THE SUPREMES: A 6-3 Supreme Court majority yesterday dismissed the ultra-conservative “independent state legislature” theory that would have given state lawmakers nearly unfettered power to set rules for federal elections.

  The Court’s three most conservative members, Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, and Neil Gorsuch dissented.

  The independent legislature theory holds that legislatures should be beyond question, reproach, or court review about such things as drawing the lines of voting districts. It would have allowed political parties, mostly the Republicans, to draw district lines breaking up minority and opposition votes, thereby ensuring the election of Republicans.

  The theory is based on a literal reading of the Constitution’s elections clause, which says, “The times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives, shall be prescribed in each state by the legislature thereof.”  The case in question came from a legal challenge in North Carolina to voting districts gerrymandered by Republicans to essentially legislate themselves into power. The Supreme Court ruled that state courts have the power and duty to review the legislative actions.

THE TIME OF TROUBLES: Russian rebel and Wagner Group mercenary leader Yevgeny Prigozhin has arrived for exile in Belarus, the country’s leader Alexander Lukashenko says.

  While Wagner Group is reported to be returning heavy weapons to the Russian military, there are conflicting reports about whether the private army is building a camp for 8,000 fighters in Belarus. Lukashenko has said Belarus is not building camps but will accommodate Wagner if they wish.

  In Russia, Wagner fighters were given the choice to either blend into the Russian armed forces or join Prigozhin in exile in Belarus. The country’s defense minister, Viktor Khrennikov, is reported by the Reuters news agency to have told leader Lukashenko that he would like to enlist Wagner forces in the Belarusian army, according to the news agency Reuters. Belarus state media reports that Lukashenko said, “If their commanders come to us and help us… tell us what’s important right now… that’s priceless. That’s what we need to take from Wagner.” 

ORANGE ALERT: Former New York mayor, Trump lawyer, and election denier Rudy Giuliani hasbeen interviewed by federal investigators as part of the special counsel investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election, CNN reports.

  Investigators are not saying what the meeting was about, but it may have been a discussion about giving Giuliani a deal in exchange for his testimony against Trump.

  In Florida, the federal judge presiding over Donald Trump’s secret documents case ruled against a government request to keep secret a list of 84 witnesses lined up for the prosecution. Judge Aileen Cannon, who was appointed under the Trump administration and has been accused of being pro-Trump, said the government failed to provide a compelling argument for sealing the whole list rather than just parts of it.  Many of the witnesses are expected to be people who’ve been aides and advisers to Trump.

  And finally, Trump has filed a defamation lawsuit against former advice columnist E. Jean Carroll for what she said after she won her  sexual abuse and defamation suit against Trump. In a counter suit, Trump says Carroll defamed him in a CNN interview when she was asked about the jury finding that Trump sexually abused Carroll but did not rape her and Carroll responded, “Oh, yes he did.”

LIKE A HEAT WAVE: A dangerous heat wave in the southern US is expected to continue and spread north and east to parts of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, Tennessee, Georgia and Florida. Temperatures are predicted to hit 90 to 100. Blame climate change.

FREE THE NIPPLES: The government of the Spanish region of Catalonia has informed town and city leaders that they must allow women to go topless at public swimming pools. Some local jurisdictions were ignoring the 2020 Catalan equality law that said going topless is an equal opportunity thing.

   The regional government’s order said, “Preventing women from going topless “excludes part of the population and violates the free choice of each person with regard to their body.” The fight against for the right to be topless was led by an organization called Mugrons Lliures, which translates to “Free Nipples.”

CHANNEL CHANGE: Ryan Seacrest, Hollywood’s master of ceremonies, was named to replace retiring “Wheel of Fortune” host Pat Sajak in 2024. Vanna White is reported to be in negotiations to continue turning the puzzle letters. 

  Seacrest’s career has included stints as a daytime talk show host, competition series host, red carpet mike holder, radio host, and New Year’s Eve master of ceremonies. But with “Wheel” he has his work cut out for him, replacing a host who’s synonymous with the show. 

THE OBIT PAGE: Frederic Forrest, an actor who was never the star but appeared in more than 80 movies and television shows including “The Rose” and “Apocalypse Now,” died last week at home in Santa Monica, California. He was 86.

  Forrest was nominated for an Oscar playing Bette Midler’s love interest in “The Rose.” In “Apocalypse,” the Vietnam war drama adapted from Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, Forrest played the character Chef on the upriver journey on a gunboat to find the mysterious Kurtz. Chef didn’t make it all the way. 

THE SPIN RACK: Smoke from Canadian wildfires that obscured the sun in the East a couple of weeks ago is now blanketing Chicago and parts of the Midwest. It’s also drifted all the way to Europe. — Senate Democrats issued a report saying that intelligence agencies failed to give proper warning to law enforcement about the January 6^th insurrection. Although the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Office of Intelligence and Analysis were aware as early December 2020, “these agencies failed to sound the alarm and share critical intelligence information,” the report says.  

BELOW THE FOLD: The Washington Post analyzed the buzzwords most frequently used by Republican presidential candidates. 

   Trump: Radical, great, Biden, border.

   DeSantis: Florida, woke, covid, parents.

   Pence: Constitution, God, Trump, life

   Haley: Proud, together, strong, love.

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