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Happy Monday, OnPolitics readers!

Primary races in Florida and New York are happening tomorrow. Here's what you need to know.

In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis is one ofthe top Republican names among potential presidential contenders in 2024. But first he must win reelection, and Democrats would love to thwart those White House ambitions, even as the Sunshine State has drifted toward the GOP in recent years.

Floridians will also set the table for their Senate race, where Orlando-areaRep. Val Demings is expected to prevail as the Democratic nominee to challenge Republican Sen. Marco Rubio.

New test of voter laws: Floridians will cast their primary ballots under new voting restrictions a judge once said were designed to target Black voters, the first such federal election under the new law.

Voting rights advocates say the new rules make it harder to request and turn in absentee ballots and register voters as well as making it easier to challenge votes once cast. But supporters say the new rules are needed to combat voter fraud, which has not been proven to be an issue in the state.

The other races to watch on Tuesday take place in New York, where Democrats have a few intraparty clashes, with incumbents battling each other because of the state legislatures redistricting process.

It's Amy with today's top stories out of Washington.

There were whispers in the spring that the future of Roe v. Wade was in jeopardy. Weeks later, a draft of the forthcoming Dobbs decision was leaked. By June, the Supreme Court had overturned the ruling that had established a constitutional right to abortion since 1973.

Donations began to pour into the coffers of abortion rights organizations. And for some anti-abortion nonprofits too.

We were raising more than we had the previous year," said Nikki Madsen, executive director of Abortion Care Network, a national association for abortion clinics based in Washington D.C. But a significant portion has come in since the leak.

The Abortion Care Network is just one organization that is part of a larger trend of increasing donations following the Supreme Courts ruling.

While both sidessaw an uptick in donations, abortion rights groupssaw the bulk of donations, according to an analysis by Open Secrets and USA TODAY. The findings showed that overall contributions to top abortion rights organizations more than tripled. But contributions under $200 increased for both abortion rights and anti-abortion groups.

Which groups gained the most? In total, the top abortion rights organizations, including Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America, saw an increase in overall contributions jumpfrom $630,000 to roughly $2.3million in a three-month period ending in June.

Anti-abortion groupsalso saw a small bump in donations. In a combined total, overall contributions increased from around $34,000 in April to around $86,000 in June.

Donald Trump has blasted the Aug. 8 search of his Florida estate by questioning the justification for the unprecedented action at a former presidents home, criticizing how the FBI carried it out and questioning what was taken from Mar-a-Lago.

The latest:Trump's lawyers are seeking to halt the continued review of classified documents seized from the former president's Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this monthuntil a special master can be appointed to ensure that unrelated or privileged material is shielded from scrutiny, according to court documents filed Monday.

Since the search at Mar-a-Lago, Trump has made a number of statements through social media posts on his website Truth Social and through public statements that often lack context and facts that rebut his own allegations.

What was said: Trump said there's 'no way' to justify search, but search warrant cites Espionage Act and other crimes

Context: U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart signed off on the FBI search warrant by finding probable cause the FBI would find evidence that three potential crimes were committed: improper handling of defense documents, obstruction of justice and possible violations of the Espionage Act.

Judges review warrants as a check on investigators who are required to present evidence they've already gathered to demonstrate what more evidence they hope to collect in a search. The Fourth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects people from unreasonable searches, requires a description of the place to be searched and the items expected to be seized.

What was said: Trump said protected documents were taken, but courts have rejected his privilege claims

Context: The Justice Department hasnt revealed what documents were seized in the search, other than to say the materials included 11 sets of secret and top secret records. A subsequent court filing called some of the records highly classified.

Federal judges have rejected previous claims of attorney-client and executive privilege in investigations of Trump because the documents with attorneys didn't deal with actual trial preparation and because the investigations outweighed his claim to keep communications with aides confidential.

President Joe Biden waived Trumps claims of executive privilege for the House committee investigating the Capitol attack on Jan. 6, 2021, when it sought documents from the National Archives and Records Administration. When Trump tried to block the release in federal court, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Bidens waiver outweighed Trumps claim. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, ruling the investigation was more important than the claim of executive privilege.

Read more claims from Trump that are lacking or missing some context here.

Dr. Anthony Fauci announced today that he intends to retire from government service in December "to pursue the next chapter" of his career. Find out more about his next steps here. -- Amy

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OnPolitics: After Roe v. Wade was overturned, donations to abortion groups surged - USA TODAY

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Sen. Kiffmeyer: Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution - ECM Publishers

Video evidence released of 2014 deputy shooting death of Gregory Hill, Jr in Fort Pierce

St. Lucie County Sheriffs investigators video following then-Deputy Christopher Newman's fatal shooting of Gregory Hill on Jan. 14, 2014.

CONTRIBUTED VIDEO BY ST. LUCIE COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE

FORT PIERCE The family of Gregory Hill Jr., who was fatally shot by a St. Lucie County sheriffs deputy in 2014, walked away Wednesday from a second civil trial with even less than the $4 they were awarded by a different jury four years ago.

After 12 hours of deliberations over two days, a jury of seven women seated at the federal courthouse in Fort Pierce returned a verdict exonerating St. Lucie County Sheriff Ken Mascara and the deputy who fatally shot Hill inside the garage of his Fort Pierce home on Jan. 14, 2014.

The verdict means no money damages were awarded to Hills relatives, including his three children and mother Viola Bryant, who filed a federal civil rights lawsuit after her sons death.

The lawsuit contended the deputyviolated Hill's Fourth Amendment right to be free from excessive force and that the shooting resulted in his wrongful death in violation of Florida law.

Hill, 30, who worked at a Coca-Cola warehouse, was shot by former Deputy Christopher Newman, as he and another deputy responded to a complaint about loud music at Hills Avenue Q home, across the street from Frances K. Sweet Magnet School.

The seven-day civil trial that began July 19, comes two years after an attorney for Hills family convinced a federal appeals court to throw out a $4 verdict awarded during a civil trial held in 2018.

The $4 verdict, which sparked national headlines and stunned Hills family, was later reduced to 4 cents, court records show.

Specifically, the jury on Wednesday rejected a claim of excessive force against Newman, voting that he did not intentionally commit acts that violated Hills right to be free from the use of excessive or unreasonable force.

Jurors also cleared Mascara of a negligence claim.

Mascara, in a statement issued after the trial, lauded Wednesdays verdict.

We appreciate the jurys time and effort listening to and evaluating the evidence in this case and coming to the only reasonable conclusion that our deputy acted properly in the course and scope of his very difficult job, Mascara said. The loss of life is always a tragedy, but the split-second decision made here was a direct response to the actions taken by Mr. Hill.

Court records show that Newman and Deputy Christopher Lopez arrived at Hills home in the 1500 block of Avenue Q just as students across the street were being let out and heard loud music coming from his garage. They knocked on the garage door and when no one responded, Newman knocked on the front door.

He heard the music get louder and turned to see the garage door opening. Hill stood facing out of the garage with his left hand on the door and his right hand down.

Newman drew his gun, and as the garage door started to go down, fired four times toward Hill, tracking upward.

When a SWAT team arrived soon after and went inside the garage, members confirmed Hill was dead and found a gun in his back pocket.

He had been shot three times: once in the head and twice in the abdomen.

Toxicology reports from Hills autopsy showed his blood-alcohol level was nearly 0.40 percent, almost five times the 0.08 percent legal limit to drive, sheriffs officials said at the time.

Newman was later cleared of any wrongdoing by a St. Lucie County grand jury.

Gregory Hill Jr:$4 verdict awarded to family of man killed by St. Luciesheriffs deputy tossed on appeal

Appeal pending: Family of man killed by St. Lucie Countysheriffs deputy awaitruling in $4 verdict award

AP: In Gregory Hill Jr. trial,jury confused by instructions in 4-cent award to family

Attorney John M. Phillips, of Jacksonville, who has represented Hills family since the shooting, called the verdict heartbreaking.

After court, Phillips said Hill had been listening to Drake on his garage stereo and less than a minute after deputies arrived, he was shot three times through his closed garage door by an officer with a history of violative conduct.

An unloaded gun was found in his pocket, Phillips noted, with no evidence it was ever out of his pocket no time, no DNA, no blood, no fingerprints, nothing.

Phillips said a lead homicide investigator for the Sheriffs Office testified his job was to corroborate the officers stories and that he completely deferred to the officers and left evidence behind because of it.

This trial, Phillips said, was about the thick blue line which exists in St. Lucie County Florida.

He noted too, that after five hours of deliberations, jurors sent a note to U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon stating we are deadlocked. We are unable to come to a unanimous decision.

Cannon encouraged them to continue deliberating.

The panel at one point asked to check the 9 mm handgun found on Hill to see how it fits in the denim shorts back pocket.

Jurors a few hours later signaled they had reached an agreement.

The gun found on Hill was a key issue cited in 2020 by a panel of three judges seated on the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeal which ordered a new trial.

The appeals court order noted that during the first trial in 2018, two central disputes involved whether Hill had a gun in his hand when he opened his garage door, and whether it was possible for Hill to place the gun in his back pocket before he was shot.

The appeal order also concluded that U.S. District Judge Robin Rosenberg had abused her discretion by allowing jurors to hear Hill was on probation at the time of his death.

Civil lawsuit:Family sues2 years after Fort Pierce man killed by St. Lucie County deputy

Federal trial: Jury hearswrongful death case against St. Lucie deputy who fatally shot man in 2014

Grand jury: St. Lucie deputy justified in fatal January 2014 shooting

Mascara, who said, each day law enforcement officers are forced to make difficult life and death decisions, expressed hope that Wednesdays verdict brings an end to this long and difficult case.

Phillips though, vowed to appeal, again.

As lawyers, we are taught to always respect a verdict. We obviously disagree and dont understand how they were deadlocked and then took 11 hours to reject Mr. Hills plea for justice, he said. Weve fought for eight years and arent stopping.

Melissa E. Holsman is the legal affairs reporter for TCPalm and Treasure Coast Newspapers, and is writer and co-host of Uncertain Terms, a true crime podcast. Reach her at melissa.holsman@tcpalm.com.

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jury finds no excessive force used in 2014 death of Gregory Hill Jr - TCPalm

Commonwealths Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti at Arlington Democrats election watch party in November 2019, when she was elected to office (Staff photo by Jay Westcott)

(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) The Arlington police union is pushing back on accusations that officers mishandled the search of a suspect who is now linked to a double murder.

In a rare public rebuke of Arlingtons top prosecutor, the Arlington Coalition of Police this afternoon sent out a press release accusing Commonwealths Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti of ineptitude and deflection of blame.

The barbs stem from a 2020 case against Francis Rose, who is currently in jail in Alexandria after a series of break-ins at an apartment complex there reportedly led to two construction workers, a stepfather and stepson described as innocent bystanders, each being fatally shot in the head.

As ARLnow exclusively reported last week, Rose was released from Arlington County jail this past February after the 2020 case against him fell apart when a judge ruled that evidence was obtained during an unconstitutional search of his bag. With the gun and the drugs allegedly found in Roses bag disallowed as evidence, prosecutors dropped the charges against him, including possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Rose spent nearly two years in jail awaiting trial before being freed when charges were dropped.

As court records show, our office attempted to proceed on those charges, but during a suppression hearing, a judge ruled that the police had performed an unconstitutional search and, as the law required, suppressed the evidence in the case, Dehghani-Tafti told ARLnow last week. Obviously, we could not prove a case without the evidence, and therefore dismissed it.

My heart breaks for the families and loved ones of the people killed this weekend, she added.

Dehghani-Tafti subsequently said on Twitter, in response to criticism from the Virginia Republican party, that shes not casting blame on anyone for the case falling apart.

The Arlington Coalition of Police, however, suggests that Dehghani-Tafti should be taking more of the blame, accusing her of attempting to throw police officers under the bus for a lost [evidence] suppression hearing.

The full statement from the union is below.

Commonwealth Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Taftis recent statements regarding the suppression hearing for Francis Rose, intentionally worded to cast fault on the officers involved, were based on self-preservation and deflection of blame. Unlike the Commonwealth Attorney, the Arlington Coalition of Police ordered the transcript of the hearing to have a full understanding of what happened before making public comment.

Prior to the hearing, the Assistant Commonwealth Attorney handling the case believed there would be no problem regarding the suppression and believed the officers actions were lawful. At the time of the suppression hearing, Mr. Rose had spent approximately two years in jail awaiting trial. The Commonwealth Attorney opposed giving him bond on multiple occasions. If the Commonwealth Attorney believed the actions of the officers were unlawful, opposing bond and holding Mr. Rose for two years would be unethical.

Following the suppression decision, a competent Commonwealth Attorney would have either appealed the decision if they still believed in the case, or provided training to the police department to make sure similar issues wouldnt arise in the future. Neither option was taken by the Commonwealth Attorney, showing her ineptitude for the position. Instead, Ms. Dehghani-Tafti did nothing regarding the case until it became news and she needed to deflect blame.

Successful prosecutions rely on a collaborative effort between police officers and the Commonwealth Attorneys Office. The CWAs Office must understand each case, and should communicate with all witnesses, including police officers, to properly prepare for trial. The CWAs Office, since Ms. Dehghani-Taftis election, has suffered incredible turnover of experienced attorneys through the initial round of firings and continuing resignations. Those experienced attorneys are being replaced with new, inexperienced staff. Unfortunately for this case, the high turnover rate in the CWA office, combined with the lack of experience in both trials and suppression hearings, made them no match for a veteran defense attorney with decades of real courtroom experience.

The Arlington County Police Department is composed of highly educated officers who work hard each day to take dangerous criminals off the street. ACOP stands behind the actions of the officers that lead to the arrest of Mr. Rose.

Our thoughts remain with the families and friends of the Alexandria victims related to this incident. Hopefully we (yes, we collectively) can do better in the future to avoid another tragedy like this one.

Dehghani-Tafti called the statement disappointing and a political attack on our office when I myself did not use the occasion to denigrate police work.

More from Dehghani-Taftis response to ARLnow:

It is shocking for ACOPS to accuse our office of a breach of ethics because we asked for Mr. Rose to be held pending trial. We did so because we believed he posed a danger and because we believed the case was worth litigating; there was nothing unethical about the Commonwealth litigating the case until Mr. Rose won his motion. The motion was ably argued by a prosecutor with nearly a decade of experience, more than five of which have been in this Office, and a record of successfully defending police work in prior cases involving constitutional and evidentiary challenges. It was decided by a well-respected judge with 29 years of experience on the bench. Those are the facts. As professionals, we recognize once the issues are fairly litigated, our feelings dont matter.

The ACOPS surely is aware our office regularly trains the ACPD on constitutional issues (including Fourth Amendment), on testifying, and legislative updates and we have always been available for consultation as a proactive matter and in the moment. We will continue to do so.

A court transcript of the hearing that resulted in evidence being suppressed and the charges being dropped, provided to ARLnow by ACOP, shows an assistant commonwealths attorney arguing that evidence found in Roses bag should be allowed.

Again, I agree that if he had been standing on the side of the road and the police wanted to search his bag, they would have to have probable cause to search him and the bag by extension of his person, the prosecutor argued. But just because the bag is on his person in the car, doesnt change the fact that that is an item that is then subject to the probable cause search for the marijuana based upon the odor of marijuana.

In the end, the judge agreed with the defense that because Rose was wearing that bag, was a passenger in the car and did not himself smell of marijuana, the search of the bag was unconstitutional.

Despite criticism from local Republicans and others about Dehghani-Taftis progressive prosecutorial philosophy, the police association has up until now been silent about its views on her.

COPS hasnt spoken about the CA until now, the organizations president, Randall Mason, said in response to questions from ARLnow. Its our view that we should be working together in our efforts for criminal justice. We havent been on board with all the things that the CA has done. However, attacking the second member of a two party collaboration is both destructive to the relationship and in poor taste.

We are releasing this statement now because the CA intentionally tried to direct blame on the police in this case when there is plenty to blame on her office, Mason added.

Mason declined to discuss other officer concerns about Dehghani-Taftis office, and said the organization respects Arlington County Circuit Court Chief Judge William Newmans ruling based on the arguments and evidence that he had in from of him.

However, he said the police union believes this was a good search that was poorly handled at suppression.

The officers could have been more prepared to testify, Mason said. Historically, CAs would go over a motion to suppress with the officer ahead of time and discuss anticipated issues and testimony. That did not occur in this case.

Rose, meanwhile, remains in jail in Alexandria on burglary charges, but has not yet been charged with the murders as of this afternoon.

At this juncture, all I can say is that the police department continues to actively investigate the matter, Alexandria Commonwealths Attorney Bryan Porter told our sister site, ALXnow.

Rose is also facing an armed burglary charge from a June incident in Alexandria. A warrant was issued for his arrest prior to the murders but police were unable to locate him, NBC 4 previously reported.

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Police, prosecutor trade accusations after suspect in botched case is accused of murder - ARLnow

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Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, revealed the Left's double standard on free speech Saturday on "Unfiltered with Dan Bongino."

REP. JIM JORDAN: They don't think that the First Amendment rights apply to you and [me]. Think about what they've said about your free speech rights. The Left today says if you don't agree with them, you're not even allowed to talk and if you try, we're going to call you racist, and we're going to try to cancel you.

ELON MUSK SCARES LIBERALS, TWITTER AS HE PURSUES FREE SPEECH

And now we have the Left giving a wink and a nod to people actually trying to use violence and intimidation tactics against people they disagree with. So that's what frightens me their attack on your First Amendment rights, your Second Amendment rights, your Fourth Amendment due process rights. And now [there's] this almost this double standard that they have when it comes to violence that they see from people [who] agree with their political position.

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The Left does not think the First Amendment applies to the Right: Rep Jim Jordan - Fox News