Michigan Supreme Court Keeps Trump On 2024 Ballot
INSIDE: Mike Flynn ... Jeff Fortenberry
(Photo by Emily Elconin/Getty Images)
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo.
Disqualification Clause Case Flounders
In a brief, one-paragraph order, the Michigan Supreme Court has declined to take up the appeal of the Disqualification Clause case against Donald Trump. The decision leaves intact lower court rulings and keeps Trump on the GOP primary ballot.
The grounds for the decision are sparse: “[W]e are not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by this Court.”
A longer dissent by one of the justices offers a bit more insight into the ruling. Elizabeth Welch in dissenting says she would have taken the appeal and ruled on the merits.
“Considering the importance of the legal questions at issue and the speed with which the appellants and the judiciary have moved, I believe it is important for this Court to issue a decision on the merits,” Welch wrote.
Welch distinguished Michigan election law from Colorado’s, where Trump has been declared ineligible for the ballot under the 14th Amendment’s Disqualification Clause. She reiterated that the appeals court was correct in ruling that under Michigan law the secretary of state is without power to remove an ineligible candidate from the ballot.
The big question about this just-issued order is whether those seeking to remove Trump from the ballot might get another chance to do so during the general election. The lower court had ruled that the issue wasn’t ripe for decision on the primary ballot, but would be ripe in the general election if Trump were the GOP nominee.
The ripeness question wasn’t appealed, Welch notes in her dissent, suggesting that the good government groups pursing Trump’s disqualification may yet get another bite at the apple.
Michigan Fake Elector Has Regrets
The Michigan fake elector who had criminal charges against him dropped in exchange for his cooperation “expressed deep regret about his participation,” according to a recording of his interview with prosecutors obtained by NYT.
Dictator On Day One
TPM’s Josh Kovensky: The Executive Orders That Trump Would Issue From The Start
Why The Insurrection Act Needs Revising
The problem is that the act has very broad and imprecise triggers to its operation and no temporal constraints, and it does not specify any role for Congress to assess, shape or limit the president’s response to an emergency. …
There is no serious dispute, on the merits, that the Insurrection Act gives any president far too much unchecked power. It is hard for anyone to argue that a president should be able to unleash U.S. troops or state militias without any accountability beyond public opinion or impeachment.
Eye on Media
Parker Molloy: NYT’s Past Week of Trump Headlines is a Glimpse into Our Future
Ooof …
NYT:
At least five board members who oversee the Rhode Island Heritage Hall of Fame have resigned from the organization after Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser under Donald J. Trump, was chosen to be inducted in 2024.
Fortenberry Conviction Overturned
The conviction of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-NE) has been overturned on appeal on the grounds that he was tried in the wrong venue.
He was convicted in federal court in Los Angeles on three felony counts of lying to federal investigators about illegal campaign contributions.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that he should have been tried in Nebraska or Washington DC, where the alleged lies occurred, not LA, the location of the investigation that his alleged lies adversely impacted.
The court said that Fortenberry can be retried in the proper venue.
Quote Of The Day
Jane Coaston’s interview with Tim Alberta on the factors that made evangelicals ready for Trump yields this gem:
If this was truly a 1776 moment, would Lauren Boebert be vaping in the middle of a “Beetlejuice” show, or would she have something more pressing to do with her time?
Tim Alberta
2024 Ephemera
NYT op-ed: A Trump Conviction Could Cost Him Enough Voters to Tip the Election
WSJ: Joe Lieberman’s Campaign for Third-Party Ticket Draws Ire of Democrats—Again
WaPo: Biden’s economy vs. Trump’s … in 12 charts
Recommended Reading
Jessica Valenti’s “Abortion, Every Day” is an invaluable resource in a post-Dobbs world.
Hate To See It
AP: “Criminal prosecutors may soon get to see over 900 documents pertaining to the alleged theft of a diary belonging to President Joe Biden’s daughter after a judge rejected the conservative group Project Veritas’ First Amendment claim.”
Is Climate Change Speeding Up?
WaPo:
The record shows that the pace of warming clearly sped up around the year 1970. Scientists have long known that this acceleration stems from a steep increase in greenhouse gas emissions, combined with efforts in many countries to reduce the amount of sun-reflecting pollution in the air. But the data is much more uncertain on whether a second acceleration is underway.
Trump Is So Proud Of Himself
A Daily Mail word cloud caught the former president’s eye:
Thanks for reading today’s Morning Memo. If you haven’t yet, I hope you will become a TPM member! You can find the TPM members’ commenting section here.
Re Fortenberry: I suspect the reference to the investigation happening in LA means that it was done by the FBI’s LA office, something the Times failed to note referring only to investigators; my conclusion and theory of the case may be wrong. Alternatively: why would the US attorney be investigating a Nebraska rep regarding something that happened in DC? Fun fact: the local offices have too much independence yet are also too often ignored. That was happened with Clinton: NYC pressured Comey. And there’s 9/11 where an agent in the Midwest had reason to believe something funny was happening; the agent was correct but somehow the message failed to get where it needed to go.
All that said, I can completely wrong here, in whole or in part which, of course, wouldn’t be the first time for that.
Justice is unconditional. It doesn't give a shit about what we want or how soon we want it.
We want things to be simple, but things will never again be as simple as they are right now.
The best we can do is elect legislators who can craft laws that deal with greater and greater complexity, elect or appoint judges to interpret and give feedback, and elect or hire officials to enforce those laws and still respect citizen's fundamental rights, and have all of these point in the direction of justice.
This means not voting for jackasses who are only concerned with gaining and maintaining political power, and have no clue how to govern in a functional democracy.