Republicans

The New York Post reports: He wanted to be “America’s mayor” a whole lot longer. Rudy Giuliani secretly asked then-New York Gov. George Pataki to cancel New York City’s 2001 mayoral election so he could remain in office following the Sept. 11 terror attack, a new book reveals. The bombshell revelation is contained in Pataki’s upcoming memoir of 9/11, “Beyond …

Baton Rouge’s NBC News affiliate reports: Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham says he won’t seek another term in Congress representing northeast Louisiana’s 5th District. The Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor says he’s sticking to a campaign pledge to serve only three terms in the U.S. House. Abraham announced his decision Wednesday in a statement that touted President Donald Trump’s …

ProPublica reports: Former Donald Trump campaign CEO and chief strategist Steve Bannon used a private jet apparently owned by a wealthy Chinese businessman to fly to events to promote Republican congressional candidates in 2018. The previously unreported flights could run afoul of a campaign finance law that bars foreign money from U.S. elections, according to campaign finance experts, though it …

Former Trump challenger Joe Walsh writes: I hate to break it to you, but if you’re really never-Trump, then you know there’s no except-if-he’s-a-socialist footnote. There’s no but-she’s-way-too-professor-ish clause. Nothing in the fine print says the only acceptable Democratic alternative is another arrogant billionaire. I thought this was understood. And yeah, I worry that if Sanders is the nominee, Trump …

The Salem Statesman-Journal reports: For the second consecutive legislative session, Senate Republicans have walked out of the Oregon Capitol to block passage of a greenhouse gas emissions cap-and-trade bill. “The Republicans who walked out are not against climate policy, they are against the democratic process,” Gov. Kate Brown said. “Oregonians should be outraged and I am, too.” Democrats hold a …

Fox News reports: House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Devin Nunes, R-Calif., told Fox News Friday that he plans to sue The Washington Post over a report that claimed he went to the White House and told President Trump of purported testimony by a top intelligence official that Moscow is working to reelect the president in November. The report also claimed …

The Associated Press reports: A political committee linked to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is funding ads and other campaign materials designed to meddle in North Carolina’s Democratic Senate primary, the group acknowledged on Friday. Campaign finance documents filed late Thursday show the Faith and Power PAC receiving all of its money so far — $2.95 million — from the …

Politico reports: Bernie Sanders hasn’t won the Democratic primary — but down-ballot Republicans are having a field day acting like he has. Republicans up and down the ballot are already casting their Democratic rivals as socialist puppets who would remake the economy in Sanders’ collectivist vision. The play is straightforward: President Donald Trump has repelled college-educated suburban voters since he …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump told reporters Thursday evening that he was considering Rep. Douglas A. Collins (R-Ga.) as his permanent Director of National Intelligence. The move would not only fill a post that has not been permanently filled since Daniel Coats resigned last summer, but would help Trump and his fellow Republicans avoid what is already shaping up …

Will Sommer reports at The Daily Beast: It’s not unheard-of for members of Congress to resign their seats because of serious legal trouble. Now Republican House candidate Danielle Stella is trying to achieve the inverse: getting elected to Congress while being wanted by the law. Stella, one of the five Republicans competing for the right to take on Rep. Ilhan …

The Hill reports: Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage (R) said Thursday he is exploring the possibility of running for his old office in 2022. “We are working on it. I want to see what happens this year with the election,” he told WAGM, a local Maine media outlet. LePage also clarified that he and his wife, who own a residence …

NBC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham and a bipartisan group of lawmakers, uniting against a Trump administration idea to withdraw U.S. troops from part of Africa, pushed back during a fiery exchange with Defense Secretary Mark Esper here over the weekend, according to four people present at or familiar with the meeting. At one point, Graham warned Esper that there …

The Philadelphia Tribune reports: In the Philadelphia suburbs, a document that’s mocked up to look like the U.S. Census, but is really a clever fund-raising ploy by the Republican National Committee, is once again making the rounds. The document started landing in mailboxes in Berks, Bucks and Montgomery counties, according to KYW-1060 AM, and the office of U.S. Rep. Madeleine …

Fox News reports: Sen. Tom Cotton said Sunday that China is “still lying” about the gravity of the coronavirus outbreak that has killed more than 1,660 people. “This virus did not originate in the Wuhan animal market,” Cotton said. “Epidemiologists who are widely respected from China who published a study have demonstrated that several of the original cases did not …

The Hill reports: Rep. Bradley Byrne (R-Ala.), who is running to unseat Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.) in November, released a new attack ad against fellow GOP primary contender and former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. In the new 30-second ad, Bryne criticizes Sessions for being forced by President Trump to resign as attorney general. The ad also states “Hillary [Clinton] still …

NBC News reports: Vermont Governor Phil Scott has endorsed a Presidential candidate, just 3 weeks before the Vermont primary. He said he is backing Bill Weld, President Trump’s Challenger on the March 3rd Ballot. “I’ve met with him before, I think a lot of him and his platform so I would be supporting him,” said Scott. Scott and Weld are …

CNN reports: A former Ohio State University wrestler accused Rep. Jim Jordan on Friday of lying about not knowing of sexual abuse allegations against a university doctor during his time as an assistant coach there 25 years ago. Adam DiSabato told CNN Friday that he had reported the complaints about the late Dr. Richard Strauss, who was accused of assaulting …

Politico reports: On Wednesday night, the RNCC walked across the street to the DCCC’s headquarters on Capitol Hill to stake out some Dem candidates, and stumbled upon what they consider a quite fortuitous find. Dems say it represents tactics that are totally out of bounds, and downright creepy. The DCCC was holding a polling meeting with the blinds wide open, …

The Associated Press reports: Some Capitol Hill Republicans said they disagreed with Limbaugh’s remark, while others demurred. “I’m just going to leave all that alone,” said conservative Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., who said she’d not heard the comment. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, facing reelection this fall, also declined to comment. “It’s a miscalculation as to where the country is at,” …

Business Insider reports: If Americans are concerned that President Donald Trump and Republicans are moving the US toward becoming a one-party, authoritarian state, they are running out of time to stop them, experts warned. Trump has exhibited autocratic impulses since his 2016 campaign and from the moment he entered the White House. The president has attacked virtually every democratic institution …