Andy Borowitz: Trump’s Lawyers Stun Senate by Claiming Jared Made Him Do It

Donald J. Trump’s defense lawyers stunned the United States Senate on Tuesday by acknowledging that their client had incited the Capitol riot, but only because his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, made him do it.

Bruce Castor, one of Trump’s lead attorneys, claimed that the ex-President had been reluctant to speak to the angry mob of supporters on January 6th, and did so only after Kushner assured him, “What could possibly go wrong?”

According to Davis Logsdon, a law professor at the University of Minnesota, the lawyers’ new argument could be persuasive “because it fits into a larger pattern of everything Jared Kushner doing or saying turning into crap.”

“Although it remains unlikely that there are enough Republican votes to convict, this new claim gives G.O.P. senators another option: voting to remove Jared Kushner as Trump’s son-in-law,” he said. https://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/

Movie at the Ellipse: A Study in Fascist Propaganda

On January 6, Trump supporters gathered at a rally at Washington DC’s Ellipse Park, regaled by various figures from Trump world, including Donald Trump Jr. and Rudy Giuliani. Directly following Giuliani’s speech, the organizers played a video. To a scholar of fascist propaganda, well-versed in the history of the National Socialist’s pioneering use of videos in political propaganda, it was clear, watching it, what dangers it portended. In it, we see themes and tactics that history warns pose a violent threat to liberal democracy. Given the aims of fascist propaganda – to incite and mobilize – the events that followed were predictable. https://www.justsecurity.org/74504/movie-at-the-ellipse-a-study-in-fascist-propaganda/ VIDEO at https://vimeo.com/508134765

Pushing QAnon and Stolen Election Lies, Flynn Re-emerges

Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser, is a discredited and dishonored ex-general, a once-esteemed military intelligence officer who went off the rails ideologically and then was fired a mere 24 days into the Trump administration for lying to the F.B.I. about contacts with the Russian ambassador.

He was one of the most extreme voices in Mr. Trump’s 77-day push to overturn the election, a campaign that will be under scrutiny as the former president’s second impeachment trial gets underway next week. Mr. Flynn went so far as to suggest using the military to rerun the vote in crucial battleground states. At one point, Mr. Trump even floated the idea of bringing Mr. Flynn back into the administration, as chief of staff or possibly F.B.I. director, people familiar with the conversations told The New York Times.

And now, safely pardoned and free to speak his mind, Mr. Flynn has emerged from the Trump presidency much as he entered it — as the angry outsider who pushes fringe ideas, talks of shadowy conspiracies and is positioning himself as a voice of a far right that, in the wake of the Capitol riot, appears newly, and violently, emboldened. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/us/politics/michael-flynn-qanon.html

Trump Shifted Campaign-Donor Money Into His Private Business After Losing The Election

Donald Trump’s reelection campaign, which never received a cent from the former president, moved an estimated $2.8 million of donor money into the Trump Organization—including at least $81,000 since Trump lost the election. https://www.forbes.com/sites/danalexander/2021/02/05/trump-shifted-campaign-donor-money-into-his-private-business-after-losing-the-election/?sh=30d4b0e14418

Poll: 64 percent of GOP voters say they would join a Trump-led new party

A majority of Republican voters said if former President Trump were to start a new political party they would likely join, a new Hill-HarrisX poll finds.

Sixty-four percent of registered Republican voters in the Jan. 28-29 survey said they'd join a new political party led by the former president, including 32 percent who said they would very likely join.

By contrast, 36 percent of Republican respondents said they are either very or somewhat unlikely to join. https://thehill.com/hilltv/what-americas-thinking/537442-poll-64-percent-of-gop-voters-likely-to-join-a-trump-led-3rd

Voting technology company Smartmatic files $2.7 billion lawsuit against Fox News, Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell over 'disinformation campaign'

A voting technology company swept up in baseless conspiracy theories about the 2020 election filed a monster $2.7 billion lawsuit on Thursday against Fox News, some of the network's star hosts, and pro-Trump attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, alleging the parties worked in concert to wage a "disinformation campaign" that has jeopardized its very survival.

"We have no choice," Antonio Mugica, the chief executive and founder of Smartmatic, told CNN Business in an interview about the company's decision to file the lawsuit. "The disinformation campaign that was launched against us is an obliterating one. For us, this is existential, and we have to take action."

The lawsuit, filed in New York state court, accused Fox, Giuliani, Powell and hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro of intentionally lying about Smartmatic in an effort to mislead the public into the false belief that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from former President Donald Trump.

"They needed a villain," the lawsuit said. "They needed someone to blame. They needed someone whom they could get others to hate. A story of good versus evil, the type that would incite an angry mob, only works if the storyteller provides the audience with someone who personifies evil."

"Without any true villain, defendants invented one," the lawsuit added. "Defendants decided to make Smartmatic the villain in their story."  https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/02/04/media/smartmatic-fox-news-giuliani-powell-lawsuit/index.html

MyPillow CEO released a movie pushing election fraud conspiracies, YouTube and Vimeo took it down

MyPillow's Mike Lindell released a two-hour documentary claiming to provide "absolute proof" that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. Right Wing Watch watched it so that you don't have to. https://twitter.com/RightWingWatch/status/1357741439866781696

GOP eyes path to power by making peace with the far right

 Over the course of 24 hours this week, House Republicans voted to defend a freshman conspiracy theorist with a history of violent rhetoric and a mainstream party leader who backed Donald Trump’s impeachment.

The seemingly conflicting moves signal that Republican leaders, particularly in the House, are betting they can return to political power by cobbling together a coalition featuring both pro-Trump extremists and those who abhor them. The votes also suggest that Washington Republicans are unable, or unwilling, to purge far-right radicals from their party, despite some GOP leaders’ best wishes. https://apnews.com/article/gop-power-peace-far-right-5f4b9e7f7a4a20894905981817c47011

Big Trump donors converge on Newsom recall

Big Republican donors — including some prominent backers of former President Donald Trump — are zeroing in on a new target as they dig out from the wreckage of the 2020 election: California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Major GOP benefactors are funneling cash into the effort to recall the first-term Democratic governor, who’s come under fire for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his oversight of the state’s battered economy. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/05/gavin-newsom-recall-donors-466069

The cottage industry behind Trump’s pardons: How the rich and well-connected got ahead at the expense of others

“President Donald Trump’s transactional approach largely sidelined low-level offenders who had been waiting years after filing petitions through the Justice Department and elevated those with personal connections to the White House — or the money to pay someone with those connections,” the Washington Post reports.

Even Trump allies who advised the White House on clemency say they were startled and disappointed by who was on the final list. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-pardons-lobbying/2021/02/05/896f0b52-624b-11eb-9430-e7c77b5b0297_story.html

Lawsuits Take Lead In Fight Against Disinformation

Litigation represents a new front in the war against misinformation, a scourge that has reshaped American politics, deprived citizens of common facts and paved the way for the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Fox News, for instance, paid millions last year to settle a claim from the family of a murdered Democratic National Committee staff member falsely accused by Fox hosts of leaking emails to WikiLeaks.

But the use of defamation suits has also raised uneasy questions about how to police a news media that counts on First Amendment protections — even as some conservative outlets advanced Mr. Trump’s lies and eroded public faith in the democratic process. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/06/business/media/conservative-media-defamation-lawsuits.html

GOP registration drops after Capitol attack is part of larger trend

In the weeks since the January riot at the Capitol, there has been a raft of stories about voters across the country leaving the Republican Party. Some of the numbers are eye-catching and suggest that the GOP may be shrinking before our eyes, but a closer look at the numbers over time shows that a larger change has been working its way through the party for some time.

In fact, when one takes into account shifts in the composition of the Democratic Party, the real story seems to be more about a deeper remaking of the nation’s two major political parties. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/meet-the-press/gop-registration-drop-after-capitol-attack-part-larger-trend-n1256966

Republican Voters Want The GOP’s Future To Look Trumpian

A new HuffPost/YouGov survey finds a 74% majority of Republican and Republican leaning-independent voters say Republican officials should follow Donald Trump going forward, compared to 26% who want to see them go in a different direction. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/poll-republicans-support-trump_n_601c28a1c5b6179453d6d5f9

New Biden rules for ICE point to fewer arrests and deportations, and a more restrained agency

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement is preparing to issue new guidelines to agents this week that could sharply curb arrests and deportations, as the Biden administration attempts to assert more control over an agency afforded wide latitude under President Donald Trump, according to internal memos and emails obtained by The Washington Post.

The draft guidelines are awaiting approval by Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who was confirmed by the Senate on Tuesday. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/new-biden-rules-for-ice-point-to-fewer-arrests-and-deportations-and-a-more-restrained-agency/2021/02/07/faccb854-68c6-11eb-bf81-c618c88ed605_story.html

Spurning Calls to Resign, Liz Cheney Says G.O.P. Must Move Past Trump

Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming waded deeper into Republicans’ identity crisis on Sunday, warning her party on the eve of a Senate impeachment trial not to “look past” former President Donald J. Trump’s role in stoking a violent attack on the Capitol and a culture of conspiracy roosting among their ranks.

In her first television interview since fending off an attempt by Mr. Trump’s allies to oust her from House leadership over her vote to impeach him, Ms. Cheney said Republican voters had been “lied to” by a president eager to steal an election with baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. She cautioned that the party risked being locked out of power if it did not show a majority of Americans that it could be trusted to lead truthfully.

“The notion that the election had been stolen or that the election was rigged was a lie, and people need to understand that,” Ms. Cheney said on “Fox News Sunday.” “We need to make sure that we as Republicans are the party of truth, and that we are being honest about what really did happen in 2020 so we actually have a chance to win in 2022 and win the White House back in 2024.”

She added that Mr. Trump “does not have a role as a leader of our party going forward. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/07/us/politics/liz-cheney-trump.html

His Biz Is Shunned, She Resigned, and Everyone Is Being Sued: What Became of Trump’s Election Dead-Enders

But some of Trump’s most hardcore associates and advisers, who egged him on and helped fuel his most dangerous or destructive attempts to subvert American democracy, aren’t doing so well. In the three months since the election was called for Joe Biden, most of the lawyers and MAGA enthusiasts who decided to play a consequential role in the ex-president’s efforts to overturn the Democratic nominee’s 2020 win (efforts that led directly to the Jan. 6 mob violence), have had their jobs or businesses shredded, their personal lives shaken, or their reputations irrevocably tarnished—all while Trump’s been relaxing and playing his rounds of golf in the Sunshine State.

The ones who helped spearhead the most extreme chapters in the broader crusade to nullify the election outcome are now besieged by their own legal battles. Several of them have complained that friends aren’t talking to them anymore, or have huffed and fumed over Twitter banning them for life for spreading dangerous misinformation. Several of the Trump-allied attorneys are just trying to hold onto their law licenses, under calls for disbarment for their participation on the Team Trump efforts. https://www.thedailybeast.com/what-became-of-trumps-election-dead-enders-his-biz-is-shunned-she-resigned-and-everyone-is-being-sued

Michigan Senate Majority Leader caught in hot mic moment, says he stands by points on Capitol attack 'hoax'

Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey (R-Clarklake), opened the floor session of the Michigan Senate on Wednesday morning with a prayer. He spoke of seeking unity, working together and looking to God when people "get off track." 

But immediately after delivering the invocation, microphones in the Senate chamber caught the highest ranking Republican elected official in the state standing by the sentiment of recent statements he made that aspects of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol were a "hoax" and "staged." 

"I frankly don’t take back any of the points I was trying to make," Shirkey said, speaking with Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist. Portions of his comments were difficult to hear, with other lawmakers chatting in the background, but Shirkey appeared to indicate he may regret some of the specific words he chose that were captured in a video recently posted. https://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/elections/2021/02/10/mike-shirkey-garlin-gilchrist-hoax-capitol/6703829002/

Georgia Prosecutors Open Criminal Inquiry Into Trump’s Efforts to Subvert Election

Prosecutors in Georgia have started a criminal investigation into former President Donald J. Trump’s attempts to overturn Georgia’s election results, including a phone call he made to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in which Mr. Trump pressured him to “find” enough votes to help him reverse his loss.

On Wednesday, Fani T. Willis, the recently elected Democratic prosecutor in Fulton County, sent a letter to numerous officials in state government, including Mr. Raffensperger, requesting that they preserve documents related to “an investigation into attempts to influence” the state’s 2020 presidential election.

While the letter does not mention Mr. Trump by name, it is related to his efforts to change the outcome of Georgia’s election, according to a state official with knowledge of the matter. A copy of the letter was obtained by The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/10/us/politics/trump-georgia-investigation.html

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis said the Trump investigation is "of high priority" and will go before a grand jury as soon as March. https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1359537713607700483

Trump impeachment defense team scrambling to make new videos to bolster case

President Donald Trump's legal team is scrambling to collect and produce more videos to bolster their impeachment trial arguments after a rambling debut performance that enraged the former president and dismayed Republicans, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

The move to use more videotape -- and lean away from in-person arguments -- amounts to a tacit acknowledgment that the lawyers Trump has enlisted to defend him during his second impeachment trial are failing to inspire confidence. https://www.cnn.com/2021/02/10/politics/trump-impeachment-defense/index.html

Democrats eye big ACA changes in COVID relief bill

Democrats' coronavirus relief proposal includes major changes to the Affordable Care Act, aiming to make health insurance more affordable for the millions of people who have lost their employer-based coverage during the pandemic.

These changes would check off a whole lot of moderate Democrats' heath care agenda, at least temporarily. They include some of the biggest changes that President Biden campaigned on. https://www.axios.com/aca-coronavirus-democrats-health-affordability-795d2c6c-e2ea-4988-8db4-fc167778fb07.html

Dozens of states see new voter suppression proposals

There are at least 165 proposals under consideration in 33 states so far this year to restrict future voting access by limiting mail-in ballots, implementing new voter ID requirements and slashing registration options.

Three states at the tip of the spear are Arizona, Pennsylvania, and Georgia — states critical to Trump's loss in November and Democrats' takeover of the U.S. Senate last month. According to the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law, Arizona leads the pack with 19 proposals, followed by Pennsylvania with 14 and Georgia with 11. https://www.axios.com/state-voter-suppression-proposals-5ee31df3-8e98-4bf5-8910-7bc6db704f15.html

1 in 4 Arizonans still insist Trump won, as second impeachment begins

As the Senate began debate Tuesday on a historic second impeachment of former President Donald Trump, a recent poll shows that more than half of Arizona Republicans believe Trump was the rightful winner of the November election.

The poll, taken by OH Predictive Insights shortly before President Joe Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration, found that 60% of all Arizona voters are confident Biden won, but 20% of independents and 54% of registered Republicans believe Trump is “the rightful winner” of the election. https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2021/02/09/1-in-4-arizonans-still-insist-trump-won-as-second-impeachment-begins/

From MEDIA MATTERS (They watch Fox News so you don't have to)

The 2024 Republican presidential primary is underway -- and it is happening almost exclusively on Fox News. Ten GOP politicians who might seek the Oval Office made a combined 44 appearances on Fox’s weekday programming in January, according to a Media Matters review.

Fox’s position as the prime venue for Republican presidential candidates will ensure that its hosts retain at least some of the unprecedented influence on GOP politics that they had during Trump’s administration. The next Republican presidential nominee will need to “speak Fox.” Republicans who want to be taken seriously will compete to win airtime on the network.

This competition for Fox's attention is already playing out. Sen. Tom Cotton (AR) made the most weekday Fox appearances of the group last month with 12, followed by Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) with eight and Sen. Marco Rubio (FL) with five. Sen. Rick Scott (FL) appeared four times, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Sen. Ted Cruz (TX) each gave three interviews, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo sat for two apiece. Trump, who is reportedly considering a 2024 run, would likely be the odd-on favorite.

With the right-wing media bubble only strengthened by the four years of the Trump administration, Fox’s influence over the GOP primary process will likely continue to increase in the years to come. https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/2024-republican-presidential-primary-has-begun-fox-news