Comment on House takes symbolic vote on taxes as talks go on

Washington Post: “Two weeks in, the first criminal trial of a former president has been personally taxing for Trump and disruptive to his campaign.” “Despite efforts to schedule dinners where donors, friends and world leaders join him, Trump’s moods are worse on trial days, according to several people close to him.

While Donald Trump plots to be a dictator on Day One, Balaji Srinivasan and his wealthy tech bros are plotting a different version of authoritarianism and ethnic cleansing, one that does not require a presidential campaign. Gil Duran wrote about this oligarch for The New Republic: To fully grasp the current situation in San Francisco, where venture capitalists are trying to take control of City Hall, you must listen to Balaji Srinivasan.

We've already established here that Trump lawyer Alina Habba is trash. And Habba has established that she's ridiculously stupid, too. Habba was asked in a relatively recent interview whether she would rather be pretty or smart. She said, "Oh easy, pretty … I can fake being smart." That's not true at all.

Jim Trusty, Ankush Khardori, CNN's Kaitlan Collins and CNN's Jamie Gangel speak with CNN's Jake Tapper

The attorney who recently won Harvey Weinstein's New York appeal, Arthur Aidala, says in the wake of that decision, Judge Juan Merchan should reconsider if Trump's other cases can be admitted if he testifies.

Pro-life activist Randall Terry was nominated as the Constitution Party’s presidential candidate, Ballot Access News reports. He is likely to be on the ballot in battleground states of Georgia, North Carolina, Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania.