Republicans

Mediaite reports: Former National Security Advisor John Bolton offered congratulations for the U.S. airstrike that killed Qasem Soleimani, one of Iran’s top military commanders, and expressed his hope for regime change in the country. Bolton, known as one of the more relentlessly hawkish foreign policy minds in the United States, served as Trump’s national security adviser until he left in …

ABC News reports: Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted in support of the U.S. airstrike that killed seven in Baghdad on Thursday including Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the head of Iran’s elite Quds Force. Officials said Solemani orchestrated several attacks on coalition bases in Iraq over the past several months, and approved attacks on the U.S. Embassy in Iraq earlier this week. …

The Louisville Courier-Journal reports: Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is asking the FBI to investigate former Gov. Matt Bevin’s pardons. “I stand by the outstanding work of Kentucky’s prosecutors and respect the decisions of juries who convict wrongdoers,” Cameron said in a Monday letter delivered to state Rep. Chris Harris and Sen. Morgan McGarvey. “While Kentucky’s Constitution gives the governor …

Mediaite reports: Independent Vermont Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders ruled out the possibility of a Republican running mate in response to a question about former Vice President Joe Biden’s recent answer to a hypothetical to that effect. “The former vice president mused about having a Republican vice presidential on his ticket,” the reporter said, and asked “is that …

The Democrat & Chronicle reports: Assemblyman Brian Kolb was arrested and charged with misdemeanor driving while intoxicated following an Ontario County crash on New Year’s Eve. Deputies responded to a crash at 7980 County Route 41 in Victor at 10:27 p.m. Tuesday and identified Kolb as the driver of the 2018 GMC Arcadia involved in the incident. No one was …

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 …