Former President Trump is heading to Georgia this evening to turn himself in on charges related to the 2020 election and allegations that he tried to overturn President Biden‘s win in the state.
Trump said in a social media post he expects to arrive for booking at the Fulton County jail around 7:30 p.m. ET, where he’ll have a mugshot taken — his first amid mounting legal issues.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis is aiming for an Oct. 23 start date in the Georgia trial against Trump and 18 co-defendants, after one defendant asked their trial be moved up.
Trump’s lawyer signaled he opposed moving up the trial. Willis originally proposed it begin on March 4, 2024.
Trump is expected to return to New Jersey this evening after his check-in at the jail. Related Trump-Georgia coverage: - Trump decided to switch up his defense team in the Georgia case just hours before his surrender. (The Hill)
- A top aide to former Vice President Pence has described former Trump White House chief of staff
Mark Meadows as the “ringleader” with much of the events that happened around Jan. 6, 2021. (The Hill)
- House Judiciary Chair
Jim Jordan, the Ohio Republican who has been a staunch ally of Trump, wants documents dealing with Trump’s prosecution in Georgia — specifically Willis’s records relating to the case. (The Hill)
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Welcome to Evening Report! I’m Elizabeth Crisp, catching you up from the afternoon and what’s coming tomorrow. Not on the list? Subscribe here. |
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🐘 The elephant not in the room
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GOP candidates for president spent two hours in their first debate warring against each other as well as the frontrunner — who wasn’t there — with 38-year-old businessman Vivek Ramaswamy instead drawing the most attacks.
Former Vice President Mike Pence alluded to Ramaswamy as a “rookie,” former former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley blasted his lack of foreign policy experience and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie drew a comparison to Barack Obama, likening Ramaswamy to an “amateur.”
The debate also produced an awkward acknowledgement among most candidates on stage that they’d support former President Trump if he wins the GOP nomination — even if he’s convicted on the criminal charges he faces from the 2020 election. How many tuned in? Nearly 13 million viewers tuned in for the GOP debate, according to Nielsen ratings data that includes totals from both Fox News and Fox Business.
Trump held his own counter-programming with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson online, but remained a top topic as the eight candidates on the debate stage duked it out. -
The interview racked up millions more “views” than the debate, as it was streamed on X, the platform formerly called Twitter, but the way views are counted there is much different and less tightly counted than traditional TV.
The next GOP debate, to be hosted by Fox Business, is slated to take place Sept. 27 at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. Trump is again not expected to attend.
Here are five key moments from the debate. |
REACTIONS: - Former Trump campaign adviser David Urban described the debate as a “shitshow,” saying on CNN this morning, “I mean, it was complete train wreck.”
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Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel said she was “surprised” the GOP candidates did not talk more about Trump during the debate.
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🎓 Democrats still begging Biden for student loan relief
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Democrats are again pressing on President Biden to do something about the mounting student debt crisis as payments will begin restarting for the first time in more than three years.
“We are extremely disappointed and concerned that the Supreme Court substituted politics for the rule of law to deny as many as 43 million hard working Americans life-changing relief from crushing student loan debt,” reads the letter sent to Biden this week and signed by top Democrats including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (Mass.).
Biden has voiced support for student debt relief and tried a couple of avenues. The Supreme Court earlier this year shot down the president’s plan to dole out at least $10,000 for student loan borrowers.
More details here from The Hill on what’s happening and what borrowers should expect. |
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👷 Jobs report: Good news for employment but what about inflation?
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Jobless claims are falling as Federal Reserve officials weigh what to do about interest rates. First-time unemployment insurance claims ending Aug. 19 dropped from 240,000 to to 230,000 in a week, the Labor Department reported Thursday.
The Hill’s Tobias Burns reports: “The sustained demand for workers has led to a lot of head scratching and upended orthodox assumptions about the relationship between unemployment and inflation.” (The Hill) |
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👀 Putin: Presumed dead mercenary leader made ‘serious mistakes’
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to the presumed death of Wagner Group founder Yevgeny Prigozhin, saying the mercenary leader had helped Russia but also made “serious mistakes.”
“He made serious mistakes in his life,” Putin said in comments to Russian television, according to clips of the address. But the Russian president said Prigozhin “achieved the necessary results in his life, both for himself and when I asked him to do so for the common goal.”
Prigozhin reportedly died Wednesday in a plane crash traveling from Moscow to St. Petersburg. |
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📱 Too much screen time for kids could cause health issues later
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Childhood sedentary time could lead to an increased likelihood of heart attacks and strokes later in life, researchers report in a new study. (NewsNation via The Hill) |
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“How a $15k Bud Light giveaway needlessly cost AB InBev $27 billion” — via professors O.C. Ferrell and Linda Ferrell. (Read here)
“The Trump-less GOP debate was a mess — and Democrats are smiling” — via Democratic strategic Max Burns. (Read here) |
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145 days until the Iowa caucuses.
327 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee.
362 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
439 days until Election Day. |
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The House and Senate remain on their August break. President Biden is still on vacation in Nevada, and Vice President Harris has nothing on her public schedule. |
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