1/ Trump asked the Supreme Court to block his sentencing in the New York election interference case involving falsified business records. The last-ditch request came after a New York appeals court refused to postpone his Friday sentencing – 10 days before his inauguration – on 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a hush money payment made to Stormy Daniels during the 2016 election. Trump continues to claim that he is immune from all prosecution and sentencing because he is the president-elect. Further, Trump claims that sentencing would damage “the institution of the Presidency and the operations of the federal government.” Justice Juan Merchan, however, has made clear he wouldn’t sentence Trump to prison and that an unconditional discharge – or a sentence without any punishment – was “the most viable solution.” The Supreme Court, meanwhile, ordered prosecutors to respond to Trump’s request by Thursday morning. (NPR / ABC News / Associated Press / CBS News / Wall Street Journal / New York Times / NBC News / Politico / Washington Post)
2/ The Justice Department plans to publicly release part of special counsel Jack Smith’s final report on Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election and disenfranchise millions of voters. Attorney General Merrick Garland, however, will withhold the second part of the report concerned Trump’s handling of classified documents after he left office and his refusal to return them. Yesterday, Judge Aileen Cannon, who previously dismissed Trump’s classified documents case, temporarily blocked the release of Smith’s two part report in order to prevent “irreparable harm,” while the matter is considered by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Both cases against Trump were dismissed after he won the election in November due to long standing Justice Department policies against prosecuting a sitting president. (ABC News / Politico / NPR / Associated Press / NBC News / New York Times / Washington Post)
3/ A watchdog report found that three senior Trump-era Justice Department officials leaked details about COVID-19 nursing home death investigations in Democra...