Editors’ Blog

Over the last couple days I’ve read a dozen or more articles and newsletter briefs which describe the purported political disaster that is the Biden classified documents issue, then explain how it bears no comparison to the ongoing Mar-a-Lago scandal and then note that the difference and lack of comparison actually don’t matter because that’s how it is. Punchbowl runs through a list of Democratic lawmakers who are barely willing to make the distinction in public, let alone defend the President from the adverse comparisons. The headline of this Dan Balz column perhaps sums it up most nicely: Biden, Trump cases aren’t alike. The political system doesn’t care.

In the past I’ve mentioned a few Twitter lists I’ve compiled to follow different on-going stories – COVID, election night analysis, the Russo-Ukraine War, et al. For the last week I’ve been following one I put together to follow the events surrounding the January 8th insurrection in Brazil.

Let me add a few caveats on this one.

It is on our radar. But since we haven’t been able to discuss it with readers yet I thought I’d share with you this email from TPM Reader EL …

If it’s not on your radar already I wanted to point you to the recent aggressive moves against higher ed by DeSantis in Florida. 

Following a detailed request to all state colleges and universities to prepare a report on any use of state funds for diversity, equity, and inclusion measures including academic offerings (example information) and his language about ‘woke’ and ‘trendy’ ideologies in his inaugural address, on Jan 6 he announced what amounted to a take over of the Board of Trustees at New College of Florida, including the provocateur Christopher Rufo (who has fanned the ‘CRT” flames among other things @realchrisrufo).

We’ve been waiting to hear what secret agreements now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy had to make with the Freedom Caucus to become speaker. Yesterday we learned one key condition. McCarthy agreed to pursue something called “prioritization” as part of their plan to push debt default later this year. On its face, prioritization is a scheme by which the U.S. government will simply stop doing various functions — food and safety, Medicaid, roads, school lunches, air traffic control, border security — to prioritize only debt interest payments and likely Social Security and the military. In other words, there’s no need to default on the debt, the argument goes. You basically just default on the U.S. government.

We’ve mentioned a few times that during Kevin McCarthy’s marathon week of votes to become speaker, George Santos was conspicuously cozying up to far-right players like Matt Gaetz, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert. Those are the kind of people you want to have on your side if you’re girding for a battle with the “fake news” media and the “GOP establishment.” It seems to be paying off. Yesterday Matt Gaetz interviewed Santos on Steve Bannon’s show and the spin was pretty clear. “One thing I know about this town, they come for the fighters,” Gaetz said opening the interview, “And they’re coming for George Santos like nothing I’ve seen in quite some time.”

David reminds us today of the universal D.C. establishment rule that to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest all special counsels, all FBI directors and all other related legal people must always be Republicans. We know the oppression ex-President Trump suffered under Republicans like James Comey, Rod Rosenstein, Chris Wray and Bob Mueller, half of whom Trump himself appointed to office. But then there’s the related rule that special counsels must always be Republicans. Republican AGs appoint Republican special counsels; and Democratic AGs appoint Republican special counsels. You’ll remember that way way back in the day the first special counsel appointed to investigate Bill Clinton was a respected and generally non-partisan Republican lawyer, Robert Fiske. He found nothing and was wrapping up his investigation. So he was replaced by the extremely partisan movement conservative lawyer Ken Starr.

Starting Monday, we’ll be sending out Morning Memo as an emailed newsletter. Sign up now and get that special feeling of having a new gadget before everyone else (sorry, no tote bags)!

This lawsuit comes just a few days after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also announced she was opening an investigation into the sham Trump electors. Nessel initially referred the matter to the DOJ but decided to open her own investigation after the House Jan. 6 committee released its report.

A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss the end of Kevin McCarthy’s speakership struggle and the beginning of a new term of Congress.

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

We now have a fifth freshman Republican Representative from New York calling on George Santos to resign from office. Now it’s Mike Lawler of New York’s 17th district, just north of New York City. He’s the one who narrowly defeated Sean Patrick Maloney, who was the head of the DCCC in 2022. As noted yesterday, the now close-to-unanimous demand from constituents and the New York GOP for Santos to get out won’t, I think, have much effect. He’s close to a wanted man in his Long Island district. In a sense it hardly matters what the folks back home are saying. His support is coming from the House GOP leadership.