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    ‘QAnon Shaman’ Eyes Run For Arizona Congressional Seat

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Elvert Barnes, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Jacob Chansley, the Capitol rioter who came to be known as the “QAnon Shaman,” has reportedly filed paperwork signaling his interest in running for the Arizona congressional seat being vacated by Debbie Lesko (R).

    The Arizona Republic reported that a candidate statement of interest was signed by Jacob Angeli-Chansley and filed with the Arizona Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday, indicating he would seek to run as a Libertarian. He has also been known to go by Jacob Angeli.

    The Hill has more:

    Chansley, 35, gained notoriety for his horned fur hat, bare chest and face paint that made him one of the more recognizable Jan. 6 rioters. He pleaded guilty to a charge of obstructing an official proceeding and sentenced to 41 months in prison. Chansley, who grew up in Phoenix, served 27 of those months before being released to a halfway house this past March.

    The Associated Press reported that while the Constitution does not bar felons from running for Congress, Arizona law prevents them from voting in elections until they complete their sentence and have the right restored.

    Former Republican Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters has also jumped into the race for Lesko’s seat.

    “I’m running for Congress, to fight for Arizona’s 8th,” Masters said on X, formerly Twitter. “Biden has failed. We need Trump back. We need to stop inflation, Build the Wall, avoid WW3, and secure Arizona’s water future. We need to fight for our families.”

    House Republicans Issue Criminal Referral Against Michael Cohen

      By
      Madeleine Jackson
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      2
      IowaPolitics.com, CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

      Two Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee have recommended the Justice Department look at pursuing charges against former Trump attorney Michael Cohen.

      The criminal referral letter sent by House Intelligence Chairman Mike Turner (R-Ohio) and committee member Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) accuses Cohen of committing perjury and having “knowingly made false statements” before the congressional panel four years ago.

      “That Mr. Cohen was willing to openly and brazenly state at trial that he lied to Congress on this specific issue is startling,” the referral letter reads. “His willingness to make such a statement alone should necessitate an investigation.”

      Amid cross-examination by Trump’s legal team late last month, Cohen testified that he lied under oath to the House Intelligence Committee in February 2019. In that testimony, Cohen said Trump did not ask him to inflate the numbers detailed in his statements of financial condition. However, Cohen then changed his testimony last month.

      Alina Habba, one of Trump’s attorneys, tore into Cohen over the discrepancy during cross-examination.

      “Mr. Cohen, were you being honest in front of the Permanent Select Committee when you testified on February 28, 2019?” Habba asked.

      “No,” Cohen replied.

      “So you lied under oath in February of 2019? Is that your testimony?” Habba pressed.

      “Yes,” Cohen said.

      While it urges prosecutors to take action, a criminal referral is largely symbolic and does not hold any legal weight. 

      Republican Billionaire Says Trump Failed To Meet ‘Low Expectations’

        By
        Madeleine Jackson
        -
        7
        Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

        During a recent interview high-profile Republican billionaire Peter Theil said he was disappointed by former President Trump’s time in office.

        During an interview with The Atlantic’s Barton Gellman, Thiel said “voting for Trump was like a not very articulate scream for help,” which he hoped would change the country for the better but ultimately he was left disappointed.

        “There are a lot of things I got wrong,” Thiel told Gellman. “It was crazier than I thought. It was more dangerous than I thought. They couldn’t get the most basic pieces of the government to work. So that was—I think that part was maybe worse than even my low expectations.”

        Thiel, who financially backed Trump in 2016, also told Glemman he recently received a call from Trump over his refusal to contribute to his latest campaign. Trump reportedly told Theil “he was very sad” and “had expected way more” from the Republican businessman.

        “Months later, word got back to Thiel that Trump had called [Blake] Masters to discourage him from running for Senate again, and had called Thiel a ‘fucking scumbag,’” Gellman reported, adding that Thiel no longer wanted to make any donations to Republican candidates in the near future.

        Thiel told Gellman, “There’s always a chance I might change my mind. But by talking to you, it makes it hard for me to change my mind. My husband doesn’t want me to give them any more money, and he’s right. I know they’re going to be pestering me like crazy. And by talking to you, it’s going to lock me out of the cycle for 2024.”

        Thiel also called Trump’s attempts to overturn the results of the 2020 election “not helpful,” and reportedly told Gellman that while Trump “did not turn out to be the revolutionary Thiel had hoped he might be,” he would not “refashion himself a Never Trumper in retrospect.”

        While the Republican billionaire has sworn off contributing to political candidates in the immediate future, Theil did express his support for Florida Governor Ron DeSantis in May.

        5 Republican State Legislators Switch Endorsements

          By
          Madeleine Jackson
          -
          1
          Ron DeSantis via Gage Skidmore Flickr

          Five Florida legislators flipped their endorsements from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to former President Donald Trump in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. 

          The five who flipped from DeSantis to Trump include State Reps. Jessica Baker, Webster Barnaby, Alina Garcia, Kevin Steele, and State Sen. Debbie Mayfield.

          “As instability grows around the world and economic uncertainty takes root here at home, folks across my district tell me constantly they want to see President Donald Trump back in the White House and Gov. Ron DeSantis back on the job here in Florida, finishing the work he promised to do less than a year ago,” Baker said in a statement to The Messenger, the news outlet that first reported the endorsements. 

          DeSantis’s team said his detractors didn’t mean much in the race and touted his endorsements in Iowa. 

          “Ron DeSantis is dominating the field — including the former president — in supportive state legislative endorsements from across the country,” spokesman Bryan Griffin told The Messenger. “In Iowa, DeSantis holds a historic count of 41 state legislative endorsements, which far surpasses Trump … And, in Florida, DeSantis has nearly 100 state legislators endorsing his run for president. That, too, is a number that significantly outpaces Trump.”

          The seven endorsements follow another DeSantis defector, State Rep. Randy Fine, who endorsed Trump two weeks ago. 

          Trump also has the support of the majority of Florida’s congressional delegation, including Reps. Byron Donalds, Matt Gaetz, and Anna Paulina Luna. Fourteen of Florida’s Republican congress members have endorsed the former president, while one has endorsed DeSantis, according to The Messenger. 

          Trump Calls To Ban US Entry for Immigrants Against Israel

          By
          Madeleine Jackson
          -
          3
          President Donald J. Trump is presented with a 10th Combat Aviation Brigade challenge coin following an air assault and gun rain demonstration at Fort Drum, New York, on August 13. The demonstration was part of President Trump's visit to the 10th Mountain Division (LI) to sign the National Defense Authorization Act of 2019, which increases the Army's authorized active-duty end strength by 4,000 enabling us to field critical capabilities in support of the National Defense Strategy. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Thomas Scaggs) 180813-A-TZ475-010

          Former President Trump said there is no room in America for those who want to abolish Israel.

          On Saturday, Trump told the crowd at the Florida Freedom Summit that he wants to ban entry into the United States for immigrants who support abolishing Israel, one of America’s strongest allies in the mid-East.

          Fox News has more:

          “If you hate America, if you want to abolish Israel, if you sympathize with jihadists, and then you don’t want your country to do well, you don’t want your country to be successful, you’re just not going to get in, you’re not getting in, you’re not coming into our country,” Trump said.

          Trump also proposed ideological screening for immigrants.

          “On day one, I will restore the Trump travel on entering from having people that like to blow up our shopping centers and kill our people and do lots of bad things. Entry from plagued countries. We will not allow people to come in and will implement strong ideological screening for all immigrants,” Trump said. 

          Trump called for ideological screening for immigrants during his 2016 campaign as well, stating that “extreme vetting” needs to be in place.

          Trump’s comments come after he promised to deport immigrants who are publicly supporting Hamas during an Iowa campaign speech in October.

          Must Watch: Trump Impersonates Biden Getting Lost On Stage

            By
            Madeleine Jackson
            -
            2
            Gage Skidmore Flickr

            You have to see this…

            Former President Donald Trump mockingly impersonated President Joe Biden getting lost on stage during a campaign stop in Las Vegas over the weekend

            Addressing the crowd, Trump said, “He can’t put two sentences together and he’s in charge of nuclear warfare. Oh My!”

            Trump suggested he would be able to jump off the stage while Biden would be “driving in circles,” not knowing where to go following a speech.

            Shuffling to the back of the stage, Trump put on an act depicting Biden walking into the wall, throwing up his hands in frustration, and then apparently realizing the exit was to his side

            As Trump did his shtick, the crowd in Las Vegas cheered.

            The teasing didn’t stop there, as Trump asked the audience to judge his nicknames for Biden: “Sleepy Joe Biden” or “Crooked Joe Biden.” It seemed “Crooked” won the room.

            Judge Declines To Recuse From Trump 2024 Ballot Case

              By
              Madeleine Jackson
              -
              7
              Former President of the United States Donald Trump speaking with attendees at the 2022 Student Action Summit at the Tampa Convention Center in Tampa, Florida. [Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons]

              On Monday, the Colorado judge overseeing a challenge to keep Donald Trump off the 2024 ballot refused to step down from the case after donating to numerous anti-Republican PACs.

              The lawsuit, filed by the left-wing donor backed organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), seeks to remove Trump from the ballot under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment, alleging he took an oath to the Constitution and then engaged in “insurrection” by encouraging the Jan. 6 Capitol riots. 

              Colorado District Judge Sarah Wallace, an appointee of Democrat Gov. Jared Polis, began the trial Monday saying that she has “no specific memory” of the donations.

              “Prior to yesterday, I was not cognizant of this organization or its mission,” Wallace said. “It has always been my practice, whether I was entirely successful or not, to make contributions to individuals, not PACs.”

              She assured litigants that she has “formed no opinion whether the events of Jan. 6 constituted an insurrection.”

              Wallace donated $100 on Oct. 15, 2022 to the Colorado Turnout Project, a PAC that was formed to oppose Republicans who “refused to condemn the political extremists who stormed the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021,” according to Federal Election Commission data. 

              Wallace also has earmarked close to $1,500 in other ActBlue donations for Democrats since 2016, including $100 to Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign on Nov. 10, 2022, per FEC data.

              Trump’s lawyer, former Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler, said during his opening statement Monday that the lawsuit was “anti-democratic” and a “case of lawfare that seeks to interfere with the presidential election.”

              Last week, Wallace tossed Trump’s effort to have the case dismissed, rejecting his claim that Congress determines ballot eligibility, not the courts. She also rejected an earlier effort to have the case dismissed on First Amendment grounds.

              Longtime Trump Supporter Ditches Ex-President, Endorses GOP Rival

                By
                Madeleine Jackson
                -
                9
                Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

                A longtime Trump supporter is cutting ties with the former President, instead choosing to endorse Nikki Haley to become the Republican nominee.

                Andrew Stein, the son of the late publishing giant Jerry Finkelstein, served as the president of the New York City Council as a Democrat before crossing party lines to support Trump in the past two elections.

                However, in a scathing Wall Street Journal op-ed on Friday, Stein made it absolutely clear that he was moving on from Trump and holds serious concerns about the former president’s ability to be reelected.

                Mediaite has more:

                “Mr. Trump’s poll numbers show him with a clear path to the Republican nomination and rising ahead of Joe Biden. Given his mounting legal troubles, however, today’s polling may prove irrelevant. If Mr. Trump is found guilty of some of the charges against him, voters would have to choose between an old felon and an old fool,” Stein wrote in the Journal.

                While making the case that Trump is an electoral liability, Stein also argued that Haley is best positioned to win over independents.

                “Ms. Haley is likely to have a broader appeal than Mr. Trump for independents and suburbanites, especially women,” Stein wrote, adding:

                The Democrats hope he wins the nomination and is convicted of felonies, leading him to lose the presidential election. Republicans need to consolidate around Ms. Haley so they have a credible nominee who can take on any Democrat.

                House Elects New House Speaker

                  By
                  Madeleine Jackson
                  -
                  1

                  On Tuesday the House officially elected a new Speaker of the House, ending the nearly monthlong stalemate.

                  Mike Johnson (R-La.), who was in his second term as vice chairman of the House Republican Conference, won the Speaker’s gavel in a 220-209 vote over Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), officially cementing himself as successor to former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)

                  “It is the honor of a lifetime to have been elected the 56th Speaker of the House,” Johnson said in a post to X, adding later, “As Speaker, I will ensure the House delivers results and inspires change for the American people. We will restore trust in this body. We will advance a comprehensive conservative policy agenda, combat the harmful policies of the Biden Administration, and support our allies abroad. And we will restore sanity to a government desperately in need of it. Let’s get back to work.”

                  “A man of deep faith, Mike epitomizes what it means to be a servant leader. A deeply respected constitutional lawyer, Mike has dedicated his life to preserving America’s great principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” House Republican Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-NY) said in her speech nominating Johnson on Wednesday.

                  Trump Targets Former Chief Of Staff After Report Undermines 2020 Election Claims

                    By
                    Madeleine Jackson
                    -
                    1
                    Office of Congressman Mark Meadows, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

                    The walls are closing in on Donald Trump…

                    The former President who is facing a litany of federal charges stemming from his alleged interference in the 2020 election pushed back on Tuesday’s ABC News report that former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows took an immunity deal to testify to a grand jury.

                    Jonathan Karl reported that Meadows spoke with special counsel Jack Smith’s team at least three times this year:

                    The sources said Meadows informed Smith’s team that he repeatedly told Trump in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election that the allegations of significant voting fraud coming to them were baseless, a striking break from Trump’s prolific rhetoric regarding the election.

                    According to the sources, Meadows also told the federal investigators Trump was being “dishonest” with the public when he first claimed to have won the election only hours after polls closed on Nov. 3, 2020, before final results were in.

                    “Obviously, we didn’t win,” a source quoted Meadows as telling Smith’s team in hindsight per Karl’s report, which strikes at the heart of both the federal and Fulton County case against Trump for criminally conspiring to defraud the American people that a free and fair election was “rigged.”

                    Trump took to Truth Social and suggested that while he didn’t think Meadows was the sort to lie to prosecutors to get “IMMUNITY.”  He then passively aggressively suggested Meadows was among  “weaklings and cowards” that make a deal and are “so bad for the future our Failing Nation.”

                    “I don’t think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? ” Trump wrote:

                    I don’t think Mark Meadows would lie about the Rigged and Stollen 2020 Presidential Election merely for getting IMMUNITY against Prosecution (PERSECUTION!) by Deranged Prosecutor, Jack Smith. BUT, when you really think about it, after being hounded like a dog for three years, told you’ll be going to jail for the rest of your life, your money and your family will be forever gone, and we’re not at all interested in exposing those that did the RIGGING — If you say BAD THINGS about that terrible “MONSTER,” DONALD J. TRUMP, we won’t put you in prison, you can keep your family and your wealth, and, perhaps, if you can make up some really horrible “STUFF” a out him, we may very well erect a statue of you in the middle of our decaying and now very violent Capital, Washington, D.C. Some people would make that deal, but they are weaklings and cowards, and so bad for the future our Failing Nation. I don’t think that Mark Meadows is one of them, but who really knows? MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!

                    Trump then added:

                    Mark Meadows NEVER told me that allegations of significant fraud (about the RIGGED Election!) were baseless. He certainly didn’t say that in his book!

                    Politico’s Kyle Cheney also noted that in Trump’s attack, the former President may have also violated the gag order imposed in the case.

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