AHMAD AHMED
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/pro-trump-lawyer-says-no-reasonable-person-would-believe-her-election-lies/ar-BB1eSV7r?ocid=msedgntp
Las Vegas animal activists call for arrest after dog beaten, tied and left for…
Pawtucket family's dog recovers from attack by other dogs
A key member of the legal team that sought to steal the 2020 election for Donald Trump is defending herself against a billion-dollar defamation lawsuit by arguing that “no reasonable person” could have mistaken her wild claims about election fraud last November as statements of fact.
In a motion to dismiss a complaint by the large US-based voting machine company Dominion, lawyers for Sidney Powell argued that elaborate conspiracies she laid out on television and radio last November while simultaneously suing to overturn election results in four states constituted legally protected first amendment speech.
No reasonable person would conclude that the statements were truly statements of fact,” argued lawyers for Powell, a former federal prosecutor from Texas who caught Trump’s attention through her involvement in the defense of former national security adviser Michael Flynn.
Powell falsely stated on television and in legal briefs that Dominion machines ran on technology that could switch votes away from Trump, technology she said had been invented in Venezuela to help steal elections for the late Hugo Chávez.
Those lies were built on empty claims that apparently originated in anonymous comments on a pro-Trump blog, only to be amplified on a global scale by Trump himself in a 12 November tweet in which he wrote in part “REPORT: DOMINION DELETED 2.7 MILLION TRUMP VOTES NATIONWIDE.”
Citing lost business and reputational damage, Dominion filed a $1.3bn defamation lawsuit against Powell and her colleague on Trump’s legal team, Rudy Giuliani. A Dominion employee separately sued the Trump campaign after receiving death threats.
Thousands of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January in an effort to stop the certification of an election they considered invalid, killing a police officer in violent clashes in which four others died.
But lawyers for Powell argued her false statements about election fraud in the months preceding the Capitol insurrection were unmistakably not presented as true facts.
“It was clear to reasonable persons that Powell’s claims were her opinions and legal theories on a matter of utmost public concern,” her legal motion says. “Those members of the public who were interested in the controversy were free to, and did, review that evidence and reached their own conclusions – or awaited resolution of the matter by the courts before making up their minds.”
The filing brought expressions of disbelief from Trump critics.
“This is her defense. Wow,” tweeted Republican representative Adam Kinzinger.
“Bad argument!” tweeted Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen. “[Powell] should have gone with an insanity defense due to #TrumpDerangementSyndrome.”
“Shorter Sidney Powell: suckers!” tweeted Charlie Sykes, an editor of the anti-Trump conservative publication the Bulwark.
As Trump fought to reverse his election loss in November, the former president himself reportedly supported Powell’s claims in private – and trumpeted them in public, touting Powell two weeks after the election as a key part of “the legal effort to defend OUR RIGHT to FREE and FAIR ELECTIONS”.
Powell was publicly exiled from the Trump camp a week after that tweet, after she appeared at a news conference hosted by the Republican National Committee alongside Giuliani, whose hair dye memorably ran down his face, and Trump lawyer Jenna Ellis.
The group was “an elite strike force team that is working on behalf of the president and the campaign”, Ellis announced.
Then Powell faced the cameras and claimed to have identified “massive influence of communist money through Venezuela, Cuba and likely China in the interference with our elections here in the United States”.
Aides reportedly told Trump that Powell was not helping, and Giuliani and Ellis issued a subsequent statement announcing, “Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own. She is not a member of the Trump legal team. She is also not a lawyer for the president in his personal capacity.”
But that did not prevent Powell from filing lawsuits the next week on Trump’s behalf in Georgia, Michigan, Arizona and Wisconsin.
In her defense against the Dominion defamation lawsuit, Powell argued that whatever “reasonable persons” thought of her wild claims, Dominion had failed to demonstrate that she herself thought them to be false as she spoke them – a key distinction in defamation cases.
“In fact,” Powell’s motion reads, “she believed the allegations then and she believes them now.”
more spin
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/assault-weapons-ban-was-blocked-by-boulder-judge-just-10-days-before-supermarket-shooting-report/ar-BB1eSWQg?ocid=msedgntp
Rising Country Singer Taylor Dee Dead at 33 After Car Crash
Sidney Powell Wants Dominion Suit Tossed on the Grounds That What She…
A judge reportedly blocked enforcement of an assault-weapons ban in Boulder, Colorado, just 10 days before a man opened fire inside a supermarket in the city, killing 10 people.
According to The Denver Post, the Boulder City Council previously voted unanimously to pass a ban preventing the sale of both assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in the municipality back in May 2018.
But on March 12, Boulder County District Court Judge Andrew Hartman ruled that he couldn't enforce the ban in Boulder because of state laws that say individual cities cannot override state or federal law concerning the sale of firearms, the outlet reports.
These provisions are invalid, and enforcement of them is enjoined," wrote Hartman in the ruling, according to the Post.
"The Court has determined that only Colorado state (or federal) law can prohibit the possession, sale and transfer of assault weapons and large-capacity magazines," he added.
Police initially received reports of an active shooter at a King Soopers grocery store in Boulder around 2:30 p.m. on Monday afternoon.
RELATED: Victims, Suspect in Boulder Supermarket Shooting Identified: "We Are Heartbroken"
According to witnesses, the shooter entered the store and immediately began shooting. A shopper who was inside the store told The Denver Post that the shooter entered the building, "let off a couple of shots, then was silent, and then he let off a couple more.
Another witness told KCNC-TV that they heard "15 to 20" gunshots within a matter of seconds.
One man, Ryan Borowski, told CNN he ran for cover after he heard gunshots while at the store to pick up soda and snacks. "We just all ran to the back of the store and out the back door and employees showed us the way," he said, in part. "And we told the employees what was going on. So everybody helped each other and we just ran to safety as quickly as we could."
RELATED VIDEO: PEOPLE's Call to Action: Contact Congress to Ask What Is Being Done to Stop the Epidemic of Gun Violence
Kim Cordova, president of the local union United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) Local 7, described the grocery-store workers as heroes.
"We know that when they heard gunshots, some of the workers grabbed coworkers, also led customers out to safety through various exits throughout the store, including the back dock and the back area of the store," Cordova told 9NEWS in a statement.
"They work during every manmade or natural disaster, and now, they again stepped up helped save customers and members of the community," she added. "They continue to be heroes."
During a press conference on Tuesday morning, the victims were identified as Denny Strong, 20; Neven Stanisic, 23; Rikki Olds, 25; Tralona Bartkowika, 49; Teri Leiker, 51; Officer Eric Talley, 51; Suzanne Fountain, 59; Kevin Mahoney, 61; Lynn Murray, 62; and Jody Waters, 65.
The suspected shooter was identified as 21-year-old Ahmad Alissa of Arvada, Colorado. "There was an exchange of gunfire and the suspect was shot," said Boulder Police Chief Maris Herold at the press conference. "The suspect in stable condition and was taken for treatment."
I am so sorry this incident happened," Herold told reporters. "We are going to do everything in our power to make sure that this suspect has a through trial and thorough investigation."
Alissa has been charged with 10 counts of murder, according to Herold. It is unclear whether he has retained an attorney authorized to speak on his behalf.
Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty told reporters that authorities have not yet identified a motive in the shooting, but that they do not believe there is an ongoing threat to the community.
"At this time, we'll say that the community is safe," Dougherty said, adding that he will also pursue justice for the 10 victims and their families.