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In an effort to shave votes from the Republican Partys conservativesupport base, Florida gubernatorial candidate Chris King has self-identified as an evangelical, despite supporting Democratic policies that directly contradict traditional evangelical beliefs.

King, an elder ata Florida church, bills himself as a progressive evangelical. However, Kingtakes a typical Democratic stance on mostissues, supporting gun control, abortion, the legalization of marijuana, medical welfare, and bringing Syrian refugees to the U.S.,according toReligion News Service(RNS). In no issue, beyond stated Christian beliefs, do Kings policy stances actually align with those of evangelicals.

I am a progressive, King told the Orlando Sentinel. I am somebody who believes in the values of equality and justice and fairness and care for the neediest among us.

Rev. Jim Henry, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention,saidthat a Democratic candidate established as an evangelical could garner support from up to 30 percent of white evangelicals, especially those who are not ardent supporters of the GOP.

Founder of Sojourners Jim Wallis, who is also a self-proclaimed progressive evangelical, saidthat Kings claim as a man of faith is necessary for his campaigns victory. In close elections, being friendly to religion and religious people would change the outcomes, Wallis said. If you dont take the concerns of religious people seriously, you lose elections.

Democrats have earnestlysought ways to curry favor with evangelical voters ever since evangelical support for President Donald Trump helped him win the election. Some Democrats think that King may be the answer, but betweentraditional evangelicals skepticismof Kings party and his stance on abortion, and Kings own partys discomfort with evangelical ideology, that remains to be seen.

In fact, Kings bid to garnersupport from a conservative voter base may backfire. Aubrey Jewett, a political scientist at the University of Florida, saidthat the label of evangelical Democrat makes King contentious for both parties.

The Democratic Party is often perceived as anti-Christian, Jewett said. Some in the base of the Democratic Party are not anti-Christian, but are very uncomfortable with evangelical Christianity.

Im the case study of whether faith is a deal killer in the modern Democratic party, King said.

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Florida Candidate Runs As Democrat, Identifies As Evangelical - The Daily Caller

New York Times

House Democrat From California Seeks Support to Impeach Trump New York Times WASHINGTON Representative Brad Sherman, Democrat of California, circulated a proposed article of impeachment on Monday, the first step in a long-shot attempt to oust President Trump. Mr. Sherman's proposed resolution cites the president's decision ... A House Democrat echoes Watergate in calling for Trump's impeachmentWashington Post Democrat to bring impeachment to a voteVICE News Second House Democrat introduces article of impeachment against TrumpWashington Examiner Roll Call -Raw Story -Yahoo News UK all 96 news articles »

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House Democrat From California Seeks Support to Impeach Trump - New York Times

Rep. Mike Quigley has introduced the "COVFEFE Act" to amend the Presidential Records Act so that President Trump's social media posts are preserved after he leaves the White House.

The bill name stands for Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement, or COVFEFE.

"In order to maintain public trust in government, elected officials must answer for what they do and say; this includes 140-character tweets," Quigley, D-Ill., said in a statement. "President Trump's frequent, unfiltered use of his personal Twitter account as a means of official communication is unprecedented. If the president is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference. Tweets are powerful, and the president must be held accountable for every post."

Quigley's act clarifies that Trump's personal Twitter account should be archived in the same manner as the official @POTUS account. Quigley's legislation would also ensure that deleted tweets are kept.

It was from Trump's personal account that the president coined the term, "covfefe," an apparent misspelling of "coverage" in a tweet he used to complain about the press.

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Illinois Democrat introduces 'Covfefe Act' to preserve Trump's social media posts - Washington Examiner

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich sparked a mini-meltdown in the media Monday with a tweet challenging the fairness of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

Gingrich, who alsoappeared on The Laura Ingraham Show, pointed to the early hires special counsel Robert Mueller has made.

Republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair, he tweeted. Look who he is hiring.check fec [sic] reports. Time to rethink.

He's not wrong about the donations. Four top lawyers hired by Mueller have contributed tens of thousands of dollars over the years to the Democratic Party and Democratic candidates, including former President Barack Obama and President Donald Trump's 2016 opponent, Hillary Clinton.

One of the hires, Jeannie Rhee, also worked as a lawyer for the Clinton Foundation and helped persuade a federal judge to block a conservative activist's attempts to force Bill and Hillary Clinton to answer questions under oath about operations of the family-run charity.

Campaign-finance reports show that Rhee gave Clinton the maximum contributions of $2,700 in 2015 and again last year to support her presidential campaign. She also donated $2,300 to Obama in 2008 and $2,500 in 2011. While still at the Justice Department, she gave $250 to the Democratic National Committee Services Corp.

Rhee also has contributed to a trio of Democratic senators: Mark Udall of New Mexico, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, and Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

James Quarles, who worked on the Watergate investigation as a young prosecutor, has an even longer history of supporting Democratic politicians. He gave $1,300 to Obama in 2007 and $2,300 in 2008. He also gave $2,700 to Clinton last year.

He has supported a numberof other Democratic candidates, including Van Hollen, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), former Rep. John Spratt (D-S.C.), former Vice President Al Gore, 2004 presidential candidate John Kerry, former Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-La.), and Colorado congressional candidate Gail Schwartz.

In addition, Quarles gave money to former Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) and three current Democratic senators Ron Wyden of Oregon, Ed Markey of Massachusetts, and Robert Menendez of New Jersey. He chipped in $300 to the DNC Services Corp. $300 in 2012.

Quarles did donate toa couple of GOP politicians $250 to then-Sen. George Allen (R-Va.) in 2006 and $2,500 to Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) in 2015.

Andrew Weissmann, a former Justice Department lawyer who now is at Jenner & Block, contributed $2,300 to Obama in 2008 and $2,000 to the DNC Services Corp. in 2006. Weissmann served as chief of the Justice Department's criminal fraud section and worked on the Enron fraud case.

A fourth lawyer on Mueller's staff, Michael Dreeben, donated $1,000 to Clinton 2006 and $250 to Obama in both 2007 and 2008. He was deputy solicitor general and has appeared many times before the Supreme Court.

Media pundits generally dismissed concerns over the Democratic Party ties of the staff Mueller is building. Several Trump critics noted that Gingrich previously had tweeted that Mueller was a "superb choice to be special counsel" and that his reputation was "impeccable for honesty and integrity."

Journalist Paul Vale, who has written for the Huffington Post and The Times of London, tweeted, "Boiled cabbage Gingrich lays out the White House plan to discredit career lawman Mueller all in the service of his babbling paymaster."

CNN anchor John King on Monday asked the network's chief congressional correspondent, Manu Raju, if it should be a concern.

"No, because Bob Mueller is the one who's in charge of this investigation and will ultimately decide how to proceed, and there is some oversight over him by [Deputy Attorney General] Rod Rosenstein, even though there is a special counsel," he said.

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Robert Mueller Stocks Staff with Democrat Donors - LifeZette

WASHINGTON Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate, will vote to block President Donald Trumps plan to ship over $500 million of precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia, his office told HuffPost Monday.

Schumers decision makes him the most powerful supporter of a resolution of disapproval from Sens. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Al Franken (D-Minn.) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.) that isdesigned to show U.S. condemnation for the Saudis controversial role in a bloody civil war in Yemen.

I will support Senator Murphys resolution of disapproval.The human rights and humanitarian concerns have been well documented and are important, Schumer said Monday. Of equal concern to me is that the Saudi government continues to aid and abet terrorism via its relationship with [a hard-line school of Islam known as] Wahhabism and the funding of schools that spread extremist propaganda throughout the world.

Schumers announcement is the clearest sign yet that senators may successfully push back on the sale, after afailed attemptto block a U.S.-Saudi tank sale last fall. Schumer did notsupportthat effort by Murphy and his partners. (In an email to HuffPost, an aide said that previous deal did not cover weapons to be used in Yemen.)

Two other top Democrats who opposed last years motion are also on board this year: Sens. Ben Cardin (D-Md.), the ranking member on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Jack Reed (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Armed Services Committee.

The Obama administration initially approved the Saudi weapons transfer, but then put it on hold. Last month, Trump lifted the hold as part of a planned $110 billion package for Saudi Arabia. While the Trump administration can green-light such a shipment, senators also have an opportunity to vote to disapprove of it. If they do so, the deal would likely be delayed as the House considers whether to vote as well. Trump could eventually have to use his presidential veto to ensure the sale goes through.

General Democratic unity against the sale now seems likely. Its a win-win: a way for legislators to show opposition to Trump, who has pulled the Saudis close, and to burnish their humanitarian credentials.

The key for activists trying to pressure Saudi Arabia will now be convincing more red-state Democrats, like Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), and Iran hawk Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) to join the cause. They also hope to win over some Republicans who have been willing to take stances on human rights issues, like Sens. Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)

Senators are expected to vote Tuesday afternoon on the resolution to disapprove of the sale, a congressional aide told HuffPost.Activists say even gaining one more vote than they did on last years motion would be a win because it would send a powerful signal to the Saudis.The U.S. relationship with the country rarely faces serious official criticism.

The resolution comes as the Saudis continue to fight in Yemen, where they and allies in a U.S.-backed coalition, including the United Arab Emirates, are responsible for thousands of civilian deaths and a worsening cholera outbreak.

All the while, the Saudis, the U.A.E. and others are isolating Qatar, a U.S. partner nation that hosts the biggest American base in the region. Tuesdays vote would give the Senate a rare chance to weigh in on the actions of the U.S.-dependent kingdom.

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Top Democrat Joins Push Against Trump's Saudi Arms Deal - HuffPost