A New, But Partial, Gun Ban In MI Legislature Means ‘Capitol Is Not Safe,’ AG Says

The decision of an oversight body to ban openly carried firearms in the Michigan State Capitol — but not all guns — has left the building vulnerable, Michigan’s attorney general said Tuesday. 

Continue reading “A New, But Partial, Gun Ban In MI Legislature Means ‘Capitol Is Not Safe,’ AG Says”

TX City Says It Wasn’t Told About Trump Visit Today, Pleads For Potential Demonstrations To Be ‘Peaceful’

Alamo, Texas city officials stated on Tuesday that the White House had not informed them of President Donald Trump’s trip to the city in advance.

Continue reading “TX City Says It Wasn’t Told About Trump Visit Today, Pleads For Potential Demonstrations To Be ‘Peaceful’”

Dems Weigh How To Get Around An Impeachment Hold-Up To Confirming Biden’s Noms

The plan to impeach President Trump over his encouragement of a mob that ransacked the Capitol is colliding with the reality that doing so could delay, by at least a few days or weeks, confirmation of key Joe Biden nominees after the inauguration.

Continue reading “Dems Weigh How To Get Around An Impeachment Hold-Up To Confirming Biden’s Noms”

Judge Kicks Lin Wood Off Carter Page Case Due To ‘Mendacity,’ ‘Incompetence’

A judge revoked his permission for Trump-world lawyer Lin Wood to argue in a Carter Page case Monday, calling Wood’s behavior a “toxic stew of mendacity, prevarication and surprising incompetence.”

Continue reading “Judge Kicks Lin Wood Off Carter Page Case Due To ‘Mendacity,’ ‘Incompetence’”

Gerrymandering Created The Vacuum Trump Needed To Inspire Faux Coup. Here’s How Dems Can Fix It

This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis.

The insurrection at the capitol building on Wednesday has become the defining image of Donald Trump’s waning presidency. So too will it serve as the visceral embodiment of the degradation and undermining of American democracy — of what happens when our institutions cease to be representative and instead empower an increasingly extreme minority. 

Continue reading “Gerrymandering Created The Vacuum Trump Needed To Inspire Faux Coup. Here’s How Dems Can Fix It”

Republican Megadonor Sheldon Adelson Has Died

Republican megadonor and casino mogul Sheldon Adelson died on Monday night due to complications related to his treatment for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

According to a statement from Las Vegas Sands Corp., the gaming corporation that Adelson founded in 1988 and where he served as Chairman and CEO, the multibillionaire passed away at his Malibu home. He was 87. Continue reading “Republican Megadonor Sheldon Adelson Has Died”

Two More Reps Test Positive For COVID After Sheltering With Mask-Free GOPers During Insurrection

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) announced on Monday night that she, like 75-year-old Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), had tested positive for COVID-19 after lawmakers were forced to take shelter with several mask-less Republicans during the pro-Trump insurrection at the Capitol last Wednesday.

Continue reading “Two More Reps Test Positive For COVID After Sheltering With Mask-Free GOPers During Insurrection”

SuperSpreader

One of the most chilling, disgraceful episodes of the events of last Wednesday came in the ‘undisclosed, secure location’ members of Congress were taken to after they were evacuated from the House and Senate Chambers. This is by definition, a relatively small space crowded with large numbers of people. It’s designed for terror attacks, not COVID mitigation. While there, numerous Republican members still refused to don masks. Indeed, especially seniors from the Democratic caucus, repeatedly begged them to put on masks. They refused and in cases even mocked the requests. Now two members, Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D), 55, and Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D), 75 and a cancer survivor, have both tested positive for COVID. They received positive test results on Monday, five days after the insurrection, which is the average time to become symptomatic for COVID.

Here’s video. The blonde women in this scene is Rep. Marjorie Greene, the new Qanon-supporting member from Georgia.

We can’t know for certain that these members were infected during the siege. But it seems highly, highly likely. It’s also quite likely we’ll see more infections in the coming days.

Report: Trump Blamed ‘Antifa’ For Capitol Insurrection He Incited On Call With McCarthy

President Donald Trump, still bent on spreading false information on Monday, sought to blame “antifa” for a deadly insurrection at the U.S. Capitol last week during a call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Axios reported.

The House Minority Leader, however, after spending months enabling the President’s lies about voter fraud — which ultimately provoked the recent Capitol siege that left five people dead — finally pushed back.

Continue reading “Report: Trump Blamed ‘Antifa’ For Capitol Insurrection He Incited On Call With McCarthy”

Report: Trump Not Planning On Aggressively Fighting Against Impeachment

President Donald Trump reportedly isn’t interested in putting up a tough fight against House Democrats’ move toward impeaching him for an unprecedented second time, unlike during last year’s impeachment saga.

Continue reading “Report: Trump Not Planning On Aggressively Fighting Against Impeachment”