Trump attorney John Eastman had a plan to switch Pennsylvania from Biden to Trump in the final days of 2020: have state legislators count the votes just a little bit differently.
Continue reading “Eastman The Mathematician: MAGA Lawyer Advised Lawmaker To Make Up Formula To Throw Out Biden Votes”Graham Said On Jan. 6 That Trump ‘Went Too Far,’ New Tapes Reveal
Lo, more tapes of Trump toadies acknowledging for two seconds in the immediate aftermath of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection that the attack was then-President Donald Trump’s fault.
Continue reading “Graham Said On Jan. 6 That Trump ‘Went Too Far,’ New Tapes Reveal”Leaky Court Continues to Leak
It would seem that trail of leaks out of the Roberts Court have not only continued but evolved into a de facto comms policy. Politico published a new story overnight which reports that in fact none of the four Justices who initially sided with Alito have changed their position and that no dissenting opinions have yet been circulated. The details are interesting (if entirely unsurprising). But what’s most notable is the continued leaking. There’s no new draft given to the Politico reporters. But we have a continued flow of information about the internal deliberations.
Continue reading “Leaky Court Continues to Leak”GOP Sen. Compares Women To Sea Turtles In Rant Against Abortion Bill
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Yes Women Are Talking Sea Turtles Thank You
With the Senate on track to vote today on the Women’s Health Protection Act, a likely doomed bill to codify abortion access into law, Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) took to the floor to rail against the legislation with the argument that if eggs belonging to certain animals are protected by law, why can’t women be banned from ending unwanted pregnancies, hmm??
- “When you destroy an egg, you’re killing a pre-born baby sea turtle or a pre-born baby eagle,” Daines ranted. “Yet when it comes to a pre-born human baby—rather than a sea turtle—that baby would be stripped of all protections in all 50 states under the Democrats’ bill that we’ll be voting on tomorrow.”
- Anyway, the bill is likely to fail thanks to the filibuster and Sen. Joe Manchin’s (D-WV) lack of support, but there was still a fairly important development yesterday: Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA), one of the very few anti-choice Democrats left in Congress, came out in support of the bill on Tuesday, saying that “the circumstances around the entire debate on abortion have changed.”
Trump-Endorsed Alleged Groper Loses Nebraska Primary
Nebraska GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, who’s been accused of groping eight women, lost to Jim Pillen, a rival endorsed by incumbent Gov. Pete Ricketts (R), in the state’s primary race on Tuesday, per the Associated Press.
- Herbster is the first Trump endorsee to lose in the 2022 primaries so far. The rest of the Trump-backed candidates in Nebraska and West Virginia, which also held its primaries on Tuesday, won their races, as did all the ones in Ohio and Indiana last week.
Trump Endorsee Wins First Incumbent v. Incumbent Primary Race
Trump-backed Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) beat Manchin-backed Rep. David McKinley (R-WV) in a state that lost a congressional set in reapportionment.
- Trump was upset with McKinley over a variety of sins: Voting to certify Biden’s victory in the 2020 election, supporting a bipartisan commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection and voting for the bipartisan infrastructure bill last year.
- The race was the first of five incumbent-against-incumbent primaries this year.
New York Preps To Expand Abortion Access
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Tuesday that she had directed state government agencies to launch a $25 million fund for abortion providers and separately use $10 million to help beef up security at abortion clinics with the Supreme Court on the cusp of striking down Roe v. Wade.
Fake Trump Electors Are Speaking To Georgia Prosecutors
Several of the sham Trump electors from Georgia are cooperating in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ investigation into Trump’s election steal scheme, according to CNN.
- Those electors have reportedly been told that they’re considered witnesses, not subjects, of the investigation.
- One of those electors, Georgia Republican Party chair David Shafer, has reportedly spoken to the House Jan. 6 Committee too. He reportedly testified that the Trump campaign had directed the Georgia GOP to put together a slate of fake electors.
House Approves Nearly $40 Billion In Ukraine Aid
The House voted to approve an additional $39.8 billion in military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine on Tuesday as the country fights to fend off Russia’s invasion.
- The Senate will likely take up the proposal as soon as this week, where it’s also expected to pass.
- The total amount of the U.S. government’s Ukraine aid since the invasion will be more than $53 billion if this latest measure passes.
With Friends Like These…
Both the Daily Beast and Washington Post put out stories on the GOP’s mission to vanquish Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), and both stories include details of the North Carolina lawmaker’s former allies who are positively delighted to participate in his downfall.
- A leader of the anti-Cawthorn “Fire Madison” PAC, which has been publishing embarrassing content about the lawmaker on the regular, told the Daily Beast that he gets the dirt from “folks who used to work with him,” not D.C. people.
- Politico reported that it got the photos of the GOP lawmaker in lingerie from “a person formerly close to Cawthorn and his campaign,” then a second person “formerly close” to the Republican confirmed “the origin of the photos.”
South Carolina Celebrates Confederate Memorial Day
Amid red states’ war on teaching kids about “divisive” concepts like systemic racism, South Carolina’s state offices were closed yesterday to observe Confederate Memorial Day (which is also an official state holiday in Alabama and Mississippi).
‘Succession’ Actor Glues Himself To Starbucks Counter
James Cromwell, who stars in the TV series “Succession” and a bunch of other things, pasted himself onto a Starbucks counter on Tuesday in protest over the coffee chain’s upcharge on vegan milk.
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Where Things Stand: Does DeSantis Want A Treat Or Something At This Point?
Sure, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), go ahead and take home the trophy for passing the most outrageous/bizarre/problematic anti-education laws of all the red state governors in the land, if that’s the distinction you’re after.
At this point, it seems that’s the governor’s goal (coupled with the, seemingly, broader party aim to distract voters so completely with such non-serious non-existent issues that they don’t remember why they decided to support GOPers in the midterms in the first place).
The latest DeSantis culture war to get legislated into law in Florida: a sidetrack focus on communism.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Does DeSantis Want A Treat Or Something At This Point?”All Five Justices Who Seem Poised To Overturn Roe Were Confirmed By Senators Repping A Minority Of Voters
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It first appeared at The Conversation.
If the leaked Supreme Court decision on abortion is to be believed, five justices have voted during private deliberations to overturn Roe v. Wade. Notably, those five are what I refer to as “numerical minority justices.”
They are the only five in American history to qualify for that designation. And three of them were appointed by a minority president. Since Donald Trump lost the popular vote in the 2016 election, he was, by definition, a minority president, elected by a minority of the voters.
Continue reading “All Five Justices Who Seem Poised To Overturn Roe Were Confirmed By Senators Repping A Minority Of Voters”Days After Draft Abortion Opinion Leaked, Plan B And IUDs Already In The Crosshairs
Despite insistence from both Justice Samuel Alito and a flotilla of right-wing publications that the draft opinion overturning abortion rights won’t touch any of its privacy-based cousins, Republican lawmakers are already turning to contraception.
Continue reading “Days After Draft Abortion Opinion Leaked, Plan B And IUDs Already In The Crosshairs”Musk Confirms He’d Def Let Trump Back On Twitter
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who made a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter last month, said on Tuesday that he’d allow ex-President Donald Trump back on the social platform after he was banned for inciting the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
Continue reading “Musk Confirms He’d Def Let Trump Back On Twitter”As He Screeched About Leaks On Twitter, Trump Was ‘Biggest Leaker Of All’
For all of his obsessing over leaks throughout his presidency, then-President Donald Trump himself was apparently the top offender, according to former Defense Secretary Mark Esper’s memoir, “A Sacred Oath.”
Continue reading “As He Screeched About Leaks On Twitter, Trump Was ‘Biggest Leaker Of All’”How Republicans Stole The Lead In The Race For Congressional Control
Not too long ago, Democrats had some reason for cautious optimism about the balance of power in Congress: State-level reforms, combined with demographic changes and other factors, meant that Democrats appeared poised to come out of this redistricting cycle in relatively okay shape. That was far from a preordained outcome — especially given the ferocity with which Republicans have historically approached drawing maps.
Continue reading “How Republicans Stole The Lead In The Race For Congressional Control”