I’m confident that no one who was on Trump’s Manhattan jury reads this site but if they do, I am begging them to stay anonymous. Maybe some day, if we ever get past this MAGA Madness and half the country recovers some basic sense of decency, they might give an interview. But not now. Don’t do it. As Josh Marshall writes: Trump supporters are trotting out any number of responses to Trump’s string of felony convictions last week. One of the most perverse and malign is the demand or “request” for jurors to come forward and explain their reasoning. Part of the idea is to suggest that the logic of the verdict is obscure or hard to justify and thus requires explanation. “Can you explain how you came to this very hard to understand verdict?” Neither is the case. The logic of the verdict is very straightforward. There may be some room for debate about how the judge interpreted the relevant law. But within those interpretations the jury verdict is elementary. The other part is to suggest something odd or suspicious in the fact that none of the jurors have yet gone public in the press.
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You’ve got a job to do Donald Trump’s legal problems are just beginning, MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow suggested on her Monday show. He is an unindicted co-conspirator in ongoing state investigations into the 2020 fake electors schemes in Arizona and Michigan. Detroit News: An investigator for Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office described Friday the probe into a certificate that falsely claimed Donald Trump won the state’s 2020 presidential election as “open and active.” Howard Shock, an agent of Nessel’s office, also said he had outstanding subpoenas or search warrants for information as part of the ongoing investigation. For the second time in two months, Shock said Trump, the former president and presumptive GOP nominee this year, was considered an unindicted co-conspirator, but as of now, there wasn’t enough evidence to recommend charges against him. “He’s part of the investigation, but he hasn’t been charged with a crime yet,” Shock said of Trump. Yet. Arizona, Georgia, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin have also launched fake Trump electors investigations.
If it does, this country is lost It’s one thing if the conviction doesn’t change any votes. The two bases are pretty locked in on Trump and nothing seems to shake the right wing from their love and worship of their Dear Leader. But if it actually moves votes in his favor, we have bigger problems. These red state Senate candidates are obviously betting that it will help them, which is almost as bad: Republican Senate candidates released ads Monday savaging Montana Sen. Jon Tester and Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, the chamber’s two most vulnerable Democrats this cycle. And top GOP officials are even going after former Maryland Republican Gov. Larry Hogan who represents the GOP’s best shot at winning a deep-blue Senate seat after he issued a statement calling for respect for the legal process rather than reflexive support for the former president. The conviction hasn’t meaningfully yet made its way into Senate races in purple states such as Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and elsewhere, but the contests in Montana, Ohio and Maryland represent marquee opportunities for Republicans to eat away at Democrats’ Senate majority.
Philip Bump noticed an interesting bit from Trump’s Fox and Friends Weekend interview: There was an element of the discussion, though, that hasn’t attracted much attention. It centered on a question from Rachel Campos-Duffy, co-host of “Fox & Friends Weekend,” the show on which the interview first aired. “Americans have lost a lot of trust in institutions, and I think there’s been a lot of discussion, especially online, especially with young people,” Campos-Duffy began. “How do we rebuild that trust in institutions — the CIA, the FBI — all those institutions?” “You’re right,” Trump replied — but before he could answer, Campos-Duffy jumped ahead. “Some people think that one way to build trust is to declassify things that everyone’s talking about,” she said. Then she offered a rapid-fire list of things he might be interested in declassifying, putatively to restore trust in institutions.
Stop the handwringing A friend asked yesterday if we have a chance this election. Well, considering we (local Democrats) have over three dozen candidates on our fall ballot, we have a lot of chances, I said. What he meant, of course, was the race atop the ballot featuring Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Buck the f#&k up! Voters want to support winners. Maybe start acting like winners? Do Republicans doubt themselves like this? Hell, no. They declare themselves winners before all the votes are counted. They try to litigate (or intimidate) wins when they’ve clearly lost. They are acting like 2024 winners even now, after a string of high-profile, post-2016 losses and with a presidential candidate just convicted of 34 felonies, three more cases pending, and more charges on the way. Ed Kilgore rolls his eyes at New York magazine: One of the most notable aspects of the 2024 presidential contest has been how often voices have been raised in the left-of-center commentariat calling on Democrats to abort Joe Biden’s reelection campaign before it’s too late.
When in Babylon…. “Jesus Is The Answer To All Your Problems,” read the billboard I passed on westbound I-40 on Sunday somewhere between Greensboro and Statesville, North Carolina. Southern Christians especially have a thing for — what is it Donald Trump calls lying? — thruthful hyperbole. Their extravagant promises, their religious puffery, may be well-intended but oversell the product, don’t you think? The larger and louder the claims, even billboard-sized, the more there is a hint that it’s not just you they are trying to convince, but themselves. A lot of places across the South claim the title “Buckle of the Bible Belt.” Back when Southern Baptists were the political equivalent of Boss Hogg in those towns, a Bible verse that tripped off many tongues came from the book Donald Trump famously referenced like a “walked into a bar” joke: Two Corinthians. 2 Corinthians 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you. Be in the world but not of the world. That was then.
It’s always about control Amanda Marcotte: A pair of Texas professors figured out that their female students have sex and, boy, they do not like it. So now the philosophy professor and finance professor are suing for the right to punish their students who, outside of class, have abortions. “Pregnancy is not a disease, and elective abortions are not ‘health care,'” University of Texas at Austin professor Daniel Bonevac sneers in a federal court filing with professor John Hatfield. Instead, Bonevac writes, because pregnancy is the result of “voluntary and consensual sexual intercourse,” students should not be allowed time off to get abortions. If the students disobey and miss class for abortion care, the filing continues, the professors should be allowed to flunk students.
We are seeing a lot of press lately about Donald Trump’s promises to wreak revenge on his enemies should he get back into power next year. Some of us have been focusing on this for years because Trump made “vengeance is mine” his credo going back decades. He’s never made a secret of it. He even gave a speech at the Christian right’s flagship Liberty University before he ever ran for president and gave them two pieces of advice: always get a pre-nup and: I always say don’t let people take advantage — this goes for a country, too, by the way — don’t let people take advantage. Get even. And you know, if nothing else, others will see that and they’re going to say, You know, I’m going to let Jim Smith or Sarah Malone, I’m going to let them alone because they’re tough customers. Years before that he told an audience in Colorado, “If someone screws you, screw them back 10 times harder. At least they’re going to leave you alone, and at least you’ll feel good.
Trump and the Republicans must be shocked that he didn’t attack the judge (Trump appointed) and the prosecutor (Republican) Doesn’t he understand how this is done? By the way, Jill and Hallie Biden are in court today. Weird.
Hey kids… By the way, Nate Cohn, DC’s polling god, put this little tid bit out this morning: While Mr. Trump has survived many controversies, he has also suffered a political penalty for his conduct. He did lose re-election, after all. And this cycle, there is one reason to wonder whether Mr. Trump might now be more vulnerable: He depends on the support of many young and nonwhite voters who haven’t voted for him in the past, and who might not prove as loyal as those who have stood by his side from the start. Huh. You’d think this odd fact would be more salient in the coverage but I see little evidence that many in the mainstream media have noticed. But maybe that’s a good thing. Anyway: Mr. Trump doesn’t just count on the support of Republicans and MAGA loyalists in the conservative information ecosystem. His strength in the polls increasingly depends on surprising strength among voters from traditionally Democratic constituencies, like young, nonwhite and irregular voters. Many of these voters are registered as Democrats, back Democrats in races for U.S. Senate and may have even backed Mr. Biden in the last election. This is not Mr.