The TABOR Committee supports the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights. We’re writing to remind you to claim your TABOR refund on this year’s tax return. To obtain between $19 and $118, be sure to claim your refund on page 6 of the state income tax report.

The state’s tax code is designed to bring in more and more money in good times, above what the TABOR limit allows. TABOR provides for automatic increases in tax revenue while preventing government from growing out of control and taking an ever-larger share of family and business budgets. When the TABOR limit is exceeded, tax law restores the over-collection back to you in the form of TABOR refunds. This year, the TABOR refund is rather small.

Your refund would have been about four times as large, except the legislature got sneaky in 2024 and opened a loophole that TABOR allowed by being flexible. They created a new welfare program, a redistribution, only available if there is a TABOR surplus.

Making a welfare program dependent on taking our refunds is also unfair to the people who get the subsidy, because they may come to depend on it, yet it will be jerked away entirely if the economy turns down. Better the program should be funded inside the state budget with transparency and certainty and in competition with all other state priorities. For more information, visit thetaborfoundation.org.

Jason Bailey, Denver 

Kafer column should serve as a voter guide

Re: “Trump is taking his losing streak out on Colo.,” Feb. 15 commentary

Now is a good time to clip and save Krista Kafer’s assessment of what a Donald Trump presidency has meant for Colorado after a little more than one year: retribution. Be sure to read, clip and save for making voting choices in November. Keep her words available for you and your voting friends and relatives, as they offer inspiration and evidence of what your vote means for this year and the future of the state.

David W. Dent, Broomfield

I do not think, therefore, I do not am

Re: “The ugly sides of AI,” Jan. 25 commentary

My wife noted that Jeffco schools were not in session on Friday before Presidents Day, and I responded that with AI, it doesn’t take long to get answers. That morphed into a discussion of the learning process: answers versus thinking through problems. Technology dumbs us down, so we become dependent upon it (think: GPS v. map and compass).

I often wonder whether young people are being deprived of learning how to think and so just rely on technology to get by. AI makes that problem worse, amplified by social media. If schools no longer teach the process of thinking through problems to get real-world solutions, then we become totally dependent upon technology (especially AI) for everything. And, if we do not think, evolution will eliminate our ability to think (we do not am).

So, as we relinquish control over our lives and our environment to technology, and AI learns to do the “thinking” that we no longer do, where does that lead? Are we making it easy for AI to destroy the human race, given the probability that AI already “knows” that we are the problem and must be eliminated?

It is no longer science fiction. We are making it a reality. Not just possible, but probable, maybe inevitable. Humans need water and clean air; AI just needs data centers and electricity. Think about that, or do not am.

Greg Scott, Evergreen

Former V.P. Pence should speak out

Former vice president Mike Pence has the historic opportunity to do what civil rights hero John Lewis called “good trouble.” He could do that by simply telling the truth about President Trump and especially about the January 6 rebellion.

Good trouble would help Mike Pence join the members of the “Profiles in Courage” gang.

David L Stevenson, Denver 

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Re: “Ideas for repealing unnecessary laws,” Jan. 18 letter to the editor

If CDOT and Denver could synchronize the traffic lights in and around Denver, we probably wouldn’t need emissions testing, and the air would be cleaner.

It is very frustrating to drive down a major thoroughfare such as Quebec Street and have to stop at nearly every — if not every — light, including those at the intersections of lightly traveled cross streets. Picture 20 or so vehicles stopping and restarting to allow one (sometimes not even one) car to cross.

When I call to complain, I eventually get an email telling me the issue has been looked into and the lights are working properly! How can that be, when the timing varies from one instance to the next, even at the same time of day?

I know it is a first-world issue, but it affects our air and health, both physical and mental.

Joe Wolf, Denver

Stand up for birthright citizenship

To the Republican and Democratic members of Congress:

Remember the day you took the oath of office to stand up for the people? Your responsibility is to support the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees that everyone born on American soil is a U.S. citizen.

In every American family, there was an immigrant who came to America to build a decent life for their family and to be proud of the contributions they made to society. You are part of that legacy. Don’t throw mud on the hard work they did to ensure you are an American. These immigrants were the foundation of this country; they poured their heart into the nation to do great things.

The oath did not say loyalty to the president; you serve the people. Please examine your position and soul and stand up for every boy and girl born in America.

You have to know in your heart that President Donald Trump’s executive order to strip away that birthright is wrong and inhumane. Please do the right thing and challenge this action.

Jackie Mead, Westminster

Trump’s pardons can’t be justified

Can anyone think that President Donald Trump’s pardons for the Jan. 6 Capitol rioters are justified? If so, it’s a warped way of thinking. These formerly convicted criminals attacked and did physical harm to many of the Capitol police and did untold damage to the U.S. Capitol. They threatened to kill Rep. Nancy Pelosi and Vice President Mike Pence, who thankfully, were safely hidden away.

For anyone who wants to equate these pardons with former President Joe Biden’s pardons, it is just plain ridiculous.  Does Hunter Biden deserve to go to prison? Probably. But he didn’t assault anyone and only did harm to himself in reality. Contrast his actions with the Jan. 6 so-called “hostages” or “patriots,” and it’s not even close. These hoodlums threatened to overturn our system of government, and it was all because they falsely believed that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. So they were brainwashed into believing the Big Lie and then they went on a rampage. How can anyone excuse that idiocy? And now we have Trump, the convicted felon, pardoning all of these criminals. That’s rich.

Jim Ciha, Grand Junction

Blend in new Loretto Heights construction

Re: “New community center wants neighbors to visit,” Jan. 22 news story

Loretto Heights has always been a beautiful campus; the red brick buildings are reminiscent of the Ivy League campuses. The new community center proposal is in stark contrast to those buildings and doesn’t blend into the campus at all. I wish the developers would take a look at DU and other historic campuses and see how the buildings complement each other; they look like a community of buildings. Please rethink this building for the sake of community.

Ellen Derrick, Denver

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Pence’s speech at CCU, a small conservative school in Lakewood, came 10 days after his former running mate, Republican Donald Trump, was reelected to the White House. Pence, who should “never be president of the United States” because of his efforts to overturn the 2020 election, said Friday he congratulated his “old friend” last week on the win. He called Trump’s win — coupled with Republican victories in the U.S. House and Senate — a “time of great opportunity.”

“But I must tell you, it����ap also a time of concern for those of us that believe in that traditional conservative agenda,” he said, and he argued that the “new majorities and new leadership” must “hew to our roots” of those values. That includes, he said, a commitment that marriage is between one man and one woman, as well as opposition to abortion and a commitment to limited government, free-market economics and an outward-facing approach to foreign policy.

Those beliefs should be defended, he said, against a “rising populist center” that threatens to undermine “traditional conservatism with an agenda fueled in many ways by personal grievance.”  He did not name any person or policy.

Pence drew applause when he said the United States should continue supporting its “most cherished ally, Israel,” while also continuing to support Ukraine in its war against Russia. He said Israel must “hunt down and destroy Hamas” in the wake of the terror group’s attack on Oct. 7, 2023. Then, he said, the West can demonstrate its “compassion and generosity” by helping to rebuild the Gaza Strip, which has been decimated by the Israeli military amid a campaign that a recently said was consistent with genocide.

Pence, a former Republican congressman and governor of Indiana, served as Trump’s vice president during the president-elect’s first stint in the White House. The two men’s relationship collapsed amid Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent and that Pence had the authority to throw the election to Trump — a fringe theory that Pence denied.

On Jan. 6, 2021, Pence came to rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol, shortly after Trump told a crowd that he hoped Pence would support his illegitimate attempts to remain in the White House. Pence said Friday that he wasn’t afraid during the riot.

“I was angry,” he said. “I found myself thinking, ‘Not this, not here, not in America.’ ”

Pence said he’d brought his wife and daughter with him Jan. 6 to the Capitol, where he was to preside over the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory, and that his wife stayed with him into the early morning of Jan. 7.

“When the day developed, I must tell you, it became more animated between us,” Pence said of his relationship with Trump. “But I did my duty.”

Last year Pence unsuccessfully ran against Trump for the Republican presidential nomination. After he dropped out, Pence did not endorse Trump or his opponent, Democrat Kamala Harris, who had succeeded Pence as vice president.

Re: “New evidence in Trump case,” Oct. 3 news story

Donald Trump whines that Special Counsel Jack Smith’s new legal filing concerning his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss amounts to election interference. No, Mr. Trump, a perfect example of election interference is the siege of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, that you put in motion in an attempt to stop the peaceful transfer of presidential power.

I offer Trump the same response about his election interference gripe that he allegedly gave when informed that Vice President Mike Pence had to be evacuated from the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, because the former president����ap angry mob wanted to hang him: So what?

JM Jesse, Glenwood Springs

It is difficult to argue that Jack Smith’s amended complaint containing allegations against former president Donald Trump, recently unsealed by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, is not an attempt to influence the presidential election.

Thaddeus Machnik, Golden

Last Wednesday, a light was shone on new evidence that the former president “resorted to crimes” as he tried to cling to power following the 2020 election. Now his lawyers claim it is “unfair” to release this evidence so close to the 2024 election. Of course, it was “unfair to unseal it (the charges in the indictment) so close to the election.” It should have been unsealed and made public three years ago! Then Americans could have had a different choice for a Republican nominee in 2024.

Becky Roberts, Watkins

Appreciate crackdown on license plates

Re: “Police cite more than 300 motorists with expired, phony license plates,” Oct. 7 news story

Hooray for the police departments and State Patrol, who cited over 300 errant drivers. That had to have added up to a hunk of money that was or will be added to the various jurisdictions’ coffers.

Whenever I am driving, I see any number of expired plates and temporary tags or no plates.  If each and every local police department were vigilant in citing those drivers,  the counties and the state would get the fees they deserve.  And perhaps a few stolen vehicles would turn up in the process.

Keep up the good work.

Jim Bahrenburg, Wheat Ridge

Downtown Mall much improved

I live on 16th Street in Denver, and I’m happy to report the renovation of the 16th Mall, which just reopened, looks very nice.

It took time and it was expensive but it turned out great!

It’s a big improvement for Denver, and people are coming back.

John Barton, Denver

Light rail to Broncos game not very sporting

I took a chance and rode the light rail to the Broncos game Sunday. I arrived at the Colorado Station in time for the 12:41 p.m. train only to find out that the 12:11 train had been canceled and that the 12:41 was delayed due to “track maintenance.” When it finally arrived it was packed and the only way to get on was to squeeze in and stand in the stairwell with nothing to hold on to. I’m 80, and this was not how I wanted to start my day! No one could get on at the subsequent stations because there was no more room. Why is line maintenance being done on the Empower Field lines on game day? Come on, RTD, we deserve better than this.

Laura Porter, Denver

Why are toll fine disputes reviewed at a high cost out of state?

Re: “Drivers hit road blocks trying to dispute fines,” Sept. 27 news story

I don’t see how somebody can miss the $250 warning signs (the fine for crossing the solid double white lines) that populate the express lanes along Interstate 25. I routinely travel I-25 and always use the express lanes. I have never had a problem either entering or exiting the express lane. People just need to pay attention, or slow down, or preferably both. Simple as that.

As for reviewing disputes, why does it take an out-of-state lawyer and firm to conduct the reviews? And why does it cost $610 per hour for these impotent people (ie, they cannot adjust any fines) to review the disputes? Wouldn’t the money be better spent hiring Coloradans who are not lawyers?

Richard D. VanOrsdale, Broomfield

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SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — on Thursday defended shifting away from some of her more liberal positions in her first major television interview of her presidential campaign, but insisted her “values have not changed” even as she is “seeking consensus.”

Sitting with her running mate, , Harris was asked specifically about her reversals on banning fracking and decriminalizing illegal border crossings, positions she took during her last run for president. She confirmed she does not want to ban fracking, an energy extraction process key to the economy of swing-state Pennsylvania, and said there “should be consequence” for people who cross the border without permission.

“I think the most important and most significant aspect of my policy perspective and decisions is my values have not changed,” Harris said.

She went on to say: “I believe it is important to build consensus. It is important to find a common place of understanding where we can actually solve the problem.”

The interview with came as voters are still trying to learn more about the Democratic ticket in an unusually compressed time frame. just five weeks ago. The interview focused largely on policy, as Harris sought to show that she had adopted more moderate positions on issues that Republicans argue are extreme, while Walz defended past misstatements about his biography.

Harris hadn’t done an in-depth interview since she became her party’s standard-bearer five weeks ago, though she did sit for several while she was still Biden’s running mate.

She said serving with Biden was “one of the greatest honors of my career,” and she recounted the moment he called to tell her he was stepping down and would support her.

“He told me what he had decided to do and … I asked him, ‘Are you sure?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and that’s how I learned about it.”

She said she didn’t ask Biden to endorse her because “he was very clear that he was going to endorse me.”

Harris defended the administration’s record on the southern border and immigration, noting that she was tasked with trying to address the “root causes” in other countries that were driving the border crossings.

“We have laws that have to be followed and enforced, that address and deal with people who cross our border illegally, and there should be consequences,” Harris said.

Asked about Israel’s war in Gaza after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack, Harris said, “I am unequivocal and unwavering in my commitment to Israel’s defense and its ability to defend itself.” But the vice president also reiterated what she’s said for months, that civilian deaths are too high amid the Israeli offensive.

She also brushed off Republican Donald Trump’s questioning of her racial identity after he suggested falsely that she changed how she presents herself for political reasons and Harris, who is of Black and South Asian heritage, said Trump’s suggestion was the “same old, tired playbook.”

“Next question, please,” she said.

Trump and Harris are set to debate on Sept. 10. In a post Thursday evening, it appeared Trump was paying close attention to the interview. After the debate was mentioned, he posted, “I look so forward to Debating Comrade Kamala Harris and exposing her for the fraud she is.”

Trump went on to say that his Democratic opponent “has changed every one of her long held positions, on everything. America will never allow an Election WEAPONIZING MARXIST TO BE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S.”

The debate will be the first-ever meeting for Harris and Trump. The opponents had only been in the same space when Harris, as a senator, attended Trump’s joint addresses to Congress.

During the early parts of the interview, Walz watched quietly and nodded when Harris made her main points. He was later asked about misstatements, starting with how he has described his 24 years of service in the National Guard.

In a 2018 video clip that the Harris-Walz campaign once circulated, Walz spoke out against gun violence and said, “We can make sure that those weapons of war, that I carried in war, is the only place where those weapons are at.”

Critics said the comment “that I carried in war” suggested that Walz portrayed himself as someone who spent time in a combat zone. He said Thursday night that he misspoke after a school shooting, adding, “My grammar’s not always correct.”

Asked about statements that appeared to indicate that he and his wife conceived their children with in-vitro fertilization, when they in fact used a different fertility treatment, he said he believes most Americans understood what he meant and pivoted to Republican opposition to abortion rights.

Democrats’ enthusiasm about their vote in November has surged over the past few months, according to . About 8 in 10 Democrats now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting, compared with 55% in March.

This gives them an enthusiasm edge they did not have earlier this year. Republicans’ enthusiasm has increased by much less over the same period, and about two-thirds of Republicans now say they are more enthusiastic than usual about voting.

At a packed arena for a rally Thursday in Savannah, Harris cast her nascent campaign as the underdog and encouraged the crowd to work hard to elect her in November.

“We’re here to speak truth and one of the things that we know is that this is going to be a tight race to the end,” she said.

Harris went through a list of Democratic concerns: that Trump will further restrict women’s rights after he appointed three judges to the U.S. Supreme Court who helped overturn Roe, that he’d repeal the Affordable Care Act, and that given new immunity powers granted presidents by the U.S. Supreme Court, “imagine Donald Trump with no guardrails.”

in southeastern Georgia. Harris has another campaign blitz on Labor Day with Biden in Detroit and Pittsburgh with the election rapidly approaching. The first mail ballots get sent to voters in just two weeks.

___

Long reported from Washington. Associated Press writers Sagar Meghani and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this report.

Saturday’s sold-out dinner costs $25,000 to attend, $100,000 to co-host and $500,000 to be featured as a host, . The fundraiser’s location in Aspen isn’t disclosed.

The event’s listed hosts include former ambassador and private financier Duke Buchan, billionaire oil and gas tycoon Jeffery Hildebrand, and Denver-based businessman and homebuilder Larry Mizel.

This week’s event was reported earlier by . Messages sent to event organizers, the Trump campaign, the Pitkin County Republican Party and the Orange County GOP were not immediately returned Monday.

Trump is running against Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee after President Joe Biden withdrew from his reelection race two weeks ago.

Mizel hosted Trump fundraisers in both Aspen and Denver in 2016, when he co-chaired Trump’s Colorado campaign. Reached by phone Monday, Mizel’s office said that he “does not speak to the press.” Mizel has substantially backed other Republican candidates in Colorado and nationally, and last year he donated to Trump challenger Mike Pence — Trump’s former vice president — before Trump sealed the Republican nomination, federal finance data show.

Several other hosts are also established Republican donors. Hildebrand has already given hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates across the country this cycle, according to finance data. He and his wife, who’s also listed as a host of the Aspen event, gave $1.2 million to Trump in 2020,

Buchan, who was nominated by Trump to be ambassador to Spain and Andorra after Trump’s 2016 win, has given $162,500 to a pro-Trump PAC in recent months, election data shows.

He was tapped as the Republican National Committee’s finance chair in 2022, , and he donated more than $940,000 to Trump’s campaign in the 2020 election. His wife is also listed as a host.

Other hosts include Drew McKnight, co-CEO of Fortress Investment Group; businessman Warren Lichtenstein; John Phelan, the co-founder of a Florida-based private investment firm, and his wife; Diane and Tom Smith, of Prescott Investors; and Andrew McKenna, the former chair of the Illinois Republican Party whose father was the chairman of McDonald’s and owned a stake in the Chicago Bears.

last year to graduates, who will become second lieutenants, thanking them for choosing “service over self,” and noting the challenges ahead for the country and the world, from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine to America’s rivalry with China.

After greeting graduates with salutes and handshakes, the president took , later saying he’d tripped over a sandbag. He was uninjured.

Harris will speak in Falcon Stadium, which can host upwards of 46,000 people, during an election year, as details of a debate between Harris and Donald Trump’s yet-to-be-chosen running mate .

The commencement in Colorado Springs, about an hour’s drive south of Denver, will wrap with graduates pitching their caps into the air as the world-renowned U.S. Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, the Thunderbirds, zip past overhead.

Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke at the ceremony in 2020, when the event was scaled down to account for the COVID-19 pandemic.

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Both sides of the ballot-qualification challenge cast the case as putting American democracy at stake — whether by allowing Trump to run again for the country’s highest office or, in the defense’s view, by endorsing a political charade that would rob many voters of their favored candidate.

As the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination faces similar ballot challenges in several states, Colorado’s case is the first to present evidence to a judge as the plaintiffs seek to tie Trump to the siege of the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

A group of Colorado Republican and unaffiliated voters, backed by the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, filed the challenge in Denver District Court. Their lawsuit seeks, based on Trump’s alleged role on Jan. 6, to keep him off the ballot under a provision of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that bars people who engaged in insurrection or rebellion from holding office.

The plaintiffs called police officers who watched the siege unfold to the stand. The first witness, Officer Daniel Hodges of the Washington, D.C., Metropolitan Police Department, testified about being assaulted by members of the crowd that gathered outside the Capitol. That includes one person who tried to gouge out his eye, Hodges said.

The plaintiffs played body camera footage that showed protestors swarming Hodges and his colleagues and yelling epithets at them. Hodges called the events of Jan. 6 “horrific,” “a terrorist attack” and an assault on democracy.

“(Protestors) told us we were on the wrong side of history when we were defending the United States Capitol and the peaceful transfer of power,” Hodges said.

But Trump’s legal team disputed that the then-president was involved in inciting the event. They argued that he called for peace and, since he didn’t travel to the Capitol, didn’t lead supporters past police barricades or otherwise participate in the violence. He had led a rally near the White House earlier that morning, ahead of Congress convening to certify now-President Joe Biden’s defeat of Trump in the 2020 election.

Trump’s attorneys argued that, without any legal conviction for insurrection, the lawsuit’s charge is nebulous. Scott Gessler, a former Colorado secretary of state who’s part of Trump’s team, cited the precedent of Eugene V. Debs, a socialist politician a century ago. Debs was allowed to run for president despite serving time in prison for sedition for publicly discouraging military recruitment during World War I.

“When there are many definitions (of insurrection), that really means there are none,” Gessler said. “… Frankly, they’re making up the standards so it fits the facts of Jan. 6.”

Before the trial began, Trump’s attorneys challenged the impartiality of Judge Sarah B. Wallace. They found a record of a $100 donation she made in 2020 to a political action committee called the Colorado Turnout Project, a pro-Democrat group. That was before her appointment to the bench.

Trump’s team requested her recusal, saying the donation showed bias against their case. Wallace denied the request. She said she did not recall that particular contribution but had intended to donate to an individual.

Wallace also said she did not have an opinion on whether the Jan. 6 attack constituted an insurrection, if Trump was engaged in insurrection or other matters at hand.

She is overseeing a trial that’s expected to unfold over five days. There is no jury, leaving the decision on Trump’s ballot eligibility in Colorado up to the judge. She expects to issue a ruling by the end of November.

The case is unlikely to end there and could land in the state or federal Supreme Court.

The plaintiffs include Norma Anderson, a former Republican majority leader in the state House and Senate; Denver Post columnist Krista Kafer; and Chris Castilian, who served as deputy chief of staff under former Gov. Bill Owens. The lawsuit seeks to compel Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold to bar Trump from the Republican primary election and, if he wins the Republican nomination, from the state’s general election ballot.

On Monday, the plaintiffs’ attorneys sought to demonstrate a pattern of Trump using violent rhetoric and cheering along violence against political opponents. They alleged that he used his Twitter account to draw a crowd to the Capitol on Jan. 6.

The attorneys played a video from proceedings showing images of a noose, people chanting “Hang Mike Pence” about the vice president and fights with police.

“That mob tried to hurt and kill our elected leaders,” Olson said during the opening remarks. “We are here because, despite all that, Trump believes he deserves to be president again.”

The plaintiffs also called U.S. Rep. Eric Swalwell to testify to his experiences during the assault. He fled the House floor with a gas mask in hand. The California Democrat later was one of the impeachment managers for Trump’s second impeachment, which charged Trump with inciting an insurrection on Jan. 6. He was acquitted by the Senate, whose fell short of a two-thirds majority threshold.

The plaintiffs have sought to introduce the House Jan. 6 committee’s final report as evidence to highlight Trump’s role. Wallace has conditionally agreed to hear segments of the report over objections from Trump’s attorneys.

Gessler called it a political document, “poisoned” by foregone conclusions and made for prime-time TV — not suitable as evidence in court. Trump’s legal team denies any ties to the siege and has asserted that he was exercising his right to free speech when protesting the election and calling for a political pressure campaign. They cast the legal challenge as partisan “lawfare” and an attack on democracy.

“We’re here with a courtroom behind us because they’re trying to put up their ‘steal’ curtain around Colorado,” Jason Miller, a senior adviser with the Trump campaign, said ahead of the trial’s start. “And when I say ‘steal’ curtain, that����ap S-T-E-A-L. Democrats are trying to steal this race.”

Trump’s campaign characterized the ballot challenge as being among a series of legal cases that amount to election interference heading into 2024. Trump also faces federal criminal charges and state criminal charges in Georgia related to alleged 2020 election interference, as well as a civil fraud trial in New York.

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Here’s all of the information on how to watch:

The two-hour debate will start at 9 p.m. ET on Wednesday. It����ap being moderated by Fox News Channel hosts Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum.

Unlike some previous presidential debates, which have been simulcast across a number of major networks and cable channels, the first forum is airing exclusively on Fox News and the Fox Business Network as well as on Fox’s website and other streaming and digital platforms.

In lieu of the network’s YouTube channel, the Republican National Committee has partnered with Rumble — a video sharing platform popular with some conservatives — to livestream the debate. Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said earlier this year this was a decision aimed toward “getting away from Big Tech.”

Another debate partner is the Young America’s Foundation, a Wisconsin-based outfit headed up by former Gov. Scott Walker that bills itself as “the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement.”

Candidates will be on stage at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, the biggest city in Wisconsin, a battleground state that will also play host to the Republican National Convention next year.

Wisconsin has proven its mettle as a swing state in recent balloting. Four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by less than a percentage point there, with Donald Trump winning narrowly in 2016 before losing by a similar margin in 2020.

The RNC confirmed late Monday which candidates will be on the Milwaukee debate stage. The party set a number of markers that candidates needed to meet to qualify, including achieving benchmarks in polling and donor numbers, as well as signing a pledge to support the eventual Republican nominee.

Those expected to be on the stage are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, former Vice President Mike Pence, ex-New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum and former Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson.

Former President Donald Trump, the early GOP front-runner, long ago satisfied the polling and donor requirements but has said for months that he saw little upside in joining his rivals on stage, given his commanding lead in the race.

Trump, who has also said that he would not sign the pledge, said over the weekend on his social media platform that he’d be skipping the Milwaukee debate, and he has floated counterprogramming alternatives, including possibly showing up at the last minute, attending but sitting in the audience and offering live commentary on his Truth Social site, calling into different networks to draw viewers from the debate, or holding a rally instead.

Donald Trump’s legal team told a judge overseeing the election conspiracy case against him on Monday that prosecutors’ proposed protective order aimed at preventing the public disclosure of evidence is too broad and would restrict his First Amendment rights.

Lawyers for the early 2024 Republican presidential primary front-runner said in court papers that the judge should impose a more limited order that would bar the public release only of materials deemed “sensitive” — such as grand jury documents — rather than all evidence handed over by the government in the case accusing Trump of conspiring to overturn his 2020 election loss.

Prosecutors with special counsel Jack Smith’s team quickly countered with their own filing accusing Trump of objecting to their proposal because he wants to be able to use the government’s evidence to “try the case in the media rather than in the courtroom.”

U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said later Monday that she would hold a hearing on the dueling proposals, and that Trump would not have to attend.

Prosecutors asked Friday for the protective order, which would impose rules on what Trump and his defense team can do with evidence shared by the government as they prepare for trial in the case unsealed last week.

Smith’s prosecution team has said a protective order — not unusual in criminal cases — is particularly important in Trump’s case because of his penchant for using social media. They have expressed concern that Trump could improperly share sensitive case information online that could have a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses.”

In their filing Friday seeking the order, prosecutors included a screenshot of a post from Trump’s Truth Social platform that same day in which he wrote, in all capital letters, “If you go after me, I’m coming after you!”

Trump’s lawyers said citing that post to claim there’s a danger that Trump might publish secret grand jury information was “a provocative claim when searching for headlines, perhaps, but one that falters under minimal scrutiny.”

The former president’s legal team said his post was “generalized political speech” and had nothing to do with the case. A Trump spokesperson said last week that the post was in response to “dishonest special interest groups and Super PACs.”

Trump’s lawyers, who have characterized the case as an attack on his right to free speech, told the judge that the need to protect sensitive information about the case “does not require a blanket gag order over all documents produced by the government.”

“In a trial about First Amendment rights, the government seeks to restrict First Amendment rights,” Trump’s lawyers wrote. “Worse, it does so against its administration’s primary political opponent, during an election season in which the administration, prominent party members and media allies have campaigned on the indictment and proliferated its false allegations.”

Trump’s lawyers accused President Joe Biden of trying to capitalize on the indictment in posting what they called a “thinly veiled reference” to Trump’s prosecution just hours before Trump’s court appearance last week. They included a screenshot in their court filing of a tweet from from Biden’s campaign account, which included a video of the president drinking from a mug emblazoned with “Dark Brandon” — a meme featuring Biden with lasers for eyes. The caption said, “A cup of Joe never tasted better.”

Trump’s lawyers on Saturday had asked for an extra three days to respond to prosecutors’ request for the protective order, saying they needed more time for discussion. But Chutkan who was nominated to the bench by former President Barack Obama, swiftly denied that request.

Prosecutors said that they are ready to hand over a substantial amount of evidence to Trump’s legal team and that much of it includes sensitive and confidential information.

The prosecutors’ proposed order seeks to prevent Trump and his lawyers from disclosing materials provided by the government to anyone other than people on his legal team, possible witnesses, the witnesses’ lawyers or others approved by the court. It would put stricter limits on “sensitive materials,” which prosecutors said would include grand jury witness testimony and materials obtained through sealed search warrants.

Prosecutors noted in court papers Monday that Trump has made several comments about the case on social media even since they filed their protective order request. They referenced one Trump post about former Vice President Mike Pence — a potential witness in the case — in which Trump called Pence “delusional.”

Prosecutors said Trump’s proposal aims to allow for the release of transcripts and audio recordings of witness interviews conducted outside the grand jury process.

“The Government has proposed a standard, reasonable order that will streamline the flow of discovery to the defendant while preserving the integrity of these proceedings. The defendant has proposed an unreasonable order to facilitate his plan to litigate this case in the media, to the detriment of litigating this case in the courtroom. Normal order should prevail,” prosecutors wrote.

Trump has denied any wrongdoing in the case, as well as another prosecution brought by Smith that accuses him of illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida.

He has has characterized all the cases against him as an effort to take down his 2024 campaign. His legal team has indicated that it will argue that he had relied on the advice of attorneys around him in 2020 and that Trump had a right to challenge an election that he believed had been stolen.

Trump pleaded not guilty last week to four felony counts, including conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and conspiracy to obstruct Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory. The charges could lead to a lengthy prison sentence in the event of a conviction, with the most serious counts calling for up to 20 years.

It’s the third criminal case brought this year against Trump, but the first to try to hold him responsible for his efforts to remain in power during the chaotic weeks between his election loss and the attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.

Smith also charged Trump in June with dozens of felony counts alleging the former president illegally kept classified records after he left the White House and obstructed government efforts to get them back. A new indictment recently unsealed in that case accuses Trump of scheming with Mar-a-Lago staffers to try to delete security footage sought by investigators.

Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart in that case imposed a similar protective order in June that prohibits Trump and his legal team from publicly disclosing evidence turned over to them by prosecutors without prior approval.

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Richer reported from Boston.