Tag: republicans

Ohio Senate Candidate Josh Mandel Pocketed Donations Intended for 2018 GOP Nominee, Paid Tens of Thousands to Mistress

Ohio Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel paid tens of thousands of dollars to a woman he was dating during his 2018 Senate campaign, while married to another woman.

FEC reports show that Rachel Wilson, Mandel’s finance director and mistress, was paid more than $100,000 between his 2018 campaign and a PAC supporting his candidacy.

It’s widely known that Mandel was in an affair with Wilson at the time. He ended his campaign citing his wife’s health, later divorcing her in 2020 to continue his affair with Wilson.

Three dozen Republican women, including three women who left Mandel’s campaign citing a toxic work environment created by Wilson in her continuing duties with Mandel’s 2020 campaign, have urged Ohio Republicans to reject Mandel, warning he’ll “embarrass” the party if nominated as a candidate for the US Senate.  Mandel has run for statewide office five times in the past 12 years, with some Ohio Republicans criticizing Mandel, who has served in elected office since 2003, as a career politician who’ll put on the act he needs to in pursuit of the next political gig.

Sources familiar with Mandel’s 2018 campaign also describe the career politician as accepting donations from high-level Republican fundraisers, who expected the Ohio state treasurer to become the presumptive Republican nominee for the Senate. After Mandel dropped out, citing concerns with his wife’s health, he did nothing to spend the money to support Jim Renacci, a Republican Congressman who was nominated by Ohio Republicans for the Senate. Renacci lost to Sherrod Brown. It appears that Mandel kept the money to support his current 2022 Senate campaign.

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135 Republicans Vote With Democrats To Advance ‘Red Flag’ Gun Confiscation Bill As Part Of NDAA

This morning the United States House of Representatives voted to advance legislation that will allow police to confiscate firearms of individuals believed to be a threat to themselves or others, known as Red Flag Laws, that became highly controversial during the Trump administration due to fears they would be abused. The anti-Second Amendment bill, which soared through the U.S. House and will now head to the Senate, had the bipartisan support of 135 Republican representatives.

While many of those who voted alongside Democrats are not surprising to many, others portray themselves as America First candidates who seek to realize President Donald Trump’s agenda. Among these are Reps. Matt Gaetz, Madison Cawthorn, Elise Stefanik, Devin Nunes, Ronny Jackson, President Trump’s former White House doctor, and Greg Pence, the brother of former Vice President Mike Pence, as well as House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Other Republicans who voted for the Red Flag Law gun confiscation bill include many of President Trump’s opponents, including those who voted for impeachment. Among these are Reps. Herrera-Beutler, Dan Newhouse, Fred Upton, Peter Meijer, John Katko, Dave Valado, Adam Kinzinger, and Liz Cheney.

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Even as Afghan War Ends, GOP Attempts to Add $25B to Military Budget

Just as the United States completed its troop withdrawal from Afghanistan on Monday after two decades of war and occupation, House Republicans announced plans to push for a $25 billion increase in annual military spending—a proposal that progressive lawmakers and advocacy groups swiftly rejected.

Led by Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.), the top Republican on the House Armed Services Committee, the GOP intends to pursue a National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) amendment that would add $25 billion to President Joe Biden’s $753 billion topline military spending request for Fiscal Year 2022.

The House Armed Services panel—which is awash in donations from weapons makers and other major industry players—is expected to begin marking up Biden’s request on Wednesday.

“Rogers’ amendment would dole out $15 billion to address a spate of military unfunded priorities that weren’t included in the Pentagon’s budget request,” Politico reported Monday. “It would add $9.8 billion to weapons procurement accounts, including money for four more Navy ships, more planes and helicopters for the Navy, Marine Corps, and National Guard, and upgraded Army combat vehicles.”

Approval of the GOP’s amendment would bring the House version of the NDAA—a sprawling annual defense policy bill that typically passes with overwhelming bipartisan support—into line with the Senate’s. Last month, as Common Dreams reported, the Senate Armed Services Committee agreed to pile $25 billion onto Biden’s proposal, which already calls for an increase over Trump-era Pentagon spending levels.

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