WTF Just Happened Today

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

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1/ Biden’s Justice Department will continue to defend Trump in a defamation lawsuit brought by E. Jean Carroll, who accused him of raping her 25 years ago. In a brief filed with a federal appeals court, the Justice Department argued that it should be permitted to substitute itself for Trump as defendant. The Justice Department, however, insisted that it did not endorse Trump’s “crude and disrespectful” remarks about Carroll, but instead argued that Trump could not be sued for defamation because he had made the statements as part of his official duties as president. Last September, the Justice Department and then-Attorney General William Barr intervened on Trump’s behalf to transfer the lawsuit from state court to federal court, substituting the federal government for Trump as the defendant. (CNN / Politico / New York Times / BuzzFeed News)

2/ The Koch network pressured Joe Manchin to oppose Biden’s key legislative items, including filibuster reform and the For the People Act. In a video series from Americans for Prosperity, a Koch super PAC, grassroots supporters were encouraged to push Manchin to “Reject Washington’s Partisan Agenda” and oppose his party’s own legislative priorities, including the idea of eliminating the filibuster, the For the People Act, and packing the Supreme Court. (CNBC)

3/ Capitol Police had intelligence that Trump supporters planned to attack the Capitol at least two weeks before the Jan. 6 riot but failed to act on the threats. In a joint report from the Senate Rules and Administration and the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs committees, the bipartisan investigation found that Capitol Police intelligence officers knew as early as Dec. 21 that pro-Trump extremists were threatening violence, including plans to “storm the Capitol,” infiltrate the tunnel system, and “bring guns.” The information was only shared with command officers. “The failure to adequately assess the threat of violence on that day contributed significantly to the breach of the Capitol,” Sen. Gary Peters said, chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee. “The attack was quite frankly planned in plain sight.” (Washington Post / New York Times / NBC News)

4/ Trump’s impeachment lawyers are defending at least three people charged in connection with the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection. Michael van der Veen is defending a member of the Oath Keepers that helped plan and participate in storming the Capitol. Bruce Castor, meanwhile, is representing a mother and daughter who failed to follow repeated police orders to disperse in violation of a curfew. During Trump’s Senate impeachment trial, van der Veen and Castor argued that those who participated in the riot deserve “robust and swift investigation and prosecution.” (