Understandably, the nation’s attention was on former FBI Director James Comey’s stunning testimony yesterday. While the White House scandal was deepening, House Republicans continued to receive brutal coverage on their ethics scandals, big spending hypocrisy, repeal backlash, and much more!
Here’s a look at some of the news that popped yesterday…
AZ-02
Tuscon Weekly: Behind Closed Doors
After months of avoiding directly addressing her constituents, Rep. Martha McSally was refreshingly honest in a closed door meeting with members of Arizona Bankers Association yesterday about her re-election chances: “Any Republican member of Congress, you are going down with the ship… they only need 28 seats and the path to that gavel being handed over is through my seat. And right now, it doesn’t matter that it’s me, it doesn’t matter what I’ve done. I have an ‘R’ next to my name and right now, this environment would have me not prevail.”
CA-48
Dana Rohrabacher held a last-minute tele-town hall… kind of
Rep. Rohrabacher held a last-minute tele-town hall Wednesday evening, and things got very bizarre very fast. When asked about his support for pulling out of the Paris Climate Accords, Rohrabacher had this to say about the effect of co2 emissions causing global warming: “There are many other scientists who say just the opposite; who say CO2 is not a determining factor. In fact most of these other scientists believe that sun spots — in the sun have caused us to go through many many different cycles. For example, in the 1930s it was really hot. In the 1920s and 30s we actually had a big melt off up in the Arctic area as well. In the early 1930s we had some of our hottest weather. In fact the scientists now trying to claim we have the hottest weather ever recorded—they had to change the actual temperatures from back in the 1930s. To make it actually look like it was cooler there.” Later in the call, he called opponents of the Trump border wall ‘racists’: “Those people who put legal and illegal immigration in the same category—they’re the racists.”
IA-01
Telegraph Herald: Blum’s Florida Stay Drawing Scrutiny
Rep. Rod Blum, who has made it his first priority to “drain the swamp” and reduce perks for elected officials in Washington, is making headlines for his posh vacation to Palm Beach – a trip funded by the ultra-conservative special interest group Club for Growth. According to the story, the Club for Growth spent thousands of dollars to host Blum, along with other Republicans, for a weekend policy conference at an oceanfront resort that promises “unapologetic luxury, seaside glamour and world-class service.”
MT-AL
Missoulian: Gianforte to appear in court Monday to plead no contest to assault charge
Greg Gianforte, who waited two weeks before issuing an ‘apology’ yesterday that appeared to cast blame on his communications director for the campaign’s false statement issued in the hours after his assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs, will be pleading no contest to a charge of misdemeanor assault in Gallatin County on Monday.
FL-18
Palm Beach Post: Medicaid fight hits 41% of Palm Beach Co. kids, up to 64% nearby
The American Health Care Act passed by the House would cut more than $800 billion from Medicaid over a decade compared to leaving the Affordable Care Act intact. The Senate is considering the biggest legislative issue of President Trump’s early term now.
U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, R-Palm City, faced mostly hostile questions about the AHCA in a town hall meeting in Stuart Monday. He told questioners Medicaid spending will still rise and that what are called reductions include a winding down of Medicaid expansion that Florida chose not to pursue in the first place: “This is not a cut.”
Critics of the House bill counter that Floridians on Medicaid — who also include 70 percent of the seniors in nursing homes — stand to lose if Medicaid funding is capped and handed to the states in block grants.
NJ-03 & NJ-11
Star-Ledger: N.J. lawmakers who backed Obamacare repeal invested in health companies during debate
The two New Jersey lawmakers who voted to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act bought or sold securities in health care companies while the issue was before the House, financial disclosure filings show. Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-3rd Dist.), whose proposed changes helped bring back the Obamacare repeal debate, bought as much as $800,000 in stock in health care companies this year. Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th Dist.) sold off shares of another company at their yearly high, according to filings with the Clerk of the House. They are the two richest members of the state’s congressional delegation. “Why are they buying and selling health care company stock when they’re working on a health care industry bill?” said President George W. Bush’s top ethics officer, Richard W. Painter, now a University of Minnesota law professor. “This looks incredibly suspicious.”
NY-27
The Hill: GOP Lawmaker talked stocks with colleagues
Rep. Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) has boasted about how much money he’s made for other members of Congress by tipping them off to an Australia-based pharmaceutical company in which he is the largest stockholder, two GOP lawmakers told The Hill. Collins, President Trump’s chief defender and unofficial spokesman on Capitol Hill, told a group of House GOP colleagues over dinner earlier this year that he had urged colleagues to invest in Innate Immunotherapeutics and made them plenty of money in the process, said one GOP lawmaker who was present for the conversation.
Buffalo News: Collins’ troubles could deepen, after report he touted biotech firm to colleagues
Rep. Chris Collins’ political – and perhaps legal – problems may have deepened Thursday, with new revelations that he repeatedly touted an obscure Australian biotech company to other members of the House. Collins is the largest shareholder in that company, Innate Immunotherapeutics, which is working on an experimental treatment for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis. And the Clarence Republican is clearly excited about that company, as The Hill, a respected Capitol Hill daily, reported that a half-dozen other House Republicans said they heard Collins touting Innate either in official settings or informal gatherings. That’s a potential problem for Collins – already the subject of an Office of Congressional Ethics probe – for two reasons. One, a federal law prohibits lawmakers from investing in stocks in which they have inside information. And for another, there is a House rule that prohibits lawmakers from using their office for personal gain.
WHEC: Representative Chris Collins reportedly bragged about stocks under investigation (VIDEO)
PA-06
The Hill: NRCC chair calls Costello’s race “a bellwether” with “a very strong challenger”
Stivers, who is in his first year running the NRCC, pointed to two House seats that could serve as “bellwethers” for 2018: the Orlando-area seat held by freshman Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.) and the one in suburban Philadelphia held by two-term Rep. Ryan Costello (R-Pa.) “He’s a great young member, a rising star, but he’s got a very strong challenger,” Stivers explained. “It’s not one of our [vulnerable ‘patriot’ seats], but in order to take the majority back they have to move beyond ‘patriot’ races. “If we win in Florida, the Democrats are not taking back the majority,” he continued. “If they win in Pennsylvania against Costello, they’ve got a shot to take the majority.”