SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — A month after a series of powerful earthquakes began rattling Puerto Rico, about 4,600 people are still sleeping at emergency shelters — either because their residences are dam...
The shortlist of former President Donald Trump's possible running mates for 2024 is a rogues gallery of election deniers and extremists who want to rip the rule of law to shreds, Will Saletan wrote for The Bulwark in a blistering analysis released on Tuesday.
"Normally, contenders for the vice presidency would showcase their accomplishments, their communication skills, or their ability to carry a key state," wrote Saletan. "But in Trump’s case, the rules are different. He’s an authoritarian crook, and the contestants are competing to show how far they’d go to defend his crimes and his abuse of power."
Among the contenders, he wrote, are Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), who refused to condemn Trump when he mocked the husband of former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-SC) for his military service; Gov. Kristi Noem (R-SD), who has openly said she'll support Trump even if he's convicted of a crime, and has recently made the news for bragging about shooting her puppy; Gov. Doug Burgum (R-ND), who continues to question the results of the 2020 election and defended Trump's "birther" attacks on Haley; Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) and Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), who have both refused to commit to accepting this year's election results; and Sen. J.D. Vance (R-OH), who has called for Trump to ignore Supreme Court rulings whenever he doesn't like them.
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There is a reason why so many of Trump's candidates appear unwilling to make any commitments to the rule of law, Saletan wrote — it's because that was the former president's biggest gripe with his last running mate, former Vice President Mike Pence.
"In the weeks after the 2020 election, Trump pulled every lever — Republican governors, state officials, the Justice Department, and the Supreme Court — in a desperate bid to stay in power," wrote Saletan. "One after another, the institutions defied him. Trump’s last hope was his vice president. And when that man refused to betray his oath, Trump realized that in choosing a running mate who had a shred of integrity, he had made a fatal mistake."
And now, he concluded, Trump "is determined not to repeat that mistake."
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is set to testify at Donald Trump's hush-money trial on Tuesday, but observers shouldn't expect any overly salacious details to be revealed.
As reported by Inner City Press's Matthew Russell Lee, prosecutor Susan Hoffinger informed Judge Juan Merchan on Tuesday that her team would ask Daniels about "the conversation [Trump and Daniels] had in the hotel and how the sexual act came about, how she felt about it" but then added that "we will not get into genitalia."
This is likely a reference to the disparaging remarks that Daniels made about Trump's genitalia in her 2018 tell-all book that included details about their sexual encounter.
Trump lawyer Susan Nechles objected to this information being introduced to the court, arguing that "there is no need for this" because "this is a case about books and records."
Merchan decided to allow it into record on the grounds that Daniels "has credibility issues, so details are important," according to Lee.
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Writing at the New York Times' live blog of the trial, reporter Maggie Haberman noticed that Judge Merchan "strikingly seems a little nervous" while discussing this particular aspect of the trial.
Trump is currently on trial for falsifying business records related to his decision to pay off Daniels in 2016 in exchange for her silence about their past sexual encounter.
Prosecutors allege that Trump repaid former "fixer" Michael Cohen for paying off Daniels and then falsely labeled it as a "legal expense" in order to cover up what was really an illegal campaign contribution.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels is set to testify at Donald Trump's hush-money trial this morning, and the New York Times' Maggie Haberman brings word that the former president will take her testimony "personally."
Writing at the New York Times' live blog of the trial, Haberman noted that "this is the first time Trump will have to be face to face with Daniels and hear her accusations" and then added that "this trial, unlike the other three criminal trials he’s facing, is personal for him in a very specific way."
The reason for this, contended Haberman, is that Daniels "as spoken about him and his physicality publicly in a humiliating manner."
In her tell-all book, Daniels mocked the size and shape of Trump's genitalia, while Trump in the past has demeaned Daniels' physical appearance by calling her "horse face."
READ MORE: Judge rejects Fox News-inspired Georgia man who rained hate on school administrator
Trump is currently on trial for allegedly falsifying business records related to his decision to authorize former "fixer" Michael Cohen to pay off Daniels in exchange for her silence about her past sexual relationship with Trump ahead of the 2016 presidential election.
Haberman also said that many reporters had anticipated Daniels' would be Tuesday's witness for the prosecution.
"It was clear this morning before the courtroom opened that today would be different," she wrote. "Many reporters anticipated that Stormy Daniels was likely the next witness, and the lines formed earlier."
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