Connect with us

Published

on

Former President Trump’s call for Congress to defund the Department of Justice and the FBI in response to growing legal pressure creates a new headache for Republican leaders on Capitol Hill and may undercut their message that Republicans are tough on crime.  

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) has championed the message this year that the Biden administration and Democrats around the country are weak on crime but now he’s faced with Trump supporters in the House threatening to cut funding for the nation’s top law enforcement agencies.  

One such Trump ally is House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) who on Sunday endorsed the idea of cutting money for the Justice Department and FBI. 

Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who relied on Jordan’s support to win the Speaker’s gavel after 15 ballots, is giving his chairman plenty of space to pressure federal prosecutors and investigators to back off Trump.  

While McConnell has chastised the Justice Department and FBI for “harassing” conservatives, such as parents who complain at local school board meetings, embracing the idea of cutting federal law enforcement money amid what many Republicans say is a national crime wave is politically dangerous, experts and strategists say.  

“Trump is creating problems for Republicans everywhere,” said Steven S. Smith, a professor of political science at Washington University in St. Louis. “It’s almost impossible to see anything good from this kind of comment coming for the Republicans.  

“The idea that they would get on the opposite side of law enforcement agencies from where they have traditionally been is only going to make them look radical and foolish in the eyes of many of the voters they absolutely need: suburbanites and exurban voters who are already showing disdain for Trump-supporting Republicans,” he added. “Trump’s comments make it more difficult for Republicans who are tying their political future to him.”  

Trump on Wednesday declared that “Republicans in Congress should defund the DOJ and FBI until they come to their senses” in apparent response to the Justice Department’s investigation of whether he incited the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his handling of classified documents at his personal residence.  

He made the comment on his social media platform Truth Social. 

A Senate Republican aide later on Wednesday said that idea won’t get any traction in the Senate, where Republicans control 49 seats.  

“I understand the former president is frustrated, but that’s not going to happen,” the source said, knocking down the idea that Republican senators would support using the annual appropriations for the Justice Department and FBI as leverage.  

This is becoming a point of tension with House Republicans, who say they are ready to use their power of the purse to protect Trump.  

“We control the power of the purse, and that’s, we’re gonna have to look at the appropriations process and limit funds going to some of these agencies, particularly the ones who are engaging in the most egregious behavior,” Jordan told Fox News host Maria Bartiromo in an interview Sunday.  

When Bartiromo asked if he meant the Justice Department and FBI, Jordan responded: “Yeah.” 

McCarthy has already given Jordan a green light to scrutinize federal funding for Bragg and other prosecutors investigating Trump.   

“I’m directing relevant committees to immediately investigate if federal funds are being used to subvert our democracy by interfering in elections with politically motivated prosecutions,” he wrote in a March 18 tweet pinned to the top of his Twitter account.  

Some Republican strategists say Trump may have an argument to make that the federal prosecutors are treating him unfairly but warn that putting pressure on allies in Congress to defund the Justice Department and FBI is going too far.  

“Just because Democrats want to defund police, I don’t think it’s smart politically or as a policy to say, ‘Well, we should defund the FBI,’” said Matt Dole, an Ohio-based Republican strategist.  

“If we find that the FBI has acted wrongly, then they should be held to account and we should make sure that can’t happen again. Does that mean defunding? I don’t believe it does,” he added.  

Whit Ayres, a prominent Republican strategist, pointed out the Justice Department and FBI had nothing to do with Trump’s arraignment on 34 felony counts in a New York City courthouse Tuesday.  

“The Department of Justice had nothing to do with this case, the FBI had nothing to do with this case but we’re supposed to defund two entities that had nothing to do with the case. Does that really make any sense to anyone?” he said, referring to the case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg brought against Trump Tuesday.  

The former president suffered another legal setback Tuesday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered Trump’s former chief of staff Mark Meadows and other senior Trump White House officials to cooperate with the Justice Department’s Jan. 6 investigation.  

The appellate court agreed with a district court decision rejecting Trump’s claims of executive privilege.  

“The Democrats have totally weaponized law enforcement in our country and are viciously using this abuse of power to interfere with our already under siege election!” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.  

Republicans last year bombarded Democratic candidates in Senate battlegrounds such as Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and North Carolina with ads attacking them for being soft on crime and they regularly accuse Democrats of wanting to defund the police.  

Trump’s call to defund the nation’s top federal law enforcement agencies now muddies that message.  

“Donald Trump continues to show that everything he does, everything he says turns off middle-of-the-road swing voters and frankly a lot of moderate Republicans. What he does do is gin up his base who are absolutely convinced that every institution in this country is somehow spying on him,” said Morgan Jackson, a Democratic strategist based in North Carolina.   Snow on the beach: Florida deputies say $100,000 in cocaine washed ashore White House addressing antisemitism at the start of Passover; opportunity for all faiths to combat hate

He said Trump’s calls to defend the Department of Justice and FBI are “incredibly problematic for Republicans who want to say that they’re strong on crime or accuse Democrats of being weak on crime.” 

“I think it creates a real problem for Republicans and Republican candidates,” he said. “We saw this in 2022. It breeds the kind of Republican candidates that run for office that win these primaries and can’t win a general election.  

“It puts Mitch McConnell, Kevin McCarthy and every swing seat in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House in a position where Trump is the story all day, every day, whatever he says. That’s a bad thing for Republicans and a great thing for Democrats,” he argued.  

Continue Reading

Sports

Ichiro shows funny side, joins CC, Wagner in HOF

Published

on

By

Ichiro shows funny side, joins CC, Wagner in HOF

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — Ichiro Suzuki became the first Japanese-born player to be enshrined into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, one of five new members of baseball’s hallowed institution.

After enduring the baseball tradition known as a rain delay, the five speeches went off without a hitch as the deluge subsided and the weather became hot and humid. Joining Suzuki were pitchers CC Sabathia and Billy Wagner, and sluggers Dick Allen and Dave Parker, both of whom were enshrined posthumously.

“For the third time, I am a rookie,” Suzuki said, delivering his comments in English despite his long preference for conducting his public appearances in Japanese with the aid of an interpreter.

For the American audience, this provided a rare glimpse into Suzuki’s playful side. Teammates long spoke of his sense of humor behind the closed doors of the clubhouse — something the public rarely saw — but it was on full display Sunday.

When Hall voting was announced, Suzuki fell one vote shy of becoming the second unanimous selection for the Hall. He thanked the writers for their support — with an exception.

“Three-thousand [career] hits or 262 hits in one season are achievements recognized by the writers,” Suzuki said. “Except, oh, one of you.”

After the laughter subsided, Suzuki mentioned the gracious comments he made when balloting results were announced, when he offered to invite the writer who didn’t vote for him home for dinner to learn his reasoning. Turns out, it’s too late.

“The offer to the one writer to have dinner at my home has now … expired!” Suzuki said.

Suzuki’s attention to detail and unmatched work ethic have continued into the present day, more than five years since he played his last big league game. That was central to his message Sunday, at least when he wasn’t landing a joke.

“If you consistently do the little things, there’s no limit to what you can achieve,” Suzuki said. “Look at me. I’m 5-11 and 170 pounds. When I came to America, many people said I was too skinny to compete with bigger major leaguers.”

After becoming one of the biggest stars in Japanese baseball, hitting .353 over nine seasons for the Orix BlueWave, Suzuki exploded on the scene as a 27-year-old rookie for the Seattle Mariners, batting .350 and winning the AL Rookie of the Year and MVP honors.

Chants of “Ichiro!” that once were omnipresent at Mariners games erupted from the crowd sprawled across the grounds of the complex while the all-time single-season hits leader (262 in 2004) posed with his plaque alongside commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame chairman Jane Forbes Clark.

Despite his late start in MLB, Suzuki finished with 3,089 hits in the majors and 4,367 including his time in Japan. Suzuki listed some of his feats, such as the hit total, and his 10 Gold Gloves.

“Not bad,” he said.

Sabathia’s weekend got off to a mildly rough start when his wife’s car broke down shortly after the family caravan departed for Cooperstown. They arrived in plenty of time though, and Sabathia was greeted warmly by numerous Yankees fans who made the trip.

After breaking in with Cleveland at age 20, Sabathia rocketed to stardom with a 17-5 rookie season. Alas, that came in 2001, the same year that Suzuki landed in the American League.

“Thank you most of all to the great players sitting behind me,” Sabathia said. “I am so proud and humbled to join you as a Hall of Famer, even Ichiro, who stole my Rookie of the Year Award in 2001.”

Sabathia focused the bulk of his comments on the support he has received over the years from his friends and family, especially his wife, Amber.

“The first time we met was at a house party when I was a junior in high school,” Sabathia said. “We spent the whole night talking, and that conversation has been going on for 29 years.”

Parker, 74, died from complications of Parkinson’s disease on June 28, less than a month before the induction ceremony. Representing him at the dais was his son, Dave Parker II, and though the moment was bittersweet, it was hardly somber.

Parker II finished the speech with a moving poem written by his father that, for a few minutes, made it feel as if the player nicknamed “The Cobra” were present.

“Thanks for staying by my side,” Parker’s poem concluded. “I told y’all Cooperstown would be my last rap, so the star of Dave will be in the sky tonight. Watch it glow. But I didn’t lie in my documentary — I told you I wouldn’t show.”

Parker finished with 2,712 hits and 339 homers, won two Gold Gloves on the strength of his legendary right-field arm and was named NL MVP in 1978. He spent his first 11 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and entered the Hall representing the Bucs.

Wagner, whose 422 career saves ranks eighth on the all-time list, delivered an emotional but humorous speech about a small-town guy with a small-for-a-pitcher 5-foot-10 stature who made it big.

“I feel like my baseball life has come full circle,” Wagner said. “I was a fan before I could play. Back when baseball wasn’t so available on TV, every Saturday morning I watched Johnny Bench and so many of the other greats on a show ‘The Baseball Bunch.'”

In one of the moments of baseball serendipity that only Cooperstown can provide, the telecast flashed to Bench, sitting a few feet away from where Wagner was speaking.

Allen’s widow, Willa, delivered a touching tribute to her late husband, who died in 2020 after years of feeling overlooked for his outstanding career. The 1964 NL Rookie of the Year for the Phillies, Allen won the 1972 AL MVP for the Chicago White Sox.

“Baseball was his first love,” Willa said. “He used to say, ‘I’d have played for nothing,’ and I believe he meant it. But of course, if you compare today’s salary, he played almost for nothing.”

Willa focused on the softer side of a player who in his time was perhaps unfairly characterized for a contentious relationship with the media.

“He was devoted to people, not just fans, but especially his teammates,” Willa said. “If he heard someone was sick or going through a tough time, he’ll turn to me and say, ‘Willa, they have to hear from us.'”

Continue Reading

Sports

Braves get starting pitcher Fedde from Cardinals

Published

on

By

Braves get starting pitcher Fedde from Cardinals

The Atlanta Braves acquired veteran starting pitcher Erick Fedde from the St. Louis Cardinals for a player to be named later or cash, both teams announced Sunday.

As part of the deal, the Cardinals will cover the majority of what remains of Fedde’s $7.5 million salary for 2025, a source told ESPN.

Fedde, 32, is a free agent at season’s end, making him a surprising pickup for a Braves team that was swept by the Texas Rangers over the weekend and is 16 games below .500, trailing the first-place New York Mets by 16½ games.

But the Braves have sustained a slew of injuries to their starting rotation of late, with AJ Smith-Shawver (torn ulnar collateral ligament), Spencer Schwellenbach (fractured elbow), Chris Sale (fractured ribcage) and, more recently, Grant Holmes (elbow inflammation) landing on the injured list since the start of June.

Fedde reestablished himself in South Korea in 2023, parlaying a dominant season into a two-year, $15 million contract to return stateside with the Chicago White Sox. Fedde continued that success in 2024, posting a 3.30 ERA in 177⅓ innings with the White Sox and Cardinals.

This year, though, it has been a struggle for a crafty right-hander who doesn’t generate a lot of strikeouts. Twenty starts in, Fedde is 3-10 with a 5.22 ERA and a 1.51 WHIP.

Continue Reading

Sports

Dodgers go to 6-man rotation amid Ohtani return

Published

on

By

Dodgers go to 6-man rotation amid Ohtani return

BOSTON — Los Angeles Dodgers two-way star Shohei Ohtani is expected to start on the mound Wednesday as he continues his buildup from elbow surgery that kept him from pitching all last season.

Manager Dave Roberts said Sunday before the Dodgers faced the Boston Red Sox in the finale of their three-game series that the plan is for Ohtani to work four innings at Cincinnati, with an off day to recover before hitting in a game.

With the Japanese superstar working his way back along with left-hander Blake Snell, who pitched 4⅔ innings on Saturday in his fourth rehab start for Triple-A Oklahoma City, the Dodgers will be using a six-man rotation.

They currently have Clayton Kershaw, Tyler Glasnow, Dustin May, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Emmet Sheehan in the rotation.

“Shohei is going to go on Wednesday and then he’ll probably pitch the following Wednesday, so that probably lends itself to the six-man,” Roberts said.

In Ohtani’s last start, he allowed one run and four hits in three innings against Minnesota on July 22. He struck out three and walked one, throwing 46 pitches, 30 for strikes.

Roberts said this season is sort of a rehab year in the big leagues and doesn’t foresee the team extending Ohtani’s workload deep into games for a while.

“I think this whole year on the pitching side is sort of rehab, maintenance,” he said. “We’re not going to have the reins off where we’re going to say: ‘Hey you can go 110 pitches.’ I don’t see that happening for quite some time. I think that staying at four [innings] for a bit, then build up to five and we’ll see where we can go from there.”

Continue Reading

Trending