‘His latest intemperate and arrogant orders encroach on the power to enforce the laws of the United States granted solely to the Executive Branch by the Constitution…’
Emmet Sullivan / IMAGE: NLSPDC via YouTube
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Rep. Bill Johnson, R-Ohio, said the House should impeach Judge Emmet G. Sullivan for abuse of power.
The activist Bill Clinton appointee, who has presided over former national security adviser Michael Flynn’s case, took the unprecedented step of refusing to accept a Justice Department request to withdraw the case.
Johnson wrote in an op-ed for Newsmax that he would attempt “to initiate an impeachment investigation into the conduct of Judge Sullivan” by introducing a House resolution.
“The judge has hinted that he plans to somehow hold Gen. Flynn in contempt for perjury, a serious display of unchecked government power that is rarely, if ever, used by courts in situations like this,” Johnson wrote.
He said Sullivan has abused his power by ignoring the Constitution’s separation of powers.
“His latest intemperate and arrogant orders encroach on the power to enforce the laws of the United States granted solely to the Executive Branch by the Constitution,” Johnson wrote.
He described the DOJ’s discretion in matters of prosecution as “sole” and “unquestionable.”
From the very outset, Sullivan exerted a partisan influence over the controversial case.
Before sentencing Flynn, Sullivan stepped out of his role as an impartial arbitrator of justice and told Flynn that he had “sold [the] country out,” CNBC reported.
Flynn’s attorney, Sidney Powell, agreed that Sullivan had overstepped his authority by soliciting a dissenting amicus curiae opinion from retired federal judge John Gleeson, who also happened to be a friend of Sullivan’s, Fox News reported.
“The case is over, and his bias is so egregious, he should be removed from the case,” Powell said Tuesday on Sean Hannity‘s Fox News show.
She said case should have ended on May 7 when the DOJ filed its motion to dismiss.
“There are Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit cases that make clear he must grant the motion to dismiss,” Powell said. “That’s a case and controversy issue under the Constitution, a separation of powers issue under the Constitution.”
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) President Donald Trump on Wednesday sent a warning shot to Democrats in two crucial battleground states that he would not allow them to use the current health crisis as cover to commit vote fraud in the November election.
After Nevada announced it would hold a mail-in primary election, Trump accused the state of creating a “great voter fraud scenario” that will encourage people to “cheat in elections.”
State of Nevada “thinks” that they can send out illegal vote by mail ballots, creating a great Voter Fraud scenario for the State and the U.S. They can’t! If they do, “I think” I can hold up funds to the State. Sorry, but you must not cheat in elections. @RussVought45@USTreasury
Trump also threatened to withhold federal funding from Michigan after the state’s secretary of state, Jocelyn Benson, announced her office would be sending absentee ballot applications to all registered voters.
In a tweet, Trump mistook Benson’s applications for actual ballots:
Breaking: Michigan sends absentee ballots to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!..
Benson responded to Trump’s criticism and pointed out that the state “sent applications, not ballots.” She did not, however, address his concerns about increased voter fraud.
Hi! ?? I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson. And we sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia. https://t.co/kBsu4nHvOy
Research proves that the president is right about the risk of “voter fraud,” specifically in regards to mail-in voting.
Democrats have been pushing for increased mail-in voting throughout the coronavirus pandemic to prevent large social gatherings, but their real goal “is to get as many votes into the hands of voters as possible, regardless of whether those voters are real,” according to Jason Snead, the executive director of the Honest Elections Project.
As Trump has previously noted, the vote-by-mail system is ripe for “fraud”—especially since many states refuse to maintain their already corrupt voter rolls, said Catherine Engelbrecht, president of True the Vote.
These voter rolls are filled with voters who no longer live in the state, voters who aren’t even alive anymore, and voters who aren’t legally registered.
Under the Democrats’ proposed mail-in system, these voter rolls would become extremely problematic, Engelbrecht said.
‘It was just an opening conversation and it’s not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer confirmed she is talks with presidential candidate Joe Biden’s campaign about becoming his running mate.
“I’ve had a conversation with some folks,” Whitmer told the Today show on Tuesday. “It was just an opening conversation and it’s not something that I would call a professional formalized vetting.”
Biden, who will turn 78 in November, has frequently name-checked prospective running mates as he tries to cobble together a coalition from the splintering—and often conflicting—interest groups within the evolving Democratic party.
He has promised that his prospective successor would be a female for only the third time ever, following former vice-presidential candidates Geraldine Ferraro and Sarah Palin.
After Hillary Clinton‘s failure last election to become the first female president, Biden’s hypothetical VP also would be well-positioned for another shot at that history-making distinction.
Biden first floated Whitmer’s name, alongside those of other influential Democrat women, several months ago, during his contentious primary run-off with Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Others on his most recent shortlist include failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms and Illinois Sen. Tammy Duckworth.
Duckworth also was selected for an interview with the Biden camp, according to the New York Post.
However, Abrams—an early favorite of Biden’s who could lure in mega-donors like Michael Bloomberg and George Soros to his cash-strapped campaign—has been aggressively lobbying for the position, so it’s unlikely that she’ll give up the spot without a fight.
Whitmer, on the other hand, tried to downplay her interest in the role shortly after mentioning it.
“I am making a little bit of time to stay connected to the campaign, but the most important thing that I have to do right now is be the governor of my home state,” she said. “That’s all that matters to me in this moment.”
Whitmer, a relative newcomer in the political arena, is best known so far for her failed coronavirus response and excessive shutdown restrictions.
Last month, she signed an executive order preventing large retail stores from selling “nonessential” goods, including gardening supplies and certain kinds of furniture. She also made it illegal for Michiganders to travel to relatives’ homes or to vacation homes in the northern part of the state.
When confronted by the state legislature about the over-the-top nature of these restrictions, Whitmer went behind its back and extended her emergency powers, despite the fact that Michigan state law requires her to first receive legislative approval. She also insisted that she would keep the state in lockdown regardless of what the legislature decided.
In light of Biden’s elderly and frail physical and mental state, Whitmer’s authoritarian tendencies may makes her VP prospects even more troubling for opponents. That is likely to spur even more partisan divisiveness in what already promises to be a brutal, no-holds-barred final leg of the race to Election Day.
Liberty Headlines’ Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
‘We are increasingly concerned that the surveillance of … the Trump campaign began earlier than the opening of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation…’
Barack Obama and James Comey / IMAGE: The Guardian via Youtube
(Joshua Paladino, Liberty Headlines) Long before there was any public reason to accuse candidate Donald Trump of colluding with Russia, Obama officials may have been systematically spying on his campaign, according to two top GOP senators.
In a letter to acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell on Tuesday, Sens. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa requested that he declassify more documents related to the government’s surveillance operation during 2016 Trump’s presidential campaign.
The senators asked Grenell to provide information on spying that could have occurred as early as January 2016, according to a press release.
“Based on our investigation and recent press reports, we are increasingly concerned that the surveillance of U.S. persons affiliated with the Trump campaign began earlier than the opening of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation in late July 2016,” the senators wrote.
“One example is that, in April 2016, FBI headquarters directed its New York Field Office to open a counterintelligence investigation of Carter Page, which on August 10, 2016, became part of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation,” they wrote.
This letter expands on their May 12 request for documents that will show “how many Americans were ‘unmasked,’ at whose request, and for what purpose” during the 2016 election.
“We firmly believe that the best way to resolve these issues is to determine the truth, and to make clear to the American people what did and did not occur,” they wrote.
Grenell declassified information a week ago regarding several top Obama officials’ requests to unmask Michael Flynn from the time of Trump’s election victory in November 2016 through his January 2017 inauguration.
The list showed that 39 Obama administration officials, including former Vice President Joe Biden, had sought to reveal Flynn’s identity and access classified intelligence about his private conversations without detailing a national security threat, as the law mandates.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, also sent a letter addressed to Grenell and Attorney General William Barr to expand the investigation. Lindsey Graham / IMAGE: News 19 WLTX via Youtube
He called on Grenell to provide the names of Obama administration officials who made requests to unmask anyone associated with Trump’s election campaign or transition team, according to a press release.
“Given the extensive number of requests for the unmasking of General Flynn’s name during this short time period, it raises the question of whether these or other officials sought the unmasking of the identities of other individuals associated with the Trump campaign or transition team,” Graham wrote.
His inquiry is limited to unmasking requests made between Nov. 8, 2016 and Jan. 31, 2017.
Graham said on Monday that he would consider holding a vote in the Senate Judiciary Committee to issue subpoenas to investigate the origins of the FBI’s Crossfire Hurricane investigation.
Grenell declassified more documents about the Obama administration’s involvement in spying on and unmasking Flynn. Johnson made the documents public on Tuesday.
Among them was the full version of a partially redacted “CYA” memo that out-going national security adviser Susan Rice sent herself on her final day in the White House.
It raised further questions about the degree to which then-FBI Director James Comey had informed members of the Obama administration about his investigation of Flynn.
Rice previously told the members of a congressional inquiry in 2018 that she was unaware of Comey’s investigation until he, himself, publicly testified.
However, it was under the Rice’s authority that other top officials would have been approved to access the intelligence reports of Flynn’s intercepted phone calls.
‘Rice was not briefed on the existence of any FBI investigation … and she later learned of the fact of this investigation from Director Comey’s subsequent public testimony…’
Michael Flynn, the incoming national security adviser, poses with his Obama administration predecessor, Susan Rice, who may have been complicit in Flynn’s framing by the FBI. / IMAGE: Fox Business via YouTube
(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) A memo drafted by former national security adviser Susan Rice on her final day in office became the latest in a spate of declassifications revealing top Obama administration officials’ politically motivated abuse of power during their final months in office.
The memo has been widely referred to as Rice’s “CYA” memo—shorthand for “cover your ass” because it recounts a Jan. 5 meeting at the Oval Office during which then-FBI Director James Comey discussed with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates the possibility of setting up Rice’s successor, incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.
But far from offering her cover, the latest disclosures could potentially implicate Rice for having lied during a 2018 Congressional probe.
Much of the memo already had been made public, but a newly unredacted paragraph further outlined Comey’s alleged concerns about Flynn’s phone conversations with a Russian diplomat in late December 2016.
In it, Comey claimed he was proceeding “by the book”—although subsequent efforts to frame Flynn with a perjury trap would belie that claim. The paragraph also reveals that Obama considered withholding sensitive information about Russia from the incoming security adviser.
Following the new disclosure, CBS reporter Catherine Herrige and others sought to “triangulate” the records and note inconsistencies between the memo, media claims and congressional testimony from Comey, Rice and Yates.
#Flynn Triangulate records: Rice “by the book” email memorializes 1/5/2017 WH meeting but time stamp 1/20. Acting AG Yates tells FBI she first learned Flynn calls during same meeting. Comey transcript “..in the course of that conversation, the President mentioned this(redacted.) pic.twitter.com/jHoCl37irm
Several in the conservative media noted that the declassified portion of the memo appeared to contradict a 2018 statement that Rice provided to Congress via her attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler.
In it, Rice claimed, “President Obama and his national security team were justifiably concerned about potential risks to the Nation’s security from sharing highly classified information about Russia.”
The statement also indicated that Rice “was not briefed on the existence of any FBI investigation into allegations of collusion between Mr. Trump’s associates and Russia, and she later learned of the fact of this investigation from Director Comey’s subsequent public testimony.”
Similar to a recent claim by Biden—now the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee—during a Good Morning America interview with George Stephanopoulos, Rice’s denial has likewise proven to be an obvious lie. For Rice, in fact, it may be considered perjury.
Set-Up for a Scandal
Barack Obama and James Comey / IMAGE: The Guardian via Youtube
Flynn, a three-star general, had been a top-level defense chief in Obama’s own administration prior to a falling out over policy disagreements.
That suggests that it was political differences rather than security concerns that drove the Jan. 5 discussion and Obama’s extraordinarily keen interest in the Flynn matter.
Despite Comey’s affirmation that he had “no indication thus far,” per Rice’s memo, that Flynn had given secrets to the Russians, the corrupt FBI director opined that “the level of communication is unusual.”
Flynn had reached out to Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak shortly after Obama announced the expulsion of Russian diplomats amid accusations that the country had hacked the Democratic National Committee and interfered in the 2016 presidential election.
During the Jan. 5 meeting, Comey suggested charging Flynn under the antiquated Logan Act, a 1799 law that had never been used successfully to prosecute. But instead, a few days after President Donald Trump was inaugurated, Comey sent FBI agents—including notoriously biased counterintelligence deputy Peter Strzok—to interview Flynn at the White House.
They attempted to surprise him with questions about his Russian communications, despite the fact that several top Obama officials already had intercepted them and unmasked Flynn’s identity. The contents of the calls were later leaked, illegally, to the Washington Post.
Flynn told the agents he had no recollection of his discussion with Kislyak regarding sanctions. Although initial FBI reports indicated that he had been truthful, Strzok later solicited the help of his mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page, to revise the documentation and indicate that Flynn had lied.
In the fallout, Flynn was forced to resign his White House post and later indicted for lying as part of the two-year Mueller investigation.
The Brewing Storm
Leftists have continued to downplay the Obamagate scandal and insist that the conduct was both justified and routine, despite clear evidence of abuse of power—a charge that largely parallels the circumstances of Trump’s recent impeachment at the hands of House Democrats—and possible perjury.
Some—including Rice—are now focusing on demands that the transcripts of Flynn’s calls with Kislyak—which already were leaked in the media—be made public.
According to CBS, Attorney General William Barr said that the calls offered nothing to validate Comey’s assessment that they were “unusual.”
#Flynn Declassified Susan Rice January 2017 email: Comey said “level of communication (between Flynn and Russian Ambassador) is unusual.” Speaking exclusively @CBSNews earlier this month AG Barr said “nothing wrong“ with Flynn call, typical incoming NATSEC team WATCH pic.twitter.com/QlS7hAyfAm
In the meantime, a partisan leftist judge has refused to accept Barr’s recent motion to dismiss the Flynn case.
But with Rice’s memo providing even more evidence of the conspiracy against Flynn, his attorney, Sidney Powell, filed an emergency petition to the appeals court seeking to dismiss Flynn’s case, vacate district judge Emmet Sullivan’s order and reassign it to a different judge.
#FLYNN team files emergency petition for Writ of Mandamus Court of Appeals. This further elevates and escalates the case. RELIEF SOUGHT: (1) grant DOJ Motion to Dismiss; (2) vacate Judge Sullivan’s order appointing amicus curiae (3) reassign to another district judge @CBSNewspic.twitter.com/yL270ldcXb
‘My office has the duty to … protect businesses that are complying with the order from unfair competition…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A Minnesota business owner was forced to cancel his plans to reopen after state Attorney General Keith Ellison filed a lawsuit against him this weekend.
A tearful Shady’s owner Kris Schiffler says he’s not opening his bar and grill on advice of his attorney, after getting a call from MN Attorney General Keith Ellison. “They have shut us down.” pic.twitter.com/LfNumzsf6h
Kris Schiffler, who owns six Shady’s restaurants in central Minnesota, told a crowd outside his Albany location on Monday that his eatery would not be reopening due to Ellison’s threats, according to the St. Cloud Times.
“But we do plan on reopening very soon,” he added. “Our attorneys are working on everything as fast as they can.”
Ellison said in his lawsuit that Schiffler’s plans would violate Gov. Tim Walz’s shelter-in-place order, which does not end until June 1.
“My office has the duty to enforce the law and the Governor’s order, to protect Minnesotans’ health, and to protect businesses that are complying with the order from unfair competition,” he said. “I take that duty seriously.”
Ellison also said that if Schiffler does violate Walz’s shutdown, he could face a fine of $25,000 per day, and Schiffler could lose his operating license.
Ellison also threatened to audit Schiffler’s restaurants, Schiffler told his supporters on Monday.
“The risk isn’t worth the reward at the end of the day,” he said. “[Ellison] just keeps threatening us with more things and more things and more things. And now he wants to audit our taxes.”
Keith Ellison/Photo by Karen Smith Murphy (CC)
The targeted harassment is nothing new for Ellison, a former U.S. congressman and deputy chair of the Democratic National Committee who retired his seat in scandal after allegations by Ellison’s ex-girlfriend, Karen Monahan, that he had committed domestic abuse.
Despite the stain of the inconclusive investigation—overseen by Minnesota’s Democratic party—he was able to coast to victory in the 2018 election for state attorney general. Since then, he has gone on to persecute Christians and act as a mentor to his congressional successor, Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.
But like many independent business owners facing down the authoritarian state orders to shutter their financial livelihoods, Schiffler said he planned to fight back.
In response to Ellison’s harassment, he launched a GoFundMe to cover the legal costs for small businesses in the state that want to challenge Walz’s order. As of Wednesday morning, the fund had received more than double its target goal of $100,000.
“We, along with countless other MN small businesses, have suffered long enough,” the GoFundMe states.
“We unfortunately can’t survive on just take-out orders,” it continues. “We need our business back just like so many others do. This isn’t a fight we should HAVE to fight, but it is a fight we are GOING to fight!”
Already, though, the effort has experienced one setback in an activist courtroom where the
A Stearns County judge upheld Ellison’s suit, arguing that Schiffler’s “patrons, employees, and the general public will suffer irreparable harm” unless Schiffler keeps his restuarants closed.
Ellison insisted that he sympathized with Minnesota’s small business owners, but defended the state’s continued shutdown.
“As hard as it is for them—and I know it’s hard—the vast majority of restaurants are doing their part to stop the spread of COVID-19 and keep themselves, their families, their employees, and their customers safe from this deadly pandemic,” Ellison said, according to KARE-11.
“The owner of Shady’s, however, has declared his intention to break the law and endanger his customers and employees,” Ellison continued.
Liberty Headlines’ Ben Sellers contributed to this report.
‘If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify … is former President Obama…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Former President Barack Obama has said he will not attend the White House’s formal unveiling of his presidential portrait while President Donald Trump is in office, even if that means waiting until 2025, according to NBC News.
The post-presidency rite of passage likely won’t take place anyways, since Trump has not announced plans for the ceremony and has instead insisted that Obama be held accountable for his attempts to undermine Trump’s presidency during the FBI-led Russia-collusion hoax—an effort Trump has dubbed “Obamagate.”
Trump has ramped up his criticism of Obama as Senate Republicans continue to look into Obama era corruption, specifically the abuses within the intelligence community that allowed top Obama officials to spy on the rival Trump campaign.
They then use illicitly obtained, classified information as political weapons to entrap Trump and his advisers, in addition to spreading the false innuendo from the Steele Dossier to undermine the new president.
“If I were a Senator or Congressman, the first person I would call to testify about the biggest political crime and scandal in the history of the USA, by FAR, is former President Obama,” Trump tweeted. “He knew EVERYTHING.”
Senate Judiciary Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-SC, however, said he is reluctant to subpoena Obama.
Barack Obama / IMAGE: Obama Foundation via YouTube
“As previously stated, there will be oversight of all things related to Crossfire Hurricane,” Graham said in response to Trump’s tweet, referring to the name given to the FBI’s Russia probe.
“I am greatly concerned about the precedent that would be set by calling a former president for oversight,” Graham continued. “No president is above the law. However, the presidency has executive privilege claims against other branches of government.”
Trump and Obama have met only once in person since Inauguration Day, at former President George H.W. Bush’s funeral in 2018.
Obama has said he would be willing to wait until Trump is out of the White House to schedule the portrait unveiling, according to NBC News, even if Trump wins a second term.
‘Older people, vulnerable people are going to die from this virus. That is going to happen despite whatever you do…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo refused to take responsibility for his March 25 policy forcing nursing homes to accept COVID-19 patients during a press briefing on Sunday, arguing that “older people are going to die from this virus” regardless.
Cuomo reversed his nursing-home policy last week after facing heavy criticism—but not before thousands of New Yorkers had died within the long-term care facilities.
Health experts warned last week that that number is probably much higher, since New York stopped counting the deaths of nursing home residents who died from COVID-19 patients outside of the homes.
When confronted about these failures, Cuomo argued that nobody should be held accountable for these deaths.
“What is justice? Who can we prosecute for those deaths? Nobody. Nobody. Mother nature. God. Where did this virus come from? People are going to die by this virus. That is the truth,” he said, according to CBS News.
“Older people, vulnerable people are going to die from this virus. That is going to happen despite whatever you do. Because with all our progress as a society, we can’t keep everyone alive.”
Cuomo later walked back his comments, assuring New Yorkers that “protecting our nursing homes and our seniors has been a top priority.” But he still refused to admit that his March 25 policy was a mistake.
Last week, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., called for a federal investigation into Cuomo’s “failed nursing home policies.”
A few New York Democrats have also joined the call for an independent investigation, demanding that Cuomo own up to his failures.
“The governor’s flip-flopping policies on nursing homes must be held accountable,” Democratic state Rep. Ron Kim said in a statement, according to Newsday.
“We live in a democracy where no one person should raise their hands and say, ‘We did our best’ and diminish any calls for independent oversight hearings after more than 5,000 vulnerable seniors died,” Kim said.
Cuomo’s nursing-home policy is just the latest example of his incoherent messaging. He has accused the federal government of refusing to help New York, while also crediting the Trump administration for the “great job” it has done.
And he has insisted that the coronavirus shutdown is necessary so long as it saves “just one life,” just to turn around and implement a policy that turned the state’s nursing homes into virus breeding grounds.
This is an “inexcusable tragedy” for New York, Stefanik said: “NEED ANSWERS.”
‘Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights…’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) The Justice Department warned California Gov. Gavin Newsom in a letter on Tuesday that his slow-moving reopening plan could violate citizens’ religious freedom.
DOJ’s letter to CA Gov. Newsom on civil rights and the covid-19 pandemic.
“We believe that the Constitution calls for California to do more to accommodate religious worship, including in Stage 2 of the Reopening Plan.” pic.twitter.com/8A4D95QKxs
Newsom’s plan does not allow in-person worship gatherings to take place again until the third phase of his four-part plan.
This represents an “unequal treatment of faith communities,” according to Eric Dreiband, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, since secular businesses, such as restaurants, will be allowed to open in Newsom’s second phase.
To protect religious liberty, Newsom should allow churches to reopen in the second phase, Dreiband said.
Gavin Newsom/Photo by XPRIZE Foundation (CC)
“California has not shown why interactions in offices and studios of the entertainment industry, and in-person operations to facilitate nonessential ecommerce, are included on the list as being allowed with social distancing where telework is not practical, while gatherings with social distancing for purposes of religious worship are forbidden,” the letter reads.
“Simply put, there is no pandemic exception to the U.S. Constitution and its Bill of Rights,” the letter states.
This is at least the third time the DOJ has intervened to protect religious liberty since the coronavirus crisis began in March.
Attorney General Bill Barr filed a statement of interest last month with a Mississippi church after the mayor of Greenville, Mississippi tried to ban drive-in church services.
The DOJ also filed a statement of interest with a Virginia church after its pastor was slapped with a hefty fine for holding a limited, in-person service.
Dreiband’s letter to Newsom does not threaten immediate legal action, but Barr has been clear in his past statements that the federal government will act against states that insist on unnecessary and unlawful restrictions.
‘When is it going to end? When everyone is bankrupt?’
(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A city in central California declared itself a “sanctuary city”—not for illegal immigrants, but for businesses and citizens unwilling to abide by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s shelter-in-place order any longer.
#BREAKING City of Atwater declares itself “Sanctuary City” for all businesses. Non profits like churches are covered in this resolution. @ABC30pic.twitter.com/DQGjqhkZwa
— Vanessa Vasconcelos (@VanessaABC30) May 15, 2020
The City of Atwater passed a resolution on Friday allowing its business, churches and all other organizations to begin reopening in defiance of Newsom’s extended shutdown.
The resolution affirms “the city’s commitment to fundamental constitutional rights” and rejects Newsom’s restrictions.
“This is America. You have the choice. It’s time for the government to stop dictating another month, another three months, six months,” Atwater Mayor Paul Creighton said, according to KFSN. “When is it going to end? When everyone is bankrupt?”
The resolution is largely a symbolic gesture, but it does prevent local authorities from interfering with businesses that choose to reopen, according to the Associated Press.
Even so, businesses that operate under state-issued licenses could still face consequences from the state if officials decide to revoke those licenses.
Gavin Newsom / IMAGE: The View via Youtube
Newsom has not yet commented on Atwater’s resolution, and Creighton said he hasn’t heard much from Merced County officials either.
The Atwater City Council passed its “sanctuary city” resolution unanimously and were met with a standing ovation from residents in attendance, according to Merced Sun Star.
“We have to base our decisions on the Constitution,” said Atwater business owner Chris Coffelt, who brought copies of the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Amendments to the meeting.
“If you receive an order from the governor telling us that we can’t open our business, that’s an illegal order,” Coffelt said. “It’s unconstitutional.”
More than 200 people attended the city council’s meeting, which is the largest turnout Creighton said he’s seen. And almost everyone was in favor of reopening, he said.
“I get emotional on this,” said Donald Covington, president of the Old Town Atwater Association. “People are starving. Two family members have two different businesses with small children and no income. We need to do this today.”
