A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
No Like Actually
Meet Michael Peroutka, one of the two candidates on the ballot for Maryland attorney general in the state’s GOP primary today. As TPM alum Cameron Joseph reports for Vice, Peroutka was a board member for the neo-Confederate League of the South until 2014, believes public education is “the 10th plank in the Communist Manifesto,” and at one point he declared that he was “still angry” that Maryland wasn’t allowed to secede from the union during the Civil War.
- But don’t go calling Peroutka a neo-Confederate; there’s nothing “neo” about it, thank you very much! “If anything, I want to be just a true Confederate,” he said in 2014.
- Even to this day, Peroutka won’t say whether he supports the South seceding from the union, telling Vice only that he has “no comment” on the issue and that it’s up to the Southern states “to self-determine.”
- Peroutka’s beaten his establishment-backed primary rival, Jim Shalleck, in fundraising. The former has raised about $50,000 (including a $10,000 loan to himself), the latter a measly $10,000.
Trump Aides Who Resigned On Jan. 6 To Testify Thursday
Matthew Pottinger, Trump’s deputy national security adviser who resigned immediately after the Capitol attack, will be one of the witnesses at the House Jan. 6 Committee’s next (and potentially last) public hearing this Thursday, according to multiple outlets.
- Sarah Matthews, Trump’s deputy press secretary who also resigned on Jan. 6, will reportedly be testifying with Pottinger. One of the things she’ll talk about is the push by Trump staffers to get him to release a statement on Jan. 6, the New York Times reports.
- The hearing will examine what the committee called Trump’s “dereliction of duty” on Jan. 6 and what exactly he was up to as the violence unfolded at the Capitol.
Hice’s Turn To Get Subpoenaed By Georgia Grand Jury
A Georgia grand jury issued a subpoena to Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA), the Trump loyalist and failed candidate for secretary of state, as part of Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ probe into 2020 election interference. Hice is challenging the subpoena, which was issued last month, in federal court.
- Hice claimed that the subpoena violated the Constitution’s Speech and Debate Clause and the “high-ranking official” doctrine.
- A federal judge in Georgia scheduled a hearing for Hice’s challenge for this upcoming Monday. The subpoena had directed him to testify in front of the special grand jury today, but the GOP congressman’s filing stated that he and Willis’ office had come to an agreement that he wouldn’t have to testify while challenging the subpoena.
Biden Weighs Declaring Climate Emergency
The President is mulling declaring a national climate emergency, according to the Washington Post, now that Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has tanked a deal over an already extremely watered-down Build Back Better redo that included some climate legislation.
- Meanwhile, these disturbing maps lay out just how extreme the heat waves in the U.S. and Europe have become (and have already killed or displaced thousands of people in Western Europe).
Abbott Skipped All Uvalde Victims’ Funerals
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) didn’t go to one funeral for the 21 victims of the Uvalde elementary school shooting, according to his schedule, which said that his last visit to the city was on June 5.
- Then again, “many of the families didn’t want him there” anyway, Texas state Sen. Roland Gutierrez (D), who represents the city, said on Monday.
- This is what happened when Abbott visited the memorial at the school several days after the shooting:
Fauci Plans To Retire Before Biden’s First Term Is Up
Dr. Anthony Fauci, Biden’s chief medical adviser who has served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for decades, told CNN on Monday that he’s “very likely” to retire sometime before the end of Biden’s first term in January 2025. And really, can you blame the guy?
- “If somebody says, ‘You’ll leave when we don’t have COVID anymore,’ then I will be 105,’” Fauci had told Politico in an interview that came out earlier on Monday when asked about continuing with government work amid COVID-19.
- The 81-year-old Fauci has worked under seven presidents, starting with Ronald Reagan.
Conspiracy Theory Of The Day
“Unhinged ‘Transvestigators’ Think They’re The Only Cis People Left” – MEL Magazine
It’s Gonna Take A Miracle
Arizona state House Speaker Rusty Bowers (R) told NBC News that “it’s going to be a miracle” if he manages to get reelected in his state’s primary after testifying in one of the House Jan. 6 Committee’s public hearings last month.
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