Video: Rashida Tlaib claims her bill to end federal prisons would not 'just release everybody.' Axios fact-checks her to her face, points out her bill will do just that



Progressive "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) reiterated her support for legislation that would empty federal prisons within 10 years in a recent interview, appearing to be dismissive of the potential ramifications of that policy.

On Sunday's episode of "Axios on HBO," reporter Jonathan Swan asked the Democratic lawmaker about her support for the BREATHE Act, a sweeping far-left reform bill written by the Movement for Black Lives that would defund federal law enforcement and the prison system. The proposal would also abolish life sentences, abolish mandatory minimum sentencing laws, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, cut the Department of Defense budget, and repeal the bipartisan 1994 crime bill.

"The BREATHE Act proposes emptying federal detention facilities within 10 years. To what extent have you wrestled with any potential downsides of releasing into society every single person who's currently in a federal prison?" Swan asked.

"Yeah, again, I think that everyone's like, 'OMG we're going to just release everybody.' That's not what I'm saying," Tlaib replied.

"That's what it says!" Swan protested, observing that the legislation calls for closing federal prisons.

"Yeah, but did you see how many people are mentally ill that are in prison right now?" Tlaib said, dismissing his point.

Swan then pressed her on the fact that the bill she endorsed says everyone gets released, including human traffickers and child sex predators, not just mentally ill people.

"Oh, I know," Tlaib said while denying that she supports the blanket release of people from federal prison.

"What I'm saying is look at who's in prison right now. No, look at the folks that are mentally ill, that have substance abuse problems."

.@jonathanvswan presses Rep. Tlaib on backing a bill to end federal prisons: To what extent have you wrestled w/ potential downsides? \n\nTlaib: I think everyone's like, oh my god, we're going to just release everybody.\n\nSwan: But the act you endorsed actually says release everyonepic.twitter.com/ZBX3T9wxQy
— Axios (@Axios) 1637596854

"I'm not disagreeing with you that there are people who shouldn't be in prison," Swan said before Tlaib interrupted him.

"Yeah, but then why aren't you asking me about them? You're asking me about human traffickers and others that should stay [in prison]."

"What I'm trying to understand, because it is such a sweeping concrete proposal, do you believe that there are still categories of people who should be behind bars?" Swan asked.

"There are absolutely folks that — I don't under— you know, I don't know," Tlaib responded. "Because right now, the way the prison system was supposed to be like rehabilitary [sic], you know, it's supposed to be rehabilitation, right? ... I don't think there's any rehabilitation happening right now."

"Do you think all people can be rehabilitated?" Swan asked in a follow-up question.

"I don't think so. I've been very clear about that. And I only tell you that because, as somebody that has worked in the legal field and others, I don't even know if our society would even know how to be able to rehabilitate every single person that wants to harm people," Tlaib answered.

She added that what concerns her are statistics showing that many people who were incarcerated at a young age were put in prison with mental health or other issues and don't receive rehabilitative care that might keep them from re-offending. For instance, researchers in one study that examined prison populations found that about 7% of prison population growth from 1980 to 2000 — about 40,000 to 72,000 people — would have likely been placed in mental institutions in the past.

As for those that should remain behind bars, Tlaib said, "I would have to look at each case individually and figure that all out."

Liz Cheney defends voter ID laws against accusations of voter suppression

Liz Cheney defends voter ID laws against accusations of voter suppression



Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) defended efforts by Republican-controlled legislatures in several states to pass election security laws, denying that these laws were linked to former President Donald Trump's claims that the 2020 presidential election was illegitimate in an interview that aired over the weekend.

"You have to look at the specifics of each one of those efforts," Cheney told Axios national political correspondent Jonathan Swan on "Axios on HBO." "I think if you look at the Georgia laws, for example, there's been a lot that's been said nationally about the Georgia voter laws that turns out not to be true."

Cheney was ousted from House Republican leadership for opposing Trump's claims about election fraud and for calling for the party to reject Trumpism. Before she was voted out of leadership, she condemned the former president in a forceful speech on the House floor, accusing him of provoking the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol and undermining the democratic process by continuing to insist the election was stolen.

Nevertheless, Cheney voiced support for voter integrity measures supported by Republicans that Democrats and mainstream media have maligned as voting "restrictions" or voter "suppression" passed in response to or because of Trump's claims about election fraud.

Watch:

In the campaign against these laws, several myths were spread about the Georgia law in particular, which critics said would make it harder for minority Americans to vote by requiring ID for mail-in or absentee ballots.

"I will never understand the resistance, for example, to voter ID," Cheney said. "There's a big difference between that and a president of the United States who loses an election after he tried to steal the election and refuses to concede."

Though she defended the various Republican election bills, Cheney did not walk back her criticism of Trump, calling his refusal to acknowledge Biden's legitimate victory "really dangerous."

"I think about 2000," she said. "I think about sitting on the inaugural platform in January of 2001 watching Al Gore. ... I'm sure he didn't think he had lost. We had fought this politically very, very intense battle. And he conceded. He did the right thing for this nation.

"And that is one of the big differences between that and what we're dealing with now and the danger of Donald Trump today," she said.

Though Cheney's principled stance against Trump won her short-term applause in the liberal media, her position on the GOP voting bills is leading progressive columnists to denounce her as an opponent of voting rights and a supporter of the Republican Party's purported "war on voting."

Lindsey Graham on Trump: He could make GOP 'stronger' or 'could destroy it'

Lindsey Graham on Trump: He could make GOP 'stronger' or 'could destroy it'



Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), once one of former President Donald Trump's harshest critics, says that the best way forward for the Republican Party is to continue to stand with Trump and his policies.

In an interview with reporter Jonathan Swan for "Axios on HBO," Graham said that Trump has the capability to make the GOP "bigger" and "stronger" or he "could destroy it."

"He could make the Republican Party something that nobody else I know can make it. He can make it bigger. He can make it stronger. He can make it more diverse. And he also could destroy it," Graham said.

Graham said he thinks that the "movement" started by Trump is "good for the country," noting that former Republican presidential nominees John McCain and Mitt Romney were unable to galvanize the American people in the way Trump accomplished to win the White House in 2016.

"Mitt Romney didn't do it. John McCain didn't do it. There's something about Trump. There's a dark side, and there's some magic there. And what I'm trying to do is just harness the magic," Graham told Swan.

He went on to describe the former president as "sort of a cross between Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, and P.T. Barnum."

Graham explained that he's trying to keep in touch with Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and after he voted, against Trump's wishes, to certify the Electoral College results declaring President Joe Biden the legitimate winner of the 2020 election. "Enough is enough," Graham said in an impassioned speech decrying the effort to overturn the election as "the most offensive concept in the world."

But now it's time to move on. "Donald Trump was my friend before the riot. And I'm trying to keep a relationship with him after the riot. I still consider him a friend. What happened was a dark day in American history, and we're going to move forward," he told Swan.

That statement is a far cry from where Lindsey Graham was in 2015, when he himself was running for president against Trump in the Republican primary. During that election, Graham called Trump a "kook," "crazy," and said he was "unfit for office."

"He's a race-baiting, xenophobic religious bigot," he said on CNN. "He doesn't represent my party."

After Trump won the White House, Graham's tone changed drastically. He once explained to the New York Times magazine that his embrace of Trump was "to try to be relevant" and work with the president to achieve "really good outcomes for the country." Taking Trump's side helped Graham win re-election in South Carolina in 2020, but even now that Graham isn't up for re-election for another six years, he still wants the Republican Party to follow Trump's lead.

"I want us to continue the policies that I think will make America strong," Graham said. "I believe the best way for the Republican Party to do that is with Trump, not without Trump."

Ted Cruz: Hunter Biden's emails don't move a single voter



Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) doesn't think the Trump campaign attacks on Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden's foreign business dealings are landing.

In an interview with Jonathan Swan on "Axios on HBO," Cruz reportedly said the focus on revelations from Hunter Biden's emails isn't an effective line of attack against the Biden campaign. "I don't think it moves a single voter," Cruz said.

American voters were handed an October surprise when the New York Post published emails obtained from a laptop allegedly belonging to Hunter Biden. Among the revelations were emails that suggest Hunter Biden had set up meetings with foreign partners to pursue "lucrative" deals that would be "interesting to my family." A business partner of the Biden family later came forward to allege that Joe Biden was involved in these business deals, despite Biden's multiple denials that he had anything to do with Hunter's foreign entanglements.

The topic came up during the final presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Biden, when Trump confronted Biden on the emails and asked him to explain to the American people what was going on.

"I have not taken a penny from any foreign source in my life," Biden said.

Reviewing last Thursday's presidential debate, Cruz thought Biden had an effective counter to Trump's attacks.

"One of Biden's best points was when he said, 'All of these attacks back and forth about my family and his family, they don't matter. What matters is your family,'" Cruz said.

He added that for Trump to win, Republicans need to pivot to a positive message and ensure that the president's supporters get to the polls.

"I think we should be unifying, we should be explaining, we should be lifting people up," Cruz said. "I think it's a turnout election. But my assessment of turnout is the left is showing up no matter what. That those who hate Trump will crawl over broken glass to vote against him."

"The big unknown in this election is: Is everyone else gonna show up?"

The Nov. 3 election is just one week away. According to the Daily Caller, recent polling has shown that Biden's 9.1-point lead over Trump has remained more or less unchanged since the New York Post published the Hunter Biden emails in mid-October.

According to the Associated Press, 58.6 million Americans have voted early, far surpassing the number of early or absentee votes in 2016. Democrats lead Republicans in the early ballot casting, but Republicans are catching up.