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Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg officially indicted Donald Trump on April 4 on thirty-four counts of “falsifying business records in the first degree... with the intent to defraud and intent to commit another crime and aid and conceal the commission thereof.” This makes Trump the first president in US history to be indicted on a criminal charge. Not willing to let any opportunity — however ignominious — go to waste, Trump is already selling t-shirts on his website featuring a digitally-created mugshot with the words “Not Guilty” emblazoned below and the prisoner code "45-47" (get it?). The former president was not required to take an actual mugshot by Bragg's office.

The 2024 presidential election is heating up and with it comes the typical scramble of political consultants trying to hitch wagons to the winning campaign. The hottest gossip right now surrounds the Never Back Down PAC, which will support Florida governor Ron DeSantis in the event of a presidential run and has recently gobbled up some prominent Trump 2020 alumni. One of the key players in any Republican election is Jeff Roe, the head of Axiom Strategies and a top consultant to Senator Ted Cruz during the 2016 election. Axiom, which is one of the three major GOP consulting firms alongside Majority Strategies and Arena, played a major role in Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin's upset over Terry McAuliffe in 2021.

On the day after District Attorney, Alvin Bragg confirmed that a grand jury had indicted former president, Donald Trump, his office’s general counsel made a bizarre request of three House Republican committee chairmen. In a letter to Representatives Jim Jordan, Bryan Steil and James Comer, Leslie Dubeck asked the lawmakers to denounce Trump’s “harsh invective” against Bragg. Trump had warned that his indictment or arrest might unleash “death and destruction.” On social media, Trump’s supporters have vilified Bragg. “As committee chairmen,” Dubeck suggests, “you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury.

The many unknowns of the Trump indictment The first president to be impeached twice has become the first former president to be indicted once. Donald Trump is expected to be arraigned in Manhattan on Tuesday. It is at that point that the charges against him, relating to hush money payments to porn star Stormy Daniels, are expected to be unsealed.  In the almost twenty-four hours that have passed since the long-expected news of the indictment finally broke, much has gone as expected. Trump’s statement made the complaints you’d expect. Almost every high-profile Republican, including every 2024 contender, has criticized Manhattan prosecutor Alvin Bragg and his case against the former president (not that we know what it is yet, exactly). The White House has kept mum.

Gisele Fetterman, wife of Pennsylvania’s US senator John, has written an op-ed for Elle magazine, of which Cockburn is naturally an avid reader. The essence of her piece is: “I am perfect the way I am — and how dare you criticize me. Also I’m a volunteer firefighter.” John Fetterman, readers will recall, suffered a stroke last year during the Democratic primary for Senate against Conor Lamb. He won regardless, lining up a head-to-head with Republican candidate Dr. Oz. His one performance on the debate stage raised alarms, even from the mainstream media, over claims he was perfectly fine following his serious health scare and was ready to serve.

Democrats are taking today’s Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank hearing seriously. So seriously that they circulated an emoji-filled document of suggested tweets that they would like for committee members to post. The saddest part is that one of those committee members then repeated those talking points almost word-for-word at the hearing. “Democrats 👏 the decisive action taken by the Biden administration in a critical moment to restore confidence in our banking system,” the Financial Service Committee Democrats circulated in a memo obtained by The Spectator this morning.

Spoilt for choice in the Windy City If the heavy defeat suffered by incumbent mayor Lori Lightfoot last month is anything to go by, Chicagoans have plenty to grumble about when it comes to how their city is managed. But when they head to the polls in the mayoral runoff next week, they cannot complain about a lack of choice. The two candidates are both Democrats, to be sure, but they offer sharply different approaches on the crime and public safety — issues that have dominated the race and which polls suggest are at the forefront of voters’ minds.  Paul Vallas, who used to run the city’s public schools, is running in the moderate lane: sharply critical of Lightfoot and prioritizing public safety above all else. Brandon Johnson is the progressive option.