A new video has emerged showing the tense atmosphere that engulfed the Fever's recent road game in Seattle amid the drama stemming from recent comments made by Indiana star Sophie Cunningham.
The Supreme Court was comfortable overturning an executive order, but if the White House and Congress passed legislation, it would be two branches against one.
Editor’s Note: Welcome to The TNR Blue Book. It’s our new daily newsletter that covers Congress and much more, but with a distinctly TNR twist: Our focus will be strictly on Democrats, liberal and progressive groups, and the fight to take back power and save democracy. Every morning, you’ll get a rundown of late-breaking news, what Democrats on Capitol Hill are thinking, quick hits on what you need to know nationally, the latest on what’s coming out of the think tanks and activist groups, short interviews with progressive newsmakers and authors, and more (including some humor and political trivia!). There’s nothing else out there like it.Sign up and get this newsletter for free. Inside WashingtonThe wildfire fighter who just might flip Montana Smoke jumper and union organizer Sam Forstag, running in a shocking dead heat against Republican Aaron Flint in the fight for Montana’s 1st district according to the latest poll, just became one of the most progressive candidates in the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee’s Red to Blue program. On Tuesday, the DCCC added Forstag along with four other candidates to the program, which lends support to Democratic candidates in competitive districts.Forstag, DCCC chair Suzan DelBene said in a statement, “puts his life on the line to protect his neighbors and community from wildfires. Deeply committed to Western Montana, Sam is the kind of authentic, dynamic leader that working people want fighting for them in Washington.” Forstag became the official Democratic candidate after winning the primary on June 2.The other candidates added to Red to Blue on Tuesday include Arizona state Representative Amish Shah in Arizona’s 1st congressional district, Pia Dandiya in Florida’s new 22nd congressional district, Iowa state Representative Lindsay James in the 2nd congressional district, and Jake Johnson for Minnesota’s 1st congressional district. That brings the number of Red to Blue candidates to 30.Forstag now joins Randy Villegas, who is running in California’s 22nd congressional district, in representing the party’s insurgent left in the DCCC’s program. The DCCC originally endorsed Villegas’s moderate opponent, Jasmeet Bains, stirring up controversy and claims that the party was protecting moderates. A similar scene played out in Maine’s 2nd congressional district, where Matt Dunlap, the state auditor, won his June 9 primary over DCCC-backed State Senator Joe Baldacci, who was featured on the Red to Blue list. After his win, the DCCC added Villegas to the Red to Blue program. But the DCCC hasn’t yet done the same for Dunlap.Forstag is backed by progressives like Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, but also has the endorsement of a handful of Republican former electeds in Montana. He’s also supported by former Democratic Senator Jon Tester, who won the district in 2024 despite losing the state. The district, established in 2023, includes liberal college towns Bozeman and Missoula. In recent years, tens of thousands of Washington, California, Colorado, and Oregon residents have moved to Montana, which some think could make the state more liberal—although the jury’s still out.In the general election, Forstag is facing Aaron Flint. Flint is 46, and Forstag is 32; whoever wins the election will be the first non–baby boomer to represent the state in Congress in three decades. Both Flint and Forstag attended the University of Montana, and both served as student body president. Forstag went on to fight fires and now is vice president of the National Federation of Federal Employees Local 60, representing around 800 U.S. Forest Service workers; Flint joined the National Guard and now works as a radio host.While Forstag highlights his endorsements from progressives, Flint campaigns against them: “AOC, Mamdani, and Bernie want to flip the House and turn the US socialist. Eliminate private property, ban pickups and fossil fuels, put men in little girls’ locker rooms, and re-open the borders for illegal aliens and deadly drugs,” Flint’s website reads. The two are vying to replace Republican Representative Ryan Zinke, who took the seat in 2023 after a brief, rocky tenure as secretary of the interior under President Trump’s first administration. (Zinke resigned his post at the Interior Department after 18 federal investigations—most of them ethics-related—were initiated against him in under two years.) Zinke and Trump quickly endorsed Flint when he registered to run.Polling suggests a tight race. Forstag and Flint each have 44 percent of the vote in an Impact Research poll of 500 likely voters conducted in late June. Libertarian candidate Nick Sheedy was supported by 5 percent of respondents, and 6 percent remain undecided.
"Very bad facts" have been revealed in former FBI Director James Comey latest motion demanding a federal judge throw out the criminal case over a social media post showing sea shells arranged to spell "86 47," legal experts revealed Wednesday.Comey's lawyers' argument — that the prosecution is part of a multi-year attack by President Donald Trump to punish Comey for First Amendment-protected speech — contains explosive claims about the government's efforts to charge him, reported MS NOW."[Defense attorney] Pat Fitzgerald cites some very bad facts re the prosecution of James Comey," said MS NOW's Carol Leonnig, linking to work by her colleagues Fallon Gallagher and Lisa Rubin. "Worth reading all the ways the president and his aides ordered up the surveillance and prosecution of Jim Comey for a threat to Trump's life – despite agents concluding no threat existed."Comey's attorneys allege the U.S. Secret Service illegally surveilled him electronically at the direction of a senior official, tying the surveillance to Trump's involvement in pushing the case forward. Alongside the dismissal motion, Comey's team filed additional requests, including one to unseal grand jury audio over alleged irregularities in how prosecutors presented the case, and another to suppress evidence they say was obtained through misrepresentations and omissions.At the heart of the case is the phrase "86 47," which prosecutors argue constituted a true threat against Trump, the nation's 47th president. Comey's lawyers dispute that interpretation, noting that "86" is common restaurant-industry slang for discarding or refusing something, not a term for violence.They point out that most dictionaries don't even include "kill" as a definition, and they've submitted a declaration from former federal judge and mob prosecutor John Gleeson stating that in his organized-crime experience, "86" carries no connotation of murder. They also note Comey deleted the post within hours, saying he hadn't realized some people associate the numbers with violence.The filing notes that prosecutors obtained warrants by misleading a judge about interviews with a witness identified as "Person 1" and described by defense attorneys as an "estranged" associate who believed he had committed crimes as FBI director, but that individual testified that he "only" understood "86" to be restaurant slang until hearing a Rudy Giuliani's podcast that convinced him Comey would have known understood it as mob slang."A key witness hated Comey, openly wanted him jailed, disclosed having been in 'rehab' for unspecified reasons, admitted to offering only 'speculation,' and yet supported the defense theory of the case — until the person found a Rudy Giuliani podcast convincing," summarized Adam Klasfeld of All Rise News.The defense further argues selective prosecution, since "86 47" is widely used on protest signs and merchandise nationwide — usage a Washington federal judge recently found is protected First Amendment speech — yet Comey alone faces charges over it.This marks Comey's second indictment in under a year. His first case, brought in Virginia after Trump publicly pressured then-Attorney General Pam Bondi to pursue him, was dismissed on the grounds that the prosecutor who secured the indictment, Lindsey Halligan, had been unlawfully appointed — before a judge could rule on the vindictive-prosecution claims.Judge Louise Flanagan, a George W. Bush appointee, will now decide whether this second case should be dismissed. Courts rarely side with defendants on vindictive or selective prosecution claims, though it does happen — a Tennessee judge recently dismissed charges against Kilmar Abrego-Garcia on similar grounds.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told Axios in an interview Tuesday that he asked President Trump for an emergency "winter package" of Patriot air defense interceptors to help thwart Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure. Why it matters: Ukraine's stockpiles of the interceptors have been almost depleted, and without them the country can't defend itself against ballistic missiles. It was the reason Ukraine couldn't stop recent Russian attacks on Kyiv.If this problem isn't solved by winter, Russian missile attacks could destroy Ukraine's power plants, shutting off heating for millions of Ukrainians and creating a humanitarian crisis.The war with Iran has also drawn down U.S. stockpiles of Patriot interceptors, making it difficult to sell them to Ukraine. Driving the news: During the NATO summit in Turkey earlier this month, Zelensky and Trump discussed the possibility of the U.S. giving Ukraine licenses to produce Patriot interceptors — in order to reduce its dependence on U.S. stockpiles and boost production overall.Zelensky said Trump agreed during their Tuesday meeting to move ahead with the Patriot production licenses.After his White House visit, Zelensky said he met with representatives of Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, both of which produce Patriot interceptors, to discuss the issue.Yes, but: Even if Ukraine obtains the licenses, it would take one to five years to produce large amounts of interceptors.That timeline doesn't work, Zelensky said: "We need the Patriots yesterday." He's seeking 300 of them by winter.He said Trump promised he would try to help, but also made clear it's difficult because of the need for interceptors in the war with Iran. Zelensky said Russia uses 30 to 40 ballistic missiles in every major strike it conducts against Ukraine. It's conducting three to five such attacks every month.He stressed that Ukraine is ready to share any military technology or expertise the U.S. wants in order to get Patriot interceptors.What to watch: The Ukrainian president said he and U.S. defense companies are also exploring modifying Ukrainian-made ballistic missiles and turning them into anti-missile interceptors with similar capabilities to the Patriot missiles. "It will be faster and cheaper," he said. State of play: While the situation on the front line is still at a stalemate, Ukraine has managed to gain significant momentum with drone and missile strikes deep inside Russia that hit oil facilities and other critical infrastructure. They resulted in Russian gas shortages and growing criticism from the population about the war. The changing war dynamic has helped his and Ukraine's standing with Trump, Zelensky said."Our relations are much better and more constructive. Not so emotional like it was. And I think that it's good that it's better," he said. Zelensky said he briefed Trump about how Ukrainian precision strikes haven't killed civilians but instead have cut off fuel supplies in Russian-occupied Crimea — while sapping the morale of the Russian military. "People who are there and the Russian soldiers can't live without diesel and petrol. So of course, immediately in the polls, support for the war decreased in Russia," he said.The big picture: U.S. mediation efforts between Russia and Ukraine have been put on the back burner since the war with Iran started. Trump envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff are still in touch with Russian and Ukrainian negotiators, but spend most of their time on Iran. Zelensky said one outcome of his meeting with Trump is a likely visit to Kyiv by Kushner and Witkoff in the next two weeks. It would be their first trip to Ukraine after multiple visits to Russia. The Ukrainian president said he wants to discuss in detail with them ideas for relaunching peace talks to end the war, but also for them to see the situation in Ukraine firsthand. Zelensky said Kushner and Witkoff still want to reach a ceasefire in order to allow space for diplomacy. But he emphasized that he doesn't think Putin would agree to pause the fighting.Despite the current momentum on the battlefield and his skepticism of Putin's intentions, Zelensky said he is still interested in resuming peace talks with Russia. What to watch: The Ukrainian president said he thinks Putin is moving toward further escalation and could even try to provoke other countries in the region in order to have "a more simple victory to sell to his audience." Zelensky claimed Russia still gets weapons from Iran and is building infrastructure for 30,000 additional troops from North Korea who would be sent to fight in Ukraine. He also asserted North Korea is supplying ballistic missiles and other weapons to Russia. Zelensky even claimed Putin is taking low-profile steps to prepare for the potential mobilization of additional 500,000 troops. "This is what we see," he said. "It's not the signal that he wants to stop the war."
