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DonViejo

DonViejo's Journal
DonViejo's Journal
June 25, 2021

Judge denies new trial for Chauvin

Source: The Hill


BY JORDAN WILLIAMS - 06/25/21 11:28 AM EDT

A Minnesota judge has denied former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin’s request for a new trial in the murder of George Floyd.

In a two-page order on Friday, Hennepin County Judge Peter Cahill said that Chauvin “failed to demonstrate that the Court abused its discretion or committed error such as Defendant was deprived of his constitutional right.”

The decision comes hours before Chauvin is scheduled to be sentenced after being found guilty of murder and manslaughter charges in April for kneeling on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes, resulting in his death.

Chauvin’s attorneys asked for a new trial about a month after his conviction, arguing that juror misconduct and pretrial publicity led to the officer’s conviction.

Read more: https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/560235-judge-denies-new-trial-for-chauvin

June 25, 2021

The unsurprising and increasingly normalized bloodlust of Donald Trump



Philip Bump 1 hr ago

In the first hour of May 29, 2020, just after midnight, fires were burning on the streets of Minneapolis. Protests over the death of George Floyd under the knee of police officer Derek Chauvin had been going on for several days and in multiple cities. Even at that late hour, the unrest in Minnesota was still being carried live on MSNBC.

Twitter was still a central part of President Donald Trump’s connection to the public at that point, so he used the social network to complain about Minneapolis’s handling of the situation and to pledge to send in the National Guard, which had already been activated. Then he offered a threat:

“These THUGS are dishonoring the memory of George Floyd, and I won’t let that happen,” Trump wrote, shortly before 1 a.m. “Just spoke to Governor Tim Walz and told him that the Military is with him all the way. Any difficulty and we will assume control but, when the looting starts, the shooting starts. Thank you!”

There was no real way to read this except by drawing a line from the second sentence — the military is ready — to the third: If you loot, we shoot. That, in fact, is exactly how the phrase had been used in years past.

more/NO PAYWALL
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/the-unsurprising-and-increasingly-normalized-bloodlust-of-donald-trump/ar-AALrBtm
June 25, 2021

Georgia judge dismisses most of lawsuit seeking inspection of Fulton County ballots

Source: CNN


By Jason Morris, CNN

Updated 10:05 AM ET, Fri June 25, 2021

(CNN)A Georgia judge has dismissed most of a lawsuit seeking an inspection of Fulton County's absentee ballots from the 2020 presidential election.

It's a potential setback to the Republican-led effort to undermine the legitimacy of the results in the state's largest county, even though the case will proceed for the time being.

The plaintiffs, who believe counterfeit ballots were counted in the 2020 election, have pushed to use microscopes to examine nearly 150,000 absentee ballots. They are seeking to examine the paper stock, creases and method in which the bubbles were filled to determine if any ballots are counterfeit.

Even if the audit proceeds, it will not lead to Georgia's election results -- which have already been certified for President Joe Biden -- being overturned.


Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/25/politics/fulton-county-ballots-lawsuit/index.html

June 25, 2021

Justice Department Is Suing Georgia Over Voter Suppression Law


The Biden Justice Department takes its first major action on voting rights.

In its first major action to combat GOP voter suppression laws, the Biden Justice Department will announce on Friday that it is suing the state of Georgia over its new voting restrictions, a source familiar with the litigation told Mother Jones.

Gov. Brian Kemp has said “there is nothing Jim Crow” about the Georgia law, enacted in March, but it includes 16 different provisions that make it harder to vote and that target metro Atlanta counties with large Black populations.

The lawsuit is being overseen by Kristen Clarke, the head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, and Vanita Gupta, the associate attorney general—two longtime civil rights lawyers with extensive records litigating against new restrictions on voting.

The Georgia law appears to have been part of a coordinated national effort by conservative activists to make it harder to vote in states across the country. The dark money group Heritage Action for America bragged in a leaked video to donors in April, first reported by Mother Jones, that the Georgia law had “eight key provisions that Heritage recommended.” Those included policies restricting mail ballot drop boxes, preventing election officials from sending absentee ballot request forms to voters, making it easier for partisan workers to monitor the polls, and restricting the ability of counties to accept donations from nonprofit groups seeking to aid in election administration.

more
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/justice-dept-to-file-lawsuit-against-state-of-georgia-over-new-voting-restrictions/ar-AALrPYB?ocid=uxbndlbing
June 25, 2021

Trump attacks his own 'pathetic' Joint Chiefs chair for defending the study of critical race theory

Trump attacks his own 'pathetic' Joint Chiefs chairman for defending the study of critical race theory

Brad Reed
June 25, 2021

Gen. Mark Milley, the current Trump-appointed chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, went viral this week when he defended the study of critical race theory by military leaders.

Former President Donald Trump, however, was not happy to hear Milley's explanation for why it's good for military leaders to learn about systemic racism in the United States.

"General Milley, and I watched his statement, it was pathetic!" the former president fumed during an interview on Newsmax. "I watched the statements of some others -- your head of the Navy. It was pathetic and they didn't talk that way when I was around, I can tell you they didn't talk that way or I would have gotten rid of them in two minutes!"

Trump also claimed that critical race theory was "terminated very strongly" during his administration and has only made a comeback since President Joe Biden took over six months ago.



###

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-mark-milley/
June 25, 2021

Brace Yourself: Trump Starts Up His Rallies Again This Weekend


He’s bringing the MAGA circus to Ohio. Here’s why.

by DANIEL MCGRAW JUNE 25, 2021 5:30 AM

When former president Donald Trump announced he was relaunching his rally roadshow—with the first stop being in Wellington, Ohio tomorrow—the Elyria Chronicle-Telegram had this reaction in an op-ed: “Why us? . . . It’s enough to inspire both anticipation and dread.”

While Trump supporters will dismiss such expressions with their usual disdain for the media, his appearance in Ohio should, indeed, inspire some dread. It is very much a singular act, focused on targeting one GOP member of Congress.

Rep. Anthony Gonzalez was one of ten Republicans to vote for Trump’s second impeachment, and his district runs close to this part of Ohio. For that reason, Trump is going to take over the Lorain County Fairgrounds tomorrow to blast a sitting congressman who won his district in 2020 by more than 25 percent, and even ran ahead of Trump by 15,000 votes.

“No, I just don’t think Gonzalez is good. I don’t think he represents the people. I think he’s not somebody that thinks the way I do and others do,” Trump said in a recent podcast, explaining his rationale for the rally.

With a stage set up in the fairgrounds of a small town that is little more than an intersection in farm country, what should we expect?

more
https://thebulwark.com/brace-yourself-trump-starts-up-his-rallies-again-this-weekend/

June 24, 2021

Arizona GOP Wants Special Session on 'Audit' Findings


June 24, 2021 at 2:16 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard

Arizona Republic: “A last-minute addition to the state budget approved by senators along party lines early Wednesday would create a committee to receive the findings from the ongoing election review.”

“The committee would make recommendations to the Senate president based on those findings, including calling for a special session to take up legislation.”

###

https://politicalwire.com/2021/06/24/arizona-gop-wants-special-session-on-audit-findings/
June 24, 2021

Pompeo, other 2024 GOP hopefuls head to NY to meet with donors as possible White House bids loom

Mike Pompeo, other 2024 GOP hopefuls head to New York to meet with donors as possible White House bids loom

PUBLISHED THU, JUN 24 20218:35 AM EDT

Brian Schwartz
@SCHWARTZBCNBC

KEY POINTS

Mike Pompeo has been making the biggest push into New York donor circles since the 2020 presidential election ended, according to insiders.

“He’s basically already running for the presidency,” said one of the people familiar with Pompeo’s New York meetings.

As for Ron DeSantis, allies of the Florida governor have signaled they are planning to set up an event in the Hamptons for his gubernatorial campaign.


A growing group of Republicans who could run for president in 2024 are making their way to New York to meet with lucrative donors.

Potential contenders who either have or are set to gather with donors in the Big Apple include former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Sens. Tim Scott and Marco Rubio and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, according to people briefed on the matter and invitations to fundraising events.

Though Scott, Rubio and DeSantis are up for reelection in 2022, raising money for those campaigns could translate into financial support for a 2024 presidential run. Pompeo recently launched the Champion American Values PAC to help Republicans running in 2022, including those in the House and Senate, and these meetings could end up helping him bring in cash for this venture.

Pompeo has been making the biggest push into New York donor circles since the 2020 presidential election ended, according to insiders familiar with the efforts. The sources spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about private events.

more
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/24/pompeo-other-2024-gop-hopefuls-head-to-new-york-to-meet-donors-.html


June 24, 2021

Joe Manchin was never going to save voting rights

Joe Manchin Was Never a Mystery

It’s always been pretty obvious who he is: a middle-of-the-road guy with good electoral instincts, decent intentions, and bad ideas.

By David A. Graham

The failure of the For the People Act in the Senate yesterday evening didn’t provide much drama. All 50 Democrats backed the voting-rights bill, but with no Republican support, they didn’t have enough votes to break a filibuster. That Democrats didn’t have the votes was clear from the start of the Congress.

But journalism requires drama, which means that over the past few months Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia has been the subject of extensive coverage. The problem with this coverage is not that Manchin is unimportant; as the most moderate Democrat in a 50-person caucus, he is crucial. It’s that there is no mystery to him.

Trying to figure out who Manchin is and what he wants, or how he’s changed—the natural and reasonable defaults of political-profile writing—assumes there’s something more than meets the eye. Really, though, Manchin is who he’s always been: a middle-of-the-road guy with good electoral instincts, decent intentions, and bad ideas.

Manchin made the bill’s fate explicit on June 6, when he published a column in the Charleston Gazette-Mail announcing he’d vote nay, and would also not vote to weaken the filibuster. Given Democrats’ thin margin, that meant they would be unable to overcome a Republican filibuster, even after Manchin announced yesterday afternoon that he would vote to open debate on the bill. (Some other Democrats reportedly privately opposed parts of the bill, meaning it might have failed eventually even if there were no filibuster too.)

more
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/06/unmysterious-joe-manchin-for-the-people-voting-rights/619268/

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Name: Don
Gender: Male
Hometown: Massachusetts
Home country: United States
Member since: Sat Sep 1, 2012, 03:28 PM
Number of posts: 60,536
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