If you are into the political weeds, specifically the Machiavellian aspects to the deepest political weeds, there’s an interesting article in The Hill today with quotes from people very close to GOP House Leader Kevin McCarthy.

Essentially, the nub of it is that GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney is about to get removed from her leadership position due to her continued antagonism of the MAGA supporters and President Trump.

After Cheney’s latest round of attacks against Trump and his supporters McCarthy is no longer going to defend Cheney from a frustrated republican caucus ready to get rid of her.

Cheney is likely to be voted out of leadership by the end of the month, depending on the timing of the next GOP conference assembly.

WASHINGTON – Top allies of House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) are vowing to oust Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), one of the harshest critics of former President Trump in either party, from her leadership post by the end of the month.

– May 3, 2021 –  Statement by Donald J. Trump, 45th President of the United States of America, “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”

Jenna Ellis, a former Trump campaign lawyer, is challenging Rep. Liz Cheney to debate election integrity in the 2020 election.

On Monday, Rep. Liz Cheney insisted on Twitter that the 2020 presidential election “was not stolen.”

“Anyone who claims it was is spreading THE BIG LIE, turning their back on the rule of law, and poisoning our democratic system.”

Cheney was responding to a Trump statement released Monday morning that “The Fraudulent Presidential Election of 2020 will be, from this day forth, known as THE BIG LIE!”

In response to Cheney’s tweet, Ellis pointed out that “Election officials in at least six states violated the law in the administration of the 2020 election. That’s called cheating.”

“If you have the guts to debate me on this, name the time and place,” Ellis tweeted to Cheney.

Source: AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who is the chair of the House Republican Conference and the third-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House, has found herself in the news quite a bit lately. Matt reported last week that she said she thinks she may even run for president in 2024, after being particularly vocal in impeaching Trump the second time around, while she continues to trash him to this day. Well, Republican leaders have had enough of her, and may even be willing to push her out, according to Axios.

On Saturday, Jonathan Swan, Glen Johnson and Alayna Treene reported, “Scoop: GOP leaders threaten Cheney ouster.” Honestly, it sounds like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), the highest and second-highest ranking Republicans in the House, respectively, have been fed up with her for some time.

Sen. Joe Manchin said he was prepared to hold his ground and fight when a crowd of Trump supporters converged on the US Capitol on Jan. 6 as Congress voted to certify the 2020 election.

​”My intention was to stay and fight: ‘Let ‘em in. Let’s go at it.’ But I didn’t know what was going on,” Manchin (D-W.Va.) told USA Today in an interview published Monday.

“You had a lot of people chanting. I didn’t think anything of that. But within 10 or 15 minutes, a SWAT team comes in with all of their gear and says ‘You guys are out of here. Just go now. Don’t even stop,’” the 6-foot-3 former football standout said.

Manchin, a moderate Democrat from the state former President Donald Trump won by nearly 40 points in the 2020 election, has found himself at a position of influence in the 50-50 divided Senate, armed with a vote that could advance or doom Democratic initiatives.

Two of those issues are statehood for Washington, DC, and getting rid of the filibuster that would allow Democrats to pass legislation with 51 votes instead of 60 — both measures he opposes.

 

What took place at the Capitol on January 6 was undoubtedly a politically motivated riot. As such, it should not be controversial to regard it as a dangerous episode. Any time force or violence is introduced into what ought to be the peaceful resolution of political conflicts, it should be lamented and condemned.

But none of that justifies lying about what happened that day, especially by the news media. Condemning that riot does not allow, let alone require, echoing false claims in order to render the event more menacing and serious than it actually was. There is no circumstance or motive that justifies the dissemination of false claims by journalists. The more consequential the event, the less justified, and more harmful, serial journalistic falsehoods are.

Yet this is exactly what has happened, and continues to happen, since that riot almost seven weeks ago. And anyone who tries to correct these falsehoods is instantly attacked with the cynical accusation that if you want only truthful reporting about what happened, then you’re trying to “minimize” what happened and are likely an apologist for if not a full-fledged supporter of the protesters themselves.

One of the most significant of these falsehoods was the tale — endorsed over and over without any caveats by the media for more than a month — that Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick was murdered by the pro-Trump mob when they beat him to death with a fire extinguisher. That claim was first published by The New York Times on January 8 in an article headlined “Capitol Police Officer Dies From Injuries in Pro-Trump Rampage.” It cited “two [anonymous] law enforcement officials” to claim that Sicknick died “with the mob rampaging through the halls of Congress” and after he “was struck with a fire extinguisher.”

Toensing’s resume includes Chief Counsel of the Senate intelligence committee, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, and lawyer for whistleblowers on government misconduct.

Joe diGenova served as Special Counsel to the House of Representatives, Chief Counsel to the Senate Rules Committee, and former United States attorney for the District of Columbia. He also was Independent Counsel investigating the improper search of then-candidate Bill Clinton’s passport file by the George H. W. Bush administration. And in 1997, he was Special Counsel investigating the Teamsters Union.

“Over the years, the ABA puts out all sorts of statements about do not condemn lawyers because they’re representing people at Guantanamo Base who are terrorists. This is in the great tradition of American lawyers representing the most despised defendants, because under our Constitution, even the worst person is entitled to a quality defense. But that doesn’t apply to lawyers who represent Donald Trump or support Donald Trump or come out and speak on his behalf.” ~ Joe diGenova speaking to Sharyl Attkisson, the embodiment of Girl Power in journalism.