Political Wire

Trump Paid $12.6 Million to January 6 Rally Organizers

June 17, 2022 at 2:58 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former President Donald Trump’s political operation and Republican Party committees have paid over $12.6 million to individuals and firms that organized the Jan. 6, 2021, rally that preceded the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol since the start of the 2020 election,” OpenSecrets reports.

“The full extent of the payments from the Trump campaign political operations to rally organizers during the 2020 election and around the rally in early 2021 remains a mystery because the campaign’s top vendor was American Made Media Consultants LLC, a firm created by Trump campaign aides to act as a clearinghouse for its spending.”

“Trump’s campaign and joint fundraising committee routed more than $771 million through the firm, hiding details of those payments.”

Let Joe Be Joe

June 17, 2022 at 2:43 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Former Sen. Doug Jones (D-AL) told Chuck Todd he wishes President Joe Biden’s staff would let the president face the public more often, despite any fears about “gaffes.”

Said Jones: “He wears that office very well, he can be very presidential, but I think they overcorrected. And I think they need to let Joe be Joe.”

2022 Primary Review

June 17, 2022 at 2:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Just for members: The latest edition of Inside Elections.

This issue includes a deep dive into Iowa’s 3rd District, which is one of Republicans’ best takeover opportunities in the country.

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January 6 Panel Could Start Sharing Transcripts in July

June 17, 2022 at 1:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack could start sharing some transcripts of witness interviews with federal prosecutors as early as next month as Justice Department officials ratchet up public pressure on the panel to turn over the documents,” the New York Times reports.

“Negotiations between Justice Department officials and Timothy J. Heaphy, the lead investigator for the House panel and a former federal prosecutor, have intensified in recent days, as the two sides wrangle over the timing and content of the material to be turned over.”

Martin Heinrich Calls Out Election Deniers

June 17, 2022 at 1:40 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-NM) “is sounding the alarm over the move by rural Otero County in his state not to certify its primary election results,” Politico reports.

Said Heinrich: “We have to get back to a place where elections are won and lost on math. It is very, very deeply dangerous to democracy for counties or any other certifying agency to start making this political. We lose everything if our elections are not based on math. And, frankly, it robs the people of their will. And it is deeply undemocratic.”

“One of the members of the three-member county commission tasked with certifying the election results will be sentenced on Friday for his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.”

DeSantis Reverses Course on Covid-19 Vaccines for Kids

June 17, 2022 at 1:26 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) “is now allowing healthcare providers, including pediatricians and children’s hospitals, to order COVID-19 vaccines from a federal program for children between six months and 5 years old, a reversal from earlier this week,” McClatchy reports.

“State health facilities will still not be placing orders for vaccine doses.

TikTok User Data Has Been Accessed From China

June 17, 2022 at 1:09 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“For years, TikTok has responded to data privacy concerns by promising that information gathered about users in the United States is stored in the United States, rather than China, where ByteDance, the video platform’s parent company, is located,” BuzzFeed News reports.

“But according to leaked audio from more than 80 internal TikTok meetings, China-based employees of ByteDance have repeatedly accessed nonpublic data about US TikTok users — exactly the type of behavior that inspired former president Donald Trump to threaten to ban the app in the United States.”

Ex-Trump Aide Navarro Pleads Not Guilty

June 17, 2022 at 11:25 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Former Trump White House official Peter Navarro pleaded not guilty Friday to contempt of Congress charges after refusing to cooperate with a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol,” the AP reports.

“U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta scheduled a trial for November. Navarro’s lawyers asked for the trial to be held next year, saying the case presented constitutional and legal questions that need to be litigated.”

Iowa Supreme Court No Longer Recognizes Abortion Rights

June 17, 2022 at 11:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Iowa’s Supreme Court ruled Friday that abortion rights are not protected by the state constitution, a move that paves the way for lawmakers to ban future abortions in the state, the Des Moines Register reports.

U.S. Border Arrests Rose to Record High in May

June 17, 2022 at 11:05 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Immigration arrests along the U.S. southern border rose in May to the highest levels ever recorded, as growing numbers of migrants arrived from Turkey, India, Russia and other nations outside the Western Hemisphere,” the Washington Post reports.

Democrats Have Stopped Listening

June 17, 2022 at 11:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Ed Luce: “As Ruy Teixeira, a veteran political scientist, says: the Democratic brand is ‘somewhere between uncompelling and toxic to wide swaths of American voters, who might potentially be their allies.’ The fact that Teixeira is saying this ought to make Democrats take notice. He was co-author of the seminal book, The Emerging Democratic Majority, which argued that racial trends would make Democratic rule inevitable. This remains an article of faith among election consultants. Yet Texieira has changed his mind. How could Democrats be alienating the people it needs to win?”

“A big part of the answer is that they have stopped listening to ordinary voters.
This would be less of a problem were the party’s leadership a cross-section of US society. But its upper echelons are dominated by a white college-educated activist class that is used to talking with itself. The days of knocking on the doors of potential new voters are largely over. Since Barack Obama’s time, Democrats have been wedded to a digital model that downplays old-fashioned engagement. This detaches the party from reality.”

YouTube Deletes January 6 Video with Clip of Trump Lying

June 17, 2022 at 10:37 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“The House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 riot has been trying to draw more eyes to its televised hearings by uploading clips of the proceedings online. But YouTube has removed one of those videos from its platform, saying the committee was advancing election misinformation,” the New York Times reports.

“The excerpt, which was uploaded June 14, included recorded testimony from former Attorney General William Barr. But the problem for YouTube was that the video also included a clip of former President Donald Trump sharing lies about the election on the Fox Business channel.”

Mike Pence Wasn’t Watching January 6 Hearing

June 17, 2022 at 10:31 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“As the House committee investigating the 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol focused almost entirely Thursday on the role Mike Pence played in averting a constitutional crisis, the former vice president was far from Washington,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Rather than watch the hearing, Mr. Pence was in Ohio, campaigning for Gov. Mike DeWine and a Republican congressman—the latest step in a carefully managed re-emergence onto the national political scene as he appears to lay the groundwork for a 2024 presidential campaign.”

Many Independents Still Undecided on Midterms

June 17, 2022 at 10:11 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new USA Today/Suffolk Poll finds that independent voters now say they would vote for the Republican over the Democrat for Congress, 32% to 27%.

But 40% are undecided, a sign that these key voters haven’t yet made up their minds, or perhaps haven’t yet focused on the election.

Biden’s Approval Stuck at Dismal 39%

June 17, 2022 at 10:10 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new USA Today/Suffolk Poll shows the country in a funk, and one that sets a problematic political landscape for Democrats in the November elections that are approaching fast.

Key takeaway: Only 39% of Americans approve of the job Biden is doing as president. A stunning 47% ‘strongly’ disapprove; just 16% ‘strongly’ approve.”

Also important: “71%, say the United States is on the wrong track; 16% say it’s headed in the right direction. Even most Democrats say the country is on the wrong track, 46% to 34%.”

Vaccines Authorized for Young Children

June 17, 2022 at 10:00 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

The FDA authorized both the Moderna and Pfizer coronavirus vaccines for the nation’s youngest children, the New York Times reports.

Belief In God Dips to New Low

June 17, 2022 at 9:57 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Gallup poll finds the number of Americans who believe in God has dropped to the lowest level in the 78 years of asking the question.

That said, 81% of U.S. adults say they believe in God.

Bonus Quote of the Day

June 17, 2022 at 9:55 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“Saying I hide my children because I don’t discuss them with reporters to win a campaign? That’s outrageous. I can take the heat, that’s politics — but leave my kids alone.”

— Georgia U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker (R), quoted by the Washington Post, after reporters discovered he has three more children than he’s admitted.