A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.

That Was Fast

A couple of hours after the Supreme Court shot down Trump’s attempt to bar the release of documents from the National Archives to the House Jan. 6 Select Committee on Wednesday night, the panel applauded the high court’s ruling and announced that it had already started to receive the records.

• According to the Justice Department, some of the records the ex-president tried to block include: White House call logs and speech drafts for him dated Jan. 6, plus “a draft Executive Order concerning election integrity.”
• The Jan. 6 Committee also subpoenaed prominent white nationalists Nick Fuentes and Patrick Casey on Wednesday.

Sinema And Manchin Doom Voting Rights Legislation

Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) helped block Democrats’ voting rights package by voting with Republicans to block changes to filibuster rules, which were the only way Democratic senators had any hope of passing the legislation. You can check out our liveblog of the vote here.

• The wafer-thin silver lining for filibuster reform advocates: All the rest of the Senate Democratic caucus voted for the changes, even lawmakers who previously were against reform.
• When the moment came to vote, Sinema stood and shouted “Aye!” — a theatrical declaration of support for the status quo.
• Manchin would like his Democratic colleagues to be nice to him please. “I do not and will not attack the contents of the character of anybody who’s changed their position, and I hope you would give me the same opportunity and not attack mine,” the West Virginia lawmaker said on the Senate floor before the vote.
• Afterward, Manchin appeared angrier, stating on his way out of the Capitol that there had not been enough “discussion” of the voting rights bill.

FBI Searches Dem Rep’s Home

The agency confirmed on Wednesday that it had carried out “court-authorized law enforcement activity” at Rep. Henry Cuellar’s (D-TX) home in Laredo, Texas earlier that day. A reporter on the scene posted pics of FBI agents going in and out of the residence and loading government vehicles with “large bags, plastic bins, and a computer”:

FBI still present at the home of Rep. Henry Cuellar’s in Laredo. https://t.co/CYOyJVSSGJ pic.twitter.com/N8rGyZVpNz

— Valerie Gonzalez (@ValOnTheBorder) January 19, 2022

• It’s unknown what the FBI was looking for or even what the probe is about. The FBI didn’t offer any details due to it being an ongoing investigation.
• Cuellar’s office said the Democrat will “fully cooperate in any investigation.” No details on the investigation from there either.
• Federal agents were also spotted at Cuellar’s campaign headquarters in Laredo, according to the McAllen Texas Monitor.

Yet Another GOPer Tries To Take Credit For Infrastructure Funds She Voted Against

Rep. Ashley Hinton (R-IA) on Wednesday proudly announced that “we” have secured new “game-changing” federal funding to upgrade dams along the Upper Mississippi River that came from the bipartisan infrastructure bill — aka the “partisan, socialist spending spree” that she tried to shoot down when it was up for a vote.

Anti-Mask/Vax Mandate AG Gets COVID

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s declared war on mask and vaccine mandates and is also very secretive about his texts from Jan. 6, has tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Texas Tribune.

GOPers Defy Testing Request For Committee Meeting

House Intelligence Committee chair Adam Schiff (D-CA) requested that all committee members get a negative COVID-19 test before going to an upcoming briefing, and it turns out that asking for proof you aren’t making the pandemic worse is simply Tew Much.

• A harrumphing Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH), the ranking member of the committee, declared that none of the committee Republicans would comply because “the American public does not have this privilege, and we will not comply.”
• To be clear, it was a request, not a requirement.

Must Read

“Police in this tiny Alabama town suck drivers into legal ‘black hole’” – AL.com

Plaintiff In Marriage Equality SCOTUS Case Runs For Office

Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the landmark Obergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court case, is running as a Democrat for an Ohio state House seat in his hometown district against a GOP incumbent.

MTG Paying Almost $90k To Not Wear Mask

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) refuses to wear a mask on the House floor in violation of the chamber’s mask mandate, and has racked up $88,000 (about half her salary) in fines for the pleasure, per CNN.

I Can’t Be Racist, Some Of My Best Foods Are Black!

Missouri state. Rep. Brian Seitz (R) keeps calling COVID-19 “the China virus,” but he’s definitely not racist-and he can prove it: “For the record, I love dumplings, I love black-eyed peas and I love cornbread,” he announced during a session.

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