Trump team creating legal defense fund, reports say: The Rundown July 31

KARAH RUCKER: TRUMP DONORS ARE NOT ONLY SUPPLYING MONEY FOR HIS PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN BUT ALSO COVERING HIS LEGAL FEES BY THE TENS OF MILLIONS. AND A MAJOR RECALL INVOLVING AMERICA’S TOP-SELLING VEHICLE. THE RUNDOWN STARTS NOW.  THIS IS STRAIGHT-ARROW NEWS. 

BRINGING YOU UNBIASED, STRAIGHT FACTS. TODAY IS MONDAY — JULY 31ST. THANKS FOR JOINING US. I’M KARAH RUCKER.

TRUMP FUNDRAISING PAC SPENT MORE THAN $40 MILLION ON LEGAL FEES

WITH FORMER PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP FACING CHARGES IN TWO DIFFERENT CRIMINAL CASES —

AND POTENTIALLY MORE INDICTMENTS COMING OUT OF GEORGIA THIS WEEK —

THE BILLS TO PAY FOR LEGAL COSTS HAVE STACKED UP.

AND DONORS TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT HAVE ALREADY SPENT 40 MILLION DOLLARS ON LEGAL FEES SINCE THE START OF THIS YEAR.

THE WASHINGTON POST WAS FIRST TO REPORT THAT TRUMP’S “POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE” “SAVE-AMERICA” HAS FRONTED SUCH A LARGE PORTION OF THE FORMER PRESIDENT’S LEGAL DEFENSE.

BECAUSE THE LEGAL COSTS ARE SO HEFTY —

TRUMP’S TEAM REPORTEDLY  IS NOW CREATING A SEPARATE “LEGAL DEFENSE FUND” TO OFF-SET EXPENSES EXPECTED TO KEEP COMING.

THE 40 MILLION HAS GONE TOWARD DEFENDING NOT JUST TRUMP BUT MEMBERS OF HIS INNER CIRCLE WHO ARE ALSO TIED UP IN VARIOUS INVESTIGATIONS RELATED TO THE FORMER PRESIDENT.

TODAY — A MAR-A-LAGO WORKER — NAMED LAST WEEK IN THE CLASSIFIED DOCUMENTS CASE — IS DUE FOR HIS FIRST COURT APPEARANCE.

TRUMP MAINTAINS DOMINANT LEAD IN GOP PRIMARY POLLING

DESPITE THE LEGAL BATTLES — TRUMP STILL MAINTAINS A DOMINANT LEAD OVER HIS G-O-P RIVALS IN THE RACE FOR THE REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION.

THAT’S ACCORDING TO THE FIRST NEW YORK TIMES POLL OF THE 20-24 CAMPAIGN — RELEASED JUST THIS MORNING.

ACCORDING TO THE POLL — TRUMP IS STILL PULLING IN THE MAJORITY OF REPUBLICAN SUPPORT — AT 54 PERCENT.

FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS — THE SECOND PLACE VOTE-GETTER — IS GETTING LESS THAN A THIRD OF THAT AT 17 PERCENT.

NO ONE ELSE IS POLLING AT MORE THAN 3 PERCENT.

WE ARE NOW JUST OVER 3 WEEKS OUT FROM THE FIRST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE.

AS OF THIS WEEKEND — 6 OF THE 7 CANDIDATES YOU JUST SAW ON YOUR SCREEN — AS WELL AS NORTH DAKOTA GOVERNOR DOUG BERGUM — HAVE QUALIFIED.

FORMER VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE HAS NOT.

44 PEOPLE DEAD BY SUICIDE BOMB AT PAKISTAN POLITICAL RALLY

OVER THE WEEKEND —

44 PEOPLE DIED AND NEARLY 200 OTHERS WERE INJURED AFTER A “SUICIDE BOMBER” TARGETED A POLITICAL EVENT IN PAKISTAN.

IT WAS A CONVENTION ORGANIZED BY AN ISLAMIST PARTY —

EXPLOSIVES WERE DETONATED NEAR THE CONVENTION’S STAGE ACCORDING TO LOCAL POLICE.

THERE HAVE BEEN NO GROUPS CLAIMING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ATTACK —

BUT A LOCAL BRANCH OF ISIS OPERATING JUST ACROSS THE BORDER IN AFGHANISTAN HAS A HISTORY OF SIMILAR ATTACKS IN THE REGION.

FORD RECALLING 870,000 TOP-SELLING F-150 TRUCKS

FORD HAS ANNOUNCED A MAJOR RECALL OF ITS TOP SELLING F-150. 

THE RECALL IS FOR MORE THAN 870-THOUSAND PICKUP TRUCKS —

FROM MODEL YEARS 20-21 THROUGH 2023.

FORD SAYS THERE IS AN ISSUE WITH THE ELECTRONIC PARKING BRAKE —

THAT CAN **ACTIVATE WHILE DRIVING.

THERE HAVE BEEN NO REPORTED ACCIDENTS OR INJURIES RELATED TO THE ISSUE.

FORD’S “F-SERIES TRUCKS” HAVE BEEN THE TOP-SELLING VEHICLES IN THE U.S. FOR DECADES.

X LIGHT AT FORMER TWITTER HQ PROMPTS INVESTIGATION

X MARKS THE SPOT – IT’S JUST WHERE THAT SPOT IS — MIGHT BE IN VIOLATION OF PERMITTING RULES.

A GIANT, GLOWING X WAS PLACED ON TOP OF THE SAN FRANCISCO HEADQUARTERS OF THE COMPANY FORMERLY KNOWN AS TWITTER ON FRIDAY.

THE “X” LOGO SEEMS TO BE A NUISANCE FOR NEIGHBORS WHO HAVE POSTED VIDEOS ONLINE SHOWING ITS BRIGHT LIGHT SHINING INTO NEARBY APARTMENT BUILDINGS. 

SAN FRANCISCO’S DEPARTMENT OF BUILDING INSPECTIONS HAS OPENED AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE X STRUCTURE.

CEO ELON MUSK HAS SAID HE PLANS TO KEEP THE COMPANY’S HEADQUARTERS IN ITS SAN FRANCISCO LOCATION. 

AUGUST WILL SEE RARE BLUE MOON

IT MAY BE THE FINAL DAY OF JULY, BUT ASTRONOMY FANS ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO SOMETHING THAT WILL BE SHINING BRIGHT IN AUGUST.

TUESDAY NIGHT WILL SEE THE FIRST OF TWO SUPERMOONS OF THE MONTH. 

A SUPERMOON OCCURS WHEN THE MOON’S ORBIT IS CLOSEST TO EARTH AT THE SAME TIME THE MOON IS FULL.

SUPERMOONS ARE ROUGHLY 16 PERCENT BRIGHTER THAN YOUR AVERAGE MOON. 

AUGUST 30TH WILL SEE THE SECOND SUPERMOON. 

THIS ONE WILL BE EVEN CLOSER AND IS KNOWN AS A BLUE MOON. 

THE NAME HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH COLOR – IT REFERS TO THE SECOND FULL MOON IN ANY MONTH. 

IT’S A RARE OCCURRENCE, HAPPENING ONCE EVERY THREE YEARS – HENCE THE PHRASE “ONCE IN A BLUE MOON.” 

IF YOU MISS THIS ONE, YOU’LL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL – 2026 — FOR THE NEXT ONE.

THANKS FOR WATCHING STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS WHERE OUR MISSION IS TO BRING YOU UNBIASED, FACT-BASED REPORTING. 

AND WE ARE DOING JUST THAT.

TWO SEPARATE INDUSTRY WATCHDOGS CONFIRM STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS IS REPORTING RIGHT DOWN THE MIDDLE. 

SO IF YOU PREFER THE SOURCE THAT GIVES IT TO YOU STRAIGHT – STAY WITH US — AT SAN.COM AND FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA.

UNBIASED. STRAIGHT FACTS. THAT’S STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS.

WE’LL SEE YOU BACK HERE TOMORROW.

UNTIL THEN I’M KARAH RUCKER

HAVE A GREAT DAY!