Political Jason

A Republican member of Congress is alleging that a former top aide spearheaded a “vindictive” threat to expose his daughter’s OnlyFans account. Rep. Brandon Williams (R-N.Y.) told POLITICO that his former chief of staff and former legislative director attempted to retaliate against him using his 27-year old daughter’s account on OnlyFans, a popular forum for people to charge for access to sexually explicit content. According to Williams, the two former staffers, Michael Gordon and Ryan Sweeney, threatened to expose his…

Read More Read More

Georgia Republicans just shredded Democratic Rep. Lucy McBath’s suburban Atlanta district — but she says she will fight to remain in Congress. The Republican-controlled state Legislature on Thursday passed a new congressional map that increases the number of majority-Black districts in the state after a federal judge found that Georgia’s previous lines violated the Voting Rights Act by diluting the power of Black voters. The map, however, maintains the same likely partisan split as before: Nine seats Republicans are strongly…

Read More Read More

CNN announced Thursday it will host Republican presidential candidate debates before the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary next month — throwing a wrench into a process that thus far has been managed exclusively by the Republican National Committee. The respective debates, set for Jan. 10 in Des Moines and Jan. 21 just outside Manchester, aren’t sanctioned by the RNC, which has organized the first four debates, including Wednesday night’s broadcast in Alabama. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signaled almost immediately…

Read More Read More

Donald Trump has gotten kid glove treatment from his Republican opponents throughout a crucial stretch of the primary season — and the numbers prove it. A POLITICO analysis of the four GOP debates reveals a surprising pattern: With each debate, the candidates have been more and more inclined to go after each other instead of Trump, the far-and-away leader in the polls. The trend continued on Wednesday night, when only Chris Christie, the lowest-polling contender to make the debate stage,…

Read More Read More

Talks to release the remaining hostages in Gaza have hit a stalemate in recent days, dashing hopes of U.S. officials that they might reach a deal by the end of the year, according to two senior U.S. officials. More than 130 hostages are still being held inside Gaza. There are several factors complicating negotiations, the officials said. Hamas’s leaders, many of whom live in Doha, are increasingly unable to communicate with and control the actions of their fighters in Gaza….

Read More Read More

A federal grand jury in California has indicted Hunter Biden on nine charges, including three felonies, for failing to pay his taxes, understating his income and exaggerating his expenses on tax returns between 2016 and 2019. With separate criminal charges against him pending in Delaware for illegally possessing a gun, the president’s son could face two criminal trials next year as his father runs for reelection against Donald Trump, who himself is facing four criminal cases. The Hunter Biden cases…

Read More Read More

The Biden administration has determined that it has the authority to seize the patents of certain high-priced medicines, a move that could open the door to a more aggressive federal campaign to slash drug prices. The determination, which was described by three people familiar with the matter, represents the culmination of a nearly nine-month review of the government’s so-called march-in rights. Progressives have long insisted that those rights empower the administration to break the patents of pricey drugs that were…

Read More Read More

Kevin McCarthy is officially leaving Congress. The ousted speaker is resigning from the House at the end of the year, according to an op-ed he wrote for the Wall Street Journal, concluding a nearly two-decade congressional career long-marked by his open aspirations to the chamber’s top spot, only to lose it after nine turbulent months. “I have decided to depart the House at the end of this year to serve America in new ways. I know my work is only…

Read More Read More

Sean Hannity was trying to throw Donald Trump a life vest, and Trump was waving it off. At a town hall in Davenport, Iowa, on the eve of what may be the final Republican primary debate of the campaign, the Fox News host asked the likely GOP nominee whether he had “any plans whatsoever, if reelected president, to abuse power? To break the law? To use the government to go after people?” Trump parried. Hannity probed. He again asked Trump…

Read More Read More

In the opening round of the fourth primary debate on Wednesday, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie turned to his fellow candidates and implored them to go after the man who wasn’t there: Donald Trump. “I’m looking at my watch now. We’re 17 minutes into this debate, and except for your little speech in the beginning, we’ve had these three acting as if the race is between the four of us,” he stressed. And then, the rest of the field…

Read More Read More