“I hope I don’t take the bait because he’s going to say awful things about me, my family, etcetera,” Biden said at a virtual fundraiser. “I hope I don’t get baited into getting into a brawl with this guy because that’s the only place he’s comfortable.”

The former vice president said he expected to be able to keep his cool because “I’m used to dealing with bullies.”

Trump has frequently derided Biden’s mental acuity, saying without evidence that the Democrat intended to avoid debating him. Biden and his campaign have insisted that he intends to face Trump on the debate stage.

Biden said he hopes to use the three debates as an opportunity to hold Trump “accountable.” The forums are scheduled for Sept. 29, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, though the Trump campaign has proposed holding a fourth event, which the Biden campaign has rejected.

“I’m preparing, going over the promises he’s made and those he’s broken,” he said at the fundraiser hosted by musician Jon Bon Jovi, his wife, Dorothea, and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and his wife, Tammy.

“The place he is most uncomfortable is on the facts,” Biden added. “The place he is most uncomfortable is in the area of what he’s going to do. The place he’s most uncomfortable is knowing any policy. He is one of the most ill-informed presidents substantively that I’ve ever worked with and I’ve worked with eight of them.”

Ohio Supreme Court rejects Kanye West’s attempt to get on November ballot

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Ohio Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state’s election chief lawfully rejected Kanye West’s effort to get on the Ohio ballot.

In a 7-0 decision, the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that West and his vice presidential running-mate Michell Tidball failed to comply with state law.

Last month, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose determined the signature and information on West’s nominating petition and statement of candidacy did not match the documents actually used for petitions signed by voters.

“A signature is the most basic form of authentication and an important, time-honored, security measure to ensure that a candidate aspires to be on the ballot and that a voter is being asked to sign a legitimate petition,” LaRose said in a news release. “There is no doubt that the West nominating petition and declaration of candidacy failed to meet the necessary threshold for certification.”

—The Columbus Dispatch (Columbus, Ohio)

Crew member aboard 20-ton cocaine cargo ship admits role in record $1 billion Philly port drug bust

PHILADELPHIA — A Montenegrin ship’s electrician became the third crew member of an international cargo vessel to admit his role in smuggling the record-breaking, 20-ton cocaine haul seized by federal authorities at the Port of Philadelphia last year.

Aleksandar Kavaja, 27, pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy charges and told a federal judge he and three other crewmates aboard the MSC Gayane were recruited by drug smugglers in their native country before the ship even set out on its journey

His guilty plea is the latest sign of progress in an investigation into one of the largest cocaine busts in U.S. history.

Since the June 17, 2019, discovery, the probe has spanned from southern Europe and South and Central America to the Packer Avenue Marine Terminal in South Philadelphia. But after announcing their record haul — discovered hidden in shipping containers among legitimate goods bound for destinations across the globe — at a splashy news conference where law enforcement officials posed for photos next to stacks of cocaine, the probe has largely been carried out quietly.

At least seven of the Gayane’s crew of roughly 20 were arrested, though most of the court filings in their case remain under court seal. And families of the men, mostly in Montenegro and Samoa, have reported difficulty finding out what has happened to them since they were booked into the Federal Detention Center in Philadelphia over a year ago.

Appearing in a public court hearing Thursday for the first time since shortly after his arrest in June, Kavaja responded with clipped, accented answers in English to a series of questions from U.S. District Judge Harvey Bartle III.

He described signing on with the Switzerland-based shipping conglomerate Mediterranean Shipping Co. (MSC) soon after leaving high school and training as an electrician aboard cargo ships like the Gayane.

Though Kavaja said he’d been recruited while still in the Balkans to help smuggle the drugs aboard, neither he nor the court documents in his case shed any light Thursday on who was ultimately behind the shipment.

—The Philadelphia Inquirer

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