BY PRIYANKA ARIBINDI, BRIAN BEUTLER

& CROOKED MEDIA

Wednesday, December 5, 2018

—Rudy Giuliani, the president’s criminal lawyer, on Robert Mueller

GREEN BAY HACKERS

The GOP’s contempt for democracy has never been this naked.

Wisconsin Republicans got wiped out in statewide elections and lost the legislative popular vote in a landslide. But they’re unwilling to let a little democracy get in their way. GOP lawmakers there passed a sweeping bill before the sun rose Wednesday morning to strip incoming Democratic officials, including Governor-elect Tony Evers and the incoming attorney general, of some of their executive powers.

Don’t take our word for it. Wisconsin’s GOP Assembly speaker, Robin Vos, gave away the game on Tuesday, warning Republicans that if they didn’t pass the legislation, "we are going to have a very liberal governor who is going to enact policies that are in direct contrast to what many of us believe in." It’s a blatant attempt to subvert the will of the voters.

If it becomes law, the legislation will:

• Limit early voting
• Require Evers to get permission from legislators to adjust programs like Medicaid run by both the federal and state government
• Allow the Senate to veto Evers’s political appointees
• Require the attorney general to seek approval from lawmakers before making key legal decisions
• Allow legislators to intervene in litigation—such as the Republican-led lawsuit aimed at destroying the Affordable Care Act—even over the objections of the attorney general
• Prevent Evers from banning guns in the state Capitol without the permission of the GOP-led legislature
• Require the governor to deliver the State of the State address in a MAGA hat

Republicans insist that the legislation contains “long-needed [changes] in the balance of power” away from the executive branch—changes that they never contemplated when Republican Scott Walker was in office. Probably a coincidence.

Governor-elect Tony Evers weighed in on the outrage, saying “power-hungry politicians rushed through sweeping changes to our laws to expand their own power and override the will of the people of Wisconsin who asked for change on November 6th.”

From Brian: National Republicans, who organize campaigns across the country around the myth that fraudulent voters override the will of the people, have been silent about their own members mounting this silent coup. They’ve likewise said nothing about a vast election-fraud scheme in North Carolina, in which Republicans appear to have stolen, trashed, and doctored Democratic absentee ballots. At least in North Carolina, it seems likely that people will go to jail; what’s going on in Wisconsin is a crime in its own right, and there should be consequences for it.   

Special Counsel Robert Mueller has recommended no prison time for Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn, because Flynn agreed to cooperate early, and provided “substantial assistance” to both the Russia investigation and at least one other federal criminal probe. Since pleading guilty to lying to the FBI last year, Flynn has sat for 19 (!) interviews with prosecutors. Imagine getting to the end of interview 18 and thinking, “yep, one more.” Mueller redacted nearly all of the details in the sentencing memo about the assistance Flynn provided, because the investigations are ongoing.

Global carbon emissions reached a new all-time high this year, dashing hopes that they had peaked between 2014-2016. According to a new report, global emissions were up by 1.6 percent in 2017, and are projected to climb another 2.7 percent this year. So… add that to the list of shit you think about before falling to sleep.

Republican Brad Raffensperger won the runoff election to become Georgia’s new secretary of state with 52 percent of the vote, defeating Democrat John Barrow in a contest to oversee state elections. Raffensperger’s predecessor, Brian Kemp, abused his position to rig his own gubernatorial election, and Democrats must now watch Raffensperger like a hawk.

New York City passed the country’s first-ever minimum wage for Uber and Lyft drivers. Starting in January, drivers for ride-sharing apps in the city will make around $17.22 per hour after expenses, up from the current average of $11.90. Because the drivers are considered independent contractors, the city’s minimum hourly wage, which is set to reach $15 per hour in January, didn’t apply to them.

Ousted CBS CEO Les Moonves destroyed evidence to obstruct an internal investigation of claims that he sexually abused subordinates, in an effort to preserve both his reputation and his $120 million severance package. This evidence should allow CBS to deny him severance.

Serial sexual predator Jeffrey Epstein settled a lawsuit yesterday that would have allowed some of his accusers, who were underage at the time, to be heard in court. During the settlement hearing, Epstein apologized—not to his dozens of victims, but to one of their lawyers. Fortunately, a different lawsuit in federal court may provide the women another chance to air their accusations publicly.

Former Massachusetts governor and rumored 2020 candidate Deval Patrick announced he will not run for president—an early upset for the fans at home working on their Democratic-candidate brackets.

Pour one out for Cardi B and Offset, who are separating, according to an Instagram video by Ms. B herself. Also on Cardi’s IG: the first public photo of her and Offset’s daughter, Kulture.

Pink salt has become increasingly popular, but it isn’t actually healthier than regular salt and doesn’t actually come from the Himalayas…

On Crooked Conversations: Crooked contributor Winter Minisee talks to TOMS founder Blake Mycoskie to discuss what companies can do about gun violence, what motivated TOMS to get involved as a business in the fight, and how to change the country’s dialogue about gun ownership and violence.

Listen →

When presented with data projecting that the national debt will become unmanageable on its current trajectory, Trump indicated that he doesn’t care because it won’t happen until after his term is over: “Yeah, but I won’t be here.”

Trump is uniquely selfish in a lot of ways, but this is also how Republicans have governed for decades—exploding the debt while in power, then demanding Democrats clean it up later.

Following violent protests by the “Yellow Vest” movement, the French government announced that it will suspend a 25 cent per gallon hike in fuel taxes that was implemented to improve environmental standards.

In Israel, thousands are protesting domestic violence against women, and calling for more funding and action by the government to address the problem. Twenty four women and girls have been murdered in Israel this year in domestic violence incidents.

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Gwyneth Paltrow thinks she made yoga famous, and The Cut thought it was cool to say that Priyanka Chopra, a woman who has been a global superstar for almost two decades, is a “scam artist,” who was on the hunt to marry a white actor from Hollywood to boost her career. Amazing the things people will say when no one tells them how they sound!!

Uhh… who wants to tell him?

This nine-year-old got snowball fights decriminalized in his Colorado town after convincing the town board to repeal the outdated law.

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