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LAS VEGAS While Democratic voters here will flock to caucus sites to express their preference in their partys nominating contest, Republican voters will go about their day as normal.

Thats because the Republican Party voted last year to cancel its caucus.

On Saturday, the state GOP formally endorsed President Donald Trump and the group's voting members voted to bind the state party's delegates for the Republican National Convention to his re-election campaign.

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The decision to cancel its caucus was made last year to help clear the path to re-election Trump. By canceling its caucus, the party ensures that voters would not have the opportunity to formally put their support behind a different Republican candidate for president.

By canceling it, by opting out of it, it allows us to jump to the, what is gonna be the inevitable conclusion, that President Trump will be getting our delegates at the National Convention in Charlotte, a Nevada GOP spokesperson told multiple media outlets in September, after the vote.

At that time, Trump had faced long-shot challenges for the nomination from former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld, former South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford and former Illinois Rep. Joe Walsh. Walsh and Sanford have since abandoned their bids.

Republican parties in at least three other states also canceled their primaries, as part of an effort to make the path more difficult for these challengers and smoother for Trump.

The Republican Party of South Carolina like Nevada, a crucial early nominating state voted in September not to hold a primary, as did Kansas and Arizona.

Adam Edelman is a political reporter for NBC News.

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Nevada canceled its Republican caucus to help Trump re-election bid - NBC News

Rep. Doug Collins said when Attorney General William Barr testifies before the House Judiciary Committee next month, the George Republican plans to ask him about the dropped criminal investigation into a top FBI official.

"Why like Andrew McCabe was not charged," Collins asked Sunday on Fox News. "Someone who is an admitted liar. Someone who was let go from his job. The American people, the average Joe who gets up in the morning and says if I lie to the authorities, if I lie to the police, something is going to happen to me."

The Justice Department announced earlier this month that McCabe, the former deputy director of the FBI, would not be charged in an investigation into whether he lied to investigators about a media leak two years ago.

"We said at the outset of the criminal investigation, almost two years ago, that if the facts and the law determined the result, no charges would be brought, federal prosecutors said. We are pleased that Andrew McCabe and his family can go on with their lives without this cloud hanging over them.

President Trump cried foul, suggesting his longtime confidant Roger Stone, who was sentenced to 40 months in prison for obstruction, witness tampering, and lying to Congress.

Trump's allies argue that Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz's report on the Russia investigation, which found at least 17 "significant errors or omissions" in the warrants to monitor onetime Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, is evidence of a so-called deep state that sought to undermine the president.

As the Justice Department found that at least two of the four Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act orders were not valid, Republicans such as Collins have vowed to expose what they say is corruption at the highest levels of law enforcement.

"Wheres the investigation going forward on how we can make sure this doesnt happen again?" Collins, the top Republican on the judiciary panel, said he plans to ask Barr.

Barr is scheduled to testify before the House Judiciary Committee on March 31.

Read more:
Top Republican to ask Barr why DOJ dropped McCabe criminal investigation - Washington Examiner

Republican lawmakers in Maryland have criticized a history lesson at a public high school near Baltimore in which Donald Trump was compared with Nazis and communists.

A slide used in a history class at Loch Raven high school in Towson showed a picture of Trump above pictures of a Nazi swastika and a flag of the Soviet Union.

Captions read wants to round up a group of people and build a giant wall and oh, THAT is why it sounds so familiar!

The Baltimore Sun reported that the state delegate Kathy Szeliga arranged for copies of the slide and the school systems response to be sent to fellow Baltimore county lawmakers. She also posted the image on Facebook.

It is horrific. It is educational malfeasance, Szeliga said on Friday.

The Baltimore county councilman Wade Kach said the slide was a piece of propaganda that didnt belong in a classroom.

The school system said the slide was not part of the resources it provides for history teachers.

Charles Herndon, a spokesman for Baltimore county schools, said students in advanced high school classes are discerning, intelligent students who are going to be able to draw their own inferences and draw their own conclusions.

The topics being discussed in the class included world wars and the attempts by some leaders throughout history to limit or prevent migration into certain countries. In isolation and out of context with the lesson, the image could be misunderstood, the school district said in a statement.

The school system said the issue had become a personnel matter which will be appropriately addressed by the school administration and is not subject to further clarification.

Link:
Republicans furious over history lesson comparing Trump to Nazis - The Guardian

On Valentines Day, Gov. Kate Brown and Republican state Sen. Bill Hansell surveyed flood damage in Eastern Oregon from a Black Hawkhelicopter.

The following Monday, the governor stopped by Hansells office in the stateCapitol.

She wanted to discuss how the state might give financial help to flood victims in Hansells district. Perhaps not coincidentally, Brown also had a request one tied to a bill the Democrats want to pass this session, but which Hansell and his partyvow toblock.

I had begun to hear that maybe there was going to be a quid pro quo, Hansell recalled Wednesday. The governor was going to hold up relief work in order to try and extract a commitment from me on some of the bills orsomething.

Thats not what happened. According to Hansell, Brown even told him: Im sure you heard rumors Im here to do a quid pro quo. I amnot.

But the governor did ask Hansell for something: That he call Shaun Jillions, an industry lobbyist who is among the most forceful opponents to Senate Bill 1530, the climate change bill Democrats are pushing thisyear.

Hansell said it only dawned on him later what Brown was actually asking. She wanted him to work with Jillions to figure out what amendments to the bill might keep Hansell from abandoning the 2020 legislative sessionaltogether.

Men raise United States and State of Jefferson flags outside the Capitol in Salem, Ore., during a Timber Unity rally Thursday, Feb. 8, 2020. Timber Unitys signature issue is opposition to cap and trade, a plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but the group attracts others like climate change deniers and State of Jeffersonsecessionists.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

The odd meeting is a fitting example of the state of affairs in the Capitol, as Democrats and Republicans once again brace for a clash on climate change. With the cap-and-trade bill headed to a potential Senate vote next week, Republicans are showing more certainty than ever that they will stage the walkout that has long loomed over the session. Democrats are trying to keep them in thebuilding.

The governor has been busy trying to connect with Senate Republicans to identify incentives. Thats included reports of carving out extra money for a veterans hospital in Roseburg or funneling more dollars to a communitycollege.

The attempted deal-making is a matter of arithmetic. Democrats need at least two Republicans on hand in the Senate to achieve a 20-member quorum, allowing them to conductbusiness.

But so far, it hasnt seemed towork.

Republican Leader Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, said his caucus is solid and united against the cap-and-trade bill. For the past week, Republican Senators have been reading proclamations on the Senate floor from rural counties urging them to ensure the bill doesntpass.

Baertschiger said the governor has offered everybodysomething.

It stinks. I wont have no part of it, and its soft corruption,hesaid.

State Sens. Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, and Herman Baertschiger Jr., R-Grants Pass, talk on the Senate floor at the Capitol in Salem, Ore., Thursday, April 11,2019.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

Brownsees itdifferently.

The governor is trying to speak to individual members about the things we all want for their districts. Wildfire funding cant practically happen without a quorum, said Nik Blosser, the governors chief of staff. There are things that are specific to districts, and thats more how we are seeing the conversations. We cant do these things if we dont have aquorum.

Its not clear all Republicans areas ready to walk out asBaertschiger.

Of 10 GOP senators interviewed by OPB in the last week, seven said they would walk away from the session if SB 1530 doesnt include a referral to voters or other substantial changes. Three more Sens. Denyc Boles, Lynn Findley, and Tim Knopp would not say whether they were prepared to leave. Sen. Dennis Linthicum, R-Klamath Falls, said he was too busy to speak to OPB. Sen. Alan Olsen, R-Canby, is away from theCapitol.

If Republicans do stage a walkout, it could come next week. SB 1530 is currently expected to receive a vote in the Legislatures budget committee on Monday, the last step before the full Senate. Thats as far as many GOP senators are comfortable allowing the bill toproceed.

State Rep. Lynn Findley, R-Vale, introduces legislation on the House floor as the public gallery looks on at the Capitol in Salem, Ore., Tuesday, April 2,2019.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

During the 2019 legislative session, Senate Republicans left the Capitol two different times. With a walkout in June, they helped kill an earlier version of the climate change bill they are currentlyprotesting.

But last years walkouts were a surprise, catching many off guard; this year, a Republican exodus feels more like a foregoneconclusion.

Republicans have even considered branding for a walkout this time around. According to Sen. Brian Boquist, R-Dallas, theyd pitch it as a boycott for referral, a reference to their insistence the policy change require voterapproval.

They have also picked up a few tips from their previousdepartures.

Sen. Chuck Thomsen, R-Hood River, said that during the 2019 walkout, when the state police were on the hunt for Republican lawmakers, they stopped by Thomsens pear orchards. They spoke to his wife and theforeman.

This time, even Thomsens wife doesnt want to know where hes headed. And, he said, he wont tellher.

Hes had his bag packed for weeks and has already bought a plane ticket. Its on Southwest Airlines, he said, so its easy to change thedates.

Thomsen will say this for certain: this time, hes not headed to Idaho. Its too cold this time of year. His suitcase is full of polo shirts andshorts.

Boquist said Thursday he wouldnt hesitate to head back across the states eastern border once again. He has friends nearLewiston.

Best steelhead fishing in the country, Boquist said. I found a coffee shop that has wi-fi. Ill go there and continue to do Senatework.

Sen. Dallas Heard, R-Roseburg, said he shed 15 pounds during last years protest because of stress. For the past couple of weeks, he joked, hes been doing cheeseburger lifts moving them from the plate to hismouth.

Ive given it a lot of thought, Heard said on a more serious note. The walkout is not something I want to do. The majority has fullcontrol.

State Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, waits for the start of Oregon Gov. Kate Browns inaugural address at the state Capitol in Salem, Ore., Monday, Jan. 14,2019.

Bradley W.Parks/OPB

Sen. Kim Thatcher, R-Keizer, who has served 15 years in the state Legislature, said she sees this as the most damaging legislation shes faced as alawmaker.

Some people see it as shirking our duties, but I see it as actually doing everything we can for our constituents, Thatcher said of possibly leavingSalem.

Under SB 1530, greenhouse gas emissions allowed in Oregon would be capped, and that cap would be reduced over time. Polluters in the transportation, utility and manufacturing sectors would have to obtain state-issued credits for each metric ton of carbon dioxide theyemit.

The bill has spurred intractable disagreement even among lawmakers who agree that climate change is an issue state government mustaddress.

Democrats believe a cap-and-trade program would help the state transition away from fossil fuels, setting a course that would make Oregon a green energy leader and providing a blueprint for other small or medium-sizedstates.

Republicans point out that Oregons emissions are tiny on a global scale. They worry that the new regulations will increase prices, hurting families and spurring businesses to flee thestate.

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With Oregon Republicans Ready To Walk Out, Gov. Brown Tries To Bargain - OPB News

As the coronavirus death toll surpasses 2,000 people worldwide, one senator is warning about the lack of transparency from Chinese officials regarding the mystery illness.

Sen. Tom Cotton, who has repeatedly chastised the Chinese Communist Party for its handling of the coronavirus outbreak, said, "I have very low confidence in the state of Chinese politics because their government is still lying to the world about this deadly matter," during an interview Friday on Fox News.

As the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus grows around the world, the Chinese government has been criticized for its failure to act quickly and openly about the magnitude of the disease, which the World Health Organization labeled a "global emergency" two weeks ago.

"I don't disagree that China's scientists and doctors can, in some cases, be world-class and very professional. However, they have sitting next to them at every level of government a minder from the Chinese Communist Party, and I do not have any confidence in those party apparatchiks allowing China's scientists or their doctors to speak freely to anyone outside of China, especially officials in the United States government," the Arkansas Republican said.

Chinese authorities have been accused of cracking down on scientists, doctors, and citizen journalists who attempted to sound the alarm about the epidemic, which has its epicenter in the city of Wuhan. One whistleblower, who warned of the disease on Dec. 30 and was reprimanded for doing so, fell ill and died from the disease only weeks after his first messages about the mystery illness.

Early reports from China claimed the disease started in the Wuhan wildlife market and videos of Chinese cuisine, such as bat soup, circulated on Twitter, promoting the idea that dietary habits could have played a role in the outbreak. But as the disease has spread, Cotton and others have noted that Wuhan contains China's "only biosafety level 4 super laboratory that works with the world's most deadly pathogens."

"We know that it didn't start in the Wuhan food market. That was the original story of the Chinese Communist Party, so it's only responsible to ask where it did start," Cotton said. "I still think the most likely hypothesis is it was naturally occurring, but given the proximity of that laboratory to the food market, it is only reasonable that we ask the Chinese Communist Party to be open and transparent about the kind of research they were conducting there and the safety, protocols, and practices they had in place."

On Thursday, the State Department transported 14 infected American travelers who had been quarantined on the Diamond Princess cruise ship off the coast of Japan.

Dr. Nancy Messonnier of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention downplayed concerns about what she called a "rapidly changing situation."

"It is really early days, and we're continuing to get information every day that is better helping us understand this virus," Messonnier said during a CDC briefing in late January.

Excerpt from:
Republican senator: China 'lying to the world' about coronavirus outbreak - Washington Examiner