Politics

The right wing Washington Free Beacon reports: Vivek Ramaswamy is seeking a meeting with Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, he told the Washington Free Beacon, which could make him the first U.S. presidential candidate to meet with the controversial publisher in prison. “I’d like to meet him. No success in getting in touch yet,” Ramaswamy told the Free Beacon on Friday, …

The Hill reports: GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy labeled the Espionage Act as “un-American” in an interview Sunday, in reference to a set of charges related to the act that former President Trump is facing in a case involving his potential mishandling of classified documents. “There’s a difference between a bad judgment and a crime,” Ramaswamy said on ABC’s “This …

The Miami Herald reports: Homeowners, which of these consumes more energy in your house: space heating or water heating? Either way, Uncle Sam is ready to help you pay for some energy-efficient upgrades. The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Biden a year ago, created two energy-efficiency rebate programs that could pay some, or even all, of the …

“First of all, he’s innocent until proven guilty. But you are implying that the American people are not smart. The American people are not going to vote for a convicted criminal. The American people are going to vote for someone who can win a general election. I have faith in the American people. They know what they need to do. …

Politico reports: The top strategist for Ron DeSantis’ super PAC privately told donors that Vivek Ramaswamy posed a threat to the Florida governor — and bragged that the super PAC was behind an avalanche of opposition research targeting the rival candidate. “Everything you read about him is from us,” Jeff Roe, the leader of the DeSantis-aligned Never Back Down told …

Ars Technica reports: The day before a Texas anti-porn law that requires age verification to access adult websites was set to take effect, the state’s interim attorney general, Angela Colmenero, has been at least temporarily blocked from enforcing the law. US District Judge David Alan Ezra granted a preliminary injunction temporarily blocking enforcement after the Free Speech Coalition (FSC) joined …

The Texas Tribune reports: Ken Paxton, the state’s embattled suspended attorney general, took jabs at his political opponents — including members of his own party — during a rare public appearance Saturday on the eve on his historic impeachment trial that begins next week. Paxton is under a gag order that prevents him from discussing the trial that begins Tuesday. …

The Miami Herald reports: A state judge struck down North Florida’s congressional districts Saturday, rebuffing Gov. Ron DeSantis’ open defiance of anti-gerrymandering protections, finding the governor’s map illegally reduced Black voters’ electoral power. DeSantis had wagered the state’s Fair Districts Amendment against the U.S. Constitution, arguing mandatory protections for Black voters violated the Equal Protection Clause. Second Judicial Circuit Judge …

NBC News reports: Bill Richardson, the former New Mexico governor, U.S. ambassador to the United Nations and Secretary of Energy under President Bill Clinton, died Saturday, according to the Richardson Center for Global Engagement. Richardson was 75. Mickey Bergman, Vice President of the Richardson Center, commented in a statement, “Governor Richardson passed away peacefully in his sleep last night. He …

CNN reports: A spokesperson for Gov. Ron DeSantis said Friday that there are no plans for the Republican to meet with President Joe Biden when he travels to Florida on Saturday, contradicting comments Biden made earlier in the day indicating they would. “We don’t have any plans for the Governor to meet with the President tomorrow,” DeSantis spokesperson Jeremy Redfern …

Axios reports: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) said in an interview published Friday that the House would have to vote before opening an impeachment inquiry into President Biden. Such a vote could prove highly charged for some of McCarthy’s most vulnerable members, many of whom represent in districts Biden won in 2020. Some Republicans have said that congressional investigations into …

The Washington Post reports: After Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) experienced his second freezing episode in five weeks, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) is declining to say whether he would follow a state law requiring him to appoint a Republican in the event of a Senate vacancy. A reporter asked Beshear on Thursday whether, if McConnell were to step …

Axios reports: Top GOP donors and their allies privately are pushing Sen. Tim Scott’s team for more detail about his bachelor status before deciding how much to support him in the presidential campaign, according to two people familiar with the conversations. The U.S. hasn’t elected an unmarried person as president in 139 years. It’s typical for candidates to trot out …

From the government watchdog group CREW: Representative Andrew Clyde (GA-9) violated House ethics rules by introducing, sponsoring and advocating for legislation that would benefit his firearms company, according to a complaint filed today by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington with the Office of Congressional Ethics. In January 2023, Attorney General Merrick Garland approved a rule that places stricter …

The Daily Beast reports: When a group of employees resigned in protest from conservative activist group CPAC last year, the organization’s power couple—Matt Schlapp and his wife, Mercedes—felt it was time for a new beginning. As part of the reset, the Schlapps turned to a priest to evict satanic spirits from the D.C.-area offices. And so, on an afternoon in …

The New York Times reports: Hours before the Republican Party’s first presidential debate, the chief strategist for the super PAC that has effectively taken over Ron DeSantis’s presidential campaign met with donors in Milwaukee. “Now let me tell you a secret — don’t leak this,” the strategist, Jeff Roe, told the donors last Wednesday, according to a recording of the …

NBC News reports: The No. 2 official in New Hampshire on Donald Trump’s presidential campaign told police to kill themselves in an expletive-ridden Jan. 6 video shot close to the U.S. Capitol, according to a recording posted this month by an X account associated with the “Sedition Hunters.” “If you are a police officer and are going to abide by …

“It’s sad. No one should feel good about seeing that any more than we should feel good about seeing Dianne Feinstein, any more than we should feel good about a lot of what’s happening or seeing Joe Biden’s decline. What I will say is, right now the Senate is the most privileged nursing home in the country. I mean, Mitch …

CNN reports: Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell is medically cleared to continue his schedule, the US Capitol physician said Thursday, after he froze for the second time in as many months in public. The statement comes as McConnell moved behind the scenes to reassure his allies and donors he can do his job – even as questions persist over how …

Politico reports: A handful of GOP senators is weighing whether to force a fraught internal debate about their leadership’s future after Mitch McConnell’s second public freeze-up in a month. Some rank-and-file Republicans have discussed the possibility of a broader conversation once senators return to Washington next week. Party leadership is not currently involved in those discussions, and nothing has been …