The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday kept up in the air the critical question of when Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 trial will resume.
Continue reading “DC Appeals Court Needles Trump On Immunity While Leaving Trial Date an Open Question”DC Circuit Hears Trump Argument That He’s Above The Law
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Tuesday over Donald Trump’s claim that he can’t be prosecuted for acts he took while in office. We liveblogged the arguments and Trump’s press conference after, which you can find below.
Continue reading “DC Circuit Hears Trump Argument That He’s Above The Law”Trump Takes Sledge Hammer To Rule Of Law Today In Historic Case
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
What To Watch For Today
Oral arguments on Donald Trump’s claim of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution are scheduled for 9:30 a.m. ET before the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.
We’ve set up our liveblog so that you can listen to the audio and follow our running updates at the same time. Join us!
Reminder: This is NOT the Disqualification Clause case. It emerges instead from the Jan. 6 case in DC charging Trump with conspiring to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election. Trump is arguing that he can’t be prosecuted because the president is immune from criminal prosecution for official acts.
There is no precedent for such immunity, and Trump is widely expected to lose that argument at the appeals court and later at the Supreme Court. But how he loses (i.e., the legal rationales) and whether the courts recognize any kind of presidential immunity is worth watching.
But don’t lose track of the main story line here: Trump is using the immunity argument to buy time. It’s part of his larger delay strategy. So we’ll be especially focused on timing issues: How quickly will the appeals court rule? How quickly will the Supreme Court take up and dispense with the case? Will either court permit U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan to resume the trial-level proceedings that are currently on hold?
Trump says he will personally appear in court for the oral arguments today. We’ll see. He can be fickle, and the weather in DC today is atrocious.
Want To Go A Little Deeper?
If you’re way into the immunity arguments, a few additional notes:
- The appeals court does seem interested in addressing whether the immunity argument can be appealed now or whether it is premature. If the appeal is premature, the appeals court lacks jurisdiction to hear it and the case gets kicked back to Chutkan. If I were a betting man, I wouldn’t put my money on that happening, but it’s worth keeping an eye on this argument. I wouldn’t be surprised to see it be among the first questions asked of Trump’s lawyers.
- If the appeals court determines it has jurisdiction, then it must decide if there is presidential immunity from prosecution.
- If the appeals court determines there is such a thing as presidential immunity in the criminal context, then it must articulate a standard for qualifying for that immunity.
- Once it articulates that standard, then the appeals court must determine if Trump meets the standard.
- Finally, if Trump loses on all the above, he has a last-ditch double jeopardy argument that since the Senate acquitted him in the second impeachment, he can’t be prosecuted again for the same underlying conduct.
Trump Deploys The Immunity Argument In Georgia, Too
In a new filing Monday in the Georgia RICO Case, Donald Trump is seeking to have the state charges against him dismissed on grounds of presidential immunity, mirroring the argument he is making in the Jan. 6 case in DC.
A Dramatic Twist In The Georgia RICO Case?
In the Georgia RICO case, a surprise filing by Trump co-defendant Mike Roman claiming – without presenting much in the way of hard evidence – that Atlanta District Attorney Fani Willis is or was engaged in a romantic relationship with the man she hired as special prosecutor in the case.
Willis’ office said she will respond formally via court filings, and I’m going to wait to say much more about this until she files a response. But for practical purposes Roman’s gambit here is to disqualify the entire DA’s office from handling the prosecution and then hope a more Trump-friendly prosecutor is appointed to take over.
The Swatting Menace
- Special Counsel Jack Smith was the victim of a swatting attempt on Christmas Day at his Maryland home in suburban DC.
- Further confirmation and additional details on the attempted swatting of U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan at her DC home Sunday night.
Still Unpacking That Stefanik Interview On MTP
- NBC News: The reality of Trump and Stefanik’s Jan. 6 ‘hostages’
- Philip Bump: The GOP’s post-Trump lesson: Power isn’t dependent on voting
Ziegler Booted As Florida GOP Chair
Facing rape allegations involving a woman who previously engaged in a ménage à trois with him and his wife, Florida GOP Chair Christian Ziegler was removed from his party leadership role during a closed-door emergency vote Monday.
Congrats To An Old TPM Friend
Joshua Green has a new book out today: The Rebels: Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and the Struggle for a New American Politics. He sent me an advanced copy late last week, and I’m looking forward to digging into it.
In his previous book, Josh wrote the definitive account of the rise of Trump viewed through the prism of Trump whisperer Steve Bannon. His latest effort is in a very different but parallel vein, tracing the arc of the progressive economic movement from the tatters of the Carter presidency through the wilderness of the Reagan and Clinton eras until the Great Recession gave voice to the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, and AOC.
Josh worked for Josh Marshall way back before TPM, shared office space with TPM in DC for a time, and has been at work on this book for going on five years now. It’s good to see it reach the finish line.
Say It Out Loud
The Big Picture
It’s official: 2023 was the hottest year in recorded history.
I continue to wonder if the global lurch toward right-wing authoritarianism isn’t inextricably connected with climate change. More on that in future Morning Memo installments.
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Haley Main Target At Last Scheduled Republican Debate
The Republican 2024 candidates not named Donald Trump descended on Tuscaloosa, Alabama Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. ET for their final scheduled debate.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and tech businessman Vivek Ramaswamy duked it out for second place as Trump skipped again.
With some tense moments — and perhaps the most memorable stretch when Christie defended Haley against Ramaswamy — the debate covered some new terrain, including on Trump’s call to replace the Affordable Care Act. Catch up with our coverage below:
Freak Flag Lowered to Half Staff Over Florida GOP
Nicole Lafond has stolen a bit of my thunder here. But I feel obliged to let you know that Christian Ziegler, threesomer and erstwhile chairman of the Florida Republican Party, was finally given the boot today by the state party. The state party executive committee named Evan Power as his successor. No word was available as we went to press on whether Power and his wife will be inviting anyone else to play. I had explained in one of my earlier posts that the state party was in a jam because the state party bylaws provided no mechanism for firing a state party chairman. What happened? As near as I can tell the state party committee decided that that didn’t matter. They all wanted him to go. So they fired him. Bada bing bada boom.
Continue reading “Freak Flag Lowered to Half Staff Over Florida GOP”Um What?
Let me flag this piece to your attention. I’m not sure what to make of it yet. The gist is that one of Donald Trump’s codefendants in the state coup prosecution in Georgia has filed a motion to remove Fani Willis as prosecutor. Michael Roman claims that Willis hired a romantic partner (he alleges), Nathan Wade, to serve as special prosecutor in the case. In essence, she hired him as an outside lawyer since it’s a big case and something bigger than the office might normally handle. Roman then goes on to claim that since Willis and Wade vacationed together (he alleges) and since Wade paid for some of those vacations (he alleges), Willis illegally profited from Wade’s work for the DA’s office. He further argues that Willis had no authority to hire Wade in the first place; so basically the whole prosecution falls apart.
Continue reading “Um What?”Christian Ziegler Officially Booted From Florida GOP As Police Expand Investigation
During a closed-door emergency voice vote on Monday, Christian Ziegler was formally booted from his role as the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, just a few weeks after the party voted to strip the accused rapist of his salary and diminished his authority as chairman.
At the time, the Florida GOP urged Ziegler to resign but the body couldn’t officially oust him because state bylaws don’t allow it. Florida Republicans did in early December set in motion a maneuver that would allow them to use the state party constitution to potentially expel Ziegler within 30 days. That may be what materialized today, though it is not entirely clear as the meeting was held behind closed doors.
Continue reading “Christian Ziegler Officially Booted From Florida GOP As Police Expand Investigation”Today In History: LBJ Declares A “War On Poverty”
Sixty years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson delivered his first state of the union address, only weeks after assuming the presidency following the national trauma of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. He used the speech to announce a sweeping legislative agenda, which he dubbed the “War on Poverty.”
At the time, nearly 20% of Americans lived below the poverty line.
The speech marked the initiation of Great Society agenda items that would go on to transform American life and endure today despite decades of attempts — some successful — by Congress to winnow them down. They include the Food Stamps Act and legislation creating the Peace Corps, both signed into law in August 1964, and the Social Security Act, which was signed in 1965 and put in place both Medicare and Medicaid.
President Johnson gifts a pen to Peace Corps Director Sargent Shriver
President Johnson signs into law the ‘War on Poverty’ bill
President Johnson proudly holds out the Economic Opportunity Act
President Johnson smiles as he holds up the ‘War on Poverty’ bill
President Johnson signs the war on poverty bill
Shriver Meets with the Minority
President Johnson meets with political figures from New Jersey
AG Robert F. Kennedy testifying before the House Education and Labor Subcommittee
Poverty hearings open
President Johnson meets with four leaders of the Civil Rights movement
Trainees arrive for a counselor course in a war on poverty program
Some Further Thoughts on Jan 6th; The Merrick Garland Question
I wrote this post over the weekend about the continuing importance of the January 6th insurrection and the attempted coup it was a part of. I wanted to follow up on that post with some additional thoughts. One TPM Reader wrote in to tell me that, while she agreed with all the points I made, it was still a major error that the Department of Justice took so long to really get the bit in its teeth over January 6th. This can seem a bit out of whack today since Jack Smith is clearly all in on both Trump prosecutions. But that reader is right.
Continue reading “Some Further Thoughts on Jan 6th; The Merrick Garland Question”The Worst Dereliction Of Duty Ever By An American President
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
‘So What?’
Since the Trump indictments came down in DC and Georgia, the pace of revealing new details about Jan. 6 has slowed somewhat. But coinciding with the three-year anniversary of the attack, ABC News provided new reporting on what Donald Trump allegedly did – and failed to do – the afternoon of Jan. 6 while the Capitol remained under siege.
The ABC News report, citing unnamed sources, rests largely on what Trump aides Dan Scavino and Nick Luna told federal investigators about their recollections of Jan. 6. The revelations are damning, such as this from Luna:
Sources also said former Trump aide Nick Luna told federal investigators that when Trump was informed that then-Vice President Mike Pence had to be rushed to a secure location, Trump responded, “So what?” — which sources said Luna saw as an unexpected willingness by Trump to let potential harm come to a longtime loyalist.
The new reporting fills in additional details on what was already largely known: that President Trump didn’t just sit idly by and let the attack continue, he egged it on directly himself via Twitter:
After unsuccessfully trying for up to 20 minutes to persuade Trump to release some sort of calming statement, Scavino and others walked out of the dining room, leaving Trump alone, sources said. That’s when, according to sources, Trump posted a message on his Twitter account saying that Pence “didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done.”
Scavino, who was the only Trump aide with access to the the Twitter account, denied he had posted the Pence tweet, leaving Trump as prime suspect and perhaps explaining why Special Counsel Jack Smith has endeavored to learn through technical means who was tweeting on the account and from which device.
The entire ABC News report is worth your time.
‘You Can’t Love Your Country Only When You Win’
The full speech by President Biden commemorating the third anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack (it’s only the first 30 minutes of this video):
For highlights of the speech, Aaron Rupar has you covered. For analysis of the speech, let me refer you to Brian Beutler.
Exactly Who He Is
… HOSTAGES …
To no one’s surprise, Donald Trump and his supporters used the Jan. 6 anniversary to celebrate the failed coup. Perhaps the peak example was a shift in the rhetoric from calling the Jan. 6 defendants “political prisoners” to “hostages”:
Supreme Court Takes Colorado DQ Case
The big news from Friday: The Supreme Court agreed to review the Colorado Supreme Court decision that Donald Trump is ineligible for the presidency under the Constitution’s Disqualification Clause.
Big Day Tomorrow
The DC Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments tomorrow on Donald Trump’s claim that presidents enjoy immunity from criminal prosecution. Stay tuned.
Jack Smith Scoffs At Trump’s Contempt Of Court Claim
In a filing over the weekend, Special Counsel Jack Smith derisively rebutted Donald Trump’s claim that the prosecution team should be held in contempt for providing discovery and voluntarily meeting deadlines that have been paused while Trump’s immunity claim is on appeal.
Judge Chutkan Swatted?
It appears U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 case, may have been the victim of a swatting last night at her home in DC.
No Criminal Charges Against Fake Electors In New Mexico
New Mexico’s attorney general announced Friday that the Trump fake electors in his state can’t be prosecuted primarily because the certificates they signed contained contingent language rather than falsely asserting that they were the legitimate electors.
Jan. 6 Miscellany
- TPM’s Hunter Walker: The Gradual Release Of Jan. 6 Footage Has The Far Right Raging At House Republicans And Speaker Mike Johnson
- The family of Ashli Babbitt, the Jan. 6 rioter shot and killed outside the House chamber, is suing the federal government for wrongful death, assault, and negligence.
- NYT: How Hillsdale Got Mixed Up in the 2020 Election Plot
- WBEZ: Trump did not sign Illinois’ loyalty oath that says he won’t advocate for overthrowing the government
- Georgia judge skewers Rudy Giuliani’s request for an extension of today’s deadline for pretrial motions in the RICO case.
- Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) declined to commit to accepting the 2024 election results.
NY AG Wants $370M Penalty For Trump
When she first brought the civil fraud suit against Donald Trump and his business empire, New York Attorney General Letitia James estimated that the penalties for the alleged misconduct would total $250 million. Now with the trial mostly over and closing arguments expected this week, James has formally asked the judge to ding Trump for a whopping $370 million.
Wayne LaPierre Out At NRA
The man who notoriously converted the NRA into a right-wing, pro-Republican political powerhouse and effectively made gun control a third rail of American politics even in the midst of a decades-long surge in gun violence unparalleled in the developed world has resigned from the organization just as the civil fraud trial against him in New York is getting underway.
Deal Struck To Avoid Gov’t Shutdown
The framework for a deal to fund the government for this fiscal year has been reached by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). It doesn’t contain the types of right-wing bonbons that have larded previous spending proposals, meaning Johnson is going to have to get this through the House with Democratic votes, jeopardizing his position with the right-wing crazies in the Freedom Caucus.
SCOTUS To Take Up Abortion Again
TPM’s Kate Riga: In Ominous Sign, Supreme Court Takes Up Emergency Room Abortion Case
Boebert’s Ex Claims She Punched Him
The ex-husband of Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) called police over the weekend claiming she punched him in the face during a altercation at a restaurant in her district. No one was arrested, and he later told the Denver Post he would not be pressing charges. Boebert denies the allegation.
Erratic
The WSJ on Elon Musk’s alleged drug use:
The world’s wealthiest person has used LSD, cocaine, ecstasy and psychedelic mushrooms, often at private parties around the world, where attendees sign nondisclosure agreements or give up their phones to enter, according to people who have witnessed his drug use and others with knowledge of it. Musk has previously smoked marijuana in public and has said he has a prescription for the psychedelic-like ketamine. …
People close to Musk, who is now 52, said his drug use is ongoing, especially his consumption of ketamine, and that they are concerned it could cause a health crisis. Even if it doesn’t, it could damage his businesses.
A Dark Brandon Cameo
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