The Republican Party's gamble of going all-in on Trump may backfire as midterms draw closer. 

Monday, August 22, 2022
BY JULIA CLAIRE & CROOKED MEDIA

- Georgia Republican Senate nominee Herschel Walker ([link removed]) on why climate spending is a *waste of money*​​ ([link removed])

For a guy who is extremely not the president anymore, Donald Trump sure does still have a firm grip on our national current events.

* A federal appeals court in Washington, DC, ruled Friday that the Justice Department must make public an internal memo from 2019 about disgraced former president Donald Trump’s obstructive conduct during the Mueller investigation ([link removed]) . Over in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) will live to fight against the rule of law another day, as two Trump-appointed judges temporarily paused a lower-court order for him to testify before the Fulton County, GA, special grand jury ([link removed]) investigating possibly (wink) illegal efforts by Team Trump to overturn the 2020 election. This will-they-won’t-they dynamic between Graham and testifying about crimes he definitely facilitated is the hottest romance of the summer.

* Bruce Reinhart, the federal magistrate judge who authorized the warrant to search Mar-a-Lago, emphasized today that he “carefully reviewed” the FBI’s sworn evidence before signing off on it, and that he considers the facts contained in the affidavit to be “reliable.” ([link removed]) As we covered, Reinhart ruled last week that he would consider unsealing portions of the affidavit after conferring with DOJ and determining whether proposed redactions would be sufficient not to damage the ongoing criminal investigation connected to the search. But Reinhart also stated that he may ultimately agree with prosecutors who say that redactions would be so extensive that they would render releasing the document useless.

* The congressional leaders charged with reviewing the nation’s most sensitive intelligence have asked the Biden administration for access to the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago ([link removed]) , according to sources close to the matter. The so-called “Gang of Eight” includes the top two congressional leaders of each party in each chamber as well as the top Democrats and Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees. It follows a similar request from the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Mark Warner and Vice Chair Sen. Marco Rubio. Surely the Republicans in the Gang of Eight, including Kevin McCarthy, would never abuse their access to classified secrets to sabotage a criminal investigation of Donald Trump…

The looming specter of legal accountability is making for an awkward start to the 2024 Republican primary rumblings.

* Usually around this time (two years before a presidential election) we would start seeing Republican presidential hopefuls pop up at the Iowa State Fair putting on their best “I’m just like you,” attire and housing corndogs. But compared to previous cycles, very few Republican politicians on the 2024 radar attended this year’s fair, because Trump’s presence still looms so large. It’s still unclear whether former president Trump will run, but the overwhelming majority of would-be contenders strenuously do not want to position themselves against him ([link removed]) . I believe the term for this is “coward.” Former Vice President Mike Pence still showed up to eat a turkey leg, or tell women they should only speak when spoken to, or whatever he usually does there.

* While Republican senate candidates are polling considerably worse-than-expected in key battleground states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, they have potential to pick up a seat in purple New Hampshire, where Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-NH) is polling poorly. The New Hampshire Republican Party is pulled in two directions ([link removed]) , as more moderate Republicans often fare better there, but the Republican primary front runner is Don Bolduc, a fringe psycho who is not only a booster for the Big Lie but recently called to repeal the 17th Amendment (the one that lets voters, instead of state legislatures, choose U.S. senators). Cool guy! Predictive polling shows that Bolduc’s edge in the primary may be his ceiling, as many general election voters would be scared off by his lunacy. Fingers crossed all of the general elections go this way.

Republican primary voters have not let go of Trump, but as he inches ever closer to real legal consequences, they may be strapping themselves to a political suicide vest.

The hosts of Imani State of Mind ([link removed]) , Dr. Imani Walker and MegScoop Thomas are taking a deeper look at what it takes to make friendships last and what role they play in your mental health. The ladies are also diving into the reality of different types of relationships and the emotions that arise out of them. From your spouse to your parents to grief and anxiety, Imani State of Mind is the show to talk about it all.

Listen to new episodes of Imani State of Mind ([link removed]) every Friday, wherever you get your podcasts.
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Last year, a new conservative nonprofit group saw a $1.6 billion windfall from a little-known donor named Barr Seid ([link removed]) , an extraordinary amount of money that could give Republicans and their pet issues (taking away people’s rights, giving themselves more money) a huge financial boost in the coming midterm elections and beyond. Seid made his fortune in electronics manufacturing, and his donation is one of if not the largest single contributions ever made to a political nonprofit organization. Of course, Seid’s donation to Marble Freedom Trust (excuse me while I dry heave) was arranged through an unusual series of transactions meant to avoid tax liabilities. Classic Republican shit. To zoom out, the $1.6 billion Seid gave is slightly more than the total of $1.5 billion spent in 2020 by 15 of the most politically-active nonprofit organizations that generally align with Democrats. Republican
billionaires basically invented dark money, and this staggering sum means they are extremely serious about spending as much as they have to to achieve their political goals.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and President Biden’s chief medical adviser, announced today that he plans to retire in December ([link removed]) after more than 50 years in public service.


Three Arkansas law-enforcement officers have been taken off duty after a horrifying video footage of them brutally beating a man during an arrest ([link removed]) circulated online this weekend.


Staff at American University went on strike today to protest inequitable healthcare and insufficient wages ([link removed]) after more than 30 bargaining sessions with the University did not produce meaningful changes in either.


Flash floods struck the Dallas-Fort Worth area overnight last night resulting in severely flooded roads and cars floating down streets ([link removed]) . In some areas, rainfall totaled what would be considered a one-in-one-thousand-year flood.


Singapore has decriminalized homosexuality ([link removed]) .


More than three years after New York lawmakers passed regulations restricting landlords’ ability to hike rents in regulated apartments, many of them are using a loophole of combining units to dramatically jack up rents in a time of already sky-high prices ([link removed]) .


Millions of students in the Philippines are finally back in school after two years of coronavirus lockdowns ([link removed]) .


A growing consensus among experts who study the intersection of the two is that history of mental illness is not actually a good predictor of mass shootings ([link removed]) .


The Kremlin has accused Ukrainian intelligence of carrying out a car bombing on Saturday that killed the daughter of a leading right-wing Russian nationalist Alexander Dugin ([link removed]) . Ukraine denies any involvement.


Workers at the United Kingdom’s biggest container port went on strike yesterday, joining a series of walkouts by transportation workers across the country ([link removed]) .


Pakistani police have charged former prime minister Imran Khan under their “anti-terror” laws after Khan delivered a speech attacking the police and a judicial officer ([link removed]) at a recent rally in the nation’s capital, Islamabad.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has obtained emails surrounding a deal between the Omaha, NE, Police Department and a local gun shop that has hosted far-right politicians ([link removed]) from around the world and at least one openly anti-Muslim speaker and festoons itself with neo-Nazi iconography ([link removed]) . The deal as such is that OPD planned to trade almost $45,000 worth of expired helmets and bulletproof vests for approximately $3,000 worth of firearms equipment, and it highlights OPD’s friendly relationships with far-right business owners. The gun shop and training center, 88 Tactical, first came on the SPLC’s radar in 2017 when it joined with conspiracy theory/anti-Muslim organization the Global Faith Institute to invite ex-FBI agent and violent islamophobe John Guandolo to speak in Nebraska that year. The
number 88 is extremely important to and widely used among neo-Nazis, referring to the 8th letter of the alphabet, H, as in “Heil Hitler.” 88 Tactical has also hosted Donald Trump, Jr., and the sons of far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, all three of whom push anti-leftist conspiracy theories. Far-right and white supremacist links to law enforcement have been well-known for years ([link removed]) in the intelligence community, and unless the problem is pulled from its root, police will rightly lose all legitimacy in the eyes of the residents they are supposed to serve.
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Our Rights Are In Danger

The federal right to an abortion has been overturned. And politicians are not stopping at abortion rights. Overturning Roe v. Wade has opened the floodgates for further attacks on all of our rights—and we need your support to fight back with the full strength we need.


The same extremists working to take away our right to an abortion are putting so many other freedoms – everything you and the ACLU have fought so hard for – at risk in ways we haven't seen in generations. Everything from our right to use birth control, marry whom you love, and even the right to vote.


But we can't – and we won't – let them get away with it. The ACLU has the nationwide and multi-issue infrastructure to lead in this urgent fight back. We're on Capitol Hill, in the courts, statehouses, and on the ground in all 50 states, D.C., and Puerto Rico. And our reach extends not to one but every major civil liberty under threat.


This will take sustained effort to continuously push back against this all-out assault on our fundamental freedoms. Sign up today to help us protect and defend our fundamental freedoms. ([link removed])


Thank you,

The ACLU Team

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) joined a workers’ rights rally in Cambridge, MA, yesterday highlighting local union battles in Massachusetts ([link removed]) including Boston-based Starbucks unions, MIT Grad Student Union, and the Massachusetts Nurses Association.


New evidence shows that cognitive rehabilitation may help older adults affected with brain fog as a result of COVID-19 ([link removed]) or “long Covid.” I wonder if cognitive rehabilitation would finally allow my parents to remember "What's-her-face from that movie."


TikTok and Meta have banned one-time kickboxing champion and now full-time professional misogynist Andrew Tate from their platforms ([link removed]) for his extreme content which advocates for men exerting their “authority” over women. We wish him only the worst.


Colorado state Sen. Kevin Priola is resigning from the Republican Party and becoming a Democrat ([link removed]) because of the former’s complicity in the January 6 insurrection and proliferation of the Big Lie.


Surprise, surprise: anti-abortion activists still lost by a wide margin after a recount of this month’s referendum in Kansas ([link removed]) .


The District of Columbia will more than double the amount of assistance for first-time home buyers ([link removed]) in a bid to help residents of the nation’s capital, particularly Black Washingtonians, remain competitive in the city’s expensive housing market.

Construction of 420,000 new apartments is expected to be completed in cities across the U.S. this year ([link removed]) , which could (fingers crossed so hard they break) lower rental and home asking prices.
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