Tag: GOP now as corrupt as Trump

It’s Illegal for Federal Officials to Campaign on the Job. Trump Staffers Keep Doing It Anyway.

It’s Illegal for Federal Officials to Campaign on the Job. Trump Staffers Keep Doing It Anyway.

President Donald Trump’s recent musings about staging his Republican National Convention speech at the White House drew criticism from government ethics watchdogs and even one Republican senator, John Thune of South Dakota.

The suggestion wasn’t an isolated blending of official presidential duties and the campaign. It was part of a yearslong pattern of disregarding such boundaries in the Trump White House. There is a law, called the Hatch Act, that prohibits most government officials from engaging in politicking in the course of their official work.

The law does not apply to the president or vice president. While other presidents took campaign advantage of the trappings of the office, something that came to be known as the “Rose Garden strategy,” they typically refrained from explicit electoral appeals or attacks on their opponents at official presidential events. Federal election law and measures governing appropriations prohibit using taxpayer dollars for electioneering. Continue reading.

Senate removes measure demanding campaigns report foreign election help

WASHINGTON – A measure requiring presidential campaigns to report any attempts by foreign entities interfering in U.S. elections was stripped by Senate Republicans as a condition of passing the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in a “backroom deal” Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA., said Tuesday.

The NDAA, which is being debated on the Senate floor this week, will include the Intelligence Authorization Act but not the amendment requiring campaigns to report foreign help to the proper authorities after that provision was stripped from the bipartisan defense bill.

Warner, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said Tuesday that his Republican colleagues had forced the deletion of the foreign assistance reporting provision as part of a condition to combine the intelligence legislation with the annual defense policy bill. Continue reading.

Where Are They?’: Biden Criticizes G.O.P. Over Trump’s Firing of Inspectors General

New York Times logoAt a virtual round table discussion, the former vice president said that defending the independent watchdogs “used to be a hobbyhorse for Republican senators.”

Former Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. on Wednesday blasted the Republican response to President Trump’s firings of a string of inspectors general in recent weeks, suggesting that in another era there would have been louder bipartisan criticism for ousting watchdogs.

His remarks, part of a virtual round table aimed at a Wisconsin audience, came several days after the president ousted Steve A. Linick, who led the office of the inspector general at the State Department — the latest inspector general Mr. Trump has removed.

The White House has said Mr. Trump fired Mr. Linick at the urging of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and Democrats have opened an investigation. Mr. Biden spoke in forceful terms about his disappointment in some of his former Republican colleagues. Continue reading.

Conservative group linked to DeVos family organizes protest of coronavirus restrictions in Michigan

AlterNet logoProtesters rallied around the country this week against stay-at-home orders forcing nonessential businesses to shut down, but Michigan’s governor warned that they may have backfired by creating “a need to lengthen” the lockdowns.

Protesters in at least six states planned to protest restrictions aimed at containing the spread of the new coronavirus this week. In Michigan, a conservative group linked to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ family organized “Operation Gridlock” to protest restrictions on nonessential businesses and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s recent order barring travel between homes. The state is among the hardest-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, reporting more than 27,000 confirmed cases and 1,909 deaths.

Some protesters, several of whom wore pro-Trump gear, gathered on the capitol steps as many remained in their cars. Demonstrators chanted “recall Whitmer” and “lock her up,” a chant normally usually used by Trump supporters in reference to his 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton. Continue reading.

Matt Gaetz rents office space from longtime friend and donor — at taxpayer expense

Gaetz’s relationship with a Pensacola real estate developer highlights how a friendship can become intertwined with congressional duties.

Florida GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz has spent nearly $200,000 in taxpayer funds renting an office from a longtime friend, adviser, campaign donor and legal client.

Both men said in separate interviews Gaetz paid below market rent for the space — although Gaetz later shifted, saying the rent was “at or below market rate.” House rules explicitly state such arrangements are not allowed.

The agreement between Gaetz and Collier Merrill, a Pensacola real estate developer and restaurateur, highlights how a decades-long relationship can become intertwined with a lawmaker’s congressional duties. On top of being Merrill’s tenant, Gaetz attended fundraisers at Merrill’s restaurants, sought his counsel on policy matters and tapped him as a validator for his work in Washington. Continue reading.

RNC Pays Mysterious Firm Operating From Office Of Disgraced Data Outfit

Last fall the Republican National Committee paid $900,000 for “data services” to a Delaware-registered limited liability corporation that had existed for only three weeks.

The company receiving the money has no online presence and has not been used by other campaigns or committees. But there is one clue about the company, Howler Insights LLC, in paperwork the RNC filed with the Federal Election Commission. Howler’s Arlington, Virginia, address and suite number are the same as a conservative data firm whose work for the RNC was placed on hold nearly three years ago after a massive data breach.

The incident left personal information such as voter registration details, names, addresses, phone numbers and potential ethnicities of about 200 million Americans accessible to anyone on the internet. At the time, the security consultant who identified the breach called it the “largest known data exposure of its kind.” Continue reading.

‘He Turned Purple’: U.S. Overlooks Ill Asylum Seekers

New York Times logoWhen the Trump administration rolled out its policy to force asylum seekers to wait in Mexico, officials said medical exemptions would help the sick. They haven’t.

MATAMOROS, Mexico — Maria Sam had lost count of her 9-year-old son’s seizures in the nearly three months since they applied for asylum in the United States but were told to wait on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.

But his most recent medical episode was enough to prompt Ms. Sam, who is from Guatemala, to pack up their few belongings and return to the border post to test the Trump administration’s “Remain in Mexico” asylum policy and its stated exemption for medical emergencies.

“Yesterday was the worst because he turned purple,” Ms. Sam said last Wednesday, as her son David clutched her jacket and they prepared to walk to the international bridge that connects this dangerous area of Mexico to Brownsville, Texas. “They had to call an ambulance and bring him to the hospital.” Continue reading.

Republican Party Mails ‘Intentionally Deceptive’ Fake Census Form

The official government forms for the 2020 U.S. census haven’t been mailed yet, but the Republican National Committee (RNC) is being slammed by critics for mailing out a mock-Census questionnaire that bears some resemblance to a census form.

The RNC questionnaire, according to Los Angeles Times reporter Sarah D. Wire, is labeled “2020 Congressional District Census” and contains “a lengthy questionnaire on blue-tinted paper similar to the type used by the real Census.” And RNC critics, Wire reports, view the forms as a dirty trick “designed to confuse people and possibly lower the response rate when the count begins in mid-March.”

“Unlike the official Census form,” Wire explains, “the RNC survey is largely made up of political questions, such as whether the respondent supports using military force against Iran, thinks race relations in the country are getting worse and believes ‘political correctness’ has gotten out of hand.” Continue reading.

GOP duo moves ahead with Biden investigation

The Hill logoA pair of influential GOP Senate chairmen are plowing ahead with a wide-ranging probe related to the Bidens and Ukraine, sparking a new round of tensions..

With the months-long impeachment fight in the rearview mirror, Republicans are hoping to speed up their investigation, which has included document requests related to work done by former Vice President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), one of the two GOP chairmen involved in the investigation, said he hoped the end of the impeachment trial would break the “logjam” on their requests for information. Continue reading.

Trump escalates campaign of retribution as Republican senators shrug

Washington Post logoPresident Trump escalated his campaign of retribution against his perceived impeachment enemies Tuesday, railing in the Oval Office about a decorated combat veteran who testified about the president’s conduct with Ukraine and suggesting the Defense Department should consider disciplining him.

“The military can handle him any way they want,” Trump said of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, who was ousted from his position on the National Security Council last Friday and reassigned to the Pentagon.

Asked whether he was recommending the military take disciplinary action against Vindman for his House testimony in the impeachment proceedings, Trump replied, “They’re going to certainly, I would imagine, take a look at that.” Continue reading.