Divorce, adultery allegations against Paxton jolt Senate race in Texas
The race, seen as one of the biggest GOP primaries of the midterms, was already dramatic, with a longtime incumbent, John Cornyn, fighting for his political life against Paxton, the state attorney general styling himself as more loyal to President Donald Trump. Now, Cornyn and his allies are bringing up the filing as they run against Paxton, and some Paxton backers are rethinking their support.
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Yahoo
26 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@
Politico
29 minutes ago
- Politico
DeSantis floats mid-decade redistricting for Florida congressional seats
The comments from DeSantis come as Democrats and Republicans spar over crucial congressional seats. The map pushed by the governor ultimately resulted in Republicans gaining four seats across the state, helping the GOP narrowly win the House back in 2022. | AFP via Getty Images By Andrew Atterbury 07/24/2025 02:56 PM EDT TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Another red state may join Texas in trying to boost the GOP House majority ahead of the 2026 midterms. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, fresh off a win at the state Supreme Court over a congressional map he pushed through three years ago, said Thursday the state should consider overhauling its districts between censuses. The GOP governor claimed Florida's map is currently 'malapportioned' due to its population surge and that there's 'ample justification' for a mid-decade redistricting effort. 'Florida, you know, we got a raw deal on the census,' DeSantis said during an event in Bradenton. 'We only got one seat when some of these other states were getting seats, when we've obviously had more growth. We should have gotten at least two.'
29 minutes ago
Senate Republicans grapple with Epstein case amid reports on Trump ties
While President Donald Trump's ties to Jeffrey Epstein have been public knowledge for years, recent reports highlighting their past friendship before a falling out have forced congressional Republicans to publicly confront Trump's Epstein connections like never before. Several GOP senators spoke out Thursday, a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Attorney General Pam Bondi and her deputy Todd Blanche informed Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in the Epstein files that the Department of Justice and the FBI reviewed. The officials told Trump of their plan not to release any additional documents, the report says, because the material contained child pornography and personal information of victims. President Trump, according to the Journal, said he would defer to the Justice Department's decision not to release additional files. According to the report, Trump was also informed that the names of many other high-profile individuals appeared in the documents, which the Journal reported was not evidence of wrongdoing. The president has received criticism from several Republicans and conservative pundits over the Justice Department's response to the probe. They have called for more details on the Epstein files. Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, a longtime Trump ally, was asked Thursday about what advice he would give the president. "Be as transparent as you can. Get it all out," the South Carolina Republican said. "... The idea that Trump did something nefarious and Biden sat on it for four years, It's hard to believe. Just put it out. Let people look at it." Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told ABC News he was not concerned Trump slow-walked the files' release because of potential embarrassment. "I mean everybody knows that he knew Epstein at some point. There's a video of it. Now, he's said this for years, so I don't think any of that's a surprise that he's mentioned the documents," Hawley said. "Anybody who ever met him is going to be mentioned, so I don't think that's a big deal … but nor is it a reason to withhold the documents," he added. Many senators, such as Republican Thom Tillis, aren't backing off on their calls for the records to be fully released. "I'm where I've been every time you always ask me this question. Release the damn files," he said. "And I doubt seriously, in spite of the fact that the House went home, that you're going to forget about this between now and Labor Day." Hawley proposed partnering with the House Oversight Committee, which subpoenaed convicted Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell for a deposition in August. "Do a joint House-Senate Committee on this, and have her testify, and assuming she has something real to say, but I think she would," Hawley proposed. Meanwhile, despite their limited power, Democrats are pushing harder and demanding that Bondi testify about what she told the president. "There should be no secret meetings, no secret deals with Maxwell or anyone else … There ought to be subpoenas, if necessary, and compulsory disclosure," Democratic Sen. Richard Blumenthal told ABC News. "The attorney general should volunteer to testify and bring with her all of the files."
