A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Hurry Up And Wait
Today was the deadline set by U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan for Special Counsel Jack Smith and Donald Trump to propose a schedule for pretrial matters as she resumes the Jan. 6 case following the Supreme Court’s horrendous ruling on presidential immunity.
But Smith, in a bit of a surprise move, asked Chutkan in a filing late yesterday to provide more time for him and other DOJ components to sort out the implications of the Supreme Court decision. Trump, the king of delay, did not oppose Smith’s request for more time.
Smith wants another three weeks – until Aug. 30 – to confer with Trump and submit the proposed scheduling order. Smith also asked Chutkan to delay the status conference originally scheduled for next Friday, Aug. 16, until after Aug. 30.
Typically, you would expect the judge to be amenable to this kind of request, but Chutkan was clearly ready to move when the case was finally returned to her, so it’ll be interesting to see how she reacts. I still doubt she’ll force the issue, but nothing about this case is routine.
What does it all mean?
This case was already not going to trial before the election, so it doesn’t change those odds. It reduces the window available for holding any kind of evidentiary hearing on the immunity issue, making it less likely that that will happen before the election (for what it’s worth, I was having trouble getting excited about that as any kind of real pre-election accountability moment for Trump anyway). Whether the case goes to trial after November depends almost entirely on whether Trump loses the election, so Smith’s desired delay wouldn’t really change that either.
Beyond that, we’re left to speculate about what Smith is grappling with internally. It’s all speculation at this point. But before I get into the more tenuous speculation, the simplest and most obvious answer is that the implications of the Supreme Court immunity decision are in fact difficult to parse and to apply to the facts of this case. The high court didn’t give a clear road map on all of the legal issues involved, as Politico explains extensively this morning. And there are a lot of legal issues involved, as this Just Security project published this week outlines in great detail.
Beyond that, the speculation about the delay ranges from internal disputes at DOJ about how to move forward to more mundane bureaucratic slowness in dotting i’s and crossing t’s to one possibility that I’ve tried to keep in mind all along … but again this is purely speculative: If you’re not going to get to try Trump before the election, does it make sense to change the strategy of a stripped-down indictment of only Trump and broaden the federal case to charge the full conspiracy, including all possible crimes committed by Trump, plus adding co-defendants and co-conspirators?
I mention this possibility because the whole point of the current approach was to keep things narrow and targeted, largely for judicial economy and speed. It didn’t work. Trump succeeded in dragging it out past the election. Given that the goal of the original strategy is no longer achievable, there’s a logic to changing the strategy. And remember: if Trump loses the election, Smith has all the time in the world.
What Can Be Done About The Georgia Election Board?
NBC News’ Lisa Rubin takes a closer look at the recent shenanigans of the MAGA-infused Georgia Election Board on behalf of Donald Trump.
That Crazy Trump Presser
Casual readers of other news outlets probably got the sense that Trump held a press conference at Mar-a-Lago yesterday where he proposed more presidential debates, dodged some abortion questions, and made preposterous claims about the size of his crowds. But it truly was the kind of performance that had it been anyone else, or even him eight years ago, would have produced a cacophony of stories asking what is wrong with this guy. If you missed it, perusing the TPM liveblog of the presser might be the best way to get a proper sense of how much we’ve collectively normalized the man.
Harris Campaign Unleashes Its Young And Very Online Staff
I’ve read a million campaign press releases over the years and at this point ignore most of them, so I’m not holding up this Harris campaign press release responding to Trump’s press conference yesterday as some kind of Rosetta stone of the current moment. And yet … if you want to see the difference in tone and tenor between the Biden and Harris campaigns, this is as good of an illustration as any:
Nancy Pelosi Is Having A Moment
The former speaker is on a roll since President Biden ended his re-election bid.
Here she is, telling the AP about her crusade against Trump: “‘How can I say this in the nicest possible way: My goal in life was that man would never step in the White House again,’ Pelosi said, slapping the table with every word.”
Here she is giving The New Yorker’s David Remnick her assessment of Biden’s campaign: “I’ve never been that impressed with his political operation. They won the White House. Bravo. But my concern was: this ain’t happening, and we have to make a decision for this to happen. The President has to make the decision for that to happen.”
Historical Context
Just gonna leave this right here:
Good Read
TPM’s Josh Kovensky: A Journey Through the Authoritarian New Right – A non-exhaustive look at the influencers behind Republicans’ recent turn toward the bizarre.
Reader Mailbag
TPM Reader AN checking in this week from the Paris Olympics:
Thanks for including that item about Armand Duplantis in the Morning Memo. My husband and I were there last night at the Stade de France, and it was absolute magic.
We are the biggest nerds in the world, totally un-sporty, never watch any sports, barely know what pole-vaulting is. Some friends gave us their extra tickets to Saturday night’s, and then last night’s, track and field event, so we thought, what the hell, it’s the Olympics, let’s go.
Well. We had a spectacularly good time watching all the events on both evenings: discus, shotput, long jump, high jump, sprints, relays and the men’s 10,000 meter final. But the pole-vault! It was just spectacularly entertaining, in large part thanks to the showmanship of the athletes, especially Sam Kendricks and Mondo himself. They had the crowd clapping in unison, they mugged for the camera, raced around, emoted, hugged each other between attempts.
It was crazy how much higher Mondo vaulted than the other guys–at the beginning, he was clearing the bar by probably half a meter. He seemed to be floating. When he had beat everyone else and won the gold at 6.10 meters, there was a pause. Then came the announcement that Mondo would go for the world record. The crowd went crazy and stayed that way until the very end. What a joy.
I’m not sure this experience has turned us into sports fans, but after this, we certainly get what all the fuss is about.
Have a great weekend, everyone!
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Door’s open.
(Ground) squirrel!
Hope he still has a job MUST watch
Lawerence rages at our BS media
“Nothing prevents the networks from running a fact-checking scroll on the side of the screen while Trump is speaking. We know what the lies are going to be. Fact-checking graphics can be ready to go before he speaks,” he said.
“A lie is not an answer.”
Watch the whole thing and remind yourself what real journalism is supposed to be.
Remember when the Supreme Court could be relied upon to uphold American values and rule against both sides. Now they are completely out of control ruling prematurely over and over again in favor of their favorite political party taking favors (gratuities) from their billionaire sponsors and making sure their, and only their, interests are served. What a world.
This is the world the GOP wants Another GOD loving NUT
Conspiracy-obsessed Florida woman targeted ‘sinner’ neighbors in ambush that killed sheriff’s deputy (msn.com)
Aconspiracy-obsessed Florida couple with a stockpile of weapons planned to “ambush” perceived sinners, a plot that culminated in the killing of a deputy and injuring of two other officers, according to a new affidavit.
Residents of Eustis, Florida, 40 miles northwest of Orlando, called the Lake Couty Sheriff’s Office to report that a neighbor, Julia Sulpizio, walked into their yard, struck them, and called them sinners.
When deputies arrived, Sulpizio told them the neighbors were “involved in pedophilia” and described a plan with her husband, Michael Sulpizio, to trick the devil by luring people into the couple’s house for an ambush.
Michael Sulpizio also allegedly threatened neighbors, telling them, “The next time I see you, I’m going to shoot you.”
“It is at this point where Julie Sulpizio includes law enforcement (redacted) into her plan of luring the group to be ambushed by Michael Sulpizio who is awaiting the arrival of ‘darks’ to kill them, as later learned to be the planned ‘mission,’” the affidavit, obtained by Florida news station WESH, reads.
Officers tried to make contact with those inside, but were unsuccessful, according to the affidavit.
In the yard, police reportedly found two dead dogs, and heard loud banging noises coming from inside the home.
Eventually, officers forced their way in, and body camera footage shows deputies encountering a male “in a black sleeves shirt or body armor positioned with a rifle on the arm of the couch, waiting to ambush deputies,” according to the court documents.
Inside, police also found more than 20 guns, a stockpile of ammunition, gas masks, a camouflage system and ant-government and conspiracy-related materials. Those included bumper stickers and advertisements for right-wing media like Infowars.
During an interrogation with Julie Sulpizio at the hospital, the woman reportedly admitted to helping stage the ambush. She claimed there’s an “additional human body under the residence which Michael had ‘trapped’ approximately one week ago,” though police haven’t confirmed that.
She also “claimed to be God … and (her husband) Michael is the guardian angel Michael, which obeys God’s, her, command,” Grinnell said at the news conference.