One of Trump’s new lawyers declined to charge Bill Cosby. The other maintains Jeffrey Epstein was murdered.

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When Bruce L. Castor Jr. ran for district attorney in Montgomery County, Pa., in 2015, the campaign hinged on his decision years earlier not to charge comedian Bill Cosby with sexual assault. And after Castor lost the race, he sued the woman he blamed for the defeat: one of Cosby’s victims.

His suit, which was dismissed in 2018, made national headlines as the prosecutor who defeated him criminally charged Cosby, eventually sending him to prison.

Now, Castor is poised to represent another politician dismayed over a recent election loss: former president Donald Trump. Continue reading.

Democratic support for removing Greene from committees, House grows

Republican leaders mostly silent in wake of comments about space lasers

Democratic support for a resolution to expel Georgia Republican Marjorie Taylor Greenefrom the House is growing.

There are 61 Democratic co-sponsors on Rep. Jimmy Gomez’s resolution to remove Greene from Congress, according to Eric Harris, a spokesman for the California Democrat. Gomez hopes to introduce the resolution this week, possibly as early as Tuesday. 

Additionally, Florida Democrat Debbie Wasserman Schultz’s office on Monday afternoon circulated a resolution to remove Greene from her House committee assignments, on Education and Labor and on Budget. That resolution will be considered by the House Rules Committee on Wednesday, clearing its path for floor consideration and likely passage. Continue reading.

Trump legal switch hints at larger problems

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Former President Trump abruptly changed his legal team over the weekend, underscoring his difficulties in putting together a strong defense just a week before his impeachment trial is to begin.

The president announced late Sunday that his legal defense will be led by attorneys David Schoen and Bruce Castor, two figures involved in controversial cases in the past.

The two replace South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who had been connected to Trump with the help of Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) but reportedly differed with the ex-president over strategy for the trial. Continue reading.

DFL Party Ramps Up Year-Round Organizing Capacity

Hirings reflect DFL’s commitment to organizing & infrastructure building

SAINT PAUL, MINNESOTA – Today, the Minnesota DFL Party announced the hiring of four additional staffers to bolster the Party’s year-round organizing program and strengthen local infrastructure across Minnesota:

“I learned an incredibly important lesson from Senator Paul Wellstone’s campaigns: organizing wins elections,”said DFL Party Chairman Ken Martin. “This year, the DFL Party is investing heavily in grassroots organizing and building the infrastructure needed to ensure Minnesota stays blue in 2022. As a result of our commitment to grassroots organizing, the DFL Party has not lost a statewide election in the ten years I’ve served as Party Chairman, and these new hires will ensure we retain our edge going into next year’s crucial elections.”

The four new staffers joining the Minnesota DFL Party are:

  • Jess Bigirindavyi – Coalitions Director
  • Britta Moen – Rural Organizing Director
  • Bahea Manasra – Deputy Party Affairs & Training Director
  • Karen Velez-Barron – Office Manager
Continue reading “DFL Party Ramps Up Year-Round Organizing Capacity”

Minnesota cuts vaccine sites, adds doses for seniors

More doses to be diverted to those 65 and older via medical providers. 

Mass state COVID-19 vaccination sites will be reduced in Minnesota this week as more vaccine is steered to local medical providers who can reach out to more of their patients.

Gov. Tim Walz on Monday said 35,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine will be earmarked for senior citizens in Minnesota this week — the highest total so far — at more than 100 locations. That will include two permanent mass vaccination sites in Minneapolis and Duluth rather than the nine pilot sites spread across the state in each of the last two weeks.

The governor’s announcement called the strategy an “all-of-the-above approach” that gives vulnerable senior citizens access to vaccine through their local doctors but maintains some broader community events as well. Continue reading.

Robert Reich: The GOP’s COVID relief proposal isn’t a compromise. It would be a total surrender

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Ten Senate Republican have proposed a COVID relief bill of about $600 billion. That’s less than a third of Biden’s plan. They promise “bipartisan support” if he agrees.

Their proposal isn’t a compromise. It would be a total surrender. It trims direct payments and unemployment aid that Americans desperately need. Biden should reject it out of hand.

Republicans say America can’t afford Biden’s plan. “We just passed a program with over $900 billion in it,” groused Senator Mitt Romney. Continue reading.

Biden’s Approval Rating Is Trump’s in Reverse

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Support from a slim majority might be all President Biden can expect — and maybe it’s all he needs.

President Biden entered the White House last month with a broadly positive approval rating — but well shy of the two-thirds of Americans who expressed support for his former boss, Barack Obama, when he took office 12 years ago.

In fact, Biden’s net approval rating is lower than that of any incoming president since the dawn of modern polling, except for his predecessor, Donald Trump. It’s just another clear sign that we’ve entered a new era of partisanship: Media fragmentation and the hard-line politics it has helped foster may make it impossible for any leader to become a true consensus figure.

But it also bears noting that Biden’s approval rating is basically a reverse image of Trump’s. In addition to being loathed by Republicans and embraced by Democrats, he’s firmly in positive territory among independents — who had consistently disapproved of Trump’s performance. Continue reading.

Political legend Pete McCloskey compares ‘psychopath’ Trump to Hitler — and traces the GOP’s demise to Newt Gingrich

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If anyone ought to have perspective about the troubled state of American democracy, it’s Pete McCloskey.

Now 93, McCloskey had more than a front-row seat during the turbulent Vietnam era and the fall of President Richard Nixon. As a renegade Republican congressman, McCloskey called for Nixon’s impeachment over the Vietnam War in 1971, opposed him in the Republican primary in 1972 and was the first to demand his resignation during Watergate.

So McCloskey knows an outlaw president when he sees one. With the benefit of that experience and the wisdom of his years, does he see the need to view the reign of Donald Trump dispassionately as just a case of history repeating itself? Are people overreacting to the turmoil of recent times? Continue reading.

The Gerrymander Battles Loom, as G.O.P. Looks to Press Its Advantage

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With new census results coming, Republicans control redistricting in key states, while Democrats prepare for legal challenges and look to redraw some maps of their own.

WASHINGTON — With the election over and Democrats in control of the White House and both chambers of Congress, officials in both parties are bracing for a bruising new battle with a different balance of power: the redrawing of congressional maps, where Republicans hold the advantage in many state legislatures across the country, including in key battlegrounds.

Republicans hold total control of redistricting in 18 states, including Florida, North Carolina and Texas, which are growing in population and expected to gain seats after the 2020 census is tabulated. Some election experts believe the G.O.P. could retake the House in 2022 based solely on gains from newly drawn districts.

Already, Republicans are discussing redrawing two suburban Atlanta districts held by Democrats to make one of them more Republican; slicing Democratic sections out of a Houston district that Republicans lost in 2018; and carving up a northeastern Ohio district held by Democrats since 1985. Continue reading.

Growing extremist threats put more pressure on Biden

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With far-right domestic terror threats on the rise, experts are urging President Biden to go beyond his initial executive actions and ensure national security forces are better equipped to address homegrown threats.

Biden is coming under pressure to shift resources and boost intelligence sharing following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, when law enforcement agencies were caught flat-footed by hundreds of violent protesters who stormed the building in support of former President Trump.

And the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) last week warned that the U.S. may face heightened threats from “ideologically-motivated violent extremists.” Continue reading.