Target announced it will remove some of its LGBTQ+ merchandise from its Pride Month collection after threats and backlash from customers, making the corporation just one of several recent examples of prominent companies caving to right wing attacks on the LGBTQ+ community.
Continue reading “After Decade-Plus Of Pride Celebrations, Corporations Are Caving To Right-Wing Anti-LGBTQ+ Threats”As We Count Down To Indictments In MAL Case, Trump Starts Wailing
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Buckle Up!
With Special Counsel Jack Smith basically done investigating and developing evidence in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, charging decisions appear to be imminent. Smith himself has been mum, so most of the datapoints for where things stand come directly or indirectly from Trump World, an inherently unreliable source. But that doesn’t mean they’re wrong in this instance.
Yesterday the Wall Street Journal reported that Trump World is bracing for indictments. That report in and of itself seemed to be enough to trigger Donald Trump himself. Within a few hours of the WSJ report, two Trump lawyers sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland that smelled of desperation:
It reads like yet another example of Trump personally dictating a response and his lawyers barely gussying it up to make themselves look less foolish. It’s also obviously a fundraising and attention-getting ploy. It’s not real lawyering.
No such meeting with Garland is likely to happen since he delegated the case to Smith. Garland, you may recall, already snubbed a Trump request for a meeting shortly after the FBI raided (or searched, if you prefer) Mar-a-Lago last August. Trump lawyers might win a final meeting with Smith to make a case for why the evidence doesn’t amount to a crime. But at this point, Smith is in the final stages of dotting i’s and crossing t’s.
Be prepared for indictments at any time now.
Trump Criminal Trial Date Set
After sternly threatening Donald Trump with contempt of court if he violates the protective order he issued in the Stormy Daniels hush money case, the judge set a tentative trial date of March 25, 2024, smack in the middle of the presidential primary calendar.
Amanda Gorman’s Inaugural Poem Banned In Florida School
The poet Amanda Gorman, whose recitation of The Hill We Climb, was the highlight of Joe Biden’s inaugural, responded via Twitter to the poem being pulled from a Miami-Dade elementary school after a parent complaint:
The complaint and how it was handled was revealed by the Florida Freedom to Read Project.
Far Right Targets Target Over Pride Display
The decade-long winning streak that LGBT+ advocates have had in acculturating corporate America to gay pride seems to be coming to an end as corporations react to a wave of new threats against them and their employees from right-wing agitators.
The retail giant Target is pulling back some Pride displays and merchandise in the face of threat, prompting a blistering response from California Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The Target capitulation comes after the Los Angeles Dodger responded to right-wing outcry by revoking its invitation to the team’s Pride night from the delightfully named Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. After the backlash to that move, including the refusal of other LGBT+ groups to participate in Dodgers’ Pride night, the team apologized and re-invited the good sisters.
Can McCarthy Really Deliver?
Amid all the Sturm and Drang over President Biden’s handling (or, depending on your view, mishandling) of the debt ceiling hostage-taking by the House GOP, there remains a different through-line that colors the whole saga a bit differently. Namely, can House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) really deliver the GOP votes for any deal with the White House? It’s not clear he can! And that risk resurfaced yesterday in a more pointed way than it has in recent days:
Politico: White House believes massive Dem bailout may be needed to pass debt ceiling compromise
NYT: McCarthy, Bracing for Defections, Eyes a Fraught Path to a Debt Limit Deal
Meanwhile, one of the far-right members of the House GOP admitted, inadvertently or otherwise, that this is in fact a hostage taking:
More from Gaetz, who rejects any debt limit compromise with the White House: “I think my conservative colleagues for the most part support Limit, Save, Grow, & they don’t feel like we should negotiate with our hostage.”
— Joseph Zeballos-Roig (@josephzeballos) May 23, 2023
Default would almost certainly throw US into recession
2024 Ephemera
- Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis will announce his presidential campaign today on Twitter with its owner Elon Musk in an event TPM’s Nicole Lafond described as a “match made in reactionary chucklehead heaven.”
- NYT: DeSantis Allies’ $200 Million Plan for Beating Trump
- USA Today: She stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6. Then Gov. Ron DeSantis made her a state regulator
Chief Justice Roberts Feels Sorry For Himself?
The chief justice offered his most extensive public remarks since the Clarence Thomas scandal exploded. They didn’t inspire confidence. Among them:
When I wander down the hallways and I see a colleague, I am always happy to have a chance to chat. Now, to be fair, there have been days when I don’t feel like walking down the halls.
Harlan Crow Rebuffs Congress Again
Attorneys for Clarence Thomas benefactor Harlan Crow claim Congress has no constitutional power to impose ethics rules on the Supreme Court.
Texas GOP Legislature Targets Harris County
A big move afoot to commandeer elections in Texas’ largest blue county.
WTF?
Only in Texas, y’all:
A Texas House committee revealed Tuesday it was investigating the office of Attorney General Ken Paxton over his push for $3.3 million in taxpayer dollars to settle a whistleblower lawsuit from former deputies who had accused Paxton of misconduct.
The news came hours after Paxton called on the House speaker, Dade Phelan, to resign over alleged drunkenness while leading the House, a remarkable moment of acrimony between two of Texas’ top Republicans.
Phelan’s office fired back, noting the investigation has been going on since March.
‘If You Don’t Get Credit, It Didn’t Happen’
Washington Monthly: Why Don’t Americans Recognize that Inflation is Down and Incomes Are Up?
Long Live Jimmy Carter
Three months after entering home hospice, the 39th president is still hanging in there, visiting with family and eating ice cream.
“We did think that when he went into hospice it was very close to the end,” Carter grandson Jason Carter said yesterday. “Now, I’m just going to tell you, he’s going to be 99 in October.”
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Shit Gets Real
There’s a really stunning report out from the Journal last night. Corporate bonds at some of America’s top-rated companies are now trading at a yield discount to Treasuries. This isn’t quite the same as investors thinking U.S. corporate debt is safer over time. It’s focused on the what happens over the next few months rather than where you put money over time. But it’s still a stunning development, cutting at the very architecture of the world financial system and the United States’ position as its gravitational center.
To put it in layman’s terms, if you need a place to put money over the course of this summer and you need it to be as safe as possible, investors are deciding Microsoft’s corporate bonds are more attractive than bonds issued by the U.S. Treasury.
It’s a clarifying perspective on the impact of GOP extremism and nihilism on the nation’s finances and global power.
Where Things Stand: Match Made In Reactionary Chucklehead Heaven
Two dudes who have advanced their careers, in recent years, by saying and doing things to rile people up as they curate their cult of personality points are teaming up to make an announcement that everyone already had on their 2023 bingo card.
You’ve got Elon Musk in one corner — a man who will say just about anything to elevate his brand as the free speech Messiah. And then you’ve got Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in the other — Trump’s long-anticipated 2024 rival who has spent the last year using his Republican-dominated state legislature to pass outrageous, so-called “anti-woke” legislation packaged to appeal to the furthest-right MAGA voters and cushion his 2024 bid.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Match Made In Reactionary Chucklehead Heaven”Shuddering Foundations
Here’s one thing to keep an eye on as we moved toward ~ June 1st. Over the last few days there’s been a growing jitteriness on Wall Street and in the D.C. stakeholding communities. Like, shit, this really might happen. I don’t see any panic yet. But the complacent assumption that obviously it’s going to get worked out is starting the fray or at least come under some strain.
What appears to have gone on over the last four or five days is the White House just keeps saying no to new or expanded GOP demands. Of course, they’ve already agreed to or tentatively signaled their willingness to agree to quite a lot. So there’s no hard line or Michael Corleone-style “my offer is nothing.” But they do seem to have come to a line. At least for now.
Continue reading “Shuddering Foundations”Texas GOP Moves To Commandeer Elections In Houston
Texas state lawmakers crept closer late Monday night to approving a series of bills aimed at stripping one of the country’s largest cities of the authority to run its own elections.
Continue reading “Texas GOP Moves To Commandeer Elections In Houston”The Bigs Turn on Meatball Ron
For the last two or three months we’ve had this on-going spectacle of major media continuing to portray Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as the arch-rival and potential slayer of ex-President Trump, even after it’s become increasingly clear he has really no chance at all of winning the nomination. In fairness to DeSantis, it’s unlikely that anyone stands a chance, unless the judicial system or mortality remove Trump from the stage. But it’s only with DeSantis that you have the yawning gap between perception and reality. Everyone knows Pence and Scott aren’t happening.
Now we’re seeing the first signs of the Bigs catching on.
Continue reading “The Bigs Turn on Meatball Ron”Yellen Warns McCarthy That Her Early Estimate For US Running Out Of Money Is Looking Pretty Accurate
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen sent a renewed warning to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and other congressional leaders on Monday, emphasizing that the U.S. will likely default on its debts in just 10 days unless Congress acts.
Continue reading “Yellen Warns McCarthy That Her Early Estimate For US Running Out Of Money Is Looking Pretty Accurate”Jack Smith Subpoena Targeted Trump Org Foreign Biz Deals
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
A Curious Wrinkle In The MAL Case
The NYT and WaPo separately reported last night on what appears to be the same subpoena from Special Counsel Jack Smith in the Mar-a-Lago documents case, with each outlet having different but related tidbits about what it was seeking and when.
The top line shared by both reports: The subpoena of the Trump Org sought records of business deals from seven foreign countries since 2017, when Trump took office.
- The subpoena was issued in April, according to the WaPo.
- The countries were China, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman.
- The only known foreign deal consummated in that time was in Oman and came after he left office. Trump had publicly claimed he would stop doing foreign deals while in office.
- This was the same subpoena that the NYT previously reported was seeking information on Trump’s dealing with the Saudi-backed LIV pro golf tour.
Neither report was able to piece together why the Trump Org’s foreign business dealings would be relevant to the former president’s unlawful possession of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago. A gentle reminder that subpoenas can be used not only to uncover wrongdoing but to rule it out. It’s not known publicly what, if anything, the Trump Org produced in response to the subpoena.
When Your Lawyer Is Forced To Testify
CNN has its own follow-up to the Guardian on Special Counsel Jack Smith obtaining “dozens of pages” of notes that Trump attorney Evan Corcoran took during his representation of the former president in the Mar-a-Lago documents case:
The notes provide more insight into Trump’s thinking and actions during a critical time frame as the special counsel pursues its criminal investigation into Trump’s handling of classified material and the possibility he obstructed the investigation. …
The notes the DOJ has obtained reflect conversations between Corcoran and Trump after May 11 and through June 3, 2022, in which the attorney explained that the subpoena meant Trump would need to return all records marked classified to the government, sources said.
Jean Carroll Ain’t Stopping Now
The day after losing a $5 million jury verdict on E. Jean Carroll’s sexual abuse and defamation claims, former President Donald Trump went on CNN and continued defaming her, Carroll alleges in a new court filing. Carroll is seeking a “very substantial punitive damages award” against him in her other pending defamation lawsuit to punish him for the CNN remarks and deter future such conduct.
Trump In Criminal Court Today
Donald Trump will appear via video link in criminal court in Manhattan in the Stormy Daniels hush money case. The judge is expected to read Trump the riot act about complying with the protective order that prohibits him from disseminating discovery materials turned over by prosecutors.
*CLICK*
Reuters exclusive: Texts tie DeSantis closely to Trump insider Lev Parnas in 2018 race
The Politicization Of The Trump DOJ, Part 928
NYT:
The Justice Department kept open the investigation into Hillary Clinton’s family foundation for nearly all of President Donald J. Trump’s administration, with prosecutors closing the case without charges just days before he left office.
Newly released documents and interviews with former department officials show that the investigation stretched long past when F.B.I. agents and prosecutors knew it was a dead end. The conclusion of the case, which centered on the Clinton Foundation’s dealings with foreign donors when Mrs. Clinton served as secretary of state under President Barack Obama, has not previously been reported.
Harlan Crow Does Interview With The Atlantic
A deep profile of billionaire Clarence Thomas whisperer Harlan Crow yields this curious contradiction:
SCOTUS Is Not The Oracle At Delphi
Dahlia Lithwick takes a long hard look at the failures of Supreme Court coverage: “The Supreme Court press corps has been largely institutionalized to treat anything the court produces as the law, and to push everything else—matters of judicial conduct, how justices are chosen and seated, ethical lapses—off to be handled by the political press.”
BREAKING OVERNIGHT …
A man who crashed a U-Haul truck into barriers on the far side of Lafayette Square across from the White House Monday night was charged by Park Police with threatening to kill, kidnap or inflict harm on the president, vice president or a family member, along with assault with a dangerous weapon and trespassing. The man’s name was not released publicly.
2024 Ephemera
- Sen. Tom Carper (D-DE), the chair of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, will not seek re-election next year. In his retirement announcement, Carper endorsed Rep. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) as his successor. Blunt Rochester looks poised to win the Democratic nomination essentially by acclamation in a safe blue state.
- Four Democratic senators are not running again next year: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Ben Cardin (D-MD), and now Carper.
Two Must Reads
To understand how the right wing’s manufactured culture clash over transgender rights came into being, two seminal stories over the past six weeks:
NYT: How a Campaign Against Transgender Rights Mobilized Conservatives
AP: Many transgender health bills came from a handful of far-right interest groups
Short-Circuiting The Energy Transition
A nationwide shortage of electrical transformers is hindering the dramatic expansion of the grid necessary to facilitate a shift away from fossil fuels.
Cool Visual Of The Day
Fall down this rabbit hole with me:
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Where Things Stand: Even At Anti-Abortion Gala, DeSantis Shied Away From Hyping His 6-Week Ban
As he stood before one of the friendliest crowds imaginable this weekend, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis was still hesitant to spend much time touting the passage of a strict six-week abortion ban in Florida, a law that he only briefly described as “a landmark piece of legislation for this state.”
DeSantis made a big show of signing his state’s 15-week ban into law last year. He televised the bill’s signing and dragged in a bunch of Republican state lawmakers, children holding pro-life signs and a packed crowd to applaud his signature. But when he signed his six-week ban into law in April, he did it privately. His office marked the occasion by putting out a press release in the middle of the night. When he gave a speech at Liberty University the next day, he didn’t even bring it up.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Even At Anti-Abortion Gala, DeSantis Shied Away From Hyping His 6-Week Ban”