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Fake electors in Wisconsin first to admit Biden won election and face penalty
The group of Republicans formally acknowledged the wrongdoing and will be barred from serving as presidential electors again
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/dec/06/wisconsin-fake-electors-admit-biden-won-2020-election
Sam Levine in New York
Wed 6 Dec 2023 12.15 EST
A group of Republican fake electors in Wisconsin acknowledged Joe Biden won the presidency and agreed they would not serve in the electoral college in 2024 as part of a settlement agreement in a civil lawsuit on Wednesday.
Eric Trump will not testify at fraud trial after father claims he told him not to
Read more
The settlement, first reported by the Washington Post, marks the first time any of the fake electors from 2020 have formally acknowledged wrongdoing in a legal case and have faced any kind of penalty. The case was filed by two Biden electors and a Wisconsin voter last year. They sought up to $2.4m in damages, in addition to permanently barring the fake electors from ever being able to serve as presidential electors again.
No money is involved in the settlement, according to a copy of the agreement that was obtained by the Washington Post. The fake electors agreed to never serve in an election in which Donald Trump is on the ballot. They also agreed to fully cooperate in any justice department investigation into efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The lawsuit is continuing against Jim Troupis, a Wisconsin attorney who helped organize the effort there, as well as Ken Chesebro, a lawyer who was the architect of the effort to convene false slates of electors across the country.
The effort to get pro-Trump slates of electors in place if allies were able to stop the certification of the presidential vote has drawn scrutiny from both federal and state prosecutors. The Michigan attorney general, Dana Nessel, has criminally charged those who served as fake electors there. Chesebro and some of the Georgia fake electors were also charged as part of the wide-ranging Rico prosecution into Trump’s efforts to overturn the election there.
The attorney general of Nevada is also reportedly investigating the fake elector slate there as is the Arizona attorney general.
Explain. Explanation will have include decades in the past and present, including all the time Republicans have been in control, the big corp spending millions, billions paying the politicians of both parties, but overwhelmingly more to the GOP throughout time encouraging and magnifying the problem.
Also please explain how the accounting numbers would work in order to completely close the border (have to assume that's even a solution), manpower, material costs, the economic ramifications that will domino, getting through political wars, agricultural worker shortages and costs of that, service industry ramifications, on and on. The cost and time of just that very short, cheap and totally ineffective trump wall with the constant repair costs was just a drop in the ocean of what kind of funds and resources it would take to literally close the border.
They've already had several bipartisan bills dealing with this problem that the extreme right has killed, what things do the Democrats need to do that will make this problem "go away". I believe the correct statement would be not "doesn't need to be" but didn't need to be, but it is a problem that has amassed greatly over a great period of time with no solutions in sight that won't take generations to apply or see if they might work.
When it comes to the border, the Biden administration has stopped more drugs, stopped more immigrants, released fewer percentage wise into the US, and spent money more efficiently than the previous administration did. That's the stats and numbers, not the political gaslighting.
So respectively again please explain your basis for how "The democrats have made the border a problem for themselves. It doesn’t need to be." I'd really like to know. Things I don't know if valid are always welcome to be learned.
We've got a good Karen And the most savage moment in 2023 goes to Karen Smith, Central Bucks Board President. https://t.co/632zOnFrqm
Central Bucks’ new school board president was sworn in on a stack of frequently banned books. Here’s what these books mean to her.
While Karen Smith doesn’t know why the moment resonated as widely as it did, she explained her reasons for choosing each of the six books.
https://www.inquirer.com/education/cbsd-new-school-board-karen-smith-president-swearing-in-20231205.html
Karen Smith, a Democrat reelected to the Central Bucks school board who has been named its new president, is joined by her family Monday while being sworn in on a stack of frequently banned books.
by Maddie Hanna
Published Dec. 5, 2023, 4:37 p.m. ET
As she was sworn in to another term on the Central Bucks school board Monday night, Karen Smith placed her hand not on a Bible, but a stack of frequently banned books.
Smith, who was chosen as the president of the new Democratic-led board Monday, wanted to make a symbolic gesture — setting a new tone after the former GOP-dominated board passed a policy prohibiting “sexualized content” that led to bans of two books and paved the way for challenges of 60 others.
Smith, like the other Democrats who were in the minority, had opposed that policy, which became one of the most contentious measures passed by the board in its tumultuous two years in power.
“I’m not particularly religious. The Bible doesn’t hold significant meaning for me, and given everything that has occurred in the last couple of years, the banned books, they do mean something to me at this point,” Smith said Tuesday. She wanted to make clear “the commitment I’ve had to fighting for the books, and for our students’ freedom to read.”
» READ MORE: Here are the objections cited in 61 challenges to Central Bucks’ library books
While she had specific reasons for selecting the six books, which her husband held as she took the oath of office, Smith said she otherwise “didn’t think too deeply about it.”
So she was somewhat surprised when a photo of the moment began circulating online Tuesday — garnering more than 180,000 views on Twitter, and praise from various corners of the internet.
“This Karen built different,” one person wrote — using a slang term for an entitled white woman. Another wrote: “Queen status.”
“Somebody’s saying it’s like, a baller move,” Smith said, referring to a tweet that was sent to her (she doesn’t use the social platform). “I didn’t really think of it that way.”
While she doesn’t know why the moment resonated as widely as it did, Smith explained what the books she chose meant to her:
Night, by Elie Wiesel: Smith placed the Nobel Prize-winner’s autobiographical account of surviving the Holocaust at the top of her pile, in reference to a controversy surrounding another policy passed by the GOP-controlled board. After the board in January banned staff from advocating beliefs to students on “partisan, political, or social policy issues,” a Central Bucks South High School librarian was directed to remove a Wiesel quote that read, “I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”
Smith, like other Democrats, had opposed that policy.
The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison: As community members last year began alleging the district was harboring pornography in its libraries — amid a broader conservative movement that has accused schools of seeking to sexualize children — Smith recalled one person reading aloud from the Pulitzer-winning Morrison’s The Bluest Eye. The novel, which describes a character being raped by her father, is a frequent target of bans.
Smith said the scene in question was “maybe shocking,” but noted comments from “sexual abuse survivors who said it was very important that young people who may have suffered sexual abuse have some way to learn about it, and they’re not alone. Their feelings are valid.”
Lily and Dunkin, by Donna Gephart: A group called “Woke PA” that was objecting to library books in Central Bucks had cited Lily and Dunkin, a book with a transgender main character, Smith said. She decided to read it.
“The list had said, there was inappropriate material, sexual content in the book. I get to the end, and there’s nothing in here. Not even a kiss,” Smith said. She called it “a sweet story about friendship — except one student in the book is transgender. That’s it.”
All Boys Aren’t Blue, by George M. Johnson: The young-adult memoir about growing up Black and queer has sexually explicit passages that Smith called “intense.”
“But I really found that the author, what he says in the book about why he chose to write that scene, it’s very powerful, and he’s very vulnerable in sharing that with the world. … He thought it would help other young gay men and that’s why he did it,” she said. “I just thought that was admirable.”
Flamer, by Mike Curato: Smith hasn’t read the graphic novel about a teenager grappling with his identity. But she recently participated in a panel at an American Association of School Librarians conference, during which a young person fighting book bans in Texas said the book had saved their life.
“It stunned me” to hear that, Smith said.
Beyond Magenta, by Susan Kuklin: The book about the lives of six transgender teens has been targeted nationally; in Central Bucks, it was ultimately retained after an administration-ordered review. “I was just very impressed” with the teenagers’ accounts, “and found them all to be very courageous … I think it’s a valuable book that some young people could really benefit from,” Smith said.
While community members who opposed the former board celebrated the swearing in Monday of Smith and the newly elected Democrats, to Smith, the moment marked a step in a political journey she didn’t expect would necessarily continue. A former Republican who was first elected in 2015, Smith switched parties in early 2021, after the board voted down sending a counselor to a training about transgender students.
“I thought, ‘I can’t be a part of these kind of actions,’” said Smith, who is retired as a school public relations professional but manages a farm in New Britain Township. “The Republican Party has lost its way.” She didn’t think Democrats would accept her, but “they were watching carefully the actions I took over the past two years … They valued that, not my previous party affiliation.”
While Democrats have suspended the former board’s library policy, as well as the ban on staff advocacy, Smith isn’t sure yet whether the two books that were banned — Gender Queer and This Book is Gay — will return to library shelves.
As for the dozens of other books that were challenged, however, “they’re definitely not going to be reviewed at this point,” she said.
President Biden slams extreme Republicans “playing chicken with our national security,” and vows to work with Congress to address a “broken immigration system”:
— The Recount (@therecount) December 6, 2023
“In terms of changes of policy and to provide resources we need at the border, I'm ready to change policy as well.” pic.twitter.com/Cm6RGVfEmH
Congratulations to @Raytheon, which just hit a big milestone:
— Citizens for Ethics (@CREWcrew) December 5, 2023
It has now donated more than half a million dollars ($554,000, to be exact) to support the members of Congress who voted not to certify the results of the 2020 election. https://t.co/m8SuVAFrT5
Great video.
Exposing the Medicare Advantage con is deeply personal to me.
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) December 5, 2023
These companies operate "death panels” and cost the tax payers $140 billion a year!
Don't just take it from me. Watch here: pic.twitter.com/eTzN1omLr1
Great video.
Exposing the Medicare Advantage con is deeply personal to me.
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) December 5, 2023
These companies operate "death panels” and cost the tax payers $140 billion a year!
Don't just take it from me. Watch here: pic.twitter.com/eTzN1omLr1
This is the way the UAE is welcoming one of the most wanted war criminals since the Nazis pic.twitter.com/Nwa8W8ytHL
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) December 6, 2023
Hey we've all done stupid shut. Falling for the pump, FOMO, and exuberance, mind set of making a million from a buck, then losing the buck. Anybody tells you they haven't is lying. It's only stupidity if you don't learn from it, control the losses, set your own rules and your risk factors and stay with them. Diversify, have some solid investments, always trade with caution, especially with stocks that don't make money. If it's investment, don't invest on feelings and hype, pay attention to the fundamentals. Trade with the trend, it is your friend. It's all just a learning experience, make some money on the next one using what you've learned.
5:29 AM EST, December 06, 2023 (Benzinga Newswire)
Morgan Stanley Downgrades Plug Power to Underweight, Lowers Price Target to $3
Morgan Stanley slashed Plug Power Inc. (NASDAQ:PLUG) price target from $3.5 to $3. Morgan Stanley analyst Arthur Sitbon downgraded the stock from Equal-Weight to Underweight. Plug Power shares fell 11.7% to close at $4.24 on Tuesday.
12/6 AM
WSJ
Markets A.M.
Stocks to Watch
↘️ British American Tobacco: The cigarette manufacturer’s shares fell 8% after BAT said it expected to take a $31.5 billion impairment on its U.S. brands due to lackluster sales. Shares in U.S. rival Altria traded down ahead of the opening bell.
↗️ Apple: The market heavyweight ended Tuesday with a value of more than $3 trillion for the first time since August. Apple stock ticked higher in premarket trading.
↘️ Plug Power: The hydrogen fuel-cell maker’s stock fell 4% premarket. Its shares have been under pressure for months, along with other clean-energy stocks.
🔎 Brown-Forman, Campbell Soup: The distiller and the soup maker are among companies due to report results before the market opens Wednesday. GameStop and Chewy are among those set to report after the close.
Joining the Russia, China, NK club.
Kash Patel says as Trump’s next CIA Director he will lead “patriots” appointed by Trump in an all-out effort to prosecute and jail people in government and the media: “We will find the conspirators in govt and the media. Yes, we are going to come after the people in the media.” pic.twitter.com/NuLyqOIKWO
— Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) December 5, 2023
12/4
Here are a slew of updates from the past few days.
• Black and Latino voters sued over North Carolina's new Republican-drawn congressional map, arguing the map is racially gerrymandered and intentionally discriminates against minority voters. The voters asked the court to order new, fair districts.
• Voting rights groups appealed a decision upholding Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ (R) congressional map to the Florida Supreme Court. The groups argue the districts illegally diminish Black voting power.
• The Republican National Committee, Pennsylvania Republican Party and Richard Marino, a losing Republican candidate for local office, asked a court to pause a ruling striking down the practice of not counting valid mail-in ballots that are missing a handwritten date, or have the "incorrect" date, while the appeal is litigated.
• Civil rights groups intend to ask the entire U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a case that ruled that private litigants cannot bring lawsuits under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).
• After the 8th Circuit ruled private parties cannot sue under Section 2 of the VRA, Louisiana Republicans asked the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to reconsider its decision that ruled the opposite. This move threatens the VRA's enforcement in more states.
• Texas Republicans appealed a decision striking down parts of the state’s voter suppression law to the 5th Circuit. The provisions enacted ID requirements for mail-in ballots that resulted in tens of thousands of ballot rejections.
• Columbia County, Georgia became the first county in the U.S. to sign up for Republicans' new voter information database EagleAI. The software is one of the right’s replacements for ERIC as numerous GOP states left the group due to conspiracy theories. Learn more about EagleAI here.
• A federal judge denied former President Donald Trump's motion to dismiss his Washington, D.C. election subversion case, rejecting Trump's claims that he is "absolutely immune" from criminal charges for actions he took while serving as president.
• A court in Arkansas held a hearing today in a lawsuit challenging the state's congressional map. Plaintiffs argue that the map is racially gerrymandered and intentionally discriminates against Black voters, violating the 14th and 15th Amendments.
Here’s what to expect tomorrow.
• The U.S. Supreme Court will issue decisions tomorrow morning at 10 a.m. EST. We are looking out for a ruling in a case that challenges South Carolina’s congressional and state House maps for being racially gerrymandered.
ICYMI, listen to our latest episode of Defending Democracy. In the podcast episode that dropped last Friday, Marc and Paige spoke about the state of the Voting Rights Act, which was having a good year — until the 8th Circuit ruled that there’s no private right of action under the provision. Listen on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts or enjoy it in newly available video form on YouTube.
12/5
Here are some updates.
• Georgia Republicans are one step closer to enacting new gerrymandered maps. The state House and Senate maps await the signature of Gov. Brian Kemp (R) and the congressional districts passed the first chamber today.
• A Nevada voter filed a lawsuit to stop a voter ID initiative from getting on the ballot. The plaintiff argues that the initiative violates state law because the language is deceptive and misleading.
• A federal judge in Arizona rejected a lawsuit arguing that the 14th Amendment disqualifies former President Donald Trump from running for president again due to his involvement in the Jan. 6 insurrection.
• The Republican National Committee sent a letter to Nevada Secretary of State Cisco Aguilar (D), alleging inconsistencies in the state’s voter registration numbers. The organization is demanding the secretary of state address its concerns, or else it will proceed with a lawsuit.
• New York Republicans asked a state court to expedite review of a new mail-in voting law set to go into effect on Jan. 1, citing an upcoming special election caused by the expulsion of former Rep. George Santos (R) from Congress.
• Wisconsin Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to abolish the Wisconsin Elections Commission, the state's bipartisan election regulatory body, and grant more power over elections to the state's Republican-controlled Legislature.
• The U.S. Senate confirmed Judge Irma Ramirez to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, making her the first Latina to ever serve on the circuit. Read more about President Joe Biden’s federal judge confirmations here.
• Louisiana Republicans asked the 5th Circuit to revise its private right of action precedent, saying that the 8th Circuit's recent decision has created an "untenable scenario where a [Voting Rights Act] claim by private litigatns can proceed in Louisiana but not in neighboring Arkansas”
o Last month, the 8th Circuit ruled that private parties cannot sue to enforce Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, only the U.S. Department of Justice can. Louisiana Republicans want the 5th Circuit to adopt the same ruling. Read more here.
• The U.S. Supreme Court did not release a decision in the South Carolina congressional redistricting case today. South Carolina asked the Court to issue a decision by the new year so the state has time to redraw the map in time for 2024 elections, if necessary.
Here’s what to expect tomorrow.
• The Colorado Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a lawsuit challenging Trump’s eligibility to be on the state’s ballot for the 2024 presidential election.
This is a Daily Docket email where we provide the day’s voting rights news and courtroom updates that you need to know. Can’t get enough news? You can always find more details on our News page.
There are no good cults.
Talking about the devil, email from WP and this article comes up and explains it well. gifted
House Republicans are coming up with innovative ways to avoid scrutiny
https://wapo.st/3RcXRAu
Analysis by Philip Bump
National columnist
December 5, 2023 at 5:20 p.m. EST
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) told reporters Tuesday why the Jan. 6 footage he's authorized to be released will have blurred faces. (Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)
One of the more revealing quotes to emerge from Donald Trump’s inner circle in the period around the 2020 election came from his attorney Rudy Giuliani in October 2020. Giuliani had handed over to the New York Post material purportedly obtained from a laptop that had belonged to Joe Biden’s son Hunter and was asked about doing so by the New York Times.
He chose the Post, Giuliani said, because “either nobody else would take it, or if they took it, they would spend all the time they could to try to contradict it before they put it out.”
In other words, he turned to the right-wing tabloid because he didn’t want the information in his possession to be vetted for authenticity or offered in a broader context. He wanted it presented in a way that would do the most damage to Joe Biden. As he put it to a radio interviewer in the same period, “even if it isn’t accurate, the American people are entitled to know it.”
It was inevitable, given how media has evolved in the United States, that we would reach such a point. For years — and particularly since Trump reshaped the standard of acceptability for unfounded allegations — the right-wing media has operated as a bubble, a self-contained universe of argument and evidence where claims are reinforced far more often than they are undercut. (One of the central rhetorical tenets of that universe, of course, is that it’s traditional media outlets that have a blinkered, limited understanding of the world — which is true, in the sense that we are constrained by the boundaries of reality.)
It has become easy for arguments that comport with the expectations or desires of the political right to survive in the right-wing media Petri dish. It’s become similarly easy for them to survive indefinitely, with consumers of right-wing media trained to dismiss or ignore fact-checks or corrections or context that would undercut that rhetoric — particularly since the arguments are reinforced across right-wing media outlets, creating an unwarranted sense of reinforcement.
But even as that bubble has strengthened and swallowed up more of the right-wing rhetorical fringe, it still does come into contact with the real world at times. And that means that Republicans — particularly House Republicans — are developing unusual or remarkable tools for protecting their arguments.
Consider House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) announcement Tuesday that the release of footage captured by security cameras at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, would blur the faces of those shown. This wasn’t a new declaration; he’d made this point previously. But this time, Johnson framed the move as being centered on ensuring that those inside the Capitol wouldn’t be “retaliated against and be charged” by the Justice Department.
This doesn’t make much sense. The Justice Department’s had the video for years and used it to charge various actors. Instead, as Johnson spokesman (and former White House communications staffer and former Fox News executive) Raj Shah clarified, the real goal was to “prevent all forms of retaliation against private citizens from any nongovernmental actors.” In other words, to prevent groups like Sedition Hunters from developing new leads on participants in the riot that occurred that day and which has, on multiple occasions, helped the Justice Department build cases against rioters.
Johnson seemingly wants to release the footage because the Republican base has called for it, believing that the footage will allow them to construct an argument that the riot was a function not of Trump supporters but government actors or leftists. It will allow them to do that, of course, since the bar for “proving” this untrue thing is so low. (We’ve already seen them try it.) But Johnson wants the evidence this footage constitutes to be used only in a context that’s helpful to his base, not harmful. So it gets blurred.
A different lens on this effort to control evidence and rhetoric comes from Johnson’s allies who are leading the Republican effort to build a case for impeaching President Biden. As with the Capitol riot, there is already a broadly accepted belief on the right: namely, that Biden is a corrupt actor who benefited from his son’s business deals. There’s already an appetite, based on that belief, for Biden to be impeached. So now, people like House Oversight Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) are trying to backfill evidence in support of that belief.
Comer presented several claims in the past few weeks that more than meet the standard of evidence required by the right-wing media universe. His assertions that Joe Biden was paid some quarter of a million dollars from America’s enemies (as he likes to put it) have been largely accepted and promoted without question on Fox News and elsewhere. But it’s nonsense; it depends fully on arguing that money being repaid to Biden by family members to whom he made loans is suspect or nefarious or, at least, of enormous benefit to Biden.
“You can loan people money,” Comer argued on Newsmax on Monday evening. “If they pay you back, then you benefited directly from the influence-peddling scheme.”
This came hours after The Washington Post and other outlets had noted that Comer’s most recent charge against Biden — that the president had in 2018 received multiple payments directly from Hunter Biden’s law firm — was ridiculous. The three payments, amounting to a little over $4,000, were reimbursements to Joe Biden for a truck he helped his son buy. But Comer presented this repayment as being financially beneficial to Biden and evidence of the president’s corruption. (For what it’s worth, $200,000 of the quarter of a million dollars Comer talks about was in repayment of a loan Joe made to his brother James and was made possible thanks to James Biden’s being paid as part of a business deal with an American company.)
At a news conference Tuesday, Comer again tried to present this debunked argument as though it was still viable.
“This week, we revealed how Hunter Biden’s corporate entity, Owasco PC, made direct monthly payments to Joe Biden,” Comer said. “Owasco PC is under investigation by the Justice Department for tax evasion and other serious crimes. Chinese and other foreign entities funneled millions of dollars into Hunter’s Owasco PC, and some of this money landed in Joe Biden’s bank account.”
By extension, if a criminal has a subscription to this newspaper, I am culpable for his activity when The Post pays me my salary.
“These direct monthly payments to Joe Biden,” Comer continued, “are part of a pattern revealing Joe Biden knew about, participated in, and benefited from his family’s shady business schemes.”
Again, the “benefit” was “being repaid money he was owed.” The “knew about” and “participated in” claims, meanwhile, remain unproven. But they are treated as factual by Comer and by the right-wing media ecosystem, because they are the tenets of the conclusion to which they’ve all seemingly already agreed.
The news conference ended with Comer and his colleagues taking no questions. Comer would not be forced to defend his exaggerations and misinformation. Instead, he joined right-wing commentator Benny Johnson’s podcast where he simply reiterated those same claims.
Johnson and his colleagues are rapidly approaching a difficult point in their impeachment push, though. At some point, they will need to decide whether to file articles of impeachment against Biden. It’s clear that a lot of Republicans are worried about what happens with the unstoppable force of demand for impeachment reaches the immovable object of reality. I guess we’ll see.
Meanwhile, the New York Post continues to do what Giuliani had hoped for back in 2020, presenting right-wing claims without doing anything to try to contradict them. The paper’s front page on Tuesday morning, after Comer’s claims about the payments to Biden had been debunked, declared that “[a]fter being paid by foreign companies, Hunter’s law firm gave Joe Biden monthly fees.”
Reality kept out of the bubble for another 24 hours, at least.
Like I said, it's purpose is only about cult feed, in which it satisfies. Problem is, the food is nothing but empty calories and doesn't last long and trump's GOP has to work overtime to constantly make stuff up. Like a drug dealer with cut diluted drugs, just barely enough to keep the cult hooked and has to be constantly administered. I also believe it's for members of Congress's protection and delay of any consequences long enough with hopes for the gang leader to be crowned and everything will go away, coup complete.
Law enforcement and the Democrats along with a few others have all those tapes. It's only to hide them from the public identification and reporting their location to the FBI. All the other holders of the tapes have to do is release the unedited ones or match them up to the thousands of arrests already made. It was already known and stated that there could be a thousand more, ones they already have intent on picking up. There has been technology for some time now that matches blurred faces to previous pics. Body forms, sizes, and even bone structures all go into analysis. But all of that won't matter for Republican's purpose of cult gullibility (the failure of social intelligence in which a person is easily tricked or manipulated into an ill-advised course of action. It is closely related to credulity, which is the tendency to believe unlikely propositions that are unsupported by evidence)
I don't think Johnson's antics is going to slow the FBI down much.
Court unseals the latest in a new wave of Jan 6 cases
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 5, 2023
Brandon Heffner of Maryland, who's accused of being former Proud Boy & allegedly amid "group of rioters who physically blocked the door to prevent (police) from exiting & using their tear gas to respond to disperse the crowd" pic.twitter.com/C9b3zkVQdh
Justice Dept will request 2-months prison in Jan 6 case of former Amtrak employee Ronald Andrulonis of Philadelphia-area
— Scott MacFarlane (@MacFarlaneNews) December 4, 2023
He's one of multiple defendants accused of entering the private office space of Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) while amid the mob pic.twitter.com/WsXAHtEl7Q
Liz Cheney mulling third-party bid; will decide in next few months
BY JULIA MUELLER - 12/05/23 9:20 AM ET
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4342521-liz-cheney-mulling-third-party-bid-will-decide-in-next-few-months/
good idea, Mr. Speaker https://t.co/TNgCzZ56WO pic.twitter.com/6vr0TSRONz
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) December 5, 2023
After Water System Privatization, Consumers Get Hosed
https://substack.perfectunion.us/p/after-water-system-privatization
Comer Pyle really has something with that $4000 worth of truck payments. Something, anything to take attention away from Republicans millions and billions of fraud of the GOP. Some casual reading.....
🚨 🚨
— David Pepper (@DavidPepper) December 5, 2023
NEW WHITEBOARD
A 🧵 on yesterday’s indictment, and the BIG question it opens up.
Yesterday, yet another shoe fell in the ongoing saga of Ohio corruption.
The federal indictment announced yesterday lays out the breathtaking (alleged) facts starkly…
WATCH, RT and
1/ pic.twitter.com/r4ZA7qsa5f
@BaddCompani Holy shyte, the Menendez story just exploded. Menendez partner in crime was pardoned by Trump, Melgen. Menendez and Kushner have the same attorney. Add Melgen"s links to Epstien weird sex stuff in the Domincan Republic. pic.twitter.com/lXIPTV7JRU
— Jasmine Pittendreigh (@JasminePittend1) December 5, 2023
Judge refused to dismiss the class action lawsuit against Tesla for overcharging people for its own in-house insurance.
Tesla has its own insurance system that Musk's company has been faking some of the data used to calculate prices.
Tesla faces class action for overcharging insurance with fake crash warnings
Fred Lambert
Dec 4 2023 - 1:23 pm PT
https://electrek.co/2023/12/04/tesla-faces-class-action-overcharging-insurance-fake-crash-warnings/
NEW: 160 federal judges have now been confirmed under President Biden.
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) December 5, 2023
Of the 160 confirmations, 66% are women and 67% are people of color.
This Administration is bringing demographic and professional diversity to the federal bench. https://t.co/VPY5HcgT2k
SCOOP: Mike Johnson’s old clients are much more extreme than we knew—one spoke glowingly of killing gay people; another said the government “should be a terror” to LGBTQ; one is tied to militant anti-abortion groups and became a Jan. 6 rioter; etc etc https://t.co/CZXfd9jt8h
— Roger Sollenberger (@SollenbergerRC) December 5, 2023
Extremism & Disinformation
Problems persist with how services report extremism, DOD watchdog says
https://www.militarytimes.com/flashpoints/extremism-disinformation/2023/12/01/problems-persist-with-how-services-report-extremism-dod-watchdog-says/
By Nikki Wentling
Friday, Dec 1
Members of the Oath Keepers extremist group stand on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington.
A new report says DOD has inconsistently reported extremist activities among troops, such as those involved with the Oath Keepers extremist group, pictured here at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. (Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP)
The Defense Department investigated 183 allegations of extremist activity among service members in the past year, including 78 cases of troops advocating for the overthrow of the U.S. government, according to a report published Thursday by a Pentagon watchdog.
New findings from the Pentagon’s Office of Inspector General reveal DOD investigated 37 more cases of extremism this year than in 2022, which was the first year the IG issued a report on the subject. Congress mandated in 2021 that the IG annually gauge how effectively the Defense Department prevents and responds to extremist activities in the ranks.
The report’s findings show ongoing issues with how the services track and report data, which in turn makes measuring the military’s response challenging. While the Army, Navy and Air Force reported the number of allegations that were investigated, the departments did not track how many allegations of extremist activity were received but not investigated, the IG found.
“Tracking of allegations not referred for inquiry or investigation is challenging, impacting data accuracy,” the IG’s office said in a news release Thursday. “The report highlights ongoing challenges in compiling and validating data, emphasizing the need for consistent implementation of data collection.”
Earlier this year, the IG’s office found that the Army, Navy and Air Force each had a different reporting structure and used different electronic systems for reporting allegations of extremism.
The Army uses several independent databases to collect information, “making it impossible to track” the number of allegations that weren’t referred for investigation, the report states.
The Air Force also lacks a single reporting system, and the Air National Guard was inconsistent at reporting allegations it received because of the complexity of cases in which members weren’t activated at the time of the alleged misconduct.
The Navy said reporting the data to the IG was “time consuming” and that multiple policies “created confusion.” The sea service also cited concerns about compromising the privacy of troops.
All services are in the process of implementing a standardized system to streamline how data is collected and reported, the analysis said. The new process includes notifying the IG’s office about new allegations and reporting whether the allegations are referred for investigation.
The system is also designed to notify the IG about decisions on whether the allegations are substantiated and what punishments are doled out. The report didn’t say when that new process is expected to go into effect.
Though the information was difficult to compile and validate, the IG’s office did report a breakdown of allegations that were investigated from Oct. 1, 2022, through Sept. 30, 2023. During that period, the Defense Department investigated 58 allegations of gang activity, in addition to the 183 cases of extremism.
Of those 275 total allegations, 68 were not substantiated and 136 are open cases. Sixty-nine of the allegations led to service members receiving some sort of punishment, including two courts-martial and 19 involuntary discharges. The report did not specify what types of allegations led to disciplinary measures.
In addition to the 78 allegations involving troops wanting to overthrow the US government, the 183 cases of extremist activity included 44 instances of service members advocating for terrorism and 22 cases of service members advocating for or committing violence to achieve political, religious or discriminatory goals.
Three allegations were made about troops advocating for or committing violence to deprive people of their rights, and 32 allegations centered on troops advocating for widespread discrimination of people based on race, religion, sex, gender identity or sexual orientation.
The final four allegations involved service members encouraging other military personnel or DOD civilians or contractors to break the law or disobey orders in order to disrupt military activities.
This story was produced in partnership with Military Veterans in Journalism. Please send tips to MVJ-Tips@militarytimes.com.
Which will be more, nuclear energy or nuclear diplomacy?
U.S. to Develop Unanticipated New Nuclear Bomb
ARMS CONTROL TODAY
December 2023
https://www.armscontrol.org/act/2023-12/news/us-develop-unanticipated-new-nuclear-bomb
ENERGY
U.S. leads coalition to triple nuclear power by 2050 in effort to address climate change
PUBLISHED MON, DEC 4 202311:31 AM ESTUPDATED MON, DEC 4 20231:19 PM EST
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/04/us-leads-coalition-to-triple-nuclear-power-by-2050-in-effort-to-address-climate-change.html
Just saying it out loud. Because they know Republicans will suffer no consequences for abusing their power at the ballot box next November. https://t.co/kNPAsiFrtc
— Jason Karsh (@jkarsh) December 5, 2023
That hope will go about as far as the CMKK holders can throw it.
There's no question on how everything would play out. He'll have most of his first round all picked out and ready to go. There will be nothing to stop him, rules and laws sure won't. Neither will any Constitution or any democratic standards. We don't have to wonder.
Behind the Curtain: Trump allies pre-screen loyalists for unprecedented power grab
https://www.axios.com/2023/11/13/trump-loyalists-2024-presidential-election
If Trump Wins, His Allies Want Lawyers Who Will Bless a More Radical Agenda
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/01/us/politics/trump-2025-lawyers.html?partner=slack
Trump and allies plot revenge, Justice Department control in a second term
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/11/05/trump-revenge-second-term/
Trump pardoned them. Now they’re helping him return to power.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2023/trump-pardon-power-2024-benefit/
Across the US, health insurers are flouting state laws created to guarantee access to critical medical care, like cancer treatments. And as the companies continue to dodge bills for pricey treatments, their industry profits have risen.
— ProPublica (@propublica) December 4, 2023
w/ @scrippsnews https://t.co/gBF6UkaQVk
Multibillion payments to Kushner and Trump family and the millions and billions of fraud they are responsible for, but paying for a truck with a measly few thousands is impeachable. It's just part of their flooding the zone and disinformation campaign that they will continue to do throughout the election.
These appear to be monthly payments (already reported in the media) of $1,380 for a truck. I don't think fronting a son money for a truck is an impeachable offense. Another swing and a miss. https://t.co/se9kTQZxAG
— David Corn (@DavidCornDC) December 4, 2023
So, these three payments of $1,380 each (totaling $4,140) appear to be Hunter Biden paying his dad back for truck loan/lease payments that his dad paid on his son's behalf when Hunter was low on cash.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) December 4, 2023
My source is an NY Post article about Hunter's finances and emails from the… https://t.co/UyIyDnjhsR pic.twitter.com/tWMfeBYgGr
1/ KOCH Methanol sells/controls beauty industry Big Pharma & OTC
— Heather Haworth Vote💙🇺🇦 🏳️🌈🩷💜💙💛💜 (@HeatherHawort17) December 4, 2023
Koch owns majority of Yuhuang Chemical in LA, BUT main office in Houston, TX. YCI Methanol One IS YUHUANG CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES INC. & Shandong Yuhuang Chemical (Group) in China #KochNetwork https://t.co/K8OBF9kUlN pic.twitter.com/9GHDgNbNuq
3/ Art .sy (Artsy) Raises $6 Million Series A From Peter Thiel, Thrive Capital, Wendi Murdoch And Dasha Zhukova ex-wife of Roman Abramovich Russia #KochNetworkhttps://t.co/VeZoFUyN7M pic.twitter.com/SupiI0nLh5
— Heather Haworth Vote💙🇺🇦 🏳️🌈🩷💜💙💛💜 (@HeatherHawort17) December 4, 2023
Houston-based American Ethane Co. touts itself as a "U.S.-based energy company." But a newly revised lobbying disclosure shows three Russian businessmen own nearly 90 percent of the company.
— seeshell (@Tentoads4truth) December 4, 2023
- Konstantin Nikolaev, Mikhail Yuriev and Andrey Kunatbaevhttps://t.co/kxZLtQWV5w pic.twitter.com/EyokhSUMnA
🚨 BREAKING
— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) December 1, 2023
President Biden joins MeidasTouch Network host Ben Meiselas for an interview.
Video releases on the MeidasTouch YouTube channel at 5p ET/2p PT. pic.twitter.com/bQYEcCQm5O
Meant overbought, sorry.