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Donald Trump Junior decided to take to Twitter with a rant of posts and express his views on how he feels if daddy Trump still obtained the nuclear codes. This comes after the James Comeys Senate hearing and his brother Eric Trump said that Democrats arent even people. This seems as a usual Trump stunt and a way to protect the Trump reputation at all costs. Donald Trump Junior: "If Donald Trump actually still had the nuclear codes, it'd probably be good." Donald Trump has the nuclear codes. In the linen closet at Mar-A-Lago. By the way, for the record I would say that if Donald Trump actually still had the nuclear codes, it'd probably be good. See our enemies, our enemies might actually be like, okay, maybe let's not mess with them. I'm like, when they look at Joe Biden, they say you know what? We should attack now?

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Donald Trump Jr.: "If Donald Trump actually still had the nuclear codes, it'd probably be good." - Yahoo News

Lets circle four days in September Saturday, Sept. 10 through Tuesday, the 13th. They will be the most crucial dates in the 2022 political calendar since March 22, the day when the Liberals and New Democrats signed their non-aggression pact to keep the minority government in power until 2025. Under the unprecedented Supply and Confidence Agreement, the NDP promised to protect the Liberals back from unwanted elections in exchange for action on selected NDP policies a commitment that the Liberals, moving at the pace of a sedated turtle, are not rushing to honour.

The NDP is not happy. Its caucus leaders are signalling impatience. They need to demonstrate to the party faithful that casting NDPs lot with the Liberals is producing otherwise unattainable benefits. So far, they have nothing tangible to display. Collapse of the agreement is the last thing Prime Minister Justin Trudeau needs on the eve, or in the wake, of the four days in September.

Sept. 10 is the day when Pierre Poilievre, the pit bull of Parliament Hill, will become the leader of the Conservative Party of Canada and leader of Her Majestys Loyal Opposition. Poilievre is an exceptional character. He is singularly proficient at nursing the publics grievances, large and small, real and imagined, serving them up as violations of Canadians freedoms, and using them as a hammer to attempt to demolish the character and credibility of the prime minister.

Poilievre is well aware of polls reporting Trudeaus declining popularity. Unless he listens to CPC moderates and there is said to be a first time for everything he can be expected to pursue his quarry with hunters zeal until he bags it or loses it.

Sept. 11-13 are the days for the Liberal caucus summer retreat in New Brunswick. Normally an annual event, it wasnt held for the last two years because of COVID.

The retreat is generally a relaxed affair, part social and part political. The leader and his lieutenants tell their backbenchers about all the wonderful things they are doing or contemplating doing, and the MPs report what they are learning from their constituents.

If the Liberals are relaxed this year, they will be in Never Neverland, not New Brunswick. The spectre of a re-energized opposition under Poilievre and the unhappiness of the NDP partners cannot be ignored.

Four things need to happen.

First: The Liberals cannot afford to give Poilievre three days to vilify them on free media while they are hidden away at the retreat. They have to fight back. That means putting Justin Trudeau out front, not simply defending his government thats old news to the media but by being aggressive, attacking Poilievre with heavy weapons from the Liberal armoury to drum home the Grit message that Poilievre is no harmless populist who plays fast and loose with the truth but rather a dangerous demagogue with a disregard for democracy.

Second: The Liberals need to use the retreat to adopt a battle plan to protect themselves in Parliament from war against a militant right-wing opposition that has nothing to lose, that will not relent in its efforts to defeat the government, to hog-tie every bill and to grind committee work to a halt.

Third: The Prime Minister must confirm the Liberals commitment to its promises to the NDP, announce a firm time schedule, from introduction of measures in the House through the Senate to royal assent, for the items the NDP wants fast-tracked. These start with free dental care for low-income families and include retraining to prepare petroleum workers for green energy jobs.

Four: Wake up that sleepy turtle.

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Opinion | Liberals headed to Never Neverland, not New Brunswick, if they relax this September - Hamilton Spectator

Rep. Liz Cheney gives a concession speech to supporters after losing her bid for reelection to a primary challenger endorsed by former President Trump. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

Rep. Liz Cheney gives a concession speech to supporters after losing her bid for reelection to a primary challenger endorsed by former President Trump.

Liz Cheney has her sights set on Donald Trump.

The Wyoming congresswoman may have lost her bid for reelection this past week, but she is making it her mission to ensure Trump is never president again.

"I believe that Donald Trump continues to pose a very grave threat and risk to our republic," Cheney said on NBC's Today show the day after her primary loss. "And I think that defeating him is going to require a broad and united front of Republicans, Democrats and independents, and that's what I intend to be a part of."

Cheney is taking a few steps to try and make that possible:

Cheney has lots of money left over in her campaign about $7 million, much of which came from Democrats, by the way. That's pretty ironic, considering Cheney's very conservative policy positions.

Cheney has also spoken out against some Democratic entities that have controversially boosted election deniers during GOP primaries in hopes of helping Democrats' chances against them this November in competitive states and districts.

Cheney can transfer all of that money to her newly formed PAC. It will allow her to travel and maybe even run some advertising opposing Trump. But it would be limited.

Season 2 of the Jan. 6 committee hearings are expected to kick off some time in mid-September, and this is where Cheney has a key megaphone and may have her biggest effect on damaging Trump.

The hearings so far have dented Trump's image, even with his base. Before the FBI search of his Florida home, Trump's ironclad grip on the GOP base appeared to be loosening. He was starting to be seen by many Republicans as too chaotic, and the base was starting to look elsewhere (i.e. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis).

But, so far, the FBI search has reconsolidated the base around Trump, whose political identity is so strongly wrapped up in his own sense of victimhood.

Enter: Cheney. She will again command the microphone on the Jan. 6 committee rostrum with her diligent and focused way.

And with no primary left, she has only one focus.

Ahead of Rep. Liz Cheney's primary loss Tuesday, a sign stood on the side of a road in Casper, Wyo., in opposition to Cheney and in support of her primary opponent Harriet Hageman. Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

Ahead of Rep. Liz Cheney's primary loss Tuesday, a sign stood on the side of a road in Casper, Wyo., in opposition to Cheney and in support of her primary opponent Harriet Hageman.

This last point is flashy and has a lot of people weighing her odds.

In reality, Cheney knows she has little-to-no chance of winning a GOP presidential primary. Not only did she lose her House primary by more than 30 points, but her approval with Republicans nationally has nosedived since she has taken her strong stance against Trump.

The latest NPR/PBS NewsHour/Marist poll, for example, showed Cheney with just a 13% favorability rating with her own party.

But winning the election and becoming president herself is hardly the point. Cheney wants to wreak as much havoc for Trump and all election deniers as possible.

She's good at making the argument and can take the case in a GOP primary to Republicans, who don't normally get that point of view from their preferred sources of information.

If she runs, she will battle to be on a debate stage with Trump, but that's highly unlikely to happen because Trump controls the levers of power in the party right now. But she can do retail campaigning and will command lots of media attention.

She's also open to an independent bid for president. Which way that could cut is less known. Again, she wouldn't win the White House, but if her candidacy is seen as likely to legitimately take votes away from Trump, it's something she would likely seriously consider.

After Cheney's loss, Trump declared on his social media platform, "Now she can finally disappear into the depths of political oblivion."

But that's hardly true. While Cheney won't be a congresswoman next year and probably won't be president, either, she's not going away.

Because, after all, as she said on NBC, "I will do whatever it takes to keep Donald Trump out of the Oval Office."

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The 3 prongs of Liz Cheney's campaign against Trump will they work? - NPR

OTTAWA Although three weeks remain in the Conservative partys leadership race, the talk in political circles has already shifted to whats next.

Pierre Poilievres victory is being treated as a foregone conclusion by his rivals and allies alike. He has upwards of $5 million in the bank, more than 300,000 party members signed up behind his cause, and the crowds turning up at get-out-the-vote events are assuaging earlier fears that all of the new members hes recruited wouldnt turn out to vote.

So, whether its planning House of Commons strategy or hashing out who might have which jobs, Tories and Liberals are already thinking about how Poilievre will reshape the countrys politics once the leadership race concludes on Sept. 10.

Between that day and the resumption of the House of Commons, hed have nine days to pull together at least a skeleton crew to kick off the fall sitting of Parliament.

His team is nixing all public discussion of transition planning, fearful of jinxing his victory.

With 62 sitting MPs endorsing him, Poilievre would have no shortage of names to select from for his front bench team of critics, who would lead the charge on the dominant files come fall.

Meanwhile, those who chose to support leadership rival Jean Charest are already contemplating their political futures after a highly charged campaign that has seen Poilievre attack the former Quebec premier mercilessly.

As a result, Jol Godin, one of the MPs who supported Charest, is telling reporters hes not sure hell stick around, and its expected there will be others who quietly decide not to run again.

Also eyeing their next steps are the staff. The ranks in the Official Opposition Leaders office thinned considerably in recent months as many opted to jump ship early instead of potentially being marched out the door several are now working in Ontario Progressive Conservative Premier Doug Fords government.

Conservative MPs grouse in a joking way that now it is their own offices that will be left bare as eager staffers make the jump to the opposition leaders office.

Poilievres entire inner circle isnt expected to move to Ottawa. Instead, like leaders before him, his campaign team would more likely pivot to start planning for the next general election, whenever that might be.

On paper, it could be at least 2025 thats the year the clock will run out on the agreement between the minority Liberals and New Democrats that has the latter propping up the government in exchange for implementation of some key NDP priorities.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has already signalled hes willing to pull the plug sooner though, and at least one Conservative MP is publicly arguing that the next election could come as early as this fall.

Long-time Tory Michelle Rempel Garner penned an essay this week laying out her argument that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will either call an election this fall or step down as Liberal leader in two years time.

Liberals dispute the idea of a fall election, but there is no doubt tongues are wagging in their circles about how much longer Trudeau will stay on by 2025, hell have been in power as long as his predecessor, Stephen Harper.

Where they agree with Rempel Garner is that a Poilievre-led Conservative party would be a much different Official Opposition than theyve faced off against since coming to power in 2015.

In her essay, Rempel Garner called it the coming end of the war of succession thats plagued the party since Harper stepped down in 2015.

The two leaders who followed him Andrew Scheer and Erin OToole only won their jobs after multiple rounds of ballot counting, and so never had a solid mandate, she argued.

This meant that neither of them could really escape the gravity of Stephen Harpers influence within the party or the aspirations and grudges of malcontents. The result of this was that the Conservative party never truly coagulated after Harpers defeat, she wrote.

However, all signs are pointing to a decisive first or at most, second ballot Poilievre victory in September. Poilievre will have the clear mandate Scheer or OToole never really were viewed as having.

Scheer and OToole also had to grapple with people waiting in the wings to take their jobs, and who ultimately ousted them as leader, she wrote and those people are all now gone.

Any behind-the-scenes agitators that facilitated the Scheer and OToole ousters might, having vanquished all other opponents, finally be satiated with the influence and policy direction that a Poilievre-led Conservative party will offer them, she wrote.

There is a good chance that swords will be put down and everyone will take a breather.

Not the Liberals.

How theyd handle Poilievre will be on the agenda at the governments cabinet retreat in early September just before the Tories wrap up their race and their caucus retreat right after.

One logistical concern is the fact that Parliament will still be hybrid, so MPs will be able to either attend in person or log-in from home.

Having a packed opposition bench facing off against a handful of Liberals will just add more fire to Poilievres narrative that the Liberals are out of touch, and debate is now underway in Liberal circles around how to neutralize that.

But thats a small thing in the face of a bigger issue: how to best counter Poilievres argument that it is the Liberals fault that inflation is so high and the cost of living seems to grow by the month.

In less than a month, the Conservative party will choose their new leader, and if youve heard some of the facts that their leadership candidates have been flipping, youll know that we need to work together to set the record straight this BBQ season, Liberal party headquarters wrote in an email to members this week, with talking points to counter the Tory narrative including a lighthearted list of puns.

But with polls suggesting they are losing support, one Liberal told the Star this week that the party knows facing off against Poilievre is no joke.

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Pierre Poilievres looming ascension to Tory leader has Liberals and some Conservatives wary about what comes next - Toronto Star

With each new scandal involving Donald Trump, the question arises again: Is this the one that will finally exact some pain on the former president?

The question is in the air once more following the FBIs seizure of top-secret documents from Mar-a-Lago last week. On the one hand, as both Trumps allies and adversaries have noted, such a warrant on a former president is unprecedented, one of Trumps lawyers reportedly told the government all files were returned prior to the search, and Trump has offered nonsensical defenses, all of which point to the seriousness of the situation. On the other, many cases involving mishandled classified information end without chargesjust ask Hillary Clintonand some experts speculate that the goal of the search may simply have been to recover the documents rather than to build a criminal case against Trump.

But because this case is only the latest in a string of scandals, the question cant be separated from a broader context: Trumps repeated ability to escape the most serious, and sometimes any, consequences for his serial misbehavior. This skill has birthed memes, including a reappropriation of the Teflon Don moniker, well-deserved conservative mockery of premature political death warrants, and the immortal Ah! Well. Nevertheless tweet.

David A. Graham: Trumps scandals are never done

This pattern has created an air of invincibility around Trump that can drive liberals to nihilistic fatalism and conservatives to hubris. In truth, the dichotomy is misleading: Though Trump has evaded the most serious legal consequences so far, he has paid a political price; theres a reason hes the former president and very unpopular with the majority of Americans. Still, as we await more information on the Mar-a-Lago search, the record reveals the maneuvers that have gotten Trump out of jeopardy in the past.

Before the Presidency

The Scandal: Too many to summarize, as I chronicled in a running tally before he was elected president, including housing discrimination, a scammy university, and sexual-assault and -harassment allegations going back decades.

When: 19732017

How He Got Away With It: You name it, he tried it: connections, luck, running out the clock, endless litigation. But more than anything, a pattern emerged of Trump managing to sidestep serious legal consequences by paying fines to dispose of regulatory headaches, civil lawsuits, and other matters, frequently without having to admit guilt or submit to any other penalties. Many of the cases involved corners cut or laws bent to benefit his business, and the fines tended to represent a sliver of whatever revenue hed made by way of the infraction.

Russian Collusion

The Scandal: Although Trump, as well as many people who ought to know better, insists that the story was a hoax, his campaign colluded with Russian agents during the 2016 campaign, hoping for some edge against Hillary Clinton.

When: 2016

How He Got Away With It: First, Trump left the dirty work to lieutenants, skipping (for example) the infamous Trump Tower meeting with Russian agents. Second, Trump critics overreached, becoming obsessed with sideshows, such as the Steele dossier or the campaign hanger-on Carter Page, that distracted from the core offense. Third, Special Counsel Robert Mueller was hobbled by a Justice Department policy against charging sitting presidents with crimes, and he seemed so determined to play his investigation by the book that he soft-pedaled the seriousness of his findings.

Extorting Ukraine

The Scandal: Using congressionally appropriated funds, Trump tried to blackmail Ukraine into assisting his reelection campaign by announcing an investigation into Joe Bidens son Hunter.

When: 201920

How He Got Away With It: The facts were relatively simple, and the House impeached Trump. But in a pattern that has been central to his enduring impunity, the majority-Republican Senate worked as a bloc to let him off, with only one GOP senator voting to find him guilty on one of two countsputting the vote well short of the 67 needed to convict.

Emoluments Clause

The Scandal: Critics argued that Trump violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution because his businesses allowed him to accept money from foreign governments. The Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C., for example, became a magnet for overseas officials.

When: 201721

How He Got Away With It: Two cases were tied up in litigation until after Trump left office, at which point the Supreme Court ruled that they were moot. A federal appeals court rejected a third case, brought by Democratic members of Congress, who judges said didnt have standing to sue under the law. This has been one of Trumps essential insights: Just because a law exists doesnt mean it can be enforced.

Ethics Violations

The Scandal: Trump aides appear to have repeatedly violated the Hatch Act and other laws that prevent civil-service employees from engaging in politics or promoting Trump family businesses.

When: 201721

How He Got Away With It: In another demonstration that a laws existence doesnt guarantee that it matters, breaches of many ethics laws are identified by an independent office, but the person responsible for disciplining top appointees is the president. When Trumps aides got in trouble for breaking them for his benefit, he naturally made no effort to levy any punishments.

Questionable Tax Returns

The Scandal: Many questions have been raised about Trumps tax returns, including whether he has followed either the spirit or the letter of the law, going back to his refusal to release his returns as customary in 2016. What information has emerged to the public suggests that he has at the very least violated the former. The House Ways and Means Committee has requested his tax returns from the IRS under an existing statute.

When: 2016present

How He Got Away With It: Delay and stonewalling. The Trump Treasury Department put off a decision as long as possible, then announced that it would not produce the records. Since then, the matter has been tied up in litigation. The House committee still hasnt obtained the records, though it has repeatedly won court cases as it seeks the documentsmost recently last week. By now, of course, the matter is ancient and politically neutered.

Attempted Coup

The Scandal: Trump sought to overturn the 2020 election, pressuring state officials to rig vote totals, trying to engineer alternate slates of electors, and finally inciting a violent mob that disrupted Congresss certification of the count.

When: November 2020January 2021

How He Got Away With It: The House promptly impeached him a second time, but the GOP-led Senate insisted on delaying the trial. By the time it came around, some senators anger had cooled, theyd had a chance to test the political winds, and they decided that sticking with Trump was prudent. A majority of senators voted to convict, but the total was still short of the necessary 67.

That isnt the end of the story. The House committee investigating the maneuvers continues to turn up damaging information, which seems to have eroded his standing among Republican politicians and voters. The Justice Department is investigating and could potentially bring charges. A district attorney in Georgia is also investigating Trumps pressure campaign in that state. No one knows whether any of these will lead to charges or other material punishmentsbut Trump has plenty of battle-tested tactics to try to prevent that or fight them if they happen.

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The Donald J. Trump Guide to Getting Away With Anything - The Atlantic