Good morning, and welcome to RedState's "Morning Minute" — a brief glimpse at which stories are trending at the moment and a look ahead at what the day may bring. We are gearing up for a crazy-busy week, so buckle up and consider this your one-stop shop for news to kickstart your day.
TOP O' THE MORNIN'
Red-Hot at RedState
Priceless: Michael Cohen Begs for a Pardon From Biden on MSNBC
While I think Biden is very likely to pardon some people, particularly Democrats, I think Cohen might not be on that list, and that's probably why he's making a public pitch.
Nothing about this scheme makes sense unless you assume the worst, and right now, I see zero reason not to assume the worst.
How Did Developer Rick Caruso Save Palisades Village When Everything Around It Burned to the Ground?
All I know is, I wish Rick Caruso had been mayor leading up to this tragedy—and during it—instead of Karen Bass.
Trending Across TownHall Media
The Insane Story of Luigi Mangione's Alleged Gun, 3D Printer Files, and the Lawsuit Entangling Them
Luigi Mangione is accused of murder, but now we're being told that the outfit that helped him access plans to build the alleged murder weapon was also behind threats of murder against a rival company.
But one this is certain: Jagmeet Singh isn't going to be leading anyone to the front lines in the great North American war.
Stunner: Why Was Pacific Palisades Reservoir EMPTY? It Gets Worse.
I'm no hydrologist or physicist, but wouldn't water pressure be helped by having water in all the tanks and reservoirs? Am I missing something here?
Watch Gavin Newsom Get Fact-Checked on Live TV Regarding Empty Reservoirs
It’s over, fellas. No one trusts you. No one likes you. And we’ll have fun watching you twist yourselves into pretzels where there’s nowhere to go.
Welcome to the last full Monday of Joe Biden being president! As Mondays go, that makes it a pretty darn good one in our book.
WHAT'S ON TAP?
Today on Capitol Hill...
While there are no hearings set for Monday, this is set to be an extremely busy week on Capitol Hill as President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks begin committee hearings starting Tuesday.
In the House, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is expected to announce the chairs and rosters for the House Intelligence Committee and the House Rules Committee, which could ruffle feathers. Additionally, he'll have to see where the Freedom Caucus members who met with Trump at Mar-a-Lago over the weekend are on reconciliation — they have their work cut out for them.
The Senate is expected to take another procedural vote on the Laken Riley Act late Monday afternoon. With JD Vance (R-OH) having formally resigned his Senate seat, the Republican majority stands at 51-47. However, Jim Justice (R-WV) is expected to be sworn in, perhaps as early as today, and Ohio Governor Mike DeWine should be naming his appointment to replace Vance soon.
White House What's Up
President Joe Biden (seven more days!) will receive his Daily Brief Monday morning. In the afternoon, he'll deliver a foreign policy address at the State Department. After that, he and Vice President Kamala Harris (seven more days!) meet with senior administration officials on the status of the Los Angeles wildfires.
Full Court Press...
As Rusty Weiss notes this morning, Juan Manuel Sierra-Leyva, the man detained by citizens after being spied with a blowtorch near the L.A. wildfires, is due in court on Monday. Given his illegal alien status, it is doubtful the ICE detainer on him will be honored — and he has yet to be charged with arson. We'll continue to monitor this one.
If I tried to describe to y'all the various filings and moves being taken at present in the Southern District of Florida and the 11th Circuit regarding the potential release of (former) Special Counsel Jack Smith's "Final Report," you'd think I'm nuts. (You might anyway, but you'd really think it then.)
The sword fight going on right now in SDFL and the 11th Circuit is rather fascinating. pic.twitter.com/ZvAdFTo6W7
— Susie Moore ⚾️🌻🐶 (@SmoosieQ) January 11, 2025
Suffice it to say the release of the report (Volume 1 or 2) has yet to be determined, and there's a flurry of activity surrounding it. We'll do our best to monitor the situation and report on any significant developments.
Meanwhile, soon-to-be-sworn-in-despite-being-a-"convicted-felon"-for-now President Trump continues to await a ruling from the Appellate Division in his New York civil fraud trial and will, undoubtedly, be appealing to that same court the recent rulings and sentencing of Judge Juan Merchan in his Manhattan business records falsification case.
Addendum: Goodness gracious — I forgot there are oral arguments set in the Supreme Court on Monday as well. A real quick note on those:
- Hewitt v. U.S./Duffy v. U.S. — Whether the First Step Act's sentencing reduction provisions apply to a defendant originally sentenced before the FSA's enactment when that original sentence is judicially vacated, and the defendant is resentenced to a new term of imprisonment after the FSA's enactment.
- Stanley v. City of Sanford — Under the Americans with Disabilities Act, does a former employee — who was qualified to perform her job and who earned post-employment benefits while employed — lose her right to sue over discrimination with respect to those benefits solely because she no longer holds her job?
COMING ATTRACTIONS
As noted above, the big focus this week will be on those Senate confirmation hearings. Here's the latest schedule:
- Doug Collins - Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Jan. 14)
- Pete Hegseth - Secretary of Defense (Jan. 14)
- Doug Burgum - Secretary of the Interior (Jan. 14)
- Kristi Noem - Secretary of Homeland Security (Jan. 15)
- Pam Bondi - Attorney General (Jan. 15)
- Chris Wright - Secretary of Energy (Jan. 15)
- Marco Rubio - Secretary of State (Jan. 15)
- John Ratcliffe - Director of the Central Intelligence Agency (Jan. 15)
- Sean Duffy - Secretary of Transportation (Jan. 15)
- Russ Vought - Director of the Office of Management and Budget (Jan. 15)
- Pam Bondi - Attorney General (Jan. 16 - second round)
- Scott Turner - Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (Jan. 16)
- Lee Zeldin - EPA Administrator (Jan. 16)
- Scott Bessent - Secretary of the Treasury (Jan. 16)
As also noted, Biden will be delivering a foreign policy address Monday afternoon and his farewell address Wednesday evening. Also, we can expect some additional pardons to be forthcoming this week — that could get interesting.
Last but not least, keep an eye on Israel and Hamas — there appears to be some progress on the hostage deal. Pray.
MORNING MUSING
I know I use this space to share what's on my mind most mornings, even if it's of a personal nature, but I'm not sure if what I'm about to share is TMI. Oh well...I would never claim that I'm not an emotional person. I absolutely am. That said, I generally have the ability to shut that aspect of my personality off and go into Spock mode when it comes to a crisis or analyzing legal (and sometimes political) matters. That's actually confused people at times. I don't know if it was my decades as a litigator that drilled that into me or what. In any event, I don't usually get all that emotional when it comes to the political realm. (I do get angry or frustrated frequently — I mean sentimental.)
This morning, I opened my email and found in my Inbox the schedule of events for next weekend and Inauguration Day from the Trump-Vance team. I read through it just to familiarize myself with the schedule and found myself getting teary-eyed. As the doggos in the videos I so frequently share might say: Da heck?! I did not expect that. I can't fully explain it. But there you have it. As much as I've had my ambivalence about DJT, I don't know that I've ever looked forward to an inauguration more. I suspect this is going to be a wild and interesting week. I guess I'll keep the Kleenex close at hand...
LIGHTER FARE
Rubber Ducky, you're the one...
Panda got new toys..🐼🐥😍 pic.twitter.com/iYlgCdpfSw
— Nature is Amazing ☘️ (@AMAZlNGNATURE) January 13, 2025
Editor's Note: This article was updated post-publication to include a brief rundown of the Supreme Court cases being argued Monday morning.
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