Time: “In the first three months of this year, the official campaign committees for the five Democrats who represent districts that voted for Donald Trump in 2020 are outraising the 17 Republicans from Joe Biden-backing districts by a more than two-to-one margin…” “Every single day of the last three months, these mismatched Democratic lawmakers in the House raised, on average, more than $12,000 in hard dollars for their campaign… Republicans, who are enduring an incredibly narrow and fractious majority in the House, brought in an average of $5,200 daily for their campaigns in the last quarter ..read more

“President Joe Biden will deliver an abortion-focused speech in Florida next week, capitalizing on a looming abortion ban there to make a broader case for reproductive rights,” Politico reports. “The Biden campaign has hammered former President Donald Trump over abortion in recent weeks, after Trump announced this month that he would defer to state-level abortion laws. In quick succession, a number of state-level cases put Trump and the GOP on the defensive on the issue. In Arizona, the state Supreme Court reinstated an 1864-era abortion ban, while in Florida, a six-week ban, approved by the s ..read more

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) told Fox News that Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is to blame for the chaos engulfing the House GOP caucus on Friday. Said Donalds: “Matt’s vacating Kevin McCarthy has brought us to Lord of the Flies on Capitol Hill. Not a good situation ..read more

“A young man set himself on fire after dousing himself with a flammable liquid in Collect Pond Park, across from the courthouse. As onlookers screamed, bright orange flames engulfed the man,” the New York Times reports. “He was in the area of the park cordoned-off for Trump supporters, around two dozen of whom fled screaming ..read more

“Twelve jurors and six alternates have been chosen in the Manhattan trial of Donald J. Trump, who is accused of falsifying business records to cover up a sex scandal that threatened to derail his 2016 campaign,” the New York Times reports. “Opening statements, where prosecutors and defense lawyers will introduce their dueling cases to the newly empaneled jury, are expected to begin as early as Monday ..read more

“Apparently Donald Trump needs to catch up on some sleep, as the former president appeared to doze off in a New York City courtroom yet again on Friday,” the Daily Beast reports. “This time around, reporters noted that Trump’s head repeatedly dropped, and he closed his eyes for quite some time.” “It’s at least the third time Trump has been spotted catching some ZZZs during the first week of his high-stakes hush-money trial ..read more

Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), the former chair of the January 6 select committee, has filed legislation that would strip Secret Service protection for anyone sentenced to jail for a felony ..read more

New York Times: “Interviews in Mr. McCormick’s hometown, as well as a review of public records, news coverage from his childhood and his own words, suggest that he has given a misleading impression about key aspects of his background.” “He has explicitly said and strongly implied that he grew up on a farm, claimed in 2022 that he had ‘started with nothing’ and that he ‘didn’t have anything,’ and he and his campaign have recently described his parents as schoolteachers.” “In fact, Mr. McCormick is the son of a well-regarded college president who later became chancellor of higher education syste ..read more

“So they have to do everything they can to keep him out of that White House ’cause they know Donald Trump gets in for four more years, the jig is up for them. The gloves are off. There are no holds barred here. He is going full-throttle. He’s not worried about winning another election. It’s four years of scorched earth when Donald Trump retakes the White House.” — RNC co-chair Lara Trump, speaking at a fundraiser ..read more

“The hush money trial was never going to be good for Trump, but the first week in court proved just how disruptive and damaging it will be for his 2024 bid,” the Daily Beast reports. Said GOP strategist Alex Conant: “I had sort of underestimated just the giant time-suck this is going to be for him as a candidate.” He added: “He could be raising six, seven figures pretty regularly at major-dollar events around the country at this point. That’s literally what Biden is doing. So Trump’s fundraisers are probably frustrated that because he’s in New York, they can’t schedule that stuff ..read more