Turning Point Action, a pro-Trump organization, reportedly funded Kimberly Guilfoyle’s $60,000 fee to introduce her fiancé Donald Trump Jr. in a speech that lasted under three minutes at the “Stop the Steal” rally that preceded the deadly Capitol insurrection on Jan. 6, multiple people familiar with Guilfoyle’s compensation told CNN.
Continue reading “Report: Turning Point USA Funded Guilfoyle’s $60K Speaking Fee At Jan. 6 Rally”Follow Up
It occurs to me that some may read the post below about the U.S. and Saudi Arabia as an indictment, that the policy decision is a mistake. That’s not my thinking at all. I think that given our options and our needs it is definitely the right decision. I do think the Ukraine War was the breaking point. Once Russia invaded Ukraine the need to deal with global energy markets became critical and Ukraine was our core strategic interest. Regardless, it’s the right decision. Mostly because it’s the only decision.
Many Thanks!
A big thank you to everyone who’s contributed so far in Day One of this year’s TPM Journalism Fund drive. If you can contribute we would greatly appreciate it. Below I explain just what the Fund is and why it’s so critical this year especially. If you’re able, just click right here. Thank you.
MBS Broke Us
Sometimes the biggest things happening in the world are happening out of view. Sometimes they’re hidden but just as often they simply don’t get the attention they should because they don’t have traction as news stories. Or perhaps all the players have their own interests in not drawing attention to them. You may have noticed that Joe Biden is traveling to Saudi Arabia next month and that he plans to hold a summit with the de facto ruler of the country, Mohammed bin Salman — usually called MBS. He’s going to Riyadh. MBS is not coming to Washington. This is presented as a full reset of relations between the two countries and — though this is stated less directly — a full reset with MBS. So all that human-rights, Yemen-war, Jamal-Khashoggi-being-dismembered-at-a-consulate-in-Istanbul stuff is done with. That was then. This is now.
Continue reading “MBS Broke Us”Primaries Are Getting More Crowded With Candidates. That’s Good News For Extremists And Bad News For Voters
This article is part of TPM Cafe, TPM’s home for opinion and news analysis. It was first published at The Conversation.
As they head to the polls to cast a ballot in primaries, voters may find themselves staring at a long list of candidates. In most cases, these primaries are winner-take-all. Whoever gets the most votes will represent their party in November.
Continue reading “Primaries Are Getting More Crowded With Candidates. That’s Good News For Extremists And Bad News For Voters”Georgia Investigators Want Testimony From Kanye West’s Ex-Publicist On Poll Worker Fake Confession Scheme
You might’ve forgotten about rapper Kanye West’s bizarre ties to ex-President Donald Trump’s election steal scheme – but investigators in Georgia apparently haven’t.
Continue reading “Georgia Investigators Want Testimony From Kanye West’s Ex-Publicist On Poll Worker Fake Confession Scheme”Rudy Giuliani: I Only Help Plan Coups Sober
Rudy Giuliani would like you to know that he was sober as a judge when he urged then-President Trump to prematurely declare victory on election night and how dare you suggest otherwise.
Continue reading “Rudy Giuliani: I Only Help Plan Coups Sober”Jan. 6 Committee Delays Wednesday Hearing, Which Was Focused On DOJ Scheme
The Jan. 6 Committee announced that its Wednesday hearing will be postponed. The next public hearing in the panel’s investigation will take place on Thursday.
Continue reading “Jan. 6 Committee Delays Wednesday Hearing, Which Was Focused On DOJ Scheme”U-Haul White Supremacist’s Mom Says She Kicked Son Out Of The House
Karen Amsden, the mother of one of the dozens of white supremacists who were arrested in a U-Haul in Idaho on Saturday, wasn’t thrilled to find out what her son was up to that day.
Continue reading “U-Haul White Supremacist’s Mom Says She Kicked Son Out Of The House”Jan. 6 Panel Walks Back Thompson’s Comment About No Trump Criminal Referrals
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Get It Together
House Jan. 6 Committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) told reporters on Monday that the committee won’t be making criminal referrals against Trump or his other cronies to the Justice Department because “that’s not our job”–but that was apparently news to the other committee members.
- The panel “has not issued a conclusion regarding potential criminal referrals,” vice chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) tweeted on Monday night.
- Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) told CNN that he and his fellow panel members “haven’t had a discussion about that” and that he thought the committee was waiting until after the investigation was over to make a final decision.
- Rep. Elaine Luria (D-VA) tweeted that it is, in fact, the committee’s “responsibility” to report any criminal activity it finds in the investigation, and that it has yet to vote on the issue.
- A committee spokesperson walked back Thompson’s comment later Monday, saying that the panel will, “if warranted,” make criminal referrals.
Garland Promises He’s Watching The Jan. 6 Hearings
Attorney General Merrick Garland said on Monday that he’s been attuned to the House Jan. 6 Committee’s hearings and “I can assure you the Jan. 6 prosecutors are watching all of the hearings, as well.” Whether that actually means anything in the way of, like, prosecuting something is another story.
Catching Up On Yesterday’s Hearing
No worries if you couldn’t watch the House Jan. 6 Committee’s second hearing yesterday morning (which actually did air on Fox News this time since it wasn’t during primetime and therefore not a disruption to Tucker Carlson’s propaganda campaign). Here’s how you can get up to speed:
- Check out our liveblog.
- Read TPM reporter Matt Shuman’s story on the committee’s focus on Trump ripping off donors by fundraising off his lies about the 2020 election via an “Election Integrity” fund that didn’t exist.
- Read TPM reporter Josh Kovensky’s story on the so-called “Team Normal” and “Team Crazy” factions of Trump’s orbit that were playing tug-o-war over the then-president’s refusal to accept the 2020 election results. Josh also wrote a Prime post laying out that no matter how hard ex-Attorney General Bill Barr tries to pretend otherwise, his fingerprints are still all over Trump’s efforts to undermine the election before he officially resigned.
Must Read
“How the Watergate scandal broke to the world: A visual timeline” – The Washington Post
Another Election Denier For Secretary Of State On Today’s Ballot
It’s Primary Day in Maine, Nevada, North Dakota, and South Carolina.
- And yes, there’s yet another Republican election conspiracy theorist running for secretary of state today: Jim Marchant in Nevada has said he wouldn’t have certified the 2020 election if he were secretary of state at the time.
Texas Cops Argue Releasing Uvalde Body Cam Footage Would Expose ‘Weakness’
The Texas Department of Public Safety is urging state Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) to withhold police body cam footage that recorded law enforcements’ failed response to the Uvalde elementary school shooting, according to Vice.
- The department argued in a letter to Paxton’s office that releasing the footage would supposedly enable criminals to “anticipate weakness in law enforcement procedures” and “alter their methods of operation in order to avoid detection and apprehension.”
- Except there’s at least one “weakness” in the Uvalde officers’ response to the shooting that’s already been well established at this point: The officers not doing anything to stop the gunman.
Herschel Walker Keeps Saying He Did Stuff He Didn’t Do
GOP Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker has claimed several times that he used to work in law enforcement: In 2017, he said he worked with the Cobb County Police Department, and in 2019 he claimed he was an FBI agent.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution has found that neither of those things are true.
- So now we can add “fake cop” to the ever-growing list of things Walker’s claimed to have been and/or achieved, along with: fake high school valedictorian, fake University of Georgia graduate, fake owner of an upholstery manufacturer and fake owner of the largest minority-owned food company. On the other hand, Walker was a legit hypeman for a fake COVID-19 spray cure.
SEC Probe Into Trump’s Fake Twitter App Grows
The Securities and Exchange Commission has expanded its investigation into the merger between Trump’s TRUTH Social app and the app’s main financing vehicle, Digital World Acquisition Corp.
- In other TRUTH Social news, the former president’s off-brand Twitter is being used as a bullhorn for QAnon gospel.
Binders Full Of Trump Not Being Racist
Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany is proud to say that she kept a full record of the moments when her boss said racism was bad:
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