Report On Findings Of Roe Draft Leak Probe Is Coming, Gorsuch Says

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

Stay Tuned

The Supreme Court’s investigation into the stunning leak of SCOTUS’ opinion draft dismantling Roe is still underway, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch told attendees at a judicial conference yesterday.

• Gorsuch said the findings of the investigation will be outlined in an official report that’ll hopefully be completed “soon.”
• The justice didn’t say whether the report would be released publicly.
• Gorsuch also echoed other justices’ suggestion that the leaker was trying to manipulate the final decision in the Dobbs case. We’ll almost certainly never know for sure whether the leaker did meaningfully impact the high court’s final decision, but the leak did reportedly scuttle Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’ (long-shot) efforts to convince justices Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett not to kill Roe entirely.

DOJ Appeals Judge’s Eyebrow-Raising Mar-A-Lago Doc Order

Federal prosecutors said via court filings on Thursday that they plan on appealing at least part of U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon’s shady order appointing a special master to review materials the FBI seized at Mar-a-Lago.

• We don’t know which exact part of the order the prosecutors are going to appeal. They’re taking the case to the Eleventh Circuit.
• The federal government is also asking Cannon to:
  • Bar the special master from accessing the classified documents that were among the seized materials
  • Temporarily hold her order that restricts the DOJ from using those classified documents in its investigation

Pro-Choice Amendment Will Be On Michigan’s Ballot

The Michigan Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that the state’s ballot in the November elections will include a constitutional amendment that would codify Michiganders’ right to abortion care.

• You mean to tell me that the court didn’t buy Republicans’ argument that the words in the text of the proposed amendment were spaced too closely to each other??

• More good news from the Michigan Supreme Court on the democracy front: The justices also put a voting rights amendment on the ballot.

King Charles III To Address The Nation

King Charles III will make his first public appearance since the death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, at age 96 yesterday. (Read our liveblog of yesterday’s events, beginning with Buckingham Palace’s announcement that the Queen was under medical supervision at Balmoral Castle in Scotland.) The address is scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.

Must Read

“How Murdered Journalist Jeff German’s Colleagues Hunted Down His Alleged Killer” – The Daily Beast

Another Outgoing GOP Guv Won’t Endorse Trump-Backed Nom Running To Fill His Seat

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker (R), who decided not to run for reelection, won’t endorse Geoff Diehl, the Republican gubernatorial nominee whom Trump touted as someone who would “rule” the state “with an iron fist” in an appeal to Massachusetts’ huge pro-dictator voter base.

• Baker wants to “focus solely on finishing” his term “strong,” a spokesperson told Politico.
• Term-limited Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) similarly isn’t backing his party’s (read: Trump’s) pick for his office, Dan Cox, who organized buses to the pre-insurrection Trump rally and tweeted that then-Vice President Mike Pence was a “traitor” for not stealing the 2020 election for Trump on Jan. 6.
  • Unlike Baker, however, Hogan made it crystal-clear that his refusal to endorse Cox was because he believes the nominee is absolutely batshit.

Bannon Slapped With NY State Indictment

New York state is now prosecuting ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon over the crimin’ he got away with thanks to a pardon from Trump–which only protected the MAGA bulldog from being held accountable by the federal government.

The New York indictment against Bannon, like the previous federal case, is centered on his We Build the Wall scam. Bannon is now facing state-level fraud and money laundering charges.

In Case You Missed It

Tina Peters, the indicted Mesa County clerk in Colorado and diehard election truther, pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to felony and misdemeanor charges connected to the breach of her county’s voting systems that she had allegedly plotted. Peters’ plea came a month after the recount she demanded (and paid $255,912 for) in her GOP primary for secretary of state went nowhere.

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