Throughout the past seven years, Trump has cast the intelligence community as one of his main opponents.
Continue reading “Trump Touts Intel Community He’s Long Besmirched In Bid To Defend Jan. 6 Charges”Moment More of Israel Obsessiveness
I had a clarifying moment this early afternoon sharing notes with TPM Reader MH via email. This was about the situation in Israel/Palestine but more particularly how it is impacting both people’s views and politics in the United States. What I think has happened is that the events, which began with the Hamas massacres in southern Israel on October 7th and has continued with Israel’s merciless retaliation, has pushed the discussion among not just Democrats but everyone to the left of the 50 yard line of American politics from “should Israeli policy be different” to “should Israel exist.”
The first is fairly unifying. The second is profoundly divisive and, for a non-trivial chunk of the Democratic coalition, existential.
Continue reading “Moment More of Israel Obsessiveness”Haley In Unstoppable Drive Toward Second Place
We’re back to another of those comical developments in the Republican Party and it’s relationship with its leader, Donald Trump. This morning the Koch Network announced it is supporting Nikki Haley, former South Carolina Governor and the latest forlorn hope of the billionaires who fund the GOP. She joins the heap of broken political bodies like Ron DeSantis, Glenn Youngkin and others. It raises the question: Does this completely not matter or mostly not matter? It may surprise you to learn that I’m only at “mostly doesn’t matter.” There may actually be some limited significance.
When I first started writing this post I decided to double check the latest polls. Haley is in the midst of a meteoric rise in pundit and GOP elite esteem. Lots of observers point either to polls or other evidence suggesting that if only Haley could win the nomination she’d be a lock to beat President Biden. (I actually doubt that’s true. But that’s a different story.) Candidly, I was surprised by just how much Trump is now crushing the entire GOP field. Trump is no longer sitting at about 50% or so in a big field, what by really any measure is more than enough to make him nominee. He’s now consistently 10% or 15% higher. He’s no longer at 50% support. He’s now usually 50% or more ahead of the second place vote getter.
What Haley is now accomplishing is being on the verge of surpassing the crumpled carcass of Gov. Ron DeSantis. Enough to win the small trinket, not the full stuffed animal at the fair.
Continue reading “Haley In Unstoppable Drive Toward Second Place”Mike Pence Tells Jack Smith All About Donald Trump And Jan. 6
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Do Tell …
ABC News continues to come through with consistently revelatory reporting about the prosecution of Donald Trump for the 2020 election subversion scheme. In a new report this morning, Katherine Faulders et al. describe what former Vice President Mike Pence has told Special Counsel Jack Smith.
Relying on anonymous sources, the ABC News team paints a picture of detailed questioning of Pence by investigators and a more granular (but not inconsistent) account of what Pence has already said publicly. The sources almost surely come from Pence’s circle, as the report goes so far as to use quotations purportedly from Pence.
According to the ABC News report, Pence told investigators that:
- Trump surrounded himself with “crank” attorneys, espoused “un-American” legal theories, and almost pushed the country toward a “constitutional crisis.”
- Pence briefly considered not showing up for the Jan. 6 certification by Congress of the Electoral College vote.
- Trump privately asked Pence for his advice, and Pence told him that if nothing changed, “[you] should simply accept the results,” “you should take a bow,” travel the country to thank supporters, “and then run again if you want.”
- After Trump re-tweeted a memo titled ‘Operation PENCE CARD,’ Pence turned to his wife and said, “Here we go.”
- Trump “acted recklessly” as the Capitol was under siege, but Pence will “never believe” Trump meant for Jan. 6 to become violent.
Chutkan Blocks Trump Fishing Expedition
The judge in the Jan. 6 case denied a Trump request to issue pre-trial subpoenas to various government entities, officials, and members of Congress.
Time Is Of The Essence
Randall Eliason: Why Judges in the Trump Jan. 6 Trial Need a Rocket Docket
John Eastman Pushes For Quick Georgia RICO Trial
A new wrinkle in the Georgia RICO case where John Eastman seems to be asking the judge to try Donald Trump separately from everyone else after the election and to hold two separate trials of the remaining defendants in 2024.
Never Forget
Philip Bump on the renewed effort to rewrite the history of Jan. 6.
Good Reminder
Politico: Bid to hold Trump accountable for Jan. 6 violence stalls at appeals court
The Ongoing Assault On Voting Rights
We are paying far less attention to the long-term deterioration of the right to vote, the essential building block of a democratic republic. It’s easier to overlook because chipping away at access to the ballot has been a subtle, decade-long process.
Bob Menendez Watch
WaPo exclusive: Businessman accused of bribing Sen. Menendez had deep ties to Egypt
Hate Crime?
The Justice Department is investigating whether the shooting in Vermont of three students of Palestinian descent was a hate crime. The man arrested in the shooting pleaded not guilty Monday.
Musk In Israel
Notorious purveyor of anti-Semitism uses Bibi Netanyahu to launder his anti-Semitism:
So Much For Small Gov’t And Local Control
WaPo: Antagonisms flare as red states try to dictate how blue cities are run
Great Read
New Yorker: When Your Own Book Gets Caught Up in the Censorship Wars
Pennies On The Dollar But Not Nothing
The Sandy Hook families have offered to settle their nearly $1.5 billion legal judgments against Alex Jones for $85 million, payable over 10 years, plus 50 percent of any income over $9 million per year.
Catching Up On Geert Wilders Big Win
The holiday threw me off my game, so I’m late to catching you up on the big win for right-winger Geert Wilders in the Dutch parliamentary elections:
Rosalynn Carter To Be Honored
Every living first lady will join former President Jimmy Carter in paying respects to the late Rosalynn Carter today in Atlanta.
Colbert Recovering From Ruptured Appendix
The late night host cancelled this week’s shows after undergoing surgery for a ruptured appendix.
Yesterday Was Hard
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Johnson Avoids Specifics On Santos For As Long As Humanly Possible
With his speakership honeymoon fading fast, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is facing the reality of his uber thin majority as he navigates how to pass foreign aid to Ukraine and Israel before the holiday break and the bigger, two-tiered shutdown threat he created heading into the new year. His apprehension about ousting one of his own is tangible — especially someone like Rep. George Santos (R-NY).
Continue reading “Johnson Avoids Specifics On Santos For As Long As Humanly Possible”Idaho Asks Supreme Court To Let It Fully Impose Punitive Abortion Ban During Appeal
Idaho asked the Supreme Court Monday to stay a lower court injunction, or to take up its case directly, as it attempts to fend off the Biden administration’s challenge of the state’s abortion ban.
Continue reading “Idaho Asks Supreme Court To Let It Fully Impose Punitive Abortion Ban During Appeal”History and Enthusiasm
November 13th marked our 23rd anniversary at TPM. During these past 23 years I’ve managed to write as much as I have because I kept to a simple approach, which was following whatever aspect of US politics and political culture interested me most. This worked because it combined the exertion and mental energy most put toward ‘work’ with the off-hours hobbies, life, downtime and, if possible, fun we do outside of work. One might also call this obsession. But it worked in terms of productivity, focus and drive. Indeed, for those who enjoy the Editors’ Blog one of the things that makes it compelling is following the idiosyncrasies of my interests and particular storylines I latch on to. Or, so many are saying …
But over the last couple months that pattern has shifted for me in that my mind has been heavily preoccupied by something that isn’t US politics. The Israel-Hamas war has a clear bearing on US politics. Some people think it could turn the 2024 presidential election, though I suspect its salience will decrease dramatically over the coming months, as most big news stories do. At the moment it’s the dominant national news story in the US and has been for weeks. But it’s not really a US story. More importantly my interest in it goes far beyond its bearings on US politics. So I’ve been aware that my focus has shifted from things at the heart of US politics toward subject matter that is, in many ways parochial, communal and personal. And that’s not what TPM is about, at least not in its current iteration.
And it’s not like we’re in a slow period in American politics. But there we are.
Continue reading “History and Enthusiasm”Some Republicans Were Willing To Compromise On Abortion Ban Exceptions. Activists Made Sure They Didn’t.
This article was originally published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
State Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt was speaking on the floor of the South Dakota Capitol, four months pregnant with her third child, begging her Republican colleagues to care about her life.
Continue reading “Some Republicans Were Willing To Compromise On Abortion Ban Exceptions. Activists Made Sure They Didn’t.”The Rule Of Law Is The Only Thing That Matters In 2024
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Our Last Thanksgiving Without Trump?
By the time we sit down for turkey again next year, Donald Trump may be the president-elect for a second time. That persistent thought soured my holiday like spoiled deviled eggs. If this was the last Thanksgiving before the end of democracy as we know it, I hope you made it a good one.
What Matters Most
The rule of law is on the ballot in 2024, and it trumps every other political and policy consideration.
It is the umbrella under which every other issue is addressed: Want to restore abortion rights? Want to openly debate Israel and Palestine? Want to accelerate the energy revolution to head off the worst of climate change?
Good luck. Because if Trump, as promised, harnesses the power of the federal government to attack his perceived political enemies, exact retribution for slights, overturn elections, eviscerate the right to vote, and continue the effort to lock in GOP minority rule, he will break the democratic mechanisms for adjudicating policy preferences, enacting new laws, and enforcing them.
Trump is promising a fundamental break with the rule of law and from that will flow a fundamental breakdown in democratic processes and institutions. It is as simple as it is hard to stay at maximum threat level for years on end.
If elections don’t count, if Trump and the GOP won’t accept defeat as an option, if a majority of the electorate can’t make its voice heard at the ballot box, then nothing else really matters. It’s as stark a choice as the United States has ever faced.
A Very Trump Thanksgiving
- Joyce Vance on the holiday attack Donald Trump launched on prosecutors, judges, and that poor law clerk in his New York fraud trial.
- Marcy Wheeler on how not to turn into a data mule for Trump.
Hundreds Of Threats Targeting NY Judge And Clerk
Trump’s rhetorical attack on Thanksgiving came the day after a new revelation about the consequences of those kinds of attacks. The judge in the New York fraud case against him defended his gag order in a filing that revealed that he and his law clerk had received hundreds of credible threats in response to Trump’s attack. Among other things, the law clerk’s cell phone number and personal email address have been compromised.
Jack Smith Uses NY Threats To Boost Case For Gag Order
Special Counsel Jack Smith seized on the revelation in the New York fraud case to press the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to uphold the gag order in the Jan. 6 case against Trump. With the appeals court having already heard oral arguments and poised to rule any day now, Smith filed a rare Thanksgiving Day supplement to the appeal alerting the court to the New York filing detailing the threats against the judge and law clerk. Trump responded that the filing was “impermissible” and “irrelevant.”
What Trump Can Do With The Insurrection Act
AP: Trump hints at expanded role for the military within the US.
I Can Never Get Enough About The Trump Pardons
NYT: A Troubling Trump Pardon and a Link to the Kushners
Trump Has Master Plan For Destroying ‘Deep State’
Donald P. Moynihan unpacks Trump’s three-part plan to transform the federal government into an instrument of his personal power:
- “put Trump loyalists into appointed positions”
- “terrify career civil servants into submission”
- “create a legal framework that would allow him to use government resources to protect himself, attack his political enemies and force through his policy goals without congressional approval”
A Primer On The Rule Of Law
Kim Wehle with part one of a four-part series on Trump and the rule of law.
Conservative Group Accidentally Reveals Its Secret Donors
Daily Beast: “A conservative nonprofit tied to a controversial ‘White House-in-waiting’ for a second Donald Trump presidency has apparently unintentionally revealed its top donors—and two of them are foundations famously associated with liberal causes.”
Congress Is Back This Week
Aid to Israel and Ukraine are the most pressing end-of-the-year matters.
Santos Expulsion Vote As Soon As This Week
Rep. George Santos (R-NY) is now expecting to be expelled by the House.
George Floyd Murderer Stabbed In Prison
Ex-cop Derek Chavin, convicted in the murder of George Floyd, was stabbed and seriously injured Friday by a fellow inmate at a federal prison in Arizona.
When All Else Fails … Fax It?
The Kansas state court filing system has been offline since a mid-October cyberattack, reducing lawyers to filing via fax and in-person visits to courthouses.
Trump Thinks He Can Run As An Abortion Moderate?
In a new Rolling Stone report, Trump is reported as having said he can pivot toward a more moderate position on abortion in the general election because anti-abortion leaders have no leverage over him.
COP Gets Underway This Week In Dubai
The spectacle of the UN’s annual climate change conference being hosted by a petrostate and taking place in a largely artificial man-made environment in the desert gets underway this week. Set your expectations low.
- NYT: How Electricity Is Changing, Country by Country
- WSJ: Costs for renewables have plummeted and growth is exceeding expectations
- In a confirmation that no major news will be announced, President Biden will not be attending.
Arrest Made In Vermont Shooting Of Palestinian Students
Jason J. Eaton, 48, of Burlington has been arrested in the Saturday shooting of three students of Palestinian descent in front of his apartment building. Police have not yet publicly confirmed any motive for the shooting.
Self-Fulfilling Punditry
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How A Maine Businessman Made The AR-15 Into America’s Best-Selling Rifle
This article was originally published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
Outside Healy Chapel on the campus of Saint Joseph’s College of Maine, the American flag swayed at half-staff. Inside, candles flickered, and the dying autumn light filtered softly through stained glass. A nursing student sobbed as a small group of mourners read aloud the names of the 18 people slaughtered with an assault-style rifle in late October at a bowling alley and a restaurant up the road in Lewiston. The college had shut down for two days as police sought the killer, whose body was found in the woods after he turned a gun on himself.
Continue reading “How A Maine Businessman Made The AR-15 Into America’s Best-Selling Rifle”