White House Dossier's

Trump pleads not guilty of plotting to overturn election loss . . . Donald Trump pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges he orchestrated a plot to try to overturn his 2020 election loss in what U.S. prosecutors call an unprecedented effort by the then-president to undermine the pillars of American democracy. Special Counsel Jack Smith, who has overseen the federal investigation, looked on from the courtroom's front row as Trump entered his plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya. "Not guilty," Trump said, emphasizing the first word.

The arraignment, lasting about half an hour, took place in a Washington courthouse half a mile (1 km) from the U.S. Capitol, the building Trump's supporters stormed on Jan. 6, 2021, to try to stop Congress from certifying his defeat. It was the third time Trump has pleaded not guilty since April, with months of pretrial legal wrangling expected against the backdrop of the 2024 presidential campaign, in which Trump is the front-runner for the Republican nomination to take on Democratic President Joe Biden. Reuters

Devon Archer’s Full Biden Story . . .  VP Biden mixed the family business with his Ukraine diplomacy. As soon as Devon Archer’s closed-door sitdown with the House Oversight Committee ended Monday, New York’s Daniel Goldman emerged to give the Democratic spin: President Biden’s conversations with his son’s business partners were innocent discussions about the weather or other niceties. That was exposed as false on Thursday when the committee made the complete transcript public. Mr. Archer is a former business partner of Hunter Biden and served with him on the board of Ukrainian energy giant Burisma. Mr. Archer described the value-added that Hunter brought to the business as the “brand,” which was the Biden name. When Hunter put his father on speakerphone with his business clients, “there was [a] brand being delivered.” He further clarified that it was Joe Biden “that brought the most value to the brand.” In other words, Hunter was selling his father’s power in Washington. That is what Burisma was paying for, and it looks like it got its money’s worth. “Burisma would have gone out of business if it didn’t have the brand attached to it,” Mr. Archer said.

It’s one thing to develop relationships in office that turn into business opportunities later, the way Jared Kushner, Donald Trump’s son-in-law, did in the Middle East. It’s another to leverage the office while in office to promote the family business. As Mr. Archer said, the advantage of the Biden brand is that legally “people would be intimidated to mess with them.” Whether or not Joe Biden took a dime from these dealings, this is a form of political corruption. Wall Street Journal

Two Sets of Laws for Two Americas . . . By Victor Davis Hanson.  Leftwing Democrats are systematically dismantling the constitutional foundations of the U.S. Two sets of laws now operate in an increasingly unrecognizable America. Consider the matter of unlawfully removing and storing classified papers.

Donald Trump may go to prison for removing contested White House files to his home. So far Joe Biden seems exempt from just such legal jeopardy. But as a senator and Vice President with no right, as does a president, to declassify files, Biden removed and, as a private citizen kept for years classified files in unsecure locations. Biden’s team strangely revealed the unlawful removals after years of silence. It did so because the Biden administration found itself in the untenable position of prosecuting the former president for “crimes” that the current president committed as well—albeit far earlier and longer. Impeachable phone calls? American Greatness

Obama worried about Trump’s strengths as a candidate . . .  Former president Barack Obama, at a private lunch with President Biden earlier this summer, voiced concern about Donald Trump’s political strengths — including an intensely loyal following, a Trump-friendly conservative media ecosystem and a polarized country — underlining his worry that Trump could be a more formidable candidate than many Democrats realize. White House Dossier

He knows. It doesn’t take a genius, just takes getting beyond a little wishful or distorted thinking.

Ron DeSantis grabs 35 new endorsements from South Carolina politicians . . . Gov. Ron DeSantis’s (R-FL) presidential campaign announced Wednesday that he gained 35 more endorsements from lawmakers and local leaders in South Carolina. The new endorsements add to the 15 he already received from state legislators ahead of a South Carolina campaign stop in late June, bringing his endorsement total in the state to 50. Washington Examiner

PAC Spending Shows How Gavin Newsom Is Positioning Himself for a Presidential Bid . . . California governor Gavin Newsom in March launched a PAC to take on red-state "authoritarian leaders" and create a constitutional gun control amendment. In fact, Newsom said in the organization's launch video that he was "going to these states" led by these strongmen "and investing in people and organizations where they’re fighting back." The PAC’s spending suggests the Democrat has different ambitions. Newsom’s Campaign for Democracy PAC has raised $3.8 million since its launch, according to FEC records, but it’s done little with that money to build up political groups fighting back against politicians like Florida governor Ron DeSantis or push a constitutional amendment for gun control. Instead, Newsom has spent millions on Democratic strategists, nationwide ad buys, and photo-op visits to red states intended to burnish his image and build his political profile. Free Beacon

GOP China hawks take aim at Tim Scott . . . Sen. Tim Scott — like every Republican presidential candidate — loves to talk tough on China. His record in Washington tells a different story. Since taking the top Republican slot on the powerful Senate Banking Committee this year, the South Carolina lawmaker has been one of the biggest roadblocks to new rules restricting U.S.-China trade — everything from TikTok bans to reviews of high-tech investment. GOP national security hawks in Washington say that work doesn’t match the rhetoric in Scott’s recent presidential campaign ads in Iowa and New Hampshire, where the long-shot candidate slams “Joe Biden’s weakness” and promises to “keep China out of our homeland, and out of our data.” Politico

Democrat-Led Anti-Israel Bill Relies on Research From Designated Terror Group . . . A Democrat-led bill condemning Israel’s so-called military occupation of Palestinian lands relies on research from an Israeli-designated terrorist organization. Biden Admin Spends $300K in Taxpayer Funds To Study Why Minority Kids Like Japanese Comic BooksRep. Betty McCollum (D., Minn.), along with nearly 30 of her Democrat colleagues, introduced earlier this year the "Defending the Human Rights of Palestinian Children and Families Living Under Israeli Military Occupation Act." The legislation accuses Israel of wrongfully detaining Palestinian children and subjecting them to interrogation and imprisonment. But the bill relies heavily on research and statistics produced by Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP), a nonprofit group that Israel designated in 2022 as a terrorist organization. The Israeli government says the group is controlled by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), a militant organization that has killed Americans and is a U.S.-designated terror outfit. Free Beacon

Why falling confidence in America’s military is creating ‘a real crisis’ . . . The public’s confidence in the U.S. military is the lowest it’s been in decades, and it’s doing no favors to the armed forces’ current recruitment struggles.  Thanks to a combination of culture war issues, fresh reports of sexual assaults and suicides within the ranks, and a disastrous end to the Afghanistan War two years ago, Americans’ perception of the armed forces has taken a hit, according to experts and recent polls. The Hill

U.S. military may put armed troops on commercial ships in Strait of Hormuz to stop Iran seizures . . . DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The U.S. military is considering putting armed personnel on commercial ships traveling through the Strait of Hormuz, in what would be an unheard of action aimed at stopping Iran from seizing and harassing civilian vessels, four American officials told The Associated Press on Thursday. America didn’t even take the step during the “Tanker War,” which culminated with the U.S. Navy and Iran fighting a one-day naval battle in 1988 that was the Navy’s largest since World War II. While officials offered few details of the plan, it comes as thousands of Marines and sailors on both the amphibious assault ship USS Bataan and the USS Carter Hall, a landing ship, are on their way to the Persian Gulf. Those Marines and sailors could provide the backbone for any armed guard mission in the strait, through which 20 percent of all the world’s crude oil passes. Politico

Devon Archer testimony transcript reveals Biden pay-to-play scheme . . . Really? Are we back to "It depends on what the meaning of the word ‘is’ is"? Because that’s what Democrats spinning the testimony of Biden family associate Devon Archer on Monday are going with, contending that the president may have sat in on some phone calls, but he wasn’t "involved" in his son’s corrupt business dealings. But Americans are wise to the Biden crime family’s long history of corruption, and Archer’s testimony is far more damaging than the Democrats will admit. As a former federal prosecutor, I know that with Devon Archer’s testimony, the case for the Biden’s "pay-to-play" scheme is made—under any definition of "involvement." Fox News

Russia accuses Ukraine of attacking Black Sea navy base and Crimea with drones . . . A heart-stopping video shows the moment a Ukrainian kamikaze drone packed with nearly half a ton of explosives crashed into the side of a Russian warship, badly damaging it in a stunning overnight attack on a key Black Sea naval base. The dramatic PoV footage released by Ukrainian security services Friday depicts the unmanned sea drone believed to be flying toward the Olenegorsky Gornyak, stationed at the base in Novorossiysk, according to Kyiv’s intelligence sources. At the moment of impact, the feed cuts out and the screen turns to black. Additional unverified video shot after the attack shows the stricken ship sitting low in the water and listing heavily on its port side. A Ukrainian intelligence source said the Olenegorsky Gornyak, which was manned by about 100 Russian servicemen, had suffered a serious breach that rendered it unfit for combat duty in the aftermath of a joint operation by the Ukrainian Navy and SBU intelligence service. New York Post

Mongolia wants to get closer to the U.S. without rattling ‘eternal neighbors’ Russia and China . . . Mongolia’s prime minister is barnstorming Washington this week with a message to the Biden administration and U.S. corporations: While Russia and China are his country’s “eternal neighbors,” Mongolia sees its economic future with the West. “The United States is not just our trading neighbor, it’s the North Star for Mongolia’s market economy and democratic values,” Luvsannamsrain Oyun-Erdene said in an interview at the Mongolian Embassy in Washington following a Wednesday meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris. Politico

Money

Gas prices are on the rise. Here's why . . . Gas prices are on the rise as high temperatures hamper refinery production and demand remains elevated. Prices are still well under where they were a year ago. However, the national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline hovered at $3.82 on Thursday, up 11 cents from a week ago and up nearly 30 cents from a month ago, according to data from AAA. One year ago, the national average sat at $4.16. The cost of crude oil, which accounts for nearly half of what consumers pay at the pump, shot up $11 per barrel over the last month, Lipow Oil Associates President Andy Lipow said. For instance, on June 26, prices were at $69.37. As of Thursday, they are around $80, which "is equivalent to a 26 cent per gallon rise in gasoline raw material costs," Lipow told FOX Business

US jobs growth slowed more than forecast in July . . . US jobs growth was weaker than forecast in July and was revised lower for the previous two months, with the labour market cooling after almost 18 months of interest rate rises. The economy added 187,000 new non-farm jobs, according to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, compared with forecasts of 200,000. That followed a downwardly revised 185,000 in June — and could be taken as an encouraging sign that the Federal Reserve is making progress in its fight against inflation. Financial Times

More Americans say they can never retire . . . A growing share of working Americans don’t think they will ever retire, recent surveys suggest. Retirement is a time-honored life stage and a near-universal expectation in working America. Yet, a comfortable retirement requires savings, and many workers fear they don’t have enough. In a July poll conducted jointly by Axios and Ipsos, 29 percent of workers under 55 answered a retirement query with, “I don’t think I will ever retire.” Asked why not, three-quarters of the never-retire group said they could not afford to stop working. A smaller share said they didn’t want to. “How to make the dollars and cents of retirement work is a constant balancing act for those who are retired and Americans hoping to reach that milestone one day,” said Clifford Young, president of Ipsos Public Affairs. Another survey, from the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI), found that one-third of workers now expect to retire at 70 or later, or never. The Hill

Airbnb reports continued deceleration in nights and experiences booked . . . Airbnb shares slid as much as 6% in extended trading Thursday after the short-term home-rental company reported a smaller sum of nights and experiences booked in the second quarter than analysts had projected. Here's how the company did:

Earnings: 98 cents per share, vs. 78 cents per share as expected by analysts.
Revenue: $2.48 billion, vs. $2.42 billion as expected by analysts.

Airbnb's revenue grew 18% year over year in the quarter. Net income reached $650 million, compared with about $379 million, or 56 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. CNBC

American Travelers Are Shunning the U.S. for Europe . . . Globe-trotting Americans have packed international flights this summer, leaving behind some domestic-focused airlines. Americans are flocking to Europe. The allure of international travel has travelers swapping out shorter trips within the U.S. or to some nearby destinations in favor of longer journeys. The number of passengers on domestic flights slid 2% in July from the same month in 2019, while the number of passengers on trans-Atlantic routes increased 14%, according to Airlines for America, a trade group that represents several major airlines. Airline ticket prices reflect the shift. Domestic fares are down 11% from last year and tracking below 2019 levels, while international fares have risen 11% from a year ago and are up 28% from 2019.

Legacy and low-cost airlines use different models when planning their route networks. The pivot is cutting into revenue for some U.S.-focused airlines that haven’t seen demand build to the heights it reached last summer, according to airline executives. To cope, carriers are rejiggering schedules and trying out new routes to better match the emerging patterns. Wall Street Journal

Culture

Mayhem in the sky: Chaos erupting at 30,000 feet commonplace as former air marshal reveals cause fueling it all . . .  A recent report from the International Air Transport Association suggests that unruly passenger incidents on airplanes are on the rise, increasing by 47% globally in 2022 over 2021. In the U.S. alone, 250 unruly passenger cases have been referred to the FBI for possible prosecution. Former FBI Special Agent Jonathan Gilliam, who was also an air marshal, told Fox News Digital that part of the reason for an increase can be attributed to the fact that even the biggest airlines are now "no frills airlines." "The care for the patrons is no longer there. A lot of that occurred because they got fed up with people during COVID. And the other problem is a lot of people left during COVID that were good flight attendants, and now they have, like every other industry, they have people who are just aren't customer-service oriented," he said. Fox News

Drag Performers Sue Over Texas Law Banning Sexually Explicit Performances In Public . . . LGBTQ+ rights advocates and drag queens alongside the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit Wednesday to block a Texas law preventing drag performers from engaging in sexually explicit displays in public. The lawsuit alleges that the law blocks Texans’ ability to free speech, threatens the lives of drag queens and could potentially outlaw cheerleading in public. Conservatives across the nation have been cracking down on public sexual performances and seeking to ban drag performances in front of minors. The law, signed by Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in June, bans sexually explicit performances in the presence of children or simulation of sexual acts in front of children and goes into effect Sept. 1. Daily Caller

Is China Influencing What Your Child Is Learning in School? . . . Parents Defending Education has released a new report that offers some unsettling information about the reach of the People’s Republic of China in U.S. K-12 schools through so-called Confucius Classrooms. “Confucius Classrooms are a program that is intended to teach children Chinese language and culture, which on its face sounds benign, but some of your viewers, listeners might remember Confucius Institutes, which were the corollary in the university system,” says Nicole Neily, founder and president of Parents Defending Education. Daily Signal

RFK Jr. sues YouTube for removed videos featuring his skepticism on vaccines . . . Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. filed a lawsuit against YouTube, and its parent company Google, on Wednesday. Kennedy alleges videos featuring his interviews and speeches were removed by the platform in violation of his First Amendment right and predicted that "it will continue to do so throughout the presidential campaign, especially as the primary elections get closer." His speech at Saint Anselm College and interviews with Jordan Peterson and Joe Rogan, all from this year, are among the videos affected. "This complaint concerns the freedom of speech and the extraordinary steps the United States government has taken under the leadership of Joe Biden to silence people it does not want Americans to hear," the suit reads. Washington Examiner

Text messages given to FBI: Chinese wanted Biden family name to help acquire U.S. energy assets . . . “They will be the Goldmans of China,” one of Hunter Biden’s business associated boasted about the relationship with CEFC. Text messages provided to the FBI show that a Chinese energy conglomerate that struck a controversial deal in 2017 with Hunter Biden began its pursuit of a relationship with the future first family back in late 2015 when Joe Biden was still vice president, hoping to seize on the name of one of America’s most famous political dynasties to provide cover for its ambitious plan to buy up energy assets inside the United States. Just the News

Trump Was Chatty, Judge Was Late: Scenes From The Courtroom During Trump’s Third Arraignment . . . Former President Donald Trump was very talkative with his attorneys during an hour-long arraignment on Thursday following his indictment on charges brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith. Upon his arrival at the courtroom for a brief appearance, Trump was engaged in conversations with his lawyers about the proceeding and often smirked at both his lawyers and the gallery.   Trump entered the courtroom flanked by his attorneys John Lauro, the lead counsel, and Todd Blanche, who sat to Trump’s right. Prior to the arrival of the presiding magistrate judge, Trump — who was dressed in his well-known navy blue suit and glazed red tie, with a U.S flag lapel pin — leaned in to speak with both of them and review several documents they carried. Daily Caller

Chris Christie Meets With Ukrainian President in Surprise Trip to Kyiv . . . Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who is running for the Republican presidential nomination, made an unannounced visit to Ukraine on Friday to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky, whom he praised for demonstrating “the resolve it takes to survive a war and ultimately win it.” Mr. Christie is the second 2024 G.O.P. hopeful to visit Mr. Zelensky in Kyiv, signaling his support for Ukraine in a war that has divided the Republican candidates and Republican voters. Former Vice President Mike Pence traveled to Ukraine in June. New York Times

A clown is visiting a Hollywood wannabe whose country is being obliterated and population annihilated, in order to bleed out Washignton's top strategic adversary.

GREG GUTFELD: 7-Eleven workers did what needed to be done . . . Gutfeld says Democrats 'incentivized criminals' to steal from hardworking Americans. So you ever watch something that brings a special joy to your heart, even though you feel like you shouldn't like it, it's gross and dirty. Like, besides this show. Well, a 7-Eleven in Stockton, California, almost became yet another victim of the wave of brazen theft sweeping the country. Gone are the days when shoplifting meant putting a Snickers in your pocket, then telling the cashier you're just glad to see them. Now, shoplifting means lifting the whole shop at once and humiliating you in the process. Roll it. Fox News

VIDEO: We've had enough of this

Must watch.

Mike Pence Tries Bold New Strategy Of Alienating The 80 Million People Who Voted For Trump . . . In a bold new attempt to win the 2024 election against Biden, candidate Mike Pence has decided to alienate all 80 million voters who voted for Donald Trump. "It's about time someone had the courage to say it, so today I will say it: Trump is bad," said Pence to a raucous crowd of 12 seniors in the activity center of Shady Oaks Retirement Home. "If that hurts my chances with the tens of millions of people who voted for him, so be it. I am a stalwart man of integrity. Just look at my kind eyes and serious face."

Pence then looked directly into the camera with a look of integrity.

Sources within the Pence campaign confirmed Pence plans to make up the loss in support by courting Biden voters and convincing them he is not a bigoted Nazi fascist homophobe. Babylon Bee

Babylon Bee is a satire website.

Video | Kamala gets spanked for refusing to debate DeSantis