August 31:
With the economy again set to be an integral part of the upcoming campaign cycle, August ended with some solid numbers for the White House. Employers added another 187,000 jobs in a healthy market – 31 consecutive months of job growth – despite unemployment edging upwards. But there are still significant labour issues coming to a head.
Meanwhile…
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August 30:
Amid record storm surges, treacherous conditions continue in the coastal areas affected by Hurricane Idalia, as the storm moves away from northern Florida and out to sea across neighboring states.
Meanwhile, an interesting development in just one of the former President’s legal problems, this time affecting the Trump Organisation in New York.
And, while wishing everyone in politics well on a human level, one can only imagine what the reaction might be if President Biden were to do this once – let alone repeatedly – at any time between now and next November…
A remarkable, viral front page today on the Daily Tar Heel at UNC. So sad that it’s even necessary, and needed to try to reach beyond how these events are normalized. Great work, emphasising the continuing importance of student journalism.
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August 29:
Florida and adjacent coastal states are bracing for landfall of a strengthening Hurricane Idalia – now a Category 4 storm – with evacuations continuing as potentially dangerous storm surges are expected in the early hours of Wednesday.
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August 28:
Two significant dates were revealed today in the former President’s ongoing legal saga: next Wednesday, September 6, he and other co-defendants in the Georgia election interference case are set to be arraigned in Fulton County. Perhaps more significantly, his trial in the federal case around the events of Jan 6, 2021 and the attempted overthrow of the previous year’s election is set to begin on March 4 2024 – the day before Super Tuesday.
Pretty much however the next few months go, one thing’s for sure…
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August 27:
As thousands gathered in the nation’s capital to mark the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington, families in Jacksonville, Florida, are mourning loved ones lost at the hands of a racist gunman.
Meanwhile…
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August 25:
The fallout from the history-making mugshot is a pretty good indicator of where the two sides of the country are right now. But then, are we remotely surprised by any of the reaction…?
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August 24:
The former President was arrested and booked at Fulton County jail – with his mugshot taken for the first time in his life – before being released. The charges are related to his alleged attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. There were few protesters on the streets of Atlanta or outside the jail. This is his fourth indictment.
It is thought that he self-reported his weight and height, since the numbers on the charge sheet are just freakin’ hilarious.
And of course…
Earlier –
Only eight shall enter and, er, well, eight shall probably leave again and have a nice dinner.
No real “winner” in last night’s first GOP debate in Milwaukee – probably because they’re all running for different things – so they’ll likely all be back again on Sept 27th in California.
Medhi Hasan invoked Succession‘s Logan Roy to say “I love you, but you aren’t serious people.”
And now the clown car returns to Atlanta for the former President’s surrender and booking later today. One thing’s probably sure, though, is that with a forty-point lead he has no more incentive to participate in any debate than he did before last night.
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August 23:
A big day on both sides of the GOP’s public face; even if it seems increasingly like watching two parallel sacks containing angry rats.
On one hand, at least some of the 2024 hopefuls will gather tonight in Milwaukee for the party’s first presidential debate. The front-runner, of course, won’t be there; while some others who won’t be there – but not through choice – think they should. It will be interesting from a positioning perspective – and to see who will say what, or not, about the aforementioned front-runner.
(Check back for debate updates later…)
Meanwhile, with Trump and his remaining associates set to surrender in Atlanta tomorrow in the Georgia case – in prime time, natch – the window appears to be narrowing for any of the former President’s co-defendants to co-operate with prosecutors. Financial pressures, and the rush to be first to make a deal would seem to be hastening some make-or-break decisions.
And even if Trump is already preparing to say that his pre-taped debate night interview with Tucker Carlson trounced the GOP in the ratings – which it likely will – at least he’ll be on TV one way or another soon… Betting is reportedly brisk on Trump’s actual weight at his arraignment and booking.
Elsewhere, the guy who led another coup – against Vladimir Putin – may or may not be dead after a plane crash. Shocking.
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August 20:
Sad news.
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August 17:
Lawyers past and present for the former President are reportedly warning him not to go ahead with his planned news conference on Monday, cautioning that saying anything further about this week’s Georgia indictments is probably not wise.
Meanwhile, as Trump’s team apparently negotiates the circumstances of his surrender, stories like this are probably, sadly, inevitable.
Latest national polling numbers – for what they’re worth at this stage, which isn’t much – are not encouraging for Trump; but he’s unlikely to care.
The potential political and civic downsides of this argument seem to force it to one side as the legal process plays out. But then somehow enacting such restrictions after the election would surely only be worse.
There might also be some legal concerns for Trump ally Roger Stone after a video emerged showing him apparently outlining a blueprint for the fake electors scheme ahead of the 2020 election.
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August 15:
The former President yelled on his social media platform this morning that he would hold a press conference next Monday to refute the allegations in his latest indictment...
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August 14:
The Grand Jury in Fulton County, Georgia, returned indictments against the former President and 18 others for alleged election interference.
It is Trump’s fourth indictment. The opening paragraph reads:
“Defendant Donald John Trump lost the United States presidential election held on November 3, 2020. One of the states he lost was Georgia. Trump and the other Defendants charged in this Indictment refused to accept that Trump lost, and they knowingly and wilfully joined a conspiracy to unlawfully change the outcome of the election in favor of Trump. That conspiracy contained a common plan and purpose to commit two or more acts of racketeering activity in Fulton County, Georgia, elsewhere in the State of Georgia, and in other states.”
Trump is now under indictment in every city in the NL East except Philadelphia.
Earlier, Trump was particularly noisy on social media as the indictment loomed.
Meanwhile, Trump continues to lead what passes for the GOP primary by a large margin.
*
The confirmed death toll in the Maui wildfire is approaching 100, with many more still missing and hundreds of buildings destroyed, in what is now the worst incident of its kind in a century.
The tragedy has – perhaps inevitably – brought out plenty of social media conspiracists and climate deniers, intent on casting aspersions on everyone from the federal government and local law enforcement to Chinese space lasers, real estate speculators and even Oprah Winfrey.
It probably didn’t help that President Biden, when asked about the latest developments in Maui, could only manage a “No comment”.
Nevertheless, there will be real and serious questions to address…
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August 12:
Disturbing news out of Kansas, where a police raid on a small-town newspaper was followed by the death of the 98-year-old co-owner and mother of the publisher.
Update: The Police Department subsequently offered a statement, with a spokesman saying that “As much as I would like to give everyone details on a criminal investigation I cannot. I believe when the rest of the story is available to the public, the judicial system that is being questioned will be vindicated.”
August 11:
A dramatic day of legal news with big implications for how the 2024 Presidential contest will unfold. Attorney General Merrick Garland announced that the Trump-appointed prosecutor in the politically fraught Hunter Biden investigation, David Weiss, would assume the role of Special Counsel, indicating that the probe may be far from complete. Perhaps confusingly, Republicans are not necessarily thrilled.
Meanwhile, amid heightened security following the former President’s recent threatening social media posts, Judge Tanya Chutkan held a preliminary hearing today on the schedule for Trump’s trial and what sanctions the defendant might face for revealing any evidence shared during discovery.
“The fact that he (Trump) is running a political campaign currently has to yield to the administration of justice, and if that means he can’t say exactly what he wants to say in a political speech, that is just how its going to have to be,” she said.
On Earth Two, meanwhile, Texas Republican Greg Steube (you may remember him as the Curt Schilling of this year’s Congressional baseball game) said he would introduce articles of impeachment against the current President. For some, though, even that won’t be enough.
In the real world, the extent of the destruction and loss from this week’s wildfires in Hawaii continues to become clear, while broader climate-related implications are explored.
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August 10:
The death toll has risen to 36 amid shocking scenes of destruction on Maui, where a combination of wildfires and a hurricane is devastating the Hawaiian island. Tourists are scrambling to evacuate, with reports of people jumping into the ocean to escape the flames.
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August 9:
Fallout continues from The New York Times reporting about the “fake electors” plot and its organizational connections to the Trump White House (unindicted co-conspirator #5, come on down!). Meanwhile it emerged that Special Counsel Jack Smith had obtained access to the former President’s Twitter account by issuing a subpoena to the tech firm back in January.
The FBI shot and killed a 75-year-old heavily-armed man in Provo, Utah when they attempted to search his home following posts he had made on Donald Trump’s Truth Social platform allegedly threatening President Biden and others.
Of course, the man quickly became the right’s latest martyr-hero. And sadly, he’s far from alone.
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August 8:
Voters in Ohio turned out in droves to resoundingly reject a special election measure designed to make it harder to amend the state’s constitution. Pro-choice campaigners have been lobbying for an amendment to protect abortion rights, following the overturn of Roe v Wade last year, and Republicans in this usually-solid red state had attempted to use this measure to pre-empt such a change.
Meanwhile, the circus rolls on.
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August 7:
With the former President continuing to use his social media platform for ever-more-angry, unrestrained ranting and personal attacks, perhaps when Judge Chutkan interacts with his legal team over the protective order later today she should consider a psychological evaluation to determine if he is even fit to stand trial. She won’t, obviously. He knows what he’s doing.
His latest target was the US Women’s soccer team, and how they represent everything he says he hates about the country.
His strategy, of course, is to frame the trial on his terms and delay proceedings as much as possible. And he knows the Judge is in a lose-lose situation today: if she imposes a gag order, he will claim free speech martyrdom; if she doesn’t, this sort of horseshit will only continue and likely worsen as he becomes more desperate, with an “increasingly complex multiverse of legal troubles” now intertwining.
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August 6:
This weekend’s theme seems to be conflict and live TV.
The former President’s characteristic angry and increasingly menacing bluster – probably designed in part to goad the Judge Chutkan into making him into some kind of free speech martyr and advancing his strategy of delay – targeted his former VP Mike Pence, a likely witness in his impending trial. Pence was physically approached by some ‘Ultra Maga’ Trump supporters yesterday, so it remains to be seen what the judge will do about it on Monday – and indeed what else Trump might say before then.
Meanwhile, in news of actual televised violence – but just as performative…
Tim Anderson of the Chicago White Sox had his very own bobblehead night when he found himself on the end of a FAFO kerfuffle with Jose Ramirez in Cleveland.
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August 4:
Given the former President’s team’s clear strategy of provocation and delay – or even deliberately acting to create a mistrial – what’s the over/under on a gag order or any kind of restraint? Will it make any difference?
This entire circus is just going to get weirder and increasingly desperate from here, probably starting with the defendant’s campaign rally tonight.
Update: Judge Chutkan set a deadline of 5pm Monday for Trump to respond to the Special Counsel’s request for a protective order as the DOJ seeks to protect evidence and rein in Trump’s public comments on the case.
Meanwhile, Trump’s allies and the rest of the GOP show little inclination as yet of doing anything but normalizing the madness and doubling down on the distraction of whatever they think the Hunter Biden story actually is.
In the broader GOP presidential campaign, the former President’s closest challenger, Florida Gov Ron DeSantis, appearing to realise that aligning himself with Trump isn’t going to beat Trump, could be throwing a Hail Mary by agreeing to debate California’s Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom.
Steve Schmidt writes that the Hannity-moderated event, tentatively set for November, is about little short than the future of the country.
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August 3:
Following his arraignment today, the former President is now due to appear at a preliminary hearing on August 28, five days after the first planned Republican debate. Whether that timing might hold up, and whether the date for the beginning of the actual trial might be set on that day, still remains uncertain.
The government is due in seven days to set out a proposed schedule for the trial; then Trump’s defence has five further days after that to argue why the proceedings should be delayed as long as possible.
Conditions of Trump’s release until then include “not committing any crimes” – well, er, duh – and not to “tamper with any juror”. He was also cautioned not to discuss facts of the case with any witness, except via his legal counsel.
Earlier: Ahead of his arraignment this afternoon for allegedly inciting – at least – a public disturbance on the streets of Washington DC, the former President appeared to – at least – hint at inciting another. Oh, and he wants the trial moved to West Virginia, where the alleged offenses didn’t take place, but where he won by about 40 points.
He must be sailing pretty close to a gag order by now.
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August 2:
A deep breath to digest before the former President’s arraignment tomorrow in his third federal indictment.
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August 1:
This is historic. In the most significant legal development in our lifetime, the former President has been indicted in relation to the events of Jan 6th and attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election. It is his third, and widely seen as by far the most serious, charge. The indictment also mentions six – as yet – unnamed co-conspirators.
Special Counsel Jack Smith made an announcement at 6pm ET; coincidentally, also the MLB trade deadline…
States of Play 