Category: election

What to know in the Supreme Court case about immunity for Donald Trump

Posted on by Associated Press

The Supreme Court has scheduled a special session to hear arguments over whether former President Donald Trump can be prosecuted over his efforts to undo his 2020 election loss to President Joe Biden.

The case, to be argued Thursday, stems from Trump's attempts to have charges against him dismissed. Lower courts have found he cannot claim for actions that, prosecutors say, illegally sought to interfere with the election results.

The Republican ex-president has been charged in federal court in Washington with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, one of four criminal cases he is facing. A trial has begun in New York over hush money payments to a porn star to cover up an alleged sexual encounter.

The Supreme Court is moving faster than usual in taking up the case, though not as quickly as special counsel Jack Smith wanted, raising questions about whether there will be time to hold a trial before the November election, if the justices agree with lower courts that Trump can be prosecuted.

The justices ruled earlier this term in another case that arose from Trump's actions following the election, culminating in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The court unanimously held that states could not invoke a provision of the 14th Amendment known as the insurrection clause to prevent Trump from appearing on presidential ballots.

Here are some things to know:

WHAT'S THE ISSUE?

When the justices agreed on Feb. 28 to hear the case, they put the issue this way: “Whether and if so to what extent does a former President enjoy presidential immunity from criminal prosecution for conduct alleged to involve official acts during his tenure in office.”

That's a question the Supreme Court has never had to answer. Never before has a former president faced criminal charges so the court hasn't had occasion to take up the question of whether the president's unique role means he should be shielded from prosecution, even after he has left office.

Both sides point to the absence of previous prosecutions to undergird their arguments. Trump's lawyers told the court that presidents would lose their independence and be unable to function in office if they knew their actions in office could lead to criminal charges once their terms were over. Smith's team wrote that the lack of previous criminal charges “underscores the unprecedented nature” of what Trump is accused of.

NIXON'S GHOST

Richard Nixon resigned the presidency in disgrace nearly 50 years ago rather than face impeachment by the House of Representatives and removal from office by the Senate in the Watergate scandal.

Both Trump's lawyers and Smith's team are invoking Nixon at the Supreme Court.

Trump's team cites Nixon v. Fitzgerald, a 1982 case in which the Supreme Court held by a 5-4 vote that former presidents cannot be sued in civil cases for their actions while in office. The case grew out of the firing of a civilian Air Force analyst who testified before Congress about cost overruns in the production of the C-5A transport plane.

“In view of the special nature of the President's constitutional office and functions, we think it appropriate to recognize absolute Presidential immunity from damages liability for acts within the ‘outer perimeter’ of his official responsibility,” Justice Lewis Powell wrote for the court.

But that decision recognized a difference between civil lawsuits and “the far weightier" enforcement of federal criminal laws, Smith's team told the court. They also invoked the high court decision that forced Nixon to turn over incriminating White House tapes for use in the prosecutions of his top aides.

And prosecutors also pointed to President Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon, and Nixon's acceptance of it, as resting “on the understanding that the former President faced potential criminal liability.”

TIMING IS EVERYTHING

The subtext of the immunity fight is about timing. Trump has sought to push back the trial until after the election, when, if he were to regain the presidency, he could order the Justice Department to drop the case. Prosecutors have been pressing for a quick decision from the Supreme Court so that the clock can restart on trial preparations. It could take three months once the court acts before a trial actually starts.

If the court hands down its decision in late June, which would be the typical timeframe for a case argued so late in the court's term, there might not be enough time to start the trial before the election.

WHO ARE THE LAWYERS?

Trump is represented by D. John Sauer, a former Rhodes Scholar and Supreme Court clerk to Justice Antonin Scalia. While serving as Missouri’s solicitor general, Sauer won the only Supreme Court case he has argued until now, a 5-4 decision in an execution case. Sauer also filed legal briefs asking the Supreme Court to repudiate Biden's victory in 2020.

In addition to working for Scalia early in his legal career, Sauer also served as a law clerk to Michael Luttig when he was a Republican-appointed judge on the Richmond, Virginia-based federal appeals court. Luttig joined with other former government officials on a brief urging the Supreme Court to allow the prosecution to proceed. Luttig also advised Vice President Mike Pence not to succumb to pressure from Trump to reject some electoral votes, part of Trump's last-ditch plan to remain in office.

The justices are quite familiar with Sauer’s opponent, Michael Dreeben. As a longtime Justice Department official, Dreeben argued more than 100 cases at the court, many of them related to criminal law. Dreeben was part of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 election and joined Smith's team last year after a stint in private practice.

In Dreeben's very first Supreme Court case 35 years ago, he faced off against Chief Justice John Roberts, then a lawyer in private practice.

FULL BENCH

Of the nine justices hearing the case, three were nominated by Trump — Amy Coney Barrett, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh. But it's the presence of a justice confirmed decades before Trump's presidency, Justice Clarence Thomas, that's generated the most controversy.

Thomas's wife, Ginni Thomas, urged the reversal of the 2020 election results and then attended the rally that preceded the Capitol riot. That has prompted calls for the justice to step aside from several court cases involving Trump and Jan. 6.

But Thomas has ignored the calls, taking part in the unanimous court decision that found states cannot kick Trump off the ballot as well as last week's arguments over whether prosecutors can use a particular obstruction charge against Capitol riot defendants. Trump faces the same charge in special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution in Washington.

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Disarray alert: House Republicans struggle with slim majority and chaos

Posted on by Kerry Eleveld

With the exit of Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the ejection of George Santos, and the impending resignation of Rep. Bill Johnson, House Republicans' bare majority is getting delectably precarious.

Daily Kos Elections political director David Nir games it all out, concluding that Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson will likely end up having a two-vote margin of error on any given measure.

Wherever the numbers end up, Republicans' exceedingly thin majority throughout the 118th Congress has proven to be a blessing in disguise, despite Democrats' failure to keep the majority last cycle. Rarely, if ever, has America seen a more pathetic display of governance than that offered by House Republicans this Congress. The chaos of multiple leadership battles amid the daily display of internecine warfare within the GOP caucus has been both instructive for voters and good for America heading into, yet again, the most consequential election of our lifetimes.

As former Rep. Liz Cheney bluntly noted this week, “A vote for Donald Trump may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in. ... People have to recognize that a vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the Constitution.”

Liz Cheney: “A vote for Donald Trump may mean the last election that you ever get to vote in...People have to recognize that a vote for Donald Trump is a vote against the Constitution.” pic.twitter.com/ryynyn3kE7

— Republican Accountability (@AccountableGOP) December 4, 2023

Cheney also called the prospect of Mike Johnson still being speaker in 2025 "terrifying" in an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow.

One of the reasons the race for control of the House is so critical is because it's the 119th Congress that will certify the 2024 election, and House Democrats can serve as a backstop to any Republican election-stealing efforts if Democrats control the chamber.

To the benefit of the pro-democracy side, House Republicans have revealed themselves as completely incapable of leading anything. The message appears to be sinking in, based on Navigator Research polling of roughly 60 battleground districts that will decide control of the House in next year's elections, with nearly 7 in 10 respondents recently saying Republicans have prioritized "the wrong things."

Last month, pro-Trump Rep. Chip Roy of Texas summed up House Republican rule nicely.

“Explain to me one material, meaningful, significant thing the Republican majority has done," Roy said during a floor speech.

Last week, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries happily riffed off Roy's rant in a press conference during the debate over expelling Santos from his seat.

"House Republicans have now been in the majority for a little under a year—they have nothing to show the American people that they have accomplished.," Jeffries said, mentioning Roy's assertion. "Nothing to meet the needs of the American people," he continued.

“House Republicans have now been in the majority for a little under a year. They have nothing to show the American people that they have accomplished … Don’t take my word for it. Just ask Chip Roy.” — Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries slams House GOP pic.twitter.com/sZqRmt6Cj6

— The Recount (@therecount) November 30, 2023

Fortunately for Democrats, that dynamic won't be changing anytime soon. House Republicans’ next debacle is already in process, with Johnson preparing to hold a vote as soon as next week on initiating a formal impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden.

Not only will it not be popular with voters, it's the perfect way for House Republicans to kick off 2024

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Jordan is pushing for Mayorkas impeachment based on ridiculous lie that ‘we no longer have a border’

Posted on by Gabe Ortiz

Some of the worst of the worst of House Republicans are endorsing the impeachment of the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) secretary should they take the chamber this November, CNN reports.

It needs to be stated first and foremost that these Republicans haven’t laid out any legitimate claims to justify the removal of Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, because there are none. Yet Jim Jordan has falsely claimed that he should be impeached by the chamber “because we no longer have a border.” That’s news to all of us. Jordan could possibly chair the committee that would be tasked with impeachment proceedings should the GOP take the House.

CNN reports that while Jordan and fellow extremists say impeachment should go forward, “Kevin McCarthy supposedly hasn’t really taken a side yet.” His allies claim, at least right now, that there’s “little appetite” for the idea. But that’s a ridiculous thought. McCarthy has already gone in with the extremists, and he’s made it clear extremism controls the agenda.

CNN reports that “Democrats argue the talk is politically motivated,” but that’s exactly what it is. While the insurrectionist president was legitimately impeached (twice) for abuse of power, obstruction of Congress, and inciting a deadly insurrection, the CNN report itself plainly states the political nature of the push. Some Republicans “believe they’ll have an easier time convincing McCarthy and their GOP colleagues to go along with impeaching a Biden political appointee versus a President who was elected to his position, a more politically tenable move that still would throw red meat to the base,” the report said.

So, Mayorkas appears to be the likeliest target. While the GOP bill targeting him has just 31 signatures from the 200 plus Republican caucus, it’s the most out of the other impeachment bills they’ve pushed, CNN said. Plus, targeting him falls in line with their sloppy campaign lying about immigrants rather than talking about their extremist anti-abortion agenda. 

Any impeachment in the House requires conviction in the Senate for full removal, but in that chamber, just two senators are supportive of the idea—and it’s two of the ones you’d expect. The Texas Tribune reports that Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham wrote a letter that claimed the number of apprehensions at the border were “grounds for impeachment.”

But if they really believe that (and they don’t), both Cruz and Graham would’ve sent that letter to Chad Wolf, who was the unlawfully appointed acting DHS secretary under the insurrectionist president. On Wolf’s corrupt watch, the anti-asylum Title 42 policy that was pushed by noted white supremacist Stephen Miller and that used the novel coronavirus as an excuse to quickly deport asylum-seekers in violation of their rights led to increased encounters from April 2020 on, American Immigration Council said. 

But we didn’t see either Cruz or Graham calling on Wolf to resign after he was found by a nonpartisan government watchdog to have been illegally installed in office, did we? Nor did we see Cruz or Graham call on Wolf to resign when he presided over a blatantly political event that was later deemed illegal by the Office of Special Counsel. It’s almost like they’re just full of it. Shrugs.

Former aides of then-President Donald Trump say GOP lawmakers sought presidential pardons after the attack on the U.S. Capitol during Day 5 of the Jan. 6 committee hearings. https://t.co/BgG7aQdkrG pic.twitter.com/sC0qto0toY

— The Associated Press (@AP) June 23, 2022

“I believe Mayorkas has committed high crimes and misdemeanors,” House Republican Andy Biggs claimed to CNN. “You might see some (impeachment pushes) on Biden, but certainly Mayorkas, what he has done, has just been unconscionable. I’m pushing hard.” Do you think he’ll push as hard as when he suggested to the insurrectionist president’s chief of staff some ways to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election? Or maybe as hard as when he sought a pardon from the insurrectionist president, according to Jan. 6 testimony. When Republicans scream about lawlessness, it always so much more about their own behavior than anything else.

Liz Cheney Says She’ll Make a Decision on Running For President in 2024 ‘Down the Road’

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Representative Liz Cheney, the rabid anti-Trump vice chair of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot, says she hasn’t made a decision on running for president in 2024 but would do so “down the road.”

CNN’s Jake Tapper asked the Wyoming congresswoman if she was “willing to run for President to try and stop” former President Donald Trump.

“At this point, I have not made a decision about 2024,” Cheney replied. “I’ll make a decision on 2024 down the road.”

Cheney suggests she is more focused on her work with the select committee, something she believes is “the single most important thing I’ve ever done professionally.”

 

RELATED: Report: Never Trumpers Kinzinger, Hogan, And Cheney Could All Run Against Trump In 2024

Will Liz Cheney Run For President in 2024?

The entire segment discussing Liz Cheney’s 2024 prospects is unintentionally amusing. Sure, the dueling sad eyes battle – meant to convey just how serious they both are between Tapper and Cheney – is hilarious.

But the concept that Cheney would run for President after being ousted from her leadership position by her own party due to her antics, and now facing a huge polling deficit in the upcoming primary for Wyoming’s lone U.S. House seat in three weeks, is equally outrageous.

 

She’s about to get slaughtered at the ballot box for her congressional seat but she’ll somehow use that to catapult into the White House in 2024?

Cheney might get a handful of Democrat voters dismayed with their own party and unwilling to switch sides but it’s not going to be enough to even make a dent.

She’s been banking on that segment of the vote in Wyoming, The Political Insider has previously reported. But trailing by 22% seems to indicate it’s not nearly enough to propel her to victory.

Democrats don’t care about the anti-Trumpers – Cheney and Representative Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) – except to create the illusion that their pursuit of the January 6 investigation is ‘bipartisan.’

Kinzinger had to learn that the hard way as well when announcing his retirement after Illinois Democrats used redrawn district lines to eliminate him from contention, despite his time serving as their puppet for the J6 committee.

 

RELATED: Cheney Must Count On Anti-Trump, Democrat Votes For Re-election After Wyoming GOP Abandons Her

Cheney’s Folks Like Her ‘Prospects’

An Associated Press report from March indicates that both Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger are sending out feelers regarding a White House run in 2024.

Kinzinger, they write, is “considering a rough timeline for a potential presidential announcement,” while associates of Cheney are “openly talking up her White House prospects.”

 

“Their goal would not necessarily be to win the presidency,” the AP added. “Above all, they want to hinder Trump’s return to the White House.”

A noble cause… in their own minds.

The Political Insider reported back in April that Cheney refused to rule out a future run for President of the United States when asked.

“I’m not ruling anything in or out — ever is a long time,” she said.

Trump, who just overwhelmingly won a straw poll conducted by the conservative student activist group Turning Point USA on who they’d like to see represent the GOP in 2024, has little to worry about should Cheney mount a campaign.

Cheney’s most prolific voices of support appear to be Democrats on the select committee, Kinzinger, and noted Republican squishes John Boehner, Paul Ryan, and George W. Bush.

The post Liz Cheney Says She’ll Make a Decision on Running For President in 2024 ‘Down the Road’ appeared first on The Political Insider.

Wisconsin Republicans gave this investigator $676,000 in public funds to claim election was stolen

Posted on by Aysha Qamar

Some GOP officials never seem to know when to give up. Despite having absolutely no proof, cries that the election was stolen still seem to ring in the ears of Republicans. Despite legal experts noting that it was impossible, a Wisconsin judge has claimed that there are grounds for the state legislature to “decertify” the results of the 2020 election. The claim follows a review of the election demanded by Republicans, in which individuals in the state assembly hired Michael Gableman, a former state supreme court justice to investigate the election.

The 136-page interim report released Tuesday has received widespread bipartisan criticism and has been labeled unnecessary because not only was it poorly done but used $676,000 in public funds. During a presentation of the report Tuesday, Gableman said the state Legislature should “take a very hard look at the option of decertification of the 2020” presidential election. Moments before Gableman presented, Donald Trump encouraged supporters to listen in, BuzzFeed News reported.

Both Democrats and Republicans alike rejected the idea and called the move illegal.

“Still not legal under Wisconsin law,” Republican Assembly Majority Leader Jim Steineke tweeted. “Beyond that, it would have no practical impact b/c there is no Constitutional way to remove a sitting president other than through impeachment or incapacity. Fools errand. Focus on the future.”

I have ten months remaining in my last term. In my remaining time, I can guarantee that I will not be part of any effort, and will do everything possible to stop any effort, to put politicians in charge of deciding who wins or loses elections. 1/

— Jim Steineke 🇺🇦 (@jimsteineke) March 1, 2022

Not sure what kind of attorney Gableman was, because the report not only falsely claimed Biden’s win could be decertified, but also said that decertifying the election would not have any legal consequence.

“It would not, for example, change who the current president is,” the report said.

Of course, like other conservatives, Gableman also attempted to backtrack what he said and issued confusing contradictory statements.

When Democratic state Representative Jodi Emerson, asked him, "Are you saying we should decertify Wisconsin's votes from 2020?"

Gableman responded:

"I'm not saying it and I did not say it because it's not my place to say it. What is my place to say, and what I do believe, and what I do say, is there appears to me—without having the benefit of input from any substantive witness—there appears to me to be very significant grounds for such an action."

Others also dismissed the report, noting that a recount and investigations were conducted multiple times. According to the Associated Press, despite the recounts, multiple state and federal lawsuits, an audit by the nonpartisan Legislative Audit Bureau, and a report by the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty, it was found that Biden defeated Trump by a little under 21,000 votes in Wisconsin.

“There does not appear to be anything new in this report, although it is apparent that Michael Gableman is adopting the most fringe and extreme arguments presented by election deniers,” Attorney Jeffrey Mandell, who is representing the mayor of Green Bay in a lawsuit opposing a subpoena from Gableman, said. “This report, and Mr. Gableman’s presentation, is an embarrassment. This process needs to come to a quick end.”

An Associated Press review of Wisconsin and other battleground states also found far too little fraud to have tipped the election for Trump.

Of course, there are other controversies found in connection with the report. A review conducted by the Associated Press found that the report was paid for with $676,000 in taxpayer money. Additionally, it was due at the end of last year but delayed after mayors and state and local election officials filed multiple lawsuits to block subpoenas issued to them. During his presentation, Gableman said he had spent about $360,000 so far on the investigation and issued 90 subpoenas, but no one with information about how elections are run has spoken with him. 

During the presentation, Gableman not only criticized the process of voting in nursing homes but attacked the use of drop boxes. He recommended changes in voting procedures including shortening the early voting period and dismantling the bipartisan Wisconsin Elections Commission.

Overall Gableman said he hoped the report’s recommendations would be used by lawmakers to enact changes before the session ends next month.

Despite the lack of support for his findings, he even went as far as to suggest that his work continue, as he still has funds remaining in his budget. "I'm not in this for anything other than the truth,” he claimed.

According to CBS News, Gableman was appointed by Wisconsin Assembly Speaker Robin Vos in June 2021. Gableman's appointment came a day after Trump issued a statement saying that Vos and other Wisconsin Republican leaders were "working hard to cover up election corruption."

"I'd like to thank the Office of Special Counsel for their tireless efforts in finding the truth," Vos said in a statement. "They've done a good job at showing there were issues in 2020, and the report is intended to help correct these processes for future elections."

Former AG Bill Barr Wants Republicans To ‘Move On’ From Trump, Blames Him For Capitol Riot

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Attorney General William “Bill” Barr appears to have broken totally with his former boss, if reports about his upcoming memoir are accurate.

In the book, Barr reportedly claims President Trump “lost his grip” and was exhibiting erratic behavior in the final days of his first term, blaming him for the January 6 riot at the Capitol.

Barr made the comments, according to a Wall Street Journal review, in his upcoming book “One Damn Thing After Another.”

“The election was not ‘stolen,’ Trump lost it,” he writes, urging the Republican party to move on from the former President and his “erratic personal behavior” in 2024.

The book is set to be released on March 8th.

The publisher promises a “candid account” of Barr’s two stints as attorney general – under Trump and once under President George H.W. Bush – and will demonstrate “how both men viewed power and justice at critical junctures of their presidencies.”

RELATED: Flashback: Trump Slammed NATO Leaders For Being ‘Totally Controlled’ By Russia

Barr Says Riot Was Trump’s Fault

Delving further into his book, Barr echoes sentiments expressed by other ‘Never Trumpers’ such as Representatives Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), implying that the Capitol riot in 2021 was Trump’s fault.

Barr suggests Trump lost his grip on reality after losing to Joe Biden in the election.

“The absurd lengths to which he took his ‘stolen election’ claim led to the rioting on Capitol Hill,” he claimed.

An odd statement considering anybody who watched Hillary Clinton’s reaction after losing to Trump in 2016 knows that ‘stolen election’ claims, inaccurate or otherwise, have been around for quite some time.

Barr has reportedly spoken to the House select committee investigating the January 6 riot according to chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-MS).

“We’ve had conversations with the former attorney general already,” Thompson revealed in an interview last month.

RELATED: Mainstream Media Claims Trump Heaped Praise On Putin – But Did He?

Democrats Wanted Barr Impeached

Barr accused Trump’s inner circle of feeding him misinformation about the election.

“He stopped listening to his advisers, became manic and unreasonable, and was off the rails,” Barr reportedly writes.

“He surrounded himself with sycophants, including many whack jobs from outside the government, who fed him a steady diet of comforting but unsupported conspiracy theories.”

Barr, you may recall, was the subject of his own impeachment calls by Democrats for his alleged role in clearing out rioters in the summer of 2020.

In a formal impeachment resolution, House Democrat Steve Cohen (TN) accused him of having “undermined the rule of law, abused his power, obstructed justice [and] violated the first amendment.”

Cohen took exception to the former attorney general’s alleged role in a decision to remove rioters from Lafayette Square during a protest last in June of 2020.

The resolution to investigate and consider the impeachment of Barr had 35 Democrat co-sponsors.

Barr was accused of helping clear out protesters at Lafayette Park so Trump could get a Bible photo-op.

An Interior Department report published this past June shows police never cleared the protesters for that reason, as was often reported by the mainstream media.

The report by the department’s Inspector General indicates federal police officers cleared the park instead so a contractor could install fencing.

“That finding … is likely to surprise many critics of Trump, who have long asserted that the president or his attorney general ordered the operation to pave the way for an act of political theater,” NBC News reported.

False narratives have ensnared Barr himself in the past. You’d think he’d have a bit of self-awareness.

“Donald Trump has shown he has neither the temperament nor persuasive powers to provide the kind of positive leadership that is needed,” Barr also wrote in his memoir.

The post Former AG Bill Barr Wants Republicans To ‘Move On’ From Trump, Blames Him For Capitol Riot appeared first on The Political Insider.

Trump Says He Will Endorse One Of The Challengers To ‘Loser RINO’ Liz Cheney

Posted on by John Hanson

On Tuesday, former President Donald Trump said that he plans to meet next week with some of the primary challengers to anti-Trump Rep. Liz Cheney.

Trump made his remarks in an official statement.

RELATED: Florida Boaters Reportedly Planning Flotilla To Cuba – DHS Warns They Could Face Prison Time

Trump Slams ‘Loser RINO’ Liz Cheney

The former president said he will endorse one of the candidates seeking Cheney’s seat within the next few months.

“Paying close attention to the Wyoming House Primary against loser RINO Liz Cheney,” Trump said in a statement.

He continued, “Some highly respected pollsters tell me she’s toast in Wyoming after siding with Crazy Nancy Pelosi and supporting the Democrat Impeachment Hoax.”

“And that’s just the beginning!” Trump added.

“This is a ‘hot’ race with some very interesting candidates running against her,” Trump said.

But the former president also emphasized there needs to be only one candidate challenging Cheney as to not split the primary field, giving the incumbent an advantage.

Trump said, “Remember though, in the end we just want ONE CANDIDATE running against Cheney.”

“I’ll be meeting with some of her opponents in Bedminster next week and will be making my decision on who to endorse in the next few months,” the statement read.

“JUST ONE CANDIDATE. Thank you!” Trump finished.

RELATED: Gowdy Torches Anti-American Protesters – Remember ‘Those Who Would Give Everything They Have’ To Be Here

Cheney Vows She Will Keep Her Seat

Cheney joined nine other House Republicans in voting to impeach Trump after the Capitol riot on January 6.

In the Senate, the votes fell short from the number required for a conviction, though 57 did vote to convict. That vote took place after Trump had left office.

Trump critic Cheney lost her House Republican Conference Chair in May to Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, who was chosen to fill the seat after Cheney was ousted.

Cheney has served as a Wyoming’s lone U.S. House member since 2017 and said she plans to keep her job despite Trump’s efforts.

“The people of Wyoming are gonna have a very clear choice between somebody who is loyal to the Constitution and somebody whose claim is loyalty to Donald Trump, and I’m confident that people will make the right decision,” Cheney said on Tuesday, as reported by The Hill.

 

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Hillary Clinton, Who Called Trump An ‘Illegitimate President,’ Says Casting Doubt On Election Is ‘Doing Putin’s Work’

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Hillary Clinton, who frequently cast doubt on the results of the 2016 election, says doing so regarding the 2020 presidential contest is “doing Putin’s work.”

Clinton made the unsurprising remarks in an interview on MSNBC’s ‘Morning Joe.’

“We never thought we had to worry about domestic enemies,” the former First Lady lamented. “We never thought we had to worry about people who didn’t believe in our democracy.”

“Sadly, what we’ve seen over the last four years and particularly since the election is that we have people in our own country who are doing Putin’s work,” she claimed.

Clinton suggested some lawmakers may be doing the Russian President’s bidding either wittingly or unwittingly.

“They are doing his work to sow distrust, to sow divisiveness, to give aid and comfort to those in our country who, for whatever reason, are being not only disruptive but very dangerous,” she alleged.

RELATED: Bitter Hillary Implies Trump Stole Election and Will Steal It Again

Clinton Claims Republicans Are Doing Putin’s Work

President Biden is in Geneva on Wednesday meeting with Vladimir Putin for the first time since winning the 2020 election.

Clinton, further along in the interview, also suggested former President Trump “elevated” Putin at a joint press conference with the Russian leader in 2018. 

“The problem is that Trump has elevated him. Trump, from the very beginning, even when he was running in 2016, lifted up Russia,” she claimed.

“So it’s difficult to say let’s turn the clock back and go from where I thought we were when I left being secretary of state,” added Clinton. “I never thought I would see some of what we saw during the four years of the Trump administration.”

RELATED: Biden Unveils Plan To Combat ‘Domestic Terrorism’ And ‘Insider Threats’ In The Military

Doubts On The 2016 Election

Nobody has cast more doubts on elections than the Democrats, of course.

House Democrats, for example, tried objecting to the certification of electoral votes for Donald Trump in 2017 on 11 separate occasions.

Democrat Stacey Abrams, credited with helping deliver a victory for Joe Biden during the last presidential cycle, claimed Trump was an “illegitimate” President.

“Anytime a leader is afraid of people speaking their minds and making their selections, he is illegitimate and should not hold office,” Abrams argued last April.

President Biden made the same assertion, agreeing with a woman at a campaign rally who said Trump was an “illegitimate president in my mind.”

“I absolutely agree,” Biden replied.

Former president Jimmy Carter claimed in June of 2019 that Trump didn’t actually win the election.

“I think a full investigation would show that Trump didn’t actually win the election in 2016,” Carter said without evidence. “He lost the election, and he was put into office because the Russians interfered on his behalf.”

Does Clinton think Carter was also doing ‘Putin’s work’?

Hillary Clinton, though, has flip-flopped on the matter of dangers in casting doubt on an election and whether it amounts to doing ‘Putin’s work’ more than anybody.

When the media had anointed her victor in 2016 leading up to the actual vote, Clinton said any failure to accept the election results is “a direct threat to democracy.”

She then proceeded to refuse to accept the election results.

In a speech for the Democratic National Convention (DNC) this past summer, she also implied that Trump could “steal” the 2020 election.

“Don’t forget: Joe and Kamala can win by 3 million votes and still lose — take it from me,” Clinton griped. “We need numbers so overwhelming Trump can’t sneak or steal his way to victory.”

In an interview just prior to the 2020 election, Clinton again suggested Trump did not win the 2016 election through legitimate means.

“Remember, as I said, he lives with this specter of illegitimacy,” she said. “He knows more about how he got really elected than we still do. Hopefully, we’ll learn more in the years ahead.”

“I was the candidate that they basically stole an election from,” Clinton alleged. 

All must be right in Clinton’s world after Biden received an ‘overwhelming’ 81 million votes and Hillary can once again claim that casting doubts on the election process is the work of a Russian asset.

 

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Poll: Overwhelming Majority Of GOP Voters Agree With Trump Policies, Approve Of Ousting Liz Cheney

Posted on by John Hanson

According to a new poll, a strong majority of Republican voters agree with the agenda of former President Donald Trump and agree with Republicans ousting anti-Trump Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position. 

The poll shows where GOP voters stand as the party tries to navigate how to move forward in the 2022 midterm elections and beyond.

The results come from a CBS News/YouGov poll.

RELATED: Kinzinger Claims He’s ‘Been A Republican Far Longer’ Than Trump – Not Going To Let Him ‘Hijack My Party’

CBS News/You Gov Poll: Republicans Overwhelmingly Support Trump

The poll showed that “80% of Republicans agree with the removal of Liz Cheney from GOP Leadership.”

Cheney was recently voted of her House GOP Conference chairmanship due to to supporting the second impeachment of Trump and her constant criticism of the former president.

Also, the survey revealed, for example, that 89 percent agree with the former president on economic issues, and also 80 percent say Trump’s form of leadership is something the GOP should learn from and follow.

88 percent say Trump’s immigration agenda should be adhered to, and 73 percent of those taking the survey said Trump set an example on racial issues.

On handling the American left and overall mainstream media, 69 percent said Trump set the example on how to treat the left.

77 percent agreed with how Trump handled the media.

The numbers also skewed heavily in favor of Donald Trump’s claims about the 2020 presidential election and the GOP in general. 

Republicans Do Not Believe Biden Won The 2020 Election

67 percent of Republican voters believe President Joe Biden did not legitimately win the 2020 election.

In addition, 34 percent of those polled believe Republicans should be punished if they are disloyal to the base.

RELATED: Jim Jordan Slams Liz Cheney – Can’t Have A Conference Chair ‘Reciting Democrat Talking Points’

When the CBS News/YouGov poll inquired about Republicans’ 2022 and 2024 strategy, 53 percent said Republicans need to focus on the “message” to get more Republican votes. 

The poll advised Republicans that they “should tell the public about popular policies and ideas, and will win if more people hear about them.”

The CBS News/YouGov survey was taken between May 12 and May 14, surveying 951 self-identifying Republicans who had previously taken a poll with CBS News in 2021. 

The margin of error is +/- 3.5 percentage points.

 

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Hillary Clinton Calls For ‘Global Reckoning’ With ‘Disinformation’

Posted on by Rusty Weiss

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton is advising that social media needs a “global reckoning” with disinformation, and urged the media to “rid themselves of both-sideism.”

In an interview with the Guardian, Clinton made the confusing argument that social media companies are at once too powerful, but also how they also need to tamp down more on certain kinds of views and information. 

She also bashed the mainstream press, saying, “They’ve got to rid themselves of both-sidesism.”

“It is not the same to say something critical of somebody on the other side of the aisle and to instigate an attack on the Capitol and to vote against certifying the election.”

“Those are not comparable, and it goes back to the problem of the press actually coming to grips with how out of bounds and dangerous the new political philosophy on the right happens to be.”

Oddly enough, Clinton never opposed anyone objecting to election certifications when Democrats did it over and over again both in 2017 and 2005.

RELATED: Meghan McCain Calls Trump ‘Cheeto Jesus’ And Defends Liz Cheney

Hillary Clinton Wants Political Opponents Shut Down Over ‘Misinformation’

Can you even recall a time in our nation when Democrats were so open and brazen about their attempts to shut down free speech in America?

Hillary Clinton proceeded to attack Big Tech companies, who have banned President Trump from ever offering his opinion on their platforms, for not doing enough to stop the spread of “misinformation.”

“The technology platforms are so much more powerful than any organ of the so-called mainstream press,” she claimed.

“And I do think that there has to be not just an American reckoning but a global reckoning with the disinformation, with the monopolistic power and control, with the lack of accountability that the platforms currently enjoy,” Clinton continued.

Clinton, who has repeatedly blamed her 2016 presidential election loss on Russian conspiracies, called for world governments to step in and regulate Big Tech.

“So governments are going to have to decide right now that the platforms have to be held to some kind of standard, and it’s tricky,” Clinton said.

Former President Donald Trump was banned from social media for daring to claim the 2020 election was stolen. Here you have Clinton, who claimed that Trump was an “illegitimate” President, saying this isn’t enough.

And Democrats think Republicans are fascists?

RELATED: Hillary Clinton Urges Trump Officials Involved in Impeachment Inquiry to ‘Tell the Truth’

She Needs A Global Reckoning With Herself

Where to even begin with this obvious case of projection on the part of Hillary Clinton? Perhaps the media needs a global reckoning with her own history of lies and misinformation.

Clinton, after all, admitted that her lawyer, Marc Elias, paid for the infamous Steele dossier.

Elias, in a lawsuit filed by former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, was accused of using “false information, misrepresentations and other misconduct to direct the power of the international intelligence apparatus and the media industry against” him to “further their political agenda.”

The dossier, which the Wall Street Journal has described as uncorroborated “junk,” was the basis for the Russia/Trump conspiracy news that dominated media during the former President’s administration.

Clinton, of course, was also integral in the lie that the Benghazi attacks were the result of an obscure YouTube video.

Former National Security Adviser under Barack Obama, Susan Rice, even claimed in her book that she was pushed to do five Sunday television interviews by the Obama administration to cover for Clinton by insisting on that story.

What other misinformation came from Hillary Clinton? Well, you could write a book.

Dodging sniper fire in Bosnia, claiming she was named after Sir Edmund Hillary, being “dead broke” after leaving the White House, and trying to join the Marines come to mind.

All of these are provable lies, some mundane, some quite serious. All misinformation that, if social media giants had a global reckoning over, would result in her banning as well.

The problem being, the media isn’t interested in ‘both-sideism.’ In essence, Hillary has already been granted her wish to stifle free speech.

 

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