The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Judge to consider unsealing FBI search documents

by Cate Martel - 08/18/22 12:30 PM ET

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.*

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

HAPPENING TODAY

Give us the tea:

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart, who authorized the FBI raid of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, is holding a hearing on Thursday to discuss what materials will be unsealed.

When and where is the hearing?: 1 p.m. EDT in West Palm Beach, Fla.

Can we watch the hearing online?: No, it will not be livestreamed. Details of the hearing

What has been unsealed so far?: The warrant and a list of items that were seized during the FBI search.

What some media outlets are pushing to have unsealed: “Of particular interest is the affidavit that federal investigators would have had to file with the court under seal laying out why they thought there was probable cause that a crime had been committed and why they believed that evidence of the crime had existed at Mar-a-Lago in recent days.” More on what to expect, via CNN

The Justice Department does not want to unseal the affidavit, though: The DOJ argues it would hurt the ongoing investigation.

IT’S THURSDAY. I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here.

💰 Breaking

A top Trump exec pleads guilty to a tax scheme:

Via The New York Times’s Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess andWilliam K. Rashbaum, “One of Donald J. Trump’s most trusted executives stood before a judge on Thursday and pleaded guilty to 15 felonies, admitting that he conspired with Mr. Trump’s company to carry out a scheme to avoid paying taxes on lavish perks — even while refusing to implicate the former president himself.” The full story

Details from The Associated Press’s Michael R. Sisak: “Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg pleaded guilty to all 15 of the charges he faced in the case. He was accused of dodging taxes on lavish fringe benefits he got from the company, including lease payments for a luxury car, rent for a Manhattan apartment and private school tuition for his grandchildren.” More from AP

Which investigation is this?: The Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into the Trump family business.

🔥 Jan. 6

A threat Pelosi wasn’t told about:

“The Secret Service did not inform Capitol Police about a threat made against Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot until after the attack was underway, according to a watchdog group.”

Read the report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

How long did the Secret Service know about this threat?: “The Secret Service noted that it became aware of threatening posts made on a Parler account at least as early as Jan. 4, 2021, according to CREW. Among some of the posts the agency found was one made on Dec. 31, 2020.”

What we know from The Hill’s Caroline Vakil

📉 The Inflation Reduction Law

FBI *grumble* IRS *grumble*:

“The GOP is warning that the $80 billion funding boost to the IRS included in Democrats’ tax, climate and health care package, which President Biden signed into law on Tuesday, will target middle-class Americans with an ‘army’ of new enforcement agents.”

So now: This has become a key part of Republicans’ messaging on the campaign trail.

How Democrats are pushing back on that claim — saying it won’t affect families who make less than $400,000 a year: “Democrats, the Biden administration and various fact-checkers have pushed back on the claims. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig that audit rates should not ‘rise relative to recent years for households making under $400,000 annually’ and that new resources should not be directed to audits of families or businesses that fall below those levels.”

How this debate could play out, via The Hill’s Emily Brooks

🦠 In health news

News this morning — let’s hit the gas on that monkeypox vaccine:

Via The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel, “The Biden administration is planning to accelerate the delivery of its remaining supply of monkeypox vaccines and will make an additional 1.8 million doses available for ordering starting Monday, officials said Thursday.”

The fine print: “Jurisdictions will only be able to access the additional doses if they adopt the intradermal administration of vaccine and have used 90 percent of their current supply of vaccine, officials said.” What we know

➤ THE COVID-19 NUMBERS

Cases to date: 93 million

Death toll: 1,033,332

Current hospitalizations: 34,386

Shots administered: 606 million

Fully vaccinated: 67.3 percent of Americans

CDC data here.

🗳 On the campaign trail

TIDBIT — ELON MUSK ATTENDED A KEVIN MCCARTHY FUNDRAISER:

Tesla CEO Elon Musk attended a fundraised hosted by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on Tuesday, reports Bloomberg’s Billy House

Keep in mind: This fundraiser was held in Teton Village, Wyo., on the same day that Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) lost her primary in that state for her criticisms of former President Trump.

‘WHO IS MARY PELTOLA, THE DEMOCRAT OUTPERFORMING EXPECTATIONS IN ALASKA?’:
Via The Hill’s Julia Manchester

‘LIZ CHENEY SHAKES UP 2024 FORECAST’:
Via The Hill’s Max Greenwood

‘HOW THIS POPULIST DEMOCRAT IS TAKING ON RON JOHNSON IN WISCONSIN’:
Via The Hill’s Hanna Trudo

🗓 In the White House

It’s been a rough year for Joe Biden’s presidency:

Via The Hill’s Morgan Chalfant and Amie Parnes, “The one-year anniversary of the messy U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan is forcing the White House to revisit a raw and sensitive moment in President Biden’s term.”

From a Democratic strategist: “It marked the beginning of a dark time for his presidency. You could almost see the symmetry between his falling poll numbers at the time and that moment.”

One year later — where does Biden stand?: “Biden is now seeing an uptick in some polls after a surprisingly strong summer legislative session that culminated with his signing Tuesday of a massive climate, tax and health care package. A Politico-Morning Consult poll released Wednesday found that Biden’s approval rating inched up three percentage points to 42 percent just in the past week. Still…Biden has not yet recovered the ground he lost following Afghanistan, noting Gallup’s poll last September had Biden at 43 percent approval.”

More on where Biden’s legacy may stand

🐥Notable tweets

This is sending me into fight or flight mode:

CNN tweeted, “To get people excited about pizza again, Papa Johns is offering a new spin on the classic, with Papa Bowls that are all topping — no crust.”

Photo of Papa John’s new topping bowls — I demand the bread!

Just in time for football season!:

NBC’s “Today” tweeted that “chicken wing prices have now dropped to below their pre-pandemic levels.” Watch the clip

⏱On tap

The House and Senate are out. President Biden is in Delaware. Vice President Harris is in Hawaii.

It’s really feeling like August recess.

📺 What to watch