A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
The Revolution Will Not Be Tweeted
Lighting $44 billion on fire would be so much easier, no?
The billionaire man-child has temper-tantrumed his way into a death spiral that seems almost impossible to recover from.
Twitter offices are closed until Monday, the workforce is resigning in droves, and this morning there are real questions about whether the platform will survive the weekend without fundamentally breaking down.
Dystopian late capitalism has a mordant sense of humor:
The Verge: Hundreds of employees say no to being part of Elon Musk’s ‘extremely hardcore’ Twitter
NBC News: Twitter to temporarily close offices amid wave of new resignations after Musk’s ultimatum
MIT Technology Review: Here’s how a Twitter engineer says it will break in the coming weeks
Lauren Boebert May Be Forced Into A Recount*
The Democratic challenger to Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) cut the gap between them in half as counties finalized their vote totals. With nearly all the votes in, the race remains too close to call, but the current vote spread is narrow enough to trigger the state’s automatic recount provision.
*Correction: The headline originally referred to a “runoff” instead of a recount. The error was mine.
Off To A Brilliant Start
On the first day after learning they’d won control of the House, Republicans were in fine, fine form.
TPM’s Kate Riga: House Republicans Insist Investigations Aren’t About Hunter Biden While Talking Exclusively About Hunter Biden
Esquire’s Charlie Pierce: You’re Not Ready for How Much These Jokers Want to Talk about Hunter Biden’s Laptop
Strong KAREN IS NOW THE MANAGER Vibe
Nancy Still Nancying
Kari Lake Refuses To Concede: ‘Our Elections Are A Circus Run By Clowns’
This is choice. On the same day she made a pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago, Kari Lake (R) made it clear she’s not conceding the race for Arizona governor, even though the race has been declared for Democrat Katie Hobbs.
Lake continued to cast baseless doubts on the election: “What happened to Arizonans on Election Day is unforgivable,” she said.
Lake is making noises about mounting a legal challenge, but it’s not clear she has any proper basis to challenge the results in court.
“Rest assured I have assembled the best and brightest legal team, and we are exploring every avenue to correct the many wrongs that have been done this past week,” Lake said. “I’m doing everything in my power to right these wrongs.”
Not conceding it too on brand for Lake.
Trump’s Legal Arguments In Mar-a-Lago Case Are Just Epically Bad
The Justice Department has filed its reply brief to the 11th Circuit, which the department is asking to short circuit the unwarranted special master review of its search of Mar-a-Lago.
It’s rare to see the justice Department argue a case with such unabashed confidence in its own position and undisguised scorn for the opponent’s, but it keeps happening over and over in the Mar-a-Lago documents case.
Here’s my favorite part:
What Would A Mar-A-Lago Prosecution Look Like?
The good folks at JustSecurity have published a model prosecution memo for Trump’s improper retention of government documents. This is the kind of memo the Justice Department would prepare internally before making its prosecution decision, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the case.
Trump Org Monitor Given Extraordinary Powers
Barbara Jones, the former federal judge appointed to monitor Trump Org finances during the massive civil lawsuit against the company by the New York attorney general, has been the authority to keep Trump’s business under a very close microscope for any unusual, suspicious, or fraudulent activity.
TPM Alum Watch
Brian Beutler in the NYT: Enemies of Democracy Should Fear the American Voter
Georgia Election Probe Grinds Slow
Two new developments in the Fulton County grand jury probe of 2020 election interference:
- The testimony of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) was supposed to happen yesterday but has reportedly been delayed until Nov. 22.
- A South Carolina judge ruled that former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows must testify to the grand jury.
GOP Operative Convicted Of Funneling Russian $$$ to Trump’s 2016 Campaign
Jesse Benton, the former campaign aide to Kentucky Republican Sens. Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell who was pardoned by President Trump for campaign finance violations, has been convicted of new campaign finance violations.
Long Road Ahead On This One
The Biden administration will ask the Supreme Court to reinstate its student loan debt relief program.
‘This Is Positively Dystopian’
Federal judge blocks Florida’s “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” from being enforced against public university professors.
Whodathunkit?
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
