A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
Day 589: "Very disturbing."
Today in one sentence: The Justice Department obtained the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after receiving evidence that highly classified government documents were "likely concealed and removed" from a storage room as part of an effort to "obstruct" the FBI's investigation; the FDA authorized updated versions of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 boosters that target the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants; about 3.8 million renters say they’re likely to be evicted in the next two months; life expectancy in the U.S. fell in 2021 for the second year in a row; and 14% of Americans view Covid-19 as a "severe" health risk in their community – down from 33% in January.
1/ The Justice Department obtained the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate after receiving evidence that highly classified government documents were “likely concealed and removed” from a storage room as part of an effort to “obstruct” the FBI’s investigation. In a 36-page court filing, federal prosecutors said Trump’s representatives falsely claimed that a “diligent search” had been conducted and all sensitive material had been returned. “The government also developed evidence that government records were likely concealed and removed from the Storage Room and that efforts were likely taken to obstruct the government’s investigation,” Justice Department counterintelligence chief Jay Bratt wrote. More than 100 additional classified items were found during the Aug. 8 search, including three classified documents in desks inside Trump’s office and material so sensitive that “even the FBI counterintelligence personnel and DOJ attorneys conducting the review required additional clearances before they were permitted to review certain documents.” In total, more than 320 classified documents have now been recovered from Mar-a-Lago. Trump’s team has a deadline of 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday to respond to the government’s filing. (New York Times / Washington Post / Politico / NPR / CNN / Wall Street Journal)
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Days before Mar-a-Lago subpoena, Trump lawyer claimed she scoured Trump’s office, closets and drawers. “A filing by Alina Habba in the case over Trump’s business empire could create exposure in the matter of classified information being stored at the ex-president’s home.” (Politico)
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The Justice Department will likely to wait until after the November election to announce any charges against Trump, if any, according people familiar with the matter. “The unprecedented prospect of bringing charges against a former US president is creating intense scrutiny of the Justice Department in the aftermath of its search of his home at Mar-a-Lago. A separate DOJ probe is focused on his effort to overturn the 2020 election, which he lost to President Joe Biden.” (Bloomberg)
2/ The FDA authorized updated versions of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s Covid-19 boosters that target the BA.4 and BA.5 Omicron subvariants. The CDC’s vaccine advisory group is set to meet Thursday to vote on whether to recommend the boosters, which means the Biden administration could begin offering boosters just after Labor Day. (NBC News / Politico / Washington Post / New York Times)
3/ About 3.8 million renters say they’re likely to be evicted in the next two months, according to the Census Bureau. In total, 8.5 million people are behind on their rent, and nearly half of all renters — more than 30 million people — have seen rent hikes in the past 12 months. The median rent in the U.S. topped $2,000 a month – up nearly 25% since before the pandemic. (MoneyWise)
4/ Life expectancy in the U.S. fell in 2021 for the second year in a row – the biggest two-year decline in almost 100 years. In 2019, someone born in the U.S. had an average life expectancy of 79 years, which dropped to 77 years in 2020, and to 76.1 years in 2021. Americans can now expect to live as long as they did in 1996, which Dr. Steven Woolf, a professor of population health and health equity at Virginia Commonwealth University, called “very disturbing” and a “historic” setback. (NPR / New York Times / Washington Post)
poll/ 14% of Americans view Covid-19 as a “severe” health risk in their community – down from 33% in January – and 28% of adults said they are “very” concerned about a coronavirus outbreak – down from 46% in January. 34% of “very liberal” Americans, meanwhile, say Covid-19 presents a “great risk” to their personal health and well-being – down from 47% in March. (Morning Consult / New York Times)
poll/ 76% young female voters in key battleground states oppose the Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the constitutional right to abortion, while 18% support it. Among young Republican women, 57% oppose the Dobbs decision, while 36% support it. 47% of voters aged 18-35 said they were very motivated to vote in November following the Dobbs decision – up from 38% in March. (Politico)
A political newsletter for normal people
WTF Just Happened Today? is a sane, once-a-day newsletter helping normal people make sense of the news. Curated daily by Matt Kiser and delivered to 200,000+ people every afternoon around 3 pm Pacific.
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