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Thursday, 1 August 2024:
New York Appeals court upholds Donald Trump’s gag order as he again presses judge to exit hush money case, Associated Press, Michael R. Sisak, Thursday, 1 August 2024: “Two months after his felony conviction, Donald Trump still isn’t allowed to say everything he wants about his historic hush money criminal case. After a New York appeals court upheld his gag order Thursday, he won’t be for a while. The state’s mid-level appellate court denied the Republican former president and current nominee’s latest bid to lift the restrictions, swatting away a last-minute argument that he’s unfairly muzzled while Vice President Kamala Harris, his likely Democratic opponent, pits herself as an ex-prosecutor taking on a ‘convicted felon.'”
Friday, 2 August 2024:
$10 million cash withdrawal in 2016 drove secret investigation into whether Trump took money from Egypt. Political appointees rejected efforts to search for additional evidence investigators believed might provide answers, then closed the case. The Washington Post, Aaron C. Davis and Carol D. Leonnig, Friday, 2 August 2024: “Five days before Donald Trump became president in January 2017, a manager at a bank branch in Cairo received an unusual letter from an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service. It asked the bank to ‘kindly withdraw’ nearly $10 million from the organization’s account — all in cash. Inside the state-run National Bank of Egypt, employees were soon busy placing bundles of $100 bills into two large bags, according to records from the bank. Four men arrived and carried away the bags, which U.S. officials later described in sealed court filings as weighing a combined 200 pounds and containing what was then a sizable share of Egypt’s reserve of U.S. currency. Federal investigators learned of the withdrawal, which has not been previously reported, early in 2019. The discovery intensified a secret criminal investigation that had begun two years earlier with classified U.S. intelligence indicating that Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi sought to give Trump $10 million to boost his 2016 presidential campaign, a Washington Post investigation has found. Since receiving the intelligence about Sisi, the Justice Department had been examining whether money moved from Cairo to Trump, potentially violating federal law that bans U.S. candidates from taking foreign funds. Investigators had also sought to learn if money from Sisi might have factored into Trump’s decision in the final days of his run for the White House to inject his campaign with $10 million of his own money. Those questions, at least in the view of several investigators on the case, would never be answered, The Post found.”
Trump election interference case returns to federal judge Tanya Chutkan in DC after Supreme Court immunity ruling, NPR, Carrie Johnson, Friday, 2 August 2024: “The election interference case against former President Donald Trump returned to a federal judge in Washington on Friday. What happens next, and how quickly, is now up to Judge Tanya Chutkan. But the conservative supermajority on the U.S. Supreme Court has handed her a lot of work to do. Last month, a six-justice majority delivered Trump a significant victory, ruling that he deserved substantial immunity from prosecution for official acts he took in the White House, including his efforts to get Department of Justice leaders to back his bogus claims of election fraud in 2020. Legal experts say Chutkan will need to review evidence at the heart of the historic four-count felony case, to determine whether other alleged actions by Trump get constitutional protection as official steps of a president, or whether they instead count as personal acts of a candidate seeking political office.” See also, Trump’s election subversion case returns to DC federal judge Tanya Chutkan after Supreme Court immunity ruling, The Washington Post, Spencer S. Hsu, Friday, 2 August 2024: “A federal judge in Washington regained control over former president Donald Trump’s 2020 election obstruction case Friday under a deadline set by the Supreme Court when it ruled that presidents have broad immunity from prosecution. The justices on July 1 ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that Trump and other presidents are absolutely immune from prosecution when carrying out their core constitutional powers, but can face trial for private conduct or for official acts under narrow exceptions to be hammered out by lower courts. U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan now must decide which if any of Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election while president may be prosecutable. However, a trial will not be possible before his November election matchup against Vice President Harris, now the Democratic nominee, because whatever the judge decides is expected to wind up back before the Supreme Court next year.”
Continue reading Aftermath of the Trump Administration, August 2024:
Kamala Harris Has the Votes Needed to Be Democrats’ Presidential Nominee, Democratic National Committee Says, The New York Times, Nicholas Nehamas and Reid J. Epstein, Friday, 2 August 2024: “Vice President Kamala Harris has won enough delegates to secure the Democratic Party’s nomination, the Democratic National Committee said on Friday, setting up Ms. Harris to become the first Black woman and person of South Asian heritage to earn the top spot on a major political ticket for president. Jaime Harrison, the party chair, said Ms. Harris’s nomination would become official after the party’s highly unusual, virtual roll call vote ends on Monday. He made the announcement during an online meeting for supporters while delegates were still voting in a virtual process devised to formally name the Democratic nominee before the party’s convention this month.”
Saturday, 3 August 2024:
Trump Cancels a Debate With Harris on ABC News and Pitches One With Fox News Instead. Mr. Trump said in a social media post that the previously scheduled presidential debate to be hosted by ABC News was ‘terminated’ once President Biden dropped out of the race. The New York Times, Neil Vigdor, Maggie Haberman, and Simon J. Levien, Saturday, 3 August 2024: “Former President Donald J. Trump declared late on Friday that he was dropping out of an ABC News debate scheduled for Sept. 10 and presented a counterproposal to Vice President Kamala Harris, his presumptive opponent, to face off on Fox News six days earlier. The change, which Mr. Trump announced on his social media site, Truth Social, raised objections from the Harris campaign and appeared to throw a potential showdown between the rivals into question. A campaign official for Ms. Harris on Saturday accused Mr. Trump of scheming up the Fox News debate to distract from reneging on his commitment to the ABC debate. Mr. Trump had agreed to that debate in May, before President Biden dropped out of the race and before Mr. Biden’s calamitous performance in a CNN debate on June 27.” See also, Trump backs our of ABC debate and says he will only debate Harris on Fox. “I’ll see her on September 4th, or I won’t see her at all,” Trump posted on his social network. The Washington Post, Isaac Arnsdorf, Michael Scherer, and Abbie Cheeseman, Saturday, 3 August, 2024: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said Saturday that he will no longer appear at a previously scheduled debate on Sept. 10 and will only debate Vice President Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee, if she agrees to his terms: a debate on Sept. 4, hosted by Fox News, with a ‘full arena audience.’ Trump had agreed to a presidential debate on Sept. 10 hosted by ABC News before President Biden dropped out of the race last month, and Harris said Saturday that she would show up for the previously negotiated date regardless of whether Trump attends. But Trump said Saturday that if Harris does not agree to the new format on Fox News, he would refuse to debate altogether.” See also, Trump says he’ll skip an ABC debate with Harris in September and wants them to face off on Fox News, Associated Press, Meg Kinnard, Saturday, 3 August 2024: “Donald Trump says he is pulling out of a scheduled September debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on ABC and wants them to face off on Fox News, making it increasingly unlikely that the candidates will confront each other on stage before the November election. In a series of Truth Social posts late Friday, the Republican nominee and former president said his agreement to a Sept. 10 debate on ABC ‘has been terminated’ because he will no longer face Democratic President Joe Biden, who ended his campaign last month after a disastrous performance in their first debate. Trump now says he will appear on Fox News on Sept. 4 in Pennsylvania with rules that he called ‘similar’ to his debate with Biden, but with a full audience instead of a mostly empty studio. Trump said that if Harris, the likely Democratic nominee, does not agree to the new network and date, he will do a ‘major Town Hall’ with Fox News.”
Sunday, 4 August 2024:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Admits He Left a Dead Bear in Central Park. Mr. Kennedy, an independent presidential candidate, confessed to dropping off the bear cub 10 years ago and making it appear that a bike had hit the animal. The New York Times, Emma G. Fitzsimmons, Sunday, 4 August 2024: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the independent presidential candidate, confessed on Sunday that he had left a dead bear cub in Central Park in Manhattan in 2014 because he thought it would be ‘amusing.’ Mr. Kennedy posted a video detailing the bizarre story on social media ahead of an article in The New Yorker that mentions the incident.”
Monday, 5 August 2024:
Senator Ron Wyden Says Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas Failed to Reveal More Private Flights. Wyden sent a letter to the wealthy conservative donor Harlan Crow’s lawyer after records showed undisclosed flights between Hawaii and New Zealand with the Supreme Court justice in 2010. The New York Times, Abbie Van Sickle, Monday, 5 August 2024: “Justice Clarence Thomas failed to publicly disclose additional private travel provided by the wealthy conservative donor Harlan Crow, a top Democratic senator said in a letter on Monday. Customs and Border Protection records revealed that the justice and his wife, Virginia Thomas, took a round trip between Hawaii and New Zealand in November 2010 on Mr. Crow’s private jet, according to the letter. Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, writing to Mr. Crow’s lawyer, demanded that he supply more information about the financial relationship between the two men. The letter, part of an inquiry that Mr. Wyden, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, has opened into Mr. Crow and the justice, comes as top Democrats have urged major changes to the Supreme Court, including an enforceable code of conduct. Mr. Wyden said the latest revelation had only increased his misgivings about the relationship between the justice and Mr. Crow, a real estate magnate. ‘I am deeply concerned that Mr. Crow may have been showering a public official with extravagant gifts, then writing off those gifts to lower his tax bill,’ Mr. Wyden wrote.”
Former Trump Lawyer Jenna Ellis Will Cooperate in Arizona Election Fraud Case. Ms. Ellis is the first of 18 defendants to reach a deal with prosecutors in a case that charges them with trying to overturn Arizona’s election results in 2020. The New York Times, Danny Hakim, Monday, 5 August 2024: “Jenna Ellis, a lawyer who played a major role in the efforts to keep Donald J. Trump in power after his 2020 election loss, reached a cooperation agreement on Monday as part of a deal with prosecutors leading an election interference case in Arizona. She is the first of the 18 defendants in the case to reach such an agreement. Ms. Ellis already pleaded guilty to a felony last year in a similar case in Georgia. In Arizona, nine felony charges against her were dropped in exchange for her cooperation and an agreement to testify truthfully. ‘This agreement represents a significant step forward in our case,’ Kris Mayes, the Arizona attorney general, said in a statement. Referring to Ms. Ellis, she added: ‘Her insights are invaluable and will greatly aid the state in proving its case in court. As I stated when the initial charges were announced, I will not allow American democracy to be undermined — it is far too important.'” See also, Former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis agrees to cooperate in Arizona elector case. In a deal that allows Ellis to avoid potential jail time, she has agreed to provide prosecutors with evidence that could implicate other defendants. The Washington Post, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Monday, 5 August 2024: “Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) reached a cooperation agreement Monday with Jenna Ellis, who was a legal adviser to Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign and was one of 18 defendants indicted in April on felony charges related to alleged efforts to try to subvert President Biden’s victory in the state four years ago, according to prosecutors. The attorney general has agreed to drop nine felony charges against Ellis in exchange for her full cooperation with the investigation into the GOP plan to try to deliver Arizona’s 11 electoral votes to Trump instead of the rightful winner, Biden. The deal allows Ellis to avoid potential jail time in exchange for providing prosecutors with evidence that could implicate other defendants. She could provide information about former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani’s knowledge of and participation in the elector strategy. According to the agreement, Ellis has also agreed to ‘completely and truthfully’ testify in any future trials. She will also provide documents and any other material tied to the elector strategy that could help state prosecutors secure verdicts favorable to them in the high-profile case.”
Tuesday, 6 August 2024:
Tim Walz Is Kamala Harris’s Choice for Vice President. The Minnesota governor, a former high school teacher and National Guard member, brings to the ticket Midwestern appeal and a plain-spoken way of taking on Donald Trump. The New York Times, Reid J. Epstein, Katie Rogers, Erica L. Green, and Shane Goldmacher, Tuesday, 6 August 2024: “Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, has chosen Gov. Tim Walz of Minnesota as her running mate, elevating a former football coach whose rural roots, liberal policies and buzzy takedowns of former President Donald J. Trump have recently put him on the map. Mr. Walz, 60, emerged from a field of candidates who had better name recognition and more politically advantageous home states. Minnesota is not a top-tier presidential battleground and is unlikely to prove critical to a Harris-Walz victory. But he jumped to the top of Ms. Harris’s list in a matter of days, helped by cable news appearances in which he declared that Republicans were ‘weird.’ The new, clear articulation of why voters should reject Mr. Trump caught on fast and turned the spotlight on the plain-spoken Midwesterner behind it. ‘One of the things that stood out to me about Tim is how his convictions on fighting for middle class families run deep,’ Ms. Harris said in a social media post confirming his selection. ‘It’s personal.'” See also, Where Tim Walz Stands on the Issues. As governor of Minnesota, he has enacted policies to secure abortion protections, provide free meals for schoolchildren, allow recreational marijuana, and set renewable energy goals. The New York Times, Maggie Astor, Tuesday, 6 August 2024. See also, Kamala Harris chooses Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as Vice Presidential pick, The Washington Post, Tyler Pager, Amy B Wang, and Sabrina Rodriguez, Tuesday, 6 August 2024: “Vice President Kamala Harris chose Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz to be her running mate, opting for a former high school teacher and Midwestern Democrat to complete a newly assembled presidential ticket. At a raucous rally here Tuesday evening, Harris introduced Walz in their first public appearance together after she formally asked him to join her campaign just a few hours earlier. In front of a crowd of an estimated 12,000 people, Harris ticked through Walz’s bio — soldier, teacher, coach, congressman, governor — as she painted him as a champion of the middle class and liberal values with a track record of winning in rural, conservative areas.” See also, Where Tim Walz stands on key issues: Abortion, climate, marijuana, and more, The Washington Post, Ben Brasch, Tuesday, 6 August 2024. See also, Five things to know about Tim Walz, Associated Press, Steve Karnowski and Hohn Hanna, Tuesday, 6 August 2024: “Vice President Kamala Harris has decided on Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz as her running mate in her bid for the White House. The 60-year-old Democrat and military veteran rose to the forefront with a series of plain-spoken television appearances in the days after President Joe Biden decided not to seek a second term. He has made his state a bastion of liberal policy and, this year, one of the few states to protect fans buying tickets online for Taylor Swift concerts and other live events.”
Arizona Grand Jury Wanted to Indict Trump in Fake Electors Case. Court papers show that grand jurors signaled their interest in charging the former president, only to have state prosecutors advise against it because of similarities to a federal case against him. The New York Times, Alan Feuer and Danny Hakim, Tuesday, 6 August 2024: “A state grand jury in Arizona that charged 18 people this spring in a scheme that sought to overturn Donald J. Trump’s 2020 election loss wanted to indict him, too, according to court papers released on Tuesday. But prosecutors, the papers said, recommended that Mr. Trump should not be charged, citing a Justice Department policy that discourages bringing state and federal cases against the same defendant that are largely based on similar facts. The court papers, filed in Phoenix by the Arizona attorney general’s office, revealed for the first time that the grand jurors investigating allegations of interference in that state’s election seriously considered bringing charges against Mr. Trump. Some of the grand jurors even appeared to be upset when a state prosecutor suggested they should not.” See also, Arizona grand jurors discussed indicting Trump, but prosecutors urged them not to. The grand jury ultimately indicted 18 Trump allies, including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani, over efforts to overturn the 2020 election. The Washington Post, Yvonne Wingett Sanchez, Tuesday, 6 August 2024: “An Arizona grand jury that indicted 18 Donald Trump allies this spring for their role in efforts to overturn the 2020 election had expressed interest in possible charges against the former president, according to a legal motion filed this week by state prosecutors. It is unclear how many of the jurors were in favor of indicting the former president, who by then had been federally charged for his attempts to subvert Joe Biden’s win in a case brought by special counsel Jack Smith. The interest prompted the Arizona case’s lead prosecutor to give a PowerPoint presentation and request that jurors not indict Trump, according to the motion.”
Wednesday, 7 August 2024:
Book With Project 2025 Ties and JDVance Foreword Is Delayed Until After Election. The book’s author is Kevin D. Roberts, the president of Heritage Foundation, which coordinated the right-wing policy blueprint that has come under fire from Democrats. The New York Times, Elizabeth A. Harris and Maggie Astor, Wednesday, 7 August 2024: “The publication of a book written by Kevin D. Roberts, the president of the group that has coordinated Project 2025, and featuring a foreword by Senator JD Vance, has been delayed until after the presidential election. The book, ‘Dawn’s Early Light,’ was scheduled to be published in September but will now be released in November. The delay was reported earlier by RealClearPolitics. Project 2025, a right-wing policy blueprint prepared for the next Republican president, has become a target of Democratic attacks. The project’s director recently stepped down after the effort drew criticism from former President Donald J. Trump, whose attempts to distance himself from the project became more difficult after he selected Mr. Vance as his running mate. ‘In the fights that lay ahead, these ideas are an essential weapon,’ Mr. Vance wrote in the book’s foreword, which was published online by The New Republic…. Mr. Roberts drew criticism recently for saying the country was in the midst of a ‘second American Revolution’ that would ‘remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.'” See also, Project 2025’s new leader Kevin Roberts postpones his own book launch until after the election, Associated Press, Lisa Mascaro, Wednesday, 7 August 2024: “As Project 2025 hits turmoil, the head of the influential, far-right Heritage Foundation is postponing the release of his potentially fiery new book until after the November presidential election. Kevin Roberts, who took over Project 2025 as part of a leadership shake-up amid blowback over its recommendations for a potential Donald Trump White House, said Wednesday he is focused on defeating presumptive Democratic nominee Kamala Harris. Trump’s running mate JD Vancepenned the forward to Roberts’ book.”
Trump took a private flight with Project 2025 leader Kevin Roberts in 2022. Trump took the flight to speak at a Heritage Foundation conference, where he said, ‘They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do.’ The Washington Post, Isaac Arnsdorf, Josh Dawsey, and Hannah Knowles, 7 August 2024: “Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly denied knowing about the Project 2025 policy blueprint or the people behind it. ‘Have no idea who is in charge of it,’ he wrote in a social media post in July. But in April 2022, Trump shared a 45-minute private flight with Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, according to people familiar with the trip, plane-tracking data and a photograph from on board the plane, which has not been previously reported. They flew together to a Heritage conference where Trump delivered a keynote address that gestured to Heritage’s forthcoming policy proposals. ‘They’re going to lay the groundwork and detail plans for exactly what our movement will do,’ Trump said in the speech. Separately, Roberts told The Washington Post in an interview in April of this year that he had previously discussed Project 2025 with Trump as part of offering briefings to all presidential candidates. ‘I personally have talked to President Trump about Project 2025,’ he said in the interview, ‘because my role in the project has been to make sure that all of the candidates who have responded to our offer for a briefing on Project 2025 get one from me.'”
Wednesday, 14 August 2024:
Trump Seeks to Delay His Criminal Sentencing Until After the Election. Trump, who has routinely sought delays in his four criminal cases, wants to use the extra time to fight his conviction on 34 felony counts in Manhattan. The New York Times, Ben Protess, Kate Christobek, and Jonah E. Bromwich, Thursday, 15 August 2024: “Former President Donald J. Trump is seeking to delay his criminal sentencing in Manhattan until after the presidential election, imploring the judge overseeing the case to allow him additional time to challenge his conviction. In a letter to the judge that was made public on Thursday, lawyers for Mr. Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, noted that his sentencing was currently set for Sept. 18, just weeks before Election Day. The lawyers argued that the timing could improperly influence voters and compromise Mr. Trump’s efforts to reverse his conviction on charges that he falsified records to cover up a sex scandal.”
Thursday, 15 August 2024:
Hidden-camera video shows Project 2025 co-author Russell Vought discussing his secret work preparing for a second Trump term, CNN Politics, Curt Devine, Casey Tolan, Audrey Ash, and Kyung Lah, Thursday, 15 August 2024; “Last month, Russell Vought sat in a five-star Washington, DC, hotel suite, bowing his head in prayer with two men he thought were relatives of a wealthy conservative donor. Vought, one of the key authors of Project 2025, a right-wing blueprint for a second Trump term, expected the meeting would help his think tank secure a substantial contribution. For nearly two hours, he talked candidly about his behind-the-scenes work to prepare policy for former President Donald Trump, his expansive views on presidential power, his plans to restrict pornography and immigration, and his complaints that the GOP was too focused on ‘religious liberty’ instead of ‘Christian nation-ism.’ But the men Vought was talking to actually worked for a British journalism nonprofit and were secretly recording him the entire time. The nonprofit, the Centre for Climate Reporting, published a video of the meeting on Thursday – offering a window into the thinking of one of the top policy minds of the MAGA movement, who’s been floated as a possible White House chief of staff. Trump has publicly rejected Project 2025 as Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has sought to tie him to some of the plan’s most extreme proposals. But in private, Vought said that those disavowals were merely ‘graduate-level politics.’ Vought said his group, the Center for Renewing America, was secretly drafting hundreds of executive orders, regulations, and memos that would lay the groundwork for rapid action on Trump’s plans if he wins, describing his work as creating ‘shadow’ agencies. He claimed that Trump has ‘blessed’ his organization and ‘he’s very supportive of what we do.'”
Saturday, 17 August 2024:
Deploying on U.S. Soil: How Trump Would Use Federal Soldiers Against Riots, Crime, and Migrants. Trump’s vision of using the military to enforce the law domestically would carry profound implications for civil liberties. The New York Times, Charlie Savage, Jonathan Swan, and Maggie Haberman, Saturday, 17 August 2024: “During the turbulent summer of 2020, President Donald J. Trump raged at his military and legal advisers, calling them ‘losers’ for objecting to his idea of using federal troops to suppress outbreaks of violence during the nationwide protests over the police murder of George Floyd. It wasn’t the only time Mr. Trump was talked out of using the military for domestic law enforcement — a practice that would carry profound implications for civil liberties and for the traditional constraints on federal power. He repeatedly raised the idea of using troops to secure border states, and even proposed shooting both violent protesters and undocumented migrants in the legs, former aides have said. In his first term in office, Mr. Trump never realized his expansive vision of using troops to enforce the law on U.S. soil. But as he has sought a return to power, he has made clear that he intends to use the military for a range of domestic law enforcement purposes, including patrolling the border, suppressing protests that he deems to have turned into riots and even fighting crime in big cities run by Democrats.”
How a Far-Right Takeover of Georgia’s Election Board Could Swing the Election. The unelected body that shapes voting rules has a new conservative majority who question the state’s 2020 results. They now have new power to influence the results in 2024. The New York Times, Nick Corasaniti, Monday, 19 August 2024: “Josh McKoon, the chair of the Georgia Republican Party, boasted at the state convention in late May that he had ‘very good news.’ Georgia Republicans had just orchestrated a takeover of the state election board, an unelected body that sets voting rules. With this new majority, Republicans could enact an agenda that would help former President Donald J. Trump win in November, Mr. McKoon said…. Since the takeover, the Georgia State Election Board has approved a host of rules on certifications and investigations backed by right-wing election activists who claim, falsely, that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump. The moves underscore a sharp rightward turn for what is supposed to be an apolitical body and have alarmed Democrats, election officials and even some Republicans.” See also, Republican-controlled election board in Georgia passes rule that could further delay certification, CNN Politics, Nick Valencia, Sara Murray, Jason Morris, and Jade Gordon, Monday, 19 August 2024: “The Georgia State Election Board passed a rule Monday giving local election officials additional power to investigate ballot counts before certifying the results, a move critics say could inject chaos into the 2024 election and delay the state’s official vote count. The ‘Rule for Reconciliation Prior to Certification’ will allow for a hand recount of votes to ensure ‘the total number of ballots cast’ does not exceed ‘the total number of persons who voted,’ according to the language of the rule. County election officials will now be allowed to investigate any possible discrepancies.” See also, Georgia election board approves new rules that critics fear could allow certification delays, Associated Press, Kate Brumback, Monday, 19 August 2024: “The Georgia State Election Board voted Monday to approve a new rule that supporters say is necessary to ensure that votes are properly counted but that critics argue could be used to cause chaos as election officials are trying to finalize election results. Three members of the board who were called out by name by former President Trump during a campaign rally in Atlanta earlier this month as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory” voted to approve it. The nonpartisan board chair and the lone Democrat on the panel voted against it. Trump continues to assert without proof that the 2020 election in Georgia was stolen from him through widespread voter fraud, and his supporters say new rules are needed to safeguard against fraud or errors. But Democrats and some election integrity organizations fear Trump-aligned county election board members could use new rules to try to slow or halt the certification of elections if they don’t like the result.”
Conservative Republican J. Michael Luttig endorses Harris and calls Trump a threat to democracy, CNN Politics, Jamie Gangel and Gregory Krieg, Monday, 19 August 2024: “Retired federal appeals court Judge J. Michael Luttig, a prominent conservative legal scholar put on the bench by President George H.W. Bush, is endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris over former President Donald Trump, whose candidacy he describes as an existential threat to American democracy. It will be the first time Luttig, a veteran of two Republican administrations, has voted for a Democrat. ‘In the presidential election of 2024 there is only one political party and one candidate for the presidency that can claim the mantle of defender and protector of America’s Democracy, the Constitution, and the Rule of Law,’ Luttig wrote in a statement obtained exclusively by CNN. ‘As a result, I will unhesitatingly vote for the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Presidency of the United States, Vice President of the United States, Kamala Harris.'”
Tuesday, 20 August 2024:
Former Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham says Trump mocked his supporters as ”basement dwellers.’ Grisham was one of several Republicans to address the Democratic National Convention and urge a vote for Kamala Harris. The Washington Post, Amy B Wang, Tuesday, 20 August 2024: “Among the more eyebrow-raising speakers Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention was a former Trump administration official: Stephanie Grisham, who previously served as press secretary to Donald Trump as well as chief of staff to first lady Melania Trump. In brief remarks at the beginning of Tuesday night’s programming, Grisham first laid out her Trump bona fides: She wasn’t just a supporter of the former president, she said, but ‘a true believer’ and one of his closest advisers. ‘The Trump family became my family. I spent Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s at Mar-a-Lago. I saw him when the cameras were off,’ Grisham said. Grisham claimed that, behind closed doors, Trump mocked his supporters as ‘basement dwellers’ and once, on a hospital visit, he was upset that cameras were focused on intensive care unit patients rather than on him. ‘He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth,’ she said. ‘He used to tell me, It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it enough, and people will believe you.’”
Friday, 23 August 2024:
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Endorses Trump and Suspends His Independent Bid for President. Mr Kennedy said he will remove his name from the ballot in battleground states so as not to be a spoiler. The New York Times, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Simon J. Levien, and Jonathan Swan, Friday, 23 August 2024: “Robert F. Kennedy Jr. threw his support behind former President Donald J. Trump on Friday after suspending his troubled independent campaign for president, saying he was withdrawing his name from the ballot in battleground states and that Mr. Trump had ‘asked to enlist me’ in his second administration. He announced his plans in a speech in Phoenix that also castigated the mainstream media and accused the Democratic Party of ‘abandoning democracy’ and engaging in ‘legal warfare’ against him and Mr. Trump…. Mr. Kennedy’s decision to back Mr. Trump, in the final months before a closely fought general election, was a remarkable twist for the scion of a Democratic political dynasty. A longtime Democrat, Mr. Kennedy renounced his party, whose leaders in turn accused him of running as a stalking horse for Mr. Trump.” See also, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. says he is suspending his campaign and endorsing Trump. The scion of one of the most famous Democratic families had attracted voters dismayed with a Trump-Biden rematch, but Biden’s exit and Harris’s nomination upended the race. The Washington Post, Meryl Kornfield, Friday, 23 August 2024: “Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who struggled to gain traction as a third-party insurgent, said he would suspend his long-shot White House bid Friday, withdraw from battleground states’ ballots and endorse Republican nominee Donald Trump. Kennedy announced that he would suspend his campaign with a number of caveats, after several turbulent months of declining polling numbers, accumulating debt and reemerging controversies from his past. He said he would stop campaigning and withdraw his name from ballots in battleground states to ensure he doesn’t swing the election to Harris. But he said he would keep his name on ballots in states that are not expected to be hotly contested. Kennedy blamed the two-party system and unfair media coverage when explaining his decision to a room of reporters and hardcore supporters gathered Friday.”
Monday, 26 August 2024:
Prosecutors Appeal Dismissal of Trump Documents Case. The special counsel, Jack Smith, argued that Judge Aileen Cannon had erred in throwing out charges against Donald Trump of improperly holding national security secrets after leaving office. The New York Times, Alan Feuer, Monday, 26 August 2024: “Federal prosecutors began their bid to resurrect the moribund classified documents case against former President Donald J. Trump on Monday, telling an appeals court in Atlanta that the trial judge had improperly thrown out the charges. In a filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, the prosecutors argued that the judge, Aileen M. Cannon, erred last month when she handed down a bombshell ruling that dismissed the case on the grounds that Jack Smith, the special counsel who brought it, had been appointed to his job illegally. The ruling by Judge Cannon, who was placed on the bench by Mr. Trump, stunned many legal experts for the way that it upended 25 years of Justice Department practice and flew in the face of previous court decisions about the appointments of special prosecutors reaching back to the Watergate era. Issued on the first day of the Republican National Convention, where Mr. Trump formally accepted his party’s presidential nomination, Judge Cannon’s ruling also gave him a major legal victory at an auspicious political moment. Mr. Smith’s appellate brief on Monday was merely the start of a legal battle that may end up at the Supreme Court and is likely to drag on until well after the election in November. Should Mr. Trump win the election, he would have the power to fire Mr. Smith and could order the Justice Department to drop the appeal. Should he lose, the appeals process will determine whether he can still go to trial on the charges.” See also, Special counsel Jack Smith appeals Judge Cannon decision to throw out Trump classified documents case. The Justice Department is seeking to revive criminal charges against Donald Trump for allegedly mishandling classified documents. The Washington Post, Perry Stein and Devlin Barrett, Monday, 26 August 2024: “Special counsel Jack Smith urged an appeals court Monday to reverse U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s dismissal of Donald Trump’s classified-documents case, arguing that Attorney General Merrick Garland had clear authority to appoint Smith to lead the prosecution. Smith wrote that Cannon ignored decades of precedent when she issued her stunning decision to toss out the entire indictment, in which she said Smith was wrongfully appointed and wielded too much power for someone who was not in a Senate-confirmed position. The 60-page filing to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit marks the latest salvo in what has become a contentious relationship between the special counsel and Cannon, who was nominated to the bench by Trump and confirmed just before he left office. In measured language, Smith insisted Cannon’s dismissal of Trump’s indictment trampled on decades of legal precedent and Justice Department practice regarding the appointment of special or independent prosecutors.” See also, Special counsel Jack Smith urges appeals court to reinstate classified documents case against Trump, Associated Press, Eric Tucker, Monday, 26 August 2024: “Special counsel Jack Smith urged a federal appeals court Monday to reinstate the classified documents case against former President Donald Trump, saying a judge’s decision that dismissed the prosecution was at odds with longstanding Justice Department practice and must be reversed. Smith’s team said U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon made a grievous mistake by ruling that Smith was unlawfully appointed by Attorney General Merrick Garland. That position, prosecutors wrote in a brief filed with the Atlanta-based appeals court, runs counter to rulings by judges across the country as well as ‘widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government.’ If allowed to stand, they warned, it could ‘jeopardize the longstanding operation of the Justice Department and call into question hundreds of appointments throughout the Executive Branch.'”
Democrats Sue Georgia Election Board, Warning of ‘Chaos.’ The board recently passed new rules aimed at altering the process for certifying elections. The lawsuit says such changes are illegal. The New York Times, Nick Corasaniti, Monday, 26 August 2024: “Democrats sued the Georgia state election board on Monday, arguing that measures approved by the board this month seeking to alter the election certification process in the state were illegal and could create chaos on Election Day. The lawsuit claims that the board intended to give local election officials a broad license to ‘hunt for purported election irregularities of any kind, potentially delaying certification and displacing longstanding (and court-supervised) processes for addressing fraud.’ The lawsuit was filed in state court by local election officials, political candidates, the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia with support from Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign. The move comes weeks after the state election board voted 3-2 to pass rules to give election officials authority to conduct ‘reasonable inquiry’ into elections before certification and to require that county election officials be given ‘all election related documentation’ before certification. Both rules, the lawsuit argues, create the impression that local election officials have discretionary power over certifying election results.”
More than 200 former Bush, McCain, and Romney staffers endorse Kamala Harris. An open letter warned that a second Donald Trump presidency ‘will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.’ The Washington Post, Mariana Alfaro and Niha Masih, Monday, 26 August 2024: “More than 200 Republicans who worked for President George W. Bush, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) or the late Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, warning in a letter that a second Trump presidency ‘will hurt real, everyday people and weaken our sacred institutions.’ The open letter with the endorsement was first published Monday in USA Today, with 238 signatures. The group of former Bush, McCain and Romney staffers issued a similar letter supporting Joe Biden when he ran against Trump in 2020. In their new, pro-Harris letter, alumni from those three top Republicans were joined by at least five former staffers to the late President George H.W. Bush. In the letter, the GOP alumni wrote that they are voting for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, despite policy differences.” See also, Former Aides to Bush, Romney, and McCain Back Harris Over Trump. The former Republican staffers’ support of the Democratic ticket reflects how former President Donald Trump has transformed the Republican Party. The New York Times, Chris Cameron, Monday, 26 August 2024: “More than 200 people who previously worked for President George W. Bush and Senators Mitt Romney and John McCain have signed a letter endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris. Many of the more prominent signatories, including a chief of staff, a legislative director and a deputy campaign manager for Mr. McCain, had signed a letter supporting President Biden in the 2020 election. Others work for organizations like The Bulwark and the Lincoln Project that oppose former President Donald J. Trump’s leadership of the Republican Party. But the former Republican officials’ renewed support of the Democratic ticket reflects how Mr. Trump has transformed the Republican Party under his leadership, as well as deep and persistent opposition to his candidacy from those who served Republican presidential candidates.”
Tuesday, 27 August 2024:
Special Counsel Jack Smith Revises Trump Election Indictment to Address Supreme Court Immunity Ruling. Smith’s filing, in the case charging the former president with plotting to overturn the 2020 election, came in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling giving former presidents broad immunity. The New York Times, Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage, Tuesday, 27 August 2024: “Federal prosecutors on Tuesday issued a pared-down version of an indictment accusing former President Donald J. Trump of plotting to overturn the 2020 election, stripping out some charges and tweaking others to help the case survive the Supreme Court’s recent ruling granting former presidents broad immunity. The revised indictment, issued in Federal District Court in Washington, represented an attempt by prosecutors in the office of the special counsel, Jack Smith, to preserve the bulk of their case against the former president while bringing the allegations into line with the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling that former presidents are immune from criminal prosecution for many official acts taken while in office. It kept the basic structure of the first indictment, issued nearly 13 months ago, which accused Mr. Trump of intersecting plots to overturn the results of the 2020 election. The thrust of the changes was to remove any discussion from the indictment of any allegations that might be construed as related to Mr. Trump’s official acts as president while also contending that others acts should be interpreted as the conduct of a private candidate for office. The tone of the new charges was apparent from the first paragraph of Mr. Smith’s filing, which described Mr. Trump as ‘a candidate for president of the United States in 2020.’ The original indictment had referred to him as ‘the 45th President of the United States and a candidate for re-election in 2020.'” See also, How the Federal Cases Against Trump Came Sputtering Back to Life. After legal setbacks and long delays, Jack Smith, the special counsel, is signaling that he will pursue both the classified documents and election cases through the homestretch of the presidential campaign. The New York Times, Alan Feuer, published on Wednesday, 28 August 2024. See also, New Trump indictment tries to salvage case after Supreme Court immunity ruling. Special counsel Jack Smith stripped out parts of the January 6 indictment that could conflict with the high court’s immunity decision. The Washington Post, Devlin Barrett and Perry Stein, Tuesday, 27 August 2024: “Special counsel Jack Smith filed an updated indictment Tuesday against Donald Trump in a bid to salvage and strengthen the historic election obstruction case, following a Supreme Court ruling that granted broad immunity to presidents for official acts and sharply criticized the prosecutor’s approach. The superseding indictment comes as a critical window was closing for Smith. In about 10 days, a Justice Department policy known as ‘the 60-day rule’ will take effect forestalling any new filing of charges against the former president, who is again the Republican nominee for the White House. In a written notice to the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, Smith said that the indictment was filed ‘by a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in this case’ and that it ‘reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions.’ Trump faces the same four charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn Joe Biden’s 2020 election victory. Smith said he will not seek to have Trump arraigned again on the new version of the indictment and still expects to make a joint proposal with the former president’s defense lawyers this week about how to schedule new pretrial hearings.” See also, Jack Smith files superseding indictment against Trump in January 6 case, NPR, Carrie Johnson, Tuesday, 27 August 2024: “Prosecutors filed a superseding indictment in the federal criminal case against Donald Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, after the Supreme Court granted the former president substantial immunity, according to a new court filing. Court papers say the superseding indictment was presented to a new grand jury that had not previously heard evidence in the case. The papers say the new indictment ‘reflects the Government’s efforts to respect and implement the Supreme Court’s holdings and remand instructions.'”
Trump campaign staff had altercation with official at Arlington National Cemetery, NPR, Quil Lawrence and Tom Bowman, Tuesday, 27 August 2024: “Two members of Donald Trump’s campaign staff had a verbal and physical altercation Monday with an official at Arlington National Cemetery, where the former president participated in a wreath-laying ceremony, NPR has learned. A source with knowledge of the incident said the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump staffers from filming and photographing in a section where recent U.S. casualties are buried. The source said Arlington officials had made clear that only cemetery staff members would be authorized to take photographs or film in the area, known as Section 60. When the cemetery official tried to prevent Trump campaign staff from entering Section 60, campaign staff verbally abused and pushed the official aside, according to the source.” See also, Trump campaign was warned not to take photos at Arlington before altercation, defense official says, Associated Press, Tara Copp, Adriana Gomez Licon, and Hannah Schoenbaum, published on Wednesday, 28 August 2024: “Donald Trump’s campaign was warned about not taking photographs before an altercation at Arlington National Cemetery during a wreath-laying ceremony earlier this week to honor service members killed in the Afghanistan War withdrawal, a defense official told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter concerning Monday’s events. It came a day after NPR reported, citing a source with knowledge of the incident, that two Trump campaign staff members ‘verbally abused and pushed’ aside a cemetery official who tried to stop them from filming and photographing in Section 60, the burial site for military personnel killed while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq. The defense official told the AP that the Trump campaign was warned about not taking photographs in Section 60 before their arrival and the altercation. Trump was at Arlington on Monday at the invitation of some of the families of the 13 service members who were killed in the Kabul airport bombing exactly three years prior.”
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Sawed the Head Off a Whale and Drove It Home, Daughter Says. Three decades later, an environmental organization is calling for an investigation. The New York Times, Rebecca Davis O’Brien, Tuesday, 27 August 2024: “It is a violation of longstanding federal law to collect parts from the carcass of a protected marine animal if there are still ‘soft tissues’ attached. It becomes political intrigue if the collector was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and the severed head of a possibly protected marine mammal streamed ‘whale juice’ down the side of the family minivan three decades ago. On Monday, the political arm of the Center for Biological Diversity, a progressive environmental organization, called on federal authorities to investigate an episode, recounted by Mr. Kennedy’s daughter in a 2012 magazine article, in which she said Mr. Kennedy chain-sawed the head off a dead whale on a beach in Hyannis Port, Mass., bungee-corded it to their vehicle’s roof, and drove it five hours to the family home in Mount Kisco, N.Y. ‘It was the rankest thing on the planet,’ Kick Kennedy, then 24, told Town & Country in the article, which described Mr. Kennedy as someone who likes to study animal skulls and skeletons. The story recently resurfaced, including in an entertainment publication, The Wrap, on Sunday and in a New York Post article on Monday.”
Wednesday, 28 August 2024:
Trump Reposts Crude Sexual Remark About Harris on Truth Social. Though the former president has a history of making crass insults about opponents, the reposts signal his willingness to continue to shatter longstanding political norms. The New York Times, Michael Gold, Wednesday, 28 August 2024: Former President Donald J. Trump used his social-media website on Wednesday to amplify a crude remark about Vice President Kamala Harris that suggested Ms. Harris traded sexual favors to help her political career. The post, by another user on Truth Social, was an image of Ms. Harris and Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump’s opponent in 2016. The text read: ‘Funny how blowjobs impacted both their careers differently…’ The remark was a reference to Mrs. Clinton’s husband, former President Bill Clinton, and the Monica Lewinsky scandal, and a right-wing contention that Ms. Harris’s romantic relationship with Willie Brown, the former mayor of San Francisco whom she dated in the mid-1990s while he was speaker of the California State Assembly, fueled her political rise. Mr. Trump’s repost was the second time in 10 days that the former president shared content from his personal account making sexually oriented attacks on Ms. Harris.”
Thursday, 29 August 2024:
US Army rebukes Trump campaign for incident at Arlington National Cemetery, CNN Politics, Haley Britzky, Thursday, 29 August 2024: “The US Army issued a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign over the incident on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, saying in a statement on Thursday that participants in the ceremony ‘were made aware of federal laws’ regarding political activity at the cemetery, and ‘abruptly pushed aside’ an employee of the cemetery. ‘Participants in the August 26th ceremony and the subsequent Section 60 visit were made aware of federal laws, Army regulations and DoD policies, which clearly prohibit political activities on cemetery grounds. An ANC employee who attempted to ensure adherence to these rules was abruptly pushed aside,’ the Army spokesperson said in the statement on Thursday. Section 60 is an area in the cemetery largely reserved for the graves of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan. ‘This incident was unfortunate, and it is also unfortunate that the ANC employee and her professionalism has been unfairly attacked. ANC is a national shrine to the honored dead of the Armed Forces, and its dedicated staff will continue to ensure public ceremonies are conducted with the dignity and respect the nation’s fallen deserve,’ the statement said.”
Friday, 30 August 2024:
Trump Says He’ll Vote Against Florida’s Abortion Rights Measure After Conservative Backlash. A day earlier, the former president had suggested he might support the measure, which would expand abortion access in the state. The New York Times, Tim Balk, Friday, 30 August 2024: “Former President Donald J. Trump said on Friday that he would vote against a ballot measure in Florida that would expand abortion access in the state, clarifying his stance after having suggested a day earlier that he might support the measure. ‘I’ll be voting no,’ Mr. Trump told Fox News, even as he said he disagreed with his home state’s current ban on abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. Passage of the ballot measure, called Amendment 4, would allow patients to seek an abortion up to about 24 weeks of pregnancy. In an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Mr. Trump, who had long avoided taking a firm position on the measure, said he was ‘going to be voting that we need more than six weeks.’ His campaign promptly sought to clean up those remarks, saying in a statement that they were not indicative of how he would vote in November. His comments were also met with backlash from social conservatives and abortion opponents. Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, a leading anti-abortion group, said Mr. Trump would be undermining a long-held opposition to abortions after five months of pregnancy if he voted for the measure.”
Saturday, 31 August 2024:
The special counsel’s office and Donald Trump duel over next steps in January 6 election obstruction casse. The sides proposed dueling visions over the sequence of resolving various legal issues in the case. Trump’s proposal pushed some deadlines into 2025. The Washington Post, Spencer S. Hsu, Saturday, 31 August 2024: “The special counsel’s office and Donald Trump outlined dueling visions Friday for how the former president’s 2020 election obstruction case should proceed in D.C. federal court, with Trump’s attorneys proposing a schedule that would extend pretrial arguments into next year and neither side pushing for resolution before the November election. In a joint filing Friday night, both sides previewed legal wrangling that is likely to drag the case out deep into 2025 or beyond. The filing came after U.S. District Judge Tanya S. Chutkan requested a proposed plan for how to resolve legal issues in the case after the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 along ideological lines that presidents are absolutely immune from prosecution when carrying out their core constitutional powers. The ruling prompted special counsel Jack Smith this week to seek a superseding indictment in the case, removing elements of the original indictment that might run afoul of the Supreme Court’s guidance. It will be up to Chutkan to determine which acts laid out in the indictment can be prosecuted. Although the Supreme Court determined presidents had broad immunity, it said they could still be prosecuted for private conduct or for official acts under certain exceptions. Anything Chutkan decides could face higher-level court review.”
Even though the Trump administration has been out of office since January 2021, I am continuing to post summaries of the daily political news and major stories relating to this tragic and dangerous period in US history. I try to focus on the differences between the Trump administration and the Biden administration and on the ongoing toxic residual effects of the Trump administration and Republicans. I usually post throughout the day and let the news settle for a day or so before posting.
I created Muckraker Farm in 2014 as a place to post muckraking (investigative) journalism going back to the 19th century. I hope to return to this original project soon. You can find these muckraking pieces under the Home Page link at the top of this site. Thanks for reading!