Tag Archive for: U.S. Senate

GOP Senators On The Fence For Trump Nominees Voted To Confirm Worst Of The Worst For Biden

Several Senate Republicans who previously confirmed President Joe Biden’s cabinet nominees now appear hesitant about some of President-elect Donald Trump’s appointees.

Some Republicans are sidestepping questions surrounding Trump’s more contentious nominees, calling into question which of his picks will survive the confirmation process. The nominees attracting the most pushback from within the GOP’s tent include Secretary of Defense nominee Pete Hegseth, Director of National Intelligence nominee Tulsi Gabbard, Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and FBI Director nominee Kash Patel.

While many of these Republicans supported Biden’s cabinet confirmations, they now seem tentative about Trump’s selections. Senators who previously voted to confirm Biden’s nominees such as Attorney General Merrick Garland, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Secretary of Homeland Security (DHS) Alejandro Mayorkas are now seemingly noncommittal about Trump’s choices.

Trump’s nominees aim to reverse Biden administration policies and reinstate his “America First” agenda. Members of Biden’s cabinet, meanwhile, have drawn harsh criticism during their tenures — particularly Mayorkas, who Republicans criticized for failing to stem the influx of illegal migrants across the southern border during Biden’s term, and Austin, who was criticized for the disastrous mishandling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, which left 13 Americans dead in 2021. Austin was also grilled in February over what he called a “breakdown in notifications” after he allegedly failed to notify Biden and others that he was in the intensive care unit for surgery related to prostate cancer.

Republicans have also ripped Garland, who they say weaponized the Department of Justice (DOJ) in relation to charges against Trump. House Republicans even introduced a resolution that would have fined the attorney general $10,000 per day were he to continue withholding audiotapes from the interview with Biden and Special Counsel Robert Hur.

These still-on-the-fence Republican senators who voted to confirm Garland include Louisiana Sen. Bill Cassidy, Maine Sen. Susan Collins, Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds and South Dakota Sen. John Thune, who was elected in November to replace longtime ally McConnell as Senate majority leader. Republican Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst is also meeting with Hegseth for the second time Monday and has not said whether she will be voting in favor of his confirmation.

Many Republican Senators also voted to confirm Austin to run the Department of Defense (DOD), but some are cagey about expressing their voting plans for Hegseth, Trump’s DOD pick.

Hegseth is facing allegations of sexual assault, which he has adamantly denied and for which he has not been charged. In the weeks following the announcement of his nomination, left-leaning media outlets have run numerous stories alleging that he has a drinking problem and is sexually promiscuous. Colleagues from Fox News have defended Hegseth in response to these allegations, which he has also denied.

The Republican senators who voted to confirm Austin but have not revealed their vote for Hegseth include Rounds, Cassidy, Ernst, Collins, Thune, McConnell and Murkowski.

Collins and Murkowski both voted to confirm Mayorkas as DHS secretary. The two have dodged questioning about their plans on voting for Trump’s cabinet picks, despite previously supporting Biden’s.

Despite the uncertainty, the president-elect has stood by his nominations and stated that he believes the Senate will vote to confirm Hegseth. No Senate Democrats voted against any of Biden’s cabinet appointees.

AUTHOR

Henry Rodgers

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Seven GOP Senators Most Likely To Stand Between Trump And His Dream Cabinet


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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. All rights reserved.

Arizona Officials Caught Changing the Ballot Totals as Counting for US Senate Seat Continues, Top Election Official Stephen Richer Who Oversees Said ‘MAKE LIFE HELL’ for Kari Lake

Those of you watching the blue creep on the still uncalled races are witnessing a near uniform blue slow roll in a landslide election that make such ‘outcomes’ statistically impossible. There are twenty five uncalled House races. That is insane.

Arizona election official, Stephen Richer, said he wanted to ‘make life hell‘ for Kari Lake with Senate race still undecided

The election official overseeing voting in Arizona’s most populous county told a friend that he was interested in pursuing a Senate run ‘to make life hell for Kari [Lake]’, according to court documents seen by DailyMail.com. As Maricopa County Recorder, Stephen Richer is in charge of the ballots that could decide whether Lake triumphs in her tight run for the Senate.

The AP is reporting like this:

The second update of the day in Arizona’s Maricopa County saw the race for U.S. Senate draw tighter, while Trump expanded his margin over Harris in the race for the state’s 11 electoral votes. There are still hundreds of thousands of ballots left to count in the state, and AP will be watching for additional vote result updates in Maricopa County and across the state over the weekend.

Arizona Officials Caught Changing the Ballot Totals as Counting for US Senate Seat Continues

By: Jim Hoft, November 9, 2024:

Just like we witnessed in the 2022 Arizona election, election officials are openly changing the ballot totals remaining to be counted without explanation.

In 2022, Democrats swept the state-wide elections despite Republicans having the strongest set of candidates in recent history.

Kari Lake was so impressive and polished that she made a name for herself nationally prior to the race. But on election day, Maricopa County officials sent the wrong-sized paper to the precincts, essentially shutting down voting across the metro areas but especially in deep-red districts. Democrats were somehow able to pick up over 50% of the votes that day despite having only a 17% turnout on Election Day.

Then, following Election Day, 25,000 mysterious and still unexplained ballots were inserted into Maricopa County’s totals. This was never investigated or explained.

The Gateway Pundit reported that Kari Lake filed her lawsuit against Katie Hobbs and the corrupt Maricopa County elections officials to nullify the election for Governor and approve a full audit of signatures and machine failures.

It was revealed by a Runbeck whistleblower in Lake’s filing that HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS of ballots did not have any chain of custody documentation.

This is similar to a 2020 election finding that hundreds of thousands of 2020 election ballots also lacked the necessary chain of custody documentation.

The filing also states that 25,000 ballots were added to Maricopa County’s totals after election day.

This finding is similar to a Maricopa County 2020 election report from Verity Vote that used public records requests to discover that more than 20,000 2020 election ballots were illegally counted.

The Gateway Pundit reported on these illegally counted ballots during the 2020 election investigations.

Some Things Never Change

Election officials in Arizona are once again changing the ballot totals as the US Senate Seat has yet to be called.

President Trump won the state 52.7% to 46.4% over Kamala Harris.

But the officials in Arizona want you to believe that a majority of Arizona voters voted for Trump, and then a majority voted for the open borders communist Ruben Gallego, the son of a cartel attorney.

The Kari Lake campaign fired off a letter on Friday to Pima County officials after they were caught changing the ballot totals this week!

The letter reads:

On behalf of Kari Lake for Senate, my client requests the county provide complete transparency as to the ballots tabulated and the ballots awaiting tabulation. Further, my client demands a complete accounting as to discrepancies that have been identified in the publicly reported data.

Continue reading.

AUTHOR

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New Ballot Dumps in Maricopa County and Five Other Arizona Counties Favor Kari Lake, Race Now Within 33,000 Votes With 625,484 Uncounted Ballots Statewide

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

VIRGINIA SENATE DEBATE: Retired Navy Captain and combat veteran Hung Cao Annihilates Dem Tim Kaine in Senate Debate

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are gonna rip out their own guts, eat ‘em and ask for seconds. Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.” — Captain Hung Cao, U.S. Navy (Ret.)


This debate performance matches that of another veteran JD Vance.

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975.

WATCH:

CAPT Cao on mass deportations, ‘obey American laws and embrace the American culture’

CAPT Cao: “When you’re using a drag queen…to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we need.

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao Highlights the threat of Communism & the radical left


Hung Cao Annihilates Tim Kaine in Senate Debate

Madeline Leesman | October 03, 2024

On Wednesday evening, Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine was destroyed by Republican challenger Hung Cao during their first and only debate.

According to a poll published shortly after the debate, Cao was the winner, with 75 percent support to Kaine’s 25 percent support, according to WRIC.

Cao, who is an immigrant, came to the United States with his parents as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. He is a retired Navy captain and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. He attended the United States Naval Academy.

In the debate, the candidates were questioned about military recruitment numbers dipping. Cao pointed out that the woke agenda that has permeated the military in recent years is to blame.

“When you’re using a drag queen to recruit for the Navy, that’s not the people we want. What we need is alpha males and alpha females who are gonna rip out their own guts, eat ‘em and ask for seconds,” Cao said. “Those are young men and women that are going to win wars.”

When the audience began to clap, the moderator, Deanna Allbrittin, immediately asked them to be silent.

[ … ]

The moderators tried to silence the audience again when Cao stated, “never go against an Asian when it comes to math.”

“Honestly, of the 227 bills that Senator Kaine has proposed, only three of them made it through… That’s a 99% failure rate,” Cao said.

“Check the tape on that. That’s completely wrong,” Kaine retorted.

“There’s two truths in the world, okay? Never walk into a target store wearing a red shirt and never go against an Asian when it comes to math. Trust me,” Cao said.

Continue reading.

ABOUT HUNG CAO

Retired Navy Captain Hung Cao came to the United States as a refugee from Vietnam in 1975. After a few years in West Africa, Hung moved to Virginia as a child and is a proud member of the inaugural graduating class of Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Alexandria.

He was commissioned as a Special Operations Officer (Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Deep Sea Diving) from the United States Naval Academy, and served with special operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia. Hung’s non-combat assignments included balancing the Navy’s $140 billion budget at the Pentagon, working with Homeland Security, and the FBI Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Hung received his Masters degree in physics from the Naval Postgraduate School, and fellowships at MIT and Harvard. He and his wife April are the parents of five beautiful children. After their thirteenth move across the United States, and around the world, Hung and April moved their family home to Purcellville, Virginia where they have been active in their community and church.

Trump Reveals Endorsement In Senate Race To Replace Mitt Romney

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday endorsed Riverton Mayor Trent Staggs for the Republican nomination to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney

Romney announced in September that he is not seeking reelection in 2024 after roughly five years in office. Trump threw his “complete and total” support behind Staggs on Saturday over the mayor’s top Republican political opponent in the election, Utah Rep. John Curtis.

“Trent Staggs is 100% MAGA, and is running to fill The Mitt Romney, a Total Loser, Seat as the next Senator from the Great State of Utah!” Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Saturday. “A Highly Successful Entrepreneur, who has served brilliantly as Mayor of Riverton for the past six years, Trent knows how to Create Jobs, Stop Inflation, Grow the Economy, and Secure the Border.

“As your next Senator, Trent will help us Unleash American Energy, Support our Military/Vets, and Protect our always under siege Second Amendment,” Trump said. “Trent Staggs has my Complete and Total Endorsement – He will be a GREAT Senator, and never let you down!”

Unlike Curtis, Staggs has endorsed Trump publicly for the 2024 presidential race, calling him the “one candidate” who can amend the “crippling” domestic and international policies of President Joe Biden. Staggs also boasts support not only from Trump but also from high-profile Republicans including former presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz and dozens of other current and former elected officials.

Staggs previously told the Daily Caller News Foundation that he seeks to address issues affecting the American homeland — such as the southern border crisis — before venturing to solve international problems, such as funding Ukraine in its war against Russia.

“I think it’s time we prioritize our own border over Ukraine’s,” Staggs previously told the DCNF. “At $34 trillion in debt, we cannot continue being the world’s piggy bank.”

Though current polling is scarce, Curtis was leading Staggs 27% to 5% in a poll conducted by Noble Predictive Insights from April 8 to 16. Other Republican candidates running to replace Romney’s seat include Brent Hatch at 11%, Brad Wilson at 10% and Jason Walton at 2%, with roughly 40% “unsure.”

Trump has had a historically troubled relationship with Romney, as the Utah senator voted to impeach the former president in 2021. Trump celebrated when Romney announced he would not be seeking reelection in 2024.

The Utah GOP convention is set to take place on Saturday, as delegates will gather to determine which candidate — possibly Curtis or Staggs — they want on the primary ballot in June.

AUTHOR

JAKE SMITH

Contributor.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.


All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

Republicans Sound Alarm On Efforts To Shield Ukraine Funding From American Voters

As President Joe Biden signed legislation Wednesday to send billions of dollars more in aid to Ukraine, officials from Brussels to Washington are working to hamstring former President Donald Trump from taking a different route should he win back the White House.

With Congress granting Biden additional “drawdown” authority to send weapons to Kyiv, and NATO allies in Europe seeking to take the power to send aid away from the White House, multiple Senate Republicans, strategists and former Trump officials told the Daily Caller efforts to “Trump-proof” foreign aid are misguided and futile.

“There are things that they’re setting in motion here that are going to make it very difficult for Trump to, if he’s elected president, to undo this, to extricate us, from these arrangements,” Utah Sen. Mike Lee said. “I mean, look there are a thousand things you can do with government contracting that can make it either easier or harder for a subsequent administration to take a different approach.”

Lee is among the lawmakers and officials who opposed the aid package that will send $26.4 billion of funding to Israel, $8.1 billion of funding to Taiwan and $61 billion of more aid to Ukraine. Several of the opponents noted that, in their view, Ukraine is unlikely to prevail in the long-term against Russia and a settlement must be negotiated sooner rather than later.

“The fact is that the strategy isn’t working. There is no strategy,” Fred Fleitz, the vice chair of America First Policy Institute’s Center for American Security said. “And Trump understands that. And it’s just not fair for these Democrats to say, well, we’re going to Trump-proof NATO. We’re going to Trump proof aid for Ukraine.”

Polling also shows that sending additional aid to Ukraine is not particularly popular with battleground state voters, who are more focused on border security in the U.S. as border crossings and illegal immigrant apprehensions have hit record highs under the Biden administration.

A growing constituency in the Republican Party has endorsed halting further aid to Ukraine until progress is made on stemming the tide of illegal immigration in the U.S. While Trump has not expressed blanket opposition to more aid for Ukraine, some of his strongest allies at the Capitol are the biggest proponents of putting America’s border first.

In early April, Politico reported that the “U.S. and other Western countries are considering transferring to NATO a U.S.-led multinational group that coordinates the shipment of weapons to Ukraine, one of several new proposals that could help maintain the flow of arms to Kyiv under a second Donald Trump presidency.”

The group was created at the beginning of the war by Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley with a goal “to coordinate Western support for Kyiv’s defenses.”

Several Democrats in the Senate told Politico in February that they need to take new steps to protect NATO from a potential second Trump term.

Conservatives pushed back on these efforts, and characterizations of Trump as anti-NATO, in conversations with the Caller.

“We’re seeing fear mongering by President Trump’s political opponents. And I think a lot of it has to go to the fact that they are absolutely standing with President Biden’s policy on Ukraine. That has no strategy. Trump has said, I want to stop the killing. He hasn’t said he wants to cut off Ukraine,” Fleitz said.

“Now, I read in the article that there’s some members of Congress who want to prevent Trump from pulling out of NATO. Trump doesn’t plan to pull out of NATO. As far as I know. He hasn’t said that,” Fleitz continued. “But what he has said is that he wants to hold NATO members accountable for their treaty obligations, to spend 2% of the GDP on defense. And Trump is not the only president to call for that. He’s just the only president who’s been serious about it.”

Richard Grenell, the former Acting Director of National Intelligence under Trump, told the Caller that the idea of Trump-proofing weapons for Ukraine is “silly politics during an election year.”

“What I would say is nothing undermines NATO more than being a member of a military alliance and yet not being able to contribute to that military alliance in any meaningful way,” Grenell said. “I don’t even want to speculate because Donald Trump made NATO stronger. You know, hundreds of billions of dollars more came into NATO than ever before.”

“Everyone knows exactly what Donald Trump is going to do for NATO, because they saw it for four years. There are no surprises. He’s going to absolutely demand that countries pay their 2014 commitment and their obligations. We don’t see that from the Biden team. They don’t demand it. They don’t bring it up,” Grenell added.

Republican Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson said after reading the Politico report, “the first thought through my mind was, in terms of danger to world peace, President Biden has posed a far greater danger than anything Trump could pose.”

“I’m getting a little sick of Europe relying on U.S. debt to provide a defensive shield for Europe. Their combined economies are as big as the U.S.. They do this themselves,” Johnson added.

Fleitz echoed that sentiment: “If there’s an effort by Democratic politicians and members of, and European leaders to somehow Trump proof Ukraine by having Europe provide more military aid. I’m all for that. Because the big problem here is that countries like Germany and France are giving a pittance when it comes to aid to Ukraine. We’re bearing the majority of the burden, and they really shouldn’t be criticizing us when they are not doing nearly enough to help Ukraine.”

John Ullyot, a National Security Council spokesman under Trump, told the Caller that “Democrats who say otherwise and take steps to jam up Trump on NATO are putting Europe First, not America First. That simply doesn’t fly with U.S. taxpayers and voters as a matter of common sense.”

Trump had expressed support for giving some additional aid to Ukraine in the form of a loan, and Congressional Republicans sold him on that as part of the latest aid package. About $10 billion of the $60 billion was enacted as a loan, but it is forgivable if the White House opts not to make Kyiv pay it back.

“I believe $10 billion of the $60 billion aid package it has designated as a loan. And that’s for humanitarian aid. And we expect Ukraine to pay it back. Realistically, given how their economy has been devastated, even when the war is over, it doesn’t seem likely we’ll be able to pay that in the immediate future,” Fleitz said.

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott told the Caller that a loan makes more sense than grants for foreign aid, but that it should not be forgivable.

“I mean, I think having a loan makes a lot more sense than just grants. I think that’s what we ought to be doing with our foreign aid. If you want to give your money away, that’s one thing, for your federal government to give your money away, that’s something totally different,” Scott said. “So I think that this ought to be in the form of a loan and it shouldn’t be forgivable.”

Johnson referred to the loan as “mere window dressing” and “political cover” saying: “We are going to be discussing when this war finally ends, how do you rebuild Ukraine to the tune of what, something around a $1 trillion price. Do you think a $10 billion loan is going to even enter that equation? So no, it’s window dressing. It’s nothing but mere political cover for those members whose constituents, by and large, would prefer they not vote for sending $60 billion down the drain.”

“It’s not really a loan. It’s a loan that has a thousand different ways that the loan can be waived built into the bill. And it’s pretty plain to me on the text of the statute that what they’ve got in mind is, getting this set up and then making sure the Biden administration forgives the loan. They’ve made it very, very easy to do that. And so to call something a loan when you’ve built into the law mechanisms to make it sort of optional. It’s very deceptive,” Lee said.

Despite the anger over the aid package from the Republican base, Trump, for his part, did not try to stop it. He even provided encouragement to the increasingly-maligned Speaker Mike Johnson, saying he’s “trying very hard.”

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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‘Weaponized His Leadership’: Insurgent Senate GOP Forms Post-McConnell Plan

Senate Republicans Sound Off On Leaked Border Deal Proposals, Say They Will Absolutely Not Vote For Them

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: Senate Staffer Caught Filming Gay Sex Tape In Senate Hearing Room [GRAPHIC]

Leaked amateur pornography shows a congressional staffer of Democrat Senator Cardin, Aidan Maese-Czeropski having anal sex with an unknown man in the Senate hearing room, video obtained by the Daily Caller shows.

The alleged staffer can also be seen in a photo, naked on all fours, looking back at the camera on the table where Senators often sit to ask questions during a hearing. It appears to be unprotected sex.

A source identified the room to the Daily Caller as Senate room Hart 216 – The Judiciary Room. The Caller blurred out his face because his identity has not been confirmed.

WARNING GRAPHIC IMAGES: 

WATCH: Democrat Senate Staffer Caught Filming Gay Sex Tape In Senate Hearing Room

Daily Caller has not confirmed the identities of either party in the amateur porn video. Daily Caller reviewed the chat where the video leaked and confirmed it was shared in a private group for gay men in politics.

(This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.) 

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Florida Sen. Rick Scott Breaks Precedent, Endorses Trump Over DeSantis

Florida Republican Sen. Rick Scott released an op-ed Thursday morning endorsing Donald Trump for President in 2024 over the state’s governor Ron DeSantis.

Scott published the piece for Newsweek, saying he thinks it is time for the Republican party to unite behind Trump and said although he knows most of the GOP candidates running for President, he believes Trump is the only one who can beat President Joe Biden. The Florida Senator also said although he will not ask for the other candidates to drop out of the race, he believes the stakes are too high and that Trump is the best option for the country.

“I am often asked whether this is the beginning of the end of America. It will be, if we stop fighting and cede our country to the incompetent, radical Democrats who are destroying the fundamental values that make America great. We of course do not even know if Joe Biden is lucid enough to be aware that his administration is destroying America. Biden’s presidency has become an embarrassment to his political party and to our entire nation,” Scott wrote.

“I am optimistic that we can return America to its rightful position of economic and military strength and the undisputed moral leader of the free world, but only with strong leadership in the White House. That is why I support my friend President Donald J. Trump to be the 47th president of the United States and encourage every Republican to unite behind his efforts to win back the White House,” he continued.

“It’s time for the Republican Party to come together, behind one candidate, and declare with one voice that we are united in our efforts to defeat Joe Biden and rescue America,” Scott added.

“I know most of the candidates running for president, and I respect their decision to put themselves through this very difficult process. They’ve made their case to voters, laid out their agendas and their plans, and told their stories. Make no mistake: every single one of them would be a better president than Joe Biden. But Republican voters are making their voices heard loud and clear. They want to return to the leadership of Donald Trump,” he said.

National polling shows Trump ahead of other GOP candidates by a large lead. Other polls also show Trump beating Biden in the general election.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

RELATED POST ON X:

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Democrat Sen. Bob Menendez and Wife Indicted on Bribery Offenses

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez and his wife will be indicted Friday morning on bribery offenses in the Southern District of New York.

“A press event will be held today at 11:00 a.m. to announce the unsealing of an indictment charging Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator from New Jersey, and his wife, Nadine Menendez, with bribery offenses in connection with their corrupt relationship with three New Jersey businessmen,” the Twitter account for the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Of New York said in a statement.

Per the indictment, “Over $480,000 in cash — much of it stuffed into envelopes and hidden in clothing, closets, and a safe — was discovered in the home.”

The Menendez indictment also says Menendez, who is the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, provided sensitive U.S. Government information” to Egypt.

READ THE INDICTMENT HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

Menendez denied the allegations in a statement shortly after the press conference.

In 2015, The Daily Caller broke news of prostitution allegations against Menendez that ended up picking up the attention of the FBI.

Menendez also threatened to call the police on the Daily Caller when asked about the Green New Deal in 2019.

(This is a developing story. More information will be added as it becomes available.)

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All right reserved.

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Former State Judge And AG Splits From Industry-Sponsored Panelist, Rules Bud Light Violated Code By Marketing To Minors

One of the Beer Institute’s Code Compliance Review Board members (CCRB) said Bud Light violated code after the beer industry ad panel issued a ruling Tuesday over the brand’s ad campaign with a transgender influencer.

The majority of CCRB decided Bud Light did not violate the Beer Institute’s marketing code prohibiting marketing to minors. However, Paul Summers said Bud Light did violate the code in his dissenting opinion. Summers is a former state court appeals judge and Tennessee attorney general. He is also the only member of the CCRB who is a lawyer. This is the first time CCRB has issued dissent.

Bud Light has faced heavy criticism and lost its spot as America’s top-selling beer in early June after transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney showed off a personalized beer can featuring the influencer’s face. Bud Light’s sponsorship of Mulvaney violated the beer industry’s code prohibiting the marketing of alcohol to underage individuals, according to Summers’ dissent.

“Dylan Mulvaney has a persona wherein the actor looks and acts like a little girl. Mulvaney appeals to little children and often behaves like one,” Summers’ dissent and the CCRB’s decision reads.

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is the ranking member of the Senate Commerce Committee, praised Summers’ opinion in a statement to the Daily Caller.

“This is the first time a review board member — and notably, the board’s only lawyer — has concluded that a brewer violated industry code prohibiting the marketing of alcoholic beverages to underage individuals. I applaud Judge Summers for having the courage to state what is self-evident: Mulvaney’s persona ‘looks and acts like a little girl’ and ‘appeals to little children and often behaves like one.’ It is clear Mulvaney was chosen because he produces content for a younger audience, and therefore, his selection would violate the industry’s self-regulatory code. Judge Summers also rightly noted that Anheuser-Busch failed to provide the ‘reasonable documentation’ I requested about the brewer’s decision to choose Mulvaney, effectively withholding from the board and Congress crucial information about the company’s actions,” Cruz said.

Cruz published a 13-page memo in June with various examples of how Anheuser-Busch’s sponsorship of Mulvaney was allegedly meant to appeal to minors. Anheuser-Busch CEO Brendan Whitworth, who serves as chairman of the Beer Institute, has continuously refused to comply with congressional requests for documents, according to Cruz’s memo.

READ THE REVIEW HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers
“While I am disappointed but unsurprised with the ruling from the other two panelists on the board, I will continue efforts to shine a spotlight on how Anheuser-Busch chose a spokesperson meant to appeal to children. If marketing tobacco to minors is effectively illegal, perhaps Congress needs to take action to do the same with alcohol in light of Anheuser-Busch’s actions,” he added.

Bud Light also released a can featuring a rainbow design and the words “celebrate everyone’s identity,” with different pronouns printed on the bottle.

The Beer Institute’s Code Compliance Review Board was published on its website Tuesday afternoon.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Here Are The 17 GOP Senators Who Voted For Unlimited Spending

The U.S. Senate passed legislation late Thursday night to raise the nation’s debt ceiling, and the bill is now headed to President Joe Biden’s desk.

The legislation passed with 17 Republicans joining 46 Democrats to suspend the debt ceiling until Jan. 2025. Five Democrats broke with their party. Ahead of the June 5 deadline, the federal government will now avoid a default on its debt.

Here Are The 17 Republicans Who Voted For Unlimited Spending:  

  • Arkansas Sen. John Boozman
  • West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito
  • Maine Sen. Susan Collins
  • Texas Sen. John Cornyn
  • North Dakota Sen. Kevin Cramer
  • Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst
  • Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley
  • North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven
  • Kansas Sen. Jerry Moran
  • Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell
  • Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski
  • Oklahoma Sen. Markwayne Mullin
  • Utah Sen. Mitt Romney
  • South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds
  • South Dakota Sen. John Thune
  • North Carolina Sen. Thom Tillis
  • Indiana Sen. Todd Young

After passing the legislation, Republicans such as Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who supported the bill, released statements detailing why they voted in favor of the legislation.

“Four months after Speaker McCarthy invited President Biden to begin negotiating a resolution to the looming debt crisis, an important step toward fiscal sanity will finally become law. Thanks to House Republicans’ efforts, the Fiscal Responsibility Act avoids the catastrophic consequences of default and begins to curb Washington Democrats’ addiction to reckless spending that grows our nation’s debt.”

On the Senate floor, Sen. Cornyn said, “This bill will reduce federal spending by $1.5 trillion over the next decade, which is a strong start in the fight to right America’s financial ship.”

However, Republicans who voted against raising the nation’s debt ceiling, such as Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley and Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had different tones.

“On the debt ceiling, my view is the most important deficit we face is the trade deficit with China. Every dollar represents jobs lost (60k & counting in Missouri), industry lost, communities decimated. We’ve got to quit making China rich & get good blue-collar jobs back in USA. This deal doesn’t do that. So I’m a no,” Hawley, who voted against the legislation, said in a statement Thursday.

Cruz said: “While there were some good elements to this deal, such as reclaiming some unspent Covid-19 funds, there were a lot of elements that were disappointing. I’m upset this agreement did not cut more, and I’m frustrated this agreement adds a lot to the debt in exchange for relatively few spending cuts.”

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent.

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Sen. Tim Scott Introduces Legislation Redirecting $15 Billion From IRS To Border Security

Republican South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott introduced legislation Wednesday that would redirect $15 billion that was meant to help pay for 87,000 new Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees and spend it on security measures along the southern border instead.

The Daily Caller first obtained the legislation, which is titled the Securing Our Border Act. The bill would specifically fund border inspections to better equip law enforcement to track down drugs and other illegal items or substances before they enter the United States. The bill would also fund border wall construction and other technologies to help with tracking and enforcement efforts along the southwest border.

Additionally, the legislation would give retention bonuses to Border Patrol agents and end the “catch and release” policy.

Republicans have expressed particular concern about the more than $80 billion in new funding for the IRS. Although Democrats claim the increased funding will boost revenue and enable Congress to pay down the federal debt, GOP officials argue that middle-class and poor Americans will face more audits. The funding allows the agency to hire up to 87,000 new employees.

“We have a crisis on our southern border. Rather than putting resources in place to address this major national security and humanitarian catastrophe, the Biden administration and congressional Democrats chose instead to spend $45 billion of taxpayer money to hire an army of IRS agents to audit the middle class,” Scott told the Caller before introducing the bill.

READ THE LEGISLATION HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

“While President Biden continues to drop the ball, I’m introducing legislation to fund border infrastructure and give our Border Patrol agents the tools they need to help stop the unaddressed flows of illicit goods and persons into this country. Americans need more border agents keeping them safe – not thousands more IRS agents looking over their shoulder,” Scott added.

The bill has five original cosponsors —Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Steve Daines of Montana, Joni Ernst of Iowa, Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming, Mike Rounds of South Dakota, and James Lankford of Oklahoma — and has been endorsed by the National Border Patrol Council, a group representing 18,000 Border Patrol agents.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Sen. Rand Paul, Rep. Chip Roy To Introduce Legislation To Eliminate Fauci’s NIAID

Republican Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Texas Rep. Chip Roy will introduce legislation Thursday that would eliminate the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

The Daily Caller first obtained a copy of the bill, which is titled the NIH Reform Act. The bill would specifically replace the NIAID with three separate national research institutes that would be led by directors subject to Senate confirmation and limited to no more than two 5-year terms.

The three new institutes would be the National Institute of Allergic Diseases, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, and the National Institute of Immunologic Diseases. The directors of each new institute would be appointed by the president, subject to Senate confirmation, and limited to no more than two 5-year terms.

“We’ve learned a lot over the past few years, but one lesson in particular is that no one person should be deemed ‘dictator-in-chief.’ No one person should have unilateral authority to make decisions for millions of Americans,” Paul told the Daily Caller before introducing the legislation.

“To ensure that ineffective, unscientific lockdowns and mandates are never foisted on the American people ever again, I’ve introduced this bill to eliminate Dr. Anthony Fauci’s previous position as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and divide the role into three separate new institutes. This will create accountability and oversight into a taxpayer funded position that has largely abused its power and has been responsible for many failures and misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic,” he added.

READ THE LEGISLATION HERE: 

(DAILY CALLER OBTAINED) — … by Henry Rodgers

“From the earliest days of the pandemic, unaccountable public health bureaucracies proved themselves far more adept at ruining lives than saving them. Never again should a single individual, like Dr. Anthony Fauci, wield unchecked power and influence over the lives of the American people. Breaking up Dr. Fauci’s taxpayer funded bully pulpit into three separate agencies — and requiring Senate confirmation for all their future directors — is one of many actions necessary to allow the American people to hold public health agencies accountable,” Roy, who introduced an identical House version of the bill, said in a statement.

The legislation is currently cosponsored by Utah Sen. Mike Lee, Tennessee Sen. Marsha Blackburn, Indiana Sen. Mike Braun and Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley.

 

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Chief national correspondent.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

‘So Pissed Off, I Cannot Even See Straight’ — Ted Cruz Blames Mitch McConnell For GOP Midterm Losses

Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz slammed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell during a Monday podcast, saying the GOP should have won the majority of the upper chamber and blamed McConnell for not supporting Arizona Senate candidate Blake Masters.

Cruz released an episode of his podcast, titled Verdict with Ted Cruz, where he and co-host Ben Ferguson discussed the midterm elections and the GOP’s failure to recapture the Senate. Cruz mentioned his frustration, saying there was no excuse for McConnell to abandon Masters, calling it “indefensible.”

“Well, Ben, let me start off by saying I am so pissed off, I cannot even see straight,” Cruz said.

“We had an extraordinary opportunity. We had a generational opportunity. This should have been a fundamental landslide election. We should have won the House and the Senate. We should have a 30, 40, 50 vote majority in the House. We should have 53, 54, 55 Republicans in the Senate,” Cruz continued.

McConnell’s PAC reportedly yanked $8 million in campaign spending from Arizona after Masters won his primary election, according to Fox News.

Cruz was also asked if McConnell would donate to Georgia Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s campaign in a run-off. Cruz replied he likely will, but said he believes the GOP could have won Arizona.

“Oh, look, I’m sure he will raise money and invest in the race … But if you look at this last cycle, Mitch McConnell pulled the money out of Arizona. We could have won — won Arizona. We nearly won Arizona and abandoning Blake Masters was indefensible,” Cruz said.

“Explain to me, Senator, why in a race where the polling showed that we had a legitimate chance of winning there. Why did he pull out that money from Masters who desperately needed it?” Ferguson asked Cruz.

“Because Masters said he would vote against Mitch McConnell, and so Mitch would rather be leader than have a Republican majority. If there’s a Republican who can win, who’s not gonna support Mitch, the truth of the matter is he’d rather the Democrat win. So he pulled all the money out of Arizona,” Cruz responded.

Cruz also said that “the country is screwed for the next four years” due to the GOP’s failure to regain the majority, saying “because of this, we’re gonna see horrible Left-wing judges confirmed for the next two years, because of this. We’re gonna see judges taking away our free speech rights, our religious liberty rights, our Second Amendment rights. It is an enormous missed opportunity. And I gotta say, it is hard to describe my feelings as anything other than rage,” Cruz concluded.

Cruz’s criticisms follow former President Donald Trump’s criticisms of McConnell over the Blake Masters campaign. Trump’s critics have responded that the former president did not use the $100 million his PAC has collected to support GOP candidates in the midterms.

“McConnell allied groups spent $13.1M in Arizona,” a One Nation spokesperson told the Caller.

“During the summer, Steven Law, the head of a McConnell-aligned super PAC, told the financier Peter Thiel, who had spent millions supporting Mr. Masters, that Mr. Masters had scored the worst focus group results of any candidate he had ever seen,” The New York Times reported.

The Daily Caller contacted McConnell’s office about Cruz’s comments.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Senior Congressional correspondent. 

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

EXCLUSIVE: ‘Got Away With It’ — Sen. Rick Scott To Release Ad Saying Biden ‘Cheated On His Taxes’

National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) Chairman Sen. Rick Scott of Florida will release an advertisement Monday night, claiming President Biden has been cheating on his taxes to avoid paying around half a million dollars that should have gone to Medicare.

The ad, titled Tax Cheat, was first obtained by the Daily Caller. In it, Scott accuses Biden of exploiting a loophole to cheat on his taxes and getting away with it. Scott’s ad bases its claim on reports from a number of media outlets, including the New York Post and Wall Street Journal, which said that when Biden was leaving the vice presidency in 2017, Joe and Jill Biden created two S-corporations, the CelticCapri Corporation (Joe Biden) and Giacoppa Corporation (Jill Biden), through which they funneled their book and speech income.

The Bidens paid full income taxes on all their earnings but avoided paying payroll taxes — the 2.9% tax that funds Medicare and the additional 0.9% “high-income” tax imposed by Obamacare — on all income they classified as “profits” from their two corporations. This has caused lawmakers like Scott to raise questions about Biden’s taxes, saying the president could owe the IRS close to $500,000 in back taxes.

In 2020, The Washington Post’s fact checker looked at this allegation in detail and concluded that it was difficult to determine whether Biden’s “tax strategy was especially aggressive or par for the course.”

“Joe Biden just cut $280 billion from Medicare. And we know about his 87,000 new IRS agents. But what you don’t know is that Joe Biden also cheated on his taxes and got away with it,” Scott said in the ad.

“Biden improperly used a loophole to dodge half a million dollars in taxes that should have gone to Medicare. Now that Biden has ripped off Medicare for half a million dollars, he wants to close the loophole and raise your taxes. I’m Rick Scott. Biden should resign,” Scott continued.

The ad is being run by and paid for by Scott’s campaign.

WATCH: 

“Joe Biden and Washington Democrats just cut $280 billion from Medicare, taking money from Florida seniors,” Scott told the Caller before the ad was released. “What’s worse, Joe Biden cheated on his own taxes, taking even more money from seniors who rely on Medicare and other important entitlement programs. Joe Biden is a hypocrite and a tax cheat who is unequipped for the job and should resign.”

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates respond to the Caller’s inquiry about the accusations Scott made in the ad in a statement: “No. And funnily, Rick Scott’s lie about the Inflation Reduction Act is just as debunked now as it was yesterday when he face-planted after getting fact checked live on CNN yesterday. It’s also just as false as it was when Rick Scott released an ultra MAGA policy agenda that called for putting Medicare on the chopping block. The Inflation Reduction Act is endorsed by the AARP – and opposed by Big Pharma and every Republican in Congress – because it enables Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug costs. Rick Scott just highlighted, again, that want to raise drug prices in the name of welfare for Big Pharma. We should honestly be paying Senator Scott to talk, but then again he probably still has as least a few hundred million dollars left from when he oversaw the biggest Medicare fraud in history.”

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Senior Congressional correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Senator Josh Hawley To Introduce Legislation Putting Universities On The Hook For Student Debt

Republican Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley will introduce legislation Wednesday that puts colleges and universities on the hook for student debt.

The bill was first obtained by the Daily Caller and is titled the Make the Universities Pay Act. The Legislation would require institutions of higher education participating in the Federal Direct Student Loan Program to pay 50% of any student loan balance that is in default.

The Make the Universities Pay Act would also allow student loan debt to be discharged in bankruptcy and allow undergraduate student loan debt to be discharged five years after the first payment is due, while graduate student loan can be discharged 15 years after the first payment is due. In addition, the bill requires each institution of higher education participating in federal financial aid programs to publish post-graduate outcomes, including mean and median earnings of graduates and student loan default rates, disaggregated by each degree or program of study.

The Biden administration is taking executive action to forgive $10,000 per borrower. The move would clear $321 billion of federal student loans and clear the student debt for almost 12 million people, according to CNBC.

Biden will also cancel up to $20,000 for Pell Grant recipients.

READ THE BILL HERE: 

“For decades, universities have amassed billion-dollar endowments while teaching nonsense like men can get pregnant. All while charging extortionary tuition. Now Joe Biden wants to give away another $1 trillion to prop up the system. That’s wrong. Instead, it’s time to put universities on the hook and give students the information they need to make informed decisions,” Hawley told the Caller before introducing the legislation.

Hawley plans on introducing the legislation later Wednesday afternoon.

AUTHOR

HENRY RODGERS

Senior Congressional correspondent. Follow Henry Rodgers On Twitter

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EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.