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    Report: Former Congressman Mulling Senate Challenge

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Former New York congressman Lee Zeldin is reportedly considering a run for Senate.

    On Monday, Zeldin told reporters he’s considering challenging Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D) in 2024, according to Politico.

    “We’ll keep an eye on the race,” Zeldin said while at the state Capitol on Monday to visit with lawmakers. “If we did run, it would be an extremely competitive race.”

    The former Long Island congressman received nearly 47 percent of the vote against Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) last November, the best performance by a Republican gubernatorial candidate in the solidly-blue state in two decades.

    Gillibrand is running for her third term in the Senate next year. The Democrat has even launched a fundraising campaign on the possibility Zeldin may enter the race.

    “It was something that I was giving no thought to, but she was trying to fundraise. And the best way to fundraise in the first quarter of 2023 was to speak about a viable opponent,” Zeldin said in an interview before joining former presidential advisor Kellyanne Conway at a dinner for the New York State Federation of Republican Women near Albany.

    Zeldin said his main focus right now is helping out candidates for local office this year “who helped us during last year’s race.” He’s spent recent weeks traveling the state to campaign with the candidates “and that’s where the focus will remain” for the moment.

    “We’ll see how the race shapes up,” he said of the possibility of challenging Gillibrand. But he acknowledged that “there’s even more of a Democratic-favored turnout” in a presidential election year than in a midterm like the one in which he led the GOP ticket in 2022.

    Earlier this week, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesperson told reporters the “Squad” member would not be challenging Gillibrand for the Senate seat in the next election.

    Lauren Hitt, Ocasio-Cortez’s spokesperson, told Politico Sunday that the representative will not throw her hat into the ring in 2024.

    “She is not planning to run for Senate in 2024,” Hitt said. “She is not planning to primary [Kirsten] Gillibrand.”

    Last month, Zeldin publicly endorsed Donald Trump for president despite previously calling for a “robust” primary field.

    “The GOP is filled with amazing talent to save our country from the failed policies of the Biden Admin. Our nominee in 2024 will be the 45th & 47th POTUS, Donald Trump,” he wrote.

    “Our economy will be stronger, our streets will be safer, & our lives will be freer. He has my full support!”

    Stacey Abrams’ Group Gave Millions to Law Firm Run by Her Campaign Chair

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    2
    Office of U.S. House Speaker, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams is in hot water once again.

    New reports indicate Abrams’ voting rights group Fair Fight Action has funneled millions of dollars to a law firm led by the chairwoman for Abrams’s gubernatorial campaign.

    According to The Washington Examiner, Fair Fight Action spent $9.4 million in 2019 and 2020 with Lawrence & Bundy, a boutique Atlanta law firm that counts Abrams’s campaign Chairwoman Allegra Lawrence-Hardy, a close friend of the candidate, as one of its two partners, according to the nonprofit group’s 2019 and 2020 IRS tax filings.

    There are no definitive reports to show how much Lawrence-Hardy’s firm has received from Fair Fight Action in 2021 and 2022. The organization has been involved in a legal fight against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) for the past years. Fair Fight Action filed the lawsuit after Abrams lost her 2018 gubernatorial bid to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, whom she is currently running against, claiming the secretary of state engaged in voter suppression. In September, U.S. district judge Steve Jones ruled against Abrams and found no evidence of voter suppression.

    “This is a win for all Georgia election officials who dedicate their lives to safe, secure and accessible elections,” Raffensperger said at the time. “Stolen election and voter suppression claims by Stacey Abrams were nothing but poll-tested rhetoric not supported by facts and evidence.”

    “Judge Jones’ ruling exposes this legal effort for what it really is: a tool wielded by a politician hoping to wrongfully weaponize the legal system to further her own political goals,” Kemp said in a statement celebrating the ruling.

    The $9.4 million that Lawrence & Bundy received accounts for over 37% of the roughly $25 million in legal fees that Fair Fight Action has racked up in the past two years, according to Politico, which first reported on the payments to Lawrence-Hardy’s law firm.

    Fair Fight Action raised over $61 million in 2019 and 2020 after being founded in 2018. At least one-third of that money has gone toward the lawsuit against Raffensperger, while $20 million has been put in cash reserves, tax records show. While there are eight separate law firms that worked on the case against the secretary of state, Lawrence & Bundy has earned the most in fees.

    Abrams and Lawrence-Hardy were classmates together at Georgia’s Spelman College, and Abrams graduated from Yale Law School three years after Lawrence-Hardy.

    Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist for the left-wing think tank Public Citizen, says that Abrams’s years-long friendship with Lawrence-Hardy represents a clear conflict of interest.

    Despite Abrams’s accusations of rampant voter suppression in the Peach State early voting data reports Georgians to have already broken records for early turnout. According to The Hill, Saturday’s turnout surpassed the 2020 election’s sixth day of early voting by 20 percent.

    The 79,682 voters who cast ballots on Saturday also marked a 159 percent increase from the first Saturday of early voting in the 2018 midterm elections, according to the Georgia secretary of state’s office.

    Georgia also smashed early voting on the first day polls opened last week, when 131,318 ballots were cast in-person, far above the 70,849 reported in 2018 and close to the 136,739 mark in 2020.

    “Early Voting is strong because Georgia’s voter registration system is strong,” said Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger in a statement. “Every eligible Georgian who wants to be registered to vote is registered to vote.”

    However, despite the record-breaking data Abrams is still claiming voter suppression is underway in Georgia.

    “In 2018, we had record turnout,” Abrams said in a press conference Monday. “We had record turnout that shattered records for Democrats among communities of color and in that same election … we know that 85,000 Georgians were denied their right to vote due to voter suppression tactics that shut down their precincts. We know that 50,000 voters had their right to vote held hostage by the exact match process which was proven to be voter suppression tactics. We know that thousands of people stood in lines for hours because of voter suppression tactics.”

    Senior Trump Adviser Says ‘Big Announcement’ will Proceed as Scheduled

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    9
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    While questions are still swirling over which party will control Congress and if the results will impact Donald Trump’s upcoming announcement a senior adviser says Americans should “buckle up” for next Tuesday.

    The adviser claimed that members of the media have “all moved in unison against Donald Trump at their own peril” after the GOP experienced less than stellar results from the midterm elections, according to NBC News.

    “It’s like they want to recreate 2015-2016,” the adviser said. “Let them. We are doing it again. Buckle up.”

    On Election Day eve, Trump teased a “big announcement” coming on November 15th and many people anticipate him to formally announce his third presidential campaign.

    However, while a Republican red tsunami was expected to sweep the midterm elections the results thus far have been disappointing as the GOP has yet to officially win a majority in either chamber. Some conservatives have blamed Trump’s interference as a major factor behind the lackluster results and have expressed hopes he will reconsider his announcement.

    Former House Speaker for the GOP, Newt Gingrich, stated on Wednesday that he believes Trump might be reconsidering his plans for 2024.

    “I mean, just in my own emails today, [with] the number of people who want somebody other than Trump who have decided, literally overnight, that person is going to be DeSantis, he’s going to find it almost impossible to avoid running,” Gingrich told Just the News. “I think Trump’s got to look at the results and be troubled.”

    Report: Nikki Haley Snags over 150K votes in Battleground State After Dropping Out

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
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    0
    The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley received more than 150,000 votes in the Pennsylvania GOP primary on Tuesday despite having dropped out of the race weeks ago. 

    The Hill reported the most recent election returns, from just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, show Haley with nearly 157,000 votes, enough for 16.6 percent of the total, with 90 percent of votes cast counted.

    Former President Trump still easily won the primary, with more than 80 percent of the vote as of the latest count, and he will win all of Pennsylvania’s delegates in the winner-take-all primary. But Haley’s total is still a significant amount for a candidate who has not been in the race since early last month. 

    Despite Haley’s popularity among Republicans the former South Carolina Governor, she was unable to take a commanding lead over Trump.

    Still, Haley on Tuesday appears to have reached or came close to 20 percent in several counties. Her showing may not have significantly impacted Trump taking the state on his way to officially becoming the Republican nominee, especially as he became the presumptive nominee last month after clinching enough delegates. 

    But it could indicate a reason for concern in the general election, in which Pennsylvania is one of the key battleground states that could determine the winner of the race. The polling average of the state from Decision Desk HQ/The Hill has Trump ahead of President Biden in the state by just 0.4 percent, meaning every vote may have added importance there compared to other states in November. 

    Haley has seen continued support over recent weeks in other states. She received more than 77,000 votes in the Georgia GOP primary in March a few days after she dropped out, more than 150,000 votes, or almost 20 percent, in the Washington Republican primary and more than 110,000 votes in the Arizona GOP primary.

    Trump Gives DeSantis Insulting New Nickname as 2024 Anticipation Builds

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    13
    Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    Even before the midterm elections have concluded former President Donald Trump is already drawing a line in the sand.

    As speculation builds that Trump is gearing up to formally announce his third presidential campaign this month the former president is wasting no time crushing his potential opponents, first singling out Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. (READ NEXT: Kellyanne Conway Drops Major Hint on Trump’s Impending 2024 Announcement)

    During a Pennsylvania rally, Trump awarded DeSantis a new nickname, “Ron DeSanctimonious”- one he’s likely not thrilled to receive.

    “We’re winning big in the Republican Party for the nomination like nobody’s ever seen before,” Trump told the crowd before listing other Republicans who could potentially challenge him in 2024.

    “There it is, Trump at 71 percent, Ron DeSanctimonious at 10%,” Trump told the crowd while reading approval numbers of various Republicans.

    Trump and DeSantis are widely considered to be the top contenders to receive the Republican 2024 nomination but it seems Trump is not ready to waste any time. DeSantis has maintained his sole focus on winning his gubernatorial re-election and has insisted he’s not considering a presidential run.

    There have also been reports of building tension between Trump and DeSantis camps for months as the former president has sought to squash any potential edge DeSantis may have in 2024. (READ NEXT: Trump Snubs DeSantis in Latest Campaign Stop Announcement)

    However, Trump’s nasty new nickname triggered some Republicans to come out of the woodwork and seemingly take sides.

    Surprisingly, Mike Pompeo who served as Trump’s Secretary of State seemed to side with DeSantis.

    “Not tired of winning. @GovRonDeSantis you’ve proven conservative policies work. Florida is better for it. Vote for @GovRonDeSantis,” Pompeo tweeted Saturday evening in an apparent dig at Trump.

    NYC Mayor ‘Welcomes’ Possible Trump Support After Corruption Indictment

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    2

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams is looking for support anywhere he can get it.

    Adams said he would “welcome support from every American” in response to a question from the Washington Examiner about whether he would accept former President Donald Trump’s favor.

    Trump recently said he had predicted Adams would be “indicted within a year” as the mayor called for federal government funds to deal with the city’s migrant crisis.

    “Listen, I welcome support from every American,” Adams said Tuesday at a press conference. “No matter where they are and who they are, I welcome support from every American. Those who know me and know how I am, and those who are just reading up on this. So every American in this great country, I welcome support from.”

    Trump’s comments last week suggested that he sympathized with the mayor.

    “I watched about a year ago when he talked about how the illegal migrants are hurting our city, and the federal government should pay us, and we shouldn’t have to take them,” the former president said. “And I said, ‘You know what? He’ll be indicted within a year,’ and I was exactly right.”

    Watch:

    An Adams spokesman believes press coverage of Adams’s remarks has been misguided.

    “This is a distortion of what the mayor said today,” Fabien Levy, Adams’s deputy mayor for communications, said in a social media post. “He never said he was looking for Trump’s support. Mayor Adams has said multiple times that he supports Kamala Harris for president. In fact, the mayor traveled to Chicago to support her historic nomination in August.”

    Adams was recently indicted on five corruption charges, including bribery and wire fraud, for his actions allegedly soliciting benefits from foreign nationals, namely Turkish government officials, in exchange for favors.

    New York City Mayor Eric Adams could be facing a bevy of new charges after being indicted last week in a federal corruption case. On Wednesday, prosecutors said that further counts are “quite likely” and that more defendants may be implicated.

    I Am Donald J. Trump. FEAR NOT! There are those who will do whatever it takes to stop us, but I will never stop fighting for you. I will never surrender! Your support means everything to me. Together, through our UNITY, we will Make America Great Again!

    Potential McCarthy Replacement To Appear On Two Ballots

    By
    admin
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    0
    Photo via Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A California appellate court ruled Republican candidate Vince Fong can legally appear on both the state and federal congressional ballots this fall.

    Fong, a mentee and ex-staff member for former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), is running for his boss’ vacant seat.

    Prior to McCarthy’s resignation, Fong also filed to run for reelection in the California State Assembly, where he represents the Bakersfield area.

    California Secretary of State Shirly Weber (D) attempted to keep Fong out of the Congressional race, since he’d already declared for the state-level position and California law bars candidates from appearing twice. But, a judge ruled in late December that Fong could run.

    The Hill has more:

    Superior Court Judge Shelleyanne Chang ruled that Weber’s determination was “inapplicable” to Fong and said he could run in the 20th Congressional District. Chang noted that the law only applied to independent candidates for Congress, not partisan primaries.

    The 3rd Court of Appeals agreed Tuesday, ruling that since Fong was not “seeking to utilize the independent nomination process,” the statute did not apply to him.

    “If the Legislature wants to prohibit candidates from running for more than one office at the same election, it is free to do so,” the judges wrote. “Unless and until it does so, however, we must take section 8003 as we find it and enforce it as written.”

    If Fong wins both elections, he would resign from the Assembly and head to Congress. A special election would be held to fill the Assembly vacancy in 2025, Fong spokesperson Ryan Gardiner told the Los Angeles Times.

    Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News.

    Nikki Haley Hits Back At Trump Cabinet Snub

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    6
    The White House from Washington, DC, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

    Former UN Ambassador Nikki Haley responded President-elect Donald Trump’s social media post over the weekend…

    Haley replied on X by highlighting her previous service, saying, “I was proud to work with President Trump defending America at the United Nations. I wish him, and all who serve, great success in moving us forward to a stronger, safer America over the next four years.” The reply received harsh criticism from Trump critics, which Haley noted as she said her family was frustrated that she didn’t make clear at the time she had told Trump aides she was not interested in a job.

    “I had no interest in being in his cabinet. He knew that,” Haley said on her SiriusXM show, Nikki Haley Live, adding:

    But to go a little further, his best friend, Steve Witkoff, came to our house in South Carolina, spoke to me and my husband, and basically wanted a truce between me and Donald Trump. And I told him at the time, there was no truce needed, that I had, that Trump had my support, there was no issue on my end.

    And at that point he was like, ‘What do you want? Tell me what you want. Is there anything you want?’ And I said, ‘There’s nothing I want.’ And there wasn’t anything I wanted. And then several weeks back I talked to Howard Lutnick, his transition director, and he asked, you know, if I knew of people that would be good in the cabinet, if there was any insight. And what I said is, I think it’s really important that Trump surround himself with people that are going to tell him the truth.

    And I, you know, mentioned someone that I thought would be good for Commerce Secretary and mentioned that I thought the UN Ambassador should be a cabinet pick. But I did not ask anything for me. And I have made it clear to everyone that I was not interested in the administration. So my husband and son were upset and said, ‘Why didn’t you say that in the tweet? Instead of just wishing him well?’

    Haley concluded by noting Trump’s social media post was nothing new to her, “And the truth is, I know the game he was playing. I don’t need to play that game.”

    “But more importantly, we have to look at the bigger picture. It is time to move on. It is time for us to focus on what America needs to do to be strong again, what America needs to do to be safe. The American people have spoken and spoken very loudly, and at this point, we should pray that President Trump does well. We should pray that everyone that he appoints does well. We should hope for the sake of our kids and generations to follow us, that all of this goes forward. So, you know, do I take it personally? No. That’s who he is. He can be shallow at times and I think he showed that. But I don’t have to be shallow. And at the end of the day, I’m very comfortable with where I am, and I’m comfortable with what happened,” she added.

    Watch:

    CNN Clashes With Trump Spokeswoman, Abruptly Ends Interview

    By
    admin
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    0
    CNN Headquarters via Wikimedia Commons

    On Monday morning, CNN anchor Kasie Hunt abruptly ended her interview with Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt. The interview aired during CNN’s “This Morning,” just three days before the network is set to host the first Trump-Biden debate on Thursday.

    Fighting Words From Team Trump

    The tension escalated when Leavitt accused the debate moderators, Dana Bash and Jake Tapper, of having a bias against President Trump.

    “That’s why President Trump is knowingly going into a hostile environment on this very network, on CNN, with debate moderators who have made their opinions about him very well known over the past eight years and their biased coverage of him,” Leavitt stated, previewing the upcoming debate.

    Visibly annoyed by Leavitt’s remarks, Hunt defended her colleagues. “I’ll just say my colleagues, Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, have acquitted themselves as professionals as they have covered campaigns and interviewed candidates from all sides of the aisle. I’ll also say that if you talk to analysts of previous debates, that if you’re attacking the moderators, you’re usually losing.”

    Fox News reports:

    After Hunt tried to steer the conversation back to the debate, Leavitt told Hunt that it would take just five minutes to research Tapper and his commentary on the former president. 

    “Ma’am, I’m going to stop this interview if you’re going to continue to attack my colleagues,” Hunt said. 

    After Leavitt argued she was stating facts about Bash and Tapper, Hunt cut the interview off, her voice rising as she went back to the panel.

    “I would like to talk about Joe Biden and Donald Trump, whom you work for,” Hunt said. When Leavitt continued, Hunt signaled to cut her off.

    “I’m sorry, guys, we’re going to come back out to the panel,” Hunt said, clearly fuming. “Karoline, thank you very much for your time. You are welcome to come back at any point. She is welcome to come back and speak about Donald Trump, and Donald Trump will have equal time to Joe Biden when they both join us later this week in Atlanta for this debate.”

    Thursday’s Debate: What You Need to Know

    The first 2024 presidential debate featuring President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump is scheduled for Thursday, June 27, at 9 p.m. (ET).

    CNN will host the event at their Atlanta studios, without a live studio audience.

    The debate will have strict rules. When one candidate isn’t speaking, their microphone will be muted. Each candidate will have only a pen, paper and water at their podium. There will be two commercial breaks during the 90-minute event.

    Viewers can watch the debate live on multiple platforms, including CNN, CNN International, CNN en Español and streaming on Max (formerly HBO Max). The debate is the first of two agreed upon by both campaigns, with the second one scheduled for September 10, hosted by ABC News.

    Article Published With The Permission of American Liberty News

    Kamala Reveals If She Would Appoint Republican To Cabinet If Elected

    By
    Madeleine Jackson
    -
    8
    Gage Skidmore Flickr

    A surprising turnaround…

    Vice President Harris said Thursday she would consider appointing a Republican to a Cabinet position if she wins the presidency in November.

    “I’ve got 68 days to go with this election, so I’m not putting the cart before the horse,” Harris told CNN’s Dana Bash. “But I would, I think. I think it’s really important.”

    Harris, who sat down with CNN for her first taped interview since becoming President Biden ended his campaign, told Bash that having a GOP official in her Cabinet would help her fulfill her pledge to be a president for all Americans. She did not name any individuals she would consider.

    “I think it’s important to have people at the table — when some of the most important decisions are being made — that have different views, different experiences,” Harris said. “And I think it would be to the benefit of the American public to have a member of my Cabinet who was a Republican.”

    A number of GOP Trump critics spoke at the Democratic convention in Chicago earlier this month, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan and former Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham.

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