A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
McCarthy Had Insisted He Didn’t Say Mean Things About Trump, Who’s Wonderful, Actually
Several hours after House Minority Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed on Thursday that the New York Times journalists who reported that he’d privately told fellow House GOP leaders that he’d ask Trump to resign after Jan. 6 are big fat liars (and also “the past year and a half have proven that our country was better off when President Trump was in the White House”), the journalists in question released an audio clip of McCarthy’s Jan. 10 call proving that they are not, in fact, big fat liars.
- In the clip, McCarthy tells then-House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-WY) that he planned on talking to Trump about Democrats’ impeachment push and telling him, “It would be my recommendation you should resign.”
- The two Times journalists, who had reported on McCarthy’s comments as part of their upcoming book, also told MSNBC host Rachel Maddow on Thursday night that they have “a lot more on tape” from that post-Jan. 6 period.
MTG’s Hearing In Disqualification Bid Is Today
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) going to be in the hot seat this morning as she fends off a group of Georgia voters’ bid to get her kicked off the ballot: She has to testify in front of a state administrative law judge in Georgia and explain why her role in fomenting the Jan. 6 Capitol attack shouldn’t disqualify her from elected office.
- This’ll be the first time Greene testifies under oath about the insurrection and her involvement in both the events of that day and MAGAland’s election steal crusade. She’ll also be the first Trump crony in Congress to testify about Jan. 6.
- What comes after the hearing: The administrative law judge will present their findings to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R), who’ll make the final call on whether Greene can stay on the ballot or not.
- You can watch a livestream of the hearing, which begins at 9:30 a.m. ET, here. It’s hosted by Free Speech For People, a nonprofit good governance group that filed the challenge on behalf of the group of voters–and is also pursuing similar candidacy challenges against Reps. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC), Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Andy Biggs (R-AZ) on the basis on the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause.
Meadows Registered To Vote In Three States At Once
Former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows was registered to vote in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina all at the same time until last week, the Washington Post found in state records.
- Meadows was registered in those three states simultaneously for about three weeks, per the Post.
- Meadows is still registered to vote in two states: Virginia and South Carolina.
- The ex-Trump official confirmed earlier this week that he’s a resident and registered voter of South Carolina after he was booted from North Carolina’s voter rolls amid a voter fraud investigation into his questionable voter registration in that state.
Don Jr. To Speak With Jan. 6 Panel Soon
Don Jr., the former president’s eldest Large Adult Son who definitely has some explaining to do, will have a voluntary interview with the House Jan. 6 Committee in the coming days, according to NBC News and ABC News. He’s reportedly coming at the committee’s invitation.
- His fiance, ex-Trump campaign adviser Kimberly Guilfoyle, spoke to the panel on Monday for more than nine hours. Obviously we don’t know exactly how it went, but it was presumably less disastrous than the last time the panel tried to talk to her, when she reportedly stormed out of the session upon realizing that members of the panel would be asking her questions.
- Ivanka Trump, Trump’s eldest daughter, already had a voluntary interview with the committee last month, as did her husband and fellow senior White House adviser, Jared Kushner.
Florida GOP Passes DeSantis’ Deeply Gerrymandered Map
Florida’s Republican-controlled legislature passed an egregiously gerrymandered congressional district map proposed by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R).
- Under the map, the current 16-11 Republican-Democratic split in Florida’s congressional delegation becomes distorted into a 20-8 split.
- A plurality Black district gets scrubbed from the map as well.
Jan. 6 Panel Looking At Infighting Between Far-Right Extremists
The House Jan. 6 Committee is probing rivalries between the far-right Proud Boys and the Oath Keepers militia leading up to the Capitol insurrection, CBS News reports.
Nearly Quarter Of US COVID Deaths Could’ve Been Prevented By Vaccine, New Study Finds
About 234,000 COVID-19 deaths since June 2021, when the COVID-19 vaccine was widely available to all U.S. adults, could’ve been prevented by the vaccine, according to a new study by the Peterson Center on Healthcare and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF).
- More than 987,500 Americans have died from COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wholesome Read Of The Day
“Inside a Home for L.G.B.T.Q. Seniors: ‘I Made Friends Here.’” – New York Times
A Helpful And Depressing Map
The Washington Post has this interactive data map of 1,500 counties that’ll tell you how much rent’s gone up in the country since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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