(The Consumer Price Index rose to a 3.2% annual rate in July, the Commerce Department reports, a slight uptick from a 3.0% rate in June. Although it is the first CPI increase after 12 months of inflation easing from record highs, The Wall Street Journal says it remains modest and could deter the Federal Reserve from raising rates at its September meeting.)

MONDAY 8/14/23

Indictment Number Four? – More than two years since launching an investigation into former President Trump’s alleged efforts to overturn Georgia’s 2020 Electoral College vote, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is expected to begin presenting her case before a grand jury early this week, The Washington Post reports. Former Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan has confirmed he was subpoenaed to testify before the grand jury Tuesday.

New quote of the year: Duncan tweeted; “I look forward to answering their questions around the 2020 election. Republicans should never let honesty be mistaken for weakness.”

Did Trump team breach Georgia ballot boxes?: CNN says in an exclusive report that Georgia’s prosecutors have messages showing that Trump’s legal team was behind a Coffee County, Georgia voting system breach in January 2021.

--TL

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FRIDAY 8/11/23

Garland Names Weiss Special Counsel in Biden Investigation – U.S. Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland has elevated David Weiss, the U.S. attorney for Delaware appointed by the Trump administration to investigate Hunter Biden’s business dealings (The Hill) to special counsel in the case. The appointment puts focus of the investigation back on two whistleblowers, Gary Shapely and Joseph Ziegler, after U.S. District Court Judge Maryellen Noreika snuffed out a plea deal over Biden’s tax evasion issues. 

Shapely and Ziegler claim the Justice Department slow-walked the Hunter Biden investigation, gave him preferential treatment and declined to pursue charges in California and Washington, D.C., where they say there was stronger evidence. The two also said Weiss earlier had sought and was denied special counsel status, a claim both Garland and Weiss deny.

While House Republicans had once called for Garland to promote Weiss to special counsel. They now are criticizing the move for potentially obstructing the House Oversight Committee’s own investigation into the younger Biden’s business dealings while his father was vice president. 

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has floated the possibility of an impeachment inquiry into Garland over how the case was handled, as well as a possible inquiry into President Biden over issues regarding the family’s foreign business dealings.

•••

Trump Backs Out of Debate – Will Donald J. Trump or won’t Donald J. Trump? The punditocracy has been a-twitter for a few weeks trying to figure out whether the former president and frontrunner by far in the race for the 2024 GOP nomination will join the party’s first debate, August 23 in Milwaukee. The answer appears to be “no,” and Trump’s rationale might take its toll on his popularity, at least among the non-MAGA Republicans who have failed to push back against him so far. 

“I wouldn’t sign the pledge” to support another GOP candidate for president next year unless it is him, Trump told right-of-Fox News Newsmax, according to The New York Times. “Why would I sign a pledge? There are people here that I wouldn’t have.”

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel told CNN last month that only candidates who sign a pledge they will support the eventual winner of the party’s nomination are allowed to participate in the debate. 

“The rules aren’t changing. We’ve been very vocal with them.”

That won’t stop former governors Chris Christie (NJ) and Asa Hutchinson (AR) from signing the pledge, just to get on to the debate stage.

“I’m going to take the pledge just as seriously as Donald Trump took it in 2016,” Christie, who is running (in part) to help stop the former president’s efforts, told CNN.

Hutchinson, who so far has not met other qualifications to participate, said he would sign the pledge “based on the far-from-safe assumption” Trump won’t win the nomination, the NYT reports.

•••

Trump and Co-defendant Plead 'Not Guilty' -- Donald J. Trump and co-defendant Waltine Nauta pleaded "not guilty" to multiple charges alleging the former president kept classified documents at Mar-a-Lago and with help of two aides, tried to hide some material from government officials seeking their return to the National Archives. Trump did not appear in-person for the plea at federal court in Fort Pierce, Florida, but made the plea via his attorneys, The Washington Post reports. Nauda, who faces six charges in the initial indictment plus two additional crimes in a superseding indictment did appear. Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira was charged for the first time in the superseding indictment, and did not enter a plea.

•••

Imminent Perp Motorcade – A fourth indictment of former President Trump, this time from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over his alleged attempts to turn over Georgia’s Electoral College vote, are expected as early as Thursday. Willis and Sheriff Patrick Labat say they have prepared, in anticipation for Trump’s indictment motorcade, the biggest preventive security dragnet in the region since the 1996 Olympics, USA Today reports.

On the right: Don’t miss Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay’s critique of Trump’s planned defense in United States of America v. Donald J. Trump, the former president’s alleged attempts to overturn the 2020 election, now in the right column.

Tweet this: Twitter was fined $350,000 for failing to turn over Trump’s data from tweets made leading up to the January 6^thCapitol insurrection, The Washington Post reports. An appellate court referenced 18 of Trump’s tweets, including seven from January 6, 2021, in an order to turn over the data to Special Counsel Jack Smith.

•••

FBI Shoots Armed Man Over Biden Threats – FBI special agents shot to death Craig Deleeuw Robertson, of Provo, Utah, as they attempted to serve a warrant over accusations he made threats against President Biden ahead of an appearance in Salt Lake City, Wednesday. Robertson was armed at the time of the shooting, law enforcement officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told the AP. Self-described “MAGA Trumper” Robertson posted online Monday that he had heard Biden was coming to Utah, and would dig out a camouflage suit and begin “cleaning the dust off the M24 sniper rifle.”

•••

Ecuador Presidential Candidate Assassinated – Fernando Villavicencio, a presidential candidate who vowed to crack down on drug trafficking and corruption in Ecuador, was assassinated at a campaign event in the capital, Quito, Wednesday night (The Washington Post). A criminal gang named Los Lobos has claimed responsibility, the BBC reports. A former journalist, Villavicencio had been a member of Ecuador’s National Assembly since 2017. President Guillermo Lasso has announced that the first round of voting, scheduled for Sunday, August 20, will not be delayed.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(President Biden Tuesday designated the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kuveni – Ancestral Footprints of Grand Canyon National Monument.)

Ohio Says No to Issue 1 – Voters in Ohio turned out in high numbers for an August ballot initiative to reject Issue 1, which would have required a 60% vote to pass a November initiative codifying abortion rights in the state’s constitution. Ohio ballot initiatives have required just 50% plus-one for 111 years. 

With 90% of the tally in, “no” was leading the Republican-backed “yes” on Issue 1 by more than 350,000 vote in, AP reports. Cuyahoga County and other Democratic-friendly regions had yet to report. Republicans blamed the summer-vacation timing of the ballot initiative, NPR reports, even though the party’s leaders pushed for the date, ahead of the regular November elections. 

If Issue 1 had passed, it would also require signatures from all 88 Ohio counties to get on the ballot, according to ABC News. The state’s current law requires signatures by 5% of the number of votes cast in the most recent gubernatorial election.

Upshot: While Issue 1 was primarily about defeating a November ballot initiative that would assure abortion rights in a state governed by Republicans, in the long run it’s also about voting rights. For perspective on the authoritarian wing of the GOP, read our latest newsletter at thehustings.substack.com.

--TL

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TUESDAY 8/8/23

What Voter Turnout? – Ohio voters weigh in Tuesday on Issue 1, a ballot measure that would require 60% approval for changes to the state’s constitution. For 111 years, Ohio ballot initiatives have required just 50% for a change to its constitution, The Washington Post notes. Not coincidentally, there’s an initiative on Ohio’s November ballot that seeks to enshrine abortion rights to the state constitution, so if Tuesday’s measure passes, it would require 60% rather than 50% of the vote to pass.

Issue 1 is the only reason for Ohioans to go to the polls today, smack in the middle of vacation season. Or, as Gov. Mike DeWine, who along with the majorities of both Ohio’s legislative chambers, is a Republican, put it: “People are still going to have the opportunity to vote, and people are going to vote on this.”

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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MONDAY 8/7/23

Protection for Prosecutors – After Donald J. Trump’s all-caps message on his Truth Social media outlet Friday, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU”, federal prosecutors in last week’s indictment alleging he tried to overturn the 2020 election asked for a protection order that would prevent the ex-president from sharing evidence of the case publicly. Judge Tanya Chutkan denied a request from defense attorneys to extend the deadline for the protection order beyond 5:30 p.m. Monday, August 7, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. 

Attorneys for Trump once again accused “President Biden’s Justice Department” of trying to suppress political speech and attempted in vain to delay Judge Chutkan’s order. 

“The point is, we will not agree to keeping information that’s not sensitive from the press,” Trump attorney John Lauro told Dana Bash on CNN’s State of the Union Sunday. He added; “I’m shocked that the press isn’t lined up objecting to the order.”

Upshot: Above his attorney team’s rhetoric, the former president’s warning in capital letters above serve as a clear indication of how authoritarian and vindictive his return to the White House would be.

--TL

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Read columns to the left and right to learn how to comment on this and other recent political news items.

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 6^th. 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 6^thattack 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

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[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 32^nd 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?

•••

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.”

•••

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.

•••

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). 

•••

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.

•••

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.

•••

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.

•••

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.

•••

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.

•••

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.

•••

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 30^th of the month, though Schumer has warned he may call the Senate back in August to work it out. 

•••

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 82^nd 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

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

(Screen shot of Kerch Bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula to Russia, after Monday's explosion, via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Details below.)

FRIDAY 7/21/23

Judge Sets Trump Docs Court Date – Federal Judge Aileen Cannon split the difference between Justice Department prosecutors and Donald J. Trump’s legal team, scheduling the trial over the former president’s alleged mishandling of confidential documents for May 2024, NPR reports. Prosecutors wanted the trial to begin this December, while Trump wanted the trial to begin after the November 2024 presidential election, for which he is the GOP’s current leading candidate.

•••

Senate Committee Passes SCOTUS Ethics – Despite recent evidence that liberal as well as conservative justices have stepped over the line into questionable ethics by receiving cushy luxury vacations and other financial benefits, proposed legislation to impose strict rules on the U.S. Supreme Court passed the Senate Judiciary Committee 11-10 on party lines Thursday (The New York Times). The bill will die in the Senate, where it would need nine Republican votes to overcome a filibuster, and obviously would have no chance in the Republican-majority House. 

But Democrats will make a point. The court’s reputation has taken a hit in the polls in recent months, particularly after reports that Justices Clarence Thomas and Samuel A. Alito have taken private jet trips to luxury vacations from billionaires and failed to disclose them.

“This legislation will be a crucial first step in restoring confidence in the court after a steady stream of reports of justices’ ethical failures,” said committee Chairman Richard Durbin (D-IL). The committee’s Republicans argued that the proposed legislation is an attack on the conservative-majority court.

“This bill is going nowhere,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), who argued the legislation would “fundamentally change the way the court operates.”

“I think our founders are rolling over in their graves,” added Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX).

--TL

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THURSDAY 7/20/23

Grain is a Russian Military Target – Russian military strikes destroyed 60,000 tons of grain in attacks against port infrastructure in Chornomorsk, Odesa Oblast Wednesday, The Kyiv Independent reports. This comes the same day Russia’s defense ministry warned that all ships sailing to Ukraine are to be considered military targets as of Thursday. 

Ukraine Agriculture Minister Mykola Solski said of the Chornomorsk strike; “This is a terrorist act not against Ukraine, but against the whole world.”

Russia says its blockade of cargo ships in and out of occupied Ukrainian territory could end if NATO and the U.S. eases up on economic sanctions against Russia, specifically, of its grain and fertilizer trade, NPR reports.

Ukraine defends, pushes back: Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Air Force air defense reported it shot down 13 Kalibr cruise missiles, one guided Kh-59 cruise missile and 23 kamikaze drones in a massive night strike by Russia against Ukraine. But the Russian strikes killed two Ukrainians and injured two dozen, NPR says. 

In its struggling counter-offensive, Ukraine pushed Russian forces out from its positions near the village of Orikhovo-Vasyliuka, northwest of Bakmut, according to Andrii Kovalov, spokesman for the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces (KI).

•••

Cancel Senate Summer Break? – Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) “left the door open” to keeping the Senate in session through August in order to process nearly three dozen nominees to serve as U.S. ambassadors, according to Punchbowl News. Nearly all the nominees are foreign service officers, which means they’re not buddies nor contributors to the president. Nevertheless, Sens. Rand Paul (R-KY) and J.D. Vance (R-OH) are pulling a Tuberville. 

Paul and Vance are holding up the nominees over diversity initiatives and COVID-19 issues, much in the same way Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) is conducting a military promotions blockade over the availability of abortion and abortion travel to U.S. armed services personnel. 

Similarly, critics of Paul and Vance say charge’ d’ affairs personnel who lead embassies awaiting their ambassadors do not have the same level of access to foreign officials as the ambassadors. Senate leaders could go through procedural motions to push through nominees, but these confirmations would take weeks.

“We’ve got to be willing to stay through August recess or through weekends in order to move these ambassadors,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) said. “I understand this is a topic the public doesn’t easily connect to, but it harms our national security. But it’s not rocket science. We just have to be willing to put in the time.”

Upshot: Schumer and Murphy hope the threat of spending August in Washington is enough for Republican Senate leaders get Paul and Vance in line.

--TL

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...meanwhile...

WEDNESDAY 7/19/23

Michigan Charges Alleged ‘Fake Electors’ – Michigan Attorney Gen. Dana Nessel announced charges for 16 people connected with the state’s Republican Party who allegedly sought to serve as electors for the 2020 presidential election, NPR reports. The charges were announced hours after former President Trump revealed on Truth Social that the Justice Department informed him he is the target of its investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the election.

With the charges Tuesday, Michigan joins Georgia in investigating alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election for Trump. Among those charged are Meshawn Maddock, former co-chair of the Michigan GOP, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. The 16 charged were alleged to have met covertly in the basement of the state’s GOP headquarters on December 14 and signed their names to multiple certificates that they were the “duly elected and qualified electors” for president and vice president for the state of Michigan, according to Nessel’s statement. Nessel (a Democrat) says in her statement the false documents were transmitted to the Senate and National Archives “in a coordinated effort to award the state’s electoral votes to the candidate of their choosing” in place of Joseph R. Biden and Kamala Harris, who had 150,000 more votes than Donald J. Trump and Mike Pence in Michigan.

--TL

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TUESDAY 7/18/23

UPDATE: 1/6 Charges Next? -- Donald J. Trump wrote on his platform Truth Social Tuesday morning that he received a letter from the Justice Department Sunday informing the former president he is the target of a long-running investigation into his alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election (The Washington Post).

"Nothing like this has ever happened in our country before or even close," Trump wrote. In the post, he called Special Prosecutor Jack Smith "deranged" and Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland "unethical."

WaPo notes that a target letter means investigators "have gathered substantial evidence" connecting the recipient to a crime, but does not necessarily mean the recipient will be charged.

•••

Trump’s Next Big Day in Court – All eyes on federal Judge Aileen Cannon, the Trump appointee holding he first pretrial hearing in Fort Pierce, Florida Tuesday for the former president’s alleged mishandling of classified documents. Cannon will rule on administrative procedures for the case, which relies on classified government documents as evidence, and she will decide whether to schedule the trial before the 2024 presidential election or as Trump has argued – after (The Washington Post).

ICYM Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures (clearly, we did), host Maria Bartiromo asked Trump whether he had any indication Cannon would grant his motion to postpone the classified documents case “indefinitely.” The former president replied, “I don’t know. I know it’s a very highly respected judge, a very smart judge and a very strong judge.”

Meanwhile, the lights are on in Georgia: The Georgia Supreme Court dismissed Monday the Trump legal team’s move to stop Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ criminal probe into alleged 2020 election interference (also WaPo). The state’s top court – eight of its nine members were appointed by Republican governors – said Trump had failed to provide “extraordinary circumstances” to warrant intervention.

•••

Israeli President on the Hill – President Isaac Herzog reportedly will attempt to salvage bipartisan support for Israel when he addresses a joint session of Congress Wednesday, CQ Roll Call reports. While bipartisan support is far from gone, congressional Democrats are critical of persistently re-elected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s authoritarian attempts to weaken his country’s judiciary while expanding settlements into occupied Palestinian territory. (As president, center-leftist Herzog’s role in Israel’s parliament is “largely ceremonial” former U.S. Special Envoy Dennis Ross told NPR’s Morning Edition.)

“A lot of us who are steadfast supporters of Israel, from the far right to the far left to everything in between, have to acknowledge that the current Israeli government is allowing things that the current Israel government is allowing things that make [peace] more and more difficult to achieve,” Sen. Brian Schatz (D-HI) said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee last week.

Other, far more progressive Democrats are far less tolerant of Netanyahu’s policies. Congressional Progressive Caucus Chairwoman Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) called Israel a “racist state” at the Netroots Nation conference in Chicago last Saturday. On Sunday, Jayapal walked back her comments, a bit, saying Netanyahu’s “extreme right-wing government has engaged in discriminary and outright racist policies.”

--TL

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MONDAY 7/17/23

Crimean Bridge Hit Again – Russian media reported explosions carried out on the Kerch Bridge connecting occupied Crimea with Krasnodar Oblast Monday morning and promptly blamed Ukraine. The blasts reportedly occurred about 3 a.m. local time and killed a Russian man and a woman and injured a child. 

“While Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the alleged attack, it has not denied it either,” according to The Kyiv Independent, which describes the bridge as a key supply line for Russian troops operating in Southern Ukraine. 

Russian media reported the bridge’s roadway sustained damage, but did not specify the attack, according to the Ukrainian outlet, and Russian-installed officials claimed the bridge’s railroad track was not damaged. News agency TASS reported that eight trains going to or from Crimea were delayed Monday.

CNN quoted an anonymous source from Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) who said Monday that the attack was a joint operation of the SBU and Ukraine’s naval forces. Liga.net reported Ukraine’s naval forces likely used surface drones.

Kyiv did eventually claim responsibility for an October 2022 explosion on the roughly 12-mile long bridge, which was opened in 2018 with Russian leader Vladimir Putin taking the ceremonial first crossing. 

Over the weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelinskyy admitted his country’s counter-offensive against Russia is going slower than expected.

Meanwhile, grain cutoff: Russia has refused to extend a United Nations-brokered deal that made it possible to deliver Ukrainian grain around the world, NPR reports. Though considered a “suspension” rather than an absolute end to the deal, Vladmir Putin has been quoted as claiming the deal to provide Ukrainian grain to global customers is “one-sided.”

•••

Up on the Hill – Both chambers are in session Tuesday through Thursday, with the House only in session Monday, and the Senate only in session Friday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news