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MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, August 1

by Alexis Simendinger & Kristina Karisch

Trump preps supporters for more indictments 

Former President Trump said Monday he's prepared with his legal team to soon be indicted by the Justice Department for actions tied to the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, intent on claiming in public, if not in legal briefs, that President Biden is using political dirty tricks (The Hill).

Loyal Trump voters say they're eager to see him return to the Oval Office and are donating to legal funds to help pay his lawyers' expenses. The former president says nothing in the Constitution would prevent him from capturing the Republican nomination or serving as president once again, even while fighting criminal charges.  

I assume that an Indictment from Deranged [special counsel] Jack Smith and his highly partisan gang of Thugs, pertaining to my `PEACEFULLY & PATRIOTICALLY Speech, will be coming out any day now, as yet another attempt to cover up all of the bad news about bribes, payoffs, and extortion, coming from the Biden 'camp.' This seems to be the way they do it," Trump said on social media. 

"ELECTION INTERFERENCE! PROSECUTORIAL MISCONDUCT!" he added.

Federal allegations in the classified documents case, scheduled for trial next spring, and the pending 2020 election investigations, are legally coiled around Trump and could by this month include state charges in Georgia in the Fulton County probe of alleged efforts by the former president and his associates to overturn the 2020 election there.

On Monday, a Georgia superior court judge rejected Trump's efforts to halt that investigation, writing in a nine-page order that the former president did not have the legal standing to make such challenges before indictments were handed up. Judge Robert McBurney said the "injuries" that Trump claimed to have suffered from the two-and-a-half-year investigation "are either insufficient or else speculative and unrealized" (The Washington Post and The Hill).

Anticipation in Atlanta that the Georgia case is on the brink of its next phase hit fever pitch in recent days with the installation of security barriers near the main entrance of the Fulton County Courthouse, seen as a sign of a looming charging decision in a case that has ensnared not only Trump but several high-profile Republicans who could either face charges or stand witness in a potential trial, the Post reported.

"I've made a commitment to the American people but most importantly, the citizens of Fulton County that we were going to be making some big decisions regarding the election investigation, and that I would do that before September the first of 2023 and I'm going to hold true that commitment," Fulton County District Attorney Fanni Willis told an Atlanta CNN affiliate on Saturday (CNBC).

Speaking at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania that same day, Trump said he expected Willis to indict him.

The Hill: Trump co-defendant Carlos De Oliveira, a Mar-a-Lago property manager, was arraigned in a Miami courthouse Monday under charges in the government's classified documents case. De Oliveira was released on a $100,000 bond.
The Associated Press: Trump's campaign finances are strained.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: An independent journalist who stumbled across a meeting in 2020 of "alternate" electors in Georgia's Capitol has been subpoenaed in the Fulton County probe of alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election there.
The Hill: Sen. Katie Britt (R-Alaska), 41, says she's being treated for an inflamed facial nerve.

Leading the Day

➤ POLITICS

Despite facing legal challenges and criticisms from politicians on both sides of the aisle, Trump is leading in the polls across nearly every category and region, as primary voters wave off concerns about his increasing legal jeopardy. According to the first New York Times/Siena College poll of the 2024 campaign, the former president is leading his nearest challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, by a landslide 37 percentage points nationally among the likely Republican primary electorate.

The poll shows that some of DeSantis's central campaign arguments — that'd he'd govern more effectively than Trump, and that he is more electable — have failed to break through to voters, and that even Republicans motivated by the "culture war" issues central to DeSantis's rise favored Trump. Overall, Trump led DeSantis 54 percent to 17 percent, while no other candidate in the crowded Republican primary field topped 3 percent support in the poll.

As Trump establishes dominance in the polls, The Hill's Niall Stanage asks in The Memo whether the former president is or isn't the inevitable GOP nominee.

The New York Times: A New York Times/Siena College poll found that Biden is on stronger footing than he was a year ago — but he is neck-and-neck in a possible rematch against Trump.
The New York Times: Why Trump is so hard to beat. 
The Washington Post analysis: DeSantis is overshadowed by Trump on personality and policy.

Super PACs backing presidential candidates released their semi-annual financial disclosures Monday, with the group supporting DeSantis' bid for president leading the pack with a $130 million haul. Meanwhile Save America, Trump's political action committee, has spent more than $40 million on legal fees for Trump and his allies on multiple legal cases in the first six months of 2023. The expenses for legal costs for Trump and others in his orbit are the former president's highest cost by far as he faces charges in Florida and New York and ongoing investigations in Washington, D.C., and Georgia (CBS News). In many cases, just a few donors make up the bulk of the super PACs' troves (CNN and Bloomberg News).

The Washington Post: Key takeaways from the latest 2024 campaign finance filings.
Politico: Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie's super PAC raises nearly $6 million for the 2024 campaign.
The Washington Post: DeSantis's super PAC relies heavily on million-dollar megadonors.
Business Insider: Democratic candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s super PAC is mostly funded by a GOP megadonor who spent millions on Trump and bankrolled an effort to build a border wall in Texas.

On the campaign trail, Trump stepped up his war with Senate Republicans over the weekend by calling for incumbents who do not support investigating Biden's family finances to face primary challenges next year. As The Hill's Alexander Bolton reports, Trump mocked GOP senators who have said they have "other priorities" and have left the investigations of Hunter Biden and the Biden family's business to the House. Republicans who are up for reelection next year include outspoken Trump critic Sen. Mitt Romney (Utah) as well as Republicans who have largely stayed quiet about the president, including Sens. Roger Wicker (Miss.), Pete Ricketts (Neb.), Deb Fischer (Neb.) and John Barrasso (Wyo.). 

The Hill: Trump suggests GOP rivals debate for a chance to be his running mate.
The Wall Street Journal: DeSantis said if elected he would look at a national ban of TikTok, the popular video sharing app, citing a growing threat to the U.S. from China.

DeSantis and Sen. Tim Scott (S.C.) are both trying to fill the lane as the choice non-Trump candidate in the GOP primary, write The Hill's Julia Manchester and Caroline Vakil. While DeSantis has been the clear number two in polls in the GOP primary all year, there are signs that his campaign is faltering amid a reset and negative headlines. Scott has not particularly emerged from the crowded pack, but his campaign has seen a few bright spots, including some momentum in early state polls and increased interest from donors. The two candidates offer a stark split- screen for Republicans open to non-Trump candidates over which type of contender could capture the GOP's imagination — one a pugilistic populist focused on the culture wars, and the other an optimist leaning into his inspirational trajectory. 

Politics roundup: Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) spoke with The Hill about hosting a now thrice-weekly podcast, "Verdict": "I'm not interested in being a pundit, but part of fighting successfully is communicating and explaining what the issues are that matter. So, I view the podcast as fulfilling one of the really important responsibilities of representing Texans." … Progressive lawmakers are expressing concerns over Cornel West's third-party bid, worried that a figure they respect could cripple Biden in the general election (The Hill). … Awaiting Sen. Joe Manchin's (D-W.Va.) decision to run for reelection, West Virginia's Senate race tilts toward the GOP (Roll Call). … Democrats worry their most loyal voters won't turn out for Biden in 2024 (The Washington Post). … DeSantis unveiled his economic plan, which aims to ease the process for discharging student loans through bankruptcy (Politico).

Former Hunter Biden business associate Devon Archer said during closed-door testimony Monday that Hunter included his father on a number of phone calls that presumably included business associates, according to one lawmaker's account of the testimony. But as The Hill's Emily Brooks reports, the Democratic lawmaker said that Archer's testimony to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee did not show that the president was involved in Hunter Biden's business dealings, and sold the "illusion" of access (CNN).

"As he described it, it was all casual conversation, niceties, the weather, 'What's going on?'" Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.) said, adding that, "there wasn't a single conversation about any of the business dealings that Hunter had."

➤ ADMINISTRATION

U.S. Space Command was supposed to transition out of Colorado to Huntsville, Ala., according to a headquarters decision made by Trump. No more. Biden, after consulting with the Pentagon, determined Monday that it will remain permanently in Colorado Springs (The Hill). 

The Defense Department and the White House are at loggerheads with Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville, who is protesting a Pentagon travel reimbursement policy that covers abortion services, by blocking the Senate's consideration of hundreds of military nominations and promotions. The senator reacted personally to the president's decision in a statement. "This is absolutely not over," he wrote. "I will continue to fight this as long as it takes to bring Space Command where it would be best served—Huntsville, Alabama." 

House Armed Services Committee Chair Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) said he'd investigate whether the administration "intentionally misled [Congress] on their deliberate taxpayer-funded manipulation of the selection process" (Punchbowl News).

Biden, in a continuation of his campaigning-by-governing strategy, next week will embark on a three-state trip to swing-state Arizona, plus New Mexico and Utah, to tout federal investments in fighting climate change and boosting manufacturing and employment (The Hill). 

Vice President Harris is center stage on behalf of the Biden-Harris 2024 ticket and the White House while the president is vacationing this week. She accused Republican governors of transporting migrants for what she told ABC News is a "political game" and she's making political appearances in key states while burnishing her profile (The Hill). 

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo will travel to China late in August as part of the administration's ongoing effort to send top officials to try to ease tensions and keep communication lines open (Bloomberg News).

National security adviser Jake Sullivan and Jon Finer, a national security deputy at the White House, called on Congress to reauthorize a section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, heeding recommendations in a report by the President's Intelligence Advisory Board to seek the law's renewal before it expires on Dec. 31. Section 702 of the law is controversial because privacy advocates say it enables the government to collect some Americans' communications without a court order (NBC News).

The Hill: Medicare data of 612,000 beneficiaries managed by outside contractors and organizations was breached, affecting information that could include beneficiaries, names, Social Security numbers, medical histories, diagnoses and other personal details, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said Friday. The government's own systems were not hacked, according to officials.

In Focus / Sharp Takes

➤ INTERNATIONAL

Thousands of people backing the coup in Niger marched through the streets of the capital denouncing France, the country's former colonial power as they waved Russian flags. Protesters set a door at the French Embassy ablaze Sunday before the army broke up the crowd; demonstrators in Niger are openly resentful of France, and Russia is seen by some as a powerful alternative. The nature of Russia's involvement in the rallies, if any, isn't clear. At an emergency meeting Sunday, the West African bloc known as ECOWAS said that it was suspending relations with Niger, and authorized the use of force if President Mohamed Bazoum — who was ousted by the military last week — is not reinstated within a week. The African Union has issued its own 15-day ultimatum to the junta in Niger to reinstall the democratically elected government.

France and the European Union have pledged to withdraw aid from Niger, and the U.S., which has supported the country — a key ally in the region — financially, has considered the same. France on Tuesday planned evacuation routes from Niger for its citizens (The Associated Press and The Washington Post). Bazoum was seen Monday for the first time since the military detained him when he met with Chad's leader, Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno, in Niger's capital, Niamey. Déby, who also met with the coup leaders, is spearheading mediation efforts (BBC). Meanwhile, local junta leaders in the region expressed their support for the coup leaders, setting up a potential regional escalation.

Politico: Why the Biden administration is unwilling to call the Niger coup a "coup." A legal decision that the West African country has had a coup could force the U.S. to stop sending military aid.
CNBC: Niger coup draws condemnation from Russia and the West as regional body threatens force.
Reuters: The Niger general who ousted a president he was meant to protect.

Ukraine's troops are inching forward on the battlefield, slowly pushing Russian forces out of occupied territory. Kyiv recently liberated a village in the southeast that's key to Ukraine's success on the southern front. Recapturing the village of Staromaiorske was such welcome news for the country that President Volodymyr Zelensky announced it himself, but formidable Russian defenses have stymied progress elsewhere. Meanwhile, Russia is blaming Ukraine for a series of drone attacks in Moscow, while Ukrainian leaders say Russians should know what it feels like to be under attack (The New York Times and NPR).

Russian ballistic missiles slammed into an apartment complex and a university building in Zelensky's hometown of Kryvyi Rih on Monday, killing six people and wounding 75 others as the blasts trapped residents beneath rubble, Ukrainian officials said (The Associated Press).

Reuters: "The Russians were waiting for us": Ukrainian troops describe a tougher fight than expected.
The Associated Press: ISIS claims responsibility for deadly suicide bombing at a rally that killed 54 in northwest Pakistan.
The New York Times: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is the face of his government's effort to reduce judicial power. His justice minister, Yariv Levin, is the main architect.
Reuters: "Not found": China's ex-foreign minister is gone but the wait for an explanation goes on.

Opinion

By supporting a third-party bid, former Missouri Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon will put Trump back in the White House, by The Kansas City Star editorial board.
Panic at Mar-a-Lago: How the new obstruction charges may produce even more witnesses against Trump, by Gregory J. Wallance, opinion contributor, The Hill.

Where and When

The House will convene at 3 p.m. for a pro forma session. Lawmakers return to Washington Sept. 11. 

The Senate is out until Sept. 5 and will hold a pro forma session at 12:15 p.m.

The president has no public schedule and is spending the week on vacation at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

The vice president will travel to Orlando to deliver a speech at 2:15 p.m. to the African Methodist Episcopal Women's Missionary Convention.  

Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen will meet with the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee at 5 p.m.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at 9:30 a.m. at the launch of the Bureau of Global Health Security and Diplomacy at the Department of State.

Elsewhere

➤ BY THE NUMBERS

$0: Bargain! Free is the cost of getting into a U.S. national park on Friday (The Hill). 

103 degrees: The average temperature in Phoenix in July. The city was among the hottest in the country as heat waves boiled.

$6,000: The pay raise that Georgia corrections officers received this year as part of the state's attempt to fill dire public sector job vacancies, also seen nationwide (bus drivers, caseworkers, 911 phone operators, road crews, teachers, police officers). 

➤ HEALTH AND WELLBEING

The National Institutes of Health is calling on long COVID patients to participate in clinical trials evaluating treatments that may finally ease symptoms for millions worldwide. The trials will include four potential treatments and lead to additional trials in the coming months that will test at least seven more (USA Today).

"Collectively, this integrated set of trials could inform clinical care in a broad range of long COVID patients," acting NIH Director Lawrence Tabak said during a Monday briefing. "Our hope is that these treatments will work, however we may learn that some interventions do not provide measurable relief and this will also inform patient care."

From "prebiotic" sodas for gut health to "medical-grade" serums in the beauty aisle, marketers have been using scientific-sounding buzzwords to sell products for centuries. But it's becoming more common, said Timothy Caulfield, a research chair in health law and policy at the University of Alberta. He coined the term "scienceploitation" to describe how brands borrow language from emerging areas of science to market unproven products, and it's cropping up in far more places today than ever before, including in search results, on social media platforms and from influencers. The New York Times has gathered some marketing tactics to be aware of.

Alzheimer's and dementia: A promising new drug for Alzheimer's patients may benefit white patients more than Black patients (The Associated Press). … The Biden-Harris administration announces a new Medicare dementia care model (The Hill).

The Washington Post: Marijuana addiction is real. Those struggling often face skepticism.

The Closer

And finally … On this day in 1939, Albert Einstein signed a two-page letter to then-President Franklin D. Roosevelt and changed history. The German mathematician who had emigrated to teach at Princeton University and was a year away from U.S. citizenship warned that Nazi Germany might develop and use atomic weapons. He outlined how the U.S. government and scientists might get there first. "A single bomb of this type carried by boat and exploded in a port, might very well destroy the whole port together with some of the surrounding territory," he wrote. 

As the movie "Oppenheimer" dramatizes in theaters this summer, six years and one president later, the United States dropped the world's first atomic bomb on the Japanese port city of Hiroshima. 