Trump sure is busy! Yesterday he was in court as his lawyers argued a president can have immunity even for assassinating political rivals.

Tomorrow closing arguments start in his civil fraud trial in NY, where he could face a $370 million penalty.

And then... On Monday Trump faces both the Iowa caucuses and his 2nd trial for allegedly defaming the woman that a jury has already found that he raped.



And then…washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

Trump ordered a crowd he knew was armed to march on the Capitol & "fight like hell." 7 people died in & after the attack. 114 Capitol Police were injured.

He watched the violence on TV but did nothing to stop it for hours.

That day was just one part of his coup attempt. 🧵1/14 Trump privately admitted he lost & knew his claim that the election was stolen was a lie.

His family, campaign manager, White House lawyers, & his Justice Dept agreed with his hand-picked attorney general that "the claims of fraud were bulls***." 2/14

theguardian.com/us-news/2022/o…

Here's why the Colorado ruling that Trump can appear on the ballot despite engaging in an insurrection contains more bad news for Trump than good news.

🧵1/8 On Friday, Denver District Judge Sarah B. Wallace ruled that Trump “acted with the specific intent to disrupt the Electoral College certification of President Biden’s electoral victory through unlawful means; specifically, by using unlawful force and violence.” 2/8

It pains me to say it, but RFK Jr is a dangerous, right-wing nutcase.

While his father was a fierce advocate for racial justice, Junior has gone down a dark, racist rabbit hole to become a proponent of hateful and bigoted conspiracy theories. 🧵 1/10 RFK Jr pushed a racist, antisemitic conspiracy theory that COVID-19 was an “ethnic bioweapon… targeted to attack Caucasians and Black people,” but spare “Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese.” 2/10

cbsnews.com/news/robert-f-…

The Supreme Court is back in session this week, hearing a handful of incredibly important cases.

But there’s one in particular that’s flown under the radar and could have devastating consequences:

CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association of America 🧵 The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) was created in the wake of the 2008 crash.

It serves as America's financial watchdog, protecting us from financial hucksters.

The agency has recovered $16 billion in relief for about 190 million Americans who have been defrauded.

Hot Labor Summer is turning into Hotter Labor Fall.

It seems likely that the @UAW will go on strike against the Big Three automakers, starting tonight.

A strike against all three companies at once has never happened before. Here’s what you should know.

🧵1/10 Why are United Auto Workers likely to strike?

Like so many other workers organizing across the country, auto workers want a bigger piece of the economic pie they are generating for their employers.

They have good reason to want more.

2/10

On Truth Social, Trump pledged to "never forget" 9/11.

He's probably hoping you'll forget the lies he's told about 9/11 and the ways he's tried to capitalize off of the horror of that day.

Here's what is true about Trump and 9/11 🧵

1/8 Trump's immediate reaction to the horror of 9/11 was to brag about the size of one of his buildings, phoning into WWOR to say “40 Wall Street actually was the second-tallest building in downtown Manhattan… And now it’s the tallest.”

2/8
washingtonpost.com/news/morning-m…

Let’s get some things straight about Donald Trump’s Jan 6 indictment and the crimes he’s charged with

🧵1/24 Once again, President Biden DID NOT indict Trump.

Trump was indicted by a grand jury of ordinary people who found the evidence against him strong enough to charge him with four felonies.

2/24

Could Trump run for office or serve as president from prison?

Theoretically yes. The Constitution doesn't bar criminals from holding the highest office in the land.

But one there's one specific crime that does disqualify him, and we watched him commit it. 🧵 1/8 Yesterday's new charges in the Mar-a-Lago docs case allege Trump and two staffers sought to destroy surveillance footage.

Trying to destroy evidence of a crime is a crime in itself.

Plotting with others to commit a crime is the crime of conspiracy. 2/8 nytimes.com/2023/07/27/us/…

Amazon allegedly got caught in more shady shenanigans.

The FTC is expected to file a major antitrust lawsuit alleging that Amazon abuses its market power to reward third-party merchants who use its logistics services and punish those who don’t.

This is a big deal. These third-party merchants account for half of Amazon's online sales.

Merchants pay Amazon a commission for each marketplace sale, with Amazon’s average cut surpassing 50% in 2022.

Third-party companies can also pay Amazon for optional services, like shipping and advertising.

Let me get this straight. SCOTUS says colleges can't take race into consideration during admission....

But they can give preference to "legacies."

Since non-white students were barred from most colleges for 200+ years, legacy students are by definition most likely white. In fact, as the Washington Post has reported, legacy policies are a relic of Jim Crow, designed specifically "to limit the number of non-white students admitted each year."

wapo.st/3NOUr6C

We are on the brink of the biggest labor strike in America since the 1950s.

340,000 UPS workers just voted to authorize a strike if they can’t come to terms on a new contract with the company by July 31.

This is a huge deal. 🧵 The UPS workers, represented by @Teamsters, are fighting for better pay, ending the use of subcontracting, and eliminating forced overtime.

The union just won major concessions that would finally equip many UPS trucks with air conditioning and fans. npr.org/2023/06/14/118…

MAGA Republicans and the right-wing media are spewing lies and making false equivalencies about Trump’s latest indictment.

I want to clear a few things up. 🧵 MAGA Lie #1: "Biden indicted Trump."

That's not how it works. A grand jury (made up of ordinary Florida citizens) indicted Trump after deciding there was sufficient evidence for him to be criminally charged.

Today is an international day of solidarity for the thousands of @WGAEast and @WGAWest members who are on strike.

This strike is not only important for the writers in the entertainment industry, but for the entire labor movement across every industry. 🧵 Writers are up against the same challenges as workers throughout many other parts of our economy: the growing consolidation of wealth and power into the hands of a few billionaires and corporations.

It's all too common, and it's driving inequality in this country.

Republican leaders have mastered the art of manufacturing crises to divert the public’s attention from the real crisis of our era — the siphoning off of income, wealth, and power by a small group at the top.

Consider the fake fears they’ve been whipping up lately over… Anything they deem “woke.”

Although they struggle to define what the term even means to them, they’re using it as a weapon to combat anything that seeks to foster tolerance and acceptance.

Facts on the proposed debt ceiling deal:

THE GOOD...

- It would lift the debt ceiling until 2025, avoiding another standoff before the elections

- It would reject the most extreme cuts the GOP sought THE BAD...

- Expanded work requirements would make it harder for American families who need help to get it

- It would establish the precedent that taking the economy hostage is an effective way to pass unpopular policies that could never get through otherwise.

You're going to hear Ron DeSantis talk a lot about "freedom."

Here are a few things to remember. 🧵 1/20 As a Navy lawyer, Ron DeSantis advocated for force-feeding Guantánamo prisoners through their noses, a practice the UN Commission on Human Rights has designated as torture.

2/20 washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/…

What's to stop Biden from ignoring the debt ceiling and continuing to pay the nation's bills?

I believe he's constitutionally obligated to do so.

And there's at least one precedent for the executive branch doing whatever it takes to avoid default.

Guess who set it? 🧵 1/8 During a 1985 budget dispute, Reagan's treasury secretary James Baker borrowed from Social Security and then threatened to raid military retirement funds and sell off U.S. gold reserves to keep the nation’s bills paid. wapo.st/3IyHhYA 2/8

Rep. Santos has been released on $500K bail after being criminally charged on 13 counts, including wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of public funds.

We don't know who posted the bail, which adds one more mystery to the Santos saga, some of which I'll highlight.

🧵1/6 In case you forgot, Rep. Santos was accused of stealing money from a veteran and his dying dog.

npr.org/2023/01/22/115…

🧵 2/6

A large and growing sector of the U.S. economy produces nothing of value.

Derivatives, private equity, hedge funds.

Every winner comes at the expense of a current or future loser.

The only things this “zero-sum” sector produces is more money for the wealthy. Take corporate law: High-paid lawyers representing one corporation battle high-paid lawyers representing another.

Huge sums of money are spent on these escapades. But there are no societal gains unless you equate one corporation’s victory over another with justice.

It’s not just Congress and state officials that are on your ballot tomorrow. Over 30 states will also vote on ballot measures to protect abortion rights, raise the minimum wage, legalize marijuana, and more.

Here's a (non-comprehensive) list of the ones you ought to know about: Three states have ballot measures that would create a right to reproductive freedom and autonomy, enshrining abortion rights into their state constitutions. If you’re a voter in one of them, vote YES on:

CA Prop 1
MI Prop 3
VT Prop 5 theguardian.com/us-news/2022/n…