Trump’s Hush-money Trial Kicks Off With A Defiant Defendant, A Strict Schedule, And Supporters Outside

Indictments are now rocket fuel to the careers of ambitious Republicans these days. Arizona state committee members just elected one of the people charged in the Arizona election subversion case as their new national committeeman. Who knows, he might even get the coveted slot to nominate Trump! Via CNN: Arizona state Sen.

A Republican organization opposed to Trump slammed conservative figures who recognize the danger posed by Orange Mussolini but plan to vote for him anyway. Via HuffPost: The video from Republican Voters Against Trump is an update of a 2022 spot from the organization that resembles the old ASPCA ads featuring singer Sarah McLachlan. Instead of urging viewers to help save animals, the spokesperson here warns of prominent Trump supporters suffering from “partisan derangement syndrome.” That list includes former Attorney General Bill Barr, who has called Trump a “horror show,” dismissed his claims of election fraud as “bullshit” and said Trump grew “detached from reality” after losing in 2020. Also prominent hypocrites Chris Sununu and Mitch McConnell.

Ron DeSantis met with Trump for several hours in Miami yesterday, agreeing to fundraise and campaign for him. But mostly he was slobbering over Trump's ring, right? Via the Washington Post: Allies brokered the meeting in hopes of a potential détente between the two men, and Trump’s advisers hope DeSantis will tap his donor network to help raise significant sums of money for the general election, the people familiar with the matter said.

Fox News legal analyst Andy McCarthy told host Howard Kurtz that he found legal developments in Donald Trump's hush money trial "very disturbing" for the former president. On the Fox News Media Buzz program Sunday, Kurtz asked McCarthy about defense attorney Emil Bove's strategy of cross-examining former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker in the Manhattan trial.

First Draft: Republicans don't see women. The Debate Link: Why American Jews are distancing themselves from Israel. The Conversation: College administrators are falling into a tried-and-true trap laid by conservatives. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Seven charts on the 2017 tax law and why Congress should set a new course. Bark Bark Woof Woof: Art making one uncomfortable, catching up with Josh Marshall on the Supreme Court's corruption, and Garry Trudeau on Trump's dementia. This installment by Batocchio.

By now, you've heard about smelly Donald Trump sleep-farting in court daily, and I'm sure that Eric Trump heard about that, too. Eric told Fox News's Maria Bartiromo how great his father's "stamina" is and said he's "never seen anything like it in my life." That's a tell. Donald says that or says something is worse than "the world has ever seen" when he lies. "He's going all over the place," Eric said of his father, who has been golfing on his days off where, hopefully, he's not farting on his Mar-a-Lago guests.