DeSantis Appointee In Predominantly Black County Resigns After KKK Photo Surfaces

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.

Hood Off

Jeffery Moore, a Gadsden County commissioner who was appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), suddenly resigned on Friday after a photo that appeared to show him in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood emerged.

• Gadsen County is the only predominantly Black county in Florida. Moore was also the only Republican commissioner on the board.
• Moore didn’t explain in his resignation letter why he was leaving, only that he was doing so for “personal reasons.”

This is the photo:

Mastriano Advocated For Charging Women Who Had Abortions With Murder

Pennsylvania state senator and future gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano (R) declared during a local radio interview in 2019 that under his proposed “fetal heartbeat” abortion ban, a woman who had an abortion would be charged with murder even if she was only 10 weeks pregnant.

• Mastriano’s bill would have banned abortions after about six weeks of gestation; before many people know they’re pregnant.
• Present-day Mastriano is a lot shyer about sharing his anti-abortion stance under the scrutiny of the whole state: The Christian nationalist claimed during a recent interview with MAGA outlet Real America’s Voice that his views on abortion were “irrelevant” and that the real “radical” on the issue was his Democratic rival, Josh Shapiro.

Russia Preps For Ukraine Annexation After Fake Victory In Fake Referendums

As expected, the Russian government declared victory on Tuesday in the purported referendums it held in four Ukrainian regions (Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia) on whether to join Russia.

• The Kremlin didn’t bother making the results look plausible in any way; it claimed that more than 95 percent of the voters supported being absorbed by Russia.
• Russia doesn’t fully control those four regions, and Putin’s partial mobilization order continues to be a disaster:

McConnell Backs Anti-Coup Bill

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) on Tuesday announced on the Senate floor his support for the bipartisan legislation aimed at plugging the many holes in the 135-year-old Electoral Count Act (ECA) that Trump and his cronies tried to exploit in the MAGA election steal plot.

• But the fate of the House’s broader version of the bill, which passed the chamber last week, is looking shakier. McConnell said the House’s legislation was a “non-starter” because hardly any GOP members had voted for it (save for nine Republicans who won’t be in Congress next year).
• Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) was the only Republican on the Senate Rules Committee (where the legislation was being considered on Tuesday) who voted against the reforms. It’s not hard to guess why.

Jan. 6 Panel Postpones Hearing Over Hurricane

The House Jan. 6 Committee announced yesterday that the public hearing it was supposed to hold today would be pushed back due to Hurricane Ian, which is on track to slam Florida.

• The committee’s announcement didn’t say what the new hearing date will be. The panel said the schedule will be announced “soon.”
• The committee’s membership includes one Florida lawmaker: Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-FL), who represents parts of Orlando.

Hurricane Strengthens To Category 4 Storm

The National Hurricane Center warned early Wednesday morning that Hurricane Ian has become an “extremely dangerous” category four storm that’s expected to cause a “life-threatening” storm surge, flooding and “catastrophic winds” as it approaches Florida.

• The hurricane is expected to make landfall today along Florida’s southwest or west central coast.
• Thousands of Floridians along the Gulf Coast are evacuating.
• All of Cuba lost power last night after the storm hit the island.

Must Read

“What It Costs to Get an Abortion Now: With the procedure banned in 14 states, patients face added expenses for travel, lodging and child care” – The New York Times

In Case You Missed It: Kari Lake Sees Kindred Spirit In Fascism-Tied Italian Leader

During an appearance on Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s show on Monday, far-right Arizona gubernatorial nominee Kari Lake “you go, girl!”-ed Giorgia Meloni, Italy’s new leader whose party, Brothers of Italy, has direct ties to the post-World War II neofascist movement.

• Lake gushed over Meloni as someone she “can relate to,” and the gubernatorial nominee is just “so excited” about Meloni’s victory.
• Lake said she couldn’t find “any straight-up information” on Meloni when she first heard about the Italian leader, only accusations that Meloni is racist. Here’s some information on Meloni’s advancement of the white nationalist “great replacement” theory:

CPAC Leader Goes In The Toilets

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