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Hit a 52wk low bell off that I forgot I had on there, no positions, reset it for the heck of it and it went off again today. Not bothering to reset, no interest, $2.39 at this time for new low. FCEL may spurt out some news or something to sell the new shares that usually get voted in due to that retail doesn't have enough power to overcome the controlling votes. Something got to pay the bills when income doesn't cover the expenses.
Also may be some short covering and less shorting due to the $2.50 rule at play. They either pump something up or the volume and pps will go down to oblivion. Come on split to get this up to maybe $10 and some action to short the darn thing down to $5 again.
As of the close of business on Tuesday, 4/4, we captured the Top 10 Highest Short Interest % stocks within the Industrials sector.
The average short interest for stocks within the Industrials sector stands at 2.37%. Therefore, the below stocks are showing a more pessimistic outlook than their peers within the respective sector.
Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) 26.06%
Virgin Galactic Hl (NYSE:SPCE) 25.09%
Ati Inc (NYSE:ATI) 17.62%
Fuelcell Energy (NASDAQ:FCEL) 16.97%
Chart Industries (NYSE:GTLS) 16.9%
Purecycle Technolo (NASDAQ:PCT) 16.52%
Hawaiian Holdings (NASDAQ:HA) 16.47%
Xometry Inc (NASDAQ:XMTR) 15.92%
Saia Inc (NASDAQ:SAIA) 15.72%
Verra Mobility Cor (NASDAQ:VRRM) 15.16%
Short Interest is the percentage of a stocks' outstanding shares being sold short, which is utilized as a gauge for stock price sentiment. When short interest increases, this is generally considered a negative "bear" market indicator, whereas when short interest decreases, this is generally considered a positive "bull" market indicator.
Disclaimer: The Short Interest Indicator is produced by Tidal Markets, in partnership with Benzinga Insights. The data represented is exclusive to short interest data amalgamated daily by Tidal Markets LLC and its underlying proprietary sources. The information contained herein should not be compared to, contrasted, or evaluated against other short interest data providers. ANY INFORMATION CONTAINED HEREIN DOES NOT CONSTITUTE OR IMPLY INVESTMENT ADVICE
Yes, it seems to be early morning to get all the good worms. Good trades for both BOIL and KOLD.
Dark money groups push election denialism on US state officials
Groups have created incubator of policies that would restrict ballot access and amplify election fraud claims
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/apr/05/heritage-foundation-election-voting-rights-republican-states
The fight for democracy is supported by
guardian.org
About this content
Ed Pilkington and Jamie Corey
Wed 5 Apr 2023 07.37 EDT
Three of the most prominent rightwing groups that spread election denial lies and advocate for restrictions on voting rights in the US have joined forces in a secret attempt to woo top election officials in Republican-controlled states.
Led by the Washington-based conservative thinktank the Heritage Foundation, the groups have created an incubator of policies that would restrict access to the ballot box and amplify false claims that fraud is rampant in American elections. The unstated yet implicit goal is to dampen Democratic turnout and help Republican candidates to victory.
Details of the two-day “secretaries of state conference” held in Washington in February were obtained by the watchdog group Documented and shared with the Guardian.
Officials from 13 Republican-controlled states, including 10 top election administrators, participated in the event. Attendees discussed controversial “election integrity” ideas of the sort weaponized by Donald Trump.
Among the participants were nine secretaries of state and Virginia’s election commissioner, all of whom preside over both statewide and federal elections in their states including next year’s presidential contest. A list of attendees namechecks the chief election officials of Indiana, Florida, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Documented also obtained the conference agenda which lists a number of Trump associates among the speakers. They include Ken Cuccinelli who, as acting deputy secretary for homeland security, played a key role in setting elections policy for the Trump administration.
Cuccinelli now runs the Election Transparency Initiative which is fighting Democratic efforts in Congress to shore up voting rights, and has been active in pushing state-level vote restriction measures.
Download original document
The keynote speech was given by Ken Blackwell, former secretary of state in Ohio. He was an early adopter of Trump’s lie about rigged elections, championing the idea in the 2016 presidential race which Trump won.
Blackwell now chairs the Center for Election Integrity at the America First Policy Institute, a rightwing thinktank led by former Trump officials. The center has been touting election-related model legislation.
Heritage was careful to organize the conference amid tight secrecy. Among the records obtained by Documented is an email from Hans von Spakovsky, a lawyer at the foundation who leads their election work.
Responding to a query about the event from a Texas official, Von Spakovsky said: “There is no livestream. This is not a public event. It is a private, confidential meeting of the secretaries. I would rather you not send out a press release about it.”
Von Spakovsky has long been at the forefront of efforts to undermine US elections by claiming falsely that fraud is endemic. He helped spearhead the attack on voting by mail during the pandemic, holding private briefings with Republican state election officials – a drive that became a core part of Trump’s efforts to overturn his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
Heritage and its political arm, Heritage Action for America, have spent tens of millions of dollars promoting their own model bills that impose strict restrictions on voting. They have targeted the investment on key battleground states such as Arizona, Georgia and Michigan that could hold the balance of power in the 2024 presidential race.
Heritage began hosting annual gatherings of Republican secretaries of state at the start of the Trump presidency in 2017. February’s in-person conference was the first to be sponsored by three rightwing powerhouses of election denial and voter suppression – Heritage, together with the Public Interest Legal Foundation (Pilf), and the Honest Elections Project (HEP).
Pilf is a conservative legal group that sues election officials to force them to purge voter rolls, a process that has affected eligible US voters. The group is led by J Christian Adams, a former justice department lawyer who tried to use the Voting Rights Act to claim voting discrimination against white people.
Trump’s former lawyer Cleta Mitchell also sits on the Pilf board.
Cleta Mitchcell testifies in Washington DC in February 2014.
Cleta Mitchcell testifies in Washington DC in February 2014. Photograph: Pablo Martínez Monsiváis/AP
HEP is a conservative dark-money group closely tied to the Republican operative Leonard Leo who was instrumental in engineering the current conservative supermajority on the US supreme court. Reporting by ProPublica and the New York Times last year revealed that Leo has received control of a staggering $1.6bn to advance rightwing causes.
Concern about the potential of top election officials to subvert democracy intensified during the 2022 midterm elections when a number of individuals committed to Trump’s stolen election lie also ran for office. They formed the “America First Secretary of State Coalition” which became a conduit of far-right conspiracy theories linked to QAnon.
Most of those candidates failed in their bid to take over the reins of election administration in their states. But the Heritage conference suggests that the desire to deploy Republican secretaries of state as channels of voter suppression and election misinformation remains very much alive.
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Though chief election officials are tasked with ensuring that ballots are fair and impartial, the Heritage conference was attended only by Republican secretaries of state.
The Guardian asked Heritage to explain why its conference was held in secret and with only Republican attendees. The group did not answer those questions.
Von Spakovsky said that the event was an “educational summit intended to provide information on current issues in elections and ensure that our election process protects the right to vote for American citizens by making it easy to vote and hard to cheat”.
He disputed the argument that security measures at the ballot box such as voter ID suppressed turnout. “The claim that secure elections somehow promote greater restrictions is outrageous and has been clearly disproven,” he said.
Hans von Spakovsky swears in before a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in June 2007.
Hans von Spakovsky swears in before a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington DC in June 2007. Photograph: UPI
Von Spakovsky also pointed to Heritage’s election fraud database, which he said sampled “proven instances of election fraud from across the country”. The database records 1,422 “proven instances of voter fraud” stretching back to 1982 – a 41-year period during which billions of votes have been cast in the US.
Several of the participants at the conference have election denial and voter suppression track records. They include Florida’s secretary of state, Cord Byrd, who, soon after being appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis last spring, refused to say whether Joe Biden had won the 2020 presidential election.
Byrd runs Florida’s “election integrity unit” that was set up by DeSantis last year to investigate election crimes, even though there is scant evidence of substantial voter fraud. More than a dozen citizens accused of illegally voting have been arrested at gunpoint under DeSantis’s crackdown on supposed voter fraud.
Another attendee – Jay Ashcroft, secretary of state of Missouri – has been a leading proponent of that state’s new restrictive voting law. His office has been named in numerous lawsuits in the last year for imposing extreme constraints on voter registration, including a recent lawsuit accusing Ashcroft of illegally blocking a ballot measure.
Tennessee’s secretary of state, Tre Hargett, another listed participant, has been accused by Democratic leaders in Tennessee of purging thousands of voters from the official rolls.
Panel discussions laid out in the agenda were held on several of the core talking points of the current Republican party. The opening discussion, moderated by Von Spakovsky, was on “Auditing Expertise”.
The main speaker was Paul Bettencourt, a state senator in Texas who has sponsored several bills making it harder to vote including a measure that would deploy armed “election marshals” to oversee polling stations.
Before the conference-goers attended a cocktail reception and dinner held at an upscale restaurant in downtown Washington, day one ended with a session entitled: “Realistic Eric Fixes and Reforms”. Eric – the Electronic Registration Information Center – is a non-profit group run collectively by 28 states which is used to finesse the accuracy of state voter rolls.
In recent months it has become the target of rightwing conspiracy theories fueled by Trump who claimed falsely that it was rigged to benefit Democrats.
Ashcroft, the Missouri secretary of state, was one of the speakers in that session. Earlier this month he announced that he was pulling Missouri out of Eric, making it one of the first Republican-controlled states to quit the organization along with Alabama, Florida and West Virginia.
This article was produced in partnership with Documented, an investigative watchdog and journalism project. Jamie Corey is a senior researcher with Documented
Katrine Wallace, PhD Retweeted
Joseph Ladapo and the Florida Department of Health published a study to back their decision not to vaccinate young people. @DrKatEpi and I received a FOIA of the early drafts of this study that demonstrates the study was edited to support an anti-vax policy. See thread. https://t.co/rABCz2Jy3h
— Jonathan Laxton MD, FRCPC 🐈🐱🐈⬛ (@dr_jon_l) April 5, 2023
Psychological projection
In its malignant forms, it is a defense mechanism in which the ego defends itself against disowned and highly negative parts of the self by denying their existence in themselves and attributing them to others, breeding misunderstanding and causing untold interpersonal damage.[2] A bully may project their own feelings of vulnerability onto the target, or a person who is confused may project feelings of confusion and inadequacy onto other people. Projection incorporates blame shifting and can manifest as shame dumping.[3] Projection has been described as an early phase of introjection.[4]
Trump warned of “Constitutional crisis” if Hillary were elected; said she would be under investigation for years. Watch via @mmurraypolitics pic.twitter.com/kzFwMK0p9O
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) June 15, 2017
NC Democrat expected to change parties
Lucille Sherman
https://www.axios.com/local/raleigh/2023/04/04/nc-democrat-flip-republican-legislative-supermajority
A North Carolina Democratic lawmaker is expected to flip her party affiliation, multiple Republicans with knowledge of the discussions tell Axios.
The move would cement Republicans' toe-hold in a fast-changing swing state, handing them a veto-proof majority in the middle of the legislative session and a clear runway to enact their agenda despite opposition from Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper.
Driving the news: Republicans, who are currently just one seat short of a supermajority in the legislature, have been hoping that state Rep. Tricia Cotham, a Democrat from Charlotte, might switch parties at some point this session, but the prospect began to seem more realistic last week, a Republican House member said.
Cotham is expected to announce her decision Wednesday. House Republicans announced a 9am press conference Tuesday for a "major announcement."
Why it matters: Republicans have held majorities in both the state House and the Senate for more than a decade, but in recent years, the threat of Cooper's veto has kept the party's power in check.
A supermajority could free up party leaders to more easily push long-hoped-for legislation restricting abortion and all but eliminate their need to compromise with the governor on the budget, changes to election laws and education reform.
State Rep. Tricia Cotham. Photo: North Carolina General Assembly
Details: Cotham didn't respond to Axios' request for comment, so it's not clear what's driving her consideration to switch.
One possible factor, though, is that Cotham recently skipped a vote to override Cooper's veto of Republican-sponsored legislation relaxing some gun laws, handing Republicans the votes they needed to usher the bill into law.
That set into motion a cascade of blowback against Cotham, driven by Democrats criticizing her for not showing.
What they're saying: Rep. Cecil Brockman, who is also a moderate Democrat, told the News & Observer he doesn't blame Cotham and said he thought the reaction from Democrats drove her to switch parties.
"I think she just wanted to do what's best for her district and when you're constantly talked about and trashed — especially the way that we have been over the past few weeks — I think this is what happens," Brockman said.
Democratic House minority leader Rep. Robert Reives called for Cotham to resign in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
This story has been updated to include responses from Democratic lawmakers.
Guess it wasn't a match made in heaven. LOL
Rupert Murdoch calls off engagement to Ann Lesley Smith
BY DOMINICK MASTRANGELO - 04/04/23 3:33 PM ET
https://thehill.com/blogs/in-the-know/3934058-rupert-murdoch-calls-off-engagement-to-ann-lesley-smith/
Today has been about even made with BOIL and KOLD. Play them both becoming everyday now. Overall, except for that nice run of BOIL about a month ago, KOLD been making more, when buying BOIL at lows, selling KOLD for highs, been working out real well. Win or lose, rarely hold either over night, just daily trader for me.
The News Literacy Project Retweeted
Freedom of speech is essential to democracy, & believing in misinformation is a threat to democracy (& we're all capable of falling for false information).@NewsLitProject provides great resources on how to empower ourselves to separate truth from falsehoods. Here's an example: pic.twitter.com/dF2BopMsKw
— C.A. Nicholas (@c_a_nicholas) April 4, 2023
Also moving towards more population areas, meaning more deaths and damage and more costs. Add that to more and stronger storms.
‘Tornado alley’ is shifting farther into the US east, climate scientists warn
Global heating has been seen as the cause for these damaging storms, which are expected to increase significantly this century
A spate of devastating tornadoes that have recently ripped through parts of the eastern and southern US states could portend the sort of damage that will become more commonplace due to changes wrought by global heating, scientists have warned.....................
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/apr/04/us-tornadoes-global-heating-climate-science
Appeals court upholds order for Jan. 6 testimony from Meadows, other Trump officials
BY REBECCA BEITSCH - 04/04/23 12:31 PM ET
https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3933593-appeals-court-upholds-order-for-jan-6-testimony-from-meadows-other-trump-officials-testimony/
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with the Department of Justice Tuesday in ordering testimony from former chief of staff Mark Meadows and other top Trump White House staffers in DOJ’s Jan. 6 investigation.
A sealed Tuesday order denying an emergency motion from former President Trump’s team came after a flurry of late night activity in the case.
Trump had appealed a sealed decision from then-D.C. District Court Judge Beryl Howell last week that rejected his claims of executive privilege over the officials, ordering them to testify.
Senior ISIS leader killed in US strike in Syria
Biden administration unveils $450 million to develop renewables on mine sites
Aide Stephen Miller, former Department of Homeland Security official Ken Cuccinelli, former Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe and former national security adviser Robert O’Brien were also all directed to testify in Howell’s decision, as were John McEntee, then-director of the Presidential Personnel Office, and Nick Luna, an assistant to Trump.
The case was assigned to a three judge panel at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals late Monday night, with the Justice Department responding just two hours later, shortly after 1 a.m.
DEVELOPING…
The whistles were being handed out by a Criminal Trump supporter. LOL
Kind of a fascinating development. The reason you can’t hear Marjorie Taylor Greene, and why this whole thing is off the rails, is because a man has been handing out free whistles.
— Tim Onion (@oneunderscore__) April 4, 2023
I talked to him. Turns out he’s a Trump supporter and he had no idea MTG was even here. pic.twitter.com/0RJqdyw7H5
Strange times we're having.
Former Hogan chief of staff Roy McGrath dies after confrontation with FBI
By Steve Thompson, Ovetta Wiggins, Perry Stein and Martin Weil
Updated April 3, 2023 at 10:37 p.m. EDT|Published April 3, 2023 at 9:02 p.m. EDT
https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2023/04/03/roy-mcgrath-hogan-manhunt-fugitive-tennessee/
Roy McGrath, who was then chief executive of Maryland Environmental Service, speaks in April 2020 during a news conference at the State House in Annapolis. (Pamela Wood/Baltimore Sun/AP)
Roy C. McGrath, a fugitive top aide to then-Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R), died Monday as the result of a confrontation with the FBI in the area of Knoxville, Tenn., his lawyer said. He had been the subject of a 21-day manhunt launched after he failed to show up to federal court in Baltimore.
Fast, informative and written just for locals. Get The 7 DMV newsletter in your inbox every weekday morning.
“The loss of Roy’s life is an absolute tragedy, and I think it’s important for me to say that Roy never wavered about his innocence,” Joseph Murtha said.
In a statement Monday night, the FBI said that it was “reviewing an agent-involved shooting” that occurred at approximately 6:30 p.m. “During the arrest the subject, Roy McGrath, sustained injury and was transported to the hospital. The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously.”
Murtha said he wasn’t sure how McGrath was killed. “That’s unclear to me at this time,” he said. “I haven’t gotten any information on whether Roy died from gunfire from an agent or whether it was a self-inflicted wound.”
McGrath, 53, was slated to face wire fraud and embezzlement charges stemming from alleged financial improprieties as head of a Maryland quasi-governmental agency beginning March 13 — a day after his last contact with Murtha.
McGrath, who’d had a lifelong interest in politics, rose to become one of Hogan’s must trusted advisers until the Baltimore Sun broke news of a nearly quarter-million-dollar severance he received in 2020 upon leaving the Maryland agency to become Hogan’s top aide. The revelation prompted legislative hearings Hogan once labeled a “witch hunt” in a message to McGrath, but it also led to a break between the two men.
The blame for the disintegration of that relationship lands squarely on Hogan in an e-book titled “Betrayed: The True Story of Roy McGrath,” released under mysterious circumstances on Amazon.com the week after his disappearance. The book featured McGrath as a protagonist who “worked hard,” and “had no record of any wrongdoing in his lifetime.”
A person claiming to be the book’s author, listed online as Ryan Cooper, contacted reporters at The Washington Post saying he’d written the book based on a draft produced by McGrath and “half a dozen or so conversations” with him. He declined to provide The Post with information to verify his identity and said he was not in touch with McGrath — and was not McGrath posing as someone else. “I haven’t heard a peep from him, and to make matters worse, that’s what worries me,” the person said. “He is not the kind of guy to just vanish.”
Before McGrath was found, Murtha said he’d last spoken with his client by telephone the day before trial. They’d planned to meet outside the courtroom at 8:45 the next morning. McGrath had planned to testify in his own defense, Murtha said. “More than anything else, I have a concern for his safety.”
McGrath was indicted in 2021 in connection with allegations including that he’d misled officials to obtain the severance package from the Maryland Environmental Service (MES), where he served as executive director.
Md. Gov. Larry Hogan’s messages to state employees self-destruct in 24 hours
McGrath has maintained that Hogan approved it. But the governor, who has cooperated with law enforcement and has not been accused of any crime, has repeatedly denied knowledge of it.
“I know you did nothing wrong. I know it is unfair. I will stand with you,” Hogan wrote to his former aide in an undated message after it was publicly revealed that McGrath received the payment. McGrath has said he resigned from the chief of staff job, which he held for less than three months, because of the governor’s pledge to stand by him.
Michael Ricci, a former spokesman for Hogan, who left office in January, has said the governor sent the message before learning more details about how the severance package was obtained. Prosecutors say McGrath falsified a memo in which he said Hogan approved the severance.
“This is devastating my life,” McGrath told Hogan in a private text message in 2020, according to an image obtained by The Washington Post.
Federal and state authorities allege that McGrath enriched himself by “using his positions of trust” as the executive director of MES and the chief of staff for Hogan to cause MES to pay the severance and other expenses. Prosecutors also say McGrath falsified time sheets, recording that he was at work while he took two vacations, including one to Europe in 2019 with his girlfriend, whom he later married.
Hogan was on the prosecution’s witness list for a trial expected to take several weeks. McGrath also faces state charges of theft, misconduct in office and violating Maryland’s wiretap laws by recording private calls with Hogan and other officials without their permission. A state trial is scheduled for this summer.
McGrath, who was born in Greece but grew up in Maryland, entered politics at 18, when he became a member of the Republican Party and later formed a Young Republicans club in Southern Maryland. McGrath knew Hogan as a young congressional candidate in the early 1990s and served on his campaign committee during Hogan’s unsuccessful bid to unseat Rep. Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md). At the time, McGrath was head of the Charles County Republican Central Committee.
Roy McGrath is seen in this U.S. Marshals wanted poster released Tuesday after he failed to appear in court. (U.S. Marshals Service/Reuters)
The two would meet again in 2014 when McGrath, who was then working as vice president of business development and conventions at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores, volunteered and donated to Hogan’s gubernatorial campaign. Shortly after Hogan won, he tapped McGrath as his deputy chief of staff.
In 2016, Hogan appointed McGrath to take the helm at MES, and in 2020 during the pandemic, the governor asked McGrath, whom he called a “leader with a proven track record … and a passionate commitment to public service,” to take one of the most powerful positions in state government as his chief of staff.
To McGrath’s former colleagues in the statehouse, McGrath was a consummate administrator. He was meticulous, strait-laced, the type of person who always played it by the book. In interviews in 2021 with 20 current and former state government and statehouse officials who worked with McGrath as he came up in Maryland politics, almost all told The Post they were caught off guard by the news of his severance package and excesses in spending. They described him as being a straightforward, formal and, at times, stiff colleague who focused on work and did not seem to have outsize political ambitions.
While under investigation, McGrath moved to Florida and bought a house in a gated community with his then-girlfriend. Federal agents executed a search warrant on the home on March 15.
There was no immediate indication Monday night how long McGrath had been in Tennessee, or what caused him to go there.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
We worked with our little dog a lot, massaging the back legs and feet everyday, we used a walking strap from the same place as the wheelchair, but improvement made great leaps after we took her with us to my grandson's marine graduation at the Marine base in San Diego. Right after that she really started walking on her own. Big place and we had to carry her a little bit, but she was so energized and excited the entire time. She's a mix between Dachshund and Miniature Pincher mostly. Breeds mix that should've never happened. The dachshund has the body that shouldn't be doing high jumps and high level of certain activities and the min pin in her acted like a deer jumping around. Same as a lot of other mixes that shouldn't ever be done and just asking for problems.
This is about 4 yrs ago on the base.
REMEMBER: The moment “Trump Force One” takes off from Palm Beach it officially changes its call sign to “CON-AIR”. pic.twitter.com/5z0cJWREfE
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) April 3, 2023
This Ukrainian couple was separated at the start of the war as they both served in the Army but in different units.
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) April 2, 2023
This was the month they met again for the first time after months of fighting. pic.twitter.com/vryLaCyLhL
That's been a pinned tweet Visegrad 24 for a couple of months now, a good one to follow for world news, especially the Ukraine World War.
Aggregating and curating news, politics, current affairs, history and culture from Central and Eastern Europe.
Visegradvisegrad24.orgJoined January 2020
680 Following
383.6K Followers
Followed by Rep. Liz Cheney, AlexAlvarova@toad.social, and Julia Davis
https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1624894518330855427
IVDD (intervertebral disc disease) Type 1, real common in dachshunds and other breeds with that body type. Our little dog suffered from the same thing about five years ago and we got the same wheelchair from that same place. Same thing, advised to put her down, almost did, pretty touch and go when it happened. She couldn't take a bowel movement and having trouble breathing, but we worked with her got her flowing and about 4 months and into the wheelchair. About a year later of working with her she could hobble and walk funny but with lots of spirit and happiness.
Wife and I have had her since about 4 months old, she is now 13 and of course a bit more feeble, but still with great spirit and happiness. We're probably going to have to see her go within the next year. She has breast cancer, the second most leading cause of death for the breed, next to old age. She's given us so much enjoyment over the years and we're going to give her as much back for the rest of her days. As long as she has her spirit and eating and pooping, we're good.
Not the only explanation for all of them. There is definitely a cult mentality at play here for the followers (the GOP is abusing and using that for their own means), but for the GOP there is much more sinister goings on here. Two feeds that are a really interesting read. Yes, there are insinuations and conjecture without the actual documentation, but it does put together in a very readable way known factual data and is definitely a possible and even probable reality. One thing is for sure, there is definite scary stuff going on in the world of the GOP and tRump and it is positively the most dangerous environment that I think America has ever faced. It's going to get a LOT worse before it has a chance to get better. I just hope we have more democratic and moral Justice than the compromised or fraudulent Justice out there to bring this shit under control.
After you've read my Thread about what is the Kompromat method used by Putin and Trump, then you want to read THIS, very under-reported angle to the search of Trump offices by FBI and classified documents. The FBI also has Trump's EXTORTION FILE (or parts of it) https://t.co/hqPYEIPtoE
— Tomi T Ahonen Moved to Post, Spoutible & Mastodon (@tomiahonen) March 31, 2023
That would be the same Allen Weisselberg who this week dismissed all of his Trump-hired attorneys, which is something one does after deciding to testify against your former employer.
(Bloomberg) -- The Trump Organization pressured its former chief financial officer to drop lawyers seen as too cooperative with New York prosecutors who have now charged former President Donald Trump, according to people familiar with the matter.
From Bucharest to back home in the USA, tRump and his minions are going under the slow wheels of justice. Remember this particular tRump indictment currently is for his cheating and trying to effect the election in 2016. We'll eventually get caught up I guess with future indictments, but I think the damn is cracking and a flood can be seen on the horizon. As always, tRump GOPs accusations are confessions.
Social Media Influencer Douglass Mackey Convicted of Election Interference in 2016 Presidential Race
Friday, March 31, 2023
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/social-media-influencer-douglass-mackey-convicted-election-interference-2016
For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of New York
Defendant Attempted to Suppress Vote Through Social Media Disinformation Campaign
Douglass Mackey, also known as “Ricky Vaughn,” was convicted today by a federal jury in Brooklyn of the charge of Conspiracy Against Rights stemming from his scheme to deprive individuals of their constitutional right to vote. The verdict followed a one-week trial before United States District Judge Ann M. Donnelly. When sentenced, Mackey faces a maximum of 10 years in prison.
Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office (FBI), announced the verdict.
“Mackey has been found guilty by a jury of his peers of attempting to deprive individuals from exercising their sacred right to vote for the candidate of their choice in the 2016 Presidential Election,” stated United States Attorney Peace. “Today’s verdict proves that the defendant’s fraudulent actions crossed a line into criminality and flatly rejects his cynical attempt to use the constitutional right of free speech as a shield for his scheme to subvert the ballot box and suppress the vote.”
In 2016, Mackey established an audience on Twitter with approximately 58,000 followers. A February 2016 analysis by the MIT Media Lab ranked Mackey as the 107th most important influencer of the then-upcoming Presidential Election.
As proven at trial, between September 2016 and November 2016, Mackey conspired with other influential Twitter users and with members of private online groups to use social media platforms, including Twitter, to disseminate fraudulent messages that encouraged supporters of presidential candidate Hillary Clinton to “vote” via text message or social media which, in reality, was legally invalid. For example, on November 1, 2016, in or around the same time that Mackey was sending tweets suggesting the importance of limiting “black turnout,” the defendant tweeted an image depicting an African American woman standing in front of an “African Americans for Hillary” sign. The ad stated: “Avoid the Line. Vote from Home,” “Text ‘Hillary’ to 59925,” and “Vote for Hillary and be a part of history.” The fine print at the bottom of the deceptive image stated: “Must be 18 or older to vote. One vote per person. Must be a legal citizen of the United States. Voting by text not available in Guam, Puerto Rico, Alaska or Hawaii. Paid for by Hillary For President 2016.” The tweet included the typed hashtag “#ImWithHer,” a slogan frequently used by Hillary Clinton. On or about and before Election Day 2016, at least 4,900 unique telephone numbers texted “Hillary” or some derivative to the 59925 text number, which had been used in multiple deceptive campaign images tweeted by Mackey and his co-conspirators.
Several hours after tweeting the first image, Mackey tweeted an image depicting a woman seated at a conference room typing a message on her cell phone. This deceptive image was written in Spanish and mimicked a font used by the Clinton campaign in authentic ads. The image also included a copy of the Clinton campaign’s logo and the “ImWithHer” hashtag.
The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Erik D. Paulsen and F. Turner Buford of the Office’s Public Integrity Section, and Trial Attorney William J. Gullotta of the Department of Justice’s Public Integrity Section are in charge of the prosecution, with the assistance of Paralegal Specialist Shivani Parshad.
The Defendant:
DOUGLASS MACKEY
Age: 33
West Palm Beach, Florida
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-CR-80 (AMD)
Contact
John Marzulli
Danielle Blustein Hass
United States Attorney’s Office
(718) 254-6323
Updated March 31, 2023
Survey of Past Criminal Prosecutions for Covert Payments to Benefit a Political Campaign
https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/
by Siven Watt and Norman L. Eisen
March 30, 2023
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Filed under:
2016 Presidential Elections, Alvin Bragg, campaign finance law, Donald Trump, election law, Hush Money Investigation, Law enforcement, Trump Campaign
Part of Just Security’s work on accountability and election law.
The indictment of former President Donald Trump for conduct involving the alleged concealment of hush money payments to benefit a presidential campaign raises the question whether his case is being treated like other cases. That question is fundamental to ensuring the equal application of the law and protecting free and fair elections. In this essay and accompanying table of cases (the “Table”), we analyze 17 analogous campaign finance and related prosecutions in the State of New York and nationally. Our research shows that third-party payments covertly made to benefit a candidate are routinely and successfully prosecuted as campaign finance violations in New York and elsewhere under a variety of state and federal statutes.
This essay is the fourth in a Just Security series about the Manhattan case and follows our piece demonstrating that New York prosecutors regularly bring and win prosecutions for felony violations of the state’s books and records statute on falsifying business records (New York Penal Code § 175.10), including for conduct far less serious than the allegations against Trump. In this essay we make the same point about surreptitious third-party payments benefiting a candidate or campaign: there is nothing novel about prosecuting them. Quite the opposite.
New York State itself offers a number of important, closely analogous campaign finance cases that resulted in convictions for conduct similar to Trump’s, including falsifying business records. We begin there..........................................................(more)
https://www.justsecurity.org/85745/survey-of-prosecutions-for-covert-payments-to-benefit-campaigns/
Talk about the long arm of the law (translated from Romanian);
An American anarchist of Romanian origin, who organized attacks against police officers at protests in the USA, was arrested in Bucharest. The man is to be extradited.
https://www.digi24.ro/stiri/actualitate/anarhist-american-de-origine-romana-care-a-organizat-atacuri-violente-la-proteste-in-sua-a-fost-prins-la-bucuresti-2300751
A judge of the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided on the provisional arrest, with a view to extradition, of the Romanian, wanted in the USA for conspiracy to riot and riot activities, being one of the founders of an organization that supports the ideology of white supremacy in the USA, IGPR announces.
The police had information that the man was dangerous, that's why they asked for the help of the special forces. They found the man in a gym in Bucharest and took him into custody.
The man has been hiding in the Balkans for the past few years. He was spotted in Serbia and Bulgaria, but could not be caught until now.
"On March 29, the police officers of the Criminal Investigations Department - the Pursuit Service and the fighters of the Service for Interventions and Special Actions detected, in the city of Bucharest, a 33-year-old man, an American citizen, wanted internationally by the American judicial authorities, for committing the crimes of conspiracy to riot and riot activities", says a press release from the IGPR, quoted by Agerpres.
According to the police, the American judicial authorities submitted a request for provisional arrest in order to extradite the Romanian, from which it follows that, between December 2016 and October 2018, in the Central District of the State of California and in other parts of the USA, the man allegedly conspired with other people to go to political rallies and use fighting tactics and physical violence against people and groups that did not support their ideology.
The suspected person would be one of the founders of an organization that supports the ideology of white supremacy, which would have publicly presented itself as a group prepared for battle, campaigning for a new nationalist movement of white supremacy and identity.
The man would have conducted mixed martial arts training for members of the movement, going to two political rallies, where he would have assaulted other people, including a police officer.
"Also, together with other representatives of the movement, he would have posted online videos and images of them, while carrying out military training for hand-to-hand combat, interspersed with images and video clips in which they assaulted people at political meetings, accompanied by messages in support of the ideology of supremacy of the white race", the release states.
Following the detection, the internationally wanted man was presented to the case prosecutor from the Prosecutor's Office attached to the Bucharest Court of Appeal, who ordered his detention, and on March 30, a judge of the Bucharest Court of Appeal decided on the provisional arrest, with a view to extradition.
Currently, the American citizen is incarcerated in the custody of the General Directorate of Police of the Municipality of Bucharest.
Bragg did a really good letter to that criminal Jordon in which emptywheel noted some important points. Not quite the love letter, but the most beautiful, most amazing, best letter one could see. In other words, telling Jordon to sit back down and shut the f*#!k up. "Honorable" would not be the description I would give, but I understand his professionalism.
emptywheel
@emptywheel
This letter from Bragg to Jordan is really a work of art. Others have noted the strong pushback. Note, too, the suggestion that Jordan et al were "collaborating" in threats of violence with the unlawful attempt to interfere.
https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/1641824257503010816
DISTRICT ATTORNEY
COUNTY OF NEW YORK
ONE HOGAN PLACE
New York, N. Y. 10013
(212) 335-9000
ALVIN L. BRAGG, JR. DISTRICT ATTORNEY
March 31, 2023
By email
The Honorable Jim Jordan
Chairman, House Committee on the Judiciary
The Honorable Bryan Steil
Chairman, House Committee on House Administration
The Honorable James Comer
Chairman, House Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Dear Chairman Jordan, Chairman Steil, and Chairman Comer:
Yesterday, the District Attorney of New York County filed charges against Donald Trump for violations of New York law.1 The charges filed yesterday were brought by citizens of New York, doing their civic duty as members of a grand jury, who found probable cause to accuse Mr. Trump of having committed crimes in New York.
Like any other defendant, Mr. Trump is entitled to challenge these charges in court and avail himself of all processes and protections that New York State’s robust criminal procedure affords. What neither Mr. Trump nor Congress may do is interfere with the ordinary course of proceedings in New York State. Your first letter made an unprecedented request to the District Attorney for confidential information about the status of the state grand jury investigation—now indictment— of Mr. Trump. Your second letter asserts that, by failing to provide it, the District Attorney somehow failed to dispute your baseless and inflammatory allegations that our investigation is politically motivated. That conclusion is misleading and meritless. We did not engage in a point-by-point rebuttal of your letter because our Office is legally constrained in how it publicly discusses pending criminal proceedings, as prosecutorial offices are across the country and as you well know. That secrecy is critical to protecting the privacy of the target of any criminal investigation as well as the integrity of the independent grand jury’s proceedings.2
_____________________________________________________
1 The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
2 See, e.g., McKeever v. Barr, 920 F.3d 842, 844 (D.C. Cir. 2019) (“The Supreme Court has long maintained that the proper functioning of our grand jury system depends upon the secrecy of grand jury proceedings. That secrecy safeguards vital interests in (1) preserving the willingness and candor of witnesses called before the grand jury; (2) not alerting the target
The Honorable Jim Jordan, et al.
March 31, 2023
Page 2 of 6
The Committees Lack Jurisdiction to Oversee a State Criminal Prosecution
Your recent letter states that the purpose of your inquiry is to conduct “an examination of the facts” relating to the investigation of Mr. Trump.3 But Congress has no warrant for interfering with individual criminal investigations—much less investigations conducted by a separate sovereign. See United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549, 561 (1995) (“Under our federal system, the States possess primary authority for defining and enforcing the criminal law.”); Younger v. Harris, 401 U.S. 37, 44 (1971) (“This underlying reason for restraining courts of equity from interfering with criminal prosecutions is reinforced by an even more vital consideration, the notion of ‘comity,’ that is, a proper respect for state functions.”); cf. Gamble v. United States, 139 S. Ct. 1960 (2019) (recognizing state sovereign interests in the criminal justice context). The Committees’ attempted interference with an ongoing state criminal investigation—and now prosecution—is an unprecedented and illegitimate incursion on New York’s sovereign interests.
Moreover, your examination of the facts of a single criminal investigation, for the supposed purpose of determining whether any charges against Mr. Trump are warranted, is an improper and dangerous usurpation of the executive and judicial functions. See Trump v. Mazars USA, LLP, 140 S. Ct. 2019, 2032 (2020) (“Congress may not issue a subpoena for the purposes of ‘law enforcement’ because “those powers are assigned under our Constitution to the Executive and the Judiciary.”); Plaut v. Spendthrift Farm, Inc., 514 U.S. 211, 219, 224 (1995) (“The Framers of our Constitution lived among the ruins of a system of intermingled legislative and judicial powers” and accordingly created a system that separated “the legislative power to make general law from the judicial power to apply that law in particular cases.”). Even worse, based on your reportedly close collaboration with Mr. Trump in attacking this Office and the grand jury process,4 it appears you are acting more like criminal defense counsel trying to gather evidence for a client than a legislative body seeking to achieve a legitimate legislative objective.
The Committees’ Vague and Shifting Legislative Purpose is Insufficient
You suggest that your request has a valid legislative purpose because Congress may consider legislation to shield former presidents from state criminal investigations for “personal acts” that do not involve their conduct in office. You did not identify any such legislative purpose in your initial letter, suggesting that your proposal to “insulate current and former presidents”
______________________________________
of an investigation who might otherwise flee or interfere with the grand jury; and (3) preserving the rights of a suspect who might later be exonerated.” (citations omitted; internal quotation marks omitted)); People v. DiNapoli, 27 N.Y.2d 229, 235 (1970) (identifying five policy reasons for maintaining the secrecy of grand jury proceedings). 3 See also The Lead with Jake Tapper, CNN, Mar. 26, 2023 (https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2023/03/26/sotu- rep-comer-full.cnn) (Comer: “[Bragg] should come explain to us exactly what he’s investigating”). 4 Annie Grayer et al., Inside the backchannel communications keeping Donald Trump in the loop on Republican investigations, CNN.com (March 28, 2023), https://tinyurl.com/mr3n675p.
The Honorable Jim Jordan, et al.
March 31, 2023
Page 3 of 6
from state criminal investigations is a baseless pretext to interfere with our Office’s work.5 Indeed, we doubt that Congress would have authority to place a single private citizen— including a former president or candidate for president—above the law or to grant him unique protections, such as removal to federal court, that are unavailable to every other criminal defendant. “[E]very President takes office knowing that he will be subject to the same laws as all other citizens upon leaving office. This is a feature of our democratic republic, not a bug.” Comm. on Ways and Means v. U.S. Dep’t of Treasury, 45 F.4th 324, 338 (D.C. Cir. 2022).
Even if you were seriously considering such legislation and had the constitutional authority to enact it (which you do not), your request for information from the District Attorney and his former attorneys concerning an ongoing criminal probe is unnecessary and unjustified. Congress has many sources from which it could seek information on the wisdom of this legislation, including from former federal or state prosecutors not involved in this pending matter. The “unique constitutional position” our Constitution affords the states with respect to the criminal law “means that Congress may not look” to active state investigations “as a ‘case study’ for general legislation.” Trump, 140 S. Ct. at 2035-36 (2020). Likewise, it is unclear what pertinence the requested documents have to Congress’s evaluation of whether to grant a former president or presidential candidate with immunity from prosecution for state crimes. The documents and information relating to the pending criminal case would be relevant only if Congress is intending to specifically prevent this prosecution—an intent that you purport to disclaim.6
The DA’s Office Uses Limited Federal Funds to Effectively Fight Crime & Help Victims
The Committees’ initial rationale for its inquiry related to this Office’s use of federal funds. Over the last decade and a half, this Office has contributed to the federal fisc. Indeed, the DA’s Office has helped the Federal Government secure more than one billion dollars in asset forfeiture funds in the past 15 years. The DA’s Office receives only a small fraction of those forfeited funds.
____________________________________________
5 This concern is heightened given that some committee members have explicitly stated an intent to interfere with the state proceeding. For example, responding to Trump’s statement that he would be arrested, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated that “Republicans in Congress MUST subpoena these communists and END this! We have the power to do it and we also have the power to DEFUND their salaries and departments!”, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (@ RepMTG), Twitter (Mar. 18, 2023, 8:59 AM), https://twitter.com/RepMTG/status/1637076244708614144, and that Republicans who “do nothing to stop” the prosecution “will be exposed to the people and will be remembered, scorned, and punished by the base”, Rep. Marjorie Tylor Greene (@mtgreenee), Twitter (Mar. 18, 2023, 7:57 AM) https://twitter.com/mtgreenee/status/1637060574314917888. See also Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (@realannapaulina), Twitter (Mar. 18, 2023, 3:42 PM), https://twitter.com/realannapaulina/status/1637177616225501191 (“Pay attention to who is being silent on what is currently happening to Trump.”). 6 Letter from Rep. Jim Jordan, H. Comm. on the Judiciary, et al. to Hon. Alvin L. Bragg, Jr., District Attorney, New York County (March 23, 2023) at 7 (asserting that “the Committees’ oversight will in no way ‘stop [the] prosecution or set limits on the management of a particular case”).
The Honorable Jim Jordan, et al.
March 31, 2023
Page 4 of 6
Our review of the Office’s records reflect that, of the federal forfeiture money that the Office helped collect, approximately $5,000 was spent on expenses incurred relating to the investigation of Donald J. Trump or the Trump Organization. These expenses were incurred between October 2019 and August 2021. Most of those costs are attributed to the Supreme Court case, Trump v. Vance—subpoena-related litigation in which the DA’s Office prevailed and which led to the indictment and conviction of Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and two Trump organizations. No expenses incurred relating to this matter have been paid from funds that the Office receives through federal grant programs.
Federal Grant Programs
Currently, the DA’s Office participates in three federal grant programs relating to our casework.7 Award letters relating to these programs are attached. The Office can provide additional documentation regarding these grants on a rolling basis to be agreed upon in the previously requested meet and confer.
Stop Violence Against Women Act Program. The DA’s Office receives $50,000 in federal grant money yearly via New York State’s Division of Criminal Justice Services during our current award period, which runs from January 1, 2021, to December 31, 2025, for work to hold accountable those who commit acts of violence against women. These funds are used to help pay a portion of the salaries for senior positions in the Special Victims Division of the Office, including those who prosecute the most serious acts of violence and who directly interface and help victims of crime through the process. We note that, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, New York has the third lowest rate of domestic violence victimization for women of all 50 states.8
Victims of Crime Act, Victim and Witness Assistance Grant Program. The DA’s Office receives $583,111.04 in federal grant money yearly during our current award period, which runs from October 1, 2022, to September 30, 2025, from the Victims of Crime Act Victim and Witness Assistance Grant Program, which is sub-granted from the federal government through the New York State Office of Victim Services to our Office. All these funds are used by our Witness Aid Services Unit (WASU). WASU provides a variety of court-related services, social services, and counseling services designed to meet the needs of crime victims, witnesses, and their families. The Unit also provides information related to the prosecution of the case, assists victims in understanding the criminal justice system, and provides information regarding crime victims’ rights. WASU ensures that crime victims, witnesses, and their families can access the
_____________________________________
7 In addition, to support the Federal Government’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program, the DA’s Office receives funds and acts as the financial fiduciary recipient for grant funding for the New York/New Jersey HIDTA. Expenditure of these funds is directed by an executive board of law enforcement partners; the DA’s Office does not control decision-making on the use of these funds. 8 National Coalition Against Domestic Violence, State-By-State Statistics, available at: https://ncadv.org/state-by-state.
The Honorable Jim Jordan, et al.
March 31, 2023
Page 5 of 6
services they need to address their trauma and rebuild their lives, while also helping them navigate New York’s complex court system. All these efforts help make our city safer; by ensuring victims participate in court processes, they help hold those who commit crimes accountable for their actions, and by addressing trauma they help prevent future criminality. Our Office’s focus on public safety in every aspect of our work, including WASU, is one thing that helps explain why an expert analysis of the overall impact of the cost of crime per resident, taking into account the cost of both violent and property crime, found New York City the fifth safest large city in America.
9 Department of Justice, Justice Assistance Grant. The DA’s Office receives $204,730 in federal grant money during our current award period, which runs from October 1, 2020, to September 30, 2024, from the Department of Justice’s Justice Assistance Grant program which is sub-granted from the City of New York. These funds go towards addressing violent and other felony crimes in our jurisdiction. With the help of these funds, New York City has the fifth lowest rate of homicides of the top 50 most populated cities in the United States.10
* * *
Finally, as you are no doubt aware, former President Trump has directed harsh invective against District Attorney Bragg and threatened on social media that his arrest or indictment in New York may unleash “death & destruction.” As Committee Chairmen, you could use the stature of your office to denounce these attacks and urge respect for the fairness of our justice system and for the work of the impartial grand jury. Instead, you and many of your colleagues have chosen to collaborate with Mr. Trump’s efforts to vilify and denigrate the integrity of elected state prosecutors and trial judges and made unfounded allegations that the Office’s investigation, conducted via an independent grand jury of average citizens serving New York State, is politically motivated. See, e.g., Annie Grayer et al., Inside the backchannel communications keeping Donald Trump in the loop on Republican investigations, CNN.com (March 28, 2023), https://tinyurl.com/mr3n675p (“House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik . . . and Trump spoke several times last week alone, where she walked him through the GOP’s plans for an aggressive response to Bragg.”). We urge you to refrain from these inflammatory accusations, withdraw your demand for information, and let the criminal justice process proceed without unlawful political interference.
___________________________________________
9 Deb Gordon, Safest Cities In America 2023: Violent Crime Rate Increases Drive Per Capita Cost of Crime, available at https://www.moneygeek.com/living/safest-cities/, analyzing 263 cities with populations of over 100,000 using FBI data and relying on academic measurement of the cost of crime to society.
10 Bloomberg News analysis of murder rates in the top 50 most populated cities in America, using data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association, Federal Bureau of Investigation, local police departments, media reports, and the US Census Bureau, available at: https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2023-03-03/pandemic-murder-wave-has-crested- here-s-the-postmortem.
The Honorable Jim Jordan, et al.
March 31, 2023
Page 6 of 6
If you will not withdraw your request, we reiterate our willingness to meet and confer with you or your staff about how we can accommodate your request without violating our obligations as prosecutors to protect the integrity of an ongoing criminal prosecution. We respectfully request that you provide us with a list of questions you wish to ask District Attorney Bragg and to describe the type of documents you think we could produce that would be relevant to your inquiry without violating New York grand jury secrecy rules or interfering with the criminal case now before a court. We trust you will make a good-faith effort to reach a negotiated resolution before taking the unprecedented and unconstitutional step of serving a subpoena on a district attorney for information related to an ongoing state criminal prosecution.
Respectfully Submitted,
Leslie B. Dubeck
General Counsel
cc: Honorable Jerrold Nadler, Ranking Member, Committee on the Judiciary
Honorable Joseph Morelle, Ranking Member, Committee on House Administration
Honorable Jamie Raskin, Ranking Member, Committee on Oversight and Accountability
Majority Staff, Committee on the Judiciary
Minority Staff, Committee on the Judiciary
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23735838-230331-bragg-response-jordan
APPEALING? That's nice.
Must have heard about Traitor Trumps indictment;
Have you ever seen a jump like this? pic.twitter.com/AUkHsuc70G
— Gabriele Corno (@Gabriele_Corno) March 31, 2023
Oh, and DeSantis also said: "The state of Florida will not assist with an extradition request".
On MSNBC, Joy Reid--who seems not to have had time to get makeup done--just said solemnly, "This is not a joyful occasion..."
Wanna bet??
Hilary right now #TrumpIndictment pic.twitter.com/omSYCHpnzA
— Janey Godley (@JaneyGodley) March 30, 2023
Traitor Trump says; STOP THE COUNT!
CNN Analyst Says NYPD Has Ordered Every Cop In The City Of Every Rank To ‘Show Up In Uniform Tomorrow’
By Tommy ChristopherMar 30th, 2023, 7:39 pm
https://www.mediaite.com/crime/cnn-analyst-says-nypd-has-ordered-every-cop-in-the-city-of-every-rank-to-show-up-in-uniform-tomorrow/
I'm sure it will entail more than just the city's officers.
Saw that, was trying to find confirmation. Still sealed, but sources say;
CNN’s John Miller reporting Trump to be charged with 34 (!) counts of falsifying business records. pic.twitter.com/bGJuGuwqsA
— Rich Luchette (@richluchette) March 30, 2023
That just put a lot more NATO border on Russia. Pretty big deal actually. Putin a loser again.
Turkey approves Finland’s NATO application, clearing the last hurdle. Sweden is still waiting
Ivana Kottasová
By Ivana Kottasová, CNN
Updated 5:49 PM EDT, Thu March 30, 2023
https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/30/europe/turkey-vote-finland-nato-membership-intl/index.html
Turkey has finally approved Finland’s application to join NATO, putting an end to months of delays while also continuing to block Sweden from joining the military alliance.
The Turkish Parliament voted unanimously in favor of Finland’s membership on Thursday, clearing the last hurdle in the accession process.
The vote fulfills Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s “promise” to allow Finland in the defense alliance. Turkey was the last NATO member to approve Finland’s accession, although Hungary only did so on Monday.
In a statement after the vote, Finnish President Sauli Niinisto said his country is “now ready to join NATO.”
“All 30 NATO members have now ratified Finland’s membership. I want to thank every one of them for their trust and support,” he also said. “Finland will be a strong and capable ally, committed to the security of the Alliance.”
“We look forward to welcoming Sweden to join us as soon as possible,” the Finnish president added.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg also hailed the decision. “I welcome the vote of the Grand National Assembly of #Türkiye to complete the ratification of #Finland’s accession. This will make the whole #NATO family stronger & safer,” Stoltenberg said in a tweet.
Finland and Sweden had for decades committed to non-alignment with NATO as a way of avoiding provoking Moscow. However, that changed when the Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine and forced the two Scandinavian countries to re-evaluate their neutral status......more
Just the start of years of drama, more indictments, and more GOP wars backing up the criminals.
On another note;
California police union executive charged with attempting to import opioids
Executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association charged with attempt to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/mar/30/california-police-union-executive-charged-importing-opioids
Lois Beckett in Los Angeles
@loisbeckett
Thu 30 Mar 2023 15.50 EDT
The executive director of a US police union has been charged with attempting to illegally import a fentanyl analogue, and has been accused of using the police union’s office to communicate with her suppliers and mail the drugs.
Joanne Segovia, the executive director of the San Jose Police Officers Association in California, was charged with attempt to unlawfully import valeryl fentanyl, a variation of the powerful synthetic opioid, and faces up to 20 years in prison, the justice department said in a statement on Wednesday.
Between 2015 and 2023, Segovia allegedly used “her personal and office computers to order thousands of opioid and other pills to her home and agreed to distribute the drugs elsewhere in the United States”, the justice department said.
At least one package of drugs, in 2021, was sent using the UPS account of the San Jose Police Officers’ Association, according to a photograph of the shipment, according to the criminal complaint against Segovia.
The packages of controlled drugs were allegedly labeled “Wedding Party Favors”, “Gift Makeup” or “Chocolate and Sweets”, prosecutors said.
Segovia was charged “as part of an ongoing Homeland Security investigation into a network that was shipping controlled substances into the San Francisco Bay Area from abroad”, the justice department said.
As fentanyl-related overdose deaths rise across the United States, the source of illegal opioids has become a political flashpoint. Many Americans incorrectly believe that most fentanyl is being smuggled into the United States by migrants in unauthorized border crossings, a talking point of Republican politicians like Ron DeSantis.
a person kneels with head in hand and a lighter as another person walks behind them with a walker
The daily battle to keep people alive as fentanyl ravages San Francisco’s Tenderloin
Read more
Law enforcement agencies in multiple states, including California and Florida have also been criticized by medical experts for spreading misinformation about the dangers of touching fentanyl, after they shared videos of officers allegedly collapsing after skin contact with the drug.
In fact, experts say, illegal opioids most often enter the United States at legal ports of entry. “Drug traffickers deal with professionals, not amateurs, and they prefer US citizens,” Sanho Tree, director of the Drug Policy Project at the Institute for Policy Studies, told PolitiFact in 2022.
An archived version of the San Jose police union’s website from late last year said that Segovia, 64, had worked for the union since 2003, and that “she maintains control over financial and administrative matters associated with the SJPOA, as well as the SJPOA Charitable Foundation”. It also noted that she “works with Concerns of Police Survivors (Cops) in line of duty deaths”.
In one of the messages about pill shipments she allegedly exchanged with a person using a phone number based in India, Segovia wrote, “Im so sorry, im on a business trip because we had 2 officers that got shot! I should be home tomorrow night so ill get them shipped as soon as i can,” according to the criminal complaint.
Her name is no longer listed among the staff members on the San Jose police union’s website.
The union was informed of the federal investigation last Friday, and Segovia, one of the group’s “civilian employees”, was “immediately” placed on leave, union spokesperson Tom Saggau said in a statement.
The union has been “fully and completely cooperating” with federal authorities in the investigation, and the spokesperson said that “no additional individual at the POA is involved or had prior knowledge of the alleged acts”.
“The board of directors is saddened and disappointed at hearing this news,” Saggau said.
It's playing on the news now. Indictment is still under seal at the moment. So when is the arrest?
Trump Org stopped paying for Allen Weisselberg's lawyer, who was not "Trumpy" enough.
— Jose Pagliery (@Jose_Pagliery) March 30, 2023
They're now paying for a new one. There is an effort to block any cooperation with DA.@thedailybeast had it first--and reported it accurately.
TV networks are lame.https://t.co/C5dn8PjYZ5
As another responded, "talk about grooming".
I am not surprised. https://t.co/NTeLEBGnAh
— Gen Michael Hayden (@GenMhayden) March 29, 2023
It's bad enough that Marjorie Taylor Greene lies about everything and spreads dangerous conspiracy theories.
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) March 29, 2023
But when she lies to fight against policies that would save kids' lives, it truly makes her beneath contempt. pic.twitter.com/9AFCfrBkuV
Nope it won't, the GOP are just child killers, their mantra, their culture, their fault, they are the cause, and killing children is nothing they are sorry for. Simple permits and registration too much to stop the killing. They try to impress that it's making America great by being number one in killing of children, number one in supporting the drug trade from Mexico and supplying all the guns to the gangs so they continue having power to shove all those drugs up to the US to kill even more children. Being the cause of all that fentanyl coming over the border just gives them something to blame Biden. Accusations are just confessions.
North Carolina legislature overrides veto and repeals permit requirement for handgun purchase
BY OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN - 03/29/23 12:32 PM ET
https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/3923894-north-carolina-legislature-overrides-veto-and-repeals-permit-requirement-for-handgun-purchase/
North Carolina’s state legislature has voted to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s (D) veto and repeal the state’s requirement for a resident to obtain a permit from a local sheriff before legally purchasing a handgun.
Senate Bill 41 passed in the state’s House of Representatives in a 71 to 46 vote on Wednesday. The state Senate previously voted 30 to 19 on Tuesday in approval of the measure.
Republicans have a supermajority in the Senate and did not need Democratic votes to override Cooper.
In the House, three Democrats weren’t present at Wednesday morning’s vote, meaning that state Republicans only need 71 votes to override Cooper’s veto instead of 72.
The repeal will take effect immediately, according to The Associated Press.
The enacted bill would also allow guns on some school properties where religious services are held.
In a statement, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein (D) said that the state legislature’s moves to override the requirement is a mistake and will eventually put citizens at risk.
“We need to be taking more measures to reduce gun violence, more background checks, other things like red flag laws to keep us safe because gun violence is on the increase, is now the number one cause of death of children in this country more than car crashes,” Stein said in his video statement.
“So I’m very disappointed, and even though the legislature is failing to do its job to protect the people in North Carolina, I’m going to continue to do everything I can as your attorney general to keep us safe.”
The votes come amid a national focus on yet another school shooting.
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Three children and three adults were killed when a gunman opened fire on Monday inside The Covenant School, a private Christian elementary school in Nashville, Tenn.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.