Take me to your leader

The special congressional panel investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol has announced that it will hold its first hearing on July 27. Meanwhile, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has yet to appoint any Republicans to the committee. The topic will surely be on the agenda as McCarthy meets with Donald Trump today at the ex-president's golf club in Bedminster, N.J. "Much to discuss!" Trump announced in a statement. "Much to plot" might be more fitting. —CNN

• — Dangler pleads guilty. Josiah Colt, the Idaho man seen dangling from the balcony of the U.S. Senate during the insurrection, pleaded guilty to felony obstruction of Congress yesterday. He also will cooperate with prosecutors as they mount cases against other participants. Colt said he is not affiliated with a militia group like the Proud Boys, but added that he worked with two men to raise funds to travel to the Capitol. —The Daily Beast
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• — "You f**king did this." A forthcoming book from reporters Carol Leonnig and Philip Rucker, "I Alone Can Fix It," details a phone call between Rep. Liz Cheney and Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the day after the insurrection. Cheney described what she experienced, including a run-in on the House floor with Rep. Jim Jordan, a staunch Trump ally who worked to overturn the election. Calling him a "son of a b*tch," she blamed him for the attack. —CNN
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• — Another investigation. House Democrats have launched a new probe into Cyber Ninjas, the private company hired by Arizona Republicans to "audit" millions of ballots cast during the 2020 election. Concerned that the audit is an effort to promote conspiracy theories or "reverse the result of a free and fair election for partisan gain," Oversight Chair Carolyn Maloney and Civil Rights Subcommittee Chair Jamie Raskin have requested a raft of documents related to the audit, including information about who is paying for it. —CNBC

Gottheimer & Fitzpatrick: Let's make a deal

"Bipartisanship isn't always possible—on some issues, the two parties are simply too at odds. But on issues of national concern such as Covid and infrastructure, there's no reason thoughtful leaders should not be able to shape compromises that both parties can support. The business of American democracy is aligning people who don't agree on everything so they can make progress where they have common interests." —Josh Gottheimer and Brian Fitzpatrick on CNN

Josh Gottheimer, a Democrat, represents New Jersey's 5th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. Brian Fitzpatrick, a Republican, represents Pennsylvania's 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives. They are co-chairs of the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus.

MORE: Senate nears pivotal vote on bipartisan infrastructure deal that's still unwritten —Politico

Riot law put to the test

In April, when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed into law "the strongest anti-rioting, pro-law enforcement piece of legislation in the country" (his words), he probably wasn't thinking that it would apply to a cause he supports. Passed in response to widespread Black Lives Matter protests in 2020, the law is designed to dissuade protesters from vandalizing businesses, toppling monuments, or blocking highway traffic. So, many observers pointed out DeSantis' hypocrisy when he spoke favorably of local protests in support of Cuban demonstrators that have blocked off parts of the Palmetto Expressway in Miami this week. Solidarity with the brave Cuban protesters is commendable and certainly understandable. Biased implementation of laws? Not so much. —Miami New Times

MORE: Cuba's Internet comes back on—and reveals scenes of a crackdown —The Washington Post

Angela in America

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is at the White House today for what is likely her last visit as a head of state. Discussions with President Biden will focus heavily on China and Russia. Earlier this year, Merkel said the U.S. and Germany's "interests will not always converge." That's especially true of China, whose influence Biden seeks to tamp down, while it remains Germany's most important trading partner. Another area of difference is the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Russia, which Biden fears will be used as a coercive tool against allies like Ukraine. For Germany, the project presents a dilemma of choosing between the same foreign policy concerns and its own energy interests. —The New York Times

MORE: A U.S.-German 'window of opportunity' is closing, experts warn —Defense One

Kara-Murza: It's election season in Russia. Let the dirty tricks begin

"One of the Kremlin's most durable propaganda narratives—still repeated surprisingly often by journalists and commentators in the West—holds that, for all his faults, President Vladimir Putin remains popular among average Russians. Those who resort to this argument seem to forget a small detail: It isn't difficult to win elections when one's opponents are not on the ballot. For years, the Kremlin ensured the absence of strong alternative candidates by any means necessary—from bureaucratic tricks to timely court sentences to, at worst, physical elimination." —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: Kremlin papers appear to show Putin's plot to put Trump in White House —The Guardian

Focus on global democracy

The arrest of former South African President Jacob Zuma on corruption charges this month has triggered violent protests in the country. Most of the violence and looting has been concentrated in Zuma's populous home province of KwaZulu-Natal and in Gauteng, home of South Africa's economic capital, Johannesburg, and political capital, Pretoria. Mobs have targeted shopping malls, factories, and warehouses, many in impoverished townships, where residents have been hit hard by three waves of COVID-19 infections and resulting lockdowns. —The Wall Street Journal

• — Bulgaria. The final results from Bulgaria's snap parliamentary elections confirm that the anti-elite party There Is Such a People (ITN) edged out former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's coalition. Television entertainer Slavi Trifonov, of ITN, said he would count on the support of the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria and left-leaning Stand Up! Get Out! alliance, which emerged from last summer's anti-corruption street protests, to form a government. —Radio Free Europe
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• — Ethiopia. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pledged to repel attacks by the country's "enemies" after rebels in Tigray launched a fresh offensive to regain territory in the war-torn region. Tigrayan forces have claimed a series of battlefield gains in the renewed assault, just two weeks after the federal government declared a unilateral ceasefire. Abiy's ruling party won the recently concluded parliamentary elections in a landslide, boosting his power in the country. —Al Jazeera
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• — Moldova. Moldova held a snap legislative election on July 11, after a months-long wrangle between Maia Sandu, the pro-Western president elected in November, and the pro-Russian majority in the legislature, to name a new prime minister. Sandu's Party of Action and Solidarity won the election in a landslide, meaning she will be able to address a key item on her agenda—fighting extensive domestic corruption—and Moldova will move toward a closer alignment with the West. —The Washington Post

Graham: GOP leadership is only half the problem

"The premise of Biden's speech seems to be that voters will uniformly be troubled by [new state voting laws]. 'Have you no shame?' he asked Republican officials. By now it should be clear that many do not. And they have cover, because many Republican voters back the changes. Polls find that between two-thirds and three-quarters of GOP voters don't believe Biden is a legitimate president. Six in 10 Republicans think it's more important to change laws to prevent fraud (which doesn't happen) than to make voting easier, according to a recent Washington Post/ABC News poll. At the grassroots level, GOP voters appear to strongly back many of the very things Biden warns against." —David Graham in The Atlantic

David Graham is a staff writer at The Atlantic.

MORE: Georgia Republicans center campaigns on false claims of election fraud —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

There is no hope for the Republican Party.

Cheney, Romney, Finn, and McMullin need to form a center-right, pro-democracy party stat.

That is the only hope. Independents and conservative Democrats will flock to it.

I'll join first! —Ken G., Colorado

The views expressed in "What's Your Take?" are submitted by readers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff or the Stand Up Republic Foundation.