Plus, showdowns loom on Capitol Hill

Principles First Newsletter - September 14, 2023 - View in browser ([link removed])
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“I say this to my Republican colleagues who are defending the indefensible: There will come a day when Donald Trump is gone, but your dishonor will remain.”
Liz Cheney
Former Chair, House Republican Conference;
Vice Chair, House January 6th Committee
What Mitt Romney Saw in the Senate
In an exclusive excerpt from my forthcoming biography of the senator, Romney: A Reckoning, he reveals what drove him to retire.
The Atlantic
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Opinion | George W. Bush: Michael Gerson’s words make the case for saving PEPFAR
There is no program more pro-life than one which has saved more than 25 million lives.
The Washington Post
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Mitt Romney says he will not seek a second term in the Senate
In a Post interview, Romney is critical of both Trump and Biden, and says most Republicans are drawn to a ‘populist demagogue message.’ His decision not to seek reelection is likely to be the end of the 2012 GOP presidential nominee’s political career.
The Washington Post
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Russia Overcomes Sanctions to Expand Missile Production, Officials Say
Moscow’s missile production now exceeds prewar levels, officials say, leaving Ukraine especially vulnerable this coming winter.
The New York Times
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House Republicans wrestle with key decisions as they plot next steps on impeachment inquiry
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy unilaterally gave his conference the green light to launch an impeachment inquiry into President Joe Biden. Now the harder work begins.
CNN
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In private meetings, Manchin grapples with his political future
If he runs for reelection or president, the Democratic senator has signaled he would probably leave the party and run as an independent.
The Washington Post
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Xi’s Unexplained G-20 Snub Erodes Image as Global Statesman
Chinese leader expected to miss G-20 summit for first time. His absence comes as China and India clash over border dispute
Bloomberg
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Wisconsin Republicans’ Naked Exercise in Authoritarian Power
Gerrymandering GOP want to impeach a judge who threatens their control.
The xxxxxx
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Senior FBI agent disputes some whistleblowers’ claims about Hunter Biden probe
Thomas Sobocinski, who manages the FBI team investigating Hunter Biden, was interviewed by the House Judiciary Committee.
The Washington Post
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Tuberville refuses to budge on military promotions despite growing GOP pressure
Alabama Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R) is refusing to back down from his decision to hold up more than 300 nonpolitical military promotions, despite growing pressure from Senate Republican colleagues and leaders.
The Hill
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Milley disputes claim he recommended Trump attack Iran
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told CNN’s Fareed Zakaria in an interview Wednesday that he never recommended a US military attack on Iran during the Trump administration, pushing back on claims made by former President Donald Trump and his White House chief of staff Mark Meadows.
CNN
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A Putin Critic Fell to His Death in Washington. We Still Don’t Know Why.
Police don’t suspect foul play killed Dan Rapoport. Some friends aren’t so sure.
Politico
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I Can’t Keep Trump Off the Ballot
Voters should decide elections: That’s the simple lesson of Georgia in 2018 and 2020.
The Wall Street Journal
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CBO's Monthly Budget Review: July 2023
The federal budget deficit was $1.6 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—more than twice the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Revenues were 10 percent lower and outlays were 10 percent higher from October through July than they were during the same period in fiscal year 2022.
Congressional Budget Office
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State election officials prepare for efforts to disqualify Trump under 14th Amendment
New Hampshire, Michigan and Arizona are bracing for lawsuits.
ABC News
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Kemp rejects talk of special session, says punishing Fani Willis carries risks
During a remarkable press conference, Gov. Brian Kemp quashed the idea of a special legislative session pushed by former President Donald Trump and his allies to oust Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis after she charged them with a vast conspiracy to reverse his 2020 defeat.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
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Proud Boy Joe Biggs sentenced to 17 years in Jan. 6 seditious conspiracy case
Biggs “served as an instigator and leader" during the Capitol attack, prosecutors said. Zachary Rehl, another Proud Boy convicted of seditious conspiracy, was sentenced to 15 years.
NBC News
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Matt Schlapp Held an Exorcism at CPAC Offices After Junior Employees Resigned
Matt Schlapp wanted to rid the CPAC offices of evil spirits, so he got a Catholic priest to sprinkle holy water on the office furniture and employees, multiple sources said.
Daily Beast
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Chris Christie’s Darkness on the Edge of the GOP Primary
In New Hampshire, his campaign is a tale of chances not taken, and things that might have been.
Politico Magazine
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Congress poised for messy September as McCarthy races to avoid government shutdown
GOP hardliners in the House are eager to play a game of chicken over the end-of-the-month deadline to fund federal agencies, seeking to force the White House and Senate to make a choice: Accept a slew of conservative priorities or risk a debilitating government shutdown.
CNN
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Do Higher Deficits Cause Inflation? Not This Year
Gap between federal spending and revenue is widening, but not for reasons that stimulate economy.
The Wall Street Journal
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A Huge Threat to the U.S. Budget Has Receded. And No One Is Sure Why.
For decades, runaway Medicare spending was the story of the federal budget.
Now, flat Medicare spending might be a bigger one.
The New York Times
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DeSantis built a massive network of big donors. Many have ditched him.
A POLITICO analysis shows just a substantial drop off in giving.
Politico
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Pence Calls Trump’s Populism a ‘Road to Ruin’ for the G.O.P.
The former vice president used a speech in New Hampshire on Wednesday to call on Republicans to choose between conservatism and Donald Trump’s brand of populism.
The New York Times
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Real-Estate Doom Loop Threatens America’s Banks
Regional banks’ exposure to commercial real estate is more substantial than it appears.
The Wall Street Journal
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What Ginni Thomas and Leonard Leo wrought: How a justice’s wife and a key activist started a movement
Thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United ruling, a trove of so-called “dark money” was about to be unleashed. Two activists prepared to seize the moment.
Politico
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Elon Musk Wants to Save Humanity. The Only Problem: People.
Walter Isaacson’s biography of the billionaire entrepreneur depicts a mercurial “man-child” with grandiose ambitions and an ego to match.
The New York Times
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Russia’s ‘Merchant of Death’ Is Looking to Forge a New Life in Politics
The convicted arms trafficker Viktor A. Bout hasn’t much flair for retail politicking, but his celebrity may compensate for that in regional elections.
The New York Times
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Jan. 6 shattered her family. Now they’re trying to forgive.
Peyton Reffitt has watched her family come apart after her father joined the Capitol riot mob. Now she and her family are confronting the perceived betrayals and broken relationships.
The Washington Post
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Presidential centers issue joint statement calling out fragile state of US democracy
Concern for U.S. democracy has prompted the entities supporting 13 presidential libraries dating back to Herbert Hoover to call for a recommitment to the country’s bedrock principles, including the rule of law and respecting diverse beliefs.
ABC News
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The Contagious Corruption of Ken Paxton
The most important political trial of the year is taking place in Texas.
The New York Times
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2024 Principles First Summit
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Stephen Richer Interview
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Arizona News - Politics Unplugged Podcast: Stephen Richer
August 2023

Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer talks about his defamation lawsuit against Kari Lake, the former Republican nominee for governor. Richer also talks about his political future and whether he will run for reelection or seek a different office.
Think Pieces of the Week
They Did This to Themselves
By supporting the Liz Cheney purge and downplaying January 6th, Ron DeSantis and his conservative supporters dug their own hole.
Christian Vanderbrouk at the xxxxxx
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How Russia Globalized the War in Ukraine
The Kremlin’s Pressure-Point Strategy to Undermine the West.
Michael Kimmage and Hanna Notte at Foreign Affairs
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China’s Road to Ruin
The Real Toll of Beijing’s Belt and Road.
Michael Bennon and Francis Fukuyama at Foreign Affairs
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Ukraine’s Most Powerful Spiritual Force Faces a Choice
The war has made the Orthodox church a force for national unity. Where will it go from here?
Cole S. Aronson at Politico
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Why Modi Can’t Make India a Great Power
Government-Backed Intolerance Is Tearing the Country Apart.
Sushant Singh at Foreign Affairs
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Ross Douthat’s Theories of Persuasion
At a time of distrust and polarization, the conservative Times columnist seeks to bridge the worlds of the Christian right and the secular left.
Isaac Chotiner at The New Yorker
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Podcasts of the Week
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The Dispatch Podcast - Ken Paxton's Impeachment Trial
September 10, 2023

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been dodging accusations of malfeasance for years, but now they might be catching up with him.

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Acton Unwind - What Is Populism’s Place in American Conservatism?
September 11, 2023

Parsing former vice president Mike Pence’s speech in New Hampshire, which was aimed at drawing distinctions between his definition of conservatism and the populism of the New Right and Donald Trump.

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The Remnant with Jonah Goldberg - Nichols on the Dime
September 6, 2023

Tom Nichols provides analysis of our current political malaise, the ongoing conflict in Ukraine—namely, how America has handled it, and what’s really motivating Putin. Plus, a debate on what it means to be “Never Trump” in 2023, and where principled conservatives should go from here.

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Know Your Enemy - What the Cold War Did to Liberalism
September 5, 2023

In his provocative new book, Liberalism Against Itself ([link removed]) , historian Samuel Moyn revisits the work of five key Cold War thinkers—Judith Shklar, Isaiah Berlin, Karl Popper, Gertrude Himmelfarb, and Lionel Trilling—to explain the deformation of liberalism in the middle of the twentieth century. For Moyn, the liberalism that emerged from the Cold War is, lamentably, still with us—a culprit in the rise of Donald Trump, and a barrier to offering a compelling alternative to him.

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The Realignment Podcast - Sohrab Ahmari: Post-Liberalism and the Threat of Private Tyranny
August 15, 2023

Sohrab Ahmari discusses the increasing role that private tyranny plays in American life, his ideological journey towards what he calls "pro-life New Dealer," why the right is often elevates combating "wokeness" over substantive critiques of private power, and how labor increased representation and worker bargaining power offers a way out of the status-quo.

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst alerts:

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@MittRomney ([link removed]) : “A very large portion of my party really doesn’t believe in the Constitution.”

We know, Mitt. We know. Thank you for saying it. [link removed]

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 13, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

New Mexico AG Raul Torrez (D-NM) puts principle before party: “Simply put, I do not believe the Emergency Order will have any meaningful impact on public safety but, more importantly, I do not believe it passes constitutional muster.”

Thanks, Raul. [link removed]

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 13, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@LeaderMcConnell ([link removed]) on Ukraine: “The U.S. isn’t arming Ukraine out of a sense of charity. We’re backing a fellow democracy because it’s in our direct interest to do so.”

Pretty straightforward. pic.twitter.com/aHgLmbdN0j ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 12, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen says he will not enforce the NM Gov’s ban on concealed carry: “I take my oath seriously. While I understand the urgency, my oath was to protect the Constitution and that is what I will do.” pic.twitter.com/r20yPJYq4j ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 12, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@RepKenBuck ([link removed]) (R-CO) doesn’t mince words on MTG: “Marjorie filed articles of impeachment on Biden before he was sworn into office more than two years ago. The idea she is now the expert on impeachment is absurd.”

We agree, Ken. pic.twitter.com/AH6FM2HoEr ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 11, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@RepMcCaul ([link removed]) (R-TX) on @TTuberville ([link removed]) : “The idea that one man in the Senate can hold up these military nominations for months is paralyzing the Department of Defense.”

Thanks for speaking the truth, Mike—and defending the readiness of our armed forces.

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 10, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@TedLieu ([link removed]) (D-CA) puts the Constitution and the rule of law above his own policy preferences, and opposes NM’s new emergency order suspending New Mexicans’ constitutional rights.

Thanks for putting principles first on this one, Ted. [link removed]

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 9, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@GovChristie ([link removed]) : “This is the naivety of the Donald Trump, Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy approach to foreign policy. They all think they're going to go talk to Putin, and they're going to convince him to go away.”

Sums it up. pic.twitter.com/w72uJVmH6S ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 6, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

The Texas Senate has voted 24-6 to proceed with the impeachment trial of @KenPaxtonTX ([link removed]) for his public corruption and abuse of power.

Thanks to all 24 who defended principles of truth and integrity today in Texas.

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 5, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

Bill Barr defends Trump’s prosecutors: “The idea that this is interfering with the election is simply wrong.”

Rule of law isn’t interference. Thanks, Bill. pic.twitter.com/kHBxdctbz6 ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) September 1, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

Gov. @BrianKempGA ([link removed]) rejects the idea of ousting Fani Willis: “The bottom line is that in the state of Georgia, as long as I’m governor, we’re going to follow the law and the Constitution.”

Keep leading, Governor. pic.twitter.com/wRa8jAHQMh ([link removed])

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) August 31, 2023 ([link removed])

🚨🚨 #PrinciplesFirst ([link removed]) alert:

@KarlRove ([link removed]) on Vivek: “He is a performance artist who says outrageous things, smears his opponents and appeals to the dark parts of the American psyche.”

Pretty easy to spot. Thanks, Karl. [link removed]

— Principles First (@Principles_1st) August 31, 2023 ([link removed])

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