Thursday, July 11, 2024

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ Trump claims he has nothing to do with Project 2025 – the plan developed by the ultra-conservative Heritage Foundation to transform the American government – despite the fact that at least 140 people from his administration were involved in putting together the 900-page playbook, including six Cabinet members and four of his ambassadors. The first 20 pages of the document were written by his first deputy chief of staff, Rick Dearborn; more than half of the authors, editors, and contributors to the playbook were Trump administration staffer; dozens more Project 2025 advisers staffed Trump’s government, including Mark Meadows and Stephen Miller. In total, nearly 240 people have ties to both Trump and Project 2025. Nevertheless, Trump claimed: “I have no idea who is behind it.” Meanwhile, a group of self-described “gay furry hackers” took credit for hacking into the Heritage Foundation, gaining access to the names, passwords, email addresses, and “other juicy info” from “every user” of the database, including Heritage President Kevin Roberts. Following the breach, Heritage Executive Director Mike Howell threatened the gay furry hacktivists via text message: “Are you aware that you won’t be able to wear a furry tiger costume when you’re getting pounded in the ass in the federal prison I put you in next year? Please share widely.” A member of the group who identified themselves as “vio” responded: “meow :3” (CNN / The New Republic)

2/ Trump will meet with Viktor Orbán, the Hungarian prime minister and autocrat, at Mar-a-Lago. Last week, Orbán met with Putin in Moscow. While Trump and Putin had professed a fondness for one another during his first term, Orbán has since sought close ties to Trump, expressing a belief that a new Trump presidency was the “only serious chance” for an end to the war in Ukraine. Trump, meanwhile, has continued to repeatedly claim he’ll end the war between Russia and Ukraine “in 24 hours” if he’s elected president again – a claim that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russia’s United Nations ambassador have disputed. (Time / ABC News / New York Times / Politico / Bloomberg / The Guardian)

3/ The Senate Judiciary Committee will conduct a review of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity ruling, arguing that “Congress cannot turn a blind eye to it.” The meeting, however, won’t happen until September. Nevertheless, Dick Durbin said the hearing will consider “the immediate legal and policy ramifications” of the Supreme Court’s decision to grant Trump...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.