Trump's fake electors from 2020 are still facing charges. The next few months could be crucial.
But now the case is a mess. Last fall, the presiding judge recused himself after defendants criticized him for sending an internal email urging male colleagues to speak out against sexist attacks on Kamala Harris. His replacement, Sam Myers, ruled last month that the entire case was flawed because grand jurors were never shown the full text of the Electoral Count Act, the 1887 law at the heart of some of the charges.
Mayes has appealed the ruling, which put the case on hold pending review by higher courts. That pause is likely to continue into the fall. If Mayes loses, her office would have to assemble a new grand jury to consider reissuing the charges — one that could take a sharply different direction than the last one.
Even if Mayes prevails and preserves her case, the earliest it will resume is late 2025. And if it does, a long list of motions by defendants to dismiss the charges, citing a complex array of constitutional principles, awaits. Those could take months to resolve.
Among them: Defendant Christina Bobb, a Trump ally now serving as an attorney for the conservative public records group Judicial Watch, has moved for Mayes' disqualification from the case altogether. And Meadows is asking Myers to dismiss the charges against him, saying federal law and the Constitution shield him from the charges.
Georgia: Willis fights to save her case
This is the only case in which Trump remains a defendant, but it is also the most dysfunctional.
Willis, the Atlanta-area district attorney, brought the ambitious racketeering case in August 2023, but it has been mired in two years of controversy and drama. Trump and other defendants claimed that Willis, a Democrat, had a conflict of interest stemming from her romantic relationship with one of her handpicked top prosecutors. In December 2024, an appeals court agreed, ruling that Willis and her entire office must be removed from the case.
Willis is appealing that decision at the Georgia Supreme Court. Her appeal has been pending for seven months.
A state Supreme Court ruling that upholds Willis' disqualification would trigger a process to transfer the matter to a different district attorney, who could drop the case altogether or revisit her charging decisions. That would mean months, or even years, of further delays.
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42 minutes ago
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Why Nebraska U.S. Rep. Mike Flood holds town halls when GOP colleagues don't
U.S. Rep Mike Flood, R-Neb., speaks during his town hall in Lincoln on Aug 4. 2025. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraska Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Flood faced a hostile crowd at a concert hall this week in his district's most Democratic city, Lincoln. Flood's third and final town hall of the year drew national headlines and eyes on social media sites including X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok for the reception he received. Attendees jeered him as he defended voting for President Donald Trump's budget and tax bill the president calls 'big' and 'beautiful.' Flood was asked how much it cost to be a 'fascist' and faced chants of 'vote him out' and 'tax the rich' throughout the 90-minute affair. The national attention — particularly online, where voters increasingly get their news — might have been the point. Flood is a modern rarity among congressional Republicans, one who faces the electorate without pre-screening the crowd. He is the last among Nebraska's all-GOP delegation to host town halls that way. Dona-Gene Barton, a political science professor who studies political behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, described the town hall as an opportunity for Flood, an attorney and former speaker of the Legislature from Norfolk, to showcase his debate skills. Flood also owns TV and radio news stations, so he is no stranger to a microphone. 'He may be feeling more comfortable having these conversations with constituents that may disagree with him, because he believes that a larger portion of the district is going to support his actions now,' Barton said of Flood. Lancaster County, home to Lincoln, is the second-most populous area in the state, behind only Omaha. Both are heavily Democratic cities that supported former Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 presidential election. Lincoln has a Democratic mayor and a Democratic city council. But Flood, as Barton pointed out, won his 2024 re-election bid with 60% of the vote against Carol Blood, which may be why he feels more bullish than other Republicans in the federal delegation. He won Lancaster County that year by nearly 5,600 votes. Flood acknowledged the GOP lean of the rest of the district near the end of the town hall, when he talked directly to viewers of a Nebraska Public Media livestream while getting booed, saying, 'For those of you who [are] watching from home, please know that I'm on your side. I never forget who I'm working for.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX Earlier this year, national leaders advised House Republicans, including Flood, to avoid in-person town halls after several members hosting them since Trump's reelection faced public protests and angry constituents. Retiring U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who represents the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District, had held town halls for years. He said he switched to telephone town halls because of 'large interest' and because it is more 'civil.' Democrats have argued Bacon feared facing the people he represents. The new format allows his staff to pre-screen callers and cut them off if they go too far. 'Frankly, it's more conversational,' Bacon told reporters in March. 'When you got moms and dads saying we can't bring our kids to a town hall, there's a problem.' Tuesday's event isn't the first of Flood's town halls to go viral this year. Parts of his town hall in Columbus were widely shared online after Flood told attendees that he hadn't read part of the Trump mega bill before passing it. Bacon said in March that Flood likes to do in-person town halls as a way to 'make the far left look bad.' Flood told reporters after his Lincoln town hall that he considers it his 'job to answer their questions,' and it's the 'town square.' 'You have an obligation to stand in the town square, regardless of your comfort level, and answer people's questions,' Flood told the Examiner after the event. 'I believe what I'm doing in Congress is the right thing.' Flood said he understands why other Republicans are holding tele-town halls and other more controlled events, as some communicate better in that format, but in-person events are the 'right thing' for him. 'Thank you for being here, Congressman Flood … I want to ask, why it seems like you make voting decisions based on capital rather than the working class,' an attendee asked during the Q&A part of the town hall. Some national Republican strategists said town halls don't help highlight the positive aspects of Trump's second administration and its signature piece of budget and tax legislation. The reason: News and social media coverage often focuses on the outbursts and congressional reactions to them instead of the cases Republicans are trying to make about the changes. The National Republican Congressional Committee released a memo in late July on how House Republicans can make 'August count' as they try to sell Trump's domestic agenda to constituents. It says they need to sell the strengths of Trump's new law, which much polling indicates is unpopular among Americans. The memo suggests congressional members host more focused events, such as the small business roundtables that GOP U.S. Sens. Pete Ricketts and Deb Fischer often hold, as a way to counter 'Democrats' efforts' with a 'disciplined and compelling communications effort.' Fischer, for example, has an agricultural roundtable planned for Saturday with Trump's Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in rural Saunders County. 'This is a critical opportunity to continue to define how this legislation will help every voter and push back on Democrat fearmongering,' the memo reads. 'The playbook is simple: Focus on President Trump and House Republicans' efforts to improve voters' everyday lives and show the contrast with out-of-touch Democrats.' Most of the state's federal delegation recently praised the 'One Big Beautiful Bill' during a question-and-answer session with business leaders in Ashland. Nebraska's congressional delegates spoke optimistically about federal policies helping the state's economic future, despite some warning signs that Nebraska's ag industry is struggling. State and national Republican strategists have acknowledged the poor polling of Trump's domestic agenda, but said focusing on specific provisions, such as new temporary tax breaks for workers earning less, could help improve public perception of the law, as they bank on the idea that long-term messaging about the bill could shape the 2026 midterms. Nebraska Democrats also see potential advantages in Flood holding town halls, where activists and regular people can ask questions and frame his answers for social media sharing, which reaches more voters than a typical news story. Some also argue that much of the anger at the town halls is organic. 'Nebraskans, like Americans all across the country, are sending a loud and clear message to Republicans: You voted against us. Now we'll vote you out,' said Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb in a statement. Flood's Democratic challenger, Eric Moyer, attended the Lincoln town hall and posted on Instagram, 'This isn't going to be a friendly crowd.' Moyer's official campaign kickoff event is next week. National and state Democrats point to the tax and spending bill's unpopularity, but the party has its own problems, as recent polling shows the Democratic Party has a worse approval rating than Trump, whose approval rating remains underwater. Still, Democrats hold a slight lead in the party head-to-head RealClearPolitics polling average for the generic congressional ballot — a poll that basically asks voters which candidate for Congress they would prefer if the choice were between a generic Republican and a generic Democrat. Barton, the UNL political scientist, said only time will tell if the energy from Flood's Lincoln town hall continues and if discontent from the bluest part of Flood's district is widespread. Midterms are over a year away. 'These are unusual political times where you have a Nebraska congressman being called a fascist at his own town hall,' Barton said. Flood responded to the comment during the event, saying, 'Fascists don't hold town halls with open question-and-answer sessions.' SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
4 chip stocks well positioned for Trump's 100% tariff threat
President Trump has threatened 100% tariffs on semiconductors except for companies that are building in the US. Bernstein managing director and senior analyst Stacy Rasgon joins Market Domination with Yahoo Finance Markets Reporter Josh Schafer to share the four semiconductor names he believes are well-positioned despite Trump's threats. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination. And, and, and Stacy, I want to broaden this out because I don't think Intel is the only chip company that might be confused by what the president is saying today. The president also saying yesterday that they'll be putting a tariff of approximately 100% on chips and semiconductors but then saying that if you're building in the US, or planning to build in the US, then maybe you're exempt. How do you make sense of, of that language? What, what are you getting at? Yeah, it's, it is, it is tough. So like, you know, he made some comments yesterday and that's what we have to go on. Um, you know, this is all part of what's, what was called a 232 investigation, um, in, into semiconductors and, and other things. And we actually haven't seen the report from the 232 investigators. So once we see that, I think we can start to be a little more, you know, prescriptive about what the actual impacts are, will be. Like right now, we're just trying to decipher his comments and, and, look, this is Trump, you know, he makes comments all the time and sometimes they lack detail and, and nuance, right? Um, and so we, we, we don't actually know like what it means. Um, you know, what he did say, you're right, he said there's going to be a hundred percent tariffs on semis, but if you're building here in the US then you'll be exempt. And there's a bunch of stuff in, but there's questions, what does building in the US mean? How much do you have to build? Like what's the timeframe? You know, is it, is it, is he talking about semiconductors? Is he talking about the end devices? Will there be tariffs on just raw semiconductors coming into the US, which is actually not that much? We don't import that much. Or is it tariffs on semiconductors in devices? You know, can customers still use, you know, TSMC manufacturing capacity in Taiwan with no tariff because TSMC is building a lot in the US? Like, I, I don't know. I don't know exactly how to, to parse this yet. Um, we will have to wait until we, we, we see, uh, the actual report. I think though, the reason the stocks are up is it does look like there, there will be some loopholes or some reprieves from this, the blind hundred percent tariffs. And, you know, there are semiconductor companies and other, like tech companies that are investing a lot in the US and trying to build here. And so I think there's a perception, which hopefully it's, at least there's some, some truth to it that, um, there will be some reprieve from this. We, we won't know for sure, we won't be able to really, um, be specific about it until we actually see what is, what is going on, uh, when they actually file the, the regulations. And, so, I, I know this then makes the, the final question sort of hard to answer, right? But as an investor in the space, is there a winner or loser from sort of what we've just laid out or who's kind of best positioned then given that? I mean, like the knee jerk reaction, you, you'll say, look, companies, at least on the semiconductor side, companies that are actually actively building here, presumably would be, you know, perceived as, as relative winners. I mean, you've got companies like Texas Instruments, for example, who are building a significant amount of capacity in the US. That is their plan and they've been delivering on it and, and there's more to come. You have companies like, like Nvidia. Like Nvidia doesn't build chips, like they're, they're fabless, they outsource manufacturing, but they're investing a lot of money in the AI supply chain, at least they're giving headlines so you, you have that. Um, I mean, you've got fabless companies like, like AMD or, or, or Qualcomm or whatever that actually can use in, in, at TSMC in Arizona. And, you know, there is a read of the comments that suggests maybe they could continue to use the Taiwan stuff tariff free, like, we, we don't know yet, but like, maybe. Um, you've got the semi caps. Like again, if we have to build more capacity here in the US at the margin, that's probably incrementally positive for the US semi cap players. Um, so those are the kinds of like knee jerk reactions that I mean in some sense are probably going on today. Um, and again, we'll know more like when we get more specifics. 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42 minutes ago
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College endowment tax is leading to hiring freezes and could mean cuts in financial aid
A big increase in the tax on university endowments is adding to financial uncertainty for the wealthiest colleges in the U.S., leading several already to lay off staff or implement hiring freezes. Spending more endowment money on taxes could also lead colleges to reduce financial aid, cutting off access to elite institutions for lower-income students, colleges and industry experts have warned. President Donald Trump signed the tax increase into law last month as part of his signature spending bill. The new tax rates take effect in 2026, but colleges such as Harvard, Yale and Stanford already are citing the tax as one of many reasons for making cuts across their universities. Each will be on the hook to pay hundreds of millions more in taxes, while also navigating reductions in research grants and other threats to funding by the Trump administration. A tax on college endowments was introduced during Trump's first administration, collecting 1.4% of wealthy universities' investment earnings. The law signed by Trump last month creates a new tiered system that taxes the richest schools at the highest rates. The new tax will charge an 8% rate at schools with $2 million or more in assets for each enrolled student. Schools with $750,000 to $2 million will be charged 4%, and schools with $500,000 to $750,000 will continue to be charged the 1.4% rate. The tax applies only to private colleges and universities with at least 3,000 students, up from the previous cutoff of 500 students. 'The tax now will really solely apply to private research universities,' said Steven Bloom, assistant vice president of government relations for the American Council on Education. 'It's going to mean that these schools are going to have to spend more money under the tax, taking it away from what they primarily use their endowment assets for — financial aid.' This small group of wealthy colleges faces a tax increase The law will increase the endowment tax for about a dozen universities, according to an Associated Press analysis of data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers. Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Princeton and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are expected to pay the 8% rate next year. The schools facing the 4% rate include Notre Dame, Dartmouth College, Rice University, University of Pennsylvania, Washington University in St. Louis and Vanderbilt University. Some universities are on the edge of the law's parameters. Both Duke and Emory, for instance, were shy of the $750,000-per-student endowment threshold based on last fiscal year. Endowments are made up of donations to the college, which are invested to maintain the money over time. Colleges often spend about 5% of their investment earnings every year to put toward their budgets. Much of it goes toward scholarships for students, along with costs such as research or endowed faculty positions. Despite the colleges' wealth, the tax will drastically impact their budgets, said Phillip Levine, an economist and professor at Wellesley College. 'They're looking for savings wherever possible,' Levine said, which could impact financial aid. 'One of the most important things they do with their endowment is lower the cost of education for lower- and middle-income students. The institutions paying the highest tax are also the ones charging these students the least amount of money to attend.' For example, at Rice University in Houston, officials anticipate the college will need to pay $6.4 million more in taxes. That equates to more than 100 student financial aid packages, the university said, but Rice officials will explore all other options to avoid cutting that support. How colleges are adjusting to financial pressures In the meantime, some universities are going forward with staff cuts. Yale University says it will have to pay an estimated $280 million in total endowment taxes, citing the tax in a campus message implementing a hiring freeze. Stanford University announced plans to reduce its operating budget by $140 million this upcoming school year, which included 363 layoffs and an ongoing hiring freeze. The university spent months trying to determine where to reduce its budget, but said it would continue to support undergraduate financial aid and funding for Ph.D. students. Research universities are under increasing financial pressure from reductions in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. No university knows this pressure better than Harvard, the country's wealthiest college. Its $53 billion endowment puts it at the top of the list for the new tax, but it's also seeing massive portions of research funding under threat in its ongoing battle with the White House. The federal government has frozen $2.6 billion in Harvard's research grants in connection with civil rights investigations focused on antisemitism and Harvard's efforts to promote diversity on campus. But the impact of other administration policies on the university could approach $1 billion annually, Harvard said in a statement. 'It's not like Harvard is going to go from one of the best institutions in the world to just a mediocre institution. That's probably not going to happen," Levine said. 'But that doesn't mean it's not going to be a bad thing — that there won't be pain and that students won't suffer.' ___ Mumphrey reported from Phoenix. Associated Press writer Sharon Lurye in Philadelphia contributed to this report. ___ The Associated Press' education coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP's standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at Cheyanne Mumphrey, The Associated Press Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
