Oregon

Oregon Senator Stung By Suit Over Combat Camp Cash

Nick R. Martin | February 10, 2012, 5:59AM

Oregon State Senator Brian Boquist / ICI Wyoming

Oregon state Sen. Brian Boquist will charge you big bucks to learn how to dodge a rocket propelled grenade.

But it's what his former business partners say he's doing with the cash that's causing the Republican some problems.

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Utah

Utah Newest Front In GOP Battle Against Unions

Nick R. Martin | February 9, 2012, 6:07AM

The Utah State House of Representatives, January 2012

Republicans in Utah have opened up the next front in a battle against public unions being waged in statehouses throughout the nation.

A bill introduced last week in the Utah legislature would ban government employees from collectively bargaining on any issue except for wages and health benefits. The proposal would bar unions from having a say in things like training, equipment and disciplinary procedures.

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Jan Brewer

Brewer Distances Herself From Arizona's Anti-Union Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 3, 2012, 2:19PM

Gov. Jan Brewer distanced herself on Friday from a series of Republican proposals in the Arizona Senate that could devastate organized labor in her state, saying she was never consulted on them and has other priorities.

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Arizona

Unions Scramble As Arizona GOP Moves Quickly On Labor Bills

Nick R. Martin | February 1, 2012, 11:54PM

Union members were searching for a way out of the wilderness on Wednesday in Arizona as the Republican-controlled Senate moved ahead quickly on several bills that could devastate organized labor in the state.

The measures caught many union leaders by surprise, being introduced on Monday night and passed in committee less than 48 hours later.

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Arizona

Tougher Than Wisconsin: Arizona Republicans Launch 'All Out Assault' On Public Unions

Nick R. Martin | January 31, 2012, 5:13PM

The Arizona State House of Representatives in Phoenix, AZ

With a sweeping series of bills introduced Monday night in the state Senate, Republicans in Arizona hoped to make Wisconsin's battle against public unions last year look like a lightweight sparring match.

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Mitt Romney

Tax Questions Tripped Up Romney's Run For Governor

Nick R. Martin | January 24, 2012, 2:16PM

Presidential Candidate And Former Governor Mitt Romney (R-MA)

It may be a touch of deja vu that Mitt Romney's campaign is being weighed down by questions about his taxes. A similar issue tripped him up during his 2002 run for governor of Massachusetts.

Romney was the Republican gubernatorial frontrunner that year when state elections officials investigated the fact that he received a major tax break on his $3.8 million mansion in Park City, Utah.

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Donald 'Buz' Lukens

The Unbelievable Career Of John Boehner's Congressional Predecessor

Ryan J. Reilly and Zoe Schlanger | July 21, 2011, 6:00AM

Donald "Buz" Lukens, former Ohio representative

Ever wanted to know who to thank for House Speaker John Boehner's congressional career? The late Ohio Republican Rep. Donald "Buz" Lukens was your man.

It was 1990. Lukens was in his second term in Congress. The year before, the 58-year-old congressman had been caught on a television network's hidden camera in a McDonald's restaurant speaking with the mother of a 16-year-old girl he was allegedly sleeping with.

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Mitch Daniels

Mitch Daniels' Social 'Truce' Faces Test Over Planned Parenthood Vote

Melissa Jeltsen | April 28, 2011, 10:21AM

Gov. Mitch Daniels (R-IN)

Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels' (R) "truce" on social issues is now facing its first real test.

Indiana is set to become the first state to cut off federal funding for Planned Parenthood, unless Daniels vetoes the bill sent to him Thursday by the Indiana State Legislature.

The bill would bar the state from entering a contract with any entity that performs abortions (excluding hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers). Planned Parenthood, which operates 28 centers in the state, would lose all public dollars.

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voter fraud

As Voter ID Laws Spread Across Statehouses, House GOP Telegraphs Anti-Voter Fraud Bill

Ryan J. Reilly | April 1, 2011, 1:00PM

Rep. Gregg Harper (R-MS)

With voter ID laws popping up in Republican-controlled statehouses across the country, could a federal bill be far off?

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New Black Panthers

Poll Watcher To New Black Panther Party Videographer: 'Don't F**k Up The Story' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 28, 2011, 11:10AM

Stephen Robert Morse was a freelance journalist and videographer working as a poll watcher for the local Republican Party in Philadelphia in 2008 when he got the call of his lifetime.

Members of the New Black Panther Party, he was told, were standing outside a polling place in an overwhelmingly African-American section of the city.

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Birthers

Birther Interrupts House Reading Of Constitution, Yells 'Help Us Jesus' (VIDEO)

Ryan J. Reilly | January 6, 2011, 12:08PM

An apparent member of the birther movement seated in the gallery of the House of Representatives on Thursday interrupted a reading of the Constitution. The woman yelled out "Except Obama, except Obama, help us Jesus!" as Rep. Frank Pallone (D-NJ) read the "natural born citizen" clause of the Constitution.

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Ralph Hall

New House Science Chair Has Zero Percent Rating From Conservation Group

Ryan J. Reilly | December 8, 2010, 4:59PM

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX)

Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), the oldest member of Congress, was officially confirmed as the next chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee on Wednesday.

The Texas representative is a strong supporter of the oil and gas industry and has voiced his support for opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. The League of Conservation Voters has given him a zero-percent rating every year since 2004 due to his positions and votes on environmental issues.

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Darrell Issa

Team Issa Plans Hundreds Of Oversight Hearings

Ryan J. Reilly | November 9, 2010, 2:25PM

Reps. Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Jason Chaffetz (R-UT), Jim Jordan (R-OH), and Darrell Issa (R-CA)

Darrell Issa -- the chairman-in-waiting of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform -- wants each of his seven subcommittees to hold one or two hearings a week, for a total of seven hearings per week during a 40-week period, he told Politico. That would mean nearly 300 hearings.

Issa also said he is looking at members like Reps. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, Patrick McHenry of North Carolina and Jim Jordan of Ohio to chair some of the seven subcommittees of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

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voter fraud

West Virginia GOP Launches Anti-Voter Fraud Effort

Ryan J. Reilly | October 26, 2010, 8:55AM

A West Virginia Republican Party lawn sign

The Republican Party in West Virginia has launched a state-wide anti-voter fraud effort that includes poll workers, what they have termed ballot security teams and "Stop Voter Fraud" signs.

"We'll be watching courthouses, county clerks, absentee ballot filing, early voting protocols, how those things are done," Robert Cornelius of the West Virginia GOP told TPMMuckraker.

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voter fraud

Illinois GOP Chair: We're Working With RNLA On 'Voter Integrity' Program

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 2:26PM

Illinois Republican Party Chairman Pat Brady

Illinois GOP Chairman Pat Brady told TPMMuckraker on Tuesday that the state Republican Party does not have a prominent birther on the payroll, but confirmed that his organization is working with the Republican National Lawyers Association to train volunteers on election day as part of a "voter integrity" initiative.

Brady -- who previously posted a notice on the GOP website about the "voter integrity" program that was later scrubbed -- said that the program is not unusual.

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Republican National Lawyers Association

Illinois GOP Worked With 'Birther' On 'Voter Integrity' Plan

Ryan J. Reilly | October 19, 2010, 9:45AM

The voter integrity program that has come to be associated with the campaign of GOP Senate nominee Mark Kirk was launched by the Illinois Republican Party, working with a conservative political action committee and an anti-Obama birther, Mother Jones reported.

Sharon Meroni -- who according to Mother Jones blogs under the pseudonym "Chalice Jackson" -- launched a petition demanding Obama's resignation for "high crimes and misdemeanors." Reached on Monday, Meroni wouldn't answer TPMMuckraker's questions, referring any inquiries to another representative. "My role is to recruit, and that's it," she said.

She did, however, say that the proper person to speak with was Curt Conrad, who is listed online as the Executive Director, IL Republican State Committee. Conrad didn't return a message left for him on Monday.

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Mark Kirk

Mark Kirk's 'Voter Integrity' Program Connected To IL GOP, National Efforts

Ryan J. Reilly | October 14, 2010, 11:00AM

Rep. Mark Kirk (IL)

So just who are the "lawyers and other people" that Rep. Mark Kirk, the Republican nominee for the Illinois' Senate seat, planned to deploy to two predominately African-American neighborhoods in Chicago and two other areas of Illinois on Election Day?

Republicans are being publicly mum in the wake of the Kirk revelations, and many GOP Illinois officials didn't return messages left for them Wednesday. But a week ago the state Republican Party posted on its website a request for volunteers for a "ballot integrity" program -- and just this week the Republican National Lawyers Association was conducting training on this issue in Chicago.

According to an Oct. 6 posting on the Illinois GOP website by Chairman Pat Brady, the Republicans were seeking volunteers for their "ballot integrity" program. Brady noted that "ballot integrity will be a key ingredient to our success, and we need your help."

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voter fraud

Despite Dearth Of Evidence, Right Wing Voter Fraud Fear Machine Carries On

Ryan J. Reilly and Rachel Slajda | September 30, 2010, 8:30AM

Remember the dire warnings and shrill allegations of voter fraud surrounding the 2008 election? That ACORN would steal it, that the New Black Panthers were intimidating voters, that fraud across the county would be "rampant?"

They never panned out. ACORN no longer exists. (Although that hasn't stopped 20 percent of the American public from believing they'll try to steal the election.) The DOJ found that the New Black Panthers incident was isolated -- although that case found new life in allegations against the Justice Department itself (more on that below). A five-year effort by the Bush DOJ to weed out fraud, an effort the Obama team said was designed to suppress minority voter turnout, turned up "virtually no evidence."

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New Black Panthers

Former Voting Chief Set To Testify As Conservatives Wrap Up New Black Panthers Report

Ryan J. Reilly | September 24, 2010, 9:55AM

Tom Perez, J. Christian Adams, and Christopher Coates

It's been 689 days since two men affiliated with a fringe group called the New Black Panther Party, one of them carrying a nightstick, stood outside of the a polling place dressed in military garb in an overwhelmingly African-American community in Philadelphia.

The conservative majority of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights had been prepared today to approve a report that observers expected would blast the Obama administration for the decision to drop the civil case against all but one of defendants, which was brought in the waning days of the Bush administration.

But mid-afternoon Wednesday, the former chief of the Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division who signed off on the case, Chris Coates, sent this letter to the commission chairman stating that -- in defiance of the Justice Department's order -- he would like to appear before the panel.

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voter fraud

As Billboards Pop Up In Wisconsin, Tea Party And GOP Accused Of Voter Suppression

Ryan J. Reilly | September 23, 2010, 1:10PM

The Wisconsin Republican Party claims to have shelved an elaborate plan to coordinate with other conservative groups to root out purported voter fraud in the state's upcoming election.

The original plan, which was revealed in a document obtained and made public by a progressive group in the state, would have designated Tea Party groups as investigators in the field looking for fraudulent registrations -- looking through the white pages to authenticate voter addresses, pulling up homes on Google Maps and even driving by houses and apartments to conduct visual checks.

Under an earlier draft of the plan, Tea Party volunteers would then send complete reports to a Wisconsin GOP official, and were instructed to delete all copies of the data and required to sign a confidentiality notice.

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Fox News

Fox News Took 'Dramatic Step' In Suing Political Campaign, Says Copyright Expert

Ryan J. Reilly | September 16, 2010, 4:54PM

Fox News' decision to sue a Democratic candidate over her campaign's use of footage first aired on the network in an ad is an apparent escalation of such fair use battles -- bringing disputes between media companies and campaigns from YouTube to the courtroom.

The suit the network filed against the campaign of Robin Carnahan, a Democrat challenging Rep. Roy Blunt (R) for a Senate seat in Missouri, appears to be the first time such a fair use fight between a media company and a political campaign has been taken to court. It is much more common for media companies to flag the videos to YouTube and assert their copyright.

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Fox News

Fox News Sues Over Carnahan Commercial, Says It Implies Network Endorsed Democrat

Ryan J. Reilly | September 16, 2010, 12:45PM

Fox News wants to make this much perfectly clear to their viewers: their network didn't endorse a Democrat.

The network and anchor Christopher Wallace have sued Robin Carnahan, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Missouri, in federal court, alleging the politician used footage of Wallace's interview of Rep. Roy Blunt (R) in a campaign ad which made it look as though the network was endorsing her.

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Scott DesJarlais

Tenn. Republican Nominee For Congress Accused Of Harassment, Intimidation and Abuse

Ryan J. Reilly | September 16, 2010, 11:29AM

Scott DesJarlais

Republican Scott DesJarlais -- challenging Rep. Lincoln Davis (D) in Tennessee's 4th district -- was accused by his ex-wife in a divorce proceeding a decade ago of harassment, intimidation and physical abuse, Roll Call reported Thursday.

Back in November 2000, DesJarlais' wife sought to obtain sole possession of the couple's home and said she was forced to leave after her husband became violent. DesJarlais was accused of "dry firing a gun outside the Plaintiff's locked bedroom door, admission of suicidal ideation, holding a gun in his mouth for three hours, an incident of physical intimidation at the hospital; and previous threatening behavior ... i.e. shoving, tripping, pushing down, etc."

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Jim Greer

Report: Anonymous Letter Led To Jim Greer's Arrest

Eric Lach | June 3, 2010, 6:34PM

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer

A mysterious letter mailed to a 76-year-old retiree in Fort Myers, Florida led to the eventual indictment of former Florida GOP Chairman Jim Greer, according to the The Florida Independent.

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Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab

Leahy And Feinstein: Try Terrorists In Federal Courts

Justin Elliott | February 11, 2010, 2:41PM

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT)

More than a month after Republicans started attacking President Obama for prosecuting the attempted Christmas bombing suspect in federal court, two top Senate Dems have finally come out to back Obama in strong terms.

Patrick Leahy and Diane Feinstein, chairs of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees, respectively, write in a letter to the president today that federal criminal courts -- not military commissions -- should be used to prosecute terrorists.

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Tim Pawlenty

Pawlenty Brings $100K Check To Alabama GOP. Who's The Mystery Donor?

Zachary Roth | February 9, 2010, 12:06PM

Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-MN)

On Friday, Governor Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota gave a speech to Republican Party activists in Montgomery, Alabama. But Pawlenty, who's seen as a top GOP presidential contender for 2012, brought something with him besides his notes, reports Minnesota Public Radio: a $100,000 check for the Alabama Republican Party, from an anonymous donor.

The existence of the check -- said to be earmarked to help Alabama GOPers win control of the state legislature -- was announced, before Pawlenty's speech, by Alabama Republican chair Mike Hubbard. (You can listen to the audio of Hubbard's announcement here)

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Ron Nehring

Allegations Against Leader Cause Turmoil In CA GOP

Zachary Roth | February 9, 2010, 10:31AM

Ron Nehring, chairman of the California Republican Party

The California Republican Party is being roiled by a controversy stemming from allegations about the private life of chairman Ron Nehring.

Last night, the San Diego GOP voted by 44-1 to boot one of its members from the county's central committee, citing "inappropriate behavior." The member, Michael Crimmins, who was the party's nominee in 2008 against incumbent Democratic congresswoman Susan Davis, had sent an email to state party leaders, raising concerns about the behavior of Nehring and San Diego County chair Tony Krvaric.

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Obama Administration

Holder To GOP: We're Simply Doing What Bush Did

Justin Elliott | February 3, 2010, 2:24PM

Attorney General Eric Holder

In a letter to Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Attorney General Eric Holder is continuing the push back against GOP attacks on the Obama Administration's decision to handle Umar Abdulmutallab in American courts.

"Since the September 11, 2001 attacks, the practice of the U.S. government,
followed by prior and current Administrations without a single exception, has been to
arrest and detain under federal criminal law all terrorist suspects who are apprehended
inside the United States," Holder writes (emphasis in original).

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Tea Party Nation

Palin Tea Party Convention Speech To Be Broadcast Live

Zachary Roth | February 1, 2010, 3:38PM

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin

The much-maligned Tea Party group organizing the National Tea Party Convention this week has announced that portions of the controversial confab, including Sarah Palin's speech, will be broadcast live.

In a press release, Tea Party Nation (TPN) spokesman Mark Skoda writes:

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Stephen Worth

GOP's Key Anti-Union Witness Underpaid Workers, Violated Wage Laws

Zachary Roth | February 1, 2010, 12:05PM

Stephen Worth

House Republicans held a forum last month to slam the Obama administration's alliance with organized labor, charging, among other things, that government favoritism toward the labor movement was unfairly preventing non-union companies from getting contracts. But GOP lawmakers declined to mention that a key witness at the event, the CEO of a Pennsylvania construction firm, had in fact agreed to be temporarily barred from receiving government contracts after being found to have violated state wage laws by underpaying workers.

Stephen Worth, who runs Worth & Company, appeared in late January alongside Steve Forbes and Elaine Chao as a witness at a Capitol Hill forum entitled "A Culture of Favoritism: The Obama Administration's Labor Agenda." The event, organized by Rep. John Kline (R-MN), the ranking Republican on the House Education and Labor committee, was designed to showcase, as a GOP press release put it, how "Washington Democrats have sought to reward political allies" in the labor movement, "at the expense of working Americans."

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Nathan Deal

GOP Rep In Ethics Scrap Over Auto Salvage Business

Justin Elliott | December 18, 2009, 10:24AM

Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA)

A GOP congressman's reported intervention with Georgia officials to preserve a sweetheart business setup for his auto salvage inspection company has drawn the attention of the House ethics committee, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this week.

After the newspaper first revealed the actions of Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) in August, an investigator for the ethics panel said in an e-mail that the panel planned to issue a subpoena in the case, indicating the seriousness of the matter, according to documents the Journal-Constitution obtained through an open records request. The ethics panel declined to comment about any investigation.

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Scott Rothstein

GOP Govs Group Got Whopping $200,000 From Accused Fraudster

Justin Elliott | November 17, 2009, 9:56AM

Scott Rothstein (inset)

The Republican Governors Association got a $200,000 donation last year from Fort Lauderdale attorney Scott Rothstein, who is being accused of a fraud worth as much as $1 billion. The RGA did not respond to requests for comment about the contribution, and it's not known whether the money has, or will be, returned.

Rothstein was until his fall a top donor and fundraiser for Florida Gov. Charlie Crist, who is now locked in a hotly contested U.S. Senate primary with conservative Marco Rubio.

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Scott Rothstein

Prominent And Politically Connected Florida Attorney Accused In $100M Fraud Scheme

Justin Elliott | November 3, 2009, 12:29PM

Scott Rothstein

In a case already being compared to the Bernie Madoff affair, a lawsuit filed Monday in Broward County accuses south Florida "super attorney" Scott Rothstein of bilking investors in a scheme run out of the powerful firm Rothstein, Rosenfeldt and Adler, which now says it can't make payroll.

An attorney for one investor told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that the amount of money missing could be over $100 million, though it's not clear where it went.

Rothstein and his wife are jet-setters who live in a 6-plus million dollar Fort Lauderdale home and were known for driving a veritable fleet of expensive sports cars and showering their favorite charities with big donations. A flamboyant character who was once pictured on billboards with Miami Dolphins great Dan Marino, Rothstein grew up in a lower-middle class family in the Bronx. He's now out of town and possibly out of the country -- no one knows where exactly -- and the Feds have reportedly shown up at his law firm offices.

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Michael Steele

Behind The GOP.com Re-Launch: Meet The Writer Steele Used To Buff Party's Image

Zachary Roth | October 14, 2009, 6:37PM

Author of GOP.com "Heroes" section, Michael Zak's homepage

The big GOP.com relaunch has been plagued by technical and other snafus, as we've been documenting. But those mishaps may be the least of it.

The new site is at pains to present the party as racially tolerant, and to stress its anti-slavery history. But Michael Steele and Co. have outsourced that task to a writer who has argued that Democrats' "socialist policies have recreated a vile new version of the slave system."

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