https://www.politicususa.com/2022/09/16/white-house-abbott-desantis-smugglers.html


Posted on Fri, Sep 16th, 2022 by Jason Easley
An Enraged White House Basically Accuses Ron DeSantis And Greg Abbott Of Human Smuggling


White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre accused Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis of using the tactics of human smugglers.



The White House Press Secretary said:



Abbott and DeSantis are pulling an election-year stunt. They both are running for reelection, and they both have 2024 presidential ambitions. Each man is wasting millions of dollars of taxpayer money in their respective states on political stunts that play well on Fox News.

The White House can’t openly say that DeSantis and Abbott are breaking the law because that determination has to be made by the Justice Department, but state officials like California Gov. Gavin Newsom have already requested that the DOJ review what Abbott and DeSantis are doing.

The Republicans will be facing some fallout for this stunt, and the White House is galvanizing public opinion to ensure that their cruel and inhumane actions are defined for the nation.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/16/2123329/-Federal-DHS-agents-aided-DeSantis-s-migrant-stunt-attorneys-allege

Federal DHS agents aided DeSantis' migrant stunt, attorneys allege
Joan McCarter
Daily Kos Staff
Friday September 16, 2022 · 4:39 PM EDT
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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ inhumane and depraved stunt keeps getting worse as more facts emerge. On Wednesday, DeSantis loaded 48 migrants—who are asylum-seekers mostly from Venezuela—onto planes in in San Antonio, Texas. They then flew them to Florida, then eventually on to Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, where there are no refugee services. Officials there had no warning, but the community rallied in support of the incomers to the point where officials received so many donations and volunteers that they had to turn them away.

That’s the heartwarming part of the story. The part that makes this so much worse than we even knew before is emerging as the story comes from the migrants themselves through the immigration attorneys who have mobilized to help them. That includes the allegation that U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents assisted DeSantis in this stunt.

Here’s immigration attorney Rachel Self relating what she heard from her new clients.

According to the migrants, DHS agents met the migrants as they were boarding the plane. The agents gave them false addresses of homeless shelters from all over the country—from Tacoma, Washington, to Florida—and told them to use them as their contact addresses. “According to the paperwork provided to them, the migrants are required to check in with the ICE [Immigration and Customs Enforcement] office nearest to the fake address chosen for them by DHS, or be permanently removed from the United States,” Self said. Some are required to check in as early as Monday morning.



“Their biggest concern today is that many of them have dates to appear in San Antonio Monday morning. Tacoma, Washington Monday morning. Washington, D.C. Monday morning,” Self said. “Their biggest concern is compliance.” Tallahassee immigration attorney Elizabeth Ricci told the Orlando Sentinel Friday that DHS and ICE had to be involved. “ICE likely conspired with the governor’s office to pull off the stunt,” Ricci said. “It couldn’t have been done without their direct involvement.”

DHS officials haven’t responded to the allegation yet, and they fucking need to.

The migrants were lured onto the planes thinking they were getting jobs and housing. Emmanuel, a 20-year-old Venezuelan migrant, told the San Antonio Report that he had been paid $200 in cash by a woman who identified herself as “Perla” to recruit fellow migrants to board the flights. He said Perla told him the migrants would be sent to “sanctuary states” where the government would help.

She told him an “anonymous benefactor” was funding the operation, including his payment. “Perla informed me that in those sanctuary states, the state has the benefits to help migrants,” Emmanuel told the Report. “I’ve just been the mediator because I like to help people.”

“A lot of people really come without plans, they want to come and just work and they have a hand that’ll provide them shelter,” he said. “I just saw it in that way, like a sweet way, doing it for good.”

Lawyers for Civil Rights, which is based in Boston, is providing free legal services to the migrants. The group also says that it is investigating claims by migrants that they were tricked or sent against their will into taking the flights by DeSantis, making it a possible violation of human trafficking laws.

DeSantis remains belligerent and monstrous and promises this will continue. He says he has people in Texas who are intercepting Venezuelans seeking refuge in Florida, where they likely have family they want to rejoin. “What we’re trying to do is profile, ‘OK, who do you think is trying to get to Florida?’ You’re trying to identify who’s most likely to come.” Are DeSantis’ “people” in Texas the DHS agents who allegedly helped him essentially kidnap these 48 people, including families with children?

The Department of Justice needs to be investigating this now. That was true before the allegations emerged that federal employees—agents of the DHS—were complicit in DeSantis’ monstrous stunt. Those allegations make a federal investigation imperative, and urgent.

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/09/jfk-library-brilliantly-calls-out-abbott


JFK Library Brilliantly Calls Out Abbott And DeSantis Over Latest Stunt
Ouch!
By Conover Kennard — September 15, 2022


Texas Governor Greg Abbott earlier today used migrants as a political stunt, dropping them off near Vice President Kamala Harris's home. Florida Gov. Ron DeathSantis spent a whopping $12 million in taxpayer money to own the libs by chartering private planes and sending undocumented immigrants to Martha's Vineyard.

Residents at Martha's Vineyard, in turn, treated the migrants well, giving them food and shelter. And that's because they are human beings, not livestock. You're not supposed to treat fellow human beings like dirt just because they are from another country and they're seeking a better life.

So, the JFK Library gave Republican Governors a history lesson. Most of us know this bit of shameful history, but apparently, Republicans failed on that subject.

"To embarrass Northern liberals and humiliate Black people, southern White Citizens Councils started their so-called "Reverse Freedom Rides," giving Black people one-way tickets to northern cities with false promises of jobs, housing, and better lives," the tweet reads.





If they're capable of feeling shame, this would be the time for them to sit in the corner and think about that terrible thing they've done.

https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/15/2123032/-Ron-DeSantis-Martha-s-Vineyard-stunt-echoes-ugly-segregationist-campaign-of-the-1960s

Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott are taking a page straight out of the White Citizens Council playbook
Laura Clawson
Daily Kos Staff
Thursday September 15, 2022 · 2:45 PM EDT
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When Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis lured migrants onto a plane in Texas with promises that they would find jobs and work papers in Boston, then dropped them in Martha’s Vineyard, he was echoing an earlier history that shows exactly who he is. Massachusetts state Sen. Julian Cyr immediately identified the similarities to the “reverse freedom rides” of the early 1960s, when segregationist politicians in Arkansas and other southern states bused Black families north to make a political point. That ugly history is very much at play as Republican politicians today bus and fly migrants to Illinois, New York, Washington, D.C., and now Martha’s Vineyard.



Hundreds of Black people, mostly from Arkansas and Louisiana, were misled or, in some cases, coerced onto buses north, ending up in states from California to New Hampshire. But the largest number, nearly 100, were sent to Hyannis, Massachusetts. Because when Amis Guthridge said, “We’re going to find out if people like Ted Kennedy … and the Kennedys, all of them, really do have an interest in the Negro people, really do have a love for the Negro,” he was intending to send people literally to the Kennedys’ doorstep, or anyway to the bus stop closest to where the Kennedys spent their summers, telling them they would meet President John Kennedy when they arrived.

Now, we’ve got Ron DeSantis lying to migrants and sending them to where former President Barack Obama vacations in the summer. It’s eerie how the racists of today are replaying a largely forgotten campaign of the racists of the past.



The racists of the 1960s had reporters waiting to meet Black southerners at the bus stop in Hyannis. The racists of the 2020s are taking advantage of technology: DeSantis sent a videographer on the plane to Martha’s Vineyard.

The racists of the 1960s threatened to take people off welfare rolls and promised that housing and jobs would be waiting for them. DeSantis had people told they would get work papers and jobs, and had the charter plane pilot tell them mid-flight that they were not going to Boston as promised.

snip//

Rep. Joaquin Castro, who represents San Antonio, where the migrants started their day before being flown to Martha’s Vineyard, tweeted, “The Department of Justice needs to investigate Governor DeSantis for using fraud and deception to lure people out of state only to abandon them without fulfilling his false promises. Same for Greg Abbott. They’re engaging in human trafficking.”

DeSantis and Abbott are also probably grasping at a way to get attention that distracts from abortion, since it’s become clear that punitive abortion policies are not an electoral boost for Republicans overall right now—as much as it might help in a Republican primary. But, as is the case with virtually every Republican policy these days, the cruelty is the point. Lying to people with nothing and dropping them on an island with scarce and expensive housing and no access to the promised resources is simply cruel. It’s the kind of thing you do if you enjoy other people’s suffering. As DeSantis and Abbott clearly do.



Lisa Belcastro, head of the single homeless shelter on Martha’s Vineyard, echoed Keating’s point that these people were looking for jobs. “None of them wanted to come to Martha’s Vineyard. They’ve never heard of Martha’s Vineyard. This was a political move,” she said. “Not one person has asked for a handout; they have asked to work.”



According to state Rep. Dylan Fernandes, the state attorney general’s office is helping local officials find immigration attorneys for the migrants.

Russia
Former Kremlin Aide Says Putin Ouster Could Be Right Around the Corner
STEP ASIDE

Elite circles surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin are itching for his downfall, a close former aide to Putin says.
Shannon Vavra
National Security Reporter
Updated Sep. 15, 2022 4:34PM ET / Published Sep. 15, 2022 2:14PM ET


After a series of battlefield losses in Ukraine, pressure is mounting in Russia for Vladimir Putin to call it quits.

And he may not be serving in his role much longer, according to Abbas Gallyamov, Putin’s former speechwriter.



Gallyamov isn’t the only one reading between the lines. A group of officials in St. Petersburg and Moscow have begun calling for Putin’s ouster. Some of the officials have accused Putin of high treason for invading Ukraine. Since demanding Putin step down, a court in Russia has ordered the dissolution of a municipal council that wants Putin out of office.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/former-kremlin-aide-abbas-gallyamov-says-russian-president-vladimir-putin-could-be-ousted-within-months?ref=home

Trump Says Americans Won't 'Stand' For Charges Against Him, Warns Of Trouble
Daring to indict him would trigger “problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before," Trump ominously warned.
Mary Papenfuss
Sep 15, 2022, 08:15 PM EDT

snip//

Asked about possible indictments related to the several boxes of White House documents, including classified and even top secret files, stashed at Mar-a-Lago, Trump repeatedly told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt on his program that Americans won’t “stand for it,” and that any charges would trigger “problems in this country the likes of which perhaps we’ve never seen before.”

When Hewitt asked him to detail what kind of problems, Trump responded: “I think they’d have big problems, big problems. I just don’t think they’d stand for it,” he added, referring to the public. “They will not sit still and stand for this ultimate of hoaxes.”

When Hewitt pointed out that the comments could be interpreted as an incitement to violence, Trump replied: “That’s not inciting. I’m just saying what my opinion is. I don’t think the people of this country would stand for it.”

In any case, even if he is indicted, Trump emphasized it would not stop him from running for the presidency in 2024. “If a thing like that happened, I would have no prohibition against running,” Trump told Hewitt, though he did not say he will run.

more...

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-public-wont-stand-for-charges-mar-a-lago_n_6323a055e4b046aa023d6f90

Texas Dumps Two Busloads of Migrants in Front of Kamala Harris’ D.C. Residence
LOWER THAN LOW
Thursday’s stunt was just the latest from Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis, who have shipped migrants north and flagged conservative media outlets before alerting arrival cities.
Josh Fiallo
Breaking News Reporter
Zachary Petrizzo
Politics Reporter
Updated Sep. 15, 2022 12:25PM ET / Published Sep. 15, 2022 12:02PM ET


Florida and Texas’ plan to transport migrants to “leftist” cities culminated in a pair of cruel publicity stunts in a 12-hour span this week, after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered two busloads to be dropped off outside the official residence of Vice President Kamala Harris.

The buses that arrived in Washington, D.C. on Thursday morning carried about 100 migrants, Fox News reported, most of whom were nationals from Venezuela, Uruguay, Colombia and Mexico.

Video circulating online from the the scene showed the group of young men, women and children carrying backpacks, pillows and blankets as they chatted outside Harris’ residence with nowhere to go initially.

As word spread of their arrival, however, local immigrant organizations sprung into action. A representative from a charity called Sanctuary DMV came later in the morning and announced that the migrants could temporarily be sheltered at a local church.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-dumps-busloads-of-migrants-in-front-of-vice-president-kamala-harris-dc-residence?ref=home

https://crooksandliars.com/2022/09/hannity-cries-msnbc-hired-jen-psaki

Hannity Cries About MSNBC Hiring Jen Psaki
Fox News hired Kayleigh McEnany, Trump's last White House press secretary -- and that's not media collusion?
By John Amato — September 15, 2022


Here's an example of right-wing hypocrisy on Fox News at its worst.

Sean Hannity whined like an infant with a full diaper because MSNBC hired Jen Psaki, Biden's excellent former White House press secretary.



After a commercial break, Hannity vehemently attacked Psaki.
(Video @ link)

Fox News and every other right-wing media outlet has formed a bubble around their preferred pundits, keeping out almost any competent Democrat while shielding their viewers from negative news about Trump or any Republican.

Talk about hypocrisy, Sean. Why is it OK for Fox News to hire the worst liar of them all, Kayleigh McEnany?

Or any of these creatures.

Fox News hired Lara Trump, Trump's daughter-in- law.
Fox News hired Hope Hicks.
Fox News hired former White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders.
Fox News hired former White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah as a Senior Vice President at Fox.
Fox New hired David Bossie as an on-air analyst at Fox.

There are many more examples of either Fox News hiring former Trump employees or Trump hiring Fox News employees.

Not to mention, Tucker Carlson and Sean Hannity actively advised Trump while he was in office and never revealed it.

Fox News has become a recruiting station for Republican politicians as well as home base for the likes of Republican governors like Ron DeSantis and Greg Abbott.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-justice-departments-60-day-rule-is-obsolete-and-needs-to-go?ref=home

The ‘60-Day’ Rule Doesn’t Exist. It’s Time to Charge Trump Now.
URBAN MYTH
The rule that supposedly would forbid bringing potential criminal charges against former President Trump within 60 days of the upcoming midterms doesn’t even exist.
Shan Wu
Updated Sep. 15, 2022 4:33AM ET / Published Sep. 15, 2022 12:46AM ET


Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice need to discard the so-called “60-Day Rule” that supposedly would forbid bringing potential criminal charges against former President Donald Trump within 60 days of the upcoming midterms.

To start with, Garland and the DOJ need to tell the American public that no such rule exists. That’s right—the rule doesn’t exist. It’s the DOJ’s equivalent of an urban myth. No actual law or written policy at the DOJ mentions anything about not doing anything within 60 days of anything vis-à-vis criminal charges, involving elections.

This is no secret. Commentators including Just Security, Lawfare, and Jeffrey Toobin, plus the DOJ Office of Inspector General have all confirmed the absence of any such written rule and agreed that it’s actually more like an informal policy of prosecutorial best practices that includes avoiding actions such as “public indictments or other overt disclosures that could affect [elections].”

snip//

Fear of being accused of corrupt political motivations cannot be DOJ’s guiding star in the midst of unprecedented twin threats to national security and our elections. The possible dangers posed to our country by such threats is so grave that every delay may cause irreparable harm and the DOJ needs to understand that trying to avoid the appearance of looking political by doing nothing can end up being political.

Who knew suffocation and stroke were so similar?

Another Putin Ally Dead After ‘Suffocating’ on Business Trip
‘NOTHING HELPED’
“It happened absolutely suddenly,” one colleague who claimed to have witnessed the death of Vladimir Sungorkin said.
Noor Ibrahim
Deputy World Editor
Updated Sep. 14, 2022 2:49PM ET / Published Sep. 14, 2022 2:21PM ET


Another top ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin has died this week, this time of an alleged “stroke” while on a business trip in the village of Roshchino in Russia’s far east region.

Vladimir Nikolayevich Sungorkin, 68, was editor-in-chief of the Russian state newspaper, Komsomolskaya Pravda. According to the newspaper, Sungorkin died “suddenly” after showing signs of “suffocation” during the trip on Wednesday.

“It happened absolutely suddenly, nothing foreshadowed. We were in the village of Roshchino. We were driving, we were already making our way towards Khabarovsk, we planned to get there in the evening today, and from there to Moscow. All was good,” his colleague Leonid Zakharov, who had accompanied him on the business trip, wrote in a story for KP.

According to Zakharov, Sungorkin fell unconscious minutes after suggesting their group “find a beautiful place somewhere… for lunch.”

“Three minutes later, Vladimir began to suffocate. We took him out for fresh air, he was already unconscious… Nothing helped. The doctor who did the initial examination said that apparently, it was a stroke. But this is the initial conclusion,” his colleague wrote.

more...

https://www.thedailybeast.com/vladimir-nikolayevich-sungorkin-ally-of-vladimir-putin-dies-of-apparent-stroke-on-business-trip?ref=home