Johnson Says He Will Let Gonzales Allegations ‘Play Out’

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX) — the congressman who has been accused of having an affair with a former staffer, who later died by suicide — still has House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) in his corner.

On Monday, new details regarding the alleged affair became public, including text messages between the congressman and his former aide where Gonzales allegedly asked her to send him a “sexy pic.”

Amid the new details, a handful of House Republicans (mostly women) have called on Gonzales to resign from his position.

Johnson was not one of those lawmakers. Though he called the allegations “very serious” earlier this week and “alarming and detestable” on Wednesday, he has not pulled his endorsement of the Texas congressman.

When asked by reporters why he has not come down harder on Gonzales, Johnson deflected saying, “How do you know I haven’t?”

“I don’t usually go into detail on private conversations I’ve had with members, but I’ll tell you that what I’ve said publicly is these are very serious allegations. He’s denied much of it. We have to allow the due process here to play out, as always,” Johnson added.

Gonzales told reporters on Tuesday he would not resign from Congress.

Johnson also said he thinks the GOP primary for the seat Gonzales currently holds — scheduled for this coming Tuesday, March 3 — will be a referendum on the allegations.

“I’ve said to him publicly and privately, he’s got to address that directly and head on with his constituents,” Johnson told reporters. “There’s a primary there in less than a week, these things will play out.”

— Emine Yücel

Leadership Isn’t the Only One Thinking Of House GOP’s Razor-Thin Majority

Seemingly desperate to hold on to the party’s slim majority, Johnson and GOP leadership aren’t the only ones standing by Gonzales.

When asked on Wednesday about Gonzales, Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) told reporters he should in “no way” resign, adding that doing so would be “the stupidest thing he could ever do.”

Nehls said though the allegations do not look good and “the optics are horrible,” his colleague has not been indicted for anything.

The Office of Congressional Conduct has conducted — and concluded — an investigation into the alleged affair. But the results will remain out of the public eye until after the Texas primary as the office is prohibited from releasing any report involving alleged misconduct by a member to the House Ethics Committee within 60 days of an election involving a member.

“Accusations are not enough,” Nehls later added. “If he does that then you gotta give the gavel to Hakeem Jeffries. I’m sure the Democrats would love that.”

Nehls is, of course, referring to the fact that Republicans are barely holding onto their majority in the House.

“But aren’t some things bigger than politics?” CNN correspondent Manu Raju pressed Nehls.

“No,” Nehls said. “Not up here. Not the way we do, what we do in the House.”

— Emine Yücel

Thune Again Says There’s Not Support for Talking Filibuster for SAVE Act

Even after President Trump spent several minutes of his lengthy State of the Union speech last night hyping the SAVE America Act and his administration’s interest in mandating documentary proof of citizenship to register and photo ID to vote, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) told reporters Wednesday that there still is not support for the light nuking of the filibuster that would have to take place in order to pass the legislation in the Senate.

Trump and a few House Republicans have been trying to pressure the Senate to change filibuster rules in order to pass the voter suppression bill that recently passed the House. Trump has claimed that Senate Republicans could employ a talking filibuster — which would force Democrats to hold the floor and talk continuously in order to block the legislation. Thune has said previously that he is not in favor of changing filibuster rules to pass the bill and he doesn’t think such a change would have support within the rest of the Republican conference. He said 50 Republicans would have to be on board with the new rules in order for it to put them into action.

“The talking filibuster issue is on which there is not certainly a unified Republican Conference and there would have to be. If you go down that path, you’re talking about the need to table what are going to be numerous amendments and an ability to keep 50 Republicans unified pretty much on every single vote,” Thune reportedly told reporters Wednesday when asked about the issue. “There just isn’t the support for doing that at this point.”

— Nicole LaFond

Trump Admin Claims Executive Privilege Over Shady Classified Intel, Gabbard Whistleblower Complaint

The classified information that led to a reported whistleblower complaint against Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard — which is reportedly so sensitive it has been locked in a safe — won’t be shared with Congress, the Trump administration told Democratic lawmakers this week. The administration is citing executive privilege over “portions” of the intelligence at the heart of the complaint, which reportedly, in part, focused on conversations about Jared Kushner.

Per new reporting from The Wall Street Journal:

In an email to Democratic congressional staffers sent on Feb. 13 and reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, Gabbard’s office said it was unable to provide the unredacted intelligence that underpinned the complaint “due to the assertion of executive privilege to portions” of the intelligence itself.

In a Tuesday letter to Gabbard, Sen. Mark Warner and Rep. Jim Himes, the top Democrats on the congressional intelligence committees, asked who asserted privilege over the intelligence report and on what basis.

The intelligence at issue was assembled in a report by the National Security Agency early last year and relates to a conversation two foreign nationals had about Donald Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, the Journal has reported.

— Nicole LaFond

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Johnson Says He Will Let Gonzales Allegations ‘Play Out’