A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Try Explaining This In 50 Years
The first and only president to launch a coup attempt from inside the Oval Office has yet to face criminal charges for that travesty, and now there’s a chance the first thing he’ll be criminally charged with will be a hush money scheme with a porn actress that helped get him elected in the first place.
American politics is weird.
The newly reinvigorated probe of the Stormy Daniels scheme by Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, who initially shelved the probe when he took office last year, is now full steam head.
Trump Org controller Jeffrey McConney is expected to testify today to a New York grand jury investigating the matter, CNN reports.
Prosecutors have circled back to Michael Cohen, the former Trump fixer and lawyer, who is a key figure in the hush money scheme. Cohen says he was interviewed for about 2 1/2 hours by investigators, who want access to his phone.
“Most recently, they asked for my cell phones because they want to be able to extract from it the voice recordings that I had had with Keith Davidson, former attorney to Stormy Daniels before Michael Avenatti, as well as a bunch of emails, text messages and so on, that way it could be used as evidence if in fact they proceed forward, which I suspect they are,” Cohen said on CNN.
The Big Fani Willis Profile
New York Times Magazine goes deep on the Atlanta district attorney investigating Donald Trump’s 2020 election subversion efforts in Georgia:
Late on the first Sunday of 2021, news broke of President Donald J. Trump’s call with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger of Georgia, asking him to “find 11,780 votes” to help contest the 2020 election. The next morning — Monday, Jan. 4 — was Fani Willis’s first day in the office as the district attorney for Fulton County, which encompasses most of Atlanta, as well as suburbs like Sandy Springs, East Point and Alpharetta. “Not the second day,” she told me when I met with her in November. “My very first day in this office — in that conference room, it’s all over the TV.” She found herself hoping that the secretary of state might have been “in another county when it happened,” she said, laughing darkly. He was not. And so, Willis said, “I’m stuck with it.”
Why Was The FBI Asleep On Jan. 6?
NYT: Bias and Human Error Played Parts in F.B.I.’s Jan. 6 Failure, Documents Suggest
College Board Caves To DeSantis
Not a good look for the College Board. It watered down the AP African American Studies curriculum after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) complained loudly and publicly about it.
Gone from the revised curriculum:
- Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Black Lives Matter
- Kimberlé Crenshaw
Added to the revised curriculum:
- “Black conservatism”
FBI Searches Biden Beach Home
President Biden consented to a FBI search of his Delaware beach home Wednesday morning for more improperly retained classified documents. None were found, according to Biden’s personal attorney Bob Bauer.
The search came the same day as Robert Hur officially began his work as special counsel in the matter, after disentangling himself from his DC law practice.
Hunter Biden Shifts Strategy
With Abbe Lowell now his lawyer, Hunter Biden has shifted to a new, more aggressive strategy to confront his legal and political woes.
Arrest Made In Attack On NJ Synagogue
Nicholas Malindretos, 26, of Clifton, N.J., was arrested and charged under federal law with allegedly throwing a Molotov cocktail at the synagogue last weekend.
Add Another Santos Investigation To The Growing List
The FBI has reportedly interviewed the disabled veteran who claims George Santos pocketed the money from a GoFundMe campaign for the vet’s dying dog.
Santos’ New FEC Filing Offers More Muckraking Fun!
The Daily Beast’s Roger Sollenberger: “an autopsy of George Santos’ latest campaign finance filing reveals what experts are calling ‘a colossal mess’ and a ‘chaotic state of affairs.’”
Where Did ‘George Santos’ Come From?
CNN: Inside George Santos’ transformation from Anthony Devolder into a political figure
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