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Trump critic Liz Cheney faces seemingly ouster from Home GOP management

Liz Cheney, John Katko will vote to impeach

House Republicans are expected to vote on Wednesday whether Trump critic Rep. Liz Cheney should be stripped of her party leadership role and replaced by pro-Trump MP Elise Stefanik.

A vote of no confidence will likely take place during a closed GOP conference meeting scheduled for 9:00 a.m. ET.

The showdown comes days after two other senior House Republicans, Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Minority Whip Steve Scalise, said they were done with Cheney as chairman of the House’s GOP conference.

She and former President Donald Trump have endorsed Stefanik, a fourth-term New York congressman who gained national attention in 2019 for forcibly defending Trump during his first impeachment trial.

The urge to swap the strictly conservative and politically deeply rooted Cheney for the less conservative, Trump-supportive Stefanik is a good example of the GOP’s shift towards a firm realignment behind the former president with the upcoming mid-term congressional elections in 2022.

Cheney, one of only 10 Republicans who voted against Trump for inciting the deadly invasion of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, survived an earlier attempt in February to oust her. At the time, the Wyoming Republican had the support of her counterparts.

To their chagrin, Cheney has continued to beat Trump in the three months since then for spreading the lie that the 2020 elections were rigged against him.

With this, Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House of Representatives, stands out from almost all other conferences which, after Trump’s loss, have only been more committed to maintaining the status of the ex-president as leader.

Trump never conceded the 2020 election to President Joe Biden and still falsely claims he won the race – although his reach is limited after several social media companies banned him from their platforms after the January 6 uprising.

There is no evidence of widespread electoral fraud. William Barr, Trump’s attorney general at the time, said the Justice Department had found no evidence of fraud that would undo Biden’s victory. However, opinion polls suggest that large segments of Trump’s supporters still believe that illegal voting or cheating changed the outcome of the race.

Some Republicans, including McCarthy and Scalise, have suggested that Cheney’s refusal to back down on Trump is a distraction that violates the GOP’s goal of getting the house back in 2022.

“Every day we relitute the past is one less day we have to seize the future,” McCarthy said Tuesday in a letter in which Cheney was not mentioned by name.

But Cheney argued in a scorching speech on Tuesday night on the floor of the house and in a statement last week that countering Trump’s election lies was practically a patriotic duty.

“Ignoring the lie encourages the liar”

Cheney has vowed to continue the fight against Trump’s “Big Lie” even if booted by the leadership. On the eve of the expected vote to oust her, Cheney appeared to have a head start and went to the floor of the house to represent her case.

“Today we face a threat America has never seen before: a former president who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol to steal elections has resumed his aggressive efforts to convince Americans to believe him the elections were stolen, “Cheney said.

Trump “risks further violence,” she said, and he “continues to undermine our democratic process and sow doubts as to whether democracy really works at all.”

She noted that after dozens of legal challenges and official investigations, no widespread electoral fraud has been discovered.

“The election is over,” said Cheney. “Those who refuse to accept the decisions of our courts are at war with the constitution.”

“Our duty is clear: each of us who have sworn the oath must act to prevent the dissolution of our democracy,” she said. “This is not about politics, this is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans.”

“Silence and ignoring the lie encourages the liar.”

“I’m not going to take part,” said Cheney. “I will not sit back and watch in silence as others lead our party on a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”

Trump’s role

After the 2020 election cycle, Republicans lost control of the White House and Senate. But much of the party still sees Trump as the biggest draw.

“He’s by far the most popular Republican in the country. If you try to get him out of the Republican Party, half the people will leave,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, RS.C., a dedicated Trump ally, said Tuesday Fox News.

“So that doesn’t mean you can’t criticize the president, it means that the Republican Party can’t move forward without President Trump being a part of it,” Graham said.

While the vote on Wednesday will be secret, the internal Cheney argument aired in broad daylight – resulting in unusual political optics, such as Democratic Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer, who praised Cheney for giving “truth to power” say.

The Biden administration has largely stayed away from the fight. “We’ll leave that up to them to work among themselves,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday when asked about the GOP power struggle.

But when asked right about it last week, Biden said the GOP looked like it was going through some “kind of mini-revolution”.

“We urgently need a Republican Party. We need a two-party system. It is not healthy to have a one-party system,” Biden said in the White House. “And I think Republicans are further from figuring out who they are and what they stand for than I thought they’d be at that point.”

McCarthy and other Republicans are expected to visit the White House later this week to discuss the government’s economic investment plans.

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Politics

Liz Cheney high donors again her regardless of push to oust her from GOP management

Liz Cheney top donors back her despite push to oust her from GOP leadership

Liz Cheney’s finest financial backer stands by her side despite the House Republicans attempting to remove her as conference leader.

According to donors who spoke to CNBC, Cheney, who represents the state of Wyoming, is unlikely to lose any of her key leaders even if she is ousted as the official leader within the House’s Republican caucus.

Some even say they will withhold contributions from anyone who opposes Cheney. This signals a split in the wealthy Republican donor ranks between big-money financiers who continue to support former President Donald Trump and those who better match Cheney’s views that Joe Biden won the 2020 election fair.

Eric Levine, owner of Eiseman Levine law firm and Republican fundraiser, told CNBC in an email on Wednesday that Cheney’s corporate supporters intend to continue to support them. These donors are concerned about Trump’s influence on the Republican Party and how these forces will affect future elections. Levine gave over $ 2,800 to a joint Cheney fundraising committee in the first quarter, records show.

“With a few exceptions, this group appears to be all in support of Cheney and is very concerned about Trumpism,” Levine said. “Republicans can only win if we can make significant progress in the suburbs and with women. Donald Trump is a proven loser in these districts,” he added.

Republicans hope to win back majorities in the House and Senate in the 2022 midterm elections. Cheney is up for re-election next year and numerous Republicans have announced primary campaigns against her.

Cheney’s spokesman did not return a request for comment on this story.

New York MP Elise Stefanik has received support from House GOP leaders such as Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., To replace Cheney as conference leader. Kevin McCarthy, minority chairman of the House of Representatives, R-Calif, said in an interview with Fox News that he had heard from members who were “concerned about them” [Cheney’s] Ability to carry out the work of conference leader, carry out the message. “

Although Cheney was more in line with Trump’s positions than Stefanik, according to FiveThirtyEight, the former also supported the indictment against him following the deadly January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Cheney has consistently accused Trump of instigating the uprising that killed at least five people.

Stefanik, on the other hand, questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election, in which Joe Biden defeated Trump. Trump himself approved Stefanik for the leadership role and beat up Cheney on Wednesday for her stance on the election.

CNBC reached out to many of Cheney’s leading donors, who have donated up to $ 2,800 to Team Cheney, a joint fundraising committee that raises campaign money for Cheney’s political re-election campaign, its Leadership Political Action Committee, and the National Republican Congressional Committee .

Cheney’s re-election campaign grossed just over $ 1.5 million in the first quarter of this year, Federal Election Commission records show. Part of that success was due to contributions from PACs from companies such as Pfizer, T-Mobile, Morgan Stanley, and General Electric.

Some companies said after the Capitol uprising they were pausing donations to lawmakers who questioned election results.

Tony Fratto, founder of the communications firm Hamilton Place Strategies and former deputy press secretary under President George W. Bush, gave the committee $ 2,800 in January. Fratto has blown the Republican leadership’s move to remove Cheney, saying he will not support anyone who opposes her.

“It’s absurd. Every word Liz Cheney said about the 2020 election result, the events of January 6 and the damage Republicans did for lying about both of them is spot on,” Fratto said on Tuesday. “I will support Liz as long as she is in office, whether in leadership or not. And I will never support a member who opposes her.” The congressman’s father, Dick Cheney, was Bush’s vice president.

A Wall Street executive who submitted a donation to the Cheney Committee in the latter part of the quarter told CNBC that if GOP leaders crack down on Wyoming lawmakers, individual corporate donors will flee the Republican Party. This person declined to be named to avoid retaliation for speaking out against Trump.

“It is one of the last hopes that the Republican Party has not lost its mind. If it is ostracized, many people will go with it,” said this financier. “Corporate donors and lobbyists have to be strategic, but there is a really important principle at stake in what happens to her.”

Reginald Brown, attorney and special assistant to Bush in the early 2000s, told CNBC that for many donors, Cheney acts as a counterbalance to some of the pro-Trump forces within the Republican Party.

“It’s a buy-and-hold investment for those interested in the long Republican game. A GOP that has no place for female leaders or people who think the Capitol attack is insane is nowhere.” fast, “Brown said in an email to CNBC. “Most business people prefer Liz to the bare-chested, horned man in the Capitol and the people who poked him.” Brown gave Cheney $ 2,800 in February.

Devon Spurgeon, a partner in communications company Sheridan Strategies, donated $ 1,000 to Team Cheney in February. Spurgeon said that with these attacks by the House Republican leaders, Cheney is well on its way to attract new donors and ignite their supporter base.

“Liz is an independent thinker, she doesn’t take instructions from anyone. This is clearly a problem for certain housekeeping members,” Spurgeon told CNBC in a LinkedIn message.

The addition of new donors has been an obvious topic on Cheney since she voted to indict Trump.

Lawrence Mandelker, an attorney for Eiseman Levine who told CNBC he was a Democrat and worked with members of both parties, admitted that one of the reasons he gave Cheney’s re-election efforts was her vote to indict Trump.

“Although I disagree with most of your substantive political questions, it was just important enough to thank you for your courageous profile,” said Mandelker in a telephone interview on Wednesday. He gave Team Cheney $ 1,000 in March, records show.

Mandelker said he will continue to support her offer for re-election in 2022 and will not donate to Stefan’s campaign.

“I would never give her money because she drank the Kool-Aid,” he described Stefanik’s appearance of ultimate loyalty to the former president.

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Business

All-female management group guides Uncle Nearest whiskey to historic development

All-female leadership team guides Uncle Nearest whiskey to historic growth

Onkel Nearest Premium Whiskey, a brand that recognizes the world’s first known African-American distiller, and his all-female management team smash stereotypes and break glass ceilings.

Executive director and founder Fawn Weaver said she attributes her company’s success not only to building a workforce that reflects America, but also to inviting all consumers to her table.

“I think we did something that hadn’t been tried before, which is to listen to what we are doing is good enough for everyone and we want to bring everyone to the table … and we saw it I think that is a huge success, “said Weaver, the first African American to run a major liquor brand.

Nathan Green, known to family and friends as “Uncle Nearest,” was a retired Tennessee slave who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey and is considered Daniel’s first master distiller, mentor, and teacher.

Weaver made his debut at Onkel Nearest Premium Whiskey in July 2017 and in less than two years the company expanded to all 50 states and 12 countries. According to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis, Onkel Nearest was one of the top five fastest growing U.S. whiskeys in the country by volume growth between 2018 and 2019.

“At the end of 2020, we celebrated our ninth consecutive quarter with triple-digit growth and are on the verge of exceeding that mark again for this quarter, making it our 10th quarter in a row,” said Weaver.

Katharine Jerkens, senior vice president of global sales at Onkel Nearest, told CNBC, “Based on our data, we see that Onkel Nearest’s customer is approximately 50% women. … When we launched Uncle Nearest was the average whiskey / Overall, about 30% of the Bourbon drinkers were women. “

In a Monday night interview on The News with Shepard Smith, Weaver said she was optimistic that the 50% figure would continue to rise.

“We’re happy to see that number, and that number wasn’t nearly that high to begin with. We’ve seen it go up over the past three or four years and I can’t wait for that number to keep going up.” said Weaver said.

One of Green’s descendants also shapes the company. Green’s great-great-granddaughter Victoria Eady Butler is the brand’s master blender and the first female African-American master blender in history. She is also the first black woman to be named Master Blender of the Year by Whiskey Magazine’s whiskey icons.

“To carry on the legacy my great-great-grandfather started … it feels like coming home,” said Eady Butler. “It is the most wonderful responsibility and honor that you can imagine.”

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Business

Henry Blodget says Amazon’s Jeff Bezos gave him key management recommendation

Henry Blodget says Amazon's Jeff Bezos gave him key leadership advice

Henry Blodget, CEO of Insider Inc., told CNBC on Wednesday that Jeff Bezos provided invaluable advice when the Amazon founder invested in his burgeoning media company.

Bezos, who will step down as CEO of Amazon later that year, led a $ 5 million investment round in Blodget’s company in 2013. It was about six years old then and known as Business Insider. In an interview on Squawk Box, Blodget recalled a discussion with Bezos about how to divide his time between management and editing.

“I had been writing all along. I was an editor and one of the things I asked him right after his investment was, ‘Look, should I keep writing and doing TV and stuff or should I stay CEO? Because that Company has grown big enough that I really have to do one thing or another, “said Blodget.

Bezos replied that he really only had one inquiry as an investor, Blodget said. “He said, ‘I will ask you to remain CEO.’” On Wednesday, Blodget, a former Wall Street analyst, also described how he was pushing Bezos to the bottom. “”[Bezos] said, “Because you don’t even notice it, but every day you make dozens of small course corrections. They are all inventing a new model for journalism. You have an instinct as to where this is going. ‘”

According to Blodget, Bezos added, “When you bring in someone who has experience, you want to give them plenty of space to make their own decisions. These will take place over a long time and will change things. ‘He said, “I’m investing because I want you to make these course corrections.”

Insider Inc. was sold to German publisher Axel Springer in 2015 for a value of almost 450 million US dollars. Bezos sold his stake in the company in late 2016, Insider Inc. spokesman Mario Ruiz told CNBC. Blodget remains CEO, but left the role of editor-in-chief in 2017.

Blodget recalled the conversation the day after Amazon announced that Bezos would move from CEO to Executive Chairman later that year. Andy Jassy will take the reins from Bezos, who founded the e-commerce titan more than 25 years ago, turning him into a nearly $ 2 trillion global giant. Jassy, ​​a longtime lieutenant from Bezos, currently heads Amazon’s highly profitable cloud computing business.

The insider chief said he has confidence in Jassy and thinks Amazon will “be in good shape for a while”. It will likely be three to five years before outsiders can decide whether the CEO change will be “a big deal.” “

“With companies this size, they’re super tankers. They have tremendous momentum,” said Blodget. “You can change several of the people at the top and you won’t see the outside impact for a long time as the company will continue to do what it was raised to do.”

Prior to his tenure as head of media, Blodget reported on Amazon as a closely watched Wall Street internet analyst during the dot-com boom. In December 1998, while working for brokerage firm CIBC Oppenheimer, he announced a remarkable price hike on Amazon, and stocks rose 19% in the following session.

Blodget continued to work for Merrill Lynch, but his research was under scrutiny. He was finally banned from the securities industry in 2003 after an investigation into what the Securities and Exchange Commission called “the undue influence of investment banking interests on brokerage research analysts”. In a multi-million dollar settlement at the time, Blodget was denied or failed to admit the allegations made by the SEC.