Closing summary
A federal magistrate judge is leaning towards releasing at least part of the affidavit used to justify the search of Mar-a-Lago, which could shed light on what federal investigators hoped to find at Donald Trump’s resort. Meanwhile, Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced a crackdown on election fraud in the state, a day after the justice department alleged the state’s new voting law discriminated against African Americans.
Here’s what else happened today:
The Trump organization’s finance chief pled guilty to tax charges, and is set to testify against his former employer.
Democrats plan to take to the airwaves to make sure voters credit them for the Inflation Reduction Act, which is meant to lower greenhouse gas emissions and health care costs.
Liz Cheney’s opponent claims she didn’t concede following her Republican primary loss, so Cheney released a recording of the phone call.
First lady Jill Biden is recovering from Covid-19, the White House says.
Here’s more from The Guardian’s Sam Levine on Florida governor Ron DeSantis’ claims of voter fraud in the state:
Florida officials have arrested and charged 20 people with felony convictions and charged them with illegal voting Florida governor Ron DeSantis said on Thursday, a move designed to show the muscle of a new office tasked with policing voting in the state.
The announcement came just days before the state’s primary election and as early voting is ongoing. DeSantis, flanked by law enforcement, said the 20 people were charged with voting in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach county, some of the most Democratic in the state. “They did not go through any process, they did not get their rights restored, and yet they went ahead and voted anyways. That is against the law and now they’re gonna pay the price for it,” DeSantis said. He also said all 20 had convictions for murder or sexual offenses, crimes that continue to result in a lifetime voting ban. Florida voters lifted the ban for all other offenses in 2018.
