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ORLANDO, Fla. — House Republicans are seeing an annual gathering meant to highlight party unity and accomplishments thrown off balance this week as the potential indictment of former President Trump in New York looms over the central Florida retreat.

The annual GOP issues conference — taking place at a snazzy hotel in Orlando — was supposed to serve as an opportunity for the House GOP to discuss their successes over the past two months and how to chart a path forward, but it has instead been overshadowed by Trump’s Saturday assertion that he could be arrested on Tuesday in connection with the Manhattan District Attorney’s probe into 2016 hush-money payments.

GOP leaders opened a kickoff press conference on Sunday touting their recent successes, including President Biden reversing his position on a GOP-led resolution to block Washington, D.C.’s, revised criminal code from taking effect. And they looked ahead to upcoming legislation they said would deliver on their “Commitment to America” campaign promises, such as the recently unveiled H.R. 1 “Lower Energy Costs Act” that aims to boost domestic oil and gas production.

But Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) was quickly peppered with questions about Trump, setting the tone for the three-day conference. The Speaker railed against Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg (D), but broke with Trump on whether the former president’s supporters should protest if he is arrested.

Trump indicated in a Truth Social post on Saturday that he will be arrested on Tuesday as part of the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into hush-money payments made during the 2016 presidential election. In that same statement, he urged his supporters to “PROTEST” and “TAKE OUR NATION BACK.”

“I don’t think people should protest this,” McCarthy told reporters when asked about Trump’s call for protests, adding that “we want calmness out there,” and that there should be no “violence or harm.” 

Republicans are trying to also keep focus on pressing policy questions, with some members telling The Hill that the potential Trump arrest — which would be the first time in U.S. history that a former president is indicted — was barely mentioned during the closed sessions for members. Sessions ranged from 2024 electoral strategy to a foreign policy strategic tabletop exercise that focused on China and Taiwan.

But not even a bilingual press conference on the GOP’s successes with Hispanic voters could steer clear of the former president.

“I think you guys pay a lot of attention to him,” Rep. Carlos Giménez (R-Fla.) said after the press conference, which included questions about Trump. “We pay attention to the president and all of our leaders. But we’re really committed to the things that we talked about there – the Commitment to America.”

At a briefing about the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank, McCarthy faced a question about whether it was appropriate for Republicans, led by House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), to request testimony from Bragg and request documents during an ongoing investigation. McCarthy said that he is supportive of committees being able to ask questions at any given time.

“You guys are the ones that are making a story. The story really should be about [President] Biden, for instance, being compromised because of all the money his family has gotten from China, but nobody’s writing about that,” House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) said. “We’re gonna keep doing what we’re doing.”

GOP lawmakers appear keenly aware that Trump’s weekend announcement has cast a shadow over their annual retreat despite their efforts to keep conversations policy focused.

“Why did I think you would do that?” Jordan said facetiously when asked about the Bragg letters during a news conference about border security.

While the potential indictment is sucking the oxygen out of the GOP retreat, it’s also giving Republicans the opportunity to pivot to more well-worn talking points.

Lawmakers have largely zeroed in on Bragg and highlighting crime in New York — a message that led the party to pick up a number of seats in the Empire State last year — while moving away from the calls for protests.

That strategy has allowed Republicans to support Trump — the front-runner in the 2024 GOP presidential primary — without associating themselves with the potential political violence.

“Look, peaceful protests are right of the American people. And so I support peaceful protests and if they have the right to have peaceful protests,” Rep. Monica De La Cruz (R-Texas) echoed. “If the American people want to have a peaceful protest, that is something that we support.”

McCarthy suggested on Sunday that the former president was telling his supporters to “educate people about what’s going on” when he made his weekend call to action.

“He’s not talking in a harmful way,” McCarthy said. “Nobody should harm one another … And this is why you should really make law equal because if that was the case, nothing would happen.” ‘Tar spot’ is killing corn across the Midwest Yellen reassures bankers ahead of Fed meeting: ‘The situation is stabilizing’

Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Fla.) said “Peaceful protests all of us obviously support, and we must always protect peaceful protests.”

“Well, look, we have great respect for President Trump and the work that he’s done for our country. And as my colleague said, up there, this is a — a left wing D.A. who’s going after a president,” De La Cruz said when asked about the focus on Trump during the retreat.

“We need to see what the facts are and to look at the situation closely, what comes over the next couple of days. But, look, I mean, the president did great things for our country,” she added.

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”

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