Oregon Republicans Block Radical Votes by Denying Legislative Quorum

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Oregon Republicans Block Radical Votes by Denying Legislative Quorum

(Headline USA) Taking a page from the playbook of Democrat lawmakers—notably in a 2011 Wisconsin standoff and a 2021 attempt in Texas—Republican lawmakers in Oregon sought to forestall two radical blue-state bills by refusing to show up. 

Partisan tensions in Oregon skyrocketed Wednesday after GOP state senators denied Democrats who control the chamber a quorum.

The move cast doubt on planned votes on legislation about gun control, and a separate bill addressing abortion and transgender surgery.

According to the office of Democratic Senate President Rob Wagner, 10 Republicans and the chamber’s lone independent were absent.

In Oregon, two-thirds of the state House and Senate members need to be present to conduct business, or 20 of the 30 current members. Currently, 17 senators are Democrats, 12 are Republicans and one is an independent.

Republicans said they were protesting over bill summaries not being written in plain language.

They based their boycott on a 1979 state law that requires the summaries of bills to be readable by those with an eighth- or ninth-grade education—measured by a score of at least 60 on something called the Flesch readability test.

GOP Senate Minority Leader Tim Knopp said a Republican staff member discovered the existence of the law last month. Knopp couldn’t say when the law has previously been followed, if ever.

Asked whether the Republican boycott was due to the bills on gun control and abortion, Knopp said: “It’s about every bill. But those bills specifically also don’t qualify under this law, and they refuse to fix them.”

He didn’t say how long Republicans planned to continue their protest.

Democrats said they don’t believe the Republicans left because of the readability of bill summaries, but rather to obstruct the passage of legislation they oppose.

Wagner claimed it was no coincidence the walkout began when state lawmakers were about to consider the bills on three flashpoint topics.

Democratic Senate Majority Leader Kate Lieber said that Republicans appeared to be “weaponizing” an old law for political gain.

If Republican senators deny a quorum for the rest of the legislative session, which doesn’t end until late June, they could kill the bills.

However, a new ballot measure approved by Oregon voters in November bars lawmakers who have 10 or more unexcused absences from running for reelection.

The two bills are central to Democrats’ legislative agenda this session.

The wide-ranging bill on abortion and transgender surgery would implement a series of measures, including shielding patients and providers from lawsuits originating in states where such care is now restricted. It would also require public universities and community colleges with student health centers to provide medication abortion and emergency contraception.

Additionally, it would expand insurance coverage for transgenders by barring insurers from defining as “cosmetic” any sex-altering procedures that are prescribed as medically necessary for treating gender dysphoria, among other things.

The parts of the proposal that have proved to be the most contentious have to do with minors. Under the legislation, doctors would be allowed to provide an abortion to anyone regardless of age, and it would bar them in certain cases from disclosing that to parents.

Democratic lawmakers have claimed such scenarios are rare. But critics said this could exclude parents from key aspects of their child’s health care.

The gun control measure would increase the purchasing age to 21 for AR-15-style rifles and similar weapons, impose penalties for possessing undetectable firearms, and allow for more limited concealed-carry rights.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

BREAKING: Controversial Proud Boys Trial Ends with Sedition Convictions

Ken Silva
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BREAKING: Controversial Proud Boys Trial Ends with Sedition Convictions

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) After a nearly four-month trial mired in controversy, former Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and three other members of the right-wing group were convicted Thursday of a plot to attack the U.S. Capitol to keep Donald Trump in power after the 2020 presidential election.

A jury in Washington, D.C., found Tarrio guilty of seditious conspiracy after hearing from dozens of witnesses in a trial that was largely closed to the public—the courtroom was open, but no phonelines were available for reporters to listen in on the proceedings.

Tarrio, behind bars since his March 2022 arrest, didn’t appear to show any emotion as the verdict was read, according to the Associated Press. He reportedly hugged one of his lawyers and shook the hand of the other before leaving the courtroom. A few of the people sitting among the defendants’ relatives wiped away tears as the verdict was read, the AP reported.

The verdict comes after a trial that took more than twice as long as originally expected, slowed by numerous instances of government misconduct.

In February it was revealed that the Proud Boys hadn’t actually created their alleged blueprint for storming the Capitol. Rather, a tech entrepreneur with connections to the national security state created the “1776 Returns” document and passed it on to someone else, who gave it to the Proud Boys.

Weeks later, former Fox News host Tucker Carlson released footage of the Jan. 6 incident, showing “QAnon Shaman” Jacob Chansley walking calmly through the halls of the Capitol with two Capitol Police officers. At one point, one of the officers appears to try opening a door or elevator, and then turns and leads Chansley in another direction—actions Proud Boys tried to use as evidence to show they didn’t violently breach the Capitol.

Still more misconduct was revealed in late March, when defense lawyers discovered that someone close to them was an FBI informant.

But despite these and other examples of misconduct—and despite there were allegedly at least 50 undercover law enforcers or informants in the Jan. 6 crowd—the presiding judge denied every motion for redress filed by the defense.

And Tarrio was convicted despite not being in Washington on Jan. 6, because he had been arrested two days earlier in a separate case and ordered out of the capital city. But prosecutors said he organized and directed the attack by Proud Boys who stormed the Capitol that day.

In addition to Tarrio, a Miami resident, three other Proud Boys were convicted of seditious conspiracy: Ethan Nordean, Joseph Biggs and Zachary Rehl.

Jurors have not yet reached a unanimous verdict on the sedition charge for fifth defendant: Dominic Pezzola, a new member who hadn’t spoken to the other defendants until after the charges were filed. Pezzola, however, was convicted of other serious charges.

Tarrio, Nordean, Biggs and Rehl were also convicted of obstructing Congress’ certification of Biden’s electoral victory and obstructing law enforcement as well as two other conspiracy charges. The four were cleared of an assault charge stemming from Pezzola, who stole an officer’s riot shield.

The judge told jurors to keep deliberating on a few remaining counts where they haven’t reached agreement.

Rehl’s attorney, Carmen Hernandez, said her client “continues to maintain his innocence.” Lawyers for Biggs and Pezzola declined to comment. An attorney for Tarrio declined to comment.

Prosecutors told jurors the group viewed itself as “Trump’s army” and was prepared for “all-out war” to stop Biden from becoming president.

The Justice Department has yet to disclose how much prison time it will seek when the Oath Keepers are sentenced later this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Leftist Media Orgs Rediscover Journalism in Bid to Smear Rival Fox News

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Leftist Media Orgs Rediscover Journalism in Bid to Smear Rival Fox News

(Headline USA) After three years of yawning over scandals involving members of the Biden family and others that would tarnish their collective narrative, three leftist media outlets—the Associated Press, the New York Times and National Public Radio—have been reinvigorated by the prospect of digging through the private messages of a rival company’s personnel on a fishing expedition for derogatory information. 

The outlets asked a Delaware judge earlier this week to reveal mostly private text messages and conversations between Fox News employees shortly after the 2020 presidential election that were uncovered during the Dominion Voting Systems lawsuit.

Fox News is opposing their efforts to unseal documents related to its recently settled defamation lawsuit, saying it would do nothing but “gratify private spite or promote public scandal.”

Fox agreed last month to pay $787 million to end the case.

Fox lawyer Katharine L. Mowery, in a letter sent late Wednesday to Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis, said much of the material its competitors sought wasn’t relevant to the issues of the lawsuit. She said the media has no right to access such records.

“They have not been shy about sharing the communications with the most potential to grab headlines,” Mowery wrote of the media challenging the sealed documents.

Many private messages obtained through legal discovery already were leaked to the leftist press as the embattled voting technology company sought, successfully, to bully Fox into a settlement.

Some showed Fox hosts and executives questioning allegations that Dominion’s voting equipment had led to widespread irregularities in the highly contested election.

One batch of messages revealed former Fox host Tucker Carlson’s scorn for former President Donald Trump, including one text where he declared, “I hate him passionately.”

Although the messages do not, in and of themselves, establish falsity of the claims, the diffidence of those at the network might, on one hand, establish a sort of willful negligence on the network’s part. Or, some might argue, it might reveal their due diligence in examining all facets of a contentious debate.

Fox New’s settlement of the case ensures those questions will never be raised before a jury—and many assume the network’s intention also was to ensure that other private correspondence would not leak that would damage their reputation even if it had little impact on the case itself.

One of the reasons Fox agreed to settle the case was to “buy peace and bring an end to the media spectacle,” Mowery wrote.

Adapted from reporting by the Associated Press

Biden Admin. Seeks to Restrict Hunting, Fishing via Lead Regulations

Jacob Bruns
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Biden Admin. Seeks to Restrict Hunting, Fishing via Lead Regulations

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) President Joe Biden’s administration, in collaboration with radical environmentalist groups, is expected to publish regulations that would restrict the viability of fishing and hunting.

Specifically, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is expected to unveil its new hunting and fishing guidelines that would radically restrict the types of hunting equipment that could be used on public lands, Fox News reported.

Todd Adkins , the vice president of government affairs for the Sportsmen’s Alliance, a pro-hunting group, said the regulation will serve only to bar the poor from hunting or fishing.

“Raising the cost of hunting, raising the cost of fishing and raising the cost of our crowd doing their thing is objective number one, without a doubt, because they know if you make it more expensive, less people will do it,” Adkins said.

Luke Hilgemann, Executive Director of the International Order of T. Roosevelt, which fights for hunting and fishing rights across the nation, noted that the administration is targeting common hunting equipment with their red tape, making hunting impossible for many people.

“What we see here with the rule coming out of the Biden administration is the potential to close millions of acres of public lands that had been opened under the Trump administration to hunting and fishing,” Hilgemann noted.

“They’re doing this basically by banning the most common forms of hunting cartridges that most people buy off the shelf and requiring that no lead cartridges be used on any federal lands.”

Making matters worse, Hilgemann said, people will be forced to buy equipment that is not readily available.

Further, he suggested, the Biden administration is acting based upon its environmentalist preferences and calling it science.

“We think this is a totally misguided policy that’s not based in science,” he added. “It’s going to put up ‘No hunting signs’ on millions of acres of lands and kick people off of the waterways that they traditionally fish with their kids and grandkids.”

Rep. Massie: Did Clueless ATF Head Create ‘New Legal Defense’ for Noncompliant Gun Owners?

Ken Silva
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Rep. Massie: Did Clueless ATF Head Create ‘New Legal Defense’ for Noncompliant Gun Owners?

(Ken Silva, Headline USA) A controversial rule from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives will go into effect at the end of this month, requiring that owners of guns with stabilizing braces either destroy, reconfigure, register or turn in their firearms to ATF.

The impending rule could criminalize millions of gun-owning Americans, according to Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who spoke about it at an ATF oversight hearing last week.

Stabilizing arm braces are accessories installed on pistols and shotguns that allow users to stabilize these firearms against their arms, resulting in more accurate shooting without compromising safety or comfort, and reducing the risk of bruising and other injuries when shooting from one hand.

At last week’s hearing, ATF Director Steven Dettelbach suggested that gun-owners can comply with his new rule simply by detaching the stabilizing brace from their gun, which can take seconds to do.

“We wrote the rule to make it easy to comply with,” Dettelbach said.

“If somebody just, at their home, detaches their weapon from the brace and keeps them apart, they do not have to register anything,” he added. “They can keep the brace. They can keep the business-end of the gun.”

Dettelbach added that gun owners could face charges “if they’re detaching them as we’re approaching them,” but should otherwise be safe from prosecution.

But Dettelbach’s claim during his congressional testimony runs counter to official guidance published by his own bureau in January.

The guidance said gun owners must “permanently remove and dispose of, or alter, the stabilizing brace such that it cannot be reattached, thereby removing the weapon from regulation as a ‘firearm’ under the NFA.”

Massie raised concerns about the conflicting advice on Wednesday.

“Did the ATF Director create a new legal defense for millions of pistol brace owners in his sworn testimony?” he asked on Twitter. “He suggested that compliance can be achieved by simply detaching the accessory from the firearm, but his advice could conflict with other ATF guidance.”

Massie said he’ll be sending Dettelbach a letter asking him to clarify whether the compliance option he suggested for pistol brace owners was accurate and complete.

“If he was wrong, he may have just put millions of owners in legal jeopardy,” the congressman said.

Meanwhile, the ATF’s new rule is being challenged by a lawsuit from the Second Amendment Foundation.

The lawsuit explains that the ATF recently claimed authority to regulate braced pistols by classifying them as short-barreled rifles, which makes them subject to regulation under the National Firearms Act.

The decision to treat braced pistols as rifles reverses a position the ATF had as recently as 2014, when the bureau said in a classification letter that shouldering a pistol with an arm brace does not change the classification of the pistol under federal law.

The Second Amendment Foundation criticized the ATF’s reversal as arbitrary and unlawful.

“The definition of a ‘rifle’ now turns on a bewildering six-factor test,” explained Second Amendment Foundation attorney Chad Flores.

“This new definition can be controlled not by the firearm’s objective characteristics, but instead by what ATF agents in D.C. think of a manufacturer’s marketing materials or the firearm’s ‘likely use,’” Flores continued. “The new rule itself is forced to admit its dramatic result: Under this new definitional regime, ‘a majority of the existing firearms equipped with a stabilizing brace are likely to be classified as rifles.’”

Other plaintiffs in that lawsuit include a disabled combat veteran and injured police officer, both who require stabilizing braces to operate their firearms.

The lawsuit had been stagnant while the ATF finalized its rule, but will now resume.

Dettelbach, a Biden political appointee who assumed office last July, was lampooned during his prior congressional testimony for pleading ignorance on another gun-related issue, insisting he did not know how to define an “assault weapon” even though the ATF is actively attempting to ban them.

He also was unable to say how many weapons remained unaccounted for from the bureau’s previous “Fast and Furious” operation during the Obama administration. The scandal involved making illegal gun sales to Mexican drug cartels and others under the guise of tracking organized crime

Ken Silva is a staff writer at Headline USA. Follow him at twitter.com/jd_cashless.

Software Co. Accused of Subverting U.S. Elections Drops Defamation Suit

Jacob Bruns
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Software Co. Accused of Subverting U.S. Elections Drops Defamation Suit

(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) Konnech, a China-linked election software company out of Michigan, has withdrawn its lawsuit against an election integrity watchdog group, the Blaze reported.

Konnech, which licenses election softwares across the country, initially sued Gregg Phillips of the Texas-based voter integrity group True the Vote, but has since dropped the suit.

True the Vote is an election integrity group that helped conservative pundit Dinesh D’Souza create his documentary 2000 Mules, which noted the coordinated vote fraud efforts during the election.

However, Konnech, without explanation, asked Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt to dismiss the case “without prejudice.”

Hoyt initially had both True the Vote founder Catherine Engelbrecht and Phillips thrown in jail on October 31 after they refused to turn over one of their confidants, but he ultimately recused himself from the case in February.

Their source had leaked to them Konnech’s connections to Eugene Yu, founder and CEO of Konnech, Inc., who was arrested with extradition to Los Angeles County on Oct. 5 last year.

Specifically, the source gave True the Vote evidence that the scandal-plagued election software company Konnech had compromised and stored American data in China.

True the Vote released a statement following Konnech’s withdrawal, noting that the meritless lawsuit served only to inconvenience their company.

“Konnech’s litigation was meritless and intended to harass this organization. They have failed. We are evaluating our options with regard to holding them accountable for their unwarranted actions. We believe Konnech dismissed its lawsuit because it saw that it would lose.”

Phillips added that Konnech’s case was “unfounded” from the start.

“While it is encouraging to see progress being made, the serious issues surrounding the spread of misinformation, improper detainment, and judicial misconduct cannot be overlooked,” he added. “Our commitment to seeking justice remains steadfast.”

Fla. Bans Colleges from Spending Money on Diversity Initiatives

Molly Bruns
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Fla. Bans Colleges from Spending Money on Diversity Initiatives

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Legislators in Florida passed a bill preventing state-funded colleges from spending money on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programming.

The state House passed the bill 81-34, after passing through the Senate 27-12, the Daily Caller reported.

The act now moves to the office of Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, where he will likely sign it.

The goal of the soon-to-be law is to prohibit the spending of tax dollars on partisan political programs that “promote or engage political or social activism.”

During the deliberations, Democrat state Rep. Dianne Hart argued that “whenever people shield their children from the truth, a generation of ignorance is born.” She did not specify what she meant by “the truth.”

Another Democratic lawmaker argued that “Florida’s brand” will be damaged by the change.

“This attack on higher education is hurting Florida’s brand,” said House Minority Leader Fentrice Driskell.

“We have a very good higher-education system with lower costs than many other states,” Driskell added. “But these radical changes risk throwing our colleges and universities into chaos.”

On the other side of the aisle, Republican state legislators argued that the propaganda was bad for both students and institutions.

“DEI’s intellectual fragility makes campuses less safe, less intelligent and less free for the students who should be learning to think for themselves,” said Rep. Alex Andrade.

Another Republican representative, Randy Fine, accused leftists of using DEI to police the thoughts of anyone who does not agree with critical race theorists.

“Diversity, equity and inclusion, like so many other terms adopted by the woke left, is being used as a club to silence things, to say that if you don’t agree with them, you are somehow racist or homophobic or whatever other word that you want to use to criticize people,” Fine said.

“The fact of the matter is these terms have been hijacked by those who want to use them to bully and use them to shut down debate, to actually do the opposite of what these words are supposed to do,” he added.

The bill will require faculty committees to review general-education courses all students must take. The reviews may lead to the “removal, alignment, realignment, or addition” of courses, depending on how they fit the criteria recorded in the bill.

Billionaire Buys Up Epstein’s ‘Pedo Island,’ Plans Luxury Resort

Robert Jonathan
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Billionaire Buys Up Epstein’s ‘Pedo Island,’ Plans Luxury Resort

(Robert Jonathan, Headline USA) A private equity mogul has ponied up $60 million to buy two neighboring U.S. Virgin Islands properties previously owned by the late Jeffrey Epstein, the notorious convicted sex offender and celebrity confidant.

Even at that cost, the new owner, Stephen Deckoff, got a massive discount. The original asking price was $125 million.

The billionaire’s Caribbean real-estate acquisition includes both the infamous, 70-acre Little St. James, which accrued the morbid nickname “pedo island” or “orgy island,” and the mostly undeveloped, 160-acre Great St. James.

A press release indicated that Deckoff intended to transform Epstein’s tropical hideaways into a “a state-of-the-art, five-star, world-class luxury 25-room resort that will help bolster tourism, create jobs, and spur economic development in the region,” while at the same time preserving the surrounding environment.

The resort is scheduled to open in 2025. It remains to be seen if the proposed vacation place, given all the baggage, will become an attractive spot for tourists—and perhaps curiosity seekers—who can afford it.

Deckoff, who said he never met Epstein, nor ever visited the private enclaves before they went on the market, has embarked on the process of hiring architects and engineers to carry out the project.

Given the disturbing history, job one of the development project would presumably be to demolish all existing structures on Little St. James.

“Multiple women have said they were raped or sexually assaulted on Little St. James, where Epstein had a mansion,” CNBC recalled.

The founder of Black Diamond Capital Management who reportedly has a $3 billion net worth, Deckoff consummated the sale with his firm SD Investments LLC.

“I’ve been proud to call the U.S. Virgin Islands home for more than a decade and am tremendously pleased to be able to bring the area a world-class destination befitting its natural grace and beauty…I very much look forward to working with the U.S. Virgin Islands to make this dream a reality,” Deckoff said in a statement.

As part of a settlement with Epstein’s estate, the USVI government is set to collect $30 million from the property sale to create a trust for sexual abuse victims.

The $30 million settlement is reportedly about what Epstein paid for both properties.

Epstein and his high-profile guests—including former President Bill Clinton—reportedly flew to Little St. James on his private jet that was derisively called the “Lolita Express” after various allegations emerged.

“Epstein’s ownership has cast a dark shadow over the islands, despite the natural beauty of their palm tree-dotted beaches and crystal clear water,” Forbes asserted.

The disgraced financier supposedly committed suicide on Aug. 10, 2019, in a Manhattan lockup while awaiting trial on federal sex trafficking charges. At the time of his death, the two islands were reportedly valued at $86 million.

Ghislaine Maxwell, Epstein’s alleged wingwoman, is serving a 20-year federal prison sentence after being convicted on charges related to sex trafficking of minors.

In a jailhouse interview at the beginning of the year, Maxwell claimed that Epstein was murdered.

China Selling Fentanyl Manufacturing Equipment to Mexican Drug Dealers

Molly Bruns
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China Selling Fentanyl Manufacturing Equipment to Mexican Drug Dealers

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Mexican cartels are purchasing “industrial pill press equipment” to manufacture fentanyl powder into pills, according to an official with the Department of Homeland Security.

Matthew Millhollin, assistant director with DHS’s Homeland Security Investigations, gave the report at a recent Senate briefing about steps the department is taking against the fentanyl epidemic.

According to the Daily Caller, the Mexican cartels are purchasing chemicals from China to produce the pills on an industrial scale.

“In order to manufacture these pills, Mexican cartels require industrial pill press equipment to turn powdered fentanyl into pill form.” said Millhollin. “The Mexican cartels are purchasing these pill presses directly from Chinese manufacturers who are producing the equipment specifically for illicit activity.”

Millhollin also explained that China denied their involvement in the trafficking of fentanyl and instead blamed the problem on the United States.

“The pill presses that are used to press that finished fentanyl into pills are coming in from China exclusively,” Millhollin explained.

“We just seized over 200 pill presses at a warehouse in Los Angeles,” he continued. “This came in directly from China. This problem begins and ends in China.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that 70,000 Americans died of drug overdoses involving fentanyl.

The Drug Enforcement Administration seized more than 379 million doses of fentanyl in 2022—enough to kill every American citizen.

These doses include over 50.6 million bootlegged prescription pills laced with fentanyl powder, often disguised as prescription medications such as Xanax and OxyContin.

“Just two milligrams of fentanyl, the small amount that fits on the tip of a pencil, is considered a potentially deadly dose,” according to DEA administrator Anne Milgram.

The Biden administration took little action against the crisis thus far, largely ignoring the situation along with the skyrocketing rates of illegal immigration.

The leaky border is a primary instigator of the crisis. Several state-level law enforcement officials have made record–breaking busts, often finding enough fentanyl to kill thousands of citizens.

Louisiana Mom Claims Kids Eating Veggies Is a Sign of Trans Identity

Molly Bruns
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Louisiana Mom Claims Kids Eating Veggies Is a Sign of Trans Identity

(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) At a recent hearing, the Louisiana House Health and Welfare Committee heard testimonies from parents regarding a bill that would ban sex changes for children. One mother insisted that her daughter was a transgender boy because of her love of green vegetables.

The mother introduced her testimony by telling stories of her daughter as a baby; apparently she was a difficult child who often had trouble sleeping and constantly cried. As she got older, the daughter became fixated on raw green vegetables.

“We took him to specialists and neurologists trying to figure out why he couldn’t sleep,” the mother said, referring to her daughter.

“Then, as he grew, he got to sleeping but his food choices were odd they were always like… raw green vegetables,” she continued. “You know kids don’t like to eat those things.”

The mother arrived at the conclusion that her daughter must actually be a boy and the preoccupation with green vegetables was her way of crying out for a boost of testosterone.

According to the Post Millennial, insomnia and fascination with food textures are classic signs of autism.

State Rep. Gabe Firment proposed HB 463, also known as the Save Adolescents from Experimentation Act, in an effort to prohibit doctors from performing experimental “sex change” procedures on minors.

Another mother testified, telling the story of her daughter, now 11 years old, and how she knew she was actually a boy because she played with trucks and other “boy toys” at 18 months old.

The young girl is now on track for puberty suppression drugs.

“He shouldn’t be in a woman’s body, and honestly, I don’t think he could survive if we forced him into it,” said the mother.

Several other states attempted to pass similar legislation, with many places like Montana seeing more severe backlash against acts that, if passed, would protect children.

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