Republicans

Mediaite reports: Rudy Giuliani’s own attorney compared him to a fanatical “flat-earther” who will never stop believing the 2020 election lie, and asked the jury to “have sympathy” when determining how much he owes the plaintiffs in his defamation suit. The civil case was brought by Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, two Georgia election workers whose lives were upended after …

Click On Detroit reports: New charges approved Thursday against the 42-year-old son of U.S. Sen. Kevin Cramer included an upgraded homicide count in a crash that killed a North Dakota sheriff’s deputy. Ian Cramer initially faced a manslaughter charge related to the Dec. 6 death of Mercer County Sheriff’s Deputy Paul Martin on a highway near Hazen. A judge on …

Des Moines’ CBS affiliate reports: The Satanic Temple of Iowa says a statue in its Iowa capitol display was destroyed “beyond repair.” The display made headlines this week when an Eastern Iowa state lawmaker called for the governor to remove it, calling the display “blasphemous.” Governor Kim Reynolds issued a statement saying, “In a free society, the best response to …

The Texas Tribune reports: Attorney General Ken Paxton is turning up the heat in the Republican primary for Texas’ highest criminal court, where three judges are up for reelection. Paxton has long made clear he would be going after the Republican judges over their 2021 ruling that struck down the attorney general’s ability to unilaterally prosecute voter fraud, saying that …

The Guardian reports: On Wednesday Kevin Stitt, Oklahoma’s governor, signed an executive order effectively banning diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs at agencies and public colleges and universities across the state. The order prohibits them from using state funds, property or resources towards DEI initiatives and orders them to dismiss “non-critical personnel”. It is effective immediately, but institutions are expected …

The Messenger reports: McCarthy, in a nearly hour-long interview with a small group of reporters in his hideaway Capitol office on Thursday afternoon, took aim at Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., the man who spearheaded the push to dispose him as speaker. “He’s just, you know, people study that type of crazy mind — maybe at the FBI,” McCarthy said of …

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports: Missouri Republican lawmakers have pre-filed more than 20 bills aimed at restricting LGBTQ rights ahead of the 2024 legislative session, which begins next month. One target for lawmakers appears to be removing the expiration date from the gender-affirming care ban and a grandfather clause that allowed minors to continue hormone therapy or puberty blockers if …

Newsweek reports: Representative Matt Gaetz has a new Republican enemy in Senator Markwayne Mullin. Gaetz criticized Mullin for profiting off stocks while serving as a member of Congress this week, renewing his long-held position against lawmakers trading stocks. Retweeting a post on X from Quiver Quantitative that found Mullin increased his net worth by $51 million between 2018 when he …

ABC News reports: Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) addressed fellow lawmakers on the House floor on his final day in Washington as a member of Congress on Thursday afternoon. “I had the privilege of being a leader for five years and I think about did I leave this place better than I received it?” McCarthy said. The former Speaker of the …

“The Democrats opened this can. They opened this can, and now the can is open. Democrats impeached Donald Trump not once, but twice. And they did it on the basis of no criminality. They did not even allege criminality in their impeachment proceedings. “They opened inquiries over a phone call that he had with Volodymyr Zelenskyy with regard, actually, specifically …

The New York Times reports: Republicans battling to hold onto the New York House seat vacated by George Santos chose on Thursday another relatively unknown candidate with a remarkable biography but a thin political résumé to run in a special election next year, according to three party officials briefed on the decision. After extensive vetting, Republican leaders selected Mazi Melesa …

Atlanta’s NBC affiliate reports: A Georgia congressman whose district covers much of the southern part of metro Atlanta has announced that he is not running for reelection. In a statement posted to social media, Rep. Drew Ferguson said at the conclusion of this Congress, he will be retiring from the House of Representatives. “Serving the wonderful constituents of Georgia’s Third …

Florida Politics reports: Christian Ziegler wants a multimillion-dollar buyout to resign as the Republican Party of Florida’s (RPOF) Chair, party sources confirmed. The demand comes as the political leader remains under investigation for rape and involved in a scandal making national headlines. Multiple sources confirm Ziegler has asked for a massive payout — one source said $2 million — to …

Axios reports: Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is exploring a new career that includes connecting the next-frontier worlds of space and AI with Washington, he told Axios during a more than hour-long exit interview at the Capitol. McCarthy has been friends with Elon Musk for about a decade, and says he could imagine working with him or other future-tech moguls. …

Arizona Central reports: A committee that regulates attorneys in Arizona has found probable cause that three lawyers who represented former gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake in election-related cases should face discipline, marking a significant step forward in the attorney oversight process. The probable cause orders issued by the Attorney Discipline Probable Cause Committee were filed this week against lawyers Kurt Olsen, …

CNN reports: GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy participated in a CNN town hall Wednesday in Iowa. Ramaswamy doubled down on his previous comments that the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol was an “inside job,” adding that there is evidence of police “rolling out the red carpet” for rioters and inviting them in. Ramaswamy reiterated his belief that …

CNN reports: The GOP-led House has approved a Republican resolution to formalize an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Part of the reason for Wednesday’s vote comes from the White House telling the trio of GOP-led congressional committees leading the investigation that its subpoenas were illegitimate without a formal House vote to authorize the inquiry, reluctant, more moderate Republican lawmakers started to get …

Florida Politics reports: A bill that would remove all work hour restrictions on 16- and 17-year-olds — including the prohibition on overnight shifts on school nights — received lawmakers’ approval at its first committee stop over Democrats’ objections. Rep. Linda Chaney’s bill (HB 49) went before the House Regulatory Reform & Economic Development Subcommittee. It proposes to roll back decades …

“Look, Trump’s not a conservative. He’s an authoritarian narcissist. So I think they [Cheney and Kinzinger] basically called him out for that. He’s a populist, authoritarian narcissist. So historically speaking, all of his tendencies are basically where narcissism takes him, which is whatever makes him popular, makes him feel good at any given moment. “He doesn’t think in classical liberal-conservative …

“Jim Jordan is an absolute hypocrite. Jim Jordan was in front of the Rules Committee when we were talking about holding Steve Bannon or somebody in contempt. He said in front of the Rules Committee that the Department of Justice and the FBI should be the ones investigating Donald Trump. And that would be their role. “Now, of course, he’s …