… As the new Democratic majorities gear up to launch investigations, oversight and impeachments of Trump officials, their cronies and donors to expose corruption and criminality, fascist Trump and his mob consigliere Todd Blanche threaten them with criminal prosecutions if they move forward.
… But nobody seems to be intimidated by the latest round of threats. If anything, it looks like it has only added more energy and zeal to Democrats gearing up to hold these people accountable.
… Trump posted:
“The threats being made by the Democrat Party against innocent Republican Donors and Party Members are absolutely unprecedented, and totally illegal. Please report them to DOJ, IMMEDIATELY! If you would like, send them directly to me, your President. These SLEAZEBAGS should go to jail for what they are doing. The Senate must act, and stop being pushed around to the point of the Republican Party losing Elections, and worse! Likewise, the DOJ and House of Representatives.”
… AG Todd Blanche on CNN:
Q - “Are you going to follow that order? And what is the criminal act? Blanche: We’ve seen outright threats by Members of Congress and senators. That is extremely troubling. They’re already talking about impeachments with no facts. That should be something that Trump is very concerned about, and certainly I am as well.”
Q - “They are talking about investigations which are part of their oversight role. Blanche: No, no, no. You honestly think all they are talking about is oversight? They’re talking about going after private companies. Q - What you just described, is there a crime there? Blanche: There could be. They’ve threatened individuals in college who might want to work for Trump.”
… What he’s talking about here is Sen. Elissa Slotkin warning young people that if they decide to go to work for this fascist lame-duck Admin now they may never get the stink of Trump off them for the rest of their lives, and that could hurt their futures. That isn’t a crime. It’s just damn good advice.
Q - “Calley Means, who was a top health official, accuses Susie Wiles of blocking health policies because of lobbying by Wiles’s former firm, and says she put fundraising over public health. Is this something you’ll look into? Blanche: Something someone says on a podcast? No, I do not listen to that. Absolutely not. Host: Sen. Ron Johnson called it corruption.”
… He’s not an AG for the people of the United States. He’s a corrupt enforcer thug for Donald Trump.
… Former Trump WH senior advisor Calley Means told CBS why he pushed Trump to fire COS Susie Wiles:
“I led the MAHA initiative at the WH. Under Trump’s nose in many cases, you had a group of former lobbyists catering to the vaping industry, catering to the ultra-processed food industry, to the pharmaceutical industry, the pesticide industry and doing their bidding with the excuse that we need their money for the midterms. That’s what they said explicitly - Susie and her cohort. I think a lot of this happened without Trump’s full knowledge.”
“I am sure that Trump wanted to go hard on the issue of improving health for children. I think he had severe poor advice from people who treated him like a baby in many respects and used him. Q - The president’s staff treats him like a baby? Means: Of course!”
… It’s always the “advisors” fault.
… Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) on Fox: “If Republicans are going to win in 2028, we need to stop mortgaging our children’s future. Calley Means lays out the corruption, in gory detail on Joe Rogan’s podcast, I’m sad to say, within the Trump Admin.”
… Surprise, surprise - Johnson is up for reelection in 2028.
… Blanche on Fox:
“I understand there are people who have said they believe there is some sort of corruption. That’s largely because the media and Democrats have just highlighted any time there’s any kind of success in this country that has to do with anybody associated with this admin, they call that corruption. Just because we see great things happening with this economy, that’s not corruption. That’s America and what it should be it’s just an American success story.”
… Oy vey.
… Incoming House Oversight Chair Robert Garcia told Washington Sun reporter Oriana Gonzalez that when CNN scheduled him to go on right after Blanche, he asked for a lineup change: “I called CNN and I was like, ‘can we be on at the same time?’ and they were like ‘no’. I’m looking forward to calling him out on his bullshit.”
… Garcia on CNN:
“They can come after us however they want. We’re not going to be intimidated.”
Q - “You have signaled you intend to investigate the ‘Trump crime family.’ How far does that go? Do you want to include Don Jr and Jared Kushner? Garcia: This is the most corrupt family to ever be in the WH. Q - So yes? Garcia: Absolutely. They should be expected to answer questions.”
“When Republicans go low, what we’re not going to do anymore is just take that, take the high road and turn the other cheek. The days of us not fighting back are over.”
… House Dem leader Hakeem Jeffries on ABC:
“We’re committed to moving the first 100 days to keep our word - to bring about accountability, because we’ve seen unprecedented corruption that’s been visited upon the American people. And we are committed to holding the crooks accountable and making sure that Congress functions like a separate and co-equal branch of govt.”
Q - “Can you work with Stephen Miller as the COS for the WH? Jeffries: Miller is the architect of Trump’s violent, illegal deportation scheme. There’s not gonna be any opportunity to work with Miller and what he represents. We’re committed to forcefully pushing back against the extremism that they may try to continue to unleash on the American people.”
On impeachment: “I am a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution. He has abused his power, undermined our nation security and engineered this costly war of choice in Iran. Hegseth has got to go. We will have that conversation on Tuesday morning when we reconvene, and I expect there to be strong support for that resolution.”
… Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman: “Every single Democrat is going to vote yes now. And House Republicans are a bit worried about attendance among their members after their midterm drubbing.”
… House Oversight Chair James Comer was asked about a Hegseth impeachment on Fox: “There’s a lot of discomfort with the effort in Iran—questions as to how much we have spent, what are the goals and objectives moving forward. I think that if the SecDef would come out quickly and address those, I think Republicans should be solid. Having said that, that doesn’t mean we will continue down the same path in Iran. We just heard from the voters and they are not happy.”
… Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on CBS:
“We put together a bipartisan housing bill that’s going to expand the supply of housing and help bring down the cost of housing. Trump didn’t even sign the damn thing and yet it’s now law. We got a lot of ways to deliver for the American people whether Trump wants to be a part of it or not.”
“I do want to be clear: If you’ve been making your profits by cheating American families and scamming your investors, you better get ready for some investigations. Serious ones.”
… Meanwhile, the clown show continues as Trump announced on Truth Social that he wants UFC President Dana White to serve as his new press secretary:
“I am pleased to announce that the Great Dana White, a violent Fighter and Warrior, has been offered the job of Press Secretary. I have requested that he bring with him assistants, even though some are not from our Country, of Islam Makhachev, Khabib Nurmagomedov, Justin Gaethje, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Kayla Harris. We need these people to defend us against the Lunatic Left. Dana will be a Press Secretary like none other. Dana, please take the job!”
… White was asked by TMZ if he is seriously considering the offer: “I’m going to DC right now. Q - Can you tell us about the conversations you’ve had with Trump? White: No, we have a meeting on Monday so I’m sure I will have more to talk about after that.”
… Stephen Miller was at Mar-a-Lago this weekend after being named WH Chief of Staff. Trump called him up to speak. Miller said: “If it wasn’t for President Trump, the United States of America would not exist right now.”
… Axios: “WH Dep. Chief of Staff Richard Walters is leaving the admin, the first major departure in an expected staff shakeup as incoming chief of staff Stephen Miller takes charge. The exit of one of outgoing chief of staff Susie Wiles’ allies signals a changing of the guard inside the West Wing, with Miller’s team poised to move into more powerful roles.
… Walters was one of Wiles’ closest political lieutenants, with a relationship stretching back more than a decade.”
… Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton on Stephen Miller: “I’m actually surprised that he did that, because the election was a repudiation of so much of what Trump has stood for and so much of that was designed by Stephen Miller. It’s concerning.”
… WaPo: “Industries that rely heavily on immigrant labor decried Trump’s promotion of his chief architect of deportations on Friday, just days after millions of Americans signaled anger about such policies. The elevation of Stephen Miller to chief of staff left some leaders of groups representing the agriculture and construction sectors gobsmacked.
… Chris Herr, president of PennAg Industries represents farmers and pork and poultry producers. He said many of his members helped propel Trump to victory in 2024 but have soured on the president, as some farmers reel from the loss of workers to immigration enforcement: “When I got a text message, ‘Hey, have you heard about Stephen Miller?,’ my first thought was: Thank goodness he was let go.”
… Last month, more than 40 farmers and ag industry groups wrote to Trump and congressional leaders, warning that the immigration crackdown was hitting the nation’s food supply, hurting farmers and risking higher grocery prices. The letter marked a strategy shift for an industry that had been reluctant to publicly criticize the immigration raids, preferring to lobby the admin behind the scenes. About 66% of the country’s farmworkers are foreign-born.
… Rebecca Shi, CEO of the bi-partisan American Business Immigration Coalition: “Time will tell if Stephen Miller continues to wreck the economy, destroy families, tarnish the Republican political coalition and obliterate Trump’s legacy.”
… For months, immigration raids have targeted construction sites across South Texas, resulting in significant project delays and labor shortages that helped deliver Democrats historic victories up and down the ballot in the Lone Star State this week.”
… Sen.-elect Abdul El-Sayed on ABC:
On Stephen Miller’s promotion: “He decides to hire the most broken man to continue to run the most dysfunctional WH we’ve seen. I don’t know what Stephen Miller has actually contributed to our culture, our society, in any real way, except to make us more angry and stoke the worst kind of fear and vitriol.”
Q - “Have you heard from Mike Rogers yet? El-Sayed: Not that I know of. I think he had a flight to catch to Florida.”
Q - “Can you work with Trump? El-Sayed: “If he wants to pass Trumpcare for All, which will guarantee healthcare to everyone, and put his name on it like he’s putting his name on everything, I’m game. Let’s see if he wants to do that. I’m happy to sit down with him.”
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If you missed Friday’s Bulletin, you can find it here.
… WSJ: “JD Vance was at the WH on Election Day alongside Trump as a historic blue wave washed over the country. The VP’s phone buzzed. A longtime confidant texted with some advice: perhaps Vance should consider sitting out the next presidential election.
… Tuesday’s brutal midterm drubbing—the most far-reaching Republican wipeout since Watergate—is scrambling Vance’s political future, with the VP and his allies privately grappling with hard questions about whether to mount a 2028 campaign for