Evening summary
That’s it for me tonight. Here are some highlights from what we covered this afternoon:
US attorney general Merrick Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith to examine whether Donald Trump should be prosecuted. The third independent prosecutor in five years, Smith will look specifically at Trump’s interference with the transfer of power and his retention of classified documents and other presidential records.
The announcement came three days after Trump announced he was again running for president, a move that prompted Garland to act.
Trump rebuked the appointment of a special prosecutor and said he “won’t partake” in the investigation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Joe Biden was not made aware of the decision before the announcement.
Conservatives have continued their quest to stop Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker in the Republican-run House next year, while Democrats’ transition away from Nancy Pelosi’s leadership appears to be running much more smoothly.
Republicans on the House judiciary committee want homeland security chief Alejandro Mayorkas and a host of top officials to testify. Expect the situation at the southern border to be a major topic of questioning for the GOP.
Have a great evening!
Updated
Trump is planning to make an official statement in response to the special counsel appointment, Reuters reports, scheduled for 8.30pm eastern.
He has already spoken out against the move and several ongoing investigations, telling Fox News that he “won’t partake” and posting on social media that “The Democrat Department of ‘Justice’ had nothing, except Trump haters, so they just appointed a Special Prosecutor to go after me further”.
The investigations prosecutor Jack Smith was appointed to oversee are two of several civil and criminal inquiries looking into the former president’s actions and affairs.
From Reuters:
FBI agents seized thousands of government records, some marked as highly classified, from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home during a court-approved Aug. 8 search. Investigators also are examining Trump for possible obstruction of the probe. Trump filed a civil lawsuit in an effort to delay the documents investigation and keep some records away from investigators.
The other investigation is a sprawling probe into a failed plot by Trump’s allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election by submitting batches of phony slates of electors to the U.S. National Archives and trying to block Congress from certifying Biden’s election victory.”
Updated
Today federal prosecutors detailed how an alleged insurrectionist long-planned to use violence to overturn the 2020 election, and used the attack on the Capitol as an opportunity, The Associated Press reports.
In closing arguments against Stewart Rhodes, founder of far-right anti-government militia the Oath Keepers, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn Rakoczy said he and four other associates called for the “violent overthrow” of the US government. All five were charged with seditious conspiracy for their actions on Jan 6.
"We are not getting through this without a civil war," prosecutor Kate Rakoczy quotes defendant Stewart Rhodes in Nov 2020, two days after the presidential election. "Defendant Rhodes called for war with all its horrors & all of its violence to a oppose a presidential election."
— Carrie Johnson (@johnson_carrie) November 18, 2022
Rhodes and his co-defendants allegedly purchased $20,000 worth of weapons and stashed firearms at a hotel across the Potomac River in preparation for actions to keep Biden out of the White House. Oath Keepers donned battle gear on Jan 6, and forcefully entered the Capitol.
Prosecutors said Rhodes began organizing in mid-November in 2020, assigning January 6 as “a hard constitutional deadline” writing letters to Trump demanding the military and militia to “throw out election results”.
“Our democracy is fragile,” Rakoczy said. “It cannot exist without the rule of law, and it will not survive if people dissatisfied with the results of an election can use force and violence to change the outcome.”
Georgia counties can offer early voting in the closely watched runoff for a US Senate seat as soon as the Saturday after Thanksgiving, an Atlanta judge ruled on Friday.
The decision is a win for Senator Raphael Warnock, who is facing off against Republican Herschel Walker in the runoff. Warnock sued Georgia after officials said that early voting on that day was prohibited. The Georgia secretary of state cited a state law that said early voting was prohibited on a Saturday if it immediately followed a state holiday. Both Thanksgiving and the day after – a state holiday that used to recognize the confederate leader Robert E Lee – precluded early voting from occurring.
But Thomas Cox, who sits on the superior court in Fulton county, home to Atlanta, disagreed with the state’s interpretation of the law. That prohibition, he said, applies to primary and general elections, but not to runoffs.
“A runoff election is not merely a continuation of a primary or (general) election but is in fact its own distinct event,” he wrote in his ruling. He also said “Saturday voting should be considered an essential component” in order to comply with a requirement in state law that early voting in a runoff begin “as soon as possible”.
There is only one week of early voting required for the 6 December runoff. That mandatory week is set to take place 28 November through 2 December, but some counties may choose to offer early voting the weekend after Thanksgiving as well as the week that follows.
Updated
So far today
In case you’re just joining us or catching up, here’s what we know so far about the special counsel:
US attorney general Merrick Garland appointed veteran prosecutor Jack Smith to examine whether Donald Trump should be prosecuted.
The third independent prosecutor in five years tasked with investigating Trump, Smith will look specifically at interference with the transfer of power and classified documents and other presidential records.
The announcement came three days after Trump announced he was again running for president, a move that prompted Garland to act: “Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel,” the Attorney General said during a press conference.
Jack Smith worked as an investigator for the international criminal court, headed the public integrity section of the DOJ, and currently serves at the Hague as the specialist prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, specializing in war crimes trials.
Trump rebuked the appointment of a special prosecutor and said he “won’t partake” in the investigation.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Joe Biden was not made aware of the decision before the announcement.
Updated
Special counsel Jack Smith won’t be directly overseen by the DOJ and will be operating in a separate office, CNN reports. Charged with two investigations relating to the former president, Smith won’t likely be expected to provide regular updates to the attorney general, Merrick Garland, and the deputy attorney general, Lisa Monaco.
From CNN:
Joining him will be the prosecutor teams currently led by Jay Bratt, a senior prosecutor in the DOJ’s national security division; Tom Windom, a seasoned prosecutor who had been assigned to the US attorney’s office in Washington, DC; as well as the FBI agents already assigned to the investigations into the mishandling of government documents and 2020 election interference. They will directly report to Smith.
A special counsel typically has a budget that isn’t easily limited and can decide how long to investigate.”
Updated
Gabrielle Canon here, taking over from the west coast to bring you the latest this afternoon.
Trump-supporting Republicans have been quick to criticize the newly announced special counsel, with figures like Ted Cruz and Marjorie Taylor Greene sounding off against the ongoing investigation in an attempt to paint the move as a politically motivated.
IMPEACH MERRICK GARLAND!
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 18, 2022
“Joe Biden has completely weaponized the Department of Justice to attack his political opponents,” Cruz said on Twitter, trying to make a connection between the timing of Trump’s presidential campaign launch and Garland’s announcement.
But Trump’s renewed attempt to regain the presidency could add complications to hold him to account. As Chris McGreal highlights:
But then there is the politics of a prosecution against a presidential candidate who has already dismissed the investigations of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the hoarding of top secret documents, and allegedly fraudulent business practices, as “politically motivated” and a Democratic “witch-hunt”.
Republican party chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has offered her thoughts on the appointment of Jack Smith as special counsel handling the investigations into Donald Trump:
We’ve seen this time and again: Biden weaponizes his administration to target his political opponents. Whether it’s the former president, pro-life organizations, tagging parents as domestic terrorists, or creating the "ministry of truth," Biden is out of line and out of control.
— Ronna McDaniel (@GOPChairwoman) November 18, 2022
CBS News reports that the White House said it had no advance warning of attorney general Merrick Garland’s announcement today of Smith’s appointment. Joe Biden has previously said the justice department has not consulted with him during its investigation into government secrets found at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort:
WATCH from our Special Report: White House officials tell @cbsnews they had no heads up from the Justice Department about the attorney general’s decision to appoint a special counsel to handle investigations regarding Donald Trump. pic.twitter.com/lNykYAaodY
— Ed O'Keefe (@edokeefe) November 18, 2022
Trump says he 'won’t partake in' special prosecutor's investigation
In an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump slammed the appointment of special prosecutor Jack Smith to weigh charging him over the government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago and the January 6 insurrection.
“I have been going through this for six years - for six years I have been going through this, and I am not going to go through it anymore,” Trump told the network. “And I hope the Republicans have the courage to fight this.”
“I have been proven innocent for six years on everything - from fake impeachments to Mueller who found no collusion, and now I have to do it more?” he continued, adding, “It is not acceptable. It is so unfair. It is so political.”
The former president tied attorney general Merrick Garland’s appointment of a special prosecutor to his own announcement this week of another run for the White House.
“I announce and then they appoint a special prosecutor,” Trump said. “They found nothing, and now they take some guy who hates Trump. This is a disgrace and only happening because I am leading in every poll in both parties … I am not going to partake in this.”
Garland acknowledged that Trump’s run along with Joe Biden’s plans to seek a second term were both factors in his appointment of a special prosecutor, arguing it was the appropriate way to handle the question of whether to seek charges against the former leader after he returned to the campaign trail.
“The department of justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in his press conference earlier today.
“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”
Updated
Texas’s Republican senator John Cornyn has reacted to the appointment of a special counsel to handle the Trump investigations by asking the justice department to do the same for Hunter Biden:
This is an admission of a conflict of interest by DOJ; now acknowledge the obvious conflict of interest in Hunter Biden investigation and appoint a special counsel. #nodoublestandard https://t.co/bmypUxWcTk
— Senator John Cornyn (@JohnCornyn) November 18, 2022
The US attorney in Delaware is said to be weighing whether to bring federal charges against the president’s son, whose business dealings have been a target of scrutiny from GOP politicians and federal investigators for years.
Updated
Andrew Weissmann was a seasoned justice department prosecutor whose last job was as a manager on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team investigating Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Here’s what he had to say about Jack Smith:
Jack Smith, the new Special Counsel, is a very aggressive prosecutor who represents the best of the Department, who will bring cases if warranted be fact sand the law.
— Andrew Weissmann 🌻 (@AWeissmann_) November 18, 2022
Special counsel Jack Smith has released a statement after being appointed to the role in which he will determine whether to charge Donald Trump and his allies over the January 6 insurrection and government secrets found at Mar-a-Lago.
“I intend to conduct the assigned investigations, and any prosecutions that may result from them, independently and in the best traditions of the department of justice. The pace of the investigations will not pause or flag under my watch,” Smith wrote. “I will exercise independent judgment and will move the investigations forward expeditiously and thoroughly to whatever outcome the facts and the law dictate.”
So who’s Jack Smith?
As described by Merrick Garland, Smith is a veteran justice department prosecutor who from 2010 to 2015 was head of its public integrity section, responsible for handling corruption cases. He then served as a US attorney in Tennessee during the final years of Democrat Barack Obama’s administration.
Lately, he’s been working in international law. He’s currently in The Hague as the specialist prosecutor at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers and Specialist Prosecutor’s Office, which is handling trials of war crimes suspects from the eastern European country. He also worked as an investigator for the international criminal court from 2008 to 2010.
“I strongly believe that the normal processes of this department can handle all investigations with integrity. And I also believe that appointing a special counsel at this time is the right thing to do,” Garland said.
“The extraordinary circumstances presented here demand it. Mr. Smith is the right choice to complete these matters in an even handed and urgent manner.”
Garland links special prosecutor appointment to Trump and Biden's runs
Merrick Garland said his appointment of a special prosecutor was necessary because of Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail, as well as Joe Biden’s plans to seek a second term in the White House.
“The department of justice has long recognized that in certain extraordinary cases, it is in the public interest to appoint a special prosecutor to independently manage an investigation and prosecution,” Garland said in the just-concluded press conference.
“Based on recent developments, including the former president’s announcement that he is a candidate for president in the next election and the sitting president’s stated intention to be a candidate as well, I have concluded that it is in the public interest to appoint a special counsel.”
Updated
Garland names Jack Smith as special counsel
Attorney general Merrick Garland has named veteran prosector Jack Smith as the special counsel to decide whether to bring charges against Donald Trump.
Updated
Attorney general Merrick Garland has started his press conference by announcing a special prosecutor will be appointed to handle two inquiries.
The first is “the investigation into whether any person or entity unlawfully interfered with the transfer of power following the 2020 presidential election, or the certification of the Electoral College vote held on or about January 6 2021.”
The second is “the ongoing investigation involving classified documents and other presidential records, as well as the possible obstruction of that investigation, referenced and described in court filings… in the Southern District of Florida.” That is likely the inquiry into government secrets found at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort.
As we wait for what is looking to be a consequential announcement from attorney general Merrick Garland, a winner appears to have emerged from one of the last uncalled House races.
The Pueblo Chieftain reports that Democrat Adam Frisch has conceded to Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert after a surprisingly close race:
Adam Frisch just said that he's called Lauren Boebert to concede the race in CO-03.
— Anna Lynn Winfrey (@annalynnfrey) November 18, 2022
He said an automatic recount will likely happen under state law but encouraged supporters to save fundraising $$ for gas, groceries and other causes.
Boebert is among a group of conservative lawmakers known for their extreme rhetoric, but nearly lost to Frisch even though her district normally votes for Republicans. The House representative has in the past made Islamophobic comments and condemned the separation of church and state.
Garland to address media at 2.15pm eastern time
Attorney general Merrick Garland plans to hold a press conference at 2.15pm eastern time, following reports that he will name a special prosecutor to decide whether to bring charges against Donald Trump and his allies.
Beyond just the investigation into government secrets Trump allegedly retained at his Mar-a-Lago resort, Politico reports that the special counsel will also look into Trump’s attempts to undermine the 2020 election. The justice department has not yet announced who they will be appointed to job.
This blog will cover Garland’s address as it happens.
Updated
Special prosecutor to review retention of sensitive documents by Trump at Mar-a-Lago and elements of Jan 6 Capitol Attack – reports
The plan for a special counsel appears to be linked to allegations of the unlawful retention of national defense information at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort and residence in Florida, according to the Reuters news agency, which cites an unnamed senior Department of Justice official.
The agency says a senior DoJ official has named a special prosecutor to investigate the entirety of the department’s criminal investigation into that potential offense.
Meanwhile, CNN reports that the special counsel will also review the parallel DoJ investigation into Trump’s involvement around the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when extremist supporters of the-then president invaded the US Capitol in an attempt to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election by congress.
We will bring you more developments as they happen.
Updated
US attorney general to appoint special counsel to examine possible charges for Trump - report
US attorney general Merrick Garland plans to name a special counsel to examine whether former president Donald Trump should be prosecuted as a result of investigations carried out by the Department if Justice (DoJ), the Wall Street Journal reports, citing an unnamed source “familiar with the matter”.
The Journal reports:
“A formal announcement, which is expected by Friday afternoon, would come three days after Mr. Trump announced another bid for the presidency and would mark the naming of the third independent prosecutor in five years to examine issues involving Mr. Trump. The exact scope of the special counsel’s remit and who it would be couldn’t be determined.”
More details to come…
Updated
A judge refused today to quash a subpoena issued to former White House press secretary Jen Psaki that seeks her deposition in a lawsuit filed by Missouri and Louisiana, alleging that the Biden administration conspired to silence conservative voices on social media, the Associated Press reports.
Psaki filed a motion in federal court in Alexandria seeking to quash the subpoena, saying that she had no relevant information to provide and that a deposition would place an undue burden on her. The Justice Department supported her efforts to quash.
US magistrate Ivan Davis said during a hearing today that he was unimpressed with Psaki’s arguments. But he did not reject her request outright. Instead, he transferred the case back to Louisiana, where the lawsuit was filed.
Psaki was allowed to file a separate opposition in Virginia because she lives in the state and would be deposed there.
Davis, though, said it makes no sense for him to wade into the questions of whether Psaki’s testimony is relevant when the judge in Louisiana is more familiar with the case.
He also said Psaki failed to show how sitting for a deposition in her home state would be an undue burden. In fact, he said that if Psaki has little information to contribute, as she alleges, it shouldn’t be much of a burden at all.
Justice Department lawyer Indraneel Sur indicated he would appeal Davis’ ruling to a district judge in Alexandria and asked the judge to stay his ruling to provide time to do so, but Davis declined.
The lawsuit filed by the attorney general in Missouri and Alexandria accuses Joe Biden, former federal health official Anthony Fauci and others of conspiring with social media companies to restrict free speech by censoring conservative opinions about the Covid-19 response and other issues.
Readers will have noticed that politicians, and indeed journalists and people, are still tweeting. But for how much longer?
What should Twitter do next?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Here’s the Guardian’s Kari Paul:
Amid ongoing fallout from Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, speculation of the platform’s imminent collapse is swirling – leaving users wondering what parts of their online selves they’ll get to keep.
After Musk laid off thousands of workers, many users have reported signs the platform is falling apart in real time – from glitching home pages to log-in failures – and researchers are desperately urging users to download their tweets in case Twitter implodes completely.
“If there’s something you care about on Twitter, now’s the time to become like a temporary expert in digital archiving measures,” said Caroline Sinders, an artificial intelligence researcher and founder of human rights lab Convocation Research and Design.
Digital archiving – the process of preserving online content for future use – has expanded steadily since the launch of the internet, but still exists in a patchwork, decentralized framework.
There’s more to read, here. But the last bit is killer:
If you want to save tweets – whether jokes from a favorite celebrity or the last thoughts of a loved one who has passed – an expert suggests a relatively analog solution.
“Print out their tweets, and put them in a box,” the expert said. “They will last longer in every way.”
Updated
The day so far
He may still be the most popular man in the Republican party, but Donald Trump’s announcement of a new run for the White House this week has been fodder for his opponents, most recently his former top diplomat Mike Pompeo. Meanwhile, conservatives have continued their quest to stop Kevin McCarthy from becoming speaker in the Republican-run House next year, while Democrats’ transition away from Nancy Pelosi’s leadership appears to be running much more smoothly.
Here’s what else has happened today so far:
The January 6 committee could, as soon as today, file its response to Trump’s attempt to quash its subpoena for his testimony as the end-of-the-year expiration of its mandate draws nearer.
Joe Biden’s administration has asked the supreme court to allow its student debt relief plan to proceed.
Republicans on the House judiciary committee want homeland security chief Alejandro Mayorkas and a host of top officials to testify. Expect the situation at the southern border to be a major topic of questioning for the GOP.
Donald Trump’s former top diplomat Mike Pompeo has again attacked his one-time boss:
We were told we’d get tired of winning. But I’m tired of losing.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 18, 2022
And so are most Republicans.
Pompeo’s wording echoes Trump’s promise on the campaign trail 2016 that if he was elected, supporters would “get tired of winning.” Pompeo, who served as secretary of state from 2018 till the end of Trump’s term in 2021, is thought to be considering a run for the presidency in 2024.
Perhaps he’ll elaborate on his thoughts about the former president in his speech to the Republican Jewish Coalition later today:
Today, I’m going to speak at @RJC on how we can regain Americans’ trust and win again.
— Mike Pompeo (@mikepompeo) November 18, 2022
Biden administration asks supreme court to allow student debt relief plan
The Biden administration has petitioned the supreme court to allow its plan to relieve some student debt relief to proceed, Bloomberg News reports:
NEW: Biden asks Supreme Court to let his student-debt relief plan take effect. Case will be docketed as 22A444.
— Greg Stohr (@GregStohr) November 18, 2022
Biden in August announced the plan to forgive as much as $20,000 in federal student debt for people earning less than $125,000 a year, or households earning below $250,000.
Conservative activists and states immediately sued to stop the program, and last month, an effort by six Republican-led states succeeded in getting it temporarily halted.
Why didn’t last week’s midterm elections produce a landslide victory for Republicans? Why did so many people vote for Democrats, despite Joe Biden’s approval rating being underwater for more than a year?
Definitive answers to these questions are elusive, no matter how important they may be. The Guardian surveyed readers for their views on last Tuesday’s polls, and you can read what they had to say below:
Jeffries announces bid for House Democratic leader
New York Democrat Hakeem Jeffries formally announced his bid for House Democratic leader in a letter to colleagues released today.
“When I initially sought the position of Chair of the House Democratic Caucus two terms ago, none of us could have predicted the challenges the American people would confront in the years to come. However, time and again, throughout a period of enormous turmoil for our nation, House Democrats rose to the occasion,” Jeffries said.
“Today, I write to humbly ask for your support for the position of House Democratic Leader as we once again prepare to meet the moment.”
Jeffries’s candidacy comes after House speaker Nancy Pelosi yesterday announced she would not seek a position in Democratic leadership next year, but would remain as a lawmaker. House majority leader Steny Hoyer also said yesterday he would step down from leadership, paving the way for a new generation of Democrats to lead the party in Congress's lower chamber.
Jeffries is expected to be joined by Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, who is seeking the position of whip, which is the Democrats’ number-two position in the House and responsible for rallying lawmakers for or against legislation. Pete Aguilar of California is set to run for the third-ranking position of caucus chair.
In a statement released today, Pelosi signaled her support for the trio. “In the 118th Congress, House Democrats will be led by a trio that reflects our beautiful diversity of our nation. Chair Jeffries, Assistant Speaker Clark and Vice Chair Aguilar know that, in our Caucus, diversity is our strength and unity is our power,” Pelosi wrote.
“A new day is dawning – and I am confident that these new leaders will capably lead our Caucus and the Congress.”
The House GOP may be gearing up to investigate the Biden administration, but first it needs to decide who the chamber’s speaker will be.
Caucus leader Kevin McCarthy is considered a frontrunner, but faced opposition this week during the vote to determine the party’s nominee for the position. While McCarthy prevailed, the episode, coupled with the GOP’s expected razor-thin majority in the chamber, raised the possibility of a contentious speakership election when the new Congress begins on 3 January.
Today, rightwing congressman Andy Biggs reiterated his opposition to McCarthy’s candidacy. Biggs mounted an unsuccessful challenge to McCarthy in the election held Tuesday for House speaker nominee.
I've seen enough.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) November 18, 2022
I cannot vote for Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker.
I do not believe he will ever get to 218 votes, and I refuse to assist him in his effort to get those votes.https://t.co/lyImFCOHgI
Joining in the sentiment was fellow conservative congressman Matt Gaetz:
Kevin McCarthy (Establishment-CA) is now reduced to threatening and pressuring incoming freshmen House members to vote for him.
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) November 18, 2022
We have the votes to force a change. @RepAndyBiggsAZ makes the case brilliantly here:https://t.co/qpgS2ljzay
However, Paul Ryan, the last Republican to serve as House speaker, thinks McCarthy will put it off.
“I know all the people. I know the players. I think he’s going to be fine,” Ryan told Politico on Thursday.
While the effort may not end in impeachment, the incoming Republican House majority is already pushing for testimony from top homeland security officials, including secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
GOP lawmakers on the judiciary committee sent the department a letter today requesting documents and testimony from a range of officials:
#BREAKING: Judiciary Republicans name potential witnesses from the Department of Homeland Security to take part in transcribed interviews and hearings early in the 118th Congress. pic.twitter.com/Aw4aObOpZA
— House Judiciary GOP (@JudiciaryGOP) November 18, 2022
Should these hearings occur next year, expect the committee’s new Republican leadership to spend much of their time exploring the situation at the southern border, where migrant arrivals have lately hit records. The GOP has sought to blame the Biden administration for the influx, and will likely use an appearance by Mayorkas and top officials in US Customs and Border Protection to make their case.
Republicans may have retaken the majority in the House, but their narrow margin of control is already affecting their priorities.
One of the consequences is that it’s made it less likely the party will launch impeachment proceedings against Joe Biden or one of his cabinet secretaries, such as homeland security chief Alejandro Mayorkas, or attorney general Merrick Garland, Politico reports.
The piece has a number of Republicans who hold moderate views or represent swing districts cautioning against attempts to force the Democratic leaders out of office, which would have virtually no chance of succeeding since Biden’s allies still control the Senate.
“I want to warn our colleagues: There may be some activists in our party that want impeachment. But I can tell you that the swing voters and the independent voters don’t. …We change leadership by elections, impeachment is the outlier,” Don Bacon of Nebraska says, expressing a sentiment common among GOP lawmakers quoted in the piece.
Even Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the most far-right Republicans in Congress, wasn’t quick to endorse impeachment proceedings when approached by Politico. “I think that what we’re going to do is be proving everything through investigations and evidence. … So we’ve got to do the work on the committee, but I think there will be plenty of evidence to show that,” Greene said.
While Republicans managed to claw back control of Congress’s lower house last week, The Guardian’s Sam Levine reports Democrats made gains in state legislatures nationwide, with potentially significant consequences for voting and abortion rights:
While Democrats staved off a red wave in Washington during the midterm elections, the party’s most significant victories came far away from the US capitol. They were in state legislatures across the country with consequences that will be felt for years to come.
Over the last decade, Republicans have quietly amassed power in state capitols, investing in races for state legislatures that can be decided by just a few hundred votes. It’s an investment that has paid off wildly. Since state legislatures draw electoral districts in many places, Republicans have used that advantage to entrench their power, drawing district lines that further guaranteed their majorities. They’ve also used those majorities to pass measures that make it harder to vote, strip LGBTQ+ protections, loosen gun laws and restrict access to abortion.
Further complicating attempts to hold Donald Trump accountable is his return to the campaign trail. Chris McGreal looks at just how much of a factor his decision might play:
The law is clear. The politics less so.
If Donald Trump’s third run for the White House is propelled by large doses of narcissism and revenge, the former US president must also be hoping that a high-profile political campaign may help keep his myriad legal problems at bay before they bury him.
Prosecutors from New York to Georgia and Washington DC have spent months digging into an array of alleged crimes before, during and after Trump was president. Some of those investigations are coming to fruition with indictments expected to follow within months, possibly weeks, on charges that potentially could see Trump become the first former US president to go to prison.
His declaration that he is once again a candidate changes nothing under the law. Legal minds broadly agree that while a sitting president is protected from prosecution in office, that immunity disappears when they leave the White House.
But then there is the politics of a prosecution against a presidential candidate who has already dismissed the investigations of his attempts to overturn the 2020 election, the hoarding of top secret documents, and allegedly fraudulent business practices, as “politically motivated” and a Democratic “witch-hunt”.
Here’s more from The Guardian’s Hugo Lowell on the issue of the January 6 committee’s criminal referrals, which might be its most consequential piece of unfinished business:
The House January 6 select committee has created a subcommittee to examine the scope of potential criminal referrals it might make to the justice department over the Capitol attack as well as what materials to share with federal prosecutors, its chairman and other members said on Thursday.
The special subcommittee – led by Congressman Jamie Raskin, overseeing a four-person group that also involves Liz Cheney, Adam Schiff and Zoe Lofgren – has been chiefly focused on whether they have uncovered sufficient evidence that former US president Donald Trump violated civil and criminal statutes.
The subcommittee has also been tasked with resolving several other outstanding issues, the panel’s chairman Bennie Thompson said. They include what materials to share with the justice department before the end of December, and its response to Trump and Republican lawmakers who have not complied with subpoenas.
A reminder of some of the unfinished business awaiting the January 6 committee as the end of the year – and the end of its mandate – approach:
First, there’s the matter of Donald Trump. At what was likely its final public hearing last month, the lawmakers publicly voted to subpoena the former president’s testimony and documents. While Trump reportedly was open to the idea of appearing publicly before a panel he has no love for, he ultimately decided to challenge the subpoena in court. According to Politico, the panel could as soon as today file its response to his legal challenge.
As is typical for congressional select committees, the panel is expected to release a report detailing how the insurrection happened. It will probably be the most anticipated such document since the 9/11 Commission Report released in 2004.
The committee also has to decide whether to make criminal referrals to the justice department. Several members have hinted that Trump’s actions during the insurrection amounted to criminal acts, and referring him to the justice department would be a consequential step. They could also refer some of his former officials to face charges, while Politico reports that the members are also looking into whether Trump and his allies tampered with witnesses.
With Republican takeover only weeks away, January 6 committee looks to wrap up unfinished business
Good morning, US politics blog readers. It’s official: Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives when the new Congress starts on 3 January, which means the January 6 committee has only a few weeks left to finish up its investigation into the attack on the Capitol. The bipartisan panel is still interviewing witnesses with knowledge of Donald Trump’s actions and is expected to release a report before the year is finished. Meanwhile, Politico reports that they may as soon as today respond to the former president’s attempt to quash their subpoena compelling his testimony.
Here’s what else we can expect today:
Trump and Florida governor Ron DeSantis will both address the Republican Jewish Coalition National Leadership Meeting along with a host of other conservatives. However, since the former president is appearing virtually, it does not appear he’ll be in the same room as the Florida governor, who has lately emerged as his rival.
Joe Biden has returned to Washington from a long trip to Egypt and Asia, and will hold a public event with labor and business leaders at 1:30 pm eastern time.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell released a statement of congratulations to Nancy Pelosi late yesterday evening after she announced she’d leave Democratic leadership. Kevin McCarthy, the incoming House Republican leader, has yet to do so.
This post has been corrected to indicate Biden will speak at 1:30 pm, not 1 pm.
Updated
