FAMILIAR TUNE: President Trump is springboarding off the slow count in the California primary to claim the election was rigged against Republican candidate for Los Angeles mayor, Spencer Pratt.

  In the past few days of counting Pratt, the former reality star who never previously ran for office, slipped from 40,000 ahead of Democratic city council member Nithya Raman to 22,000 votes behind. Pratt has been eliminated.

  Raman now runs in the November election against incumbent and fellow Democrat Karen Bass, who won the most primary votes.

  Trump posted on his Truth Social, “Not possible for Spencer Pratt to have lost the L.A. runoffs after the big lead he had. 3rd World Nation. Rigged Elections!” 

  House speaker Mike Johnson joined the conspiracy theorists in the halls of Congress telling reporters, “Some of these efforts are so diabolical and so far upstream that is impossible to prove,” and, “I think everybody knows instinctively that something is wrong here.” Neither he nor Trump can believe that in a heavily Democratic city two Democrats would get the most votes.

  Tesla billionaire and purported genius Elon Musk posted with no evidence, “The level of fraud here is mind-blowing.”

  California has a cumbersome system in which ballots mailed by election day can be counted up to seven days later. As many as 80 percent of the votes in this primary were cast by mail and even Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom says this needs fixing.

THE WAR ROOM: A US Apache attack helicopter went down over the Strait of Hormuz early today just hours after President Trump claimed the US will be able to  declare “total victory” in two weeks and suggested that an agreement could be reached “in two or three days.”

  The chopper crew was rescued.

  Israel renewed attacks in southern Lebanon today. At least eight people were reported killed and dozens wounded in an attack on the southern city of Tyre, Lebanon’s health ministry said. 

INFINITE SCROLL:

— President Trump yesterday formally nominated Acting Attorney Gen. Todd Blanche for confirmation to Attorney General. 

  A confirmation fight could be brewing. Blanche, who used to be Trump’s criminal defense lawyer, has shown willingness to follow Trump’s direction, including approval of the deal establishing a fund for “victims” of the Biden administration and immunity from scrutiny of his taxes by the Internal Revenue Service.

— A federal judge in Boston struck down President Trump’s $100,000 fee on new H-1B visas, contradicting an earlier federal court ruling.  H-1B visas are intended for high-skilled jobs that are difficult to find American workers to fill.

  Judge Leo Sorokin said the fee was imposed without the required approval of Congress.

— The Pentagon revised its list of recognized religions a second time after complaints that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints … the Mormons … was not recognized as Christian. 

  Some Protestant groups claim the Mormons are heretical and should not be considered Christian.Of course, you have to notice that “Jesus Christ” is in the church’s name.

  The original revision of recognized faiths issued on May 20th said the Defense Department would no longer recognize 180 religious traditions in the troops’ service records.

IT’S POLITICAL: Houston lawyer Dan Cogdell, who defended Texas Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton against impeachment and criminal charges, endorsed Paxton’s Democratic opponent for US Senate, Rep. James Talarico.Cogdell said Paxton “lost sight of his core mission, which is to represent the people of Texas” and that Talarico prioritized “unity over division.”

  Speaking to the NY Times, Cogdell described Paxton as “an absolute rubber stamp” for Donald Trump.

  Voters go to the polls in Maine today to choose the Democrat who will run for Senate against longtime Republican Susan Collins.

  The candidacy of oyster fisherman Graham Platner has been embroiled with talk about his personal life, including his behavior with former girlfriends and sexting other women while he was married. But Maine Democrats want change in Washington.

HOOP DREAMS: The New York Knicks fell 12 points behind San Antonio in the first half last night at Madison Square Garden and never fully recovered to control the game.

 The Spurs’ seven foot four inch Victor Wembanyama scored 29 points leading them to a 115-111 win. The series is now 2-1 for the Knicks. The next game is tomorrow night.

  Security was over the top last night because President Trump attended the game. Ticket holders had to show up hours early to get through. Trump was featured briefly on the Jumbotron screen during the national Anthem and much of the crowd booed.

 THE OBIT PAGE: Hoyle Schweitzer, a surfer and sailor who stuck a mast and a sail on a surfboard and created the worldwide sport of windsurfing, died on May 31 in San Marcos, California at age 93.In 1984 windsurfing became an Olympic sport.

— Jim Wooten, a gentleman wordsmith who had been a correspondent for The NY Times and then for ABC News died at age 88. Former colleague Bob Crawford wrote on Facebook: “Jim was among the most eloquent storytellers of our time, often scribbling his magic on yellow legal pads, chain smoking, while riding shotgun in our rental car or standing in a parking garage or pacing in a hotel room. He’d then calmly deliver the words into a microphone often after loud battles with New York editors over cuts.” 

BELOW THE FOLD: The devil and astronauts wear Prada. The fashion company has designed special long underwear with a cooling system for the crew of the Artemis II space missions.   

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