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Opinion: The guilty verdict only makes Donald Trump stronger

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Opinion: The guilty verdict only makes Donald Trump stronger

They finally got him.

Not on Russia collusion. Ukraine phone calls. Jan. 6 riots. Classified documents. Or mean tweets.

They finally got Donald Trump, after everything, on filing the wrong financial sex-story coverup paperwork.

Who but Donald Trump could even be indicted for such a thing? As CNN’s Fareed Zakaria said a few days ago: “I doubt the New York indictment would’ve been brought against a defendant whose name was not Donald Trump.”

It was jarring to hear my CNN colleague Jake Tapper say “guilty” 34 straight times, as the verdicts rolled in Thursday afternoon. A historic moment that further divided an already divided nation.

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And it was equally jarring to see text after text pop up on my phone from decidedly non-MAGA Republicans, but also not Never Trumpers, all sounding the same note: I don’t like this man, and now I think I have to vote for him.

Lest you think that’s just anecdotal or a sign that Scott has weird friends, the Trump campaign reported a deluge of online contributions in the minutes following the verdict crashed their system.

The polling indicates the guilty verdict won’t make much of a difference to how most Americans vote. But Republicans are madder than wet hens that the party’s nominee for president — and, according to the polls, likely the next president of the United States — was indicted for 34 felonies that few can fully explain, in a very Democratic jurisdiction.

Basically, the prosecution argued that Hillary Clinton might have won if Trump hadn’t paid Stormy Daniels for her silence, and so you must convict him for covering up what amounts to a campaign finance violation that he was never charged with or convicted of in the first place. The Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission declined to pursue this novel theory, but it found a home in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

It sounds crazy just typing it. Having never stuck the landing on “Russia stole the election” in 2016, Democrats have moved on to this rationalization of Hillary Clinton’s loss being caused by Trump paying for the silence of a porn star he allegedly had sex with in 2006. (Trump maintains it didn’t happen; Daniels says it did.)

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The consensus in my circle is that this will backfire massively, as Republicans get energized. Even Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, no Trump fan himself, tweeted: “These charges never should have been brought in the first place. I expect the conviction to be overturned on appeal.”

I’m watching two groups of voters in the polling aftermath — senior citizens and what we in the politics business call “low info flow” voters who consume very little news other than fleeting headlines. Seniors still remember “the before times,” when presidents weren’t spending all their time in courtrooms, and low info voters may never know much beyond that Trump is now a convicted felon.

Biden has strength with older white voters, while Trump does better with the disengaged types. If either group moves against Trump, it could cause a polling bump for Biden. I’m not betting on it, but if I were in the Trump command center, those are the folks I’d be tracking very closely for the next few weeks.

The guilty verdict kicks off a consequential June for what had become a sleepy campaign. Biden has been stuck in the mud for months, languishing at around a 38% approval rating (historically low), and trailing Trump in national and swing state polls. Voters remain angry with Biden over inflation and immigration. His job approval hasn’t been above water since August of 2021, after the disastrous, chaotic and deadly pullout of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

At the end of June, Biden and Trump will debate in Atlanta, with perhaps an unwanted party crasher on stage in the form of Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

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Step 1 to revive his flailing campaign was for Biden to see Trump convicted. Step 2 is for Biden to win the June 27 debate.

As of June 1, Trump is winning. What will the story be on July 1? What if, after a Trump conviction and a debate, Biden hasn’t moved in the polls in a month’s time?

If you think the Democrats are in panic mode today (which Politico reported just this week), brace yourself for what comes next — prominent members of the party wondering aloud about replacing Biden on the ticket if he can’t move ahead of a convicted felon.

For Trump, the message is clear: The only verdict that matters will come from the American people on Nov. 5. And he’ll take the boost he’s sure to get in the wake of the verdict, just as he has following his previous indictments and legal milestones.

Scott Jennings is a former special assistant to President George W. Bush and a senior CNN political commentator. @ScottJenningsKY

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Trump celebrates after UN climate committee moves away from its most extreme global warming scenario

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Trump celebrates after UN climate committee moves away from its most extreme global warming scenario

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President Donald Trump on Saturday blasted Democratic climate policies after scientists moved away from one of the most extreme global warming scenarios previously used in United Nations-backed climate modeling.

“GOOD RIDDANCE! After 15 years of Dumocrats promising that ‘Climate Change’ is going to destroy the Planet, the United Nations TOP Climate Committee just admitted that its own projections (RCP8.5) were WRONG! WRONG! WRONG!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Trump accused Democrats of using climate fears to justify energy policies and government spending.

“For far too long Climate Activism has been used by Dumocrats to scare Americans, push horrible Energy Polices, and fund BILLIONS into their bogus research programs,” he continued. “Unlike the Dumocrats, who use Climate Alarmism nonsense to push their GREEN NEW SCAM, my Administration will always be based on TRUTH, SCIENCE, and FACT!”

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DAVID MARCUS: NEW YORK TIMES ANNOUNCES THE END OF THE CLIMATE CHANGE HOAX

President Donald Trump spoke to the media before boarding Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on April 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Trump’s comments came after climate scientists moved away from using the most extreme emissions scenario developed under the United Nations-backed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The IPCC’s worst-case scenarios, which included significant global temperature increases and sea level rises, included global crop failures and even potential extinction events on the scale of the dinosaurs.

The scenario, known as RCP8.5 and later SSP5-8.5, projected severe global warming outcomes under extremely high emissions assumptions.

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CONSERVATIVE GROUPS DECLARE 2025 A TIPPING POINT ON ‘CLIMATE HYSTERIA’ AS TRUMP UNLEASHES ENERGY AGENDA

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin speaks alongside President Donald Trump in the Roosevelt Room at the White House on Feb. 12, 2026, announcing the rollback of the 2009 Endangerment Finding on climate-warming emissions. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

According to GB News, the scenario is being phased out after researchers concluded it no longer reflects the most plausible trajectory based on renewable energy growth, emissions trends and climate policies.

Researchers writing in the journal Geoscientific Model Development said future climate scenarios should continue to cover a wide range of outcomes, from severe warming to lower-emissions futures.

“For the 21st century, this range will be smaller than assessed before: on the high-end of the range, the high emission levels (quantified by SSP5-8.5) have become implausible, based on trends in the costs of renewables, the emergence of climate policy and recent emission trends.”

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TRUMP OFFICIALS URGED TO BOYCOTT UN CLIMATE SUMMIT AS TRUMP SEETHES CLIMATE CHANGE IS A ‘CON JOB’

Trump’s post follows remarks he made last September at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, where he called climate change a “con job.”

“It’s the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion,” Trump said at the time. “All of these predictions made by the United Nations and many others, often for bad reasons, were wrong.”

“They were made by stupid people that have cost their country’s fortunes and given those same countries no chance for success,” he continued.

EPA CHIEF ZELDIN DELIVERS DAGGER TO THE HEART OF OBAMA’S CLIMATE CHANGE AGENDA ON ‘RUTHLESS’ PODCAST

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President Donald Trump speaks during the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept. 23, 2025. Environmental and energy groups called on the Trump administration to boycott the U.N. Climate Conference in November, according to a letter obtained by Fox Digital. (Michael Nagle/Bloomberg)

Trump’s comments drew criticism from Democrats, including former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who called the remarks “total disinformation.”

“You know yesterday at the U.N., President Trump said, ‘Climate change is a hoax,’ because it’s just total disinformation,” Clinton said during the Clinton Global Initiative in New York. “It’s a statement that is just not true, and yet being propagated.”

EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin later defended Trump’s climate remarks in an interview with Fox News.

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President Donald Trump speaks during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations headquarters in New York City on Sept. 23, 2025. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

“The president is absolutely right and we’ve seen it in the name of climate change, these left wing policies willing to cause extreme economic pain for people who can at least afford it,” he said.

Fox News Digital’s Emma Colton contributed to this report.

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Mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt heads to the Valley, wooing voters in his rival’s district

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Mayoral hopeful Spencer Pratt heads to the Valley, wooing voters in his rival’s district

Lake Balboa resident Jose Meraz is looking for a mayor who will turn L.A. around, cleaning up streets that he says are “filled with garbage.”

Schoolteacher Tracey Schroeder, a Republican candidate for state Assembly, is unhappy about crime, open-air drug use and the slow rebuilding effort in the wake of the Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes.

Greg Whitley, a resident of Reseda, said he’s frustrated with homelessness and the influx of what he called “criminal illegal aliens.”

“I live with the Spanish community. Great people,” he said. “But these illegals that come here for criminal reasons, they’re making them look bad, and they don’t like it.”

All three showed up outside a five-bedroom home in Sherman Oaks on Saturday, looking to speak with reality TV personality Spencer Pratt, now waging an insurgent campaign for Los Angeles mayor in the June 2 election.

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Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, left, poses with a supporter during a community meet-and-greet event Saturday at a home on Longridge Avenue in a residential neighborhood of Sherman Oaks.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

Standing in the entry to the home’s two-car garage, the onetime star of “The Hills” spent more than two hours shaking hands, giving hugs and posing for photos with his admirers, who waited in line under punishing San Fernando Valley sunshine.

Pratt used social media to invite the public to the campaign event, which took place in the district represented by one of his mayoral opponents, City Councilmember Nithya Raman.

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He did not deliver any speeches outside the property, which is listed for rent on Zillow for $15,950 per month. He and a member of his security personnel said he was not taking interviews.

Pratt has been running in voter surveys behind Mayor Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, sometimes swapping places with Raman for second and third. He turned in a strong debate performance this month and has been outpacing his rivals in fundraising, according to the most recent disclosure reports.

While running for office, Pratt has blamed Bass for the 2025 wildfire that destroyed much of Pacific Palisades, including his home. He has railed against the city’s handling of homelessness, saying he would pursue a “treatment first” approach toward people with drug addiction who are living on the street.

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, back to the camera, speaks with supporters

Mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt, back to the camera, speaks with supporters Saturday during a community meet-and-greet event.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

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Pratt said recently that he wants to increase Los Angeles Police Department staffing to 12,500 officers over the next decade, up from about 8,600. Speaking with one supporter on Saturday, he said the city needs to “make sure all the laws are being enforced.”

“Plenty of functioning cities enforce their laws,” he said.

That message resonated with many of the people in line.

“He is advocating for the safety and security of our families — specifically, for mothers to be able to walk their kids to school,” said Saba Lahar, a resident of Sherman Oaks, moments after talking to the candidate.

Pratt fans dropped off ballots, picked up lawn signs and stopped to pick up coffee drinks from the Hustle N Dough doughnut truck parked out front.

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Some showed up even though they cannot cast ballots in L.A.

A man photographs his father holding a "Pratt for L.A. Mayor" sign in the street

Ruben Jr., no last name given takes a picture of his father during mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt’s community meet-and-greet Saturday in Sherman Oaks.

(Etienne Laurent/For The Times)

Brian Rodda, who runs a walking food tour company, described himself as “an unsatisfied Angeleno” even though he lives in West Hollywood, which is not part of the city of L.A.

“Sadly, because I do live in West Hollywood, I cannot vote for him,” he said. “But I certainly think we need a change.”

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ActBlue CEO faces June 10 grilling after fundraising powerhouse allegedly misled Congress on foreign donations

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ActBlue CEO faces June 10 grilling after fundraising powerhouse allegedly misled Congress on foreign donations

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FIRST ON FOX: The embattled head of a Democratic fundraising behemoth is headed for a congressional grilling next month over allegations of fraudulent donations on its platform.

ActBlue’s CEO Regina Wallace-Jones will testify in a public hearing before the House Administration Committee on June 10, a committee spokesman told Fox News Digital. 

Wallace-Jones’ agreement to testify comes as ActBlue faces mounting scrutiny over whether it misled Congress regarding foreign donations on its payment processing platform.

“Ms. Wallace-Jones allegedly misled our committee at the outset of our investigation into ActBlue’s fraud prevention standards,” House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., said in a statement. “It’s past time we set the record straight and got answers for the American people. I look forward to hearing her testify.”

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House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil, R-Wis., holds a press conference in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 10, 2025. (Anna Rose Layden/Getty Images)

DEM FUNDRAISING GIANT ACTBLUE ROCKED BY ALLEGATIONS IT MISLED CONGRESS ABOUT FOREIGN DONATIONS

The statement referenced an explosive report in The New York Times earlier this year that said ActBlue’s then-outside counsel warned Wallace-Jones in 2023 the group may have misrepresented facts to Steil’s committee about its vetting of potentially illegal foreign donations.

Under U.S. law, foreign nationals who are not lawful permanent residents are generally prohibited from donating to candidates seeking federal office or political action committees.

Steil previously requested that Wallace-Jones testify before his committee on May 19. The invitation was met with outrage from ActBlue’s lawyers, who dismissed the committee action as a “partisan attack.”

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But Republicans have pointed to documents that ActBlue has allegedly withheld in response to subpoenas issued in 2025, which Steil has characterized as “deliberately incomplete.”

All five current or former ActBlue employees who appeared in depositions with the committee invoked their Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination a combined 146 times, according to an interim staff report released in April by House Republicans.

ActBlue CEO Regina Wallace-Jones, a delegate from California, wears a U.S.-flag themed outfit ahead of the Democratic National Convention at the United Center in Chicago, Ill., on Aug. 19, 2024.

TEXAS AG PAXTON SUES DEM FUNDRAISING PLATFORM ACTBLUE, ALLEGING ‘FRAUDULENT AND FOREIGN DONATIONS’

The House Administration Committee has been probing ActBlue’s fraud prevention safeguards since 2023, when Steil’s panel investigated the group’s failure to require credit card verification value (CVV) when processing payments.

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“Given ActBlue’s demonstrated history of misleading Congress, there is considerable reason to believe that ActBlue may have deliberately withheld this responsive material to impede our investigation,” Steil and House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., and House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, wrote in a letter to Wallace-Jones in April.

In the letter, the senior Republicans also directed ActBlue to produce a trove of documents related to its vetting of political contributions from abroad.

Wallace-Jones has denied making false statements to Congress. The group’s lawyers have previously characterized the investigation as politically motivated and contended that ActBlue has been forthright with the committee.

Amid the GOP scrutiny, ActBlue has experienced a wave of resignations from senior legal and compliance staff.

An election countdown calendar hangs at the ActBlue fundraising office in Somerville, Mass. (Jessica Rinaldi/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)

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The June hearing notice immediately follows the House Administration Committee advancing legislation to crack down on fraudulent political donations, including illegal contributions from foreigners. The campaign finance measure cleared Steil’s panel unanimously on Thursday. 

“It’s a positive sign that people are beginning to take this risk and this threat seriously,” the Wisconsin Republican told Spectrum News.

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