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Democrats warn Mike Johnson about private talks with MTG

(Axios) House Democrats are aghast as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) conducts a series of lengthy meetings with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) aimed at defusing her efforts to oust him. House Democratic Caucus Vice Chair Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) said Tuesday: "When Speaker Johnson meets with her for hours, the American people should be asking 'what is Marjorie Taylor Greene extracting from the speaker?'" "I don't know what in the world they could be talking about for hours on end, and I don't know why he would waste his time there. We have given enough indication we can help him get back to business," Rep. Hillary Scholten (D-Mich.) told Axios.

Disaster For Trump As Nikki Haley Gets Over 20% Of The GOP Primary Vote In Indiana

(PoliticusUSA) Nikki Haley got more than 20% of the vote against Donald Trump after quitting the Republican primary and not spending one single second in the state. Indiana is one of the most Republican friendly states in the nation. There is no way that under normal circumstances a candidate like Haley who dropped out of the race, after Trump clinched the nomination should be getting anything close to 20% of the vote. There is a segment of the Republican Party that keeps sending the message over and over again in these primaries that they do not want Donald Trump to be their party’s nominee. The polling says that the hush money trial and all of his legal problems don’t hurt Trump with Republicans, but the primary results tell a different story.

Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says he's not voting for Trump: 'Character is too important'

(Yahoo Finance) Paul Ryan has no interest in giving Donald Trump another chance come November. The former House speaker told Yahoo Finance on Tuesday that he doesn't plan to vote for the former president, adding he would be writing in a Republican candidate instead. “Character is too important for me,” Ryan told us at the Milken Institute Global Conference. “[The presidency] is a job that requires the kind of character [Trump] doesn’t have.”

Michigan Republican Unseated After Losing to Democrat by 20 Points

(Newsweek) A Republican county commissioner has been unseated in Michigan after losing to her Democratic challenger by 20 percentage points. Chris Kleinjans won an Ottawa County election on Tuesday with 60 percent of the vote share, while the Republican incumbent Lucy Ebel lost, having received 40 percent. Michigan is a battleground state that will be key to November's presidential election. Donald Trump won the county with 61 percent of the vote in 2020.

Wednesday TOONs

Anti-Abortion Laws Linked To Increase In Domestic Violence Deaths, Study Shows

(Huff Post) Anti-abortion laws increase the likelihood that pregnant victims of domestic violence will be murdered by their abusive partner, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in a leading peer-reviewed health care journal Health Affairs, looked at data from 2014 to 2020 to analyze the link between anti-abortion laws and intimate partner violence before the Dobbs decision that repealed Roe v. Wade. The authors of the study were prompted to research this intersection because of one indisputable fact: Murder by an abusive partner is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the U.S. ― outpacing medical issues like sepsis and hemorrhage.

Most Think Trump Will Be Convicted

(Political Wire) A new USA Today/Suffolk University Poll found 65% expect a guilty verdict on at least some of the 34 felony charges that Donald Trump tried to affect the 2016 election by paying hush money to a porn star, then falsified business records to cover it up. Just 23% of those surveyed, disproportionately Trump supporters, say he will be exonerated.

R.F.K. Jr. Says Doctors Found a Dead Worm in His Brain

(New York Times) In 2010, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was experiencing memory loss and mental fogginess so severe that a friend grew concerned he might have a brain tumor. Mr. Kennedy was immediately scheduled for a procedure at Duke University Medical Center. While packing for the trip, he said, he received a call from a doctor at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital who had a different opinion: Mr. Kennedy, he believed, had a dead parasite in his head. The doctor believed that the abnormality seen on his scans “was caused by a worm that got into my brain and ate a portion of it and then died,” Mr. Kennedy said in the deposition.

'Nobody seems interested' in helping Giuliani with accounting duties in bankruptcy case, lawyers claim

(The Hill) Rudy Giuliani is having a hard time finding someone to help with the accounting duties in his bankruptcy case and may have to do it on his own, lawyers said in a filing Tuesday. According to the filing, Giuliani had an accountant helping him meet the accounting obligations in the case, but “he had a change of heart and indicated that he no longer wished to help prepare the monthly operating reports.” Giuliani has reached out to “a number of accounting firms” for their help, “however, no one seems interested in taking the assignment.”

In docs case, controversial judge gives Trump the delays he needs

(MSNBC) As Donald Trump confronts dozens of felony counts across multiple jurisdictions, the classified-documents case stands out for a reason: It’s the toughest to defend. Last summer, even a Senate Republican was willing to concede the case looked like a “slam dunk” for prosecutors. With this in mind, the former president and his defense attorneys, desperate to avoid a conviction, have pushed one priority above all others: Team Trump, from the outset, has tried to delay the proceedings to prevent a trial from taking place before Election Day 2024.