Morning Report — Willis wins Georgia primary; Dems step up pressure on Alito

Primary voters in Georgia went to the polls Tuesday and supported officials at the center of the state’s prosecution of former President Trump.

In Fulton County where Democrats dominate, District Attorney Fani Willis (D), whose office is prosecuting Trump for election interference amid a turbulent period in which she conceded a romance with a now-former colleague, defeated Democrat and former prosecutor Christian Wise Smith. Willis is expected to prevail in November against Republican Courtney Kramer, a former legal intern in the Trump administration and former litigation consultant to the Trump campaign.  

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who oversees Trump’s Georgia election interference case, defeated challenger Robert Patillo II, a civil rights attorney. McAfee was backed by Republicans and Democrats, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and former Gov. Roy Barnes (D).

In Kentucky primaries, conservative Rep. Thomas Massie easily survived a challenge in the state’s 4th Congressional District. And Republican Rep. Hal Rogers, the longest serving member of the House, won his primary in the 5th Congressional District.

In Oregon, Biden won the Democratic presidential primary and Trump is the winner of the state’s GOP presidential primary.

The House GOP padded its narrow majority in Washington as Republican California state legislator Vince Fong defeated Republican Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux Tuesday in a special election and runoff to fill the seat vacated last year by ousted former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.).

Meanwhile, Republicans and Democrats in the Capitol are busy messaging to respective supporters using political weaponry guised as statutory punishments.

House and Senate Democrats want to turn up the heat on conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito following a New York Times report and photo showing an American flag flown upside down at his home shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. An upside-down flag is a distress signal and was a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” conservative movement that opposed Biden’s 2020 victory. The photo also triggered reactions of outrage from progressives across media platforms, perceived as a positive reaction by Democrats eager to motivate prospective voters this year.

Asserting political bias on the part of Alito, at least 45 Democrats signed a letter seeking the justice’s recusal from all pending Jan. 6-related cases. Supreme Court justices are largely self-policing when it comes to recusals and disclosures of conflicts of interest but ethics controversies forced the court to publicize nonbinding guidelines last year. Alito has blamed the flag on his wife’s spat with a neighbor.

“Your own public statement attempts to pass responsibility to your wife, but you nonetheless acknowledge that it was a political statement in support of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 election,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The fact of such a political statement at your home creates, at minimum, the appearance of improper political bias,” they added.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Tuesday he’s considering bringing a Supreme Court ethics bill to the floor this week in reaction to Alito’s flag flying, which Schumer said calls into question the conservative justice’s impartiality. The majority leader said he will confer with Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.).

Alito remains a Democratic political target as the lead author of the majority opinion that overturned Roe v. Wade and sent to the states in 2022 decisions about abortion restrictions. Alito was nominated to the high court by former President George W. Bush and was confirmed by a nearly party-line vote in the Senate, 58-42. Four Democrats from red states voted with all Republicans to confirm him in 2006.

CBS News: Not only is Trump “obsessed with losing 2020, he’s clearly become unhinged,” Biden told donors during a campaign event in Boston Tuesday night, according to pool reporting from one of two events. “He’s a threat to the planet.”

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LEADING THE DAY

CONGRESS

BIPARTISANSHIP HAS EVAPORATED on border security legislation in the Senate, as Republicans will vote in party line against the border security deal that Schumer is bringing back to the floor this week. Even though Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) once hailed the proposal as a “huge success by any objective measure,” partisan politics have ramped up five months out from the election, writes The Hill’s Alexander Bolton.

McConnell, who helped negotiate the border security package earlier this year when it was attached to $61 billion in Ukraine aid, on Tuesday called the Democrats’ plan to bring it back to the floor “a gimmick.” He instead urged Biden in a phone call to address the border crisis through executive actions, even though administration officials have said for months they have limited authority to stop border crossings without congressional action.

“I said to him … Mr. President, you caused this problem. There’s no legislation that allows the problem to be fixed. Why don’t you just allow what the previous administration was doing,” McConnell said, recounting his conversation with Biden.

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS: Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas), a staunchly anti-abortion Republican, introduced a bill he said is aimed at protecting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF), in the latest sign the GOP feels vulnerable on reproductive rights and is trying to shore itself up against Democratic attacks. The Hill’s Nathaniel Weixel reports Cruz is facing a reelection battle against well-funded Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas), who quickly jumped on the attack, accusing Cruz of trying to cover up his record.

“Let’s be clear, Ted Cruz’s long-standing support for an extreme ban on abortion which is now threatening IVF is why we are here,” Allred said.

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ZOOM IN

MORE IN POLITICS

BIDEN MAY LOSE support among young Black voters come November as the war in Gaza continues. Young Black voters have grown increasingly disillusioned with the Democratic Party and some polls suggest the key voting bloc may opt not to participate in the fall to protest U.S. policies supporting Israel’s military campaign against Hamas and the resulting civilian casualties. Black Americans say they identify with Palestinians’ struggles in Gaza.

“This is the subtle life we live with every day,” Quintin Cross, senior policy adviser at the Hudson/Catskill Housing Coalition, told The Hill’s Cheyanne M. Daniels. “Whether it’s police violence, government attack or just a general disregard for Black lives, we can relate.”

COURTS

Trump trial: The former president’s defense team rested its case Tuesday in the Manhattan hush money trial after calling two witnesses, neither of whom was Trump. The defense team has asserted bias and untruths within the prosecution’s criminal indictment of Trump for allegedly falsifying business records meant to influence voters during the 2016 election. The defense’s legal strategy has not focused on refuting all witness testimony harmful to Trump, but instead to raise reasonable doubt about witness recollections, character and their motivations. The defendant, who has outlined his theories to reporters beyond the courtroom, opted not to take the stand on Day 20, a choice many legal experts expected. Closing arguments are set Tuesday following the Memorial Day weekend, after which the jury could reach a verdict that impacts the 2024 presidential election and enters the history books. The trial takes a break today. Here are at least five big moments the jury will have to weigh.

Classified documents: In the Justice Department’s prosecution of Trump for illegally taking national security and other documents to Mar-a-Lago after leaving office, it now comes to light in a court filing that more records were discovered in Trump’s Florida bedroom after the FBI’s search. The former president says he’s not guilty of violating the Presidential Records Act or obstructing a federal investigation. A trial in Florida may not occur this year because of slow deliberations by the federal judge managing the case.

Guns: If the Supreme Court rules this summer that bump stocks are not machine guns, such a decision could open doors to unfettered new rapid-fire devices.

Election interference: Former New York mayor and erstwhile Trump ally Rudy Giuliani pleaded not guilty in Arizona on Tuesday to nine felony charges stemming from his role in trying to overturn the 2020 election results. He was ordered to post a $10,000 bond, and a judge said he must travel to Arizona within 30 days to post it personally. Giuliani filed for bankruptcy in December stemming from his 2020 election interference efforts in Georgia.

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ELSEWHERE

INTERNATIONAL

BACKLASH HAS BEEN SWIFT to the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) Monday announcement that the chief prosecutor is seeking arrest warrants for war crimes in Gaza for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, as well as leaders of Hamas. Biden and other U.S. officials have denounced the ICC’s move, saying the ICC has no jurisdiction in the matter.

Lawmakers from both parties condemned the ICC’s actions Monday, and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said House Republicans are looking into sanctioning the court, of which neither Israel nor the U.S. are members (The Hill). Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at a Tuesday Senate hearing that he is open to working with Congress on legislation to penalize the court, indicating the Biden administration’s willingness to act against the body (CNN).

“Given the events of yesterday, I think we have to look at the appropriate steps to take to deal with, again, what is a profoundly wrongheaded decision,” Blinken said.

Netanyahu himself compared the requests for arrest warrants to charging former President Roosevelt and former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, calling the charges “outrageous” in a Tuesday interview on CNN’s “The Lead” with Jake Tapper.

“They’re beyond outrageous,” Netanyahu said. “This is a rogue prosecutor that has put false charges, and created false symmetries that are both dangerous and false.”

The Hill’s Laura Kelly reports from Tel Aviv that frustration, incomprehension, hurt and defiance are some of the reactions in Israel toward the possible warrants. While Netanyahu holds nearly unprecedented low approval ratings domestically, few Israelis are likely to say his conduct is on par with intentional targeting of civilians by Hamas.

WITH HIS ARMY STRUGGLING to fend off Russian advances, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is appealing to U.S. officials to allow Ukraine to fire American missiles and other weaponry at military targets inside Russia — a tactic the United States continues to oppose.

“Shoot down what’s in the sky over Ukraine,” Zelensky told The New York Times. “And give us the weapons to use against Russian forces on the borders.”

After President Ebrahim Raisi’s death, Iran’s political establishment must choose between opening the upcoming elections and facing moderate rivals or limiting candidates and risking the embarrassment of low turnout (The New York Times).

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THE CLOSER

And finally … Today is the 60th anniversary of former President Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” speech, delivered at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1964.

Johnson, who had been a powerful and experienced former Senate leader, followed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy as his successor by crafting an ambitious array of domestic initiatives, legislation and programs aimed at ending poverty, curbing crime, tackling inequality (including through the creation of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965) and conserving the environment.

He used his address to ask young people to join what he called a “battle” to fulfill the aims of the nation’s founders.

“I have come here today to your campus to say that you can make their vision our reality. … The Great Society is not a safe harbor, a resting place, a final objective, a finished work,” Johnson said. “It is a challenge constantly renewed, beckoning us toward a destiny where the meaning of our lives matches the marvelous products of our labor.”

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