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What You May Have Missed

In 2016, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called Donald Trump a “nut job,” but regularly praised Trump during his presidency. But according to one grand juror in the Georgia election case, Graham has come full circle, testifying that “if somebody had told Trump that aliens came down and stole Trump ballots, that Trump would’ve believed it.”

Trump could become the first former president to face criminal charges within the next few days, but his lawyers argue that the Stormy Daniels case is bogus because it was not related to Trump’s presidential campaign.

Republicans are wincing over Trump’s attacks on Ron DeSantis — and are baffled by DeSantis’s moves further and further to the far right.

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY), and defeated Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, are positioning themselves to be Trump’s running mate.

The Trump-aligned Conservative Partnership Institute helped organize a “bootcamp” earlier this year at which Republican congressional staff were trained on how to conduct aggressive oversight of the Biden administration.

Chris Christie, who came in at 0% in several recent polls, says he’ll decide on a 2024 presidential run within the next two months.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX), who has been in Congress since 1995, is considering getting into the crowded Houston mayoral race.

Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN), who has drawn George Santos comparisons for his résumé fabrications, refuses to say what he did with $25,000 raised online for a children’s burial garden that was never built.

It wasn’t all peace and love at Williamson 2020 HQ.

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Extra Links

Here are some links that didn’t make it into Political Wire today:

First Republic Bank is nearing a deal with several big banks to avoid a collapse.
Poland is set to send 4 fighter jets to Ukraine in a few days.
Several tons of uranium have gone missing from a site in Libya that was not controlled by the government, according to a U.N. watchdog.
The President of Mexico has said that cutting tariffs will be a topic of discussion at next week’s meeting of Latin American nations on how to curb inflation.
Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has still not been invited to the White House 11 weeks into his third term.
Iran will stop arming allied Houthi forces in Yemen due to a deal brokered by China between the country and Saudi Arabia.
Israeli undercover forces killed 4 Palestinians during a raid in the West Bank.
The European Central Bank has raised rates by half a point as banks continue to be affected by rising interest rates.
Chinese Billionaire Guo Wengui has been arrested in New York on charges over his involvement with a $1 Billion fraud conspiracy.
The newly approved Alaskan Willow oil project is polarizing opinions among Alaskan natives over the benefits and drawbacks of oil exploration in the state.
Trending on the political dictionary: “Teflon President”

Presented Without Comment

ian bremmer @ianbremmer

life expectancy vs. health expenditure, charted one of these is not like the other

Closing Thoughts

Nate Silver @NateSilver538

At this point in 2015, Bush was polling at 10-15% in the polling average. DeSantis is at more like 30%. It's a reasonably big difference. He also was just reelected whereas Jeb! was a decade+ out from his last reelection in 2015. Far more signs of having traction with voters.

David Frum @davidfrum

Quinnipiac March poll finds Trump 11 points ahead of DeSantis in a head-to-head matchup. In 2015, the big GOP money bet big on a Florida governor as its Trump-stopper - and failed. Is history repeating in 2023?https://t.co/Gr3PSL7rjD

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Trump and DeSantis Spar