A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Gerrymandering? Why I Never!
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) is Not Pleased with New York’s new congressional district map that was drawn and passed by the state’s Democrat-controlled legislature on Wednesday. Under those new lines, Malliotakis’ district would merge with a deeply liberal area of Brooklyn – and needless to say, that’s going to be a problem for her.
- Malliotakis accused Democrats of trying to “tilt the scale” during a Fox Business interview. “We know one thing from the Democrats this year: It is that if they can’t win by the rules, they’ll change the rules,” the Republican complained.
- It’s too bad that there wasn’t any legislation that Malliotakis could’ve voted for that would’ve prevented this from happening.
Thousands Of US Troops To Be Deployed To Eastern Europe
Biden has officially ordered the deployment of about 3,000 American troops to Germany, Romania and Poland over the next several days amid the growing threat of a Russian invasion of the Ukraine border, Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby announced yesterday.
- 2,000 of those troops are being sent from Fort Bragg in North Carolina to Europe. The other 1,000 U.S. troops are currently based in Germany but will be moved to Romania.
- The troops will not fight in Ukraine and their deployment is temporary, Kirby said, adding that the forces are there to “ensure the robust defense of our NATO allies.”
More Than A Dozen Civilians In Syria Reportedly Killed In US Raid
At least 13 civilians were left dead after U.S. special forces launched a counterterrorism raid in northwest Syria overnight, residents and first responders said on Thursday.
Dem Sen. Luján Expected To Return Next Month
A senior aide to Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-NM), who is currently hospitalized after suffering a stroke last week, told CNBC and the Associated Press that the lawmaker is expected to be back in the Senate in four to six weeks. Until then, Democrats will only have 49 senators available to vote.
National Archives To Turn Over Pence Records To Jan. 6 Panel
National Archivist David Ferriero sent Trump a letter on Tuesday informing him that the agency will hand over former Vice President Mike Pence’s records, which Trump had claimed to be privileged, to the House Jan. 6 Select Committee.
- The Pence documents will be delivered to the committee on March 3 unless the courts stop the agency, Ferriero said.
- It’s not hard to predict what the ex-president’s next move will be: A bid to get the courts to stop the agency.
Jeffrey Clark Meets With Jan. 6 Panel
The former top Justice Department official who plotted to use the DOJ to help Trump steal the 2020 election sat down with the Jan. 6 committee, which had moved toward holding him in contempt in December, for almost two hours on Wednesday.
- Clark told the panel in December that he planned on pleading the Fifth. It’s unclear whether he ended up doing so yesterday.
- Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who’s been indicted on sedition charges in connection to the Capitol insurrection, also talked to the committee yesterday, according to his lawyer.
Roy Moore Defamation Trial Ends In Defeat On Both Sides
Leigh Corfman’s defamation lawsuit against failed Alabama Senate candidate Roy Moore — whom Corfman has credibly accused of molesting her when she was 14 — and Moore’s counter lawsuit were both tossed out by an Alabama jury on Wednesday.
- Corfman sued Moore for defamation in 2018 after he accused her of lying about her allegations. Moore insisted that he’d never met Corfman and sued her back.
- Corfman’s lawsuit only sought a declaration from Moore that he had defamed her. The ex-Senate candidate was after monetary damages in his defamation suit.
WTF Reads Of The Day
“Furries Are Leading the War Against a Book-Banning Mississippi Mayor” – Vice
The Groundhog Hath Spoken
Sorry everyone, expect six more weeks of winter: Punxsutawney Phil saw his damn shadow yesterday.
- It’s pronounced “punk-saw-taw-nee.” You probably already knew that, but I didn’t until I looked up clips of local news anchors covering the celebration on YouTube.
- Not all of us are Groundhog Day buffs, okay?
Anyway, someone showed up at the celebration in Pennsylvania with this:
I absolutely love it. In the era of “F*ck Your Feelings,” there’s a poster cheering on Phil — declaring faith in his groundhog powers, giving him a lil lightsaber to emphasize the Phorce within him.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
Reposted
Wait a sec… didn’t TFG destroy ISIS with his own stubby fingers?
I’ve never understood how a groundhog’s action in Pennsylvania is relevant over the entire US.
Rump was very effective on the Iran file as well….
Iran has advanced its nuclear program so much since the Trump administration pulled out of a deal with the country in 2018 that it is now too late to bring back the original terms of the pact, The Wall Street Journal reports. U.S. officials cited by the Journal have said a race is on to secure a new deal with Tehran, otherwise Washington will be powerless to respond to any sudden nuclear buildup. One of the major concerns, according to the report, is the breakout period that Iran would need to develop fuel for a bomb. The 2015 pact that was scrapped by former President Trump was based on a breakout period of about 12 months, during which time the U.S. and other Western powers would be able to respond. But Iran has picked up the pace so much that the breakout period is now down to only a few weeks, according to U.S. officials. “As we have said, we have only a few weeks to conclude an understanding, after which the pace of Iran’s nuclear advances will make return to the JCPOA impossible,” a State Department spokesperson said of the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
That’s depressing…
Never-the-less… six more weeks of Winter. I don’t make the rules.