Tag: republicans

Texas Republican introduces bill to force platforms to receive ID documents from users

Republican State Rep. Jared Patterson, from Denton County, Texas, has introduced a bill that would ban minors from having social media accounts. Paterson argues that social media is not safe for minors, citing, among other things, self-harm content.

Patterson proposed a new law that would force social platforms to perform age verification on users.

We obtained a copy of the bill for you here.

“HB 896 would prohibit minors from obtaining social media accounts in Texas. Specifically, this legislation seeks to limit social media usage to profile accounts 18 and older, requires profiles to utilize photo identification as a means of age verification, allows parents the opportunity to request account removal of their child, and grants enforcement of deceptive trade practices to the Office of the Attorney General if violated,” reads a press release from published by Patterson’s office.

Keep reading

Incoming House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul Calls for More Arms to Ukraine to Destroy Russian Military

Incoming House Foreign Affairs Chairman Michael McCaul (R-TX) called for arms to Ukraine to help destroy the Russian military as public officials have increasingly warned about the prospect of a “major war” between the West and Russia.

CBS News asked McCaul about House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy’s (R-CA) claim that a House Republican majority would not send a “blank check” to Ukraine.

McCaul did not speak to any limitations on aid to Ukraine; instead, the Texas Republican spoke about how arming Ukraine is doing well to destroy the Russian military.

“I support Ukraine. I think going with the amount of investment we’ve had is very small relative to destroying the Russian military. And that’s what we’ve done without one American soldier being attacked, killed, or in country. To me, that’s a pretty good investment,” McCaul said in a Friday interview with CBS News.

McCaul then said that more aid to help Ukraine’s conflict with Russia will come with “oversight,” “transparency,” and “accountability.”

Asked if he favors sending heavier arms to Ukraine in its protracted war with Russia, he said, “One hundred percent because the longer you drag this out, the more bloodshed. And the will of the American people and the Congress will dwindle until we can get this thing over with.”

McCaul spoke after NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg warned on Friday that a full-blown “major war” between Russia and the West could possibly break out over Ukraine.

Keep reading

Sam Bankman-Fried Reveals Massive ‘Dark Money’ Donations To Republicans

Former crypto billionaire and Democratic Party megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried revealed he gave large sums of “dark” money to Republicans in a Nov. 29 interview.

He told crypto YouTuber Tiffany Fong that “all my Republican donations were dark” because “reporters freak the fuck out if you donate to a Republican” and that he “didn’t want to have that fight” with “super liberal” journalists. He claimed he was the third largest Republican donor and gave “about the same” to both parties. He did not specify how much he donated to Republicans or which GOP politicians he supported.

Campaign finance watchdog group OpenSecrets reported that Bankman-Fried donated over $36 million to Democrats and over $39 million in total, making him the sixth largest donor of the 2022 midterm election cycle. He was Democrats’ second-largest donor behind George Soros, who contributed over $128 million to Democrats this cycle.

Keep reading

Senators Press Pentagon To Give Ukraine Advanced Drones

A group of bipartisan senators is urging the Biden administration to provide Ukraine with advanced MQ-1C Gray Eagle drones that would give Kyiv longer-range capability.

The Biden administration has been hesitant to send the drones due to the risk of escalation with Russia and concerns that the sensitive technology in the drones could end up in the wrong hands.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported that the Biden administration has decided not to provide the drones, although other reporting disputed that claim and said a final decision hadn’t been made.

In a letter to Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, 16 senators expressed “concern” over the reports that said the administration has declined to send the MQ-1C. The senators asked the administration to give “careful reconsideration” to the Ukrainian request.

The letter was led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA) and was signed by many members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, including ranking member James Inhofe (R-OK).

The senators said the MQ-1C and other long-range capabilities would provide “Ukraine additional lethality needed to eject Russian forces and regain occupied territory.”

Providing MQ-1Cs would be a major escalation in US military aid to Kyiv as the drones can be armed with powerful hellfire missiles and can fly for up to 30 hours. The drones would give Ukraine the capability to strike targets inside Russian territory.

Keep reading

Here Are The Democrats And Republicans Who Received Campaign Cash Linked To Bankrupt Crypto Empire FTX

Democrats heavily benefited from the campaign contributions of disgraced cryptocurrency billionaire and FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, while other affiliates of the company likewise helped Republicans ahead of the company’s failure last week.

FTX filed for bankruptcy on Friday after users discovered that firms controlled by Bankman-Fried were allegedly fraudulently intertwined, causing him to lose his fortune overnight. The young multibillionaire contributed nearly $39 million during the recent midterm elections, with 99.6% of funds benefiting Democratic candidates, according to data from Open Secrets, which listed him as the nation’s sixth-largest individual midterm donor.

The 30 year old donated $27 million to Protect Our Future PAC, a left-leaning group which in turn spent heavily on behalf of Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives. A contribution of over $10 million from Protect Our Future PAC benefited Carrick Flynn, who lost his Democratic primary in Oregon. Other beneficiaries included Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA), Rep. Shontel Brown (D-OH), Rep. Robert Garcia (D-NC), and Rep. Valerie Foushee (D-NC), all of whom won re-election.

Bankman-Fried also contributed $1 million to the Senate Majority PAC, which supports Democratic candidates for the Senate, and $6 million to the House Majority PAC. During the 2020 election cycle, he was the second-largest donor to the Biden campaign.

Bankman-Fried directly supported a number of individual candidates as well. Two such candidates, Rep. Kevin Hern (R-OK) and Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia (D-IL) donated their respective $5,000 and $2,900 contributions to charity after FTX filed for bankruptcy, according to a report from The Block.

Keep reading

South Dakota Republican accused of raping underage family member repeatedly, charged with felony child abuse: ‘You promised you’d never do this’

A Republican running for state Senate in South Dakota has been accused of heinous crimes: molesting, raping, and maniacally monitoring the actions of an underage female family member “since she was a young child.”

On May 6, a woman, now 19, told police that Joel Koskan, a Republican running for the state Senate seat for District 26, began molesting her when she was just 12. The abuse continued off and on for years until she turned 17, when he began raping her, she alleged.

“She explained that ever since she was young, Joel [Koskan] would give her very long hugs, kiss her and have her sit on his lap,” a retired agent with the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation wrote in a probable cause statement filed with the courts. “[The woman] thought that it was ‘normal things’ that families were supposed to do.”

Koskan also owned the property where she lived, so he installed cameras to watch her in her home, she said, and tracked her movements through GPS monitors on her phone and in her vehicle.

Keep reading