CODE ORANGE: Donald Trump pleaded not guilty yesterday to a 37-count
federal indictment and made it clear that the first line of defense
for him and his political apostles is to undermine the Justice
Department and attack the validity of the US government under
President Joe Biden.
 On his Truth Social website Trump said about special prosecutor Jack
Smith that, “He’s a radical Right Lunatic and Trump Hater, as are all
his friends and family, who probably ‘planted’ information in the
‘boxes’ given to them.”
 Trump lawyer Alina Habba read a statement to television cameras in
which she said, “We have seen the rise of politically motivated
prosecutors, who don’t care for impartiality, who don’t care for due
process.” She said, “selective treatment is the norm” and that “the
people in charge of this country do not love America. They hate Donald
Trump.”
 Ohio freshman Sen. JD Vance announced that he will put a hold on all
of Joe Biden’s appointments to positions in the Justice Department,
saying that if Attorney Gen. Merrick Garland “wants to use these
officials to harass Joe Biden’s political opponents, we will grind his
department to a halt.”
 Trump’s defenders put political loyalty above the law. The
indictment lays out in detail how Trump illegally held vital documents
then attempted to dodge and avoid returning them
 The indictment says the documents Trump held “included information
regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States
and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential
vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military
attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to foreign
attack.”
 Trump did not speak during his arraignment. Lawyers spoke for him,
but reporters said his demeanor showed the gravity of his situation.
Trump later went to the popular Versailles Cuban restaurant in Miami
where he was greeted by supporters and declared “Food for everyone!”

THE POST GAME SHOW: Trump hurried back to his New Jersey golf club in
Bedminster where he announced at a political fundraiser that, “Today
we witnessed the most evil and heinous abuse of power in the history
of our country.” He called the charges against him fake and
fabricated.
 Trump said that under the Presidential records act the documents
were his and he had every right to keep them.
  He said the indictment is “yet another attempt to steal a
presidential election” and that Joe Biden “together with a band of his
closest thugs, misfits, and Marxists tried to destroy American
democracy.”

ECON 101: Stocks rose yesterday after an encouraging report that
inflation is cooling. The markets are now in “Bull” territory, a
sustained trend in which prices are rising and investors have
confidence.
  Inflation has been cut by half since its peak a year ago, but
prices are still rising faster than the Federal Reserve would like,
even though they might leave interest rates untouched in their monthly
meeting tomorrow.
  The Consumer Price Index is up 4 percent for the year through May,
slightly less than the 4.1 percent economists had predicted and the
slowest pace in more than two years. The figure in April was 4.9
percent.
  Gasoline prices, a big driver of inflation, are settling down.
President Biden claimed in a statement that, “While there is more work
to do, the plan that I laid out a year ago to bring down the cost of
living and sustain stable and steady growth is working.”

THE WAR ROOM: Russian air forces and artillery hit back at advancing
Ukrainian troops in the area of several southern villages the
Ukrainian Army has retaken in its nascent counter offensive.
 While Ukraine claims to have liberated about 100 square kilometers,
The Institute for the Study of War says that in some areas progress is
measured in the hundreds of meters. But President Vladimir Putin
admitted to Russian war correspondents and military bloggers that his
forces have already lost 54 tanks this month. He said Ukrainian losses
have been worse. “The opponent has had no success in any area,” he
said. “They have had heavy losses.”
 Russia has bombed and murdered civilians from the start. The NY
Times reports on graffiti left by the invaders, one of which says, “It
doesn’t count as a war crime if you had fun.”

THE SPORTS PAGE: The Las Vegas Golden Knights beat the Florida
panthers last night to win professional hockey’s Stanley Cup final.
Nothing says “hockey” like Las Vegas.

THE OBIT PAGE: Cormac McCarthy, the Pulitzer Prize winning author of
the novel The Road who was considered one of the greats of American
literature, died at home in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He was 89.
 Born in Rhode Island, McCarthy became the novelist of the West. He
solidified his place in literature with his “border trilogy” of
novels, All the Pretty Horses, Blood Meridian, and No Country For Old
Men.
 McCarthy won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for his, father-son journey,
The Road, in which the pair scavenges and survives in a
post-apocalyptic region ravaged by cannibals.

THE SPIN RACK: Sorry, more Trump. A Manhattan judge has allowed former
advice columnist E. Jean Carroll to include in her lawsuit remarks
Donald Trump made about her after she won her sexual assault and
defamation case against the former president. On CNN he called her a
“wack job” and said that her claim of a decades-old assault was
“fake.” — Ted Kaczynski, the notorious Unabomber, died by suicide
hanging himself in his cell early last Saturday, according to the 911
call. — The elders of the evangelist Southern Baptist Convention are
moving to eliminate women pastors in an effort to head off
liberalization their church.

BELOW THE FOLD: Wheel of Fortune host Pat Sajak announced yesterday
that after hosting the show since 1981, he’s retiring at the end of
next season. He’s made enough money to buy more than just a vowel. The
big question is whether letter-turner Vanna White will get the job.

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