Lemon Tree

A federal judge ordered Steve Bannon, a one-time adviser to Donald Trump, to begin his four-month prison sentence as he appeals his contempt of Congress conviction, The Hill reports. Bannon must self-surrender by July 1 since his bid to overturn his conviction was rejected by a three-judge appeals panel last month.

Donald Trump told Fox News that seeking prosecutions of his political opponents would be “wrong” but that he also would have “every right” to do so if reelected. He added: “And it’s easy because it’s Joe Biden and you see all the criminality.”

Charlie Cook: “First, general elections today are driven much more by partisanship than anything else…” “Second, more specific to this Biden-Trump race is the fact that both Trump and Biden have 100 percent name recognition and are as well defined in the minds of voters as they can be. In other circumstances, a lesser-known but still adequately funded candidate might have some upside as more voters become familiar with them.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) argued that Russian President Vladimir Putin—who ordered the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 while declaring that the country has no claim to independence and that its people are “connected with us by blood”—doesn’t actually want Ukraine because he already has “enough land,” the Daily Beast reports. Steve Benen: Tuberville keeps saying what Russia wants to hear.

“Donald Trump hasn’t shown much interest in reaching out to Republicans who think he’s an existential threat,” CNN reports. “But Thursday, on the 80th anniversary of D-Day, President Joe Biden will take the first step in trying to win over voters his campaign believes could be the Holy Grail for them in the election, announcing a new national Republican engagement director in what will be a monthslong ramp up into the convention and beyond.”

Coming later this year: The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party by Michael Tackett. “In the long history of American government, few senators have wielded as much power as Kentucky’s Mitch McConnell. That’s no accident; he worked his entire life to cultivate his dominance.” The Price of Power: How Mitch McConnell Mastered the Senate, Changed America and Lost His Party Hardcover BookTackett, Michael (Author)English (Publication Language)416 Pages - 10/29/2024 (Publication Date) - Simon & Schuster (Publisher) Check Price on Amazon