Trump’s Corruption Hat Trick

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On our political radar this week…

Donald Trump, who has had a lifetime personal wealth-building obsession, set a new standard for corruption this week with three outrageously grubby grifts:

The $1.8 billion slush fund, under his total control, that he can use to pay off his political crime family, even the January 6th rioters
An agreement signed by his onetime criminal defense attorney giving him, his family, and his businesses immunity from any and all tax fraud and underpayment dating back to the beginning of time, and
The revelation that he has engaged in what clearly appears to be thousands of stock trades based on inside information that you tend to get when you are President of the United States

VIDEO: Rachel Maddow on Trump’s Insider Trading

State Senate Democrats have announced a comprehensive plan to fight back against likely Trump efforts to rig Michigan’s election; state House Republicans want to prohibit Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson from any role in state elections if she is also on the ballot. With Michigan’s split control of the Legislature, both efforts are probably doomed.

Michigan’s power brokers are gathering this week on Mackinac Island for the annual Greater Detroit Chamber of Commerce conference. It brings together southeast Michigan business leaders, top level state and local government officials, and a lot of reporters with good expense accounts. Meanwhile, on Sunday, the three Democrats running for the U.S. Senate nomination will debate on one of the nation’s most popular podcasts, Pod Save America.

Donald Trump takes a (political) dump on two more Republican critics in primary elections: Congressman Thomas Massie in Kentucky for the sin of demanding that Trump release the Epstein files, and Senator Bill Cassidy in Louisiana for the sin of voting to convict Trump in Impeachment II and being mean to Bobby Kennedy Jr.
But with the razor-thin GOP majorities in both the House and Senate, will the revenge victories liberate enough votes to sink Trump’s pet projects? Cassidy has already demonstrated his liberation, voting to support Democrats’ efforts to rein in Trump’s unauthorized and illegal war in Iran. (Which one of them is the first to become a commentator on MS Now or launch a podcast?)

Trump’s endorsement of criminally indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate could both lose Trump the support of Senator John Cornyn for the next 7 months … and lose the Senate majority in November.

A lawsuit has been filed in state courts aimed at expanding voting rights in Michigan by making third parties relevant, without making them spoilers. We have an exclusive interview with the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, and his attorney. That would be plaintiff Jeff Timmer on behalf of the Michigan Common Sense Party, and the party’s attorney: Mark Brewer.