Republicans

The Texas Tribune reports: Laura Olson, the woman with whom suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton allegedly had an affair, is expected to take the witness stand Wednesday after 3 p.m. The prosecution attempted to call Olson as their first witness on Wednesday, but Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said she was not eligible to testify yet because she had not been …

Florida Politics reports: Florida law enforcement officials arrested a Cape Canaveral man who led a Nazi demonstration in Orlando in June. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) announced Jason Brown, 48, was arrested for violating a new Florida law forbidding the display of images on structures without permission. Officials said Brown has claimed membership in the Order of the …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012 and the only member of his party to twice vote to convict former president Donald Trump in politically charged impeachment trials, announced Wednesday that he will not seek a second term in the Senate representing Utah, saying in an interview that it is time for a new …

The Associated Press reports: A woman with whom Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is said to have had an extramarital affair was expected to give public testimony Wednesday, setting up a dramatic moment in the Republican’s impeachment trial on charges of corruption and bribery. The affair is central to the historic proceedings and accusations that Paxton misused his power to …

First, a reminder from yesterday’s Washington Post report: Sen. Tim Scott’s romantic endeavors aren’t a scandal so much as they are a mystery. At 57, he’s never been married and rarely talks about girlfriends past or present. Late last year, as Scott was ramping up his run for president, I asked Jennifer DeCasper, his close friend and campaign manager, about …

Bloomberg News reports: Senator Tommy Tuberville says he’ll continue to block hundreds of US military promotions unless the Biden administration abolishes its new abortion policy and the Senate votes on the issue because “we are not a Communist country.” “They are starting to believe me that I meant what I said,” the Alabama Republican said Tuesday on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance …

The Daily Beast reports: When confronted Tuesday during a CNN interview over his laundry list of lies, Rep. George Santos (R-NY) insisted he wasn’t deflecting—then proceeded to do exactly that. Anchor Erin Burnett, after rolling several clips of Santos, asked him to explain his fabrications. “Erin, you know what would be great? I’m not deflecting, but I’m just going to …

“You have to identify them as being hostile. I mean, if there’s a woman with a baby, they are not a cartel member. There’s not going to be authorization to just shoot somebody like that. But when somebody’s got a backpack on and they’re breaking through the wall, you know that that’s hostile intent, and you have every right to …

Axios reports: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy says he wants to cut a million civilian employees from the federal government — more than a third of the non-military federal workforce — if he’s elected president in 2024. It’s the latest proposal from the political novice that tacks far to the right of every other Republican in the presidential race — in this …

The Denver Post reports: U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was escorted out of a Sunday night performance of the “Beetlejuice” musical in downtown Denver, accused by venue officials of vaping, singing, recording and “causing a disturbance” during the performance. The report quotes one of the ushers: “They told me they would not leave. I told them that they need to leave …

Politico reports: Joe Biden has a literal Trump card to play against the House’s new impeachment inquiry. In January 2020, the Donald Trump-led Justice Department formally declared that impeachment inquiries by the House are invalid unless the chamber takes formal votes to authorize them. That opinion — issued by the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Counsel — came in response …

“I put some lube on and got him on his knees. And I began to slide into him from behind. I pulled out of him and kissed him while he masturbated. He asked me to turn over while he slipped a condom on himself. This was my ass, and I was struggling to imagine someone inside me. He got on …

The Hill reports: Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) says he plans to give Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and House Republicans plenty of space to pursue an impeachment inquiry against President Biden, after saying last month that “impeachment ought to be rare” and “is not good for our country.” Despite making clear his qualms about pursuing an impeachment inquiry against …

Axios reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) — who helped lead the unsuccessful effort to deny Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) speakership bid —said Tuesday that McCarthy is “out of compliance” with the terms of the deal he made with conservatives to become speaker. The Florida Republican laid out a scenario of starting “every single day in Congress with the prayer, the pledge …

Via email from hate group leader Tony Perkins: On Monday, Senator James Lankford (R-Okla.) along with 14 other senators and congressmen sent a letter to the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) demanding that it deny the Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) request to reschedule marijuana as a lower-risk Schedule III drug. The letter comes as a growing chorus of …

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports: Donald Trump’s top Georgia supporters are hosting fundraising events and stepping up their appeals to donors to help pay the legal fees for three GOP electors charged with signing a certificate falsely claiming that the Republican won the 2020 presidential election. The Georgia GOP has sent out urgent requests for cash to help cover the costs …

CNN reports: House Speaker Kevin McCarthy announced Tuesday that he endorsed launching a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. McCarthy was also expected to make a forceful pitch at a Thursday special conference meeting on investigations among House Republicans that opening an impeachment inquiry into Biden is the next logical step, sources familiar tell CNN. The development comes as …

The Washington Post reports: In June, as Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) began to get a little momentum in the presidential primary, a person working on behalf of one of Scott’s Republican opponents messaged me, asking to chat. “Have you seen the video,” he asked over the phone, conspiratorially, “where he says he has a girlfriend?” The Republican operative who called …

Nashville’s CBS affiliate reports: “Appalled! Absolutely appalled!” That’s what a group of women from across the country are saying about how a candidate for Franklin mayor appears to have lifted their social media posts to falsely claim them as her supporters. Franklin alderman Gabrielle Hanson, a controversial candidate who appears to relish her MAGA Republican ties, may not have thought …

Punchbowl News reports: Speaker Kevin McCarthy plans to tell House Republicans in a closed meeting this week that launching an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden is the “logical next step” in the GOP’s probes of the president and his son, Hunter Biden. McCarthy and the House Republican leadership scheduled a closed-door session for Thursday morning so that members could …