DOJ Announces It’s Suing Critical GOP State Over New Congressional Map

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Attorney General Merrick Garland announced Monday the Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing the state of Texas over its new congressional districts.

Garland announced the lawsuit at a press conference, alleging that Texas officials are violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by lumping too many black and Latino voters into too few districts to dilute their votes. Associate Attorney General Vanita Gupta said the new redistricting plan will diminish increased minority voting strength caused by recent population shifts.

“Today the Department of Justice has filed suit against the state of Texas for violating Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act,” Garland said. “As the Supreme Court has observed, a core principal of our democracy is that ‘voters should choose their representatives, not the other way around.’” (Read more from “DOJ Announces It’s Suing Critical GOP State Over New Congressional Map” HERE)

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State Drafts Rule to Make Mask Wearing Permanent

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There are six states — Hawaii, Illinois, Nevada (in substantial rates of COVID-19 transmission), New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington — that still require most people to wear face masks in indoor public places regardless of vaccination status. Oregon is taking it to another level by considering indefinite mask mandates.

The Oregon Health Authority (OHA) met on Thursday for about two hours to begin the process of drafting an order to make the state’s indoor mask requirement permanent. The OHA’s Rules Advisory Committee (RAC) discussed what the new indefinite face mask mandate would look like and the impact it could have on the public.

“Community stakeholders, including those from the hospitality and faith sectors, joined in the meeting,” KOMO reported. “People from the Seventh Day Adventists Church, the High Desert Museum, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and McMenamins were a part of the conversation.”

Some of the private business representatives expressed concerns about people not wanting to comply with mask mandates.

“Getting people to comply is getting harder,” said Paloma Sparks from the Oregon Business & Industry Association. (Read more from “State Drafts Rule to Make Mask Wearing Permanent” HERE)

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PLAYING THE VICTIM: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Keeps ‘Spotlight’ on Epstein, Other Powerful Men; Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial; Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’

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By NBC News. The British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell is the one accused of sex trafficking, but during the first five days of testimony in a New York City courtroom her lawyers have put her deceased boss, Jeffrey Epstein, and his famous friends on trial, legal experts say.

That strategy quickly became evident on the first day of the long-awaited trial when attorney Bobbi Sternheim, in her opening statement, dipped into the book of Genesis to defend Maxwell. . .

In fact, Maxwell’s defense team is subtly trying to portray her as Epstein’s first victim, the experts said. . .

“The defense has signaled its intention to make Epstein central to this trial,” Tuerkheimer said. “By portraying him as charismatic, well-connected, almost larger than life, her team may well be hoping to make Maxwell disappear into the background. Epstein’s star-studded life of fame and riches can grab the jury’s attention and focus, increasing the odds that Maxwell appears as a merely peripheral figure in the story.” (Read more from “PLAYING THE VICTIM: Ghislaine Maxwell’s Defense Keeps ‘Spotlight’ on Epstein, Other Powerful Men” HERE)

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Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial

By New York Post. Turns out Ghislaine Maxwell really is a sketch artist.

New York-based Illustrator Elizabeth Williams has 40 years of experience drawing people in court but says it was a first when Maxwell, on trial for sex-trafficking, started sketching her.

Williams was at Maxwell’s November pre-trial hearing when she said the British heiress, seated between her two lawyers, looked back at her and began staring while apparently drawing her, the Sun reported Friday. She did it a second time during jury selection.

Fellow illustrator Jane Rosenberg, who’s also at the Maxwell trial and was also drawn by Maxwell, created a picture of the weird encounter that went viral.

“It was like she didn’t think anyone would notice,” Williams said of the initial staring and drawing encounters. “She stared right at us, and it was definitely an odd moment. (Read more from “Odd: Maxwell Makes Her Own Drawings of the Court Sketch Artists During Trial” HERE)

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Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’ as Trial Resumes Today

By The Independent UK. The trial of Ghislaine Maxwell, a British socialite and former partner of Jeffrey Epstein, is set to resume today.

Ms Maxwell, 59, is accused of grooming teenage girls for abuse by the late convicted sex-offender and financier. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges against her. . .

One of the sexual abuse survivors, Sarah Ransome — who says she was repeatedly raped by Epstein over a nine-month period — described Ms Maxwell as a “very sick woman” who took pleasure in “humiliating” her victims. . .

Ms Ransome said: “Ghislaine enjoyed humiliating us. You could see the enjoyment in her face.” (Read more from “Victim Calls Maxwell ‘Engineer of Epstein’s Abuse’ as Trial Resumes Today” HERE)

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Last ‘Band of Brothers’ Officer Dies at 99

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Edward Shames, a World War II veteran who was the last surviving officer of “Easy Company,” which inspired the HBO miniseries and book “Band of Brothers,” has died. He was 99.

An obituary posted by the Holomon-Brown Funeral Home & Crematory said Shames, of Norfolk, Virginia, died peacefully at his home on Friday.

Shames was involved in some of the most important battles of World War II. During the war, he was a member of the renowned Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division.

“He made his first combat jump into Normandy on D-Day as part of Operation Overlord. He volunteered for Operation Pegasus and then fought with Easy Company in Operation Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge in Bastogne,” according to the obituary.

Shames was the first member of the 101st to enter Dachau concentration camp, just days after its liberation. (Read more from “Last ‘Band of Brothers’ Officer Dies at 99” HERE)

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/baturix/15052858104

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Ethics Experts Alarmed by Nearly 100% Decrease in Clinton Foundation Donations Since 2009

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The Clinton Foundation’s rapid decline in donor cash has alarmed top ethics watchdogs who say it shows clear red flags of political corruption.

Financial disclosures show a precipitous decline in contributions to the Clinton Foundation in the years following former president Bill Clinton and former first lady Hillary Clinton’s fall from the heights of their political power.

The Clinton Foundation received roughly $16.3 million in contributions in 2020, according to their newly released Form 990. This was a 93.6% decrease from the nearly $250 million the charitable organization raked in during 2009 after Hillary Clinton was appointed Secretary of State.

“For years, the Clinton Foundation raised ethical concerns and blurred lines between the foundation, private entities, and the State Department,” said Scott Amey, General Counsel for the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), a nonpartisan, independent government corruption watchdog organization.

“Money was pouring in when Hillary Clinton was a senior official and a candidate for president. The fact that foundation donors received special access to the Secretary of State isn’t surprising, nor is the fall in foundation funding after her 2016 election loss. Many people thought people were supporting the former president, but it really looks like they were cozying up to who they thought was going to be the future president — a situation that can’t be repeated,” the POGO General Counsel told the Daily Caller. (Read more from “Ethics Experts Alarmed by Nearly 100% Decrease in Clinton Foundation Donations Since 2009” HERE)

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore https://www.flickr.com/photos/gageskidmore/30133266984

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CNN Finally Fires Chris Cuomo

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CNN announced Saturday that anchor Chris Cuomo has been “terminated” from the network for his involvement in covering up his brother’s sexual assault case.

“Chris Cuomo was suspended earlier this week pending further evaluation of a new information that came to light about his involvement with his brother’s defense. We retained a respected law firm to conduct the review, and have terminated him, effective immediately,” CNN said in a statement.

“While in the process of that review, additional information has come to light. Despite the termination, we will investigate as appropriate.” (Read more from “CNN Finally Fires Chris Cuomo” HERE)

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After Blaming COVID on Trump, Media Let Biden Dodge Responsibility for Climbing Cases

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Once upon a time, long ago, there was an American president who we were told was directly responsible for the spread of a highly contagious, airborne virus. Today, we’re told of the same virus, but with a new president, “Well, whaddya do?”

Remember when containing and depressing the coronavirus was simply a matter of nationwide testing and “contact tracing,” plus the care of a president who wasn’t Trump and who might cry on TV about the lives lost?

Under President Joe Biden, we have all of that, with the added benefit of free and unlimited vaccines. But the virus has continued to spread. We’re currently averaging just under 100,000 new cases, just under 60,000 hospitalizations, and more than 1,000 COVID-related deaths every day.

Ahead of Biden’s inauguration, new cases were in the beginning of a free fall. By late June there were roughly just 11,000 new cases each day. Now we’re averaging almost 10 times that amount.

There’s no reason you should be under the impression that Biden is competent enough to do as he said he would, which was to “shut down the virus.” Almost a year into his presidency we don’t even talk about ending the pandemic anymore. To the contrary, we’re now talking about a new COVID variant. (Read more from “After Blaming COVID on Trump, Media Let Biden Dodge Responsibility for Climbing Cases” HERE)

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Fear Forever! ‘Possible’ Omicron Will Not Be Last Emerging Variant of Pandemic

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The director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Francis Collins said Sunday on “Meet the Press” that it was “certainly possible” that the Omicron variant will not be the last COVID-19 variant of the pandemic. . .

Collins responded, “It’s certainly possible that this is not the last emerging variant that will attract a lot of attention and a lot of concern. This one does have the largest number of mutations that we’ve seen so far. Omicron with about 50 mutations compared to the original Wuhan virus. It looks as if they probably arose in an immunocompromised individual — this is a hypothesis, but it seems plausible — who wasn’t able to completely fight of the virus. So it remained in the system may be for months in that person until they finally got over it. And that is, of course, a perfect situation for the virus to be able to pick up additional mutations along the way. To the extent that that’s going to keep happening, if we don’t have adequate immune protection across the globe – yeah, we’re probably going to see something. We’ll have to use some of the other letters in the Greek alphabet.” (Read more from “Fear Forever! ‘Possible’ Omicron Will Not Be Last Emerging Variant of Pandemic” HERE)

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Former Senator, Republican Presidential Candidate Bob Dole Dies at 98

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Former Kansas senator and Republican presidential candidate Robert Joseph Dole passed away early Sunday morning at the age of 98.

According to a statement released by the Elizabeth Dole Foundation, the World War II veteran and longtime politician passed in his sleep. . .

Dole served as top Republican in the Senate for some 11 years — a feat beaten only by current Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell — and is one of only eight senators in history to have received a Congressional Gold Medal.

His response, when he received the honor in January of 2018, was simple and self-deprecating: “I want to thank all those who’ve said such kind words about me. They’re probably not true, but they were nice.”

He was former President Gerald Ford’s 1976 running mate, and at 73 he became the oldest to ever make a first-time run for the presidency, clinching the Republican nomination in 1996 but losing to Bill Clinton. (Read more from “Former Senator, Republican Presidential Candidate Bob Dole Dies at 98” HERE)

Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/civilrights/3513852330/

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Trial Day 5: This Is the Bizarre Evidence Being Used in the Maxwell Trial; Yes, Madam: ‘Very Degrading’ List of Rules for Jeffrey Epstein’s Staff Revealed in Court

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By New York Post. A number of key pieces of evidence in the Ghislaine Maxwell trial were shown to jurors for the first time Friday — including a massage table and a “Twin Torpedo” sex toy that were seized from Jeffrey Epstein’s Florida mansion in the early 2000s.

The massage table from the multimillionaire pedophile’s Palm Beach estate was brought into the Manhattan courtroom and briefly examined by a police officer who testified Friday.

The dark-green, collapsible table was shown to jurors as Assistant US Attorney Maruene Maurene Comey quizzed former Palm Beach Police officer Gregory Parkinson about a search warrant he and other cops executed at the estate in October 2005.

Parkinson put on black disposable gloves and briefly examined the table in the middle of the courtroom, about 10 feet from where Maxwell sat with her defense attorneys.

The disgraced socialite did not visibly react as the former investigator combed over the table for about half a minute. (Read more from “This Is the Bizarre Evidence Being Used In the Maxwell Trial” HERE)

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Yes, Madam: ‘Very Degrading’ List of Rules for Jeffrey Epstein’s Staff Revealed in Court

By New York Post. Ghislaine Maxwell kept a 58-page list of rules that ordered staff at Jeffrey Epstein’s estates to “see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing” — and to always make sure the couple had a gun nearby at night.

The accused madam’s sex-trafficking trial got to see the “Maxwell Household Manual” on Thursday as former housekeeper Juan Alessi testified about the “very degrading” way staff were treated.

The 2005 manual — which was entered into evidence — showed the lengths Maxwell, the 59-year-old “lady of the house,” went to in ensuring that Epstein’s mansion in Palm Beach, Fla., was “like a five-star hotel.”

Staff needed to “anticipate the needs of Mr. Epstein, Ms. Maxwell and their guests,” stated the introduction of the manual, which made clear that disgraced media baron Robert Maxwell’s daughter was sharing the master bedroom with the perverted moneyman at the time.

“Remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, except to answer a question directed at you,” it warned on the first page of orders. (Read more from “Yes, Madam: ‘Very Degrading’ List of Rules for Jeffrey Epstein’s Staff Revealed in Court” HERE)

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