Sen. Maggie Hassan offering up a preview of her plans for tonight’s US Senate debate w/ Don Bolduc in New Hampshire. The bulk of Sen. Maggie Hassan’s pre-debate presser was an outline of what she called Don Bolduc’s “extremism” she outlined his past statements on the 2020 election, privatization of entitlement programs and abortion.
Hassan said his positions are out of step with voters.

Hello from New Hampshire!
We are following the candidates for US Senate today who are locked in a tight race that will go a long way to determining who controls the chamber.
Incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan is burnishing her moderate credentials by campaigning w/ MT Sen. Jon Tester. Hassan opens her remarks with Tester by telling him..
“Jon welcome to New Hampshire where our mountains are older and better.”

The duo is now talking to the crowd about their work on the Veteran’s Committee of which Tester is the chair.

Here we go.. today’s hearing of the January 6th Select Committee is underway on Capitol Hill. Four minutes in.. first Pat Cipollone mention..
Liz Cheney says his deposition "met our expectations."
She also promises we will see part of his testimony during today's hearing.

NEW: A ton of new detail behind what was (and was not) asked of Pat Cipollone by the 1/6 committee.
Committee sources say his testimony reinforced their view of Trump’s dereliction of duty.

w/ @PamelaBrownCNN @ZcohenCNN @AnnieGrayerCNN & @jamiegangel
cnn.com/2022/07/08/pol… Sources tell @CNN the committee did not ask Cipollone about Cassidy Hutchinson’s testimony that he warned her that Trump going to the Capitol would lead to them being “charged with every crime imaginable".
If they had- they say he would not have confirmed it.

MORE-> Rep. Adam Schiff responds to Chair Thompson saying the committee will not make a criminal referral of anyone to DOJ: "I don't know that the committee has reached a position on whether we make a referral or what the referrals might be." Schiff..
"I thought we were deferring that decision until we concluded our investigation. At least that's my understanding."

NEW: 1/6 Chair Bennie Thompson rules out his committee making a formal criminal referral of Trump to DOJ:

"No, you know, we're gonna tell the facts. If the Department of Justice looks at it and assumes that there's something that needs further review. I'm sure they'll do it." Pressed on the topic of a criminal referral Thompson doubled down:
"No, that's not our job. Our job is to look at the facts and circumstances around January 6, what caused it and make recommendations after that."

Stepien testified that he specifically counseled Trump to tell his supporters that the race was too close to call and that votes were still be counted.
Trump disagreed and went out and declared victory. Stepien testified that he warned Trump well ahead of election night that because of the way votes were counted that he’d take a big lead- but that votes counted later could turn the tide. Trump didn’t seem to care. He peddled the claim that the shift in votes was fraudulent.

I talked to a lot of 1/6 Members today about their extraordinary decision to subpoena fellow members of Congress.. a decision they labored over for months..
a couple things stood out, a quick 🧵..
But first our story:
w/ @AnnieGrayerCNN & @ZcohenCNN:
cnn.it/3N6x7y8 1- It seems like they feel there is a gap in what they’ve learned and what the lawmakers might know:
@RepPeteAguilar told me->
“With respect to Kevin McCarthy, you know, we're not sure which version of the story to believe.”

BREAKING: We’ve just been evacuated from the US Capitol because of reports of what what police are telling us is “aircraft intrusion”. Can’t be sure this is the reason but this plane is doing slow laps above us around the Capitol.

Can confirm the @WaPoSean Scoop. Top @BernieSanders advisor @fshakir telling supporters that Sanders has not “ruled out” a 2024 bid for President. Here is the full memo. In a thread: These two are key. First Shakir gives surrogates guidance as to how to handle the question if they will support Sanders over Biden in 2024.
Then he makes it clear in the event of an open primary Sanders has “not ruled out”a run.

BREAKING: @CNN Exclusive->

"We need fraud examples. We need it this weekend." What the Meadows texts reveal about how two Trump congressional allies lobbied the White House to overturn the election.
w/ @AnnieGrayerCNN @ZcohenCNN & @jamiegangel

cnn.com/2022/04/15/pol… We have obtained never before revealed texts between Sen. Mike Lee, Rep. Chip Roy and then White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in possession of the 1/6 Committee.

An example- Roy texted Meadows on 1/1:

"We're driving a stake in the heart of the federal republic,"

A point of clarification on the Ginni Thomas/Mark Meadows text message story as it relates to Justice Clarence Thomas that I think is very important if you will indulge me... (1) It is unlikely that this particular group of text messages were part of the tranche of documents that Trump sued to keep secret from the National Archives....
The case in which Justice Thomas was the lone dissent from his perch in the Supreme Court.

1- This is the first time the committee has made public transcripts of depositions that they have conducted. Among them- Testimony from the heads of the Justice Department at that time Acting AG Jeffery Rosen and DAG Richard Donoguhe. 2- Donoguhe told the committee in great detail how Trump *personally* pressured the DOJ to look into baseless claims of voter fraud. At one point even attempting to convince them just to hold a press conference a label the entire election "corrupt".

"I'm convinced that sunlight and truth is the best disinfectant when you're dealing with a lie." @BennieGThompson says despite challenges & doubts- the 1/6 Select Committee will get to the bottom of the Capitol Riot.
Our deep dive on their work for @OutFrontCNN w/ @ErinBurnett Our TV report is connected to our in depth status check on the investigation.

@AnnieGrayerCNN, @WhitneyWReports and I spoke to more than 10 different people connected to the committee on what they hope to accomplish & the challenges they face.

cnn.com/2022/01/05/pol…

NOW: The @January6thCmte has started their business meeting to vote on a criminal contempt referral of Steve Bannon. Both Chair Bennie Thompson & Vice Chair Liz Cheney will deliver opening remarks. Thompson:

“It’s shocking to me that anyone would not do everything in their power to assist our investigation. So it’s a shame that Mr. Bannon has put us in this position. But we won’t take “no” for an answer.”

MAJOR 1/6 Select Committee development.
President Biden has determined he will not executive privilege to shield Trump-era records per WH Press Secretary Jen Psaki in today's press briefing. "We will respond promptly to these questions as they arise," Psaki said. "And certainly as they come up from Congress and certainly we have been working closely with Congressional committees and others as they work to get to the bottom of what happened on 1/6."

NEW: A group of House Moderates just left Speaker Pelosi's office after an 1hr + meeting. Moderate leader @RepJoshG huddled with Majority @LeaderHoyer as the pair left the meeting. .@LeaderHoyer told @mkraju
"I'm bringing the (bi-partisan infrastructure) bill to the floor on Monday," He also said they are "working towards" getting reconciliation to the floor as well. "Both bills are going to pass," he predicted.

RIGHT NOW: A lot of heat on the floor of the House after @RepRashida argued against funding for the Israeli Iron Dome security system, by citing a report that referred to Israel as an "apartheid state." Fellow Democrat @RepTedDeutch of Florida rose to condemn Talib's comments- specifically the use of "apartheid state" and described the us of that language as "anti-Semitic".

NEW: A little bit of drama with the Dem passage of the CR/ Debt ceiling in the House. A group of progressives have told leadership they will not vote for the bill if it includes $1b in funding for Israel’s Iron Dome. The flap has led to the Rules Committee to go into recess. UPDATE: A source confirms that Rep. Pramila Jayapal told her fellow progressives on call today that she will meet w/ House Speaker Nancy Pelosi today. This comes as progressives have balked at $1b in funding in the CR for Israel's Iron dome. (@nicholaswu12 reported first)

NEW: @January6thCmte has been huddled behind closed doors for a lengthy meeting tonight. Chairman @BennieGThompson tells @AnnieGrayerCNN & me:

“We will probably as a committee issue subpoenas either to witnesses or organizations within a week” Thompson was responding to a question about how telecommunications and social media companies were responding to their records request. He said some have cooperated and some have not. (He would not say which ones)

FIRST ON @CNN: The 1/6 Committee will ask telecom companies to preserve the records of members of Congress and the Trump family who participated in the “Stop the Steal” rally.
We have the names.
w/ @ZcohenCNN @AnnieGrayerCNN & @WhitneyWReports

cnn.com/2021/08/30/pol… The 1/6 committee is focused on those who played a role in the rally that preceded the insurrection. This is the initial list of Members of Congress that they are focused on: