Kevin McCarthy is accused of throwing ‘sucker punch.’ And Kevin Kiley is getting married.

Good morning and welcome to the A.M. Alert!

WELCOME TO FIGHT CLUB, CONGRESSIONAL VERSION

Via David Lightman...

Tuesday began with a reported “sucker punch” by former Speaker Kevin McCarthy to Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn.

Burchett, one of the eight GOP members instrumental last month in ousting the Bakersfield Republican from the House’s number one job, told Knox News: “You don’t expect a guy who was, at one time, three steps away from the White House to hit you with a sucker punch.”

McCarthy denied hitting Burchett, and told CBS any contact was unintentional.

That wasn’t the end of it.. Later in the day, Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., McCarthy’s leading nemesis, filed a complaint with the House Ethics Committee regarding the alleged incident.

Gaetz said he learned that McCarthy “assaulted Representative Tim Burchett in the hallways of Capitol complex” after a meeting of House GOP lawmakers. Gaetz quoted Burchett as saying it was a “shot to the kidney.”

“This Congress has seen a substantial increase in breaches of decorum unlike anything we have seen since the pre-Civil War era,” Gaetz said in his complaint. “I myself have been a victim of outrageous conduct on the House floor as well, but nothing like an open and public assault on a Member, committed by another Member. The rot starts at the top.”

The Senate had its own excitement Tuesday. No punches were thrown, to the kidneys or elsewhere, at a hearing on labor union issues. But Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., was ready to take on Teamsters President Sean O’Brien.

O’Brien has been tweeting insults, said Mullin, a member of the Oklahoma Wrestling Hall of Fame, who suggested that they settle their differences there and then.

“If you want to run your mouth, we can be two consenting adults. We can finish it here,” he said.

“I’d love to do it right now,” O’Brien said.

“Well, stand your butt up, then,” replied Mullin, rising himself when committee chair Sen. Bernie Sanders, Ind.-Vt., who was in the next seat, told him to cut it out.

“Stop it. You’re a United States senator,” Sanders said. “This is a hearing. And God knows the American people have enough contempt for Congress. Let’s not make it worse.”

KILEY IS GETTING MARRIED

Via David Lightman...

Rep. Kevin Kiley is getting married.

His office would not provide details, only saying that “Rep. Kiley and his fiancé, Chelsee, will be getting married later this year. We will be happy to share additional details after the wedding.”

Kiley, a Republican from Rocklin, was elected to the House last year and his re-election is rated as “likely” by Inside Elections, a nonpartisan website that tracks congressional races.

NGUYEN LETTER TO BIDEN ON VIETNAMESE HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES

As President Joe Biden came to San Francisco to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit Tuesday, State Sen. Janet Nguyen, R-Huntington Beach, had a request: Hold Vietnam President Vo Van Thuong accountable for human and religious rights violations occurring in his home country.

“For nearly 50 years, Vietnam has engaged in harsh repressive tactics against political dissidents, religious minorities and independent journalists. Party officials routinely weaponize laws to intimidate and punish citizens who dare to challenge the status quo,” Nguyen wrote in her letter to the president.

That includes the imprisonment of journalist Le Trong Hung in 2021 for spreading “anti-state propaganda” by allegedly distributing copies of the Constitution and recruiting independent candidates to run for office.

“My family fled Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon to escape the reprisals of the government. I know first-hand of the brutality that the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is capable of. As an immigrant to the United States, I am eternally grateful for the opportunities this country has provided me and I pray that one day the people of Vietnam can share in those same freedoms,” Nguyen wrote.

REPORT NAMES SITTING CALIFORNIA LAWMAKER ACCUSED OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

A new report from the National Women’s Defense League names one current and 10 former California lawmakers among 130 state legislators accused of more than 350 allegations of sexual harassment over the last decade.

The report resurfaced allegations against Assemblyman Devon Mathis, R-Visalia, who was disciplined in 2018 for making “sexual locker room talk,” including comments about fellow lawmakers, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Mathis said he has apologized for his behavior, according to the Times.

Mathis also was accused of sexually assaulting a staffer, though the police investigation into that allegation was closed without any charges and Mathis claimed the allegations were “false and politically motivated.”

The report also named several former California lawmakers with allegations, both Democrat and Republican, some of whom were disciplined and others who were not.

“This report makes clear: Sexual harassment by state lawmakers isn’t a single party issue or an anomaly — it’s a systemic abuse of power in every statehouse across the country,” said Emma Davidson Tribbs, of the National Women’s Defense League.

BERKELEY POLL FINDS CALIFORNIANS WORRY ABOUT ELECTION DISINFORMATION

A strong majority of Californians believe that disinformation, deepfakes and artificial intelligence will pose a threat to next year’s elections.

According to the latest Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey, 84% of Californians said they worry about such things, with 60% saying they are “very concerned.”

Nearly three-quarters (73%) said that state lawmakers have a responsibility to protect voters from AI and deepfake technology in the next election. Even more, 87%, said that social media and other tech companies should be required to clearly label deepfake and AI-generated audio, video and images on their websites.

Deepfake technology is the digital manipulation of video or audio to show real public figures appearing to say or do things that they never said or did.

A whopping 90% said that those companies should be required to explain to the public how personal data they accumulate from users is being used to target those ads.

Finally, 78% said that those companies should be required to follow reasonable and effective methods to ensure that users are who they say they are.

According to the Berkeley IGS, that includes large majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents.

“They also span voters across all age, gender, race, and income subgroups of the registered voter population,” according to the pollster.

The poll was conducted online in English and Spanish between Oct. 24 and Oct. 30, and surveyed 6,342 California voters, with a sampling error of approximately 2%.

At least one social media company — Facebook and Instagram parent Meta — has announced that it will label AI-generated political ads with a disclaimer beginning Jan. 1.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“This is typically the point the preschool teacher starts calling parents.”

- ACLU communications strategist Gillian Branstetter, discussing Tuesday’s congressional violence, via Bluesky.

Best of The Bee:

• The Sacramento region is getting closer to its first major freeway toll lane, via Ryan Lillis.

• It seems like such a simple, politically appealing idea: Get rid of the limit on how much people can deduct for state and local taxes on their federal returns. A lot of Californians would save money — those with high incomes would benefit the most — and the prospect of a change seems tantalizingly close. As part of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering that culminated in Louisiana Rep. Mike Johnson’s election as House Speaker last month, some Republicans with votes crucial to the outcome say they were told he would look into the matter, via David Lightman.

• The Sacramento City Unified School District and a union representing non-instructional classified staff successfully struck a deal guaranteeing a retroactive pay hike amid concerns the district’s cash reserves could be limited in two years, via Ishani Desai.

• You’ll usually find labor and climate activists waving signs on the steps or lobbying lawmakers in the rotunda of the California Capitol. But with legislators on recess until next year, progressive advocates on Monday turned their attention to the November board meeting of the country’s second-largest pension fund, via Maya Miller.

• California students will soon have a mandatory 30-minute recess, thanks to a new state law, via Jacqueline Pinedo.

• Three California Republicans helped House Democrats block an impeachment vote of President Joe Biden’s Homeland Security Secretary Monday, the latest skirmish in a dispute involving policy disagreements, not criminal wrongdoing, via Gillian Brassil.