Monday morning news: June 12, 2023

Trump » Former President Trump is blasting the Biden Justice Dept. following Trump’s indictment last week on charges of mishandling classified documents.

DONALD TRUMP: Biden is trying to jail his leading political opponent, and opponent that’s beating him by a lot in the polls, just like they do in Stalinist Russia or communist China.

Trump heard there at the Georgia GOP convention over the weekend, his first campaign appearance since the indictment.

The former president could soon face more charges in Georgia over alleged interference in the 2020 election in the state.

Democrats are defending the prosecution. Sen. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

CHUCK SCHUMER: No one is above the law, including Donald Trump. This indictment must now play out through the legal process without any outside political or ideological interference.

But most Republicans say this prosecution is political and ideological. Even Trump’s presidential campaign rivals are criticizing the Biden Justice Dept. Former Vice President Mike Pence:

MIKE PENCE: Today, I am calling on the attorney general to stand before the American people and explain why this was necessary in his words. Attorney General Garland, stop hiding behind the special counsel and stand before the American people and explain why this indictment went forward.

DeSantis comments, straw poll » And Trump’s top rival in the polls, Florida Gov. and Navy veteran Ron DeSantis recalled the Justice Department’s decision not to prosecute then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for keeping classified information on a private server.

RON DESANTIS: And my view was, well gee, you know, as a naval officer, if I would have taken classified [records] to my apartment, I would have been court martialed in a New York minute. And yet, they seem to not care about that. Is there a different standard for a Democrat secretary of state versus a former Republican president?

Trump narrowly edged out DeSantis in the Western Conservative Summit straw poll over the weekend, one day after the indictment was unsealed.

Trump received 40% of the vote to 36% for DeSantis. All other candidates finished in the single digits.

Biden accusations » Republicans also charge that the Justice Dept. has been turning a blind eye to an alleged “criminal bribery scheme” involving President Biden. Sen. Ron Johnson:

RON JOHNSON: It’s incredibly corrupt. It’s incredibly dirty. The Bidens knew exactly the type of people they were dealing with, but the mainstream media has by and large ignored it.

Republican members of the House Oversight Committee say an FBI whistleblower tipped them off. And they say an FBI document revealed that the owner of Ukrainian energy company Burisma told an FBI informant that he paid $5 million dollars to President Biden’s son Hunter Biden and another $5 million to then-Vice President Biden himself to help quash a corruption probe.

The White House has shrugged off the House investigation as a politically motivated farce.

Biden pride celebration » The White House was adorned with rainbow flags over the weekend, as President Biden told a crowd on the South Lawn:

JOE BIDEN: We welcome [you] to the largest pride month celebration ever held at the White House, but just the beginning.

He condemned state laws designed to protect children from transgender procedures. And he denounced the counseling of children with same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria as—quote—“cruel” while voicing support for surgically altering children’s bodies based on gender identity.

I-95 collapse » In Philadelphia, an elevated section of Interstate 95 collapsed on Sunday after a tanker truck carrying flammable cargo caught fire.

The collapse has caused a traffic nightmare this morning, and the city won’t be waking up from it anytime soon.

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro:

JOSH SHAPIRO: With regards to the complete rebuild of I-95 roadway. We expect that to take some number of months.

Transportation Sec. Pete Buttigieg has promised a quick federal response to help rebuild the bridge.

Ted Kaczynski death » Ted Kaczynski, better known as “the Unabomber” died over the weekend at the age of 81. He was found unresponsive in his prison cell in North Carolina.

The Harvard educated mathematician constructed more than a dozen mail bombs, which killed three people and maimed several others from 1978 to 1995.

Mary Ellen O’Toole was the FBI profiler who worked on the Unabomber case. She said the bureau had never seen another case quite like it.

MARY ELLEN O’TOOLE: He would come in. The package would be mailed or it would be placed somewhere, and then, from what we could tell, he would just leave the area.

Kaczkynski was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia in prison. Officials said he appeared to have died from suicide.

I'm Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: News from the court on Legal Docket. Plus, the legacy of Christian broadcaster Pat Robertson.

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