Great.point!

MAGA tells us how unimportant fiscal discipline is, and that it is old-fashioned of us to care about it anymore.

Except when it comes to aiding Ukraine, though.  Then suddenly, MAGA becomes all about out of control spending , fiscal cliffs, etc, .  And I'm not taking about consistent budget hawks like some folks here, Rand Paul, etc.  I'm referring specifically to the MAGA crowd that dismisses, and even mocks, our concerns about Trump's spending.

Maybe MAGA's opposition to helping Ukraine is really about something other than fiscal discipline.  Oh hell, I don't think there's much of a maybe about.  It's what I've thought pretty much since that war began.  Even where it is isn't pro-Russia sentiment, it's definitely anti-Ukraine.

2 hours ago
Jeff McConney, former longtime controller at Trump Organization, testifying now
By Kyle Schnitzer

Jeff McConney, the former longtime controller of the Trump Organization, was sworn in and has taken the stand as the next witness in Donald Trump’s hush money trial.

McConney worked directly under the Trump Organization’s former chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg, who was sentenced to five months in jail in April after admitting to lying during Trump’s civil fraud trial.

McConney previously testified in two trials tied to Trump including the civil fraud trial, where he was a co-defendant.

The real estate mogul was ordered to pay a total of $450 million for inflating the value of Trump’s property assets. A judge ruled that McConney was banned from serving in any financial management role at any New York company.

A judge also ruled that he was banned from holding an officer role at any New York company for three years.

He testified that the Trump Organization is paying for his lawyer today.

an hour ago
Jurors being shown Michael Cohen's invoices from 2017
By Kyle Schnitzer

Jurors are being shown monthly invoices sent by Michael Cohen in 2017 after the alleged hush money payment to Stormy Daniels.

Jeff McConney, the former controller at the Trump Organization, testified under direct examination that the Trump Organization agreed to repay Cohen $420,000 in exchange for his out-of-pocket $130,000 payment made to Daniels.

Earlier, McConney discussed how he and CFO Allen Weisselberg discussed what was owed to Cohen, which included a $50,000 tab to Red Finch tech services, which brought the amount to $180,000.

But that number was doubled to $360,000 to offset taxes, according to McConney, who said Cohen also received a $60,000 bonus in 2017.

Cohen's invoices, sent to Weisselberg, came via email, evidence shows.

Cohen was sent monthly installments of $35,000 by the Trump Organization for phony legal expenses for 12 months, McConney's testimony shows.