RNC

<p><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">new tag 6/14 not implemented&nbsp;</font></b>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sort of Includes NRCC NRSC (see also)&nbsp; etc</b>, see also <b>Republican State Leadership Committee in gerrymandering

</b>&nbsp;</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">bak 120</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">cease desist ltr trump mccarthy kiss butt/ring?</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></p><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">521</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/national-republican-congressional-committee-has-featured-fox-news-least-18-fundraising">https://www.mediamatters.org/fox-news/national-republican-congressional-committee-has-featured-fox-news-least-18-fundraising</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/donald-trump-jr/">https://www.alternet.org/2020/12/donald-trump-jr/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">rnc bot 300K$ of books</font></div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">an 920&nbsp;</font></div><div><div class="header-list-style" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; position: relative; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><h2 class="entry-title grid-title" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 17px; font-family: " open="Open" sans="Sans" sans-serif="sans-serif" letter-spacing="letter-spacing" px="px">e<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/09/evidence-suggests-the-republican-national-committee-poured-more-than-400000-into-sean-hannitys-latest-book/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); transition: all 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; font-size: 18px; letter-spacing: 0px;">vidence suggests the Republican National Committee poured more than $400,000 into Sean Hannity’s latest book</a></h2><div class="grid-post-box-meta" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 12px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; font-size: 12px;"><span class="author-italic author vcard" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-size: inherit;"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/rogersollenberger/" title="Posts by Roger Sollenberger" class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit;">Roger Sollenberger</a>&nbsp;/&nbsp;<a href="https://www.alternet.org/author/salon/" title="Posts by Salon " class="author url fn" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer; font-size: inherit;">Salon&nbsp;</a></span>&nbsp;<span style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(136, 136, 136); font-size: inherit;">September 23, 2020</span></div></div><div class="item-content entry-content" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 18px 0px 0px; padding: 0px; color: rgb(49, 49, 49); font-family: Cabin, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8;">The Republican National Committee spent hundreds of thousands of dollars last month on books by Donald Trump Jr. and Fox News personality Sean Hannity, federal records show. The RNC’s August…</p></div></div><div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/why-the-alternative-universe-of-trump-loyalists-wont-be-broken-by-the-bolton-bombshell/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2020/01/why-the-alternative-universe-of-trump-loyalists-wont-be-broken-by-the-bolton-bombshell/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why the ‘alternative universe’ of Trump loyalists won’t be broken by the Bolton bombshell</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Alex Henderson January 28, 2020</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">When President Richard Nixon announced his resignation on August 8, 1974, he was being inundated with Watergate headlines and realized that many right-wing Republicans in the U.S. Senate would join Democrats in voting to remove him from office; Nixon, in other words, quit because he knew he would inevitably be fired.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But President Donald Trump, in contrast to Nixon, has been able to count on fiercely loyal Republicans no matter how scandal-ridden he becomes. Republicans, during Trump’s impeachment, have adamantly rallied around the president — and journalist Susan B. Glasser, in a January 28 article for The New Yorker, argued that even John Bolton’s bombshell allegations aren’t swaying diehard Trumpistas.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bolton, former national security adviser in the Trump Administration, alleges in his book, “The Room Where It Happened: A White House Memoir,” that Trump tied military aid to Ukraine to an investigation of former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden, according to multiple reports. Trump and his cult-like defenders have maintained there was no such “quid pro quo” — that investigating the Bidens was never a condition of military aid. But in a leaked manuscript of Bolton’s book, the New York Times reported over the weekend, Bolton alleges Trump and his allies made it clear to the Ukrainian government that there would be no military aid without an investigation of the Bidens.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump loyalists, Glasser notes, have been quick to defame Bolton.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“The attack on Bolton was swift and predictable: Bolton was a disgruntled former employee, a neocon, a money-grubber with a two-million-dollar book to sell,” Glasser explains. “The president himself led the mob, beginning to tweet and retweet anti-Bolton statements.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>The Republican National Committee (RNC), Glasser observes, has been “sending out official talking points attacking Bolton.”</b>&nbsp;And many Senate Republicans, she writes, are still opposed to featuring Bolton or any other witnesses in Trump’s impeachment trial — no matter how damning Bolton’s allegations are.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“At any other moment in Washington in my lifetime, I would have predicted with absolute confidence that the Bolton revelation would force Republican senators to switch their position and support witnesses — and not just a few, but almost all of them,” Glasser asserts. “But this is now, and the unthinkable and inconceivable have become increasingly routine. Here it was: the proverbial smoking gun, right in the middle of the trial — crucial evidence that Trump, his advisers, his lawyers and his enablers on Capitol Hill knew about and were trying to suppress.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Glasser concludes her New Yorker piece on a somber note, lamenting the fact that no matter what Bolton has to say about Ukraine, Trump’s loyalists and sycophants aren’t budging an inch.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Monday proved once again that this alternative universe has become the new normal in Trump’s GOP,” Glasser writes. “It is not the exception but the rule. The post-Bolton-bombshell Republican Party will be largely the same as the pre-Bolton-bombshell Republican Party.”</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/here-are-5-huge-lies-republicans-are-telling-about-the-new-report-on-the-russia-probe" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; color: rgb(0, 51, 153); outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/12/here-are-5-huge-lies-republicans-are-telling-about-the-new-report-on-the-russia-probe</font></a></div><div style="font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="font-size: small;"><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Here are 5 huge lies Republicans are telling about the new report on the Russia probe</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Cody Fenwick December 10, 2019</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s new report on the origins of Crossfire Hurricane, commonly called the Russia investigation, blew up many of the right wing’s favorite talking points and conspiracy theories about the FBI.</b>&nbsp;At the same time, it exposed real failures of procedures meant to protect American citizens against undue surveillance and exposed the need for serious law enforcement reforms.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But most Republicans seem unfazed that the report undercuts President Donald Trump’s repeated accusations of “treason” and a “witch hunt,” and they show no genuine interest in pushing policy to generally make law enforcement more responsible. Instead, they’re trying to pin the blame on the Obama administration and bias against Trump,&nbsp; even though these claims actually distract from the genuine problems uncovered.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So instead of grappling with the complicated facts of the report, Republicans are just lying about what it says. Here are five huge lies you should be on the look out for, and why they’re false:</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Aaron Rupar</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">@atrupar</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump on the IG report: "It is incredible. Far worse than I ever would've thought possible. It's an embarrassment to our country, it's dishonest. It's everything that a lot of people thought it would be, except far worse."</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Embedded video</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is absolutely not true. Trump has accused the FBI of “treason” for its investigation of members of his campaign, an accusation that was always ludicrous. Obviously, the report didn’t find anything “far worse” than treason — the worst finding seems to be that an FBI lawyer falsified a piece of evidence in an application for surveillance, making Carter Page’s activities look more suspicious than they otherwise would. This is quite bad, if true, but it’s far milder than much of what the FBI’s critics have claimed.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And in contrast to what Trump has been saying for more years now, the report said: “We did not find documentary or testimonial evidence that political bias or improper motivation influenced the decisions to open” investigations of Trump associates.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Ronna McDaniel</b></font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">@GOPChairwoman</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The mainstream media cannot dispute this fact:</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Comey’s FBI repeatedly misled the FISA court and omitted key facts about the phony Steele Dossier, which launched the 2-year, $35M Russia investigation.</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This should have never happened!</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In fact, the media can dispute this fact, because it’s not true. The work of Christopher Steele did not “launch” Crossfire Hurricane, as Horowitz made perfectly clear. It explained that the officials working on the investigation “did not become aware of Steele’s election reporting until weeks [after the investigation began] and we therefore determined that Steele’s reports played no role in the Crossfire Hurricane opening.”</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Senator John Cornyn</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>@JohnCornyn</b></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>It confirms that the Obama Justice Department spied on an American citizen by misleading the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court into issuing 4 separate warrants.</b>&nbsp;https://twitter.com/Breaking911/status/1204151940202020864 …...</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/gop-demanded-500k-donation-from-trump-bahamas-ambassador-during-his-senate-confirmation-hearings/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.alternet.org/2019/11/gop-demanded-500k-donation-from-trump-bahamas-ambassador-during-his-senate-confirmation-hearings/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">GOP demanded $500K donation from Trump Bahamas ambassador during his Senate confirmation hearings</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Written by Brad Reed / Raw Story November 18, 2019</font></div><div>
</div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Newly uncovered emails reveal that the Republican National Committee demanded that President Donald Trump’s nominee for the U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas donate $500,000 ahead of his Senate confirmation hearings.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>CBS News reports that RNC Chairwoman Ronna Romney McDaniel asked billionaire Doug Manchester for more cash at a time when his confirmation as Bahamas ambassador had seemingly stalled.</b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Would you consider putting together $500,000 worth of contributions from your family to ensure we hit our ambitious fundraising goal?” she asked him in an email.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Manchester replied and told McDaniel that he’s “not supposed to” be donating to the RNC at the same time he’s up for an ambassadorship. All the same, he said his wife would send along a check for $100,000.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">He then asked McDaniel to put pressure on the Senate GOP to move his confirmation hearing along.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">CBS News investigative reporter Jim Axelrod confronted Manchester about the emails and told him that “you know what this looks like.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Manchester responded defensively and insisted that his wife’s contribution had nothing to do with getting confirmed by the Senate.</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Well — it looks like it to you,” he said. “But it’s not the facts. My wife gave out of separate funds and she in fact loves Donald Trump.”</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The RNC said it was inappropriate for Manchester to link the donation to his ambassadorship nomination and added that it has since returned the money donated by the family this year.</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">no lnx</font></p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/29/payday-lenders-discussed-raising-money-trumps-campaign-fend-off-regulation-audio-reveals/">https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2019/10/29/payday-lenders-discussed-raising-money-trumps-campaign-fend-off-regulation-audio-reveals/</a></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Democracy Dies in Darkness</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Business</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Payday lenders discussed raising money for Trump’s campaign to fend off regulation, audio reveals</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">To ensure Democrats don’t block weaker industry rules, payday lenders said they needed access to Trump.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">By&nbsp;</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Renae Merle&nbsp;</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">October 29, 2019 at 9:41 AM EDT</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Billing himself as one of President Trump’s top fundraisers, Michael Hodges told fellow payday lenders recently that industry contributions to the president’s reelection campaign could be leveraged to gain access to the Trump administration.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“Every dollar amount, no matter how small or large it is” is important, Hodges, founder of Advance Financial, one of the country’s largest payday lenders, said during a 48-minute webcast, obtained by The Washington Post.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>“For example, I’ve gone to <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">Ronna McDaniel and said, ‘Ronna, I need help on something,’ ” Hodges said, referring to the chair of the Republican National Committee</span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">. </span>“She’s been able to call over to the White House and say, ‘Hey, we have one of our large givers. They need an audience. … They need to be heard and you need to listen to them.’ So that’s why it’s important.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The Sept. 24 webinar sponsored by Borrow Smart Compliance, an industry consultant, gives surprisingly frank insight into the payday lending industry’s strategy to push for weaker government regulations by forging a tight relationship with the Trump administration and the president’s campaign. The payday lending industry, made up of businesses that make short-term loans to consumers at high interest rates, is awaiting new rules that could weaken Obama administration requirements. Those rules include a requirement that the companies must ensure consumers can afford to repay the money they borrow.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), the chair of the Financial Services Committee, is an industry “hater,” and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) would pose a big threat if elected president, Hodges and three other industry insiders said during the talk. They called Trump their “ultimate backstop” against attempts to defeat legislation the industry wants.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“When Trump was elected, the needle moved in our favor — finally,” Max Wood of Borrow Smart Compliance said during the webinar.</font></p><p>
</p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">How Trump appointees curbed a consumer protection agency loathed by the GOP]</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“If you need something and we may need something … then it would be good to be able to pick up the phone and call someone that could get the president’s attention,” Wood said during the webinar. Contributing to Trump’s campaign will help keep the president in office, he said, and “it will give [Hodges] access in the event that we need to have access to the president.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In an interview, Wood acknowledged posting the YouTube video but then referred questions about fundraising to others who took part. The video, which had about 40 views as of Friday afternoon, was removed shortly after The Post asked Wood about it.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The major focus of the call appeared to be fundraising, which the industry insiders said would be critical to maintaining access to the Trump administration. Hodges encouraged others to donate to Trump’s campaign and referred to his efforts to bolster his standing with the administration.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“If I can show the campaign that Tina and I have brought in net new givers to the campaign, meaning whether it’s $100, $50, $25, $15,000 or $50,000 if they didn’t give last time, that is a boost to us as fundraisers,” Hodges said, referring to his wife.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Hodges said on the webinar that he has made more than $1 million in campaign contributions to help Trump since 2016.</b>&nbsp;In an interview, Hodges said he is an “enthusiastic” supporter of the president but had never used his status to ask the administration for help.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Trump is systematically backing off of consumer protections, to the delight of corporations]</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“When I am talking about access, I am not talking about the administration. I haven’t lobbied the administration,” he said in an interview. He said his support of the president is not connected to pushing any specific industry agenda. “I have not gone over to the White House because of Ronna McDaniel. … That just has not happened.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But during the webinar, Hodges said it would give him a “boost” if he could show that he had brought in donors who had never given before, even if their contributions were small.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“That is important to the campaign, which means it’s important to the president, which means it’s important if you ever had to call on anyone for anything in the administration,” he said during the call. “That’s how those things work.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>The White House declined to comment for this report. Trump’s reelection committee did not return a call for comment.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">In a statement, Mike Reed, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee, said: “Part of the RNC’s job is sharing what we hear from supporters across the country with party leaders. We often will connect our supporters with other Republican officials when they have a message they would like to pass along. Democrat policies would destroy millions of jobs, and that is not something our supporters and our organization will ever be shy about communicating.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Elisha Brown of Speedee Cash, a payday lender based in Florida, and Ed D’Alessio, executive director of the Financial Service Centers of America, who also participated in the webinar, did not return repeated calls and emails seeking comment.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">It’s unclear how many other people participated in the webinar.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The YouTube video was discovered by two advocacy groups, Allied Progress and Americans for Financial Reform.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“We have here a striking example of how money in American politics leads to the abuse of consumers in the financial services marketplace,” said Linda Jun, senior policy counsel at Americans for Financial Reform.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>
</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Derek Martin, director of Allied Progress, said: “This presentation reflects the worst of Washington, D.C. — wealthy executives buying off politicians so they can keep their predatory business model intact.”</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Consumer advocates and the Obama administration have argued that new rules on the industry were necessary to end the “debt trap” in which, once taking out one payday loan, consumers are forced to take out another and another to keep up.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But payday lenders have said the rules were too complicated and would drive many of them out of business. The industry launched an aggressive counterattack, suing to block the rules, recruiting black pastors to speak out in their defense and commissioning academic research that bolstered their talking points. The Community Financial Services Association of America has held its annual meeting at the Trump National Doral Miami golf club for the past two years.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The debate about payday loans is unfolding in the pews of black churches</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The industry’s outlook began to change under the Trump administration. In late 2017, the president appointed Mick Mulvaney, now acting White House chief of staff, to temporarily run the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. As a South Carolina congressman, Mulvaney had called the bureau a “joke” and co-sponsored legislation to close its doors. While CFPB’s acting director, Mulvaney took several steps that helped dial back pressure on payday lenders, including calling for a review of wide-ranging rules finalized by the previous administration and dropping several lawsuits against payday lenders.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>Now the CFPB, run by Kathy Kraninger, is considering whether to rescind the Obama administration’s rule requiring that payday lenders verify consumers can afford their loans, a potential major victory for the industry. Kraninger previously worked for Mulvaney at the Office of Management and Budget.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">But the industry has grown concerned that House Democrats, led by Waters, could block efforts to roll back those regulations using the Congressional Review Act, known as the CRA. That law allows legislators to block new regulations before they go into effect and was used repeatedly by Republicans in the past few years to roll back Obama-era rules.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“I think if we were to say that she’s a hater of the industry, that would be an understatement,” D’Alessio, of the Financial Service Centers of America, said of Waters during the webinar.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The industry would be unlikely to be able to stop efforts in the Democrat-controlled House to scuttle the weaker rules that payday lenders hope the CFPB will adopt, D’Alessio said during the webinar. Finding enough Republicans to block such an attempt in the Senate, where some lawmakers are facing tough reelection campaigns, could also be difficult, he said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“That puts us in a position where the ultimate backstop is the White House. And there we will be relying upon President Trump,” D’Alessio said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">During the webinar and in an interview, Hodges pitched himself as a family business owner who could help spread the industry’s message. Tennessee-based Advance Financial started with just a few storefronts but now has more than 100 in the state.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Supreme Court will decide constitutionality of consumer watchdog bureau</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">The company has grown significantly since Trump was elected, doubling its workforce to 1,300, increasing contributions to employees’ retirement accounts and distributing bonuses after the 2017 tax cut, Hodges said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“Any chance I have to talk about the about the jobs he has helped me create, I” do, Hodges said in an interview. “There has been this economic resurgence.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">He has emerged as a top Trump fundraiser. During the 2016 election cycle, the company’s owners and employees spent $270,385 on campaigns, compared with $1,000 during the 2014 campaign cycle, according to Open Secrets. That jumped to $965,450 in 2018 and $672,956 so far for the 2020 cycle. Almost all of that money went to Republicans.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“It’s hard for me to say this number, because if you told me this five years ago, I would have thought you were crazy. But we’ve donated about $1.25 million to his campaign so far,” Hodges said.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“So Tina and I have become, I would say, one of the larger donors to the campaign over the last couple of years.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>So far this year, Hodges said, he has raised another $200,000. During the call, he encouraged other industry officials to contribute to or attend an Oct. 7 fundraiser featuring Vice President Pence in Tennessee. The tickets ranged from $1,000 to $100,000, according to a copy of the invitation obtained by the Nashville Post.</b></font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">During the webinar, Hodges explained why such fundraisers were important. When money comes in that way “that raises the clout of that fundraiser so that when you go and speak to the administration through the campaign, they will listen.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Hodges said in an interview that he is aiming to raise “as much money as possible” for Trump’s reelection campaign, potentially $1 million.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“The last administration and candidate [Hillary] Clinton … was working hard to end an industry that provides a lot of jobs for folks,” Hodges said in an interview. “Trump was running on pro-growth, pro-business [campaign]. … as an entrepreneur it was an easy choice.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4"><b>After the webinar, Michael Brown, a payday industry consultant, touted the group’s message on his website in a post that has since been removed.</b>&nbsp;“If Warren wins you can bet on day 1 of her Presidency she will be focused on her baby, the CFPB. That is a doomsday scenario for the payday industry,” he said, echoing a talking point from the webinar. Warren conceived of the CFPB in the wake of the global financial crisis and has touted its success repeatedly during her presidential campaign.</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">“It is important for our industry to support the Trump Campaign financially and with votes.”</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">Toluse Olorunnipa and Magda Jean-Louis contributed to this report.</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></p><p style="margin-top: 8px; margin-bottom: 8px; font-size: small; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></font></font></p><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAEQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFSgAMAB6BAgBEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjAAegQIARAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font></font></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjAAegQIARAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjAAegQIARAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjAAegQIARAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjAAegQIARAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Ilhan Omar 9/11: Republicans are distorting her September 11 ... - Vox</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/.../ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans</cite></font></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=nrmwXL-OA8-4tQWpjabwAg&q=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&oq=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&gs_l=psy-ab.3...13174.22107..22321...0.0..0.186.2908.0j18......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i22i30j33i299j33i160.Z1J_Zbw0vRI#" id="am-b0" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQ7B0wAHoECAEQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQqR8wAHoECAEQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDAAegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.54;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDAAegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDAAegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.54;">21 hours ago -&nbsp;</span>Republicans are taking Ilhan&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Omar's</span>&nbsp;comments on 9/11 out of context to smear her. It's&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Islamophobia</span>, plain and simple. ... Here's&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Republican National Committee Chair</span>&nbsp;Ronna&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">McDaniel</span>labeling her both “anti-Semitic” and&nbsp;...</font></span></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 30px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAAQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFSgAMAF6BAgAEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:fxWK4SYklr4J:https://www.vox.com/2019/4/11/18306436/ilhan-omar-911-islamophobia-republicans%2B%26cd%3D1%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDAAegQIARAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjABegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;" /></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font><h3 class="LC20lb" style="font-weight: normal; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.33;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjABegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; 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text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjABegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjABegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjABegQIABAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Fox News, Crenshaw, RNC Attack Ilhan Omar for 9/11 Comments</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-co...</cite></font></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=nrmwXL-OA8-4tQWpjabwAg&q=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&oq=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&gs_l=psy-ab.3...13174.22107..22321...0.0..0.186.2908.0j18......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i22i30j33i299j33i160.Z1J_Zbw0vRI#" id="am-b1" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQ7B0wAXoECAAQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; cursor: default; font-weight: bold; height: 12px; line-height: 27px; margin: 1px 0px 2px; min-width: 0px; padding: 0px; text-align: center; transition: none 0s ease 0s; user-select: none; background-image: none; border: 0px; box-shadow: 0px 0px 0px 0px; filter: none; width: 13px; text-decoration-line: none; display: inline-block;"><span class="mn-dwn-arw" style="border-color: rgb(0, 102, 33) transparent; border-style: solid; border-width: 5px 4px 0px; width: 0px; height: 0px; margin-left: 3px; top: 7.5px; margin-top: -4px; position: absolute; left: 0px;" /></a><div class="action-menu-panel ab_dropdown" role="menu" tabindex="-1" jsaction="keydown:m.hdke;mouseover:m.hdhne;mouseout:m.hdhue" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQqR8wAXoECAAQAw" style="background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2); padding: 0px; position: absolute; right: auto; top: 12px; white-space: nowrap; z-index: 3; transition: opacity 0.218s ease 0s; box-shadow: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2) 0px 2px 4px; left: 0px; visibility: hidden;"><ol style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px;"><li class="action-menu-item ab_dropdownitem" role="menuitem" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; list-style: none; user-select: none; cursor: pointer;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D2%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDABegQIABAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;" /></li></ol></div></div></div><div class="s" style="max-width: 48em; line-height: 1.54;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D2%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDABegQIABAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D2%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDABegQIABAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.54;">2 days ago -&nbsp;</span>Ilhan&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Omar</span>&nbsp;Calls Out Fox News and&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">GOP</span>&nbsp;for 'Dangerous Incitement' Over ... On Tuesday, the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">chair</span>&nbsp;of the&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Republican National Committee</span>, Ronna&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">McDaniel</span>&nbsp;... Last month, Fox host Jeanine Pirro went on an&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Islamophobic</span>&nbsp;rant,&nbsp;...</font></span></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></div><div class="g" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 28px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div data-hveid="CAIQAA" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFSgAMAJ6BAgCEAA"><div class="rc" style="position: relative;"><div class="r" style="margin: 0px; line-height: 1.54;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:Ryexf4Qy2loJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/fox-news-crenshaw-rnc-attack-ilhan-omar-for-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D2%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDABegQIABAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; 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text-decoration-line: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQFjACegQIAhAB" style="cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none;">Instagram Stands By Laura Loomer Calling Ilhan Omar's Islamic Faith ...</a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></h3><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font><div class="TbwUpd" style="display: inline-block; line-height: 1.54; padding-bottom: 1px; padding-top: 1px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><cite class="iUh30" style="font-style: normal; padding-top: 1px; line-height: 1.43;">https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comm...</cite></font></div><div class="action-menu ab_ctl" style="display: inline; position: relative; margin: 1px 3px 0px; user-select: none; vertical-align: middle;"><a class="GHDvEf ab_button" href="https://www.google.com/search?ei=nrmwXL-OA8-4tQWpjabwAg&q=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&oq=rnc+chair+mcdaniel+omar+islamophobe+&gs_l=psy-ab.3...13174.22107..22321...0.0..0.186.2908.0j18......0....1..gws-wiz.......0i71j0i22i30j33i299j33i160.Z1J_Zbw0vRI#" id="am-b2" aria-label="Result Options" aria-expanded="false" aria-haspopup="true" role="button" jsaction="m.tdd;keydown:m.hbke;keypress:m.mskpe" data-ved="2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQ7B0wAnoECAIQAg" style="border-radius: 0px; 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line-height: 1.54;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><span class="st" style="line-height: 1.54; overflow-wrap: break-word;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="f" style="line-height: 1.54;">20 hours ago -&nbsp;</span>...&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Chair</span>&nbsp;Ronna&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">McDaniel</span>&nbsp;shared the clip, with&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">McDaniel</span>&nbsp;calling&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Omar</span>&nbsp;“anti-<wbr />American. ... “Ilhan&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Omar</span>&nbsp;isn't just anti-Semitic–she's anti-American,”&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">McDaniel</span>&nbsp;wrote of ... An&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">RNC</span>&nbsp;official said the party condemned threats of violence, but still ... Calling&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Islam</span>&nbsp;a “cancer,” Loomer told followers that “Muslims should&nbsp;...</font></span></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></div></div></div></div><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></a></font></font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">spox</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican National Committee spokesperson Kayleigh McEnany had a furious meltdown on Saturday afternoon while trying to use the death a police officer to push for Donald Trump’s wall — only to have a former Republican point out the thousands of Americans who die due to gun violence.</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p0_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Appearing on MSNBC with host Alex Witt, McEnany frantically pointed to the death of Newman Police Department Cpl. Ronil Singh, who was shot to death by an undocumented immigrant the day after Christmas, as evidence for the need for a multi-billion dollar wall at the border.</font></a></font></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asserting that Trump is concerned about the border, McEnany stated, “It’s being concerned about the citizens of our country, all of them. When you have Officer Ron Singh, who lost his life to an individual with known gang ties who should not have been in this country — we have to care about those victims.”</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p2_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Jumping into the fray, ex-Republican Kurt Bardella — who worked for former GOP Rep. Darryl Issa (CA) — brought up a major factor that led to his departure from the party.</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p3_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“What about all the people who have been shot and murdered by white Americans in this country?” he asked. “Where is the concern for Homeland Security and for law enforcement when people are getting killed by guns every day? I don’t see Republicans doing anything about that.”</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p4_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You’re deflecting!” McEnany shouted over him as he continued to call her out.</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p5_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“You’re proving my point, you don’t want to talk about the Americans who lost their lives,” the RNC spokesperson ranted during the crosstalk.</font></a></font></font></p><div class="p6_10" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px 0px 17px; padding: 0px; line-height: 1.8; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Every time a crime is committed Republicans cannot wait to talk about it,” Bardella shot back as host Witt looked on. “But when a crime is committed by a white guy with a gun, it’s crickets from Republicans.”</font></a></font></font></p><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></a></font></font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" /></a></font></font><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Big Peter Thiel donation shows he’s still with Trump</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></a></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>
</div><div>Billionaire entrepreneur was top donor to the Trump Victory Committee</div><div>
</div><div>By Levi Sumagaysay</div><div>
</div><div>lsumagaysay@bayareanewsgroup.com</div><div>
</div><div>Tech billionaire investor Peter Thiel has again put his money where his mouth is: He’s still with Trump.</div><div>
</div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">With $250,000, Thiel was the biggest donor to the Trump Victory Committee in the most recent quarter, a new Federal Election Commission filing shows.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The donation, dated July 10, appears to be the first donation by Thiel to the organization since the 2016 presidential campaign, when he forked over more than $1 million. He also donated $101,700 to the Republican National Committee</span>&nbsp;July 10, according to a previously released FEC filing.</div><div>
</div><div>Thiel, of PayPal Mafia fame and one of Silicon Valley’s most high-profile supporters of President Donald Trump, was joined in this round of donations by United States Steel, which gave $100,000, and Trump attorney Mark Kasowitz, who gave $50,000, and a plethora of retired individuals from around the nation.</div><div>
</div><div>Overall, the Trump campaign raked in in $18.1 million last quarter through his campaign committee and two joint committees with the Republican National Committee. He has raised about $106 million since he came into office, according to the Washington Post.</div><div>
</div><div>It is unclear what kind of role, if any, Thiel plays in the Trump administration. He played a role during the presidential transition, but there have been reports that he later became critical of the president. Earlier this year, he said during a newspaper interview that “It’s been a crazier two years than I would have thought… There are all these ways that things have fallen short.” But he said he had no regrets about supporting Trump, because “It’s still better than Hillary Clinton or the Republican zombies.” Over the summer, Thiel compared Silicon Valley — which conservatives decry as too liberal — to North Korea, calling it a “oneparty state.”<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">&nbsp;In the July-September quarter, the Victory campaign transferred money to the Republican National Committee, plus spent money on travel expenses, marketing and about $120,000 on the digital consulting services of Parscale Strategy.</span></div><div><b>
</b></div><div><b>Brad Parscale was the digital media director for Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign who famously said on “60 Minutes” that Facebook “embeds” — employees who help campaigns use the company’s ad-targeting tools more effectively — helped propel Trump to victory. Parscale is now leading Trump’s 2020 campaign.</b></div><div>
</div><div>A spokesman for Thiel — who was Facebook’s first outside investor and remains a board director of the social media giant — didnot return a request for comment.</div></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></a></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></a></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><nobr style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</nobr></font></a></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><nobr style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">interesting, recycled/applied to social media:</nobr></font></a></div><div style=""><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><nobr style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</nobr></font></a></div><div style=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><a class="fl" href="https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments+&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us" ping="/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search%3Fq%3Dcache:yStUaNokwpIJ:https://www.thedailybeast.com/ilhan-omar-death-threats-surge-online-after-911-comments%2B%26cd%3D3%26hl%3Den%26ct%3Dclnk%26gl%3Dus&ved=2ahUKEwiojMLu-crhAhVkja0KHX-GAWQQIDACegQIAhAE" style="text-decoration-line: none; cursor: pointer; display: block; padding: 7px 18px; outline: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Trump has faced derision for his rant on Tuesday about Google search results being "rigged" against conservatives&nbsp;<span class="ILfuVd yZ8quc">— likely motivated by a Fox Business interview between Lou Dobbs and the right-wing YouTube celebrities&nbsp;</span></b></font></a><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><a href="https://www.alternet.org/trump-calls-google-search-rigged-after-watching-diamond-and-silk" style="text-decoration-line: none;">Diamond and Silk</a>.</b></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><span class="ILfuVd yZ8quc" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But Trump is eager to prove he is right about a grand Google conspiracy to silence right-wing content. As proof, he shared a video on Wednesday noting a key example of anti-GOP censorship: his own State of the Union address.</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"For years, Google promoted president Obama’s State of the Union on its homepage," says the video. "When President Trump took office, Google stopped."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><span style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">[twit] There's just one problem: it isn't true.</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Buzzfeed News&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/trump-claims-google-didnt-promote-his-state-of-the-union?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc" style="text-decoration-line: none;">reports</a>, screenshots of Google's search page taken on January 30, 2018 clearly show a link labeled "Live! Watch President Trump's State Of The Union Address On YouTube." One of the screenshots was even posted by a Trump supporter to the pro-Trump Reddit board /r/The_Donald, captioned "Google homepage linking to the GEOTUS [God-Emperor Of The United States] address."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is true that Google did not provide a link to Trump's first address to Congress in 2017. However, as a Google spokesperson told BuzzFeed, “We have historically not promoted the first address to Congress by a new President, which is technically not a State of the Union address. As a result, we didn’t include a promotion on google.com for this address in either 2009 or 2017."</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The fact that the video was easily debunked as a hoax did not stop it spreading in right-wing circles. It was swiftly&nbsp;<a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/janelytvynenko/trump-claims-google-didnt-promote-his-state-of-the-union?bftwnews&utm_term=4ldqpgc#4ldqpgc" style="text-decoration-line: none;">picked up</a>&nbsp;by Gateway Pundit, InfoWars, the Russian propaganda network RT, and was also&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/GOPChairwoman/status/1034916738968834054" style="text-decoration-line: none;">shared</a>&nbsp;by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Trump has frequently complained that the size of his audience for major events is being suppressed or even just covered up. Immediately upon taking office, he accused mainstream news outlets of&nbsp;<a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/1/21/14347298/trump-inauguration-crowd-size" style="text-decoration-line: none;">lying about the size</a>&nbsp;of his inauguration crowds.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 22px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); line-height: 32px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">More broadly, Republicans have been waging a crusade for years against what they claim is "liberal bias" in mainstream media, which has increasingly spread to accusations against big tech platforms as well. There is&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article170317567.html" style="text-decoration-line: none;">little basis</a>&nbsp;for these claims, but persecution narratives have staying power&nbsp;<span class="ILfuVd yZ8quc">—&nbsp;</span>regardless of evidence especially when the President of the United States lends them legitimacy.</font></p></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"></font></p><p style=""><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://rawstory.us2.list-manage.com/track/click?u=80b42ecc21f29763320aceb90&id=b4b2409841&e=4da1f92934" style="text-decoration-line: none;" times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" serif="serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">Trump-Backing RNC Spokeswoman Hilariously Mocked for Ridiculously Inane Political Commentary</font></a></p><p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font>

<strong style=" margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">5. The Republican National Committee tweets: “Today we remember Rosa Parks’ bold stand and her role in ending racism.”</font></strong>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/rnc-tweets-tribute-to-rosa-parks-for-ending-racism" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none; text-decoration: none;">This one</a>&nbsp;was fun for a couple reasons. First, it was the most high-profile example yet of the GOP’s asinine “post-racial” meme, a defense used to dismiss or deny that any criticisms of the president or his agenda are influenced by racial thinking. Second, it led Twitter user<a href="https://twitter.com/FeministaJones" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; outline: 0px; vertical-align: baseline; background-color: transparent; list-style: none; text-decoration: none;">@FeministaJones</a>&nbsp;to come up with the wildly popular #racismendedwhen hashtag. When your best attempt to show you’re racially sensitive results in widespread mockery, it’s fair to guess that the whole outreach thing isn’t going so well.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p>

<h1 class="title-news" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 20px 0px 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: 36px; letter-spacing: normal; text-align: left; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: bold !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Next Citizens United? McCutcheon Supreme Court Case Targets Campaign Contribution Limits</font></h1>

<div class="comments_datetime_new border_none relative v05" data-beacon="{" p="p" mnid="mnid" entrybyline="entryByline" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px; position: relative; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

<p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 1.5em; text-align: justify; line-height: 16px;"><span class="posted-and-updated" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px !important;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted:<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span itemprop="datePublished" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px !important;">07/31/2013 7:25 am EDT</span>&nbsp;&nbsp;|&nbsp;&nbsp;Updated:<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><span itemprop="dateModified" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px !important;">07/31/2013 1:10 pm EDT</span></font></span></p>

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<div class="entry_content" style="list-style: none; margin: 15px 0px 0px; padding: 15px 0px 0px; border-width: 2px 0px 0px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: rgb(205, 205, 205); text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: 16px; text-align: left; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">

<div class="entry_body_text" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 0px !important;">

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<p style="list-style: none; margin: 0px 0px 15px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: none; overflow: visible; text-indent: 1.5em; text-align: justify; line-height: 21px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WASHINGTON -- The next big campaign finance case to go before the Supreme Court began in February 2012 in the grand ballroom at the Marriott Wardman Park hotel during the "Ronald Reagan Banquet" at the Conservative Political Action Conference.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Alabama electrical engineer and budding political donor Shaun McCutcheon broached a problem in conversation with conservative election lawyer Dan Backer, who one day earlier had led a CPAC panel on rolling back campaign finance laws in which<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2012/02/10/8126/cpac-panel-celebrate-citizens-united-ruling" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">he predicted that campaign contribution limits would soon rise</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">McCutcheon had recently learned there were overall federal campaign contribution limits on what a single donor could give during a two-year election cycle. He voiced his annoyance to Backer and wondered if he could just ignore the aggregate limits -- something that<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/03/campaign-contribution-limits_n_3132474.html" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">a few dozen donors wound up doing</a>, whether deliberately or inadvertently, in the 2012 election.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"He could tell I didn't like 'em, so he said we could challenge and it would go all the way to the Supreme Court," McCutcheon recalled in an interview with The Huffington Post. "I didn't really believe him."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A little more than a year later, McCutcheon, now joined by the Republican National Committee, is bringing the biggest campaign finance case before the Supreme Court since the controversial 2010 Citizens United decision. If the justices rule in their next term to toss the overall limits, it would mark the first time the Supreme Court had found a federal contribution limit unconstitutional and would open the door for even more money to flood the political system.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It would also be a major victory for<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/27/campaign-finance-reform_n_982560.html" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">counter-reformers</a>, who have racked up a string of wins rolling back campaign finance regulation ever since Justice Samuel Alito replaced the more campaign regs-friendly Sandra Day O'Connor. And it would be a major blow to the campaign finance regime crafted in the 1970s following a string of corruption scandals culminating in the abuses revealed in the Watergate investigation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For the 2013-2014 election cycle, Federal Election Commission rules state that a donor can give no more than $123,200 to all political committees with two sub-limits of $48,600 to candidates and $74,600 to political parties and political action committees. Without these overall caps, a single donor supporting one political party could theoretically give more than $5 million in individually limited contributions to every House candidate, every Senate candidate, every state party committee, every national party committee and every leadership PAC.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The case of McCutcheon v. FEC is being managed by a team of attorneys who have made careers out of working a long game to roll back campaign finance laws, including lead counsel<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/10/the/309086/" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">Jim Bopp</a>, the first lawyer on the Citizens United case, and Backer and Stephen Hoersting. The challengers argue that the aggregate limits are an unconstitutional burden on free speech and do not serve the purpose of reducing quid pro quo corruption or the appearance thereof.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is a case about how to spend your money how you choose, and it's a very important First Amendment case about freedom of speech," McCutcheon said. "We should be able to support as many candidates as we want. There's no reason to limit the number of candidates or committees."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Supporters of stronger campaign finance oversight disagree strongly. They say that campaign contribution limits being up for debate is a sign of how successful the counter-reformers have already been and how unfriendly the current Supreme Court is to campaign finance regulation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"The fact that they are setting their sights on even this most basic feature of campaign regulation just shows how far the conversation has shifted on campaign finance," said Brenda Wright, vice president for legal strategies at Demos and the lead author of<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.demos.org/publication/amicus-brief-supreme-court-mccutcheon-v-fec" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">an amicus brief opposing McCutcheon</a>. "And it's really important for the court not to take that next step. The court really needs to put a stop to the damage that's been done to our campaign finance regulations."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.larson.house.gov/images/stories/Brief.pdf" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">a</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://theusconstitution.org/sites/default/files/briefs/CAC-McCutcheon-v-FEC-Amicus-Brief.pdf" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">string</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.democracy21.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/McCutcheon-D21-Brief.pdf" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">of</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/images/12-536_bsac_Campaign_Legal_Center.pdf" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">amici</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.brennancenter.org/sites/default/files/legal-work/McCutcheon_amicus_072513.pdf" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">briefs</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>filed with the Supreme Court on July 25, campaign reform advocates argue that the elimination of the aggregate limits would open the door for candidates to solicit checks of over $1 million through joint fundraising committees and undermine the individual contribution limits by allowing donations to be shifted among an unlimited number of candidates and PACs.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is a not very thinly disguised first step to try to get an absolute anything-goes, no-limits regime on campaign contributions," said Charles Fried, a former solicitor general under President Ronald Reagan and<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.acrreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Amicus-Brief.pdf" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">the author of an amicus brief submitted by Americans for Campaign Reform</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">McCutcheon, however, denies that he wants to change the direct contribution limits, stating, "This is not about base limits. This is about aggregate limits."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Yet a ruling undoing overall contribution limits could, in fact, undermine the legal standing of individual contribution limits in future court challenges. University of California-Irvine election law professor Rick Hasen<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://electionlawblog.org/?p=47428" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">explained on his Election Law Blog</a>, "It is possible in this case, for example, that the conservative five Justices ... set out a general standard for reviewing contribution limits which makes them harder to sustain against constitutional challenge."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Further, in<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/whats-at-stake-in-mccutcheon-v-fec-2013-2" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">the most radical and unlikely possibility</a>, the court could decide that the case requires a ruling on the underlying question of the constitutionality of all contribution limits -- much as<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/29/AR2009062903997_pf.html" target="hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">it did with independent spending in the Citizens United ruling</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>-- and then find all such limits to be unconstitutional.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In the past, the Supreme Court has supported the overall limits as an extension of the direct contribution limits. The court in<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0424_0001_ZS.html" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">the landmark 1976 Buckley v. Valeo decision</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>found that the overall limits "prevent evasion of the [direct] contribution limitation by a person who might otherwise contribute massive amounts of money to a particular candidate through the use of unearmarked contributions to political committees likely to contribute to that candidate, or huge contributions to the candidate's political party."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The court has also found the acceptance or solicitation of "huge contributions" by lawmakers to be a legitimate concern, creating the appearance of corruption, if not leading to actual corruption, as in<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/04/politics/watergate-reform" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">the Nixon White House</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://sblog.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/RNC-brief-in-12-536.pdf" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">their brief before the court</a>, however, McCutcheon and the RNC argue that the system of contribution caps supported in Buckley and subsequent decisions has been made irrelevant by the Citizens United ruling, which opened the door to unlimited independent spending by corporations, unions and, through a lower court ruling, individuals.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The unlimited spending allowed by Citizens United does raise the question of whether overall limits -- or even individual contribution limits -- matter when a donor can simply give unlimited amounts to support or oppose a candidate through a super PAC or a non-disclosing nonprofit. This reasoning has been echoed in a handful of state capitals<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span><a href="http://www.publicintegrity.org/2013/07/01/12901/state-campaign-contribution-limits-rise" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">where lawmakers have passed legislation</a><span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>since the 2010 decision to raise contribution limits in order to help candidates remain competitive with the rising tide of independent spending.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After pondering and rejecting this argument, D.C. Circuit Judge Janice Rogers Brown, writing for a three-judge panel in the lower court,<a href="http://www.fec.gov/law/litigation/mccutcheon_dc_memo_opinion.pdf" target="_hplink" style="list-style: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border: 0px; text-decoration: underline; overflow: visible; outline: 0px; cursor: pointer; text-indent: 0px !important;">predicted where the arguments made by McCutcheon and the RNC would be decided</a>. "Plaintiffs raise the troubling possibility that Citizens United undermined the entire contribution limits scheme, but whether that case will ultimately spur a new evaluation of Buckley is a question for the Supreme Court, not us," she wrote.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Supreme Court may ultimately decide to strike down or uphold the overall limits, but there is also a middle path. The court could find the overall limits to be generally constitutional, but their level to be unconstitutionally low. This would require Congress to set new caps that meet with whatever requirements the court decides are appropriate.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oral arguments in McCutcheon v. FEC are scheduled for Oct. 8, with a ruling likely to arrive just in time for a potential new explosion of money in the 2014 midterms.</font></p>

</div>

</div>

</div>

<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican National Committee has adopted oppositions to Agenda 21<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span>as a core part of its platform and has asked that Mitt Romney include it as a part of his convention platform when the GOP convention gathers later this month....</font>

<a href="http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/15/523931/republican-party-officially-embraces-garbage-agenda-21-conspiracy-theories-as-its-national-platform/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2012/08/15/523931/republican-party-officially-embraces-garbage-agenda-21-conspiracy-theories-as-its-national-platform/</font></a>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">==</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">big data:&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Steve Adler, a Rhode Island programmer who helped start one of the companies that became NGP VAN, has switched sides and developed a parallel system for Republicans called rVotes.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Adler’s company has had meetings or calls to present its system to some of the most influential Republican data consultants — from the Romney campaign’s digital gurus Zac Moffatt and Michael Beach (who got a demonstration in the spring of 2011) to the RNC (first back in 2009 and again in March, when he pitched to chief of staff Mike Shields and top adviser Jeff Larson) to Rove (who talked with an rVotes supporter after the election).</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite the meetings, Adler says there’s a reluctance among GOP bigwigs to award data contracts to anyone who’s not part of the insider Beltway consultant class. “They just don’t know what they’re doing,” Adler charged, adding “They’re not qualified.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As for his efforts to get traction for rVotes among Washington’s GOP elite, he said, “It’s like trying to sell beauty products to ugly people, but they’re blind, so they don’t know that they’re ugly.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His company failed to land any big federal or state GOP contracts last year, with <a href="http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?12020622119" target="blank">federal records</a> showing rVotes earned <a href="http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?12020324850" target="blank">only $18,000</a> in 2012 mostly from <a href="http://images.nictusa.com/cgi-bin/fecimg/?12020410365" target="_blank">longshot or tea party congressional candidates</a> such as Will Cardon of Arizona, Barry Hinckley of Rhode Island and Jamie Radtke of Virginia.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Moreover, Adler says there’s little incentive for consultants to let anyone else try their hand, since “even though they’ve failed, they succeeded, because they still made money off of ORCA and Data Trust.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To wit, the companies that handled the bulk of the data business for Romney’s campaign and the RNC — Targeted Victory, FLS Connect and Target Point Consulting — since the beginning of 2011 have received $190 million from Romney, the RNC and other federal Republican candidates, committees and groups<strong>, </strong>FEC records show.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The huge windfalls drew harsh criticism from Republicans, who — noting the firm’s close ties to the folks picking vendors (Targeted Victory was created by Moffatt and Beach, while Target Point was founded by Alex Gage, whose wife Katie Gage was Romney’s deputy campaign manager, and FLS Connect was founded partly by Larson and counted Romney political director Rich Beeson among its partners) — called it everything from “<a href="http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/14/Caddell-Blows-the-Lid-Off-CPAC-With-Blistering-Attack-on-Racketeering-Republican-Consultants" target="blank">racketeering</a>” to the “<a href="http://www.redstate.com/2012/11/28/the-incestuous-bleeding-of-the-republican-party/" target="blank">incestuous bleeding</a> of the Republican Party.”</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">RNC chairman <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/reince-priebus-defends-ex-chief-of-staff-on-money-89051.html" target="blank">Reince Priebus defended Larson</a>, who served as RNC chief of staff during the 2012 election, pointing out that he stepped down from FLS Connect. But the decision to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2013/03/gop-calling-all-apps-opening-up-voter-data-89012.html" target="blank">open the data file</a> to outside firms was seen in some quarters as a response to the argument that the party didn’t welcome outsiders.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The idea, as expressed in the autopsy, was that the RNC should be “supporting competition in the marketplace to ensure that the best ideas rise to the top.” But even that announcement was greeted skeptically, with grass-roots critics pointing out that the RNC only recently created GOP Data Center, which it pays FLS Connect to maintain and encourages state parties to adopt.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Volunteers have been very frustrated” with GOP Data Center, said Steven Kuivenhoven, a Michigan GOP official during the 2012 cycle who encouraged activists to use alternative voter outreach interfaces last year. He has emerged as an rVotes evangelist, supporting a proposal Adler submitted this month to the state party, and he expressed concern about state parties relying primarily on GOP Data Center, which Michigan’s GOP this year agreed to use.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/05/10/18171843-massachusetts-gomez-already-struggling-badly?lite

ust a week after winning his party's Senate special election primary in Massachusetts, Republican Gabriel Gomez finds himself in the middle of two fairly serious controversies. As of yesterday, the novice candidate is handling both poorly.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The first issue is Gomez's involvement in a head-shaking tax scam -- he claimed a $281,500 tax deduction by claiming not to change the facade of his house, despite the fact that <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/05/08/gomez-claimed-controversial-tax-deduction-home/skZgaV3aBoGflKtR03ZEEJ/story.html?camp=newsletter">he was already forbidden</a> under local bylaws from changing the facade of his house. The Senate candidate, in other words, accepted a very generous reward for failing to do something he couldn't do anyway.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Asked for an explanation, Gomez <a href="http://boston.cbslocal.com/2013/05/09/gabriel-gomez-defends-280000-tax-break-on-cohasset-home/">said</a> it's "disgraceful" and "dishonorable" for his opponent, Rep. Ed Markey (D), to bring this up. Apropos of nothing, Gomez added that the veteran congressman is a "hack."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Of course, that didn't answer the question about his apparent tax scam. <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/05/09/gomezhouse/sMTxfyGqCM0STJBqfG6jPO/story.html">Neither did this</a>.</font></p>

<blockquote style="">

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Republican US Senate nominee Gabriel E. Gomez, facing questions about a $281,500 historic tax deduction on his Cohasset home, rejected calls Thursday from the media and Democrats to release tax returns and other details about the deal.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I have nothing to hide,'' said Gomez on a campaign stop in Lawrence, when asked by a Globe reporter why he would not make public the details about how the federal tax deduction was calculated for the easement to limit changes on the home that the candidate and his wife bought for $2.1 million in November 2004.</font></p>

</blockquote>

<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here's a tip for politicians everywhere: don't say you have nothing to hide <i>while you're hiding things</i> without explanation.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Complicating matters, while this story was raising questions about Gomez's integrity, <i>another</i> story was putting the Republican's credibility in doubt.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gomez is a rookie when it comes to seeking public office -- his only previous experience was running for a local office in his small hometown, and he came in third out of three candidates -- but he's not entirely new to politics. In fact, just last year, he <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/07/1207436/-Reince-Priebus-demands-Ed-Markey-remove-video-of-Gabriel-Gomez-swiftboating-Obama-on-bin-Laden-raid">worked with</a> a right-wing super PAC called the "Special Operations Opsec Education Fund," which seemed to exist only to attack President Obama over the mission that killed Osama bin Laden.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This week, Gomez sought to <a href="http://www.boston.com/politicalintelligence/2013/05/08/national-democrats-hit-gomez-opsec/MCgkIxZHlhnRR9S331Ee3O/story.html">distance himself</a> from the smear operation, saying he didn't work for the group he used to work for.</font></p>

<blockquote style="">

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">At a campaign event in Boston on Tuesday, Gomez addressed his involvement with the group.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"As far as OPSEC, I did two interviews for OPSEC. I was never associated with OPSEC. I never donated to OPSEC. I wasn't part of OPSEC," he said. [...]</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"I was never connected with them in the first place. I just went on there because we overlapped on that issue about the president taking too much credit and, more importantly, they leaked information that was bad for the unit down there and it put their lives at risk," he said.</font></p>

</blockquote>

<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As Joan McCarter <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/09/1208015/-Gomez-furiously-tries-to-distance-himself-from-his-swift-boat-organization">joked</a>, "No, he was never associated with them. He was just the person they put on national TV as <i>their spokesperson</i>."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Gomez was "never connected" with the right-wing group? As a rule, political operations do not send a spokesperson to speak on their behalf on national television unless the spokesperson is, you know, connected to the group.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">To answer your next question, I'm not familiar enough with Massachusetts election law to know what would happen if Gomez exits the race, but neither he nor the state Republican Party have much time to deal with these problems -- the Senate special election is on June 25.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">---

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus wants Massachusetts Democratic Senate nominee Ed Markey to take down <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/03/1206669/-Markey-calls-out-Gomez-for-trying-to-swiftboat-Obama-or-as-NRSC-spox-says-Markey-goes-ugly-early">a YouTube video criticizing GOP nominee</a> Gabriel Gomez for attempting to swiftboat President Obama during the 2012 election.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Priebus <a href="http://www.gop.com/news/press-releases/rnc-statement-on-rep-markeys-shameful-attack-ad/">is pretending</a> that Markey's video smears Gomez by showing an image of him side-by-side with Osama bin Laden, but the real story is that Markey's video showed an image of Gomez appearing on MSNBC alongside a clip from an anti-Obama swiftboating video that Gomez was defending. The video, produced by a <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/16/us/politics/ex-military-and-cia-officers-attack-obama-over-bin-laden-leaks.html?_r=0">right-wing Super PAC called OpSec</a> in support of Mitt Romney during the 2012 president campaign, accused President Obama of leaking classified information to take more credit than he deserved for the killing of bin Laden.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As it turns out, the video Gomez was defending included images of both bin Laden and President Obama. So it's true that there was a fleeting split screen image of Gomez and bin Laden, but as you can see above, there was also an image Gomez and President Obama. It makes as much sense for Priebus to claim that Markey was trying to link Gomez with bin Laden as it would for him to claim that Markey was trying to suggest President Obama supports Gomez—or vice versa.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Despite all that, Priebus would have you believe that Markey's campaign <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tKFYpd0q9nE">was doing</a> what Saxby Chambliss did to Max Cleland or what the swiftboaters did to John Kerry. But the truth is the exact opposite: Markey's video reveals Gomez's past as a spokesman for swiftboaters. It's baffling that Priebus would follow the <a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/03/1206669/-Markey-calls-out-Gomez-for-trying-to-swiftboat-Obama-or-as-NRSC-spox-says-Markey-goes-ugly-early">National Republican Senatorial Committee's lead</a> by calling attention to a video revealing Gomez to be a typical Republican hack, but the fact that he would try to distort it is not surprising at all.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2013/05/07/1207436/-Reince-Priebus-demands-Ed-Markey-remove-video-of-Gabriel-Gomez-swiftboating-Obama-on-bin-Laden-raid</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">trms:

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But to help "broaden the GOP's appeal with voters," the Republican National Committee has turned to a rather motley crew to offer the party guidance. As we <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/04/11/17705214-the-wrong-strategist-the-wrong-strategy?lite">discussed</a> yesterday, one of the invited guests at the spring meeting is former Vice President Dick Cheney, but he <a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/10/cheney-to-address-rnc-as-gop-maps-a-political-path-forward/">won't be alone</a>.</font></p>

<blockquote style="">

<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In addition to Cheney, Priebus told national committee members that influential conservative opinion makers Hugh Hewitt, David Horowitz and Larry Solov will also address the RNC's spring meeting.</font></p>

</blockquote>

<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oh, for crying out loud.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Look, I don't blame the RNC for wanting to "reach out to new voters, specifically Asian Americans, blacks, Hispanics and young people." I also don't blame the RNC for seeking guidance from others, since folks inside the Republican National Committee <a href="http://maddowblog.msnbc.com/_news/2013/03/28/17503244-what-the-rnc-and-the-driven-snow-have-in-common?lite">clearly don't know</a> how to broaden the party's appeal on their own.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But even if we put Cheney and his record of spectacular failures aside, if the RNC expects to receive worthwhile guidance from David Horowitz and Hugh Hewitt, I have some bad news for Reince Priebus and Co.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Horowitz, for example, is one of the nation's most abrasive <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/security/2012/09/19/876491/horowitz-fox-civil-rights-muslim-brotherhood/">anti-Muslim activists</a>, a notorious <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2010/09/03/horowitz-professors-are-recruiting-for-radical/170274">conspiracy theorist</a> who's dabbled in some <a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2006/06/02/horowitz-cornel-west-is-a-black-airhead/135856">ugly racial politics</a>, and someone who believes political correctness will lead to a "<a href="http://mediamatters.org/video/2011/03/04/beck-guest-horowitz-to-prevent-a-totalitarian-f/177219">totalitarian future</a>." He's also written books with titles like "Hating Whitey and Other Progressive Causes" and "The Race Card: White Guilt, Black Resentment, and the Assault on Truth and Justice."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">And who better to help broaden the RNC's appeal than the guy who wrote "Hating Whitey"?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hewitt, meanwhile, is a well-known far-right radio host and blogger who spent parts of 2012 telling Republican voters that there was a media conspiracy to <a href="http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/09/26/915251/6-conservatives-who-think-the-media-is-fixing-the-polls-for-obama/">skew polling results</a>. A compilation of Hewitt's greatest hits is challenging, but note that 20 years ago, when he helped oversee the creation of the Nixon Library, he wanted to screen researchers who could make use of the facility, restricting those he deemed insufficiently conservative.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">apple, walmart etc use: Teradata is just one of the major data outfits with which leading Republican strategists are talking in their <a href="http://growthopp.gop.com/RNC_Growth_Opportunity_Book_2013.pdf">declared effort</a> to match Barack Obama's big data campaign tactics, according to one person with knowledge of the strategy discussions.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">2012: he <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/totals.php?cmte=RNC&cycle=2012">Republican National Committee</a>, for instance, laid out $333.9 million for the presidential contest, far more than the <a href="http://www.opensecrets.org/parties/totals.php?cmte=DNC&cycle=2012">Democratic National Committee</a>'s $197.8 million. Outside spending by super PACs and politically active nonprofits on the presidential race also came out heavily in favor of Republicans. Conservative outside groups spent $454.5 million to get a Republican elected president, while liberal outside groups spent a relatively paltry $124.5 million.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">&nbsp;Fox News cribbed research and graphics directly from a National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) press release without disclosing their origin in order to attack President Obama's purported "sequester priorities."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a <em>Fox & Friends Saturday</em>&nbsp;interview with NRCC chairman Greg Walden, co-host Tucker Carlson&nbsp;claimed that he was "going through a list here" of supposedly wasteful federal spending projects and crucial programs that are impacted by the mandatory spending cuts required by sequestration, but did not explain where that list originated.&nbsp;Every case of both worthwhile and allegedly worthless spending they discussed had previously been highlighted in a February 28 NRCC&nbsp;<a href="http://www.nrcc.org/2013/02/28/right-question-wrong-answer/">press release</a>.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Later in the��segment, Carlson asked Walden, "wouldn't it make sense for Republicans to come up with a list, push that list over to the White House, and publicize that list of pointless programs like this that ought to be cut?" Walden replied, "Absolutely."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Throughout this segment and a second segment Fox aired on-screen graphics that mimicked <a href="http://www.nrcc.org/2013/02/28/right-question-wrong-answer/">images included in the NRCC release</a> in order to criticized what they termed Obama's "sequestration priorities." Here are those images, with the Fox versions on the left and NRCC versions on the right:</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">huffpo&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WASHINGTON -- The Supreme Court will hear a challenge to campaign finance laws limiting how much an individual can give to political campaigns.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The justices on Tuesday decided to hear an appeal from Shaun McCutcheon of Alabama and the Republican National Committee. They are arguing that it's unconstitutional to stop a donor from giving more than $46,200 to political candidates and $70,800 to political committees and PACs.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">McCutcheon says he accepts that he can only give $2,500 to a single candidate but says he should be able to give that amount to as many GOP candidates as he wants.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the limits, but the high court decided to review that decision.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">===</font></p>

<div id="blog_title" style="">

<h1 class="title-blog"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Mitt Antagonists</font></h1>

<div class="blog_padding relative" style=" padding-top: 15px;"><span class="arial_11 color_696969"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Posted: 05/24/2012 10:25 am</font></span></div>

</div>

<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">

&nbsp;</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Which environmental policies reflect the real Mitt Romney? Those he displayed as Massachusetts governor, or the ones that the Republican Party is asking him to embrace as a presidential candidate?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">How Romney responds to the Republican National Committee's (RNC) request to denounce a United Nations non-binding environmental protection action plan should go a long way towards telling us which direction he is ultimately headed. The U.N. plan, which also calls for the eradication of poverty, was denigrated by the RNC in a resolution issued at its annual winter meeting in January. RNC officials dismissed the action plan as a thinly veiled attempt to usurp our sovereignty and absorb us into a U.N.-orchestrated world government. The RNC is the central policy arm of the Republican Party and clearly has little use for the U.N. One wonders whether Romney shares that dim view. If so, he certainly did not exhibit that sentiment as governor. Would he now be willing to consider reducing our financial contribution or even severing ties to the U.N., courses of action that would be cheered in some Republican quarters?</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In its resolution, the RNC demonized U.N.-recommended "sustainable development" and "smart growth" land use planning as "extreme environmentalism" and "social engineering" threatening America's core value of private property ownership.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">One of the cornerstone's of Romney's administration while Governor of Massachusetts was a sustainable development program rooted in the concept of smart growth. The state encouraged clustered high density multi-family housing where development already existed and public transit was nearby. In 2003, the Governor told Commonwealth Magazine "I very much believe in the concept known as smart growth or sustainable development... We don't want to deplete green space, air, water, in the rush to grow."</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The RNC also singled out the U.N. plan's advocacy of "green" and "alternative energy" projects as a blatant example of anti-capitalist social engineering.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Romney, on the other hand, had no political reservations about green technology when presiding over Massachusetts. He established a 15 million dollar Green Energy Fund and authorized state subsidies for solar energy expansion.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In its resolution distributed to all Republican candidates from the presidential nominee on down (with full expectation of concurrence), the RNC issued a blanket indictment of the U.N. Action Plan, calling its principles "destructive and insidious". Just how bad were they? Among those U.N. "menacing" principles was the concept that environmental protection should be integral to economic development. Another principle was that a solid framework of environmental regulation needed to be in place. A third urged that environmental impact statements be prepared prior to approval of projects in ecologically sensitive areas.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">It is very unlikely that Romney as Massachusetts Governor would have had a problem with any of the aforementioned principles. After all, while in the State House, he implemented stringent anti-air pollution standards and strengthened environmental enforcement by 54 percent.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">So the question boils down to whether Romney, the presidential candidate, has undergone a transformation from Romney, the governor, and will acquiesce to the RNC'S conspiratorial vision of internationally-endorsed environmental protection?</font>

<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-flattau/mitt-romney-environmental-policy_b_1541101.html?view=print&comm_ref=false"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-flattau/mitt-romney-environmental-policy_b_1541101.html?view=print&comm_ref=false</font></a>

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<h1 class="headline" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Romney, once an anti-sprawl crusader, created model for Obama ‘smart growth’&nbsp;program</font></h1>

<p class="byline" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By <a href="http://grist.org/author/lisa-hymas/" title="Posts by Lisa&nbsp;Hymas">Lisa&nbsp;Hymas</a></font>

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<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Everyone knows that “Obamacare” was modeled on Mitt Romney��s Massachusetts health-care law. But did you know that a key Obama “smart growth�� initiative — the <a href="http://grist.org/politics/2010-02-24-obama-admin-wants-to-green-your-local-community/">Partnership for Sustainable Communities</a> — was also created in the mold of a Romney program?</font>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Tea Partiers <a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2011/11/29/frugal-answer-zoning-pitfalls-needlessly-slashed/I9OVLx1ORogUj2NPCnNfFN/story.html">rallied</a> to quash funding for this Obama partnership last fall. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), conservative darling, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=433913312447&comments">criticized</a> the idea for the partnership when it first arose and accused the Obama administration of trying to impose “an urban-utopian fantasy through an unprecedented intrusion of the Federal Government into the shaping of local communities.” The Republican National Committee recently <a href="http://grist.org/politics/paranoia-strikes-deep-gop-exposes-dangerous-u-n-sustainability-plot/">warned</a> that smart growth is part of a U.N. conspiracy (green helicopters, anyone?).</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This is yet another issue on which the party’s presumptive presidential nominee looks to be seriously out of sync with the GOP base.</font>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">agenda 21</font>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The Republican National Committee — the group that shapes the national GOP political platform, devises campaign strategies, promotes candidates, and bashes all things Obama — passed a resolution in January warning Americans of a sinister plot hidden in a United Nations report called Agenda 21. Short of suggesting that we all wear tinfoil hats and keep an eye out for contrails, the RNC would have been hard-pressed to put itself further on the wacko fringe.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Here’s the windup to the resolution, unearthed by the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/04/us/activists-fight-green-projects-seeing-un-plot.html?_r=1"><em>New York Times</em></a> on Feb. 3:</font></p>

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<p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is a comprehensive plan of extreme environmentalism, social engineering, and global political control … and,</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHEREAS, the United Nations Agenda 21 is being covertly pushed into local communities throughout the United States of America through the International Council of Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) through local “sustainable development” policies such as Smart Growth, Wildlands Project, Resilient Cities, Regional Visioning Projects, and other “Green�� or “Alternative” projects; and,</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">WHEREAS, this United Nations Agenda 21 plan of radical so-called “sustainable development” views the American way of life of private property ownership, single family homes, private car ownership and individual travel choices, and privately owned farms; all as destructive to the environment …</font></p>

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<p style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">What’s that? The America way of life is destructive to the environment? <a href="http://www.sutmundo.com/photos-americas-suburbia-air/">Banish the thought</a>.

After a few more whereases, the committee gets down to the business of “exposing … the dangerous intent of the plan,” resolving to send a copy of this gem (you can <a href="http://www.gop.com/Images/CommsLogo/2012_wintermeeting_resolutions.pdf">download</a> the whole thing from the RNC website) to every Republican candidate and elected official in the country, and pushing for the resolution to be adopted into the official Republican Party Platform at the national convention in Tampa, Fla., in August...</font>

<a href="http://grist.org/politics/paranoia-strikes-deep-gop-exposes-dangerous-u-n-sustainability-plot/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://grist.org/politics/paranoia-strikes-deep-gop-exposes-dangerous-u-n-sustainability-plot/</font></a>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">related: TP</font>

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<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">This kind of unglamorous, labor-intensive work is happening around the country. The demand for planning funds far outstrips the supply - this year, the Department of Housing and Urban Development received $500 million in funding applications for a $100 million pool of grants. But this year’s batch of grants will be the last. Tea Party activists have been assailing Sustainable Communities as a tool for making municipalities subservient to Washington bureaucrats; alternately, they’ve denounced it as the soft launch of a socialist-inspired UN takeover of America’s government.</font>

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In response House Republicans cut all Sustainable Communities grants from a recently enacted mini-omnibus budget. The House actually wanted to go even further, prohibiting any HUD funds from being deployed in support of what it called “ill-defined rubrics, such as ‘sustainability,’ ‘livability,’ ‘inclusivity,’ and equity.’ ’’ And it cut a $100 million placeholder for Obama’s doomed $38 billion high-speed rail initiative for good measure. Never mind that the cuts will wind up costing more than they save: These days, craven power plays are good politics....</font>

<a href="http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2011/11/29/frugal-answer-zoning-pitfalls-needlessly-slashed/I9OVLx1ORogUj2NPCnNfFN/story.html"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2011/11/29/frugal-answer-zoning-pitfalls-needlessly-slashed/I9OVLx1ORogUj2NPCnNfFN/story.html</font></a>

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