McMahon, Linda

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SEE AFPI

TRANS PICK DEPT OF ED?! funder

see firtash rudy superpac

homophobe?

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gop asked where us ranted in math in 70’s? number 1 she sAId worst?

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an 10 26

Trumpster wants to kill the Ed Department — but not before a $43K office makeover

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IHE

March 05, 2026

McMahon Touts First Year in Office; Dems and Students Push Back

The Education Department says that in just one year McMahon has secured reforms in higher ed that conservatives have championed for decades. Critics say her work is creating barriers to college access.

By Jessica Blakeand Katherine Knott

A year after Education Secretary Linda McMahon took office, two Democratic lawmakers, a handful of students and several laid-off staff members took to the steps of the Education Department to decry her track record of cuts and crackdowns. Their message was clear—McMahon must go.

“Trump put someone in this position that has absolutely no experience and is completely unqualified to run the Department of Education,” said Arizona representative Adelita Grijalva.

The only way the secretary can make up for her wrongs, Grijalva and her fellow speaker, California representative Mark Takano, added, is by stepping down.

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“I’d like her to quit. Resign. Put someone in there that actually knows the job and understands education,” Grijalva said. “There is nothing that she can do other than walk away.”

But the Trump administration and Republicans on the Hill have shown no sign of backing down. In fact, they say things are just getting started.

Over the past year, McMahon has wasted no time in carrying out what she called her “final mission”—ending decades of so-called bureaucratic bloat at the Education Department and ultimately putting herself out of a job.

Within the first 10 days, she fired nearly half of the agency’s employees, setting up a lengthy legal battle that ultimately ended when the Supreme Court gave the green light for the reduction in force. Then she outsourced dozens of programs and relocated many of the staff members that remained, signing nine interagency agreements that parceled operations out to the Departments of Labor, State, Interior and Health and Human Services. She also defunded grant programs that support minority-serving institutions and redirected millions to support the administration’s priorities.

Additionally, McMahon launched a series of high-stakes battles with some of the nation’s wealthiest universities, bringing institutions like Columbia University to heel, vowing to cut off all grant funding for Harvard University and targeting dozens of others through civil rights investigations. More broadly, she also had tough words for higher ed, denouncing the sector as “broken” in a September speech that outlined her vision to improve colleges and universities.

Now, she and her chief higher ed official, Under Secretary Nicholas Kent, are working to carry out a number of monumental policy shifts, including loan caps, expansion of the Pell Grant program and a new earnings test to hold colleges accountable.

The department touted its own accomplishments as McMahon marked her one-year anniversary in the job. Among the highlights included in a fact sheet distributed at the beginning of the Democrats’ news conference were “restoring civil rights, merit and accountability to universities”; “realigning civil rights enforcement with the letter of the law”; and “halting Biden’s attempt to pass debt to every taxpayer and rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse.”

“In the first year of the Trump administration, U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon took significant steps to make college more affordable, increased transparency for students on the value of their education, and restored merit in higher education,” the fact sheet states. “These are reforms that conservatives have championed for decades—and in just one year, we’ve made them a reality.”

‘Year One Was the Tester’

Daniel Collier, an assistant professor of higher education at the University of Memphis, is a longtime fan of the WWE, which McMahon helped to turn into a global enterprise, and has followed her since she served in the first Trump administration. He said her background in wrestling and business was clearly reflected during her first year in office.

“She was a very ruthless executive in WWE with her husband … and they basically ruled the wrestling world with an iron fist for a long time,” he said. “She is applying those lessons there in, saying that ‘I’m going to do what I’m going to do and you can all deal with it.’”

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He expects plans to break up ED as well as work on other key priorities across the federal government will further accelerate as the administration prepares for the midterm elections, when Republicans could lose control of Congress.

“Year one was the tester in seeing what they could get away with and how long they could get away with it and who cares about what issues,” he said. “Whatever you saw in year one will be limited in comparison to what we see in year two, because they need to get it done before the House flips. And I have no idea what that looks like.”

Republicans, including Rep. Tim Walberg of Michigan, who chairs the House education committee, praised McMahon for her work, saying she’s delivered real results.

“She’s helping rightsize the Department of Education, give parents a stronger voice, and hold colleges accountable,” he said in a statement to Inside Higher Ed. “I’m proud to work alongside her to cut red tape in Washington and make sure our education system works for students, parents, and teachers—not the bureaucracy.”

Neal McCluskey, director of the Center for Educational Freedom at the libertarian Cato Institute, said when it comes to dismantling ED and working to transform colleges, McMahon “is doing what her boss wants her to do.”

“Secretary McMahon has done about as good a job as I could hope in the things that I would like her to do,” he said. “I think she’s worked hard to try and get them done to the maximum extent allowed by law.”

McCluskey supports her efforts to shrink the federal role in education, though the use of interagency agreements to outsource various programs and responsibilities isn’t moving as quickly as he thought. He expects to see more in the coming year. (He’s less supportive of the administration’s efforts to change what colleges can teach and whom they can hire.)

He attributes the pace to McMahon’s business background, “where you can’t just snap your fingers and everything falls into place. You have to have plans and processes and thoughtfulness, and so to the extent that things are moving in a more deliberative manner, I think that might reflect her management.”

He added that McMahon also avoided any major controversies or gaffes—other than when she referred to artificial intelligence as “A1,” like the sauce.

“Whenever I’ve seen her, she gives the impression that this is somebody who is calm, in charge of her operation and not trying to draw a whole lot of attention to herself,” he said.

Democratic lawmakers stand with students, former department staff members and union representatives for a photo after their news conference.

But students in attendance at Wednesday’s news conference were not so supportive. To them, McMahon represents a threat to their academic aspirations.

Markie Mathis, a sociology major and member of the John Fylpaa Leadership Institute at Long Beach City College, said it’s “crazy” to even think about dismantling the department—let alone actually doing so. And as long as support and funding for higher ed is on the line, many students’ ability to complete a degree will hang in the balance, she added.

“It’s scary,” Mathis said. “If funding gets cut, I probably won’t be able to continue.”

Olivia McCary, a political science major at the same college, said McMahon’s characterization of higher education as nothing more than a career pipeline and the department as unnecessary are disconnected from the needs of students on the ground. To McCary, college is a chance to engage as a citizen and the department is a critical means of civil rights enforcement.

“I’m an African American who is trying to work in legislation one day,” she said. “But a lot of states don’t support people of color or DEI programs. People at the department were the people who backed us up. Now they’re going away.”

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DUCK 3 26 NEWS

[- [New York Post

RFK Jr. reveals his niece, Zoe Hines, signed a contract with WWE - says Education Secretary Linda McMahon had 'a lot' to do with it

13 days agoHealth Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., suggested Thursday that he tagged-teamed with Education Secretary Linda McMahon to help his niece, Zoe Hines, secure a gig as a WWE wrestler. "Lina has become a very,

!\\](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/rfk-jr-reveals-his-niece-zoe-hines-signed-a-contract-with-wwe-says-education-secretary-linda-mcmahon-had-a-lot-to-do-with-it/ar-AA1XDbxr)

[!\\NOLA.com

Secretary of Education Linda McMahon supports Gov. Jeff Landry's school voucher plan

6 days agoU.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon on Wednesday voiced support for Gov. Jeff Landry's push to grow LA GATOR, which gives taxpayer money to help families pay for private school and homeschool expenses.

!\\](https://www.nola.com/news/politics/secretary-of-education-linda-mcmahon-supports-gov-jeff-landry-s-school-voucher-plan/article_a8287ea7-6d03-4d34-89fc-8e4132cd67e2.html)

[!\\The Advocate

Second Connecticut school district cancels Linda McMahon-linked civics event

8 days agoThe program was originally scheduled for 90 minutes during the school day and had been promoted as an opportunity for students to learn about Revolutionary War-era history. A similar event in Fairfield, where McMahon was scheduled to speak in January, was canceled after significant backlash from parents.

!\\](https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/thomaston-cancels-linda-mcmahon-civics-visit-ct-22062572.php)

[!\\Deseret News

Why are 17 states hitting the Trump administration with a higher education lawsuit?

6 days agoEducation Department's data collection is part of ongoing federal effort to keep race out of college admissions decisions.

!\\](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/careersandeducation/why-are-17-states-hitting-the-trump-administration-with-a-higher-education-lawsuit/ar-AA1Yvlii)

[!\\Forbes

Key Student Loan Discharge Deadline Is In 3 Weeks, As Delay Efforts Continue

13 days agoThousands of borrowers should be receiving notices within weeks that their federal student loans will be automatically discharged. But a legal challenge continues.

!\\](https://www.forbes.com/sites/adamminsky/2026/03/05/key-student-loan-discharge-deadline-is-in-3-weeks-as-delay-efforts-continue/)

[!\\The Charlotte Observer

Trump admin travels to NC to urge Gov. Stein to OK school choice tax credit

9 days agoProminent NC Republicans Michael Whatley and Rep. Virginia Foxx appeared alongside McMahon in High Point Monday](https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-admin-travels-to-nc-to-urge-gov-stein-to-ok-school-choice-tax-credit/ar-AA1XR6uq)

[!\\Inside Higher Ed

McMahon Touts First Year in Office; Dems and Students Push Back

13 days agoThe Education Department says that in just one year McMahon has secured reforms in higher ed that conservatives have championed for decades. Critics say her work is creating barriers to college access.

!\\](https://www.insidehighered.com/news/government/politics-elections/2026/03/05/mcmahon-touts-first-year-office-dems-students-push)

[!\\The Daily Caller

Exclusive: McMahon slams Democrats for acting like 'throwing money' at schools will solve literacy crisis

14 days agoWASHINGTON, DC — Democrats on Wednesday celebrated Education Secretary Linda McMahon's one-year anniversary in office by bemoaning her efforts to dismantle the Department of Education (ED). At a press conference outside the ED building,

!\\](https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/general/exclusive-mcmahon-slams-democrats-for-acting-like-throwing-money-at-schools-will-solve-literacy-crisis/ar-AA1Xypl8)

[!\\Fox News

McMahon says government shutdown proved schools don't need federal oversight at all

119 days agoEducation Secretary Linda McMahon said Monday the recent government shutdown proved federal involvement isn't essential for schools to operate. McMahon released a video on social media claiming the nation's education system continued to operate ...

!\\](https://www.foxnews.com/media/mcmahon-says-government-shutdown-proved-schools-dont-need-federal-oversight-all)

[!\\Yahoo](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/week-review-mcmahon-marks-first-050000864.html)](https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/week-review-mcmahon-marks-first-050000864.html)

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an 1 26

Linda McMahon, the nation’s secretary of education, says public schools are failing.

In November, she promised a “hard reset” of the system in which more than 80% of U.S. children learn. But rather than invest in public education, she has been working to dismantle the Department of Education and enact wholesale changes to how public schools operate.

“Our final mission as a department is to fully empower states to carry the torch of our educational renaissance,” she said at a November press conference.

To help her carry out these and other goals, McMahon has brought at least 20 advisers from ultraconservative think tanks and advocacy groups who share her skepticism of the value of public education and seek deep changes, including instilling Christian values into public schools.

ProPublica reporters Jennifer Smith Richards and Megan O’Matz spent months reporting and reviewing dozens of hours of video to understand the ideals and ambitions of those pulling the levers of power in federal education policy. They found a concerted push to shrink public school systems by steering taxpayer dollars to private, religious and charter schools, as well as options like homeschooling. The Education Department did not respond to a detailed list of questions from ProPublica.

They also found top officials expressing a vision for the remaining public schools that rejects the separation of church and state and promotes a pro-America vision of history, an “uplifting portrayal of the nation’s founding ideals.” Critics argue the “patriotic” curricula downplay the legacy of slavery and paper over episodes of discrimination.

Since its establishment in 1979, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has served as an enforcer of anti-discrimination laws in schools and colleges around the country. It’s the place parents turn to when they believe their schools failed to protect children from discrimination or to provide access to an equal education under the law.

The Trump administration laid off much of the office’s staff in its first months and prioritized investigations into schools that allegedly discriminated against white and Jewish students and accommodated transgender students. McMahon and the department have framed this as a course correction in line with efforts to be more efficient and curb diversity, equity and inclusion policies from prior administrations. It has left little recourse for those seeking to defend the rights of students with disabilities, students of color and those facing sex discrimination.

In this video, Smith Richards and O’Matz explain how McMahon and her advisers are reenvisioning the nation’s educational system and what that could mean for the future.

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12 30? 25

chris m quest mcmahon 1b$ cut to kid mental health, see said DEi bc gender and harvard threat title 6 anti-sem

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rww

12/19/2025

Kyle Mantyla

Charlie Nash @ Mediaite: Turning Point USA Conference Turns Into War Between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson as They Trade Blows

Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest conference turned into a war between Ben Shapiro and Tucker Carlson on Thursday as the two men spent much of their speeches trading blows.

Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Pete Hegseth is waging a pointless and damaging war on military chaplains

Hegseth’s crusade against the Chaplain Corps undermines readiness, trust, and pluralism.

Steve Benen @ The Maddow Blog: Republicans confirm scandal-plagued former congressman to serve as an inspector general

Anthony D’Esposito will be expected to investigate ethical lapses, despite his own alleged ethical lapses.

John Whitehouse @ Media Matters: Nick Fuentes is the biggest beneficiary of a crowded and fractured new era of right-wing media

Why Media Matters is naming Nick Fuentes the 2025 Misinformer of the Year.

Will Sommer @ The Bulwark: Meet the First Groyper Politicia

James Fishback’s campaign may not be flashy but it sure is fashy.

Jennifer Smith Richards, Megan O’Matz and Jodi S. Cohen @ ProPublica: Monkey Sounds, “White Power” and the N-Word: Racial Harassment Against Black Students Ignored Under Trump

Since Trump returned to office, the Education Department’s civil rights office has not resolved a single racial harassment investigation. It sends a message that “people impacted by racial discrimination ... don’t matter,” one attorney said.

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AN 12 25

Flag linked to Christian Nationalism and Jan. 6 hung at Education Dept

APPEAL TO HEAVEN

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AN 11 25

A little over a year since he was reelected,the New York Times reports that the list of donors for President Donald Trump's transition efforts has finally seen the light of day. The list is notable for the presence of various billionaires, lobbyists, and future administration appointees, with one expert summing it up as a rundown of "who is buying the government."

In the past, prior incoming presidential administrations, including Trump's first, signed an agreement pledging to disclose their list of transition donors within 30 days of their inauguration in exchange for $7 million in federal funding and support from the General Services Administration. The second time around, however, Trump refused to sign the agreement, leaving the list shrouded in secrecy.

The agreement would have also capped donations at $5,000 and blocked donors from foreign countries. At the time, Trump's chief of staff Susie Wiles said the decision to forgo the agreement was made to “save taxpayers’ hard-earned money," while also pledging to release the list at a later date and ensure that no non-citizen donations were accepted.

On Wednesday, the New YorkTimesreleased a report finally delving into the 46 names now disclosed by the Trump administration, roughly 10 months after the inauguration. The report highlighted two notable billionaires included in the list, Jeff Yass and Paul Singer. Yass is the co-founder of the trading firm Susquehanna International Group and an investor in TikTok. He has been credited with convincing Trump to soften his stance on a ban of TikTok in the U.S. Singer is a venture capitalist who founded Elliott Management, where he works as co-CEO.

Elsewhere on the list are numerous names of individuals who went on to receive appointments to key positions in the Trump administration. This includes former WWE executive and first-term cabinet member Linda McMahon, who now serves as Secretary of Education, leading the charge to try and disband the Department of Education altogether. There is also Howard Lutnick, who now serves as Trump's secretary of commerce.

"Steve Witkoff, Mr. Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, donated, as did Stanley Woodward Jr., the third-ranking official in the Justice Department," the Times report explained. "Dominick Gerace II, who was sworn in as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Ohio in August, is also listed as a donor."

The report also noted several names on the list that match those of known lobbyists, but could not reach them to confirm.

“They claimed they were saving taxpayers money, but what they were doing was hiding the ball about who is buying the government,” Max Stier, the president of the nonprofit watchdog group Partnership for Public Service, said in a statement about the list to the Times.

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rww

10/30/2025

Kyle Mantyla

Stephanie Mencimer @ Mother Jones: Sean Duffy’s Holy War at the Transportation Department

Duffy has found a way to turn even the most mundane highway procurement matters into an opportunity for pandering to the MAGA base—and getting back on Fox News. His secret sauce? He has been enthusiastically using the agency to spread the Gospel and advance his mission to make America fecund again.

Ewan Palmer @ The Daily Beast: Vicious MAGA Civil War Breaks Out Over Trump’s Third Term

Trump loyalist Steve Bannon is being accused of giving MAGA false hope for 2028.

Elie Mystal @ The Nation: Why Has Trump Been Flirting With a Third Term?

Trump cannot be president again. But he and his loyal followers have every reason for wanting to make people think he can.

Ryan Adamczeski @ The Advocate: Trump's DOE will make LGBTQ+ nonprofit workers ineligible for student loan forgiveness

Trump's Department of Education is making workers of LGBTQ+ nonprofits ineligible for student loan forgiveness.

Doug Bock Clark @ ProPublica: God’s Chief Justice

Paul Newby, a born-again Christian, has turned his perch atop North Carolina’s Supreme Court into an instrument of political power. Over two decades, he’s driven changes that have reverberated well beyond the borders of his state.

Will Sommer @ The Bulwark: One of the Most Dangerous Interviews Ever in MAGA Media

Why Tucker Carlson platformed white supremacist Nick Fuentes.

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[### With Education Secretary Linda McMahon on Board ... Religion Dispatches

https://religiondispatches.org › with-education-secretary-l...](https://religiondispatches.org/with-education-secretary-linda-mcmahon-on-board-the-decades-long-christian-right-dream-to-gut-public-schools-is-in-sight/)

Mar 11, 2025 — McMahon herself is an adult convert to Catholicism, and she spent about a year on the Connecticut State Board of Education. She's no more ...

[### "IT IS FINISHED." - John 19:30 Today, we are humbly ...

Facebook · Linda McMahon

1.3K+ reactions · 2 years ago](https://www.facebook.com/lindamcmahon/posts/it-is-finished-john-1930today-we-are-humbly-reminded-of-the-ultimate-sacrifice-a/748243856756730/)

Today, we are humbly reminded of the ultimate sacrifice and selfless love of Jesus Christ. Thank you, Lord, for giving up Your life and taking our place.

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[### Linda McMahon

GLAAD

https://glaad.org › ... › GLAAD Accountability Project](https://glaad.org/gap/linda-mcmahon/)

... homophobic and transphobic slurs… The vetting file also highlighted the level of violence used against the LGBTQ-coded Goldust character during a 'Backlot ...

[### Donald Trump's education pick Linda McMahon 'oversaw ...

PinkNews

https://www.thepinknews.com › 2024/11/20 › linda-mc...](https://www.thepinknews.com/2024/11/20/linda-mcmahon-education-secretary/)

Nov 20, 2024 — Donald Trump's education pick Linda McMahon 'oversaw homophobic and misogynist content on WWE' · Share · Save for later · Comment.

Missing: christian ‎| Show results with: christian

[### Trump's Nominees on the Record on LGBTQ Issues

GLAAD

https://glaad.org › Hate & Extremism](https://glaad.org/trumps-nominees/)

Dec 9, 2024 — —During her tenure at WWE (1989–2009), McMahon oversaw homophobic and misogynistic content including matches that featured homophobic slurs ...

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an 8 25

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon toured two Arkansas schools Tuesday as part of McMahon’s “Returning Education to the States” tour.

They were joined by Arkansas junior U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton and state Education Secretary Jacob Oliva on tours of Little Rock’s Don R. Roberts Elementary School and Saline County Career and Technical Campus in Benton.

“I wanted to be in places where I could actually see some of the things that I talked about at work,” McMahon said in Saline County. “Not necessarily everybody has to go to a four-year school. There are places like this that would be sponsored from the tech field, where students can earn dual credits, go right into community college, go right to work in the field. … This is the secret sauce.”

McMahon and Cotton both alluded to the need to rid schools of red tape and bureaucracy. President Donald Trump has said he plans on shuttering the U.S. Department of Education to give states more power over education and wants McMahon to put herself out of her own job — a plan McMahon has supported.

Sanders also touted the expansion of the state’s Educational Freedom Account program to around 50,000 students in Arkansas this year. The program, which is open to all Arkansas students for the first time this fall, provides state funding for allowable education expenses, such as private school tuition.

IFrame Content

While Sanders and McMahon focused on the positive during their two stops, a handful of protestors outside Roberts Elementary held signs criticizing the state’s LEARNS Act and McMahon. The wide-ranging 2023 law made several changes to the state’s K-12 education system, including creating the school voucher program and raising the state’s minimum teacher salary to $50,000

“The parents of [Roberts Elementary] were incredibly upset when the letter was sent home yesterday … that she would be here,” said Courtney Jackson, a mother of two. She said she didn’t want her children to find out she just stood by while public education was under attack.

“The parents of this school do not want her here,” Jackson said.

Alison Metzler, another protesting parent, said she kept her kids home from school Tuesday because she didn’t want them to be used as “political pawns” by Sanders and McMahon.

“Sarah Huckabee and McMahon are actively trying to dismantle public education, and they do not care about public education. This is all for show, and it’s, it’s just disgusting,” Metzler said. “If Sarah Huckabee really stood with public education, her kids would go to public schools. Instead, they go to the private school a mile down the road, and she’s defunding these exact schools.”

Metzler also criticized Sanders and McMahon for visiting the “whitest affluent school in the Little Rock School District, a top school in the state.” She said she loved the school as a parent with a child who attended, but that if Sanders was really committed to public education, she would be visiting struggling schools in other parts of Little Rock.

“[Roberts Elementary] is not a representation of what the whole district is as a whole,” she said.

Arkansas Advocate is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Arkansas Advocate maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Sonny Albarado for questions: info@arkansasadvocate.com.

it’s just disgusting

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AN 7 25

In its clash with Columbia University, the Trump administration is touting a historic $221 million settlement as a major triumph for conservative ideology—even though it had originally framed the case as a response to antisemitism on college campuses. On Thursday, Education Secretary Linda McMahon hailed the outcome as a “monumental victory for conservatives” while condemning “far-left-leaning professors.”

“Under the terms of the deal to resolve several federal probes into allegations that it had violated anti-discrimination laws,” CNN reported, “Columbia did not admit to wrongdoing but agreed to pay the government a $200 million settlement over three years and an additional $21 million to settle US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations.”

Secretary McMahon, CNN added, “heralded the outcome as a ‘seismic shift in our nation’s fight to hold institutions that accept American taxpayer dollars accountable for antisemitic discrimination and harassment,'” and called it “a roadmap for elite universities that wish to regain the confidence of the American public by renewing their commitment to truth-seeking, merit, and civil debate.”

Thursday morning on Fox News Business, Secretary McMahon offered a different explanation.

IFrame Content

“I think that this is a monumental victory for conservatives who’ve wanted to do things in these elite campuses for a long time, because we had such far-left-leaning, you know, professors, and we had 27% of the students that are coming in, you know, are from outside of the United States,” McMahon told host Maria Bartiromo. She noted that the 27% was a statistic from Harvard.

“I’m really pleased with this victory,” McMahon continued. “It wouldn’t have happened if Donald Trump were not president, then I’m really pleased to execute his vision for this, that our campuses are now, what they should be. They are places for debate, they are places for education.”

“They’re not places for left-leaning riots and antisemitism, and I’m really pleased with this result.”

Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, wrote in response to McMahon’s remarks: “This is about advancing an extreme agenda.”

“This administration,” Spitalnick said, “continues to exploit real concerns about antisemitism to undermine our core democratic norms & institutions. This is not about keeping Jews safe — if it were, they wouldn’t have gutted OCR [Office for Civil Rights] & other key protections.”

Constitutional law professor and political scientist Anthony Michael Kreis warned, “Columbia has now allowed itself to be regulated by a deal. A complete capitulation to the state, yielding their academic freedom to select their students, appoint their faculty, and adopt their curriculum. The Fellows of Magdalen College had more courage against James II in 1687.”

Jordan Acker, who serves on the University of Michigan’s Board of Regents noted:

“Three things can be true here: -Campus faculty, especially in the humanities, needs reform -Antisemitism is a problem on campus -Trump simply cares about destroying higher ed. One and two are fixable. The third is a dire threat to the American way of life and must be fought.”

Watch the video below or at this link.

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an 6 25

During a congressional hearing on Wednesday, June 4, progressive Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pennsylvania) aggressively grilled Education Secretary Linda McMahon about education policies under the second Trump Administration — including President Donald Trump's vehement opposition to DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) programs.

Lee on what specifically would be a violation of the Trump Administration's anti-DEI policies. And the Pennsylvania congresswoman was frustrated by the vagueness of McMahon's answers.

After McMahon told Lee, "I do not think that African Studies or Middle East Studies or Chinese studies are part of DEI if they are taught as part of the total history package," the lawmaker asked if gay studies would be considered DEI — to which McMahon responded, "I think our studies should all be taught accurately."

Lee, during the hearing, told McMahon, "To be honest, and to be very clear, I want to say that this administration has undoubtedly revived the culture of racism we haven't seen since the Jim Crow era. They made it clear that open attacks on Black and brown and other marginalized communities is not just tolerated, but it's encouraged…. I have a question — some questions, excuse me, about why this department — is taking its leads from Jim Crow."

IFrame Content

Lee also asked McMahon if teaching that former President Joe Biden won the 2020 election would be "an illegal DEI, yes or no" — and when she gave a vague response, a frustrated Lee complained, "You have not answered the question."

Lee's questioning of McMahon is receiving a lot of attention on the Elon Musk-owned X.com, formerly Twitter.

KrassenCast's Ed Krassenstein tweeted, "UNBELIEVABLE! U.S. Rep. Summer Lee (@RepSummerLee) asks Education Secretary Linda McMahon if teaching that Biden won the 2020 election should be considered 'illegal DEI.' She refuses to say 'no.'"

Heartland Signal observed, "Education Secretary Linda McMahon refuses to answer U.S. Rep. Summer Lee's (D-PA) question on whether schools should teach that President Joe Biden won the 2020 election."

Former Republican turned self-described "Florida Democrat" commented, "This is how it's done. Thank you Congresswoman Lee."

The progressive group Justice Democrats posted, "@SummerForPA: Would you say that a lesson plan on the Tulsa Race massacre is 'illegal DEI'? McMahon: I'd have to get back to you on that. Summer Lee: Do you know what the Tulsa Race massacre is? McMahon: I'd like to look into it more and get back to you on it."

Former Bleacher Report columnist Peter Hopey posted, "If the Secretary of Education is unable to provide a simple binary response to a straight forward question, maybe she's not the right fit for the job."

CBS News' Scott McFarlane wrote, "At House hearing, Rep. Summer Lee (D-PA) asks Education Secretary Linda McMahon: "Do you believe social studies standards that teach President Biden won the 2020 election is illegal 'DEI'?" McMahon doesn't directly respond Instead she answered: "We should teach accurately"

The Libertarian Party of New York asked, "Why would claiming Joe Biden won the 2020 election ever be considered DEI to begin with?"

X user Sahab Singh Aansoliya commented, "When stating a verified election result becomes controversial, the line between politics and facts is truly blurred.

Watch the full video below or at this link.

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an 5 25 no red marked docs

U.S. Secretary of Education Linda McMahon is facing criticism for a hyper-partisan letter she sent to Harvard University, riddled with grammatical errors and dubious claims.

In the 979-word statement, the Trump administration—through Secretary McMahon—condemned Harvard's admissions policies, staffing decisions, and institutional leadership, and informed the nation’s oldest university, a 388-year-old private Ivy League institution, that it will not receive new federal research grants.

"Harvard is engaging in a systemic pattern of violating federal law. Where do many of these 'students' come from, who are they, how do they get into Harvard, or even into our country—and why is there so much HATE?" Secretary McMahon asked in the opening paragraph of her three-page letter.

"Harvard University has made a mockery of this country's higher education system. It has invited foreign students, who engage in violent behavior and show contempt for the United States of America, to its campus," McMahon claimed.

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"This year Harvard was forced to adopt an embarrassing 'remedial math' program for undergraduates," the Education Secretary declared. "Why is it, we ask, that Harvard has to teach simple and basic mathematics, when it is supposedly so hard to get into this 'acclaimed university'? Who is getting in under such a low standard when others, with fabulous grades and a great understanding of the highest levels of mathematics, are being rejected?"

The Harvard Crimson last September reported that "the Covid-19 pandemic led to gaps in students’ math skills and learning abilities, prompting the need for a new introductory course."

"Much of Harvard's hateful discrimination was revealed, last year," McMahon charged, "by the great work of Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and her Committee. As if it were trying to embarrass itself even further, Harvard hired failed Mayors Bill De Blasio and Lori Lightfoot, perhaps the worst mayors ever to preside over major cities in our country's history, to supposedly teach 'leadership' at their School of Public Health. This is like hiring the captain of the Titanic to teach navigation to future captains of the sea."

McMahon also took issue with "strongly left-leaning Obama political appointee Penny Pritzker, a Democrat operative," being elected to lead the Harvard Corporation. She described the former Obama Cabinet secretary as "catastrophic and running the institution in a totally chaotic way."

The Education Secretary also blasted Harvard for allegedly failing "to abide by the United States Supreme Court's ruling demanding that it end its racial preferencing [sic]," and for allegedly continuing "to engage in ugly racism in its undergraduate and graduate schools, and even within the Harvard Law Review itself. Our universities should be bastions of merit that reward and celebrate excellence and achievement. They should not be incubators of discrimination that encourage resentment and instill grievance and racism into our wonderful young Americans."

McMahon also demanded Harvard's "cooperation with Law Enforcement, and reporting compliance with the Department of Education, Department of Homeland Security, and other Federal Agencies."

She ended the angry missive in a very Trumpian fashion: "Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

Critics blasted McMahon.

"Did you use A1 to write this," asked investigative reporter Roger Sollenberger, mocking the Education Secretary's embarrassing remarks confusing artificial intelligence (AI) with the popular steak sauce (A1).

"Whoever wrote this is barely literate," declared The Independent's White House correspondent Andrew Feinberg.

"Did a high school kid write this?" asked veterans' activist and podcaster Fred Wellman. "You’re the Secretary of 'Education' and this is a chaotic mess of bad grammar and illiterate rambling. You poked the bear and you’re too stupid to even know it."

Maya Sen, a professor of public policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, wrote:

"Informing a private entity it will no longer be eligible for government contracts in part because a Democrat sits on its board."

She added, "what’s terrible is that the administration had many natural allies in academia - professors who wanted more diversity in thought, fewer regulations governing research funding, higher & consistent academic standards, and better protections of academic speech," and noted: "But not like this!"

"It may be wise for a private institution to have wide ideological diversity in its membership and leadership," She also noted. "But the government may not mandate it, nor make it a requirement for applying for unrelated funding."

Journalist John Harwood wrote simply, "this letter is deranged."

In addition to criticism of the content, some offered red-inked corrections that appear to be major:...

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DESMOG 1 25 NO PNX GRF

America First Policy Institute (AFPI)

Background

The America First Policy Institute (AFPI) is a nonprofit group (501(c)(3)1) founded in 2021 by two senior advisors to Donald Trump to promote Donald Trump‘s ongoing policy agenda following his departure from office.2The AFPI argues for expanded fossil fuel production by “removing undue regulatory constraints”3 and criticizes the Paris Agreement, describing it as “lopsided” and “unenforceable.”4

It counts among its staff individuals who have expressed doubt about the causes and severity of climate change, including Heritage Foundation senior visiting fellow Stephen Moore,5 who once described global warming as “one of the greatest propaganda campaigns in world history,”6 among others.7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14

White House domestic policy adviser Brooke Rollins and National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow initially developed AFPI.15 Rollins and Kudlow had worked together in early 2020 to create a second-term policy agenda for the Trump administration. When Trump lost the election, they continued to work together to develop the AFPI.16 According to the New York Times, they approached Timothy Dunn, an American billionaire and CEO of an oil and gas company, who Rollins had worked with at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Dunn and two other Texas Public Policy Foundation directors, Cody Campbell and Tim Lyles, subsequently registered the AFPI in April 2021.17 Kudlow consulted Donald Trump in the development phase for the AFPI and described him as “very enthusiastic” about the concept.18

After the AFPI’s launch in April 2021, Rollins became the president and CEO, Kudlow vice chair,19 and Tim Dunn, a board member.20 Linda McMahon, a member of Trump’s Cabinet as the administrator of the Small Business Administration, joined as chair, along with various other individuals affiliated with Trump.21

The AFPI has an “advocacy arm,” America First Works.“22 America First Works is a 501(c)(4) organization, which means that it can engage in some partisan politics.23 The AFPI itself, by contrast, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which by law should be nonpartisan.24 The AFPI also has an affiliation with America First Action, a super PAC dedicated to supporting federal candidates who back the policy agenda of Donald Trump.25 26

2025 Transition Plans...

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NATION MAG

Amid the incoming Trump administration’s flurry of unqualified, corrupt, and/or vengeance-driven cabinet nominees, it’s been easy to overlook Linda McMahon, Trump’s pick to head the US Department of Education. McMahon is best known for her role in running World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) with her husband the longtime Trump crony Vince McMahon. Linda McMahon’s background in education is exceedingly thin; she served on the Connecticut Board of Education more than a decade ago, thanks to an appointment from another politically connected friend, then–Connecticut Governor Jodi Rell. McMahon has a teaching certificate but has never actually taught.

Indeed, she was forced to resign her spot on the Connecticut board when the Hartford Courant reported that she’d lied on her résumé about having an education degree. Add in the alleged role of the WWE and its parent company in a sexual-abuse scandal involving “ring boys” for the wrestling league, and McMahon’s nomination, in any sanely administered political order, would be dead in the water. (McMahon and her husband both deny the abuse allegations in the pending WWE suit.)

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Yet McMahon possesses one key credential for the next Trump administration—in addition, that is, to a proven track record to personal fealty to the president-elect, and a long string of Fox News appearances: She’s the former head of the America First Policy Institute (AFPI), the policy nerve center for MAGA governance. For all the attention focused on the Heritage Foundation and its Project 2025 policy agenda, AFPI has been Trumpworld’s principal policy network, serving as a haven for former Trump appointees during the Biden years.

AFPI hands assembled a detailed blueprint for Trump’s return to power, including plans to make the Trump tax cuts permanent and purge the federal workforce of civil service workers deemed insufficiently MAGA. In addition to McMahon, Trump has tapped several senior AFPI figures for cabinet posts, including EPA nominee Lee Zeldin, Agriculture nominee Brooke Rollins (the think tank’s president and CEO), and its Georgia chapter chair, Doug Collins, Trump’s pick to head the Department of Veteran’s Affairs.

As education secretary, McMahon would be charged with administering a uniquely destructive suite of policies, even by the usual standards of Trump governance. That’s because the Department of Education has been a bête noire of the American right ever since Jimmy Carter founded the agency in 1979. By creating a layer of federal oversight over locally run schools, the DOE has, in the overheated imaginings of right-wing policy mavens, arrogated deep-state sovereignty over the rights of parents to preside over the best educational options and life chances for their children. And as the Education Department has sought to clarify and standardize anti-discrimination policy for LGBTQ+ students, it’s become a pet target for anti-trans culture warriors on the right.

McMahon probably won’t heed the growing chorus of conservative calls to abolish the DOE outright, but she can be counted on to aggressively pursue other key MAGA objectives in education policy. In line with her work at AFPI, McMahon will likely continue to promote the use of privately backed charter schools to defund public education—the most fundamental plank of right-wing education policy. In addition, she’ll probably resume her predecessor Betty DeVos’s campaign to deny basic Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students. And it’s a safe bet that she’ll also re-up plans to promote Trump’s 1776 commission—MAGA’s agitprop answer to the 1619 Project, promoting a “patriotic” national curriculum to downplay and discourage honest discussion of America’s racial history in the schools.

Following the lead of billionaire right-wing donors, AFPI enthusiastically champions the charter-schools movement, while seeking to undermine the government’s role in providing quality public education. McMahon’s think tank has erected a whole policy infrastructure to promote charter schools, including direct public subsidies to them, the creation of education saving accounts (ESAs) for parents to enroll kids in charters, and proposals to weaken teachers’ unions in conjunction with the rise of open-shop charters.

This agenda does more than harness the long-standing animus to government-backed education on the right—it advances the creation of a parallel education system for right-wing partisans. In this regard, as well as in its aggressive model of privatized education funding, the AFPI plan recalls the original role that neoliberal economics played in supporting the new ad hoc network of “segregation academies” launched in the American South after the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling to desegregate the nation’s schools. The same basic dictum holds for today’s American right as it did then: If you can’t segregate with law, segregate with economics.

AFPI claims that charter school students have higher scores on standardized tests. In reality, the findings here follow what holds for better-funded public schools: namely, that well-funded charter schools tend to produce better test scores, while less well-off charters fare a bit worse, with some regional variations. Students in the competitive DC charter school system’s Opportunity Scholarships program, often cited as the gold standard by charter school advocates, actually performed worse on reading tests than those who did not attend the program.

School choice and voucher programs are a drain on the public’s coffers. For hard-right ideologues like the advisers at AFPI, that’s the whole point. Privatized education is part of the broader right-wing campaign to block the public sector’s ability to finance anything, especially if it would further racial equality. The National Education Association notes that voucher programs redirect scarce public funds toward unaccountable private school programs, and found zero evidence that these programs—which increase school segregation—improve students’ performance. In some cases, there are negative impacts.

What’s more, private management naturally leads to a focus on profit, financial self-sustainability, and expansion—mandates that typically lead to steep budget cuts in the schools, even if students suffer. According to the Network for Public Education, for-profit management companies run nearly one in seven charter schools.

AFPI has also endorsed federal legislation to create national education savings accounts. Like charter schools, ESAs seek to redirect public resources to market-driven gimmicks under the broad rubric of consumer choice. When parents open an ESA, they withdraw their children from the school district and receive a deposit of public funds in a savings account authorized by the government. Parents are then allowed to spend from that account on a range of educational expenses, including tutoring, therapy, or school supplies.

ESA plans create an obvious bind by forcing parents to navigate the education industry all on their own. The ESA scheme affords no safeguards for students whose parents made poor spending choices with the funds in their account. A report in Forbes recounted the story of a family using up its entire account before paying for a single English or math class. And like the broader charter model it upholds, the savings-account system reinforces, rather than weakens, the core inequalities of the US education system; it ensures that wealthier parents will be able to afford to send their children to the best schools.

For a bracing illustration of how charter and for-profit education schemes pillage publicly funded schools, consider Chicago’s experience. In 2013, the city closed 48 public schools to cover widening budget shortfalls. And Chicago’s public schools were going broke in no small part due to the rapid expansion of a parallel charter system captained by ardent school privatizers. Since the insurgent charter schools operated outside traditional governance and accountability, they accumulated millions in debt while draining desperately needed funding away from public schools. Ultimately, 17,000 students were displaced, and Chicago was left with a more unequal and racially segmented school system than it had at the outset of the city’s charter-school fiasco.

Beyond the defunding agenda bound up with charter-school promotion, McMahon’s DOE will almost certainly resume prosecuting right-wing culture-war crusades against public education. With the outcry over critical race theory proving a political bust, it’s likely that McMahon will push to reverse the safeguards that the Biden administration granted to LGBTQ+ students and faculty when it changed its interpretation of Title IX, the law that prevents sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. With Trump and other GOP leaders continuing to foment bogus outrage over trans accommodations in schools, Title IX could once more furnish right-wing culture warriors the opportunity to transform threats into policy.

That’s what AFPI’s track record clearly indicates. When Biden’s education secretary, Miguel Cardona, announced the extension of Title IX protections to LGBTQ+ students, AFPI submitted public comments claiming that Cardona’s policies would “make schools unsafe for women by opening intimate facilities like bathrooms and locker rooms to students based on gender identity.” The think tank also came out against Title IX protections relating to the testimony of survivors of sexual assault, setting up the mind-bending scenario of impunity for sexual assault perpetrators alongside a ginned-up moral panic over the right of transgender people to use the right bathrooms, which has never been linked to any criminality whatsoever.

There’s also every reason to expect McMahon to mount a culture-war takeover of school curricula—despite the alarms raised by small-government conservatives about federal usurpations of local schools. The lead agenda item here would be a revival of Trump’s 1776 commission, the right’s rejoinder to the findings of the 1619 Project.

Jerry C. Davis is a senior adviser to AFPI’s Center for 1776, the think tank’s cheerleading section for Trump’s commission. Davis was the president of the College of the Ozarks, which is ranked among the most gay-unfriendly campuses in the country; the school’s student handbook explicitly bans the expression of any kind of LGBTQ+ identity. Former students recount being coerced into undergoing conversion therapy. A scathing 1994 report from John Hopper, then the executive secretary for the Missouri chapter of the American Association of University Professors, charged that “Davis’ administration has thrown out the faculty-approved handbook, ended faculty governance, ended tenure for those on tenure-track, ended free discussion of much of anything by a ‘gag rule’ in the administratively dictated handbook, and begun ‘reviews’ for those with tenure.”

Apart from McMahon’s advocacy in Washington, AFPI is already hard at work getting its agenda before state legislatures. The institute now has chapters in Pennsylvania, Florida, Georgia, and California. The Georgia chapter has focused on school choice by advocating for a school voucher bill that caters only to the wealthiest Georgians. The bill charts the same ruinous policy arc that unfolded in Chicago, permitting parents to use public funds for private-school enrollment, tutoring services, and other educational outlays, and leaving public schools begging for scraps.

In other states, AFPI has targeted diversity initiatives. The organization has lobbied in favor of Ohio’s bill to defund and delimit diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives on college campuses, HB 151, also known as the Ohio Education Enhancement Act; AFPI’s director of higher education reform, Johnathan Pidluzny, provided testimony on the bill’s behalf. The bill would institute a ban on DEI training programs, prohibit hiring in education on the vague and unenforceable mandate to shun “controversial beliefs and policies,” dismantle affirmative action programs and affinity groups on campuses, and gut collective bargaining protections for state educators. Critics argue that its passage would visit “extremist gag orders” on colleges and students, while enacting de facto bans on student organizations that advocate for marginalized groups.

This is clearly the comfort zone of AFPI and Linda McMahon alike. When the state of Connecticut briefly gave her authority as an arbiter of education policy, she was exposed as a liar and forced to step down. Alas, the Trump-throttled Republican Party is unlikely to heed that lesson as McMahon’s nomination comes up before the Senate, so be prepared for an education secretary to pursue a policy agenda designed to appeal in equal parts to billionaires and WWE-style culture warriors.

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AN 11 24

BEWARE PALACE INTRIGUE?

Behind closed doors, President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has become a somewhat fractious and chaotic environment according to a new report.

The Washington Post reported Saturday that "new camps have formed" at Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida with competing visions for how to prepare for the next four years. The outlet described "shouting matches, expulsions from meetings and name-calling" as frequent occurrences between various factions.

"As during Trump’s first term, competing factions have begun to run roughshod over each other, sometimes kicking up clouds of dust," wrote the Post's Josh Dawsey, Ashley Parker and Michael Scherer.

According to the Post, three different factions have formed — each with their own leaders and strategic goals. One of those camps is led by Trump's eldest son, Donald Jr., with Vice President-elect JD Vance on his side as well as "longtime MAGA warriors" like former Fox News primetime host Tucker Carlson, Vance advisor Andy Surabian and ex-Trump White House official Cliff Sims.

:{:{:{Another faction is led by Trump White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, who also co-chaired Trump's 2024 campaign. Wiles' camp mostly includes her advisors and acolytes, like Trump campaign political director James Blair and deputy campaign officials Taylor Budowich and Robert Gabriel.}:

And a third group consists of transition co-chair and Secretary of Education-designate Linda McMahon and alumni from the America First Policy Institute like Brooke Rollins (who was rumored as a finalist for chief of staff) and Keith Kellogg, who was former Vice President Mike Pence's national security advisor.}:}:

Dust-ups between top Trump advisors are also breaking out during Trump transition team meetings. The Post's report began by describing an altercation between Trump attorney Boris Epshteyn and transition team co-chair Howard Lutnick (whom Trump has tapped to lead the Department of Commerce). Lutnick physically blocked Ephsteyn's path as he tried to enter a Mar-a-Lago meeting about potential Cabinet appointees, telling him: "We're not talking legal nominees today." But Ephsteyn reportedly stiff-armed Lutnick, saying: "I'm coming in."

In another contentious meeting, billionaire Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk — who is sometimes referred to as "co-president" over Vance — and Epshteyn got into a loud back-and-forth, with the former suggesting the latter was leaking sensitive details of meetings to the press. One unnamed witness described the encounter on the Mar-a-Lago patio as a "huge fight" and a "big blowup," with Epshteyn reportedly saying: "I don’t know what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything wrong."

“It’s Boris against the world,” one unnamed "Trump confidant" told the Post, with another anonymous source saying Epshteyn was on “an island of his own.”

Vance has also participated in some the more heated arguments among transition team leaders, with one culminating in a social media post the vice president-elect has since deleted. While several Republican senators were at a SpaceX launch earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) managed to get several of President Joe Biden's last remaining federal judges confirmed. Grace Chong, who works for former Trump White House chief strategist Steve Bannon on his "War Room" podcast, criticized Vance for missing the vote.

"You guys better show up and do your one fricken[sic] job!!" Chong posted to X, referring to both Vance and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who Trump picked to head the State Department. Vance responded by calling Chong a "mouth-breathing imbecile" in the now-deleted tweet. Chong has since added "mouth-breathing imbecile" to her X bio.

:{:{Click here to read the Post's report in its entirety (subscription required).}:

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YIKES TRUMP CABINET EDUCATION?!

an 11 24 comm dr

Trump announced late Tuesday that he intends to nominate Linda McMahon, the billionaire former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment, to lead the Department of Education, a key agency that Republicans—including Trump and the authors of Project 2025—have said they want to abolish.

McMahon served as head of the Small Business Administration during Trump's first White House term and later chaired both America First Action—a pro-Trump super PAC—and the America First Policy Institute, a far-right think tank that has expressed support for cutting federal education funding and expanding school privatization.

Trump touted McMahon's work to expand school "choice"—a euphemism for taxpayer-funded private school vouchers—and said she would continue those efforts on a national scale as head of the Education Department.

"We will send Education BACK TO THE STATES, and Linda will spearhead that effort," Trump said in a statement posted to his social media platform, Truth Social. (McMahon is listed as an independent director of Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social.)

The National Education Association (NEA), a union that represents millions of teachers across the U.S., said in response to the president-elect's announcement that McMahon is "grossly unqualified" to lead the Education Department, noting that she has "lied about having a degree in education," presided over an organization "with a history of shady labor practices," and "pushed for an extreme agenda that would harm students, defund public schools, and privatize public schools through voucher schemes."

"During his first term, Donald Trump appointed Betsy DeVos to undermine and ultimately privatize public schools through vouchers," NEA president Becky Pringle said in a statement. "Now, he and Linda McMahon are back at it with their extreme Project 2025 proposal to eliminate the Department of Education, steal resources for our most vulnerable students, increase class sizes, cut job training programs, make higher education more expensive and out of reach for middle-class families, take away special education services for disabled students, and put student civil rights protections at risk."

"The Department of Education plays such a critical role in the success of each and every student in this country," Pringle continued. "The Senate must stand up for our students and reject Donald Trump's unqualified nominee, Linda McMahon. Our students and our nation deserve so much better than Betsy DeVos 2.0."

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, took a more diplomatic approach, saying in a statement that "we look forward to learning more about" McMahon and that, if she's confirmed, "we will reach out to her as we did with Betsy DeVos at the beginning of her tenure."

"While we expect that we will disagree with Linda McMahon on many issues, our devotion to kids requires us to work together on policies that can improve the lives of students, their families, their educators, and their communities," Weingarten added.

McMahon is one of several billionaires Trump has selected for major posts in his incoming administration, which is teeming with conflicts of interest. During Trump's first term, McMahon and her husband, Vince McMahon, made at least $100 million from dividends, investment interest, and stock and bond sales.

The Guardiannoted Tuesday that "in October, [Linda] McMahon was named in a new lawsuit involving WWE."

"The suit alleges that she and other leaders of the company allowed the sexual abuse of young boys at the hands of a ringside announcer, former WWE ring crew chief Melvin Phillips Jr," the newspaper reported. "The complaint specifically alleges that the McMahons knew about the abuse and failed to stop it."

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AN 11 24

President-elect Donald Trump has surprised and even alarmed many across the country, and “puzzled” and “baffled” some within his own party, with his Cabinet and other top White House nominations. Critics on the left have denounced his picks for their apparent lack of experience or qualifications for the roles they are expected to take on, noting some hold controversial or even false positions in the fields they may soon direct policy on. Meanwhile, experts in the fields of government, fascism, and democracy, are raising serious concerns about the potential “danger” some nominees represent, drawing comparisons to the “professional propagandists” often found in authoritarian regimes.

Dr. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, an NYU professor of history and a recognized expert on fascism and authoritarianism, on Wednesday pointed to this report on one of Trump’s most-recent nominations, Linda McMahon:

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McMahon was Trump’s former administrator of the Small Business Administration, and is a former CEO of WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), a major GOP donor, and has recently been the chair of a pro-Trump Super PAC, the board chair of a pro-Trump think tank, and the co-chair of Trump’s second transition team.

“Trump’s cabinet picks are a declaration of war on expertise and facts (that’s why there are several Fox hosts in the mix). The con artists, fraudsters, and professional propagandists that populate authoritarian governments see facts and laws as impediments to their goals,” Dr. Ben-Ghiat wrote.

Trump, announcing McMahon’s nomination, claimed, “Linda will use her decades of Leadership experience, and deep understanding of both Education and Business, to empower the next Generation of American Students and Workers, and make America Number One in Education in the World.”

McMahon’s only brush with the field of education came about 15 years ago, when she served on the Connecticut State Board of Education. She resigned after 15 months. At the time, her appointment was controversial, with one lawmaker lamenting, “her depth of knowledge regarding education is lacking.”

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McMahon is far from the only controversial nominee.

On Tuesday, the vice chair of the powerful House Rules Committee Jim McGovern (D-MA) blasted Trump’s nominees as “beyond insane.”

“Someone who is credibly accused of having sex with an underage girl. Someone who sucks up to foreign dictators and has attracted major concern that they can’t be trusted to protect America’s secrets from our adversaries. Someone who paid hush money to cover up a sexual assault accusation, you know, to lead our military, he’s picked because Donald Trump likes him on Fox News? Someone who says that tap water turns kids gay? I mean, this is the dream team? This is the dream team? Really?”

He appeared to be referring to Attorney General presumptive nominee Matt Gaetz, Director of National Intelligence presumptive nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Defense Secretary presumptive nominee Pete Hegseth, and HHS Secretary presumptive nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The Democratic Association of Secretaries of State posted video calling Trump’s nominees “a trainwreck.”

“Gaetz, Gabbard, RFK – none of them have the experience or qualifications for the positions they’re seeking, in addition to the fact they’re all dangerous MAGA zealots,” the organization declared. They posted a video clip (below) from MSNBC with a chyron that noted opposition from the right to Trump’s Attorney General nominee, Matt Gaetz.

MSNBC’s justice and legal affairs analyst Anthony Coley told viewers that Gaetz, the recently resigned U.S. Congressman, “has no national security experience—not anything meaningful—little anti-trust experience, and he certainly has no experience with criminal law, except for being the target of a federal criminal investigation looking into inappropriate sexual contact, allegedly, with a minor.”

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Trump has also just appointed his former acting U.S. Attorney General Matthew Whitaker, a strong Trump loyalist, to be the U.S. Ambassador to NATO.

“Whitaker has little evident foreign policy or national security experience, making him an unknown to many in U.S. security circles,” The Associated Press reports. “Previous ambassadors to NATO have generally had years of diplomatic, political or military experience.”

“Before serving Trump,” Mother Jones notes, “he helped a company hawk bizarre products like a ‘masculine toilet’ to help ‘well-endowed men’ avoid unwanted contact with water.”

But The Atlantic’s Tom Nichols, a former U.S. Naval War College professor and an expert on Russia and nuclear weapons, served up this warning: “This is just hilarious, but the danger here is that it makes him Senate-confirmed and available for other stuff later.”

In other words, assuming Whitaker is confirmed, Trump could nominate him to another, even more critical role, declaring he’s qualified because he’s already been Senate-confirmed.

Last week, Nichols declared that Trump’s “nominations for intelligence, defense, and justice were revenge on people he thinks are his enemies. This is just endangering millions of innocent people.”

On Monday on MSNBC, Nichols went much further, delivered a scathing analysis of Trump’s nominees, calling them “an all-fronts assault on American democracy,” in another warning.

Trump, he said, is “trying to break the institutions of American government and American society, and what you’ve been seeing for the past few weeks is an all-fronts assault on American democracy, especially with these nominations.”

“I think the most dangerous of these nominations is actually [Pete] Hegseth,” Nichols explained. “And I’m kind of startled that we’re not sitting here talking more about taking a morning Fox [News] host and sticking him in the nuclear chain of command, to lead the largest—one of the largest—bureaucracies in the United States, in the world, including the person that’s supposed to look after the most powerful fighting force on the planet.”

And he concluded, “it’s also important to recognize that we could be in the first phases of a major constitutional crisis, even before Trump is sworn in.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

READ MORE:[‘Damaging’: Unredacted Sealed Sworn Testimony in Gaetz Case Accessed by Alleged Hacker]

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quid pro quo florida desantis essential jammed up against contract for live TV; wrestler test pos

sept 2021 (basically a year after trump lost)

Today, America First Policy Institute (AFPI) announced that Linda McMahon, Chair of the Board for AFPI, will also serve as AFPI’s Chairman of the Center for the American Worker.

“There is no stronger advocate or voice for the American worker and their employers than Linda McMahon—an entrepreneur who helped grow a two-person small business to a worldwide, publicly traded corporation that employs hundreds. While serving as the 25th Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, she advocated on behalf of the 30 million small businesses in America—the backbone of our Nation’s economy,” said AFPI President/CEO Brooke Rollins. “I am excited for Linda to carry out AFPI’s mission putting the American worker FIRST.”

“The American worker is the heart of our country,” said Linda McMahon. “AFPI’s Center for the American Worker will reignite the focus on the dignity of work. We have to make sure that the workers, the innovators, and the entrepreneurs who bring these businesses to life have the tools and skills that they need for their workforce.”

The complete bio for The Honorable Linda McMahon can be found below.

An executive summary of the Center for the American Worker flagship paper can be found here.

The paper in its entirety can be found here.

The center video can be found here.

For interview inquiries please email press@americafirstpolicy.com

THE HONORABLE LINDA MCMAHON, Chair of the Board and Chairman of the Center for the American Worker

Linda McMahon is originally from New Bern, North Carolina, and serves as Chair of the Board for the America First Policy Institute (AFPI) and Chairman of the Center for the American Worker. McMahon served in President Donald J. Trump’s Cabinet as Administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA). Under McMahon’s leadership at SBA, she re-imagined the organization, focusing on rural development and championing women entrepreneurs and military veterans. She oversaw natural disaster recovery efforts and helped improve the way the SBA connected small businesses to capital, counseling, and government contracts. After her service in the Trump Administration, she served as Chair of the America First Action SuperPAC, and America First Policy, LLC. Prior to her career in public service, McMahon was the President and later CEO of WWE, INC., which she and her husband, Vince, grew from a small regional corporation to a multinational Public Company.

*“If you want something done, give it to a busy woman to do it.”* – Lucille Ball

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POLITICS

Trump-allied dark money group joins forces with a think tank run by ex-president’s former aides

PUBLISHED MON, NOV 22 20211:48 PM ESTUPDATED MON,NOV 22 2021

Brian Schwartz

@SCHWARTZBCNBC

KEY POINTS

America First Works, a dark money group that once promoted former President Trump’s policies, is joining forces with a think tank headed in part by former key members of his administration.

The think tank, America First Policy Institute, is led in part by former Trump economic advisor Larry Kudlow and former Small Business Administration chief Linda McMahon.

The collaboration comes as Trump considers running for the White House again in 2024. They could provide another platform for Trump and his allies to keep his “America First” agenda in the spotlight.

America First Works is permitted by law to engage in some partisan politics. America First Policy Institute claims to be nonpartisan.

A dark money group that once promoted former President Donald Trump’s policies is joining forces with a think tank headed in part by former key members of his administration, including Larry Kudlow and Linda McMahon.

America First Works launched after Trump’s 2016 victory and was previously known as America First Policies. It was reformed and changed its name after Trump lost his bid for reelection.

Now the group is working directly with another freshly formed nonprofit organization, think tank America First Policy Institute, according to Ashley Hayek, a Trump campaign veteran who has a leadership role at America First Works and is also chief engagement officer for the think tank.

Other leaders at the AFPI think tank include:

CEO Brooke Rollins, who was once the director of domestic policy in Trump’s White House

Board chair McMahon, a former CEO of World Wrestling Entertainment who served as Trump’s head of the Small Business Administration

Board vice chair Kudlow, who was director of the National Economic Council under Trump

Neither America First Works nor America First Policy Institute is required by law to publicly disclose their donors. America First Works has given money to a group that claimed to have helped write Georgia’s voting law and another organization that is pushing to amend the Constitution to further impose limits on the federal government’s powers.

The groups’ collaboration comes as Trump considers running for the White House again in 2024. They could provide another platform for Trump and his allies to keep his “America First” agenda in the spotlight. Members of the think tank have been moving ahead with publicly promoting these pro-Trump policies through op-eds, interviews and pre-recorded videos.

While it’s unclear how much cash AFPI has on hand, Axios reported that it has a first year budget of $20 million. It was launched earlier this year. America First Works finished 2020 with just over $7 million in assets, according to their annual 990 tax filing.

America First Works is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit, which by law can engage in some partisan politics, while America First Policy Institute is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, which by law should be nonpartisan. The group claims on its website that it is nonpartisan despite being aligned with the former president.

Hayek told CNBC that America First Works was formed “as a new organization to work closely with AFPI” and as “an extension of AFPI, it is entirely focused on advancing policy at all levels of government, including to promote economic opportunity, school choice, affordable healthcare, foster care reform, election integrity, and criminal justice reform.”

CNBC Politics

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npr

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Linda McMahon To Quit Small Business Administration, Join Pro-Trump SuperPAC

March 29, 2019

Scott Horsley

Linda McMahon had contributed heavily to Donald Trump's 2016 election effort. At America First Action, she could play a similar role in his 2020 bid for re-election.

Linda McMahon, the famous pro wrestling promoter who stayed largely out of the limelight as small business administrator, is quitting President Trump's Cabinet after more than two years on the job.

McMahon plans to join the pro-Trump superPAC America First Action, according to a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

"Linda McMahon has done an incredible job," Trump told reporters Friday at his Florida vacation home. "She has been a superstar."

A multimillionaire, McMahon contributed heavily to Trump's 2016 election effort. At America First Action, she could play a significant role in the president's 2020 bid for re-election.

"We're staying together," Trump said.

Along with her husband Vince, McMahon ran the hugely successful World Wrestling Entertainment company, negotiating television rights and merchandising contracts. She twice ran unsuccessfully for the Senate from her home state of Connecticut.

At the SBA, McMahon has proven to be a workhorse, traveling the country to promote small business and the president's economic agenda while avoiding the scandals that have plagued several of her Cabinet colleagues.

"The opportunity to lead the agency in supporting America's small businesses has been immensely rewarding," McMahon said in a statement. She pointed to surveys showing high levels of optimism among the country's small business owners.

"They are investing in their companies and their employees — raising wages, providing bonuses and benefits, and creating more jobs," McMahon said.

Her resignation will take effect on April 12. Trump said he would announce a nominee to replace McMahon in the near future.

"I wish to thank the President and I will continue to be a strong advocate for him and his policies," McMahon said.

Trump has proposed cutting the SBA's budget next year by 5 percent.

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722

https://americafirstpolicy.com/team/linda-mcmahon/

THE HONORABLE LINDA MCMAHON

CHAIR OF THE BOARD AND CHAIR, CENTER FOR THE AMERICAN WORKER

:{:{}:

THE HONORABLE LARRY KUDLOW

VICE CHAIR OF THE BOARD AND CHAIR, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROSPERITY

THE HONORABLE BROOKE L. ROLLINS

PRESIDENT AND CEO

THE HONORABLE CHAD WOLF

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER & CHAIR, CENTER FOR HOMELAND SECURITY & IMMIGRATION

THE HONORABLE DOUG HOELSCHER

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

NICK BARBKNECHT

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

CATHARINE CYPHER

CHIEF OF STAFF, CONSTITUTIONAL LITIGATION PARTNERSHIP AND ADVISOR, CENTER FOR THE AMERICAN CHILD

MARTIN GILLESPIE

CHIEF DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

ASHLEY HAYEK

CHIEF ENGAGEMENT OFFICER

AARON HEDLUND, PH.D.

DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH

RENEE HUDSON

CHIEF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS OFFICER

MARC LOTTER

CHIEF COMMUNICATIONS OFFICER

RACHAEL SLOBODIEN

SENIOR ADVISOR & DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR THE AMERICAN WORKER

STEVEN M. SMITH

CHIEF OF STAFF AND DIRECTOR,CENTER FOR NEW FRONTIERS

JESSICA HART STEINMANN

GENERAL COUNSEL

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she quit sba to join org for re-election

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House GOP chairman on Wednesday lauded President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of wrestling mogul Linda McMahon to lead the Small Business Administration.

“Linda McMahon is an excellent choice by President-elect Trump to lead the SBA as administrator,” House Small Business Committee Chairman Steve Chabot (R-Ohio) said in a statement.

”I look forward to working with her and the new administration to roll back burdensome regulations and increase access to capital for America’s 28 million small businesses,” he added.

Trump praised McMahon on Wednesday for her leading role in helping grow WWE to a “global enterprise,” calling her “one of the country’s top female executives.”

“I am honored to join the incredibly impressive economic team that President-elect Trump has assembled to ensure that we promote our country’s small businesses and help them grow and thrive,” McMahon said in a statement.

Chabot said he looks forward to working with McMahon to address “ongoing problems” at the SBA and improve its efficiency.

“Our Committee will work with the new administrator to advance meaningful reforms that will make the SBA more efficient and customer-friendly for small businesses,” Chabot said.

“This work should begin by fixing the ongoing problems in SBA and SBA-administered programs that were exposed through our oversight hearings in the 114th Congress,” he added.

McMahon, the latest Cabinet pick announced by Trump, has long been floated a potential SBA appointee given her ties to Republican causes and to Trump himself, who appeared at WWE pro-wresting events.

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beware forbes mag 420

Here Are The Billionaires Backing Donald Trump’s Campaign

Michela Tindera Forbes Staff

Money & Politics

The richest president in American history has gotten financial support from nearly one in 10 U.S. billionaires.

Nearly five years ago Donald Trump descended an escalator inside Trump Tower and announced a long-shot bid to become president of the United States. Standing on a stage in the building’s lobby, in front of eight American flags, he spoke to a gaggle of cameras. “I’m using my own money,” Trump said, indicating that he would self-fund his campaign. “I’m not using the lobbyists. I’m not using donors. I don’t care. I’m really rich.”

:{:{}:

How times have changed. Now in the midst of his reelection campaign, President Trump has accepted donations from 80 billionaires and their spouses, according to a review of Federal Election Commission filings. Fifty-one moguls donated in their own names. Seven others are married to people who did. In other words, 9% of America’s billionaires, who together are worth a combined $210 billion—either directly or through their spouse—have pitched in to cover the costs of Trump’s 2020 campaign.

Tracking Billionaire Donations Over Time

Forbes mined more than 2.5 million entries in the Federal Election Commission database to identify Trump’s richest donors. We searched for contributions made to the president’s campaign committee, Donald J. Trump For President. Our analysis begins on inauguration day, 2017, when Trump officially filed papers for his reelection effort, and ends on February 29, 2020, the latest date for which the campaign has submitted federal filings. (By contrast, Barack Obama didn’t begin seeking contributions to his election campaign until the third year of his presidency.)

Most of the donors, some 56%, live in just three states: Florida, New York and Texas. More than three-quarters are self-made. The rest inherited small fortunes and grew them into bigger ones. They come from all sorts of industries—real estate, energy, sports and so on. But one-fifth of the donors got rich in finance & investments. That group includes titans like Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman, hedge funder John Paulson and retired Franklin Templeton chief Charles B. Johnson. About 10% of the donors made their money in real estate, including Trump’s fellow New York City billionaire, Richard LeFrak. Shopping mall magnate Edward DeBartolo pitched in $3,000 with his wife Cynthia; Trump later pardoned him, in February.

Texas banker Andy Beal, who Forbes estimates is worth $8.1 billion, has given more money to the Trump Victory joint fundraising committee than any other individual billionaire, according to federal filings. Since 2017 Beal, whose bank was once a senior lender to Trump Entertainment Resorts, has donated more than $1 million over many months. That’s nearly twice as much as he gave during the 2016 campaign. (And just $12,200 less than the combined sum TD Ameritrade AMTD’s Joe Ricketts and his wife Marlene gave.) Brothers and casino magnates Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, along with their wives, meanwhile, gave $1.4 million to Trump Victory in one single day last October.

How Donald Trump's Donors Got Rich

Some donors made one large contribution early in the Trump presidency, like Revlon chairman Ronald Perelman, who gave $125,000 to Trump Victory in September 2017. Others have contributed multiple times over the last three years. Fifty-one percent of Trump’s billionaire donors did not give to the president’s 2016 campaign. U-Haul billionaire E. Joe Shoen made his first-ever contribution to Trump Victory, $35,500, in February 2020. “President Trump has done an outstanding job and certainly merits my vote,” Shoen says. (Forbes reached out to all of Trump’s donors, nearly all of whom declined to comment on the record.)

Nearly all the money coming from billionaires traveled through something called a joint fundraising committee.By law, no individual can donate more than $5,600 to an official presidential campaign. But anyone can give bigger sums to joint fundraising committees, which gather funds for specific campaigns and political parties. President Trump has two major joint fundraising committees, Trump Victory and Trump Make America Great Again Committee, which collect money for his campaign, the Republican National Committee and other state-level RNC groups. Forty-five billionaire donors have pitched in more than $100,000 each to Trump’s joint fundraising committees.

Some of the donors who supported Trump during his initial run received roles that gave them access to the president. WWE cofounder Linda McMahon, who contributed $152,700 to Trump Victory in 2016, was appointed by Trump to head the Small Business Administration.She stepped down from her position last year to run a pro-Trump super PAC called America First Action. She has since given more than $2.7 million to that PAC, money that’s not included in this tally because super PACs are technically independent of campaigns.

Not all of Trump’s 2016 billionaire supporters are still giving—at least not yet. Private equity titan Stephen Feinberg gave $339,400 to Trump Victory last election,and Carl Icahn chipped in $200,000.Neither has donated to Trump since his inauguration. Jennifer Pritzker, heir to the Hyatt hotel fortune, contributed $250,000 to Trump Victory in 2016. A transgender woman, Pritzker spoke out against Trump’s transgender military ban, and last year, she donated $1,000 to the campaign of Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg.

Amid all this support, however, one billionaire stands out for having donated no money to his reelection campaign. That billionaire is Donald Trump.

Trump’s billionaire backers, ordered by amount given:[graf?]

Contributions made by nearly all donors were made to two joint fundraising committees, Trump Make America Great Again Committee or Trump Victory and then transferred in part to the Donald J. Trump For President Committee.

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aha: kind of scary that a superpac (which is spozed to be indep?) is throwing around its wt as if it's a legit org, not a effing slush fund of dark $ whose main purpose is to give cover to funder and cand on neg attack ads (often right before election when cannot be countered/debunked?)

one wonders if this is local tv stations standing up for democracy and free speech, or their refusal to play ref, or more darkly, they just want the massive ad revenue flowing from dark money superpacs

OMG

https://www.alternet.org/2020/03/read-the-letter-trumps-campaign-sent-to-tv-stations-threatening-the-fcc-could-pull-their-licenses-over-coronavirus-ad/

no lnx

Read the letter Trump’s campaign sent to TV stations threatening the FCC could pull their licenses over coronavirus

Written by David Badash / The New Civil Rights Movement March 26, 2020

Lawyers for President Donald Trump’s official Super PAC, America First Action, tried to get TV stations in key battleground states to stop airing an anti-Trump ad that focuses on his horrific mismanagement of the coronavirus crisis. The TV stations refused to pull the ad, placed by the pro-Biden Super PAC Priorities USA (PUSA), which rightly noted that the pro-Trump Super PAC did not even have standing to make the demand.

So President Trump’s official campaign stepped in to do what his Super PAC could not.

Attorneys for the Donald J. Trump for President campaign sent a Cease and Desist letter to those TV stations demanding they stop airing the anti-Trump ad.

Not only did they make that demand, but they threatened that the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which the President controls in that he appoints its commissioners, could pull their broadcast licenses if they did not comply.

The letter reads in part: “your station has an obligation to cease and desist from airing [the ad] immediately to comply with FCC licensing requirements, to serve the public interest, and to avoid costly and time-consuming litigation.”

It also says “we formally demand that your station refuse to continue airing it to meet your responsibilities not to broadcast false information,” which is ironic given the number of falsehoods and lies Trump tells on a daily basis which are often broadcast by news networks.

It adds, “your station has a responsibility to ‘protect the public from false, misleading or deceptive advertising,’” and threatens that “your failure to remove this deceptive ad … could put your station’s license in jeopardy.”

This is the ad the Trump campaign claims is “patently false, misleading, and deceptive,” says he did not call the coronavirus a “hoax,” and essentially claims the ad says he did.

Trump refused to take the threat of the coronavirus seriously, now he won’t take responsibility as his administration has been totally unprepared for this crisis. pic.twitter.com/Jdh1GY9HHS

— Priorities USA (@prioritiesUSA) March 23, 2020

The letter can be read on the Trump campaign’s website.

===

https://www.alternet.org/2019/10/a-shady-pro-trump-super-pac-at-the-heart-of-the-ukraine-scandal-has-been-raising-alarms/

no lnx

A shady pro-Trump super PAC at the heart of the Ukraine scandal has been raising alarms

Written by Mike Spies, Derek Willis / ProPublica October 18, 2019

ProPublica

Last year, a Department of Defense contractor quietly donated half a million dollars to a group supporting President Donald Trump’s reelection.

Once a watchdog organization noticed it, the contribution raised an alarm. Federal contractors are not allowed to donate to political entities. And groups are required by law to examine all donations for potential legal issues. If they discover that a contractor has made a contribution, the money has to be returned.

The other unusual aspect of the donation was the man behind it. Randy Perkins, the founder of DOD contractor AshBritt Environmental, had no history of six-figure contributions to federal political groups, although he has been a regular donor to Republicans for the past 15 years. He ran unsuccessfully for Congress as a Democrat in 2016.

The watchdog group pointed out that the money came in a day after AshBritt won a supplemental contract award worth $460,000 from the DOD for wildfire cleanup, bringing its contract total to about $1.7 million.

Asked about the donation, Perkins said he had meant to make a personal donation to express his support for specific Trump policies: “I actually think this administration cares deeply about children and mental health issues.” He said the contract extension had nothing to do with the contribution.

America First Action, the Trump super PAC that accepted the donation, adjusted its report on the source of the funds only after the watchdog group, the Campaign Legal Center, filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission. Since America First’s creation in 2017, it has refunded just a fraction of 1% of all the funds it has raised.

If you’ve been hearing about America First recently, it’s likely because two associates of presidential lawyer Rudy Giuliani were arrested on allegations that they illegally funneled money to the group.

But that case is not the only problem that has ensnared the PAC as its role in backing Republican candidates has grown.

In another instance, the American subsidiary of a Canadian company made three donations totaling $1.75 million to America First in 2018. In another complaint, the Campaign Legal Center questioned the source of the donation and alleged that Wheatland Tube LLC may have violated laws against foreign nationals contributing to federal campaigns. The company declined to comment on the matter.

Last year, Common Cause, the political reform group, asked the FEC to determine whether the Trump campaign had illegally coordinated with America First and America First Policies, a related group that can raise money without disclosing its donors. The complaint alleged that the president and his campaign were improperly soliciting contributions for the two entities.

The FEC has not acted on any of these complaints to date, and it currently lacks a quorum to vote on enforcement actions proposed by its staff.

“The number of complaints is pretty remarkable,” said Ann Ravel, a Democrat who served as chair of the FEC in 2015.

America First communications director Kelly Sadler told ProPublica that the group takes its obligations seriously and goes to great lengths to comply with the law.

The PAC has denied any wrongdoing in the criminal case against the Giuliani associates. Sadler said the contribution at the heart of the indictment has been placed in a segregated account and will remain there “until these matters are resolved and a court determines the proper disposition of the funds.”

As a super PAC, America First can take unlimited donations from corporations and individuals. In return, it is not supposed to coordinate with campaigns, which are restricted in the amount of donations they may accept.

America First has raised more money to support Trump’s reelection than any super PAC. It is currently chaired by Linda McMahon, and it has raised nearly $50 million over the last two years, including about $9 million in this election cycle to reelect Trump.

Its affiliated nonprofit group, America First Policies, was co-founded by Brad Parscale, now the president’s campaign manager.

McMahon, a former professional wrestling executive, until March was a member of the president’s cabinet, overseeing the Small Business Administration. She also donated $1 million to the PAC, whose public filings show 19 donations of at least $1 million.

The PAC’s top donors include casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and Geoffrey Palmer, a billionaire California developer. Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein, who run a shipping supplies company, donated half a million dollars each.

In the 2018 election, America First spent more than $29 million supporting Republican candidates in House and Senate races. Former Texas Rep. Pete Sessions, a powerful GOP leader, received heavy backing from the PAC — $3 million toward a contest he would go on to lose.

The $500,000 donation attributed to AshBritt was among a flood of big donations coming into the PAC in the spring of 2018. The company, based in Deerfield Beach, Florida, does disaster cleanup work.

The Campaign Legal Center’s complaint got little attention. Under FEC rules, a committee has 30 days to confirm the legality of a questionable donation or to refund it; nearly three months passed before the PAC amended its filing to show the donation as being made directly by Perkins.

Perkins said he tried to rectify the matter by providing “all paperwork to the FEC” and resubmitting forms to America First stating that the funds were in fact drawn from a corporate account that would later be taxed as personal income.

“When I wrote the check, I cleared it with America First,” Perkins told ProPublica.

Perkins acknowledges that the optics of his America First donation are less than ideal.

“The facts might be a problem,” he said. “But they are facts.”

A few weeks after Perkins’ donation, the PAC received $325,000 from Global Energy Partners, the Florida energy company that is now at the center of a presidential impeachment inquiry. The PAC was referred to as “Committee 1” in the federal indictment of Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, who pleaded not guilty on charges that they donated to try to advance their energy business in Ukraine in an arraignment this week.

The two men, according to the indictment, were key characters in a coercion campaign to recall the United States ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, which they believed would pave the way for an investigation into Trump’s Democratic rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter.

The indictment also alleges that Fruman and Parnas promised to fundraise for Sessions. Around the same time, Sessions wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s ouster.

Sessions, who is now running for Congress in a new district, did not respond to messages from ProPublica. In a statement issued on his behalf, he acknowledged meeting with the two Florida businessmen several times but said he took no action on their behalf.

Sessions denied that his letter to Pompeo was directly related to the meetings. He said he will donate the contributions Parnas and Fruman gave to his campaign to Texas charities.

The indictment also alleges that Fruman and Parnas promised to fundraise for Sessions. Around the same time, Sessions wrote to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo urging Yovanovitch’s ouster.

Sessions denied that his letter to Pompeo was directly related to the meetings. He said he will donate the contributions Parnas and Fruman gave to his campaign to Texas charities.

Do you have information about America First Action? Contact Mike at michael.spies@propublica.org, Derek at derek.willis@propublica.org, or David at David.McSwane@propublica.org. Here are other ways to contact us securely.

pub cit

Linda McMahon

Trump's Pick for: Small Business Administration (SBA) Administrator

Corporate Connection: World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)

In 1980, Linda McMahon co-founded the World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), and she served as its CEO from 1997 to 2009. Under Linda McMahon’s leadership and through her lobbying efforts, the wrestling industry remains largely unregulated, saving her company millions but putting the health and safety of wrestlers at risk. McMahon makes many of her employees “independent contractors,” which allows her company to avoid providing health insurance to its employees, as well as paying Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance taxes. McMahon and her husband have an estimated net worth of $1.16 billion.

:{:{With her husband, has a net worth is estimated at $1.16 billion.}:

McMahon spent more than $100 million on two failed U.S. Senate bids in 2010 and 2012.

During one Senate campaign, McMahon misled the public about her lobbying history, denying that she had spent lobbying dollars in Washington, D.C., when the WWE had spent more than $1 million.

Under McMahon’s leadership, the WWE successfully lobbied state legislatures to deregulate the wrestling industry.The lobbying, which was largely successful, was focused on having the “WWE removed from under the umbrellas of state athletic commissions,” according to reports, “which allowed it to dodge some of the stiff testing standards and fees that states imposed on bona fide athletic leagues.” The result was lower health and safety standards for wrestlers, at a time when the WWE was “embroiled in drug and steroid scandals.”

:{:{Many WWE wrestlers have died, which families of the deceased have attributed to McMahon’s deregulatory efforts. Said one dead wrestler’s father: “Linda McMahon claims one of her greatest accomplishments while working at WWE was getting their industry deregulated. They now operate with absolutely no oversight. History will show that the early death rate of wrestlers started shortly after the regulation was stopped.”}:

Donated $7 million to a super PACs supporting Donald Trump.

McMahon once filed a million dollar bankruptcy.

https://ballotpedia.org/Linda_McMahon

Linda McMahon was a 2012 Republican candidate who sought election to the U.S. Senate from Connecticut.

McMahon spent more than $100 million of her own money trying to win a Senate seat in 2010 and 2012. As of December 2013, that sum was the most anyone had ever spent of their own funds in trying to win a federal race. The previous leader was Ross Perot, who spent $72 million of his money in the 1992 and 1996 presidential elections.^[1]^

...

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon In Line For Position in Trump ...

www.bleedingcool.com/.../former-wwe-ceo-linda-mcmahon-line-position-trump-cabi...

20 hours ago - linda UK tabloid The Daily Star, known for being such shameless rumormongers that even Rich Johnston is like, “damn, that's some shameless ...

Linda McMahon reportedly a potential candidate for President Trump's ...

www.pwtorch.com/.../linda-mcmahon-reportedly-potential-candidate-president-trump...

2 days ago - The UK Daily Star reports today that Linda McMahon, who supported Donald Trump'srun for president, may join his cabinet in the Commerce ...

Linda McMahon, who once called Trump's comments about women ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/.../wwe-co-founder-linda-mcmahon-gave-6-million-to...

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411MANIA | Linda McMahon Rumored to Join Donald Trump's ...

411mania.com/.../linda-mcmahon-rumored-to-join-donald-trumps-presidential-cabine...

23 hours ago - After Trump won the election earlier this week, Linda McMahon wrote ... Thrilled to congratulate my friend, President-elect Donald Trump on a ...

Linda McMahon Congratulates Donald Trump, WWE Stars Do Man ...

www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2016/.../linda-mcmahon-congratulates-donald-trump/

4 days ago - Linda McMahon tweeted the following to congratulate WWE Hall of Famer Donald Trumpon becoming the 45th President of the United States.

Donald Trump looking to Sarah Palin, WWE's Linda McMahon for ...

us.blastingnews.com › News › 2016 › 11

23 hours ago - Donald Trump will soon announce who will be joining his administration, with some names raising eyebrows.

Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon slams 'deplorable' GOP campaign ...

https://www.yahoo.com/.../former-wwe-ceo-linda-mcmahon-lays-smack-down-on-21...

Mar 29, 2016 - Former wrestling mogul Linda McMahon has condemned the ... News Live: Former WWE CEO Linda McMahon on the 2016 race, Trump, ...

“Campaigns are becoming more transparent about opposition research. After watching what the Swift Boat Vets did to Senator [John] Kerry in the 2004 presidential campaign, candidates realized that for them to have the ability to do the same thing to their opponents, they would need professional opposition research.”

Many opposition researchers still prefer to remain in the shadows. And some people who start off bragging about their use of opposition research learn to dial it back. In Connecticut, Senate candidate :{McMahon’s operation quickly realized that dirt-digging can leave a bad taste in the mouths of voters. Shortly after boasting of the May campaign hit on opponent Blumenthal’s military service, McMahon’s campaign scrubbed its Web site clean of any reference to its role.}:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE **10/09/2012

WASHINGTON – The League of Conservation Voters (LCV) announced today that they have added Connecticut Senate candidate Linda McMahon to their trademark “Dirty Dozen” program** and are devoting significant resources to defeating her in November. LCV Action Fund is simultaneously launching a mail program that includes**six flights of mail highlighting McMahon’s extreme proposal to dismantle the Environmental Protection Agency while standing up for the interests of Big Oil.

“Linda McMahon’s plan to dismantle the EPA and threaten our air and water is just too extreme for Connecticut,” said Navin Nayak, LCV Senior Vice President for Campaigns.

McMahon’s extreme agenda is far outside of the mainstream and out-of-step with Connecticut voters. McMahon has said she would consider abolishing the Environmental Protection Agency, which could end environmental safety standards that protect Connecticut families, increase air pollutants that are responsible for thousands of premature deaths and endanger drinking water. At the same time, her tax plan would give the biggest oil companies $2.3 billion in new tax breaks.

The mail program also highlights that McMahon has said she would consider eliminating the Department of Education, which could cut $438 million from local schools, increase children’s class sizes and prevent nearly 75,000 Connecticut students from going to college.

LCV's trademark Dirty Dozen program targets candidates for Congress — regardless of party affiliation — who consistently side against clean energy and conservation and are running in races in which LCV has a serious chance to affect the outcome. Since 1996, 60 percent of the “Dirty Dozen” have been defeated.

===

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/10/linda-mcmahon-gop-senate-candidate-keystone-oped_n_1196662.html?ir=Green

WASHINGTON -- After calling out an opponent for plagiarism, Republican Senate candidate Linda McMahon pulled key parts of her own Keystone XL op-ed, which ran last week on a Connecticut news site, from the website of the corporation that stands to profit from construction of the $7 billion pipeline: TransCanada.

In her op-ed, McMahon, who is running for the seat held by retiring Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), wrote of TransCanada's pipeline: "Keystone XL stands ready to put some 13,000 Americans to work to construct the actual pipeline. These would be pipefitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, and heavy equipment operators, among others."

That sounds strikingly similar to what TransCanada itself wrote of the Keystone project on its website: "TransCanada is poised to put 13,000 Americans to work to construct the pipeline -- pipefitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, heavy equipment operators, among other jobs."