Republicans

Politico reports: House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer launched an investigation on Wednesday into Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent visit to an ammunition factory in Pennsylvania. House Republicans have already cried foul on the visit, which Zelenskyy took to thank the workers at a factory that has supplied critical munitions in Ukraine’s war with Russia, because several Democrats joined him …

The Texas Tribune reports: A newly created state appeals court denied Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton request to temporarily block the State Fair of Texas’ policy banning all firearms from its fairgrounds as the event is set to start Friday. The ruling comes after a Dallas County District Court struck down a similar request from Paxton on the new policy. …

CNN reports: US House candidate Laurie Buckhout, who is running in a competitive race in North Carolina’s 1st Congressional District, deleted at least nine photos of herself with Robinson on X, according to screenshots and a Google cache of her tweets. She also deleted a post calling Robinson “North Carolina’s next governor.” Other candidates appeared to delete photos with themselves …

“While he was leading the charge against me and calling me all these things, [D’Esposito] was actually stealing money from the American people and giving it to benefit his mistress in a no-show job ploy at the expense of taxpayer dollars. Tell me what that speaks about his character or the sheer hypocrisy of it all. “This shouldn’t be deemed …

NBC News reports: The House on Wednesday is poised to pass a funding bill to avert a government shutdown next week after it removed a proposal demanded by Donald Trump that would require Americans nationwide to show proof of citizenship to register to vote. House Republican leaders, facing defections within their ranks, plan to rely heavily on Democratic votes to …

The New Republic reports: Despite spending months trying to distance themselves from Project 2025, the top of the Republican presidential ticket seems committed to bringing the Christian nationalist manifesto closer to the White House. Republican vice presidential pick J.D. Vance has enlisted key allies, including a Project 2025 contributor, in his debate prep sessions ahead of his first face-off against …

The Washington Post reports: A panel of federal judges heard arguments Tuesday in a case that could upend the rules for counting a sliver of mail ballots in Mississippi just weeks before Election Day, with possible ramifications for all states. At issue is a Mississippi law that allows mail ballots to be counted if they arrive up to five days …

The Associated Press reports: North Carolina Republican gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson said Tuesday his campaign has hired a law firm to help investigate a CNN report stating he made explicit racial and sexual posts on a pornography website’s message board. The lawyers will look at how what Robinson calls “false smears” originated. The announcement comes as more North Carolina Republicans …

Bloomberg News reports: North Carolina gubernatorial candidate Mark Robinson will need to prove his innocence against allegations he made crude and racist remarks on an adult website if he wants to stay in the race, Republican National Committee co-chair Michael Whatley said Tuesday. “Those comments are absolutely antithetical to Republican values, and if Mark Robinson is going to continue in …

Axios reports: Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen put the effort to reform the Cornhusker state’s allocation of electoral votes to rest Tuesday, confirming he has no plans to call a special session before the November election. ointing to state Sen. Mike McDonnell’s (R) announcement that he would not join the Republican push, Pillen said the effort could not reach the 33-member …

The Hill reports: The head of the House Democratic Caucus warned Tuesday that voters should have no faith in Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) to certify this year’s presidential election results because of his role in promoting former President Trump’s false claims about a “rigged” contest in 2020. “He doesn’t have a track record that would indicate to the American people …

Jacksonville’s NBC affiliate reports: A day after declaring a state of emergency in 41 Florida counties, Gov. Ron DeSantis announced at a news conference Tuesday at the Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee that he had increased the number to 61, including all counties in Northeast Florida. The only four counties not currently under a state of emergency are in southeast …

Politico reports: House Republicans moved Tuesday to hold Secretary of State Antony Blinken in contempt of Congress over claims he obstructed their investigation into the chaotic U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021. House Foreign Affairs Chair Michael McCaul [photo] had subpoenaed Blinken, requiring him to testify on Tuesday. But the secretary of state responded he’d be in New York for …

NOTUS reports: Just hours after court filings were released claiming that witnesses saw Rep. Matt Gaetz attend a drug-fueled sex party in 2017 with a 17-year-old girl, the Florida Bar received a formal complaint that could threaten the congressman’s legal credentials. Friday morning, Florida activist Chaz Stevens pointed the Florida Bar to reporting from NOTUS about the sudden turn in …

CNN reports: Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will no longer back Robinson. After the Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained photos of a Robinson fundraiser that Kemp attended last month, spokesman Cody Hall told CNN in a statement: “The governor attended the fundraiser as Vice Chair of the Republican Governors Association and will not be offering further support to the Robinson campaign.” Some North …

Politico reports: User data reviewed by POLITICO shows that the person using the “Nude Africa” account that reportedly belonged to Robinson had accessed the porn website from a location not far from Robinson’s home. Robinson’s email address is also registered with other previously unreported dating websites, POLITICO found. The same IP address was also listed in breached user data for …

The New York Times reports: As a proud son of Nassau County’s vaunted Republican machine, Representative Anthony D’Esposito of New York knows well the power of political patronage. Shortly after taking the oath of office, the first-term congressman hired his longtime fiancée’s daughter to work as a special assistant in his district office, eventually bumping her salary to about $3,800 …

The Texas Tribune reports: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced Monday that his office is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Biden administration officials for declaring a rare lizard endangered earlier this year. The dunes sagebrush lizard burrows in the sand dunes in the Mescalero-Monahans ecosystem 30 miles west of Odessa — …

Law & Crime reports: A federal judge on Friday temporarily blocked Tennessee’s so-called “abortion trafficking law,” which bans adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental permission. Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-15-220 was passed by the Tennessee General Assembly on April 24 and signed by Gov. Bill Lee [photo above] on May 28. It went into effect on July …

Raleigh’s NBC affiliate reports: North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson rejected multiple offers from supporters to connect him with information technology specialists to help the Republican gubernatorial nominee investigate racist and lewd comments on a pornographic website made by someone with a username that CNN tied to Robinson, people directly familiar with the matter told WRAL on Monday. Robinson’s alleged …