Category: US

Six-term US Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler conceded defeat to Donald Trump-endorsed challenger Joe Kent on Tuesday after new vote totals confirmed she would place third in the primary.

The concession was further proof of the political price paid by Republicans who dared to impeach Trump over his role in stoking the January 2021 assault on the US Capitol. Of the 10 House Republicans who joined Democrats in that vote, Herrera Beutler was the seventh to retire or be ousted in a primary.

Kent, an Army combat veteran and first-time candidate, will face Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez in November. She placed first in the primary with about 31% of the vote to 23% for Kent and 22% for Herrera Beutler.

In a prepared concession statement just after 5 pm, Herrera Beutler thanked voters of Southwest Washington’s 3rd Congressional District for supporting her for many years, and cited accomplishments that included working to help the local fishing industry and passing a law to help low-income children get specialty medical care.

“Ever since I was first elected to this seat I have done my very best to serve my home region and our country. Though my campaign came up short this time, I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together for the place where I was raised and still call home,” Herrera Beutler said in a statement.

Herrera Beutler did not mention Kent or Trump but made an apparent reference to her vote to impeach Trump over the Capitol attack.

Referring to “unexpected and difficult” moments, Herrera Beutler said, “I’m proud that I always told the truth, stuck to my principles, and did what I knew to be best for our country.”

Trump issued a statement Tuesday night celebrating Herrera Beutler’s defeat.

“Joe Kent just won an incredible race against all odds in Washington State. Importantly, I have knocked out yet another impeacher, Jaime Herrera Beutler, who so stupidly played right into the hands of the Democrats,” Trump said. “Joe is a wonderful guy, who bravely served our Country as a Green Beret. He has a truly bright future.”

Kent’s campaign did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

He ran a campaign marked by loyalty to Trump — echoing the former president’s false claims about the 2020 election — promoting an “America First” agenda including a near-total shutdown on immigration and refugees. He also has vowed to move immediately to impeach President Joe Biden if elected and to launch investigations of Democrats.

On social media and in appearances on Fox News, Kent loudly criticized the FBI search warrant executed at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, where agents were reportedly looking for classified documents illegally taken by the ex-president.

“Now, more than ever, we must unite to save our nation. The enemy is organized & on the attack, we have to be ready to fight back,” Kent tweeted on Monday.

Herrera Beutler, R-Battle Ground, had led Kent on election night, but slipped in subsequent vote counts, finally falling behind Kent on Monday. After new counts Tuesday in Clark and Thurston counties, Kent kept his hold on second place, leading Herrera Beutler by 928 votes out of more than 200,000 that were cast in the race.

Kent advanced to the general election despite a flood of attack ads fueled by more than $4 million in outside PAC spending aimed at helping to get Herrera Beutler incumbent past the primary despite the widespread anger among GOP voters over her impeachment vote. Some of that money came from a newly created super PAC that timed its spending to avoid revealing its donors until after the primary.

An ex-Green Beret combat veteran and Gold Star husband, Kent first met Trump at Dover Air Force Base in 2019, after Kent’s wife, Navy cryptologist Shannon Kent, was killed by a suicide bomber in Syria while fighting the Islamic State terrorist group.

Trump endorsed Kent last year, calling him “a warrior for the America First agenda” and attacking Herrera Beutler for supporting “the Democrats’ impeachment scam.”

Gluesenkamp Perez lives in rural Skamania County and co-owns a Portland auto-repair shop with her husband. She has been involved in the state Democratic Party and ran unsuccessfully for Skamania County Board of Commissioners in 2016.

In a statement Monday after Kent passed Hererra Beutler for second place, Gluesenkamp Perez said the November race will be “a national bellwether for the direction of our country.”

Calling Kent a white nationalist for his ties to extremist groups, she said his “unapologetic extremism and divisive approach demonstrate he is unfit for public office.”

The race may still be headed for a mandatory recount, though those almost never change the outcome. A machine recount is required if the gap between the No. 2 and No. 3 candidates is less than half of 1% and less than 2,000 votes.

Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (R-Wash.) has conceded defeat in the primary race in Washington state’s 3rd Congressional District, marking an end to her six terms as a congresswoman following her vote to impeach former President Trump.

“Though my campaign came up short this time, I’m proud of all we’ve accomplished together for the place where I was raised and still call home,” she said in a statement.

“I’m proud that I always told the truth, stuck to my principles, and did what I knew to be best for our country,” she added.

She faced primary challenges from Joe Kent, a former Green Beret who has been endorsed by Trump and was her top opponent, and Heidi St. John, a Christian podcaster and proponent of home schooling. Recent data showed Kent leading her and poised to advance to the November general election.

Per Washington primary rules, the two candidates who receive the most votes on Tuesday will advance to the general election regardless of party, otherwise known as a jungle primary.

This primary marked the first time the six-term lawmaker faced a significant primary challenge. She was one of 10 House GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump for his role as him on the Jan. 6, 2021, riot in which a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, temporarily halting Congress’s official count of Electoral College votes affirming President Biden’s victory.

Herrera Beutler had been backed by Republican women’s group Maggie’s List earlier this year. The Washington State Republican Party condemned Herrera Beutler last year for her support of Trump’s impeachment.

The nonpartisan Cook Political Report rates the seat as “solid Republican.”

A federal appeals panel unanimously ruled Tuesday that a House committee can access former President Donald Trump’s tax records after a yearslong legal battle.

A three-judge panel of the US Circuit Court of Appeals for Washington, DC, agreed that the House Ways and Means Committee has the authority to obtain Trump’s tax records from the Treasury Department, upholding a district court ruling from late last year.

Trump’s lawyers are all but certain to appeal the ruling.

NBC News has asked a Trump spokesman and a member of his legal team for comment.

The court ruling adds to Trump’s legal woes after the FBI searched his Mar-a-Lago home in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday. A source familiar with the matter said the search was tied to classified information Trump is alleged to have taken with him from the White House to his resort in January 2021.

Tuesday’s appeals court ruling is the latest twist in a multiyear legal fight over his tax records. A federal judge in December tossed out Trump’s lawsuit seeking to block the House panel from obtaining his tax returns, rejecting his claim that Congress had no legitimate need to look at the returns and that Congress was simply snooping around to embarrass him.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Richard Neal, D-Mass., lauded the appeals court’s “long-anticipated” opinion Tuesday. Neal first requested copies of Trump’s federal tax returns in April 2019, a request the Treasury Department initially refused.

“With great patience, we followed the judicial process, and yet again, our position has been affirmed by the Courts,” Neal said in a statement. “When we receive the returns, we will begin our oversight of the IRS’s mandatory presidential audit program .”

Neal had initially cited a federal law that requires the Treasury Department and the IRS to turn over individual tax returns when any of the three congressional tax committees demand them.

“The Chairman has identified a legitimate legislative purpose that it requires information to accomplish,” the appeals court ruling says. “At this stage, it is not our place to delve deeper than this. The mere fact that individual members of Congress may have political motivations as well as legislative ones is of no moment. Indeed, it is likely rare that an individual member of Congress would work for a legislative purpose without considering the political implications.”

If he appeals, Trump would have to ask the full circuit court to rehear the case or appeal directly to the Supreme Court.

The House committee’s top Republican, Kevin Brady of Texas, urged Trump to appeal.

The ruling “unleashes a dangerous new political weapon,” Brady said in a statement, arguing it would grant Congress the ability “to target and make public the tax returns of political enemies.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., meanwhile, called the court’s decision a “victory for the rule of law” Tuesday on Twitter.

“Access to the former president’s tax returns is crucial to upholding the public interest, our national security & our Democracy,” Pelosi said.

daniel barnes and Kyle Stewart contributed.

How do you stay cool without an air conditioner?

We asked NPR readers from hot countries (including the US!) to share their tips on how to cope with the heat. It’s a follow-up to a story we published last week by heat wave researcher Dr. Gulrez Shah Azhar about how he dealt with super high temps while growing up in India, where his home was one of many with no A/C unit .

Nearly 900 people who grew up without an air conditioner from Vietnam to Minnesota shared their heat hacks via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and email. They offered all kinds of advice on how to deal with the heat. Here’s a selection of reader responses. These have been edited for length and clarity.

1. Sleep in a wet sheet (really)

To sleep in the St. Louis, Mo., summer heat, I would wrap a sheet around me, get in the shower (yes, with the sheet on) then lay on my bed with a fan blowing on me. I was cool and slept well. In the morning, the sheet and mattress were dry. — Sally Kuhlenschmidt, Bowling Green, Ky.

2. Use frozen water bottles

I grew up without A/C in Tennessee and I would freeze bottles of water and go to sleep with a few of them in my bed. I’d wake up a few hours later and switch the bottles out for others in the freezer. — Lauren VanNostrand

3. Deflect the sun

Deflect sun rays from your house by taping aluminum foil or pop-in reflective screens designed for automobiles to windowpanes. — Patty Besom

4. Go on a cold food diet

I grew up in Minnesota in the ’60s when air conditioning was only just beginning to be a household staple. My mother would do any cooking needed for the day during early morning hours. Sometimes she would make a cold pasta salad for dinner. She also had a recipe for no-bake cookies that would only come out during the hot days of summer. We drink lemonade and iced tea. At the time, popsicles came with two joined together, each with its own stick, and most of the time we [kids] only got half. But during days of extreme heat, we were allowed the entire thing! –Jeanne Pumper

5. Spray yourself with water

Fill a pump sprayer with distilled or purified water (so it won’t leave deposits on you) and liberally spray yourself, especially your face and head. When outside, spray your hat and your shirt with this water until damp. I call it “artificial sweat” and I find it amazingly refreshing. — John Fuhring, Santa Maria, Calif.

6. Lay on a tile floor

Something I learned living in Singapore was to lay on the cold tile floors for a little while. Put a pillow under your head, turn on a good show, lay on the floor and zone out. –Kathryn Lee

7. Cool off with cologne

I live in Valencia, Spain, and the heat is almost unbearable. I don’t have an A/C. I use baby cologne to cool off. I douse it over my neck and shoulders and because it’s mostly made of alcohol, it immediately [evaporates and] refreshes. I keep it in the fridge to stay extra cool! — Lily Adamson

8. Catch a movie

When I lived in Puerto Rico, we also lived without A/C. The most effective way I found to keep cool on very hot days was to go the movies. PR’s movie theaters are notorious for being cold — they really blast the air conditioner! Sometimes it’s so cold that people have to bring in blankets and coats. — Jennifer Gandasegui

9. Pull in the morning air

I have a complex process to cool down my house. Essentially, you pull in cool night and morning air into the house by using box fans, and then close down the house as things heat up outside.

As soon as I get up at 6 or 7 am, I open the windows in every room and prop box fans in the chair. Around 9 or 10 am, I take the fans out, close all the windows, and let the fans run on the floor of each room. Right now, it’s 90-plus degrees outdoors. Inside, my fan is blowing lightly on my back as I sit at my desk, and I feel chilly enough to move my location. — Meenakshi Ponnuswami, Lewisburg, Pa.

10. Laundry = coolness

I grew up in Vietnam in the ’70s and ’80s. We used to wash clothes manually [to cool down with the water] — then we hung our laundry [on clothing lines] outside the house, which provided extra shade to residents during the heat of the day. — Diem Tu, Vancouver, Canada

11. Sleep outdoors

I spent my childhood summers living in Egypt. We lived on the 11th floor of an apartment building and I slept in the top bunk in the kids’ room — with no A/C. And as you know—heat rises! At night, I’d tiptoe to the balcony of our flat with my pillow, lay out a blanket and sleep outdoors in the coolness of the night. —Malaka Gharib, Nashville, Tenn.

Thank you to all who told us your personal stories. For more callouts like these, stay in touch with NPR Goats and Soda by subscribing to our weekly newsletter.