Exclusive: Dozens of former Bush officials leave Republican Party, calling it 'Trump cult

(Reuters) - Dozens of Republicans in former President George W. Bush's administration are leaving the party, dismayed by a failure of many elected Republicans to disown Donald Trump after his false claims of election fraud sparked a deadly storming of the U.S. Capitol last month.

These officials, some who served in the highest echelons of the Bush administration, said they had hoped that a Trump defeat would lead party leaders to move on from the former president and denounce his baseless claims that the November presidential election was stolen.

But with most Republican lawmakers sticking to Trump, these officials say they no longer recognize the party they served. Some have ended their membership, others are letting it lapse while a few are newly registered as independents, according to a dozen former Bush officials who spoke with Reuters.

"The Republican Party as I knew it no longer exists. I’d call it the cult of Trump," said Jimmy Gurulé, who was Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence in the Bush administration.

Kristopher Purcell, who worked in the Bush White House’s communications office for six years, said roughly 60 to 70 former Bush officials have decided to leave the party or are cutting ties with it, from conversations he has been having. "The number is growing every day," Purcell said.

Their defection from the Republican Party after a lifetime of service for many is another clear sign of how a growing intraparty conflict over Trump and his legacy is fracturing it.

The party is currently caught between disaffected moderate Republicans and independents disgusted by the hold Trump still has over elected officials, and Trump’s fervently loyal base. Without the enthusiastic support of both groups, the party will struggle to win national elections, according to polling, Republican officials and strategists.

The Republican National Committee referred Reuters to a recent interview its chair Ronna McDaniel gave to the Fox Business channel. “We’re having a little bit of a spat right now. But we are going to come together. We have to,” McDaniel said, predicting the party will unite against the agenda of President Joe Biden, a Democrat.

Representatives for Trump did not respond to a request for comment.

A representative of former President Bush did not respond to a request for comment. During the Trump presidency Bush made clear he had “retired from politics."

'IT'S APPALLING'

More than half of the Republicans in Congress - eight senators and 139 House representatives - voted to block certification of the election just hours after the Capitol siege.

Most Republican Senators have also indicated they would not support the impeachment of Trump, making it almost certain that the former president won't be convicted in his Senate trial. Trump was impeached on Jan. 13 by the Democratic-led House of Representatives on charges of "incitement of insurrection," the only president to be impeached twice.

The unwillingness by party leaders to disavow Trump was the final straw for some former Republican officials.

"If it continues to be the party of Trump, many of us are not going back," Rosario Marin, a former Treasurer of the U.S. under Bush, told Reuters. "Unless the Senate convicts him, and rids themselves of the Trump cancer, many of us will not be going back to vote for Republican leaders."

Two former Bush officials who spoke to Reuters said they believe it is important to stay in the party to rid it of Trump’s influence.

more

https://www.yahoo.com/news/exclusive-dozens-former-bush-officials-111446506.html

>>12788848

>How can a set of ideas — factually false and outlandish — have caught on so prevalently and deeply within a sect of the populace?

This is the Cognitive Dissonance Programming, refusing to Unfuck the mind. They can not grasp the concept of Individual Thought, Freedom of Choice, and Faith in Breaking free from the Trained Dog-ma.

>>12788861

Hedgie-Wedgie.

Ouch!

Greylock Files for Bankruptcy After Losses Spur Withdrawals

(Bloomberg) – Greylock Capital Associates filed for bankruptcy protection in New York as investors pulled money from the hedge fund following three consecutive years of losses.

The Chapter 11 proceedings will allow Greylock to restructure its debt and terminate its Madison Avenue office lease in Manhattan, according to a Jan. 31 filing signed by Chief Financial Officer David Steltzer.

Assets under management at the emerging markets hedge fund which more than halved since 2017 to $450 million at the end of 2020 will drop by $100 million by the end of March in the absence of new investments, according to the filing.

Greylock has cut its staff to nine people from 21 three years ago, and is in talks with its remaining major investors, confident that the business can “successfully reorganize and continue as a going concern” after the bankruptcy, Steltzer wrote. The firm hasn’t hired any financial or business consultants.

The firm has no plans to shut down, according to a message from Greylock President Ajata “AJ” Mediratta. The hedge fund opened a small office in Stamford, Connecticut last year to make it easier for the firm’s commuters, reducing the need for a large office in midtown Manhattan.

Distressed Debt

Greylock, founded in 2004 according to the filing and led by Chief Executive Officer Hans Humes, is known for making bets on distressed debt and troubled sovereign bonds. It was one of the funds that negotiated the Greek government’s debt restructuring, according to its website.

The fund struggled last year as emerging market bond prices cratered at the start of the pandemic. Creditors took haircuts in Ecuador and Argentina, and Venezuelan and Lebanese sovereign bonds also slipped as the countries have yet to resolve their defaults.

Greylock filed for Chapter 11 protection under the Subchapter V provision, which was introduced last year to make the bankruptcy process cheaper and easier for small companies.

The case is Greylock Capital Associates LLC, 21-22063, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York.

(Updates with comment from firm’s president in the fifth paragraph. A previous version corrected the spelling of the CFO’s name)

https://www.yahoo.com/finance/news/hedge-fund-greylock-files-bankruptcy-103534676.html

>>12789145

Yep. The election was R - END

Now it's time for the D - End.