A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
Todd Akin Walked So This Guy Could … Do This
Michigan GOP gubernatorial candidate Garrett Soldano has some truly egregious beliefs about abortion, according to an interview with right-wing podcaster April Moss earlier this month that was unearthed by a progressive publication, Heartland Signal, yesterday.
- Instead of letting survivors of rape get abortions, “how about we start inspiring women in the culture to let them understand and know how heroic they are, and how unbelievable that they are, that God put them in this moment?” Soldano suggested.
- Soldano emphasized a need to “defend the DNA” at conception because people who want abortions might end up killing the next Mother Teresa. “They don’t know,” he said. “That little baby inside them may be the next president, may be the next person who changes humanity.”
Trump Directly Tied To Election Machine Seizure Scheme
The New York Times came out with this shocking report last night revealing how closely involved Trump was in his cronies’ plots to get the government to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 election.
- Trump suggested to then-Attorney General Bill Barr that the Justice Department seize the machines, per the Times. Barr reportedly rejected Trump’s idea immediately.
- Trump also directed his lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, to reach out to the Department of Homeland Security and ask if the agency could seize the machines, the Times reported. Giuliani contacted then-acting DHS deputy secretary Ken Cuccinelli, who, like Barr, shot down the suggestion.
- Giuliani was reportedly the voice of reason in the discussions on getting the military involved in the scheme, believe it or not. The lawyer warned Trump it was a bad idea and could lead to his impeachment.
- It’s been previously reported that there was a draft of a Trump-era executive order that would have directed the Pentagon to grab the machines.
Additionally, CNN reported last night that there was a second executive order draft on seizing the equipment besides the one for the Defense Department. There was also one drafted directing the DHS to do the same thing, according to CNN.
Multiple HBCUs Across US Receive Bomb Threats
Southern University and A&M, Howard University, Bethune-Cookman University, Albany State University, Bowie State University and Delaware State University all received bomb threats on the eve of Black History Month yesterday.
- The schools either went into lockdown or cancelled classes.
- The FBI said that the agency is investigating the threats.
- There were two more bomb threats targeted at HBCUs this morning: Howard University reported another bomb threat early Tuesday morning, and Morgan State University sent out an alert about a similar threat a couple of hours ago:
Grassley Has Hard Time Saying Pardoning Insurrectionists Is Bad
Senate Judiciary Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) ducked on Monday when asked about Trump floating pardons for Jan. 6 rioters — the Iowa Republican very unambiguously said that he “can’t speculate” on what the ex-president suggested.
Biden Admin Won’t Reopen Tamir Rice Case Closed By Trump
The Justice Department told the family of Tamir Rice on Friday that it wouldn’t reverse the Trump DOJ’s decision not to file federal civil rights charges against the cops who fatally shot 12-year-old Rice in 2014.
- Lawyers for the Rice family had written to Attorney General Merrick Garland last spring asking for the investigation to be reopened under the new administration.
- The DOJ claimed the government wouldn’t have been able to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that the cops were violating Rice’s civil rights.
Manchin Agrees It’s Time To Appoint A Black Woman To SCOTUS
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) told reporters yesterday that it’s “it’s far beyond time” to have a Black woman serve as a Supreme Court justice, and last week he said he’d be okay with confirming a justice more liberal than he is, so … guess that might not be a banana peel he’ll be throwing in front of Democrats this time? Yay Biden?
Judge Orders Eastman To Get A Move On
The federal judge overseeing the lawsuit between the House Jan. 6 committee and ex-Trump legal adviser/coup architect John Eastman has ordered the lawyer to stop dragging his feet: He demanded that Eastman start going over at least 1,500 pages of his emails a day, starting on Friday, and hand over the unprivileged documents to the committee.
Maddow Takes Temporary Break
Starting Feb. 7, MSNBC host Rachel Maddow is taking a hiatus from her show for a few weeks to work on a movie and a new podcast she’s developing, according to Insider.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
