No More blank Check: Ukraine Aid Under Threat In Republican-Controlled House
No More “blank Check”: Ukraine Aid Under Threat In Republican-Controlled House https://digitalarizonanews.com/no-more-blank-check-ukraine-aid-under-threat-in-republican-controlled-house/
Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) publicly confirmed Tuesday what many in Washington and Europe privately fear: a Republican-controlled House could shut off the spigot funding Ukraine’s efforts to defend itself against Russia’s invasion.
Why it matters: Unlike aggressive oversight hearings or political messaging bills, a Republican majority’s approach to Ukraine would reverberate far beyond the Beltway. A reduction or halt in U.S. military aid would create a geopolitical earthquake with the potential to alter the trajectory of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.
What’s happening: Even House Republicans who have been outspoken about supporting Ukraine — including McCarthy, who this week compared Putin to Hitler — say there has been a noticeable shift away from what was once a broad bipartisan consensus.
“I think people are gonna be sitting in a recession and they’re not going to write a blank check to Ukraine. They just won’t do it,” McCarthy said in an interview with Punchbowl News.
“I’ve noticed it. You see it a little bit on social media, you see it with some of our members,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), though he added he doesn’t believe the majority of the conference shares those views.
Rep. Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.) said the shift is likely being driven by feedback from constituents, telling Axios: “When people are seeing a 13% increase in grocery prices; energy, utility bills doubling … if you’re a border community and you’re being overrun by migrants and fentanyl, Ukraine is the furthest thing from your mind.”
State of play: In May, 57 House Republicans voted “no” on a $40 billion aid package to Ukraine. That number is poised to rise considerably, especially if more skeptical Republican candidates are swept into Congress in a GOP wave.
“After the $40 billion, there were a lot of Republicans saying, ‘This is the last time I’m going to support Ukraine funding,'” said one senior House Republican.
“Another billion to Ukraine and 87,000 new IRS agents,” tweeted Texas candidate Wesley Hunt in August. “At this rate we should at least make them the 51st state so they can start paying some federal income tax.”
The intrigue: Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), a steadfast Ukraine supporter who is also a vocal critic of his party’s conservative flank, said Republican leadership has been “tiptoeing away” from supporting Ukraine for political reasons.
“Kevin McCarthy, let’s be clear … his whole existence right now is to please enough people to win the speakership,” Kinzinger told Axios.
A GOP congressional aide echoed that sentiment and said concern about the House is “overstated,” suggesting McCarthy is “counting votes for Speaker and doesn’t want to rock the boat ahead of time.”
Behind the scenes: Even if McCarthy is just posturing, conservative factions in Congress are actively working to oppose future aid spending — buoyed by a powerful complex of outside groups that includes the Heritage Foundation, the Koch network, FreedomWorks and the Center for Renewing America.
Dan Caldwell, a senior adviser to Concerned Veterans for America and vice president for foreign policy at Stand Together, both part of the Koch network, told Axios his groups have been sending polling to lawmakers and “activated our grassroots army to lobby members to support a better Ukraine policy.”
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind.), chair of the 158-member Republican Study Committee, told Axios: “RSC believes you can’t lead abroad when you’re so weak at home. Our GOP agenda in the new Majority needs to secure our own border and get America back on our feet by addressing energy cost and inflation.”
What to watch: The party is united on at least one position when it comes to Ukraine: there should be a thorough accounting of every dollar sent.
“What Republicans want to see is more accountability and oversight, and also to make sure it’s going for the right purpose,” said Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the Foreign Affairs Committee and another vocal Ukraine supporter.
McCaul added that his colleagues have grumbled about the U.S. footing the bill to a greater degree than other large NATO allies, like Germany and France.
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Triple Lock: Liz Truss Won't Commit To Raising Pensions With Inflation
Triple Lock: Liz Truss Won't Commit To Raising Pensions With Inflation https://digitalarizonanews.com/triple-lock-liz-truss-wont-commit-to-raising-pensions-with-inflation/
Image source, Getty Images
Liz Truss is no longer promising to increase state pensions in line with surging inflation, as she asks ministers to look for spending cuts.
Two weeks ago the PM said she was “committed” to the triple lock, so payments rise by whatever is higher: prices, average earnings or 2.5%.
But her spokesman has now said she was “not making any commitments” on government spending.
It comes after ditching flagship tax cuts announced in the mini-budget.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s move to tear up most of last month’s mini-budget announcements has reassured investors, but left Ms Truss battling to salvage her authority.
A decision on what to do with pensions from next April has not yet been made, and would normally be expected this autumn.
However, the PM’s spokesman said she was still committed to her pledge of raising defence spending to 3% of national income by 2030.
The triple lock has been in place ever since it was introduced under the Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition, apart from a one-year suspension due to Covid.
The government moved to suspend the commitment in 2021 after an unusually large rise in the average earnings figure during the pandemic.
Both the Conservatives and Labour promised to maintain the triple lock in their 2019 general election manifestos.
The PM’s spokesman said she was aware of “how many vulnerable pensioners there are,” and protecting the vulnerable was a “priority”.
The spokesman said moving away from the previous triple lock commitment was a “mutual decision” by the PM and the chancellor, and it was their “agreed position” to prioritise economic stability.
Inflation in the year to September was at 10.1%, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, which were released on Wednesday. The figure for average earnings is 5.4%.
The Resolution Foundation think tank has estimated raising pensions by earnings instead of inflation would save the government £6bn next year.
Ms Truss is also facing pressure from some of her MPs to raise working-age benefits in line with inflation, with the issue dominating the recent Tory party conference in Birmingham.
Image source, Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament
Image caption,
Liz Truss sat in the Commons on Monday as Mr Hunt outlined the tax U-turns to MPs
Former minister Steve Double and fellow Tory backbencher Maria Caulfield have said they would not support an end to the triple-lock for pensions.
He replied to a tweet from Ms Caulfield, in which she said she would not back such a move in the Commons, with the caption: “Nor me.”
Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Ashworth said the government’s “disastrous budget” meant it was “considering further cuts to pensioners’ incomes”.
“Pensioners deserve so much better than Liz Truss and her disastrous mistakes that are leaving older people paying the price,” he added.
Liberal Democrat spokesperson for work and pensions Wendy Chamberlain said it would be a “kick in the teeth for millions of people” if the triple lock is not maintained.
Former pensions minister and Conservative peer Baroness Ros Altmann told BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme that the immediate help given to pensioners “should not be up for discussion”, adding that it would be “unforgivable” if the government rowed back on its promise to protect the triple lock.
“We have to be careful that we don’t just try and short-change the elderly two years in a row in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” she said.
“These frail, elderly people who have paid national insurance for decades on the understanding that they would at least get some basic state pension in their retirement must not be abandoned just because we have a short-term problem.”
The government’s latest comments on pensions come after ministers were told to draw up spending cuts ahead of a further economic statement form Mr Hunt at the end of this month.
On Monday, Mr Hunt told MPs “decisions of eye-watering difficulty” on tax and spending would have to be taken, as the government tries to restore economic stability.
The chancellor – appointed after Ms Truss made her previous commitment on pensions – told them he was “not making any commitments on any individual policy areas”.
No 10 said the chancellor had asked them to “focus” on areas that would not affect the service the public receives.
However, all departments, including the Ministry of Defence, have been asked to find savings for the taxpayer.
Allies of Defence Secretary Ben Wallace say he considers maintaining the 2030 defence spending target a red line. A source told the BBC Mr Wallace would “hold the PM to the pledges made”.
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House Panel: Trump https://digitalarizonanews.com/house-panel-trump-2/
TRUMP… has been repeatedly criticised by Democrats and government watchdogs for what they say were brazen attempts make money from taxpayer funds during his presidency (Photo: AP)
NEW YORK, United States (AP) — Donald Trump’s private company arranged for the Secret Service to pay for rooms at his properties in excess of government-approved rates at least 40 times, including two charges for more than $1,100 per room, per night, according to documents released Monday by a congressional committee.
The Secret Service was charged room rates of more than $800 per night at least 11 times when agents stayed at Mar-a-Lago in Florida, the Trump hotel in Washington, DC, and other properties, the Democratic-led House Oversight Committee said. It noted that Trump made over 500 trips to his properties while president.
The “exorbitant” rates point to a possible “taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses”, Committee Chair Carolyn Maloney of New York wrote in a letter Monday to the Secret Service requesting more information.
The Secret Service said it had received the letter and was reviewing it.
The Trump Organization denied that the Secret Service charges were a problem and said it provided rooms and other services at cost, at big discounts or for free.
“The Trump Family is likely the first family in American history to have not profited off of the United States government,” said Eric Trump in a statement. He added, “President Trump funded the vast majority of his campaign with hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money and turned away billions of dollars in real estate deals worldwide.”
In total, the Trump Organization charged the agency responsible for protecting the president and his family at least $1.4 million, according to Secret Service records released by the committee. The committee said the total bill was likely higher because the panel only got records through September 2021 and payments for trips abroad were not included.
The former president has been repeatedly criticised by Democrats and government watchdogs for what they say were brazen attempts to make money from taxpayer funds during his presidency.
In addition to money from the Secret Service when he and his family visited his clubs and hotels, Trump played host to foreign officials at his properties, also requiring lodging for accompanying agents. The president tried to arrange for his Trump National Doral Golf Club in Florida to be chosen as the venue for a Group of Seven meeting of global leaders, only to pull back after an outcry of about self-dealing.
Among the documents released Monday was a bill tied to 2017 trip by Trump’s oldest son, Don Jr, to the Trump International Hotel down the street from the White House. That resulted in a Secret Service room charge of $1,185 per night, more than five times the government-approved per diem rate, the committee said, though the agency is allowed to make exceptions.
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Clip Resurfaces Of Eric Trump Saying Secret Service Gets Charged $50 For Trump Hotels
Clip Resurfaces Of Eric Trump Saying Secret Service Gets Charged $50 For Trump Hotels https://digitalarizonanews.com/clip-resurfaces-of-eric-trump-saying-secret-service-gets-charged-50-for-trump-hotels/
An old news clip of Eric Trump has resurfaced in which he said the Secret Service is “saving a fortune” as it has been revealed Donald Trump repeatedly charged “exorbitant rates” to the agents.
The son of the former president and executive vice president of Trump Organisation was speaking at the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit on 10 October 2019 when he claimed agents stayed at Trump properties for free and they only charged the cost of housekeeping.
“If my father travels, they [Secret Service agents] stay at our properties free — meaning, like cost for housekeeping,” he said at that time.
“The government actually spends, meaning it saves a fortune because if they were to go to a hotel across the street, they’d be charging them $500 a night, whereas, you know we charge them, like $50,” he added.
However, new documents obtained by Congress revealed that Donald Trump billed the Secret Service higher amounts than the government-approved rate in 40 cases — in one case billing 1,185 per night to stay at a now-shuttered hotel in downtown Washington DC.
The records obtained as part of an investigation by the Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Government Reform Committee show that US taxpayers paid Trump Organisation at least $1.4mn for the stays of agents which was for his and his family’s protection.
“The exorbitant rates charged to the Secret Service and agents’ frequent stays at Trump-owned properties raise significant concerns about the former President’s self-dealing and may have resulted in a taxpayer-funded windfall for former President Trump’s struggling businesses,” wrote Oversight chairwoman Carolyn Maloney.
In a statement, Eric Trump again disputed the claims that the company benefited from Secret Services’ stays at their properties.
“Any services rendered to the United States Secret Service or other government agencies at Trump owned properties, were at their request and were either provided at cost, heavily discounted or for free,” he said.
“The company would have been substantially better off if hospitality services were sold to full-paying guests, however, the company did whatever it took to accommodate the agencies to ensure they were able to do their jobs at the highest levels.”
Mr Trump made frequent visits to the properties, nearly 550 times during his four years in office and security agents had to follow him where ever he went as per security protocol, according to a report from Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.
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1A-6A Power Ratings: Southern Arizona Teams Face Challenges After Release Of New Rankings | ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com
1A-6A Power Ratings: Southern Arizona Teams Face Challenges After Release Of New Rankings | ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com https://digitalarizonanews.com/1a-6a-power-ratings-southern-arizona-teams-face-challenges-after-release-of-new-rankings-allsportstucson-com/
AIA power ratings as of Tues., Oct. 18 for Class 1A to 6A schools. Class 1A teams ranked in the top 12 are in the state playoffs. Top 10 for all other classes listed with Southern Arizona teams shown up to No. 25 in each ranking. Southern Arizona teams in bold.
1A
— 1A No. 2 St. David (8-1) has a bye in the 1A state playoffs, which start Friday. The Tigers will host either No. 10 El Capitan Academy or No. 7 Bagdad on Oct. 28 in the quarterfinal round.
— No. 9 San Manuel (7-2) will play at No. 8 Superior (6-3) in a first-round game Friday.
1 Hayden (9-0)
2 St. David (8-1)
3 Mogollon (7-2)
4 Williams (8-1)
5 Salome (7-1)
6 Cicero Prep (6-2)
7 Bagdad (6-3)
8 Superior (6-3)
9 San Manuel (7-2)
10 El Capitan Academy (6-3)
11 Joseph City (5-4)
12 Lincoln Prep (4-5)
2A
— No. 5 Willcox (5-2, 3-0 2A San Pedro) moved up a spot after defeating No. 25 Tombstone 49-8 last week. The Cowboys host struggling No. 44 Catalina (1-7, 1-2) on Friday. It is a game that figures to adversely affect Willcox’s ranking, which is based on power points.
— No. 19 Tanque Verde (4-4, 3-0 2A San Pedro) must beat No. 25 Tombstone (3-5, 1-2) on the road this week and Willcox at home next week to win its first region title in school history and qualify for the state playoffs for the first time.
1 Morenci (8-0)
2 Pima (7-1)
3 Holbrook (8-0)
4 Camp Verde (6-0)
5 Willcox (5-2)
6 Scottsdale Christian (6-2)
7 Scottsdale Prep (7-1)
8 Tonopah Valley (7-1)
9 San Tan Charter (5-3)
10 Heritage Academy Laveen (6-2)
19 Tanque Verde (4-4)
23 Bisbee (3-5)
25 Tombstone (3-5)
3A
— No. 3 Pusch Ridge (7-1) dropped a spot despite knocking off No. 7 Valley Christian 52-20 last week. … No. 2 Eastmark moved up one spot, switching with Pusch Ridge after its 56-19 win over No. 6 Sabino. The Sabercats remained at No. 6 this week. … Pusch Ridge will have its power rating adversely affected playing No. 36 Palo Verde (2-6, 0-3) on Friday. … The Lions then host No. 23 Safford (3-5) next week to close the regular season. … The top four-rated teams are scheduled to host the first round and quarterfinals of the state tournament.
— No. 11 Benson (5-3) is in good position to make the 16-team state-playoff field if it at least splits against Safford at home and Sabino on the road to end the regular season.
1 Thatcher (8-0)
2 Eastmark (7-1)
3 Pusch Ridge (7-1)
4 Show Low (7-1)
5 Paradise Honors (6-1)
6 Sabino (6-2)
7 Valley Christian (6-2)
8 Florence (6-1)
9 Round Valley (5-3)
10 Mohave (4-3)
11 Benson (5-3)
4A
— CDO fell one spot to No. 3 after beating Douglas 49-6 last week. The Dorados host No. 26 Pueblo (4-2) on Friday. … Higher-seeded teams in 4A host in the state playoffs in the first round, quarterfinals and semifinals. … The Dorados must win handily in all of its games to keep a top-four ranking. Pueblo and No. 20 Vista Grande are the highest rated opponents in the 4A Kino the rest of the way.
— No. 12 Walden Grove (4-2) also faces the predicament of facing only lower-rated teams in its region, the 4A Gila. No. 23 Catalina Foothills (3-3) is the Red Wolves’ highest-rated opponent remaining.
— The region champion does not automatically qualify for the state playoffs (field based on power points).
1 AZ College Prep (5-1)
2 ALA-Gilbert North (4-2)
3 CDO (5-1)
4 Marcos de Niza (6-0)
5 Snowflake (4-2)
6 Yuma Catholic (5-1)
7 Poston Butte (4-2)
8 Prescott (5-1)
9 Lake Havasu (4-2)
10 St. Mary’s (4-2)
12 Walden Grove (4-2)
23 Catalina Foothills (3-3)
5A
— No. 8 Marana (5-1) dropped two spots after its 77-16 win over No. 44 Nogales (0-6) last week. The Tigers also are looking at the difficulty of staying among the top eight teams and earn a home game in the first round of the playoffs. … Friday’s game against No. 25 Sunnyside (4-2) is Marana’s toughest challenge based on rankings in the last four games. … The Blue Devils face a steep climb to the 16-team playoff field because after playing Marana, they face region teams that are presently ranked No. 40 or lower. A victory over Marana would greatly help Sunnyside.
— The region champion does not automatically qualify for the state playoffs (field based on power points).
1 Notre Dame Prep (5-1)
2 Desert Mountain (5-1)
3 Campo Verde (4-1)
4 ALA – Queen Creek (5-1)
5 Higley (5-1)
6 Horizon (3-3)
7 Desert Edge (5-2)
8 Marana (5-1)
9 Cactus (4-3)
10 Gilbert (4-2)
25 Sunnyside (4-2)
6A
— Salpointe dropped one spot to No. 20 despite losing a close game, 27-24, at No. 12 Red Mountain last week. .. Helping the Lancers is the fact that all eight teams presently in the Open Division are 6A teams. That pushes Salpointe to No. 12 and eligible for the 16-team 6A field if the season ended today. … Salpointe hosts No. 14 Williams Field (3-3) on Friday in what is a must-win situation for the Lancers to strengthen their playoff hopes. Only three games remain after this week.
— The region champion does not automatically qualify for the state playoffs (field based on power points).
1 Chandler (6-0)
2 Liberty (6-0)
3 Hamilton (5-1)
4 Pinnacle (5-1)
5 Basha (5-1)
6 Casteel (5-1)
7 Centennial (5-1)
8 Corona del Sol (5-1)
9 Saguaro (3-3)
10 Sandra Day O’Connor (4-2)
20 Salpointe (3-2)
WEEK TEN – Friday, October 21
6A EAST VALLEY
No. 14 Gilbert Williams Field (3-3, 1-0) at No. 20 Salpointe (3-3, 0-1)
5A SONORAN
No. 25 Sunnyside (4-2, 1-0) at No. 8 Marana (5-1, 1-0)
No. 40 Flowing Wells (2-4, 1-0) at No. 44 Nogales (0-6, 0-0)
No. 47 Rincon/UHS (1-5, 0-1) at No. 43 Cholla (1-5, 0-1)
5A SOUTHERN
No. 26 Cienega (2-4, 1-0) at No. 37 Ironwood Ridge (1-5, 0-1)
No. 31 Mountain View (2-4, 1-0) at No. 30 Buena (4-2, 0-1)
No. 35 Tucson (2-4, 0-1) at No. 28 Desert View (2-2, 1-0)
4A GILA
No. 12 Walden Grove (4-2, 1-0) at No. 38 Rio Rico (3-3, 1-0)
No. 23 Catalina Foothills (3-3) at No. 49 Sahuarita (0-6)
No. 28 Sahuaro (2-4) at No. 44 Amphitheater (1-5)
4A KINO
No. 26 Pueblo (4-2, 0-1) at No. 3 Canyon del Oro (5-1, 1-0)
No. 34 Douglas (3-3) at No. 32 Mica Mountain (2-4)
No. 20 Vista Grande (5-2) at No. 40 Empire (3-3)
3A SOUTH
No. 3 Pusch Ridge (7-1, 2-1) at No. 36 Palo Verde (2-6, 0-3)
No. 6 Sabino (6-2, 2-1) at No. 1 Thatcher (8-0, 3-0)
No. 23 Safford (3-5, 1-2) at No. 11 Benson (5-3, 1-2)
2A SAN PEDRO
No. 44 Catalina (1-7, 1-2) at No. 5 Willcox (6-2, 3-0)
No. 19 Tanque Verde (4-4, 3-0) at No. 25 Tombstone (3-5, 1-2)
No. 13 (3A) San Tan Foothills (5-3) at No. 23 Bisbee (4-5, 1-2)
1A STATE PLAYOFFS FIRST ROUND
No. 9 San Manuel (6-2) at No. 8 Superior (6-3)
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ALLSPORTSTUCSON.com publisher, writer and editor Javier Morales is a former Arizona Press Club award winner. He is a former Arizona Daily Star beat reporter for the Arizona basketball team, including when the Wildcats won the 1996-97 NCAA title. He has also written articles for CollegeAD.com, Bleacher Report, Lindy’s Sports, TucsonCitizen.com, The Arizona Republic, Sporting News and Baseball America, among many other publications. He has also authored the book “The Highest Form of Living”, which is available at Amazon. He became an educator five years ago and is presently a special education teacher at Gallego Fine Arts Intermediate in the Sunnyside Unified School District.
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Desert Vista Nabs Season Sweep Of Desert Ridge https://digitalarizonanews.com/desert-vista-nabs-season-sweep-of-desert-ridge/
October 18, 2022 by Les Willsey, AZPreps365
Desert Vista’s Gabbi LeBlanc (12) begins a busy night of setting in the Thunder’s victory over Desert Ridge. (Azpreps365 photo)
6A Central Region triumphs have been hard to come by for #14 Desert Vista’s and #25 Desert Ridge’s volleyball teams. It might have something to do with the other four schools prowess who also compete in their region – #1 Corona del Sol, #3 Gilbert, #7 Queen Creek and #12 Highland.
Desert Vista visited Desert Ridge on Tuesday night with Desert Ridge seeking its first region win as region teams do battle for the second time with region foes this season. Desert Vista, however, didn’t allow the hosts to nab a first region win. The Thunder swept Desert Ridge to the tune of 25-22, 26-24, 25-20.
Desert Vista evened its power-ranking match record for the season at 7-7 and is 2-5 in region. Both Thunder victories are over Desert Ridge. Desert Ridge is 5-9 overall in prm, 0-7 in region.
Desert Vista was led offensively by middle hitter Amiyah White, outside hitter Neyah Davidson and outside hitter Reilly Feller. White finished with a team-high 10 kills with Davidson (9 kills) and Feller (7 kills) close behind. Setter Gabbi LeBlanc posted 33 assists. Leading Desert Ridge on the attack was freshman Natalie Lorenzo with 13 kills.
The opening set was Desert Ridge’s best chance to prevail. The Jaguars led late 19-16 and were in front most of the set. Desert Ridge’s final lead was 21-20 and the last of nine ties (22-22) saw Desert Vista close strong. Back-to-back kills by White and a Desert Ridge attack error denied Desert Ridge’s bid for a 1-0 lead.
Desert Ridge seemed on its way to evening the match in the second set building a 15-9 advantage. But a 12-3 Desert Vista run put the Thunder back in charge. Desert Ridge scrapped its way back to earn a 24-24 deadlock thanks to successive kills by Lorenzo. Desert Ridge served for the lead, but Desert Vista thwarted the bid via a Madison Dudley kill and set-ending block.
Desert Vista made sure a sweep of Desert Ridge was on the menu. The Thunder never trailed in the third set, bolting to a 7-0 lead. Its largest lead was 16-5. Desert Ridge pecked away cutting the deficit to 24-20, but the match ended with a Feller kill.
Both schools resume play Thursday with home region matches. Desert Vista hosts Highland and Desert Ridge entertains Queen Creek.
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Walz Jensen Face Off In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Gubernatorial Campaign
Walz, Jensen Face Off In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Gubernatorial Campaign https://digitalarizonanews.com/walz-jensen-face-off-in-sole-televised-debate-of-2022-gubernatorial-campaign-2/
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen debated Tuesday night on television, but residents in the Twin Cities were only able to watch through online streams.
The panel of four journalists asked questions on a bevy of issues, including abortion, the state’s response to riots after George Floyd’s murder and the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation.
Walz and allied groups have used the abortion issue as their main area of attack on Jensen, claiming he will seek to ban abortion in Minnesota if he’s elected governor.
In campaign videos and media interviews, Jensen said he would ban abortion, but he has walked back that rhetoric in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws in the hands of state legislatures.
“Because in Minnesota abortion is a legally protected right it is not on the ballot in November,” Jensen said Tuesday night. “What is on the ballot in November is without question skyrocketing inflation, crime out of control and our kids are not getting the education that they need. As governor, I won’t ban abortion, I can’t.”
Republican candidate for governor Dr. Scott Jensen, left, and DFL Gov. Tim Walz, right, debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, at KTTC-TV in Rochester. (Courtesy of KTTC-TV)
In his response to Jensen’s answer, Walz criticized Jensen for changing his stance mid-campaign.
“Scott was very clear in May. He mocked me and said, ‘No kidding, Sherlock, I’m running for governor to get things done. We’re going to ban abortion, that’s not news,” Walz said. “That changed after Roe versus Wade. I think what most of us know again you heard this through many different places, this is not about trusting women. This not about clear convictions. It’s about changing your positions as the winds blow.”
The moderators also asked the candidates about the state’s response to riots that erupted in the Twin Cities following George Floyd’s murder. Walz and Jensen were asked what they would do differently if something similar happened again, but they mostly talked what happened in 2020.
“Nothing like this had been seen before — the level of violence after the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “I think, again, there will be stories written and this will be written about for quite some time. I’m proud of Minnesota’s response. I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders who were out there from firefighters to police to National Guard to citizens that were out there.”
Jensen took the question as an opportunity to put Walz’s support of first responders in doubt.
“You heard it here: Governor Walz just told you, ‘I am proud of Minnesota’s response,’ referring to the riots of May and June of 2020. Wow,” Jensen said. “This isn’t a one-off situation. There’s a reason the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association has endorsed me unanimously.”
The candidates also addressed the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud investigation. Jensen claimed Walz could have stopped the scheme much sooner.
“Governor Walz and his team could have stopped this anywhere along the line,” Jensen said. “But when it was getting warm in the kitchen for Governor Walz because basically, it appears there’s a cover-up. Two questions are huge on all of our minds. What did Governor Walz know and when did he know it?”
For his part, Walz said state and federal agencies alike needed to do better to enforce the rules for how public funds are disbursed.
“During COVID the federal government relaxed some of their rules and they sent out as they should have aid to states in terms of uprecedented numbers,” the governor said. “Now, making sure those safeguards are in place? Absolute priortiy. Once the Minnesota Department of Education found this, they alerted the FBI. Now it’s an ongoing investigation. I guess we’ll get more clarity once they start to come to that.”
When given a chance to respond, Jensen doubled down, laying the blame squarely on the Walz administration.
“You just heard a smokescreen. This is not about the federal government, this is about the state of Minnesota, and the Office of the Legislative Auditor should have been notified,” Jensen said.
The two also tangled over the budget bill that stalled in the Legislature in May.
Walz said Jensen urged Republican senators to block the bill that would have delivered tax cuts and rebates, but Jensen said it also would have increased state spending by billions of dollars.
Lack of debates under scrutiny
The one-hour debate between the 2022 candidates for Minnesota governor was hosted in Rochester and was only broadcast on Greater Minnesota TV stations. It was the second of three scheduled debates between Walz and Jensen but the only one to be televised.
Walz rejected offers to debate on at least three Twin Cities television stations, including KSTP-TV.
“Tim Walz is ahead, but he’s not a prohibitive favorite,” says Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier. “He’s probably ahead in the single digits, probably the high single digits but that is not safe territory three weeks out.” Schier says although minimizing the number of debates is clearly strategy of the Walz campaign, it doesn’t mean it will work. Although he says Jensen needs the debates more than Walz. “The two of them need to meet face-to-face in order for Jensen to try and close that gap because the further away Walz is from Jensen personally in this race the better it is for Walz.”
The only other time Walz and Jensen debated was eleven weeks ago at Farmfest near Redwood Falls on August 3. That was only seen by a few hundred people who attended the debate and people who saw highlights on television or online.
This will be the first time in at least 40 years the candidates for Minnesota governor will not debate in prime time on Twin Cities television. The only other debate currently scheduled is at noon, Friday, Oct. 28 on Minnesota Public Radio.
KSTP-TV will host a “Debate Night in Minnesota” that will air statewide in prime time on Sunday, Oct. 23. Walz declined to participate, so Jensen will face questions from a panel of reporters by himself. The major party candidates for attorney general and secretary of state have all agreed to participate.
We’ll have highlights of Tuesday’s debate on “Nightcast” on 5 Eyewitness News at 10.
For Related Stories: 2022 Elections Gubernatorial Race Scott Jensen Tim Walz Tom Hauser
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Steph Curry Recognizes Brittney Griner During Championship Ring Speech
Steph Curry Recognizes Brittney Griner During Championship Ring Speech https://digitalarizonanews.com/steph-curry-recognizes-brittney-griner-during-championship-ring-speech/
Mar 12, 2017; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner in attendance of the Phoenix Suns game against the Portland Trail Blazers at Talking Stick Resort Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Steph Curry took a moment during his address to the Golden State Warriors crowd on Tuesday night to bring up Brittney Griner.
Curry spoke to the fans in attendance at the Warriors’ opener against the Los Angeles Lakers prior to the game. During his speech for the Warriors’ championship rings ceremony, Curry recognized Griner, whom he called “a very special member of the basketball community.”
“Brittney Griner’s birthday is today. She’s 32 years old. We want to continue to let her name be known. It’s been 243 days since she’s been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia. We hope that she comes home soon and that everybody is doing their part to get her home,” Curry said.
“Brittney Griner’s birthday is today, she’s 32 years old.”
Steph gave BG a shoutout during the Dub’s ring ceremony. She’s been wrongfully incarcerated in Russia for 243 days. pic.twitter.com/dCh0SvxZUl
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022
Griner was detained in Russia in February after being caught by Russian customs at an airport in Moscow carrying cartridges of hashish oil in her luggage. She pleaded guilty at her July trial to drug possession. In August, she was sentenced to nine years in prison. The US could be working on a prisoner swap for the former Baylor star.
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WaFd Bank Debuts New Branch In Surprise AZ Big Media
WaFd Bank Debuts New Branch In Surprise – AZ Big Media https://digitalarizonanews.com/wafd-bank-debuts-new-branch-in-surprise-az-big-media/
WaFd Bank, a national bank with more than 200 branches in eight western states, continues its growth throughout Arizona with the grand opening of its new branch in Surprise.
The new banking center, located at 13641 N. Prasada Pkwy. Suite #140, will service the needs of the Surprise community by offering checking, savings and money market accounts for both personal and business purposes, as well as home equity lines of credit, residential mortgages, lot loans, new constructions financing, commercial lending, treasury management, merchant and payroll services and other financial resources.
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The branch is approximately 1,938 square feet and is located in one of the largest planned retail centers in the Valley, the Village at Prasada. The development plans to open 700,000 square feet of shops, restaurants and entertainment facilities around the end of 2022.
“We are excited to introduce WaFd Bank to the Surprise community and continue our growth throughout Arizona,” said Todd Gerber, WaFd Bank’s Arizona Regional President. “Whether you’re an individual or business searching for banking services to help strengthen your financial future, WaFd Bank has solutions to assist with your finance needs. We look forward to continuing to serve our Arizona communities and neighborhoods, as well as expanding our team in Surprise.”
Founded in 1917, WaFd Bank first made its mark in Arizona in 1994 in Tucson. The company has grown immensely with a total of 28 branches in the Valley, and it was also named the best-in-state bank in Arizona by Forbes. The bank has additional locations in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Texas.
To learn more about WaFd Bank and its new Surprise branch, visit www.wafdbank.com/locations/arizona/surprise, call 623-214-8665 or email [email protected].
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Obituary: Richard Wilson Kimball https://digitalarizonanews.com/obituary-richard-wilson-kimball/
Richard Wilson Kimball. (Courtesy)
Originally Published: October 18, 2022 8:42 p.m.
Richard Wilson Kimball, born Aug. 14, 1938, in Nashua, New Hampshire, passed away on Oct. 5, 2022.
He was the son of the late Rowe Kimball of Portales, New Mexico, and Helen Thompson-Kimball of Milford, New Hampshire. He is also predeceased by his sister, Kathryn Hilderbrand, of Milford, New Hampshire.
Richard is survived by his wife of 36 years, Vicki Barnes, sister Marjorie Marler of Albuquerque, NM, his brother, George (Melanie) of Bedford, MA, and brother-in-law Robert Hilderbrand of Milford, NH. Richard has two sons, Michael (Rita) Kimball of Placitas, NM, and Dan (Molly) Kimball of Tucson, AZ, and two stepsons, Derek (Jacque) Barnes of Prescott, AZ, and Thomas (Nicole) Garcia DeVargas. He shared a special relationship with two of his granddaughters, Devin Kimball and Jessica Garcia, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Richard was the son of a career Army soldier and grew up in several states. He graduated from Highland High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1957. Richard graduated from the University of New Mexico in 1977 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and Journalism. In 1978, he completed a Certificate in Magazine Publishing from New York University.
Richard served in the U.S. Coast Guard between 1976 and 1979, working as a Technical Writer at the U.S. Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the Coast Guard Academy, New London, Connecticut. In 1977, Richard was honored with a Commendation letter from USCG Academy’s Commandant for typing, editing, and producing a 300-page engineering technical manual for cadet use.
Richard was a writer from an early age. He completed his first novel, The Woodsman, as a young teenager. Throughout his life, Richard pursued his passion for writing, authoring several self-published short stories, poems, and books. He was a reporter and editor for various local and regional newspapers, including The Daily Courier and the Chino Valley Review. For over 20 years, Richard contributed stories to The Indian Trader, Gallup, NM. He loved researching old records, especially of Early America, the Old West, and Native Americans, telling the stories of America’s forgotten heroes. Richard was at his best writing historical stories for Arizona’s, The Territorial News, an established Wild West publication.
Richard was a multi-talented artist. He loved traveling, taking photographs, and dabbling in fine art, primarily painting in acrylics. In 2009, Richard earned national recognition in VA-wide disabled veterans art competition for his mixed media creation, Chaco Doorways. He was skilled in bookbinding using traditional techniques that included binding with leather. His fascination with Native Americans throughout the Americas led to his research and writing books on various diverse subjects. He wrote of the Eastern Indians as far back as the Mayflower’s arrival leading to the Western Indian’s plight in coping with westward expansion. He also had a strong interest in the Maya and the Aztecs.
Two of his heavily researched projects were completing a book on deciphering Mayan prophesies and an original hand-painted Mayan codex. He also designed and created unique leather pieces.
For many years he was an experienced cyclist who loved to “ride” and race competitively. He was known for taking long rides of 50-plus miles well into his 50s.
Around that time, while preparing for the El Tour de Tucson, Richard was involved in a devastating bike accident that left him with permanent vision loss. Richard showed incredible resilience in overcoming the loss of visual acuity. He never let his disability stop his creativity and found ways to continue writing, painting, and doing many other projects while maintaining a fantastic sense of humor.
By Richard’s request, there will be no services. For those interested in donating, please consider a donation to either St. Joseph’s Indian Schools (stjo.org) or the Disabled American Veterans Department of Arizona (azdav.com).
Information provided by the family.
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Trump Boasted That He Was Much Tougher Than Clinton And Nixon When They Faced Their Impeachments Newly Released Audio Shows
Trump Boasted That He Was Much Tougher Than Clinton And Nixon When They Faced Their Impeachments, Newly Released Audio Shows https://digitalarizonanews.com/trump-boasted-that-he-was-much-tougher-than-clinton-and-nixon-when-they-faced-their-impeachments-newly-released-audio-shows/
New tapes have been released from Trump’s interviews with veteran journalist Bob Woodward.
In one audio recording, Trump bragged that he was the toughest president to face impeachment.
“Nixon was in a corner with his thumb in his mouth. Bill Clinton took it very, very hard,” Trump said.
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In a newly released audio clip, former President Donald Trump can be heard boasting about how much tougher he was than his predecessors when he was being impeached.
CNN obtained audio files from veteran journalist Bob Woodward’s conversations with Trump, during which Trump compared his own impeachment to former presidents Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton.
Woodward met Trump 20 times from 2016 to 2020 and recorded over eight hours of audio. Woodward is releasing the audio in his upcoming audiobook, “The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward’s Twenty Interviews with President Trump.”
“There’s nobody that’s tougher than me. Nobody’s tougher than me,” Trump said in an undated clip aired on CNN on Tuesday.
“You asked me about impeachment. I’m under impeachment and you said, you know, you just act like you just won a fucking race,” Trump said.
“Nixon was in a corner with his thumb in his mouth. Bill Clinton took it very, very hard,” Trump added. “I just do things, okay?”
Trump was the first president in US history to be impeached twice. He was first impeached in December 2019 for his role in the Ukraine scandal, in which he was accused of trying to get Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy to interfere in the 2020 election while withholding military aid. Trump was impeached again in January 2021 after Congress charged him with inciting an insurrection. He was acquitted both times.
Trump was the fourth president to face threats of impeachment. Only two presidents were impeached before Trump: Andrew Johnson in 1868, and Clinton in 1998.
In 1974, Nixon faced an impeachment inquiry over the Watergate scandal but resigned before the House could impeach him.
In January 1998, Clinton denied under oath that he had an affair with then-White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Months later, Clinton acknowledged that he had been having an affair with Lewinsky. Clinton was impeached by Congress on December 19, 1998, on accusations of perjury and obstruction of justice. He did not step down after being impeached and was tried and acquitted by the Senate in February 1999.
Representatives for Trump and Clinton did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
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Is Donald Trump Expected To Run For US President In 2024?
Is Donald Trump Expected To Run For US President In 2024? https://digitalarizonanews.com/is-donald-trump-expected-to-run-for-us-president-in-2024/
The United States will hold its 60th quadrennial presidential election in 2024 and former president Donald Trump has dropped hints that he is once again interested in the top job.
Several investigations focusing on the former president, following the January 6 Capitol Riots and his exit from the White House, have left doubt over whether he will or even can get back in office.
Here’s what we know about a potential run for office in 2024.
Is Trump eligible to run for president again?
Yes, he is.
In the US, a president can serve two terms and they can be non-consecutive.
The 22nd amendment of the US constitution states, “no person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice”.
Mr Trump will be 78 years old in 2024. That’s only a year older than Joe Biden was when he was elected in 2020.
What’s Trump said about a 2024 presidential bid?
The former president has this year hinted on a few occasions that he was considering running for president.
He asked a crowd in Nashville, Tennessee in June if they would like him to run.
“We have a president who ran twice, won twice and may have to do it a third time. Can you believe it?” he declared in Nevada, the following month.
And last month at a rally in Pennsylvania, he told the crowd, “in 2024, most importantly, we are going to take back our magnificent White House.”
So, when can we expect Trump to officially declare his plans?
Probably after the midterm elections, but he may take into consideration the consequences that could arise from the investigations and lawsuits he is entangled in.
In July, Mr Trump told New York magazine that he had “already made” a decision to run, and the real question was when he would make his official announcement.
“I would say my big decision will be whether I go before or after,” he said, in reference to the midterm elections in November.
Political analysts say one reason Mr Trump may be interested in launching a presidential campaign before the midterms is to make it easier for him to portray any official investigation against him as politically motivated, as CNN reports.
What do the midterms have to do with his decision?
Declaring a run for the presidency after the midterms would allow Mr Trump to capitalise on Republican candidates potentially performing well.
And that’s possible, with polling by the FiveThirtyEight website suggesting the Republicans might take the House but the Democrats could hold on to the Senate.
The Democratic Party has held the majority in both the House and the Senate while Mr Biden has been in office.
That’s been helpful for Mr Biden to pass the laws he wanted.
But the party that holds the White House tends to lose seats and if the Republicans take control of either chamber, they will have more power to interfere with Mr Biden’s plans on issues such as climate change and gun control.
At the same time, if candidates backed by Mr Trump perform badly in the midterms, he’s less likely to get backing from the Republican party to run for president again.
He might want to weigh up that risk.
Could the investigations underway prevent Trump from becoming president?
As Mr Trump faces mounting allegations, experts say even a prison sentence wouldn’t necessarily stop him from becoming US president for a second time.
Mr Trump has been beset with legal troubles since leaving the White House and is the focus of several investigations, from his handling of top-secret documents to election interference.
On Friday, he was subpoenaed to testify under oath by the January 6 committee which is investigating the Capitol riots and how to avoid a similar event recurring.
New York’s Attorney-General Letitia James has filed a civil lawsuit against Mr Trump and his company, alleging he “falsely inflated his net worth by billions of dollars to unjustly enrich himself and cheat the system”.
However, former FBI counterintelligence agent and federal prosecutor Asha Rangappa said that, under the constitution, being a convicted felon doesn’t automatically prohibit a person from being president, even if they’re sitting in jail.
Dr Rangappa, who is an assistant dean at Yale Law School, told the ABC News Daily podcast the requirements for becoming US president were minimal.
“You have to be 35 years old, you have to have been a natural-born citizen and lived in the United States for 14 years,” she said.
“Even if he’s indicted and even if he’s convicted, that actually doesn’t stop him from running for president again.”
There are some potential charges, however, which could prevent a person from becoming president again if they are brought against them.
Dr Rangappa said the illegal removal, concealment and mutilation of government documents was one of those.
She said one of the penalties in that statute was a prohibition from holding public office.
What’s next?
Announcing your bid for candidacy requires more than just a press release or a colourful rally.
And while there’s no formal, national deadline to declare your intention, candidates have to meet several state-specific requirements to appear on each state’s election ballot.
They also have to act in accordance with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules which state that a candidate must file certified personal financial disclosures at least 30 days before the election, which is set for Tuesday, November 5, 2024.
The rules also state an individual running for federal office must file financial reports when they raise or spend more than $5,000 in contributions or expenditures.
“If he starts to spend money pursuing a run for office, that could trigger candidacy,” Ken Gross, former associate general counsel of the FEC, told Insider.
Mr Trump has hinted at a run, conducted campaign-style rallies and raised money for political committees such as his Save America group, but he hasn’t yet declared the committees exist to serve his own campaign, and it hasn’t quite been enough to trigger candidacy.
Save America, which Mr Trump created after his presidential loss, has raised more than $US90 million ($142 million).
If Mr Trump declares a run for the presidency, he can’t access that money to fund his personal 2024 campaign.
He will start raising funds through his own campaign and begin touring the country to gather support for the general elections.
If he declares a run, polling shows Mr Trump is so far the favourite to win one of his first hurdles, the primary election, meaning he is the preferred Republican candidate.
Polling has shown Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis could be another front-runner.
Some Republicans view him as more electable because he has a less turbulent past, and he has been endorsed by popular conservatives.
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ViaWest Group Buys 82 Acres In Glendale For $12 Million AZ Big Media
ViaWest Group Buys 82 Acres In Glendale For $12 Million – AZ Big Media https://digitalarizonanews.com/viawest-group-buys-82-acres-in-glendale-for-12-million-az-big-media/
CBRE, on behalf of ViaWest Group, arranged the $12 million sale of the initial 82 acres (Phase I) of a 144-acre site in Glendale, Arizona. ViaWest plans to commence construction on this multi-phased industrial development known as The Base in early 2023. This industrial park will consist of 15 buildings totaling 1,963,477-sq.-ft. In addition to five acres already purchased in 2021, the remaining 57 acres (Phase II) is scheduled to close in January 2023.
CBRE’s Mark Krison and Luke Krison facilitated the acquisition on behalf of the developer, Phoenix-based ViaWest Group, and have been retained to market and lease the development. The seller was Airpark 30, LLC.
The site is located in Phoenix’s Southwest Valley on the northwest and southwest corners of Litchfield and Bethany Home Roads and between Camelback Road and the Northern Parkway. The Base will be developed in two phases. Phase 1 will include seven buildings ranging from 85,000 sq. ft. to 309,000 sq. ft., totaling 1,182.877 sq. ft. Phase 2 is proposed to include eight additional buildings ranging in size from 41,000 sq. ft. to 141,000 sq. ft., totaling 780,600 sq. ft.
READ ALSO: VAI Resort in Glendale will become Arizona’s biggest hotel
The property will feature a center drive for passenger vehicles, perimeter circulation for trucks and abundant landscaping throughout. The buildings will feature modern designs and include heavy power, ESFR sprinkler systems, dock-high and grade-level loading, concrete truck courts, ample car parking, and R-38 insulation. Clear heights will vary between 28 feet and 36 feet.
“The Base will deliver a wide range of building options for companies seeking a contemporary industrial campus close to Phoenix’s freeways and amenities,” said CBRE’s Mark Krison.
The site features proximity and access to three major freeways—the Loop 101 freeway, Interstate 10, and the Loop 303 freeway—enabling tenants to provide goods and services to 65 million people in California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, according to CBRE. Additionally, Phoenix’s West Valley provides the park’s tenants access to an abundant labor pool with a workforce of approximately 860,000 workers within 20 miles and 2.53 million workers in the greater Phoenix MSA, according to Esri.
“The Base will be a great addition to the ViaWest Portfolio. We are excited to launch a project with such diverse building sizes to meet the needs of manufacturers, distributors, and all types of industrial users,” said Steven Schwarz, Founding Partner of ViaWest Group. “We also have laid out the site to cater to users that want to own, lease, or purchase land. It’s been great working with the City of Glendale to collaborate on this forthcoming premier industrial complex.”
“It has been a pleasure working with ViaWest Group and the city of Glendale is thrilled to facilitate the acceleration of this project to welcome future tenants to our community in the most expeditious manner possible,” said Brian Friedman, Economic Development Director, City of Glendale.
At the end of the second quarter of 2022, Phoenix’s Southwest Valley industrial submarket was on pace to surpass 2021’s record-breaking activity, according to CBRE Research. The submarket contributed 68.9 percent of net absorption year-to-date and 63.5 percent of the industrial space under construction in the quarter.
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Walz Jensen Face Off In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Gubernatorial Campaign
Walz, Jensen Face Off In Sole Televised Debate Of 2022 Gubernatorial Campaign https://digitalarizonanews.com/walz-jensen-face-off-in-sole-televised-debate-of-2022-gubernatorial-campaign/
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz and his Republican challenger Dr. Scott Jensen debated Tuesday night on television, but residents in the Twin Cities were only able to watch through online streams.
The panel of four journalists asked questions on a bevy of issues, including abortion, the state’s response to riots after George Floyd’s murder and the Feeding Our Future fraud investigation.
Walz and allied groups have used the abortion issue as their main area of attack on Jensen, claiming he will seek to ban abortion in Minnesota if he’s elected governor.
In campaign videos and media interviews, Jensen said he would ban abortion, but he has walked back that rhetoric in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, leaving abortion laws in the hands of state legislatures.
“Because in Minnesota abortion is a legally protected right it is not on the ballot in November,” Jensen said Tuesday night. “What is on the ballot in November is without question skyrocketing inflation, crime out of control and our kids are not getting the education that they need. As governor, I won’t ban abortion, I can’t.”
Republican candidate for governor Dr. Scott Jensen, left, and DFL Gov. Tim Walz, right, debate on Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2022, at KTTC-TV in Rochester. (Courtesy of KTTC-TV)
In his response to Jensen’s answer, Walz criticized Jensen for changing his stance mid-campaign.
“Scott was very clear in May. He mocked me and said, ‘No kidding, Sherlock, I’m running for governor to get things done. We’re going to ban abortion, that’s not news,” Walz said. “That changed after Roe versus Wade. I think what most of us know again you heard this through many different places, this is not about trusting women. This not about clear convictions. It’s about changing your positions as the winds blow.”
The moderators also asked the candidates about the state’s response to riots that erupted in the Twin Cities following George Floyd’s murder. Walz and Jensen were asked what they would do differently if something similar happened again, but they mostly talked what happened in 2020.
“Nothing like this had been seen before — the level of violence after the murder of George Floyd,” Walz said. “I think, again, there will be stories written and this will be written about for quite some time. I’m proud of Minnesota’s response. I’m proud of Minnesota’s first responders who were out there from firefighters to police to National Guard to citizens that were out there.”
Jensen took the question as an opportunity to put Walz’s support of first responders in doubt.
“You heard it here: Governor Walz just told you, ‘I am proud of Minnesota’s response,’ referring to the riots of May and June of 2020. Wow,” Jensen said. “This isn’t a one-off situation. There’s a reason the Minnesota Police and Peace Officers Association has endorsed me unanimously.”
The candidates also addressed the $250 million Feeding Our Future fraud investigation. Jensen claimed Walz could have stopped the scheme much sooner.
“Governor Walz and his team could have stopped this anywhere along the line,” Jensen said. “But when it was getting warm in the kitchen for Governor Walz because basically, it appears there’s a cover-up. Two questions are huge on all of our minds. What did Governor Walz know and when did he know it?”
For his part, Walz said state and federal agencies alike needed to do better to enforce the rules for how public funds are disbursed.
“During COVID the federal government relaxed some of their rules and they sent out as they should have aid to states in terms of uprecedented numbers,” the governor said. “Now, making sure those safeguards are in place? Absolute priortiy. Once the Minnesota Department of Education found this, they alerted the FBI. Now it’s an ongoing investigation. I guess we’ll get more clarity once they start to come to that.”
When given a chance to respond, Jensen doubled down, laying the blame squarely on the Walz administration.
“You just heard a smokescreen. This is not about the federal government, this is about the state of Minnesota, and the Office of the Legislative Auditor should have been notified,” Jensen said.
The two also tangled over the budget bill that stalled in the Legislature in May.
Walz said Jensen urged Republican senators to block the bill that would have delivered tax cuts and rebates, but Jensen said it also would have increased state spending by billions of dollars.
Lack of debates under scrutiny
The one-hour debate between the 2022 candidates for Minnesota governor was hosted in Rochester and was only broadcast on Greater Minnesota TV stations. It was the second of three scheduled debates between Walz and Jensen but the only one to be televised.
Walz rejected offers to debate on at least three Twin Cities television stations, including KSTP-TV.
“Tim Walz is ahead, but he’s not a prohibitive favorite,” says Carleton College political analyst Steven Schier. “He’s probably ahead in the single digits, probably the high single digits but that is not safe territory three weeks out.” Schier says although minimizing the number of debates is clearly strategy of the Walz campaign, it doesn’t mean it will work. Although he says Jensen needs the debates more than Walz. “The two of them need to meet face-to-face in order for Jensen to try and close that gap because the further away Walz is from Jensen personally in this race the better it is for Walz.”
The only other time Walz and Jensen debated was eleven weeks ago at Farmfest near Redwood Falls on August 3. That was only seen by a few hundred people who attended the debate and people who saw highlights on television or online.
This will be the first time in at least 40 years the candidates for Minnesota governor will not debate in prime time on Twin Cities television. The only other debate currently scheduled is at noon, Friday, Oct. 28 on Minnesota Public Radio.
KSTP-TV will host a “Debate Night in Minnesota” that will air statewide in prime time on Sunday, Oct. 23. Walz declined to participate, so Jensen will face questions from a panel of reporters by himself. The major party candidates for attorney general and secretary of state have all agreed to participate.
We’ll have highlights of Tuesday’s debate on “Nightcast” on 5 Eyewitness News at 10.
For Related Stories: 2022 Elections Gubernatorial Race Scott Jensen Tim Walz Tom Hauser
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Kakao Co-CEO Resigns After Mass Outage Locked 53 Million Users Out
Kakao Co-CEO Resigns After Mass Outage Locked 53 Million Users Out https://digitalarizonanews.com/kakao-co-ceo-resigns-after-mass-outage-locked-53-million-users-out/
Whon Namkoong, co-chief executive officer of Kakao Corp., speaks during a news conference in in Pangyo, South Korea, on Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2022. Namkoong resigned after a widespread outage took out Koreas most popular messaging and social media service. Photographer: SeongJoon Cho/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A top executive at Kakao Corp., the operator of South Korea’s top mobile messenger KakaoTalk, will step down. His resignation comes after a fire at a data center led to a mass outage over the weekend and disrupted services for its messenger’s 53 million users worldwide.
Co-CEO Namkoong Whon apologized following the outage and said he would resign.
“I feel the heavy burden of responsibility over this incident and will step down from my position as CEO and lead the emergency disaster task force overseeing the aftermath of the incident,” Namkoong said at a press conference at the company’s office in the outskirts of Seoul on Wednesday.
“We will do our best to restore our users’ faith in Kakao and make sure incidents like these never happen again,” he said, according to a CNBC translation.
Namkoong was appointed CEO in March, according to the company’s website. Kakao reported 47.5 million monthly active users in Korea during the second quarter. That’s more than 90% of South Korea’s population of 51.74 million people, as of Nov. 1, 2021.
Hong Eun-taek, who led the company alongside Namkoong as co-CEO, will remain the sole head of the company, according to a company filing.
“We sincerely apologize to all those that have suffered from the disruptions during the outage,” Hong said as he bowed alongside Namkoong.
Shares of the company traded 4% higher in Korea’s morning session ahead of the press conference.
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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Russia War Commander Admits Kherson Situation very Difficult
Russia War Commander Admits Kherson Situation ‘very Difficult’ https://digitalarizonanews.com/russia-war-commander-admits-kherson-situation-very-difficult/
Russian forces have been driven back by an ongoing Ukrainian offensive and are at risk of being trapped against the Dnieper river.
Published On 19 Oct 202219 Oct 2022
The new commander of Russian forces in Ukraine has said the situation in the Kherson region has become “very difficult” as Ukrainian forces push ahead with an offensive to take back southern and eastern areas of the country, and that Moscow was preparing to evacuate civilians weeks after annexing the area.
Sergei Surovikin, a Russian air force general appointed on October 10 to lead the invasion, said the situation in Kherson was “very difficult” for both civilians and Russian soldiers.
“The Russian army will above all ensure the safe evacuation of the population” of Kherson, Surovikin told state television Rossiya 24.
“The enemy is not abandoning its attempts to attack Russian troop positions,” he added.
Russian forces in the region have been driven back by between 20 and 30 kilometres (13-20 miles) in the last few weeks and are at risk of being pinned against the western bank of the 2,200-kilometre-long (1,367-mile-long) Dnieper river that bisects Ukraine.
Surovikin said Russian positions in the towns of Kupiansk and Lyman in eastern Ukraine and the area of northern Kherson between Mykolaiv and Kryvyi Rih were under continuous attack.
“The situation in the area of the ‘Special Military Operation’ can be described as tense,” Surovikin told Rossiya 24 using Moscow’s official terminology for the February 24 invasion.
[Al Jazeera]
Kherson is one of four partially-occupied Ukrainian provinces Russia claims to have annexed and arguably the most strategically important. It controls both the only land route to the Crimean peninsula Russia seized in 2014 and the mouth of the Dnieper.
After staging referendums in September that Ukraine and its allies said were illegal and coercive, Putin proclaimed the annexations of the eastern border provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk — together forming the industrial region known as the Donbas — as well as Kherson and Zaporizhia in the south.
‘No place for civilians’
Vladimir Saldo, the Kremlin-installed head of the Kherson region, said the authorities had decided to evacuate some civilians because of the risk of attack by the Ukrainian military.
“The Ukrainian side is building up forces for a large-scale offensive,” Saldo said in a video statement. The Russian military was preparing to repel the offensive, he said, and “where the military operates, there is no place for civilians. Let the Russian army fulfil its task”.
Ukraine and Russia have denied targeting civilians, although Kyiv has accused Moscow’s forces of war crimes.
Surovikin appeared to concede that there was a danger of Ukrainian forces advancing towards the city of Kherson, which Russia captured largely unopposed in the early days of the invasion.
Surovikin has been nicknamed “General Armageddon” in Russian media after serving in Syria and Chechnya, where his forces pounded cities to rubble in a brutal but effective scorched earth policy against its foes.
His appointment was rapidly followed by the biggest wave of missile strikes against Ukraine since the start of the war.
Those raids have continued this week with Ukrainian officials saying they are being conducted with Iranian-made Shahed-136 “kamikaze drones“, which fly to their target and detonate.
A Russian military truck drives past an unexploded munition in the Russia-controlled village of Chornobaivka [File: Alexander Ermochenko/Reuters]
Iran denies supplying the drones and on Tuesday the Kremlin also denied using them.
“Russian tech is being used,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, referring other questions to the defence ministry.
However, two senior Iranian officials and two Iranian diplomats told the Reuters news agency that Tehran had promised to provide Russia with more drones as well as surface-to-surface missiles.
Russia has destroyed almost a third of Ukraine’s power stations in the past week, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaking in his nightly video address he urged Ukrainians to cut back on electricity consumption in the evenings.
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Donald Trump Had Manipulated COVID Data To Dissuade Any Negative Public Sentiment: Report
Donald Trump Had Manipulated COVID Data To Dissuade Any Negative Public Sentiment: Report https://digitalarizonanews.com/donald-trump-had-manipulated-covid-data-to-dissuade-any-negative-public-sentiment-report/
In a major revelation, the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis has found former President Donald Trump had manipulated the data on the lethal virus in order to dissuade any negative public sentiment against him or his party before the Presidential elections. While investigating the involvement of the federal government in obscuring the actual data, the agency found Trump had compromised the scientific integrity of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) coronavirus response in an attempt to serve his political ambitions. According to the investigating agency, it found several concrete pieces of evidence that prove how Trump Administration officials usurped control of CDC communications and blocked public health officials from providing accurate information about the coronavirus to the American people.
It said that the Trump administration had installed political operatives who sought to downplay the seriousness of the pandemic and punished career officials who contradicted administration points. “In April 2020, President Trump installed Michael Caputo—his close political ally — as Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), allowing him to take over approval of coronavirus communications,” the committee said in a statement. “To control CDC messaging, Caputo used “bully-ish behaviour” designed to make CDC personnel “feel threatened,” Kate Galatas, Deputy Director of the Office of Associate Director for Communications at CDC, explained to the Select Subcommittee.
Administration overruled scientists to weaken multiple CDC guidance
Even in one incident, Caputo expressed that he was “very displeased” with statements made by CDC’s Deputy Director of Infectious Diseases Dr Jay Butler during a June 12, 2020, telebriefing that he felt were “too alarming.” Dr Butler told the Select Subcommittee that he “was not really asked back to do telebriefings” after the incident. Besides, it found the administration overruled scientists to weaken multiple CDC guidance documents and exploited and counteract CDC’s public health authorities to achieve political goals, according to the report released on Sunday.
It mentioned that the administration had attempted to manipulate the content and block the publication of CDC’s scientific reports and destroy evidence of such political interference. Moreover, it tried to divert taxpayer money away from CDC to inject overtly pro-Trump slogans into public service announcements about vaccines.
Republicans refuted report
Meanwhile, Republicans refuted the claims made in the latest report and have pledged to execute their own investigation if they prevail in the House or the Senate in November’s midterm elections. It is worth mentioning the US witnessed the worst-ever situation during the pandemic. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), from 3 January 2020 to 17 October 2022, there have been 95,529,652 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with 1,052,823 deaths. As of 6 October 2022, a total of 6,16,508,199 vaccine doses have been administered.
Image: AP/Pixabay
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US Offers Hurricane Assistance To Cubans Amid Blackouts
US Offers Hurricane Assistance To Cubans Amid Blackouts https://digitalarizonanews.com/us-offers-hurricane-assistance-to-cubans-amid-blackouts/
By GISELA SALOMON – Associated Press
MIAMI (AP) — The United States said Tuesday it has offered critical emergency humanitarian assistance to the people of Cuba to recover from the devastation caused by Hurricane Ian, an unusual but not unprecedented move after years of bilateral tensions.
The assistance includes $2 million in provisions and supplies that will be delivered through independent non-governmental organizations that have experience and are already working on the island directly with the affected populations, said a senior administration official who asked to remain anonymous following government policies.
“We are responding to a disaster by working with our international humanitarian assistance partners to deliver critical assistance directly to those most in need,” she said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before the official announcement. “We stand with the Cuban people and will continue to seek ways to improve their political and economical well-being.”
The emergency aid will be provided through “trusted international partners,” like the Red Cross, by way of the United States Agency for International Development, or USAID.
The announcement comes after Ian hit the western part of the island in late September, causing extensive damage to its power grid. The hurricane left large swathes of Cuba with blackouts, fueling discontent on the Caribbean island, especially in rural areas where the blackouts are the worst.
Cuba already faced a deep energy crisis and economic turmoil before Ian, especially after a fire in August devastated an oil deposit 60 miles (97 kilometers) from Havana that was a key source of energy.
The protests sparked by the blackouts are the biggest since mass demonstrations in 2021 triggered by similar problems. Detentions of protesters by Cuban authorities have repeatedly generated human rights complaints from international observers, including the U.S.
While the two countries have long had a tense relationship, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez expressed his gratitude for the offer from the Biden administration immediately after the announcement and confirmed that it will come through the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Rodríguez said on his Twitter account that the aid will contribute to recovery efforts and support those affected by Hurricane Ian.
After the storm, U.S. officials spoke with the island’s authorities to find out what their needs were and how they could help, the official said in the interview with AP. The assistance, however, will not go to the Cuban government, but rather to the population directly, she said. She said through the conversations the administration learned that the greatest needs are in shelter restoration and food.
On some occasions, the Cuban authorities have accused the United States of approving aid for NGOs that are a cover for Cuban dissidents in Florida, whom they allege have appropriated the money.
This is not the first time that the U.S. government has provided humanitarian assistance to Cuba in the wake of natural disasters. It did it in 2008, in the wake of Hurricane Gustav; and from 2004 to 2006, in the wake of Hurricanes Charley, Dennis and Wilma.
The current move represents a small step in thawing icy relations between the two nations.
For more than six decades, the United States has imposed various levels of embargo on Cuba. During the Obama administration, such restrictions were eased but came back into full force under the Trump administration. While President Joe Biden has made efforts to ease a few of the measures – like travel and remittances to bring families closer – he’s left many Trump-era restrictions in place, which have significantly affected the Cuban economy. The administration also announced it would resume visa services after previously closing the embassy following a series of health incidents.
The full embargo can only be lifted with an authorization from the U.S. Congress, and the official said the aid will be consistent with the U.S. laws and regulations.
The official said the U.S will continued its demands for the release of political prisoners and respect for human rights on the island.
———-
AP reporters Megan Janetsky and Andrea Rodríguez contributed from Havana.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Igor Danchenko Acquitted Of Lying To The FBI In Trump Dossier Case Mountain Top Media
Igor Danchenko Acquitted Of Lying To The FBI In Trump Dossier Case – Mountain Top Media https://digitalarizonanews.com/igor-danchenko-acquitted-of-lying-to-the-fbi-in-trump-dossier-case-mountain-top-media/
Igor Danchenko acquitted of lying to the FBI in Trump dossier case
mountain top media
Article Updated: October 18, 2022
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A federal jury has acquitted Russian analyst Igor Danchenko of four counts of lying to the FBI during its investigation of connections between Russia and former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
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Homeowners In Chandler May Soon Get Approval To Raise Chickens In Backyard
Homeowners In Chandler May Soon Get Approval To Raise Chickens In Backyard https://digitalarizonanews.com/homeowners-in-chandler-may-soon-get-approval-to-raise-chickens-in-backyard/
CHANDLER, AZ (3TV/CBS 5) – Growing up in New York, Jessica Aldulaimi never thought she’d have chickens as pets, but now, she can’t imagine life without them.
“It’s a lot of fun,” said Aldlaimi. “They each have different personalities. I’m like their little mama. When I come outside they come running to me.” The Chandler woman lives on a large piece of land that allows her to have chickens.
But other homeowners in the city aren’t so lucky, but that may be about to change. The City of Chandler is looking to amend one of its zoning requirements regarding backyard chickens. If approved, all single-family homes would be allowed to have up to five chickens in their backyard as long as they meet specific guidelines.
Lauren Schulmann with Chandler’s Planning Division said an overwhelming number of residents are in favor of having chickens as pets, to grow eggs or have some feathered companions. If a Homeowner’s Association doesn’t want chickens, they can vote not to have them. “If this does get approved, HOA’s still have the ability to prevent chickens within their subdivisions,” said Schulmann. “Residents should check with their HOA’s prior to getting chickens if this code amendment is approved.”
The new zoning amendment would prohibit all roosters from residential properties, and chicken coops would need to be set back at least five feet from the property line.
Aldulaimi hopes other Chandler homeowners will experience the joy of having chickens hanging out in their backyards. “I love the idea of more people enjoying chickens,” said Aldulaimi. “I love my chickens, our whole family loves them, just keep in mind during summer months they need extra care out in the heat and have lots of cold water. Other than that, they are really easy, lay great eggs and a lot of fun.”
Chandler residents can still voice their opinion about the possible change in zoning ordinance by visiting: www.ChandlerAz.go/backyardchickens.
Chandler’s Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to approve the new rules on backyard chickens Wednesday night. The Chandler City Council would vote on the issue on Nov. 10.
Copyright 2022 KTVK/KPHO. All rights reserved.
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Key Oath Keepers Witness Testifies Jan. 6 Plans Potentially ‘treasonous’ https://digitalarizonanews.com/key-oath-keepers-witness-testifies-jan-6-plans-potentially-treasonous/
A key government witness in the seditious conspiracy trial of Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four other members said defendants on Jan. 6, 2021, were prepared to stop Congress from confirming the 2020 election result “by any means necessary” — including armed combat — and understood their plans to be potentially “treasonous.”
The testimony Tuesday by Jason Dolan was the first in the trial from several cooperating Oath Keepers witnesses who have pleaded guilty in the Capitol attack investigation. The Florida man and others are expected to be critical to the prosecution because they have admitted under oath to what Rhodes and co-defendants are charged with: plotting to obstruct and disrupt Congress by, as Dolan put it in plea papers, “intimidating and coercing governmental personnel.”
Prosecutors must show that even though Rhodes did not enter the building that day, he and co-defendants conspired to oppose by force the lawful transition of presidential power, culminating in the Capitol attack, making Dolan a direct witness.
Dolan, a 19-year former Marine and infantry unit leader, recalled to jurors how he sent an encrypted message to other Oath Keepers members in Florida on Dec. 6, 2020, agonizing over whether after serving five overseas deployments he should ask his family to let him go into combat again. But this time it would be against fellow Americans, “with no pay, no coming back, no awards, no homecoming and if I’m lucky I get a prison sentence, tagged with treason, or a bullet from the very people I would protect.”
On the stand, Dolan said he understood it “would be treasonous fighting against what I saw as an illegitimate form of government,” but that Oath Keepers had discussed and Rhodes had declared that even if President Donald Trump took no action, they would. That meant, Dolan said, “We will act to stop the certification of the election … by any means necessary. That’s why we brought our firearms.”
Dolan said his understanding was that if Trump called on a private militia to keep him in office, “We would be fighting with pro-Trump forces basically against pro-Biden forces.”
“Within the United States government?” U.S. prosecutor Jeffrey S. Nestler asked.
“Yes,” Dolan answered, saying the pro-Trump side would have battled forces loyal to Congress and Democrats on the other.
Dolan, 46, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to conspiracy and aiding and abetting the obstruction of Congress’s confirmation of the 2020 election results.
A former security guard and head of shipping and receiving for a Four Seasons resort in Palm Beach, Fla., Dolan admitted being among a group that forced entry through the Capitol’s East Rotunda doors after marching single file up the steps, wearing camouflage vests, helmets, goggles and Oath Keepers insignia.
Cooperating in hopes of trimming a likely prison term of five to seven years, Dolan said he brought a rifle, pistol and ammunition to the Washington area with others in the group who were stashing weapons at a Ballston hotel in case a “Quick Reaction Force” (QRF) was needed. Dolan said he communicated, met with and identified at the defense table Rhodes and Florida co-defendants Kelly Meggs and Kenneth Harrelson.
Audio excerpts from a conference call with Stewart Rhodes and other Oath Keepers on Nov. 9, 2020, detail plans for a “guerrilla fight” on Jan. 6, 2021. (Video: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia)
Inside the Capitol, Dolan testified, he repeatedly chanted “Treason!” He also believed lawmakers could be “scared into doing the right thing,” and later obstructed the investigation by resetting his cellphone, deleting photographs from inside the Capitol and encrypting communications, he said.
Dolan’s appearance at Rhodes’s trial, now in its third week, and testimony by any of three others who have admitted to seditious conspiracy, could be central to whether prosecutors can distinguish Rhodes’s and his co-defendants’ actions from those of nearly 300 who are accused of trying or conspiring to obstruct Congress, but not using force to oppose the government. .
Only 19 people — all affiliated with the extremist right-wing groups Oath Keepers and Proud Boys — have been charged with seditious conspiracy, accused of playing an outsize role in mobilizing and planning for violence that day. Both conspiracy and seditious conspiracy charges are punishable by the same maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Rhodes and four co-defendants have pleaded not guilty. Their attorneys have said the QRF was for defensive purposes only if Trump invoked the Insurrection Act to mobilize the military and militia to stay in power. Their attorneys have also said that they complied with all firearms laws and that they came to Washington as a peacekeeping force and security guards for Republican VIPs.
Through more than a dozen witnesses so far, prosecutors have shown jurors many of the military-style rifles Oath Keepers members brought to the area, including Dolan’s, which he said he recognized because he built it himself.
On Monday, FBI Special Agent Sylvia Hilgeman testified that Rhodes spent as much $20,000 on his way to Washington to purchase at least three rifles and a semiautomatic shotgun, part of $150,000 he withdrew from an Oath Keepers bank account for January 2021.
“The point of the QRF was to prevent Biden from taking power in whatever form that took,” Hilgeman testified. “I think the QRF was meant to occupy D.C.”
Dolan testified that he was prepared to take up arms with divided federal forces. But he said his path to that point was “pretty naive and downright stupid” in hindsight. He said he was thankful Trump did not unleash further violence.
Dolan was not charged with seditious conspiracy, an offense that, if he had been convicted, would have ended his military benefits, which help support his wife and daughter. He said he left his hotel job just before undergoing hip-replacement surgery in 2018 or 2019 — the culmination of five or six procedures for “long-term issues, gut issues and really bad hip and feet injuries” from military service.
In 2020, he said he spent “a lot of time in the garage in the evenings drinking and trying to kill the pain” with anything from a six-pack of beer to a half-bottle of vodka by himself before discovering the Oath Keepers.
“It felt good to know there were other people out there who felt the same way I did,” Dolan said. He viewed the group as “patriotic for our country” and believed “The same idea of the election having been stolen, or at least thinking that it had been stolen.”
Dolan said if a handful of people fight against what they see as “an illegitimate form of government, [they] would be tossed in prison.”
By contrast, the Oath Keepers said on Signal, “10,000 people” would get you a war. As he headed to the Capitol on the afternoon of Jan. 6, Dolan told jurors: “Here you had 100,000 people who looked like they were [angry] that day. For me at least, it seemed if anything was going to happen to stop the certification of the election, that was going to be it.”
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You Can Keep More Money From The IRS Next Year Thanks To Inflation
You Can Keep More Money From The IRS Next Year, Thanks To Inflation https://digitalarizonanews.com/you-can-keep-more-money-from-the-irs-next-year-thanks-to-inflation/
The Internal Revenue Service will allow Americans to shield more of their income from taxes in 2023 because of higher inflation, the agency announced Tuesday, raising income thresholds for all tax brackets and increasing the standard deduction.
The top tax rate of 37 percent will apply to individuals with income exceeding $578,125 and married couples filing jointly with income more than $693,750. Both of those amounts are up 7 percent from 2022 to track with increases in the consumer price index.
The standard deduction — the baseline amount of income that filers can collect tax free — will increase to $13,850 for individuals and $27,700 for married couples. It is the largest adjustment to deductions since 1985, when the IRS began annual automatic inflationary adjustments.
Certain parts of the tax code are tied to inflation to prevent rising prices from causing higher taxes. Taxpayers will see the new figures reflected in withholding statements on paychecks beginning in January, with workers securing more take-home pay.
The tax system changes follow a large cost of living adjustment, or COLA, announced by the Social Security Administration last week to compensate for inflation. Social Security benefits are set to jump 8.7 percent in 2023, the greatest such increase in four decades.
Several other elements of the tax code also are indexed to inflation. The maximum 2023 Earned Income Tax Credit, one of the federal government’s main anti-poverty measures, will be $7,430, up from $6,935 in 2022.
The annual gift tax exclusion — the maximum amount one person can give another without incurring a tax penalty — will rise to $17,000 from $16,000. The estate tax threshold, often used by the wealthiest Americans to shield inherited assets from levies, will jump to $12.9 million from $12.1 million.
The IRS will also allow parents adopting a child to shield $15,950 per child from taxes, up from $14,890 in 2022.
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AZ Game And Fish Seeks Input On Apache Trout Project In White Mountains
AZ Game And Fish Seeks Input On Apache Trout Project In White Mountains https://digitalarizonanews.com/az-game-and-fish-seeks-input-on-apache-trout-project-in-white-mountains/
Ron Dungan/KJZZ
West Fork of the Black River.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently announced it may remove the Apache trout from the endangered species list.
Now the Arizona Game and Fish Department hopes to move forward with a project to restore the fish in a White Mountain watershed.
The department would like to build new fish barriers and use rotenone, a pesticide that kills fish, to remove nonnative trout from the West Fork of the Black River.
The work will help restore about 44 miles of stream habitat for native species, including the Apache trout.
Phase one of the project would create fish barriers in the upper portion of the stream in 2023.
The second phase would treat a lower portion of the stream in 2024.
The agency will have meetings for public input on the project this week and next.
The first meeting will take place 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 20, at the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s Pinetop office, 2878 E. White Mountain Blvd, Pinetop, AZ 85935.
The next meeting will take place 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 24, in the Quail Room at Arizona Game and Fish Department Headquarters, 5000 W. Carefree Highway, Phoenix, AZ 85086.
You can also attend virtually by going to azgfd.gov/webcast.
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Oath Keepers Member: We Were Preparing to Take Up Arms And Fight Back
Oath Keepers Member: We Were Preparing “to Take Up Arms And Fight Back” https://digitalarizonanews.com/oath-keepers-member-we-were-preparing-to-take-up-arms-and-fight-back/
Washington – A member of the far-right Oath Keepers told a jury on Tuesday that he traveled to Washington, D.C., and stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in an attempt to stop Congress from certifying Joe Biden’s election win.
“I threw my rifle and pistol in the car…and ultimately ended up on the steps of the Capitol, moving into the Capitol building, to try and stop Congress from certifying [Biden’s presidency],” Jason Dolan testified during the trial of five Oath Keepers – including founder Stewart Rhodes – who stand accused of conspiring to use force to stop the peaceful transfer of power.
Dolan, a former member of the militia group’s Florida contingent, was called as a government witness after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstructing Congress’ work, admitting to entering the Capitol and being part of the mob that drove members of Congress from performing their duty. As part of his plea deal, Dolan agreed to cooperate with the Justice Department’s ongoing investigation into the breach, including in cases that deal directly with those whom he once called fellow group members.
“I helped coordinate. I helped plan,” Dolan admitted on the stand Tuesday, “I talked about my desire and I guess wanting to stop what I saw as an illegitimate government…[from] taking power.”
Members of the Oath Keepers on the East Front of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, in Washington. / Credit: Manuel Balce Ceneta / AP
The admitted rioter-turned-government witness offered new insight into the planning, coordination, and motivation behind the Oath Keepers’ alleged participation in the Jan. 6 attack. Rhodes and codefendants Kelly Meggs, Kenneth Harrelson, Jessica Watkins and Thomas Caldwell are accused of spearheading that fight. All have pleaded not guilty and their defense attorneys maintain their clients were in Washington, D.C. to serve as security and emergency responders that day.
Dolan did not meet the group’s leader until after the attack. But he testified that Rhodes spoke of the need to take action should then-President Donald Trump invoke a centuries-old law known as the Insurrection Act and call on the Oath Keepers to join his fight to stay in power. And if Trump failed them, Dolan testified, the group was prepared to take matters into their own hands.
They had to be “willing to fight back against an illegitimate government and support what we saw as the rightful president against an illegitimate president,” Dolan said.
“We were preparing for a trip to D.C.,” he recalled, admitting some memories might not be perfectly clear. “If need be, then to take up arms and fight back because that’s what we have been talking about.”
Dolan described the group’s alleged willingness to fight not as an explicit call to action, but as the implicit “tenor” of their conversations. “We have to fight back…it was a feeling,” he said.
Dolan is the first member of the Oath Keepers to plead guilty to committing crimes on Jan. 6 to testify as a witness at the seditious conspiracy trial, which is now in its third week. Other Oath Keepers who pleaded guilty could testify in the coming days. “How would you fight?” asked prosecutor Jeffrey Nester.
“Any way we could,” Dolan answered.
Defense attorneys have yet to question Dolan and are expected to probe his testimony during cross-examination on Wednesday
Motivated by his desire to support Trump’s baseless claims of election fraud – “It didn’t seem possible that he was going to lose,” he said – Dolan testified that he traveled to Washington, D.C. with his firearms and a group that included defendant Kenneth Harrelson.
He said he deposited his guns in a Virginia hotel room to avoid breaking Washington, D.C.’s strict firearms laws days before the attack and later made his way into the capital city on Jan. 6. Dolan testified that it was his understanding that the group would either return to their hotels to obtain their weapons or have them delivered to D.C. should the need arise.
“If President Trump declared the Insurrection Act, we would be working alongside or with pro-government forces against what we saw as anti-government forces,” Dolan said, describing the anti-government forces as being “pro-Biden.” The witness explained that he had little knowledge of the arcane law that was so central to the alleged conspiracy he was describing and instead relied on the direction of Rhodes and others.
The call from Trump never came.
Once at the Capitol, Dolan said he noticed a change in the crowd as the Trump supporters realized then-Vice President Mike Pence was not going to assist in Trump’s effort to overturn the election.
“I was pissed. You could almost feel the crowd change. The crowd was pissed,” he described.
If anything was to stop the election certification, Dolan said, that crowd would have been it.
Over the course of the trial, prosecutors had yet to provide ample evidence that the Oath Keepers’ plans for Jan. 6 actually involved storming the Capitol itself – an apparent vulnerability upon which defense attorneys seized during cross-examinations. But Dolan’s testimony offered some of the first allegations that the group was at the Capitol to halt the peaceful transfer of power.
“I wanted them to stop the certification of the election,” Dolan said as Nestler showed the jury videos of the Oath Keerps inside the Capitol, some members of the mob yelling “treason.”
“I had been betrayed and I wanted them to hear and feel the anger, the frustration, the rage that I felt.”
Dolan, who said he now faces between five and seven years in prison for his admitted crimes, testified that although he did not receive any promises from the government for his testimony, he hoped his work on the stand would push prosecutors to recommend a less jail time Judge Amit Mehta on his behalf. Mehta is the presiding judge in both Dolan’s case and the trial currently underway.
After he exited the Capitol building on Jan. 6, Dolan said he saw Meggs and Rhodes outside, his first in-person encounter with the group’s founder.
“Looking back on it, I think I was pretty naive, downright stupid with some of my decisions. I’m thankful that – President Trump at the time didn’t do something like invoke the Insurrection Act because I think…there would have been a lot of violence had he,” Dolan reflected.
Tuesday’s proceedings also included testimony from U.S. Capitol Police Captain Ronald Ortega, a veteran of the force who described the events of Jan. 6 from his perspective.
In the morning, Mehta informed the legal teams that one juror had tested positive for COVID-19 and was therefore excused from service. One of the four alternate jurors selected at the beginning of the trial filled the seat and Mehta said the court both tested the jurors and polled them to ensure all felt comfortable continuing to go on with the proceedings.
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'Nobody's Tougher': Listen To Trump Brag To Woodward About Overcoming His Impeachment Challenges
'Nobody's Tougher': Listen To Trump Brag To Woodward About Overcoming His Impeachment Challenges https://digitalarizonanews.com/nobodys-tougher-listen-to-trump-brag-to-woodward-about-overcoming-his-impeachment-challenges/
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Bob Woodward Calls Trump An https://digitalarizonanews.com/bob-woodward-calls-trump-an/
October 18, 2022 08:39 PM
Former President Donald Trump is “an unparalleled danger,” veteran investigative journalist Bob Woodward declares in his new audiobook, The Trump Tapes.
The Watergate sleuth, who is releasing eight hours of recorded interviews with Trump and people in his orbit, says in the epilogue that his prior assessments of Trump and his presidency were too tame, according to a preview.
“Trump is an unparalleled danger. The record now shows that Trump has led, and continues to lead, a seditious conspiracy to overturn the 2020 election, which in effect is an effort to destroy democracy,” Woodward concludes.
Among the conversations disclosed in the audiobook, set for an Oct. 25 release, were those that shed light on Trump’s views on sensitive documents — now the central focus of a federal investigation. In one exchange in December 2019, Trump shared with Woodward letters North Korean leader Kim Jong Un wrote to him and an acknowledgment that he should not be showing them around. “Don’t say I gave them to you, OK?” Trump said. A month later, Trump said over the phone, “Oh, those are so top secret,” when Woodward pushed to see letters Trump wrote to Kim.
Woodward helped expose the Watergate scandal in the Nixon administration nearly 50 years ago with his reporting for the Washington Post with Carl Bernstein, and over the years, Woodward has written a flurry of books about presidents, most recently a trio about Trump.
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Several months ago, Woodward and Bernstein got together again and were published by the Washington Post ahead of when the House committee investigating the Capitol riot held the first in a series of summer hearings. They argued then, with a focus on Jan. 6, that Trump had surpassed Richard Nixon as the poster child of corruption, calling Trump the first “seditious” president.
Trump has heavily hinted that he is considering a third run for president in 2024 but has yet to make a formal announcement.
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Tim Michels Says He Will Accept Nov. Election Results After Not Fully Committing
Tim Michels Says He Will Accept Nov. Election Results After Not Fully Committing https://digitalarizonanews.com/tim-michels-says-he-will-accept-nov-election-results-after-not-fully-committing/
MILWAUKEE Wis. (CBS 58) — Republican governor candidate Tim Michels said he’d “certainly” accept the results of the November election after not fully committing and embracing former President Donald Trump’s falsehoods of widespread voter fraud.
Michels, who’s endorsed by Trump, responded to CBS 58’s question on Tuesday whether he’d accept the election results after days earlier declining to answer during a televised debate with his Democratic opponent Governor Tony Evers.
“I will accept the results of the November election. Certainty,” Michels said after attending an event at the Rotary Club in Milwaukee.
After the event, I asked Michels if he would accept the results of the Nov. election and he said “certainly.” During the Gov. debate on Friday he declined to answer that question. https://t.co/yv54MWyOvu pic.twitter.com/lSY2PtKf6O
— Emilee Fannon (@Emilee_Fannon) October 18, 2022
On Friday, both Michels and Evers were asked if they’d accept the election results during their first and only debate. Evers replied “yes,” while Michels didn’t say. Instead, for the first time, Michels answered by committing to certifying the next presidential election after previously stating he wouldn’t rule out decertifying the 2020 election, a move that is legally impossible.
In October, a campaign spokesperson for Michels told the Wisconsin State Journal he would accept the Nov. 8 results, “provided the election is conducted fairly and securely.”
Shortly after securing Trump’s endorsement ahead of the August primary, Michels told CBS 58 he was unsure whether the election was stolen from the former president. In a statement about Michels’ endorsement, Trump praised him and said he would “end the well-documented fraud in our elections.”
Since then, Michels has strictly focused his campaign around election integrity reforms, promising to sign election bills passed by Republicans and vetoed by Gov. Evers that would make a series of changes.
Michels has also called for dismantling the state elections commission after previously saying he was in favor of replacing the six members who serve on the bipartisan commission.
For months Trump pressured Republican lawmakers, including Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, to revoke Wisconsin’s 10 electoral votes for Joe Biden.
Vos has said he told the president in a phone call there’s no legal pathway for decertification. That phone call has caught the attention of the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack at the U.S Capitol. Vos was issued a subpoena seeking information about his call with Trump. Vos is seeking to block the subpoena and a hearing is set for Oct. 24.
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'Any Means Necessary' To Stop Trump Loss https://digitalarizonanews.com/any-means-necessary-to-stop-trump-loss/
Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes and four associates face charges of seditious conspiracy. (AP PHOTO)
Oath Keepers extremists were prepared to use “any means necessary” to stop the certification of President Joe Biden’s electoral victory on January 6, 2021, a member of the far-right group has testified.
Jason Dolan, a 46-year-old retired Marine who last year pleaded guilty to taking part in the assault on the Capitol, testified on Tuesday at the federal criminal trial of the group’s founder, Stewart Rhodes, and four associates, who face charges of seditious conspiracy for their role in the violence.
Dolan told the jury he joined the Oath Keepers out of frustration over Republican Donald Trump’s 2020 loss and he grew willing to “fight” against what he saw was an “illegitimate” government as he drank alcohol and texted with group members for hours each night inside his garage in Florida.
Dolan stormed the Capitol with several other Oath Keepers and loudly chanted “treason” in the hopes that Congress would “be afraid of me” and not certify Democrat Joe Biden’s election.
“It seemed to me a lot of us were prepared – I was prepared – to stop the certification process one way or the other,” Dolan said.
When asked by the prosecutor how they would achieve that goal, Dolan responded: “By any means necessary. That’s why we brought our firearms.”
Trump continues to falsely claim his defeat was the result of fraud.
Rhodes and his four co-defendants – Jessica Watkins, Thomas Caldwell, Kenneth Harrelson and Kelly Meggs – are charged with seditious conspiracy, a rarely prosecuted crime under a statute dating to the Civil War era defined as attempting “to overthrow, put down or to destroy by force the government of the United States”.
On January 6, some of the group’s members, including Dolan, were among the thousands of Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol, battling police and sending members of Congress scrambling for cover.
Prosecutors say the group planned a “quick reaction force” of armed members who waited at a hotel in northern Virginia with a stash of firearms they could ferry across the Potomac River into the capital if called upon.
Dolan testified that he brought his assault-style rifle and a pistol with him from Florida, and stashed them in a Virginia hotel.
He pleaded guilty in September 2021 to conspiracy and obstructing an official proceeding and agreed to co-operate with the government in the hope of getting a reduced sentence.
Australian Associated Press
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