A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things.
LOL
Former Trump adviser-turned-QAnon superstar Michael Flynn told pro-Trump lawyer Lin Wood, who’s now at war with Flynn and other MAGA minions, that the QAnon conspiracy theory that Trump’s secretly fighting a cabal of baby-eating pedophiles in elite circles is “total nonsense.”
- During a phone call with Wood, who published a recording of the call on Telegram on Saturday, Flynn said QAnon was a “a disinformation campaign created by the left.”
- It’s unclear when exactly the call took place. The Daily Beast notes that Flynn told Wood about an article by a white supremacist (yep!) that was published on Nov. 2, so the conversation might’ve taken place around then.
- Take a listen:
vIdEo pRoDuCtIoN iS mY pAsSiOn pic.twitter.com/7ErBpus3kn
— Jan Bobrowicz (@janbobrowicz) November 28, 2021
- Flynn made a pretty penny off QAnon, by the by.
- Also this happened:
‘Stop The Steal’ Ringleader To Cooperate With Jan. 6 Panel
Ali Alexander, the far-right activist who organized one of the infamous pro-Trump rallies outside the Capitol that preceded the Jan. 6 insurrection, announced via Telegram on Saturday that he’ll comply with the House Jan. 6 select committee’s subpoena — because he’s too broke not to.
- The only reason he’s going is that he doesn’t want to go to jail, the activist said.
- Alexander will be privately deposed before the committee in December, he said in his announcement.
- Alexander has said that he planned the rally with several Trump hardliners in Congress: Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), the recently censured Paul Gosar (R-AZ) and Mo Brooks (R-AL).
- In other Jan. 6 subpoena news, the panel will likely decide this week on whether to slap former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows with a criminal contempt referral, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) signaled on Sunday.
Esper Is Suing Defense Department
Mark Esper, Trump’s former Secretary of Defense, sued the Pentagon on Sunday, claiming that the department is blocking “significant text” from his upcoming memoir on his time at the Trump administration titled “A Sacred Oath.”
- The Pentagon’s prepublication review office asked Esper to redact conversations with Trump in meetings and conversations between Esper and the president, according to the former official’s lawsuit.
- Esper claims that some of what the agency wants him to delete from his manuscript is already in the public domain.
Potentially Fatal Blow To Roe On The Horizon
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court will hear arguments over Mississippi’s 15-week abortion ban. Mississippi Republicans enacted the law in 2018 with the express purpose of getting the conservative majority on the high court to strike down Roe.
Back To Work, Congress
The Senate is back in session today.
- So it’s time for Sens. Joe Manchin (D-WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) to pick up their negotiations with Democratic leadership and Biden.
- The House is still out today but will reconvene tomorrow.
- Government funding will run out on Friday, so that’s also on the agenda this week.
Omicron Variant Detected In North America
The government of Ontario announced yesterday that two cases of COVID-19 with the new Omicron variant have been identified in Canada for the first time.
One Chart On Omicron Variant And US Travel Ban Says It All
This graphic tells you everything you need to know about the U.S. government’s decision to put a travel ban on South Africa and seven other African nations due to the new omicron COVID-19 variant, despite the variant cropping up in multiple Western countries (the chart hasn’t been updated yet to include Canada, where several cases were reported yesterday):
Wow this is blowing up my mentions, sorry everyone I can’t respond to all the comments, but here is an updated version: pic.twitter.com/aZ6j6xaPi4
— Trevor Branch (@TrevorABranch) November 28, 2021
- By the way, South African scientists haven’t found yet that the variant is necessarily much more dangerous than the others. They say reported symptoms are mild so far.
Trump’s Senate Picks Aren’t Doing So Hot
In addition to Pennsylvania (now-ex) candidate Sean Parnell, who dropped out of his race after losing a custody battle amid allegations of domestic abuse, several other Trump-endorsed Senate hopefuls are learning the hard way that getting the party leader’s blessing isn’t an automatic ticket to victory.
- In Alaska, Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka trails Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) by 20 points in an October poll.
- Trump needs to spend more time vetting his potential endorsees and “a little bit less time shitposting,” a Republican strategist complained to Politico.
Find Out Who The Meanest Birds Are At The Feeder
The Washington Post put together this interesting analysis of the pecking order (eyyyy) at your backyard bird feeder based on experts’ database on nearly 100,000 bird interactions (talk to Charlie Kelly about the legal implications of that). My question is, why is this analysis in the Post’s business section?
Correction Of The Day
The Washington Post’s obituary for Stephen Sondheim has this very important correction:
An earlier version of this story incorrectly said that the barber Sweeney Todd slits the throats of his clients and then sells their bodies for meat. He slits their throats, and then his accomplice, Mrs. Lovett, bakes them into pies and sells those. This version has been corrected.
Matthew McConaughey Not Running For Governor
The actor announced on Sunday that he won’t be joining the crowded gubernatorial race in Texas.
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Correction: An earlier version of this post incorrectly stated that the “government of Ottawa” had announced the new Omicron COVID-19 cases in Canada. The cases were announced by the government of Ontario.
