mullin 2, m Sen DHS 1%

8 26 PRIMARY ON GOP STEAL ELECTION TINA PETERS VOTING MACJHNE

SEE VOTER SUPPRESS --> FASCISM

ED FUCKING MARTIN CLETA

FO---

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), a far-right MAGA Republican,

no merri

ASHLI BABBIT VS RENEE GOOD?

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MAGA media figures demanded and even teased immigration action against Rep. Ilhan Omar — and then DHS raided her home

Written by Reed McMaster & Ben Van Bloem

Published 10/14/26 11:03 AM EDT

Updated 10/14/26

Right-wing media figures have long spread conspiracy theories against Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN). During the second Trump administration, this has manifested in calls to deport Omar, an American citizen, citing as supposed evidence the conspiracy theories that have spread for years. In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson that Omar was under investigation, months after Vice President JD Vance told Johnson a similar story. When Mullin made his comments, right-wing media erupted in objection, demanding action instead of investigations.

Roughly a month later, DHS raided the congresswoman’s home. Right-wing media figures celebrated the raid, with podcast host Katie Miller reportedly even posting “promises made, promises kept” — the exact line Fox host Tomi Lahren had used to concerning Mullin’s remarks earlier to demand federal government action against Omar — while Johnson took credit: “This will be our crowning achievement for life.”

• Federal agents searched the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar
  • Right-wing figures have long spread conspiracy theories about Omar, including one “based on some of the least credible evidence ever put forward in right-wing media” that she married her brother. According to The Bulwark, the claims “certainly wouldn’t stand up in court. The whole thing, in fact, boils down to a single anonymous post on a Somali-American web forum.” Furthermore, an investigation into Omar’s financial disclosures was dismissed earlier this year, and previous federal investigations into these topics have also ended without any charges. [Media Matters, 7/25/19; CBS News, 9/9/26; The Bulwark, 9/14/26]

• • On October 12, agents with Homeland Security Investigations, a subsection of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, executed a warrant on Omar’s D.C. home. The New York Times reported, “The search warrant, executed 22 days before Election Day, lists a series of potential immigration crimes under investigation, including false statements and fraud in immigration paperwork, as well as a general conspiracy charge, according to a person familiar with the document.”
  • The search by DHS agents broke with longstanding Justice Department policy to avoid similar investigative steps against candidates within 60 days of an election that could affect the results. Donald Trump cited this policy during the 2024 elections to claim that the DOJ was acting improperly in investigating him. Omar denies the allegations and has criticized the raid on her home by DHS agents as an attempt by the Trump administration “to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement.” [The Guardian, 10/12/26; The New York Times, 10/12/26]

• • In March, Vice President JD Vance told MAGA podcaster Benny Johnson, “We think Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America.” Vance said, “That’s the thing that we’re trying to figure out is what are the legal remedies now that we know that she’s committed immigration fraud — how do you go after her, how do you investigate her, how do you actually do the thing, how do you build a case necessary to get some justice for the American people?” Discussing Omar again during a White House press conference in May, Vance reiterated that “it certainly seems like something fishy is there.” [Fox News, 3/29/26; CBS News, 5/19/26]
  • In September, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told Johnson that there is an “ongoing investigation” into Omar and raised the possibility of deportation. Around the same time, White House “border czar” Tom Homan also said that “things are going on” with Omar but refused to give details about the “ongoing criminal investigation.” Homan told Fox News, “If someone committed an immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they're a congressman or not, no one's above the law. So, I'll leave it at that. We'll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, continue the investigation.” [The Associated Press, 10/12/26; Fox News, 9/13/26]
  • Mullin’s remarks sparked backlash to the administration in right-wing media for taking insufficient action against Omar. According to The Bulwark, “Like many of the pledges that people in Trump world make to prosecute and deport the president’s political enemies, this pledge has also run into legal hurdles and an actual reality that is not very accommodating to their goals. And it appears that Mullin is now set to take the blame for the absence of any action. Right-wing media influencer Laura Loomer, who once traveled to Minneapolis in her own fruitless attempt to prove Omar married her brother, fumed after the Mullin interview that Omar was somehow being protected from deportation. … Perhaps no one was angrier with Mullin than Fox News host Tomi Lahren. On Saturday, Lahren devoted much of her show to claiming the DHS secretary was using Omar’s case as a sideshow to distract from the perceived lack of larger-scale deportations. ‘If they want to do an investigation, do an investigation,’ she said. But whether Omar married her brother wouldn’t ‘get people out to vote,’ Lahren said. ‘What’s going to get people out to vote for Republicans is promises made, promises kept.’” [The Bulwark, 9/14/26]

Right-wing media figures have cryptically referred to “something happening” to Omar for months

• • On September 1, Johnson said that he had been hearing “rumblings” about Omar and said, “The vice president has told me on the record that something’s about to happen.” Johnson said, “I'm hearing a lot of rumblings about Ilhan Omar. She's grown suspiciously silent on social media. The vice president has told me on the record that something's about to happen. So has Tom Homan. … And we've been sort of, like, asking around and doing our best to use our sources, and we are assured that something is about to happen with Ilhan Omar and her family.” He also asked his guest, Sean Davis of The Federalist, “What would that mean to the political zeitgeist — the Third World parasitic ecosystem that lives on the underbelly of America — what kind of message would that send to denaturalize, deport, or even just criminally charge Ilhan Omar?” Davis responded that “she needs to be sent back” and added, “That whole community needs to go back — Somalianism is incompatible with America.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 9/1/26]

• • In May, The Charlie Kirk Show co-host Andrew Kolvet argued there are “bad things” in Omar's future and claimed she “probably engaged in immigration fraud.” He said, “She's got no good answers for it because Ilhan Omar is legitimately a scourge on our Congress. That's exactly right. She is a disgrace to the city of Washington, D.C., and to the American people. She probably engaged in immigration fraud. She's engaged in some other issues that are causing her complaints with the ethics complaints within the House. So Ilhan Omar has got, I think, some bad things in her future.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 5/21/26]

• • In August, host of conspiracy theory podcast X22 Report David Marc Fishman insisted there's an investigation into Omar and said, “I do believe” they will have enough evidence to indict her. He said, “They're investigating Ilhan Omar. They're collecting the evidence. And if they have enough evidence, which I do believe they will, they will then forward this on and there'll be an investigation into Ilhan Omar. There'll be a grand jury that will be looking at this and there will be an indictment as time goes on, just like with everybody else.” [Rumble, X22 Report, 8/13/26]

• • On his radio show, Fox host Sean Hannity told a caller that an investigation into Omar was underway in July, months before the September announcement. He said, “I can tell you this: There is an investigation going on. I don’t know why it’s being slow-walked. You're raising a fair and good question, and it’s irritating to me too.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Sean Hannity Show, 7/23/26]

• • Podcaster Tim Pool suggested “something is happening” regarding an investigation into Omar weeks before Mullin admitted to it. He said, “They are not going to release information which will compromise any investigation. And this, my friends, is the disappointing part for so many that want there to be some kind of enforcement action against Ilhan Omar. This does not confirm it. Something is happening, which I would say is good, but we don't know for sure.” [YouTube, Timcast, 8/24/26]

After the DHS raid on Omar’s home, right-wing media celebrated and Benny Johnson took credit

• • Podcaster Katie Miller, wife of White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller, reportedly wrote “promises made, promises kept” above an article on the DHS raid of Omar's home before reportedly deleting the post. [Bluesky, 10/12/26]

• • Benny Johnson opened a show after the raid by asking his audience “Are you excited? To send Ilhan Omar back to her indigenous peoples? That is what's about to happen. We were right. Forgive us. We're going to gloat just a bit today. It's going to be insufferable, I’m so sorry, but we’ve been waiting for this.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 10/12/26]

• • Newsmax host Carl Higbie opened his October 12 show by celebrating the DHS raid on Omar's home, saying, “I hope they were blasting Creed while they did it.” He later added that it “couldn't happen to a better person.” [Newsmax, Carl Higbie Frontline, 10/12/26]

• • The Charlie Kirk Show co-host Blake Neff said it would “be tremendous” if the government could “strip the citizenship from Ilhan Omar,” while co-host Andrew Kolvet referred to the raid as “Christmas in October” and said her denaturalization would be “great for the whole country.” Neff said, “If you could actually denaturalize, strip the citizenship from Ilhan Omar because her arrival here was fraudulent from the start. … It would be tremendous.” Kolvet followed up, “It was like Christmas in October, or was it Halloween? You know, with Ilhan Omar, let's go with Halloween. … Anyways, that's the breaking news. She's getting raided. We think it's about a paperwork issue, which could lead to a denaturalization process being pursued with her, which I think would be great for the whole country.” [Rumble, The Charlie Kirk Show, 10/12/26, 10/12/26]

• • Reacting to a Fox News report on the search of Omar’s home, conservative podcaster Dave Rubin said, “This is not a woman who loves America. This is not a woman who should be in America. … This is a bad lady, and finally it appears that we’re going to do something about it.” Holding a box with Omar’s picture on his desk, he said, “You know, it's funny, we have this as the Ilhan Omar puke bucket, but this story is — I may put tequila in it and just drink out of this thing.” [YouTube, The Rubin Report, 10/12/26]

• • Johnson called the administration's actions against Omar his “crowning achievement for life.” He said, “Today is Wednesday, October 14, 2026. Are you celebrating with us? Are you going to celebrate, Omar-mas? I will. Ilhan Omar scandal breaks wide open, and we were part of it, and that's exciting for us. This is our — we tried — we did get Jimmy Kimmel ripped off air. We view that as a massive success for this program. This will be our crowning achievement for life. We may hang it up. We may have to hang it up after this. You're not going to get better than this.” [YouTube, The Benny Show, 10/14/26]

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GUK 10 26

Trump administration

Ilhan Omar says she will not be silenced after federal agents raid her home

Trump and key allies have accused Omar of immigration fraud, and have called to expel her from the country

Matt Shuham

Mon 12 Oct 2026

Federal agents searched Representative Ilhan Omar’s home on Monday morning as part of a criminal investigation, according to the Department of Justice and reports in the Associated Press and Fox News.

In a social media post later on Monday, Omar criticized the raid as an attempt by the Trump administration “to target political enemies and weaponize law enforcement” and said she would “not be silenced”.

A video posted by Fox showed what appeared to be law enforcement in HSI jackets at what Fox News said was Omar’s Washington DC residence.

“Today in the Washington DC area, Homeland Security Investigations executed a judicially authorized search warrant secured by the Department of Justice. This enforcement action is part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation,” a DoJ spokesperson said.

It was unclear what the nature of the warrant was. Omar’s office did not respond to a request for comment, and the White House and Department of Homeland Security referred comment to DoJ. Citing two unnamed sources “close to the investigation”, Fox News reported that the search was related to a criminal fraud investigation concerning Omar’s immigration paperwork, which her late father filled out when she was a child.

View image in fullscreen

HSI agents outside the residence of Representative Ilhan Omar in Washington DC on Monday. Photograph: Annabelle Gordon/Reuters

Donald Trump and key allies have accused Omar of fraud related to her family’s immigration history, fantasizing openly about denaturalizing her and expelling her from the country.

The congresswoman has consistently denied the accusations, though Trump has repeatedly made them national news with gratuitous attacks against Omar, who along with Representative Rashida Tlaib became the United States’s first Muslim congresswoman in 2019.

But even amid a presidency known for political and legal retribution against his critics, the search of Omar’s DC home just three weeks before a crucial midterm election day will surely lead to new accusations that Trump was using the government for his own political ends.

Administration officials, and the president himself, have long hinted at a federal investigation into Omar. “Let’s see what happens,” Trump said at a rally on Saturday after attacking Omar by name, adding that Vice-President JD Vance “and our people are looking at it very strongly”.

It was just the latest in months of talk about investigating Omar. Trump in December accused her of having “married her brother” and said she “should be thrown the hell out of our country”, a reference to a years-old but unsubstantiated claim that Omar sought to help her ex-husband – who they allege is really her brother – obtain immigration papers via a sham marriage.

Days later, his “border czar” Tom Homan said: “We’re pulling the records now,” referring to Omar, and said a fraud investigator in Homeland Security Investigations, the ICE division that historically has been tasked with investigative work, would look into the matter.

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Homeland security officers carry boxes from the Washington residence of Ilhan Omar as yellow cordon tape can be seen in the distance. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

In March , Vance told rightwing media personality Benny Johnson: “We actually think that Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud” and that he had recently spoken to top Trump aide Stephen Miller about “what the remedies are”. Homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin told Johnson last month that there was an ongoing investigation and “something’s going to happen”.

“We know that she married her brother to try to bring him into the United States,” Mullin said. “We know he lives now in London. We feel that there may be more to this, the whole family migration, and possibly some illegal activity for them to come to the United States to begin with. But all of us, we’re investigating.”

Soon after, Homan said he could not “comment on an ongoing criminal investigation.

“We’ll let HSI, Homeland Security Investigations continue to do their investigation,” he added.

Omar’s social media post after the raid on Monday said: “I’m OK. Make no mistake: this is an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

The congresswoman also said Trump had spent years targeting her “with baseless lies and smear campaigns”.

“This is just the latest escalation in his campaign of political intimidation. I will not be silenced.”

Omar has for years denied unsubstantiated rumors from Trump and others about herself and her family, including the accusation that her ex-husband, Ahmed Nur Said Elmi, is in fact her brother, and that the marriage was part of an effort to earn him immigration status. Marriage fraud is a felony, though it has a five-year statute of limitations. Omar and Elmi formally divorced in 2017 after separating in a religious divorce years earlier.

View image in fullscreen

Officers during an investigation at the residence of Ilhan Omar on Monday. Photograph: J Scott Applewhite/AP

The New York Post last month also quoted an unnamed “top immigration official” who said “the Trump administration could initiate a denaturalization process” against Omar if there is sufficient evidence that she or her father lied on immigration applications. The story noted accusations that Omar was older than her recorded age of 17 when she was naturalized, which could be relevant because she received citizenship via her parents. The report also raised questions about Omar’s father, who reportedly claimed to be an educator, though his obituary later described a military career.

As the most prominent Somali-American in the United States, Omar has faced years of racist attacks from the president and his supporters.

At his rally Saturday, Trump said of Somalia: “All they have is crime and squalor” and suggested that “our” US constitution did not belong to Omar. Two days earlier, he had written that Minnesota “is being taken over by Somali Immigrants”, even though the vast majority of Somali-Americans in the state are US citizens.

“The Somalians should not be allowed to get away with what they are doing,” Trump wrote, urging supporters in the state to “fight back!”

Somali-Americans, especially, have borne relentless insult from the White House in Trump’s second term. In December, the president referred to them as “garbage” who “come from hell, and they complain, and do nothing but bitch”.

“Let them go back to where they came from and fix it,” he added.

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10 26 RUHLE

LONGASS TIRADE ABOUT NYC COP STAB 7X NO WORD, ZM VISITED HIM?!

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AN MAY SIGNOR

Behind a Trump aide's surreal plan to shut down travel —and sink the U.S. economy

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'I’m so tired!' Trump DHS chief unravels as reporter asks about luxury jets

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin snapped at a reporter who asked a question he didn't like during a Friday press conference about another ICE agent-involved shooting in New York City.

Mullin delivered the statement after the incident as protestors and local lawmakers demand accountability. Mullin also struggled to get his facts straight, telling reporters at one point that the man shot by agents was "wanted for trafficking." In fact, one reporter explained, it was "traffic infractions." Mullin said he knew nothing about the man's case and pivoted to talk about Joe Biden instead.

At another point, Mullin said that they needed to take the man who broke a traffic law to a maximum-security facility, so they needed to remove him from the state. He wouldn't say where the man was. Mullin referred to the man as "the worst of the worst," and emphasized that he was "going after the worst of the worst" several times.

"They're going to try to make the gentleman they shot the worst human being you've ever heard of. But I want you to know that a father picking up his child was shot by a rogue agency controlled by Donald Trump," warned public advocate Jumaane Williams in a New York City press conference about the incident.

A reporter then asked him about the recent reports about the expensive luxury planes that were purchased under former Secretary Kristi Noem. The fleet of planes was painted as help for deportations, but photos of the planes showed two bedrooms, a stand-up bar, leather chairs, marble showers and other finery.

"This is what I hate about Fake News!" Mullin snapped.

*The New York Times* reported this week that the person who got the contract for the private planes was a big donor to Noem.

"You guys, you guys, when we're doing a press conference or something, you guys want to completely steer away when you realize that this isn't someone that you should be defending and you bring up something as ridiculous as that," Mullin ranted.

"I'm just — I'm just saying I'm not even going to entertain your question, because that's not what we're here for," Mullin claimed. "That's not — we're here for — if you want to add something that's detained to what we're having this press for, I'd be happy to do that. Okay? I'll take this last question because that wasn't even a question."

After the final question, he raged, "I'm so tired of it all of a sudden being controversial because it's a political talking point."

AN 10 26 NOEM BOT ON WAY OUT DOOR? FROM DONOR

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MMA

Guests on Steve Bannon’s podcast call for Commerce Secretary Lutnick to intervene in state elections

Guests Cleta Mitchell and Ed Martin, two lawyers involved in the election denial movement, argued that voting machines are not secure. Mitchell is already pointing at Georgia, a major hub of election denial in recent years.

Written by John Knefel

Published 10/07/26

Two guests on former Trump adviser Steve Bannon’s War Room podcast are calling for Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to intervene in state election systems on the grounds that voting machines are not secure.

Cleta Mitchell and Ed Martin are both lawyers who have been involved in election denial efforts. Mitchell was on the January 2021 call when President Donald Trump asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” votes for him to overturn the election. Martin is a former Trump Department of Justice official who claims to have worked on a “path” to get former Colorado county clerk and prominent election denial activist Tina Peters out of state prison.

Mitchell singled out Georgia’s election systems in her commentary, building on conspiracy theories that Trump concocted about vote tampering in that state following his loss in 2020. Trump’s administration has continued to pursue some of those theories, including federal agents seizing thousands of ballots and other voting records from Fulton County in January.

Appearing on Bannon’s October 6 show, Mitchell argued that the U.S. commerce secretary should intervene in state election administration, with Mitchell arguing that a 2019 national emergency declaration issued by Trump gives Lutnick “not only the authority but the duty to act” and calling for him “to order that the software in the Dominion systems in Georgia be replaced and upgraded.”

On October 1, Georgia State Election Board Executive Director James Mills sent letters to the Department of Justice and the Department of Homeland Security asking the administration to make changes to the state’s voting machines just weeks before the upcoming midterm elections. (Mills has generally pursued aims that align with Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election.)

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution explained that “there’s no indication the state’s voting machines have been tampered with during an election,” and a privacy concern raised in the letters “does not alter election results.” The only Democrat on the election board told the paper that Mills’ letters were “clearly a bad-faith attempt to set up a contest to election results that Republicans do not like.”

Video

Citation

From the October 6, 2026, edition of Real America's Voice's War Room

CLETA MITCHELL (GUEST): Well I think that one of the things that's really important is that a lot of people have said, well, the president needs to declare a national emergency for elections. Well, guess what? He already did. He did that in May of 2019. He declared that there was an emergency because foreign-owned -- it's called information and communications technology and services, and that includes election infrastructure -- manufactured in whole or in part or controlled by companies that are foreign adversaries, which includes China. And there's not a voting system in America today, an electronic voting system in America today that is not manufactured in whole or in part in China.

So the president in May of 2019 issued this emergency -- relying on the National Emergencies Act of 1976 issued an executive order ordering the Department of Commerce to promulgate regulations, which they did. The Department of Commerce regulations took effect in February of 2024, and they are the law.

And it gives Howard Lutnick, as secretary, not only the authority but the duty to act. And so here are some of the things that Secretary Lutnick can do today. And that he needs to do today.

He needs to order that the software in the Dominion systems in Georgia be replaced and upgraded, as all the other jurisdictions have done since 2022 when it was determined by Dr. Halderman that Dominion systems have nine vulnerabilities. The software was upgraded. It was to correct all of those vulnerabilities. And guess what? Georgia has yet to install the upgrades to guard against the vulnerabilities.

Secretary Lutnick should oversee that today.

...

The other thing he needs to do is, the Department of Homeland Security sent him, along with a letter that Ed is referring to -- the Department of Homeland Security doesn't have authority to mandate that states get rid of these vulnerable voting systems. But the Department of Homeland Security has created this fund -- they've created grant-funds through FEMA, they've written a mitigation plan.

All Secretary Lutnick has to do is take it and implement it. He has the authority to mandate it.

Martin similarly claimed that “Lutnick has a chance to step up and also be a player” in efforts “for states to change their election systems,” warning of “a red-hot crisis” and “a five-alarm fire” for the upcoming midterms.

Video

Citation

From the October 6, 2026, edition of Real America's Voice's War Room

ED MARTIN (GUEST): You mentioned the breaking news. There's a letter that came out a month ago and it didn't get much attention until yesterday when I was looking at it closely and I put it up. And it's a legal finding from Secretary Mullin of the DHS, a legal finding -- it's not Ed Martin's opinion, it's not Bannon's opinion, it's not Cleta's opinion, it's not a filing in a court -- it's a DHS finding that machines for election are using foreign parts and they cannot be secured.

And so much so that the letter from Mullin says, I've got a special fund -- it's a billion dollars, I went and found out, one billion with a B, dollars for states to change their election systems to protect themselves. So look, I think this is a red-hot crisis. I mentioned in an interview yesterday that Tina Peters was meeting with President Trump, and that happened. And I haven't talked to her since the meeting, but I know they didn't meet about the Colorado prison system.

We know we've got a five-alarm fire coming in less than four weeks, and all hands on deck.

...

I think Lutnick has a chance to step up and also be a player because of how the law is, but states are going to have to protect themselves too.

Questions about the security of Georgia’s elections have been a concern in the lead-up to the midterms. Local news station WTVM recently covered a town hall convened by former secretary of state chief operating officer Gabe Sterling to give Georgians confidence in the existing systems.

“Voting in this state, in your home county, and across the nation is safe, is run by professionals, they have redundancies, tons of safeguards, and it really is a secure, secure election,” said Sterling, who previously refuted Trump’s election conspiracy theories in 2020.

Georgia Public Radio also covered the subject, quoting an election system expert who agreed that the changes were not necessary and could be detrimental to a free and fair election.

Ben Adita, the executive director of Voting Works, a nonprofit that sells open-source voting systems, testified in front of the board Thursday. During the meeting, he told the committee that Raffensperger has already taken steps to mitigate the privacy flaw, and warned about changes close to the election.

"The proposal to upgrade software with two weeks to go is really fraught and risky," Adita said. "The proposal to alter the vote casting process statewide is fraught whether you have two weeks — or two or six months, frankly — of lead time."

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MMA

Tina Peters allegedly met with Trump to discuss election plans. Here's what that could mean for the midterms.

Written by Kayla Gogarty & John Whitehouse

Research contributions from Alex Kaplan & John Knefel

Published 10/06/26

Former Mesa County, Colorado, clerk Tina Peters, who was released from prison on June 1 after being sentenced to nearly nine years for actions related to tampering with voting machines following the 2020 election, allegedly met with President Donald Trump on October 5 to discuss the midterm elections.

Tina Peters allegedly met with President Trump – again.

• Speaking on Eric Bolling’s Real America’s Voice show, former Trump Justice Department official Ed Martin said that Peters was “in the Oval Office meeting with the president on election integrity” hours earlier.
• Video
• Share
• Citation
• From the October 5, 2026, edition of Real America's Voice's Bolling!

• ED MARTIN (GUEST): Well, let me break some news. This is a big deal, Eric, and I'm — you're the first person that knows. I'm going to say something — just hours ago, maybe two hours ago. Tina Peters, you know, from Colorado, was in the Oval Office meeting with the president on election integrity, and they were talking about the plans.

• And the one thing that they know is that Secretary Mullin of the Department of Homeland Security came out in late August and conceded and said, as a matter of law, a finding that there is — the machines for voting, the election voting machines use parts from China and Russia and foreign places and are therefore compromised. That's what Mullin said. That finding, when he finished that finding, he then said, and I have a billion dollars to help you states to do something other than use machines that are compromised. And, again, my point is this.

• You talk about local. It is a local election. I ran the election board in St. Louis. There is local control. However, the laws that govern the system, like safety and national security, are federal laws.

• And so when Tina Peters, you know, famous Colorado clerk, was in the Oval Office today just two hours ago talking about this question, the president's taking it seriously. If the Congress won't pass the SAVE America Act, and they won't, then the president's going to have to do what he's going to do. And it is not a local issue when it's national security, and it's clearly national security. So we'll see how it plays out.

• Peters has claimed to regularly be in contact with Trump administration officials, including by text, and said in late August that she has been to the White House six times. She also has thanked White House staff for facilitating her release from prison. In July, Peters claimed that Trump ordered his staff to do what she recommended, saying on a livestream, “Yesterday, when I was with the president, he talked — and I can’t get into the plan — but we talked, he basically said to his lead counsel to do what I was asking.”

• Peters has also recently claimed to have been in contact with White House chief of staff Susie Wiles, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, Attorney General Todd Blanche’s deputy chief of staff Shane Hedges, and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon.

• Martin recently left Trump’s DOJ to — at least according to the president in a Truth Social post — “fight Legal Battles” related to the midterms. Martin and Peters have a history together. In 2025, Martin told Steve Bannon that he had been working for two months to find “a path” to her release. He also reportedly “discussed election security issues last year” with Peters’ associates and forwarded their pitch for a ban on voting machines to another senior Justice Department official.

What is Tina Peters’ plan for the election?

• Peters has been vocal in far-right circles about her election plan. As Media Matters’ Alex Kaplan documented in late July:

• The new proposal, dated July 22 and called the “100-Day Risk Mitigation Election Plan” and “Operational Guidance for the November Federal Election – 2026,” urges the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency — an agency housed under the Department of Homeland Security that is “one of the main federal partners for states on election security, sharing intelligence on potential threats to voting infrastructure and providing quick regional support,” per MS NOW — to “concentrate on six achievable measures,” including “transition[ing] the general electorate away from ballot-marking devices (BMD) to hand-marked paper ballots” and “insisting that the official count can only be certified after a full hand-count of every ballot.”

• It also lays out an implementation framework that would involve classifying all counties based on current election processes and their ability to transition ahead of the midterms and then providing each county with implementation plans. During a podcast interview discussing the plan, Peters acknowledged that “CISA is not a forceful body that they can make people do things, but they can actually make recommendations,” and suggested that DHS could use a recently announced grant for states “that comply with certain things like paper ballots and so on and so forth” as an “incentive.”
• …
• Peters released the new proposal, which she called a “practical election-security plan,” on her website along with a July 24 letter to the acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency thanking him “for meeting with us … and for giving us the opportunity to present our concerns and proposed path forward for the 2026 federal election.”

• Peters’ plan also requires that jurisdictions must “apply the ‘Bank-Teller Method’: independently hand-count every ballot for federal contests before certification and reconcile that count with the tabulator result.”

• As the midterms approach, Peters has continued to promote versions of her plan and give additional details, such as arguing that Trump already has the power to involve DHS and the Commerce Department through an executive order on critical infrastructure. Election deniers like Peter Ticktin, Jerome Corsi, Cleta Mitchell, and Wayne Allyn Root have made similar arguments about Trump already having authority.

• Video
• Citation
• From a video uploaded on Tina Peters' website on August 26, 2026
• TINA PETERS: Mr. President, it is time to treat America’s elections like the critical infrastructure that they are. We do not have months. We have days. Mr. President, our own government and your administration has documented vulnerabilities in election systems and identified foreign adversary threats. Voter databases, poll books, election networks, and voting technology are all at risk.

• The authority already exists. The national emergency under Executive Order 13873 is already in place. What is needed now is cabinet-level direction, direction of DHS, CISA, the EAC, FEMA, the intelligence community, and Commerce to immediately execute the 2026 mitigation plan.
• ...
• The goal is simple and absolutely achievable, Mr. President: Secure and reduce electronic dependence, wherever possible, preserve physical paper evidence, and independently verify electronic results before certification. CISA should issue immediate cybersecurity guidance and assistance to transition all counties to handmark paper ballots, and make sure every electronic tabulation is human verified. FEMA should identify available funding for securing the elections.
• High-risk jurisdictions should receive rapid technical assistance, and Commerce should begin a foreign adversary election technology review. Please, Mr. President, set September 8 as the first deadline and make every electronic result independently checkable.

• This is a known national security issue. The complete risk mitigation plan is available.
• ...
• We still have time to act, but the clock is running. Please direct your cabinet to move now. Our team stands ready to help.
• God bless you, Mr. President. This plan — I’m confident — will save our country.

What has Peters said about the president having authority to intervene in the midterms?

• Peters has been vocal that the president has the power to intervene in the midterms through executive power. (Experts have harshly criticized this analysis.)

• Peters said during a June 14 stream following her release from prison that she had spoken with the president and she believes “Trump could sign an executive order to get rid of the machines and say that they are — that a vendor cannot have that much influence over our elections.” She also said on June 25 that “we’ve got to get rid of the machines” and “mail-in ballots,” and Trump “needs to sign an executive order ... saying it’s unconstitutional that these things are allowed to be done.” Election denial activist Jerome Corsi has claimed that Peters will “play a major role in one of the key factors in Trump ultimately declaring the need for the elections to be supervised by the federal government.”

• Similar to what Martin told Eric Bolling on October 5, Peters has grounded her election rhetoric in terms of foreign interference and national security, saying, “There’s no security threshold when you have foreign agents that have proprietary authority, power, over the things that are used for our most sacred right, which is to vote who we want to represent us.”
• She has also claimed that Trump should take action against voting machines because some of the parts are “made in China.” Notably, Peters has also urged the military to get involved, saying: “It's very important to — for the Department of War — now I'm saying the Department of War because this is an international event that is going on with stealing our elections. Pete Hegseth needs to go in and demand to have these machines in their custody, and also the Mesa County machines. They're still out there.”

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an 9 26

Trump attack dog has a bold Election Day plan —and critics say it's illegal

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An 8 26

Trump officials crash and burn with bizarre excuse for failing policies

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MMA

August 26, 2026, edition of The Tucker Carlson Show, posted on YouTube

TUCKER CARLSON (HOST): So how did, when Kristi Noem left, was forced out, and then replaced by one of the slowest, famously one of the slowest, but certainly one of the most liberal members of the United States Senate, Markwayne Mullin, which he is. He's extremely liberal and because he's from Oklahoma, like, nobody seems to get that, but he is, particularly in immigration and foreign policy. I mean, it's like giving it to Lindsey Graham. How did that — why would you put Markwayne Mullin, a liberal, a Kamala Harris liberal, in that role?

GREG BOVINO (GUEST): Exactly. I think when we talk about those donors, that donor class, getting someone confirmed, why would you not put a liberal in? You're going to get enough votes from the crazy Democrats. And then you're going to get the support from the big labor RINOs, just like they did with Commissioner Rodney Scott. He sailed through the confirmation.

...

BOVINO: So, that's how, that's how someone like a Mark Mullin is put into a position like that. There are a certain class of people that love a Mullin. Hey, you know, Mullin, what is he listening to? He's listening to Tom Homan, Rodney Scott, worst of the worst in targeting. That's really all he can, that's all he can regurgitate is that --

CARLSON: And so that, for people who haven't heard that talking point, that means we're going after the really bad ones.

BOVINO: The really bad ones. Worst of the, the criminal aliens, the terrorists, child molesters, you know, folks that have committed murder, whatever. The worst of the worst.

CARLSON: People who have criticized Israel, stuff like that. Really, the really bad. The ones who deserve the death penalty.

BOVINO: And, and, and, I will say that that is the opposite of what we should be doing. That is not a threat to your nation. Let me say this again. A lot of people think I'm crazy. That's not the threat to your nation is the worst of the worst.

The threat to your nation is your run-of-the-mill illegal alien that we've just said, the 105 million that don't share your cultures, your values, that don't care about anything related to America, that have been given, that want to be given citizenship. That's far more of a threat. Hey, we can get those criminal aliens anytime. That record's not going away. We can get them anytime. Anytime.

Right now, we've got that window to get that regular run-of-the-mill illegal alien, maybe a landscaper, maybe he doesn't have a criminal record in the US, even though he's still a criminal because he crossed the border illegally, they're all criminals. Probably does have a criminal record in a foreign country that we won't know about. But that is far more of a threat to you, me, and our values, than an MS-13 gang member.

//

Greg Bovino: “Immigration and remigration, mass deportations, are the number one issue for the preservation of our culture, the preservation of our society, our values, our customs, our beliefs”

06/02/26 2:41 PM EDT

“Looks like a surrender”: Right-wing media figures are disappointed by Trump’s demotion of Border Patrol commander Greg Bovino

01/27/26 4:03 PM EST

Fox co-host suggests sending Greg Bovino to deal with ICE protesters

1. 05/29/26

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an 8 26

With the midterms right around the corner and President Donald Trump relentlessly pressing his conspiracies about voter fraud, an insider and whistleblower from his first term has revealed that his “tin-foil hat” plan to “interfere in the democratic process” is underway. This is according to Miles Taylor, who served as Deputy Chief of Staff in the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s first administration and exposed a number of its secrets. On Wednesday, he sounded the alarm that a plot Trump began nearly a decade ago is coming to its most dangerous phase.

Over the course of the past year, Trump and his allies have been asked repeatedly whether federal troops will be stationed at polling places during the midterms. They have tended to dodge the question, saying there are “no plans” to do so without ruling it out. But “evidently,” writes Taylor, “all of that controversy was aimed at the wrong place. While Washington officials debated Election Day polling sites, the administration was quietly reassigning battalions of officers to start homing in on the election from their cubicles, combing through voter rolls in a secret operation without precedent.”

Taylor is referencing new bombshell reporting by the Washington Post, which revealed on Tuesday, writes Taylor, “that hundreds of federal immigration officers at U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, including the specialists who vet immigration applications for fraud and security threats, have been pulled off their day jobs and reassigned to monitor voting lists for supposed noncitizen voters. This places DHS agents directly into a role that was never envisioned when the Department was created and which has ominous implications for the midterms and future elections.” Despite the fact that they are being intentionally obscure about this, says Taylor, “the Trump administration expects Americans to trust that they are merely hunting for ‘illegal’ registrants. Yet the operation raises urgent questions about potential abuse, oversight, and whether DHS agents will play a larger role in unlawfully purging American citizens from voter rolls.”

It’s all part of a wider effort, asserts Taylor, to convert “the Justice Department’s Voting Section from a shield for voters into a weapon against them. His administration has sued at least 30 states and the District of Columbia to extract voter roll data, ordered federal agencies to build ‘approved’ lists of voters, and as we speak, is still moving ahead with plans to control the delivery of ballots in the mail.”

All of this began under Trump’s first term, according to Taylor, who writes, “I dealt with this in the first Trump administration, when the White House sent us on a foolish odyssey at DHS to expose this (non-existent) nationwide voter fraud conspiracy it keeps talking about. There wasn’t any evidence of such a conspiracy. It was tin-foil hat stuff. But I realize now the point was never to find the fraud. The point was to manufacture a number big enough to justify voter purges, prosecutions of election officials, and federal interference in states where the White House expects to lose. That’s what they’re doing now.”

He notes that thousands of DHS agents and federal prosecutors have been reassigned from their actual responsibilities and directed to help the president “seize control over who is allowed to cast a ballot.” For example, “the Trump administration continues to assert that all of its efforts are focused on the phantom menace of ‘noncitizen voters.’ But the pretext is collapsing under its own weight. Trump and DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin claim they’ve found roughly 278,000 noncitizens are unlawfully registered to vote in the United States. But when Nevada pressed the department on Mullin’s claim of 16,000 in their state, DHS admitted it had confirmed just 185, then refused to hand over the names so the state could investigate.”

According to Taylor, “Nothing in American history looks like this. At all. Yet there are plenty of examples of regimes around the world mounting election takeovers that look very similar. Students of history would call it authoritarianism.”

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AN 7 26

Trump has made little secret of his disinterest in addressing the needs of blue states that did not support him in 2024, and now, Politico reports that emails have exposed how he overruled his own agencies to punish those states when they needed relief.

In a Wednesday morning report, Politico cited "Emails between state and federal officials" that it had obtained, as well as over 150 documents, outlining Trump's habit of denying disaster relief to states he considers to be among his "political adversaries." Some of these denials came after his own government agencies determined that those states did indeed meet the thresholds for government aid.

"Emails between state and federal officials obtained by POLITICO along with more than 150 pages of documents submitted to FEMA by three states — New Jersey, Massachusetts and Rhode Island — provide new details about Trump’s low rate of approving disaster aid for his political adversaries," the report detailed. "He also denied a request by New York after administration officials verified that it had met federal standards for approval, according to state officials. Trump’s rejections came after regional offices of the Federal Emergency Management Agency and NOAA determined that the states met government thresholds for receiving aid following a record-breaking snowstorm in February."

"The Blizzard of 2026 certainly achieved a pinnacle ranking in the memories of those who experienced it and climatologically in the historical rankings of snowstorms," a NOAA report about Rhode Island, among those obtained by Politico, explained.

While presidents have the sole authority to approve or deny disaster aid, Politico noted that it is "highly unusual" for them to deny requests after these agencies have already "verified that damage estimates exceeded preestablished levels," citing conversations with officials from past administrations, both Democrat and Republican.

"I can’t think of a time a declaration was denied," one anonymous ex-FEMA official said, referring to states that met certain agency disaster damage standards.

Since the administration of George W. Bush, Politico explained, presidents had "approved all 69 state requests for snow assistance that met FEMA." The one exception was a 2016 request from New Mexico, "which was being investigated for mishandling FEMA funds."

"The emails and documents, which haven’t previously been reported, shed new light on Trump’s decisions to reject an overwhelming number of requests for disaster aid from Democratic-led states, even as he has approved nearly 90 percent of requests from states that are governed by members of his own party," the report added. "The revelations also offer a fuller picture of Trump’s tenure over the most partisan distribution of FEMA aid since the agency was created in 1979. Trump’s recent rejections involving snow diverge from the actions of other presidents, including Trump in his first term, who routinely approved similar requests from governors of opposing parties."

In response to questions about these denials, a FEMA spokesperson attacked the notion that federal aid should be dispersed for "regular operations like snow removal." Snow removal was previously "targeted for elimination" as a possible way to reduce spending at FEMA under Trump's second administration.

“Without that aid, our local governments will be stuck with the costs of an unprecedented snowstorm that didn’t care about political boundaries,” Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill of New Jersey said in a statement to Politico.

-=-=-=

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am 6 26

President Donald Trump’s decision to gut America’s emergency disaster response organization has left the United States vulnerable to upcoming natural disasters — and now Trump is scrambling, likely too late, to fix his problem.

Describing the decision of his past Homeland Security Secretary, Kristi Noem, to withhold billions in money from FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency), CNN’s Gabe Cohen reported that “Vice President JD Vance suggested it was FEMA’s inability to get money out the door that truly did her in. By the end of last year, FEMA was sitting on more than $15 billion in unspent funds, according to sources and internal figures reviewed by CNN. Lawmakers across the country, including many Republicans, were left fuming after months of asking for disaster money that had been awarded yet still awaited Noem’s signature.”

Cohen added that “during her 13 months running DHS, Noem, along with her de facto chief of staff Corey Lewandowski, waged war on FEMA, throttling operations, stalling payments, and driving out most of the senior leadership and by one count roughly 20% of the workforce. Amid the havoc, multiple sources told CNN the agency failed to make critical payments — from basic utilities to security operators that protect dangerous materials like anthrax.”

Realizing that America is now uniquely vulnerable because the upcoming summer will likely bring with it natural disasters from wildfires to tropical storms, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin is reportedly working frantically to reverse many of the budget cuts and bureaucratic red tape that Noem had implemented.

“Court records in a separate lawsuit show DHS coordinated much of the overhaul over dozens of chats on the messaging app Signal, some of which have been wiped, with lawyers raising concerns that evidence was destroyed,” Cohen reported. “In a remarkable turnaround, Trump has tapped Cameron Hamilton to lead FEMA — for the second time. In May 2025, Hamilton, a former Navy SEAL, was fired from his acting role atop the agency after telling lawmakers he didn’t support the administration’s plans to abolish FEMA. His exit accelerated an already chaotic effort to dismantle the agency — just as his return underscores the level of damage control the White House is now attempting.”

As one DHS official told Cohen about Hamilton, “If you’d asked me 11 months ago, I would have said it’s more likely we deport him than he gets that job.”

Later Cohen reported how “in May 2025, CNN reported that an internal review found FEMA was ‘not ready’ for hurricane season. Hamilton pushed back on efforts to degrade the agency but by then, plans to oust him were already in the works.”

He added, “Just hours before Hamilton was set to testify on Capitol Hill, he learned security was preparing to cut off his badge access. DHS told him it was a mistake; Hamilton believed his removal was imminent, three sources said.”

Last year it was reported that Noem vowed to “eliminate” FEMA, with Trump laying off hundreds of staff that focused on resilience and preparedness. At the time, this was reportedly motivated in large part by the administration’s determination to downplay the effects of man-made climate change. The president also signed an executive order requiring state and local governments to “play a more active and significant role in national resilience and preparedness” and ordered agencies to “streamline” their efforts to address disasters.

===

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AN 6 26

You may have thought the dog-killing Kristi Noem was the worst that the Trump administration could get for Homeland Security Secretary.

But here is former Oklahoma senator Markwayne Mullin and current DHS secretary, who doubled down last week on Fox on a threat to shut down Customs and Border Patrol processing of flights at major international airports located in “sanctuary cities”—in other words, cities that direct their local law enforcement not to engage in immigration and detention efforts by working with federal agents.

It’s not, however, just about working with local law enforcement on immigration. Mullen—and Trump—want cities and states to agree with them completely on mass deportation to the point of shutting down protest. We’ve been here before, when federal agents tried to shut down protests in Minneapolis and executed two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, in the streets.

Now they’re putting a gun to the heads of entire cities and states. Mullen was angry about a protest in New Jersey at a detention facility in Newark, where dozens of demonstrators—including U.S. Senator Andy Kim—were cruelly pepper-sprayed. Basically, Mullen wants the protests stopped, and if they’re not, he’ll stop the processing of travelers on flights into cities that don’t collaborate with Trump’s fascistic actions.

Though Mullen says CBP agents “process immigration,” CBP’s job at airports is actually to make sure only U.S. citizens or foreign visitors with visas—tourist visas, work visas, or permanent residency visas—are entering the country. They’re not “processing” anyone’s “immigration” but rather processing travelers arriving on international flights.

This could all be a lot of bluster, or the Trump regime may just be stupid enough to believe that by not processing visitors on international flights to certain cities—causing chaos and sending many flights to other cities while canceling many others—it will only economically harm blue cities in the blue states they’re targeting. That would be a gross misunderstanding of the global economic ecosystem. But then again, Trump and his aides didn’t think about that when it came to tariffs, so maybe they are in fact that stupid.

Airlines would be canceling flights, and havoc would play out all across America, affecting everyone in every red state as much as anyone in any blue state. An economy that is already teetering would come crashing down into a recession.

The U.S. Travel Association told PBS News that Mullin warned the group in a meeting that he is considering withdrawing CBP officers at the airports in question. The group immediately condemned this crazy scheme, as did all of the major airlines.

Even Trump’s own transportation secretary, Sean Duffy, wasn’t on the same page:

Duffy told a Congressional hearing earlier this week that…it would be a bad idea to start restricting travel based on political views. After all, at some point Democrats will be in charge and “you will all switch spots at one point — hopefully not too soon Mr. Chairman,” Duffy said.

“We have people from around the world and around the country that need to be able to fly into all different kinds of places. We shouldn’t shut down air travel in a state that doesn’t agree with our politics,” Duffy said.

This wouldn’t be the first time, however, that the Trump Transportation Department would be in conflict with Homeland Security. Back in February, the El Paso airport was shut down briefly after a dispute between the FAA (which is part of the Transportation Department) and DHS (and the Pentagon) when DHS and the Pentagon went ahead with testing high-energy, anti-drone laser technology at nearbly Fort Bliss against the FAA’s warnings, leading to the shutdown of the airport.

Airline trade groups warn that if Mullen moved forward, there would be a devastating economic impact, including disrupting billions of dollars in cargo shipments. We’d be back to the supply chain disruption of the pandemic—which drove inflation to 9%.

As Nick Miroff at The Atlantic reports, millions of passengers would also be stranded, and there would be a ripple effect all through the country, to airports in deeply red states.

Mullin’s proposal appears to reflect a thin grasp of global-travel logistics, as well as an inflated sense of the government’s ability to impose economic pain on specific cities, according to industry executives and former DHS officials I spoke with.

The U.S. airports where international travelers and cargo first arrive are often not their final destination. A German business traveler flying into JFK may be en route to a meeting in Cincinnati.

A Korean family landing at Los Angeles International Airport could be headed for Disney World. The proportion of economic pain imposed on sanctuary cities might be relatively small compared with the wider ripple effects on the U.S. travel industry.

A massive economic hit for the country—and global travel—but also for the GOP, as if the party doesn’t have enough problems heading into the midterms. On top of everything else, disrupting air travel domestically and internationally, upending cargo and deliveries in addition to vacations and business travel, would enrage voters. And then we could see the economy plummet as inflation spikes way higher than it has in recent months under Trump.

But this administration has done so much to harm itself and the GOP while thinking they’re only hurting their opponents that none of us should immediately assume it’s all a bluff.

AN 5 26

During a late May appearance on Fox News, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin argued that if "radical left Democrats" weren't on board with President Donald Trump's immigration policies, "we shouldn't be processing international flights into their cities" — a threat that is generating anxiety among civil libertarians, law professors, the travel industry, economists and immigration rights activists all at once. Conservative journalist Andrew Egger, in The Bulwark, warned that "blocking all international flights into a particular city's airport" would be both illegal and a recipe for "economic devastation." And during an appearance on The New Republic's podcast, "The Daily Blast," Nayna Gupta (policy director for the American Immigration Council) laid out an array of reasons why Mullin's threat is so problematic.

"Daily Blast" host Greg Sargent described Mullin's "deranged threat" to "block international flights going into" Democratic cities as "incredibly absurd" and exemplary of "the ugliest aspects of" Trump's "presidency."

Guest Gupta warned that if the Trump Administration and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) actually followed through on Mullin's threat, the economic fallout would be brutal.

"Look, I mean, this is the Trump Administration, now with Mullin at the helm of DHS, once again threatening vindictive actions because they don't like growing public pushback on their policies," Gupta told Sargent on the podcast. "And it's really important to note that if the (Trump) Administration actually pulled off this outrageous threat of diverting flights out of entire major metropolitan areas, this wouldn't be about just hurting those cities or immigrants. It would be hurting very many Americans."

Sargent's guest continued, "This would be hugely disruptive to critical industries, to travelers who travel through these airports, at a moment when the economy is already facing strain and we know that voters are feeling very poorly about this administration's economic policies."

Gupta noted, however, that "we don't know still how real this threat is."

"We've seen the administration make sweeping threats and then walk those back when they face backlash or because they can't actually effectuate those threats," the American Immigration Council policy director told Sargent. "But the fact that he's even on national news networks talking about this underscores their disregard for Americans generally and their willingness again to be vindictive about policies that are totally within the rights of states and local governments."

Sargent played a clip of a Fox News host saying that "pulling CBP (U.S. Customs and Border Protection) out of airports" in Democratic cities "would effectively be the end of international travel into big airports like LAX, San Francisco, Boston Logan, JFK, Newark, Chicago, Philly, Seattle, many others."

Gupta told Sargent, "So, let's be clear about exactly how disruptive and draconian this is. Airlines cannot simply divert flights. There are landing slot limits, which means other airports couldn't take the volume. People wouldn't necessarily be flying into the specific city they enter the U.S. and maybe transiting elsewhere. And so, in reality, we can imagine mass flight cancellations, huge disruption at airports, long lines, people being stuck and stranded in cities where they have nowhere to go."

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RWW

03/24/2026

by

Kyle Mantyla

• Igor Bobic @ HuffPost: Senate Confirms Markwayne Mullin As Trump’s DHS Secretary

President Trump tapped Mullin, a first-term Oklahoma GOP senator, to replace Kristi Noem as homeland security secretary earlier this month.

• Tim Balk @ The New York Times: In Oklahoma, Alan Armstrong Will Fill Markwayne Mullin’s Senate Seat

Gov. Kevin Stitt selected Mr. Armstrong, a fellow Republican and an energy executive, to play a caretaker role in the seat until the next election.

• Charlie Nash @ Mediaite: Trump Appoints ‘Alpha Male’ Influencer Who Posts About ‘Boobs’ and ‘Beautiful Curvy Women’ to Serve as Special Presidential Envoy

Nick Adams, the “Alpha Male” social media influencer known for posting about his passion for Hooters, “boobs,” and “beautiful curvy women,” announced on Tuesday that President Donald Trump had appointed him to serve as Special Presidential Envoy for Tourism.

• Janna Brancolini @ The Daily Beast: Trump Busted Doing Exactly What He Says Will Destroy the Country

The president’s vote would have violated new legislation he’s pushing.

• Will Sommer @ The Bulwark: Folks, We’ve Got Yet Another Right-Wing Media Payola Scandal

This one involves Jack Abramoff’s crypto venture!

• Marshall Cohen @ CNN: Trader made nearly $1 million on Polymarket with remarkably accurate Iran bets

A trader made nearly $1 million since 2024 from dozens of well-timed Polymarket bets that correctly predicted US and Israeli military actions against Iran, according to an analysis shared with CNN.

• Nick Marsh @ BBC: Oil traders bet millions minutes before Trump's Iran talks post

Traders bet hundreds of millions of dollars on oil contracts just minutes before US President Donald Trump announced on Monday that the US would postpone strikes against Iranian energy infrastructure.

---

---}:

RWW

03/18/2026

by

Kyle Mantyla

• Hunter Walker @ **Talking Points Memo: Markwayne’s World: The ‘Cinematic’ And ‘Fantastical’ Life Of Trump’s DHS Pick

Markwayne Mullin has an incredible story. The Republican U.S. senator is an entrepreneur and former mixed martial arts fighter. That unique experience has been a core part of Mullin’s political brand and featured in multiple campaign ads, including one that showed off his punching bag workouts alongside footage of President Donald Trump declaring, “Markwayne Mullin, you don’t want to fight with him.” However, following his nomination by Trump to lead the Department of Homeland Security, some aspects of Mullin’s record have come under scrutiny.

• Robert Davis @ Raw Story: MAGA civil war breaks out as Trump ally runs Epstein ads to block Steve Bannon from CPAC

The late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein's "sprawling web" continues to ensnare the MAGA movement.

• Julie Ingersoll @ The Bulwark: What Pete Hegseth’s Spiritual Mentor Wants for America

Pastor-theologian Douglas Wilson advocates theocracy, the restriction of the franchise from women and nonbelievers, and much else—and he is closer than ever to real power.

• Tom Latchem @ The Daily Beast: Insider Reveals Humiliating Reason for Ousted Border Patrol Goon’s Next Move

A DHS insider noted Gregory Bovino had an internal investigation looming when he announced he was quitting.

• Michael Luciano @ Mediaite: Republican Senator Claims ID Is Required ‘To Have a Child’

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-PA) claimed that having an identification card is required “to have a child” in the U.S. He did not elaborate as to when or to whom he thinks the ID would need to be presented.

• Hemant Mehta @ Friendly Atheist: Extremist pastor plots comeback campaign in deep-red Oklahoma district

Once a failed Senate candidate, Jackson Lahmeyer hopes to benefit from a party captured by Christian Nationalism.

---

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an 3 26

President Donald Trump's announcement that Republican U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin will become the new Secretary of Homeland Security — replacing embattled Kristi Noem — is drawing mockery.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins reported that "Trump loves watching Mullin on TV and often praises him, which was a factor in this decision."

Calling him "erratic" and "unstable," California Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom slammed Mullin's nomination.

"Markwayne Mullin could not remember if we were at war THIS WEEK," he said. "His state has one of the highest crime rates in the country — with a murder rate 40% higher than California’s. He literally tried to fight union workers during a hearing and told them to 'shut your mouth.' And said 'I don’t want reality' at a Senate hearing about race."

The president may have another challenge ahead of him.

After dodging increasing calls for Noem's impeachment over her controversial congressional testimony on Wednesday, he wrote that Mullin will be the new DHS Secretary as of March 31. Politico's Kyle Cheney notes there are other factors at work.

According to Cheney, "it's not clear how Trump can simply announce this is effective on March 31. Mullin is not Senate-confirmed and not eligible to become acting secretary under laws governing cabinet-level vacancies."

If it's a matter of getting enough Democrats to support Mullin, Trump can already count on the Senator from Pennsylvania.

"As a member of the Homeland Security Committee + Ranking Member of Subcommittee on Border Security: I’m not sure how many fellow Democrats will vote to support our colleague @SenMullin as the next DHS Secretary, but I am AYE," Democratic Senator John Fetterman wrote.

Meanwhile, critics continued to express opposition to the decision to hand the reins of the more than $100 billion federal agency to Mullin.

"Firing Noem to hire Markwayne Mullin is the definition of going from bad to worse," declared Democratic strategist Max Burns.

Some pointed out that Mullin is the only current U.S. Senator to not hold a bachelor's degree.

Others noted that he is "the same guy who was hiding from MAGA rioters during the January 6th insurrection."

And some pointed to reports "showing him in violation of the STOCK Act."

The progressive social media account The Tennessee Holler called Mullin "one of the biggest Trump sycophants in Congress."

The Atlantic's Norman Ornstein added, "That Markwayne Mullin is the dumbest member of the Senate was a qualification for Trump to choose him to head DHS."

RWW

03/06/2026

by

Kyle Mantyla

• Jim Newell @ Slate: Kristi Noem Is Out. A Guy Who Tried to Start a Literal Fistfight at a Senate Hearing Will Take Her Place.

That’s not even the wildest thing about him.

• Gabby Birenbaum @ The Texas Tribune: Rep. Tony Gonzales drops reelection bid amid pressure over affair scandal

The San Antonio Republican was pushed into a runoff in the primary for his border district. Speaker Mike Johnson and other GOP members had called on him to exit the race.

• Richard Fausset @ The New York Times: A Candidate for Georgia Straight From the Marjorie Taylor Greene Playbook

Colton Moore, who hopes to win a special election on Tuesday to replace Ms. Greene, has the same flair for the dramatic and the ultra-MAGA persona, but he lacks one thing: a Trump endorsement.

• Media Matters: Disappointed with Trump, Nick Fuentes calls for a “dictatorship” to “take over this country”

“Trump actually is maybe the single biggest obstacle right now. ... Did he in any way meaningfully make America great again? No.”

• Logan M. Davis @ The Colorado Reporter: Secret ICE Detention Facilities Exist Around Colorado, Data Shows

Data obtained by the Deportation Data Project via Freedom of Information Act request, and analyzed by the Colorado Times Recorder, though, shows that the agency’s footprint of detention facilities in Colorado is much wider than previously thought, including small, nondescript holding facilities like the one in a strip mall in Glenwood Springs. While some of these locations are listed in agency documentation as field offices or sub-offices, federal data reveals in no uncertain terms that they double as detention facilities, housing thousands of detained Coloradans in the last year alone.

• Willa Pope Robbins @ Mediaite: Trump Says ‘I Guess’ When Asked if Americans Should Fear Iranian Attacks: ‘Like I Said, Some People Will Die’

President Donald Trump acknowledged that Americans should fear Iranian reprisals in the U.S., claiming in an interview that “we expect some things.”

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RENEE GOOD AN 1 26

CNN host Kaitlan Collins forced U.S. Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.) that the fatal shooting of an American citizen at the hands of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was not worthy of a follow-up investigation.

“If they're investigating anything, they need to be investigating the paid protesters, and who's paying them to obstruct federal officers from doing their job,” Mullin said of slain 37 year-old Minneapolis, Minnesota mother Renee Good, without evidence that Good was a paid protestor.

“We've seen the videos and how quickly it happened. Do you have no unanswered questions?” Collins prodded.

“No. Absolutely not. It is very clear," Mullin responded.

“It’s clear which bullet killed her or how fast she accelerated?” Collins asked. “You don't have any of those questions?”

“What does it matter which bullet killed her? What does it matter how fast she accelerated?” Mullin said.

“That's typical of how an investigation would work when a federal officer kills an American citizen, is it not? I mean, they would look into those things,” Collins insisted.

“Are we doubting the fact that she accelerated and hit an officer?” Mullins demanded. “Is that debatable? No, it's not debatable.”

“You say that is so clear, but there are officials that we've had on this show from Minnesota and local officials who believe that this was murder,” said Collins. “They've watched the same videos you have, and they've come to a totally different conclusion. So why not have an investigation?”

“But it's clear what took place,” Mullins said.

“To you. But other people say it's the opposite,” Collins said.

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04/11/2025

by

Peter Montgomery

Intercessors for America, a group of ardently pro-Trump “prayer warriors” that is closely associated with White House aide Paula White, gathered a group of supporters in Washington, D.C. this week to “prayer walk the centers of power in our nation, pray with elected officials, and gather with other IFA intercessors.” It was the first of IFA’s new monthly “Insights and Intercession” events, designed to give supporters a chance to “strategically pray” in Washington, D.C.

The concept of “strategic” spiritual warfare is a key element of dominionist New Apostolic Reformation ideology. During the first Trump administration, White forged and maintained close relationships with Christian nationalist and dominionist leaders through her One Voice Prayer Movement and her alliance with groups like IFA. IFA President Dave Kubal has participated in national “prayer and repentance” gatherings attended by dozens of members of Congress.

Intercessors for America, like the National Faith Advisory Board White set up after Trump lost in 2020 and many Christian-right organizations and media outlets, functions as a virtual non-stop public relations operation for the Trump administration. Collectively, these activists relentlessly repeat assertions that Trump is anointed by God and that his opponents—whether Democrats or federal judges—are thwarting God’s will, thereby helping to maintain a cultish level of support among Trump’s base, which in turn empowers him to demand unquestioning loyalty from fellow Republicans.

IFA has celebrated Trump’s campaign of intimidation and retribution against law firms, laughably characterizing it as an effort to “bring an end to the politicization of justice once and for all.” It has produced a "special report" titled "Power Struggle: Trump vs. Activist Judges," which calls out judges who are "taking on the president." The subject line of a recent email read, “God is Protecting DOGE!”

On Thursday, IFA posted a photo of its prayer warriors praying through the halls of the Supreme Court. On Wednesday, IFA shared a picture of its members meeting with Rep. Nathaniel Moran, who IFA quoted saying, “We’re engaged in a spiritual battle here.” White also invited IFA’s intercessors to the White House for a private briefing.

IFA had been at the White House a week earlier as well, for an event sponsored by the White House Faith Office during IFA’s “supporters summit,” which bore the name of Dave Kubal’s forthcoming book, “Impacting Generations.” According to IFA’s Facebook page, Sens. Marsha Blackburn and Markwayne Mullin met with IFA supporters.

Among IFA’s activities are weekly prayer calls hosted by Kris Kubal, Dave’s wife and IFA’s Chief Program Office. For two weeks in a row in March, Kubal devoted her show to promoting the Trump administration’s claims that federal judges who are acting to slow or stop the administration’s lawbreaking are a “judicial oligarchy” exercising a form of “despotism.”

As Right Wing Watch reported in March, the guest speaker on March 20 was Phillip Jauregui, a longtime right-wing activist who heads the Judicial Action Group and promotes a wildly unconstitutional religious test for Supreme Court justices and other federal judges through the Center for Judicial Renewal, a project of the American Family Association’s political action affiliate. On the IFA call, Jauregui prayed that God would visit the Supreme Court justices in their dreams to bring them “into alignment with your will to preserve the proper powers of the presidency right now.”

Among the concrete steps Jauregui suggested was a little budgetary intimidation designed to force the Supreme Court to rein in lower courts judges. Jauregui asked, “What if Speaker Johnson put something out publicly and says, ‘Chief Justice Roberts, we’d like to talk with you about having Elon Musk and DOGE come look at judicial expenditures.’ Hello? You think that would spook Roberts a bit, and cause him to be concerned?”

The following week, Kris Kubal hosted right-wing activist Bill Federer, who floated conspiracy theories about John Roberts being compromised and blackmailed by some embarrassing information to explain why he hasn’t ruled in lockstep with Trump. Federer also suggested actions Congress could take to “uncreate” lower courts or strip them of jurisdiction. An IFA leader from Florida prayed that God would turn the hearts of judges or "remove" them, an echo of previousspiritual warriors' callsfor God to "remove" Supreme Court justices to give Trump more vacancies to fill.

Back in 2018, when Trump was close to choosing Brett Kavanaugh as his second Supreme Court nominee, Jauregui used an IFA prayer call to denounce Kavanaugh as a “usurper” and insist that Amy Coney Barrett was the one anointed by God. But a week later, after Trump had officially nominated Kavanaugh, IFA fell in line and mobilized support for his confirmation.

IFA is also active at the state level. The same IFA newsletter celebrating the group’s return to the White House also linked to an article about efforts by IFA leaders in South Carolina to decree a “divorce from Baal” and its “prayer and pronouncing separation from the roots of the Masonic for the State.”

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Republican Senators are starting to circle the wagons around President-elect Donald Trump’s nominee to be Secretary of Defense, former Fox News weekend co-host Pete Hegseth, with one particularly loyal ultra-MAGA lawmaker praising him as a “man of integrity.”

Hegseth has faced criticism for a wide variety of allegations, including tattoos that reflect an affinity for Christian nationalism, alleged “aggressive drunkenness,” possible alcohol intoxication on the job, alleged sexual assault of a woman who attended a Republican conference with her husband and children and says she was trapped by Hegseth in his room, and alleged financial mismanagement of two charities that support veterans.

The alleged sexual assault victim “had texted her husband about her dislike for Hegseth, saying he gave off ‘creeper’ vibes,” USA TODAY reported. “Hotel footage showed them in a verbal altercation at the pool area before she led Hegseth towards his room. She later told police she didn’t know how she ended up in Hegseth’s room, but she remembered he blocked the door and took her phone, she told police. Hegseth told police at the time he was ‘buzzed’ but not drunk, though his lawyer recently claimed he was ‘visibly intoxicated’ and the woman was the ‘the aggressor in the encounter.'”

READ MORE: Jason Miller Tries to Spin Trump

The New Yorker alleged Hegseth that at one of the veterans’ charities, Hegseth “was frequently intoxicated on the job and contributed to a hostile workplace due to sexual misconduct,” USA Today also reported.

“A previously undisclosed whistle-blower report on Hegseth’s tenure as the president of Concerned Veterans for America, from 2013 until 2016, describes him as being repeatedly intoxicated while acting in his official capacity—to the point of needing to be carried out of the organization’s events,” The New Yorker also reported. “The detailed seven-page report—which was compiled by multiple former C.V.A. employees and sent to the organization’s senior management in February, 2015—states that, at one point, Hegseth had to be restrained while drunk from joining the dancers on the stage of a Louisiana strip club, where he had brought his team.”

“The report also says that Hegseth, who was married at the time, and other members of his management team sexually pursued the organization’s female staffers, whom they divided into two groups—the ‘party girls’ and the ‘not party girls.’ In addition, the report asserts that, under Hegseth’s leadership, the organization became a hostile workplace that ignored serious accusations of impropriety, including an allegation made by a female employee that another employee on Hegseth’s staff had attempted to sexually assault her at the Louisiana strip club. In a separate letter of complaint, which was sent to the organization in late 2015, a different former employee described Hegseth being at a bar in the early-morning hours of May 29, 2015, while on an official tour through Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, drunkenly chanting ‘Kill All Muslims! Kill All Muslims!’ ”

One Republican U.S. Senator, Markwayne Mullin of Oklahoma, on Sunday said he did not see Hegseth’s drinking as a problem.

IFrame Content

Monday afternoon, U.S. Senator Roger Marshall (R-KS) declared that Hegseth is a “good man,” and a “man of integrity” who absolutely has his support.

“I think that these anonymous character assassinations by the media are way over-reported,” Marshall insisted.

Fox News host John Roberts interjected, saying, “but some of them weren’t anonymous.”

“Well, the ones that I’ve seen are anonymous,” Marshall claimed, before insisting Hegseth will be a good Secretary of Defense.

“The people elected President Trump for transformational changes,” Marshall claimed. “Pete is gonna get rid of the DEI business going on in the military. He’s going to reward people for their merits that our warfighters out there aren’t afraid who’s standing beside them when the bullets are pouring down.”

PO at geatz for Mcc coup, revealed sex videotapes on house floor; demand ethics report public

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mullin, MarkwayneROK-020%1%

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republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have unanimously voted to formalize an impeachment inquiry against President Joe Biden, but where the inquiry will ultimately lead remains to be seen. If the House eventually votes "yes" on any possible articles of impeachment, those articles would go to the U.S. Senate for consideration.

A conviction in a Senate trial would be unlikely, as Democrats have a small Senate majority, and Senate Democrats have been attacking the impeachment inquiry as baseless and absurd.

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), a far-right MAGA Republican, has been a major critic of the Biden Administration. But Mullin fears that the Biden impeachment inquirymight be unsuccessful.

During an appearance on Newsmax — the cable news outlet that prides itself on being to the right of Fox News — Mullin stressed, "If they send us a case, make sure it's convictable. The bar is real high, there's no question about it. It's gotta be a misdemeanor, high crime or treason."

Mullin added that House Republicans would have to show that an alleged offense on Biden's part was "committed while he was in office — the current office he holds."

The, "So, what he did as the vice president — what he did in between the two — may not be impeachable."

READ MORE:Biden impeachment will 'backfire' against GOP and be 'good news' for his reelection: journalist

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12 23 an motive for attack?

Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma) and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) are having a public back-and-forth on social media after the latter accused his fellow Republican of corruption.

On Wednesday, Gaetz posted a graphic to X (formerly Twitter) showing that Mullin's wealth had increased from $12 million, when he was a member of the House of Representatives, to $63 million in 2022 after several years in the US Senate. Gaetz tweeted the graphic with the words "we should pass a ban on trading stocks!"

Mullin didn't take kindly to Gaetz's post, and attacked the Florida congressman's "criticism of hard-earned success," adding that "he should try building a business that gains value" and that doing so is "more gratifying than living off your daddy’s money."

Gaetz, for his part, shot back at Mullin, tweeting that the only thing he criticized was Mullin's stock trades as a member of Congress.

"I want to ban those trades," Gaetz posted. "You cashed in and made millions."

Mullin's point about Gaetz's wealth is true: The far-right Florida congressman comes from an incredibly wealthy family, with Forbes estimating his father and mother's net worth at approximately $30 million as of June 2020. Gaetz's father, Don, is a former hospital executive who oversaw facilities in Florida and Wisconsin, and who eventually founded hospice provider Vitas Healthcare. Don and Victoria Gaetz now own multiple seven-figure stakes in various companies, 13 pieces of real estate and have a large and diverse stock portfolio.

However, Mullin is also a beneficiary of family wealth. According to a 2012 Roll Call profile of Mullin, the Oklahoma congressman admitted to inheriting his father's plumbing company, which he then built up over the years. Mullin — a mixed martial arts (MMA) enthusiast — has also founded an MMA gym called "Oklahoma Fight Club." Mullin's penchant for fisticuffs was on full display during a Senate committee hearing in November, when he challenged International Brotherhood of Teamsters president Sean O'Brien to a fight before being deterred by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

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https://www.alternet.org/markwayne-mullin-2666288268/

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an 7 23 student debt

...During the White House press conference following the court's decision, Cardona said, "Today, the court substituted itself for congress. It’s outrageous to me that Republicans in Congress and state offices fought so hard against a program that would have helped millions of their own constituents.They had no problem handing trillion dollar tax cuts to big corporations and the super-wealthy, and many had no problems accepting millions of dollars in forgiven pandemic loans.”

He continued, "Senator Markwayne Mullin from Oklahoma had more than $1.4 million in pandemic loans forgiven. He represents 489,000 eligible borrowers that were turned down today. Representative Brett Guthrie from Kentucky had more than $4.4 million forgiven. He represents more than 90,000 eligible borrowers that were turned down today. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia had more than $180,000 forgiven. She represents more than 91,800 borrowers who were turned down today."

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https://www.opensecrets.org/members-of-congress/markwayne-mullin/summary?cid=N00033410

Markwayne Mullin Representative (OK)

FIRST ELECTION

2012

TOP INDUSTRY 2011 - 2022

Oil & Gas

$950,885

TOP CONTRIBUTOR 2011 - 2022

Devon Energy

$80,750

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contributor Total Individuals PACs

Devon Energy $80,750 $38,250 $42,500

Blue Cross/Blue Shield $67,250 $750 $66,500

Majority Cmte PAC $65,000 $0 $65,000

Cox Enterprises $48,500 $6,500 $42,000

Koch Industries $47,525 $25 $47,500

Top Industries, 2011 - 2022

Industry Total Individuals PACs

Oil & Gas $950,885 $344,485 $606,400

Leadership PACs $526,889 $1,000 $525,889

Health Professionals $421,047 $131,860 $289,187

Tribal Governments $365,475 $365,475 $0

Pharmaceuticals/Health Products $318,108 $31,660 $286,448

Top Industries, 2011 - 2022

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'I don’t want reality': Senate GOPer prefers 'Jesus loves me' taught instead of history of race

David Badash andThe New Civil Rights Movement May 31, 2023

U.S. Senator Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) exploded in a committee hearing on child care on Wednesday after he introduced a book designed to help children understand race, and declared he opposes socialism and wants schools to teach about Jesus Christ instead.

Sen. Mullin, a former U.S. Congressman who once told a House Democrat to “shut up,” began by explaining how expensive it is for private companies to set up child care – the topic of the hearing – but quickly transformed the hearing into one on race, socialism, and religion.

He wove a web that started with his concerns over“federalizing” education, which he declared is socialism. He then attacked the committee chairman, Bernie Sanders (I-VT), who heads the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), for being a “self-declared democratic socialist.” That led to his claim that the book he opposes, “Our Skin: A First Conversation on Race,” would be taught nationwide.

Sen. Mullin said he opposes the book because it teaches young children that the concept of race, especially the white race, was created by white people to place themselves above other people with different skin – which has been documented in numerous studies, reports, articles, and books.

READ MORE: DeSantis Kicks Off Presidential Campaign Tour With Claim Teachers Are ‘Forcing’ Students to Pick Pronouns

Senator Mullin, who supports a federal vigilante “Don’t Say Gay” bill, tried to get members of the panel to support his desire for schools to teach about Jesus instead.

“I have a book here in here in front of me called ‘Our Skin,'” Mullin told the committee, “and I’m going to read exactly what this book says. You guys might find it interesting. ‘A long time ago, way before you were born, a group of white people made up an idea called race. They sorted people by skin color and said that white people were better, smarter, prettier, and they deserved more than everybody else.’ This would be taught if we socialized our pre-K system, this would be taught.”

“How about we teach Jesus Loves Me?” Mullin demanded. “How about how about this? And teaching ‘Jesus Loves the Little Children.’ The lyrics go, ‘Red and yellow, black and white. They’re all precious in our sight.’ Now, which one would you think would be better? I’ll ask everybody on the panel, which is better to teach? This, that is a story that was made up to teach kids, three year olds who have no idea what race is.”

“Now all of a sudden being taught that white people said this as a truth, someone pointed me that this being a truth, that white people developed race, that white people develop that. That all of a sudden that was our word that we developed.By the way, I’m Cherokee, Native American. I think we have experienced a little bit of racism before in my life,” Mullen said.

READ MORE: ‘Will Make a Great Trial Witness’: Experts Thrilled Jack Smith Is Investigating Trump’s Firing of Election Security Expert

“So I ask everybody on the panel, which one is better to teach? This,” referring to the book he had brought, “or the ‘Jesus Loves Me’ lyrics? Ma’am. I’ll start on here.”

“I think it’s important to teach that all children are seen and valued for who they are,” one panelist told Sen. Mullin. He was not pleased.

Another panelist who appeared to agree with Sen. Mullin on teaching Jesus responded, “It is important that we teach Jesus. Jesus is what we teach. But the reality is –” she said before being interrupted by Mullin.

“I don’t want reality,” Mullin proclaimed, which evoked immediate laughter.

“Got it on tape,” one person announced.

“I misspoke,” Mullin claimed.

Watch portions of Mullin’s remarks below or at this link.

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https://www.mediamatters.org/newsmax/timeline-gop-threatens-directv-defense-newsmax

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Timeline: GOP threatens DirecTV in defense of Newsmax

WRITTEN BY MATT GERTZ

PUBLISHED 02/02/23

Republicans are accelerating their campaign to force private cable news carriers to not only carry right-wing propaganda networks but pay them for the privilege. The effort demonstrates how the party has institutionalized former President Donald Trump’s corrupt and authoritarian practice of retaliating against companies that refuse to prioritize the GOP’s partisan interests.

NewsmaxTV is a right-wing cable news channel founded by Christopher Ruddy, a conservative media veteran. Its stars include former Trump White House press secretary Sean Spicer and former Fox News host Eric Bolling, and it drew notoriety for its relentless lies about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

NewsmaxTV is available for free on Newsmax’s website and through venues like YouTube and Roku, and it has at times paid cable providers to carry it. The channel loses money but helps burnish the company’s brand and drives new subscribers to the company’s various email lists. Those lists are the company’s profit center: Newsmax uses them to scare credulous seniors into buying scammy financial and health products.

DirecTV dropped NewsmaxTV last Tuesday after their carriage deal collapsed. According to DirecTV, the company had previously provided NewsmaxTV “at no cost to the programmer” but that Newsmax was “seeking significant fees” in a new deal, and it subsequently replaced it with another right-wing channel in a deal that did not include “extra fees.” But Ruddy declared Newsmax the victim of “political discrimination and censorship.” 

Republican officials have rallied to Newsmax’s defense – often securing network airtime to do so. They are threatening federal retribution against DirecTV and its parent, AT&T, in apparent hopes of forcing the companies to accept particular customers at their preferred price. Party chair Ronna McDaniel, presidential frontrunners Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and dozens of House Republicans, and several of their Senate colleagues have gotten involved in the private business matter.

The GOP’s Newsmax campaign is the latest in a series of Republican efforts to use the power of the state to target corporations for failing to support its partisan interests.

Key Events

January 20

Amid carriage negotiation, House Republicans lean on DirecTV and its owners. Forty-two House Republicans, including third-ranking member Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) and Oversight Committee chair Rep. James Comer (R-KY), signed a letter from Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) to the CEOs of DirecTV, majority owner AT&T, and minority ownerTPG Capitalstating that DirecTV was “moving to de-platform NEWSMAX by denying it cable fees on a fair and equitable basis.” The signatories claimed that this would mean that DirecTV “is actively working to limit conservative viewpoints on its system” and suggested that they might respond with congressional “oversight.”

January 23

DirecTV says sticking point in negotiations is that Newsmax is “now seeking significant fees.” In a statement to the Washington Examiner for an article about the House GOP’s letter, a DirecTV spokesperson said: “We deliver Newsmax to our national base of satellite and IPTV customers today at no cost to the programmer or our customers, ultimately offering Newsmax the ability to generate considerable advertising revenue at no cost. … We’ve discussed with Newsmax on several occasions that we’d like to offer their programming, however, the network is now seeking significant fees that we cannot pass on to our broad customer base.”

January 24

DirecTV drops NewsmaxTV. At 11:59 p.m., DirecTV’s deal with NewsmaxTV expired and it stopped broadcasting the channel. In a statement, a spokesperson said, “On multiple occasions, we made it clear to Newsmax that we wanted to continue to offer the network, but ultimately Newsmax’s demands for rate increases would have led to significantly higher costs that we would have to pass on to our broad customer base.” Ruddy responded by calling the move “a blatant act of political discrimination and censorship against Newsmax," adding, “The most extreme liberal channels, even with tiny ratings, get fees from AT&T's DirecTV, but Newsmax and OAN need to be deplatformed.”

January 25

Newsmax tells viewers to demand congressional action. Using identical language, several Newsmax hosts implored their viewers to contact members of Congress and tell them to take action in response to DirecTV dropping Newsmax. “We are urging you to call your congressman and senator today and demand they investigate AT&T and DirecTV for their discrimination against conservative media,” host Rob Finnerty said after accusing the companies of “blatant political discrimination.” The Daily Beast’s Justin Baragona reported that by the afternoon, “Newsmax anchors John Bachman, Bianca de la Garza, Shaun Kraisman, and Bob Sellers had also read the prepared monologue on air.”

Trump threatens AT&T and DirecTV over dropping Newsmax. On his Truth Social platform, former President Donald Trump commented: “The Radical Left seems to have taken over the mind and soul of AT&T. This is a big blow to the Republican Party, and to America itself. For DIRECTV to drop very popular NEWSMAX, without explanation, will not be accepted. I, for one, will be dropping all association with AT&T and DIRECTV, and I have plenty.”

Donald Trump, Jr. calls for a right-wing boycott of AT&T.Trump Jr. tweeted, “OUTRAGEOUS: ATT just dropped Newsmax! It’s time for Americans to return the favor and drop ATT. @PatriotMobile is the ONLY conservative mobile provider — use code “DONJR” for FREE activation!” According to its website, Patriot Mobile is “America’s ONLY Christian conservative wireless provider” and the company “is proud to partner with Donald Trump, Jr. in the fight to defend our freedom of speech.”

January 26

DirecTV announces it is replacing Newsmax with another right-wing network. DirecTV said that it would replace Newsmax with The First, another right-wing channel that features Fox and OAN castoffs Bill O’Reilly, Dana Loesch, and Liz Wheeler.A DirecTV spokesperson told the Daily Beast that the deal did not include any “extra fees” for The First, which like Newsmax is also available for free online.

On Newsmax, Reps. Waltz, Van Drew call for hearings into DirecTV. On Newsmax’s Wake Up America, Rep. Michael Waltz (R-FL) said that House Republicans could convene “public hearings” in which executives from DirecTV and AT&T “come to talk to usand explain this to us” about dropping the channel. Later that day, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) told the network that DirecTV dropping Newsmax “is what happens in authoritarian regimes” and said he is “going to push for hearings” in order to preserve “the future of our nation.”

Sen. Paul calls for boycott of DirecTVover dropping Newsmax. Sen Rand Paul (R-KY) tweeted, “I would cancel @DIRECTV for censoring @NEWSMAX but I already cancelled them for cancelling @OANN. I guess @DIRECTV doesn’t want conservative viewers so maybe we should all just quit their services and go elsewhere.”

January 27

House oversight chair promises DirecTV-Newsmax probe.Asked by Finnerty whether he would hold hearings, Comer replied, “Yes. There's gonna be a committee that's gonna hold hearings. We're sitting, we're gonna meet later today and try to discuss which committee's gonna do what. That's certainly on the agenda. I'm very concerned by this.”

Sen. Cruz on DirecTV dropping NewsmaxTV: “Conservative voices must not be silenced!” On Twitter, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) shared a Washington Times editorial that described the Newsmax drop as the “censorship of conservative media.” He commented, “Conservative voices must not be silenced!” and included the handles of Newsmax, AT&T, DirecTV, and TPG.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey sends letter of concern to DirecTV. Morrisey, a Republican who is considering a race for governor or U.S. Senate, sent a letter to the CEO of DirecTV stating, “Neither DirecTV nor the channels it carries should face an ongoing concern over whether programming is acceptable to powerful political elites.”

Newsmax’s Bolling condemns Fox for not covering the story. Bolling lashed out at his former employer for not covering DirecTV dropping Newsmax, saying, “By the way. Where are you, Fox? How about you, Fox? I mean, you stand up for us.”

January 30

Speaker McCarthy promises congressional “action,” says he spoke to AT&T directly. In a Newsmax appearance, McCarthy said he found DirecTV dropping the channel “very concerning” and told the hosts, “You're going to see action taken, because we believe it's responsible to allow everybody to have a choice of what news they want to listen to." He also said that he had told AT&T that “Newsmax should not be treated any differently based upon them being a conservative news outlet.”

RNC chair condemns DirecTV for “censoring” conservatives. McDanielshared a clip of Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) on Newsmax castigating DirecTVand commented, “The woke agenda of many corporations is bent on censoring voices they disagree with. @MarkwayneMullin is right – by silencing @NEWSMAX, @DIRECTV is censoring voices who pay their bills.”

January 31

House Republicans give floor speeches condemning DirecTV. Eighteen House Republicans, including Reps. Van Drew, Lauren Boebert (CO), Eric Burlison (MO), and Matt Gaetz (FL), gave demagogic Special Order speeches denouncing DirecTV for dropping Newsmax.Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO) wrapped up the event by noting, “many of the speakers today, many of the members of Congress who spoke, made it absolutely clear that they’re going to dedicate time and energy and staff resources to make sure that we look into this further.”

Gov. DeSantis supports congressional probe of DirecTV.Asked at a press conference about the debate, DeSantis said of DirecTV, “They will give different rationales for why they don’t want to do it, but the reality is they have so much other content that is very lightly viewed, and they keep that on, and it seems it is the One America News and the Newsmax that are being targeted. So I think it does warrant an investigation.” He added that Congress should “ensure that there’s not intellectual discrimination when it comes to what people are able to view.”

Rep. Gaetz calls for Department of Justice, Federal Communications Commission to investigate AT&T. Gaetz tweeted: “AT&T's DirecTV has REMOVED @Newsmax from its lineup. This is blatant content-based censorship. Congress, the Antitrust Division of the DOJ, and the FCC need to investigate @ATT's decision immediately. Americans should not be denied their right to access diverse viewpoints.”

February 1

Senate Republicans send a letter asking DirecTV to explain the decision. Cruz and other GOP Sens. Lindsey Graham (SC), Mike Lee (UT) and Tom Cotton (AR) sent a letter to DirecTV’s leadership stating that they are “deeply disturbed” by its decision and alleging that the company may be “suppressing politically disfavored speech at the behest of liberal Democrats.”

RNC chair praises House Republicans for demanding an investigation. McDaniel said in a statement that “DirecTV’s decision to censor Newsmax – the fourth-highest rated program on cable TV [sic] – is a slap in the face to the voters who pay the network’s bills.” She added, “I applaud House Republicans for taking important steps to hold DirecTV accountable for their censorship of Republican voices.”

February 2

McCarthy reiterates interest in congressional hearings. At a press conference, McCarthy said that “we should look at” DirecTV’s decision to drop Newsmax in order to ensure that the network hasn’t been “jeopardized from being on television simply because of their philosophical beliefs.”

markwayne Mullin (born July 26, 1977) is an American politician, businessman, and former professional mixed martial arts fighter who has been the United States representative for Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district since 2013. He owns several businesses, which he took over at twenty, when his father became ill. Mullin, a member of the Republican Party, was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2012 elections, succeeding Democratic representative Dan Boren.

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Early life and education[

Mullin was born on July 26, 1977 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.^[1] He graduated from Stilwell High School in Stilwell, Oklahoma.^[2] He attended Missouri Valley College in 1996, but did not graduate.^[1] Mullin received an associate in applied sciences degree in construction technology from Oklahoma State University Institute of Technology, in 2010.^[1][3]

Business career[

Mullin took over his family's business, Mullin Plumbing, at the age of twenty, when his father fell ill. He also owns Mullin Properties, Mullin Farms and Mullin Services.^[4]

He hosted House Talk, a home improvement radio program, on Tulsa station KFAQ and syndicated across Oklahoma.^[1][5]

U.S. House of Representatives[

2012 election

See also: United States House of Representatives elections in Oklahoma, 2012

Incumbent Democratic U.S. congressman Dan Boren decided to retire in 2012.^[6] Mullin declared his candidacy for the 2012 elections to the United States House of Representatives to represent Oklahoma's 2nd congressional district in September 2011. In the six-candidate Republican primary, Mullin ranked first with 42% of the vote, failing to reach the over 50% threshold. State representative George Faught ranked second with 22% of the vote.^[7] In the run-off primary election, Mullin defeated Faught 57%–43%.^[8][9] He branded himself as an outsider; his campaign slogan was "A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician!"^[10]

The second has historically been a classic "Yellow Dog" Democratic district. However, it has steadily trended Republican, as Tulsa's suburbs have spilled into the northern portion of the district. For these reasons, Mullin was thought to have a good chance of winning the election. In the general election, Mullin defeated the Democratic candidate, Rob Wallace, a former district attorney, 57%–38%.^[11] He became the first Republican to represent the district, since Tom Coburn in 2001,^[12] and only the second since 1921.

Miami Tribe revocation:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

On February 5, 2014, Mullin introduced the bill To revoke the charter of incorporation of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma at the request of that tribe (H.R. 4002; 113th Congress), which would accept the request of the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma to revoke the charter of incorporation issued to that tribe and ratified by its members on June 1, 1940.^[13]

2017 town hall comments

In April 2017, Mullin drew criticism when he was recorded during a town hall meeting telling his constituents that it was "bullcrap" that taxpayers pay his salary. He said, "I pay for myself. I paid enough taxes before I got here and continue to through my company to pay my own salary. This is a service. No one here pays me to go."^[14] According to the January 2012 Congressional Research Service, the salary of a U.S. representative is $174,000 per year, and benefits include allowances, cost-of-living adjustments, enrollment in a pension, health benefits, personnel, mail and office expenses, and a travel allowance.^[15]

Running for a fourth term:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

During the 2012 campaign, Mullin promised to serve for only three terms (six years), meaning that he would have left Congress in 2019. However, in July 2017, Mullin released an eleven-minute video announcing that he would indeed run for a fourth term in 2018, saying he was ill-advised when he made the promise to only serve three terms.^[16]

Committee assignments:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

• Committee on Natural Resources
  • Subcommittee on Indian and Alaska Native Affairs
  • Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
  • Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management
  • Subcommittee on Highways and Transit
  • Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment

Caucus memberships:{:(style="margin-right:0.25em"):}:[edit:{]}:

• Republican Study Committee^[17]
• Congressional Western Caucus^[18]

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The House of Representatives on Wednesday voted to cut funding from key climate protection rules and rejected an attempt to save regional offices of the Environmental Protection Agency from being closed.

But lawmakers voted against an amendment to cut $1.9 billion from the EPA's budget, which would have dealt a devastating blow to the beleaguered agency.

Offered by Rep. Ralph Norman, a Republican from South Carolina, the amendment's cuts would have come close to the 31 percent reduction sought by President Donald Trump. The House bill does cut more than $530 million from the agency's $8 billion budget, slashing it to less than the agency was spending in 2006.

The votes came as lawmakers worked their way through a broad spending package for the 2018 fiscal year, which begins in October. Final passage by the House will likely come Thursday, but any differences with a Senate version will need to be reconciled.

The bill contained hundreds of amendments, many of them "riders" of the kind attached to appropriations bills to score policy points. Dozens of these proposals have drawn criticism from environmental groups.

Hewing closely to party lines, Republicans backed two amendments sponsored by Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.). One would prevent funds from being used to enforce an Obama-era rule that limits methane pollution from new oil and gas facilities. The other effectively prohibits the EPA from factoring in future damages from climate change—a calculation known as the social cost of carbon—in weighing the costs and benefits of its rules.

Earlier this year, President Donald Trump issued an executive order to weaken the social cost of carbon requirements, and the administration has also attempted to stall or block rules limiting methane emissions. Republican support on the must-pass appropriations package backs up the administration, and, at least for the coming fiscal year, complicates any efforts by green advocacy groups to challenge the administration's rollbacks.

Lawmakers on Wednesday also voted down an amendment by Rep. Jared Polis, (D-Colo.), that sought to block the administration from closing or consolidating any of the regional offices of EPA.

Debate began on the package last week, but House leadership delayed some votes until this week so that some lawmakers could cope with the hurricane emergencies in their home districts.

Last week, during debate over these riders, lawmakers expressed their ongoing frustration that policy-related amendments are being tucked into must-pass spending legislation.

"These riders are best done in the policy committee, not on the appropriations bill," said Rep. Betty McCollum, a Minnesota Democrat, saying that Congress ought to hear from scientists and public health experts as well as the fossil fuel industry when making decisions. "I support science and I believe we should not abandon science while trying to tackle climate change."

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https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2018/10/02/kochpac-pay-play-aims-slow-solar-renewables/

One of Koch Industries’ favorite current federal bills would change how states regulate utilities on renewable energy. A Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) analysis shows the legislation is supported by politicians receiving large contributions from the Koch Industries Political Action Committee (KochPAC).

The Pay

The so-called “Ratepayer Fairness Act of 2017” (H.R. 1572) would require state public utility commissions to determine whether the setting of electricity rates for technologies deployed by individual customers, such as solar energy or energy storage, results in subsidies to those customers from customers who do not deploy those technologies.

Rep. Richard Hudson (R-NC) sponsored H.R. 1572 and received $15,000 from Koch Industries in the 2017-2018 election cycle to his campaign and First in Freedom PAC. The only U.S. House member to co-sponsor it isRep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who has also received a combined $15,000 from KochPAC into his congressional re-election committee and his leadership PAC.

The Play

H.R. 1572 seeks to limit utility commissions from designing electricity rates favorable to solar or renewable energy if that technology causes customers or classes of customers to subsidize other customers or customer classes.

The bill would force utility commissions to hold hearings to consider whether setting electricity rates for a technology disproportionately affects some customers or customer classes, even if all customers gain in the long run (for example in reducing the need for new electricity generating plants).

If a commission finds that such subsidies or disproportionate effects exist, the bill then requires it to determine whether those subsidies are “appropriate,” as defined under current law. If the legislature or utility commission took a narrow view of “appropriate,” that policy could be used to stifle solar and other renewables.

Legislatures and public utility commissions do wander away from “true” cost allocations to pursue other values like “just and reasonable rates” for residential customers.

Some public utility commissions can currently consider the environmental cost of changes in rates among classes, and many renewable advocates argue that the social costs of carbon — such as aridization, or pollution and its public health effects — should also be considered, as it is in the European Union.

Although the Trump Administration has retreated from assigning a social cost to carbon in its decision-making, state utility commissions are taking up the practice.

H.R. 1572 is consistent with the Administration’s attempt to slow the use of storage facilities by solar energy and other renewable energy sources.

The Players

The bill was originally introduced into the U.S. House in the last congressional session by then-U.S. Representative Mike Pompeo, now the Secretary of State. Koch Industries was Pompeo’s top contributor in every election between 2010 and 2016.

Jane Mayer noted in her book, Dark Money:

After his election, Pompeo turned to the company for his chief of staff, choosing Mark Chenoweth, a lawyer who had worked for Koch Industries’ lobbying team.Within weeks, Pompeo was championing two of Koch Industries’ legislative priorities — opposition to Obama’s plans to create a public EPA registry of greenhouse gas polluters and a digital database of consumer complaints about unsafe products.

Among other ties to the Kochs, The Washington Post notes that Pompeo started a business with private equity financing from the Kochs.

The only company other than Koch Industries lobbying for this bill is Edison International, the parent company of Southern California Edison, and both have been large contributors to Republican congressional political organizations.

Companion legislation in the U.S. Senate (S. 613) was introduced by Sen. Jeff Flake (R-AZ), a climate change denier who took $166,000 from oil and gas companies, including Koch Industries, in his last election in 2012.

With Flake retiring from the Senate, no significant action is expected on this legislation this year, but the Kochs always have the money to push new policies.

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