Bring It On ✡️🌻✡️🌻✡️🌻

Trump Trial:  Yesterday Trump’s entourage of House 🤡 🤡 and toadies included Republican Representatives Matt Gaetz, Lauren Boebert, Andy Biggs, Michael Cloud, Eli Crane, Bob Good, Diana Harshbarger, Anna Paulina Luna, and Ralph Norman because why bother showing up to vote and attend hearings in Congress when the “great leader” needs your presence for his porn star/hush money trial? Jeff Clark, the former US environmental attorney who abetted Trump’s attempted coup was also present. Gaetz used his time in front of the cameras to invoke the Proud Boys stand back and stand by mantra which tells you just about everything you need to know about why Trump has a stream of deplorables attending his trial. Once court was in session, defense counsel Todd Blanche returned to hammering former fixer, current nemesis Michael Cohen, portraying him as a serial liar with a bigly grudge against his former mentor and idol Trump. Most reports, other than those from Fox who said the seriously compromised Cohen completely cratered, are that while he wasn’t perfect Cohen held up okay, remarkable given the number of hours he spent on the stand deflecting the barrage sent his way.  However, at least one of Blanche’s blows did hit home, exposing a small crack in Cohen’s testimony related to his recounting of an October 24, 2016, phone conversation with Trump. During prosecution questioning Cohen testified that on that call, which was placed to Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller who then passed the phone to Trump, he’d told Trump that the hush money deal with Stormy Daniel was finalized.  Blanche asserted that the call wasn’t about the Stormy arrangement but was instead about a series of threatening calls Cohen had received from what turned out to be a “14-year- old dope.”  Cohen’s response was that he remembered the call being about both topics. Since Trump is supposedly attending son Barron’s graduation today, court is in recess until Monday when Blanche is expected to continue his cross examination of Cohen. To the extent they find it necessary, prosecutors can call Cohen back to the stand to clarify any of the inconsistencies that came out during Blanche’s cross. Defense Counsel will then have the opportunity to present their case.  It’s not clear if Trump’s lawyers plan to call any witnesses although they’ve suggested that they might call Keith Schiller, Giuliani associated lawyer Robert Costello and even Trump to the stand. No one believes that Trump will actually testify, but his defense team is still asserting he might. Don’t count on it.  Judge Merchan instructed lawyers on both sides to be prepared to deliver their closing remarks on Tuesday. To the extent that closing remarks really occur on Tuesday, jurors could get the case in time to deliver a verdict before the Memorial holiday weekend.  Only when we hear that verdict will we learn whether Blanche’s strategy of eviscerating Cohen worked enough to trump all the other compelling evidence. It only takes one juror to upend the case.

Justice:  The Republican party line is that Biden’s weaponized Justice Department is all about going after Trump.  That’s got to be news to New Jersey Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, Texas Democratic Representative Henry Cuellar, and Hunter Biden. Menendez’s trial for accepting bribes, some in the form of gold bars, has started.  Menendez’s defense is that his wife Nadine, who was also indicted but is being tried separately because of an immediate health issue, is responsible for all the bad stuff that he’s accused of doing.  Yesterday, we learned that those health issues are real and serious, Nadine Menendez is being treated for breast cancer.  Count me as someone who doesn’t believe that throwing your wife under the bus while she’s having a mastectomy is a winning strategy but what do I know.  As to son Hunter, despite his lawyers’ best efforts his trial on gun and tax charges appears to be moving forward. Cuellar’s trial won’t begin until March of 2025 though he wants it to take place sooner.  Not that it matters, because there are never any consequences for him, but Justice Clarence Thomas and his RV are back in the news. Democratic Senators Wyden and Whitehouse are once again pressing Thomas to reveal whether he repaid the wealthy friend who loaned him $267,230 to buy a luxury motorhome all of the loan’s principal.  So far, all Thomas has said is that he made the all the “required” payments, but it’s thought those payments mostly included interest as his “friend” likely forgave most of the principal.  The question is whether Thomas violated tax laws by failing to report and pay taxes on the amount of the loan that was forgiven.  In other Supreme news, it turns out that Justice Alito and his wife flew an upside-down US flag outside their home. An upside-down flag is a symbol those nice Stop the Steal “tourists” use. Taking a page from Senator Menendez, Alito’s excuse is that flying the flag upside-down was his wife’s idea because an honorable guy like him would never do anything so obviously political but if he did it’s okay because he gets to do what he wants. We’re still waiting for Alito, Thomas, and the rest of the Justices to issue their presidential immunity opinion.  Nothing to worry about there because they’re all so apolitical?  With Alito and Gorsuch dissenting, yesterday SCOTUS rejected another attempt to scuttle the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The opinion was authored by Thomas, surprising because he doesn’t generally author opinions. The Court also cleared the way for Louisiana to move forward with its much-litigated new Congressional districting map.  As a result, the state will have two mostly Black districts, a win for Democrats who are now expected to pick up a seat. Some disgruntled white folks had sued, saying it was unfair for Louisiana where one third of the population is Black to have a Congressional map that could result in two of its six House representatives also being Black.  Apparently, math and ratios aren’t a thing in some of Louisiana’s schools.

Debates:  Biden pulled a fast one on Trump, going all-in on debates first. The first of the two agreed upon debates is scheduled to take place June 27 on CNN with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash moderating; the second debate will be on ABC on September 10. That’s early, but Biden’s team wants to get voters focused on policy issues, something that they believe will be a plus for Biden.  Trump who quickly agreed to the terms presented by Biden is now disputing them,  especially that there will be no audience present in the studio, that there will only be two, and that the moderators will get to turn off the mics when either candidate refuses to shut up.  Fox is upset because they’re not one of the hosts.  And RFK is upset because he’s not invited.  There will be one VP debate this summer, assuming Trump’s VP sweepstakes is over by then.  Just a reminder that Trump tried to share COVID with Biden the last time they debated, and he also has a habit of cancelling debates on a whim, so we’ll see what really happens.   

#BringThemAllHomeNow