Today in one sentence: Trump claimed that he had "every right" to interfere with the 2020 presidential election; a federal judge rejected Trump’s attempt to move his New York criminal case into federal court; Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked Trump to prove he never illegally accepted nearly $10 million from the Egyptian government; and 67% of Americans think Trump is unprepared to accept the election outcome.

1/ Trump claimed that he had “every right” to interfere with the 2020 presidential election. In a Fox News interview, Trump said: “It’s so crazy that my poll numbers go up. Whoever heard you get indicted for interfering with a presidential election where you have every right to do it. You get indicted and your poll numbers go up.” Last week, however, Trump was indicted again in his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss. Kamala Harris, meanwhile, said Trump’s remarks “make it clear that he believes he is above the law.” (NBC News / Axios / Reuters / The Hill)

  • Democrats grow concerned Republicans are planting seeds with legal suits to overturn a Trump defeat. “Democrats say the lawsuits, which are varied, are part of a concerted effort to sow distrust of the results.” (NBC News)

2/ A federal judge rejected Trump’s attempt to move his New York criminal case into federal court. Three months after Trump was convicted in state court on all 34 felony counts of orchestrating an illegal conspiracy to influence the 2016 presidential election by falsifying business records, Trump filed a motion to move the case to federal court to indefinitely delay his sentencing scheduled for Sept. 18. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein, however, ruled that Trump had not met the burden of proof required to move the case to federal court. Trump previously tried — and failed — to move the case to federal court. (Associated Press / New York Times / NBC News / Politico / CNBC News)

3/ Democrats on the House Oversight Committee asked Trump to prove he never illegally accepted nearly $10 million from the Egyptian government. Jamie Raskin, the committee’s top Democrat, and Rep. Robert Garcia, the minority leader of a subcommittee on national security, asked Trump to provide evidence “that you never, directly or indirectly, politically or personally, received any fund from the Egyptian president or government.” The request follows recent reporting that five days before Trump became president in January 2017, a Cairo bank manager was asked by an organization linked to the Egyptian intelligence service to “kindly withdraw” nearly $10 million from its account in cash. “Surely you would agree that the American people deserve to know whether a former president—and a current candidate for president—took an illegal campaign contribution from a brutal foreign dictator,” they wrote. Late in his 2016 campaign, Trump wired $10 million to his campaign. (Washington Post / CNBC / The Hill)

  • 📌 Day 1364: Federal prosecutors spent more than three years investigating whether an Egyptian state-owned bank backed Trump’s injection of $10 million into his 2016 campaign. The investigation, which predated and outlasted Robert Mueller’s probe, examined whether it was an illegal foreign campaign contribution. Mueller litigated the case up to the Supreme Court in 2019. The justices declined to hear the case. When the special counsel’s office shut down in 2019, Mueller transferred the investigation to prosecutors in Washington. The investigation remained open until current acting U.S. Attorney for D.C. Michael Sherwin formally closed the case in July. (CNN)

poll/ 67% of Americans think Trump is unprepared to accept the election outcome. 81% of Americans say that regardless of which candidate they support, they are prepared to accept the outcome of the election. (ABC News)

✏️ Notables

  1. Harris’ campaign shares $24.5M with down-ballot Democratic races. “The Harris campaign will send $10 million each to the House and Senate Democratic campaign arms, $2.5 million to the body that helps elect state legislative Democrats and $1 million each to the Democratic Governors Association and the Democratic attorneys general campaign arm.” (Axios / New York Times)

  2. House and Senate Republicans are starting to panic about a huge money gap with Democrats. “The leader of House Republicans’ biggest super PAC told donors last month he needed $35 million more to compete with Democrats in the fall.” (Politico)

  3. Biden told reporters that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu isn’t doing enough to get a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal. (Axios)

  4. The Justice Department charged six leaders of Hamas with the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. “The seven-count criminal complaint filed in federal court in New York City includes charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to murder U.S. nationals and conspiracy to use weapons of mass destruction, resulting in death. It also accuses Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah of providing financial support and weapons, including rockets, that were used in the attack.” (Associated Press / USA Today / NBC News)

  • 📅 The WTFJHT Calendar: Now until then.

  • 📺 Sept. 4: Proposed Fox News presidential debate.
    🗳️ Sept. 6: First state begins mail voting.
    📺 Sept. 10: Confirmed ABC News presidential debate.
    🗳️ Sept. 16: First state starts early voting.
    ⚖️ Sept. 18: Trump is sentenced.
    📺 Sept. 25: Proposed NBC News presidential debate.
    📺 Oct. 1: CBS News vice presidential debate.
    📆 Oct. 6: Last day to register to vote in some states.
    ⛔️ Oct. 14: Indigenous Peoples’ Day – No WTFJHT.
    🗳️ Nov. 5: Election Day.

  • ✅ Get election ready: Register to vote, update your address, or request an absentee ballot at Vote.org, TurboVote.org, RocktheVote.org, or VoteFromAbroad.org.

  • 📈 The WTFJHT Election Poll Tracking Tracker ™️

  • Harris +3.0 points (New York Times)
    Harris +3.2 points (538)
    Harris +3.4 points (Nate Silver)
    Harris +3.3 points (The Economist)
    Harris +1.9 points (RealClearPolitics)
    Trump +0.3 points (Election Betting Odds)

  • 🔮 Election Forecast Tracker

  • Harris wins 56 times out of 100. Trump wins 44 times out of 100. (538)
    Trump wins 57 times out of 100. Harris wins 43 times out of 100. (Nate Silver)
    Harris wins 50 times out of 100. Trump wins 50 times out of 100. (The Economist)

Three years ago today: Day 227: "Almost un-American."
Four years ago today: Day 1323: "Playing with fire."
Five years ago today: Day 957: Always good to be prepared.