“The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday subpoenaed Trump White House official Peter Navarro for records and testimony,” ABC News reports.
Sarah Palin Takes the Witness Stand
“Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin took the witness stand on Wednesday in her defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, giving the jury a folksy overview of her family life in Alaska and ascent in Republican politics,” the AP reports.
“Palin testified for only about 20 minutes at the end of the day… She is to return to court Thursday for a chance to get into the crux of the case — her claim that the newspaper damaged her reputation with an editorial linking her campaign rhetoric to a mass shooting.”
Tuberville Calls Stock Trading Ban ‘Ridiculous’
Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told The Independent that efforts to restrict members of Congress from trading stocks, saying it would discourage certain people from serving in politics.
Said Tuberville: “I think it’s ridiculous. They might as well start sending robots up here. I think it would really cut back on the amount of people that would want to come up here and serve.”
The freshman senator reported nearly $1 million in questionable stock trades last year.
Archives Asks Justice Department to Investigate Trump
“The National Archives and Records Administration has asked the Justice Department to examine Donald Trump’s handling of White House records, sparking discussions among federal law enforcement officials about whether they should investigate the former president for a possible crime,” the Washington Post reports.
“The referral from the National Archives came amid recent revelations that officials recovered 15 boxes of materials from the former president’s Mar-a-Lago residence that weren’t handed back in to the government as they should have been, and that Trump had turned over other White House records that had been torn up.”
“Archives officials suspected Trump had possibly violated laws concerning the handling of government documents — including those that might be considered classified — and reached out to the Justice Department.”
States Consider Record Number of Voting Bills
The Hill: “State legislators who have begun or are preparing to start legislative sessions this year will consider more than 600 bills to expand or restrict the right to vote this year, a massive increase over recent years that were already noted for historic levels of action on elections procedures.”
Ex-Trump Aide Testifies to House Select Committee
“Sarah Matthews, a Trump White House press aide who resigned over the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, appeared Tuesday for an interview with the House select committee investigating the attack,” ABC News reports.
Photos to Prove It
After Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) tweeted that President Biden was “not all mentally there” and “brain dead,” former White House photographer Pete Souza responded:
“Hey Ronny, I didn’t know you were a liar when you sat next to me in the spare limousine, but I could tell you were often hung over on foreign trips. I have photos in the archive to prove it (since we preserved all Presidential records).”
Mayor Says Ice Fishing Could Lead to Prostitution
Hudson, Ohio Mayor Craig Shubert (R) told the city council that permitting ice fishing at a local park could lead to increased prostitution in their community.
Said Schubert: “If you open this up to ice fishing, while on the surface it sounds good, then what happens next year? Does someone come back and say, ‘I want an ice shanty for X-amount of time?’ And if you then allow ice fishing with shanties, then that leads to another problem — prostitution.”
He added: “And now you’ve got the police chief and the police department involved. Just data points to consider.”
South Carolina Lawmakers Plan New Voting Restrictions
“The South Carolina House Tuesday amended an elections-related bill it passed last year to add a series of controversial election security measures opposed by Democrats, who said the changes on short notice took them by surprise,” the Columbia State reports.
“The amendment adds a prohibition on ballot drop boxes and expand the array of election audits the state can perform, among other things.”
Obama to Speak to House Democrats
Former President Barack Obama will speak to the House Democratic caucus on Thursday, NBC News reports.
The private meeting is organized by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), the caucus chair, and is expected to take place virtually.
Trump Allies Want Him to Rescind Endorsement of Abbott
“Former President Donald Trump is facing pressure from Republican donors and operatives to rescind his endorsement of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is entrenched in a primary election for his seat,” CNBC reports.
“With many of the polls in Abbott’s favor, it’s unlikely that Trump will reverse course and pull his endorsement.”
‘A Feckless, Weak, Tired Man’
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) described to Charlie Sykes what he was thinking when House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy moved to expel Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from the GOP leadership: “Kevin McCarthy has just empowered his greatest enemy.”
Said Kinzinger: “Because he thought she would go away. And I gotta tell you, she ain’t going away. And instead, he looks like a feckless, weak, tired man, who is doing the bidding of whatever Marjorie Taylor Greene thinks is going to raise her money that day.”
He added: “I’ve been clear about my thoughts on Kevin McCarthy… Even if he does somehow become speaker, he’s going to have to have a good cell phone plan because he will be calling Marjorie Taylor Greene every day asking her what he can and can’t do. I mean, my goodness, having the title of speaker but being subservient to a sophomore in Congress who’s crazy… Why would you even do that?”
The GOP Has No Standards Now
John Dickerson: “There is no formal application for the presidency. If there were, it might contain a few prescreening questions to bounce the obviously unqualified. Is the applicant 35 years of age or older? Were they born in the United States? Have they ever tried to overthrow a lawful presidential election? If a candidate said no to the first two questions or yes to the third, their application would not proceed to the bin for further review. HR would send a note thanking them for their interest.”
“The first two questions are constitutional requirements. The third is not a constitutional requirement but an implicit one: Shredding the Constitution should disqualify anyone applying for a job protecting the Constitution. School-bus operators are not picked from a pool of drivers with a history of high-speed, child-imperiling joyrides. Museum guards are not selected from the ranks of art thieves.”
“This is obvious. But not to the Republican Party. The 2024 GOP presidential nominee will either be Donald Trump, who tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 presidential election, or it will be someone who passes the current purity test: agreeing to overlook the fact that Trump tried to overthrow an election.”
Bonus Quote of the Day
“Mitch McConnell does not speak for the Republican Party, and does not represent the views of the vast majority of its voters. He did nothing to fight for his constituents and stop the most fraudulent election in American history.”
— Donald Trump, in a statement.
‘Breakthrough’ In Government Funding Talks Announced
Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL), the senior Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee, announced Wednesday that negotiators have reached “a breakthrough” agreement on the framework for an omnibus spending package that he predicts will help the two sides agree to the spending toplines very soon, The Hill reports.
He called the development “big.”
Brian Kemp Gets Help from GOP Governors
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) “is some timely reinforcements from one of his most powerful supporters,” the Atlanta Journal Constitution reports.
“For the first time in its history, the Republican Governors Association is financing a TV ad during a party primary to support an incumbent facing a GOP challenger. The group unveiled a pro-Kemp ad Wednesday – and put more than $500,000 behind it.”
Bipartisan Stock Trading Ban Introduced In Senate
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Steve Daines (R-MT) “are teaming up to file a stock-ban bill, a bipartisan pairing that’s part of a building movement to act on a potential conflict of interest,” Axios reports.
“It would go a step further than other bills requiring members of Congress to place their stocks in a blind trust.”
Huge Majority of Republicans Can’t Say Biden Won
A new Pew Research poll finds that only about 1 in 3 Republicans think Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election, and only about 14% of them say he definitely won.
Philip Bump: “In other words, 6 out of every 7 Republicans are unwilling to say that Biden definitely won.”
Related for members: The Republican Party’s Followership Problem
