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    Centrist Republicans Float Re-electing McCarthy as House Speaker In Wake of Israel Attacks

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    13
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    The old saying goes “the more things change the more they stay the same…”

    Some Republicans are mulling a move to reinstate Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) as House Speaker in the wake of the deadly attacks in Israel.

    On Saturday morning, Palestine militant group Hamas launched its surprise attack on Israel, prompting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to declare war on the organization and order retaliatory action.

    “Israel attacks have moderates holding out for the one person who can truly unite us: Kevin McCarthy,” a House GOP lawmaker said.

    Last week, McCarthy was ousted by the votes of eight Republicans and all House Democrats thanks to a rule change McCarthy agreed to when he was elected speaker.

    However, handing McCarthy back the Speaker’s gavel is an uphill battle due to the support Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) have already garnered. Last week, former President Donald Trump threw his support behind Jordan for Speaker.

    McCarthy, for his part, is “aware and grateful” for the efforts to reinstate him, but he’s not engaging at this point, the House GOP lawmaker said.

    However, some Republicans are optimistic that it could be done, given the severity of the attack in Israel. They believe the urgency surrounding the attacks could pressure the eight House Republicans who voted to oust McCarthy to switch their stance. Many Republicans are still upset with those who voted against McCarthy, who is a vocal supporter of Israel, and are “using this moment to show how wrong they were,” per the House GOP lawmaker.

    “A short window is all we need in the House to reinstate Kevin McCarthy and change the rule,” Rep. John Duarte (R-CA) said.

    House Republicans plan on meeting behind closed doors on Monday to hash out details and differences of opinion. On Tuesday, there will be a candidate forum to hear the pros and cons of each speaker candidate.

    The conference plans to hold a secret vote on Wednesday to see who it wants to nominate for speaker on the floor. The nomination will go to whichever candidate secures a majority of the GOP conference. That figure could be as low as 113, including the three nonvoting GOP delegates to the House. If all 435 House members participate, a successful candidate will need 217 votes to become speaker.

    Anti-Trump Judge Boasberg Hit With Articles of Impeachment

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4

    Just in…

    Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas) isn’t backing down. On Tuesday, he filed impeachment articles against U.S. District Judge James Boasberg — the same judge who signed off on subpoenas in the secretive “Arctic Frost” probe targeting Republican lawmakers.

    “Chief Judge Boasberg has compromised the impartiality of the judiciary and created a constitutional crisis,” Gill told Fox News Digital. “He is shamelessly weaponizing his power against his political opponents… Judge Boasberg was an accomplice in the egregious Arctic Frost scandal where he equipped the Biden DOJ to spy on Republican senators.”

    Gill’s impeachment resolution hits Boasberg with one count of abuse of power, accusing him of authorizing “frivolous nondisclosure orders” that blocked telecom companies from alerting lawmakers their phone records were being subpoenaed.

    Documents released by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) show that Verizon followed those gag orders — while AT&T refused. Both the subpoenas and the gag orders bore Boasberg’s signature, igniting outrage from GOP senators like Ted Cruz, who called the operation “worse than Watergate.”

    The judge’s defenders point out that the Stored Communications Act gives him discretion in approving such orders — but it’s unclear what evidence Boasberg reviewed before granting them.

    Republicans say the surveillance trampled on the Constitution’s Speech or Debate Clause, which protects lawmakers from law enforcement over their legislative work. Legal experts note that protection isn’t absolute — and the balance of power between Congress, the courts, and the executive branch is now back in the spotlight.

    This isn’t Gill’s first attempt to oust Boasberg. He threatened impeachment earlier this year when Boasberg halted Trump-era migrant deportation flights but backed off after GOP leaders said it wasn’t the right moment.

    Read the entire resolution:

    251104-impeachment-resolution-judge-boasberg-Download
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    Trump Defends House Speaker Amid Mutiny Threats

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    4
    Gage Skidmore from Surprise, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

    Is House Speaker Mike Johnson on the brink of betrayal?

    President-elect Trump on Thursday said Speaker Johnson (R-La.) can likely remain in the leadership role if he cracks down on spending, while Johnson is reorganizing plans to fund the government ahead of Friday’s deadline to avert a shutdown.

    “If the Speaker acts decisively, and tough, and gets rid of all of the traps being set by the Democrats, which will economically and, in other ways, destroy our country, he will easily remain speaker,” Trump told Fox News Digital in an interview on Thursday morning.

    Some GOP lawmakers have questioned their support for Johnson over to his handling of the end-of-year spending deal, which has thrown his grasp on his gavel into uncertain territory ahead of the critical Jan. 3 vote.

    On Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) pledged to oppose Johnson on the House floor next month and a handful of other Republicans are not saying if they will support him.

    When asked why he wouldn’t back his fellow Republican, Massie told The Hill it was due to “all the grievances I had this summer, when we tried to vacate. And then this bill.”

    Trump told Fox News Digital that he warned Republicans against supporting legislation that doesn’t tackle the debt limit, calling for those lawmakers to be primaried.

    “Anybody that supports a bill that doesn’t take care of the Democrat quicksand known as the debt ceiling should be primaried and disposed of as quickly as possible,” he said.

    One House Republican told the Washington Examiner that House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) is the most likely replacement for Johnson if House Republicans decide they need new leadership.

    Emmer is among the most experienced leaders of the House Republicans, having led the National Republican Congressional Committee from 2019 to 2023 before being elected Republican whip in 2022.

    Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) was floated by the House Republican as the second most likely House speaker replacement.

    Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) was floated as the third most likely candidate by the House Republican, a consistent favorite among the conservative wing of the party.

    Jordan, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, was a leading figure in pursuing an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. He unsuccessfully ran for the speakership in October 2023, losing to Johnson

    Senator Menendez Faces 12 New Federal Charges

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    Senate Democrats, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

    United States Senator Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) is facing one dozen new criminal charges in his alleged yearslong scheme with the governments of Egypt and Qatar.

    Menendez and his wife, Nadine, face charges of obstruction of justice, among others.

    As CNN reports:

    The new charges come days after one of the New Jersey businessmen who was previously indicted alongside Menendez, his wife Nadine Menendez, and two others agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with the investigation.

    Among the new charges in the superseding indictment are conspiracy, obstruction of justice, public official acting as a foreign agent, bribery, extortion and honest services wire fraud.

    Menendez had faced four counts of conspiracy to commit bribery, conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, and conspiracy for a public official to act as a foreign agent.

    The new charges add the underlying so-called substantive crimes to the conspiracy charges.

    Menendez persists in his innocence and pledges to do whatever it takes to retain his Senate seat.

    This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

    Report: Rep. Adam Schiff Robbed In San Francisco

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmoer Flickr

    Yikes…

    California Congressman Adam Schiff (D) was reportedly a victim of a theft just hours before a swanky campaign dinner on Thursday.

    According to The San Francisco Chronicle, thieves broke into his car that was parked in a downtown parking garage and stole his bags. Without business clothes to wear, Schiff still proceeded to the event in shirt sleeves and a hiking vest, according to the Chronicle, with others dressed in suits.

    At the dinner, Schiff thanked attorney Joe Cotchett for supporting Schiff’s bid to replace the late Dianne Feinstein and represent California in the U.S. Senate.

    “I guess it’s ‘Welcome to San Francisco,’” joked Cotchett’s press agent Lee Houskeeper, who was at the dinner.

    Schiff was not in the vehicle when it happened.

    “Yes, they took my bags,” the California representative said, per the Chronicle. “But I’m here to thank Joe.”

    The apparent theft came just days after the San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan’s security guard was assaulted in downtown San Jose Tuesday, according to KRON4, a local Bay Area news outlet.

    “While interviewing Mayor Matt Mahan in downtown San Jose, a man was shouting at us and fought Mayor Mahan’s security guard,”KRON4 reporter Jack Molmud wrote in a post along with a video of the incident. “The fight lasted a couple minutes and the man was arrested by SJPD. Police said they were compiling evidence and sending it to the DA’s office.”

    Report: Trump Special Counsel Probing Potential Wire Fraud Related to 2020 Fundraising

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    3
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former President Donald Trump is reportedly under investigation by federal prosecutors probing the Jan. 6 Capitol riot for alleged wire fraud related to his fundraising efforts between the 2020 presidential election and President Joe Biden’s inauguration.

    The Washington Post reported the news on Wednesday evening, citing “eight people with knowledge of the investigation” who “spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation.”

    The report explains that Special Counsel Jack Smith is investigating potential wire fraud crimes committed by Trump and his “fundraising operation” for using false claims of election fraud to elicit donations, which would “violated wire fraud laws.” The Post notes that under federal law it is “illegal to make false representations over email to swindle people out of money.”

    The report adds:

    Smith’s office has sent subpoenas in recent weeks to Trump advisers and former campaign aides, Republican operatives and other consultants involved in the 2020 presidential campaign, the people said. They have also heard testimony from some of these figures in front of a Washington grand jury, some of the people said.

    The subpoenas, which were issued in early March, have not previously been reported and are aimed at gathering private communications between Trump and his fundraising staff to better understand whether or not they believed the claims behind their messaging, which the Post reports “generated more than $200 million in donations from conservatives.”

    Smith and his investigator are probing whether fundraising emails containing rhetoric such as, “They want you to think this Election is over, but they are wrong” constitute actual fraud.

    This is a breaking news story. Click refresh for the latest updates.

    Report: Secret Service Director Resigns

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    In a stunning development, the Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle has resigned.

    The resignation comes amid heightened pressure from lawmakers over the Secret Service’s role in a recent assassination attempt on Donald Trump during a rally in Butler. Pennsylvania.

    The shooter killed one rally attendee and injured two others. Donald Trump was grazed by a bullet as he delivered remarks on stage.

    Cheatle testified before the House Oversight Committee on Monday.

    Cheatle admitted under oath that the Secret Service “on July 13th, we failed.” 

    Fox News has more:

    “As the director of the United States Secret Service, I take full responsibility for any security lapse of our agency,” she said. “We must learn what happened and I will move heaven and earth to ensure that an incident like July 13th does not happen again.” 

    Cheatle added: “Our agents, officers and support personnel understand that every day we are expected to sacrifice our lives to execute a no fail mission.”

    During the hearing, Cheatle said the Secret Service is “still looking into the advanced process and the decision made” as to why an agent wasn’t positioned on top of the roof that Crooks used to fire at former President Trump.

    “The building was outside of the perimeter on the day of the visit. But again, that is one of the things that during the investigation, we want to take a look at and determine whether or not other decisions should have been made,” she said. 

    This story is breaking. Check back for additional updates.

    Trump Responds To Biden’s ‘Garbage’ Comments

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Donald Trump had a surprising reaction to Biden’s shocking “garbage” comments on Tuesday.

    The Republican nominee called on his supporters to forgive him during a packed rally at the PPL Center in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

    “Please forgive him for not knowing what he said,” Trump said. “These people are terrible, terrible, terrible to say a thing like that. But he really doesn’t know. He really honestly, he doesn’t. And I’m convinced that he likes me more than he likes Kamala. But that’s a terrible thing.”

    Watch:

    Trump’s call for unity – and forgiveness – came after the president called Trump supporters’ garbage during a get-out-the-vote call for Voto Latino.

    In remarks from the White House, Biden had said earlier to Latino voters:

    And just the other day, a speaker at his rally called Puerto Rico a “floating island of garbage.” Well, let me tell you something. I don’t– I– I don’t know the Puerto Rican that– that I know– or a Puerto Rico, where I’m from– in my home state of Delaware, they’re good, decent, honorable people.

    The only garbage I see floating out there is his supporters– his– his demonization of Latinos is unconscionable, and it’s un-American. It’s totally contrary to everything we’ve done, everything we’ve been.

    Biden’s comments came after Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.

    White House spokesperson Andrew Bates told Fox News’ Jacqui Heinrich that President Biden “referred to the hateful rhetoric at the Madison Square Garden rally as ‘garbage.’”

    “The president was referencing a joke by comedian Tony Hinchcliffe in which he likened Puerto Rico to an island of floating “garbage” in the middle of the ocean,” Bates said.

    Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity Tuesday that Hinchcliffe was not vetted by the campaign but that he saw the outcry as no “big deal.”

    Hannity asked, “Do you wish [Hinchcliffe] wasn’t there?”

    Trump responded, “Yeah, I don’t know if it’s a big deal or not, but I don’t want anybody making nasty jokes or stupid jokes, and probably he shouldn’t have been there.”

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    Report: Fox News Pulls The Plug On Trump Interviews

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    11
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Is Fox News icing out former President Donald Trump?

    New reports indicate the media giant has potentially been blackballed from making appearances on the conservative network for the considerable future.

    “In recent months, Trump’s inner circle has become increasingly convinced that Fox News is essentially sidelining the former president by restricting live appearances on their network,” reported Zachary Petrizzo. “‘Trump is not allowed live on Fox,’ a Trump operative told The Daily Beast, chalking it up to ‘fear’ that Trump could level a baseless allegation that could leave the network in a legal mess. A Trump adviser told The Daily Beast a similar story — that the former president isn’t allowed on live air anymore. At the very least, this person said, Fox News prefers to have Trump in a pre-recorded setting. ‘Fox sent down word from the top that they don’t want to ‘platform’ Trump like they did before,’ a Trump adviser told The Daily Beast. ‘I find it hilarious. For one, it sounds like something MSNBC would do.'”

    “After a lengthy hiatus last year, Trump re-emerged on Fox News this past March,” said the report. “However, following Trump’s absence, the former president only came back in a diminished capacity. Starting in March of 2023, Trump conducted a string of interviews with Fox hosts and anchors including Sean Hannity, Bret Baier, and Larry Kudlow. But gone are the days of Trump simply calling in live and offering his stream of consciousness. According to a search by The Daily Beast and Media Matters for America, Trump last phoned in live to a Fox News program in April of 2022.”

    Trump’s relationship with Fox News has deteriorated since leaving the White House but the current Republican presidential frontrunner has still made a number of appearances with the network in past months. The report noted that the network’s distance from Trump could also be a result of a recent settlement with Dominion Voting Systems.

    Trump has fired off repeated attacks against the network over its coverage of the former President.

    Report: Chris Licht Out At CNN

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    0
    CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

    Embattled CNN boss Chris Licht is leaving his post following an exposé published by The Atlantic that revealed widespread dissent within the ranks.

    The New York Times reports:

    Mr. Licht’s 13-month run at CNN was marked by one controversy after another, culminating in his exit earlier this week. He got off to a bumpy start even before he had officially started when he oversaw the shuttering of the pricey CNN+ streaming service at the request of its network’s new owners, who were skeptical about a stand-alone digital product. The cuts resulted in scores of layoffs.

    Warner Bros. Discovery, CNN’s parent company, did not respond to a request for comment.

    Mr. Licht’s departure represents a dramatic fall not long after he departed as an executive producer of Stephen Colbert’s top-rated late night show and vowed to bring a middle-of-the-road balance to CNN’s journalism. When Mr. Licht took the job, he told friends it was a “calling.”

    Puck earlier reported that Mr. Licht was leaving CNN.

    Licht hoped to appease CNN’s right-wing critics through the town hall. However, both sides remained dissatisfied with the outcome. Trump’s strongest supporters were upset with host Kaitlan Collins for fact-checking his false claims of election fraud in battleground states. Meanwhile, the network staff and on-air talent were disappointed that the former president received a major platform.

    The decision by Licht comes less than a month after the network’s town hall with former President Donald Trump.

    Earlier this week, CNN media reporter Oliver Darcy spoke out against Licht’s inability to keep the faith of the employees of the network after an avalanche of bad press.

    “There are a wide range of emotions coursing through the halls of CNN. Some staffers are frustrated. Others are angry. Many are sad about the awful state of affairs that has taken hold of an organization they love,” Darcy wrote in his Reliable Sources media newsletter late Monday. “There is one near-universal sentiment, however, that has been communicated to me: Licht has lost the room.”

    Puck News’ Dylan Byers reports “Warner Bros. Discovery will announce that Licht will be stepping down as chairman and CEO of CNN” within the next 48 hours.

    Byers first reported that Licht had been tapped to lead the cable news network 16 months ago.

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