Digital Alaska News

Kwasi Kwarteng Defends Massive Tax Cuts As Fair For All https://digitalalaskanews.com/kwasi-kwarteng-defends-massive-tax-cuts-as-fair-for-all/ By Joshua Nevett BBC News Media caption, Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on his mini-budget: “Not a gamble at all” Kwasi Kwarteng has said massive tax cuts aimed at boosting economic growth are fair for all despite the highest earners gaining the most. The chancellor scrapped the top rate of income tax as part of the biggest package of tax cuts in 50 years. Labour and some Tory MPs have said it was wrong to cut taxes for the wealthy during a cost-of-living crisis. But Mr Kwarteng said he was “being fair” by reducing taxes right across the income bracket. The package of measures, which has been dubbed a mini-budget, will be paid for by a sharp rise in government borrowing amounting to tens of billions of pounds. Paul Johnson, director of the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies, said the plans were a “big gamble”, with money being pumped into the economy when inflation remains high. There was an immediate reaction in financial markets, as the pound sunk and UK stocks fell. In an interview with BBC News political editor Chris Mason, the chancellor said: “I don’t think it’s a gamble at all. “What was a gamble, in my view, was sticking to the course we are on.” Mr Kwarteng insisted not cutting taxes and continuing to follow the path of the previous government – led by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson – was more risky. “So what we had to do was have a reboot, a rethink,” Mr Kwarteng said. He said his mini-budget was not an admission of failure, as Labour suggested in response to his statement, and a recession forecasted by the Bank of England was “not inevitable” But, he said, “we also recognise we could do things better”. He said his moves to reduce income tax, scrap a planned rise in National Insurance and support households with energy bills would “help the most vulnerable people in society get through a difficult time”. Asked whether the UK economy was now in recession, Mr Kwarteng said that while, “technically, the Bank of England said that there was a recession”, he thought it “would be shallow” and he hoped “we would rebound and grow”. When pressed, the chancellor said he did not acknowledge that the UK was in recession and that one was not inevitable. The Institute of Fiscal Studies said the richest 10% of households would gain the most from Mr Kwarteng’s measures, which undo the tax rises introduced by former chancellor Rishi Sunak, who left office in July. Labour’s shadow business secretary Seema Malhotra told BBC Two’s Newsnight: “What was really striking today in Parliament was the admission, effectively, of 12 years of failure of what the Conservatives have been doing. “And Kwasi Kwarteng and his colleagues failed to connect the fact that we’ve got high taxes because we’ve had low growth.” She added: “If you’re going to have a plan for growth, it’s got to be a proper plan. Even today wasn’t a proper plan. Today was a set of tax cuts that are supporting the wealthiest in our society.” Torsten Bell, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation think tank, said those earning £1m annually will get a £55,000 tax cut next year. Conservative former cabinet minister Julian Smith said the chancellor’s decision to hand a “huge” tax cut to the wealthy at a time of national crisis was “wrong”. When Mr Smith’s concerns were put to the chancellor, he said the former chief whip “knows about party loyalty” and “lots of people feel we’ve got to get Britain moving”. Getting the economy moving will, according to Mr Kwarteng, require doing things differently, what he called “a new approach for a new era, focused on growth”. That new approach will be funded by borrowing, which economists think could climb to £120bn within three years. In Parliament, John Glen, a former junior finance minister, pointedly asked Mr Kwarteng about market reaction, saying “there is a clear concern” over the level of borrowing needed to afford these tax cuts. Prime Minister Liz Truss, who took office this month, has said she was prepared to make “unpopular decisions” to spur economic growth and support those struggling with the rising cost of living. She won the Tory leadership election on a platform of upending what she has called the economic “orthodoxy” of the Treasury and reversing tax hikes introduced by her predecessor. Now Mr Kwarteng is putting her economic agenda to the test. Read More Here

Could Donald Trump Declassify Documents With Just A Thought? Three Legal Precedents Say No – The Paradise News https://digitalalaskanews.com/could-donald-trump-declassify-documents-with-just-a-thought-three-legal-precedents-say-no-the-paradise-news/ Could Donald Trump declassify documents with just a thought? Three legal precedents say no  The Paradise News Read More Here

Google Searches Being Used To Predict November Elections https://digitalalaskanews.com/google-searches-being-used-to-predict-november-elections/ DENVER (KDVR) — A Denver tech company says it can predict the outcome of the November elections without talking to a single person. Instead, UnumAI relies on google searches. “Google searches should reflect a candidate’s entire efforts over their lifetime, their entire brand awareness and the way in which voters perceive them,” said Sklyar White, the CEO of UnumAI. White’s method relies on publicly available data from trends.google.com to capture the political winds of every statewide race in America, “But there’s nothing personally identifiable. It’s just a way to understand how people, not any one person, are behaving.” White is quick to emphasize he cannot connect searches to individuals who can be identified so he’s not spying on specific people but he can tell which candidates are generating the most interest online. Generally speaking, White said the more Google searches about a political candidate, the better that candidate is likely to do. “There’s confirmation bias in the way that people are searching for them,” said White, before adding, “The Google searches measure topicality, they measure brand awareness and they measure voter enthusiasm.” UnumAI shared its polling data with the Problem Solvers for Colorado statewide races and as of Sept. 1, it’s good news for Democrats. In the U.S. Senate race, he has incumbent Michael Bennet (D) ahead of businessman Joe O’Dea (R) 57% to 43%. In the governor’s race, incumbent Jared Polis (D) leads CU Regent Heidi Ganahl 55% to 45%. The UnumAI method finds a closer race for attorney general with incumbent Phil Weiser (D) leading 18th Judicial District Attorney John Keller (R) 53% to 46%. “In the 2020 election cycle, we predicted all U.S. Senate races throughout the country that had polling available twice as accurately. We were off by less than a percentage point for every single candidate,” said White. White said too many pollsters missed Donald Trump’s presidential victory in 2016 because he said Republicans were under-represented in traditional polls and were often less willing to be honest about who they trusted. Online, White said people reveal their true preferences. “That’s way more accessible and way more socially acceptable to research online than to tell someone you don’t know who’s calling to ask you if you believe in conspiracies,” White said. David Flaherty is the CEO of Magellan Strategies, a traditional polling firm that largely relies on texting, calling and interviewing registered voters. “We have tried and true tested methods. This (Google searches) is a new method. We’ll see how it holds up, ” said Flaherty before adding, “Typically a researcher would interview voters by using a list or database of registered voters. Google Analytics doesn’t necessarily have all 4.1 million registered voters in Colorado in their database.” Flaherty said the Google method makes him apprehensive since he has no way of knowing if the people googling political candidates are registered voters. “It’s sort of one step removed of the comfort level for our firm. However, we’re not going to dismiss anything,” Flaherty said. Like all polls, Flaherty said unumAI will be judged by its results. “We’ll see how well they forecast the outcome of the election come Nov. 9,” Flaherty said. White told FOX31 that if his Google search method had been the polling standard used in 2020 nationwide, people would have understood a blue wave was not coming and in fact, Republicans nationwide did better than many polls predicted. While it’s true Google searches can’t tell unumAI if someone is a registered voter, he said people who Google political candidates are people who care about politics which means they’re almost always registered voters and the data set for Google searches is so massive he’s confident it sweeps up a representative sample of registered voters. UnumAI is still refining its process and admits it’s less accurate for smaller congressional races so it’s not using it this year for U.S. House races, just statewide races. Read More Here

Governor Hopeful Makes Light Of Whitmer Kidnap Plot https://digitalalaskanews.com/governor-hopeful-makes-light-of-whitmer-kidnap-plot/ Local News Sep 24, 2022 JOEY CAPPELLETTI and SARA BURNETT Associated Press TUDOR DIXON LANSING, Mich. (AP) — The Republican candidate for Michigan governor Friday compared Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s policies to the 2020 plot to kidnap the Democratic incumbent, remarks that Democrats criticized as making light of a serious and dangerous crime. Tudor Dixon referred to the kidnapping plot at two separate events. “Sad thing is, Gretchen will tie your hands, put a gun to your head and ask if you’re ready to talk,” Dixon told a crowd at an event in Troy while speaking about the need to cut business regulations. “For someone so worried about being kidnapped, Gretchen Whitmer sure is good at taking business hostage.” At an event later Friday, Dixon referenced an appearance Whitmer made with President Joe Biden at the Detroit Auto Show. “I’ll tell you the look on her face, she was like: ‘Oh my gosh this is happening. I’d rather be kidnapped by the FBI,’” Dixon said. GRETCHEN WHITMER Two men were convicted last month of plotting to kidnap Whitmer because they were angry about pandemic-related restrictions she imposed. Prosecutors said they were part of a group who conspired to abduct Whitmer at her vacation home and to blow up a bridge to disrupt police so they wouldn’t be caught. The FBI said it broke up the plot before it could occur. The jury’s conviction came in a second trial against the two men, Barry Croft Jr. and Adam Fox. At an earlier trial, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict, while two other men were acquitted. Their lawyers argued the men were big talkers who were set up by the FBI and said there was no actual plot. The Democratic Governors Association called Dixon’s comments “utterly disqualifying for the role of Michigan governor,” while Whitmer’s campaign criticized Dixon for “dangerous rhetoric.” “Threats of violence are no laughing matter, and the fact that Dixon spent the day making joke after joke about it shows that she is absolutely unfit to serve in public office,” Whitmer campaign spokeswoman Maeve Coyle tweeted. Dixon was endorsed by former President Donald Trump during the GOP primary and is now trailing Whitmer in fundraising and support. She campaigned Friday with Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr., who called the conspiracy to kidnap Whitmer “the fake kidnap plot orchestrated by the FBI.” Dixon criticized the media for not reporting on what she called attacks against her during Biden’s recent visit, saying he “called me all kinds of names and put my life in danger.” ___ Burnett reported from Chicago. ___ Joey Cappelletti is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Today’s breaking news and more in your inbox Read More Here

Trump Lawyers Argue To Limit White House Aides’ Testimony To Jan. 6 Grand Jury https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-lawyers-argue-to-limit-white-house-aides-testimony-to-jan-6-grand-jury-2/ Lawyers for former president Donald Trump have entered a high-stakes legal battle seeking to limit the scope of former top White House aides’ testimony to a federal grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 elections, according to people familiar with the matter. The action sets up a potentially precedent-setting struggle that could affect the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and address the scope of a former president’s assertion of executive or attorney-client privilege to preserve the confidentiality of advisers’ communications. The specific contours of the fight, reported first by CNN, are unclear. One person familiar with the matter said that the dispute concerned the testimony of two top aides to former vice president Mike Pence — his former chief of staff, Marc Short, and former counsel, Greg Jacob. The men appeared before the grand jury in July and answered some, but not all, questions, based on Trump’s assertion of privilege, people familiar with the matter said. Grand jury matters are typically secret. However, the case spilled into light after Trump attorneys M. Evan Corcoran, John P. Rowley III and Timothy C. Parlatore were seen at federal court in Washington on Thursday with no publicly scheduled matters, along with a lead Jan. 6 federal prosecutor, Thomas Windom. A person with knowledge of the matter said Trump’s representatives were present for a Jan. 6-related proceeding. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. Trump’s attorneys and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. said they could not comment on grand jury matters. Efforts to reach representatives for Short or Jacobs were not immediately successful Friday night. A dispute over executive privilege and compelling a witness’s testimony before a grand jury would typically be heard by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell in Washington. While Howell has in the past moved quickly, any appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia would probably extend through the end of the year, and the arguments would be unlikely to be made public before then. A spokeswoman for Howell did not respond to a request for comment. In most fights over executive privilege — which are often between Congress and the executive branch — both sides usually compromise and settle their differences rather than risk a precedent-setting defeat for either branch of government. But the stakes of the criminal investigation into Trump’s actions during the presidential transition after he lost reelection in November 2020 may make negotiation more difficult. The Justice Department is questioning witnesses about conversations with Trump, his lawyers and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, people familiar with the matter have said. Prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021 and his pressure on Pence to overturn the election. Those lines of inquiry are separate from the investigation into classified documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home — though that case, too, has produced legal fighting over issues of executive and attorney client privilege. Both Short and Jacob have unique windows into those events. Both were with Pence on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. They testified with Pence’s approval before a House select committee conducting a parallel investigation, although the former vice president declined to do so himself. Jacob also told the committee that two days before the riot, private Trump attorney John Eastman conceded that the plot to have Pence help overturn the election was illegal. In other legal proceedings, attorneys for Trump have defended executive privilege claims, warning that rulings to the contrary could damage the presidency by weakening the confidentiality afforded to the conversations of top presidential advisers. They have argued that allowing a sitting president to waive executive privilege of a predecessor unilaterally also could politicize and defeat the purpose of the privilege. However, Trump’s legal options to withhold testimony may have been limited by a string of court decisions since Jan. 6. Courts have long held that White House claims of executive or attorney-client privilege are easier to overcome when the information is sought in a criminal proceeding rather than by Congress. The standard for prosecutors is whether they can show a witness is likely to possess information important to the criminal probe not readily available otherwise. And even though lawmakers must meet a higher bar, courts since January have sided with Congress and rejected an attempt by Trump to withhold thousands of pages of White House communications and records from the House Jan. 6 committee, and a similar effort by Eastman to do so claiming attorney-client confidentiality. Read More Here

Kenneth L. Reading https://digitalalaskanews.com/kenneth-l-reading/ Kenneth L. “Ken” Reading, 75, of Manheim, passed away at home on Thursday, September 22, 2022. Born in Lebanon, he was the son of the late Joseph and Dorothy Childs Reading. He was the loving husband of Susan E. Heisey Reading. Ken graduated from Manheim Central High School in 1965 and Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology in 1967. He was a stamping foreman for Amp Inc., Lancaster. Ken was a lifelong member of Elstonville Sportsman’s Club, Hemlock Archery Club, and the National Rifle Association. Ken was also a coach for the MAC Wrestling Club. He enjoyed hunting, going to their cabin in Potter County, and a trip to Alaska he took with his wife in 2015. Surviving in addition to his wife a son, Mark husband of Barbara Reading, a step daughter, Cindy Martin, a step son, Glenn Reading, four grandchildren: Tyler and Dylan Reading, Kerri and Kyria Martin, and two brothers, Charles husband of Louise Reading and Francis “Cook” husband of Beth Reading both. Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to attend Ken’s Graveside Service at East Fairview Brethren Cemetery, 1187 Fairview Road, Manheim, on Tuesday, September 27, 2022 at 11:00 AM. There will be a viewing at the Buch Funeral Home, 21 Market Square, Manheim on Tuesday morning from 10:00 AM until the time of graveside service. To send the family online condolences, please visit: www.BuchFuneral.com LNP Media Group, Inc. Read More Here

Warning To Users Of Reusable Contact Lenses https://digitalalaskanews.com/warning-to-users-of-reusable-contact-lenses/ People who wear reusable contact lenses are more likely to develop a rare sight infection, according to a new study. Research by University College London in conjunction with Moorfields Eye Hospital in London found that reusable lenses can increase the risk of Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK), with the study suggesting an increased risk for people who keep their lenses in overnight or while showering. The Express reports that the study, published in the Ophthalmology journal by University College London, says that while contact lenses are generally very safe, they are associated with a small risk of AK, most commonly caused by bacteria. Lead author of the study Professor John Dart said in a statement: “In recent years we have seen an increase of Acanthamoeba keratitis in the UK and Europe, and while the infection is still rare, it is preventable and warrants a public health response. “Contact lenses are generally very safe but are associated with a small risk of microbial keratitis, Given that an estimated 300 million people across the globe wear contact lenses, it is important that people know how to minimise their risks for developing keratitis.” AK cases number about one in 20,000 contact lens users every year in the UK. Symptoms include sensation of something in the eye, eye pain, eye redness, blurred vision, sensitivity to light and excessive tearing. The infection causes the front surface of the cornea to become inflamed. Of those affected, around 25 per cent end up with less than 25 per cent of their vision, while another 25 per cent require corneal transplants. The researchers studied more than 200 patients from Moorfields. Results showed that those who used reusable contact lenses were just under four times more likely to develop AK. Showering increased the risk of AK by just over three times. Further research estimated that between 30 and 62 percent of AK cases in the UK and other countries could be prevented if the switch from reusable to daily contact lenses was made. Primary author of the study Nicole Carnt commented: “Previous studies have linked AK to wearing contact lenses in hot tubs, swimming pools or lakes, and here we have added showers to that list, underlining that exposure to any water when wearing lenses should be avoided. Public pools and coastal authorities could help reduce this risk by advising against swimming in contact lenses.” Professor Dart added: “Basic contact lens hygiene measures can go a long way in avoiding infections, such as by thoroughly washing and drying your hands before putting in your lenses.” It has been pointed out that the study was an observational one, which means it cannot conclusively say that contact lenses cause AK. Further research through a causational study would be required to reveal a definitive connection between contact lens use and AK. For stories from where you live, visit InYourArea. Find recommendations for eating out, attractions and events near you here on our sister website 2Chill Find recommendations for dog owners and more doggy stories on our sister site Teamdogs Read More Here

China Says US Sending ‘dangerous Signals’ On Taiwan https://digitalalaskanews.com/china-says-us-sending-dangerous-signals-on-taiwan/ China has accused the United States of sending “very wrong, dangerous signals” on Taiwan after the US secretary of state told his Chinese counterpart on Friday that the maintenance of peace and stability over Taiwan was vitally important. Taiwan was the focus of the 90-minute, “direct and honest” talks between the secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, on the margins of the UN general assembly in New York, a US official told reporters. “For our part, the secretary made crystal clear that – in accordance with our long-standing one-China policy, which again has not changed – the maintenance of peace and stability across the Strait is absolutely, vitally important,” the senior US administration official said. China’s foreign ministry, in a statement on the meeting, said the US was sending “very wrong, dangerous signals” on Taiwan, and the more rampant Taiwan’s independence activity, the less likely there would be a peaceful settlement. “The Taiwan issue is an internal Chinese matter, and the United States has no right to interfere in what method will be used to resolve it,” the ministry cited Wang as saying. Tensions over Taiwan have soared after a visit there in August by the US House of Representatives speaker, Nancy Pelosi – which was followed by large-scale Chinese military drills – as well as a pledge by the US president, Joe Biden, to defend the self-governed island. Biden’s statement was his most explicit to date about committing US troops to the defend the island. It was also the latest instance of his appearing to go beyond a longstanding US policy of “strategic ambiguity”, which does not make it clear whether the US would respond militarily to an attack on Taiwan. The White House has insisted its Taiwan policy has not changed, but China said Biden’s remarks sent the wrong signal to those seeking an independent Taiwan. In a phone call with Biden in July, the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, warned about Taiwan, saying “those who play with fire will perish by it”. The state department had said earlier that Blinken’s meeting with Wang was part of a US effort to “maintain open lines of communication and manage competition responsibly”, and the senior official said Blinken had reiterated US openness to “cooperating with China on matters of global concern”. Blinken also “highlighted the implications” if China were to provide material support to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine or engage in wholesale sanctions evasion, the official added. US officials have in the past said they had seen no evidence of China providing such support. Blinken “underscored that the United States and China and the international community have an obligation to work to counter the effects of that invasion and also to deter Russia from taking further provocative actions”, the official said. China sees Taiwan as one of its provinces. Beijing has long vowed to bring Taiwan under its control and has not ruled out the use of force to do so.Taiwan’s government strongly objects to China’s sovereignty claims and says only the island’s 23 million people can decide its future. Taiwan’s foreign ministry, responding to the meeting between Blinken and Wang, said China’s “recent provocative actions” had made the Taiwan Strait a focus of discussion, and China was trying to “confuse the international audience with arguments and criticisms that contradict reality.” Blinken’s meeting with Wang was preceded by one between the foreign ministers of the Quad grouping of Australia, India, Japan and the US, which issued a statement, referring to the Indo-Pacific, saying that “we strongly oppose any unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo or increase tensions in the region”. Since Pelosi’s visit “China has taken a number of provocative steps that have by design acted to change the status quo”, the US official said. The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will discuss Taiwan security during bilateral meetings with the leaders of US allies Japan and South Korea when she visits them next week, another US official said. Daniel Russel, the top US diplomat for Asia under president Barack Obama, said the fact Blinken and Wang had met was important after the turbulence brought by Pelosi’s visit, and hopefully some progress would have been made towards arranging a meeting between Xi and Biden on the sidelines of a G20 meeting in November, which would be their first in-person as leaders. “Wang and Blinken’s decision to meet in New York does not guarantee the November summit will go smoothly or that it will even occur,” said Russel, now with the Asia Society. “But had they been unable to meet, it would have meant the prospects for a summit in November were poor.” Read More Here

Trump Rally 'guest Management' Discourages One Finger Salutes As 'Qanon Song' Plays Again: Report https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-rally-guest-management-discourages-one-finger-salutes-as-qanon-song-plays-again-report/ Read More Here

Trump Lawyers Argue To Limit White House Aides’ Testimony To Jan. 6 Grand Jury https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-lawyers-argue-to-limit-white-house-aides-testimony-to-jan-6-grand-jury/ Lawyers for former president Donald Trump have entered a high-stakes legal battle seeking to limit the scope of former top White House aides’ testimony to a federal grand jury that is investigating efforts to overturn the 2020 elections, according to people familiar with the matter. The action sets up a potentially precedent-setting struggle that could affect the Justice Department’s investigation of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol attack, and address the scope of a former president’s assertion of executive or attorney-client privilege to preserve the confidentiality of advisers’ communications. The specific contours of the fight, reported first by CNN, are unclear. One person familiar with the matter said that the dispute concerned the testimony of two top aides to former vice president Mike Pence — his former chief of staff, Marc Short, and former counsel, Greg Jacob. The men appeared before the grand jury in July and answered some, but not all, questions, based on Trump’s assertion of privilege, people familiar with the matter said. Grand jury matters are typically secret. However, the case spilled into light after Trump attorneys M. Evan Corcoran, John P. Rowley III and Timothy C. Parlatore were seen at federal court in Washington on Thursday with no publicly scheduled matters, along with a lead Jan. 6 federal prosecutor, Thomas Windom. A person with knowledge of the matter said Trump’s representatives were present for a Jan. 6-related proceeding. The people spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing criminal investigation. Trump’s attorneys and a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office in D.C. said they could not comment on grand jury matters. Efforts to reach representatives for Short or Jacobs were not immediately successful Friday night. A dispute over executive privilege and compelling a witness’s testimony before a grand jury would typically be heard by Chief U.S. District Judge Beryl A. Howell in Washington. While Howell has in the past moved quickly, any appeal to the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia would probably extend through the end of the year, and the arguments would be unlikely to be made public before then. A spokeswoman for Howell did not respond to a request for comment. In most fights over executive privilege — which are often between Congress and the executive branch — both sides usually compromise and settle their differences rather than risk a precedent-setting defeat for either branch of government. But the stakes of the criminal investigation into Trump’s actions during the presidential transition after he lost reelection in November 2020 may make negotiation more difficult. The Justice Department is questioning witnesses about conversations with Trump, his lawyers and others in his inner circle who sought to substitute Trump allies for certified electors from some states Joe Biden won, people familiar with the matter have said. Prosecutors have asked hours of detailed questions about meetings Trump led in December 2020 and January 2021 and his pressure on Pence to overturn the election. Those lines of inquiry are separate from the investigation into classified documents recovered from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home — though that case, too, has produced legal fighting over issues of executive and attorney client privilege. Both Short and Jacob have unique windows into those events. Both were with Pence on Jan. 6 at the Capitol. They testified with Pence’s approval before a House select committee conducting a parallel investigation, although the former vice president declined to do so himself. Jacob also told the committee that two days before the riot, private Trump attorney John Eastman conceded that the plot to have Pence help overturn the election was illegal. In other legal proceedings, attorneys for Trump have defended executive privilege claims, warning that rulings to the contrary could damage the presidency by weakening the confidentiality afforded to the conversations of top presidential advisers. They have argued that allowing a sitting president to waive executive privilege of a predecessor unilaterally also could politicize and defeat the purpose of the privilege. However, Trump’s legal options to withhold testimony may have been limited by a string of court decisions since Jan. 6. Courts have long held that White House claims of executive or attorney-client privilege are easier to overcome when the information is sought in a criminal proceeding rather than by Congress. The standard for prosecutors is whether they can show a witness is likely to possess information important to the criminal probe not readily available otherwise. And even though lawmakers must meet a higher bar, courts since January have sided with Congress and rejected an attempt by Trump to withhold thousands of pages of White House communications and records from the House Jan. 6 committee, and a similar effort by Eastman to do so claiming attorney-client confidentiality. Read More Here

EDITORIAL/Documents And Denials: President Trump Isn https://digitalalaskanews.com/editorial-documents-and-denials-president-trump-isn/ The U.S. Department of Justice and former President Donald J. Trump are at odds over classified documents found during a search of his Palm Beach, Florida, home. The FBI seized somewhere around 100 classified documents in the August 8 search of Mar-a-Lago. Now the question is whether the former president broke federal law. The DOJ is investigating. President Trump insists he did nothing wrong and this is all a political witch hunt. On Wednesday, President Trump made an appearance on Sean Hannity’s FOX News show. And he doubled down on his claims that as president he has the power to declassify documents at will. The host asked what process he used to declassify the documents. And President Trump answered he didn’t need a process. “If you’re the president of the United States you can declassify just by saying: ‘It’s declassified.’ Even by thinking about it,” the former president said. “There doesn’t have to be a process. There can be a process, but there doesn’t have to be. You’re the president, you make that decision. I declassified everything.” The president can declassify documents. But there is a process. The agency or agencies that originated the documents must be informed. A president cannot declassify documents just by “thinking about it.” In our view, this is getting out of hand. This whole investigation may indeed be politically motivated, an attempt to derail President Trump’s likely 2024 campaign to get back in the White House. But the former president isn’t doing himself any favors by such baseless and, frankly, ludicrous assertions. The best course would be for President Trump to admit he made an ill-advised but innocent mistake with the documents and let his lawyers handle it. It’s quite possible that if he makes a pre-emptive mea culpa, this whole thing will never result in any real charges. Unfortunately President Trump seems incapable of ever admitting he was wrong. And so he might just talk himself into court before this is over. Print Headline: EDITORIAL/Documents and Denials: President Trump isn’t doing himself any favors Read More Here

Hillary Clinton Calls Trump's Handling Of Documents 'deeply Disturbing,' Says She Never Had Classified Info https://digitalalaskanews.com/hillary-clinton-calls-trumps-handling-of-documents-deeply-disturbing-says-she-never-had-classified-info/ AUSTIN, Texas — Hillary Clinton chimed in on the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago on Friday, calling former President Trump’s handling of documents “deeply disturbing” while denying that she ever had classified information on a private email server at her home. “He’s gone from nothing was there, FBI planted it, then if stuff was there, I had I right to have it there, and now this latest claim, ‘I declassified it in my mind,'” Clinton told a crowd at the Texas Tribune Festival in Austin on Friday. “I’m sick about talking about my emails, but I do think it’s important to remember at the end of the day, after two parts of an FBI investigation, two separate State Department investigations – one under Tillerson and one under Pompeo, so the Trump years – they did not find one piece of paper of any kind marked classified. Zero.” Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images” data-src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/CrDjFKWRFUVZxtVCWc3GSg–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTcwNTtoPTQ3MA–/https://s.yimg.com/uu/api/res/1.2/VPEKp7KltG7ixlLAirOUMw–~B/aD0yNjY4O3c9NDAwMDthcHBpZD15dGFjaHlvbg–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/fox_news_text_979/4da54f63cc39c62801a9a76823ed06f3″ Hillary Clinton, former US Secretary of State, speaks during The Texas Tribune Festival in Austin, Texas, US, on Friday, Sept. 23, 2022. Jordan Vonderhaar/Bloomberg via Getty Images Former FBI Director James Comey declined to recommend prosecution of the former secretary of state in 2016, but said at the time that “110 e-mails in 52 e-mail chains have been determined by the owning agency to contain classified information,” including eight chains marked at the top secret level and 36 chains marked secret. NEW YORK AG SUES TRUMP OVER FRAUD ALLEGATIONS Clinton accused Comey on Friday of upending the 2016 election by telling Congress just days before voters hit the polls that a new tranche of emails that may contain classified information were discovered on Anthony Weiner’s laptop. He sent a follow-up email two days before the election clearing her of any charges. “If I were secretary of state again, I wouldn’t use another server. I would use the unsecured often-hacked-into state department servers. That’s what I would do,” Clinton said sarcastically on Friday. The Department of Justice Inspector General later wrote in 2018 that an investigation found “81 email chains containing approximately 193 individual emails that were classified from the CONFIDENTIAL to TOP SECRET levels at the time the emails were drafted on UNCLASSIFIED systems and sent to or from Clinton’s personal server.” DOJ ASKS 11TH CIRCUIT FOR PARTIAL STAY, ALLOWING ATTORNEYS TO USE CLASSIFIED DOCS DURING SPECIAL MASTER REVIEW The FBI said in court filings that it seized roughly 100 documents with classified information during a search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on Aug. 8. The Justice Department said that it is investigating the potential violation of federal laws concerning gathering, transmitting or losing defense information; concealment, removal, or mutilation; and destruction, alteration, or falsification of records in federal investigations. Judge Raymond Dearie was appointed as special master last week to conduct an independent review of those documents. “I don’t know how you compare anything to what was found at Mar-a-Lago. I just don’t know how you compare it,” Clinton said Friday. “I don’t know what he’s doing with it, but I can’t help but believe that he thought there was some financial or political gain to him having it.” Read More Here

Donald Trump Repeats Odd Nickname For Letitia James At North Carolina Rally https://digitalalaskanews.com/donald-trump-repeats-odd-nickname-for-letitia-james-at-north-carolina-rally/ Donald Trump repeated his unexplained – and potentially racist – nickname for New York attorney general Letitia James, who hit him and the Trump Organization with a $250m fraud lawsuit earlier this week. “There’s no better example of the left’s chilling obsession with targeting political opponents than the baseless, abusive and depraved lawsuit against me, my family, my company, by the racist Attorney General of New York State. Leticia ‘Peekaboo’ James,” Mr Trump told the crowd in Wilmington. The speech featured a number of vicious insults against Ms James, including calling her a “raging maniac” and  “leftist nutjob,” but he returned again and again to the “Peekaboo” nickname. It’s not the first time the former president has used the moniker for the attorney general. Earlier this week, in reaction to the New York lawsuit, Mr Trump trotted out the insult. “Racist A.G. Letitia ‘Peekaboo’ James, the failed Gubernatorial candidate, is now running second to strong crime fighter MICHAEL HENRY,” he wrote on social media. “This could be a big upset because she has been a terrible A.G. when it comes to protecting the people of New York State. Murder, Rape, and Drugs are totally out of control.” Critics argue that Mr Trump in fact is the one being racist against Ms James, who is Black. They point out how “Peekaboo” rhymes with the “j-word,” a slur for African-Americans. “Anyone else getting a super racist vibe from Trump nicknaming Letitia James ‘Peekaboo’? Good lord,” USA Today columnist Rex Huppke wrote on Twitter on Wednesday. Michael Cohen, Mr Trump’s former fixer and attorney, meanwhile, has argued the nickname itself is meaningless, and show’s the former president as both immature and experiencing cognitive decline. “My opinion? He has dementia,” Mr Cohen told Insider on Thursday, adding that he doubts the nickname is meant as a racist dog-whistle. “Especially with the additional stress that is now on top of him.” “Let me put it to you this way,” Mr Cohen continued. “As you sit and listen to Trump speak, you realize that he has at best a 10-year-old’s vocabulary. He’s using peekaboo as a hide and seek term.” The Independent has reached out to Ms James and Mr Trump for comment. Read More Here

Election 2022 Trump North Carolina https://digitalalaskanews.com/election-2022-trump-north-carolina/ Chris Seward – freelancer, FR27582 AP Sep 23, 2022 11 min ago Attendees cheer as Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, Republican from North Carolina, speaks to the crowd at former President Donald Trump’s rally, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022, in Wilmington, N.C. Chris Seward – freelancer, FR27582 AP To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. To view our latest e-Edition click the image on the left. Articles Images Videos Commented Videos Sorry, there are no recent results for popular videos. Commented Sorry, there are no recent results for popular commented articles. News Updates Would you like to receive our daily news? Sign up today! Read More Here

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NPR’s News Chief Announces Unexpected Departure After Four Years https://digitalalaskanews.com/nprs-news-chief-announces-unexpected-departure-after-four-years/ The top news executive at NPR announced Friday that she is leaving the organization, an unexpected departure that coincides with a shake-up in the nonprofit media giant’s management structure. Nancy Barnes, who took over NPR’s newsroom in 2018 as senior vice president and editorial director of the broadcasting and digital news operation, said she will leave the organization later this fall. She did not announce new plans, but said in a note to staff on Friday that she will “pursue other journalistic endeavors.” Her decision came hours after NPR’s chief executive, John Lansing, announced the creation of a new position that will oversee all of NPR’s programming — trademark news programs such as “All Things Considered” as well as podcasts and non-news programming such as “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me.” The new chief content officer position would have effectively created another tier of management over Barnes, who previously reported directly to Lansing. Barnes and Lansing did not respond to requests for comment. A highly regarded newspaper editor at the Houston Chronicle and Minneapolis Star Tribune, Barnes took over NPR’s newsgathering operations from an interim manager following the resignation of Michael Oreskes in 2017 amid multiple allegations of sexual harassment. NPR said it would conduct a search for Barnes’s successor, who will become the fourth person to run NPR’s news operations in the past five years. She leaves at a time of growing financial pressure on NPR, a nonprofit organization that is funded by primarily by fees from noncommercial radio stations and corporate sponsorships. For fiscal year 2021, NPR had revenue-after-expenses of $16.9 million — a swing from a deficit of $14.1 million the year before. Officials have indicated that the organization was hit hard by the pandemic, with daily listening and corporate support falling as fewer people listened to news reports while working from home. At one point in mid-2020, NPR imposed unpaid, week-long furloughs on most of its newsroom employees. Lansing announced the new chief content officer position in a staff memo Friday morning. Barnes announced her resignation that afternoon. She wrote in an internal memo that there is “increasingly overlap between the news and [non-news] programming divisions” and that she supported Lansing’s decision to add a new chief content officer. She called her departure “bittersweet.” NPR’s news division currently employs 481 people. The programming division employs an additional 183. Barnes supervised NPR’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election, the pandemic, social unrest following the murder of George Floyd and the Russian military invasion of Ukraine. She also created a climate desk, a disinformation team and a breaking news investigations team. She said she would remain on the job through the 2022 midterm elections. NPR won its first Pulitzer Prize under Barnes last year, in audio reporting, for an investigative podcast series called “No Compromise” about gun rights activists. A second NPR-produced series, “Throughline: Soleimani’s Iran,” about the assassination of Iranian Maj. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, was a finalist for a Pulitzer last year. Read More Here

Trump Says He’s ‘not A Terrorist’ And Warns Of ‘great Anger’ Over Criminal Probes https://digitalalaskanews.com/trump-says-hes-not-a-terrorist-and-warns-of-great-anger-over-criminal-probes/ Former president Donald Trump scoffed at the suggestion that he and his supporters are dangerous at his most recent political rally in North Carolina on Friday, in response president Biden’s recent pro-democracy speech in which he criticised the Maga movement as extreme. Mr Trump, who is the subject of multiple criminal investigations in Washington DC and Georgia, accused the Biden administration of taking FBI resources “away from fighting crime and using them for partisan political investigations” in hopes of “falsely label[ing]” his “Make America Great Again” movement. “They want to call us domestic terrorists,” Mr Trump told the crowd. “Can you believe it? I’m not a terrorist”. Continuing, Mr Trump said there is now “great anger” in the US because of the multiple investigations into his conduct and the conduct of his supporters, as well as the ongoing FBI efforts to bring to justice anyone who broke laws during the January 6 2021 riot he incited. “Never forget all of this torment. persecution and oppression is not happening because of anything we’ve done wrong,” he said. The ex-president’s remarks at his Wilmington, North Carolina, appeared to be a retort to President Joe Biden’s recent speech in Philadelphia, during which he described Mr Trump’s Maga movement as extreme and dangerous. “Too much of what’s happening in our country today is not normal,” Mr Biden said, adding that the man he defeated nearly two years ago — former president Donald Trump — and his “Maga Republican” allies “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic”. Mr Biden stressed that “not every Republican” subscribes to the “extreme ideology” of Mr Trump and his acolytes, but he warned that the GOP today is largely “dominated, driven and intimidated” by Mr Trump and “the Maga Republicans,” referring to Mr Trump’s and his “Make America Great Again” campaign slogan. Read More Here

Foes Of Arizona Private School File To Block It https://digitalalaskanews.com/foes-of-arizona-private-school-file-to-block-it/ Foes of Arizona Private School file to Block it Newslooks- PHOENIX (AP) Public school advocates who oppose a massive expansion of Arizona’s private school voucher system enacted by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey in July filed enough signatures Friday to block it from taking effect. The law, which extends the program to every child in the state, will be on hold instead of taking effect Saturday. If a review finds that Save Our Schools Arizona has met the requirement for nearly 119,000 valid signatures — and if those signatures survive any court challenges filed by voucher backers — it will remain blocked until the November 2024 election. Beth Lewis, executive director of the grassroots group formed when a similar expansion passed in 2017 and was successfully challenged at the polls, said Friday that the group turned in 141,714 signatures. That’s fewer than they hoped, since groups trying to refer laws to the voters or get initiatives on the ballot usually aim for at least a 25% cushion. Voters rejected the earlier expansion by a 2/3 majority in the 2018 election. FILE – In this Dec. 2, 2020, file photo, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey answers a question during a news conference in Phoenix. A new Arizona law banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy takes effect Saturday, Sept. 24, 2022 as a judge weighs a request to allow a pre-statehood law that outlaws nearly all abortions to be enforced. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin, Pool, File) Lewis put part of the blame on Ducey, who held onto the bill for 10 days after the Legislature adjourned, a move that cut the amount of time opponents had to collect signatures from 90 to 80 days. “We definitely wish we would have had those 10 days that Ducey stole from the voters to build our cushion,” Lewis said. “But we have enough that we feel confident that with the validity of our signatures we can turn in and get through the processing and get it on the ballot.” Voucher opponents say the program siphons money away from the state’s public schools, which have been underfunded for decades and educate the vast majority of the state’s students, although Ducey and the Legislature have pumped cash into the system over the past several years. Backers of the voucher program say it allows parents to choose the best school for their children. Ducey is a major “school choice” backer and touted the expansion at a ceremonial bill signing in August. Supporters of the expansion of the state’s voucher program, technically called Empowerment Scholarship Accounts, organized to try to persuade voters not to sign the petitions. They showed up at signing events with “Decline to Sign” signs and called businesses to tell them petition circulators were in their parking lots. Among those who back the expansion are national “school choice” groups like the American Federation for Children, founded and once led by Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education in the Trump Administration. Scott Smith, a Republican former state senator who is now the state director for the AFC, said he expects “any and all” efforts to defeat the voter referendum, either in the courts or at the ballot box. “Rest assured, whatever happens, I’m sure it’s safe to say myself and others and the parents will do whatever we can to protect their rights to educate their kids how they see best,” Smith said. Under the state constitution, voters can block most laws passed by the Legislature by collecting signatures. To allow that, most new laws take effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns, which is the deadline for a referral. Although about a third of Arizona students qualify for the existing voucher program — mainly those living in low-income areas — only about 12,000 students statewide currently use the system. The expansion Ducey signed will let every parent in Arizona take public money now sent to the K-12 public school system and use it to pay for their children’s private school tuition, homeschool materials or other education costs. Arizona already has the most expansive education options in the nation and will have the most comprehensive voucher system if the law takes effect. An estimated 60,000 currently-enrolled private school students and about 38,000 homeschooled students would immediately be eligible for up to $7,000 per year, although a small number already get vouchers. All 1.1 million students who attend traditional district and charter schools would also qualify to leave their public schools and receive money to attend private schools. Since the state education department opened a new portal for parents to apply under the universal eligibility law, more than 10,000 applications have been received. Many parents of private school students currently get tuition money through one of several tax credit programs. That pays less, however, so many are likely to switch to a voucher. Lewis and other opponents of the program say they worry that as much as $1 billion could be lost from the public school system funding. K-12 schools currently get about $8 billion a year in state funding. Read more U.S. news Read More Here

MAGA Inc. Is The New Donald Trump Super PAC https://digitalalaskanews.com/maga-inc-is-the-new-donald-trump-super-pac/ MAGA, Incorporated. It sounds like the name of a new Metallica song. It’s not. MAGA, Inc. is Trumpworld’s newest super PAC.  “Donald Trump’s top lieutenants are launching a new super PAC that is expected to spend heavily to bolster his endorsed candidates in the midterm election,” Alex Isenstadt reported for POLITICO. “And, some people close to the former president say, could become a campaign apparatus if he runs in 2024.”  Trump himself has sanctioned the new PAC, which should function as Trump’s primary method for political activity in the upcoming midterms. “The outfit is designed to funnel large sums into key races and could conceivably be used to boost Trump in the event he seeks the White House again,” Isenstadt wrote. The New PAC The new PAC offers clarity at a time when Trump’s political ambitions are not entirely clear – and when his involvement has been relatively subdued. “Trump has transferred little of his funding to fellow Republicans running in the midterm elections or to committees or outside groups backing GOP candidates,” Paul Steinhauser reported for FOX News. “That has led to grumbling from some Republicans that Trump is hoarding his money at the expense of the party and its candidates that are underfunded in the midterms.”    But MAGA, Inc. demonstrates concretely both that Trump plans to engage in the upcoming midterms and how he intends to do so. MAGA, Inc. should help Republicans catch up to Democrats with respect to campaign spending; Republicans have been outspent significantly, all over the country, “and party strategists have been anxious for Trump – by far the party’s biggest money magnet – to help financially,” Isenstadt reported. Will Trump Use the PAC to Back GOP Candidates? To date, Trump’s investment in Republican candidates has been paltry. That will change now. Many expect that Trump’s leadership PAC, Save America, which is one of the highest-funded PACs in politics with a $100 million cash reserve, will begin transferring funds to MAGA, Inc. “Save America can transfer its fundraising dollars over to MAGA, Inc.” Steinhauser reported,” which would then distribute the funds out onto the campaign trail. “Unlike Save America, which by federal law is restricted on how much it can spend on political pursuits, the new super PAC has fewer limitations.”   Taylor Budowich, who is Trump’s current communications director, will run MAGA, Inc. “President Trump is committed to saving America, and Make America Great Again, Inc. will ensure that is achieved at the ballot box in November and beyond,” Budowich said. Joining Budowich will be Chris LaCivita, “a veteran Republican operative who in the 2020 cycle ran the biggest spending pro-Trump super PAC,” according to Steinhauser. LaCivita will serve as MAGA, Inc.’s chief strategist. Tony Fabrizio, “a longtime Trump pollster who worked on his 2016 and 2020 campaigns,” will be the PAC’s lead pollster. Meredith O’Rourke, a “veteran GOP and Trump fundraiser,” will run the PAC’s finance team. And Steven Cheung, a “Trump campaign veteran,” will handle the PAC’s communications. MAGA, Inc. represents an expansion of Trump’s political operation. “Until now, Trump’s political operation had been staffed by a small number of close advisers,” Isenstadt reported. But that will change with MAGA, Inc.  Trump’s new PAC is expected to merge with an existing PAC, MAGA Again!, which former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi runs. “MAGA, Again! has had a relatively low profile throughout the midterms and has struggled to make an impact in races,” Isenstadt reported. MAGA, Inc. won’t likely have that problem.  The midterms are significant for Trump. His power appears to be waning slightly. He has endorsed a slew of candidates – and those candidates’ outcomes will demonstrate whether Trump is still a kingmaker or just a has-been former president. MAGA, Inc. is an effort for Trump to stay on top, as the most influential person in Republican politics.   Harrison Kass is the Senior Editor at 19FortyFive. An attorney, pilot, guitarist, and minor pro hockey player, he joined the US Air Force as a Pilot Trainee but was medically discharged. Harrison holds a BA from Lake Forest College, a JD from the University of Oregon, and an MA from New York University. He lives in Oregon and listens to Dokken. Follow him on Twitter @harrison_kass. Read More Here

Patients Bear Brunt As Patna Medical College And Hospital Junior Doctors Continue Stir | Patna News – Times Of India https://digitalalaskanews.com/patients-bear-brunt-as-patna-medical-college-and-hospital-junior-doctors-continue-stir-patna-news-times-of-india/ PATNA: As the work withdrawal stir launched by junior doctors of Patna Medical College and Hospital ( PMCH ) entered the second day on Friday, Patna civil surgeon (CS) Dr K K Roy ordered immediate deputation of 20 doctors working at different additional primary health centres ( APHCs ) at the hospital for smooth delivery of healthcare services. The agitation partially affected healthcare services at the hospital, much to the inconvenience of patients. The number of patients in OPDs dropped to about 950 on Friday from the average daily number of around 2,100. “In response to a request sent by PMCH medical superintendent, 20 doctors drawn from APHCs of Danapur, Bihta, Maner, Bikram, Barh and Bakhtiyarpur have been asked to immediately report to PMCH and discharge their duties. However, their deputation at PMCH will stand terminated once the junior doctors return to work,” the CS said. The PMCH Junior Doctors’ Association (JDA) had launched the stir on Thursday to protest alleged assault on some doctors by the attendants of a patient and pelting of stones by outsiders targeting a hostel of the medicos. PMCH JDA president Dr Kumar Sandeepan said as there was no positive assurance from the hospital administration on their demands like deputation of armed guards, one patient, one attendant rule and entry pass for vehicles, the indefinite stir continued. Junior doctors did not turn up for duties at OPDs, emergency units and wards of different departments, such as orthopaedics, medicine, surgery, paediatrics, gynaecology, eye, plastic surgery and ENT. PMCH principal Dr V P Choudhary has asked heads of all departments at the hospital to increase the number of senior doctors in OPDs, emergency units, wards and operation theatres. He also talked to a delegation of JDA and assured them of taking up the matter with the district administration. The principal assured the junior doctors that he will write to the DM and the SSP, seeking deployment of armed guards at PMCH. PMCH deputy superintendent Dr A K Jha, said senior doctors and interns helped in smooth running of all the departments and wards. Read More Here

Kyle Parrish Faces Uphill Journey To Beat Trump-Backed U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx In Solidly Republican District 5. He https://digitalalaskanews.com/kyle-parrish-faces-uphill-journey-to-beat-trump-backed-u-s-rep-virginia-foxx-in-solidly-republican-district-5-he/ The 2022 race for North Carolina’s redrawn U.S. House 5th District reflects the non-competitive nature of most congressional races. Kyle Parrish understands – and accepts – that fact. The Democrat, in his first political race, faces nine-term, Donald Trump-endorsed Republican incumbent Virginia Foxx in a solidly GOP district that includes northern and western portions of Forsyth County, and all of Stokes, Surry, Yadkin, Davie, Wilkes, Alleghany, Ashe, Watauga, Caldwell, Avery and Mitchell counties. “I was never running intending to win,” admitted Parrish, who works in information technology as a systems architect for a financial services company. The 56-year-old Parrish’s Cary home is actually in House District 13. He said he first contemplated running this year in District 7 when it appeared Republican Bo Hines would have no Democratic opposition. But after court-ordered revisions to congressional maps, it was Foxx who faced the prospect of running unopposed. “For them to have a free narrative, without any challenge from a competitor, even if it’s not a strong challenge because we have trouble raising money or we have trouble with party support, it’s unconscionable,” Parrish said of Republicans running unopposed in “safe” districts. “So I decided at that time that I was going to run for office in order to at least provide some kind of feedback into the echo chamber that was evolving.” The U.S. Constitution requires members of Congress to live in the state they represent, but not their districts. Trump’s impact Foxx, 79, of Watauga County, did face Republican competition in the May primary from Marine Corps veteran Michael Ackerman. The contested race prompted Trump to weigh in with his endorsement. “(Foxx) opposed the Russia, Russia, Russia Hoax, Impeachment Hoax, and we can always count on her vote to Make America Great Again,” Trump said in a statement announcing his support. “I am a big fan of Virginia Foxx, and she has my Complete and Total Endorsement for re-election!“ Foxx embraced the ex-president’s backing. “I am extremely grateful to have earned President Trump’s endorsement for my 2022 re-election campaign, and I thank him for his support,” she said.  “During his presidency I supported President Trump wholeheartedly and worked tirelessly to help enact key parts of his America First agenda.” That full support did not include Trump’s unfounded accusations that the 2020 election was stolen from him because of voter fraud. “Joe Biden is the President-Elect. Period,” Foxx said in a statement less than a week after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capital as lawmakers met to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election. “I echo (Minority) Leader (Kevin) McCarthy’s appeal to President Trump to call Joe Biden and acknowledge him on that basis.” That call was never made. Now, some political observers insist the soundest strategy for Republicans looking to retake the House and Senate is for candidates in contested races to blame Biden for inflation and high gas prices, and that Trump and his mounting legal issues distract from that message. But Trump won’t be a significant distraction for Foxx in a safely Republican – and pro-Trump – district. Had the new District 5 been in place for the 2020 presidential race, Trump would have collected more than 60% of votes compared to Biden’s 39%. Statewide, Trump edged Biden 49.9% to 48.6% in 2020. Parrish, meanwhile, ripped Foxx for her ties to of Trump. “He has no bar to get over other than loyalty to him,” Parrish said. “And she’s a shameless opportunist who has sat up in office for almost 18 years and done nothing for her constituents and goes where the wind blows to help keep herself in that position. To be honest, she doesn’t have to do anything” to get re-elected. Foxx, meanwhile, insisted she will continue to embrace the former president and his agenda. Western North Carolina voters “want someone who stood with President Trump to push back on the rising tide of socialism amongst liberals in Washington, and will seek to build on his historic legacy,” she said. “They also want someone who recognizes the growing culmination of threats against traditional conservative beliefs we are seeing today and will work tirelessly to ensure those threats are defeated.”  In addition to ensuring Foxx faces election opposition, Parrish said he is running to counter a Trump legacy that presents “existential threats to our democracy, both across the country and within our state.” “There was no fraud in 2020, we do not need new voting laws, gerrymandering is voter suppression (and) there is no ‘tyranny’ that requires civil war,” he insisted.  “The legislation arising from the ‘Big Lie’ is nothing more than an effort to subvert the future will (and) vote of the American people. To counter these threats, we need new ways of working together – across parties – until the problem is resolved.” As of June 30, Foxx’s campaign had nearly $2.7 million in cash on hand compared to less than $9,000 for Parrish. John Deem covers climate change and the environment in the Triad and Northwest North Carolina. His work is funded by a grant from the 1Earth Fund and the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation. 336-727-7204 Get local news delivered to your inbox! Subscribe to our Daily Headlines newsletter. Read More Here

Checks & Imbalances: A Forbes Look At The Trump Fraud Lawsuit https://digitalalaskanews.com/checks-imbalances-a-forbes-look-at-the-trump-fraud-lawsuit/ Today we focus on the big news in Trump World out of New York. Exclusive Recording, Documents Bolster Trump Fraud Lawsuit “New York state is suing Donald Trump and his business for engaging in financial fraud. Forbes has documents and a recording of Trump talking about 40 Wall Street, the first property cited in the attorney general’s press conference, that seem to back up her claims,” reports Dan Alexander: For decades, Trump and his lieutenants lied to Forbes about his finances, as we have duly noted over the years in the annual Forbes 400 issue listing the richest Americans. In the 1982 inaugural edition, the real estate scion appeared alongside his father with a combined estimated net worth of $200 million—and even then insisted on a higher valuation: “Donald claims $500 million,” we noted. By 2000, the boasts were bolder: “In The Donald’s world, worth more than $5 billion—back on Earth, worth considerably less.” When he was running for office, we explained how his net-worth obsession “opens windows into Trump the entrepreneur, the candidate and the person.” Two Forbes journalists received subpoenas last year from the Manhattan district attorney and had to testify before a grand jury to confirm information in two articles detailing Trump’s shenanigans. The former president’s lies have suddenly assumed greater significance. They now constitute potential evidence in multiple investigations—the civil case by the state attorney general and a criminal one by the Manhattan D.A.—with the potential to cost Trump millions of dollars and, perhaps, another chance at the White House. He has denied any wrongdoing, calling the attorney general’s investigation a “vindictive and self-serving fishing expedition.” Trump’s lawyers, meanwhile, have done their best to keep documents out of the hands of authorities. But Letitia James’ office has nonetheless amassed a trove of materials and filed hundreds of documents in court. The government still doesn’t have the full picture, though, in part because Donald Trump lives like a man trying to avoid a paper trail—no texts, no emails. Forbes, however, has rec­ords those prosecutors do not, including notes from interviews over the years and a 2015 audio recording that places Trump smack in the center of the alleged deceit. . ILLUSTRATION BY LINCOLN AGNEW FOR FORBES Welcome To The Latest Issue Of Checks & Imbalances This is the web edition of the Checks & Imbalances newsletter, sent to inboxes Tuesdays and Fridays. It’s free. To make sure you don’t miss an issue, subscribe. Please support this work, if you can, by subscribing to Forbes. Any tips or suggestions? Email me at zeverson@forbes.com or call/SMS/Signal 202.804.2744. You can follow me on Twitter at @z_everson. Thanks! In Case You Missed It “Justice Thomas’ Wife Donated To An Election Skeptic” “How Social Media Platforms Can Help Stop The Spread Of The Big Lie” “How Congress Could End Tax Breaks For Gifts To Nonprofits With Political Agendas” How Forbes Exposed Trump’s Lies About The Size Of His Penthouse Seven years to the day after then-candidate Trump insisted to deputy editor Chase Peterson-Withorn that his penthouse was 33,000 square feet, he’s being sued for $250 million by the New York attorney general, in part for lying about its size. Here Peterson-Withorn recounts his reporting that revealed Trump’s lie: It’s September 21, 2015 and Donald Trump is wheeling around his Trump Tower penthouse like a realtor at a showing. “35-foot ceilings!” he exclaims in the living room. “We have a fireplace,” he points out in the two-story dining room. “Can’t even get ‘em anymore.” He shows me the window where he claims he watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center. He directs me to a knockout view of Central Park. But more important to Trump than any one feature is the apartment’s size: 33,000 square feet–the entire top three floors of the skyscraper. He’s mentioned it at least 10 times over the past two hours as part of a marathon meeting stretching from his 26th-floor office to the Trump Tower gym and, finally, his gilded palace in the sky, which he says is much bigger and much more valuable than we’re estimating for our Forbes 400 list of the richest Americans. Except none of it was true. I dug through property records, which showed Trump’s apartment was 10,996 square feet and only took up part of the floors. I spent hours sifting through every photo or video shot inside the penthouse, looking for extra rooms. I visited a grungy Manhattan records office, where I was told the apartment’s blueprints should be, but they were missing–perhaps taken by the Secret Service, I thought. I even had our stellar research librarian unearth a copy of Architectural Digest from the 1980s that featured an earlier version of Trump’s place, hoping to find evidence of the missing 22,004 square feet. No dice. Donald Trump at Trump Tower in 2015. JAMEL TOPPIN/THE FORBES COLLECTION In N.Y. Attorney General’s Trump Complaint, Lots Of Fraud But Not A Lot Of Tax Avoidance New York Attorney General Letitia James’ complaint against Trump “is mostly about Trump gaining advantages such as favorable loan terms and insurance provisions by purportedly misrepresenting his net worth,” reports Peter J Reilly: The “acts of fraud and misrepresentation” cited in the complaint came in the form of an annual Statement of Financial Condition compiled by top 30 accounting firm Mazars, which has fired the Trump Organization as a client and stated that the Statements of Financial Condition for Donald Trump for the years ended June 30, 2011 through 2020 are unreliable. Mazars compiled rather than reviewed or audited the statements so responsibility for the purported misrepresentations rests with the people named in the complaint. What the AG claims is that Trump and the others were fibbing to Mazars about is the valuation of property thereby overstating Trump’s net worth. That sort of thing will not create a tax understatement. Where the tax problem, which is what I write about, comes into play is with conservation easements. During his run for the presidency, Donald Trump’s campaign provided a 93-page list of 4,844 charitable contributions totaling $102 million. At the very top of the list was $63,825,000 in various conservation easements. Former U.S. President Donald Trump spoke during the 2021 Conservative Political Action Conference in Orlando, Florida. GETTY IMAGES Watch: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Speaks To The Forbes Philanthropy Summit 2022 Special Master Demands Trump Prove Claims FBI Planted Evidence At Mar-A-Lago “The special master appointed to review White House documents seized at Mar-a-Lago asked former President Donald Trump’s attorneys Thursday to detail any documents the Justice Department may have falsely claimed to have retrieved there, requiring Trump to back up claims he’s repeatedly made on social media that the FBI ‘planted’ evidence in a court of law,” reports Alison Durkee: Dearie asked Trump’s attorneys to submit by September 30 a report of any issues they have with the DOJ’s detailed inventory of materials seized at Mar-A-Lago, including any “specific items” that the DOJ lists were taken from Mar-A-Lago but “that Plaintiff asserts were not seized from the Premises.” That request comes after Trump has repeatedly claimed on social media and in interviews that the federal government planted documents at Mar-A-Lago that weren’t actually being stored there when the Florida estate was searched in August. Trump has never offered any details of what he claims investigators planted during the search or made that allegation in court, and when asked Wednesday on Fox News whether security video from Mar-A-Lago would back up Trump’s claims, Trump told host Sean Hannity, “No, I don’t think so, they’re in a room.” Former President Donald Trump speaks at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, on September 3. COPYRIGHT 2022 THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED Tracking Trump Forbes continues to update “Tracking Trump: A Rundown Of All The Lawsuits And Investigations Involving The Former President.” . Forbes In August, the campaign for a poll worker who falsely alleged ballot fraud and later became the GOP nominee for secretary of state in Michigan, paid $1,500 to one of Trump’s New Jersey clubs, according to state records. The expense was described as being for an “event venue rental.” (She reportedly held a fundraiser at Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, N.J.) Trump endorsed the candidate, Kristina Karamo, in September 2021. Her campaign did not respond to an inquiry. . MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE The campaign for Linda Lee Tarver, a Republican running for the board of education in Michigan, spent $960 at Mar-a-Lago in April. Shortly after incurring the expense, the candidate posted on Instagram that she’d been honored to speak with former President Trump about her campaign. Tarver did not respond to a request for comment. . INSTAGRAM/LINDA LEE TARVER . MICHIGAN DEPARTMENT OF STATE “The impeachment article that got away” (Politico) “Trump to unleash millions in the midterms in possible prelude to 2024” (Politico) “As Trump’s Legal Woes Mount, So Do Financial Pressures on Him” (The New York Times) “LIV Golf may need a mulligan on Capitol Hill” (Politico) “Government’s first witness talks Gulf nations’ ‘soft power’ aspirations in second day of Barrack trial” (Politico) “Former President Trump to host fundraiser with Dan Cox, the Republican nominee for Maryland governor” (The Baltimore Banner) “Trump’s Former Senior Advisor [Jared Kushner] Awarded by Hungarian Foreign Minister” (Hungary Today) “Trump’s PAC, which raises money by promising donors they’re defending the former presi...

‘House Of The Dragon’ Star Olivia Cooke Was Told To Play Her Character Like A Trump Supporter https://digitalalaskanews.com/house-of-the-dragon-star-olivia-cooke-was-told-to-play-her-character-like-a-trump-supporter/ “I could see what they were saying with this complete indoctrination and denial of her own autonomy and rights,” Cooke said of playing Alicent in the “Game of Thrones” prequel series. “House of the Dragon” HBO Olivia Cooke couldn’t stomach even pretending to be a Trump supporter. The “House of the Dragon” actress, who took over the role of Alicent Hightower from Emily Carey due to a series time jump, revealed that co-showrunners Miguel Sapochnik and Ryan Condal advised her to find inspiration from the disgraced former president. The series creators told Cooke to view the character Queen Alicent like a “woman for Trump.” “I just didn’t want to give them any more mental real estate than they already had,” Cooke told Entertainment Weekly about calling back to the Trump family. “So I tried to find a different route into her, but I could see what they were saying with this complete indoctrination and denial of her own autonomy and rights. I just couldn’t be asked to go down that road.” Cooke noted that Alicent has been “bittered and twisted over time” due to her prescribed gender role. “Alicent has been completely bred to breed, and to breed powerful men. That’s her only function in this life,” Cooke said. “She can tell herself that she’s going to sway and nurture and persuade in a very womanly, feminine way, but it’s all fucking bullshit. Unless you’re fighting the men, you’ll never be heard. It’s learning to live within this straightjacket of oppression. How do I move inch by inch every single day to loosen the straps?” She added that Alicent has to “walk this tightrope for her whole entire life,” and that Cooke found a “humanitarian hook” for the character. “You’re seeing her struggle with her womanhood and the power that she does have to play that is completely separate from her husband or her father or even her children. And also just moralistically where she stands when she isn’t listening to her father anymore,” Cooke said. “I think what we see in her evolution is this complete existential crisis.” The “Thoroughbreds” actress continued, “She does some fucking despicable stuff. But then you’ve got to think, she’s trying to protect her son. She’s trying to uphold the patriarchy. She’s trying to uphold the legitimacy of the crown. All these things that she feels are so much bigger than she is. I think that’s why when she can’t control that, she turns to faith more as some sort of tangible element of control, because she doesn’t have any in her life whatsoever.” Cooke concluded, “She’s got all these men around her that just want a piece of her, or want to use her in a specific way, but no one actually has her best interest. It’s just a really lonely existence.” Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here. Read More Here

Hurricane Fiona: Canada Braces For 'historic, Extreme Event' https://digitalalaskanews.com/hurricane-fiona-canada-braces-for-historic-extreme-event/ Media caption, Hurricane Fiona rips through the Caribbean Residents along Canada’s Atlantic Coast have been warned by officials to brace for impact as Hurricane Fiona heads north after pummelling Bermuda. The Canadian Hurricane Centre warned that Fiona – expected to reach Canada’s shores by Saturday morning – could be “a historic, extreme event”. Authorities have warned of potential coastal flooding, power outages and dangerous driving conditions. At least eight people in Fiona’s path through the Caribbean have died. Canadian forecasters said late on Friday that Fiona was packing maximum sustained winds up to 120 mph (195km/h), though this is projected to decrease as it makes landfall. “It’s going to be a bad one,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday. “We encourage everyone to stay safe and to listen to the instructions of local authorities and hang in there for the next 24 hours.” Tropical storm warnings have been issued for the Atlantic provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and New Brunswick, as well as in parts of Quebec. The country’s eastern region could receive up to 10in (25cm) of rain, increasing the risk of flash flooding. In Nova Scotia, shelters have been prepared in Halifax and Cape Breton – where the storm is projected to make landfall – for people to take cover ahead of the storm. “We have been through these types of events before, but my fear is, not to this extent,” said Amanda McDougall, mayor of Cape Breton Regional Municipality. “The impacts are going to be large, real and immediate.” Severe hurricanes in Canada are rare, as storms lose their energy once they hit colder waters in the north and become post-tropical instead. But pressure in the region is predicted to be historically low as Hurricane Fiona hits, making way for a heavier storm. Nova Scotia was last battered by a tropical cyclone in 2003 with Hurricane Juan, a category two storm that killed two people and heavily damaged structures and vegetation. Meteorologist Bob Robichaud warned on Friday afternoon that Fiona will be bigger than Juan, and stronger than 2019’s Hurricane Dorian, which also reached the shores of Nova Scotia. “It is certainly going to be a historic, extreme event for Atlantic Canada.” Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Workers remove fallen trees from the highway in the northeast of the Dominican Republic after Hurricane Fiona on 21 September Heavy rain and winds lashed Bermuda early on Friday, forcing schools and offices to close, before the hurricane – now a category three storm – headed north. Fiona had already wreaked havoc on Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic earlier this week, with many still left without power or running water. A sick four-month-old infant whose mother was unable to get to the hospital due to blocked roads is among up to four casualties in Puerto Rico. A death was also recorded on the French island of Guadeloupe. Florida also faces a hurricane threat after a separate tropical cyclone formed in the Caribbean Sea. Tropical Depression Nine is in its early stages and is moving on a path that could bring it to Florida next week as Hurricane Hermine, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Read More Here

DeSantis Declares State Of Emergency For Dozens Of Florida Counties https://digitalalaskanews.com/desantis-declares-state-of-emergency-for-dozens-of-florida-counties/ DeSantis declares State of Emergency for dozens of Florida counties ANNOUNCER: LOCAL, LIVE, LATEBREAKING, WESH 2 NEWS STARTS NOW. STEWART: FLORIDA IS IN THE KONA. WE ARE TRACKING A FORECAST THAT COULD MAKE LANDFALL NEXT WEEK AS A HURRICANE. MICHELLE: GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS HAS DECLARED A STATE OF EMERGENCY FOR 24 COUNTIES. THOSE IMPACTED IN CENTRAL FLORIDA ARE BREVARD, OSCEOLA, AND POLK COUNTIES. STEWART: TONIGHT, WE HAVE TEAM COVERAGE. WESH 2’S DAVE MCDANIEL AND MEGAN MELLADO ARE TAKING A LOOK AT HOW LOCAL CITIES AND COUNTIES ARE GETTING READY RIGHT NOW. BUT FIRST, THE LATEST ADVISORY IS OUT. CHIEF METEOROLOGIST TONY MAINOLFI AND METEOROLOGIST ALEX ALECCI HAVE BEEN LOOKING AT THE MODELS. TONY, WHAT’S THE LATEST INFO? TONY: I TELL YOU WHAT, AT LEAST INITIALLY YOU LOOK AT THE ADVISORY, THE FORD SPEED HAS INCREASED FROM 14 TO 15. PRESSURE IS HOLDING STEADY. WINDS ARE AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THE WINDSHEAR KEEPING THINGS IN CHECK THUS FAR TODAY FROM THE NORTHEAST SIDE. WHEN YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THE DEPTH OF THE WARMER WATERS IN THE CARIBBEAN, ESPECIALLY WEST OF KINGSTON, JAMAICA AND THE GRAND CAYMAN ISLANDS, THERE IS A LOT OF FUEL FOR A TROPICAL SYSTEM TO FEAST OFF OF. AND YOU CAN SEE THE NEW TRACK IS MORE SOUTH AND WEST OF KINGSTON. BUT THEN IT MAKES A TURN INTO SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, VERY SIMILAR TO WHAT CHARLIE DID, ALTHOUGH CHARLIE WAS INCREDIBLY FAST. ZOOMING IN. THERE IS YOUR ETA BASED ON THE LATEST INFORMATION. 2:00 P.M., 150 MILE PER HOUR’S — 150 MILE PER HOUR WINDS JUST SOUTH OF TAMPA BAY. LOOK AT THIS, LASTLY WITHIN THE MODELS OF THE CONE, THERE ARE ONE OR TWO OUTLIERS ON THE WESTERN SIDE. WE HAVE SEEN A TRACK TOWARDS THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE CONE AS OPPOSED TO EARLIER IN THE MORNING WHEN THE TRENDS WERE MOREOVER SOUTH FLORIDA. IF YOU’RE JUST GETTING HOME, THAT IS THE MINOR ADJUSTMENT. EITHER WAY, LATE TUESDAY AND INTO WEDNESDAY, IF THINGS DO NOT CHANGE, THAT IS WHEN WE GET INTO TROUBLE BECAUSE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE INTENSITY FORECAST, A MAJORITY OF THEM RIGHT AROUND CATEGORY 3. WITH MORE HERE IS ALEX. ALEX: WE ARE TRACKING IT CLOSELY. IF THE MODELS VERIFY, ESPECIALLY ON THE NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER FORECAST, THIS IS WHEN WE COULD SEE THE EARLIEST ARRIVAL OF THE TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS. FOR CENTRAL FLORIDA, ALMOST ALL OF US IN THE YELLOW. WE MIGHT TO SEE — WE MIGHT SEE THOSE WINDS ON TUESDAY EVENING. YOU WANT TO GET YOUR PREP STARTED NOW. WHILE CONFIDENCE IS LOW, WE HAVE TO KEEP CHECKING THAT TODAY, TOMORROW NAILING DOWN THE FORECAST AS THE SYSTEM CONTINUES TO DEVELOP INTO A TROPICAL STORM. AND THEN AS WE GET INTO SUNDAY, THAT IS WHEN YOU NEED YOUR HURRICANE KIT STOCKED UP. YOU WANT TO GET IT DONE EARLY. THE STORES WILL BE FULL AS WE GET INTO THE WEEKEND. BY MONDAY CAN HAVE A OUTDOOR PREP STONE. BY TUESDAY, THE STORM ARRIVES. BY WEDNESDAY, IT WILL BEGIN TO PUSH THROUGH. ANOTHER LOOK AT THE MODEL COMPARISONS IN A FEW MINUTES. STEWART: THE SOAKING RAINS WE’VE HAD RECENTLY HAVE DONE MORE THAN MADE OUR YARDS SOGGY. RIVERS AND LAKE LEVELS ARE UP. MICHELLE: SO WITH MORE RAIN LIKELY COMING IN THE FORM OF A TROPICAL SYSTEM, COUNTIES ARE WORKING TO MAKE SURE THEY CAN HANDLE IT. WESH 2’S DAVE MCDANIEL IS LIVE IN ORANGE COUNTY WITH THE WORK GOING ON. DAVE? DAVE: WE ARE AT LAKE FAIRVIEW. IT LOOKS EXTREMELY FULL RIGHT? , IT’S MORE THAN FULL. SEE THIS SPILLWAY? EXCESS WATER IS FLOWING THROUGH A CULVERT AND INTO A CANAL TO LOWER THE LAKE. THAT IS TO LOWER THE LEVEL A LITTLE BIT. ALL ACROSS ORANGE COUNTY THEY ARE AGGRESSIVELY MOVING WATER, PREPARING FOR THE RAIN. WAIT FOR IT, WAIT. WHAT YOU ARE SEEING IS FLOOD PREVENTION. JEFF CHARLES: ALL OF OUR PUMP STATIONS ARE AUTOMATED, SO THEY’LL COME ON AT A CERTAIN ELEVATION WITHOUT ANYBODY EVEN BEING THERE. WE’RE JUST GOING AROUND MAKING SURE THEY’RE ALL OPERATIONAL TODAY. DAVE: MAKING SURE THEY’RE NOT ONLY OPERATIONAL, BUT MANUALLY PUMPING WATER TO LOWER LEVELS IN RETENTION AREAS AND PUMP STATIONS. JEFF CHARLES: WE’VE BEEN ACTUALLY PROACTIVELY PUMPING EVERY DAY ALMOST WHEN WE GET THESE AFTERNOON RAIN EVENTS, JUST TO KEEP UP AND KEEP THESE AREAS LOW. DAVE: ORANGE COUNTY’S STORMWATER SYSTEM, SUBSTANTIAL. JEFF CHARLES: THE COUNTY HAS A TOTAL OF ALMOST 2,000 RETENTION PONDS, 95 MILES OF CANALS, WE’VE GOT 18 PUMP STATIONS, WE’VE GOT 75 DRAIN WELLS AND TWO DOZEN MOBILE PUMPS THAT ARE READY TO GO AT ANY TIME AS WELL. DAVE: YOU JUST HAVE TOM LOOK AROUND CENTRAL FLORIDA TO SEE THAT A LOT OF STORM WATER STORAGE IS FILLED. THE ST. JOHNS RIVER IS HIGH . THE APPROACHES TO TWO OF THREE DOCKS AT THE WAYSIDE PARK BOAT RAMP, ALREADY SUBMERGED. SEMINOLE COUNTY OPENED A SELF SERVE SANDBAGGING OPERATION FRIDAY MORNING BECAUSE THE WATER LEVELS ARE A CONCERN. STEVEN LERNER: IT COULD SHUT DOWN SOME MAJOR ROADS, THOROUGHFARES, TRAP PEOPLE IN IN THEIR HOMES — PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES. WE REALLY DON’T WANT THAT HAPPENING. DAVE: THERE ARE SEVERAL DAYS TO PREPARE. BACK IN ORANGE COUNTY, IT’S DOING JUST THAT. GOING AROUND CHECKING ALL OF OUR HOT SPOTS, CLEARING ANY BLOCKAGES THAT MY BE IN THE CANALS, RUNNING PUMP STATIONS, DROPPING AREAS THAT SEEM TO BE HIGH AND JUST MONITORING LAKE LEVELS TO SEE WHAT WE ALREADY HAVE. DAVE: AGAIN PUMP STATIONS IN , ORANGE COUNTY ALSO HAVE EMERGENCY GENERATORS. THEY WANT TO MAKE SURE THAT THE PUMPS KEEP WORKING WHEN THEY ARE DESPERATELY NEEDED. COMING UP AT 6:00 P.M., WHY IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO PREPARE FOR THIS UPCOMING STORM. DAVE MCDANIEL, WESH 2 NEWS. STEWART: IN OSCEOLA COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS , ARE MONITORING THE WEATHER WHILE LOCALS ARE STARTING TO STOCK UP AND PREPARE. MICHELLE: WESH 2’S OSCEOLA COUNTY BUREAU REPORTER, MEGAN MELLADO, SPOKE TO RESIDENTS GETTING READY. MEGAN: IN ST. CLOUD, YOU CAN SEE BUSY HARDWARE STORES. THE CONSENSUS IS BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY. WE HAVE A LOT OF WATER, FOOD. WE GOT A LOT OF GASOLINE. WE GOT A GENERATOR IN CASE THE POWER GOES OUT. REPORTER: BRADLEY AND HIS FAMILY STOCKING UP AND BUYING ALL THE MATERIALS TO BOARD UP. OUR AREA GETS VERY WINDY. REPORTER: OTHERS SAY THAT THEY ARE PREPARING AS WELL. WE ARE WATCHING THINGS. REPORTER: EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SAYS THEY ARE MONITORING THE WEATHER AND ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO HAVE THEIR EMERGENCY KITS READY AND PHONES SIGNED UP TO RECEIVE NOTIFICATIONS FROM ALERT OSCEOLA. IS AS SIMPLE AS SENDING A TEXT MESSAGE TO 888-777, ALERT OSCEOLA. REPORTER: THERE IS ALSO A MAP ONLINE THAT SHOWS FLOOD PRONE AREAS AND EVACUATION ROUTES. YOU CAN SEE REAL TIME INFORMATION FROM THE STREAM GAGES IN THE COUNTY, SO YOU CAN SEE IF AREAS NEAR YOU ARE CLOSE TO THAT STAGE OF BEING FLOODED.” REPORTER: AS FAR AS SHELTERS AND SANDBAG LOCATIONS WE’RE TOLD , THOSE WON’T BE OPEN UNTIL CLOSER TO IMPACT. MEGAN MELLADO, WESH 2 NEWS. MICHELLE: YOU CAN START PREPARING FOR THE STORM THIS WEEKEND BY FILLING SANDBAGS. A NUMBER OF FILLING SITES ARE OPENING THIS WEEKEND, INCLUDING ONE AT FESTIVAL PARK ON HOWLAND BOULEVARD IN DELTONA. IT IS OPEN FROM 8:00 A.M. UNTIL 3:00 P.M. ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. YOU NEED TO BRING YOUR OWN SHOVELS AND PROOF OF RESIDENCY. THERE’S A LIMIT OF 10 BAGS PER HOUSEHOLD. REMEMBER WESH 2 IS YOUR HOME FOR , ALL INFORMATION ON TROPICAL SYSTEMS. NOW IS THE TIME TO BRUSH UP ON GET LOCAL BREAKING NEWS ALERTS The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox. Privacy Notice DeSantis declares State of Emergency for dozens of Florida counties Related Video Above: WESH 2 News and WESH 2 First Warning Weather teams track Tropical Depression 9 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a State of Emergency in 24 Florida counties as the state braces for the potential impacts of Tropical Depression 9, according to a news release sent Friday afternoon.DeSantis has also asked for a federal pre-landfall Emergency Declaration ahead of the storm. Related: NHC forecasts Tropical Depression 9 will hit Florida as Category 3 hurricaneSee the latest maps, models and paths here The governor’s office said the declaration will make resources and support available to Floridians, as well as allocate funding for emergency protective measures. Members of the Florida National Guard will be activated and on standby under this emergency order. DOWNLOAD THE WESH 2 NEWS HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE SURVIVING THE SEASON: Everything you need to know this hurricane season in Florida"The severity and track of Tropical Depression 9 will continue to evolve. Because of this and the potential for dangerous storm surge, heavy rainfall, strong winds, flash flooding, and the potential for isolated tornadic activity," the governor's office wrote. "Governor DeSantis issued the State of Emergency for the following 24 counties."The counties under a State of Emergency are as follows: BrevardBrowardCharlotteCollierDeSotoGladesHardeeHendryHighlandsHillsboroughIndian RiverLeeManateeMartinMiami-DadeMonroeOkeechobeeOsceolaPalm BeachPascoPinellasPolkSarasotaSt. Lucie , Fla. — Related Video Above: WESH 2 News and WESH 2 First Warning Weather teams track Tropical Depression 9 Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has declared a State of Emergency in 24 Florida counties as the state braces for the potential impacts of Tropical Depression 9, according to a news release sent Friday afternoon. DeSantis has also asked for a federal pre-landfall Emergency Declaration ahead of the storm. Related: NHC forecasts Tropical Depression 9 will hit Florida as Category 3 hurricane See the latest maps, models and paths here The governor’s office said the declaration will make resources and support available to Floridians, as well as allocate funding for emergency protective measures. Members of the Florida National Guard will be activated and on standby under this emergency order. DOWNLOAD THE WESH 2 NEWS HURRICANE SURVIVAL GUIDE SURVIVING THE SEASON: Everything you need to know this hurricane season in Florida “The severity and track of Tropical Depression 9 will continue to evolve. Because o...

Crowson Law Group Provides Top Car Accident And Injury Lawyers – Digital Journal https://digitalalaskanews.com/crowson-law-group-provides-top-car-accident-and-injury-lawyers-digital-journal/ Crowson Law Group, a client-focused accident, and personal injury law firm provides competent car accident and injury lawyers in Alaska, US. The aftermath of an accident can be so devastating that it can leave victims completely confused about what next to do with their lives. With passionate and determined law firms such as Crowson Law Group, accident victims can be sure to resolve all their physical and financial worries. Crowson Law Group is a highly dedicated accident and personal injury law firm situated in Alaska. The firm has offices in Wasilla and Anchorage, where they provide clients with free consultation and effective legal counsel. They are a firm focused on providing its clients with fair settlements for their injuries and losses. Thus, their practice areas include firearm accidents, life insurance denial, toxic exposure, automobile accidents, motorcycle accidents, defective products, wrongful death, dog bites, pedestrian accidents, and boating accidents. In response to a query about their services, the spokesperson of Crowson Law Group commented, “Our firm was established in 2011 to provide residents in Alaska with strong advocacy for their injury and accident cases. We are passionate about what we do because we believe every person deserves to be treated fairly, especially in situations involving an accident. Many accident victims often are left to worry about how to take care of themselves & their families, settle hospital bills, and other matters. We have chosen to be the voice of people faced with such problems, and we must ensure that they receive full and fair compensation.” Crowson Law Group’s attorneys are committed to providing their clients with legal representation and services that are peerless. They work tirelessly to ensure that every one of their clients receives positive results. With their client-first approach, they can communicate effectively with their clients and build highly efficient strategies. Through their methods, they obtain compensation for future medical costs, including rehabilitation, pain and suffering from the emotional problems caused by the accident, past medical costs and expenses related to health problems caused by the accident, loss of future income if they are unable to work, and lost wages. Those interested in knowing the statute of limitations personal injury in Alaska US can contact Crowson Law Group. The spokesperson added, “We provide our clients with individualized services. We recognize the challenges and difficulties that can come with personal injury claims, and this is why we make our first goal to ensure our clients focus on getting back to full form. You can trust our methods and procedures, as we have won millions of dollars as compensation for thousands of our clients in Alaska. We have in our employ talented, determined, and compassionate lawyers, and they do not demand payment until they have successfully recovered for our proper and satisfactory settlements for clients.” At Crowson Law Group, their lawyers provide compensation for the traumatic experience of accident victims. They also recover compensation for their medical treatment. Those who would like to hire an auto injury accident lawyer can reach out to the firm. About Crowson Law Group: Crowson Law Group is a leading personal injury and accident law firm where people can find trusted lawyers for car accident and injury case. Contact Information: Crowson Law Group 637 A Street, Anchorage, AK 99501 Phone: (907) 677 9393 850 S. Roberts Street, Ste. 500, Wasilla, AK 99654 Phone: (907) 519 0193 Email: [email protected] Website: https://www.crowsonlaw.com/ Media Contact Company Name: Crowson Law Group Contact Person: James Crowson Email: Send Email Phone: 907-677-9393 Address:637 A St. City: Anchorage State: AK 99501 Country: United States Website: https://www.crowsonlaw.com Read More Here

Setbacks For Trump, More Tough Economic News And The Queen's Funeral | Hot Off The Wire Podcast – KXLY https://digitalalaskanews.com/setbacks-for-trump-more-tough-economic-news-and-the-queens-funeral-hot-off-the-wire-podcast-kxly/ September 23, 2022 4:15 PM Lee Digital Content Center, The Associated Press Posted: September 23, 2022 4:15 PM Updated: September 23, 2022 4:10 PM It was a week of setbacks for former President Donald Trump. Eric Tucker, in his article “Trump’s legal woes mount without protection of presidency” for The Associated Press, wrote: Stark repudiation by federal judges he appointed. Far-reaching fraud allegations by New York’s attorney general. It’s been a week of widening legal troubles for Donald Trump, laying bare the challenges piling up as the former president operates without the protections afforded by the White House. The bravado that served him well in the political arena is less handy in a legal realm dominated by verifiable evidence, where judges this week have looked askance at his claims and where a fraud investigation that took root when Trump was still president burst into public view in an allegation-filled 222-page state lawsuit. In politics, “you can say what you want and if people like it, it works. In a legal realm, it’s different,” said Chris Edelson, a presidential powers scholar and American University government professor. “It’s an arena where there are tangible consequences for missteps, misdeeds, false statements in a way that doesn’t apply in politics.” You can read the full article below: There was also a report that Virginia Thomas has agreed to an interview with the House panel investigating the January 6, 2021, insurrection. Plus, the House passed a bill that would overhaul an election certification law. In other national news, President Joe Biden pledged help for Puerto Rico after the island was slammed by Hurricane Fiona. He also met with the families of Americans being detained in Russia. There were responses to Republican governors sending migrants to states led by Democrats. The subject of the first season of the “Serial” podcast had his conviction overturned. Sarah Sanders, the Republican candidate for governor of Arkansas, was released from a hospital after undergoing successful surgery to treat cancer. The Federal Reserve board continued its bid to hold down inflation by raising interest rates. Mortgage rates continued to rise. The financial stress families are experiencing led Walmart and Target to both reveal plans to start holiday shopping deals sooner to ease the sting of inflation. The funeral for Queen Elizabeth II was held this week. The United Kingdom and the rest of the world said farewell. In a week where the leaders of the world met for the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly, the Russian invasion of Ukraine was front and center. And in other news, an American contractor was released in a prisoner exchange, there were two large earthquakes in Mexico, and protests in Iran. And finally, in science and health news, the latest on the updated COVID booster shot, NASA prepares for a test that could save the planet and a recommendation for adults to be screened for anxiety. — Compiled and narrated by Terry Lipshetz from Associated Press reports Read More Here

Voting Equipment To Be Replaced After 'unauthorized Access' – WABE https://digitalalaskanews.com/voting-equipment-to-be-replaced-after-unauthorized-access-wabe/ Georgia’s secretary of state on Friday announced plans to replace election equipment in one county following “unauthorized access” to the equipment that happened two months after the 2020 election. A computer forensics team hired by allies of then-President Donald Trump traveled to Coffee County, about 200 miles (320 kilometers) southeast of Atlanta, on Jan. 7, 2021. A company representative has said they made complete copies of the election management system server and other election system components. Later that month, two men who have been involved in efforts to discredit the 2020 election results also spent hours inside the elections office with access to the equipment. Trump and his supporters pushed false claims about certain voting machines after he lost his bid for reelection. Authorities have said there was no evidence of widespread problems with voting equipment. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said an investigation into the unauthorized access to the equipment by former Coffee County election officials continues. “Anyone who broke the law should be punished to its full extent,” Raffensperger said in a news release. “But the current election officials in Coffee County have to move forward with the 2022 election, and they should be able to do so without this distraction.” Footage from security cameras shows “former election officials in Coffee County permitting access by unauthorized individuals to equipment that under Georgia law should have been secured,” the release said. The footage was produced in response to subpoenas issued by plaintiffs in a long-running lawsuit against state election officials that claims the state’s touchscreen voting machines aren’t secure. The county’s election management server and central scanner workstation were previously replaced in June 2021, officials have said. The county will receive 100 new touchscreen voting machines, 100 printers, 10 precinct scanners, 21 tablets used to check in voters and new flash cards and thumb drives to be installed and tested before early voting begins next month. Marilyn Marks, executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, a plaintiff in the voting machine lawsuit, said the election management server and central scanner workstation should also be replaced. She said that’s because they were used with the other potentially contaminated equipment in elections since their replacement last year. Separately, election officials in the state’s most populous county, in and around Atlanta, said Friday that they had fired a worker after learning that “personally identifiable information was shared with an individual outside the organization,” news outlets reported. “The individual responsible for the incident no longer works with Fulton County,” the county said in a news release. “Fulton County is committed to the safety and security of all citizens and employees. Each individual affected by this incident will be notified and will receive credit monitoring services.” Read More Here

Breyer: Supreme Court Leaker Still Appears To Be A Mystery https://digitalalaskanews.com/breyer-supreme-court-leaker-still-appears-to-be-a-mystery/ Then-Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speaks during an event at the Library of Congress for the 2022 Supreme Court Fellows Program hosted by the Law Library of Congress, Feb. 17, 2022, in Washington. The Supreme Court doesn’t appear to have found the person who leaked a draft of the court’s major abortion decision earlier this year. In a television interview set to air on Sept. 25, 2022, Breyer says that to his knowledge the person’s identity has not been determined. Breyer was speaking in an interview with CNN anchor Chris Wallace. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, Pool, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — It’s a Washington mystery that no one seems able to unravel. The Supreme Court apparently still hasn’t found the person who leaked a draft of the court’s major abortion decision earlier this year. In a television interview airing this weekend, retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer, who left the court in June when the justices began their summer break, says he hasn’t heard that the person’s identity has been determined. Breyer, 84, was speaking with CNN anchor Chris Wallace. According to a transcript provided by the network, Wallace asked about the leak, which happened in May: “Within 24 hours the chief justice ordered an investigation of the leaker. Have they found him or her?” “Not to my knowledge, but … I’m not privy to it,” Breyer responds. Wallace presses: “So in those months since, the chief justice never said, ‘Hey, we got our man or woman?’” “To my knowledge, no,” again responded Breyer, who despite being retired maintains an office at the Supreme Court. The interview is to air Sunday on “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” Other justices have also suggested recently that the identity of the leaker remains unknown to the court. At a conference in Colorado this month Justice Neil Gorsuch said it is “terribly important” to identify the leaker and he is expecting a report on the progress of the investigation, “I hope soon.” Justice Elena Kagan also said recently she does not know if the investigation Roberts ordered has determined the source of the leak. Breyer, a liberal appointed to the court by President Bill Clinton, also spoke on a range of other topics with Wallace. He was a about Virginia Thomas, a conservative activist and the wife of Justice Clarence Thomas, and her involvement in helping former President Donald Trump try to overturn his election defeat. Thomas has faced criticism for texting with White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and contacting lawmakers in Arizona and Wisconsin in the weeks after the election. She recently agreed to participate in a voluntary interview with the House panel investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection. “I strongly believe that women who are wise, including wives of Supreme Court justices, have to make the decisions about how to lead their lives, careers, what kind of career etc., for themselves. So on this sort of issue, I understand where you’re going, but I’m not going there. … I’m not going to criticize Ginni Thomas, whom I like. I’m not going to criticize Clarence whom I like. And there we are,” Breyer said. Breyer, who watched his liberal colleague Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg opt not to retire when President Barack Obama could have named a like-minded replacement, said he would miss being on the court but that it was time to leave. Ginsburg died near the end of former President Donald Trump’s term, and he named the conservative Justice Amy Coney Barret to replace her. Barrett was confirmed just days before the presidential election that ousted Trump from office. “I’ve done this for a long time. Other people should have a chance. The world does change. And we don’t know, frankly, what would happen, if I just stayed there and stayed there. How long would I have to stay there? … I owe loyalty to the court, which means don’t muck things up. Do things in a regular order,” Breyer said. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission. Read More Here

Kevin McCarthy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Others Visit Monongahela To Unveil House GOP's Midterm Agenda https://digitalalaskanews.com/kevin-mccarthy-marjorie-taylor-greene-others-visit-monongahela-to-unveil-house-gops-midterm-agenda/ MONONGAHELA — House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy on Friday confronted President Joe Biden and the Democratic majority in Congress with a conservative midterm election agenda filled with Trump-like promises, working not only to win over voters but to hold together the uneasy coalition of his own party that has struggled to govern. McCarthy, who is poised to seize the speaker’s gavel if Republicans take control of the House in the fall, never once mentioned the former president. Instead, the GOP leader traveled to battleground Pennsylvania hoping to replicate the strategy that former Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia used to spark voter enthusiasm and gain a majority in 1994. “What the ‘Commitment’ is, it’s a plan for a new direction,” McCarthy said at a manufacturing facility in a historic building along the Monongahela River. The House GOP’s “Commitment to America” gives a nod to the earlier era but updates it in the age of former President Donald Trump, with economic, border security and social policies to rouse the former president’s deep well of supporters in sometimes-overlooked regions like this rusty landscape and rolling farmland outside Pittsburgh. Slim enough to fit on a “pocket card,” which McCarthy pulled from his suitcoat, the agenda uses broad strokes — “A Future That’s Built on Freedom” — supplemented by more detailed proposals on energy, security and an end to liberal social policies, particularly in schooling. AP Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., speaks Friday at DMI Companies in Monongahela. President Joe Biden hit back quickly in a speech to the National Education Association. He dismissed McCarthy’s agenda as “a thin series of policy goals with little or no detail.” But he provided his own details in urging support for Democrats in the midterm elections. “If Republicans win control of the Congress abortion will be banned,” Biden said. He also criticized other GOP lawmakers for proposals to require reauthorization votes for Social Security and Medicare and opposition to gun control laws and efforts to lower prescription drug costs. “In 46 days, Americans are going to face a choice,” he said. “We have a real alternative here.” In Pennsylvania, McCarthy said that if Republicans win the House, the first bill next year will be to repeal funding approved by Democrats to bolster the Internal Revenue Service with more employees. On Friday, he stood with a wide cross-section of lawmakers — from far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., to less extreme GOP members of Congress — offering a portrait of unity despite the wide range of views that make up the House minority — and the Republican Party nationally. The GOP in the Trump-era has shifted from its focus on small government, low taxes and individual freedoms to a more populist, nationalist and, at times, far-right party, essentially still led by the former president, who remains popular despite the deepening state and federal investigations against him. Propelled by Trump’s “Make America Great Again” voters, the Republicans need to pick up just a few seats to win back control of the narrowly split House and replace Speaker Nancy Pelosi. But even so, McCarthy’s ability to lead the House is far from guaranteed. While Republicans and Trump did pass tax cuts into law, the GOP’s last big campaign promise, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, also known as “Obamacare,” collapsed in failure. Republican speakers, including Gingrich, John Boehner and Paul Ryan, have been forced from office or have chosen early retirement, often ground down by party infighting. AP Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., speaks Friday as House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., listens at DMI Companies in Monongahela. “House Republicans are really good at running people out of town,” said Matt Schlapp, chair of the Conservative Political Action Coalition. McCarthy, first elected to office in 2006, is among the remaining survivors of those House Republican battles, a leader who, somewhat like, Trump has shown more ability to communicate than to legislate. A key architect of the Republican tea party takeover in 2010, the California Republican personally recruited the newcomers to Congress — many who had never served in public office and are now long gone. McCarthy was an early Trump endorser and has remained close to the former president, relying on Trump’s high-profile endorsements to propel GOP candidates for Congress. He abandoned an earlier bid to become speaker when support from House colleagues drifted. He spent more than a year pulling together the House GOP’s often warring factions — from the far-right MAGA to what’s left of the more centrist ranks — to produce a mostly agreed-upon agenda. In traveling to swing state Pennsylvania, where Biden holds emotional ties from his early childhood, McCarthy sought to counter the Democratic president’s fiery Labor Day weekend speech, in which he warned of rising GOP extremism after the Jan 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. McCarthy he and fellow lawmakers chose Washington County not Washington, D.C. “Because it’s about you, it’s not about us.” Along with as many as five House seats Republicans believe they can pick up in Pennsylvania in November, the state has one of the most watched Senate races, between Democrat John Fetterman and Trump-backed Dr. Mehmet Oz. At the top of the ticket is the governor’s matchup between the GOP’s Doug Mastriano, who was seen outside the Capitol on Jan. 6, and Democrat Josh Shapiro. AP House Minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks Friday at DMI Companies in Monongahela. “If you are a hard-line populist and you really want anger, Kevin’s a little frustrating because he’s not going to be angry enough for you,” Gingrich said. “On the other hand, if what you want is to have your values implemented and passed in the legislation, he is a really good leader and organizer.” Gingrich has been working with McCarthy and his team to craft the style and substance of the proposal. Conservative Republicans complain privately that McCarthy isn’t leaning hard enough into their priorities, as he tries to appeal to a broader swath of voters and hold the party together. Many are eager to launch investigations into the Biden administration and the president’s family, with some calling for impeachment. Legislatively, some House Republicans want to fulfill the party’s commitment to banning abortion, supporting Sen. Lindsey Graham’s bill prohibiting the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy. Former McCarthy rival Rep. Jim Jordan, R-Ohio who joined the event Friday, vowed to launch investigations including into the covid-19 crisis if Republicans win the House. Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas, a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, has advocated for withholding federal funds as leverage for policy priorities, a tactic that engineered past government shutdowns. “Putting out like, you know, principles about, ‘Well, we’ll secure the border.’ I mean, OK, but what are we gonna do about it?” Roy said. It’s notable that McCarthy alone has proposed a plan if Republicans win control of the House chamber. In the Senate, Republican leader Mitch McConnell has declined to put forward an agenda, preferring to simply run against Biden and Democrats in the midterm election. “Kevin’s done a very good job of being in position to become the speaker. And then the question is, what do you do with that? Schlapp said. “This helps as a roadmap.” Read More Here