Republicans

Louisville’s CBS News affiliate reports: U.S. Attorney Russell Coleman told reporters Monday he will determine if any of the state inmates pardoned by former Gov. Matt Bevin also committed any federal crimes. “I will say this in regard to the underlying conduct in these pardons that were received … if the underlying conduct took place in the Western District of …

Reuters reports: Sarah Palin said in an amended defamation lawsuit against the New York Times on Monday that the deep-seated “animosity and ill-will” of the newspaper’s editorial page editor toward her motivated him to falsely link her to a mass shooting. Palin, the 2008 Republican vice presidential candidate and former Alaska governor, made her claim against the editor, James Bennet, …

ABC News reports: Former Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski announced on Twitter on Tuesday that he will not run for Senate in New Hampshire after all, saying he would put his efforts into reelecting President Trump in 2020. “After much consideration I have decided to forgo a campaign for the US Senate. While taking on a career politician from …

NBC News reports: Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican who faces a tough re-election battle next year, said in a radio interview on Monday that it was “inappropriate” for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to say he was working in “total coordination” with the White House and she excoriated Democrats for prejudging the process. “It is inappropriate, in my judgment, for …

Politico reports: Rep. Mark Meadows’ shock retirement — revealed just 30 hours before the filing deadline in North Carolina — has roiled some Republicans in the state who suspect he timed his announcement to benefit a friend of his wife. The four-term congressman will depart the House for an as-yet-undefined role with President Donald Trump, a decision he disclosed in …

“I think Senator McConnell is entitled to his opinion and his approach, so is Senator Murkowski, so is Senator Schumer, so is Senator Richard Blumenthal. I think many positions by many senators are calcified. “I can only speak for me. I’m gonna keep an open mind. I want to be fair to both sides.  I thought that the House proceedings …

“I said very early on in the campaign time period, when people asked me in 2016, ‘What are you looking for?’ Well, I said I always look for a president who can be a role model. “I don’t think that President Trump, as a person, a very good role model for a lot of different youth, but that’s just me …

Politico reports: Republican House Minority Whip Steve Scalise believes the “impeachment charade” is exposing the Democrats’ weakness. On “Fox News Sunday,“ the Louisiana Republican was direct: “The Senate will have a fair trial and you’ll see an acquittal. Everybody knows it’s going to end in acquittal.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, he said, has a duty to turn over the articles …

The Hill reports: Senate Republicans are plotting a speedy acquittal of President Trump as they strategize ahead of the impeachment trial. After weeks of public haggling from within the caucus, GOP senators are largely lining up behind a shorter proceeding with few, if any, witnesses, paving the way for them to hand Trump an early election-year victory. Sen. Lindsey Graham …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) spent Christmas Eve celebrating a video of a lighting rig falling on former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton during a 1992 interview with 60 Minutes. “Remember the reason for the season! #MerryChristmas” posted Gosar on Twitter, Tuesday, along with a Christmas present emoji and a clip of the rig falling on …

The Associated Press reports: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, says she was “disturbed” to hear Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell say there would be “total coordination” between the White House and the Senate over the upcoming presidential impeachment trial. “And in fairness, when I heard that I was disturbed,” Murkowski said before describing that there should be distance between the White …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: The FBI is asking questions about the pardons Matt Bevin issued during his last weeks as Kentucky governor. State Rep. Chris Harris, D-Forest Hills, told reporters that a criminal investigator contacted him last week and asked what he knew about Bevin’s pardons. “I can confirm that I have been contacted by someone looking into the pardons …

Politico reports: A super PAC supporting President Donald Trump began airing ads in South Jersey last week, boosting U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew immediately after the congressman formally switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican. The 30-second ad began airing Dec. 21, the super PAC announced on Twitter. It praises Van Drew for “standing by President Trump rather than …

Reuters reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Monday that Republicans were not opposed to hearing witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump. “We haven’t ruled out witnesses,” McConnell said in an interview with “Fox & Friends.” “We’ve said, ‘Let’s handle this case just like we did with President Clinton.’ Fair is fair.” In that 1999 trial, …

Spokane’s CBS News affiliate reports: The House Republican Caucus has expelled Matt Shea after an investigation revealed that he “participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States.” Shea represents Washington’s 4th District, which encapsulates the area surrounding Spokane Valley. He has since taken to social media to call the investigation a “sham.” The 108-page investigation found that …

From Jeff Flake’s op-ed in the Washington Post: To my former Senate Republican colleagues, I don’t envy you. It might not be fair, but none of the successes, achievements and triumphs you’ve had in public office — whatever bills you’ve passed, hearings you’ve chaired, constituents you have had the privilege of helping — will matter more than your actions in …

Reuters reports: Washington state Republican lawmakers urged one of their own to resign after a state report found that he engaged in “domestic terrorism” against the United States by participating in armed conflict through the right-wing militia movement. “Representative Shea participated in an act of domestic terrorism against the United States by his actions before and during the armed takeover …

Raw Story reports: President Donald Trump urged his 67 million Twitter followers to donate to a New Jersey congressman who left the Democratic Party. Rep. Jeff Van Drew was elected in the 2018 blue wave as a Democrat but switched parties this week after breaking with Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the question of impeaching the president. “The Democrat Party’s Witch …

Mediaite reports: Former Vice President Joe Biden tore into former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders after she made fun of him for acknowledging his problems with stuttering during the PBS & Politico Democratic Debate. As Biden spoke about the people he has met throughout his campaign near the end of the debate, part of his statement included an …

The Seattle Times reports: State Rep. Matt Shea planned and participated in domestic terrorism against the United States before and during the armed takeover at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, an investigation commissioned by the Washington state House found. The 108-page report found that beginning in November 2015, Shea, working with militia leader Ammon Bundy, helped “in the planning and preparation” …