Tag: Sen. Kennedy

Whitehouse and Kennedy request Supreme Court travel records

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Request is part of a deeper review of senior government officials’ disclosures

Two key senators want travel records of Supreme Court justices as part of a broader congressional look at financial disclosure standards for the receipt of gifts, travel and other financial gains by senior government officials.

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and Louisiana Republican Sen. John Kennedyasked the Justice Department and the U.S. Marshals Service last week for information and documents about the last 10 years of trips for members of the high court.

The Supreme Court Police handles protection for the justices in the Washington metropolitan area. But the justices can request security from the Marshals Service, which is part of the Justice Department, for other domestic travel. Continue reading.

GOP Sen. Kennedy cuts off Stacey Abrams after she buried him in troubling facts about the Georgia voting law

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During a remote hearing this week, Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana asked Georgia-based Democratic organizer Stacey Abrams to voice her objections to her state’s controversial new voter suppression law, the so-called Election Integrity Act of 2021. And her list was a long one.

Abrams told Kennedy, “It shortens the federal runoff period from nine weeks to four weeks. It restricts the time a voter can request and return an absentee voter ballot application. It requires that a voter have a photo identification or some other form of identification that they’re willing to surrender in order to participate in the absentee ballot process.”

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‘I’m not going to let you do this’: CNN anchor shuts down Republican’s attempt to dodge Trump’s lies

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If you haven’t heard, this Donald Trump guy doesn’t seem to be a particularly good guy. He doesn’t seem to be a particularly competent guy. Frankly, he seems like he’s bad for our country. Hold on while I set fire to my possessions for fear I catch and spread the very real United States coronavirus pandemic. As former journalist turned celebrity political author Bob Woodward releases excerpts and audio recordings of President Trump to promote Woodward’s new book, the public is once again being treated to information we already knew, just coming out of the pedestrian mouth of the Donald himself.

Republican Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana has made a name for himself as a slow-talking craven insect of a politician. Whether he is defending the Confederacy, or promote pro-Putin conspiracy theories on the Sunday shows, or blaming China and Mardi Gras drinking for the spread of the coronavirus in Louisiana, Sen. Kennedy has shown himself to not only be a foolish mind, but also a truly shameless one.

Kennedy came on CNN to talk with anchor Pamela Brown about the day’s news. Brown’s opening question to Kennedy was whether or not Trump’s admission that he “downplayed” the threat of the virus—literally calling it the “new Democratic hoax”—was “acceptable to you?” Kennedy gave a nice via satellite pause before beginning on-brand dumb: “You’re talking about the Woodward book?” Oh, man. Wow. It is literally the reason he is on the show, to be asked his thoughts on a Republican leader who has been recorded admitting to misleading the public about the then-impending public health crisis. A crisis that has claimed hundreds of thousands of American lives, and will potentially take hundreds of thousands more American lives. Continue reading.

GOP senator says people are ‘enjoying’ pandemic because they ‘hate America’

Sen. John Kennedy told people who want to keep schools closed to kiss his ass.

Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) claimed on Monday that many people only want to keep schools closed during the coronavirus pandemic for political gain.

“America’s going through a rough patch right now,” Kennedy told Fox News. “Some people seem to be enjoying it. Maybe they just hate America. Maybe they just enjoy watching the world burn. I think some are liking the chaos because they think it gives them a political advantage.”

Kennedy argued that schools need to be reopened fully because “for many of our kids, keeping these schools closed is gonna hurt them far worse than the coronavirus can.” He listed a number of countries that already reopened schools and suggested that America can do so as well. Continue reading.

Folksy John Kennedy gets serious pushback on Ukraine mess

The Louisiana Republican has pushed a discredited theory that Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election.

Sen. John Kennedy has long been known as a folksy, straight shooter on Capitol Hill. But now his legacy may be something else altogether: The guy who spread a debunked conspiracy theory about Ukraine.

As the House moves forward with its impeachment inquiry, President Donald Trump’s staunch allies have attempted to shift the focus to Ukraine. And Kennedy has emerged as the most prominent senator in this process, making Sunday show appearances that have perplexed his Senate colleagues by offering some level of equivalency between Russian and Ukrainian influence in 2016.

“I draw a completely different conclusion from his,” Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said. “And it’s my understanding he has now changed his mind a bit. But as a member of the Intelligence Committee I have seen no evidence at all that the Ukrainians were involved. And indeed it is more likely that this is part of Russian disinformation campaign, in my judgment.”

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Trump Praises Sen. Kennedy For Spreading Kremlin Propaganda

Donald Trump on Monday thanked a Republican senator for appearing on national television and spreading Russian propaganda.

“Thank you to Great Republican @SenJohnKennedy for the job he did in representing both the Republican Party and myself against Sleepy Eyes Chuck Todd on Meet the Depressed!” Trump tweeted Monday morning, referencing Kennedy’s appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press” with host Chuck Todd.

In his appearance, Kennedy wrongly claimed that Ukraine was “meddling in our elections.”

Continue reading here.

The more love Always Trumpers show, the more dangerous Trump becomes

Washington Post logoYou’ve heard of the Never Trumpers. That’s the president’s catchall slur for anyone who criticizes him or at least accurately attests to something unsavory he’s done.

But let’s talk instead for a moment about the true risk to our democracy: the Always Trumpers. These are people such as Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.) and even the once-reasonable-sounding Rep. Will Hurd (R-Tex.), who excuse away any evidence of impeachment-worthy misdeeds no matter how damning.

The Always Trumpers represent a sprawling group of lackeys and co-conspirators, willing to aid, abet and (most importantly) adore President Trump no matter what he’s credibly accused of. Come hell or high crimes, Always Trumpers always truckle to Trump.

Continue reading here.

NBC’s Chuck Todd accuses GOPer John Kennedy of being ‘duped’ by Russia and spreading their propaganda in contentious interview

AlterNet logoIn a fairly contentious interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” host Chuck Todd accused Sen. John Kennedy (R-LA) of being “duped”  by the Russians and spreading their propaganda about Ukraine in order to help Donald Trump.

According to Kennedy, who has been under fire for pushing the Ukraine 2016 election conspiracy theory, “I think both Russia and Ukraine meddled in the 2016 election. I think it’s been well documented in the Financial Times and Politico and The Economist and the Washington Examiner, even on CBS that the prime minister of Ukraine, the interior minister, the Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, the head of the Ukrainian anti-corruption league all meddled in the election on social media and otherwise. They worked with the DNC operative against the president.”

Todd pushed back by citing testimony from diplomat Fiona Hill stating, “This entire effort to frame Ukraine for the Russian meddling of 2016, of which you just made this case that they’ve done it, that actually this is an effort of Russia propaganda, that this is a Russian intelligence propaganda campaign in order to get people like you to say these things about Ukraine. Are you at all concerned you are doing Russian intelligence work here?”

Continue reading here.

Kennedy defends calling Pelosi ‘dumb’ at Trump rally

“I didn’t mean it as disrespectful at all,” Kennedy said

GOP Sen. John Kennedy defended calling Speaker Nancy Pelosi“dumb” at a rally with President Donald Trump in his home state of Louisiana Wednesday evening.

“I didn’t mean it as disrespectful, I didn’t mean it as disrespectful at all,” Kennedy said Thursday.

View the November 7 article with video by Thomas McKinless on The Roll Call website here.

The ‘Maverick’ and the ‘Lion’

The following column by Tom Perez was posted on the ABC News website August 28, 2018:

Sen. Ted Kennedy jokingly holds the Profile in Courage award as if he intends to keep it, as co-winner, Sen. John McCain, right, reacts during a ceremony at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, May 24, 1999. Credit: Elise Amandola, AP, file

My former boss, Ted Kennedy, died nine years to the day before Sen. John McCain passed away of the same disease. The two were famously close friends —— lawmakers who rose above the petty resentments of party tribalism to respect and love one another based on their shared passion for public service.

Ted Kennedy is not here today to honor his dear friend in the same way that Sen. McCain honored him when he passed away. But as chair of the Democratic Party, I want to take the opportunity to honor Sen. McCain. Not because I agreed with every policy position he took, but because, like Senator Kennedy, he was guided by a loyalty to public service and the American people.

When I was nominated to serve as President Obama’s labor secretary in 2013, Democrats controlled the U.S. Senate by a slim margin. I needed every Democrat and six Republicans to vote in the affirmative to clear the cloture hurdle before I could be confirmed. The rift between left and right seemed insurmountable. But then, there was always John McCain.

View the complete article here.