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Jeff Sessions Used Political Funds for Republican Convention Expenses Wall Street Journal (subscription) The Trump administration says Attorney General Jeff Sessions was acting as a then-U.S. senator when he talked to Russia's ambassador at an event during last year's Republican National Convention in Cleveland, but Mr. Sessions paid for convention travel ... How much longer can Republicans defend Trump over Russia?The Week Magazine Sticking With Trump, Republicans Resist Call for Broader Russian InquiryNew York Times Republican Lawmakers Call for Sessions to Recuse HimselfThe Atlantic Daily Beast -Washington Post -Los Angeles Times -Washington Post all 3,806 news articles »

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Jeff Sessions Used Political Funds for Republican Convention Expenses - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

The Utah Republican Party earlier had pushed instead the idea of runoff elections to help ensure a majority winner in crowded-field primary elections. But it reversed course saying that solution would be too expensive and take too much time.

Its reversal also came as the party reneged on a deal last weekend. It had pledged to drop its legal challenges of a new election law if the Legislature would pass a runoff election bill. As that bill was moving forward, the party changed its mind and said it would pursue its legal challenges anyway.

It was part of a fight over a new law, called SB54, allowing candidates to qualify for the primary by gathering signatures or through the traditional caucus-convention system.

A possible consequence of SB54 are primary races with multiple candidates, raising the prospect of a winner securing the party nomination with a small percentage of the votes.

Chavez-Houck noted in debate that the Utah Republican Party has already used ranked choice voting in its state conventions. She said it could help voters feel that their votes truly count, even if perhaps they know their top choice may not win.

Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, author of the controversial SB54 who had pushed a runoff election bill at the request of the GOP only to drop it after it broke its deal, has predicted the instant runoff bill has little chance of passage in the Senate.

"There is very little, if any, appetite to pursue instant runoff voting," he said earlier this week. Meanwhile, the House defeated another controversial election provision on Friday.

It voted 26-45 to kill HB314, which would have required that mail-in ballots arrive at a county clerk's office on or before Election Day. Critics argued that it would have prevented about 57,000 votes from counting in last November's election.

Current rules require only that a by-mail ballot be postmarked the day before an election.

Later in the day, that bill was resurrected. The House removed the controversial portion about the mailing deadlines, and passed remaining provisions to require Election Day drop boxes for ballots. The watered-down version passed 64-9.

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After unusual Republican Party support, Democrat passes election-reform bill - Salt Lake Tribune

Resistance to President Donald Trump is cropping up in the most unlikeliest of places: the House GOP caucus.

At least four Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives, some of whom havebeen questioned, booed and heckled at recent town halls by their constituents, publicly called for Trump to release his tax returns in order to review for any potential conflicts of interest that pose a national security risk or violate the Constitution.

Its something I feel very, very strongly about, Republican South Carolina Rep. Mark Sanford told RollCall this week. Sanford, along with North Carolina Republican Walter Jones signed a letter from New Jersey Democrat Bill Pascrell calling onthe chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee to compel the United States Treasury Department to release Trumps tax returns for congressional review.

Disclosure would serve the public interest of clarifying President Trumps conflicts of interest in office, the potential for him to personally benefit from tax reform, and ensure that he is not receiving any preferential treatment from the IRS, the letter stated. We believe the powerful and respected Committees on Finance and Ways and Means have the responsibility to ensure oversight of the executive branch by requesting a review of President Trumps tax returns and moving toward a formal release of these documents to the public

The letter has been signed by more than 140 Democrats in the House.

Ultimately, it isnt about Trumps tax returns. Its about the continuation of a policy thats been in place for 50 years by virtue of tradition. What happens at the federal level has real implications at the state and local level, Sanford said.

Sanford was one of several House Republicans, including House Oversight Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, who calledon Trump to release his tax returns during the presidential campaign. Sanford even sent a letter in late January to Trumps chief of staff, Reince Priebus, on the matter.

Trump defied a more than four-decade-old bipartisan tradition of presidential candidates releasing their tax returns, insisting that he cannot do so while under audit.He has said that the public doesnt care at all about his returns.

But asked, Will you call for the release of President Trumps income tax records? by aregistered Republican at a Pensacola town hall late last month, freshman Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida folded and responded: Absolutely.

Iowa Republican Rep.David Young echoed his Republican colleague at his own recent town hall.You run for president, youre president, you should release your tax returns. Its a distraction and I think the American people should know, the congressmantold a town hall last week, calling the decision a no-brainer.

A poll released during last years presidential campaign found that 64 percent of Republican voters wanted Trump to release his tax returns.

Earlier this week Pascrelltried to get House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-TX, and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orin Hatch, R-Utah, to use their jurisdictional authority to push Trump to release his taxes. Pascrell forced a vote on the floor of the House on the issue, but every Republican including Gaetz and Young unanimously rejected the motion. Sanford and Jones, who have taken the most concrete steps to force Trumps hand on tax returns, voted present.

Jones said in an interview with RollCall that Americans need to know about their presidents taxes.

We are not going to be turned back, Pascrell said after his bill failed to gain traction with more Republicans.We have several paths.

Democratic members in the Senate are nowpushing for the returnsunder thesame 1924 law that Pascrell unsuccessfully invoked in the House.Under the law, chairmen of the Congressional tax-writing committees are authorized to confidentially review anyones return including the presidents without that persons consent if they have cause for concern.

Im just watching these Republicans speaking out in the House like Mark Sanford,Senator Ron Wyden from Oregon, the leading Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, told RollCall. Wyden recently introduced a bill that wouldrequire presidents and presidential nominees to release their three most recent tax returns.If they dont, Wydens bill would authorize the Treasury to do it for them. The measure has 19 co-sponsors, all Democrats, but so far no action has been taken.

Democrats have saidTrumps tax returns are needed to examine potential financial links to Russian investors in light of Russias interference in last years elections. They also contend the tax returns could help determine whether Trump has conflicts of interests when he takes positions on legislation such as tax proposals.

But Republican committee chairmen Brady and Hatch said in a letter to Wyden that there was no specific allegations of tax-related misconduct against Trump. As a result, they wrote, we strongly believe it would be inappropriate for us to use this authority to access and release the presidents tax returns.

Unlike Republicans in the House, Senate Republicans have surprisingly stuck by Trump and his right to shield his tax returns more than their colleagues in the House. Only Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina has somewhat spoken against Trumps position, telling RollCall this week thatany candidate running in 2020 needs to release their tax returns.

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House GOP begin to turn on Trump: Republicans break from party to demand president's tax returns - Salon

No matter what they may say, politicians dont always welcome their constituents views.

Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnsons office recently threatened police action against a constituent if he did not cease and desist calling to criticizeDonald Trump.

This letter acts as written notice of our expectation for you to discontinue your unwarranted telephone calls and office visits, wrote Johnsons staff on Senate stationery in a letter dated Feb. 17. The senators staff said they would report the 72-year-old Milwaukee man, Earl Good, to the Capitol Police if he failed to comply with the letter. And in a follow-up statement to a local CBS station, the senators spokesman said Good had crosse[d] the bounds of decency.

Johnsons office did not answer repeated phone calls and emails asking for examples of such behavior.

After interviewing Good and progressive activists in Wisconsin who have interacted with him at various political events, it seems Good is only guilty of extreme persistence.

Good cops to it. Im sure Johnsons office thinks Im a pain in their ass or a nuisance, he told VICE News. His wife is a Trump supporter and agrees with them, he added ruefully.

The retired hospital lab director and Vietnam veteran, who served on the battleship U.S.S. Buck, started calling Johnsons offices in Wisconsin and Washington a few times a week after Trumps inauguration.

Good said he always called with a specific issue in mind, like Obamacare, gun background checks, or the defense budget. He also called to express his support for Trumps pick of General James Mattis for Secretary of Defense. There have been some times where I stated a position and the staffer laughed, he said. This is not a game; these calls are of my own volition.

Then suddenly he noticed that his calls began going straight to voicemail, especially when he was calling the D.C. office. All congressional office phones are equipped with caller ID.

Every time I got the voicemail, I would hang up, because I wanted to talk to somebody, he said. So he called. And called. And called. Sometimes a staffer would pick up and put him on hold until he hung up. One day, he had to call 83 times until a staffer picked up to talk to him.

He went to Johnsons Milwaukee office and asked to speak to a supervisor about Johnsons positions on certain issues. When he was told it would be a while, he said hed wait and asked if the staff could print out Johnsons press releases so he could study them in the meantime.

Since he received the letter last week, Good says he has so far complied and stopped calling the senators offices.

VICE News couldnt find any other examples of cease and desist letters being sent to constituents, but Republicans across both houses of Congress are struggling to respond to the barrage of phone calls into their offices since Congress came into session on Jan. 3.

Established progressive groups like Planned Parenthood and the American Federation of Teachers along with new Resistance startups like Daily Action and 5 Calls have together organized liberals to make over a million calls to members of Congress to protest various aspects of the Trump administration.

Every left-wing organization is calling my office, Rep. Pete Sessions of Texas told The Washington Post on Congress first day as Republicans considered changing ethics rules.

The phone calls only seem to have ramped up since. One Republican congressmens office increased the number of interns and staff members monitoring incoming phone calls from two to 10 in the last month, Politico Playbook reported.

While the Sergeant at Arms office said it does not provide statistics on incoming phone calls, Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii tweeted on Feb. 2:

Near the end of our interview, Good sheepishly admitted that one time he was so frustrated that he did indeed threaten Johnsons staff. If you hang up on me, he warned, Im going to call back.

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Cease and desist - VICE News

New York Times

Republican Unity on Health Care Is Elusive, Despite Trump's Support New York Times WASHINGTON President Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night buoyed House Republican leaders who were hopeful that his leadership would unite fractious lawmakers around a plan to replace the Affordable Care Act. But fundamental ... and more »

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Republican Unity on Health Care Is Elusive, Despite Trump's Support - New York Times