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Bret Baier asked Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm about her ownership of millions of dollars of stock in Proterra, a company promoted repeatedly by the Biden admin. The Free Beacon first broke this story in April 😎

Former State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said the Democratic Party should do more than just call on New York governor Andrew Cuomo (D.) to resign after the state's attorney general said he sexually harassed 11 women. "I think the Democratic Party should do more than just calling for him to resign," Ortagus said on Tuesday night. "As I checked, going into this program, he’s still on ActBlue’s platform. ActBlue is the major fundraising apparatus of most Democrat candidates in the United States." Ortagus said Democrats should "stop doing fundraisers" and "shame anyone who supports him" if they really want Cuomo to face consequences. While President Joe Biden, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and other Democrats have called on Cuomo to resign in light of his sexual harassment accusations, the Washington Free Beacon reported on Tuesday that ActBlue has not cut ties with Cuomo. The organization's inaction defies a precedent it set last August when it removed a Kansas state Democrat who in middle school circulated revenge porn of an ex-girlfriend. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/beastmode-morgan-ortagus-says-dems-can-do-more-than-call-on-cuomo-to-resign/

Sen. Ron Johnson (R., Wis.) on Wednesday blasted Democrats' attempts to blame Republicans for politicizing the COVID-19 pandemic, saying Democrats first used the coronavirus to score political points. "When we hear accusations from the other side that Republicans have politicized COVID, I mean, go back to March, April, May, June 2020," Johnson said at a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. "Who was politicizing COVID? It was the current president and vice president in their campaign, who expressed skepticism over a ‘Trump vaccine.'" Johnson called out Senate Democrats for not pushing agencies harder to release information, which he said contributes to unvaccinated Americans' unwillingness to get the shots. "We have five members of the Homeland Security Committee asking the Health and Human Services Department to turn over the emails from Anthony Fauci, unredacted," Johnson said. "What we got yesterday was the 4,000 pages of redacted emails. The agencies are not being transparent, and I would argue that that is the reason you're seeing people hesitant." Johnson's comments come two days after the senator criticized the Biden administration for working with big tech companies to flag what it considers COVID-19 misinformation, concerns he echoed at the hearing. Johnson and eight other Republican senators "consider any efforts by the government to collude with social media in this manner to be a dangerous assault on Americans' First Amendment right to freedom of speech," they wrote in a Monday letter. Johnson ended his remarks by calling out Democrats' increasing demands for COVID-19 "mandates and passports." "We've given up enough freedom during this pandemic," Johnson said. "It's time for Americans to regain their freedom." https://freebeacon.com/coronavirus/sen-ron-johnson-its-democrats-who-politicized-covid/

Virginia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Terry McAuliffe spent years accusing Republicans and the Supreme Court of stealing the 2000 election—behavior he now says makes "our democracy look bad around the globe." During a private Monday fundraiser, McAuliffe told donors he is "so tired" of those who question President Joe Biden's electoral win, saying the claims are "hurting our country" and "hurting those young men and women in uniform." Within hours of taking over the Democratic National Committee in 2001, however, McAuliffe embraced a conspiracy theory that former president George W. Bush's 2000 election win was stolen, a claim he continued to make for at least three years. McAuliffe went on Meet the Press to defend his claim that the Supreme Court "tampered" with the election, saying he had to start his tenure as DNC chair "with a bang." McAuliffe's stolen election claims continued through at least 2004, when he said Democrats "actually won the last presidential election." "Don't tell me that every vote doesn't count," McAuliffe said at a grassroots training event. "We actually won the last presidential election, folks. They stole the last presidential election." McAuliffe's denialist rhetoric stands in contrast to GOP opponent Glenn Youngkin, who in May said Biden was "legitimately elected our president." The Democrat is now accusing Youngkin of "promoting Trump's dangerous lies" by attacking the Republican's "Election Integrity Task Force," which aims to "establish a politically independent and transparent Virginia Department of Elections" and "strengthen Virginia's voter identification in all methods of voting." The McAuliffe campaign did not return a request for comment on whether the Democrat still believes Republicans "stole" the 2000 election. McAuliffe has also sent at least five fundraising emails written by failed Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Abrams has refused to call Republican governor Brian Kemp "legitimate" and said as recently as April 2021 that the election was "stolen from the voters of Georgia." "Yes or no, do you still maintain the 2018 election was stolen? That's your language," Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) asked Abrams in April. "My full language was that it was stolen from the voters of Georgia," Abrams responded. "We do not know what they would have done because not every eligible Georgian was permitted to participate fully in the election." https://freebeacon.com/elections/terry-mcauliffe-championed-stolen-election-conspiracy-theory-for-years/

Former governor Terry McAuliffe (D., Va.) looks and dances like an old lesbian, a Washington Free Beacon analysis has determined. McAuliffe, the Democratic nominee to replace Gov. Ralph "Blackface" Northam (D., Va.), has attempted to make a schtick of his awkward dancing on the campaign trail. In doing so, he has succeeded in capturing the vibe of prominent old lesbian Ellen DeGeneres. Further investigation uncovered additional similarities between the seemingly disparate public figures. Born almost exactly one year apart, McAuliffe and DeGeneres appear to share a physical resemblance. They both enjoy taking selfies with large groups of weirdos. And they both enjoy hanging with Hillary Clinton, who most experts agree is the least likable politician in American history. It remains to be seen whether these findings will be of any significance to the Virginia gubernatorial election, which takes place in November of this year. Rest assured, the Free Beacon will continue to monitor this developing story. https://freebeacon.com/satire/terry-mcauliffe-old-lesbian/

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) went after a Coca-Cola executive Tuesday afternoon for the company's hypocritical criticism of Georgia's election reform bill as it looked the other way on China's genocidal practices. "Can you tell me why Coca-Cola doesn't have a say in whether it sponsors the genocide Olympics next year, but it does have a say in how the state of Georgia runs its election laws?" Cotton said. "So you are spending millions of dollars to sponsor the genocide Olympics, yet you will not opine on any matter about it. Yet you will stick your nose in the Georgia legislature's election reform laws. Can you explain to me the contrast?" https://freebeacon.com/latest-news/beastmode-cotton-slams-coke-for-sponsoring-chinas-genocide-olympics/

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.) continues to defy Washington, D.C., traffic regulations by illegally parking her Tesla near the Whole Foods in her posh neighborhood. Video obtained by the Washington Free Beacon shows the socialist congresswoman packing her Tesla on Sunday while the luxury sports car was parked in a clearly marked restricted area. Perhaps most disturbingly, Ocasio-Cortez was seen transporting her belongings on a hotel dolly, which some experts have identified as a symbol of white supremacy and income inequality. The video suggests Ocasio-Cortez was not chastened by the Free Beacon‘s groundbreaking exposé on her illegal parking habits. Our publication of photos taken on May 14, which showed the congresswoman's Tesla in brazen contravention of the district's parking rules, took the political world by storm. Most journalistic organizations do not believe public officials should be held accountable for their actions or called out for attempting to evade the everyday regulations by which normal citizens are forced to abide, especially when that public official is a prominent Democrat. The Free Beacon respectfully disagrees. The illegal act caught on tape is further confirmation that AOC owns a white Tesla, believed to be a Model 3 Long Range with a retail price of between $46,000 and $59,000. In February 2021, the congresswoman admitted feeling "very lucky that I have not gotten a parking ticket," suggesting a willingness to defy the law when it interferes with her personal convenience. Ocasio-Cortez, who claims to oppose billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, appears to be an avid consumer of billionaire-owned products and services. She remains one of the most controversial (and most online) politicians in Congress, best known for her enthusiastic support for U.S. sanctions against Israel. It is not known whether D.C. authorities have been alerted to the video evidence of the illegal parking incident. The Free Beacon will continue to keep our readers apprised of this developing scandal. https://freebeacon.com/politics/illegal-testa-parking-scandal/

Texas Democrats defied the air travel mask mandate enacted by President Joe Biden when they chartered an aircraft from Texas to Washington, D.C., on Monday to protest new voting legislation in Texas. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/democrats-praise-lawmakers-who-broke-biden-mask-mandate/

Remember Michael Avenatti? Even the best of the best Jeopardy! champions did not know who the disgraced attorney was. During Thursday's Tournament of Champions episode, the three contestants were stumped by the $800 answer under the category "Lawyers, Law & Legality," which read "this lawyer's star rose while repping Stormy Daniels but fell after he was accused of trying to extort millions from Nike in 2019." The contestants, including record-breaking champion James Holzhauer, looked on blankly before time ran out and host Alex Trebek gave the correct response, adding, "his name quickly forgotten, obviously." It was one of only a few clues none of the contestants knew during the game. Avenatti, a Democrat, rose to prominence in 2018 as the lawyer for Daniels, the porn actress who claimed she had an affair with Donald Trump in 2006 and received a hush-money payment during the 2016 campaign. Avenatti became a ubiquitous presence on cable news, appearing more than 200 times on CNN and MSNBC. He delighted liberals with his brash confidence and predictions that President Trump would not make it through his first term. Avenatti was feted by media figures as a threat to Trump's presidency and was even dubbed the "savior of the republic," leading him to flirt with a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. He said in December he would not run, shortly after charges against him for domestic violence were dropped. In March, he was arrested on charges of extortion and fraud in New York and California, and he has since been indicted for other financial crimes. https://freebeacon.com/culture/no-one-on-jeopardy-knows-who-michael-avenatti-is/

Democratic attorney Michael Avenatti is facing spending the rest of his life in prison in New York and California for a wide array of financial crimes, including fraud, embezzlement and extortion. A year ago, he was a human Excalibur who could possibly vanquish Donald Trump once and for all. In 2018, one couldn't turn on the news without seeing his face while promoting himself and his client Stormy Daniels's case against Trump, which delved into a non-disclosure agreement and hush money payment over an alleged 2006 affair she had with Trump. In addition to being a near-daily guest on CNN and MSNBC, Avenatti appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, Real Time with Bill Maher, CBS This Morning, Good Morning America, Today, The View, The Circus and more, racking up hundreds of millions of dollars of free media. On May 3 last year, he appeared on 10 different shows in 24 hours. Avenatti won accolades from liberal media members for his aggressive style and promises of bringing down Trump—he repeatedly has predicted Trump won't serve out his first term—such as MSNBC contributor Eddie Glaude, Jr. calling him a "beast" and claiming historian Jon Meacham called him the "savior of the republic." MSNBC's Stephanie Ruhle said she had to offer Avenatti an apology for doubting his ability to combat Trump, MSNBC's Lawrence O'Donnell said Trump was "terrified" of Avenatti, and The View‘s Joy Behar said he was "saving the country." Liberal comedian Bill Maher introduced him as Trump's "worst nightmare" and said he was a "folk hero" to people who believed he and Daniels would be the tip of the spear to take down Trump for alleged campaign financial crimes. Colbert called the case an "existential threat to the Trump presidency." Avenatti capitalized on his fame to flirt with running for president, claiming the Democratic National Committee had given him "encouragement" to do so. He visited Iowa and declared that "when they go low, we hit harder." Deadline: White House host Nicolle Wallace, a frequent interviewer, got a look at Avenatti's remarks before that Iowa visit and said his speech "hit a lot of the right notes," adding if Democrats were looking for a fighter, they "would be foolish to underestimate Michael Avenatti." "I have always said they needed a fighter!" The Root‘s Jason Johnson chimed in. Said the Washington Post‘s Phillip Rucker: He "stands out" among the current candidates as a non-office holder. The View allowed him to be a guest co-host for a show last August and got into such topics as Avenatti's sexual fantasies. As co-host Meghan McCain looked on, repulsed, Avenatti said it was "handcuffs." Putting them on others, specifically. "One reason why I'm taking you seriously as a contender is because of your presence on cable news," CNN's Brian Stelter told Avenatti last year. Avenatti made a telling remark during one of his sit-downs with Colbert. "We're going to continue to use the media. I think we've used it with great success," he said. https://freebeacon.com/politics/that-time-the-media-dubbed-michael-avenatti-savior-of-the-republic/

President Joe Biden took questions from members of the press Thursday regarding Congress's newest infrastructure deal, and he chose to convey several of his answers in a whispered tone. Vice President Kamala Harris stopped Biden as he wrapped up the conference to remind him to address the tragedy in Florida. https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-whispers-sweet-nothings-to-press/

The hosts and pundits of MSNBC and CNN, most of whom are rich white folks, are enraged about "white rage," their new favorite buzzword. They all seem to have decided that Fox News powerhouse Tucker Carlson, whose primetime show routinely ranks first in the ratings, is the embodiment of white rage. That's a bit rich coming from the cable networks that employed Chris Matthews, Ed Schultz, and Keith Olbermann—all white dudes with a penchant for rage. Lawrence O'Donnell, meanwhile, continues to express his white rage on MSNBC every night at 10 p.m., and Chris Cuomo, aka "Fredo," remains the darling of CNN. https://freebeacon.com/media/white-rage/

The Supreme Court affirmed the Affordable Care Act in a 7-2 decision on Thursday, dismissing the challenge to the law and leaving Obamacare intact. Justice Amy Coney Barrett was among the justices who ruled in favor of the decision. During Barrett's confirmation hearings in October 2020, Democrats claimed that the very existence of the Affordable Care Act was in jeopardy if she were confirmed to serve on the High Court, as she would vote to overturn the law. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/flashback-senate-dems-call-barrett-nomination-a-threat-to-obamacare/

As the nation prepared to celebrate Juneteenth and the end of slavery in America, at least one Democrat was pushing back against his party's woke obsession with racial equity. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.) is defending his membership in an exclusive all-white beach club in the elite coastal enclave of Newport. Last week, a reporter for GoLocalProv.com followed up with Whitehouse, who told the local news outlet in 2017 he intended to "privately" urge the elite Bailey's Beach Club to do something about its all-white membership. "Are there any minority members of the club now?" the reporter asked. A defiant Whitehouse revealed that his alleged efforts to promote racial equity were not successful. "I think the people who are running the place are still working on that, and I'm sorry it hasn't happened yet," he said. Asked about his membership in the all-white club, and whether such racially exclusive institutions should even exist in 2021, Whitehouse explained that white supremacy was "a long tradition in Rhode Island" before being escorted away by a staffer. Sheldon, who promised to cancel his Bailey's membership back in 2006, continues to enjoy the privileges of the all-white club after transferring his ownership shares to his wife, Sandra Thornton, in 2010. As a result, "Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse" became one of the largest shareholders, alongside prominent members of the Vanderbilt and Astor families. When GoLocalProv.com confronted Whitehouse in 2017 about his refusal to cut ties with the racially exclusive beach club, he conceded, "It would be nice if [Bailey's] changed a little bit," but insisted that he was not in a "position" to make those decisions. "I will take that up privately," he said before fleeing the scene. Whitehouse has remained steadfast in his support for the all-white institution, even as he's denounced by racial activists in his state. Mike Araujo, executive director of Rhode Island Jobs With Justice, said the senator's membership in Bailey's was "deeply disappointing yet not surprising" because "racism is the air we breathe in this country." His refusal to distance himself from the club, Araujo wrote, "casts a lot of doubt on his overall integrity when it comes to issues of diversity and racial justice." The New York Times article on the Newport beach club, published in 2003, suggests that little has changed in nearly two decades: Diversity, of course, has made scant inroads on the Newport of Bailey's Beach, whose membership profile might be defined less by who people are than what they are not. "Jewish, yes," Audrey Oswald, a lifelong member replied, when asked about the club's demographic composition. "Blacks, not really," Ms. Oswald added, although that is not altogether the case. Mrs. Slocum, by all accounts the reigning dowager of the resort, has grown grandchildren who sometimes visit the beach and who are biracial, the offspring of her daughter Beryl's marriage to Adam Clayton Powell III. Whitehouse deserves credit for being one of the only prominent Democrats willing to stand athwart wokeness yelling "stop!" Opponents of white supremacy will have to pry his Bailey's membership from his cold dead hands. https://freebeacon.com/satire/whitehouse-racism-update/

President Joe Biden delivered a new set of gaffes during the G7 summit and his closing remarks at the NATO press conference. On multiple occasions during the summit, Biden confused the country of Libya with Syria. While attempting to respond to a question from CNN's Jeff Zeleny at the NATO press conference, Biden lost his train of thought and followed up with an exceedingly long pause. https://freebeacon.com/biden-administration/biden-gaffes-deliver-new-embarrassments/

Last year, multiple media outlets, including the New York Times, reported that Russia paid Afghan militants bounties to kill U.S troops. At the time, Democrats and their allies in the media jumped on the story to attack former president Donald Trump. During one of the presidential debates, Joe Biden said Trump was "unwilling to take on Putin when he's actually paying bounties to kill American soldiers in Afghanistan." As it turns out, however, U.S. intelligence officials have "low to moderate confidence" the reports are true, according to the Biden administration. Now, some in the media are walking back the allegations. "It looks as though in this case, Trump might have had the right response," CNN's Jake Tapper said. https://freebeacon.com/media/flashback-media-and-dems-parroted-discredited-russia-bounty-story/

CNN sent a national correspondent to House Republican Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy's district in Bakersfield, Calif., to get voters to complain about their representative. The effort fell flat, particularly with one man who told the CNN reporter he had no interest in talking with them after "reading your guys post and how you twist everything." In the full segment CNN aired, most voters weren't willing to criticize McCarthy. https://freebeacon.com/media/beastmode-california-man-shuts-down-cnn-reporter/

Left-wing media network CNN welcomed Jeffrey Toobin back to the airwaves on Thursday, seven months after the legal analyst was granted "time off" for a "personal issue" after taking his dick out and masturbating in front of colleagues on a Zoom call. Appearing as a guest alongside host Alisyn Camerota, and filmed from the waist up, the disgraced analyst sought to atone for the masturbation scandal that cost him his job as a columnist for the New Yorker. Unlike CNN, the publication deemed his termination necessary to foster "an environment where everyone feels respected and upholds our standards of conduct." Camerota introduced Toobin by laying out the details of the incident. "I feel like we should address what's happened in the months since we've seen you, since some of our viewers may not know what has happened, so I guess I'll recap," she said. "In October, you were on a Zoom call with your colleagues from the New Yorker magazine. Everyone took a break for several minutes, during which time you were caught masturbating on camera. You were subsequently fired from that job after 27 years of working there, and you since then have been on leave from CNN. Do I have all that right?" She did. Toobin began with a qualified defense of his actions during that fateful call. "I didn't think other people could see," he said. "That is part of the story." He went on to describe the "miserable" seven months he has spent "trying to be a better person" by going to therapy and working in a food bank. Toobin said he had spoken to several of his former colleagues at the New Yorker, who were "shocked and appalled" by what they saw that day. They ultimately realized, he said, that his masturbating "was not intended for them," which presumably came as a relief. "I'm a flawed human being who makes mistakes," said Toobin, who once had a nearly decade-long extramarital affair with Casey Greenfield, the 20-something daughter of a former CBS colleague. When Toobin's mistress informed him she was pregnant, according to the New York Times, he "questioned the paternity, balked at submitting to a test, and vowed to take no responsibility for a baby he wasn't sure was his." He eventually acknowledged paternity after being sued for child support. Camerota and Toobin went on to imply that the New Yorker overreacted by firing him for masturbating in front of his colleagues. "I thought this punishment was excessive," he said. "I am incredibly grateful to CNN for taking me back." Being a journalist has taught him that "not every crime deserves the death penalty." In any event, he boasted, it was pretty cool to see his public masturbation memorialized in "two segments on Saturday Night Live." Toobin did his best to assure viewers that his days of sexual misadventure were behind him."I don't think there is anything further that is going to come out," he said, inartfully. We can only hope. https://freebeacon.com/media/jeffrey-toobin-rises-again/

Vice President Kamala Harris is supposed to be in charge of the immigration crisis on the southern border but is struggling to take the assignment seriously. Back in March, for example, she couldn't stop laughing after a reporter asked whether she had plans to go to the border and witness the crisis firsthand. The struggle continues, apparently, as Harris was unable to control her laughter once again during an interview with NBC's Lester Holt on Tuesday. Not only that, but Harris also falsely claimed "we've been to the border" in a bizarre attempt to challenge the premise of Holt's question. "This whole thing about the border. We've been to the border. We've been to the border," Harris said. When Holt pointed out that she had not, in fact, been to the border, Harris appeared to concede. "I—and I haven't been to Europe. And I mean, I don't—I don't understand the point that you're making," Harris said. Republicans seized, obviously, on Harris's unusual remarks. As a result, Holt's colleagues in the media were quick to seize on the GOP seizing. "Republicans and conservatives are going crazy on Twitter," New York Times reporter Katie Rogers said during Tuesday's press briefing at the White House. "Does the president think there is a scenario in which she should visit the border? And also the mounting criticism from conservatives, would that ever factor [into] a decision to send her down there?" Rogers continued. "I mean, don't they have a point that if she has this task in front of her, should she not see the end cause as well as the root cause of the problem?" White House press secretary Jen Psaki responded vaguely, suggesting that visiting the southern border was something that Harris "certainly may do" at some point. https://freebeacon.com/politics/kamala-harris-border-crisis-laugh/

First Lady Jill Biden, a.k.a. "Dr. Jill," was supposed to lead the Biden administration's response to the immigration crisis on the southern border. Apparently, that was just another exaggerated credential. President Joe Biden announced Wednesday that Vice President Kamala Harris will be in charge of solving the unprecedented border crisis, a move some pundits have interpreted as an effort to sabotage Harris's inevitable campaign to replace Biden as president in 2024. The announcement came days after Harris embarrassed herself by laughing like a maniac in response to a reporter's question about her plans to visit the southern border. It was a typical response for Harris, whose political skills were highly overrated leading up to her failed presidential campaign in 2020. Equally embarrassing was the fact that many of the so-called journalists laughed along with Harris, who continues to benefit from the media's obsession with a politician who occasionally wears trendy shoes that go viral on social media. https://freebeacon.com/politics/kamala-harris-border-crisis/

Whoopi Goldberg gave the Washington Free Beacon a shoutout on The View for breaking the story about a Google diversity head who published an anti-Semitic blog post. Kamau Bobb wrote in 2007 on his personal blog that Jews have an "insatiable appetite for war" and an "insensitivity to the suffering [of] others." https://freebeacon.com/media/whoopi-gives-a-shoutout-to-the-free-beacon/

Dr. Anthony Fauci's emails during the coronavirus pandemic were released this week through the Freedom of Information Act, and the media have shown little restraint in delivering him softball questions on the subject. CNN and MSNBC's hosts seemed uninterested in pressing the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases director on questions raised by the contents of the emails, such as whether he wrongly dismissed the possibility that the coronavirus emerged from a laboratory leak in Wuhan, China. https://freebeacon.com/media/media-serve-up-softballs-on-fauci-emails/

CNN turned 41 this week. It's an occasion worth celebrating, despite the fact that no one cares. When billionaire Ted Turner founded the Cable News Network in 1980, he set out to "create a positive force in a world where cynics abound." Viewers can decide whether or not the network has lived up to its founding promise. Happy Birthday! https://freebeacon.com/media/video-happy-birthday-cnn/

The media for months accused the Trump administration of peddling a "conspiracy theory" that the novel coronavirus originated from a Wuhan virology lab. Now, the idea that the virus came from a lab is a "serious scientific question." https://freebeacon.com/media/media-change-tune-on-coronavirus-lab-leak/

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) slammed the Associated Press on Monday for sharing office space with Hamas in a Gaza tower. "Why is the Associated Press sharing a building with Hamas?" Cotton asked on the Senate floor. "Surely these intrepid reporters knew who their neighbors were." Israeli forces destroyed the tower in Gaza on Saturday with an airstrike after giving an hour warning to evacuate the building before the attack. The Israeli military said the building was a target because it contained several assets of Hamas intelligence agencies. In a statement, the Associated Press said it had "no indication" Hamas officials were sharing the building with its reporters. https://freebeacon.com/national-security/beastmode-sen-cotton-surely-these-intrepid-reporters-knew-who-their-neighbors-were/