Trump urged DOJ officials to call election corrupt ‘and leave the rest to me’

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Former President Trump pressured top Justice Department officials to call the 2020 presidential election results corrupt, according to documents released by the House Oversight and Reform Committee.

The documents are notes from former acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen’s deputy Richard Donoghue that were allegedly taken during a call between Trump, Rosen and Donoghue on December 27.

Donoghue wrote that he told Trump during the call that the DOJ could not change the outcome of the election, with Trump allegedly replying he understood that. Continue reading.

McCarthy claims he called Trump on Jan. 6 ‘because none of you would know unless you were in the Capitol’

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed Thursday that he called then-President Donald Trump on Jan. 6 because he would not have known about the riot otherwise.

McCarthy made the remarks to CNN correspondent Melanie Zanona.

“When I called the president, I was telling him about what was happening in the Capitol, because none of you would know unless you were in the Capitol,” McCarthy said. Continue reading.

Trump threatened to primary GOP lawmakers who favor the bipartisan infrastructure plan. 17 Republicans just voted to advance it, including Mitch McConnell.

Former President Donald Trump left no words unspoken in his most direct attempt yet to tank President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion infrastructure deal.

The GOP frontman threatened “lots of primaries” ahead for any Republican lawmakers who cooperated with Democrats to get the bipartisan deal passed.

His statement was released after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell announced ahead of the procedural vote in the Senate on Wednesday that he would vote to advance the measure. Seventeen Republicans — including McConnell — joined all 50 Democrats to advance the bipartisan legislation, in a major test for the bill. Continue reading.

Legal expert ‘totally convinced’ investigators will uncover if Republicans worked with militias on Jan. 6

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Speaking to MSNBC’s Ari Melber, Ackerman explained that he is “totally convinced” that if House members coordinated with the Three Percenters or Proud Boys online or on their phones that it will be found out and they will be prosecuted. 

Indeed, those alleged terrorists who have not been convinced and haven’t made a deal with prosecutors would have an opportunity to give up the Republican officials to save themselves. The only person that Republicans could “give up” for a deal would likely be Donald Trump. 

Both Melber and Ackerman supported the Justice Department’s decision not to defend Rep. Mo Brooks (R-AL) for his involvement in the January 6th rally that led to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. Tuesday, the House of Representatives counsel also said that they wouldn’t defend Brooks with taxpayer dollars. Continue reading.

Arizona’s GOP-backed ballot review has raised nearly $5.7 million in private donations, organizers say

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A private contractor conducting a Republican-commissioned review of 2020 presidential ballots in Arizona’s largest county announced late Wednesday that it has collected nearly $5.7 million in private donations to fund the process.

The controversial ballot review, which included a hand recount of Maricopa County’s nearly 2.1 million ballots and a review of ballot tabulating machines, has been underway since April. It was ordered by the state’s Republican-led Senate, which agreed to spend $150,000 in taxpayer money to fund the audit. But the Senate allowed Cyber Ninjas, a Florida-based firm hired to lead the process, to collect donations as well.

It has been clear for months that the lengthy ballot review, which was conducted by dozens of workers, some working nearly round-the-clock, was being largely financed by allies of former president Donald Trump. The newly released figures put that fact in sharp relief: More than 97 percent of the audit’s costs have so far been shouldered by donations from five organizations led by people who have promoted the false claim that the election was stolen. Continue reading.

Justice Dept. Warns States on Voting Laws and Election Audits

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The department said that auditors could face criminal or civil penalties if they flouted elections laws.

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department on Wednesday sent another warning shot to Republican state legislatures that have initiated private audits of voting tabulations broadly viewed as efforts to cast doubt on the results of the presidential election.

The department warned that auditors could face criminal and civil penalties if they destroy any records related to the election or intimidate voters in violation of the Civil Rights Act of 1960 and federal laws prohibiting voter intimidation.

The admonishment came in election-related guidance documentsissued as part of the department’s larger plan to protect access to the polls, announced by Attorney General Merrick B. Garland in June. Another document released on Wednesday outlined federal laws on how ballots are cast and said that the department could scrutinize states that revert to prepandemic voting procedures, which may not have allowed as many people to vote early or by mail. Continue reading.

Charlie Kirk’s pro-Trump youth group stokes vaccine resistance as covid surges again

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Turning Point USA and its affiliates are urging students to resist mandates and spreading baseless claims about ‘medical raids’ as part of a bid for donations

A young emergency room doctor stood before dozens of students in a Tampa convention center this month and gave them a script for resisting coronavirusvaccines.

“You say, ‘I’m 18 years old. I have no health conditions. Based on the five-year mortality data, I have a highly likelihood of dying from flu versus covid, and I don’t get the flu vaccine, so I’m not going to get this one,’” Sean Ochsenbein, a 33-year-old attending physician in Johnson City, Tenn., told students gathered for a summit hosted by the conservative youth group Turning Point USA, according to a recording of the session obtained by The Washington Post. “Drop the mic. You’re done. That’s it.”

That presentation is just one way the group led by Charlie Kirk, 27, has recently sought to rally young people against vaccine mandates. Continue reading.

Pandemic Aid Programs Spur a Record Drop in Poverty

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The most comprehensive study yet of the federal response to the pandemic shows huge but temporary benefits for the poor — and helps frame a larger debate over the role of government.

WASHINGTON — The huge increase in government aid prompted by the coronavirus pandemic will cut poverty nearly in half this year from prepandemic levels and push the share of Americans in poverty to the lowest level on record, according to the most comprehensive analysis yet of a vast but temporary expansion of the safety net.

The number of poor Americans is expected to fall by nearly 20 million from 2018 levels, a decline of almost 45 percent. The country has never cut poverty so much in such a short period of time, and the development is especially notable since it defies economic headwinds — the economy has nearly seven million fewer jobs than it did before the pandemic.

The extraordinary reduction in poverty has come at extraordinary cost, with annual spending on major programs projected to rise fourfold to more than $1 trillion. Yet without further expensive new measures, millions of families may find the escape from poverty brief. The three programs that cut poverty most — stimulus checks, increased food stamps and expanded unemployment insurance — have ended or are scheduled to soon revert to their prepandemic size. Continue reading.

As Trump pushed for probes of 2020 election, he called acting AG Rosen almost daily

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President Donald Trump called his acting attorney general nearly every day at the end of last year to alert him to claims of voter fraud or alleged improper vote counts in the 2020 election, according to two people familiar with the conversations.

The personal pressure campaign, which has not been previously reported, involved repeated phone calls to acting attorney general Jeffrey Rosen in which Trump raised various allegations he had heard about and asked what the Justice Department was doing about the issue. The people familiar with the conversations spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive legal and political issues that are not yet public.

Rosen told few people about the phone calls, even in his inner circle. But there are notes of some of the calls that were written by a top aide to Rosen, Richard Donoghue, who was present for some of the conversations, these people said. Continue reading.

$1.2 trillion “hard” infrastructure bill clears major procedural vote in Senate

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The Senate voted 67-32 on Wednesday to advance the bipartisan $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill. 

Why it matters: After weeks of negotiating, portions of the bill remain unwritten, but the Senate can now start debating the legislation to resolve outstanding issues.

  • It was the second time the chamber voted to invoke cloture on the legislation after the first vote failed last week. Continue reading.