New DOJ Emails Include Hints About Atlanta USA’s Abrupt Exit Amid Trump Pressure

Posted on by Tierney Sneed

New Justice Department emails released by the House Tuesday give a look into the behind-the-scenes machinations around the shady departure of a Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney in early January.

Continue reading “New DOJ Emails Include Hints About Atlanta USA’s Abrupt Exit Amid Trump Pressure” →

Capitol Police IG To Testify That Rioters Stole Ballistic Vests And Helmets On Jan. 6

Posted on by Kate Riga

Capitol police inspector general Michael Bolton plans to say Tuesday that on Jan. 6, rioters stole 12 ballistic vests and 12 ballistic helmets that had been strategically placed around the Capitol in case of an emergency.

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On Vaccinating the World

Posted on by Josh Marshall

From TPM Reader JL …

I wanted to pass along some thoughts on vaccinating the world. I don’t claim any particular expertise or even objectivity on the subject, but I do have a perspective that seems a bit contrarian and perhaps worth sharing for that reason alone.

The gist is that I’m fairly optimistic that the world will get vaccinated in not much more than a year. Let me start with a huge caveat, which is that by the world getting vaccinated I mean that the world as a whole will get close to the point where the US will be in a few months or so—approaching 60% of the population fully vaccinated. If that happens the global situation will be vastly improved but it certainly doesn’t mean the pandemic will be over. How not over it will be will depend on variants, ability/willingness to test & trace, and a myriad of other factors.

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Ex-Rep. Rohrabacher Was Part Of Crowd Outside Capitol Building During Attack

Posted on by Matt Shuham

Former Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) acknowledged Monday that he was part of the crowd outside the U.S. Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6, after a Twitter account devoted to tracking down participants in the attack placed him at the scene. 

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Drama Ensues Over Acting Capitol Police Chief’s Absence From January 6 Hearing

Posted on by Kate Riga

The ranking Republican on the House Oversight Committee slammed the acting Capitol police chief’s last-minute decision not to attend a Tuesday hearing on January 6, calling her excuse “pathetic.” 

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Morning Memo: Big New Reveal On Trump’s Conspiracy To Subvert The Election

Posted on by Cristina Cabrera

Here’s what caught our attention.

Story Of The Day

Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released a trove of emails this morning that laid out how Trump persistently tried to pressure then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen to take up the legal challenge to the 2020 election results on the basis of MAGAland’s ridiculous conspiracy theories.

    • The big reveal: Trump directly put the squeeze on Rosen to get the DOJ involved in making bogus election fraud claims, and it started even before Attorney General Barr’s departure was announced.
    • What one of the emails shows: A private attorney reaching out to Rosen’s top aide requesting a meeting to discuss a draft complaint that Trump wanted the DOJ to file in court. “The President of the United States has seen this complaint, and he directed me last night to brief AG Rosen in person today to discuss bringing this action,” the lawyer wrote. “I have been instructed to report back to the President this afternoon after the meeting.”

What’s next? Democrats are demanding that ex-White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows and top DOJ officials involved in the pressure campaign to appear for a transcribed interview.

Infrastructure Theater Act 2

There’s “momentum” building for the watered-down infrastructure proposal being crafted by a bipartisan group of 10 senators, according to CNN … but how much is there, really?

  • Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT)’s not-so-ringing endorsement of the proposal: It’s “very, very paltry and disappointing” but he might be able to vote for it if there’s “irrevocable commitment” from fellow Democrats on using reconciliation for the next package.
  • Senate Budget Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) isn’t having it, period, and says he wouldn’t vote for the bill. “The bottom line is there are a lot of needs facing this country. Now is the time to address those needs, and it has to be paid for in a progressive way, given the fact that we have massive income and wealth inequality in America,” he said.

Protecting The Vote

Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic 2022 gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs wrote an op-ed for the Washington Post urging Senate Democrats to pass the For The People Act.

  • She called out the senator in her state who’s been a prominent obstacle to passing the sweeping legislation, Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ). “Sinema and I serve the same state. We both know that if we do nothing now, Arizonans’ access to the ballot will be stripped away by Republican legislators,” Hobbs wrote.

Leading voting rights advocate Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is hinting that he and his fellow activists could soon be holding “non-violent sit-ins” at Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) office after the West Virginia Democrat came out against the bill.

Investigating Jan. 6

The House will be holding two hearings on the Capitol insurrection where Capitol Police IG Michael Bolton and FBI Director Christopher Wray will testify before the Oversight Committee and the Administration Committee, respectively.

Rs In Dis-R-ray

  • Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is against the chamber’s Judiciary Committee investigating the Trump-era DOJ’s seizing of House Democrats’ data, calling it “a partisan circus” on the Senate floor yesterday.
  • Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-SD), on the other hand, says that the matter “obviously” warrants “further review and investigation.”

GOP AZ Audit Tourists

Josh Mandel, one of Sen. Sherrod Brown’s (D-OH) GOP challengers, made a trip to the sketchy Maricopa County vote audit and posted this bizarre video about it:

Rainbow Capitalism FTW

“These 25 rainbow flag-waving corporations donated more than $10 million to anti-gay politicians in the last two years” – Popular Information

Protect And (Being) Serve (-d Lawsuits For Your Bullshit)

A Shake Shack manager is suing several NYPD police officers and unions over the cops’ bogus claims that they had been served milkshakes that had been spiked with bleach.

Check out how each of the officers get described in the court doc:

Bold Ideas

After visiting the Holocaust Museum yesterday, far-right conspiracy theorist and open racist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-SC) announced yesterday that the Holocaust was bad and that “it happened.”

  • She apologized for her “offensive” remarks comparing face mask policies with Nazism. She did not apologize for comparing Democrats with Nazis.

Sad Trombone

Trump’s having a tough time finding someone who’ll publish his book.

Delete Your Account

Meanwhile, Over At Fox Studios

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

AZ AG Defends Sketchy Audit, Tells AG Garland He’s ‘Not Amused’ By DOJ ‘Posturing’

Posted on by Tierney Sneed

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich (R) told the U.S. Justice Department Monday that that DOJ was “supporting the hysterical outcries of leftist pundits on cable television” when it sent a letter last month inquiring about the state’s partisan recount of the 2020 election.

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Pentagon Told National Guard To ‘Standby’ Five Times During Insurrection, House Finds

Posted on by Josh Kovensky

As the Jan. 6 insurrection at Congress worsened, Capitol police and D.C. officials began to scramble for help.

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New Docs Show Trump Pressuring DOJ To Boost False Election Claims

Posted on by Zoe Richards

New emails show how former President Donald Trump raced to begin a pressure campaign on the eventual replacement to then-Attorney General Bill Barr, pushing the new top official to boost his false claims of election fraud even before announcing that Barr would step down. 

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