Ben Kamisar

National Republicans are looking to boost turnout in June 5's pivotal CA primaries with texts targeting GOP voters in key districts. The National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) is targeting 115,000 Republican voters who have either not turned in their vote-by-mail ballots or need to vote on Election Day. Voters began receiving text messages the week May 25 and will receive one more on June 5 reminding them to vote. Voters will receive a text message that reads "ELECTION ALERT: Today is Primary Day!

The White House pushed back on concerns regarding newly-discovered payments to President Trump's lawyer Michael Cohen from corporations looking to lobby the White House, arguing that the episode proves the President will not cater to “special interests.” 

President Donald Trump called to congratulate 21st Century Fox owner Rupert Murdoch on Dec 14 following the announcement that Disney will buy most of Fox for more than $50 billion. White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said that the president is hopeful about the deal's effects on job creation.  "The president spoke with Rupert Murdoch earlier today, congratulated him on the deal and thinks that, to use one of the president's favorite words, that this could be a great thing for jobs," she said.  "And he certainly looks forward to and is hoping to see a lot more of those created."

President Donald Trump's campaign is accusing CNN of refusing to air its new television ad marking Trump's first 100 days in office. A May 2 press release from the Trump campaign chides the news network, which is a familiar target for the president's ire, arguing CNN is trying to stifle free speech and any positive news about the administration's successes in office.

“It is absolutely shameful to see the media blocking the positive message that President Trump is trying to share with the country. It's clear that CNN is trying to silence our voice and censor our free speech because it doesn't fit their narrative," said Michael Glassner, the Trump campaign's executive director. CNN said that it asked the campaign to remove a “false graphic that says the mainstream media is ‘fake news.’” “The mainstream media is not fake news, and therefore the ad is false,” CNN added in explaining its decision to reject the ad.

White House press secretary Sean Spicer said the administration is not keeping "dossiers" on specific reporters, following a report that said a staffer mentioned dossiers during a dustup with a White House correspondent. "That is absolutely not true. There are no dossiers being kept," Spicer said during his daily press briefing. The Washington Post reported an altercation between veteran Washington journalist April Ryan and Trump White House communications staffer Omarosa Manigault. Ryan, the Washington bureau chief for American Urban Radio Network, said Manigault "physically intimidated" her last week during a confrontation and mentioned White House "dossiers" kept on African-American reporters.

President Donald Trump said the “real story” of national security adviser Michael Flynn’s resignation was “illegal leaks,” rather than reports Flynn misled senior White House officials about his conversations with Russia. "The real story here is why are there so many illegal leaks coming out of Washington? Will these leaks be happening as I deal with N.Korea etc?" President Trump tweeted. The White House announced Flynn's resignation Feb 13, the culmination of weeks of controversy surrounding alleged communications with Russia.

President-elect Donald Trump has asked roughly 50 senior Obama Administration officials to remain in their roles in order to "ensure the continuity of government," spokesman Sean Spicer said. The decision comes as Trump is reportedly struggling to fill important posts in his new administration. Among the President Obama holdovers are key national security officials, including Brett McGurk, special envoy to the global coalition fighting the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. The move is somewhat surprising, given President-elect Trump’s repeated criticism of President Obama’s effort to combat the terrorist group. He called the president "the founder of ISIS" during a campaign event last April.

Sen Ted Cruz (R-TX) wants to squeeze out super PACs by abolishing limits on fundraising dollars to individual candidates. Joining with Rep Mark Meadows (R-NC), Sen Cruz is filing legislation that the pair argues will increase transparency and treat all campaign donations like free speech.

"Restrictions to political contributions are always presented under the guise of preventing corruption and holding politicians accountable, when in fact they accomplish exactly the opposite: protecting incumbent politicians," Sen Cruz said. "Establishing unlimited contributions paired with immediate disclosure is the best way to promote transparency, eliminate the viability of SuperPACs going forward, and ensure that free speech is protected in the electoral process." The new bill would allow donors to give unlimited sums to candidates but require that donations of more than $200 be disclosed within one day's time.