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☆ Republican National Committee is suing Google, claiming it sent millions of fundraising emails to spam folders ahead of midterm elections
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Ryan Hogg | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

The RNC is suing Google, saying it illegally sent millions of outreach emails to spam folders. A 2020 study suggested Gmail was much more likely to send mail from right-wing groups to spam. "Google has relegated millions of RNC emails en masse to potential donors' and supporters' spam folders during pivotal points in election fundraising and community building," the lawsuit stated. Google said it used AI-driven filters to determine spam emails by examining factors including "characteristics of the IP address, domains/subdomains, whether bulk senders are authenticated, and user input." "For ten months in a row, Google has sent crucial end-of-month Republican GOTV and fundraising emails to spam with zero explanation.

☆ Insider asked 38 Republicans whether they're concerned about growing anti-Semitic sentiments in their party. Their responses included silence, deflection, and rehashing old statements.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-22 | by ( Warren Rojas | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Insider reached out to House Republican leaders, GOP senators auditioning for the 2024 presidential race, the Republican National Committee, retired GOP lawmakers, seasoned Republican strategists and former Donald Trump administration officials about this disturbing phenomenon. The non-respondents included RNC chair Ronna McDaniel, former Vice President Mike Pence, National Republican Senatorial Committee chair Rick Scott, House Republican Conference chair Elise Stefanik, Florida Gov. Meghan McCain, the daughter of late Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain, lashed out at West, Trump and House Republican "idiots" cheering on their reprehensible behavior. "You can say that his particular words in this particular case are not antisemitic," Rosen said Tuesday during Commentary's daily podcast. Nor have they convinced House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan to quit hailing West and Trump as personal heroes.

☆ RNC chair predicts the Senate will be narrowly split following the midterms, Oz will surpass Fetterman, and the GOP will retire Pelosi as House Speaker
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Isabella Zavarise | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

She also said that the GOP will "retire" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She told Decker she thinks the Senate will be very tight. The RNC chair added she's optimistic about Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz, despite him trailing Democratic candidate John Fetterman in recent polling. When asked about the allegations surrounding Herschel Walker, the Georgia Republican nominee for Senate, McDaniel told Decker he's been "very forthcoming" about his struggles with mental health. According to FiveThirtyEight, Republicans are favored to win the House while Democrats are slightly favored to win the Senate.

☆ Newt Gingrich is a self-avowed fiscal conservative and deficit hawk. But his 2012 presidential campaign committee remains millions in debt.
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Nicole Gaudiano | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Gingrich's latest 2012 presidential campaign filing shows a debt of $4.63 million. No presidential campaign from any election cycle owes creditors more money, per federal records. But Gingrich's 2012 presidential campaign committee, almost a decade past its expiration date, is still swimming in a sea of red. No presidential campaign from any election cycle owes creditors more money. A financial filing from Newt 2012, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich's 2012 presidential committee, which remains deep in debt to dozens of creditors.

The widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election as alleged by Trump and his supporters was never proven. Election officials in three other states -- North Carolina, Arizona and Nevada -- reported similar incidents. In 16 North Carolina counties alone, officials noted unusually aggressive observers during May's primary elections, according to a state election board survey. When told to stop, they said they were following guidance from a Republican Party lawyer, said Henderson County Election Director Karen Hebb. As head of the Election Integrity Network, Mitchell is training election observers and is trying to build grassroots networks of conservatives ahead of the midterms.

☆ A judge just tossed out the Justice Department's bid to force Trump donor and casino mogul Steve Wynn to register as a foreign agent
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-12 | by ( C. Ryan Barber | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

In a 20-page opinion, Judge James Boasberg sided with Wynn's argument that the Justice Department lacked the power to force the disclosure of his alleged stint as a foreign agent of China. It was not immediately clear if the Justice Department would appeal. A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a prepared statement, Wynn's lawyers Reid Weingarten and Robert Luskin said they were "delighted" by the dismissal of a Justice Department lawsuit they described as "ill-conceived." The Justice Department said Wynn agreed in 2017 to lobby on behalf of China in exchange for favorable treatment of his casino business in Macau.

☆ DeSantis and the GOP's myth of an 'open border'
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Debu Gandhi | Debu Gandhi Is The Senior Director Of Immigration Policy At The Center For American Progress Action Fund. | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +9 min

One would think that those perpetuating the “open border” myth would be eager to seize every opportunity to strengthen border security. This action — and similar ones orchestrated by other GOP governors — have also deliberately elevated the “open border” narrative, which falsely represents that unlawful immigrants are waltzing into the U.S. through a porous southern border in droves. Contrary to the “open border” myth, U.S. borders are guarded by a vast and well-funded national security agency that has grown far larger and more powerful in recent years. Nick Ut / Getty Images fileOne would think that those perpetuating the “open border” myth would be eager to seize every opportunity to strengthen border security. Characterizing the humanitarian challenge at the southern border as a solely U.S. “open border” problem also presents an inaccurate picture of the global forced displacement crisis.

☆ Group launches $10 million push to reach Asian American voters in battleground states
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-20 | by ( Zachary Schermele | ) www.nbcnews.com time to read: +4 min

The Asian American Power Network, a progressive advocacy group, has launched a $10 million effort to turn out Asian American voters in seven key battleground states ahead of the midterms. In the 2020 presidential election, the number of Asian Americans who voted in five battleground states was larger than the presidential margin of victory, according to the nonpartisan group Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote, or APIAVote. Just over 40% of Asian American voters who spoke a language other than English at home said they would use voting assistance if it was available in their own language, the survey showed. The survey showed that the three most important issues to Asian American voters were health care, the economy and crime. Ramakrishnan said the combination of redistricting and Roe v. Wade’s reversal is adding to campaigns’ uncertainty about voter behavior in November, so Asian American voters could play a key role.

☆ In Wisconsin, Election Skeptics Deploy as Poll Watchers for Midterms
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Alexa Corse | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

GREEN BAY, Wis.—Republicans here are recruiting a fresh batch of poll watchers to monitor voting in November as part of a revamped response to allegations of election fraud that roiled the latest presidential contest. Poll watching, a normally mundane duty where volunteers sit for hours watching for any possible rule violations at voting sites, is emerging as a flashpoint in the fight over U.S. election rules after former President Donald Trump falsely claimed that widespread election fraud cost him the 2020 race. The Republican National Committee said it has launched a multimillion-dollar effort to recruit tens of thousands of poll watchers and poll workers and hire dozens of staff to monitor voting.

☆ Lindsey Graham's abortion ban bill baffles some Republicans as Democrats sharpen attacks in key midterm races
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-16 | by ( Kevin Breuninger | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Graham's bill has virtually no chance of passing the current Congress, where Democrats hold slim majorities in the House and Senate. Some Republicans, including GOP candidates in pivotal Senate races, have backed Graham's new proposal. But other top Republicans either refused to back Graham's bill or expressed a belief that individual states should set their own abortion laws. "With regard to abortion, Democrats are clearly focused on abortion," he added. As Graham's bill brought a renewed focus to the issue, Democrats pounced.

☆ Donald Trump privately admitted he'd lost 2020 election while publicly claiming it had been stolen, book says
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-13 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Donald Trump privately admitted defeat after the 2020 election, a new book claims. At the same time, the former president was publicly claiming victory had been stolen from him. The House Jan. 6 committee has heard evidence Trump knew his stolen election claims were false. The sincerity of Trump's stolen election claims has been one area of focus for the House committee investigating the riot. The committee argues that Trump knew, or should have known, his election fraud claims were false but continued making them anyway.

☆ Republicans' next big play is to 'scare the hell out of Washington' by rewriting the Constitution. And they're willing to play the long game to win.
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-31 | by ( Grace Panetta | Brent D. Griffiths | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +27 min

Whether it happens, he said, is highly dependent on Republicans' success winning state legislatures during the 2022 midterm elections. But not everyone in the conservative constitutional convention movement believes such a gathering is so imminent. Constitutional convention boosters include many of Trump's current and former allies, including conservative legal scholar John Eastman, Florida Gov. In 2012, the Republican National Committee went so far as to pass a resolution formally opposing the convention movement. A convention of states would be the first of its kind since the original Constitutional convention in Philadelphia in 1787.

☆ 3 of Trump's high-profile Senate picks — Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, and JD Vance — are in serious trouble despite a favorable 2022 midterm climate for the GOP
▼ + stars: | 2022-07-19 | by ( Jake Lahut | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A seemingly dormant Mehmet Oz campaign has struggled to unify the MAGA base in Pennsylvania. "Since Dr. Oz's victory remarks on June 9th, he has been to over 75 events," Oz campaign spokesperson Brittany Yanick told Insider in a statement. The Oz campaign would not say when it has plans to launch new TV ads. The Vance campaign responded to Insider's request for comment by attacking Rep. Tim Ryan. "It's why Democrats have a chance of holding onto the Senate," he told Insider, "is just the horrible class of candidates they've nominated."

☆ The dirty little secret on how congressional staff thrive in the always-on world of modern politics is doing moonlight work like 80-hour weeks, including unpaid Saturdays and Sundays
▼ + stars: | 2022-06-04 | by ( Kimberly Leonard | Warren Rojas | Camila Dechalus | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +21 min

Some tasks included connecting with local reporters and coordinating messaging with partner political outfits such as EMILY's List and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. That helped her boss' official congressional office save money it could then spend elsewhere, but it did nothing to help her own financial situation. Congressional staffers have used social-media accounts such as Dear White Staffers to spotlight professional burnout, inadequate pay, long hours, diversity failings, and caustic bosses. For example, one of the rules says a congressional staffer working in a congressional office must step outside the office to do campaign work. Or, if there is compensation offered — which isn't guaranteed — they may desperately need the additional money to supplement the low pay for congressional staff."

☆ Republican Party officials made a mysterious $36,000 payment in February to private investigators who advertise their use of surveillance drones and hidden cameras
▼ + stars: | 2021-03-22 | by ( Robin Bravender | Dave Levinthal | Tom Lobianco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

The Michigan company appears to use drones and secret cameras in its surveillance. "This could be a million and one things," a former RNC official told Insider of the payment. "You'd have to know specifically what they were after before you could draw any conclusions," the former RNC official said. A Cross Xamine Investigations promotional video includes images of surveillance drones and video cameras, as well as eyeglasses that appear to have a camera embedded in them. The RNC's payment to a private investigations firm is "far from common — very, very rare," another longtime Democratic operative familiar with opposition research said.

Trump's Save America PAC released a photo showing the former president meeting with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on January 28. It added: "President Trump will always and forever be a champion for the American People." Millions of Trump supporters would likely follow Trump to a new political party — if he chose to break away from the Republican Party. Afterward, McCarthy predicted intraparty peace, saying in a statement: "President Trump committed to helping elect Republicans in the House and Senate in 2022." "President Trump has agreed to work with Leader McCarthy on helping the Republican Party to become a majority in the House."

☆ Watchdog group accuses the Trump campaign and family members of engaging in 'schemes' that hid massive election spending and likely broke federal law
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-28 | by ( Dave Levinthal | Tom Lobianco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

An election watchdog group has filed an updated complaint with the FEC against the Trump campaign. The Trump campaign "hid an incredible amount of money," Campaign Legal Center Director of Federal Reform Brendan Fischer said in an interview. A spokesman for the Trump campaign did not immediately return a request for comment Thursday morning. As a civil law enforcement body, it may issue fines to political committees and actors it determines have violated federal campaign laws. The Campaign Legal Center has not filed a complaint with the Department of Justice, which is tasked with investigating potential criminal violations of campaign finance laws.

☆ Trump and the GOP may be headed for an expensive divorce fight over donor and voter data
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-22 | by ( Dave Levinthal | Tom Lobianco | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

A Trump campaign spokesman did not immediately return a request for comment. Donald Trump personally trademarked the slogan, and his presidential campaign subsequently assumed the trademark. It can even generate cash for years after a political campaign goes dormant. Romney's presidential committee finally terminated itself in September, transferring much of its remaining $92,000 to Romney's US Senate campaign committee after paying off lingering bills. Donations benefited both the Trump presidential campaign and RNC.

☆ These are all the federal crimes Trump extremists could be charged with after their attack on the US Capitol
▼ + stars: | 2021-01-08 | by ( Dave Levinthal | Tina Sfondeles | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +17 min

Federal authorities and other law enforcement will likely make more arrests within days, if not hours. "These fools made it easy for law enforcement to find them because they were posing for pictures. An Insider analysis of the United States Code, coupled with interviews with several leading experts on federal law, identified more than a dozen different federal crimes that could apply to Trump supporters who attacked the Capitol. Assaulting, resisting, or impeding government officialsVideos both inside and outside the Capitol showed numerous pro-Trump extremists physically fighting with and otherwise interfering with federal law enforcement and other government officials. Anyone who "willfully injures or commits any depredation against any property of the United States" commits a federal crime.

☆ EXCLUSIVE: Jared Kushner helped create a Trump campaign shell company that secretly paid the president's family members and spent $617 million in reelection cash, a source tells Insider
▼ + stars: | 2020-12-18 | by ( Tom Lobianco | Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

American Made Media Consultants became the source of consternation for President Donald Trump's campaign staff, who were kept in the dark about its operations. Despite its $617 million spending through AMMC, the Trump campaign publicly disclosed little information about the company, including how it used the money. Insider independently verified details of this person's account with other people close to the Trump campaign. The shell company — incorporated as American Made Media Consultants Corp. and American Made Media Consultants LLC — allowed Trump's campaign to skirt federally mandated disclosures. "Nothing was done without Jared's approval," the former Trump campaign advisor said.

☆ Sorry, Biden backers. President Donald Trump actually has more campaign cash now than 4 years ago
▼ + stars: | 2020-09-10 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

President Trump's campaign ended July with $120 million, about three times more than the roughly $39 million it reported at this point in 2016. This doesn't cost Trump's campaign anything but helps get his message to voters. In addition to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee and several pro-Trump super PACs have planned heavy spending before Election Day. The Trump campaign ended July with more than $120 million, compared with about $99 million for Biden. Some areas of Trump campaign spending have even dropped from 2016 to 2020.

☆ Trump's most important 2016 donor is sitting out 2020
▼ + stars: | 2020-07-24 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +20 min

Robert and Rebekah Mercer ranked among President Donald Trump's most influential backers in 2016. A representative for Priorities USA Action, a leading pro-Biden super PAC, said the organization wasn't underestimating Trump's reelection forces, Mercers or no Mercers. (Bossie, like former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski and many others, has recently found himself back in Trump's favor.) The Cambridge Analytica data that the Trump campaign paid for was "so stupidly wrong" and a "complete joke," Spicer added. But sources familiar with the Mercers' political spending said they have no evidence that the Mercers are doing so.

☆ Trump campaign throws a COVID-19 lifeline to an indie bookstore in New Jersey, buying Rep. Dan Crenshaw's new book in bulk
▼ + stars: | 2020-07-20 | by ( Dave Levinthal | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

"It helped us pay the staff, the rent, the insurance and keep the lights on," Books & Greetings owner Kenny Sarfin said. Campaign committees are increasingly making bulk book purchases, which help juice sales numbers and propel politicos' writings onto bestseller lists. The sale follows an earlier $400,000 order of Crenshaw's book by the National Republican Campaign Committee, Politico first reported. The Trump campaign did not reply to several request for comment. While political-committee book purchases are en vogue, it's rare for Republicans — or Democrats — to purchase so many from a mom-and-pop operation.

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