Raffensperger In Talks With Jan. 6 Panel To Testify Publicly

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

Trump’s Really Not Gonna Like This One

After steamrolling Trump crony Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) in the primaries, Georgia Secretary of State and key witness Brad Raffensperger (R) is now speaking to the House Jan. 6 Committee on potentially testifying at a public hearing, according to Politico.

• Raffensperger has already provided testimony to investigators behind closed doors: He had a private interview with the Jan. 6 committee in November, and he also testified in front a special grand jury in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ Trump election meddling probe last week.
• Former White House counsel Pat Cipollone is also huddling with the Jan. 6 panel over a potential public testimony, according to ABC News.

What To Expect In Tonight’s Jan. 6 Hearing

Aides to the Jan. 6 Committee provided reporters on Wednesday afternoon with an early look at what to expect from tonight’s hearing. The plan, they said, is simple: The committee will “preview” the results of its investigation, giving a roadmap of what to expect from the coming weeks of hearings.

• That will include findings that Trump “was at the center” of a “coordinated, multistep effort”  to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Panel Chairman Bennie Thompson (D-MS) is expected to address the lack of precedent in American history for Trump’s scheming.
• Be on the lookout for the following:
  • Previously unreleased video and audio testimony from Trump family members, campaign officials and White House aides
  • More harrowing footage and documentation of the attack itself
  • Testimony from the first Capitol Police officer to be injured in the attack, and from a documentary filmmaker who observed the Proud Boys up close throughout the insurrection

Pence Counsel’s Public Testimony Has Been Scheduled

Greg Jacob, former Vice President Mike Pence’s ex-chief counsel, is scheduled to testify at the House Jan. 6 Committee’s public hearing next Thursday on June 16, Politico reports. Former Pence chief of staff Marc Short and ex-federal Judge J. Michael Luttig, a friend of Pence, are reportedly expected to publicly testify, too, but it’s unknown when exactly they’ll do so.

House Passes Aggressive Gun Control Package

The House approved legislation on Wednesday that would, among other things, raise the minimum age to buy most semiautomatic rifles to 21, ban high-capacity magazines and establish new requirements for gun owners to store their firearms safely. It’s all but doomed in the Senate.

• The vote wasn’t entirely on party lines, believe it or not: Five Republicans voted for the legislation, while two Democrats voted against it. The Republicans were Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH), Chris Jacobs (R-NY), Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) and Fred Upton (R-MI). The Democrats were Reps. Jared Golden (D-ME) and Kurt Schrader (D-OR).
• The House vote came after an 11-year-old survivor of the Uvalde elementary school shooting and family members of the victims of Uvalde and the Buffalo shooting testified in front of the House Oversight Committee.

GOPer Blames Mass Shootings On These Ding Dang Diddly Phones

On Thursday, Rep. Pat Fallon (R-TX) enthusiastically joined his fellow GOP colleagues in farting out some truly ridiculous takes on why mass shootings happen:

Another Conspiracy Theory-Addled Election Denier Is Now Secretary Of State Nom

Audrey Trujillo, a GOP candidate for New Mexico secretary of state who thinks the 2020 election was a “coup,” is now the Republican nominee to be her state’s top elections official after running in the GOP primary on Tuesday unopposed.

• Trujillo has argued that the U.S. voting system is “no better than any other communist country like Venezuela or any of these other states where our elections are being manipulated.”
• She’s also posted cartoonishly anti-Semitic conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 vaccine, which the candidate now claims she doesn’t remember posting.
• Trujillo is the second election denier to win the GOP’s support to be secretary of state after the Michigan GOP voted to endorse Kristina Karamo, a secretary of state hopeful who’s aligned with QAnon and also claims the Devil is lurking everywhere.

Date Set For Trump’s Testimony In NY Investigation

The ex-president and his two eldest kids, Ivanka and Don Jr., are scheduled to start testifying in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) civil investigation into the Trump Organization on July 15 until the following week, according to a new filing in a New York state court.

DeSantis’s Bulldog Belatedly Registers As Foreign Agent

Christina Pushaw, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) press secretary, registered as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) on Monday for the work she did for former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili between 2018 and 2020.

• Pushaw registered after she was contacted by the Justice Department, according to her lawyer.
• The press secretary made a total of $25,000 for the work. She claimed in her FARA filing that her work for Saakashvili included “perception management, public relations, and preparation and dissemination of informational materials to an international audience, including U.S. persons and entities.”
• Pushaw started working for DeSantis in May last year, per her LinkedIn profile, and now she can proudly call herself a pioneer in conservatives’ renewed push to paint LGBTQ+ people as groomers and pedophiles.

Brookings Institution Puts Prez On Leave Amid FBI Investigation

Brookings Institution President John Allen, a retired four-star Marine general, has been placed on administrative leave as the FBI investigates his alleged involvement in an illegal lobbying scheme for Qatar.

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