Jared Kushner is reportedly planning on exiting politics and launching an investment firm to be headquartered in Miami.
Kushner is the son-in-law of former President Donald Trump and is a close adviser to the former president. Kushner also served Trump during his administration as a senior adviser in the White House.
The investment firm, now in the final stages of its creation, will be called Affinity Partners. Kushner plans to open a branch of the firm in Israel to seek partners and bolster economic ties between Israel and India, North Africa, and the Gulf, according to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/us/jared-kushner-leave-politics-launch-investment-firm-sources-2021-07-28/">Reuters</a>.
While in the White House, Kushner was the mastermind of a string of groundbreaking peace deals in the Middle East between Israel and several Arab nations known as the Abraham Accords. The Trump administration helped negotiate deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco before Trump left office in January.
Kushner also took the lead on a number of other Trump administration accomplishments, and he remains close to the president as an adviser and a neighbor at the former president’s golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey.
Since leaving the White House, Kushner has spent much of his time writing a book on his time in the White House. The book is expected to be published in 2022 by Broadside Books.
“His book will be the definitive, thorough recounting of the administration — and the truth about what happened behind closed doors,” Broadside <a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-jared-kushner-middle-east-entertainment-business-c339b8a137e126f76ad6aef346f85007">said</a> in a June announcement.
Israel has remained supportive of the Abraham Accords and critical of the Biden administration’s attempts to revive the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with Iran. The Abraham Accords were agreed to in part to resist Iranian aggression in the Middle East.
President Joe Biden has sought to renegotiate the JCPOA, or Iran deal, after Trump abandoned the deal 2018. Trump said that the deal was more likely to lead to a nuclear Iran than contain the Middle Eastern terror state. In a change of tune for the U.S., Biden has sought to re-enter the Iran deal, claiming the agreement, first negotiated under former President Barack Obama, would prevent Iran from getting nuclear weapons.
Israel has slammed the Biden administration for trying to strike the deal again with Iran, asserting that the last treaty gave Iran too much room to create nuclear material and did not allow other countries to effectively oversee Iran’s nuclear program.
Israel foreign minister Yair Lapid bashed the deal in a discussion with his U.S. counterpart, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in June.
“We have to work together as we face a new Iran deal. This is a bad deal and we are going to work with the prime minister. Israel will use every option at its disposal in order to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon,” Lapid said.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-israeli-government-blasts-bad-iran-deal-remains-committed-to-trump-peace-plan-after-netanyahus-ouster">New Israeli Government Blasts ‘Bad’ Iran Deal, Remains Committed To Trump Peace Plan After Netanyahu’s Ouster</a>
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Jared Kushner

Report: Jared Kushner Plans To Reenter Private Sector, Launch Investment Firm After Leaving Politics

Iran

Texas Governor Greg Abbott ordered the Texas National Guard to arrest immigrants caught illegally crossing the state’s southern border from Mexico Tuesday.
Abbott outlined his order in a <a href="https://gov.texas.gov/uploads/files/press/O-NorrisTracy20210727.pdf">letter</a> to Major General Tracy R. Norris, Adjutant General of the Texas National Guard, directing the guard to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) in arresting illegal immigrants.
“Beginning on May 31, 2021, I have issued multiple proclamations certifying under Section 418.014 of the Texas Government Code that the surge of individuals unlawfully crossing the Texas-Mexico border poses an ongoing and imminent threat of disaster for certain counties and agencies in the State of Texas,” Abbott wrote. “To respond to this disaster and secure the rule of law at our Southern border, more manpower is needed — in addition to the troopers from the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) and soldiers from the Texas National Guard I have already deployed there — and DPS needs help in arresting those who are violating state law.”
“By virtue of the power and authority vested in me by the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas, I hereby order that the Texas National Guard assist DPS in enforcing Texas law by arresting lawbreakers at the border,” he ordered.
As Abbott seeks to crack down on illegal immigration into the U.S., President Joe Biden is struggling to contain a flood of illegal immigrants crossing into the country from Mexico. On Tuesday, news broke that the Biden administration released roughly 50,000 illegal immigrants into the interior of the U.S. without scheduling a time for their asylum claims to be heard in court. As The Daily Wire reported:
<blockquote>Around 50,000 migrants who were captured crossing the United States-Mexico border illegally have been released into the United States without court dates, only instructions to eventually report back to an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, according to a report from Axios.
Only 13% of those, the outlet notes, have actually followed up with an ICE agent.
The shocking news comes as reports indicate that July may be yet another record-breaking month for illegal immigration along the southern border, similar to June, which saw the largest number of illegal immigrant apprehensions at the United States southern border in years, according <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/16/us/politics/us-mexico-border-record.html">to The New York Times</a>. Some areas of the Rio Grande Valley in Texas — one of the most highly trafficked areas of the border — are seeing <a href="https://twitter.com/USBPChiefRGV/status/1419391246313873409?s=20">upwards of 20,000 apprehensions</a> per week, according to Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Total apprehensions at the border for 2021 so far are expected to top one million in July, putting border patrol on track to intercept two million illegal immigrants in 2021.</blockquote>
Abbott and Arizona Governor Doug Ducey put out a joint call in June <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/arizona-texas-blast-bidens-border-security-request-back-up-from-other-states-amid-crisis">requesting</a> aid from other states in securing the southern border. A handful of GOP-led states have responded to the governors’ request, such as <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/south-dakota-joins-other-gop-led-states-sending-national-guard-to-southern-border">South Dakota</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-desantis-announces-he-will-send-florida-law-enforcement-to-assist-at-border-blasts-biden-admin">Florida</a>, sending National Guard soldiers to the border states to aid in border enforcement.
“Securing our border with Mexico is the federal government’s responsibility. But the Biden administration has proven unwilling or unable to do the job,” the governors wrote in a June 10 letter. “This failure to enforce federal immigration laws causes banns that spill over into every State.”
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Greg Abbott

Greg Abbott Orders Texas National Guard To Begin Arresting Illegal Immigrants

Border Crisis

Illegal Immigration

Republican governors are slamming updated guidance from the Biden administration instructing vaccinated people to mask indoors and pushing universal masking in K-12 schools.
A group of GOP governors announced that their states would not be following the CDC’s guidance, which &#8220;revised&#8221; some of the CDC&#8217;s previous recommendations. The CDC <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cdc-revises-mask-guidance-some-vaccinated-individuals-should-return-to-masking-indoors-everyone-should-mask-in-k-12-schools">changed</a> its guidance because of the spread of COVID-19’s Delta variant.
“We believe the vast majority of transmission is occurring in unvaccinated people and through unvaccinated people, but unlike the Alpha variant that we had back in May — where we didn’t believe that if you were vaccinated you could transmit further – this is different now, with the Delta variant, and we’re seeing now that it’s actually possible if you are a rare breakthrough infection that you can transmit further, which is the reason for the change,” said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky.
Governors argued that the availability and widespread use of vaccines has negated any need for additional mask requirements.
Missouri Governor Mike Parson called the new guidance “disappointing and concerning” that the agency would make a seemingly political decision not based on science in crafting its masking guidelines.
“The recently updated CDC guidance regarding mask wearing for fully vaccinated individuals is disappointing and concerning. It’s disappointing because it is inconsistent with the overwhelming evidence surrounding the efficacy of the vaccines and their proven results,” Parson said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/GovParsonMO/status/1420388237512777733">statement</a> Wednesday. “It only serves to disrupt the increases we are seeing in vaccine uptake. This self-inflicted setback encourages skepticism and vaccine hesitancy at a time when the goal is to prevent serious illnesses and deaths from COVID-19 through vaccination.”
“It’s concerning because the nation’s top public health agency appears to be cowering to the political pressures of those who only want to force mandates and shutdowns, which only further prolong the recovery. This decision only promotes fear &amp; further division among our citizens,” he added.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that his state would not be implementing another mask mandate no matter the CDC’s changing guidance.
“The time for government mask mandates is over — now is the time for personal responsibility. In May, I signed an executive order prohibiting mask mandates by gov&#8217;t entities,” Abbott said in a <a href="https://twitter.com/GregAbbott_TX/status/1420148011360006144">statement</a>. “Every Texan has the right to choose whether they will wear a mask or have their children wear masks.”
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts slammed the CDC and said the new guidance “flies in the face of the public health goals that should guide the agency’s decision making.”
“The CDC announcement only furthers the distrust many have with the CDC and does not help to encourage more people to get the vaccines that are helping bring the pandemic to a conclusion.  The State of Nebraska will not be adopting their mask guidance,” Ricketts <a href="https://governor.nebraska.gov/press/gov-ricketts-nebraska%E2%80%99s-return-normal-won%E2%80%99t-be-interrupted-new-cdc-guidance">said</a> Tuesday. “Furthermore, I will reiterate my expectations for schools and universities in the fall.  Schools should convene in person without mask or vaccine requirements.”
Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds additionally <a href="https://governor.iowa.gov/press-release/reynolds-statement-on-new-covid-19-guidance-from-the-biden-administration%C2%A0%C2%A0">slammed</a> the new guidance: “The Biden Administration’s new COVID-19 guidance telling fully vaccinated Iowans to now wear masks is not only counterproductive to our vaccination efforts but also not grounded in reality or common sense. I’m concerned that this guidance will be used as a vehicle to mandate masks in states and schools across the country, something I do not support.”
“The vaccine remains our strongest tool to combat COVID-19, which is why we are going to continue to encourage everyone to get the vaccine,” she added. “I am proud that we recently put new laws in place that will protect Iowans against unnecessary government mandates in our schools and local governments. As I have throughout this pandemic, I trust Iowans to do the right thing.”
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/it-isnt-based-in-science-desantiss-office-blasts-cdc-over-k-12-in-school-mask-guidelines">‘It Isn’t Based In Science’: DeSantis’s Office Blasts CDC Over K-12 In-School Mask Guidelines</a>
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Joe Biden

GOP Governors Reject Biden Admin’s New Mask Guidance, Blast Additional Mandates

Biden Administration

Face Masks

Former President Barack Obama is joining the NBA Africa, a division of the league on the continent, to promote the NBA’s “social responsibility efforts.”
Obama will help the league develop and push such efforts as “greater gender equality and economic inclusion,” according to an NBA <a href="https://www.nba.com/news/former-president-barack-obama-joins-nba-africa-as-strategic-partner">press release</a>. Obama will also get a minority equity stake in NBA Africa that will be used to support his charity, the Obama Foundation, and other causes.
Obama and NBA executives praised the partnership and touted the NBA as an avenue to spread American ideals across the globe.
“The NBA has always been a great ambassador for the United States — using the game to create deeper connections around the world, and in Africa, basketball has the power to promote opportunity, wellness, equality, and empowerment across the continent,” Obama said in a statement. “By investing in communities, promoting gender equality, and cultivating the love of the game of basketball, I believe that NBA Africa can make a difference for so many of Africa’s young people.”
“I’ve been impressed by the league’s commitment to Africa, including the leadership shown by so many African players who want to give back to their own countries and communities,” he continued. “That’s why I’m proud to join the team at NBA Africa and look forward to a partnership that benefits the youth of so many countries.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver added: “We are honored that President Obama has become a strategic partner in NBA Africa and will support our wide-ranging efforts to grow the game of basketball on the continent. In addition to his well-documented love for basketball, President Obama has a firm belief in Africa’s potential and the enormous growth opportunities that exist through sports.  NBA Africa will benefit tremendously from his engagement.”
The NBA’s efforts to spread “social responsibility” causes in Africa comes after the league balked at a number of opportunities to push back against the Chines Communist Party’s efforts to censor its own people as well as numerous companies that do business in the country in the past, Silver has downplayed China’s numerous human rights abuses, such as rampant oppression of Uyghurs in China’s Xinxiang province.
Silver <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-commissioner-china-has-a-different-view-we-should-find-mutual-respect">said</a> that China has “a different view … how things should be done” when asked about the NBA’s relationship with the Communist regime during an interview with Time Magazine last year. The NBA’s relationship with China was thrown into the spotlight in 2019 after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong, sparking a backlash against the league from China.
In an effort to repair its relationship with China, the league put out a statement expressing regret that Morey’s statement “deeply offended many of our friends and fans in China.” Facing accusations of capitulating to the Communist regime, Silver <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/nba-commissioner-we-certainly-didnt-apologize-to-the-chinese-government">claimed</a> that the NBA never apologized for Morey’s pro-democracy stance, but backed off any hard criticism of China’s human rights abuses.
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Adam Silver, Barack Obama

Barack Obama Joins NBA To Promote ‘Social Responsibility’ In Africa

Barack Obama

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) called on the State Board of Administration (SBA) last week to place Ben &amp; Jerry’s, along with its parent company Unilever, on the state’s Scrutinized Companies List.
DeSantis made his demand in a <a href="https://www.flgov.com/2021/07/22/governor-ron-desantis-calls-on-state-board-of-administration-to-place-ben-jerrys-on-the-continued-examination-companies-that-boycott-israel-list/">letter</a> to the board after Ben &amp; Jerry’s, a popular ice cream manufacturer that often mixes business and political activism, announced that it would no longer sell ice cream in the Judea and Samaria, also known as Israel’s West Bank. The ice cream company said that the sale of product in Judea and Samaria is “inconsistent with our values for Ben &amp; Jerry’s ice cream to be sold in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
Florida state law forbids the state from investing in any company that joins the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement targeting Israel. Supporting boycotts against Israel is outlawed in dozens of U.S. states as the BDS movement is viewed as antisemitic by its critics.
“As you know, Florida has long had a strong relationship with the State of Israel. As a matter of law and principle, the State of Florida does not tolerate discrimination against the State of Israel or the Israeli people, including boycotts and divestments targeting Israel,” DeSantis wrote on July 22.
“It has come to my attention that Ben &amp; Jerry’s has announced plans to remove its products and prohibit the sale of its ice cream in Judea and Samaria,” he continued. “These actions taken by Ben &amp; Jerry’s fall squarely within the prohibited activities defined by Section 215.4725(1)(a), Florida Statutes. Ben &amp; Jerry’s is a wholly owned subsidiary of Unilever, a publicly traded company in which Florida holds multiple investments.”
“Therefore, I am requesting the State Board of Administration (SBA) immediately place Ben &amp; Jerry’s and Unilever on the Continued Examination Companies that Boycott Israel List, and initiate the process to place Ben &amp; Jerry’s, and by extension Unilever, on the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List,” he said.
“Should the State Board of Administration affirmatively place Unilever and its corporate entities on the Scrutinized Companies List and these companies do not cease the boycott of Israel as required by Florida law, the Board must refrain from acquiring any and all Unilever assets consistent with the law,” DeSantis wrote. “These actions affirm the State of Florida’s relationship with the State of Israel and our commitment to a swift response to those who discriminate against the Israeli people.”
Gilad Erdan, Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the United States, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/israel-urges-35-states-to-punish-ben-jerrys-its-antisemitic-decision-will-have-consequences">urged</a> U.S. states that forbid BDS campaigns against Israel to punish Ben &amp; Jerry’s for its action against Israel. Erdan said that Ben &amp; Jerry’s boycott of regions of Israel is antisemitic and contributes to the “dehumanization of the Jewish people.”
Erdan wrote in a letter in part:
<blockquote>Earlier today, July 19th, Ben &amp; Jerry’s announced their intention to boycott hundreds of thousands of citizens living in Judea and Samaria. We view this decision very severely as it is the de-facto adoption of anti-Semitic practices and advancement of the de-legitimization of the Jewish state and the dehumanization of the Jewish people.
In addition to the great moral difficulties that derive from such a boycott, Ben &amp; Jerry’s announced policy seems to also trigger potential legal ramifications, based on laws legislated by over 35 States, including your state, meant to counter these types of hate driven boycotts.</blockquote>
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Ron DeSantis

Ron DeSantis Pushes For Action Against Ben & Jerry’s Over Israel Boycott

Anti-Semitism

Ben &amp; Jerry's

Israel

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan (R) stripped Rep. Joe Moody (D) of his leadership position as speaker pro tem Thursday after the Democrat fled the state to break quorum and prevent the House from passing legislation.
“Pursuant to my authority under House Rule 1 Section 10, I have relieved Representative Joe Moody from his position as Speaker Pro Tempore for the 87th Legislature, effective immediately,” Phelan wrote in a memo without giving a reason for the removal.
Moody fled the state with dozens of his colleagues Monday, taking off for Washington, D.C., aboard private jets in protest of election reforms Texas Republicans sought to pass. The Democrats also hope to lobby for support of the For The People Act, a federal takeover of elections that would strip states of much of their election authority.
Moody responded to Phelan over Twitter, posting: “The most important titles in my life will never change: Dad, Husband, El Pasoan. Nothing political has ever even cracked the top three, so nothing has changed about who I am or what my values are.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Just in: House Speaker <a href="https://twitter.com/DadePhelan?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DadePhelan</a> has relieved <a href="https://twitter.com/moodyforelpaso?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@moodyforelpaso</a> from his position as speaker pro tempore <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/txlege?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#txlege</a> <a href="https://t.co/ztpDYr3hBa">pic.twitter.com/ztpDYr3hBa</a>
&mdash; Cassi Pollock (@cassi_pollock) <a href="https://twitter.com/cassi_pollock/status/1415702713292234754?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/governor-abbott-democrats-who-fled-texas-to-stop-democracy-will-be-arrested-immediately-upon-return">pledged</a> that the rogue lawmakers will be arrested as soon as they return to Texas and made to sit in Congress until voting reforms and other of Abbott’s priorities are passed. He also vowed to call as many special sessions of Congress as necessary to pass legislation.
“What the law is, it’s in the Constitution, and that is the house, the State House of Representatives who were here in the Capitol in Austin right now, they do have the ability to issue a call to have their fellow members who are not showing up to be arrested, but only so long as that arrest is made in the state of Texas,” Abbott said during an appearance on Fox News Monday. “That’s why they have fled the state. Once they step back into the state of Texas, they will be arrested and brought to the Texas Capitol, and we will be conducting business.”
On Tuesday, the Texas House <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-house-directs-law-enforcement-to-arrest-if-necessary-rogue-democratic-lawmakers">voted</a> to have law enforcement return the Democratic lawmakers to the House. The order directs law enforcement to “arrest, if necessary” the lawmakers in order to bring them back. The order is largely powerless, however, to reach the Democratic lawmakers in Washington, and Texas law enforcement will likely have to wait until the lawmakers return to the state before being able to carry out the order.
Texas Democrats <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greg-abbott-hammers-democratic-lawmakers-fleeing-to-texas-to-block-gop-election-reforms">planned</a> to take the unprecedented action of fleeing the state for weeks. The lawmakers considered leaving for West Virginia and Arizona to pressure Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to support the For The People Act. The lawmakers eventually settled on D.C., however, out of fear that GOP governors in West Virginia and Arizona would return them to Texas.
“Today, Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans’ freedom to vote,” state Democratic leaders said in a joint statement Monday.
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Dade Phelan

Texas House Speaker Strips Democrat Of Leadership Post

Filibuster

Texas

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) is demanding that two Fulton County election officials be fired.
“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. [Fulton County election director] Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better,” Raffensperger said in a tweet Thursday.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better.
&mdash; GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) <a href="https://twitter.com/GaSecofState/status/1415692351176052738?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 15, 2021</a></blockquote>
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Raffensperger made the call after nearly 200 ballots were revealed to have been double-counted in the November election before a recount. There is no indication that the double-counted ballots impacted the final vote totals of either former President Donald Trump or President Joe Biden after three statewide recounts, according to <a href="https://www.ajc.com/politics/some-ballots-initially-double-counted-in-fulton-before-recount/GY4FTEEI6REIJN3SDKIDNIOYV4/">The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</a>.
The discovery of double-counted ballots is another example in a string of election controversies that have sprung from Fulton County dating back years. In an effort to rein in Fulton County’s ongoing election issues, the state and county agreed to have an independent observer watch over the county’s election procedures in 2020. The observer’s <a href="https://justthenews.com/sites/default/files/2021-06/Unabridged%20Notes.pdf">report</a>, made public last month, detailed a series of issues from miscommunication to workers failing to handle ballots properly.
Raffensperger has been increasingly critical of Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 election. Fulton County Board of Commissioners Chair Rob Pitts, a Democrat, has accused Raffensperger of targeting Fulton to play up Trump’s allegations of widespread voter fraud, despite Raffensperger’s own defense of the integrity of Georgia’s election.
“His ultimate goal is based on the provisions of Senate Bill 202, he would like to take over the elections in Fulton County, That is not going to happen, period,” Pitts said after Raffensperger called for Barron and Jones’ firings. &#8220;I think all of this is an effort to cast doubt for the 2022 and 2024 elections. That&#8217;s the only thing this could be over because the past elections are over, votes have been counted, elections have been certified.”
Fulton County’s election board <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-georgia-judge-approves-audit-of-145000-absentee-ballots-in-fulton-county">attempted</a> to remove Barron from his position in February. The election board’s vote was overruled by the county Board of Commissioners, leaving Barron in place.
In December, amid recounts, Raffensperger put the blame for questions about Georgia’s election results squarely on Fulton County, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fulton-county-election-board-votes-to-fire-election-director-after-2020-dysfunction">accusing</a> it of mishandling the election and violating procedures laid out by the Secretary of State’s office.
“The real issue is a Fulton County employee made several compounding errors,” Raffensperger said at the time. “Instead of following the procedures that my office and the vendor laid out, Fulton County once again cut corners.”
“Us and our office, and I think the rest of the state, is getting a little tired of always having to wait on Fulton County and always having to put up with their dysfunction,” he added.
Pitts at the time continued to defend Fulton&#8217;s handling of the 2020 election.
“It is outrageous that Fulton County continues to be a target of those who cannot accept the results from last year’s election,” Pitts said. “The votes have been counted multiple times, including a hand recount, and no evidence of fraud has been found.”
“The fact remains that Fulton County safely and securely carried out an election in the midst of a public health crisis,” he added.
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Brad Raffensperger

Georgia Secretary Of State Wants Two Fulton County Election Officials Fired

Voting

Police in St. Paul, Minnesota, released bodycam footage Tuesday of a traffic stop involving Minnesota state Rep. John Thompson (D) after the lawmaker claimed he was racially profiled.
A St. Paul police officer pulled Thompson over early in the morning on July 4, saying that the lawmaker was driving without a front license plate, which is illegal in Minnesota. Thompson claimed during the traffic stop, and in a <a href="https://www.twincities.com/2021/07/12/rep-john-thompsons-full-statement-following-traffic-stop/">statement</a> released afterward, that the police officer pulled him over because he is black.
The <a href="https://bringmethenews.com/minnesota-news/video-police-bodycam-footage-of-rep-john-thompsons-july-4-traffic-stop">video</a> begins with the police officer approaching Thompson’s car. The audio is silent in the beginning as the bodycam buffered, according to the police department.
“Why in such a hurry?” the officer asks Thompson as the audio begins.
Thompson replies: “I don&#8217;t think I took off like a bat out of hell, I just drove off.”
As the officer and Thompson go through the lawmaker’s insurance and license, the officer notes that Thompson’s license is from Wisconsin. In his statement released Monday, Thompson said that he obtained a Wisconsin license because his family was considering moving back to the state to care for a family member.
The officer returns to his cruiser for about 14 minutes of the roughly 16-minute long video. After returning to Thompson’s car, the officer says that Thompson’s license has been suspended in Minnesota. Thompson’s license had been suspended in 2019 after he failed to pay child support. As <a href="https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2021/07/13/i-got-a-ticket-for-driving-while-black-video-released-showing-rep-john-thompsons-traffic-stop/">WCCO</a> reports:
<blockquote>According to records, Thompson does not hold a Minnesota driver’s license and has never had a driver’s license issued by Minnesota, and he was eventually cited by the officer for driving with a suspended Wisconsin license. WCCO learned his license was revoked on April 21, 2019 for his failure to pay child support in Ramsey County. You can <a href="https://www.aamva.org/PDPS">have action taken on your driving record in Minnesota</a> even if you do not hold a valid license. And a<a href="https://www.revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/518A.65"> license can be suspended because of child support.</a> Thompson’s license was reinstated Wednesday after taking care of the child support issue.</blockquote>
Thompson later asks why he was pulled over, and the officer says because of Thompson’s missing front license plate and because of the way he took off from a stoplight.
“I’m too old to run from the police man,&#8221; Thompson replies. “You profiled me because you looked me dead in the face and I got a ticket for driving while Black. You pulled me over because you saw a Black face in this car brother. There’s no way in hell I&#8217;m taking off with you behind me.”
“What you’re doing is wrong, to Black men,” Thompson continues as the officer denies that Thompson was racially profiled. “And you need to stop that. Thank you so much but this ticket means nothing to me &#8230; What I&#8217;m saying to you is stop racially profiling Black men in their cars sir. Stop doing that.”
After the incident, St. Paul Police Chief Todd Axtell released a statement calling for the release of the bodycam footage and stood behind his officer’s conduct.
“I was shocked to hear that driver accuse the sergeant of making the stop based on race,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;These aren’t accusations I take lightly, so I looked into the traffic stop, watched the body worn camera footage and spoke to the sergeant. This stop, made at about 1:20 in the morning, had absolutely nothing to do with the driver’s race,” Axtell wrote in a post on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/toddaxtell/posts/10209101415808338">Facebook</a>.
“The traffic stop was by the books. What happened afterwards was anything but,” Axtell continued.
In his own statement, Thompson did not back off his claims of being racially profiled and did not apologize for his conduct. He noted, however, that the traffic stop was “by the book.”
“I was pulled over in what is referred to as a pretextual traffic stop. The same type of stop that led to the killing of Philando, as well as Daunte Wright this April,” Thompson claimed. “Pretextual stops have been shown to not only do little to stop serious crimes, but they also disproportionately target nonwhites. This was the racial profiling I spoke to, and I’ve been working to get rid of these types of stops long before this summer.”
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John Thompson

Minnesota Lawmaker Claimed He Was Cited For ‘Driving While Black,’ So Police Released Bodycam Footage

Minnesota

Racial Discrimination

The number of overdose deaths across the United States skyrocketed by nearly 30% last year, equating to tens of thousands more lives lost, according to preliminary federal data.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released preliminary counts for drug overdose deaths on Wednesday. The numbers showed that the number of people who died last year from overdoses shot up to 93,331 from 72,151 deaths in 2019, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-drug-overdose-deaths-soared-nearly-30-in-2020-11626271200">The Wall Street Journal</a>. As the outlet reported:
<blockquote>The surge, the 2020 data show, was driven largely by <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/fentanyl-has-spread-west-and-overdoses-are-surging-11618484400?mod=article_inline">a proliferation of fentanyl</a>, a powerful synthetic opioid whose use has spread across the nation. The pandemic amplified the epidemic of overdoses, bringing on social isolation, trauma and job losses, according to addiction experts and treatment providers. Overdose deaths began rising in the fall of 2019 with the spread of fentanyl, but really took off starting in March 2020, when pandemic-driven shutdowns and physical-distancing measures set in.</blockquote>
“That is a stunning number even for those of us who have tracked this issue,” Brendan Saloner, associate professor of health policy and management at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said regarding the new data. “Our public health tools have not kept pace with the urgency of the crisis.”
Of the pandemic and lockdowns, Saloner added, “It’s really one of those things where 2020 turbocharged something that was already wildly out of control.”
Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, is the leading cause of drug overdose deaths, accounting for nearly two-thirds, an estimated 57,550, of overdose deaths in 2020. The number of deaths due to fentanyl jumped over 50% from 2019, according to WSJ.
One of the leading sources of fentanyl in the United States is from drug smugglers along the U.S. southern border, a problem that has exploded in 2021. Along one stretch of border in Texas, Border Patrol officials have reported a 4,000% surge in fentanyl confiscation in the past four years, with the vast majority of that increase coming in 2021. As NBC News reported last month:
<blockquote>The Border Patrol says the rising amount of fentanyl is being found in the desert – transported by increasingly brazen smugglers who are exploiting stretched federal resources.
In 2018, the Border Patrol in the El Paso sector found just one pound of fentanyl outside ports of entry. In 2019, two pounds. In 2020, nine.
During the 2021 fiscal year, agents have found 41 pounds so far – a dramatic rise that experts attribute to the increasing role in drug cartels producing the illicit drug themselves with raw materials from China. The sharp rise from 2018 to 2020 suggests the coronavirus pandemic did not artificially inflate the 2021 numbers.</blockquote>
Illegal immigration has jumped along with fentanyl trafficking in 2021 under the Biden administration. Illegal immigrants are flooding the border in record numbers, straining federal and state resources. The number of illegal immigrants apprehended at the border has already <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/number-of-illegal-border-crossings-highest-in-fifteen-years-amid-biden-admin-immigration-struggles">hit</a> a 15-year high for fiscal year 2021 with months left to go.
Related: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-major-crisis-deepened-during-the-covid-lockdowns-opioids">A Major Crisis Deepened During The Covid Lockdowns: Opioids</a>
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Fentanyl

Tens Of Thousands More People Died From Drug Overdose In 2020 Than Ever Before

COVID-19

Drugs

Lockdowns

Opioid Crisis

Florida residents are using their own boats to attempt food and supply runs to aid pro-democracy protesters in Cuba.
A large group of boaters left Monday for the island packed with food, water, and medicine, according to a <a href="https://miami.cbslocal.com/2021/07/13/miami-cuba-supplies-trip/">CBS affiliate</a> in Miami.
“We are just bringing supplies. They are trying to create a group to take on water, food, medicine, whatever we can to take a Cuba,” Dennis Suayero told the outlet. “We are just waiting for the approval so we can enter and give it to them.”
Boaters are attempting the trip despite a warning from the U.S. Coast Guard not to attempt unsanctioned trips to Cuba.
“As a humanitarian organization with a core mission of protecting lives at-sea, we echo the message of many U.S. leaders in the support of the Cuban people exercising their fundamental right of freedom of expression and assembly, but also remind anyone considering a migrant voyage to not take to the sea,&#8221; the Coast Guard <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/coast-guard-warns-florida-cubans-against-dangerous-trip-back-island-aid-protesters-1609274">said</a> in a statement Monday. “The transit is dangerous and unforgiving as nearly 20 lives were tragically lost in recent weeks as a result of these dangerous voyages.”
The improvised aid runs come as the Cuban government is reportedly violently <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/cuba-cracking-down-on-demonstrations-dissidents-say-police-arresting-beating-and-killing-protesters">cracking down</a> on massive democracy demonstrations. Protesters flooded Cuban streets over the weekend calling for an end to the island’s oppressive communist regime. The government has responded by “arresting, beating, and killing” protesters, according to reports.
Cuba’s President Miguel Díaz-Canel has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/we-are-willing-to-do-anything-cubas-president-demands-cubans-defend-the-revolution-from-pro-democracy-protesters">threatened</a> protesters to return to their homes and end all pro-democracy demonstrations. Reports said that the president is setting up a “civil war” in the country between the protesters and the regime’s supporters.
“The order to fight has been given – into the street, revolutionaries!” Diaz-Canal said Sunday. “We are calling on all the revolutionaries in the country, all the Communists, to hit the streets wherever there is an effort to produce these provocations.”
“We are not going to hand over the sovereignty or the independence of the people,” he said. “There are many revolutionaries in this country who are willing to give our lives, we are willing to do anything, and we will be in the streets fighting.”
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-rubio-gives-impassioned-speech-about-cuba-protests-on-senate-floor">pressed</a> for more U.S. involvement in the struggle for democracy in Cuba in a speech from the Senate floor on Monday. Rubio, who is of Cuban descent, called on President Joe Biden to make it a “top priority to allow the people of Cuba to have free, unfettered open internet access,” which the Cuban government has blacked out amid the unrest.
“The first lesson we need to take away from it is that Marxism, socialism, doesn’t work,” Rubio said. “The way socialism, the way Marxism has always worked, the way it’s always empowered itself, is it goes to the people and immediately divides them. It says there is an oppressor class and that there is this victim class and these evil oppressors, capitalists, in the case of socialism or traditional Marxism, they oppress the victims.”
“And when it can’t deliver the security, you don’t get your freedom back. And in fact, when you start to complain about that, that is when the repression comes,” he continued. “That’s what’s happened in Cuba.”
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Miami protest

Florida Boat Owners Are Running Supplies To Embattled Cuban Protesters

Communism

Cuba

Florida

A lighting blast demolished a mural of George Floyd in Toledo, Ohio, on Tuesday, according to the city’s fire department.
The piece had been painted onto the side of a shuttered bar, according to Toledo’s <a href="https://www.toledoblade.com/local/city/2021/07/13/george-foyd-mural-in-toledo-crumbles/stories/20210713122/">The Blade</a>. The art work crumbled amid a storm shortly after 5 p.m. on Tuesday evening according to police.
The Toledo Fire and Rescue Department officially attributed the destruction to a lightning strike based on witness accounts and an investigation of the scene. City building inspector Hugh Koogan has disputed the report, however, saying the wall had been showing signs of weakness for some time and likely just gave way on its own.
“It was just age. It just came away,” Koogan told the Blade. “It happens to the older buildings.”
Artist David Ross, who painted the mural, says he believes the mural was either destroyed by an act of God or vandalism. Ross said that while painting the mural, he saw the strength of the wall first-hand and said it should’ve remained standing for much longer.
“When I did the mural, there was stuff on the wall that I couldn’t remove and that let me know how strong that structure was,” Mr. Ross said. “The lightning thing, that’s possible, but I know it didn’t just fall.&#8221;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
<a href="https://t.co/WFvY5xEAuF">pic.twitter.com/WFvY5xEAuF</a>
&mdash; Kaitlin Durbin (@njKaitlinDurbin) <a href="https://twitter.com/njKaitlinDurbin/status/1415082152727810057?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 13, 2021</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Floyd was murdered last year while being arrested for reportedly using counterfeit money at a convenience store in Minneapolis. Former police officer Derek Chauvin was <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-jury-finds-derek-chauvin-guilty">convicted</a> of murder in April and sentenced to 22.5 years in prison. As <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/breaking-derek-chauvin-sentenced-for-murder-of-george-floyd">The Daily Wire</a> reported:
<blockquote>Chauvin was facing up to 40 years after he was convicted in April of second-degree murder, third-degree murder, and second-degree manslaughter in Floyd’s death. The former officer has been held in solitary confinement at a state prison since the conviction.
As <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/25/derek-chauvin-sentencing-george-floyd/">highlighted</a> by The Washington Post, under typical circumstances, Chauvin should have been facing 11 to 12 years behind bars per state sentencing guidelines for someone with no criminal history. However, Judge [Peter] Cahill ruled last month that “prosecutors had proven there were aggravating factors in the case that called for a tougher sentence.”</blockquote>
Cities and municipalities have erected a slew of statues, murals, and memorials to Floyd since his death <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/riots-looting-that-followed-george-floyds-death-could-cost-2-billion-most-expensive-incident-in-insurance-history">ignited</a> a wave of protests and riots across the U.S. Activists and Democratic lawmakers have claimed that Floyd’s death was indicative of systemic police racism and pushed calls to “defund the police” by redirecting funding away from law enforcement into social programs.
Before his death, Floyd was arrested nine previous times, mostly on drug and theft charges, and spent a couple stints in prison. In 2009, Floyd pleaded guilty to armed robbery after he and several other men robbed a home while the family was inside. Floyd’s part in the robbery was outlined in a police officer’s probable-cause statement reported by <a href="https://www.snopes.com/news/2020/06/12/george-floyd-criminal-record/">Snopes</a>:
<blockquote>The largest of these suspects [Floyd] forced his way into the residence, placed a pistol against the complainant’s abdomen, and forced her into the living room area of the residence. This large suspect then proceeded to search the residence while another armed suspect guarded the complainant, who was struck in the head and side areas by this second armed suspect with his pistol after she screamed for help. As the suspects looked through the residence, they demanded to know where the drugs and money were and Complaint Henriquez advised them that there were no such things in the residence. The suspects then took some jewelry along with the complainant’s cell phone before they fled the scene in the black Ford Explorer.</blockquote>
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George Floyd

George Floyd Mural Blown Apart By Lightning Strike, Officials Say

Ohio

Texas state House members voted 76-4 Tuesday to send law enforcement to track down and return dozens of Democratic lawmakers who fled the state to break quorum and block legislation on election reforms.
The state House cannot vote on legislation without a two-thirds majority of its 150-member body present. At least 51 Democratic House members fled the state on Monday, taking chartered flights to Washington, D.C., in protest of the Texas election reform efforts and in support of the For The People Act, a Democrat-backed proposal for the federal government to take over much of the election process.
Texas House members voted Tuesday for law enforcement to bring back “under warrant of arrest, if necessary,” the absent House members, according to <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/texas-senate-expected-to-take-up-vote-on-election-legislation-11626176054">The Wall Street Journal</a>.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) called a special session of the legislature last week the focus on a slew of legislation that Democrats in the House derailed earlier this year with a similar act, breaking quorum and preventing the House from proceeding. The election reform legislation is part of that bundle of bills that was tabled.
Abbott <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/texas-democrat-we-flew-private-because-everybody-wants-to-see-us-together">pledged</a> Monday that the runaway House members would be arrested as soon as they returned to Texas.
“What the law is, it’s in the Constitution, and that is the house, the State House of Representatives who were here in the Capitol in Austin right now, they do have the ability to issue a call to have their fellow members who are not showing up to be arrested, but only so long as that arrest is made in the state of Texas,” Abbott said during an appearance on Fox News. “That’s why they have fled the state. Once they step back into the state of Texas, they will be arrested and brought to the Texas Capitol, and we will be conducting business.”
Abbott also accused the Democrats of misrepresenting the election legislation, which includes reforms such as mandatory voter identification, in order to justify their trip to Washington, D.C.
“The thesis that they are operating under is completely false, because what the Texas law does, doesn’t hinder anybody’s ability to vote,” he said. “In fact, interestingly, what Texas is seeking to do is to add additional hours to vote. Texas has 12 days of early voting and the hours of which will be expanded. And we will ensure that hours are expanded on Election Day also. So their entire thesis is completely wrong.”
The state lawmakers have <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/greg-abbott-hammers-democratic-lawmakers-fleeing-to-texas-to-block-gop-election-reforms">planned</a> to take such unprecedented action for weeks. The lawmakers had considered fleeing to West Virginia and Arizona to pressure Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (D-AZ) and Joe Manchin (D-WV) to support the For The People Act. The Democrats eventually decided against fleeing to either state out of fear that GOP governors would help extradite them back to Texas.
“Today, Texas House Democrats stand united in our decision to break quorum and refuse to let the Republican-led legislature force through dangerous legislation that would trample on Texans’ freedom to vote,” state Democratic leaders said in a joint statement Monday as lawmakers boarded chartered planes to D.C.
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Tim Pearce