Morning Memo: Trump DOJ Targeted Dem Lawmakers In Secret Leak Probes

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Here are the stories that caught our attention.

Today’s Big Scoop

Trump’s Justice Department secretly seized the Apple data records of House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) in the administration’s hunt for leaks, according to a bombshell report by the New York Times, later confirmed by other outlets.

  • The seizure included data of the members’ families, too, including a minor.
  • Schiff is calling on Attorney General Merrick Garland and the DOJ’s inspector general to investigate the jaw-dropping subpoenas.
    • What Schiff said: “The politicization of the Department and the attacks on the rule of law are among the most dangerous assaults on our democracy carried out by the former President.”
  • House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) backed her colleague’s demand for an investigation into the “harrowing” reports. “Transparency is essential,” she said.
  • Yep, that about sums it up:

Must Read

“Trump-inspired death threats are terrorizing election workers” – Reuters

‘Operation Hall Pass’ Fail

The Oregon House expelled a Republican lawmaker who let far-right armed protesters into the state Capitol building during a special session in December.

The Next Act In Infrastructure Theater

A bipartisan group of 10 senators, which includes Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), say they’ve reached a deal on infrastructure spending that wouldn’t include any tax increases.

  • The White House says “questions need to be addressed.”
  • Congressional leaders have not yet weighed in on the group’s proposal.

Bipartisanship LOL

“Republicans in the States Are Proving Joe Manchin Wrong” – The Atlantic

Please Love Me, Mr. Trump, Sir

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) vowed on Thursday to build a wall on the southern border in his state, the Texas Tribune reports.

Biden In Europe

  • After meeting with Biden on Thursday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told the BBC that the U.K. and the U.S. have an “indestructible relationship” that has “endured for a very long time.”
  • Biden will be meeting with G-7 leaders today.

Truly Terrifying

“After her arrest, she found her explicit photos sent to a strange number. A state trooper answered the line.” – The Washington Post

You’re Almost There

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) wants to provide automatic student loan deferments-but only for “survivors of terrorist attacks.”

In Case You Missed It

CNN analyst Jeffrey Toobin, who got fired from the New Yorker in November for whipping his Toobout during a Zoom work call, made a comeback on Thursday on the network after months of exile. “Nothing is really in my defense,” he told CNN’s Alisyn Camerota, adding that the incident was “deeply moronic and indefensible.”

  • Oh, to be a white man: An anonymous CNN executive told the Washington Post: “I don’t think that one terrible mistake should define a person or ruin their employment opportunities for life.”

Fox News Having A Normal One

Galaxy Brain

Biden is a “liberal progressive socialist Marxist,” Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) declared on Hannity Thursday night.

What did you think of Morning Memo? Let us know.

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Notable Replies

  1. a deal on infrastructure spending that wouldn’t include any tax increases

    Not to tax the ultra-rich is an anti-democratic atrocity. The Dems owe Joe “Crow” nothing and they should not take his bait on this one. He needs to be sidelined. Work up an infrastructure through reconciliation plan and then dare Manchin to vote against it.

  2. About the “Trump DOJ”:

    A tyrant will always have a spotless crime record in the country he rules.

    I don’t understand why this is not understood more and given more attention.

  3. I would be shocked if these were the only two Congresspeople spied on. Trump is famous for recording his business associates talking about hookers Trump supplied(over State lines on Trump aircraft), then Trump calling their wives to play the recording.

    This is so Trump. So basically, Russia had knowledge of the Democrats via Trump, and knew how to attack or infiltrate the Democratic Party.

  4. Jeffrey Toobin has gull , you gotta give him that

  5. a deal on infrastructure spending that wouldn’t include any tax increases
    It does include tax increases on gas, indexed to inflation
    In other words a tax on all americians

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