The '24 Seven
The '24 Seven
The top seven stories shaping the race for the White House - 2/16/24
Hello, and welcome to The ‘24 Seven - a daily roundup of the top seven stories shaping the race for the 2024 White House. If you see something I missed or have suggestions, drop me a note - 24sight@substack.com.
The leading opponent of Russia’s authoritarian president was discovered dead in a Russian prison, according to Russian officials …
Cheers,
Tom
1 Navalny declared dead
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny collapsed and died Friday, according to Russia’s prison system. Western leaders, including members of President Joe Biden’s administration and Navalny’s supporters, say they have been unable to confirm the death — and in many cases have accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of murdering his chief political opponent. (Cold warrior and Never Trumper Rick Wilson writes today “Putin Murdered Navalny”.)
Navalny’s reported death comes six months after the death of Russia’s private military forces (the Wagner Group) leader Yevgeny Prigozhin, who also directed the meddling in the 2016 elections, following the military leader’s attempted coup last summer. BuzzFeed News detailed at length Russia’s suspected efforts to murder dissidents in London in a seminal 2017 investigation.)
The death of Putin’s chief opponent comes as the Russian president, who has been in office since 1999, ramps up aggressive posturing — U.S. officials report Russia is working on a space-based nuclear weapon — while enmeshed in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, now coming up on its second anniversary.
2 ‘A man is not a plan’
Fani Willis, the lead prosecutor in Georgia’s criminal racketeering case against Trump and his allies, on allegations they attempted to overturn his 2020 election loss there, took the stand Thursday amid an effort to have her removed from the case for an affair she had with her deputy prosecutor Nathan Wade.
In a fiery three hours on the stand, Willis appeared to hold back little — in particular noting the reason she and Wade eventually broke up.
“Mr. Wade is used to women that, uh, as he told me one time: The only thing a woman can do for him is make him a sandwich,” she said, according to the New York Times. “We would have brutal arguments about the fact that I am your equal. I don’t need anything from a man, a man is not a plan, a man is a companion.”
3 False flag?
The source at the center of many of the allegations against Biden’s son, Hunter Biden, was charged by federal prosecutors with providing false information to investigators while serving as a confidential informant. Alexander Smirnov allegedly provided fabricated accusations that Hunter used his ties to his father to enrich himself and pressure Ukrainian officials, according to ABC News.
The House launched its impeachment investigation of Biden in December, accusing him of bribery and corruption. Separately this week, the House impeached Homeland Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on allegations that he hasn’t enforced U.S. immigration laws to stem the flow of immigrants across the southern border.
4 Trump trials
Trump chose not to appeal to the Supreme Court a ruling clearing the way for civil lawsuits against him claiming culpability for the January 6th attack on the Capitol. The civil suits are separate from the criminal case against Trump regarding January 6th.
5 Your own Truth, $4B
The Securities and Exchange Commission signed off on a merger at the center of Trump’s social media company, giving the former president a $4 billion stake in his company.
Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican nomination, has been using the platform regularly to issue statements and comments throughout his third race for the White House.
6 *East* Palestine
Biden heads to East Palestine, Ohio today, a little more than a year after a train derailment engulfed the Rust Belt community in toxic chemicals. Trump’s campaign quickly fired out an ad attacking Biden for his handling of the toxic mess.
7 Digit Senate leads
Former Md. Gov. Larry Hogan holds a seven-point lead over Democratic candidate Angela Alsobrooks and is running even with Democratic Rep. David Trone in an early poll of the Maryland Senate race conducted by Emerson College Polling/The Hill/DC DC News Now.
Up in Montana, Rep. Matt Rosendale announced he was dropping out of the race, leaving it to a showdown between Democratic Sen. Jon Tester and former Navy Seal Tim Sheehy. Tester leads Sheehy by 9 points the latest polling there.