Twenty percent of local election officials are “very” or “somewhat unlikely” to continue serving in those jobs in the 2024 presidential election, according to a new survey pointing to a sense of unease among the public servants running America’s elections.
Continue reading “Full 20 Percent Of Election Workers Expect To Leave Job Before 2024 Amid Threats, Burnout”The Reckoning?
I must say that I am looking forward to the raft of articles in the works from the Times, WaPo, Politico and above all Axios about the GOP’s reckoning with the fact that their party leader (and most of his party) has spent the last several years toadying and obsequiously embracing Vladimir Putin and Russia. I jest of course since I have little hope that any of these pieces will be written. But the leader of this party has spent the last seven years fawning over the increasingly dictatorial leader of the country who has now tipped the world into the biggest international crisis in a generation and I guess we’re somehow not going to talk about that. I mean, he actually got impeached over it and for participating in a scheme to make the country Russia just invaded easier to invade.
Continue reading “The Reckoning?”GOP Candidate Doubles Down On Stunning Rape Comments
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Sure, Die On This Hill
Michigan state House candidate Robert “RJ” Regan is pretty annoyed at how everyone’s making such a big deal over his ghoulish comparison of accepting the 2020 election results to telling his daughters to “just lie back and enjoy it” if they get raped.
- Regan made the comparison again on Wednesday during an interview with conservative radio host Randy Bishop and said his point was that he was tired of the GOP establishment telling the party’s grassroot supporters that they “just have to sit there and take it.”
- Regan complained that the backlash was “a bunch of BS,” striking a noticeably more resentful tone than yesterday, when he tried to explain his comment to Michigan Bridge.
- The Republican candidate argued that the real issues are that the libs “want to teach” kids “how to be woke and how to put on a condom.”
- Regan accused the Michigan GOP leaders who criticized him of being “establishment cronies” who’ve been ignoring the sexual assault allegations against ex-House Speaker Lee Chatfield (R) by his sister-in-law.
- The Michigan Republican Party leaders haven’t withdrawn their support for Regan (who’s also a QAnoner who posts anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on Facebook), by the way. They scolded him earlier this week for making “offensive” comments, and, uh, yeah.
Sidney Powell’s Been Bankrolling Oath Keepers’ Jan. 6 Legal Defense
The pro-Trump lawyer, who’s currently facing disbarment after abusing the courts to peddle Trump’s election lies, has been helping the Oath Keepers entangled in Jan. 6 cases with their legal bills via her nonprofit, Defending the Republic.
RNC Sues Jan. 6 Panel Over Subpoena To Top Vendor
The Republican National Committee filed a lawsuit against the House Jan. 6 Committee on Wednesday to block the panel’s subpoena of a RNC vendor.
- The Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena is “seeking information from Salesforce regarding whether and how the Trump campaign used Salesforce’s platform to disseminate false statements about the 2020 election in the weeks leading up to the January 6th attack.”
- The RNC argued the subpoena is too broad in scope, accused the committee of trying to get sensitive information about the RNC’s private donors and claimed it would chill the RNC and its supporters’ First Amendment rights.
Is Stephen Miller All Grown Up?
Former Trump senior adviser Stephen Miller filed a lawsuit against the Jan. 6 committee to block its subpoena of T-Mobile for his phone records … and THAT is how we found out the married 36-year-old is still on his parents’ family plan.
McCarthy Still Plans On Putting MTG And Gosar Back On Committees
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) told reporters on Wednesday that even after going to the white nationalist America First Political Action Conference (AFPAC), Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) won’t be punished with anything but a conversation with him.
- McCarthy said he won’t block them from joining congressional committees if the GOP wins back the House in the midterms.
- Ex-Rep. Steve King (R-IA) is probably screaming into a pillow somewhere.
Idaho Lt. Guv Reached Out To Rabbi Days Before Speaking At White Nationalist Jamboree
A rabbi in Boise told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) that Idaho Lt. Gov. Janice McGeachin (R), who’s running for governor while rubbing shoulders with white nationalists, had reached out to him in mid-January with an invitation to help her create an anti-Semitism task force.
- The rabbi responded to McGeachin’s offer by calling out her ties to far-right extremists, including Holocaust deniers, according to the letter he showed the JTA.
- McGeachin sent another letter to the rabbi on Feb. 16 saying she was ready to “call out antisemitism whatever form it takes” with him.
- The rabbi got McGeachin’s Feb. 16 letter on Feb. 25–and found out hours later that she’d spoken at the America First Political Action Conference, a white nationalist gathering organized by Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes, the day before.
Florida GOPers Greenlight DeSantis’ Elections Police Force
Florida’s Republican-controlled House approved a Senate-passed measure on Wednesday that would create Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) proposed special police office dedicated to combating non-existent voter fraud. The measure would give DeSantis about $2.5 million in taxpayer funds to launch an “Office of Election Crimes and Security” of 25 employees under the Department of State.
Russia’s Ukraine Invasion Grinds Into Third Week
- Reuters: “Ukraine accuses Russia of genocide after bombing of children’s hospital”
- The Washington Post: “No agreement in high-level Ukraine-Russia talks; 3 killed in hospital strike”
- NBC News: “Ukraine says Russian strike destroyed children’s hospital; U.S. warns Putin may launch chemical weapons attack”
- New York Times: “Top Envoys Fail to Make Progress Toward Ending War”
House Passes $1.5 Trillion Spending Bill
On Wednesday, the House passed its sweeping federal spending measure that both keeps the government running through September and includes $13.6 billion in aid to Ukraine. However, Democrats cut out the $15.6 billion COVID-19 aid package.
RNC Chair Gushes Over Trump’s Amazingness
Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel is absolutely stunned by how extremely fantastic and awe-inspiring and magnificent Trump is:
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Cawthorn Charged With Driving With A Revoked License, Marking Third Recent Traffic Violation
Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) on Wednesday was charged with driving with a revoked license after being pulled over last week by highway patrol.
Continue reading “Cawthorn Charged With Driving With A Revoked License, Marking Third Recent Traffic Violation”Where Things Stand: Maria Butina’s Bizarre Sign-Of-Life Interview Is Riddled With Kremlin Propaganda
It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on this character.
Convicted Russian spy Maria Butina just did a bizarre and rather concerning interview with the BBC in which she argued that Ukraine is “bombing” its own civilians and pushed Kremlin talking points that President Vlodymyr Zelensky, a Jewish descendant of Holocaust survivors, is a Nazi.
The interview honestly sounds like a confused hostage video. I’ll get into the details more below. But since serving 15 months in U.S. prisons after being convicted of working as an unregistered foreign agent — for attempting to infiltrate the National Rifle Association and after admitting to helping set up a Russian backchannel for conservative strategists ahead of the 2016 election — Butina returned to Russia in 2019. And she’s a politician now — apparently a fairly successful one. Butina became a member of the Russian parliament’s lower chamber in 2021 and has batted away accusations that President Putin helped hand her the position as a “reward” for her criminal endeavors in the U.S.
Continue reading “Where Things Stand: Maria Butina’s Bizarre Sign-Of-Life Interview Is Riddled With Kremlin Propaganda”Reps’ Punishment For Addressing A White Nationalist Conference? Talking To Kevin McCarthy
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) confirmed Wednesday that there would be no consequences for two sitting Republicans in the House who recently addressed a white nationalist conference.
Continue reading “Reps’ Punishment For Addressing A White Nationalist Conference? Talking To Kevin McCarthy”About Next Week (Very Important)
In the midst of so much news I wanted to give you a heads up about something very important we have coming up next week. We suspended our annual sign up drives for the last two years. But we’re bringing them back because … well, because they’re super important and we need regular readers to become members. So if you’re a regular reader and you haven’t become a member or your membership has lapsed please consider joining or joining again. And if you’re already a member please spread the word about how cool a TPM membership is or lean on your coworker who keeps leaning over your desk to read Prime content without a subscription. The overwhelming percentage of the funds that keep our operation going come from your membership fees. So we really need you. There’s no big corporation behind this outfit to keep it going. It’s entirely reliant on you.
So keep an eye out next week when we get the drive started. And thank you in advance.
Supreme Court Justices Threaten To Shutter Only Remaining Path For Partisan Gerrymandering Cases
Four Supreme Court justices have endorsed a theory that would box out state courts, one of the biggest checks on state legislatures’ gerrymandering power, from the redistricting process.
Continue reading “Supreme Court Justices Threaten To Shutter Only Remaining Path For Partisan Gerrymandering Cases”Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Stephen Miller’s Phone Records … From His Parents’ Family Plan
The Jan. 6 Select Committee recently subpoenaed the phone records of Stephen Miller, who formerly served as a senior adviser in former President Trump’s White House. The committee’s months-old subpoena was revealed in a lawsuit Miller filed in response to the committee’s request on Wednesday.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Subpoenas Stephen Miller’s Phone Records … From His Parents’ Family Plan”Jan. 6 Committee Delays Start Of Hearings, Citing ‘Inordinate’ Amount Of Depositions To Sift Through
Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS), chair of the Jan. 6 Select Committee, said that the panel is likely to begin holding public hearings in May because it needs more time to work through depositions according to NPR.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Delays Start Of Hearings, Citing ‘Inordinate’ Amount Of Depositions To Sift Through”