memeorandum: 7/26/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM (Punchbowl News)

12:55 PM ET, July 26, 2023

Top Items:

Josh Gerstein / Politico:

Judge says member of Hunter Biden's legal team ‘misrepresented her identity’ on eve of plea deal hearing — Biden's legal team staunchly denied any misconduct, saying the episode was a misunderstanding. — The judge who will review Hunter Biden's plea deal on Wednesday accused a member …

Discussion: Insider, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner, Fox News and Political Wire

Washington Post:

Hunter Biden guilty plea in doubt over immunity questions — Hearing hits a snag as judge presses to know whether deal means immunity from possible future charges — WILMINGTON, Del. — The plea deal for Hunter Biden was on the brink of falling apart Wednesday, when the two sides …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Fox News, The Messenger, The Hill, NBC News, CNBC, Washington Times, RedState, The Daily Caller, Balloon Juice, New York Post, The Guardian, The Gateway Pundit, Mercury News and Wall Street Journal

Punchbowl News:

7/26/23 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM — If you work at the DCCC or you're camped out in House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries' second-floor Capitol office, the current state of the Republican Conference probably has you salivating. … If you talk to senior GOP leadership figures privately, they'll admit this.

Discussion: Raw Story

Samuel Chamberlain / New York Post:
Hunter Biden lawyer accused of deception to seal bid to block plea deal

Discussion: HotAir, The Messenger, Twitchy, Power Line, BizPac Review, RedState and acecomments.mu.nu

Docket updates for United States v. Biden …:
CORRECTING ENTRY: — ORAL ORDER re 8 and 9 - The Court is in receipt of the parties' letters regarding …

Discussion: Fox News, BizPac Review and The Daily Caller

Josh Boswell / Daily Mail:
EXCLUSIVE: Hunter Biden's lawyers face SANCTIONS after being accused of lying to the clerk in his criminal tax case as judge orders First Son's attorneys to explain themselves by tonight

Discussion: RedState, Breitbart, JONATHAN TURLEY and TheBlaze

New York Times:
Republicans in Congress Seek to Block Hunter Biden's Plea Deal

Discussion: Washington Examiner, USA Today, ABC News, The Hill, Associated Press, National Review, New York Post, Talking Points Memo, emptywheel, NBC News, WFLA-TV and Political Wire

Marshall Cohen / CNN:
Judge threatens to sanction Hunter Biden's lawyers after legal dispute with GOP lawmaker

Discussion: Washington Free Beacon, Raw Story, The Messenger, The Gateway Pundit, RedState, Washington Examiner and Breitbart

Lisa Lerer / New York Times:

Anti-Trump Ads in Iowa Feature Republican Voters Who Turned Against Him — Hoping to persuade G.O.P. voters that Donald Trump cannot win another general election, the Republican Accountability Project is running ads that feature voters who grew disillusioned with him.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, American Greatness and Financial Times

Paul Rosenzweig / The Atlantic:

The 2024 Election Could Be the End of the Cases Against Donald Trump — The most powerful office in the nation presents his best chance to terminate the cases against him. — If, as seems likely, Donald Trump is the Republican presidential nominee next year, the 2024 elections …

Discussion: Raw Story and Salon

Rolling Stone:
Trump Struggles to Find Enough Lawyers to Handle His Many Indictments

Discussion: Washington Times, Politico, Raw Story and The Daily Beast

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
The Fulton County Case Against Trump May Be the Most Serious—and Imminent

Discussion: Alternet.org, Raw Story, Breitbart, The Messenger and The Guardian

NBC News:

Rudy Giuliani concedes he made ‘false’ statements about Georgia election workers — The Trump ally's acknowledgment came in a Tuesday filing related to the 2020 election workers' lawsuit about baseless claims of fraud that he made against them. — Rudy Giuliani conceded in a court filing Tuesday …

Jaclyn Diaz / NPR:

Rudy Giuliani concedes he made false statements against 2 Georgia election workers — Rudy Giuliani conceded in a court filing that he made false statements when he said two Georgia election workers mishandled ballots during the 2020 election. — In 2021, Ruby Freeman and Wandrea “Shaye” …

Discussion: HuffPost, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Talking Points Memo, al.com and Washington Examiner

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Giuliani won't contest Georgia election workers' claims that he falsely accused them of manipulating ballots — In the heavily couched statement, Giuliani also conceded that his statements meet the “factual elements of liability” for Moss and Freeman's claims that his attacks amounted to “intentional infliction of emotional distress.”

Discussion: The Messenger, New York Post, The Guardian, New Republic, UPI, RedState, USA Today, Daily Kos, Raw Story and IJR

Washington Post:

Republicans tiptoe toward an impeachment inquiry — Good morning, Early Birds. Are you like us and way overthink and inevitably fail Captchas, those little puzzles to make sure you're a human visiting a website? Soon, we might no longer have to stress about them. Tips: earlytips@washpost.com.

Discussion: Insider, Fox News, Raw Story, Associated Press, Washington Examiner, Politico, The Guardian, The Messenger, Washington Times and The Hill

Alexander Bolton / The Hill:
Senate Republicans see Biden impeachment as fraught with risk

Discussion: The Messenger, NBC News and Political Wire

CNN:
Inside McCarthy's sudden warming to a Biden impeachment inquiry

Alex Thompson / Axios:

DeSantis team fires aide who secretly made video with Nazi symbol — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis' 2024 campaign fired an aide this week who secretly created and shared a pro-DeSantis video that featured the candidate at the center of a Sonnenrad, an ancient symbol appropriated by the Nazis and still used by some white supremacists.

Discussion: New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Sun-Sentinel, Semafor, ZeroHedge News, UPROXX, Political Wire, Washington Examiner, Associated Press, The Messenger and The Hill

Politico:
Playbook: Team DeSantis' identity crisis

Discussion: Wall Street Journal, Daily Kos, Bulwark+, CBS News and TIME

NBC News:
Ron DeSantis fires staffer who retweeted video with Nazi imagery

Discussion: CNN, Bulwark+, The Daily Caller, Financial Times, UPI, Semafor, Mediaite, WFLA-TV, HuffPost and The Messenger

New York Times:

Where Is Melania Trump Now? — The former first lady has mostly retreated from public view — and steered clear of the campaign trail — while her husband fights to return to the White House and faces increasing legal peril. — Lisa Lerer covers national politics and reported from New York.

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Insider, Silicon Valley, UPROXX and Raw Story

Damian Carrington / The Guardian:

Gulf Stream could collapse as early as 2025, study suggests — A collapse would bring catastrophic climate impacts but scientists disagree over the new analysis — The Gulf Stream system could collapse as soon as 2025, a new study suggests. The shutting down of the vital ocean currents …

Discussion: KNSD-TV, Alternet.org, Washington Post, Nature, Politico, Metro.co.uk and The Hill

Glenn Kessler / Washington Post:

Tuberville's tales about his father in World War II have false elements — The Fact Checker … — Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), in a tweet posted with a Fox News interview, June 6 — “He lied about his age at 16, joined the Army.” — Tuberville, in the Fox interview

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Alternet.org

Liz Dye / Public Notice:

Trump's aggressive legal strategies keep backfiring spectacularly — His lawyers love using the courtroom for political attacks. It's not going well. … Even before he was president, Donald Trump had a reputation for engaging in vindictive litigation and stiffing his lawyers.

Jeff Ernsthausen / ProPublica:

How the Ultrawealthy Use Private Foundations to Bank Millions in Tax Deductions While Giving the Public Little in Return — It's a simple bargain: The rich get huge tax breaks by donating art, property and company shares to benefit the public. But some donors collect millions while offering little or no public access.

CNN:

Actor Kevin Spacey cleared of all charges of sexual assault — Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey has been cleared of all charges after a four-week trial in London on claims of sexual assault. — The Hollywood star, 64, had tears in his eyes as the jury at Southwark Crown Court found …

Luc Cohen / Reuters:

Bannon co-defendant Shea sentenced to 5-1/4 years over ‘We Build the Wall’ fraud — The sole person convicted at trial of defrauding donors to an online campaign to build Donald Trump's signature wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was sentenced on Tuesday to 5-1/4 years in prison.

Discussion: Raw Story, Fox News, Political Wire and New York Post