A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
You Almost Have To Admire The Commitment To Destroying Democracy
Former Trump legal adviser John Eastman went to Wisconsin last month, where he and a few other Trump allies privately met with Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) to try to convince him to somehow undo Biden’s 2020 election win in the state, according to ABC News.
Vos’ meeting last month with election deniers seeking to decertify the election (which isn’t legally possible) has previously been reported; the fact that Eastman, who’s under scrutiny for drawing up blueprints for Trump to steal the 2020 election, had attended the meeting was not.
- Eastman urged Vos to start “reclaiming the electors” and either hold some kind of “do over” or have “a new slate of electors seated that would declare someone else the winner,” Jefferson Davis, a leader in the decertification push who was at the meeting, told ABC News.
- Eastman confirmed to ABC News that he had attended the meeting with Vos, but he refused to say what they’d discussed in their “confidential” discussion.
Oklahoma Guv To Sign Near-Total Abortion Ban Into Law
Today, Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt (R) is expected to sign what will be the country’s most extreme abortion ban to date amid the GOP’s war on Roe.
- Oklahoma’s ban makes performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 10 years in prison plus a fine of up to $100,000, with no exceptions for rape or incest. The only exception is if the pregnant person’s life is in danger.
- Abortion will become illegal almost immediately in nearly a third of the states if the Supreme Court overturns Roe, per our tracker on Republicans’ flood of anti-abortion legislation.
South Dakota To Decide On Impeaching Hit-And-Run AG
South Dakota’s Republican-controlled state legislature will decide today whether to move forward with impeachment proceedings against South Dakota Attorney General Jason Ravnsborg (R) after he ran over and killed a pedestrian with his car in 2020: At least 36 lawmakers in the 70-member South Dakota House will need to vote for impeaching Ravnsborg to trigger a trial in the Senate.
- Ravnsborg is far from safe even though all but eight House lawmakers are Republicans. Several GOP lawmakers have said they support impeaching the attorney general, it was a Republican state representative who first introduced the impeachment resolution last year and Republican Gov. Kristi Noem (R) has been actively calling for Ravnsborg’s ouster for more than a year now.
- The House’s special committee that investigated the crash voted against recommending impeachment in a 6-2 vote along party lines a little over two weeks ago. However, that vote came before the South Dakota Highway Patrol briefed lawmakers on its investigation and revealed even more damning (and gruesome) details of Ravnsborg hitting the pedestrian and likely being aware he had struck a human.
- Ravnsborg got little more than a slap on the wrist in his criminal case, which ended in no jail time. Instead, prosecutors offered him a plea deal in which he pleaded no contest to two traffic misdemeanors and paid $1,000 in fines plus $3,742 in court fees.
Ukraine Gears Up For Next Major Russian Attack
- The Washington Post: “Ukraine braces for new offensive as Russia reinforces military in east”
- The New York Times: “Fears Grow That Russia Will Escalate to Use of Chemical Weapons”
- NBC News: “Fears for Mariupol as fighting set to escalate in the east”
- CNBC: “Pentagon monitoring reports of possible Russian chemical weapons attack in Mariupol”
Must Read
“Distraught over orders to investigate trans kids’ families, Texas child welfare workers are resigning” – The Texas Tribune
MTG Loses It Over Candidacy Challenge
Far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) had a meltdown via Twitter on Monday over Georgia voters’ bid to get her disqualified from running for office, declaring that courts “should not be used as political platforms that entertain political conspiracy theories and lies invented by one party against another.” Okay Marjorie.
- Much of her rage was directed at “fraudster lawyers from NY and Mass,” and in case it wasn’t clear exactly what she was getting at, Greene ended her rant with a second reference to “scumbag lawyers from NY and Mass” who allegedly want to “control” who Georgians vote for.
- The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit has hinted at allowing the disqualification bid to move forward. She said that she will make her decision sometime this week.
The Right-Wing Media Cesspit
RNC Has A Moment About A Jewish Biden Nominee
The RNC’s Twitter account got kinda weird on Monday when Biden introduced Steve Dettelbach, his pick for director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives:
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Eastman is a wackjob.
This is unsettling
Is it just me or does it seem like the Morning Memo is turning into a daily laundry list of Gooper/MAGA vileness? Every day it seems to get more and more disgusting.
(And UPenn: fire that foul Amy Wax. How that POS could have been tolerated on a law faculty for so long is a mystery to me…)
Don’t poke the mouse.
John Eastman is the Corporal Klinger of Benedict Arnolds.
Russia is gonna send their already depleted forces across the flat open plains where they will be picked off with better offensive weapons from NATO states, and precise intel guidance. Putin is going with what his last few trusted generals tell him to stay in his good graces. The commanders in the field know they are heading for a new, improved, Little Big Horn.