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QAnon Believers Now Saying QAnon Doesn’t Exist

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Family members of QAnon believers have told Vice News “that their loved ones are now telling them that QAnon doesn’t exist as a way to rebuff any arguments made against QAnon.”

“QAnon followers are also using the ‘there is no QAnon’ line as a way of excusing high-profile figures who appear to have disavowed QAnon.”

“For example, when Marjorie Taylor Greene kind-of-sort-of-not-really said she didn’t believe in QAnon, followers quickly claimed that she was speaking to them in code and only making the denial to appease her Republican colleagues.”

Newsom Won’t Pick Schiff as Attorney General

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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) will not become California’s next attorney general, Politico reports.

“Gov. Gavin Newsom has decided against appointing the Los Angeles area congressman to lead the state’s law enforcement agency, a post recently vacated by Xavier Becerra when he was confirmed to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. It is not yet known whom Newsom has chosen for the AG role, though a formal announcement is expected soon.”


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Republicans Already Nervous About Amy Coney Barrett

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CNN: “Some conservatives who pushed and prodded for the Senate to quickly confirm Amy Coney Barrett to succeed the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court last fall are rattled by what they have seen so far.”

Said Kelly Shackelford, president of the First Liberty Institute: “You have a lot of people in the conservative movement who are so far disappointed and a little despondent about those votes.”

Trump Held Up at Least 9 Investigations

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Washington Post: “Across the government, at least nine key oversight investigations were impeded by clashes with the White House or political appointees, people familiar with inspector general offices say and public documents show.”

“Long-anticipated reports were released only this month on two senior Trump officials.”

“One found evidence that Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao may have misused her position by repeatedly deploying her staff on personal business. A second concluded that former White House physician Ronny Jackson bullied his staff and drank on the job.”

How The Debt Could Slow the Economy

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James Pethokoukis: “But just because it doesn’t automatically follow from our ballooning deficits that there’ll be a debt crisis — as happened in Greece with the global financial crisis of 2008 — that doesn’t mean big debt isn’t a big problem.”

“Higher debt levels can be like sand in the gears of the American economic machine, causing it to operate a bit less efficiently and less powerfully year after year. After a massive economic downturn thanks to Covid-19, we can afford that slowdown even less. Not only do we need economic growth to help pay down that debt, but some economists worry the post-pandemic world will be one of less risk-taking and less innovation.

Some Biden Aides Not Required to Disclose Finances

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“Some of President Joe Biden’s top aides in the White House, including advisers overseeing the administration’s coronavirus response and vaccine operation, have not publicly disclosed their personal finances even as they play a significant role in the multibillion-dollar federal operation to curb COVID-19,” ABC News reports.

Blue State GOP Governors Suddenly Less Popular

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Politico: “Wildly unpopular in Massachusetts, Trump served as a foil for Charlie Baker, who was able to establish his own political independence — and win over Democratic constituents — by frequently criticizing his fellow Republican.”

“Baker isn’t the only blue-state Republican governor who’s seen his popularity dented by coronavirus fatigue and Trump’s absence from the news cycle. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and Vermont Gov. Phil Scott — two other Trump critics who have long rated among the most popular governors in the nation — have also seen their numbers dip in the post-Trump era.”

Terri Sewell Won’t Run for Senate In Alabama

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Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) announced she would not run for the U.S. Senate seat Sen. Richard Shelby (R-AL) is leaving after 2022, the Alabama Media Group reports.

“Sewell, who has represented Alabama’s 7th District for a decade and is the only Democrat in the state’s Congressional delegation, had previously said she would ‘look very closely’ at running for the open seat.”

How Biden Can Win Over Murkowski

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The New Republic: “This is only a fraction of the Alaskan puzzle the Biden administration will have to solve in the coming months and years. To pass many of its desired legislative goals through the Senate, the White House will have to please Murkowski. And pleasing Murkowski will often also mean pleasing Alaska Native voters.”

Utah Governor Signs ‘Porn Filter’ Legislation

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“Utah is a step closer to requiring all cellphones and tablets sold in the conservative state to automatically block pornography after the Republican governor signed legislation Tuesday that critics call a significant intrusion of free speech,” the Associated Press reports.

“The measure won’t go into effect unless five other states enact similar laws, a provision that was added to address concerns that it would be difficult to implement.”

Duckworth and Hirono Drop Ultimatum to Biden

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“Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) had told reporters Tuesday she would not support any more of President Joe Biden’s nondiverse nominees until he appoints more Asian Americans to his Cabinet,” USA Today reports.

“But she, and Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-HI) dropped that ultimatum late Tuesday after multiple conversations with White House officials and agreement about representation.”

Videos Show How Capitol Police Officer Died

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New videos obtained by The New York Times “show publicly for the first time how the U.S. Capitol Police officer who died after facing off with rioters on Jan. 6 was attacked with chemical spray.”

“The officer, Brian D. Sicknick, who had been guarding the west side of the Capitol, collapsed later that day and died the next night. Little had been known about what happened to Officer Sicknick during the assault, and the previously unpublished videos provide new details about when, where and how he was attacked, as well as about the events leading up to the encounter.”

Europe May Cut Vaccine Exports to U.S.

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“The European Commission is proposing controversial new rules that would let the EU slash vaccine exports for six weeks to places like the U.K. and U.S. — countries that are either receiving EU-made vaccines but not sending other shots back, or that have vaccinated more of their population than the EU,” Politico reports.

About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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