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The Scariest Part of the Senate’s COVID Hearing Had Nothing to Do With Anthony Fauci

YesterdayLeft

A spicy clash made headlines, but something more sinister is happening here.

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Limelight-loving Fauci all smiles as he’s surprised by flowers left by adoring fan — after getting savaged by Senate Republicans

New York Post

15 minutes ago

Limelight-loving Fauci all smiles as he’s surprised by flowers left by adoring fan — after getting savaged by Senate Republicans

Dr. Anthony Fauci beamed with delight Thursday as he collected flowers from an admirer placed on the front steps of his $2.4 million Washington, DC home.

Right

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‘He should go to jail’: Senator insists that Fauci pay the price for COVID pandemic ‘perjury’

WorldNetDaily

34 minutes ago

‘He should go to jail’: Senator insists that Fauci pay the price for COVID pandemic ‘perjury’

'Has had contempt for Congress and contempt for the American people for decades'

Far Right

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Florida AG threatens Fauci investigation after Senate hearing

Latest Political News on Fox News

35 minutes ago

Florida AG threatens Fauci investigation after Senate hearing

James Uthmeier says his office is launching a Florida investigation into Anthony Fauci after the former NIAID director invoked the Fifth Amendment.

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GOP senator snaps at 'mistaken' Trump as Todd Blanche turmoil heats up

Raw Story

1 hour ago

GOP senator snaps at 'mistaken' Trump as Todd Blanche turmoil heats up

Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) fired back at President Donald Trump on Wednesday, saying opposition to his IRS tax settlement runs far deeper than just two senators.At 11:15 AM, Trump wrote on Truth Social that acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was "a STAR" with the potential to be "one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time."He blamed Cornyn and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) — "both of whom I refused to Endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action" — for blocking the confirmation.Just seven minutes after Trump backed down, Cornyn rubbed salt in the wound by responding to Trump on X."POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to me and Senator Tillis," Cornyn wrote on X.The standoff forced the Senate Judiciary Committee to scrap a scheduled Thursday vote on Blanche's nomination, a setback for one of Trump's top Cabinet picks, MS NOW reported."I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office," Trump wrote on Truth Social, threatening to pull the nomination entirely and resubmit it once both senators leave office.Earlier Wednesday, before Trump's post, Cornyn and Tillis had told Politico that someone inside the White House — not Trump himself — was blocking a deal."I don't know who it is — I'm just trying to get them out of the way so we can get the president his AG," Tillis said."If this were just between me and Todd Blanche, we would have worked this out, but, apparently, he's getting some pushback from higher ups at the White House," Cornyn said, adding that he did not know who was responsible. "I don't know who, but it doesn't need to be this hard.""Why don't you call over the DOJ and tell them they have one hour and 50 minutes to get me what I asked for," Cornyn told reporters Wednesday afternoon, as negotiations with the Department of Justice dragged on, MS NOW reported."What I've advised the chair, and I would assume Senator Cornyn said something similar, is that we're not prepared to vote yes yet," Tillis said Wednesday night, confirming neither senator had moved.

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Someone 'above Blanche’s pay grade' is blocking deal with Senate: Republican

Alternet.org

1 hour ago

Someone 'above Blanche’s pay grade' is blocking deal with Senate: Republican

Two U.S. Senators have said that someone at the White House is stopping President Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general from signing off on preventing the so-called "anti-weaponization fund" for MAGA allies who felt they were unfairly targeted by the U.S. government.In an earlier interview, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said, "But, I don't know, somebody somewhere, I don't know whether it's the White House, or somebody works there or somebody works for the president, is basically telling them don't agree to those terms. And so we're kind of back to square one."The terms Cornyn wants include a signed guarantee that the fund will not be started. A federal judge requested the same thing in court, and Blanche refused twice to put such a pledge in writing.Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) is now part of the small caucus of outgoing senators unwilling to sign off on Blanche without that guarantee. MS NOW's Ali Vitali spoke to Tillis on Thursday morning. In the interview, the outgoing Republican senator said that Blanche has been working with lawmakers in good faith. The problems are coming from someone else in the White House. "I think Blanche is trying to fulfill the commitment he made in the hearing. And so, we're continuing to talk, and we need to get to the person who's in the way. Todd Blanche is negotiating in good faith, but it's clear that the approval to get this done is above his pay grade, and we just need to get to that pay grade," said Tillis.He began to walk away and shouted over his shoulder, "I don't believe it's the president."Within a few hours, Trump went to Truth Social, writing, "Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it! He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time. However, John Cornyn, of Texas, and Thom Tillis, of North Carolina, both of whom I refused to endorse, and whose political careers have been ended by my action, are refusing to vote for this great nominee, who will remain, in any event, as acting [attorney general]. Remember, both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland, and others, too numerous to mention. I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd’s name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office."The one thing that could stop that from happening is if Democrats win the Senate in the November elections. It's a long shot that requires flipping four seats, NPR reported this week.Cornyn responded to Trump on X, saying, "POTUS is mistaken if he believes concerns about the provisions in his tax lawsuit settlement are limited to Senator Tillis and me."

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Rand Paul chose clicks over accountability — and Fauci walked away silent

Washington Examiner

1 hour ago

Rand Paul chose clicks over accountability — and Fauci walked away silent

The images from Capitol Hill this week are striking. Dr. Anthony Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment rights before a Senate committee. Instantly, partisan finger-pointing began. Critics saw a clear attempt to avoid accountability. Supporters saw a necessary shield against a political circus. But look past the cable news theater. A deeper, structural issue is […]

Center Right

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Trump folds on Blanche as GOP senators hand him devastating defeat

Raw Story

1 hour ago

Trump folds on Blanche as GOP senators hand him devastating defeat

President Donald Trump conceded Thursday he may pull his own attorney general nominee rather than give two outgoing Republican senators what they are demanding.Trump made the admission on Truth Social after the Senate Judiciary Committee postponed a vote on acting Attorney General Todd Blanche's nomination Wednesday night. The vote was canceled when it became clear two Republicans would block it.Those two senators — Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-NC) — are leaving Congress at the end of the year. "Todd Blanche is a STAR, and everyone knows it!" Trump wrote on Truth Social. "He has the potential to go down as one of the Greatest Attorney Generals of All Time.""I have no objection to temporarily withdrawing Todd's name, if they do not do the right thing, and putting him back after Cornyn and Tillis are out of office," Trump wrote.Trump also attacked both senators directly, calling them men "whose political careers have been ended by my action" — a reference to his decision not to endorse them. He added that "both Cornyn and Tillis voted for Merrick Garland," invoking former Attorney General Merrick Garland, a name Republicans cite as a symbol of Democratic overreach.On Capitol Hill Thursday morning, Cornyn told reporters the situation had taken a turn for the worse. Asked whether Blanche could be confirmed before the August recess, he said the odds were against it."It's looking doubtful," Cornyn told reporters, according to NBC News congressional reporter Laura Weiss.Cornyn said talks with Blanche had been "very constructive" and that he believed a deal was close Tuesday night. But by Thursday morning, something had shifted."Other people intervening," he said. He told NBC News congressional correspondent Julie Tsirkin he did not know whether the president himself was standing in the way.At the heart of the standoff is a settlement Trump's Department of Justice reached with the Internal Revenue Service. The deal granted Trump and his family immunity from tax audits and created a nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate people who said they had been targeted by the government for political reasons.The fund was later abandoned, but Cornyn wants that abandonment in writing — and wants the audit immunity narrowed so it does not cover future tax filings, according to MS NOW."All I want them to do is to confirm what he said in his sworn testimony before the Judiciary Committee, with regard not only to the weaponization fund, but also who is protected from future audits and what agencies of the federal government are bound by the release," Cornyn told reporters, according to CBS News.The Department of Justice, Cornyn said, had not delivered. "They've simply refused to cooperate," he said, according to The Hill.As of Thursday morning, Cornyn said he was waiting on a DOJ response to his latest offer and had no meetings or calls scheduled with the White House or the Department of Justice.

Far Left

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Trump public health nominees advance in Senate despite Democratic opposition over vaccines

Washington Examiner

2 hours ago

Trump public health nominees advance in Senate despite Democratic opposition over vaccines

The Senate health committee greenlit two of President Donald Trump’s top public health nominees after scrambling last week to garner enough support for them because of doubts about their willingness to promote vaccines. Dr. Erica Schwartz, Trump’s nominee for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, along with Sean Kaufman, the nominee for a pandemic […]

Center Right

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The Scariest Part of the Senate’s COVID Hearing Had Nothing to Do With Anthony Fauci

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The Scariest Part of the Senate’s COVID Hearing Had Nothing to Do With Anthony Fauci

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