Politics

WASHINGTON (AP) — Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson said Sunday he is weighing a presidential run in 2024 and his decision won’t be affected by whether former President Donald Trump decides to join the race.

Hutchinson, a two-term Republican governor who is restricted under Arkansas law from seeking a third term, said it was time for the national GOP to move on from Trump in regards to the candidates he’s endorsing in the 2022 midterm elections as well as “the direction he wants to take our country.”

Asked on CNN’s “State of the Union” if he was mulling a presidential run, Hutchinson replied: “I am. But you have got to get through, of course, this year, but that’s an option that’s on the table.”

Making clear he was “not aligned” with Trump, Hutchinson added: “I think he did a lot of good things for our country, but we need to go a different direction. And so that’s not a factor in my decision-making process.”

Currently the chairman of the National Governors Association, Hutchinson in recent months has become a fixture on cable television — at times drawing the ire of Trump — in defending his veto of legislation targeting transgender youths in the state and warning fellow Republicans about tying their fortunes too closely to the former president. After the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, which led to Trump’s impeachment by the House, Hutchinson said he wanted Trump’s administration to end. He’s made it clear since early 2021 that he would not back a Trump 2024 bid and urged public officials to look ahead rather than focus on Trump’s false claims of a stolen 2020 election.

Though Trump remains the most popular figure among Republican voters who dominate primary elections, several GOP figures are considering presidential runs on a platform opposing the former president. Beyond Hutchinson, they include Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland and Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming.

Other candidates eyeing possible runs are Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former Vice President Mike Pence and former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, though they have been less clear about their intentions if Trump enters the race. Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and U.N. ambassador, has said she would stand down on a potential bid if Trump opts to run a second time.

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NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas (AP) — Robert C. Krueger, who followed two U.S. House terms with a brief interim appointment to the Senate before launching a sometimes-hazardous diplomatic career, has died at age 86, his family said Sunday.

Krueger died Saturday morning in his New Braunfels home with his wife by his side after suffering from congestive heart failure, daughter Sarah Krueger said.

Funeral arrangements were pending.

Most of Krueger’s career was as an academic at Duke University, the University of Texas at Austin, Rice University, Oxford University and Texas State University.

Even while pursuing that career, Krueger, a Democrat, ventured into politics in 1974 with his first election to the U.S. House. After two House terms, President Jimmy Carter appointed him as a U.S. ambassador at large and coordinator for Mexican affairs. He served in that capacity until the end of the Carter administration in 1981.

Krueger returned to elective politics when he won a seat on the Texas Railroad Commission in 1990. He served from January 1991 until Texas Gov. Ann Richards tapped him to complete Lloyd Bentsen’s unexpired U.S. Senate term in January 1993 when Bentsen left to become President Bill Clinton’s Treasury secretary. However, Krueger lost to Republican Kay Baily Hutchison in a June 1993 special election.

Krueger returned to diplomacy when Clinton named him U.S. ambassador to Burundi in 1994. The eastern African country was embroiled in civil strife at the time. Krueger had to be airlifted when his convoy was attacked by unidentified gunmen in June 1995, killing one convoy member and injuring several others, and was recalled from the post for his safety.

Krueger was U.S. ambassador to Botswana in 1996-99 and a special U.S. representative to the 14-nation Southern African Development Community in 1998-2000. He then returned to academia as a visiting fellow at Merton College, Oxford, and continued his academic pursuits until his 2017 retirement from a lectureship position at Texas Tech University.

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(Reuters) – Former U.S. President Donald Trump is trying to demonstrate his power over the Republican Party with more than 150 endorsements of candidates in November’s midterm elections that will determine control of Congress for 2023 and 2024.

Twelve key picks — including some against incumbent members of his party — will show Trump’s influence.

Primary elections in the weeks ahead will test Trump’s sway with Republican primary voters, though only Nov. 8 will show how many Trump-backed candidates can win office.

J.D. VANCE

* U.S. Senate seat for Ohio vacated by retiring Senator Rob Portman

* May 3 Republican nomination contest

Trump-backed Vance is best known as the author of best-seller “Hillbilly Elegy” which documented the descent of factory towns in states like Ohio into poverty and drug abuse. He has styled himself as an angry populist in the Trumpian mold but a recent public opinion poll on the Republican nomination contest pointed to a close race with former Ohio state treasurer Josh Mandel.

TED BUDD

* U.S. Senate seat for North Carolina vacated by retiring Senator Richard Burr

* May 17 Republican nomination contest

Budd, a rank-and-file member of the House of Representatives, had little statewide name recognition before he sought the Republican nomination for what is expected to be a tight race in November. Even with Trump’s endorsement, Budd has trailed former North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory in public opinion polls for much of the race, though in recent polling Budd has taken a modest lead.

MEHMET OZ

* U.S. Senate seat for Pennsylvania vacated by retiring Senator Pat Toomey

* May 17 Republican nomination contest

Oz is a celebrity doctor whose public image took a blow in 2014 when he told lawmakers probing bogus diet product ads that some of the products promoted on his show lacked “scientific muster.” Trump’s decision to endorse Oz has divided Republican Party leaders in Pennsylvania, with a former hedge fund CEO David McCormick and conservative commentator Kathy Barnette also contenders for the Republican nomination. The three candidates were virtually tied in a recent public opinion poll. The winner of the primary will face a Democrat in what is expected to be among the tightest races of the November elections.

HERSCHEL WALKER

* Versus U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock of Georgia

* May 24 Republican primary

Walker, a retired football star, is favored to win the Republican nomination contest and public opinion polls already point to a close race in November against Warnock, a Democratic pastor. But Trump-endorsed Walker, who has never held elected office, has vulnerabilities including past allegations of domestic abuse. Groups backing Walker’s Republican primary opponents are planning ad campaigns that argue Walker can’t beat Warnock because of his baggage.

DAVID PERDUE

* Versus Georgia Governor Brian Kemp

* May 24 Republican primary

In 2021, Perdue conceded that he lost his U.S. Senate to Democrat Jon Ossoff, but in March 2022 reversed himself, voicing false claims that the election was stolen, although the evidence of fraud that he cited was part of a case that was ultimately dismissed by a judge. Despite Trump’s endorsement of Perdue over Kemp, the state’s Republican governor who angered Trump by dismissing the former president’s false statements about election fraud, Kemp has a double-digit lead over Perdue in public opinion polls.

KATIE ARRINGTON

* Versus U.S. Representative Nancy Mace

* June 14 Republican primary for South Carolina’s 1st congressional district

Trump’s backing of Arrington is noteworthy because the South Carolina state representative is challenging a sitting Republican lawmaker who voted against Trump’s impeachment. Mace irked the former president shortly after taking office in January 2021 when she said Congress should consider censuring Trump for his role in his supporters’ assault on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. Arrington has trailed Mace in public opinion polls.

RUSSELL FRY

* Versus U.S. Representative Tom Rice

* June 14 Republican primary for South Carolina’s 7th congressional district

Trump’s pick to unseat incumbent Republican Rice, one of a handful of Republicans who voted to impeach the former leader, is a state representative whose campaign had nearly a half million dollars in the bank on March 31, pointing to a potentially competitive race with Rice.

LOREN CULP

* Versus U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse

* Aug. 2 Republican primary for Washington’s 4th congressional district

Trump’s pick to challenge Newhouse is former small-town police chief Loren Culp, who in March called for the execution of a Black man accused of badly injuring a woman by throwing her down the stairs of a train station. Trump had endorsed Culp in February, angered by Newhouse’s vote 2021 impeachment vote. While Newhouse’s campaign had nearly $1 million in the bank on March 31, Culp’s campaign had $23,543.

JOHN GIBBS

* Versus U.S. Representative Peter Meijer

* Aug 2 Republican primary for Michigan’s 3rd congressional district

Gibbs, a former housing official under Trump, saw his nomination to head the U.S. Office of Personnel Management flounder after lawmakers from both parties questioned his history of inflammatory tweets, including references to baseless conspiracy theories about Democrats and Satanism. His opponent Meijer, who voted to impeach Trump, is far ahead in fundraising. The winner of the nomination contest will face a Democrat in what is expected to be among the tightest House races in November.

JOE KENT

* Versus U.S. Representative Jaime Herrera Beutler

* Aug 2 Republican primary for Washington’s 3rd congressional district

Former special forces officer Joe Kent has campaigned with far right U.S. representative Matt Gaetz of Florida and told Oregon Public Broadcasting he held a social media strategy call with white nationalist Nicholas Fuentes, though he said he disagreed with Fuentes’ “ethno-nationalism.” Kent’s campaign had more than $1 million in the bank on March 31, setting up a strong challenge to incumbent Herrera Beutler, who voted to impeach Trump.

KELLY TSHIBAKA

* Versus U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska

* August 16 open primary contest

Trump is backing Tshibaka, a former Alaska state administration commissioner, to unseat Murkowski, who was one of just seven Republican senators that voted to convict Trump in 2021 on charges he incited insurrection. The Alaska contest has taken on the shade of a proxy war between Trump and Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who vowed to do everything possible to help the campaign of Murkowski, one of the Senate’s few moderates. Tshibaka’s campaign had nearly $1 million in the bank on March 31, suggesting she could be a formidable opponent.

HARRIET HAGEMAN

* Versus U.S. Representative Liz Cheney

* Aug. 16 Wyoming at-large-district Republican primary

Trump threw his backing behind Hageman, a land-use lawyer, in September 2021, looking to punish Cheney, who was stripped of her role as the No. 3 House Republican for voting to impeach the former president on a charge of inciting insurrection. Hageman led Cheney by 20 percentage points in a December public opinion poll.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Alistair Bell)

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Kentucky Agriculture Commissioner Ryan Quarles announced Saturday night that he will enter the 2023 governor’s race, joining what’s shaping up to be a crowded Republican contest to select a nominee to challenge Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear.

Quarles told a GOP gathering in Lexington that he will seek the state’s top elected position. He had officially announced his candidacy in an interview on WKYT-TV’s Kentucky Newsmakers program.

Quarles, in his second term as agriculture commissioner, has long been seen as a strong contender, having built up his name recognition in GOP strongholds across rural Kentucky. His entry into the race could signal a flurry of potential announcements in the coming weeks and months.

At a Republican gathering earlier Saturday in Oldham County, Quarles tried to link Beshear to President Joe Biden, pointing to surging inflation and fuel prices.

“If there’s one thing we can all agree on today, is that Gov. Andy Beshear and President Biden both need to be one-termers,” Quarles said.

Beshear has stressed his stewardship of the state’s economy while leading the Bluegrass State through the COVID-19 pandemic. The state’s two largest-ever economic development announcements — both related to battery production for electric vehicles — have come during his term. Recent polling showed the governor receiving high job-performance ratings from Kentuckians.

But the governor faces a tough reelection fight in a state trending heavily toward Republicans.

State Auditor Mike Harmon announced last year that he will seek the GOP nomination for governor.

Several other Republicans are thought to be weighing gubernatorial bids, including Attorney General Daniel Cameron, former United Nations Ambassador Kelly Craft, state Sens. Ralph Alvarado and Max Wise, state Rep. Savannah Maddox and Somerset Mayor Alan Keck.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, a Republican, said Saturday that he anticipates a large field of GOP candidates for governor next year

“I think we’re going to need more paper for the ballots,” he quipped in an interview with The Associated Press at the GOP gathering in Oldham County.

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By Karen Freifeld and Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) -A New York judge expressed surprise on Friday that Donald Trump, a man he described as perhaps the world’s most famous real estate developer, was unable to provide any documents sought in a probe of the Trump Organization, his family company.

Justice Arthur Engoron in New York state court in Manhattan said at a virtual hearing that he would go on holding the former U.S. president in contempt of court and fine him $10,000 a day despite a request from Trump’s lawyer to lift both orders.

“He’s Donald Trump, the most famous real estate developer in the world, arguably,” the judge said. “I am surprised he doesn’t seem to have any documents; they’re all with the organization.”

On Monday, Engoron issued the orders over Trump’s failure to comply with New York Attorney General Letitia James’ subpoena for documents. On Wednesday, Trump signed an affidavit saying he did not believe he had any relevant documents and, if there were any documents, the Trump Organization would have them.

On Friday, Engoron, who read Trump’s affidavit at the hearing, said the document bore “his inimitable signature” in what appeared to be a Sharpie. But he said that it lacked useful detail about where Trump kept his records.

In order to purge the contempt finding, Trump would have to submit an affidavit swearing to where his files were located, how they were stored, and who had access to them, as well as state whether he turned over his personal electronic devices for searching and imaging, the judge said later in a written order.

At the hearing, Engoron homed in on the small pieces of paper with an adhesive strip on one side that Trump is known for using. “He’s famous for post-its,” the judge said. “When he wants something done, he puts a post-it on something. I don’t think we’ve received any post-its.”

Trump Organization general counsel Alan Garten testified as part of the attorney general’s probe that Trump used post-it notes to communicate with employees, court records show.

But Trump lawyer Alina Habba said Trump does not have any post-its.

“You can fine us for 10 months but you’re not going to get any more documents from Donald Trump,” Habba said. “He doesn’t have the documents that you want.”

James says her probe has already turned up evidence that the Trump Organization – which manages hotels, golf courses and other real estate around the world – has given banks and tax authorities misleading financing information in order to obtain financial benefits such as favorable loans and tax breaks.

Engoron said he would consider Habba’s request to terminate the fine. “But if you don’t hear from me, the clock is still ticking,” he said.

A Republican, Trump denies wrongdoing and calls the probe politically motivated. James is a Democrat. Habba said on Friday that she would continue appealing against both the contempt order and the fine following Engoron’s oral ruling.

(Reporting by Karen Freifeld and Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Howard Goller and Daniel Wallis)

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By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The White House will issue guidance Friday to federal agencies in a bid to ensure effective implementation and oversight of the $1 trillion infrastructure spending law, officials told Reuters.

President Joe Biden will meet Friday with about a dozen inspectors general (IGs) and other oversight officials, the White House said, along with other key administration officials overseeing infrastructure spending.

Biden wants to empower IGs – independent government watchdogs – to ensure appropriate oversight of the big government spending plan approved in November, the officials said.

The 14-page guidance memo, reviewed by Reuters and being issued on Friday by White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Shalanda Young, says agencies must designate a senior official to be accountable for infrastructure spending implementation and to lead regular reviews.

Agencies should work with IGs as they design infrastructure programs and hold joint review meetings with IGs and OMB on significant programs, Young wrote.

The guidance says agencies should use “enterprise risk management practices … to identify and mitigate risks during program design.”

An administration official told Reuters the federal government was working to hire about 8,000 people to implement the infrastructure law, with the majority to be hired in 2022. The guidance says the jobs include “human resources, contracting officers, grants managers, and data scientists.”

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg wrote this week on Twitter the department “is ready to bring on thousands of new employees.” Buttigieg’s department is overseeing about $200 billion in competitive and discretionary grant programs.

A fact sheet seen by Reuters says the administration wants agencies to “make evidence-based decisions, transparently describe the criteria for investment decisions, (and) set and track measurable goals, performance indicators, and milestones.”

The guidance also directs agencies to make it easier for smaller governments to apply for grants, including providing technical assistance to local and tribal communities, and says agencies must report monthly infrastructure spending to government website USAspending.gov for public disclosure.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Editing by Bradley Perrett)

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By Jason Lange

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A bipartisan majority of U.S. voters oppose politicians punishing companies over their stances on social issues, a cold reception for campaigns like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ against Walt Disney Co, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.

The two-day poll completed on Thursday showed that 62% of Americans – including 68% of Democrats and 55% of Republicans – said they were less likely to back a candidate who supports going after companies for their views.

DeSantis signed a bill last week that strips Disney of self-governing authority at its Orlando-area parks in retaliation for its opposition to a new Florida law that limits the teaching of LGBTQ issues in schools.

For DeSantis, a rising star in the Republican Party, it was an attempt to bolster his conservative credentials as a culture warrior ahead of a possible run for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

But even when prompted along the lines of DeSantis’ own argument for his action – that laws should remove benefits of government tax breaks from corporations that push a “woke” agenda – 36% of Republicans nationally said they would be less likely to support a candidate with such a view.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll still showed that DeSantis, 43, is a potential force in national Republican politics.

Presented with a list of prominent politicians, a full 25% of Republican respondents said DeSantis best represents the values of their party, second only to former President Donald Trump who was favored by 40% of Republicans. Texas Governor Greg Abbott garnered 9%.

But the poll also showed a nation deeply divided on how schools teach about sexual orientation and gender identity — the subject of the controversial Florida law.

Half of U.S. voters support laws banning classroom discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity for children age 5-11, including 69% of Republicans and 36% of Democrats.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted online, in English and throughout the United States. It gathered responses from 1,003 adults and had a credibility interval, a measure of precision, of about 4 percentage points.

(This story corrects name in first para)

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)

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By Trevor Hunnicutt

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Joe Biden said American teachers are being unfairly targeted in “the culture wars,” and warned against book banning in an event at the White House Wednesday.

Biden, speaking at an annual 2022 National and State Teachers of the Year award ceremony, said politicians are trying to score points by banning books, in an apparent reference to conservatives and Republicans in states from Texas to Tennessee.

“American teachers have dedicated their lives to teaching our children and lifting them up,” Biden said to murmurs of agreement from the teachers. “We’ve got to stop making them the target of the culture wars. That’s where this is going.”

Across the United States, more than 1,000 titles, mostly addressing racism and LGBTQ issues, have been removed from school libraries in recent months, according to the writers’ organization PEN America.

He also defended U.S. teachers, who have been criticized by groups like “Moms for Liberty,” for they way they teach about race and slavery in the United States.

“Today, there are too many politicians trying to score political points, trying to ban books,” Biden said. “Did you ever think when you were teaching you’d be worrying about book burning and banning books all because it doesn’t fit someone’s political agenda?”

(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by David Gregorio)

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By Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Congress’s official probe into the Jan. 6, 2021, assault on the Capitol by Donald Trump’s supporters plans to hold public hearings in June before issuing a final report in early autumn, its chairman said on Tuesday.

The House of Representatives Select Committee on Jan. 6 is “still looking at probably early fall” for releasing the final report, Representative Bennie Thompson told reporters.

The committee’s leaders had previously said they were aiming for hearings in early spring.

The revised timetable would still allow the panel to release its findings before the Nov. 8 midterm elections, which will determine control of Congress for the next two years of President Joe Biden’s term.

Republicans, who are currently favored to reclaim control of the House in that election, are expected to shut the committee down if they do so.

The committee had previously planned to issue an interim report followed by a final report, but Thompson said the interim document is no longer in the works.

“The progress is coming at a better pace than we anticipated, so in all probability the goal is to produce one report,” Thompson, a Democrat, told reporters.

The committee is trying to establish then-President Trump’s actions while thousands of his supporters attacked police, vandalized the Capitol and sent members of Congress and then-Vice President Mike Pence running for their lives.

Congress had been meeting to count the electoral votes that gave Democrat Joe Biden victory in the November 2020 presidential election.

Some 800 people, including many Trump White House aides, have been interviewed in the committee’s investigation.

(Reporting by Patricia Zengerle and Jan Wolfe; Editing by Scott Malone and Lincoln Feast.)

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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Republicans hoping to emerge from crowded primaries this year stacked up on operatives with ties to former President Donald Trump, betting those connections would give them a leg up on landing critical endorsements that would help them win.

But as Trump wades into some of the most competitive primaries, the strategy is proving a bust.

In Ohio and Pennsylvania, two states that will kick off a more frenzied phase of the midterm campaign next month, the former president passed over candidates who hired some of his most prominent aides and allies. He instead endorsed contenders including Mehmet Oz and JD Vance, who were relatively new to politics but boasted high-wattage profiles tied to television and books.

As Trump seeks to assert himself this election year as the GOP’s undisputed kingmaker, the endorsements are a reminder of the traits that are often most important to him. While he demands loyalty of those around him, he rarely returns it in equal measure. And the former reality television star-turned-president remains dazzled by the power of celebrity in politics.

“Obviously Donald Trump is very mercurial about how he does things, right? So we might know now, with 20/20 hindsight, that that was not the best bet to make,” said longtime GOP strategist Doug Heye of the campaigns’ Trump hires. “But at the time,” he said, the hiring “made the most sense.”

The dynamic is especially clear in Pennsylvania, where Trump endorsed Oz, the celebrity heart surgeon best known as the host of daytime TV’s “The Dr. Oz Show,” over former hedge fund manager David McCormick.

McCormick hired two of Trump’s most trusted aides: domestic policy adviser and speechwriter Stephen Miller and longtime communications aide and counselor Hope Hicks. (Miller dropped McCormick as soon as Trump announced his support for Oz.) McCormick is also married to Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, Dina Powell, and had the backing of other allies, including former Trump campaign adviser David Urban and press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders, who is running for governor in Arkansas.

Kellyanne Conway, who managed Trump’s 2016 campaign and served as White House counselor, also works for McCormick’s super PAC, Honor Pennsylvania, which paid her firm $15,000 last month.

Trump’s alliance with Oz sparked deep frustration among some on his team who signed on with McCormick and believed the former president would, at worst, stay neutral in the primary. But Oz shared a longstanding relationship with Trump, having known him for years and having similarly risen to fame with a television show. In announcing his endorsement, Trump noted Oz “has lived with us through the screen.”

“He’s somebody that had great success on television, which is like the ultimate poll,” Trump told supporters at a teletownhall last week. He noted Oz had the support of Fox News host Sean Hannity, and made the case that Oz, who also had the backing of former first lady Melania Trump, was simply best positioned to win the general election this fall.

Trump gave a similar rationale in Ohio, where he ultimately chose to back Vance, the “Hillbilly Elegy” author and venture capitalist who became a fixture on Fox News and conservative podcasts. He impressed Trump with his performance in a recent GOP debate.

At a rally Saturday night, Trump said he studied the race “very closely” and ”liked a lot of other candidates.” But, he said, “we have to pick the one that’s going to win.”

For now, the power of Trump’s endorsement is unclear. His backing opens his chosen candidates to a flood of money, attention and, sometimes, an appearance with the former president at one of his signature rallies. In Ohio, it might have helped lift Vance ahead of the May 3 primary. A Fox News poll released Tuesday found Vance slightly ahead of rivals Josh Mandel and Mike Gibbons after trailing them in March.

Polls in Pennsylvania conducted in late March and early April suggested Oz was locked in a tight race, though there’s been little recent polling to detect if Trump’s endorsement has made a difference.

But in Georgia, another state where Trump has invested heavily, his chosen candidate for governor, David Perdue, is lagging in polls and fundraising. An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released Tuesday found incumbent Republican Gov. Brian Kemp leading Perdue 53% to 27% among likely voters. That just barely puts Kemp above the 50% threshold he would need to avoid a runoff.

Any major loss could deflate Trump’s image as the most powerful force in the party as he weighs a 2024 presidential run.

But such concerns do little to temper efforts among Republicans to win over Trump. Vance and his Ohio rivals, for instance, spent months traveling to Mar-a-Lago, mimicking his style, and running ads that painted each other as insufficiently loyal. They also brought on a coterie of Trump aides to help with their efforts.

Former Ohio Republican Chair Jane Timken, in particular, invested big, hiring Conway as well as two longtime Trump allies, Corey Lewandowski and Dave Bossie. Lewandowski was hired even though he was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a GOP donor, leading to his brief excommunication from Trump’s circle.

Records show Timken paid Lewandowski $20,000 in March and also paid thousands to another Trump ally, former New York City Police Commissioner Bernie Kerik. When Trump was president he pardoned Kerik, who had pleaded guilty to federal tax fraud and other charges that put him behind bars for three years.

Hiring Lewandowski and Kerik briefly became a campaign issue when Timken was pressed on the decision during a debate.

Meanwhile, investment banker Mike Gibbons, who fashioned himself as a Trump-style businessman, also tapped into Trump’s network, hiring the firm run by Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Bill Stepien, which was paid $20,000 earlier this month.

Mandel, the former Ohio state treasurer who most aggressively adopted Trump’s shock jock tactics, has been campaigning with Trump’s former national security adviser, Michael Flynn. He was pardoned by Trump after pleading guilty to lying to the FBI.

While Vance brought on some in Trump’s orbit and had the backing of Trump-allied megadonor Peter Thiel, he also had the support of Fox News host Tucker Carlson, along with Trump’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.

At an event last week in Ohio, Trump Jr. noted those working for rival candidates.

“Trump person, speaks really favorably about someone that JD is opposing. Yeah, because they’re being paid $20,000 a month to do that. That’s their job. Doesn’t mean they actually believe it,” he quipped.

Trump has endorsed more than 100 candidates for offices up and down the ballot. Allies say he’s driven by a long list of factors — sometimes spite, sometimes personal rapport or even an appealing television appearance. After leaving the White House, he was eager to back those who offered to challenge GOP incumbents who voted for his impeachment, and also backed those who have parroted his election lies.

Trump has, at times, expressed frustration with former aides profiting from perceptions that they can sell his endorsement, and has made clear that those lobbying him needed to disclose their clients, according to a person familiar with his recent comments who requested anonymity to discuss them.

But allies say that anyone who believed they could buy a Trump endorsement was fundamentally mistaken.

“You hire consultants to coach you, to guide you on how to get the Trump endorsement,” said Bryan Lanza, a former Trump adviser who helped launch a pro-Vance super PAC but is no longer involved in any of the contests. “They help explain Trump, how he processes information, what he looks for, what he’s looking for in candidates.”

Still, Lanza said, those hires don’t guarantee Trump’s favor.

While there are advantages to hiring Trump whisperers, Lanza said, “I wouldn’t hire two. I’d certainly hire one.”

___

AP National Political Writer Steve Peoples contributed to this report.

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