Biden bets big on Trump conviction

President Joe Biden is very excited for the potential conviction of his political opponent, former President Donald Trump. The White House is pulling out all the stops, preparing a speech to "break [the president’s] silence” on the topic.

The speech is planned from the White House itself, “to show,” Politico reports, “his statement isn’t political.” The window dressing is of course absurd. You’d have to be a member of the D.C. or New York press corps to think anything about this is apolitical. Meanwhile, the president’s social media team is thinking about changing the former president and current Republican nominee’s title to “Convicted Felon Donald Trump” in its TikTok posts.

As the trial concludes, we’re still left wondering what secret crime Trump committed that turns an out-of-date misdemeanor into a felony case with dire implications for American democracy. It all hinges on a so-called “object crime” (or crime the first misdemeanor was committed in the service of), which would upgrade falsifying an accounting entry into 34 felonies and the potential for over a century in prison. The prosecution has been vague on what this object crime was — and appears to have successfully persuaded a judge that the jury doesn’t need to specify either — but spent four hours Tuesday trying to convince the jury to convict anyway.

‘As Democrats’ Jan. 6 and ‘democracy under attack’ messaging falls flat just over five months from Election Day, the party's panic is growing more public.’

Meanwhile, outside the courtroom, Robert De Niro took off his COVID mask to read prepared remarks for a bizarre presser reminiscent of Clint Eastwood’s 2012 Republican National Convention address. Flanked by Harry Dunn (the Capitol Police officer who invented a tale of his heroism and lost a congressional primary earlier in May) and his former colleague, Michael Fanone, De Niro claimed Trump “wants to destroy not only [New York City], but the country, and eventually, he can destroy the world.”

“And that's why I've joined the Biden-Harris campaign,” the actor explained. “Because the only way to preserve our freedoms and hold on to our humanity is to vote for Joe Biden for president. Really. We don't have a choice.”

If the actor had any thoughts on the actual trial, he kept them to himself. The important thing was keeping Trump from returning to the White House. The trial is essential to that effort. As Democrats’ Jan. 6 and “democracy under attack” messaging falls flat just over five months from Election Day, the party's panic is growing more public.

“A pervasive sense of fear has settled in at the highest levels of the Democratic Party over President Joe Biden’s reelection prospects,” Politico reported the morning of the trial’s closing arguments, “even among officeholders and strategists who had previously expressed confidence about the coming battle with Donald Trump.”

While some experts are predicting a hung jury, much will come down to the instructions the judge ends up giving at the end of closing arguments. While the many indignities and insanities of the trial will make a strong case for overturning any conviction, that wouldn’t take place until after November — and the damage Team Biden is hoping for will be done.

The prosecution of Donald J. Trump is all about politics. The White House and media Democrats can deny it all they like — but they’re counting on it.

Blaze News: The slow death of DC Democrats’ Jan. 6 politics

Politico: Dems in full-blown ‘freakout’ over Biden

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IN OTHER NEWS

Trump endorses against Freedom Caucus chairman

Trump surprised conservative activists Tuesday morning, endorsing Virginia state legislator John McGuire in his primary against House Freedom Caucus Chairman Bob Good.

“It’s awful,” one longtime activist told Blaze News. “I don’t think Trump has made a single good endorsement in a race between a conservative and a RINO.”

But was it so unexpected? Trump endorsements fall largely into three categories: Has the candidate shown loyalty to Trump (Trump prizes loyalty), does he think the candidate is “a winner” (Trump loves winners), and does the candidate have business dealings with one of Trump’s close advisers (who can sway the decision)?

For all his popularity with the conservative activist class, Good failed on two of these counts. First, he endorsed Gov. Ron DeSantis in the Republican primary (and then was late to endorse Trump), and second, he’s far from pals with longtime Virginia Republican operative and top Trump adviser Chris LaCivita.

It’s fine to make enemies with LaCivita; few conservatives trust him. But he is a political animal and is the type to get you back with a head wound on a slow Capitol Hill news week when Congress is in recess.

And the reality is it’s hard to say for certain whether it was LaCivita (though that’s the word on the street). Players like him, Susie Wiles, Brian Jack, Corey Lewandowski, and others thrive in the somewhat nebulous environment of the Trump Swamp. Any one of Trump’s advisers could have pushed the needle, or it could have been Trump's call alone.

Contrary to the conventional wisdom of Washington and its reporters, the Freedom Caucus is far from Trump’s loyal palace guard. While two of its members — Reps. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) and Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.) — served as chiefs of staff in his first term, and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) has been a close ally, it’s worth remembering the Freedom Caucus routinely opposed the president’s spending bills and troubled his doomed health care reform. At one point, Trump even called for a primary against Jordan.

Finally, McGuire is a retired Navy SEAL. Trump loves military men. Maybe he just liked that. His personal affection for Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), for example, helped override the intense dislike former Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has for his old rival. Despite leaving Congress, McCarthy has remained a close and trusted adviser to the Republican nominee.

On the other end of the spectrum, Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.), who also crossed McCarthy, is protected by virtue of employing the right consultants in Trump world. So there’s that.

All that is to say you can make guesses and predictions and anything else you want, but Trump’s court is a complicated court. If you’re looking for an endorsement, mark the formula — and stick close to it.

The fire rises: Washington Examiner: Anti-abortion activist Mark Houck sues DOJ over ‘retaliatory’ arrest

Remember Mark Houck? He’s the father of seven who defended one of his kids from a rabid pro-abortion activist screaming in his face. The far-left Philadelphia DA declined to bring charges, but our “devoutly Catholic” president’s Department of Justice though differently. For his troubles, Houck’s home was raided at dawn by suited-up tactical police. Having been acquitted of the bogus charges, he’s fighting back. The Examiner’s Kaelan Deese reports:

Mark Houck‘s life was changed forever in the fall of 2022 after he was arrested at gunpoint in front of his family following an investigation into his anti-abortion activism outside a Planned Parenthood clinic in Philadelphia.

After the Pennsylvania-based Catholic father’s acquittal by a jury in January 2023, Houck is demanding accountability for the Department of Justice in a new lawsuit filed this week. The complaint names six police officers, including four unknown officers, that aided the FBI’s investigation and execution of the “needless” raid of Houck’s home, his attorney Matt Britton told the Washington Examiner.

The suit was brought under the Federal Tort Claims Act, accusing the DOJ under the Biden administration of “malicious prosecution, retaliatory prosecution, abuse of process, false arrest, assault, and intentional infliction of emotional distress committed by federal employees and agents against Mr. Houck, Mrs. Houck, and their children,” according to the 79-page lawsuit.