The MAGA Disinfo Machine Takes New Aim At Jack Smith
A lot has happened. Here are some of the things. This is the TPM Morning Memo.
Retribution: Arctic Fox Edition
Republicans on the Hill and the right-wing media, in tandem with the Trump administration, are creating a MAGA feedback loop by releasing the DOJ and FBI files from the “Arctic Fox” investigation, claiming that they contain damaging new revelations that have not yet been publicly reported or contained in Special Counsel Jack Smith’s own report, and by howling in false outrage over the alleged deep state conspiracy against President Trump and the January 6 participants.
This is a model of disinformation first perfected during the BENGHAZI attack and constantly re-adapted in the Trump era.
One of the challenges is that each conspiracy theory develops its own slang that becomes quite quickly impenetrable to outsiders but remains a tribal signifier with powerful effects.
Suffice it to say for our present purposes that Arctic Fox was the FBI investigation into the plot to overturn the 2020 election that ended up being a precursor to the Smith investigation. All the noise a few weeks ago about Smith obtaining toll records (blatantly, erroneously, like wiretaps) from GOP congressmen? This was a legal and already known aspect of the Arctic Fox investigation, but Hill’s Republicans seized on newly released documents to present it as a scandal they had just discovered. Smith’s demand to testify on the Hill is part of this latest outbreak of targeted outrage.
As the mainstream media struggles to cover the true dynamics of these disinformation campaigns, the latest, ever-evolving deep state conspiracy is becoming a right-wing media staple, fueled by so-called new revelations from the administration and laundered through Hill Republicans.
While Smith has been in Trump’s crosshairs since the day he was named special advisor, the new drip-drip of “revelations” is fueling the fire to seek retaliation against Smith with new intensity. Given the ongoing lawsuits against former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James, and President Trump’s repeated threats against Smith, we might well view this new spasm of misinformation as having softened the ground for bogus prosecutions against Smith.
This gives President Trump another opportunity to demand that Smith be investigated and imprisoned without necessarily ordering it directly: “These thugs should all be investigated and put in prison. A disgrace to humanity. Deranged Jack Smith is a criminal!!!” Trump posted yesterday.
Deep in the memory hole
After suspending prosecutors who dared to characterize January 6 as “a mob of rioters,” Trump’s DOJ filed a new sentencing memo in the case of Taylor Taranto, who is expected to be sentenced today.
By the time he was pardoned by President Trump for his role on January 6, Tarente had been convicted of threatening and unrelated gun charges after being arrested in June 2023 near the Obamas’ Washington home.
Here’s what was redacted in the new sentencing memo
It will be interesting to see if the judge has anything to say about this at sentencing. Stay tuned…
Oversight of Operation Midway Blitz
- The Trump administration immediately appealed a Chicago federal judge’s order requiring CBP Commander Greg Bovino to report daily in person to him on the use of force in Operation Midway Blitz. The 7th Circuit Court of Appeals temporarily stayed the portion of the order requiring Bovino’s daily reports while it considered the appeal.
- The Supreme Court has requested additional information in the case challenging President Trump’s plan to deploy the National Guard to Chicago. The high court appears to have found an elegant way out of the case identified by Georgetown law professor Mary Lederman.
- The Pentagon has ordered the National Guard to create “rapid reaction” forces in every state and territory by January to respond to riots and civil unrest, the WSJ reports.
Dystopia is now
Immigration agents are using facial recognition technology on American streets to confirm citizenship status, 404 Media reports.
Keep an eye out for this…
The U.S. attorney handling the criminal case against Kilmar Abrego Garcia revealed to the judge yesterday that he had received new documents he had never seen before from the Homeland Security Investigations surveillance agent, who was overseeing the investigation into allegations of human trafficking.
This revelation comes as the Trump administration is fighting tooth and nail to avoid providing advance information to Abrego Garcia in support of his demand for vindictive prosecution. Suddenly, coughing up “a significant number of documents” the day before the judge’s deadline to provide him with ex parte access to discovery is… suspicious.
The judge has scheduled two court days next week to rule on the vindictive indictment request, but the dispute over discovery is jeopardizing that schedule.
THE OTHER Abrego Garcia?
DHS says it received no federal court order barring the deportation of a 44-year-old man who had lived in the United States since he was a child until he was already deported to Laos. The ACLU has joined the case and is asking the judge to order the repatriation of Chanthila Souvannarath.
The long anti-voting rights game
Anticipating that the Roberts Court would eviscerate the Voting Right Act, the Louisiana Legislature passed a bill pushing back next year’s primary elections by about a month in hopes of having more time to redraw the congressional map. Louisiana is challenging a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in the Supreme Court, where oral arguments were heard earlier this month. A decision in the case generally would not be expected until the first half of next year, creating a time crunch that some red states are seeking to alleviate by pushing back election dates.
Between a rock and a hard place
DNI Tulsi Gabbard, with help from the Hill, is trying to wrest primary responsibility for counterintelligence from the FBI, sparking a fierce turf battle.
Neither Gabbard nor FBI Director Kash Patel is qualified to lead counterintelligence efforts, but at least the FBI has the experience and capacity. The idea of This The administration’s overhaul of counterintelligence operations is frightening.
Oversight of Gunboat Diplomacy
- The United States carried out a 14th illegal attack on a suspected drug smuggling boat on Wednesday, this time in eastern Pacific waters.
- Deep dive: Just Security examines the Trump administration’s two irreconcilable positions on the status of the Tren de Aragua drug cartel.
Man acquitted of soliciting Trump’s murder on Bluesky
A federal jury in the Eastern District of Virginia has acquitted a former Coast Guard officer accused of soliciting the assassination of President Donald Trump on Bluesky. Prosecutors argued that a Feb. 18 post and earlier social media posts amounted to inciting others to commit violence. Defense attorneys argued that this was speech protected by the First Amendment and that the defendant took no affirmative action to engage in violence.
Charges dropped against man jailed for Charlie Kirk meme
The Tennessee man jailed for more than a month for posting a Charlie Kirk meme on Facebook has been released after prosecutors dropped the charges.
Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
