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EXCLUSIVE: ABC News has obtained video from Georgia prosecutors' interview with ex-Trump attorney Jenna Ellis, in which Ellis tells them she was personally informed by a top Trump adviser that Trump was "not going to leave" the White House — despite losing the 2020 election.… pic.twitter.com/J9c4bm9cbZ
Pretty remarkable things emerging in the House. It appears that Speaker Johnson can’t move his own compromise plan with Republican votes. Or actually he can’t pass the rule that governs how to bring up his bill. So now he’ll now go back to relying on Democratic votes to get it done. He’s already back to the McCarthy rules – what is it? a three weeks in? The difference, presumably, is that House hardliners know he can’t and they’ll give him a pass. They won’t make him pay any price for passing something they claim is unacceptable with Democratic votes. Because he’s their guy.
Not clear how this evolving. But a pretty decent chance we’re looking at a new MO: House hardliners remain pure and Democrats take on the responsibility for actually governing.
After emphatically congratulating themselves for managing to elect a speaker — and after leaving the position vacant while they fought for nearly a month — House Republicans took a minor break from public displays of dysfunction the last few weeks, a move guised as a “grace period” for new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
In reality, it may have just been a calm before this week’s storm.
Several times I’ve noted this key oddity of the Israel-Hamas war: it is certainly the gravest crisis in Israel in a half century and yet it is being led by an Israeli leader who is now overwhelmingly discredited within his own country. And there is no sign that that public rejection is fading as the war enters its second month. Polls continue to tell the same story. Indeed, last week the right wing daily that was literally founded to support Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel HaYom, called on Netanyahu to resign at the close of the war. The difference is that the costs and dangers of Netanyahu’s continued rule are growing graver and appearing in a starker relief.
One confusion for some in the United States is the belief that the intensity and ferocity of Israel’s response to the events of October 7th is tied to Netanyahu himself. That is not the case. While public opinion is complicated and there are disagreements over strategy, the current war has overwhelming support within Israel. It’s quite unlikely that any head of government who seems at all plausible would be prosecuting it in a different way.
To the extent there are disagreements it’s over what comes afterwards. What happens in Gaza? Who controls Gaza? Is it again governed by some kind of Israeli military occupation? Is it governed by the Palestinian Authority? Is it governed by some kind of international force?
The Supreme Court on Monday released a code of conduct laying out ethical rules for its nine Justices after nearly a year of revelations of unreported luxury trips, gifts, and secret real estate deals at the high court.
After last week’s off-cycle elections, it’s time to do a wellness check on one of America’s most prominent promoters of voting conspiracy theories, My Pillow entrepreneur Mike Lindell.
This won’t come as a shock to anyone familiar with Lindell’s oeuvre, but he was, once again, pretty disturbed by the democratic process.
In an email to his devotees that was filled with technical jargon and odd grammatical choices, Lindell claimed the internet somehow swayed elections all over the country.
“Although electronic voting machine companies have emphatically declared their machines are not online and do not contain Bluetooth modems- we have reports of Ballot printers going online with multiple tabulators tethered to the printing machines during Tuesday’s elections,” Lindell wrote, adding, “This is supposed to be impossible.”
The thoroughly discredited notion that algorithms and internet connectivity could be used to manipulate votes has long been a core part of Lindell’s schtick and the broader Big Lie mythos. Given that states use different election systems, many of which are hand recounted and not connected to the internet, it is a technical impossibility. Nevertheless, Lindell has persisted. As he made his latest shocking allegations, Lindell stopped short of providing any concrete evidence. Instead, Lindell insisted he’s actually withholding further proof because of unspecified dangers.
“For now, we are concealing critical details to protect election clerks from retaliation,” he explained.
Lindell delivered his fevered assessment of the vote in an email to supporters who signed up after his grand “election summit” in August. Since then, those Lindell fans have been treated to a relentless barrage of election conspiracies and promotional deals for bedding. At his event, Lindell debuted his “plan” to “secure elections” from a mysterious and malevolent cabal he dubbed “The Evil.” Lindell’s plan was a convoluted one involving drones and scanners that he dubbed “W.M.D.,” and vowed would expose the supposed internet connections. He also debuted social media site where people could share rumors and alleged evidence of malfeasance.
Thanks to all of Lindell’s planning, he doesn’t think last week’s elections were a total disaster. Lindell declared that his social media platform and “W.M.D.’s” were “wildly successful” in exposing “anomalies.” He dubbed it “a huge victory for the people.” Lindell also rattled off some of these supposed issues with the vote in the email. It was a mix of paranoia and already debunked claims. For example, in Kentucky, where Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear was re-elected in a state with Republican legislative majorities, Lindell baselessly declared the result impossible without much elaboration.
“**Kentucky Governor election has an unbelievable outcome. So much so that all hands are on deck to fight the suspicious outcome,” Lindell wrote.
Lindell followed up his paranoia with a reference to discredited social media rumors that a “gas leak” that postponed voting for about a half an hour at a church in a largely Democratic county somehow affected the result. He did not explain how exactly it would have helped Beshear to have voting disrupted in a Democratic area.
The Kentucky conspiracy was a perfect example of how Lindell’s ongoing election paranoia is coming from a place beyond explanation or logic. In the email, he also cited debunked rumors about a voting machine error in Pennsylvania and suggested a power outage that delayed voters for an hour in Indiana was nefarious.
According to Lindell, he and his social network were addressing these claims that were not being reported in the “MSM.” He suggested that these various rumors were being censored and ignored. Of course, that’s not true at all. Several of them received widespread coverage and analysis.
After dropping the supposed truth bombs that failed to detonate, Lindell directed his readers to a link for an “Election Alert Feed” that would further detail “significant incidents.” Like so many of Lindell’s supposed blockbusters, the link didn’t work and literally went nowhere.
The litany of falsehoods and fever dreams in Lindell’s email ended as so many things do in the pro-Trump election conspiracy universe: He plugged his social media site and made a request for donations before signing off with a “God bless.”
In the grand scheme of things, this probably doesn’t rank as the Trump legal team’s worst offense, but I mention it because his lawyers continue to quickly use up whatever benefit of the doubt U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan may have harbored.
The same pattern has played out in other Trump cases: An over-the-top defense combined with playing fast and loose with the rules while making it abundantly clear that the audience is a political, not a legal, one. The only case where it hasn’t resulted in Trump becoming adversarial with the judge is in the Mar-a-Lago case. Looking at you, Aileen Cannon.
The latest gamesmanship from Trump went like this:
Media coalition seeks live TV coverage of the trial of Trump in the Jan. 6 case.
Special Counsel Jack Smith opposes it, arguing that the judge doesn’t have authority to override the procedural rule prohibiting the broadcast of proceedings.
Trump tells Smith he’s taking no position on this issue, and Smith conveys that to the judge.
Days later, Trump reverses course and supports broadcasting the trial, submitting a filing long on invective and short on the law.
In a follow-up filing yesterday, Smith brought the switcheroo to Chutkan’s attention and asked for leave to file a brief four-page reply to Trump’s newfound support for TV in the courtroom: “[T]he Government sought the defendant’s position on the applications, and his counsel requested that the Government represent to the Court that he took no position. The Government accurately reported that to the Court.” Smith noted that his brief was ready to file as soon as the judge gives him leave to do so.
In an epitome of Trump’s gamesmanship, he opposes Smith’s motion for leave to reply.
Judges do notice this kind of thing.
Trump Wants More Time In Jan. 6 Case
While all of the above gamesmanship was going on, Trump made a last-minute appeal to U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to extend the deadlines for filings due this week. Smith opposed that motion.
Politico: New book details Trump lawyers’ secret meeting with Jack Smith ahead of DC indictment
Trump Attacks Jack Smith And His Wife … Again
While the federal courts keep the gag order against Trump on hold while considering his appeal, Trump continues to spew threatening, inflammatory, and inciting public attacks against his chief prosecutor and his family:
While attacking Jack Smith as “deranged” and “crooked,” Trump now including Smith’s wife and family in his attacks pic.twitter.com/NPCpzV2wfs
Trump vowed to "root out" what he referred to as the "radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country." pic.twitter.com/6J7hEgx1vS
TPM’s Kate Riga on the oral arguments before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals as Steve Bannon attempts to get his contempt of Congress conviction overturned.
BREAKING …
AP: Secret Service agents protecting Biden’s granddaughter open fire when 3 people try to break into SUV
Self-Proclaimed ‘Sniper’ Threatened To Kill MTG
A Georgia man was arrested after allegedly leaving a threatening voicemail for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greeene: “I’m going to murder her. I’m going to shoot her in the f—ing head and kill her, OK.”
Let’s Check In On The Jan. 6 Defendants … WTF?
NBC: Tennessee man admits to conspiring with Jan. 6 defendant to kill FBI agents
ABC: Jan. 6 suspect Gregory Yetman surrenders to police after widespread manhunt
Speaker Johnson A-Okay With His Role In The Big Lie
When I asked Speaker Johnson on November 2 whether he regretted any of his actions between the 2020 election and January 6, 2021, he told me: “No, I stand by that position, even today, adamantly.”
The constellation of Mr. Trump’s 2025 plans amounts to an assault on immigration on a scale unseen in modern American history. Millions of undocumented immigrants would be barred from the country or uprooted from it years or even decades after settling here.
Such a scale of planned removals would raise logistical, financial and diplomatic challenges and would be vigorously challenged in court. But there is no mistaking the breadth and ambition of the shift Mr. Trump is eyeing.
2024 Ephemera
NYT: With Manchin Out, Democrats’ Path to Holding the Senate Is Narrow
Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) announced that she will run for Virginia governor in 2025 instead of seeking re-election to the House.
NPR: 5th Circuit sets a January deadline for a new Louisiana congressional map
NBC: How the GOP muzzled the quiet coalition that fought foreign propaganda
Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) suspends his presidential campaign:
Senator Tim Scott chose his longtime friend and fellow South Carolinian Trey Gowdy’s Fox show to announce that his presidential campaign is over. Gowdy sounded genuinely surprised >>> pic.twitter.com/8f42s763OR
The House GOP is a expected to bring to the floor as soon as Tuesday a gimmicky continuing resolution to avoid a government shutdown at the end of this week.
Eric Adams Is In Hot Water
This is starting to look a lot less like a campaign finance case and a lot more like a foreign influence case:
FBI is investigating whether NYC Mayor Eric Adams cleared red tape on a building project backed by the Turkish government.
The FBI seized Adam’s electronic devices in the probe.
You probably know the drill by now. Isaac Chotiner gets some dubious personality on the phone and let’s them self-eviscerate across the pages of the New Yorker. At this point, if Isaac Chotiner asked me my favorite flavor of ice cream, I’d go into hiding. In the latest installment of his notorious Q&A, Chotiner hands the knife to Israeli settlement leader Daniella Weiss.
Just.Asking.Questions.
AP: Media watchdog says it was just ‘raising questions’ with false insinuations about photographers and Hamas
Israel-Gaza Fallout
Long Island: Swastikas, Anti-Semitic Graffiti Found At Restaurant/Bar In Montauk
NYC: Man of Indian descent wearing Arab scarf says he was violently confronted by a woman in Brooklyn park
Paris: More than 100,000 demonstrators march against anti-Semitism
WHOA
WaPo exclusive: Ukrainian military officer coordinated Nord Stream pipeline attack
Pope Francis Removes Conservative US Bishop
AP: “Pope Francis on Saturday ordered the removal of the bishop of Tyler, Texas, a conservative prelate active on social media who has been a fierce critic of the pontiff and has come to symbolize the polarization within the U.S. Catholic hierarchy.”
‘God Is A Bunch Of Drunks Together In A Room’
LOS ANGELES – FEBRUARY 19: Actor Matthew Perry (R) and Actor/Director Hank Azaria (L) talk before his short film ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ at the Writers Guild February 19, 2004 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Carlo Allegri/Getty Images)
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was originally published at The Conversation.
On Oct. 4, 2022, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy released the Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights: A Vision for Protecting Our Civil Rights in the Algorithmic Age. The blueprint launched a conversation about how artificial intelligence innovation can proceed under multiple fair principles. These include safe and effective systems, algorithmic discrimination protections, privacy and transparency.
I note a bit of speaking in jest there in the headline. But in our recent podcasts Kate Riga and I have been noting that Sherrod Brown must wish his reelection had coincided with the big abortion referendum that just won in Ohio by 13 percentage points. Could he get his wish? Could this end up on the ballot again in 2024? Let me start by saying that I don’t think he’ll get this lucky. But we can’t rule it out.
Ohio Republicans turned around from their Tuesday defeats to announce that they don’t plan on accepting the results of either the abortion or the marijuana legalization votes. With the marijuana legalization vote there’s actually a fair amount they can do since it was an “initiated statute” rather than a constitutional amendment. At least in theorythey can implement it to death, much as Florida did a few years ago when voters backed the felon enfranchisement. The abortion vote was for a constitutional amendment. So it’s locked in. There’s nothing the gerrymandered legislature can do to keep that text out of the state constitution. But Republicans think they’ve found a way around the state constitution.
