Today is Wednesday, June 7, 2023. Christmas might be coming early this year, most probably sometime this month, as the Justice Department recently informed their quarry, Donald J. Dumpf, that he is a target in a federal investigation into the alleged mishandling of classified documents that broke last year, sources familiar with the matter told CNN, a significant sign that prosecutors are moving closer to indicting the former president. This could be the beginning of the end then for the insurrectionist who sought to derail democracy in his self-aggrandizing attempt to declare himself an autocrat for life. This new development is covered in an online CNN article by Caitlin Collins, Paula Reid, Sara Murray, Jeremy Herb, and Kristen Holmes entitled “Justice Department informs Trump he is target in classified documents probe, sources say.”

As you might know, Dumpf’s legal team met with DOJ officials, including Smith, about the investigation on Monday. Even though the special counsel, Jack Smith, was in the room, it was reported that he did not say anything beyond greeting those there in the meeting. The meeting was supposed to focus on Dumpf’s legal team providing allegations of prosecutorial misconduct, but it was truly apparent that the former president’s team was pitching bullshit to these seasoned prosecutors and no one fell for their empty strategy.

“Smith’s investigation into the potential mishandling of classified materials and possible obstruction of justice has appeared to be nearing the final stages for weeks now.”

Prosecutors have been busy questioning dozens of witnesses over the past several months, including senior Dumpf aides and employees at his Florida resort. Most of those witnesses have appeared before a grand jury in Washington, D.C., but in recent weeks, a federal grand jury in Florida has heard testimony from multiple witnesses.

A critical witness in this case, former White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has testified to a federal grand jury as part of Smith’s ongoing investigations into the former president’s handling of sensitive documents as well as efforts to overturn the 2020 election, another source familiar with the matter said.

The second biggest story today comes out of Canada as wildfires in the eastern part of the country has resulted in smoky conditions across the Northeast, Midwest, and Southeast all throughout yesterday and today. The smoke has been widespread and alerts include cities such as New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Charlotte, Detroit, and Indianapolis. More than 9 million acres have been charred by wildfires in Canada so far this year -about 15 times the normal burned area for this point in the year.

This story appears in a Daily News article today by Josephine Stratman and Brian Niemietz entitled “Big Apple gets smoked: City air quality hits hazardous levels from Canadian wildfires; weather pattern may befoul skies for days.”

Fires in Quebec and Nova Scotia are to blame for the dangerous air. The National Weather Service calls for widespread haze and patchy smoke over New York last night, with the possibility of air quality being affected throughout the week.

This haze is being viewed as a health threat by pulmonologist Barbara Mann, a doctor at Mount Sinai-National Jewish Respiratory Institute, who warned that those exposed to the smog could experience some chest tightness, eye watering, or shortness of breath. She advises, quite rationally, to limit exercise to early in the morning or later in the evening when the sun isn’t as strong, and unequivocally no exercise for those with preexisting conditions like asthma. So young people and those with respiratory problems will be particularly hard hit by the haze.

Since this environmental anomaly can be with us for several days, I will have to cancel my appearance tomorrow in Greenwich Village to participate in a $35 Pride walking tour starting at Charlton Street, which is near Houston Street, as I checked. This tour would have sought to “explore queer life in the 70 years before the birth of the modern gay rights movement,” according to the description in the Pride brochure handed to me on Saturday after watching the Queens Pride parade with our friend “Gene.” During this walk, the tourist would have learned about “semi-secretive societies, wild 19th-century bars and their fairies, local friendly hangouts, and safe spaces, the beginning of off-off Broadway theater, some overlooked characters in NYC queer history, and an important protest at another Village bar.” It sounded oh so very interesting, but this smoky pall had to intervene. Drat! At least I’ll save some money then by not going on this walking tour. Oh well, there are so many other queer activities planned for the entire month, so I should be able to select something else to do between today and the end of the month.

As for today, I have to say that I experienced no ill effects from the haze on Metropolitan Avenue when I drove to Royal Collectibles to pick up three comic books that were waiting for me in my folder. I could observe the difference in air quality outside when I walked to CVS and to the library up the block, but I experienced no shortness of breath or watery eyes, thank God. I did observe more people wearing masks this time.

As for my being absent yesterday from this space, I am happy to report that the reading club meeting went off very well, even though I was afraid I wouldn’t remember much of what I read in Go Tell It on the Mountain and that I would sit, mute, the entire 90 minutes. Elliot got into the act when he admitted he didn’t read the novel but that he was very impressed with the level of discussion heard in the room. And I was too; everyone who participated in discussing the book stated very intelligent impressions of the book and its author which made me admire the group in general. The age range of those in attendance, from what I could gather, ranged from the 30s to the 70s, and everything in between. There were a handful of men who predominated in the conversation, but it wasn’t so obvious that only one or two members hogged the discussion. At one point, the sky outside darkened so, which must have been the first indication of this “gift” from Canada infiltrating our atmosphere. I originally thought it signaled a heavy downpour, but that wasn’t the case.

After the meeting, a group of us trundled off to Julius’ Bar, on West 10th Street, which is considered the city’s oldest gay bar. Reading its history on Google, I found out that the bar was popular way back in the 30s with sports figures and celebrities. However, it was not considered a gay bar until the 60s when members of the Mattachine Society decided to show up for a “Sip-in.” Here in the 1960s, the New York State Liquor Authority (SLA) would not allow bars to serve drinks to known or suspected gay men or lesbians. So this groundbreaking organization created the Sip-In protest where a group of gay people would show up in different bars, followed by members of the press, then announce their sexual orientation, and challenge the SLA regulations by ordering a drink. These individuals had to be exceedingly brave as to engage in such a demonstration in which their sexuality, if known, could be so easily exposed in the press where they could handily lose their jobs or their homes.

Another significant fact about Julius here is that the National Park Service approved the bar’s nomination to the National Register of Historic Places in April 2016. The bar has also been on the New York State Register of Historic Places since December 2015.

A culinary fact about the bar you might not know is that the best cheeseburgers are served there, along with the usual number of alcoholic beverages.

Julius’ Bar also served as a movie set for The Boys in the Band (1970, 2020), the television show, Pose (2018-2021), and the film Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018) starring Melissa McCarthy and Richard E. Grant. I’ve seen this movie twice since I loved the feel of the production and the performance of McCarthy who received a best-actress nomination in 2019 for her role as real-life author Lee Israel who cooks up a scheme to forge letters by famous writers and sell them to bookstores and collectors for a hefty price. There are many scenes in a local bar, which I now know was Julius’ Bar, in that McCarthy’s character is a hard-drinking, frustrated writer who cannot sell anything in the 1990s when the film’s action is set. If you haven’t seen the film, I recommend that you do.

I forgot to say that Elliot went home while I followed the boys into the bar. I stayed quite awhile, talking to two guys, mostly. Since I’m a teetotaler, I was happy to nurse the wall rather than a drink in my hand. No one really cared. The last person I spoke to, a man I’ll call “Fred,” revealed to me that he lived in Forest Hills. What a coincidence, I thought. So the two of us eventually made our way back to 6th Avenue and to the F train. We got off at the same stop, 71st Avenue, in Forest Hills. We then half-committed ourselves to getting together for coffee or whatever and then said our farewells. I must have come home close to 11 p.m.

So let’s all have an indictment watch party for the Orange Blob. Who thinks it will come this week?

Stay safe and be well.