Here's how Trump expects to beat ballot cases: CNN legal expert

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Former President Donald Trump already knows he's not going to get the Supreme Court to absolve him of the factual finding he participated in an insurrection, said former federal prosecutor Elie Honig on CNN Wednesday — but he has ways to get his name back on ballots in Colorado and Maine.

"If we're talking about the Fourteenth Amendment, what Donald Trump does in his brief that he submitted yesterday challenging the disqualification is he gives himself a lot of different ways to win," said Honig.

Honig then went on to break down the former president's argument.

"He focuses on the procedural side — that's where this is going to be decided," Honig said Wednesday.

"He says it's up to Congress, not the states, to tell us how the Fourteenth Amendment works. Congress has not done that, other than passing the criminal law.

"But then he says, even if it is up to the states, Maine did not follow its own procedures."

Additionally, Trump rehashes the lower trial court's decision that the presidency is not an "officer" and is, therefore, not subject to the 14th Amendments ruling that insurrectionists can't hold public office.

All told, Honig said, "What Trump is doing is giving himself four or five different ways to win. Lawyers like to do that ... any competitive endeavor, you up your chances."

"Do they see — as you read it, can you pinpoint what they think the most effective?" said anchor Phil Mattingly.

"I think they understand the appeals courts are not going to say, we find you did not engage in insurrection," said Honig. "He understands that is up to the fact-finder. I think he is looking for an argument that's going to take this out of the state's hands altogether, which is one of two arguments.

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"One is, it's up to Congress. In their absence to act, the U.S. Supreme Court finds that all these claims go away. The second one is that the president does not count as an officer argument. I'm not compelled by that myself if I were the judge, but it has gotten some traction. It's a way for the Supreme Court to dispose of all of these cases in one shot."

As for whether the court does get involved, Honig continued, "I think they are going to have to get involved in the Colorado matter ... they can rule on this if they take the Colorado case one of two ways. They can rule in a narrow way that will invite 50 of these challenges, if they say it's up to the states and we find Colorado did or did not follow its own processes."

"Colorado will stand or fall. You'll have 49 other challenges. I think they are going to be looking for a way to make one ruling and say, that's the end of this nationwide, is that's my guess."

But, he added, "I have to say, we're all guessing here. Uncharted territory."

Watch the video below or at the link here.

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New war teed up as ‘most serious' Social Security overhaul attempt in years revealed

A bipartisan group of eight senators is pushing legislation many in Washington view as the "most serious" attempt in more than a decade to overhaul Social Security, setting up a major legislative fight later this year over the fate of benefits for 59 million current recipients.

The bill, called the PROMISE Act and led by retiring Sens. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Bill Cassidy (R-LA), doesn't cut benefits or raise taxes directly, reported NOTUS.

Instead, it would direct the existing Social Security Advisory Board to draft a plan extending the program's solvency for 50 years — likely requiring some mix of tax increases and benefit cuts — and would create procedural rules forcing Congress to vote on that plan.

Backers are targeting the lame-duck session after the midterms, when several supporters, including Durbin and Cassidy, will already be departing the Senate and face no further political consequences. Congress has roughly six years before automatic cuts of up to 25 percent hit beneficiaries, according to the Social Security Board of Trustees, driven by retiring baby boomers and longer lifespans outpacing revenue.

The effort traces back to Durbin's private conversations with Erskine Bowles, co-author of the failed 2010 "Simpson-Bowles" deficit deal, and gained steam through meetings with Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA), Angus King (I-ME), Thom Tillis (R-NC), Cassidy and Finance Chair Mike Crapo (R-ID).

The Senate Finance Committee held its first hearing on the bill last Wednesday.

Opposition is intense and cuts across a broad political spectrum. AARP is urging lawmakers to reject the bill, citing polling showing 85 percent of Americans support maintaining or increasing benefits. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) wants Democrats to instead fund the program by lifting the payroll tax cap for high earners.

Even anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist is lobbying Republican leadership against the bill, calling it a left-wing effort to manufacture GOP support for tax hikes, while Progressive group Social Security Works called the process a way "to cut Social Security in the least democratic way possible."

“They always try in the least accountable moment," said Alex Lawson, executive director of Social Security Works. "For all the times they have failed, they only have to succeed one time for seniors to lose.”

President Donald Trump has vowed not to touch Social Security, and a White House spokesperson declined to comment on the bill. One Senate Democratic aide predicted failure, saying they would "eat my shoe" if it passes this year — a skepticism Durbin himself acknowledged, saying only that "miracles do occur."

Still, supporters argue economic pressure may force action. Rising federal debt has already rattled bond markets and pushed up borrowing costs, and Brookings' Ben Harris said that volatility "could force senators to come to the table," even as he doubted the bill's chances.

Backers also say routing the plan through an independent board is designed to shield lawmakers from direct political blowback — a feature critics say is precisely the problem, warning it strips the public of a voice in decisions that could ultimately determine the size of their retirement checks.

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'Electoral poison': Trump warned 'there's no debate' his pet project is rankling America

Opposition to AI data centers has become one of the rare issues in American politics that cuts across party, geography and ideology, according to CNN's Harry Enten — but for some reason President Donald Trump shrugs off those concerns.

Voter anxiety has surged over artificial intelligence and the massive data centers that technology requires, and Enten found polling that shows 70 percent opposition to building AI data centers in their area.

"I'm not talking about the facts here, whether it's a good idea or a bad idea," he said, "just this is how people feel about it, and it's pretty clear."

That opposition holds remarkably steady across groups that rarely agree on anything, with roughly three in five Republicans in opposition to local data centers, and 63 percent of people in urban areas. Rural Americans and Democrats are even more opposed, at 75 percent and 76 percent, respectively, but the president publicly supports construction of those facilities and has downplayed their impact on the environment and local communities.

"There is no debate when it comes to where people stand on AI and data centers," Enten said. "You rarely see this type of agreement."

Given a choice between building AI infrastructure "slowly to address local concerns" or "quickly to maintain a tech edge over" countries like China, voters chose the slower path by a nearly 4-to-1 margin — 78 percent to 21 percent. Enten noted that this preference holds across "all of the different political and demographic groups."

A broader question about whether AI development itself is "bad for society" also produced rare cross-partisan agreement as 63 percent of Republicans, 74 percent of Democrats and 75 percent of independents said yes, alongside 70 percent of Americans overall.

"The electoral politics of this are very, very clear," Enten said. "AI and data centers are, simply put, electoral poison."

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Sleazy accusations of Katie Miller's past blow up core GOP lie

Something you can always count on from the Trumpublicans is hypocrisy, because nearly everything they say is just full-on obtuse projection language.

There truly isn’t enough space on the internet to break down every example of Trumpocrisy that we’ve witnessed on the daily, but an overwhelming amount of right-wing smokescreening bloviation is centered around sex. I’ve spent far too much time wondering what our planet might look like right now if all conservatives were supported by their parents and taught that their normal and healthy sexual feelings can be expressed safely with a consenting partner.

Instead, you have self-proclaimed “Christian” conservatives getting caught up in sex scandals over and over again. How many televangelists have been brought down by their down-low lifestyles? How many times have we seen them weeping from the pulpit, begging for forgiveness from their followers, so they could keep living their lavish lifestyles?

And how many of them were caught doing the unspeakable to children?

As we’re watching the Epstein Files cover-up play out in front of us, this is a great time to remind everyone that sex scandals in politics used to fully end careers in the pre-Trump years. Democrats are especially good at holding their own accountable, from John Edwards to Gary Hart to Eric Swalwell. When it happens to Democrats, Republicans will go out of their way to shame both parties involved in the scandals. The woman is shamed, the man is forced to resign.

In 2016, when Trump bragged about his conquests on that Access Hollywood tape, MAGA cheered his audacity and bravado instead of being appropriately grossed out by it. The thrice-married philandering Trump, who’s now an adjudicated rapist and the most famous friend Jeffrey Epstein ever had, has permitted them to openly express their misogyny amid the rise of incel culture.

And, as it’s been said repeatedly over these last 11 years of Trump Blight on humanity, their every accusation is a confession.

What I’ve learned about this particular feature is that every accusation is also a warning of something that’s about to drop…on them. And a big one just dropped, my friends.

You might recall that when Katie “Wife of Kapo Nosferatu” Miller tweeted that “Liberal men aren’t attractive,” Twitter was there to prove her very wrong.

KKKatie was barraged with images of Jon Ossoff, Gavin Newsom, Barack Obama, Zohran Mamdani, and other Democratic Men Of Good Looks. And plenty of liberal accounts replying to her kept pointing out that she was probably thirsty for all of them and more after mating with her ancient, traitorous, succubus husband.

Soon after that tweet went viral, we started hearing whispers that Katie had been cheating on Kapo Nosferatu, which no one could really blame her for. But instead of trading up, she made what I’d call a lateral move when it comes to attractiveness:

Elon Musk.

Miller served as a spokesperson for the dumb Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which sparked rumors that she was hooking up with Clarice Starlink. Of course they denied it, which only made the rumors grow louder.

Now we’ve learned that not only does Katie find liberal men attractive, she’s also into giant gross men with cold sores— but only the ones who can help her career.

Let’s unpack those one at a time.

Katie had a fling with Eric Swalwell when she was a 22-year-old intern, according to new reports. Remember when Republicans had a field day with Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton? It’s not the same dynamic, but MAGA is oddly silent at the moment regarding the bombshell revelation, especially when they loved dragging Swalwell over the “Fang Fang” scandal. Miller publicly said she was “positive” there were other interns involved with Slimy Swalwell — and hey, there’s that whole “every accusation is a confession” thing again!

I guess KKKatie wanted to get back at Swalwell after he used their old affair as leverage to kill the Fang Fang scandal, and you know how all of that turned out for him.

While we were still mulling over just how gross all of that is, we also learned Katie hooked up with — and if you’re eating or drinking, you might want to set whatever it is aside for this — Steve Bannon.

Steve “Two Shirts” Bannon.

Steve “Open Sores” Bannon.

Dallas, TX - August 6, 2022: Former White House's chief strategist for Donald Trump Administration Steve Bannon reports from CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole (Shutterstock) Dallas, TX - August 6, 2022: Former White House's chief strategist for Donald Trump Administration Steve Bannon reports from CPAC Texas 2022 conference at Hilton Anatole (Shutterstock)

I know politics makes for strange bedfellows, but when they take that statement literally, it leaves the rest of us wondering what else is going on behind the scenes in DC. Remember Madison Cawthorn’s announcement that MAGA Republicans were holding “cocaine-fueled orgies” all the time?

This is when I should probably interject that KKKatie blocked me on Twitter last month when I went after her for a reply to a tweet from Joe Biden that inferred he wasn’t mentally capable of tweeting for himself.

So, I can’t exactly ask her why she’s the way she is. But plenty of other people who aren’t blocked yet are on her case while we all wonder just what makes Katie Miller so attractive to all of these terrible, disgusting, predatory, and evil men.

Here’s a handy chart someone made that’s circulating on social media. I don’t know who the original creator is, but this is the only acceptable use for AI, as far as I’m concerned.



Katie also horrifically harassed Dr. Anthony Fauci and echoed others who called for his imprisonment. But then we learned from his diaries that he was in touch with Katie and Kapo Cuck in 2020 when she was pregnant and they both tested positive for COVID-19, before vaccinations were available.

While MAGA shames women like E. Jean Carroll, Stormy Daniels, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford, and Anita Hill, they’ll never hold their own to the impossible standards they’ve created for Democrats, which is why it’s up to us to keep shining a light on their hypocrisy.

When you lie down with dogs, you wake up with fleas, as the old saying goes. In Katie’s case, she’s chosen to wake up with sleaze.

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