Good morning! Here is your news briefing for Thursday July 1, 2021
1.) THE DAILY SIGNAL
July 1 2021
Good morning from Washington. We’ve got an appreciation of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld from our own Steve Bucci, who used to work for Rumsfeld. Is the Federal Reserve hiding its agenda? Sen. Pat Toomey wants answers about the Fed moving in a woke direction, reports Fred Lucas. Plus: Virginia Allen talks to a mom and a daughter who just want fairness when they compete in women’s sports, and Doug Blair interviews a dad fighting against critical race theory in Virginia.
“I’d worked so hard through the whole year, just training . … I could have gotten first in the heat, and it was really disappointing to me to see my hard work pay off just for second place,” says Margaret…
The Federal Reserve has refused to respond to requests for congressional oversight regarding what Sen. Toomey calls its “politically charged” focus on “racial justice,” social, and environmental policies.
A group of bipartisan senators has urged President Biden to impose sanctions on the Chinese Communist Party for rolling back numerous freedoms in Hong Kong.
The plan for a hostile takeover of the Supreme Court has been rejected not once but twice in American history. The commission can put it to rest for good.
Secretary Rumsfeld, forever known to me as simply The Boss, was a man of integrity, character, leadership, and real grit. Here’s the hidden side of him.
In the United States, there’s far more money to be made and fame to be achieved by spurning the American flag and the national anthem than by embracing them.
A Gold IRA can help protect from runaway inflation, increased taxes, and economic uncertainty caused by China and their anti-Dollar currency manipulation.
In fact, if you already have a 401(k) or IRA, it’s not difficult to convert it into physical gold and silver without having tax consequences.
The Epoch Times, 229 W 28th St, Fl.5, New York, NY 10001
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3.) DAYBREAK
Your First Look at Today’s Top Stories – Daybreak Insider
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Bill Cosby Released from Prison as Pennsylvania Supreme Court Overturns Conviction
From the story: In a ruling released Wednesday, the state Supreme Court concluded that Cosby’s prosecution should never have occurred due to a deal the comedian cut with former Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor, who agreed not to criminally prosecute Cosby if he gave a deposition in a civil case brought against him by Constand. During that deposition, Cosby made incriminating statements that Castor’s successor, Kevin R. Steele, used to charge Cosby in 2015 (ABC News). From another story: Andrea Constand, a Bill Cosby accuser whose allegations helped put the comedian behind bars, has released a statement along with her attorneys after the 83-year-old was released from prison. In the statement shared to Twitter, she called the conviction’s overturning “disappointing” and said that “it may discourage those who seek justice for sexual assault in the criminal justice system from reporting or participating in the prosecution of the assailant or may force a victim to choose between filing either a criminal or civil action” (Fox News). From Becket Adams: As terrible as it is, the court is right. Cosby was convicted through unconstitutional means. He is almost certainly guilty, but even the guilty deserve the benefit of law. Call it a matter of self-preservation (Washington Examiner).
2.
San Jose City Council Approves Law Requiring Gun Insurance and Ownership Fees
And the mayor bragged about it on Twitter (Twitter). From Amy Swearer: Given that the overwhelming majority of gun crime is committed by individuals who unlawfully possess guns and won’t/can’t purchase insurance, the only meaningful effect of this law will be to further price poor people out of their Second Amendment rights in California (Twitter).
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3.
Los Angeles County: Put Your Masks Back On
Ignoring science, the county is “urging unvaccinated and vaccinated people alike to don masks again inside restaurants, stores and other public indoor spaces” as they fear the delta variant of COVID.
Young Jewish Progressives Find College Campus Groups Not Interested in Their Kind
From the story: …anti-Semitic attitudes are consistently higher among young people, in contrast to other forms of prejudice where the more youthful tend to be more tolerant, according to a study last fall by researchers at Tufts University and Harvard University. For Jassey and Blake Flayton, a 20-year-old senior at The George Washington University, in Washington, DC, the greatest concern is the more insidious, seemingly regular and casual anti-Semitism, the cloaked language being used — whether knowingly or not — in progressive circles they once considered themselves integral parts of.
CNN Celebrates 100 Year Anniversary of Chinese Communist Party
From the story: “It’s likely that large parts of the day’s events will focus on Xi, arguably the country’s most powerful leader since Mao, and his vision for the country,” CNN’s Ben Westcott wrote in the piece. The tweet was roasted with critics attacking CNN for glorifying the Communist Party. “Not sure what there is to celebrate. In the last 100 years, the CCP has murdered and stolen from millions of people. Xi is committing genocide in Xinjiang, annihilating One Country Two Systems in Hong Kong, and threatening war in Taiwan, to name a few of Xi’s crimes,” Rep. Ken Buck, R-Colo., responded (Fox News). From the Wall Street Journal: …the Party’s ultimate means of control is fear. Under Mr. Xi, the government has less tolerance for dissent than any time since Mao. It uses the tools of the surveillance state to stifle contrary voices on anything that challenges the Party line. Early truth-tellers in Wuhan had to be rounded up, and pandemic secrets covered up. Beijing’s new “social-credit” system that offers privileges based on conformity to state plans is the definition of Orwellian. The reeducation and work camps for the Uyghurs and the repudiation of its treaty promise of autonomy to Hong Kong show how much the Party fears its own people—and how little it cares about outside criticism (WSJ).
7.
Story Claims VP Harris Runs “Abusive Office”
From the story: The morale of the vice president’s team is apparently sagging and the office has had to handle several high-level departures less than six months into the term. The vice president’s plans are often only known to her and a close group of staff and advisers, and senior members of the office often do not communicate important details down the chain, or shift blame when something goes wrong, according to 22 former staff members, administration officials, and associates of the vice president interviewed by Politico.
Tolkien Organization Schedules Gathering to Counter Woke Version
From the story: Keith Casey, who founded the Society of Tolkien, describes himself as a software developer, entrepreneur, startup founder, parent, and a voracious reader of all things. He confirmed to the Daily Wire that he launched his group as a direct response to the Tolkien Society and their “nonsense.” “For an organization ‘devoted to the study and promotion of the life and works of the author and academic J.R.R. Tolkien’ – I question how their own bizarre viewpoint, which reads like fan fiction, took center stage,” Casey told us. “Tolkien’s works are wonderful and should be cherished and understood as he wrote them instead of twisted to fit current social fads.”
GOP Congresswoman: Border Visit Made Me “Want to Cry”
From Illinois representative Mary Miller: “I want to cry. How sad it is that we’ve created this humanitarian crisis. These desperate people think they can come in, which obviously our president has advertised this and facilitated this invasion.”
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Good morning. It’s July 1, about 50% through the year, and we could all use a halftime pump-up speech.
Because it ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward. No one—and we mean no one—comes into our house and pushes us around. This is your time. Their time is done. It’s over.
Remember readers, there’s heroes and there’s legends. Heroes get remembered but legends never die, and ducks fly together.
Markets: Stocks must be feeling pretty good heading into the halftime locker room for 2021. After another quarter in the green, the S&P and Dow have notched five consecutive quarterly gains. Reddit fave Bed Bath & Beyond also got a boost after reporting upbeat earnings.
Covid: The director of the CDC confirmed the agency’s guidance that fully vaccinated people don’t have to wear masks in most situations. The WHO has said that everyone—fully vaccinated or not—should continue to wear masks to combat the Delta variant.
The Chinese Communist Party is celebrating its 100th birthday today, and it wants to show the world it still has all of its teeth.
Chinese social media is abuzz, coal miners are getting off work to reduce air pollution, and President Xi Jinping delivered a speech that he hopes will establish him as the most powerful Communist Party leader since Mao Zedong.
Of foreign adversaries who try to bully China, Xi said, “Anyone who dares try to do that will have their heads bashed bloodied against the Great Wall of Steel.”
The origin story
Mao was one of the original 13 members who attended the first party congress in July 1921 (it was actually held on July 23, but Mao misremembered and established the holiday on July 1). At the time, China was a poor, mostly agricultural country of 400 million people plagued by civil war and unrest.
After the Communists gained power in the 1949 revolution, Mao initiated a series of disastrous economic reforms that led to the deaths of tens of millions of people. The China that we know today only began to take shape in the late 1970s, when Mao’s successor, Deng Xiaoping, opened up its market to international investors and established private property rights.
What happened next is the stuff of economic legend.
GDP rose from $191 billion in 1980 to $14.3 trillion in 2019.
More than 770 million people were brought out of poverty.
China will eclipse the US as the world’s largest economy by 2028, per one estimate.
Since the liberalization of China’s economy, the country has developed a close business relationship with the West—just last week Nike’s CEO said, “Nike is a brand that is of China and for China.” But China’s authoritarian government, territorial ambitions, and alleged human rights abuses have created deep splinters in its relations with democracies. Its caginess around the origins of Covid-19 has made things worse.
Bottom line: At 100 years old, the Communist Party remains a potent global force led by a president who could be the first since Mao to rule until he dies.
Robinhood was just handed the biggest fine from the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority…ever. It will pay $57 million to Finra and nearly $13 million to harmed investors for a total of $70 million.
What did it allegedly do? Finra accused Robinhood of misleading customers and for failing to provide support to them when asked. Some examples:
A feature that was supposed to allow users to block their ability to trade with borrowed money did not work for certain trades.
Glitches resulted in traders seeing inaccurate balances. One 20-year-old died by suicide in June 2020 after seeing -$720,000 in his account, when his balance was actually about half that.
Two major outages resulted in tens of thousands of losses for users who weren’t able to conduct trades and couldn’t reach customer service agents.
In addition to the technical problems, Finra claims that Robinhood, in its pursuit of “democratizing finance,” let too many inexperienced traders make high-risk trades without properly educating them.
Looking ahead…Robinhood confidentially filed to go public in March, and like a college student 10 minutes before their parents visit, it’s hurriedly cleaning up and happy to see this particular stain fade. Its IPO paperwork is expected any day now.
Amazon filed a motion yesterday to keep Federal Trade Commission Chairwoman Lina Khan out of ongoing antitrust investigations because of her past criticisms of the company.
Amazon’s spokesperson Jack Evans said, “Chair Khan’s body of work and public statements demonstrate that she has prejudged the outcome of matters the FTC may examine during her term.”
In other words, Amazon feels like “Queen Victoria” arriving to Bachelor in Paradise: already the bad guy.
Who is Lina Khan? The Yale Law grad was sworn in as chair of the FTC this month. Khan is the Matt Damon of antitrust: broadly popular and famous because of something she made when she was 27. In her 2017 Yale Law Journalarticle, Khan argued that current US antitrust law needs to be overhauled to confront…well, Amazon.
Zoom out: With a swarm of antitrust bills floating around Capitol Hill, scrutiny over its proposed acquisition of MGM, and regulators poking into its relationship with third-party sellers, Amazon thinks going on offense is the best defense.
Formula 1 racing is complicated. Extremely complicated. Trying to figure out how to turn a car into a steerable ground rocketship? No thanks. We can barely toast a bagel.
So when the McLaren F1 Team needed to turn to hybrid work over the past year, it’s safe to say they needed a solution thatmade virtual collaboration seamless. When communication and precision are key to your performance, you need a collab tool to keep up.
McLaren’s pick was obvious: .
With Webex, McLaren is collaborating like they never have before. (Just look at how happy Lando looks up there.) And who can blame him?! In a sport where precision is paramount, for the McLaren Formula 1 Team.
Facebook has 583 openings for “public policy manager”
Google has 103 openings for “public policy manager”
Quote: “The largest on record in the history of American theater”
The Yale School of Drama announced a $150 million donation from entertainment mogul David Geffen that will make it tuition-free for current and future students. The department, whose alumni include Meryl Streep and Lupita Nyong’o, will be renamed the David Geffen School of Drama at Yale, proving nothing is truly free.
Read: What deadlines do to lifetimes. (New Yorker)
New Yorkers have one less excuse to complain about Los Angeles, because the country’s worst stop-and-go conditions moved to the East Coast last year. A study from Texas A&M found that drivers in the New York-Newark area spent 494,268 hours in traffic in 2020, compared to 365,543 hours for those in LA.
It’s the first time LA has lost its traffic title in nearly 30 years.
Zoom out: The average metropolitan driver spent ~41 hours in traffic last year, but drivers in the US’ five most-congested metro areas spent much more:
New York-Newark: 56
Boston: 50
Houston: 49
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim: 46
San Francisco-Oakland: 46
Bottom line: Like the Knicks’ playoff appearance, this traffic ranking is a pandemic-era anomaly. LA will likely reclaim the crown this year as businesses reopen and Angelenos leave their homes for more than just In-N-Out.
WHAT ELSE IS BREWING
The NCAA dropped its restrictions on athletes making money from their names, images, and likenesses.
Bill Cosby was released from prison after his sexual assault conviction was thrown out by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The court ruled that Cosby should never have faced charges after agreeing to a non-prosecution deal 15+ years ago.
Chinese ride-hailing company Didi went public in New York yesterday in one of the biggest US IPOs of the past decade. Shares rose 1% to close at a valuation of nearly $80 billion.
Donald Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, and its CFO are expected to be charged with tax-related crimes today, per multiple reports.
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BREW’S BETS
No weights, no problem: This bodyweight workout on Reddit, complete with a guide and other resources, will kick your butt.
Listen up: Malcolm Gladwell’s fantastic new season of Revisionist History dives into self-driving cars, college ranking systems, and the bizarre moral universe of The Little Mermaid. Check it out.
Brew Mini: If you can complete it in under two minutes, you’ll beat us. Play it here.
Three Headlines and a Lie
If there are two French things we love talking about they are 1) the kitchen staff from Ratatouille and 2) the Tour de France. But because Disney hasn’t announced Remy’s Return yet, we thought we’d do a biking-themed Three Headlines and a Lie. See if you can spot the fake news story.
Cyclist chased up Giro d’Italia climb by chainsaw-wielding fans
Tampa’s naked bike ride canceled after crop-top debate turns into city council shouting match
California brand launches 3D-printed bike helmet with crowdfunding campaign
Little Tikes made a Peloton-style stationary bike for kids
ANSWER
Tampa’s naked bike ride was not canceled over a crop-top debate, we made that up. Does Tampa even have a naked bike ride?
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6.) THE FACTUAL
1 JUL 2021
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Facts, not fear.
TRENDING TOPICS
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In a verdict issued on Wednesday, Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court found there was a “process violation” because Mr. Cosby’s lawyers had made an agreement with a previous state prosecutor that he would not be charged in the case. Dozens of women have publicly accused Mr. Cosby of sexual assault, but he was only tried criminally for [drugging and molesting ex-basketball player Andrea Constand].
…
Local authorities knew that statute of limitation rules meant they could not pursue the majority of these accusations – but they reopened the case involving Ms. Constand and eventually charged him just days before the 12-year limit on her allegations was set to expire.
…
The testimony of other accusers was then allowed during a second trial, which helped prosecutors paint a pattern of predatory behavior by Mr. Cosby. In Wednesday’s ruling, the Supreme Court judges also found that testimony from accusers unrelated to the case had tainted the trial. [The court] admitted their ruling was unusual.
All votes are anonymous. This poll closes at: 9:00 PST
YESTERDAY’S POLLShould Olympic athletes be allowed to make a political statement during the games?
No
60%
Yes
35%
Unsure
5%
503 votes, 100 comments
Context: Olympic athlete Gwen Berry turns away from US flag during anthem.
HIGHLIGHTED COMMENTS
“No – Americans should have the right to peacefully protest injustice. Gwen Berry’s actions at the domestic qualifying event fall within that category. However, as Arthur Vandenberg famously asserted, “politics ends at the water’s edge.” To protest in this way on foreign soil while representing the United States of America is unacceptable. If she insists on doing it, the unfortunate, but correct action is to not allow her to compete under the flag of the USA.”
“Yes – Most definitely. If we Americans are cheering on athletes who protest authoritarian regimes such as Russia, we should be ready to cheer on our own athletes looking to protest certain aspects of America. Ms. Berry isn’t protesting the anthem because she hates America but rather that she loves her country so much she’d like for it to change for the better before she can resume proudly standing for the anthem one day.”
“Unsure – I supported NFL players kneeling for the anthem as a fork of peaceful protest. I also supported the protest at the Mexico City Games in 1968 because they still recognized the flag and stood for the anthem. But I think turning away from the flag in a foreign country is wrong. Why are you there representing the country if you hate it?”
Press advocates had already responded skeptically to the conservative pundit’s claims on his Monday night program, when Carlson said he heard from “a whistleblower within the U.S. government” that the intelligence agency was “monitoring our electronic communications and is planning to leak them in an attempt to take this show off the air.”
…
Carlson had said this week that the “whistleblower, who is in a position to know, repeated back to us information about a story that we are working on that could have only come directly from my texts and emails.” On his Tuesday night show, after the NSA’s statement, Carlson reiterated his claims and noted that the agency did not deny viewing his emails.
…
The NSA posted a statement to social media Tuesday night saying it targets “foreign powers to generate insights on foreign activities that could harm the United States.” The agency is not allowed to single out U.S. citizens such as Carlson without a specific court order, it added, and the NSA “has never had any plans to try to take his program off the air.”
South Dakota’s Republican governor, Kristi Noem, is deploying up to 50 national guard troops to the southern US border, responding to a call from Texas Governor Abbott for help dealing with a rise in border crossing, although most migrants have been sent back to Mexico.
…
The deployment is being paid for by a private donation, which some say is unusual. Noem’s spokesman, Ian Fury, said a donation of an undisclosed amount was paid to the state of South Dakota by Willis and Reba Johnson’s Foundation. The Tennessee-based non-profit previously donated to Trump and the National Rifle Association.
…
Abbott recently said he would reallocate $250m in state funds to pay for a wall on the southern border, and additionally received $459,000 in private donations, according to the Texas Tribune. US Customs and Border Protection said it apprehended 180,034 migrants, mostly single adults, in May. That number is up slightly from 178,854 in April and 172,000 in March, and was the biggest monthly total since April 2000.
China is the first country in the W.H.O. Western Pacific region to be awarded a malaria-free certification in more than three decades. The only other countries in the region that have eradicated malaria are Australia, Brunei and Singapore, according to the global health agency. Forty countries and territories have now eradicated the disease.
…
In the 1950s, China grappled with as many as 30 million cases a year, with a mortality rate of 1%. In the 1980s, even before the W.H.O. recommended the use of mosquito nets to control malaria, China deployed insecticide-treated nets across the country. Beijing decided that it needed to take a more sweeping approach in 2010, when the government launched a national malaria elimination plan.
…
Chinese officials have sought to share their lessons in countering malaria with the African continent. Africa still carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden. In 2019, the region was home to 94% of malaria cases and deaths.
Donald Rumsfeld, who died Wednesday at 88, served as secretary of defense twice: first in 1975 under President Ford and again during the George W. Bush administration following the 2000 election. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a Republican, noted Rumsfeld’s time as both the youngest and later the oldest defense secretary.
…
“[…] I think he also will be remembered for his involvement in the Iraq War, which I think was pretty disastrous for Iraq in the states and had little justification with respect to 9/11,” Rep. Gerry Connolly, a Virginia Democrat, said. “And I think that’s probably well, the part of his legacy, but he also had other parts of his career that were more luminary.”
…
Ro Khanna, a Democrat and member of the progressive caucus, called Rumsfeld’s passing “very tragic,” adding, “Obviously, he served his country and, while we had disagreements, I never doubted his patriotism.” Another Democrat said that while he differed with Rumsfeld, the former defense secretary was a Republican he could respect.
Multiple reports suggest that the Trump organization and its CFO, Allen Weisselberg, are set to be indicted by the Manhattan DA office today. The Fourth Estate appears breathless in its anticipation. However, it seems any charges are likely to be so small scale that they will impact almost no one, least of all former President Trump. Will the media keep obfuscating the distinction between man and corporation in an attempt to tar The Donald with scandal?
Something political to ponder as you enjoy your morning coffee.
With all focus on Donald Trump and his border extravaganza, the question of the Biden administration’s plan to deal with the mounting crisis is rearing its ugly head. VP Kamala Harris has been tasked with addressing the “root causes of illegal immigration.” As Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) points out, she is just dealing with just three countries out of 150 from where illegal migrants cross the U.S. – Mexico border. The White House dynamic duo appears unable to solve problems in just one country (the USA); what makes them think they can solve the entire world’s ills?
Texas became the first state to publish a full set of student test scores for this past school year, providing an early look at what we might expect to see across the country after over a year of pandemic schooling.
The roots of Congress’ dysfunction lie in our abandoning the framers’ plan for the national legislature. This abandonment contributes to polarization and Americans’ estrangement from the national government.
Ardent full-employment advocates often shrug off inflation concerns and highlight the advantages of an economy that is running hot. But inflation generates risks for the poor and the working class, not just the rich.
The Supreme Court’s ruling in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid — which vindicated physical property rights — raises important questions about intangible “property” such as personal information.
“Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out Bill Cosby’s sexual assault conviction and released him from prison… the Pennsylvania Supreme Court said Wednesday that District Attorney Kevin Steele, who made the decision to arrest Cosby, was obligated to stand by his predecessor’s promise not to charge Cosby.” AP News
Many on both sides argue that while unfortunate, the decision is correct:
“When a deposition is taken in a civil case, the right against self-incrimination allows a witness to refuse to answer any questions that might lead to criminal liability. But if there is no possibility of a criminal prosecution, then an individual cannot invoke the 5th Amendment and must answer questions. For example, the 5th Amendment privilege does not apply if a witness is granted immunity from prosecution…
“There need not be a formal immunity agreement or a promise in writing. If a prosecutor causes a person to reasonably believe that there is no chance of a criminal prosecution, any statements that are subsequently obtained must be excluded from being used as evidence. This is essential to protecting the fundamental right of not having to incriminate oneself. It would also be unfair to use statements gained in reliance on a promise not to prosecute. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court found that the evidence was clear that Dist. Atty. Castor assured Cosby that he would not be criminally prosecuted…
“The ruling isn’t vindication for Cosby. Rather, it’s a victory for our rights. Constitutional violations are neither good nor noble when they’re done in the name of righteousness. They’re still violations, and they’re a threat to all. Everyone, guilty and innocent alike, is entitled to his rights. Everyone is also entitled to benefit of law. It’s what separates prosecution from persecution. But if we violate certain rights for the sake of convicting the guilty, what will be left to protect the innocent? The courts must defend the constitutional rights of all people, even people like Cosby. Not for his sake, but for our own.” Becket Adams, Washington Examiner
Both sides also criticize the initial decision in 2005 not to prosecute Cosby:
“It’s true that given the year elapsed between the alleged assault and Constand coming forward, material evidence would be lacking, making a conviction more difficult. But Castor’s other reasoning can be described, at best, as wildly ignorant of how sexual assault victims cope…
“Castor said that Constand’s attempts to coax Cosby into an admission of guilt over clandestinely recorded phone calls ‘could be interpreted as attempts by Constand and her mother to get Cosby to pay Constand so that she would not contact the authorities.’ In other words, Castor believed a criminal court would interpret Constand as a gold digger who cried rape…
“The overwhelming majority of sexual assault victims knew their attacker prior to their assault, and the overwhelming majority of those assailants are repeat offenders. As evidenced by the deluge of allegations against convicted rapist Harvey Weinstein, it’s not uncommon at all for victims to remain in contact with their attackers, and if anything, Constand’s phone stings demonstrated that she wanted to bring as credible a case forward as possible.” Tiana Lowe, Washington Examiner
“The prosecutor at the time didn’t believe the case was winnable because it took Constand almost a year to go to the police after the alleged assault, and there was no physical evidence to back up her claims. He didn’t find her credible; there were some inconsistencies in her story, he said, and he counted against her the fact that she had consulted a lawyer…
“The most generous reading of the situation is that this prosecutor correctly ascertained that it’s difficult to get a conviction in sexual assault cases, and exponentially more so when the accused is a beloved man with deep pockets and the accuser is someone who didn’t immediately behave the way rape victims do on television. Either way, it’s an indictment – of the prosecution, of Bill Cosby, of our justice system, and of our country.” Jill Filipovic, The Week
Other opinions below.
From the Right
“If the court had found that some of the evidence against him was flawed or the accusation couldn’t be sustained, then we might have been looking at a situation where Cosby was wrongly convicted to begin with. But this just seems like a procedural error…
“If the prosecution of a suspect is flawed to the point where a conviction can’t hold up under appeal, then the person is technically not guilty. (Which is not the same thing as being ‘innocent’ but that’s how it works out in reality.) But this has to be a punch to the gut for the victim and her family. I’m sure we all heard the descriptions of how frustrating it was to try to hold him accountable for such a long time, finally obtaining what they thought was justice in 2018. And now the rug is pulled out from under them again.” Jazz Shaw, Hot Air
Some argue that “It would be a mistake to look at this outcome as justice denied. Cosby’s legacy is shattered. He is said to have paid millions of dollars to settle other cases. He is an 83-year-old man who did three years in prison on a case that should not have been brought. And he will continue to be hounded as complainants strategize on whether other charges or claims can be brought. He will have no peace, a problem he brought on himself by his atrocious actions.” Andrew C. McCarthy, National Review
From the Left
“Even if we grant that Cosby’s rights were violated, a poor or working-class person would never get this kind of sweetheart non-prosecution agreement. Second, Cosby’s vast wealth allowed him nearly limitless access to well-resourced lawyers who could search for some loophole or another to get him out of jail, which non-rich people also do not get…
“If you’re a regular working stiff in this country accused of a crime, it’s a safe bet that you will get the absolute bare minimum of due process. And there’s a good chance you will get railroaded directly into prison by prosecutors stacking up as many charges as they can, forcing you to take a plea bargain out of fear.” Ryan Cooper, The Week
“I can’t imagine what [Andrea Constand] must be going through right now. She’s probably kicking herself for believing she ever had a real shot getting justice with our flawed legal system… This ruling is a huge setback for the #MeToo movement. It’s also a setback for sexual abuse survivors everywhere who all too often put their trust and faith in a system that doesn’t always come through for them. They are going to look at this as another glaring example of why so many sex abuse survivors don’t bother coming forward, especially when their allegations involve a wealthy, famous predator.” Jenice Armstrong, Philadelphia Inquirer
🧨 Good Thursday morning, and welcome to July! Smart Brevity™ count: 1,495 words … 5½ minutes. Edited by Zachary Basu.
🚑 Please join Axios’ Tina Reed and Sam Baker today at 12:30 p.m. ET for a fast-paced Vitals “Check-Up” event on what’s next for telehealth. Guests include Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure and Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.). Check in here.
1 big thing: College sports go big-bucks
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
College athletes with endorsement deals, autograph events and even personal logos.
Starting today, NCAA athletes can earn money from their name, image and likeness without losing their eligibility, Axios Sports editor Kendall Baker writes.
Why it matters: You’re going to start seeing athletes participating in national ad campaigns, promoting brands on social media, starting their own youth camps and even launching businesses.
Most athletes won’t make tens of thousands of dollars. But some — like LSU gymnast and social media star Olivia Dunne — could rake in serious cash as they balance school, sports and business.
What’s happening: The NCAA yesterday suspended its rules prohibiting athletes from personally profiting. The decision came hours before laws that would have had the same impact were set to take effect in 15 states.
25 states have passed name, image and likeness (NIL) bills, and 15 go into effect today — in Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.
Congress will likely pass legislation eventually. Until then, the hodgepodge of state laws and school policies will be messy.
Athletes are wasting no time signing deals, filing for trademarks and teasing apparel lines. A few examples, many of which were announced right at midnight:
Antwan Owens, a Jackson State defensive end, signed with Three Kings Grooming, a Black-owned hair product shop.
Dreamfield, a platform where businesses can book athletes for meet-and-greets and other events, signed Miami QB D’Eriq King and FSU QB McKenzie Milton to be public faces of the company.
Runza, a Plains sandwich chain known for its Frings, is offering deals to the first 100 athletes in Nebraska who promote the app on social media.
Milner Technologies is offering endorsement deals to four female athletes from Florida colleges — a Miami volleyball player, a Florida State soccer player, a UCF track athlete and a Florida gymnast.
Jordan Bohannon, an Iowa basketball player, will sign autographs at a fireworks store today. He’s also launching an apparel line.
Wisconsin QB Graham Mertz this week became the first college athlete to release a trademarked personal logo.
Editor’s note: This story has been corrected to reflect that Olivia Dunne is a gymnast.
2. Your eyes become your ID
Illustration: Megan Robinson/Axios
We can send money to anyone, anywhere in seconds — and even pay for lunch just by walking out of a high-tech store. But some things are stuck in the past, requiring us to keep track of IDs or health insurance cards.
CLEAR, the biometric security company that went public yesterday, is betting we’ll be able to use our eyes as a driver’s license or boarding pass.
Caryn Seidman-Becker, CEO of CLEAR, told Axios’ Erica Pandey from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange: “We shouldn’t be giving people plastic cards with numbers to go get health care.”
CLEAR, which used to mainly help frequent flyers skip airport lines, found a new lane during COVID.
The company added a feature called Health Pass that worked with health data aggregators to access and store COVID test results or vaccination status, so users could display that information to get into venues or to travel.
Trump appeared last night in a Sean Hannity town hall from a border station in Edinburg, Texas. Screenshot: Fox News
The Trump Organization’s longtime chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg surrendered to the Manhattan district attorney’s office at 6:20 a.m. ET, after a grand jury returned sealed indictments charging him and the company with unspecified tax crimes.
Why it matters: The charges will ramp up pressure on the 73-year-old Weisselberg to flip on Trump and his family, whom he has served for nearly half a century.
Trump himself hasn’t been charged. But the indictments against his company and most trusted business adviser — which are expected to be unsealed this afternoon — are the closest any prosecutor has come to the former president’s inner orbit.
4. Harris criticized for “dysfunction”
Vice President Harris meets with the Congressional Hispanic Caucus in May, in her ceremonial office. Photo: Kent Nishimura/L.A. Times via Getty Images
Current and former aides and associates of Vice President Harris and President Biden told Politico that she has a dysfunctional operation with “a tense and at times dour office atmosphere.”
Aides and allies described “an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out.”
“People are thrown under the bus from the very top, there are short fuses,” said one person with knowledge of how Harris’ office is run. “It’s not a healthy environment and people often feel mistreated.”
Anita Dunn, senior adviser to the president, told Politico when asked if she was aware of the complaints about the V.P.’s office that it was “not anywhere near what you are describing.”
Go deeper: Axios’ Sarah Mucha on June 13, “Harris’ trip problems rekindle 2020 campaign doubts.”
5. 2024 watch: DeSantis becomes a target
Gov. DeSantis kicks off the 2021 Florida Python Challenge, in the Everglades on June 3. Photo: Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Remove Ron, a PAC that wants Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to lose in 2022, will run an ad on Fox News in Sarasota to be aired around former President Trump’s rally there on Saturday.
The PAC— chaired by Daniel Uhlfelder, an attorney and public health advocate known for his crusade as the Grim Reaper on beaches during COVID — has received 8,000 donations from mostly small donors.
This is the earliest TV ad to air in the 2022 governor’s race — and doesn’t even mention DeSantis’ opponents. Instead, it aims to exacerbate tension between the former president and the governor elected with his help.
Balloons float over attendees today during a Tiananmen Square ceremony marking the 100th anniversary of China’s Communist Party. Photo: Ng Han Guan/AP
Xi Jinping today celebrated the 100th anniversary of the founding of China’s Communist Party by giving an aggressive, hour-long address from Tiananmen Square — subtle. Also for your radar:
“China has begun construction of what independent experts say are more than 100 new silos for [ICBMs] in a desert near the northwestern city of Yumen, a building spree that could signal a major expansion of Beijing’s nuclear capabilities,” the WashPost reports.
“China was more than 30 per cent short of its 2021 commitments under the phase-one trade deal with the United States during the first five months of the year,” reports the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong’s leading English-language daily.
7. Why Cosby is free
Bill Cosby greets reporters yesterday outside his home in the Philadelphia suburb of Elkins Park, Pa. Photo: Matt Rourke/AP
Bill Cosby, 83, the first celebrity convicted in the #MeToo era, was released from prison after his sexual assault conviction was thrown out by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court.
The split court found that Cosby was unfairly prosecuted: A previous district attorney promised the comedian that he wouldn’t be charged for accusations by Temple University employee Andrea Constand that he drugged and molested her at his mansion, AP explains.
Cosby was charged by another prosecutor who claimed he wasn’t bound by that agreement, made when the former “America’s Dad” agreed to testify without invoking his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination in a lawsuit brought against him by Constand.
Screenshot: CNN
8. Nikole Hannah-Jones wins tenure in South
Deborah Dwyer, a doctoral candidate, gathered with fellow students and alumni on the steps of UNC’s Carroll Hall before yesterday’s Board of Trustees meeting. Photo: Casey Toth/The News & Observer via AP
UNC Chapel Hill trustees voted 9-4 to grant tenure to New York Times journalist Nikole Hannah-Jones, after originally refusing to do so, The (Raleigh) News & Observer reports.
Hannah-Jones, creator of The Times’ 1619 Project, joins the faculty today as the Knight Chair in Race and Investigative Journalism.
10 of the 13 trustees are white men.
The Pulitzer Prize winner said in a statement after yesterday’s vote: “This fight is about ensuring the journalistic and academic freedom of Black writers, researchers, teachers and students.”
9. Remembering Rummy
White House chief of staff Don Rumsfeld pumps his fist while working in the Oval Office on Sept. 29, 1974. Photo: David Hume Kennerly/The White House via Getty Images
Donald Rumsfeld — who died at 88 after an incredible run that included chief of staff to President Gerald Ford, and serving as both the youngest and the oldest secretary of defense — collected “Rumsfeld’s Rules“:
“Don’t think of yourself as indispensable or infallible. As Charles De Gaulle said, the cemeteries of the world are full of indispensable men.”
“Have a deputy and develop a successor. Don’t be consumed by the job or you’ll risk losing your balance. Keep your mooring lines to the outside world — family, friends, neighbors, people out of government, and people who may not agree with you.”
“The price of being close to the President is delivering bad news. You fail him if you don’t tell him the truth. Others won’t do it.”
10. One of America’s best-known sportswriters signs off
The sportswriter at work. Photo by kind permission of The Washington Post
The Washington Post’s Thomas Boswell — national authority on the MLB, and native-son sage of Washington sports — posts a farewell column after 52 years writing for the paper:
A retired friend emailed me this week about his old 1961 baseball glove and whether to restring it, make it healthy and whole again. I wrote back that, like his mitt, my 1960 Rawlings G775 Dick Groat model still resided near my desk, but I chose to grant it the dignity of death, letting it lie in state with all of its memories. He agreed. We’ll leave our gloves, with their humble histories, just as they are, somewhat unstrung by time and use, like us.
The pandemic hasn’t stopped foreign spies from infiltrating American research institutions, according to an internal Department of Homeland Security document reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon. [READ MORE]
Pennsylvania governor Tom Wolf (D.) vetoed an election reform bill on Wednesday, citing its inclusion of voter identification requirements. The bill would have mandated voter identification in all elections—a measure supported by 80 percent of Americans in numerous polls. The bill would have also required signature matching for mail-in ballots, in addition to moving up […] [READ MORE]
Radical environmentalists took to the streets near the White House on Wednesday to protest against President Joe Biden, saying they would rise up if promised climate change policies were not implemented.
Two Republican senators are questioning whether a conflict of interest could prohibit a Department of Justice national security appointee from taking part in an investigation into the Obama administration’s surveillance of the Trump campaign.
Congressional Democrats are taking aim at a crucial nuclear missile program as they prepare adjustments to the Biden administration’s defense budget request.
Any indictments against the company and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, will remain sealed until Thursday. But people familiar with the case said the charges were related to allegations of unpaid taxes on benefits for Trump Organization executives.
By Shayna Jacobs, Josh Dawsey, David A. Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell ● Read more »
Trump: Biden, Democrats sabotaging border securityFormer President Donald Trump on Wednesday delivered a full-throated condemnation of President Biden’s approach to immigration during his first post-presidency … more
The Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are thought to be effective against the highly transmissible delta variant, meaning another major wave of infections and hospitalizations is unlikely.
Former President Donald Trump took a victory lap after a discrepancy over test ballots threw New York City’s Democratic primary for mayor into disarray.
Former President Donald Trump is rejecting pleas from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to postpone a campaign-style rally this weekend some 200 miles from the Miami suburb where an international search-and-rescue mission is excavating bodies from the site of a collapsed seaside condominium.
Nikole Hannah-Jones, founder of the controversial 1619 Project, received tenure at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on Wednesday after a weekslong fight that saw pushback from conservatives and other groups.
Ed Henry, a former anchor for America’s Newsroom who was fired from Fox News last year after the network received a sexual misconduct complaint, sued Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott on Wednesday for allegedly defaming him as a “sex criminal.”
Bill Cosby was released from prison on Wednesday after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned a 2018 conviction because of a standing agreement with a previous prosecutor.
Lawmakers responded to the death of former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by touting his service to the country, with Democratic members calling him a patriot despite disagreements over the Iraq War and other policies.
The National Collegiate Athletic Association approved a policy on Wednesday that would allow higher education athletes to make money from endorsements and sponsorships while they play for their schools.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy directed Republicans on the Intelligence Committee to investigate the National Security Agency over concerns of “politicization.”
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo raked in a fundraising haul of over $1 million in one of his most public events since becoming the subject of federal and state investigations amid controversy.
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Welcome to The Hill’s Morning Report. It is Thursday, the first day of July! 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.
Former President Trump may be out of office, but he isn’t far from mind. The House voted on Wednesday to create a select committee to investigate the events of Jan. 6 as some GOP lawmakers joined the former president to tour the U.S.-Mexico border.
The House voted 222-190 to establish a select committee to probe the events before and during the Capitol attack. House Democrats were joined by only two House Republicans — Reps. Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (Ill.). — to launch what is expected to be a partisan battle over the facts on Jan. 6, and the aftermath (The Hill).
Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) decision to move ahead with the select committee comes after a failed attempt to win enough GOP support to establish an independent bipartisan commission to investigate events on a day when five people died. Last month, 35 House Republicans and seven GOP senators threw their weight behind a potential commission. Most conservatives said they were looking “forward,” arguing an investigation was unnecessary.
“We have a duty to the Constitution and to the American people to find the truth of Jan. 6, and to ensure that such an assault on our democracy can never happen again,” Pelosi countered.
As The Hill’s Cristina Marcos writes, the select panel will be made up of eight members selected by Pelosi and five chosen by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.). The commission idea, which Republicans nixed last month, would have given the two sides an equal number of members and co-equal subpoena power.
The select panel does not have a deadline, meaning it could spill into next year, bringing the findings closer to next year’s midterm elections.
McCarthy’s choice of colleagues to serve on the committee will be closely watched. The GOP leader told Bloomberg News that he has not decided that yet but indicated it might not matter.
“It’s all partisan, you can see that,” he said.
The Washington Post: House votes to create select committee for investigating Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Notably, 19 House Republicans were absent from Wednesday’s vote. Most were accompanying Trump and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) to the southern border.
“We have a sick country in many ways. It’s sick in elections, and it’s sick in the border. And if you don’t have good elections, and if you don’t have a strong border, you don’t have a country,” Trump said during a roundtable event with Texas state leaders and law enforcement officials. The former president’s photo op also took place days after Vice President Harris made her long-awaited visit to the region. She visited El Paso, Texas, last week, a move that reportedly blindsided her staff and created confusion in her office (Politico).
Trump has yet to announce his 2024 intentions, but his focus on immigration and bemoaning of the state of affairs at the border represents a return to his 2016 playbook, which helped vault him to his position of power within the party, The Hill’s Scott Wong writes. Any public spotlight on immigration during the Biden administration is welcomed by most Republicans. They consider issues popular with Trump’s base essential to their quest to retake the House and Senate next year.
The Hill: “I want to cry”: House Republicans take emotional trip to the border.
Politico: Republicans go all-in on immigration as a political weapon.
The Hill: Texas Democrats representing border districts slam Trump visit.
Tim Alberta, The Atlantic: A Michigan Republican spent eight months searching for evidence of election fraud, but all he found was lies.
Trump’s efforts to regain public attention are not all a plus.
The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which collaborated near the end of a two-year investigation with the New York attorney general’s office, on Wednesday night charged the Trump Organization, including chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, a longtime company executive, with tax-related crimes. Trump was not personally charged (NBC News).
The details were sealed Wednesday night, but will be unveiled today ahead of an afternoon arraignment at a state court in Manhattan (The Associated Press). The charges are expected to involve alleged tax violations related to benefits the company gave to top executives, possibly including use of apartments, cars and school tuition, people familiar with the case said.
Trump appeared Wednesday night with Fox News’s Sean Hannity to rail at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) (“he can no longer do the job”), and Democratic leaders in Congress. He also teased the audience that he’s made up his mind about running for president in 2024. He did not detail his decision, which Hannity played up as likely another run (Fox News).
Infrastructure update: House Democrats are warming to a new infrastructure strategy, reports The Hill’s Mike Lillis and Bloomberg News). … Senate Republicans are coalescing against one of the main pay-fors in the bipartisan infrastructure agreement: $40 billion to allow the Internal Revenue Service to collect $100 billion more in taxes (Axios).
Final salute: Al Eisele, founding editor of The Hill, dies at 85.
POLITICS:Eric Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, holds a narrow lead over Kathryn Garcia in the New York City mayoral Democratic primary, according to the latest tally of votes released by the city’s board of elections on Wednesday.
The updated vote tabulation shows Adams leading with 51.1 percent to 48.9 percent for Garcia, shrinking the margin to 2.2 percentage points with roughly 125,000 absentee ballots yet to be counted. Maya Wiley, who was in second place on primary night, was eliminated after the eighth round of vote counting, having finished slightly behind Garcia.
The latest update from the board of elections comes on the heels of its release of erroneously reported vote totals, which were subsequently retracted, creating chaos and intensifying pressure on the board. The New York City election apparatus has come under intense criticism as it navigates its first year using a ranked-choice voting system, which allows voters to rank their top choices one through five in order of preference.
> A new study of 2020 voters by the Pew Research Center found that Biden expanded the Democratic base by attracting newer and younger voters while blunting Trump’s advantages among key groups that have historically favored Republican candidates. The report released on Wednesday revealed that many groups once considered at the center of either party’s coalition are now dividing their votes more evenly — a sign of a widening political spectrum in which polarization cuts across traditionally hardened demographic lines (The Hill).
The Wall Street Journal: Judge blocks Florida law barring Twitter, Facebook bans of candidates.
IN FOCUS/SHARP TAKES
ADMINISTRATION: President Biden heads today to Surfside, Fla., to comfort victims’ families and meet with officials and responders heading into the second week of rescue and recovery following the catastrophic partial collapse of the Champlain Towers South condo building (The Hill). At least 18 people are dead, human remains are being found and 145 people remain missing as searchers carefully pick through pancaked and unstable debris several stories high (The Associated Press). Workers late Tuesday built a ramp for use of heavy equipment atop the pile, hoping to speed up the search for air pockets and possible survivors. What triggered the 30-second collapse of the 1981 structure remains unclear (The Associated Press).
> On Wednesday, Biden turned his attention to a different catastrophe waiting to happen: wildfires, which are anticipated in Western states amid scorching heat, drought and seasonal winds that can fan embers into ferocious flames. The president on Wednesday consulted eight governors from Western states, appealing to them to coordinate with the federal government to be better prepared. He said the administration would increase the minimum wage for federal firefighters and make more positions permanent rather than seasonal “so that when fires aren’t burning, we have a workforce of experienced hands enhancing our forest management, reducing the risks of future fire seasons.” The administration’s fiscal 2022 budget request to Congress includes more than $30 billion for wildfire management and relief (The Hill).
Federal wildfire suppression costs have spiked from an annual average of about $425 million from 1985 to 1999 to $1.6 billion from 2000 to 2019, according to data from the National Interagency Fire Center (National Fire Protection Association).
> A strong June jobs report due on Friday from the Labor Department could bolster White House efforts to publicly reinforce the argument that Biden’s economic agenda is working amid pandemic-related unemployment and rising inflation. The consensus among economists is that the United States has not fully shaken off the effects of the pandemic on the labor market (The Hill). … U.S. stocks reach record highs during the first half of this year (The Washington Post). … Biden’s public support has drifted downward since April, especially among Democrats, according to a new Reuters-Ipsos poll.
> A White House commission charged with reviewing proposals to expand the Supreme Court beyond nine justices held its first hearing on Wednesday after being created by executive order in April. The ideas submitted to the commission and championed in 2020 among Democrats have been modest and fallen short of the ambitious overhaul that liberals envisioned. The commission itself has little authority to make recommendations (The Hill).
More administration headlines: U.S. passport holders will now be able to choose their gender as male or female without having to show documentation of their assigned gender at birth (The Hill). … Biden named two more candidates to become circuit court judges as part of his fifth wave of judicial nominations (CNN). … Former South Carolina state lawmaker Katie Arrington, an unsuccessful congressional candidate who works at the Pentagon, is part of a probe into allegations of an unauthorized release of classified information, according to her attorney (ABC News). The Congressional Review Act (CRA) is a powerful oversight tool that allows Congress to overturn some agency rulemakings within a short time frame after a rule becomes legally final. In that vein, Biden on Wednesday signed three CRA bills into law: one to disapprove a Trump-era Equal Employment Opportunity Commission rule, a second tied to oil and natural gas emissions, and a third related to banks and federal savings associations as lenders.
RIP: Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, 88, who served in government for six decades and in the Cabinet under former PresidentsFord and George W. Bush, died early Tuesday at his home in New Mexico, his family announced on Wednesday. Together with Bush and former Vice President Dick Cheney, Rumsfeld backed taking the United States to war with Iraq and Afghanistan following the 9/11 terror attacks, a decision he defended long after it became clear that Saddam Hussein did not have weapons of mass destruction and there had been no sustainable U.S. plan for Iraq after the collapse of Hussein’s regime (The Wall Street Journal).
The New York City elections board is a disaster. This is the last straw, by The New York Times editorial board. https://nyti.ms/3qGJy9N
Most Florida counties do not require condo inspections. After Surfside, how sick is that? by The Miami Herald editorial board. http://hrld.us/3qEheEZ
Will Congress get serious about Jan. 6? by Jonathan Bernstein, Bloomberg Opinion. https://bloom.bg/2Uf46tU
WHERE AND WHEN
The House meets at 9 a.m. Pelosi will hold her weekly press conference at 10:30 a.m.
TheSenate convenes for a pro forma session at 11 a.m. Senators are out of Washington through July 9.
The president and first lady Jill Biden will fly to Miami to receive a command briefing at 10:05 a.m. from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), Mayor Daniella Levine Cava (D), local leaders and first responders. The Bidens at 11 a.m. will thank first responders and search teams who are working at the Champlain Towers South collapse in Surfside, Fla. The Bidens will meet with families of victims at 12:30 p.m. and the president will speak at 3:50 p.m. at the St. Regis Hotel in Miami. The Bidens will leave Florida at 5:20 p.m. to return to the White House.
The White House coronavirus response team will brief reporters at 1:30 p.m.
Economic indicator: The Labor Department at 8:30 a.m. will report filings for unemployment benefits for the week ending June 26.
➔ COURTS: Actor Bill Cosby, 83, walked out of prison on Wednesday a free man after the Pennsylvania Supreme Court hours earlier reversed his sexual assault conviction after he served two years of a longer sentence. The court cited an agreement struck with a previous prosecutor that prevented Cosby from being charged. Cosby (pictured below in 2018) was convicted on three counts of aggravated indecent assault stemming from a 2004 incident where he drugged and molested an employee of Temple University at his Philadelphia home (The Associated Press).
➔ COLLEGE SPORTS: The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) will now allow college athletes to profit off of their names, images and likenesses under new interim guidelines, the organization announced on Wednesday. The association announced the new temporary rules before state laws around the country regulating the student sport nonprofit take effect today (NBC News).
➔ CORONAVIRUS: Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reiterated that the administration is leaving it up to local officials to set guidelines for mask wearing as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus surges in areas with low vaccination rates. Walensky said Wednesday on NBC’s “Today” show that “we’ve always said that local policymakers need to make policies for their local environment” but added that CDC guidelines broadly indicate those who are vaccinated don’t need to wear masks. Health officials in Los Angeles County are recommending people wear masks indoors in public places regardless of their vaccination status.
Separately, the World Health Organization has reiterated its longstanding recommendation that everyone wear masks to lessen the spread of the coronavirus. Walensky told ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that the “context in which the WHO is making recommendations is very different than us here in the United States,” since less than 15 percent of the world is vaccinated (The Hill).
➔ INTERNATIONAL: China is building more than 100 silos for intercontinental ballistic missiles in its western desert, a new project that could signal a major expansion of Beijing’s nuclear capabilities (The Washington Post). … President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday expanded on Russia’s version of events involving a British ship last week. He said an incident involving a destroyer in the Black Sea couldn’t have triggered a global conflict even if Russia had sunk the warship because the West knows it can’t win such a war. Although Putin says Russia fired warning shots at the destroyer and dropped bombs in its path, Great Britain insists its ship wasn’t fired upon and said it was sailing in Ukrainian waters (The Associated Press).
THE CLOSER
And finally … It’s Thursday, which means it’s time for this week’s Morning Report Quiz! Inspired by the end of the month, we’re eager for some smart guesses about news and notes from June.
Email your responses to asimendinger@thehill.com and/or aweaver@thehill.com, and please add “Quiz” to subject lines. Winners who submit correct answers will enjoy some richly deserved newsletter fame on Friday.
In early June, Biden embarked on the first overseas trip of his presidency. Which country did Biden not visit?
United Kingdom
France
Switzerland
Belgium
In mid-June, the Girl Scouts of America reported that it had roughly how many boxes of unsold cookies remaining due in part to the pandemic?
6 million
9 million
12 million
15 million
After the U.S., which nation last month became the second to record 500,000 COVID-19 deaths?
Brazil
India
Russia
Mexico
Over the first three months of the Major League Baseball season, six starting pitchers have thrown complete game no-hitters. ____ took place in June.
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Lawmakers are exploring what practices implemented during the pandemic could hold value for years to come and which should become relics of the age of COVID-19, particularly proxy voting and hybrid hearings. Read more…
Democrats are struggling to balance a desire to make the wealthy pay their fair share with regional interest in restoring a tax break that disproportionately benefits upper-income households. The party has yet to find a solution to its “SALT” problem, but Democrats on both sides of the debate are ready to compromise. Read more…
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Donald Rumsfeld, whose successes, failures and personality were all epic fixtures in Washington for decades, died Tuesday at the age of 88. The cause of death was multiple myeloma, a cancer that afflicts white blood cells, a family spokesman told reporters Wednesday. He was the only man to serve twice as Defense secretary. Read more…
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25.) POLITICO PLAYBOOK
POLITICO Playbook: Trump aide: Ex-prez emboldened by indictment news
Presented by Facebook
DRIVING THE DAY
TRUMP ORG INDICTMENT DAY — “New York grand jury returns criminal indictments against Trump’s company and its CFO, the first from prosecutors probing the former president’s business dealings,”by WaPo’s Shayna Jacobs, Josh Dawsey, David Fahrenthold and Jonathan O’Connell: “A grand jury in Manhattan filed criminal indictments Wednesday against former president DONALD TRUMP’S company and its longtime chief financial officer, according to two people familiar with the indictments. The indictments against the Trump Organization and its CFO, ALLEN WEISSELBERG, will remain sealed until Thursday afternoon. … [P]eople familiar with the case said the charges were related to allegations of unpaid taxes on benefits for Trump Organization executives. …
“Trump himself is not expected to be charged this week, the people said, and no others in his orbit are expected to face imminent charges. But the indictments could mark a significant escalation in his legal problems— both by exposing his company to potential fines and by raising the pressure on Weisselberg. Prosecutors hope Weisselberg will offer testimony against Trump in exchange for lessening his own risk, according to another person familiar with the case.”
TRUMP PRE-REACTION: The former president was on a conference call with his advisers Monday discussing his favorite topic — revenge — when he was interrupted with an update on the Manhattan D.A.’s investigation. He would not be personally indicted, Trump was told — only Weisselberg and the Trump Organization would be. Trump was thrilled by what he saw as light charges, and according to one of the advisers on the call, his mind raced to 2024.
“Just wait until 2024, you’ll see,” Trump said. The former president implied that the legal case would be seen as a political witch hunt that would backfire on Democrats. “This is going to hurt Sleepy Joe.”
The adviser had the impression that Trump, who was already coming off a high from the large crowd at his rally in Ohio last weekend, was emboldened by the news. “Now he’s definitely going to run for president” again, the person said.
“It’s going to be a two-pronged message: the message for political public consumption and then the PR message against the substance of the case itself,” Trump’s former campaign adviser SAM NUNBERG told Meridith McGraw.
“He’s already talked about this being the greatest witch hunt, a continuation of the greatest witch hunt, and it will just anger his supporters.”
So expect to hear Trump push that narrative on his nationwide tour when he’s not dwelling on his true fixation: the results of the 2020 election.
Aides said that Trump’s interest in the Manhattan D.A.’s case pales in comparison to his obsession with the idea that he could still prove to be the winner of the 2020 election. (Our minds drift to a GEORGE COSTANZA classic: “Jerry, just remember: It’s not a lie … if you believe it.”)
“His world is seriously consumed by that,” said another Trump adviser. “In comparison to election fraud, [the D.A.’s investigation] is not even close.”
According to this adviser, Trump is holding out hope that if the Arizona “audit”/fishing expedition ends up in his favor, a few other states will follow suit, triggering some sort of legal process that would make him president.
He’s even questioned the merits of the Constitution, if it can’t be used to investigate election fraud.
DRAMA IN KAMALA’S OFFICE — We can’t say we haven’t heard this type of complaint before: VP KAMALA HARRIS has a long-running reputation for presiding over dysfunctional, unhappy staffs. But on Wednesday night, Chris Cadelago, Daniel Lippman and Eugene were first to report on it happening inside the VP’s office. The story is juicier for the sheer lack of these kinds of palace intrigue pieces on the largely leak-averse Biden White House. Here’s a taste from the story:
“When Vice President Kamala Harris finally made the decision to visit the Mexico border last week, people inside her own office were blindsided by the news. For days, aides and outside allies had been calling and texting with each other about the political fallout that a potential trip would entail. But when it became known that she was going to El Paso, it left many scrambling, including officials who were responsible for making travel arrangements and others outside the VP’s office charged with crafting the messaging across the administration.
“The handling of the border visit was the latest chaotic moment for a staff that’s quickly become mired in them. Harris’ team is experiencing low morale, porous lines of communication and diminished trust among aides and senior officials. Much of the frustration internally is directed at TINA FLOURNOY, Harris’ chief of staff, a veteran of Democratic politics who began working for her earlier this year.
“In interviews, 22 current and former vice presidential aides, administration officials and associates of Harris and [President JOE] BIDEN described a tense and at times dour office atmosphere. Aides and allies said Flournoy, in an apparent effort to protect Harris, has instead created an insular environment where ideas are ignored or met with harsh dismissals and decisions are dragged out. Often, they said, she refuses to take responsibility for delicate issues and blames staffers for the negative results that ensue.”
A TEST OF CHUTZPAH — A vote on the House floor today will reveal how much chutzpah a group of moderate House Republicans have.
Lawmakers will vote on a $715 billion surface transportation infrastructure bill (separate from the plan Biden just negotiated with Senate Republicans). Tucked inside are hundreds of millions of dollars in goodies sought by House Republicans in the form of earmarks, which were revived by House leaders this year after a yearslong ban.
Yet Republicans are expected to vote overwhelmingly against the package, calling it a financial boondoggle — even as many of them reap the benefits.
The attack ads practically write themselves.
Playbook did a deeper analysis of how this might play for Republicans in some of the most competitive districts. According to the House Infrastructure Committee, 105 GOP members sought a total of 605 projects. The bill would fund two-thirds of those requests, or 403 projects.
Roughly half of 22 Republicans in districts being targeted by House Democrats in the midterms requested and received earmarks in the package.
They include $20 million each for roads in DAVID VALADAO’S California and DON BACON’S Nebraska districts; $15 million for trails and roads in MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS’ Iowa district; and $19.4 million for JOHN KATKO (N.Y.). and $4 million each for CARLOS GIMENEZ (Fla.).
In theory this would make it difficult for Republicans to oppose a bill like this. But we’re told House GOP leaders are whipping moderates to keep them fairly unified in opposition. And most of those members are expected to fall in line, arguing that the House Dems’ bill is too costly, doesn’t include enough details about pay-fors and tackles climate issues they’re not keen on supporting.
Democrats are watching this one closely, sensing an opportunity to put vulnerable GOP members on their heels on an issue that has broad bipartisan support. And the politics of infrastructure will only get harder for these moderate Republicans if and when the bipartisan Senate framework makes it to the lower chamber.
Final thought: GOP leaders have made it abundantly clear that they don’t want to give Biden a bipartisan win. But as one moderate Republican source told us, these members would like to campaign on a bipartisan win themselves — particularly one with bacon for their constituents.
IN MEMORIAM — “Donald Rumsfeld, Defense Secretary During Iraq War, Is Dead at 88,”by NYT’s Robert McFadden: “Encores are hardly rare in Washington, but Mr. Rumsfeld had the distinction of being the only defense chief to serve two nonconsecutive terms: 1975 to 1977 under President Ford, and 2001 to 2006 under President Bush. He also was the youngest, at 43, and the oldest, at 74, to hold the post — first in an era of Soviet-American nuclear perils, then in an age of subtler menace by terrorists and rogue states.
“A staunch ally of former Vice President DICK CHENEY, who had been his protégé and friend for years, Mr. Rumsfeld was a combative infighter who seemed to relish conflicts as he challenged cabinet rivals, members of Congress and military orthodoxies. And he was widely regarded in his second tour as the most powerful defense secretary since ROBERT MCNAMARA during the Vietnam War.”
BIDEN’S THURSDAY:
— 6:55 a.m.: The president and first lady JILL BIDEN will leave the White House for Miami, arriving at 9:30 a.m.
— 10:05 a.m.: The Bidens will get a command briefing at the Surfside building collapse from the incident commander, first responders and local and state leaders, including Florida Gov. RON DESANTIS.
— 11 a.m.: The Bidens will thank first responders, search and rescue teams and others.
— 12:30 p.m.: The Bidens will meet with families at the St. Regis Hotel in Miami.
— 3:50 p.m.: Biden will deliver remarks.
— 5:20 p.m.: The Bidens will leave Miami to head back to D.C., arriving at the White House at 7:50 p.m.
Principal deputy press secretary KARINE JEAN-PIERRE will gaggle on Air Force One on the way to Miami. The White House Covid-19 response team and public health officials will brief at 1:30 p.m.
THE HOUSE will meet at 9 a.m., with last votes at 3 p.m. Speaker NANCY PELOSI will hold her weekly presser at 10:45 a.m. McCarthywill hold his at 11:30 a.m.
THE SENATE will meet at 11 a.m. in a pro forma session.
PLAYBOOK READS
POLITICS ROUNDUP
MORE CONFUSION IN NEW YORK … But we’re basically back to where we were Tuesday afternoon in the mayoral primary vote-counting: “N.Y.C. Mayor’s Race Remains Tight With Adams Leading in Revised Tally,”NYT: “According to Wednesday’s nonbinding tally, [ERIC] ADAMS led KATHRYN GARCIA by just 14,755 votes, a margin of around 2 percentage points, in the final round. MAYA WILEY, who came in second place in the initial vote count, barely trailed Ms. Garcia after the preliminary elimination rounds were completed: Fewer than 350 votes separated the two.
“But in reality, all of those candidates remain in contention, and those numbers could be scrambled again as the city’s Board of Elections tabulates ranked-choice outcomes that will include roughly 125,000 Democratic absentee ballots, with a fuller result not expected until mid-July.”
2020 AUTOPSY — “We Just Got Our Clearest Picture Yet Of How Biden Won In 2020,”by NPR’s Danielle Kurtzleben: “The Pew Research Center just released its validated voters’ report, considered a more accurate measure of the electorate than exit polls, which have the potential for significant inaccuracies. … Suburban voters (especially white suburban voters) swung toward Biden … Men (especially white men) swung toward Biden … Women (especially white women) swung toward Trump … Hispanic voters swung toward Trump … Nonwhite voters leaned heavily toward Biden.” The analysis… Steve Shepard’s story
THE STATE OF OUR DEMOCRACY — “The Senator Who Decided to Tell the Truth,”by The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta in Vulcan, Mich.: “A Michigan Republican spent eight months searching for evidence of election fraud, but all he found was lies.”
HISTORY LESSON — Today marks the 50th anniversary of the nation ratifying the 26th Amendment, as three-quarters of states signed on to dropping the voting age from 21 to 18. The White House issued a proclamation Wednesday in which Biden linked the milestone to today’s fight for voting rights and noted, “My first race for the Senate was one of the first elections in which 18-year-olds could vote, and the energy and passion of Delaware’s young people helped propel me to an unlikely victory.” Gallup also has an interesting breakdown of how public opinion on the question of youth voting shifted during the 20th century.
TRUMP CARDS
‘NOBODY WANTS TO CANCEL’— “DeSantis feuds with Trump over Florida rally amid search for survivors in Surfside,”by the Washington Examiner’s Katherine Doyle: “Former President Donald Trump is rejecting pleas from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to postpone a campaign-style rally this weekend some 200 miles from the Miami suburb … DeSantis’s office has ‘made a direct plea’ to the former president’s team, calling on it to postpone the Saturday event in Sarasota.
“One Florida Republican bluntly said Trump and his team need to ‘read the room.’ … For now, the Trump camp is holding firm. ‘Nobody wants to cancel,’ a source close to Trump told the Washington Examiner.”
SCOTUS WATCH — As we await what could be big voting rights and campaign finance decisions from the Supreme Court today, Rick Hasen has a long thread breaking down what to expect from a liberal perspective.
JAN. 6 LATEST — “House approves Jan. 6 riot probe as Dems fret over pro-Trump chaos agents,”by Nicholas Wu and Sarah Ferris: “Two Republicans, Reps. LIZ CHENEY (R-Wyo.) and ADAM KINZINGER (R-Ill.), voted alongside every Democrat to establish the 13-member panel. But as Democrats prepare its roster, both parties are still unsure about which Republicans, if any, will join its ranks — a decision that will dramatically shape the direction of the investigation.
AMERICA AND THE WORLD
PULLOUT FALLOUT — “U.S. Questioned Whether Afghan Government Could Survive Taliban Onslaught,”by Foreign Policy’s Jack Detsch and Robbie Gramer: “The Biden administration is mapping out a strategy for Afghanistan after the U.S. military completes its withdrawal that is centered around the boosting of economic support for the government, even as many Afghans are ‘increasingly skeptical’ of the government’s competence, according to an internal State Department document submitted to Congress and newly obtained by Foreign Policy.”
MEDIAWATCH
THE FINAL VOTE — “UNC-Chapel Hill Board of Trustees grant tenure to Nikole Hannah-Jones,”NC Policy Watch: “In a public vote, the board approved Hannah-Jones’s tenure application 9-4 after a closed session of nearly three hours. … Hannah-Jones issued a written statement shortly after the vote, leaving it unclear if she would accept the position.”
MAKINGS OF A DOOZY — “Ed Henry Sues Fox News CEO Suzanne Scott, Alleging She Covered Up Affair Between Network President and Employee,”by Mediaite’s Josh Feldman: “Former Fox News anchor ED HENRY, who was fired from the network after being accused of rape, is suing Fox News CEO SUZANNE SCOTT, accusing her of defaming him ‘as a sex criminal.’ Henry’s suit also alleges that Scott accused him of sexual misconduct while covering up an affair between the president of Fox News and a subordinate. …
“[A] Fox News Media spokesperson said … ‘We are fully prepared to vigorously defend against these baseless allegations as Mr. Henry further embarrasses himself in a lawsuit rife with inaccuracies after driving his personal life into the ground with countless extramarital affairs in a desperate attempt for relevance and redemption.’” Of the claims against the Fox News president, the Fox statement added that it “conducted a full and independent investigation of the claims against JAY WALLACE — he was cleared of any wrongdoing and the allegations are false.”
IN MEMORIAM — “Al Eisele, founding editor of The Hill, dies at 85,”by The Hill’s Alexander Bolton: “Al, as he was known by his colleagues, was one of the most popular editors in the history of The Hill … For years, he penned The Hill’s ‘Under the Dome’ gossip column, for which he collected funny and in-the-know anecdotes from walking the halls of Congress and sidling up to the bars and tables of D.C.’s clubbiest steakhouses.”
PLAYBOOK METRO SECTION — The Museum of the Bible is opening a new exhibit Friday that will for the first time feature the two original Magna Cartas on display together, the 1217 Hereford Magna Carta and the 1300 Sandwich Magna Carta. The museum is hosting a press preview event today and a VIP opening event tonight, with speakers including British Ambassador Karen Pierce.
SPOTTED: Cornel West walking out of Bistrot Du Coin on Wednesday evening.
FIRST IN PLAYBOOK — Beth Fouhy is now a partner at Finsbury Glover Hering. She previously was senior politics editor at NBC News/MSNBC, and is an AP and CNN alum.
WHITE HOUSE ARRIVAL LOUNGE — Max Bronstein is now assistant director for health innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. He most recently was principal at MGB Consulting.
TRANSITIONS — Brian Levine is now global head of government relations at Riot Games. He most recently was head of regulatory affairs and public policy at Hulu, and is a Biden alum. … Brian Kaissi is moving up to be chief of staff forRep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), as Mark Schauerte departs to becomedirector of the speaker series at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics. …
… Kim Soffen is now legislative director for Rep. Bill Foster (D-Ill.). She most recently was senior legislative assistant for Rep. Sean Casten (D-Ill.). … Kristin Butcher is joining the Brookings Institution as director of the Center on Children and Families, the Cabot family chair and senior fellow in economic studies. She previously chaired the economics department at Wellesley College.
ENGAGED — Logan Dobson, a managing director at Targeted Victory and an NRSC and Cory Gardner alum, proposed to Emily Taylor, comms director for Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) and a Martha Roby alum, on Wednesday at Rasika Penn Quarter, one of their favorite date spots. The couple met through a mutual friend. Pic… SPOTTED at Rasika for celebratory drinks after the proposal: Jake Wilkins, Jerry Dunleavy, Louis Nelson, Alex Byers, Alex Schriver, Caroline Buyak, Harper Stephens, Morgan Ulmer, Regan Opel, Lee Moran, Taylor Price, Melissa Carter, Samantha Helton and Andrew Callahan.
WELCOME TO THE WORLD — Monica Hesse, a WaPo columnist, and Robert Cox, director of program impact and operations for AmeriCorps VISTA, welcomed Mairead “Mazie” Grace Cox on Saturday. Pic
HAPPY BIRTHDAY: Sally Quinn … Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) … Reps. Teresa Leger Fernandez (D-N.M.) and Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) … NBC’s Kristen Welker … Brett Zongker of the Library of Congress … Renewable Fuels Association’s Bob Dinneen … Washingtonian’s Susan Farkas … Mike Czin of SKDKnickerbocker … Greta Lundeberg of Boeing … AJ Roshfeld of Brady PAC … Guy Cecil of Priorities USA … Neal Patel of the Alpine Group … North American Millers’ Association’s Jane DeMarchi … E&E News’ Timothy Cama … Grace Koh … Kate Wilson … Michael Berson … Martin Indyk (7-0) … Julie Gibson … John Giesser … POLITICO’s Vali Mansouri
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.
Amazon filed a petition with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking its chair to be recused from antitrust investigations into the company, citing her earlier criticism of the e-commerce giant, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday. FTC Chair Lisa Khan “has on numerous occasions argued that Amazon is guilty of …
A Washington Post op-ed published Tuesday celebrates and encourages exposing children to “kink culture,” such as explicit performances at pride parades. “Yes, kink belongs at Pride,” Lauren Rowello headlined a Tuesday WaPo piece. “And I want my kids to see it.” Rowello, a gendervague person who is married to a transgender …
The Biden administration’s climate agenda prioritizes regulations on the oil and gas industry, with Congress voting to restore methane emissions restrictions Friday. “The added expense of compliance with regulations can greatly impact the economic viability of oil and natural gas wells, and even the survival of many small businesses,” Ed …
A federal judge delivered a major setback to a recently-passed Florida law touted by Gov. Ron DeSantis and aimed at stopping Big Tech censorship of conservatives. “Balancing the exchange of ideas among private speakers is not a legitimate governmental interest,” Judge Robert Hinkle wrote in his order Wednesday evening. “And …
Former President Donald Trump said Wednesday the southern border is “more dangerous than it’s ever been” after the Biden administration reversed most of Trump’s immigration policies, Fox News reported. The Biden administration ended Trump’s “Remain in Mexico” program on June 1 and is eyeing an end to public health order …
I don’t know where to begin. Usually, there is one topic that catches my attention each day. That is how I pick my post for the day. I then think about the topic, formulate my thoughts and let my fingers go to work. That system is not working today. …
Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis never asked former President Donald Trump to postpone a rally in Sarasota scheduled for Saturday, his office told the Daily Caller News Foundation Wednesday. “Governor DeSantis is focusing on his duties as Governor and the tragedy in Surfside, and has never suggested or requested that …
Federal law enforcement agencies covertly request thousands of Microsoft users’ information every year, a company executive told a congressional committee Wednesday. Vice President for Customer Security and Trust Tom Burt told the House Judiciary Committee at a hearing on “Secrecy Orders and Prosecuting Leaks: Potential Legislative Responses to Deter Prosecutorial Abuse …
The Gates Foundation announced in a press release Monday that it would invest $2.1 billion to advance gender equality. The five-year commitment will help advance women’s health, economic and leadership programs, according to the press release. While we have seen progress over the past quarter century, nowhere on earth are …
America’s first black billionaire proposed $14 trillion in reparations from the U.S. government, which he says is enough to close to black-white wealth gap, VICE reported. Robert L. Johnson, the founder of Black Entertainment Television, owns several homes, leads an asset management firm and is the first black person to …
Violence has surged in the U.S. but experts are split about what is truly causing it. “This can occur because as people view government (including police) as less legitimate, they are less likely to obey the law,” Ernesto Lopez, a research specialist at the Council on Criminal Justice, told the …
The State Department will allow people to choose their gender on passports, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement Wednesday. The State Department will let people “self-select their gender as ‘M’ or ‘F’” and will waive the required medical certification for individuals whose gender on their citizenship or …
The top Republican on the Senate Banking Committee sent scathing letters to four Federal Reserve banks Wednesday morning, ripping them for ignoring congressional oversight. Sen. Pat Toomey accused the Federal Reserve Banks of San Francisco, Minneapolis, Boston and Atlanta of ignoring his investigation into their recent ventures into research related …
Border officials seized 4,000% more fentanyl in 2021 than in 2018 as the border crisis continues, NBC News reported Tuesday. Cartels have taken advantage of increased federal resources allocated for migrant encounters to smuggle fentanyl into the U.S. between ports of entry, according to NBC News. Border officials have found …
The building official who gave the collapsed Surfside condo a clean bill of health in 2018 has been put on leave from his current job as interim building official for Doral, Florida, the city said Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Rosendo Prieto worked as the building official in …
Russian President Vladimir Putin said in an interview Wednesday the west couldn’t win a war against Russia after an incident in the contested Crimean peninsula where a British destroyer received warning shots and dropped bombs. Russia’s Defense Ministry announced it fired a warning shot at a British warship and dropped …
Two weeks from today we’ll wake up and the results from the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be official. Whether we had stayed up to watch the game ourselves or simply opted to check out some of the highlights on our smart phones while sipping a cup of …
At least half of Republican New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu’s Advisory Council on Diversity and Inclusion resigned Tuesday, citing his approval of a state budget limiting conversations of “systemic racism” as a reason for members departing. “We feel obligated to inform you that—contrary to your recent public statements—systemic racism does …
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! Some say Biden resembles Jeff Dunham’s puppet Walter but …
Happy Thursday, dear Kruiser Morning Briefing friends. The nudist treehouse community is thriving.
Politics in the United States are anything but predictable but the urge to think ahead to the next election cycle usually kicks in mere moments after the most recent election ends. We all say we aren’t going to speculate and predict, but we do it anyway.
After the nightmare that was the 2020 “election,” Republicans were left in a position where the only way to stay sane was to look to the future. Daily Silkwood showers couldn’t wash off the stink of 2020. We had to dream about 2022 and 2024.
The ultimate revenge for last year would be to see Donald Trump come back in 2024 and win again. Trump recently told Sean Hannity that he has made up his mind about that, but didn’t reveal what he decided.
Even avid Trump supporters are big DeSantis fans, so if Trump decides he’s having more fun living rent-free in Democrats’ heads without the hassle of being president, the governor is an excellent choice for 2024.
It’s obvious that the Democrats are afraid of DeSantis’s popularity. Their flying monkeys in the media are ramping up their attacks on him, despite the fact that every time they go after DeSantis they end up kicking themselves in the groin. Rick wrote a post yesterday detailing various instances of “DeSantis Derangement Syndrome” in the MSM.
Watching DeSantis frequently destroy the MSM is entertainment I’d pay for. The thought of him doing it as president of the United States makes me think that I may cancel all of my streaming services should that come to pass.
When my conservative friends and I discuss DeSantis these days, the conversation always turns to what potential time bombs might be out there to derail DeSantis’s momentum. When you’ve been around Republican politics for a long time you’re always waiting for the other shoe to drop. At this point, DeSantis does seem too good to be true, both from a political and personal standpoint. After carefully observing him for over a year, I am beginning to think DeSantis may be as disaster-free as he seems.
Of course, a lot can happen between now and 2024. DeSantis still has a gubernatorial election to get through next year. He’s got to win that to keep the popularity that he has now, obviously. He then has to keep governing without having any “Republican Lite” moments that would disappoint conservatives.
All the lights are green for DeSantis right now though. Let’s hope he doesn’t make any unnecessary stops along the way.
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
(Photo Illustration by Rafael Henrique/SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images)
Happy Thursday! We are somehow already in the seventh month of 2021. How is this possible?
Quick Hits: Today’s Top Stories
The House of Representatives voted almost entirely along party lines to form a select committee to investigate the January 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol. Two Republicans—Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger—voted in favor.
The New York Times reports that a grand jury in Manhattan has indicted the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer in connection to a tax investigation. The indictment is expected to be unsealed later today.
The official death toll in the Surfside, Florida, condominium collapse had risen to 18 as of Wednesday evening, and approximately 145 people remain unaccounted for as the rescue mission continues into its seventh day.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned Bill Cosby’s 2018 indecent assault conviction on the grounds that prosecutors had violated his rights against self-incrimination. The decision allowed the comedian to walk free after serving three years of his three-to-10-year sentence for drugging and assaulting Andrea Constand in 2004. A total of 60 women have come forward with similar allegations.
Donald Rumsfeld, secretary of defense under former presidents Gerald Ford and George W. Bush, died Wednesday at the age of 88.
Mississippi State beat defending national champion Vanderbilt 9-0 in Game 3 of the 2021 College World Series last night, landing the Bulldogs their first national championship in any team sport.
The United States confirmed 12,834 new cases of COVID-19 yesterday per the Johns Hopkins University COVID-19 Dashboard, with 2.8 percent of the 462,334 tests reported coming back positive. An additional 262 deaths were attributed to the virus on Wednesday, bringing the pandemic’s American death toll to 604,698. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 11,948 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19. Meanwhile, 1,368,679 COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered yesterday, with 180,674,739 Americans having now received at least one dose.
Facebook Skates Free—For Now
Bashing Big Tech is in vogue these days across the political spectrum. But proponents of actually reining in the country’s most successful technology companies hit a wall earlier this week when a federal judge dismissed a pair of antitrust lawsuits brought against Facebook late last year by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 46 state attorneys general.
(Reminder: The Dispatch is a participant in Facebook’s fact-checking program.)
“The FTC has failed to plead enough facts to plausibly establish … that Facebook has monopoly power in the market for Personal Social Networking (PSN) Services,” U.S. District Judge James Boasberg wrote in his opinion, released before a trial in the cases had begun. “PSN services are free to use, and the exact metes and bounds of what even constitutes a PSN service—i.e., which features of a company’s mobile app or website are included in that definition and which are excluded—are hardly crystal clear. In this unusual context, the FTC’s inability to offer any indication of the metric(s) or method(s) it used to calculate Facebook’s market share renders its vague ‘60%-plus’ assertion too speculative and conclusory to go forward.”
Boasberg—nominated to his post by former President Barack Obama in 2010 and confirmed unanimously by the Senate the following year—granted the FTC 30 days to file an amended lawsuit, but dismissed the state AGs’ case entirely because it pertained to the acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp that were made nearly a decade ago.
Facebook—whose market cap surged past $1 trillion for the first time following the news—took a victory lap, claiming the decision showcased the “defects” of the FTC’s argument against the company. “We compete fairly every day to earn people’s time and attention and will continue to deliver great products for the people and businesses that use our services,” its statement read.
The ruling was not unexpected given American antitrust law’s adherence to the consumer welfare standard, which promotes a more hands-off approach to competition policy as long as a company’s market power does not harm consumers in the form of higher prices or lower output. Because Facebook’s main product is free (though critics often argue you “pay” for it with your personal data), proving consumers are harmed by its dominant market share in “personal social networking”—if you can even prove it has a dominant market share—is exceedingly difficult.
Republicans Get the Partisan January 6 Commission They Opted For
When Senate Republicans—at the urging of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell—moved several weeks ago to filibuster the creation of a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the events surrounding January 6, they did not doom an investigation into that day—they ensured that when an investigation did occur, it would not be bipartisan or independent.
Nearly one month after the bill establishing that commission failed to advance, the House on Wednesday voted 222-190 to create its own select committee tasked with “investigat[ing] and report[ing] upon the facts, circumstances, and causes relating to the January 6, 2021, domestic terrorist attack upon the United States Capitol Complex.” Although 10 House Republicans voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January and 35 voted to establish the commission back in May, just two—Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger—signed onto Pelosi’s select committee yesterday.
“I’m heartbroken that we don’t have the bipartisan commission,” Pelosi said in a floor speech. “We yielded on every point: The [numbers], the process for subpoenas, the timing—and further yielded on the Senate side on timing again, as well as clarification on staffing. … Hopefully, [a bipartisan commission] could still happen, but in the meantime, we will have a select committee.”
Pelosi’s first stab at creating a 9/11-style commission to investigate January 6 was overtly partisan, a fact that made Republicans who favored a commission skeptical of her motivations and Republicans inclined to oppose it even more determined to block those efforts. But the final bill that the House voted on was not a partisan proposal. The top two members on the House Homeland Security Committee—Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat, and Rep. John Katko, a Republican—had hammered out a proposal that was truly bipartisan. From a TMD last month:
“[It] would feature 10 members: Five appointed by Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, and five appointed by McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy. The commission would have subpoena powers to compel witness testimony, but those powers could only be exerted when the commission’s Democratic chair and Republican vice chair agreed, or if a majority of the panel (again requiring at least one Republican to side with Democrats, or vice versa) voted for it. To avoid investigations dragging into election season, the commission would be required by law to submit its final report to Congress and President Biden by the end of this year.
The House’s new select committee abides by a whole different set of rules. Pelosi will appoint 13 members to the committee (five “in consultation” with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy), and designate one as the chair, who is authorized to subpoena witnesses without any Republican input. The select committee also has no end date, meaning it could (and likely will) drag into election season.
Writing in The Week, Damon Linker breaks down a study published by the Survey Center on American Life last week that contained a notable and depressing finding.: The number of Americans who report having no close friends has skyrocketed since 1990, from 3 to 15 percent of men and from 2 to 10 percent of women. Moving so much of our lives online, Linker writes, has changed the way many of us form relationships: “People sharing similar interests, hobbies, quirks, and obsessions can easily find each other online and enjoy a digital facsimile of friendship with others. These virtual communities are more like collective groups of topic-specific pen pals than real-world friendships.” This is bad news for each of us personally, but also for the function of society and politics at large: “A nation of increasingly lonely, friendless citizens given outlets to find collective, communal fulfillment online will be a nation spawning a range of radical political factions, groups, or movements defined by and drawing the bulk of their cohesion from their loathing of other factions, groups, or movements.”
The Atlantic’s Tim Alberta is always worth reading, but his latest profile is a particular triumph. It tells the story of Michigan state Sen. Ed McBroom, the rock-ribbed Republican who chairs the state’s Oversight Committee and, who in recent months has spent significant time enthusiastically investigating whether claims of 2020 voter fraud in the state have any validity. His ultimate conclusion—that the allegations in question are demonstrably false, and that those who continue to push them do so for nefarious reasons—have made him a personal target of former President Trump and those who continue to carry water for his claims of election fraud. What comes through most is his dismay: “It’s been very discouraging, and very sad, to have people I know who have supported me, and always said they respected me and found me to be honest, who suddenly don’t trust me because of what some guy told them on the internet.”
Scott Lincicome’s latest Capitolism(🔒) tackles a policy area that’s suddenly having a bipartisan moment: antitrust enforcement. Scott offers several reasons for why the antitrust train ought to slow down a bit—from the market’s own ability to break down supposed monopolies to the threat of enforcement abuse and state-sanctioned anti-competitive behavior.
Yesterday’s episode of The Dispatch Podcastbreaks down New York City’s election fiasco, Vice President Kamala Harris’ recent visit to the U.S.-Mexico border, the latest on infrastructure negotiations, and recent reporting on Bill Barr and the last days of the Trump administration.
The NCAA voted Wednesday to allow athletes to profit from their name, image, and likeness. Price explains what that means—and how the patchwork of state laws and interim NCAA policy is bound to create some confusion.
Sure, we all cringe when a celebrity grovels to appease China, and pretend to be horrified when countries apologize for offending the Chinese Communist Party. Do you know what else we do? We buy Chinese products and invest in Chinese companies. Danielle Pletka lays out how individuals, governments, and allied nations can push back on Chinese aggression.
Yesterday turned into a big news day with the sad report of Donald Rumsfeld’s passing and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the indecent assault conviction against Bill Cosby.
Amid our collective bipartisan reconsideration of the Iraq War, opinions towards Rumsfeld will surely be varied as we reflect on his legacy. This moving picture from 9/11, however, is worth remembering as his loved ones mourn.
Condoleezza Rice remembered Rumsfeld as “a remarkable and committed public servant.”
When it comes to Cosby, Jonathan Turley provided some nuanced legal insight to help those of us reeling from the actor’s release understand how it happened.
“The Cosby opinion is little surprise given the deeply troubling trial. The question is not how the Supreme Court could reach this conclusion but how the trial court could miss these basic conditions for a fair trial,” Turley tweeted.
Read his full thread here. Read NBC News’s report here. And stay tuned to The Federalist for Margot Cleveland’s detailed analysis of the case, including its relationship to the Me Too movement.
Meanwhile, the death toll in Surfside is up to 16 people. Nearly 150 remain unaccounted for, so we can expect that number to continue ticking up.
Here’s a jarring passage from NYT’s latest update:
“Magaly Delgado, 80, who left Cuba in the early 1960s, fearing she would speak out against the revolution, was among the missing, said her daughter Magaly Ramsey. On Monday afternoon, she was allowed to visit the site of the tragedy, where she decided that her mother had not survived.
‘I’m a very logical, tough woman,’ said Ms. Ramsey, who had a question for a rescue official nearby. Can a body just disintegrate?
The answer, Ms. Ramsey recalled in an interview, was ‘yes.'”
Don’t miss Eddie Scarry’s Federalist debut on the death of 17-year-old Hunter Brittain. Eddie just joined our staff as D.C. columnist on Wednesday.
Read Elle Reynolds on Gen Z’s love of cottagecore. (The Federalist) How does it square with Gen Z’s love of Billie Eilish-inspired androgyny? I asked Elle on Federalist Radio Hour this week. Tune in for a conversation about pop culture and modernity.
Here’s my new Federalist Radio Hour interview with Sean “Sticks” Larkin from Live PD.
Bravo (duh)
I obviously can’t end an edition of BRIGHT without weighing in on Bravo’s latest melodrama. Given that this is probably the only niche audience that brings Fox News viewers together with Real Housewife viewers, it’s an appropriate venue to discuss Eboni Williams’ debut season on RHONY. I thought her first episode was atrocious, approaching “finger wagger” territory (s/o Shep Rose) where producers awkwardly deputize her to force contrived political conversations that do more to force virtue signaling than depict any semblance of “reality.” But I’m warming up to her because I think she creates a great contrast with the older housewives, bringing out their amazing Boomer energy in a beautiful way.
Also Kathy Hilton is a motherfreaking hero. That’s all I have to say.
Emily Jashinsky is culture editor at The Federalist. She previously covered politics as a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner. Prior to joining the Examiner, Emily was the spokeswoman for Young America’s Foundation. She is a regular guest on Fox News and Fox Business, and her work has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, the New York Post, Real Clear Politics, and more. Originally from Wisconsin, she is a graduate of George Washington University.
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Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
“It’s unbelievable that Adolf Hitler was able to manipulate and control the entire German population. It just seems impossible.” Read More…
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
As Governor Phil Murphy’s pick for top cop, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal has become the perfect chameleon. Read More…
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
To allow divergent peoples to peacefully coexist and find some commonality of purpose so the nation may survive, differences must be accepted and governance made to conform to that reality. Read More…
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
China’s conflict with India goes beyond what’s apparent on the surface: it’s part of the Communist nation’s attempt to wrest power from, and destabilize, the United States. Read More…
NYC mayoral candidate Eric Adams sues over botched election count
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
A genuine nightmare is brewing for Democrats, as the laughably incompetent administration of last week’s primary election for mayor of New York City proves the need for election integrity measures being demanded by Republicans. Read more…
Report: Kamala Harris is an awful boss
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
Her office, believably, is dysfunctional and vicious. What’s more interesting is trying to figure out why the Democrats are making this a story. Read more…
Is the Supreme Court gaslighting us?
Jul 01, 2021 01:00 am
The Supreme Court justices find themselves in this fix because they’ve forgotten the first rule of holes: “When you find yourself in a hole — stop digging.” Read more…
By Natalie Jackson
Guest Columnist, Sabato’s Crystal Ball
KEY POINTS FROM THIS ARTICLE
— Following another presidential election in which pre-election polls often understated support for Donald Trump, the polling industry is once again trying to figure out what went wrong.
— An American Association for Public Opinion Research task force pointed to a lack of education weighting in its post-2016 assessment, but that did not fix the problems with 2020 polls.
— That the AAPOR has not identified a specific problem with the 2020 polls may actually be a good thing for pollsters.
Evaluating pre-election polling following 2020
At the 2021 virtual conference of the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR), a task force presented the findings from their official assessment of 2020 pre-election polling. [1] The findings confirmed what general suspicions and early analysis had shown: That 2020 polls collectively overstated support for Democrats in every contest and generated the highest polling errors in “at least 20 years.”[2] However, the task force was unable to determine what caused the error with the available data, only that it was “consistent with systemic non-response.”
The conclusions, or lack thereof, from the task force are disappointing on one dimension. That an all-star group of hard-working researchers in the industry did not provide concrete answers to what went wrong is somewhat disheartening. By the same token, however, that could be good for the industry overall in two ways: It could help reset expectations for pre-election polls because there is no single identifiable “fix” to be applied, and it is likely to spur innovation among diverse methodologies to identify and address underlying problems.
Polling error in 2016 vs. 2020, and how not knowing what is wrong can be good for expectations
After the 2016 pre-election polls underestimated Donald Trump’s support, a similar AAPOR task force went to work in early 2017 to investigate why. The conclusions from that task force pointed to two concrete sources of error that skewed polls away from Trump. First, the 2016 pre-election polls had unusually high proportions of undecided voters, among whom the majority ended up voting for Trump. Additionally, the polls that performed the worst tended to not adequately adjusted their surveys to get enough voters with less formal education than a four-year college degree — a group that also swung heavily toward Trump.
The positive side of the lack of concrete answers is that the narrative of fixing polls by adjusting this one thing cannot take hold in the wake of 2020 polling errors. This time, instead of feeding a focus on how to make polls perfectly predict election outcomes, as the education weighting finding inadvertently did, the 2020 task force report seems as if it will put a spotlight on the unknown sources of uncertainty that exist in polling. If this is leveraged to foster better communication about and understanding of uncertainty, it will be a positive outcome.
No more “gold standard” and opportunities for innovation
It also follows that, because the AAPOR task force did not identify easily corrected flaws in pre-election polls, individual pollsters are left to innovate and problem-solve on their own. However, the findings do point to areas that need innovation — how we contact people and get them to take polls, and how we determine who are “likely voters” that we want in our polls.
It is increasingly clear that how a poll contacts people — formerly a key heuristic for assessing poll quality — no longer tells us what it used to about accuracy. The 2020 primary pre-election polling task force report found that whether the survey was online or by telephone had no bearing on accuracy, and the new task force report presentation indicated the same finding. As a result of their own analysis showing the same thing, FiveThirtyEight has retired the landline and cell phone live-caller survey as the “gold standard.” The field letting go of its attachment to one source as more accurate than others will allow other methodologies to become more prominent and encourage further experimentation with new methodologies.
The second key place we need to innovate, or at least focus more energy, is on determining who is a “likely voter.” The task force seemed to somewhat dismiss likely voter modeling as a reason for polling misses in 2020 based on the limited information they had available. That came with a huge caveat that the task force did not have information on likely voter models for most polls. That is not surprising; most pollsters regard likely voter selection or modeling as their proprietary “secret sauce” and do not divulge it. Without more information to analyze, there is no way for the task force to really rule out likely voter models as part of the bias. We need to increase awareness that, unless details are provided, anything labeled “likely voters” is essentially a pollster’s best guess about what the electorate will look like — nothing more.
An instructive illustration on how much likely voter selection matters comes from a 2016 article in the New York Times in which Nate Cohn had four different sets of pollsters adjust the same data using weighting and likely voter determinations, and they came out with results ranging from Clinton +4 to Trump +1. That exercise demonstrated quite clearly that likely voter modeling — done by rational, smart people! — can result in significant survey error. Of course, this has always been true, but likely voter models will be much more consequential in elections won or lost on razor-thin margins in a few states. The best move AAPOR could make is to continue encouraging transparency in methods, including likely voter models.
Looking to 2024
There will still be plenty of presidential horserace polls in 2024, and before that in contests happening in 2021, 2022, and 2023. The demand for polls in the early 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs illustrated that polls are still a desirable part of campaign coverage. Polls are also still the best way to know what the mass public thinks.
However, when 2024 rolls around, it looks like pollsters will not be able to say, “we fixed x as the AAPOR report said we should to make up for what happened last time.” The more likely scenario in the absence of any type of community consensus is that individual pollsters will tweak their processes here and there, and those tweaks will be different for each organization. Some will be at the sample level, working hard at the task of making sure those non-trusting people are recruited into surveys somehow. Some will be in other parts of the process, including likely voter models. The AAPOR task force report is not telling us how to do that, but that leaves the field wide open to innovation and learning. That makes it a difficult, but exciting, time to be a pollster.
Natalie Jackson, Ph.D., is Director of Research at the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). She was previously Senior Polling Editor and responsible for election forecasting efforts at the Huffington Post from 2014-2017. Views expressed herein are her own and not representative of any employer, past or present.
Footnotes
[1] At the time of this writing, the written report has not been released. The information in this article regarding the task force report is based solely on the presentation at the conference. Any misinterpretations are solely the responsibility of the author.
[2] In the absence of a public report, quotes are taken from the conference presentation slides and presentation recording, last viewed on June 21, 2021.
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44.) WORLD NET DAILY
45.) CONSERVATIVE BRIEF
46.) BIZPAC REVIEW
47.) ABC
July 1, 2021 – Having trouble viewing this email? Open it in your browser.
Morning Rundown
Bill Cosby released from prison after conviction vacated: Bill Cosby was released from prison Wednesday after his conviction on sexual assault charges was overturned by Pennsylvania’s highest court. The 83-year-old, who was sentenced in September 2018 to three to 10 years in state prison for allegedly drugging and sexually assaulting former Temple University employee Andrea Constand in 2004, walked out of the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, Wednesday afternoon. He was then taken to his Elkins Park, Pennsylvania, mansion. In a ruling released Wednesday, the state Supreme Court concluded that Cosby’s prosecution should never have occurred due to a deal the comedian cut with former Montgomery County prosecutor Bruce Castor, who agreed not to criminally prosecute Cosby if he gave a deposition in a civil case brought against him by Constand. Believing he had immunity from criminal prosecution, Cosby testified during depositions by Constand’s attorneys. The incriminating statements he made during those depositions were used by Castor’s successor, Kevin R. Steele, to charge Cosby in 2015. Pennsylvania Supreme Court justices concluded that Cosby was the victim of an unconstitutional “coercive bait-and-switch.” The news about the decision sent shockwaves through Hollywood and several of Cosby’s accusers felt it was a blow to the many women who came forward. Despite the deluge of accusations against him, Cosby has maintained that he never engaged in nonconsensual sex. He cannot be retried on the criminal charges.
Bulletin warns of extremist violence as pandemic restrictions lift: Federal authorities are deeply concerned about the possibility of domestic terror and violence, including mass shootings, as the Fourth of July holiday approaches and the summer season gets fully underway. In a new Homeland Security bulletin warning obtained exclusively by ABC News, “violent extremists might seek to exploit easing COVID-19 restrictions, increased access to mass gatherings, and possible changes in levels of violence during the summer months to conduct attacks against a range of potential targets with little or no warning.” The intelligence report notes that on Wednesday, State of Emergency orders expired in 34 states, which means a lift on bans for mass gatherings and social distancing restrictions. “In a sense, we have the perfect storm,” a senior law enforcement official told ABC News. “It’s a very volatile moment and it’s about to be a more target-rich environment.” While no specific plot has been identified for Independence Day, the intelligence brief notes that federal officials are seeing evidence of planning by radicals — particularly white supremacists and violence-prone people. They advised the public to be alert and reach out to law enforcement if they see anything suspicious in the coming weeks.
Princes Harry and William set to reunite at unveiling of statue for Princess Diana: Prince Harry and Prince William are expected to reunite today on British soil to honor their mother, Princess Diana, on what would have been her 60th birthday. The two brothers will unveil a much-anticipated statue at her former home, Kensington Palace, where they grew up. The statue was commissioned by William and Harry in 2017 to mark the 20th anniversary of their mother’s death. “Our mother touched so many lives,” the brothers said in a joint statement in 2017. “We hope the statue will help all those who visit Kensington Palace to reflect on her life and legacy.” Today’s event — which is set to be a small, personal one with just close family invited, no royal fanfare or wives — comes as family tensions continue to divide William and Harry. In March, Prince Harry opened up about his and his brother’s rift in a tell-all interview with Oprah Winfrey, and said they were on “different paths.” The tension between the two is also documented in a new book by Robert Lacey called “Battle of Brothers.” Watch “Good Morning America” this morning for more on this story.
Family of 4 celebrates graduating in same year: Alisa Perry Johnson’s family has a lot to celebrate. Within one month, the 50-year-old matriarch and her three children are all new graduates. On May 23, Perry Johnson earned an associate’s degree in early childhood education from Richard J. Daley College. The next day, her 22-year-old son, Malik Johnson, graduated from Georgetown University. Then a few weeks later, her daughters, 18-year-old Makaela Johnson and 14-year-old Mia Johnson, graduated from high school and eighth grade. Perry Johnson told “GMA” that she had been pursuing her degree off and on for 32 years. She said having children and being a mom and student was a challenge. “Working, taking care of family and going to school [was] a lot,” Perry Johnson said. But along the way, her kids ended up being the “highlight” of earning her degree. They also helped her through her math class. As her graduation approached, she realized it would coincide with her children’s milestones. “Once it became the time for us all to graduate, I was excited for all of us,” Makaela said. “I was proud of us all.”
GMA Must-Watch
This morning on “GMA,” Ryan Scott joins us live from San Francisco to share recipes just in time for your Fourth of July barbecue. We also check in with Questlove as he shares details about “Summer of Soul,” his directorial debut, and we have a sneak peek at a never-before-seen performance by Gladys Knight and The Pips. Plus, “Rise and Shine”! Today, Becky Worley visits Washington, where she takes us from farms to mountains to highlight how the state is recovering from the pandemic. All this and more only on “GMA.”
In a major development in the investigation into former President Donald Trump’s business dealings, New York grand jury indictments against the Trump Organization and one of its top leaders are expected to be handed down today. We have more on what some say are prosecutorial missteps that lead to Bill Cosby’s release. And China celebrates 100 years of its ruling Communist Party with pomp and propaganda.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York Attorney General’s Office have obtained indictments against the Trump Organization and its chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, two people familiar with the matter told NBC News.
Weisselberg surrendered himself to the Manhattan District Attorney’s office early Thursday.
The charges, handed up by a New York grand jury, are expected to be unsealed in court Thursday afternoon in Manhattan, one Trump representative told NBC News.
The charges stem from a scheme to pay compensation to Weisselberg and possibly others “off the books” by the Trump Organization.
From rockets to rappers, Beijing is rolling out the red carpet to celebrate 100 years of the Chinese Communist Party. President Xi Jinping presided over a massive gathering in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square Thursday to mark the centenary of his ruling party, vowing that China will “never allow foreign bullying.”
A previous nonprosecution agreement cited as a cornerstone in the argument for Bill Cosby’s stunning release from prison Wednesday has set off scrutiny over how the once-celebrated entertainer could walk free on what some are calling a technicality. Meantime, Cosby’s accusers say they are “stunned” at the court’s decision.
Democrats need to stop worrying about what the GOP thinks and start worrying about what will happen if Republicans believe they can get away with pretty much anything, writes Bardella, a former GOP advisor.
The event to honor the princes’ mother on what would have been her 60th birthday will be only the second time the pair are seen together in public since Harry stepped back from his role as a senior royal.
From outdoor furniture to small appliances, these are the best sales and deals to shop this July 4th.
One wacky thing
That’s some NFT.
A blockchain-based token representing the original source code for the World Wide Web written by its inventor Tim Berners-Lee sold for $5.4 million at Sotheby’s in an online auction on Wednesday.
The source code was sold in the form of a non-fungible token (NFT) — a crypto asset which records ownership of digital items.
The Trump Organization’s Allen Weisselbergsurrendered to the Manhattan D.A.’s office after a grand jury indicted him.
President Bidentravels to Florida to meet with the first responders and families in Surfside, Fla. (while the Washington Examiner is reporting that Gov. Ron DeSantis is asking Trump to postpone an upcoming rally that’s 200 miles from the tragedy).
And the U.S. Supreme Court is set to deliver its final opinions this term, including a closely watched voting-rights case.
While there’s certain to be a lot of focus today on the Weisselberg indictment, ask yourself which is the more potent political story, at least when it comes to 2022 and 2024: Is it the Trump Organization’s business practices?
Or is it what happened on Jan. 6 (and information we still don’t know about that day)?
TWEET OF THE DAY: What happened on Jan. 6 – in 40 minutes
Talking policy with Benjy: Will the midterms be about “Biden Democrats”?
Democrats are looking shaky on economic issues heading into the midterm cycle, but President Joe Biden’s popularity remains a potential life raft. That’s the view from center-left think tank Third Way, which shared its latest polling memo with NBC’s Benjy Sarlin on the party’s economic message based on a survey of 1,000 likely voters.
According to their findings, congressional Democrats are tied with Republicans on the generic ballot, with the GOP holding a 12-point advantage on which party is more trusted on the economy, including an effective tie with Latino voters and a larger 29-point gap with “persuadable” voters.
Biden fares better in the poll, however. He holds a 50-48 percent approval on the economy versus 41-55 percent for Democrats in Congress.
“One thing Democrats can do to help address this economic trust gap in 2022 is run as Biden Democrats,” Ryan Pougiales, deputy director of politics at Third Way, told Sarlin. “Describe yourself as a Biden Democrat, run full-throatedly on the Biden agenda, and certainly bring the president to your district when you can. Hopefully, the Biden magic on the economy can rub off on them.”
This advice isn’t that surprising given the group’s natural affinity for Biden. Still, the numbers pointed to serious weak spots for the party. Despite trillions in relief spending and infrastructure and jobs bills under discussion, voters by a more than a 2-to-1 margin described Democrats as more focused on cultural and social issues than economic ones.
Third Way’s prescription: Stick to Biden, talk a whole lot more about the economy, and emphasize the benefits for “working” and “middle class” families, which the vast majority of voters identify as across a wide range of financial situations, rather than “low-income” ones, which voters are more likely to assume doesn’t apply to them.
Data Download: The numbers you need to know today
18: The death toll in the Surfside, Florida condo collapse, with 145 people still unaccounted for.
33,800,492: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, per the most recent data from NBC News and health officials. (That’s 10,261 more than yesterday morning.)
608,138: The number of deaths in the United States from the virus so far, per the most recent data from NBC News.(That’s 247 more than yesterday morning.)
326,521,526: The number of vaccine doses administered in the U.S.
43 percent: The share of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, per NBC News.
57.4 percent: The share of all American adults over 18 who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.
Don’t miss this interview with the Michigan Republican who led a 2020 election investigation that concluded there was no widespread fraud in the state.
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Bill Cosby is once again a free man, arriving home Wednesday after Pennsylvania’s highest court threw out his sexual assault conviction. Also, rescue workers at the site of a Florida apartment building collapse are still working to find survivors. All that and all that matters in today’s Eye Opener. Your world in 90 seconds.
Princess Diana statue unveiled by her feuding sons
As the princes unveil a statue of their mom on what would have been her 60th birthday, “it’s William defending the monarchy and Harry defending his wife.”
The NCAA Board of Directors voted to allow student athletes to make money off their personal brand. The move has huge implications for college athletes. CBS News spoke to three college stars on how it will impact them. Mola Lenghi reports from New York.
The Mexican town of San Cristobal De Las Casas is suffering from water scarcity and local activists say the local Coca-Cola bottling plant is to blame. The plant consumes most of the community drinking water and while the soda giant says they replenish the water used, local municipal water tanks reveal another story. Jonathan Vigliotti reports.
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The latest news and analysis from Reason.com
Thursday, July 1, 2021
The Deeply Flawed Studies Behind the Eviction Moratoriums
The government and media relied on studies plagued by shoddy statistics to make the case for blocking evictions during the COVID-19 pandemic. By Aaron Brown and Justin Monticello
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55.) REALCLEARPOLITICS MORNING NOTE
07/01/2021
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Carl Cannon’s Morning Note
Patriotism Poll; Heading South; Big-City Safety
By Carl M. Cannon on Jul 01, 2021 09:00 am
Good morning, it’s Thursday, July 1, 2021. Who will be the next mayor of New York City? The answer is significant. The city’s new chief executive will tackle of host of COVID-era urban challenges ranging from rising crime and low police morale to the exodus of children in public schools and the top wage earners who are taxed to a fare-the-well to pay for it all.
For now, however, New York City election officials don’t seem to be able to count the votes. The mayoral primary, which is tantamount to election in the near-monolithically Democratic stronghold, took place 10 days ago. But basic incompetence and at least one spectacular blunder have obscured the tally. The following morning, it seemed that the Democratic primary had been won by Brooklyn borough President Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain. Now, no one seems to know who is ahead.
Apparently, New Yorkers understood the potential for a train wreck more than the rest of us. They knew that the ability of the city to tabulate votes is not a given. It took two months to release the results of two close primaries in congressional elections last year — even after the primary had already been delayed two months. In the run-up to the 2016 presidential primary, some 200,000 Democrats were deleted from the voting rolls without their knowledge, giving rise to suspicions in Bernie Sanders’ camp that Mayor Bill De Blasio (who had endorsed Hillary Clinton) was playing games.
“It is absurd that in Brooklyn, New York — where I was born, actually — tens of thousands of people, as I understand it, have been purged from the voting rolls,” Sanders said told supporters at a Pennsylvania campaign rally. “From long lines and dramatic understaffing to longtime voters being forced to cast affidavit ballots and thousands of registered New Yorkers being dropped from the rolls, what’s happening today is a disgrace!”
Hizzoner didn’t really deny it. “The perception that numerous voters may have been disenfranchised,” De Blasio conceded at the time, “undermines the integrity of the entire electoral process and must be fixed.”
But that did not happen. And the latest fiasco has accomplished the nearly impossible: It has resulted in Bernie-style progressives, Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” obsessives, and good-government advocates all singing from the same hymnal. As for those well-intentioned “goo-goos,” their immediate concern isn’t the success of any particular Big Apple mayoral candidate. Their worry is that the New York City Board of Elections has sabotaged public confidence in one of their most cherished reforms: ranked-choice voting.
One can also forgive establishment Republicans for skepticism that Democrats are to be trusted with rewriting the procedures for voting processes everywhere in the country. As for me, I’m still wondering if we’ll ever know who won the 2020 Democratic caucuses in Iowa.
With that, I’d point you to our front page, which aggregates, as it does each day, an array of columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. Today’s lineup includes John Fund on the aforementioned NYC Board of Elections (Spectator); Clarence Page’s thoughtful discussion of critical race theory (Chicago Tribune); and Jessica Tarlov on the ubiquitous presence in American public life of a certain former president (The Hill). Speaking of The Hill, on a personal note I’d mention the death of a great American, and one the co-founders of that publication. His name was Al Eisele, and his obit is here. Meanwhile, we offer a complement of original material from RCP reporters and contributors, including the following:
* * *
RCP Poll: Patriotic Feeling Abides, But Its Expression Varies Widely. I examine RealClear Opinion Research’s latest survey, which tackles a pertinent topic as July 4th approaches and Americans are divided over how they view this nation’s progress.
White House Won’t Stop Governors From Sending Natl. Guard to the Border. Phil Wegmann reports on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s plan to help Texas address the migrant surge, a step that has elicited a shrug from the Biden administration.
Philadelphia Reflects Big Cities’ Public-Safety Challenges. Charles F. McElwee explores the spike in crime that — along with remote-work options for Center City employees — has emptied out the once-vibrant downtown.
Senate’s Production Tax Credit Could Re-shore U.S. Solar Manufacturing. At RealClearEnergy, Jeff Ferry lauds theeffort to ensure that America’s entire solar supply chain is independent of China.
Demonizing Amazon for Rewarding Its Vendors. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny takes issue with the insinuation that Amazon essentially forces its vendors to sell it shares at below-market prices.
Researchers Urge Americans to Focus on Loneliness Epidemic. Henry Kokkeler has the story at RealClearPolicy.
A Book That Speaks to Our Moment. At RealClearBooks, Daniel J. Mahoney praises Robert L. Woodson’s “Red, White and Black” for bringing together African American and other minority voices who reject the cult of victimization.
Digital Upgrade for U.S. Military Is Vital. At RealClearDefense, Frank Ponds highlights the need for “information assurance,” especially in contested environments with constantly evolving technology.
Americans Support Campus Due Process. At RealClearEducation, Edward E. Bartlett considers the findings of a new survey.
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62.) 1440 DAILY DIGEST
63.) AMERICAN INSTITUTE FOR ECONOMIC RESEARCH
64.) NATIONAL REVIEW
TODAY’S MORNING JOLT WITH JIM GERAGHTY
IS PRESENTED BY
On the menu today: a comprehensive denunciation of a media environment that rewards bad behavior and punishes good behavior in our body politic; Kamala Harris’s office and staff are just about as dysfunctional as you would imagine; and Budweiser turns to the country’s favorite former president.
When Government Is Boring, It Is Easier to Avoid Scrutiny
James Kirchick offers a dynamite essay over in Tablet magazine, entitled, “The Grift That Keeps on Grifting.” The whole thing is terrific, but two sections jump out as being particularly on-target in diagnosing the widespread maladies of our era. The first:
Another baleful consequence of the Russiagate narrative has been the rapidly expanding definition of the term “disinformation,” and the censorious purposes to which it has been put. Once used within the highly specific context of authoritarian governments and their attempts to divide and distract Western publics with misleading or false information, … READ MORE
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Stuck poop doesn’t just block you up and make you feel heavier…
Iit slows down your entire digestive process and FORCES unnecessary, extra weight gain.
That’s because you absorb more calories the longer it sits in your intestines…
Plus it creates bloating and water retention making you look and feel even heavier BECAUSE of this “overdigestion” in the gut!
Which is why just clearing out stubborn “stuck poop” can help you look 15 lbs lighter in days – no diet or exercise needed.
And thanks to this all-natural and flavorless nutrient discovered by Stanford researchers, it’s never been easier to clear out “stuck poop” AND stop it from building up again…
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Former President Donald Trump has been banned from speaking this upcoming Saturday at the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park in Mobile, Alabama. Trump was scheduled to be the keynote speaker…Read more…
Former President Donald Trump said former National Football League legend Herschel Walker told him he will run for the U.S. Senate in Georgia in 2022. The announcement took place during…Read more…
The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration Wednesday in the first legal challenge of the administration’s policy on illegal immigration. ACLU’s federal class-action lawsuit filed…Read more…
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office will unveil multiple tax-related charges against the Trump Organization in court on Thursday, according to a new report. The DA’s office has been investigating the…Read more…
Former President Donald Trump and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida are reportedly butting heads about a campaign-style rally Trump plans to have this weekend. DeSantis’s office “made a direct…Read more…
Former President Donald Trump published an Op-Ed on Wednesday ahead of his visit to the nation’s southern border blaming President Joe Biden for the “humanitarian catastrophe” he has caused with…Read more…
Fox News cut off its live coverage of former President Donald Trump’s remarks at the nation’s southern border on Wednesday after he began discussing his allegations of fraud in the…Read more…
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Extreme heat in the Northwest is easing, but only after hundreds of deaths were reported in this latest example of the global climate crisis. Here’s what else you need to know to Get Up to Speed and On With Your Day.
By Harmeet Kaur
Trump Organization
A grand jury in Manhattan has indicted the Trump Organization, the former President’s namesake company, and one of its top executives, people familiar with the matter say. The charges are related to alleged tax crimes tied to an inquiry into employee perks such as rent-free homes, car leases and bonuses. The indictment will likely be unsealed today. Trump himself isn’t expected to be charged, his lawyer said. The DA’s indictment would be the first to charge the Trump company with criminal conduct following several federal and state prosecutorial inquiries during his administration. CNN’s Stephen Collinson writes that the development is sure to have wider political consequences.
Bill Cosby
After three years in prison, Bill Cosby is a free man. Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court yesterday overturned his sexual assault conviction, saying that his due process rights were violated when he was charged and convicted. The disgraced actor once known as “America’s Dad” was sentenced to three to 10 years in state prison for drugging and sexually assaulting Andrea Constand at his home in 2004 — the first high-profile celebrity criminal trial of the #MeToo era. News of Cosby’s release came as a shock and betrayal for many of the women who accused him of assaulting them. Actress Phylicia Rashad, his “Cosby Show” costar and longtime friend, celebrated the decision.
Condo collapse
Rescue teams have been working around the clock to sift through the rubble of the Florida condo collapse, and reinforcements are being brought in. So far, 18 people — including two children — are confirmed dead, with 145 people still unaccounted for. Though there are still many unknowns, more details of what happened from witnesses and survivors are trickling in. Video recorded by a couple staying at a nearby hotel shows debris and gushing water in the condo’s parking garage minutes before it collapsed. Still, the investigation into the collapse is only just beginning, and experts say it will take months to determine what caused the building in Surfside to come crashing down.
Coronavirus
The more contagious, more aggressive Delta variant has now been detected in all 50 states and Washington, DC. Health experts predict there could be especially dense outbreaks in pockets of the US with low vaccination rates and low rates of prior infection, namely rural and Southern communities. Those fears are putting even more pressure on local and state leaders to vaccinate more people. Some officials are issuing new mask guidance, regardless of vaccination status. But one health expert warned that the federal government’s mask guidance should be more focused, instead of a “one-size-fits-all” approach.
China
The Chinese Communist Party turns 100 today, and China marked the anniversary with celebrations across the country. President Xi Jinping gave a strongly nationalist speech in which he called China’s rise inevitable and vowed that it would no longer be “bullied, oppressed or subjugated” by foreign countries. The Communist Party’s rise and continued monopoly on power has surprised critics, and it still faces big challenges, including a slowing economy, an aging population, a shrinking workforce and an increasingly united democratic West determined to counter China’s rise. Part of the reason it has survived is its ability to change during crucial moments and its awareness of the risks it faces, writes CNN’s Ben Westcott.
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Donald Rumsfeld has died at 88
The architect of the Iraq war served as defense secretary for two Presidents.
Some Canadians aren’t feeling particularly patriotic this Canada Day
The number of nations now part of the world’s largest weapons project after neutral Switzerland said it plans to buy dozens of US F-35 fighter jets. The family of interconnected, single-engine jets is to be used by the US and its allies and partners.
She was not a follower. To the contrary, she did her own thing, and we all watched in wonder and tried to keep up.
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Biden visits the site of the condo collapse in Florida, the Trump Organization could be charged with tax-related offenses and more news to start your Thursday.
Good morning!
President Joe Biden heads to Florida today to visit the site of the 12-story condo that collapsed last week, and what would have been Princess Diana’s 60th birthday brings together her two sons amid a royal rift.
🎧 On today’s 5 Things podcast, Miami correspondent Romina Ruiz-Goiriena talks about families still waiting for news of their loved ones after the Champlain Towers South collapse. You can listen to the podcast every day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or on your smart speaker.
Biden visits the site of a tragedy
President Joe Biden heads to the site of the condo that collapsed in Surfside, Florida. He’ll thank first responders and meet with the victims’ families, per White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki. Biden wants “to play any constructive role we can play with federal resources in getting to the bottom of it and preventing it from happening in the future,” Psaki said. As of early Thursday, 18 people have been confirmed dead, with 145 still unaccounted for.
Trump Org. and its CFO indicted
The specific tax-related charges against the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg, are expected to be unsealed Thursday. The development comes after a grand jury in Manhattan indicted Weisselberg and the namesake enterprise founded by former President Donald Trump Wednesday. In addition to the charges being unsealed, Weisselberg is expected to turn himself in Thursday. The charges are part of a long-running inquiry headed by the Manhattan district attorney and New York’s attorney general into the operations of the family real estate business. The charges come just days after Trump attorneys met with local prosecutors in a failed attempt to persuade prosecutors not to proceed with their case, Trump Organization lawyer Ron Fischetti said.
The landscape of college sports undergoes a major shift Thursday when legislation from several states goes into effect, allowing college athletes to monetize the use of their name, image and likeness without sacrificing their college eligibility. These laws take effect after the NCAA approved policy changes Thursday that will strengthen athletes’ ability to make money from their fame. The decision is uncharted territory for the NCAA, which for over a century has steadfastly committed to an amateur model that resisted the call for enhanced benefits for the players. This NCAA structure will remain in place until federal legislation or new NCAA rules are adopted.
William and Harry unveil Princess Diana statue
Prince William and Prince Harry will unveil a statue of their late mother, Princess Diana, at Kensington Palace Thursday in a long-awaited ceremony . The statue had been conceived years ago to mark the 20th anniversary of her death and to celebrate her legacy. The brothers will deliver separate speeches in what is anticipated to be a high-pressure, potentially awkward event thanks to a fierce falling-out between the two. “What happens on Thursday will be closely watched,” said royal biographer Robert Lacey. “What are these two boys honoring? What values of Diana? The values of humanity, of accessibility?”
Forecasters keep an eye on the Atlantic
Rescue and recovery teams at the condo collapse in South Florida braced for two tropical waves in the Atlantic Ocean. While one was not expected to develop into anything substantial, forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said has become Tropical Storm Elsa . Crews in Surfside have already been coping with near-daily bouts of thunderstorms and lightning, which have forced the temporary suspensions of rescue efforts. Elsa is the fifth named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.
Randy Jackson: This 3 Minute Routine Transformed My Health And Made Me Jacked
If you’ve been experiencing fatigue, weight gain, body aches, food cravings, and even digestive issues, you are not alone. That’s exactly what happened to Grammy Award-winning producer and former American Idol judge, Randy Jackson, who’s weight struggles had gotten so bad, he was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2001. Randy has made it his mission to figure out a way to improve his health, and was able to discover 1 simple trick that would forever change his health.
Biden admin unveils new passports that let you “select the gender you would like” without any medical certification, including an “X” option!
In today’s news about our nation’s failing grasp on reality:
Watch BMW’s awesome flying car as it makes its first flight between cities
The mass production of flying cars might face a million and one hurdles, but that doesn’t mean this is any less cool:
‘WOKE COKE’ Hipsters now want ‘ethically sourced’ cocaine 🙃
No, “woke coke” isn’t about the fizzy-drink company taking a stance on social justice issues (again) – it’s actually about cocaine.
Bill Cosby is set to go free after his sentence was overturned by the PA Supreme Court
Former actor Bill Cosby had his sentence overturned by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on Wednesday after Cosby had filed an appeal in December arguing that his entire life had been put on trial and that he had suffered “unquantifiable prejudice.”
Watch: Missing dog returns home at 3 AM, respectfully rings doorbell
This footage of a dog staring into one of those fancy-schmancy doorbell cameras is absolutely priceless.
Lori Lightfoot seriously tried to claim that crime is on the decline in Chiraq 🤡
This level of gaslighting is both impressive and insane:
The NSA said they’re not spying on Tucker Carlson and I’m sure it’s true because you should always trust a powerful surveillance agency
The fact that the NSA even replied to Tucker Carlson’s claim that they are spying on him makes me 1,000% more suspicious that they’re up to something:
Watch: Biden Energy Sec. says “we don’t know fully” if CLIMATE CHANGE “played a role” in FL condo collapse
Did you not get the Democrat talking points for the past 500 billion news cycles? The real problem on ANY ISSUE is racism and/or climate change EVERY TIME.
YIKES: Greek cops recover stolen Picasso painting, then immediately drop it on the floor 😬
Greek police recovered paintings that were stolen nine years ago from the National Art Gallery, including “Head of a Woman” by Picasso and “Stammer Windmill” by Dutch painter Piet Mondrian
Gas has hit a 7-year high amid widespread shortages just in time for Independence Day
Sure, gas is the most expensive that it’s been since 2014 and the nation is expected to have widespread fuel shortages over the weekend of the 4th, but at least our government has brought civility and decorum back to the White House!
A biological male just won Miss Nevada and will now compete for Miss USA. Not a joke.
Yeah. This is real.
Daily Beast columnist feels like he’s “in a horror movie” when he sees children without masks on in public
How stuck in the hive mind of fear do you need to be in order to tweet something like this?
Watch: Unconcerned man continues delicately eating his chicken wings while being robbed at gunpoint
What is worth interrupting you as you enjoy some next-level wings? Apparently, for this man, an armed robber is not.
A 5-second Google search now seems too much to ask
Several weeks ago, leftist pundit and comedian Bill Maher took on his increasingly common role as an unlikely voice of reason when it comes to dealing with the neo-racist, neo-fascist, woke progressivism that has taken over the heart of modern liberalism and the Democrat Party these days.
Bank accidentally deposits $50 BILLION into couple’s bank account 😮😮😮
Darren James and his family suddenly became billionaires when Chase Bank accidentally deposited $50 billion dollars into their account.
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97.) US NEWS & WORLD REPORT
98.) NEWSMAX
99.) MARK LEVIN
June 30, 2021
Posted on
On Wednesday’s Mark Levin Show, CNN lost half of its viewers in one year in its struggle to maintain cable television viewership in key demographic areas. Why would anyone watch a political operation like CNN or MSNBC? Then, former President Donald Trump joined Governor Greg Abbott at the Texas-Mexico Border, the same border that Kamala Harris wouldn’t even get close to. Afterward, Kamala Harris never praises America but attacks it relentlessly as if it were an abstraction instead of our nation. Biden pushes an ideological agenda that destroys education, residential zoning, public safety, and how one identifies based on their biological genitalia. From the attack on capitalism to the redefinition of race radical Democrats are “re-imagining” everything they can get their hands on. Later, New York City’s Democratic primary election has been corrupted and the results were removed by the board of elections due to a discrepancy of 135,000 duplicate rank choice votes. Is the traditional media now promoting conspiracy theories?
Vile, despicable and in our hallowed halls.“Muslim Supremacist” – it took them long enough to say it. The correct term is ‘Islamic supremacist.” We’ve been reporting on it these long twenty years.
These people are evil and nuts. And they hold the major levers of power. Be afraid, America, very afraid. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm suggested on CNN Tuesday that the deadly collapse last week of a high-rise condominium building in …
Awful.Sanctioned by the Democrat party of jihad, Jew hatred and election theft.
Will @USJewishDems join us in calling out @Ilhan Omar for saying Jewish members of Congress aren’t “partners in justice?” Or, is the JDCA and @HalieSoifer …
We have to do better. While these ratings represent significant declines for CNN and MSNBC, their audiences are still large enough to spread their propaganda to many. CNN and MSNBC must be boycotted in even larger numbers, so that they are …
Public schools destroy our children, smash their ability to think, render them miserable jackboots for hard left. Look what they”ve done to our children. Think Hitler youth.Poll: Support for School Choice Growing As three quarters of voters …
Watch what real leadership looks like. Daily reminder: Trump won.LIVE: President Trump Visits The Border In Weslaco, TX for Border Wall Tour 06/30/21 https://t.co/oSNIBxNkqd
Why wasn’t the Presidential election voided after millions of Biden votes suddenly appeared at 3 AM?NYC Democrat political machine is, perhaps, one of the most corruption the country going back to Boss tweed and Tammany Hall. Watch how they …
Democrat corruption in NYC goes back to Boss Tweed. The city is a hellhole under the boot of Democrat criminals. Apparently, Democrat autocrats don’t want Eric Adams.From the story: “Elections 2.0: Sources tell me the Board of Elections is …
The American people love President Trump. President Trump’s rallies provide hope to millions of Americans, who are watching in horror as their country is being ruined by the Left. #Trump2024.Newsmax Beats Fox in Key Ratings, Trump Rally Draws …
The Muslim world was aligned with Hitler – this is merely a continuation of their genocide.WATCH: Nazi Salute Adopted by ‘Palestinian Scouts’ in Lebanon
The scouts are from all the age groups, from age 8 to an unlimited age,” says …
More tolerance, empathy and love from the left. Hunchback can’t see his own hunch.Billy Porter: Black Christians ‘Oppress’ LGBTQ Like White Slavers, ‘Christianity Is the Colonizer’s Religion’
And the Democrats stole the election. Everybody knows that, too.Joe Rogan Slams Joe Biden: He Is Out of His Mind and Everybody Knows It By Stacey Lennox, PJM, un 26, 2021: Joe Rogan minces no words, and luckily, he is pretty near …
Donald Rumsfeld, the two-time defense secretary and one-time presidential candidate whose reputation as a skilled bureaucrat and visionary of a modern U.S. military was unraveled by the long and costly Iraq war, died Tuesday. He was 88.
But the proposal from the committee’s subpanel on defense includes the administration’s request for a 2.7% pay raise for service members, providing a total of $166.8 billion in funding for troops and Defense Department contractors.
The last German and Italian military troops left Afghanistan and arrived home Wednesday, ending the war for two of the NATO coalition’s largest contributors.
Clinton Murray, now a master sergeant at Fort Bragg, N.C., was acquitted of earlier charges he’d sexually assaulted a private first class, but was found guilty last year of having a prohibited relationship with her during a 2017 Afghanistan deployment.
The bill, titled the Revising and Expediting Actions for the Crisis Hotline for Veterans Act, would require an independent agency to evaluate the training for Veterans Crisis Line responders. It would also require responders to be retrained on how to handle high-risk callers.
Male troops experienced heart inflammation at a higher than expected rate after receiving the coronavirus vaccination, but the condition is still so rare that it shouldn’t undermine confidence in getting inoculated, a study says.
Police said two soldiers involved in a scooter hit-and-run in South Korea had blood-alcohol levels above 0.08%, double the legal limit for operating a vehicle and high enough to have their licenses revoked.
South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s office declined to say whether troops had already left for Texas or when they expect to deploy, but the initial rotation should last between 30 to 60 days.
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@DaybreakInsider
Lawmakers are exploring what practices implemented during the pandemic could hold value for years to come and which should become relics of the age of COVID-19, particularly proxy voting and hybrid hearings. Read more…
Democrats are struggling to balance a desire to make the wealthy pay their fair share with regional interest in restoring a tax break that disproportionately benefits 
OPINION — A classic film or a summer song that everyone can hum is shorthand for shared community, but there are dangers when you rely on those touchstones. In the phrase “based on a true story” tagged on to fictionalized tales, “based on” does a lot of heavy lifting. And, as in our history books, people of color are too often left out. Read more…
Donald Rumsfeld, whose successes, failures and personality were all epic fixtures in Washington for decades, died Tuesday at the age of 88. The cause of death was multiple myeloma, a cancer that afflicts white blood cells, a family spokesman told reporters Wednesday. He was the only man to serve twice as Defense secretary. Read more…
Free ice cream, beer and Biden administration officials galore. It’s all part of a full-court press by the White House, and Democrats more broadly, to promote COVID-19 vaccinations, the reopening of America and President Joe Biden’s pending infrastructure deal heading into the holiday weekend. Read more…
The House on Wednesday voted 222-190 to establish the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, a backup option that Democrats enlisted after Senate Republicans quelled the formation of a bipartisan, independent 9/11-style commission. Read more…
American students heading to college campuses in the fall can expect some semblance of normalcy, thanks to loosened pandemic restrictions and readily available vaccines. For international students planning to study in the U.S., however, the road is more challenging. Read more…
Watch Now
July 01 2021
Episode 24: 2021’s Capital Record:… 
NYC Election Mess: Board… 
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