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Wisconsin primary may shape elections in key battleground

Wisconsin primary may shape elections in key battleground

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Voters will choose a Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor on Tuesday who could reshape how elections are conducted in the marquee battleground, where former President Donald Trump is still pressing to overturn his 2020 loss and backing candidates he sees as allies.

Trump has endorsed businessman Tim Michels, a self-described outsider who has put $12 million into his own campaign, against former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, who has supported former Vice President Mike Pence and ex-Gov. Scott Walker. Both candidates falsely claim the 2020 election was rigged, though Kleefisch has said decertifying the results is “not constitutional,” while Michels said “everything will be on the table.”

The race to face Democratic Gov. Tony Evers is another proxy war between Trump and Pence, one-time partners now pursuing different futures for the Republican Party. They also backed opposing GOP rivals in primaries in Arizona and Georgia — swing states that like Wisconsin are expected to be critical in the 2024 presidential race, when both men could be on the ballot.

The primary comes a day after FBI agents searched Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence, two people familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

In the state’s Senate race, Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes is the likely Democratic nominee to face Republican Sen. Ron Johnson, one of Trump’s most vocal supporters, after Barnes’ top rivals dropped out of the race late last month. The matchup is among the last to be set before the November general election, when control of the currently 50-50 split Senate is up for grabs, and Democrats see Wisconsin as one of their best opportunities to flip a seat.

Trump also has backed a little-known challenger to the state’s most powerful Republican, state Assembly Speaker Robin Voswho has rejected the former president’s pressure to decertify the 2020 results.

Tuesday’s outcomes have far-reaching consequences beyond Wisconsin, a state that is almost evenly split between Republicans and Democrats and where 2022 will be seen as a bellwether for the 2024 presidential race. The person elected governor this fall will be in office for the presidential election and will be able to sign or veto changes to election laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature. The next governor and US senator also may sway decisions on issues from abortion to education and taxes.

“We’re a 50-50 state and so every race in Wisconsin, just by definition, is going to be decided by a few percentage points one way or another,” said former Gov. Jim Doyle, to Democrat. “And those few percentage points in Wisconsin may well determine what the course of the nation is in the coming years.”

Elsewhere on WednesdayMinnesota Republicans are expected to choose Dr. Scott Jensen, a COVID-19 vaccine skeptic endorsed by the state GOP, to face Gov. Tim Walz. Vermont — the only state to never have a woman in its congressional delegation — is likely to nominate a woman for the state’s lone House seat. The winner will replace Rep. Peter Welch, who is vying for the seat held for over four decades by Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is retiring. And in Connecticut, Republicans will pick opponents to face two-term Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal.

But the most-watched races will be in Wisconsin, where Trump has kept up his pressure campaign to cancel President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. Biden won by nearly 21,000 votes, four years after Trump also narrowly won the state by roughly the same margin. The 2020 outcome has been upheld in two partial recounts, a nonpartisan audit, a review by a conservative law firm and multiple lawsuits.

Both Michels and Kleefisch have said overturning the 2020 election results is not a priority. But they have said they would dismantle the bipartisan commission that runs Wisconsin elections and would support prohibitions on voters having someone else turn in their absentee ballots, as well as ballot drop boxes located anywhere other than staffed clerk offices.

Evers has made voting and elections a focus of his own campaign, telling voters he’s the only candidate who will defend democracy and “we are that close to not having our vote count in the state of Wisconsin.”

Kleefisch is a former TV reporter who served with Walker for two terms, including when he effectively ended collective bargaining for most public employees in the state in 2011, drawing huge protests and a failed recall attempt. She says she is the best prepared to win statewide in November and to enact conservative priorities, including investing more in police, expanding school choice programs and implementing a flat income tax.

During a campaign stop with Kleefisch last week, Pence said no other gubernatorial candidate in the US is “more capable, more experienced, or a more proven conservative.”

Michels is co-owner of Wisconsin’s largest construction company and has touted his work to build his family’s business. He lost the 2004 Senate race to Democratic Sen. Russ Feingold, and has been a major donor to GOP politicians.

At a rally on Friday, Trump praised Michels as an “incredible success story.” I have criticized Kleefisch as part of the “failed establishment” and also took aim at Vos. He told supporters that Michels will win the primary “easily” and that he’s the better choice to defeat Evers.

Michels pledged that “we are going to have election integrity here in Wisconsin.” He also said he will bring “law and order” back to Wisconsin, criticized Evers’ handling of schools and blamed Biden for rising prices.

GOP state Rep. Tim Ramthun is also making a long-shot bid for governor, and has made rescinding Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes for Biden the centerpiece of his campaign.

In the Senate race, Barnes is the overwhelming favorite after rivals including Milwaukee Bucks executive Alex Lasry quit the race. A Milwaukee native and former state legislator who would be Wisconsin’s first Black senator, Barnes says he wants to help rebuild the middle class and protect abortion rights. A state ban on abortion took effect after the US Supreme Court in June overturned the 1973 ruling that legalized abortion nationwide.

The race against Johnson is one of a few Senate toss-ups and has already been a fight between Barnes and Johnson, a millionaire and former owner of a plastics company who was first elected as part of the tea party movement in 2010.

Barnes has attacked Johnson for supporting a tax bill that benefitted wealthy donors and his own company, touting “wild conspiracy theories” about COVID-19 vaccines and for trying to deliver ballots from fake GOP voters to Pence on the day of the Capitol insurrection.

Johnson and Republicans have criticized Barnes as too liberal for Wisconsin, noting his endorsements from progressive Sens. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. They have resurfaced moments from Barnes’ past of him, including a photo of him holding a T-shirt that reads “Abolish ICE,” or US Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Trump and Pence have split on gubernatorial candidates with mixed results. In Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp — he also rejected Trump’s pressure to overturn his 2020 loss — had Pence’s support as he defeated a Trump-endorsed challenger, former US Sen. David Perdue. But Kari Lake won the Arizona primary last week with Trump’s backing, defeating a Pence-backed candidate after saying she would not have certified Biden’s victory there.

The candidate Trump endorsed to take on Vos, Adam Steen, has said he would decertify Biden’s victory.

___

Burnett reported from Chicago.

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Aug. 9 primary elections: What to expect in Wisconsin, Vermont and Minnesota

Aug. 9 primary elections: What to expect in Wisconsin, Vermont and Minnesota

Minnesota is also set to fill a House seat after former GOP Rep. Jim Hagedorn died in February.

Meanwhile, in Vermont, Rep. Peter Welch is running to replace retiring Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, which opens up the state’s lone House seat. The state’s lieutenant governor and its Senate president pro tempore — both Democrats — are vying to become the first woman to ever represent Vermont in Congress.

Heavily Democratic Connecticut is also holding primaries on Tuesday, with Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Gov. Ned Lamont up for reelection this fall.

Trump vs. Pence in Wisconsin governor’s race

The proxy battle over the future of the Republican Party between former President Donald Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence continues Tuesday in Wisconsin, where a Pence-endorsed establishment favorite faces off against a Trump-backed outsider in a state where he has falsely claimed the 2020 election results were fraudulent.

It’s a replay of similar gubernatorial primaries in recent weeks in Arizona, where Trump’s candidate won last week, and Georgia, where the Pence-backed Gov. Brian Kemp fended off a Trump-aligned challenger.

In Wisconsin, former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch entered the race as the GOP’s heir apparent in a battleground state long dominated by former Gov. Scott Walker. She spent eight years as Walker’s No. 2, and is backed by Pence and other establishment Republicans.

But then construction company owner Tim Michels entered the race, fueled by millions of dollars of his own wealth and a key endorsement. He is campaigning as an outsider, with Trump’s help; the former President at a recent rally said Kleefisch is “the handpicked candidate of the failed establishment, the RINOs.”

Both have embraced Trump’s lies about fraud in the 2020 election. Kleefisch called the 2020 election “rigged,” but said she would not attempt to decertify its results because it is not legally possible to do so. Michels, however, said in a debate that “everything is on the table,” indicating he would entertain measures that he would seek to decertify President Joe Biden’s victory in Wisconsin.

The winner of the primary will take on Democratic Gov. Tony Evers, who is seeking a second term in what’s expected to be one of the nation’s most competitive gubernatorial contests this fails.

Another race to watch in Wisconsin is Assembly Speaker Robin Vos’ primary against little-known Adam Steen, who was endorsed by Trump after the former President decided Vos — a powerful Republican who had tried to appease Trump by hiring a former state Supreme Court justice to investigate the 2020 election — had done too little to try to overturn Wisconsin’s results. Vos said last month the former President had called him the week before as part of a fresh effort to decertify the state’s 2020 results.

The Senate primary that wasn’t

Two weeks ago, the Democratic Senate primary in Wisconsin was arguably the most closely watched primary contest on the left, pitting Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes against Alex Lasry, the Milwaukee Bucks executive who spent over $12 million of his own money on his campaign; Wisconsin state Treasurer Sarah Godlewski; and Outagamie County Executive Tom Nelson.

And then it wasn’t.

'Out of touch': Wisconsin's Barnes and Johnson prepare for general election campaign defined by attacks

After internal polls showed Barnes’ lead over his opponents growing, all three bowed out in the span of a few days, with Nelson, Lasry and Godlewski all endorsing the lieutenant governor.

“I could not have imagined it ending up this way,” Barnes told CNN. “To me, it shows just how important beating Ron Johnson is, just how important expanding the Democratic majority is.”

The consolidation means Barnes and Democrats can pivot earlier to their end goal: defeating Republican Sen. Ron Johnson in November.

Johnson, who opted to run for a third term after pledging in 2016 that his second term would be his last, has drawn Democratic ire for a host of comments on the coronavirus, the January 6, 2021, attack, and his personal wealth. But he has proven resilient in the past, ensuring that the Senate race in Wisconsin will be one of the closest watched contests of the 2022 cycle.

Southern Minnesota gets a new congressman

Voters in Southern Minnesota will select a new congressman on Tuesday after Rep. Jim Hagedorn died in February from kidney cancer.

The special election, which comes at the same time Minnesota voters will vote in the regular 2022 primary, pits Republican Brad Finstad, the former head of USDA Rural Development for Minnesota, against Democrat Jeffrey Ettinger, who previously worked as CEO of Hormel Foods.

The district, which stretches across Minnesota’s entire Southern border, leans toward Republicans.

While voters select their congressman in the special election, they will also vote in the general election primary, selecting which candidates will get the chance to try to represent the district for a full term starting in 2023. Finstad and Ettinger are candidates in that race, as well.

There are other contests worth watching in Minnesota, including well-funded challenges to incumbents. Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar is being challenged by former Minneapolis City Council member Don Samuels, while Rep. Betty McCollum is facing a challenge from progressive Amane Badhasso.

Vermont paving the way for historic November

Vermont is the only state to never send a woman to represent it in Congress — a distinction that, barring a major upset in November, is soon to change.

On Tuesday, Democrats are likely to choose between state Senate President Pro Tempore Becca Balint and Lt. Gov. Molly Gray to be their nominee for the state’s lone House seat. (Physician Louis Meyers, the only man on the ballot, is expected to finish a distant third.)

Vermont Democrats face historic decision in open-seat House primary

Balint, endorsed by Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and other leading national progressives, is the left’s choice. Gray, meanwhile, has the unofficial backing of retiring Sen. Pat Leahy, who donated to her campaign through her PAC and said he voted for her. Leahy’s wife, Marcelle Leahy, formally endorsed Gray.

Though there is very little room between Gray and Balint on the issues, Balint, who is gay, has been boosted by big spending from the LGBTQ Victory Fund’s PAC — which has spent nearly $1 million on the race — and the campaign arm of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Recent polling of the race has shown Balint with a commanding lead, but some observers expect the final tally to be much closer. If Balint wins a close race, the decision by state Sen. Kesha Ram Hinsdale to end her campaign and endorse Balint — in a bid to consolidate the left — could loom large.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz gets his Republican challenger

Another high-stakes race for control of state governments in the Upper Midwest will come into clearer focus on Tuesday, as Minnesota Republicans choose their nominee for governor.

The state party has already made its selection, endorsing Scott Jensen, a doctor and former state senator. Jensen is the overwhelming favorite in a GOP contest with Joyce Lynne Lacey and Bob “Again” Carney Jr.

Jensen is a fierce critic of Democratic Gov. Tim Walz’s initial Covid-19 response and, at a recent forum, called the incumbent’s mitigation measures at the beginning of the pandemic an “abomination of government overreach.”

Jensen’s past remarks downplaying Covid, including a past assertion that hospitals were inflating the number of cases to collect more stimulus money, was cited in PolitiFact’s post on its 2020 “Lie of the Year.” He also touted his unvaccinated status over the past year as he rose to greater political prominence, sowing doubts about the safety and efficacy of the shots.

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Biden signs China competition bill to boost US chipmakers

Biden signs China competition bill to boost US chipmakers

[ The stream is slated to start at 10 a.m. ET. Please refresh if you do not see a player above at that time.]

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a bipartisan bill that aims to strengthen US competitiveness with China by investing billions of dollars in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and science research.

“Today is a day for builders. Today America is delivering,” Biden said at the signing ceremony outside the White House. He was joined by a crowd of hundreds, including tech executives, union presidents and political leaders from both parties.

The bill, dubbed the Chips and Science Act, includes more than $52 billion for US companies producing computer chips, as well as billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in semiconductor manufacturing. It also provides tens of billions of dollars to fund scientific research and development, and to spur the innovation and development of other US tech.

The Biden administration also contended that the legislation will “unlock hundreds of billions more” in private spending in the industry. The White House said Tuesday that multiple companies, “spurred” by the chips bill, have announced more than $44 billion in new semiconductor manufacturing investments.

US President Joe Biden (C) signs HR 4346, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 9, 2022.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

Of that sum, $40 billion is coming from Micron’s investment in memory chip manufacturing. The White House said the company’s initiative will yield 8,000 new jobs and increase the US market share of memory chip production to 10% from 2%.

A newly announced partnership between Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries, meanwhile, includes $4.2 billion in chip production as part of an expansion of GlobalFoundries’ upstate New York facility, the White House said.

Advocates say the funding is needed to sharpen America’s technological edge and reinvigorate its lagging chip industry. The US produces only about 10% of the world’s supply of semiconductors, whereas East Asia accounts for 75% of global production — including most of the top-tier chips, according to the White House.

Semiconductors are critical pieces of an array of products including consumer electronics, automobiles, health care equipment and weapons systems. The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a chip shortage and strained supply chains, highlighting America’s dependence on foreign-made chips and revealing a potential national security threat, officials say.

The signing comes as Biden and congressional Democrats cap a flurry of activity before lawmakers leave Washington for the rest of the month and turn their attention to midterm election campaigns.

Senate Democrats on Sunday passed a sweeping bill to fund ambitious climate, energy and health policies by raising taxes on rich corporations and reforming prescription drug pricing. The bill, a major piece of Biden’s agenda that Democrats had worked on for well over a year, squeaked through with no Republican support in the chamber, which is evenly split by party. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

In late June, Biden also signed a bipartisan bill to strengthen gun regulations, including by enhancing requirements for background checks. The legislation sped through Congress in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which a single gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.

And last week, Biden revealed that a US strike in Afghanistan killed top al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who was considered a mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Biden is also expected to sign another bill this week that bolsters health benefits for veterans who were exposed to chemicals that billowed from toxic burn pits.

That bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support after Republicans temporarily blocked it. The move stoked outrage from some veterans’ groups, as well as comedian Jon Stewart, who emerged as a leading advocate.

Biden’s already-middling approval ratings have sunk in recent months, as global inflation and supply chain issues take a toll on Americans’ wallets at the grocery store and the gas station. His unpopularity of him, paired with a tough political map and other political headwinds, has fueled concerns among Democrats that they could suffer a route in the November midterms that results in Republicans taking control of one or both chambers of Congress.

But the latest polls show Democrats’ chances of keeping the Senate have improved, and Biden on Monday predicted that the climate and tax bill’s passage will “immediately help” in the midterms.

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Biden signs China competition bill to boost US chipmakers

Biden signs China competition bill to boost US chipmakers

[ The stream is slated to start at 10 a.m. ET. Please refresh if you do not see a player above at that time.]

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed a bipartisan bill that aims to strengthen US competitiveness with China by investing billions of dollars in domestic semiconductor manufacturing and science research.

“Today is a day for builders. Today America is delivering,” Biden said at the signing ceremony outside the White House. He was joined by a crowd of hundreds, including tech executives, union presidents and political leaders from both parties.

The bill, dubbed the Chips and Science Act, includes more than $52 billion for US companies producing computer chips, as well as billions more in tax credits to encourage investment in semiconductor manufacturing. It also provides tens of billions of dollars to fund scientific research and development, and to spur the innovation and development of other US tech.

The Biden administration also contended that the legislation will “unlock hundreds of billions more” in private spending in the industry. The White House said Tuesday that multiple companies, “spurred” by the chips bill, have announced more than $44 billion in new semiconductor manufacturing investments.

US President Joe Biden (C) signs HR 4346, the CHIPS and Science Act of 2022, on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, DC, on August 9, 2022.

Mandel Ngan | Afp | Getty Images

Of that sum, $40 billion is coming from Micron’s investment in memory chip manufacturing. The White House said the company’s initiative will yield 8,000 new jobs and increase the US market share of memory chip production to 10% from 2%.

A newly announced partnership between Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries, meanwhile, includes $4.2 billion in chip production as part of an expansion of GlobalFoundries’ upstate New York facility, the White House said.

Advocates say the funding is needed to sharpen America’s technological edge and reinvigorate its lagging chip industry. The US produces only about 10% of the world’s supply of semiconductors, whereas East Asia accounts for 75% of global production — including most of the top-tier chips, according to the White House.

Semiconductors are critical pieces of an array of products including consumer electronics, automobiles, health care equipment and weapons systems. The Covid-19 pandemic sparked a chip shortage and strained supply chains, highlighting America’s dependence on foreign-made chips and revealing a potential national security threat, officials say.

The signing comes as Biden and congressional Democrats cap a flurry of activity before lawmakers leave Washington for the rest of the month and turn their attention to midterm election campaigns.

Senate Democrats on Sunday passed a sweeping bill to fund ambitious climate, energy and health policies by raising taxes on rich corporations and reforming prescription drug pricing. The bill, a major piece of Biden’s agenda that Democrats had worked on for well over a year, squeaked through with no Republican support in the chamber, which is evenly split by party. Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote.

In late June, Biden also signed a bipartisan bill to strengthen gun regulations, including by enhancing requirements for background checks. The legislation sped through Congress in the wake of a deadly mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, in which a single gunman killed 19 students and two teachers.

And last week, Biden revealed that a US strike in Afghanistan killed top al-Qaeda leader Ayman Al-Zawahiri, who was considered a mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Biden is also expected to sign another bill this week that bolsters health benefits for veterans who were exposed to chemicals that billowed from toxic burn pits.

That bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support after Republicans temporarily blocked it. The move stoked outrage from some veterans’ groups, as well as comedian Jon Stewart, who emerged as a leading advocate.

Biden’s already-middling approval ratings have sunk in recent months, as global inflation and supply chain issues take a toll on Americans’ wallets at the grocery store and the gas station. His unpopularity of him, paired with a tough political map and other political headwinds, has fueled concerns among Democrats that they could suffer a route in the November midterms that results in Republicans taking control of one or both chambers of Congress.

But the latest polls show Democrats’ chances of keeping the Senate have improved, and Biden on Monday predicted that the climate and tax bill’s passage will “immediately help” in the midterms.

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Biden signs bill boosting US chip manufacturing as he kicks off victory lap

Biden signs bill boosting US chip manufacturing as he kicks off victory lap

The CHIPS and Science Act will invest more than $200 billion over the next five years in a bid to help the US regain a leading position in semiconductor chip manufacturing. It is aimed at lowering the cost of goods, making the US less reliant on foreign manufacturing and mitigating supply chain disruptions in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Biden on Tuesday described the law as a “once-in-a-generation investment in America itself.”

“Today America is delivering, delivering, and I honest to God believe that 50, 75, 100 years from now from people who will look back on this week, they’ll know that we met this moment,” Biden said at an event on the White House South Lawn.

The President, who recently emerged from isolation after a rebound case of Covid-19, coughed throughout his speech.

The event was attended by union leaders, industry executives from companies such as HP and Intel, congressional leaders from both sides of the aisle and state elected officials. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo also spoke at the event.

According to the White House, companies this week announced nearly $50 billion in additional investments in American semiconductor manufacturing as a result of the newly passed legislation.

“Micron is announcing a $40 billion investment in memory chip manufacturing, critical for computers and electronic devices, which will create up to 40,000 new jobs” in construction and manufacturing, a White House fact sheet says. “This investment alone will bring the US market share of memory chip production from 2 percent to 10 percent.”

Additionally, Qualcomm and GlobalFoundries are announcing a new partnership that includes $4.2 billion to manufacture chips.

Later on in the day, Biden will sign the ratification of the accession of Sweden and Finland to NATO. The addition of the two traditionally neutral countries to the alliance represented a major foreign policy accomplishment for Biden during a trip to Europe for summits in June.

And on Wednesday, the President will sign the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promises to Address Comprehensive Toxics (PACT) Act of 2022 into law. The legislation expands health care benefits for millions of veterans exposed to toxic burn pits during their military service.
The bill widely expands health care resources and benefits to those exposed to burn pits and could provide coverage for up to 3.5 million veterans who qualify. It adds conditions related to burn pit and toxic exposure, including hypertension, to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ list of illnesses that have been incurred or exacerbated during military service. Biden has long speculated that burn pits played a role in the cancer that killed his son, Beau, in 2015.
The bill signings — along with other related accomplishments like the recent targeted killing of Osama bin Laden’s successor and continued declining gas prices — amount to the possibility that Biden may get the pre-midterms boost Democrats have been hoping for.

With the 2022 midterm elections less than 100 days away, and as Americans have grown discontented through a summer of major economic and political changes, Biden’s political standing among the public has declined.

A CNN poll released in mid-July found that nearly 7 in 10 Americans had said that Biden had not been paying enough attention to the nation’s most pressing problems. The President’s approval rating, in the poll, stood at 38%. And at the end of July, another CNN poll found that 75% of Democratic and Democratic-leaning voters wanted the party to nominate someone other than Biden in the 2024 presidential election.
The events come after the President had been isolating at the White House while dealing with a rebound case of Covid-19. Biden, who is at increased risk for a more severe case of Covid-19 due to his age, was cleared to emerge from isolation on Sunday following a second negative Covid-19 test.

Before the month’s end, Biden could have some other major opportunities to claim political victories.

Biden faces the real prospect of soon signing into law the Inflation Reduction Act — a version of his landmark climate change and health care bill.

The sweeping bill passed in the Senate along party lines and the House is expected to vote on it later this week.

The legislation would represent the largest climate investment in US history and make major changes to health policy by giving Medicare the power for the first time to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs and extending expiring health care subsidies for three years. The legislation would reduce the deficit, be paid for through new taxes — including a 15% minimum tax on large corporations and a 1% tax on stock buybacks — and increase the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to collect.

It would raise over $700 billion in government revenue over 10 years and spend over $430 billion to reduce carbon emissions and extend subsidies for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act and use the rest of the new revenue to reduce the deficit.

Before the month’s end, the President will also have to make a decision about whether to extend the nation’s ongoing mass federal student loan forbearance.

The President is also weighing the possibility of canceling some student loans. It’s an issue that’s sharply divided among partisan and generational lines, but one that could act as yet another political boon among some voters as the country continues to grapple with inflation raising the cost of everyday goods and services.

CNN’s Kristin Wilson, Clare Foran, Melanie Zanona, Jessica Dean, Ali Zazlav and Alex Rogers contributed to this report.

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Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwanese foreign minister says China drills game-plan for invasion

Taiwan Foreign Minister Joseph Wu.

Sam Yeh | AFP | Getty Images

Taiwan’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that China was using the military drills it launched in protest against US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit as a game-plan to prepare for an invasion of the
self-ruled island.

Joseph Wu, speaking at a press conference in Taipei, offered no timetable for a possible invasion of Taiwan, which is claimed by China as its own.

He said Taiwan would not be intimidated even as the drills continued with China often breaching the unofficial median line down the Taiwan Strait.

“China has used the drills in its military play-book to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan,” Wu said.

“It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation, and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan.

“After the drills conclude, China may try to routinize its action in an attempt to wreck the long-term status quo across the Taiwan Strait,” Wu said.

Such moves threatened regional security and provided “a clear image of China’s geostrategic ambitions beyond Taiwan”, Wu said, urging greater international support to stop China effectively controlling the strait.

A Pentagon official said on Monday that Washington was sticking to its assessment that China would not try to invade Taiwan for the next two years.

Wu spoke as military tensions simmer after the scheduled end on Sunday of four days of the largest-ever Chinese exercises surrounding the island – drills that included ballistic missile launches and simulated sea and air attacks in the skies and seas surrounding Taiwan.

China’s Eastern Theater Command announced on Monday that it would conduct fresh joint drills focusing on anti-submarine and sea assault operations – confirming the fears of some security analysts and diplomats that Beijing would keep up the pressure on Taiwan’s defences.

On Tuesday, the command said it continued to hold military drills and exercises in the seas and airspace around Taiwan, with a focus on blockades and resupply logistics.

A person familiar with security planning in the areas around Taiwan described to Reuters on Tuesday a continuing “standoff” around the median line involving about 10 warships each from China and Taiwan.

“China continued to try to press in to the median line,” the person said.

“Taiwan forces there have been trying to keep the international waterways open.”

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that China’s continued military exercises “highlight that its threat of force has not decreased.”

As Pelosi left the region last Friday, China also ditched some lines of communication with the United States, including theater level military talks and discussions on climate change.

Taiwan started its own long-scheduled drills on Tuesday, firing howitzer artillery out to sea in the southern county of Pingtung, attracting a small crowd of curious onlookers to a nearby beach.

US President Joe Biden, in his first public comments on the issue since Pelosi’s visit, said on Monday he was concerned about China’s actions in the region but he was not worried about Taiwan.

“I’m concerned they are moving as much as they are,” Biden told reporters in Delaware, referring to China. “But I don’t think they’re going to do anything more than they are.”

Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl also said the US military would continue to carry out voyages through the Taiwan Strait in the coming weeks.

China has never ruled out taking Taiwan by force and on Monday Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said that China was conducting normal military exercises “in our waters” in an open, transparent and professional way, adding Taiwan was part of China.

Taiwan rejects China’s sovereignty claims, saying only the Taiwanese people can decide the island’s future.

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Biden says he’s ‘not worried’ about China’s increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

Biden says he's 'not worried' about China's increased aggression toward Taiwan following Pelosi visit

US President Joe Biden talks to reporters while boarding Air Force One on travel to Eastern Kentucky to visit families affected by devastation from recent flooding, as he departs from Delaware Air National Guard Base in New Castle, Delaware, US, August 8, 2022.

Kevin Lamarques | Reuters

WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden said Monday he is “not worried” about China’s military exercises around Taiwan, adding that while he is “concerned that they’re moving as much as they are,” he does not think they’re going to continue to increase the pressure.

The remarks came one day after Beijing concluded 72 hours of intense maneuvers and missile tests over and around Taiwan. The exercises involved dozens of Chinese fighter jets and warships to mimic a military blockade of the self-governing island that Beijing considers a province.

Biden’s relative calm reflected the deliberate American strategy of not responding to Chinese bellicosity with equally hot saber-rattling.

It also reflects a broader opinion within the Biden administration that Beijing does not intend to make good on its implicit threat to invade Taiwan, at least not in the near term.

Given this assessment, the United States has adopted an approach, for now, of heightened vigilance, but steadfastly refused to be drawn into a military game of chicken in the Pacific.

Last Thursday, the White House announced that Biden would keep a US naval aircraft carrier strike group in the South China Sea longer than originally planned, in response to Beijing’s increased aggression toward Taiwan.

At the same time, a Biden spokesman said the United States would postpone a previously scheduled intercontinental ballistic missile, or ICBM, test.

The decisions signaled Washington’s desire to maintain American military alertness in the region, while also denying Beijing the opportunity to point to the long-planned US missile test as evidence that America was responding to China’s own missile launches near Taiwan with military preparations of its own.

Beijing claimed its military exercises were conducted in retaliation for US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan last week.

The visit by the California Democrat, which the Biden White House publicly defended but privately opposed, marked the first time in 25 years that an American House speaker, a position second in line to the presidency, had visited Taiwan.

Asked Monday whether it was wise for Pelosi to have traveled to Taiwan given the tense US-China relationship, Biden gave the standard response his administration has used for weeks.

“That was her decision,” he said, before boarding Air Force One en route to Kentucky, where Biden and first lady Jill Biden will visit communities impacted by catastrophic flooding last week.

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Matthew DePerno: Trump-backed GOP candidate for Michigan AG under criminal investigation for possibly tampering with voting machines, docs say

Matthew DePerno: Trump-backed GOP candidate for Michigan AG under criminal investigation for possibly tampering with voting machines, docs say



CNN
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Michigan’s Democratic attorney general is calling for a special prosecutor to investigate her Donald Trump-backed challenger after finding evidence linking him to a potentially criminal plot to seize and tamper with voting machines used in the 2020 election, according to a letter obtained by CNN and documents released Monday by the attorney general’s office.

For months, the Michigan State Police and the attorney general’s office have been investigating a series of voting machine breaches that took place in several counties around the state last year. According to the documents released Monday, that probe has led investigators to Kalamazoo-based lawyer Matthew DePerno, a Republican candidate running against incumbent Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel.

Trump has thrown his support behind DePerno, and he picked up an endorsement earlier this year from Michigan Republican Party activists, paving the way for him to officially become the GOP nominee for attorney general at the party convention later this month. He is one of several Trump-backed election deniers who are currently running to become the top law enforcement officer or the top election official in their states.

Nessel is now asking for a special prosecutor to be appointed to avoid a potential conflict of interest. The investigation into voting machine breaches has unearthed facts that indicate DePerno and two other associates may have broken the law when they “orchestrated a coordinated plan to gain access to voting tabulators,” according to Nessel’s office.

“When this investigation began there was not a conflict of interest. However, during the course of the investigation, facts were developed that DePerno was one of the prime instigators of the conspiracy,” Nessel’s office wrote in an August 5 petition for the Prosecuting Attorneys Coordinating Counsel to appoint a special prosecutor.

The DePerno campaign tweeted a statement late Sunday saying he has reviewed the petition for a special prosecutor and “denied the allegations presented.” The statement also says, “the claims presented by Nessel show a completely unwarranted and erroneous attack based on political prosecution.”

The request from Nessel’s office alleges that DePerno was present in a hotel room in early 2021 when a group of individuals performed unauthorized “tests” on voting tabulators they had seized from multiple Michigan counties – suggesting investigators have evidence that directly links him to the potentially illegal breaches.

“We have requested the appointment of a Special Prosecuting Attorney to review the case for the issue of possible criminal charges against several of the individuals involved. We view the actions of these individuals to be very serious,” Nessel’s office wrote in a letter to Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a fellow Democrat, summarizing the investigation’s findings.

Reuters first reported DePerno’s alleged role in the voting machine breaches. The Detroit News first reported Nessel’s request for a special prosecutor.

In May, CNN reported that Michigan State Police had expanded its investigation into whether third parties gained unauthorized access to voting machine data after the 2020 election, and that the probe was looking into potential breaches in multiple counties. The investigation began in February after Benson’s office uncovered a breach of vote tabulator components in Roscommon County, in rural northern Michigan.

The probe in Michigan reflects a growing number of uncovered incidents around the country where Trump supporters attempted to gain access to voting systems, as part of efforts to overturn or undermine the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. It also comes as several Trump-endorsed candidates have won the Republican nomination for roles that could position them to oversee future elections in key battleground states going forward.

They succeeded in at least one instance in late November 2020, when a team of pro-Trump operatives traveled to Antrim County, Michigan, and conducted an audit of voting systems there, according to court documents released as part of a failed lawsuit filed by attorneys working on behalf of the former President at the time.

The lawsuit was led by DePerno and led to a since-debunked report issued by a team of analysts from a Texas-based company, Allied Security Operations Group, alleging irregularities in Dominion Voting Systems that was consistently cited as evidence in multiple failed legal challenges in Michigan and other swing states. (There is no evidence to support GOP claims of wrongdoing by Dominion.)

Among the evidence investigators in Michigan say they have uncovered as part of their probe into voting machine breaches are digital IDs that DePerno had used as evidence in the failed suit.

“There must be consequences for those who broke the law to undermine our elections in order to advance their own political agendas,” Benson told CNN in a statement.

She added, “The Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan election clerks of this state do their jobs with professionalism and integrity, and we will continue to ensure they are equipped with a full understanding of the legal protections in place to block bad actors from pressing them to gain access to secure election systems.”

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Biden surveys flood damage in Kentucky and pledges federal support: ‘We’re not leaving’

Biden surveys flood damage in Kentucky and pledges federal support: 'We're not leaving'

The President was joined by Kentucky Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear and received a briefing on the ongoing response efforts to the flooding.

“It’s going to take a while to get through this but I promise you we’re not leaving. The federal government and all its resources — we’re not leaving,” Biden said during the briefing, which took place at an elementary school in Lost Creek. “As long as it takes, we’re going to be here.”

First Lady Jill Biden also traveled to Kentucky with the President. Along with Beshear, Biden was also accompanied by several Kentucky elected officials during her trip, including Kentucky Republican Rep. Hal Rogers. Biden said that he had invited Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to Kentucky, but McConnell did not come.

When asked by CNN if he wished the Kentucky senator had joined him, Biden responded: “No, I don’t think so. I don’t think he has to. He’s got a Senate to run.”

Thousands remain displaced after the flooding swept away entire homes. Many also remain stranded without access to clean water, electricity and critical supplies, as some communities remain impossible to access because of heavily damaged infrastructure. High temperatures, thunderstorms and humidity have been posing challenges to response efforts.

US President Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden walk past debris while viewing flood damage and response efforts in Lost Creek, Kentucky, US, August 8, 2022. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

After surveying damage and meeting with families affected by the flooding, the President praised the local community for their “courage” and “stamina.”

“We’re the only country in the world that has come out of every major disaster stronger than we went into it. We got clobbered going in but we came out stronger. That’s the objective here,” Biden said.

He continued, telling the group as they were surrounded by devastation from the floods, “So I don’t want any Kentuckian telling me, ‘You don’t have to do this for me.’ Oh, yeah we do. You’re an American citizen. We never give up, we never stop, we never bow, we never bend — we just go forward. And that’s what we’re going to do here.”

US First Lady Jill Biden (L) and Britainy Beshear, First Lady of Kentucky (R), sort through donated clothing at Marie Roberts Elementary School, in Lost Creek, Kentucky, on August 8, 2022. - President Joe Biden and US First Lady Jill Biden are visiting Eastern Kentucky on Monday to meet with families impacted by the deadly flooding. (Photo by Jim WATSON/AFP) (Photo by JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images)

Biden on Sunday made additional disaster assistance available to Kentucky after initially approving a disaster declaration on July 29 to supplement local recovery efforts with federal funding.

Monday’s trip took place shortly after Biden was officially cleared to emerge from isolation after recovering from a rebound case of Covid-19. The President had spent 18 days at the White House because of two back-to-back cases of Covid-19, but then traveled to Rehoboth, Delaware, on Sunday. I tested negative on Saturday but remained in isolation until testing negative again on Sunday.

Up until Sunday, Biden had not left the White House since initially testing positive for Covid-19 on July 21. After taking a five-day course of Pfizer’s antiviral drug, Paxlovid, he tested positive for a rebound case of Covid-19 on July 30 and summarized isolation.

The trip came the day after the Senate passed a $750 billion health care, tax and climate bill, in a significant victory for Biden and his party.

The massive bill — named the Inflation Reduction Act — would represent the largest climate investment in US history and make major changes to health policy by giving Medicare the power for the first time to negotiate the prices of certain prescription drugs and extending expiring health care subsidies for three years. The legislation would reduce the deficit, be paid for through new taxes — including a 15% minimum tax on large corporations and a 1% tax on stock buybacks — and increase the Internal Revenue Service’s ability to collect. The legislation still needs to pass the House of Representatives.

CNN’s Maegan Vazquez and Sam Fossum contributed to this report.

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US

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago searched by FBI in document investigation

Trump's Mar-a-Lago searched by FBI in document investigation

The former President confirmed that FBI agents were at Mar-a-Lago and said “they even broke into my safe.” He was at Trump Tower in New York when the search warrant was executed in Florida, a person familiar told CNN.

“My beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a statement Monday evening.

The extraordinary move to search for the home of a former president raises the stakes for the Justice Department and comes as Trump’s legal problems continue on multiple fronts. Trump is also expected in the coming months to announce he will launch another bid for the White House in 2024.

The search began early Monday morning and law enforcement personnel appeared to be focused on the area of ​​the club where Trump’s offices and personal quarters are, according to a person familiar with the matter.

The FBI’s search included examining where documents were kept, according to another person familiar with the investigation, and boxes of items were taken. Following the National Archives’ recovering of White House records from Mar-a-Lago in recent months, the FBI on Monday had to verify that nothing was left behind.

Trump’s son, Eric, told Fox host Sean Hannity that “the purpose of the raid, from what they said, was because the National Archives wanted to, you know, corroborate whether or not Donald Trump had any documents in his possession.”

Christina Bobb, Trump’s attorney, said the FBI seized documents. “President Trump and his legal team have been cooperative with FBI and DOJ officials every step of the way. The FBI did conduct an unannounced raid and seized paper,” Bobb said

The Point: The vise is tightening around Trump as 2024 decision looms

There was communication between the FBI and US Secret Service before the search warrant was executed Monday, a person familiar with the matter said, allowing for the FBI to access the estate without any complications. There is only a small Secret Service footprint at Mar-a-Lago when Trump is not there.

CNN has reached out to the FBI for comment. The Justice Department declined to comment to CNN.

A White House official said it was not notified about the search. President Joe Biden, a senior administration official said, was unaware of the search for Mar-a-Lago until after it was reported on the news.

Investigation into documents

The National Archives, charged with collecting and sorting presidential material, has previously said at least 15 boxes of White House records were recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort — including some that were classified.

In early June, a handful of investigators made a rare visit to the property seeking more information about potentially classified material from Trump’s time in the White House that had been taken to Florida. The four investigators, including Jay Bratt, the chief of the counterintelligence and export control section at the Justice Department, sat down with two of Trump’s attorneys, Bobb and Evan Corcoran, according to a source present for the meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, Trump stopped by and greeted the investigators near a dining room. After he left, without answering any questions, the investigators asked the attorneys if they could see where Trump was storing the documents. The attorneys took the investigators to the basement room where the boxes of materials were being stored, and the investigators looked around the room before eventually leaving, according to the source.

Assessing Trump's risk if he mishandled White House documents

A second source said that Trump came in to say hi and made small talk but left while the attorneys spoke with investigators. The source said some of the documents shown to investigators had top secret markings.

Five days later, on June 8, Trump’s attorneys received a letter from investigators asking them to further secure the room where the documents were stored. Aides subsequently added a padlock to the room.

In April and May, aides to Trump at Mar-a-Lago were interviewed by the FBI as part of the probe into the handling of presidential records, according to a source familiar with the matter.

“It is a federal crime to remove classified documents wrongly. And so if you are filling out that affidavit and you have to list the crime, you can list that as the crime,” said Elie Honig, a former federal and state prosecutor and a CNN senior legal analyst.

Honig told CNN’s Erin Burnett on “OutFront” that the timing of the search held with the longstanding department rule not to execute politically sensitive moves within 90 days of an election.

“Today is just about 90 days out exactly from the midterms, I think maybe 91 or 92 days out. That policy, that may be a reason why they did it today because they want to stay clear of that if they’re interpreting that as a 90 day rule,” he said.

Members of GOP back Trump

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel claimed in a statement that Democrats “continually weaponize the bureaucracy against Republicans,” and a number of Republican lawmakers came to the former President’s defense on social media.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican, wrote that he had “seen enough.”
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“Attorney General (Merrick) Garland: preserve your documents and clear your calendar. I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” the Republican leader wrote. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned.”

GOP Sen. Rick Scott of Florida said that “we need answers NOW. The FBI must explain what they were doing today & why.”

But the chair of the House Oversight Committee, which is investigating Trump’s handling of documents, called on the Justice Department to “fully investigate” the former President’s handling of information.

“Presidents have a solemn duty to protect America’s national security, and allegations that former President Trump put our security at risk by mishandling classified information warrant the utmost scrutiny,” Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York said.

“Although details of today’s actions at Mar-a-Lago are still emerging, it is clear that the Department of Justice must fully investigate President Trump’s potentially serious mishandling of classified information.”

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Dana Bash, Zachary Cohen, Jeremy Diamond, Shawna Mizelle and Megan Trimble contributed to this report.

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