Politics

(WASHINGTON) — With the Republican National Convention less than a month away, former President Donald Trump’s timeline to select a vice president is dwindling. While Trump continues to weigh his options on who he might select for the No. 2 slot, the abortion stances held by prospective shortlist candidates have become an issue of focus.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum — a potential veepstakes candidate — backed one of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country, something the Trump campaign is aware of as they move forward in the selection process.

In April 2023, Burgum banned abortion in his state with very limited exceptions — some of which only apply up to six weeks’ gestation, before many women know they are pregnant.

The exceptions within the first six weeks of pregnancy allow abortion in cases of rape or incest, while exceptions for medical emergencies are allowed throughout pregnancy.

“This bill clarifies and refines existing state law … and reaffirms North Dakota as a pro-life state,” Burgum said in a statement when he signed the law.

Burgum’s signature came almost a year after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision that reversed Roe v. Wade. At the time of his signature, there were no abortion clinics in the state of North Dakota.

On the second day of his GOP presidential primary campaign, Burgum shifted his narrative, saying he would not support a similar nationwide law if he was elected to the White House. He advocated that the issue should be decided on a state-by-state basis, a stance that Trump has since adopted on the campaign trail.

Trump has said he supports abortion with three exceptions: in cases of rape, in cases of incest, and in cases where it’s necessary to save the life of the mother. In contrast, Burgum’s ban doesn’t allow for rape and incest exceptions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.

“I think the decision that was made returning the power to the states was the right one. And I think we’re going to have — we have a lot of division on this issue in America. And what’s right for North Dakota may not be right for another state … the best decisions are made locally,” Burgum said on “CNN This Morning” in early June.

Another candidate on the former president’s shortlist, Ohio Gov. JD Vance, has danced carefully around the issue of abortion, applauding the overturning of Roe v. Wade and supporting Texas’ ban on abortion, which does not allow exceptions except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.

Late last year, though, Vance called on Republicans to respond to abortion in a more sensible way, saying on CNN’s State of the Union, “We have to accept people do not want blanket abortion bans, and I say this as a person who wants to protect as many unborn babies as possible.”

Last November, in Vance’s home state of Ohio, voters approved a constitutional amendment that protects access to abortion and other forms of reproductive health care. Vance, who opposed the amendment, called the passing of the initiative a “gut punch” but also spoke to his party on how they must accept the “political reality of abortion,” writing on X last year voters do not trust Republicans on the issue.

“Donald Trump has said, ‘You’ve got to have the exceptions.’ I am as pro-life as anyone, and I want to save as many babies as possible. This is not about moral legitimacy but political reality,” Vance said.

Another VP hopeful, Sen. Marco Rubio, famously said during his 2016 presidential bid that “every one abortion is too many,” and in 2022 he co-sponsored federal legislation that would ban abortion after 15 weeks.

In recent years Rubio has said that he supports any legislation that “protects unborn human life,” but has also acknowledged that not everyone shares his views on abortion.

“I support any bill that protects unborn human life, but I don’t consider other people in the pro-life movement who have a different view to be apostate,” Rubio said during an interview on NBC News’ Meet the Press last month when pressed on whether he disagrees with Trump’s opposition to Florida’s six-week ban.

In the past, Trump has criticized Republicans for signing strict abortion bans, publicly slamming Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis after he signed a six-week abortion ban into law in April of last year.

“I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake,” Trump said during an appearance on NBC’s Meet the Press.

Trump’s comments were indicative of the political approach he has taken on the issue of reproductive rights, arguing that Republicans need to be cognizant of the need to win elections and not alienate voters with extreme policies.

Early in April, he stated that since Roe v. Wade had reversed the nation’s prohibitions against abortion access, the matter should be left to the discretion of the individual states, advocating that they maintain laws allowing abortion access for victims of rape and incest, and to save the life of the pregnant woman.

“You must follow your heart on this issue but remember, you must also win elections to restore our culture and, in fact, to save our country, which is currently and very sadly, a nation in decline,” Trump said in an abortion policy video released on his social media platform. “Always go by your heart. But we must win. We have to win, we are a failing nation.”

Since then, Trump has reiterated his belief on numerous occasions — including at a religious convention just this past weekend while courting conservative Christians — as he has publicly pushed for Republicans to move away from spotlighting abortion, demonstrating an awareness that voters tend to disagree with Republican abortion bans.

When South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham “respectfully” disagreed with Trump’s state’s rights stance and advocated for a 15-week national ban in April, Trump grew irate, highlighting how comments like Graham’s feed into Democratic narratives of Republican extremism that have cost the party electoral victories.

“Many Good Republicans lost Elections because of this Issue, and people like Lindsey Graham, that are unrelenting, are handing Democrats their dream of the House, Senate, and perhaps even the Presidency,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform, in a rare public rebuke of his congressional ally.

Trump similarly lashed out against his former Vice President Mike Pence when he called Trump’s stance on abortion “a slap in the face to the millions of pro-life Americans who voted for him in 2016 and 2020,” earlier this year.

“Mike Pence has been doing a lot of talking about Abortion lately … He started at no abortion for any reason, and then allowing abortions for up to 6 weeks, then up to 15 weeks, and then, who knows?” Trump wrote on his social media platform in April.

“But it doesn’t matter because the Radical Left Democrats will never approve anything on this issue, and Republicans don’t have anywhere close to the number of Senators necessary to make it matter,” Trump continued, suggesting that his former running mate was polling at 1%-2% because he was getting bad advice.

And though abortion is a key issue as Trump considers his choices for a running mate, he continues to try to shift the focus of the race away from reproductive rights toward other issues like the economy and immigration that he feels are more likely to generate support among Republicans.

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(NEW YORK) — The judge who oversaw Donald Trump’s criminal hush money trial in Manhattan agreed to partially lift a gag order on the former president Tuesday, granting Trump the ability to speak freely about witnesses in the case and the jury that found him guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

“Circumstances have now changed,” Judge Juan Merchan wrote Tuesday. “The trial portion of these proceedings ended when the verdict was rendered, and the jury discharged.”

Trump last month was found guilty on 34 felony counts of falsifying business records related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.

During the trial, Trump and his attorneys repeatedly bemoaned a stipulation in the judge’s limited gag order that prevented him from publicly responding to commentary about the case from witnesses in the proceedings, most notably Daniels and Trump’s former attorney, Michael Cohen.

Merchan restricted what Trump could say publicly about them and others involved in the case out of concern for the integrity of the trial.

The judge’s ruling Tuesday left in place the portion of the gag order protecting members of the court staff, District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s staff, and their families.

“Until sentence is imposed, all individuals covered by Paragraph (b)” — referring to members of the court staff, the district attorney’s staff and their families — “must continue to perform their lawful duties free from threats, intimidation, harassment, and harm,” Merchan wrote in the ruling.

And although he struck the portion of the gag order pertaining to jurors, Merchan wrote that it would be his “strong preference” to extend those protections because there remains “ample evidence to justify continued concern for the jurors.”

An earlier prohibition on releasing personal information about jurors will remain in effect.

Trump is scheduled to be sentenced in the case on July 11.

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(WASHINGTON) — The House Judiciary Committee plans to take the first step toward holding President Joe Biden’s ghostwriter, Mark Zwonitzer, in contempt of Congress, two sources familiar with the committee’s plans tell ABC News.

The committee plans to hold a “markup” on the contempt resolution on Thursday, which would be followed by a committee vote, the sources said. The move would pave the way for a floor vote in the House to hold Zwonitzer in contempt.

The news of the committee’s plans was first reported by ABC News.

In March, Republican House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan subpoenaed Zwonitzer after he failed to turn over documents, including transcripts, audio and video recordings of his interviews with Biden for the president’s two memoirs, “Promises to Keep” and “Promise Me, Dad.”

In a copy of the resolution obtained by ABC News, Republicans point repeatedly to special counsel Robert Hur’s investigation into Biden’s handling of classified documents.

Hur’s report stated that Biden relied “extensively on the notebooks’ notes he took during his vice presidency” in the writing of “Promise Me, Dad” and referred to the notebooks during interviews with Zwonitzer.

“Mr. Biden told Zwonitzer that some of the information in the notebook may be classified. Some of these entries remain classified up to the Top Secret level,” Hur stated in his report.

The report suggested that Biden was not consistent in how he handled classified information, stating he appeared to have sometimes “stopped at or skipped over the potentially classified material” while also stating that at other times, Biden “read his notes from classified meetings to Zwonitzer nearly word for word.”

According to Hur’s report, Zwonitzer deleted recordings of interviews he conducted with Biden after he learned of the special counsel’s investigation but voluntarily turned over his notes and devices. Hur decided not to pursue charges against Biden or Zwonitzer.

House Republicans insist Zwonitzer’s failure to fully comply with the House Judiciary Committee has “hindered” their own investigation.

“Zwonitzer continues to withhold all documents and materials in his possession that are responsive to the subpoena from the Committee,” the resolution states. “The materials requested from Zwonitzer are crucial for the Committee’s understanding of the manner and extent of President Biden’s mishandling and unlawful disclosure of classified materials, as well as Zwonitzer’s use, storage and deletion of classified materials on his computer.”

ABC News has reached out to Zwonitzer’s attorney for comment.

The move comes after the House of Representatives voted to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over the audio of Biden’s interview with Hur to the House Oversight and Judiciary committees. The DOJ later said it has declined to prosecute Garland for contempt, according to a letter obtained by ABC News.

House Speaker Mike Johnson called the vote to hold Garland in contempt “a significant step in maintaining the integrity of our oversight processes and responsibilities.”

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(WASHINGTON) — Three more states are holding congressional primaries on Tuesday.

Voters in Colorado, New York and Utah will cast ballots. The Beehive State will also vote in a gubernatorial primary.

Colorado

Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.

The last day to register to vote in the primary and receive a mail-in ballot was June 17. Absentee ballots must be received by Tuesday, June 25, 9 p.m. ET. Early voting was from June 17 to 24.

Republican and Democratic primaries for several races — including the U.S. House, state House, state Senate and state Board of Education — will take place Tuesday.

Rep. Lauren Boebert announced in December that she will switch congressional districts when she runs for reelection.

Boebert, a House hardliner who made a name for herself as a staunch advocate for gun owner rights, said she will be running in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District rather than the 3rd Congressional District, which she currently represents. The winner of Tuesday’s Republican primary for District 3 will face Adam Frisch, the main Democratic challenger.

Republican Ken Buck previously represented the 4th Congressional District. Buck, who had already announced he would not be seeking reelection, left Congress in March. The district leans more Republican than the seat Boebert currently holds.

There is a special election Tuesday to replace Buck, and the winner will serve the remainder of his term; Boebert is not running in the special election.

New York

Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.

Mail-in ballots should be postmarked no later than Tuesday, June 25. Primary voters can also drop their ballots at their respective county Board of Elections Office no later than 9 p.m. ET on Tuesday. They can also deliver them to a poll site on Tuesday no later than 9 p.m. Early voting was from June 15 to 23.

One of the most anticipated congressional races is in District 16, where Rep. Jamaal Bowman faces Westchester County Executive George Latimer in the Democratic primary. District 16 includes a portion of the Bronx and the southern half of Westchester County.

Utah

Polls close at 10 p.m. ET.

June 18 was the last day residents could request a mail-in ballot for the regular primary election, and Monday, June 24, was the last day ballots could be postmarked.

Incumbent Gov. Spencer Cox and state Rep. Phil Lyman are on the ballot in the state’s Republican gubernatorial primary. Incumbent Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson and Natalie Clawson are on the GOP primary ballot for lieutenant governor.

In Utah’s Senate GOP primary, voters will begin the process to elect a successor to Republican Sen. Mitt Romney, who announced in September 2023 that he would not seek reelection.

Romney — who once served as the governor of Massachusetts from 2003 to 2007 and earned the 2012 GOP nomination for president — has had a storied career as a conservative public official. However, as an outspoken critic of former President Donald Trump and Trump’s GOP, Romney has virtually lost his place in his party.

Trump supporters Brad Wilson, the former state House speaker, and Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs are on the primary ticket. U.S. Rep. John Curtis is also on the ballot.

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(WASHINGTON) — In two court rulings Monday night, federal judges in Kansas and Missouri halted key aspects of President Joe Biden’s sweeping student loan repayment program.

The SAVE plan, a student loan repayment plan that ties how much someone pays each month to what their income is, has been in place for almost a year and is the jewel of Biden’s surviving student loan efforts — one that he has touted heavily in his re-election campaign.

The rulings Monday will stop the Biden administration from any further implementation of the program — in which eight million are enrolled — but allow people who are enrolled to keep using SAVE as is until the cases are fully litigated.

That means phase two of SAVE, which would’ve reduced monthly payments from 10% of a borrower’s discretionary income down to 5%, is on pause, as is any further cancellation of debt for people who took out smaller initial loan payments and have been paying for 10-plus years.

SAVE is similar to other income-driven repayment plans, which have been used for decades but are more generous because of lower monthly payments — people who make a minimum wage can pay as little as $0 a month — as well as a shorter path to debt relief.

Through SAVE so far, Biden has canceled $5.5 billion in debt for almost 414,000 borrowers.

The lawsuits were brought by Republican states who argued that the Biden administration lacked authority from Congress to enact the SAVE plan — the same states that fought to overturn Biden’s initial debt relief plan last year.

The Department of Education and the White House vowed to fight the rulings.

“We strongly disagree with the Kansas and Missouri District Court rulings, which block components of the SAVE Plan that help student loan borrowers have affordable monthly payments and stay out of default. The Department of Justice will continue to vigorously defend the SAVE Plan,” Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said in a statement late Monday night.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called out Republicans for depriving their constituents of lower student debt payments.

“It’s unfortunate that Republican elected officials and their allies have fought tooth and nail to prevent their constituents from accessing lower payments and a faster path to debt forgiveness — and that courts are now rejecting authority that the Department has applied repeatedly for decades to improve income-driven repayment plans,” she said.

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(WASHINGTON) — Kate Cox, a woman denied an emergency abortion last year in Texas, announced on Monday that she is pregnant again.

Her news comes on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision overruling Roe v. Wade — eliminating the constitutional right to an abortion nationwide.

In December 2023, Cox sued the state of Texas in an attempt to obtain an emergency abortion that she said her doctor deemed necessary to protect her health and her chance of future fertility.

Cox’s fetus was diagnosed with trisomy 18, a condition described as incompatible with life.

The Texas mother of two had said she “desperately” wanted a chance to try for a third child but was in jeopardy of losing her uterus due to Texas’ abortion bans.

The Texas Supreme Court ultimately ruled against Cox, forcing her to leave the state to get an abortion.

“Wanted, prayed-for pregnancy sometimes ends in abortion,” Cox said at a campaign event in Maryland on Monday with Vice President where they called for restoring abortion access.

She had been the guest of first lady Jill Biden at the president’s State of the Union address back n March.

Reflecting on her experience, Cox said, “It was every minute that I stayed pregnant, the risks to my health and to a future pregnancy were growing.” She described her doctor’s assessment as “the most painful thing” she’s ever been told.

“Today, I am happy to share that I’m pregnant again,” she said to cheers and applause.

Cox said she is due in January. She said she hopes, by then, “it will be a world led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

Cox also thanked Biden and Harris for “fighting tirelessly” for reproductive rights, and urged voters to “restore our reproductive rights” in November.

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(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on Monday — the second anniversary of the Supreme Court overruling Roe v. Wade — took the offensive, launching blistering blows against former President Donald Trump on abortion rights, just three days ahead of Thursday’s debate.

“Trump has not denied much less shown remorse for his actions. Instead, he quote, ‘proudly’ takes credit for overturning Roe,” Harris said at an abortion rights rally in Maryland. “My fellow Americans, in a court of law that would be called an admission in the case of the stealing of reproductive freedom from the women of America. Donald Trump is guilty.”

Biden, Harris, the White House, and their campaign worked to center the fight on abortion, an issue that has galvanized voters in both red and blue states over the last two years, and that they view as critical to their chances at reelection in November.

Biden’s surrogates fanned out around the country: Harris was traveling to Arizona for a roundtable on abortion after her Maryland rally; first lady Jill Biden is in Philadelphia for campaign events; and second gentleman Doug Emhoff has three campaign events across Michigan.

Biden himself is not on the trail to mark the Dobbs anniversary; he is instead at Camp David where he has been since last Thursday and is taking part in debate prep with over a dozen aides, including standing for full 90-minutes mock debates, ahead of his showdown with Trump later this week. But the president did comment on abortion access.

“Two years ago today, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court majority ripped away the fundamental freedom for women to access the health care they need and deserve,” Biden said in a statement, adding that “the consequences have been devastating.”

Biden later said, “Donald Trump is the sole person responsible for this nightmare.”

In a video posted to social media, Biden read from a post by Trump taking credit for being able to “kill Roe v. Wade” and said: “Decades of progress shattered just because the last guy got four years in the White House.”

“We know what will happen if he gets another four. For MAGA Republicans, Roe is just the beginning,” Biden argued. “They’re going to try to ban the right to choose nationwide. They’re coming for IVF and birth control next.”

The Biden campaign rolled out a TV ad featuring Kaitlyn Joshua, a woman from Louisiana, telling of her experience with abortion bans and laying blame at Trump’s feet.

“I was right around 11 weeks when I had a miscarriage. The pain that I was feeling was excruciating. And I was turned away from 2 emergency rooms,” Joshua said. “That was a direct result of Donald Trump overturning Roe v. Wade.”

The ad is part of a larger $50 million advertising blitz the campaign rolled out earlier this month.

Over the weekend at a Faith & Freedom conference, Trump continued to boast that he picked three Supreme Court Justices who voted to overrule Roe, saying that although they took a lot of “heat” over the decision, it was the “right” choice.

“I with stood vicious attacks to pick and confirm three great Supreme Court justices,” he said. “We have also achieved what the pro-life movement fought to get for 49 years and we’ve gotten abortion out of the federal government and back to the states.”

The Trump campaign on Monday pushed back on the Biden team’s coordinated messaging against the former president.

Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, labeled Biden, Harris and Democrats as “radical extremists” in a statement, accusing them of supporting “taxpayer funded abortions up until birth.”

It’s an accusation the White House flatly denied Monday.

“The president and the vice president do not support abortion up until the time of birth, nor do they support abortion after birth, in fact, that’s not abortion,” Jennifer Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said on a call with reporters.

Leavitt, Trump’s spokesperson, also said the Democrats “lie about President Trump’s position on this issue in a desperate attempt to scare voters. The truth is that the Dobbs Decision returned the power back to the people in every respective state to make decisions on the issue of abortion.”

She later added: “President Trump also strongly supports ensuring women have access to the care they need to create healthy families, including widespread access to IVF, birth control, and contraception, and he always will.”

Congressional Republicans this month blocked bills that would protect IVF and contraception, claiming they were Democratic election-year messaging. It’s a move White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre slammed on Monday as “extreme,” “out of touch” and “wrong.”

At her rally, Harris was introduced by Kate Cox, a Texas woman who left her state to get an abortion after being told by her doctor that her life was at risk and who was one of the first lady’s guests at this year’s State of the Union address.

“Today, I’m happy to share that I’m pregnant again,” Cox said to cheers. “I hope that by then, when we welcome our baby to the world, it will be a world led by Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.”

ABC News’ Lalee Ibssa contributed to this report.

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(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will take up a constitutional challenge to state bans on gender-affirming care for minors in its next term.

The case from Tennessee involves the 15-year-old transgender daughter of Samantha and Brian Williams of Nashville.

The family alleges that Senate Bill 1, which prohibits certain types of medical treatments for minors with diagnosed gender dysphoria, violates the Equal Protection Cause of the 14th Amendment.

By denying only transgender youth access to these forms of medically necessary care while allowing non-transgender minors access to the same or similar procedures, SB 1 discriminates against transgender youth, they argue.

“It was incredibly painful watching my child struggle before we were able to get her the life-saving health care she needed. We have a confident, happy daughter now, who is free to be herself and she is thriving,” plaintiff Samantha Williams said in a statement.

“I am so afraid of what this law will mean for her. We don’t want to leave Tennessee, but this legislation would force us to either routinely leave our state to get our daughter the medical care she desperately needs or to uproot our entire lives and leave Tennessee altogether,” she said. “No family should have to make this kind of choice.”

Tennessee is home to more than 3,000 transgender adolescents, according to the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing the Williams family in the case.

Republican lawmakers in Tennessee and other states with similar laws contend that each state is free to regulate medical standards and procedures as it sees fit.

Twenty-five states have passed bans on gender-affirming care, including Florida, Ohio and Montana, where the laws are currently on hold under court order during litigation.

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(NEW YORK) — President Joe Biden and Donald Trump return to the debate stage Thursday for the first time in four years — but this time under a significant new set of rules.

ABC News spoke with experts on how that could help — or hurt — each candidate — and what difference it could make for American voters watching the showdown.

The two rivals will face off in a studio at CNN’s Atlanta headquarters in prime time on Thursday for the first presidential debate of the 2024 election.

While it won’t be the first time Biden and Trump have gone toe-to-toe on policy (the two sparred twice in 2020) it will look a lot different from debates past because of the guidelines established by CNN and agreed upon by both campaigns.

The candidates’ microphones will be muted unless it’s their turn to speak. There will be no live studio audience to react to zingers or other “moments” during the 90-minutes, a first since the 1960 debate between John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon.

There will be two commercial breaks, though Trump and Biden won’t be able to consult with their teams during them. The candidates are not allowed any props or prewritten notes, and will only be given a pen, paper and water.

A CNN coin flip won by Biden means he will stand at a lectern on the the right-side of the stage while Trump will be on the left, though Trump will get the last word by delivering his closing statement second.

Overall, experts told ABC News the rules could make for a more substantive, issue-focused debate rather than the raucous personal attacks and talking over each other that defined the first Biden-Trump matchup.

Still, they said there is more than enough room for the buzzy theatrics that have defined modern presidential debates.

“Despite the fact that these rules are pretty strict, we’re going to see some fireworks,” Brandon Rottinghaus, a professor of political science at the University of Houston, told ABC News.

“How will Joe Biden handle a kind of off-the-leash Donald Trump? How bold will Trump be?” Rottinghaus said. “This is really a clash of personalities, and as much as it was in 2020, I think you’ll see those factors as important in this debate as any other.”

Many of the debate conditions were set out by the Biden campaign when it challenged Trump last month to participate in two debates before November. The campaign posted a video baiting Trump to agree, which he and his team did almost immediately.

Several experts said they believe the format will in fact benefit Biden.

“I can’t think of a better scenario for Joe Biden,” said presidential historian Douglas Brinkley. “Whereas, Trump plays better in front of a crowd. A shut-off microphone for Trump with no audience seems to me a demotion from his grandiose campaign style.”

Mitchell McKinney, director of the University of Missouri’s Political Communication Institute, agreed that the various rules “really do play into Biden’s advantage.”

Trump’s bombastic style made for memorable moments in the 2016 cycle when he lashed out at his Republican primary opponents and later lurked behind Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

The first 2020 debate between Biden and Trump spiraled into near-constant interruptions and candidates speaking at the same time. At one point, Biden turned to Trump and told him, “Will you shut up, man?”

Some microphone muting was implemented for their second and final debate, which turned out to be more civil.

There are still questions about how CNN’s rule about microphone muting will work in practice on Thursday.

Biden and Trump will be given two minutes to answer questions posed by moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, followed by one-minute each to respond and rebut. A red light will warn each candidate he has five seconds remaining. When their allotted time is up, the light will turn solid red. It’s unclear if a candidate’s microphone will be cut off if he’s still speaking.

It also remains to be seen whether the speaking candidate’s microphone will pick up efforts to interrupt by his opponent — even though that candidate’s mic would be muted.

“The attempt to control that, I think, is a good thing,” Alan Schroeder, a professor emeritus of journalism at Northeastern University who has written several books about presidential debates, told ABC News. “I don’t know in practice how that will work.”

Some experts said the more subdued setting could be good for Trump in that it could rein in some of his more inflammatory conduct — which was not popular with viewers in 2020.

“There’s a risk that no audience could make Trump look and act more like a normal candidate,” said Rottinghaus. “If there was an audience, he would definitely ham it up and would play to them, which oftentimes leads him astray.”

The CNN debate will be the first of two debates this cycle, and marks the earliest debate in U.S. history. The second will be hosted by ABC News on Sept. 10.

“I think it’s going to be an historic and epic debate,” Brinkley said. “The fact is that with Trump and Biden, it’s the first time ever that we’ve had two people that have been president going at each other.”

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(WASHINGTON) — A trip to Mar-a-Lago taken by former President Donald Trump that aides allegedly “kept quiet” just weeks before FBI agents searched the property for classified materials in his possession raised suspicions among special counsel Jack Smith’s team as a potential additional effort to obstruct the government’s classified documents investigation, sources familiar with the matter told ABC News.

The previously unreported visit, which allegedly took place July 10-12 in the summer of 2022, was raised in several interviews with witnesses, sources familiar with the matter said, as investigators sought to determine whether it was part of Trump’s broader alleged effort to withhold the documents after receiving a subpoena demanding their return.

At least one witness who worked closely with the former president recalled being told at the time of the trip that Trump was there “checking on the boxes,” according to sources familiar with what the witness told investigators.

Trump pleaded not guilty last year to 40 criminal counts related to his handling of classified materials after leaving the White House, after prosecutors said he repeatedly refused to return hundreds of documents containing classified information and took steps to thwart the government’s efforts to get them back. His longtime aide, Walt Nauta, and Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira pleaded not guilty to related charges.

Trump has denied all charges and denounced the probe as a political witch hunt.

Gathering evidence

Several witnesses who spoke to investigators described the trip as highly unusual, given that Trump typically spends the summer months at his Bedminster club in New Jersey, and because Trump’s living quarters at his Mar-a-Lago property were under construction at the time of the visit, sources said.

Other witnesses who were questioned by Smith’s team said they were led to believe that Trump returned to check on the status of the renovations, said sources.

Just weeks before the trip, as ABC News has previously reported, Trump allegedly had the lock on a closet in his residence changed while his attorney was in Mar-a-Lago’s basement searching for classified documents in a storage room that he was told contained all such documents. The FBI failed to check the locked closet in Trump’s residence when they searched the estate in August 2022, which some investigators later came to believe should have been done.

The trip came as investigators were gathering evidence that Trump continued to possess classified documents, and followed a separate subpoena in late June 2022 seeking surveillance footage from Mar-a-Lago that showed aides to Trump moving boxes between a storage room in the resort and his residence.

The trip also followed a similar instance of unplanned travel to Mar-a-Lago by Nauta, where, according to a superseding indictment, he is alleged to have conspired with Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira to attempt to delete security camera footage.

Contacted by ABC News, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung, without providing evidence, accused prosecutors of lying and illegally leaking material.

“The entire documents case was a political sham from the very beginning and it should be thrown out entirely,” Cheung said in comments to ABC News.

A spokesperson for the special counsel’s office declined to comment to ABC News.

‘Keeping this one quiet’

At the time of Trump’s trip in July 2022, some staff expressed confusion as to where Trump would even stay on the property, sources said, given the renovations that his living quarters were undergoing.

“They were keeping this one quiet … nobody knew about this trip,” one witness with direct knowledge of the trip told investigators, according to sources familiar with the witness’ statements.

Trump left New Jersey on July 9, 2022, for a campaign rally in Anchorage, Alaska, and was scheduled to return to New Jersey following that event, according to aircraft manifests described by sources to ABC News. But the plans changed in the days immediately leading up to the trip and he decided to fly to Florida instead, updated aircraft manifests of the trip show.

According to sources, investigators involved in the case identified what they believe to be a series of unusual steps taken by Trump and members of his inner circle to ensure the trip stayed under the radar.

Nauta, who traveled with Trump on the trip, sent a number of text messages to close staff members indicating that the Florida visit was to be kept quiet, according to sources familiar with the contents of the messages.

“I’m pretty sure [Trump] wants minimal people around on Monday,” Nauta texted one longtime Trump employee just one day before Trump arrived in Florida, according to a message sources detailed to ABC News.

And on July 8, when one Trump Organization employee reached out to Nauta wanting to confirm rumors of a Trump visit so proper preparations could be made, Nauta made clear he wanted the trip to remain “discreet,” sources familiar with the communications said. The sources said Nauta sent a text message to the employee that included emojis with zippers over the mouth, which is often used to convey a secret.

Nauta also wrote a message to De Oliveira on July 7 that said “Coming down to FL soon” with shushing emojis to indicate the visit be kept quiet, according to another text message described by sources.

De Oliveira initially told investigators that he had no knowledge of Trump’s trip to Florida — but the special counsel has evidence that supports the allegation De Oliveira was well aware of Trump’s travel plans, corroborated in part by security camera footage that shows Trump and De Oliveira together, according to sources familiar with De Oliveira’s meetings with investigators.

De Oliveira later told investigators he recalled seeing the former president very briefly during that trip, sources said.

Smith’s interest in the trip adds to the list of instances in which investigators appeared to suspect Trump was seeking to obstruct their probe.

Last month, a court filing from Smith’s team revealed additional steps prosecutors believed Trump and his associates had taken to obstruct their probe, alleging that after Trump was informed by his attorney of a government subpoena for video footage from Mar-a-Lago, Trump instructed aides to return several boxes they had previously removed from the storage room in the club’s basement — without being caught on camera.

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