House Democrats are dismissing the allegations made against President Biden by an FBI informant, and accuse the president’s critics of promoting "unsubstantiated accusations" that he benefited from his son’s overseas business dealings.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, released an FBI document that suggests Biden, as vice president, was party to bribery and corruption when his son Hunter Biden sat on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma. The claims are unverified, and Democrats this week dismissed them even as Republicans say the matter could rise to the level of impeachment.
"So far all this is, is an unsubstantiated accusation. Obviously, it's our responsibility, the responsibility of law enforcement, to take a look at everything deeply and make sure there's nothing to it. But I'm very confident that they're gonna find that this is an empty accusation," Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va., told Fox News Digital.
Beyer pointed out that he was not defending Hunter Biden, who was under a years-long federal tax investigation having to do with his overseas business. But Beyer said tying the president to it seemed "silly."
"It's very difficult to believe that Joe Biden, having given his entire life to public service, would have any interest in that at all. I'm not defending Hunter or the things that he did, you know, the evasion of taxes and the like, but, you know, we all have kids off the reservation sometimes," he said.
Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif., called Republican efforts to investigate the Bidens "embarrassing."
"There is zero evidence that Republicans have shown that President Biden has done anything wrong," Swalwell said. "If you don’t have anything else, time to wrap it up."
"They're trying to make ‘fetch’ happen here. It's kind of embarrassing," he added of the GOP effort. "I feel bad for them, but they have not been able to deliver on anything they've promised. They're kind of like that… Cleveland Browns team that just kept losing and losing and losing. And we're all wondering like, are you guys gonna put a W on the board?"
A Midwestern Democrat, Rep. Dean Phillips of Minnesota, did not see the memo but conceded that evidence of wrongdoing should be investigated. He said he doubted there was such evidence against Biden.
"I don't care if it's President Biden, former President Trump, any president of any party. If they commit wrongdoing or corruption, we have every reason to pursue them. I have not seen anything that indicates that President Biden comes even close to having done so," Phillips said. "And if that is, becomes the truth, I think Democrats and Republicans have an obligation to pursue it, plain and simple."
He said Biden was "a man of principle and good character."
Asked about the congressional investigations Republicans have led into the matter, Phillips said, "I think so far they're a little bit laughable, so far, again, because I'm not seeing enough smoke to think there's even fire. And should that change, I'll be objective, like I hope all my colleagues will be."
Rep. Jimmy Panetta, D-Calif., a former prosecutor, told Fox News Digital of the claims that Biden profited off of his son’s business, "You make allegations like that you better have the evidence to back it up."
But he shrugged off any opinions on the Republicans’ Biden investigations.
"If that's what they want to spend their time doing, that's their prerogative, obviously, the majority. I'm here to legislate and get things done and for the people in [California’s] 19th Congressional District, and I look forward to continuing to do that with or without the Republicans," Panetta said.
Donald Trump went on yet another rant, this time against Sen. Mitt Romney on his Truth Social platform after the Utah senator wrote an op-ed piece for The Wall Street Journal on Monday, proposing a plan to stop Trump from winning the GOP presidential nomination. Analysts said the plan was unlikely to succeed.
Late Tuesday night, Trump lashed out at both Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, and Texas Sen. John Cornyn, who in May declared that the GOP should come up with another candidate because Trump was simply unelectable. Trump then asked his followers to weigh in and spent hours reposting derogatory comments, in particular about Romney, The Independent reported.
Trump wrote on Truth Social:
”Who is a worse Senator, John ‘The Stiff’ Cornyn of Texas, or Mitt ‘The Loser’ Romney of Massachusetts (Utah?)? They are both weak, ineffective, and very bad for the Republican Party, and our Nation. With even modestly skilled opposition, they’’ll lose their next-Election. Who could even forget Mitt proudly marching, with full mask, down a once proud Washington, D.C. street with BLM and Rioters? Likewise there’s Cornyn, always quick to surrender to the Dems, giving them anything they want?”
In June 2020, Romney tweeted a picture showing him wearing a face mask as he marched in a protest in Washington, D.C., after the police killing of George Floyd.
Romney, a Mormon, became a full-time Utah resident after he lost the 2012 presidential election to Barack Obama. He was elected to the Senate in 2018. He was the only Republican senator to vote twice to convict Trump in his Senate impeachment trials.
The twice-impeached, twice-indicted (and counting) former president was enraged after Romney published an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Monday headlined: “Donors, Don’t Fund a Trump Plurality.”
Romney wrote:
“Despite Donald Trump’s apparent inevitability, a baker’s dozen Republicans are hoping to become the party’s 2024 nominee for president. That is possible for any of them if the field narrows to a two-person race before Mr. Trump has the nomination sewn up. For that to happen, Republican megadonors and influencers—large and small—are going to have to do something they didn’t do in 2016: get candidates they support to agree to withdraw if and when their paths to the nomination are effectively closed. That decision day should be no later than, say, Feb. 26, the Monday following the contests in Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina.”
Romney noted that if candidates stay in the race for a long time, they will split the non-Trump vote and hand the nomination to Trump. That’s because unlike Democratic presidential primaries, a plurality is all that’s needed for GOP winner-take-all primaries. Romney concluded by writing:
“Our party and our country need a nominee with character, driven by something greater than revenge and ego, preferably from the next generation. Family, friends and campaign donors are the only people who can get a lost-cause candidate to exit the race. After Feb. 26, they should start doing just that.”
Well, good luck with that plan, Mitt. It’s simply too little, too late.
It didn’t take long for The Washington Post’s Philip Bump to write an analysis on Tuesday titled, “The fatal flaws in Mitt Romney’s plans to stop Trump.” Bump said there were three big problems with Romney’s latest plan to stop Trump. First, Bump said that Romney was wrong about how things worked in 2015-2016. Even though Trump was only getting about one-third of the support in pre-primary polls, it didn’t mean that two-thirds of Republicans opposed him. As the primaries proceeded and candidates dropped out, Trump kept picking up some of the support those candidates had enjoyed, until his nomination was secured.
Second, Bump pointed out that it’s unlikely that the Republicans could replay the scenario that occurred with the Democrats in 2020 when Sen. Bernie Sanders and other Democratic candidates dropped out of the race to back Biden after the South Carolina primary. Bump noted that “the Democratic nominating process is more equitable for candidates than the Republican one” and that “the GOP process disproportionately rewards whoever is leading in the polls.” He said that waiting to see which Republican emerges as the most viable non-Trump candidate means letting Trump build up an early lead in delegates.
The third problem with Romney’s proposal, according to Bump, is that Trump “is much better positioned now than he was in 2015 or 2016.” National polling averages show Trump has consistently been at or over 50% since the beginning of the year. And as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign has cratered, Trump is near 50% as the first choice of Republican voters in the early states of Iowa and Nebraska. Bump concluded:
These numbers can shift, but they already undermine Romney’s argument. The idea that there is a plurality of Republicans who oppose Trump might have been true in 2016, but there’s no evidence of that now. Consolidating around one candidate seems, at least at this point, like it would not have much effect on Trump’s march to the nomination.
Matthew Dowd, who served as President George W. Bush’s chief strategist in the 2004 presidential campaign, in an interview Tuesday on MSNBC pointed out another flaw in Romney’s proposal—his emphasis on the influence of megadonors.
"It (the GOP nominating process) is controlled by small donors, and Donald Trump has shown that his ability to raise money, $30, $40, $50 at a time, and he can outraise anybody else," said Dowd. “Mitt Romney wants to signal to megadonors what to do in this process. They really don't control the process. The students are in charge of campus today, and the deans have left town. And that's what Mitt Romney doesn't seem to understand about the Republican Party."
Dowd, who is now a Democrat, did have a suggestion as to what Romney could do if he wanted to make a real difference.
"If Mitt Romney really wanted to have an effect, Mitt Romney could stand up and say, me, and Sen. [Lisa] Murkowski (R-AK) and maybe one or two others, if Donald Trump is the nominee, we're going to become independents and caucus with the Democrats in the Senate in order to hold the MAGA side of the party accountable.
"That would send more shock waves through the system and maybe get people to actually do something about Donald Trump.”
In another Truth Social post, Trump managed to put the shiv into the GOP presidential primary opponent who has been most outspoken in criticizing the former president. He accused former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie of costing Romney the 2012 presidential race by embracing President Barack Obama on the Jersey Shore after Superstorm Sandy struck in October 2012. Trump wrote:
Christie was so star struck with Barack Hussein Obuma (sic), that Romney, who is a terrible politician and horrible representative of the Republican Party, never had a chance of winning the Presidency. Christie sold Romney out, making one of the worst Convention Speeches in History—Virtually not even mentioning Romney by name. Romney sat watching, in a trance—He couldn’t believe it!
Christie helped Trump prepare for the 2020 presidential debates with Joe Biden, only to become very ill with COVID-19 shortly afterward. Trump was carrying the virus during the Sept. 29 debate and was diagnosed with COVID-19 a few days later. Christie’s relationship with Trump further deteriorated after the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has also blamed Christie for recommending the appointment of Christopher Wray to be the FBI director. Trump and his allies have castigated Wray and the FBI for their role in the investigation into his handling of classified documents, including the search of his Mar-a-Lago estate, that resulted in a multi-count indictment.
As for Romney, there are already signs that he is going to face a MAGA challenger should he decide to seek reelection to the Senate in 2024. In May, the mayor of Riverton, Utah, Trent Staggs, announced his candidacy for Romney’s seat, according to the AP.
“The only thing I’ve seen him fight for are the Establishment, ‘wokeness,’ open borders, impeaching President Trump and putting us even deeper into debt,” Staggs said in his announcement video that highlights Romney’s votes to impeach Trump, according to the AP.
The AP reported that other Republicans, including former U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz and state Attorney General Sean Reyes, were considering challenging Romney from the right. Romney retains widespread popularity in Utah because his family ranks among the most prominent members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and many Mormons have had reservations about Trump’s moral character.
But let’s not forget that Romney sought and accepted Trump’s endorsement in 2012.
Reminder that Romney gladly accepted Trump's endorsement in February 2012, when Trump's political claim to fame was pushing racist conspiracy theories about Obama https://t.co/NKBbPCFkbCpic.twitter.com/brcVo0htjH
And look at who else has joined Trump in criticizing Romney: U.S. Rep. George Santos, who called the Utah senator “the biggest clown we’ve seen in government.” Certainly takes one to know one.
George Santos on Mitt Romney: “He’s a clown. He’s the biggest clown we’ve seen in government.” Coming from a notorious fraudster and a pathological liar, that’s a real compliment for Senator Romney. pic.twitter.com/clJW2v2Qox
— Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) July 19, 2023
Democratic Congressman Adam Schiff was blasted by conservatives on social media Wednesday after implying that Republicans want to impeach President Biden without any evidence.
"The Republican desire to impeach someone, anyone, no matter whether there’s any evidence, just shows how they have descended into chaos," Schiff, D-Calif., told FOX Business on Wednesday. He was responding to rumblings from members of the GOP that impeaching President Biden over his alleged ties to his son Hunter Biden’s business dealings and alleged pay schemes is on the table.
But Schiff, the lead House impeachment manager against President Donald Trump, was widely mocked on social media for supporting the two impeachments against Trump as well as pushing the Russian collusion narrative. All three instances, according to conservatives, were predicated on flimsy evidence.
"This coming from the man who said ‘there is collusion in plain sight’ about Trump!" former GOP Congressman Doug Collins tweeted. "What a joke!"
"Democrats impeached Trump for a PHONE CALL!!!!" conservative commentator Graham Allen tweeted. "We have evidence of bribery and we will not be silenced by KNOWN LIAR Adam Schiff."
"The pot calling the kettle black," former Trump adviser and longtime political operative Roger Stone tweeted. "Lying con artist Adam []Schiff must be prosecuted for treason. If it's Schiff flush it"
Schiff was censured by the House of Representatives in June for pushing unproven claims that Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russia. The vote, which wasn't supported by any Democrats, made Schiff the third member of the House to be censured since the turn of the century.
Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) are teaming up on legislation to create a new agency that would have the power to regulate tech giants.
The bipartisan Digital Consumer Protection Commission Act, unveiled Thursday, would create an agency charged with oversight of Meta, Google, Amazon and other large tech companies and seek to promote industry competition and consumer privacy online.
The commission would work alongside the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and Department of Justice (DOJ), the agencies that currently operate as antitrust enforcers, according to the bill.
The legislation would also set regulations in place requiring “dominant platforms” to be licensed and allow for licenses to be removed for repeated anticompetitive and anti-consumer conduct violations.
The bill is the latest effort from Congress to rein in the power of tech giants.
Last year, two bipartisan antitrust reform bills advanced out of the Senate Judiciary Committee — the American Innovation and Choice Online Act and the Open App Markets Act — but failed to make it to the floor for a vote. Companion bills that advanced out of the House Judiciary Committee also failed to advance to a full floor vote.
Warren and Graham’s proposal seeks to target tech regulation more broadly by creating a commission specifically tasked with oversight of the booming industry.
The legislation would also grant the new commission with oversight over how to respond to emerging risks, including from artificial intelligence (AI) — an area where lawmakers and regulators have been scrambling to understand and put rules in place.
“Enough is enough. It’s time to rein in Big Tech. And we can’t do it with a law that only nibbles around the edges of the problem,” the senators wrote in a joint op-ed published in The New York Times on Thursday.
“Piecemeal efforts to stop abusive and dangerous practices have failed. Congress is too slow, it lacks the tech expertise, and the army of Big Tech lobbyists can pick off individual efforts easier than shooting fish in a barrel. Meaningful change — the change worth engaging every member of Congress to fight for — is structural,” they added.
Lawmakers have long faced an uphill climb when pursuing tech reforms, with the industry launching massive lobbying campaigns targeting congressional legislation.
At the same time, Republicans leading the House have focused their tech agenda on content moderation battles rather than advancing bills aimed at reining in the market power of Big Tech.
For Warren, her proposal with Graham is the second time the progressive firebrand has recently joined forces with a colleague across the aisle. Last month, Warren joined Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) to put forward a bill that targets failed bank executives with harsher penalties.
House GOP conference chair Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., said Thursday morning that she would "absolutely" support the opening of an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Stefanik's comments came during an appearance on FOX Business, where she told a "Mornings with Maria" panel that she has been in contact with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., about the issue.
Asked whether she would support a potential impeachment inquiry, Stefanik responded, "Oh, absolutely. I'm in conversations with Speaker McCarthy and all of our members. The important thing to know about an impeachment inquiry is that ensures that the House is at the apex of its power and oversight responsibility. It means that our subpoenas have the most power possible when it comes to litigating this out in court because we know getting the facts is not going to be easy.
"We know this White House, this Department of Justice, they are trying to cover up for Hunter Biden and ultimately Joe Biden," she continued. "What is important that you mentioned at the beginning of your statement is the White House is trying to quietly change its language. First it said that Joe Biden never spoke to his son about Hunter's business dealings. They have now changed that language to now saying Joe Biden has never been in business with Hunter Biden's business operations. That is a significant change…"
"It is only because of House Republicans that we've discovered the dozens of LLCs, which is illegal money laundering, the fact that nearly 20 Biden family members have profited illegally," she added.
Stefanik said she believes that Americans are smart enough to realize, at this point, that the "big guy is Joe Biden."
"Having that impeachment inquiry allows us to get all the facts and have the most constitutionally recognized power for the House of Representatives," she concluded.
McCarthy said this week that Republican lawmakers in the House may consider an impeachment inquiry of Biden over claims of financial misconduct.
Speaking Tuesday at the Capitol, McCarthy said the questions that House Republicans are raising about the Biden family finances need to be investigated. He said an impeachment inquiry "allows Congress to get the information to be able to know the truth" about whether Biden committed any wrongdoing.
An impeachment inquiry by the House would be a first step toward bringing articles of impeachment. Such a probe could be as lengthy or swift as the House determines, potentially stretching into campaign season.
Speaking to Fox News Digital about the subject earlier this week, McCarthy said his party will, for now, continue seeking information related to the Biden family finances unless that information began being withheld.
"What I've said is, if they withhold information, the impeachment inquiry allows Congress to have the apex of power to get all the information they need. All this information people are finding out now is only because Republicans have investigated," McCarthy said.
"The people of America have a right to know what went on. They have a president who lied to the American public and said they didn't get any money from China. We know that's true. We've had whistleblowers from the IRS come say the Biden family is treated differently and that other things were going on. And then you have a[n] informant with the FBI saying there was a bribe. We need to know the answer to this," he added.
Fox News' Brandon Gillespie and Charles Creitz, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The White House on Thursday bashed Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) over pushback from fellow Republicans in his conference over his floating the idea of pursuing impeachment.
McCarthy this week signaled that the House could move forward with an impeachment inquiry against Biden, though he made it clear no decision has been made.
The White House, in a statement exclusively obtained by The Hill, called McCarthy’s comments “a ridiculous, baseless stunt, intended to attack the President at a time when House Republicans should instead be joining the President to focus on the important issues facing the American people.”
“But just as soon as McCarthy floated this stunt, he was met with resistance — from members of his own party and even his own caucus,” the statement continued.
The statement highlights quotes from Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), who called McCarthy’s move “impeachment theater” on CNN; Rep. Richard Hudson (R-N.C.), who told reporters “no one is seriously talking about impeachment”; and Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who told reporters that people in his district are worried about “real issues” like inflation and the border.
“The American people want their leaders in Congress to spend their time working with the President on important issues like continuing to lower costs, create good-paying jobs, and strengthen health care,” the White House statement read. “Regardless of these baseless stunts, President Biden will always be focused on delivering real results that improve the lives of the American people.”
The White House also outlined comments from GOP senators, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who told reporters Wednesday that impeachment is “not good for the country.”
The House GOP has launched investigations into Biden’s family business dealings while Republicans in the Senate have largely distanced themselves from the efforts.
The president’s son Hunter Biden was in a Delaware court Wednesday, where his plea deal — which has been criticized by Republicans — was put on hold by a judge who questioned the scope of the agreement.
The White House on Wednesday released a memo arguing that Republicans’ attacks against Biden are disjointed and a “clown carousel.”
The memo was titled “The message behind Republicans’ haphazard non-message: they can’t beat Bidenomics,” reflecting the Biden argument that the GOP is stepping up attacks on Hunter Biden and talk of impeachment because the economy is getting stronger and is now a less effective avenue for attack.
Note: Today is Take Your Houseplants For A Walk Day. For maximum enjoyment, we recommend you first celebrate Smoke Your Special Homegrown Houseplant That Sits Under The Purple Grow Light Day before you leave the house. And don’t forget to hydrate, hydrate, hydrate.
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By the Numbers:
5 days!!!
Days 'til President Biden visits Auburn, Maine to promote the economy and the rise in U.S. manufacturing: 1
Days 'til the Pear Fair in Courtland, California: 3
Ocean water temperature recorded in Manatee Bay, Florida Monday: 101 F
Number of search warrants and affidavits filed in connection with the federal case involving former president Trump's mishandling of classified documents: 8
Portion of tenured miners in central Appalachia who suffer from black lung disease: 1-in-5
Percent chance that Millennial voters are not following the usual pattern of becoming more conservative as they get older, according to a Financial Times analysis: 100%
Percent chance that Keith Richards sang for Queen Elizabeth II as part of a boys choir in the 1950s: 100%
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Your Thursday Molly Ivins Moment:
Tom Friedman, columnist for The New York Times, recently wrote that “liberals” no longer want to talk about the war because we were against it to start with and probably hope it ends in disaster. Jesus God Almighty, who does he think we are?
Does this man who has a column for The New York Times, one of the most prestigious jobs in American journalism, actually think we are out here cheering every time another American is killed? Mr. Friedman, real, actual, honest-to-God American liberals are out here in the heartland and we know the kids who are dying in Iraq. They are from our hometowns. We know their parents. That’s why we hate this war. That’s why we tried to tell everybody else it was a ghastly idea. We are not sitting here gloating because it is the horrible FUBAR we said it would be. We are in agony because it is as bad as we said it would be. Cassandra took no joy in the fall of Troy.
I have said from the beginning that if this thing worked out the way Rumsfeld and Wolfowitz and Cheney all said it would, I would be perfectly happy to get down on my knees and kiss George Bush’s feet. I do literally mean that.
CHEERS to Christmas in July. Team Biden has been working mighty hard to right the economy and get America moving again after the disastrous Previous Guy years. And despite being a country with one of the largest populations of whiners on the planet, We The People have decided we can no longer deny it—Joe has made life better in these United States:
A key measurement of consumer confidence just shot up to a level not seen since July2021.
The Trickle-down malarkey finally met its slayer.
The Conference Board’s monthly Consumer Confidence Index hit 117 in July, rising from 110.1the month before, according to new data released Tuesday. The index increased for the third consecutive month, bounding even higher after a sharp swing upward in June. Economists were expecting the index to climb to 111.8,according to consensus estimates on Refinitiv.
A strong labor market and cooling inflation are helping to keep Americans upbeat about both the current and near-term prospects of the economy, according to the report. Said Dana Peterson, chief economist at the Conference Board, in a statement Tuesday: “Greater confidence was evident across all age groups, and among consumers earning incomes less than $50,000 and those making more than$100,000."
Democrats hailed the news as proof that Joe's anti-trickle-down policies are working. Republicans called for the immediate impeachment of consumer confidence.
CHEERS to keeping the wheels of commerce a' turning. Speaking of happy people, here's reason to breathe a big sigh of relief this morning: the looming strike by UPS employees has been averted, thanks to some quiet diplomacy by President Biden, but mostly by the brains and brawn of the Teamsters union, which extracted well-earned benefit upgrades for over 340,000 employees:
“UPS has put $30 billion in new money on the table as a direct result of these negotiations,” Teamsters President Sean O’Brien said in a statement Tuesday. “This contract sets a new standard in the labor movement and raises the bar for all workers.” […]
In exchange for better pay and benefits, UPS drivers agreed to wear shorter shorts and tighter tops.
Under the new deal, 22.4 drivers would be reclassified as regular drivers and have their pay adjusted accordingly. UPS would also be prevented from requiring drivers to work overtime on their scheduled days off.
The five-year contract deal also includes what the union called “historic” wage increases. Current full- and part-time union workers are guaranteed a $2.75 hourly pay increase this year, the Teamsters said, amounting to a $7.50 hourly increase through the duration of the contract.
Pay for existing and starting part-time workers—which UPS and Teamsters leaders described as the last hurdle for a contract—would be raised to at least $21 per hour immediately, advancing to $23 per hour.
Sadly, my suggestion to change their normal arrival-alerting horn "toot-toot" to "La Cucaracha"was tabled until the next contract negotiations. Killjoys.
CHEERS to the end of the end. It was all over for Tricky Dick 49 years ago today, thanks to a 27-11 vote by the House Judiciary Committee to adopt the first of three articles of impeachment against President Nixon who, said ABC News's Tom Jarrell at the time, was "presumably still in his swim trunks" while on vacation in California when he heard the news. Meanwhile, then-VP Gerald Ford just couldn’t help but play a little game of up-is-downism:
Ford: It's interesting that every Democrat on the committee—north and south—voted for the article. ... It tends to make it a partisan issue.
Oh, just GTFO already.
Reporter: Even if one-third of Republicans voted for it?
Ford: Well, the fact that every one of the Democrats voted for it, I think, uh, lends credence that it's a partisan issue, even though some Republicans have deviated.
...said the Republican who later unilaterally exonerated the Republican crook. But, hey, what's a little hypocrisy among friends?
JEERS to hounding the wrong guy. Here’s a reminder that assholes can, and do, sometimes pee in the pool during the fun. Twenty-seven years ago today, domestic right-wing terrorist nut Eric Rudolph—now serving four life sentences in a Colorado prison—detonated a pipe bomb at the ‘96 Summer Olympic games in Atlanta.
Sculpture in Centennial (Olympic) Park with an indentation of a nail from the July 27, 1996 bombing.
The blast killed one person and injured over a hundred more, but it could've been worse if security guard Richard Jewell hadn’t found the bomb and tried to move people out of harm's way. The hero was later pilloried in the press and by the late-night gaggle (Leno called him the "Una-doofus") when it became known that the FBI considered him a suspect. Then, when his name was officially cleared, they moved on and dumped his reputation by the side of the road like a rodent carcass. Wikipedia reminds us of what the media should've learned:
Jewell's case became an example of the damage that can be done by reporting based on unreliable or incomplete information...
Mr. Lesson From The Past, meet Mr. ADD.
JEERS to this week's edition of Indictment Watch. It's been a week since special counsel Jack Smith issued a "target letter" to the infamous leader of the MAGA cult indicating that his arrest and indictment were imminent on charges stemming his planning of the January 6, 2021 insurrection. To keep you informed down to the tiniest detail of the investigation's current status, we sat down for a texting session with our blue-ribbon, $5,000-an-hour rent-a-panel of legal experts to provide answers to the most commonly asked questions:
Has Donald J. Trump been indicted on January 6 charges yet?
No.
How about now?
No.
Over the course of the asking and answering of the previous question, have any indictments come down?
No.
Do you know when the indictments will drop?
No.
Do you know why the indictments are taking so long?
No.
Would right now, this very moment, be the time at which he's indicted?
No.
How about now?
No.
Anything yet?
No.
Since nothing's happening, can I have my $5,000 back?
No.
Do you guys ever go to Clarence Thomas's house to watch porn with him?
[This session has been terminated.]
Conclusions: 1) No indictments yet. 2) I need to get a better blue-ribbon panel.
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Ten years ago in C&J: July 27, 2013
CHEERS to a #44 with a #45, hold the mayo. President Obama had Hillary Clinton over to the White House to look over paint swatches for the Oval Office…er, um, to have lunch yesterday. Naturally, the media made it all about them:
The two Democrats and former rivals met for lunch Monday in a private dining room at the White House, spawning a frenzy of predictable media speculation about whether they might be putting their heads together about Clinton’s much-rumored 2016 run.
And—adding to that speculation—Clinton is now also scheduled to have breakfast [today] with Vice President Joe Biden, considered a top potential rival for the Democratic nomination.
After lunch Obama and Clinton played lawn darts in front of the press pool. Doctors say Chuck Todd won’t be able to sit down for a week.
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And just one more…
JEERS to today’s weather. Here’s today’s weather, brought to you by Exxon Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron, Occidental, and their political sycophants:
Have a nice Thursday. Floor's open...What are you cheering and jeering about today?
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Today's Shameless C&J Testimonial
Allison Jones, a casting director for the “Barbie” movie, told Vanity Fair recently that a few beloved celebs narrowly missed playing Kens in Greta Gerwig’s box office smash. Jones said that “Saturday Night Live” star Bowen Yang, “Schitt’s Creek” alum Dan Levy and “Cheers and Jeers” kiddie pool splasher Bill in Portland Maine almost made it into Barbieland as variations on the hunky male doll.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s (R-Calif.) flirtation with impeaching President Biden is pleasing the right wing of his conference while not scaring moderates, keeping his fractious conference together while setting up the real possibility of a third presidential impeachment in less than five years.
The increased talk of impeachment comes as the GOP dives further into investigations of Hunter Biden, who on Wednesday saw his plea agreement get placed on hold after a federal judge questioned the scope of the deal.
The drive also has heavy political implications, with attacks on Biden and his family being fertile ground ahead of the 2024 election, especially with the economy rebounding in a way that could help the White House.
But going too far poses the risk of turning off swing-district voters and endangering moderates in McCarthy’s conference. Those members back investigating Biden, but they might not support an impeachment vote.
McCarthy’s efforts so far have threaded this needle as he insists that he will never pursue impeachment for “political purposes.”
“The Speaker has said that there may be an impeachment inquiry. That is not impeachment,” said Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who represents a district Biden won in 2020. “That is Congress continuing its responsibilities to look into the issues that have been raised.”
“Are they producing enough facts and evidence that warrant taking it to the next step? I don't think it's there at the moment. But these committees are doing their job,” Lawler said.
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), another swing district Republican, said an impeachment inquiry effort poses an electoral risk “if it looks like it's rushed and we're not doing due process and due diligence.”
“But if we're very thorough about it. … I think the voters will feel differently,” Bacon said.
In a closed-door conference meeting Wednesday, McCarthy put no timeline on starting an impeachment probe and urged members not to overstate the evidence obtained so far, according to several GOP members.
Conservatives who have been pushing for the impeachment of Biden administration officials generally offered support for McCarthy’s approach as they try to pull the Speaker to the right on a host of other policy and spending matters.
“I don’t think there’s any question that him speaking to that has caused a paradigm shift,” said Rep. Bob Good (R-Va.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, said of McCarthy floating an impeachment inquiry.
McCarthy and other Republicans point to numerous issues they see stemming from information compiled from IRS whistleblowers who allege prosecutors slow-walked the Hunter Biden tax crime investigation, and from financial records they obtained that show President Biden falsely denied his family made money from China.
“Let's just say there's a whole hell of a lot of smoke, and our job is to present the fire,” said Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), adding he would support an impeachment inquiry against Biden.
Not all conservatives are pleased, though. Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) sees impeachment talk as a distraction from the right flank’s push to get McCarthy to agree to lower spending levels in appropriations bills.
“This is impeachment theater,” Buck said on CNN Wednesday. “I don’t think it’s responsible for us to talk about impeachment. When you start raising the 'I' word, it starts sending a message to the public, and it sets expectations.”
Republicans have not proven President Biden was part of any of Hunter Biden’s business activities, interfered in his criminal case, or directly financially benefited from his son’s foreign business dealings.
White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has repeatedly said the president “was never in business with his son.
And Ian Sams, White House spokesperson for oversight and investigations, tweeted on Monday night that McCarthy was focusing on impeachment inquiry “instead of focusing on the real issues Americans want us to address like continuing to lower inflation or create jobs.”
McCarthy suggested a potential impeachment inquiry could not center directly on those issues, but instead on the Biden administration’s cooperation with the House GOP probes.
“If the departments in government, just like Richard Nixon used, deny us the ability to get the information we’re asking, that would rise to an impeachment inquiry,” McCarthy said on Tuesday.
Republicans also argue the weight of a formal impeachment inquiry would give the House more power to get the information it seeks from its various investigations.
“If we don't have access to the information, then you do have to escalate the oversight of the House,” Rep. Marc Molinaro (R-N.Y.), another Biden-district Republican, echoed after a GOP conference meeting on Wednesday.
Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said that when he was chairman of the House Judiciary Committee setting up impeachment of former President Donald Trump four years ago, his theory that an impeachment inquiry would give more weight to enforcing subpoenas did not pan out.
“We thought that it puts the weight of the House behind the request, not just the weight of a committee,” Nadler said. “It didn’t work.”
Democrats are scoffing at the GOP impeachment effort. Democratic National Committee Chairman Jaime Harrison suggested McCarthy’s interest in impeaching Biden was a way for him to do the “bidding” of Trump — though McCarthy told reporters Tuesday he had not talked to the former president about a potential impeachment inquiry.
“I don't think that they've been prevented from getting information that they want. I think the biggest problem they have is all of the information that they've gotten does not support their overreaching and unsubstantiated conclusions and allegations,” said Rep. Dan Goldman (D-N.Y.). “He is using that as an excuse to start an impeachment inquiry without any evidence of wrongdoing.”
And while the House GOP conference is largely lining up behind McCarthy as he floats impeachment for now, there is potential for frustrations to flare if members resist efforts to move forward on an actual inquiry in the future.
“At this point, I don't know how there can’t be support for it. Any Republican that can't move forward on impeachment with all the information and overwhelming evidence that we have — I really don't know why they're here, to be honest with you,” said Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.).
The push to expunge former President Trump’s two impeachments is putting vulnerable House Republicans in a tough political spot heading into next year’s election.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is facing growing pressure from the party’s right flank to bring the resolutions to the floor, underscoring the tight grip Trump has on the party as he seeks the GOP nomination for president.
But the moves would also put moderate Republicans at risk, as many of them are running in districts where Trump is highly unpopular. In a sign of just how politically toxic the issue is, some of these Republicans have already started pushing back against the efforts to expunge the impeachments.
“They’re silly,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) told The Hill last week. “When do we expunge a not guilty verdict?”
Bacon, who represents a swing district in Nebraska that voted for Biden in 2020, is one of several GOP members representing battleground districts who have voiced frustration over the efforts.
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) told reporters that he had questions about the purpose of the expungements given the not guilty verdicts, asking, “What is there to expunge?” Lawler’s district comfortably voted for Biden over Trump in 2020.
Rep. David Schweikert (R-Ariz.) told Politico that he would “probably not” vote for a measure expunging the impeachments. His district narrowly voted for Biden in 2020 but has leaned more in favor of Democratic candidates overall in recent years.
“This is not anything vulnerable Republicans want to talk about on the campaign trail,” said Doug Heye, a national Republican strategist. “They want to focus on all of those issues that have [President] Biden’s popularity so low and not be pulled into some Trump loyalty blood oath.”
That came just a day after Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and House GOP Conference Chairwoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) introduced resolutions to expunge the impeachments. Greene’s resolution would annul the first impeachment from December 2019, while Stefanik’s would do the same for the second one from January 2021.
The pressure on McCarthy to move forward with the votes has only intensified recently after comments he made questioning whether Trump was the “strongest” Republican to face President Biden in the 2024 election.
Though he later clarified that he believed Trump is “Biden’s strongest opponent,” Politico reported that he promised the former president to hold the expungement votes ahead of the August recess in an effort to placate him. McCarthy has denied making any promise.
Now, the Speaker finds himself in a precarious position, squeezed between the hard-line members who support Trump and the more moderate members who strategists say don’t want to touch the issue.
Trump was impeached first over a threat that he made to withhold U.S. military aid to Ukraine unless President Volodymyr Zelensky launched an investigation into Biden. He was impeached the second time just over a year later for his role in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. He was acquitted by the Senate in both cases.
GOP strategists said the issue is becoming something of a third rail for House GOP members in moderate or Democratic-leaning districts.
Heye, the Republican strategist and former spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said a vote on expungement would only harm these vulnerable members in their reelection bids regardless of whether they ultimately vote for or against it.
“It’s a no-win situation for at-risk Republicans, which is why they don’t want to even have the vote over something that may not even be constitutional,” Heye said.
But he said he does not expect the vote on expungement will happen because of the divisiveness within the conference and its questionable constitutionality.
The Constitution states that the House has the “sole power” of impeachment, and officers of the United States can be removed from office upon conviction in an impeachment trial, but it makes no mention of expunging an impeachment or removing it from the historical record.
Rina Shah, a Republican consultant who has identified herself as the first “Never Trump” delegate in 2016, said those in “MAGA world” who most solidly stand by Trump still have significant influence on McCarthy and in the House Republican Conference because of the small donations that their voters are willing to send when they are passionate about a certain issue, like defending Trump.
She said McCarthy is more focused on satisfying the hard-liners and their voters than Trump himself.
“They are the people more likely to send $5 every time they're fired up about something. So Speaker McCarthy, again, trying to walk and chew gum here doesn't have to do this but is doing it so that he can look more like a leader,” Shah said.
She said the issue facing McCarthy is that he needs the votes of the moderate members for Republicans to keep their majority. She said this situation is only one point of an ongoing balancing act for McCarthy between the moderates and hard-liners.
“That is always the conundrum he finds himself in, is how to do this in a way where he’s making members in tough districts, he’s making them happy while at the same time really sticking his neck out to lead,” Shah said.
Tom Doherty, a New York Republican strategist, said the expungement effort is intended to “throw red meat to the base,” but is not focused on protecting moderate New York Republicans like Lawler.
“In one way, you’ve stood up to the Washington Republican establishment, which is always more conservative than New York Republicans, but on the other hand, you wind up ticking off your voters,” he said.
Despite a disappointing performance for Republicans nationally during the November midterm elections, GOP victories in House districts in states like New York and California were key to the party winning control of the House. These districts will also be among the top targets for Democrats seeking to regain the majority in the body.
Meanwhile, Democrats warned that these more hesitant Republicans could face “accountability” over their refusal to directly speak out to denounce the effort even if they ultimately vote against the resolutions.
Democratic consultant Antjuan Seawright said moderate Republicans are “hoping and praying” that the resolutions do not come to a vote because their choice will affect them either in their primary race or the general election, as has happened before.
“They should all understand that accountability happens at the ballot box … If they do stand with McCarthy and others, forget about voting, just not speaking out loudly against it in the conversation about it, I think there will be an element of accountability for them in the next election cycle,” he said.
Seawright added that he expects more of a “clown circus show” that puts moderates in tough positions as the next election approaches.
Viet Shelton, a spokesperson for House Democrats’ campaign arm, told The Hill that vulnerable Republican incumbents have avoided addressing the multiple indictments facing Trump, and most have avoided directly and publicly condemning the “preposterous” idea of expungement.
“For the few that have desperately tried to distance themselves from it, voters will see it for what it is: empty rhetoric to distract from their long records of defending Trump no matter what,” Shelton said.
GOP strategists for their part warn that expungements votes could just force those Republicans already facing tough elections to have a steeper hill to climb.
“Why would you put folks that had an uphill race to win the first time around, why would you put them in a more difficult situation going forward?” said Doherty, the New York Republican.
Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) clashed Wednesday with aides to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his presidential campaign after the congressman expressed reservations about new education guidelines in the state focused on African American history.
Donalds, the lone Black Republican in the Florida congressional delegation and a supporter of former President Trump's 2024 bid, said the state's new standards for African-American history are "good, robust, & accurate."
"That being said, the attempt to feature the personal benefits of slavery is wrong & needs to be adjusted. That obviously wasn't the goal & I have faith that FLDOE will correct this," Donalds posted on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Florida’s new guidelines, which passed last week, require lessons on race to be taught in an “objective” manner that does not seek to “indoctrinate or persuade students to a particular point of view.”
One update requires teachers to instruct on “how slaves developed skills which, in some instances, could be applied for their personal benefit.”
DeSantis aides were quick to criticize Donalds, accusing him of parroting White House talking points in the wake of sharp criticism from Vice President Harris and other administration officials.
"Supposed conservatives in the federal government are pushing the same false narrative that originated from the @WhiteHouse," Jeremy Redfern, DeSantis' press secretary, posted on X in response to Donalds. "Florida isn’t going to hide the truth for political convenience. Maybe the congressman shouldn’t swing for the liberal media fences like @VP."
Donalds responded with surprise that he was taking incoming after expressing support for most of the changes.
"Anyone who can't accurately interpret what I said is disingenuous and is desperately attempting to score political points," Donalds posted. "Just another reason why l'm proud to have endorsed President Donald J. Trump!"
Christina Pushaw, who served in the governor's office and works on the DeSantis campaign's rapid response team, replied with a GIF of Harris giving a thumbs up.
Redfern retweeted Pushaw's message, and in a separate response to Donalds wrote that the congressman was "repeating false talking points pushed by the Biden @WhiteHouse."
The online sparring between DeSantis's team and Donalds comes as the governor's presidential campaign has undergone something of a reset in the face of difficulties gaining ground on Trump in the polls and questions about the operation's spending strategy.
DeSantis entered the presidential race in May and was widely viewed as Trump's most formidable challenger, but the governor has struggled to put a dent in the former president's sizable polling lead nationally and in early voting states like Iowa.
His campaign has faced blowback for multiple online missteps, including its initial launch on Twitter Spaces and the sharing of a video criticizing Trump as too friendly to the LGBTQ community.
Jason Miller, a senior adviser for the Trump campaign, called it a "disgrace" for a DeSantis spokesperson to be attacking the congressman.
"Congressman Byron Donalds is a conservative hero,” Miller said in a statement to The Hill. “The Republican Party is lucky to have him as a leader, and President Trump is honored to have his endorsement.”
"The Congressman also calls it like he sees it, and if he thinks something is BS, he'll tell you,” Miller added. “That's why we like him so much.”
