Republicans

Florida Politics reports: U.S. Sen. Rick Scott has faced legal questions before, specifically regarding his former health care company and Medicare billing anomalies. But despite pleading the Fifth Amendment 75 times during that case — along with serving in the Navy, spending eight years as Florida’s Governor and living through poverty as a child — Florida’s junior Senator says Donald …

“This incident is yet another example of apparent ethical misconduct by a sitting justice, and it adds to the court’s ongoing ethical crisis. For the good of our country and the court, Justice Alito must recuse himself immediately from cases related to the 2020 election and the January 6th insurrection. And the chief justice must see how this is damaging …

CBS News reports: The Supreme Court on Thursday maintained the lines of a congressional district in South Carolina that a lower court had invalidated as an unlawful racial gerrymander, delivering a win to Republican mapmakers who said they used politics, not race, as the predominant factor when drawing the district bounds. The 6-3 ruling from the high court reverses the …

The Huffington Post reports: Vivek Ramaswamy, who unsuccessfully mounted a bid for the Republican presidential nomination, has purchased a 7.7% stake in BuzzFeed, a regulatory filing revealed Tuesday. The purchase raised questions about Ramaswamy’s intent. The filing indicated he intended to be an activist investor, pursuing discussions with management and BuzzFeed’s board of directors about strategy and even changes to …

The Daily Beast reports: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s baseless claim that the feds planned to “assassinate” Donald Trump in 2022 may not have been taken seriously by most of the American public, but Moscow’s propaganda machine is reporting it as fact. “The FBI planned to kill Donald Trump: details revealed in the USA,” one popular Kremlin-friendly newspaper blared, citing the “popular” …

Newsweek reports: House Republican Lauren Boebert was criticized by the White House and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg on Wednesday after posting about having “secured over $51.4 million for the South Bridge,” despite the funding coming from legislation she voted against in 2021. Boebert shared a photograph on X of herself with a Glenwood Springs City Councilor, adding: “Great meeting with …

The Florida Phoenix reports: Florida Republican Attorney General Ashley Moody wants the state agency in charge of investigating violations of the Florida Civil Rights Act to inspect Starbucks’ diversity, equity, and inclusion practices. Gov. Ron DeSantis and Moody announced the complaint against Starbucks on Wednesday during the governor’s guest host stint on “The Sean Hannity Show.” “We’re going to make …

Politico reports: Florida GOP Sen. Rick Scott launched a bid Wednesday afternoon to succeed Mitch McConnell as the next Republican leader, telling colleagues he wants to make “dramatic change” in the way the conference operates. The first-term senator will face an uphill battle against Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), a former whip himself. Scott …

USA Today reports: Nikki Haley said on Wednesday that she will vote for former President Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential contest during her first public appearance since dropping out of the GOP primary. “I put my priorities on a president who’s going to have the backs of our allies and hold our enemies to account who would secure the …

“We have a presumptive nominee for president facing 88 felony counts, and we are being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts. A candidate for president of the United States is on trial for sending a hush money payment to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and …

The Texas Tribune reports: Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and members of the Biden Administration to contest LGBTQ+ workforce protections. The guidance, released last month, states that denying an employee accommodations for their gender identity, such as prohibiting an employee to use the bathroom of their gender identity, is unlawful workplace harassment. The guidance …

Denver’s NBC affiliate reports: The Colorado Republican Party is issuing a call to its members to pull their children from public school, saying Democrats are using schools to “turn more kids trans.” The message was delivered in an email blast to Republicans statewide Tuesday. “All Colorado parents should be aiming to remove their kids from public education,” read the directive …

CNN reporter Manu Raju: “You’ve been very the clear about your disdain for the hush money case, but what about the underlying alleged conduct of paying off a porn star to keep this extramarital affair quiet? You’re a deeply religious man, a moral man. Does that alleged conduct cause any concern about the former president?” Mike Johnson, flustered: “Look, I’m …

The Ohio Capital Journal reports: Ohio lawmakers are confident President Joe Biden will be on the November ballot, but how exactly that will happen remains the question. The fix won’t happen through the legislature, said Ohio House Speaker Jason Stephens, R-Kitts Hill. “There’s just not the will to do that from the legislature,” Stephens said. Ohio law requires political parties …

The Washington Post reports: The Congressional Leadership Fund, an independent group affiliated with Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), plans to reserve $141 million in fall advertising this week, with spending planned for about 30 races that it has identified as likely to decide the balance of Congress. The initial spending plans are nearly $20 million larger than similar reservations …

Newsweek reports: Some Republicans charged in the Arizona fake electors plot have been unable to afford lawyers, ahead of their scheduled court appearances. Brahm Resnik of KPNX news in Arizona on Tuesday shared a thread of posts on X, formerly Twitter, discussing the arraignment of many defendants charged in a scheme to overturn the 2020 election results. In another post, …

Axios reports: Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) communications director Raj Shah is gearing up to leave his position, with the former Trump deputy press secretary expected to leave before the end of the summer, Axios has learned. Shah’s planned exit comes on the heels on multiple policy staffers for Johnson — who also worked for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) — …

The Washington Post reports: The Louisiana House on Tuesday passed a bill that classifies the two drugs used to induce an abortion as “controlled dangerous substances.” Abortion opponents hope the measure, now on its way to Gov. Jeff Landry, will be a template for conservative states trying to end the procedure. If S.B. 276 is signed into law as expected …

CBS News reports: State Assembly member Vince Fong, a California legislator backed by former President Donald Trump, has captured a special election to complete the remainder of the term of deposed former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, which runs through January. Fong — a McCarthy protege who also had the former speaker’s endorsement — defeated fellow Republican and Tulare County Sheriff …

The Huffington Post reports: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told critics to lay off the Supreme Court following the revelation that an upside-down flag flew at the home of Justice Samuel Alito shortly after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The upside-down flag ― a symbol of the “Stop the Steal” movement protesting Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential election victory ― was …