Morning Memo: Trump-Appointed IG Allegedly Put Off Probe Into Admin’s Retaliation Against Official

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

When The Watchdog Needs To Be Watched

The inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security allegedly stonewalled until after the election an investigation into the demotion of a senior intelligence official who had criticized then-President Donald Trump, the New York Times reports.

• Brian Murphy, a former intel chief at the department, reportedly filed a complaint in September, alleging that he had been demoted out of retaliation when he raised concerns about Trump distorting intelligence reports for political purposes.
• Inspector General Joseph Cuffari allegedly put off investigating the allegations for weeks until after the election.
• Cuffari’s alleged slow-walking continued even after the election, with limits allegedly imposed on how much time investigators could interview people.
• The inspector general’s office demurred when asked for comment by the New York Times.

What Will Weisselberg Do?

“Trump’s Accountant Confronts a Loyalty Test” – Bloomberg

GOP Senators Wipe Their Crocodile Tears Over Infrastructure

Political theater ain’t pretty. First, GOP senators extravagantly lauded the bipartisan infrastructure bill. Then, they pretended to be shocked(!) by Biden’s refusal bend to their will on a separate reconciliation bill. Now, they’re getting back on board with the bipartisan legislation.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), despite ranting that a Republican would be a “fucking idiot” to still support the bipartisan bill, walked back his comment. He told Playbook that Biden’s clarification last week that he was not threatening a veto “had the intended effect.”

Federal Executions Halted

Attorney General Merrick Garland has put a moratorium on federal executions to examine the previous administration’s borderline bloodthirsty policies on the death penalty that led to an unprecedented rush of executions during Trump’s presidency.

Culture War Misfire

Even young Republicans aren’t fully buying into their party’s fearmongering over critical race theory: 60% of college Republicans oppose state legislatures restricting how public schools teach history, according to a new poll by Generation Lab/Axios.

In Case You Missed It

“Sen. Kyrsten Sinema’s former staffers detail a ‘demoralizing’ office environment where they were afraid to ‘mess up in any way’ while working for the Arizona Democrat” – Insider

Scoundrel Of The Day:

A cop tried to make sure a video of him confronting an anti-police brutality protester couldn’t be posted on YouTube by playing Taylor Swift music while he was being recorded, believing that doing so would ensure the video would be taken down for copyright violations.

• Here’s the video, which you can watch on YouTube:

Behind Closed Doors

Fox News host and top Trump ally Tucker Carlson has told several people that he voted for rapper Kanye West in 2020, according to Politico, which pointed out that Carlson would’ve had to have written in West’s name since the celebrity didn’t make it on to Florida’s ballot.

Noem Takes Incoming Fire Over National Guard Deployment Stunt

The New York Times joins the party on South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R) use of private donor funding to deploy a whopping 50 guardsman to the Texas border region.

• One of the mere three Democrats in the state Senate is accusing the GOP governor of “setting up our Guardsmen to be mercenaries.” “These are not troops for hire by anyone who calls the governor,” he told the Times. “They are not hers to dispatch for partisan political purposes.”
• A former Air Force lawyer described Noem’s gambit as “basically money laundering” that’s “turning the state National Guard into a mercenary force.”

Newsom Recall Effort Lurches Forward

The recall election of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) has been scheduled for Sept. 14, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis announced.

Viva Paul LePage!

Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage has filed to run for his old seat against incumbent Janet Mills (D). Oh, the memories of LePage’s glory days.

You Should Probably Stop Talking, Bro

Eric Trump, who serves as the Trump Organization’s executive vice president, went on Fox News last night to blab about how the fringe benefits the company’s CFO Allen Weisselberg enjoyed (but allegedly failed to pay taxes on) were completely normal and fine.

Does the lawyer for the indicted company that Eric is an EVP at know he's on TV? pic.twitter.com/7udDv0VO41

— Andrew Feinberg (@AndrewFeinberg) July 2, 2021

Please Clean Up Daddy’s Messes

Republicans are asking Biden to reverse Trump’s disastrous trade policies that led to a trade war, which the GOP lawmakers now characterize as “self-inflicted harm.”

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