Evangelical Leader Brags About Secretly Praying With SCOTUS Justices

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

Hmm Wonder Which Justices Would Possibly Do That?

Peggy Nienaber, an executive director at evangelical organization Liberty Counsel, was caught on a hot mic claiming that some justices “will pray with us, those that like us to pray with them,” and that “we’re the only people who do that.”

• Nienaber’s comments were made last week during a celebration evangelicals were holding in front of the Supreme Court over its dismantling of Roe v. Wade.
• Nienaber bragged that she and other evangelicals “actually go in there” for the prayer sessions, not at her office or at the justices’ homes.
• One of Nienaber’s prayer sessions with the justices happened the Monday after SCOTUS struck down Roe, the evangelical leader said.
• Not only does Liberty Counsel frequently bring cases in front of SCOTUS, the conservative justices actually cited its amicus brief while striking down Roe. Which is probably why Nienaber insisted that her comments be “totally off the record.” Oops.
• Nienaber didn’t identify the justices by name, but Rolling Stone noted that she’s taken pictures with Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas. She also referred to Thomas as a “friend” and praised the conservative justice for “passing by our ministry center to attend church and always taking time to say hello” in a Facebook post, according to Rolling Stone.

Thems The Breaks!

Hemorrhaging ministers amid ceaseless scandals, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson finally announced his resignation after defiantly poo-pooing calls to do so. He stepped down as leader of the Conservative Party but will try to remain as prime minister until a successor is chosen.

British politics remain awesome:

Mississippi’s Last Abortion Clinic Stops Performing Procedure

Jackson Women’s Health Organization in Mississippi, the state’s only abortion clinic, performed its last abortions yesterday before Mississippi’s trigger ban on the procedure took effect today, a little less than two weeks after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade.

• The trigger ban, which was passed in 2007, prohibits all abortions except in the case of a life-threatening pregnancy or pregnancy caused by rape (and the mother is required to report the rape to law enforcement in that case).
• However, Mississippians have at least some access to abortion pills via mail sent from states where abortion is still legal.
• Here’s the status of other states’ abortion bans with court battles underway.

Cipollone To Testify Before Jan. 6 Panel

Former White House chief counsel Pat Cipollone has agreed to give testimony in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee in the form of a videotaped transcribed interview this Friday.

• The interview will be private, according to the New York Times.
• Cipollone already testified in front of the panel in private back in April, but certain explosive revelations that have emerged since then have given the ex-White House lawyer a lot more to talk about, prompting the committee to subpoena him last week.

Atlanta DA Leaves Door Open For Trump Subpoena

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said on Wednesday that it was “absolutely” possible that she’ll subpoena the ex-president in her election meddling probe. The prosecutor also said she expects the grand jury in her investigation to issue subpoenas to more Trump flunkies after the latest round to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Rudy Giuliani and Trump’s legal team earlier this week.

Subpoenaed British Filmmaker’s Trump Documentary To Air On Sunday

British filmmaker Alex Holder’s Trump family docuseries, which has never-before-seen footage of the Trumps and the Capitol insurrection that’s drawn the House Jan. 6 Committee’s attention, is slated to premiere Sunday, July 10 on Discovery+, two days before the House Jan. 6 Committee’s next public hearing.

• The committee subpoenaed Holder for his testimony and raw footage of his project, which covers the last six weeks of Trump’s reelection campaign and the Capitol attack. The filmmaker testified in front of the committee two weeks ago.
• Holder is also cooperating with the Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation in Georgia. Like the Jan. 6 committee, Willis had subpoenaed Holder for raw footage of his series, though she’s putting her focus on footage of Trump’s comments about Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R).

McConnell Wants The Poors To Run Out Of Savings

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) argued during an event in Kentucky on Tuesday that the labor shortage was caused by “a whole lot of people sitting on the sidelines” because “frankly, they’re flush for the moment.”

• McConnell’s solution: Wait for people’s savings to dry up, those slackers. “What we’ve got to hope is once they run out of money, they’ll start concluding it’s better to work than not to work,” he said.

WTF Read Of The Day

“Far right called U.S. ‘Stonehenge’ satanic — and cheered when it blew up” – The Washington Post

NYT Being Reliably NYT

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