Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Friday July 2, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
July 2 2021
Good morning from Washington, where the Supreme Court handed down two major decisions yesterday. Zack Smith analyzes the decision about Arizona’s voting laws, and Tom Jipping and David Bainbridge examine the decision on what California can force charities to do. Is it time for more confirmation hearings of military leaders? Sen. Tom Cotton, a top foe of critical race theory in the military, floats the idea. Plus: Fred Lucas on the New York City mayoral election debacle; Rachel del Guidice on how to show patriotism this Fourth of July; and Mary Margaret Olohan on a troubling Washington Post op-ed that advocates exposing children to sexual kinks. Enjoy your weekend.
“Usually, there is never a confirmation hearing unless it’s a four-star promotion to a major combatant command or one of the services,” says the Arkansas senator. “But maybe it’s time to change that.”
The Supreme Court’s decision in this case is the correct outcome and will provide states with greater leeway to protect the integrity of their electoral processes.
“Get off social media. Go out and view America, see it with your own eyes … talk to people of different diversities in this country that have done their part to make this the greatest country in the world,”…
The nation’s biggest city has been cast into confusion and heated debate over whether the use of a new process that allows voters to rank their preferences for up to five candidates was a smart decision.
The author describes attending a pride parade with kids where “a few dozen kinksters … danced down the street, laughing together as they twirled their whips and batons, some leading companions by leashes.”
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3.) DAYBREAK
Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak Insider
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Democrats Fume over Legal Loses, Seek to Pack the Supreme Court
They are particularly upset the court sided with Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting. President Biden then complained “In a span of just eight years, the Court has now done severe damage to two of the most important provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – a law that took years of struggle and strife to secure” (Fox News). Meanwhile, the Wall Street Journal editorial board said of the voting rights decision “The Justices are strengthening the Voting Rights Act by establishing parameters for lower courts to prevent its political abuse” (WSJ).
2.
Biden on Collapsed Surfside Condos: Look on the Bright Side
As the joint meeting between Republican Governor Ron DeSantis (left) and Democrat President Joe Biden wrapped up, Biden suddenly said “You know what’s good about this? It lets the nation know we can cooperate.”
Facebook Warns Users They May Be Exposed to “Harmful” Extremists
From the story: On Thursday, multiple Facebook users reported receiving a new notification from the social media giant warning about being exposed to “extremist content.” This new feature was documented by RedState editor Kira Davis, who shared screenshots of the warning on her Twitter account (Fox News). Kira Davis, meanwhile, also discovered the warning comes with a link that “leads to a group called Life After Hate that purports to help lead people out of ‘violent far-right’ extremism” (RedState).
4.
New York Times Snubs Top Selling Conservative Book
Regnery author Michel Knowles’ book “Speechless” hit number one in Publishers Weekly (Publisher’s Weekly). Somehow it didn’t manage to make the New York Times list (NY Times). From the Daily Wire: A spokeswoman for the Times did not say how many copies its numbers showed Knowles’ book selling, saying only that: “The sales of the book did not meet the standards for inclusion this week. Our best sellers team will continue to track this title and will rank it, if its sales meet our standards for inclusion for future weeks. Recent lists have included other books published by Regenery [sic] including those by Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz” (Daily Wire). Regenery? Nice touch.
5.
Proponents of Critical Race Theory Bash Parents Without Discussing Their Actual Arguments
Rich Lowry looks at a pair of high-profile articles from the Atlantic and New York Times Magazine that clearly mislead about the issue, give no examples to back their claims, and grossly misrepresent the laws that are springing up to keep CRT out of the school systems.
Governor Gavin Newsom faces the voters, hoping they will be in a forgiving and forgetful mood by then (Washington Examiner). From Hugh Hewitt: If @GavinNewsom struggles, a Democrat or two will jump in. I’ll be a neutral in this race and host debates at @nixonfoundation in Yorba Linda. Big Q: Will former SF Mayor and Speaker of the CA Assembly Willie Brown loosen up in bullpen? (Twitter).
7.
Pelosi Names Adam Schiff to Panel Probing Capitol Breach
Along with Republican Liz Cheney, one of the few Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. It appears Pelosi does not want people to take the panel seriously (OC Register). From Mark Hemingway: What’s the argument for taking the January 6 commission seriously after putting Adam Schiff on it? He’s a been willfully, repeatedly, and demonstrably dishonest both in his own words and leaks to the press for partisan gain (Twitter).
8.
House Appropriations Committee Votes to Prohibit Funding to Wuhan institute of Virology
The amendment was introduced by Republican Guy Reschenthaler.
From the story: Three factors are fueling the shift. Some feel he’s not pushing President Biden far enough to the left anymore. Some believe his time as the movement leader has simply passed. Some fear tying their brand to Sanders is a gift to opponents to weaponize in crowded primaries or in general elections — and they’re instead weighing the merits of aligning more directly with Biden.
Judge Rules to Unseal Documents from Ghislaine Maxwell
The story notes “Giuffre’s legal team demanded the documents be turned over on a wide range of issues, including documents related to any funding that Maxwell may have received from Clinton organizations.”
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Good morning. It is the last day of our fundraiser for World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals following natural disasters around the world.
When you donate any amount (truly, any amount), in exchange we will give you a free digital copy of our cookbook, Brunch with the Brew, that will forever change the way you think about food between 11am–2pm.
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Markets: Are we having fun yet? The S&P closed at a record for the sixth-straight trading day, lifted by pretty much all sectors but especially energy. Gold, aka physical bitcoin, rose yesterday but June was its worst month in 4.5 years.
Nation: President Biden traveled to Florida to meet with families of the victims in the Surfside condo tower collapse. 18 people have been confirmed dead and 145 are still missing more than a week after a portion of the building fell.
Thursday at midnight, a new billion-dollar industry was created out of thin air.
The relaxation of rules governing name, image, and likeness (NIL) allows college athletes to sign endorsement deals and make money off their fame for the first time, resulting in a “transcendent day for American sports,” Sports Illustrated writes.
How did we get here? 25 states passed NIL bills that challenged the NCAA’s rules banning student athletes from monetizing their popularity. Seeing the writing on the wall, the NCAA lifted its restrictions on NIL on Wednesday, paving the way for college athletes to link up with brands just hours later.
They didn’t waste any time
An entire roster of college athletes took advantage of the new NIL rules yesterday to launch their business careers.
Twin sisters who play for Fresno State’s basketball team are the newest spokespeople for Boost Mobile.
Wisconsin’s starting QB Graham Mertz released a personal logo.
Arkansas WR Trey Knox and his incredibly good-looking dog, Blue, inked a deal with PetSmart.
If you’re thinking NIL will mostly benefit the biggest stars in the biggest sports (football, basketball), you wouldn’t be wrong. But there are plenty of exceptions for the most social media-savvy athletes.
For example, industry insiders expect LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne to earn the most of any NCAA athlete from NIL endorsements. She’s the only one with more than 1 million followers on both TikTok and Instagram.
In total, the NIL market could hit $500 million in 2022 and $1 billion/year annually after that, per athlete marketing platform Opendorse.
What’s next?
To borrow a sports metaphor, we’re in the very early innings of NIL, so expect chaos. The NCAA’s decision has left a confusing patchwork of state laws governing NIL, and everyone’s waiting on Congress to pass a federal bill that establishes nationwide guidelines.
+ Further NIL reading: The top 20 athletes who could capitalize on NIL and the earning potential of athletes across sports and endorsement deals.
Less than 48 hours after agreeing to pay the biggest fine ever in Finra history, Robinhood said “k” and filed to go public. The trading app will list its shares under the symbol HOOD in an IPO that reflects the growing influence of the individual trader on Wall Street.
Right now, it’s good to be the HOOD.
Robinhood’s revenue surged to $959 million in 2020, a 245% jump from 2019. It also turned a profit for the first time last year amid a pandemic-fueled trading boom.
Interest in crypto has been lucrative: Crypto-related transactions accounted for 17% of Robinhood’s total revenue in Q1.
Things can get meta when you have a stock brokerage list shares. For instance, Robinhood wants you to buy into Robinhood’s IPO on Robinhood. In an unusual move, it’s setting aside 20%–35% of its Class A stock for its customers, as opposed to bankers.
Bottom line: Robinhood’s highly anticipated IPO is the belle of the ball on a packed dance floor. US-listed IPOs have already raised over $190 billion so far in 2021, more than 2020’s total.
For the past 30 years, countries have lowered their corporate tax rates to lure companies to their shores. That race may be rounding its final turn.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced yesterday that a group of 130 nations, including China and India, have agreed to a 15% global minimum corporate tax. After taking effect in 2023, it will be the biggest change to the international tax system in a century.
Big picture: Under a global minimum tax, multinational corporations would theoretically stop moving their headquarters to tax havens like the British Virgin Islands and Bermuda. Raising rates from the single-digits to at least 15% in those havens will generate $150 billion in additional tax revenue per year, according to the OECD.
“Today’s agreement by 130 countries representing more than 90% of global GDP is a clear sign: the race to the bottom is one step closer to coming to an end,” Yellen said.
For President Biden, the minimum tax agreement is a crucial step to make multinational companies pay significantly more in US taxes, which will help fund his ambitious spending plans.
Bottom line: This was the international community’s answer to the complicated question of how to tax tech giants, like Google and Facebook, which have substantial sales in countries they have no physical presence in.
Yes, a Walmart+ membership saves you so much time and money, it frankly should be housed in a museum alongside other beautiful works of art.
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Stat: Wally Funk, 82, will become the oldest person to go to space after being asked by Jeff Bezos to accompany him on the Blue Origin mission July 20. Funk is a member of the Mercury 13, a group of women who were put through rigorous astronaut training in the 1960s before the program was canceled.
Quote: “Nothing has ever gotten in my way. They said, well, you’re a girl, you can’t do that. I said, guess what, doesn’t matter what you are. You can still do it if you want to do it and I like to do things that nobody has ever done.”
The Boy Scouts reached an $850 million settlement with tens of thousands of sexual abuse victims.
Krispy Kreme went public for the second time and closed the day at a $2.6 billion valuation.
TikTok is allowing users to post videos of up to 3 minutes (the cap was previously 1 minute).
12-year-old Abhimanyu Mishra of New Jersey became the youngest chess grandmaster ever. Excited to see him monetize his name, image, and likeness.
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So about that NIL gold rush…Morning Brew is looking to partner with student athletes who have good vibes and a passion for business. If that sounds like you or someone you know, fill out this form.
This one’s a stumper from Alex Bellos at the Guardian. Which adds up to the highest number: The sum of the nine numbers on the left or the sum of the numbers on the right?
Alex Bellos
ANSWER
They add up to the exact same number
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The Trump Organization pleaded not guilty to charges that included tax fraud and falsifying business records. [Its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg], pleaded not guilty to grand larceny and tax fraud charges, among others, after prosecutors accused him of personally avoiding taxes on $1.7 million of his income.
…
“Contrary to today’s assertion by the company’s former CEO, this is not a ‘standard practice in the business community’ nor was it the act of a rogue or isolated employee,” an assistant district attorney said in court. “Instead, it was orchestrated by the most senior executives.”
…
Prosecutors are typically hesitant to indict companies because such a move can be a death blow to many innocent employees. Prosecutors may view the Trump Organization differently, however. It is not a sprawling entity with tens of thousands of employees potentially hurt by an indictment. The company does not rely heavily on government contracts that could be lost after an indictment.
Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, was brought by the DNC in 2016 against two Arizona voting laws that ban ballot collection and require officials to throw out ballots cast in the wrong precincts. Voting advocates say both laws are in violation of Section 2 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that prohibits racially discriminatory voting laws.
…
The case hinged on how the Court should read Section 2 of the Act, the only section of the law left with teeth after the Court significantly weakened it in 2013. While the Court ruled that Arizona’s policies did not violate Section 2, it declined to announce an official test for all future cases, instead identifying “guideposts” for courts to use going forward.
…
Those [guideposts] included weighing the size of the discriminatory impact of a given law, as well as what other options voters have to cast a ballot. To many voting rights advocates’ disappointment, the Biden Administration sent a letter in February to the justices saying it did not believe the Arizona laws violated Section 2.
All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PST
YESTERDAY’S POLLWas the court right to overturn Bill Cosby’s conviction?
No
46%
Yes
35%
Unsure
19%
359 votes, 41 comments
Context: Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturns Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.
HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS
“No – Although there may have been certain procedural issues, the fact remains that he was guilty of the crimes for which he was accused and convicted. Procedural rules are there to protect the innocent, not the guilty.”
“Yes – As one person put it, if any one of us were on trial for a DWI, we would find it very unfair for the prosecutor to allow a witness to testify that they saw us five years ago drinking and then get in a car. That kind of testimony is against the rules of evidence because it does not tend to prove or disprove the single event for which the defendant has been charged. ”
“Unsure – Legally, yes, but it is morally and ethically reprehensible. Another example of how our justice system is broken. Hopefully women facing similar situations in the future don’t wait so long to file suit against their attackers.”
[The two-part framework] gives countries where a company does business the right to tax some $100 billion in multinational company profits, including digital ones, regardless of the company’s home country or if it has a physical presence in the nation. It also supports the implementation of a global minimum tax of at least 15%.
…
Countries that have signed on to the agreement include the world’s largest economies, like China and India. But there are still some holdouts, including among countries with some of the lowest corporate tax rates such as Ireland and Hungary. Treasury Secretary Yellen has said the agreement does not need every country to be successful.
…
The Biden administration’s push to implement a global minimum tax is part of a larger tax proposal that also includes major overhauls to the U.S. corporate tax system including raising the rate from 21% to 28% as well as raising the minimum tax on U.S. multinational corporations from 10.5% to 21%. Any changes to US taxation must be passed by Congress.
Keith McCoy, the oil giant’s senior director for federal relations was tricked by [Greenpeace activists] who said they were job recruiters. He talked about working with “shadow groups,” supporting a carbon tax that he believes will never happen and influencing senators to weaken climate elements of President Biden’s infrastructure plan.
…
Exxon Mobil has new board members focused on climate change and a well-documented history of sowing doubt about the issue. Climate activists were quick to jump on the comments as proof the company and the broader oil industry have not changed.
…
Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat from California, says he will hold a hearing this fall about “climate disinformation & the coordinated attack on scientific truth among polluters and their lobbyists.” Among McCoy’s comments to the undercover activists, he said Exxon Mobil has a playbook for dealing with hearings like what Khanna plans. Khanna says he will subpoena executives if they refuse to appear themselves.
Hannah-Jones is best known for conceiving the 1619 Project for the New York Times, an initiative to reexamine American history and the consequences of slavery. On April 26, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill announced with fanfare that it had hired Hannah-Jones to the position of Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism at the Hussman School of Journalism and Media.
…
In mid-May, the school’s dean, Susan King, revealed that Hannah-Jones had been hired to a five-year contract without tenure. Previous Knight chair appointments at UNC had come with tenure, and King had championed Hannah-Jones to receive the same honor.
…
Hannah-Jones’s attorneys contend the position offer was misleading, in light of subsequent revelations. They said that she was rescinding the contract and would not accept a position without tenure. They also wrote that she was not withdrawing her tenure application. Their letter seemed intended to force the trustees to take up the question.
Depending on what day of the week it is, the establishment media either loves or hates the Supreme Court. This week, the hate boiled over into almost homicidal rage after the court upheld Arizona’s new election law. On MSNBC, not only did hosts and guests lose their minds over the SCOTUS ruling but it was even suggested, at one point, that the court was conspiring with the Republican Party to prevent non-whites from participating in U.S. elections.
Supreme Court: Big Win for Conservatives and Free Speech
Something political to ponder as you enjoy your morning coffee.
From Afghanistan, a cautionary tale. The security situation is deteriorating rapidly since the U.S. almost completed its withdrawal. Neoconservatives will of course argue that this is the price we pay for withdrawing our troops. The reality is that Afghanistan was always doomed to descend into chaos and bloodshed upon the departure of the U.S. military. It can be argued that, just as was the case with Vietnam and the first Gulf War, America’s political leaders lacked the will to completely eradicate the enemy when the U.S. had the momentum. Overseas military adventures always end in disaster when there is no clear mission, or firm resolve to complete it. Will politicians ever figure this out?
Good morning and welcome to Fox News First. Here’s what you need to know as you start your day
Democrats renew court packing calls, blast the Supreme Court’s final two decisions of term Democrats on Thursday expressed their displeasure with the Supreme Court’s final decisions of its 2020-2021 term, accusing the justices of doing “severe damage” to the political system and in some cases re-upping their calls to pack the court with liberal justices appointed by President Biden.
One decision was on a challenge to Arizona election laws, including a ban on ballot harvesting. The other was about a California law that required nonprofits to disclose their largest donors to the state government for law enforcement purposes.
The court upheld the Arizona laws – which liberals saw as voting rights restrictions and conservatives saw as election security measures – and struck down the California law on the grounds that it chilled free speech.
Biden weighed in on the Arizona decision in a statement that was remarkably critical of the Supreme Court for a sitting president.
“I am deeply disappointed in today’s decision by the United States Supreme Court that undercuts the Voting Rights Act,” Biden said. “In a span of just eight years, the Court has now done severe damage to two of the most important provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 – a law that took years of struggle and strife to secure.”
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said the court’s decision in the Arizona case is part of an “unprecedented assault on voting rights” from the court before also tearing into the court over the California case.
“The decision in Americans for Prosperity further harms our democracy by allowing the suffocation of the airwaves caused by big dark special interest money,” Pelosi said. “This torrent of dark money silences the voices of voters and prevents passage of commonsense, bipartisan and popular legislation – from gun violence prevention to climate action to LGBTQ equality. It is fundamentally anti-democratic, and it cannot go unanswered.” CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON OUR TOP STORY.
In other developments:
– Supreme Sendoff: The nine justices end term with unanimity and uncertainty
– Kamala Harris silent on SCOTUS ruling on lawsuit that started while she was state AG
– Severino & Scaturro: Biden suffers Supreme Court smackdown
– Conservatives laud SCOTUS’ Arizona voting decision, while Schumer laments one of court’s ‘darkest days’
– Supreme Court upholds Arizona voter fraud protections
GOP rep warns ‘no operational control’ of border after seeing migrants stream in, board flights
Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., on Thursday warned that the U.S. has “no operational control” of the border after a trip to Texas in which he and a number of other Republicans saw migrants streaming into the U.S. and being put on flights to other states.
“We have no operational control, no legal control, no law enforcement control of our border,” Good said in an interview with Fox News. “We are not enforcing our laws, we are not preventing people. This is willful and intentional on the part of this administration to facilitate the illegal entry into our country of tens of thousands, 180,000 in [the] month of May…some 700,000 this year, of the ones we’ve apprehended.”
Good and a number of other lawmakers from the Republican Study Committee visited McAllen, Texas this week in a visit that coincided with a visit by former President Donald Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.
The 20 Republicans went to the border itself around midnight, and Good described a stream of migrants coming through and turning themselves over to Border Patrol with no effort to evade apprehension — even going so far as to seek out Border Patrol.
“We saw hundreds coming through in just a short time, we were there about midnight and just saw many many folks coming across the border, many illegals streaming across,” he said.
He said that while there were many families and children showing up, it raised the question of how many are getting past Border Patrol, who have frequently faced significant surges in migrants coming past them — and have also apprehended MS-13 gang members and child sex offenders trying to get into the U.S. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
– Reps. Scalise & Gonzales: Biden’s border crisis – 2 things the president needs to do right now
– Sean Hannity: Biden told migrants to ‘surge the border’ and results have been catastrophic
– Illegal immigrants burglarize Texas ranch house, steal weapons and ammo: Border Patrol
– Rep. Banks on Trump border visit: ‘Humanitarian crisis unlike anything in American history’
Gwen Berry vows to compete at Olympics despite mounting pressure after anthem snub
There is no backing down from Gwen Berry even as the criticism poured in this week over her decision to turn her back on the podium while the national anthem played at U.S. Olympic track and field trials.
Berry on Wednesday responded to a tweet demanding her to respect the flag and the national anthem. The Olympian hammer thrower said her goal is just to compete and bring home gold for the U.S.
“The point is to compete … which I will be doing,” she fired back.
Her demonstrations have led to calls from conservative voices for her to step aside. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas., and Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Sen., have been among the loudest voices. Berry has received support from many on social media, including Olympic legend Michael Johnson.
Berry made the Olympic team as a hammer thrower after finishing third last weekend at the trials behind DeAnna Price and Brooke Anderson.
She drew scrutiny after she turned her back during the national anthem. She then draped a shirt with the world “ACTIVIST ATHLETE” over her head as “The Star-Spangled Banner” played. CLICK HERE FOR MORE.
In other developments:
– Old Gwen Berry photo of her holding American flag goes viral amid anthem uproar
– North Korean defector says US Olympian Gwen Berry’s flag protest ‘unthinkable’
– Dan Crenshaw doubles down on Gwen Berry criticism: ‘You should like the USA’
– Tomi Lahren tears into ‘crybaby’ Gwen Berry: ‘Why the heck are you competing on behalf of this country?’
TODAY’S MUST-READS:
– Trump Organization, CFO Weisselberg plead not guilty to tax charges
– US hands Bagram Airfield to Afghans after nearly 20 years
– Tom Cotton: It is time to ‘lower the boom’ on China
– Philadelphia violence: Girl among 2 killed in shootings; 8 hurt
– Facebook warns users they may have been exposed to ‘harmful’ extremists
THE LATEST FROM FOX BUSINESS:
– China’s Didi to be added to S&P Dow Jones’ indexes on July 12
– Biden advances Trump-era ban on surprise medical bills
– J&J COVID-19 vaccine shows promising early signs of protecting against Delta variant
– Arizona begins switch to flat income tax: What residents will save
– Raytheon gets $2 billion U.S. Air Force contract for nuclear cruise missile
#TheFlashback: CLICK HEREto find out what happened on “This Day in History.”
SOME PARTING WORDS
Eric Trump, the executive vice president of the Trump Organization, was a guest on “The Ingraham Angle” hosted by Raymond Arroyo Thursday night to discuss the charges against the organization and CFO Allen Weisselburg.
“Well, Raymond,” Trump said, “they’ve been trying to get my father the second he came down the escalator. They’ve been going after him for the last five years. The district attorney has subpoenaed 3.5 million documents. And they don’t care about Allen Weisselburg, they care about one person, and that’s taking down my father.”
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Fox News First was compiled by Fox News’ Jack Durschlag. Thank you for making us your first choice in the morning! Have a great Independence Day, stay safe and we’ll see you in your inbox first thing Tuesday.
No matter your political views or where you live, you can cultivate a patriotism of the healthy Tocquevillian sort, for your own benefit and to help inflect the national mood.
Sean Trende and Bill Kristol | “Conversations with Bill Kristol”
Sean Trende presents a fascinating account of the challenges and opportunities facing the parties and candidates today and reflects on what we can learn from American political history.
It is time to remind Iraqis that Washington will stand by them in their hours of need and that all its rhetoric and sectarian posturing aside, Tehran will not.
Editor’s Note: Happy 4th of July weekend! We’re going to take some time to wish America a happy birthday; we’ll be back in full swing Tuesday morning. Pro tip if you’re visiting family in the coming days: mentioning The Flip Side is a great way to diffuse tense political debates! 😉
Supreme Court Rulings
On Thursday, “the Supreme Court issued a major decision on voting rights that will make it more difficult to contest election regulations under the Voting Rights Act. By a vote of 6-3, the justices upheld two Arizona voting provisions that Democrats and civil rights groups challenged as disproportionately burdening minority voters.” The provisions in question bar most third parties from collecting and delivering ballots, and require that ballots cast in the wrong precinct be discarded. SCOTUSblog
Also on Thursday, the Supreme Court “struck down California’s requirement that charities and nonprofits operating in the state provide the state attorney general’s office with the names and addresses of their largest donors.” SCOTUSblog
From the Left
The left is critical of both rulings, arguing that they make it easier for states to write discriminatory laws and increase the influence of wealthy donors, respectively.
Regarding Arizona’s voting provisions, ”As Justice Elena Kagan wrote in her powerful dissent, the majority ‘founds its decision on a list of mostly made-up factors, at odds with Section 2 itself.’ For instance, whether a state has an interest in combating voter fraud — miniscule as it is — should have little bearing on the question of whether a law discriminates among voters. Whether some states have used the same rule for years should also be irrelevant under the law. A law that currently produces a discriminatory effect harms voters in every election.” Joshua A. Douglas, CNN“Today’s conservative judges pride themselves on being textualists… As Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. put it just last year, the courts’ focus must never waver from what a statute’s ‘words were understood to mean at the time of enactment.’ Any other approach, even one that ‘sails under a textualist flag,’ Alito lectured, is ‘like a pirate ship’ — inappropriate and illegitimate. So it was a shock to see the Supreme Court, in an opinion authored by none other than Alito, stacking one extra-textual constraint after another onto Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act…“The court’s most astonishing extra-textual move… was its pronouncement that one ‘relevant consideration’ is ‘the degree to which a voting rule departs from what was standard practice’ in 1982, when Section 2 was revised in response to an earlier Supreme Court ruling. Why on earth would that be?…“The provision never says that. In fact, Section 2’s whole point is to unsettle the status quo, to end voting restrictions that disproportionately harm minority citizens. The provision aspires to move American democracy forward, not keep it fixed forever in 1982… To return to Alito’s metaphor, this is what a judicial pirate ship looks like.” Nicholas Stephanopoulos, Washington Post“‘The mere fact that there is some disparity in impact does not necessarily mean that a system is not equally open or that it does not give everyone an equal opportunity to vote,’ Justice Samuel Alito wrote in an opinion joined by the other conservatives. That is a dismissive wave of the hand at precisely the sort of evidence that Congress told voting-rights plaintiffs to present in court…
“As Justice Elena Kagan pointed out in a dissent longer than the ruling itself, small numbers can make a big difference. In 2020, for example, Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in Arizona by a little over 10,000 votes — fewer than the state threw out based on the out-of-precinct policy in two of the past three presidential elections…
“Since the court is talking about ‘mere facts,’ the conservative justices might have noted the mere fact that voting fraud, which lawmakers in a number of states claim they are trying to prevent with laws like the ones in Arizona, is essentially nonexistent. As one federal judge put it several years ago, such laws are akin to using ‘a sledgehammer to hit either a real or imaginary fly on a glass coffee table.’” Editorial Board, New York Times
Regarding California’s disclosure requirements, “Had the court said only that California’s law as applied to those facing a threat of harassment was unconstitutional, it would have been no big deal. But the majority opinion, by Chief Justice John Roberts, is much more troubling. The court held the disclosure law could not be applied to anyone, even those not facing a risk of harassment. He also rejiggered the First Amendment standards to call many other laws into question.” Richard L. Hasen, New York Times
“As Justice Sonia Sotomayor writes in a dissenting opinion, ‘today’s analysis marks reporting and disclosure requirements with a bull’s-eye.’ The upshot is that wealthy donors now have far more ability to shape American politics in secret — and that ability is only likely to grow as judges rely on the decision in Americans for Prosperity to strike down other donor disclosure laws.” Ian Millhiser, Vox
Some note that “Once upon a time, American liberals thought that people should be allowed to donate money to charities anonymously to protect them from retaliation for supporting controversial causes. Now it’s conservatives who want to preserve donor privacy, in keeping with their skepticism of campaign finance laws that require disclosure. On Thursday the Supreme Court sided with 1950s liberals and contemporary conservatives, striking down a California law that required charities to disclose the names of the largest donors…
“Progressives are right to think that campaign-finance laws should require disclosure… Nevertheless, protecting donor anonymity to civil-society institutions should still be something liberals care about. Right-wing trolls are just as capable of harassing donors to progressive causes as left-wing trolls might harass conservative donors. Seen through that lens, today’s decision isn’t the loss for liberals that the 6-3 lineup might suggest.” Noah Feldman, Bloomberg
From the Right
The right supports both rulings, arguing that they protect election integrity and safeguard first amendment rights, respectively.
Regarding Arizona’s voting provisions, “The first law defines who can legally take a completed ballot to be submitted, limiting that choice to the voter themselves, their family members, or a caregiver. Are the plaintiffs somehow claiming that minority voters don’t have family members or the ability to get to their precinct?…
“The second law rejects ballots cast in the wrong precinct. I’m sure that happens from time to time, but the assumption being made by the plaintiffs seems to be that minority voters aren’t smart enough to locate the correct precinct while their white counterparts can manage the task…
“The plaintiffs had also claimed that officials moved polling locations more often in minority districts, leading to confusion or mistakes. There are already rules in place, however, describing when and how polling locations can be changed. If they have proof that election officials have been violating those laws, the answer isn’t to scrap this law. It’s to investigate and arrest the people doing the switching.” Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
“Arizona allows all voters to vote by mail or in person for nearly a month before Election Day. Its rules are hardly burdensome based on the totality of circumstances…
“The standard in the Kagan dissent would require states to prove there are no less restrictive means to safeguard elections and strike down any policy with a disparate impact on minorities, no matter how small. Based on the dissent, New York City’s ranked-choice voting system could violate Section 2 because it is biased against low-information voters. Don’t laugh. Progressive groups and City Council members argued this in a lawsuit…
“As Justice Alito writes, the voting regime that liberal Justices want ‘would have the effect of invalidating a great many neutral voting regulations with long pedigrees that are reasonable means of pursuing legitimate interests. It would also transfer much of the authority to regulate election procedures from the States to the federal courts.’” Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal
“While Alito’s opinion declined to adopt a rigid test, its list of five main guideposts for Section 2 cases should make it easier for federal courts to distinguish real, substantial burdens on voting rights from the ordinary inconveniences that come from any system that has rules…
“The most controversial of those factors will likely be the Court’s emphasis on upholding election laws that were already long-standing and widespread when Section 2 was passed in its current form in 1982, rather than requiring that [every] marginal expansion enacted in recent years be immunized from [ever] being repealed…
“Brnovich will not bring an end to lawsuits over election and voting laws, nor should it. But it ought to greatly reduce the Democrats’ reflexive recourse to the courts every time the law imposes any rules at all. In that sense, it is a positive step for the rule of law and a setback for efforts to use the legal system to hamstring states from running efficient elections free of fraud, intimidation, or undue delays in counting the votes.” Dan McLaughlin, National Review
Regarding California’s disclosure requirements, “Nearly 300 organizations signed friend-of-the-court briefs in support of the two right-leaning petitioners, groups that, as Chief Justice Roberts noted, span ‘the full range of human endeavors.’ It’s not often you see agreement among the Pacific Legal Foundation, the NAACP, the Cato Institute, the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the National Association of Manufacturers and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals…
“The breadth and depth of this coalition highlight the weakness of Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s dissent. It seems willfully blind to today’s partisan environment and its threats. It airily insists that there is no burden to nonprofits in complying and no risk that donors will be intimidated. Besides, she says, California is capable of keeping the information secure! She wrote these lines a few weeks after someone leaked the confidential tax data of thousands of Americans to ProPublica.” Kimberley A. Strassel, Wall Street Journal
“The Supreme Court found a ‘dramatic mismatch’ rather than a close connection between California’s ‘dragnet for sensitive donor information’ and its claimed objective of preventing charitable fraud. California had not only previously failed to enforce its Schedule B disclosure requirement, but did not actually use that information when it investigated charities…
“Instead, the Supreme Court found that California’s real reason for demanding this information was convenience, to simply have the information ‘close at hand, just in case’ it might be useful. That was not nearly enough to justify the risk that the donor information might be disclosed.” Thomas Jipping and David Bainbridge, Daily Signal
Happy Friday, and happy Getaway Day. Smart Brevity™ count: 1,460 words … 5½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.
⚡ Situational awareness: The recall election for California Gov. Gavin Newsom will be Sept. 14. Go deeper.
1 big thing: Biden aide charges “sabotage” of Harris
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Photo: Al Drago-Pool/Getty Images
Top White House officials are mobilizing to defend Vice President Kamala Harris amid a gusher of leaks about dysfunction and infighting in her office, Axios’ Margaret Talev and Jonathan Swan report.
White House Chief of Staff Ron Klain told Axios in a statement: “The President’s trust and confidence in her is obvious when you see them in the Oval Office together.”
Biden senior adviser Cedric Richmond said in an interview last night: “It’s a whisper campaign designed to sabotage her.”
Their responses came after Axios approached the White House with new reporting about growing tensions between West Wing officials and the Harris team, including chief of staff Tina Flournoy.
Some White House officials have been frustrated by a series of missteps from Harris and increasingly public bickering in her orbit, which spilled out in a Politico story on Wednesday.
Why it matters: 2024 is the elephant in the room. While Biden aides overwhelmingly believe he’ll be the Democratic nominee, they also know he’d be 81 when seeking re-election.
Many Democrats, including some current senior administration officials, are concerned she couldn’t defeat the Republican nominee — even if it were Donald Trump.
An operation sometimes visibly out of sync with Biden’s — and missteps during a recent trip to the U.S.-Mexico border, following a scrutinized interview with NBC’s Lester Holt — have reignited questions from Harris’ 2020 primary bid.
Several administration officials used “shitshow” when describing Harris’ office, and contrast her operation with disciplined, virtually leakproof Biden aides.
2. Milestone: U.S. abandons Bagram after two decades
The U.S. flag flies over Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan last Friday. Photo: Rahmat Gul/AP
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military today left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war to oust the Taliban and hunt down the al-Qaeda perpetrators of the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
The airfield was handed over to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force in its entirety.
Why it matters: The withdrawal from Bagram Airfield is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure — months ahead of President Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11.
At its peak around 2012, Bagram Airfield saw more than 100,000 U.S. troops pass through its sprawling compound.
Between the lines: The departure is rife with symbolism. Not least, it’s the second time that an invader has come and gone through Bagram. Last time, it was the Soviet Union.
3. Debut Ina Fried column: Your smartphone is breaking up
Illustration: Annelise Capossela/Axios
The smartphone became what it is by combining the functions of a host of other devices — phone, camera, web browser, games, music player.
Now that process is moving in reverse, Axios’ Ina Fried writes from San Francisco in her new Friday column, “Signal Boost.”
What’s happening: Devices worn on your wrist, inside your ear and on your face can together replicate many of the smartphone’s key features, while allowing you to remain focused on the world around you.
You can make calls on an Apple Watch, summon the Google Assistant from Pixel Buds and take pictures from Snap’s Spectacles.
A camera on your face can be a lot less disruptive than reaching for your phone. And a wrist device is a lot better for gathering health data than one that’s sometimes in your hands, sometimes in a pocket, sometimes in a bag.
Between the lines: There’s a big business incentive for tech giants to move beyond the phone era. Apple and Google control the phone through their operating systems and app stores, limiting competitors.
Our thought bubble: The new devices are often more finicky, less versatile and have tradeoffs in terms of power and battery life.
There are also legal and etiquette issues to work out, including norms around when and where devices can record voice and video.
Why it matters: The calamities playing out across the country will have repercussions in Washington, as lawmakers debate potentially huge investments for the country’s aging infrastructure.
The big picture: The deadly heat waves, which are ongoing in portions of the Northwest and Canada, constitute a public health crisis. This is partly because they’re hitting a region where air conditioning is uncommon.
The heat waves — along with overly thirsty California crops, and electric rail systems that cease operations at high temperatures, and highways that have buckled in the heat — demonstrate the limitations of our current infrastructure.
Everything from roads and bridges to buildings, mass transit and water treatment facilities were built for a climate that no longer exists.
Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg appears in court yesterday. Photo: Seth Wenig/AP
In the next phase of Manhattan D.A. Cy Vance’s investigation, prosecutors will scrutinize “whether the Trump Organization manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits, among other potential financial crimes,” the N.Y. Times reports (subscription).
Yesterday’s indictment took square aim at Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg “after months of increasing pressure on him … [N]ow Mr. Weisselberg is under even greater pressure: He could face more than a decade in prison if he is convicted.”
Facing a burnout crisis, a growing number of firms are giving all employees the same day or week off, separate from personal vacation time, Erica Pandey writes in Axios What’s Next.
Why it matters: It’s a lot easier for workers to unplug if their managers and peers are doing it at the same time.
What’s happening: The pandemic produced exacerbated burnout — a major contributor to “the great resignation,” in which upward of 40% of workers are actively considering leaving their jobs.
LinkedIn gave its entire staff a week off in April; the dating app Bumble did the same in June.
Pharma giant Bristol-Myers Squibb gave its employees two “days of rest” this year, during which everyone, across the world, was off.
BSA headquarters in Irving, Texas. Photo: LM Otero/AP
Boy Scouts of America reached an $850 million agreement with attorneys representing 60,000 victims of child sex abuse, AP reports.
Why it matters: The settlement would mark one of the largest sums in U.S. history involving cases of sexual abuse.
BSA has said that between $2.4 billion and $7.1 billion, including insurance, might be available for abuse victims. Attorneys for a tort claimants committee, which acts as a fiduciary for abuse victims in BSA’s bankruptcy case, says 82,500 sexual abuse claims could total $103 billion.
8. 🚨 Change in offing for corporate taxes worldwide
The Biden administration “won international backing for a global minimum rate of tax as part of a wider overhaul of the rules for taxing international companies,” The Wall Street Journal reports (subscription).
“Officials from 130 countries that met virtually agreed Thursday to the broad outlines of what would be the most sweeping change in international taxation in a century. Among them were all of the Group of 20 major economies, including China and India.”
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellensaid: “Today is an historic day for economic diplomacy.”
What’s next: The years-in-the-making plan requires approval from the U.S. Congress, so is well short of a done deal, Bloomberg reports.
9. Branson aims to beat Bezos blast by 9 days
Virgin Galactic team. Photo: Virgin Galactic via AP
Billionaire entrepreneur Richard Branson plans to travel to the edge of space on a Virgin Galactic test flight July 11 — which would beat fellow aspiring billionaire astronaut Jeff Bezos by nine days, Reuters reports.
Why it matters: “A successful flight by Branson aboard Virgin’s VSS Unity spaceplane would mark a key milestone in a race to usher in a new era of private commercial space travel.”
10. The future of Instagram
Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
Instagram CEO Adam Mosserisaid yesterday that the app — long a venue for sharing filtered photos — is “no longer just a square photo-sharing app,” Axios Media Trends expert Sara Fischer reports.
The focus moving forward will be on new features for creators, video, shopping and messaging, he said: “The number one reason people say they use Instagram is to be entertained.”
Mosseri cited TikTok and YouTube as examples of competition that Instagram faces as it tries to lean into entertainment and video.
TikTok said yesterday that it will roll out the option to create longer videos — up to three minutes — in the coming weeks, an effort that will likely help the platform compete with YouTube.
What to watch: As social networks continue growing, they run the risk of overwhelming consumers and losing what made them special and distinct to begin with.
President Joe Biden has a problem, and her name is Kamala Harris. The vice president has become a comic figure in today’s Washington—a politician given to missteps and unforced errors who inspires neither loyalty nor trust within her inner circle. She might have been Biden’s safest pick for running mate. But now she’s a liability for both the president and the Democratic Party. [READ MORE]
Google’s human resources department came to the defense of a member of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team who accused Israel of engaging in “settler-colonial apartheid” and promoted the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, telling Jewish employees who raised concerns that the statements were valid criticism of a foreign government. [READ MORE]
America’s leading physician-assisted suicide advocacy group has tapped a Planned Parenthood of Illinois board member to help lead the organization. [READ MORE]
As wildfires rage across the western United States, Republican governors representing states with some of the largest fires were frozen out of a White House meeting to plan the federal government’s response. [READ MORE]
In a major shift from its current position, the Federal Trade Commission voted Thursday to expand its authority to investigate powerful companies for “unfair or deceptive acts.”
The State Department is offering support to anti-regime protesters who have been storming the streets in Iran, even as the Biden administration negotiates a revamped nuclear deal that would provide Tehran with billions of dollars and help fortify the hardline government’s grip on the country.
Evidence continues to mount in support of the Washington Free Beacon’s assessment that Vice President Kamala Harris will never become president by winning an election. According to a THE POLITICO report published Wednesday, the VP’s office is a woefully mismanaged hellhole of abuse and recrimination.
Former president Donald Trump weathered past political storms by fighting back with the power and staff of the White House behind him, as well as his Twitter account. Those resources are now gone.
Engineering firm executive Sinisa Kolar’s phone has been ringing off the hook since the deadly collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside, Florida.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Friday! Happy 4th of July weekend! We get you up to speed on the most important developments in politics and policy, plus trends to watch. Alexis Simendinger and Al Weaver are the co-creators. Readers can find us on Twitter @asimendinger and @alweaver22. Please recommend the Morning Report to friends and let us know what you think. CLICK HERE to subscribe!
Total U.S. coronavirus deaths each morning this week: Monday, 603,967; Tuesday, 604,115; Wednesday, 604,467; Thursday, 604,714; Friday, 605,019.
The Republican effort to move on from the events of Jan. 6 backfired once again on Thursday as Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) accepted a spot on a new select committee to investigate the day’s attack from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), upsetting GOP members in the process.
The Cheney news came Thursday morning when Pelosi unveiled her eight selections for the new panel, which she had teased could include a Republican member. However, her choices were limited as only Cheney (seen below in 2019) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) crossed party lines on Wednesday to support the creation of the committee. Pelosi lauded the Wyoming Republican, telling reporters she was “very honored and proud” to include her. Cheney said much the same in a statement of her own.
“I’m honored to have been named to serve on the January 6th select committee. Congress is obligated to conduct a full investigation of the most serious attack on our Capitol since 1814,” the former No. 3 Republican said. “What happened on January 6th can never happen again. … Our oath to the Constitution, our commitment to the rule of law, and the preservation of the peaceful transfer of power must always be above partisan politics” (The Hill).
The move is a blow to Republicans, who want nothing to do with the select committee. It also puts the pressure squarely on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who reportedly threatened on Wednesday to yank committee assignments from colleagues if they accepted a position on the investigatory panel Pelosi backs.
McCarthy’s reported threat lasted a day. He backtracked on Thursday, telling reporters that while he does not plan to remove Cheney from the House Armed Services Committee, her lone assignment, he remained baffled by her decision.
“I was shocked that she would accept something from Speaker Pelosi,” McCarthy said in the Capitol. “It would seem to me, since I didn’t hear from her, maybe she’s closer to [Pelosi] than us. I don’t know. … I don’t know in history where someone would go get their committee assignments from the Speaker and expect to have them from the conference as well” (The Hill).
The Hill: First hearing of Jan. 6 probe to feature Capitol Police testimony.
The Associated Press: A look at eight lawmakers appointed to probe Jan. 6 attack.
The New York Times: Cheney agrees to join Jan. 6 inquiry, drawing threats of GOP retribution.
According to one House Republican speaking on background, party members are tempted to try to nudge McCarthy to punish Cheney. The minority leader, who has ambitions to become Speaker, would have some explaining to do, however. He opposed stripping committee assignments from ultra right-wing lawmakers, including Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas).
“Everyone is all over the map. Most want to go after her — but that doesn’t mean it’s the right thing to do,” the lawmaker told the Morning Report. “If you start bouncing members from committees, it’s a slippery slope.”
The committee came together only weeks after 35 House Republicans and seven GOP senators voted in favor of an independent commission to probe what took place on Jan. 6. Democrats were unable to find the additional three votes to green light that effort. The bipartisan commission would have been required to report findings by the end of 2021. The select committee has no deadline, with Republicans having zero power over subpoenas, as opposed to the initial deal hashed out over a commission.
The scope of the committee’s investigation is not limited or defined. Republicans say they do not regret blocking a probe by an independent commission.
“Of course not! That would take introspection,” the GOP member quipped.
Paul Kane, The Washington Post: So much for “action”: McCarthy dials back early pledge to rein in Republicans who cross the line, resorts to whataboutism.
While the panel is the highest-profile investigative body to date examining the events and aftermath of the Jan. 6 riots, it is another in a string of probes ongoing for months. The FBI, Justice Department, Capitol Police and various congressional oversight committees have been investigating and taking testimony, along with deep reporting by news outlets, some of which filmed the Capitol violence as it was happening. Attorney General Merrick Garland just last week said his department made its 500th arrest related to the day’s events and charged its 100th defendant for violence against a federal law enforcement officer.
Lawfare: Why didn’t the FBI review social media posts announcing plans for the Capitol riot?
> Supreme Court: Justices on Thursday issued their final opinions in argued cases from the 2020-21 term. In the first of two rulings, they determined that a pair of Arizona voting restrictions backed by Republicans do not violate federal law, delivering a key loss to voting rights advocates. The court divided along ideological lines, 6-3, with Associate Justice Samuel Alito writing in the majority opinion that a lower court erred by ruling that the restrictions at hand — requiring provisional ballots cast in the wrong precinct to be discarded and making “ballot harvesting” illegal — violated Section 2 the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which bars racially discriminatory voting policies (The Hill).
The court’s decision puts new pressure on Democrats in Congress to move on election reform this year, reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton. The ruling on the final day of the court’s term sets the stage for the next battle in the Senate over voting rights.
In the second ruling, the Court ruled that a California regulation requiring nonprofits to disclose their donors to state officials is unconstitutional. The court sided with the Americans for Prosperity Foundation — a group created and funded by Charles and David Koch, (who died in 2019) — and the Thomas More Law Center, who challenged, also ruling on the case, 6-3, along ideological lines. Chief Justice John Roberts wrote the majority opinion, ruling that the disclosure regulations have a chilling effect on donors’ First Amendment rights.
The New York Times: Democrats brace for a narrower path to challenge new voting laws.
The Hill: Supreme Court ruling surprises voting rights activists, academics.
👉 Today’s supreme suspense: Will Justice Stephen Breyer opt to retire now that the term has ended? (CNN).
WHITE HOUSE: President Biden and first lady Jill Biden on Thursday in Miami put the weight of a federal commitment behind ongoing efforts to rescue or recover remains of anyone who was inside a 1981 condominium tower more than a week ago during a catastrophic partial collapse. The Bidens also paid a visit to a makeshift memorial in Surfside, Fla., to view photographs and remembrances adorned with flowers posted near the rubble. The chain link barrier displays images of some of the 145 people still missing and the 18 confirmed dead (The Hill and Miami Herald). Biden, reading the thumbnail descriptions as he surveyed the display with his wife, could be seen wiping his eyes.
After meeting privately at a nearby hotel with relatives of some of the victims, Biden described the families as anxious but “very realistic” when they think about the hours that have stretched into a second week of search and rescue. “They know the longer it goes,” he said without finishing the thought. “Local FEMA [Federal Emergency Management Agency] personnel, as well as the local first responders … took all the families to the site to see what it looked like, to see what it looked like up close.”
As he often does when consoling people experiencing stress and grief, the president shared his memories of losing his wife and daughter in an auto accident in 1972 and his uncertainty about whether his injured young sons would pull through. “We’re here for you as one nation, as one nation, and that’s the message we communicated,” Biden said, adding that the White House will continue to be in touch with the families.
Community members and residents described to the president how the Champlain South Towers on the oceanfront experienced rising sea levels, flooding, storms and water problems. A definitive cause of the structure’s dramatic failure, which was captured on security video, is unclear. “I don’t think there is, at this point, any definitive judgment as to why it collapsed and what can be done to prevent it from happening,” added Biden, who supports a thorough investigation.
The president met twice on Thursday with Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), who is a potential 2024 presidential candidate, to discuss the ongoing search and rescue operation and the need for a probe of the tragedy’s causes.
POLITICS: Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, wearing a mask but no belt or tie, turned himself in and pleaded not guilty on Thursday to all 15 criminal state charges involving tax fraud, conspiracy, grand larceny and falsifying business records.
New York prosecutors allege that Weisselberg helped orchestrate a scheme to compensate himself and “other Trump Organization executives” with unreported income, avoiding taxes on $1.7 million of his income. A two-year investigation focused on the Trump Organization is ongoing, according to Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., who will retire at the end of the year, and New York Attorney General Letitia James.
The Trump Organization has criticized the New York probe as politically driven (The Hill).
As The Hill’s Niall Stanage writes in his latest memo, the new round of charges against the Trump Organization bring a new set of legal and political pitfalls for the former president. Namely, Weisselberg’s knowledge of the ins and outs of the company and the possibility that he could flip and aid prosecutors against the former president.
Although Weisselberg has thus far resisted all overtures to turn on Trump, that could all change if the possibility of prison time or pressure ratchets up on his family.
Politico: “Garden-variety corruption”: The long, underwhelming arm of the law comes down on the Trump Organization.
Josh Dawsey, The Washington Post: Trump seeks to use indictments as a political rallying cry as he tries to survive latest legal threat.
Axios: Liberals sour on Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
More in politics: Author J.D. Vance, an Ohio Republican who wrote “Hillbilly Elegy,” is preparing to jump into the Senate vacancy to be created by Sen. Rob Portman’s retirement next year. It’s becoming a crowded Senate contest (The Associated Press).
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
ADMINISTRATION: Vice President Harris is on the receiving end of a slew of unwelcome press coverage describing Democratic donors and recently departed White House colleagues who question whether Harris’s chief of staff, Tina Flournoy, is too restrictive a gatekeeper. Flournoy has extensive experience with the West Wing, VIPs, organized labor and tender egos. Implicitly the coverage is a knock on Harris, who is learning the ropes of the executive branch, the peculiarities and politics of the vice presidency and the importance of a staff that enlarges her competencies rather than her vulnerabilities.
> Coronavirus: As U.S. officials travel nationwide this weekend to encourage Americans to be inoculated against COVID-19, a global focus is on the delta variant and the effectiveness of available vaccines. Johnson & Johnson reported that its one-dose version shows promising preliminary signs in a small laboratory study with evidence it is effective against the coronavirus and the contagious delta mutation for at least eight months (The Hill). The J&J shot is easier to ship, handle and store and is under close scrutiny as a global asset if it holds up under lab testing (The Wall Street Journal).
> Death penalty: Garland on Thursday halted the use of capital punishment in federal cases pending a review. The government under Trump in 2020 carried out the first federal executions in the United States in two decades (The Hill).
> The Interior Department moved Dominion Energy Inc.’s proposed 2.6-gigawatt wind farm off the Virginia coast one step closer to development Thursday by beginning a key environmental study on what would be the biggest offshore wind project in the United States. The department said it will draft an environmental impact statement on the $7.8 billion project, a critical early step in the permitting process. Dominion aims to begin providing power from that site by 2026 (Bloomberg News).
>Surprise medical bills, often amounting to tens of thousands of dollars per patient, have hit millions of Americans who received care from providers outside their insurance networks, often unknowingly and often during emergencies. The Biden administration on Thursday released the first regulations implementing a bipartisan law that takes effect in January that will ban the practice (The Hill).
> The Biden administration wants to secure the release of four Americans detained in Iran. But time is running out for the U.S. and Iran to reach an agreement to rejoin the 2015 nuclear deal, a failure that could separately scuttle the best chance for the Americans’ freedom (The Hill).
> In Afghanistan, the U.S. military quietly vacated Bagram Airfield for the first time in 20 years, relinquishing the base in its entirety to the Afghan National Security and Defense Force. The withdrawal is the clearest indication that the last of the 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops have left Afghanistan or are nearing a departure, months ahead of Biden’s promise that they would be gone by Sept. 11 (The Associated Press). Fearing the future, many Afghans are trying to leave (The Associated Press).
OPINION
Let the market fix labor shortages, by Rachel Rosenthal, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/3AlGiF9
The Biden Doctrine: Will it work? by Harlan Ullman, opinion contributor, The Hill. https://bit.ly/3qJJ17g
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 11:30 a.m. for a pro forma session.
TheSenate convenes for a pro forma session on Monday at 11 a.m. Senators are out of Washington through July 9.
The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief at 9:30 a.m. He will deliver remarks at 10:15 a.m. about the government’s June employment report, released this morning. Biden welcomes the Los Angeles Dodgers to the East Room along with Harris at 11:40 a.m. The president and vice president will have lunch at 12:30 p.m. Biden will participate in a naturalization ceremony at 2:30 p.m. to welcome new citizens ahead of Independence Day. The president and first lady at 5 p.m. deliver remarks to the National Education Association’s annual meeting at the Walter Washington Convention Center downtown. On Saturday, Biden will travel to Traverse City, Mich., to tout America’s COVID-19 vaccination rate and the first lady will do the same on Saturday in Portland, Maine, and Portsmouth, N.H.
The vice president will participate in much of the president’s itinerary today and the two will have lunch together. She departs this afternoon for Los Angeles and will remain overnight. On Saturday, Harris will be in Las Vegas to help applaud the nation’s progress in getting COVID-19 inoculations.
Second gentleman Doug Emhoff today will travel to Bryce Canyon, Utah, as part of the administration’s COVID-19 vaccination campaign.
Economic indicator: The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. reports on U.S. employment in June, which is expected to show improvement.
The White House press briefing is scheduled at 12:30 p.m.
➔ STATE WATCH: Recreational marijuana became legal in three more states on Thursday with phase-in requirements: Virginia (the first in the South), Connecticut and South Dakota. The trend across the country is expected to gain more momentum next year, reports The Hill’s Reid Wilson. Eighteen states, plus the District of Columbia have legalized the recreational use of marijuana, changes that reflect growing cultural acceptance of the plant and a desire to minimize disparate enforcement against people of color. Pot remains illegal under federal law (The Washington Post).
➔RECORD SETTLEMENT: The Boy Scouts of America reached a settlement of $850 million with tens of thousands of people who filed claims alleging sexual abuse by organization volunteers and leaders. The settlement is the highest payout in a child sexual abuse case in U.S. history (The Hill).
➔ TAXATION: The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development voted on Thursday to support a minimum tax structure for corporations, giving a boost to Biden’s agenda and calls for international tax reform. The announcement includes agreement on taxing tech giants such as Amazon, Google and Facebook. China was one of 130 nations to support the reform. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called the agreement “a historic day for economic diplomacy” and said it represented one of the administration’s core foreign policy goals (The Washington Post).
➔ 2021, A SPACE ODYSSEY: Ambition and billionaires know no boundaries. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos plans to head into space on July 20 accompanied by pioneering American aviator Mary Wallace “Wally” Funk, 82, who spent $200,000 in 2010 for a ticket on Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic’s suborbital plane. Having waited for more than a decade for Branson’s ride, Funk wanted to fulfill a long-held goal, and accepted a lift from Bezos (The Washington Post). Funk is one of NASA’s Mercury 13 female astronauts who never made it to the moon (Space.com). But Branson late Thursday said his company will beat Bezos on July 11 with its next test flight. Branson will be on board with a full crew, blasting off from New Mexico (The Associated Press).
And finally … 👏👏👏 A big round of applause for this week’s Morning Report Quiz winners!
Here’s who aced news trivia questions as the calendar turns to July: Medina Dzaferi, Patrick Kavanagh,John Donato, Terry Pflaumer, Mary Anne McEnery, Lesa Davis and Michael Romage.
They knew that Biden did not visit France during the first overseas trip of his presidency in June.
The Girl Scouts of America reported in June that it had roughly 15 million boxes of unsold cookies, due in large part to circumstances tied to the pandemic.
Brazil in June became the second country in the world to record at least 500,000 COVID-19 related deaths.
Finally, although six starting pitchers have tossed no-hitters this season, zero occurred last month.
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House Budget Committee Democrats have decided to forgo their own fiscal 2022 budget resolution and wait to see what Senate Democrats can muscle through their 50-50 chamber. Read more…
The House Thursday passed a more than $759 billion surface transportation, wastewater and drinking water reauthorization on a largely party-line vote, as Democrats laid out their vision of what they hope will be a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s key domestic priority. Read more…
Congress goes into the Fourth of July recess with Democrats and Republicans at odds over the next steps to take on key trade legislation, including retraining funds for workers hurt by foreign competition. Read more…
Click here to subscribe to Fintech Beat for the latest market and regulatory developmentsin finance and financial technology.
House Appropriators on Thursday advanced to the floor annual foreign aid spending legislation that would make history with its repeal of a decades-old anti-abortion provision and significant increases in family planning funding. Read more…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to face a significant financial crunch after narrowly averting mass furloughs last year, a government oversight agency found, threatening to grow an already bloated visa backlog and lengthy wait times. Read more…
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced her eight appointments to the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Among her picks was Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost her position as the No. 3 House Republican after she refused to back away from criticizing Donald Trump. Read more…
Elections and war metaphors go together like hot dogs and beer at ballgames. So as next year’s Senate battlegrounds take shape, CQ Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales decides to go all in, laying out the midterm map using every war idiom he’s got. Watch here…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: What do Tucker Carlson and J.D. Vance have in common?
Presented by Facebook
DRIVING THE DAY
DON’T MISS — Ryan interviews ANITA DUNN, a senior White House adviser to President JOE BIDEN, at 10 a.m. today for Playbook Live. Register here to watch live
PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT— Don’t ever be afraid to do this:
ICYMI, MEGHAN MCCAIN also announced she’s leaving “The View” at the end of the month.Here’s ABC’s write-up. And The Hill, without any apparent inside knowledge, took a stab at a list of conservative women who might replace her. Like all decisions by the mainstream media about what conservatives to feature, the big question for ABC will be whether McCain’s replacement is pro- or anti-DONALD TRUMP.
And speaking of deleting postings, The Daily Caller, which Carlson co-founded a decade ago before leaving last year, erased a tweet Thursday linking to its own story on Lippman’s report. We couldn’t find the story on its homepage, either.
TWO MUST-READS ON SCOTUS’ MAJOR VOTING RIGHTS DECISION:
2) Ron Brownstein in The Atlantic with an analysis of what it means politically: “While the ruling signals long odds for the Justice Department’s effort to challenge those [restrictive state] laws (starting with Georgia’s) in court, civil- and voting-rights advocates might welcome the clarity the decision provides. It makes plain that if Congress doesn’t establish new federal standards, the nation is headed toward a two-tier voting system, with red states imposing ever-tightening restrictions that especially burden Democratic-leaning constituencies—young, minority, and lower-income voters.
“It’s no coincidence that red states are imposing these restrictions precisely as Millennials and Gen Zers, who represent the most racially diverse generations in American history, are rapidly increasing their share of the total vote. … The rise of those younger generations especially threatens the GOP hold on Sun Belt states such as Georgia, Texas, and Arizona, which Republicans now control through their dominance of older and non-urban white voters; in that way, the voting restrictions Republicans are enacting amount to stacking sandbags against a rising tide of demographic change.”
NEXT STEPS ON THE SENATE INFRASTRUCTURE BILL — The band is back together. Last week there was some drama when several members of the group of 21 senators that backed the bipartisan infrastructure framework threatened to walk away from the deal.
But even LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-S.C.) is now back on board after telling us he’d have to be a “fucking idiot” to support a deal that Biden threatened to veto. Once Biden clarified that there was no veto threat, Graham returned to the table. “I think it had the intended effect,” he told us Thursday evening.
Next up: The 21 senators have divvied up the various spending (highway funding, airports, broadband, etc.) and revenue-raising (IRS enforcement, unused Covid relief funds, etc.) categories in the framework into working groups that are responsible for drafting legislative text.
Graham told us that he volunteered to be a lead on the pay-fors, which is the most fraught part of the plan. “It’s one thing to talk about the deal conceptually, and another one to write it,” Graham said.
Some of the Senate groups are expected to have their work finished as soon as next week. The low-hanging fruit should be easy to draft. It doesn’t take much to write legislative language to rescind money. But other portions of the bill will take longer. For example, the section on expanding broadband, a $65 billion part of the plan, is especially tricky to translate into text.
COUNTERINTUITIVE TAKE OF THE DAY: Alexi McCammond, now back at Axios, reports, “Some progressives are distancing themselves from Sen. BERNIE SANDERS.” She looks at the campaign of NINA TURNER, who was Bernie’s 2020 campaign co-chair and is now running to represent Ohio’s 11th District. In a district that went for Biden over Bernie in the Democratic primary, Turner has been running on Bernie’s policies but not his brand name despite the fact that the famous senator has endorsed her. “When I’m knocking door-to-door, people aren’t asking me about endorsements,” Turner tells McCammond.
INFLUENCE FOR SALE — “One of the most Biden-connected firms in D.C. is exploring a sale,” by Theo Meyer and Alex Thompson: “The firm, Precision Strategies, was co-founded by President Joe Biden’s deputy chief of staff, JEN O’MALLEY DILLON, and STEPHANIE CUTTER, a top adviser on the Biden-blessed outside group Building Back Together. According to a person familiar with the matter, talks have taken place recently about selling the company, whose profile has risen following Biden’s victory.”
WHY CONGRESS IS STILL CAUTIOUS ON CANNABIS: Eight — that’s how many states have passed some form of cannabis legalization since November. And even though marijuana is gaining popularity in conservative states, that’s not breaking through with GOP senators on Capitol Hill. Cannabis reporter Natalie Fertig and Tara discuss the growing cannabis dissonance between Republican senators and voters in their home states, and why Senate Majority Leader CHUCK SCHUMER shouldn’t be optimistic about passing federal legislation. Listen and subscribe to Playbook Deep Dive
BIDEN’S FRIDAY:
— 9:30 a.m.: The president will receive the President’s Daily Brief.
— 10:15 a.m.: Biden will speak about the June jobs report.
— 11:40 a.m.: Biden will welcome the World Series championship Los Angeles Dodgers team to the White House, with VP KAMALA HARRIS also attending.
— 12:30 p.m.: Biden and Harris will have lunch together.
— 2:30 p.m.: Biden will take part in a naturalization ceremony for new citizens, timed to the Fourth of July weekend, with DHS Secretary ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS and acting USCIS Director TRACY RENAUD also attending.
— 5 p.m.: Biden and first lady JILL BIDEN will speak to the National Education Association’s annual meeting and representative assembly at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.
HARRIS’ FRIDAY: After her events with Biden, the VP will leave at 3:45 p.m. for Los Angeles, where she’ll stay overnight.
Press secretary JEN PSAKI will brief at 12:30 p.m.
THE HOUSE will meet at 11:30 a.m. in a pro forma session. THE SENATE is out.
PLAYBOOK READS
THE TRUMP ORG/WEISSELBERG INDICTMENTS
‘OH’ — “‘Garden-variety corruption’: The long, underwhelming arm of the law comes down on the Trump Organization,” by Josh Gerstein and Betsy Woodruff Swan: “The long-awaited indictment of the Trump Organization and one of its top executives on Thursday generated an immense range of responses — from predictions of former President Donald Trump’s imminent legal doom to, well, shrugs. ‘If you had told me a year ago when this stuff was at the Supreme Court that this is what it would ultimately be about, I would have said, “Oh,”’ said BENJAMIN WITTES, who helms Lawfare, a legal website with ties to the Brookings Institution
“‘It’s underwhelming in substance and scope and range. … It reads like very garden-variety corruption,’ Wittes added of the charges revealed on Thursday.”
DIGGING INTO HIS NEW APP — “Trumpworld App Is Bankrolled by Fugitive Chinese Billionaire,” by The Daily Beast’s Will Sommer, Adam Rawnsley and Asawin Suebsaeng: “A new social media network led by Trump adviser JASON MILLER is backed by a fugitive Chinese billionaire who once invited STEVE BANNON to live on his yacht. On Thursday, Miller announced the launch of ‘Gettr,’ a new social media app aimed at conservatives that promises to be ‘cancel-free.’ Trump fans wary of social media censorship on more prominent platforms like Twitter and Facebook started to sign up for the platform after Politico reported on the existence of the new site.
“What’s not made clear to Gettr’s new users, though, is that the site received initial funding from a foundation owned by Chinese billionaire GUO WENGUI and his family. In an interview with The Daily Beast on Thursday, Miller said Guo’s ‘family foundation’ provided Gettr with early funding.”
POLICY CORNER
A BIG MOVE BY DOJ — “Federal executions halted; Garland orders protocols reviewed,” by AP’s Michael Balsamo, Colleen Long and Michael Tarm: “The Justice Department is halting federal executions after a historic use of capital punishment by the Trump administration, which carried out 13 executions in six months. Attorney General MERRICK GARLAND made the announcement Thursday night, saying he was imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Justice Department conducts a review of its policies and procedures. He gave no timetable.”
SHOTS FIRED —“Biden’s antitrust chair gets off to an aggressive start,”by Leah Nylen:“The Federal Trade Commission’s first meeting under new Chair LINA KHAN broke decades of precedent Thursday by taking place in public — something unheard-of for the notably secretive antitrust and consumer protection agency. Then it pushed through a series of actions on progressive Democrats’ wish list: Fines for companies that lie about products being ‘Made in America.’ Greater latitude for launching antitrust probes and lawsuits. And a wider door to writing new regulations — something else the FTC hasn’t done much of in decades.
“All this came despite fierce objections from the commission’s two Republicans, in a sign that partisan rancor is also back in vogue at the Biden-era FTC.”
DEFICIT METER — “U.S. deficit to hit $3 trillion in 2021, then fade as stimulus relief expires, CBO says,”by WaPo’s Jeff Stein: “The deficit represents a slight decrease from last year but is triple that of 2019, and amounts to one of the biggest imbalances between federal spending and revenue in American history, the nonpartisan budget office said. But the CBO also projected faster-than-expected economic growth, with unemployment falling more sharply than previously predicted — a shift cheered by administration officials.
“In 2021, the federal government is projected to spend $6.8 trillion — higher than even last year’s total — while collecting about $3.8 trillion in revenue. Although spending is elevated from last year, the United States will take in more revenue as the pandemic fades and consumers resume normal activities — which is why the overall deficit will shrink modestly.”
PILL PROBLEMS — Molly Jong-Fastwrites for Vogue that “Republicans have started to blur the lines between birth control and abortion in the hopes of making it harder for American women to obtain either.
“And nowhere is this clearer than in the Missouri statehouse, where lawmakers debated whether they needed to restrict Medicaid coverage of birth control and limit payments to Planned Parenthood. Yes, as the Kansas City Star reported, lawmakers there spent hours last week in a discussion that ‘resembled a remedial sex-education course.’ It was a tricky play, attacking birth control as a way to attack abortion, and it didn’t work…this time.”
DEATH AND TAXES — “U.S. Wins International Backing for Global Minimum Tax,” by WSJ’s Paul Hannon and Kate Davidson: “Officials from 130 countries that met virtually agreed Thursday to the broad outlines of what would be the most sweeping change in international taxation in a century. Among them were all of the Group of 20 major economies, including China and India, which previously had reservations about the proposed overhaul. Those governments now will seek to pass laws ensuring that companies headquartered in their countries pay a minimum tax rate of at least 15 percent in each of the nations in which they operate, reducing opportunities for tax avoidance.”
HILLBILLY ELEGY WATCH — “J.D. Vance announces Senate bid, joins crowded GOP primary,”Cincinnati Enquirer: “Author and venture capitalist J.D. Vance kicked off his bid for U.S. Senate Thursday, joining a crowded GOP field after months of hinting at a run for office. … Vance joins a slew of other Republicans clamoring for the chance to replace retiring Sen. ROB PORTMAN, including former Ohio Republican Party chair JANE TIMKEN, former state treasurer JOSH MANDEL, car dealer BERNIE MORENO and investment banker MIKE GIBBONS. Running so far on the Democratic side is U.S. Rep. TIM RYAN.”
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Conservative TV commentator TUDOR DIXON has hired a handful current and former Trump advisers to run her Michigan gubernatorial campaign. They include SUSIE WILES, who now oversees Trump’s political operation; TAYLOR BUDOWICH, who is advising DONALD TRUMP JR. and KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE; and Trump 2020 alum JAMES BLAIR. Dixon has also hired CHARLIE SPIES as her election lawyer andRep. ELISE STEFANIK’S (R-N.Y.) finance director, CARA MASON.
TV TONIGHT — PBS’ “Washington Week”: Yasmeen Abutaleb, Jonathan Lemire, Ayesha Rascoe and Jonathan Swan.
SUNDAY SO FAR …
CBS
“Face the Nation”: Jeff Zients … Surfside, Fla., Mayor Charles Burkett … Oregon Gov. Kate Brown … Utah Gov. Spencer Cox … Rep. André Carson (D-Ind.) … Scott Gottlieb.
ABC
“This Week”: Jeff Zients … Gen. Austin “Scott” Miller … West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice. Panel: Averi Harper, LZ Granderson, Mary Jordan and Molly Ball.
FOX
“Fox News Sunday”: Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) … Tom Frieden. Panel: Charles Hurt, Catherine Lucey and Juan Williams. Power Player: James Patterson.
MSNBC
“The Sunday Show”: Ruth Marcus … Michael Osterholm … Minnesota A.G. Keith Ellison … Gloria Avent-Kindred … Mitch Landrieu … Laurie Garrett.
Gray TV
“Full Court Press,” with a special episode filmed in West Virginia about the opioid epidemic:Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.).
CNN
“Inside Politics”: Panel: Nancy Cook, Melanie Zanona, Zolan Kanno-Youngs, Jeremy Diamond and Joan Biskupic.
NBC
“Meet the Press”: Panel: Audie Cornish, Adam Grant and Kate Snow.
PLAYBOOKERS
THERE BUT FOR THE GRACE OF GOD …
IS MR. HARDBALL STAGING A COMEBACK?— Early last month, Chris Matthews wasback on TV launching a book tour on the network from which he retired after admitting to sexist workplace behavior. He went on NBC’s “Today” show, followed by a lovefest on MSNBC, including “Morning Joe,” “The 11th Hour with Brian Williams,” “The Sunday Show with Jonathan Capehart” and the show that replaced his “Hardball” timeslot, “The ReidOut with Joy Reid.”
Then, last week, Matthews was on MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” reminding viewers that he was once a Capitol Police officer before he became a Hill staffer. “I felt violated,” he said of the Jan. 6 attack.
So is this a soft launch for another act?
Nope. Matthews told Playbook he’s officially hung it up. “I’m 75 years old and I gotta put things in perspective. I was grateful that they were having me back. It felt great. There’s nothing there.”
This is a man who, by his own count, logged some 50,000 minutes on air.
“I’m not going to say ‘no, no, no’ if my friends invite me. I will say ‘yes,’” he said. “I have a sense of history, I can put things in perspective.”
Matthews, hawking his new book, said that if we really want to know how he feels, we should read the “Hardball” chapter in “This Country: My Life in Politics and History.” And no, he wouldn’t give us a press copy when we asked.
“You have to buy the book,” he said.
Just the call seemed to intrigue Matthews — people are talking about him again on TV. He assigned Playbook to find out if any network execs were considering it.
“Look around and tell me if there’s anything I don’t know,” he said.
We’re on it.
SPOTTED: Second gentleman Doug Emhoff at Walters Sports Bar before the Nationals-Dodgers game Thursday (decked out in Dodgers gear).
NOT A CROOK — “Inside Broke Roger Stone’s Very ‘Shady’ Condo Purchase,”Daily Beast: “The federal government says longtime Donald Trump confidant Roger Stone owes $2 million in unpaid taxes. And while the Department of Justice is taking Stone to court in a civil suit with no criminal charges, at the center of its case is a curious transaction: a $400,000 mortgage loan for a condo.
“The government’s complaint lays out a complicated scheme. It describes the condo purchase as an overt act of fraud, and claims a right to seize the property. Essentially, prosecutors say, Stone and his wife Nydia used $140,000 from a private company they already held (Drake Ventures) for a down payment on a condo. Picking up the rest of the tab—almost exactly $400,000—was a mortgage lender.
“That lender, a private individual who would only talk to The Daily Beast on the condition that we not print his name, said he had been misled and likely wouldn’t have granted the loan if he had known the full picture.”
MEDIAWATCH — Charlotte Clymer announced a one-year, six-figure deal with Substack to further develop her blog Charlotte’s Web Thoughts. She most recently was director of comms at Catholics for Choice, and is a Human Rights Campaign alum.
STAFFING UP — Kathryn Mitchell-Thomas is now team chief for research and engineering in the office of the assistant secretary of Defense for legislative affairs. She most recently was a strategic comms consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, and is a Jim Langevin and Albio Sires alum.
NSC DEPARTURE LOUNGE — Henry Haggard has left the National Security Council, where he was director for European affairs. He is now minister-counselor for political affairs at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, South Korea.
TRANSITIONS — Michael Pratt is now senior group director for strategic policy, advocacy and government comms at Real Chemistry. He previously was chief comms officer for Operation Warp Speed in the Trump administration. … Veronica Bonilla will be director of media relations at BAE Systems. She previously was media director at the Aerospace Industries Association.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Jonathan Capehart … Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.), Randy Weber (R-Texas) and Burgess Owens (R-Utah) (7-0) … Eric Fanning of the Aerospace Industries Association … Brad Todd of On Message … POLITICO’s Brooke Minters, Cristina Rivero, Graph Massara, Setota Hailemariam and Julian Garcia-Kasimirowski … Scott McGee of Kelley Drye … Derek Gianino of Wells Fargo … Matthew Dybwad of Xandr … Collin Davenport … Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots … Courtney Geduldig of S&P Global … Matthew L. Schwartz … Snap’s Gina Woodworth … Ben Wyskida … Sophie Zeigler … Arkadi Gerney … Jean Cecil Frick … Sam Nitz … Emily Stanitz … Reed Howard … Sammi McClain … Katherine Lehr … former New Hampshire Gov. John H. Sununu … former Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) … Luci Baines Johnson … Berrin Tunçel … Jeremy Garlington (52) … Keith Morrison of NBC’s “Dateline”
Send Playbookers tips to playbook@politico.com. Playbook couldn’t happen without our editor Mike Zapler, deputy editor Zack Stanton and producers Allie Bice, Eli Okun and Garrett Ross.
A gift from France, it weighs 450,000 lbs, and stands on a pedestal base, rising 305 feet from the ground to the top of its torch.
One of the early immense statues was built c.280 BC, the Colossus of Rhodes — one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
It was over 100 feet high, with feet astride the entrance under which ships sailed into the harbor of the Greek island.
Another was the Colossus of Nero, built c.64 AD, also around 100 feet high.
Rome’s nearby amphitheater supposedly took its name from it — the Colosseum.
In 1869, the French completed the 120 mile long Suez Canal, which revolutionized sea travel in the Eastern Hemisphere by reducing the route from London to the Arabian Sea by 5,500 miles.
French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi spent two years designing a lighthouse depicting a woman standing at the entrance to the canal, to guide ships.
Unfortunately, Ismail Pasha, the Khedive (Viceroy) of Egypt and Sudan, could not afford it.
Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi later designed the Statue of Liberty Enlightening the World as a gift to America.
It was inspired by the classical female personification of liberty, referred to as “Lady Liberty,” or in France, “Marianne,” which became popular after the French Revolution.
The statue was constructed by Gustave Eiffel, the builder of the Eiffel Tower.
Bartholdi wrote:
“The statue was born for this place which inspired its conception.
May God be pleased to bless my efforts and my work, and to crown it with success, the duration and the moral influence which it ought to have.”
At the Statue’s dedication ceremony, Reverend Richard S. Storrs prayed:
“Our Heavenly Father … by whose counsel and might the courses of the worlds are wisely ordained and irresistibly established … We bless and praise Thee …
It is in Thy favor, and through the operation of the Gospel of Thy Grace, that cities stand in quiet prosperity; that peaceful commerce covers the seas …
We pray that the Liberty which it represents may continue … for all the nations of the earth;
that in equity and charity their sure foundations may be established … that they may be ever the joyful servants of Him to whose holy dominion and kingdom shall be no end.”
Dwight Eisenhower remarked April 8, 1954:
“I have just come from … the dedication of a new stamp … The stamp has on it a picture of the Statue of Liberty and ‘In God We Trust’ …
It represents … a Nation whose greatness is based on a firm unshakeable belief that all of us mere mortals are dependent upon the mercy of a Superior Being.”
Franklin Roosevelt spoke welcoming those legally immigrating and desiring to assimilate, October 17, 1939:
“Remembering the words written on the Statue of Liberty, let us lift a lamp beside new golden doors and build new refuges for the tired, for the poor, for the huddled masses yearning to be free.”
In the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, on a bronze plaque, is the poem “The New Colossus,” written in 1883 by the American Jewish poet Emma Lazarus:
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus’ poem of inspired Rose Hawthorne Lathrop, the daughter of American poet Nathanial Hawthorne, to found the Dominican Sisters of Hawthorne in 1900 to care for those dying of cancer.
Emma Lazarus’ poem was turned into a song in the 1949 musical “Miss Liberty,” composed by Irving Berlin, the Jewish composer of “God Bless America.”
On the Statue of Liberty’s 50th Anniversary, OCTOBER 28, 1936, Franklin D. Roosevelt stated:
“Millions … adopted this homeland because … the things they most desired could be theirs – freedom of opportunity, freedom of thought, freedom to worship God …”
FDR added:
“Rulers … increase their power over the common men.
The seamen they sent to find that gold found instead the way of escape for the common man from those rulers.
What they found over the Western horizon was not the silk and jewels of Cathay but mankind’s second chance – a chance to create a new world after he had almost spoiled an old one.
The Almighty seems purposefully to have withheld that second chance until the time when men would most need and appreciate liberty …”
FDR continued:
“For over three centuries a steady stream of men, women and children followed the beacon of liberty …
They brought to us strength and moral fiber developed in a civilization centuries old but fired anew by the dream of a better life …
The overwhelming majority of those who came from … the Old World to our American shores were not the laggards, not the timorous, not the failures …”
FDR ended:
“They were men and women who had the supreme courage to strike out for themselves, to abandon language and relatives, to start at the bottom without influence, without money …
Perhaps Providence did prepare this American continent to be a place of the second chance.”
Relighting the Statue of Liberty, July 3, 1986, Ronald Reagan said:
“I’ve always thought that a Providential Hand had something to do with the founding of this country, that God had His reasons for placing this land here between two great oceans to be found by a certain kind of people.”
John Adams wrote in his notes on A Dissertation on the Canon and Feudal Law, 1765:
“I always consider the settlement of America with reverence and wonder,
as the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth.”
Ben Franklin warned in Pennsylvania Assembly’s Reply to the Governor, November 11, 1755:
“They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Thomas Jefferson wrote to James Madison, January 30, 1787:
“Under governments of force … it is a government of wolves over sheep … Malo periculosam, libertatem quam quietam servitutem (Latin for” I prefer the tumult of liberty to the quiet of servitude.)”
President John F. Kennedy proclaimed October 28, 1961:
“We give thanks … for the heritage of liberty bequeathed by our ancestors which we are privileged to preserve for our children and our children’s children …
I ask the head of each family to recount to his children the story of the first New England Thanksgiving, thus to impress upon future generations the heritage of this nation born in toil, in danger, in purpose,
and in the conviction that right and justice and freedom can through man’s efforts persevere and come to fruition with the blessing of God.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote:
“America is another name for opportunity. Our whole history appears like a last effort of Divine Providence in behalf of the human race.”
“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away,” (Revelation 21:4, ESV).
Shane Vander Hart: The Supreme Court ruling is a win for donors’ privacy and association rights for any charitable organization regardless of its ideology.
A total of 130 nations representing more than 90 percent of global GDP have agreed to a global minimum corporate tax, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen announced Thursday. The tax, proposed by Yellen and the Biden administration during the G7 conference, would establish a minimum corporate tax rate across all participating countries …
Former Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams purchased two homes worth a combined $1.4 million following her failed 2018 bid to lead the state, public records reviewed by the Daily Caller News Foundation show. Abrams purchased the homes despite reporting in a financial disclosure in early 2018 during her gubernatorial …
Pinterest announced it will ban all ads centered around weight loss, including ones that promote or degrade specific body types in a Thursday blog post. The digital image-sharing site stated in the post that it will prohibit ads that include testimonials about weight loss, promote weight loss products or reference …
Months after its initial requests, a congressional committee investigating COVID-19’s origins is still awaiting answers from a U.S.-funded group that worked with a Wuhan lab considered a possible origin of COVID-19. Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee requested EcoHealth Alliance President Peter Daszak answer questions about his group’s …
The search and rescue mission underway at a collapsed condominium in Surfside, Florida, was halted Thursday due to safety concerns over the remaining part of the building, Reuters reported. There are concerns that the rest of the building could collapse after moving debris were identified, Reuters reported. Workers at the …
A.F. Branco coffee table book “Keep America Laughing (at the left)” ORDER HERE Donations/Tips accepted and appreciated – $1.00 – $5.00 – $25.00 – $50.00 – $100 – it all helps to fund this website and keep the cartoons coming. Also Venmo @AFBranco – THANK YOU! Biden and the Democrats own the rising crime and …
Happy Friday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. Even the people who work at Speedo don’t wear Speedos.
I have written a lot these past few years about why I do and do not miss my beloved California. As I wrote in 2018, California left me more than I left it. The Golden State is still one of the most glorious places on Earth. It is also the greatest proof of how Democrats can ruin things.
When you take away the politics, everything about California is breathtaking. Sadly, Democrats dominate politics in the state and have for quite some time. As all sane people are aware, Democrats shouldn’t be left in charge of anything.
Ever.
If ever a governor needed to be recalled, it’s California’s Gavin Newsom. Newsom has spent more than a year jockeying with Andrew Cuomo and Gretchen Whitmer for the title of “Worst Governor in America” based on their responses to the COVID pandemic.
Unlike New York, California law allows for the recall of governors. It’s also one of only two states to have ever successfully recalled a governor. All signs were pointing to Newsom getting the boot, but it’s starting to look like he may wriggle his way out of the predicament.
The corrupt way in which California Governor Gavin Newsom rigged his recall election once again confirms why 1.7 million state voters signed the recall petition against him.
Newsom and his fellow Democrats reduced the state to the Banana Republic of California with their shameful moves leading to the September 14 recall date.
Ballots will begin flooding to Californians’ mail boxes — whether they asked for them or not under COVID-19 “emergency” rules — in mid-August because Newsom and his cronies changed the rules to move up the election by 30 days.
As I reported in February at PJ Media, the Democrats had a game plan for how to make an end-run around angry voters that included several things Newsom and his team are doing right now.
It would be great if California could get rid of the tyrant Newsom but that wouldn’t guarantee an improvement. As I wrote in March, California has a neverending parade of horrible Democrats. You get rid of one, another who is almost always worse shows up as a replacement. The leftist rot is complete there.
More and more, it looks like Newsom will be able to buy his way out of being recalled. That means that California will continue to hemorrhage residents to my beloved Arizona and Texas. California is the most populous state in America, so it can shrug off the people who are fleeing it.
PJ Media senior columnist and associate editor Stephen Kruiser is a professional stand-up comic, writer, and recovering political activist who edits and writes PJ’s Morning Briefing, aka The Greatest Political Newsletter in America. His latest book, Straight Outta Feelings, is a humorous exploration of how the 2016 election made him enjoy politics more than he ever had before. When not being a reclusive writer, Kruiser has had the honor of entertaining U.S. troops all over the world. Follow on: Gab, Parler, MeWe
Happy Friday! A couple pieces of housekeeping before we started:
Given the federal holiday, there will be no TMD on Monday. We hope you have a wonderful and safe Fourth of July weekend, and we’ll see you right back in your inbox on Tuesday.
After 458 days of data collection, we’re officially retiring the COVID-19 chart. We hope you found it served its purpose: Keeping you up-to-date on the constantly evolving shape of the pandemic. May it rest in peace.
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on Thursday to uphold two Arizona voting restrictions that prohibit ballot harvesting and require residents to vote in-precinct. Democratic and activist groups had challenged the laws, alleging they disproportionately affected Arizona’s minority populations.
The Supreme Court also ruled 6-3 on Thursday to strike down a California law that required charities and non-profit organizations to report their largest donors’ names and addresses to the state. Writing for the majority, Chief Justice John Roberts argued the California law “burdens donors’ First Amendment rights and is not narrowly tailored to an important government interest.”
Reversing a Trump administration move, Attorney General Merrick Garland issued a memorandum on Thursday imposing a moratorium on federal executions while the Department of Justice conducts an internal review of its policies and procedures.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday named eight lawmakers to the newly formed select committee tasked with investigating the events of January 6. Democratic Rep. Bennie Thompson will chair the committee, and will be joined by fellow Democratic Reps. Zoe Lofgren, Adam Schiff, Pete Aguilar, Stephanie Murphy, Jamie Raskin, and Elaine Luria, as well as GOP Rep. Liz Cheney.
Allen Weisselberg, chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, pleaded not guilty on Thursday to criminal tax fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney. The indictment charged Weisselberg with not paying close to a million dollars in federal, state, and local taxes on ‘off the books’ compensation.
J.D. Vance—venture capitalist and best-selling author of Hillbilly Elegy—announced Thursday that he is joining the already crowded Republican primary to replace retiring Sen. Rob Portman in Ohio.
Initial jobless claims decreased by 51,000 week-over-week to 364,000 last week, the Labor Department reported on Thursday, the lowest level since March 14, 2020.
SCOTUS Goes Out With a Bang
(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.)
The Supreme Court handed down its final opinions of the summer yesterday, issuing rulings on voting rights and donor disclosure. In both cases, the court split 6-3 along ideological lines, a relatively infrequent occurrence before this point in the term.
In Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee, the Supreme Court upheld two Arizona voting restrictions—requiring residents to vote in-precinct and banning ballot harvesting—that the Democratic Party and a group of individual voters challenged back in 2016. The plaintiffs argued that the restrictions violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) and the 15th Amendment, both of which prohibit policies that effectively discriminate on the basis of race. While the Arizona law in question was facially neutral, the litigants alleged that the policies had an adverse and disparate impact on the state’s minority populations.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito maintained that the burdens imposed by Arizona’s out-of-precinct voting restriction were modest and that the state’s “compelling interest in preserving the integrity of its election procedures” justified its ban on ballot harvesting.
“The mere fact there is some disparity in impact does not necessarily mean that a system is not equally open or that it does not give everyone an equal opportunity to vote,” Alito wrote. “The size of any disparity matters.”
In her dissent, Justice Elena Kagan claimed the majority opinion undermined Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, giving “a cramped reading to broad language” and “using that reading to uphold two election laws from Arizona that discriminate against minority voters.”
The ongoing civil war in Ethiopia underwent a major reversal this week when Tigrayan forces took control of Mekelle, Tigray’s capital city, on Monday. The Tigrayan victory prompted the Ethiopian federal government to declare a “unilateral ceasefire” which was rejected by the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) as a “joke.” These developments put Ethiopia’s federal government on the defensive in the conflict—and are sure to exacerbate an already devastating humanitarian crisis.
The Tigray Defense Forces—which are closely affiliated with TPLF, the ruling political party of Tigray’s regional government—have been at war with Ethiopia’s federal government since November. After the Tigrayan government held scheduled elections in defiance of the federal government’s attempts to delay them, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed accused the TPLF of attacking a military base. For the last eight months, the Tigray Defense Forces have been fighting against the Ethiopian federal government, as well as Eritrea.
With a population of 110 million, Ethiopia is the second-largest country in Africa. Its constitution divides state power between a central federal government and several regional state governments. Meaza Gebremedhin, an independent international relations specialist originally from Tigray, told The Dispatch that “Abiy Ahmed and his political party want to have a strong centralized government that doesn’t give this kind of [federalist] power to nations and nationalities [the regional states]. They were on a mission to eradicate opposition political parties or nations that feel very strongly about their right to self-determination.”
As Emma Rogers chronicled in an article for The Dispatch last week, the humanitarian crisis created by the war has steadily worsened over the last eight months. In addition to widespread rapes and extrajudicial killings, “you’ve got 900,000 people in famine conditions, 2 million people who have been internally displaced, somewhere in the range of 100,000 refugees now in Sudan,” Judd Devermont, the director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told The Dispatch. Most electricity, water, and internet access has been cut off for months. A crucial bridge was bombed on Thursday—we don’t know yet by whom—making the region even more difficult for humanitarian workers to access. Samantha Power, the administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, described the situation as “disastrous” in a tweet on Thursday:
We are devastated to hear the Tekeze Bridge—one of the main supply routes into Tigray, Ethiopia—has been destroyed. This means aid efforts will be even more severely hampered amid the ongoing conflict. The IRC continues to call for unfettered humanitarian access to the region.
Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg pleaded not guilty Thursday to criminal tax fraud charges brought by the Manhattan district attorney. The indictment charged Weisselberg with not paying close to a million dollars in federal, state, and local taxes on “off-the-books” compensation including private school tuition, two car lease payments, and rent on a Manhattan apartment between 2005 and 2021.
The indictment alleged that the Trump Organization kept two sets of records for the purpose of defrauding the government—an internal ledger which detailed all of these perks to ensure that Weisselberg’s overall compensation did not exceed his agreed upon salary and another that excluded them to underreport his income to the taxing authorities.
“To put it bluntly, this was a sweeping and audacious illegal payments scheme,” said Assistant District Attorney Carey Dunne. “[It was] not the act of a rogue or isolated employee … [but] orchestrated by the most senior executives who were financially benefiting themselves and the company by getting secret pay raises at the expense of the state and federal taxpayers.”
If you haven’t noticed by now, we at The Dispatch spend a lot of time thinking about the future of journalism—and how we can be a part of a move toward something better. Chris Best, the co-founder of newsletter platform Substack (the platform The Dispatch uses), does too. In a post published yesterday, he explores some of the biggest problems with the current social media/ad-peddling model. “We have become conditioned to accept that viciously tearing down complete strangers online is normal and admirable, and that it is right and proper for a bad tweet from decades ago to ruin someone’s life. A new vocabulary—‘doom-scrolling!’ ‘hate-reading!’—is now necessary to capture how dysfunctional online activity has become. Even worse, these poisonous dynamics have leached into our offline lives, in the form of broken relationships, decreased attention spans, and damaged mental health,” he writes.
At some point before the Fourth, be sure to read this essay from Arthur Brooks on patriotism, nationalism, and happiness. “Nationalists may identify as patriots, and some people opposed to both ideologies might argue that they are equivalent,” he writes. “For national and individual well-being, though, distinguishing between them is important. Following Tocqueville and Orwell, we might define patriotism as civic pride in our democratic institutions and shared culture, and nationalism as a sense of superiority or identity, defined by demographics such as race, religion, or language. Modern social science finds a major quality-of-life difference between the two. In 2013, a cross-national team of political scientists measured the effects of each on the levels of social trust and voluntary association, both of which are strongly positively associated with personal well-being. They found that civic pride usually pushed both up, and ethnic pride pushed both down. Given the evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that patriotism, as we have traditionally understood it in the United States, is good for our happiness. Meanwhile, nationalism (under Orwell’s definition) is not.”
Chris Stirewalt is joined on the penultimate episode of The Hangover by his pastor, David Glade, for a discussion of the various sects of American Christendom and the future of religion in a politically divided nation.
David and Sarah assumed they’d kick off Thursday’s episode of Advisory Opinions with the final two Supreme Court rulings to close out the term, but they took a little detour to explain why Bill Cosby was freed from prison earlier this week. Plus: The latest regarding Florida’s new anti-Big Tech law.
Friend of The Dispatch Mo Elleithee returned to The Remnanton Thursday to join Jonah in breaking down Joe Biden’s first six months in office, assessing how far left the Democratic Party has shifted, and explaining why political Twitter is such a cesspool.
“There is nothing weird or strange about the responses of many millions of Republicans to January 6,” David writes in his latest French Press (🔒). “It looks a lot like cognitive dissonance, and it’s rooted in the sheer extent to which the events that Republicans watched on television contradicted core elements of their own identity. Angry men and women from the law and order party stormed the Capitol. Protesters from a movement that ‘backs the blue’ beat police officers with flagpoles.”
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44.) WORLD NET DAILY
45.) CONSERVATIVE BRIEF
46.) BIZPAC REVIEW
47.) ABC
July 2, 2021 – Having trouble viewing this email? Open it in your browser.
Morning Rundown
Biden visits Florida to meet with first responders, families impacted in Surfside collapse: President Joe Biden was on the ground in Surfside, Florida, Thursday following the partial collapse of a beachside condominium building last week that has killed at least 18 people. Biden met with local officials and thanked first responders in the ongoing search efforts. He also spent three hours speaking with the families, saying he thought it was important “to speak to every single person.” In public remarks, Biden said loved ones of those lost in the rubble asked him “heart-wrenching questions.” “To watch them and — they’re praying and pleading that, God, let there be a miracle,” he said. “Let there be something happen for me that’s good.” The massive search operation, which was in its eighth day, was halted for much of Thursday due to structural concerns, as officials worried about the remaining portion of the condo building also collapsing. By Thursday evening, the search and rescue mission resumed. Among the bodies most recently pulled from the rubble were two children, ages 4 and 10, according to Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. Meanwhile, as the cause of the partial collapse remains unknown and officials continue an investigation into the incident, a slew of lawsuits against the Champlain Towers South Condo Association have already been filed on behalf of survivors and victims, alleging the whole ordeal could have been avoided.
J&J vaccine seems to stand up against delta variant, preliminary research suggests: In reassuring news for the more than 12 million Americans who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, a new study indicates the single-shot inoculation will likely offer good protection against the delta variant, according to the company. In a laboratory experiment, researchers analyzed the blood of 10 people who had been vaccinated with the vaccine and tested it against multiple concerning variants, including delta. They found that the vaccine appeared to work against new variants, as indicated by so-called “neutralizing antibody titers” and other indications of immune system response. Another finding of the study was that the Johnson & Johnson shot appeared to have a strong immune system response eight months later. “I would say it’s reassuring,” Dr. Dan Barouch, director of the Center for Virology and Vaccine Research at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, who helped lead the research, told ABC News. “We saw surprisingly good durability of responses.” Meanwhile, the delta variant, which is believed to be more transmissible and more virulent than other strains, is becoming a major concern as it continues to spread. To help slow the spread, the White House said Tuesday that they plan to deploy surge response teams to hot spots where the variant presents the most risk to unvaccinated Americans.
Wealth management firm pulls out of Britney Spears’ conservatorship: Bessemer Trust, the wealth management firm approved to act as co-conservator over Britney Spears’ finances, has asked to be removed from the role. Attorneys for Bessemer Trust filed resignation paperwork Thursday, noting that Spears’ testimony on June 23 indicated the conservatorship was not voluntary, as the firm understood it to be. In documents from Bessemer Trust, it stated that the firm “desires to terminate the Conservatorship,” and “heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes.” Bessemer Trust, which was not authorized to act as a co-conservator until Wednesday, has not taken any actions in the position nor taken any fees, according to court documents. This comes one week after Spears pleaded with a judge to end her conservatorship. In November, she petitioned for her father, Jamie Spears, to be suspended as a conservator. But Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Brenda J. Penny declined to remove her father from his role and appointed Bessemer Trust as a co-conservator. Last month, Spears addressed a courtroom and pleaded to remove her father from her conservatorship. That formal order was also denied Wednesday. Once Bessemer Trust’s resignation is approved, Jamie Spears, the pop star’s father, will again be the sole conservator of his daughter’s estate.
Girls open lemonade stand to honor late sister and raise awareness for organ donation: Two girls are honoring their late sister in a big way. In West Jordan, Utah, sisters Myleigh and Makayla Madsen set up a lemonade stand to raise money for organ donations after their sister, Makenzie, who was born with congenital heart disease, died last year due to heart and kidney failure. She was 14 years old. “We just talked about what we could do because her anniversary is coming up,” the girls’ mother, Monica Madsen, told “GMA.” The idea for the lemonade stand was inspired by Makenzie herself, who would often set up a table and chair outside of their home and sell everything from baked goods to snow cones. The sisters said they want to use the stand to raise awareness on the importance of organ donation and how it can save lives. So far, the family has raised approximately $6,000 and will be donating all of the proceeds to DonorConnect. The family said it is wrapping up the lemonade stand for summer shortly, but plan to continue every year just like the family said Makenzie would have.
GMA Must-Watch
This morning on “GMA,” Lady A performs “What If I Never Get Over You” for our Summer Concert Series. Plus, Consumer Reports is out with its grill guide, offering tips on what you should be looking for when buying a grill, and which ones offer the best cooking temperatures, ease and more. And we’ll be at the summit of Pikes Peak in Colorado, where Rob Marciano is exploring all the beautiful nature the state has to offer. All this and more only on “GMA.”
This morning we are taking a deep dive into the delta variant of Covid-19, the legal case against the Trump Organization and the latest on the U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan. Plus, one joyful 82-year-old female pilot is finally going to get the chance to reach her lifelong goal and fly to space.
A more contagious variant of the coronavirus, known as delta, is spreading in the United States and around the world, causing a surge of cases in some countries and prompting several nations to introduce new lockdowns.
First identified in India, delta now accounts for 25 percent of new Covid-19 cases in the U.S., and is on track to become the dominant version of the virus circulating in the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
During a news briefing last week, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci called the delta variant the “greatest threat” to eliminating Covid-19 in the U.S.
By Dareh Gregorian and Gretchen Morgenson | Read more
While lawyers for the Trump organization dismissed the criminal charges against the company as prosecutorial overreach Thursday, legal analysts warned that the firm and a top aide face serious allegations.
U.S. military leaves Bagram Airfield, hands it to Afghans after nearly 20 years
After nearly 20 years, the U.S. military left Bagram Airfield, the epicenter of its war in Afghanistan, a senior U.S. military official with direct knowledge of the withdrawal confirmed to NBC News.
Despite a roiling culture war that has blown up at school board meetings and led to new legislation in statehouses across the country, teachers nationwide said K-12 schools are not requiring or pushing them to teach critical race theory, according to a survey obtained by NBC News. Trymaine Lee digs into the conservative uproar surrounding critical race theory on this weeks’ “Into America” podcast.
The Supreme Court decision to uphold two laws in Arizona has put fresh pressure on the Democratic-controlled Congress to pass federal voting legislation.
Gas grills are excellent for barbecues, but they are an investment. We consulted experts on the best ones to check out before you buy.
One fun thing
Sometimes good things come to those who wait.
Blue Origin’s Jeff Bezos announced Thursday that he had chosen an early female aerospace pioneer to rocket into space with him later this month.
Wally Funk, an 82-year-old pilot went through astronaut training in the 1960s, but never made it to space — or even NASA’s astronaut corps — because she was female.
“No one has waited longer,” Bezos said via Instagram. “It’s time. Welcome to the crew, Wally. We’re excited to have you fly with us on July 20th as our honored guest.”
Wally was speechless when she got the news, but her exuberant reaction says it all. If this video doesn’t bring a smile to your face, I don’t know what will!
Thanks for reading the Morning Rundown. Have a great 4th of July weekend! Be safe, but have fun!
If you have any comments — likes, dislikes — send me an email at: petra@nbcuni.com
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From NBC’s Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, and Carrie Dann
FIRST READ: The vaccination gap still looks a lot like America’s political divide
There continue to be Two Americas when it comes to the country’s race to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images
You have the blue, highly urban and mostly college-degree-heavy states that have met – or exceeded – President Biden’s goal of 70 percent of adults having at least one dose by July 4.
And you have the red, highly rural and mostly college-degree-light states that have come up way short.
Right now, 67 percent of American adults have received at least one dose, and the Biden White House had admitted it won’t meet that 70 percent goal in two days.
But to understand why, you have to look at the vaccination rates by state, according to CDC data, especially with the highly transmissible Delta variant spreading in the nation.
“It is clear that communities where people remain un-vaccinated are communities where people remain vulnerable,” said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky.
Here are the 20 states with the lowest rates.
Indeed, of the 19 states (including DC) that have already hit 70 percent, Joe Biden carried every single one in 2020.
And of the 17 states that have yet to surpass even 60 percent, Donald Trump won them all with one exception: Georgia.
By the way, these state rankings are pretty much unchanged whether you’re looking at adults 18 and older, or at 12 and older.
And they’re mostly unchanged from when we looked at them a month ago.
$1.7 million: The amount of Trump Org chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg’s income that he is now accused of personally avoiding paying taxes on.
33,813,832: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 13,340 more than yesterday morning.)
608,410: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News.(That’s 272 more than yesterday morning.)
328,152,304: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
43.2 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per NBC News.
57.7 percent: The share of all American adults over 18 who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.
TWEET OF THE DAY: Bye, bye Bagram
We have a date for the California recall
September 14.
That’s the date that California Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis set on Thursday for the upcoming recall election against Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.
This is important, per Politico: “The scores of contenders seeking to replace Newsom will now have about two weeks to officially declare their candidacies before a July 16 filing deadline. That also creates an intense time crunch for Newsom’s efforts to correct a legal error and be listed as a Democrat on the ballot: Newsom’s lawyers are due to argue their case in court July 9, about a week before elections officials will finalize the list of candidates.”
VA-GOV: McAuliffe camp seizes on Youngkin’s business record
Also on Thursday, the AP reported on GOP gubernatorial nominee Glenn Youngkin’s record at the Carlyle Group, a private-equity firm.
“More than 1,000 jobs were moved offshore in recent years as companies were restructured. Hundreds more were laid off after Carlyle instituted a series of cost-cutting measures at a nationwide nursing home chain; complaints of deteriorating service and neglect followed,” the AP writes.
“There are no allegations of illegality or wrongdoing, but Youngkin’s political aspirations have drawn new scrutiny to his dealings at the Washington-based investment firm, where he generated a net worth estimated at over $300 million before retiring as co-CEO last summer.”
McAuliffe fired back, “Glenn Youngkin is an American job killer. He is unfit to lead our Commonwealth.”
Meanwhile, Youngkin this week released his education plan, which includes protecting advanced math classes and the use of advanced diplomas.
Happy 4th of July
Our newsletter will be off next week, returning on July 12. Have a great holiday.
ICYMI: What ELSE is happening in the world?
Legal analysts say that the Trump Organization may really be in hot water after yesterday’s indictment.
After yesterday’s Supreme Court decision, voting rights activists are concerned that it will be harder to challenge new GOP voting laws around the country.
It’s official: Nancy Pelosi has named Liz Cheney to the January 6 select committee.
Search and rescue teams in Surfside, Florida are back to work after safety concerns halted their operation. President Biden and the first lady visited impacted families yesterday. Also, the Boy Scouts of America have reached an $850 million settlement with alleged victims of sexual abuse. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.
The Delta variant has now been identified in all 50 states. In Arkansas, hospitalizations are climbing, due in large part to the Delta variant. The state also has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country. CBS News lead national correspondent David Begnaud spoke with the state’s governor.
The parents of teenage motorcyclist Harry Dunn gave evidence under oath in the United States as part of a damages claim against their son’s alleged killer, Anne Sacoolas. CBS correspondent Imtiaz Tyab reports the latest developments in the Dunn family’s fight for justice.
Brian Kelly, CEO and founder of “The Points Guy,” joins “CBS This Morning” to share important reminders about navigating crowded airports, plus tips on renting cars and vacation homes this summer.
Principal Jeff Reaves wanted to personally congratulate members of the Matanzas High School class of 2021 after the pandemic disrupted their final year and a half of high school. So he handwrote 459 notes – one for each graduate. Nancy Chen reports.
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55.) REALCLEARPOLITICS MORNING NOTE
07/02/2021
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Carl Cannon’s Morning Note
More on RCP’s Poll; Donor Privacy; Quote of the Week
By Carl M. Cannon on Jul 02, 2021 09:12 am
Good morning, it’s Friday, July 2, 2021, the day of the week when I reprise quotations intended to be uplifting or educational. Today, I’m borrowing from President Reagan, with an assist from the Los Angeles Dodgers — and the intrepid Russian people. Bear with me. The Dodgers are in Washington this weekend to play the Nationals in a four-game set pitting the 2020 World Series winner against the 2019 champs.
Yes, it would have been better for the home team had last night’s storm arrived about 15 minutes earlier, before Nats starter Patrick Corbin gave up a grand slam, but I digress. My real point is that the Dodgers are visiting the White House today, where they will be greeted by President Biden. It’s the first time since the coronavirus pandemic that a professional sports champion has followed the custom of being hosted by the president. And it’s been a while for the Dodgers. The last time they were at the White House was Oct. 26, 1988, when Ronald Reagan was in office.
I’ll have more on that in a moment. First, I’d point you to RCP’s front page, which presents our poll averages, videos, breaking news stories, and aggregated opinion pieces spanning the political spectrum. We also offer original material from our own reporters, columnists, and contributors, including the following:
* * *
RCP’s Patriotism Poll: What Applying Controls Tells Us. Sean Trende engages in some regression analysis to better compare racial groups’ views when controlling for income, education or other factors.
Donor Privacy Protects All Charitable Giving. Lawson Bader responds to yesterday’s Supreme Court ruling in a case that would have forced nonprofits operating in California to reveal the names and addresses of its top donors.
Attempts at Progressive “Resistance” in PA’s Heartland. Andrew Cuff assesses activists’ efforts to mobilize against entrenched conservatives in Westmoreland County.
Will Eviction Moratorium Harm Some of Those It’s Intended to Help? At RealClearMarkets, Aaron Brown explains the downstream problems likely to result from the politically popular policy.
Monetary Panel’s Pessimistic Views on Inflation. Also at RCM, John Hirschauer recaps a forum of financial experts convened this week by the American Enterprise Institute.
How Jacob Riis Brought Urban Reform to America. At RealClearHistory, Hal Rogers revisits the journalist’s influence, which skyrocketed following publication of “How the Other Half Lives” in Scribner’s magazine in 1889.
* * *
By late October 1988, President Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan were showing signs of their eagerness to return to California. There was an election to win first, though, and Reagan was doing his part by campaigning for Vice President George H.W. Bush and other Republican candidates, but there was a twinkle in his eye when he mentioned going home.
Two days after the Dodgers’ visit to the White House, Reagan appeared at the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles where he spoke about foreign policy before taking audience questions. In that brief speech, delivered in the twilight of the Cold War, Reagan made two observations. First, he said, “thanks to the perseverance of the American people and her allies … lights are going on all over the world — the lights of freedom.” Reagan then added a cautionary note.
“It’s truly ironic that even as those Western insights and traditions — the tinder and fuel of human liberty — start fires all across the world, here at home they are called into question,” he said. “Their legitimacy as areas of required study on some of our campuses is even questioned.”
Well, 33 years later, that concern has proven prescient. But Reagan didn’t use angry words to make his point. He used humor. He’d even prefaced his remarks that evening with light banter about being a private citizen again, “We’ve already started to bring a few items back with us from the White House,” he said. “When we came out here — Nancy had me bringing several rolls of paper for lining shelves.”
“As you may have heard, the Dodgers came to the White House on Wednesday,” Reagan added. “They were awfully nice; they volunteered to bring a lamp back to Los Angeles.”
Reagan ended his World Affairs Council appearance on a similar light note, though the subject was more serious. He told the audience that he had been collecting the jokes told among people in the Soviet Union. The people there used gallows humor to deal with to the chronic shortages in goods and services that beset the people of the U.S.S.R., along with their lack of freedom. Reagan told one of them:
“For example, you know, in the Soviet Union, for a private citizen to buy an automobile there is a 10-year waiting period. So, one of their stories has to do with that. This man is finally — you have to put the money down, too, 10 years in advance. So, this man has gone in, and he’s doing all the signing, all the papers, and putting out his money. And finally, when he makes that final signature, the man behind the counter said, ‘Now, come back in 10 years and take delivery.’ And he said, ‘Morning or afternoon?’ And the man … behind the counter said, ‘Well, 10 years from now, what difference does it make?’ ‘Well,’ he said, ‘the plumber’s coming in the morning.'”
Reagan was right about these jokes: Many of them came to be known by Russians as “Armenian Radio jokes.” The typical set-up was a one-line question, and then the one-line answer — more revealing than intended — from a government functionary towing the official line. Like this:
Q: This is Armenian Radio. Our listeners ask us: Is there a difference between capitalism and communism?
A: In principle, yes. In capitalism, man exploits man. In communism, it’s the reverse.
My favorite of this genre invoked Ronald Reagan himself.
Q: This is Armenian Radio. Our listeners ask us: Is it true that there is freedom of speech in the Soviet Union the same as there is the U.S.A.?
A: In principle, yes. In America, you can stand in front of the Washington Monument, and yell, “Down with Reagan!” and you will not be punished. In the Soviet Union, you can stand in the Red Square in Moscow and yell, “Down with Reagan!” and you will not be punished.
And that’s our (still relevant) quote of the week.
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62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST
63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
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July 2, 2021
Does Classical Liberalism Need Intersectionality Theory?
By Phillip W. Magness | “If you still hold out hope that classical liberal thought can be constructively reconciled with intersectionality theory in a way that meets Crenshaw’s own terms, I can only suggest that you are likely being as dismissive…
By Art Carden | “Nothing is stopping commentators or humanitarians from starting a competing enterprise–call it HeartMart–run by a team of executives who are just as able as the people running Walmart but who are less greedy and, therefore,…
By Robert E. Wright | “Despite the costly consequences of bad policies, Americans just won’t give up their beloved policy lotteries. Many date to the New Deal and Progressive eras and hence were deliberately and structurally racist. Yet somehow the..
Supreme Court Grants Rare Win For Economic Freedom
By Ethan Yang | “The Court’s decision marks a step in the right direction towards a judicial regime that enforces the Constitution and does not view it as simply a welcome mat for the ambitions of state actors. Although it is only one decision, it…
Manufacturing Sector Sees Strong Demand but Struggles…
By Robert Hughes | The Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 60.6 in June, a drop of 0.6 points over the 61.2 percent result in May. June is the 13th consecutive reading above the neutral 50 threshold…
By Barry Brownstein | “In 1644 John Milton wrote, ‘He who destroys a good book, kills reason itself.’ Today, acknowledge the destructive consequences of censorship. Speak out now or we risk allowing Big Tech’s algorithms and community guidelines…
It’s the small things that we use daily in life that reveal our loyalties. This is precisely why we made an AIER coffee mug. It suggests stability, dignity, and determination. It has personalized a matte-finish exterior with a shiny lip and interior. It has a 17-oz capacity. It says everything it needs to say!
Both our leading and coincident economic indicators are at their highest levels since last spring. The question was never whether there would be a turn, after all, but when it would appear.
What makes us human is not our artworks, our symphonies, our cities, or our spacecraft, but what spurs them on, from creative aspiration to celestial ambition. It’s the insatiable yearning embodied in the courage of hope—the greatest enterprise embedded in the human condition. I cannot say what tomorrow will bring. Or, for that matter, that tomorrow will even come, or if it will bear any semblance to today. Yet you and I, and innumerable members of humanity both familiar and farflung, will show up and find out: come hell, high water, salvation, or pathogens.
On the menu today: Biden senior adviser Cedric Richmond contends that Vice President Kamala Harris is being sabotaged by a whisper campaign; why Harris’s message about immigration-law enforcement isn’t seen as authentic; and wondering how much the Biden administration is really committed to a just-announced pause on federal executions.
Biden Aide: Someone Is Sabotaging Kamala Harris
If Kamala Harris had wanted to, she could have been a uniquely powerful voice promoting legal immigration and denouncing illegal immigration.
At any point in her career in Washington, she could have said, “I believe in the American dream and what America can offer those who wish to immigrate. I am living proof. My mother wanted a degree in biochemistry that wasn’t available to her in India. My father, in Jamaica, wanted a doctorate in economics. They came here for a better life — and they did it legally. They both received visas and scholarships to study at U.C. Berkeley. They followed the rules, filled out the paperwork, and waited for legal permission to enter the country. Opportunities to legally immigrate have never been easy to … READ MORE
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65.) POLITICAL WIRE
66.) RASMUSSEN REPORTS
67.) ZEROHEDGE
68.) GATEWAY PUNDIT
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After a two-year investigation into President Trump’s taxes the corrupt DA in Manhattan frog-marched Allen Weisselberg, Trump Organization’s CFO, into…Read more…
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69.) FRONTPAGE MAG
70.) HOOVER INSTITUTE
A daily digest of analysis and commentary by Hoover fellows. Problems viewing this email? View this email in your browser
interview with H. R. McMaster, Bill Whalen via Matters of Policy & PoliticsLt. Gen H.R. McMaster revisits his introduction to Independence Day as a Philadelphia native.
by David R. Henderson via Defining IdeasNot only do workers recover from market disruptions, but also lower-income consumers—not the rich—gain disproportionately.
interview with Ayaan Hirsi Ali, Christopher Caldwell, Valerie M. Hudson via Uncommon KnowledgePrey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights, Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s book on the explosion of sexual violence and harassment in Europe, was published in early 2021. Since then, the book has sparked a worldwide discussion online and offline about the immigration of huge numbers of mostly young Muslim men to European cities and its effect on the women who live there. To discuss this phenomenon, Peter Robinson is joined by Prey author and Hoover Institution research fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali; Valerie Hudson, a professor of political science at the Bush School at Texas A&M University and an expert on women’s rights and demographics; and Christopher Caldwell, a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and author.
by Valentin Bolotnyy, Natalia Emanuel via University of Chicago Press JournalFemale workers earn $0.89 for each male-worker dollar even in a unionized workplace where tasks, wages, and promotion schedules are identical for men and women by design. We use administrative time card data on bus and train operators to show that the earnings gap can be explained by female operators taking, on average, 1.5 fewer hours of overtime and 1.3 more hours of unpaid time-off per week than male operators.
by Bruce Thornton cited John F. Cogan, Daniel Heil via Front Page MagazineThis year we celebrate our nation’s birth at a time when the foundational ideas that animated our break with England are under siege throughout our political, business, educational, and cultural institutions. The iconic preamble to the Declaration of Independence–– “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness”––is under assault, and tyrannical ambition continues to undermine the infrastructure of our liberty.
by Ian Easton via StrategikaIn December 1949, Chiang Kai-shek moved the capitol of the Republic of China (ROC) to Taipei. He intended the relocation to be temporary. He had already moved his government multiple times: when the Empire of Japan invaded China, when World War II ended, and again when Mao Zedong’s Communist insurgents took the upper hand in the Chinese Civil War.
by Loren Kaye via EurekaThe best guess by state leaders – and fondest hope for parents – is that California public schools will fully reopen their campuses this fall to all students. After more than a year of remote, hybrid or blended learning – or no learning at all – everyone should welcome a return to normalcy.
interview with Niall Ferguson via CapXHoover Institution fellow Niall Ferguson discusses the politics of catastrophe and argues that far from being “unprecedented”, the response to Covid-19 exhibits the same political and social pathologies that have shaped so many previous crises. Moreover, we can’t hope to understand the pandemic without a keen appreciation of the history of economics, society, culture and politics.
interview with Victor Davis Hanson via Victor Davis Hanson’s Private PapersHoover Institution fellow Victor Davis Hanson discusses recent articles on farm life, the woke trajectory, and California’s recall.
via Hoover Daily ReportIn a special live edition of Hoover’s flagship broadcast, Uncommon Knowledge, Research Fellow Ayaan Hirsi Ali discussed her newly released book, Prey: Immigration, Islam, and the Erosion of Women’s Rights.
via Battlegrounds: International Perspectives On Crucial Challenges To SecurityIn this episode of Battlegrounds, H.R. McMaster and former Canadian Ambassador to the US David MacNaughton discuss the U.S.-Canada relationship and its implications for trade, economics, security, and climate policy.
quoting Elizabeth Economy via Money ControlMarking its centenary, the Communist Party is using this past — selectively — to try to ensure its future and that of Xi Jinping, who may be eyeing, as Mao Zedong did, ruling for life.
The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Hoover Institution or Stanford University.
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Are your freedoms being canceled? Over the past year, we’ve seen forces at work turning Americans against each other, stifling free speech, and targeting people of faith.Read more…
The comments took place as Biden signed a bill alongside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Illinois Democratic Rep. Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia and Waters.Read more…
‘Let me state a simple fact. All the statues being removed by this bill are statues of Democrats,’ House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said.Read more…
The photos and emails reportedly on Hunter Biden’s laptop suggest Joe Biden was lying when he said he never spoke about Hunter’s business dealings. Read more…
‘As journalists become fanatical supporters of the president, the freedom of all Americans is drastically reduced. Not just from our opponents, but from all of us.’Read more…
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld two Arizona election laws on Thursday, ruling the voting restrictions did not violate federal law. The 6-3 decision along ideological lines examined whether a group…Read more…
Former Trump adviser Jason Miller has launched a new social media platform as a free-speech alternative to current Big Tech sites. The new Gettr app’s mission includes “fighting cancel culture,…Read more…
The chief financial officer of The Trump Organization surrendered to prosecutors Thursday morning as he and the company were expected to face tax-related charges. Allen H. Weisselberg entered the Manhattan…Read more…
Former President Donald Trump said on Wednesday night that he has made up his mind about running for president in 2024, though he has yet to make an announcement regarding…Read more…
Search and rescue teams halted their search for survivors of the Champlain Towers South collapse on Thursday morning following concerns that more of the building could fall. Florida Republican Gov….Read more…
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The House voted this week to create a select committee to investigate the deadly January 6 attack on the US Capitol — and it’s immediately become a politically fraught assignment. Republicans have made it clear they’re not interested, and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy even threatened to strip party members of other committee assignments if they accepted an offer from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve. So far, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney has been tapped as one of the Democratic House speaker’s committee picks. Cheney was previously removed from GOP House leadership after repeatedly criticizing ex-President Trump’s false election claims. Meanwhile, new video from the insurrection is prompting more legal action against people who were there. The Justice Department this week rounded up several new defendants accused of destroying thousands of dollars’ worth of professional broadcast equipment.
Rescue efforts at the Florida condo collapse site could face more challenges soon as a tropical storm approaches and risk of further collapse lingers. Work had to be halted for much of yesterday as engineers assessed the structure still standing. The rest of the building is expected to be demolished in coming weeks. Meanwhile, more ominous details from the years leading up to the collapse are coming to light. The building department in Surfside, Florida, was the target of mounting complaints by residents and contractors in late 2018 — so much so that the town manager at the time placed the office under administrative review. A family suing the Champlain Towers South condo association also claims an engineering firm that performed a 2018 structural analysis on the building should have been more thorough.
Former Athleisure Designers Are Making Jeans
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What’s safe to do over the 4th of July weekend? We’re talking pandemic-wise. Explosives-wise, that’s a whole other world of caution.
Celebrate the 4th of July by taking our quiz about American symbols!
Here’s one question to get you started: What is the national mammal of the United States?
That’s how much prosecutors say the Trump Organization gave CFO Allen Weisselberg in untaxed compensation, covering rent, utilities and garage expenses on an apartment. The Trump Organization, Trump Payroll Corporation and Weisselberg are charged with a scheme to defraud, conspiracy, criminal tax fraud and falsifying business records. All three have pleaded not guilty.
For many years the workplace environment at the Washington Football Team, both generally and particularly for women, was highly unprofessional.
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell,as the NFL fined the Washington Football Team $10 million after an independent investigation into the team’s workplace culture. It was launched after 15 former female employees and two journalists who covered the team accused team staffers of sexual harassment and verbal abuse.
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We tested out 6 charcoal grills: There were 2 clear winners
Charcoal grilling takes a bit more time and attention to get things just right, so it’s key to purchase a grill that’s easy to control. After multiple cookouts and more burgers than one person should ever consume, we found two charcoal grills worthy of your money.
Somewhere over the rainbow
Have you heard of daytime fireworks? They look like literal magic. Enjoy your Fourth of July holiday, everyone! (Click here to view.)
Are your freedoms being canceled? Over the past year, we’ve seen forces at work turning Americans against each other, stifling free speech, and targeting people of faith. Read more…
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Tropical Storm Elsa gains strength, economists await employment numbers for June and more news to start your Friday.
Happy Friday, Daily Briefing readers. The July 4 weekend is almost upon us! How will you be spending it? Here’s a tip for celluloid fans – don’t miss our movie guide to what’s out there that’ll satisfy every cinematic taste.
In the news this morning, Tropical Storm Elsa could become the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic season as it heads toward the Caribbean, with Florida in its projected path. And, investors are awaiting June’s key jobs report with eager anticipation. One big question is, will average hourly earnings go up? We hope so!
🎆New this morning: President Joe Biden will host more than 1,000 guests at a cookout and fireworks display on the White House lawn this Fourth of July, revisiting traditional celebrations. Here’s how it all started.
⚖️ The Boys Scouts of America more than doubled its initial offer of compensation to sexually abused Scouts to $850 million, setting the stage for an historic settlement as part of the youth organization’s bankruptcy proceedings.
💰As Donald Trump continues to dangle the possibility of a 2024 presidential run, prosecutors announced tax fraud charges against his namesake company and its chief financial officer.
🔵 Bessemer Trust is requesting to withdraw as co-conservator of Britney Spears’ estate. The wealth management firm made the request “due to changed circumstances.”
July 1, 2021: Britain’s Prince William, left and Prince Harry unveil a statue they commissioned of their mother Princess Diana, on what woud have been her 60th birthday, in the Sunken Garden at Kensington Palace, London, Thursday.
🎧On today’s 5 Things podcast,Jenna Ryu explains about how news of Bill Cosby’s release from prison can be triggering for survivors of sexual abuse. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
A westward-moving Tropical Storm Elsa is likely to strengthen into the first hurricane of the 2021 Atlantic season and is expected to unleash heavy rain and strong winds in the Caribbean starting Friday, Accuweather.com said. South Florida could potentially be in the storm’s path, according to the National Hurricane Center. Though it is too soon to determine what, if any, impacts could occur in Florida next week, officials encouraged residents to monitor the storm and make preparations. This includes crews at the condo that collapsed in Surfside on June 24, where frequent bouts of lightning and thunderstorms already have forced the suspension of rescue efforts. The collapse killed 18 people and left 145 missing.
On Thursday, exclusive new documents showed that repair efforts at the condo building were not completed, in part, so the pool could remain open. Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said that plans are underway for the “likely” demolition of the remaining building.
More than 600,000 new jobs expected in June
Economists expect Friday’s job report for June to show U.S. employers created 675,000 more jobs than they cut, with the unemployment rate falling to 5.7% . Job growth has been choppy recently, with gains falling disappointingly short of expectations. That’s key as the the Federal Reserve will likely to keep up its support for the economy through low interest rates as long as the job market looks like it needs help. “This Friday’s unemployment number is pretty important because its going to determine the trajectory of when the Fed is actually going to adjust its policies,” said Andrew Slimmon, portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management. In May, 559,000 jobs were added to the economy but labor shortages continued to temper hiring.
What else people are reading:
🗽New York City’s Democratic mayoral primary was thrust into a national debate after election officials revealed they had erroneously included 135,000 sample ballots in tabulations made public Tuesday.
👶Surprise! Amber Heard took to Instagram to reveal that she quietly welcomed a baby girl, Oonagh Paige Heard, on her “own terms” on April 8.
Amber Heard quietly welcomed a baby girl in April, the actress said this week.
USA TODAY
Anheuser-Busch giving away free beer for COVID-19 vaccination progress
Anheuser-Busch promised to give Americans free beer if the White House hit its goal of 70% of U.S. adults vaccinated by July 4. While the country fell just short, the beer maker is sharing brews anyway. Starting Friday, adults 21 and older can go to MyCooler.com/beer and upload a picture of themselves at their favorite place to have a beer. They will get an email with a digital gift card worth $5, the average retail price of an Anheuser-Busch product. Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said about 65% of U.S. adults have gotten at least one COVID-19 shot, and 56% are fully vaccinated.
Players must decide whether to opt out of upcoming NFL season
NFL players have until Friday to opt out of the 2021 season because of COVID-19, an option they also had in 2020 . Players who choose to opt out will have their contracts paused for the year, essentially picking up where they left off the following season without the team losing a year of control. Nearly 70 NFL players opted out of the 2020 season. The NFL is expecting fewer opt outs this season, but it was important to give players the option, especially those considered in a “high risk” category. The opt-out is available only for players whose contracts went into effect before Oct. 1, 2020.
In theaters: What to watch, from ‘Forever Purge’ to ‘The Tomorrow War’
Whether or not you’re into actual fireworks, there are plenty of the cinematic kind on tap with a July 4 weekend full of new films, both at home and in movie theaters. The latest in the long-running dystopian horror franchise, “The Purge,” is on the big screen Friday. Or if you’re looking to stay home, you can watch Chris Pratt battle aliens in an Amazon Prime sci-fi thriller that riffs on “Independence Day.” In other words: You need a movie this long weekend? USA TODAY’s Brian Truitt has you covered.
🔴‘Major problems’: There were many warnings before the Florida building collapsed. And precious time was wasted.
🔵A “terrible wrong is being righted,” Phylicia Rashad tweeted followingBill Cosby’s release from prison. Hours later, her employer Howard University issued its own statement, saying it prioritizes and supports sexual assault survivors.
📸 Celebs turn out for the NBA playoffs 📸
American recording artists Beyonce and Jay-Z leave their seats for halftime during Game 1 of the Eastern Conference semifinals between the Brooklyn Nets and the Milwaukee Bucks at Barclays Center on June 5.
Brad Penner, USA TODAY Sports
A host of celebrities have been among the fans – and super fans – turning out to watch the 2021 NBA playoffs. Check out our gallery of basketball-loving stars here.
Blood Reef- a book where you can tell your pal you’re reading about football and your gal you’re reading a mystery – pairs football and mystery with twists and turns along the way. A Texas high school assistant football coach on a career path littered with red flags gets the call for which he’s waited three decades. When the new head coach fails at failing, his success threatens the status quo and loosens personal demons sequestered within the community. With a combination of football, mystery, cops and love, the characters are brought to life in this masterpiece that willl leave you at the edge of your seat.
Men Are Just Grown Up Little Boys. Watch This Heartwarming Video Of A Man Spreading Joy In The Form Of A Secret Hot Wheels Gift.
You love to see it.
Facebook is now warning that you may have been exposed to “harmful extremist content” and asking if you have “extremist” friends
Another day, another march toward all of George Orwell’s writings coming true!
BBC reporter mixes up Bill Cosby and Bill Clinton on live TV 🤣
Well, this is awkward:
Rapper tosses $100,000 into ocean and there goes your chance to pay off that loan early
This man seriously just threw 100-grand into the ocean. Rapper Kodak Black posted a video on Tuesday night showing him chuck stacks of dollar bills into the ocean while on a boat.
Democrats propose spending $870 million on border security… in the Middle East
You know what’s more important than spending money to protect your own nation’s borders?
Activist Olympian Gwen Berry deletes old website after people noticed it still had a picture of her with Old Glory
Olympian Gwen Berry is representing America at the 2021 Games in Japan, except that she hates our national anthem and views a country that would send a black hammer thrower to the Olympics as horrifically racist and evil beyond belief.
Woke Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts suffer unprecedented declines in membership
The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are seeing a historic mass exodus away from their organizations:
Ohio Dems SCREAM, SLAM DESKS when state rep proposes ban on biological men in women’s sports
Simple words in a headline don’t do justice to this TEMPER TANTRUM these little children pretending to be state politicians threw on the Ohio statehouse floor on Monday.
The FBI is investigating 87 people who are connected to an illegal coupon ring
I am no longer mad at the coupon lady I got stuck behind at Walmart the other day, because at least she was using legal coupons (I think).
Trump and DeSantis are getting closer to a showdown… 👀
It seems things are heating up between the two biggest stars in the GOP and I have no idea what’s going to happen:
This is what total depravity looks like….
I’m with ABS on this one. Straight to jail.
Nation’s Largest Teacher Union Plans To Demand Mandatory Covid Vaccinations For ALL STUDENTS Before Returning To In-Person Schooling
You thought it was over. Vaccines are available for anyone who wants them, cases and deaths have all dropped off to below epidemic levels, life is getting back to normal for everyone, right? Right?
Black TikTokers Are Going on Strike Because They Say People Are “Appropriating Their Dances” on the App
Black TikTok dancers are on strike because you guessed it, racism!
Chick-fil-A is America’s favorite restaurant for the 7th year in a row 🐔 🙌
The Lord’s chicken establishment has been the nation’s favorite restaurant for seven straight years – a number that many of you dispensationalist types recognize as a biblical symbol of perfection and completion.
Balloonhead Sen. Ed Markey says summer heat specifically targets minority neighborhoods over white neighborhoods within cities
Yes that’s actually a real tweet from this jabroni who makes a healthy salary paid by tax dollars to lower the collective IQ like this. We all lost intelligence just by allowing those words into our brains.
LGBT lobby promises to “bring Hungary to its knees”
Though it flew largely under the radar here in the United States, recent remarks from Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte portend a coming ideological confrontation for conservative Christians that isn’t likely to end well politically for those who hold to biblical teaching on human sexuality.
Sore loser Patrick Beverley shoves CP3 in the back when he’s not looking, and if this happened in the NHL he’d have been knocked out by 3 different guys
So everyone knew the Suns were going to The Finals, including Patrick Beverly of the Clippers, but that didn’t stop him from approaching Chris Paul during a timeout and pulling this wimp move:
Watch: Ronald Reagan predicted today’s socialist Democratic Party in 1964
The guy knew what was at stake if we didn’t take seriously the threat that socialism poses to liberty:
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In February, the state legislature ordered the Wisconsin Legislative Audit Bureau to complete an audit of Wisconsin’s 2020 General Election. The scope of the audit includes a review of the “performance and methodology of each WI electoral jurisdiction’s voting system and its error rate, including absentee voting” and the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC)’s “handling of […]
On Thursday’s Mark Levin Show, The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has been investigating Allen Weisselberg’s private finances in an effort to cast an aura of guilt by association for his work in the Trump Organization and use of corporate apartments and company cars. This type of investigation is typically a civil matter but they are desperate to make it a criminal matter and put as many Trump associates in handcuffs as possible. Interestingly in the 2008 financial collapse, the Manhattan D.A.’s Office declined to prosecute many serious cases. New York State Attorney General Letitia James has sued Trump more than 70 times to try and make sure she kept her campaign promise to bring down Trump – this is the very essence of a political prosecution. After five years and millions of subpoenaed documents, this attack on corporate perks is the most egregious violation they could muster up. Then, Miranda Devine from the New York Post calls in to discuss how the media magnates are intertwined with the cover being provided to Hunter Biden. Devine explains how Hunter used his VP father’s perks to pursue a deal with Mexican Billionaire Carlos Slim. Later, Arizona’s State Attorney General, Mark Brnovich, joins the show to explain Arizona’s win in the US Supreme Court regarding the States’ laws on ballot harvesting. The Democrats challenged that voting outside of one’s assigned precinct was discriminatory, however, the Court found that voting in your precinct was reasonable and did not impede one’s right to vote.
The podcast for this show can be streamed or downloaded from the Audio Rewind page.
Image used with permission of Getty Images / Timothy A. Clary
100.) WOLF DAILY
Wolf Daily Newsletter
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Lieutenant Governor Eleni Kounalakis said in a statement that a recall would be held on Sept. 14 to determine “whether Gavin Newsom, Governor of the State of California, shall be recalled, and if the majority vote on the question is to recall, to elect a successor.”
U.S. states halting federal unemployment benefits early had crossed a key threshold in their economic recovery early this spring, with the number of available jobs exceeding the number of unemployed people, new federal data shows.
A Tesla Inc Model S Plaid electric vehicle burst into flames on Tuesday while the owner was driving, just three days after the $129,900, top-of-the-range car was delivered following its June launch…
Screenshots shared on Twitter showed a notice asking “Are you concerned that someone you know is becoming an extremist?” and another that alerted users “you may have been exposed to harmful extremist content recently.” Both included links to “get support.”
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If the machines are not able to undergo a forensic audit to verify the presidential election results, then they never should have been approved to be used in an election in the first place.Ariz. State Senate To Subpoena Election Routers, …
Israel’s dynamic economy continues to break records, despite the vicious attacks from the Left. The anti-Semitic Left will never defeat the indomitable Israeli people. #BDSFail!Wow! #Israel has ranked number 3 in the world for its start-up …
Of course. Rep. Liz Cheney is a Trump-hating disgrace. The good news is that Rep. Cheney’s political career is coming to an end.Capitol riot investigation: Pelosi taps Republican Liz Cheney to sit on new committee
We will not waver; we will not tire; we will not falter, and we will not fail. Election integrity will prevail.VICTORY: Supreme Court Upholds Ban on Ballot Harvesting; Decision Could Impact DOJ’s Case Against Georgia
Left-wing ADL President Jonathan Greenblatt uses his position to viciously attack and vilify the pro-Jewish President Trump. Yet the best that Greenblatt can do to respond to anti-Semitic attacks from Rep. Ilhan Omar is a light scold.Jonathan …
Bernie Sanders is an ill-informed moron on China. Just as he is an ill-informed moron on the Middle East. Furthermore, Sanders never saw a tyrannical regime that he didn’t want to cooperate with or appease. All while weakening the United States, …
Providing Article V / Federalism News and Scholarly Resources Since 2013
This Month…
Honoring a True Patriot
Tributes
Federalism: Preserving the Blessings of Freedom and Prosperity
Regaining Our Flag’s Respect
Just In: AZ Senate is calling for a Convention of States
Honoring a True Patriot – In this edition of the Article V newsletter we are honoring the founding editor of the newsletter, Mr. Stu MacPhail, who has just retired.
His example of selfless service to others is an inspiration to all and should spur us on to greater dedication to the principles of good governance.
In 2012, Stu and I started our work on Article V issues, forming the State Legislators’ Article V Caucus about six months later. He took on the task of producing the newsletter, which has become a key part of our work to remind state legislators that they hold the Constitutional authority to rein in our out-of-control Federal government.
Back in 2012, when we were first making introductions to each other, we discovered we had attended the same college 40+ years ago and studied under the same political science professor, but during slightly different years.
Stu has been the constant, driving force behind all of our Article V work for these many years. I admire his patience, persistence and attention to details, all needed to keep this publication accurate, relevant and effective. I trust that my effort in editing the next few issues will in some small way reflect the excellence that Stu always produced. -Kevin Lundberg, temporary Editor
Tributes –
Stu MacPhail is a loyal American advocating for a state-initiated effort to propose amendments to the US Constitution. Restoring federalism to the states has been a lifelong passion of Stu’s. As a citizen member and longtime editor of the caucus newsletter, Stu kept all of us informed of the state by state, organization by organization activity of The National Article V Movement.
Stu was committed to researching and uncovering national news and information that allowed states to effectively advance an Article V Application to address issues of national concern. He is an ardent supporter of states meeting in convention and clearly communicated to the legislators the process and the constitutional authority vested in the states. The States Legislators’ Article V Caucus will miss his hand on the ruder of federalism and Article V activity from the front line of Caucus news. -Sen. Neal Schurer, retired Iowa State Senator
Stuart MacPhail is closing the book on a long and distinguished career as an entrepreneur, businessman, and an activist patriot.
I met Stu MacPhail through the folks who came to Arizona for the Phoenix BBA Planning Convention in 2017. Several of us had volunteered to help and they put us at a reception for the opening dinner. Stu and I became friends and when I asked him if he knew a good editor for my book, he said yes. He then volunteered to edit the Article V book and was a God send.
I learned a good lesson about marketing a book and Stu was there to help cushion the disappointment that my door had not been trampled down. Stu authored an Article V book for young folks and his door is still on its hinges too.
I asked Stu if he would share some of his background with me and I specifically asked if he was related to the Gordon & MacPhail Single Malt Scotch Whiskey family. If so, did he smoke a good cigar with a good single malt? Here is his reply.
“Yes… I am a Scotsman, but I don’t think any of my known relatives produce Single Malt Scotch Whiskey. There is another brew simply known as MacPhail Whiskey (I have an unopened bottle of that in my liquor cabinet), but, again, not produced by any known family member.
“My dad was born on the Isle of Lewis, a small island off the northern tip of Scotland, in the Black Sea. He was of very poor origins, having been born in a never-finished sod (peat) house (partly below ground level). His mother was his father’s second wife (the first having died), and he had brothers and sisters from both mothers. My dad never went to high school. At age 15, he lied about his age and joined the British army under the Black Watch regiment and fought in the First World War. Yes, he wore a kilt into battle. The Germans called his regiment “The Ladies from Hell.”
“After the war he made his way to Duluth, Minnesota (by way of Canada where he had a married brother). In Duluth he met my mother who was born there of parents who had also migrated from the Isle of Lewis. They were of the MacIver clan. Interestingly, President Trump has a grandmother with the clan name MacIver who also live on the tiny Isle of Lewis. That might make The Donald a very distant relative.
“Since I had parents of clearly Scottish origins, I always thought I was a “pure-bred” Scotsman. Then I visited the Isle of Lewis and other parts of Scotland only to learn that the Vikings had often invaded those lands and intermixed with the “natives.” So… it is doubtful that anyone from Scotland is truly “pure-bred” Scottish.
“Back to the liquor… my wife and I opened, owned and operated a small (but very successful) liquor store for 19 years in central Denver. Strangely, with all that liquor around me, I never developed a taste for Scotch Whiskey. I do love Drambuie, a derivative of Scotch Whiskey, and I enjoy a “Whiskey and 7” when prepared with Windsor Canadian Whiskey (but no cigars).
“About my editorial history…
“Over the years I attended five different colleges (while raising my own family) and eventually earned my BA degree and about half the credits toward a Masters in Urban Development, I never took any training in journalism or writing. At age 25, I went to work selling advertising for an AM-FM radio station in Seattle. At age 27, I was hired to manage a radio station in Minot, North Dakota. Two years later, my employer moved me and my family to Denver where I was to have been Asst. Mgr. for a station here. The company got into legal troubles and went out of business before that ever happened.
“Over the following years I became the Public Relations Director for Rockmont College (now Colorado Christian University), was managing editor for a national magazine for the cable television industry, managed a marketing office for another national multiple magazine publisher, and worked for a public relations firm. I finally decided I had had enough of working for others.
“In 1975 I founded, edited and published a community newspaper serving the neighborhoods of central Denver (LIFE on Capitol Hill). After 19 years, I sold it. It is still in operation… now under its 4th publisher. That gave me lots of editing experience. While pursuing my other business interests (the newspaper, the liquor store, a real estate brokerage and a variety of motor vehicle dealership interests, I found myself helping others edit books they had written (including yours, a book on investing, and one that I wrote about the history of a citizen effort to save land for a large Denver area park). I retired at age 62 (20 years ago).
“It was because of my communications background that I got together with Colorado Senator Kevin Lundberg in 2012 to try to aide him in furthering the cause of Article V. That’s when he formed the State Legislators’ Article V Caucus. Now, after 8 years and 101 editions of the Caucus newsletter, my declining vision and other health issues have required that I step away from that project.
“This is probably more info than you want about me… but you asked. Stay well.
“Your friend, Stu”
Stu is truly knowledgeable on the Constitution and particularly on Article V history and the process. He is also a terrific editor. He has been an important resource for all of us and we’ll miss him in the coming battles.
With our prayers, Stu, Godspeed.
-Mike Kapic
Federalism: Preserving the Blessings of Freedom and Prosperity
by Kevin Lundberg
Recently, our nation has been challenged with several issues that have rocked the foundations of our culture.
The pandemic, cancel culture and election uncertainties have tested our nation’s ability to negotiate through these troubling times. While the future continues to be murky, our nation has demonstrated a resiliency against these threats to our freedoms which can only be understood through the system of government we call federalism.
Federalism is that balance of power between the Federal Government and the 50 individual, sovereign states. This division of authority, defined and established in the U.S. Constitution, not only buffers us from any rash actions by the Federal Government, it also provides a competitive environment for testing the effectiveness of policies put in place by each state. It is not perfect, but it is a lot better than any other form of government that exclusively rules from a capital city.
The policies that came out of the pandemic are the first and best examples today of federalism in action. While some states, such as New York and California were all-in for strict lockdowns and significant manipulation of their economies, other states took a much more tempered approach. Now, it is clear which policy worked best; many citizens are literally voting with their feet as they move away from the heavy-handed control states to the states that showed a greater respect for individual freedom and liberty.
It is also instructive to note that the measurable difference in the impact on the health of individuals caused by the pandemic, when comparing the control states and the freedom states was minimal. In fact, it can be argued that freedom was safer, as the unintended consequences of depression and suicide were remarkably less in the freedom states.
This is the genius of federalism. Limiting and dividing government power is good for everyone. Consolidating power to one central authority is not only a path to serfdom, it also limits the prosperity and the well being of average citizens.
The cancel culture, driven by a rush to accept critical race theory (CRT), is another arena where federalism holds our nation back from the brink of an irrational abyss. Florida’s Governor Desantis led the way in declaring CRT will not be a part of Florida schools. It will take more than a statement from the governor, but his state and some other states have taken up this cause. CRT will not be jammed down every American’s throat because of a decision from any administration in Washington. Again, federalism trumps the central planners (some pun intended).
The other current example of federalism at work, or not, is election reform. Congress was considering a wholesale takeover of election policies and procedures with HR1, which ultimately failed in the Senate, but now they are rolling out another iteration with the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. This legislation flies in the face of a true respect for the division of governmental powers that embodies federalism.
As a refreshing contrast to this heavy-handed power grab by Congress, individual states are investigating election irregularities in the 2020 election on their own and working to develop policies for more secure and reliable elections in their particular state. Through our 50 laboratories for liberty we can and will find the best way to conduct future elections. This, too, is federalism in action.
Federalism is not an archaic term, buried in the theoretical concepts of a forgotten political science textbook. It is the vital essence of our nation’s system of government. For our nation to thrive, federalism must be understood and nurtured. We must be constantly vigilant in keeping the flame of federalism alive.
Our founders knew this balance was critical for future generations. That is why the principles of federalism are found throughout the Constitution. In Article I, Section 3 each state is given equal representation in the Senate. In Section 8, Congress, and therefore all of the Federal Government, is only granted enumerated powers. Article II, Section 1 gives the state legislatures exclusive power for the manner of choosing electors to the Electoral College and if there is not a majority vote in the Electoral College (as modified by the Twelfth Amendment), each state is given an equal vote in the House of Representatives for choosing the President.
In Article V, the states are given original authority for proposing and ratifying amendments. All states have equal voting power for calling for a convention to propose amendments and ratifying any proposed amendments. Article VII follows that same pattern, giving each state equal voting authority to ratify the original constitution. Finally, the Ninth and Tenth Amendments make it perfectly clear that the Federal Government has no power or authority other than what is specifically enumerated in the U.S. Constitution.
In addition to the government’s authority being divided between the three branches of government, the division of power between the states and the central government is intended to limit the reach of government and maximize the freedoms of individual citizens.
This is federalism.
The blessings of freedom and prosperity are much more possible because of the principles found in federalism. Despite all of the problems facing our nation, federalism is an essential defense for our liberties.
Regaining Our Flag’s Respect
We can restore our Flag’s greatness and it is through the Constitution’s Article V, second clause.
By Mike Kapic
June 14th, every year, is Flag Day. It’s a day to honor our country’s symbol of who we are; a nation of immigrants who hold steadfast to beliefs in our Creator, liberty, Judeo-Christian values, firearms, and family; to our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, Bill of Rights, and the foundational values and virtues that have inspired most of us to solute and honor the Flag of our exceptional Nation.
But lately we’ve lost our way. Reverence to our beautiful Flag has been traded in for the new religion of the Progressive Left. Our nation’s once strong foundation has suffered horrific cracks and fissures. This infection has been growing since the early 1900’s and has been spreading so slowly that we hadn’t noticed it. It has been eating away at our liberties and freedoms while changing our Constitutional government into something that is not recognizable anymore.
The three branches designed by our Founders have become infected with a systemic cancer that has metastasized over the last century into the Fourth Branch—the bureaucracy. There has been a shift in power from Congress to the Supreme Court and the purely political structure of the Executive Branch.
This government was intended to come into being with the understanding that “We the People” would surrender a small amount of our power and authority to the Congress first, the Executive second, with the Supreme Court as the arbitrator.
All that has changed with the corruption of our basic institutions: the breakdown of the family; of education; the Constitution (we have two versions now—the Founders and the Supreme Court’s interpretation); the growth of crony-capitalism; broken healthcare and entitlement programs (Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid); unbridled spending, taxation and regulations; politization of the judicial system; sanctity of life and marriage; and the loss of federalism (states have become agencies of the national government).
So, how do we restore our Nation to the creators values and virtues and secure them for the next 200-300 years?
There are three possible ways allowed by the Founding documents for “We the People” to take back control and return this Nation to God and to the consent of the governed:
1. By voting. The original design only allowed for 15% democracy and 85% republicanism. That changed to 33% democracy versus 67% in 1913 with the 17th Amendment. Democracy frightened the Founders as they were historically short lived and died violently as it ONLY defines voting, allowing the majority to decide over the minority. Republicanism, however, gives sovereignty to ALL individuals and an equal voice as a minority in democratic voting.
2. The Declaration of Independence declares, “That whenever any form of government becomes destructive…it is the right of the People to alter or to abolish it…it is their right, it is their duty to throw off such government and to provide new guards for their future security.” This is a legal solution that requires a commitment at the level of the Revolutionary or Civil Wars.
3. The Constitution’s Article V describes how to alter the document that controls the basic design of our government. This is the process of meeting in convention to resolve problems that cannot be solved by state or national legislatures and was used to design our government and the method of altering it by the people and their states. It has a 400-year history of success.
You’re probably asking yourself, “Why haven’t we used number three before? As a member of “We the People”, what can I do? After all, I own the United States of America…We’ve paid enough in precious treasure and mismanaged its growing debt.”
The Founders recognized that God blessed each of us with natural talents, skills, and a free will to choose “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” It is our choice. America belongs to each of us, not the government that we hire to serve us. If you care about your posterity, we have a responsibility and a duty to return America to the Founders original design.
The solution lies in “We the People” joining together in a neo-Founders form to encourage our states to use their federalism power to restore our Constitution through a safe and legal method: Article V’s second clause. It is time to turn the elite Progressives out of Washington DC.
If we don’t do it now, then when? The longer we wait, the greater our debt expands, and DC’s corruption continues to damage our children. Join grassroots efforts such as AMAC Action Chapters across the country to make this fight a successful endeavor.
Help us return respect to our proud Flag, Old Glory, the Stars and Stripes. Stand Up, Show Up, and Speak Up!
Just In: AZ Senate calling for a Convention of States
As we were wrapping up this edition of the newsletter we learned that the Arizona senate passed a proclamation calling for all states to convene, not for an Article V convention, but for a convention to develop a strategy to fully embrace federalism (see the above article on federalism).
Over the past several weeks the State Legislators Article V Caucus has been working with Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend to have Arizona call for a Convention of States to deal with executive government overreach and reaffirm state legislative authority operate their own elections. This is federalism in operation. Sadly the Arizona House did not concur with the Senate on SCR 1010. The best she could accomplish was the proclamation from the senate.
The purpose of this Convention as proposed in SCR 1010 was to:
1. Discuss the actions of the federal government, federal agencies and federal officers that impair, or threaten to impair, the constitutional and traditional rights of American citizens and recommending corrective actions to state governments or to the federal government, federal agencies and federal officers.
2. Discuss issues regarding the right of the people to self-government and the right to elect representatives through election processes that are secure and transparent.
States meeting in convention to address national issues is a time tested and honored procedure that has been successfully applied to national unity.
Arizona may still be the state to host such a convention, but for this year it will take another state to actually pass an official call for all of the states to convene.
Stay tuned. Our national political fortunes are in the hands of our capable state legislators. We will report on all efforts that cross our desk.
_________________
This Newsletter is produced by the State Legislators’ Article V Caucus
The Caucus Steering Committee is Co-chaired by:
Former Colorado State Senator Kevin Lundberg (senatorlundberg@gmail.com)
and New Mexico Congresswoman Yvette Herrell (yvette@yvetteherrell.com)
And Includes:
Arizona State Senator Kelly Townsend (kellyjtownsend@yahoo.com)
North Dakota State Representative Kim Koppelman (kkoppelman@nd.gov)
Utah State Representative Ken Ivory, Retired (voteivory@gmail.com)
Iowa State Senator Neal Schuerer, Retired (nschuerer@outlook.com)
Military leaders shuttered U.S. Army Camp As Sayliyah-Main last month, along with Camp As Sayliyah-South, and an ammunition supply point named Falcon, an Army statement last week said.
Rear Adm. Milton J. Sands, an officer with previous stints on multiple Navy SEAL teams, took over Thursday as head of the military’s special operations mission in Africa.
Splash and Allie — a pair of black Labrador retrievers — flew from Camp Hanson on Okinawa to new jobs with the Air Force’s 374th Security Forces Squadron in Tokyo.
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North Carolina’s black lieutenant governor is expressing disbelief after the state’s second-largest public school district shelled out $25,000 to hear controversial author Ibram X. Kendi lecture public school teachers about being white, capitalist racists.
WASHINGTON (July 2, 2021) — The Supreme Court on Friday declined to take up the case of a Christian florist who refused to provide services for a same-sex wedding, leaving in place a decision that she broke state anti-discrimination laws.
SURFSIDE, Fla. (July 2, 2021) — The tally of the missing in the Florida condominium collapse was substantially reduced Friday, from 145 to 128, after duplicate names were eliminated and some people reported missing turned up safe, officials said.
MINNEAPOLIS (July 2, 2021) — A judge on Thursday ruled in favor of eight Minneapolis citizens who sued the city council and mayor over funding the police force.
@DaybreakInsider
Giphy
House Budget Committee Democrats have decided to forgo their own fiscal 2022 budget resolution and wait to see what Senate Democrats can muscle through their 50-50 chamber. Read more…
The House Thursday passed a more than $759 billion surface transportation, wastewater and drinking water reauthorization on a largely party-line vote, as Democrats laid out their vision of what they hope will be a cornerstone of President Joe Biden’s key domestic priority. Read more…
Congress goes into the Fourth of July recess with Democrats and Republicans at odds over the next steps to take on key trade legislation, including retraining funds for workers hurt by foreign competition. Read more…
House Appropriators on Thursday advanced to the floor annual foreign aid spending legislation that would make history with its repeal of a decades-old anti-abortion provision and significant increases in family planning funding. Read more…
U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services continues to face a significant financial crunch after narrowly averting mass furloughs last year, a government oversight agency found, threatening to grow an already bloated visa backlog and lengthy wait times. Read more…
Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday announced her eight appointments to the select committee to investigate the Jan. 6 Capitol attack. Among her picks was Rep. Liz Cheney, who lost her position as the No. 3 House Republican after she refused to back away from criticizing Donald Trump. Read more…
Elections and war metaphors go together like hot dogs and beer at ballgames. So as next year’s Senate battlegrounds take shape, CQ Roll Call elections analyst Nathan L. Gonzales decides to go all in, laying out the midterm map using every war idiom he’s got. Watch here…
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July 02 2021
Special Episode: Happy July 4!… 
Supreme Court Strikes… 
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