“The Biden administration faced a double-dose of bad and not-so-bad news Tuesday on Iran: Iranian leaders hinted they are rethinking their vow to never seek a nuclear weapon, and new Israeli intelligence suggests they are at least two years away from producing one,” the New York Times reports.
Most Arrested at Riot Had History of Financial Trouble
Nearly 60% of the people facing charges related to the Capitol riot showed signs of prior money troubles, including bankruptcies, notices of eviction or foreclosure, bad debts, or unpaid taxes over the past two decades, according to a Washington Post analysis of public records for 125 defendants with sufficient information to detail their financial histories.
Merrick Garland Finally Gets His Confirmation Hearing
Politico: “The hearing, scheduled for Feb. 22 and 23, sets Garland up for a March 1 vote out of committee and comes after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reached an agreement for the schedule.”
It May Take Until Thanksgiving to Get Herd Immunity
Daily Beast: “Top members of Biden’s COVID response team are warning internally that the U.S. may not reach herd immunity until Thanksgiving or even the start of winter—months later than originally calculated—according to two senior administration officials.”
Washington Post: “Less than a month into the Biden presidency, as the rate of vaccinations continues to increase, the country has nearly reached the pace needed to achieve that milestone, with 1.48 million shots per day administered over the past week.
“Yet as the country faces a deadly pandemic made even bleaker by emerging and more infectious variants of the coronavirus, which causes the disease covid-19, epidemiologists and public health experts say the Biden administration must set its sights even higher.”
The Impeachment Trial Is Over
Playbook: “If the compelling presentations of the managers — and shoddy work by Trump’s – weren’t enough to move the GOP senators Tuesday, it’s not going to happen.”
Louisiana GOP Rebukes Bill Cassidy
The Louisiana Republican party quickly rebuked Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), saying it is “profoundly disappointed” he backed the the constitutionality of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
From a statement: “We feel that an impeachment trial of a private citizen is not only an unconstitutional act, but also an attack on the very foundation of American democracy.”
Playbook: “It’s not easy for any Republican to cross Trump, let alone one from a deep-red Southern state. Cassidy shocked the chamber — and his constituents — when he did just that, joining five other Senate Republicans to say the proceedings were in fact constitutional.”
Why Thousands of Republicans Are Leaving the Party
“In the days after the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, the phone lines and websites of local election officials across the country were jumping: Tens of thousands of Republicans were calling or logging on to switch their party affiliations,” the New York Times reports.
“An analysis of January voting records by The New York Times found that nearly 140,000 Republicans had quit the party in 25 states that had readily available data (19 states do not have registration by party). Voting experts said the data indicated a stronger-than-usual flight from a political party after a presidential election, as well as the potential start of a damaging period for G.O.P. registrations as voters recoil from the Capitol violence and its fallout.”
Inside the GOP’s Plan to Take Back the House
“House Republicans surprised nearly everyone last November when they almost captured the majority,” Politico reports.
“Then they spent January roiled by the deadly attack on the Capitol, confronting a second impeachment of then-President Donald Trump and answering for a whirlwind of offensive conspiracy theories from a firebrand freshman GOP congresswoman.”
“But the National Republican Congressional Committee has landed on a plan to regain the momentum with which it ended 2020: Ignore all that.”
1 In 4 Arizonans Still Insist Trump Won
A new OH Predictive Insights poll finds that 60% of all Arizona voters are confident Joe Biden won the presidential election, but 20% of independents and 54% of registered Republicans believe Donald Trump is “the rightful winner” of the election.
Said pollster Mike Noble: “Honestly, I was quite surprised, like eyes-fell-out-of-my-head, to see it in Arizona, where I think we have a pretty advanced election system compared to most other states.”
Overall, 26% of registered Arizona voters believe Trump should still be president.
McConnell Signals Impeachment Is a Conscience Vote
“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans that the final vote on Donald Trump‘s impeachment is matter of conscience and that senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict the former president,” Bloomberg reports.
“The Kentucky Republican has also suggested that he hasn’t made up his mind how he’ll vote, even though he voted Tuesday to declare it unconstitutional for the Senate to hear the case against a former president.”
Trump ‘Irate’ Over First Day of Impeachment Trial
New York Times: “Mr. Castor, the first to speak, delivered a rambling, almost somnambulant defense of the former president for nearly an hour. Mr. Trump, who often leaves the television on in the background even when he is holding meetings, was furious.”
“On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump ‘was an eight,’ one person familiar with his reaction said.”
“And while he was heartened that his other lawyer, Mr. Schoen, gave a more spirited performance, Mr. Trump ended the day frustrated and irate.”
Biden Can Now See Trump’s Calls with Putin
“Few Trump-era mysteries are as intriguing as what the 45th president said to Vladimir Putin in at least a dozen rambling, off-the-cuff calls and meetings over four years. Understanding what was said between the two could help illuminate whether Trump ever revealed sensitive information or struck any deals with the Kremlin leader that could take the new administration by surprise,” Politico reports.
“Now that President Joe Biden is in the White House, he can see for himself.”
Adviser Says Trump Could Be In Legal Jeopardy
A Trump team adviser told CNN that former President Donald Trump could be in serious legal jeopardy if he finds himself charged in criminal court for the charges he’s facing in his impeachment trial: “Trump is fucked if anyone ever charges him. No one wants to work with him.”
Trump ‘Displeased’ with His Impeachment Lawyers
“For former President Donald Trump, the opening day of his second impeachment trial did not go as planned or to his liking,” Politico reports.
“Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings. As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution’s opening salvo.”
CBS News: GOP senators baffled by Trump’s lawyers after first day of trial.
Dershowitz Had ‘No Idea’ What Trump’s Lawyer Was Doing
Alan Dershowitz, who served on former President Trump’s impeachment defense team during last year’s trial, blasted attorney Bruce Castor for his opening remarks during today’s impeachment proceedings, telling Newsmax: “There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying.”
Jonathan Chait: Trump’s lawyer rambles through hilariously incoherent impeachment defense.
GOP Lawmaker Falsely Says Insurrection Was ‘Staged’
Michgan Senate Majority leader Mike Shirkey (R), the highest ranking Republican elected official in the state, recently said he believes the Jan. 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol was not carried out by supporters of former president Donald Trump, calling the idea a “hoax” and stating that the attacked was “staged,” the Detroit Free Press reports.
Said Shirkey in a video: “That wasn’t Trump people. That’s been a hoax from day one. It was all staged,”
Senate Says Trump’s Trial Is Constitutional
A divided Senate voted 56 to 44 to proceed with the impeachment trial of former president Donald Trump, rejecting his lawyers’ argument that it is unconstitutional, the Washington Post reports.
The following Republican senators voted with every Democrat: Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey.
Cassidy had previously voted “no” when this question was put to the Senate two weeks ago.
Trump’s Lawyer Suggests He Should Be Arrested
Trump lawyer Bruce Castor bizarrely seemed to suggest Donald Trump should be arrested if the allegations at the heart of the impeachment trial are true.
Said Castor: “A high crime is a felony, and a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor. After he’s out of office, you go and arrest him… The department of justice does know what to do with such people. And so far, I haven’t seen any activity in that direction.”
