The dust has yet to settle from yesterday’s earthquake indictment of former President DONALD TRUMP on charges related to Jan. 6 and his efforts to overturn the 2020 election. While the charges were expected, they still came as something of a shock. (It’s worth pausing for a moment just to soak in what a bizarre fact that is: the third criminal indictment of a former president was a shock, but not particularly surprising.) And after the initial wave of pieces aiming to be the first draft of history, we find ourselves awash in a torrent of analyses, reactions and articles that zoom in on particular aspects of the indictment that merit attention. Here are the ones catching our eyes … — On the central importance of the slates of pro-Trump fake electors, AP: “The fake electors plan began in Wisconsin, prosecutors allege, with a memorandum from KENNETH CHESEBRO, an attorney who was assisting the Trump campaign at the time with legal challenges. ... After the plan was expanded to include six states, Trump and attorney JOHN EASTMAN asked RONNA McDANIEL, the chair of the Republican National Committee, to help the Trump campaign recruit the electors in the targeted states. The two men, according to prosecutors, ‘falsely represented’ to McDaniel that the electors would only be used if Trump’s lawsuits against the election succeeded. McDaniel agreed to help. ” — On the trailblazing nature of the House Jan. 6 Committee’s investigation, NYT: “[The select committee] provided a road map of sorts for the 45-page indictment Mr. Smith released on Tuesday. … Mr. Smith’s document — while far slimmer than the 845-page tome produced by the House investigative committee — contained a narrative that was nearly identical: An out-of-control president, refusing to leave office, was willing to lie and harm the country’s democracy in an attempt to stay in power. “With televised hearings drawing millions of viewers, the panel introduced the public to little-known lawyers who plotted with Mr. Trump to keep him in power, dramatic moments of conflict within the Oval Office and concepts like the ‘fake electors’ scheme carried out across multiple states to try to reverse the election outcome. Its final report laid out specific criminal charges that a prosecutor could bring against the former president.” — On former VP MIKE PENCE’s crucial role, WaPo: “Pence took ‘contemporaneous notes’ about Trump and his allies’ efforts to overturn the 45th president’s electoral defeat in the lead-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by a pro-Trump mob, according to the indictment … The notes are explicitly cited twice in the document. The first reference highlights that Trump, on Dec. 29, 2020, allegedly told Pence that the Justice Department was “finding major infractions,” according to the notes. The second details a Jan. 4, 2021, meeting, where Trump allegedly repeated his false claims of widespread election fraud.” — On President JOE BIDEN’s reaction, CNN: “For Biden, Trump’s third indictment is undoubtedly the most personal. … Ahead of Trump’s indictment Tuesday, a Biden campaign official said the campaign once again did not intend to fundraise off a Trump indictment … How closely Biden can hew to that pledge when it comes to the latest indictment remains to be seen. Unlike the classified documents case, which Biden does not regularly reference in public, the threat to democracy is central to his reelection argument.” — On the interesting legal precedent behind one of the charges, Reuters: “Federal prosecutors base one charge, conspiring to deprive citizens of constitutional or legal rights, on a law enacted during post-Civil War Reconstruction in 1870 … Prosecutors have long used the deprivation of rights statute, known as Section 241, to fight disenfranchisement of Black voters, and a string of landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases have affirmed the law's use for that purpose.” — On how this whole situation is weighing on Judge TANYA CHUTKAN, Kyle Cheney: “U.S. District Court Judge Tanya Chutkan appeared upbeat in court on Wednesday even as she reckoned with the weight of her latest assignment: criminal proceedings against Donald Trump. During an appearance in an unrelated criminal matter, Chutkan briefly chatted with public defender EUGENE OHM … ‘How are you?’ Ohm asked Chutkan … ‘Good … I think,’ she said after a pregnant pause.” MUST-READ ON THE GOP — “State of disaster: State Republican parties across the country are struggling,” by Adam Wren, Zach Montellaro, Holly Otterbein, Lisa Kashinsky and Natalie Allison: “Michigan’s Republican party is broke. Minnesota’s was, until recently, down to $53.81 in the bank. And in Colorado, the GOP is facing eviction from its office this month because it can’t make rent. … “The demise of the GOP state parties could have a profound impact on the 2024 election. Operatives fear that hollowed out outfits in key battlegrounds could leave the party vulnerable, especially as Democrats are focusing more on state legislative races." Good Wednesday afternoon. Thanks for reading Playbook PM. Drop me a line: birvine@politico.com.
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