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Something you’re probably already aware of (but we’ll mention anyway for emphasis) is that Republicans are on a quest to destroy reproductive rights in America, and have already made the country a terrifying place to be pregnant, should you need or want to get an abortion. A good indication of how outrageous the situation has gotten? That a GOP candidate for the White House felt the need to declare she doesn’t think people who undergo abortions should be subject to capital punishment.

Yes, during a CNN town hall in Iowa on Sunday, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley told the audience, “I think we can all come together and say any woman that has an abortion shouldn’t be jailed or given the death penalty. Can’t we start there?”

In fact, not everyone in Haley’s party would like to “start there,” given that a group of conservative lawmakers in her home state want to classify abortion as murder. (Women who undergo abortions in South Carolina already face prison time.) Meanwhile in Alabama, a bunch of Republican lawmakers want to change the laws so that women can be charged with murder for an abortion, potentially affecting women who miscarry as well.

And then, of course, there is Haley herself, who is hardly the friend to pregnant people she made herself out to be. For one thing, during the town hall on Sunday, she refused to rule out signing a six-week abortion ban (and absurdly suggested Joe Biden and Kamala Harris support abortion at “37 weeks, 38 weeks, 39 weeks”—an argument straight out of Donald Trump’s playbook). Oh, and last month, she lamented how hard it is to get a national abortion ban passed given the makeup of Congress.

But perhaps the wildest thing that’s come out of Haley’s mouth was her claim this past weekend that one third of teenage girls are suicidal in part because trans women are allowed to play sports.

To be clear, there is absolutely no evidence this is the case. As Tyler Black, a psychiatrist who focuses on mental health, tweeted, “If there is one thing that I can promise in this world, and stake my entire knowledge and expertise as a suicidologist on, it’s that young teenaged girls are not made more suicidal by the presence of trans people.” Meanwhile, Anne Marie Albano, founder of Columbia University’s Clinic for Anxiety and Related Disorders, gave Haley some homework: “If Nikki Haley cared about kids, she’d state that surveys show teens are worried about violence & hate being perpetrated against their peers, about gun violence, climate & political unrest in the US. And, she’d do something about all that & not tell lies.”

The lawsuits against DeSantis’s “anti-woke” agenda are piling up, and Florida taxpayers are the ones paying the price.

Report: Donald Trump’s lawyers spent Monday begging the DOJ not to indict him

Back in April, Donald Trump experienced a unique phenomenon that, for his first 70-odd years on earth, he’d managed to avoid: actual consequences for his behavior, in this case, felony charges for the hush money deals he paid in the run-up to the 2016 election. Not surprisingly, Trump did not enjoy the experience and would no doubt like to avoid it happening again. But unfortunately for the ex-president, that’s not up to him, and he may soon be going two for two.

NBC News reports that the grand jury that has been hearing evidence in special counsel Jack Smith’s investigation of Trump’s handling of classified documents is expected to meet in Washington again this week, according to people familiar with the matter. While it’s obviously impossible to know if that grand jury will choose to indict the ex-president—who is currently seeking a second term in office—the situation certainly does not sound great for the former guy, given that over the course of the last several weeks, we’ve learned that:

– The Justice Department has a recording of Trump saying he decided to hang on to classified material concerning a potential attack on Iran, and suggesting that he would like to share it but, per CNN, is “aware of limitations on his ability post-presidency to declassify records”;

– A Mar-a-Lago staffer who helped move boxes at the resort—seemingly at Trump’s request—allegedly asked, around the time the Trump Organization was subpoenaed for footage of the club, “how the security cameras worked and how long images remained stored in the system”;

– Trump attorney Evan Corcoran was “steered away” from searching for classified documents—in order to comply with a government subpoena—beyond the Mar-a-Lago storage room, despite the fact that a subsequent FBI raid uncovered classified documents in Trump’s office;

– Smith’s team has roughly 50 pages of notes from Corcoran revealing, among other things, that he advised Trump against retaining any government documents after the subpoena was issued, i.e., Trump was made well aware of what he was and was not allowed to do (according to CNN, Trump asked if he could fight the DOJ’s attempt to take back the documents);

– The National Archives and Records Administration gave the DOJ “16 records that show Trump…had knowledge of the correct declassification process while he was president” and did not follow it;

– Everyone from Trump’s pals to his lawyers think an indictment is on the horizon.

Speaking of the ex-president’s legal team, his lawyers were reportedly in Washington today to make their case.

Per The Washington Post:

Attorneys for Donald Trump came to the Justice Department on Monday morning to make their case that the government should not charge the former president in connection with his possession of classified documents after leaving office, a person familiar with the situation said. The lawyers at the meeting were Lindsey Halligan, John Rowley, and James Trusty, according to multiple people familiar with the situation, all of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss it.

It’s not clear what the outcome of that sit-down was, but it does appear that Trump seems to have a sneaking suspicion about how things are going to play out, if this outburst is any indication:

Governor Bans–a–Lot doesn’t like being associated with a political movement known for banning things

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