A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPM’s Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.
Not Looking Good For Jeff Clark
Jeff Clark, the DOJ attorney who Trump unsuccessfully sought to install mid-coup attempt as attorney general, is facing an effort to disbar him in Washington D.C. And things aren’t going well for him.
On Tuesday, a panel recommended that he be disbarred, finding that it is “the only possible sanction” befitting his attempt to “create national chaos.”
From the disciplinary counsel’s proposed finding of fact and conclusions:
It is not enough that the efforts of these lawyers ultimately failed. As a profession, we must do what we can to ensure that this conduct is never repeated. The way to accomplish that goal is to remove from the profession lawyers who betrayed their constitutional obligations and their country. It is important that other lawyers who might be tempted to engage in similar misconduct be aware that doing so will cost them their privilege to practice law. It is also important for the courts and the legal profession to state clearly that the ends do not justify the means; that process matters; and that this is a society of laws, not men.
The proceedings are not over, but Tuesday’s report was a serious blow to Clark.
(Perhaps the most serious since his boss at the DOJ swatted away his January 2021 power grab by reminding him he had only ever been appointed to lead the Department’s Environmental and Natural Resources Division: “You’re an environmental lawyer. How about you go back to your office, and we’ll call you when there’s an oil spill.” But we digress …)
Reactions to Trump’s TIME Interview
In case you missed it, Trump made some of his most ominous noises yet about what to expect in 2025 in an interview with a publication close to his heart: TIME magazine.
He said it was up to the states to monitor pregnant women for abortions, promised mass immigrant deportations, declared he’d prosecute Biden if the Supreme Court didn’t grant him full immunity, mulled pardons for January 6 rioters, and speculated about violence if he doesn’t win.
Some reactions to that interview:
- Josh Marshall: Decoding Trump Bullshit: Foreign Defense Budget Edition
- Philip Bump: Trump won’t say what he plans to do as president
- Dems (via the Times): Biden and Democrats Seize on Trump’s Striking Interview
Important Case Come November
Kate Riga reports on a case out of Pennsylvania that could decide a close election, and may be SCOTUS-bound.
The fight centers on the date voters must write on the outer envelope holding the ballot; if it’s wrong or missing, the ballot goes uncounted. It’s a steep penalty given the reality that none of the parties involved in the case asserts that those dates are actually used for anything.
“People are gonna have their votes not counted under this ruling for totally immaterial reasons, like writing 2023 instead of 2024,” Ari Savitzky, lead attorney on the case for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which is representing individual voters and a group of state civil and voting rights groups, told TPM. “Filling out the date on this form has nothing to do with anything.”