As defendants keep flipping in cases against Donald Trump’s scheme to overturn the election, Donald Trump keeps flipping GOP House members in favor of codifying that election denial as a core party principle. Tom Emmer, who voted to certify the 2020 election results, saw his nomination for House Speaker fizzle after a few hours and a few calls from the Trump camp. And today, a (until this week) low profile Lousiana Rep, who the NYT once described as “the most important architect of the Electoral College objections” received unanimous support from the House GOP and has been elected as Speaker of the House. This is big news for Trump. It’s big news for the Congress. And it’s also big news for the 2024 election. After all, the votes in that presidential election have to be certified, too. Mike Johnson, a staunch conservative from Louisiana, is elected House speaker with broad GOP support.

+ “Johnson’s efforts to hand Donald Trump an unelected second term are no mere biographical detail. His work on behalf of Trump’s autogolpe is the primary source of his leadership claim and the central reason he has managed to unify the party.” NY Mag: House Speaker Nominee Mike Johnson Was the Mastermind of the January 6 Plot.

+ Johnson has pushed for a national abortion ban and when discussing the “so-called separation of church and state” says, “the founders wanted to protect the church from an encroaching state, not the other way around.” Who is new House Speaker Mike Johnson?

+ Dan Pfeiffer argues that “if Democrats could design in a lab the perfect candidate to run against, that person would look a lot like Mike Johnson.” (Even if the pick is a bad longterm pick for the GOP, it’s not a good path for America.)

+ While we’re on the topic of challenging election results… “Nearly a quarter of Americans (23%) agree that “because things have gotten so far off track, true American patriots may have to resort to violence in order to save our country,’ according to the survey. This is up from 15% in 2021.” NPR: More Americans say they support political violence ahead of the 2024 election.