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Mitch McConnell trying to make 1/6 commission about Black Lives Matter and not the Capitol attack
February 24, 2021
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is attempting to throw a wrench in the Jan. 6 Commission that will investigate the attack on the U.S. Capitol, Politico reported Wednesday.
Democrats are modeling the 1/6 Commission off of the 9/11 Commission, which explored every piece and part of what happened on Sept. 11, 2001 and the intelligence failures that led to the attack. McConnell wants to make the 1/6 investigation about everything other than the events on Jan. 6 and what led to the insurrection, focusing it narrowly on security issues.
<p>If Democrats intend to make the commission a broad investigation into everything that happened on Jan. 6 and how attackers were radicalized, McConnell says it must also include a look at hyped left-wing violence like Black Lives Matter. </p><p><span></span>"If Congress is going to attempt some broader analysis of toxic political violence across this country," McConnell said, "then in that case, we cannot have artificial cherry-picking of which terrible behavior does and does not deserve scrutiny."</p><p><span></span>"We could do something narrow that looks at the Capitol, or we could potentially do something broader to analyze the full scope of the political violence problem in this country," McConnell claimed. "We cannot land at some artificial, politicized halfway point."</p><p>Black Lives Matter protests over the course of the last several years didn't have anything to do with the Jan. 6 attack nor did those protests result in the breach of a United States federal building. </p><p>When Republicans were in control of the Senate, McConnell never held a hearing or did a senate investigation into Black Lives Matter protests. </p><p><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/02/24/republicans-commission-insurrection-sabotage/" target="_blank"><em>Washington Post </em>columnist Greg Sargent</a> similarly revealed that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (D-CA) sent Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a letter saying that the language around the purpose of the commission must have "no inclusion of findings or other predetermined conclusions," an aide said.</p><p>"You have to have a clear purpose," the aide said. "Otherwise there's no point to having the commission."</p><p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/02/24/mcconnell-democrats-one-sixth-commission-471350" target="_blank">Read the full Politico report. </a></p>
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'Do not book liars on the air': Soledad O'Brien calls out Lou Dobbs during hearing on 'media extremism'
February 24, 2021
In testimony on Wednesday, Anchor Soledad O'Brien called on news organizations to ban known liars.
At a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing on "extremism in the media," O'Brien began her testimony by recalling that then-anchor Lou Dobbs had falsely reported about the number of case of leprosy among undocumented immigrants when both journalists were working for CNN in 2005.
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"Dobbs's lie advanced his agenda of demonizing undocumented immigrants so it stuck and he got away with it," O'Brien explained. "It was disheartening and degrading and it was also only the beginning."
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According to the veteran anchor, Dobbs had helped to usher in an era of "lies and liars" being embraced by some media.
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"It's only gotten worse as reporters and anchors chase ratings, toss aside objectivity to divide us into false categories, I believe, of left and right, manipulating facts and debating the liars they booked for their very own shows," she continued. "And when news organizations make decisions based on ratings rather than responsible reporting, disinformation flourishes in dangerous ways."
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O'Brien made it clear that she opposes congressional action against news organizations.
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"Here's what we can do," she added. "Don't book liars or advance lies. Cover the fact that lies and propaganda are being disseminated but do not book people to lie on your show because it elevates them and presents a lie as another side."
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"Every perspective does not deserve a platform," the anchor insisted. "Media thrives on the open exchange of ideas. But that does not mean you have to book a Neo-Nazi every time you book someone who is Jewish. Balance does not mean giving voice to liars, to bigots and to kooks."
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O'Brien advised newsrooms to "stop saying you want a diverse staff and go hire one fast."
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Watch the video below.
</p><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l17rDUn6-0w" width="560"></iframe>
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Manhattan DA ramps up investigation of Steve Bannon's alleged border wall crowdfunding scam
February 24, 2021
The investigation into Steve Bannon is ramping up after the Manhattan district attorney's office subpoenaed financial records related to his crowd-funding border-wall effort, CNN reports.
Subpoenas were issued after former President Donald Trump pardoned Bannon in January for federal conspiracy crimes related to the southern border-wall project.
<p>Subpoenas were sent to Wells Fargo, who handled some of the accounts used in the fundraising effort, and to GoFundMe, the crowdfunding platform where Bannon's project, "We Build the Wall," once raised money. The move by Manhattan district attorney Cyrus Vance comes at the same time his investigation into alleged financial crimes committed by Trump and his businesses.</p><p>"Prosecutors alleged Bannon diverted more than $1 million to pay a co-conspirator and cover hundreds of thousands of dollars in personal expenses," CNN reports. "They alleged the victims, including some in New York, were falsely told that all the money donated would go toward the construction effort."</p><p> "The defendants allegedly engaged in fraud when they misrepresented the true use of donated funds. As alleged, not only did they lie to donors, they schemed to hide their misappropriation of funds by creating sham invoices and accounts to launder donations and cover up their crimes, showing no regard for the law or the truth. This case should serve as a warning to other fraudsters that no one is above the law, not even a disabled war veteran or a millionaire political strategist," the DOJ <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/leaders-we-build-wall-online-fundraising-campaign-charged-defrauding-hundreds-thousands" target="_blank">said in a statement</a> last year.</p><p>Out of the four men charged in the case, Bannon was the only one pardoned. But Trump's pardon does not prevent Bannon from being charged by state-level prosecutors. </p>
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