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Missouri Congressman wants financial companies to stop serving U.S. Capitol rioters

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Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver is requesting that banks and other financial services companies stop processing transactions for rioters and organizations who were part of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol. The pro-Trump mob waged violence and destruction on January 6 that left five people dead.

In a letter to a trade group called the Electronic Transaction Association, Cleaver says several groups like the Proud Boys, Booglaoo Bois, and the last Sons of Liberty, have been identified as participating in the event. The group’s members include more than 500 companies worldwide, such as Mastercard, Visa, PayPal and American Express.

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver

“As some mainstream financial services providers have refused to provide products and services to domestic terrorists, these extremist groups have sought out relationships with intermediary organizations with questionable terms of service. These organizations often act as go-betweens for extremist groups and financial services providers. For example, if a financial services provider refuses to process payments on the website of an extremist group, these nefarious actors have historically looked to platforms that have payment relationships with mainstream financial services providers to help process transactions for them. Crowdfunding site GiveSendGo which is currently helping Proud Boy leader Enrique Tarrio raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for legal defense is but one example,” the letter says.

Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, is also calling on the institutions to suspend services to anyone raising funds off the January 6 events.

He serves on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee and is chairman of its subcommittee on national security. His district includes Kansas City, Marshall and Higginsville.

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Missouri U.S. House members vote along party lines to impeach Trump

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The U.S. House of Representatives has voted today 232-197 to impeach President Donald Trump for the second time. Missouri’s U.S. House members voted along party lines with Republicans voting against and Democrats supporting articles of impeachment. Ten Republicans from other states joined Democrats in voting for impeachment.

U.S. Capitol dome courtesy of the U.S. House

House Democrats have led the effort after Trump urged rally supporters last week to march to the U.S. Capitol and “pressure” lawmakers to object to the election certification process. Rioters hit the Capitol – leaving behind a trail of destruction and violence that killed five people. The House charged Trump with “inciting violence against the government of the United States” and requesting his immediate removal from office and disqualification from ever holding one again.

During debate today, southeast Missouri Republican Congressman Jason Smith, a steadfast Trump ally who objected to certifying election results last week, says impeaching the president is reckless.

“This will only bring up the hate and fire more than ever before. Have a conscience,” says Smith. “Put the people before politics. Unify this country. President Trump will be leaving in seven days. Let’s try to heal this nation. Let’s listen to the American people. This is the people’s house. Let’s operate for the people. This country is hurting. The people are hurting. Our colleagues are hurting.”

Kansas City Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver, who co-sponsored the articles of impeachment, says Trump must be held accountable for inciting a domestic terror attack on America’s government. He says for the safety of the American people and our democracy, the President needs to be removed from office immediately.

On the floor today, newly-elected Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush, a Democrat from St. Louis and an activist, used strong words to describe Trump.

“If we fail to remove a white supremacist president who incited a white supremacist insurrection, it’s communities like Missouri’s first district that suffer the most,” says Bush. “The 117 Congress must understand that we have a mandate to legislate in defense of Black lives. The first step in that process is to root out white supremacy, starting with impeaching the white supremacist-in-chief.”

As for Trump, he has released a statement saying that there are reports of more similar coming. He urges that there be no violence, no law breaking and no vandalism of any kind. Trump says that is not what he stands for, nor what America stands for.

U.S. Senator Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has reportedly said he would not agree to use emergency powers to bring the Senate back into session for a trial before January 19. President-elect Joe Biden is set to be sworn into office on January 20.

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Missouri officials asked if Hawley should resign

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Calls for the resignation of Missouri U.S. Senator Josh Hawley continue to trickle in, along with some Republican allies and corporate donors pulling their support for him. The political backfire follows his efforts to challenge President-Elect Joe Biden’s election victory and the deadly riot at the U.S. Capitol that followed last week.

“I will never apologize for giving voice to the millions of Missourians and Americans who have concerns about the integrity of our elections,” a statement from Hawley says in a statement. “That’s my job, and I will keep doing it.”

U.S. Senator Josh Hawley greets a supporter at GOP headquarters in Winchester on October 23, 2018. (File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI)

Former Missouri U.S. Senator John Danforth says working to get Hawley elected to the Senate was “the worst mistake I ever made in my life.”

Two megadonors have pulled their support from Hawley – Joplin businessman David Humphreys and St. Louis businessman Sam Fox.

Book publisher Simon & Schuster has canceled publication of Hawley’s upcoming book.

During an Inauguration Day press conference Monday at the Missouri capitol in Jefferson City, Gov. Mike Parson was asked if Hawley, a fellow Republican, should resign. Parson is not touching that question for the time being.

“There’s been a lot of discussion on this. We’ll be talking about Washington, D.C. every day from here after probably on some level,” says Parson. “You know, everybody has to be responsible for the decisions they make, good or bad and different. That’s what I’ll say. Again, today is about the bicentennial and about being sworn in as 57th governor. This is a special day for me and my family. It’s a special day for our state.”

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, does not appear to support calls for Hawley’s resignation.

“He has a job to do just like I do and I’m sure he’ll do it. He’s very smart and I’m pleased to get the chance to work with him. We did not agree on this issue the day he announced this challenge, and Ted Cruz’s challenge,” Blunt tells Missourinet. “I think it’s time to move on and remember, half of the Republicans in the House of Representatives had a similar position.”

Missouri Republican Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler, along with Congressmen Jason Smith, Billy Long, Sam Graves and Blaine Luetkemeyer, backed Hawley’s election challenge efforts. They are all strong allies of President Donald Trump.

Republican Congresswoman Ann Wagner of Ballwin, St. Louis Democratic Congresswoman Cori Bush, Kansas City Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver and Blunt voted to uphold the election results.

Missourinet has contacted Hawley’s office multiple times seeking responses about these matters.

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Missouri Congressman says college athletes should make money: “They are used”

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Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver is heading up a bipartisan bill that would let college athletes profit from endorsement deals. It would only restrict sponsors involving alcohol, tobacco, controlled substances, adult entertainment and gambling. Cleaver, a Democrat from Kansas City, says the plan would ban universities from putting restrictions on athletes seeking control of their name, image and likeness.

U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Kansas City (September 2018 file photo courtesy of Congressman Cleaver’s office)

“Only a small percentage of those kids will ever play on a Sunday afternoon in an NFL football game or an NBA basketball game,” says Cleaver. “That’s just not likely. But they go to college and they are used. The school is making money.”

Cleaver says legalizing the activity is about civil rights because many of the student athletes are people of color.

“They come out of very poor backgrounds – many of them,” says Cleaver. “I mean, they’re in school with nothing and it’s illegal right now for them to go out and accept a cheeseburger from a big company and ruin their career and then put an early mark on their record for life.”

Many athletes get things like scholarships, free meals, athletic gear and healthcare services. If they play in a bigger bowl game, football players are also awarded items, such as gift cards, Fossil watches and Xboxes.

The bill includes a layer of Congressional oversight. Cleaver admits that corruption will still exist.

“They do it on everything we do, from income taxes to some pastors misusing their position to take advantage of kids. I mean, that’s just going to happen,” says Cleaver. “I don’t think it’s going to be any more prevalent here than anything else.”

There is a bipartisan effort at the state level, led by State Representative Wes Rogers, D-Kansas City, to pass a similar measure.

To view Cleaver’s bill, click here.

Listen to a Missourinet sports podcast about Cleaver’s bill below:

Patrick is going to be a father, Cardinals playoff preview and U.S. Rep. Cleaver talks NLI (PODCAST)

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Four Missouri U.S. House members vote to give $25 billion to help keep Postal Service afloat

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The U.S. House recently passed a bill that would give $25 billion in emergency funding to help keep the U.S. Postal Service going through the pandemic and expected surge of mail closer to the General Election. The funding level is the amount the Trump-appointed U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors recommends. Four Missouri members voted in favor of the legislation – Republicans Sam Graves and Ann Wagner and Democrats Emanuel Cleaver and Lacy Clay.

The plan would also reverse recent cost-cutting measures to slow service.

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver

The Postal Service has been struggling financially due to a decline in mail volume, the pandemic causing costs to climb, among other things. Cleaver, who represents Kansas City and several rural western Missouri counties, has been sounding the alarm for a while about the agency’s money problems. He says talks of privatizing it is an insult to the older.

“I just think that that’s almost mean spirited,” he says. “We don’t even think about the older people in our country who are not online, who still handwrite all their letters and pay their bills by writing out checks.”

Cleaver co-sponsored the bill, H.R. 8015. He tells Missourinet privatization would also hurt rural communities.

“When you privatize it, can you imagine X corporation delivering mail to a little farm outside of Orrick, where they have to drive from Kansas City to Orrick and then drive down a dirt road to put the mail in a mailbox? They are not going to do it. They are going to say it is not cost efficient – it’s cost prohibitive,” says Cleaver.

Cleaver’s district includes rural towns like Marshall, Richmond and Belton.

U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Tarkio, represents 36 counties in northern Missouri (file photo courtesy of Congressman Graves’ office)

Graves, of northern Missouri, tells Missourinet affiliate KFEQ the legislation affects almost every part of his district.

“The post office is something that I’ve been looking at and working through for years,” says Graves. “I have a very rural district and a lot of senior citizens in my district that depend on postal and making sure that we keep six-day delivery out there and timely.”

Graves’ district includes Chillicothe and Memphis.

President Donald Trump has threatened to veto the bill – and Graves says he and the president don’t always agree on everything.

“This is one of those issues and that’s been the case with every president that I’ve worked with. Whether that was Bush, I didn’t agree with him on everything. Obama, I didn’t agree with him on everything. And obviously President Trump,” says Graves. “We don’t agree on everything as well and that’s part of what representation is. I have the opportunity to be very parochial with my district and I can look out for, and always have, for the interest of my district.”

Graves says in this election, it’s unfortunate that the Postal Service has become political.

Missouri Congresswoman Vicky Hartzler and Congressmen Billy Long, Blaine Luetkemeyer and Jason Smith all voted against the plan.

It is expected to have an uphill battle in the Senate. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, has said the delivery of mail-in ballots was a “nonexistent problem.”

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Missouri Democrats rally virtually before Monday’s start of DNC

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The Democratic National Convention gets underway Monday in Milwaukee. The DNC has scheduled four nights, culminating in presumptive presidential candidate Joe Biden’s acceptance speech Thursday. The ongoing spike in coronavirus cases has forced most of the convention into an unprecedented virtual mode. Some party business will still take place in-person, but much of the event will be online.

During a virtual kickoff event tonight, Democrats from Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, and Minnesota came together to rally support for their local candidates and for Biden.

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver

Missouri Congressman Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City said he was not going to spend much time talking about President Donald Trump.

“I think that’s wasted thinking. I think that it gives me a headache. I don’t like to burp a lot. I don’t like to upchuck,” he said. “Because I have spent most of my life in ministry, I am obligated based on the Christian testament to pray for him – which I will.”

Cleaver said Trump is a “bad person and a danger to democracy.”

“He has inflicted pain on the country. He has inflicted pain internationally. These are some tough times,” said Cleaver. “And I would like to believe that Democrats flourish – that we flourish in bad times. In fact, we are bad time specialists and we are going elect a president who will become the CEO of eliminating bad stuff.”

On Twitter, Trump says the world would be laughing and taking full advantage of the United States if Joe Biden becomes president. Trump says America would collapse.

Cleaver ended by pumping up the party. He said Democrats are known for hanging in there and now is no different.

“Why do we need to hang on in there? Because Democrats have been able to hang in there, we have Medicare,” he said. “Because we have been able to hang in there, we have the minimum wage. Because we managed to hang in there, we’ve had the civil rights bill. We’ve had the Clean Air Act. We’ve had Social Security. We’ve had the creation of EEO. We’ve had the Voting Rights Act. We have had the delivery from the Great Depression. We hang on in there. That’s what we do as Democrats. We hang on in there and then we save the nation.”

State Auditor Nicole Galloway – the Democratic nominee for governor – participated in the event. She continued her criticism of opponent, Governor Mike Parson, and his handling of the coronavirus. She said government action to the virus will be on the November ballot.

Missouri State Auditor Nicole Galloway (D)
(2017 file photo)

“Our response to it. The recovery from it. It will be the defining issue of our times,” said Galloway. “I believe if we are going to get back on our feet, get back to work and come out ahead, we have to start moving in a new direction.”

She said the COVID-19 crisis has put a spotlight on governors around the country due to an “absence of leadership in Washington, D.C.”

“Many governors are rising to the occasion. We have seen around the country what true leadership looks like. Unfortunately here in Missouri, that’s not what we’re seeing,” said Galloway. “I’m concerned that for Missourians recovering from the economic crisis, it will be harder here than in neighboring states – not because the virus has hit us harder but because this governor’s actions in the years leading up to the virus puts so many Missourians right on the edge economically. And now the virus has pushed them over the edge so deep in an economic black hole it will take years to dig out of.”

Parson has said Missouri is so diverse and local governments know what is best for their communities when it comes to slowing the spread of the virus. He has mostly let local leaders decide about what health requirements to enact.

The Republican National Convention will also be held mostly online the week of August 24 in North Carolina.

Missourinet will have coverage throughout both conventions from a variety of Missourians.

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Blunt discusses U.S. Senate GOP’s $1 trillion HEALS Act

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U.S. Senate Republicans have unveiled a $1 trillion coronavirus aid package. The HEALS Act includes $200 per week in unemployment benefits, more than $100 billion for schools, more funding for the small business Paycheck Protection Program and a liability shield to protect businesses from coronavirus-related lawsuits.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri

The plan would also give another $1,200 stimulus payment with similar eligibility requirements as the last one. Qualifying individuals earning a gross adjusted income up to $75,000 per year in 2019, and couples earning $150,000, would get the full $1,200 or $2,400. Individuals would also receive $500 for each dependent, just like under the CARES Act.

During a press conference in Washington, U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, says the plan would provide $16 billion to help states cover COVID-19 testing.

“Our priority to help with testing through the states is to put a priority on elementary and secondary education, on higher education, on nursing homes and childcare facilities,” says Blunt.

Blunt says the package would give $15 billion to the nation’s childcare providers.

“As people get back to work, some people don’t want to send their kids. There will be some childcare expenses of distancing and other things that have to be done, but you can’t get back to work if you can’t get back to childcare for most families. And if you’re a working parent, particularly if you’re a working single parent, your biggest single problem is being sure that that childcare situation works,” says Blunt.

Congressional Democratic leaders say the bill should include hazard pay for essential workers, provide additional funding for food stamps and address the eviction crisis, among other things. Kansas City Democratic Congressman Emanuel Cleaver hopped on Twitter to criticize the bill.

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Blunt repeats call for U.S. Justice Department to restore federal police reviews

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U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, R-Missouri, is calling again for the U.S. Department of Justice to restore federal reviews of police departments to help root out misconduct and make changes. Since the death of George Floyd of Minnesota, adjusting police practices has received greater attention.

U.S. Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri

Blunt says he plans to co-sponsor South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott’s proposed changes to police departments. Scott’s plan would focus on police training and would withhold federal grant money if police departments do not ban the use of chokeholds and no-knock warrants, among other things.

During a press conference in Washington, Blunt says the president can step in and make a difference.

“An even more speedy way to respond than the legislative process is the executive branch doing what they can, as soon as they can, to make a difference. Many of you know I think that the Justice Department has real tools to go in and give advice to departments,” says Blunt. “Sometimes asked for, sometimes the Justice Department needs to insist that they be in there giving that advice,” says Blunt. “That’s not the national government taking over police, it’s the Justice Department looking at one department with a systemic problem and deciding they’re going to help solve that problem.”

Blunt and Missouri Democratic Congressmen Lacy Clay and Emanuel Cleaver all say in the past, the federal agency has successfully used the process, including in Ferguson after Michael Brown, Jr. was killed.

Blunt’s office says U.S. Attorney General William Barr has not responded to Blunt’s request to reinstate the reviews.

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