Arizona brings abortion back into play

An Arizona Supreme Court ruling upheld a 160-year-old law that criminalizes all abortions with the exception of those where a woman’s life is at stake this Tuesday. The “brutal, backwards and barbaric” ruling, as Democratic representative Shontel Brown colorfully puts it, relied on a law passed before Arizona was a state and women had the right to vote.Just a day before the ruling was made, presidential candidate Donald Trump made his “leave abortion policy to the states” announcement. The move, which was seen as morally bankrupt by some pro-life organizations, was hailed by others as strategically…

An Arizona Supreme Court ruling upheld a 160-year-old law that criminalizes all abortions with the exception of those where a woman’s life is at stake this Tuesday. The “brutal, backwards and barbaric” ruling, as Democratic representative Shontel Brown colorfully puts it, relied on a law passed before Arizona was a state and women had the right to vote.

Just a day before the ruling was made, presidential candidate Donald Trump made his “leave abortion policy to the states” announcement. The move, which was seen as morally bankrupt by some pro-life organizations, was hailed by others as strategically savvy. Making the election less about abortion and more about immigration and the economy, to put it simply, helps Trump.

Having these two events happen close to each other, though, has alimented Democrats’ response. The Biden administration made the case that by punting on the issue federally, Trump is tacitly responsible for any “extreme” abortion restrictions enacted on the state level. Indeed, the argument for a federally protected right to abortion is easier to make with laws like the one upheld in Arizona and provides Democrats a useful foil.

Senate hopeful Kari Lake, of Arizona, doubled down on a pragmatic approach to abortion, sharing on X: “I oppose today’s ruling and I am calling on [Governor] Katie Hobbs and the state Legislature to come up with an immediate common sense solution that Arizonans can support.

“Ultimately, Arizona voters will make the decision on the ballot come November,” she added.

Lake’s response to the 4-2 ruling, like Trump’s announcement, angered pro-lifers throughout the country who feel betrayed by politicians who had previously banked on their opposition to abortion. Yet for all of the in-fighting, the battle within the conservative movement appears to be mostly over electability, not substance.

-Juan P. Villasmil

On our radar

NO INFLATION VACATION Consumer prices rose 3.5 percent since last March, outpacing economists’ expectations and putting a damper on Federal Reserve plans to cut interest rates in June.

FISA FOILED House Speaker Mike Johnson’s hopes of reauthorizing part of FISA, a hotly debated US surveillance program, were dashed by his conservative flank in Congress. Wednesday’s vote involved a section of the act that permits warrantless spying on foreign actors, which Johnson argued is key to protecting national security.

MENENDEZ TRIAL DELAYED Federal prosecutors said they are okay with delaying a corruption trial for Senator Bob Menendez and his wife, who cited a “serious medical condition” as a reason to postpone. The trial, set to start on May 6, will now take place further into the summer.

Avenatti’s surprising admission

Is Michael Avenatti hoping for a pardon from Donald Trump? His recent comments suggest a bizarre heel turn for the convicted felon, memorably dubbed “creepy porn lawyer” by Tucker Carlson.

In a phone interview from Terminal Island Prison with MSNBC, Avenatti lashed out at District Attorney Alvin Bragg, telling Ari Melber: “I think this is the wrong case at the wrong time,” adding that “the case is, in many ways, stale at this juncture.”

This was the first prison interview the controversial attorney has done since he began serving a fourteen-year sentence for stealing millions of dollars from clients. He previously represented Stormy Daniels, the adult film star at the center of Bragg’s case, which alleges Trump violated campaign finance laws by designating hush money payments to Daniels as legal expenses.

There is some additional irony in NBC axing former RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who would have presumably offered some pro-Trump commentary, only for one of the once loudest Trump critics to do her dirty work instead.

But Avenatti’s interview wasn’t all good news for Trump; he still expects Trump to be convicted of the charges. That said, Trump did still thank his onetime foe in a post on Truth Social: “Thank you to Michael Avenatti,” he wrote, “for revealing the truth about two sleaze bags who have, with their lies and misrepresentations, cost our Country dearly.”

–Matthew Foldi

Biden diary thief heading to prison

Aimee Harris has been sentenced to a month in prison and ordered to serve three months of home confinement for stealing and selling a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter, Ashley — the “daughter who owes thousands in taxes” (thank you, New York Post).

“Harris pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in August 2022, admitting that she received $20,000 of the $40,000 that was paid by Project Veritas for personal items belonging to the president’s daughter,” reports Fox News.

In addition to the diary, Fox reports Harris also lifted Ashley’s digital storage card, books, clothing and luggage. Assistant US Attorney Robert Sobelman said Harris took “everything she could get her hands on” “to make as much money as she could” and because “she wanted to damage Ms. Biden’s father.”

According to the BBC, Harris found the diary at a Florida house she moved into after Ashley Biden had stayed there while she was recovering from drug addiction. Harris and a conspirator attempted to sell the diary to the Trump campaign in 2020, but, “when the Trump campaign didn’t bite, the pair approached Project Veritas,” who did not ultimately make the diary entries public.

Project Veritas hasn’t been charged in this case, and a representative told the BBC the organization “turned the diary over to authorities.”

–Teresa Mull

Former Trump official defends TikTok

A former college football quarterback-turned director of Donald Trump’s Presidential Personnel Office is in hot water with allies of the former president following an interview in which he denied widespread reports that TikTok suppresses anti-CCP content and boosts anti-Israel posts.

Former PPO director John McEntee currently wears many hats — he’s running a conservative dating app, The Right Stuff, backed by Peter Thiel and is a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025. His defense of TikTok in an interview with CNBC seems to break with both of those ventures. The Heritage Foundation has been openly anti-TikTok, and Thiel is one of the most prominent China hawks in America.

During the interview, McEntee said that “no one’s, like, actually promoting or censoring Uyghur content, it’s just not a top-of-mind issue for most Americans.” Topics banned in China are famously “underrepresented” on the app. He added fuel to the fire in defending the noted lack of pro-Israel content on TikTok, arguing it’ simply because young people are anti-Israel. “Well, the younger generation is less pro-Israel, that might be good or bad or whatever, but it’s just feeding American public opinion,” McEntee said.

These are red flags to a lot of his erstwhile allies. One longtime evangelical activist told Cockburn of McEntee’s Israel claim, “This clip has been making the rounds in pro-Israel circles and Evangelical and Jewish supporters are not pleased,” adding: “Trump was the most pro-Israel president in history. I wonder what he’d think of that quote.”

Another top Trump administration official flagged that using TikTok to boost your dating app isn’t enough of a reason to sell out to the CCP. Videos of McEntee stating conservative truisms in between bites of food, shot in the style of someone sitting across the table from you on a date, have gone viral on Instagram and TikTok. “Dating apps notwithstanding, granting any unnecessary access to the CCP of any part of our influencing infrastructure should be stopped,” the Trump official told Cockburn.

TikTok has found many new allies on the right in recent weeks, most of whom are directly or indirectly bankrolled by billionaire megadonor Jeff Yass, who owns a massive stake in its parent company. McEntee has another, more obvious, reason to defend the platform: his dating app, The Right Stuff, is active on TikTok, and he has used the app “more than anything” to grow its brand.

–Cockburn