Will Judge Cannon Give Trump a Favorable Jury?
Plus: In Arkansas, a Vision of Single-Party Democracy
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JEFFREY B. ABRAMSON, EUGENE R. FIDELL, AND DENNIS AFTERGUT: Will Judge Cannon Give Trump a Favorable Jury?
ON TUESDAY, FEDERAL DISTRICT JUDGE Aileen Cannon launched the Florida trial for Donald Trump’s national security case on a “rocket docket,” setting the trial date on August 14. That date will likely not hold, but it might reassure those who have worried about her assignment to the case, concerned that she might, among other things, slow-walk it.
That reassurance won’t end the concerns, of course. Legal experts (among others) lost trust in Judge Cannon as a fair-minded jurist in September when, without plausible legal authority, she appointed a special master to review the classified documents the government seized in the court-authorized search of Mar-a-Lago the previous month. The Eleventh Circuit bluntly corrected her for treating a former president specially. Cannon’s trial date order suggests that she “got the memo” and may have learned a lesson.
Still, there are many ways Judge Cannon could still tilt the process in Trump’s favor, from evidentiary rulings to jury instructions.
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ALAN ELROD: In Arkansas, a Vision of Single-Party Democracy.
What happens when one party becomes dominant in a liberal democratic environment? We’ve experienced over a decade of such dominance from Republicans in my home state of Arkansas, where Democrats have been relegated to just 18 out of 100 seats in the state House and six of 35 in the state Senate—a drastic change in fortune from 2010, when every county in the state voted to re-elect incumbent Democratic Governor Mike Beebe. Chris Jones—you might not recognize that name; he was the state Democrats’ candidate for governor last fall—pulled in a little over a third of the vote in the most recent gubernatorial election, which Sarah Huckabee Sanders won by almost 28 points. Almost half the state’s registered voters did not bother to vote.
TAMAR JACOBY: Is the E.U. a Bureaucratic Nightmare or a Beacon of Freedom?
The Ukrainian counteroffensive is drawing most of our attention right now. But there’s a second, more subtle, reorganizing of lines happening: the reimagining of Europe as a political community spurred by Ukraine’s impassioned, ideals-driven demands to join.
Very few Americans would use the word “inspiring” to describe the European Union. If we think about the E.U. at all, most of us share something like the dyspeptic view that prompted many Britons to want out: It’s a many-tentacled, meddlesome regulatory bureaucracy, useful in its way, perhaps, as an economic umbrella. But hardly inspirational.
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! Remember: No TNB tonight. We might be taking some summer weeks off. This is one of them. I’m at the local library listening to our colleague Addison Del Mastro talk about traffic in the D.C. area. If you don’t get his newsletter: sign up!
I love going to my local library because these talks like these are always fun. Plus, I had to sign up my kids for the summer reading program. And, I needed some suggestions for weekend activities. Enter: The Dad Lab.
Here’s why… Flyovers are taking D.C. residents by surprise.
Does a Governor’s spouse need a chief of staff? And is this job really worth $126,000 a year? In Arkansas? Yes: Sarah Sanders’s husband, for whatever reason, has a staff. And no, they don’t have to file certain public disclosures. Not at all shady!
All Skate… With Matt Labash. Come chat! I’m there to discuss BBQ.
Strange new respect? With the Hunter Biden news, it sure seems like Congressional Republicans love the enforcement of tax laws.
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DeSantis SuperPAC promotes neo-nazi account’s meme… Be careful who you retweet, NeverBackDown!
Meanwhile, in North Carolina… The embattled House Speaker now thinks the state’s “affection” law is bad.
The first AI finals… The chatbots have gone to college.
…and in the House… Jim Jordan is inviting RFK, Jr., the Diamond & Silk of the 118th Congress to testify before the totally serious “Weaponization Committee.”
Aussies to Twitter: Clean up your act! You have 28 days. Good luck with that.
Mütter für die Freiheit? The Indiana Moms for Liberty’s first newsletter was a doozy.
Rick Scott? Why Not? That should be his campaign slogan if he runs.
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👀: Maricopa County recorder Stephen Richer is suing Kari Lake for defamation.
Rob Manfred might be trying to ruin baseball… But baseball remains great.
Save your Google Archive files… Before they’re gone forever.
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