Nicole Lafond

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Nicole Lafond is TPM’s deputy editor, based in New York. She has also worked as the special projects editor and as a senior newswriter for TPM. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously covered education in central Illinois.

Where Things Stand: Is There One Thing That Is True?
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Mother Jones just reported that the new guy that the George Santos campaign listed as its new treasurer on FEC filings Wednesday is not actually his campaign’s new treasurer.

Their headline is 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 George Santos’ New Treasurer Wants You to Know He’s Not George Santos’ Treasurer.

Mother Jones called the attorney for Thomas Datwyler, a campaign finance consultant who was listed on a handful of FEC docs filed by campaign committees affiliated with George Santos as the Santos campaign’s new treasurer today, replacing Nancy Marks. Datwyler’s attorney told the publication that he never agreed to be treasurer and even told the campaign straight up that he wasn’t interested in the gig.

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Where Things Stand: Trump Lawyer Tries To Shove Exec Privilege Assertion Into The Record Before Navarro Trial
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Former White House trade adviser Peter Navarro’s contempt trial for defying the Jan. 6 committee’s subpoena is coming up in less than a week. And Trump’s lawyers are asserting once more, in a last-ditch effort at proving something, that Navarro was right to have blown off the congressional subpoena because he was protected by executive privilege.

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Where Things Stand: Will That Be It?
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A jury convicted four more members of the far-right Oath Keepers group of seditious conspiracy today, bringing to a close one the highest-profile prosecutions to be brought thus far in response to the attack on the Capitol on Jan. 6. It also leaves us with the question: will that be it when it comes to accountability for the attack?

In closing arguments on Monday, some of the Oath Keepers’ lawyers were not subtle in outlining where they believe the real blame for the attack should lie.

“Responsibility really rests at our politicians’ feet,” Scott Weinberg, the attorney for Oath Keeper David Moerschel said on Monday, per the Washington Post. “The president and Stewart Rhodes were claiming that the world is coming to an end even before the election.”

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Where Things Stand: Santos Office Forwarded Constituent Calls To Office Of NY GOPer Who Wants Him To Resign
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The glitch was only temporary, but, man, it’s gold. You really can’t make this stuff up (unless you are George Santos).

Long Island news outlet Newsday has the goods.

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Where Things Stand: Of Course George Santos Mom Was Not In NYC On 9/11
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The Jewish Daily Forward, the same news outlet that broke the story that Rep. George Santos (R-NY) lied about his heritage, has now seemingly confirmed another suspected Santos fib — that his mother was in the vicinity of World Trade Center on 9/11 and survived the attack.

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Where Things Stand: WH Joins Calls For McCarthy To Cough Up Deets Of Gentlemen’s Agreement
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Ever since Kevin McCarthy was narrowly elected speaker in the wee hours of the morning after a historic 15 rounds of voting, there’ve been reports that the new speaker had to more or less sell his soul and offer up his first born to the MAGA hardliners in exchange for the gavel.

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Where Things Stand: 2020 Biden Electors In Michigan Sue The Phony Trump Slate
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This lawsuit comes just a few days after Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel also announced she was opening an investigation into the sham Trump electors. Nessel initially referred the matter to the DOJ but decided to open her own investigation after the House Jan. 6 committee released its report.

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Where Things Stand: Here’s The Resume Santos Gave Nassau County GOP, Fake GPA And All
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While announcing their committee’s call for freshman Rep. George Santos (R-NY) to resign from Congress today, Nassau County GOP Chairman Joseph Cairo, Jr. let a little bit of news slip.

“I remember specifically, I’m into sports a little bit, that he was a star on the Baruch volleyball team and that they won the league championship,” Cairo said, while walking reporters through a handful of other publicly known things that Santos had lied about on his resume.

“What can I tell ya,” he said. Peep his fellow party officials giggling in the background.

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Where Things Stand: Scalise Assures Us Santos Will Get A Stern Talking To, Thank God
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We can all rest easy knowing accountability is in the unassailable hands of the newly minted Republican House leadership.

Scalise’s remarks come the same day that Democratic lawmakers actually did something tangible about the fact that there’s a freshman member of Congress who was just sworn in after admitting he lied about basically everything he’s ever said and done.

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Where Things Stand: A Little Bit Of Anecdotal Data
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In the few hours we weren’t furiously updating our liveblog covering the lawless speakership election each day last week, I spent most of my downtime answering texts and explaining to friends what exactly was happening on the House floor.

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