On Wednesday, President Joe Biden announced a significant increase of the U.S. military presence in Europe, including additional naval destroyers stationed in Spain, two F-35 fighter jet squadrons in the United Kingdom, and a headquarters in Poland for the U.S. 5th Army Corps.
Making the announcement, Biden noted:
“The United States and our allies, we’re going to step up. We’re proving that NATO is more needed now than it ever has been and it’s as important as it ever has been.”
Shortly after Biden made his remarks, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) went on Twitter and proved her complete ignorance of foreign and military policy while also making it crystal clear where her true loyalty lies.
The American people do not want war with Russia, but NATO & our own foolish leaders are dragging us into one.
A war that no one will win.
Escalation over Ukraine, a non-member nation, risking nuclear war is a power play endangering the entire world.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) June 30, 2022
Of course, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Congresswoman Greene (along with the vast majority of the Republican Party) is once again siding with Russian President and mass murderer Vladimir Putin and against our NATO allies.
Greene got pelted with derision for her ignorant tweet.
Putin has already indicated that he doesn't plan to stop at Ukraine.
How much did he pay you for that tweet?
— Frank Wears A Mask (@Frankwearsamask) June 30, 2022
You blather on all the time about “aMeRiCa FiRsT”.
You know what REALLY puts America first? Leading by example and standing up for freedom EVERYWHERE, not cowering before a dictator, not bailing on the alliances we may someday need to call on in a time of need.
Oh, so your idea is to give Putin what he wants? And what about the next demand? You seem to be under the assumption that if we pull out of NATO that, that would de-escalate the situation. That just proves you have no idea what you're doing.
If you were wondering why the January 6 House Select Committee has been so very hush-hush about its last-minute hearing later this afternoon, we now know that it has something to do with “massive security threats” related to Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), according to Jacqueline Alemany of the Washington Post.
Alemany was a guest on MSNBC this morning and revealed what she had learned from sources on Capitol Hill regarding Cassidy Hutchinson, a former aide to White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, who will testify today and why there’s so much cloak and dagger from the Jan. 6 panel:
“We have heard actually that some of the, as you just read, that the reason why her testimony has been so closely guarded is because of massive security threats in the last hearing. She did say, reveal, that [Rep.] Marjorie Taylor Greene, she heard Marjorie Taylor Greene asked for a pardon, and you can only imagine what that does in terms of elevating her name and potentially causing far-right extremists to levy some of these credible threats that have come her way.”
Greene wasn’t the only Republican who was seeking a pardon in the final days of the Trump administration. The others we know about thanks to Hutchinson are Reps. Andy Biggs (R-AZ), Mo Brooks (R-AL), Matt Gaetz (R-FL), Louie Gohmert (R-TX), and Scott Perry (R-PA).
Alemany also compared Hutchinson’s Tuesday testimony to a well-known figure from the Watergate scandal which led to the resignation of Richard Nixon:
“We have had people previously tell us that if there is anyone going to be the John Dean of this investigation, Cassidy Hutchinson is the person who is the most likely to be that person in terms of her access to the top figures in Trump’s orbit and her proximity to the former president and what she was able to overhear, the people in and out of the Oval Office on Jan. 6. But it is important to note we’re not sure there’s another witness corroborating her testimony today. There was clearly a sensitivity and urgency to her testifying today, and you’ve got to think that it’s in part due to the security concerns, but also because they’re worried she might potentially back out. This is not a small thing for this individual to come forward, put her career on the line.”
The Post reporter concluded by noting:
“Obviously she’s being compelled, there are subpoenas at play. Several individuals like Bill Stepien who didn’t appear were subpoenaed to appear, but this is a big thing for her. She’s in her 20s, she’s a young person with, you know, little institutional support in terms of the other people she used to work with cooperating with this investigation.”
Even if she does manage to win a second term in Congress, it appears that Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) won’t be able to forestall the closing of her restaurant, Shooters Grill, which is facing eviction at the end of August, though it could also be much sooner than that.
Boebert told The Daily Beast that she and her husband, Jayson Boebert, had been surprised to receive the notice last week announcing that their lease would not be renewed. The building’s ownership changed hands last month, she said, and now Shooters would either have to find new digs or shut down for good.
But the day after that notice arrived, an anti-Boebert political group somehow got word that the timeline was even tighter than that—two weeks, the group said, putting the possible ouster just days before Republicans hit the polls for primary day.
Her employees hadn’t heard that yet, so Boebert scrambled to quash that rumor, which she characterized to The Daily Beast as rank misinformation. Still, the truth stood: The restaurant she and her husband founded eight years ago was on the brink of closing.
Shooters Grill is an essential part of the “success” story Boebert has sold to voters, asserting that she rose from nothing and managed to become a successful business owner with hard work and a belief in the American dream.
The facts, however, suggest that Boebert’s definition of success isn’t exactly in line with reality.
A recent report from Mother Jones revealed that Shooters is already on the verge of collapsing financially:
Employees tell me they believed that Boebert’s husband, who works as a consultant in the oil and gas industry, was keeping the company afloat. “There were times when we were waiting for him to get his check, so that way she could get us our check,” one former employee says. According to Boyington, “He’s the one who paid the rent, all the bills, everything.”
And yet Boebert insists the restaurant is doing fine financially:
“Does a restaurant ever turn a profit? No, we’re doing fine. We’re not in the red, we’re—we’re in the black, so it’s a lot better than last year.”
As with nearly everything Boebert says, it’s almost impossible to separate the truth from the mountain of bullshit that surrounds it.
Ohio Republican Congressman Jim Jordan got his head handed to him on Wednesday by National Football League Commissioner Roger Goodell when Jordan tried to trip up Goodell on the subject of the First Amendment and free speech.
Specifically, Jordan said he was upset that Goodell had fined Washington Commanders Jack Del Rio for downplaying the January 6, 2021 Capitol riot that left five people (including a Capitol Police officer) dead.
Jordan began with a confrontational tone, asking Goodell:
“You made this statement. ‘We the National Football League encourage all to speak out and peacefully protest.’ Did you really mean that when you said, Mr. Goodell?”
Goodell replied:
“Yes, I think people are responsible for what they say and what they do. Yes.”
Jordan:
“When you said you encourage all to speak out, you meant all, not just some?”
And that’s when Goodell reminded Jordan that the First Amendment isn’t absolute:
“That’s correct, congressman, but you are responsible for what you say. There are consequences for what you do, and say, and write.”
Jordan’s wan response was “Yeah.”
"But you are responsible for what you say. There are consequences for what you do and say" — Goodell has to explain the First Amendment to Jim Jordan pic.twitter.com/a0YWz7v16m
Keep in mind this is the same Jim Jordan who spoke via phone with failed, one-term, twice-impeached former president Donald Trump as the attack on the Capitol was taking place and may have also helped plan the attack.
Also, Jordan has steadfastly refused to give testimony to the January 6 committee unless they agree to show him all of the evidence they have in advance. Sounds like the sort of thing a guilty person would demand, doesn’t it?
Today’s public hearing of the January 6 House Select Committee expanded the conspiracy that had already been laid out in previous hearings, and we learned that Republican members of Congress were indeed part of the conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Cassidy Hutchinson was a top aide to former White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, and the committee played portions of her videotaped testimony in which she named Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) and “several members of Congress” who in late November and early December took part in a plan to draw up a slate of alternate electors who would go against the will of the voters and suggest that failed former president Donald Trump should remain in office.
Hutchinson testifies that Meadows, Giuliani, and members of Congress were involved in fake electors discussions pic.twitter.com/Ac8FYppJrj
Several members of Congress. Who might they be? We don’t know yet, and Hutchinson didn’t name them in the portion of her testimony that was broadcast today. But the fact there are multiple Republicans tells us that we do indeed have a conspiracy to commit a criminal act against the United States, which is a very serious offense.
The House Select Committee knows the names, and it’s safe to bet they will be laying them out in the days ahead or in their final report, which will be released before the midterm elections in November.
Just for fun, let’s speculate who might be on that list of “several.”
Rep. Jim Jordan (OH)
Rep. Andy Biggs (AZ)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA)
Sen. Ted Cruz (TX)
Sen. Josh Hawley (MO)
Once those names are made public, criminal referrals can be made to the Justice Department, provided they haven’t already been.
There’s going to be some sleepless nights ahead for several in the GOP.