Republicans

The Kansas City Star reports: One of the GOP senators from Kris Kobach’s home state said Tuesday that the Senate would not be able to confirm the Kansas Republican if President Donald Trump tapped him for a cabinet post. Kobach, the former Kansas secretary of state, has been mentioned as a potential candidate for an array of immigration-related positions after …

Politico reports: Republicans are planning a multimillion-dollar offensive aimed at fracturing the Democratic Party’s decades-long stranglehold on the Jewish vote. Spearheading the push is the Republican Jewish Coalition, which receives substantial funding from casino mogul and GOP mega-donor Sheldon Adelson. On Friday morning, the group’s board members — many of them prominent Republican Party donors — gathered in a conference …

“Chairman Neal, powerful man, head of Ways and Means. I know he’s an adult, but I don’t think he’s like a real adult. He says that he needs Trump’s tax returns, he says it’s policy not politics. He has said that the reason he needs them is that he needs to determine how well the IRS is auditing taxpayers. I …

The New York Times reports: The United States has revoked the visa of the International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor because of her attempts to investigate allegations of war crimes in Afghanistan, including any that may have been committed by American forces. The visa revocation — confirmed on Friday by the office of the chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and the State …

Mediaite reports: Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) referred to a Democratic critic on Twitter as a “porn loving whiny bitch” but eventually deleted the insult. “Steve is ignorant of history and a liar,” Gosar tweeted last night in response to Steve Weichert, a former candidate for an Arizona state senate seat, calling the lawmaker a “pig.” In a subsequent tweet fired …

The Charlotte Observer reports: A Russian bank owned by former North Carolina Congressman Charles Taylor has been accused of money laundering and lost its license. The Commercial Bank of Ivanovo “failed on multiple occasions to comply with Bank of Russia regulations” on money laundering “of criminally obtained incomes and the financing of terrorism,” the Bank of Russia said in a …

Talking Points Memo reports: Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), a Fox News favorite and a bulldog for President Trump on the Hill, is reportedly mulling a move across the border to Alabama to run for Sen. Doug Jones’ (D-AL) seat when he’s up for reelection in 2020. According to a Republican lawmaker who is close to Gaetz who spoke to The …

Axios reports: Sen. Rand Paul on Thursday blocked a resolution calling for special counsel Robert Mueller’s report to be released to Congress and the public. This is the 5th time that Republicans — led by Paul and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell — have blocked the resolution, which passed unanimously in the House last month. Paul has argued in favor …

CNN reports: Robin Hayes, the embattled chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, announced Wednesday that he will stay on as the leader of the party despite being indicted on federal bribery charges. Hayes will, however, hand over the day-to-day responsibilities of the unpaid position to Aubrey Woodard, the 11th District Chair, while he deals with his legal issues. “In …

The Washington Examiner reports: Complaints from House Oversight ranking member Jim Jordan regarding the politicization of the committee were met on Tuesday with derision from Democrats on the panel. Jordan, an Ohio Republican, ripped his Democratic colleagues during a meeting to discuss subpoenaing a former White House aide over the Trump administration’s security clearance policies. “I’ve been on this committee …

The Raleigh News & Observer reports: The chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party has been indicted. Robin Hayes had announced Monday that he won’t seek another term as NC GOP chairman. The indictment comes amid an investigation into political donor Greg Lindberg by U.S. Attorney R. Andrew Murray, an appointee of Republican President Donald Trump who oversees federal trials …

Mediaite reports: In a Monday interview with Good Morning Britain, Sarah Palin complained that she was not invited to join the funeral of her running mate in the 2008 general election. “I was kind of surprised to be publicly disinvited to the funeral,” she said, calling it an “unnecessary step” and adding that the McCain family “didn’t have to embarrass …

The Washington Examiner reports: Sen. Ted Cruz is making common cause with actor George Clooney, known for his liberal brand of politics, in calling for an economic boycott of Brunei after the Southeast Asian country approved a measure that would make gay sex and adultery punishable by stoning. In an op-ed published on Deadline Friday, the actor condemned the Bruneian …

Tucson’s ABC affiliate reports: Documents gathered as part of the House Ethics Committee’s investigation into the conduct of former Prescott Rep. David Stringer show the lawmaker allegedly paid children for sex acts in the 1980s. Stringer resigned earlier this week rather than comply with the committee’s subpoena as it looked into a 1983 sex abuse case and racially insensitive statements …

Axios reports: Reflecting widespread concerns within his party, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has told President Trump he disagrees with the Trump administration’s attempt to get the entire Affordable Care Act thrown out in court. McCarthy told Trump over the phone that the decision made no sense — especially after Democrats killed Republicans in the midterms in part over the …

The Associated Press reports: A freshman Republican’s opening prayer Monday in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives drew complaints that it was inappropriately divisive. Rep. Stephanie Borowicz began the day’s session with a Christian invocation that thanked Jesus for the honor and President Donald Trump for standing “behind Israel unequivocally.” “At the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every …

Splinter News reports: During a Senate debate over the Green New Deal, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah used his time on the Senate floor Tuesday to combat the legislation by way of the most inane bout of pandering possibly ever recorded. Lee said he is not afraid of the Green New Deal because he doesn’t believe it will pass. He …

The Washington Examiner reports: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Monday blocked a move by Senate Democrats to call on Attorney General William Barr to release special counsel Robert Mueller’s full report on the Russia investigation. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called up the measure but McConnell, R-Ky., shot it down. McConnell said it’s too early to call for …

Newsweek reports: Host George Stephanopoulos cited evidence that 14 associates of Trump had more than 100 contacts with Russian nationals and asked if that concerned Jordan, who didn’t respond to the question directly. “Well, look, the central charge of the special counsel was to see if there was conspiracy, coordination or collision. That was the focus of the entire investigation,” …

“The Mueller report, we should just burn it up. I mean, it is a partisan document. The Democrats are going to say, ‘Well, we need to see the underlying information.’ What we really need to see is, what was the FBI’s involvement with Fusion GPS? Who did they know about? Fusion GPS was essentially the Hillary Clinton campaign. They were …