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Former President Trump and Vice President Pence publicly break over the January 6 insurrection
- Washington Post: Trump claims violence he inspired on Jan. 6 was Pence’s fault: Donald Trump on Monday sharply rebuked Mike Pence’s assertion that history would hold him accountable for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, telling reporters that his former vice president should shoulder the blame for the violent riot that day by Trump’s supporters. “Had he sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn’t have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways you can blame him for Jan. 6,” the former president said, referring to Pence’s refusal to reject the electoral college votes in Congress as Trump wanted him to do that day. “Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, number one, you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn’t have had ‘Jan. 6’ as we call it.”
- New York Times: ‘History Will Hold Donald Trump Accountable’ for Jan. 6, Pence Says: Former Vice President Mike Pence, delivering his strongest public rebuke yet to the president who made him his running mate, said on Saturday night “that history will hold Donald Trump accountable” for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, which he called “a disgrace.” And Mr. Pence made his reprimand of Mr. Trump personal when he said, “President Trump was wrong; I had no right to overturn the election. And his reckless words endangered my family and everyone at the Capitol that day. And I know that history will hold Donald Trump accountable.”
- Politico: Inside Pence world’s decision to go hard at Trump at the Gridiron: In remarks that turned from comedic to biting, Trump’s ever-loyal No. 2 broke from his former boss more sharply than any candidate in the GOP field so far. Pence had used similar words to talk about Trump in his book — writing that his former boss’ “reckless words had endangered my family and all those serving at the Capitol.” But his advisers saw the Gridiron dinner as an opportunity not just to echo those sentiments but to amplify them. They also believed it would help Pence win over his most skeptical audience these days: Washington insiders and journalists who have given him short shrift in the early 2024 primary.
- MSNBC: On Jan. 6 attack, Pence’s Trump rebuke was woefully incomplete: The Indiana Republican’s rhetoric sparked plenty of headlines, and for good reason: Pence, who was hunted by Trump’s radicalized followers during the violence at the Capitol, broke new rhetorical ground on Saturday night, directly blaming the former president for pushing bogus claims that put people at risk, including Pence’s own family. But it was the last eight words of the aforementioned quote that served as an important caveat of sorts: “I know history will hold Donald Trump accountable.” Or put another way, as far as the former vice president is concerned, Trump was wrong, but there’s no need for him to face consequences for his actions — because history can and should be the final arbiter.
Likely Manhattan probe indictment accelerates Donald Trump’s legal woes
- Washington Post: Trump in growing legal and political peril ahead of 2024: The Manhattan district attorney has invited former president Donald Trump to testify next week before a grand jury, potentially signaling a significant development in the ongoing investigation into Trump’s business affairs. An Atlanta-area district attorney investigating whether Trump and his allies broke the law when they sought to overturn Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia could announce in coming weeks whether charges will be filed in that case.Trump — who stoked an insurrection trying to overturn the results of the 2020 election and is running again in 2024 — finds himself in growing peril, both legal and political. Multiple investigations into him and his actions are entering advanced stages, all while many in the Republican Party — in private conversations and public declarations — are increasingly trying to find an alternative to him.
- CNN: Trump won’t testify before NY grand jury investigating hush money scheme, lawyer says: Former President Donald Trump does not plan to testify in a New York grand jury investigation into his alleged role in a scheme to pay hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels, Trump’s attorney told CNN on Monday. The attorney, Joe Tacopina, also appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America” on Monday and said Trump has “no plans on participating” in the Manhattan grand jury and that Trump lawyer Susan Necheles has been in communication with prosecutors. Prosecutors have invited the former president to appear before the grand jury investigating his alleged role in the payment and the cover-up, a person familiar with the matter previously said, indicating a decision on charging Trump may come soon.
- Washington Post: Prosecuting Trump for Stormy Daniels money would include hurdles, experts say: Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation into Donald Trump’s payment to an alleged mistress in 2016 appears to be wrapping up, but legal experts say it remains unclear what a criminal case against the former president would look like. The district attorney could seek charges in coming days or weeks from a grand jury that will hear Monday afternoon from Michael Cohen, a former Trump confidant. Cohen paid $130,000 to adult-film actress Stormy Daniels in 2016 with the goal of keeping her from publicly claiming she had an affair with Trump years earlier. Trump denies the affair and maintains that Daniels was an opportunist shaking him down because of his stature and his vulnerability as a presidential candidate. Bragg (D) is examining whether Trump broke campaign finance laws by using what appeared to be routine legal fees to reimburse Cohen the money he paid to Daniels.
In The States
NORTH CAROLINA: With rehearings, state’s Supreme Court could set extraordinary precedent on voting rights
- WRAL: ‘It will irreparably damage the legitimacy and reputation of NC’s highest court’: Rehearings could have major impact on 2024 elections: In just a few days, the state Supreme Court will rehear oral arguments in two voting rights cases. The court’s decisions could have major ramifications for the 2024 elections — and could set the tone for just how aggressive the court’s new GOP majority plans to be in future cases with major political implications. One case questions whether the legislature should have any oversight from the courts on drawing voting districts. The other case deals with whether people should have to show photo identification to vote — an idea, popular with voters statewide, that has been ruled unconstitutional for racial discrimination multiple times.Whatever decisions the court issues will have immediate ramifications for the 2024 elections and beyond. More broadly, the cases also raise bigger questions of whether it’s possible to elect judges in partisan elections yet expect them to set politics aside once they join the court.
COLORADO: 2020 election denier to lead Colorado’s Republican Party for next two years
- Washington Post: Colorado GOP picks election-denying former state legislator to lead party: Colorado’s Republican Party voted in former state representative Dave Williams, a 2020 election-results denier, as its leader Saturday. Williams is known for suing to get the anti-Joe Biden phrase “Let’s go Brandon” added to his name on voters’ ballots last year. Williams defeated six other candidates after delivering a speech in which he promised to be a “wartime” leader for the Colorado GOP, a two-year role. In a state that has become increasingly Democratic in recent years, Williams said Republicans can win elections with a more aggressive approach, criticizing Liz Cheney, Mitt Romney and Mitch McConnell as “timid” leaders. “Our party doesn’t have a brand problem,” Williams told about 400 activists and GOP leaders in a Loveland, Colo., hotel conference room. “Our party has a problem with feckless leaders who are ashamed of you.”
TEXAS: GOP leaders push to join list of Republican states leaving key voting data partnership
- Texas Tribune: Conspiracy Theory Whirlwind Threatens To Blow Texas Out Of National Program That Keeps Voter Rolls Updated: In virtual meetings taking place over a year, right-wing activists and Republican legislators have stoked concern over a multistate coalition that Texas and more than 30 other states use to help clean voter rolls. The majority of their grievances — that it is run by left-wing voter registration activists and funded by billionaire George Soros, among other things — were pulled straight from a far-right conspiracy website and are baseless. Now, lawmakers who regularly attend those meetings have introduced legislation written by the group that would end Texas’s participation in the coalition: the Electronic Registration Information Center, also known as ERIC
- Associated Press: Houston joins cities fighting potential state takeovers: In four years of Houston schools being under threat of one of the biggest state takeovers ever in the U.S., teacher Arnetta Murray says the district has come a long way. As Houston braces for a decision from the state on whether it will seize control of public schools in Texas’ largest city, Murray thinks the fight isn’t just about failing grades. “I think that we focus on changing the narrative and doing different and sharing that, ‘Hey why is Gov. (Greg) Abbott attacking Houston?” said Murray, 57, who teaches special education at a middle school where most students are classified as economically disadvantaged. “Why is it? Is it money? Is it politics?’” Classrooms are not the only place where Houston officials and residents are scrambling to hold the line against potential takeovers that the city’s Democratic leaders see as driven by politics in a state where Republicans control the Statehouse and governor’s office. Election fumbles and accusations that local leaders unlawfully reduced spending on law enforcement are also igniting potential interventions from Republicans, who have been losing ground around Houston over the last decade.
WISCONSIN: Next WI Supreme Court expected to hear major cases on election maps and voting rules
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Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race holds high stakes: All eyes are on Wisconsin’s Supreme Court race. The high-stakes election has liberal Milwaukee Circuit Court Judge Janet Protasiewicz facing off against conservative former Supreme Court Justice Daniel Kelly with the court’s 4-3 conservative majority hanging in the balance. The next court, which would be seated in August, is likely to take on the future of abortion rights, the rules for voting in the 2024 presidential election and political maps produce lopsided Republican majorities in the Legislature. Conservatives warn that, with a 4-3 liberal majority, lawsuits challenging Republicans’ top policy achievements in the past decade under former Gov. Scott Walker could face fresh challenges. Those issues have interests on both sides of the political spectrum pouring millions of dollars into the race, making it the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history.
What Experts Are Saying
Lilliana Mason, SNF Agora Institute Associate Professor of Political Science: “People listen to leaders. We have run some experiments where we have had people read messages from Joe Biden and Donald Trump, for example, a message that tells them, violence is never OK, we should never engage in violence. When people read that message, they become less approving of violence. Our leaders are able to guide their followers toward violence or away from violence. Whether or not they encourage their supporters to engage in violence is actually up to them. And our future is going to depend on that outcome.” PBS NewsHour
Ruth Ben-Ghiat, historian at New York University: “[T]he point of McCarthy giving Carlson that footage is to make false narratives about J6 that exonerate the guilty. All part of the massive coverup underway by the far-right.” Tweet
Norm Eisen, House Judiciary Committee special counsel during Trump’s first impeachment trial (CNN Video): “Pence claims he wants to hold Trump accountable & yet he’s refusing to testify in the grand jury [.]That’s wrong, incl. because the Constitution does not grant him absolute immunity[.] I explained @CNN @CNNnewsroom w/ @brikeilarcnn @margarettalev”Tweet
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Washington Post: What key players at Fox News said about the network and its viewers
Baptist News Global: Five charts that explain the desperate turn to MAGA among conservative white Christians
The Conversation: I went to CPAC to take MAGA supporters’ pulse – China and transgender people are among the top ‘demons’ they say are ruining the country
Trump Investigations
CBS News: What to know about 4 criminal investigations into former President Donald Trump
Axios: Judge rejects media’s request for records in Mar-a-Lago grand jury dispute
New York Times: Little-Known Lawyer, a Trump Ally, Draws Scrutiny in Georgia
Washington Post: Comer stymies probe into Trump tax records, House Democrats say
January 6 And The 2020 Election
NBC 11: Former Trump lawyer censured for falsehoods about election
Guardian: Tucker Carlson firestorm over Trump texts threatens to engulf Fox News
Intercept: Two more Jan. 6 Capitol Rioters have fled chargers, bringing total to six
Washington Post: House GOP investigates treatment of Jan. 6 defendants at D.C. jail
Forbes: Elon Musk Joins Right-Wing Support For ‘QAnon Shaman’ Claiming Jan. 6 Footage ‘Misleading’
Axios: McCarthy says he will “slowly roll out” Jan. 6 footage to news agencies
Opinion
Washington Post: What the misinformation scare reveals about faith in democracy
New York Times: Tucker Carlson Is No Less Dangerous
Washington Post: Kevin McCarthy joins the insurrection
In the States
ProPublica: A Florida-Sized Roadblock for the League of Women Voters
Roll Call: GOP showcases states with added voter ID laws as model for country
Herald Standard: Voting rights bill in New Mexico wins Senate endorsement
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Activist efforts to disqualify Georgia voters may lead to changes
