Abbreviated Pundit Roundup is a long-running series published every morning that collects essential political discussion and analysis around the internet.

The Historic Trump Court Cases That We Cannot See
As a member of the Supreme Court bar, I was able to sit at the front of the courtroom for the arguments in Trump v. United States, the Presidential-immunity case. I could see Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s face twist into an expression of utter incredulity as Trump’s lawyer D. John Sauer claimed that a President sending a Navy seal team to assassinate a political rival was not an indictable crime. I was able to watch Michael Dreeben, the lawyer for the special counsel Jack Smith, painstakingly describe the counts in one of the federal indictments against Trump, relating to his abuse of the Justice Department. Dreeben outlined how Trump tried to pressure top Justice Department officials into sending letters to state legislatures expressing doubt about the election counts, and how Trump threatened to fire those officials if they didn’t comply. After Dreeben relayed this information, almost two hours into the proceedings, I could see the Court dynamics shift. The Justices began to listen far more closely to him, sitting up in their chairs.

I’ve personally seen more than four hundred oral arguments at the Supreme Court. Why bother trudging all the way to One First Street when I could just listen to audio recordings or read a transcript? Because neither is any sort of substitute for watching the way in which these arguments are delivered, and for observing the dynamics on display in the courtroom. The Court itself isn’t satisfied with just reading a bunch of written words in briefs; it insists on seeing advocates deliver their arguments in person. More than fifty Americans should get that same basic opportunity. [...]

Some fear that courtroom cameras will prompt witnesses to be intimidated and scared. I understand this concern; indeed, I once shared it. From 2020 to 2023, I was privileged to serve as special prosecutor in one of the most high-profile trials in modern history, the trial of Derek Chauvin for the murder of George Floyd. Up until this case, Minnesota had never televised a criminal trial. As prosecutors in the case, and in accordance with Minnesota law and practice, we requested that cameras be forbidden. We feared, in particular, for the safety and comfort of a seventeen-year-old witness, who had taken the video of Floyd’s murder.
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Cohen’s Testimony Makes Clear: Trump’s Greed Fueled This Whole Debacle
For hours, prosecutors matched verified paperwork to Cohen’s recounting of his covert catch-and-kill operation. When Cohen said his calls to Pecker kept dropping, TV screens in the courtroom showed screenshots of the encrypted phone app Signal’s logs. When Cohen recalled talking to Weisselberg, screens showed AT&T call records. When Cohen distinctly remembered checking in one last time with Trump on a Wednesday morning before heading to the bank, phone entries show two calls at 8:30 a.m.

Jurors began to see the full story coming together, one that might survive any ad hominem attacks against Cohen for being a convicted perjurer.

But it was a tiring exercise for Cohen, who by mid-afternoon looked like he’d had enough of reading the damning messages that would forever tie his fate to the former president. He donned his thin-framed glasses every time he read the computer screen in front of him, with the glasses hanging low on the bridge of his nose.

But jurors always perked up—with three consistently taking notes—anytime they heard about Trump’s alleged directives.
Democrats are about to lose their mod squad
Now, “the badasses” are moving on. The close knit group of Democratic women, who adopted the nickname after winning House seats in 2018 following careers in the military and the CIA, is set to dwindle as several of them look toward higher office.

Rep. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst and Defense Department official, is running for U.S. Senate in Michigan. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a fellow CIA alum, is leaving Congress after this term to prepare for a run at Virginia’s governorship next year. Rep. Mikie Sherrill, a former Navy helicopter pilot, is “seriously considering” her own 2025 gubernatorial bid in New Jersey, where she tops early polls, even as she’s campaigning to keep her current seat for now. [...]

The fact that all three are considered top-tier candidates for statewide office may be a sign of staying power for their brand of Democratic politics. But it also means that the caucus will soon find itself losing a key set of moderate voices, who’ve also won respect across the aisle.
UK’s Cameron pitched radical Ukraine peace deal to Trump — report
Citing a “senior source,” The Sunday Times newspaper reported this weekend that Cameron had argued fresh aid would help Ukraine hold its front lines — and give Trump the “best possible conditions” to try and secure a deal between the warring sides.

According to the paper’s source, Cameron asked Trump: “What are the best conditions in which you as president can make a deal in January? It’s both sides holding their lines and paying a price for that.”

That would be a far cry from the official U.K. line, and the report prompted a flurry of questions in Westminster on Monday.

The British government has long argued that a peace deal is a matter for Ukraine — and Cameron himself has publicly said “peace comes through strength, not through appeasement and weakness.”
Blinken visits Ukraine to push U.S. support as Russia pummels Kharkiv
Blinken’s two-day trip is the first high-level visit by a Biden administration official since Congress last month approved a $61 billion aid package for Ukraine after seven months of obstruction by Republicans. The visit was intended as a show of solidarity as the Pentagon speeds antiaircraft defenses, artillery and other key equipment into the country to try to stabilize Kyiv’s front lines. But officials concede that given Ukraine’s sizable challenges, its military may not regain a battlefield advantage before 2025 at the earliest.

While in Kyiv, Blinken will meet top leaders and deliver a speech about Ukraine’s future as a nation wired into European institutions such as the European Union and NATO. But with Russia’s war machine proving dangerously resilient and former president Donald Trump running strong in U.S. election polls, the reassurances from the top U.S. diplomat that Washington remains a reliable supporter were likely to sound different from the last time he was here, in September, as Ukraine was just starting to wind down a hotly anticipated counteroffensive that ultimately failed to recapture much ground. [...]

But Ukraine’s challenges are extensive, and some have little chance of immediate resolution.

Russia’s military planners have proved adaptable and have used glide bombs and other munitions to exhaust Kyiv’s antiaircraft defenses, destroy its energy infrastructure and pound its front lines. Ukraine has needed to reinforce its defenses, including its trenches and its minefields, as Russian forces have regained ground this spring. Kyiv is also facing a major shortage of trained soldiers, a problem that has no quick fix.
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Wisconsin Supreme Court's liberal majority questions past ruling barring ballot drop boxes
The state's highest court heard arguments Monday in a lawsuit backed by Democrats that seeks to overturn the court's decision under its previous conservative majority that said state law does not allow drop boxes to be placed outside of an election clerk's office and another ruling that prohibited clerks from filling in missing address information on absentee ballots.

“What if we just got it wrong?” said Justice Jill Karofsky, one of four members of the court's liberal majority, referring to the court's prior decision. “What if we made a mistake? Are we now supposed to just perpetuate that mistake into the future?".

The court in the coming weeks will decide whether to reinstate the use of absentee drop boxes, just before voters are set to cast ballots in the next presidential election that features a rematch of President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump.

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