Sinema Finally On Board, Dems Now Less At Risk Of Heart Attack

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

Time For A Nice, Deep Breath

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) announced on Thursday night that she had reached a deal with her Democratic colleagues and is ready to “move forward” on the reconciliation bill for climate investments, drug pricing and taxes, aka the Inflation Reduction Act.

• The Democrats agreed to “remove the carried interest tax provision, protect advanced manufacturing, and boost our clean energy economy” in the legislation, according to Sinema.
• The final version of the bill will be introduced on Saturday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced (D-NY).

Trump’s Legal Team In Talks With DOJ About Jan. 6 Probe

The ex-president’s lawyers are in communication with prosecutors at the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. who are heading the Justice Department’s investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, CNN reports.

• Their discussions have reportedly focused on Trump’s claims of executive privilege and whether they could cover his communications with witnesses in the White House.
• Trump’s lawyers have warned their client that he may face indictments, according to CNN.

Kari Lake Wins GOP Nod For Arizona Governor

Trump-backed Kari Lake, a Big Lie fanatic and voter fraud conspiracy monger, is now projected to win the GOP Arizona gubernatorial primary after several days of the race being too close to call.

• Lake no longer sees voter fraud in her race, even though she was “already detecting some stealing going on” on Monday! Interesting! After her victory became official on Thursday night, Lake bragged that “Arizonans who have been forgotten by the establishment just delivered a political earthquake.”
• We know there wasn’t any voter fraud in Lake’s primary because, as she told reporters on Tuesday, “If we don’t win, there’s some cheating going on.” So now we can safely say there was no cheating!

Biden Still Positive For COVID

White House physician Kevin O’Connor reported on Thursday that the President tested positive for COVID-19 again that morning in a case of rebound positivity. However, O’Connor also reported that Biden was feeling “very well” and that his “very occasional cough” was improving.

Kansas GOP Sens. Baffled By Abortion Vote

Sens. Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) are struggling to wrap their heads around the fact that a majority of voters in their red state flatly rejected Republicans’ effort to strip away abortion rights in the state constitution on Tuesday.

• Marshall described the vote as “quite a gut punch” that left him “absolutely shocked.”
• Moran admitted he “never can predict elections.” “I never know how they’re going to turn out,” he told Politico on Thursday.
• Other Republican senators, such as Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) were similarly shell-shocked.

Trump Offspring Finally Sit For Depositions In NY AG Probe

Ivanka Trump and Don Jr. have recently given depositions in New York Attorney General Letitia James’ (D) civil investigation into the Trump Organization, according to CNN and ABC News, after the family spent months fighting the subpoenas.

• Their depositions were delayed after their mother, Ivana Trump, died.
• Don Jr. answered the questions during his deposition and didn’t invoke the Fifth Amendment, according to CNN.

Monkeypox A Public Health Emergency

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra declared the monkeypox outbreak a public health emergency on Thursday.

Hearing For Giuliani’s Potential De-Lawyering Scheduled

An attorney discipline panel in D.C. has scheduled Rudy Giuliani’s ethics hearing for Oct. 24, where the disgraced former New York mayor could potentially face law license suspension (his license in New York was already suspended) or even disbarment for using the courts to spew voter fraud lies about the 2020 election.

• Giuliani apparently plans on defending himself by blaming the local lawyers he worked with in the B.S. election lawsuits. According to Giuliani’s attorney, those local lawyers had given the ex-mayor false info that he took at face value because he “came in at the 11th hour” to work on the cases and was too dang busy to do his own research.
• This hearing is only the first step in disciplining Giuliani in D.C. From there, the proceedings will move up to the full discipline board and the D.C. Court of Appeals.

WTF Story Of The Day

“How a Dem Congressional Staffer Faked Being an FBI Agent and Became a Fugitive” – The Daily Beast

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