DL Open Thread: Friday, January 13, 2023

The New ‘McCarthy Committee’.  This new MAGAT playground has the potential to be every bit as destructive as the House Un-American Activities Committee and the anti-Communist witch hunt by Sen. Joseph McCarthy:

Both the McCarthy hearings in the 1950s and investigations by the House Un-American Activities Committee in the 1930s and 1940s have come to be seen as sordid, painful chapters in the congressional past, a series of communist witch hunts that needlessly destroyed lives. Lawmakers unleashed unfounded allegations in pursuit of sensational headlines and nonexistent infiltrators and traitors, and Democrats warn that the same could happen again.

Democratic skepticism has been fueled by the fact that the new panel — and granting it authority to look into continuing criminal investigations — was among a host of demands that far-right Republicans made of Mr. McCarthy in exchange for their eventual votes for him in a historically drawn-out election for the speakership. Language in the resolution setting up the committee gave it the open-ended mission of investigating “how executive branch agencies work with, obtain information from and provide information to the private sector, nonprofit entities or other government agencies to facilitate action against American citizens.”

To Mr. Jordan’s opponents, the Republican push smacks of the tactics of Joseph McCarthy, who used his position as the chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations to open a wide-ranging investigation into charges made with little evidence but much innuendo.

‘Speaker’ McCarthy To Consider Expunging Both Of Trump’s Impeachments.  Because that’s what the American people want.  I think the American people will turn against this shit-show in record time.  If they haven’t already done so.

Injustice Louisiana-Style: Racist sheriff’s office destroyed records of abuse by deputies:

The Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office in Louisiana has been unlawfully destroying its deputies’ disciplinary records for at least 10 years, according to records provided by state officials responsible for overseeing the retention of records by state, parish and local agencies.

The finding comes at a time when the sheriff’s office is facing multiple lawsuits involving allegations of excessive force, racial discrimination and wrongful death at the hands of Jefferson Parish deputies. Attorneys have accused Sheriff Joe Lopinto of failing to discipline deputies and a lack of transparency when it comes to releasing records that might shed light on their history of complaints and disciplinary action.

The Many Cons Of The Man Called George Santos.  I don’t think even the House Rethugs can save his ass.  But what a story!  Gory financial details, yes.  Well worth the wallow, though.

Heritage Foundation Spent Millions On Voter Suppression Schemes.   Dog bites man, I know. However:

The efforts help explain the unprecedented tidal wave of restrictive voting laws that spread across Republican-controlled states in the wake of the 2020 presidential election. The Brennan Center reported that more voter suppression laws were passed in 2021 than in any year since it began monitoring voting legislation more than a decade ago.

Part of Heritage Action’s two-year strategy is to promote what it calls “model election laws”, focusing initially on eight battleground states: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Nevada, Texas and Wisconsin. In a private meeting with donors in Tucson, Arizona, in 2021, the group’s executive director, Jessica Anderson, boasted about the role Heritage Action had played in pressing Republican-controlled legislatures to impose strict restrictions on voting, including limits on mail-in voting and early voting days.

In a video of that meeting obtained by Documented, Anderson told the donors that the group acted “quickly and quietly”, bragging that “honestly nobody noticed” their behind-the-scenes influence. Heritage Action staff have registered to lobby in at least two dozen states.

What do you want to talk about?