Hello, and welcome back to The Best & The Brightest. I’m Julia Ioffe.

In tonight’s edition, news and notes from my partner Teddy Schleifer on the latest donor intrigues surrounding Donald Trump (will Larry Ellison break out his checkbook to get Tim Scott on the ticket?); a new push by Uncommitted (the progressive movement trying to hold Biden to account for his support of the Israel-Hamas war); and a fundraising show of force at Mar-a-Lago. We’ve also got Abby Liviginston with updates on the Mayorkas impeachment farce and the political bomb that just went off in Arizona, where the state Supreme Court has decided to uphold an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions.

But first… In case you missed it, my interview with Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, got quite a bit of attention this week, in part because McCaul, a Republican, told me Russian propaganda has “infected a good chunk of my party’s base.”

Right on cue, Catherine Belton, the absolutely legendary investigative reporter behind Putin’s People, dropped a story in The Washington Post showing exactly how Vladimir Putin’s government continues to manipulate the discourse on the American right wing. Belton got her hands on some Kremlin documents, which show Russian government spin doctors’ instructions on how to influence Republicans. Their tactics include disseminating fake news articles and social media posts while using techniques to obfuscate the origins of those posts, and amplifying right-wing voices. Not surprisingly, perhaps, Florida Republican Matt Gaetz was among the key vectors in the Russian campaign. “When Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a leading opponent of aid to Ukraine, warned of ‘a dangerous bipartisan consensus that is leading us into war with Russia’ and slammed Washington’s initial $40 billion aid package for Kyiv in 2022 as coming ‘while Americans go without baby formula,’ the Russians singled it out for their trolls as an example of the kind of message that should be amplified,” Belton reported.

In general, Belton continued, “the campaign has attempted to paint Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as corrupt, emphasized the numbers of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, called for border security to be funded over any aid to Ukraine, and described ‘white Americans’ as the principal losers because of foreign aid, the documents show.”

Coordination between American conservatives and Russian right-wingers goes back at least a decade, spanning efforts to undermine Ukraine as well as anti-gay and anti-abortion initiatives in Russia. During the 2016 presidential election, we saw the establishment of a messaging loop between the American right wing and the Kremlin’s bot armies, where both sides amplified the other. Eight years later, that machine is running even more seamlessly, feeding off the ideological affinity between Trumpworld and the ruling Russian right, driven by the Kremlin’s cynicism and MAGA’s provincial ignorance. I spoke to Greg Sargent about this on his podcast yesterday. Take a listen.

Next up, here’s Abby Livingston with the word from Capitol Hill…

• Impeachment anticlimax: While Republican leaders seem poised to delay moving the Mayorkas impeachment proceedings over to the Senate, this entire enterprise is feeling more discombobulated by the day. The majority of the G.O.P. doesn’t seem to have their hearts in the first cabinet official impeachment in 150 years.

  The Senate, of course, is expected to quickly put this whole thing to bed, which is why it’s received little news coverage. But it’s worth recalling just how all-consuming the movement was within the House G.O.P. conference just one year ago. After all, it’s this very issue that incited Marjorie Taylor Greene to call Lauren Boebert “a little bitch” on the House floor, and provoked a grim-faced Kevin McCarthy to soberly lay out his case for impeaching the president. For now, it’s an open question whether this impeachment will amount to anything more than a question at a pub trivia night, 10 years down the line, somewhere on Pennsylvania Avenue.

• Kevin ever after: Candidates and committees are releasing their fundraising numbers ahead of the April 15 filing deadline, marking the end of the House G.O.P.’s first McCarthy-less fundraising quarter. It’s worth pausing to remember that, for all his flaws, McCarthy was a masterful political operator who spread his efforts between the N.R.C.C., the Congressional Leadership Fund, and his own leadership PAC. He mentored vulnerable members and advised novice candidates making their first runs at Congress. Many insiders have wondered how House G.O.P. fundraising will fare without his contributions. We’ll have a more complete picture soon.
• Gottheimer’s war chest: Perhaps the most eye-popping overnight fundraising number did not reflect how much a House member raised, but rather how much one saved: Josh Gottheimer, who is currently sitting on a whopping $18 million, was a long-shot Democratic challenger back in 2018 when he flipped a white whale district in New Jersey, in part by raising enough money to compete in the uber-expensive New York City media market. But over the past few cycles, his seat has stopped being competitive. Now, at least half of New Jersey is anticipating a Gottheimer gubernatorial run, perhaps alongside Mikie Sherrill, a fellow member of the class of 2018. This anticipated brawl is likely to preoccupy New Jersey knitting circles now that Andy Kim seems to have locked down the U.S. Senate race.
• Arizona blowback: Earlier today, the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision to uphold an 1864 law that bans nearly all abortions in the state went off like a political bomb. The state’s former Republican governor Doug Ducey and at least two Republican members of the House delegation raced to criticize the ruling. Rep. David Schweikert asked for the issue to be decided by Arizonans, while Rep. Juan Ciscomani called the law “archaic” and the ruling “a disaster for women.”

  Arizona is one of the two most important states on the political map next year: Like Michigan, it’s hosting competitive elections at the presidential, senatorial, and congressional levels. Both Schweikert and Ciscomani are top targets for House Democrats in the fall.

Of course, there is another, less openly discussed factor in the traditional veepstakes decision matrix: fundraising. The money race is particularly top-of-mind this cycle for wealthy Republicans, who are once again hemming and hawing over cutting big checks to Trump. Indeed, as my partner Tara Palmeri recently reported, the emerging consensus among Mar-a-Lago insiders is that Trump’s decision may come down to who can perform best with megadonors, either by getting them excited or by simply calming their nerves.

Tim Scott, the Republican Party’s lone Black senator, could potentially accomplish a bit of both. Sure, he’s more of a donor beta-blocker than a pep pill, but Scott’s got fundraising chops, a distinctly un-Trumpy demeanor, and a reputation—possibly unearned—as a political moderate. More importantly, I’ve learned, Scott has a key supporter in his corner: Larry Ellison.

Ellison, the world’s eighth-richest man, was an early and passionate financial patron of Scott, whom he backed with tens of millions of dollars via a super PAC even before his entry into the Republican presidential primary. But the Oracle founder, who is worth an astounding $137 billion, teased the Scott super PAC over the course of 2023, pledging to make an eight-figure donation to the group before backtracking when it became clear that he stood no chance of becoming the Republican nominee. More recently, however, Ellison has re-engaged in the race, trying to sell the Mar-a-Lago brain trust on the wisdom of a Trump-Scott ticket, according to people briefed on the matter.

Scott has historically been reluctant to lean on Ellison, whom he genuinely sees as a friend rather than merely a patron. And Scott has been highly sensitive, perhaps too sensitive, about letting politics interfere in their relationship. But Ellison has the capacity to spend essentially unlimited money to reelect Trump, should he decide to do so. As I’ve reported, Ellison—who has his own Palm Beach pied-à-terre near Mar-a-Lago—has been spending time and sharing meals with Trump as of late. (They were joined at one meal by Lindsey Graham, another Scott megafan, back in early 2023, I’m told.) Of course, Ellison isn’t trying to buy the vice presidency, but his talks with Trump aides about a donation have been happening at the same time as Ellison is getting involved with the Scott effort. Some other sources downplayed Ellison’s involvement to me, and I don’t want to overstate this as some intense arm-twisting campaign.

Nevertheless, the Trump team would be wise to study up on Ellison’s history of unfulfilled political and philanthropic commitments, including how Ellison ghosted Scott just last year. With Larry, veteran operators don’t start spending money until his check clears.

After his daughter-in-law, the newly minted R.N.C. co-chair Lara Trump, spoke for a few minutes, it was time for Trump: He promised that his Saturday evening fundraiser—taking place at the Palm Beach home of hedge fund billionaire John Paulson—would deliver $50 million, or “double” the historic $25 million Biden had raised the week before at Radio City alongside Barack and Bill, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Mindy Kaling, Stephen Colbert, Anna Wintour, and Lizzo. To a few folks on the call, this was classic Trump bluster: Who knew if anything he said was true?

In any event, the purpose of the call was to formally kick off Trump’s general-election fundraising program, which has gotten a rather late start. Two months ago, when I last checked in on the Trump bundling program, it was virtually nonexistent. Now, the attribution codes and sharp elbows are commencing. They’ve rechristened the “Trump 2024 Bundler Committee” as the “Trump 47 Bundler Committee.” I’ve also learned that the chief fundraising responsibility for managing the bundlers has shifted from Meredith O’Rourke and her deputy, Cora Alvi. “Our team is growing, and I am thrilled to announce that I am passing the baton to Martha Ellen Phillips to lead the bundling program,” read an email from Alvi sent to prospective bundlers.

The invite for Saturday’s massive powwow at Chez Paulson was a stark reminder of how the G.O.P. megadonor universe has consolidated around Trump, at least relative to past cycles. Among the 40 hosts of the “Inaugural Leadership Dinner” were Robert Bigelow, the Las Vegas megadonor who supplied the biggest check of the primary, $20 million, to back DeSantis; supermarket magnate John Catsimatidis; Oklahoma energy king Harold Hamm; Jets owner Woody Johnson; conservative media investor Omeed Malik; former administration official Linda McMahon; former R.N.C. finance chair Todd Ricketts; Warren Stephens, the AOA megadonor who backed Nikki Haley pretty late into the 2024 primary campaign; and, of course, Las Vegas friends of Trump Phil Ruffin and Steve Wynn.

It was a show of force at a time when the Trump campaign, recognizing the deep financial hole they find themselves in, has mobilized to activate the party’s remaining penny-pinchers. Luckily, they can now raise more than ever more easily than ever. The upper limit for individual contributors, ever since the Michigan Republican Party signed on to the joint-fundraising committee, is now $844,600, or a cool $1.7 million per couple. Of course, perks are commensurate with the amount bundlers raise, or the amount they give—which is still the easiest way for the financially advantaged to join a National Finance Committee. Meanwhile, to join the Trump Victory Trust, you’ve got to come up with $2.5 million. At that elite level, you get everything from “Personalized Never Surrender High-Top Shoes” and an “Official signed MAGA hat” to “Monthly conference call briefings from the R.N.C.’s Election Integrity and Litigation Team.” Lower levels include Ultra Maga ($834,600); Team Trump 2024 ($250,000); Team America First ($100,000); Club 47 ($50,000); and Maga 24 ($24,000), per a document distributed to fundraisers.

According to Trumpworld, the Palm Beach fundraiser did indeed bring in double Biden’s haul, as Trump predicted, to the tune of $50.5 million. For what it’s worth, plenty of Democrats think that number is overcooked, in part by counting money raised for “aligned groups” (the R.N.C. didn’t respond to a request to clarify). But the money is still flowing in. Trump has upcoming fundraisers in Florida, Georgia, and Pennsylvania, according to invites I’ve seen. On Wednesday, he goes to Atlanta for a lunch hosted by Bernie Marcus, Kelly Loeffler, and David Perdue; after dessert, he flies to Florida for a “special evening” hosted by Orlando-area personal-injury lawyer Dan Newlin. The next morning, Trump is off to Bucks County for a reception with local businessmen.

Of course, it’s easier for Trump to collect big checks given how many formerly Trump-skeptical major donors, who never maxed out in 2023, are now ripe for the plucking. And there is no Haley nomination (and no No Labels ticket, either) out there to excite the fantasies of any remaining anti-Trump G.O.P. megadonors. Their only other non-Biden option is essentially Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who might still raise a pretty penny from some very deep pockets.

As tends to happen in relationships, the uncommitted are now seeking some commitments. I’m told that last Thursday, the movement’s leaders convened some major donors who are like-minded (or like-minded enough) to try to scrounge up some cash. Why? Uncommitted is trying to send as many delegates as possible to the Democratic National Convention this summer in Chicago, and sadly, they might need donors to foot the bill for the hotels, for the airfare, for sundries. The Uncommitted movement also needs money to staff the local and state party conventions so their anti-Biden delegates can get elected in the first place.

This speaks to the relative feebleness of the movement, which is a largely unstructured and organic outgrowth of the Michigan effort. But their distaste for Biden’s handling of Gaza isn’t dissipating, and they plan to push the uncommitted option through the rest of the primary calendar and all the way to the convention, apparently.