Trump Pinky Swears He Has No More Classified Docs

Posted on by David Kurtz

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.

Where’d They All Go?

New reporting from the Washington Post with several important new revelations about some of what’s been happening behind the scenes in the Mar-a-Lago case:

  • At the urging of the Justice Department, DC Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell ordered Trump to certify that he is not retaining any more classified documents.
  • Trump hired an outside firm to search his golf club in Bedminster, N.J., and Trump Tower in NYC.
  • Trump lawyers told DOJ that the searches turned up no more classified documents.

Trump Org Convicted!

It took a New York state jury less than two days to convict the Trump Org on all 17 counts of tax-related crimes.

  • Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg was the star witness for the prosecution but refused to implicate Donald Trump personally.
  • The direct impact of the verdict on Trump’s eponymous company will not be devastating. It faces a fine of $1.6 million. Sentencing is set for Jan. 13.
  • An alternative juror offered her perspective on the case in an interview with the NYT before the verdict.

Jack Smith Wasted No Time In Taking Over Trump Probes

We got the first real glimpse of special counsel Jack Smith at work in the federal investigation of President Trump’s role in subverting the 2020 election.

As the Washington Post first reported, Smith served grand jury subpoenas on several key counties in swing states where Trump sued to overturn the election results. TPM’s Kaila Philo obtained one of the subpoenas.

The subpoenas appear on their face and from close study to be related to the federal probe into Trump’s fake electors scheme. TPM’s Josh Kovensky explains why the fake electors scheme is at the crux of the criminal investigation.

Ain’t That A Shame

Stephen Miller was spotted at the federal courthouse in DC for the second time in the last week. The presumption is Miller is testifying to one or more of the federal grand juries investigating Trump, but it’s not clear which one(s).

Mike Flynn May Have To Testify This Week

Florida appeals court rejects Mike Flynn’s effort to avoid testifying to a Georgia grand jury investigation into Trump’s election interference.

Jan. 6 Commitee Will Make Criminal Referrals

As part of final flourish before being shuttered by the incoming House GOP majority, the Jan. 6 committee does plan to make criminal referrals to the Justice Department.

Warnock Wins In Georgia

In his second runoff in two years, Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) knocked off Republican nominee Herschel Walker, relegating the Heisman Trophy winner to that ignominious list of unbelievably bad GOP Senate candidates that includes Todd Akin of Missouri, Sharron Angle of Nevada and Christine O’Donnell of Delaware. It’s a competitive list, and several high-profile candidates were added this year alone: Welcome, Blake Masters and Mehmet Oz! But it’s fair to say that Walker stands alone at the top of that list. Well done, sir.

Big Case Today At SCOTUS

The cockamamie independent state legislature theory gets a hearing in front of the Supreme Court today. TPM’s Kate Riga will be covering it for us.

QAnon Goes International

BERLIN, GERMANY – DECEMBER 07: Police officers work during a raid in Berlin, Germany, on December 07, 2022. Twenty-five suspects were arrested after coordinated raids in 11 federal states. (Photo by Abdulhamid Hosbas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Special forces in Germany have broken up an alleged terrorist group that … get this … was plotting to overthrow the government because they believed “Germany is currently ruled by members of a so-called deep state.”

  • The heavily armed group, which formed in late 2021 and included former police and military personnel, was allegedly planning an armed attack on the Reichstag.
  • 25 people were arrested in 130 early morning raids across Germany involving some 3,000 police and Special Forces officers. A total of 52 people are reportedly under investigation.
  • A 71-year-old minor aristocrat was allegedly one of the ringleaders of the plot and was to be installed as Germany’s new leader.
  • Prosecutors alleged the group was inspired by QAnon and a right-wing German conspiracy group: “Citizens of the Reich … believes that Germany’s post-World War II republic is not a sovereign country but a corporation set up by the victorious Allies,” the NYT reported.

ICYMI

Two stray items from this week:

Daily Beast: “Right-wing undercover operative James O’Keefe has launched holiday-season layoffs at his nonprofit amid an FBI investigation and a series of other legal problems facing the group.”

WaPo: Rupert Murdoch to be deposed next week in Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion defamation case against Fox.

Ominous

Alaska’s northernmost city posted its warmest winter temperature on record.

Biggs Steps Up To Challenge McCarthy … Again

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-AZ) plans to put himself forward as an alternative to GOP leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) in next month’s floor vote for House speaker. Biggs, who lost in the GOP conference’s vote for leader last month, won’t win, but he is trying to deny McCarthy enough votes to capture a majority of the House, complicating McCarthy’s path to the speakership and giving Biggs’ fellow right-wing members more leverage.

RELATED: TPM’s Emine Yücel on how much McCarthy has had to promise to try to win over his right flank.

Jan. 6 Hero Heckled By Fellow Cops

Former DC Police Officer Michael Fanone, an outspoken hero of the Jan. 6 attack, says he was heckled by fellow officers at the Capitol Tuesday. Fanone was attending an awards ceremony for the officers who defended Congress:

I was heckled by members of my own department. They called me a piece of s— and mockingly called me a great f—— hero while clapping.

McConnell and McCarthy Snubbed

Family members of Brian Sicknick, the Capitol Police officer who died after the Jan. 6 attack, refused to shake hands with the Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) at the awards ceremony Tuesday. Brutally awkward:

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Wow

Posted on by Josh Marshall

I’m a bit of a broken record on this. But it’s true enough to bear some repeating. Raphael Warnock and Mark Kelly are two incredibly able politicians. Until 2018 and 2020, Democrats hadn’t been elected to Senate seats in Arizona and Georgia for decades. They’ve now both done it twice, in two consecutive cycles and under dramatically different political conditions. Of course, these aren’t feats of superhuman political powers. This is the direction of these states. But they are only on the cusp of being purple states. To chalk up two consecutive wins you need to be doing everything right. And both of them did.

Georgia Live Blogging #2

Posted on by Josh Marshall

9:36 PM: Okay, the man has spoken. Dave Wasserman of The Cook Report says it’s done: Warnock defeats Walker.

9:29 PM: I think Warnock continues to have the inside track. The uncertainty is that we don’t know precisely the makeup of the votes in those blue counties where lots of votes are left. Those could be heavily same day and actually lean to Walker. So there’s still some uncertainty. But it’s a significant uncertainty in an overall context where signs really point to a Walker win. In North Georgia Walker has put up numbers he needs to win. But in the rest of the state the pattern is Warnock making modest but consistent gains on his November totals. It would be a surprise if that pattern didn’t continue in metro Atlanta. But who knows?

9:06 PM: Not clear to me how much visibility there is into these early counts out of the Atlanta area counties into what’s election day and early. You could speculate that they’ve only counted the Warnock-leaning earlies so far and next up is Walker. But I kinda doubt that. I think this is Warnock’s unless something wildly unexpected happens.

9:01 PM: We finally got a big chunk of the vote in in DeKalb County. Still only around ~50% reporting. But starting to show the numbers that put Warnock ahead. At this point this is where the remaining votes are, this and similar counties. So even though Warnock’s overall lead is razor thin it should grow.

8:37 PM: Have said it over and over. But it’s still the same. Warnock probably wins tonight. But we don’t have the votes in metro Atlanta. That will tell the story. Walker needs a strong showing in metro Atlanta, relative to expectations. Doesn’t seem likely. But run-offs are unpredictable. Just to give a sense 5% of the vote in in DeKalb, 55% in Fulton, 53% in Gwinnett, in Cobb 23%.

Georgia Live Blogging

Posted on by Josh Marshall

8:32 PM: One of the people I follow just put together the numbers and found that in all five counties with more than 10k total votes Warnock is bettering his November margins. That’s a clear indicator.

8:27 PM: It’s hard to do a methodical analysis in real time. But I keep seeing completed red-rural counties where Walker is falling off his margins from November. The differences are quite small, a percentage point or two. But remember, he came in second in November. So falling back is bad. That’s not the story in every county. But it’s more than not from what I can see. The picture seems to be crystallizing in Warnock’s direction. That’s my read at least. Definitely need to see the big metros to be on firm ground.

8:16 PM: Same picture. Basically a re-run of November 8th but with Walker seeming to be very slightly underperforming his November numbers in the now completed red rural counties. Advantage Warnock but far from done. If you’re the Walker campaign you have to be hoping that Warnock underperforms on his home turf in metro Atlanta. That’s not what you’d expect. But run-off turnout is unpredictable. So by no means can you rule it out.

7:58 PM: Gist so far seems to be this: There was some thought that demoralization on Walker side might lead to the bottom dropping out and a solid win for Warnock. That’s now what we’re seeing so far. It’s very close, based on what we’re seeing so far. In the completed counties, which are almost all red rural counties, Warnock’s is very slightly improving his margins. That sounds like he’s on the road to another close victory. But the big metros are still an open question. And surprises there in either direction could change things substantially. The thing to remember is that Walker was ahead by a tiny margin in November. So broadly speaking percentages that are a replay of last month are good for him.

7:46 PM: We’re in the early numbers and all the vagaries of early voting and election day voting makes it hard to make sense of early numbers. That makes you reliant on the few completed or near completed counties. That removes questions about different kinds of voting from the equation. So far that’s only small red counties. They’re showing a tight race but in most cases Warnock very, very slightly improving his margins from November 8th. Given that he was ahead of Walker in round one (but under 50%) that’s obviously a positive for Warnock. Still early though and there’s a lot we don’t know about election day in the more populous counties.

What Trump Did In The Counties That The Special Counsel Subpoenaed

Posted on by Josh Kovensky

What distinguishes the five counties known to have been subpoenaed by special counsel Jack Smith is that former President Trump and his campaign filed lawsuits to invalidate the 2020 election results in all of them.

Continue reading “What Trump Did In The Counties That The Special Counsel Subpoenaed” →