Supreme Court Eyes Ballot Harvesting Case That Could Affect Election Integrity Across Nation

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With mail-in voting becoming a national issue during the COVID-19 crisis, the Supreme Court could decide to hear a cornerstone election integrity case.

On the line is Arizona’s ban on ballot harvesting. The state prohibits political operatives and activists from having access to large amounts of absentee ballots for the purpose of collecting votes.

Arizona is one of 20 states with a law restricting the practice.

Also on the line is Arizona’s in-precinct voting law, which, as in most states, requires voters to cast an in-person vote at a polling place in their local precinct.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, a liberal bench that frequently is overturned by the Supreme Court, in late January struck down Arizona’s 2016 election law in the case of Democratic National Committee v. Hobbs.

“I anticipate that a bunch of states will be interested in joining our case,” Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich told The Daily Signal in a phone interview.

“If the 9th Circuit decision stands, it could put in jeopardy all kinds of commonsense voter integrity measures. That means laws preventing voter intimidation, laws preventing multiple voting, and laws protecting the secrecy of the ballot,” Brnovich, a Republican first elected in 2014, said.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez praised the 9th Circuit’s finding that the state’s law violates the federal Voting Rights Act.

“The court’s ruling will restore out-of-precinct voting and ballot collection for the 2020 election after finding that this Republican voter-suppression effort was a discriminatory attack on voters of color, including Native American, Latinx, and African-American communities,” Perez said in a written statement in late January. “As Democrats, our goal is to engage every eligible American voter as an active participant in our democracy by making it easier for people to vote, not harder.”

Ballot harvesting, which allows professional campaign operatives and political activists to have access to absentee ballots and authority to recruit voters, is allowed in 27 states and the District of Columbia.

Two Senate Democrats—Ron Wyden of Oregon and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota—have proposed a bill that would, among other things, allow nationwide ballot harvesting. They are promoting the legislation as a means to allow more voting during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Critics of ballot harvesting say it exposes voters to coercion and intimidation in their own homes, without protections normally present at polling places. There is also a significant record showing that legal vote harvesting leads to illegal fraud and intimidation.

For progressives, ballot harvesting has become a major priority nationally.

“The pandemic has created new opportunities,” Jason Snead, executive director of the watchdog group Honest Elections Project, said during a conference call last week. “The first is ballot harvesting. We saw the Nevada case; they are pushing for legalized ballot harvesting, and they are pushing it in other cases as well. They are advancing significant wins to date.”

In Minnesota, Attorney General Keith Ellison, a Democrat, settled a challenge to the state’s ban on ballot harvesting. Under the settlement, candidates in that state will be allowed to help cast ballots, Snead noted.

The Arizona case is significant, he said.

“Fortunately, the state of Arizona is seeking Supreme Court review,” Snead said. “So there is an opportunity there for anyone looking to provide amicus support to file a brief. That is a tremendously important case in terms of protecting our elections against ballot harvesting.”

Brnovich, the Arizona attorney general, contends that the case largely is about the left’s trying to seize control of elections.

“The hard left always tries to advance its agenda,” Brnovich told The Daily Signal. “Tom Steyer and George Soros are pushing their left-wing agendas by trying to control the election process. These elitist billionaires just want to control lives and can do that by controlling elections.”

Brnovich said this is shortsighted ambition for the Democratic Party, considering a North Carolina congressional race in which the Republican candidate nearly stole an election through ballot harvesting.

“We want people to have confidence and faith in the election system,” the attorney general said.

The Arizona Legislature passed legislation in 2016 to restrict ballot harvesting in the state unless the person collecting a ballot is a family member, a person living in the same household, or a caregiver.

Brnovich said the law was based in part on the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform in 2005 chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker.

The Carter-Baker commission recommended that states “prohibit a person from handling absentee ballots other than the voter, an acknowledged family member, the U.S. Postal Service or other legitimate shipper, or election officials.”

The commission found that absentee ballots “remain the largest source of potential voter fraud.”

Since the 1970s, Arizona has required voters to vote at a polling place in their precinct.

If the Supreme Court agrees to take the case, it will have a substantial record to review, Brnovich said.

The Democratic National Committee filed suit over the Arizona law in 2016. Arizona won the case in the U.S. District Court in 2018 after a 10-day trial with 33 witnesses.

The DNC appealed, and a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit initially sided with Arizona. However, the DNC appealed to a larger panel of the 9th Circuit, which reversed the ruling Jan. 27.

Arizona then appealed to the Supreme Court.

Brnovich obtained a stay of the 9th Circuit’s decision, leaving Arizona’s laws restricting ballot harvesting and out-of-precinct voting in place while the high court decides whether to hear the matter.

Arizona’s petition contends that since so many states have similar measures, the case presents an appropriate vehicle to establish a clear rule of law for the country. (For more from the author of “Supreme Court Eyes Ballot Harvesting Case That Could Affect Election Integrity Across Nation” please click HERE)

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Travel From New York City Primary Source for U.S. Coronavirus Infections; At Least 85 Kids Across U.S. Have Developed Rare, Mysterious COVID-19-Linked Illness

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By New York Times. New York City’s coronavirus outbreak grew so large by early March that the city became the primary source of new infections in the United States, new research reveals, as thousands of infected people traveled from the city and seeded outbreaks around the country.

The research indicates that a wave of infections swept from New York City through much of the country before the city began setting social distancing limits to stop the growth. That helped to fuel outbreaks in Louisiana, Texas, Arizona and as far away as the West Coast.

The findings are drawn from geneticists’ tracking signature mutations of the virus, travel histories of infected people and models of the outbreak by infectious disease experts. (Read more from “Travel From New York City Primary Source for U.S. Coronavirus Infections” HERE)

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At Least 85 Kids Across U.S. Have Developed Rare, Mysterious COVID-19-Linked Illness

By NBC News. Children with a rare but potentially dangerous complication thought to be linked to the coronavirus have now been identified in at least seven states and the Washington, D.C., area.

Doctors say the increase does not necessarily suggest that the number of such cases has grown. Instead, they say, it is likely the result of increased awareness of the problem, which just this week got an official name: pediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome.

NBC News has found at least 85 such cases in children across the U.S. The majority — 64 — are in New York state, which has also recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases overall.

Other cases include four patients at Boston Children’s Hospital, an estimated five to 10 at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, three at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, three at Nemours Children’s Health System in Delaware, three at Ochsner Medical Center in Louisiana and one at Seattle Children’s Hospital. (Read more from “At Least 85 Kids Across U.S. Have Developed Rare, Mysterious COVID-19-Linked Illness” HERE)

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Nearly 50 Million Americans Just Had Their Credit Card Limits Cut

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About 1 in 4 credit card holders — or almost 50 million Americans — had their credit limits cut or their card accounts closed in the past 30 days, according to a consumer survey by Lending Tree’s Compare Cards website. The reductions particularly affected men between the ages 18 and 38, according to the survey.

Lenders aren’t required to tell customers when their credit limits are lowered, LendingTree analyst Matt Schulz said, adding that many lenders made their moves in the past month to avert losses if cash-strapped consumers struggle to keep up with payments amid surging U.S. unemployment.

The credit curbs happened just when household budgets are particularly strained from coronavirus-related job losses and families are believed to be using their cards more frequently. The Lending Tree survey reports that 42% more cardholders said they used their credit in the last month compared to the same period last year. . .

Total credit card debt is about $1.1 trillion nationwide and has been growing steadily since 2015, Federal Reserve data show. That debt was already crushing many U.S. households before the novel coronavirus struck America, according to CBS News Senior Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger. (Read more from “Nearly 50 Million Americans Just Had Their Credit Card Limits Cut” HERE)

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Woman Accused of Shooting at McDonald’s Workers After They Told Her Dining Room Was Closed

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Oklahoma City police identified a woman accused of firing shots inside a McDonald’s restaurant after being told by employees that the dining room was closed due to coronavirus restrictions.

According to police, officers responded just before 6:30 p.m. Wednesday to a report of a shooting at McDonald’s near Southwest 89th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

According to police, the suspect entered the restaurant and was told by employees the dining area was closed. She was asked to leave but refused, and police said a physical altercation ensued between the suspect and an employee.

Police said the suspect was then forced out of the restaurant by employees. She reentered the restaurant with a handgun and fired about three rounds in the restaurant, according to police.

One employee was hit in the arm, a second was hit with shrapnel in the neck/shoulder area and a third employee was hit with shrapnel in the side, police said. The employee who was involved in the initial physical confrontation suffered a head injury. The cause of this injury in unclear, according to police. (Read more from “Woman Accused of Shooting at McDonald’s Workers After They Told Her Dining Room Was Closed” HERE)

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Schiff Changed Russia Document Release Strategy Because He Was Forced

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Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), had only planned to release partial transcripts from the committee’s Russia investigation, not all of them, a source with knowledge of his efforts told Breitbart News.

But then, when acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell announced he was prepared to release all of the transcripts in full—something Grenell had planned to do on Friday morning if Schiff had not done so—Schiff changed his strategy and agreed to release them all in full.

An intelligence community source told Breitbart News that Schiff was caught attempting to weaponize the information through selective and partial releases, but Grenell’s actions forced his hand and made him release them all in full. In a letter first reported by the Washington Examiner’s Byron York earlier this week, Grenell informed Schiff that the documents were ready for release.

Grenell wrote to Schiff in the May 4 letter:

All of the transcripts, with our required redactions, can be released to the public without any concerns of disclosing classified material. I urge you to honor your previous public statements, and your committee’s unanimous vote on this matter, to release all 53 cleared transcripts to Members of Congress and the American public as soon as possible.

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Biden Accuser: I’d ‘Absolutely’ Testify Under Oath (VIDEO)

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During a portion of an interview with Megyn Kelly released on Thursday, Tara Reade, who has accused 2020 Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden of sexual assault said that she would testify under oath and subject herself to cross-examination and would take a polygraph, but only if Biden does so.

Reade began by saying, “I believe in the survivors that have come forward like Blasey Ford and the other ones that have come forward. I do stand with them. I think that there needs to be a conversation, rather than a hashtag.”

Kelly later asked, “If I can just go back for one second to Blasey Ford, some of those who supported her but now have found a reason not to support you say, well, she was under oath. Would you go under oath?”

Reade responded, “Absolutely.” (Read more from “Biden Accuser: I’d ‘Absolutely’ Testify Under Oath” HERE)

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DOJ Withdraws Gen. Flynn Charge; Trump Says Obama Officials Committed Treason, “Human Scum”

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By Fox News. The Justice Department on Thursday moved to drop its case against former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, in a stunning development that comes after internal memos were released raising serious questions about the nature of the investigation that led to Flynn’s late 2017 guilty plea of lying to the FBI.

The announcement came in a court filing “after a considered review of all the facts and circumstances of this case, including newly discovered and disclosed information,” as the department put it. DOJ officials said they concluded that Flynn’s interview by the FBI was “untethered to, and unjustified by, the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation into Mr. Flynn” and that the interview was “conducted without any legitimate investigative basis.” . . .

The federal judge overseeing the case would have to make the final determination to dismiss it.

The retired Army lieutenant general for months has been trying to withdraw his plea, aided by a new attorney aggressively challenging the prosecution’s case and conduct. But, the case has been plodding through the court system with no resolution ever since his original plea, even amid speculation about whether President Trump himself could extend a pardon. . .

President Trump reacted from the Oval Office just minutes after the DOJ filing surfaced. “He was an innocent man… Now, in my book, he’s an even greater warrior,” Trump said, while criticizing Obama administration officials. “They’re human scum. … It’s treason.” (Read more from “DOJ Withdraws Gen. Flynn Charge; Trump Says Complicit Obama Officials Committed Treason, “Human Scum” HERE)

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FBI, Comey Stalled Push to Notify Trump Camp of Michael Flynn Probe, Docs Show

By New York Post. Obama-era Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates pushed to notify the incoming Trump administration of the nature of Michael Flynn’s communications with Russia, but was slow-rolled by the FBI, according to bombshell documents filed Thursday.

The behind-the-scenes revelation came to light in a memo of an interview with Yates, among a trove of documents released as the DOJ dropped its criminal case against Flynn, Trump’s former national security adviser.

Yates first learned of the contacts between Flynn and then-Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak — in which Flynn asked that Russia refrain from retaliating to sanctions imposed over interference in the 2016 election — from President Obama himself, the FBI memo says.

Obama told Yates during a January 2017 meeting in the Oval Office that he had “learned of the information about Flynn” and wanted to know how to proceed, according to the documents. (Read more from “FBI, Comey Stalled Push to Notify Trump Camp of Michael Flynn Probe, Docs Show” HERE)

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Rosenstein Scope Memo for Mueller Peddled Steele Dossier, Logan Act Conspiracy Theories; Fox Host Rips Rosenstein: ‘Deep State’s Abuse of Power as Clear as Ever’

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By The Federalist. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein’s memo authorizing Robert Mueller’s anti-Trump investigation was riddled with conspiracy theories lifted straight from the bogus dossier of Christopher Steele, a newly released, less redacted version of the memo shows. The memo, portions of which were declassified on April 30, 2020, specifically targeted former Trump campaign affiliates Carter Page, Paul Manafort, Michael Flynn, George Papadopoulos, and one individual whose identity is redacted.

The Aug. 2, 2017 scope memo, which was provided by the Department of Justice (DOJ) to the Senate Judiciary Committee following requests from Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., cited Steele dossier collusion conspiracy theories about Manafort and Page.

Rosenstein ordered Mueller to investigate allegations that Page “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials with respect to the Russian government’s efforts to interfere with the 2016 election[.]” The same language was used to justify the targeting of Manafort.

Rosenstein’s memo also peddled discredited legal theories about the Logan Act, a 1799 law criminalizing political speech by American citizens that has never been successfully prosecuted, to justify investigations of former White House National Security Adviser (NSA) Michael Flynn. The scope memo directed Mueller to investigate allegations that Flynn “committed a crime or crimes by engaging in conversations with Russian officials during the period of the Trump transition.”

The Mueller probe, after nearly two years and tens of millions of dollars, unearthed no evidence of collusion by any Trump campaign officials. However, a sprawling investigation by the DOJ Office of Inspector General found that Rosenstein’s DOJ fabricated evidence and falsified documents to justify an illegal federal spy warrant against Page. A Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) lawyer, reported to be Kevin Clinesmith, allegedly altered documents from a U.S. intelligence agency to erase evidence that Page had for years worked on behalf of the U.S. government to help investigate Russian agents who were attempting to damage the U.S. and compromise national security. (Read more from “Rosenstein Scope Memo for Mueller Peddled Steele Dossier, Logan Act Conspiracy Theories” HERE)

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Hannity Rips Rosenstein After Mueller ‘Scope Memo’ Released: ‘Deep State’s Abuse of Power as Clear as Ever’

By Fox News. Sean Hannity opened his Wednesday night program by praising Attorney General William Barr after the Justice Department released the unredacted August 2017 “scope memo” that laid out the full extent of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative powers.

Hannity said the memo shows Mueller’s probe covered more ground than previously thought, even giving Mueller latitude to investigate people like Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for what the host called “a bogus, non-existent Logan Act violation.”

Sean Hannity opened his Wednesday night program by praising Attorney General William Barr after the Justice Department released the unredacted August 2017 “scope memo” that laid out the full extent of then-Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigative powers.

Hannity said the memo shows Mueller’s probe covered more ground than previously thought, even giving Mueller latitude to investigate people like Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn for what the host called “a bogus, non-existent Logan Act violation.” . . .

He said the fact that Rosenstein gave Mueller such a wide purview despite his own knowledge of inconsistencies in the source material proves “the deep state’s abuse of power is now as clear as it has ever been.” (Read more from “Hannity Rips Rosenstein After Mueller ‘Scope Memo’ Released: ‘Deep State’s Abuse of Power as Clear as Ever'” HERE)

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Coronavirus Researcher ‘on Verge of Breakthrough’ Shot Dead

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A researcher in the United States who was shot dead at the weekend in an apparent murder-suicide had been close to a breakthrough in a scientific understanding of the new coronavirus.

The University of Pittsburgh said Bing Liu, a 37-year-old research assistant professor at its computational and systems biology department, had been “on the verge of making very significant findings” into the virus before his death from multiple gunshot wounds.

According to local newspaper Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Liu was at his home in western Pennsylvania at around noon on Saturday when he was shot by Hao Gu, 46, who then killed himself.

Local police said the incident “was the result of a lengthy dispute regarding an intimate partner”. Since both men were not US citizens, the investigation was handed to federal authorities to review.

The university said Liu had been part of a team modelling various biological systems in a bid to understand the cellular mechanisms of the new coronavirus, as well as the cellular basis of health complications found in Covid-19 patients. “He was patient, intelligent and extremely mature. We will miss him very much,” it said. (Read more from “Coronavirus Researcher ‘on Verge of Breakthrough’ Shot Dead” HERE)

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Report: America’s Billionaires Added $282 Billion to Their Total Wealth in 23 Days During the Coronavirus Crisis

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The US’ richest people continue to get richer even as the coronavirus pushes millions of American workers into unemployment and a deep recession looms large over the economy, according to a report

In the first three months of 2020, even as panic gripped markets, 34 of the US’ wealthiest 170 billionaires saw their fortunes surge by millions of dollars, according to a Billionaires Bonanza 2020 report published by the Institute for Policy Studies last week. Eight even saw their wealth increase by more than $1 billion, the report said.

Research by Forbes year showed that US billionaires’ wealth declined from $3.1 trillion to $2.9 trillion in 2020 as of March 18, but the new Billionaires Bonanza report which looks at billionaires wealth from the start of January until April 10, shows that billionaires have cashed in so far this year.

In the 23 days between March 18 and April 10, the report states, billionaire wealth in the US increased $282 billion, or 9.5%. Over the same period, 22 million Americans filed for unemployment, it noted.

Billionaires saw their net worths increase in those weeks as stock markets rallied sharply, rewarding those with large stock market investments. (Read more from “Report: America’s Billionaires Added $282 Billion to Their Total Wealth in 23 Days During the Coronavirus Crisis” HERE)

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