No Labels Is a Bunch of “Powerful, Elite Folks in a Boardroom in D.C.,” Says MoveOn’s Joel Payne

No Labels, the self-styled centrist political group that might run a third-party candidate for president, claims that Democrats are guilty of waging an “anti-democracy” campaign against them. But Joel Payne of the progressive advocacy group MoveOn says No Labels has it exactly backward—that they’re the ones who have a distaste for democratic principles.

While Democrats and Republicans have a nominating process that involves primary elections, which allows for “the voice of the people to come through,” Payne said, “that does not exist for No Labels. Their process is the modern-day incarnation of the smoke-filled room. It is a small group of powerful, elite folks in a boardroom in D.C.”

Payne, MoveOn’s communications director, was speaking at The New Republic’s Stop Trump Summit on Wednesday, alongside Al From, founder and former CEO of the Democratic Leadership Council, and Tiffany Muller, the president of End Citizens United.

“We all agree on one thing very critically, and that is if you’re going to beat Donald Trump you need to be united,” Payne said. “That’s why we’re here talking about No Labels today, which I know may seem like a little bit of a diversion, but it’s really not,” he added, because the key to beating Donald Trump “is to prevent voters from being distracted by other choices.”

No Labels insists that it is a moderate, bipartisan group, but its financial backers include Harlan Crow, the billionaire who has showered Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas with gifts. The group also claims that a significant number of American voters dislike both Trump and President Biden and are craving a third option, but analysts believe a moderate candidate would largely pull voters from Biden, thereby increasing Trump’s chances of returning to the White House.

“No Labels, the people they claim to want to represent, people who want to save democracy, are not going to be well served by No Labels,” he said, “because a No Labels run is going to make it easier for Donald Trump to win.”

To counter No Labels, Payne said, MoveOn is “trying to do more grassroots activation, more direct outreach to voters, to citizens just making sure folks know the real stakes that we’re dealing with here.” He said his group has gathered signatures from more than 50,000 people who want to stop No Labels.

But Payne acknowledged that it’s hard to organize political opposition to No Labels because its work is so “nebulous.”

“You’re asking people to plug in and worry about this kind of inside-the-Beltway group that has like a lot of money, and you know, really operates in an undemocratic, small-d way,” he said. “That’s a high bar that we’re asking citizens to check into.”

Donald Trump will be found guilty in the hush-money criminal case involving adult film star Stormy Daniels.

That’s Michael Cohen’s prediction, anyway.

“I can tell you from everything I know about it, he’s going to be found guilty,” Cohen, the former Trump lawyer, said during The New Republic’s Stop Trump Summit on Wednesday.

Trump pleaded not guilty in April to 34 counts of falsifying his business records related to money he allegedly paid to Daniels in 2016 to keep quiet about a past affair. The case was brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Cohen is expected to be one of his star witnesses.

“This is the Al Capone theory,” he added. “They didn’t get him on murder, extortion, racketeering, prostitution, etc., they got him on tax evasion. I truly believe the Alvin Bragg case is the easiest case to prove of all of the criminal cases.”

Cohen is also a witness in the civil fraud case brought against Trump by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trump is facing at least five separate civil and criminal trials.

When asked at the Stop Trump Summit whether Trump was scared as a result of the myriad prosecutions, Cohen said, “I think scared is an understatement. I think he’s absolutely petrified.”

He cited two reasons for his answer.

“One, the worst thing that you can do to Donald Trump is to take away his money, because his money is his id, his ego, his superego all wrapped into one,” he said. “Then the threat and fear of potential incarceration on top of the loss of the money; basically making him into a loser … that’s his biggest fear.”

Six Republican representatives will move to expel their fellow New Yorker and serial fabulist George Santos, calling him a “stain” on their party.

Santos, a freshman representative, has caused nothing but controversy since he took office. He fabricated the vast majority of his personal and professional background, and on Tuesday, he was federally indicted for financial fraud and identity theft.

“Today, I’ll be introducing an expulsion resolution to rid the People’s House of fraudster, George Santos,” freshman Representative Anthony D’Esposito announced Wednesday on X, formerly Twitter.

He revealed the resolution will be co-sponsored by fellow first-term lawmakers Nick LaLota, Mike Lawler, Marc Molinaro, Nick Langworthy, and Brandon Williams. These six lawmakers were some of the first Republicans to call publicly for Santos to resign once his lies were revealed. All of them except Langworthy won in districts that voted for Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election, making them more vulnerable to being voted out in 2024.

Speaking separately to CNN’s Manu Raju, D’Esposito said of Santos, “After the latest indictment I think it’s clear he’s not fit to serve in the house of representatives. He’s a stain on the institution, and that’s why the New York freshmen have come together. He’s also a stain on our state.”

In addition to apparently lying about his employment history, Santos has falsely claimed that his grandparents were Holocaust survivors, his mother died in the 9/11 attacks, and four of his employees were killed in the Pulse nightclub shooting. He also lied about founding an animal rescue charity and producing the disastrous Broadway musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.

Santos has been federally charged with 23 counts of various types of financial fraud. He pleaded not guilty to the initial 13 in May, and he has denied the additional 10 that were filed Tuesday night in a superseding indictment. Earlier this year, he also agreed to a deal with Brazilian authorities investigating him for financial fraud, so that he could avoid prosecution.

Democrats introduced a motion to censure Santos over the summer but have temporarily shelved it, despite bipartisan support. He is under investigation from the House Ethics Committee, but nothing has emerged yet.

Santos told reporters Wednesday that he ​won’t take a plea deal in his indictment, and that he plans to stay in office and run for reelection.​ He said the expulsion resolution is essentially “silencing the people in the 3rd Congressional District of New York.”

Except, the 3rd Congressional District of New York doesn’t even want him speaking for them anymore.

A MAGA mayoral candidate for Franklin, Tennessee, seems to have opted for a dubious political alliance, affiliating with white supremacists and self-described Nazis.

Last week, alderman and mayoral candidate Gabrielle Hanson strolled up to Franklin’s candidates forum with the white nationalist organization “Tennessee Active Club” in tow. The hate group claimed it was there to “protect” Hanson with a show of force, according to News Channel 5 Nashville.

In a hearing on Tuesday, Hanson refused to denounce the group, which had harassed journalists and threatened a local resident’s life, alleging instead that its presence was to prevent disruptions by antifa.

“I don’t denounce any of my clients,” Hanson said. “I’m a realtor, I’m not going to denounce anybody their right to be whatever it is that they want to be, whether I agree with what they do in their personal life or not.”

But that reaction wasn’t what the group’s facilitator and self-avowed “actual literal Nazi” Brad Lewis was expecting. In a Sunday episode of the conservative streaming show Patriot Punkcast, Lewis expressed frustration that Hanson claimed she had nothing to do with their presence at the forum, adding that they were “security by request.”

“I facilitated all of this. She asked me, and I in turn asked the guys if they would be interested, and they of course accepted,” Lewis said, adding that Hanson “was aware” of the club’s involvement.

Opposite the controversial city leader, the city’s other aldermen used Tuesday’s hearing to lambaste Hanson.

“Is it your mission to divide our city? Because you are doing a bang-up job of it right now,” huffed Alderman Beverly Burger.

“It’s embarrassing to end up on HBO, to end up on MSNBC, and not for the good stuff,” said Alderman Brandy Blanton.

Last month, Hanson made headlines when it was revealed that she was stealing other people’s Instagram posts as campaign fodder, using their images of women of different ethnic and racial backgrounds to pretend they were her political supporters.

Hanson is running against another Republican, incumbent Mayor Ken Moore, in Franklin’s mayoral race. The city votes on October 24.

House Republicans agreed Wednesday to nominate Steve Scalise, who once reportedly described himself as “David Duke without the baggage,” for speaker.

Eight Republicans voted last week to vacate the speaker and oust Kevin McCarthy, plunging the House into chaos. The chamber is set to vote later Wednesday on a new speaker, but the GOP has struggled to get its act together.

Republicans voted 113–98 to put current House Majority Leader Steve Scalise forward as McCarthy’s replacement. He will now face a vote from the full chamber that will be split at least along party lines. Democrats plan to back Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

But it won’t be an easy road for Scalise. He was up against Jim Jordan for the Republican speaker nomination, and he may still get some pushback from lawmakers loyal to Jordan. Representative Max Miller told reporters that he’ll still vote for Jordan on the floor, even if Scalise gets the caucus nomination, a move others may follow. Representative Ken Buck has said he’ll vote for neither candidate, all but guaranteeing to draw out the process.

A Scalise victory means that the farthest-right wing of the Republican Party would be in complete control. Scalise has refused to say outright that the 2020 election was legitimate, instead remaining loyal to Donald Trump.

But even long before that, Scalise had embraced the extremist movement. At the start of his congressional career, Scalise reportedly described himself as being like Duke, the former head of the Ku Klux Klan, but “without the baggage.”

Scalise also attended a white supremacist conference that Duke organized in 2002. Scalise later described attending the conference as “a mistake.”

But Duke said Scalise was invited because he would “communicate a lot” and was “friendly” with Kenny Knight, Duke’s political adviser.