Axios

You can see why most GOP presidential candidates are backing former President Trump in his legal fights, or taking a pass:

• Former congressman Will Hurd of Texas, who announced his candidacy last month, said last night in Des Moines at one of the biggest "cattle call" events so far: "Donald Trump is running to stay out of prison."

Republican presidential candidates have started to notice that Sen. Tim Scott's non-combative style is resonating — and they’re zeroing in on him for more scrutiny.

Why it matters: Scott has largely stayed above the fray as many of his Republican rivals spar around him, but his recent momentum in polls is bringing him into the crossfire and will test his "happy warrior" strategy.

Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.) on Friday confirmed reporting that he is being pushed to challenge President Biden for the Democratic nomination in 2024.

Why it matters: The moderate three-term congressman would be by far the most politically established Biden rival were he to mount a bid.

American leadership is getting older.

Why it matters: With baby boomers making up half of Congress, the conversation on aging and health in public office from the Capitol to the White House isn't going away.

Former President Trump on Friday pushed back on the new criminal charges he is facing, a day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged that he wanted to erase security footage investigators sought from his Florida home.

Driving the news: "These were my tapes that we gave to them. ... These were security tapes. We handed them over to them. ... I'm not even sure what they're saying," he said in an interview with conservative radio host John Fredericks.

A bipartisan group of House members is asking for a select committee on "Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena" – more commonly known as UFOs.

Why it matters: It's an unorthodox coalition with an equally offbeat goal that reflects growing interest among lawmakers on the subject.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in an interview airing Friday, did not rule out pardoning former President Trump if elected president in 2024.

The big picture: DeSantis also echoed comments he made earlier this month and said that it would not be "good for the country to have an almost 80 year-old former president go to prison."

The top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee is slamming Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) for withholding a key transcript from the public, issuing a "secret subpoena" and following a "troubling pattern" of hiding information.

Why it matters: An 11-page letter from Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) comes after a blockbuster, triple-committee hearing with IRS agents who claimed DOJ mishandled the Hunter Biden case — and ahead of closed-door testimony by Hunter associate Devon Archer.

The evidence against former President Trump in the classified documents case is "overwhelming," according to former White House lawyer Ty Cobb.

Driving the news: The Justice Department on Thursday filed new charges related to its probe of Trump's mishandling of classified documents after he left the White House.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) will serve out his full term leading Senate Republicans, his office said in a statement on Friday.

Why it matters: The pronouncement comes after the 81-year-old Kentuckian stood silently for roughly 20 seconds during a press conference on Wednesday, creating renewed concerns about his health.

Congressional Black Caucus members on Thursday criticized the Alabama Legislature's new congressional map as a "shameless" attempt to limit the voting rights of the state's Black residents.

Driving the news: "At a time when many are trying to erase our history and roll back our progress, this is a reminder that old battles have become new again," said Rep. Terri Sewell (D-Ala.), the state's only Black representative in Congress.

Senate Democrats are running personalized ads against Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) and Rick Scott (R-Fla.), the only two vulnerable Republican senators in 2024, Axios has learned.

The big picture: Democrats are on defense this cycle, defending incumbents in three states that former President Trump won in 2020, as well as another five swing states.

President Biden's team is expanding his re-election strategy beyond Donald Trump to target the MAGA movement and its impact on U.S. politics, figuring it will endure even if Trump isn't the GOP nominee, Axios has learned.

Why it matters: The move aims to cast Trumpism as a far-right authoritarian force — and stems partly from Democrats' polling that suggests the term "MAGA" is viewed more negatively than "Trump Republicans."

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) criticized Republican presidential rival Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state's new Black history standards that claim enslaved people benefited from slavery.

What he's saying: "As a country founded upon freedom, the greatest deprivation of freedom was slavery," said Scott, the only Black Republican in the Senate, to reporters during a campaign stop in Iowa Thursday. "There is no silver lining … in slavery."

Rep. Derrick Van Orden (R-Wisc.) isn't backing down in the face of reporting on his Wednesday evening treatment of a group of Senate pages in the Capitol rotunda.

Driving the news: Van Orden told a group of teenage pages to "get the f**k up" after he encountered them lying on the floor of the Capitol rotunda taking photos of the dome, Punchbowl News reported on Thursday.