Driving the Day:
NEWS: "The filing also describes the direct role of Trump himself in developing strategy, detailing 'two hand-written notes from former President Trump about information that he thought might be useful for the anticipated litigation.'" https://t.co/5sKf4TD1oQ
— Defend Democracy Project (@DemocracyNowUS) May 20, 2022
Must Read Stories
New Evidence Shows Trump’s Direct Role In Attempts To Overturn The 2020 Election And Ties Among January 6 Plotters
- Politico: Eastman Provides New Details Of Trump’s Direct Role In Legal Effort To Overturn Election: John Eastman, the attorney who architected Donald Trump’s last-ditch legal strategy to overturn the 2020 election, revealed Friday that he routinely communicated with Trump either directly or via “six conduits” during the chaotic weeks that preceded the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. In a late-night court filing urging a federal judge to maintain the confidentiality of his work for Trump, Eastman provided the clearest insight yet into the blizzard of communications between Trump, his top aides, his campaign lawyers and the army of outside attorneys who were working to help reverse the outcome in a handful of states won by Joe Biden.
- New York Times: Group Chat Linked to Roger Stone Shows Ties Among Jan. 6 Figures: It was known as F.O.S. — or Friends of Stone — and while its members shifted over time, they were a motley cast of characters. There were “Stop the Steal” organizers, right-wing influencers, Florida state legislative aides and more than one failed candidate loyal to former President Donald J. Trump. One participant ran a website that promoted disinformation about the Capitol attack. Another was an officer in the Army Reserve allied with Michael T. Flynn, Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser. At least three members of the group chat are now facing charges in connection with the riot at the Capitol in January 2021. They include Owen Shroyer, the right-hand man of the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones; Enrique Tarrio, the onetime chairman of the Proud Boys; and Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia. But the focus of the chat was always the man whose photo topped its home page: Roger J. Stone Jr., a longtime political operative and adviser to Mr. Trump. While little is known about what was said on the chat, the membership list of Friends of Stone, provided to The New York Times by one of its participants, offers a kind of road map to Mr. Stone’s associations, showing their scope and nature in the critical period after the 2020 election. During that time, Mr. Stone was involved with a strikingly wide array of people who participated in efforts to challenge the vote count and keep Mr. Trump in the White House.
January 6 Committee Requests Interview With Congressman Who Gave January 5 Capitol Tour, Tentatively Reaches Agreement For Sworn Testimony From Former Attorney General Bill Barr
- Washington Post: Jan. 6 Committee Requests Interview With Gop Lawmaker Who It Says Gave Capitol Tour On Jan. 5: The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob issued a request on Thursday for an interview with Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-Ga.), citing evidence the panel has obtained regarding a tour he led through parts of the Capitol complex the day before the attack. In a letter to Loudermilk from the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bennie G. Thompson (D-Miss.) and the vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the lawmakers write that the committee has obtained evidence that contradicts claims made by Republicans on the Committee on House Administration that “[t]here were no tours, no large groups, no one with MAGA hats on.” Cheney and Thompson requested a meeting with Loudermilk next week — just weeks ahead of public hearings scheduled to start on June 9.
- CNN: Former Attorney General William Barr Tentatively Agrees To Give Sworn Testimony To January 6 Committee: Former Attorney General William Barr has “tentatively agreed to give sworn testimony behind closed doors” to the House select committee investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection, according to two sources familiar with the negotiations. Barr has already talked informally to the committee, including at a meeting at his home last fall with committee lawyers and committee Vice Chairwoman Liz Cheney, a Republican from Wyoming, according to sources familiar with the matter.
Trump Speculated About Executing The Michigan Secretary of State After She Refused To Overturn Election Results
- NBC: Michigan Election Chief: Trump Suggested I Be Arrested For Treason And Executed: Jocelyn Benson, Michigan’s top election official, faced an onslaught of threats after the 2020 presidential election for refusing to overturn results that showed Joe Biden had won the state. In those hectic weeks, she says she also received an especially disturbing piece of information: President Donald Trump suggested in a White House meeting that she should be arrested for treason and executed. Benson, a Democrat, revealed the alleged remark for the first time in an interview with NBC News. She said she learned of it from a source familiar with Trump’s White House meeting.
On Tuesday Trump’s Campaign To Control State Election Offices Faces A Test In Georgia
- Politico: Trump’s Bid To Control Election Offices Hits First Battleground: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will soon face voters for the first time since he refused then-President Donald Trump’s pressure to “find” votes to overturn the 2020 election results. And from the polls in Georgia to the early returns for GOP candidates like him this year, there are warning signs everywhere for Raffensperger’s campaign. Candidates who subscribe to Trump’s conspiracy theories about a stolen election haven’t won any Republican secretary of state primaries yet this year. But that may only be down to local quirks and split fields.
- NBC: Trump Washes Hands Of Perdue In Georgia As His Campaign Limps Into Final Stretch: Dark on TV. Trailing badly in polls. Written off by Republican political insiders nationally and in Georgia. Former Sen. David Perdue’s once-spirited primary challenge to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp appears to be sputtering in the homestretch ahead of Tuesday’s vote. Even the man who recruited Perdue to run against Kemp — former President Donald Trump — seems to have given his campaign up for dead, said three Republicans who have spoken to Trump. They say Trump has groused about what he believes is a lackluster campaign effort from Perdue. Trump isn’t planning to make any more personal appearances in Georgia in Perdue’s behalf, having sunk enough of his own political capital in a race that looks like a lost cause, said a fourth source, a person close to the former president, speaking on condition of anonymity to talk more freely about Perdue’s prospects.
In The States
New Report Shows How Trump Republicans Push State Laws To Make It Easier To Subvert Elections
- USA Today: Voter ‘Subversion’: Trump Republicans Push Laws To Make It Easier To Change Elections, Per Report: Donald Trump-style Republicans in more than 30 states are pushing new laws that basically would make it easier for them to steal future elections, according to a new report provided to USA TODAY by a group of voting rights organizations. “This trend increases the risk of a crisis in which the outcome of an election could be decided contrary to the will of the people,” said the report compiled by three organizations: States United Democracy Center, Protect Democracy, and Law Forward. Victoria Bassetti, a senior adviser with the States United Democracy Center and one of the authors of the report, described the efforts as “election subversion,” and called the idea a “new and dangerous attack on democracy.”
What Experts Are Saying
Joyce Vance, Former United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama, re: MAGA Rep. Loudermilk: “Even though we’ve heard about this for months, seeing it in writing underlines how serious the betrayal of our country was” Twitter
Lara Putnam, a professor of history at the University of Pittsburgh, re: PA GOP Gubernatorial Nominee Doug Mastriano’s potential coalition: ““It looks like he is embodying the religious right, Trump nationalism, and the anti-democratic and full-on conspiracy-embracing dimensions of the Republican electorate…A vanilla Republican candidate would have a long runway with a lot of other persuadable voters,” says Putnam, who studies Trump-era political movements. “But I don’t see any indication that he wants to pivot to the center on these existential issues.” Governing
NYU History Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat (Video): ‘Fascist Demagogue’: Tucker Carlson Blames Dems For Far-Right Conspiracy He Pushed Over 400 Times: MSNBC’s Ari Melber interviews NYU History Professor Ruth Ben-Ghiat about Tucker Carlson’s culpability for pushing the “great replacement theory” after the Buffalo shooting suspect cited the theory in his manifesto. Ben-Ghiat slams Carlson for pushing the theory, calling him “very dangerous” and a “fascist demagogue.” MSNBC
Headlines
The MAGA Movement And The Ongoing Threat To Elections
Bloomberg: MyPillow’s Lindell Sanctioned Over ‘Frivolous’ Election Suit
Daily Beast: Vengeful Madison Cawthorn Vows ‘Dark MAGA’ Takeover
New York Times: A Pennsylvania Election Storm Brews Again, This Time in a G.O.P. Primary
Politico: Oz, McCormick unleash army of lawyers in Pa. Senate race
January 6 and the 2020 Election
Deseret News: Former Utah Jazz star John Stockton writes letter of support for Jan. 6 Capitol rioter
Politico: Jan. 6 committee evidence includes official White House photos from day of Capitol riot
Washington Post (Analysis): Even the geolocation maps in ‘2000 Mules’ are misleading
Opinion
New York Times (Thomas Edsall): The MAGA Formula Is Getting Darker and Darker
Philadelphia Inquirer (Will Bunch): Doug Mastriano race to decide if Pennsylvanians want their votes counted or cheaper bacon
Washington Post (Greg Sargent): Trump’s alarming GOP primary wins demand a serious response
Washington Post (Eugene Robinson): Cult or a conspiracy? The GOP sure isn’t a normal political party.
In The States
The Guardian: He became a hero for halting Trump’s efforts to overturn the election. Will voters now punish him?
Minnesota Public Radio: Minnesota GOP chair Hann apologizes for antisemitic image
