White House smacks GOP critics of student loan plan
Biden attacks 'semi-fascism' of Trump Republicans
Also in today’s edition of “Regular Order” for August 26, 2022:
Biden kicks off his midterm campaign work.
Marjorie Taylor Greene gets swatted - again.
A big day in court for Donald Trump.
STUDENT LOANS. A day after Republicans teed off against President Biden's plan to forgive up to $20,000 in student loans, the White House launched an unusually pointed series of social media attacks against a group of GOP lawmakers in Congress - all of whom had special COVID business loans forgiven by the federal government.
MESSAGE. The White House message was simple. If it’s okay for GOP members of Congress to have business loans forgiven - then it’s fine for other Americans to have a much smaller amount of student loan money forgiven by Uncle Sam.
TWEETS. "Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had $183,504 in PPP loans forgiven," the White House noted. "Congressman Markwayne Mullin had over $1.4 million in PPP loans forgiven," the White House tweeted about the Oklahoma Republican. "Congressman Kevin Hern had over $1 million in PPP loans forgiven," the White House said of a lawmaker who owns multiple McDonald's restaurants.
RECEIPTS. Democratic lawmakers and activists clearly enjoyed the White House playing offense, as they accused GOP critics of being total hypocrites about loan forgiveness. "The @WhiteHouse coming with the receipts," said Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA). “I like this fighting spirit,” said anti-Trump political strategist Rick Wilson.
GOP. Republicans were aggravated by the White House pushback. "Another ignorant attack from a career politician who has never created a single job," fumed Rep. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK), who didn't deny that his various family companies had loans forgiven from the Paycheck Protection Program.
MORE. “It takes a special kind of idiocy to equate that to the PPP," said Rep. Ralph Norman (R-SC).
BIDEN. President Biden kicked off his fall campaign travel by taking a trip into the Washington, D.C. suburbs, and delighting backers by slamming Republicans allied with former President Donald Trump.
ULTRA MAGA. "What we’re seeing now, is either the beginning or the death knell of an extreme MAGA philosophy," Biden said at a fundraiser in Bethesda, Maryland. "It’s not just Trump, it’s the entire philosophy that underpins the - I’m going to say something, it’s like semi-fascism.”
RALLY. The President also rallied with supporters gathered at Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, Maryland. So many people showed up for the rally, that two overflow rooms were needed. "I just want to say thank you, thank you," Biden told several hundred people assembled in an auditorium. "There's an awful lot at stake."
SPEECH. During his formal speech to Maryland Democrats, Mr. Biden was interrupted by a heckler who yelled, "You stole the election!" Biden's response: "Ignorance knows no boundaries."
TRUMP LEGAL. It could be a very big day on the legal front about the FBI seizure of classified documents from the Florida home of former President Donald Trump. A federal judge could release a copy of the affidavit used to make the case for the search warrant executed at Mar-a-Lago. That redacted document is due from the feds by 12 noon. When it gets released is TBD.
JUDGE. "I find that the Government has met its burden of showing a compelling reason/good cause to seal portions of the Affidavit because disclosure would reveal (1) the identities of witnesses, law enforcement agents, and uncharged parties, (2) the investigation’s strategy, direction, scope, sources, and methods, and (3) grand jury information," wrote Judge Bruce Reinhart.
REMINDER. Making public an FBI affidavit like this is considered highly unusual - simply because it could undermine the active investigation related to why Trump had hundreds of pages of classified documents at his home. While Trump has said he wants the affidavit released, his lawyers still have not formally requested such a move.
MAR-A-LAGO. Today is also the deadline set by another judge for Trump's legal team to submit a new motion about the FBI document seizure. The original brief from Trump's lawyers was panned not only by his critics - but also by the judge - who told them to be more specific about what legal remedy they were seeking in this matter.
MRS. GREENE OF GEORGIA. No matter what you think of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), no one deserves to be 'Swatted' - that's when someone calls 911 and reports a major crime at your house - when actually nothing was happening. It's happened at Greene's home in Georgia twice this week. "It’s terrifying someone used this violent tactic as a political attack," Greene said.
SWATTED. The first incident very early on Wednesday morning involved the report of a shooting at her home in Rome, Georgia. It happened again in the wee hours of Thursday morning, when a man reported another shooting.
GEORGIA 911. Local police responded quickly both times to Greene's home and confirmed nothing was wrong.
CAUSE OF DEATH. Kaiser Health News broke a much different than normal story about Congress this week - obtaining the details of the autopsy about the wife of a California Congressman, who died late in 2021. The review showed that Lori McClintock died after consuming an herbal remedy which caused stomach and intestinal inflammation.
WHITE MULBERRY. At issue was something known as 'White Mulberry leaf,' which is often sold to treat everything from high blood pressure to high cholesterol. But this warning also accompanies the sales pitch: "This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease."
REGULAR ORDER. If you need a gift for someone, why not consider the gift of straight news from ‘Regular Order.’ You can support my independent reporting from Capitol Hill, and help buy snacks for the kid I dropped off at college yesterday.
ALASKA SPECIAL. Another 4,700 votes were counted on Thursday in Alaska, as Democrat Mary Peltola increased her lead in a special election for the U.S. House. Peltola now has 39.2 percent of the vote - leading ex-Gov. Sarah Palin by 8 points, 39.2-31.2. Republican Nick Begich trails with 28 percent.
VOTE TALLY. More votes are expected to be tallied today. Final numbers are not expected until August 31. Once all the votes are in, then Begich will likely be eliminated, and ranked choice voting will determine the winner between Peltola and Palin.
SECOND CHOICE. It would seem logical that Begich voters might have picked another Republican - Palin - as their second choice. But one Alaska pollster, Ivan Moore, said his July poll found that Begich supporters don’t like Palin at all - see below. Peltola might actually have a chance to win this race.
PENTAGON. With the Congress on its regular summer break, a number of lawmakers from both parties have used August to stop by area military bases and/or voice support for a local military mission. It's a reminder of how important the military can be as a driver of economic growth in a Congressional district or state.
MIAMI VALLEY. Rep. Mike Turner (R-OH) this week helped break ground for the new "National Advance Air Mobility Center of Excellence" - which comes with over $10 million in federal funding. It will be used to do research on military drones at the Springfield Air National Guard Base in Turner's district.
ROBINS. Georgia's two Senators hosted the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee last week - part of their lobbying effort to have the Air Force create a series of new missions at Robins Air Force Base. It helps to have the support of Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI), Chairman of that military panel.
BLACK HILLS. Just outside of Rapid City, South Dakota sits Ellsworth Air Force Base, which will be home to the B-21 stealth bomber. The base is currently used by B-1 bombers. Sen. John Thune (R-SD) was out at Ellsworth on Thursday talking about the B-21.
TAIWAN. Another member of Congress has traveled to Taiwan to express support for the island, which Beijing claims as its own territory. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) arrived in Taipei on Thursday.
RAP SHEET. Federal prosecutors have asked a judge to sentence an ex-NYPD cop and Marine Corps veteran to over 17 years in prison for his crimes on Jan. 6. In a sentencing memo, the feds say Thomas Webster was guilty of 'disgracing a democracy' for his violent attacks on police officers outside the U.S. Capitol that day.
WEBSTER. In their reply, lawyers for Webster say he is 'deeply ashamed and remorseful' over his conduct that day - blaming it on 'unscrupulous politicians.' "Promoters of the lie that the 2020 election was stolen have nearly taken over one political party," they wrote, name-checking former President Donald Trump several times.
GUILTY. Webster was convicted on six different charges. He swung a metal flag pole at police guarding a barricade, and then tackled and assaulted one police officer. “You fucking piece of shit,” Webster said as he taunted the cops that day. “You fucking Commie motherfuckers.”
FAUCI FUROR. After five decades as the government's top infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci this week announced that he would retire at the end of the year. Instead of giving him a gold watch, Republicans exploded in anger, and vowed to drag Fauci back before Congress to ask questions about the Coronavirus outbreak. That's my column this week for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
MUSE OF HISTORY. August 26, 1852. On this date, the House was pressed by Rep. Louis St. Martin of Louisiana to pass a bill authorizing mail service from New Orleans to two coastal cities in Mexico, Vera Cruz and Tampico. "It is a measure of deep and vital importance...to the commerce of the whole country," St. Martin argued. Backers liked the plan - because unlike other efforts to expand mail service - this relied on the feds simply contracting out the mail transport service, instead of building steamships. With Congress moving to adjourn for the summer - the bill passed the House on a voice vote.
LEGISLATIVE PROGRAM:
The House next has votes on September 13.
The Senate next has votes on September 6.
President Biden’s daily schedule link.
Follow me on Twitter @jamiedupree. Email me at jamiedupree@substack.com
Between the White House Twitter account publicly clapping back on hypocritical Republicans and his comment to the 45 cult heckler — "Ignorance knows no boundaries”— I gotta say I’m totally enjoying this new season of “Dark Brandon”.
Biden: “I just want to say thank you, thank you . . .There's an awful lot at stake."
Indeed there is, Mr. President! Our precious democratic republic.