Politics update

Former president Barack Obama Former president Barack Obama has raised questions about the structure of President Biden’s reelection campaign, discussing the matter directly with Biden and telling the president’s aides and allies the campaign needs to be empowered to make decisions without clearing them with the White House, according to three people familiar with the conversations.

Colin Allred - I was on the House floor when rioters breached the Capitol, and I remember hearing the glass break and the shouts coming closer.  As they pounded on the doors, I texted my wife Aly, who was seven months pregnant with our second son: “Whatever happens, I love you.”  I took off my jacket and got ready to fight anyone who came through the door. Thankfully, it never came to that. And while I was barricaded on the House floor with my colleagues and our gas masks in hand, Ted Cruz – who had cheered on the mob earlier that day – hid in a supply closet.  Ted Cruz’s false claims about the 2020 election helped incite the insurrection. That's Ted for you: All hat, no cattle.

 One of the biggest remaining mysteries surrounding the riot is the identity of the person who placed two pipe bombs outside the offices of the Republican and Democratic national committees the day before the Capitol attack. Last year, authorities increased the reward to up to $500,000 for information leading to the person’s arrest. It remains unclear whether there was a connection between the pipe bombs and the riot.

Since taking control of the House, the GOP has sought to cast doubt on official accounts of Jan. 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the Capitol, injuring 140 police officers and causing about $2.9 million in damage. And now, under Speaker Mike Johnson, they plan to step up that effort... A Washington Post-University of Maryland poll published this week found that Republicans have softening views on Jan. 6 protesters and on Trump’s responsibility for the attack. A quarter of American adults and 34 percent of Republicans believe the baseless theory that the FBI organized and encouraged the storming of the Capitol.