Republicans

USA Today reports: Rep. Steve King told an Iowa crowd Wednesday that humanity might not exist if not for rape and incest throughout human history. “What if we went back through all the family trees and just pulled out anyone who was a product of rape or incest? Would there be any population of the world left if we did …

San Antonio’s ABC News affiliate reports: In less than two weeks, Texas residents will be allowed to carry brass knuckles for self defense. Starting Sept. 1, brass knuckles will be removed from the Texas Penal Code’s list of prohibited weapons under legislation signed into law by Gov. Gregg Abbott (R) earlier this year. An analysis of the law conducted by …

Brad Polumbo writes at the Washington Examiner: Progressive activists don’t care about the personal pain they’ve caused Schock and his family. He earned their ire both by being a Republican and for his history — perceived as hypocritical — of voting against gay rights. While in Congress, Schock did not support the repeal of the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy …

Politico reports: Rep. Duncan Hunter won’t go on trial until next year on corruption charges that involve the spending of campaign cash on vacations, extramarital affairs and other items, a U.S. judge decided Tuesday. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Whelan changed the trial date from Sept. 10 to Jan. 14 after defense attorneys raised questions about whether an appeals court …

Politico reports: As bad as it’s been for Texas Republicans lately, some members of the party are warning that 2020 could be even worse. The rash of recent House GOP retirements is just the latest sign of a state party in distress: In last year’s midterms, Democrats flipped a pair of longtime GOP districts, a Democrat came within striking distance …

“The Department of Justice failed, and today Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirators think they might have just gotten one last sweetheart deal. “Every single person in the Justice Department — from your Main Justice headquarters staff all the way to the night-shift jailer — knew that this man was a suicide risk, and that his dark secrets couldn’t be allowed to die …

The hypocrisy meter just hurled itself out the window: House conservatives on Friday called on the chamber’s Ethics Committee to investigate Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) for tweeting the names of Trump campaign donors. The letter spearheaded by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) was signed by GOP Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Debbie Lesko (Ariz.), Jeff Duncan (S.C.), Randy Weber …

Politico reports: Twitter today reversed course and unlocked the campaign account of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, moving to defuse a growing controversy with the Republican political establishment. The company on Wednesday had frozen the McConnell account over a post featuring a profanity-laced video of protesters hurling threats toward the GOP lawmaker’s Kentucky home. The post, the company said, violated …

The Associated Press reports: Shifting the gun violence debate, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday he now wants to consider background checks and other bills, setting up a potentially pivotal moment when lawmakers return in the fall. The Republican leader won’t be calling senators back to work early, as some are demanding. But he told a Kentucky radio station …

The Hill reports: House Republicans in the Illinois delegation are calling for President Trump to not commute the prison sentence of former Democratic Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who is serving 14 years on federal corruption charges. The push comes in the wake of Trump telling reporters Wednesday he was “very strongly” considering commuting the sentence of the former Celebrity Apprentice …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: The Republican Party of Florida is planning to hold two voter registration drives at a South Florida gun show one week after two mass shootings ended with 31 people dead in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio. The party’s regional field director emailed supporters Thursday asking for volunteers to help register voters at the Pembroke …

Roll Call reports: According to several people familiar with the process, Senate Appropriations Chairman Richard C. Shelby, an Alabama Republican, wrote an allocation for the fiscal 2020 Labor-HHS-Education spending bill that is about $5 billion lower than it would have been to provide funding for the wall. Congress and the White House reached agreement on a budget deal raising discretionary …

Politico reports: Senate Republicans’ campaign arm announced today it will stop spending money to advertise on Twitter after the social media platform locked Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s account for posting a video of violent threats against him. “Twitter’s hostile actions toward Leader McConnell’s campaign are outrageous, and we will not tolerate it,” said Jesse Hunt, a spokesman for the National …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is slated to appear at a pair of fundraising events in the Hamptons on Friday, including one that charges up to $250,000 for lunch, a photo and a private roundtable with the president. The fundraisers are the latest sign that Trump is embracing the world of wealthy contributors who served as punching bags in …

NBC News reports: Ten new pro-gun laws will take effect in Texas in four weeks, less than a month after 22 people died in a mass shooting at a Walmart in El Paso. Gov. Greg Abbott signed the measures after they were passed in a 2019 legislative session that the National Rifle Association, or NRA, called “highly successful” at the …

Reuters reports: A federal appeals court revived former U.S. vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, over an editorial that she said maliciously linked her to the 2011 mass shooting that seriously wounded Representative Gabrielle Giffords. In a 3-0 decision on Tuesday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said the lower court …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: U.S. Ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman is returning home to Utah where he is reportedly mulling another run for governor. Huntsman sent President Donald Trump a resignation letter Tuesday morning and is planning to move back to the Beehive State in October. “American citizenship is a privilege and I believe the most basic responsibility in …

USA Today reports: A crowd of frustrated mourners yelled at Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine on Sunday night to “do something” about gun violence. DeWine said he heard them. “Some chanted ‘do something’ and they were absolutely right,” DeWine said at Tuesday morning news conference. “We must do something, and that is exactly what we are going to do.” DeWine unveiled …

The Washington Post reports: The young men wear matching shirts from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)’s campaign, and cluster around a cardboard cutout of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.). Several of them hold their thumbs down. One grasps the life-size poster by the waist and pretends to kiss the congresswoman. Another appears to mime his hand around her neck. To …

The Cincinnati Enquirer reports: Ohio Republican Party leader Jane Timken has called on Rep. Candice Keller [photo] to resign from her Butler County seat after the lawmaker’s “shocking” comments about Sunday’s mass shooting in Dayton. Keller, R-Middletown, posted on Facebook Sunday comments that blamed “drag queen advocates,” the Democratic Congress, former President Barack Obama, violent video games and the hatred …