Sussman, Gun Control & Florida’s GOP - Top 3 Takeaways – June 1st, 2022  

Sussman, Gun Control & Florida’s GOP - Top 3 Takeaways – June 1st, 2022  

1. Not guilty, but not innocent. Somewhat unsurprisingly the D.C. jury replete with Clinton donors, and a parent of a child who plays sports with Sussman’s child, took in extensive evidence in the case of former DNC and Hillary Clinton attorney Michael Sussman. They determined he was not guilty of lying to the FBI. Now, most legal observers thought this was always the most likely outcome given the composition of Washington D.C. - a city in which only 4% of voters, voted for Trump in 2016. But while the Jury decided Sussman was innocent of lying to the FBI, theoretically because it came down to a he said, he said situation – Sussman is most certainly not innocent either. During the course of the legal proceedings, witnesses to the stand under oath outlined his involvement in the most pervasive conspiracy in American history. The peddling of a fraudulent dossier alleging Trump collusion with Russia (along with Hunter Biden inspired sexual exploits). This came with Hillary Clinton’s direct knowledge of and authorizing of the use of the dossier to attempt to destroy Donald Trump. So, while a jury that literally contributed to Sussman’s paycheck found him not to be guilty of lying to the FBI – there's more to the story. And perhaps the perceived innocence happened because Durham’s framing of the case suggested the FBI wasn’t part of the conspiracy. Perhaps Sussman didn’t lie to the FBI because they were in on it too. So yeah, with what was testified to in his own defense, Sussman wasn’t found guilty – but he’s also not innocent for what he wasn’t charged with. Durham’s not done, but the media will likely act as though he is. Especially since they always have.   
2. It happens an average of four times a day in Florida and you almost never hear about it. That’s so vague you likely have no clue what I’m talking about. But what I’m referencing is something that’s a hot button political argument in the gun control debate in Congress right now. Risk protection, or red flag laws. Added as part of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Highschool Safety Act, gun control measures, an average of four orders per day have been carried out in Florida. And the fact that you don’t hear about it, and don’t think about it, tells you it’s likely been effective. Effective for removing firearms from those who pose a credible risk to others, effective from the perspective of those who’ve been worried about overreach with use of the orders. The saying that no news is good news happens to apply in this case. That's instructive because it’s also one of two reforms looking increasingly likely to pass in Congress. The other, universal background checks for those purchasing a gun – meaning there would no longer be an exception for private sale transactions. And these are reforms that are nearly universally desired. Multiple polls show 89% of Americans are in favor of universal background checks. Well over 80% of Americans are in favor of risk protection orders as well. With numbers that high, you must have majorities of those of all political stripes, and that’s exactly what we see in polling. These realities make it much likelier that there will be federal gun control measures passed this time around and Florida’s example shows that pragmatism in public policy can work.  
3. Mo’mentum for Florida’s Republicans. It’s no secret midterm election cycles rarely fair well for the incumbent President’s party. It's even less of a secret when the president performs as poorly as Joe Biden has through his first 16 months in office. That means Republicans nationally have momentum heading into the midterms simply because they’re not Democrats. But as for where there’s earned momentum, you need look no further than Florida. Our state is home to the two top 2024 presidential front-runners in former President Trump and Governor Desantis, a one-time presidential front-runner in Senator Rubio, the Chairman of the National Senatorial Committee in Senator Rick Scott, and a myriad of rising Republican stars in other elected ranks. That means Florida has mo’mentum than Republicans in other states and that’s increasingly reflected in voter ranks. As we enter June today, we have the state’s latest voter registration information for where we started May. The survey says...the momentum continued. Republicans added 22,877 more voters than Democrats over the past month, leading to the GOP now having a statewide advantage of greater than 134,000 voters most recently. There’s momentum for Republicans nationally, simply because they’re not Democrats, but there’s mo’mentum in Florida based on political leadership which has resulted in a record low unemployment rate, record relocations into our state and a record Republican voter registration advantage entering what already is a historically good election cycle for Republicans. And there’s no sign of the mo’mentum ending in Florida anytime soon.