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Trump Indictments Haven’t Sunk His Campaign, but a Conviction Might
Mike Johnson has accused Biden of bribery. Now impeachment is in his hands
House Republicans are approaching their Biden impeachment inquiry with renewed vigor following the election of Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), who has cautioned against rushing an investigation even as he’s previously accused the president of bribery.
As Speaker, Johnson has stressed a reserved approach to impeachment, invoking the founders in calling it the “heaviest power that we have,” while saying he has no predetermined outcome.
But as a prominent voice of the House Judiciary Committee, he was vocal in criticizing President Biden, at one point saying bribery is “what happened here.”
House Republicans have failed to demonstrate that Biden took a bribe — an allegation that surfaced as a result of a conversation with a Ukrainian oligarch that came to the FBI in a tip they were unable to verify.
The White House has vigorously denied any wrongdoing by Biden and noted that even as Republicans have pored over the business dealings of his brother and son, they’ve failed to connect the president to their work overseas.
But as Johnson takes the helm from a former Speaker who at times seemed reluctant to pursue the matter, he said this week the House would soon have to determine how to move forward with an investigation shared across three committees.
“I do believe that very soon we are coming to a point of decision on it,” he said Thursday.
“I have been very consistent, intellectually consistent in this, and persistent that we have to follow due process and we have to follow the law,” he said. “That means following our obligation on the Constitution and doing appropriate investigations in the right way at the right pace so that the evidence comes in and we follow the evidence where it leads. You follow the truth where it leads.”
“We’ve not predetermined the outcome of this. We’ve not pre-judged it,” he said. “But I think everyone can see how it is unfolding,” he added.
While the GOP has fanned the flames, they have yet to find a smoking gun that implicates the president of directly benefiting from his family’s international business dealings or making policy decisions as vice president because of them.
The crux of the allegations stem back to Biden’s efforts as vice president to remove Ukrainian prosecutor Viktor Shokin. Republicans argue those moves were not because of Shokin’s failure to address corruption as Biden has said, but rather to benefit his son, who was serving on the board of Ukrainian energy company Burisma at the time.
But Biden’s actions were in line with those of the international community, and State Department correspondence from the time shows the U.S. withheld aid to Ukraine due to concern about Shokin’s failure to make meaningful reforms.
Johnson, however, has expressed confidence that Biden was involved in wrongdoing.
“The president bribed or pressured a foreign leader to fire that country’s top prosecutor because the prosecutor was investigating his son and he used $1,000,000,000 of U.S. taxpayer money to have that bidding done and then he bragged about it on video,” he said on Fox News in August, referring to Biden’s past comments about Shokin’s ouster.
Shohkin, however, was not prosecuting Burisma, with his deputy saying an earlier investigation had gone dormant by the time Biden was involved. The U.S. concern over providing aid to Ukraine was because of Shokin’s failure to be an aggressive prosecutor.
Johnson has also stated he believes Biden’s actions are part of a “pay-to-play” scheme.
“On Capitol Hill, a lot of people debate and quibble about what high crimes and misdemeanors are, but we know what bribery is. It’s someone paying you to do their bidding, and that’s what happened here,” he said in the same Fox News interview.
Johnson has been pushing for an investigation into the episode since 2019, when former President Trump faced impeachment proceedings after withholding aid to Ukraine while trying to pressure leaders there to announce a probe into Hunter Biden.
“If President Trump’s requested informational investigation was justified then no impeachment charge against him is justified. It can’t be an abuse of power by President Trump to inquire about an abuse of power that’s so painfully obvious by Vice President Biden,” Johnson said during a House Judiciary Committee markup of articles of impeachment against Trump.
For Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee, Johnson is a “much more authentic voice of MAGA” than his predecessor, whose endorsement by Trump belies an effort driven by the former president.
“The mode of force behind this impeachment is entirely political and specific to Donald Trump. He thinks he’ll be the Republican nominee and he doesn’t want to be the only person running who has been impeached by the House of Representatives. It’s as simple as that,” Raskin told The Hill.
“But they’ve got nothing on Joe Biden. So if my friend Mike Johnson wants to be guided by the Constitution, he’ll do whatever he can to make the whole ludicrous impeachment drive go away as quickly as possible.”
The House Speaker’s race didn’t put the GOP’s investigations on ice, but in the weeks since Republican witnesses suggested the party did not have sufficient evidence to back an impeachment, the probe has been quieter.
Since subpoenaing the personal financial records of Biden’s brother James Biden as well as Hunter Biden, the House Oversight Committee has pointed to two checks between the brothers labeled as personal loans that were sent after Biden exited office.
While the GOP suggested they came after major business dealings, a $200,000 loan was repaid after James Biden’s work with an American company. A $40,000 check between the brothers came after Hunter Biden secured money from a Chinese company, later transferring some of the money to his uncle’s company.
Democrats have argued the funds show nothing more than a short-term loan between family members made while Biden was a private citizen.
“Where’s the evidence? We’ve been at it all these months, and there’s no scintilla of evidence that there’s been any inappropriate behavior by the part of the Biden administration,” said Rep. Richard Neal (Mass.), the top Democrat on the Ways and Means Committee, which is also investigating Biden.
“Not only does it appear as though it’s running on fumes, but it further diminishes the proper role of Congress in terms of administering the government.”
In one of his first interviews as Speaker, Johnson called the GOP the “rule of law team” and said impeachment should not be “wielded lightly.”
But he made clear Republicans would expediently press ahead with their investigation.
“There’s a lot of smoke here,” Johnson said. “And we’re going to find out very soon how big the fire is.”
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Why this governor could be the biggest winner on Election Day 2023
He’s not on the ballot, but Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia could end up being the biggest winner in Tuesday’s off-year elections.
Youngkin aims to hold the GOP’s narrow majority in the state House and recapture control of the state Senate, where Democrats currently hold a fragile majority. And while he’s not up for re-election, the governor has become the face of the Virginia showdowns, which are seen as a crucial bellwether ahead of the 2024 elections.
“We’ve got work to do. And the work to do right now is to hold the House and flip the Senate. Hold the House and flip the Senate,” Youngkin has emphasized as he’s crisscrossed the Commonwealth this autumn, headlining rallies in support of Republican legislative candidates.
As a first-time candidate who hailed from the party’s business wing, Youngkin edged out former Democratic Gov. Terry McAuliffe in 2021 to become the first GOP candidate in a dozen years to win a gubernatorial election in the one-time swing state that had trended towards the Democrats the previous decade.
VIRGINIA’S LEGISLATIVE ELECTIONS A CRUCIAL 2024 BAROMETER
His victory energized Republicans and instantly made Youngkin a rising star in the GOP.
Now, his goal is total Republican control of the state government in Richmond, which would allow Youngkin to push through a conservative agenda.
YOUNGKIN SHATTERING FUNDRAISING RECORDS IN VIRGINIA
Youngkin, mostly through his Spirit of Virginia PAC, has hauled in a record $22.5 million, with much of the funds paying for mailers, digital spots, and TV ads to encourage Republicans to head to the polls.
“I’m asking for your vote. Elect a Republican team to back me up and I promise, we’ll deliver,” Youngkin pledges in his closing TV commercial ahead of Election Day.
And the governor embraces the national attention on his state’s legislative showdowns.
“I believe it should be a bellwether because Virginia leads,” he told Fox News. “I think we can lead and demonstrate that in a state that was lost, a state that was totally controlled by Democrats, we can in 24 short months come together, Republicans, independents, and yes, some Democrats and choose common sense conservative leadership and policies that work…I think other states should take notice.”
After Youngkin’s victory two years ago, some pundits quickly viewed him as a possible 2024 White House contender.
A number of top conservative donors who don’t support former President Donald Trump — the current commanding front-runner in the GOP nomination race — this autumn have quietly increased their efforts to persuade Youngkin to run for the White House.
That pressure will vastly increase if the GOP takes total control of Virginia’s government in next week’s elections.
Youngkin has demurred on any 2024 talk.
“I’m humbled by the fact that people are paying attention to what we’re doing in Virginia and supportive of what we’re doing,” he said. “I’m glad the nation is watching, but we’ve got work to do here.”
It’s getting late in the game for a White House hopeful to jump into the 2024 race.
But former Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell of Virginia, who spoke with Fox News as he joined the governor on the campaign trail in Norfolk, Virginia last week, said “there’s a window, a very short, slim, window. But if there’s somebody who can do it, it’s Glenn Youngkin.”
Veteran Virginia-based political scientist David Richards said he’s “beginning to wonder if he’s waited too long.”
“At this point, is it getting too late?” asked the political science chair at the University of Lynchburg.
Looking to the next cycle, Richards added he thinks Youngkin is “setting himself up for 2028.”
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Dem Senate candidate sent $1M in taxpayer funds to group teaching ‘racial equity and identity’ to 4-year-olds
Rep. Colin Allred, the House Democrat challenging GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, invested taxpayer funds into an education group that pushes for racial equity teachings to 4-year-olds, promotes the idea the country is built on “white supremacist system” and seeks to incorporate Black Lives Matter teachings into youth classrooms.
Allred, who currently represents Texas’ 32nd Congressional District, requested and secured $1 million in funding to Big Thought, a Dallas-based nonprofit, as a community funding opportunity for fiscal year 2023.
Big Thought, which Allred said in his public request “serves over 100,000 youth annually,” seeks to incorporate topics of race and gender into grade school curriculums, including the promotion of “racial equity and identity” teachings to 4-year-olds so that they can “see the world through an equity lens.”
Through an online portal to one of Big Thought’s “Learning Partners,” the group provides a link to “Andi Boi” – a play about a transgender child that pushes the idea that “more and more young people are coming to terms with gender identity and transitioning.” According to their website, the play is suggested for students in grades 7 to 12.
TEXAS DEMOCRAT RUNNING TO UNSEAT TED CRUZ SECURED $1M FOR GROUP THAT HOSTS DRAG SHOWS FOR YOUTH
In a 2020 Facebook post, Big Thought shared a clip of a young person who said, “America should be spelled with three K’s since their favorite hobby is collecting black bodies.” The group wrote alongside the video that the individual’s message “projects hope that our nation can change, our communities can heal and that youth can lead the way.”
Also in 2020, the Allred-backed group posted a quote about the country being grounded in a “white supremacist system.”
Big Thought also promotes LGBTQ and gender teachings. On page 12 of its “What We Are Reading” portal, the youth-focused nonprofit advertises the article “The Best LGBTQ+ Influencer Accounts in North Texas.”
CRUZ ROLLS OUT MEASURE TO SANCTION HAMAS, FREEZE IRANIAN ASSETS
Promoted on their “insights and reports” page is a public conversation with EmbraceRace where it is taught that “by age five and six, your kindergarten student has already begun to categorize people based on these social norms and to move into, slowly move into, acting on those, and that’s where pre-prejudice becomes prejudice.”
Allred praised Big Thought on his Facebook profile at least twice this year, saying in a January post that he was “proud to secure federal funding to help them continue their important work” and that his “story wouldn’t have been possible without the help of” organizations in his community like Big Thought.
“Many students fell behind because of the pandemic, but our school districts are working with education orgs to ensure they can catch up,” Allred said in July. “I was proud to secure funding for Big Thought, and they’re teaming up with Dallas ISD to get students back on track.”
Allred appointed Byron Sanders, the CEO and president of Big Thought, to serve on his advisory committee in 2021 in an effort to determine what “community project funding submissions” would be made.
In 2021, Sanders opposed the passing of HB 3979, a bill banning a school’s requirement “to engage in training, orientation, or therapy that presents any form of race or sex stereotyping or blame on the basis of race or sex.”
“House Bill 3979 takes us backwards on the journey to a more equitable society,” Sanders wrote in a 2021 Facebook post about the bill banning CRT. “House Bill 3979 puts blinders on our youth and handcuffs our teachers. It will have a negative impact for generations to come.”
Sanders is also a vocal advocate of the defund the police movement. In a Facebook post, the Big Thought CEO encouraged donors to fund BYP100, a group that wants “a world without prisons or police,” according to a 2021 post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Big Thought has openly supported defunding the police as well as incorporating “Bringing Black Lives Matter into the Classroom” into all grade level teaching.
Promoted on their “Learning Partner” page is a public conversation with EmbraceRace where it is taught that “by age five and six, your kindergarten student has already begun to categorize people based on these social norms and to move into, slowly move into, acting on those, and that’s where pre-prejudice becomes prejudice.”
“We join the rising voices of a diaspora across our cities, states and nation against the root of this ill: white supremacy and systemic racism,” Big Thought’s website reads. “Racism is why youth of color are disciplined more frequently and with more severity in schools than their White peers. Racism is why people of color are more likely to be incarcerated and with longer sentences than White people. Racism is why persons of color are dying of Coronavirus at higher numbers than White people. And racism is why police violence is a leading cause of death for Black men, 2.5 times the rate of White men.”
Neither Allred’s congressional office nor campaign responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment at the time of this publication.
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Trump to take the stand in civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James lawsuit
Former President Trump is set to take the stand Monday to testify in the non-jury civil trial stemming from New York Attorney General Letitia James’ lawsuit alleging he defrauded banks and inflated the value of his assets.
The former president and 2024 GOP frontrunner has repeatedly cast James’ years-long investigation and lawsuit as a “disgrace” and an attack on his business and his family.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing and has repeatedly said his assets were actually undervalued. Trump has repeatedly said his financial statements had disclaimers, requesting that the numbers be evaluated by the banks.
James, a Democrat, sued Trump, his children and the Trump Organization last year, alleging he and his company misled banks and others about the value of his assets. James claimed the former president’s children – Donald Trump Jr., Ivanka and Eric – as well as his associates and businesses, committed “numerous acts of fraud and misrepresentation” on their financial statements.
James also claimed Trump and his family “inflated” their net worth “by billions of dollars.”
The judge presiding over the trial, New York Judge Arthur Engoron, in September, ruled that Trump and the Trump Organization committed fraud while building his real estate empire by deceiving banks, insurers and others by overvaluing his assets and exaggerating his net worth on paperwork used in making deals and securing financing.
Trump has maintained that his financial statements are “phenomenal.”
“There was no victim here – the banks were represented by the best, biggest, most prestigious law firms in the state of New York – actually in the country, some of the biggest law firms,” Trump said when the trial began. “The banks got back their money, there was never a default, it was never a problem, everything was perfect. There was no crime.”
Trump has appeared in court for several days of the trial in New York City since it began early last month.
His last appearance was during the testimony of his former attorney Michael Cohen, who Trump has repeatedly, and sarcastically, said is James’ “star witness.”
But Cohen, during his time on the stand, admitted that the former president did not ask him to inflate his finances on a personal financial statement.
NEW YORK JUDGE FINES TRUMP $10K VIOLATING PARTIAL GAG ORDER IN CIVIL FRAUD TRIAL
“Trump didn’t ask you to inflate the numbers on his personal statement, correct?” Trump attorney Clifford Roberts asked.
“Correct,” Cohen replied.
During re-direct questioning by Colleen Faherty, an attorney in the New York Attorney General’s Office, Cohen was offered an opportunity to expand on his answer.
“Trump did not specifically say, ‘Michael, go inflate the numbers,’” Cohen said, but claimed Trump “speaks like a mob boss,” and said he understood what Trump wanted.
Defense attorneys did not re-cross examine Cohen, and instead, again asked for a verdict – Engoron “absolutely denied.”
Trump briefly took the stand during that appearance and was fined $10,000 for violating the partial gag order imposed by Engoron. The gag order blocked all parties from making derogatory statements about court staff.
Engoron first fined Trump $5,000 for violating the order on social media the week prior, and threatened imprisonment if further violations were committed.
Trump’s testimony will be his first public testimony, amid legal battles in multiple jurisdictions. Trump was indicted four times this year: once stemming from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s investigation; twice from Special Counsel Jack Smith’s investigation; and in Fulton, County, Georgia.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges across all jurisdictions. Trials in those cases are expected to begin in 2024 – many during the presidential primary cycle.
His testimony comes after both of his sons took the stand in the trial last week.
Both Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump maintained that they had no involvement in the creation of financial statements, and said the Trump family did nothing wrong.
After his testimony on Friday, Eric Trump stressed that the Trump Organization is an “unbelievable company.”
“We’ve never had a default, we’ve never missed a loan payment, we have thousands of employees,” Eric Trump said Friday. “I promise you, we’re going to win it because we haven’t done a damn thing wrong.”
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House GOP re-election arm touts Republican success, predicts ‘stronger’ outcome in 2024 elections
FIRST ON FOX: One year from Election Day 2024, the committee charged with electing Republicans to the House is bullish about their chances.
Even though expectations of a “red wave” in last year’s midterms failed to materialize, Republicans still won control of the House from the Democrats.
The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) said in a memo obtained by Fox News Digital that the party is “arguably in just as strong, if not stronger, position to grow” their majority next year.
The NRCC said Republicans are successfully counteracting Democrats’ fundraising abilities, at least in certain areas of the country where GOP candidates were largely outspent last cycle.
“House Republicans who lost last cycle were outspent on average by $3 million candidate-to-candidate – and in at least one high-profile swing district race, the Republican was outspent 10-1,” according to an NRCC memo stated. “The NRCC’s efforts are turning around that dynamic.”
WITH EYE TOWARD 2024 ELECTION, REPUBLICANS MAKE BIG PUSH FOR EARLY VOTING IN 2023
“NRCC Chairman Richard Hudson’s strategic priority to encourage member-to-member giving has supercharged GOP fundraising. This gives our candidates, who receive the lowest advertising rates, the ability to define their own image instead of allowing their Democrat opponents to do it for them,” the NRCC memo added.
For three straight fundraising quarters in 2023, the NRCC noted that targeted House Republicans have outraised targeted Democrats.
“Targeted Republicans now hold a more than $566K cash-on-hand advantage over targeted House Democrats. Money builds majorities and endangered House Republicans are in a strong position to hold their seats,” the group noted.
REPUBLICAN NATIONAL COMMITTEE ANNOUNCES LOCATION, CRITERIA FOR FOURTH GOP PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE
As minority leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., personally hauled in record amounts of political contributions ahead of 2022 to help Republicans win back the House majority — leading some commentators to express concerns about losing a strong fundraiser following his ousting as House speaker last month.
Last week, the NRCC announced that newly elected House Speaker Mike Johnson had helped Republicans raise $1 million online in the first week of his speakership.
“House Republicans are enjoying a digital cash geyser under Speaker Mike Johnson. The NRCC is racing to capture this enthusiasm and raise the resources to grow our House majority,” NRCC Communications Director Jack Pandol said at the time.
The NRCC also touted its ability to outpace Democrats in recruiting candidates for office, noting that all 15 Congressional seats that were “flipped from blue to red were won by a female, minority, or veteran candidate” last cycle.
“Strong candidates with compelling backgrounds that match the life stories and experiences of voters are able to compete to win in tough districts where top-of-the-ticket Democrats will be presumed to be victorious,” the NRCC memo reads. “Republicans are in a strong position to expand the map and compete in Biden-won districts because of spectacular GOP recruits.”
As for candidate recruitment across the aisle, the NRCC insisted the Democratic Party is “plagued by retreads, progressive firebrands, and messy primaries.”
Highlighting the “messy Democrat primaries,” the group pointed to five specific races in states around the country where “brutal intraparty fights” are “undermining Democrats’ chances of winning seats.”
Additionally, the NRCC placed focus on the current “political environment,” which it believes will help propel Republicans across the finish line.
“Skyrocketing inflation from reckless liberal spending bills, a nationwide crime wave and an unsecured border lends itself to a historically positive political environment for Republicans. Combine that with a Democrat President that Americans believe to be too old and feeble to lead, House Republicans will grow their majority,” the memo said.
The group also pinpointed three specific issues where it believes Republicans will have the upper hand with voters, including the border crisis, crime, and the cost of living.
The 2024 elections are slated to be held nationwide on Nov. 4, 2024.
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser and Thomas Phippen contributed to this report.
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Ex-law enforcement officials warn Biden’s menthol cigarette ban could ‘create a vacuum’ for Mexican cartels
The Biden administration’s banning of menthol cigarettes will open up the door to several problems, including providing a massive space for Mexican cartels to move in and sell them on the U.S. black market, former law enforcement officials told Fox News Digital.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed rules prohibiting menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars in April 2022. At the time, Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said the action would protect children and benefit adult smokers.
“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” Becerra said. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.”
In late October, the FDA’s director of the Center for Tobacco Products, Brian King, told Fox News Digital the proposed rules are in the “final step of review for regulatory documents” after making their way to the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Now, ex-law enforcement officials, who can speak more freely on issues than those currently serving, sounded the alarm to Fox News Digital over what they say are several significant problems that can arise, including creating a vacuum for cartels. One common theme repeated by those interviewed is that the Biden administration failed to bring law enforcement to the table for their advice during the process.
“This is essentially a prohibition, and we know what happens when you remove a current market,” Jorge Colina, former City of Miami chief of police, told Fox News Digital. “That means organized crime and/or cartels move in.”
Colina called it an “unfunded mandate” that will “create a vacuum that is going to be ripe for the Chinese or the Mexicans or the cartels to move in and take advantage of what’s going to be a multi-billion dollar industry.”
“As a former chief of police, I’ve heard many people talk about ways to minimize police public contact,” he added. “‘Hey, maybe you shouldn’t enforce traffic of offenses. Or maybe more things should be a civil citation instead of an arrest,’ to avoid a deteriorating relationship between the police and the communities they serve. Then they turn around, and they do things like this.”
Colina said he doesn’t believe the administration considered various elements of the ban and considered all of the consequences and unintended consequences.
“Law enforcement should have been allowed at the table to talk about this,” he said.
CONSERVATIVE GROUP UNLEASHES 6-FIGURE AD CAMPAIGN TARGETING BIDEN’S MENTHOL CIGARETTE BAN
Pete Forcelli, a former Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) special agent who retired as a deputy assistant director, echoed Colina’s concerns with cartels.
“With any sort of ban, you open up opportunities for organized crime, for drug cartels, and truthfully – given the nature of what’s going on now – even folks funding terrorist activities in the Middle East to profit from that black market that you’re then going to create,” Forcelli told Fox News Digital.
“To me, it makes no sense why the Biden administration wouldn’t have consulted with law enforcement before opening these opportunities – to not just the cartels and organized criminal groups and gangs that operate in the U.S. – but potentially to terror organizations to profit from the black markets that would be opened up by creating a ban of this nature,” Forcelli said.
Pat Montuore, a retired police chief and the founder and CEO of the Police Unity Tour, said the ban could put law enforcement in harsh and dangerous situations.
“As a police chief, and someone who had to lead officers on policy procedures – right from wrong – this is another un-federally funded program that puts us in a situation to where we do not train officers specific to a law, the understanding of a law, where there are so many interpretations and confusing things,” Montoure told Fox News Digital. “Such as the legalization of marijuana versus someone standing next to you with a menthol cigarette is now smoking something they shouldn’t and is now illegal.”
“It also creates markets that are not legal, creating a market to where you not only have the person smoking it, but you have a vendor selling something, and where did they get it from and how did they do that?” Montoure added.
“You put yourself in positions that you can’t win, and you also put our officers in harm’s way.”
Like the others, he stressed the administration should have consulted with law enforcement officials during the process.
BIDEN’S FDA CLEARS PATH FOR CHINESE PRODUCTS TO FLOOD US TOBACCO, NICOTINE MARKET
Several politicians, such as Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., have spoken out against the ban for some time. Cotton said the Biden administration’s policies are riddled with contradictions and misplaced priorities.
“This administration would make criminals of law-abiding citizens while granting actual felons early release and encouraging illicit drug use,” Cotton previously told Fox News Digital. “No wonder Americans have lost faith in an administration that’s less interested in public safety than targeting political enemies.”
Groups have also started hitting the Biden administration over the proposed ban and how it could hurt small businesses. The New England Convenience Store & Energy Marketers Association has launched a campaign to urge candidates to oppose it and began advertising in New Hampshire.
“What has gone up thanks to Massachusetts’ ban on menthol cigarettes is the size of the state’s illicit market,” the campaign’s website states. “A recent report by the Massachusetts Illegal Tobacco Task Force found that contraband cigarette seizures skyrocketed from just 5,377 in 2021 to 18,483 in 2022.”
“Illicit crime and the influx of dangerous narcotics go hand-in-hand,” it continues. “New Hampshire is no stranger to the fentanyl crisis. Recently, U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio and Bill Cassidy have been sounding the alarm on the connection between the Mexican cartels at the heart of the fentanyl crisis who are now looking ‘to exploit black market opportunities’ if the federal menthol ban goes into effect.”
Additionally, conservative advocacy group Building Americas Future is launching a six-figure ad buy across multiple 2024 swing states and congressional districts over the proposed menthol cigarette ban.
The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on the concerns raised by the former law enforcement officials.
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‘Kill the Babies!’ Anti-Israel Hecklers Taunt Jews at Stroller Protest
Go to Source: Breitbart News
‘Cruel and Hateful’: Michigan Attorney General Demands Rashida Tlaib ‘Retract’ Genocidal Hamas Chant
Go to Source: Breitbart News