🐪 Wednesday. Hump Day. Don’t you wish the weather could be this nice year-round?

PA Weather
Corry | Mostly Sunny, 78
Meyersdale | Partly Sunny, 77
Coopersburg | Sunny, 80

PA Sports
⚾ Phillies (58-49) | Miami 3-1 | Wed-Thu vs. Miami
⚾ Pirates (48-58) | Detroit 4-1 | Wed vs. Detroit
⚽ Union | Thu vs. D.C. United (Leagues Cup Rd of 32)

What We’re Hearing
“He’s staring down the barrel of two guns — trying to beat Bobby Casey is not an easy thing to do, even in a great environment. The other thing is, does he want to be running in a swing state with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket? How does that play?’’ – GOP strategist Vince Galko said about a possible Dave McCormick Senate run.

All The PA Political News You Need To Start Your Day
Get your political news emailed to you at the start of every day. Sign up for your free subscription to the PoliticsPA Playbook.

Top Story

1. U.S. v. Trump Will Be The Most Important Case In Our Nation’s History

“Forget hush money payments to porn stars hidden as business expenses. Forget showing off classified documents about Iran attack plans to visitors, and then ordering the pool guy to erase the security tapes revealing that he was still holding onto documents that he had promised to return. Forget even corrupt attempts to interfere with election results in Georgia in 2020.

The federal indictment just handed down by special counsel Jack Smith is not only the most important indictment by far of former President Donald Trump. It is perhaps the most important indictment ever handed down to safeguard American democracy and the rule of law in any U.S. court against anyone.” (Slate)

Related

PA Cited In Third Trump Indictment. “On Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Trump with conspiring to seize a second term after losing the 2020 election, alleging a sweeping campaign of deceit and abuses that threatened the foundations of American democracy.” (PoliticsPA)

Trump Indictment: Charges Feature Former President’s Effort To Subvert PA Election Results. “The four-count indictment unsealed Tuesday accused Trump and six uncharged, unnamed co-conspirators of a broad conspiracy to falsely claim the election results in Pennsylvania were fraudulent and to persuade state legislators to overturn them.” (Philadelphia Inquirer)

Swing State Pennsylvania Shows Up In New Trump Indictment In Several Ways. “It should come as no surprise that Pennsylvania – and some Pennsylvanians – figure in several ways in the latest federal indictment against former President Donald J. Trump.” (PennLive)

State

2. PA’s Biggest Pension Fund Sues Firm That Admits To Investment Profit Error

“Pennsylvania’s largest pension fund has sued a key consulting firm that incorrectly calculated its investment profits, causing a costly error and contributing to the agency falling into the crosshairs of federal investigators.

The 46-page lawsuit filed by the $72 billion Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) against Chicago-based Aon Investments USA Inc. in Philadelphia seeks unspecified monetary damages in the millions, as well as indemnification of the pension fund and its employees against civil actions arising from the firm’s admitted miscalculation.” (PennLive)

Related

Brown Calls For Clarification Of Essential Services In State. “Are there essential services that should receive payments during Pennsylvania’s budget impasse? Rep. Marla Brown (R-Lawrence) says yes.” (PoliticsPA)

Lost In Transition. “Broken promises. Months without water. Facing foreclosure with no clear answers. Desperate homeowners are stuck in the middle as Pennsylvania struggles to overhaul a troubled mortgage relief program.” (Spotlight PA)

Government, Inflation Concerns Aired By Congressman Kelly. “Government overreach and inflation pressure are among the concerns of Congressman Mike Kelly, a Republican in his seventh term representing Crawford County and other parts of northwestern Pennsylvania.” (Meadville Tribune)

Garrity, Cartwright, Meuser Still Seeking Answers From Wilkes-Barre VA. “U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright and Pennsylvania Treasurer Stacy Garrity have co-authored another letter to Russell E. Lloyd, Director at the Wilkes-Barre VA Medical Center, with ‘suggestions for constructive consideration and action.’” (Times Leader)

Pennsylvania’s Presidential Primary Conflicts With Passover. “Pennsylvania State Rep. Jared Solomon doesn’t want to have ‘to choose between celebrating Passover and going to the polls.’” (Jewish News Service)

Around The Commonwealth

3. What To Know About PA’s 21st House District Race

“Voters in Allegheny County’s 21st state House District will head to the polls this fall to select a new state representative in another contest for a vacant legislative seat that will determine which party has control of the chamber – at least for now.” (City & State)

Related

Merrick Garland Stops In Bucks County Hours After Trump Indictment. Here’s Why. “Garland did not take questions from the media during his appearance at Bensalem’s National Night Out celebration, which he attended with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco and Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta.” (Bucks County Courier Times)

Effort To Knock Harrisburg Council Candidate From Ballot Heads To Court. “Long-time Harrisburg politicos believe the effort to remove Lamont Jones from contention has less to do with the legal intricacies of his ballot eligibility and more to do with Harrisburg’s machine politics.” (PennLive)

New Castle Mayoral Race Heats Up With Independent Challenger. “Devin Maresca is all but set to run for mayor against Democrat Mark Elisco. He made his candidacy official Thursday, but his inclusion on the ballot and possible election is clouded due to the 11 felony federal mail fraud charges in Florida.” (New Castle News)

Ted Kopas Returns To Work As Westmoreland Commissioner. “Kopas, a Democrat who lives in Hempfield, was sworn into office as a Westmoreland County commissioner. He takes over the minority role on the county’s board of commissioners from Democrat Gina Cerilli Thrasher.” (Tribune-Review)

No Other Third-Party Candidates File For Local Elected Offices. “The filing deadline for third-party election candidates passed Tuesday with only one person submitting nominating papers.” (Times-Tribune)

Editorial

4. What They’re Saying

• Another Troubling Trump Indictment. (Wall Street Journal)
• The Trump Indictment Shouldn’t Stand. (National Review)
• The Trial America Needs. (David French)
• Prosecuting Trump Is Perilous. Ignoring His Conduct Would Be Worse. (Ruth Marcus)
• PA Senate Republicans Have Your Back. (Sen. Kim Ward)
• Matt Bradford’s Dishonest Op-Ed Shows Where The Democratic Leader’s Real Priorities Lie. (Terry Tracy)
• New PA State House Map Is Killing Bipartisanship. (Rep. Kerry Benninghoff)
• Council Rightly Challenges Gainey On Procurement Loophole. (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette)
• Safe Firearm Storage Saves Lives. PA Must Allocate Dollars For Public Education. (Sherri Matis-Mitchell)
• Why PA Should Lead On Liquified Natural Gas Exports. (Becky Corbin)
• Principal Shortage Signals Another Problem For Education. (Uniontown Herald-Standard)
• America Has A Rural School Problem, And It Needs To Be Addressed. (Sam Pimental)
• The Pickle Of PA Politics. (Larry Stout)
• The New Lifeline Scholarships Debate: Democrat vs. Democrat. (Guy Ciarrocchi)

1 Logo Thing

5. “T” Time

There’s a new Owl in town. Bold. Fierce. Majestic and sleek. Don’t worry, Hooter and Stella aren’t going anywhere—you’ll find this rowdy and rambunctious raptor living primarily on T-shirts and baseball caps.

Temple formally introduced this new athletics logo on Aug. 1.

“When we set out to update our previous mark, we were looking for something that would really represent the essence of who Owls are. We wanted something that would be recognizable and that our entire community could rally around,” said acting Temple President JoAnne A. Epps. “This mark is everything we wanted.”

Thanks for starting your day with us.
What did you think of today’s newsletter?
Please invite your colleagues
to subscribe to the PoliticsPA Playbook