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Investigations and revelations continue regarding Trump’s handling of classified documents after leaving office
- CNN: Trump captured on tape talking about classified document he kept after leaving the White House: Federal prosecutors have obtained an audio recording of a summer 2021 meeting in which former President Donald Trump acknowledges he held onto a classified Pentagon document about a potential attack on Iran, multiple sources told CNN, undercutting his argument that he declassified everything. The recording indicates Trump understood he retained classified material after leaving the White House, according to multiple sources familiar with the investigation. On the recording, Trump’s comments suggest he would like to share the information but he’s aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records, two of the sources said.
- New York Times: Prosecutors Scrutinize Handling of Security Footage by Trump Aides in Documents Case: For the past six months, prosecutors working for the special counsel Jack Smith have sought to determine whether former President Donald J. Trump obstructed the government’s efforts to retrieve a trove of classified documents he took from the White House. More recently, investigators also appear to be pursuing a related question: whether Mr. Trump and some of his aides sought to interfere with the government’s attempt to obtain security camera footage from Mar-a-Lago that could shed light on how those documents were stored and who had access to them.The search for answers on this second issue has taken investigators deep into the bowels of Mar-a-Lago, Mr. Trump’s private club and residence in Florida, as they pose questions to an expanding cast of low-level workers at the compound, according to people familiar with the matter. Some of the workers played a role in either securing boxes of material in a storage room at Mar-a-Lago or maintaining video footage from a security camera that was mounted outside the room.
- Washington Post: Mar-a-Lago prosecutors eye July episode with Trump surveillance cameras: A Mar-a-Lago employee who helped move boxes of documents last June has been questioned about his conduct weeks later related to a government demand for surveillance footage from Donald Trump’s property, according to a person familiar with the federal probe of the former president’s handling of classified material.The employee’s actions in June and July have caught the attention of special counsel Jack Smith’s investigators as they try to determine whether Trump or people close to him sought to obstruct justice in the face of a grand jury subpoena to return all documents marked classified, or lied about what happened, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive investigation.
- Vanity Fair: Trump’s Lawyer Revealed Some Unfortunate Things for Trump in Classified-Docs Case: Is Donald Trump going to be indicted by the Justice Department over his handling of classified documents? On the one hand—with the major caveat that he was, in fact, criminally charged in April by the Manhattan district attorney’s office over his hush money deals—the ex-president has effectively escaped any real repercussions for seven-plus decades of bad behavior ranging from the disturbing and f–ked up to the (allegedly) criminal. On the other, it’s not looking great for the guy! Over the last several weeks—while Jack Smith was reportedly uncovering “significant evidence” that the ex-president may have obstructed justice—news emerged that “close associates” of Trump and his actual lawyers believe an indictment is coming. And based on new reporting, it’s not hard to see why.
Justice is served: key participants in January 6th Capitol riot receive prison sentences across the nation
- NBC: Jan. 6 rioter who wanted Pelosi brought out to mob is sentenced to 2 years: A Pennsylvania woman who went into the U.S. Capitol during the Jan. 6 riot and demanded that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi be brought out to the mob was sentenced to more than two years in prison Tuesday, officials said. Pauline Bauer, 55, was recorded shouting “bring her out here” and “we’re coming in if you don’t bring her out here” near the House speaker’s office during the 2021 attack, according to court documents. Bauer was sentenced to 27 months in prison, or two years and three months, the U.S. attorney’s office for Washington, D.C., said in a statement.
- San Diego Union-Tribune: Camp Pendleton Marine pleads guilty in Jan. 6 Capitol breach case: A Marine stationed at Camp Pendleton who allegedly told a social media acquaintance that he was waiting for “Civil war 2” has pleaded guilty to participating in the breach of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Cpl. Micah Coomer pleaded guilty on May 17 in federal court in Washington, D.C., to one misdemeanor count of parading, demonstrating or picketing in a Capitol building. He faces up to six months in jail and up to five years of probation when sentenced. A Camp Pendleton-based spokesperson said last week that Coomer is still on active duty and still assigned to the same position he was at the time of his arrest in January, as a system engineer for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems with 1st Radio Battalion, I Marine Expeditionary Force Information Group.
- ABC 9 Cincinnati: Covington man sentenced to 3 years in prison for participation in Jan. 6 Capitol breach: A Covington man who pleaded guilty to “assaulting, resisting or impeding officers with a dangerous weapon” during the 2021 Jan. 6 Capitol breach was sentenced to three years in prison. Nicholas James Brockhoff initially faced seven different charges, but he took a plea deal that dismissed all but one: Use of a deadly or dangerous weapon. for participation in Jan. 6 Capitol breach. For that charge alone, Brockhoff was sentenced to three years in prison and another three years of supervised release after that.
In The States
ALABAMA: SCOTUS expected to rule in June on legality of congressional maps
- AL.com: U.S. Supreme Court could decide soon whether Alabama’s congressional map violates Voting Rights Act: The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule in June in a case that could result in Alabama redrawing its seven Congressional districts and could affect other states in how the Voting Rights Act is applied. Individual voters and organizations filed the lawsuit in 2021, challenging the district map approved by the Alabama Legislature after the 2020 census. The plaintiffs alleged that the map violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA), which prohibits election laws and procedures that are racially discriminatory. A key contention was that Black residents make up 27% of Alabama’s population, but only one of the seven Congressional districts, or 14%, had a majority Black population. A panel of three judges held a seven-day hearing last year and ruled in favor of the plaintiffs. They ordered the Legislature to redraw the map with a second district that had a majority Black or near majority Black district before the 2022 elections. The U.S. Supreme Court put a hold on the ruling at the request of Alabama election officials, who argued, in part, that it came too late for last year’s elections. That allowed the map to stay in place last year. But the justices’ decision on whether the plan violates the Voting Rights Act is pending. Lawyers for both sides argued before the Supreme Court in October.
FLORIDA: Judge accepts settlement in racial gerrymandering case on Jacksonville Council’s district map
- Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville redistricting case comes to a close. Federal judge approves settlement: The redistricting case against the city has been settled over a year after a group of civil rights groups successfully sued the city for racially gerrymandering its district map. U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard approved a settlement on Tuesday afternoon that City Council accepted last month. Under it, the city will pay $100,000 in plaintiff attorney fees, on top of its own fees to outside counsel. The city will additionally use a court-ordered, plaintiff-drawn map for all future elections until redistricting happens again after the next census, “affecting the rights of Jacksonville voters for years to come,” Howard wrote in the ruling. “Upon careful consideration, and for all the reasons stated in the court’s prior orders, the undersigned is fully convinced that the settlement is fair, reasonable, and lawful, both as to the parties involved and as to the broader citizenry impacted by its terms,” Howard said.
- CBS Miami: Florida’s redistricting plan sparks constitutional standoff: When Florida voters in 2010 passed a constitutional amendment setting rules for congressional redistricting, they barred drawing districts that would “diminish” the ability of minorities to “elect representatives of their choice.” Now, more than a decade later, Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration and the legislature are trying to fend off a lawsuit by arguing the U.S. Constitution trumps that part of the state amendment. A Leon County circuit judge will hold a hearing next week on whether attorneys for Secretary of State Cord Byrd and the Legislature should be able to make the argument in a lawsuit challenging a redistricting plan that DeSantis pushed through last year. The lawsuit, filed by a coalition of voting-rights groups and individual plaintiffs, focuses heavily on Congressional District 5, which in the past sprawled across North Florida and helped elect Black Democrat Al Lawson. But under the DeSantis-backed plan that lawmakers passed in April 2022, the district was dramatically redrawn – ultimately leading to white Republicans winning all North Florida congressional seats in November.
NEVADA: Nevada toughens penalties for election worker intimidation
- NBC News: Nevada becomes latest to enhance penalties for election worker intimidation after statewide exodus: Those who harass, intimidate or use force on election workers performing their duties in Nevada could soon face up to four years in prison under a new law signed by the Western swing state’s Republican governor on Tuesday. The law is meant to deter attacks against those in state and local election offices who have faced increased scrutiny for doing their jobs, Democratic Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar said Tuesday. Threats and intimidation of election workers had ramped up significantly in Nevada and across the country amid falsehoods and conspiracy theories about foul play denying former President Donald Trump victory in the 2020 presidential race. Other states have taken similar steps to better protect election officials in recent years, including Maine, Vermont, Washington, New Mexico and Oklahoma.
What Experts Are Saying
AUDIO: Mike Podhorzer on how The Federalist Society’s takeover of the Supreme Court poses a threat to American democracy and more. Podcast: That Trippi Show
Brian Klaas, associate professor in global politics at University College London: “Democracy, too often, is treated as a static feature of the status quo. That’s completely wrong. We speak of constitutions and institutions as though they have magical properties, hallowed features that will automatically endure. But ideas, institutions, and values are only as strong as the people who actively uphold them. When a democracy is under threat, as many are today, pro-democracy movements require more than the business-as-usual “I’ll do my bit and vote every few years” approach.” The Garden of Forking Paths
VIDEO: Joyce Vance, former US attorney: “You know if you looked up reckless disregard for truth in a legal dictionary – that’s the standard in a defamation case – there’s literally a picture of what Fox News was doing in its reporting” MSNBC’s Deadline White House Tweet
Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI): “Princeton University’s Bridging Divides Initiative (BDI) released a new report featuring the experiences of local elected leaders with threats and harassment. BDI’s report offers preliminary insights and reflections on the experiences of local officials experiencing threats and harassment, in their own words, through conversations with 30 elected officials from across a broad range of locations, demographics, and ideologies.” Report: In Their Own Words: Threats and Harassment Facing Local Officials | Press Release
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Guardian: Donald Trump reiterates pledge to scrap birthright US citizenship
Washington Post: Why 2023 is the summer of anti-LGBTQ panic
Trump Investigations
New York Times: Trump Asks Judge in Hush-Money Case to Step Aside
CNN: Manhattan district attorney urges court to reject Trump bid to move criminal case
New York Times: Trump White House Aides Subpoenaed in Firing of Election Security Expert
January 6 And The 2020 Election
AP: Ex-Trump White House official Peter Navarro to go on trial in September in Jan. 6 contempt case
Hill: Greene says McCarthy will release Jan. 6 tapes to three more outlets
Opinion
New York Times: The Politics of Delusion Have Taken Hold
Washington Post: Move over, evangelicals. Non-churchgoers now rule the GOP
USA Today: Antisemitism is surging across US. Biden just took a historic step to fight it
In the States
Spectrum News: New York lawmakers want early voting through mail
WBIR: Knoxville Area Urban League working to restore voting rights for ex-convicts
FOX 10: Maricopa County dispels video claiming election workers are ‘breaking seals,’ and ‘removing memory cards’
