Lawyer for Biden accuser Tara Reade drops her as a client

WASHINGTON (AP) — The attorney working with , the former Joe Biden Senate staffer who alleged he sexually assaulted her in the 1990s, said Friday he is no longer representing her, just two weeks after he first began working with her.

Douglas Wigdor said in a statement the decision to drop Reade came on Wednesday of this week, and that it wasn’t a reflection on the veracity of her claims. But he offered no specifics on why he and his firm are dropping her.

Wigdor said he and others at his firm still believe Reade’s allegation against Biden, that he digitally penetrated her and groped her in the basement of a Capitol Hill office building when she worked as a low-level staffer in his Senate office in the Spring of 1993. Biden has vehemently denied her claims, and multiple current and former Biden staffers have said they have no recollection of such an incident.

In his statement, Wigdor said his firm believed that Reade has been “subjected to a double standard” in the media and that much of the coverage surrounding her biography had little to do with her claims against Biden. The news was first reported by The New York Times.

Wigdor fielded numerous media questions in recent weeks surrounding inconsistencies in Reade’s biography and the legal challenges she’s faced. This week, The Associated Press and other media outlets published extensive biographies of Reade, revealing she appears to have exaggerated her educational achievements, was mired in endless financial difficulties and faced frequent lawsuits with individuals who said she defrauded them or failed to pay bills.

Defense lawyers in Monterey County this week began investigating whether Reade committed perjury when she testified under oath that she had a college degree from Antioch, as first reported Friday by The New York Times. Antioch University told the AP that Reade never obtained a diploma from the school, and Reade herself could not produce evidence of the degree she claims to have earned there.

Lawyer Roland Soltesz peppered her with questions about her background before she qualified as an expert witness on domestic violence in a 2018 attempted murder trial. She also touted her experience in Biden’s office, saying she served as a legislative aide and helped work on the Violence Against Women’s Act, he said. His client was convicted and is now serving a potential life sentence.

“She was a good witness,” Soltesz said. “She came across as believable.”

Wigdor is well known for his work on prominent cases related to sexual harassment and assault. He represented six women who accused Harvey Weinstein, the disgraced Hollywood producer, of sexual misconduct. He has also represented a number of Fox News employees in cases alleging gender and racial discrimination at the network. And he’s a frequent political donor, giving tens of thousands to Democratic politicians in New York and about $55,000 to Donald Trump in 2016, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Wigdor’s firm originally said in a statement that they had taken on Reade as a client because they believed “every survivor has the right to competent counsel.” Wigdor told the AP at the time that he thought Reade had struggled to find a lawyer to represent her because many attorneys in his space “tend to be Democrats or liberals,” and Reade has accused the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee of sexual assault.

https://www.breitbart.com/news/lawyer-for-biden-accuser-tara-reade-drops-her-as-a-client/

Ohio Judge Deems State’s Coronavirus Lockdown Illegal

Lake County Common Pleas Judge Eugene Lucci ruled that Amy Acton, the director of the Ohio Department of Health, is prohibited from punishing nonessential businesses that defy Ohio’s orders to stay closed in response to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, Cleveland 19 News reported.

The report added that the Lake County General Health District, police officers, prosecutors, and the Ohio Attorney General are also prohibited from punishing so-called “nonessential” businesses, as the companies already operate in compliance with standard safety regulations.

Moreover, Lucci declared that Acton “has acted in an impermissibly arbitrary, unreasonable, and oppressive manner,” reported the Columbus Dispatch.

Lucci’s ruling was in response to a May 8 lawsuit filed by 1851 Center for Constitution law on behalf of Rock House Fitness Inc, and 34 other gyms, which have been deemed nonessential businesses and thus told to stay closed under Ohio’s statewide “Stay Safe Ohio” order.

“Constitutions are written to prevent governments from arbitrarily interfering in citizens’ lives and businesses,” said 1851 Center Executive Director Maurice Thompson, according to Cleveland 19 News.

“On that front, the call to action is clear,” he added. “The Governor and health director may no longer impose their own closures and regulations and write their own criminal penalties to enforce those regulations and closures.”

In issuing her orders, Acton relied on a statute that grants her department “ultimate authority in matters of quarantine and isolation.”

Lucci, however, says that Ohio law only permits Acton to “isolate” the sick and “quarantine” those who have been exposed to an illness during the period of incubation for the disease, and that in the case of the Wuhan coronavirus, the incubation period is 14 days.

Therefore, Judge Lucci has concluded that Acton’s powers are to stop after 14 days.

“The director has quarantined the entire people of the state of Ohio, for much more than 14 days,” wrote Lucci. “The director has no statutory authority to close all businesses — which she deems non-essential for a period of two months.”

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/05/24/ohio-judge-deems-states-coronavirus-lockdown-illegal/

Mask-pushing governor caught at beach without face mask

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam was reportedly caught without a face mask at Virginia Beach Saturday as the Democrat weighs a statewide order requiring citizens to wear masks.

Northam was seen on the beach reviewing security at the beach without a face covering, local outlet NBC12 reported Saturday. The governor’s office later explained in a statement that Northam was “not expecting to be within six feet of anyone.”

“The Governor has repeatedly encouraged wearing face coverings inside or when social distancing is impossible,” Northam’s office said. “He was outside today and not expecting to be within six feet of anyone.”

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Northam’s office said the governor “wanted to check beach enforcement and make sure they were following the rules, which they were largely.”

Photos posted on Twitter appear to show an unmasked Northam standing within six feet of other maskless people on the beach.

https://www.wnd.com/2020/05/mask-pushing-governor-caught-beach-without-face-mask/

Donald Trump cancels border wall section over rising costs

The Trump administration told a federal court Wednesday that it has canceled a portion of border wall it had planned to build near Yuma, Arizona, saying costs for other parts of the wall are coming in higher than anticipated and there's not enough money to go around.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2020/may/20/trump-cancels-border-wall-section-over-rising-cost/

TYB

IRANIAN OIL TANKERS DEFY US THREATS, ENTER VENEZUELAN WATERS

Iran ignored warnings of retaliation from the US as the first of five Iranian tankers entered Venezuela’s exclusive economic zone on Saturday.

The tanker, named Fortune, reached the Venezuela’s territorial waters at around 7:40 pm after passing north of Trinidad and Tobago in the Carribean, according to vessel-tracking data.

Tareck El Aissami, Venezuela’s economy vice president said: “The ships from the fraternal Islamic Republic of Iran are now in our exclusive economic zone.”

Venezuelan state television showed images of a navy ship and aircraft preparing to meet it.

The defense minister had pledged that the military would escort the tankers once they reached Venezuela’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) due to what authorities described as threats from the United States.

The five tankers are carrying a staggering 1.53 million barrels of gasoline and alkylate to Venezuela, according to both governments, and sources.

The desperately needed shipments have caused a diplomatic standoff between the United States and Iran and Venezuela, which are under US sanctions.

Iran has warned of repercussions from the potential interception of Iranian tankers by the US In a phone conversation with Emir of Qatar on Saturday, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that the Islamic Republic will respond to any possible US aggression against Iranian oil tankers in the Caribean Sea or any other point in the world.

On May 20, Iran’s Defense Minister Brigadier General Amir Hatami said that any US harassment of Iranian tankers will be met with a decisive response.

He said on Wednesday: “Any disruption for tankers is against international regulations and security,” referring to the release of some reports on the threat of US officials to harass tankers carrying Iran’s fuel to Venezuela.

“Both international organisations and countries that are sensitive to water regulations and security must react to this issue,” he added.

https://www.blacklistednews.com/article/77077/iranian-oil-tankers-defy-us-threats-enter-venezuelan.html