Crooked Media - What A Day: On account of three

The jury in the trial of Derek Chauvin reached the only tolerable verdict just hours after beginning deliberations: Guilty on all three counts in the murder of George Floyd.
 

• The 12 member jury found Chauvin guilty of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and manslaughter, making him just the second Minnesota police officer ever convicted of murder for killing someone while on duty. Under Minnesota’s sentencing guidelines, Chauvin faces a minimum of 12.5 years in prison, but the state has asked for a lengthier sentence. The judge will make that decision in several weeks. 
   
• In anticipation of potential unrest, Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN) and a number of other governors have activated National Guard troops, or put them on standby. As of Tuesday morning, there were already 3,000 troops posted in Minneapolis, along with 1,000 law-enforcement officers. Peaceful protests have been ongoing: On Monday, high school students across Minnesota walked out of class in solidarity with the racial-justice movement. 
   
• President Biden called George Floyd’s family after the jury was sequestered, and told reporters on Tuesday that the evidence against Derek Chauvin was “overwhelming,” and that he was “praying the verdict is the right verdict.” It’s unusual to hear a president not named Donald Trump weigh in on a case prior to a verdict like that. Biden reportedly spent weeks grappling with the tension between maintaining neutrality and using the bully pulpit to limit civil unrest, and there’s some good-faith debate among progressives over whether he struck the appropriate balance. At the same time, there’s absolutely no need to take Republicans seriously when they pretend to be appalled by the very idea of a president commenting on a judicial proceeding. Biden called Floyd’s family again after the jury rendered its verdict. 

Speaking of fake outrage, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy woke up with a newfound sense of horror at the thought of politicians inciting violence.
 

• Or, you know, of Democrats saying things that can be dishonestly misconstrued as such. Ahead of the verdict announcement, House Republicans forced a vote to censure Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) over her remarks in support of Minnesota protesters. House Democrats voted it down, and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) suggested that McCarthy redirect his disciplinary energies towards the Greenes and Gaetzes flinging shit around on his side of the aisle: “Clean up your mess, Kevin.”
   
• On Monday, Judge Peter Cahill scolded politicians (and Waters specifically) for talking about the case in a “disrespectful” manner, but denied defense attorney Eric Nelson’s motion for a mistrial. Cahill did suggest that Waters’s comments may have given the defense grounds “on appeal that may result in this whole trial being overturned.” To be clear, at no point did Waters call on people to riot; what she said was that demonstrators should “stay on the streets” and “get more confrontational” in the event that the jury acquitted Chauvin of murder. Waters has repeatedly defended her remarks, insisting that she was not endorsing violence.
   

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison neatly summed up the significance and limitations of Chauvin’s conviction: “I would not call today's verdict justice, however, because justice implies true restoration. But it is accountability, which is the first step toward justice.” George Floyd is still gone, and police officers across the country continue to inflict violence on Black Americans while shielded from consequences. Today’s verdict brought a measure of accountability; we’ll stay on the streets for justice.

On a new Let's Break It Down, David Plouffe joins Alyssa Mastromonaco to discuss what it’s like to plan a domestic presidential trip. They talk about the details that differ in planning a trip in the U.S. from one overseas, some historically bad gaffes, and how President Biden should approach his tours. Watch here → 

A new focus group with vaccine-hesitant Trump supporters suggested that their resistance is getting more entrenched. Unlike participants in a similar focus group five weeks ago, the 17 GOP voters who shared their thoughts this past weekend weren’t particularly swayed by appeals from apolitical doctors. The good news: They largely shrugged off the Johnson & Johnson vaccine pause, which health experts worried would send hesitancy through the roof. The weird news: The group was much more turned off by the news that people may need a booster shot down the road. The impossibly gross news: Most of the participants said they would definitely want a fake vaccination card, in order to continue enjoying public life while endangering people around them. Unfortunately, they’re in luck.

• A gunman shot three people, killing one of them, at a Stop & Shop on Long Island. Police arrested a suspect after a four-hour manhunt.
   
• Authorities are still investigating the motive behind last week’s FedEx mass shooting, but the gunman had a history of skulking around white-supremacist websites. 
   
• Johnson & Johnson will resume its European vaccine rollout after regulators advised that the vaccine should carry a warning about a possible link to rare blood clots, but said that the benefits outweighed the risks.
   
• About 1,500 people at a Washington, DC, jail have been in an extreme coronavirus lockdown for over a year, a never-ending mass solitary confinement that experts say constitutes a serious human-rights abuse. 
   
• Florida’s new anti-protest law, which Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) signed on Monday, makes it much simpler to run over protesters with your car without coming up against any pesky civil lawsuits.
   
• The Norfolk, VA, police department has fired an officer who donated to Kyle Rittenhouse’s defense fund, after reporters made his donation (and those of dozens of other serving police officers) public knowledge.
   
• Former national-security mustache John Bolton commissioned a poll to demonstrate that Donald Trump is losing his grip on the Republican Party, which he might like to show to the Georgia Republicans still raging against GOP elected officials over imaginary voter fraud. 
   
• The Trump-appointed prosecutor who ran his mouth about the January 6 investigation has left the Justice Department for private practice.
   
• Coronavirus-denier Ted Nugent has tested positive for coronavirus: “I thought I was dying. I mean, just a clusterfuck.” Poetic justice reporting for duty just under the wire.
   
• Former Vice President Walter Mondale has died, at age 93. A thread.
   
• In newsletter news, What A Day has been nominated for a Webby Award! Basically the Nobel Prize of email newsletters. You can vote for us here.

The White House will soon unveil the American Families Plan (it seems our name pitch of “2 Fast, 2 Infrastructure” got lost in the White House inbox) ahead of President Biden’s address to Congress on April 28. The plan is likely to include at least $1 trillion in federal spending and tax credits, though the details are still in flux. It’s expected to center around funding for child care, paid family and medical leave, universal pre-K, and education, including funding tuition-free community colleges across the country. The tax-credit section will include an extension of the expanded child tax credit, but Biden is apparently poised to reject Democrats’ demands to make the benefit permanent. Whereas Biden’s jobs plan would be funded by tax increases on corporations, this one would be paid for by higher taxes on the wealthiest Americans, combined with better IRS enforcement.

Jura is an award winning Single Malt Scotch Whisky made by the same tiny island community since 1810. That’s a long time ago. Here’s a (partial) list of things you may be surprised to learn aren’t as old as Jura Distillery:

• Alabama
• Over half of the constitutional amendments 
• Baseball
• Bubble gum
• Flossing 
• The light bulb
• Fill in the blank: ____________

Through the years, the people of Jura have changed a lot, but their sense of community has stood the test of time. Support Jura’s tiny island community of just 212 people by purchasing Jura today. It’s a great whisky and is great for gifting! It’s also perfect for Mother’s Day or Father’s Day, both right around the corner. 

Go to jurawhisky.com/lovett and use code LOVETT10 to receive $10 off any Jura you buy. As they say in Scotland - Slàinte Mhath (Slanj-ee Vah)! Gaelic for good health.

The White House has officially endorsed DC statehood.

President Biden will pledge to slash U.S. emissions at least in half by the end of the decade, a near-doubling of the previous target. 

Birmingham, AL, Mayor Randall Woodfin (D) has issued pardons for 15,000 people with minor marijuana convictions on their record. 

New Jersey will join 19 other states and Washington, DC, in offering an “X” gender identifier on driver’s licenses.