Amid the gold bars, Mercedez-Benz, and meat-related allegations, it’s easy to miss a central charge in the indictment of Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ): it’s about foreign influence.
Continue reading “How Egypt Allegedly Courted And Won Over Bob Menendez”A Worsening Trump Increases The Risk Of Political Violence
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
‘Strive To Resist Numbness’
In the same way that the United States is not immune from the ravages of political violence, it has no special ability to put the toothpaste of political violence back in the tube once it’s unleashed.
Make no mistake: It has been unleashed.
“Trump’s real, enduring legacy is his successful introduction of violence, the threat of violence, and targeted harassment into the dynamics of our political system, as if they were all just a natural extension of democratic disagreement,” Juliette Kayyem rightly observed in The Atlantic this summer.
The past few days have reinforced how unhinged Trump has continued to become and how political violence is the core of his message and for many his central appeal. Since Friday, Trump has:
- Suggested the country’s top general should be executed for treason;
- Threatened retaliation against one of the country’s largest media companies for “Country Threatening Treason“;
- Urged Republicans in Congress to shut down the government, as “the last chance to defund these political prosecutions against me and other Patriots,” and later ominously said: “It’s time Republicans learned how to fight!” against “the Radical Left Marxists, Fascists and Thugs – THE DEMOCRATS.”
The Trump of today is not the same as the Trump of 2019 or even the Trump of Jan. 6. He is cornered, under indictment, facing the deprivation of his liberty if convicted – and winning the presidency is his only way out. He will stop at nothing, do anything, and tear down everything to protect himself.
I don’t usually find myself pointing you to Nick Catoggio, but he had a thoughtful post on these developments:
Strive to resist numbness. Because despite all the blather about Biden and Trump being the two most known “known quantities” in politics, we actually don’t know how dangerous and destabilizing Trump might prove to be as his mind bends under the strain of an election and four indictments. Or whether it’ll break entirely once he’s back in power and surrounded by the most obsequious fascist toadies he can find.
Esper Shreds Trump’s False Attack On Milley
Cassidy Hutchinson’s Book Tour
With Maddow, Part I:
With Maddow, Part II:
On CBS Sunday Morning:
Cassidy Hutchinson’s Mom More On Top Of It Than The FBI
What’s Aileen Cannon Up To Now?
After weeks of delay, U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon has finally scheduled a Garcia hearing in the Mar-a-Lago case to address the conflicts of interest of defense counsel. But she did so in a way that renews concerns about her experience, competence, and diligence:
- Cannon set the hearing for Oct. 12, meaning an additional delay of 2 1/2 weeks plus whatever time she needs after that to issue a ruling. Not having the witnesses or standby counsel present at the hearing risks further delays if she later decides she does need their participation.
- Cannon denied Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for the witnesses who have conflicted counsel to appear for the hearing.
- Cannon denied Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request to have standby counsel available for defendants with conflicted counsel to confer.
Big picture is these are routine matters that are usually handled expeditiously, and they’re not here. More granularly, Cannon seems grudging and resistant to even routine moves by the special counsel’s team. (For a deeper dive, read Joyce Vance.)
In this instance, the prosecutor is trying to protect his case and the court’s resources from an attack on the verdict later by one of the defendants on the grounds that they had insufficient legal representation under the Sixth Amendment, so how she handles it is important even if it is, or should be, routine.
Trump Lawyers Are Legal Filings
Donald Trump responded formally to Special Counsel Jack Smith’s request for a limited gag order on him in the Jan. 6 case, and it’s remarkable to watch his attorneys using legal filings to launder Trump’s attacks on the Biden administration, the Justice Department, prosecutors, and others. These aren’t legal arguments; they’re political invective.
The new filing:
- indulges Trump by referring to him as “President”;
- accuses the “Biden administration” of charging Trump, instead of the Justice Department;
- adopts and advocates for Trump’s bogus contention that the charges are a political vendetta against him by Biden himself and that the gag order is merely a way of muzzling Biden’s chief opponent in the midst of the election.
Lawyers owe Trump a vigorous defense. They don’t owe him participating in his misinformation campaign, delegitimizing the court, or propounding wild-ass conspiracy theories.
A Closer Look At Judge Tanya Chutkan
Politico’s Kyle Cheney sat in on the first Jan. 6 trial that U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan has presided over since she was assigned the Trump case in DC.
Hunter Biden Sues Rudy Giuliani
Hunter Biden has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Los Angeles today against Rudy Giuliani, former Giuliani attorney Robert Costello, and various Giuliani companies over the alleged hacking of his electronic devices. Biden alleges that they violated the federal Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, the California Computer Data Access and Fraud Act, and state law prohibiting unfair and unlawful business activities. (I should note that Costello is currently suing Giuliani for more more than $1 million in unpaid attorney fees.)
Menendez Refuses To Resign
Under indictment a second time for public corruption, but this time with a national security twist to the charges, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) held a press conference in which he rebuffed calls for his resignation and boldly declared that the $480,000 in cash found in his home was his emergency fund. At least one fellow Democratic senator was bemused:
2024 Ephemera
- Former Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R-AR) failed to make the cut for Wednesday’s GOP presidential debate.
- Trump admired a Glock handgun during a campaign stop at a gun store — but apparently stopped short of buying it, despite what his campaign spokesperson tweeted.
- President Biden is on the UAW picket lines in Michigan today.
GOP Shutdown Watch
Both chambers return to DC today, with no clear path forward to avert a House GOP-imposed government shutdown by the end of the week.
Peak Oil Can’t Come Fast Enough
A new International Energy Agency report predicts fossil fuel usage will peak this decade but the energy transition remains slow and uneven.
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Menendez is Defiant. It Probably Won’t Matter
If you watch politics long enough you realize that the secret to not being forced to resign is simple: just don’t resign. Obvious? Sure, in a way. But for countless politicians it remains oddly elusive. It’s a sort of Zen Koan of political scandals only revealed in its fullness to those who have spent years or decades meditating on the carnival of political scandals.
I often regret when good politicians fail to grasp this. We now see a bad one — Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey — trying to make a go of it. As our proverb makes clear, if Menendez absolutely refuses to resign there’s literally no way to force him. But that may not be as big a deal as it seems. Forcing him to resign may not be necessary.
The simplest alternative is for another candidate to defeat him in a primary. It may not be as hard as it sounds.
Continue reading “Menendez is Defiant. It Probably Won’t Matter”McCarthy GOP Ally Dares Matt Gaetz Et Al. To Actually Oust The Speaker
One of the few tools far-right House Republicans have at their disposal to keep House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in their clutches is their ability to force a vote to oust him as speaker. It’s one of the many concessions he made to secure the gavel and why many speculate that McCarthy keeps returning to the hostage negotiation table with hardliners as they force a near-inevitable shutdown.
Continue reading “McCarthy GOP Ally Dares Matt Gaetz Et Al. To Actually Oust The Speaker”Fifth Circuit Gives Red States Chance For Even Bigger Win In Biden Social Media Case
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals gave red states another bite at the apple Monday in a major social media case that badly hamstrung the Biden administration’s efforts to confront misinformation.
Continue reading “Fifth Circuit Gives Red States Chance For Even Bigger Win In Biden Social Media Case”Wisconsin’s GOP Went To Extremes In Gerrymandering. Now They’re Scrambling To Protect That Power.
This article was originally published at ProPublica, a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom.
In the northwest corner of Wisconsin, the 73rd Assembly District used to be shaped like a mostly rectangular blob. Then, last year, a new map drawn by Republican lawmakers took effect, and some locals joked that it looked a lot like a Tyrannosaurus rex.
Continue reading “Wisconsin’s GOP Went To Extremes In Gerrymandering. Now They’re Scrambling To Protect That Power.”Menendez Asks For Presumption Of Innocence From Those Who See ‘Political Opportunity’ In His Indictment
Amid mounting calls for his resignation, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) held a press conference Monday morning, asserting he is innocent until proven guilty and asking his colleagues in Congress and in New Jersey to not rush to judgment.
Continue reading “Menendez Asks For Presumption Of Innocence From Those Who See ‘Political Opportunity’ In His Indictment”Dem Calls For Menendez To Resign Mount
The calls for Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign from office are mounting after he was indicted on federal bribery and corruption charges last week.
Continue reading “Dem Calls For Menendez To Resign Mount”Trump Threatens To Go After Comcast, NBC For ‘Treason’ If He Gets Reelected
Former President Donald Trump spent his Sunday night threatening Comcast and NBC, saying if he gets a second term in the White House he would investigate the independent media outlets for “treason” and make them “pay a big price.”
Continue reading “Trump Threatens To Go After Comcast, NBC For ‘Treason’ If He Gets Reelected”We Only Have The Faintest Idea Of The Catastrophic Effects Of Climate Change
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
What Climate Change Looks Like
While scientists well understand the physics of climate change, they don’t completely understand the effects it will have on a wide range of geophysical systems and processes, meaning we are embarking on a planet-size laboratory experiment in which we and every other living thing are the guinea pigs.
Take, for example, what is happening in New Orleans. Drought in the Midwest is contributing to record low river levels on the Mississippi that allows saltwater intrusion from the Gulf of Mexico upriver as far as New Orleans, threatening the drinking water supply of hundreds of thousands of people. Salt water is not only not potable but it can wreak havoc on drinking water infrastructure.
Consider this remarkable mitigation strategy just casually dropped into news articles about the official response:
The Corps of Engineers is also getting barges to transport water that can be combined with water at the treatment facilities for safe drinking. Colonel Jones said about 15 million gallons will be delivered in the coming days, but the demand at treatment facilities could ultimately rise to at least 36 million gallons per day. Colonel Jones said that the Army Corps was working to get access to more barges but that he was confident that figure could be met.
The scale of that undertaking is remarkable. It’s not clear how sustainable it is, either as a one-time stopgap this year or as a recurring strategy for each future dry summer.
In the meantime, as a temporary measure, the Army Corps is adding 25 feet of height to the underwater sill it built across the river below New Orleans over the summer. Because salt water is denser than fresh water, it sinks to the river bottom. A sill – like a dam but not breaching the surface of the water – is intended to keep the salt water from creeping further upstream while allowing fresh water to continue to flow downstream.
Long-term forecasts suggest that rain levels in the Mississippi River drainage won’t be enough to raise river levels sufficiently to flush the salt water down stream for weeks or months.
Menendez Hangs On For Dear Life
Facing calls to resign after his Golden-Duke-worthy indictment for bribery and extortion, Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is scheduled to hold what is expected to be a defiant news conference Monday morning.
Veteran War Crimes Prosecutor Joins Jack Smith’s Team
Alex Whiting, who served as a deputy to Special Counsel Jack Smith when he was at The Hague prosecuting war crimes in Kosovo, has joined Smith’s team.
The History Of ‘Stop The Steal’
WSJ: For Donald Trump, ‘Stop the Steal’ Never Gets Old
She Knows Trump’s M.O.
Colorado state judge issues protective order in Disqualification Clause case against Donald Trump prohibiting the parties in the case from making threatening or intimidating statements.
Meanwhile, TPM’s Josh Kovensky catches us up on the parallel Minnesota case.
Passantino Sues Weissmann
Former Cassidy Hutchinson lawyer Stefan Passantino has sued former Mueller prosecutor Andrew Weissmann for defamation, alleging that a Weissmann tweet falsely accused Passantino of coaching Hutchinson to lie to the Jan. 6 committee.
Shutdown Watch
Politico: McCarthy reverses on Ukraine aid as GOP scrambles on funding bills
McGonigal Pleads Guilty In Second Criminal Case
Former senior FBI official Charles McGonigal pleaded guilty in federal court in DC as part of a plea deal to hiding cash payments he was receiving from a man who used to work for Albanian intelligence. McGonigal previously pleaded guilty in federal court in New York to a conspiracy arising from his work to get Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska removed from the U.S. sanctions list.
Writers Unions Reaches Tentative Deal
An apparent breakthrough after five straights days of negotiations could bring an end to the five-month-old writers strike.
Biden To Join UAW Picket Line
As the UAW expands its strike against automakers, President Biden is planning to take the extraordinary step of joining the picket line Tuesday.
2024 Ephemera
- In a remarkable bit of self-awareness, the WaPo is calling its new poll with ABC News showing a 10-percentage-point Trump lead over Biden an “outlier.”
- GOP donors are giving up on Trump alternatives
- Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (I-AZ) pitches donors on a “path to victory” in Arizona by courting Republicans.
- Once again, Biden trolls Republicans with a video of what they intend as criticisms but which he’s happy to be accused of:
Jimmy Carter Defies All Expectations
On the verge of his 99th birthday, and seven months after entering hospice care, former President Jimmy Carter participated in the Plains Peanut Festival over the weekend:
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