August 5, 2023
Vol. 12, No. 2055

COMING AFTER YOU: Federal prosecutors last night notified the judge in Donald Trump’s election case that he had posted a threat to his legal opponents on his Truth Social website saying, “YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU.”

  Prosecutors filed a request with US District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan that Trump be ordered to keep any evidence prosecutors turn over to his defense team from public view. They said in their filing that Trump’s posts could have “a harmful chilling effect on witnesses.”

  Publicly, at least, Trump is flailing in the wake of this latest indictment. Complaining about the expense in time and money fighting his many legal battles, Trump yesterday called on the Supreme Court to “intercede” on his behalf.

  Posting on Truth Social, Trump said, “My political opponent has hit me with a barrage of weak lawsuits, including D.A., A.G., and others, which require massive amounts of my time & money to adjudicate.” Trump complained that “Resources that would have gone into Ads and Rallies, will now have to be spent fighting these Radical Left Thugs in numerous courts throughout the Country.” He went on, “I am leading in all Polls, including against Crooked Joe, but this is not a level playing field. It is Election Interference, & the Supreme Court must intercede.”

THE ANTI-TRUMP: In a major turn not only for a Republican running against Donald Trump, but for the party itself, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that claims about the 2020 election being stolen were false. Republicans afraid of offending Trump’s political base have avoided saying his claims of election theft are BS.

  Yesterday DeSantis told a reporter in Iowa that, “All those theories that were put out did not prove to be true.”  It doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a major break with Trump.

  DeSantis also seemed to suggest that Trump could be convicted of crimes in one or all of his so far three criminal indictments. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the country to have a former president that’s almost 80 years old go to prison,” he told reporters in Iowa. 

ECON 101: The labor market slowed in the last month, reflecting a cooling economy and giving economists some hope that a recession can be avoided.

  The economy added 187,000 jobs in July. A year ago, it was 550,000.

  The unemployment rate dropped back to 3.5 percent, nearly a record low.

  The Federal Reserve has been cranking up interest rates to slow the economy and drive down the rate of inflation to a target of 2 percent. inflation was 3 percent for the 12 months that ended in June.

THE WAR ROOM: A Ukraine video appears to show the successful attack on a Russian warship with a seaborne drone. 

  The ship Olenegorsky Gornyak was hit and sustained a serious breach. Pictures and video show the ship listing to port.

  Today Russia reported that another naval drone hit one of their oil tankers off the occupied Crimean Peninsula, damaging the engine room but not releasing any oil.

 Ukraine said the remote-controlled drone that hit the warship was packed with nearly 1,000 pounds of explosives. The nighttime video shows the bow of the drone aimed at the middle of the ship until the feed cuts, presumably with the explosion.

  The assault is reported to have occurred near the Russian port of Novorossiysk, a major hub for Russian exports. Russia’s defense ministry did not admit any damage, but the success of the attack is evident.  

STALINIST: As further evidence that Vladimir Putin is more afraid of words than guns, Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny yesterday was sentenced to another 19 years in prison. 

  The trial was held in a remote penal colony where Navalny has already been serving a nine-year sentence since 2021. In 2020 he was poisoned with a nerve agent and barely survived.

  Absurdly, Yevgeny Prigozhin, the mercenary leader who ordered an armed march on Moscow, is a free man.

  In this latest trial, Navalny was found guilty of founding and funding an extremist organization. In advance of the verdict, Navalny predicted that he would be handed a “Stalinist” style prison term to frighten other dissenters.

THE SPIN RACK: Authorities investigating the Gilgo beach serial murders on New York’s Long Island have identified the remains of a woman missing since Valentine’s Day, 1996. The remains of the victim previously labelled “Fire Island Jane Doe” have been identified as Karen Vergata, a 34-year-old escort from Manhattan. — A Texas judge yesterday bucked the state’s abortion ban, temporarily allowing the procedure in cases of dangerous or complicated pregnancies. This came as the result of emotional and grueling testimony from women during a hearing last month. — The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first drug targeted specifically at postpartum depression for women. — Gymnast Simone Biles is set to compete today for the first time in two years after bowing out of the all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics because of a spatial perception affliction known as “the twisties.” The US Classic in Hoffman Estates outside Chicago is the last chance for athletes to qualify for the national championships in San Jose later this month.

BELOW THE FOLD: The Big Ten athletic conference has officially approved Oregon and Washington as new members, making it actually the Big 18.

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