George Santos says he won’t resign as fellow Republicans call on him to quit

Chair of Nassau county committee says Santos ran ‘a campaign of deceit, lies and fabrication’ to win third district

The Republican George Santos said on Wednesday he would not resign from Congress less than a week after being sworn in, despite calls to do so from the chairman of his district committee and a fellow New York representative, amid continuing scrutiny of Santos’s mostly made-up résumé and growing calls for campaign finance investigations.

In a tweet, Santos said: “I was elected to serve the people of the New York third district not the party and politicians, I remain committed to doing that and regret to hear that local officials refuse to work with my office to deliver results to keep our community safe and lower the cost of living.

Continue reading...

Group aiming to sabotage Whitmer’s Covid policies funded by dark money

Non-profit affiliated with utility DTE Energy funded effort to repeal Michigan governor’s emergency order powers

A dark money non-profit linked to power utility DTE Energy funded a group behind the effort to repeal the emergency order powers of Michigan’s Democratic governor, Gretchen Whitmer, and end the state’s Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions.

Internal Revenue Service records revealing a $100,000 donation made in 2020 were not publicly available until late 2021, and show the funds were contributed to another dark money non-profit that served as a primary funder of the Unlock Michigan repeal campaign.

Continue reading...

Republican George Santos faces campaign finance complaint

Controversial newly elected congressman who appears to have made up most of his résumé is subject of FEC complaint

The newly sworn-in Republican congressman George Santos, whose campaign résumé has been shown to be largely made-up, is the subject of a complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission.

The complaint concerning the New York representative was filed with the FEC on Monday by the Campaign Legal Center (CLC), a non-partisan watchdog group.

Continue reading...

Republicans pounce on FBI raid at Mar-a-Lago to solicit campaign funds

Trump and other candidates’ fundraising emails foment outrage and urge donations to stop the ‘Radical Left’

Republican and rightwing groups have swiftly used the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s winter home at Mar-a-Lago in Florida to raise money from their supporters by bombarding them with fundraising emails and appeals for donations.

In public the former US president, his allies and nearly all senior Republicans have expressed deep outrage at the raid, which is linked to Trump apparently keeping classified documents at Mar-a-Lago from his time in the White House. But the same figures have also seen the moment as a clear opportunity to urge supporters to dig deep into their pockets.

Continue reading...

Trump pays $110,000 in fines after being held in contempt of court – live

The Washington Post said Friday it had obtained emails showing that Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, the conservative activist and wife of supreme court justice Clarence Thomas, pressed Arizona lawmakers to set aside Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state and choose “a clean slate of electors”.

Thomas wrote to two unidentified lawmakers on 9 November 2020, the newspaper says, six days after the general election, arguing they needed to intervene because the vote had been marred by fraud.

Continue reading...

US congressman convicted of lying to FBI in campaign funds case

Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry found guilty in case involving illegal campaign contributions from foreign billionaire

A Nebraska congressman has been found guilty of three felonies for lying to the FBI about illegal campaign contributions from a foreign billionaire.

A federal jury in Los Angeles convicted Jeff Fortenberry, a nine-term Republican, on Thursday of concealing information and two counts of providing false statements to authorities.

Continue reading...

Patrick Byrne: pro-Trump millionaire pushing election conspiracy theories

Weekend rallies with Roger Stone and Michael Flynn show key influence of libertarian helping to fund Arizona election audit

This Memorial Day weekend, several prominent conservative allies of Donald Trump, who have promoted almost nonstop his false narratives about the 2020 election results, are slated to hold rallies in Florida and Texas endorsed by the wealthy libertarian Patrick Byrne.

Billed as featuring the Trump confidant Roger Stone, the retired general Michael Flynn, Byrne and other pro-Trump stalwarts, the dual events underscore that Byrne – who has been leading private fundraising for the politically driven vote audit now under way in Arizona’s largest county – seems intent on funding and pushing conspiracy theories about the 2020 elections.

Continue reading...

Trump reportedly told Republican party to stop using his name for fundraising

Party bodies have used former president’s name while fundraising for Republicans who voted for his impeachment

Donald Trump has told the Republican National Committee and other party bodies to stop using his name and likeness in fundraising efforts, it was reported on Saturday.

Continue reading...

Billionaires backed Republicans who sought to reverse US election results

Guardian analysis shows Club for Growth has spent $20m supporting 42 rightwing lawmakers who voted to invalidate Biden victory

An anti-tax group funded primarily by billionaires has emerged as one of the biggest backers of the Republican lawmakers who sought to overturn the US election results, according to an analysis by the Guardian.

Related: Trump official admits family separation policy 'should never have been implemented'

Continue reading...

Sheldon Adelson, casino magnate and major Trump donor, dies aged 87

  • Wife Miriam Adelson announces death after ‘long illness’
  • Adelson backed Israeli settlements in occupied territories
  • US politics – live coverage

Sheldon Adelson, a casino magnate, perennial top single donor to Donald Trump and other Republican causes and an influential opponent of a two-state solution in the Middle East, has died. He was 87.

Related: Billionaire casino boss Sheldon Adelson splashes the cash in bid to help Trump

Continue reading...

Trump supporter who gave $2.5m to fight election fraud wants money back

Businessman Fredric Eshelman sues pro-Trump ‘election ethics’ group citing ‘disappointing results’ of effort to expose cheating

A Donald Trump supporter who donated $2.5m to help expose and prosecute claims of fraud in the presidential election wants his money back after what he says are “disappointing results”.

Fredric Eshelman, a businessman from North Carolina, said he gave the money to True the Vote, a pro-Trump “election ethics” group in Texas that promised to file lawsuits in seven swing states as part of its push to “investigate, litigate, and expose suspected illegal balloting and fraud in the 2020 general election”.

Continue reading...

Has Trump spent his election war chest before the war really starts?

The president’s campaign has paid out $800m, but at a crucial phase he is making cuts while Joe Biden is outspending him

More than $180,000 per second. That is what Donald Trump’s two TV ads during the Super Bowl worked out at in February, offering vivid proof of the outsized role of money in American politics – and of his re-election campaign’s premature and profligate spending.

The 2020 presidential election has been described by both sides as the most important in living memory and is certainly proving the most expensive. Hundreds of millions of dollars have flooded both campaigns and, in the pandemic-enforced absence of shaking hands and kissing babies, may prove even more influential than usual.

Continue reading...

Joe Biden forced to make his fundraisers fully virtual – bar the price tag

The pandemic has led the presumptive Democratic nominee, like other politicians to take his high-dollar events online

The coronavirus pandemic may have driven Joe Biden into his basement and forced his campaign online, but one crucial factor is still the same: his run for the White House still needs to raise giant amounts of money.

Related: Campaign wars: Trump rallies base while Biden tries to broaden his

Continue reading...

Michael Bloomberg vows to refuse donations as presidential bid looms

  • Adviser: billionaire eyeing White House ‘cannot be bought’
  • Ex-New York mayor cannot debate if he does not take cash

Michael Bloomberg will not accept political donations if he runs for president and will not take a salary if he wins, according to senior aides discussing the New York billionaire’s plans as he marches toward a formal 2020 announcement.

Related: 'No one out there': could Democrats' lack of star power see Trump re-elected by default?

Continue reading...