Congressional Republicans disgrace the first branch of government.

July 21, 2023

          I am on the road on Thursday, so this will be a short(er) newsletter. The focus is the disgraceful performance of congressional Republicans over the last 48 hours. Although their bad faith tactics do not equal the two acquittals of Trump after impeachment, they are a close second.

          But this isn’t just a rant. It is a reminder that among the many tasks that face us in 2024, taking back the House and expanding our margin in the Senate are critical to restoring not only the rule of law but a sense of decorum and honor to our governing institutions. Over the last 48 hours, Republicans have turned Congress into the equivalent of a co-ed mud-wrestling pit at a college fraternity party.

          As background for today’s edition, it is important to remember that Hunter Biden dropped off a laptop for repair in 2019. When he didn’t pick it up in 90 days, the repair shop owner reviewed the contents of the hard drive, discovered they related to Hunter Biden, and gave a copy of the hard drive to Trump operatives (including Rudy Giuliani), who quickly spread stolen data across the internet. The Trump-friendly New York Post published a story based on the stolen emails three weeks before the 2020 election and Twitter briefly blocked “re-tweets” of the Post story because of concerns about the authenticity of the stolen emails.

          Twenty-four hours after blocking links to the New York Post story, Twitter reconsidered its decision and, on October 16, 2020, allowed users to re-tweet a link to the Post story. In the meantime, the NYTimes and Washington Post ran articles based on the emails stolen from Hunter Biden’s hard drive. So, there was plenty of opportunity for the American public to satisfy its prurient interest in Hunter Biden’s drug-addled sexual escapades before the 2020 election. The media obliged that interest. Big time.

          In the GOP re-telling of that 24-hour blackout by Twitter of the NYPost story, the 2020 election was tipped from Trump to Biden based on “government censorship” of the NYPost story about Hunter Biden’s laptop. Thus, Republicans now claim that “the government” caused “election interference” that cost Trump his rightful victory in 2020. [One pesky detail that Republicans routinely omit is that Donald Trump was “the government” in October of 2020 when Twitter briefly suppressed the NYPost story.]

          Separately, an FBI informant reported information about an alleged bribe paid by Burisma to “the Bidens.” Although the informant was deemed credible, he could not vouch for the credibility of his source! Because the reported information (summarized on an FBI Form “FD-1023”) contained information that could not be verified, the FBI refused to provide Congress with a copy of the Form 1023. The FBI did allow members of Congress to view the Form 1023 on the condition that they not make copies.

          Which brings us to the last 48 hours in Congress.

          On Wednesday, during a hearing relating to an IRS whistleblower’s (false) claims about the Hunter Biden tax investigation, Marjorie Taylor Greene held up a picture of a nude Hunter Biden engaged in a sex act with a prostitute. The uncensored display of “revenge porn” was irrelevant to the proceeding and a disgraceful act that should have resulted in the immediate reprimand (and expulsion) of Green from the House. But House Republicans all thought it was great fun, never mind that the picture was stolen from a private citizen’s hard drive that was entered into the Congressional Record (in full) by Matt Gaetz.

          Marjorie Taylor Greene’s actions dishonor Congress. If she were a company employee, church member, or Girl Scout leader who engaged in that act, she would be fired, ex-communicated, or reported to social services for investigation. But in the GOP House, her obscene antics are celebrated. Indeed, as one reader (Philip T) noted,

That's not even the worst part. After Greene shared the photo on the House floor, she then sent the photo to her email list which presumably included people who didn't consent to seeing pornography for political gain. No other reason, other than to score cheap political points. I can’t imagine if AOC, or Pelosi sent out a [pornographic photo] for fundraising or as proof that they are doing their job. They'd be kicked out of their party or have the decency to resign.

          On Thursday, the House Judiciary Committee heard testimony from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who obliged GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik by saying that he believes the Hunter Biden laptop story could have changed the outcome of the 2020 election. RFK Jr. is now enabling another GOP conspiracy theory. Shame on RFK Jr., and shame on the House Republicans for giving RFK Jr. a platform to spread his dangerous lies about vaccines.

[Lawrence O’Donnell delivered a masterful takedown of RFK Jr.’s wasted life and career. See Lawrence O'Donnell Trashes "Walking Tragedy" RFK Jr.: He "Knows Nothing About Censorship," Using His "Kennedy Privilege" | Video | RealClearPolitics.]

          Also on Thursday, Senator Chuck Grassley released a copy of the confidential FBI Form 302 relating to the unverified information about an alleged bribe from Bursima to “the Bidens.” Since the FBI refused to release a copy of that form, Grassley apparently violated the agreement between Congress and the FBI for viewing the form. See The Hill, Republicans release FBI form with unverified Biden-Burisma allegations.

          A statement by the FBI explained the restrictions on members of Congress in viewing the form:

Consistent with our agreement, Committee Members were provided an admonishment prior to reviewing the document that the information contained within the subpoenaed FD-1023 could not be disseminated outside of the House sensitive compartmented information facility. The Committee and its Members were specifically told that ‘wider distribution could pose a risk of physical harm to FBI sources or others.

          And yet, despite that admonishment, Senator Grassley released Form-1023 relating to unfounded accusations against Hunter Biden. It is unclear where Grassley obtained the form, although he suggested he obtained it from an unidentified “whistleblower” (read: Someone who stole the form from the FBI).

          In short, the actions of Marjorie Taylor Greene, Elise Stefanik/RFK Jr., and Chuck Grassley over the last 48 hours show that Congress has become a cesspool of GOP depravity and lies. Democrats must take back control of Congress and begin to restore regular order and decency to an institution that is rotting from within.

Concluding Thoughts.

          In the eight years between 2016 and 2024, the cohort of voters will have changed by a net 52 million voters. That difference is driven by younger people entering the pool of eligible voters and older people exiting the pool. Those 52 million new voters—mostly “Gen Z”—constitute 20% of all voters today. In other words, no one should expect 2024 to be a repeat of 2016 (or 2020). That is the point of an op-ed by Celinda Lake and Mac Heller in WaPo, Opinion  2024 won’t be a Trump-Biden replay. You can thank Gen Z for that. (This article is accessible to all.)

          The Lake/Heller article does not say that Democrats can sit back and expect demographics to propel them to victory. Far from it. But the data show that the electorate is younger, more educated, and more issues-focused than in 2016 when Trump won. Those factors tend to favor Democrats but do not guarantee success.

          Lake and Heller address the nuances of the demographic changes that are reshaping the electorate. The takeaway is that Democrats are better positioned than Republicans to take advantage of those changes. And they include these words of advice for Democrats:

Meet young voters where they are: on social media, not cable news. Make your messages short, funny and somehow sarcastic yet authentic and earnest at the same time. Your focus should be issues first, issues second, candidates third and party identity never.

          Democrats can certainly deliver messages using the above template. Indeed, the White House social media director has been spot-on with that messaging over the last six months. See President Biden trolls Marjorie Taylor Greene on Twitter: ‘I approve this message’. In short, we have every reason to be hopeful, but no reason to be complacent.

          I will try to send a short note on Friday for the weekend but may be out of internet range. If you don’t hear from me over the weekend, do not worry! I will be back online on Sunday evening.

          Enjoy the weekend!