Category: Latest News

‘Warning lights are blinking red’: Pollsters sound the alarm on shocking data on GOP voters

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Polling data is showing that Republican base voters are radicalizing against democracy, and two polling experts are sounding the alarm on what it means for the United States.

The Economist’s G. Elliot Morris pointed to polls showing that a plurality of Republican voters think that state legislatures should have the right to overturn the results of presidential elections, while supermajorities believe that former President Donald Trump really won the 2020 election and that President Joe Biden is illegitimate.

In fact, Morris said that the most recent polling numbers show that 74 percent of Republican voters do not believe Biden’s presidency is legitimate. Continue reading.

Speaker Hortman Issues Statement About Rep. John Thompson

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SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA — Speaker of the House Melissa Hortman issued the following statement.

“The Minnesota House of Representatives takes allegations of member misconduct seriously. 

“There is a process in place pursuant to House Rule 6.10 whereby two or more members of the House may file a complaint about conduct by a member that they allege violates a rule or administrative policy of the House, violates accepted norms of House behavior, betrays the public trust, or tends to bring the House into dishonor or disrepute. Such a complaint, if filed, would be referred to the House Ethics Committee. To date, no House members have filed an ethics complaint regarding the allegations made against Representative Thompson.

“As in other instances of alleged member misconduct, in the absence of a formal ethics complaint, in my role as Speaker I will work with counsel to thoroughly investigate the law and facts, compare the alleged misconduct to prior allegations of wrongdoing by members of the Minnesota House and the resultant consequences, and act accordingly.”

Robert E. Lee statue taken down in Charlottesville

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The city of Charlottesville, Va., has taken down a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, marking the end of a years-long effort to have it removed.

Videos shared to social media showed the statue being hoisted off its stone base Saturday morning, with some in the crowd cheering as it was removed from the pedestal.

The city announced Friday it would remove the statue, which was at the site of the 2017 “Unite the Right” white nationalist rally that resulted in the death of a counterprotester. Continue reading.

CPAC attendee circulates ‘plan’ to re-install Trump as president ‘in days’

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An attendee at this year’s second Conservative Political Action Conference has reportedly been handing out cards that feature a “plan” to return former President Donald Trump to the White House “in days.”

As flagged by Forbes reporter Andrew Solender, the “plan” involves seven steps, none of which appear to have any possibility of becoming a reality.

The first step involves somehow ousting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) by getting the Congressional Black Caucus to switch to the Republican Party and voting in a “trusted Conservative.” Continue reading.

McCarthy Decries ‘Partisan’ Jan. 6 Committee — Which Is Exactly Like Benghazi Panel

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is furiously claiming that a newly authorized select committee to investigate the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection will be “the least bipartisan committee you can find.” But just seven years ago, he voted for a nearly identical investigation into attacks against the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012.

On Fox News on Thursday night, McCarthy (R-CA) was asked about the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the United States Capitol, created last Wednesday by a majority vote in the House of Representatives over his objections.

“Think about the structure. It’s not an equal number of Republicans or Democrats,” McCarthy complained. “She [House Speaker Nancy Pelosi] appointed [Reps.] Adam Schift [sic] and [Jamie] Raskin. This is a impeachment committee. Only Democrats have subpoena power. The speaker has control over anyone who is appointed. She appoints everyone, just with ‘consultation’ with Republicans.” Continue reading.

Trump seethed at ‘ultimate betrayal’ after Netanyahu congratulated Biden on 2020 win: report

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Former President Donald Trump was reportedly enraged last year when then-Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu tweeted out congratulations to President Joe Biden on his victory in the 2020 election.

Forward reports that journalist Michael Wolff’s new book, titled “Landslide: The Final Days of the Trump Presidency,” claims that Trump felt personally betrayed by Netanyahu’s call, even though it is custom for American allies to congratulate incoming presidents on their victories.

“It was startling to aides, however much they were anticipating an eruption, that Trump’s wrath fell on Bibi Netanyahu,” Wolff writes, according to Forward. “There was his belief that he had singularly done more for Israel than any American president — and that therefore he was owed. And now sold out.” Continue reading.

Members of Congress demand immediate funding for Capitol Police, but face headwinds in the Senate

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Members of Congress are sounding the alarm over the need to immediately fund the U.S. Capitol Police and National Guard or risk both security departments running out of money, potentially leading to hundreds of furloughs and cuts that would mark the latest setback for the forces after a tumultuous year.

Money allotted yearly to an account that pays for the thousands of Capitol Police officers is running out faster than in previous years because of overtime incurred by officers after the Jan. 6 insurrection. The end of the fiscal year is Sept. 30, but Congress has been unable to pass all appropriation bills through both chambers by that date for the past several years, delaying necessary funding to keep the Capitol safe.

House Democrats, in particular, are pressuring the Senate to immediately consider passing a $1.9 billion emergency security supplemental measure during the July session that would quickly allot $31 million to cover overtime pay, a demand that can be made difficult by a packed summer legislative calendar. Continue reading.

Oath Keepers Leader Sits for F.B.I. Questioning Against Legal Advice

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In a bold move, Stewart Rhodes, the founder and leader of the right-wing militia group, sat for an interview with federal agents after they seized his phone in May.

It was shortly after federal agents confronted him in May outside a boutique hotel in Lubbock, Texas, seizing his cellphone with a warrant, that Stewart Rhodes, the leader of the Oath Keepers militia, made a bold decision: Even though he had just gotten undeniable proof that he was under investigation, he agreed to be questioned about his — and his militia’s — role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Against the advice of a lawyer, Mr. Rhodes spoke freely with the agents about the Capitol assault for nearly three hours, he said in an interview on Friday. Mr. Rhodes said that he denied that he or any other Oath Keepers had intended to disrupt Congress’s certification of the Electoral College vote — the chief accusation the government has lodged against 16 members of the group who are charged with conspiracy.

He also said he told the agents that members of his militia went into the building only after they had heard that someone had been shot inside and wanted to render aid. (A New York Times visual investigation of the events of Jan. 6 did not find evidence of Mr. Rhodes’s claims.) Continue reading.

Biden fires head of Social Security Administration

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President Biden on Friday fired Social Security Commissioner Andrew Saul, a holdover from the Trump administration, after Saul refused a request to resign from his position.

A White House official confirmed that Saul’s employment was terminated. The move was first reported by The Washington Post.

David Black, Saul’s deputy who was also appointed to the position by former President Trump, resigned at Biden’s request, the official said. Continue reading.

The Trump administration used an early, unreported program to separate migrant families along a remote stretch of the border

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MEXICO CITY — The Trump administration began separating migrant families along a remote stretch of the U.S.-Mexico border months earlier than has been previously reported — part of a little known program coming into view only now as the Biden administration examines government data.

In May 2017, Border Patrol agents in Yuma, Ariz., began implementing a program known as the Criminal Consequence Initiative, which allowed for the prosecution of first-time border crossers, including parents who entered the United States with their children and were separated from them.

From July 1 to Dec. 31, 2017, 234 families were separated in Yuma, according to newly released data from the Department of Homeland Security, almost exactly the same number as were separated in a now well known pilot program in El Paso that year. Because the Yuma program began in May, and the existing data on family separations begins only in July, the number of separations there was likely higher than 234, a prospect the Biden administration is now investigating.