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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republicans-top-ohio-senate-candidate-drops-out-of-race

Republicans’ Top Ohio Senate Candidate Drops Out Of Race

Republicans lost their only serious candidate to challenge Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) on Friday, as state Treasurer Josh Mandel (R) issued a surprise statement dropping out of the race.

“We recently learned that my wife has a health issue that will require my time, attention and presence. In other words, I need to be there,” Mandel said in a statement to supporters. “Understanding and dealing with this health issue is more important to me than any political campaign.”

The shock decision leaves state Republicans scrambling for a top-tier candidate to face Brown in a state that President Trump easily carried last fall. But even before Mandel dropped his campaign, it was looking like an uphill battle for the GOP to unseat Brown, a populist warrior whose numbers have remained strong in the state.

“Ohio’s looking a lot like the rest of the nation in terms of the overall political environment. It’s going to be a tough race, Sherrod Brown’s going to be well funded and maybe that made the decision for Josh easier and maybe makes the decision for others harder to get into this,” former Ohio Republican Party Chairman Kevin DeWine told TPM shortly after Mandel’s announcement.

Mandel had backing from the establishment and tea party wings of the GOP, and had appeared likely to cruise to nomination after other top Republicans took a pass on the race. But his decision to drop out may not be a major setback for the party. Brown defeated Mandel in 2012 by 51 percent to 45 percent, running ahead of President Obama, and Mandel had exposed his flaws as a candidate in that campaign.

Republicans are looking at a crowded primary field for governor, and either Rep. Jim Renacci (R-OH), Ohio Lt. Gov. Mary Taylor (R) or Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine (R) could decide to slide over to a Senate race, as could Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted (R), who’s currently running for lieutenant governor. Rep. Pat Tiberi (R-OH) also had spent much of the past year testing the political waters, but is leaving Congress in a matter of weeks to head the Ohio Business Roundtable, a job he’s unlikely to back out of. Businessman Mike Gibbons is the only Republican left in the race at this point.

But whoever wants a crack at Brown better hurry: The filing deadline for the primary is just a month away, on Feb. 7, and candidates will need to hustle to gather enough petition signatures to get on the ballot.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/muckraker/fbi-probing-clinton-foundation-reports

Reports: Trump Justice Department Now Probing Clinton Foundation

Federal law enforcement authorities are actively investigating the Clinton Foundation and whether former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton exchanged policy favors or special access for contributions to the charity, the Hill reportedand CNN confirmed.

The move comes as President Trump has long called for prosecution of Clinton, his rival in the 2016 election, and GOP lawmakers since have echoed his demands for more Clinton investigations as the Russia probe of Trump and his own campaign heats up.

According to the reports, the investigation is being led by the FBI office in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the foundation was formed, and CNN reported that it was being overseen by the U.S. Attorney’s Office there.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as the Justice Department, declined to comment in the CNN story. The FBI office in Little Rock referred the Hill to the FBI headquarters, which also declined to comment.

The NYT also independently reported the FBI activity in the case.

The Hill’s report is based on a witness who was interviewed by the FBI, as well as law enforcement sources:

One witness recently interviewed by the FBI described the session to The Hill as “extremely professional and unquestionably thorough” and focused on questions about whether donors to Clinton charitable efforts received any favorable treatment from the Obama administration on a policy decision previously highlighted in media reports.

A spokesperson for Clinton bashed the investigation, telling CNN it was a “sham.”

“It began with a long-debunked project spearheaded by Steve Bannon during the presidential campaign,” the spokesman, Nick Merrill said, referring to an anti-Clinton book Bannon pushed. “It continues with [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions doing Trump’s bidding by heeding his calls to meddle with a department that is supposed to function independently.”

A foundation spokesperson told the Hill that the charity would not be distracted from its philanthropic work.

“Time after time, the Clinton Foundation has been subjected to politically motivated allegations, and time after time these allegations have been proven false,” the spokesman, Craig Minassi said.

Chants of “lock her up” were a common refrain during Trump’s campaign stump speeches, and during a 2016 debate, he vowed to instruct his attorney general to appoint a special prosecutor to “look into” Clinton’s “situation.

Since taking office, Trump has publicly criticized Attorney General Jeff Sessions for not opening putting enough focus on Clinton, a demand Republicans have also made of Sessions.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/tina-johnson-roy-moore-accuser-house-burns-down

Roy Moore Accuser’s Home Burns Down, Arson Task Force Investigating

Tina Johnson, who accused failed Alabama Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore of sexually assaulting her in his office in 1991, lost everything she and her family owned when her home was destroyed in a fire Tuesday, Al.com reported.

“I am devastated, just devastated,” she told the outlet Friday. “We have just the clothes on our backs.”

“That fire is still under investigation by the Etowah County Arson Task Force,” a public information officer for the Etowah County Sherriff’s Department, Natalie Barton, told Al.com. “A suspect of interest is being spoken to. But there have been no charges, to my knowledge, related to the fire at this time.”

Johnson and a neighbor, Kevin Tallant, told Al.com that other neighbors had seen someone the publication described as “a young man who had a history of public intoxication” walking around Johnson’s home before the fire.

Johnson said another neighbor, who was not named, told her the unnamed man asked her “if he thought Johnson’s house was going to burn,” in the publication’s words. The neighbor didn’t know what he was talking about because the flames weren’t visible at the time, Al.com reported.
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Marc123 said:
"Proven" or "proving"? Fuckin idiot.
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So did you miss the "covfefe" tweet where he invented a new word and then the White House press secretary said those who know what it means know what it means? This is literally a bunch of right wing morons covering for their even more retarded right wing moron boss who can barely make sense and has no concerns about lying even when the truth can be proven to show otherwise. This is a guy who mocked John McCain then thought he could sway him to for his healthcare repeal bill while dude was literally receiving treatment for a brain tumour that the ACA helped him afford treatment for. Trump is a delusional narcissist who is clearly suffering from some sort of elderly dementia because in the 80s and 90s he was actually fairly eloquent and came across as reasonably intelligent, now he just seems like a braggart and an idiot trying to get everyone to like him and then insulting them if they don't support him relentlessly.
 
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