A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Profile In Courage
It was pretty painful to watch Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), the National Republican Senatorial Committee chair, respond on Sunday to Trump taking his usual attacks against Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) to an even more deranged level by screeching that the GOP leader had a “DEATH WISH” for supposedly backing what the ex-president called “Democrat sponsored [sic]” bills.
- Trump also directed some racist drivel at McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, who’s Taiwanese-American and served as Trump’s transportation secretary. The ex-president mocked her as McConnell’s “China loving wife, Coco Chow.”
- Pressed by CNN’s Dana Bash on Trump’s attack, Scott tried to brush it off by commenting that Trump “likes to give people nicknames” and “I’m sure he has a nickname for me.”
- ‘Twas just as sad on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” when Scott similarly bent over backwards to avoid criticizing Trump and tried to deflect to “spending” by Democrats.
Hurricane Ian Death Toll At More Than 70
Amid the search for survivors after Hurricane Ian tore through Florida, local officials have confirmed that at least 76 people were killed by the Category 4 storm. Hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses still don’t have power.
Collins Predicts Lawmakers Could Be Murdered Amid Threats
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) told the New York Times that violent threats against lawmakers have gotten so severe, she “wouldn’t be surprised if a senator or House member were killed.”
Bolsonaro And Challenger Headed To Runoff In Brazilian Election
Far-right Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro performed way better in his country’s presidential election on Sunday than polls had predicted, and now he and left-wing challenger Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will face off again in a runoff.
- Neither candidate made it past 50 percent of the vote: da Silva won 48.4 percent while Bolsonaro won 43.23 percent.
- The runoff will be held on Oct. 30. If Bolsonaro (who, like Trump, had been trying to delegitimize the election results with baseless voter fraud conspiracy theories months before the actual election) loses, he’d be the first Brazilian president to fail to be reelected since Brazil became a democracy in 1988.
National Archives Confirms It’s Still Missing Trump Admin Docs
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) told House Oversight Committee chair Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) on Friday that the agency still doesn’t have all of the documents that Trump administration officials were legally required to hand over, per NARA’s letter to Maloney that was obtained by the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal.
- The missing documents were tied to “non-official electronic messaging accounts that were not copied or forwarded into their official electronic messaging accounts,” NARA reported.
- NARA pointed to the DOJ’s ongoing court battle against ex-Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who’s still clutching the government records he kept on his private email server in violation of the Presidential Records Act.
- NARA said it will consult with the Justice Department on whether to “initiate an action” to get the records back, according to the Post.
- Maloney reported in September that NARA wasn’t sure if Trump had given back all the documents he’d taken even after the FBI’s Mar-a-Lago raid. The committee chair asked the agency to hold an “urgent review” to see which records were still missing.
Must Read
“As Russian Troops Flee Lyman, Ukrainians Rejoice—and Help Themselves to Russian Supplies” – The Wall Street Journal
Home to some 22,000 people before the war, Lyman is a strategic town on the northern tip of Ukraine’s Donetsk region, one of the four areas that Russia has claimed as its own land following sham referendums last month. Its loss is a major embarrassment for President Vladimir Putin—the first such retreat from a city that he claims is officially part of Russia.
“Michael Fanone Is Not Your Fucking Hero” – Rolling Stone
His goal was to return to full duty. The very day he did, he wrote “Go fuck yourselves” on a napkin and submitted it to his supervisor as his resignation. His last day of work was Dec. 31, 2021.
Stop Being Gay 🛑
Happy Halloween Month! 🎃
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