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'All talk, no action': Congressman vows to oppose Mike Johnson as Elon Musk issues warning

Conservatives are fuming over House Speaker Mike Johnson's spending bill, and Donald Trump's outside allies are leading the charge.

Congressional leaders unveiled a continuing resolution that would avoid a government shutdown for at least three months, but Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, co-heads of the budge-cutting Department of Government Efficiency, pushed for Republicans to vote against the measure — and suggested any Republican voting for it should lose their seats.

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'So many questions': Observers single out one line in Matt Gaetz ethics report statement

Former Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) on Wednesday took a swipe at the House Ethics Committee for secretly voting to release their report into his conduct, but one section of his defense in particular left many observers scratching their heads.

While denying that he paid money to an underage girl in exchange for sex last decade, Gaetz did acknowledge that "in my single days, I often sent funds to women I dated -- even some I never dated but who asked."

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Trump orders Senate GOP not to ‘fast-track’ confirmations — Will some nominees change?

After strongly defending even his most controversial nominees, and amid growing skepticism, pushback, and occasional mockery, even from Republican senators, President-elect Donald Trump issued a confusing statement Tuesday night, ordering Senate Republicans to not "fast track" any "nominations."

It appeared to be either a signal he might want to reconsider some nominees facing difficult confirmations by suggesting he has not made any nominations official and will do so only after he is sworn in next month, as some news outlets have suggested, or that—as some other news outlets suggested, he was referring to the last of President Biden's nominees.

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'The craziest thing': Ex-prosecutor hit with witness intimidation charges

TOPEKA — Former Neosho County Attorney Linus Thuston, who was jailed for misdemeanor convictions earlier this year, now faces six felony charges of perjury and witness intimidation.

Special prosecutor Branden Bell filed the charges Monday in Neosho County District Court. The complaint accuses Thuston of lying during testimony in July, when Thuston appeared as a witness in an opioid drug case that Bell also prosecuted.

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Matt Gaetz makes threat to return to Congress and expose ex-colleagues

Outgoing Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is not taking news that the House Ethics Committee will release what is expected to be a highly damaging report on him before Christmas lightly, and has posted a warning to his soon-to-be ex-colleagues on X on Wednesday afternoon.

After posting a long screed on X earlier professing his innocence while also admitting that he has given money to women he dated as well as others who just asked, he added, "I NEVER had sexual contact with someone under 18. Any claim that I have would be destroyed in court - which is why no such claim was ever made in court. My 30’s were an era of working very hard -- and playing hard too."

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'Frightening': Judge condemns potential Trump pardon for Oath Keepers head's Jan. 6 crimes

U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta argued that President-elect Donald Trump would be putting democracy at risk if he pardons Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes for crimes committed on Jan. 6, 2021.

"The notion that Stewart Rhodes could be absolved is frightening and ought to be frightening to anyone who cares about democracy in this country," Mehta said Wednesday during the sentencing of one of Rhodes' former allies, according to Politico.

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'Retired' judges back in action: U.S. Senators share their theories on surprise comeback

WASHINGTON — As at least three Democratic-appointed judges changed their plans to move to senior status following President-elect Donald Trump’s reelection last month, four senators exclusively shared with Raw Story their theories — from financial to political — for the last-minute retirement changes.

“It implicitly conveys concern on the part of judges who concluded that there's a real risk that their successor on the circuit might be someone who would be more of an activist or be more of a disrupter to the balance of the circuit than they anticipated,” Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) told Raw Story.

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'Banana Republic stuff': CNN's Acosta battles GOP lawmaker over Trump revenge threats

Moments after Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN) went on a rant complaining about the release of what is reported to be a highly damaging House Ethics Committee report on ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), he butted heads with CNN host Jim Acosta about Donald Trump wanting to have ex-Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) investigated.

Speaking about a Truth Social post Trump wrote in the middle of the night, Acosta asked, "Obviously, you know that there was a House Republican report on January 6th. It recommends that there be a criminal investigation into Liz Cheney. Do you think there should be a criminal investigation into Liz Cheney, one of your former colleagues?"

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'Spill the tea': Jasmine Crockett throws Marjorie Taylor Greene threat back in GOP's face

Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-GA) bluff when she threatened to expose wrongdoing by other lawmakers.

Greene previously reacted to notion that the House Ethics Committee would potentially release a purportedly incriminating report on ex-Rep. Matt Gaetz, who had been Donald Trump's first nominee for attorney general, and expose its findings on his alleged sexual misconduct with minors and alleged use of illicit drugs.

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'It's just a fact!' Brutal CNN interview ends with James Comer being hit with fact check

CNN's Pamela Brown was taking no nonsense when she interviewed Rep. James Comer's (R-KY) Wednesday after the star witness in the Joe Biden impeachment probe pleaded guilty to lying to federal investigators.

Alexander Smirnov, the Ukraine-born former FBI informant who dished up dirt on the president and his family, admitted to two counts of making false statements and creating a false and fictitious record for information provided to federal agents.

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'Embarrassment from beginning to end': Republicans pile on embattled GOP speaker

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) is coming under increased fire from members of his own party over the deal he cut with House Democrats to keep the government open.

Conservatives in the House lobbed even more criticism at the proposed continuing resolution, which would give lawmakers a cost-of-living pay raise for the first time since 2009 and would end rules forcing members of Congress to buy health coverage from health care exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act.

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'We just played it!’ James Comer denial shot down when CNN plays clip of his own words

Congressman James Comer (R-KY) denied a central part of his investigation into President Joe Biden’s son on CNN Wednesday — but was played a previous TV recording of his own words that shot down his claims.

The head of the House’s oversight committee tried to claim a since-discredited witness in the probe into Hunter Biden’s dealings with a Ukrainian company had never been considered important.

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James Comer throws fellow GOP lawmaker under bus for witness who lied about Biden bribery

Rep. James Comer (R-KY) downplayed using a witness who pleaded guilty to lying about a fake bribery scheme involving President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.

While speaking to CNN on Wednesday, host Pamela Brown asked Comer about using Alexander Smirnov in his impeachment investigation. The former FBI informant recently admitted he falsely claimed the Bidens took millions in bribes from Ukraine energy company Burisma. Smirnov was expected to be sentenced in January.

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