On day 3 of Trump's hush money trial, a juror was dismissed after being worried about being identified, leading the judge to urge more discretion. After dismissals, 13 jurors (12 main and 1 alternate) were seated out of the 18 needed.
The U.S. Department of Justice agreed to pay $100 million to victims of Larry Nassar over FBI failures in investigating the former gymnastics doctor.
A potential loophole allowing Trump to repost others' comments about jurors without violating the judge's gag order was identified, though prosecutors claim additional violations occurred.
Data shows China has been expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal.
A report highlighted the decline of independent physician practices, with only 25% of doctors now working independently.
German police arrested two suspected Russian spies accused of planning bombings to disrupt aid to Ukraine.
Polish authorities arrested a man suspected of spying for Russia in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukrainian President Zelenskyy.
Microsoft warned of Russian interference efforts targeting U.S. elections and undermining support for Ukraine.
An Arizona state senator defended the state's 1864 near-total abortion ban as "the best law on the books."
Climate protesters disrupted a gala honoring Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Google fired 28 employees after a pro-Palestinian protest sit-in.
Updates on House Speaker Johnson's efforts to pass foreign aid bills amid Republican opposition and needing Democratic support.
John Eastman, Trump's former attorney, had his bank accounts closed by Bank of America and USAA.
The House Freedom Caucus is guarding against potential retaliation from GOP leaders over the foreign aid bills.
Former Attorney General Barr defended his support for Trump, claiming the "progressive left" poses the real threat.
Details on efforts by the White House to broker a normalization deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel in exchange for peace talks on Palestinian statehood.
Reports of alleged Israeli airstrikes in Iran, with Iran claiming to have intercepted missiles.
15 Kennedy family members endorsed Biden over RFK Jr. for president.
A judge ordered the release of Trump valet Walt Nauta's grand jury transcript related to the classified documents case.
An Arizona state representative dropped his re-election bid amid accusations of petition signature fraud.
Fox News battleground state polling showed close races between Trump and Biden.
The Nevada Supreme Court allowed an abortion rights measure to appear on the November ballot.
A report warned of surging federal interest costs due to rising rates, potentially leading to a debt spiral.
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1.) [UPDATE] Trump hush-money trial Day 3.
[TS] My summary:
Fox & Trump’s intimidation Wed on the juror gets results. She’s out (now 6 vs 7). Normal jury selection stuff. Day 3 ends with 13 jurors (full 12 jurors and 1 alternate), 5 left to go (for alternates). Each side is out of peremptory challenges.
Fox the day before runs segment intimidating a juror (#2) and Trump retweets. The juror says family and friends told her that she had been easy to identify, based on publicly available info about her from the court. She said she definitely has concerns now. Says she’s worried about being impartial - Judge dismisses her. 7 jurors down to 6.
Justice Merchan wants changes in the juror info that gets out to the public. He says jurors’ employer name will be redacted from court records. And he urges the press to “apply common sense.” Says press reports intimidated this woman and cost the case a juror.
After prosecutors warn about Trump's social media posts about witnesses, defense attorney Todd Blanche suggests that his client won't "Truth" like that. Merchan deadpans: "That he will not tweet about any witness? I don't think that you can make that representation."
Another(!) one down (Juror #4 has been excused) - now there’s only 5 jurors
A pool reporter notes that, curiously, "when the defense is introduced to the potential jurors seated in the audience, Trump does not stand up like his legal team does to turn and face them."
The full 12 has been seated + 1 alternate. 5 more alternates to go.
2.) NY DAILY NEWS: U.S. DOJ to Pay Victims of Larry Nassar $100 Million Over FBI Failures.
The agreement with around 100 women brings the final price-tag for settlements over the former gymnastics team doctor close to $1 billion.
3.) Potential loophole in Judge Merchan’s gag order.
[TS] Wed I posted about Jesse Watters running a segment about a juror and Trump retweeted it (Thur morning, this juror asked to be excused because she was concerned about her identity becoming public). For reference:
Most people were thinking this was in violation of Judge Merchan’s gag order (myself included). However, Shanlon Wu pointed out a loophole:
I think there is a loophole in Judge Merchan's order that Trump is using by posting/reposting a comment someone else made:
[TS] Would be a quick fix with an amendment to the order, though.
[RELATED] The DA's office says Trump violated Judge Merchan's gag order seven more times.  The office wants the new posts included in the hearing Merchan scheduled for Tuesday. The office is still considering options in terms of sanctions prosecutors are seeking.
4.) Our World in Data: China has been expanding its nuclear weapons arsenal.
5.) TRADEOFFS: Independent physician practices are disappearing.
One doctor debates whether to work for the nation’s largest insurance company after it purchased the independent practice she worked for in Oregon.
20 years ago, most doctors worked for themselves. But two decades of buying sprees by hospitals, retail pharmacy chains, insurers and private equity groups, have left just a quarter in independent practice.
[TS] Pretty remarkable stat. I hadn’t realized that only 25% of doctors worked in independent practice.
It seems odd to me that insurers frequently own practices. Is this true of any other insurance industry?
State Farm isn’t a car dealership. They’re not auto mechanics.
Allstate doesn’t sell houses. They don’t do renovations or repairs.
Granted, I’m no business genie…
6.) FT: Germany arrests suspected Russian spies over bombing plot
Bavarian police have arrested and accused two men of being Russian secret agents planning to bomb industrial and military sites in Germany to disrupt the delivery of aid to Ukraine.
[TS] This calls into question that fire Monday that broke out in Pennsylvania at a plant that produces ammunition supplied, among other places, to Ukraine.
7.) AP: Poland arrests man suspected of spying for Russia to aid Zelensky assassination plot
A Polish man has been arrested on allegations of being ready to spy on behalf of Russia’s military intelligence in an alleged plot to assassinate Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Polish prosecutors said Thursday.
The office of Poland’s National Prosecutor said in a statement that the man, identified only as Pawel K. under Polish privacy laws, was accused of being prepared to pass airport security information to Russian agents and that he was arrested in Poland on Wednesday.
8.) MICROSOFT: Clint Watts (GM, Microsoft Threat Analysis Center): Russian US election interference targets support for Ukraine after slow start.
[TS] Russia seeking to interfere in US elections & undermine support for Ukraine. Tactics/topics:
Propaganda-laundering
Rigged courts
Election Fraud
Hack-and-leak targeting of US political figures
9.) [UPDATE] AZ State Senator David Farnsworth (R) talking about 1864 abortion law to ABC reporter: “We have the best law on the books right now in Arizona.”
FARNSWORTH: We have the best law on the books right now in Arizona
REPORTER: The 1864 law is the best law possible? A near-total ban on abortion?
FARNSWORTH: Yes
10.) [TS] More counterproductive protests - this time from Climate Defiance.
Climate Defiance went to a gala for Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). They posted this message and video:
BREAKING: We just shut down a gala honoring U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski. Murkowski is a murderer. She incinerates us to enrich her cronies. As Chevron's top lobbyist gave her an award, we stepped in and stopped the ceremony. Respect us or expect us.
[TS] I just don’t think they’re going to garner a lot of sympathy to their cause doing things like this.
[RELATED] Columbia University had a Pro-Palestinian protest that resulted in arrests.
[RELATED 2] Dozens(!) of Google workers staged a sit in (re-Israeli software contract) - [update] They were all fired (28 in total).
11.) [UPDATE] Speaker Johnson’s aid bill gambit
[TS] Likelihood of Rules Committee support for Johnson’s gambit per Bulwark:
“Johnson’s gambit depends on his getting support from Democrats on the Rules Committee. But here’s the thing: That just doesn’t happen. Like, ever. The Twitter account @ringwiss, operated by a congressional procedure whiz (who as it turns out, is actually a 20-year-old college student in England), notes that “It would appear that never in recorded history”
[UPDATE] NBC’s Jule Tsirkin on the Freedom Caucus confronting Speaker Johnson on the House Floor yesterday morning:
Things just got very heated on the House floor.
Group of hardliners were trying to pressure Johnson to only put Israel aid on the floor and hold Ukraine aid until the Senate passed HR2.
Johnson said he couldn’t do it, and Van Orden called him “tubby” and vowed to bring on the MTV.
No one in the group (Gaetz, Boebert, Burchett, Higgins, Donalds et al.) were threatening Johnson with an MTV.
Van Orden seemed to escalate things dramatically…
[TS] “Tubby.” lol.
[PICTURED]: Van Orden and Speaker Johnson on the House floor:
[UPDATE 2] 9-3, Dems on House Rules Committee join six Republicans to send rule — governing parameters of the floor debate on the foreign aid package — to the floor. Three Rs on the committee: Ralph Norman, Chip Roy and Thomas Massie voted against it.
Typically rules go along straight party lines. This Congress has changed that. Amid major GOP divisions, Dems supplying the votes to get aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan through the House.
The rule allows for the separate aid bills to be tied together as one package (worth $95B) that will be sent to the Senate
Well, this seems to be the first time in recorded history* that minority members of the Rules Committee voted in favour of reporting a rule to make up for majority votes against it.
* – i.e., since 1995
12.) Bank of America / USAA close John Eastman’s (Trump’s former attorney) bank account.
[TS] Their voicemail to him just said “We’re closing your accounts, tubby.” Even for Eastman, that’s a little rude…
13.) Olivia Beavers (Politico): Freedom Caucus on alert for possible moves against it by GOP leaders.
House Freedom Caucus members are signing up to take shifts to guard the House floor in order to prevent resolutions they’d consider unsavory from slipping through that could curb their power, per two R sources.
This Floor Action Response Team (“FART”) aims to guard against a voice vote or unanimous consent vote where action could be stealthily taken against them and their members.
IE: Resolution to strip Massie, Norman, Roy from Rules committee....
[TS] I do appreciate the language used in tandem with fart:
“slipping through”
“unsavory”
“stealthily”
14.) Bill Barr expounds on his support for Trump.
BARR: “The real threat to liberty, the real threat to our system, are the excesses of the progressive left. They are perverting the system of justice and that’s where the danger lies. The corruption and subversion of our institutions by the left.”
[TS] An absurd argument bearing no relation to observable facts.
[CONTEXT] Barr’s comments on Trump:
Barr said Trump's claims of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election were "bullshit" and that Trump had become "detached from reality" in pushing those false claims.
He called Trump's behavior on January 6th, 2021 a "betrayal of his office and supporters" by failing to condemn the Capitol riot immediately.
Barr said allowing Trump to be re-nominated in 2024 would be "playing Russian roulette with the country" because of Trump's propensity to pursue his own agenda over the interests of the Republican Party and conservative platform.
He criticized Trump's repeated attacks on the Justice Department and FBI as corrosive to the rule of law and democratic institutions.
Barr likened Trump to an "ill-behaved child" at times when the former president ignored his advice or threw tantrums when he didn't get his way.
15.) WSJ: White House Makes Fresh Push for Historic Deal to Forge Saudi-Israel Ties
[TS] Summary by Shaiel Ben-Ephraim:
The Wall Street Journal reports that Saudi Arabia is asking for very little in exchange for normalization. According to its report, "Now, Saudi officials have privately indicated to the U.S. that they might accept verbal assurances from Israel that it would engage in new talks on Palestinian statehood to secure the other parts of the deal of more interest to Riyadh, Saudi officials said."
Saudi Arabia is also willing to help Israel win the war by creating a viable day-after alternative: "A U.S.-brokered deal might also aid Israel with a potential exit strategy from Gaza once that conflict is brought to an end, Saudi officials said. The U.S. has sketched out a postwar plan that would draw on troops from Arab states to secure Gaza."
The cost would be so low, and the rewards so high. Israel can replace Hamas and become an openly valued part of the Middle East in exchange for being willing to talk to the PA about statehood. That is all. And we all know why Israel is saying no: to maintain the Ben-Gvir and Smotrich coalition, not because it is good for Israeli interests. What a tragedy if Israel missed this opportunity and strengthened Hamas and Iran for narrow political interests.
[TS] This seems like a very good thing.
[RELATED] US was the sole veto against the recognition of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations during yesterday’s Security Council vote.
[TS] Doesn’t seem productive. Yes, the UN vote is meaningless but unclear what opposing accomplished. I’m also worried Israel’s thinking is too short-sighted.
Oh boy…speaking of:
16.) JERUSALEM POST: Alleged Israeli strikes reported in Iran
Explosions were heard in Isfahan in central Iran, in the As-Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria, and in the Baghdad area and Babil Governorate of Iraq early Friday morning, according to initial reports.
Iranian officials and outlets are claiming that all explosions heard tonight are due to interceptions and that no explosions have occurred "on the ground"
[TS] Iran: “We intercepted the missiles with our buildings.”
[UPDATE] Now confirmed: The Israeli military has conducted air strikes in Iran, a US military source tells ABC’s Martha Raddatz.
17.) NBC: 15 Kennedy family members endorse Biden for president (instead of RFK Jr.)
[TS] Why did the Kennedy family endorse Joe Biden today, instead of their brother and cousin RFK Jr.? Jill Lawrence has a good explainer (snapshot from her article):
18.) Guardian’s Hugo Lowell: Trump valet Walt Nauta's Grand Jury transcript set to become public next week.
Judge Cannon orders Nauta to file the transcript by April 24, with redactions to protect potential govt witnesses and personal information.
[RELATED] Judge Cannon in the Trump classified docs case DENIES motions to dismiss by Trump co-defendants Walt Nauta and Carlos De Oliveira -- rules that Special Counsel was not too vague in the indictment.
19.) AZ MIRROR: State Rep. Austin Smith (R) drops reelection campaign amid accusations of petition signature fraud
Republican state Rep. Austin Smith has dropped his reelection bid after being accused of personally forging more than 100 petition signatures to get on the 2024 ballot.
And he’s facing a possible criminal investigation into his signatures after state elections officials forwarded his petition signatures to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office.
Smith is first-term representative from Surprise, a member of Arizona’s far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus and a top official at Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of the far-right Turning Point USA, which is aimed at young Republicans and run by Charlie Kirk.
[TS] It’s important to note that Turning Point Action amplified false claims of election fraud by former president Donald Trump and others.
20.) Fox News battleground state polling:
GEORGIA
Trump 46
Biden 39
Kennedy 7
MICHIGAN
Trump 42
Biden 40
Kennedy 9
PENNSYLVANIA
Trump 44
Biden 42
Kennedy 8
WISCONSIN
Biden 43
Trump 41
Kennedy 9
21.) Nevada Supreme Court allows abortion measure to be on the ballot this November. If passed, the measure would enshrine the right to abortion in the state constitution.
On Tuesday, the ten-year Treasury note was 4.7% - up from 4.1% just six weeks ago. The three-month bill is now yielding nearly 5.5%, up from less than 0.1% at the start of 2022.
As a result, federal interest costs are surging and it could lead to a dangerous debt spiral.
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