Republicans

USA Today reports: Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he’s laser-focused on his job as President Trump’s top diplomat, and he’s quick to dismiss “all the chatter” about a possible bid for U.S. Senate. “I think the only one not talking about my Kansas Senate run is me,” Pompeo told CNBC in an Aug. 20 interview. But Pompeo will fuel …

Madison’s ABC News affiliate reports: In an exclusive interview Friday, Former Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker told WISN 12 News his 25-year-old son Matt Walker is considering a run for Wisconsin’s 5th congressional district after Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner announced he wouldn’t seek re-election in 2020. “Well, he’s had a number of people reach out to him,” Scott Walker told Adrienne Pederson …

Newsweek reports: A report out by the San Antonio Express-News found that a gun owner in Texas had sent more than 100 pages of racist and violent letters to the Texas Attorney General’s office threatening to kill undocumented immigrants over the course of a year and a half, and that nothing was done to stop him or to communicate the …

Talking Points Memo reports: Arizona GOP chairwoman Kelli Ward promised to stop Mark Kelly — husband of gunshot victim former Rep. Gabby Giffords (D-AZ) and Senate candidate – “dead in his tracks.” “Support the Republican Party of Arizona today and, together, we’ll stop gun-grabber Mark Kelly dead in his tracks,” Ward wrote in a fundraising email. Neither the Arizona Republican …

Reuters reports: Four states are poised to cancel their 2020 GOP presidential primaries and caucuses, a move that would cut off oxygen to Donald Trump’s long-shot primary challengers. Republican parties in South Carolina, Nevada, Arizona and Kansas are expected to finalize the cancellations in meetings this weekend, according to three GOP officials who are familiar with the plans. The moves …

The Chicago Tribune reports: Six months after striking a rare deal with prosecutors, former U.S. Rep. Aaron Schock on Wednesday was officially cleared of criminal charges alleging he used his campaign funds as a private piggy bank. Completing what’s known as a deferred prosecution, federal prosecutors in Chicago dropped all charges against Schock after he completed a probationary period where …

“I actually went into that cell where it was reported they were advised they had to drink out of the toilet. I took a drink out of there. And actually it was pretty good! “So I have a videotape and I smacked my lips but I didn’t send it out because this issue really needs to go into the rear …

The Dallas Morning News reports: Rep. Bill Flores announced Wednesday morning that he will not seek reelection to the U.S. House next year, becoming the fifth Republican congressman from Texas to voluntarily retire ahead of the 2020 elections. Flores, from Bryan, has served five terms, coming in with the tea party wave of 2010, the first midterm elections of the …

Hugh Hewitt: Senator, let me begin by talking to you about nicknames. I played the Cocaine song, because Cocaine Mitch is a popular hashtag among people like me. Grim Reaper is as well. But Moscow Mitch is McCarthyism. That’s absolutely despicable. What do you think of the last one? Mitch McConnell: Yeah, I mean, it’s modern day McCarthyism. Unbelievable for …

Reuters reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) pledged Tuesday that Republicans would fill a Supreme Court vacancy in 2019 or 2020, arguing the dynamic is different now than when the party held open a seat in 2016. Asked during an interview with radio host Hugh Hewitt if Republicans would support filing a vacancy on the Supreme Court in 2019 …

The Hill reports: President Trump said Sunday that he is still talking to Congress about measures to stem gun violence but that Saturday’s shooting in West Texas that left seven people dead “hasn’t changed anything.” Trump also asserted that stricter background checks wouldn’t have stopped mass shootings over the past several years. “We’re looking at the same things,” Trump told …

Shareblue reports: Donald Trump Jr. could not attract much of a crowd in an extremely pro-Trump area of Kentucky to rally for Gov. Matt Bevin on Thursday. The eldest Trump son promoted the event on Tuesday to his 3.79 million followers with a link touting the event as “an excellent opportunity to show your support” for Bevin. But the event …

Roll Call reports: Republican Rep. John Shimkus will not run for a 13th term in his southeastern Illinois district, vacating what will likely remain a safe Republican seat in 2020. Shimkus announced his decision Friday afternoon, saying he wanted to make his plans known as candidates begin to circulate petitions for office next week. “Serving in Congress has been a …

The Sacramento Bee reports: A Virginia judge has asked Twitter to provide more information about the authors of two anonymous parody accounts that heckle California Republican Rep. Devin Nunes before deciding whether to dismiss the congressman’s lawsuit against the social media company. Judge John Marshall is weighing a request from San Francisco-based Twitter to dismiss Nunes’ lawsuit on the grounds …

The Texas Tribune reports: Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday that “mistakes were made” in his fundraising letter that used alarmist language in calling to “DEFEND” the Texas border and was dated one day before a deadly shooting that targeted Hispanics in El Paso. Speaking to reporters ahead of the second meeting of the newly formed Texas Safety Commission, Abbott said …

You may recall this story providing days of mirth here on JMG way back in 2015. Lansing’s Fox News affiliate reports: A former Michigan lawmaker pleaded no contest Wednesday to a misdemeanor stemming from charges filed over a bizarre plot to hide his extramarital affair with another legislator. Todd Courser, a 47-year-old Republican from Silverwood who resigned from the state …

Salon reports: During an appearance on Sean Hannity’s Fox News show, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) claimed he has every intention of calling in former President Barack Obama and grilling him on what he knows about the FBI’s investigation of Donald Trump. Speaking with the Fox News host, the Republican senator claimed he is pushing forward with his …

The Montgomery Advertiser reports: Gov. Kay Ivey on Thursday issued an apology for appearing in a racist sketch during her time as an undergraduate at Auburn University in the 1960s. Audio surfaced of a 1967 interview given by Ivey and her then-fiancee, Ben LaRavia, in which LaRavia recalled a party at Auburn’s Baptist Student Union. Ivey participated in at least …

San Diego’s Fox affiliate reports: Former Rep. Darrell Issa has launched an exploratory committee for California’s 50th Congressional District, a seat currently held by embattled Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Alpine. “I have received such a tremendous outpouring of encouragement from supporters inside the district, and around the state and across the Nation. I’m truly grateful for the many encouraging phone calls, …

Reuters reports: Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) said Wednesday that he will resign at the end of 2019, citing health problems. Isakson, who was reelected to a third term in 2016, said in a statement that he has informed Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) of his decision, effective Dec. 31. “I am leaving a job I love because my health challenges …