A month before the midterms, Donald Trump’s pals are plunging into messy scandals. Can they clean up their act in time for the big vote?
President Donald Trump is scrambling to convince Americans to give Republicans another chance — in his own twisted ways. He’s pledging to
not strike Iranbefore the midterms, and activelyhanding out billions of dollarsto citizens and states. But some of his closest friends aren’t helping make the case that leaders of the Republican Party are trustworthy.
The first drama enveloping Trumpworld involves Chris LaCivita, the president’s former campaign manager, and James Blair, who served as a top White House aide until April. The two men are running a midterm ad blitz aimed at saving GOP control of Congress, which is hardly a part-time job. They’re known as experienced, cut-throat operators who have successfully bolstered Trump’s political career.
In the midst of a GOP freakout about possibly tanking the midterms, these two found time to do a little moonlighting — by helping a nationalist, pro-Russian party stay in power in a tiny self-governing territory inside Bosnia and Herzegovina, known as the Republika Srpska. Both men were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars for their work by Republika Srpska’s government “to provide counsel on voting issues,”
according to the.New York Times
And it’s not just Chris and James! The daughter of White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles
also recently visitedRepublika Srpska… andreportedly worksat a firm that lobbies for the country’s government. And guess what? The country has a chummy relationship with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
News of the LaCivita-Blair foreign imbroglio — which comes less than a month before the midterms — has frustrated Republicans, who worry that the negative headlines could make it even harder for the GOP to stave off a looming blue wave. Even Trump said that he
will firethe men if he needs to.
The two men are in “full-on panic mode,” a person close to the White House
told Politico. “They have been calling everyone urging people to come out and defend them on this.”
Why would LaCivita and Blair accept such risky business before the midterms? Former Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
𝕏thinks their“only loyalty is to the almighty dollars that fill their overflowing bank accounts.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christiebelieves thatthe advisers may have “moved on from Donald Trump as their top priority.”
**But wait, there’s more. **Don Jr.’s ex-fiancée is also in hot water over a big-money scandal.
Few people in Trump’s orbit have received a swankier assignment than Kimberly Guilfoyle, the former Fox News host who was once engaged to Trump’s son. She went on to score the U.S. ambassadorship to sunny Greece despite her lack of diplomatic experience.
Days before her confirmation hearing for that sweet gig, Guilfoyle sent a series of texts to a wealthy Trump donor asking him to pay her $100,000 credit card bill,
according to the. “It won’t show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express,” Guilfoyle texted the donor. “Honey please I need you to get this done for me today.” The donor never sent the money.Wall Street Journal
A lawyer for Guilfoyle disputed the authenticity of the texts to the
Journal, without providing specifics. He said that she was owed money for traveling to events to speak. A U.S. embassy official defended Guilfoyle in a statement to the outlet, saying that her career has been “guided by deep and abiding values.”
And the hits keep coming. The
Daily Mailpiled on today with this headline: “Kimberly Guilfoyle’s Champagne-fueled Greek party life now under investigation by the State Department... after 4am requests and unseemly messages are leaked.” (Her lawyer told the outlet that “any implication of wrongdoing by the ambassador is unsupported.”)
Trump’s gang now has to spend precious time and energy — which could’ve gone toward midterm messaging — putting out fires started by their own side.
**“Guilfoyle, LaCivita, Blair — they need to answer a lot of questions,” **Sen. Thom Tillis told CNN. “From the outside, it looks awful.”
** Trump’s Department of Justice formally accused ousted** Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro and his wife of torturing political opponents and American citizens in federal court today, piling new criminal charges on top of their existing drug trafficking case. Lawyers for Maduro and his wife
** Former Trump officials are flocking to Venezuela** to secure lucrative jobs in the country’s oil sector, which the U.S. now dominates. One eyebrow-raising example: Michael Jensen, the White House’s top official on Western Hemisphere affairs, left his job in late May — and started a job as vice president at a new energy company in Venezuela
** The Trump administration deported a trangender woman** from Miami to the Central African Republic, which has a history of discrimination against sexual and gender minorities,
** Barack Obama endorsed Democrat **Troy Jackson in the Maine Senate race. Obama’s endorsement, which is highly coveted and relatively rare, comes shortly after the former president threw his weight behind Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed.
** Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee are calling** on Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), the committee chair, to issue an apology after Sen. Eric Schmitt’s (R-MO) falsely accused Jack Smith of attending an NBA game in Atlanta and calling him a “dirtbag.” As the Democrats write: “This farce culminated in a national embarrassment for the committee.”
** Christa Pike is awake and walking around her hospital room **after Tennessee botched its attempt to execute her, according to her lawyer. She’s the first person to ever survive a lethal injection. It’s unclear whether the state will attempt the execution again, which legal experts
** What could you buy if you were as rich as Elon Musk?** Thanks to an interactive article in Wired, you can now find out. Personally, I went with 10,000 Big Macs, 100,000 iPhones, 300,000 race horses, 25,000 monster trucks, 5,000 McDonald’s franchises, 45,000 houses, 10,000 mega mansions, 52,000 tanks, 5,000 helicopters, 112 Starship launch vehicles, 43 skyscrapers, and 10 Las Vegas spheres.
** The USS Abraham Lincoln docked in San Diego today,** wrapping up a harrowing 322 days at sea. There were more than 50 babies waiting for their fathers to step off the ship. “I just want to hold him, play with him,” one sailor told NBC News, talking about his son. “He’s crawling around now, so I’m excited to chase him around the house and give him all the love that [has] been kind of withheld for the last 10 months. I’m so excited.”
** People who snuggle with their dog in bed** don’t sleep worse, according to a new study. In fact, humans might actually be the ones that disturb dogs’ sleep. I apologize in advance for all the household debates this will spark tonight.
** A diehard Marlins fan watched yesterday’s game** beside pop star Dua Lipa and her husband, actor Callum Turner — and had no idea who they were. “They were so nice and friendly to everyone. I told them i know sports, not music nor movies,” he tweeted, posting a selfie with the couple. “They recently got married in june in italy i think. I wish them 50 years or more of happiness.”
** Canadian author Anne Carson won the Nobel Prize** in literature this year. When a Nobel official broke the news to her, Carson told him she’s in Iceland “listening to the wind.” Man, I wanna be in Iceland listening to the wind right now. That sounds lovely.
Researchers believe that Bolotana, a small village in Sardinia, might qualify as a new so-called blue zone, an area with a high concentration of people who live to be 100 years old. The trend is driven mostly by women: Nearly 14 percent of women in the village who reach 70 will live to see triple digits, researchers found. Only Hong Kong ranks higher on female longevity.
** On that note, a Pennsylvania man celebrated** his 100th birthday with friends and family at a local bowling alley — and he’s still throwing strikes. “As long as the lord will allow me to hold up that 13- or 14-pound ball and enjoy the camaraderie that I have with the bowling league, I’ll keep bowling,” William Owen Hanna said. This is the best thing you’ll watch today.
** Very impressive, William. But get a load of Jonathan!** He’s a 400-pound tortoise believed to be 194 years old, the oldest land animal on the planet. Researchers are trying to learn the secrets of aging from Jonathan, who spends his days on the remote island of St. Helena off the coast of Africa. “Each of these long-lived species has some kind of special trick,” a biologist said. “And some of those may turn out to be relevant to human aging.”
