Daily Archives: October 19, 2021

HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM) There is still a push by Senate Republicans to audit the 2020 election nearly a year after it happened. But on Tuesday, there was pushback and it might surprise you whos behind it.

Its a drive-by and its a shot at GOP lawmakers in Pa. pushing to audit the 2020 election. But the twist?

This time its other Republicans pulling the trigger. Who are really upset as to what theyre seeing happen across the country in terms of the Republican party and their behavior, Olivia Troye said.

Troye worked in the Trump white house but now is the Director of the anti-Trump Republican Accountability Project, which placed the billboards. She says so-called audits perpetuate the myth of a stolen election despite all evidence to the contrary. I think that sets a dangerous precedent for where were heading as a country when you have elected officials directly lying about the reality of the election, Troye said.

Billboards for Republicans. An inflatable pig for activist Gene Stilp. Its pink but Stilp is upset at all the green thats being spent. Its gonna cost millions of dollars in taxpayer money and also there has been a secure way of election to make sure everything has been done right. Thats been done a number of times so why waste money? Stilp said.

Lots of pork for lawyers as courts decide whether the Senate has the power to audit an election. The Department of State already spent $3.1 million. That meter is still running. Add in legal fees for the Senate and Attorney General and its no doubt millions more.

We remain hopeful the case will be resolved as quickly as possible so we can continue our efforts to restore faith in our voting system, Spokesman for the Senate Intergovernmental Operations Committee, Jason Thompson said.

Its a waste of money. The election was back in November of 2020 and were still having this conversation? Governor Wolf asked. He says there will be no audit on his watch. The most recent subpoenas that came to my administration asked for your social security number and Im not gonna give it to them Dennis.

The Republican Accountability Project has paid for billboards in several states where legislatures are trying to audit the 2020 election.

The rest is here:

Republican-backed billboards blast Republican-backed election audit in Pa. - ABC27

Mr. Reed said that the former presidents comments about Republicans not voting should warrant a sanction from the Republican National Committee. He warned, It will impact the 2022 midterms severely.

The tension between Mr. McConnell and Mr. Trump has escalated lately, as the former president has ratcheted up his attacks on the minority leader, accusing Mr. McConnell of folding to Democrats in a recent agreement to raise the nations debt ceiling. He called for the leaders ouster in a recent interview with Fox News, saying, Mitch is not the guy.

Mr. Trumps allies did not deny that he was content to see Republicans pay the ultimate political price for what he and a significant portion of his voters saw as disloyalty.

President Trump is saying: Hey, Im putting you guys on notice. My people arent coming out, said Stephen K. Bannon, the former chief White House strategist, who has been using his podcast to further amplify Mr. Trumps false claims about the 2020 election. There could not be a bigger shot across the establishment bow.

But the harder Mr. Trumps allies push their election fraud claims, the harder it becomes to satisfy their most hard-core followers. Even Ms. Taylor Greene, who is as far-right and pro-Trump as they come in the Republican Party, cannot seem to always please the fringe. Lately, she has been feuding online with L. Lin Wood, an Atlanta attorney who helped Mr. Trump sow doubts over his loss in Georgia, over which of them truly represents the Trump movement. Mr. Wood has accused her of not doing enough to uncover instances of voter fraud. She has said that Mr. Wood is not one of us.

Such radicalization comes at a cost, said David Jolly, a former Republican congressman from Florida who is critical of the former president. At a time when the larger political trends are pointing toward trouble for the Democratic Party in 2022, he said, Mr. Trumps actions risk interfering with what should be a good environment for Republicans.

This should be a 100 percent, straight-up referendum on Biden, Mr. Jolly said. Instead, you have Trump the narcissist trying to inject himself into what should be a glide path for Republicans to an incredibly successful election, by making it all about him.

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As Trump Thunders About Last Election, Republicans Worry About the Next One - The New York Times

It's not every day when a sitting member of Congress gets criminally charged, so when an elected lawmaker announces to the public that he's expecting to face a felony charge, it's bound to get some attention.

The Lincoln Journal Star in Nebraska reported this morning:

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry expects the federal government to charge him with lying to the FBI during its investigation of campaign contributions funneled to him from a Nigerian billionaire. The nine-term Republican from Lincoln said he is being wrongly accused.

The report coincides with the release of this YouTube video, which the Nebraska Republican posted late yesterday, in which Fortenberry said: "We will fight these charges. I did not lie to [FBI investigators]."

The title of the congressman's video read, "I wanted you to hear from me first."

Though Fortenberry's controversy hasn't generated much in the way of national news, the fact that he's expecting an indictment doesn't come as a complete surprise. Roll Call reported a few weeks ago that the GOP lawmaker opened a legal expense fund in August to help pay for his legal expenses.

The online fundraising page for Fortenberry's legal expense fund said he was facing the Deep State's bottomless pockets," and went so far as to claim that President Joe Biden's FBI "is using its unlimited power to prosecute me on a bogus charge."

In reality, the controversy pre-dates Biden's election.

As the Lincoln Journal Star's report explained, it was during the Trump administration that the FBI began investigating illegal campaign contributions from Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire of Lebanese descent. His donations were reportedly funneled through a group of Californians from 2012 through 2016, and went to several politicians, including Fortenberry.

Members of Congress cannot, of course, accept foreign funds for their campaigns, but in this case, that's not the principal problem: The Nebraskan and his team have said they didn't realize the $30,200 in contributions he received at a Los Angeles fundraiser in 2016 came from a Nigerian billionaire. The congressman later donated the money to local charities.

Rather, based on Fortenberry's own remarks, it appears the Justice Department believes the Republican misled the FBI in 2019 as part of the investigation.

As for why a foreigner would target a relatively low-profile Nebraska congressman with illegal money, the Justice Department believes Chagoury was allegedly eyeing U.S. politicians "from less-populous states" because the money would be "more noticeable" and provide greater access.

To be sure, there are plenty of unanswered questions about the controversy. We don't have a full list of politicians the foreign donor set out to support. We don't know the identities of possible straw donors. We don't even know what Fortenberry may have lied about or why.

Nevertheless, it appears we may soon see the first charge against a sitting member of Congress since then-Republican Reps. Chris Collins and Duncan Hunter were charged a few years ago.

Update: A few hours after this post was published, Fortenberry was, in fact, charged.

Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MSNBC political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "The Impostors: How Republicans Quit Governing and Seized American Politics."

Link:

Republican congressman expects to be charged with lying to the FBI - MSNBC

Texas Republicans are on the verge of enacting new voting maps that would entrench the states Republican and white majority even as its non-white population grows rapidly.

Texas Republicans approved the congressional plan on Monday evening, sending it to Governor Greg Abbott, a Republican, who is expected to sign the measure.

The Texas maps offer perhaps the most brazen effort in the USs so far this year to draw new district lines to benefit one political party, a practice called gerrymandering. The proposed congressional map would blunt growing Democratic strength in the Texas suburbs. Texas Republicans already have a 23-13 seat advantage in the states congressional delegation and the new maps would double the number of safe GOP congressional seats in the state from 11 to 22, according to the Washington Post.

Democrats would have 12 safe seats, up from eight. There would be just one competitive congressional district in the state, down from 12.

The map also clearly blunts the growing political strength of minorities in Texas. Over the last decade, the Hispanic population has grown by nearly 2 million people in the state, while the white population increased by about 187,000 people. Ninety-five per cent of the states population growth over the last decade has come from minorities, but the proposed congressional map actually lowers the number of districts in the state where non-white people comprise a majority. There would be one additional district where whites make up a majority of voters.

You have to try real hard to draw districts that dont contemplate the 95% growth in communities of color. I mean you have to be really intentional, said Rafael Anchia, a Democrat in the Texas house who chairs the Mexican American Legislative Caucus. In district after district the voting power of minority populations was diluted over and over again.

Republicans have rushed their map proposals through the state legislature, giving the public little opportunity to have their say. Sometimes hearings were announced with just 24 hours notice, and several votes to advance the plans took place in the late hours of the night. The legislature just rammed this through, Anchia said.

Its pretty demoralizing, to be honest with you, he added. You have a rigging of the rules of the game from the last decade, that permits the majority to manipulate the rules from the redistricting process to then continue to hold on to power and deny people policy outcomes that will materially impact their lives.

Civil rights groups have already filed one federal lawsuit seeking to prevent the state from using the maps in the future. The suit, filed on Monday in federal court in San Antonio, argues that the maps violate both the 1965 Voting Rights Act and the 14th amendment, which guarantees equal protection under the law. The maps unlawfully dilute the voting strength of Latinos, lawyers representing the plaintiffs wrote, and intentionally discriminate against them on the basis of race and national origin.

Republicans have complete control of state government in Texas, which also means they have complete control over the redistricting process. The new maps offer a clear example of how lawmakers can stop political change and virtually guarantee their re-election for the decade over which the maps are used.

The Republican effort to entrench power is clearest in the suburbs, which are the fastest-growing and some of the most diverse in the state. In several places, Republicans annexed areas with fast-growing minority populations to rural areas that are more likely to vote for GOP candidates. The tactics ensure the districts will remain reliably red.

What this map tells me is [Republicans] are not sure theyre getting white suburban voters back, so theyve decided were just going to use rural voters to neutralize the suburbs, said Michael Li, a redistricting expert at the Brennan Center for Justice.

Its a strategy on full display in places like the suburbs of Dallas, which includes the 33rd congressional district.

Hispanic voters make up nearly a majority of the district, according to the Texas Tribune. But in their new map, Republicans carved out a heavily Hispanic portion of the 33rd and attached it instead to the sixth congressional district nextdoor, which stretches over 6,000 square miles all the way into rural east Texas. The Hispanic voters will be shifted from a Democratic district in which they had significant political weight to one in which white people nearly make up a majority.

A similar strategy is on display in Fort Bend county, which includes the south-west Houston suburbs. It is one of the fastest-growing and most diverse across the country nearly evenly split between whites, African Americans, Hispanics and Asian Americans. Democrats have been making clear gains there; Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden both carried the district in 2016 and 2020.

Under the new Republican map, some of the most Democratic-leaning areas in the county would be lumped in with already heavily Democratic districts in Houston. The remaining portion of the county will be attached to rural areas that are solidly Republican. Its a configuration that will ensure a Republican candidate can hold on to the congressional district.

Because of the supreme courts 2013 decision hollowing out the Voting Rights Act, this will be the first time since 1965 that Texas does not have to submit its maps to the federal government for approval before they go into effect. It will be a huge boon to Texas, where courts have repeatedly struck down districts as violations of the Voting Rights Act in every decade since the law went into effect.

In 2011, when Texas still had to submit its maps for pre-clearance, federal courts blocked the maps from going into effect. Later, a federal court found that the 2011 maps were passed with an intent to discriminate against minority voters.

A federal voting rights bill, the For the People Act, which is pending in the Senate, would most probably block the Texas congressional plan, Li said. The bill would allow a court to block a plan from being used if computer simulations showed the plan would result in a level of bias beyond a certain threshold in two of the four most recent US Senate and presidential elections. The Texas plan would fail in all four elections, Li said.

Democrats are set to hold a vote on the legislation on Wednesday, but Republicans are likely to block it using the filibuster, a Senate rule that requires 60 votes to advance legislation. There are calls for Democrats to get rid of the rule to pass voting rights legislation.

Earlier this year, Anchia and his fellow Democrats left Texas for several weeks, denying lawmakers a quorum as they sought to advance sweeping voting rights legislation. They spent that time in Washington lobbying senators to pass federal voting rights legislation.

The Senate has to act. They have to act because democracy requires it, Anchia said.

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Texas Republicans pass voting maps that entrench power of whites - The Guardian

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for New Jersey governor, strode into the Burlington County GOP headquarters in Medford on Tuesday afternoon to chants of we back Jack as he welcomed a high-profile Republican to visit the state and back his campaign.

Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel declared its time New Jersey finally has a good governor by electing Ciattarelli in two weeks and kicking Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy out of office.

I dont know, I think Phil Murphy is a little bit scared right now. I think hes shaking in his boots, McDaniel said.

McDaniel slammed Murphy, who is seeking a second term in the Nov. 2 election, over New Jerseys high taxes and unemployment. She said the Garden State has a worse governor than the place she calls home, Michigan, where Democrat Gov. Gretchen Whitmen holds the governors office.

Peoples families are being hurt under Phil Murphy and everybody knows it, McDaniel said. This is the time where New Jersey needs to make that change.

Ciattarelli welcomed the national Republican with open arms and the largely maskless crowd that packed the county GOP headquarters cheered him in return.

Guess what, two weeks from today he can call me governor elect, Ciattarelli said, referring to Murphy. In two weeks, were swinging (the door) wide open and Im marching in as your governor.

He added: We can win this race.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel speaks about Jack Ciattarelli in Medford, NJ on Tuesday, October 19, 2021. Dave Hernandez | For NJ Advance Media for NJ.comDave Hernandez | For NJ Advance

Ciattarelli also implored his audience not to stay home because they think the election is rigged, something the most popular member of the party, former President Donald Trump, has called for since losing to current President Joe Biden in the last presidential election.

The event occurred the same day Vice President Kamala Harris husband, Doug Emhoff, visited the state to pitch vaccines and the climate change fight.

Emhoff is the latest in a string of top Democrats to make trips to the state in recent weeks. Kamala Harris appeared with Murphy nearly two weeks ago on a similar trip, and others have campaigned with the governor: First Lady Jill Biden was here last week, along with former U.S. Rep. Gabby Giffords and U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar.

The biggest name by far for Murphy will be former President Barack Obama, who will visit in Newark on Saturday, the same day early in-person voting begins for the first time in the state.

Murphy has led Ciattarelli in all public-opinion polls so far, most by double digits, though the lead has narrowed. The most recent survey, released late last month by Stockton University, showed Murphy up by 9 percentage points.

Political observers agree the final results all come down to turnout in Democratic-heavy New Jersey, where there are more than 1 million registered Democrats than Republican voters.

Yes, he has a chance. Yes, Phil Murphy has a chance to lose, said Ben Dworkin, director of the Rowan Institute for Public Policy and Citizenship.

It is coming down to turnout. Murphy and Democrats have a significant numerical advantage. But that advantage dissipates if those voters dont show up to the polls, he said. Both sides are spending these last two weeks trying to motivate and energize their identified supporters to go out and vote.

And a good way to energize the base is by bringing in big names.

As we head into final weeks, we know its going to be about base turnout, said Patrick Murray, director of the Monmouth Polling Institute. The question is whether differing enthusiasm in each party will have an impact in the margin.

NJ Advance Media staff writer Brent Johnson contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com.

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Top Republican says Murphys shaking in his boots over upcoming election - NJ.com

Oct. 18, 2021 4:21 pm ET

Republican Party leaders need to woo Sen. Joe Manchin to their ranks immediately. We can ill afford to wait for the outcome of next years midterms. President Bidens proposed $3.5 trillion legislation is a malignant forced march into an unaffordable welfare state (The Entitlements of U.S. Decline, Review & Outlook, Oct. 7). Mr. Manchin has sound reasons to consider a party change. His principles are more aligned with Republican centrists, his West Virginia constituents would likely support the switch and, most important, his voting as a Republican would swing the balance of power in the Senate.

President Bidens train of abuses and usurpations, to borrow Jeffersons phrase from the Declaration of Independence, stand common sense on its head: his self-inflicted southern border crisis; his botched withdrawal from Afghanistan; his anti-fossil-fuel policies that cede our energy independence and threaten national security; his divisive claims of systemic white racism and demands for economic equality, not equality of opportunity; his Covid-19 shutdowns and vaccination mandates that threaten citizens livelihoods; and so forth.

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Why Joe Manchin Should Join the Republican Party - The Wall Street Journal