The New York Times:
Judge Sets Trial Date in Trump’s Manhattan Criminal Case
Ruling that the case against Donald J. Trump can proceed, Justice Juan M. Merchan said he planned to begin the trial on March 25.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
In fiery testimony, Willis defends herself against accusations of misconduct
Ex-employee claims relationship began earlier than acknowledged
Add to this the expectation that Judge Arthur Engoron will make public his judgment in the real estate fraud case, and the possibility of a SCOTUS decision on an immunity challenge.
Philip Bump/Washington Post:
Remember the ‘Biden bribe’ allegation? DOJ now says it was made up.
It is hard to overstate how much energy Republicans and their allies in the right-wing media invested in the idea that this was credible. When he announced the launch of an impeachment probe of Biden in September, then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) invoked the Smirnov allegation…
Fox News has mentioned Biden in the context of “bribe” or “bribery” more than 2,600 times over the past 12 months. A Media Matters review of host Sean Hannity’s efforts to bolster the Republican impeachment effort tallied at least 85 segments focused on the allegation and the FBI form that documented it — despite the complete dearth of evidence supporting the idea.
On Sept. 7, Comer was asked by a Fox Business host about the lack of movement on the bribery allegation. Comer suggested there had been a “coverup” by the government.
Jake Sherman/X:
THE DISASTER THAT IS HOUSE REPUBLICAN LEADERSHIP
Just this week, @SpeakerJohnson has:
- → Seen Democrats win a special election in New York, narrowing the already minuscule GOP majority to two votes.
- → Lost a sixth rule vote on the House floor — a measure that would’ve allowed an increase in the state-and-local tax (SALT) deduction — when 18 Republicans bucked their own leadership and voted no. This Republican majority has lost more rule votes than any other majority in five decades, a stunning sign of weakness.
- → Abruptly pulled a bill to overhaul FISA due to Republican infighting. The GOP leadership said the House would vote on the bill before locking down the votes, despite some senior Republicans raising internal objections. This is the second time Johnson had to pull a FISA bill this Congress.
- → Seen another committee chair announce his resignation. @RepMarkGreen, chair of the Homeland Security Committee, is leaving Congress after only six years. The 59-year-old Green — the fourth committee chair to retire — just led the impeachment of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
- → Decided against putting a bill on the floor to provide billions of dollars in new aid to Israel without offsets. Just a week ago, Johnson allowed a vote on Israel aid that he knew was going to fail.
- → Provided absolutely no insight to rank-and-file lawmakers on how he’ll handle the Senate’s bipartisan $95 billion foreign aid package. Johnson said the bill isn’t a priority because the federal government is scheduled to shut down in a few weeks.
- → Witnessed the House Intelligence Committee chair issue a dire public warning about a “serious national security threat” to the country, only to have Senate Intelligence Committee leaders and the White House downplay the issue.
Paul Waldman/”The Cross Section” on Substack:
Why everyone refuses to believe what voters are telling them about immigration
Republicans keep losing on the issue, yet Democrats are supposed to be the ones who don't get it.
Republicans just lost yet another election in which they figured fear-mongering on immigration was all they needed to succeed. Now they’re embarking on a farcical impeachment of Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas for imaginary crimes and misdemeanors, because just as they believe that khaki-clad trips to the southern border are public relations gold, they think impeaching Mayorkas will help Donald Trump win November’s election and secure their razor-thin House majority, simply by keeping the issue of immigration in the news.
Despite the GOP’s record of repeated failure to turn immigration into electoral results, the vast majority of the political class in Washington — including Republicans, Democrats, and journalists — remains convinced that the losing Republican strategy is actually brilliant, and it’s the Democrats who need to change their ways. The issue of immigration, they assume, is a kind of electoral magic weapon whose unstoppable power will slay all Democrats who stand before it.
But they’re just wrong. The voters keep telling them so, and they refuse to accept it.
This is a terrific podcast interview of Tom Suozzi’s pollster by Greg Sargent, fresh off Suozzi’s Tuesday special election win.
Among the things discussed: how the campaign approached the immigration issue (order and fairness), how persuasion mattered (getting Republicans and independents to vote for Suozzi), and the salience of abortion (very).
It may not be predictive of a November win, but it’s something of a roadmap for how to get there. It’s well worth your time.
Jill Lawrence/The Bulwark:
Whatever Donald Wants, Donald Gets
Trump’s march through the GOP is leaving it in ruins.
Right now, Trump has far too much control over Republicans who should know better, using a disconcerting but effective combination of brute force and sinister charm.
He’s rampaging through U.S. politics like a modern-day William T. Sherman on his Atlanta-to-Savannah March to the Sea. Gen. Sherman’s goal was to foster fear, inflict pain, and get Georgians to ditch the Confederate cause. Trump has adopted his own fear-and-pain approach on his march toward ever-greater domination of the GOP House, the Republican National Committee (he wants it run by an election denier and his daughter-in-law, nothing to see here), and, of course, the Republican presidential primary season and 2024 nomination.
He’ll get there before Nikki Haley, methinks.
Joe Perticone/The Bulwark:
The Biden Impeachment Has Been Great for Joe Biden
But this week, the House Oversight Committee deposed [Hunter Biden associate Tony] Bobulinski as part of its ongoing haphazard impeachment inquiry into the president. What happened the moment the deposition concluded felt quite familiar to those who have followed the inquiry:
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Oversight Chairman James Comer issued a declarative statement, unencumbered by evidence or specific details, that President Biden is corrupt.
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Fox News reporter Brooke Singman published EXCLUSIVE bombshell reports recounting Bobulinski’s story that Biden “enabled” the sale of access to “dangerous adversaries” and that Biden is “the big guy,” along with other words in liability-limiting “scare quotes.”
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What Bobulinski actually offered Oversight members inside the room turned out to be more of what he’s been trying to sell lawmakers and journalists for years: more conjecture and underwhelming, questionable testimony. The result is as familiar as the process: The impeachment inquiry, though shaking and whirring loudly, remains stuck in the hyperpartisan muck.
From Cliff Schecter: