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GOP Watch Keeping an Eye on Republicans for You - Page 9

“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

Democrats at a hearing revolted when Republican Chairman Jim Jordan falsely claimed that the January 6 committee did not afford Republicans the opportunity to “cross-examine one single witness” during its entire tenure.

The GOP-led House Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government held a hearing Thursday that devolved into chaos when Democratic members were not permitted to cross-examine Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, resulting in several minutes of near-brawling.

Quite a bit later in the hearing, Jordan decided to revive the argument by claiming that the January 6 committee, which included Republican members Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney, did not allow Republicans to cross-examine witnesses:
Story by Sarah K. Burris

Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) subcommittee is missing some key details in their move to investigate President Joe Biden's administration for "weaponizing government," MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace argued on Thursday's edition of "Deadline: White House."

She pointed to Democrats that attempted to use the committee to talk about what they identified as "real threats" and "real weaponization."

Non-voting member Del. Stacey Plaskett (ID-VT) argued that the Republicans on the committee are sending letters trying to interfere in ongoing Justice Department investigations of the former president. The latest efforts came from Jordan, demanding that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg appear before the committee to answer questions. Bragg doesn't serve under the jurisdiction of Congress. He's also prevented from giving congress "inside" information because grand jury investigations are secret.

"That is not appropriate," Plaskett said. "That is not what this Congress is supposed to be about. That is an abuse of the power of this body, of this committee, and that is the weaponization of Congress, plain and simple."
Story by Anna Commander

Russian state media called out former President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying that he is looked at as "the destroyer of America" amid discussions of the 2024 presidential election. While speaking with Russian presenter Vladimir Solovyov about Trump, the pundits played a soundbite of the former president's interview with Fox host Sean Hannity. Trump can be heard saying, "Ukraine is being obliterated." The clip of the broadcast was shared on Twitter by Julia Davis, founder of the Russian Media Monitor watchdog group.

Soloyov responds, "And it will be destroyed. Who needs it? Who needs Ukraine where they don't respect Russians?" Andrey Sidorov, deputy dean of world politics at Moscow State University, then responds, "Trump is coming. Think of him as you will, I always saw him and still see him as a destroyer of America."
It is Trump and the GOP who have weaponized the government not the Dems

Story by Sarah K. Burris

New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman has been criticized for being too close to Donald Trump and holding back information that congressional investigations or impeachment panels could have used to score more news for her book. In her latest report with Michael Schmidt, she takes a hit at her golden goose. The Wednesday report nails the former president for hypocrisy after he complained that the government was being weaponized against him. "He would know," the title says.

“He was always telling me that we need to use the F.B.I. and I.R.S. to go after people — it was constant and obsessive and is just what he’s claiming is being done to him now,” the report quoted Trump's former chief of staff, John Kelly. It isn't the first time he's said it. In 2022, Kelly told Schmidt that Trump wanted to target Andrew McCabe and James Comey.

Trump fired Andrew McCabe mere days before his retirement, barring his federal pension, simply because he criticized Trump's role in the Russia scandal. Trump was furious that McCabe's wife supported Hillary Clinton. In fact, he said Trump was obsessed with her. McCabe ultimately got an extremely rare and invasive audit by the IRS that turned up nothing. Comey's clash with Trump became infamous, as he was fired after refusing to give Trump absolute loyalty.
By William Kleinknecht

Kleinknecht is a longtime political journalist and author of States of Neglect: How Red-State Leaders Have Failed Their Citizens and Undermined America

Media coverage of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s all-but-announced candidacy for president is already in full frenzy, and so far the script is exactly as his handlers would like it to be. The governor regularly opens up new fronts in the culture wars, sowing alarm over critical race theory, transgender rights, or border policies. In response, liberal pundits fall into the trap of accentuating the very issues DeSantis has chosen to fire up his base.

Omitted from the public debate about DeSantis’s policies is almost any discussion of his actual record of governance—what exactly he has delivered to the citizens of his state, especially those without seven-figure incomes and lush investment portfolios.
Story by Brad Reed

Republicans vowed to launch a flurry of investigations into the Biden administration upon retaking control of the House of Representatives, but Vox's Christian Paz argues that these probes all "seem to be flopping" so far. Specifically, Paz argues that Republicans made a significant strategic error by not concentrating on hearings of issues that polls show matter to voters, such as the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan or the origins of the coronavirus.

Instead, the House GOP led off with hearings about conservatives' tweets supposedly being suppressed, which he writes "may only truly resonate with the most partisan, internet-pilled Republican voters." "There was kind of this broad perception that it was seen as being like a revenge list or a tit-for-tat, or a ‘get even’ list, and that it wasn’t really particularly focused on... the priorities that people want Congress to focus on," Navigator Research chief pollster Bryan Bennett tells Paz.
Story by Maya Boddie

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA) called out the blatant hypocrisy of House GOP members during a Wednesday Judiciary Committee hearing. "We're here because the Republican Party — that's done such a great job over many years standing up for the police — no longer back the blue," the congressman said.

@Acyn posted a brief clip from the hearing, writing, "Swalwell just dragging Republicans with their own tweets and posts." In the video, Swalwell mentions a recent hearing, where the House Republicans "brought a witness who had just recently tweeted, F**k cops." Swalwell emphasized, "Anyone on earth could've come to that hearing and they brought someone that said "f**k cops?"
Story by David Edwards

Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) argued that the United States is "not a democracy" in response to teachers union president Randi Weingarten's call to enact gun bans similar to ones in Australia and New Zealand. At an American Federation of Teachers (AFT) meeting Tuesday morning, Weingarten had addressed the Nashville school shooting by calling for a reaction similar to "other great democracies."

"How many lives will be shattered before we have the courage to do what Scotland did, what Australia did, what New Zealand did, what other great democracies do? We must solve this epidemic, and that's up to us," she said. Boebert spoke about Weingarten's remarks after right-wing host Charlie Kirk speculated that the teachers union president wanted to repeal the Second Amendment.

"And, you know, maybe one of the things that we need to address with the Democrat party is, you played a clip from the teachers union with Randi there talking," Boebert said. "Maybe one thing we need to address is we're not a democracy! So quit with that!" "Maybe that's where you're getting it wrong," she added. "It's saying that we are a democracy. We are a constitutional republic."
Story by Brandon Gage

United States Congressman Clay Higgins (R-Louisiana) attempted to redefine reality during an Oversight Committee hearing in the House of Representatives on Wednesday, just two days after six people – three students and three staffers – were killed in a mass shooting at the Christian Covenant School in Nashville, Tennessee.
Story by Travis Gettys

One of the nation's most prominent conservative judges warned that the Republican Party presented a grave peril to democracy. Former federal appeals court judge Michael Luttig, who famously told Mike Pence the vice president did not have the authority to alter election results, made clear in a new interview with The Bulwark that the ongoing threat from Donald Trump and his GOP allies had only grown more ominous since Jan. 6, 2021.

"With the former president’s and his Republican Party’s determined denial of Jan. 6, their refusal to acknowledge that the former president lost the 2020 presidential election fair and square, and their promise that the 2024 election will not be 'stolen' from them again as they maintain it was in 2020," Luttig said, "America’s Democracy and the Rule of Law are in constitutional peril — still -- and there is no end to the threat in sight."

The conservative legal icon memorably testified during the House select committee investigation that Congress must update the Electoral Count Act of 1887 or risk another attempt to subvert the will of voters, and he said this week that the failure to do so was undermining the rule of law.
MSNBC

Former Attorney General Eric Holder joins Jen Psaki for an exclusive interview to discuss Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's investigation into former President Trump, the threats Bragg has faced, and Trump lawyer Evan Corcoran testifying before the grand jury in the documents probe. On Congressman Jim Jordan's letters to DA Bragg, Holder says "The notion that Jim Jordan who ignored a subpoena to testify in the January 6th investigation, would now have the temerity to inject himself into a state/local prosecution is the height of hypocrisy."
Story by Maya Boddie

U.S. Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) took the act of projecting to a new level by suggesting Democrats recently discovered the words "ban" and "control," and complaining the party tends to overuse the terms. The senator tweeted, "The Democrats simply can't help themselves; the words "ban" and "control" have entered their daily vocabulary." Blackburn's comment comes just days after House Republicans passed the "Parents' Bill of Rights," which will likely lead to "book bans and targeting of LGBTQ children."
Opinion by Rex Huppke, USA TODAY

In Gov. Ron DeSantis’ “Free State of Florida,” a charter school principal was forced to resign after sixth-grade students were shown images of Michelangelo’s notably nude sculpture, “David.” Apparently the horrors of art and anatomy were too much for some parents, and because DeSantis has empowered adults dippy enough to consider Renaissance art “pornography,” the principal was — in the spirit of freedom — shown the door.  David’s man-bits might be visible, but as DeSantis tries to raise his national profile ahead of a likely GOP presidential primary campaign, it’s becoming apparent the Florida emperor has no clothes.

Things haven't gone well for Ron DeSanctimonius' expected presidential run
Consider the recent stumbles by the man GOP presidential primary frontrunner and former President Donald Trump has labeled “Ron DeSanctimonius” and, somehow more insultingly, “Rob.” DeSantis referred to Russia’s deadly invasion of Ukraine as “a territorial dispute” and was then admonished by Democrats and Republicans alike. So he flip-flopped in an interview with Piers Morgan and called Russian President Vladimir Putin a “war criminal.” Then on Friday he flop-flipped back to saying: “I care more about securing our own border in the United States than I do about the Russia-Ukraine border.”
Story by Zachary Leeman

Fox Business anchor Dagen McDowell broke from some of the praise the House-passed Parents Bill of Rights was receiving on Friday to argue Republicans should have done the opposite if education mattered to them.

The Parents Bill of Rights Act would require schools to publish their curriculum to the public and give parents far more influence over policies and materials. Democratic lawmakers like Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) took to the House floor this week to argue the bill would be used to limit education and ban books. In a more fiery moment, the congressman claimed “extreme MAGA Republicans” don’t want children to learn about the Holocaust.

Rep. Jamie Raskin, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, talks with Alex Wagner about how Jim Jordan and other House Republicans are using their position in government to attack Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other who are investigating Donald Trump, as well as the GOP's politicization of January 6 inmates.
Story by Martin Pengelly in New York

The Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, on Thursday accused Republicans in the US Congress of interfering in his investigation of Donald Trump over a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels.

A letter from House Republicans demanding testimony and documents related to the investigation “only came after Donald Trump created a false expectation that he would be arrested … and his lawyers repeatedly urged you to intervene”, Bragg wrote in a letter of his own. Such circumstances, he said, did not represent “a legitimate basis for congressional inquiry”.

Bragg published his letter as it became clear another day would pass without an indictment of the former US president for offences related to the $130,000 payment made in 2016 and potentially including falsification of business records, tax fraud and/or campaign finance violations.
Opinion by Sarah Posner

North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, according to a report from Talking Points Memo, has for years used his Facebook feed to promote racist, antisemitic, homophobic and transphobic viewpoints and memes. Elected in 2020, the Republican is reportedly considering a run for governor next year. He is a rising star on the Christian right, and his cache of appalling social media posts is further evidence that there is no daylight between the movement that bills itself as being committed to “family values” and “religious freedom” and the swamps of the bigoted far right.

The lieutenant governor’s prolific Facebook posts promoted a hodgepodge of familiar right-wing conspiracy theories, blaming “globalists,” the “occult” and “the New World Order” for America’s woes. He used racist epithets against the Revs. William Barber and Al Sharpton, the civil rights activists, and claimed expressions of “white pride” aren’t racist. He rejected his own membership in the Black community, writing, “Why would I want to be part of a ‘community’ that sucks from the putrid tit of the government and then complains about getting sour milk?” He dabbled in antisemitic conspiracy theories and regularly posted homophobic and transphobic statements, among them calling homosexuality “a FILTHY ABOMINATION, that satisfies your degenerate, un-natural lust.” (Robinson hasn’t responded to requests for comment from Talking Points Memo or other outlets covering the story.)
Story by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg served up an extensive lesson in American jurisprudence Thursday in his response to House Republican Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan’s letter demanding he provide communications and testify before Congress on his ongoing investigation into Donald Trump’s hush money payoff to Stormy Daniels. Jordan’s demand was seen by legal experts as a “purely political attack.” They note Jordan has no constitutional oversight authority over a duly-elected county district attorney.

Bragg is respectfully refusing Jordan’s demands. Thorough his office’s General Counsel, Bragg sent Jordan a five-page letter (below) filled with numerous citations of federal and state law and legal decisions up to and including from the U.S. Supreme Court, that offer the Judiciary Chairman instruction in the law and that support the District Attorney’s refusal.
Story by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

Republican House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan's unprecedented attack on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg this week will "backfire" on the GOP, according to a Washington Post columnist who spoke with House Democrats. Chairman Jordan, who has no constitutional oversight authority over an elected county district attorney, demanded Bragg hand over documents and communications and testify before Congress about his criminal investigation into Donald Trump's hush money payoffs and business practices. Some believe an indictment could come as early as Wednesday afternoon.

"If Jim Jordan and MAGA Republicans attack the Manhattan DA's potential indictment of Trump, Democrats will use the proceedings to draw attention to coordination between House Republicans and Trump's legal team, Dems tell me," The Washington Post’s Greg Sargent said Wednesday via Twitter. "This will backfire on the GOP."

Sargent adds House Oversight Committee Ranking Member Jamie Raskin told him: "This is an extreme move to use the resources of Congress to interfere with a criminal investigation at the state and local level." Raskin likened "GOP 'political culture' to 'authoritarian dictatorships.'"
Opinion by Alex Henderson

One of the most influential Republicans of the 20th Century was U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren, appointed by GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower. One landmark ruling after another was handed down by the Warren Court, from New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) to Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) to Stanley v. Georgia (1969) to Brown v. the Board of Education (1954).

Another was Gideon v. Wainwright, a 1963 decision guaranteeing criminal defendants the right to legal counsel. Three years later, the protections of Gideon grew even stronger thanks to the Warren Court's 1966 ruling in Miranda v. Arizona. The Miranda warning famously recited in countless police dramas includes elements of both Gideon v. Wainwright and Miranda v. Arizona, including, "If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed to you." Far-right Justice Clarence Thomas, during his 32 years on the High Court, has made no secret of his disdain for the Warren Court. And that includes Gideon v. Wainwright.
Story by Sarah K. Burris

At the end of her Monday night show, Rachel Maddow welcomed Georgia lawyer Michael Moore to address the way in which Republicans in his state have been willing to change the laws just to protect Donald Trump from being indicted. Fulton County has been at work for a year over those that attempted to overthrow the 2020 election in the state. While the grand jury operated for quite a while, only recently did Republicans figure out a way to act. The law hasn't been signed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) yet, but the GOP legislators are already demanding that the Fulton County D.A. be fired.

"I really think they picked a boxing match with a ghost," said Moore. "There is not much that can be said about special grand jury reports. Remember, we don't use special grand juries very often in this state. We have to use criminal garages. The special grand jury allowed the district attorney to use subpoena power to bring reluctant witnesses in to talk to them to find out what was going on. But she didn't have to do it. And so, essentially, the motion today says, well, let's make her throw that report in the trash can. She can throw it in the trash can. She is not bound by it. It is no more a recommendation any more than it was written on a sticky note and stuck on her office door. She doesn't have to do anything that the special grand jury recommended. In fact, she has complete discretion to look at the facts, to look at the law, to make decisions about which individuals she may want to bring charges against. And on what offenses." He said that there would be a lot more coming out of the case, including more pre-trial motions.
Stephen Collinson
Analysis by Stephen Collinson, CNN

CNN — Donald Trump’s Republican allies in the House are doing what the former president taught them to do – use government power to try to keep his legal threats at bay. After Trump warned he could be arrested, his allies have been using their new House majority to demand Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s testimony and seek to thwart his investigation relating to an alleged hush money payment to an adult film star before the 2016 election. It looks like an extraordinary attempt to influence an open grand jury investigation.

In fact, the House GOP appears to be using the exact same tactic they accuse the Biden administration, Bragg and any other investigators on Trump’s trail of employing – weaponizing the powers of government to advance a partisan political end. Yet there are also sufficient doubts about a possible prosecution assembled by Bragg – and the unusual nature of potential charges relating to business and electoral law violations – to fuel questions from nonpartisan legal experts about the case perhaps not living up to its billing. This is an especially fateful issue given the gravity of any potential case against a former president.
Story by Matthew Chapman

Even before any charges have been released against former President Donald Trump, as is widely expected to happen by experts, House Republicans are turning their guns on Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, with Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and other GOP chairs demanding he come before Congress to testify on his investigation.

Former Harvard Law Professor Laurence Tribe tore into this effort, agreeing with former attorney and Congressman Dan Goldman, who tweeted, "Defending Trump is not a legitimate legislative purpose for Congress to investigate a state district attorney. Congress has no jurisdiction to investigate the Manhattan DA, which receives no federal funding nor has any other federal nexus." "For Congress to harass a local prosecutor who is just enforcing state criminal laws violates core principles of federalism and state sovereignty in violation of the Tenth Amendment," he wrote.
Story by Milla • Yesterday

Ron DeSantis’ “Stop-Woke” apparently includes rewriting history, and one of the most famous Black women in modern America, Rosa Parks. The Governor of Florida ensured to remove any reference to race, The New York Times reports. The publication gave an example of how the well-known story went from “The law said African Americans had to give up their seats on the bus if a white person wanted to sit down” to “She was told to move to a different seat.” This lesson from the fourth grade now does not mention race, but it simply states it was illegal for “men of certain groups” to be unemployed and for “certain groups of people” to do jury duty.
Story by Gideon Rubin • Yesterday

Aformer Republican political operative on Monday slammed three House GOP leaders over plans to investigate Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg in connection with the prosecution of former President Donald Trump. Appearing on "The ReidOut with Joy Reid" on MSNBC Monday evening, Kurt Bardella said the case noq before a Manhattan grand jury is not within the congressional oversight committee’s purview. He described the apparent efforts to interfere with the probe as a “flagrant abuse of power.”

Bardella’s comments followed a letter jointly sent by House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, House Oversight Chairman James Comer and House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil requesting testimony from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and calling his prosecution of the former president an “unprecedented abuse of prosecutorial authority.” “I know how investigations are supposed to work. I know what congressional oversight is supposed to look like. This is not that,” Bardella said.
Opinion by Amanda Marcotte

Gov. Ron DeSantis made a name for himself by bragging that his state of Florida is where "woke goes to die." He, like most Republicans, sprints away from anyone asking him what exactly he means by the word "woke." Still, the past year in Florida, where educators have been crushed under various "anti-woke" laws signed by DeSantis, has made the parameters quite clear: "Woke" is acknowledging that racism is a thing that ever happened and/or accepting that LGBTQ people exist. DeSantis' vision for Florida is very much Disney in its most reactionary, "Song of the South" era. But probably with fewer kids reading since books are categorically viewed with suspicion in DeSantis' "anti-woke" paradise.

Despite DeSantis' Florida-centric language when he talks about schools, however, it's long been clear that the ambitious plans to decimate education extend past the Sunshine State's borders and across the U.S. He's not a lone figure who just happens to have a crippling obsession with keeping kids from reading. DeSantis is really just the most prominent figure in what is a national GOP campaign to destroy the educational system, remaking it into a propaganda system for various right-wing hobbyhorses, no matter how disassociated from reality they may be. The GOP war on education dramatically expanded last week in when the Republican-controlled state government in Texas wrested control of the House Independent School District from local leaders.
Story by Tommy Christopher

New York Times correspondent, best-selling author, and CNN analyst Maggie Haberman called out Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy for “threatening” investigations after ex-President Donald Trump ranted about being ‘ARRESTED ON TUESDAY.”

Trump touched off a firestorm Saturday morning with a pair of all-caps social media posts that culminated in a call to unrest. In his posts Trump urged supporters to ‘TAKE OUR NATION BACK!’ in an early-morning all-caps rant over reports he claims say he ” WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK.”

Trump appeared to be reacting to reports that various law enforcement agencies are meeting next week with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office to prepare for a possible indictment and arrest of Trump in Bragg’s case against Trump over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. McCarthy seemed to respond by posting a message, hours later, vowing investigations of prosecutors probing Trump, writing:
Story by Tom Boggioni

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) jumped into the fray on Saturday morning after Donald Trump made a claim on Truth Social that he will be arrested on Tuesday. Early Saturday, the leader of the House Republicans stated on Twitter that he wants all GOP chairs of relevant House committees to "immediately" look into whether federal funds are being used to fund investigations into the former president. On Truth Social Saturday morning, Trump set off a firestorm by claiming he will be arrested in three days, while also calling on his followers to take to the streets to protest.

Trump wrote, in part: "NOW ILLEGAL LEAKS FROM A CORRUPT & HIGHLY POLITICAL MANHATTAN DISTRICT ATTORNEYS OFFICE, WHICH HAS ALLOWED NEW RECORDS TO BE SET IN VIOLENT CRIME & WHOSE LEADER IS FUNDED BY GEORGE SOROS, INDICATE THAT, WITH NO CRIME BEING ABLE TO BE PROVEN, & BASED ON AN OLD & FULLY DEBUNKED (BY NUMEROUS OTHER PROSECUTORS!) FAIRYTALE, THE FAR & AWAY LEADING REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE & FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, WILL BE ARRESTED ON TUESDAY OF NEXT WEEK. PROTEST, TAKE OUR NATION BACK!"
Republicans are trying to deny the history of black people by white washing history.

Story by Charisma Madarang

Studies Weekly, whose curriculum reaches 45,000 schools across the country, went to extreme lengths to cater to Ron DeSantis’ hellish vision of Florida. In an effort to protect its sales, the publisher removed references to race, including the history of Rosa Parks, from its social studies material, the New York Times reports.

The crude update follows a push by the Florida governor to place a widespread ban on the teaching of topics deemed related to Critical Race Theory (CRT), and the promotion of diversity, equity, and inclusion. Although a judge recently denied a request from Florida’s government to block an injunction against DeSantis’ “Stop-Woke” act in the state’s public colleges, DeSantis’ administration rejected dozens of math books—claiming some contained CRT. In January, Florida blocked the College Board from testing a pilot Advanced Placement African American Studies (APAAS).
Story by Michael Luciano

Kellyanne Conway, former senior counselor to former President Donald Trump said Trump’s son-in-law and adviser Jared Kushner raked in billions of dollars while serving in the administration. Conway sparred with fellow Fox News contributor Juan Williams on Thursday’s edition of The Story.

Earlier in the day, the House Oversight Committee released a memo stating that relatives of President Joe Biden received $1.3 million between 2015 and 2017 from an associate with ties to China when Biden was vice president and shortly after. Biden’s son, daughter-in-law, brother, and an unidentified member of the family received payments.

“It is unclear what services were provided to obtain this exorbitant amount of money,” said Chairman James Comer (R-KY). On The Story, Martha MacCallum recalled the investigations into Trump and whether his 2016 campaign colluded with Russia to get elected.

“There were massive investigations, millions of dollars spent, and always the question, you know, what are they getting in return?” MacCallum said. “So, do you have the same question for the Biden family when you look at this money transaction? What was China getting in return? Is that something Americans must know?” Williams said there is no evidence Biden himself received any money or that there was anything nefarious going on.
Story by A Dime Saved

Recently, Trump went on a rant on Truth Social, implying that the Constitution should be terminated. Republicans shot down the idea, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have plans of their own. Senior Republicans are reportedly working hard to rewrite the Constitution and call a constitutional convention.

Channeling the Founding Fathers
Insider published a report earlier this year revealing the lengths that Republicans are going to attempt to invoke Article V of the Constitution, which would lead to a convention of the state delegates, whose only real purpose was writing the Constitution in the first place.

In 2022, Nebraska, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Wisconsin joined with 15 other states in formally calling for a constitutional convention. Article V states that there needs to be approval from 34 states in order for the convention to successfully be formed.

“Show up at the town hall meeting. You don’t win this in one great land battle, it is a bunch of skirmishes,” former Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rick Santorum said at a meeting. Santorum is closely connected to Convention of States, which was founded by Mark Meckler.
Story by David Mack

Acommittee of Florida’s House voted on Tuesday to recommend moving forward with a controversial bill reforming defamation law that First Amendment advocates decried to the legislators as representing “a death knell for American traditions of free speech.” At a hearing at the Capitol in Tallahassee, the Civil Justice Subcommittee voted in favor of moving ahead with HB 991 despite fears that it could chill press freedoms and public debate. All 13 Republicans and one Democrat on the committee voted to advance the bill, while the four other Democrat members voted against it.

The bill’s author, Republican state Rep. Alex Andrade, told the committee that it would not change the legal elements of defamation, which require that a person falsely assert a fact — and not a mere opinion — that then causes harm to another person’s reputation. “As one of my favorite people to listen to, Ben Shapiro, always says, ‘Facts don't care about your feelings,’” Andrade told the committee. “You're entitled to your statements of opinion. You're entitled to your personal subjective viewpoints. This bill doesn't change that.”
Story by Lee Moran

MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Tuesday mocked the “comically preposterous” claim being pushed on the right that the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank was down to its “wokeness.” “Folks, we’ve got an outbreak of woke banks,” the “All In” anchor joked. Hayes aired a montage of conservative figures — including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Fox News personalities Tucker Carlson and Jesse Watters — trying to spin the blame on SVB’s downfall on President Joe Biden, liberals and diversity policies.
Story by Sky Palma

According to a report from CNN, red states like Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, Missouri, and others are launching a new front in their quest to seize authority over local prosecutors and policing policies. “If left unchecked, local jurisdictions in states with conservative legislatures whose political majority does not match their own may find themselves subject to commandeering on an unprecedented scale,” the Legal Defense Fund's Janai Nelson tells CNN.

Red states want to override the decisions of blue cities on issues such as minimum wage, environmental regulations, mask mandates, and criminal justice reform. Marissa Roy of the Local Solutions Support Center says a lot of the criminal justice reform preemption "is in direct response to the Black Lives Matter movement."

"Many of the red state moves to preempt local district attorneys have targeted the so-called 'progressive prosecutors' elected in many large cities over recent years," writes CNN. "But there is also an unmistakable racial dimension to these confrontations: In many instances, state-level Republicans elected primarily with the support of White, non-urban voters are looking to seize power from, or remove from office, Black or Hispanic local officials elected by largely non-White urban and suburban voters."
Opinion by Chauncey DeVega

America is not mired in a culture war. In reality, today's Republican Party and larger "conservative" movement are waging a fascist war against multiracial pluralist democracy and human freedom. Ultimately, to not understand how the so-called culture war is actually a fascist war against American democracy is to almost ensure being rolled over by those evil forces.

Many political observers point to Pat Buchanan's infamous 1992 speech at the GOP national convention as the beginning of the so-called culture war in America. However, the roots of this fascist and authoritarian campaign are much older: Jim and Jane Crow and white-on-black chattel slavery, genocide against First Nations peoples and white settler colonialism are America's native forms of fascism. When located in the proper historical context, neofascism and the Age of Trump are properly understood as being but the most current manifestation of much older birth defects in American democracy and society.

The fascist project is fundamentally a cultural project. In a very important recent essay in the Guardian, Yale University philosophy professor Jason Stanley highlights how the Republican fascist thought crime laws in Florida and other parts of the country targeting the teaching of African-American history (and the country's real history more generally) are examples of a much larger Orwellian project:
Story by Alex Henderson

During former President Donald Trump's four years in the White House, most Republicans didn't have a lot to say about the United States' federal deficit. But after President Joe Biden was inaugurated in January 2021, liberal economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman predicted that the GOP would magically rediscover fiscal conservatism. Sure enough, many Republicans have attacked Biden as a tax-and-spend Democrat, overlooking the effect that the GOP-sponsored Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 — a major tax cut for the wealthy and large corporations — had on the federal deficit.

Critics of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act have argued that while it dramatically reduced corporate taxes and made the rich richer, it didn't help the middle class — and that in some states, it became, in effect, a tax hike for the middle class by taking away various deductions that middle class taxpayers had been relying on.

One of Biden's Republican critics has been Grover Norquist, the 66-year-old founder of Americans for Tax Reform. Journalist Michael Tomasky examines Norquist's influence on GOP tax policy in an article published by The New Republic on March 13, emphasizing that he has been a key contributor to higher federal deficits in the U.S.
Story by Nicole Silverio

Axios journalist Ben Montgomery sent an angry email responding to the Florida Department of Education’s press release on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in higher education. Montgomery received the press release from Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ office, which reviewed details from the governor’s roundtable on the “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Scam in Higher Education.” Alex Lanfranconi, the education department’s communications director, posted a screenshot of Montgomery’s emailed response. “This is propaganda, not a press release,” Montgomery wrote.
Story by Mary Papenfuss

Anderson Cooper slammed Donald Trump's former senior campaign legal adviser Colorado attorney Jenna Ellis on Friday for completely contradicting within hours her own admission that she had lied when she claimed the 2020 election was rigged. The segment on his CNN program "360" was entitled: "When Liars Lie About Lying." Cooper played a clip of a disgusted Ellis baselessly insisting the vote was rigged — the kind of statement she completely disavowed this week — or not.

Ellis, who had helped Trump challenge election results, was censured on Wednesday by a Colorado judge after she admitted under oath in state bar disciplinary proceedings that she had violated multiple professional rules when she misrepresented facts about the election. A watchdog tallied 10 cases of "misrepresentation." In an agreement with legal authorities, Ellis reportedly accepted that she had “through her conduct, undermined the American public’s confidence in the presidential election, violating her duty of candor to the public.”

Ellis even signed a legal acknowledgment that “she made a number of public statements about the November 2020 presidential election that were false” and did so with a “reckless state of mind” and with “a selfish motive,” according to documents released by Colorado’s Office of Attorney Regulation Counsel.
Story by Alex Henderson

In Ohio, two well-known Republicans — Larry Householder, former speaker for the Ohio House of Representatives, and ex-Ohio Republican Party Chairman Matt Borges — have been facing federal corruption charges in connection with a $60 million bribery scheme. And on Thursday, March 9, a jury in Cincinnati found both of them guilty.

According to CBS News, the jury found Householder and Borges "guilty of conspiracy to participate in a racketeering enterprise involving bribery and money laundering, after about 9.5 half hours of deliberations over two days."

After the verdict was handed down, Kenneth Parker — a federal prosecutor in the case — told reporters, "(Larry) Householder sold the Statehouse, and thus, he ultimately betrayed the people of the great state of Ohio he was elected to serve…. Through its verdict today, the jury reaffirmed that the illegal acts committed by both men will not be tolerated and that they should be held accountable."
Story by David Moye

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) called out the hypocrisy of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) during a Judiciary subcommittee meeting Thursday. Earlier this week, Jordan, who is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a series of subpoenas as part of an ongoing investigation into what the GOP contends is the mistreatment of parents who protested “woke” school board policies. He also issued three subpoenas for testimony connected to the Department of Homeland Security’s now-disbanded Disinformation Governance Board.

While discussing subpoena compliance in the Subcommittee on Responsiveness and Accountability To Oversight meeting, Swalwell noted to subcommittee Chair Ben Cline (R-Va.) that he found Jordan’s views of subpoenas “quite rich,” considering the Ohio Republican seems to take the “rules for thee, not for me” approach. “I think that it is quite rich that we are talking about subpoena compliance under a chairman of the full committee who was absolutely out of subpoena compliance in the last Congress,” Swalwell said, noting that Jordan refused to cooperate with subpoenas from the Jan. 6 committee.
Opinion by Hayes Brown

Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, has a lot on his plate. His job as chair of the Judiciary Committee positions him atop one of the primary forums for sparring with the Biden administration. But his side hustle chairing a subcommittee focused on the “weaponization of the federal government” is giving him all kinds of grief lately.

The goal of the subcommittee is to deliver on one of the biggest promises Republicans made during last year’s elections: producing proof that conservatives are victims of a vast federal plot to suppress their freedoms. Unfortunately for Jordan, everything about this farce is designed to work against him. It’s only a matter of time before the whole thing implodes — with Jordan caught squarely in the fallout.

Let’s take a look at the several ways that Jordan and the committee are poised to fail. First, there’s how much he and other members of the pro-Trump wing have invested in the grievances and conspiracy-mongering that animates the GOP base these days. Many of these tales of federal malfeasance follow a simple formula. A legitimate investigation or policy (such as the investigations into former President Donald Trump or Justice Department concerns about threats toward teachers and school board members) is recycled and spun in conservative media into another strand in the left-wing’s web of oppression.
Republicans attack BLM, CRT, the woke and LGBT but defend white supremacy and white hate groups.

Story by David Badash, The New Civil Rights Movement

All 26 Republicans on the powerful House Oversight Committee have refused to sign a simple, two-sentence statement denouncing white supremacy. "We, Members of the Committee on Oversight and Accountability, together denounce white nationalism and white supremacy in all its forms, including the 'Great Replacement' conspiracy theory. These hateful and dangerous ideologies have no place in the work of the United States Congress or our Committee," the statement (copy below) from Ranking Member Jamie Raskin (D-MD) reads.

It comes after several Oversight Committee Republicans "invoked dangerous and conspiratorial rhetoric echoing the racist and nativist tropes peddled by white supremacists and right-wing extremists," during a February hearing on the "border crisis," Ranking Member Raskin said in a March 5 letter to Committee Chair James Comer (photo, top.) The Washington Post first reported on Raskin’s letter.

"In particular, some Members repeatedly described the number of migrants arriving at the border as an 'invasion,' and even went so far as to falsely accuse the Biden-Harris Administration of implementing a plan 'to deliberately open our border' for purposes of 'changing our culture'—mirroring language often used by MAGA extremists who believe that pro-immigration policies are designed to replace white populations with non-white immigrants and other racial minorities," Raskin's letter says.
Opinion by INTO

In 2006, a Yemeni citizen named Mansoor Adayfi was detained at Guantánamo Bay without cause. “Torture was the mechanism of Guantánamo,” Adayfi told Mike Prysner on the Eyes Left podcast in November. “Torture, abuse, and experimenting on prisoners. We went on a massive hunger strike in 2005. And there was force-feeding. It was torture.”

According to Adayfi, the ringleader of the tormentors at Guantánamo during the Bush years was one Ron DeSantis, current governor of Florida. “I saw a f*cking handsome person come in,” Adayfi continues in a transcript of the conversation in the most recent issue of Harpers, “and he said, “I’m here to ensure that you are treated humanely.” In fact, the opposite was true.
Story by Alex Henderson

Gov. Ron DeSantis and his MAGA Republican allies in the Florida State Legislature have made no secret of their disdain for the mainstream media. During a roundtable discussion that he hosted in February, DeSantis argued that it should be easier to sue journalists for defamation. And a Republican ally, Florida State Rep. Alex Andrade, later proposed a bill that would do exactly that: Florida House Bill 951.

Andrade's bill would be a blatant violation of New York Times v. Sullivan, the landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court decision that set a tough standard for proving defamation. Under Sullivan, defamation must involve "actual malice," which is very difficult to prove. Dominion Voting Systems is trying to show "actual malice" in its $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit against right-wing Fox News, and ironically, the voting technology company would have an easier time proving its case if the High Court overturned Sullivan and agreed with Andrade's bill. Andrade and DeSantis believe that Sullivan was wrongly decided.
Opinion by Ian Millhiser

Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis wants to eliminate the First Amendment safeguards that prevent lawsuits seeking to strong-arm the press into silence. He’s been very clear about this goal: In February, DeSantis led a roundtable discussion brainstorming ideas to weaken the press’s First Amendment protections. Flanked by a panel dominated by defamation plaintiffs and lawyers, the Orbánesque governor attacked the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in New York Times v. Sullivan (1964) for, in his words, empowering a media that will “find a way to smear you.”

Sullivan was a historic decision establishing that the government (and, in many cases, private litigants) may not censor the media, political advocates, and the public at large through defamation suits intended to shut down dissenting voices. The case arose out of a Jim Crow-era official’s attempt to silence civil rights protesters. It established that someone accused of making false claims about a public figure regarding a matter of public concern may not be held liable for defamation, unless the statement was made “with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.”
Story by Sarah K. Burris

Former FBI agent Asha Rangappa is posting excerpts of a report about Rep. Jim Jordan's (R-OH) so-called "FBI whistleblowers" from the alleging "deep state" conspiracies at the FBI. A report this week from The New York Timesrevealed that the three "aggrieved former FBI officials who have trafficked in right-wing conspiracy theories, including the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the Capitol and received financial support from a top ally of former President Donald J. Trump." As part of his ongoing effort to bring down Joe Biden's government, Merrick Garland's Justice Department and the FBI itself, Jordan is running the committee on the "weaponization of government."

"The Committee has now heard from three of these so-called whistleblowers," the report says. "George Hill, a retired FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst from the FBI's Boston Field Office; Garret O'Boyle, a suspended FBI special agent from the Wichita Resident Agency in Kansas; and Stephen Friend, a former special agent with the FBI's Daytona Beach Resident Agency. None of these witnesses has provided evidence of misconduct by the FBI, the Department of Justice, or any other public official. Each offered a wide range of personal opinions, but to the extent that they testified about matters to which they claim to have firsthand knowledge at all, none showed any evidence of wrongdoing."

Instead, the report implies that they're merely former employees with an axe to grind and being paid to serve as Jordan's "whistleblowers." The report also says that the men have also been "directly connected to a network of extreme MAGA Republican operatives including former Trump administration officials Kash Patel, Russell Vought, and Mark Meadows, who have incentive to promote these witnesses and their meritless claims..."
Story by Cami Mondeaux

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is facing an ethics complaint filed by a nonprofit watchdog group that accuses the GOP leader of being politically motivated in his release of security camera footage of the Jan. 6 riot to Fox News host Tucker Carlson.

Members of Public Citizen filed a complaint against McCarthy on Tuesday, requesting that the Office of Congressional Ethics investigate the speaker over whether he violated House rules. The request comes one day after Carlson began releasing portions of the footage on his prime-time show, prompting concerns among other news outlets he would “advocate an inaccurate story of events.”

“The Speaker’s release of security footage exclusively to Tucker Carlson is pure and simple using congressional resources for partisan gamesmanship — the very type of polarizing gamesmanship that has caused such damage to the public’s perception of the integrity of Congress,” the group wrote in its letter.

McCarthy’s decision to give Carlson the footage came in response to demands from Republican lawmakers who pushed the party leader for weeks to release the video. McCarthy has repeatedly defended his decision to share the footage with Carlson, arguing the release was important to ensure a transparent investigation into the Capitol riot.

Tennessee is the first state to ban drag performances on public property, as Republicans use government power to attack free speech and expression. MSNBC chief legal correspondent Ari Melber dissects the First Amendment implications of selective government bans on expression in this report. (This is an excerpt of the full discussion that aired on MSNBC).
Story by Tom Boggioni

Weeks after creating an uproar at President Joe Biden's State of the Union address where he accused them of want to cut Social Security, Republicans are doing just that. According to a report from the Daily Beast's Ursula Perano, the booing and jeering of Biden had hardly faded before Republican members of Congress began proposing increasing the target age for taking advantage of Social Security benefits from 67 to 70.

That has set off new "alarm bells" after the furor had died down. The report notes that Democrats are listening to what Republicans are pitching with Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) claiming the talks are "very preliminary" and so far just a "problem solving discussion."
Story by David Edwards

Colin H. Kahl, under secretary of Defense, called out Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) for using "propaganda" from China to question him at a House Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. As Gaetz demanded details of U.S. aid to Ukraine, the Florida congressman pointed to a "Global Times investigative report that talks about training" of Ukraine soldiers by the U.S. "Any reason to disagree with that assessment?" Gaetz asked. "I'm sorry, is this the Global Times from China?" Kahl wondered. "No, this is — well, yeah, it might be," Gaetz confirmed.
The party of hypocrites is at it again, Republicans accuses the Democrats of weaponization of the government but give Trump a pass on his weaponization of the government.

Story by David Edwards

Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) called out House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-OH) because he had no plans to investigate abuses at the Justice Department during the Trump administration. At an Oversight hearing on Tuesday, Democrats argued that a rules package offered by Republicans was "cut and pasted" from the "right-wing echo chamber" and that it was full of "racist tropes."

"I've been concerned about the weaponization of the federal government program," Cohen said. "And I think it was pretty clear during the previous administration, [former Trump attorney] Michael Cohen went to jail for doing what Donald Trump asked him to do. Donald Trump was called Individual 1. He didn't go to jail. He didn't even go to jail when the administration changed, and Merrick Garland came in."

Cohen recalled that Trump's former attorney was forced to return to jail when he tried to write a book about the ordeal. "It's come out; it was the Justice Department that did that," he continued. "Could we go, Mr. Chair, back into those issues and look at the weaponization that occurred during the Trump [administration], particularly that Michael Cohen incident?
Story by Matthew Chapman

Anewly-elected Republican congressman has admitted to misrepresenting his college major during his congressional campaign, The Washington Post reported Monday. "Rep. Andrew Ogles (R-Tenn.), who is facing allegations of embellishing his résumé, acknowledged Monday that he misstated the degree he received from Middle Tennessee State University, claiming he learned of the discrepancy only last week after requesting an official copy of his transcript," the Post reports.

"Ogles said he mistakenly stated that he received a degree in international relations. In a statement Monday, he said his degree was for liberal studies. That is a general education degree typically for those who cannot settle on a major." “At the time it was my understanding I had completed my course of study in Political Science and International Relations,” Ogles said. Ogles was elected last year to a Nashville-based seat once held by longtime Democratic Rep. Steve Cohen, who retired after Republicans in the Tennessee legislature aggressively gerrymandered the district.
Republicans 'Weaponized the government while blaming the Democrats for 'Weaponization of the government.

Story by Matthew Chapman

House Republicans are using their new majority to try to strip various civil service protections from government workers and target individual officials and employees in retribution for policies they don't like — and it's drawing increasing outrage from their fellow lawmakers, reported The Washington Post on Monday.

"In recent weeks, House Republicans have passed legislation requiring federal employees to return to the office, arguing that pandemic rules have bled into a permanent state that diminishes productivity," reported Lisa Rein and Jacqueline Alemany. "Lawmakers have voted to rescind $80 billion for the cash-starved IRS to hire 87,000 employees in customer service, technology and audit roles to increase tax compliance of those earning more than $400,000 — claiming the extra staff will unfairly target taxpayers. They’ve allowed House members to reduce or eliminate federal agency programs or slash the salaries of individual employees on a quick vote."

All of this comes as Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), who now chairs the Judiciary Committee, has sent a wave of subpoenas to agency heads without even asking for their voluntary cooperation first. President Joe Biden, for his part, is almost certain to veto all these bills, and his administration "has signaled that it won’t cooperate with GOP efforts to involve career employees in the hearings."
Story by Nick Reynolds

With Republicans and Democrats at the state and federal level pushing bills designed to protect young people from accessing obscene or harmful content on the internet, Big Tech companies are facing a reckoning over child safety. However, some are concerned the very same measures lawmakers are pushing to protect children could erode people's right to privacy and put those they seek to protect at even greater risk of cybercrimes.

Earlier this year, a new law in Louisiana went into effect requiring internet users in the state to provide government identification to prove they're at least 18 years or older before being able to access websites containing pornographic material. Meanwhile, a similar proposal filed by Arizona Republicans this week seeks to go even further, with language so broad critics claim it could ban minors from accessing streaming services like Hulu or Netflix, the Arizona Mirror reported Tuesday.

And as lawmakers pursue broader online safety legislation in Congress, figures like Senator Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, have introduced bills barring anyone under the age of 16 from signing up for social media accounts on Instagram or TikTok amid growing concern over social media's impacts on children's mental health.
It is not small government or good government when the GOP is forcing companies to do business the way the GOP wants. The GOP wants a nanny State in which they control what people and business do.

Story by Justin Baragona

Issuing an unvarnished threat to DirecTV on Friday, House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-KY) claimed he told the pay-TV provider to quickly bring pro-Trump channel Newsmax back to its lineup—“or else.” Comer’s unsubtle attempt at government interference comes less than a month after he promised to investigate DirecTV for dropping the conservative network last month. While Newsmax and its Republican allies have relentlessly accused the satellite carrier of “political discrimination” by “censoring” right-wing speech, DirecTV has said the channel is peddling “false claims” over a standard business dispute stemming from Newsmax’s demands for increased license fees.

“I’m very concerned,” Comer said Friday on Newsmax’s John Bachman Now. “I’m very upset that DirecTV does not have Newsmax on there. I’ve been in constant communication with the leadership at AT&T and DirecTV. I have strongly encouraged them to meet with your CEO, Mr. [Chris] Ruddy, to get this worked out or else!” Saying his GOP colleagues on the House Oversight Committee are “very passionate” about the situation, Comer wondered if DirecTV and AT&T executives “really want to go in front of” his committee considering how Republicans have treated witnesses in recent hearings. “We’re all huge fans of Newsmax,” Comer declared. “We don’t like to see Newsmax not being offered on DirecTV, especially considering Newsmax is the, I think, the fourth highest-rated news show on TV now.”
Some on the right claim to be patriots but are really Anti-American and Pro-Putin.

Story by Alex Griffing


Tucker Carlson had controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) on his program Thursday night, not to discuss her plans for a “national divorce,” but to lay into “the idiots” in Congress “leading us into World War III” by supporting Ukraine. Greene sparked fury online as she described the conflict as “this war against Russia in Ukraine” – seemingly casting Russia as the victim and not the sole aggressor in the devastating conflict.

Carlson began the segment by slamming Republican leaders like Sens. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) who support military aid to Ukraine. “Of course, only a very tiny number of Republicans voted to stop this insanity before it destroys the economy of the United States and triggers World War III,” Carlson said, referring to a recent vote on additional aid. “And they’ve been punished for it. And a lot of Republicans care because on MSNBC, if you’re against World War III, you’re an agent of Putin. Watch,” Carlson said before rolling a clip of MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace.

“The point is Marjorie Taylor Greene and Vladimir Putin, and too often than I think anyone would like to acknowledge, Tucker Carlson, are all on the same page,” Wallace concluded in the clip after listing the GOP House members who voted against the aid.
The right is showing you why the founding fathers believed in separation of Church and State.

Story by LGBTQNation

AFlorida Republican introduced a bill that would make it easier for religious people to sue those who call them out as homophobic or transphobic, a bill built on a suggestion from Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). State Rep. Alex Andrade (R) filed H.B. 991 on Tuesday. The bill would make it easier to sue journalists, publications, or social media users for defamation if they accuse someone of racism, sexism, homophobia, or transphobia. The bill specifically says that publications can’t use truth as a defense when it comes to reporting on people’s anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments by citing the person’s “constitutionally protected religious expression or beliefs” or “a plaintiff’s scientific beliefs.” Tucker Carlson, Matt Walsh, Steven Crowder, and more all agree that mass shootings are a reasonable response to non-existent “child genital mutilation.”
Opinion by James Downie

Have you heard about the Republican representative accused of an embellished biography? No, not George Santos, who lied about graduating from Baruch, working on Wall Street and lending his campaign hundreds of thousands of dollars. No, not Anna Paulina Luna, whose friends and extended family dispute her accounts of past traumas, including an alleged “home invasion” and an impoverished childhood. No, the one who, according to a local television station, falsely claimed to be “an economist, a nationally recognized expert in tax policy and health care, a trained police officer, even an expert in international sex crimes.”

That would be Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., who in recent weeks became the third of the 40 members in the House GOP’s freshman class to face questions about their biographies. Nashville’s WTVF has uncovered multiple misrepresentations from Ogles that rival the better known fabrications of Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y. On several occasions, including his first hearing on the House Financial Services Committee, Ogles referred to himself as an economist, even though he had no academic or job training in the discipline. His closest claim to expertise was working as a lobbyist and staffer for two conservative groups, though there’s no evidence he produced any economic research.
Story by Candice Ortiz

Fresh off her widely-panned tweet calling for a “national divorce,” Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is proposing a temporary voting ban on Democrats who move to red states. Tuesday, she appeared on The Charlie Kirk Show to elaborate on her idea and explain how she would keep red and blue states separated. A clip from their conversation began to circulate on Twitter via Jason Campbell.

“A national divorce is not a civil war. It’s actually separating by red states and blue states and making state rights and state power a lot stronger than it is right now,” Greene said. “It would be shrinking the federal government, for example, we can take education. Well, if we have a national divorce, there’s no need for the Department of Education. Red states and Blue States would be in control of the education in each state,” she explained. Greene also tweeted out her proposal in a lengthy thread.
Story by sbaker@businessinsider.com (Sinéad Baker)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended her position that the US should be split up into separate "red" and "blue" states by saying another civil war is looming. The far-right Republican appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, where host Sean Hannity questioned her about her position, and how division in the US could be healed without a split. Greene responded by saying that she doesn't want a civil war, but that the country was moving towards one and action needs to be taken.

"The last thing I ever want to see in America is a civil war. No one wants that — at least everyone I know would never want that — but it's going that direction, and we have to do something about it," she said. Greene also claimed that everyone she talks to is "sick and tired and fed up with being bullied by the left, abused by the left, and disrespected by the left." "Our ideas, our policies and our ways of life have become so far apart that it's just coming to that point," she added.
Republican attacks on Woke, CRT, black history, LGBT and banning books are an all-out assault on the 1st amendment and free speech.

Story by Ray Hartmann

One of the most inspiring baseball stories ever told might not be suitable for Florida public school libraries under the rule of Gov. Ron DeSantis. The book, “Roberto Clemente: Pride of the Pittsburgh Pirates,” is among the more than 1 million titles that “have been covered or stored and paused for student use” in Florida, NBC News reported. The freeze follows the Florida “Stop W.O.K.E. Act” that DeSantis signed in 2022.

The book about Clemente’s life by Jonah Winter and Raul Colon is not alone. Other books about Latino figures, such as U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor and the late Afro-Cuban salsa single Celia Cruz, have the same frozen status, NBC reported. Clemente, an Afro-Puerto Rican widely regarded as among the top tier of all-time baseball greats, died at the age of 38 in 1972, when his plane crashed off the coast of Puerto Rico as he was delivering relief supplies to earthquake victims in Nicaragua.

CNN's Abby Phillip and a panel of journalists discuss Republican-led hearings in Congress investigating Twitter
Story by Michael Luciano

The White House quote-tweeted a Fox News story saying the White House “tripled down” on President Joe Biden’s “false claim” about Social Security, and posted audio of Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) calling for the program to be privatized. The White House released a statement on Thursday morning repeating Biden’s remarks in the State of the Union address that “some Republicans” want to cut Social Security.

Last month, the leader of the 160-member House Republican Study Committee, which endorsed raising the retirement age for Social Security, didn’t rule out that possibility. “We have no choice but to make hard decisions,” said Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK). “Everybody has to look at everything.” The Fox News story seized on a line in the White House’s statement. “For years, Republican Members of Congress have repeatedly tried to cut Medicare and Social Security, move toward privatizing one or both programs, and raise the Social Security retirement age and Medicare eligibility age,” it read.
Are Republicans stupid 14 years olds cannot drive, cannot vote, cannot drive but can carry guns? Instead of kids fighting, they be shooting each other?

Story by Graeme Massie

Missouri’s Republican-controlled state House has voted against banning children from openly carrying guns on public land without adult supervision. The proposal was defeated by a vote of 104-39, with only one Republican voting to support the ban. The measure was part of a long debate in the House about ways to combat crime, particularly in the St Louis area of the state. In 2017 lawmakers in the state allowed people to carry concealed firearms in most places without first obtaining a permit.
Once again, republicans caught lying to the American people.

Story by Jim Newell

In early 2022, Florida Sen. Rick Scott, the chair of the Republican Senate campaign arm, released what he called an “11 Point Plan to Save America.” One year later, one specific dim element of that plan—a proposal that all laws, including Social Security and Medicare, would expire in five years unless reapproved—is still coming back to haunt Republicans. The threat to two of the nation’s most beloved social programs was the backdrop of the most dramatic moment of President Biden’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. And as much as Scott may protest—or perhaps because of it—Democrats won’t be dropping the attack anytime soon.

In the portion of his speech on the need to raise the debt limit, Biden said that “some of my Republican friends want to take the economy hostage unless I agree to their economic plans.” Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who had given his own remarks on the debt limit the day before to pre-but the attacks he knew would come, gave one of his many solemnly disappointed shakes of the head.

“Some Republicans want Social Security and Medicare to sunset,” Biden said, before being cut off by loud Republican jeering, punched up with individual shouts from the likes of Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who pointed at the president yelling “liar!” The scene was chaotic enough that Biden had to veer off-script and engage in a live policy dialogue with his detractors. That’s unusual, and thrilling for what’s otherwise become a stale tradition. He clarified, almost apologetically, that he wasn’t talking about all Republicans. And when some shouted at him to name these Republicans who wanted Social Security and Medicare to expire, Biden demurred. “I’m politely not naming them,” he said, “but it’s being proposed by some.”
Story by Benjamin Lindsay

Tuesday night's State of the Union Address from President Joe Biden at times turned into a rousing. colosseum-like event with cheers, applause and regular standing ovations from the Democrats - and jeers, boos and shouts of "liar!" from the Republican sector. Covering the overnight news Wednesday, "Morning Joe" replayed several instances where Biden was discussing the debt ceiling, social security and medicare, and how "nearly 25% for the entire national debt that took over 200 years to accumulate was added by just one administration alone" - Trump. Such statements of fact were met with boos from many Republicans, including Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, who can be seen in her white fur standing yelling "liar" across the House floor. "They're the facts, check it out," Biden responded. "Check it out."
The right is a bunch of hypocrites, whiners, crybabies and snowflakes they complain about censorship while the censor anything or anyone they do not like. They ban books, censor CRT, black history, LGBT and the woke.

Story by Rodric Hurdle-Bradford

While Twitter was the preferred social media platform for former President Donald Trump, the entire Republican party's discontent with Twitter posts was tracked in a database Twitter kept of GOP requests to remove posts, according to a new Rolling Stone report. The discovery of this detailed list is contrary to the partisan point-of-view that new Twitter owner Elon Musk has been sharing, as he has strategically been dialed-in on communicating Twitter post removal and content challenges from Democrats. At no time has Musk revealed the listing of GOP post removal requests.

The finding comes as part of Wednesday's House Oversight Committee hearing on Twitter and its alliances with both political parties, including suppressing content to benefit either Democratic or Republican messaging. According to the story in Rolling Stone, the requests not only came from the staffs of both then-President Trump and current President Joe Biden, but also from the staffs of high-profile members of Congress, including Republican Representatives Kevin McCarthy (California) and Elise Stefanik (New York). The requests include reinstating banned right-wing personalities.
Story by Kaitlyn Kennedy

Washington DC - House Republicans on Wednesday summoned former Twitter executives to testify on the alleged suppression of rightwing voices on the platform, but what they actually heard turned out to be quite the opposite. GOP representatives called the House Oversight and Accountability Committee hearing to look into Twitter's decision to block a New York Post article about Hunter Biden's alleged activities in Ukraine during the 2020 presidential election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump.

The chair of the committee, Republican James Comer of Kentucky, claimed during the hearing, "Twitter aggressively suppressed conservative elected officials, journalists, and activists." Republicans also accused Twitter and the federal government of secret collusion to suppress the story about evidence of allegedly compromising business dealings found on Hunter Biden's laptop. Though Twitter has long admitted it made a mistake in blocking the article, accusations of US government involvement in the decision were debunked at the hearing.
Story by Sarah K. Burris

Former Democratic strategist and infamous southerner bashed Republicans for their behavior during the State of the Union Address on Tuesday calling them "white trash." "Well, you know, I told people I have a PhD in white trashology, you saw real white trash on display," said Carville speaking to MSNBC's Ari Melber. "Let me say something about congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), she dresses like white trash. She really needs a fashion consultant. I recommend George Santos. He could do a good job of dressing up where she doesn't announce her white trashdom by her own clothes."

Greene was attempting to dress like a white balloon but that appeared to be lost on most Americans who don't follow her on Twitter. The bash by Carville is reminiscent of conservative Matt Lewis who wrote in the Daily Beast that Trump would never have Greene as his VP because she was too "low rent" for his high style. Republicans who spoke to Raw Story were displeased with Greene's behavior at the speech.

"First of all, their lust for cutting Social Security and Medicare is well documented," Carville said about the GOP. "Newt Gingrich shut the government down and got defeated in the end. We know that George W. Bush tried to privatize Social Security and Medicare. we know when Paul Ryan was Speaker and John Boehner — they did everything they could to cut Social Security and Medicare. We know that that is their objective."
Story by Michael Luciano

After demanding the FBI search properties President Joe Biden has access to in order to search for classified documents, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) said there is no need to do the same to former Vice President Mike Pence. Cruz also called on the FBI to search the home and business of the president’s son Hunter Biden.

On Tuesday, CNN reported classified material had been found at Pence’s home in Indiana. The revelation came as Biden is dealing with backlash from his own mishandling of classified material at multiple locations, including his home. The material dates from Biden’s time as vice president and senator. Appearing on Tuesday’s installment of Kudlow on Fox Business, Cruz called for the FBI to search the home and offices of Biden’s son, as well as the University of Delaware’s archives. He suggested the bureau may find evidence of corrupt business dealings by the Biden family:
Story by Kelly Jones

On Jan. 10, U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) introduced a bill, called the FairTax Act, that proposed major changes to the U.S. federal tax system. But people on social media say the bill’s proposed 30% national sales tax, also referred to as a “consumption tax,” would be detrimental to the middle class and would abolish the IRS. Google Trends data shows people were searching for what the consumption tax would do. VERIFY viewer Michael emailed us asking whether a national sales tax bill has really been proposed.

THE QUESTION
Did House Republicans introduce a bill to create a national sales tax and eliminate the need for the IRS?

THE ANSWER
Yes, House Republicans introduced a bill to create a national sales tax that they think would eliminate the need for the IRS. The FairTax Act of 2023 was introduced in the House on Jan. 9 by Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.). If passed, it would repeal all federal taxes, including the federal income tax, abolish the Internal Revenue Service and enact a national sales tax. The bill says federal income taxes, payroll taxes, as well as estate and gift taxes would be repealed. It would also eliminate taxes on corporate income and capital gains. In place of those taxes, a 23% national sales tax would be collected.
Another Republican lie debunked tax cuts do not pay for themselves. The reasons Republicans give tax cuts is to help the rich (the 1%) and to force cuts to programs that help Americans (99%) like Social Security, Medicare.

Story by Alex Henderson

Over the years, one of the GOP’s favorite economic talking points has been that “tax cuts pay for themselves.” The argument is that when the wealthy are given tax cuts, they create new jobs and stimulate growth — and the growth makes up for a decrease in tax revenue. That argument was used when Republicans passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 during Donald Trump’s presidency. But Washington Post opinion writer Catherine Rampell, in her recent column, argues that some House Republicans have unintentionally “admitted” that “tax cuts don’t pay for themselves.”

“The House rules package recently passed by the newly GOP-controlled House included some notable, occasionally troubling things,” Rampell explains. “For example, one set of measures would kneecap congressional ethics probes. Another provision would make it harder to swiftly raise the debt ceiling. But also tucked into the rules package, and attracting somewhat less attention, was a change to how lawmakers treat changes to tax law.”
The party of hypocrites is at it again.

Watch: Republicans face criticism for ignoring 'very valid reason' for Trump and Biden to be treated differently
Eric Dolan

A political analyst suggested Monday on CNN that Republicans were acting hypocritically by vowing to investigate President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents after defending former President Donald Trump. Secret documents have been found both at an office Biden used after he ended his service as Barack Obama's vice president in 2017 and in the garage of his Delaware home. Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the chairman of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, has demanded to see visitor logs for Biden's home.

“Congressman Comer himself never asked for the visitor logs from Mar-a-Lago while he's asked for the visiting logs for President Biden’s Delaware home, and a lot of Republicans -- including Representative Comer and Speaker Kevin McCarthy -- all rallied behind former President Trump,” noted Laura Barrón-López, the White House correspondent for PBS NewsHour. She noted that Republicans are planning to investigate the FBI, arguing that the agency has been “weaponized because of the fact that they conducted that search of Mar-a-Lago.
The party of hypocrites is at it again.

Ron Johnson snaps at Chuck Todd for asking why he's not investigating Jared Kushner's foreign money
Tom Boggioni

A "Meet the Press " interview with Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) turned combative on Sunday morning after the Republican lawmaker isn't calling for an investigation into the money former White House adviser Jared Kushner is raking in from the Middle East. Sitting down with host Chuck Todd, Johnson was asked why he is so interested in the foreign business dealings of Hunter Biden, son of President Joe Biden while turning a blind eye to the billions the husband of Ivanka Trump received from Qatar when he was still working for Donald Trump.

That, in turn, led Johnson to launch a diatribe against the NBC host and complain about how he is treated when he is invited to appear. "Were you at all concerned -- your Senate Democrats want to investigate Jared Kushner's loan from the Qatari government when he was working in the government, negotiating many things in the Middle East? Are you not concerned about that?" Todd prompted.
Story by Tiffany Muller

Kevin McCarthy's fight to become speaker of the House of Representatives was full of drama, name-calling, and major internal disagreements about how Congress should be run. While the full details of everything McCarthy capitulated on are not yet known, there's one issue no Republican seemed to have any problems with: weakening a key office that oversees the ethical behavior of members of Congress and their staffs. The rules package passed on Monday night has two key provisions that good government advocates fear will significantly weaken the little-known Office of Congressional Ethics, a stand-alone oversight body separate from the member-run House Ethics Committee.

Pledging to take on a "culture of corruption," House Democrats created the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) in 2008, following a series of Republican scandals that led the majority leader to resign in disgrace, members of Congress to be indicted and eventually plead guilty to corruption charges. Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff exposed the world to how badly the system had been corrupted by corporate lobbyists and big money.
Story by Amanda Marcotte

Tradition dictates that the political party in charge of Congress signals its priorities to the American people in the very first bills it passes after convening. After the "blue wave" of 2018, the Democrats gained control of the House and immediately passed the For the People Act, meant to protect voting rights. In 2021, with a narrower majority, Democrats passed the bill again. Sadly, both times the legislation collapsed in the Senate, a victim of the filibuster and the GOP's sweeping rejection of voting rights. Still, the message was sent and received: Democrats believe in extending and safeguarding the right to vote, unlike other parties that back a certain fascist-flavored, orange-hued pseudo-billionaire.

After last week's protracted and frankly hilarious intra-GOP battle over the speakership, Republicans got straight to work passing their first big messaging bill: Allowing rich tax cheats to evade legal consequences for defrauding the government. The bill would rescind an $8 billion-a-year expansion of the IRS budget that was signed into law by President Biden last year. That money is meant to address numerous issues, such as improving customer service (which everyone ought to want), but Republicans haven't tried to hide what truly offends them her: Money earmarked for pursuing criminal prosecutions of wealthy tax evaders.
Opinion by Zeeshan Aleem

After a bruising battle over the speakership, House Republicans kicked off their legislative agenda on Monday. It was a farce. The GOP’s first policy bill would defund President Joe Biden’s efforts to help the Internal Revenue Service crack down on tax cheats. It’s a bill that’s predicated on disinformation, whose only real constituency is wealthy people who don’t want to pay their fair share. And it underscores how the Republican Party’s so-called populism isn’t about empowering the working class — it’s about exploiting them.

After a bruising battle over the speakership, House Republicans kicked off their legislative agenda on Monday. It was a farce. The GOP’s first policy bill would defund President Joe Biden’s efforts to help the Internal Revenue Service crack down on tax cheats. It’s a bill that’s predicated on disinformation, whose only real constituency is wealthy people who don’t want to pay their fair share. And it underscores how the Republican Party’s so-called populism isn’t about empowering the working class — it’s about exploiting them.

This narrative is a work of fiction. In reality, the funding is going toward an understaffed federal agency in desperate need of personnel to perform its basic functions. The IRS’s staff size today is the same as in 1970, and there are a lot more tax returns to deal with today. The 87,000 figure refers to the total number of employees that would be hired by the Treasury Department, and a majority will not be agents involved with enforcement. According to the Treasury, just 1 percent of new employees would be agents assigned to details that require carrying firearms.
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