The First Domino Falls

The Donald Trump F**k Up Watch gets its first major update! Matt Gaetz Is Out ... Who's Next? Also, there are a surprisingly number of good songs with the word domino in the title.

I’m Michael A. Cohen, and this is Truth and Consequences: A no-holds-barred look at the absurdities, hypocrisies, and surreality. If you were sent this email or are a free subscriber and would like to become a paid subscriber, you can sign up here.

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Gaetz Withdraws

I’m shocked, shocked.

The writing has been on the wall for a while on this one. Everyone in Washington knew that Gaetz had zero chance of getting Senate confirmation to become Attorney General except, it seems, for our next president and his motley collection of sycophants. It’s a depressing reminder of the ever-unfolding cascade of f**k ups” that will likely define the next four years of American politics.

Indeed, the Gaetz fiasco is a good reminder that Trump and his team remain as incompetent as they were when he bumbled through four years as president. Trump’s learned not one thing from his litany of first-term mistakes. He still makes incredibly poor personnel decisions. And he still fails to consult with his fellow Republicans and then expects them to bail him out. It’s interesting — and probably should be concerning to Trump — that Senate Republicans, who usually bend to his will, made clear from the outset that they had no interest in going on the record and voting for Gaetz. Remember, Trump is a lame duck. Today, he received a useful reminder of what those words mean (I’m guessing that Trump still has no idea what that term means).

For reasons I honestly don’t fully understand, lots of voters had collective amnesia about the daily dumpster fire that was Trump’s first term in office. Gaetz’s withdrawal is a trip down memory lane … the first, undoubtedly, of many.

Is Hegseth Next?

Yesterday evening, the police report detailing Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth’s alleged sexual assault of a woman in 2017 was released, and it’s predictably awful.

I will spare you the goriest details, but what’s interesting about the incident is that Hegseth doesn’t deny he had been drinking at the event where the assault allegedly occurred or that he had sex with the woman in question. Indeed, what is corroborated by others at the event is telling.

The woman claimed she was introduced to Mr. Hegseth at the end of the conference. She told the police that she had observed him acting inappropriately, including rubbing women’s legs. In a text message, she told someone whose name was redacted that Mr. Hegseth “was giving off a ‘creeper’ vibe,” the report said.

She said she went with a group of women to the Knuckles Sports Bar, attached to the hotel, and “that’s when things got fuzzy.” Mr. Hegseth was also at the bar, and she said she told him that she did not like how he had treated women at the conference.

… One witness told the police that the complainant was flirting with Mr. Hegseth. But another woman told the police that Mr. Hegseth acted aggressively toward her, and that she hoped that the presence of the complainant would deter him. This other woman said Mr. Hegseth put his hand on her knee, and despite her objections, invited her back to his hotel room.

… After leaving Knuckles, Mr. Hegseth and the complainant walked together to the pool. Video footage showed their arms were locked and she was smiling, the report said. Later, other hotel guests complained about a disturbance at the pool.

A hotel staff member said Mr. Hegseth was cursing, “very intoxicated” and insistent he was exercising his right to freedom of speech. The woman, who did not seem drunk, put her hand on Mr. Hegseth’s back and escorted him back into the hotel, the staff member said.

Let’s, for a moment, give Hegseth the benefit of the doubt that these two had consensual sex (that’s his claim). Is this behavior even remotely appropriate for a man who wants to be Secretary of Defense?

Also, remember that this incident occurred two months after Hegseth’s girlfriend gave birth to his child, and he started dating that girlfriend, who would later become his wife, while he was still married to his second wife, who, by the way, he began dating when he was still married to his first wife.

I get that in the age of Trump, concern about the abhorrent behavior of predatory men is a quaint notion, but are GOP senators like Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, or Joni Ernst going to be ok with confirming this guy?

I have serious doubts.

In other news, CNN is reporting that they have found tapes in which RFK Jr. says he thinks Donald Trump is a “bully,” a “threat to democracy,” and that he was a “terrible president.” Once again, the Trump team knocks the ball out of the park regarding vetting Cabinet nominees!

By the way, like Gaetz and Hegseth, RFK Jr. is also credibly accused of sexual assault — and his accuser went public yesterday.

I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised by any of this, considering that Donald Trump has been found liable for rape and is credibly accused of committing dozens of other sexual assaults.

But on a positive note, congressional Republicans will prevent newly elected and trans woman Rep. Sarah McBride from using the women’s bathroom on Capitol Hill because they want to “protect women.”

What’s Going On

• For MSNBC, I wrote about the economic calamity that could result from Trump’s plan for mass deportations.

• Great piece by Greg Sargent on a Trump-appointed judge reversing a Biden Labor Department rule that would have significantly increased overtime pay for as many as 4 million Americans and the complete lack of media attention that it received.

• The other day, I linked to an article that suggested Biden’s $7500 electric vehicle credit was in trouble … well things are looking better for Biden’s electric charger program.

• In case you’re wondering where things stand with the Pennsylvania Senate race, David Drucker has written a useful explainer. As for where things stand.

Musical Interlude