Weak-Kneed Hill Democrats Concede Too Much In Biden Docs Case

A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.

With Friends Like These …

You can be annoyed with Joe Biden over his mishandling of classified documents.

You can be chagrined that there’d have been no special counsel appointed were it not for Donald Trump’s classified document debacle.

You can be resigned to bad faith Republicans using it as a cudgel against Biden for the next two years while letting Trump skate.

But if you’re a prominent Democrat going on national TV, you need a plan, a strategy, a clear point that you’re ready to make. Alas … Democratic TV appearances over the weekend spawned headlines like this:

Bloomberg: Even Democrats Are Now Critical of Biden Over Documents Fiasco

Politico: Democrats ding Biden on documents even as they push back against GOP

For some pushback on the weak-kneed Dem line, see Josh Marshall.

Manchin Looks Wobbly On Debt Ceiling

The West Virginia senator declared it a “mistake” for President Biden not to negotiate with House Republicans over the debt ceiling – while Republicans howl over Biden’s refusal to negotiate under terroristic threat.

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Mostly Quiet On The Jack Smith Front

With not much news coming out of Special Counsel Jack Smith’s probes, the WaPo profiles his work on Kosovo war crimes.

Proud Boys Are Still At It

• Salt Lake City: A man identifying as a the founder of the local Proud Boy chapter was reportedly armed with a semi-automatic rifle and a 9mm handgun during a protest at an all-ages drag show Friday night.
• San Diego: A YMCA closed Saturday in anticipation of protests over it allowing transgender residents access to locker rooms. “Around a half-dozen men wore hats and shirts representing the Proud Boys” during the protest, the local newspaper reported.  

Proud Boys Seditious Conspiracy Trial Resumes

The trial of the Proud Boys members, including leader Enrique Tarrio, continues today in Washington, D.C.

Oath Keepers Jury Still Deliberating

The jury has the case in the lower profile of the two back-to-back trials of Oath Keepers on seditious conspiracy charges.

More On Those Marines Arrested For Jan. 6

A bit more clarity on the intel roles held by the three Marines charged with Jan. 6 crimes:

• Sgt. Joshua Abate: special communications signals analyst
• Sgt. Dodge Dale Hellonen: special communications signals analyst
• Cpl. Micah Coomer: intelligence surveillance reconnaissance system engineer

How they were caught is revealing:

The FBI said Abate admitted to entering the Capitol “with two ‘buddies’” during a June 2022 interview that was part of his security clearance process while assigned to the Marine Corps’ Cryptologic Support Battalion, which is partnered and headquartered with the NSA at Fort Meade. 

For his part, Coomer posted to Instagram photos from inside the Capitol on Jan. 6:

According to charging papers filed Tuesday and unsealed Thursday, Coomer posted photographs on Instagram taken from inside the Capitol during the breach, captioned “Glad to be apart of history.” Data provided by Facebook in connection with an August 2021 federal search warrant showed that in a Jan. 31 direct message on Instagram, Coomer allegedly “stated his belief ‘that everything in this country is corrupt. We honestly need a fresh restart. I’m waiting for the boogaloo.’”

The Big Lie Just Baked In Now

Politico: “The new Alabama secretary of state’s first move in office showed how ideas stemming from the stolen election myth are affecting government.”

Sanctions Get Trump’s Attention

One day after being sanctioned by a federal judge in Florida to the tune of nearly $1 million, former President Trump dismissed his dubious lawsuit against New York Attorney General Tish James that was pending before the same judge.

Klain Out, Zients In

Ron Klain gets a chance to do what relatively few White House chiefs of staff have been able to pull off: leave on his own timetable.

Jeff Zients, who lead the Biden administration’s COVID response, has very little political experience. ” His selection suggests that the president could lean on Mr. Zients to help run the government while other advisers focus on the politics of winning a second term,” the NYT notes.

Confirmed

The Supreme Court justices were not subject to the same scrutiny as their clerks and court staff in the Dobbs draft leak probe.

Jeffries Not Backing Away From Looming Confrontation With McCarthy

The Democratic minority leader is pushing ahead with plans to name California Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell to the intel committee and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) to the Foreign Affairs Committee despite the speaker’s vow to strip the three Democratic reps of those committee assignments, Punchbowl reports.

Looking Ahead

Monday-Tuesday: Congress returns.

Tuesday: A judge in Georgia hears arguments on whether the final report of the special grand jury empaneled by District Attorney Fani Willis should be released to the public.

Test Case

Is there room for someone like Mitch Daniels in the current GOP?

Scoop Of The Day

NYT: Russian Agents Suspected of Directing Far-Right Group to Mail Bombs in Spain

To Laugh Or Cry?

“There are election deniers on both sides of the aisle” — Rep. Mike Turner deflects on CBS when asked if he’s okay with a bunch of election deniers serving on the Oversight Committee pic.twitter.com/cz4wjoIINt

— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 22, 2023

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