Free Republic

I know what your first reaction is. He’s kidding. Or he’s somehow trolling Trump. (Lee has never been a fan.) Obviously there’s no way a rock-ribbed conservative like Mike Lee would want Barack Obama’s Supreme Court choice running the FBI. Is there? Is there? Say, is Lee crazy for tweeting at 6 in the morning? I ask because that’s what we’re told every time Trump does it:

On CNN this morning, Chris Cuomo said to Republican Senator Mike Lee of Utah, “Breitbart is using you as a poster boy. You know that is the president’s viewing of choice. He loves to see what they put out. They are using you as the poster boy that Susan Rice was politically motivated in unmasking.” Cuomo told Lee, “it does seem as though you’re saying Rice has to prove it wasn’t politically motivated for me to believe that it wasn’t. And that’s not fair.” Retorted Lee: “That is an absolutely absurd manipulation of what I said. That is not at...

Republican senators are asking Secretary of State Rex Tillerson to investigate claims that U.S. taxpayer money is being used to back left-wing billionaire George Soros' political meddling and similar efforts overseas. A letter sent Tuesday asked for a probe into how U.S. funds are being used by agencies such as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to back left-wing political groups in other countries. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, one of the co-signers, even said foreign officials and political leaders have come to him with "reports of U.S. activity in their respective countries." He said in a statement: "This...

Republican leadership's plans for the Obamacare repeal were recently leaked, though "repeal" is perhaps too strong a word. "Tweaks" more accurately describes the work of Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and other House Republicans. It does not go back to ground zero, where this disaster began. Instead, the plan is to go for "Obamacare Lite." It's simply a different version of Obamacare — a Republican version of Obamacare. It's how President Obama himself might have done it. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., has said, "The best interest of the country would be achieved by pulling out Obamacare, root...

Entrenched GOPe Show Their Cards – Construct “Border Adjustment Tax” To Oppose Trump’s America-First Agenda Anyone who believes Democrats own exclusive opposition to Donald Trump are completely ignoring the deliberate construct of the 2015/2016 republican primary. There are just as many -if not more- natural enemies within the Republican apparatus as there are within the Democrat group. “America-First” is antithetical to the UniParty.Again, prior to Donald Trump there was one party in Washington DC, “The UniParty”. President Donald Trump represented a second party, an independent approach toward legislative and economic priority. He was not a third choice, he was...

Populism? No thanks. I am not now, nor will I ever be, a populist. Evidently, that separates me from a growing number of commentators, including some conservatives, wistfully engaged in Washington's latest fad: over-interpreting Donald Trump's victory in the 2016 presidential election. The normally sensible Mike Lee, Republican senator from Utah, took to our pages to plead the case of "principled populism" -- which is akin to calling for a sober Bacchanalia. Not surprisingly, Senator Lee's brief doesn't get very far before strangling in its own illogic, as odes to populism inevitably do. The "characteristic weakness" of populism, he tells...

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Mike Pence was in Utah Wednesday to address supporters ahead of Election Day. “I know things are good here in Utah. You have strong leadership here in Utah. Low taxes. Sensible regulation. The truth of the matter is, I promise you, the— here in Utah you know what we know in Indiana. Any progress you’ve made here has been in spite of what’s coming out of Washington D.C., not because of it,” Pence said. Pence also urged supporters of the Trump/Pence ticket to reach out to Republicans who have decided not to vote for Trump.

Mike Lee to Donald Trump: Step Aside 1:28 AM, Oct 08, 2016 | By John McCormack Following the release of a 2005 video in which Donald Trump made obscene comments about how he gropes women and might commit adultery, Utah senator Mike Lee called on Trump to step aside so that someone else could challenge Hillary Clinton. "You yourself, sir, Mr. Trump, have stated repeatedly that the goal, the objective, has got to be to defeat Hillary Clinton in November. I couldn't agree more. It is for precisely that reason, Mr. Trump, that I respectfully ask you, with all do...

Utah Sen. Mike Lee on Friday rejected Donald Trump's Supreme Court nomination proposal, saying he already has the job he wants, Politico reported. "Sen. Lee already has the job he wants which is why he is campaigning to represent the great people of Utah again this year," Lee's spokesman Conn Carroll told Politico in a statement.

Coincidentally, many of them work in or have ties to important battleground states. Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah Neil Gorsuch, a judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Margaret Ryan, a judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces Edward Mansfield, a justice of the Iowa Supreme Court Keith Blackwell, a justice of the Georgia Supreme Court Charles Canady, a justice of the Florida Supreme Court Timothy Tymkovich, chief judge of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals Amul Thapar, a judge of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky Frederico Moreno, a judge...

[A number of hard-hitting snippets] ICANN CEO Fadi Chehadé stated in his opening remarks, “China is going to be a central part of where the Internet community, as we know it, is heading. [snip] In addition, ICANN announced during the meeting that it would open its first global engagement office in Beijing [snip] Honorary Chairman of CNNIC’s Steering Committee stated that the “ICANN Engagement Center-Beijing would be not only a new link for ICANN to better develop and promote China's Internet community, but also a new platform for China's Internet community to better contribute to the development of the global...

The essence of human freedom, of civilization itself, is cooperation: cooperation between friends and family; businesses and customers; entrepreneurs and employees. History and human experience teach that humans cooperate best when they do so voluntarily, without government coercion. That is why I fully support the eventual transition of control over the internet from the Department of Commerce and to a private entity. But I also worry that President Barack Obama is hastily rushing the current transfer of power to the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), which could make it easier for the United Nations to take over...

Fresh after Congress and the White House scored the largest transportation spending package in a decade, both presidential candidates this year are proposing billions in funding to rebuild the nation’s infrastructure. While both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump—and the parties they represent—agree the nation’s roads, bridges, airports, rail system, and ports are in need of repair, the new proposals invite familiar questions over how the spending would be paid for, and whether the federal government is the best provider to pay for it. Those questions, and the lack of a must-pass infrastructure initiative requiring Congress’ attention in 2017, mean that...

The Never Trump agitators have been defeated, but they say they’re not going away. Republicans who failed to change party rules here this week and stop Donald Trump from winning the party’s presidential nomination are threatening to cause chaos on the floor of the national convention next week. Bruised by the way party leaders handled debate on a series of proposed rule changes, leaders of anti-Trump groups vowed Friday to find ways to draw at least some political blood when the party meeting begins Monday. The options are limited, and attempts to cause trouble at political conventions are usually quickly...

Lee denounced the result in the room in front of the 112 committee members and a large contingent of reporters, and then spoke exclusively with Yahoo News for 15 minutes afterward in a room down the hall. In the committee meeting, Lee did not concede that Trump — who is now all but certain to be named the GOP’s nominee next Wednesday night — will in fact be the party’s choice. “I hope whoever the nominee is going to be this time will in fact win over the delegates,” Lee said. “But rules like this are not going to help...

The amendment to unbind delegates and allow them to vote "their conscience" has been soundly defeated in the RNC Rules Committee

CLEVELAND — It is nearing time for the dump-Trump forces to put up or shut up, as they prepare for a final showdown this week on trying to free delegates to the Republican Convention to vote against presumptive presidential nominee Donald Trump. Party leaders, and a growing number of rank-and-file delegates, say the renegades’ effort is going nowhere: Mr. Trump has solidified his support, struck the right balance with the party’s platform and is in little danger of being ousted. “Now is the time to stand united as Republicans,” RNC Chairman Reince Priebus told delegates Wednesday as he kicked off...

Anti-Donald Trump forces are within striking distance of getting a vote on a measure aimed at challenging his nomination at the GOP convention next week. An NBC News whip count of convention Rules Committee delegates finds that the Free the Delegates movement -- a grassroots group of delegates pushing a rules change to allow bound delegates to vote their "conscience" -- can count on at least 16 delegates open to the change based on delegates' public statements, backgrounds and social media profiles. That's more than halfway to the 28 votes Trump detractors would need to produce a minority report on...

In a remarkable interview with Business Insider, Arizona Senator Jeff Flake argued that Congress should pass President Obama’s Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement despite the American people’s overwhelming objection to it. BI writes: Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake told Business Insider during a Wednesday interview that Congress is going to have to “suck up” and ratify the agreement because it simply must be done, even in the face of hostile opposition to trade along the campaign trail… ‘I do still think there are enough people that realize we’ve got to do it,’ the Arizona Republican said. ‘Some of those things you just...

Sen. Mike Lee on Wednesday cited Donald Trump's use of a baseless tabloid report that Ted Cruz's father helped conspire to kill President John F. Kennedy as a reason he has yet to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee in a heated exchange.