Katie Hill: Gaetz ‘One Of The Few Colleagues’ To Defend Her But Must Resign If Allegations Have ‘Fraction Of Truth’

Former California Democratic Rep. Katie Hill said Tuesday that Rep. Matt Gaetz should resign and “be held responsible” if the recent allegations made against him are true.

“If there is even a fraction of truth to these reports, he should resign immediately,” Hill wrote in a Vanity Fair article published Tuesday. Florida Republican Rep. Gaetz is subject to a federal sex trafficking investigation but has denied any wrongdoing and claimed he’s entangled in a $25 million extortion plot.

Hill wrote that despite their political differences, Gaetz befriended her during the middle of her divorce. They both served on the Armed Services Committee and often chatted about life experiences. Hill also said she was the victim of the same crime that Gaetz has been accused of committing: the non-consensual sharing of intimate images.

“People across the world were seeing images of my naked body, many of which I hadn’t known were taken and none of which I had consented to share,” Hill wrote. “I was the victim of nonconsensual pornography, also known as intimate-image abuse or revenge porn. But the photos showed that I’d had a relationship with someone who had worked on my campaign. A relationship that was inappropriate, though not illegal, and that I never should have engaged in and never would have outside the context of an unusually close-knit campaign and a crumbling marriage.”

But Hill explicitly stated that Gaetz ought to resign if the allegations are true and “be held responsible.”

“Let me state it as clear as possible: If, despite his denials, Matt Gaetz did have sex with a minor, if he did provide girls and young women with drugs and money and gifts in exchange for sex, if he did ask these girls and young women to recruit other women for the same purpose, and if he did show his colleagues images of nude women without their consent, he needs to be held responsible,” the former congresswoman wrote.

Hill said she usually does not weigh in on these types of situations out of fear that critics, such as Ben Shapiro, will call her a sexual predator, or that trolls will share naked pictures of her without her consent. She also noted that her mom never liked her friendship with Gaetz.

“When he defended me, she raised her eyebrows and told me I’d better not sleep with him (I did not, for the record),” Hill wrote.

Gaetz did not respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.

https://dailycaller.com/2021/04/06/katie-hill-matt-gaetz-sex-allegations/

Pentagon Publishes Pictures of Syrian Kurds Training to Call in Airstrikes

The Syrian Democratic Forces appear to be the first non-state actor to receive such training from the US

Last month, US Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTACs) trained members of the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) during live-fire attack helicopter exercises. JTACs direct military aircraft during combat and pictures published on a Pentagon website show the JTACs training SDF members to call in airstrikes, which appears the first time the US is giving non-state actors such training, at least publicly.

According to a report from Air Force Times, the pictures might be the first time JTAC training with the SDF is publicized, but the training is nothing new. SDF fighters have had the ability to call in US airstrikes for years now.

The report said the SDF fighters were not trained to be JTACs themselves but relayed coordinates to US JTACs who would then order the airstrikes. During the campaign against ISIS in the Syrian city of Raqqa, which was decimated by US bombs in 2017, some SDF members were given an app for their tablets that they could put GPS coordinates into, which they would share with JTACs through encrypted messaging.

The Biden administration has made it clear it will continue occupying northeast Syria and supporting the SDF. While this support is framed as part of the fight against ISIS, it is more about keeping the oil resources in the region out of the hands of the Syrian government in Damascus.

On top of the occupation of the oil fields, the US maintains crippling economic sanctions on Syria that specifically target reconstruction, preventing Syria from rebuilding after a decade of war. The sanctions have had a devastating impact on the civilian population. According to the UN, 12.4 million Syrians are facing starvation.

https://news.antiwar.com/2021/04/05/pentagon-publishes-pictures-of-syrian-kurds-training-to-call-in-airstrikes/

Arkansas Becomes First State to Ban Gender Reassignment Surgeries in Children

Arkansas on Tuesday became the first state to outlaw gender reassignment surgeries and hormone treatments for children under the age of 18, after Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson, a Republican, vetoed the measure.

The House voted 71-24 and Senate voted 25-8 on Tuesday to override his veto.

The bill, known as House Bill 1570—or Arkansas SAFE (Save Adolescents From Experimentation) Act—will go into law 90 days after the Arkansas General Assembly goes into recess on April. 30.

It would prohibit physicians and healthcare professionals from providing gender transition procedures to people under 18 years old, or referring the minors to other healthcare professionals for the procedures. Medical providers who violate the law could face disciplinary actions from the appropriate licensing entity or disciplinary review board.

“It is of grave concern to the General Assembly that the medical community is allowing individuals who experience distress at identifying with their biological sex to be subjects of irreversible and drastic nongenital gender reassignment surgery and irreversible, permanently sterilizing genital gender reassignment surgery, despite the lack of studies showing that the benefits of such extreme interventions outweigh the risks,” according to the text of the bill.

As he vetoed the bill this week, Hutchinson argued that signing the bill would be “government overreach,” saying that it would be “starting to let lawmakers interfere with healthcare and set a standard for legislation overriding healthcare.”

“If this was just to ban gender reassignment then I would support it, but those who are taking treatment are not grandfathered in, this is not the right path to put them on,” Hutchinson added. He said that fewer than 200 children are using the treatments in Arkansas.

But the Arkansas-based group Family Council said the state Legislature’s move was “the right decision.”

“This is really good news. Gender-reassignment surgeries can leave children sterilized and scarred for life. Medical researchers do not know the long-term effects these procedures and therapies can have on kids. That is why many people equate them with experimenting on children,” the group wrote. “This good legislation will protect Arkansas’ children from sex-reassignment procedures. We appreciate their leadership, their moral courage, and their resolve to do what is right. This is historic legislation. Arkansans ought to be proud of their leaders for doing the right thing by passing the SAFE Act into law.”

Pro-transgender organizations such as Arkansas-based group inTRANSitive had initiated a campaign to pressure Hutchinson into vetoing the bill. Some progressive groups have also opposed the passage of the bill.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) announced it would file a lawsuit to prevent the law from being enforced.

ACLU of Arkansas Executive Director Holly Dickson said in a statement that “this fight is not over,” adding: “We will be filing a lawsuit to challenge this law in court.”

https://www.ntd.com/arkansas-becomes-first-state-to-ban-gender-reassignment-surgeries-in-children_593226.html

Dem Mayor of North Las Vegas 'Can't Stand With Socialists,' Switches Parties

John Lee, the Democratic mayor of North Las Vegas has had enough of the Democratic Party’s “radicalism” in his state and announced on Tuesday he is switching his allegiance to the Republicans.

Lee voted twice for Donald Trump and had been wooed in the past by state Republicans. He now claims to be “the most prominent Democratic elected official to switch party registration to Republican following President Joe Biden’s inauguration.” I’m sure he’s a legend in his own mind, but he’s right about the Nevada Democratic Party. A recent party election saw every seat won by a Democratic Socialist. In protest, every paid staff member resigned.

This was the Harry Reid Democratic Party — a juggernaut that turned a red state reliably blue. As the Nevada Independent put it, “Say Goodbye to the Most Effective Democratic Party in the Country” after socialists swept to power.

The real irony here, of course, is that these revolutionaries have taken over a party that has been a well-oiled machine since 2008. With four straight presidential victories, two Democratic U.S. senators, three of four House members, five of six constitutional officers and both houses of the Legislature, what exactly is this revolution supposed to change?

Well, it got John Lee to switch parties.

“Though I’ve been a registered Democrat on paper my entire life, I made the switch in my heart a long time ago, because on some things, there’s simply no compromise,” he said in a statement. “That’s why I voted for President Trump twice. That’s why I had an A+ rating from the NRA and their endorsement in my time in the state senate. I refuse to compromise my pro-life, pro-2nd Amendment values. I know there are countless others who want to make the switch, because it means the difference between hope and despair for their children and grandchildren. I hope they join me.”

Prior to running for mayor, Lee served two terms in the Assembly from 1996 to 2000, and two terms in the state Senate from 2004 to 2012. Lee lost a state Senate re-election bid in 2012 in the primary election to fellow Democrat and current office-holder, Sen. Pat Spearman.

After winning election as mayor of North Las Vegas in 2013, Lee helped shepherd the city through fiscal troubles that saw the city shed half of its staff, reduced its budget by $20 million and drastically reduced services, while seeing its bond rating drop to junk status. Lee has been a strong proponent of economic development, which has included a concentrated effort to build out the Apex industrial park and streamline permitting processes for new construction.

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/rick-moran/2021/04/06/dem-mayor-of-north-las-vegas-cant-stand-with-socialists-switches-parties-n1437825

Gov. Cuomo, Albany leaders reach deal on $212B budget with $4B in tax hikes

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and legislative leaders on Tuesday announced a deal on the state’s overdue budget that includes about $4 billion in new taxes, legal sports betting and unemployment benefits for illegal immigrants.

The $212 billion spending plan, which was due April 1, dwarfs last year’s $194 billion budget, with officials blaming the coronavirus crisis for the surge in outlays.

“New York was ambushed early and hit hardest by COVID, devastating our economy and requiring urgent and unprecedented emergency spending to manage the pandemic,” Cuomo said in a prepared statement.

“Thanks to the State’s strong fiscal management and relentless pursuit to secure the federal support that the pandemic demanded, we not only balanced our budget, we are also making historic investments to reimagine, rebuild and renew New York in the aftermath of the worst health and economic crisis in a century.”

Cuomo — who is currently under fire for both a nursing home deaths coverup and multiple sexual harassment allegations — specifically touted continued funding for a $311 billion infrastructure plan that he called the largest in the country, as well as a “groundbreaking program to provide affordable internet for low-income families” and police reforms that he said would improve public safety.

Lawmakers began voting on a series of 10 budget bills in the state Senate and Assembly on Tuesday afternoon, but the process could continue into Wednesday because three bills — each comprising hundreds of pages — have yet to be printed for legislators to review.

Those bills contain the most controversial measures, including the tax hikes, legalized, mobile sports betting and a $2.1 billion “Excluded Workers Fund” for illegal immigrants.

They’re expected to spark hours of debate between liberal and progressive legislators from New York City and upstate Republicans.

Cuomo and state legislators butted heads on big-ticket budget items, including the tax hike that will impose a roughly 1 percent increase on New Yorkers who make more than $1 million a year and establishes new tax brackets for the state’s highest earners.

The state’s corporate franchise tax will also rise to 7.25 percent from 6.5 percent for three years, though the rate will remain the same for companies that make under $5 million.

https://nypost.com/2021/04/06/cuomo-ny-leaders-reach-deal-on-212b-budget-with-4b-in-tax-hikes/