Where's the pressure coming from?

Erstwhile Leftist Darling, AOC, is suddenly under investigation for ethics violations. Where's the pressure coming from?  I hope it isn't Republicans.  AOC is a walking advertisement for "Avoid Democrats". She's consorted with a communist mayoral candidate for New York City, angering what's left of the 'centrist'  Democrats. She's kissed the Israel ring, alienating the rest of "The Squad". Outside of her district she probably couldn't win a free prize, let alone an election. And she's been whispered as a contender for the Democratic nomination for president. So her being in hot water is no gift to the Republicans. Hopefully it's some wing of the Democratic party behind this moving forward, because frankly, it's only a gift to the Republicans if they are not the ones pushing it.

French leftist parties collude with French centrists

In France, the leftist and "centrist" parties are having candidates drop out for the second round of voting to stop the conservative parties from winning an outright majority. Why would the centrist parties do this with the left?  Either they are leftists themselves, or they are being spiteful about their loss, or they realize that they will disappear if there are only left and right candidates holding the vast majority of seats. They don't want to be irrelevant. France may yet succumb to the self inflicted status quo they don't want because of this, joining the U.K. in the sadly, seemingly unstoppable drift leftward that has plagued most of western society, despite the growing desire to stop it.