A county commissioner appointed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) resigned last Friday after a photo surfaced showing him wearing a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood at what could have been a Halloween party years earlier, the Tallahassee Democrat reports.
Senate Advances Deal to Fund Government
The Senate voted Tuesday to move forward with funding the government through mid-December, 72 to 23, ahead of a Friday deadline to avert a shutdown, NBC News reports.
Manchin Doesn’t Have the Votes for Permitting Plan
Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) “asked for permitting reform changes he has been pushing to be cut from a stopgap funding bill as its passage appeared doomed amid bipartisan opposition,” The Hill reports.
IRS Bungled Child Tax Credit Payments
“The Internal Revenue Service sent $1.1 billion in advanced child tax credit payments during 2021 to people who shouldn’t have gotten them, and failed to send $3.7 billion to eligible households,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“Congress expanded the child tax credit and authorized monthly payments in the March 2021 relief law signed by President Biden, giving a tax agency accustomed to annual refund payments an unprecedented test in administering monthly benefits.”
Youngkin Hosts Donor Retreat Amid 2024 Speculation
“Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R), who has been raising his national profile ahead of a possible presidential campaign, has invited top Republican donors from around the country for a two-day event this week,” the Washington Post reports.
Federal Judge Decries GOP Leaders
“A federal judge delivered a blistering rebuke of Republican Party leaders Tuesday for what she said was a cynical attempt to stoke false claims of election fraud of the kind that fueled the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol,” Politico reports.
Said U.S. District Court Judge Amy Berman Jackson: “The judiciary has to make it clear: It is not patriotism, it is not standing up for America to stand up for one man — who knows full well that he lost — instead of the Constitution he was trying to subvert.”
She added: “Some prominent figures in the Republican Party are cagily predicting or even outright calling for violence in the streets if one of the multiple investigations doesn’t go his way.”
Nadler Opposed First Trump Impeachment Proceedings
A new book reveals that House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler was at odds with how House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff and Speaker Nancy Pelosi handled impeachment proceedings against former President Donald Trump, insisting that the methods used were “unconstitutional” and could be used to attack the party, Fox News reports.
Nadler was then sidelined by Pelosi and later made an “effort to get back into Pelosi’s good graces” and that his “aides sucked up to her staff relentlessly” in an attempt to show that his panel was prepared to step in and assist.
Russia Prepares to Annex Parts of Ukraine
“Russia is set to formally annex occupied territories in Ukraine after staging referendums that involved coercion, threats and, in some places, soldiers going door to door and forcing people to vote at gunpoint,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Submarine Spy Couple Enters Guilty Plea, Again
“The Maryland couple who tried to sell sensitive submarine nuclear propulsion secrets to a foreign country again pleaded guilty on Tuesday, accepting the prospect of longer prison sentences after a federal judge threw out their original deal as too lenient,” the New York Times reports.
“The Toebbes’ case had fascinated many in the public, raising questions about why a couple with a comfortable suburban life would have risked everything they had with a poorly thought out endeavor to sell nuclear secrets.”
Capitol Rioter Who Assaulted Police Sentenced to 7 Years
“A Donald Trump fan who brought his teenage son along as he assaulted then-D.C. police officer Mike Fanone and another officer at the Capitol on Jan. 6 was sentenced to more than seven years in prison on Tuesday,” NBC News reports.
McConnell Will ‘Strongly Support’ Electoral Count Reform
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has endorsed a bipartisan electoral count reform bill in the Senate, giving the legislation a key boost over a similar bill the House passed last week,” the Washington Post reports.
“Both bills seek to prevent future presidents from trying to overturn election results through Congress, and were directly prompted by the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol by a pro-Trump mob seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.”
“The Electoral Count Reform and Presidential Transition Improvement Act, sponsored by Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME) and Joe Manchin (D-WV), would amend the Electoral Count Act of 1887 and reaffirm that the vice president has only a ministerial role at the joint session of Congress to count electoral votes, as well as raise the threshold necessary for members of Congress to object to a state’s electors.”
Vox: Trump found the holes in our election laws. Congress is trying to patch them.
January 6 Committee Postpones Hearing
“The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol is postponing its highly anticipated hearing because of Hurricane Ian, which is expected to barrel into the western coast of Florida on Wednesday,” the Washington Post reports.
“It’s unclear when the daytime hearing, which seeks to recapture the nation’s attention with what is likely to be the panel’s final public hearing before the release of a final report, will be rescheduled.”
Trump May Avoid Defamation Suit by Rape Accuser
Donald Trump may be able to avoid the lawsuit filed against him by New York columnist E. Jean Carroll because he qualified as a government employee at the time he allegedly defamed her, Bloomberg reports.
Profiles in Ignorance
Just published: Profiles in Ignorance: How America’s Politicians Got Dumb and Dumber by Andy Borowitz.
“Borowitz argues that over the past fifty years, American politicians have grown increasingly allergic to knowledge, and mass media have encouraged the election of ignoramuses by elevating candidates who are better at performing than thinking.”
Jim Justice Hints at Senate Bid in 2024
West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice (R) “said he may not be done with public office when his second term as governor concludes in 2024, and that a seat in the U.S. Senate just might pique his interest,” the Parkersburg News and Sentinel reports.
” The next time one of West Virginia’s two Senate seats is up is 2024, when the seat of current Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) is up for grabs. That coincides with Justice’s term as governor coming to an end.”
Mastriano Said Violating Abortion Ban Is Murder
Pennsylvania gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano (R) said in 2019 that women should be charged with murder if they violated his proposed abortion ban, NBC News reports.
Trump’s New Lawyer Sidelined in Mar-a-Lago Case
“The newest addition to former President Donald Trump’s legal team, Chris Kise, has been sidelined from the Mar-a-Lago documents investigation less than a month after he was brought on to represent Trump in the matter,” CNN reports.
“Kise is expected to remain on Trump’s legal team but is not leading the work related to the federal government’s investigation into how the former President handled 11,000 documents seized from his Florida home in August following a lengthy effort by the government to retrieve them. The reason for the shift in Kise’s role remains unclear and he may instead focus his efforts on the other investigations Trump is facing, which range from his business practices to the January 6 insurrection.”
I’m willing to bet the client didn’t like the advice he was given.
A Key Question Still Unanswered About January 6
CNN: “The committee has presented evidence that former President Donald Trump wanted to go to the Capitol on January 6, eliciting testimony from numerous witnesses describing the former President’s urgent desire to be driven to the Capitol complex by his Secret Service detail following his speech on the Ellipse. It also has established that Trump anticipated staying in office.”
“Yet the committee has not been able to uncover precisely what Trump planned to do upon arriving at the Capitol, a source familiar with its investigation says, and attributes the gap in knowledge to the limited subpoena power of the committee. It also has been unable to definitively conclude if Trump had a plan. Instead, the committee has developed a number of working theories.”
Los Angeles Times: January 6 still has the power to shock. But will it drive voters’ decisions?
