Republicans announce nine new speaker candidates
By Casey Harper | The Center Square Nine new Republican lawmakers have thrown their hat in the ring to become the next speaker of the U.S. House. Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik released the list of candidates, who had until noon Sunday to announce their candidacy. The list, which Stefanik posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, is as follows: The new list of candidates comes after former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., was ousted from the role when Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., filed a motion to vacate. Then, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-La., was the party’s choice to become speaker, but he withdrew when he was unable to get the support he needed. House Judiciary Chair Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, was next in line and worked for several days to get the needed 217 votes to become speaker. However, at least 20 Republicans voted against him across his three floor-vote attempts, and on Friday, his nomination was revoked. Some of the candidates have more support than others. Donalds’ announcement drew more attention than some others. Emmer has been a rumored pick for speaker as well. However, conservative Republicans have expressed frustration with moderate Republicans for rejecting Jordan, who had significant support with the Republican base but was seen as a hardline conservative who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election. “The most popular Republican in Congress was just knifed in an anonymous vote in a secret closed-door meeting in the basement of the Capitol,” Gaetz wrote on X Friday. “This is the Swamp at work.” Meanwhile, some more moderate Republicans have expressed frustration with Gaetz and do not want to reward his ousting of McCarthy with an aggressive conservative pick. As The Center Square previously reported, Jordan sparked pushback from his own party on Thursday after reports surfaced that he said behind closed doors he would back the speaker pro Tempore, U.S. Rep. Patrick McHenry, R-N.C., for a limited temporary speakership role so the government could be funded and other key legislative goals hit. The federal government faces a partial shutdown in November, and there is increasing pressure to send more funds for the Ukraine and Israel wars. President Joe Biden called on Congress to pass a spending package of $105 billion for those wars as well as some border funding and money for Taiwan, which national security experts say China could invade at any time. Jordan later addressed reporters, announcing he would drop that plan and instead hold another vote. That plan still has potential to take effect. While many Republicans have expressed opposition to the idea, Democrat Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has seemed open to the idea when talking with reporters. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Robert Aderholt opposes rescheduling of marijuana
Congressman Robert Aderholt (R-AL04) was one of 14 Republican members of Congress to join in a letter to U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration chief Anne Milgram expressing their opposition to federal rescheduling of marijuana. While the State of Alabama is in the process of issuing licenses to farmers to grow marijuana and for doctors to recommend it to their patients, it remains a Schedule 1 narcotic with no medicinal value, according to the federal government. There is momentum to change that. The Biden Administration’s Department of Health and Human Services has released a letter urging that marijuana be federally rescheduled, a move that Aderholt opposes. Aderholt said that he opposes the move even if it is politically popular. “I am proud to join @PeteSessions and @SenatorLankford in a letter to Administrator Milgram. As Chairman of the Approps Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, I share the concern that our nation’s drug policies should not be set based on popular opinion.” Eight Republican U.S. Senators and six Republican members of the House of Representatives declared the Department of Health and Human Services’ August 29 recommendation to move marijuana from Schedule 1 to Schedule 3 of the Controlled Substances Act part of an “irresponsible” “pro-pot agenda.” They urged that marijuana remain listed among the most dangerous drugs. The letter was sent to Milgram because the decision is now up to her and federal attorneys to consider relevant questions of law and policy in a review of the recommendation by Health and Human Services (HSS). Chey Garrigan is the founder and CEO of the Alabama Cannabis Industry Association. Garrigan said that marijuana does have documented health benefits and maintains that there are Alabamians who would benefit from medical marijuana. “Congressman Robert Aderholt can have an opinion,” Garrigan said. “Where is the data that backs up why he is against it?” “Any effort to reschedule marijuana should be based on proven facts and science – not popular opinion, changes in state laws, or the preferred policy of an administration,” the Republicans, led by Republican Sen. James Lankford (R-Oklahoma) and Representative Pete Sessions (R-Texas) wrote in the September 11 letter to the DEA. “Current research, science, and trends support the case that marijuana should remain a Schedule 1 drug.” Lankford, Aderholt, and Sessions were joined by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tennessee), Sen. Ted Budd (R-North Carolina), Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Arkansas), Sen. Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Oklahoma), Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho), Sen. M. Michael Rounds (R-South Dakota), Rep. Earl “Buddy” Carter (R-Georgia), Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Arizona), Rep. Chuck Edwards (North Carolina), and Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Kentucky). Even though Oklahoma has over 7,000 marijuana farms and businesses, Lankford argued in a recent column that marijuana has not befitted Oklahomans. “Drug cartels—from not just south of the border, but also Asia—are now deeply ingrained across Oklahoma, operating grow facilities that ship marijuana across the country,” Lankford wrote. “Oklahomans often now wake up to read the news about the latest execution-style murder, human trafficking, or prostitution at a grow facility in rural Oklahoma. In January 2023, the Tulsa World reported that about 2,000 licenses for medical marijuana were being investigated because they were suspected of having been either obtained unlawfully or were covering up an operation to sell on the black market. Oklahoma is now the top source for black market marijuana in the nation. So much for the argument that widening legal access to a drug gets rid of the illicit market.” President Joe Biden launched the first federal administrative review of marijuana’s legal status last October, calling current federal policy a “failed approach.” To connect with the author of this story or to comment, email brandonmreporter@gmail.com.
Lawmakers to hold hearing on post-pandemic federal backlogs
Congress plans to hold a hearing to address government delays from the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, R-Texas., the chairman for the Subcommittee on Government Operations and the Federal Workforce, announced Thursday that the subcommittee will hold the hearing. During the pandemic, backlogs grew exponentially, causing Americans to wait longer for records required during loan applications and government benefits and for their passports to process, among other issues. The subcommittee planned for the hearing, titled “Please Leave Your Message at the Tone: Addressing Post-Pandemic Backlogs and Delays at Federal Agencies,” to “examine the backlogs of military and civil service personnel records requests, the Social Security Administration’s customer service line and disability claims, and passport backlogs.” The subcommittee also will inquire on what the government agencies are doing to reverse the ongoing delays. Sessions expressed his desire for the agencies to be cleared of delays and backlogs so the American people can continue to receive quick responses and help from the services they rely on. He also wanted to ensure the agencies were taking steps to prevent future similar problems. “I look forward to hearing from the witnesses before the subcommittee on what plans are in place at these federal agencies to clear the backlogs, and ensure acceptable service now and in the future,” Sessions said. The hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st. Republished with the permission of The Center Square.
Rudy Giuliani associates face trial in campaign finance scheme
Lev Parnas once pitched himself in TV interviews and through an unorthodox publicity campaign by his lawyer as someone who could expose corruption in the Trump Administration over its dealings in Ukraine. Less than two years later and with less fanfare, the 49-year-old is going on trial in a federal case that makes him out to be more of an ordinary grifter than a whistleblower who would bring down former President Donald Trump and Rudy Giuliani. Jury selection is scheduled to begin Tuesday in a trial in which Parnas, a Soviet-born Florida businessman, and a co-defendant, Ukraine-born investor Andrey Kukushkin, are accused of making illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians in order to further their business interests. Parnas and another Soviet-born Florida businessman who has already pleaded guilty in the case, Igor Fruman, initially caught the attention of journalists and investigators after making big donations through a corporate entity to Republican political committees, including a $325,000 donation in 2018 to America First Action, a super PAC supporting Trump. The pair then became middlemen in Giuliani’s effort to discredit then-candidate Joe Biden. They connected Giuliani with Ukrainian officials as the former New York City mayor tried to get that country to open an investigation into the future president’s son, Hunter. Ukrainian tycoons and officials, meanwhile, sought Giuliani’s help connecting with the Trump administration. Federal prosecutors in New York City, however, have made it clear that anyone looking for the trial to produce new, damaging information about Trump or Giuliani will be disappointed. They told U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken last week that while jurors will likely hear about how Parnas and Fruman tried to tout their influence as international fixers by sharing photos of themselves with Trump and Giuliani, the Republican ex-president and his former personal lawyer “will come up very peripherally” at the trial. Prosecutors have also quietly dropped one of the most intriguing allegations in the original indictment: That Parnas and Fruman donated money to American politicians as part of an effort by Ukrainian figures to oust the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, Marie L. Yovanovitch, who later became a central figure in impeachment proceedings against Trump. When the charges were announced in 2019, then-U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman highlighted the Yovanovitch allegations, saying the defendants “sought political influence not only to advance their own financial interests but to advance the political interests of at least one foreign official – a Ukrainian government official who sought the dismissal of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine.” Prosecutors later wrote to the judge that the allegation was dropped from a revised indictment in an effort to “streamline” the case but offered no further explanation. Giuliani has said he didn’t know about any illegal campaign contributions and is not charged in the case, although his work in Ukraine remains the subject of an ongoing criminal investigation. Federal agents searched Giuliani’s New York City home and office last April, carting away computers and phones as part of an inquiry into whether some of the work he did required him to register as a foreign agent. Giuliani has said his only client was Trump. With the Ukraine allegations gone, the trial is expected to focus on charges that Parnas exceeded limits on personal campaign contributions by disguising the origin of the money. U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and political committees aimed at supporting Republicans running for Congress were among those that got donations. Part of the case alleges that Parnas and Kukushkin were straw donors for Andrey Muraviev, a wealthy Russian investor in the burgeoning legal marijuana market in the United States. The indictment alleges that Muraviev put up $1 million for donations to be made to politicians in several states, including Nevada, where the group was hoping to enter the legal marijuana business. Prosecutors haven’t alleged that the politicians who got the money were aware it came from prohibited sources. Muraviev hasn’t been charged. The defense hopes to portray Parnas as an investor who was trying to develop legitimate marijuana and other business ventures, including an energy company, Global Energy Producers, that would be involved in exporting natural gas to Europe. He and Fruman were in part seeking connections “that could best further their nascent energy business interests,” defense attorney Joseph Bondy wrote in a court filing. He said the $1 million from Muraviev went to Fruman — not to Parnas — and was a personal loan, made in the wake of a waning Nevada cannabis venture. Kukushkin’s attorney, Gerald Lefcourt, argued in a recent court filing that his client, a San Francisco-based entrepreneur with longstanding ties to legal marijuana businesses in California, was just trying to start another such legitimate venture and was “duped” by Parnas and Fruman. He accused them of simply stealing Muraviev’s $1 million “to pay their debts, fund their own separate business, promote their own personal interests, support their lifestyle and sustain themselves until they could find another victim,” Lefcourt wrote. “Even the politicians who fell over themselves to be associated with Messrs. Parnas and Fruman and provided them with unfettered access were duped.” Another defendant in the case, David Correia, pleaded guilty to charges of making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and wire fraud conspiracy. The conspiracy count was related to an allegation that he defrauded investors in an insurance company that had paid Giuliani a $500,000 consulting fee. Unlike Fruman, who remained out of the spotlight and recently pleaded guilty to soliciting illegal campaign contributions, Parnas sought a starring role in Trump’s first impeachment by providing his personal records to congressional investigators. With Parnas under indictment in 2020, Bondy began tweeting photos of his client with Giuliani and Republican lawmakers with the hashtag #LetLevSpeak. The attorney also provided congressional investigators with a recording of Parnas speaking with Trump about Yovanovitch, the U.S. ambassador. In a portion of the tape, first obtained by ABC News, a voice that appears to be Parnas can be heard saying, “She’s basically walking around telling everybody: ‘Wait, he’s gonna get impeached. Just wait.’” A
Florida men tied to Rudy Giuliani, Ukraine probe arrested
Two Florida businessmen tied to President Donald Trump’s lawyer and the Ukraine impeachment investigation were charged with federal campaign finance violations.The charges Thursday relate to a $325,000 donation to a group supporting Trump’s reelection. Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, associates of Rudy Giuliani, were arrested Wednesday trying to board an international flight with one-way tickets at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to Geoffrey Berman, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Parnas and Fruman were arrested on a four-count indictment that includes charges of conspiracy, making false statements to the Federal Election Commission and falsification of records. The men had key roles in Giuliani’s efforts to launch a Ukrainian corruption investigation against Democratic presidential contender Joe Biden and his son Hunter. The indictments mark the first criminal charges related to the Ukraine controversy. While they do not suggest wrongdoing by the Republican president, they raise additional questions about how those close to Trump and Giuliani sought to use their influence. Trump has dismissed the impeachment inquiry as baseless and politically motivated. As he was leaving the White House for a political rally in Minneapolis, Trump said he didn’t know Parnas or Fruman and hadn’t spoken with Giuliani about them. “We have nothing to do with it,” Trump said. Giuliani said he couldn’t comment and that he didn’t represent the men in campaign finance matters. Records show that Parnas and Fruman used wire transfers from a corporate entity to make the $325,000 donation to the America First Action committee in May 2018. But wire transfer records that became public through a lawsuit show that the corporate entity reported as making the transaction was not the source of the money. The big donation to the Trump-allied PAC was part of a flurry of political spending tied to Parnas and Fruman, with at least $478,000 in donations flowing to GOP campaigns and PACs in little more than two months. The money enabled the relatively unknown entrepreneurs to quickly gain access to the highest levels of the Republican Party, including meetings with Trump at the White House and Mar-a-Lago in Florida. Prosecutors allege that Parnas urged a congressman to seek the ouster of the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, at the behest of Ukrainian government officials. That happened about the same time that Parnas and Fruman committed to raising more than $20,000 for the politician. The congressman wasn’t identified in court papers, but the donations match campaign finance reports for former Rep. Pete Sessions, a Texas Republican who lost his reelection bid in November. In May 2018, Parnas posted a photo of himself and his business partner David Correia with Sessions in his Capitol Hill office, with the caption “Hard at work!!” Parnas and Fruman appeared in court Thursday and were ordered to remain jailed as a bail package was worked out. They are due in court in New York next week. Kevin Downing, the lawyer who represented former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort on charges that he hid millions of dollars that he earned in Ukraine advising politicians there, was representing the men for their initial appearance and declined to comment. Correia and Andrey Kukushkin, a Ukrainian-born U.S. citizen, were also charged in the case. A federal judge in San Francisco ordered Kukushkin held on Thursday pending a bail hearing to determine whether he is considered a flight risk. Parnas and Fruman were arrested as they attempted to get on a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, according to a person familiar with the investigation. U.S. authorities are looking at whether that was a first stop en route to Ukraine, said the person, who wasn’t authorized to discuss the probe and spoke on condition of anonymity. Attorney General William Barr had been briefed on the investigation soon after he was confirmed in February, was updated in recent weeks and was made aware Wednesday night that the men were being arrested, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The indictment says Parnas and Fruman “sought to advance their personal financial interests and the political interests of at least one Ukrainian government official with whom they were working” and took steps to conceal it from third parties, including creditors. They created a limited liability corporation, Global Energy Producers, and “intentionally caused certain large contributions to be reported in the name of GEP instead of in their own names.” Prosecutors charge that the two men falsely claimed the contributions came from GEP, which was described as a liquefied natural gas business. At that point, the company had no income or significant assets, the indictment said. Prosecutors allege that Parnas and Fruman conspired to make illegal contributions to try to skirt the limit on federal campaign contributions. The men are also accused of making contributions to candidates for state and federal office, joint fundraising committees and independent expenditure committees in the names of other people. The commitment to raise more than $20,000 for the congressman was made in May and June 2018. The lawmaker had also received about $3 million in independent expenditures from a super political action committee that Parnas and Fruman had been funding. As a result of the donations, Parnas and Fruman had meetings with the congressman and Parnas lobbied him to advocate for removing the ambassador to Ukraine, Berman said. Trump referred to Ambassador Marie Yovanovitch, who was indeed recalled to the U.S., as “bad news” in his July phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Sessions said in a statement tweeted by a spokesman that he “could not have had any knowledge of the scheme described in the indictment.” Sessions wasn’t asked to take any action during the meetings with Parnas and Fruman and wrote a letter to the secretary of state about Yovanovitch after colleagues in Congress said she was “disparaging” the president, he said. The indictment also charges that Kukushkin conspired with the three other defendants to make political contributions, funded by a foreign national, to politicians seeking
Pete Sessions welcomes Bradley Byrne to U.S. House Rules Committee
Fairehope U.S. Rep. Bradley Byrne has joined the powerful U.S. House Rules Committee, raising the sophomore representative’s profile as well as the collective clout of Alabama’s congressional delegation. Tuesday was his first day. Alabama Today asked committee Chairman Pete Sessions how Bryne’s first day went. “Our committee works hard on issues that are important to the American people, and I can already tell, from Day One, that Congressman Byrne is ready to roll his sleeves up and dive into these issues,” Session said. “He brings a fresh passion to the Rules Committee, all while keeping in mind what’s important to his folks back home.” In a news release on the appointment, Session expressed pleasure at Byrne’s ascension to the 13-member panel. “I am pleased to welcome my friend and colleague Bradley Byrne to our Committee,” Sessions said. “An accomplished lawyer, local advocate and state senator, Congressman Byrne is deeply devoted to causes he believes in and is willing to work hard on issues in Washington that are important to his constituents in Alabama. “His commitment to a small, conservative federal government and a strong national defense will be an asset to the Speaker’s Committee, and I look forward to working with him,” Sessions said. Byrne was named to the panel by House Speaker John Boehner who praised Byrne, saying he has “distinguished himself as an effective legislator focused on issues that matter to his constituents in Alabama.” Byrne’s Alabama’s 1st Congressional District includes Washington, Mobile, Baldwin, Escambia and Monroe counties, as well as part of Clarke County.
