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

10:00 AM 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 …

Discussion: The Hill, Washington Examiner, Politico, HuffPost, The Messenger, National Review, Washington Times, Sun-Sentinel, Florida Politics and Mediaite

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: The Messenger, Raw Story, Forbes, Washington Post and HotAir

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: BizPac Review, The Gateway Pundit and Political Wire

New York Times:

Trump Calls for Recusal of Judge as His Lawyer Denies Pence's 2020 Claims — Former President Donald J. Trump spent the weekend on the attack on Truth Social while his lawyer, John F. Lauro, ran through a gantlet of interviews Sunday morning. — Appearing on five television networks Sunday morning …

Discussion: CNN, Boston.com, Axios, Raw Story, The Hill, Lawyers, Guns & Money, CNBC, Reuters, USA Today, New York Post, NBC News, CBS News, ABC News and Political Wire

Betsy McCaughey / New York Post:

Trump prosecutor Jack Smith would rip up Americans' right to free speech — Day by day, the Biden administration is robbing your right to speak freely. — This time, Team Biden wants to gag defendants from criticizing government prosecutors. — That's how courts are run in countries like Pakistan, Russia and North Korea.

Politico:

Playbook: Welcome to the courtroom campaign — With help from Eli Okun and Garrett Ross — DRIVING THE DAY — DeSANTIS SPEAKS ... TO NBC! — RON DeSANTIS's campaign boycott of NBC News is over. The governor sat down with Dasha Burns for an interview that was just posted and will air …

Discussion: The Hill, NBC News and Raw Story

CBS News:

CBS News poll finds after latest Trump indictment, many Americans see implications for democracy. For some, it's personal — America's response to this week's indictment of Donald Trump is providing a window into more than just how Americans view his alleged actions per se …

Discussion: New York Daily News, The Messenger, Washington Post, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Hill and ABC News

Ashley Capoot / CNBC:

Trump says he'll seek a new judge in election case — Trump on Sunday called for recusal of the judge presiding over the federal case that alleges he illegally conspired to overturn his election loss in 2020. — He claimed there is “NO WAY HE CAN GET A FAIR TRIAL,” in a post on his social media site.

Discussion: Politico, Bloomberg, Washington Examiner, New York Post, The National Pulse+ and The Hill

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, Raw Story, Semafor, CNN, New York Daily News, Washington Examiner, Vanity Fair, Financial Times, CBS News, Washington Times, Politico and Breitbart

NBC News:
Full Trump lawyer: Election fraud case will be ‘most important’ civil rights case in decades

Discussion: Raw Story, The Hill, HuffPost, The Daily Beast, The Messenger and PoliticusUSA

Tim Reid / Reuters:
Mike Pence does not rule out being witness for Trump's prosecution

Discussion: The Hill, Fox News, CNN and CBS News, 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.

more at Techmeme »

Zolan Kanno-Youngs / New York Times:

Kamala Harris Takes on a Forceful New Role in the 2024 Campaign — The vice president is trying to reclaim the momentum that propelled her to Joseph R. Biden Jr.'s side as a candidate and into the White House in 2020. — Reporting from Washington — In recent weeks, Vice President Kamala Harris …

Discussion: Althouse, National Review and CNN

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.

Jennifer Haberkorn / Politico:

The White House plays it cool as ‘Bidenomics’ struggles to catch on — The president made a big bet on owning the economy. His team says give it time. — President Joe Biden is risking a lot on “Bidenomics.” But, about two months in, his efforts to sell his sweeping economic agenda don't appear to be working.

Discussion: Washington Post

Bloomberg:

US Government Shutdown Threat Builds in Post-Downgrade Fallout — Fitch's downgrade provides fresh ammo in the next fiscal fight — An October shutdown would complicate Fed policy making — A fresh fiscal showdown is brewing in Washington that threatens to complicate …

Discussion: HuffPost

New York Times:

Yellow, the Freight-Trucking Company, Declares Bankruptcy — A pandemic-era lifeline that the Trump administration predicted would turn a profit for the federal government failed to keep Yellow afloat. — Alan Rappeport, who covers the Treasury Department, and Madeleine Ngo …

Discussion: The Messenger, Reuters, UPI, CNN and Washington Examiner

ABC News:

Russian and Chinese ships patrolled ‘near Alaska’ but were not ‘a threat’: US officials — Four destroyers and P-8 aircraft were deployed to shadow the formation. — A Russian and Chinese naval formation patrolled “near Alaska” last week but “was not considered a threat,” U.S. Northern Command said Sunday.

Discussion: Wall Street Journal