Remember last June when Congressman Cline pretended to be concerned about the supposed risks to water quality of the abortion drug mifepristone?

Now Cline had joined 11 of his pro-forced-birth Republican colleagues in a letter to Health and Human Serivices Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. protesting the Food and Drug Administration’s approval of a generic version of mifepristone.

The approval of a generic version of this dangerous drug not only contradicts the announced review but also runs directly counter to this Administration’s stated pro-life agenda. It is clear that rogue actors within the FDA are working to undermine both the sanctity of life and the Administration’s commitment to protecting it. For this reason, we respectfully urge that you consider the director of the Office of Generic Drugs, the director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and other bureaucrats responsible for this reckless decision as part of your reduction-in-force evaluations.

In other words, they want Kennedy to fire anyone who had anything to do with the approval.

But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt, in one of her lucid moments, defended the decision.

“It’s not an endorsement of this drug by any means. They are just simply following the law,” Leavitt told reporters. “By law, the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services must approve a generic drug application if the application demonstrates the drug is the ‘same’ as the brand-name drug.”

Mifepristone is one of the two medications used in most U.S. abortions. Manufacturer Evita Solutions first applied for approval in 2021, according to FDA’s approval letter, and it was granted earlier this week.

The FDA wrote that the company’s mifepristone tablets were “therapeutically equivalent” to the brand-name version, Mifeprex, which has been available in the U.S. since 2000.

As for the letter’s claim that mifepristone is a “dangerous drug,” the FDA’s website (still) states:

Mifepristone is safe when used as indicated and directed and consistent with the Mifepristone Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) Program. The FDA approved Mifeprex more than 20 years ago based on a thorough and comprehensive review of the scientific evidence presented and determined that it was safe and effective for its indicated use.

The real concern of Cline and the other Republicans is that wider availability of mifepristone will allow more women to make their own reproductive decisions. And it seems this is something they just can’t accept.

Congressman Cline is propagating the Republican lie that Democrats are shutting down the federal government in order to demand “free health care for illegal aliens.”

As The New York Times explains:

The Democrats’ budget proposal seeks to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, and roll back Medicaid cuts in the tax cut and domestic policy law signed by President Trump in July. But the proposal does not provide free health care for unauthorized immigrants.

Unauthorized immigrants are largely barred from federally funded health care programs. They cannot buy health care plans on government exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act and therefore cannot receive any subsidies. They are also ineligible for Medicaid, Medicare and the Children’s Health Insurance Program. The Democrats’ budget proposal does not make them eligible for these programs.

Thus Cline ignores the Democrats’ main demand: to maintain a tax credit that helps 22 million American citizens lower their health insurance costs.

Known as the enhanced premium tax credit, the subsidy has been used by millions of low- and middle-class households since it was authorized under the American Rescue Plan Act in 2021. Since then, spurred by the tax credit, the number of people who have enrolled in ACA marketplace health insurance plans has almost doubled, according to health care publication KFF.

…..

The cost of premiums for people who buy their insurance through the ACA marketplaces could more than double, rising from an average of $888 in 2025 to $1,904 in 2026, according to a Sept. 30 analysis by KFF. About 4 million people would likely drop their insurance coverage if the credit is allowed to expire because they wouldn’t be able to afford the costs, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated.

But it is set to expire at the end of 2025, and leading Democratic lawmakers are making a funding deal to keep the government open contingent on Republicans agreeing to extend the credit.

Congressman Cline: I think you are intelligent enough to know you are lying about this.

So please stop it.

A poorly-recorded video of Congressman Cline’s town hall meeting in Lexington on Thursday is on his Facebook page:

According to one attendee, only 33 constituents were in the audience in a room that can accommodate 120. Many others were put on a “waitlist” but never received tickets.

Cline spoke for almost half the time and then took only 12 questions.

Perhaps Congressman Cline is feeling some pressure due to his scheduling of a town hall meeting in a small room at the Rockbridge County Courthouse in Lexington, and because the demand for tickets has vastly exceeded supply.

The press release on Cline’s official website announcing the event– scheduled for Thursday September 25 from 5:30 to 6:30 pm– now includes this:

𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝗹𝘀𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝗥𝗲𝗽. 𝗖𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲’𝘀 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗙𝗮𝗰𝗲𝗯𝗼𝗼𝗸 𝗽𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻.

Still no word on the mysterious ticket distribution process, which resulted in people responding to Cline’s Facebook announcement of the town hall just minutes after it was posted being put on a “waitlist.”

UPDATE: Four minutes after Cline posted the announcement on Facebook, I went to the registration page for the town hall, which featured this button:

I don’t know if this means all the tickets for the event are already taken. If anyone knows more, please let me know.

Ten months after his last open meeting with constituents, Congressman Cline will hold a town hall event in Lexington on Thursday September 25.

The town hall will take place from 5:30 to 6:30 pm in Room 200 at the Rockbridge County Courthouse, 20 South Randolph Street in Lexington.

According to Cline’s announcement:

I look forward to meeting with the citizens of Lexington. Just like previous town halls, this is a valuable opportunity for me to engage directly with residents of I look forward to meeting with the citizens of Lexington.

Event Details & Registration:

Registration is required via Eventbrite.

Each attendee must register individually. Only one (1) ticket per person is allowed.

Priority admission will be given to residents of Lexington.

If you are not a resident of Lexington, you may receive provisional admittance. My office will notify you 24 hours prior to the event if space becomes available.

Additional Notes:

Rep. Cline traditionally holds townhalls in each of 22 localities in the Sixth District each term.

Due to courthouse policy, cell phones, smart phones, iPads, iPods, or other electronic devices are not permitted inside the venue.

Signs and noisemakers are not permitted at the event.

You can register (“Join Waitlist”) here.

If you plan to attend, feel free to use this website as a resource for questions.

And as others have noted, it’s very convenient for Cline that electronic recording devices are barred from the courthouse.

The Hill reports:

A group of Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus called for a select committee to investigate the “the money, influence, and power behind the radical left’s assault on America and the rule of law” in the wake of the assassination of conservative powerhouse Charlie Kirk.

The group of 23 members, led by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas), articulated the request in a letter to Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), and House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) on Thursday, before Kirk’s suspected assassin was apprehended.

The letter concludes:

Enough is enough. We must follow the money to identify the perpetrators of the coordinated antiAmerican assaults being carried out against us and take all steps under the law necessary to stop them. The best option is a full, stand-alone committee with complete authority to elevate and investigate these matters. However, I respectfully request that we establish such a committee. It should be comprised of Members and staff with prosecutorial and/or law enforcement backgrounds, and we should grant it full subpoena powers and authority to deliver results.

We can no longer pretend to be bound together by shared ideals when a well-funded, vitriolic cadre of our fellow Americans and foreign interests are at war with the very values of faith in God, fidelity to our Constitution, and respect for the principles of liberty and Western Civilization that define us as Americans – including, notably, the free speech practiced and exemplified by Charlie Kirk.

Although he isn’t mentioned in the article, among the signers is Congressman Cline.

To anyone with a knowledge of American history, this letter smacks of the worst of McCarthyism and the House Un-American Activities Committee.

It singles out for blame– and investigation– the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Wren Collective and that longtime object of rightwing fear and loathing George Soros. None of them has ever advocated or condoned political violence.

The letter mentions as examples of a “sustained breakdown of law and order, fueled not by chance, but by anti-American ideology” the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump and the 2017 shooting of Republican lawmakers at baseball practice. It notably does not mention the murder of a Democratic legislator and her husband and the wounding of another legislator and his wife in Minnesota; the arson attempt at the residence of the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro; and the brutal attack on the husband of Democratic Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

Why is that, Congressman Cline?

In fact the Department of Justice reported that rightwing extremists were responsible for far more political murders in the US than those on the left. Or it did until the DoJ recently removed the report from its website.

Cline spoke on the House floor this week paying tribute to Charlie Kirk and “his commitment to free speech and open dialogue.”

How does the threatening letter signed by Cline– obviously meant to silence and intimidate– foster that?

On Tuesday September 9 at 10:27 am Senator Tim Kaine posted the following on his Facebook page:

(As you may recall, Congressman Cline voted FOR the bill that forced these closures and called it “a great victory for American families.”)

The same day at 1:05 pm Congressman Cline posted the following bit of nastiness on his Facebook page:

(Fortunately Cline is getting some brutal feedback in the Comments to his post.)

Is there a connection between the two posts? If so, does it matter?

On Thursday I phoned Congressman Cline’s Washington office (202-225-5431) and posed the following questions for him:

• Are you going to sign the bipartisan discharge petition to force a vote in the House to release the FULL Epstein files?

• Do you agree with the White House that signing the petition is a “very hostile act”?

On Friday I received the following email from Cline’s office:

Bottom line: Cline won’t dare sign the discharge petition for fear of retribution by Trump and his supporters.

According to Robert Garcia, ranking Democrat on the House Oversight Committee:

“The 33,000 pages of Epstein documents [committee chair] James Comer has decided to ‘release’ were already mostly public information. To the American people – don’t let this fool you.

After careful review, Oversight Democrats have found that 97% of the documents received from the Department of Justice were already public. There is no mention of any client list or anything that improves transparency or justice for victims.

House Republicans are trying to make a spectacle of releasing already-public documents. Pam Bondi has said the client list was on her desk. She could release it right now if she wanted to. 

While Comer tries to give cover to Trump by re-releasing public documents, House Democrats are fighting for real transparency. Pam Bondi must comply with our subpoena immediately, and release all of the documents. The American people demand it.”

Congressman Thomas Massie, one of a handful of Republicans supporting the petition, made clear that the non-binding House Resolution 668 that Cline voted for wasn’t enough:

Republican leaders are hoping that document release and a vote on an alternative symbolic measure will head off Massie’s efforts to get his bill to the House floor.

“It doesn’t change a thing,” Massie told reporters. “It’s giving political cover for some people, but that’s fleeting, because eventually people are going to pore through those documents and find out there’s nothing new in there.”

On Wednesday a group of survivors of abuse by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghislaine Maxwell pleaded with House members to vote to release the entire Epstein files– which requires a majority to sign the petition that Cline and most other House Republicans refuse to sign.

All of which raises the question: Why are Cline and other Congressional Republicans, as well as Donald Trump (who refers to the Epstein matter as a hoax), so desperate to prevent a vote to release the full records?

What are they trying to hide?

It was only two months ago that Congressman Cline was celebrating the Trump administration’s nomination of Republican Delegate Todd Gilbert as the next US Attorney for the Western District of Virginia.

On Facebook, Cline showered praise on his former colleague in the Virginia House of Delegates.

But things didn’t go smoothly for Gilbert, as Roanoke Times reported on August 23:

Gilbert, who was nominated by President Donald Trump, resigned on Wednesday. The former Republican state lawmaker did not publicly explain the reason for his unusual and unexpected departure, which came less than two months after he was appointed by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. He did not return calls and texts this week.

But according to a person with knowledge of what happened, Gilbert had a falling out with officials in the Trump administration over his second-in-command, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Lee.

Lee had been serving as acting U.S. attorney until Gilbert’s appointment, at which time he resumed his previous duties. Lee also was first assistant U.S. attorney under Chris Kavanaugh, the former U.S. attorney who was nominated by then-President Joe Biden.

Concerned about what they believed to be Lee’s connections to the former Democratic administration, Trump officials pushed Gilbert to replace him with someone more in step with their agenda, the source said.

When Gilbert resisted, Robert Tracci — a former Virginia assistant attorney general who had earlier been a contender for Gilbert’s job — was appointed by the Department of Justice to replace Lee. Tracci began work Aug. 4 as the office’s new first assistant U.S. attorney.

An irritated Gilbert then named Lee as senior counsel and executive assistant U.S. attorney, a new position that retained much of the authority of his old job.

Angered by his actions, administration officials gave Gilbert a choice: resign or be fired, according to the source, who asked not to be identified.

When Gilbert resigned, Tracci became acting U.S. attorney under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, which elevates the first assistant U.S. attorney to the position of acting head prosecutor when there’s a vacancy at the top.

Here’s what Gilbert posted at the time:

Now Gilbert has accepted a new position as an assistant Commonwealth’s attorney in Page County.

As for Gilbert, whose rightwing credentials as a delegate were impeccable, this is “a great example of MAGA eating its own,” as Chris Graham observed at The Augusta Free Press.

You’d think Ben Cline would be angry at the administration’s shabby treatment of his friend. If he is, he’s been remarkably quiet about. He hasn’t said a word publicly about the whole messy business. Cline hasn’t done much good as a member of Congress but he has excelled at avoiding even the mildest criticism of Trump while heaping sycophantic acclaim on him.

The Augusta Free Press reports:

The first local impact of the Trump/MAGA Big Ugly Bill is here, with Augusta Medical Group announcing Thursday the closure of three primary care facilities in the region.

The closures/consolidations will impact patients in Buena Vista, Churchville and Weyers Cave, all on the periphery of the Augusta Medical Group/Augusta Health service area.

…..

The press release announcing the news at the same time casts the closures as “part of Augusta Medical Group/Augusta Health’s ongoing response to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act and the resulting realities for healthcare delivery,” and also tries to soft-pedal the closures as a consolidation of services.

In August The Rockbridge Advocate reported:

Goshen Vice-Mayor Steve Binkley reported that the Rockbridge Area Health Center, citing anticipated Medicaid cuts, abandoned plans to open a branch in the town’s new Community Center.

Congressman Cline voted for this bill and called it “a great victory for American families.”