Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), chair of the House Intelligence Committee and member of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, on Sunday outlined what information the public can learn from the release of a redacted affidavit that led to the FBI’s search of former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort earlier this month.
Continue reading “Schiff: DOJ Concerns With Unsealing Mar-a-Lago Affidavit Are ‘Very Legitimate’”Appeals Court Delays Graham’s Testimony Before Fulton County Grand Jury
A federal appeals court on Sunday delayed Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-SC) testimony before a special grand jury in Fulton County that was initially scheduled for Tuesday, following an appeal by Graham’s lawyers that pushed back at a district court judge’s rejection of a motion to quash his subpoena.
Continue reading “Appeals Court Delays Graham’s Testimony Before Fulton County Grand Jury”Book: Giuliani Associate Sought ‘General Pardon’ After Capitol Insurrection
An associate of Rudy Giuliani attempted to ask then-President Trump to grant his personal lawyer a “general pardon” and the Presidential Medal of Freedom shortly after the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, according to an advance copy of a new book obtained by the New York Times.
Continue reading “Book: Giuliani Associate Sought ‘General Pardon’ After Capitol Insurrection”Vos’ Trump-Backed Rival Launches Write-In Campaign After Just Barely Losing
Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R) fended off his Trump-endorsed primary challenger by the slimmest of margins – and now said challenger’s taking another shot at Vos’ seat.
Continue reading “Vos’ Trump-Backed Rival Launches Write-In Campaign After Just Barely Losing”In Made-For-TV Political Event, DeSantis Says 20 Votes Out Of 11.1 Million Were Criminal
In a made-for-TV spectacle Thursday focused on the work of his new “election crimes” state law enforcement office, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) declared that 20 out of 11.1 million votes cast in the 2020 election in the state had been submitted by people allegedly voting illegally.
Continue reading “In Made-For-TV Political Event, DeSantis Says 20 Votes Out Of 11.1 Million Were Criminal”Boom! Trump’s Longtime Fascination With Nukes Long Preceded Mar-a-Lago Search
When President Donald Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Helsinki for their 2018 summit meeting, he took the Russian leader by surprise.
Continue reading “Boom! Trump’s Longtime Fascination With Nukes Long Preceded Mar-a-Lago Search”Fox’s Laura Ingraham Tears Her Hair Out Over Trump Lawyers’ Struggles
Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Thursday night seemed a little worried about the way ex-President Donald Trump’s defense team has been handling the Justice Department’s investigation into the classified documents that were stashed at Mar-a-Lago.
Continue reading “Fox’s Laura Ingraham Tears Her Hair Out Over Trump Lawyers’ Struggles”Trump’s Ex-Lawyer Would Totally Be His Lawyer Again If He Didn’t Have To Open Boxes
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
He Didn’t Go To Law School For That!
Responding to this hilarious Washington Post report on how nobody wants to be Trump’s lawyer now, David Schoen, one of the defense attorneys who represented Trump during his second impeachment trial, insisted on CNN yesterday that “it’s a great honor for anyone to represent” Trump. And yes, Schoen was “approached a couple of months ago about being a liaison with the Justice Department,” he told CNN.
But alas:
- “It wasn’t for me. It doesn’t suit my skill set. I wasn’t particularly interested in that,” the attorney said.
- Also, “it’s not my skill set to sift through boxes and sort of liaison with the Justice Department.”
Here’s a fun lil nugget from that WaPo piece:
“One lawyer told a story from early in Trump’s presidency of his legal team urging him against tweeting about the Mueller probe, only to find he’d tweeted about it before they got to the end of the West Wing driveway.”
Texas County Left Without Any Election Officials After Resignations
All three election officials in Texas’ Gillespie County have resigned amid violent threats against election workers that’ve been skyrocketing ever since the 2020 election.
- This is in spite of the fact that Trump, who’s been stoking the fury and mistrust toward election workers, won the county by 59 points in the election.
- The county’s (now-ex) election administrator, who resigned on Tuesday, told the Fredericksburg Standard-Radio Post that she was being both threatened and stalked in wake of the election due to “dangerous misinformation.”
- Early voting for the November midterms begins in about two months, and the county doesn’t have anyone to oversee it.
- The Texas secretary of state’s office will send specialists to train staffers of the county clerk and tax assessor-collector to administer the elections.
DOJ Ordered To Redact Mar-a-Lago Affidavit For Potential Release
Federal magistrate judge Bruce Reinhart on Thursday told the Justice Department to redact portions of the FBI affidavit that supported the Mar-a-Lago search warrant, then submit those redactions to him for review.
- Reinhart said he’ll review those proposed redactions and decide whether or not to unseal the affidavit. He gave the DOJ until Thursday to submit them.
- Don’t expect a whole lot to come out of this. The DOJ’s been fighting tooth and nail to keep the affidavit sealed, and they’ll likely use their redaction pens pretty liberally here.
MAL Raid Warrant Judge Now Has Security Detail
CBS News reports that the U.S. Marshals are providing a security detail for Reinhart, who’s been facing a deluge of anti-Semitic threats for approving the Mar-a-Lago search warrant.
Almost 20 Ex-Trump Officials Call Bullshit On Trump’s ‘Standing Order’ Claim
Eighteen former senior Trump administration officials, including former White House chiefs of staff John Kelly and Mick Mulvaney, told CNN that they never heard of Trump’s so-called “standing order” to declassify any White House documents that get taken to his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Alabama County GOP Apologizes For Using KKK Image
The Lawrence County Republican Party in Alabama had an oopsie moment earlier this week after accidentally posting an image of a GOP elephant that was drawn with hooded Klansmen between its legs on Facebook.
- A party official apologized for the post, saying the KKK stuff does “not represent the views or beliefs” of the local group.
Weisselberg Pleads Guilty And Has To Testify Against Trump Org
Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s ex-chief financial officer, pleaded guilty on Thursday in the Manhattan district attorney’s tax fraud case against him, and he admitted to conspiring in the 15-year-long tax evasion scheme with the Trump Organization.
- Weisselberg will be required to testify at the upcoming criminal trial of the Trump Organization if prosecutors call on him to do so under the terms of the plea deal. If he does, he’ll be given a prison sentence of just five months (compared to the maximum 15-year sentence he was facing before).
- But Weisselberg won’t be required to testify against Trump or the Trump family personally.
Must Read
“Russia’s spies misread Ukraine and misled Kremlin as war loomed” – The Washington Post
Cue ‘Jaws’ Theme Music
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The 87,000 Armed IRS Agents Conspiracy Theory Is Just The Latest Republican Assault On An Agency In Crisis
If there was a defined Republican talking point during the debate preceding the House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act, it was this: that the bill would mean the hiring of 87,000 new, armed IRS agents kicking down the doors of middle class America and killing the people they find inside.
Continue reading “The 87,000 Armed IRS Agents Conspiracy Theory Is Just The Latest Republican Assault On An Agency In Crisis”Where Things Stand: McConnell Admits Dems May Hold Senate Because He’s Bad At His Job
It’s political canon that the president’s party does poorly in the Midterms — especially if it’s said president’s first term. But the Senate minority leader is tossing bits of that conventional wisdom out the window as we get closer to the general election. And it’s not even the first time Mitch McConnell has preemptively winked in the direction of things not going super well for Republicans this fall — at least when it comes to control of the Senate.
During an event in Kentucky on Thursday McConnell suggested that it was far more likely that Republicans are able to flip the House than take back the Senate. That’s because the Senate is “different.”
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: McConnell Admits Dems May Hold Senate Because He’s Bad At His Job”