A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
No Messing Around
The House Jan. 6 Select Committee last night voted unanimously to hold former White House adviser Steve Bannon in contempt after he ditched his hearing last week and refused to hand over documents listed in the panel’s subpoena.
- “No one in the United States of America has the right to blow off a subpoena by a court or by the United States Congress,” committee member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) declared after the vote.
- The full House will vote Thursday on whether to refer Bannon to the Justice Department, which would decide on whether to prosecute him.
- Committee chair Bennie Thompson (D-MS) warned the rest of Trump’s foot soldiers before the panel vote that they were “on notice” if they were “thinking of following the path” Bannon went down.
Biden Settles On New Topline For Reconciliation
The President told Democrats during a White House meeting yesterday that the new price tag for the sweeping $3.5 trillion reconciliation bill would be cut down to about $2 trillion, according to multiple outlets.
- Biden said the bill’s tuition-free community college plan would likely get scrubbed out from the legislation, the Wall Street Journal reports. Also likely gone: the clean electricity program.
- Congressional Progressive Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) told reporters that “all our priorities are there in some way, shape or form,” according the Washington Post.
- Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) said the meeting with Biden “really moved the ball forward,” per Punchbowl.
- Biden said he wanted an agreement on reconciliation before the upcoming COP in Glasgow, according to the New York Times.
Voting Rights On The Senate Floor
Today is when the Freedom to Vote Act is being put to a vote in the Senate, as scheduled by Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY)–meaning it’s also the day when Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) will have to put up or shut up with regards to the 10 Republican votes that he insists are totally there.
- There are “about five or six” GOP senators potentially on board with the legislation, Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) told TPM earlier this month.
- Sen. Angus King (I-ME) gave a stirring Senate floor speech last evening on democracy’s present crisis:
Rahm Emanuel’s Rocky Confirmation
Former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, Biden’s pick to be ambassador to Japan, is having his confirmation hearing with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today–which is also the seven-year anniversary of black teen Laquan McDonald’s killing by a white police officer.
- Progressive Democrats like Reps. Cori Bush (D-MO) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have demanded that Biden withdraw Emanuel’s nomination. They’ve pointed to his infamous attempt to block the police body cam footage of McDonald’s death from being released until a judge forced him to do so.
- Emanuel gave a letter to the committee from one of McDonald’s uncles vouching for him as proof that the late teen’s family approves of the nomination, according to the Washington Post. But the uncle told the Post that not “everyone” in McDonald’s family supports Emanuel.
- Emanuel still has a shot at getting confirmed even if some Democrats break from their party, thanks to three Republicans: Sens. Susan Collins (R-ME), Roy Blunt (R-MO) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC)
Hitler-‘Stached Insurrectionist Kicked Out Of Army
It’s now come to light that Timothy Hale-Cusanelli, an Army sergeant who worked part-time in human resources while wearing a Hitler mustache, was discharged earlier this year for participating in the Capitol attack on Jan. 6.
- Hale-Cusanelli, who allegedly once said that he would “kill all the Jews and eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner” if he were a Nazi, allegedly showed up to work looking like this:
- Hale-Cusanelli is one of at least six military service members who have been charged in connection to the attack. He’s still being held in custody.
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Pro-Trump Senators Caucused In Storage Closet On Jan. 6
About a dozen Republican senators who planned on voting against certifying the 2020 election results stuffed themselves into a storage closet during the Capitol insurrection to privately discuss whether their plan to destroy the fabric of American democracy was still a good idea.
- Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) told the Washington Post that he “didn’t really listen” to his colleagues’ handwringing at the closet meeting. He ultimately stuck to his plan to object to certification even after the attack.
CNN Anchor Reveals He’s Immunocompromised
During a roundtable discussion on the COVID-19 vaccine, CNN national correspondent John King disclosed on air yesterday that he has multiple sclerosis and is therefore immunocompromised.
- King told his colleagues that he’s “so grateful” that they’re vaccinated and that CNN has vaccine requirements.
A Spankin’ New Criminal Probe Into The Trump Organization
The good times never end: Trump’s company is facing yet another criminal investigation in addition to the Manhattan district attorney’s sprawling probe, according to the New York Times.
- Westchester County District Attorney Mimi Rocah is reportedly investigating Trump’s golf resort, Trump National Golf Club Westchester.
- The full scope of the investigation isn’t known yet. However, least part of the probe includes looking at whether the Trump Organization misled local officials about the resort’s property value to deflate its taxes, according to the Times.
Graphic Design Is My Passion
Ex-Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, with apparently nothing more important to occupy his time at the moment, posted a video of himself impersonating Abraham Lincoln while attacking Terry McAuliffe, the Democratic candidate in Virginia’s gubernatorial race. It’s pure nightmare fuel:
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