DeSantis news – latest: Florida governor most popular with rich Republicans as he defends move to fly migrants to California

DeSantis on campaign trail hoping to raise national profile as 2024 race hots up

Ron DeSantis snaps at reporter who asked why he wasn’t taking questions from the public

Florida governor Ron DeSantis appears to be the preferred Republican candidate among right-leaning millionaires, according to the latest CNBC Millionaire Survey, although his arch-rival and front-runner Donald Trump is seemingly also picking up support among wealthy Americans.

The poll shows that 32 per cent of Republicans with qualifying millionaire status currently support Mr DeSantis, a drop from 54 per cent at the end of 2022, while Mr Trump now has the backing of 28 per cent, up from 17 per cent last year.

Meanwhile, the governor has met with sheriffs in Arizona and defended his state’s recent decision to fly migrants from the US-Mexico border to Sacramento, California, a move widely derided as a cruel political stunt but which he insisted was above board because the west coast state had essentially invited them with its liberal immigration policies.

“I think the border should be closed. I don’t think we should have any of this,” Mr DeSantis said. “But if there’s a policy to have an open border, then I think the sanctuary jurisdictions should be the ones that have to bear that.”

Key Points

• Inside the bitter rivalry between Ron DeSantis and Gavin Newsom
• Millionaires support Ron DeSantis but Trump support growing, says poll
• California investigating whether DeSantis involved in flying asylum-seekers from Texas to Sacramento
• Showtime documentary on DeSantis’s Guantanamo Bay career mysteriously dropped
• DeSantis wraps up first early states tour with attack on Biden

[7 July 2023 13:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Earlier: Walt Nauta pleads not guilty in classified documents case

Nearly a month after former president Donald Trump was arraigned on the 38-count federal indictment that he and his longtime aide Walt Nauta are facing for allegedly unlawfully retaining national defence information and obstructing justice, the ex-president’s co-defendant has pleaded not guilty to charges of having assisted Mr Trump in concealing classified documents from the government.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

[7 July 2023 13:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

NBC: White House cocaine found in different place to previously reported

NBC News reports that multiple officials involved in the White House cocaine inquiry now say the bag of powder was found in a cubby near the West Executive entrance, not the formal West Wing lobby as was previously reported.

Investigators expect to be done with the investigation by Monday, according to two sources familiar with the process. The inquiry was previously expected to take a couple of weeks.

The area in which the cocaine was found is also heavily transited by people as it is an entrance near where some vehicles, like the vice president’s limo or SUV park.

It is one floor below the main West Wing offices and the same floor as the Situation Room and a dining area.

[7 July 2023 12:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

How can the spike in turnout from younger voters in recent elections be repeated?

Gustaf Kilander learns from elections coordinator Ruby Belle Booth that there’s an ‘opportunity between now and 2024 to make sure that every single young person has the information and resources they need to get registered to vote and to cast their ballot’.

[7 July 2023 12:15 · Oliver O'Connell]

Pence changes his tune on whether he would pardon Trump

Former Vice President Mike Pence is now taking a more vocal stand to defend his former boss, even as the ex-president continues to belittle and dismiss his former running-mate’s bid for the GOP nomination – and runs for it himself.

Mr Pence was speaking in Sioux City, Iowa, on Wednesday when he addressed the issue of pardoning Donald Trump — a question he had been outright avoiding for weeks.

Read more...

[7 July 2023 11:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Florida will make Republican candidates sign loyalty pledge

Florida is joining the national Republican Party in the bid to enforce unity and loyalty among the party’s 2024 field of candidates.

Politico reported on Thursday that candidates seeking to appear on the ballot in the Sunshine State, site of a winner-take-all primary where 125 delegates are at stake, will be required to pledge their loyalty to the party’s eventual nominee, in the event that they lose.

John Bowden explains what’s behind this unprecedented move.

[7 July 2023 11:15 · Rachel Sharp]

Marjorie Taylor Greene ousted from House Freedom Caucus following fight with Lauren Boebert

Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the House’s most vocal conservative culture warriors, is now feeling the sting of the far-right’s backlash after a perceived betrayal on her part.

The Georgia congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump was booted out of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus last month, a member told Politico on Thursday, as a rift grows between her and some of the most conservative members of her party.

At issue are two instances — Ms Greene’s vote to support a debt ceiling deal reached between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House, which conservatives complained was insufficient in its cuts of federal programs, and her recent spat with Rep Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus.

Read more here:

[7 July 2023 10:45 · Rachel Sharp]

ICYMI: Prosecutors knew Trump was hiding more documents thanks to Mar-a-Lago CCTV tapes

Federal investigators knew Donald Trump was most likely concealing classified documents among the myriad boxes of presidential records and other paraphernalia stored at his Mar-a-Lago estate, because of surveillance footage obtained by subpoena, according to a less redacted version of the affidavit used to secure a search warrant for his property last year.

Andrew Feinberg has the details.

[7 July 2023 09:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

Voices: Why Friday is a crucial test for Joe Biden and ‘Bidenomics’

Eric Garcia explains why today’s jobs report is so crucial for Joe Biden’s decision to put “Bidemonics” at the centre of his 2024 reelection campaign.

[7 July 2023 08:45 · Oliver O'Connell]

South Dakota governor slams Ben & Jerry’s for July 4 call to return ‘stolen indigenous land’

...including Mount Rushmore.

Kelly Rissman reports on why Governor Kristi Noem is particularly angry at the suggestion.

[7 July 2023 07:03 · Maroosha Muzaffar]

Ex-Trump supporter jailed for her role on Jan 6 says she was ‘brainwashed’: ‘It’s a cult’

Pam Hemphill, who received a two-month sentence in federal prison for her involvement in the January 6 riot at the US Capitol, says she was “brainwashed”.

In an interview with CNN, the 70-year-old said she was a part of “the Trump cult”.

Earlier, Ms Hemphill, the self-proclaimed citizen journalist said that “You don’t see it as a cult when you’re in it.” She told the Daily Beast. “You don’t recognise it.”