This is the 2023 D.C. disaster no one is talking about but should be.

I’ve been reading various commentary in recent weeks about the rightward turn by big elements of the Silicon Valley tech community. It’s a complex story with various roots. But at a macro level a significant part of it comes down to something like political physics. Tech became extremely wealthy and extremely powerful, and when government started looking at Big Tech with a more critical eye a lot of the tech people … well, they didn’t like it. That’s not terribly surprising. When you’re used to being a master of the universe and then suddenly a bureaucrat who makes less than $200,000 a year comes asking questions or says you can’t do something, that can seem a little weird and annoying. And your political outlook, if you had one, can start to change. This reminded me of a decade-old episode in the history of American political economy which I watched unfold at the time and is relevant to this discussion.

Do you remember SOPA and the activism against it?

Our document for the day is this email released under the Freedom of Information Act. It is an email dated January 13th, 2021 in which the writer informs the then associate deputy director of the FBI, Paul Abbate, how a substantial portion of FBI personnel were in sympathy with the January 6th insurrectionists.

Just before the Jan. 6 committee unanimously voted to subpoena Donald Trump for testimony, we also learned that the Supreme Court had refused to hear the Trump team’s appeal in the Mar-a-Lago records case. The court unanimously sided with the Justice Department, which asked the High Court to not interfere in a lower court’s decision to keep certain documents out of the special master’s review.

Not a great day for Trump.

My colleagues Josh Kovensky and David Kurtz hosted a live Twitter discussion just after the hearing ended this afternoon, breaking down both big bits of news. We recorded it, in case you were busy. Listen here:

Our Josh Kovensky and David Kurtz are discussing today’s hearing news live as we speak. Join now if you’re free. We’ll have a recording up later in case you missed it.

Link here:

TPM Reader TK responds to the debate we’re carrying on below …

A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss key Senate races and a recent Supreme Court order that’ll add some chaos to the mix.

You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.

There are many striking parts to this short video. The one that sticks with me is the part where Pelosi says what amounts to, or I interpret as, “let’s pretend this was the White House or the Pentagon or some other building you gave a crap about.”

Here’s more extended video which is very worth watching in full.

You knew the Jan. 6 committee had to have another card up its sleeve for its last hearing before the midterm elections (and perhaps its last one ever). The previews the committee provided of what the hearing would focus on were generally underwhelming. But we got a hint at the top of the hearing from chair Bernie Thompson: This is not technically a hearing but a business meeting of the committee, meaning the committee can conduct votes, Thompson said. Now NBC is reporting the committee plans to vote to subpoena former President Trump himself.

The Sheriff in Bexar County (San Antonio) Texas has certified that the 50 migrants Ron DeSantis’ team hoodwinked into being sent to Martha’s Vineyard were the victims of a crime. “Based upon the claims of migrants being transported from Bexar County under false pretenses, we are investigating this case as possible Unlawful Restraint.”