memeorandum: Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan subpoenaed in Fulton's Trump probe (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)

7:45 PM ET, August 7, 2023

Top Items:

CNN:

Exclusive: Trump ally Bernie Kerik meets with special counsel investigators — Donald Trump ally Bernie Kerik met Monday with special counsel Jack Smith's investigators who are handling the probe related to the 2020 election aftermath and the January 6, 2021, insurrection.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, CNBC, NBC News, The Messenger, Raw Story, Political Wire and The Daily Beast

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

Trump and his new lawyer are not on the same page about judge's recusal — The former president's public statements are already diverging from the advice of his newest lawyer, John Lauro. — Donald Trump blared Sunday morning that his legal team would be “immediately asking for recusal” …

Discussion: Salon, Raw Story, New York Daily News, New York Magazine, Boston.com, Political Wire, Reuters, The Hill and New York Times

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 …

Jonathan Stempel / Reuters:

Judge dismisses Trump's defamation claim against E. Jean Carroll — A U.S. judge on Monday dismissed Donald Trump's defamation counterclaim against the writer E. Jean Carroll, handing a fresh legal defeat to the former president as he seeks another White House term.

Discussion: CNN, Associated Press, ABC News, HuffPost, NPR, Insider, USA Today, Metro.co.uk, Al Jazeera, CBS News, Deadline and Daily Kos

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 …

Holmes Lybrand / CNN:

Security increases for judge assigned to Donald Trump's January 6 criminal case — Security for the federal judge assigned to oversee the criminal case against former President Donald Trump over his attempts to overturn the 2020 election has been increased in the federal courthouse in Washington, DC.

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, USA Today, Talking Points Memo, Slate, Bloomberg, The Western Journal, Washington Times, NBC News, Politico, The Dean's Report, Rolling Stone, Washington Examiner and HuffPost

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: HuffPost, The Daily Caller, New York Post, The Guardian, BizPac Review, Insider, The Messenger, The Hill, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

Philip Bump / Washington Post:
A majority of Americans think the Trump probes are about 2024

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Reason, HuffPost, Political Wire, Washington Examiner, CBS News and The Hill

Perry Stein / Washington Post:
Judge asks prosecutors to justify use of 2 grand juries in Trump documents case

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Axios, New York Post, Washington Times, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, Raw Story and The Hill

Zachary Petrizzo / The Daily Beast:
There's a Good Reason Trump Aides Don't Think the New Indictment Is a Joke

Discussion: The Atlantic and Raw Story

Dennis Aftergut / The Bulwark:
Will Trump's Social Media Behavior Cost Him in Court?

Discussion: The Hill, Robert Reich, Roll Call, Bloomberg, Morning Shots, New York Post, Raw Story, Semafor and HuffPost

Dawn White / WXIA-TV:
Fulton County insiders expect former President Donald Trump to be indicted this week in Georgia

Discussion: The Hill, The Western Journal, Political Wire and Fox News

Jack Birle / Washington Examiner:
Pelosi says Trump winning in 2024 would put a ‘criminal enterprise in the White House’

Discussion: Fox News, Twitchy, The Messenger and The Hill

Jill Martin / TODAY.com:
Exclusive: DeSantis talks Trump, 2024, pro-life policies

Discussion: NBC News, National Review, Raw Story, Florida Politics and Washington Examiner

Kyle Cheney / Politico:

John Eastman, awaiting potential indictment, asks judge to postpone his disbarment proceedings — The lawyer who advised Donald Trump in the weeks leading up to Jan. 6 is known as “co-conspirator 2” in the special counsel's newest case. — Attorney John Eastman, an architect of Donald Trump's …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Messenger, Talking Points Memo, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The Hill, Law & Crime, Raw Story, Political Wire and PoliticusUSA

emptywheel:

Judge Cannon Blows Off Concerns about Walt Nauta's Conflicted Representation — Before I attempt to explain the substance of the order that Aileen Cannon issued in response to DOJ's request for a Garcia hearing, let me point out how it looks on the docket. — Before DOJ filed its motion …

Discussion: Law & Crime, Raw Story, Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion, Fox News and RedState

Nicholas Fandos / New York Times:

The Secret Hand Behind the Women Who Stood by Cuomo? His Sister. — For nearly two years, Madeline Cuomo back channeled with grass-roots activists to help smear her brother's accusers. He was “seeing everything,” she told his defenders. — The menacing posts began cropping up on Twitter …

Discussion: New Republic and New York Post

SSU:

SSU detains russian informant preparing enemy air strike on Mykolaiv region during President's visit (video) — The SSU has detained an informant of russian intelligence services who on the eve of the visit of the President of Ukraine to Mykolaiv oblast was collecting information on the planned events.

Discussion: Washington Post, Foreign Policy, Washington Examiner, National Review, New York Post, NBC News, Forbes, The Hill, UPI and Politico

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: PJ Media, National Review, KXAN-TV, Balloon Juice, Law & Liberty and Orlando Sentinel

Dan Mangan / CNBC:

Trump counterclaim against E. Jean Carroll dismissed, DA can get deposition — A federal judge dismissed a counterclaim by Donald Trump against the writer E. Jean Carroll in her pending lawsuit that accuses him of defaming her after she wrote that he had raped her.

Philip Bump / Washington Post:

John Eastman shows the path from misinformation to revolution — Tom Klingenstein is a major donor to Republican political candidates and the chairman of the board of directors of the right-wing Claremont Institute. It is not entirely clear which of those roles spurred his recent interview …

Discussion: Raw Story

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, CNN, Daily Kos, CBS News and New York Times, more at Mediagazer »

NBC News:

Leader of Texas' largest county takes leave from job for treatment of clinical depression — Lina Hidalgo was just 27 years old and had never previously held elected office when she pulled a stunning upset in 2018, jolting her to national attention. — HOUSTON — Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo …

Discussion: Reuters, KXAN-TV and Houston Public Media

Rafael Bernal / The Hill:

Advocates denounce Biden administration's deportation ‘perp walks’ — Immigration advocacy groups are slamming the Biden administration for distributing videos of families boarding deportation flights to tout its repatriations of foreign nationals. — A coalition of 11 groups Friday called …

Discussion: lawprofessors.typepad.com

Shannon Vavra / The Daily Beast:

The Mystery Behind Russia's Secret VIP Flight to North Korea — The stealthy military flight comes a week after Russia's defense minister visited Pyongyang with the goal of convincing North Korea to boost weapons sales to Moscow. — A Russian military plane made a mysterious trip to Pyongyang on August 1, according to flight radar.

Discussion: Yonhap News Agency, Political Wire, Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg

Insider:

Rudy Giuliani puts luxury Manhattan apartment on the block for $6.5 million — Rudy Giuliani's 3-bedroom Upper East Side co-op apartment just hit the market. — The unit, in a landmarked Madison Avenue building, has extensive wood paneling and a library.

Discussion: The Messenger and Raw Story

CNN:

Acting US deputy secretary of state meets with military junta leader in Niger — Acting Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland met with the some of the leaders of the military junta in Niger Monday, she told reporters on a call. — Nuland met with Gen. Moussa Salaou Barmou …

Discussion: Reuters, Financial Times and Al Jazeera

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

China hacked Japan's sensitive defense networks, officials say — Tokyo has strengthened its defenses after a major cybersecurity breach, but gaps remain that could slow information-sharing with the Pentagon. — In the fall of 2020, the National Security Agency made an alarming discovery …

Discussion: Political Wire