By @judgeluttig: "The clear and present danger to our democracy now is that former President Donald Trump and his political allies appear prepared to exploit the Electoral Count Act of 1887 ... to seize the presidency in 2024 if Trump or his anointed candidate is not elected."
"He confirmed as much in a twisted admission of both his past and future intent earlier this month, claiming that congressional efforts to reform the Electoral Count Act actually prove that Mike Pence had the power to overturn the 2020 presidential election."
"Mr. Trump and his allies insist that the 2020 election was 'stolen,' a product of fraudulent voting and certifications of electors who were not properly selected. Over a year after the election, they ... demand[] that the rest of the G.O.P. embrace their lies."
"The balance of the Republican Party ... rejects these lies, but, as if they have fallen through the rabbit hole into Alice’s Wonderland, they are confused as to exactly how to move on from the 2020 election."
"While the Republicans are transfixed by their own political predicaments, and the Democrats by theirs, the right course is for both parties to set aside their partisan interests and reform the Electoral Count Act, which ought not be a partisan undertaking."
"It is hardly overstatement to say that the future of our democracy depends on reform of the Electoral Count Act. ... The needed changes, which would meet the political objectives of both parties, should command broad bipartisan support in any responsible Congress."
"Come to think of it, the only members in Congress who might not want to reform this menacing law are those planning its imminent exploitation to overturn the next presidential election."
After reading tonight's order from the Supreme Court and rereading Judge Millett's opinion for the D.C. Circuit, I'm not sure it's possible to overstate how thorough and brutal a defeat this short-lived litigation was for Trump and his allies.
To put a fine point on it, the way that the Supreme Court cut back on the Court of Appeals' opinion—by saying it didn't matter that Trump is a former president—places even greater weight on the Court of Appeals' evisceration of the substance of Trump's claims of privilege and ...
... on the vital importance of the legislative purposes being served by the Jan. 6 select committee's investigation.
Garland's speech was a call for patience — and a promise of full justice. He explained how massive, complex investigations proceed—from the bottom up, from the small fry to the big fish.
Above all, he pledged that DOJ has "no higher priority," would do "whatever it takes for justice to be done," and would hold "all January 6th perpetrators, at any level, accountable under law—whether they were present that day" at the Capitol or not.
Just as Chris Cuomo had no right to avoid testifying about his advisory communications with his brother's staff, Hannity has no First Amendment or shield law privilege here. ag.ny.gov/sites/default/…
Not even a broad shield law like New York's that probably goes beyond what the 1A provides (a SCOTUS majority never having actually recognized such a journalistic privilege) would help Hannity even if it could be invoked against a congressional subpoena (which it can't).
"I’ve also noticed a naïveté about some of the commentary on Afghanistan. It presumes that there was a clean solution for the U.S., if only the Biden administration (and, to a lesser extent, the Trump administration) had executed it."
"The fundamental choice, as my colleague Helene Cooper told me, was between a permanent, low-level U.S. war in Afghanistan — a version of what John McCain once called a 100-year war — and a messy exit."
"For 20 years, at a cost of 2,448 American lives and more than 1 trillion taxpayer dollars, we attempted to do what the shopkeeper knew we could not: outlast the Taliban. We built schools and hospitals; we trained, paid and supplied the Afghan military."
"In exchange, we got an Afghan army that laid down its weapons and government leadership that fled the country. By pursuing this full-scale nation-building effort, rather than a small-scale counterterror operation, we gave up what little advantage we ever had over the Taliban."
Received this fundraising email last night from the National Republican Senatorial Committee, urging me to give them money lest the darkness of Democrat mRNA vaccine totalitarianism destroy our great land:
The email linked to a WinRed page that, so very conveniently, prechecked the recurring donation boxes so that the NRSC can regularly take money from people without having to ask.