Senator Lindsey Graham joined Donald Trump in taking a victory lap after the former president obtained a massive win in South Carolina that effectively ends his last remaining rival Nikki Haley’s viability in the Republican primary race.
Graham, whose home state is South Carolina, joined Donald Trump as he took a victory lap.
“Another man — not a lot of people know him, he doesn’t do too much television,” Trump joked. “He happens to be a little bit further left than some of the people on the stage.”
“But I always say when I’m in trouble on the left, I call up Lindsey Graham and he straightens it out so fast,” Trump said and starts hearing the grumbling from the crowd.
“And I’ll tell you, no, no, no, no,” Trump continued. “Remember, remember I love him. He is a good man. Come up here, Lindsey. Come up here. Lindsey.”
The South Carolina senator then walked up to the microphone and shook off the boos.
“Okay. Are you ready? America, the nightmare you’re facing is just about over,” Graham said. “Help is on the way. This is the most qualified man to be president of the United States,” Graham said, drawing cheers.
“And let it be said that South Carolina created the biggest political comeback in American history,” Graham added.
“Wow,” Trump said.
In August 2021, York County, South Carolina, voted to censure Graham for his voting record, as reported by NBC affiliate WCNC. In August 2022, Horry County also censured the senator from South Carolina for a violation of Republican Party principles.
But nothing soothes old wounds like winning. As General Douglas MacArthur pointed out, there is no substitute for victory.
While Fox News correctly called South Carolina for Donald Trump, viewers may have been misled by the omission of an important fact that gave the false appearance that Republican voters who pulled the lever for Haley would refuse to support Trump in the general election.
“You have to wonder if all those Nikki Haley voters will go on to support Donald Trump in November if he does indeed become the eventual nominee,” Fox News’ Shannon Smith said. “So here’s the findings. When we asked, 39% say they’ll stay with the GOP nominee, but look at that number. 59% who are supporting Nikki Haley say they will not go on to support Donald Trump in the general election that’s among Republican primary voters. So that’s the very latest that we have for you.”
That means Democratic Party voters (and Independent voters) can cross party lines and vote against Donald Trump in the Republican primaries.
That’s exactly what they did, just like Democratic and Independent voters did even in hybrid primaries like in New Hampshire.
NBC News reported on the exit polls, which showed exactly what you would expect.
“Trump overwhelmingly won the support of men and women (68% and 62%, respectively), voters under 45 and those over 45 (64% and 65%), voters with and without college degrees (51% and 75%), and self-identified Republicans (73%),” NBC News noted.
“Trump also continued his primary season streak of garnering majority support across traditional Republican voting blocs: 86% of very conservative voters, 75% of white evangelicals, 68% of veterans and 89% of the almost half of voters who say they are part of the MAGA movement,” the media outlet continued.
“Haley’s support today came from independents, where she beat Trump 54% to 43%, and moderates, where she beat Trump 67% to 32%,” NBC News added.
A Democrat admitted to voting against Trump in the open primary:
Democrat admits to voting for Nikki Haley in South Carolina's open primary:
"I voted for Nikki Haley, simply to maybe cancel out one of the Donald Trump votes.” pic.twitter.com/hczdoAaONd
“Fox News is very dishonest not mentioning that South Carolina had Democrats voting for Nikki Haley,” Big Fish complained on X. “Open Primary, Nikki courted Democrat voters who only voted for her to hurt Donald Trump.”
If dishonest Democrats are willing to openly admit to rigging a Republican primary against Donald Trump, why wouldn’t they rig the general election?
A jury in New York found officials of the National Rifle Association (NRA) liable for millions in damages on Friday.
Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York sued the gun-rights organization in August 2020 seeking the group’s dissolution. The jury found former NRA CEO and Executive Vice President Wayne LaPierre liable for $5.4 million, Fox News reported.
The jury also ruled against former NRA Treasurer Woody Phillips and current NRA Secretary and General Counsel John Frazer, but did not find them liable financially, according to The Reload. A New York judge, Joel M. Cohen, ruled that James could not seek dissolution of the NRA in March 2022.
A six-person jury found that LaPierre, Phillips and Frazer failed to properly manage the group’s assets, The Reload reported. Cohen will have to determine how to address the group’s future, including potentially ordering an independent monitor to oversee the group.
James made a number of statements that showed hostility toward the NRA during her 2018 campaign for attorney general.
“The NRA holds [itself] out as a charitable organization, but in fact, [it] really [is] a terrorist organization,” she told Ebony magazine.
James also vowed to “target the NRA” in a July 2018 release by her campaign, vowing to “investigate the legitimacy of the NRA as a charitable institution.” “The NRA is an organ of deadly propaganda masquerading as a charity for public good,” James claimed in the release.
The 74-year-old LaPierre, who announced his resignation Jan. 5 for health reasons, told a New York court on Jan. 30 that the disease affected his neural functioning.
“LaPierre and senior leaders at the NRA blatantly abused their positions and broke the law,” James said in a statement released Friday. “But today, after years of rampant corruption and self-dealing, Wayne LaPierre and the NRA are finally being held accountable. We will not hesitate to pursue justice against any individual or organization that violates our laws or our trust, no matter how powerful they are.”
“A jury verdict in a high-profile New York trial confirms what the National Rifle Association of America (NRA) contended all along – that it was victimized by certain former vendors and ‘insiders’ who abused the trust placed in them by the Association,” the NRA said in a statement released Friday. “The jury found no cause to remove NRA General Counsel and Secretary John Frazer, the remaining NRA employee who is an individual defendant in the action.”
The group also highlighted that it made substantial reforms in its release.
“The NRA established that it adopted new policies and accounting controls, displaced vendors and insiders who abused the Association, and accepted reparations for costs determined to be excess benefits,” the gun-rights group said in their statement. “Most of these corrective measures – part of an internal investigation ignited by the NRA Board – were adopted before the NYAG filed her lawsuit.”
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and her hand-picked Special Prosecutor Nathan Wade are now in danger of committing perjury to the court, as well as potential disbarment and disqualification from the Trump RICO case in the State of Georgia.
On Friday, the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported on the Trump legal team obtaining cellphone data that deal a tremendous blow to Willis’ and Wade’s narrative about when their romantic relationship began.
Nathan Wade appeared to make at least 35 visits to the Hapeville neighborhood where Fani Willis was living before the district attorney hired him to lead Fulton County’s election interference prosecution, according to cellphone data included in a court submission filed Friday.
The filing, by attorneys for Donald Trump, raises fresh questions about the relationship between the two prosecutors, which the former president and other defendants argue has tainted the case against them and should result in Willis and her office being disqualified.
Trump’s lawyers relied on data collected from Wade’s cellphone and cellphone tower transmissions to track his movements. It seems to contradict Wade’s testimony last week in which he said he had visited Willis at her condo in Hapeville no more than 10 times before he was hired in November 2021. It also indicates Wade twice arrived late at night at the condo and left early the next morning in the months before Willis and Wade said their relationship became romantic early in 2022.
Both Wade and Willis testified last week that they did not spend the night together at the Hapeville condo.
The Atlanta Journal Constitution explains why this is important context for the filing of the Trump racketeering case in the State of Georgia.
The timeline is important for two reasons. If Willis and Wade were a couple before she hired him it raises the prospect that she may have violated at least the spirit of anti-nepotism rules, though Fulton’s policy specifically focuses on family members. More importantly, both Willis and Wade have testified under oath that the relationship began in 2022. If defense attorneys can prove that they lied under oath it could constitute perjury.
As reported, earlier many legal analysts believe that Wade and Willis are now “toast.”
Megyn Kelly explained why she believes this is the final nail in their legal coffin.
Stunning that Team Trump got their hands on this in the #FaniWillis case. More evidence that these two prosecutors lied, under oath. They’re looking at perjury charges and worse. Discipline from the Bar. And there is zero chance they can stay on this case. It’s DONE. https://t.co/kV1gpL0NUF
“Stunning that Team Trump got their hands on this in the #FaniWillis case. More evidence that these two prosecutors lied, under oath,” she said. “They’re looking at perjury charges and worse. Discipline from the Bar. And there is zero chance they can stay on this case. It’s DONE.”
Phil Holloway, a Townhall columnist, also weighed in on the Fulton County case development.
Holloway also provided a screenshot of the supporting affidavit regarding the cellphone data.
Attorney Nathan Wade was confirmed in witness testimony last Thursday to have been in a “romantic” relationship with Fani Willis prior to the Fulton County D.A. hiring him as Special Prosecutor in Georgia’s Trump racketeering case.
Trump co-defendant Michael Roman in a Jan. 8 motion alleged that Willis improperly benefited from appointing Wade as special prosecutor when he took her on vacations using funds earned from his position.
In an affidavit attached to the state’s Feb. 2 response, Wade claimed that they “roughly divided equally” travel expenses, including a receipt showing Willis purchased a flight for him.
Nathan Wade struggled to reconcile earlier sworn statements that he did not have an affair with Fani Willis prior to his hiring as a Special Prosecutor.
A federal court has largely dismissed a class-action lawsuit filed by a California citizen who claimed that a major appliance maker committed fraud by misrepresenting his gas-powered stove as safe despite its emissions.
Last Monday, Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, who was nominated by President Biden and confirmed by the Senate last year, rejected with prejudice the bulk of allegations made by the plaintiff, Charles Drake.
The only complaint that has not been totally dismissed is Drake’s claim that the defendant, GE Appliances’ parent company, Haier Appliances, breached an implied promise of merchantability.
“Drake does not allege the necessary elements of fraud by omission under California law,” Martínez-Olguín wrote in her decision. “Most glaringly, Drake fails to plead the second and fourth elements of fraud by omission: that Haier held a duty to disclose the fact of the emissions to him, or that Drake justifiably relied on Haier’s concealment of the dangerous emissions from his gas stove.”
“Drake alleges no connection between Haier and the studies he cites, appearing to conclude merely that Haier ‘should have known.’ This does not meet the specificity required for claims sounding in fraud,” she added. “Therefore, the claims sounding in fraud must also be dismissed on this basis.”
The dispute began in early March 2023, when Dovel & Luner, a California-based law firm, filed the class-action complaint on behalf of Drake. The lawsuit claims that gas stoves emit “health-harming pollutants,” such as nitrogen oxide, and cites a Consumer Reports article headlined “Is Your Gas Range a Health Risk?” as proof of such effects.
Drake’s lawsuit also cited a 2022 study financed by the Rocky Mountain Institute, a climate think group that has campaigned for a broad, economy-wide green energy transition. Richard Trumka Jr., a member of the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission, referenced the same research when he proposed a ban on gas stoves last year, causing fury among consumer groups and legislators.
And the lawsuit claimed that Haier Appliances should be aware of such study and, as a result, the possible risks posed by gas burners. According to Drake, such damages would constitute a “defect” in the product, and because Haier continues to sell the items, the corporation is committing consumer fraud.
“Like other makers of gas stoves, Defendant monitors and keeps track of research on the health effects of its products,” the lawsuit stated. “This is diligence that large companies like Defendant routinely do when selling a consumer product. Defendant is aware of the fact that its Products emit harmful pollutants. It is further aware that use of gas stoves increases the rates of respiratory illness in adults and children.”
As stated in Martínez-Olguín’s opinion, plaintiffs must demonstrate how the defendant knew about the fault before purchasing the product to prove the manufacturer was aware of it. Drake failed to meet that obstacle by generally asserting Haier “keeps track of research,” according to the judge.
The judge eventually allowed Drake until March 14 to file an additional lawsuit, so the dispute is still ongoing.
GE Appliances declined to comment, citing a company policy “not to comment on pending litigation.” Dovel and Luner did not reply to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the verdict is the latest defeat for environmentalists who have advocated for statewide bans on gas stoves due to their climate effect. In January, a federal appeals court struck down a natural gas ban proposed by the city of Berkeley, California, and weeks later, the Biden administration scaled down restrictions aimed at gas stoves, a victory for the appliance business.
A New York judge denied former President Donald Trump’s effort to delay enforcement of a $354 million judgment on Thursday.
New York Judge Arthur Engoron announced in an email Thursday he would sign the judgement proposed by Democratic Attorney General Letitia James of New York, less than 24 hours after Trump’s attorneys requested a delay. Trump attorney Clifford S. Robert requested a 30-day delay in enforcing the judgment in a letter to Engoron Wednesday.
“You have failed to explain, much less justify, any basis for a stay,” Engoron wrote in a terse, two-sentence email to Robert. “I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights.”
Engoron just rejected a stay on securing a bond for the $355 million judgment as a condition for an appeal. He stated "I am confident that the Appellate Division will protect your appellate rights." Again, the court shows that nothing succeeds like excess.https://t.co/OT6qYwXk8t
Engoron ruled Friday that Trump was to pay $354 million and banned him from being an officer or director for any company or organization based in New York for three years following a civil trial. He previously ruled that Trump was liable for fraud on Sept. 26, ordering that several business licenses Trump held were to be revoked and that his businesses were to be shut down, but an appeals court stayed Engoron’s ruling on Oct. 6.
James sued Trump in September 2022, alleging he overstated the value of real estate holdings in order to obtain loans after promising to investigate Trump during her 2018 campaign for attorney general, during which she labeled him an “illegitimate president.” James said that if Trump did not pay the $354 million fine within 30 days, she would consider seizing his assets, ABC News reported.
Legal experts decried the ruling, which George Washington University law professor Jonathan Turley has called “confiscatory,” noting that Trump could lose a lot of money even with a successful appeal.
“By making this judgment so large, the judge makes it difficult to appeal his decision,” Turley told “The Story” host Martha MacCallum during a Tuesday Fox News appearance.
Trump and attorney Alina Habba did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
Federal law enforcement personnel rearrested the FBI source behind claims that a Ukrainian energy company bribed Hunter and Joe Biden days after a judge ordered him to be released, according to a court filing.
Alexander Smirnov — the FBI source who told agents that Burisma executives discussed paying Hunter Biden and Joe Biden $5 million each to leverage U.S. policy in Ukraine to the company’s benefit — was arrested again Thursday pursuant to the same charges and same indictment that resulted in his arrest on Feb. 14, according to a legal filing. Smirnov was apparently at his attorney’s office in Las Vegas engaging in a legal consultation when authorities nabbed him again on Thursday.
“Mr. Smirnov’s research into available remedies (including a petition for a writ of habeas corpus) are ongoing,” the filing states. “At present, however, Mr. Smirnov respectfully requests that this Honorable Court set his second initial appearance ‘without unnecessary delay’ which, under these bizarre circumstances, mean: forthwith, and order his release. Alternatively, Mr. Smirnov requests an emergency hearing before the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Nevada.”
The government attempted to secure pretrial detention for Smirnov following his first arrest because it deems him to be a flight risk, but a federal judge ordered that he could be released on certain conditions, according to legal filings. The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged in its Feb. 14 indictment against Smirnov that he lied to the FBI when he described Burisma executives paying off Joe and Hunter Biden, and a subsequent filing arguing for his pretrial detention detailed Smirnov’s contacts with individuals connected to Russian intelligence.
“Mr. Smirnov was rearrested on an arrest warrant issued from the same Court where he was planning on voluntarily appearing when required. He had previously been released by a federal Magistrate Judge after a full and complete hearing where both sides were heard. He was inside our law office at the time of his arrest, preparing his defense,” his counsel said in a statement shared with the Daily Caller News Foundation. “We are pursuing lawful remedies to once again seek his release.”
The DOJ did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
Veteran national security reporter Catherine Herridge was abruptly terminated from her job at CBS News nearly one week ago under suspect circumstances.
Herridge’s eagle-eyed, intrepid, and uncompromising approach to journalism in the murky and deep underbelly of Washington D.C. politics was a breath of fresh air for Americans who longed to know the inner workings of their own government.
Thus, it came as an unpleasant surprise when the award-winning journalist was axed from CBS News in the kind of media blood-letting that typically includes the unheralded rank-and-file.
Herridge, however, has been a thorn in the side of the Biden administration, which has been mired in national security scandals that have gone largely unreported in major news outlets like CBS News.
In contrast to the majority of corporate journalists, the investigative reporter has been strikingly unwilling to twist narratives to suit the D.C. establishment or withhold counter-factuals that are necessary to fully understand the balance of an important story.
So it is with grave concern for the future of journalism that a story out of CBS News arises that indicates that her former employer seized her confidential files in an unsanctioned violation of her sources and methods.
Legal analyst Jonathan Turley, in a story at The Hill providing extended commentary and analysis, provides an overview of the concerning situation.
There is trouble brewing at Black Rock, the headquarters of CBS, after the firing of Catherine Herridge, an acclaimed investigative reporter. Many of us were shocked after Herridge was included in layoffs this month, but those concerns have increased after CBS officials took the unusual step of seizing her files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources.
The position of CBS has alarmed many, including the union, as an attack on free press principles by one of the nation’s most esteemed press organizations.
Turley’s sources within CBS News, where he worked under contract twice as a legal analyst, indicates that the seizure of Herridge’s work materials and computer files was a stark departure from common practice.
I have spoken confidentially with current and former CBS employees who have stated that they could not recall the company ever taking such a step before. One former CBS journalist said that many employees “are confused why [Herridge] was laid off, as one of the correspondents who broke news regularly and did a lot of original reporting.”
That has led to concerns about the source of the pressure. He added that he had never seen a seizure of records from a departing journalist, and that the move had sent a “chilling signal” in the ranks of CBS.
A former CBS manager, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had “never heard of anything like this.” He attested to the fact that, in past departures, journalists took all of their files and office contents. Indeed, the company would box up everything from cups to post-its for departing reporters. He said the holding of the material was “outrageous” and clearly endangered confidential sources.
Herridge declined to make any public comments on her departure.
CBS also did not respond to my inquiries about this.
Critically, Turley notes the suspicious political circumstances of Herridge’s sudden termination and the ensuing seizure of her confidential files.
Herridge had been a celebrated investigative reporter at Fox News. An old-school investigative journalist, she is viewed as a hard-driving, middle-of-the-road reporter cut from the same cloth as the network’s legendary figures.
The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.
Given the other layoffs and declining revenues, the inclusion of Herridge was defended by the network as a painful but necessary measure. But then something strange happened. The network grabbed Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what, if anything, would be turned over to her. The files likely contain confidential material from both her stints at Fox and CBS. Those records, it suggests, are presumptively the property of CBS News.
For many of us who have worked in the media for decades, this action is nothing short of shocking.
Herridge’s middle-of-the-line reporting at CBS News was deeply unpopular and considered to be controversial with the hothouse left-wing establishment press.
Media Matters, a radical activist organization that smears its political opposition and provides cover for hard left commentators to peddle misleading narratives, has attacked Catherine Herridge for her impartial journalism by claiming her “reporting at CBS lends legitimacy to deep state conspiracy theories.”
In May 2020, the director of rapid response for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign deleted a tweet Wednesday calling CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge a “partisan, rightwing hack” after she obtained a document naming the former vice president as one of the Obama-era officials who reportedly requested the “unmasking” of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
SCOOP @CBSNews obtains @RichardGrenell notification to congress declassified “unmasking list” Flynn between late 2016 and January 2017 – Read 3 pages provided by NSA here pic.twitter.com/NozVpQlRn2
Herridge has also come under immense legal pressure to reveal her sources and methods to the United States government.
“A federal judge handed down a rare and alarming court decision this week that could have significant implications for the free press in America,” CNN reported in August.
“Judge Christopher Cooper, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a ruling to compel CBS News senior correspondent Catherine Herridge to participate in a deposition regarding the identity of a confidential source or sources she used for a series of 2017 stories published while she worked at Fox News,” the report added.
Herridge, in a break from her usual subdued demeanor and tendency for understatement, had expressed on a panel at “Face the Nation” a grave concern for the future of America should there be a “black swan” event in 2024.
National security reporter Catherine Herridge surely knew more about the three-letter agencies dominating D.C. politics than she let on during her stints at Fox News and CBS News. Her unceremonious termination at CBS News, amid an egregious offense against her as an investigative journalist, may present her with ample opportunity to warn Americans about the hidden agendas of the increasingly dangerous actors in Washington D.C.
President Joe Biden and his administration may soon take executive action to enact harsher asylum policies to address the growing illegal immigration crisis, even after claiming it was impossible for him to do so without congressional approval.
Biden is weighing unilateral action to make it harder to claim asylum for migrants arriving at ports of entry at the southern border, according to three U.S. officials who anonymously spoke to NBC News. The measure Biden is considering taking mirrors that of provisions in the Senate bill released in early February – which he insisted needed to be passed in order for him to alter asylum regulations.
“I’ve made it clear that we need Congress to make changes to fix what is a broken immigration system, because we all know it’s broken,” Biden said during a press conference on Dec. 6. “Republicans have to decide if they want a political issue or if they want a solution at the border. Do they really want a solution? It cannot be sustained as it is now.”
The possible executive action Biden may take is raising the standards used during “credible fear” interviews with migrants seeking asylum, the officials told NBC. Officials can determine during asylum screening interviews whether migrants have a credible fear of persecution if they are forced to return to their home country.
The bipartisan national security agreement would be a win for America because it makes important fixes to our broken immigration system.
It'd be the toughest border proposal ever – and the fairest.
I’m calling on Congress to pass it and get it to my desk immediately.
This potential measure reflects provisions of the failed Senate border security bill that was released in early February, which would have raised “the asylum screening standard by amending the definition of ‘credible fear of persecution,’” according to the bill summary.
Biden and his administration insisted he needed Congress to pass the bill for him to take action in securing the southern border, including by strengthening asylum standards. The Biden administration also cast blame on Republican congressional members for stonewalling him, telling them to “stop playing games with border security.”
“What’s been negotiated would – if passed into law – be the toughest and fairest set of reforms to secure the border we’ve ever had in our country,” Biden said on Jan. 26. “It would give me, as President, a new emergency authority to shut down the border when it becomes overwhelmed … If you’re serious about the border crisis, pass a bipartisan bill and I will sign it.”
“I’ve done all I can do. Just give me the power. I’ve asked from the very day I got into office,” Biden said during a press gaggle on Jan. 30.
The bill died in the House, and an amended version — one that kept international aid but stripped border funding — subsequently passed in the Senate; it is up to the House as to whether it will now be taken up or not. Several Republican congressional lawmakers were irked that the bill’s loose border provisions would actually worsen the illegal immigration crisis issue, also taking issue that it was tied to billions in Ukraine aid.
“Congressional Republicans took one look, killed it, and left town,” Biden said in a statement on Feb. 15. “For them, it was never about the border. It was about playing politics.”
“I want to be absolutely clear about something: The American people are going to know why it failed,” Biden warned during remarks on Feb. 6. “Every day between now and November, the American people are going to know that the only reason the border is not secure is Donald Trump and his MAGA Republican friends.”
The details of Biden’s new unilateral actions – which may be done through an executive order or federal regulation – could be finalized in the coming weeks, though it may take months for his actions to take effect, the officials told NBC. Biden has taken such executive action before, reversing several Trump administration border policies on his first day in office.
Illegal immigration has surged under Biden. Approximately 2 million migrant encounters were recorded at the southern border in fiscal year 2023, compared to 1.7 million in fiscal year 2021, according to Customs and Border Protection. There have been approximately 500,000 migrant encounters at the southern border in fiscal year 2024.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Democrats’ hopes of holding a Senate seat in the blue state of Maryland might have just gotten crushed as a widely popular, moderate Republican is now in the running.
Former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan, who was comfortably elected twice statewide, launched a surprise Senate campaign on Feb. 9 for the seat currently held by retiring Democratic Sen. Ben Cardin. After receiving a batch of daunting poll numbers, several Maryland-based political operatives believe Hogan’s candidacy is upending the Democrats’ chances at holding what otherwise would’ve been an easy seat to retain, they told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“Republicans view this as a gift, and the Democrats view it as a nightmare,” Paul Ellington, Republican strategist based in Maryland and former state GOP executive director, told the DCNF.
Hogan won the governor’s race in 2014 by nearly four points and secured a second term by roughly 12 points in 2018, becoming only the second Republican in state history to be reelected to the position. The then-governor battled non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma shortly after first taking office, and has been cancer-free since 2016.
The former governor left office in early 2023 with his statewide popularity intact, as 77% of Marylanders approved of his job performance. Democrats awarded Hogan with higher numbers than Republicans did at 81% to 68%, respectively, and 76% of unaffiliated voters approved of the governor.
“I think there’s a very real chance that he could win, because he has a record to run on. He has eight years as being the governor, he did not raise taxes, he governed from a common sense point of view and [focused on] kitchen table issues. He didn’t get involved in … the partisan pettiness. In fact, he rose above it and made great strides in establishing himself as moderate, fair-minded governor,” Ellington said. “His poll numbers reflected that, that’s not just speculation. People would have reelected him as governor for a third term if [they] could have.”
An Emerson College poll released Feb. 15 found Hogan tied with Democratic Rep. David Trone and leading Democratic County Executive Angela Alsobrooks by seven points for potential general election matchups. The survey also found the former governor ahead of both Democrats by double digits among independent voters.
Hogan overwhelmingly beat the other lesser-known Republican candidates included in the Emerson College poll, while Trone led Alsobrooks 32% to 17% for the Democratic primary among a crowded field.
Trone’s Senate campaign brought in $23.7 million this cycle and currently has $454,850 cash on hand, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Alsobrooks reported raising $5 million for the Senate race and entered 2024 with $3.1 million in hard dollars.
The congressman, who is a wealthy businessman, has already spent $23.4 million on the race compared to Alsobrooks’ $1.9 million, FEC data shows.
“There’s no question that this is an uphill battle, especially with a billionaire in the race who’s spent something like $25 million already, but Governor Hogan has already received an outpouring of support from Marylanders fed up with the status quo,” Michael Ricci, spokesman for the Hogan campaign, told the DCNF in a statement. “Democrats are in the middle of a bruising primary, and we’re looking forward to seeing who emerges when the smoke clears.”
Republican state Sen. Justin Ready echoed Ricci’s sentiment and told the DCNF a bruising Democratic primary could dampen the nominee’s chances against Hogan.
“It’s another place that Democrats have to play defense, and they have [sic] a very competitive, potentially divisive primary they’re engaged in between two contenders,” Ready said. “Coming out of that, they’re going to have a very tough customer when it comes to having an opponent.”
Ready pointed to the 2014 gubernatorial race as precedent, where Democrats had a similar competitive primary. Then-Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown won the Democratic nomination, but Hogan said “not so fast” and sailed to the governor’s mansion, the state senator told the DCNF.
Another survey on the race was released on Wednesday and was conducted by longtime Hogan pollster Ragnar Research Partners and commissioned by the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. The poll found Hogan beating Trone by 16 points, as well as Alsobrooks by 23 points.
“Democrats are panicking because Marylanders know Governor Hogan as a popular former governor with an independent brand and record of results,” Tate Mitchell, spokesman for the NRSC, told the DCNF in a statement. “Governor Hogan is uniquely positioned to win this race.”
Democrats’ slim control of the upper chamber is in an increasingly tough position ahead of November, while Republicans’ Senate map looks promising.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) is already having to defend vulnerable incumbents in Montana, Ohio, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Nevada, as well as open seats Republicans are hoping to flip in Arizona and Michigan. West Virginia is likely to flip red in 2024 with Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin retiring his seat.
Len Foxwell, a Democratic strategist based in Maryland, acknowledged that Hogan’s candidacy will make the state more competitive.
“It’s certainly going to force Democrats to realign their resources and invest in a state that they thought they wouldn’t have to spend five minutes paying attention to,” Foxwell told the DCNF. “So from that perspective, it’s unwelcome news.”
Some of the state GOP operatives believe Democrats will try to link Hogan with former President Donald Trump, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and other Republicans in Washington, D.C., in an attempt to turn off Maryland voters.
“What the Dems will try to do is tag him as a ‘Trumper.’ They’re talking like, ‘Mitch McConnell Republican’ and stuff like that. And you know, voters in Maryland have seen him for eight years,” Jim Burton, former state GOP executive director and longtime Republican operative in Maryland, told the DCNF. “Some of that stuff that the Dems want to try to throw at him as being this, you know, ‘he’s just like those Washington Republicans.’ You know, ‘he’s just like Donald Trump.’ I just don’t think Marylanders are going to … believe that.”
While many Republican Senate candidates have rallied around Trump’s candidacy, Hogan is a vocal critic who has endorsed former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the GOP primary.
Foxwell believes that while Hogan “remains exceedingly popular with voters across partisan lines in the state,” the Senate seat will remain in Democratic hands.
“We are a state that … will grant ourselves permission given the right set of circumstances to cross partisan lines, and elect a Republican governor who we believe has positive qualities, or if we believe the Democratic candidate fails to measure up,” Foxwell said. “That does not extend to Senate races, which are contested on federal issues, where the choice is much more binary, and it boils down to a simple question of whether you will caucus with the Republicans or the Democrats.”
Some of the issues Foxwell believes the race will likely hinge on include abortion, gun control and U.S. Supreme Court appointments.
Maryland went for Hillary Clinton and President Joe Biden by large margins in 2016 and 2020, respectively. The last time Maryland had a Republican senator it was Charles Mathias, who left office in 1987. All but one of the blue state’s U.S. House members are Democrats.
Hogan claims abortion is “settled law,” yet he vetoed a '22 bill to empower nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physician assistants to perform abortions and $3.5M to train abortion providers.
The Cook Political Report characterizes the race as in the “Likely D” column, along with indicted Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez of New Jersey’s seat.
“If anyone can flip a blue state, it’s going to be Larry Hogan,” Burton told the DCNF.
The state Republican Party is hoping to shore up support in November for the Senate race, as well as for three open seats in the House, Chairwoman Nicole Beus Harris told the DCNF in a statement.
“If former Governor Hogan wins the Republican Senate Primary, because of his name recognition, his last favorability numbers, and his network, combined with the plans that the Maryland GOP has in place for the general election, the Senate seat could definitely be a Republican win,” Harris said.
Hogan teased a presidential run in early 2023 where he frequently made the case for an alternative to the former president. Shortly after he ruled it out, Hogan declined to run for Senate, as well.
Many speculated that Hogan would run on centrist organization No Labels‘ “unity ticket,” which the group is weighing running in 2024 in opposition to both Trump and Biden.
“For the voter that has concerns about Biden but doesn’t like Trump, Larry Hogan’s the sweet spot,” Ready said.
Trone’s campaign, Alsobrooks’ campaign, the DSCC and the Maryland Democratic Party did not respond to the DCNF’s requests for comment.
CBS News Faces Backlash Over Journalism Scandal After It Seized Award-Winning Reporter’s Confidential Files
Veteran national security reporter Catherine Herridge was abruptly terminated from her job at CBS News nearly one week ago under suspect circumstances.
Herridge’s eagle-eyed, intrepid, and uncompromising approach to journalism in the murky and deep underbelly of Washington D.C. politics was a breath of fresh air for Americans who longed to know the inner workings of their own government.
Thus, it came as an unpleasant surprise when the award-winning journalist was axed from CBS News in the kind of media blood-letting that typically includes the unheralded rank-and-file.
Herridge, however, has been a thorn in the side of the Biden administration, which has been mired in national security scandals that have gone largely unreported in major news outlets like CBS News.
In contrast to the majority of corporate journalists, the investigative reporter has been strikingly unwilling to twist narratives to suit the D.C. establishment or withhold counter-factuals that are necessary to fully understand the balance of an important story.
On everything from the Biden corruption scandal to the IRS whistleblowers to the border crisis to the Russia-Ukraine war to Covid to to the Trump Mar-a-Lago raid to the January 6th riots, Herridge has steadfastly and fairly reported down-the-middle on stories without prejudice or favor regarding the power players involved.
So it is with grave concern for the future of journalism that a story out of CBS News arises that indicates that her former employer seized her confidential files in an unsanctioned violation of her sources and methods.
Legal analyst Jonathan Turley, in a story at The Hill providing extended commentary and analysis, provides an overview of the concerning situation.
There is trouble brewing at Black Rock, the headquarters of CBS, after the firing of Catherine Herridge, an acclaimed investigative reporter. Many of us were shocked after Herridge was included in layoffs this month, but those concerns have increased after CBS officials took the unusual step of seizing her files, computers and records, including information on privileged sources.
The position of CBS has alarmed many, including the union, as an attack on free press principles by one of the nation’s most esteemed press organizations.
Turley’s sources within CBS News, where he worked under contract twice as a legal analyst, indicates that the seizure of Herridge’s work materials and computer files was a stark departure from common practice.
I have spoken confidentially with current and former CBS employees who have stated that they could not recall the company ever taking such a step before. One former CBS journalist said that many employees “are confused why [Herridge] was laid off, as one of the correspondents who broke news regularly and did a lot of original reporting.”
That has led to concerns about the source of the pressure. He added that he had never seen a seizure of records from a departing journalist, and that the move had sent a “chilling signal” in the ranks of CBS.
A former CBS manager, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said that he had “never heard of anything like this.” He attested to the fact that, in past departures, journalists took all of their files and office contents. Indeed, the company would box up everything from cups to post-its for departing reporters. He said the holding of the material was “outrageous” and clearly endangered confidential sources.
Herridge declined to make any public comments on her departure.
CBS also did not respond to my inquiries about this.
Critically, Turley notes the suspicious political circumstances of Herridge’s sudden termination and the ensuing seizure of her confidential files.
Herridge had been a celebrated investigative reporter at Fox News. An old-school investigative journalist, she is viewed as a hard-driving, middle-of-the-road reporter cut from the same cloth as the network’s legendary figures.
The timing of Herridge’s termination immediately raised suspicions in Washington. She was pursuing stories that were unwelcomed by the Biden White House and many Democratic powerhouses, including the Hur report on Joe Biden’s diminished mental capacity, the Biden corruption scandal and the Hunter Biden laptop. She continued to pursue these stories despite reports of pushback from CBS executives, including CBS News President Ingrid Ciprian-Matthews.
Given the other layoffs and declining revenues, the inclusion of Herridge was defended by the network as a painful but necessary measure. But then something strange happened. The network grabbed Herridge’s notes and files and informed her that it would decide what, if anything, would be turned over to her. The files likely contain confidential material from both her stints at Fox and CBS. Those records, it suggests, are presumptively the property of CBS News.
For many of us who have worked in the media for decades, this action is nothing short of shocking.
Herridge’s middle-of-the-line reporting at CBS News was deeply unpopular and considered to be controversial with the hothouse left-wing establishment press.
Media Matters, a radical activist organization that smears its political opposition and provides cover for hard left commentators to peddle misleading narratives, has attacked Catherine Herridge for her impartial journalism by claiming her “reporting at CBS lends legitimacy to deep state conspiracy theories.”
In May 2020, the director of rapid response for Joe Biden’s presidential campaign deleted a tweet Wednesday calling CBS News reporter Catherine Herridge a “partisan, rightwing hack” after she obtained a document naming the former vice president as one of the Obama-era officials who reportedly requested the “unmasking” of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Herridge has also come under immense legal pressure to reveal her sources and methods to the United States government.
“A federal judge handed down a rare and alarming court decision this week that could have significant implications for the free press in America,” CNN reported in August.
“Judge Christopher Cooper, of the US District Court for the District of Columbia, issued a ruling to compel CBS News senior correspondent Catherine Herridge to participate in a deposition regarding the identity of a confidential source or sources she used for a series of 2017 stories published while she worked at Fox News,” the report added.
Herridge, in a break from her usual subdued demeanor and tendency for understatement, had expressed on a panel at “Face the Nation” a grave concern for the future of America should there be a “black swan” event in 2024.
National security reporter Catherine Herridge surely knew more about the three-letter agencies dominating D.C. politics than she let on during her stints at Fox News and CBS News. Her unceremonious termination at CBS News, amid an egregious offense against her as an investigative journalist, may present her with ample opportunity to warn Americans about the hidden agendas of the increasingly dangerous actors in Washington D.C.
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