WASHINGTON — If it’s Monday ... The upcoming Jan. 6 hearing will focus on then-President Donald Trump’s involvement in the failed scheme to push slates of alternate electors. ... Larry Summers says his best guess is that an economic recession is coming. ... Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen counters that a recession is not inevitable. ... It’s one day until Tuesday’s runoffs in Alabama and Georgia. ... Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, launches a new ad. ... And it’s the observed federal holiday for Juneteenth.
But first: Last week, the Jan. 6 committee made its case that Trump tried to pressure then-Vice President Mike Pence to overturn the 2020 election results.
Then. Trump essentially confirmed that in a speech the very next day.
“Mike Pence had a chance to be great. He had a chance to be, frankly, historic,” Trump told the Faith and Freedom Coalition on Friday in Nashville. “But Mike did not have the courage.”
More Trump: “Mike Pence had absolutely no choice but to be a human conveyor belt. He’s a human conveyor belt.”
Yet, as we learned last week, Trump’s lawyers knew that blocking certification of the Electoral College results wasn’t legal, and Trump knew he was putting Pence’s life in danger when he tweeted his vice president lacked the “courage” to overturn the election.
As one of us put it on Sunday, Trump’s “Mike did not have the courage. ... He’s a human conveyor belt” remarks in Nashville were akin to Jack Nicholson’s character admitting he ordered the “Code Red” in “A Few Good Men.”
“He’s essentially saying, ‘Yeah, I did it, and I’ll do it again,’ which is what we have been contending all along,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., said on “Meet the Press.”
Richard Nixon tried to cover up the Watergate break-in, which took place 50 years ago this month.
But for Trump and Jan. 6? It’s mostly been out in the open.
Tweet of the day
Data Download: The number of the day is … $3.4 million
That’s how much a PAC aligned with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, raised from a group of 10 donors who also spent $24 million on Trump’s 2020 campaign, per a new Politico analysis of campaign finance data.
DeSantis has proven to be a prolific fundraiser, pulling in $100 million as he runs for re-election this year. He’s also been viewed as a potential presidential contender in 2024. Trump, meanwhile, once again teased another run for the White House, asking the crowd at an evangelical conference Friday, “Would anybody like me to run for president?”
Other numbers to know:
$900 billion: How much value Bitcoin has lost since its value peaked in November, as part of a broader cryptocurrency meltdown, per The New York Times.
1/3 : The estimated share of the U.S. population that was under heat warnings and advisories last week, as a heat wave swept over parts of the country.
$38 million: How much the Democratic-aligned Senate Majority PAC and Majority Forward are reserving in television ads in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin this summer.
9: The number of top Navy officials who have been fired since April without any explanation, NBC reports.
Midterm roundup: Overtime in Alabama and Georgia
On Tuesday, voters will head to the polls in Alabama and Georgia to settle primary races that were forced into runoff elections.
Alabama’s the home to the biggest race, the Senate GOP primary runoff that’s been set and reset by Trump’s shifting loyalties. After pulling his endorsement from Rep. Mo Brooks, Trump is squarely on board the train for Katie Britt, the former top Senate aide running to replace her retiring once-boss, Sen. Richard Shelby. The state is also holding runoffs in primaries in two other races likely to decide the ultimate general election winner — secretary of state and the 5th Congressional District.
In Georgia, Democrats Bee Nguyen and Dee Dawkins-Haigler face off for the right to take on Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in the fall and deny him re-election. Two runoffs in the 6th and 10th Congressional Districts will likely decide who comes to Congress from their next year — Vernon Jones or Mike Collins, and Jake Evans or Rich McCormick — and a runoff between Jeremy Hunt and Chris West in the 2nd District could set up an interesting general election against Democratic Rep. Sanford Bishop.
Elsewhere on the campaign trail:
Alabama Senate: Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., backed Britt ahead of Tuesday’s runoff, calling her “a strong conservative who will fight to expand 21st century opportunity for every American family and preserve the American Dream.”
Pennsylvania Senate: The National Republican Senatorial Committee launched a new TV ad in Pennsylvania as part of a seven-figure ad buy, tying Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman to Biden and rising gas prices.
Michigan Governor: Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reserved $3.4 million in broadcast airtime from September through Election Day.
Illinois-07: Democratic Rep. Danny Davis spent $27,000 on cable in his fist ad buy ahead of his June 28 primary against fellow Democrat Kina Collins, who has been endorsed by Justice Democrats.
Ohio-09: Democratic Rep. Marcy Kaptur is up with a new ad focused largely on her economic record, but also includes her criticizing calls to “defund the police.”
New York Lt. Governor: The New York Times reports on how Lt. Gov. Antonio Delgado, the former congressman who gave up his seat for the post, faces a difficult primary challenge.
Ad watch: Northern Exposure
Alaska Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski launched her first TV ad over the weekend, featuring Alaskan voters telling viewers why they support her.
A labor leader, former transportation commissioner, hospital administrator and others highlight Murkowski’s legislative record and accomplishments.
“She’ll work with the [Biden] administration when it’s good for Alaska and she’ll fight them tooth and nail when it’s not good for Alaska,” John McKinnon, the former state Commissioner of Transportation says in the ad.
The ad comes just two months before Alaska’s primary election, a nonpartisan “Top 4” system, where the top four vote getters in a primary advance to the general, regardless of political affiliation. Murkowski’s opponents include the Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka.
ICYMI: What else is happening in the world
Republican activists in Texas voted this weekend to approve a Republican Party platform that denies President Biden’s election was legitimate and criticizes homosexuality.
Former Gov. Mitch Daniels, R-Ind., is considering another bid for office, Politico reports.
French president Emmanuel Macron’s party lost an absolute majority in a round of legislative elections, meaning they’ll need help from other parties to pass legislation, CNBC reports.
In the wake of Juneteenth’s recognition as a federal holiday, long-time celebrators of the day are seeing the commercialization of a major holiday happen in real time, NBC News’ Michelle Garcia writes.
