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In 2019, newly-elected Rep. Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey hailed a sweeping elections reform package led by Democrats as a "clean-up corruption in Washington" bill that would "restore our democracy and promote bipartisanship."
This article first appeared in Salon.
<p>But on Wednesday, almost exactly two years later to the day, the two-term lawmaker equated the legislation, known as H.R. 1, to socialism "served on a platter."</p><p>What changed? Not the legislation; the content of the measure remains virtually the same, which Democrats say would tackle corruption, provide greater government transparency, increase access to voting and end gerrymandering.</p><p>House Democrats passed it under the previous Congress with the help of Van Drew. It's expected to pass the lower chamber again on Wednesday along party lines. The most significant difference this time around is that Van Drew is now a Republican.</p><p>"We were warned for years about the rise of socialism," Van Drew said in a brief floor speech. "Well, here it is, served on a platter."</p><p>This remarkable reversal is a byproduct of Van Drew's denunciation of the Democratic Party in December 2019 just ahead of former President Donald Trump's first impeachment trial. Van Drew left the party — quite literally — and went from the Capitol to the White House, where he<a href="https://www.newsweek.com/sitting-oval-office-trump-rep-jeff-van-drew-announces-switch-republican-party-1478331" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> <u>pledged his "undying support"</u></a> to Trump in front of cameras in the Oval Office. At the time, internal polling showed he had dismal chances for re-election as an anti-impeachment Democrat.</p><p>Van Drew's office did not respond to a request for comment about his policy flip-flop.</p><p>He lauded H.R. 1 in<a href="https://vandrew.house.gov/media/press-releases/congressman-van-drew-d-nj-votes-restore-power-back-american-people-and-away" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> a <u>March 2019 press release</u></a> as legislation that would reign in the power of dark-money politics and unlimited corporate political spending.</p><p>"This reform bill will clean-up corruption in Washington, restore our democracy, and promote bipartisanship," Van Drew stated at the time. "We need to restore our democracy to a government of the people, by the people and for the people."</p><p>His tone toward the package on Wednesday was quite different.</p><p>"It would keep the status quo, like we saw this past November with voter rolls that are not up-to-date and live ballots being mailed to voters that have died, moved or even multiple ballots to the same voter," Van Drew said. "Elections do have consequences, and when leaders said the goal was to change America, they were telling the truth. And here we are."</p><p>Van Drew also repeated an <u><a href="https://www.salon.com/2021/03/03/misleading-gop-messaging-has-forced-democrats-to-change-landmark-election-reform-bill/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">inaccurate claim, widely circulated among Republicans</a>,</u> that H.R. 1 would use "taxpayer money" for a public campaign financing program. In response, Democrats have tweaked the language of the bill. It remains true, however, that the legislation would use public funding through civil and criminal court penalties — not a blanket tax on Americans, as Republicans have suggested — to match small-dollar donations for candidates who meet certain requirements.</p><p>"Do you like those robocalls during campaign season? How about the negative TV ads and the mailers?" Van Drew said. "Well, your tax dollars are paying for them. And yes, this is taxpayer dollars, no matter how they tell you otherwise."</p>
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This longtime Trump associate holds the key to pursuing criminal charges against him: NYT's Haberman
March 04, 2021
New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman appeared on CNN Thursday to talk about the multiple legal problems facing former President Donald Trump, and she said that Trump should be particularly worried about efforts to flip longtime Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg.
Reacting to reports that the Manhattan District Attorney's Office is zeroing in on getting Weisselberg to potentially cooperate in its criminal investigation of Trump, Haberman explained why he's such an important figure to the president's financial dealings.
<p>"[Weisselberg] knows where every secret is buried financially, and some not financial," she explained. "And he was somebody who, in the Southern District of New Tork, when the federal prosecutors were going after Michael Cohen... Weisselberg was given limited immunity in order to testify against Cohen."</p><p>CNN host John Berman then asked Haberman "what would it take" Weisselberg to "turn" on Trump and cooperate as a witness in the Manhattan DA's investigation.</p><p>"I think it would take a lot, a presentation of very serious charges," she said. "I think it would take a presentation of charges not just against him, but against his sons, who they have also been asking at least one witness some questions about."</p><p><em>Watch the video below</em>.<br/></p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HIsbKhlzC_4" width="560"></iframe>
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Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell appears to be negotiating a possible exit strategy from the U.S. Senate.
The Kentucky Republican has compiled a short list of preferred successors from his home state in the event he doesn't serve his full six-year term, GOP sources in Kentucky told The Intercept.
<p>State law currently grants the power to Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear to appoint a replacement for McConnell, but the GOP senator is backing legislation in the Kentucky General Assembly that would strip the governor of that authority.</p><p>McConnell's list is headed by his protégé, state attorney general Daniel Cameron, but also includes former United Nations ambassador Kelly Craft and Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams.</p><p>Craft is married to billionaire coal magnate Joe Craft, who's a major McConnell <a href="https://www.courier-journal.com/get-access/?return=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.courier-journal.com%2Fstory%2Fnews%2Fpolitics%2Felections%2Fkentucky%2F2020%2F10%2F14%2Fcraft-and-alliance-coal-have-spent-millions-on-candidates-pacs%2F5968973002%2F" target="_blank">donor</a>, and Adams is a former McConnell Scholar.</p><p>The 79-year-old McConnell, who was first elected in 1984 and easily re-elected in November, is facing calls for censure from some Kentucky Republicans who are angry at his denunciation of former president Donald Trump's role in the Jan. 6 insurrection.</p><p>But he seems to be trying to maintain his grip on the state GOP by pushing Senate Bill 228, which has been informally called the Daniel Cameron Election Bill by lawmakers, during the general assembly's "short" session last month.</p><p>The bill would strip the governor of his authority to appoint replacement senators when vacancies arise, and would instead fill vacancies from a list of three names submitted by the state executive committee of the same political party as the senator who held the vacant seat.</p><p>The appointee would then serve out that term until a successor is elected by voters.</p>
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