memeorandum: The French Left Ascendant (Henri Astier/Persuasion)

1:55 PM ET, June 20, 2022

Top Items:

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, emptywheel, Althouse 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: CBS News, Washington Post, NBC News, Raw Story, DemCast, NPR, Breitbart, The National, The Hill, Robert Reich, Words & Deeds and The Advocacy 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: Talking Points Memo, Washington Times, Raw Story and The Dispatch

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

Jennifer Rubin / Washington Post:

The Jan. 6 hearings show urgency of Electoral Count Act reform — The Jan. 6 committee has uncorked a gusher of terrifying details concerning Donald Trump's attempted coup. Given how easy it was for devious attorneys such as John Eastman to conjure up a scheme to overturn elections …

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

Discussion: American Greatness, Political Wire and Washington Examiner

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

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

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

Discussion: Washington Post, The Hill and HuffPost

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, claytoonz and Common Dreams

Zach Schonfeld / The Hill:
Texas GOP approves measure declaring Biden ‘was not legitimately elected’

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

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

Discussion: The Hill, CNN, Talking Points Memo, Webb Chatham Report, Off the Kuff, UPI and HuffPost

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

Discussion: Vanity Fair, Hackwhackers, Law & Crime, Baptist News Global, Raw Story, High Plains Blogger and Citizen 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

Michael Hauser Tov / Haaretz:

Bennett, Lapid Decide to Vote on Dissolving Parliament Next Week — If the vote passes in Israel's parliament, Foreign Minister Yair Lapid will become caretaker prime minister until the election is held — Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Foreign Minister Yair Lapid have agreed to hold …

Discussion: Just The News

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, Mediaite, The Hill, Just The News and The Daily Caller

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

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: HuffPost, The Advocate, PoliticusUSA, Raw Story and Occupy Democrats

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: ABC News, Fox News, Washington Examiner, The Daily Wire, New York Post, LifeNews.com and Townhall

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

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: San Bernardino Sun and Raw Story

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.

Discussion: New York Times, Kansas City Star, CBS News, Insider, The Hill, CNN, Washington Post, HuffPost, al.com, RedState, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, The Gateway Pundit, The Daily Wire, Rolling Stone, Raw Story and Twitchy

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: Mealpolitik

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

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

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