Four states are holding primaries tonight, while Minnesota will also host a special election in the 1st Congressional District for the final months of the late Republican Rep. Jim Hagedorn's term.
Polls close in Vermont at 7 PM ET and Connecticut an hour later. We’ll begin our liveblog at 9 PM ET/8 PM local time when when polls close in Minnesota and Wisconsin, which are home to the bulk of tonight's big races.
Key races: Previews | Cheat-sheet ♦ Results: CT | MN | VT | WI
If it’s Tuesday, it must be time for DK Elections’ coverage of yet another primary election night! Tonight, the bulk of the action is in the Midwest, with primaries (and one special Congressional election) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. But we also already have results streaming in from Connecticut and Vermont. A reminder: we wait till at least 10% of the expected turnout has reported, so our readers don’t have to try to contend with drawing conclusions based on dozens of votes. Another reminder that even when we start to report results, early voting and regional politics can make early numbers misleading (see: last week in Arizona). So, patience, more than ever, is a virtue!
VT-AL (D): In a race that has already been counting votes for two hours, we got a call in the past 20 minutes. State legislator Becca Balint has built a pretty convincing 62-36 lead over Lt. Gov. Molly Gray, and has been declared the winner by AP. Given the blueness of Vermont, her nomination is almost certainly tantamount to victory, making her both the first woman and the first LGBTQ member of the Vermont federal delegation.
WA-03: And here is a little housekeeping from last week, and a bit of breaking news: Republican Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, considered a rising star in the GOP until voting her conscience on the impeachment of Donald Trump, has conceded defeat in her bid for re-election. Democrat Marie Perez had already clinched one of the two general election slots (remember that Washington utilizes a top two open primary), and now Herrera Beutler is effectively admitting that MAGA extremist Joe Kent will claim the other spot.
WA-SoS: A little bit more housekeeping, and a bit of history. For the first time in more than a generation, the state of Washington will elect someone to the pivotal office of Secretary of State that is not a Republican. Democratic incumbent Steve Hobbs (who was appointed to the position when Republican Kim Wyman took a position in the Biden administration) was already declared for the general election last week, but now Independent Julie Anderson has edged out a trio of Republicans to claim the second slot in the general election.
MN-05 (D): We’ve not hit the threshold (>10% reporting) in one of the marquee primaries of the night, and it is as close as was expected. Rep. Ilhan Omar has just a 53-46 lead over fellow Democrat Don Samuels with about 16,000 votes tabulated.
MN-01 (Special): This is worth noting, before the night truly gets underway. Minnesota election officials yesterday warned that the vote count here would be slowed by the fact that, because this is being held under the 2011-2021 lines, it is being tabulated completely separately from the other races on the ballot. Therefore, the special election results will be released separately, county-by-county, when all votes in that county are in. So, if you’re waiting on this one, get comfy.
WI-Sen (D): The AP has called this race for Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes. This primary, admittedly, became much clearer over the past two weeks, as Barnes saw his three chief rivals for the nomination (Tom Nelson, Sarah Godlewski, and Alex Lasry) drop out of the race and endorse him. He goes on to a critical race in November against two-term incumbent Sen. Ron Johnson, who is also easily leading his primary tonight.
WI-Gov (R): We’ve just hit the threshold here, and holy crap—this one is tight. Trump-endorsed (and you really need to read why he endorsed in this race) Tim Michels leads former state Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch by just 80 votes out of 67,000 votes cast.
MN-05 (D): More votes have been counted, and the Democratic primary here is rapidly tightening. With about half the expected vote counted, Rep. Ilhan Omar’s lead over Don Samuels has shrunk to a 51-48 margin, a raw vote margin just under 2000 votes.
America’s right-wing extremists have been hankering for a civil war for a long time now, and in particular have been eager to start using their guns in defense of Donald Trump ever since he came onto the political scene. They tried to start a civil war on Trump’s behalf after he lost on Jan. 6, 2021.
So to no one’s great surprise, they’re currently flooding social media and right-wing media bandwidth with vows to begin a civil war on Trump’s behalf after the FBI executed a search warrant at the ex-president’s Florida waterfront estate, Mar-a-Lago, and seized evidence in a yet-unspecified investigation. The rhetoric is mostly a mixture of over-the-top hysteria and dark threats, and it’s being wielded by everyone from congressional Republicans to anonymous militiamen.
Campaign ActionBack when Trump was facing his first impeachment, he tweeted out a hint that the proceedings might unleash a civil war—which did unleash a deluge of militiamen and Trump supporters vowing to do exactly that. The sentiments they voiced then were remarkably similar to the threats of violence directly preceding the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Right after news of the Mar-a-Lago search broke, mentions of “civil war” on Twitter suddenly spiked, as Donie O’Sullivan reported.
The most prominent elected Republican to weigh in on the matter was Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose tweets became increasingly militant as the day progressed. They started out in typically unhinged fashion:
The FBI is raiding President Trump’s home in Maralago!
This is the rogue behavior of communist countries, NOT the United States of America!!!
These are the type of things that happen in countries during civil war.
The political persecution MUST STOP!!!
Later in the day, Greene’s tone became threatening: “What is happening will NOT be tolerated!!!” she wrote. “We are coming.”
A Florida Republican legislator running for Congress, Anthony Sabatini, wants the Florida state government to get involved and protect Trump from the evil federal government:
It’s time for us in the Florida Legislature to call an emergency legislative session & amend our laws regarding federal agencies
Sever all ties with DOJ immediately
Any FBI agent conducting law enforcement functions outside the purview of our State should be arrested upon sight.
Right-wing activist Laura Loomer, who is also running for Congress in Florida, was even more incendiary:
Time to take the gloves off. It’s been time. If you’re a freedom loving American, you must remove the words decorum and civility from your vocabulary. This is a WAR!
And it’s time to obliterate these communists. Tonight they attacked President Trump. If you sit on the sidelines and refuse to act, they will attack you and your family next.
What will you choose? Will you be a fighter? Or will you be a victim of the Deep State?
Arizona’s far-right Republican nominee for the governor’s seat, Kari Lake, posted a statement warning of the nation’s imminent demise:
This is one of the darkest days in American history: the day our Government, originally created by the people, turned against us. This illegitimate, corrupt Regime hates America and has weaponized the entirety of the Federal Government to take down President Donald Trump.
Our Government is rotten to the core. These Tyrants will stop at nothing to silence the Patriots who are working hard to save America. This is an incredibly horrendous abuse of power. If we accept it, America is dead.
We will not accept it. The 10th Amendment can and will save our Republic and the road to stripping the Feds of power travels right through Arizona.
We must fire the Federal Government. As Governor, I will fight these Tyrants with every fiber of my being. America—dark days lie ahead for us. May God protect us and save our Country.
Trump-loving right-wing pundits were similarly running around with their hair on fire, urging their audiences to prepare for war—and not just the metaphorical kind.
Jesse Kelly—the right-wing radio talk-show host who believes fascism is an inevitability for the American right, and is good with that—gave a shout-out to the so-called “constitutional sheriffs” who have threatened to get involved in the nation’s election apparatus in defense of Trump. “Do you have a county sheriff who will stand between you and a federal agent trying to violate your rights? If you don’t, you better get one. Or better yet, BECOME one,” Kelly tweeted.
He later tweeted out a quote with threatening implications: “Do not quote laws to men with swords.’ -Pompey Magnus,” Kelly tweeted.
Far-right pundit Candace Owens had a regular meltdown on Twitter:
The FBI must be legally and formally dissolved.
What happened to President Trump is positively stunning and a mark of unchecked government power.
I no longer recognize the country I live in. Left or right, we must all come together to fight this evil.
Meanwhile, longtime Fox News host Monica Crowley decided it was time to throw down the gauntlet: “This is it,” she tweeted. “This is the hill to die on.”
White nationalist pundit Jack Posobiec, who now hosts a daily show for the right-wing campus organization Turning Point USA, posted a series of tweets that essentially urged his audience to gird their loins for a real shooting war:
Are you ready.
The federal security state has declared war on Donald J Trump and his supporters.
The country you grew up in no longer exists.
We are living through the times our forefathers warned of.
Preemptive coup.
Welcome to the end game.
Longtime conspiracy theorist Steven Crowder’s unhinged tweet was shorter and more succinct: “Tomorrow is war,” he wrote. “Sleep well.”
The ominous suggestions that the base become engaged in violence could be heard on Fox News as well thanks to host Jesse Waters, who told his guest, Dan Bongino:
I think there is going to be some more action you are going to see out on the streets from the base after they see this break tonight... They've had it with what this corrupt government and what the FBI has done.
Another Fox News host, Mark Levin, claimed that investigating Trump was an attack on the nation itself:
This is the worst attack on this republic in modern history. Period. And it’s not just an attack on Donald Trump. It’s an attack on everybody who supports him. It’s an attack on anybody who dares to raise serious questions about Washington, D.C., and the establishment in both parties. I haven’t heard a damn thing from the Republican leadership in the Senate! Have you? Not one of those guys has put out a statement. Because they’re weak. That’s why.
Onetime Trump aide Sebastian Gorka tweeted: “This is the real insurrection.”
On Trump’s social media site Truth Social, radio host Wayne Root, Trump’s longtime fan and supporter, wrote: “This is now officially Nazi Germany Gestapo meets Soviet Union KGB.”
Trumpist pundit Carmine Sabia also penned a series of increasingly unhinged tweets to his 80,000-plus followers:
It is time for a #NationalDivorce before there is a Civil War. We cannot be a part of the same nation anymore.
And if I haven’t been direct enough let me say it again. If you are not for Donald Trump you are my enemy. I did not believe that four hours ago. But I believe it now. This was a gigantic fucking mistake Democrats.
This is war. Pick a side. There is no gray area.
The America that you knew and loved as a kid is gone. It’s gone and it’s never coming back.
These same sentiments could be found throughout right-wing social media, being voiced by ordinary randos and trolls at large and often at high volume.
“Prior to the attack on the Capitol on January 6th, we saw unprecedented plans online to conduct real-world violence,” observed Advance Democracy president Daniel J. Jones, a former Senate Intelligence Committee staff member, in a statement to NBC News. "The online outrage was based on false allegations of voter fraud and bizarre theories of coordinated government corruption. The raid by the FBI has provoked similar violent rhetoric online—including from at least one individual charged in relation to the insurrection on January 6th.”
Jones added: “The promotion of broad government conspiracy theories by political leaders, elected officials, and political entertainers continues to undermine our democracy—and will likely lead to additional political violence.”
The House Ways and Means Committee asked for ex-President Donald Trump's tax returns in 2021 to help assess the IRS's presidential audit program.
Just when you thought things couldn’t get even more dystopian, former President Donald Trump confirmed Monday night that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) were at his Mar-a-Lago beachfront estate carrying out a search warrant. Trump described the raid as “dark times for our Nation” and said that his home was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
Trump went on to release an extensive statement on the raid.
It didn’t take long for Trump’s most loyal MAGA lawmakers to proclaim their outrage over the audacity that their leader be investigated. After all, he’s above the law, they believe.
RELATED STORY: Nancy Thompson’s MAGA train—Mothers Against Greg Abbott—may just run down the Texas governor
Sign if you agree: No one is above the law
Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson tweeted, “Tonight the FBI officially became the enemy of the people!!”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene initially tweeted to “Defund the FBI,” then Tuesday morning called the raid “tyrannical” and suggested that the FBI’s search will only stoke GOP voters in November.
“I’ve talked a lot about the civil war in the GOP and I lean into it because America needs fearless & effective Republicans to finally put America First. Last night’s tyrannical FBI raid at MAR is unifying us in ways I haven’t seen. In January, we take on the enemy within.”
Indiana Rep. Jim Banks offered that “Republicans have a moral duty to fight back!”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott claimed on Fox News that the FBI execution of the warrant was something you’d see from the “Gestapo” and the “Soviet Union and Latin America.”
Georgia Rep. Jody Hice met with Trump and Greene in 2020 to discuss plans to overturn the presidential election results. According to Georgia Democrats, “video surfaced of Hice promising that if elected, he would work to retroactively ‘decertify’ the 2020 election results.”
Monday night, Hice wrote on Twitter, “What does the FBI know about Hunter Biden?”
New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney accused the Department of Justice and the FBI of “being weaponized” and demanded that President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland “answer immediately” for the Mar-a-Lago search.
“The DOJ & FBI are being weaponized like never before to target political opponents. This Admin has thrown the rule of law and faith in our democratic institutions out the door. Joe Biden and Merrick Garland must answer immediately for today’s raid against an American president.”
Republican Florida Rep. John Rutherford tweeted Monday night that he wanted to see the FBI search warrant and “probably cause.” Well, we don’t know the cause of the search, but it was “probably” because Trump has committed a crime—probably.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania called the FBI search harassment of Trump and suggested that law enforcement should be focused on “terrorists at our southern border.”
“So far this year, CBP arrested more than 50 terrorists at our southern border but we have no idea how many evaded capture and entered our country. The FBI should be answering that question, not harassing a former president.”
Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert called the search something “Stalin would be proud of…”
Sen. Rand Paul called the search “outrageous and unjust, but predictable.” Paul is the same man who said he was “proud of the job Donald Trump has done,” and called Trump’s impeachment the “antithesis of unity.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn referred to the “Obama FBI” and warned, “If they can do this to Trump, they will do it to you!” So try not to steal any classified documents from the White House, folks.
The head of the FBI is Christopher Wray. He became the eighth director on Aug. 2, 2017. He was formally nominated by Trump on June 26, 2017, and confirmed by the Senate on July 12, 2017.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy chose to put Garland on notice with a warning to the attorney general to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
I swear, I thought that message was for Trump.
Former President Donald Trump slammed never-ending “political persecution” by Democrats as he confirmed his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida had been raided by the FBI.
“These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents,” Trump said in a statement released Monday evening.
“Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before.”
CNN reports that the FBI raided Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home as part of an investigation into the handling of possible classified documents that may have been brought there.
Trump’s Florida home was raided by FBI. Here’s what we know:
– Part of an investigation into whether he took classified documents from the White House
– Raid began Monday morning and lasted until after 6 p.m.
– Trump says Mar-a-Lago safe was opened https://t.co/jhrne5EanT pic.twitter.com/03oMeKjFbm— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Quicktake) August 9, 2022
RELATED: Report: Biden Justice Department Criminally Investigating Trump ‘Effort to Overturn Election’
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) said in February that Trump earlier this year had to return 15 boxes of documents that were improperly taken from the White House.
The FBI appears to be pursuing concerns of classified materials in the home of former President Trump, something that they provably dismissed and allowed Hillary Clinton to do when she served as Secretary of State.
Trump blasted the raid and suggested it was part of a coordinated weaponization of federal government agencies to stop him from running for President in 2024.
“Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries,” he stated. “Sadly, America has now become one of those countries, corrupt at a level not seen before.”
“The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax 11, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends, it is political targeting at the highest level!”
Trump says MAL has been searched by feds pic.twitter.com/UEC5KE5pJm
— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 8, 2022
Numerous supporters of former President Donald Trump gathered outside his Mar-a-Lago home after news had spread of the FBI raid.
Several suggested the raid was a political move by the Department of Justice to prevent Trump from running again in 2024. Others simply concurred that it was political persecution.
“As soon as I saw it, I drove here from Tampa. This is nuts,” one man who had driven across the state told Fox News. “We all know what you’re trying to do, DOJ. You’re trying to create some kind of charge so he’s not going to be able to run for reelection.”
“They’re going to do anything they can to get him. They’re terrified of him,” another claimed.
A White House official claimed President Biden was not given advance notice of the FBI raid.
Lara Trump offered commentary hinting that the siege on Mar-a-Lago was more to do with the left and the establishment’s hatred of the former President.
“They detest Donald Trump, not just on the Democrat side, but the general establishment, because he’s not one of them, because he doesn’t play their game,” she said.
Biden’s America
From the IRS to the FBI: They are coming for youThe DOJ’s escalating tactics are a danger to the Republic
LARA TRUMP: An unannounced raid by the FBI conducted on a former President…If this is what they are able to do to him, think what they could do to you pic.twitter.com/RI2Z8G4820
— LionHearted (@LionHearted76) August 9, 2022
Lara Trump warned that if the Justice Department and the FBI are willing to do this to a former President, “think about what they could do to you.”
The Political Insider reported on Monday that the so-called Inflation Reduction Act passed by Senate Democrats over the weekend adds $80 billion to the IRS budget for enforcement purposes.
That budget would unleash roughly 87,000 new IRS auditors.
The government is hiring 87,000 IRS agents because Western governments view their own people as the enemy now and they’ve turned their guns on them. It’s why I believe we will have a massive worldwide turning at some point in the coming years.
— Jesse Kelly (@JesseKellyDC) August 8, 2022
Matt Schlapp, the chairman of The American Conservative Union, says the FBI raid on Mar-a-Lago demonstrates the Biden administration has converted the United States into a Third World country.
“President Biden’s politicized FBI just raided President Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago,” he wrote. “This nation is becoming unrecognizable. Biden has successfully transformed America into a third-world country.”
BREAKING: Patriots arrive at Mar-a-Lago to show support for Donald Trump after news broke of the FBI’s Raid on him: pic.twitter.com/ILzFyMLDcB
— Benny Johnson
(@bennyjohnson) August 9, 2022
Schlapp notes that a CPAC Texas straw poll shows respondents believe the greatest threat to America right now comes from within.
According to that poll, 91% of attendees believe the greatest threat to America is “internal forces such as the Deep State, public education and the mainstream media,” while just 8% pointed to “external forces such as Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea.”
The Political Insider reports that beyond the investigation of classified documents, the Justice Department is also investigating Trump as part of a criminal probe into “efforts to overturn the 2020 election results.”
Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.
The Political Insider ranks #3 on Feedspot’s “100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.”
The post Trump Speaks: Angrily Condemns ‘Political Persecution’ As FBI Raids Mar-a-Lago appeared first on The Political Insider.
The House GOP leaped Monday night to denounce the FBI search of Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy vowing to investigate the Justice Department should Republicans take back the chamber this fall as expected.
"I've seen enough," McCarthy tweeted hours after Trump confirmed that his Florida resort was searched by federal officials. Using the same term the former president did in his own statement on the raid — "weaponization" — to describe DOJ's actions, the California Republican and frontrunner for speaker next year told Attorney General Merrick Garland to "preserve your documents and clear your calendar."
McCarthy followed a long line of rank-and-file House conservatives who took to social media to condemn the FBI search, most of them stalwart conservative allies of Trump. The quick outcry underscored that, even as some of their Senate counterparts edge away from Trump while a DOJ investigation into the Jan. 6 Capitol attack inches closer to his inner circle, House Republicans are prepared to hug the former president as tightly as ever.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), the Republican Study Committee chair who is running for the majority whip role if Republicans flip the House this fall, quickly sought to paint the search as political while vowing House GOP-led hearings next year.
“Hunter Biden skates free while DOJ executes a political plot to destroy lives of political opponents,” tweeted Banks. “This is un-American and @Jim_Jordan led Judiciary Committee hearings in January can’t come soon enough!”
Both Banks and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who's set to become Judiciary panel chair in a House GOP majority, are close McCarthy allies and longtime Trump boosters dating to the former president's first impeachment. A Twitter account tied to Jordan also hit similar pro-Trump talking points, including anti-FBI sentiment that's flared among Trump supporters since the bureau's probe of Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Likening the Mar-a-Lago search to harassment of everyday citizens that's a fixture of Third World countries, the House Judiciary Committee GOP's account also echoed Trump’s Monday night statement by claiming: “The FBI knowingly deceived Americans about Russian 'collusion' for YEARS. Can’t trust them."
The law enforcement activity at Mar-a-Lago, according to two people familiar with the search, was tied to allegations that presidential records — including some with potentially classified information — were removed by Trump allies from the White House after the former president left office. But the nature of the documents that the government seized as part of the raid remains unclear.
While far less tied to McCarthy and party leadership, members of the pro-Trump House Freedom Caucus were among the first to push their party to conduct oversight of the FBI's search. Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the former head of the group, called for a probe that would examine “the viability of our federal law enforcement agencies that abuse their authorities for political purposes.”
Biggs also sought to compare the Mar-a-Lago search to the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Qadhafi at the hands of his political enemies: “The only thing missing from the unprecedented FBI raid at President Trump’s home is Muammar Gaddafi’s sunglasses and cap on Joe Biden," the Arizonan tweeted.
Rank-and-file House Republicans are likely to face further questions about the Mar-a-Lago raid and its effect on their plans for a likely House takeover when they return to Washington for a planned Friday vote on Democrats' party-line climate, tax and health care bill.
While some senior Republicans privately brushed off conservatives' calls for an investigation, noting that they need to see proof the search was a stunt rather than a by-the-books act, McCarthy's tweet Monday night raises the political stakes of the moment considerably for the entire conference.
And even one prominent former Freedom Caucus member — turned potential Trump 2024 presidential primary rival — weighed in too.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis attacked the Mar-a-Lago search on Twitter with similar Third World references, calling it “another escalation in the weaponization of federal agencies against the Regime’s political opponents" and adding a dig at Democrats for seeking to boost IRS enforcement to help pay for their domestic agenda.
"Banana Republic,” he tweeted.
If you were wondering if the rumblings of a search warrant carried out by the FBI at Mar-a-Lago were true, look no further than the club’s owner—Donald Trump—to confirm this latest development. Florida Politics’ Peter Schorsch first got the scoop from two sources that the former president’s beachfront estate was in the process of being raided early Monday evening. It didn’t take long before Trump said what the FBI seemingly didn’t confirm until after his Truth Social post.
The FBI refused to comment about any specifics on the matter, but Trump found it necessary to issue dozens of words describing the influx of a “large group of FBI agents” at Mar-a-Lago whose orders Trump readily complied with, though the insurrection ringleader claimed the FBI broke into his safe and that they were carrying out an unnecessary, inappropriate form of prosecutorial misconduct. The horrors that come with allowing the FBI into your house willingly! Are they like vampires?
Here’s a full transcript of Donald Trump’s statement about the FBI raid on Mar-A-Lago:
These are dark times for our Nation, as my beautiful home, Mar-A-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida, is currently under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents. Nothing like this has ever happened to a President of the United States before. After working and cooperating with the relevant Government agencies, this unannounced raid on my home was not necessary or appropriate. It is prosecutorial misconduct, the weaponization of the Justice System, and an attack by the Radical Left Democrats who desperately don’t want me to run for President in 2024, especially based on recent polls, and who will likewise do anything to stop Republicans and Conservatives in the upcoming Midterm Elections. Such an assault could only take place in broken, Third-World Countries. Sadly, America has now become one of those Countries, corrupt at a level not seen before. They even broke my safe! What is the difference between this and Watergate, where operatives broke into the National Democratic Committee? Here, in reverse, Democrats broke into the home of the 45th President of the United States.
The political persecution of President Donald J. Trump has been going on for years, with the now fully debunked Russia, Russia, Russia Scam, Impeachment Hoax #1, Impeachment Hoax #2, and so much more, it just never ends. It is political targeting at the highest level!
Hillary Clinton was allowed to delete and acid wash 33,000 emails AFTER they were subpoenaed by Congress. Absolutely nothing has happened to hold her accountable.
She even took antique furniture, and other items from the White House.
I stood up to America’s bureaucratic corruption, I restored power to the people, and truly delivered for our Country, like we have never seen before. The establishment hated it. Now, as they watch my endorsed candidates win big victories, and see my dominance in all polls, they are trying to stop me, and the Republican party, once more. The lawlessness, political persecution, and Witch Hunt must be exposed and stopped.
I will continue to fight for the Great American People!
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy—apparently neck deep in Jan. 6—appears to be threatening the Department of Justice:
It’s anyone’s guess what latest controversy Trump may be mired in, though I welcome your guesses in the comments.
Also, why does Trump capitalize the word “Countries”? Someone who’s good at Q math, please solve this problem.
Former president Donald Trump has regularly rebuffed claims that he flushed presidential records down the toilet during his impeachment-marred time in office, but on Monday, two pictures emerged to undercut that claim.
The pictures were obtained by New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman and shared with Axios first. Haberman is promoting her upcoming book on the former president and his tumultuous time in office, Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.
The images depict two open toilets where small piles of ripped-up paper—replete with what looks very much like Trump’s all-caps scrawl in permanent marker—sit waterlogged at the bottom. One of the piles features the plainly visible name of New York Republican Elise Stefanik, one of Trump’s most fervent defenders in Congress. The other visible name is “Rogers,” which could be a reference to Reps. Hal Rogers of Kentucky or Mike Rogers of Alabama, both allies of the former president, but it is not clear. In the other photo, the writing is illegible.
Campaign ActionWhite House sources told Haberman that the photo with the illegible writing was taken at the White House. The other photo was reportedly snapped during a trip overseas. A spokesperson for Trump, Taylor Budowich, slammed Haberman’s pending book and dubbed the release of the photos as a “desperate” bid to boost sales. Budowich also suggested Haberman staged the photos.
It was in February when The New York Times first reported that White House staff sometimes found toilets clogged with wads of paper. The culprit was widely believed to be the former president, though he has resoundingly denied this and chalked up reports to “fake news.”
The destruction of records was a “periodic” occurrence, according to White House staffers interviewed by Haberman.
She told Axios: “That Mr. Trump was discarding documents this way was not widely known within the West Wing but some aides were aware of the habit, which he engaged in repeatedly.”
The Presidential Records Act demands officials preserve all records tied to their official duties, and that includes the president.
RELATED STORY: Donald Trump tore up documents, ate documents, flushed documents down the toilet. Nothing to see here.
