It’s Election Day at the Republican National Committee.
Incumbent RNC chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is favored to win a fourth term in Friday’s election but has faced contentious challenges as the party wrestles with its future in the shadow of former president and current presidential candidate Donald Trump.
California attorney Harmeet Dhillon, seeking McDaniel’s job, has racked up endorsements from prominent Republicans, including Florida governor and potential 2024 presidential candidate Ron DeSantis. Trump himself has stayed neutral in the race.
Meanwhile, more than 100 of the 168 actual GOP committee members have expressed support for McDaniel, more than enough to give her a victory and another two-year term.
The committee will hold its secret-ballot election during a general session on Friday, capping their three-day winter meeting at Dana Point, Calif.
Here’s what else is happening in politics:
- President Joe Biden called for “peaceful protests” after five former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday in the Tyre Nichols case.
- The California state bar seeks to revoke the law license of Donald Trump lawyer John Eastman.
- House Democrats look to reverse the Hyde Amendment, a provision that bans federal funding for most abortions.
- Monterey Park memorial: Harris pushes for tougher gun legislation.
- The Michigan Senate has approved an earlier primary, frustrating the state’s GOP. The Democratic majority approved moving the primary to late February. The move could substantially hurt Republicans ahead of a heated election.
- Paul Pelosi attack video is scheduled to be released at noon.
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Harris works to mend fences with Black male voters
The Biden administration appears to be paying close attention to criticism that Democrats only engage with Black voters during election cycles without delivering on the issues they care about.
Vice President Kamala Harris, who is playing a crucial role in the administration’s outreach, quietly met last week with students and civil rights organizers to solicit ideas on how the Biden administration can lift up young Black men.
In the private meeting, attendees detailed ways the White House can help young men of color improve their livelihoods. Harris also wanted to know how the White House can assist young Black men with overcoming stigmas.
– Francesca Chambers and Mabinty Quarshie
California will seek to disbar Trump lawyer John Eastman
California’s state bar is seeking to revoke the law license of John Eastman, the lawyer who spearheaded an effort to use slates of fake electors in battleground states to overturn the 2020 election in favor of former President Donald Trump.
The state bar alleges that Eastman violated his duty to uphold the U.S. and California state constitutions in an attempt to “usurp the will of the American people and overturn election results for the highest office in the land.”
“There is nothing more sacrosanct to our American democracy than free and fair elections and the peaceful transfer of power,” George Cardona, chief trial counsel to California’s state bar, said in a statement. “…(Eastman) must be held accountable.”
Eastman holds law licenses from both D.C. and California.
– Ella Lee
Paul Pelosi attack video set to be released at noon today
The San Francisco Superior Court is planning on releasing the video of Paul Pelosi’s attack following a judge’s order on Wednesday.
Over the objections of prosecutors, a judge ruled that the footage of the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband can be released. San Francisco Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Murphy ruled there was no reason to keep the footage secret, especially after prosecutors played it in open court during a preliminary hearing last month.
Paul Pelosi, Nancy Pelosi’s husband, was asleep at the couple’s San Francisco home on Oct. 28 when someone broke in and beat him with a hammer. Prosecutors have charged 42-year-old David DePape in connection with the attack.
DePape pleaded not guilty last month to six charges, including attempted murder. Police have said DePape told them there was “evil in Washington” and he wanted to harm Nancy Pelosi because she was second in line to the presidency. His case is pending.
– The Associated Press
Biden calls for ‘peaceful protests’ before release of body camera footage in Tyre Nichols case
President Joe Biden said the family of Tyre Nichols deserves a “swift, full and fair investigation” into his death and called for “peaceful protests” after five former Memphis police officers were charged Thursday with second-degree murder.
“Outrage is understandable, but violence is never acceptable,” Biden said in his first statement on the Nichols case. “Violence is destructive and against the law. It has no place in peaceful protests seeking justice.”
Nichols, 29, died Jan. 7 after a police traffic stop that resulted in “two confrontations with police,” according to Memphis police. Nichols “complained of a shortness of breath,” police said. Video from police-worn body cameras of the interaction is scheduled for release Friday evening. Nichols was Black. The five officers charged in the case are also Black.
“We cannot ignore the fact that fatal encounters with law enforcement have disparately impacted Black and Brown people,” Biden said, renewing his call for policing reform legislation that stalled in Congress last year.
– Joey Garrison
Memphis police incident: ‘This was criminal’: Former Memphis police officers arrested, face murder charges in Tyre Nichols’ death
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