Republicans

NBC News reports: Florida GOP Rep. Byron Donalds on Sunday urged the Supreme Court to take up former President Donald Trump’s New York case in which he was convicted on 34 counts of falsification of business records. “Speaker [Mike] Johnson, myself included, and many Americans believe the Supreme Court should step into this matter,” Donalds told NBC News’ “Meet the …

The Texas Tribune reports: Paul Pressler, the monumental Southern Baptist leader and Republican activist at the center of a massive sex abuse scandal, died on June 7. He was 94. Pressler was one of the most influential, if lesser-known, evangelical figures of the last half-century, having co-led a movement in the Southern Baptist Convention that pushed the nation’s second-largest faith …

The Washington Post reports: The House voted Thursday on a Republican amendment to restore Arlington National Cemetery’s Confederate Memorial. The century-old monument, which was removed in December, features an enslaved Black “mammy” holding the infant child of a White officer, as an enslaved Black man follows the officer off to war. The monument references the “Lost Cause,” a mythology about …

From the Miami Herald editorial board: The national political soap opera continues as former President Donald Trump prepares for his July 11 sentencing in the hush money criminal case. As expected, Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to play the top supporting role by vowing to restore Trump’s voting rights as a felon so he can cast a ballot in Florida’s November …

Axios reports: House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has roiled lawmakers in both parties by appointing a pair of hardline conservatives to the House Intelligence Committee. Committee members fear the presence of Reps. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) and Ronny Jackson (R-Texas) threatens to disrupt a hard-fought bipartisan consensus forged in the aftermath of the Trump era. Some are also concerned about the …

“Taylor Swift sees what everybody else sees. Joe Biden’s really not here. He’s not with us. You know, he’s doing, I guess, the best he can. But the stature and the image of leadership that Americans expect in the United States presidency is not embodied by Joe Biden. Everybody knows that. “Obviously, you know, Taylor, if you want to come …

CBS News reports: Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, a possible vice presidential pick for former President Donald Trump, defended Trump’s previous remarks on immigrants “poisoning the blood of our country” in a Spanish-language interview Wednesday with Telemundo. “That’s a saying that he uses, but it has nothing to do with race, because in the end, he’s talking about the country, not …

NBC News reports: National Republicans kicked off their in-person recruiting efforts Friday in the crucial battleground state of Michigan as part of their broader effort to build up an Election Day army of 100,000 poll monitors intended to combat the infrequent problem of voter fraud. National GOP officials, including Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley and co-chair Lara Trump, as …

“It’s credible, isn’t it, that our founders were that young and they gave us this gift of this country. They were taking on the strongest military in the world and those colonists went and picked up their personal hunting rifles and their muskets and decided to go fight for freedom. If they can do that, we can do what have …

The New Republic reports: There are endless possibilities for the creative uses of artificial intelligence—but recreating the voice of a civil rights icon for your own political benefit is definitely not one of them. Republican congressional candidate Anthony Hudson did just that, releasing possibly the most distasteful, cringe-worthy political ad of 2024 to date by using A.I. to resurrect Martin …

The Associated Press reports: Speaker Mike Johnson said Friday that the House will go to court to enforce the subpoena against Attorney General Merrick Garland for access to President Joe Biden’s special counsel audio interview, hours after the Justice Department refused to prosecute Republicans’ contempt of Congress charge. “It is sadly predictable that the Biden Administration’s Justice Department will not …

Politico reports: Rep. Garret Graves said Friday he will not run for reelection — ending months of questions about his political future after redistricting scrambled Louisiana’s congressional map. Graves (R-La.), in a statement, said that “it is clear that running for Congress this year does not make sense.” The decision comes as Graves, a close ally of former Speaker Kevin …

CNN reports: The Justice Department said Friday that it would not act on the House’s contempt referral of Attorney General Merrick Garland. In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson, DOJ pointed to its “longstanding” position of not prosecuting executive branch officials who withhold information subject to executive privilege from from Congress. The announcement was anticipated after the House, in …

First, an earlier report from Denver’s NBC affiliate: Republican State Rep. Richard Holtorf, a candidate for Colorado’s 4th Congressional District, disclosed Friday that he financed an abortion for one of two girlfriends he impregnated, saying it helped her “live her best life.” “I respected her rights and actually gave her money to help her through her important, critical time so …

The Washington Post reports: The House voted to approve the annual defense funding bill on Friday morning. The $895.3 billion National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which sets Pentagon policy and guides funding for the year ahead, was approved by a vote of 217 to 199, falling largely along party lines. Before final passage, far-right lawmakers loaded the legislation with a …

From shitbag Todd Starnes’ shitbag personal website: Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-MT) tells me that First Lady Jill Biden should be charged with elder abuse. “His wife should be ashamed of herself,” Rosendale said on my radio show, referring to the rapidly declining physical abilities of the president. “Jill Biden should be absolutely ashamed of herself. Rosendale said Biden is being …

Fox News reports: A House GOP lawmaker is spearheading an effort to name the United States’ coastal waterways after former President Trump. Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., is introducing a bill on Friday to rename the immediate waters surrounding the U.S., called the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), as the “Donald John Trump Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States.” If …

The Hill reports: A majority of Republicans joined with Democrats on Thursday to vote down Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) amendment to the annual Defense bill that called for preventing any funds in the legislation from going toward assistance for Ukraine. The chamber voted 74-343 on Greene’s measure for the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), with all support coming from …

NBC News reports: The veteran organization the American Legion weighed in on the upside-down American flag controversy on Thursday, noting that flags should only be flown this way if there is “extreme danger to life or property.” The potential implications of flying an American flag upside down have been the subject of debate since reports emerged that an upside-down flag …

Politico reports: A Republican proposal to block a Biden administration policy that shores up troops’ access to abortion was added to the House Pentagon policy bill Thursday, a move that will jeopardize bipartisan support and complicate efforts to pass the legislation. In a 214-207 vote, lawmakers adopted Rep. Beth Van Duyne‘s amendment to overturn the Pentagon policy to reimburse troops …