Dana Bash: "They weren't counted bc Mike Pence rejected the scheme"
Trump defense attorney John Lauro: "Absolutely" Lauro argues that the fake electors plot was free speech ... "Asking is speech, that's the point. It's not action"

Bragg says the case is built on 34 false statements in order to hide other crimes Bragg says they paid three people to stay quiet, he’s starting w/ Stormy Daniels

Thompson opens "season finale" of #January6thHearing by talking about all the ways Trump was alerted it was over, but didn't act for 187 minutes on Jan 6 as his supporters sacked the Capitol "there can be no doubt that he commanded the mob, a mob he knew was armed, violent and angry, to march on the Capitol to try and prevent the peaceful transfer of power," Thompson says. "There needs to be accountability"

Pence expected to take stage at Florence Baptist Temple in South Carolina soon #2024 ... opening sermon focusing on Dobbs decision "It was my understanding the VP wanted to make this speech in a church setting," pastor says to applause.

Tucker Carlson, who has flatly said he doesn't want to run in 2024, opens by citing spending 2000 in Iowa w/ his then-young child and mentioning he may have done the "full Grassley" ... he's also talking up his connections to Iowa, which is, well, very #2024 Carlson also attempting to put some distance bt him and the *very* likely contenders, saying he's on-stage to help tell IA voters how to vet the "sweaty" pols who show up onstage seeking their vote

“I want to talk about what freedom means and the cost of our freedom” @RepLizCheney says as she opens at Reagan Library, talking about working in places where they don’t have democracy and where people “have to sacrifice an incredible amount” She opens with a meeting with Boris Nemtsov, former Russian dissident who was murdered by Putin ... "People forget what it was like to live under Soviet domination" ... She's now talking about how prisoners in the Gulag would pass notes to each other about Reagan

#January6thHearings is back, opening with Stone and OathKeepers. Trump directed Meadows to talk with Stone and Michael Flynn to discuss what would happen on Jan 6th, Hutchinson testifies Hutchinson says she didn't want Meadows going to the Willard "command center" Stone, Flynn others set ahead of the Jan 6th rally and attack
"I made it clear to Mr Meadows I didn't think it was a smart idea to go to the Willard Hotel that night"

Hutchinson testifies that Tony Ornato told Trump on Jan 6th about the prevalence of weapons at the Trump rally #January6thHearings Hutchinson says that when she alerted Meadows about the reports of weapons in the crowd, he kept his head buried in his phone and said, "alright, anything else?"

Hutchinson says that Giuliani met w Meadows at WH on Jan 2 ... Giuliani said, “I’m so excited for the 6th, it’s going to be a great day” "We’re going to the capitol, it’s going to be great, the president’s going to be there .. talk to the chief about it”

#january6thhearings After she went back to Meadows, she recalls him saying, "things might get real real bad on Jan 6th"

Federal Agents Seized Phone of John Eastman, Key Figure in Jan. 6 Plan

via @nytimes nytimes.com/2022/06/27/us/… “F.B.I. agents in New Mexico, acting on behalf of the Department of Justice’s Office of the Inspector General, stopped Mr. Eastman as he was leaving a restaurant last Wednesday and seized his iPhone.”

NEW: #CPAC2021 scuttlebutt: Trump's 2024 White House chances hinge on how successful the GOP is in defeating Democrats in the 2022 midterms businessinsider.com/trump-2024-cha… Interestingly, that fairly stunning 97/68 (approve/should run in 24) split on Trump in straw poll seemed to match this chatter around #CPAC2021

NEW: ⁦@CampaignLegal⁩ files updated complaint, says Trump campaign spending 'schemes' through shell company broke federal law - Business Insider - from ⁦@davelevinthal⁩ and me businessinsider.com/donald-trump-c… The complaint builds on our reporting last month on Jared Kushner and Trump family’s roles in creating American Made Media Consultants, the Trump campaign shell company which spent about half of the campaign’s money

NEW: Trump tries to use his waning power to influence the RNC's upcoming vote to pick a new chair. Party stalwarts would prefer the lame duck butt out. businessinsider.com/trump-republic… "It's a little disturbing that the RNC would be controlled by a candidate," said one Republican close to the president. "The members are stunned."

Re-upping: Rick Gates details how Trump, RNC power player Katie Walsh led talks to remove Trump from the ballot in 2016

https://twitter.com/tomlobianco/status/1295416809886277633

The effort to deny Trump the nomination was more extensive than previously reported -- went beyond just Access Hollywood weekend. (Lots of details here - Gates says he has more coming in his book out in October)

NEWS: A Republican central to Trump's reelection campaign, Katie Walsh, led secret talks to remove him from the 2016 ballot, sources say businessinsider.com/katie-walsh-le… In an exclusive interview with Insider, Rick GATES, detailed for the first time Walsh's discussions about removing Trump from the ballot in 2016

NEW: Inside Bill Stepien and Jason Miller's efforts to rein in Trump and save his campaign, with just 3 months left - my latest deep dive in @thisisinsider - businessinsider.com/bill-stepien-j… Republicans close to the campaign repeatedly gave credit to Stepien and Miller for the (relatively) tighter focus from Trump of late, including shorter press briefings at WH ...

"As you can see behind me, we have removed the extraordinary regulatory burden" Trump says, w/ crane and pickup truck stage setup behind him ... no printouts of federal register spotted Trump now claiming credit for "historically low gas prices" ... does not mention oil market tanking months ago

What happened at the Trump campaign?? Classic DC-style “layering” - @parscale keeps title of campaign manager and Bill Stepien takes the reins. The details here: businessinsider.com/kushner-revamp…

https://twitter.com/dsamuelsohn/status/1265768360018694144

Talk to eight different factions in Trump World and get eight different stories — but the central nugget remains: Kushner (and Trump) moved Stepien up at the campaign following a dismal two month slide

Trump walks into the National Prayer Breakfast and flashes newspapers w/ giant headlines declaring his acquittal in Senate ... and now up is Nancy Pelosi Pelosi praying for persecuted religious minorities around globe right now

Here it is, the complete story -- Elliott Broidy, George Nader and a yearlong lobby effort to win Gulf defense contracts -- with @desmondbutler ... apnews.com/a3521859cf8d4c… Some key details from our investigation, thread:
Lobbying was done at the highest levels in Washington, in search of UAE and Saudi Arabia defense contracts