A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Wait, Wut?
Special Counsel Jack Smith revealed in a new filing last night that there is a federal investigation ongoing into social media threats against a potential witness in the Mar-a-Lago case.
Not much was revealed about the nature of the threats, the witness, or the status of the investigation. The investigation is being handled not by Smith, he said, but by a U.S. attorney’s office. ABC News was the first to report on the new filing.
The reason Smith was forced to reveal the investigation is that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon is taking a hard line on what discovery Smith must hand over to Trump and on whether Smith can file sealed and/or redacted documents in the case to protect sensitivities like ongoing investigations.
Cannon ruled partially against Smith on these issues earlier in the week, forcing his hand. Smith’s filing last night alerted Cannon that he’ll be filing a motion today for her to reconsider her earlier rulings, but even to do that he wants to attach more information about the ongoing investigation into witness threats to the motion ex parte and under seal. Trump is opposed to allowing Smith to do that.
Cannon has created a box for Smith and perhaps for herself by taking such a hard line. But it’s consistent with her defense-friendly approach throughout this case. For more on the mess Cannon is making, I defer to Joyce Vance.
Biden Special Counsel Report Is Done
Attorney General Merrick Garland confirmed in a letter to Congress that Special Counsel Robert Hur has completed his report on President Biden’s mishandling of classified documents during his vice presidency. It will be released once the White House counsel’s office has completed a review for anything protected by executive privilege. The White House expects to be done with its review this week.
Happy Disqualification Clause Day!
Supreme Court oral arguments in the Disqualification Clause case out of Colorado are scheduled for 10 a.m. ET.
The TPM team will be covering it in all its dimensions, including this live blog.
Some additional reading as you settle in to listen:
- Timothy Snyder: “Trump disqualified himself from office by taking part in an insurrection and thereby seeking to substitute the rule of fear for the rule of law.”
- The Key Questions: Version I and Version II
- Meet The Lawyers: Version I and Version II
If Not Now, Then When?
I’ve been somewhat ambivalent about the Disqualification Clause, not because I worry it’s anti-democratic or will spark backlash, but because it’s not entirely clear to me how this was intended to work. Ambivalent doesn’t mean against its use here, just curious and open-minded. As a result, I am as interested in the Supreme Court’s rationale as the ultimate outcome.
But what I keep coming back to is this point that Judge Luttig makes so well: If this isn’t a proper application of the Disqualification Clause, then what it is? The worst possible decision by the Supreme Court would be one that renders the Disqualification Clause impotent and inapplicable to any situation.
If Section 3 does not disqualify the former president for this insurrection against the Constitution of the United States, then Section 3 does not disqualify any person at all.
— @judgeluttig (@judgeluttig) February 8, 2024
A Threat Disguised As A Legal Argument
Steve Vladeck and Lee Kovarsky: The bad-faith argument against good-faith accountability for Trump
Senate GOP Won’t Let House GOP Corner The Market On Crazy
Perhaps its a sign the the enfeebled Mitch McConnell (R-KY) doesn’t have the same iron grip on his conference as before. Maybe it’s just another consequence of Trump wrecking the GOP as political party. But whatever the case, Senate Republicans are looking every bit as foolish as their House counterparts, at least this week.
Senate Republicans Wednesday voted en masse against the Ukraine aid-border package they had insisted on. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) started the process of bringing up a standlone foriegn aid package for a vote today, and now some GOP senators are insisting on border amendments. It’s crazymaking, and they can’t be satisfied.
Please Name Names
The Senate GOP craziness has exacted a high price on lead Republican negotiator James Lankford (R-OK):
House GOP Refuses To Yield Crazy To The Senate GOP
They’re so mad, y’all:
So Simple Yet So True
The most elegant way to understand the dysfunction that has reigned in the House for the last 9 months–and will prevail for the foreseeable future–is that no policy or political equilibrium exists that would make Democrats mad enough to make Rs happy.
— Liam Donovan (@LPDonovan) January 13, 2024
Preach, Brother, Preach
Good Read
NYT Mag: How Mark Meadows Became the Least Trusted Man in Washington
2024 Ephemera
- MT-Sen: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to buck the Senate GOP and endorse Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) over Republican Tim Sheehy in the GOP primary to decide who will challenge Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT).
- WI-Pres: Biden and Trump are tied 49-49 among registered voters in Wisconsin, according to a new Marquette University Law School Poll.
- MI-Pres: Biden White House sends convoy of officials to Michigan to try to placate Muslim and Arab American leaders.
For The Record
Police have determined that the stabbing Sunday of a Palestinian American in Austin was a hate crime.
Eeesh …
TPM’s Kate Riga: Florida Chief Justice Pushes Fetal Personhood At Argument For Abortion Amendment
Iceland Eruption Resumes
A new rift opened on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula this morning, the third eruption in the area in as many months:
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Easy peay losing is winning
Laura Ingraham’s Brazen New Boast Causes Critics’ Heads To Spin (msn.com)
Fox News personality Laura Ingraham’s bold declaration about Republicans being on “a winning roll” raised eyebrows on social media Wednesday.
The Donald Trump-devoted “Ingraham Angle” host urged viewers of her prime-time show to ignore the failure of House Republicans’ baseless bid to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
Instead, she instructed them to remain upbeat.
“Don’t let the Democrat media machine, not for one second, have you believe that just because the House came up short in impeaching Mayorkas, that we’re not on a winning roll here,” she said. “Because we are.”
Aileen Cannon = Stepford Judge
We most certainly haven’t heard the end of this.
I gotta go to physical therapy. Look up your own heroic wildlife!
Update
Mark Meadows Did Get Immunity For Testifying Against Trump | Crooks and Liars
Specifically, Draper says that court documents still under seal show that “Meadows did in fact receive an immunity order, signed on March 20, 2023, by Chief Judge James E. Boasberg of the District Court in Washington, to testify before a federal grand jury” that had been investigating Trump’s efforts to illegally remain in power after losing the 2024 presidential election.
Draper believes that this testimony gives Trump “reason for Trump to be fretful about Meadows” because "Meadows did not simply honor a subpoena request with a single obligatory interview with federal prosecutors; rather, he spoke expansively to them and then, the next day, testified before the grand jury for approximately six hours."
Pray for Mojo:
And propers to Don Henley for this: