Day: May 31, 2019

Fetal Heartbeat Bill Summer Study Schedule Set

Laura Baigert

  The schedule for the Senate Judiciary Committee summer study of the Heartbeat Bill was announced Thursday via email to committee members and staff. The scheduled dates just announced – Monday and Tuesday, August 12 and 13 – are changed from the original dates set during the Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on April 9 when the bill was sent to summer study. Originally, the dates set by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Mike Bell (R-Riceville) for the summer study were Tuesday and Wednesday, August 13 and 14. However, those dates created a conflict with the 46th American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) 2019 Annual Meeting scheduled for August 14 through 16 in Austin, Texas, which is attended by many members of the Tennessee General Assembly. The email, sent by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s Research Analyst stated that the summer study meeting on SB 1236 has been scheduled for 1:00 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, August 12, and from 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon on Tuesday, August 13, although it may go into the afternoon if more time is needed.  A specific location, while assumed to be within the Cordell Hull Building, was not identified. The Fetal Heartbeat Bill, which prohibits abortions…

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Work Resumes on Private Border Wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico

Jason M. Reynolds

  Construction has resumed on the three-quarters of a mile private border wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, according to KOB. Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea backtracked on Thursday on his claim the wall violated city law and that it was too high. “Upon further investigation, we have determined this is under and M-2, which is industrial zoning and does allow up to 35 feet, as we understand at this moment,” Perea said of the 18-foot-high fence. Construction is expected to be completed in the next several weeks. The city claimed We Build the Wall did not have a building permit and denied city officials access to the site. We Build the Wall strongly denied both charges, Battleground State News said. The wall is being built on private land owned by American Eagle Brick Company. Perea said he and his family received death threats, KVIA said. He also confirmed work on the border barrier has resumed even though City officials “issued permits in error” prematurely for the lights and fence. We Build the Wall founder Brian Kolfage said it has 10 more projects ready but would not provide details about locations, KFOX 14 said. Kris Kobach, the legal counsel, said the…

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Commentary: The Case for Prosecuting Comey and Brennan

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by Adam Mill   Twenty-five years ago, the Arnold Schwarzenegger action hit “True Lies” depicted a jealous husband abusing his access to powerful tools intended to fight terrorism to discover whether his wife was having an affair. The character played by Tom Arnold lamely warns Schwarzenegger’s Harry Tasker that using government surveillance to spy on his wife is a crime (which is true) and that abusing these tools could land them both in prison. Tasker retorts that they violate the law all the time. Once you have a person’s search history, access to her emails, text messages, and listen to her phone calls, it’s not hard to construct a blackmail scenario. But that could never happen in real life, right? Wrong. In 2013, almost 20 years after the movie, Reuters reported that at least a dozen U.S. National Security Agency employees were caught using secret government surveillance tools to spy on the emails or phone calls of current or former spouses and lovers. The NSA has repeatedly promised to reform its procedures as the database it keeps on Americans continues to grow in scope and reach. When you talk to your spouse, your child, or your lover in the presence…

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Kris Kobach at Thursday’s We Build the Wall News Conference in Sunland Park, New Mexico

Julie Carr

The We Build the Wall team held a news conference in Sunland Park, New Mexico Thursday afternoon to explain the details behind the resumption of work on the one mile section of wall that will connect the 20 mile border wall that stretches across El Paso, Texas and another 20 mile segment that stretches from the western edge of Sunland Park into the New Mexico desert. Here’s a complete transcript of the comments of Kris Kobach, general counsel of We Build the Wall, at that news conference: BEGIN TRANSCRIPT: It was approximately a 36-hour delay in our work. Roughly at about four o’clock day before yesterday is when we received the stop work order from the city and then we got things going at six am his morning the stop work order was lifted by the city yesterday at four o’clock but since we didn’t have any of the machinery on site at that point we decided to wait till this morning to stop. The relevant work permits were issued by the city this morning at approximately ten am. Just to give you a little bit of background, we actually applied for permits last week and we were told that…

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Freshman Congressman John Rose Supports President Trump in 100 Percent of Votes

Laura Baigert

  In a press release issued Wednesday, freshman Congressman John Rose (R-TN-06) announced the report that, of the votes taken since he took his office in January, 100 percent were in support of President Donald Trump. The score came from the FiveThirtyEight website, known for its polling analysis as well as blogs on politics, economics and sports. FiveThirtyEight scored all legislators of the 116th Congress as to how often they voted in line with President Trump’s position. The scorecard also considered the legislator’s predicted score when factoring in Trump’s share of the vote in the 2016 presidential election in the member’s district minus the share of the vote that went to Hillary Clinton. Congressman Rose’s 100 percent “Trump score” slightly exceeded FiveThirtyEight’s predicted score for him, which was 98.2 percent. “I am proud that my voting record is ranked the highest possible when it comes to supporting our President,” responded Rose. Expanding on his voting history that supported President Trump’s agenda, Rose said, “I have voted to finish the wall, support the President’s constitutional authority, and fully fund our national security efforts.” Rose says his vote “reflects my commitment to you, the voters who elected me. I count it a…

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Trump Says He Had No Knowledge of ‘Well-Meaning’ Attempts to Cover USS McCain

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by Shelby Talcott   President Donald Trump told reporters Thursday morning that he had no knowledge of a “well-meaning” request to keep the USS John McCain out of view during his recent trip to Japan. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that a White House official asked the U.S. Navy to move the USS McCain “out of sight” before Trump’s visit to Japan. A May 15 email from a U.S. Indo-Pacific Command official to U.S. Navy and Air Force officials outlined plans for Trump’s Japan visit, including a request saying that the “USS John McCain needs to be out of sight,” WSJ reported. “I don’t know what happened,” Trump said in a reply to reporters Thursday morning. “I wasn’t involved, I would not have done that.” “Now, somebody did it because they thought I didn’t like him [late Arizona Sen. John McCain],” Trump added. “Okay, and they were well-meaning, I will say. I didn’t know anything about it. I would never have done that.” Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan denied knowing anything about the reported request while talking to reporters Thursday en route to Indonesia. He said that he will investigate the reports. “What I read this morning was the first…

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Lousiana House Overwhelmingly Passes Fetal Heartbeat Ban – Dem Gov Expected to Sign

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by Mary Margaret Olohan   The Louisiana House of Representatives passed a bill Wednesday banning abortions after the child’s heartbeat can be detected. The bill overwhelmingly passed the Louisiana House of Representative with a vote of 79-23 and would “prohibit the abortion of an unborn human being with a detectable heartbeat,” according to CNN. The House rejected an amendment to the bill Wednesday that would have made an exception for abortions in cases of rape or incest, NBC reports. The Louisiana Senate also approved the bill and added amendments requiring ultrasounds and making an exception for “medically futile” pregnancies. Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who has described himself as a “pro-life candidate” has said he will sign the bill into law. However, the ban will only go into effect if the Mississippi heartbeat bill passes the federal appeals court. Obama appointed Judge Carlton Reeves blocked the Mississippi abortion bill Friday. “As I prepare to sign this bill, I call on the overwhelming bipartisan majority of legislators who voted for it to join me in continuing to build a better Louisiana that cares for the least among us and provides more opportunity for everyone,” Edwards said in a statement on Wednesday…

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Illinois GOP Lawmakers Want to Cut off Chicago, Create New State

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by Carmel Kookogey   A group of Illinois Republicans is sponsoring legislation that would split the state in two: Chicago, and everywhere else. State Rep. Brad Halbrook, a Republican representing Shelbyville, Illinois, spoke with The Daily Signal about the effort to win better representation for the people of rural Illinois, whose traditional and economic values are affected by policies favored by Chicago’s metropolitan population. “There’s definitely an attack on our family values,” Halbrook told The Daily Signal. “We believe in traditional values. We are pro-life, we have a Second Amendment right to defend ourselves, but [Democrats in Chicago and Cook County] want to restrict that.” Halbrook’s sponsorship of the resolution called HR0101 is joined by seven of the 44 Republican lawmakers in the state House who represent rural “downstate” districts: Chris Miller, Dan Caulkins, Darren Bailey, Tony McCombie, C. D. Davidsmeyer, Blaine Wilhour, and Randy E. Frese. The proposal “urges the United States Congress to declare the City of Chicago the 51st state of the United States of America and separate it from the rest of Illinois.” Is this possible? Halbrook says yes, and points to the Constitution. “Article IV Section 3 in the U.S. Constitution allows us to separate,”…

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Border Agents Just Made the Biggest Migrant Apprehension Ever: Report

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by Jason Hopkins   The U.S. Border Patrol reportedly apprehended the largest single group of illegal immigrants in history, more than doubling the previous record. Border Patrol agents nabbed 1,036 migrants illegally crossing the U.S.-Mexico border near El Paso, Texas, on Wednesday morning, according to a report by NBC News, citing two U.S. officials and a document. The number marks the biggest group ever apprehended by law enforcement, with the previous record being 424. The demographics of the caravan closely matched what’s been seen at the border in recent time. Of the 1,036 who were apprehended, 934 were part of a family unit, 63 were unaccompanied minors, and 39 were either single adults or not yet identified. All of the individuals were from the three Northern Triangle countries of Central America — 515 people from Guatemala, 135 people from Honduras and another 76 from El Salvador. The record-smashing apprehension comes as more and more migrants are reaching the U.S. southern border, igniting a crisis that is breaking immigration enforcement resources. Migrant encounters have increased every month since January. March and April — the most recent months Customs and Border Protection has on record — marked two consecutive months where migrant…

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Wife of Hamilton County Superintendent Takes $90,000 a Year Job Working for Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke

Chris Butler

  The wife of Hamilton County Superintendent Bryan Johnson has taken a $90,000 a year position as a senior advisor to Democratic Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke. This, according to Berke’s spokeswoman Richel Albright, who said Candy Johnson joined Berke’s administration as one of his senior advisors. Johnson took the job last week, Albright told The Tennessee Star. Chattanooga City Council member Chip Henderson said Thursday that no one from Berke’s administration had formally introduced Johnson to the council, as is customary. “I will tell you we have not been briefed on the hire,” Henderson said. This, despite The Chattanoogan reporting Council member Demetrus Coonrod welcomed Johnson at Tuesday’s City Council Agenda Session. “Stacy Richardson, the mayor’s chief of staff, said she would discuss with council members ‘offline’ the role of Ms. Johnson at the mayor’s office,” The Chattanoogan reported. Albright said several people have advised Berke since 2013, most recently Hames McKissic, who left in 2018. “Mayor Berke is the final decision maker on positions in his office,” Albright said in an emailed statement to The Star. On her LinkedIn page, Johnson describes herself as an independent consultant. She also was the lead education policy contact for the Nashville Area…

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Federal Agencies Push Back on Claim They Sanctioned Private Border Wall Construction

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by Andrew Kerr   The founder of the nonprofit group that built a half-mile border wall over Memorial Day weekend said the Trump administration sanctioned the project, but two federal agencies disputed his claim Wednesday. Triple amputee and Air Force veteran Brian Kolfage said Wednesday that the Trump administration called the International Boundary and Water Commission (IBWC) and authorized the construction on private property near El Paso, Texas. He also said that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) approved the venture. However, a spokeswoman for the IBWC told The Daily Caller News Foundation it received no such call from the Trump administration regarding We Build The Wall, which is funded by the viral $20 million GoFundMe fundraising campaign Kolfage launched in December. https://twitter.com/BrianKolfage/status/1133696190514642944 “We are not aware of any call from the administration, and there would be no reason for our authorization because it’s on private land,” said the spokeswoman for the U.S. section of the IBWC, Lori Kuczmanski. Kolfage hinted on Twitter that he had evidence of the Trump administration’s authorization, but said he was “saving it for the media to break.” We Build The Wall did not return a request for comment. Kolfage’s tweet came one day after…

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Longtime Mississippi Senator Thad Cochran Dead at 81

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by Henry Rodgers   Former Republican Mississippi Sen. Thad Cochran died early Thursday morning in Oxford, Miss., at age 81. Cochran was first elected to the Senate in 1978, making him the first Republican to win a statewide election in Mississippi in over 100 years. The Mississippi Republican also served in the House of Representatives for three terms before running for Senate, the Mississippi Clarion Ledger reported. Cochran resigned from the Senate in April 2018. In a statement from his successor, Republican Mississippi Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s office said, Cochran “passed away peacefully early Thursday morning in Oxford,” saying “Cochran’s family extends its gratitude for the support shown to the Senator by Mississippians over the years. The University Of Mississippi, where Cochran graduated from college, sent out a tweet after the news broke, saying “The Ole Miss Family has lost a legend with the passing of a great Mississippian and UM alumnus in former U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran. His unwavering service and contributions to the university and the state are part of the lasting legacy he leaves behind.” The Ole Miss Family has lost a legend with the passing of a great Mississippian and UM alumnus in former U.S. Sen. Thad…

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Controversial Democratic Party Chairman in Shelby County Retains His Position, Despite Effort to Oust Him

Chris Butler

  Members of the Shelby County Democratic Party have reportedly chosen to continue to retain Michael Harris as chairman, despite his reported sketchy history with the law. This, after party members, met at a closed-door meeting Tuesday, according to The Daily Memphian. The website also reported Harris himself called for the meeting to settle once and for all the controversy over whether he should continue in that position. The vote to retain Harris was 18-9. “The Tennessee Supreme Court suspended Harris’ law license in 2017 for five years retroactive to 2015,” according to The Daily Memphian. “His law license was suspended after he agreed to ethics charges brought by the state’s Board of Professional Responsibility that included lack of diligence and communication, excessive fees, improper termination, failure to expedite litigation, failure to perform services he was paid for, unauthorized practice of law, dishonesty and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice. Harris was also ordered to pay nine former clients a total of $22,975 in restitution.” But, according to The Memphis Commercial Appeal, “the movement to oust Harris is still alive.” This, according to Executive Committee member Julie Byrd Ashworth, who reportedly filed a grievance against Harris alongside two other…

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Ohio House Approves Controversial Nuclear Bailout Bill

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by Todd DeFeo   The Ohio House approved a controversial bill that proponents say will preserve carbon-free energy production and that opponents say is a bailout of the nuclear industry in the state. If it becomes law, House Bill 6 would create a new Ohio Clean Air Program to subsidize power plants fueled by nuclear and solar power. Beginning January 1, 2020, consumers would fund the program through a dedicated monthly charge – including 50 cents per month in 2020 and $1 per month in 2021 through 2026 for residential customers. The move comes after Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions announced its intentions to close Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor near Toledo and Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry. The company filed for bankruptcy in March 2018. “I know this issue is difficult because there are so many Ohioans affected and so many parties interested in the outcome,” Gov. Mike DeWine said in a statement following the voted 53-43 vote Wednesday in favor of the bailout. “As I have previously stated, Ohio needs to maintain carbon-free nuclear energy generation as part of our energy portfolio. In addition, these energy jobs are vital to Ohio’s economy. I look forward to this…

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Commentary: Justice Clarence Thomas Is the Moral Center of the Supreme Court

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by George Rasley   Is it possible to construct a lasting and healthy society upon a legal foundation that not only protects but encourages infanticide, a deep and profoundly immoral act? We do not believe it is, and the door opened by Roe v. Wade has led American society into a darkness that can only end in the eugenic and racist nightmare of the Nazi Third Reich and other cultures that have allowed humans to be culled like livestock or killed when they become inconvenient. The battle lines in this great moral debate were set out in stark terms by Justices Clarence Thomas and Ruth Bader Ginsberg in the Supreme Court’s recent holding in Box v. Planned Parenthood of Indiana and Kentucky. As the writers for The Economist explained, Box concerns Indiana’s HEA 1337, which Mike Pence, now the vice-president, signed into law in 2016 when he was governor of the state. In a Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals ruling last year, two of the law’s provisions were deemed unconstitutional: a requirement that fetal remains from abortions be buried or cremated; and a bar on abortions motivated solely by the fetus’s race, sex or diagnosed disability such as Down syndrome.…

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Brian Kolfage at Thursday’s We Build the Wall News Conference in Sunland Park, New Mexico

Julie Carr

The We Build the Wall team held a news conference in Sunland Park, New Mexico Thursday afternoon to explain the details behind the resumption of work on the one mile section of wall that will connect the 20 mile border wall that stretches across El Paso, Texas and another 20 mile segment that stretches from the western edge of Sunland Park into the New Mexico desert. Here’s a complete transcript of the comments of Brian Kolfage, founder of We Build the Wall, at that news conference: BEGIN TRANSCRIPT: First of all, thank you all for coming out today and witnessing this project. This is a project that was started by the American people who all believed in border security and who believed there is a crisis down here. A lot of people ask about how did we get here today? How did we find this land over here? How did we identify this exact spot where we’re building? Over the last 57 days is when we started this project. From the time I set foot here, I actually rolled across into Mexico and rolled back in my wheelchair. And at that point, I knew this was a bad area. And…

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Veteran in Michigan’s Third District Poses Real Threat to Justin Amash

Anthony Gockowski

  It took just 48 hours for a fellow Republican to jump on the opportunity to run against Rep. Justin Amash (R-MI-03) after he tweeted out of the blue that President Donald Trump “has engaged in impeachable conduct.” Or at least that’s the story that our national media told. Amash, in fact, has actually had a primary opponent since April in Republican Tom Norton, whose campaign was built less in reaction to “Twitter comments,” and more so on a “careful consideration of Justin Amash’s record and ineffectiveness as a congressman,” as Norton’s campaign manager, Ivan Assenov, put it. One area where Norton believes his opponent has been particularly ineffective is in helping veterans, and Michigan’s Third Congressional District has a lot of them. “Amash’s record shows a lack of concern for veterans issues. In a district with 50,000-plus veterans and 22 a day committing suicide nationally, this is simply unacceptable,” Assenov told The Ohio Star. “Tom Norton has volunteered his time, knowledge, and experience to help Amash’s office with veterans issues after they came to Tom because their congressman turned them away. Tom was also turned away.” Norton himself is a veteran, and served in Afghanistan during his six-year career…

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Drag 101 Class Canceled at Delaware County Library Branch, Reason Given Was ‘Threats’ but May Be Just ‘Crying Wolf’?

Beth Lear

  DELAWARE, Ohio – The Drag 101 class sponsored by the Delaware County District Library that was to be held Wednesday, June 5th, has been ‘canceled.’  Kyle Gale, the drag queen known as Selena T. West and a former Miss Gay Ohio America, was being paid by the library to provide the class to teens.  At a press conference given Wednesday, May 29th at the Orange Township Branch where the class was to be held, Library Director George Needham announced the cancellation by reading a prepared statement. Director Needham claimed the cancellation was due to ‘threats’.  After stating “Hundreds of people expressed their support or concern”, he said: However, there were also some hostile and angry messages.  A small number of those messages appeared to threaten the safety of our staff, our patrons, ‘Selena’ and the teens and caregivers for whom we strive to provide a safe space. Notably, Needham’s prepared remarks distributed to media beforehand, however, did not mention the threat to West/Gayle. Information about the Drag 101 class began filtering into the community a couple of weeks before when at least one local school district sent home the information with students.  That information was shared with a local mom’s…

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Amy Klobuchar Defies Meghan McCain Request, Talks About John McCain Story on Jimmy Kimmel Live

Zachery Schmidt

  Amy Klobuchar addressed the controversial story about John McCain mentioning dictator names during President Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration on Jimmy Kimmel Live. During her Tuesday late-night show appearance, Kimmel asked the Minnesota Senator about McCain story she told last weekend. “Now you told a story at one of these rallies this weekend that I found so interesting about the late Senator John McCain,” Kimmel said. Klobuchar said McCain was referencing parts of the speech and mentioning dictator’s speeches during the inauguration. In addition, McCain referenced these dictators because he was concerned “about what this meant with this president,” according to the presidential candidate. She would not mention what dictator names the late Senator repeated to her and Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. “I think the point of the story was that John McCain was a student of history and so he knew what was coming,” Klobuchar said. “He knew these cries for isolationism, what that meant if we don’t stand with our allies, what that meant for America’s standing in the world. And that’s what he was doing. He had said things similar to this publicly as well.” As the Minnesota Sun reported earlier this week, McCain’s daughter and View co-host…

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Ohio Democrats Negative on New NAFTA Deal Known as USMCA

Jason M. Reynolds

  President Donald Trump’s Administration is expected to speed up the procedural steps necessary for a Congressional vote on the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA), media outlets report. Trump should issue a “statement of administrative action” soon, Reuters reported. U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said that was “not a positive step,” Reuters said, adding she wanted more time for lawmakers to review the agreement. The Republican National Committee has questioned why Democrats under the leadership of Pelosi and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) are holding up USMCA. Pelosi said Mexico must change its labor laws, while Schumer said there are “outstanding issues.” Several Ohio Democrats have posed roadblocks as well. In February, in response to Trump’s State of the Union mention of USMCA, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan (D-OH-13) said: “While I continue to be supportive of renegotiating NAFTA, what I have seen so far does not do enough to protect the hardworking men and women of my district.” “For far too long, I have seen firsthand how unfair trade agreements have harmed our manufacturing industry in Ohio and across the United States. Just this week the GM plant in my district started its first round of layoffs. I join with my…

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Ethics Committee Legal Counsel Disputes Claims by Rep. Mike Carter Regarding Ethics Meetings

Steve Gill

  Earlier this month Representative Mike Carter (R-Ooltewah) complained about a series of meetings held with individual members of the House Ethics Committee, Chaired by Rep. Matthew Hill (R-Jonesboro), on Monday May 13.  The meetings were held in an effort to develop an approved advisory opinion regarding certain facts surrounding alleged actions of House Speaker Glen Casada (R-Franklin). Chairman Hill later indicated that the meetings with individual members of the Ethics Committee were necessary in view of the quickly developing story and the need to get input from members within a timeline that did not permit a full meeting. Carter claimed the development of an advisory opinion that had been requested by Casada was part of an attempt by Casada, through Hill, to protect his speakership. Carter said of his meeting with Hill and two of the Committee’s legal counsel: “my concern with the meeting is that it shows a heart for misrepresentation and political maneuvering to save the requestor’s office even at a loss of reputation and integrity of the House Ethics Committee. This is the most egregious act I have been made aware of.” Carter also implied that Casada was attempting to “rig and predetermine” action by the…

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