A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Time To Face The Music
Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, turned himself in to authorities early this morning, a day after a Manhattan grand jury returned an indictment against him and ex-President Donald Trump’s company, Weisselberg’s lawyer told CNN.
- The specific charges are still unknown at this time. The Manhattan District Attorney’s office has been investigating Weisselberg and the Trump Organization for alleged untaxed fringe benefits. The indictment will reportedly be unsealed this afternoon.
- The top executive’s surrender comes after prosecutors attempted to get him to flip. They have been unsuccessful so far, though they’re still hoping he might still give testimony on Trump, according to the Washington Post.
- Trump himself is reportedly not expected to be charged in the case. Nor are any other executives at the firm.
- Outgoing Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance has been investigating the Trump Organization for three years. He has also managed to get ahold of Trump’s tightly-held tax returns in his probe.
All Eyes On SCOTUS On Its Final Day
One big voting rights case and one possible retirement.
- The Supreme Court will be handing down what promises to be a watershed decision in the highly anticipated voting rights case of Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee today at 10 a.m. ET.
- Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer is also at the center of the stage. Progressives have been urging the 82-year-old liberal justice to retire ASAP while Biden still has a Democrat-controlled Senate that can greenlight his SCOTUS appointee before the 2022 midterms – when Mitch McConnell can potentially take back control of the chamber and gleefully steal yet another SCOTUS seat from the Democrats.
Behind Closed Doors
ExxonMobil is in damage control mode after one of its top lobbyists was caught on camera in a Greenpeace sting. The lobbyist, who thought he was talking to a recruiter, was candid about the energy giant’s efforts to oppose climate change science.
- His exact words: “Did we aggressively fight against some of the science? Yes. Did we hide our science? Absolutely not. Did we join some of these shadow groups to work against some of the early efforts? Yes, that’s true.”
- The lobbyist also revealed that ExxonMobil’s public support for a carbon tax was just for show. He told the Greenpeace activists that the carbon tax merely “gives us a talking point” while knowing that “nobody is going to propose a tax on all Americans.”
- ExxonMobil is simply shocked to hear their lobbyist’s remarks, shocked I say! The company’s CEO, Darren Woods, insists in a statement that the lobbyist’s comments “in no way represent the company’s position on a variety of issues, including climate policy” and that “[w]e were shocked by these interviews and stand by our commitments to working on finding solutions to climate change.”
- The lobbyist described Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), along with nine other senators on both sides of the aisle, as “crucial” to ExxonMobile’s interests. The other senators were Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), Jon Tester (D-MT), Maggie Hassan (D-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), John Cornyn (R-TX), Steve Daines (R-MT), Chris Coons (D-DE), Mark Kelly (D-AZ) and Marco Rubio (R-FL).
Must Read:
“All the right words on climate have already been said” – Nieman Lab
New Numbers Give A Clearer Picture Of Biden’s Victory
The Pew Research Center has released a sweeping report on voter data in the 2016, 2018, and 2020 elections showing how this last election went down.
- A whopping 46% of 2020 voters cast their ballot through mail or absentee.
Biden enjoyed a big swing with suburban voters. He won 54% of their support, compared to Hillary Clinton’s 45% in 2016. - Men shifted toward Biden. 48% of men voted for POTUS while 50% went for Trump, who had won among men by a full 11 points over Clinton.
- Trump seemed to have pissed off fewer women this time. 44% of women voted for Trump in 2020, while in 2016 he won 39%.
Donald Rumsfeld, 1932-2021
- “How Rumsfeld Deserves to Be Remembered” – The Atlantic
- Taste the bitter irony:
1 in every 5 Iraqis has someone in their family who died because of the invasion of Iraq.
More than half of all babies born in Fallujah between 2007 and 2010 were born with a birth defect.
The average lifespan in Iraq is 70.
Rumsfeld died at 88 peacefully in his sleep.— nashwa (@nashwakay) July 1, 2021
Biden Is Visiting The Florida Condo Collapse Site Today
- The death toll has risen to 18 after two children were found in the rubble. 145 people are still missing.
Anon Dem Donor Fumes Over Poor Customer Service
It hurts to be ignored, Politico tells us.
- One of Harris’ friends who tried to connect the donor to the vice president was, well, AGHAST: “This is someone who has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars—millions, even—for your boss and you’re just blowing them off?” the friend asked in an interview with Politico. “Next time Kamala wants [them] for something, it’s like, ‘Hey, I couldn’t even get a call-back from your chief of staff!’”
Gold Metal In Mental Gymnastics
Despite attacking a special COVID-19 rule that allows proxy voting, dozens of House House Republicans have been using it themselves, including the ones who filed a lawsuit against it.
- One GOP aide gave this dizzying explanation: “We are against proxy voting and will eliminate it on day one of our majority, but if Democrats are going to continue to extend and abuse this tool solely to protect their slim margins, it would be stupid of us to not participate until we can eliminate it.”
Cue The “Curb Your Enthusiasm” Theme Music
An alleged Capitol insurrectionist told a local Massachusetts news outlet that he was merely a “documentarian” who “just went there to document”-only for the outlet to point out immediately a photo of him allegedly stomping on camera equipment during the attack on Jan. 6.
The incredible video:
VIDEO NOW : We just interviewed the Seekonk man facing federal charges in relation to the January 6th Capitol Riot @wpri12 https://t.co/Mc4vzTaM3g pic.twitter.com/ZhY4EBQ6NO
— Shiina LoSciuto (@ShiinaHL) June 30, 2021
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