Come Protest For Me 🌻🌻🌻

Indictment, Indictment: House Republicans were in Orlando this weekend, holding their annual legislative retreat, itself an oxymoron because it’s not like they ever really legislate. Little was reported about the retreat because once again all things Trump dominated the airwaves. The former guy took to Truth Social to announce that he would be arrested on Tuesday and naturally he called for “protests to take our nation back,” a message that eerily mirrors the incitement he pushed in the run up to January 6.  Given his rallying cry, it’s not surprising that there are also reports that NY law enforcement officials are preparing for unrest in the event that Trump really is indicted this week. As to the timing of the likely indictment, only Trump is speaking out. DA Alvin Bragg’s office has not confirmed Trump’s statement because that’s not what DAs do.  It should surprise no one that Bragg, who Trump is now calling a woke George Soros funded leftist radical, has jumped to the top of the ever expanding Trump enemy’s list. Over the weekend it was reported that Trump’s team has asked the Manhattan grand jury hearing the Trump case to call in attorney Robert Costello who once worked with Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen to offer evidence that they claim will contradict some of Cohen’s key testimony about the hush money payments at the center of this crime. For his part Cohen says he’s been told to be on standby to rebut Costello. It’s not clear what’s really going on but whatever is might delay the indictment but probably won’t stop it.  And of course the usual Republicans, including Margie Q are screaming and Kevin McCarthy is making it clear that he’s part of the problem. One more thing on Trump’s legal front, on her final day as Chief Judge of the DC Federal court Beryl Howell handed Special Counsel Jack Smith a win. She ruled against Evan Corcoran, another Trump lawyer, saying he had to hand over his notes and that and he couldn’t hide behind client lawyer privilege because lawyers can’t when they’re abetting a crime. The crime in question involves Corcoran writing and then telling another Trump lawyer Cristina Bobb to certify that Trump had turned over all the purloined Mar a Lago documents when he hadn’t.

Russia, Russia, Russia: A day after the International Criminal Court accused him of war crimes, soulless Putin traveled to occupied Mariupol where many of them were committed. China’s president Xi has just arrived in Moscow on a “mission of peace” which probably has little to do with peace though I’d like to be wrong. On that subject Ben Cohen of Ben and Jerry’s has contributed $1 million of his ice cream money to an organization that espouses Putin’s Ukraine talking points while blaming the U.S. for Putin’s aggressive actions. Who had that on their BINGO card?

💰 🏦 🏦 : On the banking front UBS of Switzerland is taking over Credit Suisse, another casualty of years of not so great management and this year’s  rising interest rates. Doing their thing, FDIC regulators have sold part of Signature Bank to Flagstar, a subsidiary of New York Community band. Signs outside of Signature Bank branches are being changed as I write this. 

And: Florida’s Ron DeSantis has remained largely silent about Trump and his indictment problem, something that Steve Bannon find outrageous because, of course. However, the anti woke Governor has had a few things to say on another subject. He wants working folks in western Pennsylvania and Ohio to know that despite his Florida roots and his Ivy League education he’s really like them, not like any of those Floridians or at least not like the ones who speak other languages?  Is this your guy Florida?