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| 01-02-21 01:57pm - 1450 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Democracy in action. 11 Republican senators announced Saturday they will challenge the outcome of the presidential election. That is their right. The Democrats need to toughen up. They need to assemble a firing squad and execute the 11 Republican senators for treason. The Republican senators are trying to overthrow the US government. The Republicans need to pay for their treason. End of story. ------ ------ Cruz leads 11 GOP senators challenging Biden win over Trump Associated Press LISA MASCARO and MARY CLARE JALONICK January 1, 2021, 10:10 PM WASHINGTON (AP) — A coalition of 11 Republican senators announced Saturday it will challenge the outcome of the presidential election by voting to reject electors from some states when Congress meets next week to certify the Electoral College results that confirmed President-elect Joe Biden won. President Donald Trump’s extraordinary refusal to accept his election defeat and the effort to subvert the will of the voters has become a defining moment for Republicans and is tearing the party apart. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has urged Republican not to try to overturn the election. The 11 senators, led by Ted Cruz of Texas, said they will vote against certain state electors unless Congress appoints an electoral commission to immediately conduct an audit of the election results. They acknowledged they are unlikely to change the results of the election. “We intend to vote on January 6 to reject the electors from disputed states as not ‘regularly given’ and ‘lawfully certified’ (the statutory requisite), unless and until that emergency 10-day audit is completed,” they wrote in the statement. “We do not take this action lightly,” they said. In response to Trump’s unfounded claims of voter fraud, bipartisan election officials and Trump’s then-Attorney General William Barr have said there was no evidence of widespread fraud and the election ran smoothly. The days ahead are expected to do little to change the outcome. Biden is set to be inaugurated Jan. 20 after winning the Electoral College vote 306-232. Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri was the first to defy McConnell by announcing he would join House Republicans in objecting to the state tallies during Wednesday's joint session of Congress. On the other side of the party’s split, Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska warned such challenges are a “dangerous ploy” threatening the nation’s civic norms. The issue is forcing Republicans to make choices that will set the contours of the post-Trump era and an evolving GOP. Caught in the middle is Vice President Mike Pence, who faces growing pressure and a lawsuit from Trump’s allies over his ceremonial role in presiding over the session Wednesday. “I will not be participating in a project to overturn the election,” Sasse wrote in a lengthy social media post. Sasse, a potential 2024 presidential contender, said he was “urging my colleagues also to reject this dangerous ploy.” Trump, the first president to lose a reelection bid in almost 30 years, has attributed his defeat to widespread voter fraud, despite the consensus of nonpartisan election officials that there wasn’t any. Of the roughly 50 lawsuits the president and his allies have filed challenging election results, nearly all have been dismissed or dropped. He’s also lost twice at the U.S. Supreme Court. Still, the president has pushed Republican senators to pursue his unfounded charges even though the Electoral College has already cemented Biden’s victory and all that’s left is Congress’ formal recognition of the count before the new president is sworn in. “We are letting people vote their conscience,” Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking Republican, told reporters at the Capitol. Thune’s remarks as the GOP whip in charge of rounding up votes show that Republican leadership is not putting its muscle behind Trump’s demands, but allowing senators to choose their course. He noted the gravity of questioning the election outcome. “This is an issue that’s incredibly consequential, incredibly rare historically and very precedent-setting,” he said. “This is a big vote. They are thinking about it.” Pence will be carefully watched as he presides over what is typically a routine vote count in Congress but is now heading toward a prolonged showdown that could extend into Wednesday night, depending on how many challenges are mounted. The vice president is being sued by a group of Republicans who want Pence to have the power to overturn the election results by doing away with an 1887 law that spells out how Congress handles the vote count. Trump’s own Justice Department may have complicated what is already a highly improbable effort to upend the ritualistic count. It asked a federal judge to dismiss the last-gasp lawsuit from Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, and a group of Republican electors from Arizona who are seeking to force Pence to step outside mere ceremony and shape the outcome of the vote. In a court filing in Texas, the department said they have “have sued the wrong defendant” and Pence should not be the target of the legal action. “A suit to establish that the Vice President has discretion over the count, filed against the Vice President, is a walking legal contradiction,” the department argues. A judge in Texas dismissed the Gohmert lawsuit Friday night. U.S. District Judge Jeremy Kernodle, a Trump appointee, wrote that the plaintiffs “allege an injury that is not fairly traceable” to Pence, “and is unlikely to be redressed by the requested relief.” To ward off a dramatic unraveling, McConnell convened a conference call with Republican senators Thursday specifically to address the coming joint session and logistics of tallying the vote, according to several Republicans granted anonymity to discuss the private call. The Republican leader pointedly called on Hawley to answer questions about his challenge to Biden’s victory, according to two of the Republicans. But there was no response because Hawley was a no-show, the Republicans said. His office did not respond to a request for comment. Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., who has acknowledged Biden’s victory and defended his state’s elections systems as valid and accurate, spoke up on the call, objecting to those challenging Pennsylvania’s results and making clear he disagrees with Hawley’s plan to contest the result, his office said in a statement. McConnell had previously warned GOP senators not to participate in raising objections, saying it would be a terrible vote for colleagues. In essence, lawmakers would be forced to choose between the will of the outgoing president and that of the voters. Several Republicans have indicated they are under pressure from constituents back home to show they are fighting for Trump in his baseless campaign to stay in office. ___ Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani in Chicago contributed to this report. | |
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| 01-03-21 05:24pm - 1449 days | #2 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Trump's 'less-than-perfect' call to Georgia officials could also be a crime Yahoo News David Knowles January 3, 2021, 2:14 PM As word spread Sunday of President Trump’s astonishing phone conversation with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger the day before, there was widespread speculation that the president had committed one or more crimes in his effort to overturn the results of the election in Georgia, including extortion and, ironically, election fraud. A recording of the one-hour call was released Sunday by the Washington Post. The president is heard pressuring Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes” that would put him in the lead over President-elect Joe Biden in Georgia, which has already certified its results. Trump also threatens Raffensperger with the possibility of criminal charges unless he comes up with the votes to overturn the election results. “You know, that’s a criminal — that’s a criminal offense. And you know, you can’t let that happen,” Trump says on the call. “That’s a big risk to you and to Ryan, your lawyer. That’s a big risk.” The Post did not say who recorded the call or how it obtained the tape. Trump offered no direct evidence of voter fraud in Georgia, instead offering second-hand conspiracy theories about manipulated voting machines, ballots being scanned multiple times and votes simply being thrown out — all of which were investigated by Georgia law enforcement and the FBI, and found to be untrue. But Trump went beyond trying to prove that he won the state by “hundreds of thousands of votes,” pressuring Raffensperger to simply announce a new vote total showing him beating Biden. “There’s nothing wrong with saying that, you know, that you’ve recalculated,” the president said. Joined on the call by his general counsel, Ryan Germany, Raffensperger calmly and methodically disputes Trump’s election theories. “Well, Mr. President, the challenge that you have is the data you have is wrong,” Raffensperger said. Trump’s actions could constitute election fraud. Section 52 of the U.S. Code concerns voting and elections, and provides for a sentence of up to five years for: “A person, including an election official, who in any election for Federal office (1) knowingly and willfully intimidates, threatens, or coerces, or attempts to intimidate, threaten, or coerce, any person for- (A) registering to vote, or voting, or attempting to register or vote; (B) urging or aiding any person to register to vote, to vote, or to attempt to register or vote; or (C) exercising any right under this chapter; or (2) knowingly and willfully deprives, defrauds, or attempts to deprive or defraud the residents of a State of a fair and impartially conducted election process, by (A) the procurement or submission of voter registration applications that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held; or (B) the procurement, casting, or tabulation of ballots that are known by the person to be materially false, fictitious, or fraudulent under the laws of the State in which the election is held.” Trump’s citing possible criminal charges for Raffensperger unless he produces a different election result in Georgia could be seen as extortion, which section 18, chapter 41 of the U.S. code expressly prohibits. The former lead counsel in Trump’s impeachment trial — which was predicated on what Trump called his “perfect phone call” to the president of Ukraine — agreed that this was also a less-than-perfect call by the president. “It’s gonna be costly to you.” I’ve charged extortion in mob cases with similar language. https://t.co/wB0jV9Mkhl — Daniel Goldman (@danielsgoldman) January 3, 2021 NYU law professor and former DOJ lawyer Andrew Weissmann also noted the similarity with Trump’s attempts to pressure Ukraine’s government to investigate Joe and Hunter Biden. Trump's threats to Georgia Sec of State; Trump, to Ukraine President; Trump to US Senators who won't violate the Constitution for him - and on and on - are all examples of POTUS criminal extortion and election tampering. And those who knowingly assist him violate 18 USC 2 & 371. — Andrew Weissmann (@AWeissmann_) January 3, 2021 Trump’s call also raised the question of sedition, which is defined as “conduct or speech inciting people to rebel against the authority of a state or monarch.” In a statement Sunday, Biden senior adviser Bob Bauer made many of those same points. “We now have irrefutable proof of a president pressuring and threatening an official of his own party to get him to rescind a state’s lawful, certified vote count and fabricate another in its place,” Bauer said in his statement. While flipping Georgia’s 16 electoral votes would not, by itself, change the outcome of the presidential election, it would be an important symbolic victory for Trump as he fights to overturn the results in several other swing states, including Michigan and Pennsylvania. Brad Raffensperger Georgia's Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger commenting on his state's election results, Dec. 2, 2020. (Elijah Nouvelage/Reuters) Trump did more than threaten Raffensperger; at several points he was reduced to pleading. “Fellas, I need 11,000 votes, give me a break,” he says near the end of the call. Whether Trump’s words result in legal troubles for the 45th president once he leaves office remains to be seen. If it does, though, Michael Bromwich, former Department of Justice inspector general and former assistant U.S. attorney suggested one possible defense. Unless there are portions of the tape that somehow negate criminal intent, "I just want to find 11,780 votes" and his threats against Raffensperger and his counsel violate 52 U.S. Code § 20511. His best defense would be insanity.https://t.co/ZAtRgiRQmz — Michael R. Bromwich (@mrbromwich) January 3, 2021 | |
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| 01-07-21 08:22pm - 1445 days | #3 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing Finally, there is justice. Iraq has issued an arrest warrant for President Donald Trump. Two important Iraquis, Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, were killed in a drone strike in Iraq. The arrest warrant was for a charge of premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty on conviction. It is unlikely to be carried out but symbolic in the waning days of Trump's presidency. This means that Trump should not put Iraq on his vacation dream list any time soon. Unless he wants to be a martyr to his theory that Biden truly stole the presidency away from Trump. Trump can die with the famous words: "Give me liberty or give me death." What a way to go. ----- ----- Iraq issues arrest warrant for Trump over Soleimani killing AOL Associated Press January 7, 2021, 10:51 AM BAGHDAD (AP) — An arrest warrant was issued Thursday for outgoing President Donald Trump in connection with the killing of an Iranian general and a powerful Iraqi militia leader last year, Iraq's judiciary said. The warrant was issued by a judge in Baghdad's investigative court tasked with probing the Washington-directed drone strike that killed Gen. Qassim Soleimani and Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, the court's media office said. They were killed outside the capital’s airport last January. Al-Muhandis was the deputy leader of the state-sanctioned Popular Mobilization Forces, an umbrella group composed of an array of militias, including Iran-backed groups, formed to fight the Islamic State group. Soleimani headed the expeditionary Quds force of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps. The arrest warrant was for a charge of premeditated murder, which carries the death penalty on conviction. It is unlikely to be carried out but symbolic in the waning days of Trump's presidency. The decision to issue the warrant "was made after the judge recorded the statements of the claimants from the family of Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis,” according to a statement from the Supreme Judicial Council. The investigation into the killings is ongoing, the court said. The killings sparked a diplomatic crisis and strained U.S.-Iraq ties, drawing the ire of Shiite political lawmakers who passed a non-binding resolution to pressure the government to oust foreign troops from the country. Iran-backed groups have since stepped up attacks against the American presence in Iraq, leading to threats by Washington to shutter its Baghdad diplomatic mission. | |
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| 01-07-21 08:31pm - 1445 days | #4 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Burger King revamps brand for the first time in 20 years. Now President Trump can try to taste the difference. And maybe switch from McDonald's to Burger King for his brand of preference. ------ ------ Burger King revamps brand for first time in over 20 years Thomson Reuters Sheila Dang Jan 7th 2021 10:33AM (Reuters) - Burger King has redesigned its brand including its logo, food packaging and restaurants in order to reflect improvements such as eliminating preservatives, the fast food chain announced on Thursday. "We've been doing a lot in terms of food quality and experience," said Fernando Machado, global chief marketing officer of Restaurant Brands International, which owns Burger King. "We felt that putting a wrap around all that with an upgrade of our visual identity would help signal to our consumers that this is a brand that's evolving." The rebranding, Burger King's first in over 20 years, includes a new logo with a rounded font that mirrors the shape of its burgers and other menu items. Bold colors in shades of brown, red and green are a nod to Burger King's flame grilling process and its use of fresh ingredients, the company said. AdChoices Burger King earlier this year announced it would remove all artificial colors and preservatives from its signature Whopper burgers as fast food chains are increasingly introducing healthier options to follow consumer tastes. The company's famously quirky plastic-faced mascot - The King - won't be going anywhere despite the rebranding. "We love him the way he is, and he will continue to be weird," Machado said. (Reporting by Sheila Dang, Editing by Nick Zieminski) | |
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| 01-07-21 08:36pm - 1445 days | #5 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Rats deserting a sinking ship. The number of people resigning from Trump's last days as president is going up. ------ ------ Barr says Trump's conduct is a 'betrayal' of the presidency NBC Universal The Associated Press January 7, 2021, 8:00 AM Former Attorney General William Barr says President Donald Trump’s conduct as a violent mob of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol was a “betrayal of his office and supporters.” Barr said Thursday that “orchestrating a mob to pressure Congress is inexcusable” in a statement obtained by NBC News. The Associated Press was the first to report Barr's remarks. Barr was one of Trump’s most loyal and ardent defenders in the Cabinet. His comments come a day after angry and armed protesters broke into the U.S. Capitol, forcing Congress members to halt the ongoing vote to certify President-elect Joe Biden’s election and then flee from the House and Senate chambers. Barr resigned last month amid lingering tension over the president’s baseless claims of election fraud and the investigation into Biden’s son. Barr said there was no widespread fraud in the election, defying Trump, who has made baseless claims the basis of a failed legal bid to overturn the results and stay in power. His resignation was "on his own accord" and "wasn't pushed out or forced to resign," a White House official said at the time. Trump tweeted of his departure, "Our relationship has been a very good one, he has done an outstanding job! As per letter, Bill will be leaving just before Christmas to spend the holidays with his family." | |
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| 01-07-21 08:39pm - 1445 days | #6 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
First Congressional Republican Openly Calls For Removing Trump With 25th Amendment HuffPost Sara Boboltz January 7, 2021, 8:10 AM Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois became the first Republican member of Congress to openly call for President Donald Trump’s removal using the 25th Amendment, saying it was necessary to “end this nightmare” following Wednesday’s deadly insurrection on Capitol Hill. Vice President Mike Pence should begin initiating the removal process, Kinzinger said in a video statement Thursday, “to ensure the next few weeks are safe for the American people, and that we have a sane captain on the ship.” “Sadly, yesterday it became evident that not only did the president abdicate his duty to protect the American people and the People’s House, he invoked and inflamed passions that only gave fuel to the insurrection that we saw,” Kinzinger said. “When pressed to move and denounce the violence he barely did so, while of course victimizing himself and seeming to give a wink and a nod to those doing it. All are indications are that the president has become unmoored, not just from his duty, but from reality itself.” “Here’s the truth: The president caused this. The president is unfit, and the president is unwell,” Kinzinger said, addressing conspiracy theorists who joined in the mob breaching the Capitol. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) called on Pence to begin 25th Amendment proceedings minutes later, saying in a statement that Trump “should not hold office one day longer.” “If the Vice President and Cabinet refuse to stand up, Congress should reconvene to impeach the president,” he said. A number of White House officials have been privately discussing invoking the 25th Amendment, The Washington Post and other outlets reported Thursday morning. Doing so would be an extraordinary step, allowing Pence to perform the president’s duties until he is deemed fit, or until President-elect Joe Biden is sworn into office in just under two weeks. Some congressional Democrats and elected Republicans have already called for Trump’s removal from office following the riot, which left four people dead. Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) announced Wednesday that she would be drawing up articles of impeachment. Schumer’s statement was echoed by Rep. John Garamendi (D-Calif.) shortly afterward. It’s with a heavy heart I am calling for the sake of our Democracy that the 25th Amendment be invoked. My statement: pic.twitter.com/yVyQrYcjuD — Adam Kinzinger (@RepKinzinger) January 7, 2021 Trump “has a bunker mentality now,” one unnamed White House official told The Washington Post. The president spent Wednesday evening holed up in the White House while Congress reconvened the joint session to certify Biden’s election win, which had been abruptly halted earlier in the day so lawmakers and staffers could be rushed to safety. Trump was behaving like “a total monster,” an official told the Post. The outlet noted that the president had to be persuaded to issue a statement to calm his supporters. Yet instead of telling them to immediately leave the Capitol, Trump posted a video to Twitter in which he merely told the rioters to act peacefully, telling them, “We love you.” The social media platform has now banned the president from posting out of fear that he will incite more violence. Several White House officials have resigned due to the incident. Among them are Stephanie Grisham, the first lady’s press secretary, and Mick Mulvaney, the former White House chief of staff who still had an administration post as special envoy to Northern Ireland. Others are reportedly considering making an exit with just 13 days left in Trump’s term. “Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they’re worried the president might put someone worse in,” Mulvaney told CNBC. | |
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| 01-08-21 09:21am - 1444 days | #7 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
It's official: Trump will not attend the inauguration of Joe Biden, the man who stole the presidency from our beloved President Donald Trump, the bestest, most honest, bravest President we've ever had. --------- --------- Donald Trump Will Not Attend Joe Biden's Inauguration HuffPost Paige Lavender January 8, 2021, 7:54 AM President Donald Trump officially announced he will not be attending President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration on Jan. 20. Trump tweeted the announcement Friday. To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021 The announcement was no surprise; Trump has railed against the results of the election for the last two months, pushing conspiracy theories and misinformation about voter fraud while insisting he’d defeated Biden. AdChoices Biden won both the popular vote, with more than 81 million votes cast in his favor, and the Electoral College vote. Congress certified the Electoral College votes early Thursday morning, after the process was initially disrupted by a mob of Trump supporters who breached Capitol security. In a video shared on social media Thursday evening, more than 24 hours after the riot at the Capitol occurred, Trump finally acknowledged that Biden would be taking over the presidency on Jan. 20. Presidents typically attend the inauguration ceremonies of their successors in order to help facilitate a peaceful transition of power. Three former presidents are expected to attend Biden’s inauguration: Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama. Former President Jimmy Carter, who has attended every inauguration since his own in 1977, has said he will not attend. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. | |
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| 01-08-21 09:29am - 1444 days | #8 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Trump has discussed pardoning himself, source says Reuters January 8, 2021, 1:24 AM WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Trump has discussed the possibility of pardoning himself in recent weeks, a source familiar with the situation said on Thursday. Such a pardon would be an extraordinary use of presidential power by Trump, a Republican who lost the Nov. 3 election to Democrat Joe Biden and will leave office on Jan. 20. The White House declined comment. The New York Times earlier reported that Trump had said he was considering pardoning himself in discussions with aides since the November election, citing two unidentified people with knowledge of the conversations. "In several conversations since Election Day, Mr. Trump has told advisers that he is considering giving himself a pardon and, in other instances, asked whether he should and what the effect would be on him legally and politically, according to the two people," the Times reported. The newspaper said it was not clear whether Trump had discussed the matter since the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters on Wednesday, which prompted calls for his removal from office by the top two Democrats in Congress. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer both said that Vice President Mike Pence and the Cabinet should invoke the 25th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution to remove Trump from power. A Pence adviser said the vice president opposes use of the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office. Trump, who has issued a series of pardons to political allies and friends, said in a 2018 Twitter post: "I have the absolute right to PARDON myself." Trump faces state legal actions that would not be covered by a federal pardon. They include a criminal probe by Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance and a civil probe by New York state Attorney General Letitia James into whether he inflated asset values to obtain loans and tax benefits in his business dealings. Constitutional lawyers say there is not a definitive answer on whether a president can lawfully issue a self-pardon. No president has tried it before, so the courts have not weighed in. "When people ask me if a president can pardon himself, my answer is always, 'Well, he can try,'" Brian Kalt, a constitutional law professor at Michigan State University, earlier told Reuters. "The Constitution does not provide a clear answer on this." Some legal experts have said a self-pardon would be unconstitutional because it violates the principle that nobody should be the judge in his or her own case. | |
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| 01-09-21 06:28am - 1443 days | #9 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
West Virginia Lawmaker Who Filmed Self Storming Capitol To Face Charges HuffPost Ryan J. Reilly January 8, 2021, 11:22 AM WASHINGTON ― A right-wing West Virginia lawmaker who stormed the U.S. Capitol during an insurrectionist attack in support of President Donald Trump’s losing reelection campaign will face charges, a federal official said Friday. Derrick Evans, a member of the West Virginia House of Delegates who livestreamed himself invading the U.S. Capitol but claims he “committed no criminal act,” will face charges, an official with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia said. The case was expected to appear on a court docket on Friday. West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans, left, will face charges for storming the U.S. Capitol. (Photo: Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature/AP) West Virginia House of Delegates member Derrick Evans, left, will face charges for storming the U.S. Capitol. (Photo: Perry Bennett/West Virginia Legislature/AP) The charge was an indication that federal officials would use social media posts and other evidence to go after the insurrectionists even though they were allowed to leave the Capitol Building without being arrested and processed. Also charged was Richard Barnett, who posed for photos inside House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s office and gave an interview identifying himself. Nick Ochs, the leader of the Hawaii chapter of the far-right group Proud Boys, and Kristina Malimon, the vice chair for the Young Republicans of Oregon, were also reportedly arrested for their involvement in the riot. Malimon gained infamy earlier this year when a Trump boat parade she helped organize led to the sinking of a family’s boat. Malimon’s 54-year-old mother was also arrested. Another defendant who had 11 Molotov cocktails in a truck with Alabama license plates will also face charges, officials said. Ken Kohl, the No. 2 official in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, said the investigation was the highest priority for the Justice Department. “We literally have hundreds of prosecutors and agents working from three command centers on what is really a 24-7 operation,” he said. “It is active, it is fluid, it is evolving.” Steven D’Antuono, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Washington field office, said the bureau was “far from done” and that the rioting and destruction “would not be tolerated” by the FBI. “I want to stress this: Just because you’ve left the D.C. region, you can still expect a knock on the door if we find out that you were part of the criminal activity at the Capitol,” D’Antuono said. Federal officials said they appreciated the tips they’d received from the public, and that hundreds of federal law enforcement officials were working around the clock to identify and charge as many of the insurrectionists as possible. Dominique Mosbergen contributed reporting. | |
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| 01-11-21 04:53pm - 1441 days | #10 | |
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Tree Rodent (0)
Active User  Posts: 708 Registered: Oct 29, '08 Location: UK |
I understand your pain, but both sides are past the point of talking. There are two very separate factions. Over in GB it has been pointed out by conservative observers that American elections are now more like those from a banana republic. Any election where official observers are not allowed to observe precludes it from being considered fair and democratic. Writing about it is not going to help because there are those on your side and those against. No one is changing their mind at this point, and it's not for me to give advice, so I'm going to give you some advice, I would save your exasperation and perspiration, lower your blood pressure, and give yourself a complete break from the news. For the record I very much admire Trump for what he has achieved in reducing unemployment, stimulation business, then taxing fairly and using the money to invest in deprived and underprivileged areas. One side cares about that and one side doesn't. Sometimes you have to give yourself a break from the anger and injustice. that's the world we live in. What are conservatives going to do next? I don't know, but whatever it is, all of the conservative world needs to support it. | |
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| 01-13-21 01:53am - 1439 days | #11 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Some Democrats are trying to impeach Trump after his term of presidency is over. This would give Republicans a chance to punish the ex-president once he's no longer the president. But would Republicans want to hurt or help their own party? By exposing Trump to a trial in the Senate once again? Politics can be strange. It's not about trying to act high-minded and accomplish the greatest good for the people: instead, it's about sniping at your enemies, exposing the dirty linen they've tried to hide. Lock him up, says Biden, echoing the immortal words of Donald Trump. It's probably too late to lock up Hilary Clinton. But there's still a chance to lock up Donald Trump. There's still time for Trump to issue a pardon for himself and the rest of his family. And then the nation can focus on more important issues. Note: a pardon for Trump would not shield him on the state level: Trump is under investigation for civil and criminal offenses in New York and other states. Can Trump emigrate to Russia, where he would be shielded from US laws? Would Putin welcome Trump with open arms, or would he banish Trump to Siberia, since Putin has little regard for losers? Enquiring minds want to know: Can Trump act as a shill for Putin? Can Trump sell enough American secrets to Putin to live a life of luxury in exile? | |
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| 01-13-21 02:57am - 1439 days | #12 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Republicans are special people: they should not have to follow the same rules that peons and Scummy Democrats have to follow. In many government buildings, a normal person has to pass through metal detectors, remove a belt, have any luggage searched while entering. But Republicans claim the rules are different for Republicans, who are the highest beings on Earth, close to God Himself. Citizens, to arms, take your AK-47s to Washington, and shoot down any police who do not recognize the rights of Republicans!!!!!! ------ ------ Republicans protest, circumvent new metal detectors inside Capitol after riot NBC Universal Dartunorro Clark and Alex Moe and Haley Talbot January 12, 2021, 7:32 PM WASHINGTON — Several Republican members of Congress on Tuesday complained about — or outright bypassed — the metal detectors to enter the House floor, which were ordered put in place by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., after last week's deadly riot at the Capitol. Ahead of a House vote Tuesday evening calling for Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment to remove President Donald Trump from office, the Republican members expressed anger and frustration in accessing the chamber. Republican Reps. Louie Gohmert of Texas, Steve Stivers of Ohio, Van Taylor of Texas, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, Debbie Lesko of Arizona and Larry Bucshon of Indiana, among others, were seen not complying with police at checkpoints or complained about the measure's implementation, according to press pool and media reports. Boebert, a newly elected member who vowed in a viral video to carry a gun in the Capitol, was seen in an apparent dispute with police over going through the metal detector. "I am legally permitted to carry my firearm in Washington, D.C. and within the Capitol complex," she tweeted. "Metal detectors outside of the House would not have stopped the violence we saw last week — it's just another political stunt by Speaker Pelosi." Members, however, have been told: "firearms are restricted to a Member's Office." Taylor refused to pass through the metal detector and argued with officers about it, said Rep. Don Beyer, D-Va. Rep. Rodney Davis, R-Ill., told the officers at the door "this is bulls---" as he went through the security, saying the police were securing the wrong perimeter. "The threat is not on the interior side of the building. You are taking valuable resources completely away from where it needs to be. And you guys did it without any consultation with the minority," Davis told House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., outside the chamber. "Bulls---." The new measure apparently has created tension between some members and police. Davis defused a dispute between a member and police as he was talking to reporters at the Capitol. Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who survived a shooting during a congressional baseball game in 2017, told reporters that the extra layer of security was not needed, and he criticized Pelosi for "impeding" members from voting, saying the change was "never discussed" with GOP leadership. Lesko, in a tweet, blamed Pelosi. "For members of Congress to enter the floor of the U.S. House, we now have to go through intense security measures, on top of the security we already go through," she said. "These new provisions include searches and being wanded like criminals. We now live in Pelosi's communist America!" On the House floor, during arguments on a motion regarding the 25th Amendment, Rep. Greg Steube, R-Fla., called the metal detectors an "atrocity." "Take note, America," he said. "This is what you have to look forward to in the Joe Biden administration." Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, a top Trump defender, said the added security was hampering his constitutional rights. Alex Moe and Haley Talbot reported from Washington and Dartunorro Clark from New York. | |
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| 01-13-21 06:42am - 1439 days | #13 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Your Republican party: saving taxpayers millions of dollars by poisoning Blacks. Black lives matter, but maybe not to Republicans. -------- -------- Michigan plans to charge ex-Gov. Snyder in Flint water probe AOL Associated Press ED WHITE, DAVID EGGERT and TAMMY WEBBER January 13, 2021, 6:08 AM Scroll back up to restore default view. FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, his health director and other ex-officials have been told they’re being charged after a new investigation of the Flint water scandal, which devastated the majority Black city with lead-contaminated water and was blamed for a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires’ disease, The Associated Press has learned. Two people with knowledge of the planned prosecution told the AP on Tuesday that the attorney general’s office has informed defense lawyers about indictments in Flint and told them to expect initial court appearances soon. They spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly. The AP could not determine the nature of the charges against Snyder, former health department director Nick Lyon and others who were in his administration, including Rich Baird, a friend who was the governor's key troubleshooter while in office. Courtney Covington Watkins, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office, said only that investigators were “working diligently” and “will share more as soon as we’re in a position to do so.” Snyder, a Republican who has been out of office for two years, was governor when state-appointed managers in Flint switched the city’s water to the Flint River in 2014 as a cost-saving step while a pipeline was being built to Lake Huron. The water, however, was not treated to reduce corrosion — a disastrous decision affirmed by state regulators that caused lead to leach from old pipes and spoil the distribution system used by nearly 100,000 residents. Snyder’s attorney, Brian Lennon, released a blistering statement Tuesday, saying a criminal prosecution would be “outrageous.” He said state prosecutors have refused to “share information about these charges with us.” “Rather than following the evidence to find the truth, the Office of Special Counsel appears to be targeting former Gov. Snyder in a political escapade,” Lennon said. Snyder apologized for the catastrophe during his 2016 State of the State speech and said government at all levels had failed Flint. LeeAnne Walters, a mother of four who is credited with exposing the lead contamination, said she wants details about the charges. “The very fact that people are being held accountable is an amazing feat," Walters said. "But when people’s lives have been lost and children have been severely hurt, it doesn’t seem like enough.” The disaster made Flint a nationwide symbol of governmental mismanagement, with residents lining up for bottled water and parents fearing that their children had suffered permanent harm. Lead can damage the brain and nervous system and cause learning and behavior problems. The crisis was highlighted as an example of environmental injustice and racism. At the same time, bacteria in the water was blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires’. Legionella bacteria can emerge through misting and cooling systems, triggering a severe form of pneumonia, especially in people with weakened immune systems. Authorities counted at least 90 cases in Genesee County, including 12 deaths. The outbreak was announced by Snyder and Lyon in January 2016, although Lyon conceded that he knew that cases were being reported many months earlier. AdChoices In 2018, Lyon was ordered to stand trial on involuntary manslaughter charges after a special prosecutor accused him of failing to timely inform the public about the outbreak. His attorneys argued there wasn't enough solid information to share earlier. By June 2019, the entire Flint water investigation was turned upside down after more than three years and millions of dollars. Prosecutors working under a new attorney general, Dana Nessel, dismissed the case against Lyon as well as charges against seven more people and said the probe would start anew. They said all available evidence was not pursued by the previous team of prosecutors. The decision didn't affect seven people who had already pleaded no contest to misdemeanors. They cooperated with investigators and their records were eventually scrubbed clean. Lyon's attorney said he was turned down when he asked prosecutors for a copy of new charges. The new case “would be a travesty of justice," Chip Chamberlain said. Testimony at court hearings had raised questions about when Snyder knew about the Legionnaires' outbreak. His urban affairs adviser, Harvey Hollins, told a judge that the governor was informed on Christmas Eve 2015. But Snyder had told reporters three weeks later, in January 2016, that he had just learned about it. Defense attorney Randy Levine said he was informed Monday that Baird, a Flint native, would face charges. Another lawyer, Jamie White, said former Flint public works chief Howard Croft is being charged. "When the Flint water crisis hit, he wasn’t assigned by Gov. Snyder to go to Flint, but rather he raised his hand and volunteered," Levine said of Baird. A resident, Edna Sabucco, 61, said she still uses water filters, although the lead service line at her home of 40-plus years has been replaced, along with more than 9,700 others in Flint. “He swept things under the rug, in my opinion, and to me that makes him just as guilty as everybody else because he should have come out singing like a canary,” Sabucco said of Snyder. Separately, the state, Flint, a hospital and an engineering firm have agreed to a $641 million settlement with residents over the water crisis, with $600 million coming from Michigan. A judge is considering whether to grant preliminary approval. ___ White reported from Detroit. Eggert reported from Lansing. John Flesher in Traverse City contributed to this story. | |
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| 01-15-21 10:06am - 1437 days | #14 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
The rich are different. They deserve to be first in line to get covid vaccines. Because they pay more taxes than most people. So, since they pay more taxes, they deserve better treatment, a better shot at life-saving medicine than average people. Especially if they are NBA and NFL players. Everyone knows that athletes are the most deserving people in the United States. ----- ----- Charles Barkley says NBA, NFL players 'deserve' to jump line for COVID-19 vaccine Yahoo Sports Cassandra Negley January 15, 2021, 7:27 AM Scroll back up to restore default view. NBA and NFL leaders have said they won’t jump the line to get players and personnel vaccinated for COVID-19. Charles Barkley has other thoughts on the matter. Barkley: NFL, NBA players ‘deserve’ vaccine On Thursday night’s “Inside the NBA,” the Hall of Famer asserted that players “deserve” to jump ahead of others because they pay more taxes. “Three hundred million shots, give a thousand to some NBA players, NFL players, hockey players,” Barkley said. “As much taxes as these players pay. Let me repeat that: As much taxes as these players pay, they deserve some preferential treatment.” Kenny Smith pushed back on it, seeming understandably astonished at Barkley’s take. “For life and death?” Smith asked to a “yes” from Barkley. Barkley kept on with it even as the group tried to tell him taxes are based on income levels “I said taxes. I didn’t say the amount of money you make,” Barkley said. “I said the amount of taxes these guys pay.” “We can’t go there,” Smith said, shutting down that portion of the segment. “I don’t think you can go there.” Ernie Johnson also vehemently disagreed and said the elderly and most at-risk should be taken care of first. Barkley did agree, adding first responders to the list, but kept on by saying giving “a thousand shots to NBA players is not going to change the world.” Giving a thousand shots to NBA players likely won’t change the world, which might be the point. The COVID-19 vaccine rollout is the largest in the history of the United States and began last month with health care workers who have worked tirelessly for 10 months fighting the pandemic. It has gone slower than initially anticipated with only between 2 and 3 million people getting the first of the two-dose vaccine by Jan. 1, 2021. Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, believes the country needs to vaccinate between 80 and 85 percent to achieve herd immunity. There are guidelines for who is able to get the vaccine first and though they differ from state to state and region to region, it follows an understandable pattern that doesn’t include how much taxes one pays. The New York Times has a COVID-19 vaccine timeline calculator to estimate when one might be able to get a vaccine. LeBron James, as an easy example, would likely be behind 268.7 million people in the U.S., 31 million in all of California and 7.9 million in Los Angeles county waiting to get the vaccine. That’s because he is in 36 years old with no known COVID-related health risks and he is not a health care worker, essential worker, first responder or teacher. Those jobs have priority since they are taking care of the sick, working an important and necessary job that comes into contact with a lot of people or are educating the next generation. They are also the most likely to infect others given their jobs. NBA, NFL won’t jump the line The NBA and NFL leaders have said they won’t try and jump the line to get people vaccinated. NBA commissioner Adam Silver said so outright. “There's no way we'd ever jump the line in any form whatsoever," Silver said on ESPN days before the NBA season tipped. “And, for the most part, because our players are so young and healthy without some sort of comorbidity, they will not be a high priority for vaccinations. There are some other members of the NBA community working on court who are older and will have a higher priority to get the vaccine.” NFL chief medical officer Allen Sills said it’s important they don’t appear to be getting in front, adding they wouldn’t want to “do anything that hinders the public health effort.” The NFL would have liked to have some players vaccinated with the Super Bowl, an expensive affair, coming up in a few weeks and COVID-19 cases rising. There is the potential for athletes to use getting the vaccine as a public health campaign to help others get vaccinated and get the U.S. past the pandemic. Hank Aaron, 86, was vaccinated earlier this month with the goal of showing Black Americans that it’s safe. | |
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| 01-15-21 11:00pm - 1437 days | #15 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Secret Service barred from Jared and Ivanka's bathrooms rented a toilet for $3,000 a month HuffPost Jeremy Blum January 14, 2021, 1:01 PM Secret Service agents assigned to protect Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner were denied access to bathrooms in the couple’s house and had to rent a nearby basement for $3,000 a month simply to use the toilet, a surreal report by The Washington Post revealed on Thursday. Trump and Kushner’s six-bedroom, 5,000-square-foot home is located in Washington, D.C.’s Kalorama neighborhood — where the Obamas and other elite political figures reside — and contains six bathrooms that were off-limits to the Secret Service detail assigned to protect the pair. According to the report, which cited neighbors and local law enforcement officials, agents were forced to resort to unorthodox measures simply to relieve themselves. They frequented nearby businesses, drove to Vice President Mike Pence’s home at D.C.’s Naval Observatory and used a bathroom in the Obamas’ nearby garage that had been converted into a Secret Service command area. Eventually, after a member of the team protecting Trump and Ivanka left an “unpleasant mess” in the Obama bathroom, they were banned from the garage. The home of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, in Washington, D.C.'s Kalorama district. (Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS via Getty Images) The home of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, in Washington, D.C.'s Kalorama district. (Photo: PAUL J. RICHARDS via Getty Images) White House spokesman Judd Deere told The Washington Post that Trump and Kushner had never denied agents access to their bathrooms, and “it was only after a decision by the [Secret Service] was made that their detail sought other accommodations.” These alternate accommodations were found after a port-a-potty set up for the agents drew protests from Kalorama residents in 2017. From Sept. 27, 2017, onwards, they rented an 820-square-foot basement with a “tidy bathroom” from Kay Kendall, chair of the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities. At $3,000 a month in rent, the basement has cost $144,000 in taxpayer dollars thus far. AdChoices A number of voices across social media chimed in on the remarkable nature of the Post’s story — with several citing the similarities to the plot of the 2009 novel and 2011 film “The Help,” where a maid in Jackson, Mississippi, is fired for using the bathroom of her employers. This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated. | |
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| 01-15-21 11:03pm - 1437 days | #16 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Ivanka Trump And Jared Kushner Raked In $36 Million Last Year While Serving In The White House POLITICS 08/01/2020 12:17 am ET Updated Aug 01, 2020 The first daughter and husband reportedly got an income bounce of at least $7 million over the previous year. By Mary Papenfuss President Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, earned at least $36.2 million in outside income last year while serving as senior White House advisers, according to their latest financial filings, released Friday. That’s an apparent bump in a combined income of about $7 million over 2018′s reported $29 million, The Washington Post noted. Real estate and Trump Organization hotels accounted for much of the income. The income is reported only within very broad ranges, so the first daughter and Kushner actually reported income ranging from $36.2 million to $157 million, according to the Post’s analysis. They reported a combined income of at least $82 million in 2017. Though White House advisers typically divest from investments and companies, particularly when they could represent potential conflicts of interest, both Ivanka Trump and Kushner have retained multiple holdings. Kushner, for example, held on to a part ownership of his family-run real estate business, Kushner Cos., even though he gave up running the firm. Ivanka Trump reported earning $3.9 million from her stake in the Trump International Hotel in Washington for the third year running. The first daughter was criticized last month for being outrageously out of touch when she suggested millions of Americans who have lost their jobs amid the COVID-19 crisis simply look elsewhere for work as part of her Find Something New Campaign. | |
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| 01-15-21 11:13pm - 1437 days | #17 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Arizona GOP wants to censure Cindy McCain over gay marriage, Biden support NBC Universal Jo Yurcaba January 14, 2021, 3:24 PM The Arizona Republican Party will vote on a measure to censure Cindy McCain, the widow of Sen. John McCain, on Jan. 23, in part because of her support for President-elect Joe Biden and for same-sex marriage. The proposal, which seeks to “dissolve any connections whatsoever” between McCain and the state GOP, says she “has supported leftist causes such as gay marriage, growth of the administrative state, and others that run counter to Republican values, a Republican form of government, and the U.S. Constitution.” It also states that McCain has failed to support conservative Republicans like President Donald Trump and has instead backed “globalist policies and candidates” like Biden. “Cindy McCain has condemned President Trump for his criticism of her husband and erroneously placed behaviors over actual presidential results,” the proposal states. Related: The “profound and notable transformation of cultural attitudes” toward LGBTQ people affected the court’s decision. McCain did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment. She did tell Arizona Central on Tuesday, however, that she isn’t surprised “by the continuous insults and personal attacks from Arizona GOP Chairwoman Kelli Ward.” Ward is a former state senator who unsuccessfully challenged John McCain in the Republican Senate primary in 2016. McCain went on to win his sixth term. He died two years later of brain cancer. “As chairman of the AZGOP she managed to turn Arizona blue in November for the first time since 1996,” Cindy McCain said of Ward. “Maybe she should be reminded that my husband never lost an Arizona election since his first win in 1982.” McCain then tweeted out the Arizona Central article, writing: “Future Republican candidates really have to question if the current party leadership represents their philosophy and values. Time for some soul searching in the Arizona GOP.” AdChoices The Arizona Republican Party’s proposed censure of McCain follows a similar proposal that Maricopa County Republicans debated during a committee meeting on Saturday. That resolution was originally aimed only at former Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., who endorsed Biden last year. During the meeting, state GOP official Walt Steiner suggested adding McCain to the censure proposal, and the crowd cheered in response, according to Arizona Central. The measure to censure Flake passed. But the state Republican Party later tweeted that Maricopa County couldn’t censure McCain because of a rule that prohibited amendments to resolutions on the floor. In addition to voting on the McCain censure proposal on Jan. 23, the state party is expected to re-elect Ward as chair, according to Arizona Central. Over a decade of LGBTQ support Cindy McCain has publicly supported same-sex marriage since 2010, when she posed for a photo for the NOH8 Campaign, a group that advocates gay marriage. Following his wife and daughter’s public support, John McCain issued a statement saying that while he respected his family’s views, he still opposed gay marriage. At the time, even President Barack Obama had not publicly backed marriage equality, which did not become legal across the U.S. until 2015. Less than a year after her initial NOH8 photo shoot, Cindy McCain appeared in a public service announcement for the group calling for the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” a federal policy that prohibited gays and lesbians from serving openly in the U.S. military. The policy was eventually repealed and officially ended in September 2011. In 2013, McCain petitioned her husband to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would have barred employment discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. John McCain ended up voting for the bill — one of only 10 senators to do so — but it didn’t pass. That same year, the senator opposed protections for LGBTQ people in immigration reform, but in an interview with Salon, his wife said he was slowly changing his mind on issues related to LGBTQ rights. "I think he's coming around," she said. "My husband and I have differed on many issues over the years. … I think down the line we'll see our country changing. … On this issue I know he believes what's right." | |
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| 01-17-21 03:01am - 1435 days | #18 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Armed man arrested near Capitol with unauthorized inauguration pass, 500 rounds of ammo NBC Universal Dennis Romero and Suzanne Ciechalski January 16, 2021, 3:16 PM Scroll back up to restore default view. A Virginia man was arrested at a Washington checkpoint near the Capitol with an "unauthorized" inauguration pass, a gun and more than 500 rounds of ammunition, according to Capitol police. The suspect, identified as Wesley Allen Beeler, 31, was stopped at the checkpoint near Lower Senate Park about 6:30 p.m. Friday, an arrest report said. An unregistered gun and hundreds of rounds of ammunition were found inside the truck that was adorned with gun decals days ahead of President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration, according to Capitol Police. The man described the situation to the Washington Post as "an honest mistake." Beeler said he has been working as a security guard in downtown Washington, was running late and forgot that his gun was in the vehicle. He said he's licensed to carry in Virginia. He denied to the Post that he had all that ammunition. Beeler, of Front Royal, Virginia, allegedly presented an "unauthorized Inauguration credential" to a Capitol Police officer, authorities said. They did not describe what sort of document he showed that raised suspicion. The arrest comes after the violent Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol where supporters of President Donald Trump and his unfounded claims of election fraud stormed the building in a violent siege that left five people dead and many more injured. The suspect's Ford F-150 pickup displayed weapons-related stickers, including one that read, "Assault Life," and another that said, "If they come for your guns Give 'Em your bullets first," police said. Beeler allegedly declared that he had a Glock handgun under an armrest, and a subsequent search found nearly 550 rounds of ammunition, including a loaded magazine, clipped into the Glock, with 16 rounds, authorities said. An additional round was in the chamber of the handgun, they said. He was booked on suspicion of carrying a weapon without a license, possession of an unregistered firearm, and possession of unregistered ammunition, according to police. News of the arrest Saturday came as protesters, some armed, descended outside state capitals, including in St. Paul, Minnesota and Austin, Texas. On Friday the Texas Department of Public Safety announced it was closing the state capitol and nearby grounds from Saturday through Wednesday. "The Texas Department of Public Safety is aware of armed protests planned at the Texas State Capitol this week and violent extremists who may seek to exploit constitutionally protected events to conduct criminal acts," public safety director Steven McCraw said in a statement. "As a result, DPS has deployed additional personnel and resources to the Capitol." States across the country have deployed National Guard troops to quell potential inauguration-related violence. The U.S. Postal Service said in a statement that blue collection boxes at several locations across the country "will be temporarily removed as a security measure to protect the mail and the public." The inauguration-related removals apply to select locations in 14 states, including Arkansas, Arizona and California, the service said. In Washington, D.C. the postal service is temporarily removing or locking boxes, closing some facilities and suspending delivery for much of next week. Boxes near the capitol in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will be "taken out of service" Tuesday through Thursday, local postal officials said in a statement Saturday. In Sacramento, California, the California Highway Patrol was on tactical alert, which allows for longer shifts, in preparation for inauguration-related protests. On Friday Daniel Baker of Tallahassee, Florida, was arrested by the FBI authorities after allegedly issuing a "call to arms" for an armed confrontation at the Florida Capitol on Sunday. The region's federal public defender did not immediately respond to a request for comment. "He specifically called for others to join him in encircling any protestors and confining them at the Capitol complex using firearms," the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Northern District of Florida said in a statement. Police in Charleston, South Carolina, said Saturday they responded to minor vandalism, including putty placed on a door handle and lock, at the Charleston County Democratic Party Headquarters, authorities said. Investigators found flyers on scene that read, "the world is watching," and that had profanity about President-elect Joe Biden, police said. More than 100 people have been arrested in connection with the Jan. 6 riot. A criminal complaint unearthed Saturday revealed details of federal allegations against Anthime Joseph Gionet, known on social media as "Baked Alaska." Allegations include "violent entry" and "disorderly conduct" at the Capitol. An affidavit states that Gionet livestreamed video of the Capitol invasion and said, "Unleash the Kraken, let's go," while he was inside the building. On Saturday the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Tennessee announced the Capitol riot-related arrest of Lisa Eisenhart. "Charges include conspiring with her son, Eric Munchel to violate federal statutes," the office tweeted. Biden is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday at the Capitol. | |
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| 01-18-21 12:55am - 1435 days | #19 | |
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Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Lock him up. Trump broke the law by destroying records. Put him in prison, along with Hilary Clinton. Maybe, as cell mates, they can learn to live together, and make America great again? ----- ----- Will Trump's mishandling of records leave a hole in history? AOL Associated Press DEB RIECHMANN January 17, 2021, 4:20 PM WASHINGTON (AP) — The public won’t see President Donald Trump’s White House records for years, but there’s growing concern the collection won’t be complete, leaving a hole in the history of one of America’s most tumultuous presidencies. Trump has been cavalier about the law requiring that records be preserved. He has a habit of ripping up documents before tossing them out, forcing White House records workers to spend hours taping them back together. “They told him to stop doing it. He didn’t want to stop,” said Solomon Lartey, a former White House records analyst. He said the first document he taped back together was a letter from Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., about a government shutdown. The president also confiscated an interpreter’s notes after Trump had a chat with Russian leader Vladimir Putin. Trump scolded his White House counsel for taking notes at a meeting during the Russia investigation by former special counsel Robert Mueller. Top executive branch officials had to be reminded more than once not to conduct official business on private email or text messaging systems and to preserve it if they did. And now, Trump's baseless claim of widespread voter fraud, which postponed for weeks an acknowledgement of President-elect Joe Biden's victory, is delaying the transfer of documents to the National Archives and Records Administration, further heightening concern about the integrity of the records. “Historians are likely to suffer from far more holes than has been the norm,” said Richard Immerman at the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations. In the Trump White House, "not only has record-keeping not been a priority, but we have multiple examples of it seeking to conceal or destroy that record.” Lack of a complete record might also hinder any ongoing investigations of Trump, from his impeachment trial and other prospective federal inquiries to investigations in the state of New York. But even with requests by lawmakers and lawsuits by government transparency groups, there is an acknowledgment that noncompliance with the Presidential Records Act carries little consequence for Trump. In tossing out one suit last year, U.S. Circuit Judge David Tatel wrote that courts cannot “micromanage the president’s day-to-day compliance.” The Presidential Records Act states that a president cannot destroy records until he seeks the advice of the national archivist and notifies Congress. But the law doesn’t require him to heed the archivist's advice. It doesn't prevent the president from going ahead and destroying records. Most presidential records today are electronic. Records experts estimate that automatic backup computer systems capture a vast majority of the records, but cannot capture records that a White House chooses not to create or log into those systems. THE MOVE Moving a president’s trail of paper and electronic records is a laborious task. President Barack Obama left about 30 million pages of paper documents and some 250 terabytes of electronic records, including the equivalent of about 1.5 billion pages of emails. The records of past presidents are important because they can help a current president craft new policies and prevent mistakes from being repeated. “Presidential records tell our nation’s story from a unique perspective and are essential to an incoming administration in making informed decisions,” said Lee White, director of the National Coalition for History. “They are equally vital to historians." When Trump lost the November election, records staffers were in position to transfer electronic records, pack up the paper ones and move them to the National Archives by Jan. 20, as required by law. But Trump’s reluctance to concede has meant they will miss the deadline. “Necessary funding from the (White House) Office of Management and Budget was delayed for many weeks after the election, which has caused delays in arranging for the transfer of the Trump presidential records into the National Archives' custody,” the National Archives said in a statement to The Associated Press. “Even though the transfer of these records will not be completed until after Jan. 20, the National Archives will assume legal custody of them on Jan. 20 in accordance with the Presidential Records Act.” White House spokesman Judd Deere said Saturday that contesting the election did not cause the delay in getting the president’s records transferred to the archives and that guidance was available to staffers on how to pack up their materials. One person familiar with the transition said guidance typically emailed to executive branch employees explaining how to turn in equipment and pack up their offices was sent out in December, but quickly rescinded because Trump insisted on contesting the election. With little guidance, some staffers in the White House started quietly calling records workers to find out what to do. Departing employees are instructed to create a list of folders in each box and make a spreadsheet to give the National Archives a way to track and retrieve the information for the incoming Biden team. The process gets more complex with classified material. The Biden administration can request to see Trump records immediately, but the law says the public must wait five years before submitting Freedom of Information Act requests. Even then, Trump — like other presidents before him — is invoking specific restrictions to public access of his records for up to 12 years. Six restrictions outlined in the law include national security, confidential business information, confidential communications between the president and his advisers or among his advisers and personal information. RECORD-KEEPING PRACTICES Around Trump's first impeachment and on other sensitive issues, some normal workflow practices were bypassed, a second person familiar with the process said. Apparently worried about leaks, higher-ups and White House lawyers became more involved in deciding which materials were catalogued and scanned into White House computer networks where they are automatically saved, this person said. The individuals, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss inner workings at the White House, said that if uncatalogued materials ended up in an office safe, for instance, they would at least be temporarily preserved. But if they were never catalogued in the first place, staffers would not know they existed, making such materials untraceable. White House staff quickly learned about Trump's disregard for documents as they witnessed him tearing them up and discarding them. “My director came up to me and said, ‘You have to tape these together,'” said Lartey, the former records analyst. Lartey said someone in the White House chief of staff's office told the president that the documents were considered presidential records and needed to be preserved by law. Lartey said about 10 records staffers ended up on Scotch tape duty at different times, starting with Trump’s first days in the White House through at least mid-2018. Trump's staff also engaged in questionable practices by using private emails and messaging apps. Former White House counsel Don McGahn in February 2017 sent a memo that instructed employees not to use nonofficial text messaging apps or private email accounts. If they did, he said, they had to take screenshots of the material and copy it into official email accounts, which are preserved. He sent the memo back out in September 2017. “It's an open question to me about how serious or conscientious any of those people have been about moving them over,” said Tom Blanton, who directs the National Security Archive at George Washington University, which was founded in 1985 to combat government secrecy. Trump was criticized for confiscating the notes of an interpreter who was with him in 2017 when the president talked with Putin in Hamburg, Germany. Lawmakers tried unsuccessfully to obtain the notes of another interpreter who was with Trump in 2018 when he met with Putin in Helsinki, Finland. It's unclear whether the two presidents talked about Russia's interference in the 2016 election. Many people suspected the subject did come up because at a news conference afterward, Trump said he believed Putin when Putin denied Russian interference despite U.S. intelligence agencies finding the opposite. Several weeks ago, the National Security Archive, two historical associations and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington sued to prevent the Trump White House from destroying any electronic communications or records sent or received on nonofficial accounts, such as personal email or WhatsApp. They also alleged that the White House has already likely destroyed presidential materials. The court refused to issue a temporary restraining order after government lawyers told the judge that they had instructed the White House to notify all employees to preserve all electronic communications in their original format until the suit was settled. “I believe we will find that there’s going to be a huge hole in the historical record of this president because I think there’s probably been serious noncompliance of the Presidential Records Act," said Anne Weismann, one of the lawyers representing the groups in their suit. "I don’t think President Trump cares about his record and what it says. I think he probably cares, though, about what it might say about his criminal culpability.” | |
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| 01-18-21 12:56am - 1435 days | #20 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Previous post continued: Trump faces several legal challenges when he leaves the White House. There are two New York state inquiries into whether he misled tax authorities, banks or business partners. Also, two women alleging he sexually assaulted them are suing him. DESTROYING OR SAVING HISTORY Presidential records were considered a president's personal property until the Watergate scandal under President Richard Nixon prompted Congress in 1978 to pass the Presidential Records Act over worry that Nixon would destroy White House tape recordings that led to his resignation. After that, presidential records were no longer considered personal property but the property of the American people — if they are preserved. Lawmakers have introduced legislation to require audits of White House record-keeping and compliance with the law. “The American public should not have to wait until a president has left office to learn of problems with that president’s record-keeping practices," Weismann said. | |
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| 01-18-21 12:23pm - 1434 days | #21 | |
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LKLK (0)
Active User Posts: 1,583 Registered: Jun 26, '19 Location: CA |
Trump cronies reportedly cashing in as they lobby president for wealthy felon pardons HuffPost Mary Papenfuss January 17, 2021, 8:22 PM Donald Trump’s friends and allies are profiting from wealthy felons who are paying them to lobby the president for pardons, The New York Times revealed in a bombshell report Sunday. The “market” for pardons — which cuts out the poor and those not politically connected — reflects the “access peddling that has defined” Trump’s presidency, as well as his unorthodox use of his clemency powers to reward friends, the Times noted. Trump is expected to issue 100 pardons and sentence commutations on Tuesday, CNN reported. Presidential pardons are typically meted out in compassion to those who have more than served a just penalty, or who may have been too-harshly treated by the criminal justice system. Trump has used his power to reward those with powerful connections, as well as friends and allies — including those who may harbor damning evidence about his own behavior. The lucrative push for pardons has hit high gear just days before Trump is to leave office, according to the Times report, which was based on documents and interviews with more than three dozen lawyers and lobbyists. One lobbyist, Brett Tolman, a former federal prosecutor with ties to the White House, collected at least tens of thousands of dollars in the last weeks to push the White House for clemency for the son of a former Arkansas senator, the founder of the online drug marketplace Silk Road, and a Manhattan socialite, according to the Times. A former adviser to the Trump campaign was paid $50,000 to seek a pardon for former CIA officer John Kiriakou, who was convicted of illegally leaking classified information, the newspaper reported. The adviser was to collect an additional $50,000 bonus if the president came through with the pardon, according to a copy of an agreement obtained by the Times. Kiriakou was also told that Trump’s personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, could get a pardon for him for $2 million, the Times reported. Giuliani denied that claim. Trump has reportedly been considering granting preemptive pardons for his children, his son-in-law Jared Kushner (he already pardoned Jared’s father, Charles Kushner, for tax evasion), Giuliani — and even for himself. Officials are also fearful he could issue blanket pardons to his supporters who stormed the Capitol Jan. 6. An attorney for Jacob Anthony Chansley, the shirtless, horned, conspiracy theory-touting U.S. Capitol rioter, is calling for a pardon from Trump because he says his client was inspired by the president to take action. In a long list of shocking earlier decisions, Trump has already pardoned felons in his campaign or administration, including former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and campaign foreign policy adviser George Papadopoulos, and his one-time national security adviser Michael Flynn. Trump’s longtime adviser Roger Stone, whom the president pardoned after he was convicted of seven felonies, admitted he had information that could have hurt the president, and appeared to be holding out until he got his pardon. The president “knows I was under enormous pressure to turn on him,” Stone told NBC journalist Howard Fineman earlier this year. “It would have eased my situation considerably. But I didn’t.” Those pardoned have also included war criminals and law enforcement officers who violated civil rights. | |
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