A great deal of things occurred. Here are a few of the important things. This is TPM's Morning Memo. Registerfor the e-mail variation
A Dark And Foreboding Hearing
The verification hearing of Pam Bondi for chief law officer was more disconcerting and foreboding than I had actually anticipated. Beforehand, I believed she would install enough of a defense of Justice Department self-reliance and the guideline of law to offer a fig leaf of cover for her real goals and those of Donald Trump, making it harder for less advanced observers to translucent the charade. That would have been troublesome in its own right, however the option ended up being even worse.
Rather, Bondi was brazen in providing nods to conservative conspiracies, Fox News talking points, and Trump ego-stroking. Whatever she did to place herself as a colorable protector of the guideline of law was overwhelmed by her rejection to acknowledge Trump lost in 2020, her revealed scary with Special Counsel Jack Smith's examinations, and her dodging of any concern that would put her at chances with Trump. If she can't develop daytime in between herself and Trump now in the abstract, what opportunity exists of her doing so when the genuine heat is on?
In Between Bondi and GOP senators, the tone of the hearing was mostly: We're going to do precisely what we wish to do and you can't stop us.
Bondi's Election Denialism
Absolutely nothing was rather as troubling as Bondi's adherence to the Big Lie since it links a lot of other guideline of law concerns, including her apparent determination to think about criminal examinations of Biden DOJ figures on the basis that they had actually examined Trump:
HIRONO: Who won the 2020 governmental election?BONDI: Joe Biden is the presidentHIRONO: You can not state who won the 2020 electonBONDI: * beings in silence * HIRONO: It's troubling that you can't provide voice to that reality
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— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar. com) January 15, 2025 at 11:41 AMBondi's Slavish Display Of Loyalty To Trump
A few of the sharper responses to the Bondi verification hearing:
- Dahlia Lithwick: “The primary takeaway from her efficiency, though: If an insurrection takes place in a forest, and Pam Bondi isn't there to hear it, did it truly take place?”
- Benjamin Wittes: “She might not bring herself to acknowledge the possibility of needing to state no to Donald Trump or to resolve how she would manage the very-plausible possibility of getting an unlawful order from him.”
- Joyce Vance: “Bondi awkwardly strolling the tightrope in between what she understood she needed to state to get validated and what she understood she needed to state to remain in Donald Trump's great beautifies. She made it clear while doing so that if she falls off, it will remain in his instructions.”
A Really Bad Sign
Trump sacks House Intel chairman Mike Turner (R-OH) for being too pro-Ukraine.
The Trump II Clown Show
The large volume of charlatans,
