DHS IG Delayed Reporting Secret Service’s Deleted Texts For Months

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

What’s Going On?

Joseph Cuffari, the inspector general at the Department of Homeland Security, found out all the way back in February that the Secret Service had deleted texts from Jan. 5 and 6, 2021–but he chose not to report it to Congress, according to the Washington Post.

• Cuffari also reportedly didn’t put out a public alert his office had prepared in October 2021 reporting that the Secret Service was stonewalling his requests for records on the Jan. 6 attack.
• Two whistleblowers who worked with Cuffari recently alerted the Project on Government Oversight (POGO) on the inspector general’s delay, according to the Post.

What To Expect At Today’s Jan. 6 Hearing

The House Jan. 6 Committee will hold what could be its last public hearing tonight at 8 p.m. ET (the panel’s first primetime hearing since the very first session). It will scrutinize Trump’s refusal to act as the violence at the Capitol unfolded. Stay tuned for our liveblog!

• Here’s everything we’ve learned so far about what the then-president was doing for 187 minutes during the attack.
• The committee will present outtakes of Trump’s recorded message to his supporters that he issued on Jan. 7, panel members confirmed to CNN yesterday. Those outtakes will show how the then-president struggled to tape that message.
• The reported witnesses are two Trump White House officials who resigned immediately after the insurrection:
  • Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s ex-deputy national security advisor
  • Sarah Matthews, Trump’s ex-deputy White House press secretary

Bipartisan Senate Group Crafts Trump Coup-Proof Election Safeguards

A bipartisan group of senators that includes nine Republicans struck a deal on legislation on Wednesday that aims to keep Trump (and other future would-be authoritarians) from exploiting loopholes in the 1887 Electoral Count Act to try to overturn an election again.

• One part of the legislative package cements the rule that a vice president’s role in certifying the election results is “solely ministerial.” Not hard to imagine why that’s a crucial point to address with reforming the ECA!
• Another part addresses threats against election workers, voters and candidates.
• The House Jan. 6 Committee responded to news of the senators’ proposed ECA reforms on Wednesday night, saying that the committee’s legislative recommendations will include “a bipartisan approach” to the ECA.

Trump White House Aide Loses It After Meeting With Jan. 6 Panel

Garrett Ziegler, a Trump White House staffer who privately testified in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee on Tuesday, posted a livestream of himself having a meltdown about the Jan. 6 panel and witnesses who have publicly testified. Part of said meltdown included Ziegler accusing the committee of being “Bolsheviks” and “anti-White.”

Where GOP Sens Stand On Protecting Marriage Equality

Now that the House has passed legislation codifying the right for same-sex couples to get married into federal law, all eyes are on the Senate, where Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is working to find the 10 GOP votes needed to bypass the filibuster and pass the bill in the chamber. Per CNN, here’s where Republican senators stand at the moment:

• Four GOP senators have said they support or are likely to support the bill:
  • Rob Portman (R-OH)
  • Susan Collins (R-ME)
  • Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
  • Thom Tillis (R-NC)
• Eight GOP senators have said they oppose the bill:
  • Bill Cassidy (R-LA)
  • John Cornyn (R-TX)
  • Ted Cruz (R-TX)
  • Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
  • Josh Hawley (R-MO)
  • Jim Inhofe (R-OK)
  • Marco Rubio (R-FL)
  • Roger Wicker (R-MS)

• The rest are either undecided or haven’t given a response yet.

Must Read

“A floating abortion clinic is in the planning stage, and people are already on board” – NPR

Trump-Backed Arizona Hopeful Posted Anti-Trump Meme

Far-right Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake, an outspoken 2020 election denier whose election-denying naturally earned her an endorsement from Trump – which was great news for Lake because she’s a huge Trump fan – posted a decidedly less MAGA-friendly meme on Facebook in response to Trump’s inauguration in 2017, Fox News found.

• The meme featured a picture of Trump with “NOT MY PRESIDENT” splashed over his face, and called his inauguration day “National Day of Mourning and Protest.” In the caption she wrote with the meme, Lake offered several suggestions for protesting the inauguration, like donating to the ACLU and Planned Parenthood, or using the hashtag #NotMyPresident, or boycotting TV coverage of the event.
• The post (which Fox reported got deleted when the outlet reached out to Lake’s campaign) is yet another indicator that Lake’s MAGA-ness was either borne of diving into the same internet hellscape your Uncle Frank did upon seeing too many 4-chan memes or just one giant scam. Maybe the drag queen she used to be friends with for decades might know.
• Term-limited Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) has openly accused Lake of being a fraud who’s been putting on an “act.” He and ex-Vice President Mike Pence have broken from Trump in the gubernatorial race by endorsing Lake’s rival, Karrin Taylor Robson, instead.

Giuliani Ordered To Testify Before Georgia Special Grand Jury

A New York Supreme Court justice on Wednesday ordered ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani to testify before the special grand jury in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation in Georgia, beginning on Aug. 9 “and on any such other dates as this Court may order.”

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