memeorandum: Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire's tax last year. Now every public school student is going to get free lunch. (Kenneth Niemeyer/Insider)

1:30 AM ET, August 14, 2023

Top Items:

CNN:

Exclusive: Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump's team is behind voting system breach — Atlanta-area prosecutors investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia are in possession of text messages and emails directly connecting members of Donald Trump's legal team …

Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
BREAKING: Fulton grand jury to hear Trump case early next week

Hailey Fuchs / Politico:

Louis DeJoy: From Trump villain to Biden's clean energy buddy — The postmaster general has struck up an unexpected partnership with the president's green guru, John Podesta. — During the summer of 2020, there were few bigger Democratic super villains than Louis DeJoy.

Brady Leonard / Washington Examiner:

What is the plan, Trump? — Former President Donald Trump is notoriously a man of many words, as are his multitudes of surrogates and supporters. The 45th president and his team have had quite a bit to say recently about the mental state of special counsel Jack Smith, “disloyal” Ron …

Discussion: The Guardian, Raw Story, The Hill and The Daily Beast

Wall Street Journal:

Georgia Is Ground Zero for Trump Exhaustion as Another Indictment Looms — Case is a reminder of the 2020 election saga that has torn state GOP apart; 'It's just getting ridiculous' — PEACHTREE CITY, Ga.—Georgia has become ground zero for exhaustion over the legal drama surrounding Donald Trump …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, RedState, Raw Story, The Messenger, ABC News, HuffPost, Politico, The Gateway Pundit and Election Law Blog

New York Times:

How Trump Benefits From an Indictment Effect — In polling, fund-raising and conservative media, the former president has turned criminal charges into political assets. — Early on March 18, former President Donald J. Trump hit send on a social media post saying he would be “arrested on Tuesday of next week.”

Discussion: Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, Althouse and Florida Politics

NBC News:

RFK Jr. says he'd sign a federal ban on abortions after three months of pregnancy — The stance puts Kennedy — who's mounting long shot bid to unseat President Joe Biden as the Democratic standard bearer in 2024 — out of step with most of his party. — DES MOINES, IOWA …

Discussion: CNN, The Hill, Raw Story, Lawyers, Guns & Money, The American Conservative, Politico, The Post Millennial, BizPac Review, New York Post, Rolling Stone, Political Wire and SBA Pro-Life America

Ian Millhiser / Vox:

The Supreme Court is taking a wrecking ball to the wall between church and state — The Court's Republican majority has ground the Constitution's establishment clause down to a nub. — Last June, a previously obscure Oklahoma state board voted to allow two Roman Catholic dioceses to operate a charter school in that state.

Discussion: The Guardian

David Cohen / Politico:

Christie says no one has given him a loyalty pledge to sign — The RNC's loyalty pledge is a hot issue in advance of the first GOP debate. — Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday he has yet to sign the party's loyalty pledge because no one has given it to him.

Discussion: Washington Examiner, The Hill, Vanity Fair, Fox News, The Messenger, Political Wire, Insider, PJ Media, USA Today and New York Post

Julia Mueller / The Hill: Trump creates spectacle with debate guessing game

Kenneth Niemeyer / Insider:

Massachusetts passed a 4% millionaire's tax last year. Now every public school student is going to get free lunch. — Massachusetts passed a 4% tax on people who make more than $1 million per year. — Revenue from the new income tax is being used to give kids in the state free lunch and breakfast at school.

New York Times:

The Clean Energy Future Is Arriving Faster Than You Think — The United States is pivoting away from fossil fuels and toward wind, solar and other renewable energy, even in areas dominated by the oil and gas industries. — This is the first article in a three-part series examining the speed …

CNN:

Hunter Biden's lawyer says trial ‘not inevitable’ as scrutiny mounts — Hunter Biden's lawyer on Sunday said a trial is “not inevitable,” days after the Trump-appointed US attorney investigating the president's son was granted special counsel status following a breakdown in plea talks to resolve tax and gun charges.

Discussion: Reuters, The Guardian, Politico, New York Post, New York Daily News, CBS News, Financial Times, USA Today, The Gateway Pundit, The Hill, The Messenger, PJ Media, RedState, Washington Times, Fox News, Washington Examiner, Political Wire and BizPac Review

Dennis Romero / NBC News:

2 eject from vintage Soviet jet before crash at Michigan air show — No injuries were reported when the MiG-23, flying at Thunder Over Michigan, plummeted and hit vehicles in a parking lot in Belleville, authorities said. — Two people in a vintage fighter jet ejected dramatically …

Discussion: WDIV-TV, UPI, New York Post, The Daily Caller, The Messenger, Twitchy and The Post Millennial

Associated Press:

Death toll from Maui wildfire reaches 89, making it the deadliest in the US in more than 100 years — A fire that swept through a picturesque town in Maui this week has killed at least 89 people, authorities said Saturday, making it the deadliest U.S. wildfire of the past century.

Austin Bailey / ArkansasTimes:

Arkansas education department nixes AP African American Studies course at last minute — Word came Friday from distraught educators that a new Advanced Placement course on African American history was suddenly on the chopping block, just two days before the first bell of the school year …

Washington Post:

Trump swoops into Iowa fair, defying customs and clashing with DeSantis — Pork chops, protesters of the Florida governor and a swift visit by the former president were at the center of a high-drama day — DES MOINES — The crowd that had craned to watch Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) …