🚨 Here’s the announcement from
@politico
this morning about my upcoming book, on the 1984 New York City “Subway Vigilante” shooting, being published by
@penguinpress
. 🚨
A quick word about this book…
1/7
Unsolicited opinion from a black man: everything that's wrong with race in America is three white men starting a conversation "about race" and having it immediately degenerate into an argument about "law and order."
Not five seconds into
#TheReidOut
with
@JoyAnnReid
, my three-year-old daughter - who's in the room - points at the screen and shouts out, "MOMMY, SHE HAS CURLY HAIR JUST LIKE ME!"
Representation is no joke, people.
Seems like a good day for a reminder that in any other year, hundreds of giddy children from across Washington, DC would be sledding at the Capitol building all day today. They can't because the grounds are closed to the public following a domestic terror attack.
.
@staceyabrams
on CNN now: “we caution everyone who makes Brad Raffensberger out to be a hero. This is the same man who participated in voter suppression when he became Secretary of State. He’s defending the election he’s responsible for. He’s not defending the rights of voters.”
Jared Kushner dismissing White House lawyers' threats to resign as "whining" is what happens when people from outside government who don't respect it come in and try to run it like a business.
To clarify a misleading point
@LindseyGrahamSC
just made: the reason SC gets less ACA money per capita than CA/NY/MA is that its political leaders chose not to expand Medicaid.
He tried to make it about red v. blue states, but it's actually about a failure of leadership in SC.
In all the chatter about today's theatrics and silliness, don't lose sight of the fact that a witness today confirmed under oath that POTUS committed an act that met all three elements of the federal crime of obstruction of justice (obstruction/nexus/intent).
Corey Lewandowski, under questioning by the House Judiciary Committee, confirmed that President Trump once asked him to help pressure the attorney general to curtail the scope of the Mueller investigation. Here are the key moments from Tuesday's hearing.
Imagine a supremely qualified SCOTUS nominee with two Harvard degrees with honors, a SCOTUS clerkship for the justice they'd replace, and two years as a federal judge.
(That's Chief Justice John Roberts.)
Ketanji Brown Jackson has all of that, plus seven more years as a judge.
One of the few people to have called me the N-word to my face (this was as a kid) just sent me a LinkedIn invite. Do I:
1. Be the bigger human and make it a teachable moment
2. DOXX HIM WITH VENGEANCE AND RUIN HIM (2022-style, baby!)
3. Ignore; I have holiday baking to do
No idea how the rest of today will go, but it started with one of the most solid pigtailing performances I’ve dropped in a while
[Point deductions for that curve, and the mismatched rubber band colors — I’d already committed by then and wasn’t turning back]
Happy Friday, y’all!
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) poses a very helpful hypothetical showing tremendous brainpower:
“Can you imagine if [Putin] went into France? Would they do anything to put up a fight? Probably not.”
Pam is a former colleague and is quite possibly one of my favorite people on earth. So amazing that everyone today gets to see that passion and pure brilliance on national TV.
"I don't know if you've ever seen somebody get killed, but it's upsetting" - uniformed firefighter witness talking back to defense attorney. It drew an objection, but that's the kind of stuff you can't make a jury un-hear, no matter how many times the judge tells them to
I've been to hundreds of congressional hearings over the years, and have *never* seen something this when a witness ran long - let alone to a witness who was a former Deputy Attorney General of the U.S. This is madness.
The sudden emergence of Deep Down Everyone Truly Is An Expert About Afghanistan Twitter is really making me miss the golden days of Armchair Epidemiologist Twitter
"No one had ever before called me n*gger while wearing the uniform of Capitol Police Officer...To be candid, the rest of the afternoon is a blur." -- Officer Harry Dunn
Two hours and fifteen minutes passed between the time Trump learned the Vice President had been evacuated, and when he issued the video telling rioters to go home. In any other world, that fact alone would be devastating to Trump's case.
Having a *real* hard time believing that when the McMichaels grabbed guns and pulled up next to Arbery in their pickup their tone was -- as defense attorney is saying now -- "hey man, hey buddy! What's up? How you doing? We just want to talk to you"
Defies logic
It wasn't a full-on dustup, but Garland (who is Jewish) showed some edge to Mike Lee trying to set a trap about about past statements by other DOJ nominees
@vanitaguptaCR
and
@KristenClarkeJD
, cutting him off with "Senator, I'm a pretty good judge of what an anti-Semite is."
I’ve confirmed that the longest two seconds in the world is the period between when you (a) discover that the top isn’t, in fact, on the blender; and (b) find the “off” button
"Democrats haven't shown us anything new and are just repeating themselves" is clearly the official party messaging coming from McConnell this morning. I've now heard three R Senators make the same point almost verbatim.
“You don’t even have to be convicted of a crime to lose your job in this republic if this body determines that your conduct as a public official is clearly out of bounds in your role; impeachment is about restoring honor and integrity to the office.” - Sen.
@LindseyGrahamSC
, 1999
If there's one thing the MS abortion hearing confirmed, it's that the Senate gives SCOTUS nominees a free pass when they repeatedly give unbelievable answers like "I haven't formed a view/can't comment on a case that may come before me" and "of course I will respect settled law."
I know folks are coming down hard on House Managers/Senate Dems for agreeing to that witness stipulation, but it looks like it was the right strategic decision for a few reasons. Quick thread. 1/6
New: Federal Judge Emmet Sullivan is asking why Michael Flynn should not be held in contempt of court for perjury, and has appointed a retired judge to look into it and argue against the DOJ's request to dismiss the Flynn case.
@kpolantz
reporting
How great it is
@POTUS
said “child” and didn’t make the easy mistake of just saying “girl” — it’s critically important that boys see and internalize images like this.
Every black church auntie and grandma within 500 miles of DC right now is furiously trying find out if that brother who just gave the presentation about the Proud Boys is single
A subtext of this story is that there’s an appetite among male members of Congress for showing each other photos of nude women while on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.
NEW: Five senior Trump administration officials, including three cabinet secretaries, threatened to quit en masse ahead of the 2018 midterms, according to a forthcoming book by
@peterbakernyt
&
@sbg1
via
@PoliticsInsider
🚨. This is a big deal because usual practice in congressional investigations is to try to negotiate with witnesses before issuing subpoenas. Quick subpoenas like this are a sign they're not messing around.
That's *at least* three different votes. This is smart political strategy from Speaker Pelosi -- House Republicans are now forced to be on the record multiple times as to where they stand on removing Trump.
The House will try to UC a resolution Monday calling for Pence to replace Trump under the 25th amendment.
Then, try to pass the 25th amendment resolution Tuesday if they presumably don't get UC.
Then, "we will proceed with bringing impeachment resolution to the floor."
Well, when this is what DOJ senior leadership looks like, it’s a wonder that the administration doesn’t have any credibility with black and brown people.
There will surely be more iconic photos from today in the newspapers tomorrow, but there's something deeply humanizing, relatable, and "2022" about this one
I'm not sure how I feel about a White House press secretary speaking, in plain and credible language, directly to the American people, about what the President is and isn't doing. Something doesn't seem right about this.
Unclear why this piece is framed as about class conflict at the Ivies (shocker!) when it actually gives: 1. corroboration of Kavanaugh assault; 2. (yet) another allegation; 3. more grist for the story that the FBI and Senate dropped the ball on vetting
Putting
@HerreraBeutler
or others on the stand to reiterate facts already made public wouldn't have changed the outcome of any of this. The decision might have been unpopular with many of my fellow Blue Checks but it looks like it was a well-thought-out strategic call. 6/6
It’s interesting how many people now seem to refer just to “January 6th” — suggesting that to many, not unlike 9-11, the events of the date were searing enough that it doesn’t require more of a descriptor
From
#rkelly
’s lawyer. This speaks to a fundamental misunderstanding of what sexual assault is, and is a shameful comment to come from a member of the bar.
Fun Mark McCloskey fact: if he’d actually fired that AR-15 lefty as he was holding it, a burning-hot shell casing would have careened right into his chest every time he fired. (Which surely he would have learned from all of the gun safety training he’s gotten, right?)
One, FACT: not a single R Senator would have been convinced by the admission of new evidence. They already know the most damning facts! All were already in the public record. 2/6
This story calls the exchange "unusual" and "personal" (?)
Editors at
@thehill
: he called her a "f*cking b*tch" on the steps of the Capitol. Some other words to consider:
- abusive
- vulgar
- hostile
- sexist
- unprofessional
- disrespectful
- disgraceful
Everyone commenting on the slow pace at which Luttig is speaking ought to spend more time around federal appeals court judges.
I'm still waiting on one guy to finish a sentence he started in a case I argued in 2006
One thing to consider in light of Trump Jr. texting Mark Meadows in a panic on January 6: there were probably similar texts/calls between Trump Jr. and Trump Sr. -- none of which are protected by executive privilege.
Subtle thing: more than once when prosecutor has asked about Minneapolis police officers and used the pronoun "they," Police Chief Arradondo has consistently responded with "we" and "us." That's an effective manager, implying that the team's successes and failures are both his.
No one believes Trump really tried to help stop the attack. It's not a fact in dispute. All R Senators are aware he watches TV 24/7 and was fully aware of what was going on. 3/6
It's really something when the person picked to run the agency that regulates firearms can't be confirmed by Congress because he has too much experience...regulating firearms
This is so spot on. I’d go even a step further: the only reason Trump hates Sessions is that Trump had (and still has) no idea that the job of Attorney General isn’t to serve as his personal lawyer.
Well, again, nothing would have been gained by a month of litigation that would have both stopped whatever momentum the House Managers have, and more importantly, flipped a single R vote or changed the public record. 5/6
I don't care what you think of Ivanka Trump or her father (and I probably feel even more strongly than you!), but stuff like this is cheap, lazy, and sexist and there's no place for it.
Kids oughtta be off limits and let’s be fair - the left would have lost its ish over an equally harmless joke about Sasha Obama.
She did the right thing - apologize clearly, remind the public of the broken rules POTUS is somehow allowed to play by, and move on.
Karlan apologizes for remarks about Barron Trump. "It was wrong of me to do that," she says. "I wish the president would apologize" for things he's done wrong.
Two, FACT: no witnesses would have been likely to come in to testify, so the House would have had to litigate executive privilege issues, dragging the process out. You're probably saying, "big deal, right? It's a moral issue so dig in and fight for it!" 4/6
Taking a break from politics to shamelessly self-promote and share the
@starwars
-themed birthday cake I made for my son
And, I mean, he turned 6...so *obviously* I made it a scene from Episode VI (a fact that was not lost on the birthday boy)
cc:
@HamillHimself
People who think Emmett Till was ancient history should be reminded that 18 current members of Congress are older than him and the white woman Carolyn Bryant who falsely accused him is still alive.
It’s not ancient history. It’s not even history. It’s contemporary reality.
This is the precise spot where at 1:11 p.m. today, two moms at the playground whispered to each other about this (day old! post-bike helmet!) hair — “is that a French braid? What’s it called?”) — then turned to my daughter and asked “who braids your hair?”
My work here is done
How much does
@KamalaHarris
like to cook? She answered my husband's ? about brining a turkey about 1 min before going on
@PoliticsNation
from Columbia, SC (after I was on). I recorded her response 'cause I don't cook and she was speaking a foreign language. 😂
#kamalacooks
Turning on
@cspan
to see
@ElieNYC
fighting with callers about whether racism exists *while drinking out of a Death Star* was just what I needed to start my day
This point can’t be made enough. Talking about impeachment in terms of “overturning the result of an election” misses the entire point of why the impeachment provision is in the Constitution in the first place.
Impeachment is about possibly removing a president who has engaged in certain kinds of bad acts since the election. Saying it’s “overturning” ignores that sequence. It’s in the Constitution because framers worried about presidents who do bad acts after, & or during an election.
It’s great when people do the right thing, but White House staffers who jumped ship on or after January 6 are really just folks who got in the car for a bank robbery but were shocked (shocked!) when the ringleader shot a bank teller.
I’m thrilled that Brian Williams and
@NicolleDWallace
broke in and corrected this statement in real time. “Collusion” is not a federal offense in this context. Disagree with the SCO findings all you want, but please characterize the law correctly.
Brian Williams just broke into
@MSNBC
's coverage of the Barr hearing to correct Lindsey Graham: "The chairman of the Judiciary Committee just said that Mueller found there is no collusion. That is not correct."
.
@davidcicilline
just raised an important point: Rs who are complaining that no "fact witnesses" are testifying today ought to lean on the White House to stop blocking said "fact witnesses" from testifying....