Political Wire

White House Claim of $250 Billion in Fraud Questionable

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“Since the White House formed a task force in March intended to combat fraud, top administration officials have repeatedly heralded its work, pointing to huge amounts of recovered payments and graft stopped in its tracks,” the New York Times reports.

Said Vice President JD Vance: “We found $250 billion of fraud just since the president made me the fraud czar.”

“Yet some of the numbers Mr. Vance and his task force have promoted are overstated or lack specificity, and rely on temporary pauses in funding as well as cases and actions that long predated President Trump’s second term… The task force also appears to be relying on claims of fraud that could not be verified or leaning on allegations of fraud that are being prematurely included.”

New Jersey Lt. Governor Will Resign

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New Jersey Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell (D) “will resign after a damning internal investigation substantiated allegations that he sexually harassed a female staffer and repeatedly violated state ethics rules, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed,” New Jersey Globe reports.

“Caldwell’s decision comes one day after Gov. Mikie Sherrill (D) called for his resignation and gave him until Friday to step down. His departure averts an unprecedented constitutional confrontation over how to remove a sitting lieutenant governor, an independently elected official whom the governor cannot simply fire.”

Mary Peltola’s Campaign Is Rocked by Tumult

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“National Democrats cheered when Mary Peltola, the former Alaska congresswoman, declared in January that she would run for the Senate,” the New York Times reports.

“Ms. Peltola, an Alaska Native who grew up fishing for salmon on the Kuskokwim River, was well-known and well-liked statewide, even by Republicans. Her party hailed her as one of its strongest prospects for ousting a Republican incumbent and winning control of the Senate.”

“But behind the scenes, her political operation has been marked by tumult, a pattern that stretches back to her time in Congress. Former aides describe angry and profane outbursts, sometimes directed at aides and sometimes expressed about others who had displeased her. In one instance, she shoved an aide… Another conflict led to a surprising staff shake-up on the eve of the primary election last month.”

Susan Collins Was Target of FBI Bribery Probe

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“The FBI was quietly investigating a bipartisan group of over a dozen lawmakers — including Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine — in connection with a sprawling pay-for-contracts bribery scheme. Then the Trump administration gutted the FBI’s public corruption unit,” Rolling Stone reports.

“According to a Tuesday report from ProPublica, the probe stemmed from a tell-all cooperation agreement between Martin Kao — the former CEO of the military contractor Navatek — and federal agents. Kao was indicted in 2022 on charges of making illegal campaign contributions, and according to ProPublica, informed the FBI of a nearly $1 million quid-pro-quo scheme that involved dozens of lawmakers.”

GOP Senator Pushes to Investigate Don Jr.

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“Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) is urging the Senate Judiciary Committee to open an investigation into Donald Trump Jr. and Hunter Biden, pressing the panel to uncover any conflicts of interest in their personal business dealings while their fathers were in office,” the Deseret News reports.

Said Curtis: “To me, it just stinks. It’s corruption. I don’t like it. I want to be careful because I don’t want to just talk about this passively. You’ll hear more from me later on. This is a big deal.”

Punchbowl News: “While there’s next to zero chance Senate Republicans would investigate the president’s son, it is very likely to upset President Donald Trump, who regards any questions about his family as out of bounds.”

Lauren Boebert Blasts Claim She Had Sex with 3 Staffers

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“Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) is lashing out at the people who repeated the details from an ethics ‘complaint’ against her alleging she had sex with three staffers, including two women,” the New York Post reports.

“The Colorado Republican emphatically denied the accusations, underscoring how they came from a political operative, David Wheeler, who has a history of peddling dubious accusations against her.”

Second Epstein Files Discharge Petition Has the Signatures

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“Reps. Thomas Massie and Ro Khanna announced Thursday that they have amassed enough signatures to bring a vote on a second bill to force the release of files related to the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein,” the Washington Sun reports.

“Four Republicans, including Massie, of Kentucky, Reps. Ralph Norman and Nancy Mace, both of South Carolina, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, have agreed to sign on to a discharge petition for a measure dubbed the Epstein Files Transparency Act II — joining every Democrat, Massie said in a social media post.”

House GOP’s Epstein Files Headache Is Back

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“The Epstein files fight that consumed the House last year is threatening to engulf Republicans all over again,” Axios reports.

“Why it matters: Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is now just one Republican away from having the support he needs to force another politically painful Epstein vote — and he and his allies are hunting for the final GOP signature.”

23-Year-Old Georgia Mayor Removed From Office

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“Lawmakers in an Atlanta suburb removed the city’s young mayor, accusing him of misusing a municipal credit card and engaging in inappropriate, sexually explicit communications with a teenager,” NBC News reports.

“The City Council of Stockbridge, Georgia, voted 3-0 to remove Jayden Williams, 23, from office about 10 months after he was elected.”

Ex-Fetterman Aides to ‘Expose’ Behind-the-Scene Details

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“Former staffers for Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) are threatening to expose what they say happened behind the scenes in his Senate office,” NewsNation reports.

“The group, which remains anonymous, operates an X account called ‘Former Fetterman Staffers.'”

“The account says it plans to release its first batch of stories and screenshots from former aides’ time working for the Pennsylvania senator.”

Pardon Brokers Offer to ‘Put Pressure On the President’

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CBS News: “There has never been such a dizzying pardon economy as there is in Washington right now — a Wild West of clemency populated by MAGA-connected brokers and influencers — where the old norms have been largely tossed aside.”

“Previously, those seeking clemency typically went through the Justice Department. More than two dozen DOJ lawyers weighed factors that often included an applicant’s remorse and evidence of rehabilitation, and recommended worthy recipients to the president. That process has been largely sidelined.”

Democratic Candidate Once Modeled for Fetish Sex Shop

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“Chris Gallant, the Democratic nominee running against Long Island Rep. Nick LaLota (R-NY) was previously involved in a very different kind of campaign: selling toys as a model for a fetish sex shop,” the New York Post reports.

“Gallant appeared in multiple pics for ‘Mr. S Leather,’ a San Francisco-based purveyor of leather-daddy supplies, wearing collars, leather straps, neoprene, bondage gear, and more.”

North Carolina GOP Rally Opened by Sex Offender

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“A pastor kicked off a recent campaign stop for Michael Whatley, the Republican nominee for Senate, with a prayer that asked God to bestow ‘integrity and honesty’ upon the event and to right wrongs ‘hammered down on the conservative movement,'” the Associated Press reports.

“The prayer was hardly unusual by North Carolina political standards. What was surprising was the man who delivered it. Pastor Daimon L. King is a registered sex offender, twice sentenced to prison for convictions involving children, according to state and court records.”

Misconduct Inquiry Gives Mikie Sherrill Another Headache

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“New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, a rising star in the Democratic Party, is facing the second major political headache of her first year in office after opening an investigation examining allegations surrounding her lieutenant governor,” the Wall Street Journal reports.

“Sherrill has hired an outside law firm to probe allegations that Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell was behaving inappropriately with women. That probe has been under way for months, according to a person interviewed by attorneys with the firm, but wasn’t made public at the time.”

About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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