Weisselberg To Plead Guilty To Perjury In Trump Civil Fraud Case
INSIDE: Aileen Cannon ... Jack Smith ... Cole Brauer
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Breaking
Reports out this morning that former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg will plead guilty today for testimony he gave in the New York civil fraud trial of Donald Trump:
Mr. Weisselberg, 76, is now expected to concede that he lied to investigators from the New York attorney general’s office when they were investigating Mr. Trump for fraud. The attorney general, Letitia James, had accused Mr. Trump of wildly inflating his net worth to obtain favorable loans and other benefits.
ABC News reported in February that Weisselberg was in plea talks. The exact terms of the plea are not yet public.
Weisselberg’s trial testimony that he didn’t think much about the size and value of Trump’s Fifth Avenue Manhattan triplex, which was wildly inflated, was blown up by a subsequent article in Forbes.
The perjury had a de minimis effect on the trial, which still resulted in a $450 million judgment and a ban on Trump doing real estate business in New York. Weisselberg is not expected to be a witness in the upcoming hush money criminal trial, though he was a key figure in that scheme.
SCOTUS Watch: DQ Clause Decision Expected Today
The Supreme Court over the weekend announced an unusual last-minute addition to its calendar, strongly suggesting that it will issue its ruling in the Disqualification Clause case against Donald Trump at 10 a.m. ET.
It comes with Trump set to be on the Colorado GOP primary ballot tomorrow. The Supreme Court is widely expected to reverse the Colorado Supreme Court decision that would have kept Trump off the ballot. But how the Supreme Court does it, what it suggests (if anything) about Trump’s insurrectioning, and what it says about how the Disqualification Clause should be enforced will all bear watching.
Irony Alert
Today was originally supposed to be the start of Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 trial in DC. Instead, the Supreme Court has taken up his immunity claim, further delaying the trial, and will likely issue a big win for him in the Disqualification Clause case.
Aileen Cannon Keeps Aileen Cannoning
With court hearings in Florida and Georgia, Friday held the prospect of providing some additional clarity to the Trump trial calendar for the rest of the year, but it did not deliver.
In the all-day Mar-a-Lago hearing, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon did nothing to suggest this case will be normal. Among the tidbits:
Cannon did not set a trial date but suggested that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s proposed July 8 trial date was “unrealistic.”
In a potentially alarming development, Cannon seemed open to the possibility of a broader definition of the “prosecution team” that could open the door for Trump to get more discovery from additional executive branch agencies, further slowing down the proceedings.
Cannon seemed largely unmoved about the prosecution’s concerns about protecting witness identities at this stage of the proceedings:
Judge Expects Decision On DQing Willis In Two Weeks
The Georgia RICO hearing, where the lawyering has been painful to watch, yielded no new revelations of note. Judge Scott McAfee said to expect a decision from him in two weeks. This one could still go either way, but I lean toward him not disqualifying her.
Media Criticism That Writes Itself
There Is Always The Grift
NBC News: ‘Trump Bucks’ promise wealth for MAGA loyalty. Some lose thousands.
MAGA Mean Girl?
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) gets the WaPo Style section treatment, and I’m left wondering if the breezy, droll political profile has outlived its dubious usefulness in the Trump era.
The Polls
A weekend flurry of new surveys show Trump leading Biden nationally.
Likely voters:
CBS News/YouGov: Trump 52%, Biden 48%
NYT/Siena College: Trump 48%, Biden 44%
Registered voters:
WSJ poll: Trump 47%, Biden 45%
NYT/Siena College: Trump 48%, Biden 43%
Fox News: Trump 49%, Biden 47%
Reupping …
The likely GOP nominee for governor in North Carolina after tomorrow will be Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, whom TPM’s Hunter Walker profiled last year as a “Facebook brawler whose posts railed against gays, Blacks, and Jews.”
2024 Ephemera
Nikki Haley suggests she is no longer bound by the RNC pledge to support the GOP nominee.
I can’t immediately recall a less consequential Super Tuesday on the presidential side. Down ballot, here’s what to watch.
WV-Sen: Coal baron and ex-con Don Blankenship, a longtime Republican, is seeking the Democratic nomination to succeed Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV).
TN-07: In case you missed it, House Homeland Security Committee Chair Mark Green (R-TN) has reversed course on retiring and will run for re-election after prodding from Trump.
Ukraine Stands Alone
At horrible cost, Ukraine is fulfilling the entire mission of NATO, thereby sparing all other NATO members any risk of loss of territory or of life. The NATO economies are about two-hundred and fifty times as big as the Ukrainian economy. If they exploit a tiny fraction of their economic power, they could easily sustain the Ukrainian armed forces. Unfortunately the largest by far of these NATO members, the United States, is doing nothing. Should this continue, and should Russia win its war in Ukraine, then further war in Europe becomes not only possible, but likely.
The Cruelty Is The Point
A judge has temporarily blocked Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton from obtaining records on transgender care for minors from an LGBTQ organization as part of his investigation into whether the state ban on medical care for gender transition has been violated.
Go Cole Go
Almost two months ago, Morning Memo shared with you the remarkable story of single-handed sailor Cole Brauer, 29, and her attempt to become the first American woman to race solo around the world.
Since then, Brauer has become a media sensation. Deservedly. She is the perfect marriage of medium and message.
Cole has a second-place finish in the race all but locked up and is expected to cross the finish line in Spain on March 6.
Fired up! Go kill your Monday.
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In WV, Don Blankenship, THE Don Blankenship, he of the "Who needs coalmine safety?" philosophy? A "Democrat"? Oy vey!
The best news this morning?
Cole Brauer! Way to go, Cole.