(A)Political Newsletter- Volume 23

(A)Political Newsletter - U.S. Political News & Election Updates

December 21, 2023

Good morning everyone,

It’s been a busy week as another lawsuit involving former President Trump’s removal from the Colorado ballot is likely headed to the Supreme Court. Also in the legal real, Rudy Giuliani’s lawsuit has forced him to file for bankruptcy. As Trump is dealing with the Supreme Court, two of his competitors are locked in what seems to be a heated tie for second place. Both Nikki Haley and Ron DeSantis have not covered much ground over the other and will likely remain that way. At the end, we have Mike Johnson working with President Biden to discuss stricter border policies. Lets jump in!

In today’s edition:

  • Stock Watching

  • Colorado Supreme Court Removes Trump from Ballot

  • DeSantis and Haley are Tied in Some Polls

  • Rudy Giuliani Files for Bankruptcy After Court Ruling

  • Mike Johnson Pushes President Biden for Stricter Border Policies

CONGRESSIONAL STOCK WATCHER

  • Representative Eric Sorensen has cosponsored the TRUST in Congress Act.

    • This bill would ban congressional stock trading.

    • We have not seen Sorensen trade any stock while in Congress.

  • U.S. Representative Daniel Crenshaw has made just 33 stock trades since entering office.

    • However, they include some of the most well-timed congressional trades we’ve seen.

  • A new poll shows Representative Andy Kim leading in the race for Senator Bob Menendez' seat.

    • We have not seen Kim do any stock trading while in office.

    • He cosponsored a bipartisan piece of legislation that would ban congressional stock trading.

  • Representative Michael Burgess has purchased up to $50K of stock in a company called Valero.

    • Valero is a petroleum company.

    • Burgess sits on the House Committee on Energy.

  • Representative Mark Green bought up to $250K of stock in a company called NGL Energy.

    • Since then, the stock has risen over 110%.

    • It's a tiny company, that had a market cap of less than $500M

      when he made the trade.

    • He has made more than his annual salary off of this one trade.

  • We just saw a congressman sell off up to $840K of stock.

    • Representative John Curtis made 56 stock trades.

    • They were all sales.

    • Curtis' name might be familiar.

    • In March he sold stock in First Republic Bank.

    • The bank went bankrupt shortly after.

  • Representative Michael McCaul has bought more stock in the defense contractor Oshkosh.

    • McCaul is the Chair of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

    • Oshkosh stock is heavily influenced by foreign policy.

  • Senator Tommy Tuberville's put contracts have not been paying off for him recently.

    • He bought Tesla put contracts in October that expired worthless last week.

    • Last week he disclosed a purchase of put contracts betting against U.S. Steel, $X. 

    • $X is up over 25% since.

  • Former Representative Chris Collins:

    • He traded a pharma stock using inside information on its drug trials.

    • He was convicted of insider trading in 2020.

    • He received a presidential pardon almost immediately.

    • He has announced that he will run for Congress again in 2024.

  • Representative Debbie Dingell just disclosed a purchase of Medtronic stock, $MDT.

    • Medtronic is a medical devices company.

    • Dingell sits on a House Subcommittee on Health.

    • This is just her third stock trade this year.

  • Representative Ro Khanna has officially introduced a bill that would ban congressional stock trading. Here are some key points:

    - Ban lobbyist and PAC donations

    - Ban lawmakers becoming lobbyists

    - Set term limits for Congress and Supreme Court

    - Set code of ethics for Supreme Court

Be on the Lookout:

More lawmakers are hopping onboard with Rep. Ro Khanna’s bill that bans congressional stock trading. Many younger members of Congress seem to be more willing to either co-sponsor or support the bill. Multiple bills have been introduced before but many are stripped of their primary goals for preventing Congressional stock trades.

Colorado Supreme Court Bans Trump from Ballot

(PHOTO - (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images))

December 20, 2023: The Colorado Supreme Court has votes in a 4-3 vote to Ban Former President Trump from the presidential primary ballot and to not count any write-in votes for him. Trump's team is expected to file an appeal, which most political commentators believe will go to the Supreme Court to decide. A lower court determined that Trump should not be taken off the ballot because a U.S. President was not "an officer of the United States."

The ruling was disdained by conservatives and applauded by liberals. The judges themselves have claimed to received threats online by supposed Trump supporters. House Speaker Mike Johnson called it a "partisan attack" while Senator Tom Tillis introduced legislation that only the Supreme Court can rule on 14th Amendment cases. Jamie Raskin, who was an impeachment manager for Trump's Jan. 6 case, said that the ruling was "solidly rooted."

DeSantis, Haley in Dead Heat in Polling

(Photo - Charlie Neibergall/AP)

December 20, 2023: Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Former UN Ambassador are in a statistical dead heat for polling, while Former President Trump continues to lead them by a large margin. DeSantis and Haley are both at 11% nationally, while Trump is at 66%. The polling is a coup for Nikki Haley, while another point of concern for DeSantis. He is at his lowest in polling since it began, from a high of 36% in February, Axios notes. Haley, who was seen as a marginal candidate, has risen in polling after multiple successful debate performances.

Trump continues to dominate, but there are some possible inroads for other candidates. For example, 50% might change their vote before their primaries, indicating that the voters could change their minds. From the same poll, if a Trump-Biden election were to happen today, Biden would win by only one point, which shows how precarious Biden's position seems to be in comparison to Trump's.

Rudy Giuliani Files for Bankruptcy After $148 Million in Fees

(PHOTO - Carolyn Kaster/AP Photo)

December 21, 2023: Former New York City Mayor and Lawyer Rudy Giuliani has been found guilty of defaming two election workers and was ordered to pay $148 million to them immediately. In response, he has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The two election lawyers alleged that they were subjected to harassment and death threats over Giuliani's statements. He stated that videos of them moving boxes of ballots was instead them switching votes from President Biden to Former President Trump.

Giuliani remained defiant after the verdict. He did not directly attack the two election workers, but continued to claim that that the 2020 election was stolen, saying "My country had a president imposed on it by fraud." The verdict continues to decrease Giuliani's standing, after reportedly asking for Trump's PAC in aiding to pay his many legal bills. In the bankruptcy filing, he stated that there he owes about $153 million overall, with most the debt coming from the newest verdict.

Mike Johnson Pushing Biden on Stricter Immigration

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty

December 21, 2023: House Speaker Mike Johnson and Republicans have been pushing President Biden to be more strict on illegal immigration. Without a bipartisan border agreement in the Senate, Johnson is pushing Biden to restart construction on the border wall, and ending a policy for the Customs and Border Protection Agency to release migrants without court dates, among other policies. The CBP has recorded 12,000 in a single day, which is the highest ever seen.

In a letter pushing these policies, Johnson has laid the blame at Biden's feet. He said that Biden has "undermined America’s sovereignty and security by ending the Remain in Mexico Policy." The immigration debate continues to be a political headache for President Biden. His approval rating has dropped eight percentage points since last month, so much so that Biden's team is reportedly willing to negotiate with Republicans on harder immigration policies.

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