Free Republic

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on Tuesday on MSNBC’s “Deadline” that the Signal group chat on military strikes against the Houthis between Trump administration officials might be a violation of the “Espionage Act as well as the Federal Records and Presidential Records Act.” Blumenthal said, “I’ve talked to some of the pilots who have undertaken these missions against the Houthis. They have very seriously threatening air defense systems that can shoot down our planes and the early warning that might have been given them about the targets, the human targets that were on the list, about the weather, about the...

WASHINGTON (AP) — As congressional lawmakers scramble to respond to President Donald Trump’s slashing of the federal government, one group is already taking a front and center role: military veterans. From layoffs at the Department of Veterans Affairs to a Pentagon purge of archives that documented diversity in the military, veterans have been acutely affected by Trump’s actions. And with the Republican president determined to continue slashing the federal government, the burden will only grow on veterans, who make up roughly 30% of the federal workforce and often tap government benefits they earned with their military service. “At a moment...

Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) Jacky Rosen (D-NV) Lindsey Graham (R-SC) “Danang Dick” (Richard Blumenthal) (D-CT) Roger Wicker (R-MS) Charles Grassley (R-IA) Chris Murphy (D-CT) Peter Welch (D-VT) Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) made it clear Tuesday that he does not believe Pete Hegseth is qualified to lead the Pentagon as Secretary of Defense. Hegseth appeared before the Senate Armed Services committee for the first step in his confirmation hearing. The former Fox News personality called himself a “change agent” during his opening statements to the committee, saying, “it's time to give someone with dust on his boots the helm period.” Hegseth is a former member of the Army National Guard but allegations of sexual assault, excessive drinking and controversial views on women in combat have marred his nomination...

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said Wednesday on CNN’s “Newsroom” that he “strongly opposes” President Joe Biden pardoning lawmakers who led the January 6 committee because legal proceedings against them “would ultimately cause a backlash against Donald Trump.” Blumenthal said, “I strongly oppose preemptive pardon. First of all, it’s in some ways going to be perceived as an implicit acknowledgment of guilt. I’m a former prosecutor, United States attorney, chief federal prosecutor in Connecticut, and state attorney general for 20 years. I know. And people should know that walking into a courtroom and making charges is far from proving guilt beyond...

@60Minutes "We're monitoring. We're following every piece of equipment. There has been no diversion. No evidence of misappropriation," Sen Blumenthal said about U.S. military aid to Ukraine

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Connecticut) today introduced a resolution to respond to the Russian Federation delivering tactical nuclear weapons to the Republic of Belarus. This is the first time Russia has deployed nuclear warheads beyond its borders since the fall of the Soviet Union, and represents a serious threat to global security in the midst of the war in Ukraine. Graham and Blumenthal noted their resolution holds that any use of a tactical nuclear weapon by Russia, Belarus or their proxies, or the destruction of a nuclear facility that disperses radioactive contaminants into...

Multiple Connecticut delegates are responding to the news of former President Donald Trump's indictment. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said that "no person is above the law," and Trump should be punished because it doesn't matter how powerful a person is. "A grand jury has decided to charge former President Trump after an intensive investigation lasting many months. Our justice system has an obligation to pursue the facts and law wherever they lead. Former President Trump will have the same rights as any criminal defendant and the justice system will presume him innocent until proven guilty.” Representative Jim Himes (D-4th District) also...

Former President Donald Trump's Senate endorsement record is headed for a stellar election night with 10 days until the midterms. Of the 22 Republican candidates that Trump has endorsed for the Senate, only two are currently at risk of losing their races, according to a Newsweek analysis. The two Trump-backed Republicans who are projected to lose their contests as of Friday are Kelly Tshibaka, who is running in Alaska's ranked-choice voting system against incumbent Republican Senator Lisa Murkowski, and Leora Levy, who is running in Connecticut against incumbent Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Sens. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) on Wednesday introduced a bill that would designate Russia as a "state sponsor of terrorism," just a few months after the Senate Judiciary Committee members called on the Biden Administration to do so. The bipartisan duo is seeking to make Russia the fifth addition to the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism joining North Korea, Iran, Syria and Cuba...

Donald Trump’s long reach, effectively anointing political newcomer Leora Levy to challenge second-term U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, has changed the face of the Connecticut Republican Party while insinuating MAGA grievances into the entire fall campaign for governor, top-of-the-ticket constitutional officers and the 187-seat General Assembly. Political scientists in the state said that while Trump’s late-campaign support in blue-state Connecticut was surprising, it’s always the party base that is most-energized for primaries and Levy channeled it to handily defeat party-endorsed Themis Klarides, the former state House minority leader who won the endorsement at the May conventions. “The Trump effect was as...

Leora Levy won the Republican primary for U.S. Senate Tuesday. Levy defeated her two Republican challengers Themis Klarides and Peter Lumaj. ... Levy will take on take on Senator Richard Blumenthal in November. Last week Levy, who is a Greenwich businesswoman, got the endorsement from former President Donald Trump. ... Today, voters across Connecticut sent a clear message that they are ready for a political outsider to fight for the families, taxpayers, small businesses and the hardworking people of our great state. Forty-year high inflation, record gas prices, failing energy policies, an invasion at our southern border, an assault on...

"I think that the endorsement is a net positive for Leora, but probably too little and too late," said one Connecticut GOP consultant who requested anonymity. "His endorsement came Thursday night, so too late for any direct mail pieces to hit before Tuesday. Sure, she's been texting and pumping it through social media, but I do not think it will saturate enough to make enough of a difference. "If this was a month ago, I'd be concerned if I was Themis, but at this point, I think it is probably too late." Another factor working in Klarides' favor is that...

To protect a person's ability to determine whether to continue or end a pregnancy, and to protect a health care provider's ability to provide abortion services. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.This Act may be cited as the ``Women's Health Protection Act of 2022''. SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. In this Act: (1) Abortion services.--The term ``abortion services'' means an abortion and any medical or non-medical services related to and provided in conjunction with an abortion (whether or not provided at the same time or on...

People don’t want outsiders reading their private messages —not their physical mail, not their texts, not their DMs, nothing. It’s a clear and obvious point, but one place it doesn’t seem to have reached is the U.S. Senate. A group of lawmakers led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) have re-introduced the EARN IT Act, an incredibly unpopular bill from 2020 that was dropped in the face of overwhelming opposition. Let’s be clear: the new EARN IT Act would pave the way for a massive new surveillance system, run by private companies, that would roll back...

Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said on Monday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “The Beat” that an independent commission investigation into the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol would help to stop any future “would-be Trump tyrants.”

Two Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee said they will not meet with Amy Coney Barrett -- President Trump’s pick to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. Sen. Blumenthal said he refuses 'to treat this process as legitimate.'

During an interview on MSNBC on Saturday, Senate Judiciary Committee member Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated that he will not meet with Judge Amy Coney Barrett if she is nominated to fill Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Supreme Court seat “Because I think it would treat this process as legitimate, which it is not.”

On Wednesday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” Senator Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) stated that he thinks up to ten Senate Republicans will vote to convict President Trump, but that there could be “unpredicted evidence” and the number of GOP defections could increase. Blumenthal said, “I would give the high end probably five to ten. I think that’s a realistic number. But, and I want to emphasize the but, we need to keep in mind what’s unpredictable here. Remember the Watergate case, where the Nixon tapes emerged, seemingly by chance…and that was the end of his presidency. So, never underestimate the possibility of...

On Thursday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “All In,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) said his colleague Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) would end up regretting investigating 2020 presidential hopeful former Vice President Joe Biden. Blumenthal said, “I really regret that he has launched on this course. I think he’ll regret it too, because not only is it completely spurious, he knows it’s been debunked, it’s also, in fact, relying on this, insane as you have correctly called it, conspiracy theory involving Ukraine. It endangers our national security. This Ukrainian theory is one of the central tenets and tropes of Russian propaganda and disinformation