Is This What Momentum Feels Like?
Turning tides--and more of the same
Is it just me or does the tide seem to be turning? It certainly feels like we’re building momentum.
In an 8 to 1 decision the Supreme Court allowed the release of more than 700 pages of White House documents from the National Archives to the January 6th committee.
—Clarence Thomas cast the lone dissenting vote. Thomas, of course, never should have been on the court in the first place, but this extraordinary Jane Mayer piece in The New Yorker about Thomas’ wife, Ginny, raises the question, yet again: “Why do justices have a choice about whether or not to recuse themselves from cases they in which there is so clearly a conflict of interest?”
Since the release of those documents, we’ve learned of the existence of an executive order, drafted but not released, that authorized the Secretary of Defense to “seize, collect, retain and analyze all machines, equipment, electronically stored information, and material records.” It’s also replete with conspiracy theories regarding election fraud in Georgia and Michigan. In characterizing the order, Liza Goitein, co-director of the liberty and national security program at the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice, said "It’s the legal equivalent of a kid scrawling on the wall with crayons,” which, under other circumstances, would have made me laugh.
Here’s what else the January 6th Committee has been up to:
—Members learned that Rudy Giuliani and other Trump campaign officials put forward fake certificates of electors from seven states that Donald lost. Some of these were sent to the National Archives after Donald failed to block governors from signing the legitimate certificates. The plan was, in part, to sow doubt about whether or not there was a clear electoral college winner. Such doubt, and the delay it would have caused, might have thrown the decision about who won the election to the House of Representatives.
—In an ill-advised interview with MSNBC’s Ari Melber which probably had his lawyer’s running for the hills, Boris Epshteyn, one of Donald’s former campaign advisors, said that he was “part of the process to make sure there were alternate electors for when, as we hoped, the challenges to the seated electors would be heard, and would be successful.” He claimed that this potentially illegal activity was done legally “under the leadership of Rudy Giuliani.” Rats. Ship. Sinking.
—Epshteyn, Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Jenna Ellis have been subpoenaed along with the phone records of Eric Trump and Kimberley “The Best Is Yet To Come” Guilfoyle, some of which have already been obtained. N.B. Every single one of these people is in Donald’s inner circle or his inner, inner circle.
—Stephanie Grisham, former White House press secretary, told the committee that in the days leading up to January 6th Donald held off-the-books meetings in the residence. According to sources, her contribution was unexpectedly substantive. So Grisham who, during her nine-month tenure as press secretary did not hold a single press conference, is finally talking.
—Rudy Giuliani and Michael Flynn had their honorary degrees revoked from the University of Rhode Island. Let’s hope other universities follow suit.
—In separate but related news:
In connection to the investigation into Donald’s attempts to interfere with Georgia’s 2020 presidential election, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis asked that a special grand jury be empaneled in order to assist with the “complexities” of the case.
New York State Attorney General Laetitia James has subpoenaed Donald’s grown-ass children, Donny and Ivanka, in connection to her fraud inquiry into the Trump Organization.
President Biden gave his first press conference of 2022. He covered a wide range of topics and over the course of two hours his remarks were substantive, cogent, and coherent. Here are some examples of what he faced:
—Fox asked, "Why are you trying so hard in your first year to pull the country so far to the left?”
—Newsmax “reporter” James Rosen asked the president about a poll that found a significant percentage of respondents questioning whether or not he was mentally fit. Why did Biden think many Americans have “profound concerns about your cognitive fitness.”
—The NY Post asked about Hunter Biden’s “involvement with an investment firm controlled by Chinese state-controlled interests.”
—CBS News: “On a related note, have you decided whether you are going to run for reelection in 2024? You haven’t set up a reelection campaign yet as your predecessor had by this time.”
“Your old friend, [Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell], says you have only spoken to each other once since you took office and that you have moved far-left since taking office. Do you see it the same way he does? Have you rejected bipartisanship?”Journalist and White House correspondent Brian Karem and I had a great conversation about the disintegration of the White House Press Corps which is definitely worth checking out. His insights on the topic are invaluable.
Sweater vest notwithstanding (or maybe withstanding), Glenn Youngkin is governing exactly like a person who made the racist claim that CRT is dangerous and, therefore, shouldn’t be taught in K-12 schools (which it isn’t and never has been). Thankfully, though, Youngkin’s executive order overturning mask mandates in schools is being met with legal challenges.
In a tragic though not unexpected turn of events, 50 senate
Republicans, joined by Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema (neither of whom could offer a coherent or logically consistent argument for their dissent), voted against a temporary modification of the filibuster which would have allowed an up or down vote on the Freedom to Vote Act and The John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act. It’s worth remembering that the purpose of these two pieces of legislation is to make it easier for eligible voters to vote.
—In response, Emily’s List and NARAL Pro-Choice America both pulled support from Sinema over a vote which (not hyperbole) endangers American democracy.
—LPAC released a statement in which they made it clear that “Any candidate wishing to have our support in the future must fully commit to protecting voting rights; anything less will fail to earn our endorsement.”
—Sinema was also censured by the leaders of the Arizona Democratic Party. Sinema’s favorability among Arizona Democrats has fallen to 8% :o
She won’t care, of course, because she’s a “maverick," which in this instance means that she is very well-compensated by lobbyists and is therefore absolved from representing her constituents.
Perhaps the only good thing to come out of Sinema’s treachery is that, as Josh Marshall at talking Points Memo succinctly puts it in a headline: “Kyrsten Sinema’s Political Career is Already Over.” Rejoice, indeed.
—After the failed vote Mitch McConnell said, "African-American voters are voting in just as high a percentage as American voters." This statement is in the dictionary next to the phrase “Freudian slip.”
What else can we expect from a guy who’s perfectly comfortable posing in front of a Confederate flag?
Mitch McConnell chooses his side McConnell embraces being called “The Grim Reaper,” a sobriquet bestowed on him as Majority Leader because of his enthusiastic willingness to let legislation die in the senate as long as it meant thwarting the Democrat’s ability to govern. But call him “Moscow Mitch” or a racist and for some bizarre reason he really doesn’t like it. Methinks he doth protest too much.
Newt Gingrich is one of the most malevolent figures in modern American politics. He has contributed more than anybody, with the possible exception of Mitch McConnell, to the current toxicity of today’s political climate.
In a recent interview, Gingrich told Fox shill Maria Bartiromo, "I think when you have a Republican Congress, this is all going to come crashing down. . . . And the wolves are going to find out that they're now sheep and they're the ones who are in fact, I think, facing a real risk of jail for the kinds of laws they're breaking.” This is a promise, not a threat. It doesn’t matter that both trial and appellate court judges have ruled that the Committee has a legitimate legislative purpose. (See also SCOTUS ruling above.) If the Republicans do manage to regain a majority in the House in November, expect members of the January 6th Committee, among others, to be targeted for censure or imprisoned.
This is the continuation of an already well-established authoritarian trend. Do not look away.
UNDER THE RADAR AND ON THE HORIZON
Jim Obergefell, whose case Obergefell v. Hodges led to the legalization of same-sex marriage, is running for Congress in Ohio. Ohio is going to be a crucial battleground in the 2022 election and we’re going to need all of the good candidates we can get. This is a race to keep an eye on.
Liz Cheney is facing a primary challenge in Wyoming this year and her presumed opponent is Frank Eathorne, a member of the Oath Keepers, the extremist, anti-government group that the FBI describes as a paramilitary organization. Stewart Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers, and ten of his associates were recently charged with seditious conspiracy related to their role in the planning and execution of the breach of the Capitol on January 6th. Eathorne also happened to be at the Capitol that day. It should surprise absolutely no one that he is chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party.
Matt Gaetz’s ex-girlfriend has been granted immunity in exchange for her testimony in a probe into whether Gaetz is guilty of sex-trafficking a minor. It’s been a long time coming, but let’s hope this is the last nail in the coffin not just of Gaetz’s political career but in his life as a free man.
The White House announced that 400 million free N95 masks will be sent to American households. In addition, a website has been set up where Americans can order free at-home COVID tests. I’m still waiting to find out how this is bad news for President Biden.
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day last week although I think it should have an alternate name—“Republican Hypocrite’s, Get MLK’s Name out of Your Mouth Day” perhaps? (You, too, Sinema.) But let’s not forget that as a way to counter or undermine the national holiday honoring an American giant, Robert E. Lee Day continues to be celebrated in Tennessee and Florida every year on January 19th and in Alabama and Mississippi on the third Monday of January—a coincidence no doubt.
Confederate Memorial Day is an official state holiday in South Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama and is also observed in Florida, Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. It was established to honor the memories of Confederate soldiers who died fighting against the Union in order to protect the rights of Southern whites to enslave black people.
It appears that several republican governors are in a competition to out-authoritarian each other. In the latest installment, a Florida House committee passed The Parental Rights in Education bill, affectionately known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. If DeSantis signs it into law, discussions of sexuality and gender identity would be banned in public school classrooms. In honor of this latest assault on our freedoms I’d like to suggest we all say the word “gay” as frequently as possible—especially if you’re in Florida, and especially if you’re in a public school classroom in Florida.
Has anybody heard anything from Rudy Giuliani lately? The silence is sublime.
These days optimism seems like a high bar. Just when you think things may get better, a bunch of republicans and other narcissists remind us not to get our hopes up.
I just want to say thank you Mary Trump for absolutely killing it every time I read your newsletter. You put into words every single thought I have, every day. You now top my list for “someone I would love to have a beer with”