This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was first published at The Conversation.
A gun control law signed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois in January 2023 immediately faced opposition from a group key to the law’s enforcement: sheriffs. They are county-level, locally elected public officials who run jails, provide courthouse security, and, in many counties, are the primary providers of law enforcement services.
In Illinois, and around the nation, some sheriffs also view themselves as the ultimate defenders of the U.S. Constitution and its rights — even though there’s no law and no history giving them that position.
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Thanks, Bill
The Los Angeles Times caught up with former Attorney General Bill Barr after he gave a speech in Sacramento and asked him about the New York Times bombshell from last week on the Durham investigation of the investigator.
Barr was more revealing than expected.
One of the most surprising elements of the NYT story was that Barr had assigned to Special Counsel John Durham a previously unrevealed financial crimes investigation of President Trump himself. It was based on a tip from Italian authorities. The irony was that Barr and Durham personally traveled to Italy to pursue some of the more arcane and improbable allegations about the Mueller probe’s origins. The Italians had nothing for them on that, but they did have a something on Trump. Oops.
In his brief interview with the LA Times, Barr confirmed the previously unknown probe of Trump but denied it directly involved Trump and said it turned out to be a “non-issue.”
Barr said Wednesday that the tip “was not directly about Trump” and that it was appropriate to fold into Durham’s inquiry because “it did have a relationship to the Russiagate stuff. It was not completely separate from it. And it turned out to be a complete non-issue.”
My first reaction was, Oh wow he confirmed that there was an investigation involving Trump that Durham handled. So that’s interesting. We didn’t have anyone on the record confirming that before, and so that was nice of him.
Of course, Barr’s brusque waving of his hand that there was no there there hardly answers all the questions, as Savage detailed nicely:
Maybe he’s right that it went nowhere. We don’t know. We just don’t know what that thing was. We don’t know what steps Durham took. We don’t know what he found out. We don’t why he chose to bring no charges. Perhaps it was as Bill Barr says that there was no there there. Nevertheless, it’s extraordinary that it happened at all and that no one knew about it.
Much more to be learned on this.
Investigating the Investigation Of The Investigators
After the explosive NYT report on the deeply corrupt Barr-Durham probe, Democratic lawmakers are asking the DOJ’s inspector general to investigate.
Jack Smith Is Keeping A Very Low Profile
The telltale signs of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigations are few and far between:
Tom Fitton, the president of Judicial Watch, is currently appearing before a grand jury inside the DC federal courthouse. At least one prosecutor from special counsel Jack Smith's office is present. pic.twitter.com/QDn8fg32mU
Fitton reportedly assured Trump he was within his rights to keep the classified documents he had at Mar-a-Lago and not return them to the government.
FBI Plans To Search Pence Home
The Justice Department and former Vice President Mike Pence’s legal team are making arrangements for the FBI to do its own search of his Indiana residence, after classified documents were found there.
MUST READ!
This is weirdest story we may have ever published at TPM.
Josh Kovensky and Hunter Walker obtained a secret audio recording from inside George Santos’ congressional office that shows … where to start? You really just have to read the story and listen to the audio.
Let’s just say that Santos attracts a strange kind of aspiring hanger-on.
Between this story and our profile earlier this week of another Santos staffer, it’s clear that the MAGA takeover of the House is supplanting the traditional Hill staffer profile with something very different.
OUT: high school president types
IN: transgressive ne’er-do-wells
The old overearnest, well-scrubbed, too eager staffer prototype had its problems, but I’m nostalgic for it already.
AOC Goes OFF On House GOP
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) was absolutely incensed over the House GOP’s vote to removed Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) from the Foreign Affairs Committee:
AOC nails it and brings the receipts. Removing Ilhan Omar is about GOP supporting racism, misogyny, and attacking women of color. Reckless.
Leaked Audio Shows Trump 2020 Machinations In Wisconsin
The AP has obtained an audio recording of Trump 2020 campaign officials in Wisconsin pivoting from the election loss to Big Lie scheming on Nov. 5, two days after Election Day.
Here’s the deal: Comms is going to continue to fan the flame and get the word out about Democrats trying to steal this election. We’ll do whatever they need. Just be on standby if there’s any stunts we need to pull.
Andrew Iverson, Wisconsin state director for Trump 2020
Currently ensconced at Rikers, former Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg is under renewed pressure from prosecutors to turn against Donald Trump:
[A]s the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, jump-starts his office’s effort to indict Mr. Trump, his prosecutors are using the prospect of additional charges to exert leverage over Mr. Weisselberg, the people with knowledge of the matter said. The potential charges, which prosecutors conveyed to the former executive’s legal team this week, center on insurance fraud and could lead to a significant prison sentence for Mr. Weisselberg, who is 75.
Why On Earth Are Some MAGA Republicans Wearing AR-15 Pins?
Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will back Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) for Senate if Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) doesn’t run for re-election.
TPM On TV
Josh Marshall talks to MSNBC’s Alex Wagner about the Republican Party’s Trump problem:
Pro-Nazi Home School Network Under Investigation
The Ohio education department is looking into whether a pro-Nazi home school network linked through a Telegram channel is in compliance with state rules and regs. “Dissident Homeschool” is reportedly run by a Ohio couple.
“But there’s likely little the state can do because while the state mandates that certain topics be taught, it does not govern details of what home school can and cannot include,” the Washington Post reported.
Excited To See Tucker Come To Santos’ Defense
Do you like Morning Memo? Share it with your friends and family … and let us know!
I’m not sure the George Santos stories keep getting worse. But they do get weirder, more bizarre.
As we learned way back at the beginning of the Santos saga, he remains a wanted man in Brazil for check fraud he committed back in 2008. After he became an international celebrity in December, Brazilian authorities decided to reinitiate the case which had stalled when they couldn’t locate him. After the case was reopened, Santos hired a Brazilian lawyer to represent him in the revived case. Perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised, since it’s George Santos, that he managed to find a lawyer who’s a convicted murderer. In fact, he’s a convicted contract killer.
After a little over a week working with embattled Rep. George Santos (R-NY), Derek Myers was informed that he would not be getting a permanent job. During that tense conversation, Santos also offered some parting advice.
A new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast is live! This week, Josh and Kate discuss Donald Trump’s chances in 2024 and the latest on Republicans’ flirtation with debt default.
You can listen to the new episode of The Josh Marshall Podcast here.
Over the past couple of days, some MAGA Republicans were spotted on Capitol Hill going about their business wearing AR-15 pins on their lapels, in the spot where members of Congress traditionally wear the American flag or congressional seal pins.
Our Kate Riga was able to confirm and get additional evidence of this chat first reported by Punchbowl. This was from last night, just after McCarthy’s meeting with President Biden.
Here's another shot of Kevin McCarthy and Kyrsten Sinema having dinner last night, they were at Chloe in Navy Yard. Confirming Punchbowl News pic.twitter.com/FrxxkNmQzR
Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said on Thursday she will support Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) in his California Senate bid if Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) decides to retire next year.
