Category: US House

How the Justice Department came to investigate Rep. Matt Gaetz

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The missive arrived at an Orlando-area preparatory school in October 2019, outlining a damaging allegation against a music teacher there.

The teacher, in the letter’s telling, had had an inappropriate sexual relationship with the purported student who had written it. And the writer claimed to offer proof: private Facebook messages in which the teacher, Brian Beute, told his alleged victim: “Please remember to keep this a secret. I could go to jail.”

Beute, who had recently announced his candidacy in the local tax collector’s race, knew the allegation was a lie, as investigators quickly determined. But what he could not foresee is how the ploy to sabotage his run for local office would drag the seedy politics in Seminole County, Fla., into the national spotlight and put a U.S. congressman with close ties to former president Donald Trump in the crosshairs of a Justice Department investigation. Continue reading.

House Republican proposes constitutional amendment to prevent Supreme Court expansion

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Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the head of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, introduced a proposed constitutional amendment on Thursday to maintain the size of the Supreme Court at nine justices.

The amendment, which has no path to succeed with Democrats controlling both chambers of Congress, is a response to a bill introduced by Democrats that proposes expanding the size of the Supreme Court from nine justices to 13.

“The Supreme Court must faithfully interpret the Constitution. We cannot allow it to fall victim to partisan attempts to pack it with far-left radicals,” Biggs said in a statement. “This desperate power-grab by Democrats will only further divide our Nation. I will not stand for a ‘Supreme Coup’ of our highest court.” Continue reading.

17 requests for backup in 78 minutes


A reconstruction shows how failures of planning and preparation
left police at the Capitol severely disadvantaged on Jan. 6

New bill would combat right-wing ‘assault’ on democracy — and change the Supreme Court forever

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Democrats in the House and Senate on Thursday are planning to introduce legislation to expand the number of seats on the U.S. Supreme Court from nine to 13, a proposal hailed by progressive advocacy groups as a critical step in combating the conservative takeover of the high court and protecting key constitutional rights.

Led by Reps. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), and Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) in the House and Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) in the upper chamber, the Judiciary Act of 2021 is set to be unveiled just days after President Joe Biden signed an executive order forming a 36-member commission tasked with studying potential Supreme Court reforms, including expansion.

But Demand Justice executive director Brian Fallon said in a statement late Wednesday that “we cannot afford to wait six months for an academic study to tell us what we already know: the Supreme Court is broken and in need of reform.” Continue reading.

Watchdog: Capitol Police need ‘culture change’

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The Capitol Police’s internal watchdog will testify before lawmakers Thursday about how the police force failed to prepare for the mob attack on Jan. 6 despite warnings ahead of time of possible violence. 

The report from the Capitol Police’s inspector general, Michael Bolton, paints a picture of a police force that failed to disseminate critical warnings about the insurrection to top leaders and even take basic measures to properly maintain equipment that could have helped protect officers from the violent mob.

Bolton is expected to tell lawmakers on the House Administration Committee that the Capitol Police needs a fundamental “culture change” to adequately protect the seat of American democracy and prevent another deadly attack. Continue reading.

Inspector general cites glaring problems within Capitol Police

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House Administration Committee on Thursday will hear from IG himself

The Capitol Police department needs to restructure its civil disturbance unit and overhaul its intelligence operation, glaring problems that hampered the department’s ability to secure the Capitol during the attack on Jan. 6.

The summary of Capitol Police Inspector General Michael A. Bolton’s findings, obtained by CQ Roll Call, illustrates a department woefully unprepared for the deadly pro-Trump insurrection, including a lack of training and operational planning deficiencies. Bolton will appear Thursday before the House Administration Committee to discuss his work.

Bolton, in his prepared testimony, says the department needs to undergo a fundamental culture transformation. Continue reading.

GOP Says Kamala Harris Is MIA On Immigration As She Announces Mexico Trip

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A stunt from House Republican Whip Steve Scalise, involving a milk carton with the vice president’s face on it, didn’t really work out.

House Republican leaders on Wednesday accused Vice President Kamala Harris of being absent on immigration matters ― even showing up to a press conference with a milk carton with Harris’ face on it, declaring her “missing” at the border.

One problem: At the same time, Harris was holding a White House meeting on immigration and announcing her plans to visit Mexico and Guatemala.

With that milk carton in hand, House GOP Whip Steve Scalise (La.) demanded to know why Harris, who President Joe Biden recently tapped to examine the root causes of migration at the Mexican border, wasn’t personally visiting the region.  Continue reading.

House committee approves DC statehood bill

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The House Oversight and Reform Committee approved legislation on Wednesday that would make Washington, D.C., a state, sending the measure to the House for a vote later this month. 

The House Oversight and Reform Committee passed H.R. 51, also known as the Washington, D.C., Admission Act, in a 25-19 party-line vote.

The legislation, which has 215 co-sponsors, is likely to pass the House on a narrow, party-line vote, with all Republicans voting against it. Continue reading.

Federal prosecutors will not bring charges in Ashli Babbitt death

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Federal prosecutors said Wednesday that they would not file charges against the U.S. Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt during the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.

Babbitt, who was 35, was one of the five people who died as a result of the riot as supporters of former President Trump overran the Capitol while Congress was preparing to certify President Biden‘s Electoral College victory.

Her shooting was captured on video just outside the House chambers where a crowd was trying to make its way past police. Continue reading.

‘I haven’t seen him’: Matt Gaetz skips GOP conference meeting where lawmakers pretend he doesn’t exist

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Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) reportedly skipped a weekly Republican conference meeting on Wednesday where lawmakers declined to discuss the allegations against him.

Gaetz has been linked to a Department of Justice investigation into sex trafficking and other allegations.

CNN’s Manu Raju first reported that Gaetz had not shown up for the weekly meeting. Raju noted that Gaetz was not discussed at the meeting. Continue reading.