memeorandum: Cheney in defiant floor speech: Trump on ‘crusade to undermine our democracy’ (Cristina Marcos/The Hill)

6:20 PM ET, October 31, 2021

Top Items:

Warnings of violence before Jan. 6 precipitated the Capitol riot — and his team had spotted increasing signs that supporters of President Donald Trump were planning violence when Congress met to formalize the electoral college vote, but federal law enforcement agencies did not seem to share his sense of urgency.

Discussion: Raw Story, Reuters, Mother Jones, Crooks and Liars, Digby's Hullabaloo and Eschaton

Washington Post:

BEFORE THE ATTACK — Law enforcement officials did not respond with urgency to a cascade of warnings about violence on Jan. 6 — Alerts were raised by local officials, FBI informants, social media companies, former national security officials, researchers, lawmakers and tipsters.

Discussion: Election Law Blog, The Daily Beast, Raw Story, Mediaite and Lawyers, Guns & Money

Washington Post:

Former president Donald Trump's response to the findings of The Post's Jan. 6 investigation — On Oct. 31, The Washington Post published a three-part investigation that found that law enforcement officials failed to heed mounting red flags that there would be violence when Congress formalized the electoral college vote on Jan. 6.

Discussion: Digby's Hullabaloo and Raw Story

Washington Post:

What happened on Jan. 6: Trump stands back as rioters breach Capitol — For 187 harrowing minutes, the president watched his supporters attack the Capitol — and resisted pleas to stop them. — President Donald Trump had just returned to the White House from his rally at the Ellipse …

Discussion: Raw Story and Mediaite

Sally Buzbee / Washington Post:

Letter from Washington Post Executive Editor Sally Buzbee about The Post's Jan. 6 investigation — DEAR READER: — The insurrection that took place on Jan. 6 at the United States Capitol was one of the most consequential moments in American history. The events of that day led …

Devlin Barrett / Washington Post: After Jan. 6, threats and disinformation take hold across the U.S.

Washington Post:
‘Like any other day’: Frequency of violent threats on Capitol Hill unnerves staffers

Discussion: HotAir

Matt Taibbi / TK News:

The “Let's Go, Brandon!” Freakout Goes Next-Level — A Southwest pilot earns ISIS comparisons for joking into a loudspeaker, as pundits continues to mass-forget the previous four years — FBI Special Agent-turned-CNN Political Analyst Asha Rangappa — gosh that resume sounds unsurprising …

Discussion: The Daily Caller, Twitchy, TheBlaze, BizPac Review, Insider, Scripting News, pjmedia.com, RedState, New York Post and TMZ.com

Adela Suliman / Washington Post:
Southwest Airlines to investigate pilot's purported anti-Biden chant

Discussion: The Wrap, IJR, HotAir, Twitchy, Althouse, Slate and RedState

Karen Townsend / HotAir:
Southwest Airlines apologizes for pilot's “Let's Go Brandon” remark

Discussion: The Daily Wire, Washington Examiner, Louder With Crowder and Twitchy

Wynne Davis / NPR:
Here's what 'Let's Go, Brandon' actually means and how it made its way to Congress

Discussion: RedState and Outside the Beltway

Mark Murray / NBC News:

Biden's job rating sinks to 42 percent in NBC News poll a year from midterms — WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans now disapprove of President Joe Biden's job performance, while half give him low marks for competence and uniting the country, according to results from the latest national NBC News poll.

Quinn Scanlan / ABC News:

Biden, Democrats failing to sell agenda to American people: POLL — Roughly 7 in 10 Americans know little about the bills Democrats are negotiating. — Negotiations on the infrastructure and social program bills have consumed Capitol Hill for months. Still, a new ABC News/Ipsos poll …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, HotAir, National Review and Twitchy

Jess Bidgood / The Boston Globe:

The car becomes the weapon — Demonstrators around the country have been injured and killed by vehicle rammings, but there's been precious little justice. And new laws could make accountability even scarcer. — Switch to light mode — TULSA, Okla. — On May 31, 2020 …

Ryan J. Reilly / HuffPost:

Jan. 6 ‘Influencer’ Who Said She's ‘Definitely Not Going To Jail’ Should Go To Jail, Feds Say — Jenna Ryan, a Trump-loving real estate broker, called Jan. 6 “one of the best days of my life” and bragged that she wouldn't go to jail because she's white. — Federal prosecutors …

Discussion: Raw Story and POLITICUSUSA

Carol Rosenberg / New York Times:

U.S. Military Jury Condemns Terrorist's Torture and Urges Clemency — Seven senior officers rebuked the government's treatment of an admitted terrorist in a handwritten letter from the jury room at Guantánamo Bay. — GUANTÁNAMO BAY, Cuba — Seven senior U.S. military officers …

New York Times:

The Demand for Money Behind Many Police Traffic Stops — Busted taillights, missing plates, tinted windows: Across the U.S., ticket revenue funds towns — and the police responsible for finding violations. — Harold Brown's contribution to the local treasury began as so many others have in Valley Brook …

Discussion: Outside the Beltway

New York Times: Why Many Police Traffic Stops Turn Deadly

New York Times:

In the Final Days Before Virginia Votes, Both Sides Claim Momentum — Glenn Youngkin and Terry McAuliffe crisscrossed Virginia on the last weekend of what has become an increasingly close race for governor. — MANASSAS PARK, Va. — The high-stakes race for governor of Virginia entered …

Discussion: Newsweek, Washington Times, Associated Press, Conservative Brief, Insider and Terry McAuliffe

Jonathan Martin / New York Times:
What the Virginia Election Result Will Mean for Democrats and Republicans

Discussion: New York Magazine, Bloomberg, Political Wire, Washington Post, Associated Press and RedState

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
In a tight Virginia race, Covid concerns still make campaigning difficult for Democrats

Discussion: MSNBC and NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Will Bunch / The Philadelphia Inquirer:

‘When do we get to use the guns?’ The life-or-death stakes of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial — The late conservative icon Barry Goldwater famously said “extremism in defense of liberty is no vice,” but last Monday the limits of that — and American political speech in general …

Discussion: The Intercept

Julie Bosman / New York Times:
Kyle Rittenhouse's Homicide Trial Will Be a Debate Over Self-Defense

Discussion: The Guardian

Cristina Marcos / The Hill:

Cheney in defiant floor speech: Trump on ‘crusade to undermine our democracy’ — Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) warned in a fiery floor speech on the eve of her expected ouster from House GOP leadership that the decision by many in her party to enable former President Trump's falsehoods …

Discussion: Insider

Brett Bachman / Salon:

GOP candidate: Michael Flynn trying to run extortion plot on U.S. officials to reinstall Trump — Pennsylvania Senate candidate Everett Stern made the bombshell accusation in a press conference Saturday — A Republican Senate candidate alleged over the weekend that former national security adviser …

Rachel Vindman / USA Today:

‘It was time to fight back’: My journey from the Republican Party, through grief, to advocacy — On Sept. 27, 2018, I was volunteering in my daughter's second grade classroom. My phone was buzzing with updates of Christine Blasey Ford's testimony during Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearing.

Kelly Hooper / Politico:

Buttigieg: 'We're the closest that we've ever been' to passing infrastructure and spending bills — Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg sounded confident Sunday that the House is close to passing both the bipartisan infrastructure bill and President Joe Biden's domestic agenda spending bill.

Discussion: Fox News, CBS News, Townhall and justoneminute.typepad.com