Mark Finchem, the GOP nominee for Arizona secretary of state who is endorsed by former President Trump, posted a “Treason Watch List” to his Pinterest account, CNN first reported on Tuesday.
Continue reading “Trump-Backed Arizona GOP Secretary Of State Nominee Posted ‘Treason Watch List’ On Pinterest”Rubio Could Be In Trouble
A new poll shows Val Demmings leading Marco Rubio by 4 percentage points. (University of North Florida, Demings 48%, Rubio 44%.) I suspect that this poll is an outlier. But it is actually on trend, with a group of recent polls showing a relatively close race. It’s the first independent poll of the race in a month and the first real known-quantity poll since the beginning of 2022. Given the rightward drift of Florida, I would not be getting my hopes up that this is a Democratic pick up. But it is a strong indication that this is a seat Republicans will have to fight to hold on to. Indeed, I suspect some of retrenchment from races in Arizona and Pennsylvania we mentioned yesterday is to defend seats like these.
Fun Times in TrumpLand
The articles that make you feel the best are the ones to be most skeptical of. But with that said, this article in The Guardian certainly brought a smile to my face and satisfied a need for a schadenfreude fix. A federal judge will now decide whether to release some portions of the affidavit in support of the search of Mar-a-Lago. There’s the warrant and the inventory, both of which the target gets to see. It’s the affidavit that lays out why are we doing this; why is it important; what larger schemes are we investigating that requires us to go into this home and look for stuff.
Continue reading “Fun Times in TrumpLand”Was ‘Putin’s Chef’ Prigozhin Touring Occupied Ukraine?
The man who allegedly masterminded Russian hacking in the 2016 election may have turned up recently in occupied Eastern Ukraine.
Continue reading “Was ‘Putin’s Chef’ Prigozhin Touring Occupied Ukraine?”Trump Org CFO Reaches Plea Deal In Criminal Fraud Probe
Allen Weisselberg, who served as the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, has reportedly reached a plea deal in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal tax fraud investigation into the Trump Organization.
Continue reading “Trump Org CFO Reaches Plea Deal In Criminal Fraud Probe”New Hampshire Sen Candidate Who Vowed To Defy Election Results Leads In New Poll
A New Hampshire Republican who’s promised to defy the presidential election results, should he be called upon to do so in 2024, is leading in that state’s Republican Senate primary.
Continue reading “New Hampshire Sen Candidate Who Vowed To Defy Election Results Leads In New Poll”Anti-Abortion Activists Fork Over $119k To See Kansas Voters Uphold Abortion Rights Twice
Dismayed by Kansas voters’ overwhelming rejection of an amendment that would’ve stripped away abortion rights from the state’s constitution, several anti-abortion activists sought a statewide hand recount – but failed to raise enough cash for the $229,000 required to pay for it in all 105 counties on Monday.
So they’re settling for nine.
Continue reading “Anti-Abortion Activists Fork Over $119k To See Kansas Voters Uphold Abortion Rights Twice”FBI Returns Trump’s Passports Seized During Raid
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Three Were Taken
The Justice Department acknowledged on Monday that three passports belonging to Trump were taken during the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago last week, and returned to him on Monday. The move came several hours after Trump claimed via TRUTH Social that the FBI “stole my three Passports (one expired).”
- Two of the three passports were expired, not just one.
- The DOJ is also arguing against the unsealing of the affidavit for the Mar-a-Lago search, telling the court on Monday that doing so would “chill future cooperation by witnesses whose assistance may be sought as this investigation progresses, as well as in other high-profile investigations.”
Biden To Sign Sweeping Climate And Health Bill Today
The President is slated to hold a White House ceremony to sign the historic Inflation Reduction Act into law today at 3:30 p.m. ET, according to the White House.
Giuliani Confirmed To Be A Target In Georgia County Probe
Rudy Giuliani has been informed that he is a target of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ election interference probe, Giuliani’s lawyer told TPM yesterday.
- Giuliani is scheduled to appear before the grand jury in the probe on Wednesday.
- Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC), while not in as much hot water as Giuliani, didn’t get great news yesterday concerning his status in the investigation either: A federal judge in Atlanta shot down the GOP senator’s motion to quash the special grand jury’s subpoena seeking his testimony.
2020 Election Deniers Running To Oversee Elections Are On The Ballot Again Today
We’ve only got two states on our primary election calendar today: Wyoming and Alaska. And the races for the top official who will run the 2024 elections in each state are awash with pro-Trump election truthers.
- Wyoming: Of the three GOP candidates running for secretary of state, only one–state Sen. Tara Nethercott (R)–believes there wasn’t any fraud in the 2020 election process in her state (which Trump won in a landslide). And those three are the only candidates for secretary of state; no Democrats are running.
- The ratio’s just as grim in Alaska. Just two (two!) of the 10 candidates for lieutenant governor (whose duties in Alaska include those of a secretary of state) fully reject Trump’s voter fraud myth about the 2020 election. In fact, one of the other eight candidates, Paul Hueper, even went to the pro-Trump Jan. 6 protest in D.C. that preceded the Capitol insurrection, though Hueper says he didn’t participate in the violence.
Cheney To Meet Her Very Likely Doom
House Jan. 6 Committee vice chair Rep. Liz Cheney’s (R-WY) primary today will be the last primary for the six House Republicans who decided to run again in the face of Trump’s fury over their impeachment votes.
- As arguably the most visible face of anti-Trumpism in the GOP, Cheney’s well aware that her goose is cooked: The congresswoman’s Trump-endorsed challenger, Harriet Hageman, crushed her with a 20-point lead in the Casper Star-Tribune’s poll last month.
- Then there’s Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), the only GOP senator who convicted Trump in the impeachment trial to face a primary in this election cycle. But unlike Cheney, Murkowski’s basically guaranteed to survive her primary against a Trump-backed rival thanks to Alaska’s new ranked-choice voting system (in which the top four candidates advance to the general election, regardless of party affiliation).
Must Read
“Abortion Providers Would Like You to Please Stop Interviewing Anti-Abortion Propagandists” – Jezebel
Trump Org CFO Expected To Plead Guilty
Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization’s chief financial officer, is expected to plead guilty to a massive tax fraud scheme that was uncovered in the Manhattan district attorney’s criminal investigation into Weisselberg and the Trump Organization (which was also indicted over the scheme), according to NBC News.
- But Weisselberg still refuses to cooperate with the district attorney’s criminal investigation into Trump and isn’t expected to implicate anyone in the Trump family in his guilty plea, according to the New York Times.
- The Trump Organization won’t be pleading guilty with Weisselberg, the Times reports.
- The exact terms of Weisselberg’s reported plea deal are unknown, but the executive’s plea could be entered as soon as Thursday.
Palin Back In The Spotlight
The special election to fill late Rep. Don Young’s (R-AK) seat is here, meaning we’re about to find out if Sarah Palin, backed by Trump, is going to become the latest addition to the House’s GOP Karen Clown Car with Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Lauren Boebert (R-CO).
- Palin’s facing off against two other hopefuls today: Democratic ex-state Rep. Mary Peltola (D) and Nick Begich III, another Republican.
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5 Points On Michigan AG Candidate’s Ties To A ‘Conspiracy’ To Breach Voting Machines
Michigan Republicans’ pick for attorney general, Matthew DePerno, is one of the most prominent politicians involved in pushing the “Big Lie” questioning the 2020 election results. But revelations in recent weeks have brought new details to light about just how involved DePerno may have personally been in efforts to provide grist for the conspiracy theory mill. Here’s what we know.
Continue reading “5 Points On Michigan AG Candidate’s Ties To A ‘Conspiracy’ To Breach Voting Machines”Weisselberg Nearing Plea But Won’t Cooperate
The Times is reporting that Trump Org CFO Allen Weisselberg is nearing a plea deal with prosecutors in Manhattan. But the deal apparently does not include cooperating with the broader investigation into Donald Trump and his business. With a guilty plea and time served Weisselberg will likely spend roughly three months in jail.