These Kentucky Republicans attempt an unlikely bulwark to Trump
Rep. Thomas Massie (R) served as the most vociferous GOP critic of the massive tax-and-border bill that passed the House on May 22 by a single vote, the latest in a string of votes against Trump's wishes.
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Yahoo
12 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Obama, sedition and Trump's urgent need to distract
To any American with an extremely short memory or perhaps a desire only to see the world through Donald Trump's eyes, the recent memo from Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard and the call from President Trump to investigate former President Barack Obama over the memo's claims of 'treasonous conspiracy' over claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election must be alarming. Talk of 'overwhelming evidence' and a 'yearslong coup,' 'seditious conspiracy' and 'treason' sure sound pretty serious. Well, they do until you quickly review your notes and recognize that A, President Trump has an urgent need for distraction given his ties to Jeffrey Epstein and the administration's failure to — despite big promises to the conspiracy-hungry during the presidential campaign — release details of the investigation into the late American financier and sex offender. And B, this is a subject that has been investigated to death with no fewer than four official inquiries, including a 2020 U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee report (written while the GOP had Senate control) and the special report authored by Trump-appointed special counsel John Durham that came out in 2023. And what did they find? There was ample reason to worry about Russian interference in the 2016 race, and it was clear the Kremlin didn't want Democrat Hillary Clinton in the Oval Office. Was then-candidate Trump complicit in these efforts? Nope, not in a manner those various investigators could prove. But Russian interference? There was ample evidence of computer hacking, of digging through emails and of using intermediaries to undermine Clinton (remember WikiLeaks?). Or how about simply remembering Robert S. Mueller III? The special counsel indicted a dozen Russians, none of whom has ever stood trial because they could not be extradited. Even then-U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (now Trump's U.S. secretary of state) observed that interference signing off on that 2020 report, which concluded 'the Russian government inappropriately meddled in our 2016 general election in many ways but then-Candidate Trump was not complicit.' Hopefully, most people aren't taking these claims of treason seriously. They serve only to diminish Trump and Gabbard. Think those criminal referrals Gabbard has sent to the U.S. Department of Justice will result in a successful prosecution? Even Las Vegas will surely refuse wagers on that long shot. Those who still harbor doubts can go peruse those various reports (and their thousands of pages of findings). The rest of us will just have to be content to recognize that the current president and his cronies lie like rugs when it serves their purpose. Peter Jensen is an editorial writer at The Baltimore Sun; he can be reached at pejensen@
Boston Globe
13 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump really wants to stop talking about Epstein: A timeline
July 22 In his most recent attempts to redirect the conversation from Epstein, the president has unleashed a barrage of attacks against former President Barack Obama — an old but reliable target for Trump. For years, Trump promoted the lie that Obama was not legitimately elected because he was not born in the United States, a publicity stunt that significantly raised his profile in the Republican Party before his 2016 run for president. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up On Tuesday, during a meeting with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. of the Philippines on trade issues, Trump accused Obama of treason, and said that the time had come for his opponents to face criminal charges. Advertisement Later that evening, during a reception with Republican members of Congress, Trump renewed his attacks against Obama, falsely claiming he had used deception in the 2016 election. He also plainly stated his intent to use the attacks against the former president as a means to distract reporters and deflect from negative news coverage, suggesting to his fellow Republicans that they respond to 'inappropriate' questions by reporters by saying, 'Oh by the way, Obama cheated on the election.' Advertisement July 20 On Sunday, Trump spent the day posting on social media about pretty much everything other than Epstein. He started by celebrating strong poll numbers, then went on to urge the Washington Commanders football team to take back its old name, the Redskins. (In another post, he threatened to derail a deal for the NFL team to build a new stadium in Washington, D.C., if it did not comply.) 8:07 a.m. My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain 'troublemakers.' 10:17 a.m. The Washington 'Whatever's' should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. Later that afternoon, he resorted to attacking longtime political foes such as Sen. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and posted a fake video of Obama being arrested in the Oval Office. He also posted a three-minute compilation video of stunts. An hour later, he was back to political attacks, this time targeting Samantha Power, the former administrator of the United States Agency for International Development. 2:03 p.m. Adam Schiff is a THIEF! He should be prosecuted, just like they tried to prosecute me, and everyone else. 7:56 p.m. HOW DID SAMANTHA POWER MAKE ALL OF THAT MONEY??? July 17 Following The Wall Street Journal's report that Trump sent a letter with a lewd drawing to Epstein for his birthday decades ago, Trump fired off a number of posts on Truth Social that follow a well-worn playbook for responding to reporting he disagrees with: Deny, attack and threaten to sue. Advertisement 8:33 p.m. The Wall Street Journal, and Rupert Murdoch, personally, were warned directly by President Donald J. Trump that the supposed letter they printed by President Trump to Epstein was a FAKE and, if they print it, they will be sued. First, Trump declared the report fake and threatened to sue, which he did the very next day. He also offered a concession for those in his base who have been demanding the release of all information about the Epstein case: 9:07 p.m. Based on the ridiculous amount of publicity given to Jeffrey Epstein, I have asked Attorney General Pam Bondi to produce any and all pertinent Grand Jury testimony, subject to Court approval. This SCAM, perpetuated by the Democrats, should end, right now! Many of Trump's supporters had been openly flirting with revolt, which could be one reason he also directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to seek the public release of grand jury testimony from the prosecution of Epstein. In his post, Trump made it clear that he still thought this was unnecessary. (A federal judge in Florida denied the administration's request Wednesday.) In his last post that evening, Trump primarily reiterated his first post, although he included an interesting denial: 'I don't draw pictures.' 9:57 p.m. The Wall Street Journal printed a FAKE letter, supposedly to Epstein. These are not my words, not the way I talk. Also, I don't draw pictures. I told Rupert Murdoch it was a Scam, that he shouldn't print this Fake Story. But he did, and now I'm going to sue his ass off, and that of his third rate newspaper. Advertisement Trump regularly donated drawings to charities in New York in the early 2000s. Moreover, the drawings, many of which appear to be done with a thick, black marker and prominently feature his signature, are not dissimilar to how the Journal describes the image on the birthday note to Epstein. July 16 After becoming increasingly exasperated by reporters' questions about Epstein's death, as well as attacks on Bondi, Trump went from gently coaxing his supporters to move on from the case to actively attacking those who continued to speak out about it. He castigated them as 'weaklings' and disavowed them as 'PAST supporters' that 'have bought into this 'bullshit,' hook, line, and sinker.' 9:43 a.m. I have had more success in 6 months than perhaps any President in our Country's history, and all these people want to talk about, with strong prodding by the Fake News and the success starved Dems, is the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax. Let these weaklings continue forward and do the Democrats work, don't even think about talking of our incredible and unprecedented success, because I don't want their support anymore! Later that day, he also made an announcement that took Coca-Cola by surprise. 4:19 p.m. I have been speaking to Coca-Cola about using REAL Cane Sugar in Coke in the United States, and they have agreed to do so. I'd like to thank all of those in authority at Coca-Cola. This will be a very good move by them — You'll see. It's just better! A spokesperson for Coca-Cola would not immediately comment on whether it had agreed to do so, and Trump's version of events ultimately proved somewhat misleading. On an earnings call days later, the company said that it would begin offering a cane-sugar version of Coke in the United States this fall 'to complement the company's strong core portfolio.' But it is not replacing high-fructose corn syrup in existing products. Advertisement July 12 5:21 p.m. What's going on with my 'boys' and, in some cases, 'gals?' They're all going after Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is doing a FANTASTIC JOB! We're on one Team, MAGA, and I don't like what's happening. After days of bruising attacks on Bondi from influencers within Trump's far-right political coalition for failing to produce promised new evidence on Epstein's death, Trump addressed his supporters directly, wondering aloud why they were choosing to undermine his administration by going after one of his own top officials. The post came after a simmering battle between Bondi and Dan Bongino, the deputy head of the FBI, burst into public view over the Epstein case. This article originally appeared in .
Politico
15 minutes ago
- Politico
New York's Kathy Hochul opens the door to redrawing House lines
'I'm not surprised that they're trying to break the rules to get an advantage,' Hochul added. 'But that's undemocratic, and not only are we calling them out, we're also going to see what our options are.' Jeffries, in a podcast interview Monday, said Democrats should keep Republicans politically 'on the run.' 'I'm in conversation with members of the New York delegation, as well as the governor, to explore what, if anything else, can be done to ensure that New York does its part with respect to fair maps across the country,' Jeffries said. 'And every single state is going to have to do the same thing because Republicans are desperate.' The potential tit-for-tat move by blue New York would be a heavy lift before the midterm elections — and would almost certainly be subject to legal challenges. The state's constitution stipulates redistricting may only be done once a decade and should be based on the most recent census data. The governor's remarks drew a rebuke from statehouse Republicans. 'Kathy Hochul and Albany Democrats are experts at rigging the rules to protect their power and silence voters,' state Senate Minority Leader Robert Ortt said. A speedy redistricting of New York's House lines would be an unlikely bank shot. Legal challenges forced New York's redistricting commission to redraw the state's House map, which was finalized in early 2024. A court order following another legal challenge to the existing House map could once again reopen that process. But such a development would require an extremely tight turnaround to redraw the map ahead of the 2026 elections.
