OnPolitics: Bob Dole breaks with Trump

Good afternoon, OnPolitics friends. 

The fallout from the Cuban protests earlier this month continues. 

President Joe Biden announced new sanctions Thursday targeting a top Cuban military official and a unit of the government’s repressive state security apparatus, which he said was responsible for the brutal crackdown of historic protests.

Meanwhile, here in the U.S.: A “disturbing” surge in suicide deaths among troops has alarmed senior Pentagon officials who say demands for U.S. troops around the world have grown unsustainable and are contributing to mental health problems.

On the Supreme Court front: The FBI has acknowledged receiving more than 4,500 tips during its background investigation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, prompting a new wave of criticism from Senate Democrats who have long questioned the bureau’s vetting process nearly three years after Kavanaugh’s Senate confirmation.

It’s Mabinty, with the day’s top news. 

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45-minute interview with Dole in his apartment in the Watergate complex. 

Real quick: Stories you should read 

• ‘The glue that is holding us all together’: Joe Biden rides herd on Democrats before tough 2022 election cycle
• Feds find components of pipe bomb at home of former Virginia cop charged in Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection 
• Biden town hall: COVID, voting rights, filibuster and other takeaways
• Biden says kids under 12 could be eligible for COVID vaccines in weeks. That’s not likely.
• Tucker Carlson attacks Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn, calls him an angry ‘activist’
• Democrat Abby Finkenauer is running for the U.S. Senate seat long held by Chuck Grassley

News books shed light on Mike Pence

This summer features a spate of books offering revelations on President Donald Trump’s last year in office. They also reveal details on former Vice President Mike Pence’s role in Trump’s election fraud conspiracy theories and the riot Jan. 6 at the U.S. Capitol.

On election fraud conspiracies: During a meeting Jan. 5 with constitutional scholar John Eastman, Pence pushed back against Eastman’s arguments that he had the power to accept or reject electors during the certification process. In “Frankly, We Did Win’: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost,” Michael Bender alleges that “Pence thought Trump was getting bad legal advice.”

During the Capitol riot: When pro-Trump rioters ransacked the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, Pence’s Secret Service detail rushed him to safety. Pence was moved to his ceremonial office, but it was still a vulnerable spot. Timothy Giebels, the lead special agent in charge of Pence’s detail, twice asked the vice president to get out of the Capitol. Pence refused.

I hope you eat something good today! —Mabinty 

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