Republicans

The San Diego Union-Tribune reports: Margaret Hunter, the wife of longtime East County Congressman Duncan Hunter who was co-indicted with her husband last summer, has agreed to change her plea of not guilty and is scheduled to appear in federal court Thursday morning. The announcement was posted on the U.S. District Court docket late Wednesday morning without any supplemental documentation. …

LGBTQ Nation reports: The scandal-ridden former Representative Aaron Schock (R-IL) appears to be preparing to run for office again. Schock served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 2009 to 2015, when he resigned in disgrace after being accused of misusing campaign and public funds. He was the subject of a congressional ethics investigation and was indicted by a federal …

USA Today reports: Greg Pence, a freshman congressman and brother of Vice President Mike Pence, reported spending more than $7,600 in campaign funds on lodging at the Trump International Hotel in the first few months after his election in November, although lawmakers are supposed to pay for their own housing in Washington. After USA TODAY asked about the expenses included …

CNN reports: Rep. Steve King, the Iowa Republican who was stripped of his congressional committee assignments earlier this year, was not allowed to fly aboard Air Force One on Tuesday as President Donald Trump traveled to Iowa, two GOP officials say. King, who represents the state’s 4th District in Western Iowa, asked the White House to join the President’s entourage, …

CNN reports: Rep. Justin Amash on Monday stepped down from the conservative House Freedom Caucus less than a month after becoming the first Republican member of Congress to say President Donald Trump has committed impeachable offenses. “I have the highest regard for them and they’re my close friends,” he told CNN. “I didn’t want to be a further distraction for …

The New York Times reports: A raft of legislation intended to better secure United States election systems after what the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, called a “sweeping and systematic” Russian attack in 2016 is running into a one-man roadblock in the form of the Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. McConnell, long the Senate’s leading ideological opponent …

The Hill reports: President Trump on Thursday reiterated his willingness to impose tariffs on Mexico if the country does not crack down on the flow of migrants toward the U.S. despite opposition from within his own party, saying some senators “have no idea what they’re talking about” on the issue. “We’ll see what happens. But something pretty dramatic could happen,” …

“I just have a reminder for the media. He’s your president, too. This is our president. This is our country. We’re celebrating the anniversary, 75 years of D-Day. This is a time where we should be celebrating our President, the great achievements of America. And I don’t think the American people like this constant negativity. There are times when we …

Mediaite reports: Republican National Committee spokeswoman Liz Harrington compared 2020 Democratic presidential candidates to murderous fascist dictator Benito Mussolini, and Fox News hard news anchor Harris Faulkner partially agreed with the assessment. On Wednesday’s edition of Fox News’ Outnumbered Overtime With Harris Faulkner, Harrington told Faulkner that voters are “going to be faced with a choice in 2020, and the …

The New York Times reports: Republican senators sent the White House a sharp message on Tuesday, warning that they were almost uniformly opposed to President Trump’s plans to impose tariffs on Mexican imports, just hours after the president said lawmakers would be “foolish” to try to stop him. “I want you to take a message back” to the White House, …

Montgomery’s ABC affiliate reports: Carbon Hill mayor Mark Chambers has responded about recent controversial comments he made in a Facebook post. The post written in all capital letters said: “We live in a society where homosexuals lecture us on morals, transvestites lecture us on human biology, baby killers lecture us on human rights and socialists lecture us on economics.” Chambers …

The Hill reports: Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) on Sunday said Democrats who support impeaching President Trump should “buy a spine” and do it. But he also said they’d regret it, pointing to polls that show a minority of voters back impeachment. “Impeachment polls right up there with skim milk with the American people. But my advice to my Democratic friends …

The Idaho Statesman reports: Boise Police on Thursday arrested Jonathan Parker — a lobbyist and former Idaho Republican Party chairman — and booked him into the Ada County Jail on a felony first-degree stalking charge. According to the criminal complaint, on or between May 16 and May 30, Parker “did knowingly and maliciously engage” in conduct that “seriously alarmed, annoyed …

“In terms of the impeachment process, it’s not mandated by the Constitution. We can avail ourselves of this when the president demonstrates acts that are high crimes or misdemeanors. It is certainly true that much of his conduct qualifies for that, but at the same time we have to recognize the reality that one party, the Republican Party, has turned …

CNN reports: California Republican Rep. Duncan Hunter said that as an artillery officer, his unit “killed probably hundreds of civilians” during his 2004 tour in Fallujah, Iraq. During a Barstool Sports interview for a podcast that was released on Monday, Hunter defended his support of Eddie Gallagher, a Navy SEAL facing a premeditated murder charge in the stabbing death of …

Charleston’s Post & Courier reports: Since leaving the United Nations last year, Nikki Haley’s moves have been closely watched for signs that the former South Carolina governor will run for the White House in 2024. A new advocacy group, a new book and a series of high-profile speaking engagements were seen as steps toward a presidential bid. Now Haley is …

From an op-ed in the Pensacola News Journal: In less than 30 seconds of audio from his recent meeting with a Pensacola-based group called Women for Responsible Legislation, Florida Rep. Mike Hill proved why he is both an unfit legislator and an unfit Christian. A citizen comments: “In 1 Corinthians, it says that a man who has an affair with …

“Trade policy and border security are separate issues. This is a misuse of presidential tariff authority and counter to congressional intent. Following through on this threat would seriously jeopardize passage of USMCA, a central campaign pledge of President Trump’s and what could be a big victory for the country. “President Trump should consider alternatives, such as imposing a fee on …

The Arizona Republic reports: Sen. Martha McSally said an investigation is warranted to get to the bottom of an order to keep the warship named for the late Sen. John McCain, his father and his grandfather out of President Donald Trump’s view during his trip to Japan earlier this month. McSally, R-Ariz., now holds the seat McCain once held before …

The New York Times reports: Thomas B. Hofeller achieved near-mythic status in the Republican Party as the Michelangelo of gerrymandering, the architect of partisan political maps that cemented the party’s dominance across the country. But after he died last summer, his estranged daughter discovered hard drives in her father’s home that revealed something else: Mr. Hofeller had played a crucial …