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New York prepares for MAGA protests as Trump anticipates arrest
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PBS: Trump waits out grand jury in Florida as New York braces for protests: Facing the possibility of criminal charges, Donald Trump waited it out in Florida on Tuesday as New York braced for disruptions that could follow an indictment. Trump over the weekend claimed without evidence that he would be arrested on Tuesday, but there was no indication that prediction would come true. A Manhattan grand jury did appear to take an important step forward on Monday by hearing from a witness favorable to Trump, presumably so prosecutors could ensure the panel had a chance to consider any testimony supporting his version of events. The next steps were unclear, and it was uncertain if additional witnesses might be summoned. But a city mindful of the riot by Trump loyalists at the U.S. Capitol more than two years ago took steps to protect itself from any violence that could accompany the unprecedented prosecution of a former president.
- Politico: MAGA protesters in Manhattan crowded out by anti-Trump rivals: Demonstrators who want a Donald Trump indictment far outnumbered MAGA supporters Tuesday morning outside the Manhattan Criminal Court, where the former president is expected to be charged as early as Wednesday. The pro-indictment protesters gathered in front of the building where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is investigating Trump over a hush-money payment made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 presidential campaign. Despite Trump’s prediction Saturday that he would be arrested Tuesday and his call for supporters to “protest,” the courthouse was relatively quiet Tuesday as the grand jury on the probe only sits on Mondays and Wednesdays. Jurors heard what was believed to be the final witness Monday before they vote on an indictment.
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CNN: Feds proceed with caution as potential Trump indictment fuels sporadic calls for violence online: Federal officials, including those at the FBI and Department of Homeland Security, are monitoring what they say has been an uptick in violent rhetoric online including calls for “civil war” since former President Donald Trump asked supporters to “protest” what he said was his impending arrest. But the online chatter has been just that – and has lacked the actionable information, coordination and volume that preceded the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, US officials and security experts tell CNN. An intelligence memo from US Capitol Police on Sunday downplayed the current threat, saying there was “no indication of large-scale organized protests and/or violence” like what was observed in the lead-up to January 6. The memo also cautioned that while Trump’s influence with moderate conservatives has “waned since he left office, some of his most ardent supporters continue to condone political violence and continue to be willing to fight on behalf of the former president.”
- New York Times: Trump at Mar-a-Lago: Magical Thinking and a Perp-Walk Fixation: Behind closed doors at Mar-a-Lago, the former president has told friends and associates that he welcomes the idea of being paraded by the authorities before a throng of reporters and news cameras. He has even mused openly about whether he should smile for the assembled media, and he has pondered how the public would react and is said to have described the potential spectacle as a fun experience. No one is quite sure whether his remarks are bravado or genuine resignation about what lies ahead. If he is truly looking forward to it, he might be disappointed. There is no indication, even if Mr. Trump is charged, that the authorities would have him take part in that storied New York City law-enforcement tradition known by detectives and crime reporters alike — walking the newly arrested past a cluster of journalists. If Mr. Trump is indicted and surrenders voluntarily, arrangements are likely to be made between the Secret Service and law enforcement to avoid a media circus.
Justice served: Prominent Capitol rioters sentenced for roles in January 6th insurrection
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NBC: Jan. 6 rioter who used GoPro to record himself jumping through broken Capitol window is sentenced: A Trump supporter who was recording with a GoPro strapped to his helmet when he jumped through a broken window to storm the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to nine months in prison on Tuesday. Anthony Puma, a Michigan resident, pleaded guilty in August, admitting that, with his GoPro strapped to his head and recording, he bragged about scaling a Capitol wall before jumping through a broken window. He ended up in Sen. Jeff Merkley’s Senate hideaway office, where rioters were smoking marijuana. The Justice Department sought 18 months in federal prison and pointed to his preplanning to storm the Capitol.
- Washington Post: Va. man who fiercely attacked police in Jan. 6 riot sentenced to 52 months: U.S. District Judge Trevor N. McFadden has sentenced 30 defendants for their role in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. As Geoffrey Sills, 31, of Virginia stood before him Tuesday, McFadden said, “Of all the January 6th defendants I’ve sentenced to date, your conduct is the most troubling, the most outrageous.” Sills wore a full gas mask, goggles and gloves into the Capitol that day, entered the lower West Terrace tunnel and flashed a strobe light in the eyes of officers. He swiped a baton from one officer and then smashed him and other officers with it as the battle raged inside the tunnel. One of the officers retired as a result of his injuries. Once he left the Capitol, Sills posted photos of himself attacking the police. After he was arrested in June 2021, prosecutors said his family raised over $25,000 for the legal fees to take on a government that is “simply bent on punishing patriots who truly love this country.”
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The Hill: Georgia attorney convicted on Jan. 6 charges: An attorney in Georgia has been convicted on charges in relation to his involvement in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol. William McCall Calhoun of Americus, Ga., was found guilty in a D.C. court of felony and multiple misdemeanor charges for his role in the Capitol insurrection, according to a Department of Justice news release. Calhoun, 59, is a practicing criminal defense attorney in his home state. According to court documents, local and federal law enforcement began receiving tips on Jan. 6 about Calhoun’s potential involvement in the Capitol insurrection, saying Calhoun posted on his social media accounts about certification of the Electoral College vote and the importance of physically being in D.C. on that day. Authorities said that Calhoun walked up the west side of the Capitol grounds as smoke rose from the crowd and people were affected by tear gas, approaching the Senate wing door where he stated, “This is it. We’re storming the Capitol.
In The States
NORTH CAROLINA: Redistricting case depends on the North Carolina Supreme Court’s power to mandate a revised map that is overall less advantageous for Republicans
- Spectrum News: Legal whiplash in N.C. leaves U.S. Supreme Court with unprecedented decision to make: When the North Carolina Supreme Court decided to reopen a case on political redistricting, it left a big question-mark hanging in the air. That case has already been heard in the U.S. Supreme Court, so what is the highest court in the country to do with the case now? That’s what the federal Supreme Court is trying to figure out with Moore v. Harper. Justices heard oral arguments in the case last year, an appeal of the state court’s 2022 decision, and had been expected to issue a ruling this summer. But a new Republican majority took over the state Supreme Court in January and announced they would reopen the case (along with another decision on voter ID). Attorneys working on both sides of the case gave oral arguments a second time in the North Carolina Supreme Court on May 14. At the same time, they were also preparing new briefs for the justices in Washington D.C., arguing whether or not the U.S. Supreme Court should rule on the appeal at all.
WISCONSIN: Supreme Court race could shape the Legislature for years to come
- NBC: In heated Wisconsin Supreme Court debate, candidates tangle over ‘fake elector’ scheme: In the only debate of the closely watched race that will determine ideological control of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, liberal judge Janet Protasiewicz hammered her conservative opponent, Daniel Kelly, as a “true threat to democracy” over his ties to a scheme to overturn the 2020 election. “I am running against probably one of the most extreme partisan characters in the history of the state,” Protasiewicz said during their debate Tuesday. The Wisconsin Supreme Court race is of deep importance to both liberals and conservatives. A win by Kelly would retain conservative control of the court, while a win by Protasiewicz would result in a liberal majority — which has not been in place for 15 years — and could determine the fate of issues like abortion rights in the state. In one of several attacks the candidates lobbed at each other in the one-hour debate, Protasiewicz criticized Kelly for having advised Republicans on legal efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential race through the use of “fake electors.” “The real cherry on the top is that fake electors scheme,” said Protasiewicz, a Milwaukee County circuit judge.
- PBS Wisconsin: ‘Election integrity’ proposals do not address most common voting infraction in Wisconsin: Election fraud is exceptionally rare: Over the past decade in Wisconsin, it has been prosecuted fewer than 200 times, or about once for every 163,000 ballots cast. And within that tiny universe, the most common reason for criminal charges is not people voting under dead people’s names, double voting or voter impersonation — the kinds of crimes election skeptics like former President Donald Trump claim happen on a large scale. The main cause is a voter’s probation status, a Wisconsin Watch analysis of every Wisconsin election fraud case since 2012 found. The analysis, with data compiled by Court Data Technologies, also found Black Wisconsinites, most of them from Milwaukee County, are even more overrepresented in election fraud prosecutions than they are in the court system overall. The Wisconsin Watch analysis is the most comprehensive accounting of Wisconsin election fraud cases to date. The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, includes in an online election fraud database only 35 cases since 2012.
TEXAS: GOP lawmakers propose bills addressing election fraud and enhancing officials’ accountability
- Houston Public Media: GOP-authored bills would increase penalties for illegal voting and limit Harris County’s control over elections: Republican state lawmakers have filed a raft of bills aimed at combating alleged election fraud and making the officials who conduct elections more accountable to the voters. The major proposals could make it even tougher to vote in Texas than it already is. The leading elections bill that passed the Texas Legislature in 2021 shut down a number of practices that made it easier to vote. But a last minute amendment to the bill in the House changed illegal voting from a felony to a misdemeanor. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick made reversing that change one of his top priorities for this session. Senator Bryan Hughes, R-Mineola, wrote the bill to do it, Senate Bill 2. “So, illegal voting had been a felony for almost 50 years,” Hughes said. “That’s how it has been. That’s what prosecutors understood. And you know, we set the offense level of a crime based on how serious it is.”
What Experts Are Saying
Joyce Vance, former US attorney: “I don’t find any joy in the prospect of indicting a former President, and certainly none in the fact that there are multiple criminal investigations into his conduct under way. It’s an enormously sad moment for our country. That doesn’t mean that justice shouldn’t be done—it must be. But for me, at least, it’s more a somber moment of reflection than one for busting out the champagne. I hope we won’t become a country of people chanting, “Lock him up.” It would be as distasteful and anti-democratic when aimed at Trump as it was when he aimed it at Hillary Clinton and others. Let’s let our justice system work: slow, imperfect, but still essential to the rule of law. If the system works, we continue to be a country governed by laws, not the whims of men. Let’s not permit Trump to change who we are.” Civil Discourse
Noah Bookbinder, president of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW): “Indicting a former president is not something that only happens in “banana republics.” It’s not even an unusual feature of strong democracies. In fact, it’s a sign that accountability in a democracy is working as it should.” Tweet
Norman Eisen, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute, re: the attempts of Donald Trump’s attorneys to quash the Fulton County special grand jury report: “It’s an attempt, certainly, to throw a spanner in the works,” Eisen said. “I think this is throw spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks. And it’s just not going to stick.” 11 ALIVE
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Time: ‘Very Symbolic!’: Trump’s Plan for Waco Rally Spurs Anti-Government Supporters
Independent: Far-right support for Trump protests looks disorganized on social media. Others think it’s a trap
Washington Post: DeSantis sharpens criticism of Trump, dismisses mocking nicknames
Trump Investigations
New York Times: Appeals Court Orders Trump Lawyer to Hand Over Records in Documents Inquiry
Reuters: Americans see Trump investigation as political, but also believable
New York Times: Michael Cohen’s Long Arc From Trump Ally to Chief Antagonist
CNN: Communications between Stormy Daniels and Trump attorney turned over to Manhattan DA
Politico: Everything you should know about the potential Trump indictment
MSNBC: Team Trump tries to quash Georgia special grand jury report
January 6 And The 2020 Election
The Hill: Former aide says Trump has ‘learned nothing’ from Jan. 6
Washington Post: Tucker Carlson aired unvetted Trump fraud claims right before he didn’t
Politico: Proud Boys attorneys: Informant had contact with defense team, defendants
Opinion
New York Times: Trump May Face Prosecution. America Faces a Test.
Washington Post: 3 intersecting truths drive the Trump hush-money case
New York Times: The Unsettling Truth About Trump’s First Great Victory
Los Angeles Times: Kevin McCarthy’s Republicans have a clear stance on Trump’s alleged crimes: They support them
New York Times: Trump Could Stand in the Middle of Fifth Avenue and Not Lose Mike Pence
In the States
NBC: Oregon Democrats poised to expand voting rights to people in prison
Arizona Mirror: GOP bill would remove Arizona from ERIC, the database designed to combat voter fraud
New Hampshire Public Radio: NH lawmakers consider bill to remove ballot affidavits for voters lacking ID
