Driving the Day:
Must Read Stories
Stormy Daniels hush money case nears resolution as Trump advisors face their own legal challenges
-
Washington Post: What we know about the Donald Trump-Stormy Daniels payment case: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into former president Donald Trump’s role in hush-money payments made to Stormy Daniels, an adult-film actress, appears to be winding down. The case involves a $130,000 payment made during the frenetic 2016 presidential campaign, a former Trump lawyer and fixer who served time in prison and a prosecutor who could seek criminal charges against a former president now running for office once again.
- New York Times: He Helps Trump Navigate Legal Peril While Under Scrutiny Himself: Boris Epshteyn has had his phone seized by federal agents investigating former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to remain in power after his election loss. Lacking any track record as a political strategist, he has made more than $1.1 million in the past two years for providing advice to the campaigns of Republican candidates, many of whom believed he could be a conduit to Mr. Trump. A cryptocurrency with which he is involved has drawn scrutiny from federal prosecutors. And he has twice been arrested over personal altercations, leading in one case to an agreement to attend anger management classes and in another to a guilty plea for disorderly conduct. As the former president faces escalating legal peril in the midst of another run for the White House, Mr. Epshteyn, people who deal with him say, mirrors in many ways Mr. Trump’s defining traits: combative, obsessed with loyalty, transactional, entangled in investigations and eager to make money from his position.
-
Washington Post: Another Trump lawyer steps forward with a, well, colorful defense: Few Americans in modern history have run through a series of lawyers as colorful — and often, of such dubious reliability — as Donald Trump. And now we have a new entry in that long succession: Joe Tacopina. In appearances on ABC News, Fox News and MSNBC this week, the high-profile criminal defense lawyer rather enthusiastically laid out Trump’s defense against a potentially imminent criminal charge in Manhattan. In the course of doing so, though, Tacopina lodged a series of questionable claims about the case.
- New York Times: Donald Trump Must Be Prosecuted: The Manhattan district attorney’s office has signaled that charges, related to Trump’s reported hush-money payments to the porn star Stormy Daniels, are likely. But there’s also hand-wringing: about whether this is the best case to be the first among those in which Trump is likely to be criminally charged, the strength of this case compared to others and the historic implications of indicting a former president for anything. And with regard to those implications, the central considerations always seem to be the importance of any precedent set by prosecuting a former president and the broader political significance — what damage it might do to the country. Often left out of that calculus, it seems to me, is the damage Trump has already done and is poised to continue to do. Prosecution is not the problem; Trump himself is. And any pretense that the allegations of his marauding criminality are a sideshow to the political stakes and were, therefore, remedied in 2020 at the ballot box rather than in a jury box, is itself a miscarriage of justice and does incalculable damage.
Growing Pessimism and Aging Demographics: The Republican Party’s MAGA Dilemma
- CNN: Republicans are having a ‘malaise’ moment: The Make America Great Again movement isn’t so sure that’s possible anymore. That’s according to a new CNN poll of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents conducted by SSRS. While the poll is most focused on the political landscape ahead of the 2024 presidential election, the number that stands out most is the one that suggests a deep pessimism about what’s to come. Just 30% of all Republicans and Republican-leaners say the country’s best days are still ahead of it – a dramatic shift from 2019, when Trump held the White House and 77% were optimistic that the best was ahead, and lower even than the 43% who said the same in the summer of 2016, prior to Trump’s election. It’s natural that Republicans and Republican-leaning independents would have a dimmer view during a Democratic administration, but the decline from the end of the Obama administration is noteworthy.
- Washington Post: Why ‘MAGA’ is so appealing to older Republicans: In the 2020 election, older Americans were more likely to support Donald Trump than Joe Biden — but not by as wide a margin as you might think. Pew Research Center’s validated assessment of turnout in that election indicates that Trump won people ages 65 and older by about four points. That’s a slight advantage, at best. One reason we associate Republican politics with older Americans is simply that younger Americans are so much more Democratic. In 2020, voters under the age of 30 preferred Biden by 24 points. Between the parties themselves, there’s a difference: A higher density of the GOP is older than is the case with Democrats. About a third of the Republican Party is 65 or older. Why this divide by age? In part because of demographics.
In The States
NORTH CAROLINA: Newly elected Republican majority on the North Carolina Supreme Court seem inclined to toss past redistricting rulings
- Washington Post: N.C. high court mulls throwing out rulings on redistricting, voter ID: North Carolina’s highest court, now controlled by Republicans following the November midterms, on Tuesday weighed reversing a three-month-old decision aimed at ensuring election maps are drawn fairly. The court has not yet reached a decision and offered no clues on when it would. Ahead of Tuesday’s arguments, critics excoriated the justices for reexamining the redistricting case and a voter ID decision so soon after ruling on them, contending the justices were doing so for partisan reasons instead of legal ones. In December, when Democrats controlled the court, a 4-3 majority issued decisions that went against Republicans on redistricting and threw out the voter ID law. Republicans took over the court in January and soon after announced they would rehear both cases. Arguments in the redistricting case were heard Tuesday and arguments in the voter ID case will be held Wednesday.
GEORGIA: State unveils new voter information system
- The Georgia Virtue: Georgia Launches New Voter Registration System: Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger held a press conference on Thursday, March 9th announcing the successful launch of the new Georgia Registered Voter Information System. Election officials from across Georgia joined Secretary Raffensperger and partners in the project, MTX, Salesforce, and Transform, to highlight the improvements to Georgia’s voter registration process using this one-of-a-kind technology purpose-built for Georgia.“GARViS is a tremendous step forward in the security and accuracy of Georgia’s voter registration system,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “This voter registration system truly reinforces Georgia’s status as the #1 state in America for election administration.” GARViS is the product of over 150,000 hours of development, testing, and training efforts culminating in the largest scale, fastest rollout of a top-down, statewide voter registration system in American history. The new system will take Georgia’s voter registration system to the highest standard of security on Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FEDRAMP) servers.
- Atlanta Journal Constitution: Judge clears way for trial in Georgia case against voter challenges: A lawsuit alleging that mass voter eligibility challenges in Georgia infringed on voting rights is moving toward a trial after a judge ruled that many facts remained in dispute. U.S. District Judge Steve Jones wrote in an 87-page order Thursday that he won’t grant summary judgment to either party in the case, Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group, or True the Vote, a Texas-based organization that contested more than 300,000 voter registration before runoffs for the U.S. Senate in early 2021. A trial is needed to decide whether allegations that True the Vote’s efforts to disqualify voters amounted to voter intimidation in violation of the Voting Rights Act, Jones said in his order. County election boards threw out almost all the voter challenges. Fair Fight Action alleged that True the Vote targeted racial minorities, offered a $1 million “bounty” for voter challengers, recruited Navy SEALS to oversee polling places and published challenged voters’ names. True the Vote responded that its challenges were nondiscriminatory, the “bounty” money was intended for legal defense, voters were never directly contacted and voter challenges are allowed under Georgia law.
NEW MEXICO: Legislature sends the state’s Voting Rights Act to governor’s desk for signing
- Santa Fe New Mexican: Voting Rights Act moves past House, heads to governor: A bill that would make broad election law changes in an effort to expand voter access is on its way to the governor for her signature. The House of Representatives on Monday voted 42-25, along party lines, to concur with Senate amendments to House Bill 4, a measure that would initiate an automatic voter registration system through the Motor Vehicle Division, create a permanent absentee voter list, make Election Day a state holiday and restore the right to vote to convicted felons upon their release from prison — even if they remain on probation or parole. The bill also enacts the Native American Voting Rights Act, which would align precinct boundaries with political boundaries of tribes and pueblos; require translation services at polls; and allow voters living on tribal land to designate a tribal government building as their mailing address.
ARKANSAS: Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R) announces the creation of a unit to investigate election law violations.
- Arkansas Democrat Gazette: Arkansas Attorney General announces creation of Election Integrity Unit: Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin announced Monday the creation of the Election Integrity Unit within his office, which is intended to track potential violations of election laws. The unit will operate under the attorney general office’s Special Investigations Division with Wayne Bewley, chief of investigations, serving as its director. The unit will operate using existing staff and will require no additional resources, according to a news release. Bewley will work alongside Ryan Cooper, senior assistant attorney general and chief prosecutor, “to ensure all credible leads are investigated,” the release said. Supervising the attorney general’s election law hotline is among the unit’s responsibilities. Griffin’s announcement Monday came shortly after the state House of Representatives sent a bill that aims to create the Election Integrity Unit back to the House Committee on State Agencies and Governmental Affairs. Bill sponsor Rep. Austin McCollum, R-Bentonville, requested members again refer the bill to the panel to allow for amendment.
What Experts Are Saying
Jared Holt, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue and an expert on domestic extremism: “noted a significant uptick in violent and hateful rhetoric online after the [Fox News Tucker] Carlson piece [on January 6] aired. Holt said a quick analysis showed Carlson’s name, and referenced to the Jan. 6 riot increased 15-fold in the days after the segment. He said the coverage is a deliberate attempt to distort the truth and convince Fox News watchers the insurrection was not as serious as it was. ‘Disagreements are at the heart of politics,’ Holt said. ‘The political process is about resolving those disagreements. But if one party of that conversation is attempting to erase what, objectively, was an attack on the democratic process itself – it’s just appalling.’” USA Today
Laurence Tribe, professor emeritus at Harvard Law, re: exclusive behind-the-scenes reporting of Fulton County special grand jury: “I dare anyone to read this without coming away with great respect for the Fulton County grand jury — 23 ordinary citizens who did their duty with care and without fear or favor. They make me proud of the grand jury system. I admire how Willis used it.” Tweet | AJC: EXCLUSIVE: Behind the scenes of Trump grand jury; jurors hear 3rd leaked Trump call
Andrew Weissmann, served as a lead prosecutor for Robert Mueller’s Special Counsel’s Office and led the Department of Justice’s Fraud Section: “Beyond Trump’s notorious abuse of the legal system by throwing sand in the gears to slow things down, a criminal case takes time…In short, there is no end of motions that can be filed to delay a trial, which could easily cause the litigation to be ongoing during the Republican primary season — something a court could also find is reason to delay any trial date. Indeed, even in a more quotidian case, having a trial within a year of indictment would be quick.” MSNBC Op-Ed: What to expect after a potential Trump indictment in New York
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Washington Post: Fox News-Dominion lawsuit: A timeline of the major revelations
Trump Investigations
New York Times: The Trump Juror Who Got Under America’s Skin
Forbes: Trump’s Media Company Reportedly Under Federal Investigation For Money Laundering Linked To Russia
CNN: There’s a new chief judge in DC who could help determine the fate of Donald Trump
January 6 And The 2020 Election
Washington Post: GOP election deniers increasingly admit they’re just going off vibes
New Republic: Republicans Can’t Run Away From January 6 Forever
Politico: DOJ: Trump cannot save Navarro from contempt of Congress prosecution
WUSA9: Judge denies Jan. 6 defendant’s motion for release, says no rights violated at DC Jail
Washington Post: U.S. fires back at claim that Tucker Carlson footage was withheld
Bloomberg: DOJ Told Court to Expect a Deluge of New Jan. 6 Prosecutions
Politico: In the mob’s eyeline: A senior Republican’s close brush revealed in new Jan. 6 footage
Opinion
Washington Post: Republicans enable voter fraud in the name of fighting it
Los Angeles Times: Following the law on Jan. 6 was the least Pence could do. Why are we praising him?
In the States
NBC 5 Dallas/Fort Worth: Texas Senate Passes Bill Making Illegal Voting a Felony
Salt Lake Tribune: Election Audits and Restricts for Changing Parties
