logo
Paul urges DOJ to charge Fauci to test pardon

Paul urges DOJ to charge Fauci to test pardon

The Hill3 days ago
Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, is calling on the Justice Department (DOJ) to charge former senior national health adviser Anthony Fauci with lying to Congress to test whether former President Biden's pardon of Fauci will hold up in court.
'I do believe Anthony Fauci committed a felony by lying to Congress,' Paul told pro-President Trump activist Charlie Kirk in an interview when asked whether Biden pardon's signed by autopen would hold up in court.
'You have to charge him with a felony, take him to court and then the court will decide whether or not the pardon is upheld,' he continued. 'You can argue until you're blue in the face that you can't do autopens and that maybe the president wasn't aware of it. But the only way to actually do this is to charge someone who has been pardoned.'
The Kentucky Republican added, 'I think Anthony Fauci is the most likely to be chargeable. There are other people — Hunter Biden could be charged as well — but someone has to be charged.'
Paul says Fauci testified before Congress 'in a very vigorous and heated and animated way' that the National Institutes of Health never funded gain-of-function virus research in Wuhan, China.
'This is directly contradicted by the actual people who were involved in the funding,' the senator said.
Other Republicans, however, have expressed skepticism about challenging the autopen pardons after Biden told The New York Times that he personally approved them.
'I made every decision,' Biden told The Times earlier this month.
He said he had his staff use an autopen to replicate his signature because 'we're talking about a whole lot of people.'
Biden also pardoned his son Hunter, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley and members of the House committee that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

California Gov. Newsom on redistricting: 'The game has changed'
California Gov. Newsom on redistricting: 'The game has changed'

Yahoo

timea few seconds ago

  • Yahoo

California Gov. Newsom on redistricting: 'The game has changed'

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday vowed to 'fight fire with fire' should Texas move ahead with redrawing congressional districts to protect the Republican majority during the midterm elections. On Saturday, the Texas Legislature is scheduled to start a series of hearings during a special legislative session ordered by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott. Among the items under consideration is whether the state should redraw its congressional districts. President Donald Trump has asked the state's Republican leaders to secure more seats for the party in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 election by redrawing district lines this year. Newsom hosted six Democratic Texas state lawmakers at the governor's mansion in Sacramento Friday afternoon, including Representatives Rafael Anchía, Chris Turner, Barbara Gervin Hawkins, Ana-Maria Ramos, Ramon Romero, and Nicole Collier. Following the meeting, Newsom discussed the options he's considering to try to get California to take the same action as Texas, but for Democrats. Solve the daily Crossword

Is Carter vulnerable? State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her explores run for St. Paul mayor
Is Carter vulnerable? State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her explores run for St. Paul mayor

Yahoo

timea few seconds ago

  • Yahoo

Is Carter vulnerable? State Rep. Kaohly Vang Her explores run for St. Paul mayor

With little more than three months to go before the election, state Rep. Kaohly Vang Her, a former policy director for St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter, is exploring a run for mayor and asking fellow lawmakers for their 'support or neutrality,' according to political organizers with knowledge of her campaign. It's a decision that would put her on a political collision course with her own former boss. Her, 52, did not return calls Thursday or Friday, but others at St. Paul City Hall or with connections to state lawmakers said they were confident she was preparing to announce a mayoral run. Given growing frustration with the many challenges facing the state's capital city, Her isn't the only candidate taking a run at the two-term incumbent mayor who easily won his first two elections. The filing period runs July 29 through Aug. 12, and Carter announced in January every intention of running again, despite some criticism he appears disconnected from City Hall. Declared mayoral candidates include Yan Chen, a University of Minnesota biophysicist, and Mike Hilborn, a Republican business owner who runs a power-washing, Christmas tree lighting and snowplowing company. The St. Paul DFL, which is in the process of reconstituting itself, has opted not to endorse in the ranked-choice election, which is non-partisan but typically draws strong party interest. Voters will rank candidates in order of preference, and there will be no political primary to pare the field. Also appearing on the Nov. 4 ballot are questions about a St. Paul Public Schools levy and whether to empower the city council to impose administrative citations, or non-criminal fines. Born in Laos, Her came to the United States as a 4-year-old Hmong refugee and was raised in Appleton, Wis., where her father worked in a paper plant and her mother as a teacher's aide. She holds a bachelor's degree in business administration and finance, as well as a master's degree in business administration from Northeastern University. She was first elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives representing District 64A — which spans the Union Park and Summit-University neighborhoods of St. Paul — in 2018 and won a fourth term in 2024. Among her first initiatives in office, she helped launch the first Minnesota Asian Pacific Caucus at the State Capitol. She served as Carter's policy director during his first term in office, from January 2018 through Sept. 10, 2021. 'She does great work for St. Paul up at the State House, and Mayor Carter does terrific work for our city in the mayor's office,' said St. Paul City Council Member Saura Jost on Friday. 'With that being said, I've already committed to supporting Mayor Carter for re-election.' Interim Council Member Matt Privratsky, recently appointed to the council by Carter, said he was 'proud to support Melvin in his re-election.' The five other council members and representatives for Carter could not be reached for comment Friday. The mayor once was seen as a rising star within the Democratic Party and a potential candidate for a Washington appointment. That was before a rise in homelessness, homicides and carjackings early in the coronavirus pandemic, which sent remote workers away from a downtown already short on retail and commerce. Carter himself spends limited time each week downtown in his mayoral offices. He moved his family a few years ago to a house at the city's eastern edges, closer to suburban Maplewood and Woodbury than the embattled Midway or the Rondo neighborhood where he grew up. When former Vice President Kamala Harris lost her presidential bid in November, the chance of Carter being called down to D.C. fizzled, as did funding and backing for many of the city's progressive priorities, from social spending to EV charging stations and geothermal heating. No matter who is elected mayor, St. Paul will be left with no allies in the White House and a dwindling number at the Minnesota State Capitol, where lawmakers declined to fund a new ice arena at Grand Casino Arena (formerly the Xcel Energy Center) for the Minnesota Wild and offered the city limited other new benefits in the last legislative session. If anything, the Carter administration has at times appeared at loggerheads with state Rep. Maria Isa Perez-Vega, chair of St. Paul's House delegation, who has complained of not having calls returned. 'I'm not voting for him a third time,' said Steve Subera, a product marketer from St. Paul, in response to an inquiry about the mayor on social media. 'The downtown (situation) is on his watch. Grand Casino Arena is in limbo and it doesn't appear he has any influence with (state Sen. Sandy) Pappas or Perez-Vega.' Relations between Carter's office and the St. Paul City Council appear equally up-and-down. The mayor's office last year spent weeks, if not months, in a budget battle with the council, leading to a series of line-item budget vetoes by the mayor and an attempted last-minute budget override by the council. With two 2025 city budgets on the table, it was unclear to many observers which one had legal sticking power through the first months of the year. Following that and other bruising political fights, Council President Mitra Jalali — who was mostly seen as sympathetic to the mayor — resigned in March. Other problems are mounting in the capital city. Carter once spoke glowingly of getting upstream of crime through better street lighting, increased library access and free youth activities through the city's many rec centers. Then the price of metal went up, as did the cost of everything else, and an epidemic in stolen copper wire left sections of the city bathed in darkness as street lights went cold. In January 2023, a city rec center staffer shot a teen in the head, and the location was closed for weeks. Run-ins between library workers and aggressive visitors, some of them homeless and on drugs, have forced security changes. The Rondo Community Library on Dale Street now closes at 2 p.m. on Saturdays and entirely on Sundays. Workers and patrons say the library's proximity to a Green Line light rail station hasn't helped. The train, once heralded as a potential engine for economic development, now is viewed as a liability even by some fans of public transit. Homicide and carjacking numbers have fallen considerably since the height of the pandemic. Still, demographic projections forecast sluggish population growth in St. Paul in the years ahead, a trend reflected in lackluster apartment construction over the past few years. Entire office buildings and even some apartment buildings in downtown St. Paul sit vacant, or have fallen into foreclosure, as major tenants such as Wold Architects and TKDA have fled westward to Minneapolis and Bloomington. Property tax increases have left many homeowners reeling. The city lost its last downtown grocery store — Lunds & Byerlys — in March, and Cub Foods is leaving Aug. 2 after 30 years in the Midway. For some voters, enough is enough. When questioned about the mayor's prospects for re-election, users of the social media platform Bluesky offered a wide range of responses: 'I'm a lifelong Democrat. I'll never vote for Mayor Carter again,' wrote one Bluesky user. 'I've sent his office questions about problems in Lowertown and was met with no response. I followed up. No response. Too many Democratic leaders in St Paul feel 'safe' so they ignore what they don't care about. They ignore citizens.' Others aren't so sure. 'I have a hard time getting a read on him as a mayor because the city council is comically ineffective, so he spends a good chunk of time/effort dealing with that,' wrote another social media user. 'I would like to see him at least challenged, though. Downtown is in terrible shape.' Some praised the mayor for working with St. Paul Police to focus on non-fatal shootings, an approach that appears to have helped St. Paul temper but not eliminate shooting deaths. Carter 'worked WITH police to change tactics and clear more non-murder shootings to reduce the overall number of homicides,' wrote a Carter supporter on the Bluesky platform. The police 'chief even credits the progressive Dem. Imagine that!' Other social media users noted urban areas across the country have suffered in the era of remote work, high housing costs and online retail, and St. Paul's challenges are not unique or attributable to one person or political party. 'The issues downtown aren't the mayor's fault — they're the result of major shifts beyond the city's ability to control,' wrote a Bluesky user. 'I think he's done good work so far, and rehabilitating downtown will take decades, not years. I like the way he's steered policy with a practical but reliably liberal approach.' 'I don't blame a mayor for condemned buildings and low office occupancy post-Covid,' wrote another user. 'But I do like how he explains his fiscal policies and budget, and supports creative solutions to complex community issues.' 'All the problems that St. Paul has will require time, money and effort to fix and I think he's still the best person for it,' said yet another Bluesky user. 'A candidate that promises an overnight solution isn't serious and he's never been that guy, in my opinion. He's got the right focus and values. Let him cook, as they say.' Said another user, 'I'm alright with the mayor, but I think a good challenger might bring good policy ideas into the foreground. I don't want an incumbent to ever take things for granted and not try things or play it safe, and a candidate that addresses housing, or downtown, with actual policy ideas would be good.' Related Articles City asks: Why are St. Paul's Green Line stations going offline during Yacht Club music festival? Reaction to shootings: 'This is a stunning act of violence,' said Sen. Amy Klobuchar Letters: St. Paul should take care of what it has before spending on new things St. Paul's parks rank fifth-best in the nation Bruce Vento Nature Sanctuary likely to be renamed Wakan Tipi Solve the daily Crossword

No party, lots of cash: Duggan raises big dollars in run for governor
No party, lots of cash: Duggan raises big dollars in run for governor

Yahoo

timea few seconds ago

  • Yahoo

No party, lots of cash: Duggan raises big dollars in run for governor

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's unprecedented independent bid to serve as Michigan's next governor has amassed over $3.2 million so far this year, making him financially competitive with major party candidates in the early days of the race to replace Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. Duggan was the first major candidate to enter his name in the governor's race, and he shook up the traditionally red-blue affair with an announcement that sent shock waves through Michigan politics, abandoning his longtime affiliation with the Democratic Party to run as an independent. Michigan has never had an independent governor or a serious independent candidate for the office. Duggan has argued that he can break the logjam in Lansing and coalesce lawmakers across party lines to achieve shared policy goals. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a Democrat, has brought in the biggest haul in the race so far with $3.5 million flowing into her campaign coffers since she launched her gubernatorial bid, a sum that includes over $1.1 million that she transferred from her Secretary of State campaign committee. The latest campaign finance reports cover candidates' fundraising so far in 2025 through July 20. On the Republican side of the race, Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt of Porter Township and U.S. Rep. John James of Shelby Township were neck and neck with each raising almost $2.3 million and Nesbitt having a slight edge over James. James' campaign has celebrated additional support from Mission Michigan, a pro-James PAC backed by the DeVos family. Whitmer cannot run again due to term limits. Voters will have to wait more than a year before they can weigh in on who should succeed her, but the fundraising contest is already off to the races. Duggan has almost as much cash as Benson, eyes national support Entering the race early gave Duggan a longer runway to start raising money before his competitors. But first, he said he had to overcome some challenges. "We didn't have a portal to accept donations because of course we couldn't use ActBlue," he said, referencing the Democratic fundraising platform. "We didn't have a statewide donor list." "The first three months or so was really just replicating the infrastructure that the candidates out of the parties had," he said. Duggan touted how many of his donations came from Michigan. But he also has his eye on luring dollars nationally. "I have to get better at raising nationally," Duggan said. He said "massive national money is going to pour" into the Democratic and Republican campaigns once voters pick their nominees in the August 2026 primary. But he said his latest fundraising numbers should catch the attention of those outside Michigan. Some of Duggan's biggest contributions came from the Michigan Regional Council of Carpenters' PAC, which gave $40,000. and Rocket State PAC, which is affiliated with the Rocket Companies. Benson outraises Democratic opponents Benson's campaign has compared her $3.5 million haul to the $1.5 million Whitmer raised during the same period in her 2018 run — Michigan's last open race for governor. "The numbers make it clear: Jocelyn Benson is the best candidate to take on any candidate, Republican or Independent, in November 2026," said Benson Campaign Manager Nikki Goldschein in a statement. Benson has over $2.4 million cash on hand, the most of any candidate, with Duggan not far behind at over $2.3 million. Genesee County Sheriff Chris Swanson has raised over $1 million so far, and his campaign has over $468,000 cash on hand. Lt. Gov. Garlin Gilchrist II's campaign has brought in more than $750,000 and has over $312,000 cash on hand. Michigan Politics: Mediation ordered in Michigan House lawsuit against Secretary of State Benson on subpoenas Nesbitt leads the GOP pack Benson wasn't the only candidate to give her campaign for governor a boost from previous runs. A chunk of the $2.3 million Nesbitt's campaign brought in — about $114,000 — came from his own state Senate campaign. Another roughly $250,000 came from PACs tied to him. "I'm incredibly humbled by the overwhelming support we've seen since announcing our campaign in January," Nesbitt said in a statement, adding that "these past few months have shown they're looking for bold, conservative leadership to put Michigan First in 2026." A third of the nearly $2.3 million James brought into his campaign came from his congressional campaign committee. Nesbitt has over $1.9 million cash on hand, and James has over $1.8 million cash on hand. Former Attorney General Mike Cox also has more than $1.8 million cash on hand and reported bringing in almost $1.4 million in 2025. Cox lent his own campaign $1.42 million last year and gave himself another $500,000 loan in July. Former Michigan House Speaker Tom Leonard's, R-DeWitt, campaign brought in over $646,000 and has over $609,000 cash on hand. The vast majority of his haul — almost $463,000 — came from his attorney general campaign committee. Contact Clara Hendrickson at chendrickson@ or 313-296-5743. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Duggan's unique run for governor comes with considerable cash

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store