CBS News reports: As the impeachment inquiry enters its public phase, top Republicans in the House are weighing whether to temporarily assign Representative Jim Jordan of Ohio to the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the panel that will conduct the initial public hearings. Discussions about adding Jordan to the committee are “active and serious,” a senior Republican involved in …
Read More »REVEALED: RNC Paid To Swamp Phone Lines Of Dozens Of House Dems With Thousands Of Pro-Trump Calls
The New York Times reports: The Republican National Committee paid to generate thousands of calls to the congressional offices of nearly three dozen House Democrats in recent weeks, an effort that was aimed at both shaping opinion around the impeachment inquiry and tying up the phone lines of the elected officials, according to two people briefed on the effort. The …
Read More »RNC Paid $60K For Trump To Get Booed At The Garden
The Washington Post reports: President Trump’s cage-side seats to a fighting match in New York City cost the Republican National Committee about $60,000, according to officials familiar with the cost. The price included the ringside seats for Trump and his guests, catering and security, one of the officials said. The president’s guests included House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Reps. …
Read More »Ukraine Whistleblower Offers To Answer GOP Questions
CBS News reports: A lawyer for the whistleblower who reported concerns about the president’s dealings with Ukraine told CBS News he offered to have Republicans on the House Intelligence Community submit questions to his client directly without having to go through the committee’s Democratic majority. Attorney Mark Zaid told CBS News he contacted Representative Devin Nunes, the committee’s ranking member, …
Read More »GOP Worries Facebook Might Reverse On Political Ads
Axios reports: Top Republicans are privately worried about a new threat to President Trump’s campaign: the possibility of Facebook pulling a Twitter and banning political ads. Facebook says it won’t, but future regulatory pressure could change that. If Facebook were to ban — or even limit — ads, it could upend Trump’s fundraising and re-election plan, GOP officials tell Axios. …
Read More »GOP Rep Head-Butts Camera After Question On Trump
The Huffington Post reports: Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) came up with a novel way to avoid a question about President Donald Trump on Thursday. Instead of ignoring the activists from the progressive group MoveOn.org who were asking it, he head-butted their camera. “There you go,” he said, then walked into an elevator to end the strange encounter. He never answered …
Read More »GOP Busted In Lie That Probe Blocks Military Pay Raise
The Military Times reports: A 3.1 percent military pay raise is set to take effect on Jan. 1, regardless what lawmakers say about the ongoing budget fights on Capitol Hill. On Thursday, Senate Democratic leaders blasted Republican colleagues for misleading military members about their future paychecks, assuring troops that their annual salary boost is safe. In fact, the pay increase …
Read More »Butt-Dialing, The Prequel: That Time “Cybersecurity Advisor” Giuliani Locked Himself Out Of His iPhone
NBC News reports: Less than a month after he was named President Donald Trump’s cybersecurity adviser in 2017, Rudy Giuliani walked into an Apple store in downtown San Francisco. He wasn’t looking for a new gadget. Giuliani was looking for help. He was locked out of his iPhone because he had forgotten the passcode and entered the wrong one at …
Read More »Trump And GOP Seek To Save 2020 With More Tax Cuts
The Washington Post reports: White House officials and congressional Republicans have begun early talks on a new package of tax reductions and economic growth measures, under pressure from President Trump, who is agitating to announce a new tax cut proposal heading into the 2020 election. The discussions are preliminary and far from the decision stage, according to officials involved. The …
Read More »Minnesota GOP Leaves Trump Challengers Off Ballot
The Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports: President Donald Trump will be the only choice on the ballot in Minnesota’s Republican presidential primary, even though he is not the only candidate running. That’s at the direction of the Republican Party of Minnesota. Its chairwoman, Jennifer Carnahan, sent a letter to the Minnesota Secretary of State on Oct. 24 outlining its “determination of candidates” …
Read More »GOP Senators Begin To Take Impeachment Seriously
The Hill reports: Senate Republicans are taking the House impeachment proceedings against President Trump more seriously as damaging revelations against the president mount and the possibility of a quick dismissal of the charges shrinks. Earlier this year, GOP senators pledged to quickly quash any articles of impeachment passed by the House. But as the Democrats compile more evidence that Trump …
Read More »Graham Rages About New Impeachment Procedures
The Hill reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) on Wednesday blasted the newly unveiled House impeachment procedures, arguing they still fall short of giving President Trump due process. Graham, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee and a top ally of Trump, said that the decision to allow House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) to take the lead in the …
Read More »Former GOP Rep Pushed For Ukraine Ambassador To Be Fired, Told White House She “Associated With Soros”
The New York Times reports: Robert Livingston, the former Republican congressman turned lobbyist, repeatedly told a foreign service officer assigned to the White House that the American ambassador to Ukraine should be fired because of her association with Democrats, the officer plans to tell impeachment investigators on Wednesday. The officer, Catherine M. Croft, will testify that she “documented” multiple calls …
Read More »Senate Rival Warns Sessions: Trump Will Come For You
The Washington Post reports: Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), a top candidate in the U.S. Senate race in Alabama, said Tuesday that he would not back out if Jeff Sessions tries to reclaim his old seat and warned that the former attorney general’s antagonistic relationship with President Trump would damage him politically should he run again. In recent weeks, Sessions has …
Read More »Greg Pence Issues Trump Legal Defense Money Beg
The Muncie Star Press reports: U.S. Rep. Greg Pence is asking supporters to donate to his October End of Month Impeachment Defense Fund. “We need 60 Sixth District Hoosiers to chip in and fight back against radical House Democrats who are impeaching President Trump based on fake allegations,” Pence emailed friends on Tuesday. The email calls the impeachment inquiry into …
Read More »Mulvaney Learned Of ISIS Raid From Trump’s Tweet
NBC News reports: Acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney first learned about the U.S. military raid against ISIS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi after the operation was already underway, according to five current and former senior administration officials. Mulvaney was at home in South Carolina when President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter Saturday night that “Something very big has …
Read More »KANSAS: Kris Koback Admits To Ethical Violations
Kansas City’s NPR affiliate reports: Former Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach agreed to legal sanctions to resolve a disciplinary complaint about his conduct in a voting rights case he lost last year. As part of the resulting diversion agreement made public Monday, Kobach admitted that he did not properly supervise lawyers and others while contesting a lawsuit that challenged …
Read More »Top GOP Reps Defend WH Official From “Spy” Chatter
This is a fascinating turn of events: Republicans may quibble with the substance of Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman’s testimony as they try to protect President Donald Trump from the fast-moving impeachment inquiry. But congressional GOP leaders say it’s out of bounds to attack Vindman’s patriotism and allegiance to the United States, as some conservative pundits did on Monday night. “That …
Read More »Sessions “Seriously” Mulling Bid For Old Senate Seat
CBS News reports: CBS News has learned former Attorney General Jeff Sessions is “seriously considering” a campaign to win back his former U.S. Senate seat, according to multiple people familiar with his thinking. A spokeswoman for Sessions declined to comment early Tuesday. His Washington-based attorney did not immediately return requests for comment. “He is seriously considering a campaign,” said a …
Read More »GOP Rep Flips Out At Impeachment Question [VIDEO]
CNN reports: In contentious interviews with CNN’s Manu Raju, two House Republicans struggled to defend President Trump when pressed about whether it was okay for him to ask a foreign country to investigate the Bidens. Rep. Mark Amodei, who at first publicly supported impeachment before walking the announcement back, repeatedly refused to answer questions about the substance of Trump’s now-infamous …
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