12:30 Report

12:30 Report — Trump hush money trial on recess as case winds down

by Cate Martel 05/22/24 12:30 PM CDT

Former President Trump sits in Manhattan criminal court, May 21, 2024, in New York.

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12:30 REPORT

It’s Wednesday. It’s almost Memorial Day weekend, which I like to think of as the Thursday night of the year! You follow? 😉 Here’s what’s happening today:

The Trump trial has recessed until after Memorial Day weekend. There are five major moments that could determine the jury’s decision.
A video of a baby responding to the question, “Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando?” has gone viral on TikTok. The video and accompanying responses are unbelievably funny.
The RNC headquarters was placed on lockdown after receiving vials of blood in a package.

I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Send tips, commentary, feedback and cookie recipes to cmartel@digital-stage.thehill.com.  Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

🍎 Trump’s Legal Battles

Let’s take a breather until Tuesday:

Both the prosecution and the defense have rested their cases in former President Trump’s hush money trial.

What happens now?: Judge Juan Merchan dismissed the jurors for Memorial Day weekend, then both sides will deliver their closing arguments after the holiday.

➤ FIVE BIG MOMENTS THE JURY WILL HAVE TO WEIGH:

The Hill’s Niall Stanage pulled together a list of the five biggest aspects of the trial that the jury will have to consider.

The Cohen-Trump Oval Office meeting in early 2017. That’s when Michael Cohen claims they discussed the alleged scheme.
The defense tried to poke holes in the ex-Trump fixer’s credibility, and Stanage argues there were two notable instances when the former president’s team seemed successful.
Adult film star Stormy Daniels’s testimony. “The level of detail she ascribed to the liaison with Trump could make his flat-out denials of the encounter seem flimsy,” Stanage writes.
Former aide Hope Hicks’s testimony. A big question is whether Trump wanted to silence Daniels to avoid embarrassment or because of his presidential chances.
Former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker testified that there was a “catch-and-kill” strategy to suppress negative stories.

Read Stanage’s explainer of the five biggest moments for the jury to consider.

Really, now?:

Newly unsealed court filings show that former President Trump’s lawyers found *more* classified documents in his bedroom four months after the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate. (The Hill)

Plus, in The Washington Post: ‘How Trumpworld convinced itself that the feds aimed to take out Trump’

➤ MORE READS ON THE TRIAL:

‘Why Trump keeps reading printouts of news articles at his trial’: The Washington Post
‘How Media Outlets Are Covering Justice Merchan in Trump’s Criminal Trial’: The New York Times

📦 News this Morning

RNC under lockdown:

The Republican National Committee’s headquarters in Washington was placed on lockdown after receiving a package containing vials of blood, according to U.S. Capitol Police. (The Hill)

Cross off another 160,000 borrowers:

President Biden will cancel student debt for another 160,000 borrowers. That brings his student loan cancellation to 4.75 million Americans.

Who is included in this round?: “The 160,000 borrowers are people enrolled in the Biden administration’s SAVE Plan, and are public service workers like teachers, nurses, or law enforcement officials, or are borrowers who were approved for relief because of fixes to IDR plans.” (The Hill)

Hey, we have an idea:

The Wall Street Journal’s Natalie Andrews reports that “A bipartisan pair of influential lawmakers proposed new rules forcing presidents to make their tax returns public and mandating that family members reveal more financial information, but the measure drew opposition from the White House.”

💸 Capitol Hill

Mitch doesn’t speak for the group anymore:

Remember the bipartisan border security bill that Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) called a “huge success” a few months ago? Well, now senators in his caucus are vowing to block the bill, reports The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.

➤ TIDBITS:

Wow, I’m obsessed with these photos: Business Insider’s Bryan Metzger posted some photos of the Congressional Chess Tournament, taken by Roll Call’s Bill Clark. I love how seriously Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is taking it. 📸 Photos

All the Bill Clark photos today: Clark also posted a photo of “That time [House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.)] photo-bombed [Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman’s] video conference call.” 📸 Photo

👆 The Talk of TikTok

**There is something up with this baby. Something is not right:**

A video of a mom asking her young kids, “Who wants to go to the Four Seasons Orlando?” has gone viral on TikTok. Her 13-month-old daughter’s hand shot up and she responded, “MEEEE!👆” In other words, this baby would be *absolutely elated* to attend the relaxing excursion.

The baby’s reaction is far more mature than anyone would expect for a 1-year-old, so the internet is having a ball. Well, and some are concerned about our reality.

📹 Watch the viral video — It has more than 41 million views so far.

The video’s comments have me in tears. Here are some of my favorites:

🗨️ Abby: “Oh my mother I would be dazzled to attend the four seasons Orlando”

🗨️ Andrea: “[She] had to shake [her] arm at the end to reinforce the illusion that [she’s] just an unaware baby”

🗨️ Silas: “It’s like [she] waited to hear which Four Seasons before answering”

🗨️ Forrest: “Splendid mother. Absolutely splendid. Not only will I be participating in the visiting of the four seasons of Orlando, but I will be accompanied by my family whomst I love the most.”

And here are some of my favorite response videos:

📱 This stitch perfectly encapsulates the Four Seasons Baby

📱 There’s something up with this baby, too! I laughed out loud at this video.

➤ YESSS, ROLLING STONE TALKED TO THE FAMILY!:

“The family visited for the first time when Kate was about six months old. Apparently, it made quite an impression,” Rolling Stone’s EJ Dickson writes.

Read the interview with Baby Kate’s family

🐝 Internet Buzz

🥣 Celebrate: Today is National Vanilla Pudding Day.

🍗 Some call it a party. I call it dinner: Wendy’s is now selling a 50-count pack of chicken nuggets. (People)

RFK Jr.’s preppy look: The New York Times’s Vanessa Friedman writes: “The Power of the Kennedy Look.”

Excerpt: “In an election fought partly through the images that inundate social media and pit archetype against archetype — Donald J. Trump, the 1980s red-tie-wearing sultan of reality TV, versus President Biden, the aviator-clad deal maker of D.C. — Mr. Kennedy offers a Rorschach test of a different kind. At least stylistically speaking. His look — skinny rep ties, button-downs, shrugged-on suits, shock of gray hair and weather-beaten tan — not only sets him apart.”

🗓️ On The Agenda

The House and Senate are in. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington. (all times Eastern)

1 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre briefs reporters. 💻 Livestream
2 p.m.: First House votes. Last votes are expected at 4:30 p.m. 📆 Today’s agenda
3:15 p.m.: Two Senate votes. 📆 Today’s agenda
4 p.m.: Biden welcomes Kenyan President William Ruto to the White House.
4:30 p.m.: Biden and Ruto meet with business leaders.

👋 And Finally…

To leave you feeling as confident as ever, imagine rolling up with this crew.

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