Free Republic

Mitt Romney criticized Republican lawmakers Saturday and said he would lead an effort to repeal Obamacare and block massive spending bills if he is elected to the U.S. Senate in November.

Mitt Romney did not win the Utah Republican Party's nomination on Saturday, meaning he must compete in a June primary election as he seeks to replace retiring US Sen. Orrin Hatch. After a wild and raucous day of voting at the Utah GOP convention, the former Massachusetts governor and 2012 Republican presidential nominee was unable to win the 60% that he needed to head to the November ballot unopposed. When none of the 12 candidates were able to cross that threshold, the party continued with successive rounds of caucus voting until one candidate reached 40%. On the second round of...

The United States government is preparing to charge SAC Capital, the multi-billion dollar hedge fund operated by the reclusive Wall Street trading legend Steven A. Cohen, with criminal charges, according to multiple reports. Manhattan-based federal prosecutors, working in conjunction with the FBI, are poised to move against the massive hedge fund as early as this week. On Wall Street, this type of criminal charge amounts to a death sentence, because few major clients would be willing to invest money with a firm under federal indictment. It’s possible that lawyers for Cohen, a secretive 57-year-old billionaire with lavish tastes in art...

Utah Senate hopeful Mitt Romney (R) said Thursday that he is setting his sights on the future, rather than looking back at his past criticism of President Trump. Speaking at a question-and-answer session in Sandy, Utah, on Thursday night, Romney said he was planning to "look forward" on his relationship with Trump, noting that the president has shifted on certain issues. "I look forward. I'm not going to look backward," Romney said, when asked by an audience member if he would criticize Trump in his Senate campaign like he did in a 2016 speech, according to the Deseret News.

A senior Barack Obama State Department official gave the green light to an FBI agent in 2016 to meet with dossier writer Christopher Steele, a meeting that touched off a relationship that would fuel the ongoing investigation into possible Donald Trump-Russia election collusion. And, the sensational Steele allegation that led to an FBI wiretap on Trump volunteer Carter Page came from “pillow talk” with the lover of a Kremlin official, a new book says. The disclosure that Victoria Nuland started the process is contained in “Russian Roulette,” a book released Tuesday by Yahoo News report Michael Isikoff and Mother Jones...

Full Title: Right-Wing Pundit Ann Coulter: Trump Is A “Shallow, Lazy Ignoramus” — And Worse Yet, A Bust On Immigration Conservative pundit Ann Coulter provoked her customary amount of protest by appearing at a talk at Columbia University last night, though her message was a 180-degree shift from the one in her book In Trump We Trust. President Donald Trump’s performance thus far “kind of breaks my heart,” Coulter said. “He’s not giving us what he promised at every single campaign stop.” She added, “I knew he was a shallow, lazy ignoramus, and I didn’t care. … What I’m disappointed...

At a Q&A session Monday night, Senate candidate Mitt Romney defended his conservatism saying he's tougher on some issues — like immigration — than the president, reports the Utah Daily Herald: "I’m a deficit hawk. That makes me more conservative than a lot of Republicans and a lot of Democrats. I’m also more of a hawk on immigration than even the president. My view was these DACA kids shouldn’t all be allowed to stay in the country legally." — Mitt Romney Background: Romney was pointing directly to President Trump's proposed plan that would have created a path to citizenship for...

President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign hired controversial research group Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on then-Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, a new book claims -- raising questions about Democrats’ possible long-standing ties to the group. Fusion GPS is the opposition research firm behind the “Trump dossier,” which contained what former FBI Director James Comey described as "salacious" and "unverified" allegations about then-candidate Donald Trump. The dossier cited Russian sources who said Russia had information that compromised Trump. The firm was retained by Marc Elias, an attorney representing both the Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It...

A new book claims former President Barack Obama hired Fusion GPS to dig up dirt on Romney Obama used law firm Perkins Coie to hide payment to Fusion GPS The Clinton campaign would later do the same thing to investigate Trump The Barack Obama presidential campaign hired Fusion GPS in 2012 to dig up dirt on Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, according to a book released on Tuesday. The Obama campaign hid its payments to Fusion GPS through its law firm, Perkins Coie. The arrangement is similar to the one that the Clinton campaign and Democratic National Committee used to...

Mitt Romney is being hit with the first attack ad of the Utah Senate race Thursday, a slickly produced video that portrays him as a darling of the D.C. establishment and gives him the nickname “flip-flopper Mitt.” The ad from Republican candidate Larry Meyers slams Mr. Romney, the presumptive front-runner in the GOP race, with accusations of not being conservative enough for Utah voters. “The D.C. establishment loves Mitt Romney. But Utah voters have a better choice. Larry Meyers,” says the announcer. It then rips open an old wound for Mr. Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee and a former...

Starting in late 2017, Boeing executives discussed plans to conceal employee bonuses or cancel them altogether in order to keep President Trump from getting credit, following the passage of the Republican tax-reform bill. On a series of conference calls led by Boeing’s Senior Vice President of Communications Phil Musser, Musser proposed and lobbied for canceling bonuses out of fear that the company may contribute to President Trump’s rising approval rating. Before Musser worked as a high level Boeing’s communications staffer in Washington, his employment history included public and media relations work for Mitt Romney’s 2012 Presidential Campaign and The Freedom...

SALT LAKE CITY — Mitt Romney became the instant front-runner when he announced his U.S. Senate campaign last week, as a new poll shows him with a commanding lead four days into the race. A Utahpolicy.com poll released Tuesday shows 60 percent of Utahns would vote for the former Massachusetts governor among declared and possible candidates for the office. Only Democratic Salt Lake County Councilwoman Jenny Wilson polled in double digits, with a meager 14 percent. Libertarian Craig Bowden and Rep. Dan McCay, R-Riverton, who has not entered the race, fared the best among the rest at 3 percent and...

WASHINGTON — Mitt Romney did not vote for Donald J. Trump in 2016. Representative Martha McSally of Arizona may not have, either, but she will not say. And Senator Dean Heller of Nevada now insists that he did cast his ballot for Mr. Trump, but for many months, he would not reveal his vote. Senator Bob Corker supported Mr. Trump, but seemed to regret it last year when he concluded that the country had deposited an unruly toddler in the Oval Office. Yet as each of these Republicans pursues a Senate run this year — or in the case of...

Mitt’s back. The former governor of Massachusetts and occasional native son of Michigan has a new persona: Mr. Utah. He’s going to bring Utah conservatism to the whole Republican party and to the country at large. Wholesome, efficient, industrious, faithful. “Utah has a lot to teach the politicians in Washington,” he says in announcing his Senate campaign. Maybe.

President Donald Trump on Monday endorsed former Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s run for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, despite Romney often being critical of Trump.

@MittRomney has announced he is running for the Senate from the wonderful State of Utah. He will make a great Senator and worthy successor to @OrrinHatch, and has my full support and endorsement! 9:21 PM - 19 Feb 2018

WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell said in an interview on Friday afternoon that President Trump should rally behind the Senate candidacy of Mitt Romney despite his blistering criticism in 2016, arguing that Mr. Romney’s potent bid was an illustration of the Republican Party’s improving fortunes entering a challenging midterm campaign. “I can’t imagine that he’s not,” Mr. McConnell said when asked whether Mr. Trump was comfortable with Mr. Romney, who on Friday made official his long-expected candidacy for a Senate seat from Utah. “We don’t want to lose the seat, and this looks like a pretty formidable candidate.” Mr. McConnell,...

Mitt Romney, after announcing his Republican bid for Senate in Utah, called for “action” following the Florida high school shooting that left 17 dead. Romney called the shooting “senseless, debased evil.” “I think we can’t just sit and wait and hope for things to get better,” the former GOP presidential candidate said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune. “It is wrong and unacceptable for children in our schools to fear for their lives.”

Mitt Romney, the GOP’s presidential candidate in 2012 and a former governor of Massachusetts, announced Friday that he would run for U.S. Senate in Utah. “I have decided to run for United States Senate because I believe I can help bring Utah’s values and Utah’s lessons to Washington,” Romney said in a video announcing his bid. “Given all that America faces, we feel that this is the right time for me to serve our state and our country,” he said. Romney pointed to Utah's balanced budget and trade surplus as examples of the state's strengths, comparing them with Washington's debt...

Mitt Romney will launch his Utah Senate campaign Thursday morning with a low key announcement on social media, and will make his first public appearance a day later near Salt Lake City with a keynote address to a gathering of grassroots Republicans.