Jack Smith Plans To Close Up Shop Before Trump’s Inauguration

INSIDE: Pete Hegseth ... Mike Huckabee ... Elon Musk
(COMBO) This combination of pictures created on August 27, 2024 shows Special Counsel Jack Smith (L) in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023 and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Ho... (COMBO) This combination of pictures created on August 27, 2024 shows Special Counsel Jack Smith (L) in Washington, DC, on June 9, 2023 and former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in Howell, Michigan, August 20, 2024. On August 27, prosecutors filed a revised indictment of Donald Trump on charges that he tried to overturn the 2020 US election after losing to Joe Biden. The superseding indictment retains the same four charges against Trump but takes into account the recent Supreme Court ruling that a former president has broad immunity from criminal prosecution. (Photo by Mandel NGAN and JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by MANDEL NGANJEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

The Collapse Of The Trump Prosecutions Is Almost Complete

Special Counsel Jack Smith is planning to wind down his two cases against Donald Trump and step down before Trump’s inauguration in January, the NYT reported.

The exact mechanism by which Smith winds down his cases remains unclear. It’s also not clear whether Smith will issue an exhaustive final report that provides new details on Trump’s alleged wrongdoing in the Jan. 6 case or the Mar-a-Lago documents fiasco.

This paragraph from the NYT report is almost unbelievable in it degree of naivete, though it’s hard to suss out whether that’s the newspaper’s, Attorney General Merrick Garland’s, or both:

The big question now, assuming Mr. Smith finishes the report on his current schedule, is whether Mr. Garland will release the findings before he leaves office, or defer the release to the Trump team, which might not make its contents public.

The thrust of the NYT piece suggests Smith is trying not to leave anything to chance by finishing what is left of his work before the new administration takes over. He also seems to be intentionally averting a situation in which Trump gets to follow through on his promise to fire Smith within “two seconds” of taking office.

Judge Pauses Hush Money Case

The only criminal case which managed to get to trial before the election is now stalled in light of the Supreme Court’s presidential immunity decision and Trump’s re-election. Prosecutors in Manhattan asked for and the judge granted a pause to assess next steps. They have until Nov. 19 to alert the court to their plans. Sentencing remains set for later in November.

Georgia RICO Case In Limbo

The Georgia RICO case is likely to proceed against Trump’s co-defendants without him. The Supreme Court rejected Tuesday Mark Meadows’ bid to remove the case to federal court.

Add Insult To Injury

As if the collapse of the Trump prosecutions wasn’t enough, the state judge overseeing the fake electors case in Arizona recused himself late Tuesday after it was reported that he had emailed fellow judges about defending Kamala Harris and equated the present moment with the failure to avert the Holocaust.

Happening Today

  • President-elect Trump is expected to visit Capitol Hill this morning.
  • Senate Republicans meet to elect a new leader for the first time since 2007, as Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is stepping down. The House GOP will also hold leadership elections today.
  • President Biden hosts President-elect Donald Trump at the White House, a resumption of a tradition that Trump abandoned when Biden defeated him in 2020.

The Trump II Clown Show

  • Fox News host Pete Hegseth: secretary of defense
  • Former Trump Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe: CIA director
  • Former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR): U.S. ambassador to Israel
  • Republican campaign lawyer William McGinley: White House counsel
  • Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy: co-leaders of Trump’s new “Department of Government Efficiency”
  • Trump wants to bring back his tariff-loving former U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer as White House “trade czar”
  • Is Trump really going to nominate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for a Senate-confirmed position?

‘Who The Fuck Is This Guy?’

NEW YORK, NEW YORK – JULY 04: Pete Hegseth celebrates Independence Day on ‘Fox & Friends Weekend’ on July 04, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)

Of all of Trump’s announced nominees-to-be so far, Fox New host Pete Hegseth is probably the one most likely to run into opposition even among Senate Republicans. Light on substance, a history of controversial remarks, and a lack of relevant experience beyond being a veteran made Hegseth a sobering choice even by the low standards of Trump II.

EXCLUSIVE

WSJ:

The Trump transition team is considering a draft executive order that establishes a “warrior board” of retired senior military personnel with the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership.

If Donald Trump approves the order, it could fast-track the removal of generals and admirals found to be “lacking in requisite leadership qualities,” according to a draft of the order reviewed by The Wall Street Journal. But it could also create a chilling effect on top military officers, given the president-elect’s past vow to fire “woke generals,” referring to officers seen as promoting diversity in the ranks at the expense of military readiness.

Trump Transition Watch

  • Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) says Trump is already breaking the law by not abiding by the provisions of the Presidential Transition Act.
  • “President-elect Donald J. Trump’s demand that Senate Republicans surrender their role in vetting his nominees poses an early test of whether his second term will be more radical than his first.”–NYT
  • Democratic Govs. J.B. Pritzker (IL) and Jared Polis (CO) announced the formation of a new group called Governors Safeguarding Democracy to coordinate state opposition to Trump.

Good Thread

Dutch political scientist Catherine de Vries on the structural reasons we’re underestimating the risk of crony Orbanesque crony capitalism in a Trump II presidency.

2024 Ephemera

  • Success! Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) congratulates himself on the magical disappearance of noncitizen voting.
  • Historic: Only three states will have a party-split between their two senators, the lowest number since the direct election of senators began in 1914, a continuation of a long-term trend.
  • WI-Sen: “Republican Eric Hovde refused Tuesday to concede defeat in the Wisconsin Senate race, casting doubt on the results despite a lack of evidence of any wrongdoing in last week’s election.”–NBC News

BREAKING …

NYT:

Federal prosecutors have charged a man with disclosing classified documents that appeared to show Israel’s plans to retaliate against Iran for a missile attack earlier this year, according to court documents and people familiar with the matter.

The man, Asif W. Rahman, was indicted last week in federal court in Virginia with two counts of willful retention and transmission of national defense information. He was arrested by the F.B.I. on Tuesday in Cambodia and brought to federal court in Guam to face charges.

Federal Judge Blocks Louisiana’s 10 Commandments Law

“A federal judge in Louisiana blocked a state law on Tuesday that would have required the display of the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom.”–NYT

Carbon Emissions Reach New Record High

New data released today at COP29 in Azerbaijan show that global carbon emissions will set another new record in 2024. The new data from the Global Carbon Budget project confirms that the world is not on track to meet the Paris Agreement targets for reducing carbon emissions. Researchers who compiled the latest data said there is “no sign” that the world has reached peak carbon emissions yet.

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Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for dmcg dmcg says:

    First, yeah, whatevver. There is no God.

  2. Avatar for docd docd says:

    My guess is that they will move to approve the nominations by acclamation so that they can avoid the charge of abdicating their responsibility as a Senate. It won’t quite do what he wants with the demand that he be allowed to use the recess appointment power, but it would give them the pretense of having followed the Constitution. And he’s absolutely right that following the actual process would take a lot of time, as even minimal hearings would bring out massive embarrassing revelations about his nominees.

  3. Avatar for davidn davidn says:

    Good follow up to today’s morning memo.

    Bottom line, we will see if the Senate Republicans are willing to guard their power by whom they decide will lead them.

    Ha, Ha! C’mon, it’s Republicans, they will fold like a wet noodle for Donald.

  4. I asked Mike, a kid patrolling our neighborhood what he was on the lookout for. “I’m watching for an elephant stampede so I can warn everyone to get inside.”

    “Oh. Do we experience elephant stampedes very often here in Ohio?”, I asked.

    “No one’s ever been killed in an elephant stampede here. You see how will well my patrol works!”

    ETA: damned autocorrect.

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