NEW: Rep. Ted Deutch became the 23rd lawmaker to call for an impeachment inquiry since Mueller testified -- and with him, a majority of House Democrats now say they'd vote to take that step.
-Deutch is chair of the Ethics Committee; 12 out of 20 standing committee chairmen would vote for an impeachment inquiry
-17 out of 24 Dems on the Judiciary Committee publicly support an inquiry. (And Nadler has backed it privately)
-Majorities of other investigative committees also support an inquiry, including 9/13 on the Intelligence Committee.
-Backers think there are a lot more to come; a slew of progressive members are still on the sidelines. But 218 is still a long way away, especially w/o Pelosi.
Dems who support an inquiry tell me they're watching two players:
-Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, a Dem leader who is running for Senate and helped elect a lot of the freshmen in 2018
-Rep. John Lewis, who has deferred to Pelosi on the issue.
Their support could move a lot of other Dems.
One more notable fact:
-Though just 2 of the 6 chairmen Pelosi tasked with invsetigating Trump have come out for an impeachment inquiry (Engel and Waters), a majority of all their committee members support such a move.
61 out of the 114 on these panels want to take that step.
WHY SOME COUNTS DIFFER: A lot of the impeachment whip counts vary by a couple members. We included in ours everyone who confirmed - either to us or in statements - that they would vote for an inquiry.
Some members were explicit with us but haven't been public about it otherwise.
That includes members like Reps. Bass and Pallone -- who both say they're not necessarily agitating for an impeachment inquiry but would vote for one if it came before them.
To us, that's the key metric of support in a body that measures things by voting.
Dem #119 who would vote for an impeachment inquiry: Rep. AGUILAR is the 24th lawmaker to back an inquiry since Mueller testified.
There's some confusion out there about Pallone. Here's what he told me on July 18 - the day after the Al Green vote.
"Personally I think that he's obstructed justice and he's done all these terrible things that would qualify for impeachment. So that's why I vote that way..." 1/2
Pallone said he had qualms about whether it was worth the House's time because the Senate would just kill it. But he said he personally supports - and would vote for it.
"If the opportunity comes to vote, I will vote for it."
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
NEW: Few people have been more integrally linked to Donald Trump’s Jan. 6 gambit than Matt Gaetz.
Now, a man who has done as much as anyone to rewrite the history of that effort, could lead the prosecutors who have called it a stain on our democracy. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…
Before Jan. 6, Gaetz fomented false claims of voter fraud, then joined strategy sessions with Trump and other GOP lawmakers about overturning the election. He was in a meeting with Pence before Jan. 6. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…
GAETZ would later ask repeatedly for a pardon, one Eric Herschmann described as so broad and unbounded it would be unworkable. politico.com/news/2024/11/1…
Already, DOJ was goin to struggle to charge the roughly 2,500-3,000 people estimated to be susceptible to charges by a Jan. 6, 2025 statute of limitations.
MORE: For now, DOJ appears poisted to press forward with new cases through Inauguration Day. It's prompting alarm from some Jan. 6 defendants who are urging Trump to call on the department to press pause *today.* politico.com/news/2024/11/0…
HAPPENING NOW: A federal judge in Georgia has thrown out the RNC's claim that Georgia counties broke the law by accepting absentee ballots over the weekend.
The judge says their complaint lacked a "basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension." Details TK
The judge says the RNC's argument that the counties somehow prevented poll watchers from being present during weekend hours is a "red herring" and that some of these counties have done this perfectly legal and well known process for years.
WOW: Judge Baker shreds the RNC for what he says was a cynical attempt to invalidate votes only in Democratic counties even though other counties were able to use the same procedures. Doing what the party wanted would violate state law, the constitution and "my oath," Baker said.
👀 The 5th Circuit just ruled that ballots must be received by Election Day and state laws allowing them to arrive later are preempted by federal law.
IMPORTANT: Though the circuit decision *could* theoretically impact this election cycle significantly, the panel left the decision on whether to apply it to this election cycle up to the district court judge who initally ruled the other way.
NEW: A judge threatened to order Merrick Garland and Jim Jordan into her courtroom next week if the House and DOJ couldn't resolve a subpoena dispute related to Hunter Biden.
The ultimatum led the House to back off — likely for good.
"Don't test me on this...I'm not bluffing," Judge Reyes, a Biden appointee warned the House and DOJ about her threat to force Garland/Jordan to attend court next week.
The fight is over a House subpoena to 2 DOJ line attorneys involved in Hunter probe. politico.com/news/2024/10/2…
NOTABLE: Reyes trapped House counsel Matthew Berry into appearing to concede that Jim Jordan's public reasons for blowing of the Jan. 6 committee's subpoena were not acceptable. politico.com/news/2024/10/2…
BREAKING: The Georgia Supreme Court has unanimously denied the an effort to quickly reinstate controversial rule changes approved by the State Election Board.
Unclear at the moment whether the court may still decide to order an expedited review of the appeal, but for now this keeps the Georgia state board's rules on hold. Awaiting clarity/paper on the decision.
UPDATE: The Georgia State Election Board's most controversial rules are dead for this election cycle. The state Supreme Court won't consider the matter until after the cycle is over, rejecting the RNC's bid for expedited review.