3 Oct, 2022 17:35

Switzerland resists handover of Russian assets to Ukrain

The country will not confiscate frozen property to support Ukraine, the Economy Ministry has said

Switzerland does not support Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s request to hand over frozen Russian assets to Kiev, a spokesman for the Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research, Fabian Maienfisch, told RIA Novosti on Monday.

“For the Swiss government, the confiscation of assets only on the basis of belonging to a state or being included in the sanctions list and using them to rebuild Ukraine is currently not an option of showing support for Ukraine,”Maienfisch said.

The remarks come after Zelensky asked Switzerland last week to block Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine.

This is not the first time Kiev has demanded that the assets of wealthy Russians and the country’s Central Bank reserves – which were frozen as part of Western sanctions – be seized. In May, addressing the World Economic Forum in Davos, Zelensky said that “Russian assets must be found and confiscated.” Later, Ukraine’s prime minister proposed using the assets to help fund the reconstruction of the country, which was estimated at $750 billion.

Switzerland agreed to join other Western nations in sanctioning Moscow, and in May, it reported that $6.50 billion in Russian assets were frozen. The country, however, rejected the idea of handing over the assets. Technically, they still belong to their Russian owners, even if they have no access to them, and their ownership is protected by European property rights.

In July, Swiss President Ignazio Cassis said it was important to protect individuals against the power of the state and to create a legal basis for confiscating funds.

https://www.rt.com/business/563989-switzerland-russian-assets-handover-ukraine/

Report: Herschel Walker Campaign Says Fundraising Surged After Media Attacks

Jacob Bliss4 Oct 2022

The campaign manager for Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker told campaign staff on Tuesday that the fundraising has surged for the Republican since he denied anonymous allegations about an alleged abortion.

Scott Paradise, Walker’s campaign manager, told campaign staff this morning that the Daily Beast story accusing Walker of encouraging a woman — who has remained anonymous — to abort their unborn baby in 2009 is a “setback,” but fundraising has surged since he denied the allegations, according to a Gabby Orr, a CNN reporter.

Another person close to the campaign told Orr, “Once we have more of the facts, we can go about our jobs and go win this thing.”

On Monday, the Daily Beast reported that an anonymous woman and accused Walker, who is vocally pro-life, of encouraging her in 2009 to abort their unborn child:

A woman who asked not to be identified out of privacy concerns told The Daily Beast that, after she and Walker conceived a child while they were dating in 2009, he urged her to get an abortion. The woman said she had the procedure and that Walker reimbursed her for it.

She supported these claims with a $575 receipt from the abortion clinic, a “get well” card from Walker, and a bank deposit receipt that included an image of a signed $700 personal check from Walker.

Walker released a statement saying that the story is a “flat-out-lie” and acknowledged that he intends to sue the Daily Beast for the “defamatory lie.”

The Republican candidate also appeared on Fox News’s Hannity, saying, “I can tell you right now, I never asked anyone to get an abortion. I never paid for an abortion, and it’s a lie.”

“They’ve jeopardized my kids. They’ve jeopardized my family. They think they can threaten me. They think they can scare me. Right now, all that’s done is that’s energized me even more,” Walker added.

Former President Donald Trump, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, the Senate Leadership Fund, and Susan B. Anthony List have all stated that they are still backing Walker.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/04/report-herschel-walker-campaign-says-fundraising-surged-after-media-attacks/

“When I Hear America First, that Scares Me”: NBA Coach Uses Training Camp to Indoctrinate Players in Radical Leftist Ideology

Warner Todd Huston4 Oct 2022

A recent Associated Press story praised NBA coach Doc Rivers for using training camps and practices to indoctrinate players in left-wing social justice theory and to push his support for handpicked liberal Democrat politicians.

In its Oct. 3 article, the AP happily notes that “Doc Rivers is at ease using his platform as an NBA coach” to push his hard-left views on players at work and to use his coaching time to attack Donald Trump and his voters.

The Philadelphia 76ers coach particularly focused on the idea that America should be put first in the minds of Americans.

“When you hear, ‘America first,’ that scares me, because I’m a Black man and that’s not including me,” Rivers told the Associated Press. “I want us to all be included. I want us all to function with each other.”

The claim, of course, is a progressive lie. No “America first” supporters claim that the slogan does not apply to blacks, Hispanics, Asians, or any other minority.

The AP added that “Rivers used training camp not just as the usual time to rehash X’s and O’s but as a daily history class.”

“All of it is good for us,” Rivers said of his attempt to indoctrinate players in radical leftism instead of training them for their sport.

The news outlet also noted that Rivers routinely plans “field trips” to advance his progressive ideology.

“Rivers and the Sixers organized field trips to the Old Slave Mart Museum, often staffed by individuals who trace their history to the enslaved people of Charleston, and the Avery Institute of Afro-American History and Culture. Citadel President Gen. Glenn Walters and retired professor and historian Bernard Powers both spoke to the team,” the AP wrote approvingly.

Rivers was thrilled to help teach his players about the African slave trade, though it is doubtful he let players know that other Africans routinely enslaved Africans before they even got to the slave ships.

“Teaching American history is under assault right now. And it’s not Black history or teaching about slavery, it’s American history,” Rivers told the AP. “And so I was amazed. The first thing that I was taught the other day was, how many players, and not only players, coaches, came up to me and said, ‘Wow, I never was taught that in my history class.'”

Rivers has also pushed his anti-gun ideals on his players and told them to support strict gun control measures — effectively telling these young men to disarm themselves and their families.

The coach told the AP that he wasn’t always very political. But today, he said, “we have this separation of race now, of pitting races against each other.”

Rivers went on to note that he is an anti-police activist. “I think we need police reform,” he said. “Our training has to be better. The thing that bothers me is that everyone should want that, including the police.”

The 60-year-old leftist coach is also an activist off the court as part of the board of the NBA Social Justice Coalition, a group that pushes leftist ideology and lobbies Congress to back so-called social justice causes. So when Joe Biden signed his George Floyd executive order in May, Rivers was on hand.

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/2022/10/04/when-i-hear-america-first-that-scares-me-nba-coach-uses-training-camp-to-indoctrinate-players-in-radical-leftist-ideology/

Thomas Massie: ‘The Big Guy Has Never Shared His 10% with Florida’ Hurricane Victims

Wendell Husebø4 Oct 2022

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) on Tuesday slammed President Joe Biden for not sharing with Florida hurricane victims his personal wealth that he could have gained from the Biden family business deals.

Tweeting a photo of a Politico caption that accused Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) of using the “president’s wallet” to restore hurricane victims,Massie responded the federal recovery funds were not Biden’s but instead belong to the taxpayer. Massie then bashed Biden for not actually donating any personal funds to hurricane victims who could benefit from his sketchy business schemes in which the president reportedly requested a ten percent cut.

“Excuse me, it’s not the President’s wallet,” Massie responded. “That’s money taken from taxpayers (many of them in Florida) by Congress. As a matter of fact, the big guy has never shared his 10% with Florida.”

Massie’s reference to “the big guy” relates to a 2017 email that shows that a business deal between Tony Bobulinski, the Biden family, and high-ranking members of the Chinese Communist Party would include 10 percent “held by H for the big guy ?” Bobulinski confirmed “the big guy” was a reference to Joe Biden.

“The identity of the ‘big guy’ has since formed part of the grand jury investigation” by Trump-appointed U.S. prosecutor David Weiss, the New York Post reported in July. CNN reported Hunter Biden could be charged in the coming months by the Justice Department for tax violations and lying to law enforcement about illegally purchasing a firearm.

Joe Biden and his staff have claimed at least seven times the president has not participated in the family business, yet evidence shows he has been involved in at least 17 instances.

Sixty-two percent of registered voters believe Joe Biden likely consulted and perhaps profited from the Biden family business dealings. Fifty-eight percent of voters believe Joe Biden played a role in his family’s business. Sixty percent said Hunter Biden has sold “influence and access” to the president.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/04/thomas-massie-big-guy-never-shared-his-10-florida-hurricane-victims/

Ketanji Brown Jackson Tries Bogus ‘Originalist’ Argument for Racial Discrimination

Joel B. Pollak4 Oct 2022

Supreme Cout Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson used her second day on the nation’s highest court to make abizarre “originalist” argument that claimed that since the post-Civil War Amendments were meant to benefit former slaves, they justify “race-conscious” policies.

The Court heard oral arguments in Merrill v. Milligan, a fight over redistricting boundaries in Alabama. Left-wing groups challenged the new map, arguing that it only guaranteed black voters, 28% of the population, one “majority-minority” district our of seven total.

Alabama argued that there was no way to draw another set of districts to create another “majority-minority” district without violating the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause, because it would require state legislators to make race the primary boundary factor.

In addition, the state argued that under a test established by the Thornburg v. Ginglesprecedent in 1986, aproposed district map has to be race-neutral. It added that the alternative map proposed by the plaintiffs broke up other “communities of interest” in the state.

Justice Jackson, who used much of her question time to test her own theories rather than to elucidate responses from counsel, tried to argue that because the legislators who drafted the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments after the Civil War had intended to help black people, an originalist interpretation of those amendments would approve the use of race-conscious policies to create equality.

That defies the common understanding of the Equal Protection Clause, and Alabama pointed out that the way the 14th Amendment was meant to help black people was by ending racial discrimination, not by creating new race-based policies. Alabama also argued that the only situation in which the use of race to redraw maps was allowed was when race had been improperly used to draw them.

Justice Jackson has attempted to use “liberal originalism” since her confirmation hearing, when she used originalist arguments in an attempt to show that she understood the dominant conservative theory of jurisprudence — and perhaps to disarm GOP opposition.

The justices seemed skeptical of Alabama’s case — including some of the conservative justices — because it seemed to ask the Court to rewrite the Gingles precedent. Alabama contended that the Equal Protection Clause should apply to the Gingles test as well.

The case is Merrill v. Milligan, docket no. 21-1086.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/04/ketanji-brown-jackson-tries-bogus-originalist-argument-for-racial-discrimination/

Trump Tells ‘My Son Hunter’ Star Fox: Boris Messed up By Going Woke

Kurt Zindulka4 Oct 2022

Speaking with the star of Breitbart’s My Son Hunter, Laurence Fox, former President Donald Trump said that “going liberal” was the downfall of former Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

In an interview with, Laurence Fox — who is currently filling in for Brexit leader Nigel Farage on his primetime GB News programme — former President Donald Trump said that while he still holds personal affection for the ousted British leader, Boris Johnson failed by pursuing leftist policy goals.

“Boris was a friend of mine, perhaps he still is but I haven’t spoken to him in a while,” Trump told Fox, adding: “The problem Boris has is he went liberal all of a sudden, and I think that is crazy.”

“He’s a good man but something happened to him, he changed, he went for windmills all over the place and he went a little bit wokier than I believe he is and I think ultimately that is the thing that got him out,” Trump said.

The former president went on to say that it was this leftward lurch, and not the infamous scandals surrounding parties at Downing Street during lockdown, that ultimately doomed Johnson’s premiership.

In contrast, the former president praised newly installed Prime Minister Liz Truss’ push to lower taxes on top earners, a move that she later u-turned on after public pressure.

“I like some of the things she’s done, she seems very nice, a lot of times, finance is inverse,” Trump explained. “I cut taxes substantially and we did much more business, she’s done that and she’s taken some hits from it which surprises me.

“It could be that at the end of the year, there will be bigger revenues, it’s going to be very interesting.”

“What she did was very inverse to what some people thought, but that doesn’t mean that they were right, I have a feeling that she will be right.”

Mr Trump also praised King Charles III and predicted that he will refrain from expressing his personal political leanings, particularly on green agenda items, saying: “I think he’ll probably not discuss certain elements of what he believes, in my opinion.”

“I think Charles is going to do very well, he’s got a great way about him, I think he did very well during the ceremony [Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral].”

At the conclusion of the wide-ranging interview, which covered the war in Ukraine and the upcoming mid-terms, the My Son Hunter star said that he would be willing to play Mr Trump in another film if he would run for president again in 2024.

“If I promise to play you in a movie ‘Trump 2024’, will you run for president again?” Fox asked Trump.

“Oh I think I’d have to consider that strongly,” Mr Trump said, joking that “I’d have a face like that and a voice like that, I would be thrilled to have you [play me]”.

“I will see you and congratulations on a great job too Laurence,” Mr Trump said in reference to his portrayal of the wayward scion of the Biden family, Hunter Biden, in Breitbart’s My Son Hunter.

https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2022/10/04/trump-tells-my-son-hunter-star-fox-boris-messed-up-by-going-woke/

CNN’s Enten: Polling Showing Significant Drop for Democrats Among Black Voters

Pam Key4 Oct 2022

CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten said Monday on “New Day” that polling is showing a significant drop in support for Democrats among black voters.

Anchor Brianna Keilar said, “New data is showing warning signs for Democrats ahead of the midterms. A key voting group that is considered reliably Democratic does not seem as blue as it once was was. CNN senior data reporter Harry Enten is joining us now. So Harry, as we move into the midterms, here you’re saying we’re seeing movement among a core Democratic group.”

Enten said, “Yes, take a look here. This is black voters’ electoral preference in pre-election polling. Black voters are the core part of the Democratic Party. And as you can see here in the race for Congress, they’re still getting 74% support in the pre-election polling right now, but compare that to the final polling for 2020 President and 2018 Congress. Back in 2020, it was 84%, 85% in 2018. So you’re clearly seeing right here there is less support for Democratic candidates for Congress among African-Americans. You can look at the Republican column as well, and you can see that 12% is not exactly high, but that is actually the high watermark. It was 9% in 2020 and 9% in 2018. So basically, what was a 75, 76-point margin is down in the low 60s. Democrats still well ahead with African-Americans, but in a game in which you’re trying to drive up, the margin, the margin among African Americans for Democrats is clearly down.”

https://www.breitbart.com/clips/2022/10/04/cnns-enten-polling-showing-significant-drop-for-democrats-among-black-voters/

Chinese National on Student Visa Convicted of Spying for China Before Enlisting in U.S. Army

John Binder3 Oct 2022

A Chinese national who arrived in the United States on an F-1 student visa has been convicted of spying for China before trying to enlist in the U.S. Army.

Last week, a federal jury in Chicago, Illinois, found 31-year-old Chinese national Ji Chaoqun guilty of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government without first notifying the Attorney General, acting as an agent of the People’s Republic of China without first notifying the Attorney General, and making false statements to the U.S. Army.

Chaoqun was arrested and charged in 2018 after having arrived in the U.S. on an F-1 student visa to study electrical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago.

Evidence at trial showed that Chaoqun, while in the U.S., was working at the direction of high-ranking intelligence officers at the Jiangsu Province Ministry of State Security (JSSD) — a regional department of the Chinese Communist Party’s Ministry of State Security.

Chaoqun, federal prosecutors said, was ordered by Ministry of State Security executive Xu Yanjun to provide intelligence officers background information on Chinese citizens living in the U.S. who could be recruited to work for the JSSD while they worked for U.S. defense contractors.

The goal of the espionage operation, prosecutors said, was to provide high-ranking Chinese officials with critical aerospace and satellite technologies being developed in the U.S.

In 2016, while working covertly for the Chinese government, Chaoqun enlisted in the U.S. Army as an E4 Specialist under the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program.

Despite his work for China, Chaoqun denied in his application that he worked for a foreign government in the past seven years and failed to disclose his relationship with high-ranking Chinese intelligence officers.

Chaoqun now faces up to 15 years in U.S. federal prison.

The case is only the latest that shows major vulnerabilities in the U.S. government’s insistence to import hundreds of thousands of Chinese nationals every year to take coveted spots at American universities and colleges.

In fiscal year 2019, 575,720 Chinese nationals were awarded F-1 student visas — making up more than 3-in-10 of all international students granted entry to the U.S. on the visa program. Likewise, that same year, 10,658 Chinese nationals were given M-1 student visas, accounting for nearly 6-in-10 international students allowed to enter the U.S. on the visa program.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/10/03/chinese-national-student-visa-convicted-spying-china-enlisting-u-s-army/

Trump calls on Supreme Court to block DOJ from using classified docs found at Mar-a-Lago

Lawyers for former President Donald Trumpcalled upon the Supreme Court to reverse an appeals court ruling that reversed a lower court ruling allowing for a special master to review allegedly classified documents seized at Mar-a-Lago.

Last month, an appeals court panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit granted the Justice Department’s request for a partial stay of a lower court order, allowing the DOJ to continue its criminal investigation using roughly 100 allegedly classified documents the FBI seized from Trump's Florida resort home. Trump wants the Supreme Court to intervene.

“The Eleventh Circuit lacked jurisdiction to review, much less stay, an interlocutory order of the District Court providing for the Special Master to review materials seized from President Trump’s home, including approximately 103 documents the Government contends bear classification markings,” Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court on Tuesday. “This application seeks to vacate only that portion of the Eleventh Circuit’s Stay Order limiting the scope of the Special Master’s review of the documents bearing classification markings.”

The three-judge panel’s decision last month was a win for the DOJ, with the appeals court reversing Judge Aileen Cannon’s determination that the DOJ would have to provide seized documents with classified markings to special master Judge Raymond Dearie for independent review.

“The unprecedented circumstances presented by this case — an investigation of the Forty-Fifth President of the United States by the administration of his political rival and successor — compelled the District Court to acknowledge the significant need for enhanced vigilance and to order the appointment of a Special Master to ensure fairness, transparency, and maintenance of the public trust,” Trump’s lawyers told the Supreme Court on Tuesday, saying the appeals court didn't have the proper authority to rule as it did.

Trump’s lawyers added, “This unwarranted stay should be vacated as it impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the Special Master. Moreover, any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a President’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.”

Cannon, a district court judge in Florida who appointed Dearie as special master last month, ruled that she “temporarily enjoins the Government from reviewing and using the seized materials for investigative purposes pending completion of the special master’s review or further Court order.”

She also contended her ruling “shall not impede" the classification review and intelligence assessment being conducted by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence related to the records seized in the unprecedented August raid.

Despite Cannon’s insistence, an ODNI official told the Washington Examiner last month that it had “paused” the classification review following consultation with federal prosecutors. It resumed its assessmentfollowing the appeals court ruling.

The DOJ, which quickly appealed the order to the 11th Circuit last month, had claimed that pausing the FBI’s criminal investigation while separately continuing the ODNI's damage assessment was essentially impossible.

“The Intelligence Community’s review and assessment cannot be readily segregated from the Department of Justice’s and Federal Bureau of Investigation’s activities in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation, and uncertainty regarding the bounds of the Court’s order and its implications for the activities of the FBI has caused the Intelligence Community, in consultation with DOJ, to pause temporarily this critically important work,” the DOJ argued last month. “Moreover, the government and the public are irreparably injured when a criminal investigation of matters involving risks to national security is enjoined.”

The circuit judges who unanimously sided with the DOJ, agreed prosecutors”

Trump's team argued Tuesday that "the Eleventh Circuit’s Stay Order should be vacated in part" and said that "under the extraordinary circumstances presented here, the District Court did not abuse its discretion in appointing a Special Master to review the materials seized from President Trump's residence."

https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/justice/trump-appeals-court-reverse-ruling-allowing-doj-classified-docs

Donald Trump's Latest Move Over Mar-a-Lago Document Fiasco Will Energize His Haters

Matt Vespa

It seems like ten years ago, but the legal drama surrounding the Department of Justice’s arguably unconstitutional raid on Mar-a-Lago is still being fought. The Justice Department is appealing the Trump motion for a special master, even as that person is reviewing the records seized by FBI agents on August 8. The DOJ tried to make the case that such a delay would constitute a national security risk. Judge Aileen Cannon issued an injunction against the FBI from further investigating the documents and granted the special master motion. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals overruled her, permitting the Justice Department to resume its investigation and excluding some 100 documents marked as classified from review by the special master. The latest front in this legal war is Trump appealing to the Supreme Court, which will surely re-energize his haters (via NYT):

Former President Donald J. Trump asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to intervene in the litigation over documents marked as classified that the F.B.I. removed from his Florida estate, saying that an appeals court had lacked jurisdiction to rule on the matter.

Although the Supreme Court is dominated by six conservative justices, three of them appointed by Mr. Trump, it has rejected earlier efforts to block the disclosure of information about him, and legal experts said Mr. Trump’s new emergency application faced significant challenges.

The new filing was largely technical, saying that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, had not been authorized to stay aspects of a trial judge’s order appointing a special master in the case.

“The 11th Circuit lacked jurisdiction to review the special master order, which authorized the review of all materials seized from President Trump’s residence, including documents bearing classification markings,” the application said.

In September, a three-judge panel for the 11th Circuit, in Atlanta, unanimously granted a request from the Justice Department to block one aspect of a ruling from Judge Aileen M. Cannon, whom Mr. Trump had appointed to the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Judge Cannon had appointed a special master to review the more than 11,000 files seized in August from the former president’s residence, Mar-a-Lago, and forbade the Justice Department from using them as part of a criminal inquiry in the meantime.

The Justice Department’s request to the appeals court was limited, asking only that the 100 or so documents with classified markings be excluded from the special master’s assessment and that its review of them be allowed to continue.

Is this a troll move?It will undoubtedly yank this issue back into the spotlight for a brief period while pouring heat on Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife Ginni, who are both hated by the Left. Thomas is undoubtedly a jurist that the Trump legal team is hinging on siding with them in this matter. Trump’s legal challenges overall have a mixed record of success. The Supreme Court ordered Trump to turn his tax records to Congress a day after the Mar-a-Lago ransacking. During the 2020 election, Trump’s legal team tasked with challenging some of the results also endured serial defeats in the courtroom.

If this was done to get his name back into the news, it would probably succeed, although the timing is not ideal. The last thing we need right now is to give Democrats something to get energized about—and Trump is a lightning rod in that regard. Then again, this raid was illegal and should be fought by any legal means available.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/mattvespa/2022/10/04/trump-asks-scotus-to-intervene-on-maralago-case-n2613965

Arizona Dems’ Push to Overturn School Choice Expansion Fails

Opponents of Arizona’s newly-enacted school choice expansion program were dealt a devastating blow last week after they failed to garner enough signatures to pause the program and place it on the general election ballot in 2024.

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey (R) signed the school choice program, Empowerment Scholarship Account (ESA), into law in July. Families who qualify can spend their children’s state-funded education money on approved education expenses, including tuition for private schools. Ducey called the legislation “a win for all K-12 students.”

Reportedly, so many parents applied for the program that the Arizona Department of Education extended the application deadline.

However, a teachers' union-backed anti-school choice group called Save Our Schools Arizona attempted to take down the new law (via The Wall Street Journal):

Arizona has a procedure called the veto referendum. If opponents of a new law collect enough signatures within 90 days of its enactment, the secretary of state can stop the law and put it on the next general-election ballot—in this case, in November 2024. The signature requirement is 118,823, or 5% of turnout in the most recent gubernatorial election.

An antichoice group, Save Our Schools Arizona, said last week it had turned in 141,714 signatures. Secretary of State Katie Hobbs—a school-choice foe and the Democratic nominee for governor—halted the processing of school-choice scholarship applications and started verifying the petitions.

It looked like a significant setback for school choice until school-choice supporters acquired all the petition sheets from the Secretary of State’s Office using public-records requests. Although Save Our Schools claimed to have submitted 10,200 sheets of signatures, the Secretary of State’s Office said on Monday that only 8,175 sheets were turned in. By counting the number of signatures on a random sample of 100 of those sheets, I estimated the total number at 92,623. The Goldwater Institute hand-counted all signatures and found 88,866.

On Friday, Arizona Secretary of State and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs announced that the referendum failed to qualify for the general election ballot in 2024.

Save Our Schools admitted defeat shortly after.

“The preliminary results make it clear: Arizona families have rejected special interests’ attempts to take away their ability to choose the education that best meets their child’s unique needs,” Victor Riches, president and CEO of the Goldwater Institute, said in a statement. “Families deserve the right to choose the best education option for their children, regardless of zip code, and now, they’ll once again be able to exercise that right by applying for ESAs.”

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2022/10/04/arizona-dems-push-to-overturn-school-choice-expansion-fails-n2613955

Whitmer to Hire Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Consultant for Children

Madeline Leesman

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office issued a contract proposal for a “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Consultant” to assist the administration's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) unit with “awareness, education and opportunities” for LGBTQIA+ and “two-spirit” youth and their families.

Documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show that on Sept. 12, Whitmer’s Children’s Services Agency issued the proposal to hire a “culturally competent” individual for the consultant position to work with the DEI. The consultant will distribute surveys to the LGBTQIA+ community and submit monthly reports on the results.

Once data is collected from the surveys, the consultant will “develop technical assistance packages” including books, videos, webinars, training materials, among other things, to teach about topics such as “implicit bias,” “stereotypes,” and “historical needs, laws and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ population.” The consultant will also be required to “provide support to LGBTQIA+ youth and families,” including access to transportation and education and identify a minimum of five community services for transgender youth in several of the state’s most populated counties.

The Free Beacon pointed out that this proposal from Whitmer’s administration comes after a federal judge scrutinized the state’s Children’s Services Agency after a “devastating” review highlighted major issues within its foster care system. Michigan’s child welfare system has reportedly been under federal court supervision since 2008 after a lawsuit alleged it was failing to protect foster children.

“In January's report, Michigan only met the required standards in 8 of 32 areas—the state, for example, failed both to keep an adequate percentage of siblings together who are placed in foster care at the same time and to 'make immediate efforts' to reunite siblings who are separated,” the Free Beacon reported.

Last month, Bridge Michigan noted that Michigan’s Department of Education this year issued training videos suggesting teachers not tell parents about children’s gender identity. In one of the videos from the Department, a trainer suggested that teachers can talk to a student’s parent about their mental health without telling the parents if the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a factor.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2022/10/04/whitmer-to-hire-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-consultant-for-children-n2613943

Fucking up another generation of innocent children

Whitmer to Hire Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Consultant for Children

Madeline Leesman

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) office issued a contract proposal for a “Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression (SOGIE) Consultant” to assist the administration's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) unit with “awareness, education and opportunities” for LGBTQIA+ and “two-spirit” youth and their families.

Documents obtained by the Washington Free Beacon show that on Sept. 12, Whitmer’s Children’s Services Agency issued the proposal to hire a “culturally competent” individual for the consultant position to work with the DEI. The consultant will distribute surveys to the LGBTQIA+ community and submit monthly reports on the results.

Once data is collected from the surveys, the consultant will “develop technical assistance packages” including books, videos, webinars, training materials, among other things, to teach about topics such as “implicit bias,” “stereotypes,” and “historical needs, laws and contributions of the LGBTQIA+ population.” The consultant will also be required to “provide support to LGBTQIA+ youth and families,” including access to transportation and education and identify a minimum of five community services for transgender youth in several of the state’s most populated counties.

The Free Beacon pointed out that this proposal from Whitmer’s administration comes after a federal judge scrutinized the state’s Children’s Services Agency after a “devastating” review highlighted major issues within its foster care system. Michigan’s child welfare system has reportedly been under federal court supervision since 2008 after a lawsuit alleged it was failing to protect foster children.

“In January's report, Michigan only met the required standards in 8 of 32 areas—the state, for example, failed both to keep an adequate percentage of siblings together who are placed in foster care at the same time and to 'make immediate efforts' to reunite siblings who are separated,” the Free Beacon reported.

Last month, Bridge Michigan noted that Michigan’s Department of Education this year issued training videos suggesting teachers not tell parents about children’s gender identity. In one of the videos from the Department, a trainer suggested that teachers can talk to a student’s parent about their mental health without telling the parents if the child’s sexual orientation or gender identity is a factor.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/madelineleesman/2022/10/04/whitmer-to-hire-sexual-orientation-and-gender-identity-consultant-for-children-n2613943

Fucking up another generation of innocent children

Trump Blasts Attacks on Herschel Walker

Katie Pavlich

President Donald Trump is backing up Georgia Republican senatorial candidate Herschel Walker after news broke Monday night accusing him of paying for an abortion.

"Herschel Walker is being slandered and maligned by the Fake News Media and obviously, the Democrats. Interestingly, I’ve heard many horrible things about his opponent, Raphael Warnock, things that nobody should be talking about, so we don’t. Herschel has properly denied the charges against him, and I have no doubt he is correct," Trump released in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "They are trying to destroy a man who has true greatness in his future, just as he had athletic greatness in his past. It’s very important for our Country and the Great State of Georgia that Herschel Walker wins this Election. With all that Herschel has accomplished, when you come from Georgia, and you see the name Herschel Walker when voting, it will be very hard to resist. Don’t!"

Meanwhile National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott is also backing Walker's candidacy and will continue to support his campaign through Election Day.

"When Democrats are losing, as they are right now, they lie and cheat and smear their opponents. That's what's happening right now. They know they are on the verge of losing the Senate, and they know that Herschel Walker is winning, so they have cranked up the smear machine," Scott released in a statement. "This is just like the smears they attempted against Brett Kavanaugh and Clarence Thomas, and it will not work. Herschel has denied these allegations and the NRSC and Republicans stand with him, and Georgians will stand with him too."

The latest polling from the Peach State shows Walker in the lead against Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock.

https://townhall.com/tipsheet/katiepavlich/2022/10/04/trump-blasts-attacks-on-hershel-walker-n2613964

TikTok investors linked with Democratic politicians, as Biden moves to keep company in U.S: Report

Investors in the China-based social media company TikTok have been linked to Democratic politicians and their campaigns, as the Biden administration prepares to move forward on a deal to allow the company to continue operating on in the U.S., according to media reports.

TikTok has long raised concerns of being a security threat due to its links to the Chinese Communist Party.

Then-President Donald Trump said in August of 2020 that his administration would ban the app from the U.S. due to security concerns, including owner ByteDance collecting data from American users.

Month of wrangling followed Trump's declaration, with TikTok scrambling to try to appease U.S. intelligence concerns regarding its security measures and data collection practices.

A series of court orders, meanwhile, prohibited the Trump administration from enforcing the ban; it was ultimately rescinded by President Joe Biden in mid-2021.

The Biden administration is currently working on a security deal with TikTok to ensure its continued operation in the U.S. Yet those tense negotiations are occurring as big-budget investors in TikTok have also been revealed to be investors in, and close allies with, Democratic officials in Washington

The Daily Mail reported on Tuesday that "American companies invested in TikTok have been courting and donating millions of dollars to Democrats" ahead of that security deal.

Among them is Sequoia Capital, the Chinese arm of which "reportedly owns around 10% of ByteDance" and which has "donated over $8million to the Democrats since 2020," the Mail reported.

Among other links to Democratic politicians is the Carlyle Group, which the Mail said owns $150 million of ByteDance and whose co-founder, David Rubenstein, "is a close ally of President Biden," up to and including hosting the Bidens at his house in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Lobbying disclosures have show "ByteDance hired Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer’s former aide to lobby for them this year."

The paper quoted one anonymous insider as claiming that the Chinese Communist Party "is very good at ensuring that the right influential US investors have a vested interest in Chinese companies like TikTok so that those investors can do their bidding in Washington."

In a statement to the Mail, Missouri GOP Sen. Josh Hawley urged investigators to "follow the money."

"ByteDance hires top Democrat staffers as lobbyists and their corporate allies donate millions to Democrats," he argued. "This is the same company that won’t even commit to stop sending American data overseas to the CCP. The Democrats’ cronyism is putting the American people at risk."

https://justthenews.com/government/white-house/tiktok-investors-pour-millions-democratic-campaigns-biden-moves-keep-it-us

Legal group demands a dozen schools change 'unconstitutional' policies

The Southeastern Legal Foundation said Tuesday it has asked roughly a dozen U.S. colleges to change their speech policies, which the nonprofit group considers "unconstitutional" and interfering with students' freedom of speech.

Many of the colleges have speech policies "so vague that students do not know how to even comply with them," said the group, dedicated to promoting limited government.

The request are being made in letters – including eight that challenge what the group considers bias reporting systems.

The systems are used by students and instructors to report on speech they find offensive on campus, according to education media outlet Campus Reform.

Two of the letters challenged regulations on on-campus flyers and another two focuses on student restrictions on placing recruitment tables on public property.

These "unreasonable facilities use policies … create so much red tape on campus that students are effectively denied the right to speak," the foundation said.

The legal group sent letters to Bowling Green State University; University of South Carolina; Clemson University; Columbia; University of Maine, Orono; Illinois State University; Iowa State University; Louisiana State University; Miami University of Ohio; Rutgers University; Santa Rosa Junior College; Southern Utah University; and University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/legal-group-demands-dozen-schools-change-unconstitutional-policies

Republican poised to lead House Intel panel reportedly wants more oversight, less partisanship

The top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee is reportedly vowing, if his party wins control of the chamber in November, to limit the panel’s partnership and return to more of an oversight role.

However, the ranking member, Ohio GOP Rep. Michael Turner, should he become committee chairman, will likely face pressure from fellow Republicans to investigate, at least, the overseas business deals of President Biden family members.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has publicly stated a GOP-led House would investigate President Biden's son Hunter Biden.

And Kentucky Rep. James Comer, now the top Republican on the House Oversight Committee, and poised to become chairman, has made clear the panel would look into such business deals by Hunter Biden.

"We need to do the job that we were intended to do," Turner said in an interview with The New York Times. "I believe that there is a hunger between both sides of the aisle – members who are national security-focused, intelligence community-focused – to get this committee back on track."

Turner pointed out in the interview Democrats' decision to begin then-President Trump’s first impeachment investigation in the Intelligence committee.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/republican-poised-lead-house-intel-panel-reportedly-wants-more-oversight-less

Screw the dems give them intense partisanship

Federally backed censorship machine raises separation of powers, election meddling questions

A federal agency-backed censorship machine that affected thousands of web URLs and millions of social posts during the 2020 campaign put a focus on some members of Congress and candidates for federal office, raising concerns about the separation of powers and election meddling.

Four House members, including Republican leader Kevin McCarthy of California and oft-censored Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, and one Senate candidate are named in the after-action report by the Election Integrity Partnership, set up "in consultation" with the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

The consortium of four private entities, led by Stanford and University of Washington research centers, mass-reported alleged misinformation for 100 days before the election and about two weeks after, targeting Just the News among other news organizations. It claimed a success rate of 35% for content removal, labeling and "soft-blocking."

CISA and the DHS-funded Elections Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center, as well as the State Department's Global Engagement Center and the Democratic National Committee, could also submit misinformation "tickets" through the consortium to tech platforms.

Interference in digital communications by lawmakers and candidates "absolutely" could qualify as in-kind contributions under the Federal Election Campaign Act, former Kansas Attorney General Phill Kline told the John Solomon Reports podcast.

He compared the federally backed consortium to "the private money that turned the urban core election centers into partisan campaign turnout centers" for then-candidate Joe Biden, and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's COVID-19 restrictions on some freedom of assembly "while she marched" in Black Lives Matter protests.

"And this type of entanglement where government is communicating with oligarchs … that makes the private sector a government actor," said Kline, who directs the Thomas More Society's Amistad Project.

Greene told the "Just the News Not Noise" TV show she is considering suing for infringement of her free speech both as a candidate and congresswoman-elect and working with other lawmakers to launch an investigation that starts with evidence preservation letters this month.

"I've already talked to an attorney … and I'm owed damages," said Greene, whose personal Twitter account was permanently suspended in January for purported COVID-19 misinformation. "I just need to find out how many people I need to name on lawsuits and the social media companies."

She said "the Democrats are constantly attacking us about Russian collusion" while engaged in this "unbelievable conspiracy" involving the DNC and "private companies that could pick and choose whose posts and whose tweets were allowed to stay and whose got taken down."

House Homeland Security Committee member Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) told the podcast that the Energy and Commerce Committee will be "extraordinarily busy in holding Big Tech accountable" if Republicans win back the chamber and Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-Wash.) becomes chair.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/federally-backed-censorship-machine-raises-separation-powers-election-meddling

Two prominent conservatives say they're considering suing federal government for censorship

Two prominent conservatives say they might take legal action against the government and private entities who censored social media accounts in 2020 during the election.

Last week, Just the News reported that the federal government used private entities to target millions of social posts in 2020. The report stated that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) worked with four private groups to censor massive numbers of social media posts they considered to be misinformation during the 2020 election, and those groups then received millions of federal dollars from the Biden administration. Among those accounts that were targeted were Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk.

Kirk said that he knew that certain people were being censored back in 2020, and they were referred to as the "great election misinformation spreaders."

"What we didn't know is how the federal government was paying money to a third party firm to actually act on the list," Kirk said on the Monday edition of the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "We're looking at legal action and talking to the great Harmeet Dhillon."

Kirk said that they could prove damages as a result of the censorship.

"We saw our revenue go down in correlation to that," Kirk explained. "That's a direct monetary and financial loss that could be provable in damages, thanks to the federal government that is coming in and paying money to a third party firm to restrict our First Amendment rights. So we're looking very carefully at legal action. I think we have a great case."

When asked if she was looking into legal action, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she was and had already spoken to an attorney.

"I've already talked to an attorney," Rep. Greene stated on the "Just the News, No Noise" TV show. "I spoke with him last week, because I believe this is a complete violation of my freedom of speech."

Greene went on to say that she was a private citizen when her account was censored, not a public figure.

"I was a private citizen," the Georgia congresswoman said. "And I'm owed damages. They have no right to do this to me. I just need to find out how many people I need to name on lawsuits and the social media companies. I've had enough of it."

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/two-prominent-conservatives-say-theyre-considering-legal-action-against

They should do a class action lawsuit for the public to sue them gor violating the constitution and bill of rights

Iowa Sen. Ernst introduces bill to ban federal funding for EcoHealth Alliance

Iowa Republican Sen. Joni Ernst introduced a bill to ban federal funding for EcoHealth Alliance, Inc., the non-profit that gave taxpayer funds to the Wuhan Institute of Virology to study bat-based coronaviruses in China.

The bill states, "No funds authorized or appropriated by Federal law may be made available for any purpose to EcoHealth Alliance, Inc, including any subsidiaries and related organizations that are directly controlled by EcoHealth Alliance, Inc.," The Daily Caller reported on Friday.

EcoHealth's former vice president said in a sworn declaration last month that his organization "developed" COVID-19 through gain-of-function research that makes diseases more dangerous.

EcoHealth has previously been under fire for its use of taxpayer dollars. Earlier this year, the National Institutes of Health said the agency was noncompliant with eight parts of an agreement with the U.S. government.

"Giving taxpayer money to EcoHealth to study pandemic prevention is like paying a suspected arsonist to conduct fire safety inspections," Ernst said last week.

https://justthenews.com/government/congress/sen-ernst-introduces-bill-ban-federal-funding-ecohealth-alliance

Florida Rep. introduces a bill that would allow the DHS Secretary to secure the border

GOP Florida Rep. Kat Cammack discusses the JASON Act which she introduced last month in order to secure the border and give more power to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary.

"If you were to shut down the border, you need a presidential declaration or authority of the President to do that," Rep. Cammack said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. "This bill, the JASON Act, actually changes the definition and gives some guidelines and defines what a surge at the border is. It's defined by data — not by how people are feeling one particular day or the other."

Rep. Kat Cammack: Biden policies 'total utter failure,' woke ideology puts US in dangerRep. Kat Cammack: Biden policies 'total utter failure,' woke ideology puts US in danger

"It states that if you are experiencing 25% more (migrants) than the previous month or the previous week, that is a surge which puts in an automatic trigger that forces the Department of Homeland Security Secretary to secure the border," Cammack continued. "The JASON Act empowers the Secretary to secure the border without needing the presidential declaration."

Cammack put out a press release in September in which she explained the bill and how it had a lot of support, including from National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd:

"Our Border Patrol agents are facing an unprecedented crisis at the southern border with almost 3.6 million encounters and over 900,000 known gotaways since this administration took office. Narco-terrorist cartels have taken advantage of the situation and ramped up their drug and human smuggling efforts. This has to end," Judd stated in the press release.

"The JASON Act will give the Secretary of Homeland Security the authority to prevent entry into the country when there are border surges and for other situations concerning national security," the statement continued. "This is a brilliant and commonsense tool that will hold the Secretary accountable while giving our agents on the line a much-needed policy to secure the border."

According to Cammack, if Republicans can take the House and the Senate back in the 2022 midterm elections, the border is going to be one of the main priorities.

"When we take the House back and hopefully the Senate, we will be in a position where we can restrict the funding to the Department of Homeland Security until they comply with a secure border policy that we're going to push for," Cammack stated. "Because we know that Biden certainly won't."

https://justthenews.com/government/security/florida-rep-introduces-bill-would-allow-dhs-secretary-secure-border

Giving DHS more power doesnt seem wise, they wouldnt shut down the border under Trump and they were all a real problem.

Watchdog report finds FEMA failed to effectively manage Hurricane Maria money, with Ian help coming

The Federal Emergency Management Agency did not effectively manage funding allocated for the 2017 Hurricane Maria response efforts, according a federal watchdog report released Monday.

The Homeland Security inspector general report found that FEMA is unable to ensure that at least $65 million in Maria recovery costs were adequately supported.

"FEMA did not have adequate internal controls for separation of duties, written policies and procedures for oversight when the state is not the recipient, or records management," the watchdog wrote.

The disaster relief agency did not require six Puerto Rico disaster relief organizations in the aftermath of Maria to provide supporting documentation for costs, and instead, FEMA gave $6.4 million in advance payments to the groups based on estimates rather than actual costs, the inspector general said.

The storm struck the island as a Category 5 hurricane.

Additionally, the federal disaster relief agency did not have supporting documentation for $10.7 million

FEMA is unable to ensure that a total of $65 million in costs is "adequately supported," the watchdog found.

The inspector general made three reform recommendations to FEMA, but the agency did not concur with any of them, stating that "it does not approve payments," among other things.

The findings come days after the Biden administration authorized federal emergency aid authorized FEMA to coordinate relief efforts in Florida, North Carolina and South Carolina in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian.

While it is unclear how much FEMA will spend on Hurricane Ian, the storm may have caused up to $47 billion in insured losses alone in Florida, according to the data firm CoreLogic.

FEMA made headlines for potential wasteful spending last month when another inspector general report estimated the agency lost more than $3.7 billion in fraudulent COVID relief payments.

https://justthenews.com/government/federal-agencies/watchdog-finds-fema-didnt-effectively-manage-hurricane-maria-funds

Supreme Court won't hear case on Justice Department 'filter teams' like those used in Trump search

The Supreme Court on Monday declined to take a case regarding whether the Justice Department is able to use "filter teams," which are used to review evidence and determine whether it is privileged, such as the team used after the FBI's raid of former President Donald Trump's home.

The justices denied writ of certiorari in a case questioning filter team protocols that allow federal officials to review documents that are purportedly privileged before the status of privilege has been determined, The Hill reported.

FBI agents reported recovering classified documents and a "limited" number of potentially privileged materials from Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The former president has used several defenses against the Justice Department, but the most notable claim is that the FBI seized privileged materials.

In Korf v. United States, the filter team case that the Supreme Court will not hear this term, Justice attorneys reviewed seized documents before a court responded to privilege claims on the materials. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals did not require the filter team to show that a privilege exception may have applied to the questionable documents.

https://justthenews.com/government/courts-law/supreme-court-wont-hear-case-justice-department-filter-teams-those-used-trump

Doesn’t this tell you the lower courts are incapable of defining the law so everything needs to he thrown up to the SC. The lower courts are comped. When everything is sent to the SC it means the lower courts are not versed in the law.

Wow the clips of Tucker with Bobulinski tonight are shocking, what will happen with this. Not one Mainstream media acknowledged his existence then or now.

Links to clips

https://www.foxnews.com/shows/tucker-carlson-tonight