memeorandum: Texas GOP goes full MAGA at 2022 convention (Ivana Saric/Axios)

10:25 AM ET, June 20, 2022

Top Items:

Texas Republicans Approve Far-Right Platform Declaring Biden's Election Illegitimate — The platform, which was voted on at the Republican state party convention in Houston, was the latest sign of Texas conservatives moving further to the right. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: CNN, Webb Chatham Report, UPI, Off the Kuff, HuffPost, Mother Jones, Insider, The Texas Tribune, No More Mister Nice Blog and Dispatches From A …

Khaleda Rahman / Newsweek:

Texas Could Secede From U.S. in 2023 as GOP Pushes for Referendum — Texas Republicans are pushing for a referendum to decide whether the state should secede from the U.S. — The demand for Texans to be allowed to vote on the issue in 2023 was one of many measures adopted …

Ivana Saric / Axios:

Texas GOP goes full MAGA at 2022 convention — Texas Republicans ended a three-day convention Saturday with votes on a swath of proposed changes to their platform that would pull the party further right. … It includes resolutions denying that President Biden legitimately won the 2020 election and a call to abolish abortions.

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Times

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
At Texas GOP convention, loyalists embrace far right, anti-gay rhetoric

Discussion: Baptist News Global, Reuters, High Plains Blogger and Citizen News

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:

Trump campaign documents give inside look at fake-elector plan — A review of emails and memos shows that lawyers advising the former president knew the plan was baseless but pursued it anyway — The convening of the electoral college on Dec. 14, 2020, was supposed to mark the end of the wild …

Discussion: The Advocate, Raw Story and Occupy Democrats

Jim Geraghty / National Review:

The Taboo Lifts on Discussing Biden's Age — Today is a federal holiday, the observation of Juneteenth, which commemorates the emancipation of enslaved African Americans and marks the anniversary of the announcement of General Order No. 3 by Union Army general Gordon Granger on June 19 …

Discussion: Wall Street Journal and IJR

Jack Goldsmith / New York Times:

Prosecute Trump? Put Yourself in Merrick Garland's Shoes — The evidence gathered by the Jan. 6 committee and in some of the federal cases against those involved in the Capitol attack pose for Attorney General Merrick Garland one of the most consequential questions that any attorney general has ever faced …

Marita Vlachou / HuffPost:

Adam Kinzinger Warns Next Presidential Election ‘Is Going To Be A Mess’ — “Wake up, Republicans, because this is not going to be good for you if you think it is,” Kinzinger said. — Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said Sunday he is “very worried” about the next presidential election …

Discussion: Raw Story, The Daily Wire, USA Today, RedState and Insider

Ramon Antonio Vargas / The Guardian:
Kinzinger: Trump's actions surrounding January 6 amount to ‘seditious conspiracy’

Discussion: National Review, Washington Post, The Hill and Robert Reich

Rosalind S. Helderman / Washington Post:
GOP member of Jan. 6 committee warns that more violence is coming

Discussion: Insider, ABC News, New York Post, Crooks and Liars, The Daily Beast, Mediaite, The Hill, Axios, CNN, Associated Press, Politico, al.com, Raw Story and Political Wire

Daniel W. Drezner / Washington Post:

Goodbye, farewell and adieu to Spoiler Alerts — Daniel W. Drezner is a professor of international politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a regular contributor to PostEverything. — In 2014, I began writing on a regular basis at The Washington Post.

Discussion: Althouse

Noah Carl / The Daily Sceptic:

Energy Sanctions Are Hurting Europe More than Russia — For Europe, the merits of sanctioning Russian energy were always questionable. After all, cheap energy is essential to the running of the economy, and Russia was Europe's single biggest source. Not only that, but alternative sources …

Discussion: The Guardian

Neil Hauer / The Atlantic:
Russia Has a Plan for Ukraine. It Looks Like Chechnya.

Discussion: The Guardian

New York Times:
What Hundreds of Photos of Weapons Reveal About Russia's Brutal War Strategy

Discussion: Task & Purpose, New York Post, The Guardian, The Hill, New York Magazine and Al Jazeera

Julie Turkewitz / New York Times:

Gustavo Petro wins the Colombian election, becoming the country's first leftist president. — For the first time, Colombia will have a leftist president. — Gustavo Petro, a former rebel and a longtime senator who has pledged to transform the country's economic system, has won Sunday's election …

Discussion: Reuters, Axios, The Guardian, Latin America Risk Report, Progress Pond, The Daily Caller, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Multipolarista, New York Times, Bloomberg, UPI and Associated Press

Gideon Long / Financial Times:
Leftist Gustavo Petro wins Colombian presidency

Discussion: Latin America Daily Briefing, Al Jazeera, El País, Associated Press, WTOP News, Fox News, Newsy and Pirate Wire Services

Dexter Filkins / New Yorker:

Can Ron DeSantis Displace Donald Trump as the G.O.P.'s Combatant-in-Chief? — A fervent opponent of mask mandates and “woke” ideology, the Florida governor channels the same rage as the former President, but with greater discipline. … One Sunday afternoon in September, 2020, Jay Bhattacharya …

Discussion: The Hill and Washington Examiner

Brandon Smith / WFYI Public Media:

Diego Morales upsets Secretary of State Holli Sullivan at Indiana GOP convention — Unable to load the audio player. — You could try direct download? — Former Mike Pence aide Diego Morales upset incumbent Holli Sullivan Saturday to earn the GOP nomination for secretary of state.

Discussion: NBC Chicago

Margot Cleveland / The Federalist:

Why Both Republicans And Democrats Are Wrong About Bill Barr — That U.S. prosecutors didn't find ballot-stuffing in Detroit and Atlanta says nothing about whether there were systemic violations of election law and illegal voting in 2020. — Last week, the Jan. 6"Committee" …

Nick Vivarelli / Variety:

Paul Haggis Arrested in Italy on Sexual Assault Charges … Bizio has confirmed to Variety that Haggis is under arrest. — “Under Italian Law, I cannot discuss the evidence,” Haggis' longtime personal attorney Priya Chaudhry said in a statement. “That said, I am confident that all allegations will be dismissed against Mr. Haggis.

Discussion: Associated Press, Hollywood Reporter, Fox News, NPR, TMZ.com, New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Daily Beast, The Sun, The Underground Bunker and IndieWire

Lachlan Markay / Axios:

State AGs' corporate cash cow — The AG Alliance, a rising organization of state attorneys general, is drawing criticism for courting sponsorships for lavish conferences and foreign junkets from a stable of lobbyists and corporate patrons. … Some companies are ponying up tens of thousands …

Maria Cramer / New York Times:

Juneteenth Is a Federal Holiday, but in Most States It's Still Not a Day Off — One year after President Biden made Juneteenth a federal holiday, 26 states have not authorized the funding that would allow for state employees to take the day off. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Politico, NPR, CBS News, Axios and The Root

Michelle Garcia / NBC News:
Juneteenth was finally recognized as a federal holiday. Then came commercialization.

Discussion: CBS Baltimore and Mother Jones

Bill Graff / OutKick:

Lia Thomas Will Not Race Against Women After FINA Rule On Transgender Athletes — The world governing body for swimming, FINA, has voted to restrict participation of transgender athletes in elite swimming competitions, effective Monday. — The new rule, which passed by a 71% majority of all members …