Republicans

“It’s going to be very difficult for future presidents to have a very candid conversation with a world leader because now we’ve set the precedent of leaking transcripts,” he said. “The weakening of executive privilege is not good. And by the way, these individuals that leaked this. “If their interest was a stronger relationship with Ukraine, they did not accomplish …

The Washington Post reports: The Republican National Committee will hold its winter meetings at President Trump’s Doral golf course in Florida next year — awarding another of the party’s most lucrative events to the president’s private business, a party spokesman said Thursday. The multiday event will be held in January at the Trump National Doral. Last month, Trump briefly chose …

The Hill reports: The Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating Rep. Ross Spano (R-Fla.) over allegations of campaign finance violations, the House Ethics Committee announced Thursday.The committee said it had agreed to defer the review of the allegations to the DOJ at the DOJ’s request. The Ethics Committee had been reviewing the allegations since September. “The Department of Justice has …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Steve King (R-IA) posted photos of the son of left-wing billionaire George Soros on Thursday, absurdly accusing him of being the White House whistleblower. “Adam Schiff said, ‘I do not know the identity of the whistleblower.’ @RepAdamSchiff here are four strong clues,” posted King, along with four pictures of Soros with Hillary Clinton, Chuck Schumer, Nancy Pelosi, …

The Pensacola News-Journal reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz is asking the federal court to sentence Amanda Kondrat’yev — the woman who threw a drink on the congressman after a Pensacola campaign event in June — to “some time of incarceration,” saying that the message needs to be sent to supporters and opponents that violence won’t be tolerated. Kondrat’yev, 35, is scheduled …

Fox News reports: Former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman announced Thursday morning that he is running for his old job once again. Huntsman left the governorship in the middle of his second term in 2009 to serve as ambassador to China in the Obama administration. He recently finished a two-year stint as ambassador to Russia under President Trump, which ended when …

The Lexington Courier-Journal reports: All 120 county boards of elections began a recanvass of the votes in Kentucky’s race for governor at 9 a.m. today. Gov. Matt Bevin requested the recanvass last week after he came up roughly 5,189 votes short of Democrat Andy Beshear. In a recanvass, a county reviews printouts of their vote totals to make sure they …

Politico reports: The Republican National Committee is pouring another $1 million into the Louisiana governor’s race ahead of Saturday’s runoff — a move that comes amid mounting GOP concerns about losing a second major election in a conservative state in as many weeks. The last-minute spending doubles the committee’s investment in the race, where Republican Eddie Rispone is trying to …

The Hill reports: Former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld (R) filed paperwork Wednesday declaring himself a candidate in the Republican presidential primary in New Hampshire next year. Weld, along with former Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), is waging a longshot challenge to President Trump in the 2020 GOP primary for the presidential nomination. Former Rep. Mark Sanford (R-S.C.) dropped his primary bid …

The Tampa Bay Times reports: Last month’s visit to the University of Florida by President Donald Trump’s oldest son is still reverberating through campus, with some student leaders pushing to oust the student body president who invited him. For only the second time in the school’s 115-year history, a student president faces impeachment — and this time it’s happening with …

The Lima News reports: “I’ve stood up against the Speaker of the House from own party in my own state. I’ve stood up against the IRS, stood up against the FBI, stood up against Adam Schiff, fought the Justice Department when the whole Trump-Russia thing — what they had done. The idea I’m not going to defend our athletes when …

The Washington Post reports: Former South Carolina governor Mark Sanford ended his presidential primary challenge to President Trump on Tuesday, blaming the impeachment drama in Washington for crowding out a discussion of policy issues. Sanford, who launched his protest campaign two months ago, announced his decision during a news conference in New Hampshire. He had been planning to file in …

USA Today reports: As the final votes trickled in during last week’s Kentucky gubernatorial election, a network of automated Twitter accounts suddenly sprang into action. They spread misinformation about the election being rigged, according to the CEO of a company that tracks political misinformation on social media. Gideon Blocq, the founder and CEO of VineSight, told The Courier Journal his …

First, a reminder of what this is all about: Nikki Haley, the former ambassador to the United Nations, has been causing quite a stir with her new memoir, in which she recounts how, during her time in the Trump administration, other top officials lobbied her to help them undermine the president. In “With All Due Respect,” Ms. Haley writes that …

The New York Times reports: A long-simmering feud within the White House broke into the open on Monday as a lawyer for John R. Bolton, President Trump’s former national security adviser, filed a motion trying to keep Mick Mulvaney, the president’s acting chief of staff, from joining a lawsuit over impeachment testimony. Mr. Bolton’s lawyer argued in court papers that …

The Lexington Herald-Leader reports: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Monday it appears that Gov. Matt Bevin has lost the election for Kentucky governor, but he declined to say whether he thinks the Republican governor should concede. “I’m sorry Matt came up short, he had a good four years and all indications are we’ll have a new governor,” McConnell …

NBC News reports: At first glance, Matthew Lusk’s campaign signs look like any other Republican candidate’s. On one side, they read, “Matthew Lusk for Congress,” and “Putting America First.” But as he flipped the signs over while loading them into a hatchback near his home in Florida earlier this year, he pointed out a detail pasted on the back of …

New York City’s ABC News affiliate reports: New York Congressman Peter King announced Monday morning he will not be seeking re-election in 2020. “After 28 years of spending 4 days a week in Washington, D.C., it is time to end the weekly commute and be home in Seaford,” the longtime GOP representative said in a statement posted to his Facebook …

CBS News reports: Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers has gone back to calling the evergreen on display at the state Capitol a holiday tree, reversing his predecessor who declared it a Christmas tree. Former Governor Scott Walker made his displeasure known on Twitter. In 2007 the Republican-controlled state Assembly passed a resolution to call the tree a Christmas tree, but it …

Roll Call reports: Navy Rear Adm. Ronny Jackson is considering a run for Congress in Texas, two sources familiar with his plans said Friday. Jackson was the chief White House physician in 2018, when President Donald Trump nominated him to be Veterans Affairs secretary. But Jackson withdrew his nomination from consideration amid allegations that he abused alcohol and mishandled prescription …