Politics Random, Random

[ti-amie]

Abby D. Phillip

@abbydphillip
Per
@AnnieGrayerCNN
,
@RepJamesClyburn
says McCarthy's Face the Nation turned Dems: "For McCarthy to go on tv the next day and saying to all the media that the Democrats did this, the Democrats did that, that it was all our fault--Democrats brought the majority of the votes by a wide margin and for him to discredit everything that Democrats have done--everybody got very upset"

[ti-amie]

Kevin McCarthy tells House Republicans he won’t run again for speaker

Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), after being removed as House speaker Tuesday, told fellow Republican lawmakers that he won’t seek the position again, according to two sources familiar with his plans who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations. The vote to remove him was the first such removal in congressional history. McCarthy’s removal was sought by hard-right members of his own party. Democrats did not provide votes that would have been needed to save him. The move puts the House in uncharted territory as it searches for a leader.

Key updates
The House is done for the week. Lawmakers will return Tuesday and Republicans will hold a candidate forum that day and hope to hold speaker elections on Wednesday, according to members leaving the GOP meeting.


https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics ... EWBWOWIOQM

[texasniteowl]

Talk about petty and tasteless, "acting speaker" McHenry ordered Pelosi, who is in California for the funeral of Feinstein, to vacate her Capitol building hideaway office by tomorrow (Wednesday). Just when you think some people can't come up with a new low of behavior.

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2 ... e-00119803

[ti-amie]

The minute I saw he wears a bowtie I knew he was a low life.

[ti-amie]

Sean Casten
@SeanCasten
I would direct your attention to rule 26(a) of the House Republican Conference rules for the 118th Congress.



I'm shocked I tell you. SHOCKED.

/s

[ti-amie]

Rep. Jim McGovern
@RepMcGovern
·
2h
I want to clear up some confusion.

As an unelected acting Speaker pro tempore,
@PatrickMcHenry's job is to guide the House toward the election of a new Speaker. That's it.

His power is constrained by the plain text of Rule 1, Clause 8 of the Rules of the House.

I'm alarmed by the decision to oust @SpeakerPelosi & @RepStenyHoyer
from their offices.

Given the plain text of the rule, I don't think he has that power.

The rule says he can only exercise as much authority as is "necessary and appropriate" towards the end of electing a Speaker.

The Rules Committee narrowly described this rule in 2004: an acting Speaker pro tempore serves "for the sole purpose of electing a new Speaker."


These rules were put into place after 9/11 to ensure continuity of government & quick election of a new Speaker in an emergency. Not to provide for a short-term Speaker due to Republican dysfunction.

I urge @HouseGOP to elect someone who will be a Speaker of the *whole* House.

[Owendonovan]

Rep. Jim McGovern
@RepMcGovern
·
2h
I want to clear up some confusion.

As an unelected acting Speaker pro tempore,
@PatrickMcHenry's job is to guide the House toward the election of a new Speaker. That's it.

His power is constrained by the plain text of Rule 1, Clause 8 of the Rules of the House.

I'm alarmed by the decision to oust @SpeakerPelosi & @RepStenyHoyer
from their offices.

Given the plain text of the rule, I don't think he has that power.

The rule says he can only exercise as much authority as is "necessary and appropriate" towards the end of electing a Speaker.

The Rules Committee narrowly described this rule in 2004: an acting Speaker pro tempore serves "for the sole purpose of electing a new Speaker."


These rules were put into place after 9/11 to ensure continuity of government & quick election of a new Speaker in an emergency. Not to provide for a short-term Speaker due to Republican dysfunction.

I urge @HouseGOP to elect someone who will be a Speaker of the *whole* House.

Ha! As if.

[ti-amie]

Trump allegedly discussed US nuclear subs with foreign national after leaving White House: Sources
Trump allegedly discussed the information with an Australian billionaire.

By Katherine Faulders, Alexander Mallin, and Mike Levine
October 5, 2023, 4:33 PM

Months after leaving the White House, former President Donald Trump allegedly discussed potentially sensitive information about U.S. nuclear submarines with a member of his Mar-a-Lago Club -- an Australian billionaire who then allegedly shared the information with scores of others, including more than a dozen foreign officials, several of his own employees, and a handful of journalists, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The potential disclosure was reported to special counsel Jack Smith's team as they investigated Trump's alleged hoarding of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago, the sources told ABC News. The information could shed further light on Trump's handling of sensitive government secrets.

Prosecutors and FBI agents have at least twice this year interviewed the Mar-a-Lago member, Anthony Pratt, who runs U.S.-based Pratt Industries, one of the world's largest packaging companies.

In those interviews, Pratt described how -- looking to make conversation with Trump during a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in April 2021 -- he brought up the American submarine fleet, which the two had discussed before, the sources told ABC News.

According to Pratt's account, as described by the sources, Pratt told Trump he believed Australia should start buying its submarines from the United States, to which an excited Trump -- "leaning" toward Pratt as if to be discreet -- then told Pratt two pieces of information about U.S. submarines: the supposed exact number of nuclear warheads they routinely carry, and exactly how close they supposedly can get to a Russian submarine without being detected.

In emails and conversations after meeting with Trump, Pratt described Trump's remarks to at least 45 others, including six journalists, 11 of his company's employees, 10 Australian officials, and three former Australian prime ministers, the sources told ABC News.

While Pratt told investigators he couldn’t tell if what Trump said about U.S. submarines was real or just bluster, investigators nevertheless asked Pratt not to repeat the numbers that Trump allegedly told him, suggesting the information could be too sensitive to relay further, ABC News was told.

It's unclear if the information was accurate, but the episode was investigated by Smith's team.

Sources said another witness, one of Trump's former employees at Mar-a-Lago, told investigators that, within minutes of Pratt's meeting with Trump, he heard Pratt relaying to someone else some of what Trump had just said.

According to the sources, the former Mar-a-Lago employee also told investigators he was "bothered" and "shocked" to hear that the former president had provided such seemingly sensitive information to a non-U.S. citizen.

Pratt told investigators Trump didn't show him any government documents during their April 2021 meeting, nor at any other time they crossed paths at Mar-a-Lago, sources said.

According to the sources, Pratt insisted to investigators that he told others about his meeting with Trump to show them how he was advocating for Australia with the United States. Some of the Australian officials that sources said he told were, as reflected in news reports at the time, involved in then-ongoing negotiations with the Biden administration over a deal for Australia to purchase a number of nuclear-powered attack submarines from the United States.

The deal was ultimately secured earlier this year, with Australia agreeing to purchase at least three Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarines, though President Joe Biden has said that none of the submarines sold to Australia will be armed with nuclear weapons.

Special counsel Smith did not include any information about Trump's alleged April 2021 conversation with Pratt in his June indictment against Trump, which charged the former president with 40 counts of unlawful retention of national defense information and obstruction-related offenses.

Last year, while needling the Biden administration for what he said was a weak response to Russia's war on Ukraine, Trump said that if he were still president, he would make sure Russia understood that the United States is "a greater nuclear power" with "the greatest submarines in the world."

"[They are] the most powerful machines ever built, and nobody knows where they are," Trump said on the Fox Business network.

Shortly after Trump became president in 2017, Pratt joined Mar-a-Lago as a member and publicly pledged to invest another $2 billion in American manufacturing jobs.

Over the next few years, Pratt visited Mar-a-Lago about 10 times, interacting with Trump on several occasions, once even having dinner with Trump and a U.S. senator at another Trump-owned property nearby, Pratt told investigators, according to sources. Pratt also visited the White House in 2018, when Trump was meeting with Australia's then-prime minister, according to online records.

In 2019, speaking at the opening of a Pratt Industries plant in Wapakoneta, Ohio, Trump called Pratt a "friend" and praised him for funding the plant.

"We're here to celebrate a great opening and a great gentleman," Trump said. "Anthony is one of the most successful men in the world -- perhaps Australia's most successful man."

Standing beside Trump, Pratt then said he "would not have invested in this plant if it wasn't for President Trump's election, [which] has given us an incredible faith in investing in America."

But in recent months, according to sources, Pratt told investigators that he now supports the current U.S. government, describing himself as someone who tends to just "side with the king."

Representatives for Pratt did not respond to messages seeking comment from ABC News.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


https://abcnews.go.com/US/after-white-h ... =103760456

[ponchi101]

Because of course he did.

[dryrunguy]

The NY Times is reporting Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has announced he will run as an independent in 2024.

[Suliso]

That's great for Biden, isn't it?

[ponchi101]

Not GREAT, but sure, he will take some of the fringe lunatic votes with him. And those are on the right.

[ti-amie]

Ryan Struyk
@ryanstruyk

"Tonight, House Democrats unanimously voted to renominate Leader Hakeem Jeffries for Speaker of the House," says House Democratic Caucus Chair Pete Aguilar and Vice Chair Ted Lieu.

[ti-amie]

House Republicans pick Rep. Steve Scalise as speaker nominee

House Republicans on Wednesday chose House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) as their party’s nominee for speaker. He still must win a majority vote from the full House, including Democrats, to become leader of the chamber. Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), chairman of the Judiciary Committee, also vied to succeed Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), whose ouster as speaker last week was led by hard-line conservatives. To prevail on the House floor, Scalise will need the support of most of Jordan’s backers.

The full House is scheduled to convene at 3 p.m.
Ahead of the voting, House Republicans shot down a proposed rule change that would have increased the threshold needed to nominate a speaker to well beyond a simple majority of the conference.

All you need to know about Scalise

Republicans Pick Man Who Compared Himself to David Duke As Next House Speaker
Republicans have nominated Representative Steve Scalise as their next House speaker—and that speaks volumes.

A Scalise victory means that the farthest-right wing of the Republican Party would be in complete control. Scalise has refused to say outright that the 2020 election was legitimate, instead remaining loyal to Donald Trump.

But even long before that, Scalise had embraced the extremist movement. At the start of his congressional career, Scalise reportedly described himself as being like Duke, the former head of the Ku Klux Klan, but “without the baggage.”

Scalise also attended a white supremacist conference that Duke organized in 2002. Scalise later described attending the conference as “a mistake.”

But Duke said Scalise was invited because he would “communicate a lot” and was “friendly” with Kenny Knight, Duke’s political advisor.

https://newrepublic.com/post/176154/rep ... ut-baggage

[ti-amie]

VoteVets
@votevets
·
Steve Scalise voted:

- to cut Veterans benefits by 22 percent
- against providing healthcare to Veterans with cancer
- to overturn the 2020 election.

A vote for Steve Scalise is a vote against Veterans and the country we swore to protect.