Closing arguments in Jan. 6 investigation

A play-by-play preview of the day's congressional news

Oct 13, 2022 View in browser   By Katherine Tully-McManus With an assist from Sarah Ferris CLOSING ARGUMENTS: "CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER" — That is how the Jan. 6 panel is poised to describe the threat former President Donald Trump posed to democracy and freedom, backed by a movement and followers he stoked into action. Today the panel will "take a step back" to examine the push to undo President Joe Biden's win in a two-and-a-half hour hearing with promises of new video footage and documents from the Secret Service trove – but no live witnesses expected. In some ways, the hearing will serve as a sort of segue to the criminal case that federal prosecutors are building, though the panel has strongly delineated its distinct mission from the prosecutors. They see their role as informing the public and developing legislative recommendations to prevent future attacks on the peaceful transfer of power. "We think we very, very much proved the case in a compelling way by the end of that hearing series," select panel member Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) told Kyle and Nicholas in a recent interview. "And now, frankly, on the criminal side, because we're not the criminal committee, it's up to the DOJ. … They have the torch, and we'll see where they go with it." The hearing will likely feature evidence obtained after the slate of summer hearings, like interviews with cabinet members about conversations regarding potential invocation of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from power and documentary footage of longtime Trump ally Roger Stone. A clip to watch for: Stone, one day before Election Day, telling an associate, "Fuck the voting, let's get right to the violence," while laughing. In the two weeks since the hearing was first scheduled and then postponed due to Hurricane Ian, the committee obtained testimony from conservative activist Virginia Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. It also heard from a key Proud Boy leader who pleaded guilty to seditious conspiracy. Work still ahead: This final hearing is not the end of the panel's work. The select committee is writing its final report, with aims to release a final document in December. They are also weighing when to release hundreds of witness interview recordings and transcripts. JAN. 6 AND THE ELECTION NEEDLE — Democrats have been hammering the GOP all year as a danger to democracy. But with under a month to go til the midterms, the issue of Jan. 6 and election-deniers is playing a much more minor role in the midterms compared to issues like abortion. That's because even as a majority of House Republicans voted to oppose certifying 2020 results, the reality is almost all of them are in ruby red seats, limiting how hard Dems can hammer them on the issue. In all, less than 2 percent of all broadcast TV spending in House races has gone toward Jan. 6 ads, according to ad-tracking firm AdImpact. But, but, but: Dems are still running ads about the issue in a handful of swing seats -- think: rural Wisconsin, suburban New Jersey and Phoenix's East Valley -- where they say it is making a dent. And even if it's not running in ads, Dem candidates are bringing it up in other settings, like debates. That includes Greg Landsman, the Dem running against Rep. Steve Chabot (R-Ohio), who called the congressman's vote not to certify the election "dangerous" and "disqualifying." Jordain, Sarah and Ally deconstruct why Jan. 6 isn't a central message for Democrats in the midterms.   SUBSCRIBE TO POWER SWITCH: The energy landscape is profoundly transforming. Power Switch is a daily newsletter that unlocks the most important stories driving the energy sector and the political forces shaping critical decisions about your energy future, from production to storage, distribution to consumption. Don't miss out on Power Switch, your guide to the politics of energy transformation in America and around the world. SUBSCRIBE TODAY.     GOOD MORNING! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this Thursday, October 13, where we're still watching bears even though the competition is over. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) presides over a hearing on Capitol Hill Oct. 12, 2022. (Francis Chung/E&E News/POLITICO) THE JUDICIAL CLOCK TICKS — There's a major question hanging over the midterm elections in the Senate: are there just two months left for the chamber to approve President Joe Biden's judicial picks or two more years? On Tuesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee took up six more lifetime judicial appointments, keeping up a quick pace that matches that under former President Donald Trump. But if Republicans take the Senate, lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are anticipating a return to what judicial approval looked like at the end of the Obama administration: historically slow. "For the last two years, the Democrat-run Senate has been more of a rubber stamp than an equal partner on judicial nominations," Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said in a statement to POLITICO. "I expect that to change if Republicans are in the majority next year." If Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) takes the Judiciary gavel, he's promising "more thorough scrutiny than they have been for the last two years," for nominees. He famously refused to hold a hearing for Obama's Supreme Court nominee, now-Attorney General Merrick Garland, in 2016. That leaves Democrats both racing to keep confirmations coming while they battle to keep Senate control. "We have something like 80 federal vacancies — more coming. To leave those judicial seats vacant is to really challenge the Republican message in this campaign that they're all for law and order," Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said in an interview Wednesday. "You can't have law and order with an empty bench and no judge." Burgess has more on the judicial calculus in the Senate. RUBIO SETS A PRICE TAG — Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) is asking for $33 billion in federal disaster relief funding as his home state begins to recover from Hurricane Ian. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is still assessing the devastation and final cost estimates aren't yet locked in. Rubio's request includes: $12 billion for Army Corps of Engineers to repair damages and handle flood control Nearly $1 billion for pollution caused by the storm $10 billion to top up the FEMA disaster relief fund $400 million for fisheries and debris removal $150 million for the Coast Guard $120 million to clean up national parks and wildlife areas $ 5 million for Community Development Block Grants. Caitlin has more on Rubio's request and the current state of FEMA's disaster relief account. LAXALT GETS GOSAR'D — When fourteen members of your own family endorse your opponent, we call that Gosar family energy . It's brewing in Nevada where fourteen members of Republican Senate candidate Adam Laxalt's family announced Wednesday that they'd be endorsing Democratic incumbent Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto in one of the most-watched races this midterm cycle. They didn't record a punchy ad, like Rep. Paul Gosar's (R-Ariz.) six siblings did, but they did pen a three-page letter praising Cortez Masto. The Nevada Independent has more on the Laxalt family division, including letters his family traded during his 2018 bid for governor.   STEP INSIDE THE WEST WING: What's really happening in West Wing offices? Find out who's up, who's down, and who really has the president's ear in our West Wing Playbook newsletter, the insider's guide to the Biden White House and Cabinet. For buzzy nuggets and details that you won't find anywhere else, subscribe today.     QUICK LINKS  We sat in on John Fetterman's endorsement interview. Here's what he said about Bob Casey, abortion, and inflation, from Jonathan Tamari and Julia Terruso at The Philadelphia Inquirer   Herschel Walker Says His Grandma Was 'Full-Blood Cherokee.' His Mom Says Otherwise, from Jennifer Bendry at HuffPost How Democratic men are centering abortion access on the campaign trail, from Shefali Luthra at The 19th The most surprising battleground for the House: New England, from Leigh Ann Caldwell and Theodoric Meyer at The Washington Post U.S. Reaches Agreement With Victims of Doctor Who Abused Native American Patients, from Christopher Weaver and Dan Frosch at The Wall Street Journal Wisconsin's Ron Johnson Showing Strength in State Biden Won, from John McCormick at The Wall Street Journal TRANSITIONS  Sam Franco is now deputy director of legislative and public affairs at the Architect of the Capitol. He most recently was chief of the legislative team at the Department of Veterans Affairs. Liz Natonski is now director of scheduling for Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.). She most recently was chief of operations for Rep. Jason Crow (D-Colo.). TODAY IN CONGRESS The House and Senate are out. AROUND THE HILL Just the one big hearing. TRIVIA WEDNESDAY'S WINNER: Dan Cohen correctly answered that Abraham Baldwin drafted the charter for America's first state-chartered university, the University of Georgia. He also served in the Senate and as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention. TODAY'S QUESTION from Dan: This war hero and 35-year military veteran ran on those credentials to reach the White House, but he never saw active combat. The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your answers to ktm@politico.com. GET HUDDLE emailed to your phone each morning. Follow Katherine on Twitter @ktullymcmanus   Follow us

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