Driving the Day
Must Read Stories
Trump’s legal woes deepen: historic defeat in Carroll case as Georgia election interference investigation looms
- Politico: Trump’s defeat in Carroll case presages more legal peril: Now is the season of former President Donald Trump’s discontent. A federal jury’s finding that Donald Trump sexually abused E. Jean Carroll in the mid 1990s is a historic rebuke of a former president and frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination. But it’s also a prologue. Legal threats in Washington, Manhattan and Atlanta — both criminal and civil — are crystallizing in ways Trump has skirted for his entire political life. And the story of his bid to regain the presidency is likely to be defined by his attempts to stave off criminal liability for things he did the last time he occupied the White House.
- Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Lawyers: Georgia GOP chair broke no laws as alternate Trump elector in 2020: David Shafer, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, was following legal advice and broke no laws when he cast a “contingent” Electoral College vote for Donald Trump following the 2020 presidential election, Shafer’s lawyers say. In a letter to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, attorneys Holly Pierson and Craig Gillen also said Shafer was relying on an almost identical scenario which played out in Hawaii more than six decades ago and was led by Democrats. The lawyers made the claims in a March 26 letter to Willis seeking to ward off an indictment against Shafer, who will leave the post as GOP party chair in June. Last summer, Willis labeled Shafer and the other 15 GOP electors as targets of her ongoing investigation into possible criminal meddling in Georgia’s 2020 election.
- The Root: Georgia DA Fani Willis Is closing in on Donald Trump: All eyes might be focused on Donald Trump’s New York legal drama, but another Black District Attorney has the former President’s number. Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis is leading an investigation into election interference in Georgia—and she appears to be closing in on him. Eight of Trump’s allies accused of aiding him in trying to overturn the 2020 election have taken immunity deals, according to a court filing. And another likely subject of the investigation, GOP Georgia Chairman David Shafer, told DA Willis that Trump’s attorneys directed his every action. The back-to-back news of Trump allies seemingly jumping ship doesn’t bode well for his legal chances.
Congressman George Santos in federal custody for fraud; 13-count indictment unsealed
- Washington Post: Rep. George Santos charged with financial crimes: Rep. George Santos, the freshman Republican congressman whose myriad falsehoods became both a scandal and a national punchline, was charged with a host of financial crimes in court papers unsealed Wednesday. Santos, 34, surrendered to federal authorities in the morning and is expected to appear in a federal courthouse in Central Islip, on Long Island, later Wednesday. Officials said he has been charged with fraud, money laundering, theft of public funds, and false statements. The congressman and his lawyer did not respond to earlier messages seeking comment. Santos, federal authorities said, lied to his own donors, the House of Representatives, state unemployment officials, and others, resulting in seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of lying to the House of Representatives on financial forms.
- CNN: Santos in federal custody as feds unseal 13-count indictment: The Justice Department on Wednesday unsealed federal charges against Rep. George Santos and the New York Republican is in custody. Santos, whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, has been charged on a 13-count indictment, including seven counts of wire fraud, three counts of money laundering, one count of theft of public funds, and two counts of making materially false statements to the House of Representatives. He was taken into custody in Melville on Long Island, where the FBI is housed, a law enforcement source told CNN. From there, he was taken to the courthouse in Central Islip. Santos is expected to appear later Wednesday at federal court in New York’s Eastern District.
Tucker Carlson announces move to Twitter for new show following Fox News exit
- NPR: Tucker Carlson says he’ll take his show to Twitter: Tucker Carlson, who was Fox News’ biggest star until his abrupt firing last month, says he’s taking his show to Twitter. He made the announcement, appropriately enough, in a Tweet. “There aren’t many platforms left that allow free speech. The last big one remaining in the world—the only one—is Twitter,” he said. “Twitter has long served as the place where our national conversation incubates and develops. Twitter is not a partisan site. Everybody’s allowed here, and we think that’s a good thing.” The announcement comes two weeks after Carlson was booted by Fox News, where he started as a contributor and, in recent years, rose to fame as the solo host in a coveted primetime slot. Fox has not yet announced a permanent replacement. Since Carlson’s departure, ratings have plunged in the 8 p.m. ET slot and in the hours that follow him.
- Guardian: Tucker Carlson says Roger Ailes would ‘never have put up’ with liberal attack on Fox News: Fox News was under attack from liberals and its former chief executive Roger Ailes would have “never put up with this shit”, Tucker Carlson told his producer in new leaked video of the fired Fox star. Describing a conversation with an unnamed female executive at the rightwing network, Carlson said: “I was like, she’s got a lot of liberals working over there. And, you know, they see this as war and we’re the main force on the other side. “That’s crazy. If you’ve got pronouns in your Twitter bio, you shouldn’t work here because we can’t trust you because you’re on the other side. “Just because you’re liberal doesn’t mean you did this. It does mean you shouldn’t work here. And Roger would never put up with this shit.”
- New York Times: Is Tucker Carlson Too Hot for Twitter to Handle?: Tucker Carlson says he’s back: The conservative firebrand announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he would start a new show on Elon Musk’s social media platform, two weeks after being fired from Fox News. But Mr. Musk’s less-than-enthusiastic response — and his rush to note that the social media platform hadn’t signed a deal with Mr. Carlson — suggests that even Twitter’s outspoken owner has reservations.
In The States
PENNSYLVANIA: PA officials and voters continue to grapple with ramifications of unsubstantiated 2020 voter fraud claims
- Penn Live: Judge rules in-person 2020 ballot images in Pa. county are not accessible to public: The judge who ruled cast vote records (CVR) from the 2020 general election in Lycoming County are public has concluded images of votes cast in person are not. Monday’s decision by county Judge Eric R. Linhardt came on the same day the state Department of State asked Commonwealth Court to reverse his ruling on the CVRs. Both cases involve appeals of Office of Open Records’ (OOR) decisions on Right to Know requests that neither is public. The Department of State, on behalf of the county’s Office of Voter Services, is appealing Linhardt’s December ruling in a companion case brought by Heather Honey, who heads the Lebanon-based Haystack Investigations, that CVRs are public. Since Honey is not a county resident the judge ruled she could not view the CVRs but gave access to three Republican conservatives: state Rep. Joseph D. Hamm, county GOP chair Donald Peters and Jeffrey J. Stroehmann.
- WPSU: Poll: Support for mail voting in PA has dropped, but most voters still confident their ballot is being counted: Mail-in voting continues to be a popular — and polarizing — way to vote in Pennsylvania’s elections. While fewer voters support mail-in voting than when it was first used in Pennsylvania in 2020, most voters are still confident their ballots will be counted correctly, according to a recent Franklin and Marshall College Poll.
WISCONSIN: Bipartisan elections commission cannot use earlier ruling affirming 2020 election, judge says
- Associated Press: Wisconsin judge revives complaint over 2020 fake electors: Wisconsin’s bipartisan elections commission must disregard its earlier ruling unanimously rejecting a complaint against fake presidential electors who attempted to cast the state’s ballots for former President Donald Trump when it rehears the case, a judge ruled Tuesday. A Republican commissioner who considered the original complaint must not take part in the reconsideration because he was one of the 10 fake electors, Dane County Circuit Judge Frank Remington ruled. That commissioner, Robert Spindell, as well as the state elections commission agreed in court filings before the judge ruled that he should never have participated. Fake electors met in Wisconsin and other battleground states that Trump lost in 2020, attempting to cast ballots for the former president even though he lost. Republicans who participated in Wisconsin said they were trying to preserve Trump’s legal standing in case courts overturned his defeat.
TEXAS: Harris County the target of Republican efforts to pass new election bills and file challenges
- New York Times: Texas Republicans Push New Voting Restrictions Aimed at Houston: Across Harris County, an emerging Democratic stronghold in reliably red Texas, roadside signs posted last November urged harried drivers to vote Republican. A celebrity furniture salesman, beloved by many Houstonians, cut ads with the Republican candidate for the top county administrator’s post. The 2022 races for local judges and county leaders were among the hardest fought and most expensive yet seen in the sprawling county of 4.8 million, which includes Houston, as Republicans looked to capitalize on crime concerns to make headway in the state’s largest urban area. But they fell short. Now, the county is in the cross hairs of the Republican-dominated state Legislature, which is trying to exert more control over voting there. Lawmakers are pushing dozens of new election bills, including limits on polling places, felony penalties for illegal voting and a mechanism for the state to order new elections when voting problems occur in Texas counties with more than 2.7 million people, a category that includes only Harris County.
MISSOURI: House advances resolution to raise the threshold for voter-led ballot measures
- Kansas City Star: Missouri House passes GOP plan to make it harder for voters to change state constitution: The Republican-controlled Missouri House on Tuesday passed legislation that would make it harder for Missouri voters to approve amendments to the state constitution. The constitutional amendment, which passed by a vote of 107-55, would increase the number of votes required for a constitutional amendment to pass on the ballot — from more than 50% to at least 57%. Under the plan, several amendments recently passed by voters, including last year’s measure to legalize recreational marijuana, which received 53% support statewide, would have failed. It comes as abortion rights groups are pushing to restore abortion access at the ballot box after the procedure was almost entirely banned in Missouri last year. “I just hope the constitution is something sacred,” said state Rep. Mike Henderson, a Bonne Terre Republican who sponsored the legislation. “Missouri’s right now is an ever-growing document.” The proposal, which was the result of negotiations between the two chambers of the General Assembly, now heads to the Senate with four days left in the legislative session. If passed by both chambers, it would have to be approved by voters in the November 2024 election unless Missouri Gov. Mike Parson calls an earlier special election.
What Experts Are Saying
Protect Democracy: Kristy Parker, counsel; Anne Tindall, counsel; Justin Florence, co-founder and legal director: “This paper is intended to serve as a guide to answering two overarching questions about the actions of the Justice Department and state and local prosecutors on the one hand, and congressional oversight committees investigating law enforcement on the other: When is a criminal investigation or prosecution of a political figure – or a declination thereof – an appropriate use of the government’s law enforcement powers versus a politically motivated one (or one in which there has been improper political interference)? When is a congressional investigation of a law enforcement agency or its activities an appropriate use of oversight authority versus a politically motivated effort to interfere in the proper functions of a separate branch or arm of government?” Overview | Paper: Investigating and Prosecuting Political Leaders in a Democracy
Michael Podhorzer, former AFL-CIO political director, on how collective bargaining dovetails with American democracy issues and the Supreme Court (Audio): Podcast: Fast Politics with Molly Jong-Fast
Robb Willer, American sociologist and social psychologist at Stanford University: “[W]e found that the most effective strategy for improving Americans’ democratic attitudes was to correct their misperceptions of the views of their rival partisans, to correct misperceptions of how much rival partisans supported eroding democratic norms, how much rival partisans dehumanized members of their party and so on. So it was a kind of mini literature that’s emerged on these so-called meta percepts, in this case, partisan’s perceptions of their rival partisan’s views on things, views towards them, views on the world, et cetera. And because people have really, really inaccurate partisan stereotypes at baseline, this turns out to be a quite efficacious way to intervene. So that strategy stuck out. And then I’ll highlight maybe one other strategy that was effective for intervening on anti-democratic attitudes, and that was to make more salient the risk of democratic collapse and just how bad democratic collapse looks.” Niskanen Center’s The Science of Politics Podcast
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Washington Post: Musk shares baseless election claim with millions of Twitter users
Atlantic: The Book-Bans Debate Has Finally Reached a Turning Point
Ms.: The Proud Boys Have Only Just Begun to Fight
Nation: Is This the Most Dangerous Right-Wing Think Tank You’ve Never Heard Of?
Trump Investigations
Washington Post: 4 takeaways from the E. Jean Carroll verdict against Trump
ABC: Judge sets hearing date on Trump’s motion to move criminal case to federal court
January 6 And The 2020 Election
Des Moines Register: Federal jury finds Cedar Rapids man guilty on 7 charges related to Jan. 6 Capitol riot
Kansas City Star: Missouri Jan. 6 defendant who scaled wall, carried weapons violated bond but avoids jail
Opinion
Washington Post: At last, a measure of justice for Donald Trump
New York Times: A Guilty Ex-President
Washington Post: How Fox News and Trump wrote the playbook for their own downfall
New York Times: The Fury of #MeToo Finally Comes for the Man Who Inspired It
In the States
Washington Post: In some GOP-dominated statehouses, Black and trans lawmakers punished
New Jersey Monitor: Union County to print Spanish ballots after feds allege Voting Rights Act violations
Action News 13: Ohio House vote could send constitutional overhaul to voters
Michigan Advance: Michigan could join states in the national popular vote compact. So what would that mean?
Guardian: Pressure builds as North Carolina set to override abortion ban veto
