Real Gross Domestic Product rose a dismal 1.6% in the first quarter of this year, compared with Q4 2023’s strong 3.4% rise, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Thursday. The report says consumer spending and housing investments continued to push up GDP.
FRIDAY 4/29/24
Hocus SCOTUS — Savvy Supreme Court observers warn that Thursday’s oral arguments over a lower court ruling rejecting ex-President Trump’s claim of post-presidential presidential immunity in United States v. Donald J. Trump do not automatically equate to the ultimate ruling. But even the savviest observers anticipate a partial loss for special counsel Jack Smith in his election obstruction case related to Trump’s alleged plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
SCOTUS “appears skeptical” of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan’s ruling on the immunity issue, SCOTUSblog’s Amy Howe writes, while NPR’s Nina Totenberg said five of the nine justices appear ready to send the issue back to the lower court, assuring a trial would not happen by November 5.
On NPR’s Morning Edition Nina Totenberg posited it’s likely “court observers didn’t properly account for the personal experience of the conservative justices,” who spent much of their early careers outside the Beltway and saw Republican presidents become “targets of harassment” by Democratic majorities in both chambers of Congress.
For those five conservative justices it comes down to the question of Trump’s official actions versus personal actions. This court majority appeared to be considering sending the issue back to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to have her cut out the parts of Smith’s indictment that charge Trump for “official” actions.
The sixth conservative, Justice Amy Coney Barrett, appeared more skeptical of the arguments of Trump’s attorney, John Sauer. (Michael Dreeban, an attorney from Smith’s office, represented the U.S. in the oral arguments).
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Right Heads Fed? — Assuming Donald J. Trump’s courtroom maneuvers work for him (as they have, generally, for decades) and he manages to win a second term (far from being a long-shot at this point) all the ex-president’s men (and women?) will try to hand him some level of control over the Federal Reserve. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump’s allies are “quietly drafting proposals” that would suck power out of the Fed if their leader gets a second term in the White House. However, the report says, a divide is “deepening” between factions that would draft an incremental policy and those that would give the president a role in setting interest rates.
You may remember that during his term Trump was jawboning the Fed to keep rates low while the Fed’s board was considering a hike in order to jump-start ultra-low inflation levels and help boost the economy.
--TL
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Trump's Big Day -- THURSDAY 4/25/24
Trump’s Immunity Claim – The Supreme Court was to begin hearing arguments 10 a.m. Eastern time Thursday on ex-President Trump’s circular claim that he could not be prosecuted for crimes committed while president, including his attempts to remain president despite Joe Biden’s election victory (per NPR’s Morning Edition). SCOTUS’ decision will determine whether special counsel Jack Smith can go forward with his January 6th/election obstruction case, which is to be tried in federal court in the District of Columbia.
Listen to oral arguments on NPR here.
Trump’s lawyers in the case, led by attorney John Lauro, claim the steps Trump took to block certification of Biden’s electors were part of his official duties and therefore he cannot be prosecuted, according to NPR’s Nina Totenberg.
Meanwhile… Ex-National Enquirer publisher David Pecker’s testimony in Trump’s hush money payments case continues in Manhattan. The case before SCOTUS will have no effect on this case, State of New York v. Donald John Trump because it is not a federal case.
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Arizona Indicts Trump Allies – Donald J. Trump has been named an unindicted co-conspirator in a 58-page grand jury indictment charging 18 of his allies with efforts to subvert the 2020 election in the state. The only names in the indictment are of 11 Republicans who allegedly posed as Arizona’s electors, but Politico among other outlets has identified former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Boris Epshteyn. Attorney Ken Chesebro is “unindicted co-conspirator number four,” according to Politico.
Other names redacted but made obvious by the indictment’s descriptions include attorneys John Eastman, Jenna Ellis and Christina Bobb, as well as Trump 2020 campaign operative Mike Roman. Michigan prosecutors on Wednesday revealed that Trump is an unindicted co-conspirator in its own election subversion investigation.
--Compiled and edited by Todd Lassa