Mississippi GOP Leader Argues 12-Year-Old Should Be Forced To Carry Father’s Child

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

Nobody’s Safe

In little-noticed remarks hours after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, Mississippi House Speaker Philip Gunn (R) told reporters that his state’s abortion ban shouldn’t be changed to include an exception for victims of rape and incest, even for 12-year-old incest victims impregnated by their fathers, because “Every life is valuable.” Gunn’s remarks didn’t get much pickup locally until yesterday.

• Gunn was also annoyed at reporters for ruining this special day for him with all this forced-child-incest-pregnancy talk:

“I want today to be about the fact that we have seen an end to abortion in this country. These other things that y’all are talking about are certainly things we can talk about moving forward. I do not want those things to detract from the significance of this day. I’m afraid if we get too far afield from what we’re talking about today, that will overshadow the significance of this day.”

Biden Sprints Straight To McConnell’s Football

According to a mind-boggling Louisville Courier-Journal report, Biden plans to tap an anti-choice Federalist Society member as a federal judge as part of a deal with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in which the latter agrees to not stonewall Biden’s future judicial nominations, pinky promise!

Key Analysis

“The fall of Roe is the culmination of the Democratic establishment’s failures” – Washington Post columnist Perry Bacon Jr.

Must Read

“Deleting Your Period Tracker Won’t Protect You” – The New York Times

Jan. 6 Panel Subpoenas Pat Cipollone

The House Jan. 6 Committee issued a subpoena to Trump White House Counsel Pat Cipollone on Wednesday after Mark Meadows ex-aide Cassidy Hutchinson revealed the shocking extent of Cipollone’s first-hand knowledge of the Trump White House’s response to the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

• The committee noted in the subpoena that Cipollone has already had an informal interview with the panel on April 13, but has since “declined to cooperate with us further, including by providing on-the-record testimony.”
• According to Hutchinson’s damning testimony, Cipollone repeatedly asked her to make sure Trump didn’t go to the Capitol on Jan. 6 because “[w]e’re going to get charged with every crime imaginable if we make that movement happen.”
• Committee vice chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) blasted Trump as a “domestic threat” on the same day the panel sent Cipollone the subpoena.

Trump Campaign Finance Chief Testifies In Front Of Jan. 6 Panel

The Trump campaign’s chief financial officer, Sean Dollman, testified in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee on Wednesday, according to CNN.

Texas AG Paxton Is Ready To Defend Anti-Sodomy Laws

Texas state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) heard Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas’ call for SCOTUS to revisit landmark civil rights decisions like Lawrence v. Texas loud and clear: During an interview on NewsNation on Friday, Paxton declared that he’s “certainly willing and able to” defend bans on “sodomy.”

Breyer Sets Official Time Of Bretirement

Outgoing Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer sent Biden a letter yesterday informing him that his retirement will be effective today at noon. Soon-to-be-Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson will be sworn in immediately afterward.

Ex-Top Jan. 6 Panel Investigator Launches Senate Bid

Former federal prosecutor John Wood, a lifelong Republican who served as ex-senior counsel on the House Jan. 6 Committee, launched a Missouri Senate campaign as an independent candidate on Wednesday.

• Wood pointed directly at disgraced ex-governor Eric Greitens, who’s now running for Senate, as his motivation to throw his hat in the race. The ex-prosecutor told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he believed Greitens would win the GOP primary, and so Wood wants to offer himself as a less deranged alternative.
• He’ll need to gather 10,000 signatures by Aug. 1 to make it onto the ballot this November.

Giuliani’s Ukrainian Crony Sentenced To 20 Months

Lev Parnas, one of ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani’s Ukrainian associates who helped the lawyer in Trump’s Zelensky pressure campaign, was handed a 20-month sentence and ordered to pay $2.3 million in restitution on Wednesday for an illegal campaign finance scheme, part of which included covering up a foreign donation to a pro-Trump committee.

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