hookaleft
hookaleft's JournalHarris, Manchin to meet Texas Democrats who left state in effort to block GOP election bill
Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Tuesday with Texas Democratic legislators who fled the state in an effort to block a Republican-backed election bill that they say is discriminatory, a White House official told NBC News.
Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., is also expected to meet with the Democratic members of the Texas legislature, though a date and time have not yet been set, according to a spokesperson.
At least 51 Democratic legislators from the Texas House of Representatives fled the state Monday en route to Washington, in a bid to deny Republicans the quorum needed to conduct business in the chamber. Seven more Democratic legislators were expected to join them in the nation’s capital.
Only 26 days remain in a special session called by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott to pass changes to Texas voting rules. The Texas Democrats arrived in Washington without a set return date.
*snip*
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/13/harris-manchin-to-meet-with-texas-democrats-trying-to-block-gop-election-law.html
Several tied to Haiti assassination plot were previously US law enforcement informants
Source: CNN
(CNN)Several of the men involved in the operation that killed Haiti's president previously worked as US law enforcement informants, according to people briefed on the matter, as US investigators grapple with an increasing number of Florida links to the alleged hit squad.
At least one of the men arrested by Haitian authorities previously worked as an informant for the US Drug Enforcement Administration, the DEA said in a statement in response to CNN.
"At times, one of the suspects in the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse was a confidential source to the DEA," the DEA said in a statement.
"Following the assassination of President Moïse, the suspect reached out to his contacts at the DEA. A DEA official assigned to Haiti urged the suspect to surrender to local authorities and, along with a U.S. State Department official, provided information to the Haitian government that assisted in the surrender and arrest of the suspect and one other individual," the DEA said.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/12/americas/haiti-assassination-plot-us-law-informants/index.html
This whole "operation" stinks to high heaven. Now Haiti is supposedly asking for US troops??
My throat is sore....someone talk me down.
I had the second Moderna shot about 2 months ago now. However, I have been careless about masking. Now I am also starting to get a headache.. crap!
Pro-Trump lawyers in Michigan election case should be disbarred in the state, attorney tells judge
The lawyers who filed an unsuccessful lawsuit in Michigan to reverse President Joe Biden’s election win over Donald Trump should never again be allowed to practice law in the state, an attorney told a federal judge Monday.
The request for the pro-Trump attorneys to be disbarred in Michigan came during a lengthy, highly contentious virtual court hearing about whether to impose sanctions on the plaintiffs and their attorneys, including pro-Trump “Kraken” lawyer Sidney Powell, who filed the legal complaint in November.
Judge Linda Parker did not make a ruling on the possibility of sanctions. But she spent much of the hearing grilling the lawyers about the extent to which they had vetted their claims of voter fraud before they shared in a series of affidavits with the court.
The U.S. District Court in Detroit should issue the “strongest possible sanctions” against the attorneys who brought the case, said David Fink, a lawyer for the city.
*snip*
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/12/pro-trump-lawyer-lin-wood-downplays-role-in-michigan-election-case.html
Top Biden ally pleads with him to scrap filibuster for election reform
Rep. Jim Clyburn said it’s time for the president to embrace more aggressive changes to the Senate rules.
After months of setbacks and gridlock on voting rights, one of President Joe Biden’s top allies in Congress is calling for him to support amending the Senate filibuster.
House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) told POLITICO Biden “should endorse” the idea of creating a carveout to the legislative filibuster in the Senate for legislation that applies to the Constitution. In effect, the reform would make it possible for Democrats to pass their sweeping elections reform bill and another bill reauthorizing key sections of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with just Democratic support.
It’s a sentiment the congressman says he’s shared with White House counselor Steve Ricchetti and Office of Public Engagement Director Cedric Richmond as well. “I've even told that to the vice president,” Clyburn said.
Biden could “pick up the phone and tell [Sen.] Joe Manchin, ‘Hey, we should do a carve out.’” Clyburn said, referring to the centrist West Virginia Democrat who has resisted filibuster reform. “I don't care whether he does it in a microphone or on the telephone — just do it.”
*Snip*
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/07/10/clyburn-biden-filibuster-election-reform-499051
Here is some juicy gossip: Book alleges bad Kimberly Guilfoyle behavior at GOP fundraisers
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Guilfoyle, who is dating Donald Trump Jr., previously took some of the blame for the Trump campaign's fundraising challenges and was deemed an "HR nightmare" by GOP officials. The officials complained to Politico that Guilfoyle underperformed in her role and "horrified" donors with "what they described as Guilfoyle’s lack of professionalism."
An excerpt from a new book by Michael C. Bender — the Wall Street Journal's White House correspondent in the Trump era — provides additional alleged specifics as to what, exactly, Guilfoyle did at these fundraisers.
According to Bender (the excerpt of the yet-to-be-released book was obtained by the Daily Mail), Guilfoyle often gave donors "an unwanted glimpse" into her private life with Trump Jr. She reportedly told donors Trump Jr. liked it when she wore a cheerleading outfit and called him a "naughty boy" when she "let him out of his cage."
*snip*
The Politico article that first reported on Guilfoyle's behavior at GOP fundraisers alleged that she once "offered a lap dance to the donor who gave the most money."
*snip*
https://www.sfgate.com/national-politics/article/Kimberly-Guilfoyle-Donald-Trump-Jr-GOP-fundraiser-16295829.php
IVANKA TRUMP IS PROBABLY NEXT ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK: FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR
As you’ve no doubt heard by now, last week the Trump Organization and its longtime CFO, Allen Weisselberg, were hit with a slew of criminal charges, including conspiracy, grand larceny, and multiple counts of tax fraud and falsifying records, all of which they pleaded not guilty to. Clearly this is extremely bad news for not just the company, which former executives believe is going to be “destroy[ed],” and Weisselberg, who faces more than a decade in prison if convicted on all charges, but the entire Trump clan too. While Donald Trump is obviously the first name that comes to mind when envisioning a scenario in which a Trump family member is sentenced to time in prison, according to numerous experts, his adult children should be extremely concerned as well, starting with his favorite offspring: Ivanka Trump.
Appearing on MSNBC on Monday, former federal prosecutor Cynthia Alksne told host Alicia Menendez that last week’s charges were merely “an opening salvo,” and that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has sent a message that (1) Weisselberg should really, really consider flipping and cooperating against the Trumps, and (2) Cyrus Vance Jr. is just getting started. “Prosecutors went to an amazing amount of effort to show Weisselberg ‘we have everything we need,’ and they’re really not only pressuring him to flip, but the amount of detail in this indictment tells me that they’re trying to tell other people you have got to flip, because ‘we have everything; we have the double books. We know what you told your tax accountants was a lie. We know that we’re gonna be able to prove these cases,’” Alksne told Menendez. “So I think...first it’s Weisselberg and [then] there are a lot of other people mentioned, ‘individual number one’ or ‘person X signed’ or ‘person Y signed.’ Those people who are mentioned in the indictment, I would expect they’re next and then it builds.” Asked how she would proceed if she were prosecuting the case and “had access to the years of hidden records kept by the Trump Organization,” Alksne said, “I would focus [the investigation] on the kids. Apparently they’ve had some testimony by the comptroller; in the state of New York that means they’ve essentially given him immunity. So I would focus on the kids. My guess is [COO Matthew] Calamari is kind of easy picking and that there are similar ways to give money for the kids. We’ve heard a lot of this reporting about Ivanka Trump getting consulting fees, ‘consulting fees’ for things that she may or may not have done. That looks to me like the next place, but we’ll just have to see.”
*snip*
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/07/ivanka-trump-next-for-manhattan-da
Trump is suing Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey. Here's why they shouldn't worry
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Trump's suits continue a trend that began during his presidency: Throwing the book against companies he perceives to be a threat to his political brand. Last spring, while he was still in office, Trump signed an executive order aimed at "preventing online censorship" and seeking to expand legal liability for tech companies.
But the tech companies are legally permitted to run their platforms as they see fit, and courts have dismissed a string of similar lawsuits. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube all cited the potential for future incitement of violence or risks to public safety following the Capitol riot in announcing their decisions to remove Trump's accounts.
*snip*
The push to bring legal action against tech platforms over bias allegations has spread nationwide. In May, Florida passed a law allowing politicians that have been suspended or removed from social media to sue those companies.
But the effort has run up against the realities of current law — and the Constitution. Last week, a federal judge blocked Florida's law from going into effect, saying government attempts to force social media companies to host political speech violates the First Amendment. (Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has vowed to appeal.)
*snip*
https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/07/tech/trump-zuckerberg-dorsey-lawsuit/index.html
The Trump kids look likely to turn on their dad - and I suspect Ivanka will go first
*snip*
Trump’s children, to be clear, haven’t been charged with anything yet. However, they have a lot to be worried about. As Donald Trump’s biographer said recently, one reason Weisselberg is in trouble is that he was allegedly paid as an employee and a nonemployee contractor – allowing various tax write-offs. A New York Times investigation reported that Ivanka Trump was similarly paid more than $700,000 (£500,000) in consulting fees while also collecting a salary as a full-time employee of the Trump Organization. It is likely Eric and Don Jr had similar arrangements in place – we only know for sure about Ivanka because she had to disclose the payments when she gave herself a job at the White House.
If any of the Trump kids are going to turn on their dad, my money is squarely on Ivanka. Indeed, she already seems to be distancing herself strategically from her no-longer-particularly-useful father. A couple of weeks ago, for example, there were reports that Trump’s complaints about the “stolen” 2020 election were driving Ivanka and Jared Kushner away. These reported leaks about Javanka are not new phenomena – they happened frequently throughout Trump’s presidency, leading some to suspect it was a PR tactic by a couple keen to remain in the good graces of liberals as well as the Maga crowd.
While Ivanka appears to be coolly attempting to control her own narrative behind the scenes, Donald Jr and Eric reacted to the Trump Organization criminal charges by having histrionics on camera. Eric Trump told Newsmax last week that “Don, Ivanka and I live really nice, clean lives”. Meanwhile, Don Jr posted a 13-minute video on Facebook calling the charges against his dad “banana-republic stuff”. He also (rather unhelpfully) acknowledged that the allegations Trump paid for Weisselberg’s grandchildren’s school fees were true. “My dad did that,” he said, because he is a “good guy”. A “good guy” who probably wishes he raised smarter kids. With children like these, who needs enemies?
*snip*
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/jul/06/the-trump-kids-look-likely-to-turn-on-their-dad-and-i-suspect-ivanka-will-go-first
Jan. 6 Defendant Allegedly Blabbed To Undercover Fed About Riot, Jailbreak Scheme
A new defendant in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack case needs better friends.
According to court records filed over last week and recently unsealed, Fi Duong spilled some incriminating evidence to an undercover FBI employee — a source he was introduced to by an undercover Metropolitan Police Department employee he’d met at the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
In addition to the Capitol attack itself, Duong allegedly spoke at length to the undercover FBI employee about making Molotov cocktails, and even mused about breaking Jan. 6 defendants out of custody.
“I was right in front when they smashed the doors,” he allegedly bragged to the FBI employee in a late-March conversation, according to an FBI agent’s affidavit. “I also got footage of the Capital Police [sic] shooting the rubber bullets at us.”
*snippy*
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/jan-6-defendant-allegedly-blabbed-to-undercover-fed-about-riot-jailbreak-scheme
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