Friday Round Up! 2/23/24

I’m waiting at the gate for a delayed flight to Orlando, where I will be celebrating a friend’s 50th birthday at Disney World. We are going to be doing something called “Drinks Around the World,” which is apparently a real thing — you have a drink at every country pavilion (there are twelve!). I’ll probably have to go with virgin drinks for 3/4 of the event if I want to still be standing by the end — stay tuned!

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this week Renato and I discussed Trump’s options in the face of the enormous financial obligations he owes following his New York civil suits. We also discuss Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis debacle disqualification hearing, which is ongoing as I write — Trump’s lawyers made a filing showing cell site location information (CSLI) triangulating Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade’s whereabouts to a 9-mile radius of Willis’ home. Trump’s team wants to show that there were 2,000 voice calls and 12,000 interactions between their devices in 2021. The reason this is relevant is that it goes to whether Willis and Wade were truthful about the timeline of their relationship, specifically their assertions under oath that their relationship did not begin until 2022, after Wade was hired. Willis and Wade argue that Judge Scott McAffee should not admit this information into evidence, partly on the grounds that it’s unclear whether Trump’s team obtained them legally (at least when it concerns the government, under recent Supreme Court precedent, CSLI information requires a search warrant supported by probable cause). Willis and Wade also argue that the data is not probative, since it does not definitively prove that the two were actually in each other’s presence, only that Wade was in the vicinity of Willis’ home.

Hooo boy.

Whatever happens, it’s clear that Trump has succeeded in changing the focus of Fulton County from the merits of the case to the conduct of the prosecutors. He is a true information warrior.

My articles this week:

My CAFE Insider piece about the indictment of Alexander Smirnov, the GOP’s star witness in their impeachment inquiry against President Biden. The charges reveal all of the elements of which Republicans accuse Trump’s prosecutors: fabricated evidence, political bias, and an attempt to influence an election.

Upcoming events:

• Zoom Office Hours, Thursday, February 29, 5 p.m. ET. We’ll discuss the latest. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers at 2 p.m. Office hours discussions are not recorded.

• Guest Speaker Barb McQuade, Thursday, March 28, 4 p.m. EST. Barb will be a guest speaker for my class, Preserving Democracy in the (Dis)Information Age. Barb is about to release her book, Attack from Within: How Disinformation is Sabotaging America, and I’m excited to get her perspective on where we are as we head into the 2024 election. Zoom link will be sent to paid subscribers three hours before the discussion, and will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers the following day.

• Freedom Academy Book Club, Date/Time TBA (likely early April).  We’ll be discussing Gun Country: Gun Capitalism, Culture, and Control in Cold War America with author Andrew McKevitt. Drew’s book illuminates how our society became so saturated with guns, and how gun ownership intersects with race, politics, and money. This discussion will be recorded and posted for paid subscribers.

  I’m off to the Magic Kingdom — wish me luck in my “international” travels!