Trumpdate (3.29.24):
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A GOP fundraiser supporting Nikki Haley is now backing Trump. The RNC may restrict NBC access after firing Ronna McDaniel. U.S. economy grew 3.4% in Q4. A sitting US district judge gave a TV interview about Trump's attacks, which is unusual. Trump continues attacking the hush-money case judge's daughter. A Michigan state rep mistook buses full of NCAA basketball students for "illegal invaders." Trump argues the Georgia case violates his free speech rights. Zelensky urged Congress to quickly pass Ukraine aid. Allegations of image manipulation in a Harvard professor's papers.
1.) [TS] There’s a story (per AJC) out of Georgia where a Georgia Republican Party’s vice chairman voted illegally nine times. Makes for a good headline, but it’s a tad misleading.
[TS] Why is it misleading? The person in question, Brian K. Pritchard:
pleaded guilty in 1996 to forgery and theft charges involving $38,000 worth of checks that he deposited while working on a construction job, according to court records from Alleghany County, Pennsylvania.
Pritchard testified in February that he believed his felony sentence ended in 1999, but attorneys for the state showed evidence that his probation had been repeatedly revoked and extended until 2011. Georgia law prohibits felons from voting until they’ve completed their sentences.
Attorneys for the state said in court that Pritchard knew he was still serving his sentence because records show he appeared in Pennsylvania court for probation revocation hearings in 1999, 2002 and 2004. Pritchard denied that he was present in court in 2002 or 2004.
Pritchard registered to vote in Georgia in 2008 and cast ballots in nine elections before his probation was over, according to election records presented in court.
[TS] So, the headline makes it seem like he voted multiple times in the 2020 election, or maybe the midterms. But this was 14+ years ago in (9) separate elections:
In 2008, the Respondent voted in Gilmer County in the following elections:
July 15, 2008: Georgia general primary;
August 5, 2008: Georgia general primary runoff;
November 4, 2008: Georgia general election; and
December 2, 2008: Georgia general election runoff.
In 2010, the Respondent voted in Gilmer County in the following elections:
May 11, 2010: Special election;
June 8, 2010: Special election;
July 20, 2010: Georgia general primary;
August 10, 2010: Georgia general primary; and
November 2, 2010: Georgia general election
2.) Eric Levine, a prominent GOP fundraiser in New York for Nikki Haley who pledged to never vote for Trump after Jan. 6, is voting for Trump after all: "Due to a dramatic change in circumstances ... I have decided I will vote for Trump in November."
3.) [TS] I just couldn't pass it up…Per POLITICO: The RNC is weighing whether to restrict NBC’s access to this summer’s convention, following the network’s decision to drop former RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel as a contributor.
“How dare they fire her immediately after we just did.”
4.) BEA: The U.S. economy grew at a 3.4% annualized rate in Q4, up from the 3.2% rate estimated a month ago.
5.) U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton joined CNN’s Kaitlan Collins last night to talk about Trump's relentless attacks on the judge overseeing his criminal trial.
[TS] This is really unusual. A sitting judge going on an evening show? I don’t know if I like this…
6.) [UPDATE] Hush-money case: Trump has continued to attack Judge Merchan's daughter since Monday's hearing affirming his trial date, but now names her for the first time on his website. (The daughter isn't included in the partial gag order, and neither is the judge himself.)
After attacking over what court officials said was a hoax Twitter account that didn't belong to Justice Merchan's daughter, Trump on Truth Social attacks the justice's daughter again, this time by name:
7.) Matt Maddock, a Michigan state representative, mistook (3) buses full of Gonzaga University students coming to Detroit for the Sweet Sixteen men’s NCAA basketball tournament as “illegal invaders at Detroit Metro.” [TS] The tweet is still up 17hours later…
8.) [UPDATE] Trump Fulton County Case: AP: Trump’s team cites First Amendment in contesting charges in Georgia election interference case.
The charges against Donald Trump in the Georgia election interference caseseek to criminalize political speech and advocacy conduct that the First Amendment protects, a lawyer for the former president said Thursday as he argued that the indictment should be dismissed.
“There is nothing alleged factually against President Trump that is not political speech,” Trump’s lead lawyer, Steve Sadow, told the judge. Sadow said a sitting president expressing concerns about an election is “the height of political speech” and that is protected even if what was said ended up being false.
Prosecutor Donald Wakeford countered that Trump’s statements are not protected by the First Amendment because they were integral to criminal activity.
“It’s not just that they were false. It’s not that the defendant has been hauled into a courtroom because the prosecution doesn’t like what he said,” Wakeford said, adding that Trump is free to express his opinion and make legitimate protests. “What he is not allowed to do is to employ his speech and his expression and his statements as part of a criminal conspiracy to violate Georgia’s RICO statute, to impersonate public officers, to file false documents, to make false statements to the government.”
Wakeford pointed out that similar arguments were raised and rejected in the federal election interference case against Trump brought by Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan wrote in a December ruling that “it is well established that the First Amendment does not protect speech that is used as an instrument of a crime.”
“Defendant is not being prosecuted simply for making false statements ... but rather for knowingly making false statements in furtherance of a criminal conspiracy and obstructing the electoral process,” Chutkan wrote.
Allison Gill: So he’s arguing “that the 1st amendment protected his right to lie as a candidate for office in 2020. But he’s arguing to SCOTUS that he’s immune from prosecution for his lies in 2020 because they were official acts. Schrödinger’s liar.”
9.) Ukraine’s President Zelensky spoke with House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA):
I spoke with Speaker Johnson and thanked him personally, both parties, the American people, and President Biden for their critical support of Ukraine since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion.
I briefed Speaker Johnson on the battlefield situation, specifically the dramatic increase in Russia's air terror. Last week alone, 190 missiles, 140 "Shahed" drones, and 700 guided aerial bombs were launched at Ukrainian cities and communities. Ukraine's largest hydroelectric power plant has gone offline.
In this situation, quick passage of US aid to Ukraine by Congress is vital. We recognize that there are differing views in the House of Representatives on how to proceed, but the key is to keep the issue of aid to Ukraine as a unifying factor.
We also discussed the importance of cutting off Russia's sources of funding for its war as soon as possible and using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine’s benefit. We also rely on the leadership of Congress in this regard.
[TS] Pass the bill Mike — that’ll make it a “Good” Friday. [EDITORS NOTE] Don’t quit your day job TS….
10.) WSJ: Harvard Professor’s Papers Contain Copied Images, Says Science Sleuth. Khalid Shah’s work is the latest tranche of papers to come under review
A Harvard Medical School scientist who studies deadly brain tumors is facing accusations that more than two dozen papers he co-authored contain scientific images that appear doctored or copied.