Republicans

The Miami Herald reports: Conventional political wisdom would typically advise candidates to steer clear of mentioning their past controversies. But U.S. Sen. Rick Scott went out of his way, quite literally, on Thursday to attend former President Donald Trump’s hush-money trial in Manhattan and remind Americans that he once ran a healthcare company that was slapped with the largest Medicare …

Courthouse News reports: A New York appellate court upheld universal mail-in voting for the state Thursday, finding that the state’s constitution places no hard limits on who can cast an absentee ballot. “The fact remains that, in its current form, the NY Constitution contains no requirement — express or implied — mandating that voting occur in-person on election day,” Justice …

Axios reports: House Judiciary Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) is making stealthy, aggressive moves to position himself to replace Speaker Mike Johnson as party leader in 2025. The Ohio Republican has been noticed handing out more campaign checks to colleagues, multiple lawmakers told Axios. One GOP lawmaker told Axios that Jordan previously said it was “not his job” to help vulnerable …

The Washington Post reports: Strategists for both major parties expect Democrats to raise and spend more than Republicans over the coming months, a dynamic that has been magnified by the significant legal costs Trump’s fundraising apparatus has absorbed to defend him in state and federal courts. The situation has alarmed GOP officials in key states like Arizona, Georgia and Michigan, …

ABC News reports: The Department of Justice and civil rights groups filed two separate lawsuits on Thursday aiming to block a controversial immigration law — known as SF 2340 — from going into effect in Iowa. SF 2340 authorizes local law enforcement officials to arrest migrants who have previously been deported or removed from the country, or who have been …

Harrisonburg’s ABC affiliate reports: For the first time in United States history, a school district that changed the name of schools that honored Confederate generals, voted to restore the Confederate names years later. The Shenandoah County School Board held a public hearing on May 9 at Peter Muhlenberg Middle School to discuss restoring the names of Mountain View High School …

The Denver Westword reports: Representative Lauren Boebert’s eldest son appeared in court today, May 9, to announce whether he’s scrounged up enough cash to hire a lawyer to represent him in his felony theft case, or if he’s decided to get a public defender — neither of which he’s figured out yet, to the judge’s dismay. “I have now sent…um, …

NBC News reports: At least 22 Republican-led states are suing the Biden administration over its new rules to protect LGBTQ students from discrimination in federally funded schools. Attorneys general in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia who sued the administration in separate lawsuits last week argued that the …

The right wing Daily Caller reports: A group of Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee sent a letter Thursday to the Director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons demanding testimony for blocking a member of Congress from speaking to former Trump White House official Peter Navarro. The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the letter, which was signed by …

“President Trump and I’ve talked about this at length, but the challenge we’ll have is finding them. Brian, as you know, they’ve been spread out everywhere, the DHS, Department of Homeland Security, and Mayorkas, the reason we impeached him is because he’s an abject failure and they’re not keeping track of where these people are. So we will have the …

Politico reports: Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was never hugely popular among her more centrist colleagues. After forcing a vote on ousting Speaker Mike Johnson, even droves of conservatives seem to have abandoned her — leaving the Georgia firebrand with next to no allies in the House. When she came onto the floor to announce she was forcing the ouster vote, …

The Huffington Post reports: Trump, the GOP’s presumptive 2024 presidential nominee, has openly fantasized about executing drug dealers and human traffickers. He reportedly suggested that officials who leak information to the press should be executed, too. And behind the scenes, there’s a team of pro-Trump conservatives who are pushing for a second Trump term that involves even more state-sponsored killing …

The Hill reports: Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is suggesting he wants to move on from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s effort to oust him from his position. “I don’t hold grudges. I’ve got to work with everybody. I told her last night before she left the floor, let’s move on, Marjorie,” Johnson said Thursday in an interview with “FOX and …

Politico reports: Federal prosecutors have charged former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in Washington for allegedly lying to investigators in connection with a campaign finance probe of a foreign billionaire’s political contributions. Fortenberry (R-Neb.) was convicted of the same charges by a jury in Los Angeles in 2022, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed the conviction, determining that the …

The Orlando Weekly reports: In a case that could have far-reaching implications for the state’s public-records laws, an appeals court heard arguments Tuesday in a challenge to a judge’s ruling that “executive privilege” shields Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration from releasing records. The appeal stems from a public-records request, filed by someone identified in court documents as J. Doe, seeking information …

CNBC reports: Rupert Murdoch has hinted to several friends who move in Trump’s social circles that he would be happy with a Republican ticket that included Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, according to sources familiar with the matter. Billionaire Trump backers in the real estate industry have told the former president’s advisers that they like South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott, according …

“The testimony of Stormy Daniels that was salacious—that was the point of it! Listen there is no person on planet Earth that believes Donald Trump has been celibate all his life. That is not news. But they want to drag him through the gutter because this is a political smear job. It’s not about the rule of law. It’s tragic …

“Thanks for having me, that was a fantastic opening monologue. I too am a fan of yours, so I’m going to make a point of disagreeing with you so it will be fun. You are so bright and articulate, and I guess I can call you articulate since you’re not an American Black. Can’t say that about them, that’s derogatory. …

CNN reports: GOP Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania said in a closed door briefing with lawmakers on Tuesday that the Ku Klux Klan is the “the military wing of the Democratic party” and that migrants coming to the US “have no interest in being Americans,” according to audio of Perry’s comments shared with CNN. Perry, a right-wing Republican who has …

Politico reports: Kevin McCarthy is escalating his revenge campaign against Rep. Matt Gaetz. In an interview with POLITICO, McCarthy backed Gaetz’s new Florida GOP primary challenger; a top McCarthy adviser also acknowledged playing a role in vetting that opponent, Aaron Dimmock. And McCarthy delivered a slashing attack on Gaetz, who led the effort to overthrow him as speaker last fall. …