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A former FBI informant stabbed Derek Chauvin, the ex-police officer who was convicted for murdering George Floyd, according to court documents filed on Dec. 1. John Turscak, 52, stabbed Mr. Chauvin 22 times with an "improvised knife" in federal prison in Arizona, according to the documents. Mr. Turscak was subdued by responding corrections officers. Mr. Turscak later told officers he would have killed Mr. Chauvin if the officers had not responded so quickly, federal prosecutors said in the documents. The stabbing took place on Nov. 24 at about 12:30 p.m. Mr. Turscak waived his Miranda rights and told FBI agents...

Tim Pawlenty -- who briefly ran for president in 2012 and had derided President Trump as "unhinged" -- was denied in his effort to stage a political comeback and become Minnesota’s governor again in the race to replace Democratic Gov. Mark Dayton. County Commissioner Jeff Johnson won in Tuesday's Minnesota GOP gubernatorial primary despite Pawlenty's enormous fundraising and name recognition advantages. He also won despite his own history as the party's losing candidate for governor four years ago. Pawlenty joins several other prominent Republicans -- including Reps. Martha Roby and Mark Sanford, as well as Sens. Jeff Flake and Bob...

Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced he is running for governor Thursday, attempting a restoration after eight years out of office that saw his DFL successor move the state in a more progressive direction at odds with Pawlenty’s tenure. Pawlenty, a longtime Eagan resident, served two four-year terms beginning in 2003. The South St. Paul native built an image of a hockey-playing “Sam’s Club Republican” who could win suburban, middle-class voters in a Democratic-leaning state. “My campaign for governor will focus on charting a better way forward for Minnesota families who see health care premiums skyrocketing, paychecks not increasing very fast,...

WASHINGTON — Republicans may have just gotten another layer of armor to defend their Senate majority. Sen. Al Franken's seat wasn't supposed to be up again until 2020. But his announcement Thursday that he was resigning amid allegations of sexual misconduct sets up a 2018 special election in Minnesota. And Republicans, who hold a 52-48 majority, are now on the hunt for a top-tier candidate in a politically competitive state where President Donald Trump lost by less than 2 percentage points last year. The unexpected opportunity could be a "total game-changer in terms of control of the Senate," said Republican...

1. Tom Cotton. 2. Bob Corker. 3. Chris Christie. 4. Joni Ernst. 5. Newt Gingrich. 6. Jeff Sessions. 7. Michael Flynn (retired Lt. General). 8. Condoleezza Rice. 9. Rick Scott. 10. Rick Perry. 11. Stanley McChrystal. 12. Mike Pence. 13. Martha McSally. 14. Marco Rubio. 15. Jim Webb. 16. Scott Walker. 17. Marsha Blackburn. 18. John Katich. 19. Rudy Giuliani 20. Scott Brown

Scott Walker is the hottest thing in the 2016 GOP presidential race (to the extent it even exists). He gave a very well-received speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit a couple of weekends ago, and the new Bloomberg/Des Moines Register poll of the Iowa caucuses has him surging into first place.. Which is even more notable because of one of the prevailing questions about Walker's likely candidacy: whether he's too boring to win. Walker, you see, has the unfortunate distinction of running four years after another upper-Midwestern GOP governor flamed out early in the GOP primary. Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty,...

In the past few days, three candidates who ran for the last Republican presidential nomination, including nominee Mitt Romney, have endorsed a higher minimum wage. Yahoo!Finance asks Mitt Romney Calls for Higher Minimum Wage. Does it Matter? Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential nominee in 2012, called on Republicans Friday to raise the minimum wage, going against the congressional leadership of his own party. Related Stories "I think we ought to raise it, because frankly, our party is all about more jobs and better pay, and I think communicating that is important to us," Mr. Romney said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”...

Former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said Wednesday he believes former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush can win the Republican presidential nomination in 2016, dismissing the notion that conservatives wouldn’t elect an “establishment” candidate by pointing to the party’s standard bearer the past two presidential cycles. “See John McCain; see Mitt Romney,” Mr. Pawlenty, who ended his 2012 presidential campaign in the summer of 2011, said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.” “In McCain’s case, a very compelling personal story and a gritty performance; in Mitt Romney’s case, obviously a man of great talent but also someone with a tremendous amount of campaign resources...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Former first lady Barbara Bush reiterates in a new interview that presidents don’t have to be members of political dynasties. "If we can't find more than two or three families to run for office, that's silly, because there are great governors and great eligible people to run," Bush says in an interview that will air Monday on C-SPAN. "And I think that the Kennedys, Clintons, Bushes — there are just more families than that. And I'm not arrogant enough to think that we alone are raising" presidential candidates. Her son Jeb Bush, former governor of Florida, is considered a potential...

Would we have had a mid-western son of a milk truck driver (Pawlenty) as our nominee has she not surged up until Ames Straw poll? I am trying to trace down to the seed that germinated into re-electing Obama. That is the closest I have come. During this cycle, a more modestly wealthy mid-western governor of a Blue state may just have been the ticket. Thoughts?

Tim Pawlenty quit as co-chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign on Thursday to become one of Wall Street's top lobbyists in Washington. Pawlenty, a former governor of Minnesota, will lead the Financial Services Roundtable. The move came with Romney's campaign struggling to find its stride with just seven weeks left before Election Day. Polls show the former Massachusetts governor running neck and neck with President Barack Obama in a contest both sides predict will be very close

President Barack Obama and his Democratic allies aren't waiting for Republican Mitt Romney to reveal his vice presidential choice. They're already trying to scuff up those considered by political insiders to be most likely to join the GOP ticket. The president's campaign started swinging at the potential Republican running mates this week while urging home-state Democrats to chime in about the shortcomings that - as emails to donors and supporters put it - "Americans need to know."

JACKSON, Mich. — After a brief speech at the opening of a campaign office here, Tim Pawlenty was asked if he would return to Michigan “when you’re vice president.” “We’ll know soon enough,” Pawlenty, dressed in shirt sleeves, told the crowd with a chuckle. The former Minnesota governor is believed to be on Mitt Romney’s short list of running mates and there is speculation that the choice could be made any day. Hank Choate, the chair of the Jackson County Republicans, asked the former Minnesota governor what his schedule is like Friday, asking a question many of the reporters in...

CARY, NC -- Fresh from lunch at Chick-Fil-A, former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty said that officials' public objections to the Christian-owned fast food chain are "chilling." "Now you have the police power of government intimidating and threatening people, being used to intimidate and threaten people, based on their free speech rights and their religious views," Pawlenty said Saturday of city officials' objections to president Dan Cathy's public disavowal of gay marriage. "I mean it’s chilling. I mean it’s stunning, it is jaw-dropping. And so I think strong people who see this need to stand up and say no we don’t...

Rumor has it Mittens has 'made his decision'- and it is lame Uh, HELLO! Anybody on Team Romney remember boring Republicans losing elections they should have won like Gerald Ford, Bob Dole, and GHW Bush? Look in the tapes, Mitt... you could use some help... And Tim Pawlenty makes those guys look like Johnny Carson! How bout the TEA PARTY Mitt- couldn't throw us a bone, for chrissake? WHY NOT Sununu... West... Rubio... or Bachmann? Yeah, things look good for us right now, what with Obama blowing $100M on negative attack ads to little or noone effect, but are you...

PARMA, Ohio -- Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sent two GOP heavyweights to northern Ohio Thursday to beat President Barack Obama's similar bus tour to the punch. Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, traveling on Romney's campaign bus, stopped at Parma's Kentown Plaza to emphasize what they say is a gap between what Obama has promised and what he has delivered. But a physical clash between Romney supporters and protesters overshadowed the Parma campaign stop by the prominent pair, who are often mentioned as possible running mates for Romney. The quarrel broke out as soon as...

Tim Pawlenty has jumped to the top of the vice presidential shortlist of several Mitt Romney advisers after emerging as the most effective — and well-liked — surrogate for the GOP nominee-to-be, according to several Republicans familiar with campaign deliberations. The former Minnesota governor has impressed top Romney officials with his winning onstage presence at a grueling roster of Republican events throughout the country and with his low-maintenance personal style that has made him a favorite with the campaign’s tight-knit inner circle at the Boston headquarters. Pawlenty is strong where Romney is weak — with the regular-guy, working-man connection with...

The exit of Rick Santorum from the Republican presidential primary essentially clears the path Mitt Romney is traveling to become the party's nominee against U.S. President Obama in November but Romney still has to win the hearts of GOP voters as well as the party's nomination. Romney had 573 delegates per the Republican National Committee's count to Santorum's 202 delegates when the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania withdrew last week. But he has yet to stir a fire in the belly of the party's evangelical and conservative wings as he moves closer to the 1,144 delegates needed to claim the...

Fellow Minnesotans Tim Pawlenty and Rep. Michele Bachmann appear to have buried the hatchet after bitter sniping last year on the campaign trail. Bachmann donated $2,000 in March from her congressional leadership PAC to Pawlenty’s presidential campaign to help him retire the debt he accumulated during his failed presidential bid, according to a campaign report released Tuesday.

Mitt Romney, his family, staff and supporters donated a combined $66,000 to help Tim Pawlenty retire the debt left over from his presidential campaign. Romney, his wife, five sons and brother, as well as his associates from Bain Capital were among those cutting maximum checks to Pawlenty, according to a POLITICO analysis of campaign filings released Tuesday. Pawlenty, the former Minnesota governor, dropped out of the race last summer after a disappointing showing in the Ames straw poll, and quickly endorsed Romney. At the time, there was talk that Romney’s campaign would help Pawlenty’s retire its debt, then in the...