Axios Sneak Peek

August 27, 2024
Welcome back to Sneak. Tonight's edition is 470 words, a 2-minute read.
Situational awareness: RFK Jr. is joining the Trump transition effort, giving him a voice in who gets jobs for a potential Trump administration, he told Tucker Carlson in an interview that posted today.
1 big thing: Biden impeachment fury

House Republicans are furious about being forced into a last-minute Biden impeachment vote — which they say could hurt their campaigns, top GOP sources tell Axios' Juliegrace Brufke.
Why it matters: Even leadership doesn't want it. But just one member can force a vote.
- 🔎 Watch hardliners — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) or Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) — as most likely to pull the trigger, sources tell us.
- Top House Republicans were prepared to let the Biden impeachment inquiry end with the report that came out last week.
Zoom in: "I tell you what I'm afraid of ... they're going to say, we don't have time to do it," Biggs said last week on Steve Bannon's "War Room" podcast.
- With Congress stuck in D.C. next month to hammer out a short-term funding deal, there's plenty of time for an enterprising Republican to force the issue.
Between the lines: Just last month, GOP leaders failed to stop Luna from forcing a vote on fining Attorney General Merrick Garland. The Garland vote failed on the House floor.
- Expect the same from an impeachment vote, Republicans overwhelmingly tell us.
The bottom line: 11 House Republicans are defending "toss-up" seats in the Cook Political Report rankings. Another eight have "lean Republican" seats.
- The "only thing we should be focused on is the issues that people talk about around their dinner table and keep them up at night. … That's not a Biden impeachment," one battleground House Republican told Axios.
2. 🤑 4 donors, nearly $400 million
Just 50 political donors combined for $1.5 billion in contributions this cycle, the Washington Post reports from FEC data.
Nearly $400 million of that comes from the top four:
- Timothy Mellon — $165 million
- Ken Griffin — $76 million
- Jeff and Janine Yass — $74 million
- Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein — $71 million
3. Jack Smith's last stand

Special counsel Jack Smith is trying to revive the federal classified documents case in Florida against Trump — even if it's highly unlikely it would make it to trial before Nov. 5.
Why it matters: Trump's New York hush money case made him the first former president to be convicted of a felony, but the other three cases against him have either been dismissed, put on ice or undercut.
- Judge Aileen Cannon, a Trump appointee, threw out the classified documents case against the former president last month, citing the "unlawful appointment and funding of" Smith.
- Today's filing argues Cannon's decision "is at odds with widespread and longstanding appointment practices in the Department of Justice and across the government."
4. 🎯 Audience of one

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