Crooked Media - What A Day: Comer at me, bro.

- Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ), actually describing just what happens when a shitty network doesn’t perform well

Now that the dust has settled and a normal House majority would begin getting down to business of legislating, House Republicans will of course not be doing that. 
 

• Because the House GOP is full of petty little miscreants who live for drama, their actual legislative agenda is thin (because they never had any intention of actually governing), but what they do have in spades are plans to “investigate” anything and everything Democrats have done in the past few years. Most of their “investigative priorities” seem to be copied-and-pasted straight from the chyrons of every Fox News show. But it’s not just the new subcommittees like the “Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government” (you gotta be fucking kidding me) who will be leading these charges, powerful standing committees like oversight, intelligence, and judiciary will also be wasting precious time and resources on these sham investigations.  

• House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer will lead an investigation into the business dealings and personal finances and probably nudes of Fox News boogeyman Hunter Biden. On Wednesday oversight committee Republicans renewed their investigation into his art dealings, pushing for details on who is purchasing his work as part of their good-faith, bipartisan investigation of undue influence over the children of presidents, including Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner ongoing campaign to harass Joe Biden and create the false impression of family-wide corruption. Comer et al may be trying to neutralize the damage Trump did to the GOP by being the head of a crime family, but just as a factual matter the Biden family isn’t built on a fraudulent real-estate empire and doesn’t use the White House as a tool of self-dealing. What a great use of everyone’s time.

• We’ve certainly seen this before. In 2019, Trump’s Attorney General William Barr sought to dig into a theory he shared with then-President Trump that the Russia investigation stemmed from a conspiracy by intelligence or law enforcement agencies to hurt Trump politically. Barr appointed then-U.S. Attorney John Durham (hall-of-fame prosecutor name if we’ve ever heard one) to do his dirty work and later granted him special-counsel status to continue his investigation after Trump left office. That was four years ago: much, much longer than the duration of the Russia investigation itself. Now Durham’s investigation is concluding without uncovering any such “deep state plot.” In fact, a comprehensive review by the New York Times found that the Durham inquiry was compromised by unethical conduct and fueled partisan conspiracy theories which would be laughed out of court. Yeah, that sounds right.

Senate Democrats could investigate that abuse of power, but most likely it will fall to the Biden administration to assure Republicans can’t paint a false picture of public corruption in U.S. politics.
 

• On Wednesday, the Treasury Department refused to provide House Republicans with any “suspicious activity reports” (which attach to large financial transactions) it may have on Hunter Biden’s accounts or other members of the Biden family. In a letter to Comer, Treasury’s legislative affairs chief Jonathan Davidson said that the department needs more details about why the panel is seeking such “highly sensitive” information and that “improper disclosure” could undermine certain Executive Branch interests, while still not acknowledging whether any such reports on the Bidens even exist. Of course, Comer immediately responded by accusing the Biden Administration of coordinating a cover-up, but naturally didn’t address Davidson’s very legitimate request. 

• Assistant Attorney General Carlos Uriarte has been handed the unpleasant task of fielding the slew of demands and subpoenas Republicans plan to direct at the Justice Department. As DOJ’s liaison to Capitol Hill, Uriarte has spent months preparing for Jim Jordan’s chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee, because Jordan has made his plan to drown the department in spectacle abundantly clear. But the Assistant AG is being a cool customer (can’t relate) and told the Los Angeles Times that he believes congressional oversight of DOJ “makes the department better.” Godspeed, my man. 

Republicans have made no secret of the fact that they want revenge, or at least to obscure who’s at fault for things like the January 6 insurrection, or violating the emoluments clause. So how many times do we have to go through this before the national news media and even certain Democrats grasp that the GOP views investigations exclusively as tools for creating propaganda?

We see all you friends of the pod out there, growing and improving in the new year. The Crooked Store decided to follow suit and update our Friend Of The Pod merch for our ever-evolving listeners. The new and improved pieces include classic t-shirts, crewnecks, and hats in fresh new colors. There’s even some camo so you can blend in with the forest and/or your uncles who like hunting. 
 

It’s all available now at crooked.com/store.

Israeli forces killed at least 10 Palestinians and wounded several more in another large-scale raid today in the occupied West Bank, the deadliest single operation in the territory in 20 years. 

The National Archives has asked all former living past presidents and vice presidents to review their personal records for classified materials. Yeah, we’re looking at you, Dan Quayle. 

SGov. Kristi Noem (R-SD) and the state’s Republican attorney general said that the state will prosecute pharmacists who dispense abortion pills following a recent FDA rule change that broadens access to the pills. 

The United States economy posted strong fourth-quarter growth numbers. 

Five former Memphis police officers have been charged with second-degree murder and other crimes in the arrest and death of Tyre Nichols, a black man whom the officers beat to death after a traffic stop. 

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) has entered the race for the Senate seat currently held by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), joining Reps. Barbara Lee (D-CA) and Katie Porter (D-CA).

Online news-giant Buzzfeed is reportedly planning to rely on artificial intelligence to enhance its quizzes and generate personalized content for its audiences, citing a memo from CEO Jonah Peretti, who said he plans to use more A.I. in the company’s business and editorial operations in 2023. Distressingly, Buzzfeed stock shot up more than 90 percent today following that disclosure. Just add that to the growing list of examples of the stock market performing inversely to working people’s quality of life.

35X Bigger Than Amazon? 

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos surprised investors when he revealed that one emerging technology could be the key to Amazon’s future success…. In fact, Bezos argues that “it’s hard to overstate the impact” of this game-changing technology. The CEO of ARK Investments takes Bezos further: “We think [it] could approach $17 trillion in market cap - which would be 35 Amazons.” What in the world could be worth 35 Amazons? 

Why are billionaires flocking to this trillion-dollar technology? The answer is a radical breakthrough that Wired says is “the rocket fuel of the AI.” And this giant leap forward has many on Wall Street very excited. And if you’re an investor, I haven’t even told you the best part… Because one remarkable company is absolutely dominating this exploding market.

The good news is that you can find out all about this company and this extraordinary technology today because The Motley Fool has laid out the full story on this incredible tech trend in an exclusive report. And you might want to see this report before you invest $1 on any tech company. But if you want to get in on this opportunity, I encourage you to act quickly. Because the story of the coming boom may already be starting to leak out.


Learn more about this new tech.

Virginia State Senate Democrats defeated a slate of bills today that would have restricted abortion access in the state, including a proposed 15-week ban that had been prioritized by Gov. Glenn Younkin (R-VA).

The Biden administration announced today that it will ban mining in Minnesota’s vast Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, the latest effort to deliver on conservation pledges. 

Egypt unveiled dozens of new archeological finds today, including two ancient tombs dating as far back as 2500 B.C., after a yearlong excavation. 

Two new studies contain good news about the efficacy of the updated Covid-19 vaccine, with one suggesting it is more effective than the previous monovalent vaccine.