‘Most Wanted’ Sex Predator Illegal Caught; Multiple ICE Detainers IGNORED in Calif.

Contributing Writer
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‘There is no reason this convicted child predator should have been turned loose…’

Multiple Illegal Entries, Attacks on Police, Get Alien Only a Year in Prison
Immigration and Customs Enforcement/PHOTO: ICE

(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) Immigration and Customs Enforcement announced the arrest of one of the most dangerous illegal aliens in the country on Thursday, after years of crimes, convictions and “sanctuary” protections that allowed him to evade federal immigration authorities.

Kristian Jonas Gamez Trejo, a 25-year old Honduran national, was apprehended in San Francisco on April 28 despite the best efforts of state and local officials, according to an ICE press release.

Gamez was on the agency’s “Most Wanted” list for a rap sheet of offenses dating back to 2014.

While his criminal record is stunning, California’s sanctuary policies that allowed him to avoid accountability and repeatedly commit crimes is at least as troubling.

Following Gamez’s many arrests and incarcerations in California, ICE would issue immigration detainer orders requesting notification of his release. If honored, he would have been taken into federal custody and deported.

But over and over again, the ICE detainers were ignored and Gamez would commit new crimes, such as sexually assaulting a minor.

“Once again, I am waiting for San Francisco officials to tell me how not turning over Mr. Gamez made our community safer,” said David Jennings, director of the ICE San Francisco field office.

“There is no reason this convicted child predator should have been turned loose into our community,” he said.

Gamez is believed to have illegally entered the United States for the first time in April 2014. But he was not able to take advantage of California’s rising sanctuary policies at the time and was arrested a year later and deported back to Honduras.

He illegally reentered the U.S. in late 2015 and was again arrested and deported.

But upon his third illegal entry, Gamez’s fortunes changed thanks to California’s sanctuary protections and far-left anti-ICE activism. Notably, San Franciso is Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s home district.

Gamez was arrested in 2016 for a warrant relating to felony sex with a minor committed during one of his previous illegal stints in the U.S. He was held in the San Francisco County Jail and ICE requested a routine transfer to federal custody.

But ICE officials’ worst fears were realized when the detainer was ignored and Gamez was released while awaiting trial. He was later convicted of the sex crime and served only 87 days in jail.

Following the sentence, he was released again without notifying ICE and within months was arrested repeatedly for additional crimes.

After each arrest, conviction and felony violation of probation, ICE issued new detainers. But they were all ignored and Gamez was effectively allowed to continue his preventable crime spree.

In Feb., Gamez was released again but ICE finally caught up with him last week.

Wa. Barber Defies Gov. Inslee, Reopens Despite Shelter-in-Place Order

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‘It is our constitutional right to do what we are doing…’

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A barber in Washington state reopened his shop this week in defiance of Gov. Jay Inslee’s shelter-in-place order, arguing that the government cannot infringe upon his “constitutional right” to make a living.

Robert Martin, owner of Stag Barber and Styling, said he decided to reopen after Snohomish County Sheriff Adam Fortney publicly stated he would no longer enforce Inslee’s executive order.

Fortney clarified in a statement on Wednesday that he did not mean to encourage “defiance of the law.”

“To the contrary, I have encouraged residents and business owners to exercise their rights under the law by reaching out and contacting their local leaders and state representatives,” he said.

But Martin said he has no intention of closing his shop, blasting Inslee’s order as a “scam” and thanking the more than 130 customers who lined up outside his barbershop to pay for haircuts this weekend.

“I’m supporting all these patriots and they’re supporting me,” he said, according to the Everett Herald.

Martin said he’s doing his best to follow the federal government’s health guidelines, including tying a red bandana around his neck to put over his mouth “if it feels like I’m going to have a sneeze.”

And if any of his customers reports an illness, Martin said he’ll “give them a shot of whiskey.”

“That will kill the germs,” he said.

Several customers lined up outside of Martin’s shop this weekend and said they don’t mind Martin’s unconventional health standards.

“He just seems like a normal person who just wants to keep his business open. He wants to keep his food on the table. And I’m in full support of that ‘cause I feel pretty bad about the small businesses that people put their heart in and because of this virus — they all have to close down,” customer Tanner Zingleman, who waited more than 90 minutes to get a haircut from Martin, told KOMO News.

Several other customers said they traveled to Martin’s barbershop for similar reasons.

“I liked what they were saying and what they were standing up for, so I got in line,” one customer told KTTH’s Jason Rantz.

They received a few negative remarks from people driving by, the customer recalled, “but all that we had to say was just, ‘Thank you for your opinion,'” he said.

Martin’s actions earned a rebuke from Inslee, who told him to “cut it out.”

“This person in Snohomish County, they’re going to have to come into compliance,” Inslee said during a Tuesday press conference, referring to Martin.

The state’s Department of Licensing is also reportedly considering revoking Martin’s barber license if he refuses to obey Inslee’s order. But Martin said he doesn’t care.

“I’ll work anyway,” he said.

Martin said that the numbers do not justify the extreme measures Inslee has taken, and argued that the loss of livelihood will be much more detrimental than the coronavirus.

“I just don’t believe what’s happening,” he told CBS affiliate KIRO-TV. “They don’t have the authority to take that away from us. It is our constitutional right to do what we are doing.”

Flynn’s Ex-Lawyers Whine about New Demands after Suppressing Evidence

Ben Sellers
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‘Flynn didn’t understand the legal ramifications of it and the prosecution’s ethical obligations to disclose that…’

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Michael Flynn / IMAGE: Fox Business via YouTube

(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) The law firm that encouraged former national security adviser Michael Flynn to accept a bad plea deal is complaining about the inconvenience of releasing its files after new evidence revealed he was framed by corrupt FBI agents.

Covington & Burling said that the request from Flynn’s current attorney, Sidney Powell, amounted to “a disproportionately burdensome e-discovery process of great scale and duration,” according to the National Law Journal.

The firm has been under scrutiny itself after newly declassified documents released by the Justice Department showed that FBI counterintelligence operatives Bill Priestap and Peter Strzok plotted in advance to ensnare Flynn in a perjury trap.

The conspiracy reaches even higher. Then-Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who is believed to have had a personal grudge with Flynn over an unrelated personnel issue, deceptively reassured Flynn that he did not need a lawyer when Strzok and another agent were sent to the White House to interview him in January 2017.

Then-FBI Director James Comey also acknowledged that he had signed off on the highly irregular interrogation and had personally sent the agents.

Although the agents reported immediately after the fact that Flynn appeared to have given credible answers about his December 2016 communications with a Russian diplomat, Strzok later changed the filings—with help from his mistress, FBI attorney Lisa Page—to suggest that Flynn had lied.

The Covington firm had previously been ordered last year to produce all of its documents, but the firm admitted after the recent developments that it had failed to furnish some 6,800 files due to a “miscommunication,” reported the Conservative Daily Post.

However, speculation surfaced—including by Powell, herself—that the firm may have been complicit in a federal deep-state cover-up led by former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder, who joined Covington’s practice after leaving the Justice Department.

Flynn, a lifelong Democrat who had served in the Obama administration, fell out of favor—likely due to his criticism of a questionable nuclear deal with Iran. He then became a staunch advocate for future President Donald Trump during the 2016 campaign.

In addition to the questions surrounding Flynn’s own lawyers, focus has shifted to federal prosecutors—most notably Brandon Van Grack.

As a member of special counsel Robert Mueller‘s investigative team, Van Grack helped broker Flynn’s indictment for allegedly lying to the FBI in the Russian collusion probe—even though the underlying claims of collusion were eventually debunked by the Mueller Report.

However, Van Grack may have been in direct violation of a 2018 court order requiring the Justice Department prosecutors to disclose all favorable evidence in Flynn’s case, reported Fox News.

Flynn’s reversal of fortune is just the latest in what has been a damning series of developments for the corrupt Obama-era intelligence community, which not only investigated but helped orchestrate the seditious attempt to smear and remove the president and his advisors.

It also comes amid a backdrop of widespread FBI corruption or incompetence, as revealed via internal investigations by DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz.

Horowitz’s recent probe of several FBI branches showed that all of those audited had failed to meet their “Brady” obligations to present exculpatory evidence when applying for wiretap warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Several of the agents whose reports were under review could not even furnish the requested documentation and denied knowing what happened to it.

A parallel criminal investigation by special prosecutor John Durham is now believed to be in its final stages, and all indications are that it will result in at least some of the key FBI conspirators facing prosecution, according to Newsmax, which cited a recent radio interview by Powell.

“I am sure now, from what I am seeing, that Attorney General Barr and Durham are going to hold people accountable, because there is evidence of obstruction of justice by them, of crimes like obstruction of Congress and perjury in front of Congress, probably false statements to federal agents,” she said Sunday on 970 AM-N.Y.

The FBI “knew they were making up a case,” Powell said.

She accused prosecutors of secretly plotting with Flynn’s Covington lawyers about a plea-deal arrangement that would help prevent his son from being indicted under the Russia smear.

“That makes the plea coerced,” Powell said. “Flynn didn’t understand the legal ramifications of it and the prosecution’s ethical obligations to disclose that.”

UPDATE: Texas Gov., Atty. Gen. Urge Release of Jailed Salon Owner

Contributing Author
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‘I have no choice. I need to feed my family, and my stylists could not feed their families…’

Texas Salon Owner Sentenced to 7 Days in Jail, Fined $7,000 For Reopening Business
Shelley Luther / IMAGE: FOX 4 News – Dallas-Fort Worth via YouTube

UPDATE: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton urged the release of Dallas salon owner Shelley Luther on Wednesday afternoon, following her jailing by County Judge Clay Jenkins for opening her salon, against a statewide mandate to close due to the coronavirus.

Paxton tweeted:

And Abbott said in a statement:

I join the Attorney General in disagreeing with the excessive action by the Dallas Judge, putting Shelley Luther in jail for seven days. As I have made clear through prior pronouncements, jailing Texans for non-compliance with executive orders should always be the last available option. Compliance with executive orders during this pandemic is important to ensure public safety; however, surely there are less restrictive means to achieving that goal than jailing a Texas mother.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE: (Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) A Dallas salon owner was sentenced to seven days in jail and fined $7,000 for reopening her business despite the state’s shelter-in-place order.

Shelley Luther, owner of Salon à la Mode, was handed a cease-and-desist letter last week by County Judge Clay Jenkins after she reopened her salon on April 24.

Luther ignored the letter and attended a protest outside of the courthouse the next day, ripping the letter in front of the building.

“Come and get it, Judge Clay Jenkins. Come and get it,” she said at the rally.

“You have rights to feed your children and make income,” she continued. “And anyone that wants to take away those rights is wrong.”

On top of the jail sentence and fine, Salon à la Mode is being fined $500 for every day it remains open, which has been seven days thus far.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that salons will be allowed to reopen on Friday, but he has not yet commented on Luther’s case.

Luther argued before court that her salon followed the proper social-distancing guidelines. But this didn’t matter, according to city attorneys, who argued Luther willfully violated the court’s temporary restraining order by continuing to operate her business.

Luther took the stand and told the judge that she opened out of necessity, according to the Texas Tribune.

“I have no choice. I need to feed my family, and my stylists could not feed their families,” Luther explained.

Dallas Civil District Judge Eric Moyé, who presided over the hearing, replied and said Luther can’t just take matters into her own hands.

“The rule of law governs us. People cannot take it upon themselves to determine what they will and will not do,” Moyé said.

Moyé then gave Luther the chance to avoid jail time by acknowledging “that your own actions were selfish,” and that they put “your own interest ahead of those in the community in which you live,” according to a local CBS News station.

Luther refused, and said that although she has “respect for this court and laws,” it is not selfish to make a living.

“I have hair stylists that are going hungry because they’d rather feed their kids,” Luther said. “So sir, if you think the law is more important than kids getting fed, then please go ahead with you decision but I am not going to shut the salon.”

Hospital Board Chairman Forced to Resign; Challenged ‘Tyranny’ of Gov.’s Lockdown

Ben Sellers
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‘Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people…’

Donnie Loftis / IMAGE: Image Design TV via YouTube

(Ben Sellers, Liberty Headlines) Only a few days before the declining threat of the coronavirus pandemic in North Carolina prompted Democrat Gov. Roy Cooper to ease stay-at-home orders, the head of a Gaston County hospital board was forced out for challenging left-wing dogma.

“It has been a great honor to serve CaroMont Health,” former board chairman Donnie Loftis said in a statement released by the hospital. “… Now and always, I remain a devoted advocate and staunch supporter of the health system.”

Loftis, who led the hospital’s board of directors for eight years, had questioned Cooper’s recent stay-at-home orders, likening the demands to “tyranny” in a post to his personal Facebook account, according to the Charlotte Observer.

A picture on his page had the statement “Quarantine is when you restrict the movement of sick people. Tyranny is when you restrict the movement of healthy people.”

Loftis previously served as a county commissioner, and his opposition to the state orders was in line with county officials. Last week, they enacted a local resolution to support reopen local businesses in defiance of Cooper’s orders. Commissioners later clarified that they were not encouraging anyone to break the law.

Nonetheless, Loftis’s view flew in the face of CaroMont Health’s official stance after one of the medical center’s nurses was treated for coronavirus in April, reported the Gaston Gazette.

It had warned in an earlier statement that the health facilities lacked an adequate supply of personal protective equipment. “That’s why it is absolutely imperative people who can stay home, stay home,” said the statement.

The hospital has issued disclaimers in the past to disavow the opinions of its board member, saying that they “are not statements made on the behalf of CaroMont Health nor an indication of the health system’s position on any topic, situation or circumstance.”

But after the offending post, the Observer and other advocates of the draconian restrictions initiated a public-shaming campaign that doxxed Loftis’s social media.

His critics further claimed that he had shared “conspiracy theories” online, including the suggestion that China may have intentionally released the virus. Chinese officials and globalist health organizations have rejected the notion.

Loftis also voiced support for pro-life protestors, some of whom had been arrested for leading a demonstration outside a Charlotte abortion clinic.

The Christian group Cities4Life argued that if abortions were deemed an “essential” practice under the restrictions, then protesting them while observing “social-distancing” procedures should be permitted also.

Although Loftis subsequently made his Facebook page private, and the Observer hid its original story behind a paywall, other online accounts relayed the content of his posts.

The Observer noted, however, that Loftis’s views on the coronavirus crisis had evolved as more information became available.

Shortly after the county issued its March 26 stay-at-home orders, he supported the collective effort, posting, “Folks stay home … we’re not on vacation. We’re fighting a killer virus.”

But by April, Loftis was more concerned by the growing streak of totalitarianism being exerted by mostly left-wing officials, such as Gov. Cooper, to demand compliance.

“What I worry about. COVID-19: 0.5, Loss of my rights: 99.5. You should be worried also,” Loftis posted in a pie-chart graphic.

Many of the trusted sources used in early estimates of the virus’s impact were later revealed to have oversold the danger, leading some to question whether the ends justified the means in public attempts to “flatten the curve” of the contagion.

Even the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after relying on dubious overestimates from a University of Washington model, not only dramatically revised its estimates but encouraged medical facilities to loosen the standard for what were considered coronavirus fatalities, subsequently including among them any “probable” deaths, whether diagnosed with COVID or not.

Ohio Tells Companies to Snitch on Non-Returning Workers to Prevent Unemployment Abuse

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‘It basically hinges on whether there’s a good-cause reason for that refusal to return to work…’

Ohio Encourages Companies to Report Employees Who Refuse to Return to Work to Prevent Abuse of Unemployment Benefits
Kimberly Hall / IMAGE: WCPO via YouTube

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) Ohio is encouraging companies to report employees who refuse to return to work in an effort to prevent residents from abusing unemployment benefits, according to Cleveland.com.

The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services set up a website for employers and notified companies in the state that they could use this website to keep track of which employees haven’t returned to work, and whether their jobs are still available.

Under Ohio law, these employees would not qualify for unemployment benefits.

“Ohio law prohibits individuals from receiving unemployment benefits if they refuse to accept offers of suitable work, or quit work, without good cause,” the department said in an email to the state’s companies.

“If you have employees who refuse to return to work or quit work, it’s important that you let the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services (ODJFS) know so we can make accurate eligibility determinations,” it said.

If employees refuse to return to work, an administrative review board will determine if they can receive unemployment benefits.

This process isn’t new, according to the department’s director, Kimberly Hall.

“We’ve always had an administrative review process,” she said. “It basically hinges on whether there’s a good-cause reason for that refusal to return to work.”

The board will take into consideration any safety concerns due to the coronavirus pandemic, but unemployment attorneys told Cleveland.com that these concerns will be difficult to prove.

Ohio’s new reporting website is an effort to prevent citizens from taking advantage of the expanded unemployment benefits passed by the federal government to combat the economic effects of the nationwide shutdown.

Many Republicans opposed this expansion for this exact reason, warning that a boost in benefits could incentivize employees not to return to work, since they might make more money while on unemployment than they would in their day-to-day jobs.

“This bill pays you more not to work than if you were working,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said last month.

Trump Says Fauci Will Testify Before Senate, But Not ‘Haters’ in House

Contributing Writer
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‘They, frankly, want our situation to be unsuccessful—which means death…’

Dr. Fauci Pushes Back on Democrats' Accusations Against Trump: 'He Has Always Listened to What I've Said'
Anthony Fauci / IMAGE: Face the Nation via Youtube

(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) Dr. Anthony Fauci will testify before the U.S. Senate next week about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.

However, he will not go the Democratic-controlled House, which President Donald Trump called “a bunch of Trump-haters.”

Trump made the announcement at the White House on Tuesday morning while blasting House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s newly established Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis.

The president previously referred to the committee as another “witch hunt,” akin to the debunked Russian collusion fiasco and the dubious “whistleblower” complaint that Pelosi used as the partisan basis to impeach Trump with no GOP representatives voting in favor.

“The House is a set-up,” Trump told reporters. “The House is a bunch of Trump-haters. They put every Trump-hater on the committee — the same old stuff.”

Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, also has held a prominent role on the White House Coronavirus Task Force.

Trump recently threatened to block Fauci altogether from testifying in Congress, but he now says the disease expert will appear as a witness in the Senate next week.

Fauci testified in front of the House Oversight Committee in March, and under Democratic questioning, he undermined the Trump administration regarding coronavirus testing.

“The system is not really geared to what we need right now, what you are asking for,” he said. “That is failing.”

The Oversight Committee, which will house the new COVID subcommittee, is chaired by Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a left-wing Democratic representing Manhattan’s wealthy Upper East Side.

Trump has admitted to giving her campaign donations in the past and called her a “longtime ‘nothing-much’” at a rally in December.

He singled-out Maloney again during Tuesday’s announcement, saying, “I helped to get her elected when she first ran years ago and then I run for office and she’s become hostile because that’s politically correct, but actually it’s stupid.”

Along with Maloney, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is also on the subcommittee. Waters is known for near-daily outrageous comments and has said the president “needs to be imprisoned and placed in solitary confinement.”

Rep. James Clyburn, D-SC, who notoriously told his Democrat colleagues in a conference call that the health crisis afforded “a tremendous opportunity to restructure things to fit our vision,” will chair the new subcommittee.

“They frankly want our situation to be unsuccessful—which means death, which means death,” Trump told reporters.

“The House has put on an oversight committee by Maxine Waters and [Carolyn] Maloney and the same people and it’s just a set-up,” he continued. “But Dr. Fauci will be testifying in front of the Senate, and he looks forward to doing that.”

Ethics Watchdog Files FOIA Request to Obtain Biden’s Secret Senate Records

Contributing Writer
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‘If Joe Biden has nothing to hide, he should welcome the search and release of the records requested…’

Liberals Rip Biden’s ‘Morning Joe’ Interview About Past Sexual Assault 1
Joe Biden / IMAGE: MSNBC via YouTube

(Michael Barnes, Liberty Headlines) An ethics watchdog has filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain records from the University of Delaware that purport to shed light on Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s alleged sexual assault of his former staffer Tara Reade.

Biden represented the state of Delaware in the U.S. Senate from 1973 to 2009, and the University of Delaware was given the entirety of his 36-year career Senate records in 2012. But somehow, they’ve been sealed from public view while he runs for president.

“If Joe Biden has nothing to hide, he should welcome the search and release of the records requested,” said Peter Flaherty, chairman of the National Legal and Policy Center.

Flaherty and NLPC attorney Paul Kamenar filed an eight-page FOIA request seeking immediate access to Biden’s senatorial papers, as well as all documents relating to the transfer and curation of the records.

The FOIA further calls on the university’s board of trustees—at least eight of whom are Biden donors—to perform a specific search for documents relating to Tara Reade.

The request also demands the release of all visitor logs to the university’s library, following reports that members of Biden’s campaign team may have secretly scoured the records when Reade’s accusations first resurfaced in the public sphere.

Kamenar appeared on Fox News’ Tucker Carlson Tonight on Monday evening to discuss the issue.

“On what grounds can a public university, handling public documents, possibly turn you down for your FOIA?” asked Carlson.

“Delaware is one of two states in the country that carves out exemptions for public universities, but the board of trustees can override such exemptions,” Kamenar said.

“The university also has the discretion to release them—meaning they don’t have to keep them withheld,” he added.

In 2012, Biden gave the University of Delaware 1,875 boxes of “photographs, documents, videotapes, and files” and 415 gigabytes of electronic records. They were supposed to be disclosed to the public two years after the former vice president’s last day in office, or on Jan. 21, 2019.

But that agreement has been amended to “two years after public life,” which conveniently shields Biden from sexual assault-related evidence while he runs for president.

The National Legal and Policy Center is not alone in its desire to review the records.

Both the left-leaning Atlantic and Washington Post have argued that Biden should instruct the university to turn them over.

The records “could contain confirmation of any complaint Ms. Reade made, either through official congressional channels or to the three other employees she claims she informed not specifically of the alleged assault but more generally of harassment,” said the Post.

Complicating matters for Biden is that his records likely contain troves of speeches and legislative positions that are dramatically out-of-step with the modern progressive Democratic Party.

Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., for example, attacked Biden during the primary debates for his segregationist past, which included working with white-supremacist Democrats on legislation that opposed busing minorities to white schools. He was also a staunch opponent of gay marriage.

In a Friday MSNBC interview, Biden weakly explained his reluctance to unseal his public records.

“There’s a lot of things—of speeches I’ve made, positions I’ve taken, interviews that I did overseas with people—all of those things related to my job,” he said. “And the idea that they would all be made public … while I was running for public office, they can be really taken out of context … For example, when I go, when I met with Putin or when I met with whomever.”

When pressed about releasing his Senate papers relating to Tara Reade, Biden told Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski: “There is nothing. They wouldn’t—they’re not there. I don’t understand the point that you’re trying to make.”

Kamenar cited Biden’s comments during his Fox interview, and told Tucker Carlson, “Well, how do we know there’s nothing there?”

“We should be able to see them,” Carlson said.

Conservative Group Releases Report Card Grading Governors’ COVID Responses

Contributing Author
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‘These decisions they are making today will have long-lasting consequences for the economic opportunities and the prosperity of their citizens for many years to come…’

Colorado Joins Sour-Grape Blue States' Bid to End Electoral College
Jared Polis / IMAGE: NBC News

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) As states begin to transition toward reopening, it is becoming increasingly clear which governors managed the coronavirus health crisis well, and which ones did not.

Taking into account the severity of the COVID-19 outbreak in each state, along with the economic impact accompanying statewide shutdowns, the conservative nonprofit FreedomWorks released a report card grading each governor’s response.

“We believe that every governor is making a good faith effort to weigh the risks of the health of their citizens versus the economic well-being of their state,” FreedomWorks stated in its analysis.

“No governor wants to impoverish their citizens. No governor wants to see any of their citizens get ill or even die,” it continued. “But these decisions they are making today will have long-lasting consequences for the economic opportunities and the prosperity of their citizens for many years to come.”

Only one Democratic governor, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, received an “A.”

Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and controversial Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, both received “F’s.”

New York’s politically ambitious glory-hound Gov. Andrew Cuomo received a “C,” and California’s nanny-state Gov. Gavin Newsom received a “D.”

Alongside several Republican governors, Polis was credited with balancing the immediate needs of his state’s citizens and their long-term economic interests. He began to reopen Colorado’s businesses last week and allowed hospitals to move forward with “nonessential” procedures.

Polis’s argument has been that the state needs to transition to a more sustainable level of social distancing, and long-term shutdowns are anything but sustainable given their disastrous economic effects, he explained.

Murphy received an “F” for dismissing the legitimate, constitutional concerns of his citizens while refusing to give an end date for the state’s stay-at-home order. He has continually pushed back the reopening date, claiming that “there will be blood on our hands” if he lifts the order too soon.

Northam also received an “F” for prematurely extending the state’s shelter-in-place order till mid-June without any real reason to do so. This grade could change over the next week, however, since Northam announced on Tuesday that he will allow businesses to begin to reopen on May 15.

Cuomo and Newsom, two of the most outspoken governors throughout the crisis, received lower grades because of the skyrocketing unemployment in each state. New York’s unemployment numbers increased by 2225.63%, according to FreedomWorks’s report, and California’s increased by 1693.91%.

Neither governor has lifted the state’s shelter-in-place orders. In fact, Newsom just extended California’s until June 1.

Surprisingly, Michigan’s Gretchen Whitmer, who has been considered the most authoritarian of all state executives during the crisis, also received a “D.”

Whitmer blatantly disregarded the will of the state legislature in extending her draconian orders last week, even as armed protesters stormed the state capitol in Lansing.

“Whether you agree with me or not, I’m working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan,” she said during a Sunday appearance on CNN.

Whitmer is among presumptive Democrat presidential nominee Joe Biden’s top picks for a vice-presidential running-mate—which could potentially usher her into the White House if the septuagenarian Biden were ever rendered unfit or incapacitated.

Rep. SUES Whitmer Over Her Authoritarian COVID Orders

Contributing Author
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‘Whether you agree with me or not, I’m working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan…’

Michigan GOP Leader Apologizes for Saying Dem. Governor 'Batsh** Crazy'
Gretchen Whitmer/Photo by University of Michigan’s Ford School (CC)

(Claire Russel, Liberty Headlines) U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, R-Mich., filed a lawsuit against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer this week, alleging that Whitmer’s “unreasonable” executive orders violated the separation of powers and infringed on Michigan citizens’ constitutional rights.

Whitmer circumvented the state legislature last week by extending Michigan’s stay-at-home order during the coronavirus pandemic even after the controversial measure failed on the House floor in Lansing.

This “kind of power is unconstitutional” and must be checked, Mitchell told the Detroit News.

The Democratic governor has also enacted a number of extreme policies, forbidding hospitals from performing nonessential procedures and preventing department stores form selling nonessential goods.

These rules “shock the conscience,” Mitchell said—and they also have real consequences.

As a result of Whitmer’s executive orders, Mitchell was unable to seek medical treatment for a knee surgery, his lawsuit states.

“No Michigander, including Mitchell, should be forced to choose between risking criminal prosecution and economic sanctions under the Lockdown Orders on the one hand or seeking medical treatment on the other,” reads the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan.

Whitmer hasn’t responded to the lawsuit, but in an appearance on CNN on Sunday, she defended her executive orders as a necessary cost Michiganders must shoulder to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

“Whether you agree with me or not, I’m working to protect your life if you live in the state of Michigan,” the pro-abortion governor said.

The Michigan state legislature has also authorized a lawsuit against Whitmer to prevent her from acting unilaterally. GOP state lawmakers haven’t filed the suit yet, but state Senate Majority Leader Mike Shirkey said it will “probably” be filed next week.

Holding Whitmer accountable is “the No. 1 priority right now,” Shirkey said. “True representative government” must “take over,” he added.

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