Republicans

The Washington Examiner reports: Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse on Thursday slammed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s election challenge pending at the Supreme Court, predicting that the court would dismiss it. “I suspect the Supreme Court swats this away,” Sasse told the Washington Examiner. Sasse added that, to him, it looked like Paxton filed a “PR stunt rather than a lawsuit,” …

Manchester’s ABC News affiliate reports: An autopsy revealed newly elected New Hampshire House Speaker Dick Hinch died of COVID-19, officials with the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office announced on Thursday. Hinch had been facing questions about cases of the coronavirus that arose within the Republican caucus after a mass gathering in Manchester last month. Gov. Chris Sununu ordered flags to …

The Washington Examiner reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Thursday called on senators to vote for a defense policy bill President Trump has pledged to veto. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, said the measure is essential for the military to function in the coming year. A vote is expected for later on Thursday. “On Tuesday, the House passed the conference report …

“Stacey Abrams conned the Republican leadership in Georgia into a consent decree that basically adulterated the signature verification system, so that you’re comparing the ballot signature to the application signature,” “They’re the same person who did the fraud. You should be comparing the ballot signature, the envelope signature on the ballot, to a signature that existed before the application was …

The Hill reports: Sen. Tom Cotton, a Republican with his eye on a potential White House run in 2024, on Thursday said a special counsel should be appointed to investigate Hunter Biden, President-elect Joe Biden’s son. Cotton alleged during a Fox News interview that Hunter Biden appears to be the subject of a far-ranging investigation and cited allegations of securities …

CNN reports: President Donald Trump personally asked Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas if he would argue a long-shot election lawsuit seeking to overturrn the election results in four battleground states, should the Supreme Court agree to take it up, two sources told CNN on Wednesday. Trump inquired on Tuesday whether Cruz would argue the case, which was filed by …

The Washington Post reports: The GOP leader said he absolutely would not vote to override President Trump’s threatened veto out of his anger toward social media laws that have no place in a debate about the military. Furthermore, McCarthy said his official position is to always support Trump’s veto. So one final norm could come crashing into the new political …

CNBC reports: Seventeen states whose elections were won by President Donald Trump told the Supreme Court on Wednesday that they support Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s bid to file a lawsuit that could effectively reverse President-elect Joe Biden’s projected Electoral College victory. The states supporting the suit, all of which have Republican attorneys general, are Missouri, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, …

Salon reports: Jason Miller, the chief strategist for outgoing President Donald Trump’s 2020 campaign, told a Florida family court judge in a sworn affidavit filed last Friday that he expects to be unemployed beginning Dec. 15 — which is next Tuesday, the day after the Electoral College meets to ratify Joe Biden’s election as president. As a result, Miller said, …

The South Florida SunSentinel reports: The state law used to justify a police raid at the home of a COVID-19 whistleblower suspected of accessing a Florida emergency messaging system without permission carries a stiff penalty: Up to five years in prison. That means Rebekah Jones, the Florida Department of Health data scientist fired in May for alleged insubordination, may be …

The Hill reports: Donald Trump Jr. is featured in a new ad urging Georgians to get out and vote for Sens. David Perdue (R-Ga.) and Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) in the Jan. 5 runoff election that will determine the balance of power in the Senate. The 30-second ad opens with footage of Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) saying, “Now we …

The New York Times reports: The quarreling, which has powerful state Republicans openly insulting one another, is bringing attention to the challenges the party faces as Arizona shifts from a Republican bastion to a battleground state. Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, told Mr. Ducey on Twitter last week to #STHU — the hashtag for “shut the …

Sioux Falls’ CBS News affiliate reports: Gov. Kristi Noem (R-S.D.) said today that she “expects the road could be a little bit rough under the Biden administration with some of the policies that they’ve embraced.” Noem’s comments came during her fiscal year 2022 budget presentation in Pierre. “We can expect that they may try to raise taxes, they have said …

Phoenix’s NBC News affiliate reports: The Arizona Supreme Court has affirmed the dismissal of Arizona Republican Party Chairwoman Kelli Ward’s lawsuit that sought to undo Democrat President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in Arizona. The Arizona Supreme Court’s decision confirms the election of the Biden Electors. Ward had filed a notice of appeal late Friday with the Arizona Supreme Court. A Maricopa …

Defense News reports: The House adopted compromise $740.5 billion defense policy bill by a veto-proof majority Tuesday, rebuking President Donald Trump, who threatened to veto the bill because it doesn’t repeal a prized liability shield for social media firms. Republican and Democratic supporters hoped for a strong vote in hopes it would back Trump down, and they got it. The …

The Washington Post reports: “With all due respect, the Texas Attorney General is constitutionally, legally and factually wrong about Georgia,” Katie Byrd, spokeswoman for the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr is a Republican. Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro (D) called the effort an attack on American elections that is “uniquely unserious” and …

The Associated Press reports: The Supreme Court has rejected Republicans’ last-gasp bid to reverse Pennsylvania’s certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the electoral battleground. The court without comment Tuesday refused to call into question the certification process in Pennsylvania. Gov. Tom Wolf already has certified Biden’s victory and the state’s 20 electors are to meet on Dec. 14 to …

Newsweek reports: Republicans responsible for organizing the 2021 inauguration ceremony have refused to officially recognize they are planning the event for President-elect Joe Biden. The Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, which is made up of lawmakers from both the House of Representatives and the Senate, rejected a motion on Tuesday that essentially recognized Biden as the winner of the …

Politico reports: Rep. Alex Mooney introduced a resolution on Tuesday to formally condemn any lawmakers who call on Donald Trump to concede “prematurely” from the presidential race despite having lost — the latest example of how Trump’s Hill allies are eager to prove their loyalty to the president. The West Virginia Republican, a member of the hard-line House Freedom Caucus, …

Via press release from Texas AG Ken Paxton: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton today filed a lawsuit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin in the United States Supreme Court. The four states exploited the COVID-19 pandemic to justify ignoring federal and state election laws and unlawfully enacting last-minute changes, thus skewing the results of the 2020 General Election. The battleground …