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Though some reporters still follow the actions of former President Donald Trump obsessively, his quirks and daily mood swings are generally much less significant and newsworthy than they were when he was in control of the American nuclear arsenal. He's a private citizen, and while he may still be good at attracting attention, he's simply not as important as he was quite recently.
But on Monday night, he sent out a missive reminding the country — and the Republican Party most importantly — that he still has considerable influence and can wield power in American politics, especially among conservatives.
<p>In the new statement, written like a Tweet that he can no longer send, he suggested his supporters to cut off the Republican Party broadly and support him instead.</p><p><br/></p>
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<p>This message is especially pointed and provocative after Trump sent letters to the Republican National Committee, National Republican Senatorial Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee telling them to stop using his name and image in fundraising.</p><p><span></span>For the Republican Party apparatus, this amounts to a devastating threat. In the new message, he didn't specifically name any specific organs of the GOP, simply attacking "Republicans In Name Only" — but that just makes the threat more all-encompassing. He's essentially telling his supporters that instead of supporting the party, they should support him personally. If a substantial portion of Republican Party donors takes his call seriously, the GOP could find itself having trouble raising funds on its own.</p><p>"He didn't start his own party, which is complicated to do and be competitive, but Trump is trying to set himself up as the place where money for Republicans should go as opposed to GOP committees," said New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman.<br/></p><p><span></span>Election law expert Rick Hasen added on Twitter: "And also to personally enrich himself through very loose requirements for spending that apply to leadership PACS."</p><p><span></span>Of course, Republicans have no one to blame but themselves. They embraced him, and most refused to endorse the impeachment effort that could have barred him from running for political office again. Even after he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection, most of the party is behind the idea that he'll remain a leading figure in its ranks. They shouldn't be surprised that he wants the power and the money that flows to the party to be under his control.</p>
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Twitter filed a lawsuit against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a California federal court Monday and asked a judge to halt the state's top lawyer from investigating the company.
The social media giant's court filings include a request for a temporary restraining order that would keep Paxton and his office from enforcing a demand that seeks documents revealing the company's internal decision making processes for banning users, among other things.
<p>Paxton, a fervent supporter of former President Donald Trump, sent the company a civil investigative demand after it banned Trump from its platform following January's deadly siege at the U.S. Capitol.</p><p>Twitter wrote that it seeks to stop Paxton from "from unlawfully abusing his authority as the highest law-enforcement officer of the State of Texas to intimidate, harass, and target Twitter in retaliation for Twitter's exercise of its First Amendment rights." The company claimed Paxton's "retaliatory" investigation violated the First Amendment as an inappropriate use of government authority.</p><p>A spokesperson for Paxton did not immediately respond for comment.</p><p>The attorney general is among <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/21/texas-republicans-big-tech-social-media-insurrection/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Texas Republican leaders who have launched a campaign against technology and social media companies</a> after officials and followers faced repercussions for sowing the election doubts that fueled the Capitol insurrection.</p><p>Twitter is one of five tech and social media firms to which Paxton issued civil investigative demands to learn about the procedures such companies use to regulate postings or user accounts.</p><p>Paxton, who <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/07/texas-ken-paxton-trump-supporters/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">attended</a> the rally that preceded the attack on the U.S. Capitol, criticized companies' moves after the siege, which included Twitter banning Trump from its platform.</p><p>"The seemingly coordinated de-platforming of the President of the United States and several leading voices not only chills free speech, it wholly silences those whose speech and political beliefs do not align with leaders of Big Tech companies," Paxton said in a Jan. 13 <a href="https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/news/releases/ag-paxton-issues-civil-investigative-demands-five-leading-tech-companies-regarding-discriminatory" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">news release</a>.</p><p>In its filings Monday, Twitter detailed their suspension of multiple accounts, including Trump's personal account, which they banned for his false claims about the presidential election and the Jan. 6 attacks on the U.S. Capitol. Five days after the president's Twitter account was suspended on Jan. 8, Paxton issued the <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/21/texas-republicans-big-tech-social-media-insurrection/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">civil investigative demands to Twitter</a> and four other tech and social media firms.</p><p>In the lawsuit, Twitter said while the company "strives for transparency," the public disclosure of such documents would "compromise Twitter's ability to effectively and efficiently moderate content on its platform."</p><p>Facebook, Twitter and other social media platforms have come under fire for enabling misinformation spread and propagating violence like the Jan. 6 attacks. Last year, Democratic lawmakers presented a Congressional bill that would hold social media companies accountable for amplifying such content, but the proposal gained little traction.</p>
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Trump starts boycott -- wants supporters to donate to him instead of GOP committees: report
March 08, 2021
Donald Trump on Monday lashed out at RINOs -- "Republicans in Name Only."
"No more money for RINOS," Trump said in announcing a boycott despite speaking at the Conservative Political Action Conference on so-called "cancel culture."
<p>"They do nothing but hurt the Republican Party and our great voting base—they will never lead us to greatness. Send your donation to Save America PAC at DonaldJTrump.com," Trump urged. "We will bring it all back stronger than ever before!" </p><p>Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times correspondent Maggie Haberman summed up Trump's power place.</p><p>"He didn't start his own party, which is complicated to do and be competitive, but Trump is trying to set himself up as the place where money for Republicans should go as opposed to GOP committees," Haberman tweeted.</p>
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<div style="margin:1em 0">He didn’t start his own party, which is complicated to do and be competitive, but Trump is trying to set himself up… https://t.co/j4ugk1dmLw</div> — Maggie Haberman (@Maggie Haberman)
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