Trump search affidavit set to be released; U.S. suspends Chinese airline flights; Biden rallies for Democrats | Hot off the Wire podcast

The Justice Department is set to release a heavily blacked-out document explaining the justification for an FBI search of Donald Trump’s Florida estate earlier this month, when agents removed top secret government records and other classified documents.

The document, expected by noon, is likely to offer at least some new details about an ongoing criminal investigation that has brought fresh legal peril for Trump just as he lays the groundwork for another presidential run.

Justice Department officials are expected to have removed sensitive details about witnesses, and the scope and direction of the probe, but even a redacted affidavit may contain some fresh revelations.

The U.S. government is suspending 26 flights by Chinese airlines from the United States to China in a dispute over anti-virus controls after Beijing suspended flights by American carriers. The Department of Transportation accused Beijing of violating an air travel agreement while enforcing anti-virus controls that are among the world’s most extreme.

Ukrainian officials say that a mission from the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to visit the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant next week after it was temporarily knocked offline and more shelling was reported in the area overnight.

Planned Parenthood leaders in Oregon said there has been a surge in the number of people traveling from out of state for abortions, including from neighboring Idaho, where most of a near-total abortion ban has taken effect.

President Joe Biden is calling on Democrats “to vote to literally save democracy once again” in the midterm elections — and comparing Republican ideology to “semi-fascism” — as he led a kickoff rally and a fundraiser in Maryland. 

In sports, the Mariners and Orioles, each seeking to end lengthy absences from baseball’s postseason, each won on Thursday. The Phillies held on to their wild-card spot with a win and the Cardinals were victorious, thanks in large part to Triple Crown candidate Paul Goldschmidt. Masters winner Scottie Scheffler is off to a good start at the Tour Championship and Serena Williams prepares for the final tournament of her career, the U.S. Open.

The Justice Department has submitted to a judge a redacted version of the affidavit it relied on when it federal agents searched the Florida estate of former President Donald Trump to look for classified documents.

The document wasn’t made public and it was not immediately clear when it might be, or how much of it will ever be disclosed. U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart had given the department until Thursday at noon to propose to him the redactions to the affidavit it wanted to make before any portion of it was released to the public.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis slammed the Biden administration’s plan to forgive some student loan debt forgiveness.

A federal appeals court has agreed with a judge’s ruling preventing the state from enforcing a ban on transgender children receiving gender affirming medical care.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian military to increase the number of troops by 137,000 to a total of 1.15 million amid Moscow’s military action in Ukraine.

The Columbus school board and union representing teachers and other employees in Ohio’s largest school district say they have reached a “conceptual agreement,” tentatively ending a strike which began Monday.

Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as the labor market continues to stand out as one of the strongest segments of the U.S. economy. Applications for jobless aid for the week ending Aug. 20 fell by 2,000 to 243,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday.

The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.6% annual rate from April through June, the government said in an upgrade from its initial estimate. It marked a second straight quarter of economic contraction, which meets one informal sign of a recession.

The moving vans have already started arriving at Downing Street, as Britain’s Conservative Party prepares to evict Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Debate about what mark he will leave on his party, his country and the world will linger long after he departs in September.

The number of monkeypox cases reported globally dropped 21% in the last week, reversing a month-long trend of rising infections.

A federal jury has found that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16 million for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them.