🥁 Axios PM: Deniers on the rise

Plus: AP Top 25 | Monday, August 15, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Coinbase   Axios PM By Mike Allen · Aug 15, 2022 Today's PM — edited by Justin Green and copy edited by Sheryl Miller — is 453 words, a 2-minute read.     1 big thing: Deniers on the rise Kristina Karamo, the Trump-endorsed Republican nominee for Michigan secretary of state, speaks in Macomb County in April. Photo: Junfu Han/Detroit Free Press via Reuters An armada of 2020 election deniers is running in major battleground races. Lots of the candidates are winning GOP nominations. The big picture: 54 of the 87 GOP nominees for battleground state offices with a say in election certification have questioned the 2020 presidential election results, The Washington Post reports. Those offices include governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state and attorney general, and members of Congress. 🇺🇸 The list of 2020 deniers includes: 12 of 13 candidates in Arizona. 13 of 19 in Georgia. 10 of 16 in Michigan. 5 of 9 in Nevada. 1o of 19 in Pennsylvania. 4 of 11 in Wisconsin. Nationwide, more than half of GOP primary winners have questioned the 2020 results, The Post reports. What's next: Trump's most prominent GOP critic — Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) faces a primary tomorrow. She trails in the polls.     2. Jan. 6 clawback The affidavit from the FBI in support of an arrest warrant for Scott Kevin Fairlamb. Photo: Jon Elswick/AP The Justice Department is targeting the cash that Jan. 6 rioters have made after the insurrection, AP reports. Federal authorities seized tens of thousands of dollars from a defendant who sold his footage from Jan. 6. A Florida man's plea deal allows the U.S. government to collect profits from any book he gets published over the next five years. Prosecutors want a Maine man who raised more than $20,000 from supporters to surrender some of the money because a taxpayer-funded public defender is representing him. Why it matters: At sentencing, rioters often ask for leniency on the grounds that they already have experienced severe consequences for their crimes.     A message from Coinbase Why we need new crypto securities rules     Digital assets offer profound benefits, like transparent transaction records and safe trading with no costly intermediaries. Okay, but: These benefits are blocked if crypto securities rules don't recognize the differences of how digital assets trade. See our petition to the SEC.     3. Catch up quick Men ride on top of an armored vehicle in Kabul during a celebration of the first anniversary of the Taliban's return to power. Photo: Nava Jamshidi/Getty Images   A year after the collapse of Kabul, former Afghanistan envoy Zalmay Khalilzad told Axios World author Dave Lawler that the last chance for a power-sharing deal vanished when then-Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country. Go deeper. Former President Trump claimed the FBI seized two of his active passports while executing a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Earlier today, he said the temperature "has to be brought down" after a surge of violent threats against federal law enforcement. Go deeper. Rudy Giuliani has been informed he is officially a target of an investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election being conducted by an Atlanta prosecutor, The New York Times reports. The Iranian government denied any involvement in the stabbing of author Salman Rushdie. The 24-year-old suspect, Hadi Matar, has been charged with attempted murder. Go deeper.     4. 🏈 AP Top 25 Data: AP; Table: Axios Visuals Surprise, surprise: Alabama tops the AP's preseason Top 25. It's the seventh time the Crimson Tide has been preseason No. 1 in head coach Nick Saban's 15 years as head coach. Eleven preseason No. 1 teams went on to finish top-ranked since 1950. The most recent: Alabama in 2017.     A message from Coinbase Existing securities rules don't work for crypto securities     Unless workable crypto securities rules are created, the U.S. risks falling behind in digital asset innovation. One solution: Coinbase's petition lays out a roadmap for the SEC to develop new crypto securities rules and bring huge opportunities for consumers, businesses and the U.S. economy.   Are you a fan of this email format? It's called Smart Brevity®. Over 300 orgs use it — in a tool called Axios HQ — to drive productivity with clearer workplace communications.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. Axios, 3100 Clarendon B‌lvd, Arlington VA 22201   You received this email because you signed up for newsletters from Axios. Change your preferences or unsubscribe here.   Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up now to get Axios in your inbox.   Follow Axios on social media: