Trump wants to punish GOP critic — but he’s having trouble finding someone who can actually do it

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Donald Trump is laser focused on punishing Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) in a Republican primary race.

The ex-president’s advisers have been pressing potential challengers on their ability to raise money and the strength of their campaign organizations, hoping to find a single candidate to take down Cheney, reported Politico.

“Trump’s analysis is correct that we need to get it down to a two-person race, and at that point, the challenger is likely to win, based on the polling we’ve done,” said David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth. Continue reading.

Furious Trump demanded leaker who revealed he fled to his bunker during protests be executed: report

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According to Wall Street Journal reporter Michael Bender’s bombshell book, “Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost, a furious Donald Trump demanded that officials in his government find out who leaked the story that he fled to his bunker during the George Floyd protests in D.C. and wanted them tried for treason and then executed.

As the report notes, Trump, his wife Melania and son Barron were escorted to the bunker — news of which quickly made it to the press, which caused the president to blow up.

Bender reports the former president, “held a tense meeting with top military, law enforcement and West Wing advisers, in which he aired grievances over the leak.” Continue reading.

Speaker of the House? These delusional Trump sycophants are giving the former president false hope

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Former President Donald Trump departed the White House nearly six months ago and he still cannot accept defeat. To make matters worse, many of his loyal supporters are continuing to give him false hope about his future in politics. 

According to Politics USA, there are now rumors circulating about Trump possibly becoming Speaker of the House. The publication laid out a possible path that could get the former president back in a position of power.

“If Trump wanted to, he could easily win a Republican House seat in the state of Florida,” the publication wrote, adding, “And if Republicans won back the House at the same time, Trump could be elected into a leadership position, potentially even Speaker of the House.” Continue reading.

Cheney seen as merely first victim of Trump election attacks

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Former President Trump‘s false charge that the election was stolen has rattled the core of the GOP, sparking a nasty clash over who commands the soul of the party.

The baseless claims have launched a splinter group of disgruntled Republican officials and toppled a conservative icon, Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was ejected this week from the leadership ranks.

Cheney and party unity are unlikely to be the only casualties of Trump’s assault on last year’s election, however, according to a growing chorus of historians, political scientists, legal experts, pundits, and state and federal lawmakers. Continue reading.

What’s Trump’s endgame in his crusade against the election results?

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As far as Trump is concerned, power was taken from him, so power must be returned to him. That’s bonkers, but he doesn’t appear to care.

One of the principal GOP criticisms against House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney, R-Wyo. is that she’s been preoccupied with telling the truth about the 2020 presidential election. It’s a foolish argument for a variety of reasons, but it’s nevertheless at the heart of the effort to purge Cheney from her leadership post.

It was against this backdrop that Donald Trump — the one many congressional Republicans are desperate to impress and satisfy — published this item last night to his weird new blog.

“The major Michigan Election Fraud case has just filed a bombshell pleading claiming votes were intentionally switched from President Trump to Joe Biden. The number of votes is MASSIVE and determinative. This will prove true in numerous other States. All Republicans must UNIFY and not let this happen. If a thief robs a jewelry store of all of its diamonds (the 2020 Presidential Election), the diamonds must be returned.”

From there, the former president whined a bit about U.S. news organizations that “refuse” to buy into his conspiracy theories about his 2020 defeat. Continue reading.

‘Way past time for the straitjacket’: Trump ridiculed for RNC fundraiser speech meltdown

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According to reports from both Politico and the Daily Beast, former president Donald Trump went far off his prepared remarks at an RNC fundraiser on Saturday, spewing obscenities and attacking members of his own party while continuing to complain about the 2020 election having been stolen from him.

As the Daily Beast reported, “Predictably, Trump at times veered wildly off-scriptfrom his prewritten speech, the text of which was reviewed by The Daily Beast earlier in the day. While at the private event, he inveighed against Republican, Democratic, and celebrity enemies, and again denounced the 2020 presidential election outcome as ‘bullshit,’ according to those in the audience.”

Additionally, Trump lashed out at Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) — calling him a “son of a bitch” — and complained about former Vice President Mike Pence. Continue reading.

Here’s why a GOP congressman declared Trump ‘is losing it’ after latest broadside

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Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) has choice words about former President Donald Trump’s latest angry attack on Fox News’ Karl Rove and a number of other Republicans who have distanced from him. 

Shortly after Trump released his angry statement, Kinzinger took to Twitter with his response, in a post flagged by Newsweek. According to the Illinois lawmaker, Trump’s lengthy rank makes one thing clear: the former president is losing his mind. With Trump’s statement, Kinzinger tweeted, “Oh my Lord. He is losing it.”

Kinzinger’s mocking assessment of the unhinged former president came shortly after Trump turned heads with the emailed statement he sent to his supporters.While attacking Republican lawmakers who he believes betrayed him, Trump fired off at Fox News demanding that the news network fire Karl Rove. Continue reading.

New Rule Would Allow U.S. to Use More Methods for Executions

The rule, which would permit methods including firing squads and electrocution, comes as the administration rushes to execute five more prisoners before President Trump’s term ends.

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The Justice Department has created new regulations allowing for the use of more methods for federal executions, including firing squad and electrocution.

The new rule, which is scheduled to be published in the Federal Register on Friday, comes as the administration rushes to execute five more prisoners before the end of President Trump’s term. It is part of a spate of moves and rule-making processes before he leaves office.

Unlike in some of the final-hour decisions, the practical effect of the rule remains unclear. The Justice Department has not indicated that it plans to execute inmates by a manner other than lethal injection, which has been the only method of execution the federal government has used in decades. Although lethal injection has come under increasing legal assault, the Supreme Court has already rejected recent challenges to it presented by inmates on federal death row. And President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., who can rescind the rule, has signaled his opposition to the federal death penalty. Continue reading.

Scoop: Israeli military prepares for possibility Trump will strike Iran

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The Israel Defense Forces have in recent weeks been instructed to prepare for the possibility that the U.S. will conduct a military strike against Iran before President Trump leaves office, senior Israeli officials tell me.

Why it matters: The Israeli government instructed the IDF to undertake the preparations not because of any intelligence or assessment that Trump will order such a strike, but because senior Israeli officials anticipate “a very sensitive period” ahead of Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20.

  • The IDF’s preparedness measures relate to possible Iranian retaliation against Israel directly or through Iranian proxies in Syria, Gaza and Lebanon, the Israeli officials said. Continue reading.

John Bolton fears that Trump has an ‘enemies list’ that he is working through

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White House National Security Advisor Ambassador John Bolton talks to reporters Wednesday, May 1, 2019, outside the West Wing entrance of the White House. (Official White House Photo by Tia Dufour) Alex Henderson November 18, 2020

Critics of President Donald Trump predicted that after the presidential race, he would be firing some prominent officials he considered non-loyalists — even if he lost the election. Trump did lose the election, and just as those critics predicted, he has been firing non-loyalists — and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, during a C-SPAN appearance on Wednesday, told the Washington Post’s Robert Costa that he fears Trump has an “enemies list” of more people he plans to fire.

Trump’s post-election firings have included former Defense Secretary Mark Esper and Christopher Krebs, who served as director of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. Krebs’ unforgivable sin, in Trump’s mind, was arguing that the election was free and fair and that there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud or errors as the president has been claiming. Continue reading.