Lauro’s interviews:Â A lawyer who appeared alongside Donald Trump in federal court in Washington yesterday when Trump pleaded not guilty to charges in the indictment brought by Special Counsel Jack Smith denies that he admitted any guilt on Trump’s part during interviews late yesterday on both Fox and Newsmax. Attorney John Lauro said in the interviews that Trump and Attorney John Eastman did met with then Vice President Mike Pence to try to get Pence to delay counting the election’s electoral votes, which is charged in the indictment. Lauro now says that when he said in the TV interviews that the meeting to pressure Pence did take place, he wasn’t making an admission of guilt on the part of his client. The parties in the case are due back in court August 28 when the judge is expected to set a date for Trump’s trial to begin.
Melania’s absence:Â Former White House Press Secretary during the Trump administration Stephanie Grisham on CNN yesterday discounted the fact that Trump’s wife Melania has not been by his side at any of Trump’s court arraignments. Grisham said the absences indicate Melania’s feeling that she’s way too busy and that the legal issues are Trump’s issues and he’ll deal with them. Grisham said that Melania will show up only when she wants to.
Russian Navy ship hit:Â Ukraine says its drones targeted a Russian port on the Black Sea and damaged a Russian Navy ship. Russia denies the claim but Ukrainian defense officials say the ship has been knocked out of service and won’t be able to be used in the war, at least for the immediate future. Ukrainian news agencies this morning published images showing what they said was the Russian Navy ship listing to one side.
China to join peace conference:Â China said this morning it will be sending a special envoy to Saudi Arabia to participate in a conference with other countries including the U.S. on getting peace talks started to end the war between Russia and Ukraine. However, Russia said it does not plan to attend the conference and called the planned meeting a hoax.
Jobs added:Â The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported this morning that the economy added 187,000 new jobs in July, slightly less than the 200,000 that had been forecast. At the same time, the bureau revised the figure for June, reducing the number of jobs added in that month to 185,000 from the 209,000 that originally had been reported.
Mississippi officers plead guilty:Â Six former sheriff’s officers in Rankin County, Mississippi, have pleaded guilty to federal charges growing out of their torturing two Black men. The White officers entered a home and held the two Black men for about two hours. One of the officers shot and wounded one of the men being held. The officers also face state charges in the case.
