Lawsuit Alleging Fish and Wildlife Officers Trespassed, Set up Secret Cameras on Private Land May Proceed, Judge Says

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A bid by the state of Tennessee to dismiss a lawsuit over spying by the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency on private property has been rejected by a judge.

The dispute is over the state agencies posting of cameras on private property without permission to surveil hunting activities. . .

Landowners Terry Rainwaters and Hunter Hollingsworth joined with the Institute for Justice to sue the state for “ignoring their ‘No Trespassing’ signs by entering and installing cameras on their land.”

“Private land is not open to public officers,” said IJ Attorney Joshua Windham. “We look forward to Tennessee’s courts declaring once and for all that the Tennessee Constitution does not allow the government to conduct warrantless surveillance of private property.”

The state has claimed a century-old “open fields” doctrine gives its officials the right to use private land. (Read more from “Lawsuit Alleging Fish and Wildlife Officers Trespassed, Set up Secret Cameras on Private Land May Proceed, Judge Says” HERE)

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GOP Calls for Amazon to Explain Reliance on SPLC

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GOP members of the House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos concerning the Southern Poverty Law Center’s relationship with Amazon Smile, a charity program that lets customers donate money to any of the acceptable nonprofits listed on the website.

In the letter, the Reps. Jim Jordan, Matt Gaetz, Mike Johnson, Ken Buck, and others determined that Amazon’s reliance on the SPLC to decide which charities may become eligible for the Smile donation program confirms that “Big Tech is biased against conservatives and censors conservative views.”

“The exclusion of these conservative groups from Amazon’s heavily-trafficked digital platform leads to less exposure for these groups and fewer opportunities for donations,” the letter reads. “In this way, Amazon’s reliance on the SPLC as a barometer to determine the eligibility of charitable organizations on AmazonSmile serves to discriminate against conservative views.”

The letter also outlines why the SPLC is unreliable, claiming that its willingness to place some conservative groups in the same category as “actual extremist organizations” proves its untrustworthiness and unreliability. (Read more from “GOP Calls for Amazon to Explain Reliance on SPLC” HERE)

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Alaska Gold Mine CEO Insists Trump Isn’t Blocking Project Despite Conservative Opposition

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The CEO of a large proposed gold and copper mine in Alaska’s Bristol Bay is denying reports that prominent conservative opposition to the project, including from Donald Trump Jr., has turned the White House against the project.

In a letter made public Monday, the Army Corps of Engineers asked the developers of the proposed Pebble Mine to take additional measures to compensate for the effects the mine will have on wetlands and streams before it can be permitted. The move could push a final decision on the mine until after the election. Democratic nominee Joe Biden has said he would halt the project.

Opponents of the project are suggesting the mitigation requirements are so significant that it would essentially block the project from moving forward.

“Real mitigation is death for Pebble Mine, because it’s impossible to mitigate the damage this project would inflict on Bristol Bay, its Tribes, and the people whose livelihoods and well-being depend on it,” said Joel Reynolds, a senior attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council’s nature program.

However, Tom Collier, CEO of Pebble Limited Partnership, the mine’s owner and a subsidiary of Canadian-based Northern Dynasty Minerals, says the company has been preparing for weeks a plan to address the Army Corps’ concerns. (Read more from “Alaska Gold Mine CEO Insists Trump Isn’t Blocking Project Despite Conservative Opposition” HERE)

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National Guard Deployed to Manage Protests in Wisconsin

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Gov. Tony Evers deployed the Wisconsin National Guard to assist local law enforcement agencies with protests following the officer-involved shooting of Jacob Blake.

Evers, a Democrat, confirmed that 125 members of the National Guard would be deployed to Kenosha, the city where Blake, a 29-year-old black man, was shot several times by police officers during an arrest on Sunday. The governor said they would be tasked with protecting infrastructure from vandalism and looting as well as ensuring the safety of firefighters working in the area.

“This is a limited mobilization of the National Guard focused on supporting the needs of local first responders to protect critical infrastructure, such as utilities and fire stations, and to ensure Kenoshians are able to assemble safely,” Evers said on Monday.

The Kenosha Police Department issued a curfew just after midnight early Monday morning that lasted until 7 a.m. The department sent a notice to the public via text message, noting that the curfew was caused by “numerous armed robberies and shots fired calls.” The department announced that the curfew would be reinstated at 8 p.m. on Monday evening. . .

Kenosha was the site of protests and riots on Sunday night after the video of Blake’s shooting went viral. Several fires were set during the riots, and tear gas was used by police to enforce a curfew that was implemented in the city. One officer was hit with a brick during the riots. (Read more from “National Guard Deployed to Manage Protests in Wisconsin” HERE)

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LA Jails Refuse to Turn 25,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens Over to ICE

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The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department has refused to honor more than 25,000 requests from federal immigration officials to turn over undocumented immigrants being housed in its jails, according to data obtained by Fox News.

The figure represents the requests lodged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for the 2020 fiscal year, ICE spokesperson Alexx Pons told Fox News.

Sheriff Alex Villanueva said last week the department would halt the transfer of undocumented men and women to the immigration agency, citing conditions at various ICE detention facilities and that the fear of deportation could hinder criminal investigations.

“There is no greater threat to public safety than a million undocumented immigrants who are afraid to report crime, out of fear of deportation and having their families torn apart,” Villanueva said in his Aug. 18 announcement. “As the Sheriff of Los Angeles County, I am responsible for everyone’s public safety, regardless of immigration status. I will not allow an entire segment of the population to be afraid to report crimes to law enforcement and be forced, again, back into the shadows.” (Read more from “LA Jails Refuse to Turn 25,000 Criminal Illegal Aliens Over to ICE” HERE)

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CDC Drops 2 Week Quarantine Recommendation

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The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have yet to comment after Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday dropped its recommendation for travelers to quarantine for 14 days upon returning from trips overseas or out of state during the coronavirus pandemic.

The three states have two-week quarantine requirements for travelers coming from 35 states and territories.

The CDC updated its guidelines on its website. Though the two-week recommendation was changed, the federal agency did caution travelers that they can still contract the novel coronavirus while traveling.

“You may feel well and not have any symptoms, but you can still spread COVID-19 to others,” the agency warns. “You and your travel companions (including children) may spread COVID-19 to other people including your family, friends, and community for 14 days after you were exposed to the virus.” (Read more from “CDC Drops 2 Week Quarantine Recommendation” HERE)

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New Poll Shows Major Drop in Democratic Party Affiliation

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A new poll released Monday from Gallup showed that the four days of virtual speeches and minimal fanfare produced by the Democratic National Convention did little to shore up support for the party of Joe Biden and Sen. Kamala Harris.

In fact, despite the glowing reviews from corporate media of the DNC and its speakers, the Gallup poll showed that Americans claiming to be Democrats or affiliated with the party dropped by two points since the same poll was conducted in June. Enthusiasm for the Republican Party, however, increased by three points, shrinking the Democratic advantage by a stunning five points as the presidential election draws ever closer.

The new poll follows a trend in national polling that has shown a dramatic narrowing of the gap between the Democrats’ nominee Joe Biden and President Donald Trump, after months of numbers reflecting Biden as the clear leader. Rasmussen reported on Monday that recent polling also showed the nation’s approval of the president was on the rise, sharing that 51 percent of respondents approved of the job he was doing.

The favorable shifting in polling for the president comes amid months of unrest that has included widespread calls from the far-left to defund and abolish police departments, abolish ICE, and abolish prisons across the country. (Read more from “New Poll Shows Major Drop in Democratic Party Affiliation” HERE)

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Report: Nearly 5 Million First-Time Gun Buyers in 2020

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The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) reported that there have been nearly five million first time gun buyers thus far in 2020.

On August 24, 2020, NSSF contrasted the number of National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) checks from January 1, 2020, through July, 2020, with the number of checks from January 1, 2019, through July 2019. After adjusting for checks that were tied to concealed carry permits or other ends, other than sales, they ascertained that the number of checks for sales was 12.1 million.

NSSF then surveyed retailers and found that “40 percent of sales were conducted to purchasers who have never previously owned a firearm.” (Read more from “Report: Nearly 5 Million First-Time Gun Buyers in 2020” HERE)

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Grand Jury Investigation Into Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein Is Still Active, Prosecutors Reveal

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There could be more charges coming related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein’s alleged sexual abuse of dozens of girls and young women.

In a filing Friday, federal prosecutors indicated that the federal grand jury investigation into Epstein, his alleged madam Ghislaine Maxwell and their potential co-conspirators remains active.

Maxwell was charged in July in the Southern District of New York with four counts of sexual trafficking of a minor related to allegedly recruiting and grooming three girls between 1994 and 1997 for Epstein to abuse. She is accused of participating in the abuse of one of the girls.

Maxwell is seeking to use what her lawyers have described as “critical new information” that they obtained from the government in the criminal case to block the release of her 2016 deposition from a separate federal defamation suit that was brought by Virginia Giuffre, an alleged victim of Epstein and Maxwell, in 2015. The suit was settled in 2017, but the Miami Herald and others have fought to have materials from the case unsealed, arguing that they should have been public in the first place.

Federal prosecutors argued in the filing Friday that if Maxwell gains permission to release the information she’d like to put forth it would jeopardize their ongoing investigation. (Read more from “Grand Jury Investigation Into Ghislaine Maxwell, Jeffrey Epstein Is Still Active, Prosecutors Reveal” HERE)

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Trump Campaign Announces Speakers for Republican Convention; Trump Retweets Video Praising Him as ‘Most Pro-Gay President’ in History

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By Politico. President Donald Trump’s campaign on Sunday announced its roster of speakers for this week’s Republican National Convention, a four-day event that will conclude with the president accepting the nomination on Thursday night from the White House.

The list of more than 70 people includes a mix of Washington politicians, White House and campaign staff, the president’s family members and others. Jason Miller, a Trump campaign adviser, said America would see “a very optimistic and upbeat convention” from Trump and his Republican, independent and Democratic allies. . .

Monday’s lineup will feature Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, the chamber’s lone Black Republican, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise of Louisiana, Reps. Matt Gaetz of Florida and Jim Jordan of Ohio, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Donald Trump Jr. and his girlfriend, Kimberly Guilfoyle, who chairs the Trump Victory Committee’s finance committee.

Other notable names include Georgia state Rep. Vernon Jones, a Black Democrat who supports the president; Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk; Andrew Pollack, whose daughter was killed in the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Fla.; and Mark and Patricia McCloskey, the St. Louis couple who pointed guns at protesters earlier this summer from the steps of their mansion. (Read more from “Trump Campaign Announces Speakers for Republican Convention” HERE)

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Trump Retweets Video Praising Him as ‘Most Pro-Gay President’ in History

By Watermark Online. Donald Trump retweeted a video late Wednesday featuring Richard Grenell, the former U.S. ambassador to Germany turned Trump attack dog on Twitter, as “the most pro-gay president in American history.”

The video, produced by Log Cabin Republicans, makes the case Trump is the better candidate for LGBTQ rights by contrasting his record to Joe Biden’s — although many details about both individuals are omitted or distorted. The video has more than 3.2 million views as of Thursday, according to the conservative activist group Turning Point USA. (Read more from “Trump Retweets Video Praising Him as ‘Most Pro-Gay President’ in History” HERE)

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