A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
A Never-Ending Stream Of Disinformation
A year and half after Republicans captured the House majority, I’m still not sure it has sunk in how all-encompassing their effort has been to yoke the powers of the lower chamber to the Trump Republican Party’s 2024 electoral aims.
In particular, House Republicans have done a phenomenal job of taking advantage of the existing constructs and conceits of traditional journalistic outlets to peddle their disinformation campaign.
“Investigations,” “contempt of Congress,” and “impeachment” have been rolled out one after the other by the GOP House. We know the predictably slavish and uncritical amplification these efforts get in right-wing media. But more mainstream news outlets continue to be hobbled by their own institutional and competitive imperatives to cover these House machinations with the same breathless procedural myopia that they would bring to their news coverage if these were legitimate legislative efforts grounded in facts, evidence, and some modicum of good faith.
The House GOP keeps running the same tricks up the flagpole, and mainstream outlets continue to salute. The latest gambit is to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for failing to turn over to Congress audio recordings of President Biden’s interview with Special Counsel Robert Hur in his classified documents investigation.
But the particular flavor of the latest gambit hardly matters, or is at least secondary to the broader pattern. Institutionally, it remains incredibly difficult for news outlets to conclude that these are bad faith efforts and adjust their coverage accordingly. Even harder still seems to be placing these efforts in the larger disinformation ecosystem created by Trump Republicans and contextualizing each episode accordingly.
Good disinformation coverage exists at the mainstream outlets. The WaPo published a strong example just yesterday. But the disinformation coverage tends to exist separate and apart from the political coverage, especially Hill coverage, which is its own beast and operates according to long-held traditions.
The James Comers and Jim Jordans of the world have been churning out disinformation at a staggering rate since even before they won the majority. But each “story” they package exists in its own little universe in the media coverage instead of as another in the long and never-ending stream of disinformation.
That larger pattern tells its own story, one that is a much clearer distillation of the House GOP effort to tear down and delegitimize Joe Biden, his administration, their top officials, and their agenda items while elevating Donald Trump. It’s going to continue right on through Election Day but without the coverage ever coming to grips with what’s actually happening.
A For Effort
It’s impossible to debunk each and every falsehood, half truth, and conspiracy ginned up by MAGA world — and that’s largely the point of their exercise. But MSNBC’s Lisa Rubin does a nice job deconstructing the false notion that President Biden was pulling the strings on the prosecution of Trump in the New York hush-money case.
In The Aftermath Of Tina Peters
A really good read from TPM’s Khaya Himmelman on the effort to repair the damage that former Mesa County, Colorado clerk Tina Peters did while spewing lies about the 2020 election.
‘Our Work Continues’
I wrote at length yesterday about the Hunter Biden conviction, but let me note one other bit of news from yesterday. In his post-verdict news conference, Hunter Biden’s bespoke Special Counsel David Weiss said, “Our work continues.” That suggests that even with one trial done and another scheduled for the fall in California, the investigation of Hunter Biden is not done. Whether that’s FARA-related or connected to other business dealings is not clear.
Bannon Makes Final Push To Avoid Prison
With his July 1 deadline to report to prison looming, former Trump White House aide Steve Bannon filed an emergency motion with the DC Circuit to allow him to remain free while he seek Supreme Court review of his case.
House Dems Prep Resistance Playbook
Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., is spearheading a task force to oppose Project 2025, the plan crafted by conservative groups to replace much of the current federal bureaucracy with reliably right-wing personnel and pursue dramatic policy changes through administrative fiat.
AP:
Kevin Roberts, the president of The Heritage Foundation and Heritage Action for America, scoffed at the “unserious” effort and said the left is “in a frenzy” as Project 2025 tries to wrest control of the federal bureaucracy.
“Project 2025 will not be ‘stopped,’” Roberts said in a statement. He said the Democrats fighting Project 2025 are “more than welcome to try. We will not give up and we will win.”
Seems Reasonable
Reps. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are proposing to impose on Supreme Court justices the same $50 cap on gifts that members of Congress are subject to:
In Case You Need A Primer …
I can’t imagine anyone who reads TPM needs the barebones survey of the Christian Right that the NYT published, pegged to the secret recording of Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito and his wife, but here it is just in case.
What Makes Them Think They Can’t Trust Trump?
WaPo: Some abortion opponents worry about Trump’s Republican platform rewrite
2024 Ephemera
- SC-01: Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s effort to avenge his ousting as speaker of the House by supporting a primary challenger to Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) fell far short of success.
- SC-04: Rep. William Timmons (R-SC) held off a tough challenge from his right flank in a race that pitted the Trump-backed incumbent against several members of the House Freedom Caucus.
- NV-Sen: Trump-backed Sam Brown won the GOP Senate nomination and will face incumbent Sen. Jacky Rosen (D-NV) in the general election.
- OH-06: Republican state Sen. Michael Rulli (R) won as expected in a special election to fill the remainder of Republican Rep. Bill Johnson’s term – but by a fraction of the margins that Johnson and Donald Trump had run up in the recent elections.
Oops, The Pope Did It Again
Pope Francis has reportedly again used a gay slur while voicing in a private meeting his opposition to ordaining openly gay men, just two weeks after apologizing for an earlier utterance of the pejorative.
Noted
WSJ: Elon Musk’s Boundary-Blurring Relationships With Women at SpaceX
Paul Ryan, Never Trumper
Following up on his confirmation last week that he will not be supporting Donald Trump in 2024, former Speaker of the House Paul Ryan took that message to Fox News:
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I have NEVER been First! Ok. Well, now I have. What do I win?
The Hill descends into The Trashcan
I mean really Opinion by Mick Mulvaney
Opinion: What’s wrong with a little revenge? (msn.com)
A limited edition of the TPM board game?
How refreshing it is that when a Republican is no longer in Congress, and holds no ambition to be there, can speak so candidly and soberly about the party leader. More of this, please.