A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Never Too Early To Start Taking A Hammer To Democracy
The Texas secretary of state’s office told officials in Texas’ most populous county, Harris County, on Tuesday that it would be sending “inspectors” who will “perform randomized checks on election records, including tapes and chain-of-custody, and will observe the handling and counting of ballots and electronic media.”
- Early voting for the midterms hasn’t even started yet in the Lone Star State. It begins on Monday.
- The secretary of state’s office claimed the inspection plans were prompted by Texas’ fake “audit” of the 2020 election results. You will be shocked to hear that the audit didn’t find proof of mass voter fraud.
Wisconsin GOP Guv Nominee Repeatedly Called Cops Over Some Dumb Stuff
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel discovered that Tim Michels, Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers’ (D) Republican challenger, apparently likes to treat his local police department like a customer service line, having called the cops multiple times in the past 20 years for less-than-harrowing reasons.
- Michels called the police in February 2018 when he couldn’t reach his wife at their lake house for three hours, only for the officers to show up at the house and find out that she’d been napping the whole time.
- He called the police in 2019 because his golden retriever had been gone for two hours. There wasn’t a follow-up report, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- He called the police twice within several months around September 2004 about litter on his lawn. The first time it was free buyers guides; the second time it was a bunch of copies of a local newspaper.
- None of this, of course, is as traumatic as what Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) endured in May when someone drew a chalk message on the sidewalk outside her house begging her to codify Roe v. Wade into law.
Putin Declares Martial Law In Illegally Annexed Areas In Ukraine
Russian leader Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that he illegally annexed after the Kremlin held fake referendums in those areas (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia).
- The order could lead to censorship, curfews, and bans on public gatherings and travel in the regions, per Russian legislation approving Putin’s order.
- Putin’s invasion of Ukraine continues to fall apart, and hundreds of thousands of Russian men are fleeing their homeland to avoid getting drafted into their leader’s shambolic war effort.
Trump Considering Allowing Second Mar-a-Lago Search
Here’s a head-scratching development: The ex-president and his legal team are weighing whether to let federal agents search Mar-a-Lago again given that the Justice Department believes he still hasn’t turned over all the government records he squirreled away at the resort, according to CNN.
- Why? Because Trump’s reportedly getting worn down by the whole mess and wants to move forward with his political career.
- At least one person in Trump’s orbit apparently thinks it’s a bad idea, telling CNN that “it’s a risk to invite a DOJ lawyer to lunch let alone back to Mar-a-Lago.”
Judge Signals Trump Lied About Voter Fraud In Court
A federal judge in California found on Wednesday that Trump had knowingly signed a legal document that touted fake data about voter fraud as he was trying to argue that votes from dead people and convicted felons were being counted in Georgia’s Fulton County.
- This is the same judge who found earlier this year that Trump likely committed a crime (specifically, obstruction of Congress) in his efforts to overturn the election.
- The judge’s ruling on Wednesday came in a case involving coup architect John Eastman’s emails, which he’s been attempting to shield from the House Jan. 6 Committee.
The Drowning Of Liz Truss
British Prime Minister Liz Truss lost a second senior minister in her government when Home Secretary Suella Braverman resigned on Wednesday, less than a week after Truss gave Treasury minister Kwasi Kwarteng the boot.
- Truss is in deep doo-doo and the U.K. government is a hot mess. There’s really no kinder way of putting it.
- Key analysis: “Don’t Blame Brexit” – The Atlantic
In short, Britain has done a lot of stupid shit.
Must Read
“When the National Culture Wars Come to Your School” – The Washington Post
Key Analysis
“Sean Hannity’s million-dollar in-kind contribution to the GOP” – The Washington Post
Pence Teases Potential 2024 Bid
Former Vice President Mike Pence gave his biggest hint so far that he plans on running for president in 2024, saying Wednesday that there “might be somebody else I’d prefer more” when asked if he’d vote for Trump.
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