Category: congress

Report: House Members Nearly Come To Blows As Congress Preaches Unity To America

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Two House members nearly came to blows and had to be separated by a Capitol staffer after several lawmakers had preached about coming together as Americans.

The wild scene took place as lawmakers debated certifying the Electoral votes from Pennsylvania.

An altercation reportedly took place between Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) and Rep. Colin Allred (D-TX), though what prompted it remains unclear.

Reporters in attendance, according to Fox News, suggest Pennsylvania Democratic Rep. Conor Lamb’s characterization of the violence earlier in the day may have prompted the scuffle.

“It didn’t materialize out of nowhere,” Lamb said of the violence. “It was inspired by lies. The same lies that you’re hearing in this room tonight.”

Republicans objected, to which Lamb responded, “The truth hurts!”

C-Span video captured Lamb speaking and a commotion behind him.

Harris is a 63-year-old U.S. Navy veteran while Allred is a 37-year-old former college football player at Baylor.

RELATED: Ilhan Omar, Squad Members Call For Trump’s Impeachment, Expulsion Of Republican Lawmakers

House Members Andy Harris and Colin Allred Almost Comes to Blows

Remarkably, this near-fight took place late into the night where lawmakers spent countless minutes preaching to the American people about unity and coming together.

After witnessing the violence at the Capitol, numerous Republicans backed down from contesting the election and defending the Constitution as some sort of olive branch to Democrats who have been fomenting discord for months.

Republican Sens. Steve Daines and James Lankford, CNN notes, said: “We must stand together as Americans. We must defend our Constitution and the rule of law.”

Yet Lamb accused lawmakers in the chamber of being liars for defending the Constitution. That doesn’t sound like coming together.

RELATED: Mitch McConnell Blasts Republican Senators Who Challenge Electoral College Results

The House Literally Preached Unity

House Republican minority leader Kevin McCarthy received a standing ovation for a speech that stated while Democrats and Republicans might not agree on everything, “now is the moment to show America that we work best together.”

“Mobs don’t rule America. Laws rule America,” he added. “It was true when our cities were burning this summer and it is true now.”

And to symbolize that ‘unity,’ Mass Live reports:

The comment got loud applause from Republicans. Democrats in the chamber sat silently.

Just like they did for years’ worth of State of the Union speeches when President Trump repeatedly urged unity between the two parties.

The New York Times revealed that after President-elect Joe Biden’s victory had been certified by lawmakers, the Senate chaplain delivered “a powerful prayer calling for unity.”

“Use us to bring healing and unity to our hurting and divided nation and world,” chaplain Barry C. Black said. “Thank you for what you have blessed our lawmakers to accomplish in spite of threats to liberty.”

What a great example Lamb, Allred, and Harris have set.

The post Report: House Members Nearly Come To Blows As Congress Preaches Unity To America appeared first on The Political Insider.

Some Democrats want to move past Trump. But ignoring his seditious acts threatens American democracy

Posted on by Kerry Eleveld

New York Rep. Hakeem Jeffries delivered a message Monday about the posture of House Democrats' leadership team regarding Donald Trump's relentless attempts to engineer a fascist takeover of the American republic. 

“We’re not looking backward," Jeffries told reporters during a press conference. "We’re looking forward to the inauguration of Joe Biden on January 20th.” 

That forward-looking vision came less than 24 hours after the Washington Post posted smoking-gun audio of an hour-long phone call in which Trump (aka Mafia Don) attempted to threaten and cajole Georgia's top election officials to "find" enough votes to overturn the state's election results. 

Nonetheless, Kate Bedingfield, an adviser to President-elect Joe Biden offered a similar take to Jeffries, saying, "The country is ready to move forward."

But the problem with simply rushing past Mafia Don's political grave is that ignoring his seditious acts is as much a threat to the future of American democracy as Trump's failed efforts were in the first place. In short—seditious, traitorous acts left unchecked beget seditious, traitorous acts. In fact, Senate Republicans with the twinkle of 2024 presidential bids in their eyes are already lining up in support of Trump's effort to tear down democracy in order to maintain his grip on power. Trump's final gambit is all but certain to fail on Wednesday during a joint session of Congress to certify the election results, but the major takeaway is that plenty of future GOP Trumps are waiting in the wings to trash representative democracy on the way to meeting their own political ends unless a price is exacted for doing so. And the lesson those Republicans have learned so far—just as Trump learned from his acquittal—is that there's no serious price to pay, political or otherwise, for betraying the country.

Both the incoming Biden administration and Congress have a role to play in safeguarding our democracy for generations to come. One is criminal and the other is a matter of governance. Biden must appoint smart, resolute leaders to the Justice Department and then simply get out of the way and let them do their jobs. Hamstringing justice in any way with regard to Trump's endless assault on the law and the Constitution would be disastrous for the country's future. But Biden can easily make those appointments to the Department of Justice and then rightfully send the message that his administration is focused on the task of righting the ship in regard to the pandemic and the faltering economy. 

House Democrats, however, cannot afford to simply move along, as if the threat to our democracy ends once Trump is summarily booted from the White House residence. That is a patently false contention given the upheaval we are already witnessing in the Republican party. Trump must be held to account. That can be done in several ways, a couple of which are already in process.

One way is by making a criminal referral to the FBI over Trump's attempted election crimes, an investigation that Reps. Ted Lieu of California and Kathleen Rice of New York are already urging FBI Director Chris Wray to undertake.

Another possibility is censuring Trump over his call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Georgia Rep. Hank Johnson introduced a censure motion on Monday with the support of 90 of his colleagues. That number will likely grow in the coming days and weeks as Congress gets back to work—or at least, it should grow, since there are presently 222 Democratic members of the House.

Impeachment is another potential option, but to what end at this point? Trump is just over two weeks away from removal and, as we have already seen, the effort would surely be blocked by the GOP-controlled Senate. Heck, more than a quarter of the Senate Republican caucus has jumped aboard Team coup at this point. 

What does seem a worthy effort, however, is continued investigations of Trump and his minions. Not only do the facts need to come out, but if Democrats are to draft legislation to safeguard our democracy against future Trumps, they will need to know exactly what actions he and his enablers took in their extensive efforts to kneecap America's institutions and systems of governance. 

But none of those three options—a criminal referral, censure, and ongoing investigations—amount to simply "looking forward." What is past will haunt the nation and Democrats, in particular, if it is buried before an autopsy can be conducted and people held to account for their roles in assaulting and undermining America’s democracy. 

Congress, Journalists Rank Among Worst Professions For Honesty And Ethics According To Survey

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

A new Gallup poll asking Americans to rank the honesty and ethics of different professions placed journalists and members of Congress low amongst groups such as car salesmen.

Congressional members actually tied car salespeople with a mere 8 percent rating them highly, with advertising practitioners coming it slightly better at 10 percent.

Rounding out low-ranking groups were business executives at 17 percent, lawyers at 21 percent, and journalists at 28 percent.

The top two professions should come as no surprise in a normal year, let alone in the midst of a historic pandemic – nurses at 89 percent and doctors at 77 percent.

Police officers came in at number five, with 52 percent.

With police officers being the subject of defunding pushes by the left and the media, one has to wonder why there isn’t a larger outcry to defund or abolish far more detestable institutions such as the media and Congress.

RELATED: Trump Calls Out Mitch McConnell: Republicans Must Finally Learn To Fight

Members Of Congress Viewed As Unethical By Both Parties

Congressional members – unlike journalists – were universally despised in the Gallup poll regarding professional ethics, with only 8 percent of Democrats rating them highly, 10 percent of Independents, and 4 percent of Republicans.

And why not really? They had a banner year.

A banner year that started with congress focusing almost exclusively on the impeachment of President Trump rather than the coronavirus, which had found its way to America in January.

That was followed up by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi ignoring President Trump who had vowed in his State of the Union Address to “take all necessary steps” to protect Americans from the coronavirus.

In fact, Pelosi was too preoccupied with her plan to showboat by tearing up her copy of the address rather than worry about the pandemic.

Pelosi followed that despicable effort by encouraging her constituents to visit San Francisco’s Chinatown in late February – after President Trump banned travel from China to try and stop the spread of the disease.

She would go on to blame Trump solely for the deaths of Americans at the hands of COVID.

Now, you see Republican congressional leaders failing to take the concerns of the American people over election fraud seriously.

Mitch McConnell, the Republican Senate Majority Leader, congratulated Joe Biden for winning the presidential election earlier this month and urged his colleagues to accept him as the President-elect.

President Trump responded by giving McConnell a lesson on the mood of the American people.

“Too soon to give up. Republican Party must finally learn to fight,” he tweeted to the GOP leader. “People are angry!”

People are still angry, hence the used car salesperson rating for Congress.

Journalists’ Ethics Aren’t Too Hot Either

While Congress is looked down upon by Americans in both parties, journalists’ ethics are viewed drastically different by Democrats and Republicans.

The only reason the media gets a 28 percent rating is through trust by the left. Which is, of course, no surprise since a vast majority of journalists are card-carrying, bed-wetting liberals.

The Gallup poll shows only 5 percent of Republicans rate the ethics and honesty of journalists highly, while nearly half – 48 percent of Democrats – give them high marks.

Come to think of it, that mark for Democrats is astonishingly low, considering the mainstream media almost singlehandedly gave the presidential election to Joe Biden.

A study conducted by the Media Research Center just weeks after the election suggests biased media coverage may have tilted the results in favor of Biden.

The study consists of an analysis of eight major news stories that the MRC suggests were not covered appropriately, along with a survey of how that coverage affected the election.

It shows that a very significant 17% of Biden voters would have abandoned the candidate if their knowledge of the issues had been different on matters such as his sexual assault allegation, or his son Hunter Biden’s scandal involving shady business deals.

The media and members of Congress rank far lower than President Trump and his administration in regards to honesty and ethics.

The post Congress, Journalists Rank Among Worst Professions For Honesty And Ethics According To Survey appeared first on The Political Insider.

Mitch McConnell Shuts Down ‘Myth’ That Republicans Won’t Have Time To Confirm A SCOTUS Nominee

Posted on by LifeZette

Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell took to the floor of the Senate on Monday to completely debunk the “myth” that the GOP does not have time to confirm a Supreme Court nominee before the election.

McConnell Says There Will Be Confirmation Hearings For Trump SCOTUS Pick

McConnell cited a historical precedent in arguing that the Senate actually has lots of time to confirm a nominee to fill the Supreme Court seat that was left vacant by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg last Friday.

“President Trump’s nominee for this vacancy will receive a vote on the floor of the Senate,” McConnell said. “Now already, some of the same individuals who tried every conceivable dirty trick to obstruct Justice [Neil] Gorsuch and Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh are lining up to proclaim the third time will be the charm.”

RELATED: President Trump: If Dems Use Impeachment To Block Supreme Court Nomination, “We Win”

“The American people are about to witness an astonishing parade of misrepresentations about the past, misstatements about the present, and more threats against our institutions from the same people who’ve already been saying for months — well before this — already been saying for months they want to pack the court,” he added.

McConnell Cites Historical Precedents

Not stopping there, McConnell addressed the “incorrect” claims that the Senate does not have time to complete the process of confirming a nominee before the election.

“We are already hearing incorrect claims that there is not sufficient time to examine and confirm a nominee,” McConnell said. “We can debunk this myth in about 30 seconds.”

“As of today there are 43 days until Nov. 3 and 104 days until the end of this Congress,” McConnell said. “The late iconic Justice John Paul Stevens was confirmed by the Senate 19 days after this body formally received his nominations — 19 days from start to finish.”

“Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, another iconic jurist, was confirmed 33 days after her nomination,” he added. “For the late Justice Ginsburg herself it was just 42 days. Justice Stevens’ entire confirmation process could’ve been played out twice between now and Nov. 3 with time to spare. And Justice Ginsburg herself could’ve been confirmed twice between now and the end of the year, with time to spare.

“The Senate has more than sufficient time to process a nomination,” McConnell concluded. “History and precedent make that perfectly clear.”

And that, ladies and gentleman, is what we call a mic drop moment.

READ NEXT: Rush Limbaugh: Skip the Senate Hearings And Go Straight To A Vote On Trump’s SCOTUS Nominee

This piece was written by PoliZette Staff on September 21, 2020. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

Read more at LifeZette:
Trump Fires Back After Obama Says He Shouldn’t Fill SCOTUS Vacancy
‘The View’ Derails After Kim Klacik Calls Out Joy Behar For ‘Parading In Blackface’
Biden Campaign Can’t Handle The Campaign Schedule

The post Mitch McConnell Shuts Down ‘Myth’ That Republicans Won’t Have Time To Confirm A SCOTUS Nominee appeared first on The Political Insider.

Pelosi doesn’t rule out new impeachment inquiries to block Trump’s Supreme Court nominee

Posted on (Updated by Marissa Higgins

Appearing on ABC’s This Week on Sunday morning, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi honored the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg by aptly describing her as a “brilliant brain” on the Supreme Court, reminded people that it’s absolutely imperative to get out and vote this November, and the ongoing importance of battling the novel coronavirus pandemic. On the subject of the vacant Supreme Court seat, the Democrat from California didn’t rule out launching an impeachment inquiry of Donald Trump (for the second time) or Attorney General Bill Barr, which would delay the Senate’s ability to confirm a Supreme Court nominee of Trump’s, either. 

When host George Stephanopoulos hypothesized a major concern of progressives—that even if former vice president Joe Biden wins the election, Republicans and the White House might try to push through a nominee anyway in a lame-duck session—Pelosi replied: "We have our options.” The speaker continued, “We have arrows in our quiver that I'm not about to discuss right now but the fact is we have a big challenge in our country. This president has threatened to not even accept the results of the election.”

She stressed that the “main goal” is ultimately to “protect the integrity of the election as we protect the people from the coronavirus." The speaker noted that she believed the late Ginsburg would want that same goal. Pelosi also clarified that “None of us has any interest in shutting down the government,” saying it would be too harmful to so many people in the nation.

“When people say, what can I do? You can vote,” the speaker stressed. “You can get out the vote, and you can do so as soon as possible.” She added that the same day we lost Ginsburg, ten states started early voting.

Stephanopoulos circled back to a potential impeachment inquiry and asked if the House would “rule anything out.” Pelosi drove home the basic tenant of public service: responsibility to the people. 

"We have a responsibility,” she stated. “We take an oath to protect and defend the constitution of the United States." (If only Trump saw it that way.) Pelosi continued: “We have a responsibility to meet the needs of the American people. When we weigh the equities of protecting our democracy, requires us to use every arrow in our quiver.”

Here is that clip.

“We have our options. We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now,” Speaker Pelosi tells @GStephanopoulos when pressed on what Democrats would do if Pres. Trump and Republicans push a SCOTUS nomination ahead of the Nov. 3 election. https://t.co/JhU93KY3iQ pic.twitter.com/HOmI8AxREN

— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) September 20, 2020

Lastly, Stephanopoulos asked about another big topic among progressives: expanding the court. To that, Pelosi said, “Well, let's just win the election,” adding that she hopes the president will “see the light.” The speaker then used her final talking time to home in on the importance of the Affordable Care Act, and how much the average American has at stake in this election cycle. 

Trey Gowdy Mocks Bolton: Pecking Away In His Pajamas, Saving the Country For Only $29.95

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Former South Carolina congressman Trey Gowdy thoroughly shredded the integrity of John Bolton for thinking his book was a means to save the country from President Donald Trump.

Gowdy, with his usual rapier wit, pointed out what is true of most former administration members who are fired by the President – that he is seemingly only a threat when they’ve left the administration and have a book to sell.

James Comey and Omarosa come to mind.

Now Bolton joins the ranks of those former White House employees who have a story to tell, a story tainted by bitterness and the opportunity to make a quick buck.

RELATED: CNN Contributor Van Jones on Trump’s Police Reform Order – ‘Good Stuff’

Calls Bolton Out

In an interview with Fox News host Martha MacCallum, Gowdy was asked just how ‘damning’ he thought revelations from Bolton’s book might be to the President.

He essentially called Bolton a coward.

“If you really think he’s unfit to be the leader of the free world, why didn’t you say anything?” he pointed out.

“John Bolton’s argument now is that Trump is unfit for office and should be removed, that he’s committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” Gowdy continued.

The former Rep. explained that Bolton had opportunities to testify before the House, the Senate, or to even tell his story long ago to the mainstream media.

“But no, for $29.95, he’s going to save you from this existential threat to our republic,” derided Gowdy.

RELATED: Tim Scott Rips Dick Durbin To Pieces After He Calls Republican Police Reform Bill A ‘Token’ Approach

Gowdy Continues Hammering Away

Gowdy proceeded to explain why it was an easier route for Bolton to publish a book rather than go before Congress and be hailed a hero by the left for his ‘courage’ in trying to take down the President.

And he did so with his usual sense of humor.

“He ain’t being cross-examined, he’s sitting in his pajamas pecking away on his iPad,” Gowdy ripped. “The power of cross-examination is you actually have to withstand the cauldron, withstand the heat of being questioned on it.”

“Anybody can write a book and make assertions,” he added.

In the book, Bolton, the former National Security Adviser, alleges that President Trump asked for help with his election from Chinese President Xi Jinping, that he was okay with him building concentration camps, and that he wanted to jail CNN reporters.

Again, if he honestly believed these things – why didn’t Bolton immediately resign and insist on testifying before Congress to save the country?

Even Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), who wouldn’t dare turn his nose up at anything that he could possibly use to create another impeachment witch hunt wasn’t exactly praising Bolton.

“Bolton’s staff were asked to testify before the House to Trump’s abuses, and did. They had a lot to lose and showed real courage,” Schiff pecked away on his iPad.

“When Bolton was asked, he refused, and said he’d sue if subpoenaed. Instead, he saved it for a book,” he continued. “Bolton may be an author, but he’s no patriot.”

The post Trey Gowdy Mocks Bolton: Pecking Away In His Pajamas, Saving the Country For Only $29.95 appeared first on The Political Insider.

Senator’s cellphone seized amid federal investigation of stock trades made ahead of COVID-19 spread

Posted on by Jessica Sutherland

Months after it was revealed that he had made dozens of questionable stock trades ahead of a global pandemic—and advised wealthy constituents to do the same—Republican Sen. Richard Burr of North Carolina had his cellphone seized by federal agents Wednesday night. The agents were at the senator’s Washington, D.C., residence.

Burr, who is a member of the “Gang of Eight” and the chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, sparked scrutiny in mid-March after making 33 transactions in February, that rid him of a significant chunk of his stock portfolio and netted him anywhere between $628,000 and $1.72 million, according to the Los Angeles Times. The transactions came after briefings on the potential impact of the novel coronavirus from the U.S. Department of Health.

While NPR broke the story about the private warnings to rich Tar Heels, ProPublica was the first to report on the selloff. 

ProPublica’s analysis indicated that the Feb. 13 selling spree was Burr’s “largest selling day of at least the past 14 months.”

As the head of the intelligence committee, Burr, a North Carolina Republican, has access to the government’s most highly classified information about threats to America’s security. His committee was receiving daily coronavirus briefings around this time, according to a Reuters story.

A week after Burr’s sales, the stock market began a sharp decline.

[...]

Burr is not a particularly wealthy member of the Senate: Roll Call estimated his net worth at $1.7 million in 2018, indicating that the February sales significantly shaped his financial fortunes and spared him from some of the pain that many Americans are now facing.

The newest and wealthiest member of the Senate, Georgia’s Kelly Loeffler, also got in on the secret selloff, making 29 transactions that add up to millions.  It’s worth noting that Burr is just one of three senators (and the only one still in office) who voted against the 2012 STOCK Act, which, as McClatchy puts it, “explicitly prevents members of Congress and their staffs from using nonpublic information for insider trading.”  Both the FBI and the DOJ have refused comment, as has Burr’s team; however, as the LA Times notes, the search warrant indicates “a significant escalation” in the investigation into Burr’s possible violation of the STOCK Act.

AG Barr’s Justice Department still trying to deep-six Mueller grand jury materials

Posted on by Kerry Eleveld

Attorney General Bill Barr's Justice Department is going to extraordinary lengths to block House Democrats from seeing the grand jury evidence from the Mueller probe. 

In a Thursday filing, the department's solicitor general urged the Supreme Court to halt a lower court order directing the department to turn over the grand jury materials to the House Judiciary Committee by May 11. The Justice Department argued for the opportunity to complete its appeal of the appeals court ruling to the Supreme Court.

“The government will suffer irreparable harm absent a stay. Once the government discloses the secret grand-jury records, their secrecy will irrevocably be lost,” Solicitor General Noel Francisco wrote. “That is particularly so when, as here, they are disclosed to a congressional committee and its staff.”

Red alert, red alert! Congress might learn the truth about all the stuff that has heretofore been hidden from the public. 

At issue for House Democrats is whether Trump lied in his written testimony to the Mueller team. House Democrats sought access to the information last year as they mulled impeaching Trump. 

Congress is not necessarily granted access to such materials, but a Nixon-era precedent was set when the courts ruled an impeachment investigation a "judicial proceeding." In the current case, both the federal court and the appeals court panel followed that precedent to rule in favor of House Democrats gaining access to the materials.