schmitt, eric Sen a g mizz

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SEE fulton GEORGIA RAID #2 ALBUS 1 26 mizz ag BAILEY [BAILED 9 26 FAM TIME]

INGRAHAM DSA INSURG BS

JUD COMM GRASSLEY? EPIC FAIL PERJURY TRAP JACK SMITH

CONSPIRACY

FAIL 4 AND 5

NATCON XIAN NAT BROLIARCHY?

US SENATOR 2023

LIAR --> DISINFO CENSOR

// VIOLENT RHET

SOROS // CONSPIR BIG LIE

PAXTON RAGA TEAM RED

AFP KOCH

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https://scorecard.lcv.org/moc/eric-schmitt

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Ethan Harper (left) is Chief Counsel to Schmitt, and Andrew Ceonzo (right) is Counsel to Schmitt and the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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MMA Laura Ingraham claims there is a leftist "plan" to "overthrow" the government. What in the world is she talking about?

Laura Ingraham claims there is a leftist “plan” to “overthrow” the government. What in the world is she talking about?

Written by Matt Gertz

Published 10/22/26

Republicans are panicking and right-wing media are desperately churning out “fear porn” as polls continue to point to a devastating midterm environment for their party with less than two weeks remaining before election day. From presidential rallies to Fox News primetime, MAGA stalwarts are trying to bolster their party’s turnout by warning Republican voters that if they do not go to the polls, their freedom and very lives may be at stake.

That increasingly deranged environment is generating a level of demagoguery that at times becomes simply absurd.

Fox host Laura Ingraham, for example, announced on her show Wednesday that if Democrats win control of the U.S. House and Senate, a leftist cabal of activists, journalists, “top former staffers” in the Obama and Biden administrations, and even Democratic governors will carry out a plot to force President Donald Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act as a mechanism to “dissolve” the U.S. Constitution and “crush their enemies.”

The argument that the left is planning to destroy the federal government if and only if Democrats triumph in the midterms makes a lot of sense as an attempt to scare Republicans to the polls but none at all as a plot in its own right.

Questions abound: Why in the world is this plan only enacted after Democrats achieve actual congressional power for the first time in Trump's second term? If there is clear evidence of a sweeping plot including “top” Obama and Biden officials, why is the best example Ingraham can point to former Obama White House ethics lawyer Norm Eisen talking about protecting the Constitution with legal action? Why does the plan revolve around getting Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act — an outcome MAGA pundits like Ingraham herself have been lobbying for and Democrats have publicly opposed?

Lastly, why does Ingraham think this grand conspiracy is underway? We don’t really know — she cited no direct evidence for what on-screen Fox graphics described as “The Left’s Plan To Overthrow The U.S. Gov’t.”

But Ingraham’s claims align with a conspiracy theory that Jennica Pounds, a right-wing influencer who goes by the pseudonym DataRepublican and briefly worked for the Defense Department this year, floated over the weekend based on videos of activist meetings she obtained. Pounds’ claim of a leftist “operational plan” seems to be much less than advertised — but has nonetheless been trumpeted this week by prominent MAGA figures like Glenn Beck, Vince Coglianese, Jesse Kelly, and podcaster-turned-deputy-FBI-director-turned-podcaster Dan Bongino.

...

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AN 10 26 // AXIOS VP?

Politico reports a GOP senator’s recent blunder was so bad it may already be impacting staff trying to flee the senator’s office.

“Ethan Harper, the general counsel to Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), was expected to leave his role on Friday and begin a new one in the White House Staff Secretary’s office next week, according to three people familiar with the plans granted anonymity to discuss them,” reports Politico. “But that transition was in doubt today following a congressional hearing that’s embroiled Schmitt in controversy, the people said.”

Politico reports that there is no evidence Harper was responsible for the monstrous gaffe Schmitt unleashed when he failed to trap former special investigator Jack Smith with allegations of colluding with other prosecutors investigating President Donald Trump.

On Tuesday, Jack Smith faced questioning at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which Republicans attempted to attack his investigations into Trump’s alleged corruption. At one point, Schmitt, with the aid of posters, tried to accuse Smith of colluding with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in his investigations, basing his logic on Smith supposedly attending an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in February 2024.

But, as it turned out, Schmitt had bungled his teams, and Smith had actually attended an Iowa Hawkeyes women's college basketball game. Before he was brutally corrected, Schmitt went so far as to accuse Smith of perjury when he denied attending the Atlanta Hawks game. The incident was widely criticized, among pundits and Schmitt's own colleagues, as an embarrassing travesty.

But Harper was the staffer standing behind Schmitt, holding up a board displaying screenshots of text messages as the senator falsely accused Smith of lying to Congress about attending the basketball game, reports Politico. And the evidence on the board failed to establish that Smith was at an Atlanta Hawks game as Schmitt had planned. Sen. Amy Klobuchar(D-Minn.) suggested Schmitt get his facts “together” before throwing insults at his next inquiry.

Politico reports Harper’s move to the White House was set before Tuesday’s hearing, according to two of the sources talking to Politico.

“Harper’s planned move would take him from Schmitt’s office to the White House office that manages the flow of documents and other materials to the president,” Politico reports. “Harper, a Harvard Law graduate, previously worked for Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) and D. John Sauer, then Missouri’s solicitor general. He also clerked for Judge W. Duane Benton of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit.”

Politico reports Schmitt described Harper as a “crucial part of the judicial vetting process in his Senate office who interviews candidates for judicial openings.”

The White House declined to comment, according to Politico, and Schmitt’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

POLITICO attempted to contact Harper but calls were not immediately returned.

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9 29 26 EPIC FAIL JACK SMITH DIRTBAG

The MAGA-sphere was struggling to recollect itself after one of its latest conspiracy theories went down in flames on Tuesday.

MAGA maven Sean Hannity deleted a post on Tuesday accusing former special prosecutor Jack Smith of having contact with a prosecutor investigating President Donald Trump for attempted election subversion while attending an NBA game in Atlanta.

Earlier Tuesday, the MAGA social media machine was already up and churning with the accusation as Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO) leveled the question at Smith before live cameras on, telling Schmitt he had text messages from Smith's team that Jack Smith was in Atlanta Feb. 2024, one day after DA Fani Willis admitted a relationship with co-worker Nathan Wade.

"What would you say if I had a series of text messages from your team that said you were in Atlanta at a Warriors Hawks game the day after Willis and Wade announced their affair," said Schmitt, adding: "I don't think you know that we have this stuff, I'll give you a second to process it."

But there was no processing required, as Smith quickly dismembered the accusation by explaining that he had attended an entirely different game.

News media pounced elements of the MAGA echo chamber that had fired prematurely before understanding their target.

“Are you going to update this tweet now that it is clear the senator mixed up the Atlanta Hawks with the Iowa Hawkeyes? I mean, this is absurd stuff,” wrote Tangle News founder Isaac Saul of former Fox News reporter Catherine Herridge, who had claimed Smith “seemed off balance” and “taken aback when Schmitt said he was bringing receipts” of memos, transcripts and texts.

MAGA leader and Fox News entertainer Hannity had already quietly deleted his own similar accusations hours later on Tuesday, without apology or explanation.

“Clearly the talking points and marching orders were sent out to push this story before it was revealed that Schmitt either lied or was embarrassingly wrong and confused the Atlanta Hawks with the University of Iowa Hawkeyes,” one heckler said on X.

But other media, including New Republica writer Brian Beutler, had screenshot Hannity’s claim, and reposted it after its sudden absence.

“Here’s a deleted tweet from Hannity, who won’t admit error, won’t chastise Schmitt, and won’t lose stature with anyone on the right, including the most of the blue-check community on this website,” Beutler said. “This is what you all like about him!”

Other members of the online MAGA community were slower to action, with Alt-right entertainer Benn Johnson failing to delete his own Schmidt-related post later that Tuesday.

“Are you really this ignorant or just pretending to be,” said one commenter beneath Johnson’s lingering post.

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AN 9 26

Writer Emily Zanotti thinks that Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt (Mo.) sent out his talking points and press availability about his conspiracy theory about former special counsel Jack Smith before he made them in the hearing and was fact-checked to his face. She's not the only one who appears to have noticed that Schmitt's false claim suddenly appeared online via influencers quickly.

Zanotti noted that she was seeing right-wing media folks already pushing out talking points alleging perjury by Smith.

"Oh man, the influencer instruction emails went out BEFORE the testimony," she said, showing a post from Benny Johnson.

In the screen capture, Johnson appears to accuse Smith of perjuring himself.

Schmitt mistakenly claimed that Smith was in Atlanta, Georgia, the day after Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis revealed she'd dated a consultant her office later hired. As Schmitt told it, Smith was in Atlanta for an NBA game, seeing the Atlanta Hawks, and it raised suspicions about whether he was working with Willis.

Smith made it clear he'd never met Willis and wasn't in Atlanta for an NBA game. Schmitt smirked, reminding Smith he's "under oath." Smith made it clear he'd never been to an NBA game in Atlanta.

Schmitt flashed a blown-up poster board of text exchanges showing Willis with Smith and the text messages about Smith's seats for the game. Smith asked if he could see it again. He said that they'd removed it so quickly he didn't get a chance to see who was alleging what.

Schmitt even sneered, "It's ok. I think you've already perjured yourself."

That's when it became clear that the "Hawks" game that was being discussed was, in fact, the Iowa Hawkeyes playing the University of Maryland. Smith said he wanted to see Caitlin Clark play.

It appeared TPUSA got them too, as Schmitt went on Charlie Kirk's old show after the hearing, where they also repeated the conspiracy theory but then revealed that Schmitt was proven false.

Schmitt has attempted to save himself from what critics are calling a "humiliating" moment on national television by saying that it was his job "to ask the questions."

Former New York Daily News reporter Helen Kennedy thinks that this was clearly part of a broader effort by Republicans for a big "gotcha."

"I may need to go get my tinfoil hat, but I really think there was a big right-wing campaign ready to go based on the assumption that Schmitt was going to pull a splashy gotcha moment," she said on BlueSky. "The Axios story and all of these right wingers immediately crowing that Smith got got. And then not following up."

The Axios story she is referencing is a piece that dropped Tuesday morning before the hearing claiming that Schmitt's name is being passed around as a vice presidential running mate.

Litigator Dilan Esper commented, "It's nice to see the sausage being made every once in a while. Yes, there are plenty of people who simply repeat whatever talking points they are given. They have no intellectual honesty and don't confirm things or think for themselves. And something like this can expose them."

Even local Missouri news reporters made the same observation.

Mark Maxwell, political editor of KSDK News in St. Louis, quipped, "This is what it looks like when pre-rehearsed coordinated talking points go out to a goober host with zero knowledge or curiosity about what actually happened in the real world. Just deeply embarrassing for everyone involved. Back in Missouri, we still await return calls/emails."

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an 9 26

Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt's badly fumbled line of attack against Jack Smith has been widely mocked and denounced, and now, even his own local news program has joined in, eviscerating his "clown-show" argument in a recent segment.

On Tuesday, former special counsel Jack Smith once again sat for questioning at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, in which Republicans once again attempted to attack his investigations into President Donald Trump as corrupt. At one point, Schmitt, with the aid of posters, tried to accuse Smith of colluding with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis in his investigations, basing his logic on Smith supposedly attending an Atlanta Hawks basketball game in February 2024.

As it turned out, Schmitt had mixed up teams, as Smith had actually attended an Iowa Hawkeyes women's college basketball game. Before he was corrected, the senator went so far as to accuse Smith of perjury when he denied attending the Atlanta Hawks game. The incident was widely criticized, among pundits and Schmitt's own colleagues, as an embarrassing flub.

On Tuesday evening, prolific left-wing commentator Christopher Webb shared a segment from Schmitt's own local news program, which dug further into the extent to which the senator's information was grossly inaccurate.

"This is priceless. Check out how local news is reporting on Sen Eric Schmidt’s clown-show grilling of Jack Smith," Webb wrote in his post.

"It's the kind of moment senators dream about," the reporter in the segment explained. "Sen. Schmitt had his stage, and hey, shooters shoot. He knows ball, right? So he took his shot."

The segment continued, following a clip of the exchange between Smith and Schmitt: "We did find the broadcast video, though, Fox Sports, courtesy of them, and we do find Jack Smith. You can see him yourself, top corner up here, section 109, row 1. In fact, that seat itself doesn’t even exist in Atlanta. Marv Albert would call this an airball. Like any intense game, we had some trash talk too, Sen. Schmitt called Smith, quote, 'a dirtbag,' and 'a villain.' He quickly made the rounds on conservative podcasts where these influencers priased his appearance for taking Jack Smith down a peg."

The reporter noted that the network had reached out to Schmitt's office for an explanation or an apology, but did not hear anything back. He added that when a witness lies under oath, they can face punishments up to and including prison time, but when a senator like Schmitt gets their facts wrong, "he's just asking questions."

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an 7 26

After President Donald Trump singled him out for possible impeachment, a Republican lawmaker is officially going to war against Judge James Boasberg with a new bill inspired by GOP grievances against him, per a report from Bloomberg.

Boasberg is a Washington D.C., federal district judge appointed by former President Barack Obama, who first drew the ire of MAGA Republicans in 2025 when he ruled against Trump's attempt to use the Alien Enemies Act as a means to carry out his mass deportation agenda. Those same Republicans later accused him, with no evidence, that he had forced his way onto a case against the Trump administration for its use of the Signal messaging app for military communications, despite the court's repeated insistence that he had been randomly assigned to the case per its standard policy.

In light of his frequent rulings against the administration, Trump has called for Boasberg to be impeached, which prompted pushback from Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts. Numerous other Republicans began to echo those calls, including Sen. Eric Schmitt, a Missouri Republican, who also this week unveiled a new proposed bill, the BOASBERG Act, that would target the unfounded allegations against the judge.

"A Republican senator has introduced legislation that would require random case assignment in federal district courts," Bloomberg's report explained, adding later, "If passed, Schmitt’s legislation would also require district courts to publicly share their practices when it comes to the assignment of civil cases, or to say why cases can’t be randomly assigned. Anyone who attempted to 'manipulate or evade the randomized case assignment system' would face penalties, according to the bill. District judges would also be removed from a case if the Supreme Court vacates, reverses, or stays their rulings. Appeals court judges would also lose their case assignments if the Supreme Court vacated or reversed a judgment that affirmed a lower court ruling."

The report continued: "Under the bill, federal appeals courts would also be subject to random assignment procedures when it comes to creating the three-judge panels that hear cases, and cases could only be reassigned in limited circumstances. Judges would also be randomly assigned when it comes to the rare three-judge courts stood up to weigh challenges to district maps. And both district and appeals courts would have to share statistics annually on judicial assignments and reassignments."

“The BOASBERG Act prevents Judges from forcing their way onto cases and is an important piece of court transparency legislation that will help restore the American people’s confidence in our judiciary,” Schmitt said in a statement about the new proposal.

Bloomberg also noted a segment of Schmitt's proposal, which said that it was not meant "to prevent district courts from assigning cases filed within a division to 1 or more judges." The outlet interpreted this as an effort not to target the practice of "judge shopping," wherein litigants find a way to file their suits in smaller districts where they are "all but guaranteed" to land a judge friendly to their cause, which conservatives have been accused of doing frequently in recent years.

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GO AFTER ca DISTRICTS POST CALAIS

AI Overview GGL 5 26

Following the Supreme Court's ruling in Louisiana v. Callais (April/May 2026), which curbed the use of race in redistricting, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt (R-MO) has spearheaded a Republican effort to challenge Democratic-led congressional maps. [1, 2]

Schmitt's Actions Following Callais

• DOJ Pressure: Schmitt sent a letter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) urging them to act on the ruling, which he argues makes it illegal to use the Voting Rights Act (VRA) to justify racially gerrymandered districts. [1, 2]

• Targeting Blue States: Schmitt has specifically called on the DOJ to target California, arguing their maps were driven by partisan, not racial, considerations. He described the ruling as a "map war" that allows for challenging maps in blue states. [1, 2]

• Subcommittee Role: Acting as Chairman of the Subcommittee on the Constitution, Schmitt is pushing for a nationwide review of districts. [1]

GOP Strategy & "Map War"

• Shifting Legal Landscape: Republicans, including Schmitt, argue that the Callais decision means states can no longer use the VRA as an excuse for racial gerrymandering. [1]

• "Ending Racial Gerrymandering": Schmitt states that the decision restores the promise of equal representation and prevents "carving up America into racial spoils". [1]

• Reactions: While proponents suggest this ensures fair maps, critics argue it allows for more traditional partisan gerrymandering and could eliminate majority-minority districts that ensure representation. [1, 2]

• Harmeet Dhillon Response: Assistant Attorney General Harmeet Dhillon responded to Schmitt, stating the DOJ is "on it" regarding the review of potentially illegal districts. [1, 2]

Callais is expected to cause significant changes to the 2026 midterm election landscape, with the potential for legal battles over district lines in several states. [1, 2]

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AN 7 26

WASHINGTON — Former Justice Department lawyer Elizabeth Oyer has posted a video to YouTube blaming Missouri Republican Sens. Eric Schmitt and Josh Hawley for an onslaught of hate messages and death threats she has received.

“Hey everybody,” Oyer said in the video. “I started getting death threats after I testified against Todd Blanche last week.”

Blanche has been nominated to be attorney general by President Donald Trump, and Schmitt and Hawley sit on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which must make an initial vote on his nomination.

Oyer’s video shows images of several emails she received, many of which came from fake email addresses and contained messages such as, “Die in hell you pos,” “I hope you die tragically,” “Let’s hope somebody murders your family and gets clemency,” and other threatening messages containing obscenities.

“Two Republican senators with a political agenda rage-baited their followers into believing nasty and dangerous lies,” she states, referencing Hawley and Schmitt.

The committee’s July 16 hearing had five witnesses, including Oyer, who was the pardoning attorney for the Department of Justice for 13 years. In her written testimony to the committee, Oyer said she was fired by Blanche after she refused to restore firearm rights for actor and filmmaker Mel Gibson, a close friend of Trump.

The hearing was meant to consider the pending nomination of Blanche. Schmitt and Hawley, however, did not ask Oyer about Blanche. Instead, they drilled her about the recommendation she made to President Joe Biden to commute 40 people’s federal death sentences to life in prison without parole.

“You personally recommended commuting all 40 death sentence cases, an even broader action than Biden took,” Schmitt said in the hearing.

Biden commuted 37 of the death sentences.

Schmitt was unable to be immediately reached for comment, but a spokesperson commented on his behalf.

“(Liz Oyer’s) disgraceful clemency recommendations ignored the victims’ families’ concerns and were so extreme that even Joe Biden’s autopen handlers couldn’t stomach them,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

Hawley confronted Oyer with photos of the parolees, many of whom committed violent acts of rape and murder. He showed photos of the victims and referenced them by name. In an interview with the Missourian, Hawley said that these were the real victims, not Oyer.

“The people who were murdered, and devastated and raped by the criminals that she recommended that President Biden give clemency to, those folks are the real victims here,” Hawley said. “I was proud to tell their stories.”

In her video, Oyer said that Hawley had misrepresented her by claiming that she had sympathy for the perpetrators of the crimes.

“That is dangerous misinformation, and Josh Hawley knows it,” Oyer said in the video.

In response, Hawley said that he had read from memos that Oyer sent.

“She tried to weasel her way out of it, and say she hadn’t said this or that,” Hawley said. “We have the memos, and I put them in the record.”

This story originally appeared in the Columbia Missourian.

WIKI 2026

In 2022, Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine. He is the vice chair of the Congressional Joint Economic Committee. As a senator, Schmitt supports national conservatism, and was a speaker at the 2025 National Conservatism Conference.

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[GOP senator calls on House to impeach Boasberg after contempt hearings halted Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is calling on House Republicans to impeach James Boasberg, the chief...

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1 month ago](https://thehill.com/homenews/senate/5832151-senator-eric-schmitt-calls-impeach-boasberg/)

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Senator Schmitt (.gov)](https://www.schmitt.senate.gov/media/press-releases/senator-schmitt-discusses-the-save-america-act-on-fox-business/)

an 2 26

Fulton County, Georgia, has hit back against the Trump administration following the controversial election center raid last month, with Politico's Josh Gerstein reporting that a revised filing from the county accused the government of being "woefully short" on evidence of wrongdoing and violating the Constitution.

Near the end of January, FBI agents raided an election center in Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, and a major focal point for Donald Trump's false claims that voter fraud cost him the 2020 election. Agents gathered various records from the building, including 2020 ballots, as part of an investigation into long-debunked allegations of fraud in the state, which went for Joe Biden by a slim margin in the 2020 race. Critics have also alleged that the raid is intended to fabricate a pretext to allow the federal government to interfere with Georgia elections.

The county has since taken the administration to court over the incident, demanding that they return the ballots seized last month and accusing it of pushing through with the operation despite having no evidence of wrongdoing. A revised filing from Tuesday afternoon made that argument clear, as Gerstein explained in a post to X.

"Revised Fulton County demand for return of 2020 ballots seized by FBI calls evidence 'woefully short' of showing probable cause that a crime was committed," Gerstein wrote. "County says actions would have to be willful to be crimes & no claim/proof of that."

Within the new filing, the county alleged that the sworn affidavits submitted by FBI agents claiming there to be probable cause for the raid were lacking actual evidence, despite a judge later signing off on a warrant for the operation. It also accused the government of violating Fourth Amendment rights against "unreasonable search and seizure."

"In seizing Petitioners’ property by relying on a warrant that was entirely devoid of probable cause, Respondent callously disregarded Petitioners’ rights underthe Fourth Amendment," the county's petition argued. "This flagrant constitutional violation compels immediate equitable relief from this Court—namely, an order requiring Respondent to return Fulton County’s original election records, as well as any copies."

In response to another X user, Gerstein noted that "probable cause to believe a crime was committed" is necessary to get a search and seizure warrant.

Legal experts have previously weighed in on these affidavits after they were unsealed, expressing befuddlement as to how a judge could have signed off on a warrant in response to them. David Becker, the founder and director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, told CNN last week that there was "nothing" in them that showed probable cause.

"I have no idea how it was signed off on," Becker said. "When I heard they were unsealing the affidavit, I was actually expecting — even though we knew there would be no actual reality of a crime there, those ballots have been counted multiple times — but I was wondering what the administration would use that was new, that would justify these claims... There was no allegation of intent, which is a necessary element of the crime. In fact, they admit there's no intent that's evident at all."

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AN 2 26

The Missouri prosecutor overseeing an investigation into the 2020 vote in Fulton County, Georgia, has taken part in meetings since last fall with lawyers tasked by President Donald Trump to reinvestigate his loss to Joe Biden.

Thomas Albus, whom Trump appointed last year as U.S. attorney for Missouri’s Eastern District, has had multiple meetings set up with top administration lawyers to discuss election integrity.

At those meetings was Ed Martin, a Justice Department lawyer who until recently led a group investigating what the president has described as the department’s “weaponization” against him and his allies, according to a source familiar with the meetings who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

White House lawyer Kurt Olsen, who has been tasked with reinvestigating the 2020 election, also was directed to join at least one of the meetings, according to the source. Both Martin and Olsen worked on behalf of Trump to try to overturn the 2020 election results, and a federal court sanctioned Olsen for making false claims about the reliability of voting machines in Arizona.

The meetings reveal new details about the length of the preparations for, and people involved in, the January FBI raid on Fulton County, which election and legal experts told ProPublica was a significant escalation in Trump’s breaking of democratic norms.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi picked Albus and has granted him special authority to handle election-related cases nationwide, even though his earlier work as a federal prosecutor didn’t involve election law or election-related cases. The meetings with Martin, Olsen and other lawyers for the Justice Department were described by the source as being about “election integrity,” a term the Trump administration has used to describe investigations into its false claims that elections are rigged.

Martin, Olsen, Albus and others declined to answer questions about the meetings and other detailed questions from ProPublica. The White House and the Justice Department also did not respond to questions.

The meetings came at a particularly crucial time.

Martin’s efforts to obtain election materials from Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, had hit a wall. In August, he sent a letter demanding that a Fulton County judge allow him to access tens of thousands of absentee ballots for “an investigation into election integrity here at the Department of Justice,” but he had reportedly received no reply.

Martin explained to Steve Bannon on a podcast that aired around the time of the meetings that although the White House had given Olsen the official mandate to reinvestigate the 2020 election, “inside DOJ, myself and a couple of others have been working also on the same topic” — including getting the Fulton County ballots. But Martin described progress as a “challenge.”

Bannon, who served as Trump’s chief strategist in his first term, asked why Martin didn’t just “get some U.S. marshals to go down and seize” the ballots.

Martin suggested it was easier said than done, but agreed: “Look, we’ve got to get” the ballots.

Before long, Albus and Olsen were interviewing witnesses for their case. Kevin Moncla, a conservative researcher, told ProPublica that he spoke to Albus and Olsen a couple of times, both together and separately, around the turn of the year. He identified himself as Witness 7 in the affidavit that persuaded a judge to sign off on the raid, and the affidavit mentions a 263-page report he authored that activists believe may have justified the raid, ProPublica has reported. Moncla has a long history of working with Olsen, dating back to an attempt by Kari Lake, a Republican candidate for governor in Arizona, to overturn her 2022 loss.

Just a few weeks after those interviews, in late January, Albus was listed as the government attorney on the search warrant that authorized the seizure of roughly 700 boxes of election material in Georgia, far outside of Albus’ usual jurisdiction.

Former U.S. attorneys from both parties said it was rare for a federal prosecutor from one region to take on cases in other states or be granted the nationwide authority Albus has been given.

Under Trump, senior roles across the White House, DOJ and FBI have increasingly been filled by a small, interconnected group of Missouri lawyers with longstanding ties to one another.

Another top federal official in the meetings was Jesus Osete, the principal deputy assistant attorney general for civil rights. Before joining the Justice Department, Osete worked in the Missouri attorney general’s office, where he represented the state in at least five lawsuits against the Biden administration regarding vaccine mandates, immigration and other policies. Osete did not respond to requests for comment or to a detailed list of questions.

When the FBI raided Fulton County’s election center, Andrew Bailey, another lawyer from the same political circles, was in charge. Before joining the FBI as deputy director, he had used his position as Missouri’s attorney general to pursue high-profile cases against prominent Democrats and said he supported all efforts to investigate Biden, his family and his administration.

A spokesperson for the FBI declined to answer detailed questions about Bailey.

Last year, Roger Keller, a veteran federal prosecutor from Albus’ office, was brought in to help prosecute New York Attorney General Letitia James for alleged mortgage fraud in Virginia after the original career prosecutors on the case were replaced by political appointees. After a judge dismissed the case, two federal grand juries declined to indict James again, and Keller returned to Missouri.

Trump’s solicitor general, D. John Sauer, previously served as Missouri’s solicitor general under state attorneys general Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt. He and Schmitt signed Missouri’s amicus brief supporting efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election results. Sauer later represented Trump in his presidential-immunity case, successfully arguing before the Supreme Court that Trump was entitled to broad immunity from prosecution.

Albus’ connection to the other Missouri lawyers goes back decades. Unlike some of the others, though, he has never held elected office or had a high public profile, nor has he waged culture-war campaigns like Bailey or Martin. Instead, he spent most of his career as a federal prosecutor and as a judge in a Missouri state circuit court.

Emails show Albus exchanging brief messages with Martin in 2007, when Albus was an assistant U.S. attorney in St. Louis and Martin was chief of staff to then-Gov. Matt Blunt. The emails were part of records from the Blunt administration that became public after being released under Missouri’s Sunshine Law.

In the email exchange, Albus put in a good word for a St. Louis lawyer who was a finalist for an appellate court judgeship, and Blunt ultimately selected that candidate.

Albus served as first assistant to Schmitt from early 2019 until Albus was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson to fill a circuit court judge vacancy in early 2020. Schmitt, now a U.S. senator, praised Albus as “one of the finest prosecutors I have ever met” when endorsing his nomination for U.S. attorney in December.

Lawyers who appeared in Albus’ court rated him as well prepared, professional and attentive, according to Missouri judicial performance reviews. They said he followed the evidence, applied the law correctly and gave clear reasons for his rulings.

Albus came under more critical scrutiny after Trump named him interim U.S. attorney last summer. Much of that attention centered on a fraud case he inherited when he took office. Prosecutors alleged that developers in St. Louis falsely claimed to be using minority- and women-owned subcontractors to qualify for city tax breaks, conduct the Justice Department has historically treated as wire fraud.

One of the defendants was represented by lawyer Brad Bondi, the brother of Pam Bondi.

The developers’ lawyers argued that even if the government’s claims were true, they were legally irrelevant because the Trump administration had taken the position that tax breaks based on race or gender were unlawful. Albus accepted those arguments and dropped the case. As part of the resolution, Albus personally hand-delivered to City Hall a check of about $1 million from one of the developers’ companies as restitution. He told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that he intervened “to make it clear” his office wanted to drop charges and hand-delivered the check “to make sure they got it.”

In a letter to Pam Bondi and Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Congressional Democrats said the dismissal of the St. Louis case and other cases in which the Justice Department intervened on behalf of Brad Bondi’s clients raised “significant broader ethical concerns.” In the St. Louis case, and in a separate matter involving another Brad Bondi client whose charges were dropped, a Justice Department spokesperson said Pam Bondi’s relationship with her brother had “no bearing on the outcome.”

A spokesperson for the developers said their lawyers communicated only with the U.S. attorney’s office in St. Louis about the case and had no direct contact with Pam Bondi. He said the dismissal reflected “a recognition that this case should never have been brought in the first place.” Brad Bondi did not respond to a request for comment.

Weeks later, around the time of Albus’ meetings about election integrity, he posed with Martin in Martin’s office, flanked by a framed photo of Trump and a copy of “A Choice, Not an Echo,” the influential conservative manifesto by Phyllis Schlafly arguing that Republican voters were being manipulated by party elites and the media.

Martin posted the photo on X with the caption, “Good morning, America. How are ya’?”

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2023

...Tom Burcham is a longtime friend of Tilley’s and was involved in his first public brush with FBI scrutiny back in 2009. While Tilley was serving as majority leader of the Missouri House, the FBI questioned lawmakers about his role in blocking legislation that would have undercut lawsuits filed by Burcham.

Brittany Robbins, communications director for Tilley’s company, Strategic Capitol Consulting, said in an email to The Independent that each of the PACs that donated to help Bailey are independent of the lobbying firm.

“We make recommendations,” Robbins said, “but we do not have control over final decisions.”

In addition to the $30,000 from the six Tilley-connected PACs, Bailey also got a little over $10,000 in December from Tilley clients.

That includes $1,000 from Warrenton Oil, which sued the state in 2021 in order to stop a crackdown on so-called gray market slot machines in its convenience stores. The Missouri attorney general’s office is defending the state in Warrenton Oil’s lawsuit, which was filed in conjunction with the company that owns the slot machines,Torch Electronics.

Last summer, Warrenton Oil cut a series of $15,000 checks to MO Majority PAC, Missouri Growth PAC, Missouri C PAC, Missouri Senior PAC and Missouri AG PAC, totaling $75,000. Torch Electronics donated $40,000 to each PAC during that time, totaling $200,000.

Former Attorney General Eric Schmitt returned political donations he received in 2021 from the owner of Torch Electronics aftercriticism that, because of the ongoing litigation, they could be a conflict of interest.

But the Schmitt donations were to his campaign committee. Warrenton Oil’s $1,000 check went to Liberty and Justice PAC, which is an independent spending committee that Bailey can coordinate with to raise money but can’t control.

A spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office directed questions to Bailey’s campaign, which did not respond to an email seeking comment.

‘Friend and mentor’

In addition to his own money, Scharf is getting support from some of his former colleagues in the Greitens administration....

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cofman

Federal agents executed a search warrant at the Fulton County elections office in Georgia on Jan. 28, seizing 2020 ballots and related election materials in an investigation tied to alleged election law violations. The warrant listed a Missouri-based prosecutor, Thomas Albus, interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Missouri, as the Justice Department attorney on the document, an unusual choice for a Georgia-based investigation.

The involvement of a Missouri prosecutor in a Georgia warrant has fueled questions and controversy about the federal operation. Fulton County officials and national reporters noted that Theodore Hertzberg, the U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, was not named on the warrant, and DOJ has not publicly explained the arrangement.

Local authorities confirmed the FBI, operating under a “court-authorized activity,” found and loaded hundreds of boxes of ballots, voting rolls and machine tapes into trucks during the multi-hour search. It is unclear what evidence was presented to justify the warrant, as the supporting affidavit remains sealed.

One potential reason for Albus’s appearance on the warrant may stem from a special DOJ appointment. According to a Bloomberg Law report, Attorney General Pam Bondi quietly designated Albus under a federal statute to coordinate election integrity cases nationwide, allowing him to sign warrants and pursue investigations outside his home district.

Follow The Coffman Chronicle on NewsBreak for daily breaking political coverage.

Still, county officials and outside legal analysts say DOJ has not clarified why Georgia’s own U.S. Attorney was not listed, raising unanswered questions about the case’s handling and federal oversight.

“This is a highly unusual setup,” said one legal analyst familiar with federal election investigations, “and that’s why everyone wants to know just what legal basis exists for it.”

The raid and use of a Missouri official to authorize a Georgia warrant is now drawing scrutiny from lawmakers in both states, and legal challenges may follow as county officials seek more transparency on the federal action and detainee custody of the ballots.

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• Armed Services
• Commerce, Science and Transportation

12 25

summary?cid=N00048414

TOP INDUSTRY 2023 - 2024

Retired

$995,660

TOP CONTRIBUTOR 2023 - 2024

Senate Conservatives Fund

$113,786

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FEC 2023-5

XIT APR 9

RCP 5 MIN VID CONFORM

State Department Nominee Sarah Rogers: Terms Like Disinformation Have Lost Their Meaning, I Will Bring Transparency

Posted By Ian Schwartz

On Date April 11, 2025

Sarah Rogers, nominee for Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy, delivers her opening statement at her Senate confirmation hearing.

"We have heard the CEO of NPR, which is funded in part by the United States, describe the First Amendment as the number one challenge besetting American journalism," Rogers testified. "But actually free speech, which is America’s most famous freedom, is America’s number one strength. That the right to free speech protects inconvenient speech isn’t a weakness. It’s the whole point."

SARAH ROGERS: Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Shaheen, and distinguished members of this committee, it is an honor to appear before you today as President Trump's nominee for Undersecretary of State for Public Diplomacy. I want to thank President Trump and Secretary Rubio for their trust and confidence. Thank you, members and staff of this committee, for meeting with me these past few weeks. If confirmed, I look forward to working closely with this committee to communicate America's interests and values across the globe.

I also want to thank my parents, Sally and Jeff, who journeyed here from South Carolina, and my husband, Jeff, for their love and patience and support. I could not have done any of this without each of you. Public diplomacy is the soul of soft power.

It comprises the voice and the vision that America presents to the world. For billions of people, our State Department is the closest encounter they ever have with the U.S. government as an institution. The things our diplomats say, and the things our government funds, tell the people of the world what America's values and priorities are.

In the past, we prioritized suppressing so-called disinformation. That term can target foreign propaganda worth fighting. But these efforts lost their purpose.

If I'm confirmed, I will bring clarity of purpose and transparency in our efforts. We have heard the CEO of NPR, which is funded in part by the United States, describe the First Amendment as the number one challenge besetting American journalism. But actually, free speech, which is America's most famous freedom, is America's number one strength.

That the right to free speech protects inconvenient speech isn't a weakness. It's the whole point. And free speech also furnishes our best response to rivals, like Iran and the Chinese Communist Party, who want to replace the free exchange of ideas with distortions scripted by the state.

China, in particular, spends roughly $11 billion annually on propaganda, more than ten times what we spend on public diplomacy. But having dedicated my entire career to advocacy, inside and outside the courtroom, including for the First Amendment, I'm confident we can make each American dollar count more. That's because we are privileged to tell the American story, and American excellence and innovation sell themselves.

If confirmed, I am committed to appropriately stewarding the public diplomacy resources, equipping our practitioners with the skills and resources they need to conduct pragmatic foreign policy that advances our national interests. President Trump has presented a clear foreign policy agenda for the American people, and its lodestar is America first. We must prioritize America's security, strength, and prosperity in each dollar we allocate, and each decision we effect.

If confirmed, I will ensure that U.S. public diplomacy is well positioned to deliver these results for the American people. By leveraging advanced messaging capabilities to speak authoritatively and directly to those who seek to enter the United States illegally, the Department can address the crisis at our border. Using sophisticated technology and target audience analysis, we can ensure the message lands with clarity, candor, and force.

The State Department's public diplomacy function is uniquely capable in this respect. If confirmed, it will also be my honor to steward the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, which includes the Fulbright, Gilman, and other exchange programs, along with sports and music diplomacy, and the shared safeguarding of antiquities and cultural heritage sites. And I will ensure that we take advantage of numerous opportunities afforded by public diplomacy to advance economic opportunity for the American people and American businesses.

Just next week, the State Department's public diplomacy team will lead our engagement at Expo Osaka, the largest public and economic diplomacy event in the Indo-Pacific region in 15 years. With projected attendance of 28 million, the Expo could generate an audience exceeding the Olympics and the World Cup. This is an incredible chance to build commercial partnerships while showcasing American excellence.

Mindful of our imperative to efficiently deploy and never to waste taxpayer dollars, the department must also harness the power of AI to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of public diplomacy. AI has the ability to process enormous amounts of data and deliver actionable insights in a fraction of the time that it would take a human to do the same. It can help us understand evolving narratives, identify trends among key audiences, and automate routine administrative tasks.

All of this frees up time for State Department professionals to focus on higher value work, including person-to-person diplomacy. Thank you for inviting me here today, and I welcome the committee's questions.

Rubio Touts Trump's Achievements: "2026 Is Going To Bring More Challenges, But We Have A Great President"

This is one I'm especially excited about. Sarah Rogers is a free speech champion—and we've worked together on some of the big anti-censorship fights of the past few years. Another sign that this State Department is serious about dismantling the censorship-industrial complex.

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January 27, 2023

Senator Eric Schmitt Announces Key Staff

WASHINGTON– Today, U.S. Senator Eric Schmitt announced key staff hirings in his office.

“In order to best serve Missourians as a United States Senator, it’s imperative that my office has a dedicated and experienced staff. Today, I’m proud to announce that my office has filled in key roles with seasoned individuals that will advance the interests of Missourians and ensure that my office runs as smoothly and efficiently as possible,” said Senator Eric Schmitt.

Jimmy Peacock will serve as Chief of Staff. Peacock previously served as Chief of Staff to Congresswoman Ashley Hinson, and managed her successful campaign against Abby Finkenauer. Prior to that, Peacock worked as Special Assistant to Ed Gillespie during his gubernatorial race and to Senator Marco Rubio in his Senate office.

Ashley Schulte will serve as State Director. Schulte previously served as Digital Director for Chairwoman Elise Stefanik and as a digital strategist for the Republican Governors Association, while also working as a consultant for The Prosper Group. Schulte resides in Kansas City, Missouri.

Meghan McCann will serve as Deputy Chief of Staff. McCann recently served as a Special Assistant to the President for Presidential Personnel in the Trump Administration and previously worked in the offices of Representatives Ann Wagner and Billy Long. McCann is originally from St. Louis, Missouri.

Andrew Dziedzic will serve as Legislative Director. Dziedzic served as Chief of Staff in the Missouri State Treasurer’s Office under Schmitt, served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Attorney General’s Office under Schmitt, and also served as Policy Director for the Schmitt for Senate campaign. Dziedzic is originally from St. Charles, Missouri.

Chris Nuelle will serve as Communications Director. Nuelle served as Senator Schmitt’s Press Secretary during his tenure as Attorney General, and previously served as Communications Director for the Missouri Republican Party. Nuelle is originally from St. Louis, Missouri.

Marianna Deal will serve as Senior Advisor for External Communications. Before serving as Communications Director in the Attorney General’s Office, Deal spent several decades at public relations firm Fleishman-Hillard as a corporate and crisis counselor for major businesses and organizations, and also served as Press Secretary for the late Congressman Bill Emerson. Deal is originally from Sikeston, Missouri.

Justin Smith will serve as Senior Advisor. Smith previously served as Chief of Staff and First Assistant Attorney General to Schmitt in the Attorney General’s Office. Before that, Smith worked for the law firm Shook, Hardy and Bacon, and previously held several positions in state government, including at the Missouri Department of Agriculture. He and his family reside in New Bloomfield, Missouri.

1. ## Justin Smith, Author at Show-Me Institute

Justin Smith serves as Deputy Counsel to Governor Eric Greitens. He also represents the Governor's office on the team implementing EO 17-03 (www.nomoredtape.com). Before joining the administration, he was an attorney with Shook, Hardy & Bacon LLP in Kansas City, Missouri.

LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com › in › justin-smith-6454a7a

Justin Smith - Attorney | LinkedIn

Shook, Hardy & Bacon Sep 2010 - Dec 20166 years 4 months Kansas City, Missouri Area -Litigated environmental, toxic tort, agriculture, construction, and antitrust lawsuits in federal and state ...

AssociateAssociate Shook, Hardy & BaconShook, Hardy & BaconSep 2010 - Dec 2016 · 6 yrs 4 mosSep 2010 to Dec 2016 · 6 yrs 4 mosKansas City Metropolitan AreaKansas City Metropolitan Area

• • -Litigated environmental, toxic tort, agriculture, construction, and antitrust lawsuits in federal and state courts; argued dispositive motions; took depositions; and managed litigation activities

-Lead attorney for Fortune 100 companies in FOIA lawsuit against EPA relating to the world’s largest river cleanup

-Drafted briefing on constitutional issues to federal and state appellate courts, resulting in favorable decisions and outcomes

-Managed ESI discovery teams to review and produce thousands of documents

-Guardian ad litem for abused and neglected children

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DEC 18 2025

12.18.2025-Rogers-Letter-UPDATED-FINAL

MANY FTNOTE EG EFB MY PARA

The Honorable Sarah B. Rogers Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs United States Department of State 2201 C Street, NW Washington, DC 20520

:{:{Washington, DC 20520 Dear Under Secretary Rogers, I write today to express my grave concerns about the threats to American speech and sovereignty posed by an emergent international censorship regime. In recent weeks, the architects of this regime have launched a full-scale bid for control of American public discourse, seeking to impose hard-left ideological strictures on our nation from abroad. We must confront this campaign of foreign subversion with swift and decisive action.}:

I therefore strongly encourage the State Department to impose sanctions and visa restrictions on the foreign individuals and entities involved in this assault on our freedom of speech. Foreign regulators are attempting to enforce radical new censorship laws against US-based social media platforms like X.1 In so doing, they have levied an attack on our citizens’ liberties by seeking to impose a censorship regime on Americans’ ability to speak in the digital public square. These attacks pose a direct challenge to our sovereignty and independence as a nation. The European Union recently fined X approximately $140 million under the Digital Services Act (DSA)—the main law the EU wields to impose European censorship standards.

While the fine purported to be about “transparency” requirements, that rationale is a ruse. Those mandates are simply a tool the EU uses to facilitate its army of censorial, far-left NGOs’ harassment of pro-free speech companies like X under other provisions of the DSA. More broadly, the fine demonstrates the EU claims the power to control the design and speech policies of US-based social media platforms. Indeed, media reports indicate that the EU’s broader investigation into X’s “hands-off approach to policing user-generated content”—i.e., X’s refusal to algorithmically censor Americans’ speech according to European bureaucratic diktats—remains ongoing.2 The EU’s message to X is clear: This fine is a warning—start censoring Americans or else.}:

:{I commend the actions the Trump administration has already taken in the face of these unprecedented attacks against our nation’s sovereign political prerogatives, such as the visa restrictions and sanctions on the Brazilian government officials involved in efforts to censor American speech.3 As the administration considers additional steps, including potential visa revocations against foreign censors, 4 I fully support these deliberations and encourage the State Department to impose additional sanctions on the foreign individuals, entities, and NGOs responsible for these attacks on free speech. 5

The Missouri v. Biden lawsuit I filed as Attorney General of Missouri helped reveal how the Biden administration created a domestic censorship-industrial complex to wield against Americans.6 Central to that censorship regime was the State Department—particularly the Global Engagement Center.7 Part of the State Department’s model was to use the Global Engagement Center and a cabal of NGOs as proxies to coerce and pressure social media companies to censor Americans through both (1) targeted takedowns of specific statements, and (2) broader algorithmic censorship to artificially suppress speech the Biden administration and their NGO allies disfavored.8 By working with these NGOs as cut-outs, the State Department helped fund and build a vast censorship enterprise carefully crafted to censor Americans’ speech while simultaneously evading constitutional scrutiny.9 To ensure our government would no longer censor our fellow Americans, I successfully fought to defund the State Department’s censorship apparatus and shutter the Global Engagement Center.10}:

:{:{:{Since President Trump returned to the White House, Secretary Rubio and the State Department have taken decisive action to systematically dismantle the US censorship-industrial complex.11 But just as the Biden administration’s “subtle and sophisticated” censorship regime 12—which one federal judge likened to an Orwellian Ministry of Truth 13—began to end, countries around the globe took up the mantle by codifying and strengthening their own censorship regimes.}:

NOTES

11 See, e.g., Exec. Order No. 14149, 90 Fed. Reg. 8243 (2025); Marco Rubio, Protecting and Championing Free Speech at the State Department, U.S. DEP’T OF STATE (April 16, 2025), https://www.state.gov/protecting-andchampioning-free-speech-at-the-state-department. 12 Murthy, 603 U.S. at 99 (Alito, J., dissenting). 13 See Missouri, 680 F. Supp. 3d at 729. 14 See, e.g., Dawn Carla Nunziato, The Digital Services Act and the Brussels Effect on Platform Content Moderation, 24 CHIC. J. INT. LAW 115 (2023) (“[T]he DSA’s substantive content moderation and notice and take down provisions will likely incentivize the platforms to remove large swaths of content…. And the platforms will likely alter their globally applicable terms of service and content moderation guidelines in response to the DSA’s mandates in ways that will be speech-restrictive worldwide.”). 15 THE FOREIGN CENSORSHIP THREAT, supra note 1, at 18–37, 117 (explaining DSA relies on and empowers an army of NGOs to censor speech, including American speech). 16 U.S. Dep’t of State Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 2024 COUNTRY REPORTS ON HUMAN RIGHTS PRACTICES: UNITED KINGDOM, at 3 (explaining that the United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act of 2023 expanded British regulators’ authorities to target “online harm” from United States social media companies). 17 E.g., Ashley Belanger, 4chan fined $26k for refusing to assess risks under UK Online Safety Act, ARSTECHNICA (Oct. 13, 2025), https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/4chan-fined-26k-for-refusing-to-assess-risks-under-ukonline-safety-act/. 18 U.S. Dep’t of State, supra note 16, at 1–5 (detailing the deteriorating state of free expression in the UK). 19 Press Release, “eSafety statement: removal notices target illegal online material,” Australian Government eSafety Commissioner (Oct. 7, 2025), https://www.esafety.gov.au/newsroom/media-releases/esafety-statement-removalnotices-target-illegal-online-material; Cind... }:

Building on the Global Engagement Center’s model, the European Union implemented the DSA, a law that imposes massive penalties on social media companies that refuse to censor speech disfavored by European bureaucrats.14 And just like the Global Engagement Center pioneered, one of the key mechanisms the DSA uses to enable censorship is empowering EU-government approved NGOs to flag content for removal and adjudicate which speech—including American speech—should be censored.15 The United Kingdom’s Online Safety Act presents similar issues as the EU’s DSA.16 Britain’s online speech regulator—the Office of Communications (Ofcom)—recently embarked on a campaign to enforce the Online Safety Act against Americans exercising their free speech rights here on American soil.17

Unfortunately, this British censorship is unsurprising, as the State Department recently noted that the “human rights situation worsened in the United Kingdom” over the past year, in large part due to “serious restrictions on freedom of expression, including enforcement of or threat of criminal or civil laws in order to limit expression.”18 Australia too has attempted similar censorship against American citizens’ speech. For example, Australia’s eSafety Commissioner recently demanded X take negative action against certain posts from United States citizens on United States soil—and threatened X with daily fines if it did not comply.19 This spate of censorship demands came after the eSafety Commissioner previously }:

:{:{issued global takedown orders demanding X and Meta censor videos proving an attack on a Christian church was an Islamic terrorist attack.20 Brazil has also tried to censor speech originating in the United States. For example, Brazil has issued global takedown orders against online speech from users on US soil.21 In light of these recent foreign censorship attempts against Americans, I was pleased to see the State Department’s recent decision to impose visa restrictions and sanctions against the Brazilian officials responsible for this censorship.22}:

Those visa restrictions and sanctions sent an important message to the world that the United States will not stand idly by while foreign governments try to extraterritorially suppress our citizens’ right to free speech and censor the information we can see. Those actions were a welcome first step. But we need to do more. Three tools the State Department should consider using to combat foreign censorship are the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act,23 as implemented by Executive Order 13818,24 and Sections 212(a)(3)(C)25 and 212(f)26 of the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA).

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and EO 13818 provide powerful tools to punish and deter the global censorship-industrial complex that menaces the freedoms of Americans. Those authorities permit the Secretary of State to sanction human rights abusers by freezing their US assets, prohibiting all transactions with them, and blocking their travel to the US.27 Sanctioning the global censorship-industrial complex would not only send an important diplomatic message that the United States will not tolerate foreign censorship but also forcefully deter and punish all the foreign individuals and entities who seek to impose it. For the past decade, the State Department has used Magnitsky-EO 13818 sanctions under administrations from both parties against foreigners in far-flung countries who attack the freedom }:

:{:{of expression of their fellow countrymen.28 Now, however, we face a situation in which the targets in question are waging a direct assault on the liberties of not only their citizens but also our own citizens, right here on our own soil. That fact makes the case for sanctions all the more urgent. The fundamental principle of America First demands that we protect our citizens’ fundamental rights from the threats they face from abroad.}:

The State Department should also consider imposing visa and travel restrictions against this global censorship regime’s apparatchiks. For example, leading foreign censors—including EUDSA regulators, the Australian eSafety Commissioner, Brazilian officials, and representatives from the UK’s Ofcom—recently participated in a confab at Stanford University’s Cyber Policy Center to “to discuss the state of compliance and enforcement” with “multi-jurisdictional regulations.”29 In other words, they travelled to the United States to discuss how to force social media companies to censor Americans.

It is well-established that the federal government has the power to block the entry of individuals who seek to undermine the foundations of our society.30 Going forward, the State Department should consider blocking visas for similar conferences on US soil under Sections 212(a)(3)(C) and 212(f) of the INA.31 There is no reason to facilitate foreign censorship of US citizens by granting these would-be tyrants entry into our country for coordination meetings. I also encourage the State Department to consider revoking the visas of foreign censors, such as Imran Ahmed, who is reportedly here on a visa.32 Ahmed is the former British Labour Party operative who founded the George Soros-funded censorship organization Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH).33 Ahmed and CCDH have been involved in both the Biden administration’s censorship regime and the burgeoning global censorship-industrial complex.34 For example, he }:

:{:{and CCDH worked to censor US media outlets, encouraged the Biden administration to censor Americans, and promised to “kill” X because of its support for free speech}:.35 Given the United States’s recent diplomatic efforts to combat global censorship and promote the freedom of speech and expression around the world, the continued presence of foreign censors like Ahmed in the country is detrimental to the United States and would have adverse consequences for its foreign policy.36 The State Department should consider revoking his visa and the visas of similar malign foreign actors.

The American people will not abide this brazen foreign censorship. Our Constitution and laws prohibit it. If the United States is to protect the freedoms that form the beating heart of our way of life, then we must fight back and prevent foreign governments from violating our sovereignty and eviscerating our freedom of speech by imposing their censorship laws on our citizens on our own soil. I look forward to working with you to protect Americans’ free speech against foreign censorship. To that end, I request your response to the following questions to help inform my legislative process: 1. Does the State Department have the statutory tools it needs to combat this foreign censorship threat, or are additional authorities needed? 2. Are any additional legislative solutions needed to help the United States combat the global censorship-industrial complex’s threat to American free speech and sovereignty? Sincerely, }:

EG

28 See, e.g., Press Statement, “Sanctioning Brazilian Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes for Serious Human Rights Abuse,” U.S. Dep’t of State (July 30, 2025), https://www.state.gov/releases/office-of-thespokesperson/2025/07/sanctioning-brazilian-supreme-court-justice-alexandre-de-moraes-for-serious-human-rightsabuse (Trump administration sanctioning individual for, amongst other reasons, “violations of the freedom of expression); U.S. Dep’t of State, Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Annual Report, 89 Fed. Reg. 13795, 13799 (Feb. 23, 2024) (Biden administration sanctioning individual for violating “right to freedom of expression”); U.S. Dep’t of State, Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Annual Report, 90 Fed. Reg. 12921, 12922 (Mar. 29, 2025) (Biden administration sanctioning three individuals, including non-governmental actors, for “undermining fundamental freedoms” like the “freedom of expression”); see also Exec. Order. 13818 at §§ 1, 6 (permitting sanctions against foreign entities).

29 Stanford’s Cyber Policy Center Coordinates International Internet Censorship, STANFORD REVIEW (Oct. 29, 2025), https://stanfordreview.org/breaking-stanfords-cyber-policy-center-coordinates-international-internet-censorship/; Stanford Cyber Policy Center, Compliance and Enforcement in a Rapidly Evolving Landscape (Sep. 24, 2025), available at: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IhhjHBNxUESW8k79pt9wIwH_kr8ETnO7/view?usp=sharing.

30 E.g., Kleindienst v. Mandel, 408 U.S. 753, 765–70 (1972) (upholding exclusion of avowed communist from US).

31 See supra notes 25 and 26 and accompanying text. 32 Connor Stringer, Trump to deport boss of Starmer-linked charity, TELEGRAPH (Nov. 9, 2025), https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/2025/11/09/trump-to-expel-boss-of-labour-linked-ngo/.

33 Chuck Ross, George Soros Gave $250K to British Group Working To Censor Conservative News Sites and ‘Kill Musk’s Twitter’, WASHINGTON FREE BEACON (Nov. 17, 2025), https://freebeacon.com/democrats/exclusive-georgesoros-gave-250k-to-british-group-working-to-censor-conservative-news-sites-and-kill-musks-twitter/. 34 Id

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an 11 25

no lnx

Trump ally's claim about 'left-wing violence' just doesn't add up

Former acting DHS Secretary Chad Wolf testifies in the Senate. Picture: Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution.

Jordan GreenNovember 02, 2025 |

Former acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf’s appearance before a Senate hearing on political violence this week resurfaced inconvenient remarks for a witness called by Republicans intent on painting rising political violence as a left-wing problem.

Sen. Richard Durbin (D-IL) read back Wolf’s Senate testimony from five years ago.

“White supremacist extremists, from a lethality standpoint over the last two years … are certainly the most persistent and lethal threat, when we talk about domestic violent extremists,” Wolf said at the time.

On Tuesday, before the Senate Subcommittee on the Constitution, chaired by Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-MO), Wolff offered a strikingly different assessment.

“The increase in politically motivated violence over the last several years has been driven largely by radical, left-wing extremist groups and individuals that believe violence is a legitimate means to achieve political goals,” Wolf testified.

Wolf is now executive vice president of the America First Policy Institute. Founded in 2021 and closely aligned with Trump, former leaders include Secretary of Education Linda McMahon, Secretary of Agriculture Brook Rollins and Attorney General Pam Bondi.

In a statement to Raw Story, Wolf did not disavow his 2020 assessment on white supremacist violence, but said: “America has experienced a historic rise in left-wing violence, especially following President Trump’s second election victory.”

At the time of Wolf’s September 2020 hearing, the U.S. had experienced a series of mass shootings by white supremacists, including Patrick Crusius, who killed 23 people, mostly Latinos, at a Walmart in El Paso, Texas in 2019, and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 at a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018.

Both killers echoed Donald Trump’s rhetoric depicting immigrants and refugees as an “invasion” or “invaders.”

U.S. counterterrorism officials also took note of the 2019 massacre carried out by Brenton Tarrant, who killed 51 Muslims at two mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Crusius cited Tarrant as an inspiration. So did Payton Gendron, who killed 10 African Americans at a grocery store in Buffalo, N.Y. in 2022.

Tarrant’s attack catalyzed the emergence of the term “saints” among white supremacists to glorify terrorists. The U.S. Justice Department is currently prosecuting three Terrorgram leaders on terrorism-related charges.

“White supremacist violence is clearly not the primary threat facing our country today,” Wolf told Raw Story. “All you have to do is look at the data, which has changed significantly in the last five years.”

Wolf cited incidents often mentioned by the administration and allies to make the case that political violence now emanates from the left: the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, two attempts on Trump’s life, the attempted assassination of conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, and attacks on centers that offer an alternative to abortion services.

He did not cite the murder of Minnesota Democratic state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband by an abortion opponent; a recent death threat against Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) by a Jan. 6 rioter; or the bludgeoning of Paul Pelosi, husband of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), by a QAnon follower.

Nor did Wolf mention some 1,500 individuals pardoned by President Trump over the Jan. 6 assault on Congress.

William Braniff, a former director of DHS’ Center for Prevention Programs under President Joe Biden testified alongside Wolf.

Braniff agreed that violent incidents are on the rise. But he told the subcommittee, “Violent events do not fit neatly into any one ideological category.”

Braniff noted that DHS contracted with the University of Maryland in 2005 to create a global terrorism database, by congressional mandate. In March, the Trump administration canceled funding.

Drawing on the database, Braniff said: “This year, compared to last year, terrorism events are up 67 percent. Fatalities are up nearly 150 percent. Americans are dying from ISIS-inspired, white supremacist, antisemitic, anti-government, anti-vax, anti-law enforcement and nihilistic attacks.”

‘Black Lives Matter and antifa riots’

In 2020, when Wolf flagged white supremacist violence, he was overseeing DHS as the first Trump administration deployed federal agents against protesters in Portland, Ore., a harbinger of the current standoff at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in the city.

On Tuesday, Sen. Schmitt and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) cited rioting related to protests against the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020, a familiar Republican talking point.

“There is an epidemic of politically motivated violence,” Cruz said. “And the politically motivated violence in this country is overwhelmingly emanating from the left. We saw that during the Black Lives Matter and antifa riots across the country, as cities across America burned.”

Schmitt complained that some studies of political violence “systematically ignore antifa and Black Lives Matter riots.”

Michael Knowles, a podcast host at the conservative outlet The Daily Wire, complained in testimony that “the Black Lives Matter riots, overtly leftist demonstrations that left dozens of people dead … fail to show up on registers of left-wing political violence.”

Cruz, Schmitt and Knowles did not delve into who was responsible for such violence. The data suggests they were presenting an incomplete picture.

Drawing on data provided by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), and multiple news reports, Raw Story counted 34 deaths plausibly linked to racial justice protests and unrest in 2020, not counting the police killings that sparked protests. Of those, three appear to involve perpetrators directly linked to Black Lives Matter, “antifa” or their supporters.

On May 28, 2020, the second night of rioting in Minneapolis, rioters set fire to a pawnshop. The charred remains of 30-year-old Oscar Lee Stewart Jr. were found in the ruins. Montez Terriel Lee was convicted of arson and sentenced to a decade in prison.

The following month, 16-year-old Antonio Mays Jr. was shot inside a stolen Jeep Cherokee that sped through an area of Seattle known as the CHAZ — Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone — and occupied by protesters. No charges have been brought, but bystander video appears to implicate an activist security team patrolling amid fears of a right-wing attack.

In late August 2020, Aaron “Jay” Danielson, a member of the far-right group Patriot Prayer, was fatally shot in Portland, Ore. Michael Reinoehl, the self-described “antifa” shooter, claimed self-defense. Before he could be apprehended, Reinoehl was killed by federal agents, an event President Trump described as “retribution.”

Danielson’s death is the only politically motivated homicide in the U.S. linked to an identified antifascist in the past quarter-century.

In contrast, one study found that white supremacists and other right-wing extremists killed at least 329 between 1994 and 2020.

The circumstances of Danielson’s shooting remain unclear. As noted by ACLED, Trump supporters were staging a car caravan through downtown Portland, and some right-wingers “sprayed pepper spray and shot paintball guns at counter-demonstrators rallying in support of the BLM movement and against police brutality, as well as journalists.”

The entry also notes video showing right-wing demonstrators driving vehicles through left-wing counter-demonstrators attempting to block the streets.

‘Might shoot looters’

Eight other deaths in 2020 could be linked to racial justice protests, if not directly.

In some, civilian bystanders were killed by criminals who appeared to be exploiting chaos. Victims include David Dorn, a retired police captain in St. Louis whose widow spoke at the 2020 Republican National Convention; Chris Beaty, a former college football player murdered in Indianapolis while assisting a woman being mugged; and Marvin Francois, a photographer killed in a robbery while leaving a protest in Kansas City.

Among the most shocking deaths associated with the 2020 protests is that of 8-year-old Secoriea Turner, shot by an alleged Bloods gang member manning a barricade in the area where Rayshard Brooks was killed by Atlanta police. Julian Conley was convicted of murder and other offenses, and sentenced to life in prison.

But in at least 23 cases — roughly two thirds — Raw Story found that perpetrators of unrest-related deaths were not linked to Black Lives Matter, antifa or their supporters. They include five people killed by police, one killed by the National Guard, others killed by motorists and shopkeepers, a man with severe mental illness, and a security guard for a news crew.

In one example, Steven Carillo, an airman active in the far-right Boogaloo movement, took advantage of unrest after Floyd’s death to murder David Patrick Underwood, a federal security officer guarding the federal courthouse in Oakland, Calif., and Damon Gutzwiler, a Santa Cruz County deputy sheriff attempting to serve a warrant.

Raw Story’s analysis tallied 11 Black Lives Matter protesters killed: roughly equal to the number of unaffiliated civilians.

Two — Summer Taylor and Robert Forbes — were struck by vehicles. Barry Perkins III was dragged by a tractor-trailer. Others, including James Scurlock and Italia Impinto, were shot.

Garrett Foster, an Air Force veteran marching with BLM protesters in Austin, Texas on July 25, 2020, was fatally shot by Daniel Perry, a former soldier who reportedly searched for locations of protesters and told a friend he “might go to Dallas to shoot looters.” Perry was convicted of murder, then pardoned by Gov. Greg Abbott.

Perhaps most memorably, Kyle Rittenhouse fatally shot two BLM supporters during unrest in Kenosha, Wis. in 2020. He was acquitted on all charges.

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AN 9 25

The far-right National Conservatism Conference used to be an event that many traditional Goldwater and McCain conservatives made a point of avoiding. But with President Donald Trump's MAGA movement now dominating the GOP, NatCon is drawing a lot more attention in Republican circles.

In an article published on September 13, Salon's Heather Digby Parton points to growing interest in NatCon as a troubling example of how much Christianity's lunatic fringe is influencing the GOP and the MAGA movement.

Describing the most recent NatCon gathering — which was held in Washington, D.C. in early September — Parton explains, "'Overturn Obergefell' was one featured panel, the AP's Joey Cappelletti reported. 'The Bible and American Renewal' was another. The conference, he wrote, 'underscored the movement's vision of an America rooted in limited immigration, Christian identity and the preservation of what speakers called the nation's traditional culture' — which is putting it very mildly. It certainly doesn’t seem there was much talk of individual freedom, free markets or liberty of any kind, and that is a big change from the conservative movement that has dominated Republican politics since the Reagan Administration."

READ MORE:'Doing a pretty terrible job': Trump official mocked over response to dismal economic data

The far-right NatCon gathering should not be confused with National Council for Mental Wellbeing event that is also abbreviated NatCon. The health event was held in Philadelphia in May, not in Washington, D.C. in early September, and has zero connection to the political event.

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This year's political NatCon, Parton observes, featured some prominent figures in the Trump Administration — including National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard; Russell Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget and a key architect of Project 2025; and border czar Tom Homan.

"But perhaps the most revealing moment was a viral speech by Missouri GOP Sen. Eric Schmitt titled 'What is an American?' in which he made the claim that the country belongs to the descendants of white Europeans who took the land from the violent Native Americans fair and square because they were just plain superior," Parton observes. "He said straight out: 'America doesn't belong to them — it belongs to us.… We can no longer apologize for who we are. Our people tamed the continent, built a civilization from the wilderness. We Americans are the sons and daughters of the Christian pilgrims who poured out onto the ocean's shores.'"

Schmitt, Parton adds, even promoted the Great Replacement Theory during his speech.

READ MORE:'Republican for Trump': Alleged Kirk shooter's grandmother confirms entire family is MAGA

A recurring theme of NatCon, Parton warns, is that the U.S. is not only a Christian nation — it is a white Christian nation.

"It's tempting to write off NatCon, and Schmitt's speech in particular, as an example of a bunch of right-wing kooks indulging their little fever dream of creating a white Christian autocracy," Parton stresses. "But these are powerful people now, and if there's any person in government who is trying to create 'a pastiche of past glories' — largely by erasing the true American past, both good and bad — it's the most powerful one of all, Donald Trump, who has certainly discovered that 'you can just do things!'"

Parton continues, "Nobody paid attention to Project 2025 until it was too late, and look where that got us. It would be foolish to make that same mistake again."

READ MORE: 'Doing a pretty terrible job': Trump official mocked over response to dismal economic data

*Heather Digby Parton's full article for Salon is available at this link.

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AN 9 25

Missouri Republican openly promotes white supremacism in a public speech

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https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/tim-walz-dog-scout-right-wing-conspiracy-1235088197/

Conservatives Have Invented a Conspiracy About Tim Walz’s Dog

Right-wing commentators are once again barking up the wrong tree

By Nikki McCann Ramirez

August 26, 2024

Gov. Tim Walz holds Scout during a news conference to announce his adoption ohn Thursday, Sept. 5, 2019. Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune/AP

Like dogs with a bone, the right won’t drop their efforts to malign Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

On Monday, prominent conservatives circulated an absurd allegation that Walz was faking the identity of his family’s dog Scout.

“This is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout. Only problem is that these are two completely different dogs,” Dustin Grage, a columnist at the right-wing website Town Hall, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

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The post contrasted two images of Walz. One was of Walz with Scout — a black labrador mix — celebrating the pup’s birthday in June of 2022. The second showed Walz petting a different dog on October 19, 2022. “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it,” the governor captioned the image.

The same day, Walz posted a video on Instagram featuring Scout and several other dogs at a dog park. In the video, the governor is sporting the same jacket, beanie, and dog toy seen in the photo, and the dog featured in the X post is also clearly visible. In the clip, Walz jokingly asks Scout if he’s “jealous” of the attention he’s giving other dogs before giving him an affectionate rub. The photo of Walz at the dog park has seemingly been removed from his X account.

Given that Scout has been in Walz’s family since 2019, and recently got his own *Vogue* profile, reasonable bipedal thinkers might assume that Walz was simply posting a photo with a friendly dog he met at a dog park — not concocting an elaborate scheme to trick voters about his family pet.

Nevertheless, the right ran with Grage’s post like a hound who’d just stolen the Thanksgiving turkey off the dining room table.

Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) quoted Grage’s post with the caption: “Why would Tim Walz do this? It’s Creepy™️ and Weird™️.”

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“Tim Walz is an all-time legendary liar,” Turning Point USA Founder Charlie Kirk wrote in a now-deleted tweet.

“Wait so Walz is even lying about his dog? Ruff stuff,” wrote former Fox News host Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is currently engaged to Donald Trump Jr.

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MSNBC News

Republicans' latest attack line against Tim Walz: His dog?

1 hour ago

Rolling Stone

Conservatives Have Invented a Conspiracy About Tim Walz’s Dog

1 day ago

Salon.com

Republicans invent “desperate” and quickly debunked conspiracy theory about Tim Walz’s dog

24 hours ago

More news

Tim Walz faces backlash as GOP strategist invents ...

Monday, several prominent Republicans launched their latest attack on Tim Walz, this time coming after not his background or his policy, but his dog Scout.

“This is Tim Walz tweeting about his dog Scout. Only problem is that these are two completely different dogs,” right-wing columnist Dustin Grage wrote on X.

He shared two photos Walz had previously posted. One photo is from June 2022 and shows Walz with his dog Scout, who is a black labrador mix, and is captioned: “Sending a special birthday shoutout to our favorite pup, Scout.”

The other photo is from October 2022 and shows Walz petting a different dog at a dog park. “Couldn’t think of a better way to spend a beautiful fall day than at the dog park. I know Scout enjoyed it,” the caption reads.

Republicans falsely claimed the photos showed Walz was lying about the dog he’s very much had since 2019.

Sen. Eric Schmidt, R-Mo., wrote that Walz's dog posts were “creepy” and “weird.”

“Wait so Walz is even lying about his dog?” wrote Kimberly Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host and the fiancee of Donald Trump Jr.

The rumor was quickly debunked by video of Scout and the other dog pictured running around the dog park together on that same day.

This is just the latest attack from Republicans on Walz. From questioning his military background to his relationship with his son, none of their criticisms have landed, argued MSNBC host Jen Psaki. They’ve now gotten so “desperate” they’ve come after his dog, Psaki said. “Better luck next time, guys."

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an 6 24

Outgoing Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) is not only losing his post as the leader of the Senate Republican Conference when the next Congress gavels in — he might also completely lose control of his prized fundraising operation.

According to the Hill, a growing number of Senate Republicans are going public in their opposition to McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), which he has deployed for more than a decade to inject millions of dollars into Senate races across the country. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Missouri), who is running for reelection this November, was particularly outspoken in his opposition to McConnell threatening to spend money against current members of the conference who supported Hawley's bill to rein in corporate campaign contributions to super PACs.

"I think the idea that a leader would use outside money, much of it dark money, to try and intimidate or threaten members of the caucus is frankly corrupt," Hawley told the Hill. "And I think it’s a corrupt practice that has gone on for far too long, and it needs to end."

READ MORE:McConnell says GOP shouldn't 'get too excited' about chances of winning Senate

Data from campaign finance database Opensecrets shows that the SLF is one of the heaviest hitters in Washington, with more than $724 million in outside spending on record since the 2000 election cycle. Much of that spending has come in recent cycles, with the SLF spending more than $246 million in the 2022 campaign cycle alone.

The Kentucky Republican recently reminded fellow GOP senators that the SLF — which is currently run by McConnell's former chief of staff Steven Law — has been instrumental in helping members win elections. In a recent meeting, McConnell reportedly read aloud the names of senators whose campaigns have directly benefited from the SLF's spending, like Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri), who has also backed Hawley's bill.

As Senate Republicans debate who will be their next leader, one major departure from McConnell's time as the caucus chair is the insistence of term limits. That has been a key component of Sen. Rick Scott's (R-Florida) campaign for GOP leader, who has pushed for members of the Senate Republican Conference's rank-and-file to have more say in legislative negotiations. McConnell pushed back strongly against that idea, warning Republicans that weakening the power of leadership could result in the same brand of chaos currently plaguing House Republicans.

Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who is considered one of McConnell's key allies in the Senate GOP conference, argued in a recent letter to his colleagues that it's "important that we consider proposals to strengthen not weaken the Republican Conference leader position when we fully engage in this discussion this fall," adding that Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) has been able to wield a significant amount of power and influence due to both the powers of leadership and the unity of his caucus.

READ MORE:Longest-running Senate majority leader delivers impassioned plea against term limits

One unnamed Senate GOP aide speaking anonymously to the Hill said Tillis' letter was "clearly was a McConnell-driven response."

"Tillis is seen as like, McConnell’s axe man in some ways," they said.

Aside from Scott, other candidates for Senate GOP leader include Sens. John Cornyn (R-Texas) — who served as Senate Majority Whip between 2015 and 2019, and current Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-South Dakota). Republicans will decide on their next leader this November.

Click here to read the Hill's report in full.

READ MORE:'McConnell completely blew this': GOP leader hemorrhaging support after border bill fail

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an 3 24

decorated colonel in line for a promotion to brigadier (one star) general has run into a wall of opposition after Sen. Eric Schmitt (R-Missouri) discovered his 2020 op-ed criticizing racism.

According to the Washington Post, Col. Ben Jonsson is in line for the promotion after working as chief of staff for the Illinois-based Air Mobility Command, which oversees 110,000 employees. The Post noted that Jonsson — a graduate of the Air Force Academy — "is fluent in Arabic, has seven Air Medals, and flew 900 combat hours over Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria," who is described as "a devout Christian devoted to his biracial family."

However, Schmitt took issue with a 2020 op-ed Jonsson wrote in Air Force Times, in which he called on his fellow white colonels to "address our blind spots around race." Even though Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama) has since lifted the months-long hold he placed on hundreds of high-ranking military promotions, Schmitt exercised his right as a senator to individually object to an appointment, keeping the hold in place for Jonsson. The Post reported that Jonsson's promotion has been pending since January of 2023.

READ MORE:Here's why Tuberville 'caved': report

"It is long past time to root out divisive DEI policies and their advocates from our apolitical military,” Schmitt stated, alluding to the GOP's crusade against diversity, equity and inclusion programs. "Leaders must emphasize unity of mission and purpose, not our immutable differences if we are to maintain our military as the greatest meritocracy in the world.

The "divisive DEI policies" Schmitt referenced are actually part of the official Air Force standards. An Air Force document from August of 2023 includes all-caps instruction that reads "COMPLIANCE... IS MANDATORY," and goes on to say "Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility are key to Air Force standards and missions."

"Diversity of thought, experience, and perspectives is critical to innovation and maintaining the Air Force’s competitive advantage," the document reads. "Diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility are about strengthening our force and ensuring our long-term viability to support Air Force missions with dignity and respect."

Retired Air Force colonel Kris Bauman told the Post that Jonsson is "absolutely qualified for promotion" and characterized the obstruction of his promotion as "politics to serve the 'anti-woke' agenda."

READ MORE:'National security suicide mission': GOP senators are turning on Tommy Tuberville

"The irony is that the hold is preventing the promotion of a conservative Christ-follower who actually takes the teachings of Jesus seriously, who puts his faith into action in a manner that leads to flourishing for everyone he leads, regardless of their faith or race," Bauman said.

The op-ed — which Jonsson penned in the midst of nationwide protests against racial injustice that erupted after police murdered George Floyd in Minneapolis, Minnesota and Breonna Taylor in Louisville, Kentucky — reminded white colonels that they "set the culture, drive the calendar, and create the policies at most of our installations around the Air Force."

"As white colonels, you and I are the biggest barriers to change if we do not personally address racial injustice in our Air Force," Jonsson wrote. "Defensiveness is a predictable response by white people to any discussion of racial injustice. White colonels are no exception. We are largely blind to institutional racism, and we take offense to any suggestion that our system advantaged us at the expense of others."

"If we do not take the time to learn, to show humility, to address our blind spots around race, and to agree that we are not as objective as we think and our system is not as fair as we think, then our Air Force will not rise above George Floyd’s murder," Jonsson added. "But we can rise above it, we can break these invisible barriers, if we choose to engage and stop excusing ourselves."

READ MORE:[Kyrsten Sinema has 'quietly worked for four months' to get votes needed to break Tuberville's blockade

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https://ballotpedia.org/Eric_Schmitt

ballot

• Joint Economic Committee
• Senate Committee on Armed Services
• Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities
• Subcommittee on Seapower

https://www.billtrack50.com/billdetail/1407312

2022 Regular Session

Bill Summary

AN ACT To repeal sections 99.847, 256.700, and 256.710, RSMo, and to enact in lieu thereof eight new sections relating to environmental protection.

Subject

No subjects listed

Sponsors (2)

Daniel Hegeman (R)*,Peggy McGaugh (R),

Last Action

H Calendar Senate Bills for Third Reading (HCS) (on 05/13/2022)

Official Document

https://www.senate.mo.gov/22info/BTS_Web/Bill.aspx?SessionType=R&BillID=71868930

---

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Schmitt 6 23

ric Stephen Schmitt^[1] (born June 20, 1975) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the junior United States senator from Missouri since 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Schmitt served as a Missouri state senator from 2009 to 2017, as Missouri state treasurer from 2017 to 2019, and as the Missouri attorney general from 2019 to 2023.

From 2009 to 2017, Schmitt was a member of the Missouri Senate, representing the 15th district. He also served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri from 2005 to 2008, where he was one of two aldermen for Ward 3.^[2] Schmitt was elected Missouri's 46th state treasurer in 2016. On November 13, 2018, Governor Mike Parson named Schmitt attorney general of Missouri after the incumbent, Josh Hawley, was elected to the United States Senate.^[3][4] On November 3, 2020, Schmitt was elected to serve a full four-year term as Missouri's attorney general.

As attorney general of Missouri, Schmitt filed lawsuits to have the Affordable Care Act invalidated by courts, sued school districts and municipalities for implementing mask requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic, sued the Biden administration for its environmental policies, and signed onto an *amicus* brief that argued that LGBT people are not protected by workplace discrimination bans. He filed a lawsuit against China's handling of the pandemic, making Missouri the first U.S. state to do so. After Joe Biden won the 2020 election and Donald Trump refused to concede, Schmitt joined other Republicans in claiming fraud and supported lawsuits to invalidate the 2020 election results. In March 2021, he announced his candidacy for U.S. Senate. In 2022, Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate, defeating Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine.

Early life and education

Schmitt was born in Bridgeton, Missouri,^[5] a suburb of St. Louis. He graduated from DeSmet Jesuit High School in 1993 and from Truman State University in 1997, with a Bachelor of Arts cum laude in political science. At Truman, Schmitt was a member of the Alpha Kappa Lambda fraternity, played football and baseball, and was a founding member of Truman's Habitat for Humanity chapter. He received a scholarship to attend Saint Louis University School of Law, where he earned his Juris Doctor in 2000.^[6]^

For the fall 2018 semester, Schmitt was an adjunct faculty member at Saint Louis University.^[7]^

Early law and political career

Lawyer and Glendale alderman

Schmitt was admitted to the Missouri bar in 2000. He was a partner at the firm Lathrop & Gage, LLP in Clayton, Missouri.^[8] Schmitt served as an alderman for Glendale, Missouri, from 2005 to 2008.^[9][10]^

Missouri Senate (2009–2017)

On November 4, 2008, Schmitt was elected to the Missouri Senate. He represented the 15th district, which includes parts of central and western St. Louis County.^[11] Following the 2010 census, Schmitt's district was redrawn, but still centered around central St. Louis County. Schmitt ran unopposed in both the primary and general elections in 2012.^[12]^

In 2016, Schmitt sponsored S.B. 572, which set a limit on the percent of revenue that Missouri local governments could obtain from non-traffic fines (such as fines for violation of city ordinances). The bill passed the state Senate in a 25–6 vote in January 2016.^[13] After the Ferguson unrest, Schmitt said that too many municipalities overrelied on fines to raise revenue and fund their budgets. He led the bipartisan legislative effort to bar cities, counties and law-enforcement agencies from setting traffic-ticket quotas. Schmitt worked with Senator Jamilah Nasheed and others on the legislation, which passed the State Senate in February 2016 and was enacted into law.^[14][15][16]^

In 2010, Schmitt, who has a son with autism, supported a bill in the Missouri General Assembly that required health insurers to pay up to $40,000 annually to beneficiaries for applied behavioral analysis, a type of autism therapy.^[17] In 2015, he worked to enact legislation allowing Missouri residents to establish tax-exempt savings accounts for relatives with disabilities.^[18] Governor Jay Nixon signed the bill in 2015.^[19]^

In the State Senate, Schmitt championed tax-cut legislation.^[20][21] He sponsored a major franchise tax cut, which passed.^[20] In 2013, he introduced legislation that would halve the state's corporate income tax and reduce taxes on C corporations.^[20] Schmitt and supporters promoted the tax as a way to match the Kansas experiment, while opponents called the taxes economically unsustainable.^[20] The legislation, enacted in 2014, also lowered state income taxes by 0.1% beginning in 2018.^[21][22]^

Missouri State Treasurer (2017–2019)

Schmitt did not run for reelection to the Missouri Senate in 2016 because he was term-limited. Instead, he filed to run for Treasurer of Missouri in the 2016 elections.^[23] Schmitt ran as a Republican and was unopposed in the Republican primary.^[24] He defeated Democrat Judy Baker and Libertarian Sean O'Toole in the general election.^[25]^

Schmitt launched the MO ABLE program in 2017, which is similar to 529 college savings plans.^[26][27][28] He created the Show-Me Checkbook website which provides data on state spending, state revenues, payroll, debt obligations, and cash flow.^[29][30][31] In 2014, he sponsored legislation that made tax cuts when state revenues exceed financial triggers.^[32][33][34]^

Missouri Attorney General (2019–2023)

Elections

2020

See also: 2020 Missouri Attorney General election

[](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Eric_S._Schmitt_-SBD_-Federalist_Society_-_Missouri-13_%2849451147401%29_%28cropped%29.jpg)

Schmitt in 2020

GovernorMike Parson appointed Schmitt to the office of Attorney General of Missouri to succeed Josh Hawley, who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2018. Schmitt took office in January 2019. In 2020, he was elected to a full term.

Health care

Schmitt filed lawsuits to have the Affordable Care Act invalidated by courts.^[35][36][37] After Missouri voters approved a constitutional amendment to expand Medicaid coverage in the state, Schmitt supported Republican lawmakers who refused to implement the expansion.^[38]^

COVID-19 pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic in Missouri, Schmitt filed lawsuits to prevent St. Louis County from implementing public health restrictions (such as restrictions on indoor dining, mask mandates and limits on gatherings) to reduce COVID-19's spread.^[39][40] He opposed the release of some inmates with violent felonies from jail during the pandemic, a measure that had been proposed to reduce COVID-19 spread in detention facilities.^[41][42][43]^

Schmitt was involved in efforts to combat scammers and price gougers attempting to profiteer off COVID-19.^{[44][45][46][47][48]} In March 2020, he sued televangelist Jim Bakker and Morningside Church Productions, Inc. for falsely claiming that "Silver Solution" (colloidal silver) was an effective COVID-19 treatment.^[49][50]^

On April 21, 2020, Schmitt filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri on behalf of the State of Missouri against the Chinese government, Chinese Communist Party, and other Chinese officials and institutions, alleging that their actions to suppress information, arrest whistleblowers, and deny COVID-19's contagious nature led to loss of life and severe economic consequences in Missouri.^[51] Missouri is the first state to sue China over the COVID-19 pandemic.^[52]^

In August 2021, Schmitt sued local school districts in Missouri after they implemented mask mandates.^[53] In September 2021, he sued Jackson County, Missouri, for enforcing an order that required restaurants to comply with a mask mandate.^[54] In November 2021, the Missouri Department of Health concluded a study that found that mask mandates in Missouri reduced COVID-19 infections and deaths.^[55]^

In 2021, Schmitt led a lawsuit against the Biden administration over its COVID-19 vaccine requirements for health care workers.^[56]^

Environment

In 2021, Schmitt sued the Biden administration, challenging its decision to suspend new oil and gas leases on federal land and water.^[57] He and 13 other Republican state attorneys general also participated in a lawsuit seeking to block a Biden executive order directing federal agencies to consider the social costs of emissions of greenhouse gases (carbon, methane and nitrous oxide) in regulatory cost-benefit analyses.^[58][59][60]^

In 2021, Schmitt and 21 other Republican attorneys general sued the Biden administration over Biden's revocation of the permit for the Keystone XL Pipeline.^[61][62]

Criminal justice

Schmitt launched the SAFE Kit Initiative in 2019 to reduce the backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Missouri.^[63][64] As of October 2021, thousands of kits remained to be tested.^[65]^

In January 2020, Schmitt prosecuted a murder case in the City of St. Louis. The jury returned a quick verdict, finding Antonio Muldrew guilty of first-degree murder for shooting and killing Ethiopian refugee Abdulrauf Kadir at a convenience store in 2014. This was the first time a Missouri Attorney General prosecuted a murder case in the City of St. Louis.^[66][67]^

Schmitt supported an effort in the Missouri legislature to increase the number of police officers in St. Louis City by lifting the residency requirement for police officers.^[68][69][70]^

Under Schmitt, the AG's Office sued the city of Marshfield, Missouri, alleging that it maintained a ticket-quota system in violation of a state law banning such quotas (Schmitt sponsored the law in the General Assembly before becoming AG). In 2020, the suit ended in a settlement in which the city agreed to maintain a compliance program and have its state officials undergo training on the law.^[71]^

On July 21, 2020, Schmitt filed "friend of the court" (*amicus* briefs) that argued that "Missouri's statutes specifically authorize Missouri citizens to use firearms to deter assailants and protect themselves, their families, and homes from threatening or violent intruders" and requested dismissal of cases filed by prosecutor Kimberly Gardner against Patricia and Mark Thomas McCloskey for brandishing firearms at protesters who had trespassed on their property while marching in St. Louis in 2020.^[72][73] Schmitt expressed concern about "the chilling effect that this [case] might have with people exercising their Second Amendment rights".^[74]^

Antitrust

In September 2019, almost all 50 state attorneys general, including Schmitt, launched an antitrust investigation against Google. The bipartisan group of state AGs accused Google of prioritizing searches for companies that advertise on the search engine platform.^[75][76]^

First Amendment

In August 2019, Schmitt withdrew a legal brief that argued that the First Amendment allowed government officials to withhold records from a Sunshine Law request, following criticism from transparency advocates who noted that the brief did not cite any case law.^[77] A Freedom Center of Missouri representative raised concern that the argument is similar to a case involving Governor Mike Parson, which Schmitt had not yet ruled on.^[78]^

LGBTQ+ rights

In 2019, Schmitt was among 14 Republican state attorneys general signatories who signed an amicus brief to the Supreme Court brief arguing that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 does not protect LGBTQ+ people from employment discrimination.^[79] In June 2020, the Supreme Court ruled, 6–3, that employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation does violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.^[80] In 2022, Schmitt was among 22 Republican state attorneys general who filed a lawsuit against the Biden administration over a program that prohibits discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools that receive federal funds.^[81]^

Religion and schools

In 2019, Schmitt spoke in defense of the Cameron R-1 School District after it came under criticism from the Freedom From Religion Foundation over a high school football coach who led students in prayer before and after games. The group contended that the practice violating the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment. In a letter, Schmitt called the foundation an "extreme anti-religion organization" and said he would support the coach, school, and school district if the group sued and said that no one was forcing students and players to participate in prayer in public spaces.^[82]^

Texas v. Pennsylvania

Main article: Texas v. Pennsylvania

After Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Schmitt's office supported the Trump campaign's attempt to invalidate ballots it claimed were illegally cast in Pennsylvania.^[83] Schmitt was among 17 Republican attorneys general who supported Texas attorney general Ken Paxton in suing Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania to invalidate their electoral votes for Biden and overturn the election results. The suit claimed that the four states' presidential vote tallies were unconstitutional; no evidence supported these claims and the arguments had already been rejected in other state and federal courts.^[84][85]^

Because the suit was brought by one state against other states, the Supreme Court had original jurisdiction, though it frequently declines to hear such suits.^[86] There was no evidence of consequential illegal voting in the election.^[87] Paxton's lawsuit included claims that had been tried unsuccessfully in other courts and shown to be false.^[88] Officials from each of the four states said Paxton's lawsuit recycled false and disproven claims of irregularity.^[89] Legal experts and politicians sharply criticized the merits of the objections.^[90][91] Election law expert Rick Hasen called the lawsuit "the dumbest case I've ever seen filed on an emergency basis at the Supreme Court".^[92][93] Senator Ben Sasse said of Paxton that it "looks like a fella begging for a pardon filed a PR stunt", in reference to Paxton's own state and federal legal issues (securities fraud charges and abuse of office allegations).^[94] On December 11, the Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit in an unsigned opinion.^[95]^

Wrongful conviction cases

Schmitt has fought against motions calling for the release of Lamar Johnson, who was convicted for murder on the basis of a single eyewitness's testimony. A conviction integrity unit found overwhelming evidence of Johnson's innocence in 2019.^[96] Schmitt attempted to place sanctions on St. Louis Circuit Attorney Gardner prior to hearings, but was denied.^[97] Johnson was found innocent and released in February 2023 after having served 28 years in prison.^[98]^

Schmitt also resisted the release on procedural grounds of Kevin Strickland, who served 43 years before his exoneration in November 2021.^[99] A September 2020 Kansas City Star investigation prompted prosecutors to review Strickland's case.^[100][101] In 2021, the prosecutor in the court of original jurisdiction wrote that he was innocent and deserved release,^[102] as did former Jackson County prosecutors and federal prosecutors for the United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri.^[102] Schmitt's assistant attorney general, Andrew Clarke, said their office believes Strickland to be guilty, that he should remain incarcerated, and that he had "worked to evade responsibility".^[103] In August 2021, Schmitt's office issued a subpoena requiring the Jackson County prosecutor to turn over any communication with third parties regarding the case, a demand she characterized as harassment.^[104] After Strickland's exoneration, the Jackson County Prosecutor said Schmitt's handling of the case amounted to "prosecutorial malpractice", saying, "it's a misunderstanding of the very basics – prosecutor 101".^[99]^

Schmitt attempted to dismiss hearings on Michael Politte's conviction in Washington County after the prosecuting attorney filed a motion saying physical evidence from the 23 year old case had been "scientifically proven false".^[105]^

Abortion

On June 24, 2022, minutes after the Supreme Court issued its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, which overturned the constitutional abortion protection that was set forth in Roe v. Wade, Schmitt issued a declaration that effectively banned abortion in Missouri, with application of a "trigger law" that had passed in 2019.^[106]^

Student debt

In September 2022, Schmitt filed a lawsuit on behalf of MOHELA to block president Biden's student debt relief plan. The lawsuit continued to the Supreme Court even after Schmitt left the office of attorney general. Internal documents from MOHELA show confusion from the company from the time of the suit's filing.^[107]^

United States Senator from Missouri

Elections

2022

Main article: 2022 United States Senate election in Missouri

On March 24, 2021, Schmitt announced his candidacy for the United States Senate to succeed incumbent Republican Roy Blunt.^[108][109] His candidacy was backed by Missouri mega-donor Rex Sinquefield.^[57] In the speech announcing his candidacy, Schmitt tied himself to Donald Trump and railed against "the radical left".^[57] He pledged to vote against Mitch McConnell for the Senate Republican party leadership position.^[110]^

In April 2022, Schmitt repeated a Great Replacement-derived claim on Glenn Beck's program that the Democratic Party seeks to "fundamentally" change the country through Illegal immigration to the United States.^[111]^

The day before the primary, former president Donald Trump released a statement endorsing "ERIC" [sic]. Schmitt was joined in the Republican primary by two other candidates with that name, former governor Eric** Greitens and lesser-known candidateEric McElroy. Trump's statement did not indicate whether it was an endorsement of one or multiple candidates, and when reached for comment by NBC News,Trump's office declined to clarify the endorsement, saying it "speaks for itself".^[112][113] Politico reported it as an endorsement of both Greitens and Schmitt, as Trump had apparently expressed indecision about which of the two to back before a dual endorsement was suggested; he separately contacted both to pledge his support, and each subsequently claimed the endorsement as his.^[114]^

Schmitt won the Republican primary on August 2, 2022, with 45.6%of the vote.^[115] He won the general election with 55.4%, defeating Democratic nominee Trudy Busch Valentine by a margin of 13.2%.

Tenure

Schmitt was sworn in on January 3, 2023, upon the opening of the 118th United States Congress by Senate President and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Schmitt was among the 31 Senate Republicans who voted against final passage of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, a bill to raise the debt ceiling.^[116]^

Personal life

Schmitt and his wife, Jaime, have three children. He and his family are Roman Catholic. ^[117]

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https://www.alternet.org/scotus-2661580228/

comm dr an 6 23

no lnc twt

'Bombshell' Internal docs highlight flaws in case now before Supreme Court

Brett Wilkinsand Common Dreams June 20, 2023

As the U.S. Supreme Court nears a decision on President Joe Biden's student debt relief proposal, an advocacy group on Friday published internal records revealing the "anxiety and confusion" of staffers at a loan company critics say is being spuriously used by Republican attorneys general in their attack on the president's plan.

Internal documents from the Missouri Higher Education Loan Authority (MOHELA)—a private state-chartered lender—obtained by the Student Borrower Protection Center (SBPC) under Missouri's Sunshine Law show that agency employees were confused by then-state Attorney General Eric Schmitt's lawsuit and argument that Biden's relief plan could harm the company.

"MOHELA's own staff agree—the case currently before the Supreme Court that is holding up debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers lacks standing, and it should be tossed aside."

That dubious claim—an independent report showed that not only would MOHELA not be harmed by Biden's proposal, it would make more money—forms the purported basis for MOHELA's standing in the suit, Biden v. Nebraska. Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Carolina are suing the administration, alleging that its debt forgiveness plan violates the U.S. Constitution's separation of powers and Administrative Procedure Act.

MOHELA is not even a plaintiff in the case, a fact that critics including progressive U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) have cited in calling for the dismissal of the suit—one of two student debt relief cases the high court is expected to rule on sometime this month.

"These emails confirm what every honest observer has long understood: Missouri's lawsuit is just a partisan hack job aimed at getting the right-wing attorney general's name in the paper," Ella Azoulay, SBPC's research and policy analyst, said in a statement.

"MOHELA's own staff agree—the case currently before the Supreme Court that is holding up debt relief for tens of millions of borrowers lacks standing, and it should be tossed aside," Azoulay added.

"Just out of curiosity, is MOHELA apart [sic] of the lawsuit going on to prevent the loan forgiveness?" wrote one employee in an email. "Are we the bad guys?”

Another staffer wrote thatSchmitt's lawsuit "has nothing to do with us, except that they're using the [Missouri] consumers harm as standing."

Indeed, in an October 2022 letter to Bush—who had inquired about the lender's relationship with the attorney general's office—MOHELA said its "executives were not involved in the decision" by Schmitt to sue the Biden administration.

"I think MOHELA was opposed to this move, but couldn't do anything about it," wrote yet another staffer. "The Mo. state AG needed to claim that our borrowers were harmed for standing, so they're making us look bad by filing this not only with Mo. on it, but especially bad because they filed it in Mo."

:{:{}:

}:

During oral arguments in February, the Supreme Court's right-wing supermajority signaled it is poised to side with Republicans challenging the debt cancellation program and strike it down.

Last week, a trio of progressive U.S. lawmakers—Reps. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.)—implored the Biden administration to have a backup plan to aid student borrowers if the Supreme Court kills its debt cancellation proposal.

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an 2 23 guk

A Koch brother-aligned group has made it clear it will oppose Donald Trump's third attempt to run for president in 2024 because it believes it is time to move after his attempt to steal the 2020 election, but that hasn't stopped it from giving a platform to two other MAGA-inspired election deniers.

According to a report from the Guardian's Adam Gabbatt, last weekend Americans for Prosperity Action, which was founded by conservative billionaires Charles Koch and his late brother David Koch, held a confab in California after stating it was time for the Republican Party to "turn the page" on the Trump years.

However, as Gabbatt wrote, two of the speakers were unabashed proponents of the stolen election conspiracy theory which is at the center of Trump's third run based on his belief the 2020 election was rife with fraud.

According to the report, "In Eric Schmitt, a Missouri senator, and Andrew Ogles, a congressman from Tennessee, AFP Action had invited two newly elected men who tried vigorously to overturn the 2020 presidential election, and seem to have little interest in turning the page on history."

"Schmitt, who has invoked the 'great replacement' conspiracy theory, has already backed Trump for 2024, while Ogles, a culture warrior whose campaign pitch was that the US needs to 'go back to honoring God and country', giddily accepted Trump’s endorsement last year," the report continued with Gabbatt adding, "If, in inviting two politicians who appear to embody the essence of Trumpism, AFP Action exposed a separation between what it says and what does, then it should come as no surprise."

In 2021 AFP Action was critical of conservative lawmakers who embraced the stole election myth, issuing a statement that said, in part, “Lawmakers’ actions leading up to and during last week’s insurrection will weigh heavy in our evaluation of future support."

As the report notes, while disavowing Trump over his election denialism, AFP Action had no problem throwing cash at Republicans in the 2020 midterms to the tune of $63.4 million with 86.7% of that spending going "to candidates who had been endorsed by Trump."

This despite a statement from AFP Action that claimed, “The Republican Party is nominating bad candidates who are advocating for things that go against core American principles," before adding, "So the best thing for the country would be to have a president in 2025 who represents a new chapter. The American people have shown that they’re ready to move on, and so AFP will help them do that.”

The Guardian report added, "But in inviting Schmitt and Ogles – their attendance was first reported by the Washington Post – AFP Action sent a mixed message. Both candidates have tied themselves to a former president that Koch’s network says it is ready to ditch."

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dig at sci suppr?

an 10 22

missouri Republican Senate candidate Eric Schmitt on Monday defended the legacy of Christopher Columbus with a historically illiterate rant that also took a subtle shot at scientists.

"In 1492 the 'consensus' among scientists was that the earth was flat," Schmitt wrote on Twitter. "Christopher Columbus challenged that notion and changed the world forever."

multiple scholars, however, jumped in to point out that Schmitt has his history completely wrong.

"Nope, absolutely wrong. Any scholar of the Middle Ages knew the earth was round," wrote University of Pittsburgh professor of religion Brock Baher. "The myth that they believed it was flat came from 19th Century when anti-Catholic propagandists like John William Draper & Washington Irving who wanted to claim religion was in conflict thesis with science."

Thomas Lecaque, an associate professor of Medieval history at Grand View University, made similar points about Europeans' general knowledge of the Earth's shape at the end of the 15th century....

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Six red states —

Arkansas,

• SEPTEMBER 29, 2022  HTTPS://ARKANSASAG.GOV/

Says, ‘Biden’s unlawful political play puts the self-wrought college-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans’

LITTLE ROCK— Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge today announced a lawsuit against President Joe Biden, Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona and the U.S. Department of Education for:{violating federal law when the Biden Administration attempted to categorically cancel student loan debt in August. The suit alleges that Biden violated federal law, the constitutional principle of separation of powers and the Administrative Procedure Actwhen he skirted congressional authority to implement this policy.}:

“President Biden’s unlawful political play puts the self-wrought college-loan debt on the backs of millions of hardworking Americans who are struggling to pay their utility bills and home loans in the midst of Biden’s inflation,” said Attorney General Leslie Rutledge. “President Biden does not have the power to arbitrarily erase the college debt of adults who chose to take out those loans.”

The lawsuit highlights that President Biden knew he did not have the proper authority to authorize this type of executive action, which is why he attempted to work with Congress to find a legitimate and legal solution to the student loan crisis. After Congress routinely failed to pass legislation addressing the issue, Biden attempted to unilaterally act far beyond the authority granted to him by the Constitution. This action will result in approximately half a trillion dollars in losses to the federal treasury and contribute to the already rampant inflation the nation is experiencing.  

The Democrat Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, summarized it best when she said, “people think the President of the United States has the power for debt forgiveness. He does not.”

Joining Arkansas in the suit are the states of: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and South Carolina.

Iowa,https://www.iowaattorneygeneral.gov › about-us › about-attorney-general-tom-miller

About Attorney General Tom Miller | Iowa Attorney General

Attorney General Tom Miller is serving in his 10th four-year term as Attorney General of Iowa. He is the longest currently serving attorney general in the nation. He was born in Dubuque on August 11, 1944, the son of the late Elmer and Betty Miller.

Kansas, dacaDerek Schmidt of Kansas,

Missouri,https://ago.mo.gov › about-us › about-ag-schmitt

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt

Eric Schmitt was sworn in as the 43rd Attorney General for the State of Missouri on January 3, 2019. As Attorney General, Eric is focused on keeping Missouri families safe and upholding the rule of law. As the lawyer for all six million Missourians, Eric is fighting each and every day to protect opportunities for the next generation.

Nebraska,

https://ago.nebraska.gov › ag-peterson

AG Peterson | Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson

Attorney General Doug Peterson - To serve the citizens of Nebraska and Nebraska's elected officials with fidelity to our U.S. Constitution, State Constitution, and Nebraska law.and

South Carolina

https://ag.jasonfoundation.com › sc

South Carolina Attorney General - Alan Wilson - AG

South Carolina Attorney General - Alan Wilson. Youth suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death for our young people ages 10-24 in our nation and 3rd in South Carolina today. In South Carolina, the 2013 CDC's Youth Risk Behavioral Survey reported over ONE out of every EIGHT of our youth "seriously considered" suicide and that over ONE out ...

— are suing the administration of Democratic President Joe Biden over Biden’s plan to cancel up to $20,000 in student loan debt for individuals making less than $125,000 a year.

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https://www.exposedbycmd.org/**2022/09/**06/esg-companies-bankroll-gop-ags-the-very-officials-retaliating-against-their-climate-goals/

alex k

the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) investigation has identified more than two dozen major U.S. companies that are publicly committed to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles yet have recently donated large amounts of campaign cash to a group of Republican state attorneys general that is hyper-focused on eroding air and water regulations, promoting fossil fuel companies, and using state governments to punish companies that try to limit their climate-related risks by divesting from oil, gas, and coal.

Republican attorneys general, along with fellow GOP governors and state financial officers, are weaponizing their public offices to prevent action on climate change. Their latest efforts seek to bar companies that divest from fossil fuels or employ other ESG principles from receiving government contracts.

And yet large U.S. companies such as AT&T, Cigna, Citigroup, Lowe’s, Pfizer, T-Mobile, and UPS—all of which publicly promote their commitment to ESG—have recently funded the political prosperity of these Republican AGs.

Contradictory Takes on Climate Change

“Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges,” the multinational brewing company Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB InBev) acknowledges in its 2021 ESG report for investors. “Our evolved understanding of potential climate-related risks and opportunities across our value chain continues to inform our long-term strategy.”

AB InBev has set an ambitious climate goal for 2025, aiming to reduce its carbon emissions by 25% and purchase 100% of its electricity from renewable sources by then. In joining the international RE100 initiative to switch to 100% renewables, the company intends to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

But the beer giant is one of the largest corporate funders of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), a group of powerful state officials that has long attacked environmental regulations in the U.S. Members of RAGA—which receives substantial funding from fossil fuel companies to support the reelection campaigns of these AGs—have filed legal challenges against Obama-era air and water pollution regulations. Former Oklahoma AG Scott Pruitt is among those who have worked directly with fossil fuel lobbyists to challenge these laws.

Numerous other corporations have given large sums to RAGA for this year’s elections while publicly committing to ESG principles and, in many cases, to direct climate action.

RAGA recently scored a big win in West Virginia v. EPA when the right-wing justices who now dominate the Supreme Court ruled against the agency, preventing the Biden administration from regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act without going back to Congress for explicit authorization.

Retaliating Against “Energy Discrimination” 

As the Right gets more extreme in the U.S., climate-denying Republicans have added a new weapon to their arsenal: attacking financial firms that decrease their investments in fossil fuels.

GOP attorneys general and financial officers are joining state lawmakers in penalizing investment firms that divest from fossil fuel companies. Although they are members of a political party ostensibly committed to a free market, these GOP officials are meddling in corporate decision-making by trying to prevent executives from limiting the enormous financial risk posed by the effects of climate change—likely the biggest economic challenge of the century.

As with their outcry about critical race theory supposedly being taught in American schools, GOP politicians are attempting to cast climate action as a culture war issue, branding routine practices such as ESG disclosures to investors and divesting from a waning fossil fuel industry as “woke.”

In 2021, Texas enacted a law to root out alleged “energy discrimination,” seeking to prevent investment firms that decrease their stakes in oil, gas, and coal from managing the state’s pension and other funds. After the law passed, the energy task force of the ultra-conservative, corporate-funded American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) approved a model bill with similar language, directing state treasurers or comptrollers to maintain a list of firms that have divested from fossil fuels and to only issue government contracts to businesses with more than 10 employees that verify their allegiance to fossil fuels. 

In the past year or so, similar legislation has been introduced in at least 15 states and has already passed in four. On Aug. 24, Texas released its first list of firms that allegedly “boycott energy companies,” including BlackRock, Credit Suisse, and UBS.

Dubious Claims

On Aug. 4, 19 GOP attorneys general sent a letterto BlackRock CEO Larry Finkaccusing his firm of making ESG investments that “force the phase-out of fossil fuels, increase energy prices, drive inflation, and weaken the national security of the United States.”

Claims like this are histrionic and often baseless. For example, BlackRock has invested more than $108 billion in Texas-based energy companies, and this year it plans to support proportionally fewer ESG shareholder resolutions than it did last year. And while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) and his allies from other states claim that ESG investing hurts their pension funds, academic studies like a recent one undertaken by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania and the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago refute this. In fact, since Texas passed its anti-ESG law last year, the UPenn/Fed study indicates that it has already cost the state between $303 and $532 million, as Kate Aronoff points out in The New Republic.

Other evaluations of ESG investing are mixed, but when researchers from the New York University Stern Center for Sustainable Business and Rockefeller Asset Management analyzed over 1,000 relevant research papers from 2015–20, they found that a majority of the studies indicated ESG investing leads to either neutral or improved financial performance. The meta-analysis points out that “improved financial performance due to ESG becomes more marked over longer time horizons.”

Despite these findings, Republican state AGs and other officials have accelerated their attacks on climate action—a central tenet of ESG investing—in the past few years.

In August, Florida’s Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and the trustees of the State Board of Administration voted to ban its investment managersfrom using ESG considerations in managing its portfolio of roughly $245 billion, primarily from the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan. Florida’s AG Ashley Moody (R) joined the governor in supporting the move. 

In May, Kentucky’s AG Daniel Cameron(R) issued an opinion barring investment managers doing government business from employing ESG principles. On Sept. 1, Indiana’s AG Todd Rokita (R) did the same.

Meanwhile, right-wing entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is cashing in on the GOP’s anti-ESG and anti-woke craze, as CMD recently reported. His firm Strive Asset Management (DRLL) is trying to pull business away from the Big Three asset managers in red states. It recently announced that it hasraised $250 million thanks to large investments from far-right tech mogul Peter Thiel and his affiliated groups.

Not only are GOP AGs targeting asset managers that reduce fossil fuel investments, but they’re going after regulators and ratings agencies as well.

In June, Paxton spearheaded a letterfrom a group of 12 Republican AGs to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)opposing its proposed corporate disclosure requirements around sustainability. The rule would require firms to back up their claims of purportedly green or socially aware investments. Twenty-one GOP AGs sent another letter of opposition to the SEC on Aug. 16.

“The woke left is going full throttle in their mission to change every facet of American life… and erode our democratic institutions to suit their liberal agenda,” said West Virginia’s AG Patrick Morrisey (R).

In late July, Missouri’s AG Eric Schmitt (R) launched an investigation into whether Morningstar, a financial research and rating company, violated a state consumer-protection law by evaluating ESG issues. A few weeks later, 18 other AGs joined the probe. Schmitt and 16 other attorneys general are also trying to block California from setting its own vehicle emissions standards.

At the same time, the nonprofit State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) and its members are doing all they can to prop up fossil fuel companies and punish firms that divest from oil, gas, and coal. In West Virginia, state Treasurer Riley Mooretold five financial companies—the banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley, and Wells Fargo, as well as BlackRock—that they would no longer be eligible for state contracts because they have reduced financing for coal projects.

Corporate Code of Silence 

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an ah 9 22

Although some progressives believe that President Joe Biden’s plan to cancel some student loan debt doesn’t go far enough, a long list of Republicans — from U.S. senators to right-wing think tanks to state attorneys general — have accused the president of overreaching and are looking for ways to undermine Biden’s plan. The National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke is even calling for Congress to “impeach and convict President Biden.”

Student loan debt has become a major problem in the United States, where it isn’t uncommon for students to graduate from college with six-figure debts that they will spend decades paying off with interest. This debt affects a variety of decisions that college graduates make as young adults, from deciding whether or not to have kids to being able to buy a house. Some older Baby Boomers, according to common complaints from Millennials and members of Generation Z, fail to comprehend the severity of the problem — as they graduated from college at a time when tuition was much more affordable than it is now.

Journalists Tony Romm, Jeff Stein and Danielle Douglas-Gabriel take a look at GOP reactions to Biden’s student loan debt plan in an article published by the Washington Post on September 1, stressing that some of those Republicans are considering lawsuits.

READ MORE: Joe Biden could have gone much further on student loans

“Republican state attorneys generaland other leading conservatives are quietly exploring a slew of potential lawsuits targeting President Biden’s plan to cancel some student debt — challenges that could limit or invalidate the policy before it takes full effect,” the Post reporters explain. “In recent days, a number of GOP attorneys general from states including Arizona, Missouri and Texashave met privately to discuss a strategy that could see multiple cases filed in different courts around the country, according to a person familiar with their thinking who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the confidential talks.”

Romm, Stein and Douglas-Gabriel continue, “Other influential conservatives — including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) and allies of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank — are mulling their own options as they ratchet up criticism of Biden’s debt-relief plan, two additional people familiar with the matter said. And a conservative advocacy group founded by a major Trump donor said it would file a lawsuit against the policy.”

The Post interviewed John Malcolm, who serves as director of theHeritage Foundation’s Meese Center.The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, has been around 49 years — and its Meese Center was named after Edwin Meese, who served as U.S. attorney general during President Ronald Reagan’s second term and is now 90.

Malcolm told the Post, “The conservative public interest law firms in our network are exploring filing lawsuits against this. They are doing background legal research, trying to find out who might be the most suitable clients for them. They have to find a client with the standing and the gumption to take on a lawsuit. There are several groups in our network who are exploring that right now.”

READ MORE: 'For whom and why?' is the real question behind student loan forgiveness

Biden’s plan would forgive up to $10,000 in federal student loan debt, or as much as $20,000 if the former student also received Pell Grants. Some liberals and progressives were hoping to see larger amounts of student loan debt forgiven, but the centrist Biden believes that $10,000 or $20,000 is a step in the right direction.

The Post interviewed some former college students who have a lot of student loan debt, and they were appalled that Republicans oppose even the modest amounts that Biden favors.

One of those interviewees was 31-year-old Ohio resident Michael Loomus, who dropped out of the University of Toledo and has been struggling to pay down the $11,400 that he owes. Loomus told the Post, “It just seems they are continuously trying to keep borrowers in debt. I don’t make a lot of money.… and before this, it just felt like I’d never pay off my loans.”

READ MORE: 'We should be proud': Education secretary explains why student loan forgiveness is an 'investment'

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https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2021/05/04/more-staff-flee-gop-attorneys-general-group-after-it-doubles-down-on-insurrection/

david  a

The staff and leadership exodus at the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) continues to grow in the wake of the group’s decision to promote Peter Bisbee, who was responsible for generating robocalls to turn people out for the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, to be the group’s new executive director. 

In an Apr. 25 email obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), RAGA’s director of operations, Jason Heath,writes, “After 8 years of service, I am writing to inform you that I have made the difficult decision to resign as RAGA’s Director of Operations. I respect your votes, but the direction is not one I can honestly stand behind.”

[docs]

Heath had been working for RAGA since it broke off from the Republic State Leadership Committee in 2014.

Heath’s departure comes on the heels of the sudden resignation of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr as RAGA’s chair over Bisbee’s selection, citing “a significant difference of opinion…as to the direction this organization should take going forward” and “vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6.”

Bisbee was formerly the head of RAGA’s sister organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), and was responsible for sending out robocalls encouraging supporters to “march to the Capitol and call on Congress to stop the steal” days prior to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol invasion. 

Other RAGA staff have quit over Bisbee’s selection as well. On April 22, the Alabama Political Reporter published a resignation letter sent to Republican attorneys general from Ashley Trenzeluk, RAGA’s finance directorstating that,

As RLDF Executive Director, Pete Bisbee approved the robocall expenditure, and was the only other person accountable for RLDF involvement in the January 6 events. Over the last few months, I have fielded, reassured and assuaged concerns from our core donor base on the future direction of our organization. The result of the executive committee vote to nominate Pete as RAGA’s Executive Director is a decision I cannot defend.

Bisbee replaced Adam Piper, who resigned a week after the violent events unfolded at the Capitol and the story broke about RAGA’s involvement. Before his resignation, Piper was adamant that RAGA and RLDF had no role in the insurrection.

At least one other GOP attorney general has signaled discomfort with RAGA’s direction following the insurrection. in a Jan. 11 email obtained by CMD, Idaho’s Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane writes that “Idaho will not be participating in any RLDF activities until further notice,” and any participation in RAGA will be “subject to the approval of Attorney General Wasden.”

Carr has been replaced as RAGA’s chair by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a strong Trump supporter. Schmitt received an invitation for an RLDF conference call with Bisbee on Jan. 5, but has not confirmed if he was on the call.

“Attorney General Schmitt absolutely had no knowledge of or involvement in the robocall, and condemns the violence that took place on [Jan. 6] in the strongest possible terms, period,” Schmitt spokesman Chris Nuelle said in a statement.

Schmitt undeniably worked hard for Trump in trying to prove that voter fraud led to Biden’s victory in November. On Nov. 9, nine Republican AGs joined Schmitt in filing an amicus briefwith the U.S. Supreme Court in a case challenging Pennsylvania’s vote-by-mail ballots.

Schmitt also joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s controversial suit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging those states’ election law changes as unconstitutional. That case was dismissed.

Paxton, also a co-chair of Lawyers for Trump, was a speaker at the Jan. 6 rally preceding the violent events at the Capitol, where he told the crowd, “We will not quit fighting.”

Schmitt’s Solicitor General John Sauer registered for a “Senior Staff Summit” organized by RLDF on Sept. 23 and 24, where it held “war games” to map out post-election strategies if Trump lost. 

Piper emailed on Sept. 24, “WAR GAMES – 32 AG Staff Members are huddled in Atlanta for a series of conversations planning for what could come if we lose the White House.”

Piper also huddled the night of Jan. 5 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. in Trump’s “private residence” with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski, Michael Flynn, and others.

RAGA, RLDF, its members, and donors will be forever tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection, especially now that they have apparently doubled down on  fanning the flames of Trump’s Big Lie.

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https://www.commondreams.org/views/2021/05/05/more-staff-flee-republican-attorneys-general-association-after-it-doubles-down

david a

 staff and leadership exodus at the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) continues to grow in the wake of the group's decision to promote Peter Bisbee, who was responsible for generating robocalls to turn people out for the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, to be the group's new executive director.

In an Apr. 25 email obtained by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), RAGA's director of operations, Jason Heath, writes, "After 8 years of service, I am writing to inform you that I have made the difficult decision to resign as RAGA's Director of Operations. I respect your votes, but the direction is not one I can honestly stand behind." PIX?]

Xeath had been working for RAGA since it broke off from the Republic State Leadership Committee in 2014.

Heath's departure comes on the heels of the sudden resignation of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr as RAGA's chair over Bisbee's selection, citing "a significant difference of opinion…as to the direction this organization should take going forward" and "vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6."

Bisbee was formerly the head of RAGA's sister organization, the Rule of Law Defense Fund (RLDF), and was responsible for sending out robocalls encouraging supporters to "march to the Capitol and call on Congress to stop the steal" days prior to the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol invasion.

Other RAGA staff have quit over Bisbee's selection as well. On April 22, the Alabama Political Reporter published a resignation letter sent to Republican attorneys general from Ashley Trenzeluk, RAGA's finance director stating that,

As RLDF Executive Director, Pete Bisbee approved the robocall expenditure, and was the only other person accountable for RLDF involvement in the January 6 events. Over the last few months, I have fielded, reassured and assuaged concerns from our core donor base on the future direction of our organization. The result of the executive committee vote to nominate Pete as RAGA's Executive Director is a decision I cannot defend.

Bisbee replaced Adam Piper, who resigned a week after the violent events unfolded at the Capitol and the story broke about RAGA's involvement. Before his resignation, Piper was adamant that RAGA and RLDF had no role in the insurrection.

At least one other GOP attorney general has signaled discomfort with RAGA's direction following the insurrection. in a Jan. 11 email obtained by CMD, Idaho's Chief Deputy Attorney General Brian Kane writes that "Idaho will not be participating in any RLDF activities until further notice," and any participation in RAGA will be "subject to the approval of Attorney General Wasden."

Carr has been replaced as RAGA's chair by Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, a strong Trump supporter. Schmitt received an invitation for an RLDF conference call with Bisbee on Jan. 5, but has not confirmed if he was on the call.

"Attorney General Schmitt absolutely had no knowledge of or involvement in the robocall, and condemns the violence that took place on [Jan. 6] in the strongest possible terms, period," Schmitt spokesman Chris Nuelle said in a statement.

Schmitt undeniably worked hard for Trump in trying to prove that voter fraud led to Biden's victory in November. On Nov. 9, nine Republican AGs joined Schmitt in filing anamicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in a case challenging Pennsylvania's vote-by-mail ballots.

Schmitt also joined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's controversial suit against Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin in the U.S. Supreme Court, challenging those states' election law changes as unconstitutional. That case was dismissed.

Paxton, also a co-chair of Lawyers for Trump,was a speaker at the Jan. 6 rally preceding the violent events at the Capitol, where he told the crowd, "We will not quit fighting."

Schmitt's Solicitor General John Sauer registered for a "Senior Staff Summit" organized by RLDF on Sept. 23 and 24, where it held "war games" to map out post-election strategies if Trump lost.

Piper emailed on Sept. 24, "WAR GAMES – 32 AG Staff Members are huddled in Atlanta for a series of conversations planning for what could come if we lose the White House."

Piper also huddled the night of Jan. 5 at the Trump International Hotel in Washington, D.C. in Trump's "private residence" with Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, Peter Navarro, Corey Lewandowski, Michael Flynn, and others.

RAGA, RLDF, its members, and donors will be forever tied to the Jan. 6 insurrection, especially now that they have apparently doubled down on fanning the flames of Trump's Big Lie.

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https://www.kansascity.com/news/politics-government/article251160729.html

no lnx

Missouri AG takes over GOP group facing scrutiny and staff shake-ups after Jan. 6

BY BRYAN LOWRY

MAY 04, 2021 03:32 PM, UPDATED MAY 04, 2021 07:16 PM

Play VideoDuration 4:28

Greitens and Schmitt attack President Biden during speeches at GOP event

Former Missouri Governor Eric Greitens and Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt, both running for a Missouri U.S. Senate seat, attacked President Biden during their speeches at Jackson County GOP event on Saturday, April 17, 2021. BY SHELLY YANG

WASHINGTON

Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt has taken over as chairman of a Republican attorneys general group after Georgia’s attorney general stepped down last month, citing an internal rift created by the Jan. 6 insurrection.

A spokesman for the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) said Tuesday that Schmitt became chairman two weeks ago after previously serving as the group’s vice chairman.

Schmitt was elevated to chair under the group’s bylaws, but he does not plan to remain in the position permanently because of his run for U.S. Senate. The group will vote on a new chairman when Schmitt eventually steps down.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr resigned as chair last month, saying there was widespread disagreement among the group’s members about its direction.

“This fundamental difference of opinion began with vastly opposite views of the significance of the events of January 6 and the resistance by some to accepting the resignation of the executive director,” Carr wrote in an April 16 letter obtained and published by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

RAGA’s former executive director Adam Piper stepped down in January after reports that the group’s policy arm, the Rule of Law Defense Fund, helped organize the Jan. 6 march on the Capitol when Congress was meeting to accept the Electoral College results.

The group’s role in organizing the march has come under scrutiny since the deadly riot at the Capitol. Both Schmitt and his Kansas counterpart, Attorney General Derek Schmidt, distanced themselves from robocalls the group made the day before the riot.

Schmitt’s office was in contact with the organization about a Jan. 5 meeting, but has maintained that the robocalls did not come up in any of their communication.

In April, RAGA’s board voted to name Peter Bisbee as its new executive director. Bisbee had previously headed up the Rule of Law Defense Fund and his promotion rankled long-time staff.

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The Center for Media and Democracy, a progressive watchdog group, reported Tuesday that RAGA’s operations director, Jason Heath, stepped down in the wake of Bisbee’s promotion.

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“After 8 years of service, I am writing to inform you that I have made the difficult decision to resign as RAGA’s Director of Operations. I respect your votes, but the direction is not one I can honestly stand behind,” Heath said in the email published by the center.

Brandon Richards, spokesman for the Democratic Attorneys General Association, said in an email that by accepting the chairmanship “it also indicates that AG Schmitt is comfortable with Bisbee’s role in the Jan 6 events and agrees he was deserving of the promotion.”

The internal rift in RAGA comes after Schmitt and several attorneys general played prominent roles in unsuccessful litigation that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

Schmitt, now a candidate for U.S. Senate, organized an amicus brief in support of a Texas lawsuit that sought to throw out President Joe Biden’s victories in four swing states, including Georgia, Carr’s home state.

In his April resignation letter, Carr said the differences between the Republican attorneys general “have continued as we have tried to restore RAGA’s reputation internally and externally.”

Carr had been announced as RAGA’s chairman in November of 2020 shortly after the election. The same release named Schmitt, who had just won election to a full term as Missouri attorney general, as his vice chairman.

Schmitt has been closely aligned with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, partnering with him on litigation to challenge the election results and multiple lawsuits against Biden’s administration.

On the campaign trail, Schmitt has vowed to “take a blowtorch” to Biden’s agenda and has sought to highlight his ties to former President Donald Trump.

RAGA spokesman Johnny Koremenos said the Republican AGs “are going to continue to fight the radical overreach of the Biden Administration which has destroyed jobs on the Keystone XL pipeline, radical energy policies that destroy jobs, let China run rampant over American interests, and implemented policies that trample on religious freedom and civil liberties.”

This story was updated to clarify the reason Schmitt’s status as chair is temporary.

[Missouri Attorney General Eric Schmitt greets a supporter at the Jackson County GOP’s Reagan-Lincoln Day Dinner at the Adams Pointe Conference Center in Blue Springs on April 17. Schmitt has joined the U.S. Senate race to replace Senator Roy Blunt. SHELLY YANG SYANG@KCSTAR.COM

Profile Image of Bryan Lowry

BRYAN LOWRY

202-383-6167

Bryan Lowry is a White House correspondent at McClatchy. He previously covered Congress for The Kansas City Star. He also reported on state politics in Missouri and Kansas for The Star and The Wichita Eagle, contributing to The Star’s 2017 project on state government secrecy in Kansas that was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.

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https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/republican-ags/

With the Trump operation's legal effort to overturn the November election going nowhere, nearly 20 Republican attorneys general have decided to throw their support behind Texas AG Ken Paxton's desperate—and, according to analysts, doomed-to-fail—Supreme Court lawsuit against four key battleground states that have certified President-elect Joe Biden's victories.

Filed on Tuesday and enthusiastically celebrated in right-wing circles, Paxton's lawsuit (pdf) baselessly alleges "significant and unconstitutional irregularities" in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin and pleads with the high court to delay next week's scheduled certification of presidential electors for those four states.

That the lawsuit was mocked as "utter garbage" and "factually untethered" by legal experts did not dissuade 18 Republican attorneys general, led by Missouri AG Eric Schmitt, from expressing support for Paxton's effort.

As of this writing, the Republican attorneys general of Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, and West Virginia have backed Schmitt's amicus brief(pdf) in support of the Texas lawsuit. Arizona Attorney General MarkBrnovich has filed a separate brief (pdf) "respecting" the Texas suit.

The New York Times reported that Trump asked Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Tuesday to argue the case if the Supreme Court hears it, and Cruz has agreed.

Late Wednesday, Trump—who has openly pleaded with the Supreme Court to undo Biden's decisive victory—filed a brief with the high court seeking to intervene in support of Paxton's lawsuit. Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the president's filing "reads like a rally speech."

"Were the Supreme Court to agree to hear this meritless suit brought by Texas," Clarke added, "we might as well toss the Constitution."

More than 3,000 Americans died from covid today, a new record, and instead of saving thousands of lives 18 GOP stat… https://t.co/tuKGOs12Mi

— Ari Berman (@Ari Berman)1607565108.0

The Supreme Court—to which Trump successfully appointed three right-wing justices over his four years in office—has not yet decided whether to take up the case, despite viral right-wing social media posts to the contrary.

In a blog post, Richard Hasen, a law professor at the University of California, Irvine, called Paxton's complaint "a press release masquerading as a lawsuit." He elaborated:

Texas doesn't have standing to raise these claims as it has no say over how other states choose electors; it could raise these issues in other cases and does not need to go straight to the Supreme Court; it waited too late to sue; the remedy Texas suggests of disenfranchising tens of millions of voters after the fact is unconstitutional; there's no reason to believe the voting conducted in any of the states was done unconstitutionally; it's too late for the Supreme Court to grant a remedy even if the claims were meritorious (they are not).

While Paxton's lawsuit will almost certainly fail, observers warned that the willingness of so many top state law enforcement officials to back the effort to overturn the presidential election highlights the threat the right will continue to pose to democracy long after Trump leaves office.

"The president will leave the White House on January 20. The conservative attorneys who have become radicalized under his influence, however, will remain in power across the country," Slate's Mark Joseph Stern wrote Wednesday. "Paxton's suit asks the Supreme Court to throw out every vote in four states won by Joe Biden—Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin—then direct each state's legislature to declare Trump the winner."

"This act would constitute the single biggest incident of voter nullification in American history," Stern continued. "Paxton alleges that all four states illegally expanded mail voting, permitted egregious fraud, then concealed evidence that Democrats stole the election. There is no basis in truth for his factual claims and no basis in law for his legal theories."

Clarke of the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law added on Twitter, "This is what anti-democratic conduct looks like."

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