memeorandum: 6/20/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM. (Punchbowl News)

3:45 PM ET, June 20, 2022

Top Items:

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 …

Discussion: Washington Post, Crooks and Liars, Alexander Moss, Law & Crime and Baptist News Global

Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:

Texas GOP approves measure declaring Biden ‘was not legitimately elected’ — The Texas Republican Party adopted a new platform declaring that the 2020 election violated the Constitution and President Biden “was not legitimately elected.” — The Texas GOP adopted the 40-page platform …

Discussion: Reuters, Washington Examiner, CNN, The Daily Caller, The Status Kuo, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Times, IJR and KVEO-TV

Marita Vlachou / HuffPost:
Adam Kinzinger Warns Next Presidential Election ‘Is Going To Be A Mess’

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

Greg Sargent / Washington Post:
Texas's new secessionist platform exposes a big GOP scam

Discussion: Axios, CBS News, Mediaite, claytoonz and Common Dreams

New York Times:
Texas Republicans Approve Far-Right Platform Declaring Biden's Election Illegitimate

Discussion: The Hill, Talking Points Memo, CNN, Vanity Fair, Chop Wood, Carry Water, Hackwhackers, Webb Chatham Report, Off the Kuff, High Plains Blogger, UPI, Citizen News, Washington Post and HuffPost

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post: The Jan. 6 hearings show urgency of Electoral Count Act reform

Hope Yen / Associated Press:
Jan. 6 committee setting its sights on Pence, Ginni Thomas

Discussion: Today's Edition Newsletter, Talking Points Memo, CBS News, Occupy Democrats, RedState and PoliticusUSA

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and HuffPost

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 …

Discussion: Washington Post, Althouse, emptywheel and Lawyers, Guns & Money

National Review:

The January 6 Show — As has been true of so many things surrounding Donald Trump's career in politics, many more people have come out of the January 6 committee hearings looking worse than looking better. Most importantly, the whole tawdry spectacle reminds us: As many good things …

Discussion: NPR, Townhall, NBC News, Raw Story, Washington Post, CBS News, Breitbart, The National, The Hill, DemCast, Words & Deeds, Robert Reich and The Advocacy Newsletter

Los Angeles Times:

Op-Ed: The insurrection won't end until Trump is prosecuted and disqualified from future office — In a powerful warning Thursday, the patron saint of the conservative legal movement, former federal appellate Judge J. Michael Luttig, testified before the Jan. 6 Committee and pronounced former President Trump …

Discussion: John's Newsletter

Ken Meyer / Mediaite:

Trump Knocks ‘Foolish’ Kevin McCarthy for Not Having Anyone on Jan 6 Committee: ‘Bad Decision Was Made’ — Former President Donald Trump called it a “bad decision” by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to completely withdraw from the January 6 Committee. — Trump railed against the …

Discussion: The Federalist, Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Raw Story and The Dispatch

Sarakshi Rai / The Hill:
Trump says he hasn't endorsed McCarthy for Speaker

Discussion: American Greatness, Political Wire and Washington Examiner

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: Washington Examiner, New York Post, Substack, Mediaite, WFLA-TV, The Daily Caller and Just The News

Patrick Kingsley / New York Times:

Israel Heads for 5th Election in 3 Years After Government Collapses, Officials Say — The move follows the defection of two coalition lawmakers, giving the opposition a majority in Parliament. — Give this article- - - Read in app — JERUSALEM — Israel's governing coalition will vote …

Discussion: Bloomberg and WTOP News

Michael Hauser Tov / Haaretz:
Bennett, Lapid Decide to Vote on Dissolving Parliament Next Week

Discussion: Associated Press, ABC17NEWS and Just The News

Jazz Shaw / HotAir:

“Bloody” protesters outside Amy Coney Barret's home — Supreme Court Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett had some visitors at her home in Virginia this weekend, but they weren't friends and family members stopping by for a pre-summer barbeque. A group of mostly female protesters showed …

Discussion: One America News Network, ABC News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, National Review, LifeNews.com, New York Post and Townhall

Josh Gerstein / Politico: What a Roberts compromise on abortion could look like

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, HuffPost, Raw Story, PoliticusUSA and Occupy Democrats

Caroline Kitchener / Washington Post:

This Texas teen wanted an abortion. She now has twins. — Brooke Alexander found out she was pregnant 48 hours before the Texas abortion ban took effect — CORPUS CHRISTI, Tex. — Brooke Alexander turned off her breast pump at 6:04 p.m. and brought two fresh bottles of milk over to the bed …

Discussion: LifeNews.com

Kevin Liptak / CNN:

Biden says he's nearing decisions on gas tax holiday and student loans as he tries to tame costs — Granholm: Biden evaluating whether to lift federal gas tax 02:19 — (CNN)President Joe Biden said Monday he hopes to decide soon whether to support a temporary pause in the federal gasoline tax …

Discussion: Associated Press, Insider, Bloomberg, The Hill, USA Today, CBS News, Washington Times, WTOP News, Florida Politics and New York Post

Terry Jones / Issues & Insights:
Even Democrats Blame Biden For Surging Inflation: I&I/TIPP Poll

Discussion: The Federalist, HotAir, Breitbart and Fox News

New York Times:

The Killing of Shireen Abu Akleh: Tracing a Bullet to an Israeli Convoy — A New York Times investigation found that the bullet that killed a Palestinian-American journalist was fired from the approximate position of an Israeli military vehicle. — Give this article- - - Read in app

Discussion: Al Jazeera and The Times of Israel

David Reaboi / Late Republic Nonsense:

Why Did the Justice Department Cover Up John Allen's Illegal Lobbying for Qatar? — The DOJ seems irreparably corrupt and politicized. But the extent to which he's been protected—and the reasons why—can provide some lessons. — A few weeks ago, someone close to the Justice Department …

Elizabeth Chuck / NBC News:

Self-proclaimed ‘sovereign citizens’ arrested in California after deputies allegedly find explosives — Three people claiming to be “sovereign citizens” were arrested Saturday morning after live ammunition and explosives were found in a vehicle they were driving and at their remote compound …

Discussion: UPI, San Bernardino Sun and Raw Story

Punchbowl News:

6/20/22 ☀️ Punchbowl News AM. … DISCUSSIONS ARE ONGOING, ALTHOUGH THERE'S NO DEAL YET, AND THERE WON'T BE ONE THIS WEEK. … AND OF COURSE, NONE OF THIS IS DECIDED YET … PROVIDED IT GETS THROUGH THE SENATE IN THE FIRST PLACE. — EVER SINCE MANCHIN PUT THE KIBOSH …

Discussion: HotAir and Mealpolitik

Bonchie / RedState:

Disney Arrives at a Crossroads After ‘Lightyear’ and Its Lesbian Kiss Flop — The recent success of “Top Gun: Maverick,” the sequel to the 1980s blockbuster original starring Tom Cruise, has presented a golden opportunity for Hollywood to reset and start producing non-woke, non-divisive films people actually want to see.

Discussion: Bounding Into Comics, Washington Free Beacon, CNN and The Western Journal

Dareh Gregorian / NBC News:

GOP Senate candidate releases ‘RINO hunting’ ad aimed at fellow Republicans — Eric Greitens, the embattled former Missouri governor-turned-GOP Senate candidate, released a campaign ad Monday in which he and a group of armed men in tactical gear are on the hunt for “RINOs” - Republicans in name only.

Adam Kredo / Washington Free Beacon:

PRIDE MONTH: Here's How the Navy Is Training Sailors on Proper Gender Pronouns — The Navy is training its members to create a “safe space” by using proper gender pronouns in a new instructional video modeled after a children's show. — “Hi! My name is Jony, and I use he/him pronouns …