Hush, hush: Yesterday, a choose in New York set the primary Donald Trump trial date for March 25.
This trial includes alleged hush cash funds that the previous president paid porn star Stormy Daniels again in 2016 and the falsified enterprise information Trump used to cowl up the funds whereas president. Manhattan District Legal professional Alvin L. Bragg is the one bringing the fees on this low-level felony case, the primary of a number of that Trump faces over the approaching months.
“And as a matter of raw political optics ahead of Election Day, the hush-money trial going first means a month of intense media attention focused on matters the public may be less troubled by than they would have if the federal election-subversion trial in Washington had gone first, as had been expected,” stories The New York Instances. The previous president plans to remain in New York over the course of the trial, as he can be wanted in courtroom, but in addition to conduct marketing campaign occasions within the evenings.
Although this can take away him from the marketing campaign path, he is been involved in attending lots of his courtroom proceedings, even these that aren’t strictly necessary; political analysts say he sees appearances in courtroom as marketing campaign occasions, displaying how embattled and persecuted he’s.
One other disaster on the border: Yesterday, U.S. Border Patrol appearing Deputy Chief Joel Martinez was suspended following accusations of misconduct reported by The Washington Publish. Martinez was not arrested, and it is unclear what he is being accused of.
Nonetheless, this can be a P.R. downside for a regulation enforcement company already dealing with excessive scrutiny for its dealing with, or lack thereof, of the huge migrant inflow on the southern border.
Pew polling information launched yesterday reveals that 78 p.c of Individuals say the inflow on the border constitutes both a “major problem” (32 p.c) or a “crisis” (45 p.c). However round 70 p.c of Republicans describe the overwhelmed border as a “crisis” whereas solely 22 p.c of Democrats do the identical, so the 2 events aren’t fairly agreeing on find out how to characterize the current scenario.
Rather less than one-quarter of whole respondents say they’re frightened about migrants straining social providers, and comparable numbers say they’ve “security concerns.”
Pew stories that “a majority of Americans (57%) say the large number of migrants seeking to enter the country leads to more crime” and “just 18% say the U.S. government is doing a good job dealing with the large number of migrants at the border, while 80% say it is doing a bad job, including 45% who say it is doing a very bad job.” (Emphasis theirs.)
Regardless of the phrase selection you need to use, cities like New York—tasked with shouldering a lot of the migrant-sheltering burden—are souring on the inflow whereas red-state governors deem their migrant-busing stunts a hit. Denver officers are telling all different metropolis departments to chop their budgets so town can accommodate paying for welfare for migrants. Our politics will certainly get extra poisonous as authorities actors show, time and time once more, that they can not create order out of current chaos, and as residents of blue cities develop resentful that their public providers are being reduce to pay for newcomers who haven’t any explicit declare to the locations they’re in search of funds from.
Scenes from New York: In case you missed it, The Lower revealed an unbelievable piece about how their private finance author (actually!) fell for a rip-off and gave away $50,000 of her financial savings, in money, to a person claiming to be a CIA agent.
That is, naturally, a really New York story, nice for some rubbernecking, and the topic is superbly eviscerated right here:
Clearly the perfect touch upon the reduce article pic.twitter.com/iROJc7dwLn
— leyla (@leylaaa31) February 16, 2024
QUICK HITS
- Ahem, you already know the home guidelines: No extra complaining about paywalls. ARCHIVE.PH, for individuals who want it. (And remember to tip your woman Liz with all that cash you are saving from refusing to subscribe to Bloomberg and The New York Instances.)
- This morning, Russian state media introduced that Vladimir Putin critic Aleksei A. Navalny has died in jail.
- Wonderful:
“I think you’re asking for a little more detail than I can give at this moment.” — @sarahkateellis after @ErikWemple requested her to clarify what precisely was incorrect with Emily Bazelon’s story. GLAAD ought to apologize for this nasty smear marketing campaign towards good journalists. https://t.co/gnXRBVpArv
— Jesse Singal (@jessesingal) February 15, 2024
- OpenAI launched a text-to-video mannequin, Sora:
AI assisted or in any other case, there’s one thing so empty about CGI. I’ve by no means been moved by it. Issues filmed in precise bodily area, with actual folks, objects, and nature, are irreplaceable. Terrence Malik’s New World made consider in God, this makes me consider in Kaczysnki. https://t.co/6yCTFJHc2L
— River Web page (@river_is_nice) February 15, 2024
- Why did the Jewish reggae artist Matisyahu have his Arizona reveals canceled?
- “In the most critical cases, climate anxiety disrupts the ability to function day to day,” stories Bloomberg. “Children and young people in this category feel alienation from friends and family, distress when thinking about the future and intrusive thoughts about who will survive, according to Hickman’s research. Patients obsessively check for extreme weather, read climate change studies and pursue radical activism. Some, devastatingly, consider suicide as the only solution.”
- “In Munich, [Vice President Kamala] Harris aims to reassure European allies as Trump disparages NATO,” reads a current headline from The New York Instances. I am sorry, however nothing concerning the bumbling girl cop Harris instills any confidence. Although I respect the thought which you could simply dupe the French and Germans, let’s not be delusional.
- Rolling Stone appears fairly sad that conservative journalist Bethany Mandel is working for varsity board as a Democrat:
NEW: Bethany Mandel, the controversial right-wing pundit and prolific social media poster, is working for varsity board — as a Democrat.
Story: https://t.co/r9Xyy0987Q pic.twitter.com/G2VwiNVcYD
— Rolling Stone (@RollingStone) February 15, 2024