Trump gag order hearing ends without a ruling
Judge Cannon didn't issue a ruling on whether she'll grant prosecutors' request to modify Trump's conditions of release to include a ban on further statements about the FBI agents who carried out a search warrant at his Mar-a-Lago estate in 2022.
The judge noted at the end of the 90-minute hearing that both sides have until Wednesday to file additional evidence for her to consider.
Prosecutor David Harbach pushed back against Trump's First Amendment arguments, telling the judge that despite Trump's claims to the contrary there is "nothing" about the statements that he has made about the FBI agents that "are legitimate campaign speech." He urged Cannon to act now, saying we shouldn’t “wait for tragedy to strike.”
Cannon suggested she was skeptical of Harbach's argument that Trump's comments can be followed by violence from his supporters, saying some “actual connection between A & B” is still needed.
Trump lawyer calls gag order request 'incredibly chilling'
Defense attorney Todd Blanche urged the judge overseeing the classified documents case to deny the prosecution's gag order request, arguing that Trump's comments cited by government attorneys were aimed at Biden and not the FBI.
“If you look at the actual posts, there’s no threats to FBI agents," Blanche told Cannon. "The attacks are against Joe Biden.”
One of Trump's Truth Social posts in May falsely claimed “that Crooked Joe Biden’s DOJ, in their Illegal and UnConstitutional Raid of Mar-a-Lago, AUTHORIZED THE FBI TO USE DEADLY (LETHAL) FORCE.”
Blanche told the judge that if she agreed to modify the terms of Trump's release to bar him from making similar statements in the future — the request made by prosecutors — Trump could be arrested if he violated the order during Thursday's presidential debate. Blanche also contended the proposed restrictions are so vague that they're "incredibly chilling."
Democratic governors blast Trump and Republicans on abortion
MINNEAPOLIS — Democratic governors attending a policy conference here today railed against Republicans by blaming them for the Supreme Court's 2022 decision that eliminated a constitutional right to an abortion.
Trump "is so proud to be the architect to bring down Roe vs. Wade," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who chairs the Democratic Governors Association, said at a news conference.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear didn't mention Trump by name, but he brought up Trump's stance on abortion — supporting exceptions for rape, incest and danger to the life of the woman and letting states legislate the issue.
Beshear told reporters, "If you are a candidate right now and you are saying leave things to the states, then you are not pro-exceptions, because it leaves my people out. It leaves the women of Kentucky out. It leaves the victims in Kentucky out."
Abortions are banned in Kentucky, even in cases of rape or incest, except to save the life of the woman.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee told reporters that today "is not the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision. It's the second anniversary of the Trump decision and the Trump assault on women's rights."
Inslee also blasted former Rep. David Reichert, a Republican running to succeed him as governor in Washington, saying Reichert had "been anti-choice his entire career in Congress" but has now changed his position on abortion.
"A leopard can't change its spots, and a Republican that has been after a woman's choice for decades can't change their spots," said Inslee, who isn't running for a fourth term. "Sometimes I wonder if he's been kidnapped and there's an imposter somehow running for governor on the Republican side of the ticket."
Judge chides exasperated prosecutor in Trump gag order hearing
The judge presiding over Trump's classified documents case reprimanded a prosecutor from special counsel Jack Smith's office today as he was arguing the judge should bar Trump from making more inflammatory statements about FBI agents who worked on the investigation.
"I don't appreciate your tone," U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon told David Harbach when he appeared to get exasperated as she questioned the need to modify Trump’s conditions of release because of his false claims about FBI agents being prepared to kill him while they were executing a 2022 search warrant at Mar-a-Lago.
Cannon had noted that the names of the agents were redacted in court filings, while Harbach was pointing out the agents were doxxed shortly after the search. Cannon told Harbach that his behavior was unprofessional and warned she would require someone else to make his arguments if he didn't correct his behavior.
Harbach later apologized. "I didn't mean to be unprofessional," he said.
Presidential debate commission drops plans to run fall debates
The Commission on Presidential Debates’ board announced today that it will no longer hold debates at four sites that were contracted to host them in the fall.
The CPD said it had "released" three universities from their contracts to host the presidential debates: Texas State University in San Marcos on Sept. 16, Virginia State University in Petersburg on Oct. 1 and the University of Utah in Salt Lake City on Oct. 9.
The vice presidential debate, scheduled for Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 25, was also dropped.
CPD co-chairs Antonia Hernández and Frank Fahrenkopf cited a Biden campaign letter from last month that said Biden wouldn't debate under the commission's sponsorship this year.
"We are grateful to the sites, and we are sorry to come to this decision," they said in a statement. "The reason for the CPD’s creation remains compelling: a neutral organization with no other role during the general election is well-positioned to offer formats that focus on the candidate and the issues that are most important to the American people.”
Biden and Trump are scheduled to hold two debates — one Thursday and the other in September.
Ethics office report: Texas GOP representatives used campaign cash for social club dues
The Office of Congressional Ethics said “there is substantial reason to believe” that Republican Reps. Ronny Jackson and Wesley Hunt of Texas “converted campaign funds” for personal use at social clubs.
Separate reports on both members by the independent, nonpartisan OCE were released today by the House Ethics Committee, which said it continues to review both matters. The OCE sent referrals on Jackson and Hunt to the Ethics Committee in March.
Hunt was found to have used campaign funds to access a private social club in Houston called the Oak Room. The report said Hunt declined an interview with the OCE and did not provide full access to documents. The OCE board recommended issuing subpoenas to Hunt and his wife, his chief of staff and his field representative.
Hunt’s lawyers defended him in a letter to the Ethics Committee in April: “All of the Hunt for Congress payments to the Post Oak Hotel, including for membership in the Post Oak Club, were exclusively for campaign-related purposes and not for any personal purposes.”
The OCE found that Jackson “routinely made payments to the Amarillo Club” in Amarillo, Texas, for membership dues using campaign funds.
Jackson also declined to provide requested information to the OCE, and so the board recommended subpoenaing him as well as the Amarillo Club.
As always, the Ethics Committee noted that the “mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee.”
The Office of Congressional Ethics is different from the House Ethics Committee. The OCE is an independent, nonpartisan office. The Ethics Committee is made up of five Republicans and five Democrats.
Trump builds ties with Glenn Youngkin in an effort to flip Virginia
Trump is building a relationship with Virginia's popular Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, in the hope that he can help bring Virginia into play this fall.
Youngkin’s election in 2021 made him the first Republican to win statewide in Virginia since 2009, but he won by running a campaign that kept Trump at an arm’s length. Youngkin also waited to endorse Trump in this year's race until after the Super Tuesday primaries, when Trump easily won Virginia.
While Trump has poked fun at Youngkin’s name and made note of him for keeping his distance, the two are now slowly starting to work together. They recently held a private meeting at Trump’s golf club in Virginia — sources from both sides said it went well — but at this stage Youngkin is not being vetted as a potential running mate, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the process.
What is Trump doing today?
Trump is expected to appear alongside House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana at a campaign fundraiser in New Orleans tonight. The event is closed to the media.
Hunter Biden asks for new trial in federal gun case
Hunter Biden, through his attorneys, has filed a motion asking the judge in his Delaware criminal case to grant him a “new trial on all counts,” citing what they consider to be a lack of jurisdiction.
The president's son was found guilty of three gun-related charges earlier this month.
Hunter Biden's lawyers made a similar filing a week ago but quickly removed it from the docket before refiling it today with only minor changes. Prosecutors will have to respond before Judge Maryellen Noreika can rule.
Biden campaign chair: Florida is not a battleground state in 2024
Biden campaign chair Jen O’Malley Dillon had a one-word answer when asked in a new Puck interview if Florida is a battleground state in the 2024 election: “No.”
Her remarks came a few months after a April 1 memo by Biden campaign manager Julie Chávez Rodríguez insisted Florida could be competitive: “Make no mistake: Florida is not an easy state to win, but it is a winnable one for President Biden, especially given Trump’s weak, cash-strapped campaign, and serious vulnerabilities within his coalition,” she wrote at the time.
Biden lost Florida by about 3.5 points in 2020, and Democrats have been on a losing streak there since Barack Obama’s successful re-election bid in 2012. Biden has various paths to re-election without Florida, and they require winning battleground states he carried last time where current polls show him barely ahead or trailing Trump.
In the Puck interview, O’Malley Dillon said North Carolina, which Biden lost by about 1.5 points in 2020, is a battleground state, along with Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia.