Hello TPM members and welcome to the weekend.
With signs of a recession on the horizon, Trump is trying to make sure that Americans don’t blame him — especially at the ballot box in 2020. For now, Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell is a convenient target.
Here’s what happened in Prime this week.
- Arizona’s Republican attorney general is staffing up a new “election integrity” unit. David Kurtz writes that it’s part of a “vicious cycle where those making bogus voter fraud claims (including the president himself) create an environment where ‘confidence’ becomes an issue, and elected officials respond to the supposed climate of concern. It basically rewards those making the most outlandish bad faith voter fraud claims.”
- A state official in Oregon says that a weekly newspaper is coming after him due to a personal vendetta. The newspaper says it’s just doing its job.
- Court filings this week gave us a look at where the New York attorney general’s investigation into the NRA might be headed.
- Mark Halperin and Judith Regan cash in on outrage.
- Josh Marshall reviews a study that shows higher rates of aggression in the American South.
- Another official spins through the revolving door between the White House and Fox News.
- When it comes to election security, Georgia isn’t doing so hot, according to a federal judge.
- Chris Murphy thinks there’s a chance Trump will still act on gun control. Is that true?
- Mueller’s probe is over, but his case against the Russian trolls may still go to trial.
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