'Civil war' warning extends Jan. 6 blame to Trump's enablers: The Note

The TAKE with Rick Klein

The Jan. 6 committee's work is centrally and critically about former President Donald Trump -- as the final public hearing, scheduled for next week, will make even more clear.

But the case being assembled by the House committee has sought to bring plenty of others into the circle of culpability. That includes Trump's many enablers, including those still in and seeking elected office this year, as well as a harder-to-reach group: his followers.

Several of those supporters shared searing details Tuesday of how their lives were upended by the seemingly straightforward act of following the lead of their president. One warned that the country risks "more bloodshed" if large numbers of people continue to believe lies about the 2020 election.

Among the latest hearing's biggest revelations was a text message from former Trump campaign manager Brad Parscale where he summed up the events of Jan. 6, 2021, as "a sitting president asking for a civil war."

In a subsequent text, Parscale also confided, "This week I feel guilty for helping him win." That guilt seems to have subsided sufficiently for Parscale's firm to continue to accept payments from Trump's Save America PAC, with the latest reported payment just this past May, as ABC's Katherine Faulders reports.

Parscale's moment of candor summed up the feelings of many in Trump's orbit on and around Jan. 6. The fact that so many have reversed course underscores the stakes in the committee proceedings as well as November's midterm elections -- and beyond.

Hours before Tuesday's hearing, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. -- who famously broke with Trump on Jan. 6 but has come back to his side and his defense -- told reporters that he spoke with the former president the previous day and that he would be "surprised" if Trump doesn't run for president again.

"Clearly losing the election was not something he accepted well," Graham said, per ABC's Allison Pecorin.

The RUNDOWN with Alisa Wiersema

As Democrats continue to address the fallout on all fronts over the reversal of Roe v. Wade, they face legislative roadblocks on Capitol Hill and political uncertainty across battleground states.

Although the Senate is unlikely to advance abortion-related bills in the coming weeks due to gridlock over Republican filibusters, on Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee held the first hearing addressing abortion since the Supreme Court's ruling last month.

The featured testimonies described a growing environment of mass confusion among physicians over the kinds of procedures they are legally allowed to perform as well as concern about a lack of resources in states where abortion is still legal.

Abortion providers, along with anti-abortion groups, also testified about experiencing vandalism and threats.

"Doctors must now contemplate how sick is sick enough before providing life-saving abortion care. In some circumstances, the abortion care will come too late. Not only is this agenda unpopular, it is deeply anti-life," Colleen P. McNicholas, the chief medical officer for Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region and Southwest Missouri, testified.

The hearing was held as the Department of Justice announced the establishment of a Reproductive Rights Task Force which "will monitor and evaluate all state and local legislation and enforcement actions" regarding abortion access. The group will also address threats to "federal legal protections relating to the provision or pursuit of reproductive care" as well as actions that "impair women's ability to seek reproductive care in states where it is legal," among several other goals.

Meanwhile Democrats in battleground states where abortion is available are working to mobilize voters despite potential frustration among their base over the lack of more immediate solutions. During a call with reporters on Tuesday, Pennsylvania Democrats acknowledged that future policy decisions on abortion hang in the balance in the state's Senate and gubernatorial contests.

"Yes, it's deeply disheartening to be where we are, and it's deeply concerning to see where this might be headed in terms of the revocation of other rights. But the only thing that we have to do is to pick ourselves back up and understand the power of our citizenry and the power of our constituency to make that change," Rep. Chrissy Houlahan told ABC News.

The TIP with Brittany Shepherd

Whether or not a Republican voter has a college degree determines more than ever their view on the future leadership of their party -- and that split, as detailed in a new New York Times/Siena College poll, may cost Trump his presumed lead against his GOP competitors, especially Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a rising star.

Educated white Republicans' flight from their party before and during 2020 was already one of the key trends that cost Trump his reelection, with the GOP seeing this loss in battlegrounds like Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, according to state-level data and exit polls.

But it seems that Trump is losing college-educated voters within his own party as well. DeSantis leads in the Times/Siena poll in a list of preferred presidential candidates among Republican respondents with bachelor's degrees or higher, with 32% support. A few points behind, at 28%, is Trump, followed by former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley at 12%. But for respondents from voters with no bachelor's degree, their preference for Trump is striking with a runaway 58%, followed by DeSantis at 21%.

NUMBER OF THE DAY, powered by FiveThirtyEight

4. That's the number of states that have attempted to block Planned Parenthood from receiving Medicaid funds, which as FiveThirtyEight's Monica Potts writes, is one of the main ways lower-income Americans access reproductive health care in the U.S. The situation is likely to get a lot worse, too, in light of Roe being overturned, as many of the same states that are now restricting abortion access are also cracking down on how people more broadly access reproductive care. Read more from Monica on how limiting abortion access also limits access to birth control.

THE PLAYLIST

ABC News' "Start Here" Podcast. "Start Here" begins Wednesday morning with a recap of the latest Jan. 6 committee hearing from ABC's Jonathan Karl. Then, ABC's MaryAlice Parks previews President Biden's controversial trip to the Middle East. And, National Geographic's Nadia Drake explains the findings of new images taken by NASA's James Webb Space Telescope. http://apple.co/2HPocUL

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW TODAY

• At 10 a.m. ET, the House Oversight Committee will convene for a hearing to examine how Roe's reversal affects abortion nationwide.
• At 10 a.m. ET, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee will convene for a hearing to examine reproductive care in a post-Roe America, focusing on barriers, challenges, and threats to women's health.
• At 10 a.m. ET, the House Judiciary Markup Committee will convene to discuss H.R. 8227, the "Speak Out Act"; H.R. 7566, the "Stop Human Trafficking in School Zones Act"; and H.R. 6878, the "Protecting the Health and Wellness of Babies and Pregnant Women Act of 2022"

Download the ABC News app and select "The Note" as an item of interest to receive the day's sharpest political analysis.

The Note is a daily ABC News feature that highlights the day's top stories in politics. Please check back Thursday for the latest.