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| Presented By Facebook |
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| Axios Sneak Peek |
| By Alayna Treene, Hans Nichols and Kadia Goba ·Jan 26, 2021 |
| 🚨 Breaking: Sen. Patrick Leahy, 80, who is presiding over former President Trump's impeachment trial, was briefly hospitalized today. ⚡ Situational Awareness: Attorney General-designate Merrick Garland has tapped Anthony Coley to serve as the Justice Department's public face by heading its public affairs office, Hans also scoops. Today's newsletter — edited by Glen Johnson — is 619 words, a 2-minute read. |
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| 1 big thing: Collins helps contractor after pro-Susan PAC gets donation |
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| Sen. Susan Collins during her re-election campaign. Photo: Scott Eisen/Getty Images |
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| A PAC that backed Sen. Susan Collins in her high-stakes re-election campaign received $150,000 from an entity linked to the wife of a defense contractor whose firm Collins had helped land a federal contract, Axios' Lachlan Markay reports based on new public records. Why it matters: The executive, Martin Kao of Honolulu, leaned heavily on his political connections to boost his business, federal prosecutors say in an ongoing criminal case against him. The donation linked to him was veiled until last week. Be smart: There's no indication the Republican senator from Maine was aware of the donation, who was behind it or that the prospect of financial support influenced her decision to assist the contractor's work. - Nonetheless, the donation came just as Collins girded for a challenging — and extremely expensive — re-election fight. She ended up running against Democrat Sara Gideon, who spent $76 million on her unsuccessful campaign.
- A Collins spokesperson had no comment.
Go deeper. Scoop: Kaine, Collins pitch Senate colleagues on censuring Trump, Axios' Alayna Treene reports. |
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| 2. How cutting GOP corporate cash could backfire |
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| Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios |
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| Companies pulling back on political donations, particularly to members of Congress who voted against certifying President Biden's election win, could inadvertently push Republicans to embrace their party's rightward fringe, Lachlan also writes. Why it matters: Scores of corporate PACs have paused, scaled back or entirely abandoned their political giving programs. While designed to distance those companies from events that coincided with this month's deadly siege on the U.S. Capitol, research suggests the moves could actually empower the far-right. - "It's not as though they're going to stop fundraising," said Brigham Young University political scientist Michael Barber, who has studied the issue. "They're just going to turn to other sources of money, and they're going to turn to individual contributors who are motivated by that exact type of behavior."
Google was the latest company to announce a major change in its political giving policies on Tuesday. - It joined nearly 200 other companies — including Disney, Pfizer, AT&T, Walmart and Amazon — that yanked or are rethinking their political giving following the Capitol attack.
Go deeper. |
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| 3. Taylor Greene tests McCarthy with caustic comments |
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| Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene speaks to a House colleague before being sworn in. Photo: Bill O'Leary-Pool/Getty Images |
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| Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is setting up a new test for House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy, Lachlan also writes. Why it matters: The freshman Republican from Georgia has made a series of bizarre and outlandish remarks that compare to former Rep. Steve King's talk of white supremacy. What's happening: The newest round of Greene comments, pulled from archives of her Facebook page, show the congresswoman promoting an outlandish, QAnon-adjacent conspiracy theory about Hillary Clinton cutting off and donning the face of a child. - When McCarthy stripped King, then a Republican congressman from Iowa, of his committee assignments in 2019, he signaled he was setting a threshold for the public comments of his caucus members.
Go deeper. |
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| A message from Facebook |
| We support updated internet regulations |
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| We support updated internet regulations to set clear rules for addressing today's toughest challenges including: - Protecting people's privacy.
- Enabling safe and easy data portability between platforms.
- Preventing election interference.
- Reforming Section 230.
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| 4. Democrats weigh "Dr. Fauci of Ohio" in Senate race |
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| Dr. Amy Acton. Photo: Public Domain |
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| Some Democrats are looking to a political outsider described as the "Dr. Fauci of Ohio" to replace Republican Rob Portman in the U.S. Senate, Axios' Alexi McCammond writes. Why it matters: Dr. Amy Acton, former director of the Ohio Department of Health, gained a grassroots following last year when she briefed Ohioans about the state of the coronavirus. Her celebrity could help in a Republican state, and against potential GOP rivals such as Rep. Jim Jordan. - Acton quickly became an unlikely icon to Ohioans, praised for her poise and compassion during one of the most distressing times for the country.
- Some consultants have compared a potential Senate contest between Acton and Jordan to the high-spending race in South Carolina last fall between Democrat Jaime Harrison and Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham.
Go deeper. |
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| 5. One take on the GOP's 2022 "nightmare scenario" |
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| Via Twitter |
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| Hat tip to our friend Josh Kraushaar for his smart piece in the National Journal about potential 2022 Senate election scenarios. What they're saying: "Typically, as the party out of power, Republicans should hold an advantage in a midterm election. But the Republican Party is now bitterly divided between Trumpists and institutionalists, foreshadowing a unique election cycle in which the quality of candidates may end up mattering as much as the overall political environment," Josh wrote. He then tweeted out his "nightmare" scenario for the GOP, captured above. Go deeper. |
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| A message from Facebook |
| We support updated internet regulations |
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| We're taking action to keep our communities safe. We've tripled our safety and security teams, built new privacy tools, and invested billions to keep our platforms safe. What comes next? We support updated internet regulations that set clear rules for addressing today's challenges. Learn More |
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| 🐪 Thanks for reading. We hope you have a great humpday. A programming note: Axios has launched its first two local newsletters, in Tampa and the Twin Cities. Sign up here as we start bringing SmartBrevity™ coverage closest to home. |
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