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CHARLIE SYKES: And the Winner is....
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CHRISTIAN LANSINGER: No, Congress Should Not Make Qualified Immunity the Law of the Land.
LAST WEEK, THE AMERICA FIRST POLICY INSTITUTE (AFPI), one of several new policy groups run by acolytes of Donald Trump, published a report calling for Congress to codify âqualified immunityâ nationwide. The reportâs author, an alumnus of the Trump Department of Homeland Security, Scott G. Erickson, argues that police officers need special legal protections so they can keep their communities safe, that eliminating qualified immunity would be dangerous, and that legislators could find a way to address âthe concerns of accountability and transparencyâ while also lastingly making qualified immunity the law of the land.
But enshrining qualified immunity does not, so to speak, place Americans first. Instead, it places all government officialsâprosecutors, agency bureaucrats, and yes, police officersâfirst, and the American people last.
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KIMBERLY WEHLE: Trouble for Trump: Mark Meadows Talks.
ON TUESDAY, NEWS BROKE that Donald Trumpâs former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, has been cooperating with Special Counsel Jack Smith in exchange for immunity from prosecution regarding any statements he made under oath. Meadows has reportedly spoken with Smithâs team at least three times, including once before a federal grand juryâthe same body that indicted Trump in August on four counts: conspiracy to defraud the United States, conspiracy to obstruct an official proceeding, obstruction of and attempt to obstruct an official proceeding, and conspiracy âto injure, oppress, threaten, and intimidateâ people from exercising their constitutional âright to vote, and to have oneâs vote counted.â
đšOVERTIMEđš
Happy Thursday! Programming reminder: No TNB tonight as folks head back from the Big Easy. I heard great things about the event, with special guest Walter Isaacson joining last minute birthday guest James Carville.
What awaits Mike Johnson⊠My buddy Liam Donovan, who still operates in GOP circles, in the NYT on what awaits the new Speaker. Glad we did that?
The new speaker⊠Has some interesting thoughts on school shootings. Until he gets vacated, itâll be a depressing new âchoose your own adventureâ game for all of us.
Itâs well past time⊠To expel George Santos.
Cheaters never prosper⊠After ruining a fishing tournament, a Pennsylvania man gets caught cheating⊠again. But stay for the kicker about bad parenting.
Hereâs how a childrenâs privacy law⊠figures into that big legal effort against Meta.
The gift for the pedant that has everything⊠A £795 copy of 1984 made out of old Dan Brown novels.
Shabbat at Times Square⊠A powerful image and video.
Red in the face⊠Trumpâs very bad day in New York.
Mike Johnson and Democracy⊠A useful thread from David Pepper.
âThe British comedy of the yearâŠâ Might do pretty well here, too.
Mysterious bylines appeared on a USA Today site.... Did these writers exist?
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