Thursday's Briefing: Trump’s "Hush Money" Allegations, Kennedy’s Campaign Controversy, and Biden’s Support among Baby Boomers

Politics

So many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital. — Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles
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Trump (R): “What I Saw Working at The National Enquirer During Donald Trump’s Rise” [New York Times]
Important (and also very funny). From a former editor: “At the center of the case is the accusation that Trump took part in a scheme to turn The National Enquirer and its sister publications into an arm of his 2016 presidential campaign.” The documents detailed three “hush money” payments made to a series of individuals to guarantee their silence about potentially damaging stories in the months before the election. Because this was done with the goal of helping his election chances, the case implied, these payments amounted to a form of illegal, undisclosed campaign spending. And, Bragg argued, because Trump created paperwork to make the payments seem like regular legal expenses, that amounted to a criminal effort at a coverup. Trump has denied the charges against him.”

Trump (R): “Trump sues NY judge overseeing hush money case in effort to delay trial” [The Hill]
“Judge Juan Merchan’s gag order bars Trump from attacking witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and the judge’s family… Weeks later, the judge expanded his order to include attacks against his family and Bragg’s family following a series of posts Trump made about the judge’s daughter, who works at a progressive political consulting firm. Merchan’s daughter, Loren, is an executive at the digital agency Authentic, which boasts clients including prominent Democrats President Biden and Vice President Harris. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y) is a past client. Loren Merchan is also the subject of the former president’s efforts to recuse the judge from the case — an effort he has mounted twice.”

Trump (R): “Trump favorabilty among Latinos rising as Biden’s falls: Survey” [The Hill]
“The Axios/Ipsos survey shows Biden’s favorability among Latinos has fallen 6 points since last summer — 47 percent in June 2023 to 41 percent last month. Trump’s favorability among Latinos in the same time period rose from 29 percent to 32 percent.”

Trump (R): “Donald Trump crashes out of the Bloomberg rich list due to his meme stock nosediving” [Business Insider]
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