Day: August 12, 2023

Merrick Garland’s Special Counsel Appointment May Violate DOJ’s Own Rules, Legal Experts Say

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U.S. Attorney David Weiss’ appointment Friday as special counsel in the Hunter Biden investigation appears to violate a Department of Justice (DOJ) regulation requiring a special counsel to “be selected from outside the United States Government.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Weiss’ appointment as special counsel Friday, noting he would “continue to have the authority and the responsibility that he has previously exercised” and explaining Weiss had requested to be appointed on Tuesday. The Justice Department regulation, which governs the powers and qualifications of a special counsel, was also used to criticize the 2020 appointment of John Durham as special counsel to investigate the origins of the Trump-Russia probe while he was serving as U.S. attorney for the District of Connecticut.

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Comer Says He’s Ready to Subpoena Bidens’ Phone and Bank Records, Give Witnesses Immunity

Just the News

House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer on Friday night pointedly dismissed the appointment of a special counsel in the Hunter Biden criminal probe as “another maneuver… to obstruct” Congress and vowed to escalate his investigation by subpoenaing Hunter and Joe Biden’s phone and bank records and offering witnesses immunity.

“We’re getting closer every day to showing that Joe Biden was the ringleader in this, not Hunter Biden,” Comer said in an exclusive interview with the “Just the News, No Noise” television show just hours after Attorney General Merrick Garland shocked Washington by announcing that he was upgrading Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss to a special counsel after four years of investigating the Biden family finances.

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American College of Pediatricians Rejects Reaffirmation of Children’s Transgender Medical Treatments by American Academy of Pediatrics

Susan Berry, PhD

The American College of Pediatricians (ACPeds) stated Thursday in a press release it opposes the decision by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) to reaffirm transgender medical interventions for children and teens, but supports AAP’s claim it will be reviewing the latest evidence pertaining to the highly controversial treatments.

Last week, AAP reaffirmed its support for providing children and teens with transgender hormones and surgeries – called “gender-affirming care” by the transgender medical industry – while it simultaneously announced it would review medical research on the life-altering treatments.

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Ohio Supreme Court Sets Date to Hear Arguments in ‘Heartbeat’ Abortion Ban Case

Hannah Poling

The Ohio Supreme Court announced on Thursday it set a hearing date for oral arguments in a case challenging a Hamilton County judge’s decision to put Ohio’s Heartbeat abortion ban on hold.

Ohio’s highest court will hear 15-minute arguments from both sides on the case on September 27th, almost a year after Democratic Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins issued a preliminary injunction that put the Heartbeat Law on hold while he considers arguments in a lawsuit filed by pro-abortion activists.

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Emails Reveal Katie Hobbs While Secretary of State Pressured Twitter and Facebook to Censor Her GOP Opponents

Rachel Alexander

Newly released emails reveal that Democratic Governor Katie Hobbs, while serving as secretary of state overseeing elections, had her staff pressure social media companies to censor posts by her Republican opponents under the guise of “misinformation.” Her targets included the Arizona Republican Party and former conservative powerhouse legislator Kelly Townsend.

The AZGOP responded in a tweet, “EXPOSED: @GovernorHobbs has relentlessly censored major entities, including the Arizona Republican Party. Shocked? We’re not. It’s time for transparency and accountability. This goes beyond politics—it’s a matter of principle.”

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New College of Florida Trustees Move to Abolish Gender Studies Program

Admin

The New College of Florida (NCF) board of trustees voted Thursday to direct the administration of the institution to abolish its gender studies program, according to Chris Rufo, a member of the board.

In January, Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis appointed six new conservative members to the NCF board of trustees in an effort to overhaul the ideological education system. Since being appointed, the board has voted to eliminate the college’s diversity, equity and inclusion office (DEI) and ban the use of diversity statements.

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Sens. Grassley and Johnson Say Defense Agency and Georgia Tech May have Targeted RNC, DNC Networks

M.D. Kittle

U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-IA) and Ron Johnson (R-WI) said an email was uncovered recently that exposed a U.S. Defense agency project aimed at targeting Republican National Committee and Democratic National Committee networks.

At the core of the concerning discovery are some serious questions, including whether the Pentagon’s research arm was involved in driving false claims that Russians working for then-Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hacked into the DNC email server in 2016.

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Georgia Lawmakers Likely to Consider Cyberbullying Legislation

The Center Square

Georgia lawmakers will likely consider legislation requiring social media companies to help crack down on cyberbullying.

Lt. Governor Burt Jones and Senate Majority Caucus Chair Jason Anavitarte, R-Dallas, plan to introduce legislation for lawmakers to consider during the 2024 legislative Session to require social media companies to take “concrete steps” to verify their users’ ages.

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Minnesota’s Fastest-Growing City Bans Smoking Weed in Public Places

Admin

The fastest growing city in Minnesota, and one of the fastest growing suburban communities in America, has banned the use of smokeable marijuana in its public spaces. And they’re doing it for the kids, according to city leaders.

The Lakeville City Council voted this week to create a new ordinance that prohibits the smoking of cannabis and hemp in public places — including parks, streets, sidewalks and other outdoor spaces where people can gather. Violation of the new ordinance, which takes effect immediately, is a petty misdemeanor, punishable by a $300 ticket, according to a city report on the measure.

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Proposed Virginia Toll Hikes May Have Been Avoidable

The Center Square

The application by Toll Road Investors Partnership II L.P. to raise tolls on Virginia’s Dulles Greenway is now open to public comment, and a date has been set for the hearing of January 24, 2024.

If the State Corporation Commission approves TRIP II’s application, the new “maximum tolls for most drivers” will be $6.40 during off-peak hours and $8.10 going eastbound during the peak hours of 6:30 a.m. to 9 a.m and driving westbound between 4 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. The current rates are $5.25 and $5.80, respectively.

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Connecticut Taps Federal Pandemic Funds for Free School Meals

The Center Square

Connecticut is tapping into federal funding to provide hundreds of thousands of public school students with free breakfast and lunch.

The state Department of Education announced that $16 million of funding the state received from the American Rescue Plan Act will be diverted to Connecticut’s free school meals program for the 2023-2024 school year, allowing students to get free meals regardless of their family’s income.

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All 16 Charged as Michigan Fake Electors Plead Not Guilty

The Center Square
People Waiting to Vote

The final defendants accused of being fake electors in Michigan’s 2020 presidential election pleaded not guilty Thursday to all eight counts and were each released on a personal recognizance bond.

In mid-July, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged each of the 16 with one count of conspiracy to commit forgery, two counts of forgery, one count of conspiracy to commit uttering and publishing, one count of uttering and publishing, one count of conspiracy to commit election law forgery, and two counts of election law forgery.

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Biden Wants Another $24 Billion for Ukraine, Just $4 Billion for the Border

Just the News

The White House on Thursday outlined a $40.1 billion funding request in a letter to House Speaker Kevin McCarthy that includes $24 billion for Ukraine-related expenses but just $4 billion to bolster security at the southern border.

Specifically, the White House wants $13.1 billion for the Pentagon to send military aid directly to Kyiv and replenish its own stocks. It further seeks $8.5 billion for the State Department to provide humanitarian and economic support. Lastly, it seeks $2.3 billion for the Treasury to provide financial programs for the country in place of Chinese or other adversarial sources.

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Commentary: The Emerging ‘Cold Tech War’ Between the U.S and China

RealClearWire

The Sino-U.S. “cold tech war” is reaching new heights—or rather depths—as tensions are building under the sea. First it was semiconductors. Now it’s submarine cables.

Undersea cables, unseen and often ignored, are essential to daily life and critical to U.S. national security. Over 97 percent of global data traffic travels through a network of cables that sit atop the seabed of the world’s oceans. Those same cables transmit upwards of $10 trillion in financial transactions every day and are a central component of the American military’s network-centric warfare operations.

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