Staying Quiet
Neither Trump or McConnell want to publicly talk about the RNC chair race
What You May Have Missed
Even though Donald Trump is quietly supporting Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel for another term, some of his supporters are threatening to upend the Friday vote, where McDaniel faces a spirited challenge from Harmeet Dhillon. True to form, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is staying out of it.
On the day after the RNC vote, Trump will make a previously unannounced trip to New Hampshire before heading to South Carolina for a long-publicized event.
Larry Hogan, fresh out of office after eight years as governor of Maryland, may test whether there’s room in the modern GOP for a moderate presidential candidate.
Democrats see an opening in deep-red Mississippi’s gubernatorial race due to the unpopularity of Republican incumbent Gov. Tate Reeves and the prospect of a bitter GOP primary.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has nominated Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) to the Intelligence Committee, forcing Speaker Kevin McCarthy to decide whether to act on his longstanding threat to bar the duo from the panel.
Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) thought that George Santos was very VIP.
Donald Trump surrounds himself with only the best people.
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What to Watch
Stonehouse is about disgraced Labour minister John Stonehouse, who vanished from the beach of a luxury hotel in Florida in November 1974, leaving a neatly folded pile of clothes as he swam into the sea. A fascinating and true story.
And it’s only three episodes.
Extra Links
Here are some interesting links that didn’t make it into Political Wire today:
Donald Trump may have been correct saying that the Russia investigation was a scam. Today’s indictment of a senior FBI officials is incredible.
Philip Bump sees it too.
Trump won the senior club championship at Trump International and it was totally not rigged.
Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) won’t say if she’s running or comment on Rep. Ruben Gallego’s run, but the timing of her new video is probably no accident.
Richard “Bigo” Barnett, who posed for photos with his feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk, was convicted on all counts. This video didn’t help his court case — though it did probably prove he was indeed a “fucking idiot.”
Not surprisingly, Barnett now claims he did not have a fair trial.
Rep. Greg Pence (R-IN), Mike Pence’s older brother, could forgo a reelection campaign in 2024 to serve as Lt. Gov. Suzanne Crouch’s (R) running mate as she runs for governor.
The classified documents fiasco is starting to hurt President Biden’s approval rate.
Tipping is getting out of control.
Now trending on the political dictionary: “checks and balances”
I always learn something from
and today's example one of the top items: Texas bill to ban Chinese citizens and government from buying Texas land gains steam among Republicans.
Presented Without Comment


Closing Thought
From John Burns-Murdoch late last year in the Financial Times:
“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when the Republican party became the anti-science party, but the process probably began in the 1980s, when the Christian right first emerged as a major force in conservative American politics.”
“Since then, the journey has been smooth and swift. In 1982, 50 percent of self-identified Republicans told the US general social survey they had ‘a great deal of confidence’ in the scientific community. Twenty years later 50 percent had become 40, and last year just one-third of Republicans held that view, compared to two-thirds of Democrats.”
This is just an incredible chart:
Loving this newsletter so far, Taegan. Especially been enjoying the Extra Link section.
And definitely agree on Chris Riback's Newsletter - been a subscriber for awhile and he almost always has something that everyone else misses. Highly underrated Substack/newsletter.
Oh and also, Stonehouse looks like a solid watch!
In regards to the “Prophet Tweet”. She’s more so Jezebel battling against Elijah. Given that she’s aided & abetted in promoting the lies & conspiracies of others 😒.