article_text
stringlengths 294
32.8k
⌀ | topic
stringlengths 3
42
|
|---|---|
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A trial for a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Missouri's new photo identification requirement for voters is scheduled to begin Friday. Here is a look at the function of the law and why voting rights groups are suing:
WHAT THE LAW DOES
Missouri's GOP-led Legislature last year capped off a nearly two-decade-long push by Republicans and passed a law requiring voters to show photo identification to cast a regular ballot.
People without a government-issued photo ID can cast provisional ballots to be counted if they return later that day with a photo ID or if election officials verify their signatures. The law requires the state to provide a free photo identification card to those lacking one to vote.
LEGAL CHALLENGES
The Missouri League of Women Voters, NAACP and two voters sued to overturn the law last year, arguing the change makes casting ballots unconstitutionally difficult for some voters.
Cole County Presiding Judge Jon Beetem, who also will hear arguments in the trial beginning Friday, dismissed the case in October 2022. He found neither of the two voters "alleged a specific, concrete, non-speculative injury or legally protectable interest in challenging the photo ID requirement."
The Missouri ACLU and Missouri Voter Protection Coalition, who sued on behalf of the plaintiffs, have since added another voter to the lawsuit and asked Beetem again to find the voter ID requirement unconstitutional.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST THE LAW
The newest plaintiff is John O’Connor, a 90-year-old Columbia, Missouri, resident with poor vision who needs help walking. When the law took effect last year, O'Connor had an expired passport and driver's license, which are not acceptable forms of identification to vote under state law.
His lawyers argued he eventually obtained a non-driver's license with the help of his wife, but only because officials accepted his expired driver's license despite guidance from the state Revenue Department that long-expired licenses are not acceptable records to use when seeking new IDs.
"Even when a voter obtains the underlying documentation, voters who lack transportation, cannot get to the DMV or other government agencies during their hours of operation, or have a disability or impairment that prevents them from accessing a DMV, the voter is still unable to surmount the burdens to obtaining a photo ID," the plaintiffs' lawyers wrote in a pretrial brief.
ARGUMENTS FOR THE LAW
Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office is defending the law in court. The state lawyers argue that, so far, no one has been turned away at the polls because of the law.
Missouri provides free non-driver's licenses for voting to those who do not already have a driver's license or have a current license. The health department's Bureau of Vital Records provides free birth certificates to those seeking their first non-driver's license in order to vote if the applicant does not have a current driver's license.
"There is not a severe burden on the right to vote as the State has gone to great lengths to help voters obtain IDs," Bailey wrote in a court brief.
VOTER ID ELSEWHERE
The National Conference of State Legislatures reports 36 states request or require identification to vote, of which at least 20 ask for a photo ID.
Other Republican-led states are moving in the same direction as Missouri as they respond to conservative voters unsettled by unfounded claims of widespread fraud and persistent conspiracy theories over the accuracy of U.S. elections. Critics characterize such requirements as an overreaction that could disenfranchise eligible voters.
For the first time this year, Ohio voters were required show photo identification to cast ballots in person. The new law eliminated previously acceptable non-photo options, such as a utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck. State-issued photo IDs are available free of charge
Missouri Republicans are not the only ones who had to fight for years to enact ID requirements.
North Carolina’s voter photo identification law, enacted nearly five years ago by the Republican-controlled legislature but blocked by litigation, is just now being implemented. Registered voters there can get free IDs at their county election offices if they provide their name, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number.
Nebraska lawmakers this summer passed a voter ID law allowing a wide array of photo identification that voters can present at the polls. IDs include passports, driver’s licenses, military and tribal IDs and Nebraska college IDs. Expired IDs are allowed if they have the voter’s name and photo. Residents of hospitals, nursing homes and assisted living centers will be able to use patient documents that include a photo. | US Federal Policies |
Rightwing media helped spawn the gang of Republican rabble-rousers who turned Kevin McCarthy’s speaker’s chair into an ejection seat.
But even though their own party members and some of those same media anchors are criticizing the eight lawmakers after last week’s debacle, experts say the professed outrage is just more fuel for a fire in which performance politics burns the brightest.
“The description of him as a performance character is far more apt to describe Matt Gaetz than as any legitimate politician or policymaker,” said Rebekah Jones, a Democrat who lost to the incumbent Florida congressman in last year’s midterm elections, and believes Gaetz’s widely broadcast ousting of McCarthy was entirely self-serving.
“Matt Gaetz is gifted in his ability to draw attention to himself … he’s always been a showman,” she said. “He’s probably smarter than your average Maga [Make America great again], he’s making moves and keeping himself in the news.”
Vanderbilt University’s Center for Effective Lawmaking ranked Gaetz 185th of 222 House members in the 117th Congress, with just 10 bills introduced, none of them deemed “significant”. By contrast, the Virginia Democrat Gerald Connolly was “most effective” with 51, and the average congressmember introduced 21.
Meanwhile, a cursory Google search by CNN found more than 106,000 news articles about Gaetz, and 347 for Republican Neal Dunn, the congressman for Gaetz’s neighboring Florida district.
Analysts point to others among the coalition of Republican hardliners who toppled McCarthy basking in the glow of their achievement, and taking to the airwaves to try to capitalize.
The Daily Beast reported that the South Carolina congresswoman Nancy Mace, who is further to the center than her other seven colleagues, and who helped oust the speaker because he had “not lived up to his word on how the House would operate”, could face an ethics investigation for trying to fundraise off her vote on Fox News.
The Arizona firebrand and Trump loyalist Andy Biggs posted a video to YouTube denying that he had helped foment chaos. “We’re not in chaos right now. What I did was, I sided with my constituents and the American people who’ve been asking me for months to make a change,” he said, without presenting any evidence they had.
Among Florida’s Republican delegation, there is growing frustration with what they see as Gaetz’s theatrics. “He has very few friends in the caucus,” Carlos Gimenez, a representative from Miami, told Politico.
“He’s about clicks. He’s about how many cameras he can get shoved in his face and he’s a historical figure because he caused [something] for the first time in history and all that. I think he gets off on that.”
Others say the hard-right networks and other outlets now growing their viewing figures amid the drama of McCarthy’s removal are at least partly responsible for driving that agenda, and shaping the personalities that made it happen.
“I don’t think I can come up with an accurate percentage of how much any given media outlet is responsible for the creation of these monsters, but Fox, and to a lesser extent other far-right media outlets, your Breitbart and Human Events, or these random blogs like whatever one Steve Bannon is running, played a significant role,” Jones said.
Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy at University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication, said Fox could find it trickier to plot a path towards the election.
“It was always going to be a fraught exercise with so much of this performative,” he said. “Ultimately, with Trump being hands down the leading candidate and tremendously popular among his base, the base that Fox News largely shares, I think that they’re going to follow that audience.
“At the end of the day they’re not going to let petty political disputes get in the way.”
Fox News, especially since the departure of Rupert Murdoch last month, was already wrestling with how to cover Trump before Gaetz and his colleagues made their move. The network, which has attacked the Florida congressman in the days since, must now factor in Gaetz’s alliance with the former president: the two will speak together at a Trump campaign rally in West Palm Beach next week.
“The coverage of Matt Gaetz on Fox has been highly negative,” said Jane Hall, professor at American University’s School of Communication and author of Politics and the Media: Intersections and New Directions.
“[The Republican former speaker] Newt Gingrich said on Sean Hannity he was treasonous, and Laura Ingraham was supposed to have Gaetz on that night, then she says she doesn’t really understand why they needed to do this. It’s been negative for Gaetz in many other places in the media.
“[But] it was mutually beneficial, especially during the Trump era, to have Gaetz, this young firebrand, on their air many, many times. This latest coverage, presenters uniformly condemning him and saying it was terrible for the Republicans, shows you that mainstream members of the Republican party know that this is going to cost them with the electorate in 2024.” | US Congress |
The conservative US supreme court justice Clarence Thomas has been condemned for maintaining “unprecedented” and “shameless” links to rightwing benefactors, after ProPublica published new details of his acceptance of undeclared gifts including 38 vacations and expensive sports tickets.
“Unprecedented. Stunning. Disgusting. The height of hypocrisy to wear the robes of a [supreme court justice] and take undisclosed gifts from billionaires who benefit from your decisions. 38 free vacations. Yachts. Luxury mansions. Skyboxes at events. Resign,” she posted.
From the Senate, Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Democratic judiciary committee chair, said: “The latest … revelation of unreported lavish gifts to Justice Clarence Thomas makes it clear: these are not merely ethical lapses. This is a shameless lifestyle underwritten for years by a gaggle of fawning billionaires.”
The ProPublica report followed extensive previous reporting, by the non-profit and competitors including the New York Times, of undisclosed gifts to Thomas from a series of mega-rich donors.
Supreme court justices are nominally subject to ethics rules for federal judges but in practice govern themselves.
Durbin said Thomas and Samuel Alito, another arch-conservative justice who did not declare gifts, had “made it clear they’re oblivious to the embarrassment they’ve visited on the highest court in the land.
“Now it’s up to Chief Justice [John] Roberts and the other justices to act on ethics reform to save their own reputations and the court’s integrity. If the court will not act, then Congress must continue to” do so.
Roberts has rejected calls to testify, saying Congress cannot regulate his court. Durbin has advanced ethics reform but its chances are virtually nil, with Republicans opposed in the Senate and in control of the House.
Thomas denies wrongdoing, claiming never to have discussed with his benefactors politics or business before the court and to have been wrongly advised about disclosure requirements. Nonetheless, condemnation was widespread.
Adam Schiff, a House Democrat running for Senate in California, said: “The scope of Justice Thomas’ undisclosed receipt of luxury vacations from billionaires takes your breath away. As does this court’s arrogant disregard of the public. Every other federal court has an enforceable code of ethics – the supreme court needs the same.”
Thomas joined the court in 1991, becoming the second Black justice in place of the first, Thurgood Marshall.
Sherrilyn Ifill, former director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) legal fund, said Thomas had created “a crisis and we need to start treating it as such. Our profession, the Senate judiciary committee, newspaper editorial boards, and the chief [justice] will need to summon the courage needed to call for what, by now, should be the obvious next step.”
Robert Reich, a former US labor secretary now a Berkeley professor and Guardian columnist, pointed to what that “next step” might be, saying Thomas “must resign or be impeached if [the supreme court] is going to retain any credibility”.
Only one justice, Samuel Chase, has ever been impeached – in 1804-05. He was acquitted in the Senate. In 1969, the justice Abe Fortas resigned under threat of impeachment, over his acceptance of outside fees.
Now, Republican control of the House renders impeachment vastly unlikely. Nor is Thomas likely to resign, particularly as Democrats hold the Senate, able to reduce conservative dominance of the court should a rightwinger vacate the bench.
Nonetheless, calls for Thomas to go continued.
Ted Lieu, a California congressman, said Thomas “has brought shame upon himself and the United States supreme court … no government official, elected or unelected, could ethically or legally accept gifts of that scale. He should resign immediately.”
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a campaign group, said: “If three times makes a pattern, what does 38 times make? We’ll tell you: the fact that Clarence Thomas has taken 38 luxury trips with billionaires without disclosing them means this kind of ethical lapse is part of his lifestyle. He needs to resign.” | SCOTUS |
“As president, I will once again stand strongly with the state of Israel, and we will cut off the money to the terrorists on day one,” said Mr Trump, who is leading the race to be the Republican 20204 nominee.
And he told a campaign rally in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire, on Monday that he would “reimpose the travel ban on terror-afflicted countries.”
Mr Trump imposed a similar ban on people from seven countries entering the US after taking office in 2017, and spouted anti-Muslim rhetoric during the 2016 campaign.
The former president claimed during the rally on Monday that “tens of thousands of probable terrorists” had entered the US since Joe Biden rescinded the travel ban.
“I don’t like talking about it, but now I can. I went four years without a problem, four years,” claimed Mr Trump.
“Because I have a travel ban. And the Islamic terrorists weren’t allowed. It was very tough for them.”
“The bloodshed and killing we saw this week will never, ever be allowed to happen on American soil,” he added. “Except for the fact that we have now allowed tens of thousands of probable terrorists into this country.”
Mr Trump claimed without providing any evidence that the “same people that attacked Israel” are entering the US through its southern border with Mexico.
More than 1,600 people have been killed since Hamas launched its bloody surprise attack on Israel from Gaza on Saturday.
The FBI said on Monday that there was no “specific and credible intelligence indicating a threat to the United States stemming from the Hamas attacks in Israel.” | US Federal Elections |
Good morning, and welcome to the midweek edition of the US politics blog. Guns, and the huge profits made by weapons manufacturers, are up for discussion in the House this morning when the oversight committee hears testimony from industry executives.It’s part of the Democratic majority’s push for tighter gun laws, including an assault weapons ban in the wake of recent massacres in New York and Texas, but it appears to be running into trouble with progressive members. They’re for more rigid restrictions, but upset that leadership is attempting to package gun control bills with police funding proposals, some of which haven’t gone through committee. We’ll have more on that coming up, plus coverage from the hearing.Here’s what else we’re watching today: There’s more focus on the justice department’s criminal inquiry into the January 6 insurrection, with the overnight revelation by the Washington Post that the investigation is now directly targeting former president Donald Trump’s actions as he tried to cling on to power. The Federal Reserve is expected to announce at lunchtime it’s hiking interest rates by up to 0.75%, an attempt to cool raging inflation by making borrowing more expensive. The Chips bill, providing about $52bn for the beleaguered semiconductors industry in the US, is set for final approval in a bipartisan Senate vote, a big win for Joe Biden and Democratic majority leader Chuck Schumer. Biden has a light schedule with no public appearances. On his to-do list: a Covid-19 test that, if negative, will see the president return to work in-person after contracting the virus last week. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will give her daily press briefing at 3pm. | US Congress |
When you buy a TV streaming box, there are certain things you wouldn’t expect it to do. It shouldn’t secretly be laced with malware or start communicating with servers in China when it’s powered up. It definitely should not be acting as a node in an organized crime scheme making millions of dollars through fraud. However, that’s been the reality for thousands of unknowing people who own cheap Android TV devices.
In January, security researcher Daniel Milisic discovered that a cheap Android TV streaming box called the T95 was infected with malware right out of the box, with multiple other researchers confirming the findings. But it was just the tip of the iceberg. This week, cybersecurity firm Human Security is revealing new details about the scope of the infected devices and the hidden, interconnected web of fraud schemes linked to the streaming boxes.
Human Security researchers found seven Android TV boxes and one tablet with the backdoors installed, and they’ve seen signs of 200 different models of Android devices that may be impacted, according to a report shared exclusively with WIRED. The devices are in homes, businesses, and schools across the US. Meanwhile, Human Security says it has also taken down advertising fraud linked to the scheme, which likely helped pay for the operation.
“They’re like a Swiss Army knife of doing bad things on the Internet,” says Gavin Reid, the CISO at Human Security who leads the company’s Satori Threat Intelligence and Research team. “This is a truly distributed way of doing fraud.” Reid says the company has shared details of facilities where the devices may have been manufactured with law enforcement agencies.
Human Security’s research is divided into two areas: Badbox, which involves the compromised Android devices and the ways they are involved in fraud and cybercrime. And the second, dubbed Peachpit, is a related ad fraud operation involving at least 39 Android and iOS apps. Google says it has removed the apps following Human Security’s research, while Apple says it has found issues in several of the apps reported to it.
First, Badbox. Cheap Android streaming boxes, usually costing less than $50, are sold online and in brick-and-mortar shops. These set-top boxes often are unbranded or sold under different names, partly obscuring their source. In the second half of 2022, Human Security says in its report, its researchers spotted an Android app that appeared to be linked to inauthentic traffic and connected to the domain flyermobi.com. When Milisic posted his initial findings about the T95 Android box in January, the research also pointed to the flyermobi domain. The team at Human purchased the box and multiple others, and started diving in.
In total the researchers confirmed eight devices with backdoors installed—seven TV boxes, the T95, T95Z, T95MAX, X88, Q9, X12PLUS, and MXQ Pro 5G, and a tablet J5-W. (Some of these have also been identified by other security researchers looking into the issue in recent months). The company’s report, which has data scientist Marion Habiby as its lead author, says Human Security spotted at least 74,000 Android devices showing signs of a Badbox infection around the world—including some in schools across the US.
The TV devices are built in China. Somewhere before they reach the hands of resellers—researchers don’t exactly know where—a firmware backdoor is added to them. This backdoor, which is based on the Triada malware first spotted by security firm Kaspersky in 2016, modifies one element of the Android operating system, allowing itself to access apps installed on the devices. Then it phones home. “Unbeknownst to the user, when you plug this thing in, it goes to a command and control (C2) in China and downloads an instruction set and starts doing a bunch of bad stuff,” Reid says.
Human Security tracked multiple types of fraud linked to the compromised devices. This includes advertising fraud; residential proxy services, where the group behind the scheme sell access to your home network; the creation of fake Gmail and WhatsApp accounts using the connections; and remote code installation. Those behind the scheme were selling access to residential networks commercially, the company’s report says, claiming to have access to more than 10 million home IP addresses and 7 million mobile IP addresses.
The findings tally with those of other researchers and ongoing investigations. Fyodor Yarochkin, a senior threat researcher at security firm Trend Micro, says the company has seen two Chinese threat groups that have used backdoored Android devices—one it has researched deeply, the other is the one Human Security looked at. “The infection of devices is quite similar,” Yarochkin says.
Trend Micro has found a “front end company” for the group it investigated in China, Yarochkin says. “They were claiming that they have over 20 million devices infected worldwide, with up to 2 million devices being online at any point of time,” he says. Based on Trend Micro’s network data, Yarochkin believes these figures to be credible. “There was a tablet in one of the museums somewhere in Europe,” Yarochkin says, adding he believes it is possible that swaths of Android systems may have been impacted, including in cars. “It’s easy for them to infiltrate the supply chain,” he says. “And for manufacturers, it's really difficult to detect.”
Then there’s what Human Security calls Peachpit. This is an app-based fraud element, which has been present on both the TV boxes as well as Android phones and iPhones, Reid says. The company identified 39 Android, iOS, and TV box apps that were involved. “These are template-based applications—not very high quality,” says Joao Santos, a security researcher at the company. Apps about developing six-pack abs and logging the amount of water a person drinks were included.
The apps performed a range of fraudulent behavior, including hidden advertisements, spoofed web traffic, and malvertising. The research says that while those behind Peachpit appear different from those behind Badbox, it is likely they are working together in some way. “They have this SDK that did the ad fraud part, and we found a version of this SDK that matches the name of the module that was being dropped on the Badbox,” Santos says, referring to a software development kit. “That was another level of connection that we found.”
Human Security’s research says the ads involved were making 4 billion ad requests per day, with 121,000 Android devices impacted and 159,000 iOS devices impacted. There had been 15 million downloads in total for the Android apps, the researchers calculate. (The Badbox backdoor was found only on Android, not on any iOS devices.) Reid says that based on the data the company has, which isn’t a complete picture due to the complexity of the ad industry, those behind the scheme could have easily earned $2 million in one month alone.
Google spokesperson Ed Fernandez confirms the 20 Android apps reported by Human Security have been removed from the Play Store. “The off-brand devices discovered to be Badbox-infected were not Play Protect–certified Android devices,” Fernandez says, referring to Google’s security testing system for Android devices. “If a device isn't Play Protect certified, Google doesn’t have a record of security and compatibility test results.” The company has a list of certified Android TV partners. Apple spokesperson Archelle Thelemaque says that it found five of the apps Human reported breaching its guidelines, and the developers were given 14 days to make them follow the rules. Four of them have done so, as of publication.
Toward the end of 2022 and in the first part of this year, Reid says, Human Security took action against the advertising fraud elements of Badbox and Peachpit. According to data shared by the company, the amount of fraudulent ad requests from the schemes taking place now has completely dropped off. But the attackers adapted to the disruption in real time. Santos says when the countermeasures were first deployed, those behind the schemes started by sending out an update to obfuscate what they were doing. Then, he says, those behind Badbox took down the C2 servers powering the firmware backdoor.
While the attackers have been slowed, the boxes are still in people’s homes and on their networks. And unless someone has technical skills, the malware is very hard to remove. “You can think of these Badboxes as kind of like sleeper cells. They're just sitting there waiting for instruction sets,” Reid says. Ultimately, for people buying TV streaming boxes, the advice is to buy branded devices, where the manufacturer is clear and trusted. As Reid says, “Friends don't let friends plug in weird IoT devices into their home networks.”
This story originally appeared on wired.com. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
LOS ANGELES — Authorities in Ventura County, California, are investigating the death of a Jewish man who was injured during a confrontation at dueling pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian rallies and who died Monday, the sheriff’s department said.
Witnesses said Paul Kessler, 69, "was in a physical altercation with counter-protestor(s)," the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement.
"During the altercation, Kessler fell backwards and struck his head on the ground,” it said.
The incident happened around 3:20 p.m. Sunday in Thousand Oaks, a community in the Los Angeles area just over the Ventura County line, the sheriff's department said.
Kessler was taken to a hospital and died Monday, it said.
“The Ventura County Medical Examiner’s Office determined the cause of death to be blunt force head injury and the manner of death homicide,” the sheriff’s department said in a statement.
Pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian rallies were occurring at the same time at Westlake and Thousand Oaks boulevards, the sheriff’s department said.
A photo posted to social media showed Kessler before the altercation, waving an Israeli flag at an intersection.
A press photographer then captured an image of Kessler receiving treatment on a sidewalk at 3.20 p.m (6.20 p.m. ET), his head laying on a bloodied homemade sign. Video also posted online appears to show Kessler lying on the sidewalk with his head covered in blood.
Another video appears to show pro-Palestinian demonstrators continuing to shout slogans and wave flags after Kessler was injured — with police cars and an ambulance yards away. The same clip shows blood splattered across a homemade sign that said "STOP BOMBING BABIES AND FAMILIES."
Rabbi Michael Barclay of Temple Ner Simcha, near where the incident took place, called for patience.
“Please do not make assumptions or accusations until the police can do their job and/or we get real video,” Barclay wrote on X.
Barclay identified Kessler as Jewish. Kessler's family declined comment Monday night and was asking for privacy.
The Los Angeles area office of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) said it was "deeply saddened by this tragic and shocking loss" but cautioned against using the incident for political means.
"We join local Jewish leaders in calling on all individuals to refrain from jumping to conclusions, sensationalizing such a tragedy for political gains, or spreading rumors that could unnecessarily escalate tensions that are already at an all-time high," CAIR said in a statement Monday evening.
The death occurred as tensions are high in parts of the United States and elsewhere over the Israel-Hamas war, one month since the Hamas terror attack killed 1,400 people in the country. More than 10,000 people have been killed in Gaza since as Israel bombards the Palestinian enclave.
The incident was swiftly condemned by senior politicians in Israel.
“The murder of Jewish-American Paul Kessler should serve as a stark warning sign to the whole world,” said Benny Gantz, the opposition leader who joined a wartime cabinet after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.
“Israel stands today at the forefront of the global fight against the murderous antisemitic ideology behind the Hamas terror attacks of 7.10,” he said in a post on X.
Another Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, said in a post on X: “Paul Kessler was killed in Los Angeles because he was a Jew. It is not because of Gaza, it is because of antisemitism.”
“This is what happens when protesters glorify Hamas and call to ‘globalize the intifada,’ They don’t love Palestinians, they hate Jews,” he said.
The sheriff's department said an investigation is active. It asked anyone who was at the demonstration or has information to contact it.
“The Ventura County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the incident and has not ruled out the possibility of a hate crime,” it said in a statement.
The sheriff's department did not detail more about how Kessler's injury occurred.
Ventura County Sheriff Jim Fryhoff is expected to hold a news conference Tuesday morning.
No arrests have been made, the sheriff’s department said Monday night. | US Political Corruption |
“Anybody ever hear of Hannibal Lecter?” former President Donald Trump asked last night. “He was a nice fellow. But that’s what’s coming into our country right now.”
The leader of the Republican Party—and quite likely the 2024 GOP nominee—was on an extended rant about mental institutions, prisons, and, to use his phrase, “empty insane asylums.” Speaking to thousands of die-hard supporters at a rally in South Florida, Trump lamented that, under President Joe Biden, the United States has become “the dumping ground of the world.” That he had casually praised one of the most infamous psychopathic serial killers in cinema history was but an aside, brushed over and forgotten.
This was a dystopian, at times gothic speech. It droned on for nearly 90 minutes. Trump attacked the “liars and leeches” who have been “sucking the life and blood” out of the country. Those unnamed people were similar to, yet different from, the “rotten, corrupt, and tyrannical establishment” of Washington, D.C.—a place Trump famously despises, and to which he nonetheless longs to return.
His candidacy is rife with a foreboding sense of inevitability. Trump senses it; we all do. Those 91 charges across four separate indictments? Mere inconveniences. Palm trees swayed as the 45th president peered out at the masses from atop a giant stage erected near the end zone of Ted Hendricks Stadium in Hialeah. He ceremoniously accepted an endorsement from Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders, his former press secretary. He basked in stadium-size adulation and yet still seemed sort of pissed off. He wants the whole thing to be over already. Eleven miles away, in downtown Miami, Trump’s remaining rivals were fighting for relevance at the November GOP primary debate. “I was watching these guys, and they’re not watchable,” Trump said. His son Donald Jr. referred to the neighboring event as “the dog-catcher debate.”
Though not a single vote has been cast in this election, Trump’s 44-point lead and refusal to participate in debates has made a mockery of the primary. And though many try to be, no other Republican is quite like Trump. No other candidate has legions of fans who will bake in the Florida sun for hours before gates open. No one else can draw enough people to even hold a rally this size, let alone spawn a traveling rally-adjacent road show, with a pop-up midway of vendors hawking T-shirts and buttons and ball caps and doormats and Christmas ornaments. Voters don’t fan themselves with cardboard cutouts of Chris Christie’s head.
Multiple merchandise vendors told me that the shirts featuring Trump’s mug shot have become their best sellers. Some other tees bore slogans: Ultra MAGA, Ultra MAGA and Proud, CANCEL ME, Trump Rallies Matter, 4 Time Indictment Champ, Super Duper Ultra MAGA, Fuck Biden. “Thank you and have a MAGA day!” one vendor called out with glee. As attendees poured into the stadium, some of the pre-rally songs were a little too on the nose: “The Devil Went Down to Georgia,” “Jailhouse Rock.” Kids darted up and down the aisles between the white folding chairs, popping out to the snack bar for ice cream and popcorn. The comedian Roseanne Barr, who a few years ago was forced out of her eponymous show’s reboot due to a racist tweet, took the stage early and thanked the MAGA faithful for welcoming her in. “You saved my life,” she said. Feet rumbled on the metal bleachers. People danced and embraced. In the hours before the night’s headliner, this felt less like a political event and more like a revival.
I saw the GOP operative Roger Stone and his small entourage saunter past the food trucks to modest applause. Onstage, Trump complimented Stone’s political acumen. (Stone, who is sort of the Forrest Gump of modern American politics, has played a role in seemingly every major scandal from Watergate to January 6, not to mention the Brooks Brothers riot that helped deliver Florida to George W. Bush in the 2000 election.)
That afternoon, seeking air-conditioning at a nearby Wendy’s, I met Kurt Jantz, who told me he’s been to more than 100 Trump rallies. Jantz had driven down to Hialeah from his home in Tampa. His pickup truck is massive, raised, and wrapped in Trump iconography. (He has an image of Trump as Rambo with a bald eagle perched on one shoulder, surrounded by a tank, a helicopter, the Statue of Liberty, and the White House, plus a background of exploding fireworks. That’s only one side of the truck.) Jantz has found a niche as a pro-MAGA rapper—he performs under the name Forgiato Blow. Tattoos cover much of his body, including a 1776 on the left side of his face. He rolled up his basketball shorts to show me Trump’s face tattooed on his right thigh. “Trump’s a boss. Trump’s a businessman. Trump has the cars. Trump has the females. Trump's getting the money. He’s a damn near walking rapper to the life of a rapper, right? I want a Mar-a-Lago.” Jantz said he’s met and spoken with Trump “numerous times,” as recently as a couple of months ago at a GOP fundraiser. Trump, he said, was aware of the work Jantz was doing to spread the president’s message, not only through his music. “I mean, that truck itself could change a lot of people’s ways,” he said.
Though people travel great distances to experience Trump in the flesh—I spoke with one supporter who had come down from Michigan—many attendees at last night’s event were local. Dalia Julia Gomez, 61, has lived in Hialeah for decades. She told me she fled Cuba in 1993 and supports Trump because she believes he loves “the American tradition.” Hialeah is more than 90 percent Hispanic and overwhelmingly Republican. Onstage last night, Trump warned that “Democrats are turning the United States into communist Cuba.” People booed. Some hooted. He quickly followed up, seemingly unsure of what to say next: “And you know, because we have a lot of great Cubans here!”
Trump won Florida in 2016 and 2020. His closest rival, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, has just been endorsed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds, but has otherwise been struggling to connect with voters for months. Trump has already secured many key Florida endorsements, including from Senator Rick Scott. (Senator Marco Rubio has yet to endorse.)
The night was heavy on psychological projection. “We are here tonight to declare that Crooked Joe Biden’s banana republic ends on November 5, 2024,” Trump said. Later, he vowed to “start by exposing every last crime committed by Crooked Joe Biden. Because now that he indicted me, we're allowed to look at him. But he did real bad things,” Trump said. “We will restore law and order to our communities. And I will direct a completely overhauled DOJ to investigate every Marxist prosecutor in America for their illegal, racist, and reverse enforcement of the law on day one.”
He seemed to tip-toe around the idea of January 6, though he did not mention the day, specifically. Instead, he said: “We inherit the legacy of generations of American patriots who gave their blood, sweat, and tears to defend our country and defend our freedom.” Earlier in the day, I spoke with Todd Gerhart, who was selling Trump-shaped bottles of honey, with a portion of the profits going to January 6 defendants. (“Give Donald a Squeeze!” $20 bucks a bottle.) Gerhart lives in Charleston, South Carolina, and is among the vendors who follow the Trump show around the country. He told me that Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy, is a fan of his product, as is General Michael Flynn. He introduced me to a woman from Tennessee named Sarah McAbee, whose husband, Ronald, was convicted on five felony charges related to January 6 and is currently awaiting sentencing. She told me she’s able to speak with him by phone once a day. Yesterday she informed him she was going to the Trump rally. “It's a one-day-at-a-time sort of thing,” she said.
About 100 yards away, people were lining up to meet Donald Trump Jr., who was scheduled to sign copies of his father’s photography book, Our Journey Together. Junior smiled and scribbled as his fiancée, Kimberly Guilfoyle, snapped selfies with fans. Walking around yesterday afternoon, I heard a rumor: Not only had Trump already picked his next vice president, but there was no one it could conceivably be besides his loyal namesake, Don Jr.
A little while later, I saw Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, milling about. I asked him about this rumor explicitly. He gave me an inquisitive look. “President Trump’s not ready to announce his VP pick yet,” he said. “Can you even have someone from the same family? I know you can’t have two people from the same state. So that rules it out right there.”
Family remains a confounding part of the Trump story. His daughter Ivanka spent the day in Manhattan testifying in the case that could demolish what’s left of the family’s real-estate empire. Trump himself had taken the witness stand on Monday. The occasion seemed to still be weighing on him, and at the rally, yielded a microscopic moment of familial self-reflection. “Can you believe—my father and mother are looking down: ‘Son, how did that happen?’” (For this he did an impression of a parental voice.) He quickly pivoted. “‘We’re so proud of you son,’” he said (in the voice again). It didn’t make much sense. He rambled his way to the end of the thought. “But every time I'm indicted, I consider it a great badge of honor, because I'm being indicted for you,” Trump told the crowd. “Thanks a lot, everybody.”
During my conversation with Miller, I asked him if the campaign had discussed the logistics—or practicalities—of Trump getting convicted and having to theoretically run the country from prison. “There's nothing that the deep state can throw at us that we’re not going to be ready for,” he said. “We have a plane, we have a social-media following of over a hundred million people. We have the greatest candidate that’s ever lived. There's nothing they can do. Nothing is going to stop Donald Trump.”
What about something like a house arrest at Mar-a-Lago?
“Nothing is going to stop Donald Trump.” | US Campaigns & Elections |
Touch-screen voting machines are now permitted across New York after the state Board of Elections voted to allow counties to purchase new systems last week. Now, voters can cast their ballot electronically, an update to traditional voter-marked paper ballots.
The updates have been met with backlash from some Republican counties in the state. On Monday, Chautauqua County GOP election officials announced that they would not be purchasing any of the touch-screen machines, citing they are updating 100 Dominion Optical Scan ImageCast machines the area purchased in 2008.
In a 3-1 vote on Aug. 2, the New York State Board of Elections approved ExpressVote XL voting machines to be purchased and used as early as the 2024 elections. Board Co-Chairman Doug Kellner, a Democrat, was the only one who voted not to certify the machines, citing a lawsuit involving the machines that will occur before the final vote.
The electronic system is made by Election Systems & Software, the other large voting industry proponent besides Dominion. ExpressVote XL makes voters select their choices on a touch screen and underwent extensive testing by the board before it was approved for election usage.
Two amendments were pushed through to the original resolution. One modified a proposal from Kellner making Election Systems & Software acknowledge multiple source code anomalies, and the other pointed out that ExpressVote XL summary cards currently have to be audited by hand, urging a system to be implemented.
Others in opposition to the changes say paper ballots are still the most secure method of voting, which is the system New York counties and New York City currently operate on. Critics, such as Common Cause, a government watchdog group, claim the machines are a waste of taxpayer money and don't allow for users to check their votes as accurately as paper ballots.
Jennifer Wilson, the deputy director of public information for the New York State Board of Elections, has pushed back on this opposition, claiming the machines are just as secure and will not create voter confusion.
“The voter’s choices are printed on the paper record by the machine, and the voter can then either review their choices behind a clear screen before having it scan and tabulate their ballot or they can have the machine eject their ballot to them for closer review, or to have that ballot scanned by another device,” Wilson said, per Spectrum News 1. | US Federal Elections |
Education Department confirms student loans will restart even if government closes
About 28 million borrowers will be expected to make a payment in October.
The Biden administration is moving ahead with plans to resume collecting student loan payments in the coming days, regardless of whether the government shuts down this weekend.
“Even if Republicans needlessly shut down the government, loan payments will continue to be due” starting in October, an Education Department spokesperson said in a statement to POLITICO on Thursday, responding to calls from some progressives to delay the effort.
Interest on most federal loans began accruing again on Sept. 1, and about 28 million borrowers will be expected to make a payment in October, according to the department. Some borrowers have already received bills in advance of their individual payment due date, which vary across the month.
Government shutdowns in the past have not changed federal student loan borrowers’ obligation to make monthly payments. But the confluence of a possible government shutdown with the unprecedented resumption of payments for tens of millions of borrowers following a 3½-year pandemic pause presents new challenges for the Education Department.
The department has not yet publicized an updated contingency plan that details how it would curtail its operations in the event of a government shutdown. But officials have confirmed that the agency has enough funding to continue “key” student aid activities, including collecting and managing student loans, for “a couple weeks.”
“A prolonged shutdown lasting more than a few weeks could substantially disrupt the return to repayment effort,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Monday.
Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Wednesday said the Biden administration should freeze student loan payments again if the government shuts down.
Mike Pierce, executive director of Student Borrower Protection Center, a student debt advocacy group, issued a similar plea: “If House Republicans shut down the federal government, the Biden Administration must shut down the student loan system too,” he said in a statement. | US Federal Policies |
Dairy farms are some of the most dangerous job sites in America. Much of the labor is done by immigrants working on small farms that operate with little safety oversight.
When Judy Kalepp became the municipal court judge in Abbotsford, Wisconsin, more than a decade ago, she was shocked to see how many Latinos were ticketed for driving without a license. She asked herself: Couldn’t they just get licensed and stop breaking the law?
Then she got to know some of the drivers, mostly Mexican immigrants who lived and worked in the community. Despite not speaking Spanish, she was able to communicate with many of them and learn that they were undocumented and prohibited by state law from getting driver’s licenses.
Over time, her views changed. While she still worries about road safety with so many unlicensed immigrants driving, she’s also come to recognize how important their labor is to the area around Abbotsford, a Central Wisconsin town that’s home to a meatpacking facility and is surrounded by dairy farms.
“The more I see of it,” Kalepp said, “the more I think we’re probably wrong in not allowing them to get a license.”
Last week ProPublica reported on how Wisconsin, a state that bills itself as “America’s Dairyland,” relies on undocumented immigrants to work on its dairy farms but doesn’t let them drive. As a result, many undocumented dairy workers struggle to take care of some of their most basic needs — from buying groceries and cashing in checks to visiting the doctor or taking their kids to school. They say they are trapped on the farms where they work and often live, dependent on others to take them where they need to go.
Immigrants who break the law and drive anyway risk getting ticketed and receiving hefty fines or even being arrested or deported. “It’s scary to drive,” said an undocumented Honduran immigrant who works on a farm near Abbotsford.
He’s lived mostly in isolation in his 10 years in Wisconsin: He’s never visited Milwaukee, he rarely sees friends from back home (they can’t legally drive either), and he doesn’t know how or when he’d ever meet a romantic partner. But he still gets behind the wheel six days a week to get to work — and then again every two weeks to go into town to cash his check, buy groceries and do his laundry. “To get anything done,” he said, “you have to drive.”
For years, advocates for immigrants have tried to persuade lawmakers in Wisconsin to allow undocumented immigrants to get driver’s licenses. Democrats have been mostly on board, with Gov. Tony Evers inserting the issue into his budget proposals. The challenge has been convincing Republicans, who control the state Legislature, to take an action that some of their constituents might fiercely oppose.
“I have some Republican voters and Republican colleagues that say, ‘Hey, they came here illegally. They didn’t come here through legal channels, so they shouldn’t be rewarded,’” said Rep. Patrick Snyder, a GOP lawmaker whose district sits a little to the east of Abbotsford and includes parts of Marathon County. “I understand their concerns. But in the same sense, if we suddenly kicked out all of the people here, the undocumented, our dairy farms would collapse. We have to come up with a solution.”
Snyder is one of a number of Republican lawmakers and local officials from the area who met with law enforcement officials, dairy farmers, civic leaders and immigration rights advocates in Abbotsford in March to discuss the impact on the community of a 2006 law banning undocumented immigrants from obtaining driver’s licenses. Wisconsin is one of 31 states that doesn’t allow undocumented immigrants to drive legally.
The meeting in Abbotsford, which straddles the border of Clark and Marathon counties, offers a window into how the politics around this issue might be changing. Some local officials who live in these places and routinely interact with undocumented immigrant drivers or hear from local dairy farmers are becoming more vocal about changing the law.
Like much of rural Wisconsin, both counties voted solidly in 2020 for then-President Donald Trump, whose stance against illegal immigration was a hallmark of his presidency.
Abbotsford, with a population of about 2,100, has a downtown that’s lined with Mexican restaurants and grocery stores. Local residents and dairy workers from around the area drive in to cash their checks, buy tortillas and other staples from back home, and go to the municipal court to pay their tickets for driving without a license.
This $124 citation is, by far, the most common processed in the municipal court, accounting for nearly one in three cases that ended with a guilty disposition and more than $19,000 in fines last year, records show. The court does not track defendants’ race or ethnicity, but ProPublica found that 134 of the 157 tickets for driving without a valid license involved defendants with common Hispanic surnames, such as Cruz, Lopez and Garcia. (The U.S. Census Bureau says more than 85% of people with these last names are Hispanic.)
Jason Bauer, the chief of the Colby-Abbotsford Police Department, said he wishes the state would allow undocumented immigrants to get trained and tested to get driver’s licenses. But in the meantime, he said, he can’t tell his officers to stop enforcing the law when they encounter a driver without a license. “Then I’d have to say, ‘You’ve got to treat everybody the same,” he said, “including the 15-year-old white kids” who are driving.
Still, tickets for driving without a license are so common that Bauer has asked his officers to stop seeking criminal charges on repeat offenses — which is what typically happens — to help drivers avoid mandatory court appearances. Bauer said he also wants to avoid overwhelming his local county district attorneys. (Melissa Inlow, Clark County’s district attorney, said she stopped pressing criminal charges on repeat offenses for driving without a license last fall due to limited resources, but drivers still have to pay a fine.)
Abbotsford Mayor Jim Weix said he talks to Bauer several times a week and knows just how frequently drivers are ticketed for this offense. Weix is a Republican who backs Trump and supports tougher border policies. But he doesn’t think the current state law, which lets undocumented immigrants own cars but prohibits them from driving, makes sense.
“We need these people to learn how to drive and our rules and regulations and everything,” Weix said.
But like many fellow Republicans, Weix worries about voter fraud and said he wouldn’t want undocumented immigrants to use driver’s licenses to vote illegally. Since Wisconsin residents can use driver’s licenses as proof of ID for voting, he would urge lawmakers to ensure that any type of driver’s license that’s created for undocumented immigrants be clearly marked “not to be used for voting.”
At the March meeting, law enforcement officials expressed concern about having so many people on the road who haven’t passed a local driving test. “That’s a danger. We want to keep roads safe,” Clark County Sheriff Scott Haines said in an interview. “I am looking more for the safety of all citizens.”
Haines said the meeting opened his eyes to the issue’s complexities. But he said changing the law “is out of our hands.” Like Bauer, he said that unless the Legislature allows undocumented immigrants to get licenses, he has to enforce the law.
Dairy farmers at the meeting spoke about how the state law makes it difficult for their workers to get to and from work without risking tickets and arrest. Among the farmers: Hans Breitenmoser, who operates a 470-cow farm in Lincoln County, northeast of Abbotsford.
“Dairy cows are 24/7,” Breitenmoser said in an interview. “I don’t have the luxury of just shutting down the machines. We have to milk them every single day, three times a day. If someone doesn’t show up it’s kind of a big deal compared to in other industries; we’re dealing with live creatures.”
ProPublica reached out to the four Republican lawmakers who attended, as identified by the meeting’s organizers and other attendees. Sen. Jesse James declined to comment, though he recently told Wisconsin Public Radio he would be open to considering legislation to give undocumented immigrants access to driver’s licenses. Rep. Calvin Callahan did not respond to interview requests. But in a June press release, he explained how Republicans had removed “liberal wish list” items from the governor’s budget proposal, including driver’s licenses and other “new benefits for illegal immigrants.”
Meanwhile, Snyder and Rep. Donna Rozar, whose district includes Abbotsford, said they’d support legislation restoring driving privileges to undocumented immigrants in Wisconsin. But both acknowledged it’d be a tough sell to some of their Republican colleagues.
The real problem, they said, is Congress’ failure to fix the country’s broken immigration system.
“There are a lot of us that believe we’re being invaded and the federal government doesn’t care,” Rozar said. “And I get the sense that some of my colleagues believe that if we start chipping away at this undocumented worker issue, we are taking some of the responsibility away from the federal government to do their job.” | US Local Policies |
UPDATE: Man charged in Louisville airport security breach had weapon in his bag
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A Southern Indiana man was arrested after a breach in security at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport (SDF) Sunday morning.
Around 6:30 a.m., SDF said an individual breached the TSA security checkpoint during the screening process. The airport’s Public Safety and Airport Operations departments were able to find the man on Southwest Airlines flight 3732 to Chicago-Midway as it was boarding.
Louisville Airport police arrested Michael Phillip Van Bree, 60, of Greenville, Ind., on a misdemeanor charge of carrying a concealed deadly weapon.
Court documents say Van Bree was going through the TSA checkpoint when a gun was detected in one of his bags. A TSA agent said Van Bree grabbed both of his bags from the belt and walked into the secured gate area of the terminal.
Because of the security breach, a ground stop was issued for all planes at SDF.
A review of security camera video showed Van Bree boarding the Southwest flight. Airport police removed all passengers from the aircraft and detained Van Bree without incident. The weapon, a Smith and Wesson MP40, was found during a search of Van Bree’s backpack.
Natalie Chaudoin, an SDF spokesperson, said passenger screening and departing flight operations resumed as normal around 7:45 a.m. Chaudoin said the rescreening of passengers is standard procedure anytime any aircraft are removed from a plane due to security reasons.
Van Bree was booked into Louisville Metro Corrections following his arrest but has been released after posting a $10,000 cash bond. Arraignment is scheduled for Sept. 27 in Jefferson District Court.
Copyright 2023 WAVE. All rights reserved. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Recent breaches of MGM's casino systems "were probably carried out by teens and young adults who have allied themselves with one of the world's most notorious ransomware gangs," writes the Washington Post's technology reporter.
Their alliance with the "Scattered Spider" group is described as "part of a trend that has alarmed security experts and defenders of corporate computer networks." The group is said to be "very active in the past two years, targeting large companies via stolen employee credentials and tricks such as convincing tech support employees that they have been accidentally locked out of their computers and need a new password." They moved from cryptocurrency thefts to targeting businesses that provide third-party business functions such as help desks and call center staffing, allowing them to infiltrate networks of many customers. And they extorted Western Digital and other technology firms after stealing internal data before heading for the jackpots in Las Vegas. But their willingness to deploy crippling ransomware while demanding money is a major escalation, as is their choice of a business partner: ALPHV, a hacking group whose affiliates include members of the former Russian powerhouses BlackMatter and DarkSide, the groups responsible for the Colonial Pipeline hack that awoke Washington to the national security risk of ransomware. ALPHV provided the BlackCat ransomware that the young hackers installed in the casinos' systems...
[According to new research presented Friday at the LABScon security conference] they came together through crimes enabled by SIM-swapping, which usually involves convincing phone company employees to hand over control of someone else's phone number. Because of poor security controls around those numbers, such gambits have allowed criminals to amass millions of dollars by beating SMS text-based two-factor authentication on cryptocurrency accounts. The extra money has made alliances possible with criminals who have different skills to bring to the table, including some who had hacked police servers and could send emails from purported officers demanding emergency disclosures of information on phone and internet customers. Worse, the researchers said, they have now attracted recruiters for the Russian gangs who want to combine their business savvy with the techniques and local knowledge of the native English speakers.
Their alliance with the "Scattered Spider" group is described as "part of a trend that has alarmed security experts and defenders of corporate computer networks." The group is said to be "very active in the past two years, targeting large companies via stolen employee credentials and tricks such as convincing tech support employees that they have been accidentally locked out of their computers and need a new password." They moved from cryptocurrency thefts to targeting businesses that provide third-party business functions such as help desks and call center staffing, allowing them to infiltrate networks of many customers. And they extorted Western Digital and other technology firms after stealing internal data before heading for the jackpots in Las Vegas. But their willingness to deploy crippling ransomware while demanding money is a major escalation, as is their choice of a business partner: ALPHV, a hacking group whose affiliates include members of the former Russian powerhouses BlackMatter and DarkSide, the groups responsible for the Colonial Pipeline hack that awoke Washington to the national security risk of ransomware. ALPHV provided the BlackCat ransomware that the young hackers installed in the casinos' systems...
[According to new research presented Friday at the LABScon security conference] they came together through crimes enabled by SIM-swapping, which usually involves convincing phone company employees to hand over control of someone else's phone number. Because of poor security controls around those numbers, such gambits have allowed criminals to amass millions of dollars by beating SMS text-based two-factor authentication on cryptocurrency accounts. The extra money has made alliances possible with criminals who have different skills to bring to the table, including some who had hacked police servers and could send emails from purported officers demanding emergency disclosures of information on phone and internet customers. Worse, the researchers said, they have now attracted recruiters for the Russian gangs who want to combine their business savvy with the techniques and local knowledge of the native English speakers. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
- Companies
SAN FRANCISCO, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) said on Friday it was assessing a claim made by the Lockbit cybercrime gang that it had "a tremendous amount" of sensitive data stolen from the aerospace giant that it would dump online if Boeing didn't pay ransom by Nov. 2.
The hacking group posted a countdown clock on its data leak website with a message saying, "Sensitive data was exfiltrated and ready to be published if Boeing do not contact within the deadline!"
"For now we will not send lists or samples to protect the company BUT we will not keep it like that until the deadline," the hacking group said.
The hacking group typically deploys ransomware on a victim organization's system to lock it up and also steals sensitive data for extortion.
"We are assessing this claim,” a Boeing spokeswoman said by email.
Lockbit was the most active global ransomware group last year based on the number of victims it claimed on its data leak blog, according to the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).
The gang, whose eponymous ransomware was first seen on Russian-language-based cybercrime forums in January 2020, has made 1,700 attacks on U.S. organizations since then, CISA said in June.
Lockbit did not say how much data it allegedly stole from Boeing, or the amount of ransom demanded. Boeing didn't comment further.
The hacking gang also did not immediately respond to a request for comment sent on an address it mentioned on its data leak site.
Reporting by Zeba Siddiqui in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
Read Next
- MarketsEU, Japan conclude agreement on data flows, EU says
The European Union and Japan concluded an agreement on Saturday on cross-border data flows, which should drive business and may help shape global rules for data, the European Commission said. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
"I will take Joe Biden at 100 vs. Ron DeSantis any day of the week at any age," Newsom said Thursday during the Fox News-hosted debate.
DeSantis disagreed, contending Biden is in cognitive decline and is "a danger to the country."
"He has no business running for president," DeSantis said. "And you know, Gavin Newsom agrees with that. He won't say that, but that's why he's running a shadow campaign."
Newsom countered that Biden will be the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee "in a matter of weeks," while DeSantis "will be endorsing" former President Donald Trump "as the nominee for the Republican Party."
"When are you going to drop out and at least give [former U.N. Ambassador] Nikki Haley a shot to take down Donald Trump," he said.
The governors were asked what grade they would give Biden for his first term, with Newsom giving Biden an "A" and DeSantis giving him an "F."
The debate allowed the pair to introduce themselves to a general election audience despite only DeSantis being a declared presidential candidate for 2024.
Biden, the country's oldest president, turned 81 last week and is under scrutiny regarding whether he has the stamina to campaign, in addition to whether he can defeat Trump should the former president become the GOP nominee. | US Federal Elections |
WESTFIELD, Ind. -- Indiana authorities have recovered two complete human DNA profiles from bones and bone fragments found on property once owned by a long-deceased businessman suspected in a string of killings in the 1980s and 1990s.
Hamilton County Coroner Jeff Jellison said Indiana State Police's laboratory was able to produce the two DNA profiles this week from among a batch of bones and fragments submitted to the state agency as part of a renewed effort to identify more of the human remains found on Herbert Baumeister's property.
Baumeister was 49 when fatally shot himself in Canada in July 1996 as investigators sought to question him about the remains discovered at Fox Hollow Farm, his 18-acre estate in Westfield, a Hamilton County city that’s a few miles north of Indianapolis.
Last year, Jellison asked relatives of young men who vanished between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s to submit DNA samples to his office as part of a renewed effort to identify more of the roughly 10,000 charred bones and fragments found at Baumeister's property.
He said he’s hoping the two newly developed DNA profiles can provide closure to families of men who went missing decades ago.
“Really, those working with us from the Indiana State Police are the offensive lineman of this investigation,” Jellison told WXIN-TV. “Any identification we may get will be a result of their hard work.”
Investigators believed Baumeister, a married father of three who frequented gay bars, lured men to his home and killed them. By 1999, authorities had linked him to the disappearance of at least 16 men since 1980, including several whose bodies were found dumped in shallow streams in rural central Indiana and western Ohio.
When Jellison announced the renewed identification effort in November, he said investigators believed the 10,000 charred bones and fragments found at Baumeister’s property could represent the remains of at least 25 people. Eleven human DNA samples were extracted from those bones during the original investigation in the 1990s.
Eight of those people, all young men, were identified and matched to DNA samples, but three remaining DNA profiles are of unknown individuals, Jellison said last year.
State police investigators will now work to compare the two new DNA profiles to samples submitted by relatives of long-missing men, and also check whether they match those of the eight men whose remains were previously identified.
“They’re now doing the comparison samples and fast-tracking that process now that we have modern DNA,” Jellison told WTHR-TV.
If no matches with those samples are found, he said state police’s effort will expand nationwide by using national DNA databases. If that fails, Jellison said his office may partner with a private DNA testing company to conduct “forensic genetic genealogy” testing.
In the meantime, Jellison said state police are working to extract more DNA profiles from the remains found at Baumeister's property.
“That’s the story I want to tell, is who these people are. That’s my job is to tell who they are and to speak for them,” Jellison said. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, the mayor of Smiths Station, Alabama, and pastor at First Baptist Church of Phenix City, died by suicide Friday evening.
Copeland, a married father of three, “took his own life” around 5 p.m. Friday, said Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones.
Sheriff’s deputies received a request for a welfare check for Copeland around 4:14 p.m. Friday, the office said later.
Copeland was found in Beulah when a slow pursuit was initiated with the mayor’s vehicle.
Copeland turned off Lee County Road 279 and on to Lee County Road 275 just north of Yarboughs Crossroads and pulled over.
“He exited the vehicle, produced a handgun and took his own life,” the sheriff’s office said.
A former member of the Lee County Board of Education, Copeland became mayor of Smiths Station in 2016.
The church could not immediately be reached for comment.
Copeland’s death came two days after 1819 News published photos of him wearing women’s clothing and makeup.
1819 News is a website that was once owned by the Alabama Policy Institute.
“We have become aware of the alleged unbiblical behavior related to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Phenix City,” the Alabama Baptist State Convention and Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions said in a statement to the Alabama Baptist, a news outlet for the state’s Baptist churches.
“We are praying for the leaders of the church family as they seek to determine the truth concerning these accusations. As the people of God, we pray for the pastor and his family as well.”
- If you or someone you know is contemplating suicide, reach out to the 24–hour National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255; contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741; or chat with someone online at suicidepreventionlifeline.org. The 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24 hours.
On Wednesday, Copeland took to the pulpit at First Baptist Church to denounce the post about him, claiming he was a “victim of an internet attack.”
“The article is not who or what I am. ... I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private and personal life that has become public. This will not cause my life to change. This will not waver my devotion to my family, serving my city, serving my church,” Copeland said in his statement to the church.
He then read from the 23rd Psalm as he delivered a short sermon. “God will always protect you, take care of you,” Copeland said. “He will see you through anything, absolutely anything.”
Copeland was in the national spotlight in 2019 after a tornado killed 23 people in Lee County and he met with then-President Donald Trump as he toured the damaged communities.
“Never in a million years did I think my first term as mayor would include dealing with a deadly tornado, global pandemic and several student suicides,” he posted on Facebook a year later.
“There is no instruction manual for this job. However, I do have my own personal manual and that is my Bible. God will sustain you through anything as long as you commit your life to him.”
He was re-elected in 2020. | US Local Elections |
TOPEKA, Kan. -- Zoey Felix's short life was filled with turbulence.
Before the 5-year-old Topeka girl was raped and killed, worried neighbors say they saw her wandering, dirty and hungry. Police were called to her home dozens of times. Teachers raised alarms when she missed preschool. Records show both parents alleged abuse. Zoey's mom was jailed for a drunken car crash with Zoey in the front seat. State welfare officials were notified.
In September, Zoey and her father moved out, and neighbors believe they began camping in a nearby vacant lot. Weeks later, Zoey was killed and Mickel Cherry, a 25-year-old homeless man, was charged in her death.
Public anger over Zoey's Oct. 2 death has focused on her parents. But child advocates are asking why police and Kansas' embattled Department for Children and Families left her in a dangerous environment.
“Our society’s collective failure to support and protect Zoey is heartbreaking and unconscionable,” said Shakti Belway, executive director at the National Center for Youth Law, which sued the state over problems with its child welfare system.
Cherry is charged with first-degree murder, rape and capital murder, and could face the death penalty. Cherry's attorney, Mark Manna, of the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit, has declined to comment. Cherry’s family didn’t respond to messages.
Authorities confirmed that Cherry once lived at the same address as Zoey, but he was homeless when he was arrested.
The Associated Press examined dozens of court records and police reports that detail Zoey's chaotic home life. Both parents alleged abuse against each other, and police were called to the home dozens of times, as Zoey moved in and out.
Zoey's mother told the AP via Facebook that her husband, Zoey’s father, had custody. She declined to respond to other questions. Neither parent responded to phone messages. A person who identified herself as a grandmother declined comment.
Police say their investigation is ongoing, but it’s not yet clear that anyone else will be charged.
Laura Howard, the top administrator for the Department for Children and Families, described Zoey's case as “tragic” during an Oct. 4 legislative committee hearing, but didn’t elaborate. The agency has yet to release any information.
“How was that child not removed? It doesn’t make any sense,” said Mike Fonkert, deputy director of Kansas Appleseed, whose group also sued the state.
On the block where Zoey had lived, neighbor Shaniqua Bradley and other neighbors said Zoey sometimes wore the same outfit for a week. They bathed her and gave her clean clothes. Bradley washed the girl’s matted hair, fed her, and said she called child welfare.
In July and August of 2022, Zoey's mother was arrested twice for domestic battery, with her husband listed as the victim in one case, her teenage daughter in the other.
Amid the turmoil, Zoey sometimes showed up to preschool dirty, without socks, underwear or a coat, said Sasha Camacho, a paraprofessional in Zoey’s class who notified the school social worker.
In November, Zoey's mother was charged with driving drunk with an open container and Zoey in her car. Zoey's father obtained a protection-from-abuse order against his wife and secured custody.
Zoey's mother remained in jail through March 2023, and a judge referred the case to the state Department for Children and Families, court records show. Camacho said Zoey met with child welfare officers at least twice that fall.
Zoey missed a lot of preschool and in March stopped attending entirely, Camacho said. The school district said Zoey didn’t attend kindergarten this fall.
In March, Zoey's mom pleaded guilty to felony aggravated battery and driving under the influence, and was sentenced to probation. Other charges were dismissed, and the plea agreement said she could have no contact with Zoey.
Court records show Zoey's situation grew increasingly unstable when her father and his girlfriend were evicted from their apartment and Zoey and her father moved back in with her mother, despite his protection-from-abuse order. Cherry, a friend of Zoey's teenage sister, moved in with them too.
On Sept. 5, neighbor Desiree Myles called police, saying Zoey had been “home alone since yesterday with a strange man — there is no water or electricity at the home.” She said Zoey couldn't name the man.
City spokeswoman Gretchen Spiker said officers met with Zoey at the home, saw she was in “good spirits,” and made a report to child welfare. Zoey’s father told them the girl wasn’t living there. The home was temporarily condemned.
Fonkert, of Kansas Appleseed, said it would be a “huge failure” if no one from child welfare followed up to establish where Zoey was living.
Police returned Sept. 19, and Bradley said she heard Zoey's mom saying everyone had to leave. Police reports do not explain where Zoey, her sister, her father and Cherry went, but neighbors said they lived in a makeshift camp in the vacant lot.
Just before 6 p.m. on Oct. 2, the first call — “5 yo unresponsive” — summoned emergency crews to the gas station.
A fire department incident report says Zoey's father said someone took her body to the gas station where he worked, although it does not say who. Emergency responders performed life-saving measures at the scene, but Zoey was pronounced dead at a hospital. The police report doesn't say how she died.
A memorial for Zoey soon appeared nearby with flowers, balloons and toys.
Sharon Williams, another neighbor, said she has been answering her granddaughter's questions since her playmate died: “She asked, ‘Did Zoey go to heaven?’ And I said, ‘Yes, she did.’”
___
Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. AP news researchers Jennifer Farrar, Rhonda Shafner and Randy Herschaft in New York contributed to this report. | US Local Policies |
Shelter in place orders will be rescinded on Saturday for a number of Maine communities after the deadliest US mass shooting this year.
A manhunt for the suspected gunman, who killed 18 people and injured 13 others, is in its third day.
Police on Friday released the names of all the 18 victims.
They include a grandfather, a talented young bowler, and four members of Maine's deaf community, ranging in age from 14 to 76.
The attack happened at a local bar and a bowling alley in the small town of Lewiston. The community as well as several other nearby towns have been on lockdown since the shootings.
Police have been conducting an "around-the-clock" effort to locate 40-year-old Robert Card, the suspect, and have urged caution for communities while he remains on the loose.
Michael Sauschuck, Maine's public safety commissioner, said on Friday evening that businesses can either remain closed or re-open as of this weekend.
However, hunting remains prohibited in the towns of Bowdoin, Lewiston, Lisbon, and Monmouth to prevent gun shots being heard that would prompt calls to emergency services, he said.
As sunset fell across southern Maine on Friday, Lewiston remained quiet, the windows of businesses and homes kept dark.
Locals told the BBC they were certain the affected communities would come together.
"We look after each other," said Tammy, from nearby Auburn, who declined to give her last name.
Across Lewiston, paper cut-outs in the shape of hearts appeared on telephone poles, green writing on white paper: "To my community" and "To my home".
In Portland, students of the University of Southern Maine organised a meal collection for members of the deaf community, who were heavily hit by Wednesday's attack.
But with the suspect still missing, an eerie anxiety hung around much of southern Maine, even miles away from Lewiston, the site of the shootings.
A search of the Androscoggin River was paused at dark and will resume on Saturday, when additional dive resources will be brought in.
That search will be "time intensive", officials said during a update on the investigation.
Authorities had found the suspect's white Subaru Outback at a boat ramp in Lisbon, beside the river. They said that they found additional evidence in the car but did not provide specific details.
On Friday, a utility was using its dams to lower the water level in the area to help investigators. Helicopters flew over the river to help direct divers as they searched the water.
Neighbourhood canvassing efforts are also scheduled to take place in the coming days, Mr Sauschuck said.
That "could be a couple of officers knocking on the door" or "two officers with clearly displayed badges jumping out of a marked car to come talk to you as detectives".
Law enforcement have urged for patience from residents as the search continues. So far, they have received over 530 tips and leads, but have not given any indication that they have uncovered a solid lead in the manhunt.
They did reveal on Friday morning, however, that a note had been found at a property linked to the suspect.Two unnamed law enforcement officials told the Associated Press it was a suicide note that did not provide any specific motive for the shooting. It was addressed to his son. The suspect's mobile phone was also discovered at the property.
Investigators would not confirm that information and declined to elaborate on the note's contents. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Democrat Don Carlson suspended his campaign for Rhode Island’s open congressional seat on Sunday, just days after Target 12 aired a report examining his conduct as a professor at Williams College.
“This was my first time running for elective office,” Carlson said in a statement. “I was prepared for the high level of scrutiny and nonstop challenges to my positions and character. But this race has brought extraordinary stress on my family and close friends as well. That very high personal cost is more than I’m willing to pay for the honor of public service.”
“In addition, we took a hard look at the numbers and the logistics of this race and have concluded that there does not appear to be a viable path to victory on Sept. 5,” he continued. “This decision was not easy, but I’m confident it is the right one for my family.”
Target 12 revealed last week that Williams officials had told Carlson in 2019 he couldn’t return to teach there in the future after he broached a romantic relationship with a student in a text message that referenced a website used by people who pay to go on dates.
Before the initial report aired, Carlson and his representatives spent a week trying to kill the story behind the scenes, then denied its accuracy until a second report aired Thursday with more details. On Friday, Carlson released a video expressing regret over his actions but indicating he planned to remain in the race.
In his statement on Sunday, Carlson immediately threw his support behind a rival in the primary, state Sen. Sandra Cano, who is now one of 11 candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to replace David Cicilline.
“Through all these months of campaigning one candidate stands out to me in terms of her warmth, her intelligence, her experience, and her commitment to serve: Senator Sandra Cano,” Carlson said. “Sandra is in public service for all the right reasons. … I will support Senator Cano in every way I can.”
The Cano campaign responded with gratitude, and offered no comment on Carlson’s behavior at Williams.
“We are thankful for Don Carlson’s kind words about Sandra,” Cano’s campaign said in an unsigned statement. “Voters deserve someone in Congress they can trust and Sandra’s actions have demonstrated that she is that candidate. We hope to earn the support of Mr. Carlson’s supporters – and all residents in the 1st Congressional District.”
Another candidate, Lt. Gov. Sabina Matos, expressed surprise at Cano’s response.
“I am very proud to have the support of reproductive rights groups like EMILYs List, Elect Democratic Women, and Higher Heights who trust that I am the best candidate to fight for reproductive freedom in Congress,” Matos said. “This is not an endorsement I would have accepted.”
A 62-year-old Jamestown resident and multimillionaire from his work as a venture-capital investor, Carlson was making his first run for office, though years ago he served as a U.S. House staffer for then-Congressman Joe Kennedy II of Massachusetts.
Despite the revelations about his time at Williams, Carlson was heading into the final full week of the campaign as the best-funded Democrat in the race, and was one of nine candidates set to participate in WPRI 12’s live prime-time televised primary debate coming up Tuesday at 7 p.m. However, polls by rival campaigns had consistently shown Carlson trailing in single-digits.
Nearly 5,000 people in the 1st District had already cast their votes for Congress as of Sunday through either mail ballots or early voting, according to the secretary of state’s online tracker.
An internal poll by the campaign of Democrat Gabe Amo released last week showed former state Rep. Aaron Regunberg leading the primary field, with Amo in second place and Cano tied for third with Matos. Regunberg embraced the survey, while Cano and Matos suggested the data was flawed.
In response to Carlson’s exit from the race, Amo spokesperson Matt Rauschenbach said: “The reporting into Mr. Carlson’s behavior was troubling. As Mr. Carlson said in his statement, voters deserve to know that there’s a choice, and it’s clear that our campaign is in a strong position to win next Tuesday.”
There was no immediate response to Carlson’s exit from Regunberg.
Ted Nesi ([email protected]) is a Target 12 investigative reporter and 12 News politics/business editor. He co-hosts Newsmakers and writes Nesi’s Notes on Saturdays. Connect with him on Twitter and Facebook.
Eli Sherman and Tim White contributed to this report. | US Local Elections |
Washington — A federal appeals court in Washington said Friday that former President Donald Trump is not currently entitled to immunity from civil lawsuits seeking to hold him accountable for actions surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021,.
The opinion from the three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit allows the cases against Trump to move forward and comes nearly a year after the judges weighed Trump's claims that he's entitled to broad immunity from the suits brought by a group of congressional Democrats and veteran Capitol Police officers, who seek civil damages for the harms they alleged to have suffered because of the Capitol attack.
"The sole issue before us is whether President Trump has demonstrated an entitlement to official-act immunity for his actions leading up to and on January 6 as alleged in the complaints," Chief Judge Sri Srinivasan wrote. "We answer no, at least at this stage of the proceedings."
The panel said that when a first-term president chooses to run for a second term, his campaign for reelection is not an official presidential act, and actions undertaken while campaigning to hold onto the presidency are done in his capacity as an office-seeker, rather than an office-holder.
"In his view, a president's speech on matters of public concern is invariably an official function, and he was engaged in that function when he spoke at the January 6 rally and in the leadup to that day," the judges said. "We cannot accept that rationale. While presidents are often exercising official responsibilities when they speak on matters of public concern, that is not always the case."
The appeals court panel noted that while it is rejecting Trump's argument for immunity at this stage in the proceedings, the former president has not yet had the chance to counter the allegations raised by the officers and House Democrats, which he must be afforded the opportunity to do.
Trump can appeal the decision, either to the full D.C. Circuit or the Supreme Court. He is in the midst of a third bid for the White House and is currently the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination.
The decision stems from cases brought against Trump by two Capitol Police officers, 11 House Democrats and another by Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, in 2021 over comments the former president made in the run-up to and during a rally held outside the White House on Jan. 6, 2021. The officers, James Blassingame and Sidney Hemby, as well as the Democratic lawmakers, argued that Trump incited the mob of his supporters who breached the U.S. Capitol in violation of federal and local laws.
Trump, however, argued that he is shielded from the lawsuits because he was acting within the official duties of the presidency and asked a federal district court to toss out the cases.
U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, and Trump to review the decision.
The decision by the D.C. Circuit comes as the former president faces ongoing legal woes in several civil and criminal cases filed against him. The Justice Department has charged Trump with four counts related to the 2020 election, which the former president isin part on grounds that he is entitled to presidential immunity from prosecution for actions performed within the "outer perimeter" of his official responsibility.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to all counts in the case related to alleged efforts to thwart the transfer of presidential power after the November 2020 election.
He faces a separate 40 federal counts in South Florida related to his alleged mishandling of sensitive government documents retrieved from his Mar-a-Lago resort after leaving office, and was also charged with 34 state counts of falsifying business records in New York. A civil trial in New York involving Trump's eponymous company is also ongoing. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
for more features. | US Circuit and Appeals Courts |
South Carolina authorities have confirmed they are investigating the death of Stephen Smith as a homicide, nearly eight years after the 19-year-old was found dead in the middle of a rural road from what was ruled to be a hit-and-run.
State police reopened Stephen Smith's case in June 2021 after discovering new evidence during the investigation into the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh, a mother and son who were found fatally shot at the prominent legal family's South Carolina hunting estate that month.
Stephen Smith's death was determined to be highway vehicular manslaughter and no suspects were ever apprehended. His mother has long asked for the unsolved case to be re-examined.
Lawyers representing his mother announced that the death is now being considered a homicide Tuesday night, citing a phone call with the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED).
"SLED is publicly supporting us, Sandy Smith, and her efforts to find out what really happened to her son," Ronnie Richter, with the Bland Richter Law Firm, said in a statement.
A SLED spokesperson confirmed to ABC News that the case is being investigated as a homicide.
"It's a day that I have been waiting for. The best news I've heard in eight years," Sandy Smith told ABC News.
"Stephen was an amazing kid and he didn't deserve to die this way," she added. "And I know somebody did it, and whoever did it needs to come forward and bring peace to this family."
Lawyers representing Stephen Smith's mother have said they do not believe the evidence maintains that he was hit by a car, but rather may have been killed somewhere else and then placed on the road. His mother has raised more than $80,000 to exhume her son's body to conduct an independent autopsy.
"A fresh set of eyes and a new autopsy may yield a different conclusion that Stephen was not killed on Sandy Run Road in Bamberg County, that maybe he was killed somewhere else," her attorney, Eric Bland, told reporters this week.
The mother's attorneys said they are petitioning a judge to allow them to exhume the body. SLED officials will "be present and participate in any exhumation of Stephen's body to gather more evidence," Bland and Richter said Tuesday.
"SLED officials have revealed that they did not need to exhume Stephen Smith's body to convince them that his death was a homicide," they added.
Stephen Smith was a former classmate of Buster Murdaugh, whose father, Alex Murdaugh, was convicted earlier this month in the murders of Maggie and Paul Murdaugh. The disgraced former attorney was sentenced to life in prison for the 2021 killing of his wife and younger son.
SLED officials reportedly were waiting until the high-profile Murdaugh trial was over before announcing developments in the Stephen Smith case "out of concern that witnesses would not be as forthcoming under the Murdaugh sphere of influence," Bland and Richter said.
"Since the conclusion of the Murdaugh trial, more resources have been devoted and will be devoted to Stephen Smith's case," the law firm added.
Buster Murdaugh spoke out this week against what he called "baseless rumors" alleging his involvement in Stephen Smith's death.
"Before, during and since my father's trial, I have been targeted and harassed by the media and followers of this story. This has gone on far too long," he said in a statement on Monday. "These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false. I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family."
ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway contributed to this report. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
MSNBC Host Scarborough Blasts Trump for Calling Jan. 6 Prisoners ‘Hostages’ Amid Jews Being Held in Gaza
More than 200 civilians have been kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist group's attack on Israel
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough on Friday criticized former President Donald Trump for calling those who have been arrested for their role in storming the Capitol Jan. 6, 2021, "hostages" while Hamas has kidnapped hundreds of people from Israel.
"He’s gone from calling these people, these thugs from ‘political prisoners’ to now comparing them to Jews who were ripped out of their homes," said Scarborough Friday morning.
More than 200 civilians have been kidnapped by Hamas during the terrorist group's attack on Israel. Ten Americans are thought to be among them.
"I call them the J6 [Jan. 6] hostages, not prisoners," said Trump at a rally in Houston on Thursday. "I call them the hostages, what’s happened."
More than 1,100 people have been indicted for their role in the storming of the Capitol, facing charges for things like entering restricted federal builginds, assaulting police officers and destruction of government property. Over 350 have been sentenced to jail time.
- MSNBC Host Scarborough Blasts New Speaker Johnson: ‘Trump Has His Guy’
- MSNBC Host Scarborough on Trump Violating Gag Orders: Anyone Else Would be Held ‘in Contempt’ and Thrown ‘in Jail’
- MSNBC Host Scarborough Calls McCarthy ‘Coward,’ Says Biden Impeachment Inquiry Is ‘White House’s Dream’
- MSNBC Host Scarborough Says Trump War With Fox News Reveals ‘Splintered’ GOP
- Ramaswamy Has Heated Exchange With MSNBC Host Over Trump, Jan. 6
- MSNBC Host Joe Scarborough Mocks Trump Declaration He’d Testify at Trial: ‘Seriously? Give Me a Break’
- Biden Turned to Obama for Advice on Approach to AI: ReportPolitics
- Group of Democratic Senators Call for ‘Cessation of Hostilities’ in GazaPolitics
- Tuberville Dismisses 20-Hour Workdays for Military Leaders: ‘I Did That For Years’Politics
- Colorado GOP Rep. Ken Buck Criticizes Jan. 6 Committee in Trump 14th Amendment TrialPolitics
- Christie Makes New Hampshire Push to Revive Campaign: ‘We’re the Only Way to Stop Donald Trump’Politics
- Democratic Rep Blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monuments: ‘Robert E. Lee Was Not Actually One of the Founding Fathers’Politics
- Majority Thinks AI Will Contribute to Election Misinformation in 2024: PollPolitics
- House Passes Resolution Condemning Antisemitism, Support of Hamas on College CampusesPolitics
- Haley Surging in New Hampshire While Facing Growing PainsPolitics
- ‘Liquid Gold’: How the Group Behind Democratized Data Could Help All Democrats in 2024Politics
- Georgia v. Trump: Five Questions Loom as Pre-Trial Hearings ResumePolitics
- Biden Administration Announces $653 Million In New Port Infrastructure ProjectsPolitics | US Political Corruption |
Reporters confronted President Biden about polls showing him well behind former President Trump in five out of six major battleground states on Thursday.
Fox News White House correspondent Peter Doocy pressed Biden regarding the role of abortion in the upcoming 2024 election as well as his rivalry with Trump. Multiple polls have shown Trump with significant leads over Biden in the major swing states.
"Why do you think it is that people should be more concerned about abortion access than your age?" Doocy began.
"I don’t think it’s a comparable comparison," Biden responded.
"Why do you think it is that you’re trailing Trump in all these swing-state polls?" Doocy asked.
"Because you don’t read the polls – there are 10 polls – eight of them I’m beating him in. You guys only do two. CNN, New York Times, check it out. We’ll get you a copy," Biden said.
Another reporter then pressed Biden, asking, "You don't believe you're losing in swing states?"
"No, I do not," Biden said.
The exchange comes just days after a New York Times/Siena College poll found that Trump is leading Biden in five of six key states in a potential 2024 head-to-head matchup.
Trump leads Biden in Nevada, Georgia, Arizona, Michigan and Pennsylvania by margins of four points or more. Meanwhile, Biden leads Trump just 47%-45% in Wisconsin.
Trump remains dominant in the Republican 2024 presidential field, and Biden is all but assured of securing the Democratic nomination.
Fox News' Ashley Carnahan contributed to this report. | US Federal Elections |
A judge on Friday deniedhis Georgia election subversion case to federal court, ruling that the Trump White House chief of staff must fight the charges in state court instead.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote in a 49-page ruling that Meadows "has not met even the 'quite low' threshold" to move his case to federal court, noting that the question was whether the actions at issue were related to his role as a federal official.
"The evidence adduced at the hearing establishes that the actions at the heart of the State's charges against Meadows were taken on behalf of the Trump campaign with an ultimate goal of affecting state election activities and procedures," Jones wrote. "Meadows himself testified that working for the Trump campaign would be outside the scope of a White House Chief of Staff."
The ruling is a big early win for Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who spent 2 1/2 years investigating and building the case against former President, Meadows and 17 others before obtaining the under Georgia's anti-racketeering law. She has said she wants to try together.
Trump has indicated that he isto federal court, and several other defendants have already made the request. The ruling by Jones against Meadows could signal that the others may struggle to meet the burden required to win removal when their lawyers make their arguments before the judge later this month, though Jones made clear that he will assess each of those cases individually.
The practical effects of moving to federal court would be a jury pool that includes a broader area than just overwhelmingly Democratic Fulton County and a trial that would not be photographed or televised, as cameras are not allowed inside federal courtrooms. But it would not open the door for Trump, if he's reelected in 2024, or another president to issue pardons because any conviction would still happen under state law.
A lawyer for Meadows did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday evening. But Meadows is expected to appeal the ruling. In a court filing earlier this week, he asked to separate his case from the other defendants in the case and to halt his proceedings in the state court until a final determination is reached on his attempt to move to federal court, "including through appeal, if an appeal is taken."
A spokesperson for Willis declined to comment.
Meadows and the others were indicted last month by a Fulton County grand jury on charges they participated in a sprawling scheme to illegally try to overturn Trump's 2020 presidential election loss in Georgia even though the state's voters had selected Joe Biden.
All have pleaded not guilty.
Meadows said his actions were taken as part of his role as chief of staff to the Republican president. He and his lawyers also argued that, since he was a federal official at the time, the charges against him should be heard in federal court and, ultimately, dismissed for lack of merit.
Prosecutors said the actions laid out in the indictment were meant to keep Trump in office after he lost to Biden, a Democrat. They said the acts were explicitly political in nature and are illegal under the Hatch Act, which restricts partisan political activity by federal employees. As such, they said, the case should stay in Fulton County Superior Court.
Jones wrote that the evidence "overwhelmingly suggests" that most of the actions attributed to Meadows in the indictment did not fall within "his scope of executive branch duties."
"Even if Meadows took on tasks that mirror the duties that he carried out when acting in his official role as White House Chief of Staff (such as attending meetings, scheduling phone calls, and managing the President's time) he has failed to demonstrate how the election-related activities that serve as the basis for the charges in the Indictment are related to any of his official acts," the judge wrote.
Jones also made clear that he was making no judgment on the merits of the case against Meadows or any defense he might offer.
for more features. | US Political Corruption |
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.
Kevin Freking, Associated Press
Kevin Freking, Associated Press
Leave your feedback
WASHINGTON (AP) — A government shutdown appeared all but inevitable as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy dug in Thursday, vowing he will not take up Senate legislation designed to keep the federal government fully running despite House Republicans’ struggle to unite around an alternative.
The event is scheduled to begin at 10:30 a.m. ET. Watch in the player above.
Congress is at an impasse just days before a disruptive federal shutdown that would halt paychecks for many of the federal government’s roughly 2 million employees, as well as 2 million active-duty military troops and reservists, furlough many of those workers and curtail government services.
But the House and Senate are pursuing different paths to avert those consequences even though time is running out before government funding expires after midnight on Saturday.
“I still got time. I’ve got time to do other things,” McCarthy told reporters Thursday evening at the Capitol, adding, “At the end of the day, we’ll get it all done.”
The Senate is working toward passage of a bipartisan measure that would fund the government until Nov. 17 as longer-term negotiations continue, while also providing $6 billion for Ukraine and $6 billion for U.S. disaster relief.
The House, meanwhile, took up four of the dozen annual spending bills that fund federal agencies. Republicans were heartened as they passed three bills that would fund the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security and State Department, though the fourth bill to fund federal agriculture programs failed.
In one sign of deepening resistance to assisting Ukraine, more than half the House Republicans voted against providing Ukraine $300 million in military aid, though the money was approved on a bipartisan 311-117 vote.
The House’s movement on the appropriations legislation won’t keep the government from shutting down, but leadership hoped the progress would cajole enough Republicans to support a House-crafted continuing resolution that temporarily funds the government and boosts security at the U.S. border with Mexico.
It’s a long shot, but McCarthy predicted a deal.
Lawmakers, already weary from days of late-night negotiating, showed signs of strain at McCarthy’s closed-door meeting with Republicans Thursday morning. It was marked by a tense exchange between the speaker and Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., according to those in the room.
Gaetz, who has taunted McCarthy for weeks with threats to oust him from his post, confronted the speaker about conservative online influencers being paid to post negative things about him. McCarthy shot back that he wouldn’t waste his time on something like that, Gaetz told reporters as he exited the meeting.
McCarthy’s allies left the meeting fuming about Gaetz’s tactics.
With his majority splintering, McCarthy is scrambling to come up with a plan for preventing a shutdown and win Republican support. The speaker told Republicans he would reveal a Republican stopgap plan, known as a continuing resolution or CR, on Friday, according to those in the room, while also trying to force Senate Democrats into giving some concessions.
But with time running out, many GOP lawmakers were either withholding support for a temporary measure until they had a chance to see it. Others are considering joining Democrats, without McCarthy’s support, to bring forward a bill that would prevent a shutdown.
With his ability to align his conference in doubt, McCarthy has little standing to negotiate with Senate Democrats. He has also attempted to draw President Joe Biden into negotiations, but the White House, so far, has shown no interest.
Biden sought to apply more pressure on McCarthy, urging him to compromise with Democrats even though that could threaten his job.
“I think that the speaker is making a choice between his speakership and American interests,” Biden said.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said Congress and the White House had already worked out top-line spending levels for next year with an agreement this summer that allowed the government to continue borrowing to pay its bills. But McCarthy was deviating from that deal and courting a shutdown by catering to Republicans who say it didn’t do enough to cut spending, he said.
“By focusing on the views of the radical few instead of the many, Speaker McCarthy has made a shutdown far more likely,” Schumer said.
McCarthy insisted in a CNBC interview that the House will have its say. “Will I accept and surrender to what the Senate decides? The answer is no, we’re our own body.”
But later at the Capitol, he openly complained about the difficulty he is having herding Republican lawmakers.
“Members say they only want to vote for individual bills, but they hold me up all summer and won’t let me bring individual bills up. Then they say they won’t vote for a stopgap measure that keeps government open,” McCarthy told reporters.
“So I don’t know, where do you go in that scenario?”
The speaker also hinted he has a backup plan but gave no indication he was ready to work with Democrats to pass something in the House.
Meanwhile, the White House, as well as the Department of Homeland Security, notified staff on Thursday to prepare for a shutdown, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press. Employees who are furloughed would have four hours on Monday to prepare their offices for the shutdown.
The White House plans to keep on all commissioned officers. That includes chief of staff Jeff Zients, press secretary Karine Jean Pierre, national security adviser Jake Sullivan and other senior-level personnel, by declaring them “excepted” during a shutdown, according to the White House email.
Military troops and federal workers, including law enforcement officers, air traffic controllers and Transportation Security Administration officers, will also report to work because they are essential to protecting life and property. They would miss paychecks if the shutdown lasts beyond Oct. 13, the next scheduled payday, though they are slated to receive backpay once any shutdown ends.
Social Security payments for seniors, Medicare and Medicaid payments to health care providers, and disability payments to veterans will continue, as much of the government will continue to function. But there will be critical services that do stop. For example, the U.S. Treasury says that, with two-thirds of IRS employees potentially furloughed, taxpayer phone calls to the agency will go unanswered and 363 Taxpayer Assistance Centers across the country will close.
Many Republicans have voiced fears they would be blamed for a shutdown — including in the Senate, where many GOP members are aligned with Democrats on a temporary bill.
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he agrees with many of the goals of the House Republicans, but he warned a shutdown will not achieve any of them.
“Instead of producing any meaningful policy outcomes, it would actually take the important progress being made on a number of key issues and drag it backward,” McConnell said.
Nevertheless, Senate Republicans huddled for much of the day to cobble together a plan that could win support to boost funding for border security. McCarthy’s House allies were also hoping the threat of a shutdown could help conservatives with their push to limit federal spending and combat illegal immigration at the U.S-Mexico border.
“Anytime you have a stopgap situation like this, you have an opportunity to leverage,” said Rep. Garret Graves, R-La. “This is another opportunity. America does not want an open Southern border. The polls are crystal clear. It’s having a profound impact on us.”
Associated Press writers Seung Min Kim and Fatima Hussein contributed reporting.
Support Provided By:
Learn more | US Congress |
A former U.S. Postal Service mail carrier was sentenced after being accused of stealing more than 1,500 pieces of mail from nearly 900 California customers, according to federal prosecutors.
The 44-year-old woman was sentenced to five years probation and 200 hours of community serviceafter officials say she took mail from customers on her Santee delivery route, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of California said in an Aug. 11 news release.
An attorney for the former postal worker did immediately return McClatchy News’ request for comment on Aug. 14.
An off-duty San Diego police detective spotted a woman stealing from his apartment complex’s communal mailbox on November 21, according to prosecutors.
Though the woman fled in a White Nissan, the detective noted the car’s license plate and identified her using a records search, according to a criminal complaint filed in January.
After learning the woman was a USPS employee, the complaint says the detective forwarded the information to the Santee Post Office Postmaster.
A little more than a week prior to the detective spotting the woman, who had worked for the Postal Service for eight years, she had been placed on administrative leave because of issues with her attendance, the complaint says.
When investigators went to the woman’s home to speak with her on Dec. 8, there was no answer, the complaint says.
However, investigators noticed a barbecue grill “filled with burnt paper documents” on the porch outside the front door, the complaint says. One was a piece of mail addressed to a Santee address, when the woman herself lived in El Cajon a few miles away.
Investigators got a warrant and searched the woman’s home on Dec. 21, finding hundreds of pieces of mail “that had all been stolen from nearly 900 customers along her mail delivery route in Santee,” prosecutors said. The mail included gift cards, credit cards and Christmas presents.
While searching the home, investigators also found mail keys hidden in a flower pot inside the woman’s bedroom, the complaint says.
In a plea agreement, the woman admitted to keeping the keys after being placed on administrative leave and using them to “continue to steal mail even after she was terminated,” prosecutors said.
The woman was charged in January with one count of keys or locks stolen and two counts of mail theft, according to prosecutors. Such charges could have led to a prison sentence.
The woman pleaded guilty to the three counts three months later, a plea agreement shows.
During sentencing, the judge said, “Stealing mail is not the way to go. You will be caught, and you will be prosecuted.”
Santee is about 20 miles northeast of San Diego. | US Federal Policies |
WASHINGTON — Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., inched closer Wednesday to confirming that he could run for president.
"I will do anything I can to help my country, and you're saying, 'Does that mean you would consider it?' Absolutely," Manchin said in an exclusive interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" host Kristen Welker.
"Every American should consider it if they're in a position to help save the country," he added.
Manchin said he first has to explore whether there's an appetite among voters for a moderate candidate like him.
"I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure, to mobilize that moderate sensible, common-sense middle," he said.
Manchin suggested that if he can "reinvigorate" the middle-of-the-road constituency, that would play a major role in whether he would launch a White House bid.
"I'm totally, absolutely scared to death that Donald Trump would become president again," he said. "I think we will lose democracy as we know it."
The news comes after Manchin announced last week that he would not seek re-election to the Senate, which will make it difficult for his party to hold the seat in the deep-red state and reshapes the battle for Senate control in 2024. | US Federal Elections |
To accurately measure the metabolism of Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign we must invoke the images and manners of the bestiary’s most indolent and sluggish creatures. The three-toed sloth, which favors slow motion. The echidna, which would lose a race against a continental plate. The nurse shark, which is so lazy it relies on ocean currents to aerate its gills. And then there is Australia’s pygmy blue-tongue lizard, which “hunts” by lounging by its burrow hole in hopes that an insect or spider will stride by.
In recent weeks, Trump has come to resemble these kings of lethargy, slowing his campaign to the speed of the hour hand. As POLITICO’s Meridith McGraw recently reported, Trump has largely discarded the hard, steady work of campaigning against his Republican opponents on the stump and limited his appearance to “spot” events, TV interviews, or tele-rallies. Instead of fighting for votes, Trump people have worked the nomination process to make sure that rules that reward delegates tip his way. Where he can’t raise money, he tries to persuade potential donors not to give to his foes. On Monday, he took to Truth Social to urge the Republican National Committee to stop spending time on the “meaningless” debates because he’s leading in the polls and to start suing Pennsylvania for switching to automatic voter registration.
In short, he’s acting like he’s clinched both the nomination and the general election — about a year early.
Trump sat out the first Republican debate in August because, he said, the public already knew him and what he stood for. “Why would I allow people at 1 or 2 percent and 0 percent to be hitting me with questions all night?” he said in a Fox News interview in June. Now, he’s also skipping the second GOP debate in favor of giving a competing speech in Detroit amid the UAW strike as if he’s already the nominee. This is like a manager trying to get the umps to call a ball game in his favor in the fourth inning just because his team is leading 5-0 and, on top of that, saying his lead makes him deserving of the World Series trophy, too. It’s a minor reprise of Trump’s behavior on election night 2020 when he declared himself the winner before all the votes had been counted or any of the networks had projected a winner. “Our election was over at 10 o’clock in the evening,” he said. Only a child would assume he’s won because he’s leading at halftime. Only a fraud would insist, as Trump did, that the election was rigged once the call went against him.
Ensconced in campaign slacker mode, Trump would like to pretend that nothing of substance will change over the next 14 months, so he should get his second term now. It doesn’t take a zoologist to appreciate that the world doesn’t stop when a bear hibernates. Trump might want to pretend the rest of the campaign is a meaningless charade, but a lot of history is about to go down between today and November 2024. At the latest count, Trump has been indicted in three states and the District of Columbia for everything from conspiracy to defraud the United States to withholding classified documents and more. A New York judge just ruled that he committed fraud and has relieved him of control of some of his properties in the state. As Amber Phillips of the Washington Post noted last month, Trump will be in court with two trials during much of March, the precise time a candidate would want to be campaigning in nearly 30 states and territories scheduled to hold primaries that month. His legal dance card for 2024 is so loaded that if court dates earned frequent flyer miles, Trump could take a round trip to the moon with his family and still have enough points to visit Hawaii three or four times. There will be motions, new evidence and maybe even some verdicts — maybe even more legal cases — any of which might derail his “inevitable” victory express.
Give Trump credit for attempting to cryogenically freeze the field until his opponents (and the voters) have slipped into a state of metabolic torpor. But the true blame resides in the sleepy pack taking him on, who, with the exception of Chris Christie, have mostly chosen to snuggle in his den than rouse him with challenging rhetoric. Most of the candidates — from Ron DeSantis to Mike Pence to Vivek Ramaswamy and even, to a degree, Nikki Haley — are running on modified Trumpian platforms that make it easy for him not to respond. Most of these candidates seem to really be running for Mr. Congeniality, not president, by politely conceding the contest to Trump without even trying.
Lethargy can be a successful survival strategy in the animal kingdom or on the campaign trail. (It worked for Biden last time, after all.) But it’s not surefire. Harpy eagles and jaguars hunt sloths. Hammerheads dine on nurse sharks. Snakes prey on pygmy blue-tongue lizards. Trump may be leading the Republican polls by a large margin now, but treating the campaign like a cakewalk risks tempting the fickle election fates. No animal hibernates for 14 months. So you can bet that Trump’s opponents — and the voters — will wake up at some point to discover this race isn’t over yet.
******
The echidna’s spines make it a low-profit piece of prey. Maybe Trump should grow some? Send animal facts to [email protected]. No new email alert subscriptions are being honored at this time. X is still the place where I hang out, but Bluesky is starting to appeal to me. My RSS feed was eaten by a harpy eagle. | US Federal Elections |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- California Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected a bill on Sunday that would have made free condoms available all public high school students, arguing it was too expensive for a state with a budget deficit of more than $30 billion.
California had about 1.9 million high school students enrolled in more than 4,000 schools last year, according to the California Department of Education.
“This bill would create an unfunded mandate to public schools that should be considered in the annual budget process,” Newsom wrote in a message explaining why he vetoed the bill, known as Senate bill 541.
The bill is one of hundreds passed by California’s Democratic-dominated state Legislature before lawmakers adjourned last month. Newsom has been signing and vetoing legislation since then, including rejecting bills on Saturday to ban caste-based discrimination, limit the price of insulin and decriminalize possession and use of some hallucinogens.
The bill would have required all public schools that have grades nine through 12 to make condoms available for free to all students. It would have required public schools with grades seven through 12 to allow condoms to be made available as part of educational or public health programs.
And it would have made it illegal for retailers to refuse to sell condoms to youth.
State Sen. Caroline Menjivar, a Democrat from Los Angeles and the author of the bill, had argued the bill would have helped “youth who decide to become sexually active to protect themselves and their partners from (sexually transmitted infections), while also removing barriers that potentially shame them and lead to unsafe sex.”
Newsom said programs increasing access to condoms are “important to supporting improved adolescent sexual health.” But he said this bill was one of several measures lawmakers passed this year that, when added together, would add $19 billion in costs to the state budget.
“With our state facing continuing economic risk and revenue uncertainty, it is important to remain disciplined when considering bills with significant fiscal implications, such as this measure,” Newsom said.
Also on Sunday, Newsom signed a law aimed a electrifying the state's fleet of school buses. Starting in 2035, the law will require any new bus purchased or contracted by school districts to be zero-emission.
California's public school districts that provide their own transportation own about 15,800 school buses, of which 10,800 are powered by diesel fuel, according to a 2022 report from the Legislative Analyst's Office.
The law is part of California's plan to phase out the use of fossil fuels. State regulations will ban the sale of new gas-powered cars in California by 2035. | US Local Policies |
Former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley slammed fellow 2024 Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after he brought up her daughter in Wednesday’s GOP primary debate.
The tense exchange came amid debate over whether to ban the social media app TikTok, which FBI and other national security officials have warned could send personal data to China’s authoritarian government.
“Her own daughter was actually using the app for a long time, so you might want to take care your family first,” Ramaswamy said to Haley at the event in Miami, the third GOP debate of the election cycle. The audience booed in response.
“Leave my daughter out of your voice. ... You’re just scum,” Haley shot back with apparent contempt, rolling her eyes and shaking her head.
Haley’s daughter is in her mid-20s, but it’s still very unusual for candidates to bring up their opponents’ families as part of an attack on a debate stage.
The two White House hopefuls have sparred repeatedly during the primary. At the first debate in August, Haley ripped into Ramaswamy for lacking foreign policy experience.
During another part of Wednesday’s debate, while discussing foreign policy, Ramaswamy called Haley “Dick Cheney in 3-inch heels,” referring to the former GOP vice president.
Haley shot back: “I’d first like to say, they’re 5-inch heels — and I don’t wear them unless you can run in them.” | US Federal Elections |
Far-right conservative groups are promoting a sprawling “battle plan” to obstruct and undo the federal government’s efforts to tackle the climate crisis, with hopes of quickly enacting a series of sweeping changes if Donald Trump, or any other Republican, gets elected as president next year.
The 920-page proposal, if implemented, would not only undo any progress the Biden administration has made to reduce emissions and fund clean energy development and other climate-related efforts, but it would make it far more difficult for a future administration to pursue any policy that seeks to address global warming at all, according to a report last week by POLITICO. The plan would even make it challenging for federal agencies to carry out common environmental protections that have been practiced in the country for more than 50 years.
Called Project 2025 and written by more than 350 right-wing hardliners—including former Trump staffers—the plan would block wind and solar power from being added to the electrical grid; gut funding for the Environmental Protection Agency; eliminate the Department of Energy’s renewable energy offices; prohibit states from adopting California’s tailpipe pollution standards, transfer many federal environmental regulatory duties to Republican state officials; and generally prop up the fossil fuel industry.
“Project 2025 is not a white paper. We are not tinkering at the edges. We are writing a battle plan and we are marshaling our forces,” Paul Dans, director of Project 2025 at the Heritage Foundation, which is leading the initiative, told POLITICO. “Never before has the whole conservative movement banded together to systematically prepare to take power day one and deconstruct the administrative state.”
While Republican and Democratic presidents have commonly rolled back policies from rival administrations upon taking office, including reversing executive orders and introducing new federal agency rules, Project 2025 stands out for its aim to implement a systematic conservative takeover of the federal government. For example, the plan compiles a list of as many as 20,000 like-minded conservatives who could serve in the next administration to carry out the kind of deregulatory overhaul that became a hallmark of the Trump administration.
“In 2016, the conservative movement was not prepared to flood the zone with conservative personnel,” Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts told the New York Times. “On Jan. 20, 2025, things will be very different. This database will prepare an army of vetted, trained staff to begin dismantling the administrative state from Day 1.”
Andrew Rosenberg, who served as a senior official at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration during the Clinton administration and now works for the University of New Hampshire’s Carsey School of Public Policy, told POLITICO that Project 2025 marks a fundamental shift, where instead of federal agencies obliging their duty to public health and environmental protection, they instead work to help the industries they’ve been tasked with overseeing.
The proposal would be especially damaging for the EPA, the nation’s top environmental and health regulatory agency and one of the most important tools a president has to address climate change. It would eliminate the EPA’s environmental justice and public engagement functions, drastically slash the agency’s budget and terminate new hires in what the plan’s authors refer to as “low-value programs.” The plan would also revive the so-called “secret science” rule, a controversial proposal by the Trump administration that would have severely limited how the EPA can use scientific studies in its policy making.
“What this does is it basically undermines not only society but the economic capacity of the country at the same time as it’s doing gross violence to the environment,” Rosenberg said.
In fact, Project 2025 is part of a larger plan by Trump and his far-right allies to greatly expand the president’s authority over every part of the federal government. Their goals include ending the post-Watergate practice of shielding the Department of Justice from White House political influence; putting independent agencies like the Federal Trade Commission, which enforces antitrust laws and consumer protection rules, under direct presidential control; and reviving the practice of refusing to spend money Congress has appropriated for programs a president doesn’t like—a tactic lawmakers banned under President Richard Nixon.
The plans add to the mounting evidence that signals the Republican party is continuing to shift dramatically to the right—a change that only accelerated during Trump’s time in office. Even as a growing number of GOP lawmakers embrace well established climate science and admit that humans are, in fact, rapidly warming Earth’s atmosphere, Trump’s grip on the party is forcing conservative leaders in Congress to take radical positions on many culture-war topics, including climate change.
It’s a problem that some prominent Republicans say must be addressed going into next year’s presidential election. But many worry that the party has been taken hostage by Trump and similar lawmakers in Congress who have adopted the former president’s bravado and propensity for fear mongering and populist, inflammatory rhetoric.
“As Donald Trump is the near presumptive nominee of our party in 2024, it’s going to be very hard for a party to adopt a climate-sensitive policy,” Sen. Mitt Romney, a Republican from Utah, told CNN. “There are a number of states, like mine, that are concerned about wildfires and water.”
“I think the evidence so far is that the West is getting drier and hotter,” the former Republican-endorsed presidential candidate added. “That means that we’re going to have more difficulty with our crops, we’re going to have a harder time keeping the rivers full of water. The Great Salt Lake is probably going to continue to shrink. And unfortunately, we’re going to see more catastrophic fires. If the trends continue, we need to act.”
More Top Climate News
As the World Boils, a Backlash to Climate Action Gains Strength: Despite a record-breaking hot summer and growing calls from scientists to do more to curb carbon emissions, green policies continue to stir populist backlash in Western nations around the world, Ishaan Tharoor reports for The Washington Post. Right wing parties are exploiting public discomfort—with some success—around climate-related policies, including coal restrictions in Poland and Hungary, new nitrogen emission limits in the Netherlands and an effort in the European Union to phase out sales of gasoline vehicles.
Climate Change Could Cause An Iconic Yellowstone Geyser to Dry Up For Good: New research suggests that Yellowstone National Park’s Steamboat Geyser—the tallest active geyser on Earth—could fall victim to climate change as rising heat and ongoing drought depletes groundwater resources across the American West, Sascha Pare reports for Live Science. “Groundwater is fuel for geysers,” said Yellowstone Volcano Observatory’s head scientist, who wasn’t involved with the new study. “Without water, there’s nothing for the geysers to erupt.”
Video of Activist Confronting Biden Admin Viewed Over 4 Million Times: A video of a climate change activist confronting White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre last week has gone viral, garnering over 4 million views on Twitter, Katherine Fung reports for Newsweek. The moment highlights the growing dissatisfaction among young and progressive voters who see climate change as the seminal issue of their time and have criticized President Biden for approving a litany of major fossil fuel projects while in office, including the controversial Willow Project in Alaska.
Today’s Indicator
60%
That’s how much of 2020’s $165 billion in economic losses due to climate-related disasters was covered by insurance in the United States, according to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen. That “protection gap” could grow as warming accelerates and prompts more insurers to raise rates, she said. | US Federal Policies |
A former UK intelligence worker called himself a terrorist after stabbing a US government employee in a "vicious" attack, a court has heard.
Joshua Bowles, 29, attacked the woman in a leisure centre car park, three miles from GCHQ's base on 9 March.
In August, Bowles, from Welwyn Mews in Cheltenham, pleaded guilty to attempted murder and assaulting a second person, causing actual bodily harm.
He will be sentenced at the Old Bailey in London later.
Bowles stabbed the woman, who worked for National Security Agency of the United States, three times at a leisure centre on Tommy Taylors Lane in Cheltenham.
The woman, referred to in court by the code number 99230, was attacked outside the premises and also in the reception area.
Prosecuting barrister, Duncan Penny, told the court Bowles had launched a "pre-meditated, targeted and vicious attack on an unarmed woman".
He added: "Her selection as the target for this attack was entirely and solely associated with her role as a US government employee in the National Security Agency of the United States.
"The attack was intended to be lethal - that the helpless victim survived it was mere happenstance."
'Symbolic target'
In his police interview, Bowles described himself as a "terrorist", the court heard.
"Due to the size and resourcing, American intelligence represents the largest contributor within the intelligence community so made sense as the symbolic target.
"I consider GCHQ just as guilty," he said.
Mr Penny said the victim had been playing netball at the leisure centre in Cheltenham on the evening of the attack and was leaving with a friend, who was a fellow US national.
CCTV footage showed the pair walking into the car park just after 21:00 BST followed by the defendant, who had been waiting in his car with two knives in a rucksack.
'He just wouldn't stop'
The victim turned around when she heard a man say "excuse me" and was punched repeatedly in the face, the court was told.
Mr Penny said she assumed she was being mugged and saw he had a knife when the blade caught the light.
The prosecutor added: "The defendant was punching her, and she was fighting back, concerned about the knife, kicking, punching and screaming as much as she could."
Her friend shouted at Bowles to leave her alone and hit him with her bag while the victim tried to fight him off.
The victim said the defendant kept coming at her with the knife, adding: "He just wouldn't stop."
'His focus was me'
The court heard that Alex Fuentes, who was passing by, asked Bowles "what's going on?", with the defendant responding by hitting him in the face.
Mr Fuentes said it left him "in complete shock".
The two women ran back into the leisure centre, followed seconds later by the defendant.
Mr Penny said: "The defendant attacked the victim a second time, immediately upon entering reception. 99230 recalls him yelling but can't remember what was said.
"The CCTV footage shows the defendant holding a knife and lunging towards 99230, who was trying to back away. She describes that 'it felt like he hated me⦠his focus was me'." | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Alex Shur/AP
toggle caption
The Madison, Wis., office of Wisconsin Family Action was firebombed and vandalized on in May 2022. Nearly a year later, federal authorities say they tracked down a suspect with the help of DNA from a half-eaten burrito.
Alex Shur/AP
The Madison, Wis., office of Wisconsin Family Action was firebombed and vandalized on in May 2022. Nearly a year later, federal authorities say they tracked down a suspect with the help of DNA from a half-eaten burrito.
Alex Shur/AP
Federal authorities say they've charged a suspect in connection with the firebombing of an anti-abortion lobbying group's office in Wisconsin — nearly a year later, and with the help of a half-eaten burrito.
The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had arrested Madison, Wis., resident Hridindu Sankar Roychowdhury, 29, at an airport in Boston. He had a one-way ticket to Guatemala, the agency said.
He has been charged with one count of attempting to cause damage by means of fire or an explosive, court documents show.
"According to the complaint, Mr. Roychowdhury used an incendiary device in violation of federal law in connection with his efforts to terrorize and intimidate a private organization," Matthew Olsen, assistant attorney general of the DOJ's National Security Division, said in a statement.
If convicted, Roychowdhury would face a mandatory minimum penalty of five years and a maximum of up to 20 years in prison.
"Violence is never an acceptable way for anyone to express their views or their disagreement," Robert Wells, assistant director of the FBI's Counterterrorism Division, said in a statement. "Today's arrest demonstrates the FBI's commitment to vigorously pursue those responsible for this dangerous attack and others across the country, and to hold them accountable for their criminal actions."
NPR has reached out to Roychowdhury's lawyer, a federal defender in Massachusetts, for comment.
What we know about the firebombing
The attack happened on May 8, 2022, about a week after the leak of the draft opinion suggesting that the U.S. Supreme Court intended to strike down Roe v. Wade (which it did the following month).
Madison police said at the time that they were investigating a "suspicious fire" inside an office building on the city's north side, where "it appears a specific non-profit that supports anti-abortion measures was targeted."
The office belongs to Wisconsin Family Action (WFA), a nonprofit organization with a stated mission of advancing "Judeo-Christian principles and values in Wisconsin by strengthening, preserving, and promoting marriage, family, life, and liberty."
The organization's president told police that they had been "vocal about their position on abortion rights" in press releases and interviews following the draft opinion leak, according to an 11-page complaint filed in Wisconsin district court this week.
The complaint says police responded to reports of a fire just after 6 a.m. local time on that Sunday — which was also Mother's Day — and found what appeared to have been two Molotov cocktails made out of mason jars.
One of the jars — found broken with its lid and top "burnt black" and a disposable lighter nearby — set a bookcase on fire, while the other had failed to ignite and was spotted across the room "about half full of a clear fluid that smelled like an accelerant."
Someone also had spray-painted in cursive on one of the building's exterior walls: "If abortions aren't safe then you aren't either."
WFA said in a statement after the attack that the office had been empty and no one had been injured.
They went on to accuse liberals of hypocrisy and blamed Democratic leaders like Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers for suggesting "that violence is an acceptable tactic to employ."
Wisconsin officials on both sides of the aisle, including Evers, condemned the attack, as did the White House.
"But did the attack intimidate us? No," WFA President Julaine Appling wrote. "It strengthened our resolve. We will repair our offices, remain on the job, and build an even stronger grassroots effort."
WFA declined to comment on the arrest on Wednesday.
Alex Shur/AP
toggle caption
One of two Molotov cocktails ignited inside the office, setting a bookcase on fire.
Alex Shur/AP
One of two Molotov cocktails ignited inside the office, setting a bookcase on fire.
Alex Shur/AP
It took months, and a burrito break, to find the suspect
The next part of the story involves a lot of forensics and a bit of fast food.
Investigators sent the glass jar and other evidence from the scene to a lab for further analysis, which in turn obtained DNA profiles from three different individuals.
Swabs found DNA from a man, who the complaint calls "Male 1," on the top and bottom of the office window glass, the exterior of the jar, the lighter and the cloth used in the Molotov cocktail.
But that DNA wasn't a match with anyone already in the national database, which meant that authorities — from numerous state and federal agencies — had to turn to other clues.
"For months, our detectives remained committed to finding those responsible for this arson," Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes said. "When tips and leads were limited, they never gave up."
In January 2023 demonstrators in Wisconsin took to the state capitol to protest a police shooting in Atlanta, and police there saw surveillance footage of several people spray-painting on capitol grounds. One wrote "We will get revenge" in cursive script that looked similar to the graffiti from WFA's wall.
Authorities were able able to track that suspect to a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck, registered to an address in Madison. Further investigation linked Roychowdhury to the same address.
On March 1, law enforcement saw a person believed to be Roychowdhury driving the truck, and verified his identity when he parked and stepped outside of the vehicle.
They watched as he discarded a brown fast food bag, then got back in the truck and drove away.
"The contents of the bag included a quarter portion of a partially eaten burrito wrapped in waxed paper, a soiled napkin, a crumpled napkin, a stack of napkins, the wrapper of the burrito, a crumpled food wrapper, four unopened hot sauce packets, and the brown paper bag itself," the complaint says.
Law enforcement sent that evidence to the lab for analysis, and swabbed the burrito for DNA. Weeks later, lab results matched the DNA collected from the contents of the bag to the sample recovered from the scene of the fire.
"Because the items were taken after Roychowdhury discarded them, I believe the DNA is his," detective Cheryl Patty wrote in the complaint.
Later in March, Roychowdhury traveled from Madison to Portland, Maine. Authorities say he purchased a one way ticket to Guatemala from Boston Logan International Airport and was scheduled to depart on Tuesday.
He was arrested at the airport and made his first appearance in a Boston federal court that same day, the Associated Press reports. A judge set a detention hearing for Thursday. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Republicans have “been after Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid for a long, long time.”
The first major fight of the 118th Congress has arrived on Capitol Hill. It’s about the debt ceiling, with some Republicans threatening to default on the United States national debt in order to score political concessions from Democrats.
If it feels like this happens every few years, it’s because it does. Congress voted to raise the debt ceiling three times under former president Donald Trump and President Biden secured a raise in the ceiling in 2021, which set a timer that will go off in June if measures aren’t taken. The debt ceiling is the amount of money the United States can borrow to pay the nation’s bills. According to the New York Times, “because the United States runs budget deficits, it must borrow huge sums of money to pay its bills.” If the debt ceiling isn’t raised, the country would soon be in default, which experts say could trigger a recession, resulting in millions of lost jobs and skyrocketing unemployment.
Though the debt ceiling has been raised 78 times before, some Republicans are using the showdown to push for long-desired fiscal cuts to programs like Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, even as President Biden has repeatedly stated he will not negotiate with the GOP. “I will not let anyone use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip,” Biden said at an event in Virginia. A White House economic adviser called negotiations a “nonstarter” for the president.
To understand the ramifications of the debt ceiling showdown, Teen Vogue spoke to Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont about why young people should be paying attention to this mess.
Teen Vogue: Can you break down why this debt ceiling fight happens with the Republicans every few years?
Bernie Sanders: The longstanding goal of the Republican Party, with a few [Republican politicians] not on board, is to give massive tax breaks to the rich and large corporations and to cut government funding for vitally important programs for working families. They’ve been after Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid for a long, long time. Meanwhile, under Donald Trump, they were so concerned about the national debt that they increased it by $[7.8] trillion, including, among other things, a Trump tax plan that gave over [$5.5 trillion] in tax breaks to the 1% and large corporations. What you’re seeing is just another excuse Republicans are using to cut programs for working families. They don’t believe in these programs. They never have.
TV: Young people don’t know if they’ll be able to save enough money to retire or if these programs will even be intact by the time they can benefit from them. Why should they care about the future of these programs given this grim outlook?
BS: I’m going to answer your question, but the question all of us should be asking is how does it happen that in the wealthiest country in the history of the world… almost 60% of Americans working today are working paycheck to paycheck? Millions are working for starvation wages. We have more income and wealth inequality than we have ever had in the history of this country. And the younger generation, for the first time in modern American history, will likely have a lower standard of living than their parents if we don’t develop economic policies to change that. That’s the question we should be asking, and the answer has to do with the corrupt political system in which billionaires and corporate leaders exercise enormous political and economic control over this country. In terms of programs like Social Security, there is no reason at all we should be cutting Social Security. We should, in fact, expand Social Security. I know a lot of young people think, Social Security is not going to be there for me when I retire, and that’s nonsense. That does not have to be the case. The way you deal with the solvency issue is by lifting the cap on taxable income.
TV: What would a default mean for the reality of young people’s lives?
BS: It would be terrible. Right now, it is no secret that the younger generation is struggling economically. In most cases, they’re worse off than their parents. It’s really quite incredible, despite the increase in wealth in this country because the wealth increases are going to the 1% and not to the middle class and working families. A default means you’re simply not paying your bills. If the United States defaulted, the world economy would be in turmoil. There will likely be a massive recession, interest rates will soar, and unemployment will significantly increase. Republicans are playing Russian roulette with the future of our economy. They’re not willing to pay off the debt that they helped incur [under Trump]. This is not new spending. You can argue about new spending, [but] this is spending that already took place under Trump, under Biden, and under previous presidents. Now, they’re saying we spent the money, [but] we don’t want to pay off our debts. That’s a disaster and it’s very dangerous.
TV: As you said, the younger generation is worse off than their parents and there can be this feeling of hopelessness and powerlessness. What can young people do to counter that feeling?
BS: This is precisely what the big money interests in this country want people to feel. They want to say, ‘We run the world. We’re billionaires. We control the economy and the political life of the country… and we hope you’re in despair. We don’t want you to pay attention. You’re powerless. We have the power.’ And I think what people have got to understand is that real change in this country, whether it’s women’s rights or civil rights or gay rights or union rights, those never took place without a struggle, standing up and fighting back. If Martin Luther King Jr. felt hopeless and threw in the towel, we’d still have segregation in this country. If suffragettes threw in the towel, women would still be second-class citizens without the right to vote. If you’re concerned about the future of this country at all, you have to stand up and fight back. And when it comes to hopelessness, let me tell you this: There are now more strong, progressive people in the US House of Representatives than at any time in the history of this country.
TV: What brings you hope right now?
BS: There is a growing understanding that there is something profoundly wrong about an economy in which three people own more wealth than the bottom half of American society and where the gap between the very rich and everyone else is growing wider. People all over the country are demanding an economy that works for all, not just a few. I’m confident that’s going to lead to the kind of profound, systemic change that we need. Change is not easy. Go back to history. You have to stand up, educate, organize, and fight for change. I believe we’re in the process of doing it. Despair is not an option. We have to keep going. | US Federal Policies |
Bill Omar Carrasquillo, better known by his YouTube name Omi In a Hellcat, has been arrested after the feds found Carrasquillo had amassed a $30 million fortune with a large-scale piracy scheme in which he was buying and reselling copyrighted material from cable TV. Jalopnik reports: He was sentenced to five years in prison for "piracy of cable TV, access device fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and hundreds of thousands of dollars of copyright infringement," along with having to forfeit his millions and pay $15 million in restitution. Those millions helped pay for the car collection now going up for auction.
[Road & Track reports Omi In A Hellcat's entire 57 vehicle collection is up for auction.] As of this writing, the auction features 32 cars and 25 bikes and off road vehicles. Despite his crimes, the man had decent taste in cars. There's good stuff to be had like.
[Road & Track reports Omi In A Hellcat's entire 57 vehicle collection is up for auction.] As of this writing, the auction features 32 cars and 25 bikes and off road vehicles. Despite his crimes, the man had decent taste in cars. There's good stuff to be had like. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
The grieving mom of Stephen Smith said she finally feels “some peace” after investigators reopened the case into the mysterious death of her son – whom she believes was beaten to death in a “hate crime” because he was gay.
“This is what I’ve been fighting for, and I’m finally getting it,” Sandy Smith told CNN’s Anderson Cooper Wednesday night of her nearly eight-year battle to reexamine her son’s death.
Smith said she has always questioned the circumstances surrounding the July 8, 2015 death of her son, whose body was found on a road not far from the 1,700-acre Moselle estate where disgraced South Carolina attorney Alex Murdaugh later gunned down his wife, Maggie, and son, Paul.
While authorities initially ruled the nursing student’s death a hit-and-run accident, Sandy believed that foul play was involved – and that the powerful Murdaugh family played a role.
“The only dispute I had was that it was not a hit-and-run. And that’s what I have been saying from the beginning. And I felt my son was murdered, he was beaten to death, and I think it was a hate crime [because Stephen was openly gay],” Sandy told Cooper.
The South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) reopened the investigation into Stephens’ death on June 23, 2021 based on information gleaned during the initial probe into the murders of Maggie and Paul earlier that month.
On Tuesday, SLED said the death was officially being looked at as a homicide.
“I’m just overwhelmed,” Sandy said of the update.
“And I don’t know how to explain it, but I have a little bit of peace in my heart.”
Sandy also shared reminiscences of her “mischievous” son.
“He was my life. He was my world,” she told Cooper.
Sandy Smith previously wrote in a 2016 letter to the FBI that other teens approached Stephen’s twin Stephanie within days of her brother’s death to say they believed Paul Murdaugh and his older brother, Buster, were involved.
Another classmate also reportedly told Stephen’s brother, Christopher, that Buster, now 26, killed the teen with a baseball bat.
“He claimed it was because Stephen was gay,” Sandy wrote in the emotional letter.
Sandy also alleged that Buster, who was Stephen’s classmate, was involved in a secret relationship with her son, which may have motivated the alleged attack.
Stephen had hinted at dating “someone from a prominent family in the county who was hiding his sexuality,” but never revealed their name, Sandy said.
In another bizarre twist, Alex Murdaugh’s brother, Randolph, allegedly contacted the Smiths within hours of Stephen’s death and offered to investigate the incident pro bono.
But Randy, who was present at Alex’s murder trial earlier this year, never followed through on his pledge.
On Monday, Buster Murdaugh issued a statement denying the “vicious rumors” about his involvement with Stephen.
“These baseless rumors of my involvement with Stephen and his death are false,” he said.
“I unequivocally deny any involvement in his death, and my heart goes out to the Smith family,” he added.
Alex Murdaugh, 54, was sentenced to two consecutive life sentences earlier this month for killing Maggie and Paul. Buster testified in his father’s defense during the six-week trial.
“They seen through the lies and a Murdaugh is finally brought down,” Sandy Smith told The Post of the verdict.
“Now that this case is back over, they can get on Stephen’s case full-time.”
As of Thursday, the Smith family’s GoFundMe had raised almost $100,000 – nearly 7 times its original goal – to exhume Stephen’s body for an independent autopsy.
“From the beginning, I have always said that the pathologist is a voice for the dead. And the one who finalized his death certificate, I do not believe that she gave justice to my son. She did not speak his voice – for his voice,” Sandy told Cooper of the original examination. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
The campaign office of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez sits deep in the Bronx, across the street from a Chinese takeaway and 99-cent discount store, near enough to a railway bridge to hear the rumble of passing trains. The front window of the plain redbrick building is dominated by a big, smiling photo of the US congresswoman and notices that say: “We welcome all races, all sexual orientations, all gender identities, all religions, all abilities,” and “We say gay in the Bronx”. Inside, the words “¡AOC! ORGANIZING BASE” are printed in giant purple letters on a wall.
Ocasio-Cortez, who at 29 became the youngest woman and youngest Latina to serve in the House of Representatives, is now 33, twice re-elected and comfortable in her political skin. She could hardly be described as an old hand but nor does she channel the shock of the new. She deploys social media with enviable authenticity; she grills congressional witnesses like a seasoned interrogator; she is an object of perverse fascination for Fox News and rightwing trolls; she has been around Washington long enough to draw charges of “co-option” and “selling out”.
“AOC Is Just a Regular Old Democrat Now,” ran a headline on New York magazine’s Intelligencer website in July. The article’s author, Freddie deBoer, argued that Ocasio-Cortez’s appearance on the Pod Save America podcast to announce her endorsement of Joe Biden for president in the 2024 election was her “last kiss-off to the radicals who had supported her, voted for her, donated to her campaign, and made her unusually famous in American politics”.
The Ocasio-Cortez who sits for an interview with the Guardian is clearly aware of the leftist’s eternal dilemma – purity versus pragmatism – and determined to navigate it with care. She makes clear that Biden cannot take progressives for granted next year but urges Democrats to unite against the bigger threat of “fascism” in America. She condemns the invasion of Ukraine by the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, but wants the US to be clear about its aims there and acknowledge “the anxieties of our history”.
And after a summer of extreme heat and wild weather, she evidently worries that incrementalism will not be enough to address a climate crisis that is crying out for revolution.
Ocasio-Cortez’s first legislative proposal after arriving on Capitol Hill was a Green New Deal that envisions a 10-year national mobilisation in the spirit of President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1930s New Deal. That went nowhere, but last year Biden did sign the Inflation Reduction Act into law, touting its $369bn investment in clean energy and climate action as the biggest of any nation in history.
However, the president also approved more oil and gas drilling permits in his first two years in office than his predecessor, Donald Trump, according to the Bureau of Land Management.
It is, Ocasio-Cortez acknowledges, a mixed picture. “What is difficult is that the climate crisis does not really care about the political complexities that we very much have to grapple with in our work,” she says, wearing a blue dress with floral shoulder pattern and sitting on a long wooden seat dotted with black and yellow cushions.
“We can celebrate all of these policies that result in reductions but we also can’t erase them with increased oil and gas production. I’m very concerned about where our net math is on that because we can calculate, yes, we had an enormous amount of reductions that are represented in the Inflation Reduction Act, but this is not something that can be measured necessarily in dollars and cents.
“It’s measured in carbon tonnes and in emissions and there’s a lot of funny math that happens in emissions when people talk about clean coal and how fracking somehow reduces our carbon emissions, when we know that it increases methane, which is far more powerful than CO2. While on one hand we can applaud the progress, on the other hand that in no way erases the the setbacks that we’ve had.”
Ocasio-Cortez has joined Congressman Earl Blumenauer and Senator Bernie Sanders in introducing a bill calling on the president to declare a national climate emergency to unleash every resource available. In early August, Biden claimed that he had “practically” declared such an emergency, but in reality he has not.
Even so, the congresswoman says: “I believe he understands the scale of the crisis. I think what we are up against, which perhaps should be discussed more for those of us in the climate movement, is the geopolitics of this.”
She goes on to describe a challenge that is bigger than one man or one nation. “The shift in energy represents a real threat to traditional power globally. As we shift away towards renewables, we are talking about threatening power among some of the most influential institutions in the United States, in Latin America and globally. That is something that is going to have profound ramifications, all of which I don’t even believe we can fully appreciate yet.
“I think that is what drives an enormous amount of blowback and resistance. When you look at, for example, the influence of the Koch brothers in US democracy, they basically have historically purchased enormous amounts of influence over the United States Senate. They are oil barons. These are fossil fuel companies that have exerted huge amounts of influence both in US democracy and in global interests.”
Ocasio-Cortez also points to the power and influence of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and Middle Eastern nations such as the United Arab Emirates. “When we talk about the transition to renewable energies, wrapped inside that is a profound challenge to the current global order and that, I believe, is something that we’re going to have to contend with in our time.”
For the left, the war in Ukraine is potentially more complicated. Putin’s invasion is by any measure an affront to morality. But US support for Ukraine has put critics of the military-industrial complex (the government spends about $900bn a year on defence, around 15% of the federal budget or 3.3% of the gross domestic product) in the uncomfortable position of rooting for the Pentagon and endorsing a windfall for defence contractors. Longtime sceptics of US imperialism suddenly find themselves aligned with Republican hawks.
Ocasio-Cortez articulates the uneasy accommodation: “It’s a legitimate conversation. I think on one hand, it is important for us to underscore what a dramatic threat to global order Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is and continues to be. We must defend democracy. We cannot allow this reversion into almost a late 19th-century imperial invasion order – it is so incredibly destabilising and dangerous. We must fight against that precedent. We must protect the democracy of Ukraine and the sovereignty of Ukraine 100%.
“I think it’s also relevant to acknowledge that this is happening on the heels of the US withdrawal from Afghanistan and how many of us were raised growing up saying this was going to be temporary, and it became a forever war. I believe that acknowledging the anxieties of our history of that is relevant.
“Indicating to the people of this country what are we looking for, what are the levels of accountability, is not something that I think is an affront to democracy. I think the American people understandably want clarity about what our commitments are, to what extent they are. I think that is absolutely fair. We do not want a forever war and we also don’t want a return to a 19th-century imperial order either.”
A self-described democratic socialist, Ocasio-Cortez has not been afraid to buck Democratic leadership, including by voting against a deal that Biden negotiated with Republicans in May to raise the debt ceiling. In 2020 she made the provocative comment that, in any other country, she and Biden would not be in the same party. Yet she has endorsed his re-election in 2024. Does that mean she has travelled towards him or he towards her?
“I think it means that we have a US political system that’s not parliamentary, to my envy of many other countries,” she replies deftly. “There were so many people that were so up in arms about that comment, which I likely maintain to this day. But I find that parliamentary systems allow for a larger degree of honesty about the political coalitions that we must make. It’s not anything negative towards the president or towards anybody else.
“It’s just a reality that we have very different political coalitions that constitute the Democratic party and being able to define that, I actually think grants us much power. It’s to say, listen, I am not defined by nor do I agree with all of the stances of this president, and I’m sure neither does he with mine.
“But that does not mean that we are not in this together against the greater forces and questions of our time, and I think being able to demonstrate that ability to coalesce puts us in a position of far greater strength than, say, the Republican party who are at each other’s necks to the extent that they can’t even fund the government.”
There has been no greater rallying point for Democrats of all stripes than Trump. As Paul Begala, a former White House adviser, has observed: “Nothing unites the people of Earth like a threat from Mars.” Ocasio-Cortez, a celebrated member of “the Squad” of House progressives, regards continued solidarity as imperative for as long as the quadruple-indicted former president menaces US democracy.
She warns: “We should be candid about the fact that his chances as the nominee are still the strongest, probably out of the entire [Republican] field, and what that means. There’s very real danger here because with our electoral college, we know it doesn’t matter how many millions more votes you get. It’s about the smattering of states who just represent a few thousand votes’ difference between Trump and Biden.
“We are not in 2020, and seeing what that turnout may look like is something that I’m sure keeps many of us up at night. But that being said, I know that this is why, to me, support of President Biden has been very important, because this question is larger than any policy differences. This is truly about having a strong front against fascism in the United States.”
But will that be enough to motivate the progressive base in 2024? Trump has no serious primary challenger, but his approval rating remains mired in the 40s. A recent Emerson College polling survey found the Green party candidate Cornel West drawing support from 7% of independents, 8% of Black voters and 7% of Hispanics – key parts of the Biden coalition. In a hypothetical presidential election, the survey found 44% support Trump, 39% Biden, 4% West and 13% undecided.
Ocasio-Cortez acknowledges that, after defeating Sanders in the 2020 primary, Biden made welcome efforts to include progressives on joint policy taskforces and in his administration. But she cautions that he must now make his case to the left all over again.
“In 2020 the Biden campaign, after the nomination, did work very hard to unite the party. We’re very early still in the 2024 election cycle, but I do believe that it will be very important for President Biden’s team to once again engage in that coalition-building because it is not one and done.”
Likewise, she continues, Latino voters must not be taken for granted. “Republicans have been very aggressive about building presence in Latino communities, and I believe that we as Democrats can double and triple down in our efforts to communicate in a way that’s not just translations of English material, but for us to manoeuvre ourselves almost as a separate, distinct campaign that occurs in Spanish or in many of the languages and communities that constitute the base of the Democratic party.”
Ocasio-Cortez was part of an all-Latino congressional delegation that recently visited Brazil, Chile and Colombia to begin redefining US relations with Latin America after decades of interventions and distrust. The group met landless workers and homeless workers who have organised popular movements while also becoming a formidable force at the ballot box.
She reflects: “I think sometimes in the US, especially on the left but even across the political spectrum, there is a struggle between more grassroots movements feeling as though engaging in electoralism is a form of selling out, or the compromises required in being part of a legislative system are somehow delegitimising to an authentic relationship to advancing the working class.
“I think what we’ve seen from MST [Landless Workers Movement] and MTST [Homeless Workers Movement] is that there’s actually a way to do both, that you can preserve your integrity but also understand the importance of taking a pragmatic approach and being in the game when it comes to having electoral representation.”
It takes one to know one. Ocasio-Cortez, a former restaurant server and bartender who in 2018 defeated 10-term incumbent Joe Crowley for a seat that represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, faces the accusation from some that she has gone from outsider to insider, that she has become just a little too comfortable toeing the party line.
She laughs. “I think I would be remiss to not mention that I’ve absolutely been subject to part of that. But just as we hear from some of these folks in Brazil, we are so underserved without having that presence in governance. To sacrifice all of that to a historically neoliberal order has not served us.
“I think that when you see how even the Democratic party of the United States has changed in just the last five years alone, we’ve seen the fruits of being able to have a seat at the table ... I believe that we would not have the legislation that we have today if it were not for that progressive representation in government.”
Her commitment to the system, whatever its flaws, invites the question of whether Ocasio-Cortez, one of the most gifted communicators in politics today, will run for president herself some day. She does not say no. “For me personally, I’m very much just motivated by what the conditions of the present moment are and what we can do to help advance that cause.
“I am not interested in running for anything – president or anything else including for re-election in my own seat – just running for running’s sake. It always comes down to the conditions of that moment and the possibilities of our time.”
The first woman nominated for president by the Democratic party was Hillary Clinton in 2016. In Trump, she lost to a rival who gloried in shameless misogyny. But Ocasio-Cortez, whose gender, race, age and ideology make her as antithetical to Trump as can be imagined, refuses to be discouraged.
“I do believe that the power of misogyny is very real and very potent in American politics,” she says. “But I’m very encouraged by what has happened since then. I believe women have emerged as a profound electoral force, especially with the overturning of Roe v Wade. Young women especially I think have been very animated and organised in this moment. I think we are in a moment of generational change.
“We are absolutely contending with an extraordinary misogyny in our politics. The United States can go around and say what it says, but many, many, many other countries have elected female heads of state, whereas the United States has gone well over 200 years without one. Those barriers are very real, but I think the change of this time is also giving a lot of us a lot of hope.”
Before getting back to work in an office of greens, purples, whites and yellows – and hundreds of colourful backpacks for constituents entering the new school year – she sums up: “Certainly the conditions have been such and the misogyny in our politics has been such that we’ve never been able to elect a woman president. But that doesn’t mean we never will.” | US Federal Elections |
EXCLUSIVE — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia Republican who overcame Democratic silencing efforts to become one of the most effective voices on the Right, is getting ready to settle some scores with an autobiography that could pave the way to higher office — including the vice presidency.
Greene told Secrets that her new book, being released on Nov. 21 by the Trump-aligned Winning Team Publishing, will have a simple but effective title. It is her initials, “MTG,” three letters that, in the Washington media, carry a symbolic fighting message.
"I wanted people to hear my side of the story," Greene said in an interview. "Some of it is setting the record straight."
The book has been in the works for a year or more, and its release will come right as the congresswoman is in the middle of some of the biggest battles in the House, including the budget, Ukraine war funding, the border crisis, and the impeachment of President Joe Biden, which she led the call for.
“I'm always controversial, but I think this book might be a little controversial with some of the stories,” she said, adding that it will allow her to “introduce myself to America as me, not the character that the mainstream media created and has sold to America over the past few years.”
Sergio Gor, the president and founder of Winning Team Publishing, which was co-founded by Donald Trump Jr., expects the book and Greene’s personal stories in it to have a big impact in Washington.
"Few individuals have taken Washington by storm like Marjorie Taylor Greene," he said. "In her first book, MTG reveals the candid truth about her upbringing, the swamp, and the future of our republic."
Over some 300 pages, Greene said she covers her upbringing and her controversial first campaign for the House in 2020. She writes about former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) efforts to get her kicked out of the House and Pelosi's successful bid to knock her off committees, as well as Greene's campaign to stay relevant, eventually helping House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) win Pelosi’s job.
Greene teased to Secrets that she will tell a revealing story about the Jan. 6 riot and even dish on the origins of Democratic claims that she blamed wildfires on “Jewish space lasers.”
She told Secrets: "I tell about COVID. I talk about COVID and my personal experience going through that when my dad died. I talk about fights I've had with people. I talk about the speaker's race. I talk about the House Freedom Caucus. So I'm pretty much running the gamut, and I even talked about Jewish space lasers."
Greene acknowledged that the book has a higher purpose of laying the groundwork for a bid for higher office.
“I have options. Anything from a governor's race to a Senate seat,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump has hinted that Greene is on the short list of running mates. Greene, who is an adviser to the former president and a regular at his rallies, said, "I'm not sure who Trump will pick for a VP. I haven't closed the door on anything.”
Notably, the photo on the cover of her book is a silhouette of Greene taking the stage at a Trump rally. A huge American flag is the backdrop.
“I think I’m going to let people have their own interpretation,” she said. | US Congress |
Nearly nine months after Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) suffered a stroke on the campaign trail, the first-term senator faces lingering health challenges as he adjusts to life in the Senate.
He continues to struggle with auditory processing, making it difficult to understand the words of his colleagues. At its worst, Fetterman says it can feel like deciphering the voice of the teacher from the Peanuts cartoon, according to the New York Times.
Although he has been given accommodations to help ease his transition, several members of his staff have voiced concerns that he needs to take things slow. Those concerns only grew after Fetterman was hospitalized earlier this week after feeling lightheaded.
“What you’re supposed to do to recover from [a stroke] is do as little as possible,” Adam Jentleson, his chief of staff, told the outlet. “[Fetterman] was forced to do as much as possible — he had to get back to the campaign trail. It’s hard to claw that back.”
Fetterman’s first health scare, in May 2022, raised serious questions about whether he was fit to hold office, particularly after it was revealed he had failed to follow up with doctors prior to the stroke despite being diagnosed with an irregular heartbeat in 2017. However, the Pennsylvania Democrat was able to overcome intense scrutiny and went on to win one of the most competitive Senate races of the midterm cycle.
Since then, Fetterman has struggled to adapt to the fast pace on Capitol Hill, with his impairments making an already demanding job more difficult.
He's been offered technology and office upgrades to help him acclimate. Fetterman has a newly installed computer monitor that can be adjusted depending on whether the Pennsylvania senator wishes to stand or sit. The screen also provides closed captioning so he can follow along with congressional proceedings.
Fetterman has a similar setup at the center dais in the Senate chamber, with officials giving him a custom standing desk with the same closed-captioning technology for when he must preside over the upper chamber.
The sergeant-at-arms has also arranged for live transcription for the Senate committees that Fetterman sits on, with plans to expand this access to all Senate hearings in the coming months.
The transcription services are meant to help with one of Fetterman’s most serious ailments: his auditory processing issues stemming from a neurological impairment caused by the stroke, something that hinders his ability to hear clearly, with the condition worsening whenever he feels stressed.
It’s not clear what caused Fetterman’s hospitalization on Wednesday, but doctors determined it was not a second stroke. The senator is being monitored for signs of a seizure.
Meanwhile, Fetterman’s fellow Democrats have lauded him for his first month on the job, dismissing the idea that his accommodations are distracting.
“He answers like you would answer anyone,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) told the New York Times, referring to Fetterman’s use of a tablet to transcribe personal conversations. “It’s us that have to get used to it. He’s used to it.”
Others have pointed to the adjustments as a necessary shift in Senate culture.
“The right attitude has to be consistent with what we hope we learned in the last 30 years or so — that we can provide reasonable accommodations in the workplace,” Sen. Bob Casey (D-PA) said. “If we’re doing it right, it should not be him adapting to the workplace, it should be senators in both parties adapting and accommodating him, just like we would anyone.” | US Congress |
In 2012, a wide swath of conservative pundits — Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Michael Barone, Jennifer Rubin, among others — insisted that, polling evidence to the contrary, Mitt Romney was the clear favorite to win the presidential election. These arguments, which had varying levels of plausibility, flamed out in the most humiliating possible fashion as Rove raged on camera against the Fox News decision desk. The right-wing impulse to deny polling was one of the seeds that eventually sprouted into full-bloom Trumpian election denial.
Disturbingly, some liberals are now engaging in similarly delusional thinking about opinion polls.
Earlier this month, when a Wall Street Journal poll found Donald Trump and President Biden tied, liberal activists questioned the results on the grounds that one of its sponsors was being paid by Trump:
The New Republic published a story, headlined “That Big Poll Showing Trump and Biden Are Evenly Matched? Trump Helped Pay for It,” validating this complaint. These critiques treat the fact that the Journal poll was conducted in part by Tony Fabrizio, a Republican pollster who worked for Trump in 2016 and who is working for Trump’s super-PAC now, as some kind of discrediting scandal. The more banal fact is that the poll was jointly conducted by a Democratic pollster (Michael Bocian) and a Republican one (Fabrizio). It is very normal for pollsters to do polling work for political candidates as well as media organizations, and in no way indicates the poll was biased.
A couple days later, when CNN released a poll showing Trump leading Biden by a point, liberal accounts began questioning the results because the poll contained an “oversample” of Republican voters. In a Vanity Fair column, Molly Jong-Fast attacked this as transparently biased:
It was polling that put Clinton ahead of Trump by one to seven percentage points in the popular vote. It was polling that told us there would be a “red wave” in 2022, whose nonexistence was summed up by the New York Times postmortem: “The skewed red-wave surveys polluted polling averages, which are relied upon by campaigns, donors, voters and the news media.” And it was polling that told us, even as far back as 1995, that Bob Dole would wipe the presidential floor with Bill Clinton. But nearly 30 years later, like Lucy and the football, we are yet again treating junk polls as gospel.
Take, for example, a recent CNN poll, which consisted of 1,503 respondents who reflected “an oversample of…898 Republicans and Republican-leaning independents.” This poll was used as the basis of a New York Times story, which proclaimed, “Party leaders have rallied behind the president’s re-election bid, but as one top Democratic strategist put it, ‘The voters don’t want this, and that’s in poll after poll after poll.’”
Now, it’s worth asking how a poll like this even makes it into the paper of record. Well, it’s simple: Republicans work the refs.
The “oversampling” critique is even sillier than the accusation that the Journal used a Trump pollster. Polls routinely employ oversamples of groups whose views they want to examine. The reason is that they need a large enough sample to obtain a statistically valid number of respondents. Suppose they want to analyze how, say, Latinos (or Midwesterners or college-educated women) plan to vote. A national poll of the entire electorate won’t usually produce enough Latinos to yield a valid finding. So the poll will obtain extra results from Latinos to give it a valid subsample.
Crucially, the national poll will re-weight the subsample. So even though the poll will have more replies from Latinos, they will not have extra weight in the national result. The entire purpose of oversampling is to have a valid analysis of the selected cohort.
CNN’s poll conducted an oversample of Republican voters in order to analyze how they intend to vote in the presidential primaries. There was one national poll testing the general election, and a Republican oversample testing the Republican primary. The general-election poll was re-weighted to correct for the oversample. It did not have excess numbers of Republicans in the national sample. The reason this poll makes it into the paper of record is not, as Jong-Fast claims, because Republicans have bullied them into it, but instead because the poll uses valid methods.
Jong-Fast’s column tosses in fuzzier complaints about polling that have also gained wider purchase in the media. She attacks polls in 2016 for having “put Clinton ahead of Trump by one to seven percentage points in the popular vote.” That finding wasn’t terribly inaccurate, given that Clinton won the popular vote by 2.1 percent, a result that is in fact between one and seven points, albeit not in the dead center of the distribution of predictions.
She likewise blames pollsters for having falsely predicted a red wave in 2022. This has become conventional wisdom, not just from liberals like Jennifer Rubin, now on the blue team, who claims polls “misled voters about the fictitious red wave in 2022,” but even, as Jong-Fast points out, the Times news pages.
It is true that polls are far from perfect. Individual polls are frequently outliers. More than a year away from an election, polling has somewhat limited predictive value, and even on the cusp of an election, the polling averages can sometimes significantly miss the mark (as was the case in 2020).
But the idea that mainstream polling is corruptly slanting its results because it’s being paid for by Trump, or deliberately polling too many Republicans, is ludicrous. To see that kind of paranoia that has long since overtaken conservatism taking root on the mainstream left is a disturbing sign. | US Federal Elections |
In politics, it's an axiom if not a flat-out rule that you should have, if not a soul, at least a brain. What, then, to make of a political party that elevates from its ranks to positions of power people who have neither? Dear readers, I give you Mark Meadows and Kevin McCarthy, two slithering dwellers of the political underground that has swallowed the entire Republican Party.
Just for fun, let's begin our examination of the question of Meadows with the courageous Cassidy Hutchinson. You remember her, don't you? At 25 years of age, she was a White House aide and assistant to Meadows when he was Trump's chief of staff in the White House. Her name would have disappeared into the deep shadows of history like other minor White House officials had she not been called to testify before the Jan. 6 Committee last year and sat there before the committee and live television cameras and delivered what turned out to be earth shattering testimony about Trump's fight with the Secret Service agent driving his armored SUV, trying to get him to drive to the Capitol so Trump could join the riot that he had fomented. Hutchinson delivered a few other nuggets, like finding a broken plate and ketchup on the walls of the private presidential dining room after Bill Barr, Trump's attorney general, had told the Associated Press that there was no evidence of widespread voter fraud large enough to change the outcome of the election.
But it was Hutchinson's testimony, delivered in a flat, unemotional voice, about Meadows' inaction in the White House on Jan. 6 that was most chilling, at least to me. Here was Meadows, who served four terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, who rose to the powerful position of ranking member on the House Oversight Committee and chair of the arch-conservative Freedom Caucus and caught the attention of Donald Trump, who appointed him to White House Chief of Staff.
We need your help to stay independent
Hutchinson described the day of Jan. 6 in the White House as calm after Trump returned from inciting the crowd with his speech on the Ellipse, just outside of the White House. Televisions were on in the Oval Office, the president's pocket dining room, and in the offices of Meadows and Tony Ornado, whom Trump had elevated from the head of his Secret Service detail to deputy chief of staff, with an office in the West Wing, the first time in history any member of the Secret Service had been appointed to a political job in the White House.
Two miles away down Pennsylvania Avenue, the seat of the government of the United States was under assault by a mob that was beating police officers and breaking windows and invading the Capitol building and holding up the business of the government, which at that moment was certifying the electoral results of the 2020 election. As images of the bloody violence at the Capitol appeared on TV screens, Hutchinson found herself astonished at the lack of action in the White House. Trump was cloistered in his private dining room with the television on making phone calls. Meadows, whom you would expect to be closely monitoring the assault on the Capitol, and, uh…let's see, doing something about it, was sequestered in his West Wing office, often in the company of Ornato, peering at the screen of his cell phone, according to Hutchinson.
Look at these two guys. They were put into positions of power by a Republican Party – and a nominally Republican president – to do exactly this and only this: anything and everything they are told to do.
"She described an eerily nonchalant reaction by Meadows as he learned details of the escalating violence at the Capitol," Politico reported on the day of Hutchinson's Jan. 6 Committee testimony. "I remember distinctly Mark not looking up from his phone," Hutchinson told the committee and the stunned audience in the hearing room at the Capitol.
Now, we have learned since that day that Mark Meadows had been very busy doing stuff in the weeks after Trump lost the presidential election in November. He arranged meetings Trump held with battleground state legislators, attempting to get them to help him overturn the results of the election in their states. He was on phone calls Trump made to state officials such as Rusty Bowers, the Arizona Speaker of the House, trying to convince him to do the same thing, and to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, when Trump asked to "find 11,780 votes" awarding him "one more than what we have" so he would be declared winner in Georgia and be entitled to its electoral votes. Meadows sat in on multiple Oval Office meetings when the fake electors plot was being hatched and put into action. Busy, busy, busy, was Mark Meadows.
But not on Jan. 6 when the shit hit the fan at the Capitol. He was staring at the screen of his cell phone in his office at the White House. When Hutchinson spoke to Meadows that day, asking him to talk to Trump about the violence at the Capitol, specifically mentioning the threats on Vice President Pence's life, Meadows calmly told her, referring to Trump, "He thinks Mike deserves it; he doesn't think they are doing anything wrong." Meadows did not get up from his desk chair in his office and walk down the West Wing hall to Trump's private dining room. He just sat there. Later, White House Counsel Pat Cipollone entered Meadows' office to tell him that rioters had breached the Capitol and were now inside, some of them in the Senate chamber. Hutchinson testified that Cipollone told Meadows, "Mark, something needs to be done or blood is going to be on your effing hands." Meadows sat there staring at his phone.
The other subterranean slitherer is, of course, the deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives – a brand new position – Kevin McCarthy. The actual Speaker of the House is either Matt Gaetz or Marjorie Taylor Greene, or perhaps some genetically engineered melding of the two House backbenchers who are now evidently running the House Republican Caucus, because so-called Speaker McCarthy sure isn't. He lost control of that body the night he signed an as-yet-to-be-acknowledged-much-less-revealed secret document yielding most of his powers as Speaker so he could win the votes necessary to attain that heretofore exalted position, with its grand office in the Capitol building overlooking the Mall.
McCarthy somehow managed to make a deal on the budget with President Joe Biden that was intended to cap spending at 2022 levels and guarantee that there would be no chance of a government shutdown at the end of this month, thus infuriating the right-wing of his Republican Caucus in the House, and you know where that deal went, don't you? To the same ignominious underground bunker McCarthy has been occupying ever since he grabbed the gavel, and only the gavel, the night he sold what was left of his shriveled soul to Gaetz and Greene and the rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth members of the House Freedom Caucus. You will remember that exalted faction as the one Mark Meadows chaired for a year, affording himself enough of an illusion of power that Trump tapped him to be his final chief of staff.
Now McCarthy finds himself with just two weeks to go before the annual spending bills expire at the end of September, which will cause the U.S. government to shut down for only the fourth time in history if some sort of deal for a stopgap measure isn't reached, an eventuality that his budget deal with Biden was supposed to make moot. What leverage does the Republican Speaker have with his out-of-control caucus? I don't know how to put this other than to form a rhetorical circle with my thumb and forefinger signaling a big fat goose egg.
Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.
Over the summer, the far-right fringe in the House generated a couple of letters to McCarthy setting the stage for what the New York Times this week called a "feud" with him, which is a gigantic misnomer. What's actually going on in McCarthy's House is cowardice-generated chaos. McCarthy's right-wing announced they wouldn't pass anything in the fall without a bevy of concessions from their so-called leader: huge spending cuts, a cut-off in aid to Ukraine, defunding the FBI and the Department of Justice (and the IRS, if you asked some of the leaders of the drooling caucus). They threatened to load up spending bills with culture war poison pill amendments that will never pass the Senate, and finally, they made clear their intention to shut down the government if their demands aren't met.
Oh, I almost forgot: impeach Joe Biden. Did they attach any reasons for the demand to impeach Biden, and I'm not talking about evidence of high crimes and misdemeanors here, just reasons?
For the answer to that question, look no further than any one of about a dozen statements from James Comer, Chairman of the House Oversight Committee, who ever since he took his committee gavel has been promising whistles that don't blow and witnesses who either don't exist or don't show up to testify about the alleged crimes of what Donald Trump likes to call "the Biden crime family."
So where does that leave our cowering, quivering, quaking so-called Speaker McCarthy? Well let's hear one of the two Republicans who is actually running the House, Matt "I Can't Seem to Shake These Sex Charges" Gaetz: "If we have to begin every single day in Congress with the prayer, the pledge and the motion to vacate, then so be it," the Florida Republican announced this week. A motion to vacate the chair, if you have trouble remembering this arcane maneuver from the 14-hour struggle McCarthy endured to "earn" his Speakership, is, in effect, a vote to fire the Speaker of the House, made much easier in the Super Secret deal McCarthy made with Gaetz, among others, the night they voted to make him Speaker.
So, who's holding the reins of power on the House side of the Capitol these days? I'll answer that question with one that is more to the point: Where do Republicans come up with these worms? Look at these two guys. They were put into positions of power by a Republican Party – and a nominally Republican president – to do exactly this and only this: anything and everything they are told to do. That's not leadership. It's cowardice. | US Congress |
The House Freedom Caucus took an official position against House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) plan to avert a government shutdown, which he will aim to pass with support from Democrats on Tuesday.
“The House Freedom Caucus opposes the proposed ‘clean’ Continuing Resolution as it contains no spending reductions, no border security, and not a single meaningful win for the American People,” the group said in its position statement, released Tuesday morning. “Republicans must stop negotiating against ourselves over fears of what the Senate may do with the promise ‘roll over today and we’ll fight tomorrow.'”
“While we remain committed to working with Speaker Johnson, we need bold change,” the Freedom Caucus added.
The position was unveiled after Johnson reportedly met with the House Freedom Caucus on Monday night, a highly unusual move for a Republican Speaker or party leader. But many of its members publicly expressed opposition to the bill, disappointed that it does not include spending cuts or attempt to extract conservative policy concessions from Democrats and the White House.
It also comes after GOP leaders announced Monday night that they will seek to fast-track the bill through a floor vote in order to avoid being torpedoed based on Republican opposition. But that will require support from two-thirds of the whole House, meaning relying on support from dozens of Democrats.
An official position from the Freedom Caucus requires support from 80 percent of the group, which has around three dozen members. But the caucus is not unified in opposition to the continuing resolution plan.
Freedom Caucus member Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) is an architect of the two-tiered stopgap funding plan.
Under the bill, part of government funding would run out Jan. 19, with the rest running out Feb. 2. Harris, like Johnson, has argued that the two-step plan is the best way to avert a massive omnibus funding package pushed by the Senate, and allows Congress more time to negotiate on fiscal 2024 funding.
“The two-step CR is a way to get the broken appropriations process back on track without resulting in a massive omnibus spending bill,” Harris said over the weekend in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter. | US Congress |
Over the past year, large-scale robberies have swept through stores like Louis Vuitton in San Francisco's Union Square and a nearby Nordstrom, which was robbed by 80 people.
Law enforcement and retailers have warned the public that this isn't traditional shoplifting. Rather, what they're seeing is theft organized by criminal networks.
And there's a reason it's on the rise.
"What fuels this as an enterprise is the ease of reselling stolen merchandise on online marketplaces," said Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, who convened a national task force of state attorneys to make it easier to investigate across state lines. "It's no longer the age where it's done at flea markets or in the alley or in parking lots."
Retailers say a total of $68.9 billion of products were stolen in 2019. In 2020, three-quarters said they saw an increase in organized crime and more than half reported cargo theft. Some big chains blame organized theft for recent store closures or for their decisions to limit hours.
For the U.S. Government's Homeland Security Investigations unit, organized retail crime probes are on the rise. Arrests and indictments increased last year from 2020, along with the value of stolen goods that was seized.
While data is imprecise about the perpetrators, there's growing consensus that an entirely different group should be held accountable: e-commerce sites.
Amazon, eBay and Facebook are the places where these stolen goods are being sold, and critics say they're not doing enough to put an end to the racket. The companies disagree.
Amazon, for instance, says it spent more than $900 million and employed more than 12,000 people in 2021 to prevent fraud and abuse. The company also says it requests "proofs of sourcing" when it has concerns about how products were obtained, and works with authorities to weed out illegal activity.
Online retailers have long distinguished themselves from traditional brick-and-mortar chains by saying that, when it comes to third-party sellers, they're just a marketplace. Unlike products purchased off the shelf at Walmart or Home Depot, internet companies have claimed they're not responsible for the quality and safety of products from outside merchants who use their platform.
That defense doesn't work when it comes to enabling the sale of stolen goods. In December, 20 major retailers, including Home Depot, Best Buy, Walgreens and Kroger, sent a letter to Congress, asking lawmakers to crack down on online marketplaces by requiring stricter verification of sellers.
"We don't want people to be selling anonymously," said Scott Glenn, who leads asset protection at Home Depot. "If we as Home Depot have to understand who our suppliers are, then Amazon, eBay, whoever is selling should also have to understand who their sellers are."
The House has passed a bill called the INFORM Consumers Act, which would require some sellers on sites such as Amazon, eBay and Meta's Facebook Marketplace to provide a verifiable bank account, tax ID and a working email and phone number. Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin co-authored the original bill. It's now awaiting a vote in the Senate.
"Back in 2008, I introduced my first bill to address the problem of illicit products sold online and the marketplaces told me, 'Don't worry, we're taking care of this. You don't need legislation,'" Durbin said at a Senate Committee Hearing in November. "Well, here we are 13 years later and this problem hasn't gone away. It's gotten much, much worse."
Durbin told CNBC that he's had to rewrite the bill several times primarily because of pushback from the marketplaces.
"They make money on the sales, and they don't want to make it harder for their sellers," Durbin said in an interview. "They want to make it easier. They don't care, I'm sorry to say, some of them don't care what happens once the sale is made."
In its current form, the bill requires verification data only from sellers doing north of $5,000 in revenue every two years. It also requires marketplaces to give consumers a way to contact certain sellers after making a purchase, and a system for reporting suspicious seller behavior or illicit goods.
"I think they finally came to the conclusion that we were just never going to stop bothering them until they did it," Durbin said.
Amazon, eBay and Meta told CNBC they've already enacted a variety of safeguards to keep stolen goods off their sites.
"EBay is not a place to hide yourself and try and offload some of this stuff," said Mike Carson, director of eBay's regulatory policy group. "The key is getting that intelligence to recognize when an item is stolen."
Amazon wouldn't provide an interview but said in a statement, "Amazon does not allow third-party sellers to list stolen goods in our store, and we work closely with law enforcement, retailers, and brands to stop bad actors and hold them accountable, including withholding funds, terminating accounts, and making law enforcement referrals."
Raoul of Illinois met with Amazon's general counsel last year to discuss the problem.
"I may have said at some point something to the effect of, 'Hey, I'm inviting you into the kitchen. But if you don't come into the kitchen in good faith, you're going to be on the menu,'" Raoul said.
Illinois, Arkansas, Colorado and Ohio have already passed their own legislation requiring seller verification for dealing in online goods. But advocacy groups and an Amazon-hired lobbying firm argued against the Ohio bill, saying it would impede business for law-abiding sellers.
"Us cracking down on the organized retail crime industry will not put Amazon or any other online platform out of business," Raoul said.
Amazon said that in 2020 it started rolling out a verification program that requires the "vast majority" of sellers to attend a one-on-one video meeting and show a government ID. Amazon verifies seller addresses by mailing a postcard with a unique code to the seller, who then manually enters it on the site.
Rachel Greer, a former Amazon product safety manager, says criminal organizations can easily get past this hurdle.
"They'll advertise on Craigslist for someone to own the business, and it's a business opportunity, right?" Greer said. "So they sign up and they think that they're doing something really cool. And they get on the phone with Amazon and do the phone video call to validate that they're a legitimate person. They have a passport. They have a U.S.-based address. The products flow through the account, and they get 2% of everything that goes through."
An Amazon spokesperson told CNBC by email that, "If we detect an account is operating in bad faith or associated with bad actors, we move quickly to revoke bad actor selling privileges."
The problem is complicated by the fact that so many online sellers are in foreign countries with different legal systems. Amazon started inviting Chinese sellers to its marketplace around 2013, and within a few years was dealing with a full-blown crisis in counterfeits and scams.
"They'll advertise for people in the U.S. who will front these Chinese-based companies," said Greer, who recently wrote a book called "No Dead Babies" about unsafe products on Amazon. "So it's really not very difficult to do. There's whole conferences on how to do this in China."
Amazon told CNBC that as part of the seller vetting process, the company "uses a proprietary machine learning system that analyzes hundreds of unique data points" to identify seller risks, and it can determine "if an account changes hands after registration."
On Facebook Marketplace, it's relatively simple to start selling. Although hawking stolen goods is against its policies, Meta doesn't typically require proof of identity beyond the basic name and verifiable email or phone number needed to open a Facebook account.
One Ohio man, for instance, said he was making $2,500 a day posting stolen power tools on Facebook Marketplace, then meeting customers in a parking lot to sell the tools for nearly half-price.
Under pressure from legislators and retailers, Meta now says it's started to collect and verify business information from some sellers and display that information to buyers.
"We prohibit the sale of stolen goods and use a number of tools to prevent this kind of illicit activity on our platform," a spokesperson told CNBC by email. "However, organized retail crime is an industry-wide challenge, and preventing it requires ongoing collaboration between retailers, law enforcement and online marketplaces."
Meta said that in 2021 it received government requests for data on more than 700,000 user accounts and provided some information for more than 70% of them.
EBay relies on a program called the PROACT, a two-way reporting system in which retailers warn eBay if they've had a significant theft, and the company then watches for matching items to appear for sale on its site. Carson, who leads the effort, says eBay spends millions of dollars on staff and back-end technology to run the program.
"If people are hearing stories about stolen goods being sold on eBay, if they're receiving stolen goods, and then get contacted by law enforcement, we're certainly going to lose customers," Carson said.
Lisa LaBruno, who helps lead the Retail Industry Leaders Association, said her group has "asked for years for Facebook and Amazon to implement a similar program to eBay." RILA represents some 100 major retailers.
EBay also has a proven track record when it comes to assisting law enforcement. In May, 41 people were arrested after a three-year investigation uncovered $3.8 million of stolen goods from stores such as Bloomingdale's and Duane Reade that were being sold on eBay.
Carson said the company has "risk models that will detect things that look suspicious."
"If you're a brand-new seller and you list 15 iPhones on the site all at once and you never sold anything perfectly, we're probably going to flag you," he said.
Home Depot's Glenn says there are some clear flags that investigators notice when stolen goods are being sold. One example is a site listing Home Depot's proprietary products "at a price better than we can sell it at," Glenn said.
He added that Home Depot has unique barcodes on some items that the company can track.
"If I see that number and I know that number is sitting on a website somewhere, I can actually track backwards through the supply chain," Glenn said. "How did it get there? What store was it assigned to? Was it ever paid for? Was it ever returned? What distribution center did it come from?"
Some high-end apparel companies use a similar approach. Lululemon says it has 100% of its merchandise equipped with RFID tags, which can be scanned to prove authenticity or identify a stolen item once it's recovered.
But unique identifiers do little to prevent a theft from occurring in the first place.
Thefts that fall into the category of organized retail crime follow a typical pattern. A criminal network hires an individual or crew, called "boosters," who can be professional thieves or even people trafficked into the U.S. from other countries. After a robbery, boosters turn over the stolen goods to someone waiting nearby, called a "fence." The fence pays the booster in cash, usually about a quarter of the retail value, and then takes the haul to a home or warehouse, where a "cleaner" removes anti-theft devices or markings. The products then get sent to the larger criminal network, and are usually resold online.
"It used to be you'd have to go to a pawn shop, you'd have to go find a place to sell it at a flea market," Glenn said. "Now you have the ability to ship it from your home."
Glenn took CNBC on a tour of a Home Depot in Hiram, Georgia, where the company is piloting some technology to prevent this kind of theft. One example is a tower of cameras running surveillance over the parking lot and testing license plate recognition technology.
Then there's point-of-sale security. A Bluetooth-enabled chip embedded in some power tools, for example, keeps them from turning on at home unless they've been scanned at a register. The company also has carts that lock up at the exit if they haven't been discreetly scanned by going through a checkout lane.
Home Depot has hundreds of cameras in each store and is experimenting with ways to track items as shoppers put them in their baskets. Glenn said the company loses billions of dollars per year because of theft, and it's spending millions on prevention.
Meanwhile, arrests are happening.
An Atlanta man is reporting to federal prison this month after selling more than $6 million of stolen goods on Amazon, Walmart and Sears. An Amazon seller known as "The Medicine Man" was recently arrested following weeks of surveillance. Law enforcement said the $8 million of stolen goods seized makes it the biggest organized retail crime bust in California history.
Glenn, who's been working in the loss prevention industry for 26 years, says losses from organized retail crime have grown at double-digit rates since he joined Home Depot four years ago.
"Previously, I thought maybe it was a little bit overblown," Glenn said. "I've seen it in real life. I've seen it growing. I've seen the impact of it. I've seen the videos of it. I've seen all the different cases, the files we have over this. And so it is not only growing over the last five years, I would say it's grown incrementally over the last two, during the pandemic."
One key to stopping the trend, Glenn insists, is better policing of sellers from the online marketplaces.
"At the end of the day, we're not asking them to do anything more than what we already do as brick-and-mortar retailers," he said. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
FBI ends investigation of car wreck at Niagara Falls bridge, no indication of terrorism
The FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack
NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. -- The FBI has ended its investigation of a fiery car wreck that killed two people at a border checkpoint in Niagara Falls after finding no evidence that it was a terror attack, easing a period of high tensions as Americans headed into the Thanksgiving holiday.
The FBI's decision late Wednesday came several hours after the vehicle raced through an intersection, hit a median and was launched through the air before slamming into a line of booths and exploding at the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls. Local police are now handling the case as a traffic investigation.
"A search of the scene revealed no explosive materials, and no terrorism nexus was identified,” the FBI's Buffalo office said in a statement. “The matter has been turned over to the Niagara Falls Police Department as a traffic investigation.”
The investigation has been taken over by the Niagara Falls Police Department’s Crash Management Unit, according to a news release from the city's police department, which added “Due to the complexity of the incident, the investigation will take some time to complete.”
The two people who died were a husband and wife, according to a person briefed on the investigation who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information about the people who were killed. The identities of those in the car have not yet been released.
The crash prompted the closure of the Rainbow Bridge and three other bridges connecting western New York and Ontario, as federal officials swarmed the area and both U.S. President Joe Biden and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau received briefings. Hours later, officials sought to calm concerns on what is one the busiest travel days of the year.
“Based on what we know at this moment,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said at a news conference, “there is no sign of terrorist activity in this crash.”
Hochul, a Democrat, said the car was “basically incinerated” with nothing left but the engine and a scattering of charred debris. Later Wednesday night, New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said investigators had found “no connection to any terrorist or criminal group. He added that there was no evidence of chemicals or substances used in explosives during investigators' swabbing of the scene.
The Rainbow Bridge has about 6,000 vehicles cross it each day, according to the U.S. Federal Highway Administration’s National Bridge Inventory.
Witness Rickie Wilson, a Niagara Falls tour guide, was by his parked car nearby and turned around when he saw something in the air.
“I first thought it was an airplane. It looked like slow motion,” he said. “I said, ‘My God, it’s a car. It’s a vehicle, and it’s flying through the air.’” | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
A Colorado man who allegedly hit a police officer with a 2x4 wooden plank during the Jan. 6 riot was sentenced Friday to nearly three years in prison.
Jacob Travis Clark of Colorado Springs was sentenced to 33 months in prison, followed by 12 months of supervised release, the Justice Department said in a news release.
Clark had requested nine months in prison and a period of supervised release, according to a sentencing memo written by his lawyer that said Clark “regretted his actions by January 7th.”
During a bench trial in Washington, D.C., this year, Clark was found guilty of obstructing an official proceeding, a felony, as well as five misdemeanor counts related to his conduct at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
According to court documents, Clark drove to Washington, D.C., a day before the riot and attended former President Donald Trump's rally at the Ellipse, sending a text to his father that read: “It’s a trump thing I’m here for the riots when they say he isn’t the winner lol.”
Clark spent roughly 40 minutes inside the Capitol and was seen in video footage holding a 2x4 wooden plank moments before a U.S. Capitol Police officer was struck with it, the Justice Department said.
He also joined a crowd of rioters who threatened law enforcement, later texting images of the breach saying, “I helped break down the door." He also wrote, “I was the first one in the chamber,” according to court documents.
An attorney for Clark did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday night.
More than 1,100 people have been charged for crimes related to the Capitol riot, according to the Justice Department.
Last month, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on a seditious conspiracy charge. It was the longest Jan. 6 sentence yet, exceeding the 18 years for Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, who was also found guilty of seditious conspiracy. | US Federal Elections |
During an interview Wednesday on CNN, host Dana Bash asked Mullin why he touched his wedding ring as he got to his feet during Tuesday’s altercation with Teamsters union boss Sean O’Brien, according to a clip posted by Mediaite.
Mullin, a former MMA fighter, said he wanted to make sure he didn’t hurt his hand when hitting O’Brien.
“First thing I thought of when I stood up, I thought, I’m gonna break my hand on this guy’s face, I’m gonna take my wedding ring off,” he said. “Because when you’re fighting, you learn how punch correctly.”
“You actually thought you were going to come to blows in that moment?” Bash asked incredulously.
Mullin replied, “I had full intentions of doing that, absolutely.”
That contrasts what he said after Tuesday’s hearing, when he told HuffPost’s Igor Bobic, “I didn’t try to fight anyone.”
“You don’t call me out... and not back it up with what you said,” he said.
“I’m supposed to represent Oklahoma values,” he told Hannity.
The spat kicked off because Mullin was upset about O’Brien’s mean tweets about him on X (formerly Twitter). So, Mullin challenged the labor union president to “finish it here” and “stand your butt up.” | Labor Activism |
A federal judge ruled that the jury hearing E. Jean Carroll’s defamation lawsuit will only need to decide how much money Donald Trump will have to pay her, after the judge found the former president was liable for making defamatory statements.
The finding is a significant blow to Trump, who is facing numerous criminal indictments and civil lawsuits – many of them coming to a head as he embarks on a presidential campaign.
Judge Lewis Kaplan said that a federal jury’s verdict earlier this year against Trump will carry over to the defamation case set to go to trial in January involving statements Trump made in 2019 about Carroll’s sexual assault allegations.
In May after a two-week trial, a jury found Trump sexually abused Carroll and defamed her when he said in 2022 that he didn’t rape her, didn’t know her, and that she wasn’t his “type.”
“The truth or falsity of Mr Trump’s 2019 statements therefore depends – like the truth or falsity of his 2022 statement – on whether Ms Carroll lied about Mr Trump sexually assaulting her. The jury’s finding that she did not therefore is binding in this case and precludes Mr Trump from contesting the falsity of his 2019 statements,” the judge ruled.
The judge ruled the trial set for January 15 will be limited to damages.
Earlier this year – in the case involving the 2022 statements – the jury awarded Carroll $5 million in damages after finding Trump liable.
On Wednesday, Kaplan also rejected Trump’s argument that any future damages be capped, meaning the previous award shouldn’t be a factor for the jury. Carroll is seeking more than $10 million in damages.
Trump has denied any wrongdoing. He has appealed the jury’s verdict and all rulings against him.
This story has been updated with additional details. | US Circuit and Appeals Courts |
ATLANTA -- Georgia election officials said Wednesday that they would need six to nine months to install new software and hardware to update the state’s voting system to protect against security flaws, pushing back against calls to update the system before the 2024 election cycle.
“It’s really not an upgrade,” state Deputy Elections Director Michael Barnes said of the work needed on 30,000 voting machines. “This really would require us to fully rebuild the system.”
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said the state must wait until 2025, but critics continue to pile on, with Lt. Gov. Burt Jones and the state Republican Party joining the chorus in recent days. They say waiting until after next year’s presidential election would leave the voting equipment open to attack.
A group called the Coalition for Good Governance has been suing to throw out the state's electronic ballot marking system. The coalition asked the State Elections Board on Wednesday to let counties use hand-marked paper ballots when county officials believe there's been a security breach. The board rejected that proposal as beyond its legal authority but created a committee to propose rules or laws for reporting security breaches.
Barnes told the board Wednesday that the state’s poll pad system, which poll workers use to check in voters and provide them with ballots coded to electronic cards, is incompatible with the new software. Barnes also said counties will need to obtain new computer equipment.
State Elections Director Blake Evans told the board that the state will pilot the new system during some city elections in November, assuming poll pad compatibility problems are solved.
Barnes said the state has to start designing ballots for the March presidential primary in December, meaning it would have roughly only a one-month window to install software and new hardware after the November pilot.
The vulnerabilities in the Dominion Voting Systems equipment were identified by J. Alex Halderman, an expert witness in the coalition's lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Georgia’s election system. Halderman has said there’s no evidence the vulnerabilities were exploited to change the outcome of past elections.
The U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency last year published an advisory based on those findings that urges election officials to take steps to mitigate the risks “as soon as possible.”
One issue is a computer forensics team hired by allies of former President Donald Trump who traveled to Coffee County in south Georgia in January 2021. They accessed voting equipment and copied software and data. Evidence shows that material was uploaded to a server and accessed by an unknown number of people.
“Voters can't wait. America can’t wait,” Marilyn Marks, the coalition's executive director, told the board Wednesday in arguing for her proposal. “The path to the 2024 presidential election runs through Georgia. It is unfathomable why anyone would refuse to protect our elections if they had the power to act.”
Charlene McGowan, the chief lawyer for secretary of state's office, downplayed risks.
“This equipment has now been safely used for the past four years and in two statewide elections," she told the board.
She and other election officials argue that any attacks are “operationally infeasible” because people would have to physically access large numbers of voting machines.
“The impact of any potential attack is limited to a single device at a time," McGowan said.
Former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler, the lieutenant governor and the state Republican Party all attacked the decision of Raffensperger, a fellow Republican, in recent days.
The state Republican Party earlier this month rolled out a platform demanding hand-marked and hand-counted ballots, as well as letting individual counties opt out of using Dominion machines. The platform is fueled by disproven Trump-backed conspiracy theories that machines were used to steal the 2020 election from Trump.
“It’s unacceptable that our state’s top elections official has failed to address known vulnerabilities in our voting machines for two years," said Loeffler, who now funds a conservative political group. “But it’s incomprehensible that he has now announced, to every criminal and malign foreign actor, that the security flaws will not be fixed for another two years.”
Although Raffensperger won his Republican primary against a Trump-backed opponent, Trump continues to attack him.
“The recent politicized attacks criticizing the security of our system are being made by those who want to sow distrust in the integrity of our elections and cast doubt on the accuracy of the results,” McGowan said Wednesday. | US Federal Elections |
The FBI whistleblower has called House Republicans "soulless demons" after they voted for funds for a new FBI headquarters, and have not taken steps to reform the troubled bureau.
In a tweet posted on X, Thursday, November 9, whistleblower Steve Friend called out the House GOP after they voted to give the FBI a new $300 million headquarters.
"Last year, I brought protected whistleblower disclosures about FBI weaponization to House GOP. They used it to go on TV and get elected. I lost my career and am under FBI investigation. Today the House GOP voted to give the FBI a $300 million HQ. Soulless demons. Go to hell," Friend posted on X.
Friend claimed when 70 House Republicans voted to approve the $300 million towards the construction of a new FBI headquarters in Greenbelt, Maryland, it was a direct contradiction of a commitment made to him by Rep. Jim Jordan (R.-Ohio), the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.
"People who swore to lay down their lives for America have questionable loyalty to the country? They are purging and rebuilding an FBI with people willing to roll over their own countrymen," Friend said on X.
Friend told RedState.com that the House of Representatives has tremendous power that is not being used.
"There's a lot more tools at their disposal that I think they have that they've not used," he said. "They can defund particular individuals' salaries and positions and programs, and they just haven't done it."
Friend testified before the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government of the Judiciary Committee on May 18, along with Marcus Allen, an FBI staff operations specialist, and Garret O’Boyle, an FBI special agent, when the three men went to a luncheon hosted by House Republicans on the committee.
Their testimony focused on ways the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation targeted conservatives for harassment, surveillance, and any chance to pull them into criminal proceedings.
"The FBI has put evil people in charge of the most administrative of tasks. They people came at the Suspendables in unlawful ways which we continue to reveal," Friend said on X.
The General Services Administration (GSA) began the process of building a new FBI headquarters in 2013 under the title "FBI Headquarters Consolidation," which would move the current headquarters located at the J. Edgar Hoover Building, at Washington's 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW. | US Federal Policies |
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
toggle caption
Advertisements featuring Fox News personalities, including Tucker Carlson, adorn the front of the News Corporation building in a 2019 file photo. The cable channel faces a defamation suit going to trial next week based on lies it aired about Dominion Voting System's role in the 2020 election.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Advertisements featuring Fox News personalities, including Tucker Carlson, adorn the front of the News Corporation building in a 2019 file photo. The cable channel faces a defamation suit going to trial next week based on lies it aired about Dominion Voting System's role in the 2020 election.
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
When Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News over the lies the conservative cable network had broadcast in 2020 about the election tech company, the enormous $1.6 billion damage claim jumped out.
The trial begins next week in Delaware and two of the biggest questions facing the jurors will be whether Fox and its executives are liable for broadcasting the lies and, if so, whether $1.6 billion is a remotely realistic amount to ask for.
Denver-based Dominion said that it went to herculean efforts to make Fox News aware of both the falseness of what was being said on air and the damage it did to Dominion.
"The evidence will show that Dominion was a valuable, rapidly growing business that was executing on its plan to expand prior to the time that Fox began endorsing baseless lies about Dominion voting machines," said a Dominion spokesperson in a statement. "Following Fox's defamatory statements, Dominion's business suffered enormously, and its claim for compensatory damages is based on industry-standard valuation metrics and conservative methodologies. We look forward to proving this aspect of our case at trial."
The company says its employees and offices have faced years of violent threats due to baseless conspiracy theories that Dominion's equipment changed votes for then-President Donald Trump to his opponent, Joe Biden in 2020.
Fox's legal filings have pushed back against Dominion's damage claims, arguing "that figure has no connection to Dominion's financial value as a company." A 2018 estimate by the Penn Wharton Public Policy Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania put the privately-held company's annual revenues at about $100 million.
Damages often 'can't be proven with mathematical precision'
If the jury finds Fox liable in the case, the jury can award compensatory damages for actual losses suffered by Dominion - including reputational harm and loss of value to the privately-held company. (The jury could also award Dominion punitive damages to punish Fox for its behavior.)
Dominion will also have to show the comments were made with "actual malice." Under that standard, Dominion's attorneys will have to convince a jury that Fox either knowingly broadcasting something false and damaging to the election tech firm's reputation - or willfully disregarded facts it should have known disproving those statements.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
toggle caption
A person walks past the Fox News Headquarters at the News Corporation building in New York City last month. Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corp. over election fraud claims that Fox aired in 2020 and 2021.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
A person walks past the Fox News Headquarters at the News Corporation building in New York City last month. Dominion Voting Systems is suing Fox News and parent company Fox Corp. over election fraud claims that Fox aired in 2020 and 2021.
Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images
"You're talking about economic damages and economic disturbance, and so emotional feelings, hurt feelings, emotional damages, those kinds of things typically are not going to enter into the calculation," said Len Niehoff, a professor at the University of Michigan 's law school.
A report commissioned by Dominion and filed with the court laid out about a billion dollars worth of damages the company says it has experienced. Dominion says it has lost $16 million in profits, more than $70 million in potential business, $14 million in legal, security and other expenses and more than $900 million in value due to the conspiracy theories tied to the 2020 election.
But Niehoff says making the case for monetary damages can be challenging because of the complexity in connecting the dots between a business loss and why the loss happened.
"These are things that very often can't be proven with mathematical precision. It can be very hard to show that people who didn't do business with you didn't do it for this reason as opposed to for some other reason," he said.
For Dominion that means demonstrating that state and local governments aren't using its equipment specifically because of lies and conspiracy theories and not other business factors.
A mixed picture for the impact on Dominion
The company is sure to point to the recent actions by Shasta County's Board of Supervisors in northern California, which recently cited baseless conspiracy theories in canceling its contract with Dominion.
Shasta County supervisor Patrick Henry Jones, who brought forward the motion to cancel the contract, said he researched Dominion's machines and said he couldn't rely on the mainstream media for information about their accuracy.
"When anyone comes forward and says there is no election fraud, the mainstream media supports those claims."
Jones said trust in the company "doesn't exist within Shasta County."
In an interview with NPR, Joanna Francescut, the assistant county clerk who runs the Shasta county elections office, said many voters in the rural and heavily pro-Trump county easily accepted the lies about Dominion. "After they realized, you know, Trump lost, it was blamed on the voting system."
Dominion's legal filings lay out multiple instances in which it says its contracts across the country were canceled or not renewed that it blames on the lies that circulated after the 2020 election.
Still, it's unclear whether what's happening in places like Shasta is the tip of the iceberg for Dominion or an outlier.
According to an analysis provided to NPR by the election security group, Verified Voting, Dominion has actually seen a net increase in jurisdictions using Dominion equipment since 2020. The nonprofit monitors election equipment contracts around the country.
For example in 2020, 1,161 jurisdictions used Dominion election day tabulation equipment. Verified Voting's analysis says 1,861 jurisdictions will use Dominion equipment in 2024. That said, there's been a net loss in the total number of registered voters who will vote with Dominion's machines in upcoming elections.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
toggle caption
A Dominion Voting logo appears on a voting machine as it is tested while Clark County Election Department workers set up a polling place in Las Vegas last year.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
A Dominion Voting logo appears on a voting machine as it is tested while Clark County Election Department workers set up a polling place in Las Vegas last year.
Ethan Miller/Getty Images
"So I think what's notable is that you can have many jurisdictions, some of which are quite small," said Verified Voting CEO Pamela Smith about the discrepancy.
She said it's not necessarily surprising that jurisdictions have stayed with the company despite the false claims.
"Most jurisdictions don't change their voting systems like every couple of years, right? They change them 10 years, 15 years." She said a lot of that is due to the huge cost and administrative challenges of switching election equipment vendors.
But she said it is very difficult to predict what could happen to Dominion's business years into the future, for instance if a jurisdiction shuts Dominion out of the bidding process.
"Where previously they had an okay relationship, or a state might say, 'well, we're gonna go with this brand and then find out, oh, on second thought, we're not because the pushback is really hard.' I suspect there's a lot of that and more than what actually shows on the surface," said Smith.
While an increase in business is to some degree at odds with seeking monetary damages, Dominion can still make the case that its growth has been thwarted, Niehoff said
"Dominion could have an argument that, although their business statements have gone up, it hasn't gone up as much as it would've gone up, but for the defamatory statements."
Fox says the damage claims are a money grab
For its part, Fox News calls Dominion's claims nothing more than a money grab by its private equity owners, State Street Capital Partners. It contends that its reporting is protected by the First Amendment, and Fox News was reporting on newsworthy utterances by the president of the United States and members of his team.
Fox News said in recent court filings that Dominion could not possibly suffer the damage amount it is requesting.
"Staple Street Capital Partners paid a small fraction of that amount to acquire a controlling interest in Dominion only four years ago. And even under the most optimistic projections, Staple Street has never estimated Dominion's value as a business to be anywhere near $1.6 billion."
Fox has asked the court not to award any damages to Dominion and said the claims are not based on any financial metrics, but instead on the assumption it will be completely out of business by 2031.
Dominion's damage claims assume that it "is not going to gain any new customers, not a single new customer is going to walk in the door. In addition, for the existing customers, they are not going to get any new business from existing customers after 2024," said Scott Ahmad, an attorney representing Fox News, in a recent court appearance.
Citing Dominion financial records it has received, Fox also says that 2022 was Dominion's second strongest year in terms of revenues.
Breaking up with an election vendor isn't easy
In a sign that Shasta County might be an outlier, many other conservative jurisdictions around the country are sticking with Dominion, despite voter distrust.
In rural Fremont County, Colorado, Justin Grantham recently renewed his country's contract with Dominion. Grantham is a Republican and leads the Colorado County Clerks Association. He said audits consistently show that the Dominion machines accurately count ballots, and the cost and training to switch just wouldn't be feasible.
"You're talking about learning how to use the system, learning how to program the ballots in the election, learning how to just figure out the tabulation and the software and the hardware," he said.
Grantham said training election judges and staff on new equipment would be another huge undertaking.
"You're talking massive training requirements for something that's used, oh gosh, once a year in the odd years and two to three times in the even years."
Grantham and other election professionals say the true impacts of the 2020 conspiracy theories on Dominion's business may not be known for years when current voting machine contracts come due, and if officials in conservative counties face political pressure to look elsewhere for their equipment. | US Political Corruption |
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Inspector General Teri Donaldson issued a stark warning Thursday that the Biden administration is not properly equipped to manage a behemoth $400 billion green energy loan program.
Donaldson — whose remarks were delivered during testimony before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on Thursday — said the current structure of the Department of Energy's massive loan program brings "tremendous risk to the taxpayers." She further warned that there is substantial risk federal green energy awards will be made to entities with foreign entanglements that may go undetected.
"You have massive amounts of money moving quickly," Donaldson said. "All of these things happening at once create a level of risk that may, candidly, be unprecedented in terms of amounts of federal money moving in such a complicated landscape."
"On the issue of not funding our adversaries, I am greatly concerned about how things are going in that regard," she added. "The department has set up a vetting center, which is a step in the right direction. But it is now six months old, it has three employees, it has no written procedures. There is no clear path on what projects will be vetted, what the criteria will be used when they are vetted. It has a very, very long way to go, and that's of huge concern to me."
Under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which Congress passed and President Biden signed in August 2022, the small DOE Loan Programs Office (LPO) saw its budget and loan authority spike considerably. Overall, the office has been given authority for loans and loan guarantees in excess of $400 billion, thanks, in large part, to the IRA.
Data that Donaldson shared with the Energy and Natural Resources Committee ahead of Thursday's hearing showed that the IRA alone boosted LPO loan authority by $350 billion, particularly through its $250 billion Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment Program/Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee designed to financially support green energy projects.
In addition, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021 gave $20 billion in loan authority to the DOE LPO, while the 2023 Consolidated Appropriations Act added another $15 billion in loan authority for the office.
The DOE inspector general said the size of the loan authority posed risk, as does the accelerated schedule which Congress orders it to find projects to fund.
"One category of loan guarantees worth an estimated $250 billion will expire on September 30, 2026," Donaldson continued. "Another category of loan guarantees worth an estimated $40 billion will expire on the same date — $290 billion over the next three years or, put another way, roughly $8 billion per month over the next 36 months. There is no precedent in the department for this level and pace of financing."
"To put that amount into perspective, Wells Fargo, one of the nation’s largest banks, had an outstanding domestic commercial and industrial loan balance of $292 billion as of the end of 2022," she told the lawmakers. "Further, many of these projects are designed to promote innovation by financing projects not otherwise acceptable by private equity investors — projects the markets do not view acceptable."
She added that there remains a "real risk of funding entities with foreign ownership or control."
Donaldson's warning comes on the heels of a sweeping joint report published earlier Thursday by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., who chairs the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
According to the report, there have been "multiple levels of failure" in the creation, implementation and execution of the IRA. The report highlighted how the IRA will increase national debt, harm the economy, pose conflict of interest concerns and serve to benefit Chinese industry.
"The ‘Inflation Reduction’ Act is one of the most economically disastrous pieces of legislation ever enacted. Just about every Democrat claim made in defense of this costly and irresponsible bill, including its title, is false," the joint GOP report states.
"More and more we are seeing reports detailing how researchers connected to China’s military and intelligence services have penetrated our university system and research institutions, exploiting an atmosphere of open inquiry and free exchange of ideas to pilfer intellectual property," it continued. "We need to wake up to the threat, not finance it. The IRA should not be used to fund America’s Chinese competitors."
"Unfortunately, it appears few real safeguards are in place to prevent this misuse of taxpayer dollars." | US Federal Policies |
But aside from undermining the U.S. response to Hamas's terrorist attacks and Israel's declaration of war, the standoff could undercut President Joe Biden as he tries to keep the government open past Nov. 17 and, after that, continue to help Ukraine.
The House Republican speakership standoff could bring Congress to a standstill next week when the Senate returns, according to Democratic strategist Mark Mellman.
"The government has stopped, I mean from legislating," Mellman told the Washington Examiner. "Obviously, we have aid to Israel, aid to Ukraine, which are held up, but we also are careening towards a shutdown, and there may not even be time to prevent that shutdown if the Republicans don't move much more expeditiously in solving their internal problems."
The speakership standoff has already complicated the U.S. reaction to the Israel-Hamas conflict with confusion over whether Speaker Pro Tempore Patrick McHenry (R-NC) could participate in top intelligence briefings. McHenry did take part in a White House meeting Friday before Biden sends Congress a supplemental funding request regarding Israel next week.
But Kate deGruyter, senior director of communications for liberal think tank Third Way, downplayed the possibility of Biden stepping in and, for example, encouraging House Democrats to endorse a Republican speaker.
“Joe Biden has always been the adult in the room, but the benefit of a steady and experienced leader in the White House is being felt around the globe this week," deGruyter said. "I see no upside for the White House to get in the middle of a deeply divided Republican conference."
Democrats, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), have made "clear overtures" that they are willing to collaborate, deGruyter added.
"It would only take five moderate Republicans to stand up to the extremes and produce a bipartisan coalition," she said. "That could produce a much quicker result to restore order in the House and select a speaker who is capable of governing in a time of enormous consequence.”
For Claremont McKenna College politics professor and former Republican aide John Pitney, lawmakers may "resent outsiders meddling in their internal affairs."
"Democrats support President Biden's policies, but they might push back if he openly tried to tell them how to conduct their own business," he said. "Any intervention would have to go through back channels."
Republican strategist John Feehery agreed Biden "should stay out" of the speakership standoff.
"They have no percentage in getting involved in congressional dysfunction," he said.
Regardless of who becomes speaker, House Republicans will likely experience political consequences, according to Mellman, the Democratic strategist. Republicans do have an average 1 percentage point edge in generic congressional polling, 44% to 43%, per RealClearPolitics.
"Republicans have created an indelible impression of incompetence with the American people in the course of this fiasco," Mellman said. "When there's a new speaker, that person will have an opportunity to potentially lead in a more positive direction. Almost anybody will look good compared to what they're going through now, but changing that perception is going to take a lot of work and effort, and it's going to take a lot of unity in a caucus that has shown nothing but great division."
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated this week that the speakership standoff is House Republicans's "process," contending Biden "doesn't have a vote."
"What we're seeing is certainly shambolic chaos," the press secretary said. "They need to get their act together. There's a lot of work that needs to be done on behalf of the American people."
"The president wants to continue to move forward on making sure that the business of the American people is done," she added. "But this doesn't stop the president [from] continuing to do the work."
When asked whether there is a "role" for Biden, as the leader of the Democratic Party, to speed up that process, Jean-Pierre repeated, "It is not for us to fix."
"We've never seen a conference behave this way or be this chaotic," she said. "It is important for Republicans, who have the majority, to figure this out and get their — they created the situation, and they have to figure it out and elect their speaker so we can move on."
House Republicans met for hours Friday after House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) withdrew himself from speakership consideration because of a lack of support. A two-man race then emerged between House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan (R-OH) and Rep. Austin Scott (R-GA), who mounted a last-minute campaign in the hope of coalescing anti-Jordan colleagues. Jordan won a secret conference ballot, but in a second vote, only 152 were committed to backing him on the House floor, well short of the required 217. | US Congress |
ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Backers of an effort to repeal Alaska's ranked choice voting system violated campaign finance rules and obscured the source of their funding, including forming a church that could have allowed donors to gain tax advantages for their contributions while skirting disclosure mandates, a complaint alleges.
The complaint was filed by Alaskans for Better Elections, which was behind the successful 2020 ballot measure that replaced party primaries with open primaries and instituted ranked choice voting for general elections. The complaint is lodged against several individuals and groups involved in the repeal effort, including Art Mathias and Phillip Izon, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
A group called Alaskans for Honest Elections has been gathering signatures in support of a ballot measure that seeks to repeal the new voting system. The Ranked Choice Education Association is the primary contributor to the group. But the complaint alleges the association was “somehow formed as a ‘church,'" and appeared to engage in “the laundering of contributions” to Alaskans for Honest Elections.
The complaint alleges the Ranked Choice Education Association is improperly acting as an unregistered ballot measure group. It also says Alaskans for Honest Government is acting as an unregistered ballot group in support of the same cause as Alaskans for Honest Elections.
The website for Alaskans for Honest Government advocates for the repeal of ranked voting and links to the Alaskans for Honest Elections website, but Izon said the link “shouldn’t be there.” He said Alaskans for Honest Government is not acting as a separate ballot group because no money has been spent on it.
Mathias, president of the association and director of Alaskans for Honest Elections, said the complaint is “just politics and lies” but declined to answer specific questions about the allegations. Izon, another leader of the ballot measure group, said many of the allegations were a result of a misunderstanding of the rules by him and said he was willing to address that if asked by the Alaska Public Offices Commission.
The commission, which enforces campaign finance rules, will decide whether to formally take up the complaint. If it does, it will have a month to investigate and determine next steps.
The complaint was filed on behalf of Alaskans for Better Elections by attorney Scott Kendall, an author of the new voting system first used in Alaska during last year’s elections.
During a February event at Wellspring Ministries, a religious organization in Anchorage also named in the complaint, Mathias said he had contributed $100,000 to the ballot group seeking to overturn ranked voting.
But a disclosure filed with the commission in April by Alaskans for Honest Elections shows no reported contribution from Mathias. Instead, other filings indicate he funneled money to the ballot group through the Ranked Choice Education Association, which incorporated as a church in Washington state in December “to promote Christian doctrines,” “evangelize worldwide,” and “support missionary activities," the newspaper reported.
The association website contains information about ranked voting but doesn't mention religious activity.
Asked why the group was incorporated as a church, Mathias said “that statement isn’t correct,” but he wouldn't elaborate. Asked if the group was created as a church for donors to gain tax benefits, Mathias said the filers of the complaint “don’t even know what they’re talking about.”
One disclosure filed with the commission shows the association contributed $90,000 to Alaskans for Honest Elections, which came from Mathias. Mathias said it was his choice not to contribute directly to the ballot group.
Izon said part of the money donated to the association was set aside in an Alaska-specific account but declined to say whether Mathias requested his contribution be earmarked for the ballot group. Izon said Mathias contributed a large donation in a lump sum in December, which was transferred to the ballot group in smaller payments over several months to meet the group’s needs.
The association’s website was previously focused on Alaska but changed in recent months to apply more broadly to other states, the complaint alleges. Izon said he is working on a book about ranked voting that he plans to distribute through the association. | US Local Elections |
Stung by his 2020 election loss, Donald Trump allegedly stopped eating and grew depressed after his White House departure, prompting his staffers to encourage Rep. Kevin McCarthy to visit him at his Florida estate, according to an upcoming book by his ex-House colleague Liz Cheney.
McCarthy (R-Calif.) purportedly made the claim while defending his trek to Mar-a-Lago three weeks after the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.
Furious at the visit, then-House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) confronted him about the trip.
“Mar-a-Lago? What the hell, Kevin?” Cheney chided, according to her upcoming book previewed by CNN.
“They’re really worried,” McCarthy replied. “Trump’s not eating, so they asked me to come see him.”
“What? You went to Mar-a-Lago because Trump’s not eating?” Cheney asked.
“Yeah, he’s really depressed,” McCarthy responded.
Cheney also accused McCarthy of lying repeatedly. A Trump spokesperson vehemently denied her tale.
“Liz Cheney is a loser who is now lying in order to sell a book that either belongs in the bargain bin of the fiction section or should be repurposed as toilet paper,” campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told The Post.
“These are nothing more than completely fabricated stories because President Trump is the clear frontrunner to be the Republican nominee and the strongest candidate to beat Crooked Joe Biden. Liz clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome and needs to address the underlying issues in her own personal life.”
A spokesperson for McCarthy echoed much of that sentiment toward Cheney, but stopped short of a flat denial.
“For Cheney, first it was Trump Derangement Syndrome, and now apparently it’s also McCarthy Derangement Syndrome,” the spokesperson said.
McCarthy had been irate at Trump on Jan. 6, 2021, when rioters ransacked the Capitol, according to CNN.
In a local radio interview days later, McCarthy recounted a phone call with the former president in the thick of the riot.
“I was the first person to call him,” he said on KERN. “I asked the president, he has a responsibility. You know what the president does, but you know what? All of us do.”
On Jan. 28, 2021, McCarthy trekked down to Trump’s prized estate in Palm Beach and seemingly patched things up with the GOP heavyweight.
The pair discussed topics such as strategies for Republicans to retake a majority in the House of Representatives, according to a public statement at the time.
That meeting had been much maligned by Democratic critics and Cheney, who served as the vice chair of the now-defunct Select Committee on Jan. 6.
Several months later, in May of 2021, Cheney was booted from her perch as House Republican Conference Chair, the No. 3 House Republican slot at the time.
McCarthy was ousted as speaker last month in a mutiny that Cheney praised.
Her book, “Oath and Honor” is set to hit bookshelves on Dec. 5. | US Federal Elections |
Joe Biden visits Kentucky in aftermath of deadly floodsJoe Biden is visiting eastern Kentucky today to visit areas inundated and families devastated by the terrible flooding a week ago that killed dozens of people.The US president is leaving his seaside residence at Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, for Dover air force base and thence on Air Force One this morning to Lexington, Kentucky.Biden and first lady Jill Biden will be greeted by Kentucky’s Republican governor Andy Beshear and his wife, Britainy Beshear.According to the White House, the president will participate in a briefing on the response efforts to the recent flooding, with the event to be held at Marie Roberts elementary school in Lost Creek.Then the Bidens will visit families affected by the devastation from recent flooding and survey impacts and response efforts. Joe Biden is expected to make public remarks as well as talking with relatives and officials in private, and he and the first lady will return to the White House this evening.Karine Jean-Pierre will speak with reporters on board AF1 en route to Lexington this morning and we’ll bring you the highlights of the White House press secretary’s briefing.Key events8m agoJoe Biden visits Kentucky in aftermath of deadly floods25m agoBiden visits flood-ravaged Kentucky, day after historic Senate voteShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureBiden visits flood-ravaged Kentucky, day after historic Senate voteGood morning, US politics live blog readers. Joe Biden is heading to eastern Kentucky today to tour areas devastated by deadly flooding last week. There’s a busy day and week ahead in political news after a hard day’s night and weekend in the Senate resulted in passage for the major climate-and-health bill. Let’s get started. Joe Biden is in Delaware and will head to Kentucky in a few minutes. He tested negative for coronavirus over the weekend and is out of isolation. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre will gaggle with reporters aboard Air Force One en route to Lexington, Kentucky. The US president and first lady Jill Biden will spend the day in eastern Kentucky visiting areas and families devastated by the appalling, climate change-driven extreme flooding last week. Excerpts from a new book show how America’s top military man, chairman of the joint chiefs Mark Milley, drafted his resignation letter after Donald Trump’s stunt involving him in Lafayette Square during Black Lives Matter protests, then pulled back from the brink to try to stop Trump blowing things up further. Trump asked him why American generals couldn’t be more like Hitler’s... China plans to resume military drills around Taiwan, despite winding down its four days of war games yesterday, following House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taipei last week. Capitol Hill is still buzzing after the historic vote yesterday to pass the Inflation Reduction Act. The bill now heads to the House, where Pelosi predicts it will pass and whizz its way to Biden’s desk to be signed into law. | US Federal Policies |
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., announced Thursday he would not seek re-election to the Senate.
"To the West Virginians who have put their trust in me and fought side by side to make our state better – it has been an honor of my life to serve you," he wrote in a post on X, including a video explaining his decision.
"After months of deliberation and long conversation with my family, I believe in my heart of hearts that I've accomplished what I set out to do for West Virginia. I've made one of the toughest decisions of my life and decided that I will not be running for re-election to the United States Senate," he said.
"When America is at her best, we get things done by putting country before party, working across the aisle, and finding common ground. Many times this approach has landed me in hot water, but the fight to unite has been well worth it," he said. | US Federal Elections |
The judge overseeing the Georgia election interference case has severed the case, ordering that 17 defendants -- including Donald Trump -- will not be tried alongside speedy trial defendants Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell on Oct. 23.
The ruling comes as Judge Scott McAfee is preparing to hear arguments this morning from Chesebro and Powell about three defense motions in the case.
It's also possible that the judge could hear additional arguments over whether or not the other defendants – including Trump – will face trial on Oct. 23 or be severed from from the others and given a later trial date.
Earlier this week in a court filing, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis reiterated her desire for all 19 defendants in the case to stand trial together, arguing that multiple trials would create an "enormous strain" on the court.
Willis' team estimated that the trial would include 150 witnesses and run at least four months, with McAfee, during the hearing last week, expressing concern that the trial might take twice as long.
Trump and 18 others have pleaded not guilty to all charges in a sweeping racketeering indictment for alleged efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state of Georgia.
The former president says his actions were not illegal and that the investigation is politically motivated.
Chesebro, inn the DA's indictment, is accused of drafting a strategy to use so-called "alternate electors" to prevent Joe Biden from receiving 270 electoral votes, -- but that that action was justified since Chesebro was "fulfilling his duty to his client as an attorney." | US Political Corruption |
Americans with family overseas who hope to visit the United States may soon face an increased risk of being surveilled by their own government.Support in Congress is growing for intensified vetting procedures at the US border, which would see immigrants and foreign visitors subjected to the same levels of scrutiny as suspected terrorists and spies. A bill introduced last week by members of the Senate Intelligence Committee (SSCI) and forthcoming legislation from its House counterpart both aim to expand the use of a key foreign intelligence program—Section 702—for screening and vetting visitors to the US.The House bill, which has yet to be introduced, would additionally target asylum seekers and those applying non-immigrant visas and green cards, according to a memo released by the House Intelligence Committee (HPSCI) last month.In an interview with CBS on Sunday, congressman Mike Turner, the HPSCI chairman, said he had gained the support of his Democratic counterpart, Jim Himes, in advancing legislation that would include the enhanced vetting procedures.The 702 program allows the government to force US companies to wiretap the communications of foreigners who are presumed to be overseas—even when they’re communicating with people inside the US. Billions of calls, texts, and emails are intercepted under the program and committed to a searchable database accessible by four US intelligence agencies, including the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).A warrant is not required to conduct searches of the database, and its targets need not be suspected threats to the country. While ostensibly for defense, the 702 program selects targets based on whether they’re expected to possess or receive “foreign intelligence information.” In May, the US State Department said the program was “essential to advancing and promoting US interests around the world,” citing its value as a diplomatic tool.In a declassified report released this year, a presidential oversight board said the calls and messages of Americans intercepted under Section 702 are “highly personal and sensitive,” detailing exchanges between “loved ones, friends, medical providers, academic advisors, lawyers, or religious leaders.” These communications, according to the Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board (PCLOB), a federal civil liberties watchdog, may provide “great insight into an individual’s whereabouts, both in a given moment and in patterns over time.”Public knowledge of this surveillance, the board concluded, “can have a chilling effect on speech.”The 702 program is slated to expire on January 1, 2024. Lawmakers in the House and Senate are rushing to find a solution that would enable the program to continue despite growing mistrust from lawmakers and the public following years of unauthorized use. Abuses of 702 data have included the targeting of racial justice protesters, political activists, and immigrants. Other misused searches of the database for information related to a sitting US congressman, a US senator, and members of a local political party.US intelligence community leaders say permitting the program to expire would significantly diminish the government’s ability to monitor and disrupt overseas threats, from terrorism and cyberattacks targeting US infrastructure, to espionage and the black market sale of nuclear weapons. “Loss of this vital provision, or its reauthorization in a narrowed form, would raise profound risks,” FBI director Christopher Wray said in a statement this fall.The wealth of data collected under the 702 program is imponderable. US intelligence agencies have repeatedly claimed there are no means by which to calculate how often Americans are wiretapped without violating procedures intended to keep the program constitutional. The PCLOB report published earlier this year says simply that the collection of domestic communications “should not be understood as occurring infrequently.”Civil rights experts argue that expanding the program to include routine vetting of people entering the United States would almost certainly be an encumbrance on immigration and asylum systems that US politicians readily acknowledge are broken. There are currently more than 2 million cases pending in US immigration courts, with the average case taking more than four years to adjudicate.“Some noncitizens—including children and families—wait years to have their cases heard. The delays postpone decisions for vulnerable populations who may be eligible for protections, such as asylum. They also prolong the removal from the US of those who do not have valid claims to remain,” the US Government Accountability Office reported in October.The vetting proposal, now formally endorsed by both intelligence committees in Congress, has ignited a firestorm among immigrants’ rights groups and nonprofits combating racism against Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities. The groups say that, due to their international ties, immigrants naturally face an increased risk of having their communications swept up by the 702 program.Kia Hamadanchy, senior policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), says the Section 702 program “invariably” intercepts communications between foreigners and their American family members. Using the program for vetting purposes means committing to “entirely suspicionless searches” of both, he says.Andy Wong, a director of advocacy at Stop AAPI Hate, a coalition of community-based groups, has called out Democrats specifically for supporting the move, labeling it a “betrayal” of the Latino and Asian American communities. “We need leaders who dismantle systemic racism,” Wong says, “not entrench policies that leave us more exposed, separated, and vulnerable.”Turner, the HPSCI chairman, said Sunday on Face the Nation that his committee had a bill to extend the 702 program endorsed by, among others, Jim Himes, the committee’s ranking Democrat. Turner accused lawmakers not onboard with his bill of misunderstanding how the program works and its “value and importance” to “national security.”ACLU’s Hamadanchy tells WIRED that it would be concerning to see Himes and other Democrats endorsing use of the program against immigrant communities. “It would represent a dramatic expansion of the current vetting practices,” he says, “and it would be disappointing if it is something Congressman Himes has signed on to.”Himes did not immediately respond to a request for comment.Turner said Sunday that he’d already gained the support of the SSCI chairman Mike Warner, a Democrat of Virginia, who introduced his own 702 bill last week. Warner’s bill also includes language that expands the 702 program to “enable the vetting of non-United States persons who are being processed for travel to the United States,” but does not mention visas or green cards.Elizabeth Goitein, senior director of the Brennan Center for Justice’s liberty & national security program, calls Warner's proposals unnecessary. “There are already plenty of vetting mechanisms in place to ensure that visitors to this country don’t pose a threat to national security or public safety,” she says.“People should be able to vacation, work, or study in the United States without opening up their private communications to US government scrutiny,” Goitein adds.Although the text of his bill is not public, much is already known about Turner’s aims. Last month, the HPSCI released an outline of its proposals describing, among other so-called “reforms,” an amendment that would allow the government to search the 702 database “for the purpose of screening and vetting immigration and non-immigrant visa applicants.”According to Goitein, the HPSCI proposal would likely impact millions of people living lawfully in the United States, including those with work permits and student visas. “The notion that immigrants give up their privacy rights when they come to this country is wrong and repugnant,” she says.Senior congressional sources tell WIRED that the HPSCI bill may surface as early as this week. It will compete against another bipartisan bill introduced in the House Judiciary Committee (HJC), chaired by Jim Jordan, a prominent critic of domestic surveillance abuse.The contrast between the two House bills is likely to be drastic, with Jordan having previously endorsed an array of privacy reforms, including those aimed at requiring the FBI to obtain a warrant before accessing Americans’ communications amassed by the 702 program—a limitation that is strictly opposed by the heads of the two intelligence committees.Neither Warner nor Turner immediately responded to inquiries from WIRED on Monday.Mystery surrounds which bill Mike Johnson, the new House speaker, will inevitably endorse. But the HJC traditionally faces stiff opposition from House leaders when pursuing surveillance reform. Republican and Democratic leaders alike have historically shown deference to the appeals of the intelligence community for sustaining and enhancing its authority.Johnson, meanwhile, is rumored to have held war room discussions last month about extending the Section 702 program by amending must-pass legislation, such as the the National Defense Authorization Act, which, despite being months late already, has yet to materialize.Johnson has not responded to repeated requests for comment regarding his thoughts on the 702 program. | US Federal Policies |
COLUMBUS, Ohio -- COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) —
Tonya Wichman has overseen elections in a rural Ohio county for eight years and hasn’t experienced any significant problems with voting or counting the ballots. But that doesn't mean no big worries at all.
What does concern her is the frequent harassment, intimidation and even physical threats she and her staff have been receiving since the 2020 election. It got so bad ahead of the 2022 midterms that her staff got police protection when leaving or coming to the office.
That’s why she paid close attention this week to the indictment of former President Donald Trump and 18 others charged in an alleged conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. Among many charges, the indictment names several people accused of a harassment campaign that led to death threats against two Atlanta election workers.
It marks the highest-profile effort yet to hold people accountable for targeting state or local election officials, many of whom have left their jobs after facing political pressure or threats from those who falsely believe the 2020 presidential election was rigged.
“It’s nice to know that people are listening,” said Wichman, a Republican who is the election director in Defiance County, where Trump won over 67% of the vote in 2020.
“We understand the First Amendment and the right to free speech, but harassing poll workers and harassing election officials, intimidating their families, it’s just wearing down on people and causing good people to leave their jobs," she said. "It’s been unsettling across the country.”
Election worker intimidation is one key element of the conspiracy alleged in the Georgia case. Tuesday's indictment alleges that several of the defendants falsely accused Fulton County election worker Ruby Freeman of committing election crimes and says some defendants traveled from out of state to harass and intimidate her.
The indictment charges Trump with making false statements and writings in claims he made to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and other state election officials on Jan. 2, 2021 — including that up to 300,000 ballots “were dropped mysteriously into the rolls," that more than 4,500 people voted who weren’t on registration lists and that Freeman was a “professional vote scammer.”
Rudy Giuliani, a close Trump adviser at the time who also faces charges in the Georgia case, is accused of making several false claims about the vote-counting process at State Farm Arena in Atlanta. Prosecutors say he falsely claimed that county election workers stationed there had kicked out observers and then “went about their dirty, crooked business,” illegally counting as many as 24,000 ballots. He also said three election workers — Freeman, her daughter Wandrea “Shaye” Moss and an unidentified man — were passing around USB ports “as if they’re vials of heroin or cocaine” to infiltrate Dominion voting machines.
Three other defendants in the Georgia case — Harrison William Prescott Floyd, Trevian C. Kutti and Stephen Cliffgard Lee — were charged with solicitation of false statements and writings and with influencing witnesses related to the harassment of Freeman, who was falsely accused by Trump and others of committing fraud.
It was not immediately clear who was representing any of the three.
Ned Foley, director of election law at Ohio State University's Moritz College of Law, said the Georgia charges on top of the federal election case against Trump and a defamation lawsuit against Fox News are beginning to send a message.
“There was a sense that there was a free-for-all, that folks could attack the election with impunity and could attack particular individuals with impunity,” he said. “You've got to believe that all of these indictments — however they end up in trial, and with convictions or not — have changed the legal landscape and are going to cause people to think twice about this kind of behavior.”
Several other cases involving threats against election workers have drawn attention in recent weeks. Earlier this month, a Texas man who threatened election officials in Arizona and called for a mass shooting of poll workers was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in federal prison.
Last week, the U. S. Department of Justice filed an indictment against a 37-year-old Indiana man accused of threatening a Michigan election official. The target of that call was Tina Barton, a Republican who is the elections clerk in the Detroit suburb of Rochester Hills.
She said she was relieved when charges were finally filed in her case — three years after she received a voice mail with an expletive-laced message threatening to kill her and accusing her of fraud in the 2020 election: “Guess what, you’re gonna pay for it. You will pay for it,” the caller said, according to court documents.
In the years since then, Barton said she feared for her own safety and that of her family.
“The political atmosphere is so charged on both sides right now that it’s tough to have any conversation around anything along those lines. Including something that is an actual threat to someone’s life,” she said. “It becomes isolating.”
The call that led to the indictment was just one of many she received in the weeks after the 2020 presidential election, but the others were not considered “true threats” under the high bar set by federal law. Only an intent to cause immediate harm is considered a crime — something that’s meant to protect free speech but can be little comfort to those targeted for harassment.
A Justice Department Election Threats Task Force formed in June 2021 has reviewed more than 2,000 harassing or threatening communications to election workers. Federal prosecutors have filed federal criminal charges in more than a dozen of those cases, including the case involving the Texas man.
In Georgia, the indictment alleges that Floyd recruited Kutti, who flew to Atlanta from Chicago on Jan. 4, 2021, to make contact with Freeman. Lee, the indictment says, communicated with Floyd by phone. The indictment says Kutti, Floyd and Lee all broke the law by “knowingly and unlawfully engaging in misleading conduct toward Ruby Freeman ... by stating that she needed protection and by purporting to offer her help, with intent to influence her testimony in an official proceeding in Fulton County, Georgia.”
Freeman and her daughter testified to Congress last year that Trump and his allies latched onto surveillance footage from November 2020 to accuse both women of committing voter fraud — allegations that were quickly debunked, yet spread widely across conservative media. Both women faced death threats for several months after the election.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has tried to address the threats through legislation.
She worked with state lawmakers last year on a bill that establishes election workers as a protected class against doxing — the release online of someone’s personal information. It makes the practice a misdemeanor and allows election workers to remove their personal information from online records. It also makes threatening an election official a misdemeanor under state law.
Colorado is one of 12 states to pass laws protecting election workers, either by shielding their personal information, increasing penalties for harassment or both, according to data gathered by the nonprofit Voting Rights Lab.
“There are many states that do not take threats to election officials, who are largely women, seriously enough,” Griswold said, noting that she continues to face a steady stream of threats even during lulls in election activity. “Hands down, this has been the hardest part of my job.”
___
Associated Press writers Christina A. Cassidy in Atlanta and Lindsay Whitehurst in Washington, D.C., contributed to this report. | US Political Corruption |
Almost 70K ‘questionable’ Social Security numbers used for $5.4B in pandemic-related loans: watchdog
A pandemic watchdog group identified nearly 70,000 “questionable” Social Security numbers that were used to obtain $5.4 billion in pandemic-related federal loans.
The group, The Pandemic Response Accountability Committee, issued the report on Monday that analyzed information from more than 33 million applications from the COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loans and the Paycheck Protection Program. The committee found that more than 221,000 Social Security numbers used on applications were “not issued” by the federal government, or did not match the applicants name or date of birth.
Despite the risk for identity fraud, the federal government awarded nearly 70,000 of the 221,000 Social Security numbers flagged for potential identity fraud a loan or a grant. About 175,000 of the Social Security numbers that were flagged for potential identity fraud attempted to receive a loan or grant, but were unsuccessful, according to the report.
The group determined that the Social Security numbers may be potentially fraudulent by cross-referencing public data from the Social Security Administration. The watchdog said that both of these relief programs were more “susceptible” to fraud because of the “elevated urgency” to provide aid to applicants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The watchdog said that that there needs to be more information-sharing agreements across agencies to ensure there is adequate verification of Social Security numbers. It said that the disbursements could have been questions further by the Small Business Administration and if they required the SBA to verify the Social Security numbers.
However, the report said that implementing information-sharing agreements between the Social Security administration and other agencies can be a “lengthy” process. During an emergency, like the COVID-19 pandemic, these agreements could cause delays in executing the program effectively, the report read.
“Having such information-sharing agreements in place before an emergency would ensure timely access to verification information and improve federal program integrity, protect taxpayer funds from improper payments and fraud, better ensure benefits are paid only to those who are truly eligible, and reduce the incidence of identity fraud in government programs, thereby helping protect victims of identity theft” the report stated.
The report said that both the COVID-19 Emergency Injury Disaster Loans and the Paycheck Protection Program “provided nearly $1.2 trillion in assistance to small businesses and their employees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
This report comes ahead of a House GOP hearing to investigate federal funding during the COVID-19 pandemic on Wednesday, titled “Federal Pandemic Spending: A Prescription for Waste, Fraud, and Abuse.” | US Federal Policies |
Former Vice President Mike Pence will argue that populism is incompatible with conservatism despite the former's growing presence in the Republican Party in a major address of his 2024 campaign on Wednesday.
In a speech titled Populism vs. Conservatism: Republicans' Time for Choosing at the New Hampshire Institute of Politics at St. Anselm College, Pence will portray himself as the only classical conservative in the Republican primary, campaign advisers indicated on a Tuesday call with reporters.
While other presidential candidates have attempted to present themselves in a similar light, Pence's team maintains that his rivals have gravitated toward populist talking points following a seismic shift in party politics under former President Donald Trump.
According to one adviser, Pence will revisit a point he's made before — that populism is unprincipled and detached from what conservatism has long stood for and that Republicans should be wary of those who espouse its views.
The former vice president is planning to reinforce the importance of the Constitution and its limitations as the core of conservatism and the Republican Party. Specifically, Pence will argue that Republicans are turning away from hallmarks of conservatism when it comes to abortion, the Reagan Doctrine, the national debt, and dealing with Social Security and Medicare.
An adviser explained that the purpose of the remarks, which in part come at the urging of his donors, is to chart two courses for the future of the Republican Party as populism makes its way into 2024 discourse but also in Congress and respected conservative institutions.
Pence will make the case that classical conservatives are bound by a belief in rights coming from a creator and by the limitations of the Constitution. Populists, by contrast, have no qualms with using the power of the government to their benefit, he will say, drawing a comparison to Democrats and those on the Left.
The speech is not directed at any one person, which advisers argued would be a limiting interpretation, though it does appear to be a veiled rebuke of his onetime boss Trump.
Without naming names, advisers indicated that the remarks can be applied to several 2024 opponents, pointing to policies they have supported.
As to how Pence explains being part of an administration that campaigned on populist rhetoric and policies, they claimed that the Indiana Republican's influence helped steer Trump toward governing as a conservative, in particular on matters of abortion and rebuilding the military. | US Federal Elections |
The response, however, did not actually answer whether he had one.
Fox News Sunday moderator Shannon Bream pressed Johnson on whether he had a bank account, citing a Vanity Fair write-up of The Daily Beast’s report and noting that “there’s been so much made about it.”
“Can you clear that up for us?” Bream asked.
Johnson did not.
“Look, I’m a man of modest means,” Johnson said. “I was a lawyer, but I did constitutional law, and most of my career has been in the nonprofit sector. We have four kids, five now, that are very active. And I have kids in graduate school, law school, undergraduate. We have a lot of expenses, but I can relate to everybody else. My father was a firefighter, right? I didn’t grow up with great means. But I think that helps us to be a better leader because we can relate to every hard-working American family. That’s who we are. And I think it governs and helps govern my decisions and how I lead.”
The Daily Beast reported on Wednesday that Johnson had not disclosed a personal bank account or one of his family members in his seven years in Congress, a trait that’s likely due to a modest, paycheck-to-paycheck lifestyle. Experts told The Daily Beast that the lack of disclosure raised questions about his financial health, particularly since Johnson has taken out a mortgage and personal loans.
“He owes hundreds of thousands of dollars between a mortgage, personal loan, and home equity line of credit, so where did that money go?” Jason Libowitz, the communications director for the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, told The Daily Beast. “If he truly has no bank account and no assets, it raises questions about his personal financial wellbeing.” | US Political Corruption |
“I can tell you there’s one fellow that just hates Florida: his name is Joe Biden,” governor Ron DeSantis declared in a February speech to a major gathering of conservatives.Widely seen as a potential heir to the Republican throne in 2024 if Donald Trump decides not to run or is rejected by voters, DeSantis has spent much of his time as governor signing legislation that’s enraged progressives, or engaging in other antics such as the transportation of migrants from Texas to Massachusetts. The president has served as a convenient punching bag for DeSantis, particularly as Biden’s approval ratings tanked over the course of last year. Beyond whatever political aspirations he may have, DeSantis has good reason to remind Floridians of all the reasons he believes Biden is failing: Florida is still considered a swing state, with electoral votes that are coveted by any presidential aspirant.The two men are to meet today in Fort Meyers, one of the communities hardest hit by Hurricane Ian last week. They’ve temporarily called off their feud ever since the storm truck, and the truce is expected to last through the visit – but probably not much beyond that.Key events38m agoBiden heads to Florida to survey hurricane damage alongside GOP rival DeSantisShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureFlorida’s governor Ron DeSantis (left) and president Joe Biden (right) in Surfside, Florida last year, when they met after a deadly building collapse. Photograph: Susan Walsh/APFor an idea of how the encounter between president Joe Biden and Florida’s governor Ron DeSantis will go today, consider what happened last time they met.The occasion was the deadly collapse of an oceanfront condominium building in Surfside, close to Miami, which killed 98 people. “You recognized the severity of this tragedy from day one, and you’ve been very supportive,” DeSantis told the president, while Biden remarked, “You know what’s good about this? The way we’re cooperating. We’re letting the nation know we can cooperate.”Expect something similar to play out in Fort Meyers today.“I can tell you there’s one fellow that just hates Florida: his name is Joe Biden,” governor Ron DeSantis declared in a February speech to a major gathering of conservatives.Widely seen as a potential heir to the Republican throne in 2024 if Donald Trump decides not to run or is rejected by voters, DeSantis has spent much of his time as governor signing legislation that’s enraged progressives, or engaging in other antics such as the transportation of migrants from Texas to Massachusetts. The president has served as a convenient punching bag for DeSantis, particularly as Biden’s approval ratings tanked over the course of last year. Beyond whatever political aspirations he may have, DeSantis has good reason to remind Floridians of all the reasons he believes Biden is failing: Florida is still considered a swing state, with electoral votes that are coveted by any presidential aspirant.The two men are to meet today in Fort Meyers, one of the communities hardest hit by Hurricane Ian last week. They’ve temporarily called off their feud ever since the storm truck, and the truce is expected to last through the visit – but probably not much beyond that.Biden heads to Florida to survey hurricane damage alongside GOP rival DeSantisGood morning, US politics blog readers. Joe Biden will visit Florida today to see for himself the damage wrought by Hurricane Ian, where he’ll be greeted by governor of the state and foe of Democrats Ron DeSantis. Don’t be surprised if the two men are sparring on a presidential debate stage in two years time, but today, partisanship is expected to take a backseat to their common goal of helping the state’s west coast recover from the deadly storm. Biden delivers remarks at 3.15pm ET in Fort Meyers.Here’s what else is happening today: As if one sitting president and one potential presidential aspirant weren’t enough, former president Donald Trump is scheduled today to speak in Miami to a group of Hispanic conservatives, according to USA Today. Congress is adjourned but Democratic House representative Joaquin Castro is presenting a report at the National Press Club on the underrepresentation of latinos in media at 10am. Elon Musk, the chief executive of Tesla, seems set to buy Twitter – and potentially allow Trump back on the platform he was ejected from after the January 6 insurrection. | US Federal Elections |
In a declining society, the images of an aging leadership can come to embody a general sense of withering and decay. A civic nightmare becomes the caricaturist’s dream. In Moscow, the late nineteen-seventies and early eighties was the era known as zastoi, the time of stagnation. Leonid Brezhnev, the Communist Party’s longtime General Secretary until his death, in 1982, suffered from arteriosclerosis and an alarming dependence on sleeping pills; ordinary Soviets, in the privacy of their kitchens, mocked his inability to speak a clear sentence. Brezhnev’s successor, Yuri Andropov, was stricken by kidney failure shortly after taking office and lasted fifteen months. The Kremlin H.R. department promoted Konstantin Chernenko, an unsteady chain-smoker in his eighth decade. His emphysema was so acute that he could not climb the steps to the Lenin Mausoleum. Soon, he was often working from the hospital. In February, 1985, a large room there was remodelled so that television viewers could watch him casting his ballot at his “local polling station.” Two weeks later, Chernenko was dead.
Is the United States in the midst of its own zastoi? Are we a teetering democracy of gerontocrats? The polls show that much of the American electorate fears just that. Cautionary tales abound: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, age eighty-one, standing frozen before the cameras, unable to speak, evidently suffering the aftereffects of a fall; Senator Dianne Feinstein, age ninety, evidently confused in hearings and interviews. Nancy Pelosi, rather than returning home to San Francisco with a justified sense of triumph, is running. Again. Even those who admired Ruth Bader Ginsburg deeply must admit that her decision to gamble on her fragile health and the Hillary Clinton campaign could not have been costlier.
Joe Biden—in part because of the immense divisions in American politics, in part because of his failure to match the proficiency of his Administration with an inspiring fluency at the microphone—is struggling. If Biden, who will be eighty-one in November, were ten or fifteen years younger, he might well have a clear glide path to reëlection. But he is not, and he does not. In polls from the A.P.-norc Center, the Wall Street Journal, and CNN, more than seventy per cent of respondents suggested that Biden is too old to be effective in a second term. According to a CBS News/YouGov poll released last week, only thirty-four per cent of registered voters believe that Biden would complete a second term; the number for Donald Trump, who is just three years younger, is fifty-five per cent.
The logic for Biden’s reëlection bid is plain. He emerged from a highly competitive Democratic field in 2020 and went on to beat Trump, who now faces an array of indictments. As President, Biden can claim significant successes: jobs created; inflation diminished; a pandemic under control; the passage of major environmental and infrastructure legislation; the mobilization of NATO to defend Ukraine. He should be capable of defeating Trump again and of making further gains on many more issues, from income inequality to the climate crisis. Besides, the actuarial charts tell us that Americans in Biden’s demographic who reach eighty in reasonable health will likely reach ninety, too.
Nonetheless, many Democrats dream of another option. Recently, David Ignatius, a columnist for the Washington Post who is wired into the D.C. establishment, joined the ranks of concerned voices calling on Biden to step aside. Others have called for younger candidates to join the race. Yet the modern history of primary challenges to an incumbent is not encouraging. Ronald Reagan’s run against Gerald Ford, in 1976, weakened Ford in the general election against Jimmy Carter. Edward Kennedy’s challenge to Carter, four years later—no matter how bumbling—could only have further diminished Carter’s already slim chances for reëlection. In the past seven decades, in fact, strong primary challenges to an incumbent have always preceded a loss of the White House. The specific quandary posed by Biden’s Vice-President, Kamala Harris, is that her polling numbers are worse than Biden’s, and she performed poorly in the Democratic Presidential primaries in 2020.
Then, there’s the “compared with what?” factor. Trump’s general malevolence sometimes obscures his incoherence. Trump recently made an appearance in which—even as he was calling Biden “cognitively impaired”—he suggested that we were headed toward “World War Two.” He also seemed to suggest that he had beaten Barack Obama in 2016, and was leading him now in the polls. Yet somehow Trump’s bile reads to his supporters as vitality.
Last week, Trump used the occasion of Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, to send out this winning message on social media: “Just a quick reminder for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America & Israel because you believed false narratives! Let’s hope you learned from your mistake & make better choices moving forward!” Trump supporters see no evidence here of cognitive or moral deficits; it’s just Trump being Trump. The reaction was different when, at a press conference in Hanoi, Biden, in his now sandpapery voice, slipped in an obscure movie reference and fumbled with his notes.
A double standard? No doubt. But the prospect of a Presidential election as a contest of the ancients is not a heartening one, and the anxieties it provokes cannot be dismissed as ageism. What are younger people, especially, to make of a political culture in which incumbents cling so tenaciously to their seats? The median age for senators is now around sixty-five. Mitt Romney, announcing his retirement, at the age of seventy-six, wasn’t wrong to declare that it is time for a new generation of leaders to take the helm.
And yet voting is often a matter of choosing among highly constrained choices. The portrait of Biden that emerges from Franklin Foer’s new book, “The Last Politician,” isn’t always flattering, but it makes plain that Biden is the one calling the shots in this Administration. Unlike the Eastern Bloc gerontocracies of the zastoi era, there’s nothing ossified about its approach to politics. In the 2020 primaries, Democratic voters picked Biden by a sizable margin; he has not, amazingly enough, grown any younger since. The real menace isn’t posed by an elderly pol intent on protecting and renewing a democratic republic; it’s posed by a chaos agent who fomented insurrection and promises to return America to a state of misery. ♦ | US Federal Elections |
A majority of Americans believe that President Biden has acted either illegally or unethically in how he has handled the controversial business dealings of his son, Hunter.
Only 30% of American adults believe Biden has "note done anything wrong" when it comes to the business dealings of his son, according to the results of an AP-NORC poll released this week, while 68% believe the president has acted either illegal or unethical.
Thirty-five percent of respondents indicated thy felt the president had done something illegal, while 33% said they believed Biden has done something unethical.
Broken down by party, 40% of Democrats believe Biden has done something illegal or unethical in his handling of his son's business dealings, with 58% indicating that the president has done nothing wrong. Of those that believe Biden has done something wrong, 8% said the president acted illegally and 32% said that he has acted unethically. Meanwhile, 96% of Republicans believe Biden has done something wrong, with 65% responding the president has done something illegal and 35% indicating they believe he has acted unethically.
The poll comes as Republicans have launched an impeachment inquiry into Biden over his handling of Hunter Biden's business dealings, though most respondents to the poll indicated they do not approve of the GOP move. Only a third (33%) said that they either strong or somewhat approve of the impeachment inquiry into Biden, with 39% indicating that either strongly or somewhat disapprove. Another 26% of respondents did not indicate whether they approved or disapproved.
Republicans were more likely than Democrats to say they approve of the inquiry, with 67% saying they either strongly or somewhat approve compared to 11% who disapprove. Meanwhile, only 7% of Democrats approve of the inquiry compared to 73% who disapprove.
But a large percentage of the public has heard little or nothing about the inquiry, with only 54% of respondents indicating they are familiar with the current process. Of those who have heard about it, 49% of those respondents disapprove of the impeachment inquiry.
Americans are split on which party is better suited to root out government corruption, with 19% saying their preference would be Republicans compared to 28% who indicated Democrats. Another 14% said both parties are equally trustworthy to root out corruption, while 38% said neither party should be trusted.
The AP-NORC poll, which was conducted between October 5-9 and sampled 1,163 adults nationwide, has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percentage points.
The White House did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for comment. | US Political Corruption |
Former President Donald Trump is seeking to have a Colorado lawsuit aimed at kicking him off the 2024 ballot in the state moved to federal court.
In a court filing on Thursday, lawyers for Trump argued the suit brought earlier this week by a group of six voters should be moved from state court to federal court because it centers on the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which holds that no person shall hold any office if they “engaged in insurrection or rebellion” after having taken an oath to support the Constitution.
"This case arises under the 14th Amendment. Although Plaintiffs have drafted their Verified Petition in a manner that ostensibly relies on state claims, in fact every state claim — indeed every effort to bar Trump from running for President — relies solely on the application of U.S. Const. 14th Amend, Sec. 3," Trump wrote in his filing.
Therefore, he argued, the case should be heard in federal court — where he could have additional legal defenses.
The Trump filing signals mounting concern from the former president and his allies about efforts to get him removed from the ballot in numerous states based the Civil War-era section of the amendment. New Hampshire, Arizona and Michigan are also facing or are preparing for challenges to Trump’s eligibility to be on the 2024 presidential ballot.
Trump, who'd previously largely ignored chatter about efforts to kick him off the ballot, has been more vocal in recent days, calling the moves "nonsense" and "election interference."
“This is like a banana republic,” Trump said Thursday in an interview with conservative radio host Dan Bongino. “And what they’re doing is, it’s called election interference. ... Now the 14th Amendment is just a continuation of that.”
He also complained about it on Monday in a post on his social media platform, Truth Social, writing: “Almost all legal scholars have voiced opinions that the 14th Amendment has no legal basis or standing relative to the upcoming 2024 Presidential Election. Like Election Interference, it is just another 'trick' being used by the Radical Left Communists, Marxists, and Fascists."
Some legal scholars, however, including some conservative ones, have said the effort may have some validity.
Representatives for Trump had no immediate comment Friday.
The left-leaning government watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) and several law firms filed the Colorado suit Wednesday on behalf of four Republican and two unaffiliated voters.
It contends that "Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election and interfere with the peaceful transfer of power were part of an insurrection against the Constitution of the United States."
"Four years after taking an oath to 'preserve, protect and defend' the Constitution as President of the United States," the suit says, "Trump tried to overthrow the results of the 2020 election, leading to a violent insurrection at the United States Capitol to stop the lawful transfer of power to his successor. By instigating this unprecedented assault on the American constitutional order, Trump violated his oath and disqualified himself under the Fourteenth Amendment from holding public office, including the Office of the President."
It seeks to have a court remove Trump from the 2024 ballot and declare that it would be “improper” and “a breach or neglect of duty” for Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, to allow his name to appear on any future primary or general election ballots.
In a statement on Wednesday, Griswold said: “I look forward to the Colorado Court’s substantive resolution of the issues, and am hopeful that this case will provide guidance to election officials on Trump’s eligibility as a candidate for office.”
Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for CREW, said Friday: "We do not believe removal to federal court was proper," and the group "will be filing a motion to remand to state court soon."
Trump blasted CREW on Truth Social late Friday afternoon, saying "the group suing me in Colorado to ridiculously try and Unconstitutionally keep me off the ballot" is "composed of many slime balls."
In a statement this week announcing the lawsuit, CREW noted the 14th Amendment has “not been tested often in the last 150 years, due to lack of insurrections.”
"While it is unprecedented to bring this type of case against a former president, January 6th was an unprecedented attack that is exactly the kind of event the framers of the 14th Amendment wanted to build protections in case of. You don’t break the glass unless there’s an emergency,” said the group's president, Noah Bookbinder. | US Federal Elections |
BISMARCK, N.D. -- A federal judge in North Dakota has denied a request from supporters of congressional age limits to temporarily allow out-of-state petition circulators as they seek to advance their proposed ballot measure.
U.S. District Court Judge Daniel Hovland on Thursday said their request for a preliminary injunction “will be addressed in due course” and after North Dakota's secretary of state and attorney general, who are named in the federal lawsuit, have been able to respond and a hearing can be held.
The measure's backers sued over state constitutional provisions and laws that require that initiative petition circulators be North Dakota residents. Out-of-state petition circulators are currently subject to misdemeanor penalties of up to nearly a year’s imprisonment, a $3,000 fine, or both.
Hovland denied a requested temporary restraining order, which is a short-term, more immediate block than a longer-lasting preliminary injunction.
“In this case, it appears binding legal precedent from the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals will make it difficult for the Plaintiffs to succeed on the merits," Hovland wrote. “That being said, the Court will not prejudge the matter. Full briefing and a hearing are necessary before the Court can make a definitive ruling. A temporary restraining order is an extraordinary remedy."
The precedent case he cited held that North Dakota laws requiring petition circulators to be state residents are constitutionally sound.
Under the proposed measure, no one who would turn 81 by the end of their term could be elected or appointed to the state’s U.S. House or Senate seats.
Measure supporters want to use out-of-state petition circulators to help gather more than 31,000 signatures of valid North Dakota voters by a February deadline to prompt a June 2024 vote. They had gathered more than 8,200 signatures as of Aug. 30, according to a previous filing.
The measure’s push comes amid health- and age-related concerns for federal officeholders, including late Democratic U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, who died Sept. 29 at age 90 after recent health struggles, and Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, 81, who physically froze up twice last summer in front of reporters. | US Federal Elections |
Former federal prosecutor Glenn Kirschner encouraged observers on Friday to "watch the dominos fall" after a co-defendant in former President Donald Trump's Georgia election interference case accepted a plea deal.
Last month, a grand jury in Fulton County, Georgia, voted to indict Trump and 18 others in connection with the former president's effort to contest and overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in the state. The result of a long-term investigation by District Attorney Fani Willis, it is the fourth criminal indictment leveled against Trump this year. Trump now faces 13 charges in the state, including a violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, and has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
Among the many co-defendants in the Fulton County case is Scott Hall, a bail bondsman and one-time GOP poll watcher in the county. On Friday, he became the first person to take a plea deal in the case, pleading guilty to five misdemeanor counts of "conspiracy to commit intentional interference with performance of election duties." In exchange for the deal, he has agreed to testify under oath in future proceedings related to the case.
In a Friday edition of his ongoing YouTube series, Kirschner, a veteran former prosecutor turned legal analyst for outlets like MSNBC and a staunch Trump critic, suggested that Hall's deal would only be the start of co-defendants "flipping" on the former president.
"So, let the flipping begin," Kirschner said. "Or I guess I should say, let the flipping continue."
Later, he added: "The chips have begun to fall in Georgia, with the first co-conspirator, the first co-defendant agreeing to plead guilty, and flipping, agreeing to testify against the other co-defendants. He may be the first one to flip, but friends, I can tell you based on experience handling RICO conspiracy cases, he will not be the last. Things down in Georgia are trending in a good direction, trending toward accountability, trending toward justice."
Newsweek reached out to Trump's office via email for comment.
As part of his plea deal, which saw his felony charges downgraded to misdemeanors, Hall has agreed to five years of probation, as well as paying a $5,000 fine, issuing a letter of apology to Georgia voters, serving 200 hours of community service, and agreeing not to take part in activities related to polling or elections.
Among the other co-defendants in the case are a number of high-profile allies of Trump, including his one-time lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, as well as his former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows. Several of these co-defendants, like Meadows, attempted to have their cases moved to a federal court where they might find a more sympathetic judge or jury, but requests have so far been denied. | US Political Corruption |
The new House speaker, Mike Johnson, has touted some extremely controversial opinions as a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus—but few as unsavory as his apparent hatred for a woman’s right to choose, sizing a woman’s worth up as her ability to create more workers for American businesses.
In a clip that surfaced Tuesday, Johnson put the onus of Republican cuts to essential programs on unborn children, claiming that if American women were producing more bodies to churn the economy then Republicans wouldn’t have to cut essential social programs like Medicare and Medicaid.
“Roe v. Wade gave constitutional cover to the elective killing of unborn children in America,” Johnson said, during a House Judiciary Committee hearing.
“You think about the implications of that on the economy; we’re all struggling here to cover the bases of Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid and all the rest. If we had all those able-bodied workers in the economy, we wouldn’t be going upside down and toppling over like this,” he added.
Johnson has also co-sponsored at least three bills hoping to ban abortion at a nationwide level, including the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children From Late-Term Abortions Act, and the Heartbeat Protection Act of 2021, all of which carry criminal penalties of up to five years in prison for physicians who perform abortions. | US Congress |
Donald Trump was in Iowa on Saturday for two campaign stops, the first in Ankeny, followed by a stop in Cedar Rapids. And his obsession with the 2020 election continues to be a subject he seems to think is crucial as he campaigns to win the Republican presidential nomination, despite his position being unsubstantiated time and again. His fixation appeared to be a strategy to sow doubt should the 2024 election not go his way.
During his “Commit to Caucus” speech in Ankeny, he went over similar tropes he’s been touting throughout his campaign, calling media “fake news” and reiterating his false claim that the 2020 election was stolen when President Biden was rightfully declared president. “The one thing they don’t want to talk about is the [2020] election. They are guilty as hell, they cheated like hell,” Trump claimed, presumably of everyone who correctly recognized and validated the actual election results. “They know it, and you’ll never find out all the ways. But we don’t need all the ways because, you know, it was, I think 22,000 votes separated it, and we have millions and millions of votes. It’s a very sad thing.”
He then appeared to encourage the crowd to pursue voter intimidation and election interference while comparing the United States to a third world country: “So the most important part of what’s coming up is to guard the vote. And you should go into Detroit and you should go into Philadelphia and you should go into some of these places, Atlanta — and you should go into some of these places, and we got to watch those votes when they come in, when they’re being, you know, shoved around in wheelbarrows and dumped on the floor and everyone’s saying what’s going on? We’re like a third world nation, a third world nation. And we can’t let it happen.”
At his Cedar Rapids event dubbed his “Save America” rally that followed, Trump homed in on attacking “crooked” President Biden while continuing to harp on his unsubstantiated claim that the 2020 election was rigged and even further, that Jesus and God would declare him a winner now. “I think if you had a real election and Jesus came down and God came down and said, ‘I’m gonna be the scorekeeper here,’ I think we’d win there, I think would win in Illinois, and I think it we’d win in New York.”
Editor’s picks
“I got indicted four times because I’m questioning a crooked election,” Trump later added per his own assessment of his alleged crimes. “But we’re not questioning it. We know the results, we know. And when we go through courts — if we ever even have to do it because you have presidential privilege. And also, if we ever, we should never have to do that, but if we do, we want to redo the election — only from the standpoint we want that election, we want to look at it very carefully. We have so much information. There was so much corruption in that election.”
He also claimed that he invented the word “caravan” again, for some reason, and also inexplicably claimed that he saved Obamacare. He concluded by saying that his was “one of the great presidencies,” and claiming that even his opponents have said so.
In the ultimate irony, Trump early on accused his opponents of “waging an all-out war on American democracy.”
Trending
“You look at what they’ve been doing, and becoming more and more extreme and repressive. They have just waged an all-out war with each passing day,” the man who has torn the country apart claimed.
While Trump stumped in Iowa, so did Ron DeSantis, where he appeared in Sioux City. DeSantis, once thought to be Trump’s biggest challenger continues to lag in the polls with a widening gap between him and poll-leading Trump in the last few weeks before the caucuses. DeSantis has been endorsed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds and evangelical leader Bob Vander Plaats. | US Federal Elections |
BOISE, Idaho — A mom accused of killing her two youngest children and a romantic rival described some people as possessed or “zombies,” four of whom were later killed or shot at, the woman’s former friend told jurors.
Melanie Gibb testified Thursday in the Idaho trial of Lori Vallow Daybell, telling jurors that the two became friends at a church event in 2018 but that Vallow Daybell’s spiritual beliefs soon veered away from what they had been taught at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Prosecutors say Vallow Daybell and her fifth husband, Chad Daybell, used those religious beliefs to justify the deaths of anyone who stood in the way of their romantic relationship. Both are charged with murder, conspiracy and grand theft charges in the deaths of 7-year-old Joshua “JJ” Vallow and Tylee Ryan, who was last seen a few days before her 17th birthday. They face the same charges in connection with the death of Daybell’s late wife, Tammy Daybell.
Both have pleaded not guilty. Chad Daybell is expected to stand trial several months from now, but prosecutors began presenting their case against Vallow Daybell on Monday.
Gibb told jurors that Vallow Daybell claimed some people were “light” and others were “dark,” meaning they had been possessed by evil spirits. Gibb said people Vallow Daybell labeled as “dark” included her fourth husband, Charles Vallow, who was shot and killed by Vallow Daybell’s brother in July 2019; her two youngest children, who were missing for roughly eight months before their bodies were found buried in Chad Daybell’s yard in 2020; and Brandon Boudreax, who was shot at by an unknown assailant shortly after he divorced Vallow Daybell’s niece in 2019.
Gibb’s testimony was the first time jurors heard about the death of Vallow Daybell’s fourth husband. The couple was estranged when Charles Vallow was shot and killed outside his Phoenix, Arizona-area home by Vallow Daybell’s brother, Alex Cox. Cox claimed the shooting was self-defense and was never charged in connection with the death. He later died of what was determined to be natural causes in December 2019.
Authorities in Arizona, however, have indicted Vallow Daybell with conspiring to kill Charles Vallow with Cox’s help. The Idaho prosecutors also say Cox had a hand in the eastern Idaho deaths, conspiring with Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell to kill the kids and Daybell’s previous wife.
Vallow Daybell has not yet entered a plea in the Arizona case.
JJ had autism, and once Charles Vallow was dead, Vallow Daybell had a hard time taking care of him and having enough time with Chad Daybell, Gibb said. Vallow Daybell and the two kids moved to Rexburg, Idaho, after Charles Vallow’s death — closer to the town where Chad Daybell lived with his family — and that’s when Vallow Daybell began claiming JJ was possessed, Gibb said.
“She said he would say things like, ‘I love Satan’ and climb up on the cabinets and refrigerator,” Gibb said.
Tylee wasn’t home at the time, and Gibbs said Vallow Daybell claimed to have sent the teen to live in a college dorm with some friends. Both children were last seen alive in September 2019, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Chad Daybell’s then-wife, Tammy Daybell, died in October 2019. Her death was originally reported as natural causes, but prosecutors became suspicious after Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell married just two weeks later. Prosecutors said Tammy Daybell’s body was exhumed and that an autopsy showed she died from asphyxiation.
Gibb told jurors that Chad Daybell called her in November of 2019, warning her not to answer her phone if Rexburg police called because Vallow Daybell had told investigators JJ was visiting Gibb in Arizona.
Gibb confronted Vallow Daybell about the boy’s whereabouts in a recorded phone call a month later. Prosecutors played the recording for the jury.
“Your salvation is in trouble,” Gibb tells Vallow Daybell in the call. “I believe you have been deceived by Satan. He has tricked you. Tammy dies, and then your husband died, and then he’s missing. It doesn’t sound like God’s plan to me. In my gut, it feels weird.”
“You know me, Mel,” Lori Vallow replies. “This doesn’t sound like you. This sounds like you’re being influenced by somebody dark.” | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.
Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press
Michelle R. Smith, Associated Press
Ali Swenson, Associated Press
Ali Swenson, Associated Press
Leave your feedback
Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. rose to prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic because of his strident opposition to vaccines. Yet, he insists he’s not anti-vaccine. He has associated with influential people on the far right – including Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon and Michael Flynn – to raise his profile. Yet, he portrays himself as a true Democrat inheriting the mantle of the Kennedy family.
As he challenges President Joe Biden, the stories he tells on the campaign trail about himself, his life’s work and what he stands for are often the opposite of what his record actually shows.
Though Kennedy’s primary challenge to a sitting president is widely considered a longshot, he’s been sucking up media attention due to his famous name and the possibility that his run could weaken Biden ahead of what is expected to be a close general election in 2024. He’s drawn praise from Republican presidential candidates like Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. Meanwhile, Trump supporters, including his longtime ally Roger Stone, have ginned up interest by floating a Trump-Kennedy unity ticket.
Debra Duvall, 62, who lives in Fort Myers, Florida, and said she serves on the Lee County GOP executive committee, described herself as a longtime Trump supporter, but said she’s torn for 2024.
“I’ll take Trump or RFK. Either one,” she said, explaining that she was drawn to both because she believes they can’t be bought.
That kind of support has demonstrated some of the contradictions in Kennedy’s candidacy. He has said he wants to “reclaim” the Democratic Party, while aligning himself with far right figures who have worked to subvert American democracy. He touts his credentials as an environmentalist, yet pushes bitcoin — a cryptocurrency that requires massive amounts of electricity from supercomputers to generate new coins, prompting most environmental advocates to loudly oppose it.
And though he peppers his speeches, podcast appearances and campaign materials with invocations of the Democratic Party legacies of his uncle President John F. Kennedy and his father, Robert F. Kennedy, his relatives have distanced themselves from him and even denounced him.
“He’s trading in on Camelot, celebrity, conspiracy theories and conflict for personal gain and fame,” Jack Schlossberg, President Kennedy’s grandson, said of his cousin in an Instagram video in July. “I’ve listened to him. I know him. I have no idea why anyone thinks he should be president. What I do know is, his candidacy is an embarrassment.”
Kennedy’s recent comments that COVID-19 could have been “ethnically targeted” to spare Ashkenazi Jews and Chinese people — which he denies were antisemitic but concedes he should have worded more carefully — also drew a condemnation from his sister Kerry Kennedy.
The contradictions between what Kennedy says and his track record were nowhere more apparent than when he testified before a congressional committee in July at the invitation of Republican members.
Anti-vaccine activists, some who work for Kennedy’s nonprofit group Children’s Health Defense, sat in the rows behind him, watching as he insisted “I have never been anti-vaxx. I have never told the public to avoid vaccination.”
WATCH: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. testifies at House hearing on social media and alleged censorship
But that’s not true. Again and again, Kennedy has made his opposition to vaccines clear. In July, Kennedy said in a podcast interview that “There’s no vaccine that is safe and effective” and told FOX News that he still believes in the long-ago debunked idea that vaccines can cause autism. In a 2021 podcast he urged people to “resist” CDC guidelines on when kids should get vaccines.
“I see somebody on a hiking trail carrying a little baby and I say to him, better not get them vaccinated,” Kennedy said.
That same year, in a video promoting an anti-vaccine sticker campaign by his nonprofit, Kennedy appeared onscreen next to one sticker that declared “IF YOU’RE NOT AN ANTI-VAXXER YOU AREN’T PAYING ATTENTION.”
A close examination of Kennedy’s campaign finance filings shows that the anti-vaccine movement lies at the heart of his campaign.
Several of his campaign staff and consultants have worked for his anti-vaccine group Children’s Health Defense, including Mary Holland, the group’s president on leave, campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear, and Zen Honeycutt, who hosted a show for the group’s TV channel, CHD TV.
Children’s Health Defense currently has a lawsuit pending against a number of news organizations, among them The Associated Press, accusing them of violating antitrust laws by taking action to identify misinformation, including about COVID-19 and COVID-19 vaccines.
The campaign paid KFP Consulting, a Texas-based company run by Del Bigtree, head of the anti-vaccine group ICAN, and a leading voice in the movement, more than $13,000 for communications consulting, the AP found. Bigtree appeared to still be working for the campaign last week, when an AP reporter saw him helping facilitate a Kennedy event in New York.
Kennedy also has received substantial support from activists who have spread misinformation about the coronavirus and vaccines, including Steve Kirsch, an entrepreneur who has falsely claimed COVID-19 vaccines kill more people than they save, chiropractors Patrick Flynn and Kevin Stillwagon, and others.
Ty and Charlene Bollinger, who run an anti-vaccine business and who the AP has previously reported have had a financial relationship with Kennedy, gave more than $6,000. The couple, along with Kennedy’s communication consultant Bigtree, were involved in hosting a rally near the Capitol on Jan. 6, and Ty Bollinger has said he was among the people who crowded at the Capitol doors in an attempt to get inside, though he said he did not enter.
READ MORE: Twitter ranks lowest in LGBTQ safety among major social media platforms, GLADD says
The couple is a part of the Children’s Health Defense lawsuit against AP and other media outlets.
American Values 2024, a super PAC supporting Kennedy, is run by close associates to Kennedy who have propped up anti-vaccine ideas — the former head of the New York chapter of Children’s Health Defense John Gilmore is its CEO and Kennedy’s publisher Tony Lyons is its co-chair.
The Kennedy campaign did not return emails seeking comment about a number of questions, including how he can say he is not anti-vaccine given his record and his support from anti-vaccine activists.
Kennedy’s run is also getting plenty of financial support from the right. A super PAC supporting Kennedy’s presidential run, called Heal the Divide PAC, has deep ties to Republicans, Federal Election Commission records show.
The committee’s address is listed in the care of RTA Strategy, a campaign consulting firm that has been paid for its work to help elect Republicans including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and the former Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker.
The PAC’s treasurer, who works for RTA Strategy, is Jason Boles, a past donor to Trump and many other Republicans who includes “MAGA” and “AmericaFirst” in his bio on the platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Kennedy denied knowing Boles or the Heal the Divide PAC when it came up at the congressional hearing, saying, “I’ve never heard of Mr. Boles, and I’ve never heard of that super PAC.”
But video available online shows he was a guest speaker at a Heal the Divide event just two days earlier. The video features a “Heal the Divide 2024” logo with clips of him speaking at length about plans to back the U.S. dollar with bitcoin and precious metals.
Kennedy says that as president, he would fight for government honesty and transparency, heal the political divide, reverse economic decline, end war and preserve civil liberties. He has made freedom of speech a major part of his platform, arguing that the government’s communication with social media companies unfairly censors protected speech.
Kennedy’s press office did not respond to several messages asking about his support from the far right.
It also did not respond to questions about whether his stance on bitcoin was at odds with being an environmentalist.
Kennedy lists the environment as one of six top priorities on his campaign website and has spent many years speaking against pollution and climate change as an environmental lawyer. Yet he has made supporting the energy-intensive cryptocurrency bitcoin a key part of his platform.
Bitcoin mining, the process of generating new coins, uses massive amounts of electricity — more than some entire countries use, said Scott Faber of the Environmental Working Group.
That’s because it works by tasking a network of supercomputers with solving complex mathematical puzzles — even as some other cryptocurrencies have adopted far more energy efficient mining methods.
“No one who claims to be an environmentalist could support a digital asset that needlessly consumes more electricity than all Americans use to power the lights in our homes,” Faber said. “In fact, bitcoin produces more climate pollution than any other digital asset.”
Despite the environmental downsides of bitcoin, some Democrats, including elected officials, have advocated for the currency.
Kennedy, for his part, told a crowd at Bitcoin 2023 that environmentalists like himself “will continue to pressure you to improve.” Online, he has promoted the argument that demand for bitcoin will boost investment in new renewable energy projects.
Regardless, his financial disclosure documents show he has already personally invested between $100,001 and $250,000 in bitcoin, and he promised at Bitcoin 2023 that he wouldn’t let the environmental argument hinder the currency’s use.
“As president, I will make sure that your right to hold and use bitcoin is inviolable,” he said.
During the past several years, Kennedy has cultivated his ties to the far right. He has appeared on Infowars, the channel run by Sandy Hook conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. He has granted interviews to Trump ally Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson. After he headlined a stop on the ReAwaken America Tour, the Christian nationalist road show put together by former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn, he was photographed backstage with Flynn, Charlene Bollinger and Trump ally Roger Stone.
Those appearances have led to goodwill on the right, and he has found enthusiastic support among a segment of Trump’s base, with some suggesting him as a potential vice presidential pick.
At a July 1 rally in the tiny town of Pickens, South Carolina, Adrian Palashevsky – a small businessman who described himself as more of a “libertarian” than a Republican – posited a unity ticket, with Kennedy as his top pick for Trump’s VP.
New book ‘Myth America’ examines misinformation in U.S. history
“I think they would get along just fine,” he said. “They’re both anti-establishment, and that’s why they’re under so much attack.”
DeSantis, one of Trump’s Republican challengers, has also indulged in praise for the fringe candidate, saying in a recent interview that while he wouldn’t make Kennedy vice president, he would consider appointing him to one of the federal agencies that regulates vaccine safety and protects public health.
“If you’re president, you know, sic him on the FDA if he’d be willing to serve, or sic him on CDC,” DeSantis said.
Not everyone is buying the Kennedy mystique.
At the annual meeting of the National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials in New York a few weeks ago, Kennedy leaned heavily on his family legacy, mentioning his father’s alliance with labor leader Cesar Chavez and his uncle’s work in Latin American countries.
But in his nearly 20-minute speech, he didn’t lay out any plan or policy proposals of his own, or talk about specific issues facing the Latino community. He spent most of his time telling a story about getting arrested with the Mexican American actor Edward Olmos in 2001, an attempt at relating with the community that disappointed both Republicans and Democrats in the audience.
Mario Ceballos, president of a PAC representing LGBTQ+ Latinos, said Kennedy’s speech — and the candidate’s conspiracy theory beliefs — saddened him.
“When I was living in Mexico, Kennedy was an American president that my whole family respected,” Ceballos said. “And what he is presenting are esoteric, dangerous options that are actually going to hurt the same people that his father and uncle wanted to help.”
Associated Press writers Jill Colvin in West Palm Beach, Florida, and Meg Kinnard in Pickens, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Support Provided By:
Learn more | US Federal Elections |
A “cybersecurity issue” at MGM Resorts has forced the famous hotel and casino company to shut down many of its systems, according to a statement the company posted just before noon ET on X (formerly Twitter). MGM replaced its homepage with a message apologizing for the site’s outage and providing a list of concierge phone numbers at several locations, like the Aria, The Cosmopolitan, Mandalay Bay, Bellagio, New York-New York, and Vdara.
The issue isn’t limited to MGM’s Las Vegas locations. NBC 10 News in Philadelphia reports that MGM’s Borgata Hotel in Atlantic City was likewise affected by the attack, though hotel representatives didn’t say how. MGM Grand Detroit Casino is also affected, reports Play Michigan, with an X user posting that the casino “has all games running” but that digital keys and MGM’s rewards program are down.
ABC 13 News in Las Vegas confirms the FBI is currently investigating and has been in contact with MGM since Sunday. The outlet reports that hotel guests were unable to access ATMs, buy food, or use their digital room keys.
A post on X this morning showed disabled slot machines at the Aria Resort and Casino in Las Vegas. The X account Las Vegas Locally claimed in a post citing “an insider” that MGM Resorts is the victim of a ransomware attack, though that has not been confirmed. Another X user named Murphy posted a picture they say is from MGM Grand, where slot machines are also apparently out of service. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
In the Age of Trump, there has been an increase in right-wing violence and terrorism. This includes obvious examples such as the Jan. 6 coup attempt, mass shootings and other acts of violence. The growing dangers of right-wing political violence also include increasingly open and direct calls for a second civil war, a sustained insurgency to remove President Joe Biden from office, threats against election workers who refuse to betray democracy, harassment of law enforcement and other people who are trying to hold Trump and his followers responsible for their crimes against democracy. Since Trump's election, Republicans have rushed to pass laws that permit and encourage right-wing vigilantism and other types of violence against left-wing protesters.
Today’s Republican Party and the larger “conservative” movement are trying to impose “a state of exception” on American society, where intimidation, thuggery, violence and terrorism are “acceptable” means for them to get and keep power. They believe that a “state of exception” is necessary — if not ideal — because the American right’s political project has been rejected across a range of issues by a majority of the public.
A belief in the legitimacy of such violence is animated by a very dangerous lie and assumption that once unleashed such acts can be targeted and directed like some type of smart bomb or shaped charge against the left. In the real world, the explosions and resulting shrapnel and destruction are rarely confined to one area and often hurt and kill friends and foes alike. The Republican fascists – and “mainstream” conservatives are imperiling themselves when they encourage and unleash violence and other anti-democratic forces against their perceived enemies on the left.
In his essential book “The Anatomy of Fascism," political scientist Robert Paxton provides this important context:
Fascist violence was neither random nor indiscriminate. It carried a well-calculated set of coded messages: that communist violence was rising, that the democratic state was responding to it ineptly, and that only the fascists were tough enough to save the nation from antinational terrorists. An essential step in the fascist march to acceptance and power was to persuade law-and-order conservatives and members of the middle class to tolerate fascist violence as a harsh necessity in the face of Left provocation. It helped, of course, that many ordinary citizens never feared fascist violence against themselves, because they were reassured that it was reserved for national enemies and ‘terrorists’ who deserved it.
We need your help to stay independent
The Republican Party’s recent struggle to elect a leader in the House of Representatives is a preview of how the normalization of right-wing political violence in the Age of Trump and beyond will, and is, being turned against “conservatives” and other members of the GOP who are judged to be insufficiently loyal to Trumpism and the neofascist cause. The New Republic’s Alex Shephard explains:
As Jim Jordan and his allies attempted to whip speaker votes last week, they kept running into a familiar refrain from their skeptics: The brass-knuckle tactics they were deploying were causing Jordan’s critics and their families to receive a slew of vicious messages—including death threats.
The Pynchonesque-ly named Iowa Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks reported that she had received “credible death threats and a barrage of threatening calls” after switching her vote to oppose Jordan on a second speaker ballot. Georgia’s Drew Ferguson changed his vote after Jordan wouldn’t “calm down the hysteria” surrounding his nomination. Nebraska’s Don Bacon revealed his wife had grown so fearful after a barrage of intimidating calls that she had started sleeping with a loaded gun. On Friday, CNN aired a voicemail that the wife of one unnamed congressman received from a caller that threatened she would be “fucking molested” if she didn’t convince her husband to back Jordan.
Jordan may have publicly decried these threats, but his association with an effort to use threats and intimidation as an explicit political tactic—and as a means of cajoling fellow Republicans to get in line behind him—is the clearest sign yet of just how central such tactics have become for mainstream Republicans. Indeed, while they failed to have their intended effect, it’s abundantly clear that the Republican Party remains as comfortable with radical elements promising violent retribution as Donald Trump was during his effort to overturn a legitimate election.
As summarized by Mediate, in his new book, outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, warns that the political violence and thuggery embraced by some of Trump’s followers has already sabotaged the ability of Congress to follow through on its most basic responsibilities:
Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) revealed to biographer McKay Coppins that the threat of physical violence effectively kept many elected Republicans from voting to impeach or convict President Donald Trump, even though they wanted to.
Coppins is doing the media rounds to promote his new biography Reckoning and chatted with Brian Stelter for a thoughtful interview, which Vanity Fair published on Thursday.
NYU Journalism professor Jay Rosen flagged one particular passage on social media, writing:
“Read this paragraph and tell me that the 2024 election can be responsibly reported using the same tools and terms in use for every national election.”
The passage in question reveals that many Republican members of Congress wanted to vote to impeach or convict the former president but that the threat of political violence by Trump supporters effectively kept them from doing what they thought was right. Stelter writes:
“One of the biggest revelations to me in my conversations with Romney was just how important the threat of political violence was to the psychology of elected Republicans today,” said Coppins, who recalled Romney telling him “story after story about Republican members of Congress, Republican senators, who at various points wanted to vote for impeachment—vote to convict Trump or vote to impeach Trump—and decided not to, not because they thought he was innocent, but because they were afraid for their family’s safety. They were afraid of what Trump supporters might do to them or to their families.” That “raises a really uncomfortable question,” Coppins said, which is “how long can the American project last if elected officials from one of the major parties are making their political decisions based on fear of physical violence from their constituents?”
Violence is a type of “anti-politics” because it subverts the dialogue, consensus, compromise, and shared understanding of facts and reality. The importance of mutually agreed upon institutions, norms and values (“a rules-based order”) that a healthy democracy depends upon is undermined by violence.
Violence is a type of “anti-politics” because it subverts the dialogue, consensus, compromise, and shared understanding of facts and reality.
So if taken to its logical conclusion, such a state of affairs necessitates that a political strongman or some other type of autocrat, dictator, or warlord is installed as a way of bringing order to chaos. This is the world that today’s Republican fascists and the larger white right are trying to create in America and around the world.
In the following interview Yale University historian Joanne Freeman, who is the author of "The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War," shares a warning about political violence in the Age of Trump and its larger implications for America’s future:
In some ways, discovering that our polarized present has some precedent is reassuring, and indeed, before and after the 1850s there were other such times. But “The Field of Blood” also reveals an extreme version of some of the problems that we’re experiencing today—and therein lie some lessons.
Extreme polarization; splintering political parties; distrust in national institutions; rampant conspiracy theories; a powerful new technology of communication — the telegraph; an increasingly dysfunctional Congress: this cluster of problems drove Americans not only to distrust their government, but to distrust each other, and with no outlet for the popular will, and the simmering problem of slavery dividing the nation, the end result was violence.
Of course, we’re not on the cusp of civil warfare. But it’s worth noting that the impact of allowing the national “we” to crumble can be mighty, and that discord and dysfunction on the national stage can break down the bulwark of public opinion that supports republican governance.
By welcoming and encouraging right-wing political violence and other thuggery in the Age of Trump and beyond, the Republican Party has normalized and institutionalized such antidemocratic forces — and they are coming for them first.
Donald Trump is very fond of the poem and song “The Snake," which he often recites at his political cult meetings as a warning about how “illegal immigrants” and refugees are going to poison and destroy (White) America. Of course, Trump has twisted and distorted the poem’s original meaning for his own nefarious purposes. But Trump is actually telling on himself and warning the Republican Party and the “conservatives” who support him about his and the neofascist MAGA movement’s true nature and plans. In reality, Trump and his MAGA people and other supporters are the snake who is going to bite and make lethally ill whoever is naïve and foolish enough to help them. That is what fascists do. It is their inherent nature. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
With a partial government shutdown looming in less than a week, US Speaker of the House Mike Johnson unveiled a two-step plan on Saturday to fund the government through the new year. The stopgap funding bill, often referred to as a “continuing resolution,” would extend funding for several federal agencies until late January, while the rest of the government would be funded through early February.
Johnson defended the bill as bucking “the absurd holiday-season omnibus tradition of massive, loaded up spending bills introduced right before the Christmas recess,” in a post on X, the social media platform known as Twitter.
The Louisiana conservative, who has been in the top House job for less than a month and has never chaired a House committee, faces a steep climb to get the bill passed before the November 17 midnight deadline. If all Democrats are present and vote against the bill, Johnson can afford only four defectors in his own party in a vote that could come as early as Tuesday.
Yet the bill has to satisfy two dramatically opposed constituencies. On one side are the far-right House GOP members who ousted Johnson’s predecessor, Kevin McCarthy, over his resistance to imposing deep spending cuts during the budgeting process and have called for a staggered funding process. On the other hand, more moderate members in both chambers of Congress don’t like the idea of bifurcating the deadlines for funding federal programs. Johnson conceded during a private conference call with lawmakers Saturday that the bill likely would not get universal support from Republicans, The New York Times reported.
In just the last week alone, the House GOP punted on two separate funding votes due to divisions between hardline and moderate members, a sign that the sharp divisions that opened up during the speakership fiasco have not disappeared.
Already, some members of Congress in both parties are voicing their displeasure with Johnson’s proposal. Texas Representative Chip Roy, a hard-right House Freedom Caucus member, wrote on the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, that his opposition to the bill, which does not include any spending cuts, “cannot be overstated.” In another post, he wrote that he opposes the bill “100%”. On Thursday, amid reports that Johnson was weighing pushing forward with a staggered bill, Senate Appropriations Committee chair and Washington Democratic Senator Patty Murray called the plan “the craziest, stupidest thing I’ve ever heard of.”
The Biden administration immediately pounced on the plan. In a statement hours after Johnson unveiled the bill, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called it “a recipe for more Republican chaos and more shutdowns.”
“With just days left before an extreme Republican shutdown — and after shutting down Congress for three weeks after they ousted their own leader — House Republicans are wasting precious time with an unserious proposal that has been panned by members of both parties,” Jean-Pierre said.
The White House is reportedly already prepping surrogates to use the likelihood of a shutdown to boost Joe Biden’s stubbornly low approval ratings. “The clock is ticking,” reads a copy of talking points distributed to Biden allies and obtained by Politico. “We are just X days from an Extreme Republican Shutdown that would: Force servicemembers and law enforcement officers to work without pay—risk significant delays for travelers. Undermine public health. Cut off funding for small businesses.”
On Friday, the ratings firm Moody’s downgraded the United States’ credit outlook to “negative,” citing “continued political polarization” within Congress. | US Federal Policies |
Cat accused of wiping US Veteran Affairs server info after jumping on keyboard
US govt confirms outage, leaves feline in a quantum state of uncertainty
Exclusive A four-hour system interruption in September at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri has been attributed to a cat jumping on a technician's keyboard.
So we're told by a source, who heard the tale on one of the regular weekday calls held by the US government department with its CIO, during which recent IT problems are reviewed. We understand that roughly 100 people – contractors, vendors, and employees – participate in these calls at a time.
On a mid-September call, one of the participants explained that while a technician was reviewing the configuration of a server cluster, their cat jumped on the keyboard and deleted it. Or at least that's their story.
Kurt DelBene, assistant secretary for information and technology and CIO at the Department of Veterans Affairs, is said to have responded on the call with words to the effect that: "This is why I have a dog." There was laughter and not much more – it was a short incident report.
This is not an unheard of problem. Anecdotes of feline data vandalism abound in various online forums. This reporter has personal experience with typos introduced by an orange tabby conducting a keyboard crossing to reach a sunny spot by the window, and one of El Reg's editors has suffered similar issues.
So we asked the Department of Veteran Affairs to confirm the yarn. VA press secretary Terrence Hayes responded promptly with the following statement:
"On September 13, 2023 the Kansas City VAMC [Veterans Affairs Medical Center] experienced an issue with image transfer within Vista due to an inadvertent deletion of server profiles. The issue was quickly identified and the system restored within four hours. There have been no further issues or direct impacts to veterans from this incident."
Vista, in this instance, refers not to Microsoft's much-maligned Windows operating system of yore but to the VA’s Veterans Health Information System Technology Architecture Imaging system, often rendered with a trailing capital, VistA. An installation guide [PDF] provided by the VA makes it clear that it would be no fun to deal with cat-edited configuration files in the administration's electronic filing system.
No mention was made of the cat in the VA's statement. And when The Register explicitly asked Hayes to confirm the involvement of a problem with paws, he declined to comment. We informed him that we would be reporting what we heard and to let us know if our source's account was in any way not purrfect.
- Pasta-covered cat leads to kid night operator taking apart the mainframe
- Doggy DNA database adopted by Gloucestershire cops to bring crims to heel
- Your AI pet project is only as smart as its garbage training set
- Google and IBM square off in Schrodinger's catfight over quantum supremacy
We've not heard anything further from the VA, so we're left with a Schrödinger's cat scenario, where the cat both exists and does not exist in different tellings.
We note that DelBene does have a dog named Reily. Our source reports that occasionally the dog's tail can be seen wagging into frame during video calls. ® | US Federal Policies |
Lori Vallow Daybell is on trial in Boise, Idaho, forof her 16-year-old daughter, Tylee Ryan; her 7-year-old adopted son, Joshua "JJ" Vallow; and her husband's first wife, Tammy Daybell. She had pleaded not guilty.
The trial, which is expected to last up to 10 weeks, started on Monday, April 10, after a week of jury selection that saw dozens of potential jurors dismissed, many for being too familiar with details of the case or having already formed an opinion. A jury of 10 men and eight women will hear the case.
The first week of the trial has seen some emotional moments, with multiple witnesses moved to tears on the stand and JJ Vallow's grandfather openly weeping in the courtroom as he listened to testimony. Witnesses have described finding the bodies of JJ and Tylee as well as Vallow Daybell's religious beliefs.
The trial had been delayed in part because Vallow Daybell had been committed, but a judge ruled last year she was mentally competent to stand trial.
Where can you watch a livestream?
Due to a ruling by Judge Steven Boyce, who is presiding over the trial, there is no live video or audio of the trial. To see the trial, you have be there in person — and get a reservation for a seat in the courtroom or one of two overflow rooms a day ahead of time. For the first day of trial, the 60 seats available were reportedly reserved within two minutes.
You can listen to each day's testimony, which the court releases at the end of each day, on CBS News' YouTube channel.
Who are the people involved?
Lori Vallow Daybell, 49, had a daughter, Tylee Ryan, from a previous relationship when she married Charles Vallow, her fourth husband, in 2006. In 2012, the two adopted then 2-year-old Joshua, whose biological father was Vallow's nephew — the son of his sister, Kay Woodcock. Joshua, known as JJ, had autism, and by all accounts he and his sister Tylee were close.
Lori Vallow and Chad Daybell, now 54, met in 2018. The Vallows separated the following year, with Charles Vallow filing for divorce. He said in the divorce filing that his wife had threatened to murder him.
"She threatened me, murder me, kill me," he told police in a conversation captured on video, "48 Hours" reported.
Charles Vallow was killed in 2019, shot in an altercation with Vallow Daybell's brother, Alex Cox, in Arizona, where the Vallow family — including JJ and Tylee — and Cox were living at the time. Soon after, Vallow Daybell and her children moved to Idaho.
Later that year, Tammy Daybell, the wife of Chad Daybell and the mother of his five children, died at the Daybell's home in Idaho of what officials initially said were natural causes but later said was suspicious.
Chad Daybell and Lori Vallow married in Hawaii two weeks later, on Nov. 5, 2019.
What happened to Tylee Ryan and JJ Vallow?
The last time anyone saw Tylee Ryan was in September 2019, when the family took a trip to Yellowstone National Park. JJ Vallow's biological grandparents, Kay and Larry Woodcock, said that the last time they spoke to the 7-year-old was in August.
Kay Woodcock asked police in Rexburg, Idaho, to check on JJ in November — but Vallow Daybell told police he was in Arizona with a family friend. The friend, Melanie Gibb, told police she had not seen JJ for months.
By December, police and the FBI were searching for 16-year-old Tylee and 7-year-old JJ. The hunt continued even as police arrested Vallow Daybell in Hawaii on two felony counts related to the missing children and three other misdemeanors. She was extradited to Idaho.
The search continued into 2020, when police executed a search warrant on Daybell's property in Rexburg, Idaho. There,, later identified as JJ and Tylee — his, duct-taped and in red pajamas, and hers, badly burned.
What are Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell charged with?
Both Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell are charged with murder and conspiracy to commit murder in the children's deaths. Vallow Daybell is also charged with grand theft, a felony, allegedly for collecting Social Security benefits on behalf of her children, including those Tylee was receiving because of her father's death.
While Daybell could face the death penalty, the judge ruled Vallow Daybell would not face capital punishment if convicted in the deaths of the children.
Vallow Daybell is also charged with conspiracy to commit murder in the death of Tammy Daybell.
Both have pleaded not guilty to all charges.
In a charged with conspiring to murder her late husband, Charles Vallow.in Arizona, she is
What are the prosecution and defense saying?
The prosecution is arguing that Vallow Daybell wanted, as Fremont County Prosecuting Attorney Lindsey Blake said in her opening statement, "money, power and sex," and wouldn't let anything stand in her way. Blake also argued that Vallow Daybell and her husband used their religious beliefs to try to persuade those around them not to question their actions and even to justify murder.
Vallow Daybell's defense is arguing that jurors must focus on what evidence shows Vallow Daybell did, not what her husband or brother may have done. Defense attorney John Archibald told jurors that people get to choose their religious beliefs, and that Vallow Daybell was with other people in her apartment when JJ and Tylee were murdered, and in Hawaii when Tammy Daybell died.
Why isn't Chad Daybell on trial?
Both Vallow Daybell's and Daybell's lawyers asked the court to separate the cases, originally set to go to trial in January. Daybell waived his right to a speedy trial, and a judge granted the request, so his will happen at a later date. While not yet scheduled, his lawyers initially asked for it to be pushed back to the fall of 2023.
Why is Lori Vallow Daybell called the "doomsday mom" and how does religion play a part in the case?
Both Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also known as the Mormon church. Daybell owned a religious publishing company, and his own writing focused on fringe beliefs, including what he said were his own near-death experiences and the end times.
Vallow Daybell, friends said, was increasingly. As part of that belief, she said people's bodies — including, JJ, Tylee and Charles Vallow — were possessed by evil spirits, turning them into "zombies," former friend April Raymond told "48 Hours."
"Part of her mission on Earth was to eliminate the darkness, the demonic — the evil," Raymond said.
Daybell had a religious-focused podcast, on which Vallow Daybell appeared. The two also held gatherings of people who shared their increasingly fervent beliefs: "48 Hours" reported Vallow Daybell believed she was chosen to lead the 144,000 people who would survive the end times. Her late husband told police she believed she was "a resurrected being — a god," "48 Hours" reported.
for more features. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Months after a grand jury indicted a Missouri man accused of holding a Black woman captive in his basement on nine charges, a potential witness that police had been trying to find for months in the case has been found dead.
Clay County Prosecuting Attorney Zachary Thompson announced in a press release Monday that remains found June 24 were positively identified as Jaynie Crosdale, a potential witness in the case against Timothy Haslett Jr.
According to ABC local affiliate KMBC, it’s unknown how Crosdale, 36, died and an autopsy is pending. The Missouri Highway Patrol says Crosdale's body was found in the Missouri River, according to KMBC.
At a February press conference, Thompson said that authorities were still searching for a potential witness whose whereabouts were unknown at that time.
"Our office is working closely with law enforcement to gather all evidence and information that is needed to build the strongest case possible and deliver justice for Jaynie Crosdale," the Monday release stated. "The family of Crosdale has been notified, and our hearts go out to them for their loss."
According to Thompson, Crosdale may have had information relevant to the Haslett case.
Haslett, who is white, was arrested in October 2022, after a 22-year-old Black woman said she was being held captive for a month in his Excelsior Springs home, where she was beaten and raped, according to the police.
Authorities have not released the victim’s name.
According to the affidavit filed in the case, the victim fled to a neighbor's home wearing lingerie, a metal collar with a padlock and duct tape around her neck.
In February, a grand jury indicted Haslett on nine charges, including rape in the first degree, four counts of sodomy in the first degree, kidnapping in the first degree and two counts of assault in the first degree to which he has entered a not guilty plea. A search of his home revealed a small room in the basement that was consistent with what the victim described, the affidavit stated.
Haslett faces up to 36 years in prison if convicted of all charges, according to Thompson.
"This is a dynamic and ongoing investigation, with new information continuing to be gathered at a rapid pace," the press release said. "We will continue to pursue evidence quickly and aggressively in this matter."
Haslett has been in custody since October 7, 2022, and is currently being held on a $3 million bond. The Clay County Prosecutor's Office said they filed a motion Monday to increase his bond in this case with a request for the motion to be heard at the "earliest opportunity."
The Clay County Prosecutor's Office did not immediately respond to ABC News request for comment.
Early into the Haslett case, Missouri community members, including Kansas City community leader Bishop Tony Caldwell, claimed other Black women have been abducted and murdered without any police follow-up before this incident.
A Kansas City Police Department spokesperson said in a statement to ABC News last October that there have been no reports of missing persons, more specifically women missing from Prospect Avenue in Kansas City, Missouri, filed to the department.
"In order to begin a missing person’s investigation, someone would need to file a report with our department identifying the missing party," the statement read. "Again, we notify the media/public anytime our department responds to a homicide in our city and none match, or have been reported to what has been described." | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
A 3-year-old boy has been shot and killed while in the car with his mother and brother in Cleveland, authorities said.
An adult man -- who was not in the car -- was also shot in the Thursday afternoon incident, Cleveland police said. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Several persons of interest have been detained, police said Friday, noting that the investigation is ongoing.
The 3-year-old's "heartbreaking" killing "is another reminder that we must come together as a city, state and nation to address this violence and its root causes," Cleveland Mayor Justin Bibb said in a statement.
Last year, at least 6,152 children were killed or injured in shootings in the U.S., according to the Gun Violence Archive.
"No words can adequately express the pain and the sorrow of this tragedy. In the face of this loss, I ask the community to come together to support this family and to reaffirm our commitment to a safer city," Bibb said. "We will not rest until those responsible are held accountable and brought to justice." | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Nevada attorney general is investigating false electors who aided Trump in 2020
The state’s attorney general is investigating the efforts of Republicans who falsely claimed to be Trump electors.
The attorney general of Nevada is quietly investigating Republican activists and operatives who falsely pledged the state’s six electoral votes to Donald Trump in 2020, despite Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
In recent weeks, investigators have questioned witnesses about the attempts of the so-called alternate electors to present themselves as viable representatives of the states’ voters, according to three people familiar with the probe. Investigators have also asked about documents those people prepared as part of the effort.
The probe, which until now has not been publicly reported, is the latest sign of potential legal jeopardy for the Republicans who, amid Trump’s bid to cling to power, posed as electors in states that Biden won. False electors in Georgia and Michigan are already facing criminal charges, and an investigation is underway in Arizona.
In Nevada, six Republicans, including state GOP chair Michael McDonald, signed fake certificates on Dec. 14, 2020, falsely declaring themselves to be the state’s duly appointed Electoral College representatives. Trump and his allies then invoked that slate of false electors, as well as similar slates in six other states, as they tried to block Congress’ certification of the election results on Jan. 6, 2021.
Joe Gloria, who was Clark County registrar of voters when Trump’s allies in Nevada tried to reverse the election, told POLITICO that a state investigator asked him questions earlier this month about the fake elector scheme. Another person who was questioned and who was granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive probe also said investigators asked for details about the fake electors and documents they prepared. And a third person briefed on the probe — also granted anonymity because of its sensitivity — confirmed it is active.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford, a Democrat, declined to comment through a spokesperson. Of the six Nevada false electors, four did not respond to requests for comment, one declined to comment and one could not be reached.
Ford has previously sent mixed messages about the potential for a state investigation into the false electors’ actions. In May, he suggested no criminal charges were likely.
“As you all know, I have been silent on Nevada’s fake electors, except to say that the matter was on our radar,” he said in testimony to the state’s legislature. “With it on our radar, we ascertained that current state statutes did not directly address the conduct in question — to the dismay of some, and I’m sure, to the delight of others.”
In that hearing, he testified in favor of a proposal to ban people from acting as fake electors, the Nevada Independent reported. The bill passed through the state’s Democratic-controlled legislature and was vetoed in June by its Republican governor, Joe Lombardo.
Then, in September, Ford appeared to change his tune. “I’ve never said that we’re not going to prosecute,” he told 8 News Now. “It is not that I’ve said that I can do nothing. What I have said, and I’ve been precise with my wording on purpose, is we don’t have statutes in this state that directly address the issue.”
The status of Ford’s probe — including whether he will seek indictments — is unclear. It’s also not clear whether Ford is investigating anyone outside Nevada.
One of the state’s false electors, Jim DeGraffenreid, was in touch with Kenneth Chesebro — a lawyer working with the Trump campaign and a chief architect of the fake elector scheme — in the days before the activists signed the fake certificates, according to the House Jan. 6 select committee report.
“URGENT—Trump-Pence campaign asked me to contact you to coordinate Dec. 14 voting by Nevada electors,” read the subject line of an email that DeGraffenreid sent Chesebro. Chesebro pleaded guilty in Georgia last month to a single felony count after being charged alongside Trump and 17 others with a racketeering conspiracy to overturn the election.
In Nevada and in other states, the people who acted as false electors said at the time that they were doing it as part of a contingency plan because of lawsuits Trump’s team brought challenging the election outcome. But after courts rejected those lawsuits, Trump used the existence of the false electors to pressure his vice president, Mike Pence, to block the certification of the results on Jan. 6. Chesebro similarly noted that pro-Trump members of Congress could invoke the false electors as a rationale for upending the results.
On the day that the six Nevada activists met and signed the false paperwork, the state’s Republican Party praised them. “History made today in Carson City, Nevada, @McDonaldNV leads our electors in casting Nevada’s 6 electoral votes for the winner of Nevada, @realDonaldTrump and @Mike_Pence!” the party tweeted on Dec. 14, 2020.
In addition to McDonald and DeGraffenreid, the other Nevada Republicans who claimed to be electors for Trump were Jesse Law, the head of the Clark County Republican Party; Durward James Hindle III; Eileen Rice; and Shawn Meehan. Meehan declined to comment. Rice could not be reached. The other four did not respond.
Beyond Nevada, Trump allies posed as electors in December 2020 in six other states: Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Wisconsin, Georgia and New Mexico. Michigan’s Democratic attorney general, Dana Nessel, brought charges against the fake electors there in July. Fani Willis, the district attorney in Fulton County, Georgia, charged three of Georgia’s false electors in her racketeering case. And Kris Mayes, the Democratic attorney general of Arizona, told CNN last week that she is investigating fake electors from her state. | US Political Corruption |
A woman has shared her story about being cyberstalked by her estranged husband in hopes of saving others from the same fate.
Jennifer, whose name has been changed for privacy, told DailyMail.com that her nightmare began when she started receiving strange notifications stating her social media accounts were accessed from unrecognizable locations.
'I quickly made sure to block my stalker on social accounts and set them to private, as well as those close to him who may unknowingly feed information to him,' she said.
'It was frightening not to feel that I could communicate in the manner I typically do. I am now very aware of what information I share on the web to minimize my risk.'
She said using privacy tools such as blocking and minimizing the amount you share online is critical.
Cyberstalking affects millions of Americans, with three million people stalked using technology in 2019, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The alarming fact that too few people know is that 67 percent of cyberstalking victims know their stalker, according to U.S. Government research.
Darren Guccione, CEO and co-founder of Keeper Security, told DailyMail.com, 'Our digital and physical worlds are more intertwined than ever before.
'We are increasingly seeing the ramifications of online behavior play out in real life, and the impacts from malicious actions can be devastating to victims.'
Guccione and Jennifer said that there are several warning signs that you might be being cyber-stalked.
If you ever receive a password reset request for a social media, email or even banking account and you didn't initiate it, be suspicious, Guccione said.
Cuccione said, 'This could be a sign that someone is trying to change your passwords to lock you out of your accounts and gain control of personal or financial information.'
'If an attacker can take over those accounts, the damage can be far-reaching and severe.'
People pretending to be you
A classic sign of cyber-stalking is if you find profiles pretending to be you on social media - abusers can use these fake profiles to spread unpleasant stories or harass friends.
Guccione said, 'If you believe a user has created new accounts for the purpose of harassing you, you can block those accounts too, and report the user, as most websites have a policy against this behavior.'
People sharing your own information with you
Guccione said that if people on social media are keen to share information that only you or people close to you should know, that can be a clear sign that this is a fake profile.
If you're being cyber-stalked, you should 'lock down' your social media profiles as much as possible and notify customer support.
Jennifer found that she received notifications saying that her account had been logged into unusual places - then she realized what those places were.
She told DailyMail.com, 'I started receiving notifications of unrecognized login attempts on some of my accounts.
'When I looked at where they were coming from, I discovered those logins were coming from the location of my estranged husband - sometimes from the home we used to share and sometimes from his work location.'
If unwanted Amazon packages arrive at your house, for example, this is a clear sign of cyber-stalking behavior.
Cyber-stalkers want to show their victims that they have information about them (such as their address) to strike fear.
Guccione said that cyberstalkers commonly create fake social media profiles to harass victims.
Most social networks have strict rules around people creating multiple fake accounts: if this happens to you, contact customer support and see if they can help.
People showing up to places you mentioned online
Guccione said, 'Online harassment and cyber-stalking do not always remain confined to the digital world.
'The lines can blur between cyber and physical stalking and physical security must not be neglected. Using a VPN service and disabling geo-tagging on the digital photos you share online will ensure your true location is not traceable to an abuser. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Biden turns ‘Godfather’ on prescription drugs
They say that wherever government gets involved, there are unintended consequences — results that most people who had initially cheered on government action hadn’t considered. But the cynic in me believes there are few truly unintended consequences — that most proposals are not goals, but only a stop along the way toward a larger objective.
As a former health policy analyst at the Heritage Foundation, and as someone whose mother’s life was extended and improved by prescription drugs, I still follow the issue. I can assure you there are no unintended consequences here — only consequences that politicians hope no one outside their intimate circle thinks of.
One example came roughly 10 years ago, when key parts of ObamaCare began affecting the insurance market. The sudden increase in health insurance premiums was a feature of the bill, not a bug. The ultimate goal, I continue to believe, is a complete government takeover of the system, which the ballooning prices help facilitate.
The only “problem,” from the perspective of progressive takeover advocates, was that costs exploded too quickly and at a politically inopportune time. The public connected the dots between the new law and the cancellation notices. They saw that their bills were going up, despite the $2,500 in savings that President Barack Obama had falsely promised them. That helped Republicans gain nine seats and take over the Senate in 2014. If Obama and the Democrats could do it again, I’m guessing they would have boiled the frog more slowly.
Still, the law was always meant to make the situation worse. It was sold as a way to get more people into private health insurance. More than a decade later, the drop in the number of uninsured (about 20 million) is considerably smaller than the number who have gone on Medicaid since then (about 30 million). So we could have gotten the same result without blowing up the market for private health insurance, making the experience even more unpleasant for patients.
In response to the ever-greater discontent with the system that ObamaCare negatively disrupted, the same people who promised to fix the problem last time are now grumbling about their next step to “fix” it — a “public option” to address the problems they’ve created or exacerbated.
So here’s the real question: Would you let the same mechanic who poured syrup into your gas tank fix your engine afterward?
ObamaCare has been extremely successful as a study in incrementalism — in slowing working toward an ultimate goal without letting anything stand in the way. Republicans talked for years about repealing ObamaCare. They won elections on it, took a lot of votes in the House on it (when the Senate was controlled by Democrats), then ultimately came within one vote of repeal. When Arizona Senator John McCain voted “no” on his campaign promise, the issue died.
There has been no serious push for repeal since then. Republicans have simply walked away.
I know, having briefed many elected Republicans on the issue years ago, that they want nothing to do with health care. They view it as a Democratic issue. They want to know enough to talk about it on the surface for a few minutes, but none of them care to be close to anything that would be considered an expert. They want Democrats to act, so that they can react and appear to be involved. They will block, but they will never repeal, because then they’d own the problems. They would have to defend their actions, and they are ill-equipped for that.
Republicans’ avoidant behavior on such issues helps Democrats make any case for bigger government. And if you don’t know what the “unintended” or perhaps just unmentioned consequences are, then maybe their case will sound like a good one.
A favorite one currently is, as they would put it, to “let Medicare negotiate the cost of prescription drugs.” That sounds reasonable. But the problem is that, with Medicare now the monopoly insurance provider for 65 million senior citizens, there is no negotiating with it. You either give them what they want, or you’re out.
In “The Godfather,” Don Corleone, perfectly played by Marlon Brando, tells a young singer (allegedly based on Frank Sinatra) that he’s going to make sure he gets a part in a movie he’s desperate to have. When the singer asks how, the Don replies, “I’m gonna make him an offer he can’t refuse.” The producer ends up agreeing after waking up with the head of a prized horse in his bed.
That’s what the Biden administration is trying to do with prescription drugs now, minus the horse head. The offer the drugmakers can’t refuse is to take what Medicare offers, or face not only exclusion but also reprisals.
The Biden administration, thanks to a provision in the “Inflation Reduction Act,” can impose a 95 percent excise tax on any drug if the manufacturer won’t accept the price that the federal government deems “fair.” Yes, a 95 percent tax, just like in the Beatles’ song. Accept what we’re offering, or you’ll be punished. That’s not what most people would consider to be a “negotiation.” In most cases, it would be extortion. Because it’s government doing it, it’s perfectly legal.
Unfortunately, it is patients who would pay the price. It could come in the form of higher prices, or else in a more deadly form — an inability to obtain what their doctor believes they need. Such are the rippling consequences when government acts with its heavy hand.
Earlier in “The Godfather,” Michael Corleone had warned his girlfriend about his family, explaining to her another “deal” someone couldn’t refuse. This one involved a gun to the head of a band leader, who was told very clearly that “either his brains or his signature would be on the contract.”
Government, of course, doesn’t have to use a gun. It can destroy businesses and industries with a bureaucrat’s pen.
Fortunately, horses’ heads are safe. Unfortunately, Medicare recipients aren’t.
Derek Hunter is host of the Derek Hunter Podcast and a former staffer for the late Sen. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.).
Copyright 2023 Nexstar Media Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | US Federal Policies |
Former President Donald Trump dashed out of the courtroom with Secret Service agents in tow in the midst of his former lawyer and "fixer," Michael Cohen's, testimony Wednesday in his New York civil fraud trial, NBC News reports. The dramatic exit came after the former lawyer took the stand himself in a surprising twist in the case.
Trump attorney Cliff Roberts requested a directed verdict in response to Cohen stating that he did not recall Trump or co-defendant Alan Weisselberg directing him to inflate the numbers on his personal statement, but New York Supreme Court Justice Arthur Engoron denied it. Trump then immediately rose from his seat and stormed out of the room with Secret Service agents chasing after him, an unexpected move that even appeared to surprise his legal team. Gasps could be heard throughout the courtroom.
The former president did return a short time later, walking back into the room with lawyer Alina Habba. Robert again asked the judge for a directed verdict, to which Engoron quipped, "Absolutely not. There's enough evidence in this case to fill the courtroom.”
Trump's interruption came shortly after Engoron fined him $10,000 for violating a gag order barring him from making inflammatory comments about court staff. The former president had taken the stand for around a minute and was asked about statements he made outside the courtroom, referring to the judge and someone else as "partisan." Trump said he was referring to Cohen and not Engoron's court clerk, whom he had been sanctioned $5,000 for criticizing previously. After the judge asked if Trump always refers to Cohen by name and his lawyers interjected that the former president uses far worse language to refer to him, Engoron determined that he didn't find Trump credible and levied the fine.
Trump spokesperson Steven Cheung told NBC News that the GOP frontrunner would go to the airport from the courthouse at the conclusion of Wednesday's proceedings. | US Political Corruption |
Former President Donald Trump targeted former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley following the second Republican primary debate on Wednesday, intensifying a rivalry that has mostly remained on the sidelines of both campaigns.
Trump’s campaign released a lengthy email, headed “The Real Nikki Haley,” that described the former South Carolina governor as weak on immigration and connected her to 2016 Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.
Trump’s team linked an interview of Haley’s 2012 sit-down with the New York Times that included a discussion about the lack of women in politics from her generation, to which Haley noted, “The reason I actually ran for office is because of Hillary Clinton.”
“Hillary Clinton Is an Inspiration to Nikki Haley,” the email read.
Trump’s campaign sent a similar email shortly after Haley launched her presidential bid for 2024, also bringing up Haley’s 2012 interview in which she praised Clinton, the former secretary of state.
“I guess Donald Trump feels threatened by Nikki Haley,” Ken Farnaso, a spokesman for Haley, told the Washington Examiner.
The Republican front-runner blasted Haley’s foreign policy, which has been front and center in her 2024 campaign.
“Instead of Finding a Peaceful Solution to the Ukraine-Russia War, Haley Has Supported Sending More American Fighter Planes to Fuel the War,” the email stated, linking two 2022 interviews.
Haley has defended sending aid to Ukraine, stating it is crucial to the security of NATO, and has blasted Trump’s stance on the war in Ukraine.
“[Trump] used to be good on foreign policy, and now he has started to walk it back and get weak in the knees when it comes to Ukraine,” Haley said about Trump at a Portsmouth Rotary Club meeting in New Hampshire last week.
The presidential hopefuls who took the stage were quick to make their case against Trump, as Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) and former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie came out strong with remarks against Trump skipping the second debate for an event at an automotive supplier in Michigan to declare support for strikers. Haley stayed quiet on the topic.
Haley reiterated her stance on Trump being too friendly with China during his time in the Oval Office, stating he had a singular focus on the U.S.-China trade relationship.
“This is where President Trump went wrong,” Haley said Wednesday evening in Simi Valley. “He focused on trade with China. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were buying up our farmland. He didn’t focus on the fact that they were killing Americans,” Haley said.
“He didn’t focus on the fact that they were stealing $600 billion in intellectual property. He didn’t focus on the fact that they put a spy base off our shores in Cuba,” she added.
Haley has been surging in recent surveys, polling above President Joe Biden in a hypothetical 2024 matchup, according to an NBC News poll that shows Biden tied with Trump among registered voters, 46% to 46%, but trailing Haley, 46% to 41%.
Trump’s campaign has been widely focused on his closest Republican rival, DeSantis, but his escalated criticism of Haley could point to his team shifting to a new threat in the 2024 race. | US Federal Elections |
Federal Judge Rejects Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Request for New York Man to Pay for Security Fence at Home
The Department of Justice backed Greene's effort to get the electric fence bill at her home in Georgia paid for
A federal judge on Tuesday denied a request from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., to order a man who threatened her to pay for a $66,632 electric fence she installed at her home.
U.S. District Judge Brenda Sannes denied Greene's request, saying that federal law would only allow the payment if Greene had suffered a "loss of property."
Joseph Morelli was sentenced to three months in prison after he pleaded guilty to three counts of transmitting interstate threats after leaving voicemails at Greene's office in Washington.
“You’ve got a big f‑‑‑ing mouth, and I’m gonna show you what violence is really about,” he continued in a second voicemail. “Keep spreading that hate, bitch. See what the f--- happens to you. You are going to get f---ing physically hurt. Keep talking that shit, bitch," one of the voicemails sent in March of 2022, according to court filings obtained by The Hill, said.
The Department of Justice backed Greene's effort to get the electric fence bill at her home in Georgia paid by Morelli, but Sannes argued that she didn't make the technological advancements until months after receiving Morelli's threats. Greene also didn't take similar action against other individuals who threatened her and were criminally charged, Sannes said.
- New York Man Gets Federal Prison Sentence for Threats to Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Marjorie Taylor Greene Files to Force Vote on Impeaching Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas Over Border Security
- Georgia Man Arrested After Allegedly Threatening Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
- Marjorie Taylor Greene: GOP is ‘Absolutely Broken’
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Shows Up to Trump’s Gag Order Hearing in DC
- Marjorie Taylor Greene Pays $100K for Kevin McCarthy’s Chapstick
- Judge Denies Initial Request to Block North Dakota Ban on Gender-Affirming Care for MinorsPolitics
- FBI Director Wray Warns of ‘Heightened Threat Environment’ at House HearingPolitics
- DNC Chair Calls GOP Fighting in Congress a ‘Clown Show’Politics
- Eugene Vindman Announces Virginia Congressional BidPolitics
- Texas Approves Bills That Allow State Police to Arrest Illegal Border CrossersPolitics
- Hunter Biden Asks Court for Order to Subpoena Donald Trump, Former AG Bill Barr in Gun CasePolitics
- The Biden Administration Is Slow to Act as Millions Are Booted Off Medicaid, Advocates SayHealth
- New Hampshire Secretary of State to Announce Dem Primary Date Amid DNC BattlePolitics
- Biden Blasts Trump for ‘Vermin’ Comment, Makes Nazi Rhetoric ComparisonPolitics
- Biden Announces Five New Judicial NomineesPolitics
- Texas Reverses Decision That Removed Transgender Student From School MusicalPolitics
- WATCH LIVE: FBI Director Wray Testifies on Hamas Threats Before House Homeland Security CommitteePolitics | US Federal Policies |
- Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose consulted with three anti-abortion groups while drafting ballot language for an abortion-rights measure.
- The ballot summary faced criticism from Issue 1 supporters, who deemed it "misleading and defective."
- The Ohio Supreme Court ruled that only the part suggesting limiting citizens was misleading and required rewriting in a divided decision.
Republican Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose consulted with three prominent anti-abortion groups while drafting the contested ballot language used to describe Issue 1, an abortion-rights measure overwhelmingly approved by voters earlier this month, cleveland.com reported Wednesday.
The Republican elections chief and 2024 U.S. Senate candidate revealed having help with the wording while speaking at a Nov. 17 candidate forum hosted by the local Republican club Strongsville GOP, according to the news organization.
The constitutional amendment's backers blasted the ballot summary offered by LaRose, in his role as chair of the Ohio Ballot Board, as "rife with misleading and defective language" intended to encourage "no" votes.
LaRose's wording substituted "unborn child" for "fetus" and suggested the measure would limit "citizens of the State" from passing laws to restrict abortion access when it actually limited state government from doing so.
The pro-Issue 1 campaign, Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, eventually sued and won a part victory at the Ohio Supreme Court.
In response to a question at the forum, LaRose said that his office consulted with Susan B. Anthony Pro Life America, the Center for Christian Virtue and Ohio Right to Life while writing the ballot language, three groups with central roles in the anti-Issue 1 campaign, Protect Women Ohio.
LaRose said the anti-abortion groups pushed for changing "pregnant person" to "woman" as a way of benefiting their campaign while remaining accurate enough to withstand a court challenge.
He said they liked it because their campaign was named Protect Women Ohio and their yard signs said "Protect Women."
"So they wanted that," the news organization reported LaRose saying. "They thought that was reasonable and would be helpful to them. And they thought it would be honest."
When asked about the language previously, LaRose described his role as writing truthful and unbiased language.
Gabriel Mann, a spokesperson for Ohioans United for Reproductive Rights, said it was always clear that LaRose's chosen language was intended to benefit the amendment's opponents.
"LaRose never cared about American democracy or Ohio values, which makes him wholly unfit for any public office," Mann told cleveland.com.
LaRose spokesperson Mary Cianciolo said the secretary "always is going to represent the conservative values on which he was elected."
"The ballot board is a bipartisan body made up of members with at times differing opinions on how public policy should be defined," she said in a statement. "It’s common for members to disagree on the language, as you’ve seen at almost every meeting. The language can be true and defensible at the same time. It was also upheld as accurate by the state Supreme Court."
In a divided ruling, justices ruled that only one element of the disputed language, the part that implied it would rein in citizens as opposed to the government, was misleading and had to be rewritten. | US Local Elections |
Subscribe to Here’s the Deal, our politics
newsletter for analysis you won’t find anywhere else.
Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm.
Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press
Farnoush Amiri, Associated Press
Leave your feedback
WASHINGTON (AP) — “How would you be different as speaker, compared to Mr. Boehner?” a reporter asked then-House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy in September 2015 as the California Republican pursued, and eventually gave up, his first attempt at the speakership.
McCarthy laughed while standing next to outgoing Speaker John Boehner — who had just stepped down after facing a threat of removal — and joked that he was from a different generation and wouldn’t be as tan.
Eight years later, McCarthy is finding that there are fewer differences between them as he faces a conservative revolt against his speakership.
READ MORE: Rep. Matt Gaetz sets sights on ousting Kevin McCarthy from speaker’s chair
“If somebody wants to remove (me) because I want to be the adult in the room, go ahead and try,” McCarthy told reporters Saturday.
And his critics, namely Rep. Matt Gaetz, plan to do just that. On Sunday, the far-right Republican from Florida threatened to use a procedural tool — called a motion to vacate — to try and strip McCarthy of his office as soon as this week after he relied on Democrats to provide the necessary votes to fund the government.
“I think we need to rip off the Band-Aid,” Gaetz said on CNN. “I think we need to move on with new leadership that can be trustworthy.”
Here’s what you need to know about how the House can remove a speaker:
The rules of the House allow for any single lawmaker — Democrat or Republican — to make a “motion to vacate the chair,” essentially an attempt to oust the speaker from that leadership post through a privileged resolution.
It’s a rare and strong procedural tool that has only been used twice in the past century. But in recent years, conservatives have wielded the motion as a weapon against their leaders.
In January, McCarthy, hoping to appease some on the hard right as he fought to gain their vote for speaker, agreed to give as few as five Republican members the ability to initiate a vote to remove him. But when that wasn’t good enough for his critics, he agreed to reduce that threshold to one — the system that historically has been the norm.
Proponents of allowing a single lawmaker to file the motion said it promotes accountability, noting its long history in the House. The last use of the motion was in 2015, when then-Rep. Mark Meadows of North Carolina, a Republican who later became Donald Trump’s White House chief of staff, introduced a resolution to declare the speaker’s office vacant. Two months later, Boehner said he would be stepping down.
No speaker has ever been removed from office through a motion to vacate.
At any point in time, a member of the House can introduce a privileged resolution —a designation that gives it priority over other measures — to declare the office of the speaker of the House of Representatives vacant.
Once the motion is introduced, the lawmaker can walk onto the House floor and request a vote. Such a request would force House leaders to schedule a vote on the resolution within two legislative days.
But there are procedural motions that members of either party could introduce to slow down or stop the process altogether. If those tactics were to fail, and the resolution came to the floor for a vote, it would take a simple majority of the House — 218 votes, when no seats are vacant — to remove the speaker.
WATCH: Biden delivers remarks after signing stopgap government funding bill passed by Congress
While it has never been successful, a motion to vacate has been used as a political threat against several speakers throughout history, dating back to Republican Speaker Joseph Cannon — who first invoked the resolution against himself in 1910. The effort failed as his fellow Republicans voted overwhelmingly to keep him as their leader. But by calling the bluff of his detractors, Cannon was able to put them on the record and end the threats against him.
In 1997, Republicans frustrated with then-Speaker Newt Gingrich considered trying to oust him but eventually decided against it. Most recently, the mere whispers of a motion to vacate forced Boehner out of office and set McCarthy on the path to the leadership post he has today.
Just like for Boehner, the call for McCarthy’s removal began with just one man. Gaetz, a member of the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus, has been threatening to file the resolution to remove him from the dais ever since McCarthy was nominated speaker by a majority of the conference earlier this year.
Gaetz is among 20 or so members who voted against McCarthy round after round as he fought to become speaker. While others eventually relented and voted in favor of McCarthy or present, Gaetz fought until the very end.
“This will all be torpedoed by one person who wants to put a motion to vacate for personal, political reasons, and undermine the will of the conference and the American people, who elected a Republican majority to govern,” Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., a defender of McCarthy, said Sunday on ABC.
Gaetz and other critics of McCarthy say he has failed to be the conservative leader the party needs. They have railed against his deal with the White House over raising the debt limit earlier this year and have demanded the House slash spending levels to new lows. The group has also made sweeping demands to reimagine the U.S. government, which they criticize as “woke and weaponized.”
As of right now, it is unclear, but there’s reason to be skeptical. No matter how loud or disruptive they may be, the anti-McCarthy faction is only a small minority in a Republican conference that is mostly supportive or amenable to him remaining speaker.
Another problem with the push to remove McCarthy is that there is no clear, consensus candidate to take his place. And lastly, and maybe more importantly, Gaetz would need the support of most Democrats to oust McCarthy if the motion ever came to a vote — and it’s far from certain that they would join him.
WATCH: Senate convenes as the House passes funding bill to avoid government shutdown
“The one thing I agree with my Democrat colleagues on is that for the last eight months, this House has been poorly led and we own that and we have to do something about it,” Gaetz said on the floor last week. “And you know what? My Democrat colleagues will have an opportunity to do something about that, too. And we will see if they bail out our failed speaker.”
Gaetz has been speaking to House Democrats from across the ideological spectrum in recent weeks trying to assess what kind of support, if any, he would have from those across the aisle if he were to file his motion and it came to the floor.
“We haven’t had a discussion about any hypothetical motion to vacate,” Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries said at a news conference Saturday. “We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.”
The House would enter uncharted territory if a motion to vacate effort against McCarthy were to pass the full House.
The speaker of the House, under the rules of the chamber, is required to keep a list of individuals who can act as speaker pro tempore in the event a chair is vacated. The list, which is oddly written by the sitting speaker at any given time, remains with the House Clerk and would be made public if the speakership were vacant.
The first person on that list would be named speaker pro tempore and their first order of business would be to hold an election for a new speaker. That event requires the House to vote as many times as it takes for a candidate to receive the majority of those present and voting for speaker.
For McCarthy, that process took an unprecedented 15 rounds in January.
New candidates for speaker could emerge, but there’s also nothing to stop Republicans from nominating McCarthy again.
Support Provided By:
Learn more
Politics
Sep 30 | US Congress |
The first wife of “Doomsday mom” Lori Vallow Daybell’s husband may have been restrained when she died under mysterious circumstances three years ago, a medical examiner testified this week.
Bruises consistent with being restrained were discovered on the arms and chest of Tammy Daybell, who was married to Lori’s husband Chad Daybell at the time of her death in October 2019, Utah’s Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Erik Christensen testified during Lori’s murder trial on Monday.
The bruises likely occurred around the time she died, and support the finding that her cause of death was asphyxia, or being deprived of oxygen, KSL.com reported.
In the hours before her death, Tammy suffered “acute injuries” that likely caused the contusions, Christensen said.
Pictures of the bruises on the 49-year-old’s body were shown to jurors, while marks of bruises were drawn on a figure that was shown publicly to the courtroom.
Vallow Daybell, 49, is on trial in Idaho for the murders of her children Tylee Ryan, 16, and Joshua “J.J.” Vallow, 7 — and for conspiring with her husband Chad to kill his first wife, who was found dead on Oct. 19, 2019.
Chad Daybell had also been charged in connection with the three deaths and will stand trial at a later date.
Christensen testified Monday that he performed Tammy’s autopsy on Dec. 11, 2019, after her body was exhumed from a cemetery in Springville.
Doctors determined her death is a “diagnosis of exclusion,” or a medical condition reached by a process of elimination.
While a person can die naturally of asphyxia after a seizure of heart arrhythmia, Christensen said both would be unusual for a woman of Tammy Daybell’s age and health.
Chad Daybell told the coroner she had suffered from something like a seizure, but Christensen said there was nothing in her medical records to suggest she had. He also told the coroner she had been coughing and vomiting throughout the night and that her torso and head had fallen off the bed at 5:40 a.m.
The autopsy also revealed that Tammy Daybell had been laying on her back after her death. By the time police arrived her body was cold and stiff, meaning she could have been dead for several hours before Chad Daybell called authorities.
In other testimony Monday, a DNA analyst testified that hair found on a piece of duct tape that was used to wrap 7-year-old J.J.’s body belonged to Vallow Daybell.
“The partial DNA profile matched the DNA profile provided for Lori Vallow Daybell,” DNA analyst Keeley Coleman testified. “The probability of randomly selecting a random individual in relation to that profile in 1 in 71 billion.”
After an exhaustive search that garnered national attention, J.J.’s body was found in June 2020 buried under a tree in Chad Daybell’s backyard. His sister Tylee’s remains were found in an area used as a “pet cemetery” on the Idaho property.
Tylee’s remains had been gnawed on by an animal and hacked with a tool before being burned.
An FBI forensic anthropologist also testified last week that J.J.’s body had stretch marks on his neck and bruises on his wrists and ankles where he was bound with duct tape.
Lori Vallow Daybell and Chad Daybell believe the end times are upon the world and we must prepare for doomsday and the second coming of Christ.
The couple has collected life insurance money and Social Security following the deaths of Vallow Daybell’s children and Daybell’s former wife, prosecutors claim.
Vallow Daybell’s trial entered its fifth week on Monday. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Thousands of information technology workers contracting with US companies have for years secretly sent millions of dollars of their wages to North Korea for use in its ballistic missile program, FBI and Department of Justice officials said.
The Justice Department said Wednesday that IT workers dispatched and contracted by North Korea to work remotely with companies in St. Louis and elsewhere in the US have been using false identities to get the jobs. The money they earned was funneled to the North Korean weapons program, FBI leaders said at a news conference in St. Louis.
Federal authorities announced the seizure of $1.5 million and 17 domain names as part of the investigation, which is ongoing.
Jay Greenberg, special agent in charge of the St. Louis FBI office, said any company that hired freelance IT workers “more than likely” hired someone participating in the scheme. An FBI spokeswoman said Thursday that the North Koreans contracted with companies across the US and in some other countries.
“We can tell you that there are thousands of North Korean IT workers that are part of this,” spokeswoman Rebecca Wu said.
FBI officials said the scheme is so prevalent that companies must be extra vigilant in verifying whom they are hiring, including requiring interviewees to at least be seen via video.
“At a minimum, the FBI recommends that employers take additional proactive steps with remote IT workers to make it harder for bad actors to hide their identities,” Greenberg said in a news release.
Officials didn’t name the companies that unknowingly hired North Korean workers, say when the practice began, or elaborate on how investigators became aware of it. But federal authorities have been aware of the scheme for some time.
In May 2022, the State Department, Department of the Treasury, and the FBI issued an advisory warning of attempts by North Koreans “to obtain employment while posing as non-North Korean nationals.” The advisory noted that in recent years, the regime of Kim Jong Un “has placed increased focus on education and training” in IT-related subjects.
Court documents allege that the government of North Korea dispatched thousands of skilled IT workers to live primarily in China and Russia with the goal of deceiving businesses from the US and elsewhere into hiring them as freelance remote employees.
The IT workers generated millions of dollars a year in their wages to benefit North Korea’s weapons programs. In some instances, the North Korean workers also infiltrated computer networks and stole information from the companies that hired them, the Justice Department said. They also maintained access for future hacking and extortion schemes, the agency said.
Greenberg said the workers used various techniques to make it look like they were working in the US, including paying Americans to use their home Wi-Fi connections.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula are high as North Korea has test-fired more than 100 missiles since the start of 2022 and the US has expanded its military exercises with its Asian allies, in tit-for-tat responses.
The Justice Department in recent years has sought to expose and disrupt a broad variety of criminal schemes aimed at bolstering the North Korean regime, including its nuclear weapons program.
In 2016, for instance, four Chinese nationals and a trading company were charged in the US with using front companies to evade sanctions targeting North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistics initiatives.
Two years ago, the Justice Department charged three North Korean computer programmers and members of the government’s military intelligence agency with a broad range of global hacks that officials say were carried out at the behest of the regime. Law enforcement officials said at the time that the prosecution highlighted the profit-driven motive behind North Korea’s criminal hacking, a contrast from other adversarial nations like Russia, China, and Iran that are generally more interested in espionage, intellectual property theft or even disrupting democracy.
In September, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un called for an exponential increase in the production of nuclear weapons and for his country to play a larger role in a coalition of nations confronting the United States in a “new Cold War,” state media said.
In February, United Nations experts said that North Korean hackers working for the government stole record-breaking virtual assets last year estimated to be worth between $630 million and more than $1 billion. The panel of experts said in a report that the hackers used increasingly sophisticated techniques to gain access to digital networks involved in cyber finance and to steal information that could be useful in North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs from governments, individuals, and companies. | US Political Corruption |
News networks should be taken off air and investigated for treason. The nation’s top military official should be executed. A state judge presiding over a trial against him, and the attorney general suing him, should be arrested. People seeking asylum in the US are “poisoning the blood of our country” and should be turned away if they don’t accept “our religion.” Drug dealers should get the death sentence. “Liberal Jews” are voting to “destroy America and Israel.” The regime will “root out” political opponents who “live like vermin”.
They are also increasingly colliding with the multiple criminal investigations and lawsuits against him, as prosecutors and judges hope to rely on gag orders to rein in his rhetoric, which has invited hundreds of abusive messages and credible death threats from his supporters against the judges and prosecutors involved.
After an appeals court judge temporarily paused a gag order that prohibited all parties in the case from disparaging the court’s staff, Mr Trump repeatedly unleashed on the court’s chief clerk, the attorney general suing him, and the judge overseeing the case, as well as members of his family. That gag order is back in place.
He sees the criminal indictments and civil cases against him as part of a Democratic conspiracy that is “weaponising” the federal government to keep him away from the White House, and he appears ready to do the same to his political opponents if he’s elected.
In a late-night post on his Truth Social on 28 November, he said that the four grand jury indictments, 91 criminal charges, fraud lawsuits and sexual abuse and defamation claims against him have opened “Pandora’s Box,” and he warned President Joe Biden to stop them “before it’s too late.”
The leading candidate for the 2024 Republican nomination for president is giving his supporters permission to dehumanise and degrade his political opponents as he does, priming their acceptance of political violence against the “other” side, while absolving them of responsibility for it, according to urgent warnings from scholars and legal analysts.
Historian Ruth Ben-Ghiat, a scholar of authoritarianism and the author of Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present, writes that “violence is now Trump’s brand.”
His depiction of political opponents and non-white immigrants as existential threats, defence of January 6 rioters who stormed the US Capitol to overturn election results, and his praise for authoritarian leaders join his broader campaign “to re-educate Americans to see violence as justified, patriotic, and even morally righteous,” according to Ms Ben-Ghiat.
“But to get people to lose their aversion to violence, savvy authoritarians also dehumanize their enemies,” she added. “That’s what Trump is doing. Hitler used this ploy from the very start, calling Jews the ‘black parasites of the nation’ in a 1920 speech. By the time Hitler got into power in 1933 and translated dehumanizing rhetoric into repressive policies, Germans had heard these messages for over a decade.”
In his Mein Kampf, Adolf Hitler wrote about the “contamination of the blood” and “the poison which has invaded the national body” from an “influx of foreign blood,” words behind the so-called “great replacement” conspiracy theory that has also fuelled white supremacist groups, racist mass shootings and far-right media commentary.
Mr Trump has invoked literal “blood and soil” rhetoric in recent weeks. In a September interview with right-wing media outlet The National Pulse, he said migrants who seek asylum in the US “come from prisons … mental institutions and insane asylums.”
“We know they’re terrorists. Nobody has ever seen anything like we’re witnessing right now. It is a very sad thing for our country. It’s poisoning the blood of our country,” he said.
At a September rally in Iowa, where he pledged “the largest domestic deportation operation in American history” if he’s elected, Mr Trump said migrants are infecting “the blood of the country” and “destroying our country.”
Roughly three months from Super Tuesday, as Mr Trump coalesces Republican support as the presumptive GOP nominee, with scant warnings or criticism from members of his party, what remains of any inter-party fights about the party’s future are likely to merge with Mr Trump’s warpath.
The Republican Party has largely adopted Mr Trump’s grievance- and resentment-based politics relying on his volatile language, said Shane Burley, author of Why We Fight: Essays on Fascism, Resistance, and Surviving the Apocalypse and Fascism Today: What It Is and How to End It.
“That’s the entire reason for the GOP to exist at this point,” he told The Independent. “With Trump leading one [wing] and national conservatives leaving the other. Both are based on re-channeling class anxiety into a sort of nationalist, racist, xenophobic and angry framework. That’s their entire existence now. That’s the status quo.”
Mr Trump’s campaign views him as “the only legitimate candidate, ‘he needs to go back, we need to take out the deep state,’” Mr Burley said. “It’s a very basic hero narrative, which is why when Trump loses again, if Trump loses again, and he’ll say that he was stolen, there could be real serious acts of violence.”
That “cruelty is the point” theme “will define how they build an electoral strategy, period,” he says. “That may end for them with the election, but it moves into people’s lives in really profound ways. That’s going to echo out through all kinds of institutions.”
The Independent has requested comment from Mr Trump’s campaign.
During his presidency, Mr Trump called journalists and news outlets “fake news” roughly 2,000 times, according to an analysis from The Independent. His attacks amounted to an average of more than one daily broadside against the press and continuing a long legacy of attempts to undermine his critics that has continued well after his time in the White House.
Mr Trump routinely labels journalists “the enemy of the people,” has threatened to throw them and their sources in jail, and pledged to investigate networks for treason.
“Our so-called government should come down hard on them and make them pay for their illegal activity,” Mr Trump wrote on his Truth Social on 28 November, the same night he vowed to prosecute his political rivals. “Much more to come, watch!”
His threats to “weaponize the presidency against media outlets that are critical of him are shameful and dangerous, just like his prior rants about imprisoning journalists and their sources,” Seth Stern, director of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, told The Independent in the wake of Mr Trump’s threats to NBC.
“Now’s the time to make sure that a potential second Trump administration doesn’t have the tools to carry out his anti-press agenda,” he added.
J Michael Luttig, a retired federal judge appointed by Republican president George HW Bush, told MSNBC that “the purpose and the intent” of Mr Trump’s attacks are to “delitigimise” the very institutions seeking to hold him accountable in the face of multiple criminal trials.
“The former president, unfortunately, has largely succeeded in doing exactly that,” Mr Luttig said.
Millions of Americans – roughly 4.4 per cent of the nation’s adult population – believe violence is justified to keep Mr Trump in the White House, according to a July report from the University of Chicago’s Project on Security & Threats research centre. Violent support for the former president surged following his first federal indictment, the report found.
A separate survey of Americans after the 2022 midterm elections found that a significant percentage consider political violence – including “violence, threats, intimidation or harassment” – acceptable in certain scenarios, with roughly 20 per cent of respondents believing such violence was at least a “little” acceptable if their preferred candidate lost an election.
“The prohibitively high cost to the nation at this point, over the last three years, if not longer, [is that] the former president has normalized his behavior and his delegitimising and dehumanizing rhetoric into our political culture, where it will stay forever,” Mr Luttig said.
Lawyers for New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron and New York Attorney General Letitia James argued that a gag order is necessary to protect the safety of the court’s staff surrounding a civil trial alleging fraud in the Trump family business.
A sworn statement from a top security official with the state court’s system revealed that “hundreds of threats, disparaging and harassing comments and antisemitic messages” have followed Mr Trump’s attacks.
Mr Trump’s attorneys have downplayed those threats, claiming that the “sole cognizable justification” to gag the former president “is that an unknown third party may react in a hostile or offensive manner” to his speech.
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump also shared a series of conspiratorial posts from far-right activist and failed congressional candidate Laura Loomer, who has amplified a series of unsubstantiated claims about Judge Engoron and his “disgusting” wife, children, brother, niece and nephew, none of whom seem to have anything to do with the fraud case in New York.
“I hope their children are watching,” she said on her Rumble platform. “We have your minor daughter’s TikTok account.”
Federal appeals court judges also are mulling whether to gag Mr Trump in his election interference case, aiming to balance First Amendment protections around political speech while addressing the wave of threats and harassment unleashed by Mr Trump and his supporters towards the prosecutors, judges, witnesses and prospective jurors involved in the cases against him.
A recent filing from US Department of Justice special counsel Jack Smith’s team described that dynamic as “part of a pattern, stretching back years, in which people publicly targeted” by Mr Trump are “subject to harassment, threats, and intimidation.”
Mr Trump “seeks to use this well-known dynamic to his advantage,” the filing added, and “it has continued unabated as this case and other unrelated cases involving the defendant have progressed.”
It’s a dynamic depicted across hundreds of court filings and sentencing memos for defendants convicted in connection with the January 6 attack on the US Capitol, with rioters using Mr Trump’s own words and relying on false belief that the 2020 election was stolen from him to call for the deaths of elected officials, prepare their assault inside the halls of Congress, break into the building, fight off law enforcement, and force lawmakers to stop the certification of millions of Americans’ votes.
When Mr Smith’s team updated its gag order appeal to include reports of the scale of threats in the New York case, attorneys for the former president called them “irrelevant” to the case.
US District Judge Beryl Howell, who has presided over dozens of January 6 cases, warned that the stolen election narrative behind the attack presents an ongoing threat nearly three years later.
“My DC judicial colleagues and I regularly see the impact of big lies at the sentencing of hundreds” of people convicted in connection with the attack, she said in rare public remarks from Washington DC on 28 November.
“We are having a very surprising and downright troubling moment in this country when the very importance of facts is dismissed, or ignored,” she said. “That’s very risky business for all of us in our democracy. ... The facts matter.”
But the former president’s rhetoric bombards a media ecosystem that is largely failing to keep up. “Trump’s authoritarian, deeply frightening behavior (at least for those who want to continue living in a democracy) has become so normalized that most people simply ignore it,” according to former US attorney Joyce Alene White Vance. “We live in a very dangerous moment.”
His recent violent statements have received relatively limited coverage across major TV news networks, according to analysis from Media Matters, which tracks right-wing media.
Major outlets devoted “dramatically” less coverage to Mr Trump’s “vermin” statement compared to coverage of the “basket of deplorables” comment from his 2016 rival Hillary Clinton, the group found. NBC, ABC and CBS provided 18 times more coverage of Ms Clinton’s comment than Mr Trump labeling his political opponents “vermin” on their combined morning, evening and Sunday morning political talk shows, according to one analysis.
Print reports in the five highest-circulating US newspapers that mentioned Ms Clinton’s statement outnumbered Mr Trump’s by 29 to one.
Media Matters also found that Mr Trump’s “poisoning the blood of our country” statement, his pledge to turn away migrants who don’t like “our religion”, his accusations that Jewish Americans are voting to “destroy” the US and Israel, and his claim that the terrorist group Hezbollah is “very smart” received fewer than two hours of TV news coverage total within the two weeks after he said them.
“When experts are sounding the alarm about the similarities between a likely US presidential nominee’s rhetoric and that of genocidaires, it warrants much more significant attention from journalists at leading news outlets,” wrote Media Matters senior fellow Matthew Gertz.
In a column that followed a widely criticised Univision interview with the former president, influential Spanish-language news anchor Jorge Ramos warned against normalising Mr Trump’s antidemocratic threats and giving him an open microphone “to broadcast his falsehoods and conspiracy theories.”
“We must question and fact-check everything he says and does,” Mr Ramos wrote.
“I am convinced that journalists have two great responsibilities. One is to report reality as it is, not as we wish it would be,” he wrote. “And the other is to demand an accounting from those in power and to challenge them.” | US Political Corruption |
Donald Trump appeared to undermine his claim that he did not deliberately seek to overturn the results of the 2020 election while speaking during a campaign rally in 2021.
The former president and frontrunner in the GOP primaries is facing a federal indictment brought by special counsel Jack Smith in August 2023 over allegedly plotting to stay in power after losing the election, despite knowing he had fairly lost to Joe Biden. He has denied all wrongdoing.
Trump is also accused of trying to pressure former Vice President Mike Pence to stop the certification of the election results by either convincing him to accept the fake electors' false assessment that Trump had won in seven states, or by trying to get Pence to send legitimate electoral votes to state legislatures for review, rather than counting them.
Pence has corroborated this report, saying on CNN in August: "They were asking me to overturn the election. I had no right to overturn the election."
Trump's defense attorney has said, however, that the former president didn't ask Pence to overturn the will of the electorate in the 2020 election, but only wanted the former vice president to "pause" the certification of votes to allow states to investigate his claims of election fraud.
"The ultimate ask of Vice President Pence was to pause the counts and allow the states to weigh in," attorney John Lauro said on CBS in August. He added that Trump was acting upon his right to free speech and that he truly believed there were problems in the election that needed to be investigated.
But speaking at a "Save America" rally in Washington, D.C., on January 6, 2021, before Congress confirmed the election results, Trump appeared to counter that defense, saying he believed Pence had "the absolute right" to "protect our constitution."
"I hope Mike is going to do the right thing," he said. "I hope so. I hope so because if Mike Pence does the right thing, we win the election. All he has to do. This is from the number one or certainly one of the top constitutional lawyers in our country. He has the absolute right to do it. We're supposed to protect our country, support our country, support our constitution, and protect our constitution."
Newsweek has contacted representatives for Trump and Pence by email to comment on this story.
Trump's trial is set for March 2024. He is also facing an indictment in Georgia over allegedly attempting to overturn the state's election results, as well as two other criminal indictments, one pertaining to his alleged mishandling of classified documents and the other regarding falsifying business records concerning hush money payments paid to adult actress Stormy Daniels.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
About the writer
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and she is particularly interested in the impact of social policy decisions on people as well as the finances of political campaigns, corruption, foreign policy, democratic processes and more. Prior to joining Newsweek, she covered U.K. politics extensively. Kate joined Newsweek in 2023 from The Independent and has also been published in multiple publications including The Times and the Daily Mail. She has a B.A. in History from the University of Oxford and an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from City, University of London.
Languages: English.
You can get in touch with Kate by emailing [email protected], or by following her on X at @kateeplummer.
Kate Plummer is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. Her focus is on U.S. politics and national affairs, and... Read more
To read how Newsweek uses AI as a newsroom tool, Click here. | US Federal Elections |
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
It was another interesting day in Washington as House Republicans tried again, and failed again, to nominate a new speaker of the House, and the late-night hosts have been keeping close tabs on the situation.
The House Republicans' latest nominee for speaker on Tuesday morning was Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer. But it only took a few hours for his chances to quickly dwindle as he concluded that not enough votes would be there, so he dropped out of consideration.
And while his time as the possible new speaker was short-lived, he provided enough fodder for all the major late-night shows to dive into his story.
Emmer’s roller coaster day
On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, the host ran down some of Emmer’s key resumé points as a Representative, including being the House majority whip and sitting on the Financial Services Committee. He also pointed out that Emmer has had two DUI infractions and then sponsored legislation to lessen the penalties for drunk drivers.
“Ok, so a little self-serving,” Colbert said, before joking, “He also introduced H.R. 2435: That Mailbox Was Already Knocked Down.”
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) October 25, 2023
Colbert went on to point out Emmer’s unforgettable upside-down appearance during a COVID-era Zoom meeting in the House Committee. Colbert then switched to an upside-down view of himself and said as if he were Emmer, “Full disclosure, I’ve been drinking so I don’t know how to fix this, hold on, I’m just gonna drive over to the genius bar.’”
On Live, before the host jumped into Emmer’s day, he set the overall scene first.
“In the history of our country there has never been a situation like this, and there’s nothing in the constitution that covers it because our founding fathers, as forward-thinking as they were, never imagined such a large group of elected officials being so unbelievably dumb,” Kimmel said.
When it came time to discuss that the GOP “whittled” a field of eight down to one —Tom Emmer of Minnesota — Kimmel had this to say:
“They picked him, and then they kicked him out in four hours. It was crazy. This morning I didn’t even know who Tom Emmer was, now I still don’t. I have no idea. Altoids last longer than these Republican nominees.”
On The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, along with highlighting Emmer’s upside down Zoom meeting blunder from 2021, he also joked about the up-and-down day Emmer had on Tuesday.
“Yep, this morning Emmer ordered 1,000 business cards and this afternoon his assistant was like, ‘I’m gonna go ahead and cancel that order.’”
Late Night with Seth Meyers also touched on the news, with the host quipping: “Republicans have nominated Minnesota representative Tom Emmer for Speaker of the House, but it remains to be seen whether Emmer can get past these ef-ers,” while showing a three-way photo of Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan and Lauren Boebert.
And on The Daily Show, guest host Desus Nice joked about the “poor bastard” Emmer's brief speakership bid by saying, “Martin Scorsese is out there makin' movies that last longer than Speaker candidates.”
Other notable moments
The late night fun also included a sketch with Fallon and Rolling Stones singer Mick Jagger telling each other deep truths while sitting in a walk-in freezer.
Meanwhile, Kimmel surprised his own daughter in a pre-taped bit where they picked up a “hitchhiking” Olivia Rodrigo while on their way to school, which elicited a wholesome and hilarious reaction from Kimmel’s Ridrigo-loving daughter.
— Jimmy Kimmel Live (@JimmyKimmelLive) October 25, 2023
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and Late Night With Seth Meyers air on NBC; Jimmy Kimmel Live! airs on ABC; The Late Show With Stephen Colbert airs on CBS; The Daily Show airs on Comedy Central. | US Congress |
Former President Trump said he would use federal "assets" to prevent shoplifting and theft during a California GOP speech on Friday.
Trump addressed the California GOP during a Friday luncheon where he discussed ideas to restore law and order in Golden State cities like Oakland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Trump said that if elected, he would do everything in his power — "including sending as many federal assets as required to restore safety and peace" — for cities that have seen what he called a breakdown of law and order.
"We will immediately stop all of the pillaging and theft," Trump said. "Very simply, if you rob a store, you can fully expect to be shot as you are leaving that store. Shot!"
The former president also said "we have the greatest law enforcement in the world" and that they "know what to do, but they aren't allowed to do anything because of incompetent politicians."
"The word that ‘they shoot you’ will get out within minutes, and our nation within one day will be an entirely different place," Trump said.
"There must be retribution for theft, and destruction, and the ruination of our country," he added.
Trump's comments come as the former president runs to take the Republican presidential nomination in a robust field of candidates. Trump holds a commanding lead in early GOP primary polls.
The former president's speech in California came after the second GOP presidential primary debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California.
Trump did not participate in Wednesday's second debate while seven of his challengers took the stage looking to close the gap on the former president.
Trump remains the frontrunner in the GOP primary, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley trailing in most early GOP primary polls.
Fox News Digital's Thomas Phippen contributed reporting. | US Federal Elections |
- AOL co-founder and venture capitalist Steve Case worries that the government will allow Big Tech to pull the ladder up behind them when it comes to artificial intelligence innovation.
Policymakers in Washington are now engaged in a wide range of discussions regarding how to prevent AI technology from spinning out of control. But for all the focus on various dangers, we're losing sight of how the AI economy should be structured — how humanity can be best poised to take best advantage of this new frontier. Put another way, we're not paying enough attention to the question of which companies should be allowed to harness AI's potential.
While AI will surely become less expensive as specific industries find ways to harness these new tools in their own particular ways, the present costs of building the large language models that power today's generative AI are so prohibitive that most of the innovation is being driven not from the bottom up by small startups, but instead by Big Tech. That marks a departure from the ordinary patterns of creative discovery, if only because innovation is driven typically by disruptive new companies challenging the incumbents. Rather than upending the old order, there's a real possibility in this case that disruption will help the big get bigger, with challengers struggling to gain any real traction.
Perhaps more worrisome, the overwhelming focus on public fears of AI may spur policymakers to undermine what many of us call "open source" AI altogether — upending the collaborative model that has enabled a global community of innovators to work both iteratively and rapidly to build and improve the underlying technology. That should be a concern for everyone because, while we should not minimize the grave risks that come with the possibility that AI could get into the wrong hands, we must realize that failing to explore this frontier expeditiously will undermine its potential to improve health, education, and many other aspects of our lives in the near- and medium-term.
With the downside risks primarily in mind, many have predictably called for more government-managed innovation, with bureaucrats doling out AI licenses to a select group of companies — in most cases, our existing tech giants. Doing that would be abandoning the formula that has led to America's rise in favor of the top-down approach to industrial policy that China prefers. On this side of the Pacific, we've adhered to the notion that the best ideas can't be orchestrated — that they are born from the almost random collision of ideas. At its most effective, Washington works not to control any rapidly evolving industry, but to level the playing field so that the best innovations are able to scale.
If that were happening in the realm of AI, new startups would already be sprouting across the county. But a recent Brookings Institution study found that nearly 60 percent of AI jobs are currently based in Silicon Valley. That's worrisome. Policymakers need to ensure that entrepreneurs across the country have the opportunity to participate in the race to put this new technology to good use. That means ensuring that those with unique expertise who live outside Silicon Valley have a way to join the AI ecosystem. In short, AI shouldn't be a vehicle used to ensure that Silicon Valley-based Big Tech can extend its dominance.
America has not always remained true to its embrace of bottom-up innovation — and the innovation economy has suffered as a result. The iterative experimentation that eventually birthed the commercial Internet was delayed until the 1990s not because the technology wasn't ready — the underlying infrastructure had been invented in the 1960s. Rather, the problem was that AT&T convinced policymakers that it was too dangerous to give outside players access to their closed access system. The power of the Internet was unleashed only in the 1980s, when the government used antitrust policy to break up Ma Bell, and then erected a regulatory structure that forced telephone companies to open up their networks to competitors — enabling companies like mine, America Online, to start.
These lessons of the Internet should be applied to this new frontier. To maximize the benefits of AI while reducing the risks, the government should look to put guardrails in place, but not in the form of licenses that only enable only a handful of players to compete. Rather, congressional legislation should have a bias towards unleashing innovation all across the country. This includes ensuring the continued development of open-source AI platforms, and also taking steps to ensure that the big tech AI platforms adopt the same open access provisions that were applied to the phone companies nearly a half-century ago, when the Internet was being birthed.
It's important now that Washington find a way to establish ground rules that allow entrepreneurs to participate in the development of AI, and ensure that the current generation of tech leaders aren't able to pull up the ladder behind them. At a minimum, Washington must be committed to ensuring that medical researchers in the Carolinas, and burgeoning ag-tech firms in Arkansas, and clean energy startups in the Mountain West are able to harness the power of AI and then, if their ideas win in the marketplace of ideas, that their creators are able to harvest the benefits. This new technology should not be a wedge that further separates the tech world from the rest of America. It should be a bridge that connects the two.
Steve Case, a co-founder of America Online, is chairman and chief executive of Revolution, a Washington, D.C.-based venture capital firm, and author of "The Rise of the Rest: How Entrepreneurs in Surprising Places Are Building the New American Dream." He will participate in Sen. Schumer's Forum on AI on Oct. 25. | US Federal Policies |
Maine's Democratic secretary of state was questioned after claiming No Labels, a centrist group vying for a third-party spot on the 2024 ballot, was tricking voters into registering with the party.
"I am concerned about whether the secretary of state is creating concerns among voters who have voluntarily signed cards supporting the No Labels efforts." Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., co-chair of No Labels, told a local news outlet after Maine Secretary of State Shenna Bellows raised concerns about the group.
"I don't know whether she sends a letter like that out to someone who registers for the Green Party or the Libertarian Party," Collins added, revealing she found Bellows' letter "surprising."
Bellows initially suggested several complaints were made from concerned voters who did not realize they had been registered with the No Labels Party. Democrats then reached out to 6,456 Maine voters who were registered with the centrist group to verify whether they had knowledge of their political party affiliation and reportedly received about 300 calls and emails in response.
"Voter after voter is telling my team that they were instructed that they were merely signing a petition. They were not told they were changing their political party," Bellows told NBC Monday. "We have had enough similar complaints from voters and clerks alike that it raises serious concerns in our office about No Labels Party organizers."
Democrats for months have called No Labels a spoiler effort designed to hurt President Biden in the 2024 election, but the group insists the U.S. is ready for a moderate alternative to both Republicans and Democrats.
Despite Bellows' claims the group was "highly misleading" in its voter registration efforts, No Labels insists it was never made aware of any organizers asking Maine voters to sign a "petition."
"Your office's apparent effort to leak your letter immediately to the press without affording No Labels any opportunity to respond also raises legitimate questions about your objectivity," the group said in a written response to Bellows. "No Labels provided detailed written guidance to all organizers in Maine on following all applicable laws and specifically instructed all organizers to ask voters to join the No Labels Party."
No Labels said it complied with the state laws on voter registration and provided a copy of the packet that is referenced by its organizers when speaking with voters.
The "ask" portion of the packet directs the No Labels organizers what to say when speaking with voters.
"Can you take 60 seconds to update your voter registration and change your party affiliation to the No Labels Party? If we can get just 5,000 voters to register with the No Labels party we can ensure you have more than just two options come the next election," the packet says.
Former Sen. Joe Lieberman, a No Label co-founder, recently told Fox News Digital Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan of Maryland "would be naturals to consider" for the 2024 No Labels ticket if the party decides to run a candidate. | US Federal Elections |
- To become speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy was forced to make several concessions.
- He agreed to change House rules to allow any member to bring a motion to vacate the speakership.
- Less than a year later, the decision is already coming back to haunt him.
About nine months after getting elected as speaker of the House, Kevin McCarthy's days as the top Republican in Congress' lower chamber appear to be numbered.
It shouldn't come as any surprise to him, though, after he personally sacrificed any chance of stability to attain the speakership in the first place.
In January, just a few short months after an election where Republicans just barely gained majority control of the House of Representatives, McCarthy had emerged as the frontrunner to become the next House speaker. And while he clearly had the most support in the conference, his path to getting the role was anything but typical.
Traditionally, it only takes one ballot and less than one day to elect a speaker, and the victor only needs a simple majority vote to ascend to the speakership. In McCarthy's case, however, it took the House several prolonged days and fifteen votes to ultimately narrowly elect him.
McCarthy's ascension to becoming the speaker of the House didn't come without a cost. It came with several concessions to win over enough Republican holdouts.
In addition to agreeing to disallow members from voting via proxy, limitations on spending bills, and bringing back a 19th-century rule allowing legislators to reduce the salaries of federal employees, McCarthy made a key concession that's finally come back to haunt him: allowing any single House member to file a "motion to vacate" in an attempt to boot him from his seat.
There is congressional precedent for making it so simple to start such deliberations as it was the standard modus operandi for more than a century before House Democrats adjusted the rules under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi to make the process more difficult to initiate by preventing the motions from moving forward unless they were filed "by direction of a party caucus or conference."
Approximately nine months after he agreed to switch back to the "single-vote" method to offer a motion to vacate, a lone Republican has taken the opportunity and done it.
After McCarthy relied on congressional Democrats in September to reach a solution to temporarily keep the government funded, GOP firebrand Rep. Matt Gaetz filed such a motion to begin the process of removing McCarthy from his leadership position.
A simple majority in the House composed of the entire Democratic caucus and 11 Republicans have already voted to allow the motion to vacate to move forward, where it will likely be voted on Tuesday afternoon.
If a simple majority of House members vote in favor, McCarthy will be removed from the post and replaced with a temporary, unknown speaker to preside over the chamber until a new speaker is formally elected.
Though the possibility still remains that enough of the rebel GOP members renege and vote McCarthy in as speaker once again despite their frustrations, with a looming government shutdown and presidential impeachment proceedings on the horizon, whoever gains control of the office will face an uphill climb to stay in power and allow the government to function as intended. | US Congress |
You know what they say: Scammers really do stay scamming.
On September 29, the FBI released a report warning the public, and particularly senior citizens, of "Phantom Hacker" scams that can leave victims with their entire life savings gone.
Scams focusing on senior citizens are nothing new, but the FBI called these "Phantom Hacker" scams an "evolution" of the past scams we might be more familiar with. These scammers "layering imposter tech support, financial institution, and government personas to enhance the trust victims place in the scammers and identify the most lucrative accounts to target," according to the FBI report.
Oftentimes, victims give their entire backing, savings, retirement, and investment accounts over to the scammers thinking they're protecting their assets. More than $542 million, in total, has been stolen and 66 percent of those losses happened to people over 60 years old. The scams are multi-step affairs and they're only getting more common.
Tweet may have been deleted
Here's how it works: A scammer pretends to be a tech support representative, and contacts a victim over phone or email, and instructs them to download a software program that gives the scammer remote access to the victim's computer. From there, the scammer "proves" to the victim that their computer is at risk of being hacked, and requests their financial accounts to see if there have been unauthorized charges.
Then, the scammer poses as a representative from the financial institution tied to the victim's bank account, and instructs the victim to move their money to a third-party account to keep it safe. At some point, the scammer might also pose as an employee as a government agency to legitimize the scam.
To protect yourself from this kind of an invasion, the FBI recommends that you don't "click on unsolicited pop-ups, links sent via text messages, or email links or attachments. Do not contact the telephone number provided in a pop-up, text, or email. Do not download software at the request of an unknown individual who contacted you. Do not allow an unknown individual who contacted you to have control of your computer."
As a reminder, the government isn't going to ask you to wire transfer your money, buy cryptocurrency, or stock up on gift cards. I'm not saying trust no one — but I am saying don't trust that guy on the phone that you've never met telling you about a problem you allegedly have that you've never experienced and requesting you get rid of all the money you have.
Topics Cybersecurity | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
The U.S. government and international partners just tackled a big cyber headache: QakBot. This malware has been a menace for businesses and agencies for ages. The organized force not only shut it down but also managed to reclaim millions in lost funds.
The FBI and Cybersecurity Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have historically been either ineffective or quiet about tackling these organized threats. Here's the scoop on this high-tech crackdown.
The trojan horse that opened the door for ransomware
QakBot has been a notorious player in the cyber underworld since 2008. Initially introduced as a banking trojan, it shifted gears over time, becoming the favorite tool for various cybercrime groups. Their objective was to compromise networks for severe ransomware attacks. But how did QakBot work its dark magic? It usually started with deceptive emails designed to trick the receiver: they look legit and time-sensitive, like invoices or work orders.
Now, here's the tricky part: Embedded within these emails were links, attachments or, more recently, embedded images that contain malicious code. These are the 'payloads,' and they're the real danger.
If someone were to unknowingly click on the link or image or download the attachment, QakBot would spring to life, infiltrating that person's system.
Once installed, QakBot communicates with its command-and-control (C2) servers to receive instructions and updates. QakBot then scans the device and the network for valuable info, such as credentials, banking details or user accounts. QakBot can then either steal or exfiltrate the data it collects or use it to facilitate further attacks by delivering ransomware or malware.
Operation "Duck Hunt"
Martin Estrada, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of California, didn't mince words at a recent press conference in Los Angeles, declaring the operation against QakBot as "the most significant technological and financial operation ever led by the Department of Justice against a botnet."
Estrada had the numbers to back it up: QakBot had been linked to 40 different ransomware attacks in the last 18 months, resulting in a staggering $58 million in losses.
The operation, colorfully named "Duck Hunt," saw the DOJ and FBI working hand in hand, obtaining court orders not just to remove the malware but to seize control of the servers, puppeteering this nefarious botnet.
Don Alway of the FBI's Los Angeles field office revealed that the feds had gotten access to the botnet's online control panel, allowing them to instruct all infected systems to cut ties with QakBot and cleanse themselves of its influence.
QakBot's vast reach
The scale of this operation was outrageous. In the past year alone, QakBot had wormed its way into more than 700,000 machines, of which more than 200,000 were in the U.S.
The DOJ's international collaboration in this operation seized over 50 internet servers connected to this malware in seven countries. It confiscated approximately $9.5 million in cryptocurrency from the masterminds behind QakBot.
How to stay protected
While the "Duck Hunt" operation has put a significant dent in QakBot's reign, history has shown that these takedowns, though impactful, aren't always the end of the line. So, what can you do amidst this ever-shifting digital landscape? Start with the following:
Have good antivirus software on all your devices
The best way to protect yourself from having your data breached is to have antivirus protection installed on all your devices. Having good antivirus software actively running on your devices will alert you about any malware in your system, warn you against clicking on any malicious links in phishing emails and ultimately protect you from being hacked.
Have strong passwords, and use 2-factor authentication
Using the same password across multiple platforms will always make you more vulnerable, because if one account gets hacked, they all get hacked. Consider using a password manager to generate and store complex passwords. And 2-factor authentication is just an extra shield that will prevent a hacker from getting into your accounts. Make sure to use a password manager to keep track of all your passwords.
How can I check whether my information was sold on the dark web?
To check whether your information has been sold on the dark web, you can go to haveibeenpwned.com and enter your email address into the search bar. The website will search to see what data of yours is out there and display whether there have been data breaches associated with your email address on various sites. You may have even received an email from the website already, saying that some of your data has been stolen, and you should look into it immediately if that is the case.
What do I do if my data has been stolen?
If you see that your information is part of any sort of breach, you should first log out of all your accounts on every web browser on your computer. Once you’ve done that, you should completely clear out your cookies and caches. If you’re not sure how to do that, click here to learn how.
Use identity theft protection
To protect your identity from malware, investing in identity theft protection is a smart move. Identity theft protection companies can monitor personal information like your home title, Social Security Number (SSN), phone number and email address and alert you if it is being sold on the dark web or being used to open an account. They can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.
Kurt's key takeaways
The takedown of QakBot is a big win in the ever-challenging world of cybersecurity. We've watched this malware evolve since 2007, shifting tactics and increasing its reach, which truly underscores the tenacity of cybercriminals. Let’s give credit where it's due: The efforts by the U.S. government to dismantle this threat have been monumental but serious risks, and hidden dangers still run rampant.
With all of these ever-evolving threats out there, how are you keeping your digital life locked down? Have you ever come across QakBot or similar malware? If so, how did you handle it? Let us know by writing us at Cyberguy.com/Contact.
For more of my tech tips & security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.
Copyright 2023 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. | US Crime, Violence, Terrorism & cybercrime |
Washington — The sprawling,of former President Donald Trump and 18 others lists 41 counts related to alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. All 19 defendants are charged with violating Georgia's , and the remaining counts relate to an alleged variety of schemes to keep Trump in office after he lost the election.
Thirty additional unindicted alleged co-conspirators are mentioned in the indictment, but not identified.
The indictment contains charges ranging from intimidating a Fulton County election worker to submitting a fake slate of presidential electors to breaching election equipment
Some of those charged are familiar names, but others are less well-known.
Theunsealed late Monday says Trump, his co-defendants and 30 unindicted co-conspirators "constituted a criminal organization whose members and associates engaged in various" criminal activities with the goal of changing the election's outcome in the former president's favor.
Here's what to know about the 18 allies of the former president facing state felony charges:
Lawyers, campaign aides and administration officials
Rudy Giuliani
A former federal prosecutor who served as mayor of New York City from 1994 through 2001, Giuliani faces 13 counts in the Georgia case. He was Trump's personal attorney for more than half of his presidency and spearheaded the effort to, as he described it, find voter fraud, and as prosecutors claim, overturn the election.
The Georgia indictment alleges that Giuliani, "in furtherance of the conspiracy" to overturn the election, called the speaker of the Arizona House, and appeared before and tried to contact legislators in Arizona, Pennsylvania, Georgia, and Michigan to convince them to "unlawfully appoint" presidential electors from their states.
Giuliani is also accused in the indictment of making false statements accusing election workers in Fulton County of stealing votes.
In a July interview with CBS News, Giuliani's attorney Robert Costello described his client's role in the aftermath of the election as "he [was] like the general of this army" of lawyers and others pursuing proof of fraud in the election.
In a statement to CBS News, Giuliani said the case "is an affront to American Democracy and does permanent, irrevocable harm to our justice system."
"The real criminals here are the people who have brought this case forward both directly and indirectly," Giuliani said.
Trump was also indicted Aug. 1 on federal charges related to his broader efforts to overturn the election. That indictment lists six unindicted co-conspirators, and Costello acknowledged to CBS News on Aug. 2 that a person identified as "Co-Conspirator 1" "appears" to be Giuliani.
Prosecutors in that case described "Co-Conspirator 1" as "an attorney who was willing to spread knowingly false claims and pursue strategies that [Trump's] 2020 re-election campaign attorneys would not," and someone Trump appointed to "spearhead his efforts going forward to challenge the election results."
Mark Meadows
He is the former White House chief of staff, and was on the Jan. 2, 2021, call between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. Meadows also allegedly attempted to observe the secretary of state's audit of absentee ballots.
Meadows is portrayed in the indictment as a go-between for Trump and others involved in coordinating his team's strategy for contesting the election and "disrupting and delaying the joint session of Congress on Jan. 6, 2021." Meadows did not reply to a request for comment.
He is charged with two counts, one of which relates to the call with Raffensperger.
John Eastman
He's a former Supreme Court clerk to Justice Clarence Thomas and is a conservative attorney who was a key contributor to planning by Trump allies to contest the election. The indictment claims Eastman sent an email suggesting "that the Trump presidential elector nominees in Georgia needed to meet on December 14, 2020, sign six sets of certificates of vote, and mail them 'to the President of the Senate and to other officials.'" Eastman did not reply to a request for comment.
He faces nine counts relating to the alleged plot to send the fake slate of electors to Congress, which the indictment says were intended to "disrupt and delay the joint session of Congress" on Jan. 6, 2021, in order to alter the outcome of the 2020 election.
Jeffrey Clark
is a former Justice Department official who Trump wanted to install as acting attorney general before the threat of mass resignations by Justice Department officials led him to back down, according to the House select committee that investigated the events surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack. The indictment charges Clark with two counts and claims an email he sent to then-Acting U.S. Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen seeking to send "false" information to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp was a "substantial step" in the racketeering case.
In a statement to CBS News, a spokesperson for Clark called him "a brilliant legal mind who has litigated cases of national significance in and out of government for decades."
"Willis is exceeding her powers by inserting herself into the operations of the federal government to go after Jeff," said the spokesperson, Rachel Cauley, referring to Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
Willisinto the efforts to in Georgia in 2021, which culminated in the indictment unsealed Monday.
Jenna Ellis
Jenna Ellis is a lawyer who was affiliated with the Trump campaign, and along with Giuliani, allegedly promoted misinformation about the election during a legislative hearing. She faces two counts, one of which stems from alleged efforts to convince Georgia state senators to unlawfully appoint presidential electors supporting Trump. Ellis did not reply to a request for comment.
Sidney Powell
Powell is a conservative lawyer who was involved in planning Trump's efforts to contest the election, including in meetings at the White House. Powell allegedly coordinated with the data company SullivanStrickler to access election data from Coffee County, Georgia, and faces seven counts related to those efforts. A request for comment was not immediately returned.
Kenneth Chesebro
He proposed, in a memorandum to Trump allies, "a bold, controversial strategy" to overturn the election: appoint alternate electors loyal to Trump in several states. That and at least one other memo he penned were referred to in the indictment as overt acts "in furtherance of the conspiracy." He is charged with seven counts stemming from the plan to submit a slate of fake electors from Georgia.
Chesebro did not reply to a request for comment.
Ray Smith III
A lawyer for the Trump campaign, Smith is accused of falsely claiming to Georgia state senators that there was widespread fraud in the 2020 election and that tens of thousands of people voted illegally.
The indictment claims Smith unlawfully requested state lawmakers appoint a different set of electors from Georgia who would cast their votes for Trump and furthered the false elector scheme, including by conspiring to make a document that purported to be the certificate of the votes of the 2020 presidential electors from Georgia.
He faces 12 charges. An attorney for Smith did not reply to a request for comment.
Robert Cheeley
Cheeley, a longtime lawyer in Georgia, is facing 10 counts. He and Eastman allegedly communicated in early December 2020 about the plan for the fake electors to meet and cast their Electoral College votes for the former president, despite his loss.
The indictment accuses him of pushing Georgia state lawmakers to appoint an alternate slate of presidential electors and making false claims about the vote-counting taking place at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta.
Cheeley is also accused of making false statements to the Fulton County Special Purpose Grand Jury, which wasin May 2022 to aid in her investigation. He declined to comment.
Michael Roman
Roman was director of Election Day operations for Trump's 2020 campaign and is charged with seven counts.
He allegedly received documents from Chesebro in December 2020 that were to be used by Trump electors in Georgia to cast fake Electoral College votes for the former president. The charges against Roman stem from the fake electors scheme.
The fake electors
On Dec. 14, 2020, Georgia's members of the Electoral College gathered in the state Capitol to cast their votes for Mr. Biden, because he had won the state. That day, in a different room in the Capitol, a group of 16 alternate or "fake" electors also gathered, ostensibly to vote for Trump. The indictment notes that they later sent fake certificates to the National Archives in Washington, D.C., the U.S. Senate, and the Georgia secretary of state.
In 2022, Willis' office sent all 16 fake electors letters identifying them as targets of the investigation, but in May lawyer Kimberly Debrowin a court filing that at least half had accepted immunity deals in the case.
Three of them were charged Tuesday.
Cathy Latham
A Republican official, she was seen on surveillance video escorting computer and data experts into the elections office in Coffee County before an apparent breach of the county's voting systems.
Latham faces a total of 11 counts in the indictment, some of which relate to the scheme to submit a fake slate of presidential electors casting their votes in favor of Trump. The others stem from the effort to allegedly tamper with voting equipment in Coffee County. A request to her for comment was not immediately returned.
David Shafer
Shafer is a former state senator and chairman emeritus of the Georgia Republican Party. He has been charged with eight counts, some of which relate to the presidential elector scheme.
According to the indictment, Shafer received an email from Chesebro on Dec. 10, 2020, that allegedly contained documents to be used by the fake electors to cast their votes for Trump. He also allegedly reserved a room in the Georgia State Capitol for a meeting of the alternate electors on Dec. 14, 2020, when presidential electors nationwide met to vote. The indictment claims Shafer falsely claimed to be the chairman of the 2020 Georgia Electoral College meeting.
An attorney for Shafer said he is "totally innocent" of the charges filed against him.
"His conduct regarding the 2020 Presidential election was lawful, appropriate and specifically authorized by the U.S. Constitution, federal and state law and long standing legal precedent," Charles Gillen, Shafer's lawyer, said in a statement.
Shawn Still
He is a Republican member of Georgia's state Senate and is charged with seven counts. The indictment alleges Still falsely claimed to be a presidential elector from Georgia and is accused of misrepresenting himself as the secretary of the 2020 Georgia Electoral College meeting. A request for comment was not immediately returned.
Others charged
Trevian Kutti
A former publicist for Kanye West, the rapper now known as Ye, Kutti is charged with three counts, two of which relate to a plan to pressure Ruby Freeman, a former election worker in Fulton County.
The charging document states that Kutti traveled to Freeman's house on Jan. 4, 2021, and unsuccessfully tried to speak with her. Kutti allegedly told a neighbor she was a crisis manager attempting to "help" Freeman. The two spoke on the phone later that day, according to the indictment, and Kutti claimed that Freeman was in danger. Kutti allegedly requested they meet at a Cobb County Police Department precinct, which they did for roughly one hour.
The filing claims Willie Lewis Floyd, another co-defendant, joined the meeting by telephone, and he and Kutti told Freeman "she needed protection and purported to offer her help." She, along with Lee and Floyd, allegedly aimed to influence Freeman's testimony in an official proceeding in Fulton County about the events at Atlanta's State Farm Arena on Election Day.
Stephen Lee
Lee, a pastor from Illinois, is charged with five counts that involve the attempts to influence Freeman. The indictment says Lee went to Freeman's home on consecutive days in mid-December 2020 and eventually asked Floyd, who was associated with Black Voices for Trump, for help with speaking to Freeman.
The charging document claims Lee told Floyd that the former election worker was "afraid" to speak with him "because he was a white man." A request to him for comment was not immediately returned.
Willie Lewis Floyd
Floyd was the director of Black Voices for Trump and faces three criminal charges. . The indictment claims he participated in the effort to pressure Freeman to make false statements about the events at the State Farm Arena. A request for comment was not immediately returned.
Scott Hall
Hall is a Georgia bail bondsman who allegedly helped with the unlawful breach of election equipment and theft of voter data in Coffee County, the indictment states. He faces seven counts in all, six of which relate to those efforts. A request to Hall for comment was not immediately returned.
Misty Hampton
The final person listed in the indictment, Hampton is the former elections supervisor for Coffee County and faces seven charges.
She is accused of allowing two unnamed co-conspirators to enter non-public areas of the Coffee County Board of Elections and Registration office and facilitating their access to voting equipment.
Jonathan Miller, an attorney for Hampton, said in a statement she hasn't done anything illegal and predicted the prosecution will fail.
"This is a nationally concerted effort to intimidate and silence government whistleblowers and clerks when they react to witnessing election fraud, law violations, and/or vulnerabilities with the election system that contravenes the 'big lie' narrative adopted by mainstream media," Miller said. "When she is found innocent or the case is dismissed will you publish her victory? Please remember in this Country a person is innocent until proven guilty, it is not their job to prove they are innocent as the media so often intimates they must do."
for more features. | US Political Corruption |
Subsets and Splits