Tag: republicans

GOP Politician Who Threatened to Call In Russian-Ukrainian Hit Squad to Assassinate Rep. Paulina Luna – Gets Only 3 Years Prison Time!

Republican politician Robert Braddock III was sentenced to three years in prison after threatening to assassinate Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) with a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad.

Braddock was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday.

Braddock III was caught on an audio call talking about killing the “c*nt” to rid her from he race.

Matt Gaetz at OANN broke the story this week.

Matt Gaetz: Anna Paulina Luna, America’s Congresswoman from my beloved Florida. This military spouse, Air Force veteran, Maxim model, Turning Point influencer, badass Congresswoman is a force in the United States House of Representatives. She led the resolution to censure Adam Schiff. She’s a tireless advocate for fellow veterans in her Tampa Bay area district. She’s an excellent communicator and a thought leader in the strident House Freedom Caucus.

Did you also know there was a plot to assassinate her during her second and successful run for Congress? In 2021, during the Republican primary for Florida’s 13th Congressional district, candidate William Robert Braddock III, which, by the way, is just a delightful name, he threatened to have his opponent, Congresswoman Luna, assassinated. In a recorded call with a GOP activist, Braddock claimed that he would employ a Russian-Ukrainian hit squad to eliminate Luna if she continued to perform well in the polls because voters actually like her. If that sounds crazy to you, it sounded crazy to a lot of people. They said she was nuts. They said, I was nuts to endorse her. But then listen to the tape.

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GOP Senator Who Opposes Marijuana Legalization Complains About Federal Alcohol Guidelines Recommending Americans Drink Less

A GOP senator is complaining about pending revisions to federal guidelines that could recommend Americans drink less alcohol, even as he maintains his strong opposition to legalizing marijuana.

As the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) works to finalize updated dietary guidance for Americans, which will be partly informed by a study that some expect will recommend further reducing alcohol intake, Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) is standing strong in defense of alcohol’s legal status.

“Wasting taxpayer dollars on studies to ban alcohol is exactly why [former President Joe Biden] and his cronies were voted out of the White House,” he told The Washington Reporter.

To be clear, the study that’s being carried out by SAMHSA’s Interagency Coordinating Committee on the Prevention of Underage Drinking (ICCPUD) isn’t intended to impose a “ban” on alcohol. Rather, it’s meant to provide updated data on the potential risks of alcohol use, with findings that could be incorporated into the 2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, which is not legally binding for consumers.

But Cotton’s comment reflects a policy disconnect that has long frustrated cannabis reform advocates who’ve long argued that, if alcohol is legal and regulated, it’s nonsensical to continue prohibiting marijuana, which many studies show is comparably safer and therapeutically beneficial for many patients.

If pursuing a ban on alcohol is a waste of taxpayer dollar, as the senator suggested, it’s notable he doesn’t feel similarly about the millions of dollars that continue to be spent arresting, prosecuting and incarcerating people over cannabis. But instead, Cotton has long maintained opposition to legalizing marijuana, including through an initiative to end cannabis prohibition that appeared on Arkansas’s 2022 ballot.

While he said in 2018 that he respected the will of voters in his state to legalize medical cannabis, he didn’t think the federal government should as much as decriminalize it. And in 2023, he sharply criticized then-Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) for proposing criminal justice provisions he wanted to add to a bipartisan marijuana banking bill, claiming Schumer was supporting “letting drug traffickers out of prison.”

In any case, Cotton isn’t the first senator to take a conflicting position on alcohol and marijuana as it concerns the SAMHSA study. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), another staunch cannabis prohibition, made headlines in 2023 said that federal officials “can kiss my ass” if they decide to reduce the recommended maximum consumption of alcohol to two drinks per week.

“What is it with liberals and wanting to control every damn aspect of your life?” he said during an interview with Newsmax.

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Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte Signs Bill Banning Sanctuary Cities in the State of New Hampshire

New Hampshire’s Republican Governor Kelly Ayotte has signed a bill that bans so-called ‘sanctuary cities’ in the Granite State, in direct contrast to her neighbors to the south in Massachusetts, and to the east in Maine.

All of New England is fairly liberal, but New Hampshire has a reputation for maybe not being conservative but definitely having a libertarian streak.

Ayotte actually ran on the sentiment embodied in this new law.

NBC News in Boston reported:

House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 62 ban sanctuary cities and support cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

During her campaign for governor last year, Ayotte used a “Don’t Mass it up” slogan to rail against more liberal Massachusetts to the south, including a pledge to ban sanctuary cities, which limit cooperation with federal immigration authorities.

Ayotte’s office put out this press release:

Sanctuary Cities Banned in New Hampshire

Today, Governor Kelly Ayotte signed House Bill 511 and Senate Bill 62 to ban sanctuary cities and support cooperation between state and local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities.

Governor Ayotte released the following statement after signing both bills into law:

“I said from the beginning that we won’t let our state go the way of Massachusetts and their billion-dollar illegal immigrant crisis. Today, we’re delivering on our promise by banning sanctuary cities and supporting law enforcement cooperation with federal immigration authorities. New Hampshire will never be a sanctuary for criminals, and we will keep working every day to remain the safest state in the nation.”

This was a smart move.

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Texas Democrats Slam GOP Lieutenant Governor For Championing Hemp Product Ban That Has Now Passed The House

Lawmakers in the Texas House of Representatives have passed a measure to establish a statewide ban on consumable hemp products that contain any detectable amount of THC.

The House approved the bill, SB 3, on third reading vote of 87–54 on Thursday.

Under the latest version of the proposal, championed by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R), who presides over the Senate, adults could face a $500 fine for possessing a hemp product containing any THC—a penalty that would climb to up to 180 days in jail for subsequent offenses.

Earlier this week, Patrick wrote on social media that “we cannot in good conscience leave Austin without banning THC.”

“I’ve been here for 17 years at the Texas Capitol—10 years as your lieutenant governor,” he said in a video Monday evening. “I’ve never been more passionate about anything.”

Democrats have attacked the bill as an assault on personal liberty and gone after Patrick for his zeal around the ban.

“Dan Patrick is coming for your THC,” the party posted on social media. “Why doesn’t he bring this kind of energy to fully funding our public schools and raising teacher pay?”

“In the so-called ‘freedom state’,” it added, “adults should have the right to use cannabinoid products. We allow alcohol and tobacco—why not a gummy or oil to relax and ease pain?”

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Former Florida congressional candidate sentenced to prison for threatening to kill opponent

A former Florida congressional candidate was sentenced to three years in prison on Wednesday for threatening to kill his opponent in a primary race in 2021.

William Robert Braddock III, 41, of St. Petersburg, was sentenced in Tampa federal court after being charged with interstate transmission of threat to injure. He pleaded guilty in February.

According to court documents, Braddock viewed Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), who was the Republican frontrunner in Florida’s 13th Congressional District, as “his only obstacle to winning that race.”

While campaigning, Braddock, a former Marine, would disparage Luna and her peers to inject himself into his life. During a 2021 phone call with Luna’s acquaintance, a private citizen, Braddock threatened to have Luna murdered if she continued to poll well, specifically to “call up my Russian-Ukrainian hit squad” and make her “disappear,” according to a release from the Department of Justice (DOJ). 

Braddock subsequently fled to Thailand and eventually settled in the Philippines.

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Trump’s ‘big’ and ‘beautiful’ tax bill retains hundreds of billions (maybe trillions?) in ‘Green New Deal’ spending

Congressional Republicans are the absolute worst, for many reasons, but this time, it has to do with the “big” and “beautiful” tax bill that’s working its way toward Donald Trump’s desk—Republicans, despite holding both houses, as well as the Oval Office, are set to retain hundreds of billions of dollars in Green New Deal provisions, if they get their way. Here’s the context, from Adam N. Michel and Joshua Loucks at the Cato Institute:

The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was pitched as a climate solution. In practice, it turned the tax code into a multi-trillion-dollar energy entitlement program, creating subsidies without caps, sunsets, or accountability. The recently passed House Ways and Means Committee tax bill repeals eight of the IRA credits, phases out five, and keeps or expands several others.

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Senate Republicans Won’t Work 5 Days A Week To Confirm Trump’s Key Nominees

The first American-born pope, Leo XIV, celebrated his inaugural Mass on Sunday in St. Peter’s Square before a large crowd that included Vice President J.D. Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, two prominent Catholics in the Trump administration. Missing, however, was our country’s official envoy. When the new pope met with the Vatican’s diplomatic corps on Friday, America’s ambassador wasn’t there. We don’t have one right now. 

Brian Burch has been nominated by President Trump to be the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See, but his is one of nearly 80 nominations now languishing on the Senate’s Executive Calendar. Last week, Senate Republicans tried to fast-track Burch’s nomination in time for Pope Leo’s inauguration. Democrats objected. So Republicans, despite having the power to overcome that objection simply by scheduling the vote on a Friday, shrugged and skipped town.

This is becoming a habit. After confirming Trump’s Cabinet in record time, the Republican-led Senate has returned to its traditional two-and-a-half-day work week and lackadaisical work ethic.

The Trump administration is waiting on all manner of assistant secretaries, under secretaries, deputy secretaries, general counsels, and financial officers. As of this writing, the comptroller of the currency and assistant secretary of the Treasury are both awaiting confirmation, as is the director of the Office of Personnel Management, the director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the deputy secretary of the Health and Human Services Department, and the general counsels for the Departments of Defense, Agriculture, and Housing and Urban Development — among more than 50 others. The nominee to be the deputy administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency has been sitting on the calendar since mid-March.

Cabinet secretaries are certainly important and often famous. But everyone in Washington knows agencies’ sub-Cabinet-level officers and below are just as critical to executing the president’s agenda. 

The entire country watched the permanent bureaucracy subvert President Trump’s first term. And most Republican voters now understand how critical these appointees are — everyone, it seems, except the people whose job it is to confirm them.

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Decade after Tea Party movement, conservatives still unable to meaningfully cut debt

As President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful bill” moves toward a final vote in the House, conservative budget hawks are livid that it largely fails to offer spending cuts to their satisfaction, marking the latest in a long line of punts for the House GOP that has repeatedly vowed to address the national debt.

Republicans have long campaigned on addressing the debt, with the Tea Party movement notching historic election wins under President Barack Obama. In 2010, Republicans won control of the House and reduced the Democratic majority in the Senate. Yet, even when Trump first took office, Congress did not pass a balanced budget. 

Under President Joe Biden, House conservatives aggressively pushed then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy to agree to budget concessions when challenging his leadership. His attempts failed to satisfy debt hawks and McCarthy lost his post in October 2023. His replacement, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., reportedly frustrated fiscal conservatives, perhaps even more so than his predecessor.

The mega-bill

Johnson repeatedly passed continuing resolutions to maintain spending at Biden-era levels, despite promising to separately pass all 12 appropriations bills to fund the government through the traditional process. His tenure has seen firebrands, such as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga.; Thomas Massie, R-Ky.; and Chip Roy, R-Texas, all publicly lament the unwillingness of Congress to address spending and other campaign promises. The three voted “present” in a late Sunday night session, allowing the bill to go forward, with Roy revealing there was progress on moving up the start date for new Medicaid work requirements and speeding up the phaseout of green energy incentives.

The current House plan of passing a mega-bill to address all of Trump’s key priorities is still drawing fire from the same livid budget hawks. Several of them delayed the bill’s advancement through key committees, although a floor vote is now in the offing. “The US credit rating being downgraded is evidence of how our fiscal house is out of order,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., said Monday.

The Trump administration has pinned most of its legislative hopes on passing a single piece of legislation through the House and Senate and using the budget reconciliation process to include many of his tax and border security promises. Trump has repeatedly hinted at passing a balanced budget during his second term, though the mega-bill appears nowhere close to accomplishing that goal.

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GOP seeks to bar James Comey from federal positions

Lawmakers on the House Republican Study Committee (RSC) have proposed a resolution that aims to block former FBI Director James Comey from ever taking a role in the federal government again because of a now-deleted social media post that read “8647.”

Republicans, including President Trump, have interpreted Comey’s post of seashells on a beach on Thursday as a call to assassinate the 47th president.

The proposed House GOP resolution “urges the relevant authorities to take every relevant action to ensure that [Comey] is never again permitted to serve as an employee of the federal government” and requests the Justice Department “conduct a full and comprehensive investigation … and release the findings of that investigation to the relevant House Committees and the public.”

Comey, 64, has denied that the Instagram post was a call for Trump’s death and clarified in a follow-up statement that he “didn’t realize some folks associate those numbers with violence.”

“It never occurred to me, but I oppose violence of any kind so I took down the post,” he wrote.

The numeral “86” is typically understood as slang for rejecting or throwing out something or someone.

But RSC Chair Rep. August Pfluger (Texas), one of the authors of the House resolution, called Comey’s social media post a “shocking betrayal of the trust once placed in him by the American people” and accused Comey of “the unthinkable: calling for violence against our Commander-in-Chief.”

“That someone who once held one of our nation’s most sacred positions of law enforcement would incite such dangerous rhetoric is not just alarming — it’s disqualifying and un-American,” Pfluger said in a statement. “This resolution demands the accountability and transparency the American people deserve, ensuring Comey never again holds a position of public trust.”

The resolution states that “Congress must take all available action to hold Director Comey accountable, preserve the rule of law, and protect our legal institutions from those that seek to sow discord and promote violence against their political opponents.”

A Secret Service spokesperson said in a statement that the agency will “vigorously investigate anything that can be taken as a potential threat against our protectees.”

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Sen. Mike Lee’s obscenity bill is a free speech nightmare straight out of Project 2025’s playbook

A new bill in Congress threatens to dictate what Americans can read, watch and say online. On May 8, Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah and Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill.,  introduced the “Interstate Obscenity Definition Act” (IODA) — a recycled attempt to ban online pornography nationwide.

While concerns about pornography, including moral and religious ones, are part of any healthy public debate, this bill does something far more dangerous: It empowers the federal government to police speech based on subjective values. When lawmakers try to enforce the beliefs of some Americans at the expense of others’ rights, they cross a constitutional line — and put the First Amendment at risk. 

The legislation aims to rewrite the legal definition of obscenity, an area of law that represents a very narrow exception to First Amendment protections.

The IODA seeks to sidestep the Supreme Court’s long-standing three-part test for obscenity, established in the 1973 case Miller v. California. The material must appeal to a prurient interest, depict sexual conduct in a patently offensive way, and lack serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.

Lee’s bill would scrap that standard and replace it with a broader, far more subjective definition. It would label content obscene if it simply focuses on nudity, sex or excretion in a way that is intended to arouse and if it lacks “serious value.” 

By discarding the concept of community standards, the IODA removes a key safeguard that allows local norms to shape what counts as obscenity. Without it, the federal government could impose a single national standard that fails to account for regional differences, cultural context or evolving social values.

The bill also deletes the requirement that material be “patently offensive,” a crucial element that keeps the obscenity test anchored in societal consensus. Instead, it replaces it with a subjective inquiry into whether the work was intended to arouse or titillate. But intent is notoriously difficult to prove and easy to allege. That language could easily sweep in a wide range of protected expression, including art, health information and sex education.

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