Romney Blames Trump, Not Violent Leftists, for Growing Unrest

Contributing Author
-
0
Romney Blames Trump, Not Violent Leftists, for Growing Unrest

Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, accused President Trump of attempting to “further inflame racial tensions” with his response to the ongoing protests across the U.S.

“The comments and tweets over the past few days, including a retweet of a 2019 video clearly intended to further inflame racial tensions, are simply jaw-dropping,” Romney told the New York Times, citing a video that shows a black man shoving a white woman into a New York subway train in 2019.

Trump’s tweet incorrectly attributed the man’s actions to “Black Lives Matter/Antifa.”

However, Romney had nothing to say about the actual violence ravaging cities such as Portland, Seattle, Chicago, and Washington D.C. because of angry leftist activists.

He did not condemn the angry mob that swarmed his colleague, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., after the Republican National Convention, either.

Paul was surrounded and taunted by hundreds of left-wing activists as he tried to leave the White House. D.C. police and Secret Service agents ended up having to escort him out as the crowd got larger and louder, and the threats against Paul and his wife became more dangerous.

But according to Romney, Trump is the only one to blame for the unrest.

This is the exact argument Democratic leadership, including presidential candidate Joe Biden, has tried to make over the past week:

Black Kenosha Reporter QUITS Because Paper Told ‘All Sides of the Story’

Editor 1
-
0
Black Kenosha Reporter QUITS Because Paper Told ‘All Sides of the Story’

(Headline USA) A black journalist quit his job at a Kenosha, Wisconsin, daily newspaper after disputing a headline for a story about a rally organized by the family of Jacob Blake, a black man shot by a police officer after he resisted arrest while violating a restraining order over a previous sexual assault of his ex-girlfriend.

Daniel Thompson resigned from his position as a digital editor at the Kenosha News after seeing the headline that was posted online for Saturday’s story.

The headline read “Kenosha speaker: ’If you kill one of us, it’s time for us to kill one of yours.’”

Thompson, who attended the rally, said the headline did not reflect the messages of Blake’s family and other speakers at an event that featured remarks, songs and a peaceful march.

Thompson, who said he was the only black full-time journalist on staff, called the headline dangerous as tensions remained high in the city.

In an email to the Associated Press, the newspaper’s top editor, Bob Heisse, said the story was a “late sidebar” to the newspaper’s main protest story, and was published only online.

Heisse declined to comment on Thompson’s departure or the decision behind the headline, though he noted the quote was accurate and caught on video.

“However, you should know that our staff has been working tirelessly to cover the protests and civil unrest in Kenosha since … Jacob Blake was shot by a Kenosha police officer,” Heisse said in the statement. “The community depends on us and we are working under challenging circumstances. We are telling all sides of the story with photos, videos and stories and we will continue to do so.”

A white police officer shot Blake seven times in the back on Aug. 23, sparking protests and unrest that included some businesses being burned and vandalized.

Authorities say an armed civilian killed two demonstrators on Aug. 25, and a 17-year-old from Illinois has been charged with those slayings, despite significant evidence that he may have acted in self defense.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Even Top CNN Personalities Say Pelosi Did Trump a Favor w/ Salon Visit

Contributing Author
-
0
Even Top CNN Personalities Say Pelosi Did Trump a Favor w/ Salon Visit

Even CNN can’t defend House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s latest move.

After Pelosi was caught illegally visiting a San Francisco hair salon in violation of state and local coronavirus regulations, the California Democrat blamed the salon and claimed she had been “set up.”

“I take responsibility for trusting the word of a neighborhood salon that I’ve been to, over the years, many times,” Pelosi said on Wednesday. “And when they said we’re able to accommodate people one person at a time, and that we can set up a time, I trusted that. As it turns out, it was a set up. So I take responsibility for falling for a set up, and that’s all i’m going to say on that.”

CNN political analyst Chris Cilizza called Pelosi’s weak excuse a “gift to President Trump.”

“What Pelosi did was hand Trump, whose entire strategy, such as it is, in the 2020 campaign is to troll liberals and media, a massive gift-wrapped present with her salon trip. For Trump and his Republican allies, the whole episode affirms everything they have been saying these last few years about liberals,” Cilizza wrote in an op-ed on Wednesday.

CNN’s Don Lemon agreed and ripped Pelosi for not knowing her own city’s rules.

“Shouldn’t she know better?” Lemon asked.

“This far into the pandemic this House Speaker should know what is safe and what isn’t,” Lemon said. “We should all know. It’s our responsibility.”

Lemon also criticized Pelosi for refusing to take responsibility for her own failure.

“Instead of claiming a setup, it would have been just as easy for the speaker to say, ‘You know what, I messed up. I should have worn a mask indoors,’” he said.

After Trump Threatens to Defund Liberal Cities, Cuomo Threatens President’s Safety

Contributing Author
-
0
After Trump Threatens to Defund Liberal Cities, Cuomo Threatens President’s Safety

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo warned President Trump that he would need an “army” to protect himself were he to walk down the street in New York City.

Cuomo made the threat after Trump had suggested he would defund liberal cities, such as the Big Apple, that have allowed “lawless” riots to continue.

“Forget bodyguards, he better have an army if he thinks he’s gonna walk down the street in New York. New Yorkers don’t want to have anything to do with him,” Cuomo said, according to the New York Post. “It is more of the same from him. It’s political, it is gratuitous. And it’s illegal. But it is another attempt to kill New York City.”

Trump responded to Cuomo by reminding the American public of the New York Democrat’s disastrous nursing home policy, forcing long-term care facilities to accept coronavirus patients.

New York City isn’t the only Democratic-run city that Trump intends to defund.

He also threatened to withhold funding from Seattle, Portland, and Washington D.C., because Democratic officials have “permitted violence and the destruction of property” throughout the recent protests.

In a memo to Attorney General Bill Barr and the White House budget director, the president called for a review of all federal funds provided to these cities, arguing that “it is imperative that the federal government review the use of federal funds by jurisdictions that permit anarchy, violence, and destruction in America’s cities.”

“My administration will not allow federal tax dollars to fund cities that allow themselves to deteriorate into lawless zones,” Trump wrote in the memo.

The memo calls for the director of the Office of Management and Budget to issue guidance to the heads of executive agencies to submit a report detailing all federal funds that are normally provided to the four mismanaged cities.

The memo also asks Barr to identify other “anarchist jurisdictions” that have “refused to undertake reasonable measures to counteract criminal activities.”

“The federal government provides states and localities with hundreds of billions of dollars every year, which fund a wide array of programs, such as housing, public transportation, job training, and social services,” the memo reads. “These funds have been collected from American taxpayers who entrusted their money to the federal government to serve our communities and our citizens.”

At Least Nancy Pelosi and the Trump Administration Can Agree on One Thing…

Editor 1
-
0
At Least Nancy Pelosi and the Trump Administration Can Agree on One Thing…

(Associated Press) House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Trump administration have informally agreed to keep a stopgap government-wide funding bill — needed to avert a shutdown at the end of this month — free of controversy or conflict.

The accord is aimed at keeping any possibility of a government shutdown off the table despite ongoing battles over COVID-19 relief legislation, while sidestepping the potential for other shutdown drama in the run-up to the November election.

That’s according to Democratic and GOP aides on Capitol Hill who have been briefed on a Wednesday conversation between Pelosi, D-Calif., and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

They required anonymity to characterize an exchange they were informed of but not directly party to.

“House Democrats are for a clean continuing resolution,” said Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammil.

The definition of “clean” tends to vary among those steeped in Capitol Hill jargon, but it would not necessarily rule out noncontroversial add-ons like routine extensions of programs like federal flood insurance or authority to spend money for highway programs.

“We do believe that we’ll be able to get funding to avoid a shutdown,” White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany said Thursday.

The duration of the temporary funding measure or what noncontroversial items might ride along haven’t been settled, aides say, and the Pelosi spokesman declined to further characterize the agreement.

The development comes as lawmakers are absent from Washington but are preparing to return for a brief pre-election session that’s likely to involve battling over COVID relief legislation.

But the chances of another rescue bill have ebbed as the summer is nearing an end.

The Mnuchin-Pelosi agreement on preventing a shutdown appears aimed at ensuring that the consequences of gridlock on the COVID relief front do not include a politically-freighted partial shutdown.

Trump Urges Voters to DOUBLE-Check at Polls to Make Sure Their Ballots COUNT

Editor 1
-
0
Trump Urges Voters to DOUBLE-Check at Polls to Make Sure Their Ballots COUNT

(Headline USA) President Donald Trump said Thursday that people who vote early by mail should show up at polling places and vote again if their ballots haven’t been counted, a slight walk back from his comments a day earlier when he suggested people vote twice to test the mail-in system.

Trump is concerned the Nov. 3 election will be awash in fraud because so many voters will mail in their ballots to avoid being exposed to the coronavirus at polling sites. California and New York have seen massive amounts of mailed ballots disregarded during their primaries earlier this year.

The president said people could mail in their ballots as early as possible and then follow up with a trip to the polls to see whether their mail-in vote was tabulated. A top election official in North Carolina, where Trump initially broached the topic on Wednesday, discouraged voters from following Trump’s advice.

“If it has you will not be able to Vote & the Mail In System worked properly,” Trump said in a lengthy tweet. “If it has not been Counted, VOTE (which is a citizen’s right to do).”

If the mail-in ballot gets to election officials after a person votes at the polls, the in-person vote will be ignored, he said.

“YOU ARE NOW ASSURED THAT YOUR PRECIOUS VOTE HAS BEEN COUNTED, it hasn’t been “lost, thrown out, or in any way destroyed.”

Voting by mail is meant to replace voting in-person during the pandemic, but Trump doesn’t trust the mail-in system.

Trump first made the suggestion during his trip Wednesday to Wilmington, North Carolina.

North Carolina’s attorney general, Democrat Josh Stein, said it was outrageous for the president to suggest that people “break the law in order to help him sow chaos in our election.”

“Make sure you vote, but do NOT vote twice!” Stein tweeted. “I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.”

It’s a felony under North Carolina state law to vote twice. Once someone has cast an absentee ballot, that person may not change or cancel it, or decide to vote in person on Election Day, according to the state election board’s website.

Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, noted in a statement that it’s illegal to intentionally vote twice. She said there are numerous measures in place to keep people from double voting, including electronic poll books at every early voting site with records of who has already cast a ballot.

She urged people not to show up to the polls on Election Day if they have questions about the status of the ballot they already mailed. “That is not necessary, and it would lead to longer lines and the possibility of spreading COVID-19,” she said.

Instead, voters should check the board’s website to find out if their ballot was accepted, use a tracking tool that will soon become available or contact county elections board with questions about the status of their ballot.

Attorney General William Barr, asked during a CNN interview about Trump’s suggestion, said he didn’t know the election laws in every state, but that he agreed with Trump’s belief that mail-in voting is susceptible to fraud.

It’s like “playing with fire,” Barr said.

In response, Michigan’s attorney general, Democrat Dana Nessel, tweeted: “Hey folks. Attorney General Nessel here-top law enforcement official in Michigan, for those keeping track. Don’t try this at home. I will prosecute you.”

The five states that relied on mail-in ballots even before the coronavirus pandemic — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah — have said they have necessary safeguards in place to ensure against fraud and to prevent hostile foreign intruders from trying to influence the vote. More states intend to rely more heavily on mail-in voting this fall because of the pandemic.

Barr cited a report from 2009 from a commission led by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker that said vote-by-mail was vulnerable to fraud. But the commission pointed out in a statement in May that it had found little evidence of fraud in states such as Oregon that had sufficient safeguards.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Trump Cuts Remaining US Dues Payment to WHO

Editor 1
-
0
Trump Cuts Remaining US Dues Payment to WHO

(Headline USA) The Trump administration said Wednesday it won’t pay more than $60 million in dues it owes to the World Health Organization and will use the money instead to pay down other contributions to the United Nations.

The announcement came just a day after the White House announced the U.S. would not participate in a WHO-run project to develop and distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.

The decision to withhold roughly $62 million in outstanding 2020 dues to the WHO is part of President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the organization over its mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic and his allegations that the agency has been improperly influenced by China.

Despite proceeding with the withdrawal, administration officials said the U.S. will continue to participate in select WHO meetings and make one-time contributions to specific programs during a one-year wind-down period.

Those programs include polio eradication projects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, humanitarian relief in Libya and Syria, and efforts to combat influenza.

The funding decisions follow Trump’s announcement in July that he was withdrawing the U.S. from the WHO effective July 2021 and instructing his administration to wind down funding and cooperation with the agency.

At the time of the announcement, the U.S. had already paid about $52 million of its assessed 2020 dues of $120 million.

During the one-year wind-down, the officials said the U.S. would continue to participate in select WHO technical and policy meetings that have a direct bearing on U.S. health, commercial and national security interests.

“We will consider those on a case-by-case basis,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organizations Nerissa Cook.

The officials, from the U.S. Agency for International Development and departments of State and Health and Human Services, did not say which other U.N. agencies would get the $62 million being withheld from WHO or whether it would be used to pay down U.S. arrears to the world body’s general fund.

Nor was it clear how the U.S. would handle tens of millions of dollars in back dues it owes to the WHO.

Under U.S. law, arrears must be paid before the United States can withdraw from most international organizations.

The one-time exemptions for specific programs will apply to up to $40 million in funding for flu vaccination programs, according to Garrett Grigsby, the director of the HHS global affairs office, and up to $68 million for polio and Libya and Syria operations, according to USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Global Health Dr. Alma Golden.

On Tuesday, the administration announced it would not work with the coronavirus vaccine project because it doesn’t want to be constrained by multilateral groups like the WHO.

Some nations have worked directly to secure supplies of vaccine, but others are pooling efforts to ensure success against a disease that has no geographical boundaries.

More than 150 countries are setting up the COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access Facility, or COVAX.

That cooperative effort, linked with the WHO, would allow nations to take advantage of a portfolio of potential vaccines to ensure their citizens are quickly covered by whichever ones are deemed effective.

The WHO says even governments making deals with individual vaccine makers would benefit from joining COVAX because it would provide backup vaccines in case the ones being made through bilateral deals with manufacturers aren’t successful.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

POSTAL SERVICE AUDIT: Political Mail, Ballots DELAYED Before Primaries

Editor 1
-
0
POSTAL SERVICE AUDIT: Political Mail, Ballots DELAYED Before Primaries

(Associated Press) About 68,000 pieces of political mail were delayed for five days upon arriving at a Baltimore mail processing facility ahead of Maryland‘s June primary, according to a U.S. Postal Service audit.

The mail, described as campaign materials from a candidate, was sent May 12 and “sat unprocessed” for nearly a week before management discovered it, the audit’s findings, published Monday, show.

Brooklyn, New York; Charleston, W.Va.; Indianapolis; Oklahoma City; Portland, Ore.; and Santa Clarita, Calif., were also included in the Postal Service inspector general’s national audit.

The audit specified political mail as “any mailpiece created by a registered political candidate, a campaign committee or a committee of a political party for political campaign purposes.”

Auditors found that no ballots were among the delayed mail in Baltimore, though 200 ballots were found untouched in Oklahoma City and several facilities did not properly verify that all political mail had been processed in the weeks before the primaries.

The audit was intended to evaluate the Postal Service’s readiness ahead of the November general election, the inspector general said in a statement Monday.

Postal Service leaders have faced criticism over delays and cutbacks just as millions of Americans prepare to vote by mail to avoid polling places during the coronavirus pandemic.

The Postal Service has warned states, including Maryland, that it could not guarantee all ballots cast by mail would arrive in time to be counted, even if mailed by deadlines.

Freda Sauter, a regional spokeswoman for the Postal Service, said in an email to the Baltimore Sun that the agency was committed to delivering election mail in a timely manner this fall.

Prosecutors Charge 19 in North Carolina with Voter Fraud

Editor 1
-
0
Prosecutors Charge 19 in North Carolina with Voter Fraud

(Headline USA) Federal prosecutors in North Carolina announced voter fraud charges Wednesday against 19 non-citizens accused of illegally casting a ballot in 2016.

Each defendant voted in a federal election in 2016, and one defendant also voted in 2018, according to a news release from United States Attorney Matthew G.T. Martin’s office.

Seven of the foreign nationals face federal felony charges including falsely claiming U.S. citizenship or making false statements on voter registration application, and with misdemeanor charges of unlawfully casting ballots in the 2016 presidential election. If convicted, those individuals face maximum penalties of six years in federal prison and up to a $350,000 fine.

The other 12 were charged with misdemeanors for unlawfully casting ballots in the 2016 presidential election. If convicted, they face a maximum term of one-year imprisonment, a fine not to exceed $100,000, or both.

The news release said the matters had been investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, an investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security.

The Associated Press attempted to contact all defense attorneys who were listed, reaching only two.

Helen Parsonage, who is representing three of the defendants, declined comment on the merits of the charges but said her clients would be “vigorously defended.”

“These cases are clearly timed for partisan political purposes,” she wrote in an email.

Another attorney, J. Scott Coalter, declined comment on his client’s behalf but noted he found it “rare to have the U.S. attorney for the Middle District handling misdemeanor cases.”

The indictments stem from an ongoing HSI investigation that previously resulted in separate indictments in the Eastern District of North Carolina in August 2018.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

Facebook Will Not Accept New Ads the Week Before 2020 Election

Editor 1
-
0
Facebook Will Not Accept New Ads the Week Before 2020 Election

(Headline USA) With just two months left until the U.S. presidential election, Facebook says it is taking more steps to encourage voting, minimize “misinformation,” and reduce the likelihood of post-election “civil unrest.”

The company said Thursday it will restrict new political ads in the week before the election and remove posts that convey “misinformation” about COVID-19 and voting.

It also will attach links to official results to posts from candidates and campaigns declaring premature victories.

“This election is not going to be business as usual. We all have a responsibility to protect our democracy,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a post on Thursday. “That means helping people register and vote, clearing up confusion about how this election will work, and taking steps to reduce the chances of violence and unrest.”

Facebook and other social media companies are being scrutinized over how they handle alleged misinformation.

Facebook has long been criticized for not fact-checking political ads — which are often filled with falsehoods or half-truths regardless of where they appear — or limiting how they can be targeted at small groups of people.

With the nation divided, and election results potentially taking days or weeks to be finalized, there could be an “increased risk of civil unrest across the country,” Zuckerberg said.

Neither President Donald Trump nor Joe Biden have refused to publicly commit to accepting the results of the upcoming election. Recently Hillary Clinton urged Biden to never concede the election.

Under the new measures, Facebook says it will prohibit politicians and campaigns from running new election ads in the week before the election. However, they can still run existing ads and change how they are targeted.

Posts with “obvious misinformation” on voting policies and the coronavirus pandemic will also be removed. In further censorship measures, users can only forward articles to a maximum of five others on Messenger, Facebook’s messaging app.

The company also will work with liberal news syndicate Reuters to provide official election results and make the information available both on its platform and with push notifications.

Adapted from reporting by Associated Press.

1...3,5783,5793,580...3,824Page 3,579 of 3,824