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. 

Want this news roundup in your inbox every night? Sign up for OnPolitics newsletter here.  

Bob Dole has some thoughts on Trump

Bob Dole turns 98 years old Thursday and is battling lung cancer, but he is still outspoken about what’s going on in the Washington he once helped lead – from the Keystone Pipeline to the need to protect the Senate filibuster.

Dole has held many of the jobs that matter in Washington politics. He was a member of the House and chair of the Republican National Committee. A senator and, ultimately, the majority leader. A nominee for vice president (as Gerald Ford’s running mate in 1976) and, after his third bid for the top job, the nominee for president, in 1996.

How does he feel about Trump? He was one of the few elders of the traditional Republican establishment to endorse Donald Trump in 2016 and the only former presidential nominee to attend the convention that nominated Trump.

 In a split with the 45th president, Dole said there’s no question that Trump lost his reelection race in 2020 – narrowly perhaps but fair and square. “He lost the election, and I regret that he did, but they did,” Dole said.

Read more on Susan Page’s 45-minute interview with Dole in his apartment in the Watergate complex. 

Real quick: Stories you should read 

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 

*** This article has been archived for your research. The original version from USA TODAY can be found here ***