The April Fool

Ugh. He's probably the last guy you feel like hearing about, but we have to talk about Donald Trump. He's facing a mountain of legal trouble, starting in his hometown of New York. State prosecutors in Manhattan investigating the ex-president and the Trump Organization have subpoenaed the personal bank records of the company's long-time chief financial officer, Allen Weisselberg, in what appears to be a determined effort to gain his cooperation. Weisselberg may hold the key to any possible criminal case against Trump, as Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance examines whether Trump and the company falsely manipulated property values to obtain loans and tax benefits. —The New York Times

• — NVM to NDA. U.S. District Court Judge Paul Gardephe ruled on Tuesday that a non-disclosure agreement that Trump's 2016 presidential campaign required employees to sign is unenforceable, saying the sweeping, boilerplate language was so vague that the agreement was invalid under New York contract law. Gardephe issued the ruling in a case brought by Jessica Denson, a Hispanic outreach director for Trump in 2016, who has accused the campaign of sex discrimination. —Politico
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• — Lawsuit back on. The defamation suit against Trump filed by former "Apprentice" contestant Summer Zervos is back on track. Trump had argued that the U.S. Constitution placed him, as president, beyond the reach of state courts. In a brief order on Tuesday, the New York Court of Appeals declared the argument moot. Zervos claims Trump sexually assaulted her more than a decade ago and then defamed her by calling her a liar. —Bloomberg
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• — The Blue sue. Two U.S. Capitol Police officers have filed a lawsuit against Trump, accusing him of inciting the deadly insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and holding him responsible for the physical and emotional injuries they suffered as a result. The lawsuit cites the ex-president’s conduct before and after the presidential election, including comments in speeches, on Twitter, and during presidential debates that stoked the violence that occurred that day. —The Guardian

J&J vaccine doses scrapped in mixup

Emergent BioSolutions, a Baltimore, Md.-based contractor hired by Johnson & Johnson to produce its COVID-19 vaccine, has ruined 15 million doses by mistakenly mixing it with ingredients from another vaccine. White House officials say it became clear earlier this month that there were significant problems at the plant where the company was producing the active ingredient for J&J's vaccine. The problems will delay future shipments of the vaccine, and the distribution of doses to states will be patchy during the next several weeks. The company has promised the government 100 million doses by the end of May. —Politico

Joseph: Chauvin trial is a watershed moment in America's racial history

"I'm left thinking of 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' Harper Lee's iconic portrait of racial gaslighting and White supremacy. The institutional racism that grotesquely deformed the criminal justice system in Lee's time continues, despite major opposition and resistance, in our own. Lee's enduring achievement lay in signaling to the reader that ideals of citizenship and dignity imbued in the American Dream were on trial alongside Tom Robinson. In Minneapolis, decades of history are on trial alongside Derek Chauvin." —Peniel Joseph on CNN

Peniel Joseph is the Barbara Jordan chair in ethics and political values and the founding director of the Center for the Study of Race and Democracy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.

MORE: Graphic footage puts emotional charge into Day 3 of Chauvin trial —The Hill

Addressing the 'primary problem'

Unite America released its report "The Primary Problem" this week, revealing that just 10% of voters cast ballots in primaries that ultimately decided the winners of 83% of House seats. These "safe" seats are in districts that are reliably retained by the same party in nearly every election. The resulting problem? High re-election rates for members of Congress, even when most voters don't feel adequately represented by them or approve of the job they are doing. Unite America suggests doing away with closed primaries, which leave out millions of minority party or unaffiliated voters and exacerbate polarization by giving more extreme candidates a better chance of winning. —The Fulcrum

MORE: Here's how Democrats' sweeping voting rights law would work —The New York Times

Ridge: Yes, there is a border crisis. And Congress helped create it

"Hidden behind the rhetoric and the posturing is the critical need to fashion a modern-day immigration policy that secures the border, shows compassion to Dreamers, builds a foreign worker entry-exit system, provides H-2B visa cap relief, and resolves the fate of those who, while entering illegally, have been lawful and contributing residents. ... That doesn't mean we have to guarantee citizenship. But it is unrealistic to conclude that all those who have entered illegally must be identified and deported. There is common ground to be found." —Tom Ridge in New York Daily News

Tom Ridge is a former governor of Pennsylvania and was the first secretary of Homeland Security.

MORE: Video shows smugglers dropping two children from 14-foot border fence into U.S., authorities say —ABC News

Focus on party politics

What's going on in state and local party politics this week? A lot, actually. In Georgia, the state Republican Party was hit with a Federal Election Commission complaint alleging that the party illegally accepted contributions from an outside group while failing to report them to election officials. The Georgia GOP partnered with True the Vote, an organization that provides poll-watcher training and other election security resources. Common Cause Georgia and the Campaign Legal Center Action argue that the partnership represented an "in-kind" donation, which True the Vote is restricted from making under its IRS designation. —The Hill

• — Arizona. The team that Arizona State Senate President Karen Fann selected to participate in an extensive audit and recount of the 2020 general election in Maricopa County includes a company owned by a "Stop the Steal" advocate. Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based cybersecurity company, is owned by Doug Logan, an active promoter of conspiracy theories alleging widespread election fraud last year. —Arizona Mirror
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• — Iowa. Democrat Rita Hart announced yesterday that she will abandon her effort to get Congress to recount the ballots in Iowa';s 2nd-District congressional race, which she lost by six votes to Republican Mariannette Miller-Meeks. The reversal comes as the House Administration Committee was progressing in its investigation into the election results after Hart contended that 22 legal votes had gone uncounted. —NBC News
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• — Maine. A mass text message sent to Piscataquis Co. residents last week used national cultural wedge issues, including refugee settlement and LGBTQ rights, in an attempt to undermine support for local activist group PROACT, which takes no stance on such issues. The group formed in January in response to county commissioners' passage of an anti-mask resolution that referred to the coronavirus as the "Wuhan virus" and said mask-wearing could cause respiratory illness. —Bangor Daily News

Kara-Murza: Biden is Alexei Navalny's best hope

"Torture and mistreatment are unacceptable in any case, even for actual criminals—let alone for a man who is imprisoned for his political beliefs. It’s a violation of every treaty and convention Russia has signed up to. It is a matter of historical record that personal advocacy by Western leaders has helped save the lives (and freedom) of many political prisoners, both in Soviet times and in recent years. President Biden has made headlines by stating the truth when he described Putin as a 'killer.' It's now in his power to pick up the phone and ensure that the list of victims does not grow by another name." —Vladimir Kara-Murza in The Washington Post

Vladimir Kara-Murza, a Russian pro-democracy activist, politician, author, and filmmaker, chairs the Boris Nemtsov Foundation for Freedom.

MORE: Maria Butina, Russian agent who infiltrated NRA, visits Navalny in jail, with video cameras in tow —The Washington Post

Pennsylvania has not had a particularly smooth rollout of the vaccine, and we live in rural PA. Originally we weren't expecting to get the vaccine until May or June. (We are both healthy 68). In mid-January, our health clinic called us and asked if we wanted to be on their list. Delighted, we said yes, but still expected it to be several more months. The very next week they called us back, and we got our first shots of Moderna on Jan. 27. Second shots a month later. No waiting. No confusion. No multiple lists. It was truly amazing. —Carol S., Pennsylvania

The Moderna vaccine distribution here in my retirement community located in Southern California was coordinated by the community management and MemorialCare Medical Foundation. The vaccinations started with 70+-year-olds in February and has progressed to the younger seniors as serum was available. I'm 83 years old and am now in my fifth week after my second vaccination, feeling well and relieved. The process went fairly smoothly with medical volunteers, community security, and additional volunteers. —Kerry S., California

Vaccines in Utah are going great. They are organized and getting many people through the process. —Keith L., Utah

I am 77 years old and have had both Pfizer vaccination shots. I had no complications with either one, and I'm feeling more at ease, but still feel I should wear the mask when out in public. The site where I received the vaccination was very well organized and competent. —Joyce H., Utah

First dose of Pfizer vaccine was uneventful. My husband and my 86-year-old mother are already fully vaccinated, with no negative effects at all. The mass vaccination site in our community is very well run. It was hard to find an available vaccine for my mom (a couple months ago), but availability has improved substantially. —Lynn A., Washington

I received my first dose of the Pfizer vaccine today. My wife is scheduled for this weekend, and our son next week. I am so grateful for miracles and volunteers! I live just outside of Portland, Oregon, and was scheduled at a mass-vaccination site at the Oregon Convention Center. I would estimate that well over 200 volunteers, including medical and National Guard personnel, were involved with 100 of those administering the vaccine.

I became a little emotional when I saw the setup and the sheer number of people getting it so quickly. Logistics fascinate me, and I cannot fathom what all was involved in making this happen. Based on a local news article from earlier in the month, I estimated over 5,000 people per day could be vaccinated at this location in seven hours, and over 9,000 people if they had enough vaccines and volunteers to operate 12 hours per day.

Thank you to everyone, everywhere, involved in the vaccination programs! I wish them all the best! —Keith R., Oregon

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