U.S. Politics

[Rick Plant]

You probably have heard there's a baby formula shortage due to the recall of popular formulas because they contained Cronobacter.

Republicans and the right wing media are viciously attacking President Biden for the shortage by claiming "it's his fault" which he obviously has no control over. But that doesn't stop the right from pushing lying propaganda by trying to score cheap political points based on nothing but lies.

The fact of the matter is, Abbott Management who manufactures the formulas for the popular brands tried to cut corners by refusing to repair dilapidated and failure-prone drying machines turning the plant into proverbial petri dishes for cronobacter, because they needed that $5.73 billion for stock buybacks. And somehow this is all "Biden's fault"? What a joke. Quit listening to Republicans and the right wing media because they are nothing but lying propagandists. They lie about non existent voter fraud, they lie for Trump, they lie about the baby formula, they lie about everything.

The FDA recalled the formulas and are doing an investigation on the matter. But here's documented information on previous 2019 audit for Abbott Management.       










FDA Takes Important Steps to Improve Supply of Infant and Specialty Formula Products

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is providing an update on its work to increase the availability of infant and specialty formula products. On Feb. 17, the agency warned consumers not to use certain powdered infant formula products from Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, Michigan facility, and Abbott initiated a voluntary recall of certain products. Since that time, the agency has been working with Abbott and other manufacturers to bring safe products to the U.S. market.

“We recognize that many consumers have been unable to access infant formula and critical medical foods they are accustomed to using and are frustrated by their inability to do so. We are doing everything in our power to ensure there is adequate product available where and when they need it,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Ensuring the availability of safe, sole-source nutrition products like infant formula is of the utmost importance to the FDA. Our teams have been working tirelessly to address and alleviate supply issues and will continue doing everything within our authority to ensure the production of safe infant formula products.”

Prior to the voluntary recall of several infant formula products produced at the Abbott Nutrition facility, the FDA was working to address supply chain issues associated with the pandemic including those impacting the infant formula industry. The FDA continues to take several significant actions to help increase the current supply of infant formula in the U.S. In fact, other infant formula manufacturers are meeting or exceeding capacity levels to meet current demand. Notably, more infant formula was purchased in the month of April than in the month prior to the recall.

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-takes-important-steps-improve-supply-infant-and-specialty-formula-products


FDA Investigation of Cronobacter Infections: Powdered Infant Formula (February 2022)

Do not use recalled Similac, Alimentum, or EleCare powdered infant formulas produced at Abbott Nutrition’s Sturgis, MI, facility

https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/fda-investigation-cronobacter-infections-powdered-infant-formula-february-2022

[Rick Plant]

Longshot Republican surging against Dr. Oz

GOP panics over ‘ultra-MAGA’ Pennsylvania Senate wild card



Less than one week before Pennsylvania's May 17 GOP primary, all eyes are on a Republican surging against Donald Trump's endorsed candidate.

"Influential Republicans in Washington and among the nationwide party elite are having a belated "oh s--t" moment over the previously unimaginable prospect that Kathy Barnette could win their party's nomination for the open Senate seat in Pennsylvania," Axios reported Wednesday. "In Barnette, who's been soaring in the polls ahead of Tuesday's primary, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell would be dealing with a general election candidate who'd be an opposition researcher's dream — potentially endangering the GOP effort to take back the Senate."

Dan McLaughlin also reported on the Barnette surge in the National Review.

"Trafalgar has new polls out in the Pennsylvania Republican primaries, which will be held next Tuesday. The Senate poll is not far from a three-way dead heat, with Dr. Oz at 24.5 percent, Kathy Barnette at 23.2 percent, and Dave McCormick at 21.6 percent, with 15 percent undecided and the other candidates in single digits," he reported. "The RCP average in the Senate race has Oz 23.3, Barnette 21.0, and McCormick 20.3."

In Pittsburg, the Post-Gazette used the headline, "Kathy Barnette’s surge in GOP polls puts her in line with Oz, McCormick 6 days out from Pa.’s primary."

"Ms. Barnette got an additional boost this week after the anti-tax Club for Growth endorsed her on Wednesday and has begun airing TV ads on her behalf, as well as the endorsement of the anti-abortion Susan B. Anthony List’s decision on Tuesday to back her over Mr. Oz, who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump," the newspaper reported. "Ms. Barnette’s surge was timed well with the recent Supreme Court draft opinion leak about the landmark Roe v. Wade case. During a debate last week at Grove City College, Ms. Barnette said her mother had conceived her after being raped at 11 years old. An advertisement with her mom, telling their life stories growing up Black and poor in the South on a pig farm, has also gone viral on social media in recent days."

Barnette's surge is drawing new scrutiny.

"Rival campaigns, along with news outlets, were scrambling this week to vet Barnette and her backstory. Top Senate operatives in both parties are so unfamiliar with her that they were at a loss about whether she’d make a strong general election candidate," The Philadelphia Inquirer reported. "Questions are starting to simmer about some of Barnette’s links to fringe elements on the right, her false claims of voter fraud in the 2020 election, and some of her past incendiary comments — including a 2017 tweet about banning Islam and a 2010 opinion piece claiming that the 'homose*ual AGENDA' was seeking 'domination.'"

Barnette is also backing state Senator Doug Mastriano for governor and his support for her senate bid.

"Now, Republicans are concerned about losing both races in November if primary voters embrace such out-of-the-mainstream candidates," The New York Times reported.

https://www.axios.com/2022/05/12/gop-panics-pa-senate-wild-card-kathy-barnette

[Rick Plant]

GOP filibuster derails bill to codify Roe v. Wade protections

The Women’s Health Protection Act, designed to codify Roe v. Wade protections, was derailed today by a Republican filibuster, but the fight isn’t over.

In the wake of Justice Samuel Alito’s leaked draft, as the political world started coming to terms with the looming demise of the Roe v. Wade precedent, President Joe Biden issued a statement arguing the nation “will need more pro-choice senators and a pro-choice majority in the House to adopt legislation that codifies Roe, which I will work to pass and sign into law.”

That, in a nutshell, became the Democratic plan. The governing majority can’t twist Supreme Court jurists’ arms, and they don’t appear ready to expand the number of justices on the high court, but it’s within lawmakers’ power to establish reproductive rights that Republican-appointed justices appear poised to take away.

For now, that legislative vehicle is the Women’s Health Protection Act, passed the House last fall, 218 to 211, overcoming the unanimous opposition of the chamber’s Republican members. In late February, Senate Democrats brought it the chamber floor, where it needed 60 votes. It received 46.

Today, against a backdrop of a looming decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Senate majority tried again. Everyone knew in advance that the bill would fall short, and as NBC News reported, it did.

The Senate failed to advance a Democratic-led bill Wednesday that would enshrine broad protections for legal abortion nationwide, a vote triggered by a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion that indicates Roe v. Wade will likely be overturned.... All 50 Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., voted against proceeding to debate.

The final tally was 49 to 51. (Note, this was a procedural vote to proceed with a debate on the legislation, not a vote on the bill itself. Manchin and every GOP senator in the chamber voted to prevent that debate from happening.)

There’s been a fair amount of speculation of late about whether holding a doomed vote was worth senators’ time, but Democratic leaders, eager to prove that they’re at least making an effort and committed to the underlying principle, declared that it was important to get members on the record. They’ve now done exactly that.

But is that all they’ve done? Perhaps not.

The past couple of days have proven to be a bit more informative than many observers, including me, expected. For example, Democratic Sen. Bob Casey, a longtime opponent of abortion rights, announced yesterday that he now supports the Women’s Health Protection Act and the effort to codify the status quo in federal law. (The Pennsylvanian previously voted to begin debate on the bill, but opposed the underlying proposal. Now, in “a major shift,” he’s changed his mind.)

As for Congress’ most conservative Democrat, it’s no secret that Manchin has never been one of Congress’ proponents of reproductive rights, and no one was surprised when the West Virginian voted with the Republican minority today and when the bill first came up a few months ago.

But when announcing his opposition to the bill earlier today, Manchin also told NBC News that he believes a “clean” bill — with no extraneous provisions — to codify the Roe precedent would be “the reasonable rational thing to do.”

He added, “I would vote for a Roe v Wade codification, if it was today. I was hopeful for that. But I found out yesterday in caucus that wasn’t going to be.”

In other words, Manchin balked at the Women’s Health Protection Act because, as he sees it, the bill builds on the rights women currently enjoy. A more narrowly focused proposal could, if the senator’s comments today were sincere, theoretically still receive his support.

As best as I can tell, the conservative Democrat hasn’t been quite this explicit on the issue before.

To be sure, as a legislative matter, the significance is limited. Even if Manchin were persuaded to support a “clean” bill, and he managed to bring along nominally moderate Republicans such as Maine’s Susan Collins and Alaska’s Lisa Murkowski, that would represent a majority of senators, but not a supermajority. The arithmetic is stubborn: 52 is less than 60.

But with Casey backing the bill, and Manchin endorsing the legal status quo, there’s at least something resembling kinetic political activity on the issue in Democratic politics.

What's more, let's not forget that legislation to codify Roe had been introduced in every Congress for a decade, but it had never received so much as a vote in committee. In this Congress, however, it passed the House, and received near-unanimous support from Senate Democrats.

There’s no reason to think we’ve heard the last of this.

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/roe-wade-senate-blocks-bill-vote-codify-roe-v-wade-gop-rcna28434

[Rick Plant]

Inflation is high all around the world due to a global pandemic and Putin's war in Ukraine. But right wing Republicans, the right wing media, and the mainstream media wants to pretend that inflation is only happening in the United States. Inflation started to rise in the Summer of 2020, so this nonsense that "Biden policies caused inflation" is a total lie. Countries all around the world are affected and those countries have higher inflation than the United States. Inflation is finally starting to lower thanks to Biden's actions to lower it.

European inflation soars to record 7.5 percent on fuel, food costs

LONDON (AP) — Inflation in Europe soared to another record, according to new EU figures released Friday, in a fresh sign that rising energy prices fueled by Russia’s war in Ukraine are squeezing consumers and adding pressure on the central bank to raise interest rates.

Consumer prices in the 19 countries that use the euro currency rose by an annual rate of 7.5 percent in March, according to the European Union statistics agency, Eurostat.

The latest reading smashed the high set just last month, when it hit 5.9 percent. It’s the fifth straight month that inflation in the eurozone has set a record, bringing it to the highest level since recordkeeping for the euro began in 1997.

Rising consumer prices are a growing problem around the world, making it more difficult for people to afford everything from groceries to their utility bills. Spiking energy costs are the main factor driving inflation in Europe, with those prices surging 44.7 percent last month, up from 32 percent in February, Eurostat said.

Oil and gas prices had already been rising because of increasing demand from economies recovering from the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic. They jumped higher after Russia, a major oil and gas producer, invaded Ukraine, on fears that sanctions and export restrictions could crimp supplies.

It’s also getting more expensive to eat in Europe. Food costs, including alcohol and tobacco, rose 5 percent, compared with 4.2 percent in the prior month.

Mina Agib, who runs an Egyptian restaurant called Meya Meya in Berlin, said prices for frying oil and meat have shot up by 70 percent to 100 percent recently.

“Who isn’t affected?” Agib replied, when asked whether he’s feeling the impact of rising prices.

Two weeks ago, one of his suppliers said meat prices would increase by 70 euro cents (77 cents) per kilogram, Agib said. “They told us to expect another increase next week.”

To avoid losing money, Agib has had to raise the price of some dishes. One customer, angry at having to pay half a euro more for a plate of sliced meat, dips and salad, posted a negative online review — the first since his restaurant opened over a year ago.

"We’re between a rock and a hard place,” he said. “We want to keep customers happy with high-quality ingredients and homemade food. But we also have to pay the prices our suppliers demand.”

At an outdoor market this week in Cologne, Germany, shopper Andreas Langheim also bemoaned how life was getting more expensive.

“I can see the effect of increasing prices, especially here at the market,” Langheim, 62, said as he picked up some bread from a bakery van. “Everything is more expensive now.”

Prices also increased for goods like clothing, appliances, cars, computers and books, up 3.4 percent from the 3.1 percent set the month before, and for services, which were up 2.7 percent from 2.5 percent.

The latest figures make it more urgent for the European Central Bank to get off the sidelines and take action, analysts said. The bank is balancing record inflation with the threat that the war may hurt an economy under pressure. Last month, it sped up its exit from economic stimulus efforts to combat inflation, but has not taken more drastic steps.

“We think that the ECB will soon conclude that it can’t wait any longer before starting to raise interest rates,” Jack Allen-Reynolds, senior Europe economist at Capital Economics, said in a report.

Other central banks have started raising rates, including in the U.S., where inflation has soared to a 40-year high of 7.9 percent. European countries that don’t use the euro, including Britain, Norway and the Czech Republic have done the same.

Italian Premier Mario Draghi, a former European Central Bank president, outlined how the problem hits households.

“Inflation is rising because raw materials prices are going up, in particular those for foodstuffs. Those are the ones that hit hardest a family’s buying power,” Draghi told foreign journalists Thursday. “Shortages in some raw materials creates a bottleneck in production and forces further price hikes.”

Draghi said that as long as inflation remains temporary, governments can respond with budgetary measures, such as payments to help low-income families with higher heating and electricity costs. But if it becomes a longer-term issue, the response will have to be structural, he said.

Italy’s construction industry has raised the alarm over how jobs at thousands of public and private construction sites are at risk from inflation. It warned that the sector could not only slow down but come to a complete halt because of soaring costs for fuel and raw materials, including iron, reinforced concrete and steel, which has doubled in price.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/economy/european-inflation-soars-to-record-7-5-percent-on-fuel-food-costs

[Rick Plant]

Florida Senator Rick Scott is proud of his 11 point tax plan, or should I say scam, that he claims will "rescue America". 

How does taxing the middle class and the working poor "rescue them"? High taxes will place a heavy burden on them.   

Rick Scott specifically has written in his plan that “All Americans should pay some income tax to have skin in the game", so he isn't shy about taxing people who are just getting by. How would more taxes "rescue them"?

The so called "Rescue America Plan" would increase middle-class families’ taxes an average of nearly $1,500. This immoral plan would also take $100 billion out of the hands of middle-class families each year.

A $1,500 tax increase on someone making $30,000 isn’t just bad. It’s appalling.   

The Republican tax increase on seniors, the middle class and working poor is just another gimmick to give tax breaks to the ultra wealthy like Rick Scott himself. This is Trump's tax scam on steroids which ballooned the deficit to $1 trillion dollars and put our economy into a recession before the pandemic.   

Rick Scott's tax plan would increase taxes by $1,020, on average, for the bottom 20 percent. That’s people who make less than about $30,000. The plan would increase taxes by $2,250 for the 20 percent above them. That’s people who make more than about $30,000 but less than about $55,000. Imagine squeezing people making this kind of money. It would be absolutely devastating to their lives and it's immoral.

Here is a full run down of Scott's plan and how does this "rescue America"? It will destroy America and all the progress we made getting out of the Trump economic disaster. 

Scott's plan calls for, among other things, forcing non-workers to pay an income tax, effectively raising taxes on tens of millions of U.S. households, and requiring that all federal programs, including Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, be "reauthorized" every five years or they will expire.

That's a total scam.

We don't need a "rescue plan" from mega millionaire Republican Rick Scott because President Biden already rescued America from the last Republican disaster named Donald Trump who put us into an economic depression. Biden has already created 8.3 million jobs which is the most jobs ever created at this point in history. Unemployment is at the lowest in over 50 years. Americans are quitting their jobs and moving into a higher quality jobs. That's something that hasn't happened in over 40 years. A record number of small businesses are being created. And finally a President is paying down the debt.

High taxes from Republicans will destroy the middle class and the working poor. It will lead to massive job loss, high unemployment, and people losing their homes once again. And don't forget Republicans are itching to end social security and Medicare.

Millions of Americans will never support this GOP tax scam. Would you?       

[Rick Plant]

CHARLIE CRIST CAMPAIGNS FOR GOVERNOR IN KEY WEST
Former governor seeks to defeat DeSantis

Charlie Crist ordered a Miller Lite and rolled up his sleeves at a Key West bar, enlisting local voters in his effort to “get rid of the clown we have now” in the governor’s office.

“I’m here to get rid of him for you,” Crist told a group of Florida Keys Democrats at Sally O’Brien’s Irish pub on May 9.

The former Florida governor (2007-2011) and current U.S. representative is running as a Democrat to defeat incumbent Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, a right-wing favorite, a presumed presidential candidate in the coming years, and a formidable incumbent opponent.

"What has he done? He’s taken away women’s right to choose. He’s made LGBT kids feel ashamed,” Crist said in Key West. “Housing — what’s he done for that? He raided the Sadowski Fund (created to fund affordable housing). And why? Because he doesn’t give a damn. He doesn’t care.

“You don’t have to be a Democrat to realize he’s so far gone. He’s just gone,” Crist said. “He’s chasing that rabbit hole, hard-right, red-meat Republican vote for 2024 and he’s completely taken his eye off the ball of Florida. We’re one-third Republican, one-third Democrat, one-third independent. We’re purple. But he’s lost sight of that because he’s intoxicated about being in the White House. Perfect. Let him go down those rabbit holes. It’s fun as you-know-what to run against this boneheaded guy.”

Crist emphasized on Monday that he’s running against DeSantis, not the fellow Democrats he must defeat in the Aug. 23 primary to secure his party’s nomination.

“They’re good people; they’re friends of mine, but we have to win,” Crist said.

The primary field of Democrats includes Commissioner of Agriculture Nikki Fried and State Sen. Annette Taddeo, who is prohibited from campaigning during the legislature’s two-month session.

In launching his gubernatorial campaign one year ago in May 2021, Crist said he wants to  bridge the fissure that divides Floridians and restore decency and civility to state government.

“Florida has a governor that’s only focused on his future, not yours,” Crist said at the May 2021 press conference announcing his campaign. “He doesn’t care, and unless you can write him a campaign check, you don’t exist. … Unlike this governor and the Republican leadership in Tallahassee, we will listen to our fellow Floridians. … You deserve jobs you can live on, housing you can afford and justice that’s equal.”

When asked about Crist’s candidacy in 2021, DeSantis asked, jokingly, “Which party? Do we even know for sure?” The Tampa Bay Times reported in May 2021.

After being elected governor as a Republican, Crist became a Democrat in 2012, when he was alienated by Republicans for greeting the newly installed President Barack Obama with a bipartisan hug. He ran for governor again in 2014, this time as a Democrat, but lost by one percentage point to Republican Rick Scott.

https://keysweekly.com/42/charlie-crist-campaigns-for-governor-in-key-west/

[Rick Plant]

Conservative warns that many Americans – even Democrats – are ‘in denial’ about the US authoritarian threat



When democracies are replaced by authoritarianism, it isn’t necessarily because of a violent coup d’état or golpe de estado like the overthrow of Salvador Allende by fascist dictator Gen. Augusto Pinochet and his allies in Chile in 1973. Sometimes, authoritarians are voted into office and gradually undermine a democracy’s check and balances until it becomes increasingly undemocratic, which is what has happened with Viktor Orbán in Hungary and Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Turkey. And it is what MAGA Republicans are trying to do in the United States.

Many of the warnings against the authoritarian efforts of former President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement have been coming from the left, but some Never Trump conservatives have been speaking out as well. One of them is Washington Post opinion columnist Max Boot, who warns that too many Americans — including some Democratic voters — fail to realize how great a “threat” U.S. democracy is facing.

Boot, in his May 10 column, points to a CNN poll released in February. CNN asked if it is likely that “in the next few years, some elected officials will successfully overturn the results of an election”; 51% of Republicans and 44% of Democrats responded that it’s not at all likely.

“This reminds me of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denying, before February 24, that a Russian invasion was imminent and telling people not to ‘panic’ even as Russian armies were massing in plain sight,” Boot writes. “Panic is generally a bad idea, but sometimes, it is warranted. Now is one of those times for anyone who cares about the fate of U.S. democracy.”

Boot continues, “Republicans have succeeded in restricting voting rights in 19 states. Democrats have failed to protect voting rights at the national level because they can’t break a Senate filibuster. Meanwhile, at least 23 supporters of the Big Lie — which holds that the 2020 election was stolen from former President Donald Trump — are running for secretary of state posts to oversee elections in 19 states. Other election deniers are joining election boards.”

Max Boot @MaxBoot

"The only way to save democracy is to vote for Democrats in the fall. And I say that as an ex-Republican turned independent.

It doesn’t matter if you disagree with Democrats on some issues. The overriding issue is the preservation of our democracy."

https://twitter.com/MaxBoot/status/1524345353545388032

The conservative columnist, who supported now-President Joe Biden in the 2020 election and is a scathing critic of former President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement, notes that “fealty to the Big Lie” has “become a litmus test for Republican candidates because it has become gospel for Republican voters.”

“Despite all the damning details that have emerged about his efforts to overturn the 2020 election,” Boot laments, “Trump remains the dominant figure within the GOP — which means that most Republicans have tacitly accepted that inciting an insurrection is no big deal.”

MAGA Republicans, Boot warns, won’t hesitate to steal the 2024 presidential election in an “authoritarian” way.

“(Trump’s) ‘trump card,’ so to speak, is the House, needing it to be under GOP control after the midterms,” Boot explains. “CNBC founder Tom Rogers and former Democratic Sen. Timothy Wirth point out in Newsweek that controlling the House can allow Trump to steal the presidency if the election is close. Republican state legislatures in swing states that Biden or another Democrat narrowly wins can claim the results are fraudulent and send in competing slates of electors pledged to Trump. The House and Senate would then vote on which electors to accept.”

Boot continues, “Even if the Senate remains Democratic, a GOP-controlled House could prevent Biden from getting the 270 electoral votes needed to win. It would then fall to the House to decide the presidency.”

“The only way to save democracy is to vote for Democrats in the fall,” Boot stresses. “And I say that as an ex-Republican turned independent. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with Democrats on some issues. The overriding issue is the preservation of our democracy. That may sound hyperbolic to some, but that’s precisely the problem. Like so many Ukrainians before February 24, most Americans remain in denial about the threat to our country.”


MAGA Republicans, Boot warns, won’t hesitate to steal the 2024 presidential election in an “authoritarian” way.

We’re in danger of losing our democracy. Most Americans are in denial.

It has been stirring to see so many Americans come together to support Ukraine’s fight for freedom. But it is dismaying to see that there is no similar consensus on defending democracy at home. Indeed, much of the country remains in denial about the threat.

A year after the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the Capitol, a CNN poll asked whether it’s likely “that, in the next few years, some elected officials will successfully overturn the results of an election.” Fifty-one percent of Republicans and 44 percent of Democrats said it’s not at all likely. Only 46 percent of Democrats and independents said that U.S. democracy is under attack, which helps to explain why Democratic candidates aren’t campaigning on defending democracy.

This reminds me of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky denying before Feb. 24 that a Russian invasion was imminent and telling people not to “panic” even as Russian armies were massing in plain sight. Panic is generally a bad idea, but sometimes it is warranted. Now is one of those times for anyone who cares about the fate of U.S. democracy.

Republicans have succeeded in restricting voting rights in 19 states. Democrats have failed to protect voting rights at the national level because they can’t break a Senate filibuster. Meanwhile at least 23 supporters of the "big lie" — which holds that the 2020 election was stolen from former president Donald Trump — are running for secretary of state posts to oversee elections in 19 states. Other election deniers are joining election boards.

Fealty to the "big lie" has become a litmus test for GOP candidates because it has become gospel for Republican voters. More than 70 percent of Republicans regard Biden’s victory as illegitimate. Despite all the damning details that have emerged about Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, the former president remains the dominant figure within the GOP, which means that most Republicans have tacitly accepted that inciting an insurrection is no big deal.

Look at what just happened in Ohio’s U.S. Senate primary: J.D. Vance, who had been languishing in third place, won the nomination after Trump endorsed him. A fervent, born-again Trumpkin, Vance told a Vanity Fair reporter that Trump supporters “should seize the institutions of the left” and launch a “de-woke-ification program” modeled on de-Baathification in Iraq. (That worked so well, right?) He says that if Trump wins again in 2024, he should “fire … every civil servant” and “replace them with our people.” If the courts try to stand in the way, ignore them. As Vanity Fair noted, “This is a description, essentially, of a coup.”

If Trump wins again, he undoubtedly will be eager to implement such an authoritarian agenda. We continually learn more about his deranged desires, which were only thwarted by the kind of responsible officeholders who will never get appointed in another Trump term.

Mark T. Esper, Trump’s former defense secretary, writes that Trump wanted to shoot peaceful protesters and launch missiles at Mexico. “He is an unprincipled person who, given his self-interest, should not be in the position of public service,” Esper concludes. John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser, says that having Trump back in the White House would threaten U.S. national security. Trump’s former communications director, Anthony Scaramucci, tweets, “Anyone who worked for Trump knows he is a maniac.”

The only way to save democracy is to vote for Democrats in the fall. And I say that as an ex-Republican turned independent. It doesn’t matter if you disagree with Democrats on some issues. The overriding issue is the preservation of our democracy.

That might sound hyperbolic to some — but that’s precisely the problem. Like so many Ukrainians before Feb. 24, most Americans remain in denial about the threat to our country.

Washington Post

[Rick Plant]

January 6 committee subpoenas 5 GOP lawmakers close to Trump, including McCarthy

Washington — The House select committee investigating the January 6 assault on the U.S. Capitol issued subpoenas Thursday to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and four other House Republicans, a significant escalation in its efforts to obtain information from GOP lawmakers as part of its probe.

In addition to McCarthy, the select committee subpoenaed Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Mo Brooks of Alabama, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Andy Biggs of Arizona for testimony. The demand from the panel is likely to spark a legal fight, as others who have been called to testify before lawmakers, such as former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, have turned to the courts to challenge subpoenas issued by House investigators.

Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, said the GOP lawmakers have information relevant to its investigation, and the panel was forced to issue the subpoenas after they rebuffed the opportunity to participate voluntarily.

"We urge our colleagues to comply with the law, do their patriotic duty, and cooperate with our investigation as hundreds of other witnesses have done," he said in a statement.

If the five Republicans defy the subpoenas, Thompson said the committee could recommend contempt charges, as it has done for others, though members have not discussed that step. The panel could also make a referral to the House Ethics Committee or explore other civil options, he said, adding the committee is "taking it one step at a time" and hopes lawmakers comply with their subpoenas.

The panel asked the Republican lawmakers for their voluntary cooperation with their investigation into January 6 riots, but they declined to provide information to its members. Brooks, who spoke at the rally outside the White House hours before the Capitol attack, said earlier this month that while he would have testified voluntarily at some point in the past, he would only do so if subpoenaed and vowed to fight such a demand.

While the select committee has issued subpoenas for McCarthy, Jordan, Brooks, Perry and Biggs, it has also asked GOP Rep. Ronny Jackson to participate in voluntary meetings with investigators. It's unclear whether the panel will subpoena Jackson in the future.

The panel told Jordan and Brooks in earlier requests for information they would like to discuss conversations the two had with former President Donald Trump regarding his efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Investigators believe Perry played an "important role" in efforts to install former Justice Department official Jeffrey Clark as acting attorney general, and found the Pennsylvania Republican communicated with Meadows about Clark through text messages and Signal, an encrypted messaging app.

The committee believes Biggs participated in meetings at the White House and remotely regarding planning for January 6, including on the strategy for Vice President Mike Pence to reject electoral votes from key battleground states Trump lost in the 2020 presidential election. The panel also said it learned Biggs was involved in plans to bring protesters to Washington on January 6, when lawmakers were convening for a joint session to count state electoral votes and reaffirm President Biden's win. Additionally, it has information about Biggs' alleged efforts to convince state officials the 2020 election was stolen and to seek their help with Trump's efforts to overturn the results, and former White House staff identified Biggs as potentially involved in effort to seek a presidential pardon for activities tied to Trump's campaign to reverse the election outcome.

The panel said McCarthy was in contact with Trump "before, during and after" January 6, and wants information about his conversations with fellow lawmakers in the days after the January 6 attack. In a conference call with Republican leaders, McCarthy said the then-president had acknowledged bearing some blame for the assault, according to recently released audio.

"He told me he does have some responsibility for what happened. And he needs to acknowledge that," the top House Republican said.

McCarthy said in another leaked call that he was considering asking Trump to resign.

"The only discussion I would have with him is that I think this will pass, and it would be my recommendation you should resign," he told Rep. Liz Cheney in a January 10, 2021, call, referring to an impeachment resolution crafted by House Democrats. Cheney is one of two Republicans on the January 6 committee and serves as vice chair.

At the Capitol on Thursday, Cheney said the decision to subpoena sitting members of Congress was "a reflection of how important and serious the investigation is, and how grave the attack on the Capitol was."

"We asked these five individuals to come in and speak with us and they've refused, and they have an obligation," the Wyoming Republican said. "They have critically important information about the attack that we need for the investigation."

The committee has signaled for weeks that it could issue subpoenas if the congressmen didn't voluntarily comply with their requests. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, the other Republican on the panel, told "Face the Nation" earlier this month that the committee would "ultimately [do] whatever we can do to get that information" from members.

"We've requested information from various members. In terms of whether we move forward with a subpoena, [that] is going to be both a strategic, tactical decision and a question of whether or not, you know, we can do that and get the information in time," Kinzinger said in the May 1 interview.

Kinzinger said Thursday that the committee members were "well aware" of "the impact" of subpoenaing members of Congress, but "what happened in January 6 was unprecedented."

McCarthy, Perry and Brooks said they had not yet received the subpoenas before the committee announced them, but they denounced the proceedings conducted by their colleagues.

Perry told reporters the demands were "all about distracting America from their abysmal record of running America into the ground," while McCarthy said the committee is "not conducting a legitimate investigation." Brooks said in a statement his compliance hinges on several factors, including whether his testimony will be public, whether questions will be limited to events relevant to the January 6 assault, and who will be questioning him. The Alabama Republican also said he plans to consult with the other Republicans the committee wants to depose.

In the course of its investigation into the January 6 insurrection and events surrounding it, the committee has issued more than 90 subpoenas to a wide range of former White House aides, allies of Trump, former campaign officials, organizers of the rallies protesting the results of the 2020 election and far-right extremist groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers.

A number of prospective witnesses have unsuccessfully tried to nullify the subpoenas in federal court. Most recently, a U.S. district judge in Washington rejected an attempt by the Republican National Committee to block a subpoena from the select committee to its email fundraising vendor, finding the committee was seeking information relevant to its investigation.

The House has also voted to hold Meadows, and former White House top aides Dan Scavino, Peter Navarro and Steve Bannon in contempt of Congress after they failed to comply with subpoenas. Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury in November for refusing to appear for a deposition and turn over documents, and has pleaded not guilty.   

Some members of Trump's family, meanwhile, have spoken to House investigators, including Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law.

Much of the committee's work thus far has been conducted behind closed doors, with lawmakers and staff conducting more than 900 interviews and depositions and receiving more than 100,000 documents in the course of their probe. But the panel's examination of the January 6 assault will enter its public phase next month, holding a series of eight hearings beginning June 9.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-committee-subpoenas-kevin-mccarthy-jim-jordan-mo-brooks-scott-perry-andy-biggs/