Digital Arkansas News

NY AG Letitia James Is Overwhelming Favorite To Win Re-Election https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ny-ag-letitia-james-is-overwhelming-favorite-to-win-re-election/ A little less than a year ago, the race for state attorney general was a wide-open, crowded contest with more than a half-dozen announced candidates. Then, sitting Attorney General Letitia James announced she would seek re-election, abandoning a run for governor. Now, she is now the overwhelming favorite to win a second term in office against Republican Michael Henry. During her first term, James has made national headlines going after high-profile targets like Facebook, Google and the National Rifle Association. What You Need To Know State Attorney General Letitia James is facing Republican Michael Henry in next month’s general election James has made national headlines going after high-profile targets like Facebook, Google, the National Rifle Association and former President Donald Trump James launched a run for governor last October but dropped out less than six weeks later, announcing she would seek re-election instead Several Democrats who had announced plans to run for her seat dropped out and endorsed her, clearing the field in the June primary Then last month, she set her sights on the biggest fish of all: former President Donald Trump. In a civil lawsuit, James accused Trump of years of financial fraud. “Claiming you have money that you do not have does not amount to the art of the deal. It’s the art of the steal,” she quipped at a news conference last month announcing the lawsuit. If her lawsuit succeeds, it wouldn’t be the first powerful politician James has taken down. Last year, her report corroborating sexual harassment allegations against then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo led to his resignation. James then sought to step into the void, launching her own run for governor last October. But the campaign never took off, and she dropped out less than six weeks later, announcing she would instead seek another term in her current post. Several Democrats who had announced plans to run for her seat almost immediately bowed out and endorsed her, paving the way for a largely frictionless re-election campaign. James was elected attorney general in 2018 following the resignation of Eric Schneiderman, becoming the first Black woman elected to statewide office. It was a long, steady rise through the ranks of New York politics. She was elected to the New York City Council in 2003 and, 10 years later, was elected the city’s public advocate. James appears secure in her current role, having won support from labor unions, advocacy groups and Democrats across the board — even those she once sought to challenge. “I look forward to having her on the ticket as we head into the November election together,” Gov. Kathy Hochul said last year after James dropped out of the governor’s race. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 8. Read More Here

Justice Department Urges Supreme Court To Reject Trump Request Over Seized Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/justice-department-urges-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-request-over-seized-mar-a-lago-documents-2/ WASHINGTON — The Biden administration asked the Supreme Court on Tuesday to reject former President Donald Trump‘s request to give the special master reviewing documents seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate access to those marked as classified. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in court papers that Trump would suffer “no harm at all” if the documents are temporarily withheld from the special master. Addressing Trump’s potential ownership stake in the documents, including possible assertions of attorney-client privilege or executive privilege, Prelogar said Trump had “no plausible claims.” Whatever the court decides in weighing Trump’s relatively narrow request, it will not affect the Justice Department’s access to the same documents in its criminal investigation. The more than 100 classified documents are just a small part of the 11,000 records federal agents seized amid concerns that Trump had unlawfully retained official White House records after he left office. Image: Mar-a-Lago documents (Department of Justice via AP) The high court is reviewing the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision Sept. 21 to bar the special master, Senior U.S. District Judge Raymond Dearie, from reviewing the documents. Trump had not contested a separate part of the ruling that allowed the Justice Department to use the documents. A decision by the Supreme Court is due at any time. Prelogar said the case arose only because of an “unusual — indeed unprecedented — order” that U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon issued in response the lawsuit Trump filed after the government searched his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, in early August. Cannon prevented the government from using the documents as part of a criminal investigation, a decision partly blocked by the appeals court, and appointed the special master to review them. “This application concerns an unprecedented order by the district court restricting the Executive Branch’s use of its own highly classified records in an ongoing criminal investigation and directing the dissemination of those records outside the Executive Branch for a special-master review,” Prelogar wrote. Trump’s lawyers had said the appeals court’s decision to block access to the special master “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master.” They added that “any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.” The appeals court said that certain documents are deemed classified because they include information that could harm national security and that for that reason people may have access to them only if they need to know that information. Under federal law, official White House records are federal property and must be handed over to the National Archives when a president leaves office. Trump says that he did nothing improper and that he wants Dearie to determine the status of the documents, including those marked as classified. Although the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices he appointed, Trump has not recently fared well in other emergency applications, including his attempt to prevent White House documents from being handed over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol and his bid to avoid disclosure of his financial records to prosecutors in New York. This article was originally published on NBCNews.com Read More Here

Justice Dept. Asks US Supreme Court To Reject Trump Appeal In Classified Documents Case – UrduPoint https://digitalarkansasnews.com/justice-dept-asks-us-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-appeal-in-classified-documents-case-urdupoint/ Umer Jamshaid Published October 12, 2022 | 03:50 AM WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 12th October, 2022) The Justice Department said it has filed a brief asking the US Supreme Court to reject an appeal by the former President Donald Trump over the allegedly classified documents seized from his residence in Florida. Trump filed an emergency appeal asking the Supreme Court to permit a “special master” to review some 100 allegedly classified documents seized by the FBI from his Mar-a-Lago residence after an appeals court ruled against him. “Because applicant has no plausible claims of ownership of or privilege in the documents bearing classification markings … he will suffer no harm at all from a temporary stay of the special master’s review of those materials while the government‘s appeal proceeds,” Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said on Tuesday. The Justice Department argued Trump‘s claims had no merit, claiming the documents include extraordinarily sensitive government records. The Justice Department is trying to determine whether or not it can prove Trump violated the Espionage Act, whether or not he illegally withheld national security secrets and if he lied about it and tried to obstruct the Justice Department investigation. Trump has said the Biden Justice Department has been politicized and the justice system weaponized against him – and other opponents of the Democratic party – in the attempt to prevent the former president from running for the highest office again. Read More Here

Little Dog Brings Big Relief https://digitalarkansasnews.com/little-dog-brings-big-relief/ Bell Tower Magazine | Health Education and Human Sciences | BT-CurrentOctober 20, 2022 Little Dog Brings Big Relief If you don’t leave your job knowing you’ve improved someone’s day, you don’t have as good a job as Faith Walker, a Social Work student at the University of Arkansas – Fort Smith.  What Faith has is not so much a job as a volunteer vocation, sharing Honeybun, her emotional support animal, with people who need a little boost to get through the day.  “There is no visit that goes by that I don’t hear someone say, ‘I was having a really bad day, and now it’s so much better,’” she said. As someone pursuing a career in social work, Faith finds her work with Honeybun gives her a chance to see what the right kind of support can do for people facing critical life challenges. She has taken Honeybun to visit hospice patients who she believes find great solace in the visit. While Honeybun visits the patient, Faith can talk with family members, supporting them. Honeybun has a giant heart in a tiny body. Faith has had the long-hair chihuahua since the pup was six weeks old. Faith, who has “pretty bad anxiety,” worked with Honeybun to have her registered as an emotional support animal. That way, she could live with Faith in the dorms, which was a win for everyone. “She loved seeing the college kids, and she provided a lot of anxiety relief for me,” Faith said. Of course, the students loved the 7-pound bundle of happiness.  Now Faith likes taking her to the library during finals to give students a study break.  “Although the joy is only momentary, it is one moment when you can breathe and forget about whatever you are studying for,” she said.  Honeybun is also approved by the Alliance of Therapy Dogs, a nationally recognized therapy dog organization.  One of Faith’s favorite memories involves a hospice patient. “One elderly lady in hospice had taken a very quick road and was on her way to Heaven,” she remembered. “I asked if she would like Honeybun to lie next to her. She said yes and lit up when I placed Honeybun in the bed. Honeybun quickly snuggled in with this lovely lady. I remember visiting with her family while Honeybun snuggled. Sadly, she made it up to Jesus just a few days after I knew her.” For Faith, it’s a circle completed. “Honeybun has helped me through my darkest days, and being able to share that with other people is an amazing experience,” she said.  Tags: Community Social Work CHEHS Read More Here

Arkansas Leaders Hope To Contain Lone Avian Flu Outbreak, Avoid Supply Chain Issues https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-leaders-hope-to-contain-lone-avian-flu-outbreak-avoid-supply-chain-issues/ LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – After a Madison County farm discovered an avian flu outbreak last week, poultry producers are taking measures to prevent the disease from spreading to other flocks. Leaders hope to prevent any supply chain strains related to the commonly known bird flu. “We’re just making sure we’re following very strict biosecurity measures and doing everything we can to keep from introducing that disease into other poultry flocks across the state,” said Wes Ward, Arkansas’ Secretary of Agriculture. Bird flu can spread easily through chicken populations. Arkansas has the lone noted outbreak, but states across the country have reported their own cases. “It’s a disease that’s highly pathogenic,” Ward said. “It spreads very easily.” The Little Rock Zoo announced this week its birds will be moved indoors for the week. Ward said the Madison County farm acted quickly to stop the flu from getting out. “The quickest and best and most humane way to control the disease is to depopulate that flock that has it,” Ward said. University of Arkansas economist Jeff Cooperstein said poultry is a major part of the state’s economy. “If you count just chickens by themselves, [it’s] about $3.7 billion,” Cooperstein said. “If you add in egg production, you’re talking another $700 million.” Cooperstein said outbreaks could have an impact on poultry’s supply chain. “You could see higher prices at the checkout line,” Cooperstein said. Ward said Arkansas can avoid an outbreak if measures are followed, which would be good for farmers and shoppers. “This one incident in Arkansas isn’t going to have a large market-disrupting sort of impact,” Ward said. “It is part of a larger scenario.” Read More…

Zelenskyy Promotes https://digitalarkansasnews.com/zelenskyy-promotes/ Even as Ukraine endured a second day of intensified Russian strikes condemned by the U.N. and the Group of Seven leaders, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy outlined Tuesday a plan to end the war — and it doesn’t involve negotiating with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. Addressing an emergency virtual summit of the G-7 called after Monday’s barrage on Ukrainian power plants and civilian areas, Zelenskyy warned that Putin may yet escalate his attack now that he has ordered 2,400 Shahed drones from Iran. “This possibility is a threat to all of us,” Zelenskyy said before presenting his three-point “peace formula.” It calls for the West to provide weapons that would allow Ukraine to create a defensive “air shield,” protecting the country’s territorial integrity and punishing Russia for its invasion with stronger sanctions and political isolation. “Such steps can bring peace closer,” Zelenskyy said. “They will encourage the terrorist state to think about peace, about the unprofitability of war.” However, Zelenskyy dismissed the notion of holding peace talks with Putin, saying he’s “in the final stage of his reign” and “only believes in terror.” The U.S. and Germany have committed to sending Ukraine advanced air-defense systems. The first of four such weapons from the Germans arrived Tuesday, when the U.N. human rights office called Russia’s blistering missile strikes “particularly shocking.” The G-7 reiterated in a statement its steadfast support for Ukraine, warned of “severe consequences” if Russia resorted to using chemical, biological or nuclear weapons and condemned its latest assault. “Indiscriminate attacks on innocent civilian populations constitute a war crime,” the statement said. “We will hold President Putin and those responsible to account.” LIFE BECAME SUFERING: Illustrated stories from the siege of Mariupol. Other developments: ►Russian missile strikes hammered Ukrainian cities again Tuesday. Ukraine said it intercepted about 20 of the missiles. ►The U.N. human rights office says Russian missile strikes across Ukraine on Monday were “particularly shocking” and could amount to war crimes.  ►Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. says it is pulling out of Russia and plans to sell its operations to its Russian partner. Facebook owner Meta placed on Russian terrorist list Russian financial watchdog Rosfinmonitoring placed U.S.-based social media giant Meta Platforms on its list of extremists and terrorists Tuesday. It was not immediately clear what the effect of the move would be – the action comes more than six months after Moscow’s Tverskoy Court declared Meta networks Instagram and Facebook extremist and banned them across Russian territory. Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from USA TODAY. The ruling in March stemmed in part from a Russian criminal inquiry that cited “illegal calls for the murder of Russian nationals” by Meta employees. Meta has said it relaxed rules against violent speech for people inside Ukraine directed at Russian military in that country. Meta does not allow calls for violence against Russian people. NATO to conduct nuclear readiness exercises NATO will hold a long-planned exercise next week to test nuclear readiness, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Tuesday. Stoltenberg stressed that the training was an annual event and was not related to recent attacks by Russia on Ukrainian cities.  Stoltenberg said NATO was monitoring Russian President Vladimir Putin’s nuclear activity but saw no change in Russia’s nuclear posture. “It would send a very wrong signal now if we suddenly canceled a routine, longtime-planned exercise because of the war in Ukraine,” he said. Hong Kong won’t seize Russian’s luxury yacht Hong Kong won’t seize a $500 million luxury yacht belonging to a Russian oligarch and will implement only sanctions against Russia imposed by the United Nations, city leader John Lee said Tuesday. The luxury yacht Nord, believed to be owned by sanctioned Russian billionaire Alexei Mordashov, docked in Hong Kong waters last week. U.S. and European authorities have seized more than a dozen yachts belonging to sanctioned Russians, sending oligarchs scrambling for safe havens. The Nord measures more than 460 feet, and has two helipads, a swimming pool and 20 cabins. Hong Kong is a major financial center for Western nations, but China sets Hong Kong’s foreign policy and has declined to press sanctions against Russia for its invasion of of Ukraine. Lee reaffirmed his administration’s stance of not implementing sanctions imposed by the United States and the West and said he has “laughed off” U.S. sanctions placed on him and other officials in 2020 for implementing Beijing-imposed national security laws. The U.S. State Department said in a statement that “the possible use of Hong Kong as a safe haven by individuals evading sanctions from multiple jurisdictions further calls into question the transparency of the business environment.” Ukraine says power plant official kidnapped by Russians A deputy director at the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was kidnapped by Russian forces and is being held at an unknown location, the Ukraine nuclear energy company Energoatom said Tuesday. The company said on Telegram that it feared Valeriy Martyniuk was being tortured into providing personnel files of plant employees with a goal of forcing Ukrainian staffers to work for the Russian energy company Rosatom. The plant’s six reactors have been shut down for weeks. Energoatom appealed to International Atomic Energy Agency chief Rafael Grossi and the world community to “take all possible measures for the immediate release” of Martyniuk. UN considers resolution denouncing Russian ‘annexations’ The U.N. General Assembly will hold a historic vote this week on a resolution harshly denouncing Russia’s claim to have annexed four Ukraine regions. The document calls Russian-orchestrated referendums in Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia illegal and “incompatible with the U.N. Charter.” The resolution, which calls on Russia to withdraw its armed forces from Ukraine’s territory, requires approval by a two-thirds vote. A similar resolution in the U.N. Security Council was vetoed by Russia, which has no such power in the General Assembly. Contributing: The Associated Press Read More Here

Bank Of England Further Expands Bond-Market Rescue To Restore U.K.’s Financial Stability https://digitalarkansasnews.com/bank-of-england-further-expands-bond-market-rescue-to-restore-u-k-s-financial-stability/ Turmoil in the U.K. bond market created a feedback loop that left investors like pension funds short on cash and rippled out into other markets. WSJ’s Chelsey Dulaney explains the type of investment at the heart of the crisis. Illustration: Ryan Trefes Updated Oct. 11, 2022 5:29 pm ET LONDON—The Bank of England extended support targeted at pension funds for the second day in a row, the latest attempt to contain a bond-market selloff that has threatened U.K. financial stability. The central bank on Tuesday said it would add inflation-linked government bonds to its program of long-dated bond purchases, after an attempt on Monday to help pension funds failed to calm markets. Read More Here

WATCH: Eric Musselman, Nick Smith Jr., Jordan Walsh Preview Red-White Game And More https://digitalarkansasnews.com/watch-eric-musselman-nick-smith-jr-jordan-walsh-preview-red-white-game-and-more/ FAYETTEVILLE, Ar. (KNWA/KFTA) – Fans will get a chance to see the Arkansas men’s basketball team in action for the first time this year at the annual Red-White game. The game is set for Sunday at 2 p.m. in Barnhill Arena. It’s completely free to attend and seating is first come, first serve. Coach Eric Musselman, Nick Smith Jr. and Jordan Walsh sat down with the media on Tuesday to preview the game. You can watch those press conferences below: Read More Here

Trump Lawyer Who Vouched For Documents Meets With FBI https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-lawyer-who-vouched-for-documents-meets-with-fbi-2/ WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for former president Donald Trump who signed a letter stating that a “diligent search” for classified records had been conducted and that all such documents had been given back to the government, has spoken with the FBI, according to a person familiar with the matter. Christina Bobb told federal investigators during Friday’s interview that she had not drafted the letter but that another Trump lawyer who she said actually prepared it had asked her to sign it in her role as a designated custodian of Trump’s records, said the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The process is of interest to investigators because the Justice Department says the letter was untrue in asserting that all classified records sought by the government had been located and returned. Though the letter, and 38 documents bearing classification markings, were presented to FBI and Justice Department officials during a June 3 visit to Mar-a-Lago, agents returned to the Florida estate with a search warrant on Aug. 8 and seized about 100 additional classified records. According to an August court filing, the signed certification letter was presented to investigators who visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 to collect additional classified material from the home. The Justice Department had weeks earlier issued a subpoena for the records after it says it developed evidence that more classified documents remained at the estate beyond those contained in 15 boxes recovered in January by the National Archives and Records Administration. The letter produced for investigators asserted that, in response to the subpoena, “a diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida” and that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.” The letter also included the caveat that the statements in it were true “based upon the information that has been provided to me.” At the time, the FBI was presented with an envelope containing 38 documents with classification markings, including at the top-secret level. But agents began to suspect that they had not received the entire stash of records, and returned two months later with a warrant. Bobb told the FBI that the letter was actually drafted and prepared by another of Trump’s lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, and that he had asked her to sign it in her capacity as custodian of the records, according to the person. Corcoran did not immediately return an email and phone message on Tuesday. Spokespeople for the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment, and Bobb did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. The interview was first reported by NBC News. The person familiar with it said it was a voluntary discussion with investigators and did not take place before a grand jury, and that she is not regarded as a target of the investigation. The Justice Department has said that, beyond investigating possible crimes in the retention of the documents themselves, it is also investigating whether anyone sought to obstruct its probe. It is not clear if anyone will be charged. Copyright 2022 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Sign up for the Breaking News Newsletter and receive up to date information. Read More Here

Trump Lawyer Who Vouched For Documents Meets With FBI https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-lawyer-who-vouched-for-documents-meets-with-fbi-3/ This image contained in a court filing by the Department of Justice shows a photo of documents seized during the Aug. 8 FBI search of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. (Department of Justice via AP, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — A lawyer for former president Donald Trump who signed a letter stating that a “diligent search” for classified records had been conducted and that all such documents had been given back to the government has spoken with the FBI, according to a person familiar with the matter. Christina Bobb told federal investigators during Friday’s interview that she had not drafted the letter but that another Trump lawyer who she said actually prepared it had asked her to sign it in her role as a designated custodian of Trump’s records, said the person, who insisted on anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. The process is of interest to investigators because the Justice Department says the letter was untrue in asserting that all classified records sought by the government had been located and returned. Though the letter, and 38 documents bearing classification markings, were presented to FBI and Justice Department officials during a June 3 visit to Mar-a-Lago, agents returned to the Florida estate with a search warrant on Aug. 8 and seized about 100 additional classified records. According to an August court filing, the signed certification letter was presented to investigators who visited Mar-a-Lago on June 3 to collect additional classified material from the home. The Justice Department had weeks earlier issued a subpoena for the records after it says it developed evidence that more classified documents remained at the estate beyond those contained in 15 boxes recovered in January by the National Archives and Records Administration. The letter produced for investigators asserted that, in response to the subpoena, “a diligent search was conducted of the boxes that were moved from the White House to Florida” and that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.” The letter also included the caveat that the statements in it were true “based upon the information that has been provided to me.” At the time, the FBI was presented with an envelope containing 38 documents with classification markings, including at the top-secret level. But agents began to suspect that they had not received the entire stash of records, and returned two months later with a warrant. Bobb told the FBI that the letter was actually drafted and prepared by another of Trump’s lawyers, M. Evan Corcoran, and that he had asked her to sign it in her capacity as custodian of the records, according to the person. Corcoran did not immediately return an email and phone message on Tuesday. Spokespeople for the FBI and Justice Department declined to comment, and Bobb did not immediately return a phone message seeking comment. The interview was first reported by NBC News. The person familiar with it said it was a voluntary discussion with investigators and did not take place before a grand jury, and that she is not regarded as a target of the investigation. The Justice Department has said that, beyond investigating possible crimes in the retention of the documents themselves, it is also investigating whether anyone sought to obstruct its probe. It is not clear if anyone will be charged. Read More Here

Ezra Klein: Joe Biden Knows How To Use Donald Trump https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ezra-klein-joe-biden-knows-how-to-use-donald-trump/ Trump’s efforts to stay in the news are matched by Biden’s efforts to stay out of it. (Doug Mills | The New York Times) President Joe Biden speaks to the media as he departs the White House for a trip to New Jersey and New York, in Washington on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2022. By Ezra Klein | The New York Times   | Oct. 11, 2022, 9:20 p.m. According to Gallup, 56% of Americans disapprove of the job President Joe Biden is doing. About 80% say the country is on the wrong track. Eighty-two percent say the state of the economy is “fair” or “poor,” and 67% think it’s only getting worse. Midterm elections are typically bad for the president’s party. But a midterm taking place alongside this kind of disappointment in the president and his party? It should be cataclysmic. And yet, that’s not how the election looks, at least right now. The FiveThirtyEight forecast gives Democrats a roughly 1-in-3 chance of holding the House and a roughly 2-in-3 chance of keeping the Senate. Other forecasts, along with betting markets, tell similar stories. Perhaps the polls, which have tightened a bit in recent weeks, are underestimating Republican turnout. We’ve seen that before and, worryingly for Democrats, we’ve seen it in some of the states they most need to win this year. But even a strong Republican performance would be a far cry from the party-in-power wipeouts we saw in 1994, 2010 and 2018. It’s worth asking why. Begin with the seats the parties hold now. Only seven House Democrats won districts Donald Trump carried in 2020. Democrats aren’t defending many of the crossover seats that led to huge losses in 2010 and 1994. On the flip side, the Senate map is pretty good for Democrats, with Republicans defending more seats. Then, of course, there’s the Dobbs decision, which led to a surge in Democratic interest and of young women registering to vote. Every candidate and strategist and analyst I’ve talked to, on both sides of the aisle, believes Dobbs reshaped this election. The question they’re mulling is whether that energy is fading as the months drag by and the election draws close. But there’s something else distorting this race, too: Biden’s relative absence and Trump’s unusual presence. Trump’s relentless presence in our politics comes from a few sources. One is, well, Trump. He never stops talking, insulting, complaining, cajoling, provoking. He’s publicly preparing for a 2024 campaign. As I was writing this piece, I got an email from “Donald J. Trump,” headlined “Corrupt News Network,” announcing that Trump was filing a defamation suit against CNN. This isn’t a guy trying to stay out of the news. Then there’s the unusual aftermath of the Trump presidency, which reverberates throughout our politics. The Jan. 6 investigation is ongoing, and the FBI raided Mar-a-Lago to reclaim classified documents that Trump is alleged to have taken with him inappropriately. (Trump, for his part, recently told Sean Hannity that the president can declassify documents “even by thinking about it,” which, sigh.) Trump also bears responsibility for some of the lackluster candidates causing Republicans such problems. Trump pushed J.D. Vance in Ohio and Herschel Walker in Georgia and Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania — all of whom are underperforming in their respective matchups. In a speech to the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Mitch McConnell admitted that Republicans might not flip the Senate and observed, acidly, “Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.” Trump’s efforts to stay in the news, however, are matched by Biden’s efforts to stay out of it. Biden gives startlingly few interviews and news conferences. He doesn’t go for attention-grabbing stunts or high-engagement tweets. I am not always certain if this is strategy or necessity: It’s not obvious to me that the Biden team trusts him to turn one-on-one conversations and news conferences to his advantage. But perhaps the difference is academic: A good strategy is sometimes born of an unwanted reality. Biden simply doesn’t take up much room in the political discourse. He is a far less central, compelling and controversial figure than Trump or Obama or Bush were before him. He’s gotten a surprising amount done in recent months, but then he fades back into the background. Again, that’s a choice: Biden could easily command more attention by simply trying to command more attention. When he picks a fight, as he did in his speech on Trump, the MAGA movement and democracy in Philadelphia last month, the battle joins. He just doesn’t do it very often. Which isn’t to say Biden doesn’t do anything. He governs. Just this past week, Biden pardoned all federal convictions for simple marijuana possession. Before that, he canceled hundreds of billions of dollars in student debt (although legal and administrative questions continue to swirl around that plan). He signed the Inflation Reduction Act. But then he moves on. He’s not looking to take his policy ideas and turn them into culture wars. Biden didn’t win the Democratic nomination in 2020 because he was the most thrilling candidate or because he had legions of die-hard supporters. The case most often made for Biden was that other people would find him acceptable. And that proved true. Biden was able to assemble an unusually broad coalition of people who feared Trump and considered Biden to be, eh, fine. That strategy demanded restraint. A lot of politicians would have vied with Trump to make the election about them. Biden hung back and let Trump make the election about him. I suspect that’s part of why Biden’s approval rating is, and has been, soft. Biden’s appeal to Democrats has been transactional more than inspirational. You don’t need to love, or even really to like, Biden to support him. You need to believe in him as a vehicle for stopping something worse. That’s still true today. What was never clear to me was what Biden and the Democrats would do when Trump wasn’t on the ballot — when Biden had to drive Democratic enthusiasm on his own. But Biden is running a surprisingly similar strategy in 2022 to the one he ran in 2020, with some evidence of success. He doesn’t try to command the country’s attention day after day. And that’s left space for Trump and the Supreme Court and a slew of sketchy Republican candidates to make themselves the story and remind Democrats of what’s at stake in 2022. I’m too burned by recent polling misses to take a decent Democratic year as certain. Republican victories in both the House and the Senate wouldn’t surprise me in the least. But it’s worth noting: At this point in 2010, Republicans were much more enthusiastic about voting than Democrats. At this point in 2018, Democrats were more enthusiastic about voting than Republicans. This year? It’s about even, with some polls even showing a slight lead for Democrats. If these numbers hold up and Democrats avoid a wipeout in November, Biden is going to owe Trump a fruit basket. An undated portrait of Ezra Klein of The New York Times. (Anastasiia Sapon/The New York Times) Ezra Klein is a columnist for The New York Times. Read More Here

Supreme Court Reverses Pennsylvania Mail-In Voting Law Decision https://digitalarkansasnews.com/supreme-court-reverses-pennsylvania-mail-in-voting-law-decision/ Pennsylvania’s top-ranking state elections official said Tuesday a new U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding how rules for the state’s mail-in ballots had been applied in a county judge election doesn’t change her agency’s guidance about counting them.Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman said county elections officials should count mail-in votes that arrive in exterior envelopes with inaccurate or nonexistent handwritten dates, despite a requirement in state law.Watch the video above to see how a Duquesne University law professor is interpreting this decision.The U.S. Supreme Court earlier Tuesday had declared as moot a decision in May by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had said mail-in ballots without a required date on the return envelope had to be counted in a 2021 Pennsylvania judge race.Chapman issued a statement saying the high court decision did not affect a separate, previous ruling by state Commonwealth Court in favor of counting ballots without properly dated exterior envelopes.The new decision, Chapman said, “provides no justification for counties to exclude ballots based on a minor omission, and we expect that counties will continue to comply with their obligation to count all legal votes.” Chapman works in the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat.The Third Circuit had said state election law’s requirement of a date next to the voter’s signature on the outside of return envelopes was “immaterial.” That lower court had said it found no reason to refuse counting the ballots that were set aside in the Nov. 2, 2021, election for common pleas judge in Lehigh County.Those votes were enough to propel the Democrat, Zac Cohen, to victory in the race. He has since been sworn in and the new U.S. Supreme Court decision is not expected to reverse the results of Cohen’s election contest.In the latest decision, the justices ruled 7-2 that the Third Circuit must “dismiss the case as moot.”Joshua Voss, a lawyer who represents the losing judicial candidate in the Lehigh County race, Republican David Ritter, said in a phone call Tuesday he believes the effect of the new high court ruling is that state law goes back to where it had been.“The Department of State certainly should update their guidance,” Voss said. “But at the end of the day, elections are administered by counties and counties will need to assess what the state of the law was.”Adam Bonin, a lawyer for Cohen, said voters should not leave anything to chance.“Voters should still be careful to follow all of the instructions,” Bonin said, including the use of a security envelope and signing and dating the exterior return envelope.Voss had argued to the Supreme Court that the Third Circuit ruling was already being cited in other cases but should be declared moot.He said it’s possible that more litigation over the undated envelopes might occur if there is a close race in November and a candidate wants to seek a court review.“I don’t know about ‘likely’ because it would require a close race. So, possible? Yes. Likely? I don’t know. Remember, these ballots made the difference in Ritter’s race, which is why the case existed,” Voss said.Pennsylvania allowed only limited use of absentee mail-in ballots until 2019, when a state law OK’d them for voters who did not otherwise qualify from a list of acceptable excuses.A lawsuit by Republican lawmakers challenging the mail-in voting law is pending in state court, while in August the state Supreme Court upheld the law against a separate challenge.More than 2.5 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail during 2020′s presidential election, most of them Democrats, out of 6.9 million total votes. Chapman said Tuesday that more than 1.1 million absentee and mail-in ballots have been requested for the fall General Election. HARRISBURG, Pa. — Pennsylvania’s top-ranking state elections official said Tuesday a new U.S. Supreme Court decision regarding how rules for the state’s mail-in ballots had been applied in a county judge election doesn’t change her agency’s guidance about counting them. Acting Secretary of State Leigh M. Chapman said county elections officials should count mail-in votes that arrive in exterior envelopes with inaccurate or nonexistent handwritten dates, despite a requirement in state law. Watch the video above to see how a Duquesne University law professor is interpreting this decision. The U.S. Supreme Court earlier Tuesday had declared as moot a decision in May by the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that had said mail-in ballots without a required date on the return envelope had to be counted in a 2021 Pennsylvania judge race. Chapman issued a statement saying the high court decision did not affect a separate, previous ruling by state Commonwealth Court in favor of counting ballots without properly dated exterior envelopes. The new decision, Chapman said, “provides no justification for counties to exclude ballots based on a minor omission, and we expect that counties will continue to comply with their obligation to count all legal votes.” Chapman works in the administration of Gov. Tom Wolf, a Democrat. The Third Circuit had said state election law’s requirement of a date next to the voter’s signature on the outside of return envelopes was “immaterial.” That lower court had said it found no reason to refuse counting the ballots that were set aside in the Nov. 2, 2021, election for common pleas judge in Lehigh County. Those votes were enough to propel the Democrat, Zac Cohen, to victory in the race. He has since been sworn in and the new U.S. Supreme Court decision is not expected to reverse the results of Cohen’s election contest. In the latest decision, the justices ruled 7-2 that the Third Circuit must “dismiss the case as moot.” Joshua Voss, a lawyer who represents the losing judicial candidate in the Lehigh County race, Republican David Ritter, said in a phone call Tuesday he believes the effect of the new high court ruling is that state law goes back to where it had been. “The Department of State certainly should update their guidance,” Voss said. “But at the end of the day, elections are administered by counties and counties will need to assess what the state of the law was.” Adam Bonin, a lawyer for Cohen, said voters should not leave anything to chance. “Voters should still be careful to follow all of the instructions,” Bonin said, including the use of a security envelope and signing and dating the exterior return envelope. Voss had argued to the Supreme Court that the Third Circuit ruling was already being cited in other cases but should be declared moot. He said it’s possible that more litigation over the undated envelopes might occur if there is a close race in November and a candidate wants to seek a court review. “I don’t know about ‘likely’ because it would require a close race. So, possible? Yes. Likely? I don’t know. Remember, these ballots made the difference in Ritter’s race, which is why the case existed,” Voss said. Pennsylvania allowed only limited use of absentee mail-in ballots until 2019, when a state law OK’d them for voters who did not otherwise qualify from a list of acceptable excuses. A lawsuit by Republican lawmakers challenging the mail-in voting law is pending in state court, while in August the state Supreme Court upheld the law against a separate challenge. More than 2.5 million Pennsylvanians voted by mail during 2020′s presidential election, most of them Democrats, out of 6.9 million total votes. Chapman said Tuesday that more than 1.1 million absentee and mail-in ballots have been requested for the fall General Election. Read More Here

US Justice Department Urges Supreme Court To Reject Trump Appeal On Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/us-justice-department-urges-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-appeal-on-mar-a-lago-documents/ The US Department of Justice has asked the US supreme court to reject an appeal in which Donald Trump sought to return 103 documents bearing classification markings to the special master for review. The special master, the judge Raymond Dearie, was appointed by order of a Trump-appointed district court judge. He is examining materials seized by the FBI from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in August, seeking to establish if any are covered by executive privilege protections. Material taken from the White House and recovered in Florida included more than 300 classified files, among them documents reportedly concerning nuclear weapons. Many observers think Trump is in danger of indictment. He has argued he did nothing wrong, and even claimed that when he was president he was able to declassify documents merely by thinking about doing so. In the 34-page brief filed to the supreme court on Tuesday, the justice department argued that the court should reject Trump’s motion and keep the 103 documents out of the special master’s review, because Trump did not show he was being irreparably harmed by their exclusion. It also argued that Trump’s arguments about jurisdiction lacked merit. In the brief, the justice department said Trump “does not acknowledge, much less attempt to rebut, the court of appeals’ conclusion that the district court’s order [under which the special master review began] was a serious and unwarranted intrusion on the executive branch’s authority to control the use and distribution of extraordinarily sensitive government records”. The brief was submitted by the US solicitor general on behalf of the justice department. It represents the latest turn in what began as an effort by Trump to slow the criminal investigation of potential retention of national defense information but has expanded into a fraught legal battle. Read More Here

The Best Apple Deals Available For Amazon Prime Day 2022 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/the-best-apple-deals-available-for-amazon-prime-day-2022/ Think you have to wait until Black Friday to score a good deal on Apple devices? Think again. Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale (aka Prime Day 2.0) has officially arrived, and with it comes some pretty solid Apple deals. Right now, there are stellar deals to be had on Apple’s first-gen AirPods and the latest AirPods Pro, which are on sale for their lowest price to date. If you’re looking for something else, however, there are also deals available on the latest entry-level iPad and iPad Pro, the M1-powered MacBook Air, and more. Below, we’ve listed some of the best Apple deals currently available, all of which are exclusive to Amazon Prime subscribers. To save on non-Apple devices and other kinds of tech, be sure to also check out our complete list of the best deals from Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale, which includes products from all kinds of brands. The best Apple deals from Amazon’s Prime Early Access Sale The best AirPods deals $223.24 Apple’s latest AirPods Pro take after the last-gen model but include swipe controls and a new H2 chip that allows for improved noise cancellation. They also come with a water-resistant charging case that offers support for Apple’s robust Find My network. Apple’s second-gen AirPods Pro only just recently launched, but you can currently buy them on sale for $223.24 instead of $249. While not a steep discount, that’s a new record low on the true wireless earbuds, which offer better noise cancellation than their predecessor, four replaceable tips, and even swipe controls. Read our review. If you don’t require active noise cancellation or water resistance, you might want to check out this deal on the second-gen AirPods. The 2019 earbuds are currently on sale with a wired charging case for $89.99 at Amazon instead of $129 and Walmart, which is one of their best prices to date. They may be older, but these earbuds still sound great, offer decent battery life, and feature reliable wireless performance. Read our review. The best iPad deals $269 Apple’s latest entry-level iPad represents a slight update, with a new A13 Bionic chip and a 12MP front camera that supports Apple’s Center Stage feature. Amazon and Best Buy are discounting various configurations of Apple’s latest 10.2-inch iPad. Right now, for instance, the entry-level model with 64GB of storage and Wi-Fi is on sale right now for around $269 instead of $329. The iPad comes equipped with a 3.5mm audio jack, a 12MP wide-angle camera that supports Apple’s Center Stage feature, and A13 Bionic processor. Apple’s 12.9-inch iPad Pro is also on sale today. The fast, M1-powered iPad boasts an impressive display, as well as nice features like a 120Hz refresh rate. Various sizes and configurations are on sale, with the Wi-Fi-enabled model with 128GB of storage starting at $899 instead of $1,099 at Amazon and Walmart. Read our review. You can currently buy Apple’s latest, Wi-Fi-equipped iPad Air with 64GB of storage for $519.99 instead of $599 at Amazon and Best Buy. Not only is the new iPad Air powered by Apple’s still-speedy M1 chip, but it also features all-day battery life and an excellent display. Read our review. Apple’s latest iPad Mini with USB-C charging and 64GB of storage is $399.99 at Best Buy. While we’ve seen this $100-off deal before, it’s always nice to see it come back. Verge Deals on Twitter / Join over 50,000 followers and keep up with the best daily tech deals with @vergedeals Follow us! The best MacBook deals $799 The MacBook Air is Apple’s entry-level laptop, which comes outfitted with the company’s new M1 chip in one of three different colors (silver, space gray, and gold). The M1-powered Macbook Air from 2020 is on sale for $799 ($200 off) at Amazon and Best Buywhen you buy the model equipped with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. While not as fast as the newer M2-powered MacBook, it’s still excellent and offers nice features like all-day battery life. Read our review. The newer 2022 MacBook Air with the M2 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD is $1,049 at Best Buy, following a $150 discount. Read our review. The best Apple TV 4K deals The latest version of the Apple TV 4K with 32GB of storage is on sale for $79 instead of $144 at Walmart. This second-gen model comes with a Siri remote as well as support for Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos, and HDR. Read our review. Miscellaneous Apple deals $349 The latest smartwatch from Apple features watchOS 9, along with Crash Detection and temperature sensors that enable menstrual cycle tracking — something you won’t find on any other model. The Apple Watch Series 8 (GPS, 41mm) is currently $50 off at Best Buy, Amazon, and Walmart, bringing the price down to $349. This is the latest model, which has new temperature sensors for tracking your cycle, as well as a new high-g accelerometer and gyroscope for crash detection. Read our review. This price matches Amazon’s. The 45mm-sized watch costs $379. Amazon is selling Apple’s AirTag loop, which you can use to attach your AirTags to luggage and other accessories, in blue, orange, and yellow for $13.99 instead of $29. Amazon is also selling Apple’s Leather Key Ring in yellow and orange for $24.99 instead of $35. Verge Deals / Sign up for Verge Deals to get deals on products we’ve tested sent to your inbox daily. Read More Here

Men's Golf Caps Purdue Fall Invitational In 14th – University Of Central Arkansas Athletics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/mens-golf-caps-purdue-fall-invitational-in-14th-university-of-central-arkansas-athletics/ WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Finishing off the third round of the Purdue Fall Invitational, the men’s golf team wrapped up the event with a 14th place finish against a tough field. The highlight of the trip was Viktor Nordwall, who improved his standing on day two to finish in 16th.   Nordwall, just a freshman, jumped 15 spots in round three to cap the event in the top 20. Playing his best round, the Sweden native shot an even 72 for his 5-over 221 finish. It marked the best placement for the young Bear, who played in his third event at Central Arkansas.   Luke Sienkiewicz finished off his day with an 11-over 83, rounding out his third-round total of 234. Sam Long capped his final 18 holes at 237, battling his way to an 83 in the last round. Nash Johnson and Palmer McSpadden ended the Invitational at 23-over 239.   Playing as an individual at Ackerman-Allen GC across the street, Blaine Calhoon capped his day in 34th, ending the individual part of the Invitational at a 14-over 230.   Tennessee took home first place honors, followed by LSU in second place and the hosting Boilermakers in third. Volunteer Bryce Lewis picked up the win in the players’ leaderboard, with Purdue’s Herman Wibe Sekne and Nebraska’s Harry Crockett rounding out the top three.   The Bears are back in action next week to participate in the Little Rock Invitational, taking place on Monday and Tuesday. Playing at Chenal Country Club, that even will wrap up the fall event for Central Arkansas.   Players Mentioned Players Mentioned Read More…

Biden Says Putin 'totally Miscalculated' By Invading Ukraine But Is A 'rational Actor' | CNN Politics https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-says-putin-totally-miscalculated-by-invading-ukraine-but-is-a-rational-actor-cnn-politics/ Watch Jake Tapper’s exclusive interview with President Joe Biden on CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper at 9 p.m. ET Tuesday. CNN  —  President Joe Biden said in an exclusive CNN interview Tuesday he believed Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “rational actor” who nonetheless badly misjudged his ability to invade Ukraine and suppress its people. “I think he is a rational actor who has miscalculated significantly,” Biden told Jake Tapper as Russian bombardments on civilian targets in Ukraine signaled another turning point in the months-long war. Tapper’s full interview with Biden airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. ET on “CNN Tonight with Jake Tapper.” Biden, his top officials and fellow Western leaders have spent the past several months debating what steps Putin may take as his troops suffer embarrassing losses on the battlefield in Ukraine. Biden himself warned last week the risk of “nuclear Armageddon” was at its highest point in 60 years. Whether Putin is acting rationally has been a subject of intense debate as leaders work to predict his next steps. While Biden said Tuesday he believed Putin himself was rational, he characterized the Russian leader’s aims in Ukraine – which Putin laid out in an angry speech as he launched the war in February – as ridiculous. “You listen to what he says. If you listen to the speech he made after when that decision was being made, he talked about the whole idea of – he was needed to be the leader of Russia that united all of Russian speakers. I mean, it’s just I just think it’s irrational,” Biden said. Going further, Biden said Putin wrongly believed Ukrainians would submit to Russian invasion – a misjudgment that’s been disproved by fierce resistance inside the country. “I think the speech, his objectives were not rational. I think he thought, Jake, I think he thought he was going to be welcomed with open arms, that this was the home of Mother Russia in Kyiv, and that where he was going to be welcomed, and I think he just totally miscalculated,” Biden said. Indeed, a counteroffensive launched by Ukraine last month was successful in retaking territory previously held by the Russians, including critical transportation hubs. The losses proved the latest major embarrassment for Russia, whose military has struggled over the course of the seven-month war. This week, however, Russia launched one of its fiercest bombing campaigns since invading in late February. At least 19 people have been killed and more than 100 wounded across the country, as far away as the western city of Lviv, hundreds of miles from the war’s main theaters in eastern and southern Ukraine. Biden spoke to Tapper a few hours after meeting virtually with members of the Group of 7 industrialized nations, who heard from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the need to bolster his country’s air defenses amid the new Russian bombardments. Zelensky told the meeting that “common efforts to create an air shield for Ukraine” must be intensified amid a barrage of Russian cruise missile and drone attacks. White House officials have said the US is prepared to further bolster Ukraine’s air defenses, including through missile defense systems that Biden expedited delivery of over the summer. Yet Russia’s intense aerial assault of the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and on civilian infrastructure suggested Putin could be employing new tactics meant to terrorize Ukrainians as the winter approaches. Read More Here

Trial Begins For Analyst Who Was Source For Trump Dossier In Virginia https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trial-begins-for-analyst-who-was-source-for-trump-dossier-in-virginia/ Trial begins for analyst who was source for Trump dossier in Virginia  WSET Read More Here

Justice Department Urges Supreme Court To Reject Trump Request Over Seized Mar-A-Lago Documents https://digitalarkansasnews.com/justice-department-urges-supreme-court-to-reject-trump-request-over-seized-mar-a-lago-documents/ WASHINGTON — The Biden administration on Tuesday asked the Supreme Court to reject former President Donald Trump‘s request to allow the special master reviewing documents seized from Mar-a-Lago access to those marked as classified. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar said in court papers that Trump would suffer “no harm at all” if the documents are temporarily withheld from the special master. Addressing Trump’s potential ownership stake in the documents, including possible assertions of attorney-client privilege of executive privilege, Prelogar said Trump had “no plausible claims.” Whatever the court decides in weighing Trump’s relatively narrow request, it will not affect the Justice Department’s access to the same documents in its criminal investigation. The more than 100 classified documents are just a small portion of the 11,000 records seized by federal agents amid concerns that Trump had unlawfully retained official White House records after leaving office. Documents seized by the FBI from former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Fla. Department of Justice via AP The high court is reviewing a Sept. 21 decision by the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that barred the special master, Judge Raymond Dearie, from reviewing the documents. Trump had not contested a separate part of the ruling that allowed the Justice Department to use the documents. A decision by the Supreme Court is due at any time. Prelogar said the case only arose because of an “unusual — indeed unprecedented — order” that was issued by U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon in response to Trump’s lawsuit filed after the government search of his Mar-a-Lago residence in early August. Cannon prevented the government from using the documents as part of a criminal investigation, a decision partly blocked by the appeals court, and appointed the special master to review them. “This application concerns an unprecedented order by the district court restricting the Executive Branch’s use of its own highly classified records in an ongoing criminal investigation and directing the dissemination of those records outside the Executive Branch for a special-master review,” Prelogar wrote. Trump’s lawyers had said the appeal’s court’s decision to block access to the special master “impairs substantially the ongoing, time-sensitive work of the special master.” They added that “any limit on the comprehensive and transparent review of materials seized in the extraordinary raid of a president’s home erodes public confidence in our system of justice.” The appeals court said certain documents are deemed classified because they contain information that could harm national security, and for that reason people may have access to them only if they need to know that information. Under federal law, official White House records are federal property and must be handed over to the National Archives when the president leaves office. Trump says he did nothing improper and wants Dearie to determine the status of the documents, including those marked as classified. Although the Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority, including three justices he appointed, Trump has not recently fared well in other emergency applications, including his attempt to prevent White House documents from being handed over to the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol, and his bid to avoid disclosure of his financial records to prosecutors in New York. Lawrence Hurley covers the Supreme Court for NBC News Digital. Read More Here

Aspen Group, Inc. Cancels Equity Distribution Agreement https://digitalarkansasnews.com/aspen-group-inc-cancels-equity-distribution-agreement/ NEW YORK, Oct. 11, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Aspen Group, Inc. (“AGI”) (Nasdaq: ASPU), an education technology holding company, today announced that the Company has canceled the Equity Distribution Agreement that it entered into on August 18, 2022 with Northland Securities, Inc. “As we discussed in our first quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings call, we implemented a restructuring plan to address the Company’s working capital requirements, reduce our cash burn and achieve our operational goals over the next 12 months,” stated Michael Mathews, Chairman and CEO. “We are encouraged by the results we are achieving thus far and have concluded that financing with the Equity Distribution Agreement is not needed at this time.” In parallel, AGI has engaged Lampert Capital Advisors to assist with securing an accounts receivable (AR) financing facility to provide working capital to position the Company for future growth among our online post-licensure nursing degree programs. Restructuring Plan There are two key components of the Company’s restructuring plan announced during its first quarter fiscal year 2023 earnings call on September 13, 2022. The restructuring plan is expected to result in spending reductions of $4.4 million in the second quarter of fiscal year 2023 and $4.9 million in the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2023. First, the Company has scaled back marketing ad spend to a maintenance level of $150,000 per quarter. This action is expected to result in savings of $3.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2023 and $3.8 million in each of the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2023. The savings estimates are based on a normalized marketing ad spend run rate of $4.2 million per quarter. Second, the Company eliminated approximately 70 positions mostly within G&A functions at Aspen University and AGI. As a result, additional savings of $750,000 in the second quarter of fiscal 2023 and $1.1 million in each of the third and fourth quarters of fiscal year 2023 are expected. The net result is an estimated savings of more than $14 million through the end of fiscal year 2023. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 including the anticipated savings from the restructuring, reduction of our cash burn and our ability to close an AR facility. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “will,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include our ability to enroll new students and generate revenue given the sharp reduction in marketing, the impact of a declining economy, inflation and higher interest rates, the continued attraction of online learning as COVID-19 has receded, student attrition, the competitive impact from the trend of non-profit universities using online education and consolidation among our competitors, and the myriad of risks which may affect our ability to close an accounts receivable financing ranging from locating a willing lender to contractual difficulties including covenants which prevent us from closing a facility. Other risks are included in our filings with the SEC including our Form 10-K for the year ended April 30, 2022. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law. About Aspen Group, Inc. Aspen Group, Inc. is an education technology holding company that leverages its infrastructure and expertise to allow its two universities, Aspen University and United States University, to deliver on the vision of making college affordable again. For more information, visit www.aspu.com. Contact Information: Hayden IR Kimberly Rogers (385) 831-7337 Kim@HaydenIR.com Copyright 2022 GlobeNewswire, Inc. Read More Here

Arkansas Postcard Past https://digitalarkansasnews.com/arkansas-postcard-past-6/ Otwell, 1914: Illinois investor W.B. Otwell bought a large tract in Craighead County, southwest of Jonesboro, with a goal to improve agriculture practices. Otwell, 1914: Illinois investor W.B. Otwell bought a large tract in Craighead County, southwest of Jonesboro, with a goal to improve agriculture practices. He advertised farmland for sale with postcards as he dedicated the town of Otwell: “Quite a distinguished party, isn’t it? On quite a nice little mission, too, aren’t they? They spent the day on the new town site? Don’t you think it would be pretty nice to hitch up with a body of men like this and own a lot or two in our very own town while it is brand new?” Arkansas Postcard Past, P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203 Sponsor Content Read More Here

She Went Out On A Limb For Trump. Now She’s Under Justice Dept. Scrutiny. https://digitalarkansasnews.com/she-went-out-on-a-limb-for-trump-now-shes-under-justice-dept-scrutiny/ Christina Bobb is a former Marine and a fervent believer that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald J. Trump. She went to work for him and quickly found herself enmeshed in an obstruction investigation. Send any friend a story As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share. Christina Bobb, a former One America News Network anchor, was a late addition to former President Donald J. Trump’s legal team. She is now at the heart of the Justice Department’s criminal investigation into his handling of White House documents.Credit…Megan Mendoza/The Republic, via USA Today Network Oct. 11, 2022Updated 3:30 p.m. ET WASHINGTON — This spring, one of the lawyers representing former President Donald J. Trump made an urgent, high-stakes request to Christina G. Bobb, who had just jumped from a Trump-allied cable network to a job in his political organization. The former president was in the midst of an escalating clash with the Justice Department about documents he had taken with him from the White House at the end of his term. The lawyer, M. Evan Corcoran, met Ms. Bobb at the president’s residence and private club in Florida and asked her to sign a statement for the department that the Trump legal team had conducted a “diligent search” of Mar-a-Lago and found only a few files that had not been returned to the government. Ms. Bobb, a 39-year-old lawyer juggling amorphous roles in her new job, was being asked to take a step that neither Mr. Trump nor other members of the legal team were willing to take — so she looked before leaping. “Wait a minute — I don’t know you,” Ms. Bobb replied to Mr. Corcoran’s request, according to a person to whom she later recounted the episode. She later complained that she did not have a full grasp of what was going on around her when she signed the document, according to two people who have heard her account. Ms. Bobb, who relentlessly promoted falsehoods about the 2020 election as an on-air host for the far-right One America News Network, eventually signed her name. But she insisted on adding a written caveat before giving it to a senior Justice Department official on June 3: “The above statements are true and correct to the best of my knowledge.” Her sworn statement, hedged or not, was shown to be flatly false after the F.B.I.’s search of Mar-a-Lago on Aug. 8, which recovered about 100 additional highly sensitive government documents, including some marked with the highest levels of classification. And prosecutors are now investigating whether her actions constitute obstruction of justice or if she committed other crimes. On Friday, Ms. Bobb sat for a voluntary interview with Justice Department lawyers in Washington, according to three people familiar with the situation. She told them that another Trump lawyer, Boris Epshteyn, contacted her the night before she signed the attestation and connected her with Mr. Corcoran. Ms. Bobb, who was living in Florida, was told that she needed to go to Mar-a-Lago the next day to deal with an unspecified legal matter for Mr. Trump. In her meeting with the department — a development reported by NBC News on Monday — Ms. Bobb, who was accompanied by her criminal defense lawyer, John Lauro, emphasized that she was working as part of a team rather than as a solo actor when she signed the statement attesting to the return of all the documents, the people said. Mr. Corcoran, she told the Justice Department, had walked her through how he had conducted a search of a storage facility at Mar-a-Lago for the documents. She said she had believed at the time she signed the attestation in June that it was accurate, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Ms. Bobb has made clear that she is not taking an adversarial position toward Mr. Trump in answering the Justice Department’s questions. She told investigators that before she signed the attestation, she heard Mr. Trump tell Mr. Corcoran that they should cooperate with the Justice Department and give prosecutors what they wanted — an assurance that would come to ring hollow as the investigation proceeded and became a bitter court fight. The Justice Department declined to comment. Ms. Bobb, Mr. Corcoran and a spokesman for Mr. Trump did not respond to requests for comment. A lawyer for Mr. Epshteyn did not respond to an email seeking comment. Image Ms. Bobb has been a fervent promoter of baseless claims that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump.Credit…Josh Ritchie for The New York Times Ms. Bobb’s trajectory is a familiar one in Mr. Trump’s orbit: a marginal player thrust by ambition and happenstance into a position where her profile and prospects are elevated, but at the cost of serious legal and reputational risk. But she stands out for a varied background — she is a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and a failed political candidate who jettisoned a conventional career to become a far-right cable news host — and for the tensile strength of her baseless conviction that the 2020 election was stolen from Mr. Trump. More on the Trump Documents Inquiry Documents Still Missing?: A top Justice Department official told former President Donald J. Trump’s lawyers in recent weeks that the agency believed he had not returned all the records he took when he left the White House, according to two people briefed on the matter. Deflecting Demands: Mr. Trump spent a year and a half deflecting, delaying and sometimes leading aides to dissemble when it came to demands from the National Archives and the Justice Department to return the material he had taken, interviews and documents show. Supreme Court Request: Mr. Trump asked the justices to intervene in the litigation over sensitive documents that the F.B.I. seized from his Florida estate, saying that an appeals court had lacked jurisdiction to remove them from a special master’s review. Dueling Judges: The moves and countermoves by a federal judge and the special master she appointed reflect a larger struggle over who should control the rules of the review of the documents seized from Mar-a-Lago. In the past two years, Ms. Bobb has emerged as one of his truest of true believers, embracing conspiracy theories with a fervor that has at times seemed over the top even to her colleagues, according to interviews with a dozen people who have worked with her over the past several years. Ms. Bobb has not been shy about expressing her opinions on conservative news outlets, speaking expansively about the court-authorized F.B.I. search and her low opinion of those who executed it. “I don’t believe that there was any classified material in there, though I’m sure the F.B.I. will say that there is,” she said in an interview with the conservative activist Dinesh D’Souza two days after the warrant was executed. Another conservative activist, Mike Farris, asked if she was concerned by the Justice Department’s aggressive approach. “I’m not too worried about it,” she replied. “They are all a bunch of cowards; they don’t have anything.” Ms. Bobb was present in the pro-Trump “command center” at the Willard Hotel in Washington before the Capitol attack, along with Rudolph W. Giuliani and other Trump stalwarts. She acted as Mr. Giuliani’s go-between with state officials in Arizona and helped fund-raise for a recount in Maricopa County that Republican leaders called a “sham.” She drafted a memo and participated in meetings to discuss a plan to appoint alternate slates of electors to reverse legitimate state election results. And Ms. Bobb created the computer file used to draft a proposal, never carried out, for Mr. Trump to issue an executive order for the federal government to seize voting machines. How Times reporters cover politics. We rely on our journalists to be independent observers. So while Times staff members may vote, they are not allowed to endorse or campaign for candidates or political causes. This includes participating in marches or rallies in support of a movement or giving money to, or raising money for, any political candidate or election cause. Dominion Voting Systems is suing Ms. Bobb and OAN for promoting unsubstantiated claims that the company was part of a vote-switching scheme to favor Joseph R. Biden Jr. The House committee investigating the Capitol riot subpoenaed Ms. Bobb in March to testify about her “attempts to disrupt or delay” certification of the election and her reported involvement in drafting the executive order. She complied, but provided no proof when pressed on her claims about the election, according to a congressional aide with knowledge of her testimony. Ms. Bobb blurred the lines between covering Mr. Trump and working for him: She offered a dour after-action report of the failed attempt to appoint alternate electors to overturn the election in a previously undisclosed memo she sent to Mr. Trump on March 29, 2021, while working for OAN. The memo, obtained from a person to whom it was later forwarded, was marked “ATTORNEY CLIENT PRIVILEGE” even though she was not on Mr. Trump’s legal team at the time. “If three states changed their electors, the result of the election would have flipped,” Ms. Bobb wrote, adding a caveat at the end: It was “unclear” whether the Supreme Court would have supported the elector scheme. It is not known if Mr. Trump read it. He seems to have a mixed opinion of Ms. Bobb’s on-air work, however, grousing that she was too flattering to him in several OAN interviews, according to two people with knowledge of the situation. Image After leaving the Department of Homeland Security, Ms. Bobb became a host on the far-right One America News Network.Credit…Gabby Jones/Bloomberg Ms. Bobb, a standout soccer and volleyball player during her high school years in the ...

Trump Lawyer Christina Bobb, Who Vouched For Mar-A-Lago Documents’ Return To Feds, Quizzed By FBI https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trump-lawyer-christina-bobb-who-vouched-for-mar-a-lago-documents-return-to-feds-quizzed-by-fbi/ A lawyer for former President Donald Trump who signed a letter asserting that all classified documents had been returned to the federal government was interviewed last week by the FBI, according to multiple reports.  Christina Bobb told federal investigators on Friday that two other lawyers were involved in crafting the June letter claiming that Trump had complied with a grand jury order to hand over the records and that she was asked to sign it as the designated custodian, NBC News reported Monday. The Trump team’s letter is of interest to federal investigators because prosecutors have said its assertions that all presidential materials had been returned is untrue — since an Aug. 8 FBI raid at the Florida resort turned up another trove of materials.  While 38 documents with classification markings were handed over with the letter on June 3, more than 100 additional classified records were seized from Mar-a-Lago in August when FBI agents returned with a search warrant.  The June letter claimed a “diligent search was conducted of the boxes” taken to Mar-a-Lago from the White House as Trump departed office in January 2021 and that “any and all responsive documents accompany this certification.”  Trump lawyer Christina Bobb was interviewed by the FBI last week. Facebook/Jared Petry Bobb signed a letter last week claiming that all classified documents had been returned to the federal government. Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images It contained the proviso that the statements were “based upon the information that has been provided to me.” Bobb reportedly told the feds that the letter was drafted by Evan Corcoran and given to her to sign in her capacity as the custodian.  She fingered another Trump legal adviser, Boris Epshteyn, as being involved in discussions about the letter, although she said he did not assist in drafting it.  Federal investigators have claimed the letter is untrue after more documents were seized from Mar-a-Lago in the August FBI raid. AP Photo/Steve Helber More than 100 classified documents were seized from Trump’s estate in August. Department of Justice via AP Trump has been contesting the seizure of the documents in various courts, seeking among other things to have a special master be named to pore through the records to determine what is shielded by executive or attorney-client privilege.  Trump’s legal team last week asked the Supreme Court to intercede in the dispute and block the DOJ from using classified documents in its ongoing investigation into whether the 45th president violated federal law related to custody of government records. With Post wires Read More Here

Trial Begins For Analyst Who Was Source For Trump Dossier https://digitalarkansasnews.com/trial-begins-for-analyst-who-was-source-for-trump-dossier/ By MATTHEW BARAKAT, Associated Press ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A Russian analyst who played a major role in the creation of a flawed dossier about former President Donald Trump fabricated one of his own sources and concealed the identity of another when interviewed by the FBI, prosecutors said Tuesday. The allegations were aired in opening statements in the jury trial of Igor Danchenko, who is indicted on five counts of making false statements to the FBI, in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. The FBI interviewed Danchenko on multiple occasions in 2017 as it tried to corroborate allegations in what became known as the “Steele dossier.” That dossier by British spy Christopher Steele — commissioned by Democrats during the 2016 presidential campaign — included allegations of contact between the Trump campaign and Russian government officials, as well as allegations that the Russians may have held compromising information over Trump in the form of videos showing him engaged in salacious sexual activity in a Moscow hotel. Political Cartoons Specifically, prosecutors say, Danchenko lied when he said he obtained some information in an anonymous phone call from a man he believed to be Sergei Millian, a former head of the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce. Prosecutor Michael Keilty told jurors that Danchenko never spoke with Millian and that phone records show he never received an anonymous phone call at the time Danchenko claimed it occurred. Prosecutors also say Danchenko lied when he said he never “talked” with a man named Charles Dolan about the allegations contained in the dossier. But prosecutors say there is evidence that Dolan and Danchenko “spoke with Mr. Dolan over email” about very specific items that showed up in the dossier. The FBI needed to know that Dolan was an important source for Danchenko, Keilty said, because Dolan is a Democratic operative who has worked on the presidential campaign of every Democratic candidate since Jimmy Carter, and thus would have had motivation to fabricate or embellish allegations against Trump. “Those lies mattered,” Keilty said. But Danchenko’s attorney, Danny Onorato, told jurors that his client was completely truthful with the FBI. He pointed out that Danchenko never said he was certain that Millian was the source of the anonymous call but that he had good reason to believe it. The government’s case requires jurors to become “mind readers” to assess Danchenko’s subjective belief about the source of the phone call, Onorato said. And while phone records may not show a call, Onorato said, the government has no idea whether a call could have been placed with a mobile app rather than a traditional telephone provider. Indeed, Onorato said, it makes more sense that such a call would have occurred using an Internet app because so many of them conceal the source of the call, and the caller wanted to be anonymous. As for the allegations about his discussions with Dolan, Onorato said, Danchenko answered the question truthfully because the two did not “talk” — but rather had a written exchange. If the FBI wanted to know about email exchanges, it should have asked a different question, Onorato said. “The law doesn’t let you rewrite the dictionary,” Onorato said. Danchenko is the third person to be prosecuted by special counsel John Durham, who was appointed to investigate the origins of “Crossfire Hurricane” — the designation given to the FBI’s 2016 probe into former president Trump’s Russia connections. It is also the first of Durham’s cases that delves deeply into the origins of the dossier, which Trump derided as fake news and a political witch hunt. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

Wisconsin Gov Won https://digitalarkansasnews.com/wisconsin-gov-won/ MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday that he wouldn’t sign a bill creating exceptions for rape and incest if it would keep in place the state’s 1849 abortion ban. Evers faces Republican Tim Michels, who supported the 1849 ban before changing positions after he won the Republican primary and now says he would sign a bill granting exceptions. “I wouldn’t sign it because that leaves the underlying law in place which is a ban on abortion,” Evers said in response to a question at a Rotary Club of Milwaukee event co-sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club and Wispolitics.com. The Wisconsin Legislature is controlled by Republicans, some of whom have voiced support for granting rape and incest exceptions to the state law that came into play after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That ruling left it up to states to determine whether abortion should be legal. In line with Democrats across the country, Evers has tried to make abortion a central issue in the race that polls show is about even. Polls have also shown a wide majority of Wisconsin voters support keeping abortion legal and at the very least having rape and incest exceptions. Evers has twice called special sessions of the Legislature seeking to repeal the 1849 ban and create a way to put the question before voters. Republicans rejected both proposals. Evers said Tuesday the Wisconsin Legislature should codify Roe v. Wade. Evers also supports a lawsuit filed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul seeking to overturn the state ban, which passed before women had the right to vote and before the Civil War. Evers, in his comments before taking questions, repeatedly branded Michels as too “radical” and “dangerous” for the state. He singled out his long-held support of the total abortion ban, a position that Michels changed last month. “Obviously he supports that and he won’t even support exceptions for rape and incest,” Evers said of a total abortion ban. “To me that’s radical.” Michels’ spokesperson Anna Kelly did not immediately return a message seeking comment. He also cited Michels’ opposition to so-called red flag laws that would allow judges to take guns and other weapons away from people deemed to be a danger, as well as his comments questioning the integrity of the 2020 election. Michels, unlike other Republicans, has not called for President Joe Biden’s victory to be decertified. But Michels, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has said that “maybe” the 2020 election was stolen and he has not unconditionally said if he will accept results of the Nov. 8 election. Biden’s victory in Wisconsin has withstood multiple reviews, recounts and lawsuits. Evers, who has vetoed more bills than any other governor in modern Wisconsin history, also touted his roll as a block on the GOP-controlled Legislature. Evers also highlighted his promise to increase funding for local governments, a move that would require approval by the Legislature. Evers also defended his response to violent protests in Kenosha in 2020 that erupted after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man. Michels has been hammering Evers on his response to the violence, saying that he didn’t act quickly enough to quell the violence. “I did everything I was asked to do and I would do it again if I needed to do it,” Evers said, nothing that he called up the Wisconsin National Guard when it was requested. Michels has also blamed Evers for paroles of convicted murderers and others granted by the state parole commission. When asked about paroles, Evers deflected criticism by noting that any decision to grant parole is not up to the governor but the commission which operates independently of him. Michels has called on Evers to stop all paroles and pardons. Michels has been invited to attend a similar event to take questions ahead of the election, but has not responded, said past Milwaukee Press Club President Corri Hess. Kelly did not respond to questions about whether Michels would attend a future event. Evers and Michels are scheduled to meet for their first and only debate before the election on Friday. Read More Here

Biden Labour Proposal Could Shake Up Gig Economy https://digitalarkansasnews.com/biden-labour-proposal-could-shake-up-gig-economy/ The US Department of Labor has proposed a rule that would make it more difficult for companies to treat workers as independent contractors, a change that is expected to shake up ride-hailing, delivery and other industries that rely on gig workers. Gig company stocks were hammered on the news, with Uber, Lyft and DoorDash all falling at least 10 percent. The proposal, revealed on Tuesday, would require that workers be considered a company’s employees, entitled to more benefits and legal protections than contractors, when they are “economically dependent” on the company. It could have wide-ranging impacts on company profits and hiring, and household incomes and worker quality of life. The Labor Department could restrict independent contracting and said it will consider workers’ opportunities for profit or loss, the permanency of their jobs, and the degree of control a company exercises over a worker, among other factors. The final rule is expected next year. Most federal and state labour laws, such as those requiring a minimum wage and overtime pay, only apply to a company’s employees. Employees can cost companies up to 30 percent more than independent contractors, studies suggest. Millions of Americans are working “gig” jobs and this labour has become vital to some transportation, restaurant, construction, healthcare and other business models. United States Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in a statement said businesses often misclassify vulnerable workers as independent contractors. “Misclassification deprives workers of their federal labour protections, including their right to be paid their full, legally earned wages,” Walsh said. The rule is the latest move in a politically charged battle that has pitched Republicans and companies against Democrats and worker groups. It would replace a regulation from the administration of former US President Donald Trump that says workers who own their own businesses or have the ability to work for competing companies, such as a driver who works for Uber and Lyft, can be treated as contractors. Solicitor of Labor Seema Nanda, the department’s top legal official, said on Tuesday that the Trump-era rule, which was favoured by business groups, was out of step with decades of federal court decisions. The new proposal mirrors legal guidance issued by the administration of President Barack Obama, which was withdrawn by the Labor Department under Trump. More than one-third of US workers, or nearly 60 million people, performed some sort of freelance work in the past 12 months, a December 2021 survey by freelancing marketplace Upwork showed. Worker rights groups say companies are misclassifying employees as independent contractors, depriving them of fair pay and benefits [File: Brian Snyder/Reuters] Groups representing businesses including the US Chamber of Commerce, which is the largest US business lobbying group, the National Association of Home Builders, the National Retail Federation and Associated Builders and Contractors had met with White House officials to lobby for a more business-friendly standard. Those groups have said that any broad rule would hurt workers who want to remain independent and have flexibility. Worker advocacy groups have said that companies are increasingly misclassifying employees as independent contractors, depriving workers of fair pay and benefits to pad their profits. Most worker benefits in the US – including health insurance, sick pay, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance – are attached to an employment relationship. ‘A clear blow’ Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a research note that the proposal is “a clear blow to the gig economy and a near-term concern for the likes of Uber and Lyft”. “With ride-sharing and other gig economy players depending on the contractor business model, a classification to employees would essentially throw the business model upside down and cause some major structural changes if this holds,” Ives said. But both Uber and Lyft dismissed the potential impact of the new rule, saying that they could thrive in either scenario. “Today’s proposed rule takes a measured approach, essentially returning us to the Obama era, during which our industry grew exponentially” CR Wooters, head of federal affairs at Uber, said in a statement. In a blog post, Lyft said the company had expected this change since the start of the administration of current President Joe Biden. “Importantly this rule: Does not reclassify Lyft drivers as employees. Does not force Lyft to change our business model,” the company said. Gig economy giants have weathered past attempts in the US to require their workers to be classified as employees. In 2020, California voters overwhelmingly approved a proposition to exempt drivers for app-based companies from a state law requiring them to be designated as employees. Uber, Lyft and other companies had spent $200m campaigning in favour of the proposition. However, a judge struck down the ballot measure as unconstitutional last year, setting up a legal fight that could end up in the California Supreme Court. The Biden administration’s proposal will be formally published on Thursday, kicking off a 45-day public comment period. Read More Here

Legal Experts: Russia Link To Trump Documents Means It https://digitalarkansasnews.com/legal-experts-russia-link-to-trump-documents-means-it/ Former President Donald Trump sought to cut a deal with the National Archives to trade records he took from the White House to Mar-a-Lago late last year for “sensitive” documents about the FBI investigation of his 2016 campaign’s ties to Russia, according to The New York Times. The exchange never happened but Trump floated the idea to his aides. The National Archives had pressed Trump to return the documents stored at his Florida estate, but Trump spent a year and a half delaying their requests. He was upset with the National Archives’ unwillingness to hand over the documents that ostensibly backed his claims in the Russia probe, per the Times.  Upon entering the White House, Trump formed a habit of bringing documents back to his bedroom, according to the report. Halfway through his term, tracking files in the White House became an obstacle and, by his third year, some documents ended up in places where they should not have been, according to individuals familiar with the situation who spoke with the Times. At the end of his presidency, White House counsel Pat Cipollone called for Trump to return documents that “had piled up in boxes in the White House,” according to archives officials the Times reported.  The top lawyer for the National Archives, Gary Stern, also demanded that Trump return the classified files from Mar-a-Lago in a letter in 2021.  “It is also our understanding that roughly two dozen boxes of original presidential records were kept in the residence of the White House over the course of President Trump’s last year in office and have not been transferred to NARA, despite a determination by Pat Cipollone in the final days of the administration that they need to be,” Stern wrote. Throughout the year, Stern continued to press Trump’s team to have him hand over the boxes. He even spoke with the former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows and three lawyers who worked in the White House counsel’s Office. At the end of last year, as Stern pushed for Trump to return the documents, Trump told Meadows that the boxes he took from the White House merely contained newspaper clippings and personal items.  Even such documents seen by Trump while in office were considered presidential records, the Archives informed Trump’s team. Still, Trump did not return any boxes.  Ex-White House advisor Eric Herschmann also told Trump near the end of last year that he could encounter “significant legal problems” if he didn’t return the records, according to the Times. Trump repeatedly told his advisors that the boxes were “mine” but ultimately agreed to go through the files in December 2021, per the Times. Stern was later told the boxes were ready to be retrieved  Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course. Trump’s representatives had not informed Stern that the boxes included classified files. When the Archives’ personnel started opening the boxes in a room that was not suitable for handling secret material, they quickly moved the boxes to specially secured areas, according to the Times.  Soon after, the agency informed the Justice Department that classified materials may have been mishandled, which led federal authorities to open an investigation into the former president. Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen reacted to the New York Times report describing the whole issue as “absolutely crazy” on MSNBC on Sunday. “The fact that we have to sit there, and play this game with a former president of the United States? ‘I want my documents back?’ He’s not entitled to them,” Cohen said. The longtime Trump fixer argued that anyone else would be in jail “in 24 hours” if they did what Trump is accused of. “He’s playing the art of the deal, where he says ‘I will trade you this for that,’ — this is beyond unheard of,” he said. Former U.S. attorney Joyce White Vance told MSNBC that the report strengthens the DOJ’s case for a possible indictment. “Whether it’s technically extortion, whether it is some other misconduct, nothing about this is seemly for a former president,” she said. “He’s not entitled to engage in a back-and-forth court to get materials he wants but is not entitled to. This deserves the highest level of scrutiny from the Justice Department and, increasingly its more an issue of when, not if, there will be a prosecution.” New York University Law Professor Ryan Goodman tweeted that the report “significantly strengthen the criminal case — and are the type of aggravating factors that push DOJ toward indictment.” Andrew Weissmann, a former federal prosecutor who served on special counsel Bob Mueller’s team, agreed that the report was “damning” evidence against the former president. “Those are incredibly damning statements that go directly to knowledge and intent,” he told MSNBC. “And you can be sure that the DOJ prosecutors are doing what I’m doing, which is listening to this. This is making it that much easier to prove the only element that could pose any real difficulty for the Department of Justice in bringing a case [against] the Mar-a-Lago documents.” Former Watergate prosecutor Jill Wine-Banks called the former president “delusional” for thinking he could exchange the Mar-a-Lago documents for the information on the Russia probe. “My suspicion is they do not exist,” she told MSNBC on Monday. “So, let’s take that first. Secondly, you cannot steal something to barter. It does go back to what happened in Ukraine where he was trying to say, okay, I’ll give you what you’re legally entitled to, the funding, if you do this terrible thing for me and make up something about Joe Biden. That is not how America is supposed to be doing business. That is illegal in every aspect.” Trump, who has long called the Department of Justice’s investigation into his campaign ties to Russia a “hoax”, is now under a different investigation by the department. This time, the DOJ is looking into whether Trump broke three federal laws including the Espionage Act when it comes to his handling of classified information. Read More Here

Wisconsin Gov Bids To Make Abortion A Central Issue In Race https://digitalarkansasnews.com/wisconsin-gov-bids-to-make-abortion-a-central-issue-in-race/ FILE – Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels speaks as he appears with former President Donald Trump at a rally in Waukesha, Wis., on Aug. 5, 2022. Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, that he wouldn’t sign a bill that keeps in place the state’s 1849 ban on abortion but creates new exceptions for rape and incest. Evers faces Michels, who supported the 1849 ban before changing positions after he won the Republican primary and now says he would sign a bill granting exceptions. (AP Photo/Morry Gash, File) The Associated Press By SCOTT BAUER, Associated Press MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers said Tuesday that he wouldn’t sign a bill creating exceptions for rape and incest if it would keep in place the state’s 1849 abortion ban. Evers faces Republican Tim Michels, who supported the 1849 ban before changing positions after he won the Republican primary and now says he would sign a bill granting exceptions. “I wouldn’t sign it because that leaves the underlying law in place which is a ban on abortion,” Evers said in response to a question at a Rotary Club of Milwaukee event co-sponsored by the Milwaukee Press Club and Wispolitics.com. The Wisconsin Legislature is controlled by Republicans, some of whom have voiced support for granting rape and incest exceptions to the state law that came into play after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. That ruling left it up to states to determine whether abortion should be legal. Political Cartoons In line with Democrats across the country, Evers has tried to make abortion a central issue in the race that polls show is about even. Polls have also shown a wide majority of Wisconsin voters support keeping abortion legal and at the very least having rape and incest exceptions. Evers has twice called special sessions of the Legislature seeking to repeal the 1849 ban and create a way to put the question before voters. Republicans rejected both proposals. Evers said Tuesday the Wisconsin Legislature should codify Roe v. Wade. Evers also supports a lawsuit filed by Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul seeking to overturn the state ban, which passed before women had the right to vote and before the Civil War. Evers, in his comments before taking questions, repeatedly branded Michels as too “radical” and “dangerous” for the state. He singled out his long-held support of the total abortion ban, a position that Michels changed last month. “Obviously he supports that and he won’t even support exceptions for rape and incest,” Evers said of a total abortion ban. “To me that’s radical.” Michels’ spokesperson Anna Kelly did not immediately return a message seeking comment. He also cited Michels’ opposition to so-called red flag laws that would allow judges to take guns and other weapons away from people deemed to be a danger, as well as his comments questioning the integrity of the 2020 election. Michels, unlike other Republicans, has not called for President Joe Biden’s victory to be decertified. But Michels, who is endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has said that “maybe” the 2020 election was stolen and he has not unconditionally said if he will accept results of the Nov. 8 election. Biden’s victory in Wisconsin has withstood multiple reviews, recounts and lawsuits. Evers, who has vetoed more bills than any other governor in modern Wisconsin history, also touted his roll as a block on the GOP-controlled Legislature. Evers also highlighted his promise to increase funding for local governments, a move that would require approval by the Legislature. Evers also defended his response to violent protests in Kenosha in 2020 that erupted after a white police officer shot Jacob Blake, a Black man. Michels has been hammering Evers on his response to the violence, saying that he didn’t act quickly enough to quell the violence. “I did everything I was asked to do and I would do it again if I needed to do it,” Evers said, nothing that he called up the Wisconsin National Guard when it was requested. Michels has also blamed Evers for paroles of convicted murderers and others granted by the state parole commission. When asked about paroles, Evers deflected criticism by noting that any decision to grant parole is not up to the governor but the commission which operates independently of him. Michels has called on Evers to stop all paroles and pardons. Michels has been invited to attend a similar event to take questions ahead of the election, but has not responded, said past Milwaukee Press Club President Corri Hess. Kelly did not respond to questions about whether Michels would attend a future event. Evers and Michels are scheduled to meet for their first and only debate before the election on Friday. Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Read More Here

IMF Warns Of Slowing Growth, Rising Market Risks As Finance Officials Meet https://digitalarkansasnews.com/imf-warns-of-slowing-growth-rising-market-risks-as-finance-officials-meet/ WASHINGTON, Oct 11 (Reuters) – The International Monetary Fund warned on Tuesday that colliding pressures from inflation, war-driven energy and food crises and sharply higher interest rates were pushing the world to the brink of recession and threatening financial market stability. In gloomy reports issued at the start of the first in-person International Monetary Fund and World Bank annual meetings in three years, the IMF urged central banks to keep up their fight against inflation despite the pain caused by monetary tightening and the rise in the U.S. dollar to a two-decade high, the two main drivers of a recent bout of financial market volatility. Cutting its 2023 global growth forecasts further, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook that countries representing a third of world output could be in recession next year. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com “The three largest economies, the United States, China and the euro area, will continue to stall,” Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, the IMF’s chief economist, said in a statement. “In short, the worst is yet to come, and for many people, 2023 will feel like a recession.” The IMF said Global GDP growth next year will slow to 2.7%, compared, down from its July forecast of 2.9%, as higher interest rates slow the U.S. economy, Europe struggles with spiking gas prices and China contends with continued COVID-19 lockdowns and a weakening property sector. The global lender maintained its 2022 growth forecast at 3.2%, reflecting stronger-than-expected output in Europe but a weaker performance in the United States, after torrid 6.0% global growth last year as the COVID-19 pandemic eased. Some key European economies will fall into “technical recession” next year, including Germany and Italy, as energy price spikes and shortages slam output. China’s growth outlooks also were downgraded as it struggles with continued COVID-19 lockdowns and a weakening property sector, where a deeper downturn would slow growth further, the IMF said. The growing economic pressures, coupled with tightening liquidity, stubborn inflation and lingering financial vulnerabilities, are increasing the risks of disorderly asset repricings and financial market contagions, the IMF said in its Global Financial Stability Report. “It’s difficult to think of a time where uncertainty was so high,” Tobias Adrian, the IMF’s monetary and capital markets director, told Reuters in an interview. “We have to go back decades to see so much conflict in the world, and at the same time inflation is extremely high.” A man walks past the International Monetary Fund (IMF) logo at its headquarters in Washington, U.S., May 10, 2018. REUTERS/Yuri Gripas Finance officials from the IMF’s 190 member countries this week are grappling with these uncertainties from differing economic positions in Washington, along with food and energy crises prompted by the war in Ukraine and other global challenges including massive clean energy financing needs. PRIORITY: INFLATION The IMF said central bankers had a delicate balancing act to fight inflation without over-tightening, which could push the global economy into an “unnecessarily severe recession” and heap economic pain on emerging markets that are seeing their currencies fall sharply against the dollar. But Gourinchas said controlling inflation was the bigger priority and letting up too soon would undermine central banks’ “hard-won credibility.” “What we are recommending is that central banks stay the course. Now that doesn’t mean that they should accelerate compared to what they’ve been doing,” Gourinchas said in a news conference, adding that it was “a bit early” to shift course. “I think right now our advice is, ‘let’s make sure we see a decisive decline in inflation.'” The IMF forecast that global headline consumer price inflation would peak at 9.5% in the third quarter of 2022, declining to 4.7% by the fourth quarter of 2023. But the outlook could darken considerably if the world economy is hit by a “plausible combination of shocks,” including a 30% spike in oil prices from current levels, the IMF said, pushing global growth down to 1.0% next year – a level associated with widely falling real incomes. Other components of this “downside scenario” include a steep drop-off in Chinese property sector investment, a sharp tightening of financial conditions brought on by emerging market currency depreciations and a continued overheating of labor markets that results in lower potential output. The IMF put a 25% probability of global growth falling below 2% next year – a phenomenon that has occurred only five times since 1970 – and said there was more than a 10% chance of a global GDP contraction. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Read More Here

AP ANALYSIS: Sorting Fact From Fiction Regarding Trump's Classified Documents – WVUA 23 https://digitalarkansasnews.com/ap-analysis-sorting-fact-from-fiction-regarding-trumps-classified-documents-wvua-23/ classified documents, trump By ALI SWENSON and GRAPH MASSARA Associated Press At a rally for Nevada Republicans on Saturday, former President Donald Trump argued against the federal probe into the storage of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate by falsely suggesting that past presidents did the same thing. Trump claimed that Barack Obama moved “truckloads” of documents to a former furniture store in Chicago, that Bill Clinton carted records “from the White House to a former car dealership in Arkansas,” and that George H.W. Bush “took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and a former Chinese restaurant where they combined them.” In reality, National Archives and Records Administration staff, not the former presidents, transported presidential records to these facilities for temporary sorting and storage, following security protocols in the process, NARA statements and Associated Press reporting show. The agency leased the buildings from the General Services Administration, it said in a statement Tuesday. “All such temporary facilities met strict archival and security standards, and have been managed and staffed exclusively by NARA employees,” NARA’s emailed statement read. “Reports that indicate or imply that those Presidential records were in the possession of the former Presidents or their representatives, after they left office, or that the records were housed in substandard conditions, are false and misleading.” That’s very different from Trump harboring classified documents from his own presidency in various storage areas at his Florida estate, said Timothy Naftali, a professor of public service and history at New York University. “Obviously, it takes time to build a presidential library. During that period of time, the National Archives has to put these presidential records somewhere safe,” Naftali said. “They are not put in closets in public clubs.” A spokesperson for Trump did not respond to a request for comment. Here’s a closer look at the facts. TRUMP: Bush “took millions of documents to a former bowling alley and a former Chinese restaurant where they combined them. So they’re in a bowling alley slash Chinese restaurant.” THE FACTS: While the idea of the elder Bush sneaking documents to a combination bowling alley and Chinese restaurant inspired colorful internet reactions, it’s not accurate. NARA archivists, not Bush, transported the documents to what had once been Chimney Hill Bowl in College Station, Texas, according to AP reporting at the time. They converted it into a warehouse, swapping bowling lanes for shelved storage where they could store the boxes of documents. To fit everything, they also co-opted a former Chinese restaurant next door. Under the Presidential Records Act, NARA has custody of all presidential records from former administrations. The agency is responsible for sorting through the documents and storing them securely until a presidential library can be built to house them. In the case of Bush’s documents, the temporary storage facility NARA archivists used was protected by guards, television monitors and electronic detectors while documents were sorted, the AP reported at the time. They were later moved to the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, also in College Station, where they reside today. Trump’s comments aimed to diminish the fact that he held classified documents in Mar-a-Lago by saying Bush held his own documents in an old bowling alley, Naftali said. “But that’s complete nonsense,” he said. “These are buildings National Archives took over, renovated to meet archival standards and security, and then they put the materials there.” Benjamin Hufbauer, a professor at the University of Louisville who researches presidential libraries, agreed Trump’s claim was not correct. “It’s really an apples to oranges kind of thing,” he said. ___ TRUMP: Clinton “took millions of documents from the White House to a former car dealership in Arkansas.” THE FACTS: Clinton didn’t take documents to an ex-car dealership, NARA did. NARA announced in May 2000 that it would be transporting documents from Clinton’s presidency to a Little Rock, Arkansas, storage facility that used to be the Balch Motor Company. The facility, which NARA rented, was less than 2 miles from what later became the William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, where the documents are stored today. ___ TRUMP: Obama “moved more than 20 truckloads, over 33 million pages of documents, both classified and unclassified, to a poorly built and totally unsafe former furniture store located in a rather bad neighborhood in Chicago with no security, by the way.” THE FACTS: Again, NARA, not Obama, transported these documents – and followed its own storage standards in the process, the agency said. Roughly 30 million unclassified Obama administration documents reside in a Chicago-area building that at one point belonged to the Plunkett furniture company, according to county and local government records. These documents are stored in accordance with the agency’s archival storage standards, according to NARA. Those standards include things like fire safety, pest management and security guidelines for certain types of documents. Comments a NARA official gave to the city’s zoning commission prior to the end of Obama’s term also stipulated that the facility would be guarded overnight. The administration’s classified documents are stored in separate secure locations in the Washington, D.C., area. ___ This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP right here. (Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.) 10/11/2022 12:35:14 PM (GMT -5:00) Read More…

Israel Says Historic Agreement Made With Lebanon On Maritime Borders https://digitalarkansasnews.com/israel-says-historic-agreement-made-with-lebanon-on-maritime-borders/ JERUSALEM — Israeli and Lebanese leaders appear to have agreed to a U.S.-brokered deal that will let both countries exploit gas fields in the eastern Mediterranean, potentially ending a decades-long dispute over their maritime border, easing growing military tensions and providing a desperately needed source of income to Lebanon’s collapsing economy. The agreement, which needs formal approval in both countries, was hailed by leaders in Beirut and Jerusalem as a historic breakthrough. It is the first agreement on border demarcation between the two nations. “This is an historic achievement that will strengthen Israel’s security, inject billions into Israel’s economy, and ensure the stability of our northern border,” Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid said in a statement Tuesday. Lebanese leaders have yet to make an official announcement on the deal, but President Michel Aoun said in a tweet Tuesday that “the final version of the offer is satisfactory for Lebanon and answers its demands and preserves its rights to its natural wealth.” President Biden made congratulatory calls Tuesday to Lapid and Aoun, “who confirmed the readiness of both governments to move forward with this agreement,” according to a White House statement. Biden hailed the deal as a “historic breakthrough in the Middle East.” Officials hope the agreement, if finalized, will cool intensifying tensions along the frontier. Hezbollah, the Iran-allied militant group that controls southern Lebanon, has threatened to attack a new offshore gas facility that Israel is readying for production in what Lebanon claims are disputed waters. The group has launched drones toward the gas field more than once, including three unmanned aircraft that were shot down by Israel in early July. In the face of Hezbollah’s threats to strike should Israel begin pumping natural gas from the Karish Field, Defense Minister Benny Gantz put troops on high alert after the maritime border talks ran into last-minute disputes last week. Hezbollah, which along with its allies holds the largest bloc in parliament, had no immediate comment on the draft of the agreement. A media officer for the group told The Washington Post that Hezbollah leader Hasan Nasrallah was likely to talk about the deal in a speech scheduled for Tuesday. “Today we’ll find out,” the official said. The agreement would define only the offshore boundary between the sworn enemies, not the 50-mile land border that remains in dispute after multiple wars and continues to be patrolled by a United Nations monitoring force after more than four decades. The maritime frontier has proved to be equally contentious in recent years, particularly after gas deposits were discovered in the seabed inside the 330-square-mile region. Israel, which has already developed gas fields in nearby waters, strung a line of buoys three miles out from a rocky cliff near the U.N. headquarters. Beirut condemned the move as a unilateral provocation. Resolving the dispute — which has gained urgency as the risk of conflict rose and Lebanon’s economic free fall has grown more critical — has been a regional priority for the Biden administration. The president’s special envoy, Amos Hochstein, brokered talks over the past year with the goal of giving countries fair access to the area. The deal comes as gas discoveries are remaking the energy map of the Mediterranean just as Europe is looking for alternate sources in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Gas diplomacy may also be thawing Israel’s tense relationship with Turkey, for example, as the two countries seek to revive long-abandoned plans for a pipeline through Turkey to Europe. Details of the agreement were not made public Tuesday. But reports of its broad terms in recent weeks suggest that it clarifies the lines of exclusive economic zones for both countries. Lebanon would gain access to promising fields in previously disputed waters; Israel would be free to begin operating the Karish well with Lebanon’s agreement. Lebanese officials have said the final deal would not have them in direct partnership with Israel, and it was unclear how royalties would be split from the one area, the Qana Field, that lies partially in Israeli waters. Lebanon in 2017 issued licenses to move forward with offshore oil and gas development for two of the 10 blocks in the Mediterranean, including Qana, and officials were moving quickly to advance the process. Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati met Tuesday morning with Energy Minister Walid Fayyad and a delegation from French oil giant Total. Fayyad expressed hope that the deal will benefit Lebanon and grant it its “rights and full share in Qana Field without sharing it with anyone,” according to state media. He also emphasized the need to begin exploration and development, which often take years, as soon as possible. “Logistical issues take time but work will begin immediately,” he said. Lebanon’s leaders and public hope the deal will pave the way for gas exploration and bring in much-needed revenue to the country, which has been hit by sharp economic decline and a banking crisis that have ravaged the local currency and left much of the country out of work. In a place that was previously an oasis of opulence, the sight of people sifting through trash cans for food is now common in the capital, Beirut. The World Food Program said in a report last month that an estimated 33 percent of Lebanese now lack minimum dietary provisions. Access to gas fields could mean export revenue and energy sources for a country where electricity is now an expensive luxury and some Lebanese have begun joining Syrians and other migrants in perilous boat journeys to Europe. Israel hopes access to the gas deposits will help pull Lebanon back from the brink of collapse and reduce the risk of another all-out war. “Such a field would weaken Lebanese dependency on Iran, restrain Hezbollah and bring regional stability,” Lapid told his cabinet earlier this month. In Israel, which does not have diplomatic relations with Lebanon, it was unclear what steps the government needed to take to ratify the agreement. Legal experts said the deal could be enacted simply on the approval of the cabinet, most of whose members have signaled enthusiasm for a draft they said benefits both countries. They pushed back against some right-wing lawmakers, including former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who blasted the government for “surrendering” to Hezbollah. But Israel is holding national elections in less than a month, and some officials, including alternate Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, have said in the past that such an important agreement should go before the Knesset, Israel’s parliament. Bennett, as Lapid’s partner in the government, still holds an effective veto in the cabinet. His office said Tuesday that he will make a decision on the agreement after reading the draft and consulting with security officials. Dadouch reported from Beirut. Read More Here