I mentioned a few days ago that the most compelling part of the Jan 6 committee hearings so far for me has been the description of the particulars of how the breach of the Capitol complex happened. The story is usually presented as something like this. There was a big group of angry and potentially violent Trumpers. There was a much smaller group, maybe as few as a few dozens of Proud Boys and Oath Keepers with a more focused ideology, a clearer plan of the insurrection and so forth. They were both more eager to get violent and had a lot more experience getting violent. But they were in the extreme minority of the people up there. So even though they’re now the ones facing serious charges including seditious conspiracy they are only a small part of what happened.

We are getting really close to closing the first week of the TPM Journalism Fund drive at $125,000. That will be more than half way to our goal of $200,000. Can you help us close the week strong? Just click right here. We’re super close.

Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Secretary of State who Trump threatened and demanded “find” 11,000 votes is going to testify before the Jan 6th committee on Tuesday.

TPM alum Greg Sargent has a column up at the Post looking at the work of experts in the field of democratic breakdown. Not collapse — that’s a bit different. We hear a lot of predictions about a coming U.S. civil war. But if the analog is the civil war of the 1860s that’s never been realistic. If nothing else the political geography doesn’t work. This would rather be an era of chronic political violence and instability: with episodes of paramilitary violence often egged on by elected leaders, assassinations, bombings, political crises, claimed stolen elections and actual stolen elections.

You’ve gotten us off to a solid first week of our TPM Journalism Fund drive. We’re hoping to get to the $125,000 milestone by the end of today. That’s 5/8 of the way toward our goal. This drive is really important for TPM and, as I’ve said, if you’re already a member it’s just a single click. Super easy. If you’ve been planning on contributing or considering it, please make today the day. Just take a moment right now. Like this actual moment and click right here. As I said, it’s just one click. Super easy.

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There he was, on tape if not in person: Bill Stepien, the very campaign manager of Donald Trump’s 2020 reelection campaign, explaining calmly and matter of factly that President Trump lost, he and the candidate knew he had lost and every conspiracy theory and false claim and desperate attempt to stay in power was in the words of Bill Barr, bullshit. It wasn’t even begrudging nor presented as an admission. Just matter of fact.

I’m not sure I agree with all of this. But TPM Reader JB captures an important part of what’s happening in these hearings.

Politically, the best thing about hearings is the optics.   So important.

Dems are in charge.  They sit on high and Trumpers come before them, either in person or video, and are asked to explain their behavior in public. 

I want to again thank everyone who has contributed so far to our TPM Journalism Fund drive. Just a few moments ago we hit a big milestone, half way toward our ambitious but critical goal of raising $200,000. So thank you. We know from experience that the second half is a much heavier lift than the first, just in the nature of things. But we feel good about being here on the third day after we publicly announced the drive. If you’ve seen our announcements and have been planning to contribute, please make today the day. If you’re already a member it’s literally just one click. Super easy. Just click right here.

Two new big stories out tonight (here and here) make even more clear that Ginni Thomas, the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, was actively involved in the effort to overthrow the American republic. While they don’t say so directly they make it seem overwhelmingly likely that Thomas was feeding Trump lawyer John Eastman details of the internal deliberations of the Court. They also show that Trump lawyers hoped a show of violence on January 6th would cow the Court into accepting one of Trump’s challenges.

I know from past experience that when we do a drive of any sort there’s a large group of readers who’ve already decided they’re going to join or contribute. But only a fraction get to it, at least at first. It means stopping the progress of your day for a moment, maybe getting out your wallet. It’s easier to do it some time later. Believe me, I’m the worst offender on this front. If that’s you, if you’re thinking about contributing to our drive or have already decided that you probably will, please make it today. Just take a moment right now. Like literally right now. If you’re a member, it’s literally just one click. It will take you 30 seconds. Not exaggerating. Just click right here.

It’s easy. It will immediately boost the mood of everyone working at TPM. And it will provide a critical boost for our organization. Here’s more on what the drive is about and why it’s so important.

Thank you.