VIDEO OF THE DAY: Trump panics, gets lost in confused rant at his own pep rally
Another day, another instance of the disgraced ex-president broadcasting for all to see his own intellectual ineptitude and cognitive deficiencies, proving for the umpteenth time how woefully unfit he is for any public office, let alone the presidency. To quote Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride, "You keep using that that word. I do not think it means what you think it means."

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Verdict in Donald Trump’s massive civil fraud trial expected today
The disgraced ex-president's infamous fraud trial in New York City is nearing its conclusion, as Judge Arthur Engoron, who has already ruled that Trump inflated his wealth on financial statements that were given to banks, insurers, and others to make deals and secure loans, is set to deliver a verdict that could cost the serially indicted grifter tens of millions of dollars and prohibit him from doing business in the state going forward. For the record, state Attorney General Letitia James’ office has estimated that Trump exaggerated his wealth by as much as $3.6 BILLION. State lawyers contend the con man used the inflated numbers to get lower insurance premiums and favorable loan terms, saving at least $168 million on interest alone. James is seeking a whopping $370 million in the case — an amount that could cripple the fraudster. Unfortunately, because the case is civil, not criminal in nature, there is no possibility of prison time.

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Insurrectionist Republican brings bad behavior to Washington
Eric Wilson for Congress: Wisconsin Republican Derrick Van Orden is a bad guy, with bad behavior, and bad politics. He’s made headlines for getting drunk at work and verbally abusing his pages; threatening librarians, and even throwing profane tantrums in hearings. Oh, and he was there for Trump’s January 6th rally in DC and is a MAGA extremist to boot. It’s time to send this cranky man-child home and replace him with a responsible adult, and a progressive one at that. If you agree, then Eric Wilson is your guy. He has vowed to fight for Medicare for All and refuses to take corporate money. Van Orden has no such principles, and has amassed himself a huge $1.6 million dark money war chest. Will you chip in to elect Eric Wilson and flip this critical battleground seat blue?

Defiant Georgia prosecutor Fani Willis fights to stay on Trump case
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, the top prosecutor in the Georgia election case against Donald Trump, took the stand to vigorously defend her relationship with a fellow prosecutor during a combative hearing on Thursday. The serially indicted con man's lawyers alleged that Willis' relationship with Nathan Wade, who she hired, proved a conflict of interest. To be fair, if there's anything Trump and his goons know better than most, it's professional impropriety. The 77-year-old disgraced ex-president is a decades-long, walking, talking, bloviating conflict of interest and Willis was having none of the bullshit put forward by his legal team or lawyers representing other defendants in the sprawling election fraud case. "You're confused. You think I'm on trial. These people are on trial for trying to steal an election in 2020," Willis said to lawyer Ashleigh Merchant, referring to the main case.

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White House confirms monitoring of "troubling" Russian anti-satellite weapon
Following an awkward and inappropriate leak by a House Republican earlier this week and subsequent GOP infighting surrounding the matter, adults in the room stepped forward to assuage Americans on the actual severity and specifics of what had ominously been called a serious national security threat. The Biden White House confirmed that it is monitoring a new Russian anti-satellite weapon which it said is being developed but not yet deployed. National security spokesperson John Kirby would not directly confirm or deny reports that the new Russian weapon was nuclear, but he did say it was "space-based" and that it violated the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, which prohibits the deployment in space of nuclear weapons or other weapons of mass destruction. "This is not an active capability that’s been deployed, and though Russia’s pursuit of this particular capability is troubling, there is no immediate threat to anyone’s safety. We are not talking about a weapon that can be used to attack human beings or cause physical destruction here on Earth. That said, we’ve been closely monitoring this Russian activity and we will continue to take it very seriously," Kirby said.

Texas National Guard soldiers lambast Gov. Abbott's anti-migrant Operation Lone Star as little more than a "show"
A handful of disgruntled soldiers spoke to HuffPost regarding their concerns about GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's much-ballyhooed Operation Lone Star, which since 2021 has sent state law enforcement and Texas National Guard soldiers to patrol the border, often with disturbing results. The guardsmen, who acknowledged they were a minority among their colleagues and that many seem to support Abbott’s mission, said the policy dehumanizes migrants, diverts resources from needed areas into "political theater," and improperly gives soldiers and state troopers sway over the application of federal immigration law — a job legally reserved for federal law enforcement. "If anything, I think it makes for better pictures for campaign ads," said one former Texas Army National Guard medic. And that's really the point, isn't it? Optics. Abbott's show — all $9.5 BILLION of it, according to budget allocations set through 2025 — is playing to MAGA-packed audiences during a crucial presidential election year where Trump has demanded that Republicans kill any bipartisan effort to confront the country's complex immigration challenges so he can kick and scream about it on the campaign trail.

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Florida deputy mistakes falling acorn for gunshot, fires into patrol car with Black man inside
In a stunning video you'd be forgiven for thinking was a clip from from Reno 911, Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Deputy Jesse Hernandez heard a loud noise — which turned out to be a f*cking ACORN hitting the hood of his squad car — and immediately opened fire, emptying an entire clip into his own vehicle, screaming, "Shots fired! and "I'm hit, I'm hit!" prompting a second officer to also open fire on the police vehicle. A Black suspect in a domestic dispute and suspected car theft case — who had already been patted down and detained without incident and was later released without charges — was HANDCUFFED in the back seat and miraculously emerged unscathed from the fusillade. A review board ruled Officer Hernandez behaved inappropriately (you think?), leading to the man's resignation from the force weeks later. But once again we're faced with another poorly trained police officer recklessly whipping out his firearm and shooting first and then shooting again before asking even a single question. We're just lucky nobody died this time.

Republicans lose their minds over prosecutor's announcement
No Lie with Brian Tyler Cohen: There it is... (Listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify!

Dark money group unveils wildly Islamophobic ads against Biden court pick
The Judicial Crisis Network, a radical, right-wing judicial advocacy group known for its steady stream of anonymous funding and a previous multimillion-dollar campaign aimed at smearing then-Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, launched a blatantly Islamophobic and misleading ad campaign targeting one of President Biden’s Muslim judicial nominees, Adeel Mangi. JCN’s attacks on Mangi, a 23-year civil litigator based in New Jersey who is on track to be the nation’s first Muslim appeals court judge, are as deceptive as they are ugly. The group’s ads baselessly accuse Mangi — who is backed by more than a DOZEN major Jewish groups — of being a radical antisemite, and of advising an organization that teaches students "to hate Israel, to hate America, and to support global terrorism." The JCN, currently run by a former law clerk to Clarence Thomas, funnels millions of dollars from the likes of Leonard Leo and the Koch brothers into a laundry list of right-wing fever-dream crusades, like stripping away healthcare from millions of Americans, reinstating the death penalty in states where it is no longer used, and helping seat some of the worst Supreme Court justices in modern history. Neat!

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