judiciary and the way his government was taken by surprise in the October 7 Hamas attack.

“Not every criticism against Israel is antisemitic,” Israel historian Tom Segev told the AP. “The moment you say it is antisemitic hate, you take away all legitimacy from the criticism and try to crush the debate.”

--TL

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TUESDAY 5/28/24

Covering Trump Tax Cuts – Capitol Hill Republicans are looking at how they can cover approximately $4 trillion of tax cuts from the Trump administration, which are up for expiration next year. Should they cover any or all of it? The Wall Street Journal reports many Republicans argue that extending the tax cuts would be essential for strong growth, while others in the GOP are looking to repeal electric vehicle tax credits (which have been around for a long time, but were boosted by President Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act) and other federal spending.

Keep in mind this is bound to come up in 2025 whether Donald J. Trump or President Biden wins the November 5 election. If Biden is re-elected, he will potentially face a Republican-majority Senate and/or House.

For Trump, a money-raiser… Meanwhile, Trump has tied requests for donations to his campaign to tax-cut pledges and other policy positions, The Washington Post reports, “and is testing the boundaries of federal campaign finance laws.” The ex- and future hopeful president told a group of wealthy donors at a New York luxury hotel recently that it would cost $25 million to have lunch with him, the report says, not the $1 million one businessman offered. 

Authoritarian response… Trump also told donors he will “crush” pro-Palestinian protests and deport student demonstrators if he wins the November 5 election (WaPo).

This campaign promise came after an Israeli strike Sunday on a Rafah tent camp killed at least 45 people, mostly women and children, according to Palestinian authorities. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it “a tragic accident.”

•••

Up on the Hill – Congress is on Memorial Day break all week. Both chambers return to Capitol Hill on Monday, June 3, with the House in session through Thursday, June 6 and the Senate in session through Friday, June 7.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

From the Right, for All

Just when you thought you could get a break from politics, there’s the closing arguments and potential jury decision this week in the Manhattan trial in which Donald J. Trump is accused of falsifying business records. 

Meanwhile, Congressional Republicans who otherwise would be enjoying a week away from Capitol Hill during their weeklong Memorial Day weekend are mulling over how to cover the estimated $4 trillion cost of the Trump administration tax cuts, which they surely will want to extend when the cuts expire next year.

Trump has warned some of his richest donors they will face an historic tax increase if Biden is re-elected. 

What do you think? This is the column by conservative columnists, pundits and readers, whether pro-MAGA or never-Trump, or anything in-between (Nikki Haley?), but this column is for everyone, which is why we invite liberals and conservatives alike to post their comments on the same page.

Comment in this column or email editors@thehustings.news and if you are writing for this column, please indicate so with a note like “I lean right” in the subject line.

_____

What’s Left

For those of you reading this website on a smartphone, please be aware this is not the center column, which is full of facts and straight political news. It is the left column. Unfortunately, that's the way our page loads on small screens, at least until we can fund a bespoke smartphone app. (We envision the app to land on the center column, with a swap-right, swap-left feature to get you to the commentary.)

While you are here, why not read contributing pundit Ken Zino's column on the economy and what our two latest presidents have done for -- or to -- it, "Trump Tanked the Economy and Biden is Fixing It." Then go over to the right column to read pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay's take on the same subject, "Would You Have Him Run Your Business?"

Zino's column first appeared in thehustings.substack.com, where you can subscribe for free.

Let us know what you think of Bidenomics v. Donald J. Trump's economic policy. Become a Citizen Pundit by emailing your comments to editors@thehustings.news and indicate in the subject line if you consider yourself leaning "left" (whether or not you like Bidenomics) or leaning "right" (whether or not you agree with Macaulay's comments on Biden v. Trump).

_____

…meanwhile…

Defense rested without testimony from accused business document falsifier Donald J. Trump in his "hush-money" trial Tuesday. Judge Juan Merchan has scheduled closing arguments for next Tuesday. Meanwhile, President Biden has reacted with a campaign video on X (above) to the 30-second Truth Social video posted Monday afternoon touting a second-term Trump administration that contained two visual text references to "unified Reich" along with hypothetical headlines crediting Trump with deporting millions and creating economic boom.

FRIDAY 5/24/24

South Carolina Voting Map is a Go – The U.S. Supreme Court threw out, 6-3, a federal district court ruling holding that a congressional district on the South Carolina coast was an unconstitutional gerrymander that sorted voters primarily by race, per SCOTUSblog. SCOTUS’ decision clears the way for South Carolina’s Republican statehouse majority to use the map the federal district court had blocked. 

The ruling, along conservative-liberal lines, “sets a high bar for plaintiffs to meet in future gerrymander cases,” SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe writes.

Justice Samuel Alito wrote the decision for the majority.

•••

No Abortion Pills in Louisiana – Gov. Jeff Landry (R) is expected to sign a bill passed by the Louisiana state legislature Thursday that reclassifies two abortion-inducing drugs as controlled and dangerous substances, the AP reports. Doctors have said the drugs, mifepristone and misopristal, are used for other reproductive health care needs.

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports Friday that East Coast abortion clinics have experienced a surge in traffic since a Florida law banning most abortions took effect.

•••

Clash of the Libertarians – GOP presidential candidate Donald J. Trump and independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. are headed for a clash, The Hill reports, this weekend as both are scheduled to speak to the Libertarian Party’s national convention in Washington, D.C.

•••

Border Bill Blocked, Again – Senate Republicans blocked for a second time advance of the bipartisan border enforcement bill that languished earlier this year after Donald J. Trump told his party to keep it off the books so he could continue to use the issue to challenge President Biden, per The New York Times. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said he advanced the bill for a second time in order to “remind” voters that Republicans have stood in the way of its passage.

--TL

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THURSDAY 5/23/24

Repeat the Latest Lie? –The authoritarian’s art of restructuring “facts” by repeating lies until the general population believes them has worked well for Donald J. Trump – who continues to insist he’s the rightful winner of the 2020 presidential election – so why not expand the program? 

Trump was to hold his next campaign rally in Brooklyn Wednesday according to NPR’s Morning Edition, so we will soon see whether the former president repeats the lie that the current president’s Justice Department was ready to have him shot during the FBI’s August 2022 court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago for classified documents. Trump “misrepresented” a standard DOJ statement included in such searches, according to The New York Times.

About that ‘recession’... Earlier this week The Guardian published results of a Harris poll conducted exclusively for the newspaper that says 55% of those surveyed incorrectly believe the U.S. economy is shrinking and 56% think we are in a recession, despite strong growth for real gross domestic product. Real GDP was up 1.6% in the first quarter of 2024 after a much-stronger 3.4% growth in the fourth quarter of 2023, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysts. This coincides with a bull market for stocks, with the NASDAQ and the Dow Jones Industrial Average continuing to break record highs -- the Dow is at 40,000 points.

Perhaps she wants to be UN ambassador, again… More than 10 weeks after suspending her campaign for the GOP’s presidential nomination, former South Carolina governor and United Nations ambassador Nikki Haley has been grabbing about one in five votes from Trump in primaries including in Indiana, Nebraska and Maryland, giving never-Trumper Republicans and moderates hope for a backup plan in case, say, the former president’s falsified business records/hush money case actually does him in. When Haley dropped out of the race, she said she could not vote for Trump this November.

Now, Haley, at a speech before The Hudson Institute in Washington, D.C. says that while she does not like everything Trump has done and said, “Biden has been a catastrophe. So I will be voting for Trump.” 

Clearly, she agrees with the 55%-56% majority in the Harris poll, above.

•••

Independence Day – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak “stunned” ministers of parliament from his conservative Tory party with his call Wednesday for elections on July 4, the Independent reports. Sunak’s call for elections followed “yet another” Tory MP announcing early retirement, when Dame Eleanor Lang said she would step down ahead of the elections.

Sunak told British news broadcasters that the U.K. economy is “going gangbusters,” after the Labour party challenged his claim the country’s economy is now growing faster than the U.S. Sunak also confirmed in the news tour that plans to fly undocumented immigrants from Great Britain to Rwanda – no matter which country they came from – would not happen until after July 4.

•••

Alito Flies Freak Flags – Legend has it that President Dwight D. Eisenhower considered his appointment of The Warren Court’s eponymous chief justice his greatest failure in two terms. By the time President George H.W. Bush nominated Robert Bork in a failed bid for the Supreme Court, Republicans and Democrats had learned to closely vet the politics of their SCOTUS nominees. 

But what would Bush’s son, 43rd President George W., think of his 2005-06 nominee, Samuel Alito? Bush isn’t likely to comment, as he has largely dropped out of public view since distancing himself from the GOP’s MAGA movement a few years ago. 

SCOTUS’ nine justices, including Alito, in November 2023 signed a Code of Conduct said to be, in most cases, “not new.”

“The Court has long had the equivalent of common law ethics rules … derived from a variety of sources …” the introduction notes. 

Among the rules, “A justice should not … make speeches for a political organization or candidate, or publicly endorse or oppose a candidate for public office…”

And yet, photos taken in July and September 2023, and from a Google Street View image taken in August of last year, just prior to SCOTUS signing the Code of Conduct, show an “Appeal to Heaven” pine tree flag used by the religious strand of MAGA’s “Stop the Steal” protests flown at Alito’s Long Beach Island, New Jersey beach house, according to The New York Times. This follows an NYT report that an upside-down stars-and-stripes was photographed at Alito’s suburban Washington home just after January 6, 2021. 

Alito blamed the upside-down American flag on a dispute his wife had with a neighbor who had an anti-Trump sign on his front lawn. The SCOTUS justice did not respond to the Times regarding his “Appeal to Heaven” flag.

A Supreme Court decision on Trump’s claim of presidential immunity in special counsel Jack Smith’s January 6/election obstruction case is expected before SCOTUS takes its summer break.

--TL

__________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 5/22/24

Start of Backlash – The governments of Spain, Ireland and Norway announced Wednesday they recognize a Palestinian state, contending there will be no end to the conflict in the Middle East without it. The Israeli government – which has waged war on Gaza for more than eight months while refusing to delineate between itself and Jewish citizens or between Hamas and the Palestinian people – denounced this as giving aid to Hamas, The Washington Post reports.

This brings to 143 the number of nations supporting a Palestinian state, BBC News reports, and more countries are expected to sign up over the next week. 

Quote: “In the midst of a war, with tens of thousands killed and injured, we must keep alive the only alternative that offers a political solution for Israelis and Palestinians alike: Two states, living side by side in peace and security.” – Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store.

•••

MAGA Win for McCarthy’s Seat – Donald J. Trump-endorsed Vince Fong has won a special election to finish out the term of former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), the AP reports. California state assembly member Fong, whom Trump called “a true Republican” in February, defeated Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux in the special election. It is up to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) to determine timing in swearing in Fong to serve the remaining six-plus months of McCarthy’s term, though Fong clearly has the support to propel him to a re-election win this November.

•••

McAfee Wins, Willis Advances – Fulton County Superior Judge Scott McAfee easily won a full term in Tuesday’s Georgia primary, while Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis easily won the Democratic nomination and will advance to the November general elections, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. McAfee is the judge in Willis’ case charging former President Trump and more than a dozen of his associates with election interference in 2020. Willis is expected to defeat Republican challenger Courtney Kramer in the heavily Democratic county this fall.

--TL

____________________________________________

TUESDAY 5/21/24

UPDATE -- The Trump defense team rested its case in the falsified business records/hush-money trial just after 10 a.m. Tuesday. That means the ex-president will not take the stand in his own defense. Closing arguments are to begin Tuesday, May 28, The New York Times reports.

No Trump Testimony? – Ex-President Trump’s defense attorneys have indicated they could rest their case Tuesday after calling just two witnesses to the stand, capped by Robert Costello, a former federal prosecutor who had served as a legal advisor to Michael Cohen. That would mean no testimony from Trump in a case that could go to the jury in a matter of days. Trump faces 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election.

Cohen, Trump’s ex-fixer/attorney, was the prosecution’s 20th witness, in case you’re keeping count.

Stormy Monday… Perhaps drawing on his past experience as a federal prosecutor, Costello objected out-loud from the witness stand, proclaiming “geez!” in reacting to Judge Juan Merchan sustaining an umpteenth objection by prosecutors to a question from defense. Costello then blurted out, “strike that” … again, something you do not stay if you’re not prosecution or defense trying the case. 

“You don’t give me side-eye and you don’t roll your eyes,” Merchan admonished Costello, before clearing the courtroom – including reporters – presumably to further admonish defense’s witness. (From NPR’s Morning Edition and The New York Times.)

•••

Trump Drives it Home – Various news outlets, led by a full issue of The Atlantic late last year have been warning that Donald J. Trump means what he says if he wins a second presidential term this November (or should we say “when he wins…” as pundits believe he is no more likely to concede a loss this year than he did after 2020). Now comes Trump’s Truth Social account, which posted a video featuring references to “the creation of a unified Reich” with hypothetical news headlines we’d be reading next year after that presumed victory over President Biden. 

Note… “Reich” is German for “empire,” by the way.

Navarro’s take… Unflinching Trump loyalist Peter Navarro, the economist who served as a White House trade advisor for the former president, predicts from prison that Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell would be gone within the first 100 days of a second Trump administration, from an interview with Semafor’s Gina Ghon. Navarro is in a minimum security federal prison in Miami for refusing to cooperate with the congressional investigation into the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Powell, it is worth recalling, was appointed the 16th Fed chair in 2018 by then-President Trump, who quickly grew tired of his pick because the Fed was looking to increase a then-unnaturally low U.S. inflation rate.

--TL

__________________________________________

MONDAY 5/20/24

Trump Trial Monday -- Testimony by former fixer Michael Cohen in the Donald J. Trump falsified business records case – a.k.a. “hush money” – was to continue Monday and the entire case could go to the jury by the end of the week. We also could see the ex-president himself testify in the trial, although “everybody” is advising Trump against it, according to Politico. Which is to say, legal experts “and even Trump’s political allies,” though maybe not so much political opponents, nor “the late, great Hannibal Lecter,” who might take some delight in watching him bring some of his campaign rally antics to the witness stand.

No Extradition for Assange – Julian Assange has been granted permission to appeal his extradition by the U.S. in his WikiLeaks case by two high court judges in Britain, The Washington Post reports. Assange and his attorneys will be allowed full defense on First Amendment grounds, and as an Australian citizen. He has been charged in the U.S. for espionage for releasing sensitive military and diplomatic files through WikiLeaks in 2010.

If convicted of U.S. charges, Assange could face up to 175 years in prison, NPR reports.

•••

Arrest Warrants Sought for Netanyahu and Sinwar -- The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor seeks arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Hamas’ Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar, The Wall Street Journal reports. Netanyahu and Gallant are accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the ICC, which Israel does not recognize.

Replacing Hamas… Former army chief Benny Gantz, a current minister in Israel’s three-member war cabinet also denounced the ICC prosecutor’s move. But Gantz said he would quit the Israeli government in three weeks, and potentially force new elections, if Netanyahu does not come forth with a plan to replace Hamas in Gaza with international and local Palestinian supervision.

•••

Iran ‘Copter Down – Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, 63, and other top officials, including foreign minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian are confirmed dead after a helicopter crash Sunday, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

What it means… As president, Raisi, 63, had an administrative job with little power, but he was considered next in line to be Iran’s supreme leader as an aging Ali Khamenei prepares to step down.

•••

Biden at Morehouse – President Biden told the graduating class of historically black, all-male Morehouse College he heard voices of protest against the Israeli-Hamas war and that the conflict on Gaza breaks his heart, too, the AP reports. 

“I support peaceful nonviolent protest,” Biden said in his commencement speech, where some graduates wore keffiyehs – Palestinian scarves – around their shoulders, on top of black graduation gowns. The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, he said, is “why I’ve called for an immediate cease-fire” and for Hamas to return hostages still held from the group’s October 7 surprise attack on Israel.

•••

Up on the Hill – The Senate is in session Monday, giving House representatives like Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) a free day to attend ex-President Trump’s falsified business records trial in Manhattan. Both the House and the Senate are in session Tuesday through Friday, ahead of a Memorial Day weeklong recess.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

What’s Right

Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay has been thinking and writing about the way ex-President Trump upended Reaganomics during his four years in office. Scroll down this page with the trackball on the far right (no pun here) to read "Would You Have Him Run Your Business?", The Hustings' right-column counterpoint to contributing Pundit Ken Zino's "Trump Tanked the Economy, and Biden is Fixing It."

Also in this column, read Macaulay's "The Name's Not the Thing," about the Manhattan trial in which Donald J. Trump is accused of falsifying business records in order to pay $130,000 in hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels. SPOILER ALERT: Macaulay has forever been a never-Trumper pundit leaning moderately to the right.

Further down the page on the right is Macaulay's column, "The Biden Shuffle," describing the juxtaposition of Joe Biden's age and his poll numbers.

These three Macaulay columns first appeared in thehustings.substack.com, where you can subscribe for free.

You are also invited to become a Citizen Pundit by emailing your comments to editors@thehustings.news. Please indicate in the subject line if you consider yourself leaning "left" (whether or not you like Bidenomics) or leaning "right" (whether or not you agree with Macaulay's comments on Biden v. Trump).

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Put Down Your Smartphones

If you are reaching The Hustings on a smartphone, be aware this is not the center of our front page, which is written to objectively to present the news/news aggregate about our political world. If you have reached us by computer, you can scroll down to last Friday’s posts to read contributing pundit Ken Zino’s commentary on former President Trump’s claims his policies built a great American economy only to have President Biden knock it down; “Trump Tanked the Economy, and Biden is Fixing It.”

Please be sure to read Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s right-column take on Trump’s claims, “Would You Have Him Run Your Business?”

SPOILER ALERT: Macaulay’s take is that of a traditional conservative and he does not say anything more positive than Zino about Trump’s economic policies. Macaulay and Zino are much further apart on Bidenomics, however. 

These May 10 center and left-right posts are what we do at The Hustings, and you can participate whether you agree with Zino’s center-left take or Macaulay’s center-right take, if you are, say, a pro-MAGA conservative or a socialist-leaning fan of The Squad.

Email your comments to editors@thehustings.news and please list your political leanings in the subject line so that we may post said comments in the appropriate column.

_____

…meanwhile…

The Consumer Price Index has stalled in the mid-threes, to a 3.4% annual rate in April, the Labor Department reported Wednesday. That's down 0.1 points from the March CPI. Month-over-month inflation was 0.3%, after four months of 0.4% increases. Shelter and gas contributed to more than 70% of the CPI increase, with energy up 1.1%. Food was unchanged, breaking down to food at home -0.2% and food away from home +0.3%. Last month's disappointing CPI no doubt will raise doubts that the Federal Reserve will move to cut interest rates before fall. [UPDATE: The slight decrease in the April CPI is being seen as a positive sign the Fed could still cut interest rates this year, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average on Thursday breached 40,000 points for the first time ever.]

FRIDAY 5/17/24

Some Relief for Gaza – Trucks have begun carrying “badly needed” food, water, fuel and other supplies into the Gaza Strip by the U.S. military onto a new floating pier, The Associated Press reports. Military officials “anticipate” this effort could scale up to 150 trucks per day, as heavy fighting and Israeli restrictions on border crossings has strangled food and supply delivery. There have been reports for weeks of impending starvation.

Even when accelerated to 150 trucks per day, it will hardly be sufficient. Before the Israeli-Hamas war, now seven months old, more than 500 truckloads entered the territory on an average day, the AP says.

International Court … Israeli Justice Ministry official Gilad Noem told the International Court of Justice Friday that the South African case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention “completely divorced from facts and circumstances,” Reuters reports. The government of South Africa has requested the court to order Israel to halt its operations in Rafah and withdraw from Palestinian territory.

•••

Trump Defense Chews Up Cohen – Donald J. Trump’s defense team denied “loudly and angrily” the ex-president’s much-disliked ex-fixer Michael Cohen’s testimony Thursday, according to The Washington Post. Cohen told the court under cross-examination he spoke with Trump on October 24, 2016, to outline a plan to pay hush money to Stormy Daniels in order to cover up an affair, denied by the ex-president, between the adult film star and Trump. 

As a reminder, the case by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg accuses Trump of falsifying business records to cover up said payments to Daniels, via Cohen, in time for Trump’s 2016 Electoral College win.

Cohen, who could be the last witness in the trial, will return to the stand Monday for the prosecution’s redirect. Trump has not said whether he will take the stand in the case.

--TL

__________________________________________

THURSDAY 5/16/24

SCOTUS Upholds CFPB Funding -- The Supreme Court has upheld, 7-2, funding for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which was created after the 2008 financial crisis to offer consumer protection for mortgages, car loans and other loans, SCOTUSblog reports. Pay day lenders had argued in CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America Ltd. that the bureau should be subject to the Constitution's appropriations clause with Congress voting on its budget every fiscal year. Justice Clarence Thomas, writing for the majority said the CFPB "does not have to petition for funds every year" because Congress authorized the bureau to draw from the Federal Reserve System funding its director deems "reasonably necessary to carry out" its charter, subject to an annual inflation rate cap.

Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

•••

SCOTUS Restores Louisiana Voting Map – In an unsigned ruling, the Supreme Court’s six conservatives prevailed to restore Louisiana’s congressional voting map, which includes an additional majority-Black voting district, The Washington Post reports. Though considered a “victory” for Black voters and the Democratic Party, justices Sonya Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson and Elena Kagan dissented. 

The 6-3 ruling comes in response to emergency appeals filed after a federal three-judge panel in April ruled the Louisiana map an unconstitutional gerrymander. 

Brown Jackson was the only justice to issue an argument, saying SCOTUS’ intervention was “premature.” According to SCOTUSblog her argument is related to the Purcell principle, the idea that courts should not change election rules during the period just before the election because it will cause confusion among voters.  

•••

Attempted Assassination in Slovakia – Slovakia Prime Minister Robert Fico was in critical condition Thursday from five gunshot wounds in what his government called a politically motivated assassination attempt Wednesday, The New York Times reports. The suspect is said to be a 71-year-old poet, who in videos posted online can be seen firing at Fico at point-blank range in the center square of Handlova, where he was shaking hands with supporters after a government meeting. The suspect, who has been arrested, has been called a “lone-wolf” not connected with any political group.   

Fico’s condition reportedly stabilized overnight, but doctors are said to be carrying out more procedures in hopes of improving his condition.

Fico, 59, reportedly a pro-Russian ally of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, won his first of three terms as PM in 2006, but lost re-election in 2010. According to the NYT profile, Fico returned to power in 2012 and resigned in 2018 after mass protests over the murder of a journalist investigating government corruption, and his fiancé. He returned for a third term last fall after his Smer party, which leaned liberal during Fico’s first term but has steadily moved right, won parliamentary elections.

--TL

__________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 5/15/24

Let's Debate! -- Yes, well, this time it's Kennedy v. Nixon 1960 style, with no audience to distract from and steal time. Donald J. Trump will debate President Joe Biden Thursday, June 27, on CNN from its Atlanta studios and again on Tuesday, September 10 on ABC News from a to-be-determined location. Both the Republican National Committee and the Biden campaign have rejected the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has hosted presidential one-on-ones since 1988.

The RNC has concerns about timing and about accusations of CPD bias, while Biden campaign chair Jen O'Malley Dillon says the commission is "out of step with changes in the structure of our elections and the interests of voters." No decision yet on a vice-presidential debate.

•••

Blinken Bolsters Ukraine – On his second day in Kyiv, Secretary of State and amateur rock star Antony Blinken announced release of $2 billion in military aid for Ukraine as part of the $61-billion package passed past the last-minute by U.S. Congress last month, the Kyiv Post reports. In a presser with Dmytro Kuleba, Ukraine’s foreign minister, Blinken said the aid is intended “to provide weapons today” and to invest in the country’s infrastructure, another way of saying, according to the Post, that Kyiv is thus enabled to procure military equipment from other countries. 

It also is free to strike Russian targets outside its borders.

“We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine,” Blinken said. “But ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war.”

About that amateur rock star tag… Blinken Tuesday evening wielded a guitar in a basement bar in Kyiv, where he played Neil Young’s Rockin’ in the Free World with a local band named 1999.

•••

It’s Alsobrooks v. Hogan – Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks will face former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, a moderate, never-Trumper Republican, in the November race to replace retiring Sen. Ben Cardin (D-MD), NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Alsobrooks handily beat Rep. David Trone for the Democratic nomination, 54% to 41.9%, and Trone quickly reacted by calling on his supporters to vote for Alsobrooks and President Biden. 

Hogan would become the first Republican senator from Maryland since Charles Mathias won his third and final term in 1980.

Meanwhile, in West Virginia: Republican Gov. Jim Justice, who first won as a Democrat in 2016 but quickly switched parties, took 61.8% of the GOP vote in Tuesday’s West Virginia primary to replace retiring Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV), The Washington Postreports. For future trivia questions, Glenn Elliott  the Democrat facing Justice for Manchin’s seat.

Also in West Virginia, Rep. Carol Miller held off a challenger from the January 6th riots to win the Republican primary for her seat.

--TL

__________________________________________

TUESDAY 5/14/24

Speaker Support -- House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA, above) joined Donald J. Trump Tuesday, NPR reports, at the Manhattan courthouse where the former president is being tried on charges of falsifying business records in connection with hush money payments to a Playboy centerfold and to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Defense attorneys Tuesday cross-examined Trump's ex-fixer/attorney Michael Cohen, who on Monday told jurors of Trump's direct knowledge of the hush money payments, and how he was reimbursed under the bookkeeping heading, "attorney's fees."

Aid Arriving Too Late for Vovchansk? -- Russia's ongoing offensive into Ukraine's second-largest city is "pushing Vovchansk to the brink of annihilation," reports The Kyiv Independent. This marks the first serious Russian offensive to retake territory in Kharkiv Oblast since the beginning of the war. Ukraine's "lightning counteroffensive" retook the city in September 2022.

•••

Tuesday Primaries -- West Virginia, Maryland and Nebraska hold their primaries Tuesday (The Washington Post). In West Virginia, Gov. Jim Justice faces Rep. Alex Mooney for the Republican nomination for retiring Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin III's seat. Justice has Donald J. Trump's endorsement, but whomever wins will certainly give the GOP a plus-one in the Senate, where Democrats hold a 51-49 majority.

In Maryland, Rep. David Tone faces Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrook in the Democratic primary to fill the seat of retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. This race also is critical for the Democratic majority, as former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, a never-Trumper who last year was considered a potential candidate for the GOP presidential primary and then was linked to No Labels' third-party aspirations, will face the winner of the Democratic primary November 5.

•••

RINO Ryan? -- Donald J. Trump has called on Fox News chief Lachlan Murdoch to fire former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) off the news organization's board, Vanity Fair reports. Accusing Ryan, a dyed-in-the-wool old-school Republican who says he won't vote for President Biden, either, of being a "RINO", the ex-president is upset that the former speaker says he will not vote for Trump this November.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 5/13/24

Menendez on Trial -- Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) faces 16 criminal counts including bribery, fraud and foreign-agent offenses, along with his wife, Nadine, and three New Jersey businessmen in a federal trial beginning in the Manhattan district, Monday. The alleged bribery scheme involves bribes for securing military sales to Egypt and promoting the interests of Qatar, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Cohen Time -- Donald J. Trump fixer-turned-antagonist Michael Cohen testifies this week in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's case alleging Trump falsified business documents, a.k.a., the "hush money" case. Cohen "will unearth some of the secrets he buried, revealing a mess that prosecutors say his former boss was desperate to hide," according to The New York Times in its preview of his testimony as a witness for the prosecution.

A year-and-a-half into Trump's presidential term Cohen pleaded guilty in Manhattan federal court for campaign-finance violations and other charges, and was sentenced to three years in prison. He has already spent a year in prison for paying the hush-money, facts Trump's defense team will use against him in cross-examination.

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Accounting for Trump – An Internal Revenue Service audit begun after 2010 of a possible double-dip tax writeoff over the troubled Trump International Hotel and Tower in Chicago could eventually lead to a $100 million tax bill for the former president, according to an investigation by The New York Times and ProPublica reported in the newspaper Sunday. Built just before The Great Recession, the first tax writeoff for the 92-story glass tower on the Chicago River claimed by Trump was in 2008, when he claimed the loan burden and lagging sales, far below his organization’s projections, would make it impossible for the condo-hotel tower to ever make a profit. Trump reported up to $651 million in losses that year, according to the report.

The IRS did not begin its audit, however, until after Trump and his tax advisors shifted the company that owned the tower into a new partnership, according to the NYT’s Sunday front page story. 

The tower, built with 486 residences and 339 “hotel condominiums,” and central to the first season of The Apprentice TV show in 2004, is described as Trump’s last major building project, though it is not his first business failure. 

Pundit-at-large Stephen Macaulay discusses some of Trump’s Greatest Misses in his commentary, “Would You Have Him Run Your Business?” below in the right column.

Macaulay’s column is opposite Ken Zino’s left-column commentary, “Trump Tanked the Economy, and Biden is Fixing It.” Both columns flank the center-column news on the Friday, May 10 release of the Index of Consumer Expectations by the University of Michigan. We urge you to read all three columns, beginning with the center, for the full Hustings experience.

--Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

The Name’s Not the Thing

By Stephen Macaulay

Donald Trump, self-proclaimed business wizard, is currently on trial, being prosecuted by the New York County — which includes Manhattan — district attorney’s office.

A grand jury determined that there are 34 counts related to falsifying business records that had the effect of keeping from the public information about Trump’s alleged extra-marital undertakings.

Essentially the dubious activities are predicated on the notion that if Trump, who is sometimes illustrated on T-shirts as having the physique of a WWF wrestler, thereby indicating his virility, was to be exposed having spent a night with an actress whose stage name is “Stormy Daniels,” a vivacious blonde who is more than moderately shapely, an actress who has played lead in such films as Sex Door Neighbors and Love in an Elevator, and this information was to be made public prior to the 2016 presidential election, there could have been some people who would think that this sort of Seventh Commandment-breaking behavior disqualified him from the highest elected position in the U.S. and so wouldn’t have voted for him.

So Trump allegedly instructed his people to pay off Daniels and to do so in a way that was in violation of regulations related to business expenses. 

Several people have stated that the prosecution is because of who the defendant is. On Sunday May 12, CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, joined the likes of Jonathan Turley and Mark Levin, by saying on his show: “I doubt the New York indictment would have been brought against a defendant whose name was not Donald Trump.”

And Zakaria is probably right.

But what seems to be lost in such statements is the fact that it has nothing to do with his name but that the person in question allegedly falsified business records because he was running for president. 

What’s more, had Bill Clinton not been president, his dalliances with “a subordinate government employee” probably would have gotten him fired were he in the private sector, but he was president.

Trump is innocent until proven guilty. But let’s not accept false equivalencies between Donald Trump and John Doe.

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MONDAY 5/13/24

The New York Times and ProPublica revealed over the weekend that yet another of Donald J. Trump’s business ventures, Chicago’s Trump International Hotel and Tower, has been under scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service since the early ‘10s. 

That’s about five years before Trump first declared his presidential candidacy. In this right column below, Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay writes that other, known Trump business failures led up to one big one during his four years as president, in “Would You Have Him Run Your Business?”

Use the trackbar at the far right to scroll up and down this page for recent posts. Use the trackbar within each column to read to the bottom of the column.

And be sure to read Ken Zino’s left-column piece, “Trump Tanked the Economy, and Biden is Fixing It.”

Then let us know your thoughts, whether you disagree or agree with Macaulay or Zino, or if you would like to defend four years of Trump’s economic policies, your civil comments are very much welcome. Email your civil comments to editors@thehustings.newsand indicate whether you lean left or right in the subject line, so we can post your comments in the appropriate column.

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