In December 2020, Rudy Giuliani brought his Big Lie circus to the Michigan House Oversight Committee in a session that was quickly mocked on Saturday Night Live. That appearance and what he said is part of the 19-defendant criminal racketeering indictment issued in Georgia, part of a major Michigan presence in the latest criminal proceeding against Donald Trump. With 19 defendants and 30 unindicted co-conspirators in the latest indictment, the obvious question is: will any of them flip?

But there are other things going on in politics. Really there are.

This week marks the one-year anniversary of Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, a law that doesn’t really do much about inflation but has already had a huge impact on the nation’s manufacturing sector and creating a once-in-a-lifetime assault on climate change, as well as cut healthcare costs and guarantee that the biggest of the big corporations pay income taxes. The President is building his reelection campaign around this law in addition to the huge infrastructure bill which has sprouted orange barrels nationwide and the CHIPS Act which is bringing the manufacturing of all-important microchips back to the U.S. Will campaigning on policy work better than counting on running against a serial criminal?

Democrats finally go on the offensive as Republicans continue their efforts to tie Joe Biden to his son’s misdeeds. Democrats want to talk about the hundreds-of-millions the Trump family collected while The Donald was in the Oval office. And we’ve got some movement in the state’s U.S. Senate campaign – also part of the polling we will look at. But Mark and Jeff begin in Georgia. Trump has a Grand Slam of four criminal indictments this year, totaling 91 felony counts. Does anybody care?

Joining the conversation is Michigan’s top pollster, Bernie Porn of EPIC-MRA. He provides new numbers on the top races, plus some insights into what will be a rocky and unprecedented 2024 campaign.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty, not guilty: it’s being said so much by Republicans these days, it might have to be included in the platform of the onetime “law and order” party. We update the status of various investigations and pre-trial activities of the once Grand Old Party.with Bridge Michigan reporter Jonathan Oosting who has been looking at some questionable sweetheart funding for a buddy of former Michigan House Speaker Jason Wentworth.

The 16 fake Michigan electors have all had their initial dates in court; Michigan Democrats could temporarily lose their 2-vote majority in the state House; Michigan looks at paying for roads through a pay-by-the-mile plan; and Mike Rogers looks like he’s ready to rejoin the campaign trail a decade after leaving Congress. 

And we can’t overlook the latest revelations about the many rich friends of Justice Clarence Thomas who apparently can’t resist the urge to lavish him with outrageously expensive vacations and excursions to sports events.

Jonathan Oosting was named 2021 Journalist of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. He covered the state Capitol for The Detroit News and MLive before joining Bridge in September of 2019. He is in his 11th year of covering the shenanigans in downtown Lansing. He has two masters degrees: English Language and Literature from Grand Valley, and Journalism from Michigan State. He’s from Grand Rapids, lives in Lansing and loves spending time Up North.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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This has been a very very very very very bad week for Donald Trump … and Matt DePerno … and former Representative Daire Rendon … and the Michigan Republican Party. 

Spoiler alert: it’s another week of our true-crime podcast.

But for six state House Democrats who were targeted for recall It was a pretty good week with the state Board of Canvassers rejecting the proposed recall petitions (all of them ably represented by their lawyer, Mark Brewer!)

The podcast was recorded minutes after Donald ‘Jail-Adverse” Trump was arraigned for the third time this year on felony criminal charges. Joining the conversation as we mark a truly momentous moment in U.S. political history is longtime Trump critic Rick Wilson.

A former member of the Republican Party, Rick has produced televised political commercials for governors, U.S. Senate candidates, Super PACs, and corporations. He left the Republican Party following the 2016 United States presidential election, and in late 2019 went on to co-found The Lincoln Project.

In 2018, Rick released his first book, Everything Trump Touches Dies, in which he laments the re-alignment of the Republican Party behind Trump. The book reached number one on the New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. Wilson’s second book, Running Against the Devil: A Plot to Save America from Trump – and Democrats from Themselves, was published in January 2020.

He now hosts the podcast “Rick Wilson’s The Enemies List.”

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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We’re on indictment watch again this week. By the time you are listening to us, Donald Trump could be completing his 2023 “indictment hat trick”, this time for his leadership of efforts to steal the 2020 election. In addition to his two already issued criminal indictments, he’s also facing a court date in the continuation of his losing civil battle with rape victim E. Jean Carroll … and he might get the indictment grand slam as Georgia prepares to step in.

In Michigan, Attorney General Dana Nessel appears on the verge of issuing multiple indictments for tampering with election tabulators. The likely targets are her 2022 GOP opponent Matt DePerno, along with former state representative Daire Rendon and Barry County Sheriff Dar Leaf.

There’s no question the takeover of state government by Democrats – the first total control for the party in 40 years – has brought about a lot of change in Michigan law, changes that are being noticed nationwide. We talk aboutt what to expect in Chapter 2 of this governance story with the new Executive Director of Progress Michigan, Sam Inglot!

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Stories We’re Following This Week

What a week:

As much as we wanted to focus on BarbenHeimer, we’re also look at possible criminality by still another former Republican state House speaker … and a brazen attempt by the very broke Michigan Republican Party to force a do-over of 2022’s state House election.

We’re joined by the Detroit Free Press’s outstanding political reporter Clara Hendrickson, who maintain her equilibrium despite a very wild week! Clara covers Michigan politics with a focus on the governor’s office and the state Legislature. She has previously covered voting rights, election administration and redistricting in Michigan. 

She came to The Detroit Free Press by way of Report for America – an initiative of The GroundTruth Project – to fact-check Michigan issues and politics in partnership with PolitiFact during the 2020 election. She previously worked as a research analyst at the Brookings Institution and freelance journalist in Washington, D.C.

At Brookings, she wrote on a range of public policy issues, including rising regional inequality, domestic and international efforts to regulate “Big Tech” and the financial challenges confronting local newsrooms. Her journalism has appeared in Boston Review, Democracy Journal, The Atlantic and Politico Magazine. She has also contributed feature articles for the non-profit outlet DCist, such as the impact on service workers of eliminating late-night public transportation routes and efforts to provide residents affordable exercise options in neighborhoods that don’t have a gym.

Hendrickson holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Pennsylvania where she was an op-ed columnist for The Daily Pennsylvanian, frequently covering labor and income disparity issues on campus and in Philadelphia.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Michigan Politics and Policy

National Policy and Politics

For a second time, physical violence breaks out at a Michigan Republican Party leadership meeting … this time, complete with criminal charges pending. And speaking of Republican criminals, the federal investigation into Trump’s efforts to steal the 2020 election now involves testimony from Jocelyn Benson as the investigation spreads to Michigan, Arizona and Georgia.

Donald Trump’s apparent “get out of jail free” strategy is to get elected President or, at worst, get one of his MAGA wannabes elected so they tell the Justice Department to back off. It’s another challenge for a court system under increasing fire for political manipulation, conflicts of interest and outright corruption. We talk about a credibility crisis for the 3rd branch of government with former Michigan Chief Justice Bridget McCormack.

McCormack served on the Michigan Supreme Court from 2013 to 2022, first as an associate justice, and as chief justice from 2019 to 2022. Previously she was a professor at the University of Michigan Law School where she served as Michigan Law’s associate dean for clinical affairs, clinical professor of law, and co-director of the Michigan Innocence Clinic, a non-DNA clinic representing wrongfully convicted Michigan prisoners. McCormack also launched and worked in a pediatric advocacy law clinic focusing on children with health problems, and a domestic violence clinic. She retired from the Supreme Court at the end of 2022 and became President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Arbitration Association in February.

Her first campaign featured an online ad that went viral with 1.9 million views. “Walk and Talk the Vote” was a reunion of the West Wing cast focusing on her candidacy. The production was organized by her younger sister Mary – one of the stars of the iconic series – complete with West Wing stars including Martin Sheen, Brad Whitford, Allison Janney, Lily Tomlin and Joshua Malina.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Courts Under Fire

Michigan Policy and Politics

National Policy and Politics

And a fond farewell to the creator of something that’s Pure Michigan

Michigan has some of the weakest government ethics and openness laws in the nation. After years of empty promises, Democrats in the Legislature are moving on a comprehensive reform package. Joining the podcast is the chair of the state House Ethics Committee, Dearborn Representative Erin Byrnes.

After weeks of a U.S. Senate race with just one prominent candidate, both parties are seeing some movement. Detroiter Hill Harper has launched his pre-announcement campaign for the Democratic primary; a former Congressman and Wall Street millionaire are moving towards running on the Republican side. The national drumbeat for a Whitmer presidential campaign continues to build, even as the Governor firmly commits to backing President BIden’s reelection. And we’ve got some interesting developments in two of Michigan’s most closely contested congressional districts.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Michigan Policy and Politics

National Policy and Politics

We now have an audio tape of Donald Trump committing a felony: sharing classified military information that he stole from the White House and giving the details to people with no security clearance. Despite that, Oakland Republicans hand him a certificate for a made-up award as “Man of the Decade” which Trump immediately “humbly” included in a fundraising email.

Back in the real world, the administration launches an all-out campaign promoting Bidenomics … with some snark aimed at Republicans who “voted no but take the dough.” The Supreme Court wraps up this term with positive results on voting rights, and reversing precedent on affirmative action in college admissions.

In Michigan, a new state budget is now on the Governor’s desk — on time and balanced, with major new funding for education, and tax cuts for millions of Michiganders.The Legislature also sends a tranche of bills on everything from expanded civil rights to allowing beer at college football games. 

And while the Michigan Legislature is passing laws to improve our elections process, there are warning signs about the potential for increased political violence. A new comprehensive national survey warns of an increasing appetite and tolerance for violence as a part of our political process. We talk with the onetime Mitch McConnell staffer who led the study … along with a collaborator on that report, the honorable and esteemed Mr. Jeff Timmer.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Michigan Politics and Policy

Across the nation

Republicans keep shooting themselves in the foot — while Joe Biden stands alone in focusing on actually dealing with the challenges facing ordinary Americans. We’ve got another Republican-appointed Supreme Court Justice eyebrow-deep in a scandal over luxury vacations paid for by billionaire GOP activists; U.S. House Republicans censuring Adam Schiff for exposing the criminal history of their Lord and Master, Donald Trump; a cat fight between the two leading House crazies, with Marjorie Taylor Greene calling Lauren Boebert “a little bitch” as they fight over who gets to impeach Josef Biden; and leading the way, Donald Trump going on Fox TV and confessing to obstruction of justice and violating the Espionage Act.

And Michigan isn’t exempt from the crazy. There are internal GOP feuds in multiple county party organizations, and the chair of the party has been hit with thousands of dollars in court-ordered sanctions thanks to one of the many Big LIe lawsuits filed in Michigan. In this week’s podcast we catch up with what’s happening in Lansing which has it’s own list of ongoing investigations into misdeeds. We’ll be joined by award-winning Detroit News statehouse reporter Craig Mauger.

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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Michigan Politics and Policy

Across the Nation

Mark and Jeff are taking a little me-time this week. With the historic 37-count federal indictment of the Defendant in Chief, nothing seemed more appropriate than going into our archives. We revisit conversations with two men who know DJT as well as anyone: outspoken Trump critic/Twitter nemesis George Conway, and onetime Trump fixer Michael Cohen.

Don’t say they didn’t warn us…

(Jeff and Mark return with a new episode next week)

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This week’s podcast is underwritten in part by EPIC-MRA
EPIC ▪ MRA is a full service survey research firm with expertise in:

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