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From The Reporter’s Notebook
A Republican-controlled Senate once rejected Sen. Jeff Sessions’ (R-AL) nomination to a federal judgeship after several U.S. attorneys testified that he made racist comments, TPM’s Esme Cribb reported. Sessions’ nomination for Alabama’s U.S. District Court was rejected in 1986 after other U.S. attorneys testified that he was hostile to civil rights cases and once called an African-American lawyer “boy.” The attorney in question testified that Sessions also warned him to “be careful what you say to white folks.” Due to his legal background, Sessions is currently one of President-elect Donald Trump’s rumored picks to fill the position of attorney general in his incoming administration. He is also currently a member of Trump’s transition team.
Agree or Disagree?
Josh Marshall: “We’re hearing various blind quotes about a ‘knife fight’ in the [Trump] transition team. Those quotes can be a dime a dozen. But remember, the Trump campaign is build on men who are driven by aggression as ideology and instinct. It’s hardly surprising that infighting would amount to a ‘Game of Thrones’ type scenario as another source called it. But what does seem clear is that the Bannon/white nationalist wing of the administration is trying to root out mainstream Republicans, except for ones who have fully taken the Trump yoke, like Priebus.”
Say What?!
“We were saying one thing before the election and now we are saying something different.”
– The cognitive dissonance between what House GOP leaders said about Trump before the election and what they’re saying now has not been lost on some members.
BUZZING: Today in the Hive
From a TPM Prime member: “We all know Trump is the first President ever elected without first having either held elective office or served in the military. Which makes the Chief of Staff vastly more important as a position. But Reince Priebus, while he has been Chair of the RNC and before that Chair of the Wisconsin GOP, has also never held elective office. More than that, while he’s done a little campaign work in addition to his party positions, he’s never had any government role — hasn’t been an aide or staffer or consel for an elected official or committee or Executive branch, hasn’t been elected or appointed to any government post.”
Related: Ben Carson reportedly turned down an open offer to serve in Trump’s administration, citing his lack of political experience.
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What We’re Reading
Trump’s tax plan would hit single parents hard. (Forbes)
Pour one out for the women journalists covering Trump. (The Slot)
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