Former Trump advisor Steve Bannon was convicted on two counts of contempt of Congress Friday after a jury trial in Washington, D.C.
Continue reading “Jury Convicts Steve Bannon On Both Counts Of Contempt Of Congress”The Uncanny 2022 Midterm
I wanted to flag again that the congressional generic ballot continues a small but steady creep in the direction of the Democrats. The shift is basically since the leak and then official release of the Dobbs decision. To be clear, Democrats are still very much the underdogs in the battle for the House, though they’re close to tied in the congressional generic ballot. The two prognostication sites I watch put the Dems’ odds in the 15% or less zone. So, not good! But the movement is in their direction and there’s more than three months to go.
At the same time, conventional wisdom is moving strongly in the Democrats’ direction in the Senate. There have been a lot of signs of this that conventional opinion really missed because they were seeing things so much through the prism of a GOP wave election. One of these now sees a 55% likelihood of Democrats maintaining control of the Senate and the other 50%-50%. These have each moved significantly in the Dems’ direction just over the last week.
Continue reading “The Uncanny 2022 Midterm”Supreme Court Quietly Greenlights Further Chipping Away Of Executive Branch Power
In a low-key, one-page order, the Supreme Court on Thursday levied another blow against the Biden administration’s exercise of agency power.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Quietly Greenlights Further Chipping Away Of Executive Branch Power”Justice Kagan Warns SCOTUS Legitimacy Could Be In Jeopardy
As public confidence in the Supreme Court plummets, Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan on Thursday warned of the dangers of the high court losing its legitimacy if its decisions are or appear to be motivated by personal politics.
Continue reading “Justice Kagan Warns SCOTUS Legitimacy Could Be In Jeopardy”Trump’s Tool To Fire Thousands Of ‘Deep State’ Civil Servants Is Back With A Vengeance
Star Axios reporter Jonathan Swan published a long report (summary here) this morning focused on “Schedule F,” a little-covered Trumpian effort to make it way easier to fire tens of thousands of federal government workers without any cause whatsoever — and, crucially, to easily replace them with ideological foot soldiers. That’s in addition to the thousands of political appointees that presidents typically are allowed to hire and fire.
Continue reading “Trump’s Tool To Fire Thousands Of ‘Deep State’ Civil Servants Is Back With A Vengeance”Jan. 6 Committee Hearing #8: The 187 Minutes
Last night’s Jan. 6 House Select Committee primetime hearing was the final one for this season, or at least until September. It was, in part, a showcase of the fear felt that day — even by those Republicans who boosted Trump’s lies. Juxtaposed against somber moments (recordings played of security officials fearing for their lives, considering making goodbye calls to their families) were absurd and even comical ones — most notably, footage of Senator Josh Hawley hauling ass once the insurrection got violent. Earlier that day he had raised his fist in a gesture of solidarity with the rioters from the comfort and safety of a secure and cordoned-off space.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Hearing #8: The 187 Minutes”GOP NY Guv Nominee Zeldin Attacked On Stage While Campaigning
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), New York’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, was attacked by a man who allegedly tried to stab the candidate as he was holding a campaign event on Thursday.
Continue reading “GOP NY Guv Nominee Zeldin Attacked On Stage While Campaigning”About Last Night
If you didn’t see the Jan. 6th’s committee’s (for now) final hearing, it was a powerful presentation. The two big takeaways, if you’re already pretty versed in what we know about that day, are these: the exfiltration of Mike Pence was probably a closer-run thing than we’d even imagined. Members of Pence’s Secret Service detail were apparently talking of calling loved ones to say final goodbyes before they decided to move him to the Capitol complex’s secure location. We also saw more of Trump’s alternatively sullen and desperate refusal to face reality — or, perhaps more specifically, refusal to dispel his supporters’ absolute belief that his “landslide” victory had been stolen. Just a pathetic, degenerate huckster capable of great violence and evil.
Continue reading “About Last Night”Hawley Runs From J6 Rioters He Riled Up And I’m Sorry But We Just Have To Laugh
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Hawlin’ Ass
Look, the events of Jan. 6 were horrific and absolutely must be taken seriously for the sake of preserving American democracy, but during its hearing last night, the House Jan. 6 Committee unveiled security footage of fist-pumper Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) scampering away from the insurrectionists as they ransacked the Capitol, and it was a truly incredible sight to behold:
Trump’s Head Explodes Over Jan. 6 Hearing
The ex-president took to his fake Twitter app, TRUTH Social, to calmly express his concerns about last night’s proceedings:
Naturally there’ve been more rants since the ones Aaron Rupar showed in his video:
Catching Up On Our Hearing Coverage
The House Jan. 6 Committee’s hearing last night aired during primetime, so we stayed up until midnight so you didn’t have to to get y’all caught up on how the session unfolded:
- Our trusty liveblog can be read here.
- “Committee Presents Showcase Of Republican Fear On January 6” – Kate Riga
- “Radio Traffic Shows Pence Security Detail’s Panic During Capitol Attack” – Matt Shuham
We also hosted a discussion on the hearing via Twitter Spaces:
The Secret Service’s Panic During Insurrection
One particularly disturbing moment during the hearing came when the committee presented a White House security official’s testimony and audio recordings of the Secret Service’s fearful radio exchanges during the Capitol attack as then-Vice President Mike Pence was being whisked away to safety from the mob.
Trump’s Pouring Big $$$ Into Legal Fees For Jan. 6 Witnesses
Trump is getting close to spending $2 million from his political committees on legal expenses for witnesses who’ve been testifying in front of the House Jan. 6 Committee, according to new FEC filings reported by the Daily Beast.
Trump’s Already Crafting Plot To Fully Control Federal Government
Axios has a shocking report laying out a detailed plan Trump and his cronies are currently hammering out in which the ex-president, if reelected to the White House, would expel what could be thousands of career employees in the federal government to replace them with MAGA loyalists.
GOP NY Guv Nominee Zeldin Attacked During Campaign Event
Rep. Lee Zeldin (R-NY), who’s running to replace incumbent New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D), was attacked in the middle of a stump speech on Thursday by a man Zeldin said was wielding a knife. Reports vary on whether the man was carrying a knife or some kind of pointed object. The county sheriff’s office reported that the attacker was taken into custody, and Zeldin’s campaign announced later that the Republican was not injured.
House Passes Protection For Contraception Access
The House on Thursday approved the Right To Contraception Act, legislation that would enshrine the right to obtain contraception into federal law, by a 228-195 vote, with all Democrats and eight Republicans voting “yes.”
- The GOP votes came from:
- Liz Cheney (R-WY)
- Adam Kinzinger (R-IL)
- Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA)
- Anthony Gonzalez (R-OH)
- John Katko (R-NY)
- Nancy Mace (R-SC)
- Maria Salazar (R-FL)
- Fred Upton (R-MI)
- Two Republicans voted “present”:
- Bob Gibbs (R-OH)
- Mike Kelly (R-PA)
- Sens. Ed Markey (D-MA), Mazie Hirono (D-HI) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) have already introduced the Senate version of the bill. We don’t know yet if it has enough support to make it past the filibuster, though.
5 GOP Sens Support Marriage Equality Bill
Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) said on Thursday that though he felt the bill aimed at codifying marriage equality into law, aka the Respect for Marriage Act, was “unnecessary,” he would “see no reason to oppose it” if it was put to a vote in the Senate.
- Johnson’s announcement means Democrats are halfway toward overcoming the filibuster to pass the bill. Sens. Rob Portman (R-OH), Susan Collins (R-ME), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) have already said they support or are likely to support it.
Biden Tests Positive For COVID
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announced on Thursday that the President had tested positive for COVID-19 earlier that day and had only mild symptoms. The press secretary also promised to give daily updates on Biden’s health status “out of an abundance of transparency,” and one can’t help but wonder if that promise was prompted by Trump’s notorious attempt to cover up his COVID diagnosis.
Biden put out a video a short while later saying he was “doing well”:
Outgoing GOP Maryland Guv Won’t Back GOP Nominee As His Replacement
In case you missed it: Term-limited Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) won’t support Dan Cox, a hardcore MAGA election denier who won the GOP’s gubernatorial primary in Maryland on Tuesday, according to Hogan’s spokesperson. (And more than just being an election denier, Cox also chartered buses to go to the D.C. Trump rally on Jan. 6)
Italy’s PM Resigns
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi resigned on Thursday, triggering a snap election that will be held on Sept. 25.
Trump Lawyer Allegedly Had Racist Meltdown About NY AG
According to a new lawsuit filed against her, Trump defense lawyer Alina Habba allegedly screamed “I hate that Black bitch!” in her office after New York Attorney General Letitia James (D), who is Black, successfully convinced a judge to hold Trump in contempt in April. The allegation is included in a lawsuit against Habba filed by a Black former assistant who accused the Trump lawyer of a bunch of racist behavior in the workplace.
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Radio Traffic Shows Pence Security Detail’s Panic During Capitol Attack
The Jan. 6 Committee on Thursday used radio traffic and the account of a White House security official to illustrate just how close of a call things were for Mike Pence — and for his Secret Service agents — during the heart of the attack.
Continue reading “Radio Traffic Shows Pence Security Detail’s Panic During Capitol Attack”