Month: October 2023

Ken Chesebro Becomes Third Defendant to Accept Plea Deal in Georgia Election Case

Tom Pappert

Attorney Kenneth Chesebro entered a plea agreement with Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis on Friday. Chesebro is the third defendant to accept a plea deal, following attorney Sidney Powell and bail bondsman Scott Hall.

Chesebro pleaded to just one felony count of conspiracy to commit filing false documents, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, which reported that Willis dropped the other six felony counts against him in exchange for a guilty plea and the promise to truthfully testify in upcoming trials.

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University of Pennsylvania Faculty Cry ‘Intimidation’ After Donors Pull Funding over Statements on Hamas

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Three leaders of the University of Pennsylvania faculty senate released a statement Thursday condemning those who “use their pocketbooks to shape our mission” after donors began withdrawing support over the school’s response to the Israel-Hamas war.

UPenn donors began pulling their funding from the university after President Liz Magill failed to initially label Hamas as a terrorist organization in an Oct. 10 statement about the Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians. The university’s faculty senate tri-chairs, Tulia G. Falleti, Eric A. Feldman and Vivian L. Gadsden, accused individuals of trying to censor free speech by “surveilling both faculty and students” and criticized those who would try to use their “pocketbooks” to buy the speech of university students and faculty, according to the statement.

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Explosion Damages Historic Christian Church in Gaza

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An Israeli airstrike reportedly damaged the St. Porphyrius Greek Orthodox Church campus in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Approximately 500 people had been sheltering on the church campus, including 80 council members, when the blast occurred and killed two people, according to the WSJ. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) was targeting a Hamas control center on Thursday and “damaged the wall of a church in the area” during an airstrike, The Washington Post reported.

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Commentary: A Review of Satirist Juvenal in This Mad, Mad World

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I have often noted here the difficulty our progressive and enlightened age poses for the art of satire. Satire depends on some palpable distance between common reality and the thing satirized. “Ha!,” we say, we feel viscerally, when confronted by effective satire, “that exaggeration, that caricature, that satire dramatizes a dangerous tendency in our culture. Of course, no one really tries to extract cucumbers from sunbeams, as Swift suggests in his great satire Gulliver’s Travels, but the idea that they might shows you how absurd so much academic culture is.”

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Commentary: Biden’s Failures on Economy, Immigration, and Foreign Policy Are Driving Youngest Voters Away

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President Biden’s failures with young voters goes far beyond the crippling double-digit declines in support he is suffering across battleground states compared to 2020. Democrats are utterly failing to secure loyalty from Gen Z leading into the 2024 election and are facing lower approval ratings from Zoomers than they are from slightly older Millennials.   

Gen Z voters – ages 18 to 24 – are emerging into a chaotic economy fraught with crippling inflation, waves of illegal immigration, rising crime, and an unstable world stage, and many are blaming Democrats to a degree that Obama-generation Millennial voters didn’t.

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At Least a Dozen Republicans Band Together in Growing Movement to Stop Tom Emmer from Taking Speakership

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Breitbart House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) will not receive the votes to become Speaker of the House, Breitbart News has learned, as at least 12 GOP members have already privately banded together to pledge opposition to Emmer on the floor were he to ever get there. “At least 12 Republicans are opposed to Tom Emmer under any circumstances,” said one senior GOP source. “I think it’s more,” another senior GOP source added, noting, “This thing is blowing up.” The opposition to Emmer, which is quickly growing, comes in the wake of his just-launched Speakership bid. Emmer’s candidacy was launched right after House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH) had the House GOP conference, by secret ballot, remove his status as Speaker-designate in the wake of three floor votes this week in which Jordan came up short. A total of 25 intransigents, led by House Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX) and other establishment politicians, opposed Jordan throughout the week. READ THE FULL STORY                  

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Hamilton County ‘Queer Activist’ Substitute Teachers Busted in Prostitution Sting

Peter D'Abrosca

According to several reports, a “queer and trans activist couple,” both of whom were employed as substitute teachers in Hamilton County Schools, were cited on prostitution charges after an August sting operation. 

A police report says that 22-year-old Ezra Fry and 25-year-old David Acevedo were cited in late August, and that Chattanooga Police Narcotics and Vice Detectives carried out the undercover prostitution sting.

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1,000 Days Without a Trial: Jan. 6 Prisoner Shares His Story of ‘Endurance, Perseverance, and Hope’

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The Epoch Times On Oct. 12, Jake Lang passed a milestone: 1,000 days in jail without a trial. To mark the anniversary, he wanted to share with the American people “the horrific conditions of confinement,” which he says he and many of his fellow Jan. 6 prisoners have had to endure. “During this time, I’ve done 20 months of solitary confinement,” Mr. Lang told The Epoch Times. “For 15 months of that, I wasn’t allowed to have a haircut or a shave.” This was intentional, he said, to make Jan. 6 prisoners look like “homeless vagrants” or “deranged terrorists” during video court appearances. READ THE FULL STORY      

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Argentine Voters Set to Elect Libertarian Outsider Javier Milei

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Reuters Argentina may be about to leap into the political unknown. The South American country, the region’s No.2 economy after Brazil, will vote in presidential elections on Sunday with a radical outsider, libertarian Javier Milei, in pole position to win, though he will likely face a second round run-off. The wild-haired, chainsaw-wielding economist – who has risen from relative obscurity over the last year – came top in an August open primary and leads all opinion polls ahead of economy minister Sergio Massa and conservative Patricia Bullrich. READ THE FULL STORY    

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Metro Nashville Public Schools Experiencing Wide Spread Internet Outages

TC Weber

Metro Nashville Public School’s (MNPS) teachers and students face widespread internet outages after returning from fall break.

Sean Braisted, MNPS’s chief communications officer, told The Tennessee Star, “We’ve experienced network traffic issues over the past few days, primarily linked to changes during a recent upgrade that has led to increased network saturation.”

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Appeals Court Shoots Down Challenges to Nasdaq Rule Requiring Companies to Have at Least Two ‘Diverse’ Board Members

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A federal appeals court rejected challenges Wednesday to a Nasdaq rule mandating that companies listed on the exchange have a female and an underrepresented minority on their board, or explain why they cannot meet the requirement.

The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals shot down lawsuits filed by the National Center for Public Policy Research and the Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment against the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for approving the rule in August 2021. The rule requires Nasdaq-listed companies to provide information on gender, racial and LGBTQ+ status of their board of directors, mandating that at least two board members fall into one of those “diverse” categories.

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Illegal Immigration at Southern Border Hits New September Record

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Border Patrol saw a new surge in illegal immigration at the U.S.-Mexico border in September that marked a new record for the agency, according to internal agency data exclusively obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

Border Patrol recorded 218,777 encounters across the southern border in September, the highest on record for the month going back to at least the year 2000, according to the data. September marks the end of fiscal year 2023, meaning Border Patrol apprehensions surpassed 2 million.

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Commentary: Democrats Begin Scapegoating Biden

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Listen closely and you will hear Biden being scapegoated for Democrats’ policy failures. In 2020, Democrats had only one candidate who could beat Trump, and Biden had only one candidate whom he could beat. It was a match made in heaven. Now, three years in, that heavenly match is looking devilishly difficult, and doubting Democrats have only themselves to blame.

Hardly a day goes by without a story about Democrat angst over the president’s poor poll numbers. After winning in November 2020 with 51.3 percent of the popular vote, Biden rose further in the approval polls, reaching 55.7 percent on April 4, 2021, according to the RealClearPolitics national polling average. From there it has been an unmistakable plunge. On Oct. 18, RCP’s average of national polling had Biden at just a 40.8 percent approval rating (versus 55.1 disapproval).

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Arizona to Enlist Off-Duty Police to Guard Schools amid ‘Pervasive Officer Shortage’

Tom Pappert

State Superintendent of Public Schools Tom Horne announced on Wednesday that he contracted with a private company to fill law enforcement vacancies at schools in 11 Arizona counties. Horne said the new contract would ensure safety of students, teachers, and staff despite a “pervasive officer shortage” throughout the state.

The Arizona Department of Education (ADE) revealed a new contract with Off Duty Management (ODM), a private company, to schedule off-duty law enforcement to serve as School Safety Officers (SSOs).

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Sidney Powell’s Georgia Plea Deal Will Help President Trump, His Lawyer Claims

Tom Pappert

Former President Donald Trump will benefit from the plea deal Sidney Powell accepted from Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, according to Georgia lawyer Steve Sadow, who said Powell’s requirement to truthfully testify in upcoming trials related to the 2020 election in Georgia will help Trump.

Sadow said in a statement to The Messenger that Powell’s testimony, which is required as part of her plea deal, “will be favorable” to his defense strategy, “[a]ssuming truthful testimony in the Fulton County case.”

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‘It’s Time to Cowboy Up’: Rick Scott Announces Largest Ad Buy of Any 2024 GOP Senate Candidate So Far

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Republican Sen. Rick Scott of Florida announced a $3 million ad buy on Thursday, the largest of any 2024 Republican Senate candidate to date.

Scott, who defeated then-Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson of Florida in 2018 following a contentious recount battle, previously served two terms as governor of Florida, and he faces a challenge from former Democratic Rep. Debbie Mucarsel-Powell, who is the current frontrunner for the Democratic nomination. “The game is now rigged against hardworking Americans who still believe in this country, believe in God and the American values of hard work, patriotism and self-reliance,” Scott says in the ad.

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17 Minnesota DFL Legislators Sign Brief Asking Supreme Court to Preserve Access to Abortion Pill

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Seventeen Democrat legislators from Minnesota have attached their names to an amicus brief last week that asks the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn an appellate court decision that would roll back the public’s access to mifepristone, an abortion-inducing medication.

The DFLers joined a group of more than 600 Democrat legislators from 49 states in signing onto the brief, which asks the nation’s highest court to reject the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ August ruling in FDA v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine that concluded several decisions the FDA took in 2016 to make mifepristone more broadly available to women were illegal.

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Poll: Ohioans Show Strong Support for Abortion Rights and Recreational Marijuana

The Center Square

Less than three weeks before Election Day a new poll shows Ohio voters favor constitutional amendments on enshrining abortion rights and legalizing recreational marijuana.

The Baldwin Wallace University poll of 850 registered voters, with 750 identified as likely voters, showed 58% favor Issue 1, which says every individual has a right to make and carry out their reproductive decisions, including but not limited to decisions on contraception, fertility, treatment, continuing one’s pregnancy, miscarriage care and abortion.

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Michigan Supreme Court Ponders Privacy Limits for Drones

The Center Square

The Michigan Supreme Court heard arguments Wednesday about whether the government can use drones to surveil private property without a warrant and use that evidence in court for zoning disputes.

For two years, Long Lake Township zoning officials flew a drone over Todd and Heather Maxon’s property in northern Michigan near Traverse City, taking photographs and videos as part of a zoning dispute that he was running an illegal junkyard.

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Virginia Sheriff Departments Asked to Contribute Excess Gear to Israel

The Center Square

Attorney General Jason Miyares has enlisted the help of the commonwealth’s 123 sheriff’s departments by asking for expired or surplus gear that can be donated to the Israeli military.

“I am shocked and grieved by the senseless terrorist attacks on Israel by the Hamas terrorist organization. The loss of innocent life and disregard for human rights is painfully tragic to see,” Miyares wrote in the letter.

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Wisconsin State Lawmakers Block Raises for University Workers in Fight Against Diversity Spending

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Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature withheld pay raises for employees of the University of Wisconsin System (UW) over  its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) funding, according to the Associated Press.

Wisconsin Republicans voted in June to cut the UW System’s budget by $32 million, which is the estimated amount it spends on DEI over a 2-year period. Wisconsin Republicans denied the raises Tuesday in a bid to pressure the system to cut the spending, according to the AP.

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In Disbarment Trial of Trump’s Former Attorney John Eastman, He Discussed How Nixon Exercised Substantive Authority Accepting Electoral Slates

Rachel Alexander

The disbarment trial of Donald Trump’s former attorney and constitutional legal scholar John Eastman is in its eighth week, and expected to continue into a ninth week. On Wednesday, Eastman testified all day, focusing especially on the 1960 election and then-Vice President Richard Nixon’s role deciding which of three electoral slates from Hawaii to accept. 

Eastman said Nixon received three slates of electors from Hawaii, including one that was not certified — the second one from the Democrats. Nixon opened up all three envelopes and chose which one to accept, the third Democratic one that was certified by the governor after the recount. None of the alternate slates of electors in the 2020 election were certified by a state government entity.

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Video Shows Wrongfully Convicted Man Struggled with Deputy Before Fatal Shooting, Family Blames ‘Psychological Trauma’

Tom Pappert

The family of Leonard Cure, a man fatally shot by Georgia law enforcement, seemed to blame mental illness after Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor released videos of the incident. Cure was once wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for over 16 years before he was released in 2020.

Cure was allegedly driving in excess of 100 miles per hour when he passed a Camden County deputy. Video released by the sheriff’s office shows Cure did not immediately pull over his vehicle after the deputy activated his vehicle’s lights, but instead continued driving to pass other traffic before pulling over to the highway’s shoulder.

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Sheltering Migrants in Police Stations a ‘Burden’ on Chicago Officers, Chief Says

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Chicago Police Superintendent Larry Snelling said on Tuesday that the migrants staying at police stations in the city have created a “burden” for officers, The Associated Press reported.

The Chicago Police Department (CPD) currently hosts 3,000 total immigrants at its police stations throughout the city, with many migrants sleeping in close quarters on top of cardboard boxes or mattresses placed in the stations’ entryways, according to the AP. Snelling, who became superintendent at the end of September, expressed concern that the number of migrants would deter crime victims who wanted to submit a police report at the station, and would also impact how well officers could continue to fight crime in Chicago.

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Commentary: Trump Ahead in Battleground States

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New polling from Redfield & Wilton Strategies shows Former President Trump ahead of President Biden in four out of six battleground states, including two he lost by razor-thin margins in the 2020 election. The data also shows Biden losing double-digits compared to 2020 exit polls with one group mainstream pundits seem to believe Democrats will always win – young people. Voters between 18 and 24 are moving away from Biden by double-digits compared to 2020 and in one state Trump is on track to win Gen Z by 29-percenatge points after losing them by 12 points in 2020.

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Dem-Controlled FCC Moves Closer Toward Restoring Net Neutrality

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The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took a major step toward finalizing the restoration of net neutrality on Thursday.

Net neutrality rules force internet service providers to enable access to all websites and content providers at equal rates and speeds, regardless of their size or content. Democrats now outnumber Republicans on the FCC, and the commission voted in favor of a notice of proposed rulemaking Thursday at the meeting.

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Elon Musk Slams EU over NewsGuard Association: ‘What a Scam!’

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Breitbart X (formerly Twitter) owner Elon Musk has slammed the European Union over its work with NewsGuard, an organization that is a significant component of the global internet censorship industry, calling the organization a “scam” that “ought to be disbanded.” Musk turned his attention to NewsGuard following a post by former Trump administration official Mike Benz, exposing the European Commission’s relationship with NewsGuard, which helped revise the EU’s “code of practice on disinformation,” which calls on tech and advertising companies to financially throttle accused publishers of “disinformation.” In response to this, Musk called on Thierry Breton, a leading member of the EU’s ruling European Commission, to offer an explanation to the people of Europe. READ THE FULL STORY                

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Cursive Returns to California Public School Classrooms

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The Hill Children in first through sixth grade will now be required to learn cursive handwriting after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 446 into law on Oct. 13. The bill turned law was introduced by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva, D-Fullerton, who was a former public elementary school teacher before entering politics, the Sacramento Bee reported.   The new law will require teachers to implement some instruction regarding cursive handwriting from first through sixth grade instead of requiring educators to teach it during a specific grade, according to the law’s text. READ THE FULL STORY

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Nashville NAACP President Suspended for ‘Undermining’ Organization

Peter D'Abrosca

The President of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Nashville has been suspended by the group for allegedly undermining the organization’s principles. 

“The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) President/CEO Derrick Johnson has suspended former NAACP Nashville Branch president Venita Lewis for actions that under mind [sic] the mission and work of the NAACP. Her behavior provided cause for the suspension and her membership removal from the organization,” said a statement from the NAACP Tennessee State Conference. 

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As Colleges Belatedly Condemn Hamas Terrorism, Campus Attacks on Pro-Life Activists Ignored

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Elite universities that rushed to condemn the killing of George Floyd and Jan. 6 Capitol riot saw no need to denounce Hamas for terrorism against Israeli women, children and partiers – until wealthy donors called them out and even demanded the firing of top brass.

Another oft-marginalized group on campus doesn’t have titans of hedge funds, private equity firms and the “Law & Order” franchise to plead their case, however.

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Sky-High Inflation Is Ratcheting Up Healthcare Costs for Working Americans

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The costs of health care for average Americans have been hit particularly hard by the sustained high inflation the U.S. economy has seen over the past few years, according to KFF, a nonpartisan organization focused on health policy.

Just this year, premiums on family health insurance coverage for workplace plans increased by 7%, even as Americans’ wages only grew by 5.2% and total inflation rose by 5.8%, while over the last five years, premiums have risen 22% with wages increasing 27% and inflation 21%, according to a KFF news release. Inflation has continued to remain well above the Federal Reserve’s 2% target, rising 3.7% year-over-year in September after increasing the same in August.

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Rep. Burchett Says Lobbyists Are Fighting Rep. Jordan for House Speaker

Peter D'Abrosca

A member of the U.S. House of Representatives said Wednesday that Washington lobbyists are to blame for holding up the election of Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH-04) as Speaker of the House. 

“Since the lobbyist (K STREET) are coming out full force AGAINST [Jordan] I know I made the right decision voting for him,” Rep. Tim Burchett (R-TN-02) said Wednesday morning on Twitter/X. 

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Commentary: Americans Won’t Fight for the Globalists’ Agenda

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Imagining a cascade of catastrophic escalations plunging humanity into the next world war is no longer a stretch, and it could happen fast. Israel invades Gaza to destroy Hamas, and Hezbollah goes to war. America targets Hezbollah to help defend Israel, and Iran and Syria, with Russian assistance, attack Israel. Hezbollah cells strike targets within America, and Israel and America strike targets inside Iran. Russia launches a major new offensive in Ukraine with support from Belarus. China openly supports Russia and Iran with weapons. All of this is more plausible than ever.

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Lawmakers: Ohio Fentanyl Bust Shows Need for New Law

The Center Square

Ohio lawmakers pushing to increase penalties for fentanyl trafficking point to a recent drug seizure as proof new laws are needed.

House Bill 230, which has had three committee meetings since being introduced earlier this month, would increase trafficking charges for cocaine, fentanyl-related compounds, heroin and methamphetamine. It would also raise the charges for human trafficking to a first-degree felony and expand the definition of human trafficking.

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Mark Meadows’ Effort to Remove Georgia Election Case from Fulton County Granted 11th Circuit Court Date

Tom Pappert

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered oral arguments on Monday for White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows’ bid to remove the racketeering case against him from Fulton County to a federal court. On Tuesday, the court requested additional arguments from District Attorney Fani Willis and Meadows’ lawyers, to be submitted early next month.

Meadows argues that he should not be tried in Fulton County because he a federal official working for former President Donald Trump at the time Willis alleges he engaged in criminal activities. A lower court agreed with Willis, who argued that Meadows’ efforts to contest the 2020 election results in Georgia went outside his job duties as Trump’s Chief of Staff.

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Jewish Groups: Students for Justice in Palestine Is Terror-Affiliated Organization Protected by U.S. Universities

M.D. Kittle

In the aftermath of Hamas’ barbaric attack on Israel, Arizona State University’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) declared “Palestinian freedom fighters are not terrorists!”

The message was a theme in the group’s anti-Israel “Day of Resistance” in solidarity with Palestine — and, by extension, Hamas.

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