The battle over COVID-19 regulations escalated in Ohio on Monday.
"After failing to impeach Gov. Mike DeWine over his COVID-19 response, Clermont County Republican Rep. John Becker tried – and shortly after failed – to charge him with a slew of criminal offenses, including terrorism, bribery and interfering with civil rights," the Cincinnati Enquirerreported Monday. "Becker accused DeWine of disenfranchising voters, threatening the health of Ohioans by closing hospitals to non-emergency procedures and shuttering businesses in a private citizen affidavit filed with Clermont County Municipal Court on Monday morning."
However, the effort was unsuccessful.
"Clermont County Municipal Court Clerk Tim Rudd sent the request to prosecutor Vince Faris for review, and Faris rejected it shortly after. 'I do not find any basis for the filing of a criminal complaint pursuant to this affidavit,' Faris, a Republican, told The Enquirer. Becker's quest ended just hours after it started," the newspaper reported.
Here are the crimes Becker accused DeWine of committing:
Engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, a second-degree felony
Complicity, a second-degree felony
Terrorism, a third-degree felony
Making terroristic threats, a third-degree felony
Inducing panic, third-degree felony
Conspiracy, a third-degree felony
Bribery, a fourth-degree felony
Interfering with civil rights, a first-degree misdemeanor
Coercion, a second-degree misdemeanor
Patient abuse or neglect, a second-degree misdemeanor
“I never wanted to go down the road of impeachment and certainly never considered criminal charges against Governor DeWine,” Becker said in a press release, as reported by WLWT-TV. “The governor simply isn’t getting the message that the people’s liberties need to be respected and a governor has no right to assume imperial and dictatorial powers without regard to any alleged emergency."
Former FBI agent Peter Strzok sounded the alarm about the recent revelations in the New York Times exposé on President Donald Trump's taxes. According to him, there should be a counterintelligence investigation into Trump's finances and how they coincide with foreign policies that make no sense for the United States.
Speaking with former FBI deputy Frank Figliuzzi and MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace, Strzok called the Times report a "roadmap" for the ways in which Trump could be compromised by hostile powers. It could also explain Trump's issues he has with the intelligence community, who would know about any deals he may have made.
"Part of the concern of any counterintelligence professional is looking for these hidden financial entanglements," the Trump foe explained. "And watching and having done that over six different administrations, every foreign country is trying to use money to get leverage and influence on any given presidency. What the information in The New York Times reports out of those tax records, the breadth and volume of that monetary back and forth is stunning. It's simply unprecedented [of] in any president in modern history. So, if you look at the ways that can be used to, as leverage over Trump, you have to think of this first and foremost as a national security issue. yes, this is a financial issue, but first and foremost, the ways that it can be used to impact the national security of the United States, by the way, can be used against Trump is unprecedented and is deeply concerning."
"What we're seeing, what I understand that the New York Times saw were overt records," explained Strzok. These are things used in accounting and in filings with the IRS. What this isn't is anything that's hidden or, you know, intended to remain off the books. And, of course, that's the environment where most foreign intelligence services, certainly sophisticated ones, are going to try to operate. So, I wouldn't expect to see necessarily, without getting into any sort of classified detail or investigative detail, I think it is reasonable to assume that many countries are well capable of placing money into Trump or his interests around him in a way that doesn't show up on the books, that isn't going to show up on filing with the IRS. So, the absence of that information doesn't surprise me, but that is very much something I would expect to see had that counterintelligence investigation taken place."
Wallace mentioned a few bizarre international things that simply don't make sense. For example, she cited Trump's response to the slaughter and dismemberment of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi. Trump toed the line coming from the Saudi Crown Prince. In John Bolton's book, he alleges that Trump was so concerned about Turkey that he called Attorney General Bill Barr and the same has happened with China. Wallace wondered if Trump has some kind of "side hustle" going on.
"I do," Strzok said flatly. "I think largely, many of these decisions are driven by personal business interests. And the most important thing is, they're being driven in a way that's hidden. And because they're hidden from the American people, that is precisely what gives these foreign nations leverage over them. So, again, that New York Times data, it talks not just about Russia, it talks about Turkey, about the Philippines it talks about Azerbaijan and Dubai. And the concerning thing is until yesterday, none of those transactions were known. So, each and every one of those hidden transactions, those hidden payments provide a leverage point for the foreign nations to use over the president and really go a long way to explaining, as you said, some of these just absolutely nonsensical decisions that don't have any benefit to U.S. national security."
Fox particularly uses the term when explaining opposition to Donald Trump. His opponents are said to “hate” Trump, his values and his followers.
Our research, which ran from Jan. 1 to May 8, 2020, initially explored news of Trump’s impeachment. Then came the coronavirus. As we sifted through hundreds of cable news transcripts over five months, we noticed consistent differences between the vocabulary used on Fox News and that of MSNBC.
While their news agendas were largely similar, the words they used to describe these newsworthy events diverged greatly.
Fox and hate
For our study, we analyzed 1,088 program transcripts from the two ideologically branded channels – right-wing Fox and left-wing MSNBC – between 6 p.m. and 10:59 p.m.
Because polarized media diets contribute to partisan conflict, our quantitative analysis identified terms indicating antipathy or resentment, such as “dislike,” “despise,” “can’t stand” and “hate.”
We expected to find that both of the strongly ideological networks made use of such words, perhaps in different ways. Instead, we found that Fox used antipathy words five times more often than MSNBC. “Hate” really stood out: It appeared 647 times on Fox, compared to 118 on MSNBC.
Fox usually pairs certain words alongside “hate.” The most notable was “they” – as in, “they hate.” Fox used this phrase 101 times between January and May. MSNBC used it just five times.
To put these findings in historic context, we then used the GDELT Television database to search for occurrences of the phrase “they hate” on both networks going back to 2009. We included CNN for an additional comparison.
We found Fox’s usage of “they hate” has increased over time, with a clear spike around the polarizing 2016 Trump-Clinton election. But Fox’s use of “hate” really took off when Trump’s presidency began. Beginning in January 2017, the mean usage of “they hate” on the network doubled.
‘Us’ versus ‘them’
So who is doing all this hating – and why – according to Fox News?
Mainly, it’s Democrats, liberals, political elites and the media. Though these groups do not actually have the same interests, ideology or job description, our analysis finds Fox lumps them together as the “they” in “they hate.”
As for the object of all this hatred, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson and other Fox hosts most often name Trump. Anchors also identify their audience – “you,” “Christians” and “us” – as the target of animosity. Only 13 instances of “they hate” also cited a reason. Examples included “they can’t accept the fact that he won” or “because we voted for [Trump].”
Citing liberal hate as a fact that needs no explanation serves to dismiss criticism of specific policies or events. It paints criticism or moral outrage directed at Trump as inherently irrational.
By repeatedly telling its viewers they are bound together as objects of the contempt of a powerful and hateful left-leaning “elite,” Fox has constructed two imagined communities. On the one side: Trump along with good folks under siege. On the other: nefarious Democrats, liberals, the left and mainstream media.
Research confirms that repeated exposure to polarized media messages can lead news consumers to form firm opinions and can foster what’s called an “in-group” identity. The us-versus-them mentality, in turn, deepens feelings of antipathy toward the perceived “out-group.”
This fraying of social ties helps explain America’s failures in managing the pandemic – and bodes badly for its handling of what seems likely to be a chaotic, divisive presidential election. In pitting its viewers against the rest of the country, Fox News works against potential solutions to the the very crises it covers.
The former head of counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation offered his analysis of the bombshell revelations reported by The New York Times after the newspaper obtained President Donald Trump's tax returns.
Frank Figliuzzi was interviewed Monday by "Deadline: White House" anchor Nicolle Wallace, who discussed all the red flags that the Trump family could be compromised due to their financial dealings.
"Look, you've just discussed the fact that Ivanka [Trump] is now wrapped up in this, because she's been claimed as a business expense for her consulting compensation -- while she's an employee of the Trump Organization. So they're exposed in this," Figliuzzi noted. "And it might be part of why we saw so many concerns about Jared Kushner getting a security clearance."
"But I'm here to tell you, Nicolle, that if this applicant named Donald J. Trump were presented to the FBI to work in the cafeteria of the Hoover Building at 10th and Pennsylvania Ave, it would be disqualified for the financial mess that this reflects, for far less than what this reflects. Hundreds of millions of dollars coming due on a personal hook for the president," he explained. "The judgment alone is questionable, that he would put his name personally and be liable for that."
Figliuzzi concluded, "he's screwed."
"He's essentially invoking his Fifth Amendment rights against self-incrimination when he won't release his tax returns publicly. He doesn't want us to see what's there, not only because it's embarrassing, but because it may be evidence of a crime," Figliuzzi explained.
Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA) whined that he can't understand why the audit into President Donald Trump seems to be taking so long.
“The thought that comes to my mind is, how come it’s taking the IRS so long to get the audits done? I am concerned that the IRS is not getting their work done," the senator said.
— (@)
Grassley is the chair of two different committees that could request the president's tax documents from the IRS to investigate exactly what he seems so concerned about. He is both Chair of the Joint Committee on Taxation and also Senate Finance Committee.
Lawfare editor Susan Hennessey noted, "Even the specious reasons Treasury Department has given for refusing to comply with Neal's request in House wouldn't apply."
All Grassley would have to do is send a letter, she explained, and he could find the answers he seeks.
— (@)
As for Grassley not understanding why the IRS is taking so long, ProPublica reported in 2018 that there has been an eight-year campaign to try and bring down the IRS by Republicans who also claim they want to fix the national debt.
The IRS has been relegated to focusing on small-time tax dodges rather than the million-dollar corporations and the uber-rich who avoid paying their fair share. Trump has been under audit after claiming that he should get a nearly $80 million tax refund due to his overwhelming "losses." While Trump got the cash, the IRS stepped back to investigate the specifics and if they find he lied, he could be on the hook for as much as $100 million.
President Trump and his surrogates continue to hammer away at the narrative attacking Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, asking why no one is questioning their alleged receiving of millions of dollars from the wife of Moscow’s late mayor Yury Luzhkov. But according to a new report from POLITICO, Trump himself sought to do business with Luzhkov’s government in the late 1990s.
"[Trump's] attempts to build an underground mall in Moscow and renovate two major hotels there were part of a broader push to secure high-profile real-estate deals in Russia, which Trump was still pursuing as recently as 2016 with a proposal for a Trump Tower Moscow," the report states.
But on Sunday, Trump claimed that he “didn’t have anything to do with Russia.”
Writing for the Washington Post this Monday, Paul Waldman contends that even though Republicans are about to push through President Trump's pick to replace Ruth Bader Ginsburg on the Supreme Court before the 2020 election, giving them the ability to "impose their incredibly unpopular agenda on the country," they want people to think they're the victims in the whole situation.
"Here’s the truth about the argument over Amy Coney Barrett: Democrats have decided to all but ignore Barrett herself," Waldman writes. "Prepared for this moment her entire career as she was pumped through the Federalist Society pipeline, her far-right views are as predictable as the lengths she will go to obfuscate them during her confirmation hearings. So Democrats are focusing on what a 6-3 conservative majority means, especially the possibility that it will strike down the Affordable Care Act, throwing our entire health care system into chaos."
According to Waldman, when Republicans strategize for a political conflict, they first consider one thing: How do we get our base angry? Due to experience, they know that the "shortest route to anger is through feelings of victimization."
"So they are trying to manufacture a phony controversy, in which they claim Democrats are attacking Barrett for being Catholic," Waldman continues. "An assault on religious faith! Part of the secular conspiracy! Get mad about this!"
Waldman says no such attack is taking place. "Democrats know they are essentially powerless to stop Barrett’s ascension, so their strategy is built on making Republicans pay at the ballot box for the unpopular ways the court will shift American law to the right."
A litigious conservative activist in Houston, the Harris County Republican party, and a number of Republican officials and candidates are asking the Texas Supreme Court to limit in-person and absentee voting options for Harris County voters during the pandemic.
The county, the state’s most populous and a major Democratic stronghold, began letting voters drop off absentee ballots Monday for the Nov. 3 general election at 11 annexes. In line with a directive from Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, the county also intends to begin in-person early voting Oct. 13.
Prominent activist Steve Hotze, as well as Wendell Champion, a Republican candidate for Congress; Sharon Hemphill, a Republican candidate for judge; and the local GOP chair, are suing to stop that, arguing Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins is overreaching the bounds of state election law. They’re asking the state’s highest civil court to order Harris County to not begin early voting until Oct. 19 — the date set by state law that Abbott extended by executive order, citing safety concerns — and not accept absentee ballots delivered in person until Nov. 3.
A longtime culture warrior on the right, Hotze has gone to court a number of times to challenge Abbott, Hollins and other elected officials over coronavirus-related restrictions — and lately over election procedures — with minimal success so far. An opponent of same-sex marriage, Hotze was a key figure in the Legislature’s 2017 fight over a “bathroom bill” that would have limited transgender Texans’ access to public facilities. He called Abbott’s staff earlier this year to ask that law enforcement “shoot to kill” rioters protesting after the police killing of George Floyd.
The new case comes less than a week after Hotze, along with a number of other top Republicans, challenged the governor for extending early voting in response to ongoing health concerns about the coronavirus pandemic. That case is pending before the Texas Supreme Court.
The conservative plaintiffs also argue that state law does not allow Hollins to permit voters to drop off their ballots at the 11 sites, a strategy they claim “creates an opportunity ripe for fraud.”
According to the Harris County clerk’s website, voters who complete absentee ballots may drop them off at any of 11 locations during specified hours, including 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during the early voting period and on Election Day. Voters can deliver only their own ballots in person, and when they do they must present identification.
Hollins’ office did not immediately return a request for comment.
Republicans across the country, including leaders in Texas, have sought to cast doubt on the security of absentee ballots — skepticism experts say is not merited. There are documented cases of voter fraud in Texas, but with absentee ballots, as overall, it is rare.
Texas is one of just a few states that have not allowed for no-excuse absentee ballots during the pandemic. Texans can vote by mail only if they are over 65, out of their home county, confined in jail, or cite a disability or illness. But the question of who qualifies as disabled has become politicized and intensely litigated as the political parties fight for advantage in an election that’s expected to be competitive in Texas. The Trump campaign has encouraged its voters to request absentee ballots, even as the president claims without evidence that it will lead to fraud.
The legal filing also includes allegations, without specific evidence, that a number of prominent Democrats in the Houston area are engaged in “ballot harvesting.” Quoting two brief affidavits from two men who say they are private investigators and former law enforcement officials, the Republican plaintiffs accuse a host of local Democratic operatives, including elected officials, of harvesting votes from people who are homeless or elderly. The filing provides no evidence to support these claims beyond hearsay claims from unnamed “witnesses.”
The plaintiffs’ lawyer, Jared Woodfill, did not respond to a request to make the two men — who are referred to as “investigators” throughout the filing — available for interviews about their methods or findings.
State Sen. Borris Miles, a Houston Democrat who is accused of the vote-harvesting scheme, called the allegations false and ludicrous, noting he has never met either of the two men who claim to have inside knowledge of the alleged plot.
Miles said he has always encouraged mail-in voting, especially for voters who are senior citizens, but has never and would never engage in ballot harvesting or any efforts to collect absentee ballots. The allegation is “Republican opposition work,” he said.
“I don’t do that, I don’t have a team that does that, and I’ve never had somebody else’s mail ballot in my hands,” Miles said.
A new video shows the shocking reality that people of color have faced since President Donald Trump's supporters have unleashed their fury on the country.
A group of Bernie Sanders supporters who founded the Really American PAC spliced together the outbreak of racism that has been captured on video and how it relates to what Trump has also said publicly about Black Americans, Latinos and the Chinese.
Trump's recent attacks on China for the coronavirus has increased attacks on Asian Americans to the tune of 2,120 incidents of hate between March and June.
“It was along the lines of, ‘Chinese bitch! You brought the virus here, you bitch!’ Before she could get closer to me, I walked faster away from her. While she still kept aggressively shouting at me, I was in so much fear that I started running. It was the first time I have ever felt like someone wanted to hurt me just because of the way I look,” recalled actress Dorothea Gloria, who is from the Philippines.
Watch the video from the ReallyAmerican PAC below:
But my haircut?Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is mocking President Donald Trump over reports that he sought to deduct from his taxes $70,000 in hair-styling expenses, noting that his supporters raged at her for spending $250 on a birthday hair-do.“Where’s the criticism of their idol spending $70k on hairstyling?” the New York Democrat tweeted. “Oh, it’s nowhere because they’re spineless, misogynistic hypocrites? Got it.”Ocasio-Cortez also slammed Trump for revelations that he paid no more than $750 a year to Uncle Sam in a bombshell New York Times report on his taxes.The freshman congresswoman ...
Speaking to MSNBC on Monday about the recent bombshell report about President Donald Trump's taxes, his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, explained that behind closed doors, Trump is likely panicking.
Sunday night, Cohen recalled a conversation in his book in which Trump got a $10 million refund from the IRS, which Trump mocked as "so stupid."
MSNBC host Katy Tur asked Cohen if Trump is inflating and deflating properties' size to either get more in loans or pay less in taxes. Cohen said that he anticipates it's something that the New York attorney general and the Manhattan district attorney are looking into. Complaints have already been filed against the Trump Organization for it.
"However, I think as it relates to The New York Times reporting, and of course, what does the president say? It's fake, it's not real," Cohen continued. "It's not. He doesn't even know -- if you look at his body language, I talk a lot about that in the book as well -- his body language tells a lot about him. Right now, he's lost. He's confused. He's dazed. He's not sure what to answer. He doesn't know how to answer it because it's hard to answer and to refute something which has basically documentary evidence. They have the returns."
He noted that the one thing that is likely bothering Trump the most is that he has an astounding amount of debt, and he's going to have to figure out a solution quickly.
"Trump has over $420 million in outstanding loans that are coming due," said Cohen. "Now, in the event, there is a potential tax liability for the time period that they're talking about, I mean, it could be hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars. If you add those together, I mean, he's very realistically facing a potential bankruptcy where people are concerned about in terms of your previous guest about foreign influence. I mean, the more likely scenario that I see is that he'll find some corrupt foreign entity to help him out of the situation. Not too much dissimilar than 666 Fifth Avenue."
In that case, Jared Kushner, "in his capacity as a senior adviser to President Trump, reportedly played a central role in supporting a blockade of Qatar by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates," explained JustSecurity. "Kushner never disclosed his meeting with Saudi Arabia and the UAE on the blockade to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson at the time. Later, a financial company tied to Qatar brokered an especially valuable deal to rescue the Kushner Companies' property at 666 Fifth Avenue."
While doing yard work last weekend, Malia and Jeff Zirkle of Washington state were accosted by a passerby who yelled, “Black lives don’t matter” and “I hope you burn," the Herald Net reports.
The couple shared surveillance video of the incident, which then went viral. The couple also has a Black Lives Matter sign visibly displayed on their front lawn.
“Eventually I realized that this is something that happens, and there are a lot of people who think it doesn’t happen,” said Malia Zirkle, whose father, according to the Herald Net, is half Black.
When news of their experience got around, their neighbors rallied in support for them, drawing chalk art on the road near their home showing support for the “Black Lives Matter” message.
The video shows a driver in a SUV roll up and ask, "Hey, you guys do Girl Scout cookies, right?"
Jeff Zirkle, who is white, answered. "Yeah."
"Well never do it again. You guys suck," the driver replied, adding "I hope you burn -- Black lives don't matter."
The Zirkles say they support law enforcement and don’t see the Black Lives Matter message as partisan. They also have a sign that reads, “anti-brutality, pro-police.”
Conservative Washington Post writer Max Boot noted that the recent revelations about President Donald Trump's taxes expose the real reason that he's terrified to leave office.
Writing Monday, Boot began by admitting that Hillary Clinton was right all along. It's one of many things she warned of in the 2016 election that went ignored by the Republican Party and the majority of voters in Rust Belt states.
"He managed to pay no federal income taxes at all in 10 of the previous 15 years — and only $750 in 2016 and 2017 — by claiming vast losses from his business empire," Boot said, citing the New York Times report. "That $750 figure is a killer because it’s a number that middle-class Americans can understand. As a just-released Biden campaign ad points out, that’s far less than the taxes paid by the average teacher, nurse or firefighter."
Trump likely didn't want to see his taxes revealed because it obliterates his carefully crafted image that he's a genius businessman. He's built his "Apprentice" empire on a lie and profited handsomely on it. That likely won't help him if he reenters society on January 20, 2021.
"The Times article supports the assumption that Trump ran for president in 2015 — a race he never expected to win — to revive his flagging fortunes," Boot also noted.
It confirms what his former lawyer Michael Cohen testified to Congress in 2019: “Mr. Trump would often say this campaign was going to be the greatest infomercial in political history. . . . The campaign for him was always a marketing opportunity.”
Winning the election gave Trump the opportunity to increase club fees to those seeking to buy influence or gain access to the president at Mar-a-Lago and Bedminster. Boot cited the recent CREW report that Trump has at over 3,400 conflicts of interest, which calculates to about two per day in office.
While Republicans have turned a blind eye to the scam, Congress has long fought subpoenas in court about violations in the emoluments clause in the Constitution. It's unknown if that investigation will continue after Trump is out of office.
Trump's other problem is that he has nearly $500 million in loans and debt and those bills are coming due in the next four years. So, if Trump is reelected in November, he could end up being the first president in history to be foreclosed on. To make matters worse, such a huge amount of debt is a serious problem for the security of the United States.
Boot cited former FBI agent Josh Campbell, who explained such a huge amount of debt “disqualifies most people from obtaining a government security clearance,” because the U.S. government “views this as a vulnerability and a point of leverage for foreign adversaries seeking access to classified information.”
While mentions of Russia would primarily come from Trump Organization documents and not Trump's personal information, one Russia connection was that Trump made an astounding $2.3 million for holding the Miss Universe pageant in Moscow. The money came from the Agalarov family, which Boot noted is close to Russia's Vladimir Putin, "and which lost $10 million on the transaction."
It's a reminder, Boot explained, that special counsel Robert Mueller wouldn't look into Trump's finances when he was investigating ties between the president and Russia. It's the reason former director of national intelligence Dan Coats told Bob Woodward, "Putin has something on Trump."
Then there's the matter of possible personal tax fraud. Currently, Trump serves as the "boss" of the head of the Internal Revenue Service, so there's no chance that the IRS is going to do anything to investigate Trump's taxes while he's in office. But under a new administration, and a new Congress, they might have the funding to be able to finally challenge some of the top one percent of taxpayers who refuse to pay their fair share, including Trump.
"Will any of it matter?" asked Boot. "It’s true that the Times’s revelations are unlikely to move Trump’s devoted supporters to vote for Joe Biden. But they do disrupt Trump’s ability to get his message across with only 36 days left in an election that he is losing."
He closed by speculating that Trump is desperate to stay in office "because he needs to profit from the presidency — and to avoid the risk of prosecution for tax fraud and other possible crimes."
