In granular new detail, the Jan. 6 committee showed how a freshly enraged President Trump targeted his own vice president through a series of edits to his speech on the morning of the attack.
Continue reading “How An Enraged Trump Edited His Jan. 6 Rally Speech To Target Pence”The White House Meeting That Drove ‘Team Sane’ Insane
It was late at night on Dec. 18, 2020, and White House officials could hear screaming coming from inside the Oval Office.
Continue reading “The White House Meeting That Drove ‘Team Sane’ Insane”Ellipse Rally Organizers Planned Second Event Outside SCOTUS On Jan. 6
Organizers of former President Trump’s fateful Jan. 6 rally on the Ellipse had another event planed that day – outside of the Supreme Court.
Continue reading “Ellipse Rally Organizers Planned Second Event Outside SCOTUS On Jan. 6”You Must Read This
I want you to read this TPM Reader email. If you care about Roe, Dobbs or what seems like a White House response that’s just not up to the challenge of the moment, you should really read this. It’s not exculpatory. But it explains the nature of the breakdown, the outdated model they appear to be stuck in. I won’t be identifying the TPM Reader, even by initials. Suffice it to say TPM Reader TL, as I’ll call them, has longtime professional experience that allows them to give this perspective and render these judgments.
Continue reading “You Must Read This”Yesterday afternoon, you retweeted the Politico story on the White House lawyers’ conservative approach to post-Dobbs fixes saying “If this is true it shows a total misunderstanding of the current political moment.”
That is exactly the problem.
For decades, lawyers for the Executive Branch, in both DoJ and the White House, have urged their “clients”—agencies and the President—not to be overly aggressive in exercising their authority for fear that agency action would be invalidated in court.
Trump Rally In North Carolina Rescheduled As Ex-POTUS Is Set To Testify Under Oath
A rally scheduled for Friday in North Carolina featuring appearances by former President Trump and his family has been rescheduled, according to local reports.
Continue reading “Trump Rally In North Carolina Rescheduled As Ex-POTUS Is Set To Testify Under Oath”Georgia Judge Orders Graham To Testify In Fulton County DA’s Investigation
A county judge in Georgia has ruled that Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) must testify in front of the special grand jury in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ 2020 election investigation, per the judge’s order filed on Monday.
Continue reading “Georgia Judge Orders Graham To Testify In Fulton County DA’s Investigation”Michigan’s Already Got Roe on the Ballot
I wanted to follow up on Nicole Lafond’s post from yesterday afternoon. Subject to signature verification, a broad right to abortion and reproductive rights in the form of a state constitutional amendment will now appear on the ballot in Michigan in the November election. It seems very likely the referendum will win and essentially end the abortion issue in the state of Michigan going forward, excluding the possibility of a national abortion ban or Court ruling that might conceivably override the state constitution. One recent poll shows that 58% of Michigan residents oppose the Dobbs decision and 52% strongly oppose it. Only 34% support it.
Continue reading “Michigan’s Already Got Roe on the Ballot”Durbin Not Buying Ridic Biden Deal For GOP Anti-Abortion Judge
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Corrupt Bargain In Jeopardy
If Biden ends up going through his apparent agreement with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to nominate Chad Meredith, a longtime anti-abortion Republican, as a federal judge in Kentucky, it’s not a sure bet that Meredith will actually get a confirmation hearing.
- Senate Judiciary Committee chair Dick Durbin (D-IL) told Politico on Monday, “Imagine how controversial it would be within the Democratic caucus,” adding that “We’ll wait and see if we receive [the nomination] and then we’ll decide.”
- Biden’s reported head-scratcher of a deal with McConnell is that GOP leader wouldn’t obstruct the President’s other picks in exchange for Meredith’s nomination. Slate reported that the picks McConnell agreed not to stonewall are nominees for two U.S. attorney posts in Kentucky.
Georgia Judge Orders Graham To Testify
A judge in Fulton County, Georgia issued an order on Monday directing Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) to testify to the special grand jury in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation, calling the GOP senator a “necessary and material witness” in the probe.
- The judge ordered Graham to testify in front of the grand jury on Aug. 2. Willis wants to focus on the senator’s shady calls to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), according to her subpoena.
- This isn’t the end of Graham’s fight against Willis’ subpoena, however. You can bet he’ll be appealing the judge’s decision and drag out the process.
Today’s Jan. 6 Hearing: Trump’s Call For Violence
The House Jan. 6 Committee is holding a public hearing today at 1 p.m. ET, which will focus on how Trump summoned the mob of his supporters, including far-right extremist groups, to the Capitol, and on connecting the dots between those extremists and Trumpland.
- There’ll also be testimony about Trump’s infamous White House Dec. 18 meeting about seizing voting machines, according to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD).
- The committee hasn’t said who will testify. We do know it won’t be indicted Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes, who had offered to publicly testify just hours before the DOJ filed new allegations against him and his Oath Keeper buddies in their seditious conspiracy case.
- These are at least two of the witnesses, according to reports from CNN, NBC News and ABC News:
- Jason Van Tatenhove, who was a spokesperson for the Oath Keepers
- Stephen Ayres, the Jan. 6 insurrectionist who posted Trump’s infamous call to come to the “wild” rally on Facebook
Judge Shoots Down Bannon Bid To Delay Trial
Steve Bannon’s trial in his criminal contempt case will proceed as scheduled on July 18, a judge ruled on Monday, after the ex-White House adviser’s gambit with a last-minute offer to testify to the Jan. 6 committee proved to be a flop with the Justice Department.
- It was a bad day for Bannon overall yesterday. The judge rejected several explanations the former Trump official gave for flouting the House Jan. 6 Committee’s subpoena, leading Bannon’s frustrated lawyer to gift us with this amazing complaint:
“What is the point of going to trial here if there are no defenses?”
– The lawyer of a very innocent guy
Barr Finds Himself Ensnared In Dominion’s Fox Defamation Suit
Dominion Voting Systems subpoenaed former Attorney General Bill Barr last week in its enormous $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against Fox News.
- It’s not a mystery why Dominion might see Barr as a valuable witness: The ex-DOJ official told the House Jan. 6 Committee, under oath, in a recorded testimony available for all to see, that Trump’s lies about the 2020 election were “bullshit.”
- Dominion has also subpoenaed Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) and Chris Krebs, the ex-top cybersecurity official at the Department of Homeland Security whom Trump fired for debunking MAGA voter fraud conspiracy theories.
GOP’s Lovefest With Viktor Orbán Takes Another Step
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is slated to speak at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas, Texas in early August, fully closing the gap between U.S. conservatives and the leader of a backsliding democracy.
- CPAC already hosted Orbán as a star speaker at its special session in Hungary in May. In his speech, the far-right leader urged Republicans to go for a media takeover because “the madness of the progressive left can only be demonstrated if the media is there to help us do it.”
New UK Prime Minister To Be Announced In September
Britain’s Conservative Party will announce the results of the Tories’ leadership election for disgraced ex-Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s replacement on September 5.
The Right-Wing Media Cesspit: Mad Guy In A Bow Tie Edition
This Fox News guest visited Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello plantation and was disgusted to find out that the woke tour guides at Jefferson’s plantation actually tell visitors that Jefferson was a slave owner:
But as David Kurtz points out here, this “recent Monticello visitor,” aka Jeffrey Tucker, apparently has ties to a white nationalist neo-Confederate organization known as the League of the South, which would explain why he was so butthurt about the tour.
Space Is Cool
Let’s take an even closer look:
Get Thee To A Punnery
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HHS: Hospitals Must Offer Abortion If Pregnant Person’s Life Is At Risk
The Biden administration told health care providers in a letter dated Monday that they “must” provide abortion services if the pregnant person’s life is at risk, saying federal law preempts state laws or mandates that have banned the procedure in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
Continue reading “HHS: Hospitals Must Offer Abortion If Pregnant Person’s Life Is At Risk”Beware Of The ‘Recent Monticello Visitor’
Getting outraged over Fox News holds little allure these days, but occasionally the network will do something so quintessentially Fox News that you have to sit back and marvel at the layers of mendacity.
Today’s little Fox News gem was a segment on what a huge bummer it is to visit Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello these days, what with all the focus on slavery and what not at what was built as a slave plantation.
A bow-tied, bespectacled guest for the segment was billed hilariously in one chyron as a “recent Monticello visitor.” Turns out there’s a little more to the story.
Continue reading “Beware Of The ‘Recent Monticello Visitor’”