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Greg Brockman

Fearing Data Center Backlash, Tech Oligarchs Pour Millions Into GOP Campaign

Some of the biggest groups supporting Republican U.S. Senate candidates are bankrolled by entities pushing for more data center development.

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), Senate Leadership Fund (SLF), and MAGA Inc. have collectively received millions from Amazon, Meta, OpenAI, and other major data center proponents.

Data centers, which provide the computing power needed to run artificial intelligence (AI) systems, have become controversial for their excessive use of electricity and water, which has contributed to rising utility costs.

A recent ABC News poll found that 66 percent of Americans oppose building more data centers in the United States, while 72 percent specifically oppose building data centers in their communities.

The NRSC is the main committee working to elect Republicans to the Senate. It provides campaigns with fundraising, advertising, and organizational support. Axios reported last month that the group was pumping $46.5 million into eight competitive states, with most of it going to Ohio and Iowa.

Since January 2025, the NRSC has collected more than $434,000 from corporate executives at Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, Oracle, and Vantage, all of which rank among the top 20 largest data center companies in the United States. Amazon, Meta, and Microsoft are the top three.

Corporate PACs representing Amazon, Microsoft, and Oracle contributed $70,000 to the NRSC during this same period.

The group also took in $1.9 million from executives at private equity and asset management firms invested in data center development: $510,534 from Andreessen Horowitz executives, $599,200 from an Apollo Management executive, $100,000 from an Ares Management executive, $117,600 from Blackstone executives, $85,600 from a Blue Owl Capital co-president, $250,000 from Capital Group executives, $140,000 from KKR executives, and $171,500 from the Stonepeak CEO.

SLF is the main super PAC aligned with Republican leadership in the Senate. The Washington Post reported in September that the group had spent $145 million on advertising for federal races thus far this cycle, more than any other group.

Last year, SLF took in a staggering $10 million from Elon Musk, whose SpaceX company has spent more than $23.6 billion on data center infrastructure in the first half of 2026 alone.

SLF has also received more than $20,000 from Blackstone and Apollo Management executives.

MAGA Inc. is the main super PAC supporting President Donald Trump. It reserved $49 million in advertising for Republican candidates in battleground states last month through its offshoot, No Going Back PAC.

MAGA Inc. took $5 million from Musk in June 2025. But its most eyebrow-raising contribution was $12.5 million in September 2025 from OpenAI president Greg Brockman. It took in another $12 million from multiple executives affiliated with Andreessen Horowitz.

Bloomberg News reported in July that OpenAI was planning to spend $30 billion on data center development in Georgia. No Going Back PAC has given financial support to Mike Collins, the Georgia Republican challenging incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff.

Republicans elected to the U.S. Senate this year will likely vote on legislation governing data center development and AI more broadly.

Senate Republicans tried to get ahead of the issue by advancing the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that would theoretically require large data centers to cover their own electricity costs rather than passing them on to consumers.

Senate Democrats say the legislation is toothless, noting that while it requires state public utility commissions to hold hearings and consider standards for data center cost-sharing, those standards are not required to be enacted.

“It’s just fakery to try to fool voters into forgetting that Republicans spent the entire term trying to stop states from regulating AI,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told Yahoo Finance.

The Ratepayer Protection Act failed to pass the Senate on September 30.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Vivek Ramaswamy

'Anti-Communist' Ramaswamy Did Business With Firm Owned By Beijing's CCP

Republican Vivek Ramaswamy did business with entities tied to the Chinese Communist Party. He’s now running for Ohio governor as an opponent of China and communism.

Ramaswamy founded the biotechnology company Roivant Sciences in 2014 and served as its CEO until 2021. The company develops medicines through specialized subsidiaries.

One of those subsidiaries is the Shanghai-based Sinovant, launched in 2017. The company was partially financed by CITIC Private Equity (CITICPE), an investment firm that is part of a web of state-owned enterprises in China that are under the sway of the Chinese Communist Party.

A state-owned entity in China can be wholly or partially owned by the government. The Chinese Communist Party wields influence over these entities by setting national economic priorities, making leadership appointments, and setting strategic directions.

When Sinovant launched, CITICPE was the investment arm of CITIC Securities, which was an offshoot of the state-owned CITIC Group.

CITICPE spun off from CITIC Securities in 2018 and became CPE, but the firms remained tied through jointly managed investment funds, according to the Prague Security Studies Institute. CITICPE also retained its longtime CEO, Lieu Lefei, who is a prominent “princeling,” a term ascribed to the children of high-ranking communist officials.

Lefei’s father, Liu Yunshan, was reportedly involved in censoring online information about the Uyghur ethnic cleansing campaign.

Ramaswamy partnered with CITICPE again in 2018 to launch Cytovant Biotechnology, a Sinovant subsidiary that is also domiciled in China.

A Federal Communications Commission (FCC) report from 2021 identified national security concerns involving Pacific Networks and ComNet, two subsidiaries of CITIC Group. This followed previous reporting in 2017 that CITIC Group had provided Iran with a $10 billion line of credit. The U.S. government designates Iran as a state sponsor of terrorism.

Roivant divested from Cytovant in July 2022. As of 2023, Ramaswamy was still the sixth-largest shareholder in Roivant.

Earlier this month, Ramaswamy said his 2026 race is “probably the most important election for governor” Ohio has ever seen and that his victory would signal “success over communism, success over socialism.”

Ramaswamy’s Democratic opponent is former Ohio Department of Health Director Amy Acton. Recent polls show a neck-and-neck race.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Tom Kean Jr

New Jersey Republican Profited By Shielding Pharma's High Prices For Cancer Drugs

Rep. Tom Kean Jr. (R-NJ) is financially benefiting from the high cost of cancer drugs.

Last year, the New Jersey congressman co-sponsored a provision of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB) that allowed pharmaceutical companies to keep charging Medicare recipients inflated prices for certain medications, including pills to treat melanoma and lung cancer.

This was a boon for Johnson & Johnson and Merck, two companies that Kean owns up to a combined $665,000 worth of stock in.

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act empowered Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower the costs of certain drugs. This means some Medicare recipients pay less at the pharmacy and the federal government spends less picking up its portion of the tab.

Drugs become eligible for Medicare price negotiations based on how long it has been since they received FDA approval. Standard medications become eligible after seven years, while biologic drugs made from living cells become eligible after 11 years. Under the original law, certain so-called orphan drugs that treat conditions affecting 200,000 people or fewer in the U.S. were exempt from negotiations.

Kean’s provision extended some of these timelines. If a medication was initially classified as an orphan drug but later approved for wider use, the eligible negotiation date is now pegged to that later approval date.

This allowed Merck to delay negotiations on Keytruda, an immunotherapy medication used to treat more than 20 different cancer types. The drug accounts for billions of dollars in annual Medicare spending.

Johnson & Johnson was able to delay negotiations on Darzalex, an antibody that treats myeloma and other plasma cell disorders. Medicare currently spends about $5.6 billion covering the drug every year.

Both Johnson & Johnson and Merck lobbied congress in support of Kean’s provision, as did a trade group representing the pharmaceutical industry.

Johnson & Johnson executives said they were “pleased” with OBBB on the first earnings call after President Donald Trump signed it into law. The company’s stock value then surged over the following weeks.

Kean has also accepted campaign donations from the pharmaceutical industry.

Kean is seeking a third term in the House this year. His Democratic opponent is veteran Rebecca Bennett.

Reprinted with permisson from American Journal News

Collins and Daffron

Collins' Husband And Adviser Worked For Lobbyists Behind Data Center Push

Maine Sen. Susan Collins’ husband did consulting work for Chesapeake Enterprises, a lobbying firm that has pushed for more data center development.

This was in 2025 when the firm’s only registered lobbyist was Scott Reed, the man at the center of an alleged pay-to-play scheme that is now threatening to derail Collins’ reelection campaign.

Concerns about data centers and political corruption have consistently ranked as top issues for voters this year. Now, Collins is playing defense on both matters simultaneously.

Collins married Thomas Daffron in 2012. Daffron had worked as a lobbyist, business consultant, and Republican political advisor. Collins’ net worth went from $250,000 to $2.9 million when they tied the knot. Today, it’s up to $4.1 million.

Collins’ personal financial disclosures filed in May indicate that Daffron was paid at least $1,000 in consulting fees last year by Chesapeake Enterprises. Senate rules require spouses to report any income exceeding $1,000, but not the exact amount. Daffron previously served as the firm’s executive vice president from 2001 to 2004.

Daffron was advising Chesapeake Enterprises when they lobbied the federal government last year on behalf of Hillwood Investments, a real estate development company that is chaired by billionaire H. Ross Perot Jr., a Collins campaign donor.

Hillwood Investments helped build at least six data centers now operating in the U.S., including a Texas facility run by Meta, the parent company of Facebook.

These centers, which provide the computing power needed to train and run AI systems, have become controversial for their excessive use of electricity and water, which has contributed to rising utility bills across the country.

A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 61 percent of Americans oppose building data centers in their communities. Multiple communities in Maine have now enacted moratoriums on building more data centers.

Reed was Chesapeake Enterprises’s registered lobbyist for the Hillwood Investments account in 2025. Disclosures indicate that Reed lobbied the House and Senate on topics related to “real estate investments.”

Reed is also the head of Pine Tree Results, a super PAC supporting Collins. In 2019, the FBI investigated Reed over a large donation he solicited from Navatek, a defense contractor.

Former Navatek CEO Martin Kao, who is currently serving a prison sentence for wire fraud, told investigators that he gave the donation with the understanding that Collins would then help his company secure millions of dollars worth of federal contracts, which she ultimately did.

The FBI investigation into Reed was dropped shortly after President Donald Trump returned to the White House.

The alleged scheme was first reported by ProPublica on September 22. Collins has questioned the legitimacy of the report and steadfastly denied that any scheme existed. She has also publicly defended Reed.

ProPublica has stood by its story and pushed back on Collins’ denials.

Collins voted for the Ratepayer Protection Act, a bill that would theoretically require large data centers to cover their own electricity costs rather than passing them onto consumers.

Senate Democrats say the legislation is toothless, noting that while it requires state public utility commissions to hold hearings and consider standards for data center cost-sharing, it is not mandatory that those standards actually be enacted.

“It’s just fakery to try to fool voters into forgetting that Republicans spent the entire term trying to stop states from regulating AI,” Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy told Yahoo Finance.

The Ratepayer Protection Act failed to pass the Senate on September 30.

Collins is seeking a sixth term this year and is widely regarded as one of the most vulnerable Republican incumbents facing reelection. Her Democratic opponent, state Sen. Troy Jackson, says data center development should only be greenlit if it has a measurable benefit for Mainers.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Maine GOP Nominee Blasted (By His Sister) Over Ties To Disgraced Dennis Hastert

Maine GOP Nominee Blasted (By His Sister) Over Ties To Disgraced Dennis Hastert

The ghosts of Dennis Hassert and Mark Foley are haunting the race for Maine governor years after their respective scandals rocked Republican politics.

The Portland Press Herald published an op-ed on September 9 by Republican candidate Bobby Charles’ sister, Anita, blasting her brother for his friendship with Hastert and endorsing Charles’ Democratic opponent Hannah Pingree.

“Bobby was a close friend and colleague of former House Speaker Dennis Hastert from 1995 to 1999,” Anita wrote. “He praised Hastert and benefited from their relationship as he built his career in Washington. Hastert later admitted to sexually abusing children and was convicted of illegally paying hush money to conceal that abuse. Bobby has never publicly renounced that association.”

Now, a recently unearthed op-ed reveals that Charles also defended Hastert’s handling of Florida Rep. Mark Foley, who was forced to resign from Congress in 2006 for sending sexually explicit emails to underage, male pages.

Charles’, Hastert’s, and Foley’s careers all overlap and intersect. Charles was a congressional staffer in the 1990s when Hastert served as House Republican Chief Deputy Whip. He later served as Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs from 2003 to 2005 while Hastert was speaker. Foley was elected to Congress in 1994.

Following Foley’s resignation, the House Ethics Committee launched an investigation into how Republican leadership handled the matter. It concluded that Hastert’s chief of staff and chief counsel were both aware of allegations against Foley but the Speaker’s office failed to act. Hastert denied any wrongdoing.

Ohio Rep. John Boehner, who would later serve as House Speaker, told the Washington Post that he personally reported Foley’s alleged misconduct to Hastert in spring 2006. Boehner said Hastert assured him it was being handled, but no action was taken until the scandal was uncovered by the press a few months later.

Hastert faced widespread calls to step down from leadership and resign from Congress. It was in this maelstrom that Charles wrote an op-ed for the Washington Times defending Hastert.

“His wife is a teacher, his brother is a teacher and he has devoted more time to saving kids and families from the scourge of illegal drugs than any member of Congress,” Charles wrote.

Charles went on to cite Hastert’s own career as a high school teacher and wrestling coach in the 1960s and 70s. All of Hastert’s alleged victims were on the wrestling team.

“Mr. Hastert taught school for 16 years, served as a revered high school wrestling coach, and was tapped for Congress precisely because of his uncompromising commitment to education and kids,” Charles said.

He concluded by praising Hastert as the embodiment of “Norman Rockwell's America.”

Following the publication of his sister’s op-ed, Charles held a tearful press conference denying any knowledge of Hastert’s misconduct and expressing contempt for child sex offenders.

“I think it’s monstrous, and I think people against whom these charges are proven need to go to prison and stay there forever,” Charles said.

A Charles campaign spokesperson reiterated this statement when asked for comment. They did not address the Foley situation or the Washington Times op-ed.

“Bobby has previously said publicly that he was never aware of any wrongdoing regarding Hastert and he stands by what he’s said that his conduct was monstrous,” said campaign manager Dale Crafts, Jr.

There is no indication that Charles and Hastert had any relationship after 2014. Hastert’s misconduct became public in 2015.

A YouGov poll from earlier this month showed Pingree leading Charles by 11 percentage points.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

jon husted

Backing Data Centers, Ohio Republican Took Over $600K From Big Tech

Sen. Jon Husted (R-OH) has pocketed more than $630,000 from data center proponents over the last two decades. It may explain why he fought to bring more data centers to Ohio.

There are currently 240 active or under construction data centers in the state. The facilities, which provide the computing power needed to train and run AI systems, use large amounts of electricity and water and have been blamed for rising utility costs.

A recent New York Times/Siena poll found that 61% of Americans oppose building data centers in their communities. This backlash has made data center policy a major issue in the upcoming elections.

Husted has held multiple political offices in Ohio since 2001. He was appointed to the U.S. Senate last year to fill the seat vacated by Vice President J.D. Vance.

A review of campaign finance records spanning Husted’s career indicates that he has received $631,284 from companies that own and operate data centers, employees who work for those companies, and lobbyists who represent those companies’ interests. This includes individuals associated with Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

As lieutenant governor from 2019 to 2025, Husted pushed to expand the use of AI in state and local government, including in public schools. This made Ohio a hotbed for the AI industry and accelerated the construction of data centers across the state.

Signal Ohio reports that Ohio data centers received $2.5 billion in state and local tax incentives between 2017 and 2024. This includes a sales tax exemption for data centers that Husted personally championed. The exemption helped pave the way for a Google-run data center in New Albany.

In the Senate, Husted supported the sweeping One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which significantly expanded federal tax incentives for data centers. House and Senate Democrats are now pushing to repeal those incentives.

One of Husted’s first hires as a senator was senior advisor Sean Dunn, an Ohio-based lobbyist who had done work on behalf of Meta, another data center giant. The Washington Sun reported in June that Dunn continued to work as a lobbyist while employed by Husted.

Dunn has personally donated more than $94,000 to Husted’s various campaigns.

Husted is seeking his first full U.S. Senate term this year. His Democratic opponent, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, has put out multiple ads criticizing Husted’s data center record. Brown has endorsed legislation that would require data centers to pay the full cost of their utilities.

New Report: Trump’s Food Safety Cutbacks Are Making Americans Sick

New Report: Trump’s Food Safety Cutbacks Are Making Americans Sick

A new report from Defend America Action draws a direct line between the Trump administration slashing food safety enforcement and the growing number of Americans getting sick with foodborne illnesses.

More than 15,000 Americans have contracted cyclosporiasis in recent months, a type of food poisoning that causes low-grade fevers and painful diarrhea. The outbreak has been traced to iceberg lettuce. In August, multiple store-bought guacamoles were recalled because of potential salmonella contamination.

This has been a growing trend in President Donald Trump’s second term. Last year, 25 people were hospitalized and six died after contracting listeria from ready-to-eat pasta products. In total, the federal government failed to identify the source for 13 of the 28 foodborne illness outbreaks reported last year.

“As families spent this summer wondering what was safe to put on the dinner table, everyone is wondering what happened to the safeguards designed to protect our food supply,” the report says.

Issues of food safety and public health are generally managed by three federal agencies: the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

All of these agencies were dramatically downsized by DOGE, the White House initiative that slashed workforces across the federal government. The FDA lost 3,859 employees and the USDA lost 19,984, including 874 workers at its Food Safety and Inspection Service.

The White House insisted food safety inspectors were not included in the firings, but the gutting of support staff still contributed to a growing backlog of uninspected food producers. The farm linked to the cyclosporiasis outbreak, for example, had not been inspected for seven years.

As for the CDC under Trump, it narrowed the foodborne pathogens it monitors from six to two. Cyclosporiasis and listeria are among the pathogens no longer being tracked.

“FDA inspections are the first line of defense for mitigating contamination outbreaks,” the report continues, noting that this applies to both domestic and imported products.

Food borne illnesses are also affecting the economy. USDA data suggests that food borne illnesses cost Americans $75 billion a year in medical care, lost productivity, and premature deaths before Trump started eliminating safeguards. Now, that figure seems poised to grow.

According to a CBS poll, 40 percent of Americans are buying and eating less produce of all brands and varieties, not just those impacted by cyclosporiasis. A separate poll found that a majority of Americans have little or no confidence in government oversight of food safety.

“Even though Trump and his allies promised to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’” the report says, “his administration has made it harder to find out what is making Americans sick.”

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Dan Sullivan

Social Security Cuts? Republican Nominees Dancing On Political Third Rail

Nearly every Senate Republican facing a tough reelection fight this year has flirted with cutting Social Security, the federal program that keeps 58 million seniors out of poverty.

Polling suggests that cutting the program is deeply unpopular, which is why it is often referred to as “the third rail of electoral politics.” A recent AARP survey found that 82 percent of American adults view Social Security as “very important.” Half of those enrolled in the program say they would not survive financially if their benefits were cut.

The issue reemerged last year when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the White House’s tax-deferred investment accounts for newborns, known as “Trump accounts,” were a “backdoor for privatizing Social Security.” The accounts were part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which passed the House and Senate with only Republican votes.

Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan celebrated OBBB’s passage and falsely claimed that the law “doesn’t touch Social Security.” The law will cut $1 trillion from Medicaid over the next decade to fund tax breaks that primarily benefit wealthy people. Those tax breaks will create less revenue for the Social Security trust fund, speeding up the program’s insolvency.

In 2014, when he was first running for the Senate, Sullivan suggested raising the retirement age and delaying Social Security benefits for future generations. He said “a younger generation of Alaskans or Americans can accept” such a change.

Sullivan is seeking a third term this year. His Democratic opponent is former Alaska Rep. Mary Peltola.

Florida Sen. Ashley Moody called OBBB “historic” when it passed and promised “this is just the beginning, and with President Donald Trump, we will not stop pushing forward.”

Moody was also a big fan of DOGE, the White House initiative that fired 14 percent of workers at the agency responsible for administering Social Security. This led to several Social Security field offices shutting down and longer wait times for those filing claims. Moody voted against multiple budget amendments to restore this funding.

More than five million of Moody’s constituents are enrolled in Social Security. She was appointed to the Senate last year to fill the seat vacated by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. She is now running for a full term against Democratic state Rep. Angie Nixon.

Like Moody, Ohio Sen. Jon Husted also voted for OBBB and against reversing DOGE cuts. He then went a step further by proposing a constitutional amendment that would compel Congress to balance the federal budget.

Currently, Social Security is mostly funded through payroll taxes. Those funds are held by the U.S. Treasury and disbursed to beneficiaries. Any surplus funds are invested in special Treasury bonds that are drawn on when tax revenues fall short.

A balanced-budget amendment would essentially make it illegal for the federal government to spend more in a given year than it collects in revenue. If tax revenues are insufficient to fund Social Security, the government would be prohibited from drawing on the bonds to make up the shortfall. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities says this would inevitably lead to a cut in services.

The AARP says such a plan would be “devastating for millions.”

Husted will face former Ohio Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in this year’s election. Brown co-sponsored the 2024 Social Security Fairness Act that increased benefits for public workers.

Maine Sen. Susan Collins did not vote for OBBB, but she did vote to allow the legislation to be debated, clearing a key procedural hurdle and setting the stage for its eventual passage. North Dakota Sen. John Hoeven said Collins was a “team player” for doing so.

Collins has cast multiple votes weakening Social Security in her 29-year career, including a 2003 vote against creating a Social Security reserve account and a 2011 vote against tabling a budget bill that proposed cutting the program.

Collins is running for reelection this year against Democratic state Sen. Troy Jackson.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) plans to make Republican hostility toward Social Security a major issue in the midterms.

“In November, voters will reject Republicans’ attempts to put this critical program on the chopping block by electing a Democratic Senate majority that will stand up for seniors and protect Social Security,” says DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Iowa Senate Nominee Hinson Took At Least $90,000 From Epstein Cronies

Iowa Senate Nominee Hinson Took At Least $90,000 From Epstein Cronies

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson has come under fire for accepting $90,000 from billionaire donors tied to sex predator Jeffrey Epstein. Now it appears she also missed multiple House votes aimed at exposing Epstein and holding his coconspirators accountable.

All of the missed votes occurred in the House Appropriations Committee, which Hinson serves on. While her absences likely did not affect any vote outcomes, they do raise questions about her commitment to protecting sexual assault survivors.

Epstein died by suicide in a Manhattan jail shortly after being arrested on federal sex trafficking charges in August 2019. Most of Hinson’s missed votes were in September 2025, when Congress was debating compelling the release of Justice Department files related to the Epstein investigation. Many of Epstein’s victims were young girls.

On September 3, 2025, she missed two votes: one intended to speed up the release of the files and another to block public funds from being used to prevent the release of visitor logs for Epstein’s residences and private jet.

Hinson missed votes again on September 10, 2025, when the committee was considering multiple Epstein-related amendments to a federal funding bill. One of the amendments would have pressured the Justice Department to release records related to the prison transfer of Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s friend and romantic partner.

Maxwell is currently serving a 20-year sentence for aiding and abetting Epstein’s crimes. She was controversially transferred to a minimum-security prison in August 2025 after meeting with Trump administration officials, including future Attorney General Todd Blanche.

Hinson said she was “glad” when Blanche became attorney general.

Hinson was present for other amendment votes on September 10, 2025, suggesting that she was in Washington D.C., despite missing the Epstein-related votes.

The other amendments considered included one that would have prohibited the Justice Department from using funds to withhold or redact the Epstein files and another that would have required the attorney general to compile a report of all materials related to the investigation.

That same day, Hinson received two donations from billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman, whose name appears in the Epstein files more than 20 times. Schwarzman gave $7,000 to Hinson’s U.S. Senate campaign and $5,000 to her leadership PAC.

Hinson initially declined to sign a petition forcing a House vote on the release of the Epstein files. She ultimately voted to release the files, however, when it came up in a floor vote.

In August, Hinson missed another committee vote on an amendment preventing public funds from being used to lift or bypass sanctions on alleged child traffickers.

“For too long, the powerful have used their connections to dodge consequences,” said Rep. Norma Torres (D-CA), who introduced the provision. “This amendment stops taxpayer dollars from being used to lift sanctions on credible child traffickers.”

Hinson is running for the U.S. Senate in Iowa against Democratic state Rep. Josh Turek. It is expected to be one of the most competitive races of 2026.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Harvey West and Michael Whatley

North Carolina Senate Nominee Named Sex Offender To Top GOP Posts

Michael Whatley appointed sex offender Harvey West to high-ranking positions in the North Carolina Republican Party. Now, it appears that West may have had access to young adults while serving in those roles.

Whatley led the North Carolina Republican Party from 2019 to 2024. The Asheville Watchdog reported that Whatley appointed West to two different committees during this period: the party’s 1st Congressional District Committee and its Plan of Organization Committee.

In 2000, when he was 28 years old, West pleaded guilty to taking indecent liberties with a minor. He was accused of having sexual relations with two 14-year-olds and one 16-year-old. He served a six-year prison sentence and was required to register as a sex offender upon release.

West maintains that he is innocent and only pleaded guilty to avoid a longer sentence. He told PolitiFact that he was open about his criminal record with the North Carolina Republican Party before being appointed to the roles.

It can now be confirmed that Whatley presided over nearly 30 North Carolina Republican Party State Central Committee meetings where both West and members of the North Carolina Teenage Republicans were in attendance.

Whatley’s official Facebook page uploaded a photo from one of these meetings in August 2022 that shows West seated beside the then-chair of the North Carolina Teenage Republicans.

West’s positions allowed him to attend other events with young people. In September 2020, he was photographed embracing the chairwoman of the North Carolina Young Republicans at a get-out-the-vote event in Plymouth, NC. A few months later, he posed for a photo at the state GOP convention that was uploaded to the Inner Banks Young Republicans’ Instagram account.

West also served as a delegate to the 2020 and 2024 Republican National Conventions, as did multiple high school students.

In September 2019, West and Whatley were both photographed at a recruitment dinner for President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign. Children and teenagers attended this event as well.

West has not been accused of any improprieties since finishing his prison sentence.

Whatley is now a candidate for the U.S. Senate facing former Gov. Roy Cooper. It is widely regarded as one of the most competitive Senate races of 2026.

MIke Lawler and Saul Anuzis 60 Plus Association

Vulnerable Republican Incumbents Tout Endorsement By Social Security Privatization Outfit

Several Republicans in competitive House races are touting endorsements from a group that exists to cut Medicare and privatize Social Security.

The 60 Plus Association was created in 1992 as a far-right alternative to the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP). The group claims to represent the interests of American retirees over 60. It was started with seed money from the far-right billionaire megadonors Charles and David Koch.

In 1997, the 60 Plus Association boasted that it was “the first national senior citizens group to endorse privatization of the Social Security program.” More recently, it has backed efforts to turn Medicare into a voucher system.

Health policy experts warn that these changes could force seniors to spend more out of pocket for health care and imperil the long-term solvency of both programs. The 60 Plus Association acknowledged in 2011 that its goal was to gradually phase out Medicare for future generations.

California Rep. Kevin Kiley, an independent who caucuses with House Republicans, accepted awards from the 60 Plus Association in 2025 and 2026. The award, which recognizes lawmakers as “Guardians of Senior Citizens,” is essentially a campaign endorsement. On both occasions, Kiley posed for photos with 60 Plus Association President Saul Anuzis, a former Michigan GOP chairman.

Other recipients this year were Iowa Reps. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and Zach Nunn, Michigan Reps. Bill Huizenga and Tom Barrett, New York Rep. Mike Lawler, and Pennsylvania Reps. Ryan Mackenzie and Scott Perry, all Republicans. Each of these lawmakers also posed for photos with Anuzis.

Past GOP recipients include New Jersey Rep. Tom Kean Jr., Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, and Texas Rep. Monica De La Cruz.

Virginia Republican Rep. Rob Wittman received the award in 2025. In June, Wittman was caught faking a phone call to avoid answering a reporter’s questions about Republican proposals to cut Social Security and Medicare.

The 60 Plus Association has also put up numerous social media posts recognizing the birthdays of various Republican lawmakers, including Virginia Rep. Jen Kiggans, California Rep. David Valadao, Florida Reps. Anna Paulina Luna and Maria Elvira Salazar, Minnesota Rep. Brad Finstad, Ohio Reps. Mike Turner and Mike Carey, Pennsylvania Rep. Rob Bresnahan, and Wisconsin Rep. Bryan Steil.

Anuzis also advocates repealing the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare).

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has included all of these lawmakers on its list of most vulnerable incumbents facing reelection in 2026. And all of these Republicans supported the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), which will impose a $1 trillion cut to Medicaid over the next decade.

“Slashing Medicaid, cutting the ACA tax credits, and shutting down rural hospitals was just the warm-up act for House Republicans’ true mission: ending Medicare and Social Security as we know it,” said DCCC spokesperson Liam Buckley. “They’re beholden to their dark-money backers and they can’t be trusted in November.”

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Ashley Hinson

Vouchers? Cutbacks? GOP Senate Candidates Threaten Medicare And Medicaid

Medicare and Medicaid have been around for 61 years, but they may not make it to 62 if the GOP retains control of the U.S. Senate.

Several Republicans competing in marquee Senate races have expressed an interest in cutting or eliminating both programs, which provide health insurance to more than 123 million people. Medicaid covers low-income Americans, while Medicare is for those 65 and older or with disabilities. About 13 million people are enrolled in both programs.

Medicaid took a major hit last year when House and Senate Republicans passed the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBB), a sweeping budget law that will cut $1 trillion from the program to fund tax breaks for the wealthy. About 12 million Americans are expected to lose health insurance as a result.

Florida GOP Sen. Ashley Moody celebrated OBBB’s passage, even though it will rip health insurance away from 2.2 million of her own constituents.

“Today is a historic moment for the American people—especially Florida families who will have thousands of their hard-earned money back in their pockets,” Moody said in a July 2025 press release, shortly before OBBB became law.

The law also hit hospitals and health care providers that depend on Medicaid reimbursements for revenue. These providers are often in rural or low-income areas where patients are more likely to be Medicaid recipients. A Health Justice Project analysis found that 23 percent of Florida’s rural hospitals were at risk of closure before the cuts took effect, making the outlook even worse.

A similar dynamic is at play in Alaska, where OBBB has put at least seven hospitals, clinics, and nursing homes into dire straits. GOP Sen. Dan Sullivan supported OBBB, promising it would “unleash Alaska’s private sector economy” and “benefit hard-working families.”

Sullivan has also cast multiple votes threatening Medicare, including voting to advance a 2017 budget resolution that sought to turn it into a voucher program.

Under the current system, Medicare reimburses hospitals and providers that treat Medicare enrollees. Under vouchers, Medicare recipients would receive funds directly to pay for care or purchase private insurance plans.

Health policy experts say vouchers would be unlikely to keep pace with inflation, forcing seniors to spend more out of pocket. Vouchers would also further reduce revenues for providers that treat Medicare beneficiaries.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also voted to advance the voucher proposal. She cast a similar vote to advance OBBB, but did not support the bill in its final iteration.

Georgia Rep. Mike Collins, who is now running for the U.S. Senate, helped whip votes to get OBBB over the finish line in the House. In June, WDRW reported that the law’s Medicaid cuts were endangering access to therapy for hundreds of special-needs kids.

“I don’t know what to tell these patients and I hate it for them,” said Kate Phillips, director of patient services at TOTS, an Atlanta clinic offering pediatric speech and occupational therapy. “This is going to be catastrophic for them.”

Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson also backed OBBB and was a member of the House Republican Study Committee when it proposed turning Medicare into a voucher program.

All of these lawmakers have also shown a willingness to cut or eliminate the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which could put both Medicaid and Medicare at risk. Obamacare expanded access to Medicaid and extended the solvency of Medicare.

A KFF tracking poll finds that Medicaid and Medicare are extremely popular with American voters. About 82 percent have a positive view of Medicare, while 75 percent view Medicaid favorably. About 62 percent rank health care costs as their top economic concern.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), which works to elect Democrats to the U.S. Senate, is making Republican hostility to Medicaid and Medicare a theme of the upcoming midterms.

“Across the map, Senate Republicans are on record supporting cuts to Medicaid and Medicare, and now that they’ve put these programs on the chopping block in order to grant tax giveaways to their billionaire campaign backers,” said DSCC spokesperson Maeve Coyle.

The Cook Political Report, which evaluates the competitiveness of elections, currently ranks control of the Senate as a tossup.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Jon Husted

Accusations That Husted Coddled Sexual Predators Date Back Two Decades

In 2006, when he was leading the Ohio House of Representatives, Jon Husted gutted a bill intended to help survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests.

Appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to the Senate last year, Husted is now running for election to the Ohio seat. He has come under fire recently for accepting massive donations from Leslie Wexner, a billionaire Jeffrey Epstein associate, and having a county campaign chair who served jail time for alleged misconduct with a minor. Each of these stories has fueled a narrative that Husted is tolerant and even protective of sexual abusers.

The Ohio Senate passed SB 17, known as the clergy abuse bill, in March 2006. The legislation was led by Democratic state Sen. Teresa Fedor as a response to the Catholic clergy abuse scandal. It sought to enact several reforms, including requiring clergy (of all religions) to report child abuse committed by their colleagues, expanding the legal definition of sexual battery to cover clergy who sexually exploit minors in their congregations, and creating a one-year civil window for victims to seek damages for offenses that happened outside the 35-year statute of limitations.

The Catholic Conference of Ohio, which represents the state’s bishops, lobbied the lower chamber in the state House to water down the bill. The bishops specifically took issue with the one-year civil window provision, arguing that the church could not reasonably defend itself against older allegations.

Husted, who is a Roman Catholic, was serving as House Speaker at the time. He oversaw a process by which the civil window provision was stripped from the bill and replaced with a plan to create an online registry of clergy members found liable of sexual abuse in civil court.

Barbara Blaine, who started an advocacy group for survivors of priest abuse, told the Columbus Dispatch that she felt betrayed by Husted and accused him of caving to pressure from the Catholic Conference of Ohio.

On the day the House voted on the weakened SB 17, survivors lined the halls of the state Capitol, each one holding an image of themselves at the age when they were abused. Several Republican lawmakers reportedly entered the chamber through side doors to avoid confronting the angry victims.

The legislation nevertheless passed with near-unanimous support.

This was not the first time Husted used his position to limit the ability of abuse survivors to seek justice. In 2004, he voted for a tort reform law that capped non-economic damages for sexual abuse plaintiffs at $250,000.

The Ohio Capital Journal wrote in 2021 that the law had the effect of “stripping child rape victims of millions of dollars in legal damages.”

Husted was appointed to the U.S. Senate last year to fill the seat vacated by Vice President J.D. Vance. He will face former Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown in the general election.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

How Georgia GOP's Mike Collins Got Rich On Suspiciously-Timed Crypto Trades

How Georgia GOP's Mike Collins Got Rich On Suspiciously-Timed Crypto Trades

Georgia Rep. Mike Collins made a small fortune trading cryptocurrencies. Some are wondering if the Republican used insider information to do it.

Collins, who is now a GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate, has made up to $745,000 in crypto transactions since first entering office in 2023. His net worth has increased since then by an estimated $2.5 million.

Personal finance disclosures suggest that some of these transactions were suspiciously timed. Last year, for example, Collins made lucrative crypto trades as Congress was considering the GENIUS Act, a law that created the first federal rules for stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency.

Any news about the GENIUS Act was likely to have an impact on the value of the assets Collins was swapping. It would be like a congressperson buying ExxonMobil stock before introducing a bill that is favorable to the gas industry.

For stocks, these crimes are prosecuted as insider trading. For crypto, it’s often wire or commodities fraud.

The disclosures show Collins purchasing Ether, a cryptocurrency on the blockchain Ethereum, on April 30, 2025, when it was valued at $1,794. The next day, the GENIUS Act was introduced in the Senate and Ether’s value ballooned to $2,584.

There was no public announcement that the GENIUS Act would be introduced in the Senate on the day it was. It should be noted that while Ether is not a stablecoin, the law was considered a boon to the entire crypto industry.

Collins purchased Ether again on July 8, 2025, at a price of $2,616. The GENIUS Act passed the House nine days later, and Ether’s value ballooned again to $3,673, a gain of 40 percent.

A similar dynamic played out when Collins purchased the memecoin Ski Mask Dog. A meme coin is a cryptocurrency that generally has little value, but can sometimes become profitable when it is endorsed by a celebrity or receives online buzz.

Critics say memecoins are essentially designed for pump-and-dump schemes, where the price of an asset is artificially inflated before the biggest shareholders sell it off, maximizing their profits and collapsing the value for everybody else.

Collins purchased Ski Mask Dog several times between Sept. 10 and November 29, 2025. The X account Unusual Whales, which tracks unusual market activity, made a post flagging the purchases on December 3, 2025. Collins responded to the post with an image of Pepe the Frog, an internet meme that is sometimes used to convey a cool or savvy attitude.

Pepe the Frog is also used as a white supremacist symbol by the far-right.

Ski Mask Dog’s popularity exploded following the Unusual Whales post. Its trade volume went from $1,384,313 to $37,468161, a 2,606 percent increase.

Ski Mask Dog has since featured Collins in its promotional materials and advocated for him to be a presidential candidate in 2028.

In 2021, the House Ethics Committee fined North Carolina GOP Rep. Madison Cawthorn $14,000 for engaging in similar activity. Cawthorn invested heavily in the Let’s Go Brandon memecoin and then encouraged others to buy it while failing to follow disclosure rules.

Collins has denied on multiple occasions that there is anything improper about his crypto trades. There is no indication that he has been investigated for the transactions or accused of a crime.

Incumbent Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA), whom Collins will face in the November, has made cracking down on political corruption and self-enrichment a focus of his reelection bid.

An AARP poll from July showed Ossoff with a sizable lead over Collins. That margin is expected to narrow as the election gets closer.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

In Iowa Race, Desperate Republican Smears Lutheran Minister As 'Satanist'

In Iowa Race, Desperate Republican Smears Lutheran Minister As 'Satanist'

Iowa Rep. Zach Nunn and other Republicans are spreading a false claim alleging that Democrat Sarah Trone Garriott officiated a Satanic wedding.

Trone Garriott, a Lutheran minister and state senator, launched a campaign challenging Nunn last year. Nunn is widely regarded as one of the most vulnerable House Republicans facing reelection this fall.

In 2023, Trone Garriott participated in the Des Moines Storytellers Project, a live event featuring first-person narratives on a specific topic or theme. The theme for Trone Garriott’s event was “love.” She recounted how, in 2006, a pair of avowed Satanists came to the West Virginia church where she was a minister-in-training seeking a marriage ceremony.

Trone Garriott expressed unease about participating in the nuptials, but her head pastor insisted, directing her to choose a Bible verse to read. She said the situation taught her the importance of showing goodwill to others, even those she disagreed with.

“It’s hard work to love one another and we often need to be reminded how,” Trone Garriott concluded.

Trone Garriott did not officiate the ceremony and was not even qualified at that time to do so. Nor was the ceremony Satanic in nature. It was a Christian service held in a Lutheran church, with readings from the New Testament.

Despite these facts, Nunn and his allies have attempted to portray the event as something more nefarious.

“[Trone Garriott] feels that Iowa is too white, too Christian, too male to be successful,” Nunn said at a June 23 Clarke County Republican Liberty barbeque. “She says she’s a Lutheran pastor, but then she goes out and officiates demonic weddings.”

In April, the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC), the main group responsible for electing Republicans to Congress, made a social media post stating that “Trone Garriott officiated a SATANIST WEDDING” and that “Democrats are NUTS.”

Similar language was used in multiple statements from Republican Party spokespeople.

A similar line of attack alleges that Trone Garriott referred to Iowa’s private Christian schools as “white enclaves” and “segregation academies” during a 2023 sermon. This is also false. She was accurately explaining that some Christian schools were formed in the 1970s in response to racial integration policies, not claiming that modern Christian schools are racist or discriminatory.

The bad-faith nature of these attacks may suggest that Republicans are feeling desperate. A Conservatives for America poll from March showed Nunn leading Trone Garriott by just one percentage point. Trone Garriott also raised $2.2 million in donations last quarter, while Nunn brought in $968,000.

The Cook Political Report, which evaluates the competitiveness of political races, currently ranks the election as a toss-up.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News

Maine 'Independent' Candidate Almost Wholly Funded By GOP Donors

Maine 'Independent' Candidate Almost Wholly Funded By GOP Donors

State Sen. Rick Bennett’s independent campaign for Maine governor is being supported by Republican donors and operatives, including allies of former far-right Gov. Paul LePage.

Maine has a history of electing independents to statewide office. Angus King, who is one of only two independents in the U.S. Senate, served as governor from 1995 to 2003. Independent Eliot Cutler came in second in the state’s 2010 governor race.

Bennett is a strange choice to pick up that mantle. He was vice chair of the Maine Republican Party from 2013 to 2017 and has both sought and held multiple offices in the state as a member of the GOP. He didn’t end his affiliation with the party until last year, when he launched his current campaign.

“We need leaders who will work with anyone—Republican, Democrat, or independent—to ease the financial pressure on families,” Bennett said in his campaign launch video. “That’s why I’m running as an independent.”

Campaign finance disclosures show that Maine Wins Together, the chief super PAC supporting Bennett, is almost entirely funded by wealthy Republicans.

The group took in $50,000 this year from Gray and Sandra Bahre, who inherited an auto-racing fortune. The duo also gave $14,000 to LePage, who is running for Congress this year in Maine’s 2nd District. They gave another $24,000 to LePage’s victory fund, $10,000 to a PAC supporting LePage, and $15,000 to the Maine Republican Party.

Maine Wins Together took in another $50,000 from liquor magnate Paul Coulombe. In 2014, Coulombe gave $160,000 to the Maine Republican Party. He also contributed to LePage’s failed 2022 bid for governor.

LePage, who has called himself “Donald Trump before Donald Trump,” served as governor from 2011 to 2019. He became known during this period for his extremist views and offensive remarks. He infamously refused to expand Medicaid in the state even after voters passed a referendum requiring him to do so.

Bennett campaigned with LePage in 2010 and served on LePage’s transition team after the election. LePage later wrote a letter recommending Bennett for a State Department role in the first Trump administration.

Finance disclosures also indicate that Bennett’s campaign is being advised by Election Hive, a Utah-based Republican consulting firm. The firm has also worked with Sen. Mike Lee, whom the Institute for Legislative Analysis ranked as the most conservative senator of 2024.

Bennett will face Democrat Hannah Pingree and Republican Bobby Charles in the general election. A recent Siena Research Institute poll found Bennett trailing both candidates with only eight percent support.

Reprinted with permission from American Journal News