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Friday, February 9, 2024

2/9 WAKE-UP CALL: High Court Likely To Reject Trump Ballot Ban


The Supreme Court appeared likely to reject an attempt to remove Donald Trump from the 2024 presidential ballot. Justices across the ideological spectrum suggested that Congress, not individual states, must set the standards before a presidential candidate can be disqualified for engaging in insurrection. Colorado’s Supreme Court, invoking a U.S. constitutional provision enacted after the Civil War, barred the former president from the state ballot after finding he engaged in insurrection by inciting his followers to attack the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Trump appealed, and the U.S. Supreme Court expedited its proceedings ahead of Colorado’s March 5 primary election. A ruling in his favor likely would end similar efforts playing out in a variety of states. Meanwhile, a special counsel investigation found that President Biden was sloppy in holding on to classified material but yielded no criminal charges.

  • What Trump's lawyers say: Allowing states to take him off the ballot – as Colorado and Maine have moved to do – would be anti-democratic and violate the rights of the tens of millions of Americans who want to vote for the GOP frontrunner.
  • But on the other side: Allowing him to run again after he refused to accept his 2020 loss − which led to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol − would violate an anti-insurrectionist provision of the Constitution.
  • Here’s the issue: Whether Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, a provision added after the Civil War to keep government officials who sided with the Confederacy from returning to power, applies to Trump. The provision bars people who took an oath to support the Constitution from holding office again if they engaged in insurrection.

➤DOJ GIVES BIDEN DOC PASS: The Justice Department notified President Joe Biden it wouldn’t pursue criminal charges for his handling of classified documents, which were found at his former office in Washington, D.C., and his home in Delaware, but the report contained multiple comments that may reinforce public concerns about the 81-year-old president's age and memory. In a report made public Thursday, special counsel Robert Hur said charges would not have been warranted even if department policy didn't foreclose criminal charges against a sitting president. "Our investigation uncovered evidence that President Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen," according to the report, which noted in particular classified documents about military and foreign policy in Afghanistan. 

Special Counsel Robert Hur described President Biden as a "sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory," and said he would bring no criminal charges against the president despite finding evidence he "willfully" retained and disclosed classified materials. Despite the lack of an indictment, plenty of people are calling the report highly damning of the president's mental state. Biden could not recall when his son Beau died, or the year he left the vice president's office, in interviews with the special counsel.

➤TRUMP DEMANDS CHARGES BE DROPPED: Former President Trump told Fox News Digital that "deranged" Special Counsel Jack Smith needs to "immediately" drop all charges against him in his classified records case following the decision not to bring charges against President Biden for his retention of sensitive national security documents. Trump spoke exclusively to Fox News Digital after Special Counsel Robert Hur's report was made public. Hur did not recommend criminal charges against Biden for mishandling and retaining classified documents — and stated that he wouldn't bring charges against Biden even if he were not in the Oval Office. 

➤U-S SENATE TO DEBATE AID PACKAGE: The Democratic-controlled Senate cleared a critical hurdle toward passing a $95 billion national security-focused bill.  Lawmakers voted 67-32 to debate the measure that is aimed at fortifying Ukraine, Israel and other allies—an issue that has divided Republicans for months. Even if the measure ultimately clears the Senate, it faces a tougher battle in the Republican-controlled House, where GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump holds more sway to discourage Ukraine support. Separately, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the popular commander in chief of the armed forces, Gen. Valeriy Zaluzhniy, as part of Kyiv’s war-effort reboot. In Russia, the sole antiwar candidate in the coming presidential election was disqualified after authorities ruled that some of his ballot signatures were invalid.


➤U-S BELIEVES GAZA CEASE-FIRE IS KEY:  A Gaza cease-fire is key to Israeli-Saudi normalization, according to U.S. and Saudi officials. The Biden administration believes it is still possible to broker a historic deal between Saudi Arabia and Israel, but with the war underway and the U.S. presidential campaign ramping up, the window is closing. Secretary of State Antony Blinken is pushing the matter in talks with Saudi and Israeli officials, as part of a broader effort to end the Gaza war, isolate Iran and stabilize the region. Meanwhile, the U.S. drone strike that killed a commander of the Iraqi militia blamed for a deadly attack at a U.S. base in Jordan risks further straining relations with Baghdad and intensifying pressure on the government to expel the U.S.-led coalition aiding the fight against Islamic State there.

🌴FUND SET UP FOR MAUI FIRE VICTIMS: The Hawaiian state government has set up a fund that will grant $1.5 million each to the grieving survivors of the deadly fire at Lahaina on the island of Maui. The announcement came exactly six months after the wildfires that claimed at least 100 lives.

➤FORMER TRUMP AIDE ORDERED TO REPORT TO PRISON: Peter Navarro, a former top adviser to Donald Trump, has been ordered to report to prison to begin his four-month sentence for contempt of Congress. A judge yesterday denied his request to remain free pending an appeal.

➤TRUMP WINS VOTES IN NEVADA AND VIRGIN ISLANDS: Donald Trump appeared to be the winner of the nonbinding Nevada caucus by an overwhelming margin last night. He also won the Republican caucus in the U.S. Virgin Islands, capturing four delegates.

🏀76ERS GET BUSY: Philadelphia 76ers managers were busy right up to yesterday’s trade deadline. First, they agreed to trade guard Patrick Beverley to the Milwaukee Bucks in return for Cam Payne and a second-round pick. In a separate deal, the 76ers traded Marcus Morris and three second-round draft picks to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Buddy Hield. Finally, the 76ers agreed to trade guard Jaden Springer to the Boston Celtics in return for a 2024 second-round pick.

🏈LAMAR JACKSON WINS NFL MVP AWARD: Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson was awarded the Associated Press NFL MVP award last night. He got 49 out of 50 votes. It is a rare second win for Jackson. He got the award in 2019. 

🏈NFL HALL OF FAME ’24: The Pro Football Hall of Fame picks for 2024 were announced last night in Las Vegas. This year’s inductees are:

  • Dwight Feeney, defensive end and linebacker for 16 seasons
  • Devin Hester, wide receiver
  • Andre Johnson, wide receiver
  • Julius Peppers, defensive end
  • Patrick Willis, linebacker
  • Randy Gradishar, linebacker
  • Steve McMichael, defensive tackle

🏈PREDICTING THE SUPER BOWL: ESPN contacted 64 experts to predict the outcome of this Sunday’s Super Bowl game, and they had 64 different opinions. Well, not exactly. The Kansas City Chiefs have the advantage over the San Francisco 49ers, according to 49 of the experts. The remaining 15 predicted that the 49ers will win. Not surprisingly, almost every one of them came up with a different prediction for the exact scores.

  • CHECK IT OUT: Click here for ESPN’s Super Bowl picks.

☔HOW MUCH RAIN? How much rain did Los Angeles County get this week? As of yesterday, almost 15 inches. Records were broken in several parts of the region. The forecast now calls for drier and warmer weather in most of Southern California, although more snow is expected in mountainous areas.

➤FRIDAY'S WEATHER MAP:





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