September 27, 2016

Court records show Keith Scott's wife filed for restraining order

Source: WSOC-TV

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Police said that Keith Scott did have a loaded gun when Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officer Brentley Vinson shot and killed him last week, and on Monday, sources told Channel 9 that that gun was stolen.

Police sources said someone else stole the gun during a home break-in and later sold it to Scott.

Channel 9 also obtained a domestic violence protective order that Scott's wife took out on him last year.

The order, filed in Gaston County, said that Scott hit his child in the head with his fist, kicked his wife and threatened to kill them with his gun.

Read more: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/court-records-show-keith-scotts-wife-filed-for-restraining-order/450911728

August 24, 2016

Bernie Sanders a no-show for Tim Canova

Source: The Miami Herald

Bernie Sanders, the politician who elevated first-time candidate Tim Canova to national attention and a rich campaign warchest, doesn’t appear to be coming to South Florida to help out his protégé in his battle against U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz.

At a press conference Wednesday -- a week before the Aug. 30 primary -- at his Hollywood campaign office, Canova pushed back against reporters’ questions about why Sanders hasn’t appeared in the Broward/Miami-Dade district.

“You tell me why he isn’t coming,” said Canova defensively. “I don’t have an answer to that. I am very proud to have his support. Quite frankly we don’t need him here to win this election. Our field operation is growing by the day. Debbie Wasserman Schultz is the one who needs to run out and get folks to come in from out of town to help protect her -- to shield her from the voters. I am out there talking to voters every day.”

Wasserman Schultz has recruited many of the party’s top names to campaign for her in the district, including Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, Vice President Joe Biden, civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot at a congressional event in Arizona in 2011. President Barack Obama also praised Wasserman Schultz when he was in South Florida. Obama had tapped her as his Democratic National Committee chair -- a role she stepped down from in July following the WikiLeaks publication of thousands of DNC emails.

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/08/bernie-sanders-a-no-show-for-tim-canova.html

August 15, 2016

After Debbie Wasserman Schultz attacks Tim Canova over Middle East statement he changes website

Source: The Miami Herald

During the CBS4 debate Sunday, U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz accused her rival Tim Canova of wanting to force Israel to disarm -- a charge with implications at the ballot box in the heavily Jewish South Florida district.

Canova's website had stated: "The U.S. must do everything in its power to reverse the militarization of the region, including full diplomatic efforts to negotiate a general disarmament for the entire region that includes nuclear, missile, and conventional arms reductions. We should recognize that peace and security for Israel, the U.S., and the rest of the world is no longer possible without general disarmament and fundamental political and social reforms throughout the Middle East. We must work to bring about such reform as much as possible through non-violent peaceful means using the full range of U.S. economic and diplomatic power."

Canova shot back that he didn't mean to suggest that Israel should disarm -- he meant Saudia Arabia and Iran. But he had made similar statements in the past about generally disarming the Middle East.

After the debate, Canova said that the wording on his website was an "oversight" and that it would be changed. The new portion is in italics:

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/08/tim-canova-tweaks-website-statement-on-iran-.html

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So, Canova used radical-fringe anti-Israel rhetoric on his website to raise tons of money but now has to change his tune because he just figured out there are a lot of Jewish voters in his district.

July 27, 2016

Alan Grayson said he never hit his wife. Then he got physical with a reporter

There is no perfectly right way to handle allegations of domestic violence, but Rep. Alan Grayson (D-Fla.) just demonstrated the totally wrong way. At an event hosted by Politico in Philadelphia, site of the Democratic National Convention, Grayson on Tuesday got in the face of — and made contact with — Edward-Isaac Dovere, a reporter for Politico, which earlier in the day published claims of abuse by the congressman's ex-wife.

If you're looking to dispute a characterization as a hot-tempered man who could be prone to violent acts, that may not be the best approach.

Video of the altercation shows Grayson, a Senate candidate, putting his hands on Dovere's shoulders while trying to exit the event and avoid answering questions; the footage also shows Dovere stepping into Grayson's path in a persistent attempt to ask about the accusations leveled by Lolita Grayson.

At one point, Alan Grayson appears to be in the clear but turns back to confront Dovere.

more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2016/07/26/alan-grayson-said-he-never-hit-his-wife-so-he-got-physical-with-a-reporter/

July 26, 2016

Liberal groups withdraw endorsement of Alan Grayson following domestic violence report

Source: The Miami Herald

Two liberal backers of U.S. Rep. Alan Grayson's Senate campaign withdrew their endorsements Tuesday.

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee and Democracy for America both cut ties with the Orlando Democrat, citing a Politico report claiming Grayson's ex-wife reported domestic violence to police on four occasions.

"After today’s revelations of years of police reports about allegations of domestic abuse involving Alan Grayson, we are no longer willing to support and are formally withdrawing our endorsement of him in the race for U.S. Senate," leaders with PCCC and DFA said in a joint statement.

The groups also called on Grayson to donate their members' campaign contributions to a domestic violence charity in Orlando.

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/07/liberal-groups-withdraw-endorsement-of-alan-grayson-following-domestic-violence-report.html

July 26, 2016

Grayson's ex-wife claimed domestic abuse over two decades

Source: Politico

Rep. Alan Grayson's ex-wife repeatedly went to police with accusations of domestic abuse over a two-decade period, according to documents she has provided to POLITICO, revelations that come as the Florida congressman enters the final weeks of his Democratic primary campaign for Senate.

Lolita Grayson called police on her husband at least two times in Virginia and two more times in Florida, sought medical attention on at least two occasions and said that, in one instance, he had threatened to kill her, according to a police report.

The congressman, who also asserted Lolita Grayson battered him in 2014, vehemently denies he engaged in any abuse during their 25-year marriage, which ended last year in a bitter annulment that she is now appealing.

The first reported incident described by the documents was in 1994, the final one was in 2014. She also called Orange County sheriff’s deputies in 2005 to lodge another abuse complaint, but prosecutors filed no charges in that incident or any of the others. Only the 2014 incident has been previously reported.



Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/alan-grayson-wife-florida-226090

July 25, 2016

Sanders gets booed as he urges supporters to vote for Clinton

Source: Politico

Bernie Sanders provoked outrage from his supporters on Monday after he declared that the time has come for them to elect presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine.

"Immediately right now, we have got to defeat Donald Trump. And we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine," Sanders said at the Philadelphia rally, drawing boos and subsequent chants of "we want Bernie."

Sanders raised his right hand as if to hush the crowd, before remarking, "brothers and sisters ... brothers and sisters, this is, this is the real world that we live in."

"Trump is a bully and a demagogue. Trump, Trump has made bigotry and hatred the cornerstone of his campaign," Sanders said. "Throughout this campaign, he has insulted Mexicans and Latinos, he has insulted Muslims, he has insulted women and African-Americans."


Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/07/bernie-sanders-booed-convention-226136

July 22, 2016

Bill Nelson says Tim Kaine would be 'steady hand' as VP

Source: Tampa Bay Times

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson said Friday that Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine would be an "absolutely outstanding choice" as Hillary Clinton's vice presidential running mate.

Speaking to reporters in Orlando, where Clinton scheduled a roundtable meeting with community leaders, Nelson said: "He is a steady hand. There is no question about Tim Kaine's ethics, his morality, nor about his competence, if that's who she chooses."

Nelson described Kaine as "one of my best friends in the Senate."

Told that some liberals in the Democratic Party don't think Kaine is liberal enough, Nelson said: "That is a statement that you'll hear right up to the announcement, and once the announcement is made -- whoever it is -- all of that contrary (talk) will dissipate."

Read more: http://www.tampabay.com/blogs/the-buzz-florida-politics/bill-nelson-says-tim-kaine-would-be-steady-hand-as--vp/2286475

July 22, 2016

Al Sharpton to Alan Grayson: I didn't endorse you, so don't use me in your ad

Source: The Miami Herald

Civil rights leader the Rev. Al Sharpton wants Democrat Alan Grayson to take down an online ad he launched this month that seems to imply the Orlando congressman has Sharpton's endorsement in Florida's competitive U.S. Senate race.

Ten days ago, Grayson posted on his Facebook page a video ad that shows Sharpton praising Grayson as a strong progressive. The 15-second spot includes undated footage from Sharpton's previous MSNBC show "PoliticsNation with Al Sharpton," which is edited so Sharpton says the following seamlessly:

"Now more than ever the Democrats need strong voices -- progressives, who are willing to fight for the causes they believe in. ... Joining me now is the man himself, Congressman Alan Grayson."

The footage seems to be a combination of two clips parsed from a single segment on Sharpton's show. The footage appears to be about three years old (a background graphic references the 113th Congress, which started in 2013).

Read more: http://miamiherald.typepad.com/nakedpolitics/2016/07/al-sharpton-to-alan-grayson-i-didnt-endorse-you-so-dont-use-me-in-your-ad.html

July 8, 2016

Rep. Corrine Brown to be indicted in federal court

Source: WESH-TV

ORLANDO, Fla. —A local Congresswoman is headed to federal court.

Corrine Brown, who represents part of Central Florida, is set to be indicted in Jacksonville on Friday.

Details of Brown's indictment remain sealed.

The Democrat is facing a Department of Justice fraud investigation. She is suspected of improperly soliciting charitable donations and misusing campaign funds.

Read more: http://www.wesh.com/news/rep-corrine-brown-to-be-indicted-in-federal-court/40411848