Today in one sentence: At least seven people were killed in a shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, during a Fourth of July parade, and more than 30 people were injured; the New York State Legislature passed a measure to enshrine the right to an abortion and access to contraception in the State Constitution; Liz Cheney suggested that the Jan. 6 committee could make "more than one criminal referral" to the Justice Department over Trump's role in the attack on the Capitol; a Georgia grand jury subpoenaed Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, and five others as part of an investigation into Trump’s potential criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election; 71% of voters say Biden should not run for a second term; and 61% of voters don't want Trump to run in 2024.

1/ At least seven people were killed in a shooting in Highland Park, Illinois, during a Fourth of July parade, and more than 30 people were injured. The suspected gunman, Robert “Bobby” Crimo III, had “preplanned this attack for several weeks” and disguised himself as a woman in an attempt to conceal his identity after firing more than 70 bullets from a rooftop using a “high-powered” rifle similar to an AR-15, officials said. Deputy Chief Christopher Covelli said that after Crimo fired into the crowd, he dropped his rifle and escaped with the crowd “almost as if he was an innocent spectator,” before walking to his mother’s home and borrowing a vehicle. Police discovered a second rifle inside the car. Both rifles had been legally purchased in the Chicago area. The shooting came a week and a half after Biden signed the most significant gun measure to pass Congress in nearly three decades. (NPR / CNN / New York Times / NBC News / Washington Post / Associated Press / Wall Street Journal)

2/ The New York State Legislature passed a measure to enshrine the right to an abortion and access to contraception in the State Constitution. If fully enacted, the Equal Rights Amendment would explicitly add protections for New Yorkers to access abortion care. Amending the State Constitution requires passage by two separately elected Legislatures, and then approval by voters in a referendum. Florida’s ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, meanwhile, is back in effect after a state court judge blocked it earlier today. And in Ohio, a 10-year-old rape victim was denied an abortion. With the state’s trigger law banning abortions after six weeks in effect, the girl – who was six weeks and three days pregnant – had to travel to Indiana for the medical procedure. Biden, meanwhile, predicted that some states will try to arrest women for crossing state lines to get an abortion. “People are gonna be shocked when the first state […] tries to arrest a woman for crossing a state line to get health services,” Biden said. He added: “And I don’t think people believe that’s gonna happen. But it’s gonna happen, and it’s gonna telegraph to the whole country that this is a gigantic deal that goes beyond; I mean, it affects all your basic rights”. (New York Times / Bloomberg / Indianapolis Star / The Guardian / Reuters / The Hill / Business Insider / Politico)

  • A new Supreme Court case is the biggest threat to US democracy since January 6. “Moore v. Harper is a grave threat to US democracy, and the fate of that democracy probably comes down to Amy Coney Barrett.” (Vox)
  • The Supreme Court’s next target is the executive branch. “There are many ways for the conservative court to rein in federal agencies, and while there may not be a clear consensus on precisely which of those avenues to take at any given moment, one way or another, federal agencies exerting broad-based powers are already losing — and are almost certainly going to keep losing.” (Axios)

3/ Liz Cheney, the Jan. 6 committee’s vice chair, suggested that the panel could make “more than one criminal referral” to the Justice Department over Trump’s role in the attack on the Capitol. While bringing charges against a former president would be unprecedented and “difficult” for the country, not doing so would support a “much graver constitutional threat,” Cheney said. Adam Kinzinger, meanwhile, said that new witnesses have come forward since Cassidy Hutchinson testified. (Washington Post / ABC News / Associated Press)

4/ A Georgia grand jury subpoenaed Rudy Giuliani, Lindsey Graham, and five others as part of an investigation into Trump’s potential criminal interference in the 2020 presidential election. In addition to Giuliani and Graham, those being summoned to provide testimony include John Eastman, Cleta Mitchell, Kenneth Chesebro, and Jenna Ellis, who all advised Trump on ways to overturn Biden’s wins in Georgia and several other swing states. The special grand jury also issued a subpoena to Jacki Pick Deason, a podcaster who also supported Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. The grand jury, citing Giuliani’s December 2020 testimony claiming to have evidence of widespread voter fraud, believes Giuliani “possesses unique knowledge concerning communications between himself, former President Trump, the Trump Campaign, and other known and unknown individuals involved in the multi-state, coordinated efforts to influence the results of the November 2020 election in Georgia and elsewhere.” (Atlanta Journal-Constitution / Washington Post / Bloomberg / New York Times / CNBC / CNN)

poll/ 71% of voters say Biden should not run for a second term. 45% said Biden is a bad president, while 30% said he’s too old, and 26% said it’s time for change. (Harvard Center for American Political Studies and Harris)

poll/ 61% of voters don’t want Trump to run in 2024. 36% called Trump too erratic, 33% said he will divide America, and 30% said Trump is responsible for Jan. 6, 2021. (Harvard Center for American Political Studies and Harris)

poll/ 27% of Americans express “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of confidence in U.S. institutions – an all-time low. (Gallup)

poll/ 42% of Americans say they are struggling financially – up 18 points since last year. (Monmouth University)