Republicans

Politico reports: Rep. Greg Walden, the top Republican on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee, will retire at the end of this Congress, the veteran lawmaker announced Monday. The 62-year-old Walden, who was first elected in 1998, said he was confident he’d win reelection but decided instead to end his congressional career in Jan. 2021. The Oregon congressman is …

The Washington Post reports: In hushed conversations over the past week, GOP senators lamented that the fast-expanding probe is fraying their party, which remains completely in Trump’s grip. They voiced exasperation at the expectation that they defend the president against the troublesome picture that has been painted, with neither convincing arguments from the White House nor confidence that something worse …

Mediaite reports: Senator Lindsey Graham spoke to reporters this morning on the successful operation that took out Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, commending the Trump administration and the US forces that carried out the raid. “The killing of Baghdadi is a game changer in the war on terror. Doesn’t mean the war is over,” Graham said. “The president’s determination over time has …

Reuters reports: Convicted Russian agent Maria Butina was released from a Florida prison on Friday after serving most of her 18-month sentence for conspiring to influence U.S. conservative activists and infiltrate a powerful gun rights group, and taken into custody by immigration officials to be deported to her native country. A prison official confirmed she was released on Friday morning …

Metro News reports: A majority of GOP senators are backing a resolution calling on the House to formalize its impeachment inquiry into Trump. The resolution, introduced Thursday by Lindsey Graham, condemns the current inquiry for what GOP  lawmakers argue is a denial of due process. The resolution details the issues the senators have with the investigation, including Trump’s legal counsel …

Mediaite reports: Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, has been the object of much ridicule on Thursday afternoon, following the release of a stunning phone call in which she threatened a reporter and bashed her husband. “Let me tell you something, from a powerful woman,” she said. “Don’t pull the crap where you’re trying to undercut another woman based on …

The right wing Washington Examiner reports: Top White House aide Kellyanne Conway, describing herself as “a powerful woman,” aggressively and disparagingly told a female reporter that it was improper to write about her husband and threatened to investigate the reporter’s personal life. This journalist, a breaking news reporter for the Washington Examiner, had written an article on Tuesday about President …

The Daily Beast reports: After Republican members of the House literally stormed the gates of the impeachment hearings on Wednesday, Judge Andrew Napolitano stopped by Fox & Friends Thursday morning to deliver a harsh wake-up call: Democrats are just “following the rules”—rules written by Republicans. “I read the House rules,” Napolitano said. “And as frustrating as it may be to …

The Associated Press reports: GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham, a top ally of President Donald Trump, is introducing a resolution condemning the Democratic-controlled House for pursuing a “closed door, illegitimate impeachment inquiry.” Graham announced the move Thursday and says the Senate’s top Republican, Mitch McConnell, is a co-sponsor. Graham plans an afternoon news conference. The nonbinding resolution gives Senate Republicans a …

Mediaite reports: According to Chad Pergram of Fox News, the Republicans who entered the Sensitive Compartmented Information Facility (SCIF) Wednesday — where Democrats were holding a hearing with Pentagon staffer Laura Cooper on matters related to Ukraine — asked to be arrested. According to Pergram, those Republicans were hoping to use the visual of being taken away to paint Democrats …

ABC News reports: Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul joined ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast, saying the Kurds are acting like ‘ingrates’ in disrespecting U.S. troops. With President Donald Trump facing an eruption of dissatisfaction inside his own party over his military policy regarding Syria, Paul has emerged as a fierce defender of the idea that the U.S. has the right to …

The Associated Press reports: Lawmakers described a chaotic scene. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., said she had just walked into the room when the Republican lawmakers blew past Capitol Police officers and Democratic staffers. The staff member who was checking identification at the entrance was “basically overcome” by the Republicans, she said. “Literally some of them were just screaming about …

Bloomberg reports: Trump had advance knowledge and supported a protest by Republicans who told him they planned to barge into a secure hearing room on Capitol Hill where Democrats are holding impeachment testimonies, according to four people familiar with the matter. Trump on Tuesday met with about 30 House Republicans at the White House to talk about the situation in …

The New York Times reports: Senior White House officials suspected that a colleague whom they viewed as a political partisan was ferrying documents about Ukraine in recent months to President Trump, effectively creating another back channel to him that could warp American policy, according to congressional testimony and interviews. Colleagues grew alarmed after hearing that Mr. Trump had referred to …

Raw Story reports: On Wednesday, a group of right-wing representatives led by Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) tried to storm into a secure facility for classified information being used as part of the impeachment proceedings, demanding to be informed of the process. They are almost certain to be ejected because they are not members of the committees reviewing the evidence. GOP …

The Hill reports: Susan Rice, who served as national security adviser during the Obama administration, referred to Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) as a “piece of shit” during a taping of a “Pod Save The World” podcast this week. She made the remark after Tommy Vietor, another former Obama adviser, first used the term to refer to Graham during a discussion …

Knoxville’s CBS News affiliate reports: Commissioner Warren Hurst took the floor on Oct. 21 to speak about the commission’s pending vote on becoming a gun sanctuary city. “It’s time we wake up people, it’s time, it’s passed time,” Hurst said. Hurst also voiced his opinions on other topics. “We got a queer running for president, if that ain’t about as …

The Washington Post reports: Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) on Tuesday called on President Trump to retract a tweet in which he compared the House’s impeachment inquiry to a “lynching,” saying that the term evokes “a terrible time in our nation’s history.” “I think he should retract it, yes,” Collins told reporters when asked if the president should apologize. “‘Lynching’ brings …

The New York Times reports: Nearly three years into President Trump’s aggressive efforts to undermine the Affordable Care Act, prices for the most popular type of health insurance plan offered through the health law’s federal marketplace will actually drop next year, and the number of insurers offering plans will go up. Administration officials credited Mr. Trump with the resiliency of …

Mediaite reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) defended Donald Trump’s claim that Democrats are “lynching” him with their impeachment efforts and insisted that black people should not be offended by the president’s use of the term. “I think that’s pretty well accurate. This is a sham. This is a joke,” Graham said on Tuesday while discussing the president’s “lynching” tweet with …