Politics

Florida Politics reports: Attorney General Ashley Moody says a recreational marijuana amendment should not appear on the ballot next year. The state’s top legal officer submitted her assessment in writing to the Florida Supreme Court. Safe & Smart Florida, the force behind the marijuana amendment, had 786,747 signatures already certified as of May 15. The effort must gather 891,523 valid …

Florida Politics reports: Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to withdraw charges against Andrew Gillum, the former Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic gubernatorial nominee in 2018, and Sharon Lettman-Hicks, his political advisor. In a recent trial, Gillum was acquitted of one charge of making false statements to law enforcement and jurors failed to agree on 18 other charges of wire fraud …

The Washington Post reports: Twitter was blocking some posts in Turkey ahead of the country’s high-stakes election Sunday, the American-based social media company announced Friday night. The company tweeted in English and Turkish that it has “taken action to restrict access to some content in Turkey” beginning Friday but added the blocked content would remain available in the rest of …

The Associated reports: President Joe Biden and congressional leaders will likely resume talks on Tuesday at the White House over the debt limit, the President said Sunday, as the nation continues to edge closer to its legal borrowing authority with no agreement in sight. The meeting was initially supposed to be Friday, but was abruptly postponed so staff-level talks could …

The Washington Examiner reports: Former Energy Secretary Rick Perry would not support former President Donald Trump in his reelection campaign when asked on Sunday, though he did tease the possibility of running for president himself. When asked in an interview with CNN if he believes Trump deserves to be the Republican nominee in 2024, the once-Trump Cabinet member said, “I’m …

Bloomberg reports: Turkey is set to head to a runoff in a vote that’s become the strongest electoral test yet of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s two decades in power. While preliminary results Monday showed Erdogan with a lead of more than 2 million votes, it wasn’t enough to secure the more than 50% of the ballot and avoid a second …

CBS News has the transcript: MARGARET BRENNAN: I want to ask you, as a conservative woman, do you think it undermines your party if the Republican front-runner is someone who was just found liable, legally liable for sexually abusing a woman? HALEY: I have always said that anyone that feels like they have been sexually assaulted in any way should …

The New Republic reports: Just weeks ago, Ron DeSantis made it legal in Florida to conceal carry a gun without a permit, training, or even a background check. And on Friday, he signed a bill to prevent credit card companies from tracking the sale of firearms and ammunition. The bill stops companies from helping track suspicious weapons purchases—an increasing concern …

Montana Public Radio reports: The Montana Supreme Court has solidified protections for abortion access and will allow nurses with advanced degrees to continue performing abortions in the state. The state’s high court ruled in favor of an advanced practice nurse practitioner who challenged a 2005 law restricting which providers can offer abortion services. In an unanimous decision, all seven supreme …

The New York Times reports: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was facing the greatest political challenge of his career after millions voted on Sunday in pivotal elections that could reshape the country’s domestic and foreign policies. The presidential and parliamentary elections took place three months after devastating earthquakes killed more than 50,000 people in southern Turkey, and were in …

Florida Politics reports: In Iowa Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis said “drag queens” were part of the reason people didn’t want to enlist in the United States military. “When you see videos of folks recruiting for the military services using things like drag queens, you know, that is just fundamentally wrong,” DeSantis said in Sioux Center at the Feenstra Family Picnic, …

The Associated Press reports: Computer engineers and tech-inclined political scientists have warned for years that cheap, powerful artificial intelligence tools would soon allow anyone to create fake images, video and audio that was realistic enough to fool voters and perhaps sway an election. The synthetic images that emerged were often crude, unconvincing and costly to produce, especially when other kinds …

The Tallahassee Democrat reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis has been fortified with millions of dollars in taxpayer money for legal fights stemming from his polarizing legislative agenda, with the scene now shifting from the Capitol to the courthouse. Republican supermajorities in the House and Senate tucked an unprecedented almost $16 million into the state’s $117 billion budget for litigation costs to …

Florida Politics reports: The Florida Governor offered high praise for the Hawkeye State, though it was probably familiar to those who have heard more than one of his speeches. “I was here in March and someone kind of took note and they’re like, ‘Man, look at all the stuff Iowa is doing. Iowa is like the Florida of the Midwest.’ …

Mediaite reports: “Free Speech Absolutist” Elon Musk is being skewered for bowing to the whims of the Turkish government by agreeing to censor some posts ahead of the country’s elections. Twitter Global Governance alerted users today, “In response to legal process and to ensure Twitter remains available to the people of Turkey, we have taken action to restrict access to …

Tampa’s NBC affiliate reports: Gov. Ron DeSantis voiced his support for Daniel Penny, the Marine charged in the chokehold death of Jordan Neely, in a tweet Friday. “We must defeat the Soros-Funded DAs, stop the Left’s pro-criminal agenda, and take back the streets for law abiding citizens,” DeSantis wrote in a tweet with a fundraiser for Penny’s legal funds. “We …

“So CNN had five times the audience it usually has, and you would think team CNN and their supporters would be happy about that. Well, apparently not. In fact, Trump’s success has created turmoil inside and outside the walls over the very left-wing news network. “Their own anchors turning on their own network in public. I guess that’s what happens …

Charlotte’s NBC affiliate reports: North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper vetoed the state’s new 12-week abortion ban, sending the legislation back to the Republican-controlled General Assembly. Cooper has supported abortion rights since becoming governor and vowed to protect access to abortion after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last summer. Cooper’s action sends the legislation back to Republicans, who have …

Congress Minutes reports: Former Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney has been nominated by President Joe Biden to serve as a U.S. ambassador for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to a White House press statement. If confirmed, the New York Democrat will be heading to Paris for the gig, replacing former Delaware Gov. Jack Markell, who was appointed to …

CNBC reports: DeSantis, widely considered former President Donald Trump’s top potential Republican primary rival, won his 2018 gubernatorial race and easily clinched reelection in 2022 with the help of a deep-pocketed state political committee. The group has raised more than $225 million for DeSantis and currently boasts nearly $86 million in cash on hand. But if DeSantis decides to run …