FBI Returns Trump’s Passports Seized During Raid

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

Three Were Taken

The Justice Department acknowledged on Monday that three passports belonging to Trump were taken during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago last week, and returned to him on Monday. The move came several hours after Trump claimed via TRUTH Social that the FBI “stole my three Passports (one expired).”

• Two of the three passports were expired, not just one.
• The DOJ is also arguing against the unsealing of the affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago search, telling the court on Monday that doing so would “chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations.”

Biden To Sign Sweeping Climate And Health Bill Today

The President is slated to hold a White House ceremony to sign the historic Inflation Reduction Act into law today at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House.

Giuliani Confirmed To Be A Target In Georgia County Probe

Rudy Giuliani has been informed that he is a target of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference probe, Giuliani’s lawyer told TPM yesterday.

• Giuliani is scheduled to appear before the grand jury in the probe on Wednesday.
• Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), while not in as much hot water as Giuliani, didn’t get great news yesterday concerning his status in the investigation either: A federal judge in Atlanta shot down the GOP senator’s motion to quash the special grand jury’s subpoena seeking his testimony.

2020 Election Deniers Running To Oversee Elections Are On The Ballot Again Today

We’ve only got two states on our primary election calendar today: Wyoming and Alaska. And the races for the top official who will run the 2024 elections in each state are awash with pro-Trump election truthers.

• Wyoming: Of the three GOP candidates running for secretary of state, only one–state Sen. Tara Nethercott (R)–believes there wasn’t any fraud in the 2020 election process in her state (which Trump won in a landslide). And those three are the only candidates for secretary of state; no Democrats are running.
• The ratio’s just as grim in Alaska. Just two (two!) of the 10 candidates for lieutenant governor (whose duties in Alaska include those of a secretary of state) fully reject Trump’s voter fraud myth about the 2020 election. In fact, one of the other eight candidates, Paul Hueper, even went to the pro-Trump Jan. 6 protest in D.C. that preceded the Capitol insurrection, though Hueper says he didn’t participate in the violence.

Cheney To Meet Her Very Likely Doom

House Jan. 6 Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) primary today will be the last primary for the six House Republicans who decided to run again in the face of Trump’s fury over their impeachment votes.

• As arguably the most visible face of anti-Trumpism in the GOP, Cheney’s well aware that her goose is cooked: The congresswoman’s Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman, crushed her with a 20-point lead in the Casper Star-Tribune’s poll last month.
• Then there’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the only GOP senator who convicted Trump in the impeachment trial to face a primary in this election cycle. But unlike Cheney, Murkowski’s basically guaranteed to survive her primary against a Trump-backed rival thanks to Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system (in which the top four candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation).

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Trump Org CFO Expected To Plead Guilty

Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, is expected to plead guilty to a massive tax fraud scheme that was uncovered in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into Weisselberg and the Trump Organization (which was also indicted over the scheme), according to NBC News.

• But Weisselberg still refuses to cooperate with the district attorney’s criminal investigation into Trump and isn’t expected to implicate anyone in the Trump family in his guilty plea, according to the New York Times.
• The Trump Organization won’t be pleading guilty with Weisselberg, the Times reports.
• The exact terms of Weisselberg’s reported plea deal are unknown, but the executive’s plea could be entered as soon as Thursday.

Palin Back In The Spotlight

The special election to fill late Rep. Don Young’s (R-AK) seat is here, meaning we’re about to find out if Sarah Palin, backed by Trump, is going to become the latest addition to the House’s GOP Karen Clown Car with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).

• Palin’s facing off against two other hopefuls today: Democratic ex-state Rep. Mary Peltola (D) and Nick Begich III, another Republican.

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