Rep. Daryl Metcalfe called fellow state legislator Brian Sims a ‘lying homosexual’. After Metcalfe played the victim over the response to his language, Sims called Metcalfe “Rep. Snowflake McRacist”.

It was universally agreed when President Trump nominated him, apparently with no vetting or preparation, that Ronny Jackson was woefully unqualified to serve as Secretary of Veterans Affairs. But he also appeared to be widely respected as the White House doctor who has served not only President Trump but also President Obama. Now accusations are emerging of excessive drinking, creating a hostile work environment and ‘improperly dispensing’ medication. Read More

Why did the pro-Trump National Enquirer (or technically its parent company) put out a special edition celebrating the achievements of the pro-Trump (and Jared’s best pal) Crown Prince to coincide with his visit last month?

Fun list of assorted bullcrap (Prime access) Scott Pruitt wasted your money on.

Following up on Sean Hannity’s claim that he discussed real estate questions with Michael Cohen, The Guardian uncovered that Hannity presides over a real estate empire valued at at least $100 million. This is not surprising. Hannity reportedly makes $36 million a year. He says he invests most of his money in real estate. If he’s making that much and investing in real estate, it would be surprising if his portfolio were any smaller. Read More

Roger Ailes, October 16th, 1968, campaign staff working for candidate Richard Nixon.

I want to thank everyone who has subscribed to TPM Prime and especially our new members who subscribed to Prime this year. We have signed up over 2,800 new members this year, bringing us to just over 26,000 total members. We need to get above 30,000 this year. I wanted to take this opportunity to remind everyone that it is Prime and subscription revenues that have allowed TPM to buck the tide of so many other digital publications retrenching or laying off staff or folding altogether. On the contrary, we’ve managed to continue our modest, incremental growth. That is because of the more durable and robust subscription-focused business model we’ve built together over the last three years.

Subscription revenues are now approaching half our budget. Many now subscribe to Prime because of the writing and reporting available only to subscribers. But it’s Prime that makes all our public reporting and coverage possible too. It’s what sends Tierney Sneed to Kansas to cover the Kris Kobach trial. It’s what sends Cam Joseph to Alabama to cover the Jones-Moore senate race. It’s what sends Allegra Kirkland down to the federal courthouse in Lower Manhattan to cover the Michael Cohen raid hearings.

If you’re a regular TPM reader and value what we do but haven’t subscribed yet, please take a moment to subscribe today. It’s just 14 cents a day. It’s super important and you will love the additional reporting, commentary, and insights that come with your subscription. (Also a lot fewer ads!) Just click right here to sign up. It’s super important and it’s working.

Allegra Kirkland sums up all the critical developments in the Russia probe in this week’s Weekly Primer (Prime access).

Also see this week’s Weekly Primer’s on Voting Rights/Democracy and the Fight for Obamacare.

There are a host of revelations and confirmations in the Comey memos released yesterday evening. I want to zero in on one point: The President repeatedly and demonstrably lied about his November 2013 trip to Moscow. This is the visit in which the ‘pee tape’ was purportedly recorded. There’s no evidence in the memos that that tape exists or that the President spent the night with prostitutes. But again, he clearly and repeatedly lies about the trip itself, specifically how long he was there. This seems highly significant to me.

Let’s look at the details. Read More

In covering any election, it’s easy to get hung up on winners and losers. After all,
that’s kind of the point.

But if we’re interested in what this year’s special elections tell us about November, the winner doesn’t matter much. A very red district swinging 20 points toward Dems compared to the last election, even while Republicans narrowly hold on, is a much worse sign for the GOP than a more competitive district swinging five points and leading to a Dem pickup.

All this explains why, even though Dems are likely to lose a special election for a congressional seat in a deep red Arizona district next week, they’re feeling pretty good about it. Cam Joseph has the details.