President Trump is pretending to be unfazed by losing control of the House of Representatives last night, but the truth is he knows he’s cornered. That’s why he wasted no time after his defeat moving to shut down Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation. He also threatened Democrats with retribution if they use their newly-won investigative power to hold him accountable. This is the real deal: The Mueller investigation has never been under greater threat. Don’t say we didn’t warn you! Less than 24 hours after polls closed, Trump asked for and received Attorney General Jeff Sessions’s resignation (I.e. fired him) and installed Sessions’s chief of staff Matthew Whitaker—a Trump loyalist—as his acting attorney general. Before joining the Justice Department, Whitaker repeatedly attacked the Mueller investigation:. - In an appearance on CNN last year, Whitaker said, "I could see a scenario where Jeff Sessions is replaced with a recess appointment and that attorney general doesn’t fire Bob Mueller, but he just reduces his budget to so low that his investigation grinds to almost a halt.”
- He also argued in a CNN opinion piece that Mueller’s investigation was becoming a “witch hunt” for encroaching on Trump’s “business dealings.”
- He tweeted skeptically and critically about the Mueller investigation regularly last summer, before Sessions hired him.
This is all particularly ominous because Whitaker, unlike Sessions, is not recused from the Mueller investigation—at least not at the moment—and there’s no reason to believe Trump would have picked Whitaker if he didn’t believe Whitaker was corrupt. Whitaker is thus likely to ignore his obvious conflicts of interests and take authority over the Mueller investigation away from Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who currently oversees it. Republicans, predictably, did absolutely nothing to reverse or neutralize this stunning abuse of power. Democrats reacted with alarm and a newfound sense of purpose. “Americans must have answers immediately as to the reasoning behind @realDonaldTrump removing Jeff Sessions from @TheJusticeDept,” wrote Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who will chair the House Judiciary Committee in January. “Why is the President making this change and who has authority over Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation? We will be holding people accountable.” The problem? Lame-duck Republicans remain in control of Congress for the next two months. By the time Democrats take over the House, Whitaker might have pulled the plug on the Russia investigation. If Mueller made no contingency plans for this moment, Whitaker could end the investigation before Mueller has finished his work, potentially sparing from justice Trump campaign officials who conspired with Russian intelligence to subvert the 2016 election.
From Brian: Whatever happens, Democrats will be able to investigate the Trump-Russia conspiracy, and Trump’s efforts to obstruct the Mueller investigation. Trump knows this, which is why his first comment on the coming Democratic majority was a threat that he and Senate Republicans would use their investigative powers to harass Democrats if Democrats investigate Trump. Trump knows he expanded his Senate majority last night. He knows Senate Republicans will confirm loyalists throughout the government; he believes Senate Republicans will help him seek retribution and muddy the waters if Democrats conduct proper oversight; and he’s confident they will block any effort to impeach him and remove him from office. Under the circumstances, plunging the country into a constitutional crisis and waiting it out for two more years might be his best hope for evading justice.
| You guys watched the returns (on our Emmy-worthy livestream)—but in case you want to relive the highlights: The House: Democrats picked up at least 26 House seats—enough to claim control of the lower chamber. - Voters elected a record number of women, young people, first-time candidates, and people of color.
- Republican voters returned both federally indicted representatives to the House. Law and order, and so forth.
The Senate: Republicans have increased their Senate majority. - Democrats retired “Dirty” Dean Heller in Nevada, but lost seats in Indiana, North Dakota, and Missouri.
- The Senate race in Arizona remains too close to call, and the Senate race in Florida is so close that it will likely trigger an automatic recount. There will also be a runoff in Mississippi, which Republicans are expected to win.
Governors: Democrats held all seven contested governorships and picked up seven more, while Republicans held on to governorships in Florida, Ohio, and Arizona, and picked one up from an independent in Alaska. - Democrat Stacey Abrams is not conceding the Georgia governorship to Republican Brian Kemp, in hope that, when all ballots are counted, Kemp will fall below 50 percent of the vote, triggering a runoff. Kemp is currently ahead with 50.4 percent of the vote and is leading Abrams by 68,000 votes, but Abrams’ campaign insists that 77,000 mail ballots (many from the state’s most Democratic areas) must be counted.
- The states Dems flipped include Wisconsin (bye Scott Walker), Kansas (on behalf of everyone, go fuck yourself, Kris Kobach), and Colorado (on behalf of Gay News with Jon Lovett, congrats to Jared Polis).
Ballot initiatives: A lot of good shit happened! - Florida’s Amendment 4 restored voting rights to nearly 1.5 million felons who completed their sentences. This will have a lasting impact on the state’s voting demographics, and Democrats should fight tooth and nail to stop Republicans if they try to disenfranchise these citizens once again.
- Idaho, Utah, and Nebraska all expanded Medicaid, meaning hundreds of thousands of people will gain access to health care.
- Missouri and Arkansas both voted to increase their states’ minimum wages.
- Maryland and Michigan passed measures to enact same-day voter registration on Election Day, and Michigan and Colorado passed measures that will give the power to draw the states’ congressional and legislative districts to an independent redistricting commission.
- Louisiana repealed a Jim Crow era law and that allowed 10 jurors out of 12 to issue guilty verdicts in felony trials. Verdicts there will now have to be unanimous.
Pizza: A group called Pizza to the Polls used reports of long lines at polling places nationwide to send 8,000 pizzas to hungry, waiting voters.
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