…meanwhile…

The U.S. economy added a moderate 175,000 jobs in April, the Labor Department reported Friday. This slowing compares with 303,000 jobs added in March and has sparked a rally on Wall Street. The unemployment rate inched up to 3.9%, from a 3.8% level in March. This might be good news for the economy overall as the Federal Reserve remains concerned about inflation sticking above 3%, and will not likely cut interest rates before autumn, at best. Job gains were reported for health care, social assistance, transportation and warehousing. (Chart: Bureau of Labor Statistics)

FRIDAY 5/3/24

Biden: Stop the Chaos – President Biden took a sort of middle ground in a brief, unscheduled White House address on pro-Palestinian campus protests that have resulted in more than 2,000 arrests to date, according to NBC News.

“There’s a right to protest, but not a right to chaos,” Biden said. “People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being arrested.”

As the protests threaten to spill over to the Democratic National Convention in Chicago this August, Biden rejected deploying the National Guard as some Republicans have suggested, The New York Times reports. This as Republicans hope to work the pro-Palestinian protests to their advantage in November as Democrats are working the abortion issue.

--TL

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THURSDAY 5/2/24

Campus Protests – New York City Mayor Eric Adams told NPR’s Morning Edition that 40% of Columbia University campus protesters of Israel’s war on Gaza are “outside agitators,” based on the arrests from when the city’s police removed students from an occupation of the school’s Hamilton Hall. Thousands of campus protesters have been arrested at campuses from the University of California Los Angeles – where police evacuated encampments Wednesday evening -- to Stony Brook on Long Island and Dartmouth in Hanover, New Hampshire.

The question of when police will intervene in campus demonstrations varies by municipality and state, NPR reports. New York’s police department goes in only when a school calls for help, while at the University of Texas, state troopers have the support for intervention from Gov. Greg Abbott (R).

Meanwhile… The House Wednesday passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act, 320-91, Morning Edition reports. Introduced by Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), the bill defines antisemitism as “A certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.” Opposition to the bill consisted of 70 Democrats and 21 Republicans.

•••

1864 Arizona Ban Lifted – Arizona’s 1864 abortion ban was repealed by the state senate Wednesday, 16-14, with two Republicans joining all 14 Democrats in the vote (per The New York Times). Gov. Katie Hobbs (D) was expected to sign the repeal Thursday, which will replace the 1864 law with a 2022 ban on abortions after 15 weeks, but with no exceptions for rape or incest.

•••

Greene Motion – Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) announced Wednesday she will introduce a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) next week (per CQ Roll Call), despite support from House Democrats to vote it down. Or rather, according to MTG, because of it – she wants Democrats who support Johnson to go on-record with their districts’ voters. MTG so far has but two co-sponsors for her motion to vacate next week, Reps. Thomas Massie (R-KY) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ).

--TL

__________________________________________

MAY DAY 2024

Brown Deals With Protesters – The Brown Divest Coalition peacefully ended its week-long “Encampment for Gaza” at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, after university President Christina Paxson agreed to raise a divestment resolution at a corporation meeting in October, The Boston Globe reports. Paxson did not agree to demands to drop charges against 41 student protesters in an administration building last December, NPR reports, but the compromise contrasts with demonstrations at Columbia University in New York and the University of California Los Angeles where college administrators called in police to break up the protests Tuesday.

•••

Florida Ban – Florida’s strict six-week abortion ban replacing the state’s 15-week ban takes effect Wednesday, ahead of a November ballot measure to overturn the new rule. Clinic operators say the six-week ban, which makes exceptions only in rare instances, will affect at least 40,000 women per year, Politico reports. More than 6,000 women from Alabama and Georgia, two nearby states that already have very strict abortion bans, had travelled to Florida for abortions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

•••

Culture Wars Polled – In a clear sign of the culture wars that threaten to deepen the chasm between the two major parties for a long time to come, an NPR/PBS News Hour/Marist poll released Wednesday finds that 47% of Democrats say the “rise of fascism and extremism” is their most important issue in the upcoming election, while 36% of Republicans say it is “lack of values.” Those issues for either party are by far the number-one concerns, Morning Edition reports. Republicans’ number-one concern is further described as the need to instill “children with faith in God, teaching them that hard work and discipline pay off..."

--TL

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TUESDAY 4/30/24

Stormy Weather – The Access Hollywood video in which Donald J. Trump describes his “grab-them-by” method of assaulting women raised interest in squelching Stormy Daniels’ story of an affair with the 2016 Republican presidential nominee, Keith Davidson, attorney for the adult film star testified Tuesday in the ex-president’s criminal trial in which he is charged with falsified business records. (Trump continues to deny the affair.) Daniels said that after the video’s release, he had “sometimes frantic” conversations with longtime fixer Michael Cohen as the November election approached, The New York Times reports.

In contempt: The judge in State of New York v. Donald John Trump, Juan Merchan, early Tuesday held the ex-president in contempt for violating a gag order by attacking witnesses in the case, including Daniels and Cohen. Fine for the nine counts is $9,000, and Merchan has issued a warning that Trump could go to jail if he continues such attacks.

Merchan gave Trump until 2:15 p.m. to remove five comments from Truth Social and two from his campaign website, which he did, NPR’s All Things Considered reports.

•••

Timely Interview – The Atlantic devoted an entire issue written by several contributors and staff journalists with “If Trump Wins” earlier this year. Further warning of an authoritarian second term is on the latest cover of Time magazine, with Eric Cortellessa’s two interviews with Donald J. Trump in Palm Beach, Florida, “How Far Trump Would Go.”

Trump confirmed to Cortellessa he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military in deporting undocumented aliens from the United States, Cortellessa writes. He “might” fire U.S. attorneys who refuse his orders to prosecute someone; “It would depend on the situation.”

There’s much more, which every U.S. voter, Republican, Democratic, independent and third party, should read here. We’ll leave you with this quote from a sidebar to the cover story …

“If you look at the Biden administration, they’re sort of against anybody depending on certain views. They’re against Catholics. They’re against a lot of different people … I think there is a definite anti-white feeling in this country, and that can’t be allowed either.”

--TL

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MONDAY 4/29/24

Arrest ‘Both Sides’? – As House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has suggested sending the National Guard to college campuses to control pro-Palestinian student protests, the International Criminal Court is preparing an arrest warrant on charges related to the war on Hamas in Gaza for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, NPR’s Morning Edition reports.

“If this is not contained quickly and these threats and intimidation are not stopped, the National Guard should be called in,” Johnson said, of the protests late last week.

The Israeli government’s war on Gaza is becoming to President Biden’s re-election prospects what the majority conservative Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health is to Republicans in November’s elections.

But Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who was mentioned in Sunday’s New York Times as possibly the leading candidate to become Donald J. Trump’s running mate, told Fox News Sunday host Shannon Bream, “I don’t know if you need to call in the National Guard, maybe you just call in the police.”

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) told anchor Kristen Welker on Meet the Press, “I think calling in the National Guard to college campuses for so many people would recall what was done during the Vietnam War, and it did not end well.”

Meanwhile … the Biden White House continues in earnest to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken meeting early in the week with top Arab diplomats, according to The New York Times. Blinken has been urging Hamas leadership to accept Israel’s “extraordinarily generous” cease-fire offer.

That offer… Includes releasing “thousands” of Palestinians held in Israel, and a 40-day ceasefire, according to the BBC.

WCK returns to Gaza … Chef Jośe Anďres’ World Central Kitchen has resumed food delivery to Gaza, The Washington Postreports, less than a month after seven of its workers trying to deliver food to Palestinians were killed in a drone attack by the Israeli military.

•••

About that Pennsylvania Primary – Pundits in Pennsylvania are still talking about former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley’s showing in last Tuesday’s primary election, in which she got 16.6% of the vote against ex-President Trump despite having ended her candidacy – or should we say suspending her candidacy? -- March 6. A bit more startingly, Haley got 20% of the vote in heavily Republican Lancaster County, LNP/Lancaster Online reports.

Incumbent President Biden did not have an easy time of it in the swing state himself, however, where Rep. Dean Philips (D-MN), who also dropped out of the race March 6, got 5.4% of Lancaster County’s Democratic votes. Both county breakouts to LNP were courtesy Berwood Yost, director of Franklin & Marshall College’s Center for Opinion Research and the Floyd Institute for Public Policy.

•••

Read the Right Column – In “The Biden Shuffle,” Pundit-at-Large Stephen Macaulay discusses the president’s low step height and his low approval rating. >>>>>>>>>>>>

•••

Up on the Hill – Both the House and Senate are in-session Monday through Thursday.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

_____

…meanwhile…

UPDATE: Seven men and five women have been chosen for the jury in Donald J. Trump's criminal trial over allegedly fraudulent business records in the payment of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels.

FRIDAY 4/19/24

Israel Hits Iran – Israeli defense forces struck Iran with missiles early Friday, possibly near its nuclear research center in Isfahan, multiple news sources report. An Iranian brigadier general reported “loud booms” east of Isfahan, according to Iran’s news agency, says NPR. So far, no signs of casualties or damage.

U.S. officials received a “last minute” warning on the strike but wasn’t involved, the Italian foreign minister reported from Capri, Italy, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken is attending the G7 summit, The Times of Israel reports. At the G7, Blinken only confirmed reports of the attack and reaffirmed U.S. commitment to Israel’s security.

Regional war? … The Biden administration has preached restraint to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu since Iran’s apparently unsuccessful drone attack on Israel last weekend, which injured a seven-year-old girl and resulted in no fatalities. But a minority of analysts have said that Iran’s attacks on Israel were actually quite successful in penetrating Israeli airspace and that Israel’s apparent retaliation was exactly what it wants – to escalate the war in Gaza to a regional conflict.

--TL

___________________________________________

THURSDAY 4/18/24

Countdown to Saturday – With Democrats having his back, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) will bring three bills to the House floor Saturday, featuring $60.8 billion in long-awaited aid for Ukraine’s war effort, plus a separate border security bill.

Ukraine supporter Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) last month announced he would resign from the House with his last day to be Friday, but now says he will stay on to Saturday to support the supplemental, CQ Roll Call reports, citing Gallagher’s aides.

The Senate has recess scheduled for next week, but Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has suggested it will be cancelled so the upper chamber can quickly pass the supplemental on to President Biden.

“The House must pass the package this week and the Senate should quickly follow,” Biden said.

Democrats will help with the necessary procedural votes to assure the supplemental package passes. They also are expected to provide enough votes to defeat a motion to dismiss threatened by Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Thomas Massie (R-KY).

In addition to the Ukraine package, Johnson’s supplemental, which totals $95.3 billion, includes:

•$26.4 billion for Israel and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

•$8.16 billion for Indo-Pacific region security, including $4 billion to Taiwan and other regional allies, and $3.3 billion for a domestic submarine industrial base.

•A fourth bill would set up a support fund for Ukraine directed by the president and partner countries to allow use of frozen Russian assets to help rebuild the country.

The Ukraine aid bill also includes $9.5 billion in economic aid to be handled as a loan.

A separate bill on border security contains most of HR 2, which passed the House in 2023 with strong Democratic opposition. Except that the new bill does not include the provision mandating use of the E-Verify system for employers to confirm workers’ immigration status and eligibility to work in the United States.

Johnson will move the bills separately through House procedures, then “stitch” them together as one for the handoff to the Senate, according to Roll Call.

•••

Three-Hour Impeachment Trial – Holding to his promise/warning that the Senate impeachment trial of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas would not take very long, Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced two procedural points of order and – voila – it was done, three hours after impeachment jurors were sworn in (per CQ Roll Call). The votes went Schumer’s way, 51-48-1 and 51-49. Republicans’ procedural motions to try and put a stop to Schumer’s stop-action were rejected by the Democratic majority.

--TL

__________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 4/17/24

Mayorkas On Trial – Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas faces a Senate impeachment trial beginning Wednesday for allegedly mishandling the U.S.-Mexican “border crisis.” The Senate’s Democratic majority will attempt to quickly dismiss the impeachment case, though some Republicans, including Utah Sen. Mitt Romney want to have a “debate” about the border issue, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

•••

Ukraine Aid Rising? – Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) appears ready to introduce a long-needed aid package to Ukraine, The Hill reports, despite the anti-Ukraine minority in the House having grown to two. Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has joined pro-Putin Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in threatening Johnson with a motion to vacate over the aid, though Johnson can pretty much rely on many of the House Democrats’ 214 votes to overcome House Freedom Forum votes that would back a motion by MTG.

This all comes after a Russian missile attack overnight Wednesday on Chernihiv killed at least 15 and injured more than 60, according to The Kyiv Independent.

Like Israel … President Volodymyr Zelenskyy took to Ukrainian television to say he was “pleased” Israel got help from allies in last weekend’s Iranian attack by drone and urged his country’s allies to show Ukraine the same sort of support (per NPR’s Morning Edition).

Russian losses… A report by the BBC estimates Russia has lost more than 50,000 soldiers in its invasion of Ukraine.

•••

SCOTUS Appears Split – The Supreme Court appears split over former Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-area police officer Joseph Fischer’s argument he should not have been charged with obstructing an official proceeding when he joined a mob attacking the U.S. Capitol in the January 6^th riot, according to SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe, in an assessment backed by other news outlets.

In Fischer v. United States the ex-cop’s attorneys argue that Sec. 1512 (c) (2) applies only to evidence tampering of a congressional inquiry or investigation.

But U.S. Solicitor Gen. Elizabeth Prelogar argued “a violent mob stormed the U.S. Capitol and disrupted the peaceful transition of power. Many of the rioters obstructed Congress’ work in that official proceeding.”

If the conservative SCOTUS majority, including three Trump appointees, prevails, five other counts against Fischer would remain, though he would need to be re-sentenced or possibly have those five counts dropped.

--TL

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TUESDAY 4/16/24

UPDATE: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Tuesday morning filed a motion seeking to hold Donald J. Trump in contempt for allegedly violating Judge Juan Merchan's partial gag order, Axios reports. Bragg pointed to posts by the former president on his Truth Social account in which he attacks likely witnesses Michael Cohen and Stormy Daniels.

•••

Notes from Court – The New York Times’ Maggie Haberman reported Monday that Donald J. Trump snoozed for a bit in the Lower Manhattan courtroom where prosecutors, defense attorneys and Justice Juan Merchan vetted potential jurors in the former president’s “hush money” criminal case. Haberman told Kaitlan Collins on CNN’s The Source that Trump later gave her a hard stare, which she figures was a reaction to her nap report.

Meanwhile: “Dozens” of potential jurors said they could not be impartial about Trump and were dismissed Monday, according to The Washington Post.

•••

SCOTUS Hears Jan 6^th Case Tuesday – The Supreme Court Tuesday hears a case that will affect defendants charged with obstructing or attempting to obstruct Congress’ January 6^,, 2021 counting of Electoral College ballots for Joe Biden’s election victory. The case involves Joseph W. Fischer, police officer for a township near Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, whose case is “in limbo” after a federal judge ruled the obstruction statute at center of the case against 353 of the January 6^th defendants was meant to apply to the destruction of documents and records and not riots held to prevent the counting of ballots, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

A federal appeals court reversed the judge’s decision, which led Fischer to appeal to the Supreme Court, NPR’s Nina Totenberg reports. The case will have implications for special counsel Jack Smith’s election obstruction case against ex-President Trump.

•••

Pick a Bill – With Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) motion to vacate dangling over his head, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) has split into three a single $95.3-million supplemental package the Senate passed last year, CQ Roll Call reports.

Yep, aid for Ukraine, the part of the bill unabashedly pro-Putin MTG wants to die, is split from aid to Israel which is split from aid to Taiwan in Johnson’s proposal. There’s also a fourth presumably bi-partisan bill that would include banning TikTok from the U.S. unless its Chinese owners sell, according to NPR’s Morning Edition.

About those bi-partisans: Johnson knows, however, he would get enough votes from Democrats and Republicans to defeat MTG’s motion to vacate.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

__________________________________________

MONDAY 4/15/24

The Trial of the Year begins Monday with jury selection in New York State Supreme Court where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has charged ex-President Trump with 34 felony charges connected with falsifying records to cover up $130,000 paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels ahead of the 2016 presidential election. (Trump denies he had an affair with Daniels.)

Two of Bragg’s top prosecutors quit the case two years ago last month, criticizing the DA because they thought he was going to fumble the hard work of his predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., who began his investigation before the end of Trump’s term. Vance’s investigations effectively was split between New York Attorney Gen. Letitia James’ civil case against the Trumps and their organization and Bragg’s case. James is still waiting for Trump to come up with the $454 million judgment against the family’s organization.

The strongest criminal case against Trump, the one over the classified documents found at Mar-a-Lago, has effectively been gummed up by Trump-appointed U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon and will not likely come to trial before November 5. Same with special prosecutor Jack Smith’s January 6^th/election obstruction case and Georgia’s election racketeering case, which would still be considered perhaps the strongest, with “I just want 11,780 votes” on a phone recording, if not for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ alleged indiscretions with one of the prosecutors her office hired.

As our pundit-at-large, Stephen Macaulay, argues in “Trump’s Edge” (see The Gray Area) the ex-president will strengthen his political base even if he is found guilty in the hush money case. But he will be in court six- to eight-weeks, four days a week until the trial ends, reports NPR’s Morning Edition. That gives him weekends to shuttle between Mar-a-Lago and various campaign rallies.

He will face testimony by his former fixer-turned-informant Michael Cohen, former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker and Daniels herself. And last Friday he revealed he will testify himself and tell “the truth. … and the truth is, they have no case,” he told the press. “They have no case.”

If you are looking for a potential end to Donald J. Trump’s political career, this appears to be the only case you have.

--Todd Lassa

_____
COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

IPO, meanwhile…

HOLD STEADY FED: The Federal Reserve will cut its interest rate, but not yet. Chairman Jerome Powell indicated there will be three cuts later this year. “Inflation is still too high,” Powell said Wednesday. “Ongoing progress on bringing it down is not assured, and the path forward is still uncertain.” For now, the Federal Open Market Committee “will keep the interest rate unchanged and continue to reduce our security holdings,” Powell said.

Terrorist Attack on Moscow -- Two to five gunmen attacked a concert hall outside Russia's capitol late Friday, with at least 40 dead and more than 100 injured, NPR reports. Fire has broken out in the hall with some attending a concert by the group Piknik trapped in the building. Kyiv is denying claims by some Russian officials of any complicity. "Ukraine certainly had nothing to do with the shooting in Crocus City Hall," an aide to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a statement. "It make no sense whatsoever." Kyiv Post has photos and video here.

•••

Sacrificial Speaker? -- After the House passed the 1,012-page, $1.2-trillion omnibus spending bill, 286-134 Friday afternoon, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) filed a motion to vacate Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). At least he got as far as funding the federal government through September 30, though there is still no future aid for Ukraine's defense against Russia.

"This will be the fall of Mike Johnson for allowing this bill to happen and not fighting for and defending our southern border," MTG said Friday on Steve Bannon's War Room show (per CQ Roll Call).

In passage of the omnibus, 101 Republicans and all but 22 House Democrats voted for the bill, Roll Call reports, leaving the Senate scrambling to hold its vote before that part of the budget expires at midnight.

Majority minus one more: Meanwhile, Rep. Mike Gallagher (R-WI) announced he will resign from Congress on April 19, says Roll Call, leaving the GOP with just 217 House members, a one-seat margin over Democrats. The four-term congressman, who as chair of the Select Committee on China co-sponsored the bipartisan bill calling on ByteDance to sell or close down TikTok in the U.S., made his announcement on Rep. Ken Block's (R-CO) last day. While California and Ohio will hold special elections to replace their early House retirements later this year, and New York next month will hold a special election to replace ousted Republican Rep. George Santos (the GOP is expected to lose the seat), Wisconsin law leaves Gallagher's seat unfilled until the November 5 election.

•••

UPDATE -- Shareholders of a shell corporation have agreed to buy Donald J. Trump's Truth Social, The Guardian reports. Now it's up to Trump to work a deal to free $454 million to pay his fine in the New York civil fraud case, by Monday.

Trump Payday Friday? – Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. will vote Friday on whether the shell company should acquire Donald J. Trump’s Truth Social and launch an initial public offering as early as next week and raise sufficient cash for the former president to pay his $454 million fine for his New York civil fraud case, NPR’s Morning Edition reports. Though apparently inspired by Reddit’s IPO this week, the “backdoor listing,” a much different sort of public offering. It would bring in an estimated $3 billion for Trump, who would be required to hold on to his share of more than 50% for at least six months. The stock listing would be “DJT.” Trump could potentially make a “side deal” to loosen enough cash to pay his fine by Monday, and we’ll go out on a limb here and say that you can count on that.

Truth Social earned just $3 million in the first nine months of 2023, according to the report, and lost nearly $50 million.

•••

Cease-fire Efforts – The U.S. is expected to introduce a resolution before the United Nations late Friday calling for “an immediate and sustained cease-fire” in the Israeli-Hamas war, The New York Times reports, after Secretary of State Antony Blinken travelled to Tel Aviv to urge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to refrain from invading Rafah. Meanwhile, CIA Director William J. Burns met with mediators in Qatar in an endeavor to broker that elusive ceasefire.

•••

‘Round Midnight – Here’s what must happen to a $1.24 trillion spending package before midnight Friday if a partial government shutdown is to be avoided, according to The Washington Post: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) must try to suspend House rules requiring two-thirds vote to pass the omnibus package there and avoid blockage from the MAGA Freedom Caucus. If Johnson can pull that off early Friday, he’ll need “substantial” support from House Democrats. Then, the Senate must “hastily engineer” a full vote before midnight and schlep the bill to the White House, where President Biden will surely sign it.

If Congress can’t meet the midnight deadline but can manage to pull themselves together before Monday, effects of a partial shutdown could be “minimal,” according to WaPo.

--TL

___________________________________________

THURSDAY 3/21/24

Plugging In – The Environmental Protection Agency called for 30% to 56% of new cars and light trucks to be battery-electric vehicles by model years 2030-32, in its final ruling on new emissions standards issued Wednesday. While this is by far the strictest clampdown on greenhouse gas emissions ever by the federal government, subject to a quick reversal if Donald J. Trump wins the November election, it is an easing of the Biden EPA’s initial proposal issued last April.

That standard would have mandated about two-thirds of new vehicles sold in the U.S. be BEVs by 2032. This adjusted standard, which becomes law when it is published in the Federal Register allows automakers to tackle the “zero-emissions” mandate with a combination of BEVs, which they have coming in bigger numbers by the end of the decade anyway, and plug-in hybrid vehicles, which have become more popular as EV demand has leveled a bit. The ramp-up between model years 2027 and 2030 also is not as steep. Easing of the standard without giving in to Big Oil has the support of automakers and of the United Auto Workers, whose president, Shawn Fain, endorsed President Biden in January.

--TL

________________________________________

WEDNESDAY 3/20/24

Restrict Aid to Israel? – As Israeli troops prepare to invade Rafah in an effort to root out four Hamas battalions, some House Democrats is considering restricting military aid to Israel if it fails to protect Palestinian civilians in the offensive.

“We have existing restrictions and laws that say those to whom we give financial support must use them in accordance with international law,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE), a close ally of President Biden, told NPR’s Steve Inskeep Wednesday on Morning Edition.

Israeli military officials were on their way to the Pentagon Wednesday to meet with U.S. officials. Coons said that Israel has the right and responsibility to protect and defend its citizens against Hamas, which still has four battalions in Rafah, but “we have to balance that need with the obligation to protect civilians and facilitate humanitarian aid going into Gaza.”

•••

DeLuxe Tuesday – Trump-endorsed businessman Bernie Moreno won Ohio’s Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate Tuesday, beating Frank LaRose and moderate Matt Dolan, who was endorsed by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, after “some Democrat meddling” by Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), per Semafor. Brown is himself a moderate who would rather run for re-election against the Maga-iest of GOP challengers. This is considered the biggest race for November 5 aside from Trump v. Biden.

President Biden won Tuesday’s five primary states with at least 83% of the vote and Donald J. Trump had at least 75% of the vote, according to The New York Times.

Arizona: Though out of the race, Nikki Haley grabbed 18.7%, her best showing Tuesday. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis got 1.6% in the GOP presidential race, leaving Trump with 77.9%.

Ohio: Rep. Dean Phillips (D-MN), who has dropped out of the Democratic race for president and has since endorsed Biden, got 13% of the vote here (NYT).

Kansas: More than 10% of Democratic primary voters chose “none of the names.”

Meanwhile, in California: No candidate reached the 50% threshold for an overall win to take former Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s seat Tuesday, though Republican state Assemblyman Vince Fong notches the primary win. The race for second was too close to call Wednesday morning. Fong will face either Republican Tulane County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux or teacher and Democrat Marisa Wood (NYT) November 5.

•••

Texas Law Blocked Again – Some five hours after the U.S. Supreme Court allowed temporary application of Texas SB 4 while it makes its way through the judicial system, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth District blocked it, The Washington Post reports. SB 4 would give Texas officials the authority to deport immigrants caught crossing the border. The Mexican government has said it would not accept anyone sent back by Texas. Critics of SB 4 say it would encourage separation of families and spur racial profiling.

•••

I’ve Got an Omnibus Bill and I Want Funding Now – Lawmakers want the six-bill omnibus agreed upon by House and Senate leaders in both parties to come to the floor by Wednesday, but it is not likely to happen until Thursday, Punchbowl News. That means a partial government shutdown as Congress puts in some hours this weekend.

--TL

____________________________________________

TUESDAY 3/19/24

We Have a FY24 Budget – Almost. White House officials and the four congressional leaders reached a deal on Homeland Security funding Monday to finish off the budget for the current fiscal year. An omnibus bill to make its way through Congress and on to President Biden’s desk includes the remaining spending bills, for Defense, Labor-HHS, the Legislative Branch, Financial Services-General Government, and State Department-Foreign Operations, according to Punchbowl News.

So the federal government will be funded right on up to September 30, when kick-the-can begins all over again. Except … CQ Roll Call notes that the voting process on these spending bills could go into the weekend, after their Friday deadline, and create a short shutdown before Biden can apply his John Hancock.

•••

What’s That Golden Escalator Worth? – A court filling Monday by Donald J. Trump’s attorneys says the former president was unable to secure an appeal bond to cover his $454 million judgment in a civil fraud case, after “diligent efforts” to approach about 30 bond companies, The New York Times reports. As of Tuesday, Trump has six days to raise the cash before the New York attorney general could seize his New York properties and freeze his bank accounts.

Trump will still have Mar-a-Lago. He assured the court during the civil trial he has the liquidity to pay the fine, but that statement now appears to be as questionable as the valuation of his New York properties over the years, which is what got him into this pickle in the first place. Perhaps a second production run of golden tennis shoes?

Trump did manage to post $91.6 million for E. Jean Carroll’s defamation case this month at “the eleventh hour,” with the money coming from a large insurance company, the NYT says.

‘Out of his control’… “He is really angry right now,” former Trump personal attorney/fixer Michael Cohen told CNN’s Kaitlyn Collins on The Source. “That’s what happens when Donald gets frustrated; he gets angry. When there’s a situation that is completely out of his control. And we do know that it is out of his control.”

While Trump appears to have the upper hand delaying his criminal cases, including Mar-a-Lagogate, the federal January 6^thinsurrection case and the Fulton County election interference case, this civil case -- which could break up the former president’s real estate holdings -- arguably is his greatest fear.

Speaking of, uh, banks…Donald J. Trump is considering hiring his 2016 campaign manager, Paul Manafort, for a role in this year’s campaign – possibly in charge of fundraising, The Washington Post reports. During his administration, Trump pardoned Manafort for bank and tax fraud convictions, so at least he has some experience in this area. Manafort was also accused of hiding millions of dollars he made consulting for pro-Russian Ukrainian politicians.

•••

Censuring Socials? – A majority of Supreme Court justices appeared to back the Biden administration’s argument that the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals went too far in blocking the White House, FBI, CDC and other federal agencies from asking social media outlets from removing certain content -- including “erroneous information” about COVID-19, foreign interference into elections or such election information as where to find a polling place -- for violating the First Amendment, NPR’s Nina Totenberg reported on All Things Considered.

“I’ve experienced government press people throughout the federal government who regularly call up the media and berate them,” Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a Trump appointee, said.

“Like Justice Kavanaugh, I’ve had some experience encouraging press to suppress their own speech,” said Justice Elena Kagan, an Obama appointee. “’You just wrote a story that’s filled with factual errors. Here are the 10 reasons you shouldn’t do that again.’ This happens literally thousands of times per day in the federal government.”

A government official contacting social media companies even to encourage suppression amounts to unconstitutional pressure, Louisiana Solicitor Gen. Benjamin Aguinaga countered.

“Just plain vanilla encouragement, or does it have to be significant encouragement?” Justice Amy Coney Barrett said in response to Aguinaga. “Because encouragement would sweep in an awful lot.”

Aguinaga had no clear response for this, Totenberg reported.

--TL

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MONDAY 3/18/24

Putin 'Wins' Again -- Vladimir Putin grabbed another six-year term for president of Russia with 87.3% of the vote, Politico reports, though not without protests urged by the late dissident leader Alexei Navalny.

Long lines of Russians formed Sunday, the third and final day of voting, in such cities as Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Chelyabinsk, Tomsk and Novosibirsk, to vote against the dictator, in support of Navalny’s call for “Noon Against Putin” demonstrations, The Washington Post reports.

Navalny died in prison last month. His widow, Yulia Navalnaya, wrote in her late husband’s name on her ballot at the Russian embassy in Berlin, where she voted, according to the BBC.

Putin’s campaign included promises of new homes and cars for Russians who voted for him (per NPR’s All Things Considered Weekend). As of late Sunday, 50% of the vote had been counted. Putin had three challengers, none of whom criticized him (which means they probably are still alive and not in jail).

•••

Trump’s Latest Rally – It was in Vandalia, Ohio, where Donald J. Trump, who on Super Tuesday clinched the GOP presidential nomination for a third time, repeated demonstrably scary language about what will happen if he does not “win” the November election.

“Now, if I don’t get elected, it’s gonna be a bloodbath. That’s going to be the least of it. It’s going to be a bloodbath for the country,” Trump (who again claimed he defeated Barrack Obama in 2016) said, per The Guardian,

Many news outlets note that Trump was referring to the domestic auto industry, which has several factories in Ohio and which the former president said he would protect with a 100% tariff on import vehicles, according to NPR. Domestic auto factories and their workers would suffer the “bloodbath,” according to this excuse. Both Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) on NBC’s Meet the Press and ex-Vice President Mike Pence on CBS’ Face the Nation gave Trump that “gimme” Sunday.

Trump also said this, according to The Guardian’s report: “I don’t think you’re going to have another election in this country, if we don’t win this election … Certainly not an election that’s meaningful.”

Biden spokesman James Singer said, “He wants another January 6^th, but the American people are going to give him another election defeat this November because they continue to reject his extremism, his affection for violence, and his thirst for revenge.”

In Ohio, Trump repeated his claim that foreign countries are “emptying” prisons and mental institutions into the U.S. and called some immigrants “animals.”

“I don’t know if you call them ‘people.’ They’re not ‘people’, in my opinion. But I’m not allowed to say that because the radical left say that’s a terrible thing to say.”

Clearly, at his own rallies at least, Trump has been given permission to say such things.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

…meanwhile…

TRUMP’S PERP WALK – Does Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg have a case against Donald J. Trump? Read our center-column analysis of Bragg’s 34-count indictment charging the ex-prez with “Falsifying business records…” scroll down this center column, then read right- and left-column opinions.

Congress remains on Easter/Passover/Ramadan break. Both chambers return Monday, April 17, with the House in session through Thursday, April 20, and the Senate in session through Friday, April 21. The Hustings returns that week.

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FRIDAY 4/7/23

Economy Adds a Cool 236k Jobs – The Labor Department counted 236,000 new jobs added in March, compared with 326,000 jobs in February, indicating a cooling economy, finally; a sign the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring down inflation with nine consecutive interest rate increases is taking hold. Despite the new jobs number released by the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics Friday, the unemployment rate fell slightly from 3.6% in February to 3.5% in March, and average hourly earnings were up 4.2% last month, “also easing from recent months” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Job growth continues in leisure and hospitality, government, professional and business services, and health care, the BLS reports.

Lingering question: Will the Fed’s interest rate increases lead the economy to a “soft landing,” or are we headed for a recession?

--TL

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Does Bragg Have a Case?

By Todd Lassa

New York County Indictment #71543-23 had Democratic pundits, anti-Trump-leaning independents and never-Trump Republicans feeling anxious about the solidity of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr.’s 34-count case against the former president.

Was it the wrong case to come first – or at all -- considering Fulton County, Georgia’s recording of Donald J. Trump calling on the secretary of state for 11,780 more votes in his favor after the 2020 election, last year’s investigation by the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6^th Attack on the United States Capitol, and a stash of classified documents stored at Mar-a-Lago after Joe Biden was sworn in as the 46^th president?

Bragg’s indictment accuses Trump of “Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree in violation of Penal Law 175.10.”

“The defendant, in the County of New York and elsewhere, on or about February 14, 2017, with intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof, made and caused a false entry in the business records of an enterprise, to wit, an invoice from Michael Cohen dated February 14, 2017, marked as a record of the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, and kept and maintained by the Trump Organization.”

Repeat – no rinse – 34 times.

Former attorney and Trump “fixer” Michael Cohen already has served time for perjury in relation to his falsifying records. Cohen paid adult film star Stormy Daniels $130,000 in “hush money” prior to the 2016 presidential election to silence her story of having sexual relations with Trump, who then allegedly reimbursed Cohen after winning the election, for “attorney’s fees.” Bragg’s case also draws in $150,000 paid to former Playboy model Karen McDougal via the National Enquirer by former publisher of the tabloid and Trump ally David Pecker in a “catch and kill” scheme to suppress salacious stories.

In a statement on the indictment, DA Bragg said he is charging the former president “for falsifying New York business records in order to conceal information and unlawful activity from American voters by and after the 2016 election. During the election, Trump and others employed a “catch and kill” scheme to identify, purchase and bury negative information about him and boost his electoral prospects. Trump then went to great lengths to hide his conduct, causing dozens of false entries in business records to conceal criminal activity, including attempts to violate state and federal election laws.”

But is a business records fraud case based on suppression of a political sex scandal enough?

Justice Juan Merchan has given Trump more than seven months to hone and repeat his 2024 presidential campaign, setting December 4 for his next court date, just two months before the Iowa GOP caucuses and the New Hampshire primary, according to The Hill. Trump added Merchan to his long list of grievances in his Tuesday night echo-chamber speech at Mar-a-Lago, attended by such acolytes as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and MyPillow guy Mike Lindell.

On CNN, former Obama advisor David Axelrod likened Trump’s airing of grievances at Mar-a-Lago to “a guy on a barstool telling you about his bad divorce.”

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news

Indictment #71543-23

Ex-President Trump pleaded not guilty Tuesday to 34 counts in the case related to hush money payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels (CNN). PICTURED: Trump with his defense team appears at his arraignment in Manhattan (AP Photo). The indictment is "all about election interference" according to CNN.

This Just In – Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Janet Protasiewicz trounced private attorney Dan Kelly for a Wisconsin Supreme Court seat in an ostensibly non-partisan race (AP). Kelly was appointed in 2016 by then-Gov. Scott Waker (R) to the state Supreme Court to fulfill an unexpired term, but lost election for a full term in 2020.

Protasiewicz beat Kelly with 55.1% of the vote according to NBC News, and her tilting of the state Supreme Court to 4-3 liberal indicates a successful challenge to Republican-drawn redistricting maps that have made Wisconsin among the most gerrymandered states in the country, as well as the likely overturning of an 1849 abortion ban triggered by last year’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health that overturned the 49-year-old Roe v. Wade decision.

The race reportedly became the most expensive ever for a state Supreme Court election, with both sides spending an estimated $40 million-plus.

•••

Meanwhile, in Chicago – Cook County commissioner and former teacher Brandon Johnson has won a runoff election for Chicago mayor, with 51% of the vote to Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas’ 49%, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. Though both are Democrats, winner Johnson is a progressive contrast to law-and-order candidate Vallas, who is more of a Richard Daley Democrat.

--TL

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It's Super Tuesday

TUESDAY 4/4/23

Donald J. Trump’s ‘defense fund’ raised $8 million in the three days since his indictment, senior campaign advisor, Jason Miller, tweeted Tuesday. Trump is on his way to a Manhattan court for his arraignment, expected about 2 p.m. local time Tuesday.

•••

Finland Joins NATO – Finland joins the North Atlantic Treaty Organization Tuesday, the alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg says. The country’s 800 miles border with to Russia nearly doubles the NATO border with the country. Russia has said it will bolster defenses along that border in response to Finland joining NATO, according to The Guardian.

Meanwhile: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has blocked Sweden’s efforts to join NATO, at least until Turkey’s May 14 elections. Challenger Kemal Kilicdaroglu is leading Erdogan in NATO-member Turkey’s polls by 10 points, Reuters reports.

--TL

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Super Tuesday Indications

MONDAY 4/3/23

Hush Money – Former President Donald J. Trump arrives in Manhattan Monday ahead of his Tuesday perp walk on a reported 34-count indictment connected to $130,000 in hush money paid to adult film star Stormy Daniels. Trump’s indictment came after District Attorney Alvin Bragg reviewed a second payment, this one for $150,000 to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, USA Today reports.

It is not known whether the alleged McDougal hush money ended up in the indictment which remains under seal until Trump appears in court Tuesday.

That hasn’t stopped Republican leaders … from criticizing Bragg’s indictment following the grand jury’s recommendation. This includes Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, “famous for being just Trumpy enough to woo MAGA Republicans without alienating more moderate voters,” according to The Washington Post.

“It is beyond belief that District Attorney Alvin Bragg has indicted a former president and current presidential candidate for pure political gain. Arresting a presidential candidate on a manufactured basis should not happen in America.”

Double-edged or circular argument?: Trump has warned that if he can be “indicated” (see tweet, above) any American can be, uh, indicted for the likes of hush-money payments. Right, say the Trump critics: No one is above the law, not even an ex-president.

Counterpoint: Undeclared 2024 presidential candidates Youngkin, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and ex-Veep Mike Pence have come to Trump’s defense over the Manhattan D.A.’s indictment. Anticipating a GOP implosion under the weight of the ex-prez’s considerable legal issues, former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson says he will declare as an anti-Trump Republican.

“While the formal announcement will be later in April, in Bentonville (Arkansas),” Hutchinson told ABC News This Week co-anchor Jonathan Karl Sunday, “I want to make clear to you, Jonathan, I am going to be running. And the reason is, I’ve traveled the country for six months. I hear people talk about the leadership of our country. I’m convinced that people want leaders that appeal to the best of America, and not simply appeal to our worst instincts.”

•••

On Wisconsin’s Supreme Court – It’s the state Supreme Court race that “could change the political trajectory” of the Badger State, notes NPR’s Weekend Edition Sunday. Though ostensibly non-partisan, the race between Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz and former state Supreme Court Justice Dan Kelly is expected to affect abortion rights, Republican-drawn redistricting maps and former Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law limiting union rights.

Protasiewicz says she favors women’s choice, indicating she will overturn a Wisconsin pre-Civil War abortion ban that triggered after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, while Kelly says politics would not determine how he would rule on the court. Then-Gov. Walker appointed Kelly, a private attorney, to fulfill the unexpired term of state Supreme Court Justice David Prosser Jr. in 2016, but lost election to a full term in 2020.

The Wisconsin race far exceeds the previous campaign spending record for a state Supreme Court race, which was $15.2 million for a 2004 Illinois election. The race between Protasiewicz and Kelly has cost nearly $29 million, and counting, says Wisconsin Public Radio, quoting the Brennan Center for Justice.

•••

Chicago’s Mayoral Runoff – Last, but not least, Democratic candidates Paul Vallas and Brandon Johnson face off in Tuesday’s runoff election for mayor of Chicago, to replace single-term incumbent Lori Lightfoot, who came in a distant third in the February 28 general election amidst a spike in the Second City’s crime rate. Vallas is the former special emergency manager of the Chicago, Philadelphia and New Orleans public school systems who says he will lower crime and improve schools, according to The New York Times, thus conjuring the Richard Daley wing of the city’s Democratic Party.

Johnson is a county commissioner, former teacher and paid organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union who has campaigned on “sweeping new investments in neighborhood schools and social programs,” representing the party’s progressive wing.

Congressional Calendar -- This was to be a quiet two weeks on Capitol Hill. The Senate and House of Representatives are off for Easter/Passover break, returning Monday, April 17.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehusitngs.news

…meanwhile…

WORLD POETRY DAY TUESDAY, 3/21/23

(It's also the first full day of springtime for Trump, the day the former president had expected to be arrested by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's (pictured) over his investigation of possible financial crimes in connection with 45's payment of hush money to two women, including porn star Stormy Daniels. Though an indictment didn't look likely Tuesday, the New York Police Department Monday erected barricades around Manhattan's Criminal Court in anticipation of MAGA protesters.)

House Republicans … are attempting to counter Bragg’s next move with their demand the “George Soros-funded” DA turn over documents in the case and come in for a grilling/hearing.

•••

Kishida Counters Xi – Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida made a surprise visit to Kyiv Tuesday for a “show of unity” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on the second day of Chinese leader Xi Jingping’s three-day Kremlin sleepover with Russian dictator Vladmir Putin (AP).

Xi, who is said to be on a “peace mission” to Moscow, has invited Putin (charged with war crimes by the International Criminal Court last week) to Beijing later this year.

Kishida, who also will meet with Polish President Andrzej Duda before returning to Tokyo Thursday, is chairman of the Group of Seven summit this May in Hiroshima. Can a country in the Pacific become a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization?

--TL

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...meanwhile...

MONDAY 3/20/23

Weekend of Trump’s Discontent – This is what Donald J. Trump posted on his Truth Social media outlet Saturday: “The far and away leading Republican candidate and former President of the United States of America will be arrested on Tuesday of next week!” (Per The Guardian.)

Trump continues; “Protest, take our nation back!”

Which of His Myriad Cases?: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (pictured above) is expected to charge Trump under his investigation of $130,000 in "hush money" paid to porn star Stormy Daniels prior to the 2016 presidential election by then-Trump fixer Michael Cohen and whether the payments violated campaign finance laws.

Signals, Maybe, But Not Words: Bragg did not confirm speculation he will issue the charges. “As with all our investigations, we will continue to apply the law evenly and firmly and speak publicly only when appropriate,” he said in a private email to his office employees, according to Politico.

Meanwhile: A Trump spokesman “walked back” Trump’s Truth Social rant, saying there is no notification from the Manhattan DA that he has “decided to take his witch-hunt to the next level. President Trump is rightfully highlighting his innocence and the weaponization of our injustice system.” (Per ABC News.)

In the private email according to Politico, Bragg warned “we do not tolerate attempts to intimidate our office or threaten the rule of law in New York.” His office has been coordinating protection with the New York Police Department and the Office of Court Administration.

Above the Law?: Former Vice President Mike Pence -- who a week earlier finally called out his ex-boss for being “wrong” about his ability to overturn the Electoral College count on January 6, 2021 -- told ABC News’ Jonathan Karl Saturday on This Week it would be a “politically charged” mistake for Bragg to have Trump arrested.

“I’m taken aback at the idea of indicting a former president of the United States, at a time when there’s a crime wave in New York City that – the fact that the Manhattan DA thinks that indicting President Trump is his top priority. I think is, just tells you everything you need to know about the radical left in this country.”

But Wait, There’s More: Cohen told MSNBC Sunday he has been re-called as a “rebuttal” witness to testify Monday in the hush-money case. Cohen’s former legal advisor, Robert Costello, also is expected to testify, and has signaled to a Trump attorney that he has information that counters Cohen’s previous testimony pinning the hush-money payment on Trump, and thus exonerates him, a person familiar with the matter told the Associated Press.

Mixed Signals?: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) called for calm in the face of potential arrest of the ex-president. “I don’t think people should protest this stuff,” he said at a House GOP issues retreat, The Hill reports. So as to not upset Trump too much, the speaker – who condemned Trump’s complicity in the January 6^th Capitol insurrection before visiting him at Mar-a-Lago in February 2021 – suggested that the ex-president was calling on others to “educate people about what’s going on.”

•••

Also This Week – The Federal Reserve meets Tuesday and Wednesday to set interest rate increases. There is speculation on Wall Street the Fed will hold off on another increase, otherwise expected to be 0.5% to fight inflation, because of the recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank.

Update: The Fed will hike interest rates by 0.25% this week, CNBC says.

Senate: The full Senate is in session Tuesday through Friday.

House: The full House of Representatives is in session Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

•••

USB Merges with Credit Suisse – USB is calling it a merger, though it looks more like a takeover of troubled fellow Swiss bank Credit Suisse. According to USB, the two entered into a merger agreement Sunday after intervention of the Swiss Federal Department of Finance, Swiss National Bank and Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Committee. Shareholders of the failing bank will receive one USB share for every 22.48 shares of Credit Suisse. USB will write off 16-billion Swiss francs (US $17.28-billion) of Credit Suisse debt and will appoint “key personnel” to Credit Suisse. USB hopes to complete the merger by the end of this year.

The "merger" will cost USB $3 billion to take over Credit Suisse, The Wall Street Journal reports.

--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa

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COMMENTS: editors@thehustings.news