Trump Super PAC Reserves Millions In Airtime In Key States
Trump Super PAC Reserves Millions In Airtime In Key States https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-super-pac-reserves-millions-in-airtime-in-key-states/
Published October 8, 2022 7:59PM
article
Former US President Donald Trump makes a speech at the 2022 Hispanic Leadership Conference in Miami, Florida, United States on October 5, 2022. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
ATLANTA – Former President Donald Trump is finally opening his checkbook, reserving millions of dollars in airtime for ads to bolster his endorsed candidates in key midterm races just one month before Election Day.
Trump’s newly-formed MAGA Inc. super PAC will begin airing ads Saturday in Nevada, Georgia and Arizona, according to Medium Buying, an ad tracking firm. The group is already airing ads in Pennsylvania and Ohio, home to two of the most consequential and competitive Senate races in the country.
The Georgia spending is particularly notable, coming as Trump’s hand-picked Republican Senate candidate Herschel Walker’s campaign has been rocked by reports alleging he encouraged and paid for an ex-girlfriend’s 2009 abortion. Walker, a longtime football icon, backed a national ban on abortion during his primary, and has said he does not believe in exceptions even in cases of rape, incest or when the health of a pregnant woman is at risk.
The Trump ad set to air in Georgia, which was shared with The Associated Press, does not include any mention of Walker. Instead it focuses on his rival, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, and tries to cast Warnock and his party as too extreme.
“From D-Day to drag queen story time, America has lost its way,” its narrator says. “Chaos at the border. Crime in our neighborhoods. A collapsing economy. Biden and Warnock did that,” it claims.
In total, the super PAC appears to have spent close to $5 million on its initial investment. That includes $954,000 in Georgia, $512,000 in Nevada and $1.16 million in Arizona, according to Medium Buying, in addition to $1.34 million in Ohio and $829,000 in Pennsylvania, according to AdImpact, another ad tracking firm.
MAGA Inc. spokesman Steven Cheung declined to say how much additional spending Trump had planned beyond the initial reservations. “We’re not going to telegraph our spending but it’s a significant buy,” he said.
The super PAC’s first wave of ads are all negative spots aimed at turning voters off the Democratic rivals of Trump-endorsed candidates. The first attacked Pennsylvania Democrat John Fetterman, who is running against Republican nominee Mehmet Oz, by portraying Fetterman as soft on crime.
“John Fetterman wants ruthless killers, muggers and rapists back on our streets,” it charges, labeling the lieutenant governor “dangerous.”
The second targeted Ohio Democratic Senate candidate Tim Ryan for voting with his party as a member of Congress, using footage from a speech in which he joked that he would “suck up a little bit” to Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, “his future boss.” Ryan, who is running against Trump-endorsed Republican JD Vance, has run as centrist trying to win back the Rust Belt voters who have soured on the party in recent years.
The ads released so far notably do not feature or even mention Trump, who remains a deeply divisive figure, but one who is extremely popular with the Republican base.
Trump had been under growing pressure to finally start spending on midterm races after playing an outsize role in the primaries and pushing his favored candidates. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in particular, had urged candidates with Trump’s support to ask him to open his checkbook heading into the race’s final stretch.
The notoriously thrifty former president’s Save America PAC, his main fundraising vehicle since leaving office, ended August with more than $90 million in the bank. Trump aides have discussed transferring a portion of that money to MAGA Inc., which could later be used to support a presidential campaign should Trump decide to run again, though campaign finance experts are divided on the legality of such a move.
Trump has continued to tease another presidential run, telling supporters at a rally in Warren, Michigan, last weekend, “We’ll be talking about great things hopefully in the not so distant future.”
“Oh I think you’re going to be happy,” he went on to say. “But first we have to win a historic victory for the Republican Party this November.”
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Jackson State's Deion Sanders Has Heated Handshake With Alabama State Coach Eddie Robinson Jr. After Tigers Win
Jackson State's Deion Sanders Has Heated Handshake With Alabama State Coach Eddie Robinson Jr. After Tigers Win https://digitalalabamanews.com/jackson-states-deion-sanders-has-heated-handshake-with-alabama-state-coach-eddie-robinson-jr-after-tigers-win/
Jackson State coach Deion Sanders had a heated moment with Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr. following the Tigers’ 26-12 over the Yellow Jackets on Saturday.
Following the conclusion of the game, Sanders met with Robinson — who is not related to HBCU coaching legend Eddie Robinson — at midfield for a handshake. Though Robinson shook Sanders’ hand, he rebuffed the Jackson State coach after he attempted to hug him.
Video of the brief incident shows Robinson placing his hand on Sanders’ chest, gently shoving him and jerking his arm away from the Tigers coach:
— Craig Haley (@CraigHaley) October 8, 2022
MORE: College football schedule today: TV coverage, channels, scores for Week 6 top-25 games
Sanders appeared confused by the confrontation, standing in place and raising his hands in the air in a questioning gesture. After the game, he said that Robinson’s frustration could be “a plethora of things.” Among those, he said it could have been because his team was late and he didn’t meet the coach before the game because of traffic from Birmingham to Montgomery, according to the Clarion Ledger.
“I think he thought he was going to get a win. I don’t know why he would’ve ever thought that,” Sanders said, per the Ledger. “Secondly he said that I didn’t come to greet him in the center of the field. I don’t know if you understand but we got here very late. So that expedited our whole process of preparation. So then we were in like, ‘let’s go get it [mode].'”
Sanders also recounted the moment the two met after the game.
“My exact words was, ‘Hey man, you had them ready to play. Good game,'” Sanders said. “Shook hands and tried to embrace and he pushed off. That was it.”
Robinson said he felt Sanders was disrespectful the week leading up to the game. He said before the game, Sanders didn’t talk with him during the pre-game and that he walked through the Alabama State huddle and took the long way to get to his side of the field.
“I’m going to shake your hand, I’m going to go home. I’m always going to be respectful and respect the game,” Robinson said. “I’m living on the shoulders of the SWAC. He ain’t SWAC. I’m SWAC. He ain’t SWAC.”
Robinson added that while he had respect for Sanders as a player and for what he has done in the sport both as a coach and a player, he did not like how Sanders had his backup quarterback attempting passes late in a blowout game.
“S—’s disrespectful. Game was out of line, 26-12, 40 seconds left, we had no timeouts, take a damn knee. Want to try and run a hitch and go. So we started blitzing. We gone knock him out of the game too. That’s how we’ve got to play. It ain’t no quarters given,” Robinson said. “So you want to do that, don’t come up to me and try to bro hug like we friends. We ain’t friends. You didn’t shake my hand before the game, why you shaking my hand after the game.”
“He ain’t SWAC. I’m SWAC.” Alabama State HC Eddie Robinson about Jackson State HC Deion Sanders #bamastate #swac #swarmas1 #theeibelieve pic.twitter.com/sJuZjnSXdB
— The Wild Card (@wildcard2k) October 8, 2022
ProFootballTalk’s Michael David Smith speculated it also might have been because Sanders said Alabama State would regret scheduling Jackson State as its homecoming game.
Jackson State coach Deion Sanders made a comment this week suggesting that Alabama State would regret scheduling his team for homecoming, which may be why Alabama State coach Eddie Robinson Jr. was in no mood to exchange pleasantries after the game. https://t.co/YgIqHYYK2O
— Michael David Smith (@MichaelDavSmith) October 8, 2022
Jackson State was largely dominant in the win, out-gaining the Yellow Jackets 441-177 (including 332-138 in passing yards and 109-39 in rushing). Jackson State quarterback Shedeur Sanders completed 30 of 46 passes for 332 yards and three touchdowns to one interception.
This story will be updated. Edward Sutelan contributed to this report.
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Quin Hillyer: Alabama Redistricting Case Shows Racialist Agenda Of Liberal Plaintiffs
Quin Hillyer: Alabama Redistricting Case Shows Racialist Agenda Of Liberal Plaintiffs https://digitalalabamanews.com/quin-hillyer-alabama-redistricting-case-shows-racialist-agenda-of-liberal-plaintiffs/
MOBILE, Ala. — In the Alabama redistricting case heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Oct. 4, the liberal justices made false assertions in obvious search of misguided conclusions that would balkanize this Alabama county along racial lines. Similar (but not identical) issues face Louisiana’s congressional map.
Alabama overwhelmingly merits approval of the congressional district lines it drew after the 2020 Census. Those lines would keep Mobile County whole.
For decades, Alabama has had seven seats in Congress. For decades, one of Alabama’s seven districts has had a Black majority. Those challenging Alabama’s districts say that because 27% of the state’s population — not quite two-sevenths — is Black, the state should create a second Black-majority district. But that population percentage has barely changed in all the intervening years since federal courts repeatedly found Alabama’s districts constitutional. The new districts drawn by the state legislature are quite similar to those old districts that passed constitutional muster. Common sense says if almost nothing has changed, then what was constitutional before remains constitutional now.
Challengers base their demands for a second Black-majority district on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which guarantees equal access to the political system for Black voters. Unfortunately, they mistake “access” for “racial results.”
To make clear its goal is access and not results, Section 2 says “nothing in this section establishes a right to have members of a protected class elected in numbers equal to their proportion in the population.” That’s clear and direct. In a series of decisions, the Supreme Court repeatedly has ruled that race absolutely may not be the “predominant” factor in drawing district lines.
Yet challengers demand that race be the essential factor, ignoring other neutral and judicially approved factors such as geographical features or county borders. To concoct a second district with a Black majority, challengers create lines that obliterate those traditional and sensible factors, meandering across the landscape while cherry-picking Black communities to append to the new district while excluding immediately neighboring White ones.
Mobile County, in the state’s southwest corner, has throughout recent memory been the anchor, in whole, of the state’s First Congressional District. Challengers would snake down in a bizarre way to gobble up Black neighborhoods in Mobile and force them into a different congressional district with Black areas from all the way across the state. Their thesis, entirely racialist and arguably racist, is that Black Alabamans in a coastal county adjoining Mississippi have more in common with landlocked Black Alabamans near Georgia than with White coastal neighbors just three streets away.
At oral argument, the high court’s liberal justices, led by Elena Kagan, clearly supported this argument that race should trump other considerations. But Kagan has her facts wrong. Kagan said “you’re looking at a state where… there is incredible racially polarized voting.”
Not exactly. In 2021, the city of Mobile for the fifth consecutive election chose a mayor of a different race than the city’s voting majority. In 2005 and 2009, when the city still had a substantial White majority, it elected Black Democrat Sam Jones over White Republican candidates. By 2013, the city had become majority-Black but in 2013, 2017, and 2021 it elected White Republican Sandy Stimpson over Black Democrats.
Likewise in a statewide Democratic gubernatorial primary in 2010, White candidate Ron Sparks decisively defeated U.S. Rep. Artur Davis, who is Black, among Black voters. At the same time, Davis captured close to 40% of the White Democratic vote. In Mobile, Davis carried a strong majority of both Black and White precincts. But Starks won the race because of his statewide Black support.
Contra Kagan, there clearly is not “incredibly racially polarized voting.” Later, Kagan misused the Section 2 language ensuring that Black voters have equal participatory opportunity to elect a “candidate of their choice” to assume that it essentially means “candidate of the same race.” That’s nonsense.
Why would a Black voter in the rural “wiregrass” area of Alabama, near Georgia, automatically “choose” to be represented by a Black politician from urban Mobile rather than by a White politician whose lifetime in the wiregrass region helps him intuitively understand the wiregrass’ needs?
By shoehorning Black voters together solely on the basis of race, what the plaintiffs actually propose, supposedly for the benefit of those Black voters, amounts to “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.” When a White Alabama governor uttered that horrible line, he was rightly branded a despicable racist. Do Kagan and four other justices want to carry George Wallace’s mantle?
New Orleans native Quin Hillyer is a senior commentary writer and editor for the Washington Examiner, working from the Gulf Coast. A version of this column originally appeared in the Examiner. He can be reached at Qhillyer@WashingtonExaminer.com. His other columns appear at www.washingtonexaminer.com/author/quin-hillyer.
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Man Shot In Estérel Had Met With FBI About Ties To Woman Who Gained Access To Trump
Man Shot In Estérel Had Met With FBI About Ties To Woman Who Gained Access To Trump https://digitalalabamanews.com/man-shot-in-esterel-had-met-with-fbi-about-ties-to-woman-who-gained-access-to-trump/
Valeriy Tarasenko, 44, is a former associate of Inna Yashchyshyn, who circulated at Mar-a-Lago by pretending to be a Rothschild family heiress.
Quebec police set up roadblocks and searched cars after shootings near a resort in Estérel on Friday, Oct. 7, 2022. Photo by Hayley Juhl /Montreal Gazette
A man shot near a lakeside hotel in the Laurentians on Friday and linked to a fake heiress who gained access to former U.S. president Donald Trump at his Florida estate was once described by his wife’s step-father as being “involved in some unclear activities.”
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Valeriy Tarasenko, who is about to turn 45, survived the shooting, which occurred in Estérel, about 95 kilometres north of Montreal. However, the suspect or suspects in what has been described as a “targeted shooting” are still at large, the Sûreté du Québec reported on Saturday.
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“We have nothing more to say than it’s a 44-year-old man who was injured, his life is not in danger and an investigation is underway,” SQ Sgt. Marythé Bolduc said. The police would not say, for example, if they have leads on the suspect or suspects, whether Tarasenko was, as initially reported, shot in the hotel’s parking lot and whether Tarasenko was accompanied at the time of the shooting.
“As far as I know, Valery [sic] has never worked and he is involved in some unclear activities,” Tarasenko’s step father-in-law, Yury Manakhov, stated in an affidavit filed in Quebec Superior Court in 2012. Manakhov successfully sued his step-daughter, Anna Kovalenko Tarasenko, claiming $370,000 in unpaid loans.
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Tarasenko is a former associate of Inna Yashchyshyn, who made international headlines this year after it was revealed she had gained access to Trump and members of his inner circle at his Mar-a-Lago estate by pretending to be a Rothschild family heiress. A picture taken of her next to the former president on his golf course was widely published.
Tarasenko, who had businesses with Yaschyshyn, told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette this year he had met with the FBI and turned over documents and photos tied to an investigation into Yashchyshyn, her trips to Trump’s residence and businesses she set up over the past seven years.
The Post-Gazette, in collaboration with the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), quoted Tarasenko as saying he had hired Yaschyshyn in 2014 to live in his Miami condo and watch his daughter while he travelled. The pair fell out, however, and he accused Yaschyshyn of abusing his daughter. Yaschyshyn vigorously denies the allegation and claims Tarasenko was violent and effectively held her hostage, the Post-Gazette and OCCRP reported.
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Quebec business records show a non-profit company, the United Hearts of Mercy, still registered at a downtown Montreal condo Tarasenko’s wife, Anna Kovalenko Tarasenko, sold this past June. The non-profit, created in 2010 and also called Coeurs unis de la miséricorde, lists Yaschyshyn as president and Kovalenko Tarasenko as treasurer. The vice-president is listed as Tatiana Verzilina, whom the Post-Gazette and OCCRP reported to be the certified public accountant of an organization in Florida also called United Hearts of Mercy.
The Post-Gazette and OCCRP reported Verzilina alleged in a 2021 sworn statement, which was turned over to the FBI, the Florida-registered United Hearts of Mercy, now inactive, was a source of illicit funds for organized crime.
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Valeriy Tarasenko was president of the Quebec-based United Hearts of Mercy until 2015, while two other people are listed as past vice-presidents, the Quebec business record shows. The record lists the non-profit’s activity in Quebec as charity. However, the name doesn’t currently appear in the charities registry of the Canada Revenue Agency.
The Quebec courts have ordered bailiffs to sell certain of the Tarasenkos’ properties, including a chalet in Estérel, to repay Kovalenko Tarasenko’s debt to her step-father, Manakhov.
The Tarasenkos’ current real estate holdings — which also include parcels of land in Estérel — are registered to Kovalenko Tarasenko. A for-profit Quebec company, Bastion-M Inc., which lists its activities as residential construction and management consulting, shows Kovalenko Tarasenko as first shareholder and Verzilina as second shareholder. Valeriy Tarasenko was president of the company from 2007 to 2011.
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Anna Kovalenko Tarasenko married Valeriy Tarasenko in Russia in 2003 and they had a child together, according to one of the rulings in the case involving her step-father. Kovalenko Tarasenko told her mother and step-father in 2006 she had divorced Tarasenko in 2005 and wished to emigrate to Canada to study at a Montreal university, it said.
Kovalenko Tarasenko arrived to Montreal in 2006, and her step-father loaned her $250,000 U.S. in 2007 to buy a condo in the city and set her up, the ruling said. She later remarried Valeriy Tarasenko, who arrived in Montreal in 2008, it said.
Manakhov, who eventually emigrated to Montreal with Kovalenko Tarasenko’s mother, claimed in his 2012 affidavit that his step-daughter was “under the negative influence of her husband, Valery Tarasenko [sic]” and “was constantly lying to me about the real nature of her relation with Valery Tarasenko.”
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Manakhov claimed in his affidavit his step-daughter said in 2011 she wanted to divorce her husband and needed money. Manakhov said he continued to loan his step-daughter money “to pay her debts and help her with divorce,” but that she “lied to me pretending that she was preparing to divorce with Tarasenko … (and) made no action to obtain divorce.”
Manakhov won his case against his step-daughter in 2019. The judgement ordered Kovalenko Tarasenko to pay Manakhov $370,000 with interest and an additional indemnity and allowed Manakhov to seize his step-daughter’s properties.
Kovalenko Tarasenko unsuccessfully sued her step-father last year for alleged defamation during their legal battle.
La Presse reported Saturday that Valeriy Tarasenko was charged in 2015 with death threats against Manakhov. The newspaper said the case was settled by a peace order that prohibited Tarasenko from approaching his stepfather.
lgyulai@postmedia.com
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Reuters US Domestic News Summary | Law-Order https://digitalalabamanews.com/reuters-us-domestic-news-summary-law-order-2/
Following is a summary of current US domestic news briefs.
Uvalde school district suspends entire police force after May shooting
The school district in Uvalde, Texas, suspended its entire police force on Friday, pending the outcome of a probe following the mass shooting in May that killed 19 students and two teachers, the district said in a statement. The district said it suspended all activities of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Police Department “for a period of time.” The police force consisted of five officers and one security guard, according to its website.
Sandy Hook jurors end first day of deliberations in Alex Jones damages case
A Connecticut jury on Friday ended its first full day of deliberations without a decision on how much conspiracy theorist Alex Jones must pay families of victims for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012 was a hoax. Deliberations will resume on Tuesday in Waterbury, Connecticut state court, not far from where a gunman killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. Jones claimed for years that the massacre was staged with actors by the government as part of a plot to seize Americans’ guns.
U.S. Treasury sets new tax credit rule to expand affordable housing
The U.S. Treasury moved to preserve and expand the supply of affordable housing on Friday by finalizing a new tax credit income rule that may qualify more housing projects and extending deadlines for when they must be placed in service. The finalized income-averaging rule for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit now allows a broader mix of income levels among residents of qualifying projects, by using an average, rather than fixed limits for all units.
Kevin Spacey accuser testifies at sex abuse trial about ‘alarming’ encounter
Anthony Rapp, who has accused Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey of making an unwanted sexual advance in 1986 when Rapp was 14, testified on Friday at a civil trial that he felt like a “deer in the headlights” when Spacey climbed on top of him at a party. Rapp, who sued Spacey in November 2020 and is seeking $40 million in damages for battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress, said on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court that he was able to “swerve my way out” from under an intoxicated Spacey, who was then 26 and acting on Broadway.
Factbox-Voters in five U.S. states to decide on legalizing marijuana in November midterms
Voters in five states will decide whether to legalize adult-use marijuana in November’s midterm elections, as 19 other states and the District of Columbia have done. Public support for legalizing the drug has risen in recent years, and President Joe Biden on Thursday announced he was pardoning thousands of people who had been convicted of federal marijuana possession charges.
‘Big shrimping family’ in Florida left homeless by Hurricane Ian
Ricky Moran, a shrimper who worked and slept on the boat he captained out of Fort Myers Beach, lost both a secure livelihood and a safe place to live when Hurricane Ian roared into southwest Florida and smashed the trawler he calls home. The Category 4 storm lifted the craft from its moorings like it was a toy and left it in a twisted heap on shore along with a half dozen other battered boats, most flipped on their sides or with the hulls facing the sky. Moran now finds himself without a safe place to live or a means to make a living.
Appeals court temporarily blocks Arizona’s abortion ban
An appeals court on Friday temporarily blocked Arizona from enforcing a 1901 ban on nearly all abortions in the state, overruling a trial court’s decision last month to let the ban proceed. The Arizona Court of Appeals granted Planned Parenthood’s request for an emergency stay of Pima County Superior Court’s ruling on Sept. 23 that lifted an injunction on the ban. The appeals court said the abortion-rights advocacy group “demonstrated a substantial likelihood of success” in its challenge of that decision.
NYC mayor declares state of emergency amid migrant busing crisis
New York City Mayor Eric Adams declared a state of emergency on Friday in response to thousands of migrants bused to the city in recent months from the U.S. southern border in a political dispute over border security. The city expects to spend $1 billion to manage the influx of the migrants, Adams said in a speech at City Hall. More than 17,000 have arrived in New York since April; an average of five or six buses each day since early September, with nine buses pulling into the city on Thursday, said Adams, a Democrat, straining the city’s homeless shelter system.
Oath Keepers founder spoke of ‘bloody’ war ahead of U.S. Capitol attack
Prosecutors in the trial of five Oath Keepers members on Friday showed a jury fresh evidence that the right-wing militia group’s founder Stewart Rhodes told his followers ahead of last year’s U.S. Capitol attack there would be a “bloody” war if then-President Donald Trump failed to reverse his 2020 election loss. In numerous text messages, online postings and speeches shown as evidence, Rhodes promoted the use of force and implored Trump to invoke the Insurrection Act, a 19th century U.S. law that empowers presidents to deploy troops to quell civil unrest.
Gray whale numbers along North America’s west coast down nearly 40% since 2016
The number of gray whales migrating along the Pacific Coast of North America has steadily declined by nearly 40% from a 2016 peak, and the population produced its fewest calves on record this year, according to U.S. research released on Friday.
The 38% drop from the population’s 2016 high of 27,000 whales to 16,650 this year resembles previous fluctuations but warrants further attention, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Research Administration (NOAA) report said.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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Herschel Walker Centers Pitch To Republicans On wokeness
Herschel Walker Centers Pitch To Republicans On ‘wokeness’ https://digitalalabamanews.com/herschel-walker-centers-pitch-to-republicans-on-wokeness/
EMERSON, Ga. Herschel Walker pitches himself as a politician who can bridge America’s racial and cultural divides because he loves everyone and overlooks differences.
“I don’t care what color you are,” Georgia’s Republican Senate nominee, who is Black, told an overwhelmingly white crowd recently in Bartow County, north of Atlanta. “This is a good place,” Walker said of the United States, “and a way we make it better is by coming together.”
Yet the former University of Georgia football star who calls all Georgians “my family” has staked out familiar conservative ground on the nation’s most glaring societal fissures, seemingly contradicting his promises of unity. Walker says those who do not share his vision of the country can leave and he blasts his opponent, Sen. Raphael Warnock, and the Democratic Party as the real purveyors of division.
Their “wokeness” on race, transgender rights and other issues, Walker insists, threatens U.S. power and identity.
“Sen. Warnock believes America is a bad country full of racist people,” Walker says in one ad. It’s a claim based on the fact that Warnock, who is also Black, has acknowledged institutional racism during his sermons as a Baptist minister. “I believe we’re a great country full of generous people,” Walker concludes.
That approach is not surprising in a state controlled for most of its history by white cultural conservatives and it aligns Walker with many high-profile Republicans, including former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. But Walker’s arguments make for a striking contrast in a Senate contest featuring two Black men born in the Deep South during or immediately following the civil rights movement.
The strategy will face its fiercest test in the closing weeks of the campaign as Walker vehemently denies reports from The Daily Beast that he encouraged and paid for a woman’s 2009 abortion and later fathered a child with her. The New York Times reported Friday that he urged her to have a second abortion, a request she refused. The Daily Beast also published new details provided by the woman about Walker’s lack of involvement with their child.
Such developments would typically sink a Republican candidate, but Walker is betting the conservative ground he has staked out throughout the campaign will ultimately win over voters who are singularly interested in flipping a Democratic seat and retaking the Senate majority.
His advisers believe Walker’s rhetoric reflects the views of many Georgians, at least most who will vote this fall. Most specifically, it is an appeal to whites, including moderates who may be wary of the first-time candidate yet believe Democrats push too much social change. The outcome could turn on how Walker’s pitch lands in an electorate that’s gotten younger, more urban, less white and less native to Georgia since Walker, 60, and Warnock, 53, grew up in the state.
Mark Rountree, a Republican pollster, said a narrow but solid majority of Georgia voters “responds favorably to Republican messaging broadly,” including socially conservative rhetoric.
“I don’t know that they all use that ‘wokeness’ terminology but they’re not completely happy with all the cultural changes that have gone on in America,” he said, stressing that group includes metro Atlanta white voters who helped President Joe Biden win Georgia in 2020.
Warnock, as minister of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, where Martin Luther King Jr. preached, has long linked the civil rights leader’s vision of a “beloved community” to 21st century discussions of diversity and justice, including religious pluralism, LGBTQ rights, ballot access, racial equity, law enforcement and other issues.
But in Warnock’s paid advertising, where most of the state’s 7 million-plus registered voters encounter the candidates, the pastor-politician casts himself mostly as a hardworking senator who has delivered results and federal money for Georgia.
Walker saves his hottest rhetoric for campaign events, where crowds are measured in dozens or hundreds, rather than the thousands and millions watching carefully cultivated ads.
In one such ad, a smiling Walker talks of unity after a string of Democrats — Warnock, Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams — are heard discussing racism.
Addressing fellow Republicans, Walker maintains the smile but goes harder at the left, especially on transgender rights.
“They’re bringing wokeness in our military,” Walker said during a stop in Cumming, part of the critical northern suburbs of metro Atlanta. It was an apparent reference to the Pentagon allowing transgender people to serve and have access to medical care.
“The greatest fighting force ever assembled before God (and) they’re talking about pronouns,” Walker said. “Are you serious? How do you identify? I can promise you right now China ain’t talking about how you can identify. They’re talking about war.”
Walker sometimes presents his mores as humor.
“Y’all see it. They telling you what is a woman. Think about it,” he said in Bartow County, drawing laughter from voters. “That’s right,” he continued with a broad smile. “They’re telling you a man can get pregnant. Hey, I’m gone tell you right now, a man can’t get pregnant.”
Warnock, Walker says, “wants men in women’s sports.” Walker’s campaign aides point separately to a Senate vote on a Republican amendment that would have limited federal money for any educational institutions “that permit any student whose biological sex is male to participate in an athletic program or activity designated for women or girls.” The amendment failed on a party-line vote.
“That’s sort of like saying you want Herschel Walker to compete against your daughters,” Walker said in Norcross, eliciting more laughs.
Children, Walker argued in Emerson, are especially vulnerable: “Our kids are behind because they want to be woke. What about teaching them how to write? … How to read? … How to spell?”
Walker rarely identifies the policies he opposes or explains counterproposals. He sticks instead with broader cultural branding, and in perhaps the most direct contradiction of his unity messaging, recommends that those with a different vision for America consider moving. “If you don’t like the rules under our roof, you can go somewhere else,” he said in Bartow County, after recalling a similar message his father once delivered to him.
Warnock seems reluctant to answer Walker’s broadsides directly. “My job is to represent all the people of Georgia across racial and ethnic and religious line, and all corner of this state,” he told reporters last week.
Asked specifically about Walker’s emphasis on transgender politics, Warnock said: “People love their children and they want to make sure that their children are safe from hatred and bigotry. So, you know, I will remain focused on all our young people and, at the same time, creating opportunities for young people.”
Geoff Wetrosky, campaign director at the Human Rights Campaign, a national organization that advocates for LGBTQ rights, said Walker is recycling the well-worn political strategy of scaring voters using a marginalized minority.
“He is spreading propaganda and creating more stigma, discrimination and violence against LGBTQ people,” Wetrosky said. “Their rhetoric is not about keeping kids safe, it’s about riling up a small number of base voters while interfering with the rights of parents of LGBT kids to provide stable, happy and healthy homes for the kids.”
Walker does not link every cultural complaint to Warnock but comes at the incumbent aggressively on race and racism, even invoking King to suggest Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator is subservient to a white president.
“Martin Luther King, he said when your back is bent, people can ride your back. Straighten up and quit letting people ride your back,” Walker said in Cumming, loosely quoting Warnock’s iconic predecessor at Ebenezer. “That’s what (Warnock) been doing all the time, 96% of the time he voted with Joe Biden.”
After a recent campaign stop in suburban Atlanta, Walker told reporters “institutional racism still exists because you continue to talk about it.” He added, “It always exists (but) things have changed from years ago.”
Pressed on whether government should combat racism and other discrimination, Walker insisted the Constitution already does. “If you do what it says on the paper, that means every man would be treated fair,” he said without elaborating. “Do we need to get better? Yes,” he allowed. “But right now we’re talking about separation. … You have to bring together.”
Walker’s methods, especially trying to use King against Warnock, rankle the senator’s aides and allies. Campaign manager Quentin Fulks said Warnock has “brought people together from the pulpit and in the U.S. Senate to get things done,” adding that Walker has “no vision” for Georgians. That’s a twist on a line from Warnock’s standard campaign speech: “People who have no vision traffic in division.”
At the Human Rights Campaign, Wetrosky argues that sweeping attacks on “wokeness” will not sway the middle of the electorate and could ultimately backfire.
“We see this as a desperate attempt by politicians to either hold on to the power that they have or gain power by trying to rile up extremists in their base,” he said.
Nonetheless, Walker’s rhetoric solidifies strong support from voters such as Roy Taylor, a Canton resident who came to hear the GOP nominee speak in Cumming. Taylor said his opposition to “huge, massive government” drives his support for Walker. But his loyalties are intensified because he is “tired of Democrats trying to make Republicans out … like we’re all bigots.
“That,” Taylor said, “is just not true.”
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Live Updates: Auburn Vs No. 2 Georgia https://digitalalabamanews.com/live-updates-auburn-vs-no-2-georgia/
Oct 8, 2022; Athens, GA, USA; AU Fans at Tiger Walk before the game between Auburn and Georgia at Sanford Stadium. Todd Van Emst / AU Athletics Todd Van Emst / AU Athletics
4th Quarter Georgia 42 Auburn 10
— 4:45 Branson Robinson scores a touchdown on a run for 15 yards sending more fans to the exits early.
— 9:51 Jarquez Hunter catches a 62-yard touchdown pass from Ashford. It’s likely too little too late, however, Hunter broke some tackles and scored. Auburn 10 UGA 35.
— 11:10 Edwards has three touchdowns and Georgia leads 35-3 in the fourth quarter.
— 14:49 Georgia takes a 28-3 lead on a 64-yard touchdown run by Stetson Bennett.
3rd QTR UGA 21 Auburn 3
— 0:00 Auburn trails 21-3 heading into the fourth quarter.
— 7:07 Georgia scores on an 11-play drive that went 81 yards. Edwards gets his second touchdown on a two-yard run.
— 11:51 Anders Carlson connects on a 29-yard field goal. Auburn got the ball at the Georgia 19 after Wooden caused a fumble by sacking Bennett.
— 13:42 Colby Wooden creates a turnover for Auburn on Georgia’s first possession of the second half. Wooden sacked Georgia quarterback Stetson Bennett and knocked the ball away. Wooden recovered the pigskin on the UGA 19-yard line.
HALFTIME UGA 10 Auburn 0
Well, it could be worse for Auburn. Ashford is 8-23, passing for 60 yards. He is also the team’s leading rusher, with 50 yards on eight carries. The Tigers committed eight penalties for 50 yards compared to one penalty for 15 yards by Georgia.
2nd QTR Auburn 0 UGA 14
— 0:58 Auburn’s defense forces another three-and-out with the Bulldogs in great field position.
— 2:34 Credit to Auburn’s defense, the Tigers forced a three-and-out after Ashford’s fumble.
— 4:42 Ashford fumbles on what appeared to be a first down run on 3rd and four from the UGA 40. The Tigers hadn’t been past the 50 until the drive ended with Ashford dropping the ball.
— 8:45 Daijon Edwards scores Auburn’s second touchdown to finish a three-play 31-yard drive set up by Ladd McConkey’s 38-yard punt return. Branson Robinson had a 23-yard run to put the Bulldogs in scoring position.
–10:35 Auburn continues to get in third and long situations. Auburn punts after Ashford had to throw the ball away on 3rd and 11 from the Auburn 24.
— 11:42 Georgia takes advantage of the field position created by Auburn’s failed fake punt to score a touchdown on a seven-play 34-yard drive. Kenny McIntosh capped the drive with a two-yard dash on 3rd and goal from the two.
1ST QTR Auburn 0 UGA 0
— 0:29 Auburn gives Georgia the ball back at the Tigers’ 36 after a failed fake punt on 4th and 6.
— 2:18 Auburn gets its best starting field position at the Tigers’ 30-yard line after Georgia missed a 47-yard field goal. Georgia got called for a block below knees personal foul on 3rd and one from the Auburn 20, which led to the field goal try.
— 5:33 Ashford had a 15-yard run on 3rd and two from the Auburn 14. The Tigers failed to make any progress and punted back to Georgia from the Tigers’ 24-yard line. Auburn hasn’t been past the 50-yard line on three drives against Georgia.
— 7:03 Georgia punts for the second time after failing to convert on 3rd and 11 from the Tigers’ 45. Georgia is winning the field position battle. Auburn has the ball on the six for their third drive with an average field position at their 20 through three drives. Georgia got the ball at the Auburn 45 and the UGA 44 on their first two possessions.
— 9:32 Auburn goes three and out on their second drive. Ashford had three incomplete passes, and on third and 15, had to throw it away to avoid a sack. Offensive lineman Brandon Council said the Tigers needed to avoid third and long situations against Georgia’s defense. He’s been right so far. However, he got called for a false start on 3rd and 10 pushing Auburn back five yards.
— 10:29 Auburn gets the back after holding Georgia to a punt on the Bulldogs’ first possession. Ladd McConkey was a yard shy of a 1st down on 3rd and seven from the Dawgs’ 38-yard line. Georgia fans were cheering for the team to attempt a fourth down, but head coach Kirby Smart chose to punt.
— 11:35 Robby Ashford had a six-yard run on third and six from the Tigers’ 29 on Auburn’s first possession. Ashford converted on third down, but the Tigers punted on 3rd and 15 from the Auburn 30 three plays after the quarterback dove for a first down.
Ashford had to throw the ball away on the third down to avoid a sack.
Pregame
Welcome to Sanford Stadium in Athens, Ga, where Auburn (3-2, 2-1) seeks to rebound from a tough loss against LSU last week with a game against #2 Georgia (5-0, 2-0).
The Tigers and Bulldogs play on Saturday for the 127th time in the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry. Bulldogs head coach Kirby Smart is 6-1 against Auburn, including 3-0 at Sanford Stadium. Auburn lost last season’s game at Jordan-Hare 34-10 in Bryan Harsin’s first season as head coach.
Robby Ashford will start at quarterback in the Tigers’ first road game. It’s also Ashford’s first time playing a game in hostile territory. Auburn is a nearly 30-point underdog on several sportsbooks.
Follow along on AL.com for all the updates from Sanford Stadium.
— Georgia wins the coin toss and elects to defer. Auburn gets the ball first, with Ashford as the starting quarterback against the Bulldogs.
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Instant Analysis: UAB Manhandles Middle Tennessee State In Childrens Harbor Game
Instant Analysis: UAB Manhandles Middle Tennessee State In Children’s Harbor Game https://digitalalabamanews.com/instant-analysis-uab-manhandles-middle-tennessee-state-in-childrens-harbor-game/
If you’re a supporter of the transitive property of equality, the UAB football team has what you need after improving to 2-0 this season over opponents with a win over a Power 5 conference member.
The Blazers were firing on all cylinders as they cruised to a 41-14 victory over Middle Tennessee State in the annual Children’s Harbor homecoming game, Saturday, Oct. 8, at Protective Stadium in Birmingham.
The announced attendance for the game was 23,694.
Dylan Hopkins was a man-possessed, finishing 17-of-27 passing for 279 yards, adding 52 yards on 5 carries. He completed passes to 6 different receivers and was an even more impressive 6-of-7 for 64 yards on third-down passing.
UAB (3-2, 1-1) outgained the Blue Raiders on offense, 581-289, and amassed 24 first downs and a 34:20 time of possession. Although the Blazers committed a single penalty in the first half, they were eventually flagged 9 times for 94 yards in the game.
Defensively, UAB collected 7 tackles for loss and 3 sacks and forced a single turnover. Keondre Swoopes led the way with a career-high 14 tackles and Noah Wilder was one tackle shy of moving into eighth place on UAB’s all-time tackles list.
(Almost) Perfect Start
The Blazers were dominant from kickoff to the final gun, building an insurmountable 38-7 halftime lead and outgaining MTSU on offense, 439-130, in the first two quarters alone. UAB was called for a single penalty in the opening half, a pass interference call that eventually led to the only score of the half for the Blue Raiders.
Dylan Hopkins played exceptional, finishing 15-of-21 passing for 265 yards in the first half and adding 12 yards on 2 carries. The junior quarterback was 6-of-6 for 64 yards on third down, converting 5 times and never hesitating on the throw. Trea Shropshire had a career day in the first half alone, pulling down 6 receptions for 193 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown catch to give the Blazers a 38-7 lead at the break.
DeWayne McBride and Jermaine Brown Jr. combined for 160 yards on the ground in the first half and put the Blazers up 14-0 on respective touchdowns to open the game, McBride adding two more scores to give UAB a 31-7 lead with 5:43 remaining in the half. UAB finished the opening stanza by averaging 10.5 yards per play and 8.3 yards per rushing attempt.
On an even more positive note, UAB was flagged once for 10 yards in the first half. The Blazers finished with 9 penalties for 94 yards.
Owning 3rd Down
The Blazers were able to take complete control in the first half because of their insistence on staying off the field, defensively, and keeping its offense on the field and thriving. The UAB offense was an impressive 6-for-8 on third-down conversions in the first two quarters, finishing 6-of-12 for the game, and converted its only fourth-down attempt with a 27-yard rushing score by McBride.
Defensively, UAB held the Blue Raiders to a 3-of-7 third-down performance in the first two quarters, 10-of-18 for the game, and allowed only one drive of more than 32 yards in the opening half. MTSU allowed 3 sacks and faced an average of 5.7 yards to go on third down, compared to an average of 8.3 yards for the Blazers.
Shropshire’s Best Good Day
Trea Shropshire had his best effort of the season last week, in a losing effort at Rice, but removed all doubt about his place in the pecking order of UAB’s passing game. The senior receiver finished with a career-high 6 catches for 193 yards, including a 68-yard touchdown reception on a long corner-post route.
Shropshire was hit on his first target in UAB’s season opener and brought down one catch against Liberty — a 56-yard reception on the first play of the second half — before being suspended one game due to a violation of team rules. With Shropshire’s return to the lineup in the past two games, UAB has seen a drastic increase in passing and an uptick in usage for a deep but unproven group of receivers.
Double-Double Toil and Trouble
The Blazers entered the game facing the top-ranked rushing defense in the league, ranked 30th in the nation, but manhandled said defensive unit for a season-high 303 total yards on the ground, almost 200 yards more than average for the MTSU defense (107.5 ypg).
Both Brown and McBride eclipsed the century mark and were responsible for 77.2 percent of the rushing production. McBride led the attack with 120 yards and 3 touchdowns on 12 rushing attempts and Brown added 114 yards and a score on 10 carries. A.J. Gates received his first rushing attempts of the season, finishing with 14 yards on 8 carries, and Hopkins added 52 yards to the cause.
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Hundreds March In Chicago Pushing Reproductive Rights For All Ahead Of Midterm Election
Hundreds March In Chicago, Pushing Reproductive Rights For All Ahead Of Midterm Election https://digitalalabamanews.com/hundreds-march-in-chicago-pushing-reproductive-rights-for-all-ahead-of-midterm-election/
The Daily Beast
Team Putin Wakes Up: We Never Should’ve Laughed at Ukraine
Anadolu Agency via GettyRussia experienced a number of embarrassing setbacks on the battlefield in Ukraine, but none of them were as humiliating as an explosion that rocked the Crimean Bridge, also known as Kerch Strait Bridge or Kerch Bridge, early Saturday morning.During his Saturday broadcast on Solovyov Live, Russian state TV host Sergey Mardan opened his show with heavy sighs. He noted, “All day long we’ll be talking about how this happened and what will come of it. I can tell you right now
The Daily Beast
Pro-Trump Rally-Goers Blame Mysterious Bogeymen for Latest Event Flop
Zachary Petrizzo/The Daily BeastWASHINGTON, D.C.—Right-wing activists assembled on Capitol grounds Friday afternoon for yet another pro-Trump rally after a similar event proved an epic failure less than two weeks ago—but again found themselves struggling to explain a pathetically low turnout.Fervent supporters of Jan. 6 defendants, a MAGA-loving fashion designer, and a rough-and-tumble gentleman dressed in early colonial garb were just a few of the characters back outside the Capitol, equally up
The Daily Beast
Putin’s Own Allies Turn On Him as Ukraine Unleashes Hell in Stolen Russian Tanks
Sergei Karpukhin/ReutersHot on the heels of embarrassing reports of Russian recruits fighting each other and Moscow loyalists calling for Kremlin ministers to kill themselves, it seems the rage against Vladimir Putin’s handling of his invasion of Ukraine is now openly being conveyed to the man himself by members of his own inner circle.A report Friday—which is Putin’s 70th birthday—said that one of the despot’s closest allies had openly challenged the disastrous way the war was being conducted.
Ukrayinska Pravda
“So?”: Russian authorities and propagandists react to destruction of Crimean bridge
ROMAN PETRENKO – SATURDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2022, 12:33 Officials of Russia and occupied Crimea, as well as Russian propagandists, are reacting to the explosion and fire on the Crimean bridge with threats. Source: Ukrainska Pravda; Mariya Zakharova, the spokeswoman of the Russian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on Telegram Quote from Zakharova: “The reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure testifies to its terrorist nature.
Bloomberg
Why Saudi Arabia Rebuffed Biden’s Pleas for More Oil
(Bloomberg) — The US has accused Saudi Arabia of siding with Russia after it led OPEC+ in a shock decision to slash crude output, keeping oil prices high at a time of global concern about inflation. The world’s largest oil exporter insists the decision was about economics, not politics. Most Read from BloombergRussia Races to Reopen Crimea Bridge Damaged in Fiery BlastPutin Orders Sakhalin-1 Project Transferred to Russian EntityFacebook Is Warning 1 Million Users About Stolen Usernames, Passwor
The Daily Beast
Kremlin Sources Slam ‘Losing’ Putin and His ‘Dumpster Fire’ War in Explosive Report
GettyAs Ukrainian forces continue to make gains against the Russian army, whispered grievances about Vladimir Putin have begun to fly around the Kremlin about the war and efforts to avoid celebrating his birthday, which falls on Friday.“It quickly became clear that we’re better off not holding any celebrations right now—it’s not the time,” one source close to the Kremlin told Meduza. “Governors are even thinking about cutting back on this year’s [winter] holiday celebrations; nobody has extra mo
Ukrayinska Pravda
Ukrainian officials react jokingly to Crimean Bridge fire
ROMAN PETRENKO – SATURDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2022, 09:47 Oleksii Danilov, Secretary of the National Security Council of Ukraine, has shared a video of the fire on the Crimean Bridge accompanied by the song “Happy Birthday, Mr President” [referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s birthday on 7 October – ed.
The Hill
As Mar-a-Lago case advances, Trump’s initial success could fade
Former President Trump’s battle against the Justice Department investigation into the mishandling of government records at Mar-a-Lago has now reached the highest court, but legal experts say he may not fare as well as his case is pushed before new judges. Trump scored an initial victory before a federal district court judge in Florida, who…
Ukrayinska Pravda
Satellite images of damaged Crimean Bridge released
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO – SATURDAY, 8 OCTOBER 2022, 20:43 Satellite images have been released showing the damage to the Crimean Bridge after the explosion on Saturday, 8 October. Source: PlanetScope images posted by Planet Twitter Quote: “This pair of PlanetScope images, captured just one day apart on October 7 and 8, 2022, shows the damaged Kerch Strait Bridge following a major explosion today.
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GOP Leaders Silent After Trump Says McConnell Has A Deathwish & Slurs Wife
GOP Leaders Silent After Trump Says McConnell Has A ‘Deathwish’ & Slurs Wife https://digitalalabamanews.com/gop-leaders-silent-after-trump-says-mcconnell-has-a-deathwish-slurs-wife/
GOP leaders have been silent after former President Donald Trump took to Truth Social to criticize Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell for not attempting to block the spending package to prevent a government shutdown.
The former president, in his post, described McConnell as an avid supporter of “Democratic sponsored bills. He has a DEATH WISH. Must immediately seek help and advise from his China loving wife, Coco Chow!”
This is not the first time Trump has attacked McConnell.
After Senate Republican leader voted for President Joe Biden‘s bipartisan infrastructure package Trump wrote, “Is McConnell approving all of these Trillions of Dollars worth of Democrat sponsored Bills, without even the slightest bit of negotiation, because he hates Donald J. Trump, and he knows I am strongly opposed to them, or is he doing it because he believes in the Fake and Highly Destructive Green New Deal, and is willing to take the Country down with him?”
Neither McConnell nor his wife Elaine Chao, who is Taiwanese born not Chinese, responded to the racist jab.
Trump has gone back and forth on the issue of government spending.
In 2020, he supported Democratic backed $2,000 stimulus checks, instead of the $600 planned by his party. Back when this debate was raging, he also accused Republicans of having a “death wish.”
In fact, McConnell has blocked various attempts by Democrats to get much of their agenda passed during Biden’s presidency.
A feud has been brewing between the former president and Senate minority leader since the January 6 insurrection when McConnell blasted Trump for not doing more.
One of the only Republicans to speak out against Trump’s racist rant was defeated Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyoming), who has led the investigation into Trump in the January 6 hearings, who called Trump’s words “absolutely despicable.”
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Once-Hopeful Iowa Democrats Running Uphill Vs. Sen. Grassley
Once-Hopeful Iowa Democrats Running Uphill Vs. Sen. Grassley https://digitalalabamanews.com/once-hopeful-iowa-democrats-running-uphill-vs-sen-grassley-3/
Republican incumbent, 89, has spent four decades in office
By Thomas Beaumont, Associated Press
Published: October 8, 2022, 3:39pm
8 Photos
Iowa Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Michael Franken greets supporters with his wife Jordan, right, after a rally in West Des Moines, Iowa, Saturday, Oct. 1, 2022. Franken is facing an uphill final month in his challenge of seven-term Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley. (AP Photo/Thomas Beaumont) Photo Gallery
WEST DES MOINES, Iowa — When Michael Franken won the Democratic nomination for the Senate in June, many in Iowa’s disillusioned party thought they landed on a candidate who could reverse their humbling slide in the state.
After all, the retired Navy admiral won 76 of 99 counties, in every region of the state, notably conservative northern and western Iowa. His hesitancy during the primary campaign to back weapons bans and college loan forgiveness were signs that he aimed to appeal to moderate Democrats and even some Republicans tired of incumbent Chuck Grassley after four decades in office.
But those ambitions are beginning to fade as Election Day, Nov. 8, approaches. Franken’s quest to unseat the most senior Republican in the Senate has been wounded by allegations that the Democrat kissed a former campaign aide without permission. Franken’s campaign has denied the claim.
He’s defied skeptics before, beating the better-known and better-funded former Rep. Abby Finkenauer in the primary. Nonetheless, many Democrats acknowledge that a race always considered a long shot is at risk of slipping firmly out of reach.
To Democrat Marcia Nichols, the former longtime political director for Iowa’s largest public employees union, the allegation, “whatever it is, it’s made it tougher now.” But she noted that Franken took on Finkenauer, “who was pretty popular, and beat her by a lot. I’m not writing him off.”
The obstacles seemed distant during a recent campaign stop as Franken, in his standard Navy ball cap, urged hundreds of supporters on a warm early-autumn afternoon in suburban Des Moines to rally Republicans who might want a change after 42 years of Grassley in the Senate.
“Iowans wake up every day doing hard things,” Franken said. “That takes, in today’s environment, a lot of guts.”
To win, Franken would have to have to share voters with Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds, a devout social conservative and fervent Donald Trump supporter who is favored in her reelection campaign. He would have to defy a decadelong Republican ascendency in Iowa, made harder in an election year when majority Democrats in Congress are facing economic headwinds and tepid approval of Democratic President Joe Biden.
Franken’s challenges are part of a broader reversal of fortunes for Democrats.
A decade ago, Grassley and five-term progressive Democrat Tom Harkin were Iowa’s senators. Democrats held three of five U.S. House seats and a thin majority in the state Senate. Today, Rep. Cindy Axne of West Des Moines is Iowa’s lone Democrat in Congress, and she is considered among the most vulnerable in her party this fall. The GOP’s hold on the statehouse is the party’s longest in more than six decades.
Franken’s resounding primary victory offered a glimmer of a chance for Democrats.
A month after the primary, Franken trailed Grassley by just 8 percentage points among likely voters in a Des Moines Register/Mediacom Iowa Poll. That pointed to a potentially closer race than Grassley has faced since he defeated Democratic Sen. John Culver in 1980.
With no help from the Democrats’ national Senate campaign arm, Franken has raised a noteworthy $8.3 million this year, including $3.6 million in the third quarter. Grassley had reported raising $7.5 million through the end of July but had not released his total for July-September period. That report is due by Oct. 15.
The majority job approval that Grassley had owned for roughly two decades of Des Moines Register polling has recently fallen: It has hovered in unfamiliar territory and was at 46 percent in the July poll.
Also telling of the shift, 64 percent of likely voters said in a June 2021 Des Moines Register poll they did not want him to run again, given the choice of seeing someone else hold office or reelecting the senator for another term.
The change in mood comes as Grassley, who entered the Senate as a Ronald Reagan-era fiscal conservative, has tried to adapt to the hyper-partisan politics of the Trump era.
Facing pointed questions from voters last year about why he had declined to say Democrat Joe Biden won the 2020 election, Grassley parsed his language to obliquely suggest Biden is president as the result of the Electoral College vote count.
About two-thirds of Republicans nationally said they do not think Biden was legitimately elected, according to an Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll in July 2021.
A year ago, Grassley beamed when Trump endorsed him at a Des Moines rally that drew 10,000 to the Iowa state fairgrounds, where the former president argued falsely that he had won the 2020 election. “I’m smart enough to accept that endorsement,” Grassley told the audience, noting Trump’s comfortable victory in Iowa in that race.
Grassley has campaigned little in public. He has relied more on television advertising, much of it critical of Franken for comments he made about the direction of the state under Republican leadership.
Grassley turned 89 last month and says he has no concerns about being able to finish another six-year term — he would be 95 at the end of an eighth term. “Absolutely not,” he said during a Wednesday news conference.
He ticked through his daily schedule, which he said includes rising at 4 a.m., running 2 miles six days a week and arriving at his office by 6 a.m.
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“Unless God intervenes, I’m going to be in the Senate for six years,” he added.
Franken has steered clear of Grassley’s age and instead has cast Grassley’s time in office as his chief liability. “We deserve better than a senator for life,” the Democrat said.
Franken has characterized Grassley’s praise of the Supreme Court decision stripping women of their constitutional right to an abortion as out of step with Iowa, where polls show a majority of voters support keeping abortion legal.
Franken, who supports enacting legislation making abortion a federal right, held a modest advantage with women likely voters in the July Des Moines Register/Mediacom poll.
But the publication of a police report detailing the unwanted kiss with the former campaign staffer has prompted questions from some would-be Franken supporters. The campaign manager issued a public statement that the allegation in the report was untrue, and the police called it unfounded.
Elizabeth Sibers, a 22-year-old Iowa State University student from Waukee who attended Franken’s rally, said she would like him, at a minimum, to speak out against harassment.
“It does trouble me. He needs to take the time to address it,” she said. Sibers remains open to voting for him and said she wants to “give Franken the chance to grow from this, and not just look past it.”
Grassley said he does not plan to raise it as a campaign issue. But when Franken called him “anti-woman,” for supporting the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Grassley replied quickly and curtly.
“You’re in no position to lecture me about women,” he said. “You’re in no position to do that.”
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Hospitals To Pay Nearly 150 Patients Who Say Gynecologist Abused Them
Hospitals To Pay Nearly 150 Patients Who Say Gynecologist Abused Them https://digitalalabamanews.com/hospitals-to-pay-nearly-150-patients-who-say-gynecologist-abused-them/
Two hospitals affiliated with Columbia University announced Friday that they’d reached a $165 million settlement with 147 patients of a former Manhattan doctor who has been accused of years of sexual abuse and misconduct.
In 2020, former gynecologist Robert Hadden was indicted on federal charges after dozens of women said he sexually abused them between 1993 and 2012. Hadden — who was accused in 2020 of sexual assault by Evelyn Yang, the wife of then-Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang — is awaiting a federal trial, according to a news release from the Columbia University Irvine Medical Center (CUIMC) and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The hospitals say he has not practiced medicine since 2012, the year in which Yang says she was a patient.
The hospitals’ settlement follows one in December 2021, which involved 79 women who were patients of Hadden, the release said.
“We deeply regret the pain that Robert Hadden’s patients suffered and hope that these resolutions will provide some measure of support for the women he hurt,” CUIMC said in the statement.
CUIMC is one of seven centers housed under New York-Presbyterian, the academic medical system that is also affiliated with Cornell University.
Before Hadden’s federal indictment, he pleaded guilty in 2016 to a criminal sex act in the third degree and forcible touching, according to the news release. But in a deal with Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus R. Vance Jr., Hadden avoided prison time, instead surrendering his medical license and registering as a sex offender.
An attorney for Hadden did not immediately respond to The Washington Post’s request for comment early Saturday afternoon.
Yang was among the women who testified before a grand jury, but she kept her anonymity in the case for years. She spoke publicly about being a patient of Hadden for the first time in a 2020 interview with CNN.
Yang recounted that she kept it from her husband and most of her family until she saw a headline about Hadden after another woman reported abuse to the police, she said in the interview.
Seeing another woman come forward gave Yang the courage to share her own story publicly, she told The Post on Saturday.
“I thought I could help and reach other women,” she said. “This was back in 2020, and I never imagined it would open the floodgates to hundreds of other women coming forward.”
In 2020, Hadden was charged with six counts of enticing women to engage in illegal sex acts. The federal indictment listed six victims, including one minor, and described their accounts with Hadden while they were his patients. It did not name them.
The victims listed in the indictment reported that during appointments, Hadden conducted abusive vaginal and breast exams when he was alone with them, the document says.
Over the past 10 years, patients of Hadden have been coming forward more and more, said attorney Anthony T. DiPietro, who has represented more than 200 women accusing Hadden of assault, including Yang.
He said that beyond the 226 women involved in the two settlements with Columbia and its affiliated hospitals, he has nearly a dozen more ongoing cases.
“Many of those women don’t even know they were being sexually exploited,” DiPietro said.
Marissa Hoechstetter, another Hadden accuser, said she was the first survivor to go public with her story after speaking with BuzzFeed in 2018. Afterward, she was met with an onslaught of messages from people who had similar experiences.
Hoechstetter, who was not a part of Friday’s settlement, Yang and other Hadden accusers urged New York lawmakers for years to pass the Adult Survivor’s Act.
Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) signed it into law in May.
The legislation allows people older than 18 to sue their alleged abusers during a one-year window from next month through November 2023 regardless of a statute of limitations.
“We’re letting people know they will have options and that they matter,” Hoechstetter told The Post on Saturday. “This is an important step in a many, many, many years-long battle that we’ve been in. But we’re not done yet.”
DiPietro says he wants the hospitals to notify all of Hadden’s former patients about his convictions.
A spokesperson for CUIMC did not immediately respond to The Post’s questions about potential notifications Saturday afternoon.
Although it’s been two years since her CNN interview, Yang told The Post, she’s surprised that some survivors are only learning of Hadden’s history from her story or from other women sharing theirs.
“Why is that I am basically their sole source of notification?” she said.
Meryl Kornfield and Allyson Chiu contributed to this report.
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Is Saturday Night Live New Tonight? https://digitalalabamanews.com/is-saturday-night-live-new-tonight/
Saturday Night Live officially kicked off its 48th season of bringing laughs to American households last week and once again, tonight, Saturday, October 8th, there’s another new episode of SNL set to air in just a few hours. Harry Potter and Paddington star Brendan Gleeson is set to host tonight’s new episode of the series. The actor is on hand to promote his movie The Banshees of Inisherin,. Situations like this almost always result in SNL bringing in some surprise guests, and considering Gleeson co-stars in that movie with Colin Farrell it certainly seems like a possibility that The Batman star could make an appearance. Willow, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith, is set to appear as musical guest.
Ahead of his episode tonight, Gleeson has already appeared in some hilarious promos for Saturday Night Live. Earlier this week a video was released online which saw Gleeson reveal his first true love, skateboarding, featuring a convincing body double and some camera tricks making it look like the 67-year-old Irish actor was totally shredding through stage 8H. Another featured Gleeson with Willow and Saturday Night Live cast member Chloe Fineman, including a reveal from Gleeson about what Paddington is really like.
We theorized earlier this week that considering Gleeson previosuly played former president Donald Trump in the Showtime mini-series The Comey Rule that SNL may very well ask him to put on the blonde wig once again. Trump remains a frequent target for ridicule by SNL, even before he got into politics, but he’s lampooned even more now by the show. After Alec Baldwin stopped performing as Trump on the series, regular performer James Austin Johnson was given the gig, and has largely become the favorite for not only how he manages to nail Trump’s voice but also his manner of speaking. Dueling Trumps between Gleeson and Johnson seems to be a likely sketch at some point on the new episode
A handful of newcomers to Saturday Night Live have been confirmed to appear with Marcello Hernandez, Molly Kearney, Michael Longfellow, and Devon Walker all announced as featured players for the new season of SNL. Colin Jost remains the head writer for the show and will continue to appear on Weekend Update alongside Michael Che. Other current favorites like Kennan Thompson, Cecily Strong, Austin Johnson, Bowen Yang, and Fineman all continue to appear as well.
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Saturday Night Live Season 48 is ongoing now with new episodes airing on both NBC and Peacock. All 47 seasons of Saturday Night Live are also now streaming on Peacock.
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Trump Blames U.S. For almost Forcing Putin To Invade Ukraine
Trump Blames U.S. For “almost Forcing” Putin To Invade Ukraine https://digitalalabamanews.com/trump-blames-u-s-for-almost-forcing-putin-to-invade-ukraine/
Former President Donald Trump blamed the United States for “almost forcing” Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade Ukraine.
Trump’s remarks came as Russia continued to stall in their struggling “special military operation,” ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin more than seven months earlier on February 24, 2022. The ex-president has been critical of how President Joe Biden, who he may run against in the 2024 presidential election, has handled diplomatic relations with Russia. But critics accuse Trump of taking positions seen as favorable to Putin.
During an interview on Real America’s Voice, a right-wing network favorable to Trump, the former president criticized the Biden administration. He argued that their “rhetoric” in the months leading up to the Ukraine invasion contributed to Putin’s decision.
“They actually taunted him, if you really look at it. Our country, and our so-called leadership, taunted Putin. I said, you know, they’re almost forcing him to go in with what they’re saying. The rhetoric was so dumb.”
In this image, former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Youngstown, Ohio on September 17. Trump blamed the United States for “almost forcing” Russia into invading Ukraine. Jeff Swensen/Getty Images
He claimed, without evidence, that the Ukraine invasion would have “never” happened if he were still president. He also did not provide any specific examples of how the U.S. “taunted” Putin into invading Ukraine.
Trump also touted his working relationship with both Putin and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky when Real America’s Voice host Wayne Root suggested Biden could send Trump to negotiate a peace deal.
“I got along very well with both Zelensky and Putin,” Trump said. “If you remember, Zelensky was very nice because when they asked him about the Ukraine, Ukraine, Ukraine hoax—that was the phone call—he looked at them and said ‘What was wrong with the call? He did nothing wrong.'”
William Pomeranz, the Director of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute, cast doubt on Trump’s comments in an interview with Newsweek, pointing out that Biden said Ukraine would need to work on its corruption in order to gain entry to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) but that Putin’s given justification for the invasion was unrelated to NATO.
“It’s something Putin has been thinking about for many years,” he said. “I think Putin basically launched this campaign to annex what was two territories—but is now four territories—to expand the Russian Federation. I think this was an example of imperial intent. He wanted to expand his territory and the Russian empire.”
He said it will never be known if the invasion would have occurred if Trump won the 2020 election but that he did not believe Trump would have “stood up for Ukraine.”
“Did Trump think that he had such a great relationship that he could dismay him from attacking, I just don’t think so,” he said.
Trump Faced Criticism for Past Russia-Ukraine War Comments
Trump has faced criticism for several comments about the Russia-Ukraine war. In the days leading up to the conflict, Trump said Putin was a “genius” for moving troops into Ukraine.
“Here’s a guy that says, you know, ‘I’m gonna declare a big portion of Ukraine independent.’ He used the word ‘independent,’ ‘and we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna go in and we’re gonna help keep peace.’ You gotta say that’s pretty savvy,” Trump told Clay Travis and Buck Sexton in February.
In March, he again renewed controversy after appearing to push Putin to release any information he has about Hunter Biden‘s alleged business dealings in Russia during a conversation on Real America’s Voice about an accusation that Biden’s company received $3.5 million from the widow of a former Moscow mayor.
“She gave him three and half million dollars. So now I would think Putin would know the answer to that. I think he should release it. I think we should know that answer,” he said.
Newsweek reached out to Trump’s office and the White House for comment.
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Vince Dooley Hospitalized With Pneumonia, COVID https://digitalalabamanews.com/vince-dooley-hospitalized-with-pneumonia-covid/
Auburn Football
Updated: Oct. 08, 2022, 3:51 p.m.|
Published: Oct. 08, 2022, 3:44 p.m.
Former Georgia head coach Vince Dooley blows out a candle after getting a surprise birthday celebration before kickoff against Oregon in an NCAA college football game, Saturday, Sept. 3, 2022, in Atlanta. (Curtis Compton/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)AP
Legendary Georgia football coach Vince Dooley is hospitalized in Athens, Ga., with pneumonia and what is described as a “mild case” of COVID, the school’s athletics department announced Saturday.
Dooley, who turned 90 in September, was scheduled to make an appearance at a campus-area bookstore prior to Saturday’s Georgia-Auburn game at Sanford Stadium. He was unable to do so due to his illness, which the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported is expected to hospitalize him “briefly.”
“He’s better off having the meds through an IV at the hospital,” Dooley’s daughter Deanna told the AJC. “He sure hates missing the game, but he has a great setup to watch all the games all day.”
Dooley, a Mobile native and Auburn graduate, was Georgia’s head football coach from 1964-88 and its athletics director from 1979-2004. He coached the Bulldogs to 201 victories, six Southeastern Conference titles and the 1980 national championship.
Dooley played football at Auburn under Ralph “Shug” Jordan in the early 1950s, and was Jordan’s offensive coordinator from 1956-63. He was considered the leading candidate to take over as head coach at his alma mater in 1981, but elected to stay at Georgia and Auburn hired Pat Dye instead.
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NC Senate Nominees Parry Over Abortion Inflation In Debate Salisbury Post
NC Senate Nominees Parry Over Abortion, Inflation In Debate – Salisbury Post https://digitalalabamanews.com/nc-senate-nominees-parry-over-abortion-inflation-in-debate-salisbury-post/
Published 4:35 pm Saturday, October 8, 2022
By GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press
RALEIGH — The major-party candidates to succeed retiring North Carolina Republican Sen. Richard Burr parried over inflation, abortion and election integrity on Friday night in their only expected debate.
Democratic nominee Cheri Beasley and Republican U.S. Rep. Ted Budd met at a Raleigh cable television studio for nearly an hour of questions.
This election outcome in North Carolina, where statewide elections are usually evenly divided but where Democrats haven’t won a Senate race since 2008, could decide which party takes a majority in the current 50-50 Senate. Mail-in absentee voting started last month, and early in-person voting begins Oct. 20.
Democratic hopes this time are in Beasley, a former chief justice of the state Supreme Court who would be the state’s first Black senator if elected.
Budd, a gun shop and range owner first elected to Congress in 2016, relied heavily on President Donald Trump’s endorsement and on outside spending to win the Republican primary in May. Trump rallied with Budd two weeks ago in North Carolina.
Beasley, who went on offense early in the debate, said Trump “represents the most extremist policies and ideology … the reality is Congressman Budd has aligned himself with somebody who is truly extremist in this race, and that’s a reflection on him.”
Budd defended Trump’s help, pointing to the low unemployment and low inflation during the former president’s term and Trump’s victories in North Carolina in 2016 and 2020 — compared with higher inflation today.
Trump “had a lot of wins here in this state, including for our economy,” Budd said. In turn, Budd said Beasley was running from President Joe Biden and would be a rubber stamp for his policies.
“Joe Biden is on the ballot on Nov. 8 and he goes by the name this year of Cheri Beasley,” Budd said.
Beasley didn’t directly answer the moderator’s question about whether she would appear with Biden if he agreed to campaign for him: “President Biden is certainly welcome … We want him to know and meet folks and hear from folks here in the state.”
Beasley also criticized Budd for voting in the House in early 2021 to attempt to delay the 2020 presidential election certification. He stood by that, saying “the core of that vote … was to inspire more debate because I think debate is healthy for democracy.”
Budd also said he would accept the results of next month’s election.
Beasley said it was “outrageous” that Budd has tried to compare the 2020 presidential election challenge to her 2020 campaign for chief justice, which questioned the counting or rejection of many specific absentee ballots. Beasley ended up losing by 401 votes from 5.4 million ballots cast.
Beasley said she requested “a free and fair recount and legal recount to make sure that every single vote was counted.”
Beasley also pounded Budd’s opposition to abortion, an issue greatly elevated by the U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down Roe v. Wade.
Budd co-sponsored a recent measure to ban abortion nationally after 15 weeks of pregnancy, with some exceptions. He previously backed a bill that would ban abortions after cardiac activity is detected, usually around six weeks of fertilization.
“The bottom line is Congressman Budd wants to be in between a woman and her doctor, and there is no place in the exam room for Congressman Budd,” she said.
When asked what his ideal abortion bill would look like, he responded: “I’ve always been about protecting the life of the mother. I want to save as many unborn lives as possible.” Budd accused Beasley of being extreme on abortion for supporting a federal bill that would codify the previous Supreme Court standard.
While Beasley’s campaign has outraised Budd entering the summer, national Senate Republican groups have neutralized that advantage already spending over $26 million against her, according to campaign reports. National Democrats, in turn, have spent a small fraction of that amount for Beasley or against Budd. Beasley’s supporters hoped her debate performance Friday would attract more outside help.
Beasley said Budd has repeatedly voted against the needs of North Carolina residents, including opposing bills that would have capped the cost of insulin for seniors and letting the federal government to negotiate lower drug prices for Medicare.
On inflation, Beasley was willing to criticize Biden, but not solely. “I certainly believe that the president and Congress can work a whole lot harder to make sure that prices are being lowered,” she said, but with Budd in Congress for six years, “he’s partly to blame as well.”
Budd and Beasley have tried to portray themselves as allies of law enforcement. Budd has received key endorsements from groups representing troopers, police officers and border patrol agents.
Budd declined to participate in any of the four GOP primary debates. In the Democratic primary, the field had been cleared of Beasley’s leading competitors during the campaign’s final months.
The Libertarian and Green party Senate candidates didn’t participate in Friday’s debate.
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Biden Admin Says It Has Reunited 500 Migrant Families Separated At US Border During Trump-Era
Biden Admin Says It Has Reunited 500 Migrant Families Separated At US Border During Trump-Era https://digitalalabamanews.com/biden-admin-says-it-has-reunited-500-migrant-families-separated-at-us-border-during-trump-era/
The Biden administration says that it has reunified 500 migrant families who were separated during the Trump administration’s “zero tolerance” policy that aimed to stop illegal immigration into the U.S.
“This is a significant milestone that reflects the tireless dedication of the many public servants in the Department of Homeland Security and across the federal government, including those in the Departments of Health and Human Services, State, and Justice,” Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas said in a statement.
“It is a milestone that we could not have achieved without the partnership and critical work of several incredibly committed non-governmental organizations,” he said.
Mayorkas said that nearly 200 minors are in the process of being united with their parents.
NYC MAYOR ADAMS SAYS MIGRANT INFLUX WILL COST CITY OVER $1 BILLION THIS YEAR
U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas testifies before the Senate. ((Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images))
The Trump administration implemented the “zero tolerance” policy in 2018 to counteract a surge in illegal immigration at the border, prosecuting all illegal entries. However, accompanying children who came as part of a family unit could not be housed in adult detention centers with their accompanying adults.
The Trump administration’s response was to separate the minors from their accompanying adults, placing them in Health and Human Services (HHS) care and allowing for detention and deportation of the adults. It was intended to dissuade migrant families from making the journey north in the first place.
After outrage over the separations, President Donald Trump ended the policy. When the Biden administration took over, it pledged to make sure that any illegal immigrant who had been separated from their child is brought into the U.S. and reunited. To ensure this happens, it launched the Family Reunification Task Force.
Those identified as eligible are brought in via a process called humanitarian parole. Travel is paid for, they can bring relatives and also live and work in the U.S. for three years on a renewable status.
BIDEN PARDON FOR SIMPLE MARIJUANA POSSESSION WON’T APPLY TO ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS
In his statement, Mayorkas pledged that the Family Reunification Task Force’s work would continue.
“The Task Force, through its partners, also continues to identify and engage families who were separated to ensure they are aware of the reunification process and the support the Task Force has arranged,” he said. “This support includes critically needed behavioral health services to assist the families in addressing the trauma they have suffered.”
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Meanwhile, a lawsuit is still ongoing as illegal immigrants who were separated sue the U.S. over the policy. A prior settlement, which would have dished out up to $450,000 per person, was abandoned after it was leaked and caused outraged from Republicans.
Adam Shaw is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital, primarily covering immigration and border security.
He can be reached at adam.shaw2@fox.com or on Twitter.
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‘Two Sub Joe’ Looks To Secure Ninth Term https://digitalalabamanews.com/two-sub-joe-looks-to-secure-ninth-term/
In his first race for Congress, Joe Courtney won by 83 votes against Stonington Republican Rob Simmons in 2006. Two years ago, he was reelected to his eighth term with nearly 60% of the vote.
The Democratic incumbent has far outpaced his Republican opponent, state Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, in campaign fundraising, and has been deemed “very likely” to win the 2nd Congressional District again by national pollsters.
Defense record
The chairman of the House Armed Services’ Seapower subcommittee, Courtney, has established himself as a stalwart of submarine contracts for Electric Boat in Groton. But France called Courtney’s reputation as “Two Sub Joe” into question in late September on a conservative talk radio show, saying Simmons doesn’t get enough credit for his efforts while in office. He repeated the critique during an interview with The Day soon after.
“Joe Courtney runs around with this title of ‘Two Sub Joe,’ and that’s great, but that announcement was made about five months after he was sworn in. I don’t know what he did to make that happen,” France told The Day.
Courtney’s campaign sent out a slew of news reports confirming the congressman as a freshman did what Simmons “fought hard to achieve but failed to deliver,” according to a December 2007 story from The Hill. Simmons had secured authorization for a second submarine, but the funds were not appropriated.
Courtney said his nickname is “accurate to the extent that you’re talking about annual procurement,” but, “when Congress is authorizing and appropriating two subs per year, that doesn’t mean there’s only two submarines under construction at any given time in Groton.”
“There’s a growing backlog of work. Today, there’s five Virginia-class submarines in Groton. Add to that the new program, Columbia, those submarines are two-and-a-half times the size of Virginia’s,” Courtney said, adding that there is a “demand signal for workers and suppliers that is vastly different from when I first came into Congress.”
In response to France trying to “poo poo” his work, Courtney explained the process that led to the authorization and appropriation of a $588 billion advanced procurement in 2007, which started the two-per-year production. Courtney credited Simmons for efforts to stop the Navy from closing the Groton base in 2005.
Courtney said his record, which includes helping stop President Barack Obama in 2013 and President Donald Trump in 2020 from cutting a submarine, backs his reputation.
“Republicans have been very frustrated that I didn’t fall flat on my face,” Courtney said. “I respect Mike’s military service, but the fact is, this record is in black and white.”
Courtney has been criticized for being a rubber stamp on military budgets, including by Second District Green Party candidate Kevin Blacker.
“The Green Party’s national platform is to cut defense spending in half, they’ve been very critical of NATO, personally I know their agenda is not the right one, not just for the district but for the country,” Courtney said. He acknowledged that some military programs “have shown their value is more than questionable,” and in those cases, he has advocated for eliminating such programs. But, Courtney said, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine necessitated the military budget continue to grow.
“I think the world right now is in a place where even Democrats are taking a new look at where our defense budget fits in,” Courtney said. “February 24th changed the view of a lot of progressives and Democrats in terms of, ‘how do we protect our allies?’”
Moderate district
Submarine procurement and his work in the defense realm, Courtney points out, are examples of his bipartisanship. He has presented himself as a moderate Democrat in debates, interviews and campaign ads. He sought to depict France as too conservative for the moderate district.
“If you look at his record in Hartford, he’s somebody who is on the far right of his caucus,” Courtney said.
He brought up France’s opposition to a 2019 bill, now law, that would expand insurance for breast cancer screenings, opposition to a 2021 bill, Jennifer’s law, that extends criminal jurisdiction over cyberstalking, and France’s record on abortion.
France voted against a 2022 law that protects out-of-state women from prosecution for getting an abortion in Connecticut and state medical providers from legal actions taken against by other states. Courtney pointed out that France, during a recent interview on Channel 3, said he would have voted for Sen. Lindsey Graham’s proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks.
“I give him credit for having the frankness to share that because a lot of Republicans avoid that question,” Courtney said, who was in the state legislature when it passed a law codifying Roe v. Wade. “I think that bipartisan bill got it right, and I don’t think we should send anyone to Washington who is going to vote for a law that would override Connecticut’s balanced approach.”
Economy
Courtney said the government spends too little money on job training, and should focus on worker shortages in major industries.
“Electric Boat has 572 job openings right now, it’s rampant, it’s everywhere,” Courtney said. “We passed a bill to enlarge funding for more spots for pre-apprenticeship accelerated programs and to extend that to a wider group of sectors… Employer groups around the country are frantic to get people, but there’s a skills gap we have to close.”
The government has spent too much money on prescription drugs for Medicare and Medicaid, Courtney said.
“The Inflation Reduction Act took a major step in allowing government to negotiate for lower prices,” he said. The Congressional Budget Office noted that the bill would cut the deficit by $300 billion. “Aside from the fact that it created a high cost for patients, it also created a high cost for taxpayers.”
Courtney supported increasing the top marginal tax rate from 36% to 39% when it was raised under Obama for income above $400,000. Trump rolled the rate back when in office; Courtney opposed Trump’s reversal.
“The tax was not impinging on economic growth,” Courtney said of the 39% rate. “It was there under Clinton, which still stands as the most sustained period of economic growth in the modern era.”
Guns
Courtney supported the recent passage of gun safety legislation by Congress, which included gun control initiatives as well as billions of dollars to enhance mental health and school security throughout the country. He highlighted “red flag laws,” which are meant to keep weapons away from people who’ve been determined by a court to be a danger to themselves or others.
“I do believe people have a right to have a firearm in their home,” Courtney said. “I think Connecticut’s response to Sandy Hook … is the model we should be looking to.”
Climate
Courtney spoke to the importance of nuclear power in addressing climate change and how Millstone Power Station in Waterford fits in.
“There’s no scenario that you can get to a reduction in emissions close to the Paris Agreement or the climate change bill we just passed without having nuclear as part of the portfolio,” Courtney said. He has been advocating to re-site spent fuel rods to a federal nuclear waste repository, though a location has not been designated.
The Inflation Reduction Act, Courtney said, invests in solar and offshore wind energy and “turbo charges the goal of decarbonizing energy, transportation, home ownership, home construction and commercial construction.” He is a proponent of making electric vehicles more affordable and converting large vehicles to electric.
Stocks
Courtney said he will not trade, and has never personally traded, stocks if reelected. He and Sen. Richard Blumenthal, along with 97 other members of Congress, were named in a New York Times story saying they or their families bought or sold stock that could represent a conflict of interest for them. Courtney’s office said at the time that the securities in question were part of a rollover from his wife’s 401K plan when she changed jobs, and that the account was managed by an investment adviser who chose the assets.
Courtney said he co-sponsored a bill that would stop members of Congress from trading individual stocks. The bill ultimately failed.
“People could still have retirement accounts and IRAs, but it would have to be mutual funds where they don’t have control over the investments, which is exactly what Audrey and I have had for the past three years,” he said.
Jan. 6
Courtney said election denial and the insurrection attempt on Jan. 6, 2021, is “a profoundly important issue” and “a serious warning to the country that we have to pay attention to protect our democracy. There’s no question Joe Biden won the election fair and square. Election officials, particularly in Connecticut, who do their jobs so diligently and passionately, are now being questioned.”
Courtney’s 2006 election was subject to re-canvassing, and though he only beat Simmons by 83 votes, Simmons “very graciously conceded. … He followed the tradition that we have in this country. We settle our political disputes at the ballot box.”
Reelection
Asked whether he believes in term limits, Courtney, who is 69 years old, said, “We have term limits right now: Voters impose them.”
Though he recognizes the advantages of incumbency, “I think a constitutional amendment to change that one aspect misses the target in terms of gerrymandering, access to voting and more important issues that would break a lot of bottlenecks down here.”
In his closing statement, Courtney again emphasized his bipartisanship. He responded to a frequent attack of France’s — that Courtney votes lockstep with his party leadership. Courtney said he’s voted with House Minority Leader, Republican Kevin McCarthy, more than 340 times.
“As somebody who was voted ‘Democrat most a...
North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles South Korea And Japan Say | CNN
North Korea Fires Two Ballistic Missiles, South Korea And Japan Say | CNN https://digitalalabamanews.com/north-korea-fires-two-ballistic-missiles-south-korea-and-japan-say-cnn/
CNN —
North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles from the Munchon area of Kangwon Province to the waters off the peninsula’s eastern coast, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters on Sunday.
The missiles were launched between 1:47 a.m. and 1:53 a.m. local time Sunday, according to Japan’s State Minister of Defense Toshiro Ino.
Both missiles fell outside Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, Ino added.
The first missile is estimated to have flown about 350 kilometers, or 217 miles, at a maximum altitude of approximately 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, according to Ino. The second traveled about the same distance.
Ino noted there were no reports of damages to vessels at sea, but the defense ministry is still analyzing the details and investigating what kind of missiles were launched, including the possibility they were submarine-launched ballistic missiles.
South Korea’s military has strengthened its surveillance and vigilance and maintaining a full readiness posture while closely cooperating with the US, the country’s joint chiefs of staff said.
This is the 25th missile launch this year, according to CNN’s count, which includes both ballistic and cruise missiles. The last launch occurred Thursday when North Korea fired two short-range ballistic missiles, the latest in a spate of launches in the past two weeks.
Japan’s Coast Guard instructed vessels to pay attention to information and to not approach any objects which have fallen in the sea. It also asked vessels to report any relevant information.
On Tuesday, North Korea fired another missile, without warning, which flew over and past Japan, causing Japan to warn its citizens to take shelter.
The missile Tuesday traveled over northern Japan early in the morning, and is believed to have landed in the Pacific Ocean. The last time North Korea fired a ballistic missile over Japan was in 2017.
US Indo-Pacific Command said Saturday the latest launches do “not pose an immediate threat to US personnel or territory, or to our allies.”
“We are aware of the two ballistic missile launches and are consulting closely with our allies and partners,” the command said in a statement. “The missile launch highlights the destabilizing impact of the DPRK’s unlawful WMD and ballistic missile programs. The US commitments to the defense of the Republic of Korea and Japan remain ironclad.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned if North Korea continues “down this road” of provocation following its ballistic missile launch Tuesday, “it will only increase the condemnation, increase the isolation and increase the steps that are taken in response to their actions.”
The US imposed new sanctions Friday, following North Korean recent ballistic missile tests, the US Treasury and State Department said.
North Korea usually fires its missiles into waters off the coast of the Korean Peninsula, making Tuesday’s flight over Japan considerably more provocative.
The aggressive acceleration in weapons testing has sparked alarm in the region, with the US, South Korea and Japan responding with missile launches and joint military exercises. The US has also redeployed an aircraft carrier into waters near the peninsula, a move South Korean authorities called “very unusual.”
Japan issued a strong protest against North Korea through its embassy in Beijing, Ino said.
On Thursday, US, South Korean and Japanese warships performed a missile defense exercise in the Sea of Japan, the US-Indo Pacific Command said in a statement.
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Around The Wiregrass https://digitalalabamanews.com/around-the-wiregrass-3/
OCT. 11
The Dothan Chapter of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees (NARFE) will meet at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 11, at the Old Mill Restaurant located at the junction of Murphy Mill Road and U.S. Highway 231 North in Dothan. Latasha Hyatt, director of community programming for the G.W. Carver Interpretive Museum, will describe how the museum hosts informative and engaging exhibits and events, guided tours and field trips for all ages, and a wealth of African American history. Call Dr. Angela Allgood, president, Chapter 1609, at 334-803-0405 for more information.
Dothan Leisure Services will hold a Fall Break Camp Oct. 11-14. The camp fee is $20 per child. Camp will be held Tuesday-Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Activities include a field trip, Landmark Park’s reptile show, recreational games, as well as arts and crafts. Lunch and snack will not be provided; children should pack a cold lunch and snack daily. The Fall Break Camp will be held at Andrew Belle Community Center, Westgate Recreation Center, and Wiregrass Recreation Center. To reserve your child’s spot, please register online at www.dothanleisureservices.org/registration. For more information on the Fall Break Camp, contact John Milner at 334-615-3764 or jmilner@dothan.org.
OCT. 12
St. Paul AME Church, 5180 Highway 273, in Campbellton, Florida, will hold its annual fall revival Oct. 12-14. Services will begin at 6 p.m. each night. Evangelist will be Brother Christopher Brockington, member of Snowhill AME Church in Malone, Florida.
OCT. 14
The Moonlighters will play at Solomon Park, located at 1815 Choctaw St., in Dothan on Friday, Oct. 14, from 6-8 p.m. The event is free for all ages, and food vendors will be on site. Attendees can bring lawn chairs or blankets to enjoy and evening with Big Band favorites.
Club Français will meet Friday, Oct. 14, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m., to speak and practice French through low-pressure talk and games. Pratiquez français avec le meilleur café et thé en ville. Cherchez la bannière de l’Université de Troy. Gratuit, ouvert à tous. Contact: vossr@troy.edu.
S’mores & Snores presented by Dothan Leisure Services will be held at Eastgate Park on Oct. 14-15. The event includes overnight camping, food, campfire, s’mores and games. Cost is $20 per person. Visit dothanleisureservices.org/registration for more information.
OCT. 15
The Enterprise Aglow Community Lighthouse will meet Saturday, Oct. 15, at 10 a.m. at The Gathering Room, 217 S. Main St., in Enterprise. Guest speaker will be Dr. Susan Slusher from Enterprise. For more information, call 334-406-9683.
Grimes Gospel Lighthouse, 1512 County Road 25, Grimes, will host the following: Marc Cave of Southaven, Mississippi, Oct. 15; a local sing, Oct. 22; Oct. 29 James Williams and the Amazing Gospel Songbirds of Headland, Oct. 29; Michael McGowen of Dothan, Nov. 5; Lighthouse Trio, Nov. 12; David Frost of Ozark, Nov. 19; and a local sing, Nov. 26. Music starts at 7 p.m. A love offering will be taken. There will be no concerts in December. Call 334-983-4654 or 334-714-4658 for more information.
OCT. 17
Youth basketball registration for children ages 9 to 18 will be held online from Oct. 17-22 at www.dothanleisureservices.org. In-person registration will be held on Saturday, Oct. 22, from 9 a.m. to noon at the following Dothan Leisure Services locations: Andrew Belle Community Center, 1270 Lake St.; Walton Park, 122 Walton Park Drive; Westgate Recreation Center, 501 Recreation Road; Wiregrass Recreation Center, 620 Sixth Ave. Children living outside of the city limits of Dothan may participate if their city does not offer a basketball program. The fee is $40 per child; however, children that qualify for the free or reduced lunch program or Medicaid will receive a 50% discount on the registration fee. For more information, call 334-615-3700 or visit www.dothanleisureservices.org.
OCT. 19
The Fields of Faith rally will be held Wednesday, Oct. 19, on soccer fields at Westgate Park in Dothan. Guest speaker will be Willie Spears of Panama City Beach, Florida. Spears was a wide receiver on the 1999 championship team from Northwestern Oklahoma State University and later served as the school’s defensive coordinator. He spent 20 years in education and has written 11 books as well as weekly newspaper columns. Spears has also been featured on ESPN’s “First Take Your Take,” has done radio analysis, and worked in the entertainment industry for Disney Cruise Line. A tailgate party will be held from 5:40-6:25 p.m. with free food; praise and worship from 6:15-6:30 p.m.; and the rally from 6:30-7:50 p.m. Call 334-797-5620 or email dean@flowersinsurance.com for more information.
OCT. 20
The Dothan/Houston County Education Retirees will meet on Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Wiregrass Rehab Center. The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. with a buffet lunch for $15.50, payable at the door. Please call or text Karol at 334-790-0244 or Paulette 334-790-8682 to reserve your lunch (only lunches reserved will be available). Guest speaker will be Anita Gibson, AERA director. Flu shots will be available with your insurance card. Attendees are asked to bring food donations for local charity.
OCT. 21
Deutscher Club will meet Friday, Oct. 21, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m., to speak and practice German through low-pressure talk and games. Trainieren Sie Deutsch mit dem besten Kaffee und Tee der Stadt! Beim Troy-Universitätsbanner. Kostenlos, für alle zugänglich. Kontakt: vossr@troy.edu.
OCT. 22
The Wiregrass Black Chamber of Commerce will host a brunch on Oct. 22 from 10-11:30 a.m. and again from 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Community Housing and Enrichment Center located at 1001 Montana St. in Dothan. There will be a voter registration drive sponsored by Black Voters Matter. The chamber supports businesses, nonprofits, churches and communities in eight Wiregrass counties: Pike, Henry, Houston, Covington, Coffee, Dale, Geneva, and Barbour.
A Young Eagles Rally with free airplane rides for kids ages 8-17 will be held Saturday, Oct. 22, at Enterprise Municipal Airport. Flights begin at 9 a.m. Registration is in-person only and starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at 11:30 a.m. Contact Aubri Hanson at 601-329-1334 or acbarnet@hotmail.com for more information.
OCT. 23
Daleville Christian Fellowship Worship Center, located at 1 Martin Luther King Jr. Circle, Daleville, will honor their pastor, Archbishop Carl McComb, and the center’s first family on Sunday, Oct. 23, at 2:30 p.m. Dr. J. Henry Williams, pastor of Friendship Missionary Baptist Church in Enterprise, will be the guest minister. Dinner will be served following the 11 a.m. church service in the fellowship hall. For more information, call 334-598-6279.
OCT. 25
The Rose Hill Senior Center presents Harlem Nights, a senior adult prom, on Tuesday, Oct. 25, from 6-8 p.m. at the Dothan Civic Center, located at 126 N. St. Andrews St. in Dothan. Admission is $20 per person. Tickets may be purchased at the Rose Hill Senior Center or online at https://secure.rec1.com/AL/dothan-al/catalog (click on the Seniors Link and then the Senior Prom link). For more information, call Nalarence Davis at 334-615-3740.
OCT. 28
The Tri-State Community Orchestra will present its Halloween Spooktacular concert on Friday, Oct. 28. The concert will be held at 7:30 p.m. at the Cultural Arts Center, 909 S. St. Andrews St. in Dothan. Tickets are $10 for general admission seating and are available for purchase at the Cultural Arts Center Box Office, online at the TCO website, or at the door the night of the concert. The TCO is asking concert-goers of all ages to enjoy dressing up for the occasion and joining in the family-friendly costume parade that will be held at intermission. For more information, visit tristatecommunityorchestra.org or call 334-655-1066.
Club Italiano will meet Friday, Oct. 28, at Mural City Coffee Company, 6:30-8:30 p.m., to speak and practice Italian through low-pressure talk and games. Esercitate l’italiano con il miglior caffè e tè della città. Cercate la bandiera dell’Università di Troy. Gratuito, aperto a tutti. Contatto: vossr@troy.edu.
The Hawk-Houston Youth Enrichment Center Board of Directors invites local churches, former members of Hawk-Houston (Boys’ Club/Boys & Girls Club), and supporters to its second Pennies from Heaven community outreach luncheon and open house tour on Nov. 17, 12-1:30 p.m. The center, located at 329 Chickasaw St. in Dothan, is celebrating 58 years (1964-2022) of service the community, youth, and families. Attendees will see the recent renovations to the facility while enjoying and reminiscing the organization’s history from its archives of photos, news articles, and youth membership list. RSVP by Oct. 28. Call 334-792-4618 or call Dr. Walter H. Sims at 850-590-7111.
OCT. 31
The Rose Hill Senior Center will celebrate Halloween with Trunk or Treat on Monday, Oct. 31, from 9:30-11 a.m. Anyone 50 years old or older and who loves treats, can call the Rose Hill Center at 334-615-3740 for more information. The person attending the event with the best costume wins a prize.
NOV. 5
A cornhole tournament fundraiser benefitting the Pike Regional Child Advocacy Center will be held Nov. 5 from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Troy Parks and Recreation gym located at 601 Enzor Road in Troy. There is a $5 door fee and a $10 fee per player. Prizes will be awarded for first, second and third place. Registration begins at 11 a.m., and the tournament starts at noon. No late entries allowed. Call 334-670-0487 for sponsorship opportunities.
Dothan Leisure Services is calling all artists for Art in the Park on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Eastgate Park. Vendors may begin setting up their booths at 7:30 a.m. on the day of the event. Bring your own tables and tents to fit in a 10-foot by 10-foot booth. No...
Wapato Parents Sue School After Attacked Disabled Son Almost Dies
Wapato Parents Sue School After Attacked Disabled Son Almost Dies https://digitalalabamanews.com/wapato-parents-sue-school-after-attacked-disabled-son-almost-dies/
Parents of a former middle school student of Wapato filed a lawsuit after their son almost died from an attack at the school. The family’s story is complicated and sad, here is what happened.
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What Happened at Wapato Middle School?
Drake Martin, the student in the attack, suffers from multiple disabilities including “a non-random association of birth defects that affects multiple parts of his body, including limb abnormalities. He also has Klippel Feil Anomaly, which limits his neck movement” says the lawsuit. The parents also say in the lawsuit that “the school district’s actions violated Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Washington Law Against Discrimination, state laws regarding negligence, harassment, intimidation and bullying” according to news reports. The attack happened on October 17, 2019 when the student Drake was punched the face and harassed by other students.
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How Did Drake Martin Almost Die After the Attack?
When Drake was attacked, he was sitting alone on the bleaches with his laptop. A group of 3 students then “started trying to mess with the computer and Drake tried to defend himself and the computer, one of the kids punched him in the face” his father said according to reports. After the attack Drake suffered from a concussion and damage to his neck. His neck injury led to a spinal fusion surgery and shortly after “a brain infection the family believes was tied to his injuries and required two open brain surgeries to fix.” His father said ““He almost died, It was a good solid week-and-a-half where he didn’t know who we were, as his parents” according to reports.
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Wapato School District Is Sued
Now the parents of Drake have filed a lawsuit against the Wapato School District because “it’s the district that’s responsible for the circumstances that allowed for Drake to be injured in the first place and for how they responded after that” according to his father. He says the school treated Drake like he was equally guilty in the attack and was also suspended. Then after the attack, they refused to protect him from the students that assaulted him according to the lawsuit.
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Wapato School District Responds
The Wapato School District released a statement after receiving the lawsuit details according to reports. “The Wapato School District recently received notification about a suit filed in federal district court regarding a student related altercation that happened three years ago (October 2019). While the district is not able to comment about the details related to this ongoing litigation, what we can say is that since the case was just recently filed, we are working with legal counsel through the very early stages of responding to the filing. Safety is a priority for all students in the Wapato School District and we have confidence the judicial process will result in answering the questions that have been raised about liability cited in the filing.”
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What Are Drake’s Parents Asking For?
The lawsuit is asking for “compensation for Drake’s extensive medical bills and for all the ways this experience has made a life already full of challenges.” The parents want the “school to understand that they treated this kid wrongly and hope that it doesn’t happen to another kid down the road” according to reports. After Drake mostly healed from the attack, he transferred to Zillah and is thriving but only able to attend for a half day. His father describes Drake “He’s an amazing kid, He’s the kid that roots for the underdog, you know.” Now all of Wahington is rooting for you Drake!
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LOOK: What major laws were passed the year you were born?
Data for this list was acquired from trusted online sources and news outlets. Read on to discover what major law was passed the year you were born and learn its name, the vote count (where relevant), and its impact and significance.
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Exxon Illegally Fired Two Scientists Suspected Of Leaking Information To WSJ Labor Department Says | CNN Business
Exxon Illegally Fired Two Scientists Suspected Of Leaking Information To WSJ, Labor Department Says | CNN Business https://digitalalabamanews.com/exxon-illegally-fired-two-scientists-suspected-of-leaking-information-to-wsj-labor-department-says-cnn-business/
New York CNN —
ExxonMobil has been ordered to reinstate two scientists who were fired after being suspected of leaking information to The Wall Street Journal, the US Labor Department said Friday.
A federal whistleblower investigation found the oil and gas giant terminated the two computational scientists illegally in late 2020. The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration also ordered ExxonMobil to pay the two employees back more than $800,000 in back wages, interest and compensatory damages.
An article in The Wall Street Journal last year claimed ExxonMobil might have inflated its production estimates and the value of oil and gas wells in the Texas Permian Basin, where much of US production is located. The story scrutinized the company’s assumption in its 2019 SEC filings that drilling speed would increase substantially in the next five years.
Exxon denied the allegations at the time, maintaining that it was reaching its drilling targets. “The claims made about drilling rates are demonstrably false,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson said.
The two unidentified employees “raised concerns about the company’s use of these assumptions in late 2020,” according to the Labor Department’s release. Exxon claimed it fired one scientist for “mishandling proprietary company information,” the Labor Department statement said, and the other for “having a ‘negative attitude,’ looking for other jobs, and losing the confidence of company management.”
In a statement to CNN Business, Exxon denied the allegations and said that it will “defend itself accordingly.”
“The terminations in late 2020 were unrelated to the ill-founded concerns raised by the employees in 2019,” an ExxonMobil spokesperson said.
Though neither employee was revealed as a source for the Journal’s story, OSHA learned that the company knew one of the scientists was a relative of a source quoted in the WSJ article and had access to the leaked information.
“ExxonMobil’s actions are unacceptable. The integrity of the US financial system relies on companies to report their financial condition and assets accurately,” said Assistant Secretary for Occupational Safety and Health Doug Parker.
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Rudy Ford Contributes For Packers In Unexpected Way
Rudy Ford Contributes For Packers In Unexpected Way https://digitalalabamanews.com/rudy-ford-contributes-for-packers-in-unexpected-way/
The Green Bay Packers signed Rudy Ford because of his special-teams ability. But when Adrian Amos went down with a concussion in Green Bay’s previous game, Ford had to step in at safety against the New England Patriots.
But that presented the Packers with the dilemma of balancing Ford’s roles between his emergency call in the secondary and his bread-and-butter on special teams. Depending on Amos’ condition, Green Bay could have those decisions to make again on Sunday, when it plays the New York Giants.
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“We subbed him a little bit depending on what the series was and what phase we were in, whether we were in punt or kickoff or that sort of thing,” Packers special-teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia said, “and I’m expecting some of the same things as we move forward. We’re conscious of how many snaps he’s playing on defense and what the drive looks like and can he go on punt return or now can we flip around and put him on punt before the defensive series.”
Ford didn’t play a defensive snap in his first three games with Green Bay, then played 44 in the 27-24 overtime victory against New England. Conversely, after being on the field for 17 special-teams plays in the previous game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Ford had nine against the Packers.
An All-State running back at New Hope High School who made the transition to the secondary at Auburn, Ford split his first four NFL seasons between the Arizona Cardinals and Philadelphia Eagles after entering the league as a sixth-round draft choice in 2017. Before the 2021 campaign, he had been on the field for 806 special-teams plays and 125 defensive snaps in 41 regular-season games.
After the Jacksonville signed Ford in March 2021 to a two-year, $4.2 million contract, he had 423 defensive snaps and 179 special-teams plays as he moved into the role of the Jaguars’ slot corner six games into the season. But improvements in Jacksonville’s defensive backfield made it less likely that Ford would have as prominent a role there in 2022, and the Jaguars released him on Aug. 29.
Green Bay signed Ford two days later to bolster its special teams. But against New England, Ford recorded seven tackles on defense, the second-highest total of his career. He had eight tackles in Jacksonville’s 9-6 victory over the Buffalo Bills on Nov. 7, when he played a career-high 66 defensive snaps.
“I think he did an outstanding job,” Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. “Playing with great effort, first and foremost, but just doing his responsibility. Certainly, you felt his presence out there in terms of his physicality. I want to say he had seven tackles. I thought he did a really good job.”
LaFleur made that remark one week after praising Ford’s play on special teams against Tampa Bay.
“You can feel those guys getting down there, both Keisean (Nixon) and Rudy,” LaFleur said about Green Bay’s punt coverage. “They can cover up a lot of mistakes in your coverage lanes, fanning the field. They forced a lot of fair catches. Obviously, Pat (O’Donnell) had an amazing day punting the football. Just their ability to get down and win their one-on-ones or win a double-team on the outside made a huge difference in our punt unit.”
In Green Bay’s 14-12 victory over the Buccaneers, O’Donnell had a net average of 44.7 yards on seven punts. Ford stopped a return for no gain at the Tampa Bay 13-yard line, a punt was downed at the Bucs 2 and fair catches came at the Tampa Bay 11, 14 and 11.
Against New England, O’Donnell had a net average of 32.2 yards on five punts. While the Packers downed a punt at the Patriots 2 and there was a fair catch at the New England 8, Marcus Jones, a rookie from Enterprise High School and Troy, broke off punt returns of 20 and 29 yards.
Green Bay’s injury and practice participation report for this week shows Amos did not practice on Wednesday and was a limited participant on Thursday and Friday. He’s listed as questionable to play in Sunday’s game, but Amos did accompany the Packers to London.
RELATED: NFL WEEK 5: SCHEDULE, TV, ODDS
“(Ford) was thrust in when we unfortunately lost Adrian,” Green Bay defensive coordinator Joe Barry said. “It doesn’t matter if you’ve been here one week, one month or a year, you’re the next man up, and like I tell you guys all the time, we take the approach that we don’t have backups, we have starters in waiting because you never know when your opportunity’s going to happen. …
“Rudy came in and did a heck of a job for us. It was great.”
The Packers and Giants kick off at 8:30 a.m. CDT Sunday at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London. NFL Network will televise the game.
FOR MORE OF AL.COM’S COVERAGE OF THE NFL, GO TO OUR NFL PAGE
Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through one of the links on our site, we may receive compensation.
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FOX News Hires Trump Shill Kellyanne Conway The Original 'Alternative Facts' Dispenser
FOX News Hires Trump Shill Kellyanne Conway, The Original 'Alternative Facts' Dispenser https://digitalalabamanews.com/fox-news-hires-trump-shill-kellyanne-conway-the-original-alternative-facts-dispenser/
From the beginning of Donald Trump’s political misadventures, Fox News has been his de facto Ministry of Propaganda. This was true throughout his first campaign in 2016, when Fox News aired his every speech and rally in full without interruption. It was true throughout his occupation of the White House. And it remains true since his decisive loss to President Biden in 2020 that he still refuses to concede.
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For more than six years Fox News has spent half of their airtime fawning over Trump. The other half was spent attacking his Democratic opponents and policies, and inventing fake scandals. So no one should be surprised that the ultra-rightist network is now bolstering their roster of Trump-fluffers by hiring his former White House Counselor, Kellyanne Conway.
RELATED: Battle of the Goliaths of Gaslighting: Trump Calls Kellyanne Conway a Liar – and Vice Versa
Conway, you may recall, coined the phrase “alternative facts” when while trying to make excuses for another in a long line of Trump lies. It was a milestone moment in the media for a White House official to essentially admit that the president was making stuff up. And that performance has now earned Conway a paid position at Fox News.
Conway is joining some of her former White House colleagues and Trump groupies at Fox. They include Trump’s former press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who is now a co-host of “Outnumbered;” Larry Kudlow, who has own show on Fox Business; former Justice Department spokesperson, Kerri Kupec, who is Fox’s Washington, D.C. editor; Trump’s ex-Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, as a contributor.
The most glaringly unseemly recruitment is that of Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, wife of Eric. It’s bad enough that Fox News stuffs its schedule with Trump’s political associates, but bringing on his family to give her view of him and his political aspirations is about as twisted as any media enterprise can get. Republicans complained about Chris Cuomo hosting a program on CNN, but for most of that time he wasn’t covering his brother, Andrew, the governor of New York. After he started covering him, CNN fired him.
Conway is off to great start on Fox News. For instance, she maligned Democrats as being opposed to religion. According to Conway, voters…
“…see a Democratic Party that’s openly hostile to religion these days. They can’t even give their thoughts and prayers when there’s a tragedy. It’s only thoughts now.”
Kellyanne: You heard the foolishness of the President today who somehow got bamboozled into standing next to Ron and Casey Desantis. That's a problem for Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/fe9gXzk6Jm
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 5, 2022
‘ readability=”5.3155555555556″
x
Kellyanne: You heard the foolishness of the President today who somehow got bamboozled into standing next to Ron and Casey Desantis. That’s a problem for Joe Biden. pic.twitter.com/fe9gXzk6Jm
— Acyn (@Acyn) October 5, 2022
Conway thinks that Democrats are hurting themselves by taking action to mitigate climate change. However, most Americans support the Democratic position on this issue. What’s more, Biden doesn’t have a “problem” because of his appearance with DeSantis. In fact, he campaigned on a platform of unity. It’s Republicans who condemn their own when they show even the slightest bit of collegiality with Democrats. And then there was this…
“Whether it is student loan forgiveness or pardoning marijuana possession convictions, a bereft Biden tries hard to change the subject and get people who dislike him to dislike him a little bit less.”
To be clear, what Conway is objecting to here is that Biden is doing precisely what the majority of the American people want him to do. He is fulfilling his campaign promises. Since when is it a political liability to seek approval from the people you are there to serve?
RELATED: Lara Trump Admits on Fox News that Her Sugardaddy-In-Law Interfered with Justice Dept Business
Those are just a few examples of the wit and wisdom that Conway was enlisted to provide. And from Fox’s perspective, she is already earning her pay. She is delivering on the Fox News mission of blatantly right-wing, partisan disinformation. It’s what Fox News was created for. So don’t be surprised when they hire Steve Bannon or Don Jr to anchor their nightly news.
NOTE: Twitter suspended the News Corpse account after 11 years without giving a reason. So if anyone wants to tweet articles from my website, please feel free to do so often and repeatedly.
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Tropical Storm Julia Forms Expected To Become Hurricane
Tropical Storm Julia Forms, Expected To Become Hurricane https://digitalalabamanews.com/tropical-storm-julia-forms-expected-to-become-hurricane/
INTERCOASTAL WATERWAYS. LOOK AT TROPICAL STORM JULIA. THIS LOOKS LIKE A HURRICANE. WE HAVE TO SEE WHAT RECON SAYS. IT IS NOT MOVING TOWARDS US. IT WILL MOVE INTO CENTRAL AMERICA, WEAKEN, CROSS TO THE PACIFIC WAR MOVE UP TO MEXICO. THERE’S A LOT OF WINDSHEAR. WERE NOT ANTICIPATING DEVELOPMENT. WE ARE GOING TO WATCH IT JUST TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE. A GREAT STRETCH OF WEATHER THROUGH MONDAY. WEDNESDAY, THURSDAY AND FRIDAY RAIN CHANCES DRAMATICALLY INCREASE. IT IS NOT SUMMER WEATHER BUT IT IS RISING RAIN.
Tropical Storm Julia forms, expected to become hurricane
Tropical Depression 13 strengthened into Tropical Storm Julia on Friday. It’s headed toward Central America and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.As of Saturday afternoon, the system was 80 miles east of Isla de San Andres, Colombia and 225 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua.Julia had winds of 65 mph, and the system was moving west at 18 mph.”On the forecast track, the center of Julia is expected to pass near or over San Andres and Providencia Islands later today and then move inland along the coast of Nicaragua early Sunday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Strengthening is forecast, and Julia is expected to become a hurricane later today.”This storm is not expected to impact Florida. SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:A hurricane warning is in effect for…* San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina Islands Colombia* Nicaragua from Bluefields to Puerto CabezasA hurricane watch is in effect for…* Nicaragua north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua borderA tropical storm warning is in effect for…* Nicaragua south of Bluefields to the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border* Nicaragua north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua border* Pacific coast of Nicaragua* Pacific coast of HondurasA tropical storm watch is in effect for…* Honduras from the Nicaragua/Honduras border to Punta Patuca* Coast of El SalvadorKNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUEDStay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates.Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind.Understand hurricane forecast models and cones.Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood.Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes.Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per dayCanned food and soup, such as beans and chiliCan opener for the cans without the easy-open lidsAssemble a first-aid kitTwo weeks’ worth of prescription medicationsBaby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapersFlashlight and batteriesBattery-operated weather radioWHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUEDListen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave.Complete preparation activities.If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows.Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows.HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANEA smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath.Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | AndroidEnable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts.If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts.PET AND ANIMAL SAFETYYour pet should be a part of your family plan. If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe space for them, could result in injury or death.Contact hotels and motels outside of your immediate area to see if they take pets.Ask friends, relatives and others outside of the affected area whether they could shelter your animal.
ORLANDO, Fla. —
Tropical Depression 13 strengthened into Tropical Storm Julia on Friday. It’s headed toward Central America and is expected to strengthen into a hurricane.
As of Saturday afternoon, the system was 80 miles east of Isla de San Andres, Colombia and 225 miles east of Bluefields, Nicaragua.
Julia had winds of 65 mph, and the system was moving west at 18 mph.
“On the forecast track, the center of Julia is expected to pass near or over San Andres and Providencia Islands later today and then move inland along the coast of Nicaragua early Sunday morning,” the National Hurricane Center said. “Strengthening is forecast, and Julia is expected to become a hurricane later today.”
This storm is not expected to impact Florida.
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A hurricane warning is in effect for…
* San Andres, Providencia, and Santa Catalina Islands Colombia
* Nicaragua from Bluefields to Puerto Cabezas
A hurricane watch is in effect for…
* Nicaragua north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua border
A tropical storm warning is in effect for…
* Nicaragua south of Bluefields to the Nicaragua/Costa Rica border
* Nicaragua north of Puerto Cabezas to the Honduras/Nicaragua border
* Pacific coast of Nicaragua
* Pacific coast of Honduras
A tropical storm watch is in effect for…
* Honduras from the Nicaragua/Honduras border to Punta Patuca
* Coast of El Salvador
KNOW WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WATCH IS ISSUED
Stay tuned to WESH 2 News, WESH.COM, or NOAA Weather Radio for storm updates.
Prepare to bring inside any lawn furniture, outdoor decorations or ornaments, trash cans, hanging plants, and anything else that can be picked up by the wind.
Understand hurricane forecast models and cones.
Prepare to cover all windows of your home. If shutters have not been installed, use precut plywood.
Check batteries and stock up on canned food, first-aid supplies, drinking water, and medications.
The WESH 2 First Warning Weather Team recommends you have these items ready before the storm strikes.
Bottled water: One gallon of water per person per day
Canned food and soup, such as beans and chili
Can opener for the cans without the easy-open lids
Assemble a first-aid kit
Two weeks’ worth of prescription medications
Baby/children’s needs, such as formula and diapers
Flashlight and batteries
Battery-operated weather radio
WHAT TO DO WHEN A HURRICANE WARNING IS ISSUED
Listen to the advice of local officials. If you are advised to evacuate, leave.
Complete preparation activities.
If you are not advised to evacuate, stay indoors, away from windows.
Be alert for tornadoes. Tornadoes can happen during a hurricane and after it passes over. Remain indoors, in the center of your home, in a closet or bathroom without windows.
HOW YOUR SMARTPHONE CAN HELP DURING A HURRICANE
A smartphone can be your best friend in a hurricane — with the right websites and apps, you can turn it into a powerful tool for guiding you through a storm’s approach, arrival and aftermath.
Download the WESH 2 News app for iOS | Android
Enable emergency alerts — if you have an iPhone, select settings, then go into notifications. From there, look for government alerts and enable emergency alerts.
If you have an Android phone, from the home page of the app, scroll to the right along the bottom and click on “settings.” On the settings menu, click on “severe weather alerts.” From the menu, select from most severe, moderate-severe, or all alerts.
PET AND ANIMAL SAFETY
Your pet should be a part of your family plan. If you must evacuate, the most important thing you can do to protect your pets is to evacuate them too. Leaving pets behind, even if you try to create a safe space for them, could result in injury or death.
Contact hotels and motels outside of your immediate area to see if they take pets.
Ask friends, relatives and others outside of the affected area whether they could shelter your animal.
Read More…
Racial Equity In Marijuana Pardons Requires States Action
Racial Equity In Marijuana Pardons Requires States’ Action https://digitalalabamanews.com/racial-equity-in-marijuana-pardons-requires-states-action/
By pardoning Americans with federal convictions for marijuana possession, President Joe Biden said he aimed to partially redress decades of anti-drug laws that disproportionately harmed Black and Latino communities.
While Biden’s executive action will benefit thousands of people by making it easier for them to find housing, get a job or apply to college, it does nothing to help the hundreds of thousands of mostly Black and Hispanic Americans still burdened by state convictions for marijuana-related offenses, not to mention the millions more with other drug offenses on their records.
Advocates for overhauling the nation’s drug laws are hopeful that Biden’s pardons lead state lawmakers to pardon and expunge minor drug offenses from people’s records. After all, they say, dozens of states have already decriminalized cannabis and legalized it for a multibillion-dollar recreational and medicinal use industry that is predominantly white-owned.
“We know that this is really the tip of the iceberg when it comes to people who are suffering the effects of (past) marijuana prohibition,” said Maritza Perez, director of federal affairs at the Drug Policy Alliance, a nonprofit organization pushing for decriminalization and safe drug use policies.
The decades-long “war on drugs,” a sweeping federal legislative agenda that Biden championed as a U.S. senator and that was mirrored by state lawmakers, brought about mass-criminalization and an explosion of the prison population. An estimated tens of millions of people have had a marijuana-related arrest on their record since 1965, the vast majority of them stemming from enforcement by local police and state prosecutors.
But as many law enforcement officials like to point out, the majority of people who serve long sentences for marijuana-related offenses were convicted of more serious charges than possession, such as a weapons count or the intent to sell or traffic the drug on a larger scale. Such factors are typically how a case moves into federal territory versus state prosecution.
Still, reform advocates counter that many of them aren’t violent drug kingpins.
A 2021 Associated Press review of federal and state incarceration data showed that between 1975 and 2019, the U.S. prison population jumped from 240,593 to 1.43 million people. Of them, about 1 in 5 were incarcerated with a drug offense listed as their most serious crime.
The passage of stiffer penalties for crack cocaine, marijuana and other drugs in the 1990s helped to triple the Black and Hispanic incarceration rates by the year 2000. The white incarceration rate only doubled.
And despite state legalization or decriminalization of possession up to certain amounts, local law enforcement agencies continue to make more arrests for drug possession, including marijuana, than any other criminal offense, according to FBI crime data.
The president’s pardon of more than 6,500 Americans with federal marijuana possession convictions, as well as thousands more with convictions in the majority-Black city of Washington, captures only a sliver of those with records nationwide. That’s likely why he has called on state governors to take similar steps for people with state marijuana possession convictions.
“While white and Black and brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and brown people have been arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate rates,” Biden said Thursday. “Just as no one should be in a federal prison solely due to the possession of marijuana, no one should be in a local jail or state prison for that reason, either.”
With the president’s unambiguous acknowledgement of racial inequity in marijuana enforcement, drug law reform advocates and those with convictions now see an opening to push for far more remedies to the harms of the war on drugs.
Weldon Angelos, whose 2003 federal case for selling $300 worth of marijuana to a confidential informant in Utah got him sentenced to 55 years in prison, said he knows many people who will benefit from the president’s pardon. But there are also many more who will not, he said.
“I feel like this is a first step of (Biden) doing something bigger,” said Angelos who, after serving 13 years in prison, received presidential clemency and a pardon during the Obama and Trump administrations. He is now a drug law reform activist.
Felony cannabis cases like his also deserve consideration, Weldon said. Biden’s pardon does not cover convictions for possessing marijuana with an intent to distribute, which could further widen the scope of people receiving relief by tens of thousands.
Enacting a law that clears a person’s federal drug record, similar to what has been offered in nearly two dozen states where marijuana has been decriminalized or legalized recreationally, would make the conviction invisible to companies and landlords doing criminal background checks, he said. Even with the federal pardon, Weldon’s record is still visible, he said.
“There’s a lot more that needs to be done here, if we really want to unwind the effects, and the racist effects, of the war on cannabis,” Weldon said.
Some advocates believe the country should consider clearing more than just marijuana records. In the 1990s, Marlon Chamberlain was a college student in Iowa when he learned that his then-girlfriend was pregnant with his eldest son. He began using cannabis to cope with the anxiety of becoming a young father and, soon after, started selling the drug.
“My thought was that I would try to make enough money and have the means to take care of my son,” said Chamberlain, a 46-year-old Chicago native. “But I got addicted to the lifestyle and I graduated from selling weed to selling cocaine.”
Chamberlain said he had a slew of state charges for marijuana possession between the ages of 19 and 25. But it was a federal case for crack cocaine, in which authorities used his prior marijuana arrests to enhance the seriousness of their case, that upended his life. Chamberlain was sentenced to 20 years in prison before the punishment was reduced to 14 years under the Fair Sentencing Act that narrowed the sentencing disparity between crack and powder forms of cocaine. He was freed after 10 years.
Even though he will not benefit from Biden’s marijuana pardon, Chamberlain sees it as an opportunity to advocate for the elimination of what he calls the “permanent punishments,” such as the difficulties in finding a job or housing that come with having a past drug offense.
“What Biden is initiating is a process of righting the wrongs” of the drug war, he said.
Colorado and Washington were the first states to legalize the recreational use of cannabis in 2012, although medical use had already been legal in several states. According to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, 37 states, the District of Columbia and four U.S. territories now permit the medical use of cannabis. Nineteen states, D.C. and two territories have legalized its recreational use.
And during next month’s midterm elections, voters in Arkansas, Maryland, Missouri, North Dakota and South Dakota will decide whether to permit recreational adult use of cannabis. That is reason enough for every state to look into mass-pardons and expungements, civil rights leaders say.
“How fair is it that you will legalize marijuana now, tax it to use those state taxes to fund government, but forget all the people who are sitting in jails or were incarcerated when it was illegal?” NAACP President Derrick Johnson told the AP. “All those individuals who have been charged with marijuana crimes need to be pardoned, particularly those in states that have legalized marijuana.”
Richard Wallace, executive director of Equity and Transformation, a social and economic justice advocacy group in Chicago, said state pardons must also come with some form of restitution to those who suffered economically under the racially discriminatory drug war.
“We need to be thinking about building out durable reparations campaigns centered around cannabis legalization,” he said. “I think oftentimes we end up just fighting for the pardons and the expungements, and we leave out the economic component.”
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Aaron Morrison is a New York City-based member of AP’s Race and Ethnicity team. Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/aaronlmorrison.
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As Mar-A-Lago Case Advances Trumps Initial Success Could Fade
As Mar-A-Lago Case Advances, Trump’s Initial Success Could Fade https://digitalalabamanews.com/as-mar-a-lago-case-advances-trumps-initial-success-could-fade/
Former President Trump’s battle against the Justice Department investigation into the mishandling of government records at Mar-a-Lago has now reached the highest court, but legal experts say he may not fare as well as his case is pushed before new judges.
Trump scored an initial victory before a federal district court judge in Florida, who granted his request to appoint a special master to review the more than 10,000 government documents seized at his home to determine whether any might be protected by executive or attorney-client privileges.
But as the case works its way through the court system, other judges seem more hesitant to grant Trump’s requests.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals served the Department of Justice (DOJ) an initial victory in the case, siphoning off the more than 100 classified records from special master review and later agreeing to an expedited schedule to review DOJ’s challenge to Judge Aileen Cannon’s decision to approve the special master process.
But Trump’s emergency appeal to the Supreme Court wasn’t treated like an urgent matter — Justice Clarence Thomas gave DOJ a week to respond.
“All indications are that the appellate litigation continues to move in the government’s direction,” Brad Moss, a national security law expert, told The Hill.
“The 11th Circuit is expediting the appeal of the special master appointment, and the Supreme Court is conversely taking its sweet time considering Mr. Trump’s appeal of the lifting of Judge Cannon’s injunction. If nothing else, the appellate judges are making clear how serious they take the government’s national security concerns and how little credence they place in Mr. Trump’s legal theories.”
Trump’s appeal to the Supreme Court to intervene in the case was the latest step from a legal team that’s taken an aggressive posture in its battle with the Justice Department.
But the filing itself was actually quite narrow.
The request from Trump asks that the classified records in question are returned to the pool of documents included under the special master review, opting not to ask the court to exclude those documents from being used by the Justice Department as they continue their investigation — something Cannon had included in her original order.
“This is a very specific and narrow request by Trump, the merits of which turn on a technical jurisdictional question, but which runs into fatal procedural obstacles long before that. It’s not laughable, but only because it’s small,” Steve Vladeck, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law specializing in federal courts and national security law, wrote on Twitter.
“This is what good lawyers who are stuck do to appease bad clients….It’s a way of filing *something* in the Supreme Court without going all the way to crazytown and/or acting unethically,” Vladeck added.
Trump’s lawyers argued that the federal appeals court erred by allowing the Department of Justice to appeal a move that was procedural in nature.
They argued the appeal “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master” and said the 11th Circuit’s intervention “effectively compromis[es] the integrity of the well-established policy against piecemeal appellate review.”
Trump’s team also recycled legal arguments from earlier briefs insinuating that he could have declassified the records in his home but stopped short of doing so. It’s a statement that generated skepticism from the special master, who initially asked the legal team to back the claim before Cannon stepped in and said Trump did not need to comply with the request.
Even if Trump convinced the court, the DOJ would still be able to use the documents in its investigation even as the special master reviewed them.
Moss, likewise, suspected the filing is likely to accomplish little for Trump.
“The appeal to the Supreme Court by the Trump legal team was done for one reason: Mr. Trump no doubt demanded something be filed. The narrowness of the appeal reflects the efforts by his lawyers to craft something — anything — they could justify as non-frivolous. Even if it succeeds, it would likely come too late in the special master process anyway to matter,” he said.
Brian Greer, a former attorney for the CIA, sees one potential upside for Trump — but only if the Department of Justice decides to prosecute him.
“Even if Trump is granted the relief they’re seeking, it’s not clear how helpful it’s going to be to them other than getting early access to those classified records,” he told The Hill.
“To me, the only real end game with the Supreme Court litigation, other than delay, is getting access to those records prior to an indictment so that they can start building their defense.”
The 11th Circuit agreement to an expedited review for the Justice Department’s case could also prove helpful for the government.
In its initial ruling, a three-judge panel for the court suggested Cannon erred by appointing the special master, a sign it may be convinced Trump has little claim as a former executive to any of the documents.
But as a practical matter it also aids their investigation.
“The Justice Department is correct in asserting that being unable to use the unclassified documents currently before the special master could hinder its ongoing investigation into the classified records,” Greer said.
“That’s because, as the Justice Department asserted, they may want to explore how those unclassified documents were commingled with the classified records, whether there are fingerprints on those documents, and to ask witnesses about those documents, all of which might be relevant to investigating the classified records,” he continued.
But the victories for the Department of Justice still delay the ultimate determination on the records.
The process before the 11th Circuit and Supreme Court could take months, and a ruling from the appeals court would likely come in December at the earliest.
“The timing is still not great for DOJ as they would likely want to complete any investigation involving the relevance of the unclassified records prior to bringing charges on the classified records,” Greer said.
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