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GOP Watch Keeping an Eye on Republicans for You - Page 5

“Patriotism means to stand by the country. It does not mean to stand by the president or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which he himself stands by the country. It is patriotic to support him insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic not to oppose him to the exact extent that by inefficiency or otherwise he fails in his duty to stand by the country. In either event, it is unpatriotic not to tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else.” ― Theodore Roosevelt Welcome to GOP Watch keeping an eye on Republicans for you. The Republican Party is using lies, hate, fear, alterative facts and whataboutism to stay in power and protect a comprised and corrupt Donald J. Trump, the Republican Party and Putin. The GOP is a danger to America and Americans.
Story by Tommy Christopher

Former congressman and Republican candidate for president Will Hurd torched Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis for defending controversial new Black History standards, saying “Slavery was not a jobs program!”

The Florida Board of Education voted Wednesday to approve a curriculum on Black history that includes teaching that “slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit” and requires teaching “acts of violence perpetrated against and by African Americans.”

Vice President Kamala Harris torched the new curriculum in two speeches on consecutive days, and The Tampa Bay Times published numerous examples debunking the claims of the board’s working group. But DeSantis defended the curriculum at a press conference, even as he disavowed responsibility for it.
Story by Gideon Rubin

The Department of Justice on Monday in a letter to Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) obtained by Politico urged the House Judiciary Chair to stick to the facts. The DOJ was responding to Jordan’s July 21 letter expressing interest in the investigation of Hunter Biden led by David Weiss, a U.S. Attorney for the District of Delaware appointed by Donald Trump.

In its letter to Jordan, the DOJ agrees to allow Weiss to testify before Jordan’s committee after Congress returns from its August recess. “Across administrations, the Department has long recognized its obligation to protect law enforcement work from even the perception of political interference, including from Congress,” the DOJ’s letter to Jordan said.
Story by Gregory Korte

(Bloomberg) -- Will Hurd said Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, his rival for the Republican presidential nomination, should take responsibility for a new state curriculum that calls for teaching that slavery gave enslaved people valuable skills.

“Implying that there is an upside to slavery is absolutely wrong,” said Hurd, a former US representative running a long-shot bid for the GOP nomination, in an interview Monday with Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power.”

DeSantis criticized Vice President Kamala Harris last week for going to Florida to condemn the recently adopted social studies curriculum. The Florida governor said he wasn’t involved in drafting the document but defended the standards.
Story by Brad Reed

A retired Republican judge from Idaho is warning his party against behaving like "lemmings" by lining up to nominate former President Donald Trump as their nominee yet again in the 2024 election. Writing in The Hill, former Idaho Supreme Court Justice Jim Jones argued that there was simply no chance that Trump would succeed in his third presidential campaign, especially given that he could be a convicted felon by election day.

"The fact is that Trump simply can’t and won’t win another term," he argues. "He is wrong on the issues, he has no vision for a second term other than trying to establish an autocracy, and he will likely be convicted in one or more of the criminal cases that are currently in the works." Given all this, Jones marvels at the fact that Trump's GOP rivals aren't being more aggressive in trying to actually defeat him in the primary race.
Story by Paige Skinner

Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie pose for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film 'Barbie' on July 12 in London. “Barbie” earned $155 million at the box office during its opening weekend and critics called it “spontaneous and fun.” Movie-goers, made up of mostly women, dressed in all pink to celebrate the occasion. But when there’s a group of women excited about and praising something, rest assured that there are conservatives lurking around the corner, ready to trash it.

Ben Shapiro, a conservative commentator, posted a 43-minute long YouTube video on Saturday, complaining “Barbie” divides men and women, calling it “flaming garbage” and “woke.” He also lit a Barbie and Ken doll on fire to protest the movie. Ginger Gaetz, the wife of Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), wrote on Instagram that “Barbie” shows Ken with a “disappointingly low T” and that the movie gives an “unfair treatment of pregnant Barbie Midge.”
CNN

U.S. Capitol police officer Harry Dunn speaks with CNN’s Jim Acosta after Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said the January 6 riot at the Capitol was not an insurrection.
Opinion by Glenn C. Altschuler, opinion contributor

“The most durable narratives are not the ones that stand up to fact-checking. They’re the ones that address our deepest needs and desires,” journalist George Packer once acknowledged. But, he warned, “when facts become fungible, we’re lost.” These days, in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, conspiracy theories are in the saddle, and facts have become fungible.

During the testimony of John Kerry before a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee a couple of weeks ago, Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.) accused the U.S. Climate Envoy of hyping a global warming “problem that doesn’t exist.” When Kerry pointed to the consensus of climate scientists and the 195 nations that signed the Paris Accords, Perry declared they were “grifting, just like you.” In the 117th Congress, according to one study, 52 percent of House Republicans and 60 percent of Senate Republicans were climate skeptics or deniers. Every time soil or a rock “is deposited into the seas,” opined Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Ala.) “that forces the sea levels to rise because now you’ve got less space in those oceans because the bottom is moving.”
By Phillip Nieto

Hunter Biden‘s attorney filed an ethics complaint against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on Friday after the Republican firebrand showed graphic sexual images of the president’s son during a Congressional hearing earlier this week. Biden’s lawyer, Abbe David Lowell, said in a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics that Greene’s actions were ‘abhorrent” and “blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct.”

“Your colleague has lowered herself, and by extension the entire House of Representatives, to a new level of abhorrent behavior that blatantly violates House Ethics rules and standards of official conduct,” Lowell wrote, according to the Washington Post. “If the OCE takes its responsibilities seriously, it will promptly and decisively condemn and discipline Ms. Greene for her latest actions.” The letter further cites comments made by Greene where the lawmaker tried linking Biden to “an Eastern prostitution or human trafficking ring.”
Story by Alex Griffing

Rep. Jerry Connolly (D-VA) tore into Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Thursday for appearing before the House Judiciary Weaponization of Government select subcommittee at the invitation of House Republican leaders on the topic of censorship. Connolly accused the 2024 Democratic presidential candidate of shaming his family name by being an “enabler” of the GOP, which Connolly claimed was using RFK Jr. as a political prop to attack President Joe Biden.

“And no matter what you may think, Mr. Kennedy. And I revere your name. You’re not here to propound your case for censorship,” Connolly said as he wound down his remarks. “You are here for cynical reasons to be used politically by that side of the aisle to embarrass the current president of the United States. And you are an enabler in that effort today,” the Virginia Democrat added.

“And it brings shame on a storied name that I revere. I began my political interest with your father. And it makes me profoundly sad to see where we have descended today in this hearing. I yield the balance of my time,” he concluded.
Story by Ben Blanchet

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) pointed out what she thought the House Oversight Committee “should be prosecuting” as she shifted the focus of a hearing on the Biden family and called into question former President Donald Trump receiving payments from China in 2017.

The first-term Democrat, in remarks at the hearing Wednesday, called on the Republican-led committee to look at the payments as she read from an NBC News report on Trump’s tax returns that went public in December. “We should be looking at the fact that ‘in 2017, Trump’s first year in office, he also made $6.5 million from China, his tax returns show,’” she said, adding that the source of the payments “is not clear from the returns.”
Story by Piyush Arora

WASHINGTON, DC: After 16 Republicans were charged over the "false elector" conspiracy, there have been mounting calls for officials to investigate Virginia "Ginni" Thomas for allegedly attempting to rig the 2020 election result. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced on Tuesday, July 18 that the 16 individuals were each charged with eight felonies for allegedly trying to thwart the will of voters in the 2020 presidential election.

The 66-year-old wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has also been under fire for her actions in the wake of the last election. At that time, Thomas allegedly sent text messages to Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff for Donald Trump, encouraging him to work to overturn Biden's victory and keep Trump in office. Additionally, she was also accused of sending emails to several lawmakers and Arizona election officials, arguing that it was their "constitutional duty" to pick a "clean slate" of electors who would be willing to proclaim Trump the winner in the Grand Canyon State in 2020.
Story by Brandon Gage

United States Representative Delia Ramirez (D-Illinois) clapped back at a witness who invoked the controversial and racist "Great Replacement Theory" during a House Homeland Security Committee hearing on Wednesday.

Right-wing lawmakers like House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik (R-New York) have repeatedly referenced GRT — which maintains that white people are being supplanted by foreigners of color — as an excuse to crack down on undocumented immigrants. The conspiracy has also been cited by perpetrators of mass shootings to rationalize murder.

Meanwhile, Republicans are pushing for the removal of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whom they allege "created our nation's historic border crisis by implementing intentionally reckless policies, failing to enforce the laws passed by Congress, and ignoring the advice, recommendations, and warnings of experienced law enforcement."
Story by Brad Reed

New College of Florida, which in recent months has been taken over by allies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is facing major staff shortages as faculty members are fleeing for other jobs. In fact, the Tampa Bay Times is reporting that the school has lost more than a third of its faculty in the last few months, a churn rate that Provost Bradley Thiessen described as "incredibly high."

DeSantis and his allies may welcome the departures given that their stated goal is to transform the university into an "anti-woke" learning establishment. Nonetheless, it's causing big headaches for school administrators who are now scrambling to ensure they have enough faculty to teach classes.
Story by Milla

The New York Times columnist Michelle Cottle blasted House Speaker Kevin McCarthy as a reaction to National Defense Authorization Act and pointed out some worrying trends inside the Republican party.

Cottle asked a valid question
In her piece for the New York Times Opinion, the columnist wrote, “Some days, Speaker Kevin McCarthy must look out over this House conference in awe and think: Are you maniacs trying to lose us the majority?”
The congressman’s announcement comes amid reports that the former presient may be indicted again
Abe Asher

Rep Matt Gaetz of Florida said on his podcast that he will in the coming days introduce a bill to defund Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation into former President Donald Trump as Mr Trump reportedly asks Capitol Hill allies for help as he faces another potential indictment.

“In the coming hours, the coming days, I will be introducing legislation under my name, in the House of Representatives, as a freestanding bill, to defund the Jack Smith investigation,” Mr Gaetz said on Tuesday. “And one reason why is the election interference feature. Another reason why: the lack of transparency.”

Mr Gaetz’s announcement comes just hours after Mr Trump said he’s received a letter from Mr Smith’s investigation into the events of January 6 informing him that he is the target of a grand jury investigation in Washington DC.

The Morning Joe panel discusses former President Trump receiving a target letter from Jack Smith and how Republicans including Speaker Kevin McCarthy's response.
BY JOEY CAPPELLETTI

LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan’s attorney general filed felony charges Tuesday against 16 Republicans who acted as fake electors for then-President Donald Trump in 2020, accusing them of submitting false certificates confirming they were legitimate electors despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.

Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, announced Tuesday that all 16 people would face eight criminal charges, including forgery and conspiracy to commit election forgery, which range from a potential five to 14 years in prison each.

The group includes the head of the Republican National Committee’s chapter in Michigan, Kathy Berden, as well as the former co-chair of the Michigan Republican Party, Meshawn Maddock, and Shelby Township Clerk Stan Grot.
Story by By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he has received a letter informing him that he is a target of the Justice Department's investigation into efforts to undo the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Trump made the claim in a post on his Truth Social platform, saying he received the target letter on Sunday night. Such a letter can precede an indictment; Trump got one ahead of being charged last month in a separate investigation into the mishandling of classified documents.
Story by Milla

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill allowing the death penalty in child rape convictions, despite a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that banned capital punishment in such cases. The law relies on jury votes of 8-4 rather than unanimously. This puts Florida on the map as the most extreme death penalty state, and people are unhappy about it.

DeSantis has been pushing for this bill since the Parkland shooting
In Stoneman Douglas high school shooting in 2018, Nikolas Cruz shot 14 students and three staff members. Cruz, who was 19 then, received 34 consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. The case was closed in November 2022, and since then, DeSantis has been pushing for a death sentence without a unanimous jury.

Glenn Kirschner renamed DeSantis “DeathSantis”
Legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said that the Florida governor is working hard on “earning the name “DeathSantis.” Kirschner tweeted, “Why not just make it a coin toss, Ron?”
Story by Mike Lillis

Republican efforts to enhance their appeal with minority voters suffered a series of setbacks this week when a pair of GOP lawmakers made racially explosive comments, stirring immediate condemnation from civil rights groups and threatening to muddy the party’s message of big-tent inclusivity.

House Republican leaders have spent much of the year highlighting the party’s advances in recruiting women and minorities, linking a diverse slate of candidates to their success in flipping control of the lower chamber last year. And they retain high hopes of expanding on those gains in the 2024 elections.

But that image-shaping campaign was dealt a hard blow this week when Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) and Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.) gave voice to bigoted sentiments, prompting rebukes from Republican leaders and sparking warnings from some rank-and-file members that the party’s efforts to attract more minorities just got more difficult.
by Aurora DeStefano in Daily Edition

The identification and indictment of Gal Luft, the whistleblower whose testimony Republicans in the House Oversight Committee relied on to pursue charges against the so-called “Biden crime family,” continues to reverberate. Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin and Rep. Dan Goldman are using the Luft revelation to demand further accountability from Raskin’s own Committee.

In a letter to Oversight Committee Chair James Comer, Raskin and Goldman present the alarming possibility that Luft, operating as an unregistered foreign agent, sought to manipulate Comer and the House Committee on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party, seeking to undermine U.S. national security. Comer and Raskin, demanding more information about their own Committee’s machinations, write:
Story by Milla

David Jolly, a former representative from Florida, gave his insight into growing white nationalism and explained the vital difference between Trump’s and DeSantis’s perspectives.

White supremacy in the military
Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville recently spoke about white nationalists, declaring, “I call them Americans,” AL.com reported.

Senator blamed the Democrats, Biden
He continued, “We are losing in the military so fast,” adding, “The Democrats are attacking our military, saying we need to get out the white extremists, the white nationalists, people that don’t believe in our agenda, as Joe Biden’s agenda.”
Story by Thom Hartmann

Kentucky MAGA Republican James Comer, Chair of the House Oversight Committee, has been exposed as basically a con man with his phony Hunter Biden bribe witness. Now he is trying to rewrite the history of Trump and Covid.

Comer’s latest stunt to try to whitewash Trump’s role in the unnecessary death of at least a half-million Americans is to argue — nonsensically — that the virus came out of the Wuhan virology lab and therefore something, something, something Trump is not responsible. He’s doing this with House Oversight Committee hearings this week.

The reason Comer and other MAGA Republicans are working so hard to push this perennial theory (which may be true, but so what?) is that they think directing the nation’s attention to the Wuhan lab — which got collaboration and minor funding from Anthony Fauci’s realm of the government — will point us at Fauci and thus distract us all from how many Americans Trump let die and why.
Story by Nick Robins

A federal judge in Louisiana ruled last week that a wide range of Biden administration officials could not communicate with social media companies about content moderation issues, and in a lengthy opinion described the White House’s outreach to platforms as “almost dystopian” and reminiscent of “an Orwellian ministry of truth”.

The ruling, which was delivered by the Trump-appointed judge Terry Doughty, was a significant milestone in a case that Republicans have pushed as proof that the Biden administration is attempting to silence conservative voices. It is also the latest in a wider rightwing campaign to weaken attempts at stopping false information and conspiracy theories from proliferating online, one that has included framing disinformation researchers and their efforts as part of a wide-reaching censorship regime.
Story by Tom Boggioni

Clarence Thomas' elevation to the Supreme Court in 1991 immediately brought with it entry into another exclusive club where he has hobnobbed and been feted by an assortment of wealthy conservatives.

According to a report from the New York Times' Abbie Van Sickle and Steve Eder, the controversial jurist who is being scrutinized after being lavished with expensive gifts and trips by conservative billionaire Harlan Crow, became a member of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, with the Times report adding that he "entered a world whose defining ethos of meritocratic success."

As the report states, after being awarded membership, Thomas "... moved into the inner circle, a cluster of extraordinarily wealthy, largely conservative members who lionized him and all that he had achieved."
The program, known as the Electronic Registration Information Center, was arguably the best nationwide tool states had to catch people trying to vote twice.
By Zach Montellaro

Over the past year and a half, eight Republican-led states quit a nonpartisan program designed to keep voter rolls accurate and up to date.

Top Republican election officials in those states publicly argued the program was mismanaged. The conspiracy theorists who cheered them on falsely insisted it was a front for liberals to take control of elections.

But experts say the program, known as the Electronic Registration Information Center, was among the best nationwide tool states had to catch people trying to vote twice in the same election. Now, those Republican-led states who left — and other states who lost access to their data — are scrambling to police so-called “double voters” ahead of the presidential election in 2024.
Story by Brandon Gage

Former United States Congressman David Jolly (R-Florida) on Saturday tore into Florida First Lady Casey DeSantis for championing the right-wing culture wars that her husband, Governor Ron DeSantis, has exploited while he seeks the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

"Casey DeSantis is a fairly compelling political figure in Florida and now nationally. For many, she's the brighter side to Florida's angry governor. For others, she's become America's Karen. And I think that's the ultimate disconnect here with a campaign that needs to embrace more constituencies to get to the White House," Jolly quipped to MSNBC's Saturday/Sunday Show host Jonathan Capehart.
Story by Milla

The tourism promotion group Visit Lauderdale reported that over half a dozen organizations planning conventions in Broward County changed their minds citing ” what the Governor is doing in the education/schools.”

The loss is more significant than you think
One canceled convention by the Supreme Council of America Inc., Ancient & Accepted Scottish Rite Masons, led to the cancellation of 885 rooms. Another, the 2024 National Family and Community Engagement and Community Schools Conference, led to the cancelation of over 2000 rooms. But, it is not only about hotels. Attendees spend money in restaurants, shops, theme parks, etc.
Story by Milla

The coin toss
Jarvis claims, “If he gets one of these crazy policies passed, and they’re challenged, and the court upholds him… he can say to the press and the public, ‘I was right, and the proof is in the pudding because the courts agreed with me.’”

Win-win for DeSantis
Even when he loses, “DeSantis can stand up and say, ‘These crazy judges want our children to watch drag shows, they want our children to be taught to be gay, they want Disney to be this terrible company. That’s why you need a strong governor and why you will benefit from having me as president because I will make sure to get rid of these judges and replace them with judges that have traditional American morals.’”
Story by Matthew Chapman

Florida is renowned for having some of the strongest public records laws in the United States — some experts believe the "Florida Man" meme came about, in fact, largely because it's one of the easiest states to make public records requests and learn the details of sensational crimes. But Gov. Ron DeSantis has been using his powers to tear a hole in Florida's transparency laws, reports NBC News — at least, when it comes to himself.

"In the four years since DeSantis took office, his administration has routinely stonewalled the release of public records, approved a slew of new legal exceptions aimed at keeping more information out of the public eye, and waged legal battles against open government advocates, the press and other watchdogs," reported Lewis Kamb. "DeSantis, a Harvard-educated lawyer and former U.S. attorney, is the only Florida governor known to use 'executive privilege' to keep records hidden, transparency advocates and experts said."
Opinion by Theotis Robinson Jr.

Ron DeSantis, Florida’s Republican governor and presidential candidate, is obsessed with the word “woke.” He rails against his twisted definition of the word anytime there is a microphone or a camera within eye or earshot of him. Don’t get between him and a bank of microphones. You might get trampled. This obsession of the governor begs exploration of what is behind his addiction to the word woke.

Where does 'woke' come from?
According to Kiara Alfonseca, a race and culture reporter for ABC News, “One of (woke’s) earliest uses was in a historical recording of the protest song 'Scottsboro Boys' by Lead Belly,” an American blues singer. “In that recording, it was used as a term about staying aware of the potential for racist violence as a Black person in America.”
Story by cdavis@insider.com (Charles R. Davis)

Calling it Florida's "latest assault on the right to vote," a federal judge on Monday put a temporary hold on a new election law that would have imposed more limits on voter registration efforts.

In May, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 7050, a package of Republican-sponsored reforms to Florida's election system, including a ban on non-citizen immigrants helping register voters. Groups that retained certain voter registration information, such as for get-out-the-vote operations, could under the law also face felony prosecution.

In a blistering decision, US Judge Mark Walker of the Northern District of Florida, agreed with plaintiffs that such provisions are likely illegal.
Opinion by Brandon Gage

Former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on Monday blasted Republicans for actively pursuing policies that make citizens' lives worse. "Republicans claim they love America," Reich began, which segued into clips of various GOP politicians claiming just that. "But they sure don't seem to like the American people. They consistently oppose reforms that a majority of Americans believe would make their lives better, like raising the minimum wage, paid family leave and student debt relief, and these supposedly America-loving Republicans also seem to hate American cities, which is where eighty percent of Americans live."
Story by Maya Boddie

Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is proud to run his "War on Woke" 2024 presidential campaign that includes advocating for book bans, anti-LGBTQ+ laws, as well as anti-diversity, equity, and inclusion programs both in schools and the workplace. On Sunday, the 2024 GOP hopeful shared a clip of himself speaking and signing legislation via Twitter, writing, "As of July 1st, DEI is over in the state of Florida."

The governor's tweet comes less than two months after CBS reported he introduced House Bill 999 in May, which would "ban state colleges and universities from using funds to 'promote, support, or maintain any programs or campus activities that espouse diversity, equity, or inclusion [DEI] or Critical Race Theory rhetoric.'
Opinion by Martha S. Jones

When my Google Alerts sounded this past week, I knew that birthright citizenship was again lighting up in the news. My interest in debates over birthright is professional and abiding: I’m a historian who in 2018 published a book, Birthright Citizens, that traced this approach to national belonging from its origins in debates among Black Americans at the start of the 19th century to 1868, when the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment established that, with a few exceptions, anyone born on U.S. soil is a citizen.

On Monday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, looking to advance his presidential campaign, promised to reverse more than a century and a half of law and policy and, as he put it in a statement, “end the idea that children of illegal aliens are entitled to birthright citizenship if they are born in the United States.” A few days later, a spokesperson for another GOP presidential candidate, Nikki Haley, said she “opposes birthright citizenship for those who enter the country illegally,” and the entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy’s campaign said he would reform birthright by adding new citizenship requirements. Having lived through more than one such outburst in recent years—the first in 2018, when then-President Donald Trump proposed to do away with birthright—I know that any promise to transform our citizenship scheme is sure to set off a debate.
Story by Joshua Wilburn

The Colorado web designer who the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Friday could refuse to make wedding websites for gay couples cited a request from a "flabbergasted" straight man who says he never even asked to work with her, RadarOnline.com has learned.

The U.S. Supreme Court recently handed down a ruling in a case involving a Christian graphic artist who refused to design wedding websites for same-sex couples. The court ruled 6-to-3 in favor of the artist, Lorie Smith, who argued that her actions were protected under the First Amendment's right to freedom of speech. The case began in 2016 when Smith filed a lawsuit against the state of Colorado, claiming that the state's anti-discrimination law violated her rights.
DeSantis wants to abolish four federal agencies, what will he replace them with? How much damage will he do if he has no plans to replace them?

Story by Milla

DeSantis spoke to Fox News and proclaimed that, if elected, he would close four federal agencies because they became too woke.

DeSantis talks to Fox News host
“We would do education, we would do commerce, we’d do energy, and we would do IRS,” DeSantis told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. He continued, “If Congress will work with me on doing that, we’ll be able to reduce the size and scope of government.” In short, DeSantis would eliminate the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and the Department of Education.
Story by Ewan Palmer

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signed a bill into law that critics argue severely restricts the rights of tenants in the Sunshine State and could see them pay more in fees. On Thursday, the 2024 presidential hopeful DeSantis approved six measures, including HB 1417. This law effectively overrides regulation of residential tenancies and landlord-tenant relationships and agreements and hands them over to the state.

Among some of the regulations that could be affected when HB 1417 comes into effect on July 1 include local fair notice requirements, and other issues that fall under tenant bill of rights ordinances at local level. The bill also allows Florida landlords to charge renters a monthly, non-refundable fee, instead of requiring a security deposit.
Story by David Edwards

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis has received a "cease and desist" letter from an Iowa Republican leader after he was accused of busing in supporters to an Iowa event. The Messenger reported DeSantis received the "extraordinary" letter from Muscatine County's GOP demanding that the "Never Back Down PAC cease and desist all attempts to contact and collaborate with the Muscatine County Republican Party of Iowa." The letter accused the DeSantis PAC of "unlawful and unethical collaboration … with Republican County Parties in the State of Iowa."
Story by Gabriella Ferrigine

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., scrambled to do damage control on Tuesday after he seemed to imply that former President Donald Trump would not be the "strongest" GOP candidate to win the upcoming 2024 presidential election. "Can he win that election? Yeah he can," McCarthy said during a Tuesday appearance on CNBC's "Squawk Box." "The question is, is he the strongest to win the election?"

"I don't know that answer," he said. "But can anybody beat Biden? Yeah, anybody can beat Biden. Can Biden beat other people? Yes, Biden can beat them. It's on any given day," McCarthy added. McCarthy seemingly tried to ameliorate the situation later that day during an interview with far-right news outlet Breitbart News by backpedaling and saying the former president is "stronger today than he was in 2016.
Story by Milla

A witness testimony from 2020 alleges that Republican representative Jim Jordan begged a former wrestler star to help cover up sexual abuse at The Ohio State University.

Jim Jordan allegedly assisted in the Ohio State University’s cover-up
Ohio representative and former Ohio State University wrestling coach Jim Jordan allegedly assisted in the Ohio State University’s cover-up of sexual abuse, voiced former Ohio State wrestler Adam DiSabato in a testimony given in 2020. The Supreme Court decided, in June 2023, that former students should be allowed to sue it for failing to protect them from a sexual predator decades ago.
Story by Lisandra Gomez-Tate

Testimony by former Ohio State wrestler Adam DiSabato is resurfacing on social media this week. DiSabato’s testimony, given in 2020, recounts his story of Rep. Jim Jordan allegedly “begging” him to cover up claims of sexual abuse in The Ohio State University athletic department.

With the recent Supreme Court decision to allow a case against the university to go forward, the testimony addressing Rep. Jordan’s role is floating to the top of social media feeds after being shared by various popular Twitter accounts, including that of former federal prosecutor and Marine Ron Filipkowski.

In the video above, DiSabato testifies during the Ohio Civil Justice Committee hearings and asserts that “Jim Jordan called me crying, groveling, begging me to go against my brother, begging me, crying for a half-hour. That's the kind of cover-up that's going on there.”
Story by Alex Griffing

Jonathan Turley weighed in Friday on the House Republican’s efforts to “expunge” former President Donald Trump’s two impeachments. “It is not like a constitutional DUI. Once you are impeached, you are impeached,” Turley said in a statement to Reuters. The legal expert and Fox News contributor was described by Reuters as a Georgetown University Law Professor “whose expert advice Republicans sometimes seek.” The article added that Turley “noted that the U.S. Constitution contains no provision for expunging impeachments.”

The unprecedented resolutions for the House to somehow remove Trump’s past impeachments were introduced by Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the No. 4 House of Representatives Republican, and MAGA hardliner Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA). Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said on Friday he is backing the resolutions, despite having previously condemned Trump for the Jan. 6 attack. Greene’s resolution moves to expunge Trump’s 2019 impeachment for trying to strongarm Ukraine into investigating the Bidens, by claiming Trump was “wrongfully accused of misconduct.”
First the GOP tried to whitewash Jan. 6, and then they tried to whitewash Black history and white supremacy now the GOP wants to whitewash Trump’s impeachments. Sorry GOP your too late they are already in the history books and on the internet.

Story by Miles J. Herszenhorn, USA TODAY

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., expressed support Friday for a symbolic resolution to expunge former President Donald Trump's two impeachments from the House record.

McCarthy told reporters he would back House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., in their effort to expunge both impeachments. However, he said their resolutions would need to go through the committee process first before getting a vote on the floor.

McCarthy's decision to back the resolution demonstrates that Trump, who was impeached twice in office and indicted twice since departing office, still maintains broad support among House Republicans as he stages a bid for the 2024 presidential nomination.
Story by Ella Lee, USA TODAY

Florida lawmakers and activists claimed Thursday that an "authoritarian movement," heralded in by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is sweeping the state. "In the state of Florida, the will of the people is suppressed, subverted and ignored," U.S. Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Fla., said Thursday during a hearing he called about Florida's increasingly restrictive laws targeting education, LGBTQ communities and more.

Four witnesses from Florida – a state representative, a former state attorney, a grassroots organizer and a former substitute teacher – called the state's new legislation "unlawful" and an example of DeSantis "abusing his power."
Republicans censure Adam Schiff for doing his job

In a party-line vote, the Democrat was censured by House Republicans over his role in investigations into former President Trump
Nikki McCann Ramirez

On Wednesday, Republicans in the House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) over his role in the Russia investigation, and the first impeachment of former president Donald Trump. The vote passed on a party-line vote of 213-209. As House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took up the gavel to read out the censure, Democrats repeatedly booed, interrupted, and chanted over McCarthy.

Democrats gathered around the speaker’s podium and chanted “shame” as McCarthy attempted to restore order to the session. Chaos seemed to reign in the House on Wednesday. Earlier in the afternoon Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) reportedly called Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Col.) a “little bitch” during a heated exchange on the floor.

In a statement issued before the vote on Twitter, McCarthy wrote that “Adam Schiff abused his position as Chair of Intel to lie and lead America through a national nightmare with the fake Russia collusion narrative.”
Story by Alex Griffing

New York Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) tore into his House GOP colleagues on Wednesday after the Republican majority moved ahead with a resolution to officially censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA). Schiff spoke during a debate of the resolution on the floor Wednesday and said he will wear it as a “badge of honor.” The text of the resolution seeks to censure Schiff “for misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives.”

Goldman took to the House floor and defended Schiff, noting that after leading the first impeachment of then-President Donald Trump the California Democrat had become the focus of conspiracy theories and wild accusations on the right. “Boy, is Adam Schiff, powerful. He can at once be the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, the special counsel investigating Donald Trump, manage and run the FBI and be a judge ruling on FISA applications. It is remarkable that he, from his perch in Congress, can do all of that,” Goldman said, roasting some of the conspiratorial rhetoric surrounding Schiff.
Story by sankel@businessinsider.com (Sophia Ankel)

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito admitted to taking a luxury fishing trip with GOP billionaire Paul Singer, who later had cases before the court. In a Wall Street Journal op-ed published on Tuesday, Alito said that he flew to Alaska on a private plane owned by Singer for a luxury fishing trip in 2018. The plane seat "would have otherwise been vacant," he wrote.

"My recollection is that I have spoken to Mr. Singer on no more than a handful of occasions, all of which (with the exception of small talk during a fishing trip 15 years ago) consisted of brief and casual comments at events attended by large groups," Alito said.

"On no occasion have we discussed the activities of his businesses, and we have never talked about any case or issue before the Court," he added. The op-ed was in response to a report that was being written by the investigative journalism outlet ProPublica.
Opinion by Bruce Maiman

One thing about having conservative friends: They sure do peddle a lot of ignorant nonsense. I shouldn’t complain. It inspires me to write something, though I’ve been down this block before. Still, it’s a subject worth revisiting. On Monday, on the Juneteenth federal holiday, my friend sent me this tweet: Friendly reminder that #Juneteenth only exists because white Union soldiers had to go to Galveston, TX (two and a half years AFTER Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation) to ENFORCE freedom for slaves because democrat slave owners wouldn’t have freed them otherwise.

Here’s a friendly reminder: “Democrat” is not an adjective; it’s a noun. The correct word is “Democratic,” and it is capitalized. Most adjectives and nouns referring to the ideas, actions, documents and members of specific political parties, movements and groups are capitalized. Rush Limbaugh popularized this grammatical blunder to suggest that Democrats are undemocratic. Conservatives should stop it. The attempt to score political points makes you sound more ignorant than you already are.
Story by Tristin Brown, Alexa Barrett

The right-wing Boomers who dominate the Supreme Court would like young people to get off America’s lawn, please, and thank you, and they’re using their vast, unchecked power to fence off our future. America is changing in a way that scares Republicans. For years, the old saw about idealistic liberals aging into clear-eyed conservatives has been a political truism. Except that it’s no longer true. According to a Financial Times analysis, millennials are the least conservative generation at the 35-year-old age marker of any generation in recorded history and, unlike previous generations, they do not seem to be growing more conservative as they age. Early data suggests that Gen Z is likely to continue this trend.

Yet, the decisions being passed down by the Supreme Court are future-proofing the country against millennials, Gen Z, and generations to come. Last summer, the Court reshaped our country’s legal and political landscape by ripping away Americans’ right to abortion and bodily autonomy in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization — a decision met with disapproval by 69% of people under 30. Despite the uproar, that was only the beginning of the Court's crusade. From education equity to the environment, LGBTQ+ rights, and democratic participation, the conservative bloc of justices (average age, 62) is handing down decisions that restrict young Americans’ rights and freedoms — potentially for the rest of our lives.
Story by Aleks Phillips

ARepublican state representative who voted in favor of a new law setting strict anti-immigration policies has admitted that "the harm is done" when it came to the impact of the new regulation. Speaking on CBS News Miami on Monday, Rick Roth said the law would have "unintended consequences," referencing its potential impact on undocumented migrant workers already in the state. The representative for the state's 85th House district was among 83 legislators to approve Senate Bill 1718 in Florida on May 2.

Roth was previously recorded as saying that the bill was "100 percent supposed to scare you" and lamenting the potential loss of farm laborers for his constituents just days after voting for it. Florida's lawmakers enacted the new law in April, and it is set to go into full effect on July 1 this year. Among its provision are requirements that some businesses use e-verify software—a program for checking whether employees are legally able to work in the U.S.—and that hospitals collect certain information on undocumented patients.
Story by Sarah K. Burris

Former Vice President Mike Pence faced off against an angry crowd of Donald Trump's supporters who built a gallows on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol and chanted "Hang Mike Pence." Speaking to "Meet the Press" on Sunday, Pence complained about the prosecution of his former running mate, but he was faced with the reality of allowing crimes to go unpunished due to someone's status.

Fidgeting with his jacket and shifting in his chair, Pence said he wants equal treatment under the law. He demanded equal accountability for President Joe Biden's documents, and Chuck Todd was forced to tell him that the attorney general appointed a special counsel in that case as well. So, the treatment is equal, the host explained. "Well, we'll see," Pence dodged, refusing to respond to being fact-checked in real-time.
Story by Matthew Chapman

Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) posted what was meant to be a supportive tweet marking Juneteenth — a federally-recognized holiday marking the emancipation of the final enslaved persons in the U.S. — but his remarks were roundly criticized for whitewashing the horror of slavery. “Today is a good day to remember: Christianity is the faith and America is the place slavery came to die,” wrote Hawley on Twitter. Writing for Jezebel, Laura Bassett slammed Hawley's remarks as "mind-blowingly stupid."
Facts scare republicans so they want to prevent fact checking so they can to lie and deceive the American people without getting called out on their lies.

Story by Alex Henderson

Acombination of universities and think tanks have been sounding the alarm about disinformation, warning that outright lies could influence the outcome of elections in the United States. But some Republicans, according to the New York Times, are not happy about their work — including House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (D-Ohio) and former Donald Trump aide Stephen Miller. In an article published by the New York Times on June 19, journalists Steven Lee Myers and Sheera Frenkel report that Jordan and others GOP lawmakers are claiming that the anti-disinformation efforts are designed to suppress conservative speech online.

"The House Judiciary Committee, which in January came under Republican majority control, has sent scores of letters and subpoenas to the researchers — only some of which have been made public," Myers and Frenkel explain. "It has threatened legal action against those who have not responded quickly or fully enough…. Targets include Stanford, Clemson and New York Universities and the University of Washington; the Atlantic Council, the German Marshall Fund and the National Conference on Citizenship, all nonpartisan, nongovernmental organizations in Washington; the Wikimedia Foundation in San Francisco; and Graphika, a company that researches disinformation online."
Facts scare republicans so they want to prevent fact checking so they can to lie and deceive the American people without getting called out on their lies.

Story by Matthew Chapman

Republican lawmakers are joining forces with far-right activists to attack universities and even private businesses that are investigating the spread of disinformation online — claiming that this amounts to an effort to silence conservatives on the internet, according to a report. The New York Times posted a details of the actions they are taking on Monday.

"The effort has encumbered its targets with expansive requests for information and, in some cases, subpoenas — demanding notes, emails and other information related to social media companies and the government dating back to 2015. Complying has consumed time and resources and already affected the groups’ ability to do research and raise money, according to several people involved," reported Steven Lee Myers and Sheera Frenkel.

"They and others warned that the campaign undermined the fight against disinformation in American society when the problem is, by most accounts, on the rise — and when another presidential election is around the corner. Many of those behind the Republican effort had also joined former President Donald J. Trump in falsely challenging the outcome of the 2020 presidential election."
Story by Sky Palma

A new campaign ad released on Monday suggests Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared war on a new enemy.

The 2024 presidential candidate slammed California, portraying it as a decaying state suffering under the progressive policies of its governor Gavin Newsom. “The debate is already over,” read a tweet accompanying the video. “California’s liberal governance is a disaster. Ron DeSantis’ conservative policies have Florida thriving, and would do so for the nation.”

The ad comes as speculation mounts over Newsom's possible entry into the 2024 race as questions continue to swirl over President Joe Biden's ability to serve another term. Previously, DeSantis focus has been firmly on his strongest competitor for the GOP nomination, former President Donald Trump, and on Disney with which he is in the middle of a legal battle.
Story by Alicia Diaz

(Bloomberg) -- Republican presidential contender Chris Christie said the Republican National Committee’s requirement for candidates to support the eventual 2024 nominee is a “useless idea,” adding to criticism following the indictments of GOP front-runner Donald Trump.

“It’s only the era of Donald Trump that you need somebody to sign something on a pledge,” the former New Jersey governor said in on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday. “So I think it’s a bad idea.”

The RNC will require presidential candidates to pledge support to the party’s nominee, whoever that may be, if they want to take the stage at the first primary debate in August. Meanwhile, Trump’s legal woes are growing after he became the first former US president to be indicted on federal charges, even as polls suggest Republican voters still favor him over other candidates.
Story by Phillip Nieto

Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin called Florida GOP Governor Ron DeSantis an “unlikeable, boring, thuggish bully” during a Saturday appearance on MSNBC with host Alicia Menendez.

The former conservative joined American Voices with Alicia Menendez on Saturday to discuss which GOP candidates has the most potential to challenge former President Donald Trump for the nomination. When asked whether DeSantis could distinguish himself from Trump, the WaPo writer did not hold back.

“The problem with Ron DeSantis is Ron DeSantis. He’s a thoroughly unlikable, boring, thuggish bully. And voters could figure that out very quickly. They have figured it out,” Rubin said. “I think the challenge for the other candidates who might actually have a much better shot against Trump, they should try to push DeSantis out of the race.

“They can pick up his votes,” she added. “And then someone one of them, can mount an effective opposition. Right now, none of them want to attack Trump. I think that’s cowardice. I think that’s silly. But if they don’t want to do that, at least go after DeSantis.”
Story by insider@insider.com (John L. Dorman)

Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida has often talked about his desire to enact conservative policies without needless drama, and during the past legislative session in the Sunshine State, he signed into law countless pieces of legislation that had long been on Republican wish lists.

With a GOP legislative supermajority built from DeSantis' 19-point landslide reelection victory, he eagerly pushed through a six-week abortion ban, banned diversity and equity initiatives in public universities, expanded a ban on the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity through the 12th grade, and is in the midst of reshaping education in the state, among a vast array of additional laws and policies that he has put into place.

But pressure from DeSantis — and the force of his political operation — has made many in the state capital of Tallahassee fearful of the governor, according to The Washington Post.
Opinion by Brandon Gage

Former United States Secretary of Labor Robert Reich on Saturday identified five factors that underscore how far down the right-wing rabbit hole twice-indicted ex-President Donald Trump and the Republican Party have dragged American politics.

"'Authoritarianism' isn't adequate" to "describe what Trump wants for America," Reich wrote in a Guardian opinion column. "It is fascism. Fascism stands for a coherent set of ideas different from – and more dangerous than – authoritarianism." Reich noted what he believes differentiates fascism from mere authoritarianism.
Story by Milla

Florida universities were told to prioritize diversity, but with one signature, Governor DeSantis banned state funding for diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at the state’s public universities. Ceremony at the New College of Florida DeSantis signed three bills that, he claims, would give students foundational skills and prevent people from imposing orthodoxies at public universities. ..
Story by Chris Katje

For several years, Elon Musk has supported Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis as a potential presidential candidate. Recently, DeSantis announced his official 2024 presidential election campaign during an appearance with Musk on Twitter Spaces.

Could the link between Musk and DeSantis have led to some electric vehicle companies getting special treatment in the state of Florida?

What Happened: Certain states in the U.S. have placed bans on direct-to-consumer (DTC) sales of automobiles, specifically electric vehicles. This has created headaches for companies such as Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA), which have gotten creative with loophole workarounds.

The state of Florida passed a law relating to the DTC sale of vehicles, but this time Tesla could be one of the biggest beneficiaries.
Story by Milla

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s video went viral for all the wrong reasons. In the clip, Greene claimed Putin never planned on invading Europe. Greene said, “I've never seen Putin actually show in any detail his plans to invade Europe. No one has shown me that.”

She then increased her voice and blink rate, claiming, “I don’t believe the lies that I’m being told about this.” The video posted by Ed Krassenstein surpassed 1.3 views since it was published four hours ago. Ed Krassenstein is a journalist who lives in Florida and describes himself as “Anti-Trump.”

Greene is among Republicans who are not kind to Ukraine
Marjorie Taylor Greene is among many Republicans who claimed that Ukraine “wants our sons and daughters to go die in Ukraine." This was taken entirely out of context, as Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy merely tried to warn the world about what could happen next. Zelensky said that if Ukraine loses the war against Russia, Russia could go on to attack NATO member states. If that happens, the USA, as part of NATO, would become involved in the war.
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