Key soon-to-be House Republican committee chairs, flanked by members with funereal expressions and unintelligible visual aids, unveiled their big investigatory plans for January: something something Hunter Biden.
Continue reading “House Republicans Insist Investigations Aren’t About Hunter Biden While Talking Exclusively About Hunter Biden”GOP Wins House … And Celebrates With A Hunter Biden Press Conference
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Get Ready, Folks
The bullshit has already begun.
The GOP won the House yesterday, and the first order of business is to tee up the Hunter Biden “investigations.”
At 9:30 a.m. ET, the incoming chairmen of the House Judiciary and Oversight committees will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill to preview their bogus probes into the President’s son.
Let me repeat: These are the new chairmen of two major House committees, not some fringe backbenchers angling for airtime.
The culprits are Reps. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and James Comer (R-KY). But it’s not just them. It’s the whole right-wing apparatus rolling out the B-E-N-G-H-A-Z-I playbook.
It was on full display on Sean Hannity’s show last night. First, presumed incoming Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had his own segment talking up various investigations of the Biden administration. Then Jordan and Comer immediately followed with their own lengthy segment on the Hunter Biden nonsense.
“We are going to make it very clear that this is now an investigation of President Biden,” Comer told Hannity about their focus on Hunter.
Media coverage of these manufactured scandals is so painful to watch: taking them seriously, amplifying the bogosity, making them part of the national political agenda. For our part, we’re going to be vigilant in telling you a toxic circus has come to town without trafficking in elephant manure. Onward.
How Tiny Will The House Margin Be?
What became inevitable over the weekend turned semi-official late in the day Wednesday as the AP declared Republicans had captured a majority of House seats.
The exact size of the GOP majority isn’t fully determined yet, but here’s the best estimate from a leading expert on such things:
Good Read
Via Molly Jong-Fast: “House of Horrors: The Marjorie Taylor Greene Congress is upon us“
Kevin McCarthy is in for quite a ride.
McConnell Re-Elected As Senate GOP Leader
Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) fell short in his challenge to McConnell’s leadership.
Big Swing And Miss Vibes
You’ll want to read TPM’s Emine Yücel on Fox News and others faceplanting in their eagerness to turn Gisele Fetterman into a target of ridicule and scorn.
Quite A Turnout, Sir
The Mussolini of Mar-a-Lago, as Dana Milbank puts it, was only able to draw a single member of Congress for his BIG ANNOUNCEMENT: lame-duck Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), who of course did not survive his own primary. Or at least Cawthorn was the only member reporters spied there.
Lindsey Graham’s Turn In the Barrel
After taking his case all the way to the Supreme Court – and losing – Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is set to testify today before a Georgia grand jury investigating Trump’s 2020 election meddling.
In related news, former Mark Meadows aide Cassidy Hutchinson apparently testified to the grand jury yesterday.
What Price For Insurrectioning?
There’s been a lot of interest in vigorous application of the Insurrection Clause (a.k.a. Disqualification Clause) of the 14th Amendment to root out Jan. 6 types serving or attempting to serve in public office. The Project On Government Oversight has a new report out on the Insurrection Clause.
So far only one officeholder has felt the bite of the Insurrection Clause, and this week the New Mexico Supreme Court shot down his appeal because it was procedurally defective.
Mar-A-Lago Probe Update
Don’t sleep on this one! It remains for my money the most serious criminal culpability former President Trump currently faces. Or perhaps more precisely the most immediate threat of criminal prosecution.
One development this week to flag for you: The 11th Circuit has scheduled oral arguments for Tuesday, Nov. 22 in the Justice Department’s appeal of the whole special master mess the lower court judge unleashed.
In the meantime, the special master – himself unsullied by the district judge’s dubious decision to even have a special master – continues to do his work. He has set a status conference for Dec. 1 for the parties to make their arguments to him over the documents seized by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago. He has said that his report and recommendations to the judge will be completed by Dec 16.
This means there remains the possibility that the 11th Circuit will short-circuit the whole special master process before it is complete and allow the Justice Department to proceed with its investigation and potential prosecution unencumbered by the restrictions so flagrantly imposed by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon.
One additional note for the most obsessive observers: The Justice Department has added a former Scalia clerk on loan from the Office of the Solicitor General to its team handling the case.
Same-Sex Marriage Protection Advances In Senate
The Respect For Marriage Act cleared a key hurdle in the Senate. A final vote has not yet been scheduled.
Hate To See It
Defeated in her race for Arizona governor, Kari Lake (R) now must decide whether to remake herself yet again. The Democrat-turned-Republican, Buddhist-turned-Christian, local-TV-anchor-turned-media-hater now must decide whether to flip from election denier to gracious conceder. It’s a close call!
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The Beginning of the End—But Only the Beginning
I watched Donald Trump’s special announcement speech last night. I don’t think it was quite as low energy as some have suggested. I’d describe it more as a greatest hits show from an old band. Some have noted that the crowd seemed not always to know when to clap. They were into it but not overwhelmed. This raised a question in my mind. This is not really Trump’s crowd. Trump’s crowd is at those red state rallies. He did himself a disservice by not holding the event at one of those venues. It’s possible that his handlers thought this was a venue where they could keep him more on script. More likely, he’s reacting in a panicked fashion to the DeSantis boomlet and didn’t have the time.
But let’s set the atmospherics aside. I think this is likely the beginning of the end of Donald Trump. But I say this with a different emphasis from most. When I say “beginning of the end” I put the emphasis on “beginning.” There can be a long time between the beginning of the end and the end of the end. I suspect in this case it may play out over a few political cycles.
Continue reading “The Beginning of the End—But Only the Beginning”Republicans Flip House By Unexpectedly Small Margin
Republicans won back the House Wednesday, but are only on track for a very slim majority.
What was long predicted to be a midterm shellacking in the stylings of the Republican tsunamis of past Democratic-trifecta years of 1994 and 2010 fizzled out to the point that the lower chamber became little more than a tossup.
Continue reading “Republicans Flip House By Unexpectedly Small Margin”Conservatives *Try* To Come After Gisele Fetterman, But It Seems They Don’t Know How To Do The Internet
Conservative commentators have been trying to manufacture outrage about Gisele Fetterman ever since she posted a photo of herself and her partially cropped out husband Senator-Elect John Fetterman during his Senate orientation yesterday. But they’re mostly outing themselves as meme-illiterates.
Continue reading “Conservatives *Try* To Come After Gisele Fetterman, But It Seems They Don’t Know How To Do The Internet”Same-Sex Marriage Bill Clears Filibuster On Glide Path To Passage
The Respect for Marriage Act easily accumulated enough votes to advance Wednesday, netting 12 Republican yes votes and putting it on a glide path to final passage.
Continue reading “Same-Sex Marriage Bill Clears Filibuster On Glide Path To Passage”Lindsey Graham Will Testify This Week. What Do Prosecutors Want To Know?
After months of fighting it in court, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is set to testify on Thursday in the Georgia state investigation of Donald Trump’s interference in the 2020 election.
Continue reading “Lindsey Graham Will Testify This Week. What Do Prosecutors Want To Know?”McConnell Easily Fends Off Scott Challenge To His GOP Leader Election
Following their historical underperformance in last week’s midterms, Republicans need someone to blame. Some factions of the party are loudly pointing the finger at Donald Trump, his conspiracy theories and his slate of far-right candidates for the red wave that never was. Others in the MAGA crowd, now less sold on the electability of the Big Lie, are aiming their ire at other targets.
Continue reading “McConnell Easily Fends Off Scott Challenge To His GOP Leader Election”Jan. 6 Rioter Barred From Holding Office For Life Under Insurrection Clause After His Appeal Is Dismissed
The New Mexico Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal from “Cowboys for Trump” founder Couy Griffin to overturn a decision that barred him from holding public office for life under the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Rioter Barred From Holding Office For Life Under Insurrection Clause After His Appeal Is Dismissed”This Thing Happened Last Night That We Should Probably Cover
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
America’s Challenge Is Clear
Last Tuesday was a good start, but to well and truly vanquish Trumpism is going to require defeating Trump himself at the polls one more time. History needs a verdict of twice-defeated more that it does twice-impeached.
The fight against Trumpism will proceed in the meantime on multiple fronts. Criminal investigations into his actions to subvert the 2020 election and improperly retain classified information at Mar-a-Lago could yield indictments, prosecutions, and convictions that will vindicate the rule of law. That’s important, but it doesn’t serve the same cathartic cleansing of the body politic as his defeat at the polls.
Republicans can’t be relied upon to do their duty and render their own verdict against him in the GOP primary. And so it will fall to everyone else to end this repugnant realm.
While it’s true that Trump is a product of a long and consistent arc of American history, not the anomaly some claim, his defeat is a necessary precondition to returning to a more progressive, enlightened, optimistic American narrative. Here we go.
The Lowlights In Under 3 Minutes
Lessons Learned?
It seemed like a contest among news outlets to prove who could do the toughest, most contextual headline about Trump’s announcement that he’s running again.
NPR had a good showing: “Donald Trump, who tried to overturn Biden’s legitimate election, launches 2024 bid”
WaPo brought it: Trump, who as president fomented an insurrection, says he is running again
For what it’s worth, the broadcast nets and MSNBC did not carry the speech live. Fox and CNN did, but hilariously broke away as Trump droned on.
The American Neofascist Aesthetic In All Its Gilded Ickiness
Oh, Look Who Else Showed Up
And Look Who Did NOT Show UP
Ivanka! Where was Ivanka?
Biden Engages Immediately
What The Trump Campaign Operation Will Look Like
In his first byline since returning to TPM, Hunter Walker breaks some news on the Trump campaign.
Trump Is No Grover Cleveland
Since Grover Cleveland has cornered the market on nonconsecutive terms as POTUS, the comparisons to Trump’s quest for a second term are inevitable. But Cleveland biographer Troy Senik says the comparisons basically stop there. A good thread:
Mike Flynn Ordered To Testify In Georgia 2020 Election Probe
Former Trump National Security Adviser turned conspiracist Mike Flynn lost his fight against a Georgia grand jury subpoena compelling his testimony in its probe of Trump’s 2020 election interference scheme. Flynn, a retired Army lieutenant general, was challenging the out-of-state subpoena in Florida state court. He is due to testify Nov. 22.
Sad Trombone
The Justice Department’s objections to unsealing some of the filings surrounding the federal grand jury investigating the Jan. 6 higher-ups was filed … under seal. Media outlets are attempting to get the chief judge in DC to unseal the filings related to what looks like a big fight over executive privilege, a fight Trump appears to have mostly lost with a stream of former high-ranking White House officials having now testified. We’ll have to wait a bit longer to learn exactly what’s been happening in these secret proceedings.
Quite A Read
Prosecutors filed their sentencing memo on Rep. Matt Gaetz’s old running buddy Joel Greenberg and it’s a doozy of criming and other bad acts. Gaetz is going to walk away from this. Greenberg won’t.
Tim Miller Not Having Any Of Steve Bannon’s Bullshit
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