memeorandum: ‘Fake’ elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows (Washington Post)

12:45 PM ET, August 7, 2023

Top Items:

Amanda Terkel / NBC News:

‘Of course he lost’: Ron DeSantis rejects Trump's 2020 election claims — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Sunday rejected Donald Trump's claim that he was the true winner of the 2020 presidential election in his most forceful comments to date on the matter. — “Whoever puts their hand …

Washington Post:

‘Fake’ elector plot raised concerns over legal peril, indictment shows — A contingency plan, a crime or a ‘donkey show’? Doubts across seven states and within the Trump campaign — Six weeks after the 2020 election, senior campaign officials for Donald Trump called a group …

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:

There's a Good Reason Trump Aides Don't Think the New Indictment Is a Joke — A number of Donald Trump's current aides are involved in the latest case against their boss. That could put them in some very difficult positions. … Donald Trump has publicly joked about the four latest felony charges brought against him.

Discussion: Raw Story

Ankush Khardori / New York Magazine:

The Pelosi Factor … If you were going to draw up a list of the people most responsible for the latest indictment of Donald Trump, the former president himself would be at the top, followed by the prosecutors who have brought the case. Republicans in Congress perversely deserve a great deal of credit …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Messenger, The Hill, Insider, New York Post, BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Dennis Aftergut / The Bulwark:

Will Trump's Social Media Behavior Cost Him in Court? — “If you go after me, I'm coming after you.” That's what Donald Trump posted Friday afternoon on Truth Social. — Uh-oh. Experts immediately suggested that a few more posts like that could land a fellow in contempt of court for defiance of an order.

Discussion: Robert Reich, The Messenger, Raw Story, Morning Shots, PJ Media and HuffPost

Dawn White / WXIA-TV:

Fulton County insiders expect former President Donald Trump to be indicted this week in Georgia — It would be a state indictment and could be the most significant out of all the indictments since someone can only be pardoned on federal charges. — ATLANTA — Many people in Fulton County …

Discussion: The Western Journal, Political Wire and Fox News

Betsy McCaughey / New York Post:
Trump prosecutor Jack Smith would rip up Americans' right to free speech

Discussion: New York Daily News and Showbiz411

Politico:
Playbook: Welcome to the courtroom campaign

Discussion: The Hill, Mediaite and NBC News

Adam Edelman / NBC News:
If Trump committed ‘a technical violation of the Constitution,’ it's not a crime, his lawyer says

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Outside the Beltway, Raw Story, Semafor, New York Daily News, CNN, Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, CBS News, Financial Times, Washington Times, Breitbart, Politico and Reuters

New York Times:
Trump Calls for Recusal of Judge as His Lawyer Denies Pence's 2020 Claims

Discussion: Bloomberg, PJ Media, Digby's Hullabaloo, Axios, CNN, Boston.com, Raw Story, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNBC, USA Today, Reuters, New York Post, Political Wire, CBS News, NBC News, Washington Post and ABC News

CBS News:
CBS News poll finds after latest Trump indictment, many Americans see implications for democracy. For some, it's personal

Discussion: Washington Post, New York Post, No More Mister Nice Blog, New York Daily News, The Messenger, The Guardian, Bloomberg and ABC News

Washington Post:

Most disapprove of Biden's handling of climate change, Post-UMD poll finds — Less than 3 in 10 Americans say they know a good or great deal about the Inflation Reduction Act, though many voters in both parties support some of its key climate programs — Nearly one year after President Biden enacted …

Discussion: The Hill and The Messenger

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:
The White House plays it cool as ‘Bidenomics’ struggles to catch on

Discussion: Washington Post and The Dispatch

Hillary Rodham Clinton / The Atlantic:

The Weaponization of Loneliness — To defend America against those who would exploit our social disconnection, we need to rebuild our communities. — The question that preoccupied me and many others over much of the past eight years is how our democracy became so susceptible to a would-be strongman and demagogue.

Discussion: KXAN-TV, Law & Liberty and Orlando Sentinel

Brianna Herlihy / Fox News:

Some conservatives have surprising ‘Barbie’ take despite criticisms of liberal agenda — ‘Barbie’ surpassed $1 billion in global box office sales, despite ‘woke’ claims — Some conservatives are standing by the film “Barbie,” despite criticisms and reviews that blasted the blockbuster film for an allegedly liberal agenda.

Discussion: Raw Story, CBS News and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

Reuters:

Exclusive: North Korean hackers breached top Russian missile maker — An elite group of North Korean hackers secretly breached computer networks at a major Russian missile developer for at least five months last year, according to technical evidence reviewed by Reuters and analysis by security researchers.

Discussion: The Messenger and Washington Free Beacon, more at Techmeme »

David Leonhardt / New York Times:

The Republican Party's Split on Economics — Why an argument over economic policy is roiling the party. — The Wall Street Journal's editorial board has spent the last few months trying to boost Gov. Ron DeSantis's presidential campaign. It has called his legislative record …

Ron DeSantis / USA Today:

America's economy is decimated. As president, I have a plan to rebuild it. — We will declare our economic independence from the failed elites who orchestrated American decline and from never-ending federal spending that inflated prices and left nation on brink of insolvency.

Discussion: Washington Examiner and Florida Politics

Frank Newport / Gallup:

Partisan Gaps Expand Most on Government Power, Climate — WASHINGTON, D.C. — Republicans and Democrats are highly polarized on a number of prominent U.S. social and policy issues, but there has been significant variation in the trends associated with these partisan gaps over the past two decades.

Discussion: The Messenger and Semafor

Davidrlurie / Public Notice:

Kevin McCarthyism: Why the GOP's culture war on the troops will end badly — MAGA Republicans could learn a lot from the fall of another notorious McCarthy. … Today's Republican Party could learn a lot from “Tailgunner” Joe McCarthy's disastrous effort 70 years ago to treat the military as a right-wing political plaything.