CNN
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Evening 4 of the Democratic Nationwide Conference is underway in Chicago.
Here’s a listing of reality checks from CNN’s Info First staff. We are going to replace this listing all through the night time.
In her speech accepting the Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris talked about the Supreme Courtroom’s July choice on presidential immunity whereas warning in regards to the “penalties” of giving former President Donald Trump one other time period.
“Think about the facility he can have – particularly after america Supreme Courtroom simply dominated that he can be immune from legal prosecution,” Harris stated. “Simply think about Donald Trump with no guardrails.”
Info First: This wants context. The Supreme Courtroom ruling final month didn’t grant Trump or former presidents usually whole immunity from legal prosecution, although it did grant them immunity for a lot of of their actions in workplace.
The courtroom dominated {that a} former president has “absolute immunity from legal prosecution for actions inside his conclusive and preclusive constitutional authority” and is “entitled to a minimum of presumptive immunity from prosecution for all his official acts” – but additionally dominated that “there is no such thing as a immunity for unofficial acts.”
It’s honest for Harris to border the ruling as an expansion of presidential power. However the ruling didn’t kill the continued legal prosecutions towards Trump, not to mention prohibit any future legal prosecutions towards him.
A federal prosecution over Trump’s makes an attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election is back in the hands of a district court judge, who should resolve which of the alleged Trump acts at subject are official and that are unofficial. And a state-level election subversion prosecution towards Trump can be alive in Georgia, although it’s on hold amid a battle over whether or not the district legal professional main the case must be disqualified.
In Might, earlier than the Supreme Courtroom ruling, Trump was found guilty of felony falsification of enterprise information in a state-level prosecution in New York. The presiding choose is now considering how the ruling applies to that case, wherein Trump is awaiting sentencing.
From CNN’s Daniel Dale
Vice President Kamala Harris claimed in her Thursday speech on the Democratic Nationwide Conference that former President Donald Trump’s proposed insurance policies would elevate costs for American households. “He intends to enact what, in impact, is a nationwide gross sales tax, name it a ‘Trump Tax,’ that may elevate costs on middle-class households by nearly $4,000 a 12 months,” she stated.
Info First: The declare is affordable sufficient, however it’s price explaining that Harris is referring to Trump’s proposal to implement new tariffs if he returns to the White Home.
Trump has called for adding a tariff of 10% to twenty% on all imports from all international locations, in addition to one other tariff upward of 60% on all Chinese language imports.
Collectively, a 20% across-the-board tariff with a 60% tariff on Chinese language-made items would quantity to a few $3,900 annual tax improve for a middle-income household, in accordance with the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal suppose tank.
If the 20% tariff was simply 10%, as Trump typically suggests, the full affect for middle-class households could possibly be $2,500 a 12 months, in accordance with CAP.
Separate research estimate that the affect of Trump’s proposed tariffs would additionally elevate costs for households, however by a decrease quantity. The Peterson Institute for Worldwide Economics estimated the brand new duties would cost the average middle-class household about $1,700 annually. And the Tax Coverage Heart stated the affect could possibly be $1,350 a year for middle-income households.
From CNN’s Katie Lobosco
Pennsylvania Sen. Bob Casey highlighted Vice President Kamala Harris’ lately introduced plan to place in place anti-price gouging legal guidelines in an effort to decrease the price of meals, saying Thursday on the Democratic Nationwide Conference, “Costs are up as a result of these firms are scheming to drive them up.”
Info First: Casey’s comment lacks key context and overstates the function firms have performed in driving inflation, in accordance with two papers revealed by regional Federal Reserve banks.
The papers revealed by the 2 banks recommend firms contributed to the inflation Individuals have skilled lately; nevertheless, their pricing actions weren’t the first driver of inflation when it peaked at a four-decade excessive in 2022.
Research revealed by the Kansas Metropolis Fed final 12 months discovered that company income, which grew considerably within the first half of 2021 as corporations raised costs at a sooner tempo than their prices had been growing, might have accounted for greater than half the inflation Individuals skilled that 12 months. However by 2022, the speed at which firms raised costs in contrast with their prices declined.
The researchers concluded that firms doubtless raised costs in 2020 and the early a part of 2021 in anticipation of rising future prices. However worth hikes firms put forth then weren’t the primary supply of inflation in 2022.
Analysis revealed by the San Francisco Fed earlier this 12 months reached an identical conclusion: that alleged company worth gouging was not a main catalyst for the inflation surge that occurred in 2021 and 2022.
In the end, the inflation Individuals have needed to deal with over the previous few years is the product of a confluence of occasions, together with the struggle in Ukraine, authorities spending and pandemic-related disruptions throughout the economic system. The unprecedented stress on provide chains within the thick of the pandemic, for instance, contributed considerably to inflation’s rise in early 2021.
Nevertheless, analysis from progressive suppose tanks, comparable to Groundwork Collaborative, suggests there’s a extra direct hyperlink between company elevating costs and better inflation.
From CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald