(WASHINGTON) — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on Wednesday is expected to get grilled by lawmakers about how the Biden administration is handling the growing problem of immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border.
On Monday, a federal judge in Louisiana briefly paused the rollback of Title 42 — the Trump-era policy that allowed migrants seeking asylum along the southern border to be expelled under the public health emergency authority of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — in order to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The CDC rescinded the policy earlier this month, and it was expected to be phased out by May 23.
Judge Robert Summerhays said he intends to issue a temporary restraining order in the case if the Justice Department and Arizona, Missouri and Louisiana, the three states that sued to pause the rollback, can come to an agreement.
A senior administration official told reporters the administration intends to comply with the temporary restraining order the judge intends to issue, but the administration disagrees with the premise.
“When the Title 42 public health order is lifted, we anticipate migration levels will increase, as smugglers will seek to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable migrants,” Mayorkas wrote in a memo titled, “DHS Plan for Southwest Border Security and Preparedness.”
DHS officials told reporters in March they could expect to see at least 18,000 migrants along the southern border per day, when Title 42 gets lifted.
Mayorkas has stressed Title 42 is not an immigration policy, but rather born out of the public health crisis.
Part of the border plan outlined in the memo, obtained by ABC News, is surging resources to the border, increasing processing efficiency and increasing non-government organizations to receive non-citizens after they’ve been processed by CBP.
“We inherited an immigration system from the prior administration that had been studiously dismantled and so was unprepared to meet the challenges posed by the high numbers of non citizens arriving at our borders today,” according to a Senior Administration official who briefed reporters on Tuesday.
In addition to the two hearings on Wednesday, Mayorkas will go in front of the House Judiciary Committee on Thursday.
Last week, Rep. Jim Jordan, an Ohio Republican, wrote to Mayorkas in anticipation of his hearing.
“The Biden Administration’s radical immigration policies have caused a humanitarian and security crisis along our southwest border,” Jordan wrote. “The American people deserve answers and accountability for the Biden Administration’s lawlessness along the southwest border.”
Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
(WASHINGTON) — House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy was mum Tuesday night when questioned by reporters about being heard on tape saying some Republicans incited violence around the Jan. 6 Capitol attack — and that others could be kicked off social media platforms.
But lawmakers told ABC News they expect the California Republican to explain his reported remarks behind closed doors Wednesday morning when House Republicans gather for their first meeting of the week.
In a new report Tuesday, New York Times reporters Jonathan Martin and Alex Burns released recordings of McCarthy and other GOP leaders made in January 2021 after the riot, discussing comments made before and after the Capitol attack by far-right lawmakers and their concerns over how those comments could potentially provoke violence against other legislators.
“He’s putting people in jeopardy,” McCarthy said of Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., a Trump loyalist who criticized other Republicans for being insufficiently supportive of Trump, according to the recording of the Jan. 10 call published by The Times. “And he doesn’t need to be doing this. We saw what people would do in the Capitol, you know, and these people came prepared with rope, with everything else.”
McCarthy declined to answer multiple questions from reporters as he walked from his office to the House floor for votes Tuesday evening. But when asked by ABC News if he was worried about the comments jeopardizing his bid for speaker if Republicans retake the House in the upcoming midterm elections, he had a simple answer.
“Nope,” he said.
In the meantime, McCarthy’s colleagues are weighing the impact of his newly reported comments.
“He’s going to explain it, and we’ll go from there,” said Rep. Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz. “Let’s see what he says.”
“Trust is not a thing to be measured by one incident,” Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., told ABC News.
Asked if he would support McCarthy for speaker if Republicans retake the House, Higgins said, “I certainly have a vote and we shall see.”
Rep. Mike Kelly, R-Pa., one of Trump’s first supporters in Congress, said “Oh my God, yes,” when asked if he trusted McCarthy.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., one of McCarthy’s loudest critics on Capitol Hill, said he “obviously showed an utter lack of leadership,” and “continues to defend people pushing false narratives, and that’s wrong.”
Gaetz tweeted out a statement blasting McCarthy and Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., the GOP whip who suggested Gaetz’s comments were “potentially illegal,” according to the recording published by The Times.
“Rep. McCarthy and Rep. Scalise held views about President Trump and me that they shared on sniveling calls with Liz Cheney, not us,” Gaetz said.
“This is the behavior of weak men, not leaders,” he wrote. “While I was protecting President Trump from impeachment, they were protecting Liz Cheney from criticism.”
Earlier Tuesday, Rep. Andy Biggs, R-Ariz., a senior member of the House Freedom Caucus, told the conservative One America News Network that McCarthy’s recorded comments regarding social media accounts were “problematic” and “the most serious thing.”
“If he had just been honest and truthful with us way back then, this would not be an issue for us today,” Biggs said. “We don’t want it to be an issue because we don’t want it to be a distraction.”
Fox News host Tucker Carlson also criticized McCarthy on Tuesday, saying on his show, “Those are the tape-recorded words of Congressman Kevin McCarthy, a man who, in private, turns out, sounds like an MSNBC contributor.”
“And yet unless conservatives get their act together right away, Kevin McCarthy or one of his highly liberal allies … is very likely to be speaker of the House in January. That will mean we will have a Republican Congress led by a puppet of the Democratic Party,” Carlson said.
(WASHINGTON) — President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that he pardoned three people who have “demonstrated a commitment to rehabilitation,” including 86-year-old Abraham W. Bolden Sr., who was the first Black Secret Service agent to serve on a presidential detail.
The president also commuted the sentences of 75 people who are currently serving long sentences for non-violent drug offenses.
“America is a nation of laws and second chances, redemption, and rehabilitation. Elected officials on both sides of the aisle, faith leaders, civil rights advocates, and law enforcement leaders agree that our criminal justice system can and should reflect these core values that enable safer and stronger communities,” Biden said in a statement.
Tuesday’s action was the first time Biden used his clemency powers during his presidency and came after advocates and progressive Democrats urged the president to fulfill his long-awaited campaign promise to use his executive authority to address mass incarceration and racial disparities in the criminal justice system, a crisis that was accelerated through policies like the 1994 crime bill, sweeping legislation authored by then-Sen. Biden that experts now say disproportionately impacted people of color.
Biden touted his clemency executive action as “important progress.”
“My administration will continue to review clemency petitions and deliver reforms that advance equity and justice, provide second chances, and enhance the wellbeing and safety of all Americans,” the president said.
While advocates and criminal justice experts have praised Biden’s clemency actions, some experts told ABC News the measures fall short of ensuring a streamlined process to address the backlog of petitions requesting clemency grants to nonviolent offenders.
“It’s great that 78 people received clemency in some form today, but it fades into the background of 18,000 petitions pending on the President’s desk,” said Ames Grawert, senior counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law School. “The President needs to come up with a system for ensuring that those thousands of petitions receive a careful and thorough review and the attention they deserve. It’s not clear to me that the current process is up to the task.”
In addition to the clemency actions, the Biden administration released plans to expand economic opportunities and ease reentry for formerly incarcerated individuals.
The myriad of new measures include a $145 million investment in job training programs for convicted felons in Bureau of Prison facilities, which will be done through collaboration between the Department of Justice and the Department of Labor. The administration also plans to expand employment opportunities post release, access to small business loan investments, as well as higher education.
Analysis from a 2017 report from the National Reentry Resource Center reveals that evidence-based reentry policies and programs have been shown to improve the outcomes of formerly incarcerated individuals.
“The actions we’re taking today will have a real impact for someone trying to land a job, find a safe and affordable place to live with their children and get back on their feet,” Susan Rice, Domestic Policy Advisor for the Biden administration, said while praising the new measures during a White House Roundtable with formerly incarcerated Americans.
(WASHINGTON) — Capt. Samuel Choe, a former resident of Fort Gordon in Georgia, flew 17 hours from his deployment in South Korea to testify before a Senate subcommittee Tuesday about the mold exposure he said his family endured in private military housing and the chronic health issues suffered by his 8-year-old daughter, including a skin condition called severe atopic dermatitis — or severe eczema.
The degree of her condition, which he described as “potentially fatal,” had caused her to wake up in the middle of the night to parts of her body caked in blood from minor scratches or irritation, he said, adding that it would “haunt” his daughter “for the rest of our lives.”
“I do not recall ever seeing the type [of] conditions that we have lived under while we were at Fort Gordon,” said Choe, who has served in the military for 12 years and grew up in military housing with his parents.
Choe was among the family members and advocates who testified Tuesday at the Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations about what they said was mismanagement, neglect and abuse they suffered in private military housing paid for using defense appropriations funds for service members’ on-base accommodations.
Their concerns — focused on one of the Army, Air Force and Navy’s largest private housing providers, Balfour Beatty — ranged from environmental hazards, including unaddressed mold, to logistical failures leading to delayed repairs. In total, Balfour provides housing on 55 separate Army, Navy and Air Force bases across 26 states, with a total of over 43,000 on-base homes occupied by roughly 150,000 residents, according to the company.
The hearing was held hours after the subcommittee released a bipartisan “Mistreatment of Military Families in Privatized Housing” report detailing alleged negligent responses and deceitful practices by Balfour Beatty.
The same company pleaded guilty last year to fraud after a Department of Justice investigation that uncovered instances of falsified data in Balfour’s internal data management software. Artificially augmenting the number of resolved work orders allowed Balfour employees to receive larger bonuses — which at the time was part of the company’s financial compensation policy, the probe found.
The plea deal included a $65 million fine and three-year probation during which an independent compliance body monitors the company’s activity.
The report released Tuesday specifically examines conditions at Balfour housing units on Georgia’s Fort Gordon Army Base and Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas between late 2019 and early 2022.
Tech. Sgt. Jack Fe Torres, who said his wife and children also suffered a host of medical problems after being exposed to mold in a Balfour home at Sheppard Air Force Base also testified. The family’s issues began with an insufficient water heater repair, he said, which led to a flood and then to mold.
While trying to address this issue, Torres said he noticed that work orders submitted to Balfour on his family’s behalf were doctored to minimize the severity of the situation.
“At one point, we were told that a large spot of mold in our mechanical room wall was just a burn mark,” he said.
The hearing included interviews with over a dozen military families and former Balfour employees. Two Balfour executives, including President of Facility Operations, Renovation and Construction Richard Taylor, testified as well.
“I reject the suggestion that it’s a systemic failure,” he said in response to Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., detailing a host of concerns flagged by residents. Taylor suggested Choe’s daughter, for example, could have contracted her illness outside the home.
Paula Cook, Balfour’s vice president of military community management, said the company did all it could for its residents.
Both insisted they were not aware of the data manipulation that had occurred, insisted there was no longer fraudulent activity going on at Balfour and said the issues the company was accused of were isolated and unrelated. An unnamed third party now fields Balfour military housing complaint calls, they testified, and the company has a new system to keep Balfour on-site employees from editing work order histories.
At one point, Ossoff bluntly asked, “Did your senior executives know that for six years, the company was engaging in fraud?”
Taylor said that “no,” he did not.
Ossoff followed up: “Would you know now if your company was continuing to engage in fraud?”
(WASHINGTON) — Speaking publicly about his visit to Ukraine for the first time since returning home, Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday asserted “the Ukrainians have won the battle for Kyiv,” while calling for additional aid to help the country weather the war as the fighting shifts eastward and to the south.
“As we took the train across the border and rode westward into Ukraine, we saw mile after mile of Ukrainian countryside, territory that just a couple of months ago, the Russian government thought that it could seize in a matter of weeks. Today — firmly Ukraine’s,” he recounted, testifying before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee about his secretive visit to heart of the war-torn country with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.
Blinken said that on the trip, the highest-level visit to Ukraine’s capital by U.S. officials since the invasion, evidence of its military success abounded.
“In Kyiv we saw the signs of a vibrant city coming back to life. People eating outside sitting on benches, strolling. It was right in front of us,” he said. “For all the suffering that they’ve endured, for all the carnage that Russia’s brutal invasion continues to inflict, Ukraine was and will continue to be a free and independent country.”
During the hearing, convened to review the State Department’s budget for the coming fiscal year, Blinken argued that fulfilling the funding requests would prove critical to Ukraine’s defense and curbing Russian aggression.
“I felt some pride in what the United States has done to support the Ukrainian government and its people and an even firmer conviction that we must not let up. Moscow’s war of aggression against Ukraine has underscored the power and purpose of American diplomacy,” he said. “We have to continue to drive that diplomacy forward to seize what I believe are strategic opportunities, as well as address risks presented by Russia’s overreach.”
Blinken argued support from the U.S. and its allies had already played a decisive role.
“[The Ukrainian people’s] success is primarily because of their incredible courage and determination, but it’s also because we were able to equip them with what they needed,” Blinken said. “For every tank that the Russians have had in Ukraine, we’ve managed with 30 allies and partners, in one way or another, to provide about 10 anti-armor systems. For every plane that the Russians have flown in the skies, there have been about 10 anti-aircraft munitions of one kind or another.”
But Blinken acknowledged that as the battleground shifted to other regions of the country, the Ukrainians’ strategy needed to evolve well.
“The nature of this battle is changing, to eastern and southern Ukraine. They’re adapting to that. We’re adapting to that.”
The secretary said while in Kyiv, he discussed what assistance Ukraine required for the next phase of the fighting with its President Zelensky and top military leader.
“I think we’re largely aligned in what they say they need and what we think we’re able to provide,” he said.
While the committee largely projected bipartisan support for Ukraine, the most contentious round of the hearing came during Sen. Rand Paul’s line of questioning on what he called the “reasons” behind Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Paul, a Republican more aligned with former President Donald Trump’s “America First” stance than the other members of his party on the committee, blamed the attack in part on President Joe Biden’s and other officials’ public support for Ukraine’s eventual NATO membership.
“Russia said it was a red line,” Paul stated. “Had they been, or are they to become part of NATO, that means U.S. troops will be fighting in Ukraine and that’s something I very much oppose.”
“My judgment is different,” Blinken countered, pointing out the countries Russia had targeted — like Georgia, Moldova, and Ukraine — were not part of NATO.
“You could also argue the countries they’ve attacked were part of Russia … well, we’re part of the Soviet Union,” Paul replied.
“That does not give Russia the right to attack them,” Blinken responded. “It is the fundamental right of these countries to decide their own future and their own destiny.”
Blinken also said that in the eyes of the department, the alliance was not Russian President Vladimir Putin’s chief concern ahead of the attack.
“This was never about Ukraine being potentially part of NATO,” he said. “It was always about his belief that Ukraine does not deserve to be a sovereign independent country that it must be re reassumed into Russia in one form or another.”
Blinken was also pressed on the State Department’s relatively slow-moving approach to repopulating the U.S. embassy in Kyiv after it was temporarily relocated in February, a step many of its allies have already taken.
“We are sending diplomats back to Ukraine this week, and they will begin to assess how we can most effectively and securely reopen the embassy in Kyiv. I anticipate that we will be in Lviv and then and then head to head to Kyiv, subject to the President’s final decision on that,” he said. “We want to have our embassy reopened and we’re working to do that.”
(WASHINGTON) — Madison Cawthorn, a Republican congressman from North Carolina, was caught trying to go through security with a loaded gun at Charlotte Douglas International Airport Tuesday morning, according to multiple sources.
This was the second time the controversial congressman has been stopped trying to bring a weapon through airport security.
TSA officers spotted the gun at the checkpoint and called airport police.
Individuals can face fines up to $13,000 for a second offense, according to TSA.
It was not immediately clear if Cawthorn faces any charges. The congressman’s office did not immediately respond to an ABC News request for comment.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — Vice President Kamala Harris tested positive for COVID-19 via rapid and PCR tests on Tuesday, according to her office.
Harris, who received her second booster shot on April 1, doesn’t have any symptoms.
Harris will isolate and work from home, Harris’ press secretary, Kristen Allen, said in a statement.
“She has not been a close contact to the President or First Lady due to their respective recent travel schedules,” the statement said. “She will follow CDC guidelines and the advice of her physicians. The Vice President will return to the White House when she tests negative.”
Harris’ husband, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, tested positive for COVID-19 last month.
Sen. Chris Murphy, D-Conn., also tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday.
He said he felt “mild symptoms overnight.”
“I’m sure if I wasn’t fully vaccinated I would be feeling a lot worse. So remember to get your booster!” he tweeted.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(WASHINGTON) — The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments Tuesday in a case that could have major implications for President Joe Biden’s approach to immigration enforcement at the border, with the justices deciding the legality of a Trump-era policy known as “Remain in Mexico.”
Officially termed the “Migrant Protection Protocols” — or MPP — the policy was created to send unauthorized immigrants, including asylum seekers, back to Mexico while their cases are processed in immigration court. Human rights observers and immigrant advocacy organizations have documented high rates of kidnapping, extortion and violence in the areas migrants were forced to wait.
A University of California San Diego report of more than 600 asylum seekers subjected to the MPP program found about a quarter of them reported receiving violent threats, about half of which resulted in physical violence, beatings and robbery.
After Biden attempted to formally end “Remain in Mexico” last year, a federal court ordered the administration to reinstate it, siding with Texas and Missouri, which sued the government for allegedly violating the Immigration and Naturalization Act.
While the INA says that the Department of Homeland Security “shall” detain unauthorized noncitizens pending immigration proceedings, it also allows for their release on a case-by-case basis. No administration has ever been given enough resources by Congress to detain everyone who has attempted to cross the border without legal documentation.
But Texas and Missouri argue the Biden administration has been indiscriminately releasing migrants without applying the appropriate case-by-case assessment.
As a result, “Remain in Mexico” has continued under court order even though just over 3,000 migrants have been subjected to it since December, according to the DHS.
The number of southwest border encounters recently topped one million since the start of the 2022 budget year — a 20-year record — though that doesn’t mean there is a record number of unauthorized migrants.
The same week the end of Title 42 was announced, administration officials said they were preparing for an influx of migrants at the border that could top a record-breaking 18,000 apprehensions per day. But it’s not clear if those estimations account for repeat offenders.
Under Title 42, migrants are able to make repeat attempts at crossing the border to make a full case for asylum.
The recidivism rate for illegal border crossings continues to remain at an elevated level as it has throughout the implementation of the Title 42 restrictions. Last month, 28% of those who attempted to cross made at least one previous attempt within a year. That means many of those migrants’ attempts were considered multiple “encounters” by Border Patrol.
The year before Title 42 was implemented, the recidivism rate was a fraction of the current trend. Only 7% had attempted to cross more than once.
If the administration drops the use of MPP and Title 42, which it plans to end next month, Republicans and career border enforcement officials say the country will be losing vital tools to deter illegal entries.
Republicans and Biden critics have attributed the attempt to pare down and repeal “Remain in Mexico” to migration surges seen at the border in recent years. However, MPP enrollments dropped significantly at the outset of the global pandemic in early 2020 and its use was essentially superseded by the Trump administration’s implementation of Title 42, which has been used more than 1.8 million times to rapidly return migrants to Mexico.
The Biden administration plans to end the fast-track Title 42 removals on May 23 and instead process all migrants under pre-pandemic rules that allow more access for migrants to file humanitarian protection claims. That move — a return to the same policy employed by the Trump administration prior to the pandemic — is expected to result in more migrants being released into the U.S. with orders to show up at a future court date. GPS ankle monitors and parole-like checkups are often required as conditions for release.
The return to pre-pandemic immigration processing has immigration hard-liners concerned that more migrants will attempt an invalid claim, flooding the administrative adjudication system and stretching federal law enforcement resources beyond capacity.
(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — In one week, Ohio voters head to the polls for the Republican Senate midterm primary election that is set to be the first major test of former President Donald Trump’s endorsement power.
The state has voted increasingly Republican in recent elections, and now, as the race to fill the seat being vacated in November by retiring Ohio Republican Sen. Rob Portman heats up, many GOP hopefuls are angling to out-Trump one another in hopes of appealing to the former president’s robust base in the state.
Trump upended the race with a late-term endorsement earlier this month, throwing his weight behind venture capitalist J.D. Vance, most well-known for his book Hillbilly Elegy. At a campaign rally in Delaware, Ohio, over the weekend, the former president branded Vance as “an America first warrior.”
“He believes so much in making our country great again, and he’s going to do a job on these horrible people that we’re running against,” Trump told the crowd.
The endorsement is a political risk for Trump, who has tried — to varying degrees of success — to position himself as a GOP kingmaker. In various polling, Vance has lagged behind Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons, who have both run campaigns hawking their own commitments to Trumpian “American First” policies.
Nationally, some of the candidates backed by Trump early in their campaigns have failed to deliver wins for him. Trump went as far as to withdraw his endorsement of Alabama Senate candidate Mo Brooks after Brooks lagged in the polls and said it was time to stop focusing on Trump’s false claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
A victory for Vance in next week’s primary could show the might of the Trump endorsement. It’s certainly given the candidate a newfound sense of confidence going into the final leg of his primary campaign.
“The endorsement has already given us a ton of momentum,” Vance told ABC News’ Rachel Scott in Ohio on Thursday. “And I think, yeah, it’s my race to lose, but at the end of the day, we still have to do the work. I think we’re in the lead. I think if the election were held tomorrow, we would win.”
Some supporters who lined up to see Vance in Ohio on Saturday said the endorsement from Trump sold them on Vance.
“If Trump supports him, we will too,” Ed Gross said.
“I was kind of between him and another one and when Trump said J.D. Vance, that’s where I’m going,” said Paulette Schwartz, another Trump supporter.
But it’s not clear whether the endorsement will be enough. Some voters who stand with Trump said Trump’s support doesn’t quell concerns they still have about Vance’s previously disparaging comments about the former president, including once calling him “reprehensible” and an “idiot.”
“We didn’t forget that,” said one voter, Justin, who declined to give his full name. Another supporter piled on: “You can’t support Hillary and then turn around and support Trump,” Joby Jeffery said.
Trump tried to get out in front of that criticism during Saturday’s rally.
“He’s a guy that said some bad shit about me,” Trump told the crowd of Vance. “But you know what? Every one of the others did also. In fact, if I went by that standard, I don’t think I would have ever endorsed anybody in the country.”
Zach McNutt, a voter from Mansfield on his way to the rally on Saturday, refused to take a Vance campaign sticker from a volunteer, blasting Trump’s endorsement as a mistake.
“That is absolutely unfortunate. I think that he really needs to check his inner circle,” McNutt said of Trump.
Candidates who fell short of the Trump endorsement in Ohio are now clinging to voters like McNutt, hoping to paint themselves as the candidate best positioned to advance a Trump-style agenda, even if Trump failed to see it.
GOP hopeful Jane Timken spoke to a room of supporters near Cleveland on Friday, hitting on a variety of Trump talking points including school choice, immigration and the economy. Trump had previously endorsed Timken to lead the state’s party but didn’t back her for the Senate race. She called his endorsement of Vance “disappointing”
“We’ve got a lot of show horses in this race, but I’m the real workhorse and I’ve been in the trenches fighting for the America First policy,” Timken told Scott.
Josh Mandel, former Ohio Treasurer, has been running his campaign through churches, pitching religious conservatives on “Judeo-Christian values” he sees as the bedrock of the “America First” movement. At his event, campaign signs branded Mandel as “Pro-God, Pro-Guns, Pro-Trump.”
When ABC News met up with Mandel in Ohio on Thursday at a Cincinnati church he was joined by a surprise guest: Michael Flynn, Trump’s embattled former national security adviser.
“Let me say it very clear: I believe this election was stolen from Donald Trump,” Mandel said in front of a packed church. Cheers erupted. An elderly man jumped up and shouted something about a “cabal” trying to “take the lives of little babies” — a nod to the far-right Qanon conspiracy theory. Mandel didn’t interrupt, nodding and clapping instead.
The race has been contentious. At one point during a debate, Mandel and Gibbons nearly got into a fistfight. Mandel brushed it off, saying he’s a “fighter” for conservative values, and he pushed back when asked about his rhetoric that includes running a Twitter poll asking his followers which “illegals” commit more crimes — “Muslim Terrorists” or “Mexican Gangbangers.”
But 100 miles away from Mandel’s Cincinnati event, in Grove City, some voters think the party needs to refocus.
“I’m not a Trump fan. I’m a Republican, not a Trump fan,” Don Reed said over coffee and eggs at Lilly’s Kitchen Table.
He said his party is at a crossroads.
“It seems to be a faction of the Trump supporters who are the more outspoken, I call the name-callers ‘the bullier.’ Then you’ve got the other faction where they tried to be conservative, try to be small government without those kinds of tactics,” he added.
Only one candidate in the race is ready to move on from some of Trump’s most controversial positions. State Sen. Matt Dolan was the only candidate to raise his hand on a debate stage earlier this month when the participants were asked if it was time for Trump to move on from the 2020 election.
Dolan said his fellow candidates who are focusing on the 2020 election are taking the “wrong approach.” He wasn’t angling for Trump’s endorsement, he said.
“My entire campaign was about Ohio. I wasn’t running an election to get this endorsement,” Dolan said. “What’s ironic in this whole race, though, is I’m the only one in the race who’s actually executed on Trump policies.”
The Republican candidate who wins next Tuesday’s Senate primary will likely go on to face Democratic frontrunner Tim Ryan in the fall.
(WASHINGTON) — Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene suggested in a text message sent three days before Joe Biden was sworn in as president that some of former President Donald Trump’s staunchest allies wanted to declare martial law to keep Trump in power.
“In our private chat with only Members, several are saying the only way to save our Republic is for Trump to call for Marshall law [sic],” Greene texted Trump’s then-chief of staff, Mark Meadows, on Jan. 17, 2021, 11 days after a pro-Trump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol to try to stop the certification of the vote.
The messages were revealed Monday by CNN, which said it obtained all 2,319 text messages that Meadows selectively handed over to the House select Jan. 6 committee in late 2021 before he decided not to cooperate with the panel.
The authenticity of the messages was confirmed to ABC News by people who have seen them.
“I don’t know on those things,” Greene continued in her exchange with Meadows. “I just wanted you to tell him. They stole this election. We all know. They will destroy our country next. Please tell him to declassify as much as possible so we can go after Biden and anyone else!”
Last Friday, Green became the first member of Congress to publicly testify under oath about the events surrounding the Capitol attack. When asked specifically about martial law and whether or not she discussed the idea of using it to keep Trump in power with either the former president, his chief of staff, or anyone else in the administration, Greene repeatedly said, “I don’t recall.”
Trump’s former national security adviser Michael Flynn was one of the first to advocate for martial law. The Jan. 6 committee subpoenaed Flynn in November, requesting documents and testimony in reference to a Dec. 18, 2020 meeting he reportedly attended with Trump in the Oval Office, where seizing voting machines used in the 2020 election was discussed.
One day before meeting with Trump, Flynn told the conservative news outlet Newsmax that Trump “could take military capabilities and he could place them in those states and basically rerun an election in each of those states.”
Trump denied reports he was considering attempting to impose martial law, tweeting “Martial law = Fake News.”
In addition to Meadows’ texts with Greene, the trove of messages published by CNN includes texts Meadows exchanged with other members of Congress, with members of the Trump family, with MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and with various reporters — including texts exchanged on Jan. 6 while the Capitol attack was taking place.
“Mark I was just told there is an active shooter on the first floor of the Capitol Please tell the President to calm people This isn’t the way to solve anything,” Greene texted Meadows during the attack, according to the collection of messages.
“Mark: he needs to stop this, now. Can I do anything to help?” then-Rep. Mick Mulvaney texted Meadows.
“They have breached the Capitol,” texted Rep. Barry Loudermilk, to which Meadows replied, “POTUS is engaging.”
“Thanks. This doesn’t help our cause,” Loudermilk responded.
