3/15/23 - Newsletter
3/15/23 - Newsletter
There is a third phone call: Donald Trump called the Georgia House Speaker David Ralston (R), pushing for a special session to overturn the state's 2020 election, according to five jurors who spoke anonymously with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Ralston passed away last November due to illness.
Republican Senators on the Hill are frustrated today by Ron's remarks about no longer supporting Ukraine against Russia's invasion. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will voice his support of Ukraine sometime this week, reassuring Western allies that the US remains committed to supplying the besieged country, per Punchbowl News.
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) said DeSantis now "raises questions" about him becoming the Republican Party's presidential nominee in 2024. "I respect their views, but I feel strongly that helping Ukraine fend off this invasion is important not just to the region but for world peace," Cornyn added.
Senator Thom Tillis (R-NC) said he understands supporting Ukraine is waning in some GOP voters. Still, it's up to them to "educate people."
House Representative Mike Lawler (R-NY) also had some words:
In an interview on the conservative podcast with Hugh Hewitt, Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Vice Chairman of the Select Committee on Intelligence and senior member of the Committee on Foreign Relations, signaled he is keeping his distance from DeSantis.
Hugh asked Rubio if he thinks Governor DeSantis is a “neo-isolationist” and if the war between Ukraine and Russia is a “territorial dispute.”
Rubio: “Well, it’s not a territorial dispute in the sense that any more than it would be a territorial dispute if the United States decided that it wanted to invade Canada or take over the Bahamas. Just because someone claims something doesn’t mean it belongs to them. This is an invasion. I mean, the Russians basically decided that we want a government in Ukraine that we have control over, and their goal was we’re going to go in, we’re going to topple their government, or they’re going to abandon the country, and then we’ll install a puppet through some fake election, and then they’ll be in our orbit of influence. And by the way, we’ll keep Crimea and maybe some areas of Eastern Ukraine as well as Russian territory. And their goal was to set up a fake referendum where the people voted in favor of that.”
Read full transcript here.
All Roads Lead to Trump
Exiled Chinese mogul Guo Wengui was arrested and charged with conspiracy fraud today for using his "online presence" to defraud investors and followers out of more than $1 billion in schemes. Guo is a former advisor to Steve Bannon, Trump’s former chief strategist and senior counselor.
Guo also continued to spread lies about Hunter's laptop. Last year, Mother Jones released tapes of Steve Bannon bragging about the "explicit images of Hunter," which were distributed "at Bannon's command by Guo and individual members of Guo's large following in the Chinese diaspora." Bannon told associates in the recording that then-President Donald Trump would be claiming victory even if he lost, laying the groundwork for the "Big Lie."
Hunter Biden's lawyers sent a notice threatening to sue Guo in February.
Bipartisanship
Amidst the Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank of New York turmoil, expect Republicans and Democrats to have their intraparty affairs for rolling back Dodd-Frank regulations in 2018. 33 Democrats and 17 Democratic Senators joined Republicans in voting for the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. President Donald Trump then signed S. 2155 into law.
Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) slams both parties, and she is not wasting time in an administration that is staffed with progressives and Warren allies:
Senators Christopher Murphy (D-CT) and Mike Lee (R-UT) introduced a resolution to request a complete detailed record of Saudi Arabia's human rights abuses record in Yemen from the Biden administration. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 allows Congress "to request information on a particular country's human rights practices."
U.S. Senators Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH) and Mitt Romney (R-UT) are pushing for a rival of bipartisan legislation directing the administration to form a strategy towards the Black Sea. On Tuesday, a Russian Su-27 fighter jet collided with an American drone over the Black Sea.
Reproductive Healthcare
U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk heard arguments today on the case that could ban mifepristone by revoking the FDA's twenty-year-old approval. This medication abortion pill is part of a two-pill regimen. The judge seemed "sympathetic" towards the conservative group who brought the lawsuit to the Texas judge with a history of pro-life advocacy.
