The Hill’s 12:30 Report — Classified document probes put Dems in awkward spot

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–> A midday take on what’s happening in politics and how to have a sense of humor about it.* 

*Ha. Haha. Hahah. Sniff. Haha. Sniff. Ha–breaks down crying hysterically.

NEWS THIS MORNING 

Your total today will be $1.6 million: 

The Trump Organization has been ordered to pay $1.6 million in fines — the maximum punishmentfor its charges related to evading taxes — according to The New York Times’s Jonah E. Bromwich, Ben Protess and William K. Rashbaum.

From the case: “One of the executives who orchestrated the scheme, Allen H. Weisselberg, pleaded guilty and testified at the company’s trial. He was sentenced on Tuesday to serve five months at the notorious Rikers Island jail complex.”  

What we know about the case

It’s Friday the 13th! 👻 I’m Cate Martel with a quick recap of the morning and what’s coming up. Did someone forward this newsletter to you? Sign up here. 

PROGRAMMING NOTE: The Hill’s 12:30 Report will not publish on Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Enjoy the long weekend!

🔓 In the White House 

So many special counsels these days: 

Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed a special counsel on Thursday to investigate the mishandling of classified documents that were found in two places from President Biden’s tenure as vice president. 

The special counsel: Veteran prosecutor Robert Hur, who is a Trump appointee and served as the U.S. attorney in Maryland 

What this means for Biden: Sensitive documents found at a second location significantly deepened Bien’s woes.

And stepping back a bit: “Garland’s decision to appoint Hur also creates an extraordinary circumstance in which both a sitting president and his immediate predecessor are under criminal investigation for their handling of classified material.”  

Read Niall Stanage’s column on what this means for Biden 

What to know about special counsel Robert Hurt, from The Washington Post’s Mark Berman 

REACTION FROM SENATE MAJORITY LEADER CHARLES SCHUMER (D-N.Y.): 

“We now have special prosecutors on for both of these situations, very serious people,” Schumer said on CNN, discussing the Biden case and the case against former President Trump. “We should let it play out. … We don’t have to push them in any direction or try to influence them. That’s all I’m going to say. Let the special prosecutors do their job.”  

‘WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE BIDEN DOCUMENTS SO FAR’: 

The Hill’s Brett Samuels and Alex Gangitano have a helpful explainer 

And here’s a timeline of the Biden document discoveries 

‘SPECIAL COUNSEL INQUIRY LEAVES BIDEN AND GARLAND IN AWKWARD SPOTS’:

From The New York Times’s Glenn Thrush, Peter Baker and Charlie Savage 

MEANWHILE IN THE TRUMP CASE: 

CNN’s Katelyn Polantz and Kaitlan Collins report that “the Justice Department is seeking to question two people who searched Donald Trump’s properties in November, as federal investigators have asked whether the former president returned all classified documents to the federal government.” The full report 

Howdy, rock! Good day to you, hard space: 

“The Democrats’ position is made trickier by not knowing exactly how sensitive the documents are, nor how they came into Biden’s possession during or after his service as vice president in the Obama administration.”  

The balance: “Downplaying or dismissing the seriousness of the situation will be difficult after Democrats relentlessly hammered former President Trump for improperly storing classified documents at Mar-a-Lago — though there are important differences between Biden’s and Trump’s situations.”

How Senate Republicans are handling the revelations so far, via The Hill’s Alexander Bolton

In Congress 

McCarthy seems interested in expunging Trump’s impeachments: 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said on Thursday that he would consider expunging one or both of former President Trump’s impeachments. 

In McCarthy’s words: “I would understand why members would want to bring that forward.”  McCarthy’s full quote 

Trump’s most recent impeachment: “In the last Congress, a group of more than 30 House Republicans led by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (Okla.) put forward a resolution to expunge Trump’s impeachment in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.”  

Trump’s first impeachment: “A smaller group, again led by Mullin, also introduced a resolution to expunge Trump’s December 2019 impeachment for allegedly attempting to withhold military aid from Ukraine in an effort to pressure the country to investigate the business dealings of President Biden’s son Hunter Biden.” 

Interesting read — ‘The Real Power in the New Congress Isn’t Where Matt Gaetz Thinks It Is’:

Politico’s Sarah Ferris writes, “[Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.Y.)] believes his caucus of centrists is going to play a key role getting important bills passed in a narrowly divided House.” The full read 

REPUBLICANS AGREE THEY DON’T LIKE MAYORKAS, BUT THAT’S JUST ABOUT WHERE THE AGREEMENT ENDS:

“Republicans are largely unified in opposition to [Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas], but while some want to go full bore right away, others see fast-track impeachment as a mistake, warning that it’s important to build their case before the public. Why some Republicans want to impeach him,via The Hill’s Rebecca Beitsch and Rafael Bernal

🦠 The COVID-19 numbers

Cases to date: 101.5 million 

Death toll: 1,095,149 

Current hospitalizations: 38,442 

Shots administered: 666 million 

Fully vaccinated: 69.1 percent of Americans 

CDC data here.

🐥Notable tweets 

Pssst, tidbit for anyone on the Hill who hasn’t had lunch yet:  

Axios’s Victoria Knight tweeted, “It has come to my attention I may need to let y’all know that the *Rayburn Reuben* is a non-traditional reuben, very thousand island-cole slaw forward but I stand by it, it is SO GOOD.”

⏱On tap 

The House and Senate are out. President Biden and Vice President Harris are in Washington, D.C. 

• 9 a.m.: Biden received his daily briefing. 
• 10 a.m.: Harris hosted Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio at her residence for a working breaking. 
• 11:20 a.m.: Biden and Kishida held a bilateral meeting and then a working lunch 
• 1:45 p.m.: Biden leaves for Delaware. 

All times Eastern.

📺What to watch 

• 11:15 a.m.: Biden welcomed Prime Minister Kishida to the White House. Watch 
• 12:30 p.m.: White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and senior advisor for public engagement Keisha Lance Bottoms hold a press briefing. Livestream 

🥯 In lighter news 

Today is National Peach Melba Day. But more importantly, Sunday is National Bagel Day!  

And to get your holiday weekend off on the right foot, here’s a dog having a great afternoon. Just try not to smile while watching this.  

^ Make sure your sound is on.