How Jack Smith’s New Case Against Trump Works
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KIM WEHLE: How Jack Smith’s New Case Against Trump Works
AS SPECIAL COUNSEL JACK SMITH SUMS IT UP in his 165-page immunity brief, the Supreme Court held in Trump v. U.S. that “former presidents are immune from prosecution for core official acts, enjoy at least a rebuttable presumption of immunity for other official acts, and have no immunity for unofficial acts.” Now that the case is back in the hands of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, Smith has laid out in great detail how he plans to frame the evidence in the January 6th case against Donald Trump as involving “unofficial” conduct—despite the obvious fact that Trump was still president on January 6, 2021. A deeper dive into Smith’s strategy suggests that it just might work.
CATHY YOUNG: Latest Trump-Putin Bromance Revelations Sizzle—But Will Trump Get Burned?
IF YOU HAD “TRUMP/RUSSIA REDUX” on your October Surprise bingo card, you’re in luck.
In his new book, War, veteran journalist Bob Woodward reports that Donald Trump has secretly stayed in touch with Vladimir Putin since leaving office, with as many as seven telephone conversations—including one in early 2024. Woodward also asserts that in 2020, then-President Trump sent Putin several COVID-19 testing machines, which were then in short supply, and that Putin told him to keep it a secret because “because people will get mad at you, not me.”
EVE TUSHNET: ‘Lee’ Review: What a Picture Is Worth
LEE OPENS WITH ITS HEROINE, war correspondent Lee Miller, under fire in Nazi-occupied France. In a bulky, dusty uniform, clutching her camera and firing it whenever she can, she scuttles behind a barrier. The earth beside her explodes, and as she recovers from the attack, we see her hand raised in the smoke. Strange, out of place, a stark vertical amid drifts and swirls.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Susan Glasser and Jared Polis: Shaking Up the Holdouts [YouTube]
Across the Movie Aisle: Disastrous Sequels 🔐
Beg to Differ: What Would a Second Trump Term Mean for US Leadership?
Secret Show: The Agony of St. Larry 🔐
George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell): Jack Smith Is Closing In on Trump – and He Should Be Terrified! [YouTube]
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BILL RYAN: The Old Ways
THE RESURGENCE OF FOLK HORROR—an ancient subgenre of horror that concerns itself with nature and the attendant superstitions that mankind has connected to it—in recent years has been largely cinematic in nature. Examples include Robert Eggers’s tremendous film The Witch (2015), or Ari Aster’s Midsommar (2019), the latter of which owes an immense debt to one of the towering folk horror films, Robin Hardy and Anthony Shaffer’s The Wicker Man (1973). This is a welcome change in the horror film landscape, though in my experience, in horror literature folk horror has never really fallen out of style. It’s always been there, though it’s been a while since it could be considered part of horror’s mainstream. One of the most recent folk horror novels to enjoy widespread success is Stephen King’s Pet Sematary, and that came out in 1983.
TIM MILLER: ‘How Much Do We Want to Give Him Air?’— A Governor Grapples With Trump’s ‘Insanity’
DONALD TRUMP IS HOLDING A CAMPAIGN rally in Aurora, Colorado, today as part of his ongoing campaign portraying the suburb of Denver as beset by roving bands of killer Venezuelan migrants who have more powerful weaponry than the U.S. military.
Aurora has taken on quasi-mythical status in Trump’s efforts to run the most doggedly anti-immigrant campaign in modern political history. The former president has gone so far as to claim that the crisis there is so grave it could result in Colorado’s Democratic governor Jared Polis fleeing the state.
ADDISON DEL MASTRO: Who’s Afraid of the ‘15-Minute City’?
THE TITULAR CONCEPT OF THE 15-MINUTE CITY—the idea that urban neighborhoods should be walkable and amenity-rich, so that pretty much all of what you need is fifteen minutes away—has attracted what might seem like an inordinate number of conspiracy theories. Before reading the book, written by the idea’s originator, Carlos Moreno, I was positive that the conspiracy theories surrounding the concept were meritless. After reading the book, I’m ever-so-slightly less sure.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy FRYday! What. A. Ballgame. Cleveland put an end to its 20 inning record scoring drought and beat the Tigers in an amazing game last night. David Fry helped the Guards regain the lead with a 2 run bomb, and, I can’t believe I am typing this: watch this bunt.
It kept the playoffs alive for Cleveland fans, like me. Despite Rob Manfred, baseball is the best. Cleveland, before yesterday, had lost the last 11 elimination games dating back to 1997
MLB’s Television Product… Is Getting Shittier In Exciting New Ways (Chris Thompson, Defector)
and even more bad news on that front… As Bally Sports is finally getting out of the baseball business and they’re being replaced by… the MLB itself.
Come and hang with us! Friends, I will be at each our live shows next week, and I can’t wait to see you.
These Arizona Women Are Keeping Kamala Harris’s Hopes Alive… A conversation among “mom friends” in suburban Phoenix shows the depths of Donald J. Trump’s trouble with a key slice of female voters. (NYT 🎁)
Putin’s Hidden Vulnerability… To Break the Kremlin’s War Machine, the West Must Exploit the Grievances and Fears of Ordinary Russians, writes Peter Pomerantsev in Foreign Affairs.
Yes or No, Senator… JD can’t answer the 2020 question. People should keep asking.
The FirstEnergy Scandal… Is bigger than Ohio. Ohio Capital Journal reports: “FirstEnergy gave heavily to Trump and Trump worked for a federal bailout, report says.” People, including politicians, have gone to jail over this. More should.
Another Kamala Endorsement… From Charlie Sykes!
This podcast is not what it seems… As journalist Evan Ratliff has created a voice clone and sought to “discover what happens when you try to take control of the very technology that threatens to replace you.”
In Texas’ Third-Largest County… the Far Right’s Vision for Local Governing Has Come to Life (ProPublica)
Pa. Senate Republicans threaten Shapiro cabinet member with prison… in dispute over release of tax data (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
I’m Running Out of Ways to Explain How Bad This Is… What’s happening in America today is something darker than a misinformation crisis. (Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic🎁)
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