memeorandum: ‘Literally off his rocker’: Why Trump is fixated on Indiana (Adam Wren/Politico)

7:15 AM ET, February 7, 2024

Top Items:

Rebecca Beitsch / The Hill:

In stunner, House GOP bid to impeach Mayorkas fails — A House GOP effort to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas failed in embarrassing fashion Tuesday as three Republicans joined Democrats in voting against what would have been the second-ever impeachment of a Cabinet official.

Discussion: Washington Post, Sputnik News, The Federalist, Outside the Beltway, Washington Examiner and Deadline

Karoun Demirjian / New York Times:

Mayorkas Impeachment Vote — House to Vote on Impeaching Mayorkas Over Border Crisis — Republicans in the slim majority say the homeland security secretary has willfully refused to enforce border laws and breached the public trust. — Here's the latest on the impeachment vote.

Discussion: Bloomberg, NewsNation, Washington Post, Axios, One America News Network, MeidasTouch, Forbes, Breitbart, The Hill, HuffPost, HotAir, The Daily Caller, The Daily Beast, DNyuz, The Texas Tribune, Fox News and Joe.My.God.

Politico:

Playbook: Two leaders in trouble — With help from Eli Okun, Garrett Ross and Bethany Irvine — DRIVING THE DAY — OUCH — “Worse than you can imagine: Haley loses to ‘none of these candidates’ in Nevada,” by Chris Cadelago: “[NIKKI] HALEY's second-place drubbing to the disembodied alternative …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Punchbowl News and The Hill

Burgess Everett / Politico:

Behind the border mess: Open GOP rebellion against McConnell — The Republican leader told POLITICO that his critics “had their shot” already. But conservatives are not done whacking him over the immigration-for-Ukraine aid implosion. — Conservative hardliners once celebrated Mitch McConnell …

Discussion: The Hill, New Republic, Washington Times, Florida Politics, New York Post and National Review

CNN:

GOP-led standalone Israel aid bill fails in the House — The House on Tuesday failed to pass a standalone package for $17.6 billion in Israel aid amid opposition from both Republicans and Democratic leaders. — Because of resistance among members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus …

Washington Post:

In chaotic scene, Republicans argue with GOP lawmaker after ‘no’ vote on impeachment — Moments before the vote to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas narrowly failed Tuesday evening, a chaotic scene unfolded on the House floor. — The vote had unexpectedly come to a tie …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Lawyers, Guns & Money, DNyuz and Business Insider

Cleve R. Wootson Jr / Washington Post:
Biden vows to make collapse of border bill a major campaign issue

Discussion: New Republic, Euractiv, Forbes, UPI, Fox News, Vanity Fair, The Daily Caller, MeidasTouch, El País, Slate, Washington Times and NPR

Kayla Guo / New York Times:
Al Green, in Hospital Garb, Delivers Vote to Kill Mayorkas Impeachment

Discussion: Breitbart, DNyuz, The Daily Caller and The Hill

Jennifer Bendery / HuffPost:
House Republicans Fail To Impeach DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Discussion: Axios, BizPac Review, Roll Call, DNyuz, Washington Examiner, MeidasTouch, The Daily Caller, Semafor, Bloomberg, PolitiFact, Mother Jones, Raw Story, Joe.My.God. and New York Times

Associated Press:
House Republicans are ready to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, if they have the votes

Discussion: NPR, Iowa Capital Dispatch, PJ Media, Nebraska Examiner, Raw Story, CNN, The Daily Signal, New York Post, Rolling Stone, DNyuz, USA Today, Washington Examiner, Committee on Homeland Security and Deseret News

New York Times:

Ronna McDaniel, R.N.C. Chairwoman, Plans to Step Down — Donald Trump is likely to back an election denier, Michael Whatley, the head of the North Carolina G.O.P., to replace her. — The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, Ronna McDaniel, has told former President Donald J. Trump …

Politico: Ronna McDaniel set to leave RNC in the spring

NBC News:
Trump campaign plans for its takeover of the Republican National Committee

Discussion: Associated Press, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, Raw Story, New York Times, DNyuz and Washington Examiner

Chris Geidner / Law Dork:

D.C. Circuit panel unanimously rejects Trump's criminal immunity claim — On Tuesday morning, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit unanimously rejected Donald Trump's claims that he is immune from criminal prosecution for life for acts he took while president.

Discussion: Just Security, MSNBC, CNBC, Reason, CNN, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times and Default

Mychael Schnell / The Hill:

Gaetz, Stefanik offer resolution declaring Trump ‘did not engage in insurrection’ — Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) and Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) unveiled a resolution Tuesday that declares former President Trump “did not engage in insurrection or rebellion against the United States.”

Discussion: New York Times, HuffPost, Washington Post, One America News Network, Jezebel, PolitiFact, New York Post, ABC News and Joe.My.God.

Hans Nichols / Axios:

Biden pledges to campaign “every day” on Trump's border meddling — In a stark reversal of his campaign messaging, President Biden vowed to tell voters “every day between now and November” that former President Trump and his GOP allies in Congress are the “only reason the border is not secure.”

Discussion: PBS NewsHour, The White House, Breitbart and ABC News

Ann E. Marimow / Washington Post:
In Trump's Colorado case, Supreme Court will make and face history

Discussion: CBS News, Politico, The Guardian, Los Angeles Times, Fargo | KFGO, Colorado Newsline, Vox, The Moderate Voice, nationalinterest.org and Axios

Associated Press:
Trump is not immune from prosecution in his 2020 election interference case, US appeals court says

Aaron Blake / Washington Post:
4 takeaways from Trump's loss in his immunity case

Discussion: CNN, The Guardian, Twitchy, New York Times, The Moderate Voice, Civil Discourse …, The American Conservative, PBS NewsHour, The Atlantic, The Times of Israel and New Republic

Jose Pagliery / The Daily Beast:
Accountant's Apparent Lies Further Dooms Trump's Bank Fraud Defense

Discussion: Raw Story, CNBC, New Republic, Digby's Hullabaloo, USA Today and The Guardian

Kayla Guo / New York Times:

James Lankford Stands in Border Deal Wreckage Wrought by His Own Party — Senator James Lankford, the Oklahoma Republican who brokered the doomed compromise, has fended off attacks from his own party while fighting to keep the bill alive. — It was late on a Thursday afternoon …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times, Las Vegas Review-Journal, DNyuz, Washington Examiner and The Hill

Igor Bobic / HuffPost: ‘They Are A Disaster’: Democrats ‘Disgusted’ By GOP Reversal On Securing Border

Carl Hulse / New York Times:
On the Border, Republicans Set a Trap, Then Fell Into It

Discussion: Las Vegas Review-Journal, NPR, plus.thebulwark.com, Letters from an American and Gizmodo

Mike Catalini / ABC News:

Not wearing a mask during COVID-19 health emergency isn't a free speech right, appeals court says — A federal appeals court has shot down claims that there's a First Amendment right not to wear face masks during the COVID-19 outbreak — TRENTON, N.J. — A federal appeals court shot …

Discussion: Fox News

Lauren Irwin / The Hill: Not wearing mask during COVID-19 outbreak isn't protected by free speech, court rules

David Zipper / Slate:

A 7,000-Pound Car Smashed Through a Guardrail. That's Bad News for All of Us. — It's a nightmare situation on a highway: Your car hits a patch of ice and starts to skid. Unable to regain control, you panic as you veer toward the roadway's edge. — In emergencies like this, guardrails provide a failsafe.

Natasha Korecki / NBC News:

Nikki Haley loses to ‘none of these candidates’ in the Nevada GOP primary — NBC News projects that more voters chose not to pick a candidate at all than back Haley. Trump wasn't on the ballot, since he's participating in Thursday's caucus, instead. — Nikki Haley faced no major challenger Tuesday in Nevada's presidential primary.

Adam Wren / Politico:
‘Literally off his rocker’: Why Trump is fixated on Indiana

Discussion: Raw Story

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory:

JPL Workforce Update — Workforce statement and memo to employees. … - I am directing most employees to work from home tomorrow, Wednesday, February 7, so everyone can be in a safe, comfortable environment on a stressful day. … - Tomorrow, leadership (mostly at the Division and Directorate level) …

Discussion: Politico, KTLA and Los Angeles Times

Maggie Astor / New York Times:

Texas Company Was Behind Voter Robocalls That Impersonated Biden, N.H. Says — The state attorney general said the calls, which used a voice that sounded like President Biden's to discourage voting, originated with a company called Life Corporation. — The New Hampshire attorney general …

Discussion: Legal Newsline, Boston Herald and CNN, more at Techmeme »

Alex Seitz-Wald / NBC News:
N.H. attorney general says he found source of fake Biden robocalls

Discussion: The Verge, Washington Post, Axios, Washington Examiner and New York Post

Sareen Habeshian / Axios:

Former State Department security officer arrested on Jan. 6 charges — A former U.S. State Department security officer was arrested Tuesday after being identified as having been at the Capitol during the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection. … - Investigators identified him using Google location data …

Discussion: ABC News

Ryan J. Reilly / NBC News:
State Department diplomatic security officer arrested on Jan. 6 charges

Discussion: DNyuz, UPI, The Daily Beast and WUSA

Washington Post:

DOJ report on Biden classified documents coming soon; no criminal charges — The special counsel report criticizes how Biden and aides handled sensitive material after his vice presidency but says those actions don't amount to crimes — The Justice Department is preparing to release …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, New York Times, DNyuz, Wall Street Journal and Political Wire

Dan Mangan / CNBC:
No criminal charges expected in Biden classified documents probe: NBC

Discussion: DNyuz, Raw Story, Bloomberg and New York Post

Tesnim Zekeria / Popular Information:

Getting serious about wage theft — Over $203 million in wages were stolen by employers from nearly 127,000 workers in New York between 2017 and 2021, according to a report last year by Documented and ProPublica. Of that amount, more than $52 million was stolen from people working in restaurants - the most in any industry.

Alexander Tin / CBS News:

FDA says hands tied after suspect named in applesauce lead poisonings — Authorities in Ecuador have named a suspect in their investigation of now-recalled lead-tainted applesauce, which has been linked to poisonings of more than 400 Americans across 43 states, the Food and Drug Administration …

Discussion: WTOP News

Jacob Shamsian / Business Insider:

Donald Trump paid more than $2.3 million in donor money to law firms helping Ivanka Trump with her legal problems last year — A PAC controlled by Donald Trump paid millions of dollars to a law firm representing Ivanka Trump. — Firms representing Ivanka in the NY Attorney General's lawsuit …

Discussion: Raw Story