Pecker, Pili and Piercings

By Rochelle Olson

We're starting with former President Donald Trump's New York hush money trial this Tuesday morning because former National Enquirer publisher David Pecker is expected to explain the tabloid's catch-and-kill approach to damaging stories. (No, we don't do that at the Star Tribune.) What would we not give for a camera in that NYC courtroom? Opening statements were Monday with prosecutors saying Trump orchestated a criminal scheme to corrupt the 2016 election. The judge will also hear arguments about whether Trump violated a gag order over the weekend by talking about witnesses.

The Legislature is off again Tuesday for Passover so the Capitol may be quiet.

The big event Monday was the introduction of the state's two new Supreme Court justices. I need to clarify (correct!) my irrational exuberance about the appointment of two women. Gov. Rudy Perpich made Minnesota the first state in the nation with a female majority on the bench in 1991. The distaff majority returned in 2016 when Gov. Mark Dayton named Justice Anne McKeig. The majority remained until last fall when Gov. Tim Walz named Justice Karl Procaccini.

And now incoming Justices Theodora "Teddie" Gaïtas and Sarah Hennesy will give women a 4-3 edge - not that decisions are made on the basis of gender. The Capitol rotunda announcement was, as usual, a gathering of legal glitterati (Retired federal Judge and former Justice Joan Ericksen aka mother of Walz staffer Claire Lancaster, David Lillehaug, Charles Nauen, Lee Sheehy). It's always fun - for me at least - to interact with and see the justices in the wild, sans black robes and not sequestered behind the bench. They're a relatively friendly and approachable contingent believe it or not.

It was evident that Walz had connected on many levels with both new justices. He knew Gaïtas because he'd put her on the Court of Appeals and he spoke about Hennesy as a judge who approached the world with care and curiosity. My story is here and please don't miss colleague Jerry Holt's evocative photos of the event.

Both women are bilingual and have lived overseas. The appointments received a modicum of national attention because both lawyers worked for years with low-income clients. Molly Coleman, executive director of the progressive People's Parity Project, Harvard Law grad and daughter of former St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman and his wife, Connie, recognized the significance with a Tweet: "A legal aid attorney and a public defender are headed to the Minnesota Supreme Court."

The editor of Bolts magazine called the appointments "incredible" and cited a two-year-old article about how rarely public defenders are appointed to state Supreme Courts. The editor also contrasted Walz's appointments with what GOP Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry is doing to public defense.

That's lofty legal stuff, but I was bemused to see that Hennesy is in all likelihood the first Minnesota Supreme Court justice with a nose piercing. (A delicate diamond stud.) Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan quickly noted that she, too, has a nose piercing. It's a Sign O' the Times as our dearly beloved Prince would say. Hennesy takes her seat May 13. Gaïtas will be sworn-in Aug. 1.

SENATOR ARRESTED: DFL state Sen. Nicole Mitchell of Woodbury was arrested in Detroit Lakes over the weekend in a plot twist nobody saw coming. Mitchell's in her second session and until now had a reputation as an incredibly focused and hard-working legislator, meteorologist, mom and military vet. She was arrested early Monday on the street where her recently deceased father lived with her step-mom. Reporter Ryan Faircloth is on it and expecting additional details from Becker County. The jail roster indicates Mitchell remains in custody.

REPUBLICAN PRIMARY: Colleague Briana Bierschbach reports that the GOP could be headed to a primary to decide who will face Second Congressional District U.S. Rep. Angie Craig. The GOP hopes to recapture the state's one remaining swing seat, Bierschbach reports. And stop me if you've heard this one before, but former federal prosecutor Joe Teirab announced over the weekend that he's going to the primary election regardless of what happens at this Saturday's convention. His opponent, conservative attorney Tayler Rahm, said Teirab is breaking his pledge to abide by the endorsement.

CONSUMER PROTECTION: Attorney General Keith Ellison has a 9:45 a.m. news conference about the results of a major investigation into a Twin Cities car dealership that grew from a raft of consumer complaints about the business.

UPCOMING: The Minnesota Sports Facilities Authority, which runs U.S. Bank Stadium, expects to announce a new executive director at Thursday's meeting. That's on the public agenda released Monday. LMK if you have any idea who it is because the agenda doesn't provide a name. That's one way to prevent public awareness.

WHERE'S WALZ: No public events scheduled.

READING LIST

  • Lt. Gov. Flanagan was beaming beside Lynx first-rounder Alissa Pili as she was welcomed Samoan-style to Minneapolis by former Viking Esera Tualo. Pili is of indigenous and Samoan descent. Check it out.
  • Please read colleague Rachel Blount's story about Gophers' golfer Isabella McCauley, a Simley grad, making history. Score one for the good guys. McCauley is an incredibly kind and thoughtful person, according to Blount.
  • Next time you fly Delta, look out the window. That baggage smasher on the tarmac in a safety vest and sunglasses just might be me. This is a long-running sorta joke between a colleague and me: We're going to get new careers tossing luggage. Delta just gave 5% raises (plus flight benefits!) to its ground crew, making that possibility ever more likely.
  • Pro-Palestinian protests are sweeping college campuses and I'm wondering what this portends for the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. Will I need protective gear?
  • TWEET OF THE DAY: U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips "Imagine if college students put as much energy into protecting reproductive rights, and reducing poverty, homelessness, crime, and other injustices. In America. Imagine."
  • Sports betting remains in play in the last month of the legislative session so read this story about Craig Carton, a podcaster who talks about his problem gambling.
  • Faithful Friend o' Hot Dish and Twin Cities-based New York Times reporter Ernesto Londoño's remarkably candid book "Trippy" comes out next month. He explores therapeutic psychedelic retreats and his personal history coming of age as a gay man in Colombia. I tell you this because he's surreptitiously dropping signed copies into Little Free Libraries in St. Paul. Helpful hint: The book's a bright yellow-green so it will stand out. Gift link to a story he wrote about mushrooms. This issue is coming to Minnesota. And Ernesto's recent story about Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty is gifted here. No, I'm not his publicist, just a devoted pal.

Keep us posted at hotdish@startribune.com.

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