Trump

AP News - he first criminal trial facing former President Donald Trump is also the one in which Americans are least convinced he committed a crime, a new AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll finds. Read more.   Only about one-third of U.S. adults say Trump did something illegal in the New York hush money case, while close to half think he did something illegal in the other three criminal cases pending against him. A cloud of doubt hangs over all the proceedings. Only about 3 in 10 Americans feel that the prosecutors who have brought charges against Trump are treating the former president fairly. And only about 2 in 10 Americans are extremely or very confident that the judges and jurors in the cases against him can be fair and impartial. Still, half of Americans would consider Trump unfit to serve as president if he is convicted, indicating that public opinion of the trial proceedings, and its outcome, could hurt him politically.

NPR - The Supreme Court hears arguments today that challenge a statute used to prosecute hundreds of defendants charged with invading the Capitol on Jan. 6. Justices will examine how this federal law defines obstruction or attempted obstruction of an official congressional proceeding. The outcome of the case could affect former President Donald Trump, as this law was used to charge him in his immunity case. A federal judge in one Jan. 6 case ruled that the law should only apply to the destruction of documents and records, not to the events of Jan. 6. If the Court rules that storming the capitol doesn't constitute obstructing a congressional proceeding. All cases involving the statute would be halted, NPR's Nina Totenberg says. 

Wired - Trump Media & Technology Group, the Truth Social parent company majority-owned by former president Donald Trump, filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission this morning that helpfully details all of the ways Trump himself poses a threat to the company and its shareholders...The SEC document filed by Trump Media this morning, which announced the public stock offering of 21.5 million shares, also detailed the company’s “risk factors.” These statements are standard for publicly traded companies, and usually include anything from macroeconomic headwinds to worst-case scenarios like earthquakes or terrorist attacks. ... An entire section is dedicated to Trump-associated risks, making Truth Social’s risk factors unique because they cast Trump’s role as chief promoter and majority shareholder as a threat to the company’s success. "“TMTG may be subject to greater risks than typical social media platforms because of the focus of its offerings and the involvement of President Donald J. Trump,” the company said in the SEC filing. “These risks include active discouragement of users, harassment of advertisers or content providers, increased risk of hacking of TMTG’s platform, lesser need for Truth Social if First Amendment speech is not suppressed, criticism of Truth Social for its moderation practices, and increased stockholder suits.”