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Robert Costa, a Washington Post political reporter and NBC News political analyst, tweeted Thursday: "When I asked a prominent Trump ally about Sen. Lee/ SCOTUS, they said this article is floating around the WH, as evidence that he's a long shot." Costa included a link to an Associated Press story about Lee casting a "protest" vote in the 2016 presidential election for independent candidate Evan McMullin.

I’m not surprised he’d be more pro-Mueller and anti-Trump than the average Republican would-be senator. I *am* a bit surprised that he didn’t hedge more in his answers here. Watch the Russiagate one first: .@kasie: "Do you think the Russia investigation is a hoax?"@MittRomney: "No, I think it's a totally appropriate evaluation by our government." pic.twitter.com/3kSCFkzbIQ— Kasie DC (@KasieDC) July 2, 2018 He does say that he doubts Mueller will find any evidence of collusion by Trump but the typical answer to this question lately by GOPers is finish it the hell up. Not just by Trump’s buddies in...

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) interviewed with President Trump about the looming Supreme Court vacancy, the senator’s communications director confirmed Tuesday. Conn Carroll tweeted confirmation of a Deseret News story that said Lee met with Trump on Monday about the opening that will be created by Justice Anthony Kennedy’s retirement at the end of the month. Lee, who has expressed interest in the high court in the past, told the news outlet that he spoke with Trump about the position, but did not offer further details. The senator indicated again last week he's open to being nominated as a Supreme Court...

Mitt Romney said it is "too early" to say he will support President Trump in 2020. The Utah candidate for U.S. senator further explained to MSNBC's Kasie Hunt, in an interview that aired Sunday evening, that his prior prediction that Trump will get re-elected was not an endorsement. "I also think Gavin Newsom will get elected [as governor] in California. That's not something I want to see, it's just something that's probably going to happen," Romney added. Romney was also prompted to speak about whether he wants a Republican to challenge Trump in a 2020 primary. "There will be people...

Mitt Romney is leading Mike Kennedy, 77 percent to 23 percent in initial returns posted after polls closed at 8 p.m. Tuesday in the race to become the Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate seat held by retiring Sen. Orrin Hatch.

One of the questions I am asked frequently on the campaign trail is whether as Senator I will support the Trump agenda. I’ve learned this means different things to different people. That difference, I believe, is a defining choice for Republicans.

Thirteen Republican Senators Are Demanding President Trump Halt Immigration Enforcement At The United States-mexico Border Until They Can Pass Legislation Closing A Legal Loophole, Perhaps Leaving The Border Open For Years. Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) Sen. Pat Roberts (R-KS) Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) Sen. John Boozman (R-AR) Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) Sen. Rob Portman (R-OH)

SALT LAKE CITY — The way Mike Kennedy sees it, he’s “just a plain old guy.” He’s no Mitt Romney, the millionaire Republican elder statesman and Kennedy’s opponent for the party’s nomination for Utah’s soon-to-be-open Senate seat. And he’s certainly no Ted Kennedy, the late liberal senator with whom he shares a surname but not a bloodline. Nope. Mike Kennedy’s “just a plain old guy” who “comes from dirt.” Mike Kennedy is not really plain or old. He’s a physician, and a lawyer, and a three-term state legislator, a husband and father of eight children. He’s a practicing member of...

Mitt Romney is mapping out plans to become a major player in the Senate — positioning himself to be the spokesman of a listless Republican Party establishment that’s been steamrolled by President Donald Trump. The failed presidential candidate turned Utah Senate hopeful has made it clear to senior party officials that he intends to make a splash with his all-but-certain arrival on Capitol Hill next year, according to nearly a dozen senators, major party donors and confidants who’ve spoken with him.

Mitt Romney addressed a closed-door tech summit in Utah on Thursday, telling the room he thinks President Donald Trump -- the man he once called a “phony” and a “fraud” -- will “solidly” win re-election in 2020, reports said. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, now running for a U.S. Senate seat in Utah, told a group of GOP donors that Trump will “easily” be the party’s nominee and go on to beat his Democratic rival, Politico reported. "I think that not just because of the strong economy and the fact that people are going to see increasingly rising wages, but...

PARK CITY — Utah Gov. Gary Herbert will join U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg at Mitt Romney's annual political retreat this week. The invitation-only event that started as a fundraiser during Romney's 2012 presidential bid will also feature business and health care leaders...

...Dustin Roberts, 36, of McKinleyville, Calif., tried to disarm the trooper after being stopped for a speeding violation. Troopers found 74 pounds of marijuana and some cocaine in his vehicle, officials said.

A summit between President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the works, Fox News has learned. Trying to organize the meeting between the two world leaders “has been an ongoing project” for Jon Huntsman, the U.S. ambassador to Russia, sources told Fox News on Friday. The ambassador has reportedly been in Washington working on the plans. “This has been an ongoing project of Ambassador Huntsman, stretching back months, of getting a formal meeting between Putin and Trump,” a source told the Wall Street Journal. The plans are reportedly at an early stage, as neither a date nor...

Mitt Romney, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Utah, said in an interview Monday that President Donald Trump is not a role model for his grandchildren. "I don't think that I would point to the president as a role model for my grandkids on the basis of his personal style," Romney said in an exclusive interview with NBC News' Garrett Haake. "He has departed in some cases from the truth, and has attacked in a way that I think is not entirely appropriate." Romney acknowledged that Trump's policies had "been by and large a good deal better than I might...

A Utah man who has been incarcerated in a Venezuelan jail since 2016 was on a flight home to the U.S., Venezuelan officials said Saturday. Joshua Holt, 26, has been jailed in Venezuela after he traveled to the South American country in the summer of 2016 to marry Thamara Candelo, whom he met on a website for Mormon singles. The two planned to return to the U.S. after getting married, but where jailed in El Hilcolde on what human rights groups said were largely trumped-up charges. “Good news about the release of the American hostage from Venezuela. Should be landing...

A Utah man who has been incarcerated in a Venezuelan jail since 2016 is set to be released, U.S. officials said Saturday. Joshua Holt, 26, has been jailed in Venezuela after he traveled to the South American country in the summer of 2016 to marry Thamara Candelo, whom he met on a website for Mormon singles. The two planned to return to the U.S. after getting married, but where jailed in El Hilcolde on what human rights groups said were largely trumped-up charges. “Good news about the release of the American hostage from Venezuela. Should be landing in D.C. this...

If, as expected, Mitt Romney wins his race for a Senate seat from Utah he may become the most powerful man in the United States Senate. As many of us remember, Romney, former Governor of Massachusetts, ran for president in 2012 and lost to Barack Obama. It wasn’t one of those totally humiliating losses—the map did not turn blue—but we assumed Mitt Romney would fade into history. Well, maybe not. The seat will remain Republican-held for President Trump come January of 2019, but this one could very well turn out to be the swing vote in the Senate. If Democrats...

What is going on with Rep. Mia Love (R-Utah)? I thought she was conservative!

Former Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney lashed out at the decision to have a controversial evangelical leader give a blessing at the opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Monday, calling him a "religious bigot." The Senate candidate from Utah criticized the inclusion of the Rev. Robert Jeffress — the pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas who is also an an adviser to President Donald Trump. The president recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital last year. "Robert Jeffress says, 'You can't be saved by being a Jew,' and 'Mormonism is a heresy from the pit of hell,'" Romney wrote in...

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said Monday “it's ridiculous" that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., reportedly does not want President Donald Trump to attend his funeral, and hopes the war hero has a change of heart. "I think it's ridiculous," Hatch told Politico. "Well, he's the president of the United States and he's a very good man. But it's up to [McCain]. I think John should have his own wishes fulfilled with regard to who attends the funeral." McCain’s closest family members reportedly informed the White House that the current plan is for the funeral to be held at Washington’s National Cathedral,...