In Arizona, an ongoing and auxiliary “audit” of the 2020 election results has kept proponents of the “Stop The Steal” movement on the edge of their seats. These folks believe that there were major, fraudulent issues with the electoral system itself, and they believe that a reexamination of the processes and networks involved in counting the vote will provide enough evidence to force Congress to act. Some may even have found themselves wondering if an end to the audit might come just days ahead of Mike Lindell’s “reinstatement day” prediction of August 13th – providing a bit of confluence to some of their theories about the future of Donald Trump’s political career. The Justice Department, on the other hand, isn’t too thrilled about the idea of these audits spreading to other states, and they’re flexing a little of their electoral power to keep other locales from getting any ideas. The Justice Department on Wednesday issued another warning aimed at states conducting or considering audits of ballots tallied in last year’s election, reminding election authorities that allowing ballots to be mishandled can violate federal law. While the Biden administration “guidance” document carries no formal legal weight and may not strike fear into local officials, the Justice Department used the release of the legal analysis to press their campaign of saber-rattling against Republican-led audits of the 2020 vote in Arizona and other states, as well as voting changes many GOP-controlled states are pursuing as part of purported anti-fraud efforts. Then came the mobster-esque verbiage. “Jurisdictions have to be careful not to let those ballots be defaced or mutilated or lost or destroyed as part of an audit,” said a Justice Department official who briefed reporters on condition of anonymity. “This document puts down a marker that says the Justice Department is concerned…

The Democrats steering the select committee investigating January 6th have a very tight line to keep their toes on. On one hand, they know that they aren’t going to get another chance at this investigation, particularly as the GOP continues to downplay the impact of the event itself.  But they also mustn’t sway the hearing too far to the left either, lest they wish to be accused of partisan hackery. One of the simplest ways for the investigation to get a bad rap among conservatives would be to spend a great deal of time on subjects that were already covered in Donald Trump second impeachment trial, in which he was acquitted of “inciting” the insurrection of that fateful day. But this could prove difficult for the overzealous among them, especially after the DOJ has now dangled one hellacious carrot in front of them. Former Trump administration officials can testify to Congress about Donald Trump’s role in the deadly January attack on the Capitol and his efforts to subvert the results of the 2020 election, the justice department (DoJ) has said in a letter obtained by the Guardian. The move by the justice department to decline to assert executive privilege for Trump’s acting attorney general, Jeffrey Rosen, clears the path for other top former officials to also testify to congressional committees investigating the Capitol attack without fear of repercussions. The justice department authorised witnesses to appear specifically before the two committees. But a DoJ official, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive matters, said they expected that approval to extend to the 6 January select committee that began proceedings on Tuesday. And while the Justice Department may think that they are doing the Democrats a favor here, it is somewhat likely that this new avenue of pursuit will take…