Trump Requests Supreme Court Intervene In Mar-A-Lago Case | DW | 05.10.2022
Trump Requests Supreme Court Intervene In Mar-A-Lago Case | DW | 05.10.2022 https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-requests-supreme-court-intervene-in-mar-a-lago-case-dw-05-10-2022/
The move further escalates the dispute over classified documents discovered at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. It’s unclear whether the nation’s highest court will accept the request.
Former US President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in his legal battle over classified documents that were seized at his Mar-a-Lago mansion on August 8.
On Tuesday, Trump’s lawyers filed a request with the Supreme Court to overturn a previous ruling from the Court of Appeals that prevented an independent arbiter requested by Trump, known as a special master, from vetting more than 100 classified documents that were among 11,000 records seized by FBI agents.
In the filing on Tuesday, Trump’s legal team said the special master should have access to “determine whether documents bearing classification markings are in fact classified, and regardless of classification, whether those records are personal records or presidential records.”
Lawyers point to Trump’s ‘absolute authority’
On September 15, New York Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed as a special master, tasked with screening the documents and weeding out anything that may be covered by attorney-client privilege or executive privilege. The Justice Department was prevented from reviewing the documents until this process was completed.
However, the Justice Department successfully appealed this decision and some of Dearie’s powers were wound back by the Court of Appeals a week later.
“Since [former] President Trump had absolute authority over classification decisions during his presidency, the current status of any disputed document cannot possibly be determined solely by reference to the markings on that document,” Trump’s lawyers said in the filing on Tuesday.
They said that without the oversight of Dearie as a special master, “the unchallenged views of the current Justice Department would supersede the established authority of the chief executive.”
Application submitted to Clarence Thomas
The petition was submitted to conservative Justice Clarence Thomas, who oversees emergency matters from Florida and several other southern states.
He can act on his own or refer the emergency appeal to the rest of the court, as is convention.
Thomas has previously been criticized for being the only dissenting vote in another Trump documents case pertaining to the January 6 insurrection at the US Capitol. His wife, Virginia “Ginni” Thomas, is also a conservative activist and noted Trump supporter.
zc/wd (AP, Reuters, AFP)
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Man Killed At Scene Of Catalytic Converter Theft In Oakland Police Say
Man Killed At Scene Of Catalytic Converter Theft In Oakland, Police Say https://digitalalaskanews.com/man-killed-at-scene-of-catalytic-converter-theft-in-oakland-police-say/
Oct. 4, 2022
The Oakland Police Department is investigating the city’s 101st homicide of 2022.
Anda Chu/Associated Press
A man was shot and killed early Tuesday at the scene of a catalytic converter theft in Oakland, officials said.
The Oakland Police Department said officers were responding to a call about a catalytic converter theft on the 4000 block of Everett Avenue in Oakland’s Glenview neighborhood near Dimond Park at 4 a.m., when they received an additional report that a shooting occurred at the same location.
At the scene, officers found a male Oakland resident with gunshot wounds, police said. First responders took life-saving measures, but the man was pronounced dead at the scene.
The department did not respond to a question about whether the homicide was associated with the catalytic converter theft.
The man’s death marks the 101st homicide in Oakland since the start of the year. The city is experiencing a rash of shootings; two teenage brothers who attend Berkeley High were shot and killed at a house party in Oakland on Saturday night, and six people, including two students, were injured in a Sept. 28 shooting at the King Estates campus that houses several schools.
The recent homicide is under investigation. Anyone with information about the incident can call the department’s homicide section at (510) 238-3821 or the tip line at (510) 238-7950.
This is a developing story and details will be added as they become available.
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Alaska Womens Hall Of Fame Selects 10 Women To Be Virtually Inducted On Oct. 18
Alaska Women’s Hall Of Fame Selects 10 Women To Be Virtually Inducted On Oct. 18 https://digitalalaskanews.com/alaska-womens-hall-of-fame-selects-10-women-to-be-virtually-inducted-on-oct-18/
The Alaska Women’s Hall of Fame has selected 10 women to be honored at a virtual induction ceremony this fall carried on its website, www.alaskawomenshalloffame.org. These women from across the state will be recognized for their accomplishments within their communities, their professions and our state.
The virtual induction ceremony is at 6 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 18. Inductees are from Anchorage, Willow, Fairbanks, and Utqiaġvik. They have been shaping the face of Alaska for decades, mentored many and continue to inspire future generations.
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Linda Lou Prater King https://digitalalaskanews.com/linda-lou-prater-king/
Linda Lou Prater King, 82, of Magnolia passed away Sunday, October 2, 2022 at the Magnolia Regional Medical Center.
Linda was born on September 9, 1940 in Magnolia to the late Edgar Ray and Artiveta (Freeman) Prater. She was the theater manager for W.P. Florence’s Cameo Theater and a member of the Frist United Methodist Church.
Linda was preceded in death by her parents; husband, David Clifton King; daughter, Dava Lynn King; and sister, Anita Raye Prater.
She is survived by her nephews and nieces, Bob (Tina) Butcher of Anchorage, AK, Linda (Mark) George of San Antonio, Anita (Ric) Adams of North Pole, AK, and Marti Butcher of Anchorage, AK; great nieces, Sandy (Jeremiah) Trammell of Lynnwood, WA and Audrey (Jon) Kelley of Anchorage, AK; great-great nephews (twins), Wolfgang and River Trammell; and a host of extended family and friends.
Graveside services will be 10 a.m. Saturday, October 8, 2022 at the Magnolia City Cemetery with Rev. Gary Maskell officiating under the direction of Lewis Funeral Home, Inc., in Magnolia.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the First United Methodist Church, 320 W. Main, Magnolia, AR 71753 or Columbia County Animal Protection Society, P.O. Box 2003, Magnolia, AR 71753.
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Lawyers: Arizona GOP Official Pleaded Fifth To Jan. 6 Panel
Lawyers: Arizona GOP Official Pleaded Fifth To Jan. 6 Panel https://digitalalaskanews.com/lawyers-arizona-gop-official-pleaded-fifth-to-jan-6-panel/
By Bob Christie | Associated Press
PHOENIX — Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward refused to answer questions during a deposition of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, an attorney for the panel revealed Tuesday during a court hearing in Phoenix.
Attorney Eric Columbus told a federal judge that Ward asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination when she complied with a subpoena from the House committee.
The detail about Ward’s deposition came at a hearing where lawyers urged a federal judge to block the committee from getting her phone records while she appeals. U.S. District Judge Diane Humetewa ruled on Sept. 23 that Ward’s arguments that her phone call records should be secret did not pass legal muster.
Ward attorney Laurin Mills cast the phone records fight as one with major implications for democracy, on par if not bigger than the violent insurrection that unfolded at the Capitol.
“This is the first time in American history that a select committee of the United State Congress controlled by one party has subpoenaed the records of the state chair of the rival party,” Mills said.
He said the outcome will set important precedent, not just for the current case but for others that will come when Republicans ultimately control Congress.
The House Committee investigating the attack on the Capitol is seeking phone records from just before the November 2020 election to Jan. 31, 2021. That would include a period where Ward was pushing for former President Donald Trump’s election defeat to be overturned and while Congress was set to certify the results.
Kelli Ward and her husband Michael Ward were presidential electors who would have voted for Trump in the Electoral College had he won Arizona. Both signed a document falsely claiming they were Arizona’s true electors, despite Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in the state.
Columbus said that investigators get telephone records all the time, and noted that congressional investigators can’t arrest or charge anyone with a crime. And he noted Congress does not know all that is involved with Ward’s action to overturn President Joe Biden’s 2020 win.
“Dr. Ward was deposed by the select committee and she declined to answer on every substantive question under her rights under the Fifth Amendment,” he said. “There are other aspects of her involvement that are not at this point fully understood.”
Ward is hardly the first witness to refuse the committee’s questions. Others who have asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination include Trump allies Michael Flynn, Roger Stone and lawyer John Eastman. Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones also asserted his Fifth Amendment rights.
The committee has talked to more than 1,000 other witnesses, including many White House aides and several of Trump’s lawyers and confidants.
But Mills noted during the hearing that there is a parallel criminal investigation underway, and in the appeal her lawyers noted that she and the other 10 fake Arizona electors received grand jury subpoenas from the Department of Justice.
“All I can say is if we do this wrong, we will set a precedent that is worse than the Capitol riot,” Mills said.
Mills told the judge that the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has set a briefing schedule and could decide the case as early as January. Columbus noted that will likely be too late, since the committee dissolves on Jan. 3, when the current congressional session ends.
The Wards say the subpoena should be quashed because it violates their First Amendment rights, violates House rules and exceeds the authority of the Jan. 6 committee. Humetewa rejected each argument in turn in her earlier ruling and is considering their request to block access during appeal.
Kelli Ward is a staunch Trump ally who has aggressively promoted the false claim that the election was stolen from him. In the days after the election, she pressured Republicans on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors to investigate unsupported claims of fraud before election results were certified, according to text messages released by the county.
A spokesperson for the. 6 committee did not immediately respond Tuesday to a request for comment.
Associated Press writers Farnoush Amiri and Mary Clare Jalonick contributed from Washington.
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Kelly Hobbs Face Different Prospects In Crucial Ariz. Races
Kelly, Hobbs Face Different Prospects In Crucial Ariz. Races https://digitalalaskanews.com/kelly-hobbs-face-different-prospects-in-crucial-ariz-races/
U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly appears to be on track to be re-elected to the Senate from Arizona, but Democratic gubernatorial candidate Katie Hobbs faces a tougher test against Republican Kari Lake. (Miner file photo)
JONATHAN J. COOPER, Associated Press
Originally Published: October 4, 2022 4:07 p.m.
PHOENIX – A year ago, Arizona’s Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs was all over cable news, building a national profile as a defender of democracy and raking in cash for her campaign for governor.
Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, newly elected to finish the late John McCain’s last term and running for reelection, looked to be among the most vulnerable members of the Senate.
Fortunes appear to have flipped for the two Democrats as the midterm campaign enters the home stretch in a fast-growing, diverse state that is increasingly central to how the Democratic Party sees its future. Kelly maintains a position of strength in polling and fundraising while Hobbs is in a tighter spot.
The dynamics reflect how the campaigns have sometimes pursued different strategies and face different types of rivals. Kari Lake, Hobbs’ opponent as the Republican nominee for governor, has gained a significant following as a savvy ally of former President Donald Trump. Blake Masters, Kelly’s rival in the Senate race, has struggled to gain the same type of traction.
“People like shiny objects, and Kari Lake is that shiny object that’s putting herself out there,” said Bridget Bellavigna, a Democrat who was inspired by Trump’s election to get involved in local politics. She’s running for constable in the Phoenix suburbs.
A Fox News poll released Thursday found Kelly leading Republican Blake Masters 46% to 40%, while the race for governor was roughly tied. The survey of 1,008 Arizona voters was conducted Sept. 22-26. The margin of error was 3 percentage points.
Hobbs and Kelly are working largely independently of one another and have not campaigned together. Both portray their Republican opponents as extremists but otherwise are taking different approaches to their public persona.
Kelly, a former Navy pilot and astronaut, flies around the state in a rented four-seat plane, courting media attention along the way.
Hobbs, by contrast, had a sparse presence on the campaign trail through the Democratic primary in August and much of the period since. She’s focused her attention on rural areas far from the voter-rich areas of Phoenix and Tucson, where Democrats have to drive up turnout if they’re to be competitive here.
She’s been more visible over the past two weeks, though she prefers choreographed events in which she largely sticks to a script and limits her interactions with journalists.
In a brief interaction after an event last month, Hobbs said she’s not running from tough questions.
“I’m doing what my team is having me do,” she said. “I’m not looking to dodge anything.”
Hobbs is playing “prevent defense,” a cautious football strategy that concedes short gains to the opponent in an attempt to run out the clock, said Wes Gullett, a Republican consultant and former adviser to McCain.
Gullett attached his name to a public list of Republicans supporting Democrat Adrian Fontes for secretary of state, but he’s declined to do the same for Hobbs, though he says he’d prefer that she beats Lake.
“What I want to see from Katie Hobbs is a more aggressive candidate,” Gullett said. “Talking about the issues that she cares about, talking about what’s important.”
Late last month, Hobbs jumped on a chance to sharpen her message when a judge in Tucson ruled that prosecutors can enforce a near-total ban on abortion that was first enacted during the Civil War. She pledged to use the full power of the governor’s office to protect women’s rights, though she acknowledged there was little she could do without cooperation from the Legislature, which is likely to be controlled at least in part by Republicans who oppose abortion.
Hobbs announced over the weekend that she raised $1.2 million in the week following the abortion ruling, a major uptick in fundraising, though she hasn’t yet had to file campaign finance statements that would confirm the numbers.
Hobbs is a former social worker who worked with people experiencing homelessness and later was a lobbyist for a domestic violence shelter. She was elected to the Legislature in 2010, running on a slate with now-U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema to represent the same central Phoenix district, Hobbs in the House and Sinema in the Senate.
“At the end of the day, we’re confident that sanity will beat chaos and Sec. Hobbs will be elected in November,” Hobbs campaign manager Nicole DeMont said in a statement to The Associated Press.
The race for governor is closer than the race for Senate because Hobbs faces a tougher matchup, said Chad Campbell, a Democratic consultant and former Arizona legislator. Lake is a stronger candidate than Masters, he said.
“Kari Lake is a better version of Trump,” Campbell said. “She’s a more polished, better looking version of Donald Trump.”
It also helps Kelly that Senate races attract significantly more money than campaigns for governor, allowing Kelly and Democratic allies to relentlessly attack Masters, who is struggling to keep up financially. The Senate race also has a Libertarian candidate who could draw votes from right-leaning voters.
Independent voters make up a third of the electorate in Arizona and hold the keys to statewide victories. They often split their tickets, electing Sinema to the Senate and Republican Doug Ducey as governor in 2018. Two years later, they propelled Kelly to a 2.4 percentage point victory while Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden eked out a 0.3 point win, the closest margin of any state he won. Republicans ran the table on the rest of the ballot.
Hobbs became the undisputed Democratic frontrunner last year when she forcefully defended the 2020 election as Trump supporters oversaw a discredited recount of ballots in Maricopa County on behalf of state Senate Republicans.
But she’s struggled to translate her defense of democracy into a firm position of strength. Her own missteps haven’t helped.
Late last year, a jury for a second time sided with a Black former legislative aide, Talonya Adams, who said she was fired for discriminatory reasons in 2015, when Hobbs was the top Democrat in the Senate. Hobbs testified that she made a group decision with two others to fire Adams.
Hobbs at first defended the decision and deflected responsibility, blaming Republicans for underpaying Adams. After a firestorm from Democrats who felt she was dismissive of workplace discrimination against people of color, Hobbs apologized to Adams and said her initial response “fell short of taking real accountability.”
Two-thirds of the Hobbs campaign staff quit this summer, telling the Arizona Agenda newsletter that the atmosphere was emotionally abusive.
More recently, she’s faced an onslaught of criticism, even from allies, and weeks of negative headlines for her decision not to debate Lake.
“It’s bad for her not to,” said Linda Martini, a Democratic volunteer from Phoenix who tried to share her opinion with Hobbs at a recent campaign event but was rebuffed by the candidate, who walked away. “Furthermore, she could destroy her opponents. There’s no doubt about it. And the people want to see her on TV.”
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The COVID-19 Pandemic & More: A Book Recommendation While Omicron Continues To Ebb In Colorado
The COVID-19 Pandemic & More: A Book Recommendation While Omicron Continues To Ebb In Colorado https://digitalalaskanews.com/the-covid-19-pandemic-more-a-book-recommendation-while-omicron-continues-to-ebb-in-colorado/
Colorado COVID-19 report—the epidemic curve continues to bounce around on a plateau of hospitalization numbers ranging from about 150 to 170 with last week’s count at 171. Case counts and test positivity are stalled as well. BA.5 still accounts for most cases and a more aggressive replacement has yet to emerge. Moving into October, the lull persists in Colorado and nationally. Omicron subvariants continue to emerge—BA.2.75, BA.2.75.2, BA.2.3.20, BF.7, and BQ.1. So far, none of these subvariants has been classified as a variant of concern by the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control or the World Health Organization. Same guidance: get an updated bivalent booster and a flu shot.
Over the last month, I have read Fiona Hill’s There Is Nothing For You Here: Finding Opportunity in the Twenty-First Century, a book for our times. You may remember her name from the first impeachment of President Trump during which she testified on matters related to Russia and Ukraine. This memoir begins with the gripping story of her upbringing in the impoverished north of England during the challenging economy of the Thatcher years and her education and rise as an expert on Russia in the U.S. government. In her last government position during the Trump Administration, she was Deputy Assistant to the President and Senior Director for European and Russian Affairs on the National Security Council from 2017 to 2019. Much of the remainder of the book addresses her experience in the government, focusing on her last two years and offering her personal, chilling, and timely insights into Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. The short remainder of the book offers her thoughts into how to advance opportunity.
I was particularly absorbed by her account of classism in the United Kingdom. Raised in a poor area of England that had been economically buffeted by the closure of underground coal mines, educational and work opportunities were limited, leading her father, a porter in the local hospital, to tell her, “There is nothing for you here.” At that time, secondary education was in transition from the 11-plus system, which sorted students into educational niches based on a test at the end of primary school, to a system with comprehensive local public education for all. Hill took the 11-plus exam in its last year but attended a local secondary school in the new comprehensive model.
In the now defunct 11-plus system, the track for secondary education was determined by the single test, locking children into potentially lifetime education and career trajectories. Behind the testing was the wrong notion that intelligence had a strong genetic basis and that a child’s future performance could be anticipated based on a test. Based on the test results, children were then steered towards what was deemed appropriate education and training. The system intrinsically maintained the caste system of socioeconomic class, given the distinctions in education by the wealth of communities.
The twin studies of Sir Cyril Burt, an educational psychologist and geneticist, were influential in the establishment of this approach, showing the dominance of “nature” over “nurture”. While his early studies may have been valid, much of his later work was shown to be fraudulent. Stephen Jay Gould tells the story of Burt and the impact of his “research” in the 1981 book, The Mismeasure of Man—a superb account of erroneous and fraudulent “research” carried out to support purported racial inferiority. In my opinion, this book remains the definitive history of biased and fraudulent science carried out to support racism.
Following local secondary education, Hill attended college at St. Andrews, beginning her studies of Russia and the Russian language. She describes her failed attempt at applying to Oxford, lacking the preparation needed for the most elite universities in the United Kingdom. She tells jarring stories of how her origins in the north of England continually evoked classist reactions from colleagues, who questioned her legitimacy. These reactions were to continue across her doctoral and fellowship years, and even came when she met peers from the United Kingdom in the United States. She does not report racism as visible during her upbringing in England but finds it when she comes to the United States for her fellowship.
Beyond classism, her gender was a powerful driver of her opportunities and compensation. Her story is familiar as she finds that women were treated differently from men in professional contexts and compensated poorly by comparison. Hill learns to fight back.
At a moment when the illegal actions of Putin have started war with Ukraine, bringing the threat of nuclear weapons, and Donald Trump with his MAGA followers threatens the foundation of democracy in the United States, Hill’s insights into both men are prescient and worrisome. She provides a timely introduction to populism.
By now, you realize that I am giving this book a two-thumbs and all fingers up recommendation.
Jonathan Samet, MD, MS
Dean, Colorado School of Public Health
Categories: Colorado School of Public Health | Tags: ColoradoSPH COVID-19 Dean’s Notes ColoradoSPH Dean’s Notes
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John E Post https://digitalalaskanews.com/john-e-post/
John E. Post of Duluth passed away October 2, 2022 after a long battle with Lewy Body dementia.
John was born January 10, 1937 in Superior, Wisconsin, son of Ferdinand and Elizabeth (Lederman) Post. John was raised in Superior’s East End across the street from St. Francis church playing basketball at Cathedral, hunting and fishing the Brule, and at the beloved cabin on Lake Minnesuing. His Aunties, Mary and Martha Lederman, were a big part of the cabin life and everyday support. After following his brother Fred to Milwaukee and graduating from Marquette University, John went to work for Honeywell Corporation in Minneapolis focusing on projects to support the Apollo 11 space shuttle mission. It was there he met Patricia Ryan and since they carpooled together to work decided to make it a long-term engagement and married on Sept. 19, 1964. John and Pat started a family shortly after marriage and began a series of crazy adventures the first of which landed them in Juneau, Alaska in 1969 where child # 4 (Jerold, a.k.a. Jerry) was born and John worked for the state in the Department of Labor. An offer to serve as Director of Economic Development for the Northwest Regional Planning commission took the growing family back to the lower 48 in 1971 where they lived in a cabin without running water for 5 months waiting to move into a house in Spooner, WI. The family grew to 7 and the call of the North brought them all back to Juneau in 1975 where John served as the Director of Administrative Services and Research for the Alaska Department of Labor. While the family settled, John traveled frequently to Anchorage and Fairbanks, hiked the surrounding mountains seeking more adventures, and took up long distance running. In 1983, John once again answered the call of adventure, and headed back to Minnesota to serve the MN State Senate as the Director of Counsel and Research and then the Metropolitan Council in St. Paul. He retired from serving on the state level in 1990 and with most of the kids out of the house headed to Bayfield, WI to start a new season in life semi-retired as a real estate agent and appraiser. He and Pat enjoyed the small-town life until Pat’s passing in 1999 and John officially retired in 2005. The family had many wonderful times together and John was humbled by his life and opportunities.
John was always looking for ways to serve his community and church. In his retired years, he served as the Bayfield Carnegie Library Board President and member for over 10 years, Bayfield City Councilor, Bayfield Public Works Committee, and Knights of Columbus. In his working years, he was a coach for the kid’s sports teams and spent countless hours gardening and giving away the fruits of his labor. He carried the gardening passion into retirement and in his final years became focused on ensuring the gardens at Lakeshore Ecumen were tended.
John was preceded in death by his wife Patricia (Pat) (1999), brother Fred (1980), sister, Mary Theriault (1999), and parents Ferdinand (1998) and Elizabeth (1994) and Aunties Mary (1986) and Martha (1992) Lederman.
He is survived by his 5 children, Edmund Post of Eagan; Joel (Lisa) Post of Duluth, MN; Beth (Brandon) Olson of Duluth, MN; Jerold (Dr. Cate Buley) Post of Juneau, AK; Margaret (John) Blomberg of New Ulm, MN; grandchildren Tyler and Madeline Olson; Noatak, Shea, and Georgia Post; Samuel, Benjamin, and Alaina Blomberg and his good friend from Superior, Jerome (Jerry) Olson.
The family would like to thank the wonderful, caring, staff in the memory care unit at Lakeshore Ecumen and those caring for him in his final days at the Solvay Hospice House.
Visitation will be held at 10:00 on Monday, October 10 at St. Francis Xavier Church in Superior, WI with a Mass of Christian Burial to begin at 11:00, and interment following at the St. Francis Cemetery. Lunch will follow in the church basement. Memorials may be made to: Audubon Society of MN, Special Olympics – Duluth Chapter, or KNOM Radio (Catholic Radio in Fairbanks, AK).
The Lenroot-Maetzold Funeral Home, 1209 E. 5th Street in Superior is assisting the family with arrangements – www.lenroot-maetzold.com.
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Sen. Ron Johnson Downplays Jan. 6: Not What An Armed Insurrection Would Look Like
Sen. Ron Johnson Downplays Jan. 6: ‘Not What An Armed Insurrection Would Look Like’ https://digitalalaskanews.com/sen-ron-johnson-downplays-jan-6-not-what-an-armed-insurrection-would-look-like/
Sen. Ron Johnson on Tuesday again downplayed the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection, in which a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol seeking to stop the certification of Joe Biden’s electoral win.
In remarks to the Milwaukee Rotary Club on Tuesday morning, the Wisconsin Republican argued that it was inaccurate to call the attack an “armed insurrection,” because there were no firearms seized from the Capitol that day, despite plenty of evidence of firearms in the crowd.
“The ‘armed insurrectionists’ stayed within the rope lines in the Rotunda,” Johnson added, making air-quote gestures with his fingers. “I’m sorry — that’s not what an armed insurrection would look like. I don’t think they’d be able to reopen Congress about six hours later and complete the counting of electoral votes if there literally had been an ‘armed insurrection.’ So again, I realize that term has been used to inflame the situation.”
Johnson did not mention that many rioters went beyond the rope lines, ransacking congressional offices, damaging sculptures and art, and causing about $1.5 million worth of damage. At the insistence of top lawmakers, Congress reconvened about six hours after the attack, despite there still being shattered glass, broken furniture and what a spokesperson for the Committee on House Administration called “corrosive gas agent residue.” Rep. Andy Kim (D-N.J.) said there was “garbage and debris everywhere.”
The attack on the Capitol also left five people dead, including a police officer and a woman shot by police. Two other officers who were on duty that day later died by suicide.
Johnson’s comments Tuesday were swiftly condemned by several Democratic lawmakers and at least one member of the Biden administration.
“Ron Johnson continues to downplay the violence of Jan 6, glossing over how the mob seriously wounded police officers,” tweeted Rep. Gwen Moore (D-Wis.). “January 6 was a deadly attempt to overturn the election. To call it anything else is a disservice to the brave men & women who protected our democracy that day.”
“To call what happened on Jan. 6 an ‘armed insurrection,” I just think is inaccurate,” Sen. Ron Johnson says at Milwaukee Rotary Club just now.
Johnson argued few weapons were confiscated but protesters “did teach us how you can use a flag pole” pic.twitter.com/28E3W7G3eg
— Natasha Korecki (@natashakorecki) October 4, 2022
“It WAS an armed insurrection,” tweeted former Republican congressman Joe Walsh, who has since left the GOP. “@RonJohnsonWI is wrong. And in November, the people of Wisconsin should tell him he’s wrong.”
Wisconsin Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes (D), who is running for Senate against Johnson, tweeted that his opponent is “still covering for the Jan. 6 insurrectionists.”
“This is NOT who we are or what we stand for in Wisconsin,” Barnes tweeted. “It’s time to vote him out.”
Johnson also said Tuesday that “protesters did teach us all how you can use flagpoles, that kind of stuff, as weapons.” In video of the Jan. 6 attack, law enforcement officers outside the Capitol were shown being harassed, beaten and sprayed with gas substances by members of the mob. One of the Capitol Police officers who responded that day, Caroline Edwards, said she was struck in the head with a bike rack. She later described the scene as “carnage,” recalling how officers were on the ground, bleeding and throwing up. In one video from the attack, a rioter can be seen bashing a fallen police officer with a pole flying the American flag.
Early on Jan. 6, The Post’s Kate Woodsome saw signs of violence hours before thousands of President Trump’s loyalists besieged the Capitol. (Video: Joy Yi, Kate Woodsome/The Washington Post, Photo: John Minchillo/AP/The Washington Post)
“You mean the January 6th attackers ‘did teach us how you can use a flag pole’ to brutally beat police officers, @SenRonJohnson?” deputy White House press secretary Andrew Bates tweeted Tuesday in response to Johnson’s remarks.
In a statement, Johnson’s office claimed that the senator had said “summer protesters,” not “some of the protesters,” and that he had been referring to people protesting the killing of George Floyd in the summer of 2020.
“This clip is completely and deceptively taken out of context to push a political narrative,” Johnson spokeswoman Alexa Henning said in an email. “He acknowledges the left-wing rioters know how to use flagpoles and other metal objects and water bottles as weapons. But there is a distinction between that and an armed insurrection.”
Johnson was “in no way condoning this action,” Henning added.
This is not the first time Johnson has downplayed the severity of the Jan. 6 attack. Several Democrats last year called on Johnson to step down after he said on a conservative radio show that the Capitol rioters hadn’t scared him — but that they might have had they been Black Lives Matter protesters. On Tuesday, Johnson reiterated part of those sentiments.
“I did say I was never afraid on Jan. 6 because it’s true,” Johnson said. “I was in the Senate chamber. They closed the doors. My assumption was that a couple of crazy people got by security. … About five, 10 minutes later they opened up the door and said go back to your office. And I went back to my office and then I saw the violence.”
During the Oath Keepers’ sedition trial on Oct. 3, a U.S. prosecutor told the jury the extremist members planned “to shatter a bedrock of American democracy.” (Video: Reuters)
Johnson’s comments came as a trial began this week for several members of the extremist Oath Keepers group who allegedly traveled to Washington and staged firearms near the Capitol before forcing entry through the Capitol Rotunda doors in combat and tactical gear in the Jan. 6 attack. Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes and four co-defendants face seditious conspiracy and other charges; they have pleaded not guilty to felony charges alleging that they conspired for weeks after the 2020 presidential election to unleash political violence to oppose the lawful transfer of power to Biden.
Spencer S. Hsu, Tom Jackman and Rachel Weiner contributed to this report.
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Poll: Most Michigan Voters Think Trump Broke The Law By Taking Classified Documents
Poll: Most Michigan Voters Think Trump Broke The Law By Taking Classified Documents https://digitalalaskanews.com/poll-most-michigan-voters-think-trump-broke-the-law-by-taking-classified-documents/
Former president accused of taking classified documents from White House
FILE – Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., Sept. 3, 2022. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File) (Mary Altaffer, Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
DETROIT – A majority of Michigan voters say they think former President Donald Trump broke the law by taking classified documents from the White House, according to a new WDIV/Detroit News poll.
Results from a survey of Michigan voters conducted between Sept. 26-29 found that most voters believe Trump did not have the right to take classified documents with him when he left the White House.
Related: Archives: Records from Trump White House staffers remain missing
Here are some of the key findings from this portion of the survey:
Trump taking classified documents
When asked if they believe Trump broke the law by taking classified documents, or if they believe he had a right to take the documents, most Michigan voters (54.5%) said Trump broke the law.
21.9% of Michigan voters said they believe Trump had the right to take classified documents with him when he left the White House.
20.3% of voters were undecided on the issue.
97.3% of voters who identify as strong Democrats and 88.3% of leaning Democrats said Trump broke the law.
51.3% of Independent voters said Trump broke the law.
51.3% of voters who identify as strong Republicans and 33.8% of leaning Republicans said Trump had the right.
Trump’s favorability
Donald Trump has a low favorability rating among Michigan voters — a number that remains largely unchanged over the last month.
52.2% of Michigan voters view Trump unfavorably, while 33.9% view him favorably.
37.6% of Michigan voters said Trump’s endorsement of a candidate would make them less likely to vote for the candidate. 49.8% of voters said Trump’s endorsement wouldn’t matter to them, and 11.3% of voters said Trump’s endorsement would make them more likely to support a candidate.
Methodology
The Glengariff Group, Inc. conducted a Michigan statewide survey of November 2022 likely general election voters. The 600 sample, live operator telephone survey was conducted on September 26-29, 2022, and has a margin of error of +/-4.0% with a 95% level of confidence. 25.9% of respondents were contacted via landline telephone. 74.1% of respondents were contacted via cell phone telephone. This survey was commissioned by WDIV Local 4 News and the Detroit News.
More: Poll: Where Michigan voters stand on governor race 1 month before election
Copyright 2022 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.
About the Author:
Cassidy Johncox
Cassidy Johncox is a senior digital news editor covering stories across the spectrum, with a special focus on politics and community issues.
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Donald Trump Biographer Maggie Haberman On How Apprentice Put Mogul In The White House Those Outtakes & 2024
Donald Trump Biographer Maggie Haberman On How ‘Apprentice’ Put Mogul In The White House, Those Outtakes, & 2024 https://digitalalaskanews.com/donald-trump-biographer-maggie-haberman-on-how-apprentice-put-mogul-in-the-white-house-those-outtakes-2024/
SPOILER ALERT: This post contain details about Maggie Haberman’s Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America, which was published today.
“Trump’s not an actor,” says Maggie Haberman of the man who once fronted The Apprentice and occupied the Oval Office. “He just happened to be in this role on television playing himself,” the New York Times reporter often called the Trump whisperer adds of her primary subject for nearly the past decade. “He is a former real estate executive who ran a relatively small firm, who constantly was trying to make himself look much bigger so people didn’t see, in various ways, how small he was. And that I think is problematic for the presidency, because he’s really incurious.”
The former Apprentice host may be incurious, but many are very curious what Haberman has unearthed about one of the most examined men on the planet in her new book Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America.
Out today, the well-excerpted and teased 608-page tome is unsurprisingly full of deranged details and salvos that have characterized many books on the 4th POTUS. More than most and better than many, Haberman has specialized in such finer points for years. However, if you are looking for Trump trivia to feed your political ravenousness for Red Meat or Blue Delicacies, and confirm your assumptions, Confidence Man may not be the meal you’re looking for.
Now, already No. #1 on Amazon’s bestseller list, Confidence Man certainly does have lots of insider anecdotes and accounts of Trump’s reign of error and terror in and out of the White House. Yet, unlike many of its printed predecessors, this book is as much about the New York and the New Yorkers that created Trump, as it is about his presidency.
Focusing in on the final component that made Trump a true winner among Republican voters, Confidence Man is also A Face in the Crowd cautionary tale about how the almost bankrupt executive who always wanted to be in front of the cameras used the small screen to make it to the biggest stage in the world.
DEADLINE: At the end of the final chapter of the book, you detail Trump’s departure from D.C. on the morning of January 20, 2021, as he snubbed Joe Biden’s inauguration, You write: “As the plane taxed down the runway, a recording of Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” blasted over the speaker system, like a movie finale.” Reading that, reading your coverage of him over the years, and some others who stepped out of political norms, it reinforced the impression that Trump was a movie, a horror movie but a movie nonetheless that played out in real life. Fundamentally, is that your take?
HABERMAN: There is something to that. Look, I write, and I explore just how much of his driving impetus is about being famous and is about being a star, down to toying with the idea of going to USC Film School once upon a time. Obviously, he didn’t do that, but he would talk later about how he had found a way to bring show business into the real estate business.
That really was what he was doing, and he was just constantly scripting this movie out of his life. It culminated, for him, initially, in this moment when he becomes a reality television star. The Apprentice opened up a whole new world financially for him, but it also took him to a different level of stardom. He was actually part of the entertainment industry in a way he hadn’t been before, and then the presidency was just something utterly different.
Getty Images Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
DEADLINE: His lack of self-awareness is always striking, even over the decades. How do you think he saw himself?
HABERMAN: It’s interesting, one of the things he said to me in our interviews was he said, “before I did the presidency,” as if it was some kind of a show he was doing. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a former elected official refer to holding office as, before I did the governorship or before I did the mayoralty, and this is just fundamentally what he has been doing his entire life.
DEADLINE: Do you think that he sees this, fundamentally, as a role, or does he somewhere see this as a responsibility?
HABERMAN: Which? The presidency?
DEADLINE: The presidency.
HABERMAN: I think he sees it as a role. I think so.
DEADLINE: So, with all the legal issues, the January 6th committee, the midterms, and more now on his plate, do you think he’s running for president again?
HABERMAN: I think he’s backed himself into a corner where he has to.
DEADLINE: In that dual context, for you as his chief chronicler, how does that affect your approach to covering Trump?
HABERMAN: There’s two answers to that question. One is trying to make sure that we were not simply amplifying things, and I think that we had mixed success at it, the collective we. Not simply amplifying things because the president was doing them. That having been said, he was a president, and I think that was something that people really struggled to understand when they would say why are you covering him?
Well, because he’s the president of the United States, and everything the president does is not objectively, newsworthy, but much of it is. So, I think it became much more challenging because people in Washington were often confused and interpreted his actions as he’s doing this because he sees this as what a leader should do or a leader does, or this is part of his ideology.
DEADLINE: Why was he so frenzied, so crazed, so uncouth and so unconventional?
HABERMAN: Realistically, he was doing things because he wanted to see how they were going to play in the media.
DEADLINE: Really?
HABERMAN: Yes, and because it was part of the role he was engaged with.
It doesn’t mean he didn’t get things done that he wanted to get done, in some cases. It doesn’t mean that he didn’t have what he would point to as accomplishments, but it does mean that his objectives were not the same as how Washington was interpreting them.
DEADLINE: That impulse has deep roots, as you point out repeatedly in Confidence Man. But there was also the cash. You say early in the book that it’s impossible “to separate out Trump: The Potential Political Candidacy from Trump: The Established Brand.” Now, that was in reference to his 1999 exploratory presidential run, but it seems to hold pretty true through all of his political career, don’t you think?
HABERMAN: What I mean is that, particularly at that moment, although, certainly, it continued into 2015 and 2016, and we saw numerous examples of it, he was aware of a business enhancement by running for president. He would talk openly about how he could be the first person running for president to make money, because he was talking about doing paid speeches in various cities during the 1999 New York campaign. Yet I would point to the fact that he was on the ballot in a small handful of states, and he won a few primaries by not doing anything. Now, these were third-party nominations. These were not major parties, but nonetheless, it really taught a lesson about how inextricable the political brand was becoming for him, that he was forming from his business brand.
DEADLINE: To pivot on the branding principle, there’s a moment of revelation for you in January 2016 just before the Iowa caucuses and after Trump has been on The Apprentice for 14 seasons, where you talk about a “spectacle that would soon come to an end.” Then you meet a voter, who you describe a “middle-aged man,” who informs you that he will be voting for Trump because “I watched him run his business.” A lightbulb of sorts goes off for you. So, let me ask you, could there have been a President Trump without The Apprentice?
HABERMAN: There could not have been. There is almost no doubt in my mind.
Now, he could’ve gotten close. He was certainly a brand name. The Art of the Deal book and success made him pretty well known, but there’s an exponential difference between being on television and being seen sitting in a leatherback chair. It was actually Roger Stone who had said to me years ago during an interview about Trump, just how the line between news and entertainment is much thinner for people watching it than people working in the news industry, and I don’t think we understand that all the time.
DEADLINE: To flip it, do you think Trump sees The Apprentice as fundamental to his ascension to the White House?
HABERMAN: Well, this was something fundamentally different for him, and you know, he was playing this character that was created by The Art of the Deal. Mark Burnett was an Art of the Deal fan, but that was how the public interpreted him. I don’t think he would’ve been the president without The Apprentice. I asked him that question in one of our interviews, and he didn’t…if memory serves, he didn’t take an opinion on it, but I just don’t see how it would’ve happened, based on my interviews with people.
Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic
DEADLINE: What was the role Burnett, then NBC boss and later CNN chief Jeff Zucker, and his WME agent Ari Emanuel played in sealing that deal, so to speak?
HABERMAN: I mean, Zucker and Mark Burnett helped guide Trump onto The Apprentice. Ari Emanuel helped keep him there, in some respects, right? I think all three played a role in creating Donald Trump, the reality television star, and as I said before, I think that without Donald Trump, the reality television star, there is not a Donald Trump president.
DEADLINE: Burnett is a figure who appears kind of time and time again, The Apprentice, the 2017 Inaugural Gala, prayer breakfasts, and more. Yet he never took on a formal role in the White House. Why do you think that was?
HABERMAN: I don’t think that Mark Burnett ever had a clear lane that he would be occupying ...
QAnon Song Played By Donald Trump Removed From Tech Platforms
QAnon Song Played By Donald Trump Removed From Tech Platforms https://digitalalaskanews.com/qanon-song-played-by-donald-trump-removed-from-tech-platforms/
A song played at several Donald Trump rallies and speeches that has become known as a QAnon anthem has been removed from YouTube and Spotify after the creator of the song claimed that it was used by Trump and others without proper permissions.
In an email to NBC News, composer Will Van De Crommert wrote that he was “exploring legal options” and that “this particular track, which was originally entitled Mirrors, is available to license online. I however was not notified of any licenses for political rallies, nor did I authorize such use.”
A YouTube representative said in an email Monday that the company “removed the video in question for violating our harassment policy, which prohibits content targeting someone by suggesting they’re complicit in a conspiracy theory used to justify real-world violence, such as QAnon.”
A Spotify representative said that “the content in question was removed following an infringement claim.”
Van De Crommert is a composer who uploads music online, where it is available to license. His music has been used by CBS and NBC (NBC is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News). He first released the song “Mirrors” in 2019 and uploaded it to various platforms. The song is a sweeping and somber composition with no lyrics.
The song was uploaded to YouTube and Spotify in 2020 by a different user with the screen name “Richard Feelgood” under the title “Wwg1wga,” which is short for the QAnon conspiracy theory slogan “Where we go one we go all,” alongside other uploads with QAnon names. That user did not respond to a request for comment.
QAnon is a conspiracy theory that revolves around an anonymous online poster who goes by Q. Believers of the conspiracy theory think that Q is transmitting messages about Trump, who followers believe is working to take down a child trafficking ring run by a cabal of global elites.
Van De Crommert said the uploads in question are identical to his and that he has no association with the account that put his music online alongside QAnon language.
“I do not align with the views of QAnon, and this individual has unlawfully distributed my music under their own name,” he said.
After the song was published under the QAnon name, it gained attention from conspiracy theory followers. On YouTube it was viewed over 75,000 times.
In August, Trump’s account on the conservative-leaning video website Rumble posted a video using the song as background music. Users on a pro-Trump forum and a Telegram channel quickly identified the song using the sound recognition app Shazam and cited it as proof that the QAnon conspiracy theory was real, according to Media Matters for America, a liberal watchdog organization.
Trump first spoke over the song in a September rally in Pennsylvania, according to The Washington Post.
It gained national attention, however, when he played it as he spoke at an Ohio rally later that month. Members of the audience raised their index fingers in response, seemingly making a “one” gesture interpreted by some to be a reference to the WWG1WGA QAnon slogan. In North Carolina later that week, the song was played at another Trump rally.
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Trump Asks Supreme Court To Have Special Master Review Mar-A-Lago Documents
Trump Asks Supreme Court To Have Special Master Review Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-asks-supreme-court-to-have-special-master-review-mar-a-lago-documents/
News
Published: Oct. 04, 2022, 3:10 p.m.
This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice on Aug. 30, 2022, and redacted by in part by the FBI, shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 search by the FBI of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida. The Justice Department says it has uncovered efforts to obstruct its investigation into the discovery of classified records at former President Donald Trump’s Florida estate.Department of Justice via AP
Lawyers for former President Donald Trump asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday to step into the legal fight over the classified documents seized during an FBI search of his Florida estate.
The Trump team asked the court to overturn a lower court ruling and permit an independent arbiter, or special master, to review the roughly 100 documents with classified markings that were taken in the Aug. 8 search.
A three-judge panel last month limited the special master’s review to the much larger tranche of non-classified documents.
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Trump Goes To Supreme Court Over Mar-A-Lago Search And Seizure Of Documents | CNN Politics
Trump Goes To Supreme Court Over Mar-A-Lago Search And Seizure Of Documents | CNN Politics https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-goes-to-supreme-court-over-mar-a-lago-search-and-seizure-of-documents-cnn-politics/
CNN —
Former President Donald Trump has asked the Supreme Court to intervene in the dispute over materials marked as classified the FBI seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate this summer.
His emergency request with the Supreme Court is the latest example of the former President seeking to involve the justices in investigations that entangle him – at a time when the high court’s legitimacy in politically explosive cases is under intense scrutiny.
Trump is specifically asking the court to ensure that the more than 100 documents marked as classified are part of the special master’s review. The request, if granted, could bolster the former President’s attempt to challenge the search in court and have the documents returned to him.
Trump’s emergency application to the Supreme Court comes after an appeals court sided with the Justice Department and said that the department’s criminal investigation into the documents marked as classified could continue. The probe’s use of the records had been put on hold by a district judge in Florida, who granted a Trump request for a third-party review of the materials obtained in the Mar-a-Lago search.
The appeal puts the political spotlight back on to the Supreme Court.
Earlier this year, he asked the justices to block the release of documents from his White House to congressional US Capitol attack investigators. The high court rejected the request.
The Supreme Court, with its current conservative majority, is already viewed by the American public as partisan following a string of controversial rulings this year, including overturning Roe v. Wade, and will likely make the Mar-a-Lago search even more of an issue in the upcoming congressional mid-term elections.
Trump appointed three of the current justices: Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
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Trump Files $475 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN
Trump Files $475 Million Defamation Lawsuit Against CNN https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-files-475-million-defamation-lawsuit-against-cnn/
NEW YORK (AP) — Former President Donald Trump on Monday sued CNN, seeking $475 million in damages, saying the network had defamed him in an effort to short-circuit any future political campaign.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, focuses primarily on the term “The Big Lie” about Trump’s false claims of widespread fraud that he says cost him the 2020 presidential election to Joe Biden.
CNN said it had no comment on the lawsuit.
Trump repeatedly attacked CNN as president, which resonated with his conservative followers. He has similarly filed lawsuits against big tech companies with little success. His case against Twitter for knocking him off its platform following the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection was thrown out by a California judge earlier this year.
Numerous federal and local election officials in both parties, a long list of courts, top former campaign staffers and even Trump’s own attorney general have all said there is no evidence of the election fraud he alleges.
Trump’s lawsuit claims “The Big Lie,” a phrase with Nazi connotations, has been used in reference to him more than 7,700 times on CNN since January 2021.
“It is intended to aggravate, scare and trigger people,” he said.
In a statement Monday, Trump suggested that similar lawsuits would be filed against other news organizations. And he said he may also bring “appropriate action” against the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol by his supporters. The lawsuit comes as he is weighing a potential bid for the presidency in 2024.
New CNN chief Chris Licht privately urged his news personnel in a meeting more than three months ago to refrain from using the phrase because it is too close to Democratic efforts to brand the former president, according to several published reports.
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AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward Pleaded The Fifth When The Jan. 6 Committee Questioned Her
AZGOP Chair Kelli Ward Pleaded The Fifth When The Jan. 6 Committee Questioned Her https://digitalalaskanews.com/azgop-chair-kelli-ward-pleaded-the-fifth-when-the-jan-6-committee-questioned-her/
Kelli Ward, the chair of the Arizona Republican Party, refused to answer questions from the congressional committee investigating the violent Jan. 6 insurrection aimed at overturning the 2020 election and instead asserted her Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.
The disclosure was made Tuesday in federal court by an attorney for the House Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol as part of litigation surrounding the committee’s subpoena of phone records for Ward and her husband.
Politico first reported the news:
“Dr. Ward was deposed by the select committee, and she declined to answer on every substantive question and asserted her rights under the Fifth Amendment,” select committee attorney Eric Columbus said during a court hearing before Arizona-based U.S. District Court Judge Diane Humetewa. Columbus did not say when Ward’s deposition took place, though the select panel’s subpoena instructed her to appear on March 8, 2022.
Columbus revealed Ward’s posture during a hearing on the committee’s attempt to obtain her phone records from cell phone carrier T-Mobile. Ward sued the panel to block T-Mobile from cooperating, but Humetewa recently rejected her effort. Tuesday’s hearing came amid Ward’s effort to ask Humetewa to delay the impact of her ruling while she seeks a review from the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Attorneys for Ward did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Kelli and Michael Ward filed a lawsuit in February challenging a subpoena for the phone records, arguing that it was “overbroad,” the Wards said, because it is “unrelated to the enabling resolution of the issuing Committee” and doesn’t make a clear connection between the records and potential legislation.
They also argued that the subpoena violated the First Amendment rights of both themselves and the state GOP, and they claimed that the subpoena was illegal because the committee was in violation of House rules. And the Wards, who are both physicians, told the court that turning over the phone records would violate Arizona’s law protecting patient-physician privilege and HIPAA, the federal law governing privacy of medical information.
But Humetewa last month rejected those arguments, prompting the Wards to appeal.
Kelli Ward was a key player in the “fake electors” scheme that Donald Trump’s campaign spearheaded as a way to block the certification of Joe Biden’s victory in 2020. As chair of the Arizona Republican Party, she organized the signing of a fraudulent document declaring that Trump had won Arizona’s electoral votes.
She and her husband were both among the fake electors who signed the bogus document.
The New York Times reported in August on emails sent by Trump campaign attorneys in which Ward and a GOP state senator, Kelly Townsend, raised concerns that the fake elector scheme “could appear treasonous.”
In addition to the subpoena from the Jan. 6th committee, the Wards and other fake electors in Arizona have been subpoenaed by the U.S. Department of Justice for information relating to the scheme to overturn the election results.
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
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Neighborhoods React To Assemblys Push For Golden Lion Emergency Shelter Plan
Neighborhoods React To Assembly’s Push For Golden Lion Emergency Shelter Plan https://digitalalaskanews.com/neighborhoods-react-to-assemblys-push-for-golden-lion-emergency-shelter-plan/
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – Monday’s special Anchorage Assembly meeting included the introduction of an ordinance that would allow the use of the Golden Lion Hotel as an emergency shelter.
It will be up for public testimony and a possible vote at the Assembly’s next meeting, slated for Oct. 11.
Assembly members also voted to allow a capacity increase at the Sullivan Arena, in the event other low-barrier shelters are full.
“We’ve seen in the past that there have been problems associated with high numbers at the Sullivan Arena, and we wanted to avoid repeating that situation,” Assembly Chair Suzanne LaFrance said. “It’s a hardship for folks living around the area.”
Fairview Community Council President Allen Kemplen says that homelessness has been an issue in his neighborhood for a while.
“What’s happening here with the Sullivan Arena is creating an unfair burden to Fairview, it’s creating an unfair burden to our neighbors who have to experience the negative impacts, and it’s unfair to the businesses that are within the general area that are negatively impacted by the behavior of some of the individuals who will stay in there,” Kemplen said.
He says nearby residents have seen firsthand what can happen when there’s a large number of people sheltered at the Sullivan Arena.
“The solution is not the burden of one particular neighborhood, or it’s not the burden of a couple of particular neighborhoods,” Kemplen said. “It’s something we all — all neighborhoods — we need to accept that as a community, we all have a public responsibility.”
While some residents don’t understand why more people aren’t open to using the Golden Lion Hotel, some are concerned that it’s still even being considered.
“It was in the documents when they purchased it, that it was noted that it was not supposed to be a shelter,” Karen Biggs said. Biggs is a resident of the Geneva Woods subdivision that sits adjacent to the hotel near the corner of East 36th Avenue and the Seward Highway.
“So I’m not sure if they’re turning it into a shelter or not, so it’s a little concerning that they’re going back on that documentation that was signed when they purchased that building,” Biggs said.
Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson’s administration has said using the Golden Lion is not legal, but Assembly members responded by saying he could take action to allow it to be a legal emergency shelter.
“I think people are concerned that there’s not going to be security, that there’s going to be more crime, more traffic of people,” Biggs said. “But at the same rate, I feel a deep empathy for people who are houseless and we need to do something to help.”
Copyright 2022 KTUU. All rights reserved.
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As Ukrainian Forces Advance West Plays Down Threat From Russian Nuclear Weapons
As Ukrainian Forces Advance, West Plays Down Threat From Russian Nuclear Weapons https://digitalalaskanews.com/as-ukrainian-forces-advance-west-plays-down-threat-from-russian-nuclear-weapons/
By
Matthew Luxmoore
Updated Oct. 4, 2022 2:21 pm ET
Ukrainian forces accelerated their advance into Russian-held areas of the southern Kherson region as Western officials played down the likelihood of Russia using nuclear weapons in retaliation for its military defeats.
Ukrainian troops announced the liberation of several towns, while Moscow sought to prevent an encirclement of its forces in the east and southof the country. Soldiers posted footage of themselves unfurling the Ukrainian flag over Davydiv Brid and claimed the liberation of Starosillya, Arkhangelskoye and Velyka Oleksandrivka.
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Jesse Ransford Secrets To Managing Stress And Maintaining A Balance Between Work And Life
Jesse Ransford – Secrets To Managing Stress And Maintaining A Balance Between Work And Life https://digitalalaskanews.com/%ef%bf%bcjesse-ransford-secrets-to-managing-stress-and-maintaining-a-balance-between-work-and-life/
A native of Aspen, Colorado, Jesse Ransford is drawn to the tranquility and wonder of the great outdoors. Currently residing in Boulder, Colorado, he spends a great deal of his free time skiing and cycling, taking time away from the hustle and bustle of modern living.
Ransford’s relocation to Boulder included stops in New Hampshire, for high school, and North Carolina, where he began his Economics degree at Wake Forest University. But for Ransford, the Rockies are home, and in 2017 he returned to Aspen. During a brief break from his Economics degree, he worked in high-end retail before interning at the Neuroplastic Functional Institute (NFI).
While at NFI, Jesse Ransford trained paraplegics in aqua therapy studies, resulting in 80% of patients regaining some physical movement. Using self-speak combined with aromatherapy to retrain patients’ brain-muscle connection systems, and thus rehabilitate clients with spinal cord injuries, was incredibly exciting and personally rewarding for Ransford.
In the fall of 2020, Ransford returned to formal coursework in his Economics degree, this time at the University of Colorado Boulder. He graduated in the spring of 2022 with his Bachelor’s Degree. Since graduation, he has been interning with Quish & Co. in their Finance & Accounting department, creating monthly hedge fund accounting reports to optimize client returns.
Ransford’s formal education was focused primarily on development economics. He enjoys using quantitative analyses to pinpoint causes of economic inefficacies and find remedies that can improve economies and communities. He hopes to continue his career by having an impact on economic and financial distribution in the United States.
We had the opportunity to sit down with Jesse Ransford who shared with us his personal approach to maintaining an effective balance between life and work and his approach to managing the stress of all the things he is unable to complete.
Can you share your personal approach to managing an effective balance between life and work?
No matter your job, it probably comes with tasks that are less desirable and easily procrastinated. We often minimize the window, bury the paperwork, or avoid the boss until we absolutely cannot put it off any longer. I’ve tried to find ways to make these kinds of obligations slightly more enjoyable. Whether it’s lighting my favorite candle, camping out at my favorite coffee shop for the day, or even using colored pens, I’ve found that adding a little bit of fun to the mundane can help to ease the stress.
What is your approach to starting a new project?
The first thing I like to do when starting a new project is research as I need to understand the broad scope or context of the problem I’m trying to solve. Who is my client? What are they known for? What do they need to fix? Once I can answer these basic questions, I am much better equipped for success.
How do you manage the stress of all the things you are not able to complete?
As college students, we are tasked not only with learning computational and analytical skills but also with how to live independently and establish healthy social connections.
During any given week of my time at the University of Colorado Boulder, I was assigned multiple books to read, papers to write, and tests to study for. At the same time, I attended club meetings and spent significant time socializing with my peers. More often than not, I simply did not have enough time to accomplish everything that was on my plate.
The most important part of managing this stress was admitting to myself that I simply couldn’t do everything. This difficult, yet important, acknowledgment allowed me to then prioritize the most important and immediate tasks for any particular day.
What is the one book that you recommend everyone should read and why?
Back in the eighth grade, I read A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah. This memoir tells the story of Beah growing up in Sierra Leone as a child soldier. As one of “300,000 soldiers hopped up on drugs and wielding AK-47s,” the story exposes the harsh truth of modern warfare in the developing world.
As Americans, we are infiltrated with news about war and international affairs. Korea, Iraq, Afghanistan, and now Ukraine have all been at the forefront. These regions are central to the global economy and capitalism. However, Africa still remains a dark continent for many of us. A Long Way Gone helps us to understand the modern reality of African children that is, more often than not, overlooked.
What is your favorite movie and why?
I love The Big Short. The cast containing superstars Christian Bale, Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, and Brad Pitt is near impossible to beat. Furthermore, the book the movie was based on was written by Michael Lewis who is one of my favorite authors.
They’re able to do something rare in The Big Short by turning a seemingly complicated and intricate financial problem into a story that is both funny and enjoyable for audiences of any education level to enjoy. To this day, I still use the movie as a baseline for economic papers that discuss the Great Recession.
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Retail Real Estate Is Enjoying Its Biggest Revival In Years
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The consumer-sentiment index and the consumer-confidence index both try to measure the same thing: consumers’ feelings. WSJ explains why the Federal Reserve is keeping a close eye on consumer confidence in 2022. Illustration: Adele Morgan
By
Kate King | Photographs by Timothy Mulcare for The Wall Street Journal
Updated Oct. 4, 2022 1:24 pm ET
Bricks-and-mortar store owners are emerging from the pandemic with surprising strength, posting some of their best numbers in years and plotting expansions as more Americans venture out to buy things again.
U.S. retail vacancy fell to 6.1% in the second quarter, the lowest level in at least 15 years, while asking rents for U.S. shopping centers in the quarter were 16% higher than five years ago, according to real-estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield.
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Edna Keehr, 91, Little Falls https://digitalalaskanews.com/edna-keehr-91-little-falls/
August 28, 1931 – October 3, 2022
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Edna Mae Keehr’s family wants you to know that she died peacefully on the morning of October 3, 2022 at her home where she lived with Julia & Brian Oleson Family. The last few weeks of her life changed dramatically after a fall breaking her leg and increasing dementia.
Her parents were Hilda & Wayne Rudolph who named her after the midwife that delivered her on their farm near Detroit Lakes, MN. The name Edna means “delight”.
She had many fond memories & fun stories about growing up on the farm with her parents & 4 brothers who she was very proud of and loved very dearly. She attended & graduated from the Minnesota School for the Deaf in Faribault, MN. She would travel every fall to the to the school returning to the farm in the spring with anticipation of being with family & feeding the chickens. At the institution she learned American Sign Language, loved school, being a drummer in the marching band, walking to classes and church with her friends. There she developed close lifelong friendships & became part of a close-knit Deaf Community.
Right after graduating she worked at the Lee Factory in the Twin Cities and at the hospital in Detroit Lakes as a housekeeper. She had fond memories of walking with her father going to work and the moment they parted to go to their jobs. Keith, a long time friend of both, introduced our Dad to Mom at a Summer Picnic for the Deaf. There she fell head over heels for the “curly top man” who was both “handsome and funny” who sat behind her in the boat tossing water towards her. Alan B. Keehr proposed soon after meeting her and they married on November 14, 1953. For the most part they lived on a “hobby farm” in Little Falls, MN. They had 4 children: BeBe, Debbie, Bobby and Julie whom she loved and was extremely proud of. She was quick to let people know “all four of my children know Sign Language.” She found such joy being with Alan, her children, her parents & in-laws, family & friends, and many dogs and cats over the years.
In Mom’s younger years she enjoyed gardening and was very proud of her very large garden, the fruits of her labor and canning abilities. Seemed that every fall she would say, “I was not successful in making mother’s dill pickles.” She enjoyed growing various flowers and enjoyed her Tiger Lillies and Hen & Chicks; she enjoyed sewing, crafts & embroidering dish towels (her gift to many); rearranging the furniture (driving Dad to say “again!?”); she made the best bread, lefsa & rosettes (a proud “Strong Norwegian”); she enjoyed visiting family and friends; going for car rides & camping. From a young age till the day she died she had a strong faith in God and tremendous kindness, love, and empathy for others and especially people who struggled in this earthly life.
She was a wiz at both checkers A& Chinese checkers, had a soft spot for babies and animals (but not snakes and salamanders); enjoyed painting and the many things Alan made i.e. rocking horses.
When they were done raising us kids they enjoyed going for long car rides especially in the fall to view the changing colors of the maple trees, going to the Dairy Queen, walking the isles at Fleet Farm, visiting friends and family, watching the Summer and Winter Olympics, Baseball and Girls Basketball playoffs; watching the many squirrels and birds that visit their little home in town.
When Alan died 10 years ago she continued to miss him daily as much as the day he died. In her later years she continued to enjoy going to church, working on crafts, embroidery & sewing, jigsaw puzzles, hot tea with honey, going for car rides, visiting with family and friends who came to visit her and Dairy Queen treats.
Edna is survived by her brothers Curt and Lyle, families of all four of her brothers, her children and their families.
We want to express our gratitude and thanks to the Hospice Team, Kelly, Kara, Julie & Mickey, Maria and Pastor Bill Knaack who helped during our mother’s last days with us.
We Love You and we Miss you Mom.
We request no flowers or money however we encourage each of you to celebrate her life by totally invest in the moment with whomever you meet, interact with, so that they feel your kindness, love and attention. There will be no funeral service however the family is planning to share each of you an Edna Memory Gift. We would greatly appreciate receiving some thoughts and remembrances from you, such as the first words that come to mind when you think of her, funny stories, fun stories or loving stories. If you would please send them to Bee H. Tessum, 3211 Montpelier Court, Anchorage, AK 99503 or email: bebetessum@gmail.com
The obituary was lovingly written by her daughter.
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