Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has obtained a state grand jury indictment in her probe of the Trump’s 2020 fake electors scheme – and she went higher up the chain than might have been expected ..read more

When expelled-Rep. George Santos’ (R-NY) campaign committee reported no fundraising and no expenditures in March, the former congressman — who had launched a new, long shot bid for the First Congressional District in New York — offered up a very Santosian excuse for why exactly his campaign was broke: he didn’t want people to think that he, a notorious fabulist and admitted liar, was scamming everyone again. “I will not be raising a single dime until I’m confirmed on the ballot, unlike many in the media speculating I’m only running to ‘grift’ I’m setting the standard that only confirmed ballo ..read more

Prolapsed umbilical cord. Septic shock. Ruptured amniotic sac. Hysterectomy.  These, the gruesome reality of pregnancy loss, are not words we often hear during Supreme Court oral arguments, buttoned-up proceedings where the justices prefer theory and abstraction to blood and organs.  On Wednesday, the right-wing justices really preferred the safe world of legal abstraction, where they could pretend that Idaho’s abortion ban — which only has an exception to save the woman’s life — won’t inevitably leave women to gruesome suffering.  The Court’s conservative wing tried with ..read more

I routinely tell people not to look at every single poll but to focus on trends over time. That is, if you want to look at them at all. We’ll go into Election Day with the polls tight and the outcome still uncertain. I can say this because I actually watch them very, very closely … like unhealthily closely. It’s characterological. I don’t advise it for anyone else. But if you must, it’s okay, and I can relate. This morning there’s a new batch of swing-state polls from Bloomberg/Morning Consult showing Trump ahead in all but one of those states and growing his lead versus the last of these poll ..read more

The Supreme Court hears arguments Wednesday in a case centered on whether emergency room doctors can provide abortions to women who need them to avoid serious illness and permanent damage — or whether they have to withhold medical care until those women are nearly dead. The case comes out of Idaho, where the Biden administration says that the state’s abortion ban — with only an exception to prevent the death of the woman — must be superseded by a federal statute requiring hospitals taking in Medicare funds to stabilize patients by whatever means necessary. The Supreme Court already interceded ..read more

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version. Gag Order Ruling Could Come At Any Time Judge Juan Merchan heard arguments Tuesday about whether Trump had or had not already violated the gag order against him in the case multiple times. He didn’t rule from the bench, but with no trial today, I’d be surprised if he didn’t issue his ruling before trial resumes tomorrow. Merchan was unsparing in his criticisms of the arguments made by Trump lawyer Todd Blanche, at one point telling him: “You’re losing all credibility with the cour ..read more

A local Arizona news outlet published a story last week highlighting remarks the Republican Senate candidate and election denier Kari Lake made to a crowd at an event put on by the Mohave County Republican Party. She appeared to lament the fact that the 1864-era total abortion ban that the state Supreme Court just allowed back on the books won’t be enforced in the state, unless local sheriffs decide to do it ..read more

NEW YORK — Manhattan prosecutors teed up a key witness in Trump’s criminal trial on Tuesday to delve into the hush-money allegations that form the center of their case: concealed, and allegedly covered-up, payments to adult film star Stormy Daniels ..read more

Sometimes a story catches fire and just a really straightforward look at the fine print shows there’s really nothing to it. One of the recent examples has to do with Sen. John Fetterman and the increasingly vocal complaints that he’s gone rogue from his progressive roots and is likely to one day become or is possibly already on his way to becoming the next Joe Manchin or Kyrsten Sinema. There’s actually a whole conversation on social media about how we’ll soon see him coming out against getting rid of or abolishing the filibuster ..read more

The first criminal trial of a former U.S. president resumes Tuesday morning with a hearing on whether to sanction Trump for alleged violations of the case’s gag order ..read more