Smith to SCOTUS: Don't Help Trump Delay
Plus: Why the GOP is the party of Putin
Recently in The Bulwark:
BILL KRISTOL & ANDREW EGGER: The Self-Immolation of the AZ GOP
JVL: Have! More! Babies!
JOE PERTICONE: A Night at the D.C. Jail
🔔Some changes to Overtime… You may have read about some changes we’ve made regarding Substack, which hosts our website. What should that mean for you? Ideally, nothing! But if you notice anything, send me a note. The change for this newsletter is it is going to one unified version. (I used to send two, identical versions, one paid, one free.)
MONA CHAREN: The GOP Is the Party of Putin.
“RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA HAS MADE ITS WAY into the United States, unfortunately, and it’s infected a good chunk of my party’s base.” That acknowledgement from Michael McCaul, Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, was echoed a few days later by Michael Turner, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee. “It is absolutely true, we see, directly coming from Russia, attempts to mask communications that are anti-Ukraine and pro-Russia messages, some of which we even hear being uttered on the House floor.” Among the falsehoods that GOP members of Congress are repeating is the notion that the Ukraine war is actually a battle between NATO and Russia. “Of course it is not,” Turner told CNN. “To the extent that this propaganda takes hold, it makes it more difficult for us to really see this as an authoritarian versus democracy battle.”
KIM WEHLE: Jack Smith to Supreme Court: Don’t Become a Tool of Trumpian Delay.
TWO WEEKS FROM NOW, on April 25, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral argument on Donald Trump’s breathtaking bid for absolute criminal immunity for any and all actions taken while president, including any criminal ones underlying the federal indictment against him for conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct and obstruction of an official proceeding, and conspiracy to interfere with the constitutional right to vote in connection with the events of January 6th. The primary briefs for both sides are now in. Trump’s filing foretells more delays of the trial date—almost certainly past this coming November’s election.
🎥 PODCASTS AND VIDEOS 🎧
Bulwark Podcast with Tim Miller: Isaac Arnsdorf and Joe Perticone: Trying to Finish What They Started
The Next Level: The 1860s are Back!
Thursday Night Bulwark: The Long Slog to November 🔐
George Conway Explains it All (to Sarah Longwell): Trump’s Legal Turmoil Begins Next Week, All Thanks to Stormy!
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Learn more at Bulwark+ Podcast FAQ.
STEVEN LIEBERMAN: The Maryland Supreme Court Confronts the Desecration of a Black Cemetery.
JUST OFF RIVER ROAD IN BETHESDA, Maryland, a wealthy suburb of our nation’s capital, an asphalt parking lot covers the graves of two hundred African Americans. That parking lot is the subject of a lawsuit in which the pastor of the Macedonia Baptist Church, the Bethesda African Cemetery Coalition, and descendants of individuals buried in the Moses African Cemetery have asked a court to prevent a developer from buying the parking lot and the adjacent land and building for $51 from the Montgomery County Housing Opportunities Commission (HOC), the quasi-governmental agency that currently owns the property.
CATHY YOUNG: Dissident’s Arrest Puts Putin’s Past on Trial.
WHILE POLITICAL ARRESTS and prosecutions have become the norm in Vladimir Putin’s Russia, particularly since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, last week’s arrest in St. Petersburg of 66-year-old writer, former history teacher, and veteran dissident Alexander Skobov stands out. One reason is Skobov’s uncompromising, defiant attitude. According to the independent Russian site Mediazona, which monitors the cases of political prisoners, Skobov not only shouted “Glory to Ukraine!” and “Death to the murderer Putin!” at his arraignment, but refused to rise when the judge entered the courtroom, declaring that he saw “no point in participating in this farce” other than “spitting in the court’s face.”
🚨OVERTIME🚨
Happy Thursday! And an even happier Thursday to our usual TNB viewers: tonight marks its return. I hope you’ll tune in.
St. Louis should look to Cleveland… about block-by-block downtown redevelopment. Their prime real estate problem is quite serious (WSJ). Cleveland has been dealing with this for years (WaPo). The abandoned building has led some locals to traffic in not-too-far-fetched conspiracies. And the Millennium Hotel, overlooking the ballpark? Let’s do something about it!
Catch up with Charlie… Who has some dog pictures for you all at his new personal Substack, and some thoughts.
Nigel Farage’s new party fired an election candidate for being ‘inactive’... Turns out he was dead (Politico).
Vote for Will Selber! We need your vote to get him and the audio team a much-deserved award for The Corruption of Lindsey Graham.
UPCOMING EVENTS
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