News

Yesterday the names of 102 New York County voters were placed into a drum in the courthouse in downtown Manhattan for grand jury service selection. Mine was not one of the 92 names randomly pulled to form four 23-person grand juries. As I mentioned on Facebook yesterday afternoon, when I left with the nine other dismissed “leftovers,” I felt a …

Wow. Politico reports: Buoyed by support among white women and the state’s growing and diverse population, Hillary Clinton has opened up a startling nine-point lead over Donald Trump among likely voters in the contentious and historically battleground state of Florida, according to the results of a Monmouth University survey out Tuesday. The Democratic nominee surged to 48 percent in a …

Back in February, Aetna reported $2.7 billion in earnings for 2015, a 15% increase over the previous year. But that’s not enough to keep them in Obamacare. CNN Money reports: In the latest blow to Obamacare, Aetna is vastly reducing its presence on the individual exchanges in 2017. The insurer will stop offering policies on the exchanges in 11 of …

As I mentioned yesterday, today I begin grand jury service. Since you’re seeing this post, that means I’m busy indicting ham sandwiches, so use this post to discuss any breaking news and for your regular off-topic ruminations. As a bonus, enjoy the below live-streams of baby kittens and the view from the International Space Station. (You can rewind both streams …

Sen. Chuck Schumer wants to impose a $16,000 per ticket fine for scalpers who use bots. Broadway’s biggest star thinks that’s a fantastic plan. Rolling Stone reports: Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and New York Sen. Chuck Schumer held a press conference Sunday urging Congress to pass legislation that would crack down on ticket scalpers. If the bill – dubbed the …

The Washington Post reports: Hillary Clinton holds a commanding lead over Donald Trump in Virginia, with disdain for the Republican presidential nominee helping Clinton overcome her own vulnerabilities, a new Washington Post poll finds. Clinton leads Trump by a 14-point margin — 52 percent to 38 percent — among registered voters in the state and by an eight-point margin among …

The Hill reports: A pair of leading House Republicans on Monday laid out detailed instructions for the Justice Department to file perjury charges against Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton. More than a month after first requesting the department open a criminal probe into Clinton for alleged misstatements she made under oath, the GOP heads of the House Judiciary and Oversight …

CBS News reports: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is getting some assistance from Joe Biden in his hometown of Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Monday. The vice president argued that Trump is the most uninformed presidential nominee in history. “He would have loved Stalin. He would have loved Stalin,” Biden said about Trump, who has praised Saddam Hussein for his prowess in …

From the Wall Street Journal editorial board: Mr. Trump has alienated his party and he isn’t running a competent campaign. Mrs. Clinton is the second most unpopular presidential nominee in history—after Mr. Trump. But rather than reassure voters and try to repair his image, the New Yorker has spent the last three weeks giving his critics more ammunition. Even with …

Tomorrow morning I report to the New York County Supreme Court in downtown Manhattan for grand jury service. Unlike with regular juries, there is no voir dire process and there appears to be little chance I’ll be dismissed for being self-employed, a social justice activist, a journalist with a long history of being critical of the police, or a hologram. …

Some historical perspective via Politico: No candidate in Donald Trump’s position at this stage of the campaign has gone on to win the popular vote in November in the modern polling era. That’s the sobering news confronting the Trump campaign as it seeks to rebound from his recent slump. Those who have studied presidential campaigns since 1952 — the advent …

Wow. The Hill reports: Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton has opened up a giant lead over Republican nominee Donald Trump in his home state of New York, according to a new Siena College poll. Clinton, a former New York senator, leads Trump by 30 points in the state, 57 percent to 27 percent. In a four-way matchup including Libertarian nominee Gary …

Oliver reports that that tactic could spawn another subprime crisis. Mediaite recaps: Predatory loans for auto sales was the focus of John Oliver‘s deep dive Sunday night on Last Week Tonight, highlighting the questionable processes by which lenders can lure prospective car owners into the fold. One of the main hallmarks of the segment was a certain type of popular …

The Hill reports: Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton leads Republican rival Donald Trump in the battleground states of Florida and New Hampshire, according to a poll released Sunday morning. Clinton increased her lead to 5 points, 45 to 40 percent, in Florida in the new CBS News Battleground Tracker poll. In June, she led Trump by 3 points in the …

Back in 2014 Liz Cheney aborted her run for the US Senate in the face of humiliating polls and after a public battle with her lesbian sister Mary over same-sex marriage. Next week she faces a crowded primary for Wyoming’s at-large US House seat, so this is how she’s trying to make noise. From the transcript of yesterday’s appearance on …

NBC News reports: Democrat Hillary Clinton leads Republican Donald Trump in some of the most diverse battleground states – including by double digits in two of them – according to four brand-new NBC News/Wall Street Journal/Marist polls. In the key battleground of Florida, which President Obama won in 2008 and 2012, Clinton is ahead of Trump by five points among …

The Associated Press reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that GOP prospects for keeping control of the Senate after the November elections are “very dicey,” sounding an alarm amid mounting Republican concerns about presidential nominee Donald Trump, Speaking to a Louisville-area civic group in his home state, McConnell said Senate Republicans were going to be “on defense” in …

The Hill reports: Hillary Clinton’s campaign released a video on Friday blasting Donald Trump for not releasing his tax returns. The ad shows a series of Republicans, including 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, questioning why the business mogul won’t make his taxes public. “Donald Trump should release his tax returns,” …

USA Today reports: Gannett Co., — the parent company of USA TODAY — and The New York Times Co. asked the New York Supreme Court Thursday to unseal the records of Donald Trump’s 1990 divorce from Ivana Trump. The divorce was granted on the ground of “cruel and inhuman treatment” but Donald and Ivana Trump later reached a settlement. The …

Today in Senate-flipping news: Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick Murphy is catching up to Sen. Marco Rubio and is nearly tied with him in a new Quinnipiac University poll that suggests Donald Trump is a drag on the incumbent Republican. Rubio has a marginal 3-point lead over Murphy, 48 percent to 45 percent, in the latest poll of likely voters. However, …