A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Yes This Is Working Out Very Well 4 U
Matt Keefer, a school board candidate in Indiana who prides himself on being anti-“wokeness” and “indoctrination,” recently responded with this when a Facebook commenter asked him if he considered teaching kids that all Nazis are bad to be “indoctrination”: “All Nazis weren’t ‘bad’ as you specify. They did horrible things. They were in a group frenzy.”
- And no, he won’t apologize because “haters gotta hate!”
- Keefer doubled down on Facebook yesterday by insisting he was “correct.” But hey, “To be clear: I never was, am not now, and never will be a Nazi sympathizer.”
- Weird how this keeps happening!
Appeals Court Orders Graham To Testify In Georgia DA’s Probe
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Thursday lost his bid in the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to dodge Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ subpoena seeking his testimony in her Trump election meddling investigation.
- More specifically, Graham will have to testify in front of a grand jury on his conversations with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) about the 2020 election results, including the one in which he allegedly asked Raffensperger about throwing away mail-in ballots wholesale.
- Graham’s almost certainly going to appeal the order, which was issued by a three-judge panel on the court. The Republican senator can bring it to either the full appeals court or the Supreme Court.
- Former White House Counsel Pat Cipollone and ex-Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA) have testified in front of the grand jury in Willis’ probe, according to a new CNN report. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution published texts from Loeffler’s phone earlier this week revealing details of the then-senator’s decision-making as MAGA World tried to pressure her into supporting Trump’s bid to overturn the 2020 election results.
Confederate Superhero Movie Dead After Scammer Allegedly Steals $1M From Investors
A far-right blogger’s plan to create a movie about a Confederacy-themed superhero is in shambles after the $1 million he raised to fund the project was allegedly snatched by the now-indicted founder of the banking firm that was supposed to hold the money in escrow.
- Alas, the founder (who was pretending to be a cryptocurrency multi-millionaire) allegedly looted all the cash while trying to pay off a debt to a different client, according to the Justice Department. He’s been charged with wire fraud and money laundering.
- Sidenote: The DOJ’s press release about the guy’s indictment identifies him as “Spanish Fork Man” in the headline. It’s because he’s from a Utah city called Spanish Fork, but it makes him sound like a cutlery thief from Barcelona.
- The swindled blogger, Theodore Beale, lamented to his followers last week that he “wouldn’t count on us getting the money back.” He also claimed he “strongly” suspected the hustle was a “targeted operation intended to break our community.”
Biden’s Student Loan Forgiveness Survives Legal Challenges (For Now)
Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on Thursday shot down a Wisconsin taxpayers group’s bid to block Biden’s student debt forgiveness program from taking effect, and a federal judge in Missouri rejected a similar attempt by six Republican-led states on the same day.
Texas County Asks DOJ To Help Deal With State’s Election ‘Inspectors’
Officials in Harris County, Texas’ most populous county, sent a letter to the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division on Thursday requesting it to send federal monitors in response to the Texas secretary of state’s plan to dispatch “inspectors” who will “perform randomized checks on election records” and “observe the handling and counting of ballots and electronic media.”
Bannon To Be Sentenced Today
Ex-White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, who was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress when he refused to comply with the House Jan. 6 Committee’s subpoena, is having his sentencing hearing this morning.
- The Justice Department is seeking a six-month prison sentence for Bannon, who prosecutors argue “has expressed no remorse for his conduct and attacked others at every turn.”
- Bannon is also facing a maximum $200,000 fine.
Lettuce Outlives Truss’ PM Career
British Prime Minister Liz Truss finally resigned on Thursday after a productive career of tanking her country’s economy and earning rock-bottom disapproval ratings.
- Truss was prime minister for six weeks. The Daily Star’s lettuce with a blonde wig on it lasted longer than she did.
- But Truss could also think about it this way: Her leadership spanned two British monarchs!
- Now her predecessor, the disgraced Boris Johnson, is mulling a potential comeback, according to the Guardian.
Must Read
“‘Changed my life’: Trans teen testifies against nation’s first ban on gender-affirming care” – NBC News
“Alleged voter intimidation at Arizona drop box puts officials on watch” – The Washington Post
Elon Musk Wants To Fire 75% Of Twitter Staff
Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk plans to lay off most of Twitter’s employees once his deal to buy the social media giant goes through, according to the Washington Post.
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