In our latest edition, we have interviews with Sen. Ron Johnson, Sen. Joni Ernst, and Grover Norquist, the latest on sketchy mailers targeting Republicans across the country, a possible Google Docs mishap in a top Senate race, op-eds from Sen. Tommy Tuberville, Rep, Richard Hudson, Rep. Vince Fong, and more!
By: Matthew Foldi
Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) has been laser focused lately, despite a busy election cycle — on the multiple failed assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life, and on putting America’s public health institutions under a microscope.
Almost immediately after a would-be assassin’s bullets failed to kill Trump at a Butler, Pennsylvania campaign rally in July, Johnson became one of the go-to investigators into the day’s security blunders.
“I get so disgusted with the federal government, the arrogance of these agencies and their top people, and the people on the ground are good people,” he said. “I’m not going to impugn FBI agents and other federal law enforcement officers who put their lives on the line, Secret Service folks; it’s the top management that is, I think, in many cases, just rotten to the core.” On the day that Trump was nearly killed, there was “siloed communication, it was not a well-coordinated effort. Secret Service not showing up in security briefing at nine o’clock in the morning, just a spectacular security failure.”
Click HERE to read more on who Sen. Ron Johnson wants to see as the next Senate GOP leader, more of his thoughts on the Joe Rogan Experience phenomenon, whether he thinks Joe Biden will pardon Hunter Biden, and more.
Have you decided who you’re voting for to be the next Senate GOP Leader?
Matthew Foldi
Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Reporter
Rick Scott, who is an extraordinary individual. You look at his background, raised by a single mom, he is a self-made man, and what he accomplished in business is exceptional, heading the eighth largest employer in America, then he transferred those skills over to an incredibly successful governorship. He’s serious about tracking these problems, and that’s what we need. And he also knows how to manage. He knows how to lead. I think it’s a very clear choice.
Sen. Ron Johnson
(R.,WI)
By: Matthew Foldi
Sen. Joni Ernst (R., Iowa) kicked off 2024 in earnest in her home state, where President Donald Trump trounced his GOP rivals at Iowa’s caucus in freezing cold temperatures this January.
“Democrats gave Middle America the middle finger when they abandoned the Iowa caucuses,” she said in an interview with the Washington Reporter. “Republicans are proud of our first in the nation status. Iowans are pros at vetting candidates — they take their job very seriously. Donald Trump’s policies resonate in our state, and after winning the caucuses, he went on to win the nomination.”
Following the caucus, Ernst took off to campaign for Republicans across the country. She’s been trekking to “Georgia to Michigan, Montana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania to ensure that Kamala Harris and Chuck Schumer can never again open our nation’s borders to a stampede of illegal immigrants and terrorists, unlock historic inflation, destroy America’s reputation on the world stage, or force radical green mandates.”
Click HERE to read more from Sen. Joni Ernst about the stakes of 2024, the dangers facing America abroad, and much more!
What’s your sleeper race for Tuesday that you think is not getting enough attention?
Matthew Foldi
Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Reporter
Wisconsin. It’s getting plenty of attention, but my bet is on Eric Hovde. I was just talking to a radio station in his neck of the woods and it sounds like polls are starting to lean in his favor, plus the people love him. We need another strong Republican fighter from the Midwest in the Senate!
Sen. Joni Ernst
(R.,IA)
By: Matthew Foldi
Americans for Tax Reform and its president Grover Norquist have for decades been at the forefront of opposing politicians of both parties who try to raise taxes. A few days out from the 2024 election, Norquist is worried what could happen to free speech, independent contractors, and the Constitution, if Democrats win unified control.
“If they win, they will add three or four people to the Supreme Court, and all of the rulings they want on labor law will go their way, and on tort law and on power of cities versus states, or the federal government versus states, everything they want is available with no restriction, and the First Amendment is out, they just decided they don’t like that, then they would add three or four states to give themselves six or eight new senators,” he said in an interview with the Washington Reporter.
One of the most important legislative items of the Democratic Party, Norquist noted, is the PRO Act, which is “the most radical collection of things you could ever want, even though nobody’s read it. They were told, the coalition says ‘you’ll support this.’ They said ‘I’m in, okay.’” The PRO Act, if implemented, would “end right to work, which abolishes independent contractors, which means no Uber, no Lyft, no independent truckers,” he warned.
Click HERE to read more thoughts from Americans for Tax Reform’s president, Grover Norquist, about tax policy, Burning Man, vaping, and much more.
Some Republicans, even in the Senate, are warming to Lina Khan. Mark Cuban first told us that Harris should not retain her. What is your message to those on the right who are saying that she’s not that bad?
Matthew Foldi
Editor-in-Chief of the Washington Reporter
Lina Khan is trying to undo the biggest success conservatives had in the intellectual world, which was the movement to say that all antitrust has to start with the consumer welfare standard. You have to show some consumers suffer. Now, Lina Khan is going into this and she doesn’t care about welfare. She doesn’t even care about structure. She wants you to have racial discrimination as part of what you do, the racial quotas. She said she wants to be able to go after people for that on antitrust; she wants it to be ‘beat up on any business that you want.’ I understand that there are one or two GOP senators who go ‘I’m mad at corporations, because they don’t do what I want to politically. So I think you should be able to beat them up.’ I just think it’s very bad. I understand the impulse. But do you really want to give the state power to beat up on any company for any reason? It’s going from you have to convict somebody of a crime to put them in prison, to say you can put anywhere to prison if you want, there doesn’t have to be a crime, there doesn’t have to be harm. And for Republicans, to even flirt with that is a huge mistake.
Grover Norquist
President, Americans for Tax Reform
What we’re hearing from people we trust on and around the Hill – please send us more tips!
Dan Osborn, the self-described independent running for Senate in Nebraska, has faced fire in recent weeks for his close ties to the Democratic Party. The latest tie, covered for the first time by the Washington Reporter, is a publicly-posted Google Doc linked to a self-proclaimed “leftist” and supporter of socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.).
The public document is titled “Conservatives for Dan – Creative Treatments,” and it includes video content, transcripts, and suggestions for how to put it together as a fake, Fox News-style video. Osborn is making a last-minute play for Republican-leaning voters in his uphill battle to oust Sen. Deb Fischer (R., Neb.), who recently spoke with the Reporter about her race.
The “Conservatives for Dan” document includes links to six videos, which feature speeches from Osborn, “Dan’s Mom!,” and several Republicans who back Osborn. It also includes a suggested rollout for pro-Osborn footage, which it recommends should be a “fake newscast (we can create one using Fiver for only $50), where the anchor reads, ‘and now, for the latest on the tight Senate race in Nebraska, we go live to Lincoln, Nebraska, and the Conservatives for Dan Osborn event.’”
The fake ad’s “aim is to make this appear as close to a real newscast as possible,” the document says. “Simple presentation of Dan’s mother’s speech served like sashimi (raw),” it says. “Family photos and text on screen for the most important moments (see bolded below) accompany the speech.”
Ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D., N.Y.) has been referred to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for criminal prosecution by the COVID Select Committee, the committee announced said this week.
The disgraced former governor “knowingly and willfully made materially false statements about New York’s COVID-19 nursing home disaster and the ensuing cover-up,” the select committee said, regarding his testimony under oath about his administration’s policies the committee noted “forced New York nursing homes and long-term care facilities to admit COVID-19 positive patients.” Now, the committee said, “the Department of Justice must immediately charge Andrew Cuomo with making false statements to Congress.”
“Disgraced Governor Cuomo lied to Congress about his knowledge and cover-up of the deadly COVID-19 nursing home directive that led to the tragic deaths of 15,000 New Yorkers,” Rep. Claudia Tenney (R., N.Y.) told the Washington Reporter. “His false statements were a calculated attempt to deflect accountability and shift blame onto others. Making false statements to Congress is a crime, and Cuomo’s deceit only reinforces his pattern of deception and evasion. It is long overdue for him to face the full consequences of his crimes and put him behind bars.”
Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign made “tak[ing] on corporate landlords and cap[ping] unfair rent increases” a top policy priority, putting her at odds with her top donors and one of her longtime aides, who all oppose rent control in Harris’s home state of California.
Jonathan Gray, the billionaire president of Blackstone, has donated approximately $500,000 to elect Harris as president. His company is one of the largest owners of single-family homes in America, and has spent millions of dollars via offshoots to oppose rent control measures in California.
One of the operatives that Blackstone-affiliated groups works closely with is Ace Smith, a Democratic Party operative, who worked in senior roles on Harris’s winning campaigns for attorney general and for U.S. Senate, to oppose California ballot measures that would limit rent increases. Smith has “been working closely with corporate landlords and their front group, the California Apartment Association, to ensure that the real estate industry can keep charging wildly inflated, unfair rents,” according to the Los Angeles Progressive.
Smith is currently working to oppose Proposition 33, a ballot initiative facing voters this cycle. Recent polling suggests that the measure is a slight favorite to fail; its supporters drew flak for falsely claiming that Harris supports the measure.
Voters across America are getting bombarded with deceptive mailers, some of which urge them to waste their votes for third-party spoiler candidates, others of which photoshop Special Forces logos off of Republicans, and others yet which fail to include any disclaimer about who paid for them — which campaign experts tell the Washington Reporter could be illegal.
One producer of deceptive mailers is a newly-formed organization, Save Western Culture. The Reporter was the first to cover Save Western Culture’s activities last week.
Similar organizations, such as Fight Big Pharma, Stop China, and Stop Political Corruption, are sending mailers, texts, and videos to voters in the waning hours of the 2024 elections. “They think voters are stupid,” a GOP strategist told the Reporter.
The newly-formed organizations, which lack contact information, are spending in Maryland against Larry Hogan, in Texas against Sen. Ted Cruz, in Iowa against Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, in Wisconsin against Rep. Derrick Van Orden, in New York against Reps. Mike Lawler and Marc Molinaro, in Oregon against Rep. Lori Chavez DeRemer, and in Michigan against Mike Rogers, Tom Barrett, and Donald Trump.
Rohit Chopra, the Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) and a board member of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), is facing criticism for his “prejudgment” and allegedly biased treatment of financial services firms.
The FDIC is in process of finalizing a rule that would restrict investment firms’ ability to own stock in banks. Conservatives have warned against the rule’s “micromanagement.”
Supporters of the proposal — mainly the nonprofit “Better Markets,” which is funded by a far-left socialist — argue that the proposal is necessary because greater regulation and bureaucratic control will lead to a safer banker system. Conservatives say that the proposal would raise costs on borrowers and put the banking system’s security in jeopardy.
Beyond the proposal, conservatives have harshly criticized Chopra for his speech at Harvard in which he slammed two investment firms — Vanguard and Blackrock — as “natural oligopolies,” suggesting that he has prejudged the issue while the rulemaking is playing out.
A nationwide poll conducted for a bipartisan coalition of tech companies confirms that the inflation, health care, and the economy are top issues on voters’ minds — and that while tech policy isn’t a front-burner issue, voters are generally against regulating America-based tech companies in ways that would stifle innovation.
The poll, first obtained by the Washington Reporter, found that on a scale of one to 100, voters gave regulating U.S. tech companies a 58 in the poll, conducted by Mercury Analytics on behalf of the American Edge Project; the score pales in comparison to issues like Medicare and Social Security, which scored a 91, and national security, which scored a 90.
Protecting Americans Action Fund (PAAF), the GOP’s largest group dedicated to combatting George Soros-backed prosecutors, has spent more money against liberal district attorneys this year than ever before, it confirmed exclusively to the Washington Reporter.
PAAF, an organization led by Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, has spent $2.5 million this cycle to date, in key races across the country, from Hillsborough County, Florida, to Hamilton County, Ohio, to El Paso County, Texas, Maricopa County, Arizona, and beyond. PAAF spent its millions on targeted television, radio, mail, and digital campaigns across 13 jurisdictions.
The group’s largest investment this cycle was in Hamilton County, where it spent $400,000 on a television ad buy supporting the incumbent, Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney Melissa Powers; Hamilton County is the largest county in Ohio with a conservative prosecutor in office. PAAF’s ad campaign there highlights how Powers’s opponent, Connie Pillich, has “never prosecuted a single criminal. Not one.”
Throughout my coaching career, I always instructed my players to finish strong. Play until you hear the whistle. Don’t quit until the play is dead. In the final countdown of this election season, patriotic Americans should think of this election in the exact same terms.
We are at the two-minute warning of the most important election in many of our lifetimes. It is perhaps the most consequential election in the history of our country.
It goes without saying: make sure you vote, and as early as possible. But your job doesn’t end there. Make sure your family and friends vote. If they live in battleground states, give them a call. There’s too much on the line to let up now.
Recently, Gov. Tim Walz said the quiet part out loud, declaring that “we can’t afford four more years of this.” As voters head to the polls and face a choice between the Harris-Walz ticket and the Trump-Vance ticket, this is one thing we can all agree on.
As we grapple with skyrocketing inflation, depleting savings accounts, soaring interest rates, and wages unable to keep pace with the financial ruins the Harris-Biden agenda has left us, Tim Walz is right — we cannot afford four more years of the Democrats’ failed policies. We’ve heard time and time again that Kamala Harris is from a middle-class family. However, she continues to be oblivious to the consequences of her failed economic policies that impact our middle-class families shopping at the grocery store, filling up the gas tank, or trying to buy a home. It seems she’s the only self-identified “middle-class” person who is immune to the inflation crisis.
Every day as Americans, we are empowered to use our freedoms to express ourselves through rights enshrined in the First Amendment. Practicing religion, communication from the press, and speaking freely are three of the five protected principles — many of which have become so second nature that we may even overlook how valuable they are to our lives. Therefore, when someone’s First Amendment rights are violated, it should be alarming to all Americans.
Recently, the California Coastal Commission decided to restrict additional launches from SpaceX at Vandenberg Space Force Base. The plan was submitted by the Air Force in which the number of launches was going to increase from 36 to 50. One may ask why the California Coastal Commission would vote to deny this plan. In the words of one commissioner, Gretchen Newsom, “right now, Elon Musk is hopping about the country, spewing and tweeting political falsehoods and attacking FEMA…”
For far too long, Washington has been run by career politicians who have become corrupt. Instead of addressing the myriad issues affecting the American people, politicians today care only about getting re-elected, about enriching themselves, and about raising money from special interest groups that they are beholden to.
From day one, I made the promise that I will not take corporate special interest money, which I have not. I can’t be bought and will only put the people of Wisconsin first.
The contrast between myself and my 38-year career politician opponent, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, could not be more clear. Sen. Baldwin rails against Wall Street, Big Pharma, and Big Tech, while simultaneously raking in cash from each sector.
This past week, we saw the stock market take a devastating downturn. The squeeze we have felt over the last four years is crushing everyone from Main Street to Wall Street, and I am not sure we can take much more. Our country is grappling with skyrocketing inflation, rising unemployment, and the looming threat of an economic recession.
American families, who have worked hard and saved for retirement, are now watching their 401(k)s plummet. The market decline isn’t just numbers on a screen — this is the hard-earned security of our retirees and the financial stability of every family across the country.
I understand the fear and frustration that so many of you are feeling. As a truck driver and small business owner, I’ve seen firsthand the struggles that working and middle-class Americans have endured. For years, you have diligently contributed to your retirement savings, trusting that your hard work would pay off in a secure future.
A dangerous world needs leaders. Leadership isn’t mud-slinging. It isn’t falsifying one’s record of performance. It’s about demonstrated success in the face of adversity. It’s hard to think of any candidate for office who has faced more adversity and stared it down than Larry Hogan, the current Republican candidate for Senate in Maryland.
In the world of governance, there is a fundamental truth that too many people ignore at their peril: personnel is policy. A president’s administration is not just a collection of names; it’s the reflection of their values, priorities, and approach to leadership. This distinction is no clearer than when comparing the bold and results-driven Trump administration to the confused, weak-kneed Biden team.
Let’s start with the Trump era, where every appointment was an extension of America First principles. Richard Grenell, Trump’s Ambassador to Germany and later Acting Director of National Intelligence, embodied that approach. Grenell stood up to Germany’s freeloading on NATO, fiercely defended American interests, and wasn’t afraid to challenge the European Union’s leftist orthodoxy. His brief tenure at the top of the intelligence community injected a needed jolt of accountability and national security focus that rattled the D.C. establishment.
Then, look at David Friedman, Trump’s Ambassador to Israel. Friedman helped orchestrate one of the most significant diplomatic breakthroughs in modern history — the Abraham Accords — solidifying Israel’s security in the Middle East by brokering peace with several Arab nations. For years, politicians on both sides of the aisle had promised to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem but never delivered. Friedman and Trump did it swiftly, cutting through decades of timid diplomacy. These weren’t just symbolic victories — they reshaped the geopolitical landscape in the Middle East.
On the home front, consider Tom Homan, who served as Trump’s acting director of ICE. Homan was a bulldog in the fight to secure America’s borders. His no-nonsense approach to immigration enforcement was in stark contrast to the Biden administration’s open-borders disaster. Homan believed that the rule of law should be upheld and that securing our borders was not just a matter of policy but of national security. Under his leadership, ICE saw record deportations of dangerous criminals, and his unapologetic defense of American sovereignty earned him the respect of law enforcement across the country.
Now compare that to the chaos we’ve seen since Biden took office — surging illegal immigration, overwhelmed border patrol agents, and a complete lack of leadership. Personnel matters, and Homan showed that strong leadership can actually protect Americans.
Now, look at Biden’s team. Antony Blinken, the current Secretary of State, is a quintessential establishment figure — more comfortable in diplomatic parlors than in negotiating from a position of strength. His tenure has been defined by weakness, indecision, and global instability. The botched withdrawal from Afghanistan is the clearest example of this. The hasty pullout, poorly managed under Blinken’s watch, not only embarrassed America on the world stage but also left behind U.S. citizens, billions in military equipment, and led to the deaths of 13 brave service members.
And then there’s Rob Malley, who Biden appointed as the Special Envoy for Iran and who, just like Blinken, served for many years in the Obama Administration. Malley has a long history of advocating for a soft approach towards Iran, the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism. He was a key architect of the disastrous Obama-era Iran nuclear deal and seems determined to bring it back, no matter how much it empowers the mullahs. Under Malley’s guidance, the Biden administration is pushing for concessions to Iran, even as the regime continues to enrich uranium and destabilize the Middle East. Malley’s appeasement strategy sends the exact wrong message to our adversaries — that America is more interested in begging for a bad deal than standing firm against threats.
And finally, there is U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, David Pressman. He has been a disaster for American diplomacy, disgracing the American people with his blatant political activism and reckless bridge-burning. Instead of fostering constructive relationships, Pressman has used his position to push divisive, far-left agendas that alienate Hungary’s conservative government and its people.
His aggressive attacks on Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s administration over issues like LGBTQ+ rights and media freedom have gone beyond diplomacy, crossing into political meddling. Pressman’s combative approach has undermined what should be a strong U.S.-Hungarian alliance, and his inability to respect Hungary’s sovereignty and values has damaged America’s standing in the region. Instead of being a unifying diplomat, Pressman has become a partisan activist, more focused on imposing American liberal values than on strengthening bilateral ties.
The contrast couldn’t be starker. Trump surrounded himself with strong, unapologetic America First warriors like Grenell, Friedman, and Homan, who took action and achieved results. Biden, on the other hand, has filled his administration with appeasers like Blinken, Malley, and Pressman who have emboldened our enemies and weakened our alliances.
I say again — personnel is policy, and the Biden administration’s personnel show why America’s standing in the world has been diminished under his leadership.
The stakes in 2024 couldn’t be higher. America needs leaders who will prioritize our national interest, defend our allies, and project strength on the global stage. Trump’s administration was full of players who understood that. Biden’s? Not so much. Let’s not make the same mistake again, America.
Bryan E. Leib is the CEO of Henry Public Relations, a Senior Fellow with the Center for Fundamental Rights, and a former CPAC-Endorsed 2024 Republican Congressional candidate.
