Moms for America: ‘We Are Going to Put the Pressure on the Senate’ to Pass Women’s Sports Bill

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On June 7, a nonprofit by the name of Moms for America held a press conference on the Capitol grounds in Washington, D.C. to speak out about biological men competing in women’s sports across the country. H.R. 734, otherwise known as the Protection of Women’s Sports Act of 2023 has passed the House and is waiting for the Senate to schedule a vote. Professional and collegiate athletes gathered to share their stories along with different state representatives, all united under one objective: calling on the Senate to act and pass the bill.

Tennessee State Representative Diana Harshbarger (R) stated, “I know, as a health care professional, you cannot change somebody’s DNA.” She went on to note how we are in the middle of a spiritual battle. “As the Bible says, what is looked at as evil is now being looked at as good, and what is good is being looked at as evil. That is a spiritual message that I want to send to every American. … We cannot legislate morality.”

One by one, several female athletes also shared their experiences of competing with men identifying as women. Each experience was unique, yet all shared the same conclusion: sex is biology, not identity, and females simply cannot compare to males in terms of athleticism.

Macy Petty, a collegiate volleyball player, was the first to speak on behalf of the girls. Men increasingly stealing opportunities in women’s sports is a “direct threat to the integrity of the competition,” she emphasized. Early in her career, Petty had an opportunity to showcase her skills in front of several scouts. “On the other team was a very tall and athletic man,” she stated. “I did not sign up to be in a co-ed league. … The ruling authorities decided this boy’s feelings overrode our opportunity to play in a female only league. … With his biological advantages, he wooed the college scouts. I hate to think what young lady was passed over to make room for him on their [female] college team.”

After Petty shared her experience, other female athletes stepped forward with similar, heartbreaking stories about times that they were robbed of their sports opportunities as well. To conclude the press conference, Idaho State Representative Barbara Ehardt (R) spoke about how she has been an avid voice in this fight for sports equality throughout her lifetime. “I spent years fighting for opportunities for our girls and women [with Title IX]. Now we’re going backwards,” she said.

Ehardt emphasized how the culture is claiming to make sports a place of humanity, inclusion, and community by allowing men to compete against women. “Folks, I’m telling you, that’s not it at all,” she said. “When it comes to athletics, when it comes to keeping your job, it is about winning. If it wasn’t about winning, players wouldn’t get cut and coaches wouldn’t get fired. It’s about winning, make no mistake, and we cannot compete with the male counterparts.” Ehardt concluded by expressing how her passions have heightened since Title IX was first enacted in 1964. This is not an issue that’s relevant only to the present batch of competitors, she contended. This is an issue that has been debated and fought over for decades. “People, it’s a movement. … Step up, be courageous.”

The fight for integrity in women’s sports is raging, because it questions a fundamental truth. As Kassidy Comer, former college basketball player, told The Washington Stand, “You [cannot] ignore God’s plan for who we’re made to be. You know, we were crafted in the womb in His image, and He does not make mistakes. So, when you’re looking at it saying, ‘I know I was born this way, but I feel like I might be this way,’ that is just spiritual warfare, and that is my strong belief as a Christian.”

When asked how her faith helped her be bold in this fight, Comer responded, “I believe we are called to speak truth into this world. We are called to be salt and light. Salt and light can be invasive sometimes, [it] might hurt somebody’s feelings, but we’re called to speak truth … and that is one thing I’ve really tried to do with the platform I’ve been blessed with.”

Debbie Kraulidis, the vice president of Moms for America, stated that this fight is not an easy one, but it is certainly necessary. “We are going to put the pressure on the Senate to pass this bill,” she said. “It is up to us … to protect women’s sports.”

AUTHORS

Baylie McClafferty

 Sarah Holliday

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EDITOS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

WATCH: Antifa Attacks Immigrants Who Oppose LGBTQIA+ Teachings in Schools

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‘Parents who aren’t full of white guilt and who aren’t spineless actually protect their children from sexual indoctrination and Transgender mutilation. Without apologies.’ (Twitter comment)

BREAKING: Violence between Antifa and parents ERUPTS in Glendale, California outside school board meeting over LGBT Pride agenda

“One the Antifa attacked an Armenian man and the men fought back” a parent on the scene said.
Violence between Antifa and parents ERUPTS in Glendale, California outside school board meeting over LGBT Pride agenda

By: Libby Emmons, The Post Millenial, June 7, 2023:

An all-out brawl between Antifa and parents erupted outside a Glendale, California school board meeting on Tuesday. Parents had attended the meeting to demand transparency of curriculum, which the Glendale School Board has refused to provide.

A Glendale mom who was inside the meeting told The Post Millennial that the school board refused to engage with parents, and instead of dealing with parents and giving the information parents have rightly demanded, they paraded a selection of uninformed local elected officials who had no idea what was going on or what the issues were.

“Breaking: Armenian-American men fight against #Antifa & far-left protesters outside the Glendale (CA) school board meeting. Immigrant families have been furious that elementary schools are doing pride events. Antifa have gathered to oppose the parents” TPM Senior Editor Andy Ngo tweeted.

Armenian, Hispanic, and Christian families have been protesting the Glendale school board’s Pride celebrations and the indoctrination of their children into radical gender ideology. Parents were there protesting, trying to work with Glendale Unified as to what will be taught during Pride Week. A mother who was inside the meeting filmed parents protesting.

“Basically there’s some so called Antifa or hoodlums, anti-social folks who were here, 20-30 folks, who segregated themselves with LGBTQ protesters, then they moved away and went to a parking lot, they met a group of Armenian men. One the Antifa attacked an Armenian man and the men fought back” a father on the scene told The Post Millennial.

Parents went to the school board to demand information, because the Glendale Unified school board won’t respond, and take any actionable steps to tell parents what is happening or what will be taught, a father said to TPM. “We want our voices to be heard and we want acknowledgment from the superintendent and they are not acknowledging it,” he said.

“What was obvious from inside the board room,” a mom told The Post Millennial, “was that the board members have been tapping people who have nothing to do with GUSD, like the Mayor of Burbank, who has no idea what the parents’ issues are as regards currciclum. A parent took him aside and told him the details, and and he had no idea about any of it.”

The Glendale city clerk was there, she said, and was also uninformed. “The school board is trying to do damage control instead of actuallly speaknig to parents. Vivian Ekchien, the superintendent, used to be asstistant superintendent of LAUSD. “Inside the board room, they claimed the Brown Act so they don’t have to engage,” the mom said.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Owner of Two of San Francisco’s Largest Hotels Halt Mortgage Payments, Abandons City Due to Crime

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The Democrats have destroyed this once jewel of a city. And the chief villain in the California debacle, Governor Gavin Newsom, is the Democrat party’s golden boy with the White House in their sights.

Owner of Two of San Francisco’s Largest Hotels Pulling Out of City: ‘Path to Recovery Remains Clouded’

By 

The owner of two of San Francisco’s largest downtown hotels is stopping mortgage payments and going into foreclosure on the properties, stating that the city faces “major challenges” and that reducing exposure to the market is in the best interest of investors.

Park Hotels & Resorts said Monday that it was stopping payment on a $725 million loan secured by the two hotels, the 1,921-room Hilton San Francisco Union Square and 1,024-room Parc 55.

The Hilton is San Francisco’s largest hotel, and Parc 55 is the fourth largest.

Thomas J. Baltimore Jr., CEO of the Virginia-based company, called the decision “very difficult, but necessary,” noting record-high downtown office vacancy, “concerns over street conditions,” and reduced convention business.

“After much thought and consideration, we believe it is in the best interest for Park’s stockholders to materially reduce our current exposure to the San Francisco market,” Baltimore said in a prepared statement. “Now more than ever, we believe San Francisco’s path to recovery remains clouded and elongated by major challenges – both old and new.”

The announcement comes less than a week after the San Francisco Travel Association launched a $6 million ad campaign – it’s biggest ever – to lure tourists back to the troubled California city.

Read more.

Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. Announces Cessation of Payment on $725 Million Non-Recourse CMBS Loan Secured By Two of Its San Francisco Hotels

TYSONS, Va., June 05, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Park Hotels & Resorts Inc. (“Park” or the “Company”) (NYSE:PK) today announced that, starting in June, it ceased making payments toward the $725 million non-recourse CMBS loan which is scheduled to mature in November 2023, and is secured by two of its San Francisco hotels—the 1,921-room Hilton San Francisco Union Square and the 1,024-room Parc 55 San Francisco. The Company intends to work in good faith with the loan’s servicers to determine the most effective path forward, which is expected to result in ultimate removal of these hotels from its portfolio.

“This past week we made the very difficult, but necessary decision to stop debt service payments on our San Francisco CMBS loan,” commented Thomas J. Baltimore, Jr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Park. “After much thought and consideration, we believe it is in the best interest for Park’s stockholders to materially reduce our current exposure to the San Francisco market. Now more than ever, we believe San Francisco’s path to recovery remains clouded and elongated by major challenges – both old and new: record high office vacancy; concerns over street conditions; lower return to office than peer cities; and a weaker than expected citywide convention calendar through 2027 that will negatively impact business and leisure demand and will likely significantly reduce compression in the city for the foreseeable future. Unfortunately, the continued burden on our operating results and balance sheet is too significant to warrant continuing to subsidize and own these assets.

Ultimately removing the loan and the hotels will substantially improve our balance sheet and operating metrics, as net leverage is reduced by nearly a full turn, while 2022 Comparable RevPAR and Comparable Hotel Adjusted EBITDA Margin as compared to 2019 would improve approximately 800 basis points and 230 basis points, respectively. In addition, reducing the negative overhang from San Francisco will allow Park to continue to focus on our key priorities to reshape our portfolio by selling non-core assets, and recycling capital to reduce leverage, invest in strategic ROI projects, and opportunistically repurchase stock and/or acquire assets.”

For further information, please review Park’s most recent investor deck on our website, which includes the illustrative impact on certain operating metrics when both hotels are removed from its portfolio. Also included in the deck is Park’s full-year 2023 guidance that was originally provided by the Company on May 1, 2023. That guidance does not take into account financial impacts, if any, from the cessation of payment toward the San Francisco CMBS Loan as any such impacts are uncertain at this time. The Company expects to update full-year 2023 guidance as necessary once those impacts and the path forward are certain.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Owner of two of San Fran’s largest hotels – Hilton Union Square and Parc 55 – STOPS making payments on $725 million loan due in November because the crime-ridden city’s ‘path to recovery remains clouded’

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Discredited Southern Poverty Law Center Puts Moms for Liberty, Other Parents’ Rights Groups on ‘Hate Map’

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“First they came for the counter jihad, and I did not speak out—because I was not counter-jihad. Then they came for the tea party, and I did not speak out—because I was not tea party. Then they came for pro-lifers, and I did not speak out—because I was not pro-life. Then they came for Trump supporters, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Trump supporter. Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.” — Pamela Geller

The SPLC has smeared, defamed and libeled my work for years and designated my organization in defense of freedom of speech and equality under the law a “hate group.” We are under siege by domestic enemies hellbent on our nation’s destruction. Many RINOs joined them. Everyone sat back and thought, thank goodness, that ain’t me.  Well it is you. They will come for everyone because we let them.

Southern Poverty Law Center Puts Moms for Liberty, Other Parental Rights Groups on ‘Hate Map’

By: Jordan Dixon-Hamilton, Breitbart, Jun 2023:

The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC), an organization that frequently lists mainstream conservatives alongside hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan, has placed Moms for Liberty and other parental rights group on its “hate map” for being “antigovernment extremist groups.”

Florida-based Moms for Liberty was added to SPLC’s hate map along with 11 other parental rights groups, including several Virginia-based groups, according to the organization’s annual 2022 Year in Hate and Extremism report.

The inclusion of these 12 parental rights groups brings the SPLC’s total number of hate and antigovernment extremist groups to 1,225 organizations. Of those, 523 were “hate groups,” and 702 were deemed “antigovernment extremist groups,” which the parental rights groups fell under.

“Schools, especially, have been on the receiving end of ramped-up and coordinated hard-right attacks, frequently through the guise of ‘parents’ rights’ groups,” the SPLC’s report claims.

“These groups were, in part, spurred by the right-wing backlash to COVID-19 public safety measures in schools,” the report continued. “But they have grown into an anti-student inclusion movement that targets any inclusive curriculum that contains discussions of race, discrimination and LGBTQ identities.”

The SPLC claimed Moms for Liberty is at the “forefront of this mobilization,” and noted, “They can be spotted at school board meetings across the country wearing shirts and carrying signs that declare, ‘We do NOT CO-PARENT with the GOVERNMENT.’”

Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021 and is “dedicated to fighting for the survival of America by unifying, educating and empowering parents to defend their parental rights at all levels of government,” according to its website.

The organization was founded primarily in response to school administrations’ response to the coronavirus pandemic, which saw school closures, forced masking, and remote learning. Since its founding in January 2021, Moms for Liberty boasts over 100,000 members and local chapters in 40 states.

Moms for Liberty co-founder Tina Descovich encouraged Breitbart News Daily listeners to start their own local chapters if there is not one readily available during an interview last year.

“The best way to get plugged in and to know what to look for is to visit moms for liberty.org, look for your local chapter,” Descovich said. “If there’s not a chapter you can click another link and … start a chapter.”

Keep reading….

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

RELATED ARTICLE: Discredited But Massively Wealthy SPLC Working with Corrupt FBI to Silence Dissidents

EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

The Anti-Christ King & The ‘Mammon Centric System’

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“5. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6. And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do. 7. Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. 8. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9. Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.” — Genesis 11, King James Bible

The present push to return to the Babylonian, One World, Luciferian, Mammon System, ( just as on the ancient plain of Shinar in Babel ) is a grim harvest of souls, lost to the inversion of language and values, which the Satanic Marxists employ to confuse and destroy.

These were the very same attacks Karl Marx formulated in his initial scheme to dismantle Prussian society, which utterly rejected him and his rebellious blasphemy – banishing him to England and the godless stacks of the Mammon Crown’s British Library.

“Marx & Satan” by Richard Wurmbrand, samples some of Marx’s early doggerel in this line.  His really was full-throated rebellion from his Creator, just as Satan has and continues to be.

British Ashkenazi Jewish Lord Rothschild supported Marx to create his societal deconstruction attack in the 1840’s, which appeared in this period, with assistance of fellow godless Communists, Friedrich Engels & German Ashkenazi Jewish Zionist Racist Moses Hess.

The Ashkenazi Jews are not of the line of Shem — from whose great grandson Eber is sourced the name “Hebrew”, to describe the tribe that became God’s chosen people.

In fact, the Ashkenazi are west-Asian Khazars, from the area known today as, the Ukraine.

Friends, are we beginning to smell the coffee here?

Noah’s eldest son Japheth had a grandson named Ashkenaz  — who was never of the line to the Hebrews, the House of David and the birth of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, the only begotten Son of God.

In fact, the adoption of the nomen ‘Ashkenazi’ was naught but singular, fictitious political device, adopted by the Khazars, who found themselves threatened from the east by the Mohammedans and the Persian Empire and opposed by European Christendom from the west, should they adopt Moslem practice.

Mohammedans came to allow that ‘Jews’, as people of the Book, might escape the sword in failing to convert, enduring second class citizenship called ‘dhimmitude’  — to wit, Bondage, something Mohammedan Slavers practice in brutal depth, through the centuries to the very present.

Thus the Khazars adopted Judaism as expedient to survival  — with the additional benefit of Usury, the charging of interest, something not permitted among Christians, but ongoing among Jews.

It is in fact, that godless, Khazarian Usury, that continues as root of the Satanic Mammon Centric System, lorded over by the British Rothschilds, and the other Khazarian Families—and now occasion for the venal, opportunist, Bushes, Clintons, Obamas, Bidens et al, to involve

Christian America’s Blood and Treasure in the ancient mammon racket of the Money Masters of Khazaria.

Now, after three centuries, the godless, Mammon-actuated Crown  – ever lusting after TOTAL CONTROL of the People, Resources and Production of the Christian American Republic, the first nation ever so created, under God – grows restive, flaunting before all Christendom open, Marxized, Satanic ritual, worshipping Moloch the baby killer, on 28 July 2022, in a Commonwealth Games Marxized stadium ceremony, presided over by Charles, now King Charles III, at Birmingham, UK—surely now become the Anti-Christ King.

We kid not.

Please see at time 1:19:41, “Identified! The Fourth Horseman, the Antichrist named Death”

It is real and it is abomination and it is the actual, mortal enemy of God-fearing Americans and Christians the world over, whom our grandfathers, fathers & brothers have opposed unto death, under their righteous arms, and the doctrine of Citizen Rulers in Romans 13.

“3. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same: 4. For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.” — Romans-Chapter-13

Arise now America, in Christian repentance, to your renewed calling to defend your Godly American Republic as The Sovereign Rulers, to restore Christ’s Liberty in America and mete justice to Mammon Offenders, in God’s wrath, for His Greater Glory, in Jesus’ Precious Name.

Amen and Godspeed, Should the Lord tarry in triumphant return.

“1. Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” — Galatians 5, King James Bible.

©2023. DEACON. All rights reserved.

How to fix the FBI: An initial proposal to start a national discussion

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With all the talk of “abolishing the FBI,” few envision what would happen to our country if we were suddenly left without a federal service to fight interstate crime and child trafficking, conduct effective counterintelligence, and come up with the necessary technology and training for law enforcement and investigators.

Here is an initial plan to get a national conversation started.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, as its name states, is only a bureaucracy. It is not a sacred institution. It is not a brand to be protected at all costs. It is a bureaucratic structure mandated by law to perform necessary functions to investigate federal crimes, combat foreign spies, and not much more.

When that structure fails to do its job well, when the people within it fail to live up to the professionalism necessary to enforce the law objectively, and when that bureaucracy loses the public trust necessary to perform its lawful duties, it’s time for a change.

The danger of considering an institution “sacred,” as some do with the FBI, is that it is somehow beyond question, permanent, untouchable, indeed sacrosanct.

The danger of protecting a brand at all costs is that, when the integrity of that brand has been compromised, the institution resorts to any form of deception and intimidation to protect the façade from even constructive criticism. Director Christopher Wray has filled J. Edgar Hoover’s shoes in that regard.

It’s time for such a bureaucracy to go. The Bureau has become too large, too centralized, too opaque, too politicized, and too duplicative of other agencies to continue.

Like it or not, America needs federal law enforcement. It needs solid counterespionage and counterintelligence capabilities to combat foreign spies and agents and to neutralize their operations. The country needs strong and professional capabilities against child trafficking, illegal narcotics trafficking, cyber crime, financial crimes, terrorists, and crimes against the federal Constitution. It needs some sort of federal mechanism to help states fight crime in their own jurisdictions.

That doesn’t mean the FBI is still the answer. We already have a Drug Enforcement Administration. We have a number of counterterrorism services. We have a standing cybersecurity organization with police powers. We already have a world-class financial crimes capability in a separate agency. And so on.

Over the past two decades, the FBI has returned to what longtime Director J. Edgar Hoover had turned it into: A domestic intelligence service with police powers. This is incompatible with our constitutional form of government. Thomas J. Baker, an FBI veteran who started his career under Hoover and, even in retirement, continued working with the Bureau, saw the entire metamorphosis up-close as he related in his new book, The Fall of the FBI: How a Once Great Agency Became a Threat to Democracy.

Time for the FBI to go the way of the OSS

After World War II, the country reassessed its entire national security structure, abolished certain agencies – even ones that performed with extraordinary success and heroism – and carefully considered something new. It abolished the Department of War, reorganized it, merged it with the Department of the Navy, and created the Department of Defense. It abolished its wartime foreign intelligence bureaucracy, the Office of Strategic Services, and later created an entirely new Central Intelligence Agency – being careful to vet the CIA of the Communist Party members who had proliferated through the OSS. And so it’s time for the FBI to go the way of the OSS, but without a centralized replacement.

Unfortunately, the realities of the world require our government to have most of the capabilities that the public expects the FBI to perform. To start a national conversation about what to do with the FBI, here is an initial proposal after years of consideration. This proposal does not claim to have all the answers. It provides a rough blueprint to break up the FBI while preserving important national functions. It recognizes that legal authority, administrative and personnel issues, training, ethos, and so forth are far larger matters that deserve separate consideration.

FBI structure and what to do with it

The latest major reorganizations in the George W. Bush and Barack Obama administrations divided the FBI into six major branches, each of which are divided into units called divisions. These branches and divisions are important to understand if we are to figure out what to do with the Bureau. The six branches are:

  1. National Security Branch;
  2. Intelligence Branch;
  3. Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch;
  4. Science and Technology Branch;
  5. Information and Technology Branch; and
  6. Human Resources Branch.

All perform or support an awkward and unstable combination of law enforcement and domestic intelligence functions.

Let’s look at each branch one by one. We can then see what functions complement or duplicate those of other agencies, and transfer those branches or divisions to those respective agencies, paring down the Bureau as we go. The idea is not to create new agencies of any kind.

National Security Branch. The National Security Branch is arguably the most politicized and compromised component of the entire FBI. This branch must be broken apart.

Within the National Security Branch is a Counterintelligence Division, whose most famous chief was Peter Strzok. This division has seldom done well to combat foreign intelligence services in a strategic fashion, which is why the independent Office of the National Counterintelligence Executive was created in 2001. Unfortunately, after a promising start under non-FBI counterintelligence professionals, the office, since-renamed the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), was virtually taken over by the FBI and rendered it ineffective as a strategic counterintelligence entity. The FBI Counterintelligence Division has become extremely politicized, going along with the Steele Dossier and Russia collusion narrative and treating legally protected speech as treason. Interim solution:

  • Transfer the FBI Counterintelligence Division to the NCSC under a new leadership and ethos, with a limited number of personnel billets to force undesirable FBI personnel out of the transfer. NCSC says its role is to “lead and support the U.S. Government’s counterintelligence and security activities,” so the FBI division is redundant. This is a dangerous move, though, because the NCSC is both flaccid and politicized.
  • Parcel out the Counterterrorism Division, the Terrorist Screening Center, and related elements of the National Security Branch to the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC), and remove NCTC from the Department of Homeland Security into an independent and small counterterrorism agency.
  • Move the Weapons of Mass Destruction Directorate of the National Security Branch to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (to be dealt with later).

These steps will leave the FBI without a National Security Branch, while keeping the important public functions, and remove the most toxic branch out of the Bureau.

Intelligence Branch. The FBI Intelligence Branch is responsible for the collection and synthesis of information into analytical products and coordination with other agencies. The fact that the FBI has an entire Intelligence Branch shows that it is no longer a law-enforcement agency but, indeed, a European-style domestic intelligence apparat with police powers. There are legitimate reasons for different agencies the federal government to have strong intelligence analysis, but when centralized into a single agency or bureau, that analysis is subject to abuse. The Intelligence Branch is also opaque and armored against constitutional checks and balances like legislative oversight. Interim solution:

  • Divide the Intelligence Branch along topical and functional lines, and parcel them out to other agencies with the legal authority and obligation to perform those varied work functions.

Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch. The third branch, Criminal, Cyber, Response, and Services Branch, performs an amalgam of functions patchworked together since 9/11. This is an important branch of the FBI and, though manipulated politically from the Justice Department, is said to be not as politicized as the National Security Branch.

Just as a patchwork is not an integrated body but is sewn together, this branch can be carefully taken apart. The Criminal Investigative Division of the branch does the important work of combating organized crime, transnational crime, certain violent crimes, certain crimes against children, investigation of public corruption and financial crimes, and violations of civil rights laws. Interim solution:

  • Transfer as many criminal investigative functions as possible to the states, with federal block grants to states that wish to, but cannot afford, to perform these functions on their own.
  • Transfer the financial crimes unit to the Securities and Exchange Commission.
  • Transfer the remainder of the Criminal Investigation Division to the United States Marshals Service, the nation’s oldest law enforcement agency, with few scandals in its history and little politicization.

The branch’s Cyber Division duplicates the functions of other agencies. Interim solution:

  • Transfer the Cyber Division’s security functions to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and move CISA out of the Department of Homeland Security to become an autonomous agency.
  • Transfer the Cyber Division’s cyberintelligence functions and resources to the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC).
  • Transfer the Cyber Division’s law enforcement functions and resources to the very competent U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

The Response portion of the branch, called the Critical Incident Response Group, is a crisis management unit that puts the FBI at the center. Interim solution:

  • Transfer the Critical Incident Response Group to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which needs a whole new rejuvenation of its own; and to states that seek those resources and responsibilities.

The Services component is to assist victims of terrorism and crime. A separate unit, International Operations, coordinates federal law enforcement abroad to investigate transnational crimes. Interim solution:

  • Transfer Services to other agencies like FEMA and the Department of Health and Human Services, and, with the support of block grants, to any willing state governments.
  • Transfer experienced International Operations personnel to other agencies that perform law enforcement work abroad.

Science and Technology Branch. This small branch creates new scientific and technological methods, products, and training for the rest of the FBI’s operations. It provides important support to state and local law enforcement. Its forensic sciences department is responsible for fingerprint, DNA, and other biometric analysis, scientific analysis necessary for criminal investigations, computer forensics, and safe transporting and preservation of evidence and hazardous materials. It also runs the FBI’s world-class crime lab, FBI information services, the National Crime Information Center, and technical collection and analysis. Interim solution:

  • This branch provides so many important uses nationwide that it should become an autonomous stand-alone center like FEMA, but run by a rotating board of state governors.

Information and Technology Branch. With its principal purpose to manage FBI information and maintain and upgrade the Bureau’s information system, this branch can be abolished, with necessary talent and resources transferred to other agencies that assume the above FBI functions.

Human Resources Branch. With all the other FBI branches now transferred to other agencies, there is no more need for a Human Resources Branch. Interim solutions:

  • Most of its staff have become so politicized that they are unsuitable for government service and should not be transferred anywhere.
  • The sole exception is the FBI Academy, which sits in this branch. The FBI Academy has a valuable purpose as basic training for FBI agent recruits and for other types of training. Since it offers almost no national security or counterintelligence training, the Academy performs more of a law enforcement training function and should be transferred to the U.S. Marshals Service.

With these transfers – the reverse of the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, which absorbed independent entities into a centralized bureaucracy – the United States will maintain its necessary federal law enforcement and national security functions without an FBI.

Other issues

Dividing and scattering the FBI’s key functions is easy to propose but very complicated to do. One of the key problems is personnel: Substandard and bloated management at the top (few if any should be transferred anywhere except out), politicization and unprofessionalism in certain branches and field offices, a training and bureaucratic ethos at odds with the agencies that would inherit FBI functions, and a danger that an influx of FBI management into those agencies would have the opposite of the desired effect without strong leadership.

Material and personnel resource transfers to other agencies should be reduced in size to force the attrition of redundant, non-essential, and substandard personnel at the discretion of the receiving agencies.

As we redistribute the functions of the FBI central apparat, we face the problem of providing too much power to other agencies, especially elements of the Department of Homeland Security bureaucracy. One of the virtues of transferring certain FBI functions to DHS is that it removes them from the hyper-politicized Department of Justice. DHS is a separate matter in itself and is another main target for downsizing, and decentralization, and depoliticization, but that must follow the dismantling of the FBI.

And then there is the very serious question of the power of the central government as a whole. Many FBI functions can be given up completely and left up to the states, funded where necessary by federal block grants that permit the states to spend the money as they see fit without federal interference.

Like the OSS did in World War II, the FBI has performed extraordinarily valuable functions. As with the OSS, the FBI has become fatally flawed with personnel unsuitable for, or dangerous to, government service. While one can romanticize about the OSS and the FBI, the fact is that neither is or was a “sacred” institution. Neither operated with a congressional charter. Indeed, the idea of the FBI being sacred smacks of secret police-speak, for it was the Soviet KGB that called itself the “holy of holies.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is just a bureaucracy and a brand that must use obfuscation, deception, and intimidation to maintain its luster. It has failed to execute its constitutional potential. It has serially abused its authority and the public trust. It has become too politicized to function legally. It is a rogue organization that resists congressional oversight. And it is populating itself with new, politicized cadres who will make tomorrow’s FBI far worse.

The only way to fix the FBI is to take it apart, parcel out the useful functions, and close down the rest. Now it’s time for a good national discussion about how to do it.

A full PDF of the Report can be downloaded HERE.

AUTHOR

J. Michael Waller

Senior Analyst for Strategy.

RELATED ARTICLE: Introducing your passport to the digital gulag

EDITORS NOTE: This Center for Security Policy column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

Protestors Turn Out Against Florida Immigration Law in ‘A Day Without Immigrants’

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Last Thursday [June 1, 2023], protestors across Florida held a walkout against a recently passed immigration law under the banner of “Un Día Sin Inmigrantes,” or “a day without immigrants.”  According to NBC News, protests were also scheduled in several other states, including California, Georgia, Minnesota, Illinois, Oregon, Texas, South Carolina and Colorado.

Signed into law last month, FL Senate Bill 1718 is set to go into effect on July 1st, and is one of the strongest state immigration laws to-date.  However, for the very same reason, it has been targeted by protestors and advocates as an attack on immigrants (whether illegal or not).  Among the commonsense provisions in the bill, it prohibits issuing identification documents to illegal aliens and requires employers with 25 or more employees to use the E-Verify system.  The bill would fine employers $1,000 per day for failing to use E-Verify and makes it a felony to use a fake ID to gain employment.

Some businesses were closed in Florida in support of the protest.  Outside one restaurant closed in Fort Lauderdale, protestors gathered to chant and wave flags from their home countries.  The restaurant’s owner, Isis Cordova, said, “I managed to get legal status in this country, and I said one day when I have documents I’m going to raise my voice. I’m also going to speak up for those people who don’t have a voice.”

Opponents of the law claim that it will result in an exodus of illegal aliens from Florida, damaging the state’s economy and leaving critical business sectors without workers.  Samuel Vilchez Santiago, Florida director of the American Business Immigration Coalition, has said that the effects will be particularly acute in the agriculture, construction and hospitality industries. “These are industries where immigrants make up the vast majority of workers, and not allowing businesses to be able to utilize these workers will have a really big impact on our economy and their ability to create jobs,” Vilchez said.

However, supporters say that the concerns are overblown, and that the legislation will help prevent employers from driving down wages in those industries by employing cheaper illegal workers.  In a statement, CEO and President of the Florida Trucking Association, Alix Miller, said that although he was aware of the arguments, he was not aware of any issues due to the law.

In signing the bill, Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said:  “In Florida, we will not stand idly by while the federal government abandons its lawful duties to protect our country. The legislation I signed today gives Florida the most ambitious anti-illegal immigration laws in the country, fighting back against reckless federal government policies and ensuring the Florida taxpayers are not footing the bill for illegal immigration.”

That statement is consistent with FAIR’s latest cost study, showing that illegal immigration costs American taxpayers more than $150 billion annually.  In Florida alone, it is estimated that there are 1,185,000 illegal aliens, for a 2023 cost to Florida taxpayers of $8.04 billion, or $986 per household.

After the law was passed, at least one major advocacy group, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), issued a travel advisory for Florida.  Domingo Garcia, the president of LULAC, claimed that the law creates “a clear and present danger to Latinos in Florida and to Americans in general.”

With the protests receiving extensive coverage in Spanish language media and advocacy groups continuing to voice their opposition, the controversy shows no signs of dying down.  In the weeks and months ahead, FAIR will continue to track the law’s implementation and work to support policies that protect American taxpayers and fight back against the Biden Administration’s abuse of our immigration laws.

© COPYRIGHT 2023 FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Help Wanted: Law Enforcement Staffing Challenges at the Border

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In May, FAIR wrote about a newly released report by the Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security that raised red flags about the “unsustainable” methods of staffing at Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and their impact on morale.  In response to that report, the House Committee on Oversight is holding a hearing Tuesday with the sole witness being the Inspector General.  The hearing will “examine the current management of law enforcement resources and highlight how the Biden Administration’s policies have catalyzed the crisis at the southern border.”

According to the Inspector General, the dramatic increases in border encounters, have magnified existing “staffing challenges” at CBP and ICE. The Inspector General, therefore, conducted an audit to determine: (1) whether CBP and ICE are properly managing law enforcement staffing resources; and (2) the turnover rates for CBP and ICE, and whether the agencies have an effective plan to replace departing officers.

Overall, the Inspector General found that CBP’s and ICE’s workloads “have outpaced their current staffing” and described the agencies’ current management of staffing needs as “unsustainable.”  The workload has grown tremendously, the IG wrote, yet despite the greater workloads, “staffing levels have remained the same.

The IG also pointed out that the flow of migrants and traffic into the U.S. has far outpaced the number of CBP and ICE agents, which has consistently hovered around the number authorized by Congress.

The IG warned that “[u]nless CBP and ICE assess and make strategic changes to how they manage staff at the border…heavier workloads and low morale may lead to higher turnover rates and earlier retirements among these employees.”  This could further worsen staffing challenges along the southern border and impede CBP’s and ICE’s ability to carry out their missions.

Sadly, many agents and officers also told the Inspector General that the priorities at work had changed.  Officers at six ports of entry told the IG that CBP leaders prioritized “maintaining the flow of traffic and minimizing wait times” over security.  Border patrol agents at two different stations told the IG that they felt pressure to process and release migrants as quickly as possible to move them out of the facilities.  Nearly half of CBP respondents and over half of ICE respondents said they had to take on additional work outside their traditional responsibilities.

In addition, 20 percent of CBP agents said they felt unable to perform their primary law enforcement duties of securing the border. One border patrol agent said that all of the manpower in his station was being delegated to do processing instead of deterring or apprehending illegal aliens.  A combined 24 percent of CBP and ICE respondents said they plan to leave their agency within the next year.

The IG also explained in detail how overtime was typically forced on agents, rather than being voluntary.  This resulted in many agents working double shifts and, over the course of a year, several extra weeks of work.  Some agents told the IG that they had reached the statutory limit for how much overtime they could submit early in the year.

Finally, the IG noted that the change in immigration policies during the Biden Administration has also hurt morale at the agencies.

“Since FY 2019, immigration policies have shifted significantly as the United States experienced the COVID-19 pandemic and transitioned from one administration to another….Our interviews and survey comments showed staff frustration and lower morale related to changing policies, especially when the respondents felt the changes were inconsistent with their law enforcement duties. In the view of some law enforcement personnel, these policies have made it difficult for them to enforce the laws and carry out their mission; one said they felt as if they were doing their job “with one hand tied behind [their] back.”

While the IG gave credit to the Department of Homeland Security for taking some proactive steps to mitigate the situation, the Inspector General made three recommendations.  The recommendations focused on better coordination with experts around staffing needs, reviewing actions to determine if efforts are working, and better communicating with frontline staff about duties and responsibilities.

The Biden Border Crisis is not only affecting families and communities from the border to the interior of the country, but it’s affecting the men and women who make sacrifices to protect the border and secure our nation. Today’s hearing is an opportunity for members of Congress to get at the bottom of the DHS workforce crisis, to ask the Inspector General more in-depth questions about his audit, and encourage accountability from the Secretary of Homeland Security.

*To watch the Committee on Oversight hearing, visit their website here.

© COPYRIGHT 2023 FEDERATION FOR AMERICAN IMMIGRATION REFORM, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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RNC Election Law Update

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The Republican National Committee sent out the following election law update in key states for June 2023.

Please see the document linked at the bottom of this column for important pending litigation, including cases in which the RNC is involved. Below is a high-level summary of state legislation highlights and important news. Please feel free to reply with any requests to follow any particular election law bills, rulemakings, or lawsuits. If there is anyone else you would like to receive this update, please send us their contact information.

State Litigation Highlights

Arizona
There are several pending voting lawsuits in Arizona:

  • Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections (RITE), the Arizona Free Enterprise Club, and Arizona GOP sued Arizona Secretary of State Fontes for authorizing an illegal expansion of the database of signatures used to verify ballots, including the addition of potentially unreliable signatures. The state filed a motion to dismiss and intervenors filed motions to dismiss on May 22, 2023.
  • Mi Familia Vota v. Hobbs (AKA Mi Familia Vota I):
    • Filed in August 2021, challenging S.B. 1485, which removes voters from the permanent mail ballot list if a voter does not vote by mail in two straight election cycles; and SB1003, which requires voters to “cure” signature-less ballots by 7PM on Election Day.
    • The RNC and the NRSC are intervenor-defendants. The DCCC and DSCC also intervened as plaintiffs.  DOJ filed a statement of interest in the case in November 2021.
    • On June 24, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss. The court (1) allowed plaintiffs to pursue their claim that SB1485 was enacted with a discriminatory intent, and (2) dismissed the remaining claims but granted plaintiffs’ leave to file an amended complaint. The plaintiffs and plaintiff-intervenors opted not to amend their complaints.
    • On August 15, 2022, the RNC joined the Attorney General’s 54(b) motion to enter judgment on the dismissed claims.
    • Update: Court extended discovery through September 2023.
  • HB 2492 (Proof of Citizenship) Challenges:
    • There are 8 lawsuits challenging HB2492 (and other legislation) that require proof of citizenship for registrants using the National Voter Registration Form:
      • Six of the lawsuits were consolidated. The RNC was granted intervention in all of the cases.
      • On December 27, 2022, the State filed a motion to dismiss. The motion to dismiss was denied on February 16, 2023.
      • On April 4, 2023, the Arizona Speaker of the House of Representatives and Senate President moved to intervene as defendants, which was granted on April 26, 2023.
      • The RNC filed a motion to dismiss on May 15, 2023 which was joined by the state legislator intervenors.
  • Attorney General Contest:
    • Attorney General candidate Abe Hamadeh and the RNC remain in a pending election contest. A motion for a new trial is pending.  After the recount, Hamadeh’s deficit decreased to 280 votes. Top Republican legislators filed an amicus brief in support of Hamadeh. A hearing on the motion for new trial took place on May 16 and is pending a ruling.

Colorado 
On December 5, 2022, a liberal group represented by Perkins Coie filed a lawsuit alleging signature matching disproportionately disenfranchises young people, people with disabilities, and people of color. On December 22, 2022 and February 6, 2023, plaintiffs filed a first and second amended complaint .  On February 28, 2023, the Secretary of State filed a motion to dismiss which the court denied on April 17, 2023. On April 28, individuals supported by RITE moved to intervene in the litigation.

Florida 
On April 27, 2023, the 11th Circuit ruled in favor of the state of Florida, RNC, and NRSC, in the challenge to SB90, Florida’s 2021 election integrity legislation. The law was upheld in its entirety, except for one minor component of the line warming ban. The court also remanded back to the trial court the question of whether the drop-box and registration delivery provisions violate the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The district court had previously permanently enjoined multiple provisions of SB90 including the required registration disclaimers for third party voter registration organizations (§ 97.0575(3)(a)), registration delivery provisions for third party voter registration organizations (id.), drop box regulations (§§ 101.69(2)-(3)), and line warming provisions (§§ 102.031(4)(a)-(b)). On May 18, 2023, the plaintiffs filed a petition for rehearing in front of the full 11th Circuit.
 
On March 16, the Elias Law Group filed a lawsuit in federal court alleging that Florida’s wet signature requirement for voter registration applications violates the materiality clause of the Civil Rights Act. On April 5, 2023, the RNC and Republican Party of Pasco moved to intervenein the litigation. On May 26, 2023, the RNC’s intervention was granted.

On April 26, 2023, the LWV and FL NAACP sued Florida’s Secretary of State alleging that the state’s voter registration application violates the NVRA, specifically by not specifying the eligibility requirements for voter registration.

Florida has been hit with three separate suits this week following Gov. DeSantis signing SB 7050 into law:

  • On May 25, 2023, the Hispanic Federation, Poder Latinx, and Florida residents sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050 over its restrictions on third party registration organizations.
  • On May 24, 2023 the League of Women Voters of Florida and League of Women Voters of Florida Education Fund sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050 alleging the restrictions on third-party voter registration groups violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The law prohibits noncitizens and people with felony convictions from handling voter registration application, requires receipts to voters registering, and reduces the number of days for the third-parties to return the applications.
  • On May 24, 2023, the Florida State Conference of Branches and Youth Units of the NAACP, Equal Ground Education Fund, Voters of Tomorrow, Disability Rights Florida, Alianza for Progress, Alianza Center, UnidosUS and Florida Alliance for Retired Americans sued Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody and Secretary of State Cord Byrd over Senate Bill 7050. The plaintiffs challenge the imposition of fines, barring noncitizens and felons from registering voters, and retention of voter information for other activities.

Georgia 
In July 2021, the RNC, NRSC, NRCC, and GA GOP were granted intervention in 8 lawsuits, including the DOJ’s lawsuit against the state, challenging provisions of SB202. Thanks to the RNC efforts, these safeguards were in place for the 2022 election and the state saw record turnout. The cases have mostly been consolidated and the various plaintiff groups are filing a series of preliminary injunction motions on different provisions of SB202:

  • The DOJ, joined by four other plaintiff groups, filed a preliminary injunction motionin the SB 202 cases. They move to enjoin Georgia from enforcing (1) the reduction in the number of dropboxes and limitations on the use of dropboxes outdoors and during non-early voting hours; (2) the line-warming prohibition; (3) the absentee ballot deadline; (4) the out-of-precinct provisional ballot deadline; and (5) the ID requirement for absentee ballot applications. They claim these provisions violate the Voting Rights Act and the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments.
  • The AME plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of (1) the felony provision for the handling of absentee ballots and (2) the requirements that dropboxes be located at an election office and accessible only during business hours.
  • The NGP plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of the line-warming restrictions.
  • The CGG Plaintiffs moved to enjoin enforcement of the birthdate requirement for absentee ballots.
  • The State filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings, requesting that the court dismiss DOJ’s complaint. The State argues that the Eleventh Circuit’s decision in League of Women Voters clarified that proof of discriminatory impact is necessary to establish a VRA violation, which DOJ does not allege.

In CGG v. Raffensperger, one of the unconsolidated cases, plaintiffs filed a proposed amended complaint that drops the challenge to the voter ID law for absentee ballots and the narrowing of the absentee ballot deadline and adds a claim banning the early release of absentee vote totals.  Motions for summary judgment are due in July.

In another non-consolidated SB202 suit, one of the plaintiffs who challenged SB202 provisions banning the pre-filling of absentee ballot applications and required disclosures by third-party groups voluntarily dismissed its claims against Secretary of State Raffensperger. After litigating the case for well over a year, the plaintiff concluded its practices did not violate SB 202.

On May 2, 2022, a group of liberal organizations sued Georgia’s Election Board challenging a state law that requires handwritten signatures on absentee ballot applications. The groups seek declaratory and injunctive relief, requesting the court find that the so-called Pen and Ink rule violates the Civil Rights Act and to enjoin its enforcement. The RNC and GAGOP have intervened in the litigation. On March 9, 2023, the court denied defendants’ motion to dismiss.

Iowa
The RNC, Iowa GOP, NRCC, and NRSC were granted intervention to defend against a lawsuit challenging provisions of SF413 and SF568. The trial set for March 21, 2022, was pushed back in light of discovery disputes between the Iowa legislature and plaintiffs. On March 16, 2022, the Iowa Supreme Court granted certiorari to resolve these discovery disputes.  After a hearing over the ongoing discovery disputes on July 15, 2022, the court issued an order compelling discovery on August 18, 2022.
 
Kansas
On March 17, the Kansas Court of Appeals ruled that challenges to voting laws under the state constitution be evaluated under strict scrutiny instead of the more flexible Anderson-Burdick standard utilized in federal claims and in many states. On April 5, 2023, the state filed its petition for review with the Kansas Supreme Court. There will likely be opportunities for groups to file amicus briefs in support of the state’s appeal of the ruling.

On May 4, 2023, a Kansas federal district court ruled that the state’s restrictions on out-of-state organizations providing pre-filled absentee applications violated federal law.
      
Louisiana
On May 1, 2023, multiple Democrat groups sued Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin under the NVRA and 14th Amendment regarding the state’s requirements for people with previous felony convictions to re-register to vote.

Maine
On March 28, 2023, the U.S. District Court in Maine ruled in favor of the Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF), finding that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) preempts Maine state law imposing fines and use restrictions on voter roll data because the state law creates obstacles to the transparency Congress intended under the NVRA. Maine’s Secretary of State had denied a request for voter rolls that PILF made in 2019. Maine passed a law that would restrict use and impose fines for unauthorized use of voter rolls produced to a requester.

Montana
RITE filed an amicus brief with the state Supreme Court in support of the state in Montana Democratic Party v. Jacobsen, involving challenges to several commonsense voting integrity reforms.

Michigan     
On September 30, 2022, the RNC and MI GOP sued Secretary of State Benson after she issued last-minute guidance on election challengers. Plaintiffs allege the guidance is inconsistent with state law and previous guidance and request the court to reinstate the 2020 challenger procedures. On November 3, 2022, the MI Supreme Court stayed the lower court’s decision. The case remains open at the MI Court of Appeals where the state has appealed the trial court’s preliminary injunction order. The state filed their opening brief on February 24, 2023. On May 26, 2023, the RNC and MIGOP filed their reply brief.
 
On March 13, 2023, the RNC and MIGOP filed its appellate brief in a suit challenging Flint’s refusal to hire an equal number of Republican and Democrat election inspectors. The lower court had ruled the parties did not have standing to bring the claim. The state filed its opening brief on May 15, 2023. The RNC’s reply brief is due on June 5, 2023.

New Hampshire 
In June 2022, Democrats filed two cases challenging SB 418 in NH which would require voters registering on Election Day to mail in proof of their identity within 7 days if they did not have documentation at the polling place. On September 1, 2022, the NH Republican State Committee motioned to intervene which was denied on December 21, 2022 and the NHRSC appealed to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, which granted cert. Since then the parties have agreed to a stipulation to permit the NHGOP to intervene in the litigation.
 
New York     
In January 2022, the RNC and NYGOP, leading a broad bipartisan coalition of officeholders and concerned citizens, including Congresswoman Malliotakis and naturalized citizen voters, sued Mayor Eric Adams, the New York City Council, and the New York City Board of Elections in state court over the “Non-Citizen Voting Law,” which illegally allows non-citizens to vote in city elections.  On June 27, 2022, Judge Porzio struck down the Non-Citizen Voting Law, explaining in his opinion that it violates the New York Constitution, New York election law, and the Municipal Home Rule Law. Appellees filed their appellate brief on October 10, 2022. On December 11, 2022, RNC filed its opening brief. The city and intervenors filed reply briefs on January 9, 2023.

In February 2023, four voters brought a lawsuit  in New York Supreme Court in Erie County against the Erie County Board of Elections. The lawsuit seeks an order of the court directing the commissioners of elections to count, canvass, and tally the write-in primary votes of candidates regardless of their party affiliation in primary elections. On March 28, 2023, the court ruled for the Petitioners and found that Chapter 480 of the Laws of 2021 was facially unconstitutional. The NY Attorney General appealed and on May 9, 2023, the court ruled in her favor.

North Carolina
On March 20, 2023, the federal district court for the Western District of North Carolina denied a motion to dismiss by the state in an NVRA challenge brought by two citizens in the state. The court also declined to adopt the Magistrate Judge’s recommendation to dismiss the suit for lack of sufficient pre-suit notice. The court also denied the motion to intervene by the League of Women Voters of North Carolina and the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute. The suit alleges that North Carolina is failing to maintain accurate voter rolls and that the state is allowing ineligible voters to vote in the state’s elections. This is an important ruling to review for those interested in voter registration list maintenance issues.

On April 28, 2023, the North Carolina Supreme Court issued three opinions related to elections. It ruled 5-2 in Harper v. Hall, a redistricting case challenging state congressional and legislative maps. The North Carolina Supreme Court also reversed the trial court in Holmes v. Moore and reinstated photo ID. In Cmty. Success Initiative v. Moore , the court ruled in favor of the General Assembly that passed legislation related to felons voting rights and reversed the trial court’s grant of summary judgment. In Moore v. Harper, the U.S. Supreme Court subsequently askedfor briefing from both sides on the effect of the state Supreme Court ruling on the pending appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ohio
On January 6th, 2023, Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Ohio Federation of Teachers, Ohio Alliance for Retired Americans, and Union Veterans Council represented by Elias Group sued the Ohio Secretary of State challenging Ohio’s new election integrity bill: H.B. 458. The lawsuit challenges the in-person voter ID requirements, deadlines for ballot curing, and provisions regarding applications for and returning mail ballots. Plaintiffs filed an amended complaint on January 27, 2023. Ohio Republican Party and two citizen poll workers supported by RITE moved to intervene in the litigation. On April 18, 2023, Ohio Republican Party and the two citizen poll workers intervention was granted.  

Pennsylvania      
On September 1, 2022, the RNC, NRSC, NRCC, Pennsylvania GOP, and 12 individual voterssued Pennsylvania and all 67 counties for unlawful ballot curing in violation of state law and the U.S. Constitution. On October 21, 2022, the PA Supreme Court ruled 3-3 on the legality of the practice thus upholding the PA Commonwealth Court’s ruling denying the RNC’s and other plaintiffs’ preliminary injunction motion.  On March 23, 2023, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court dismissed the case on subject matter jurisdiction grounds and ignored the merits of curing.
 
Following the RNC’s win in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling that ballots must be signed and dated as required by state law, the NAACP and John Fetterman filed two separate lawsuits in federal court. The RNC, NRCC, and PA GOP were granted intervention in the case and filed a motion to dismiss both cases. The NAACP amended its complaint with an Equal Protection claim comparing the requirements under the state statute and federal UOCAVA requirements. On January 17, 2023, the RNC filed a motion to dismiss in NAACP. On February 17, 2023, the RNC filed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint in Eakin. The RNC filed motions in support of summary judgment in both NAACP and Eakin. Both RITE and Lawyers Democracy Fund filed amicus briefs in support of summary judgment against the plaintiffs.

On March 28, 2023, two voters supported by Lawyers Democracy Fund brought a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging a violation of the First and Fourteenth Amendment right to vote and due process in Luzerne County. The claims arise from the 2022 midterm election when Luzerne County failed to supply enough ballot paper on Election Day.

Texas 
The DOJ sued the State of Texas and the Secretary of State, challenging provisions of SB1, Texas’ 2021 voting integrity legislation. The DOJ claims SB1 violates Section 208 of the Voting Rights Act and Section 101 of the Civil Rights Act. The RNC, NRCC, NRSC, and Dallas and Harris County Republican Parties initial moved to intervene in the suits was denied. The party committees appealed and the 5th Circuit reversed and ruled that the Republican committees were entitled to intervention as of right. On May 24, the court denied plaintiff’s motion to dismiss. On May 31, 2022, the court granted the parties’ unopposed motion to stay pending appeal. On July 12, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendant’s motion to dismiss, allowing only the claims brought by LULAC Texas, Voto Latino, the Texas Alliance for Retired Americans, and Texas AFT against the Secretary of State and Attorney General to proceed. On August 2, 2022, the court granted in part and denied in part defendants’ motion to dismiss, further limiting the claims allowed to proceed. Two interlocutory appeals as to the court’s August 2 judgment were filed in the 5th Circuit. The 5th Circuit has ordered the case bifurcated to separate out claims that involve the Legislature’s Intent. On May 26, 2023 summary judgment motions were filed including one from the RNC and other party committees.
 
Vermont     
On March 9, 2023, the RNC, the Vermont Republican Party, and two concerned citizens supported by RITE brought a complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief applying an earlier Vermont Supreme Court ruling to challenge Winooski’s charter that allows noncitizens to vote in school board elections and on school budget questions. Winooski filed a motion to dismiss. Update: On June 2, 2023, the RNC and RITE plaintiffs filed a response to Winooski’s motion to dismiss. Since the results of these elections have statewide budget and policy impacts outside of the municipality, the Vermont constitution limits voting on those issues to United States citizens. The RNC and VTGOP previously sued cities of Montpelier and Winooski over their town charters in a facial challenge, but the VT Supreme Court held and left the door open for this as-applied challenge.

Washington
On November 11, 2022, a liberal group filed a lawsuit alleging signature matching disproportionately disenfranchises young people, people with disabilities, and people of color. On December 16, 2022, the plaintiffs filed an amended complaint. On January 12, 2023, the RNC and WA GOP filed a motion to intervene in the case. Plaintiffs oppose the intervention and the state has taken no position. On February 7, 2023, the court denied the motion to intervene filed by RNC and WA GOP. On March 20, 2023, the RNC and WAGOP appealed the denial with the Washington Court of Appeals and filed a reply brief on April 4, 2023. Oral argument on the appeal is scheduled for June 30, 2023.
 
Wisconsin
On March 22, 2023, a complaint was filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC) against Tech for Campaigns for violations of Wisconsin election law. The complaint alleges the organization is providing improper assistance in completing a ballot and engaging in ballot harvesting. Presumably in response to the complaint, Tech for Campaigns modified the language on its website.

On September 23, 2022, an individual voter supported by the RNC and RITE sued WEC over its guidance that allowed absentee voters to change their votes after they are cast. RISE and the DNC filed motions to intervene. On October 5, the court sided with the plaintiff and granted a temporary restraining order, giving WEC until 4pm, October 7 to withdraw the unlawful guidance. On October 7, the DNC appealed the temporary injunction order and requested a stay of a temporary injunction with the WI Court of Appeals. On October 10, the appeals court granted the temporary stay pending a decision and requested a briefing on whether to grant the petition for an interlocutory appeal. Also on October 10, plaintiffs requested their case be transferred to a different court of appeals pursuant to state law. On October 12, the WI Supreme Court upheld the temporary stay, ordered briefing on the petition to file an interlocutory appeal, and asked the WI Court of Appeals to step aside until the high court issued a ruling on the venue issue. Update: On June 2, 2023, the RNC and RITE plaintiffs filed a motion for summary judgment.

A left-wing group, Rise, represented by Marc Elias, sued WEC on September 27 in a collateral attack on the White ruling argues that election officials should be allowed to accept absentee ballots with partial witness addresses if the official can discern the correct information. On October 3, the Wisconsin state legislature and Michael and Eva White filed motions to intervene. On October 6, the court granted the Wisconsin state legislature’s motion to intervene and declined the Whites’ motion to intervene. At a hearing on October 7, the court denied plaintiff’s motion for a temporary injunction, thus reinforcing that an address is complete if it contains “a street number, street name and name of municipality.” On December 22, 2022, the Whites filed an appeal of the ruling denying their intervention. On February 28, the Whites, as proposed-intervenors, filed their reply brief. There is also a pending League of Women Voters suit on the issue.

Wyoming
In 2021, an action was brought against the state over HB 0075, which required voters to present photo ID to vote.  In February 2023 the state district court dismissed the lawsuit, upholding the state’s ID requirement.

Legislation Highlights

Connecticut
The Connecticut Senate passed Senate Bill 1226 on a 29-7 vote. The bill recognizes the late Representative John Lewis and is aimed at protecting historically marginalized communities. In essence, the bill codifies several provisions in the Voting Rights Act of 1965 following the Supreme Court’s decision in Shelby County v. Holder.

On May 30, 2023, the Connecticut Senate passed HB 5004 that allows an early voting period of up to fourteen days. The bill allows for early voting to begin fifteen days before election day and conclude on the second day prior to election day. The bill now heads to Governor Lamont’s desk where he is expected to sign it.

The State Senate has approved a constitutional amendment for no-excuse absentee voting.

Louisiana
The Louisiana House of Representatives passed and the Senate committee reported favorably HB 311 which proposes a Constitutional Amendment to prohibit the use of monies from a foreign government or nongovernmental source to fund elections, such as Zuckerbucks. The bill now heads to the full Senate where a two thirds majority is needed in order to pass.

Nebraska
On May 30, 2023, the Nebraska Senate advanced LB514 by invoking cloture. LB514, introduced by Senator Tom Brewer, lays out requirements for valid forms of identification to vote. This bill comes in wake of Nebraskan voters voting to approve voter ID in a ballot initiative last year. The bill now advances to the floor for a final reading by voice vote.

Nevada
On May 30, 2023, Governor Joe Lombardo signed Senate Bill 406 that makes threats of intimidation and harassment or violence against election workers a felony. This bill comes after election officials across Nevada reported several instances of intimidation surrounding the 2022 general election. “It’s important we’re protecting the integrity of our elections and our employees across the board,” said Governor Lombardo.

Pennsylvania
On May 31, 2023, Pennsylvania Senators Coleman and Dush co-sponsored a memorandumstating that they will soon introduce legislation that will restore the primacy of in-person votes. The bill will allow voters who have submitted their absentee ballot the opportunity to appear at the polls, void their absentee ballot, and vote in person.

Texas
On May 28, 2023, the Texas legislature passed HB 1243 which will raise the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony. The bill now heads to the Governor’s desk for his approval.

Virginia
Virginia has adopted HB 1948 which removes the witness requirement for absentee ballots and replaces it with the requirement that the voter provide the last four digits of their social security number and their date of birth.

Other News

  • National: “GOP-led states plan new voter data systems to replace one they rejected. Good luck with that.”
  • AL: U.S. Supreme Court could decide soon whether Alabama’s congressional map violates the Voting Rights Act
  • AZ: Arizona Gov. Hobbs vetoes more election bills from GOP-controlled legislature
  • AZ: Finchem, attorney ordered to pay $48K in sanctions in ‘groundless’ election challenge
  • CA: Secretary of State finalizing voting regulations aimed at Shasta County
  • CO: Denver has one of the few jails that gives inmates the chance to vote in person
  • FL: Hillsborough County voter system breach exposes 58,000 people’s information
  • FL: North Miami Beach mayor arrested on charges related to ‘voting irregularities’
  • FL: 3 civil rights groups file federal lawsuits over new Florida election laws championed by Gov. DeSantis
  • FL: New Broward elections office will prioritize security after past protests
  • IL: How did hundreds of noncitizens end up on Chicago’s voter rolls?
  • KY: KY SOS eyes possible exit from ERIC.
  • MD: Rockville, Maryland debates on whether noncitizens should vote
  • MT: Whitefish man charged with voter fraud in 2020 election
  • NC: Majority of NC voters support voter ID, new poll says
  • NC: NC lawmakers expected to roll out major election law changes, with input from former Trump lawyer
  • NC: State Republicans reintroduce election integrity Legislation
  • NY: New York lawmakers want early voting through mail
  • VT: Phil Scott vetoes noncitizen voting in Burlington and voting for 16- and 17-year-olds in Brattleboro
  • WV: Fayette County Man Pleads Guilty to Illegal Voting in 2020 General Elections

Voting Litigation Overview

©2023. Republican National Committee (RNC), 310 1st St SE Washington, D.C., 20003-1885, U.S.

 

 

Romanians Are Flooding The Border At Record Numbers And Committing Fraud Across The U.S.

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  • Romanian migrants who are in the country illegally, some of whom are known to have crossed the southern border, are committing crimes in several areas of the country, according to law enforcement alerts obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.
  • A surge of Romanian illegal migrants has been recorded at both the southern and northern borders of the U.S., many of whom were apprehended and found to have criminal histories, Border Patrol officials told the DCNF.
  • “They all claim asylum/credible fear, just like everyone else. Hoping that we’ll process them and release them to the NGOs,” one Border Patrol official told the DCNF.

Romanian migrants in the country illegally, some of whom are known to have crossed the southern border, are suspected of crimes across the country, according to internal law enforcement alerts obtained by the Daily Caller News Foundation.

The law enforcement alerts, which span from Florida to Pennsylvania and New York, warn of Romanians who have committed financial crimes and are known to be in the country illegally, and have deportation orders. Border Patrol recorded 5,895 encounters of Romanian migrants in fiscal year 2022 at the southern border, up from 4,029 in fiscal year 2021 and 266 in fiscal year 2020, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) data.

When they have to report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Romanian migrants often give addresses of hotels or other temporary housing that make it impossible to track them, one agency official told the DCNF.

“Romanians are involved in a lot of fraud. To avoid detection, they tend to give temporary addresses and/or just quit reporting,” the ICE official, who is based on the west coast, said.

A local sheriff’s office in Florida sent out an alert in February seeking information on two suspects who crossed the southern border illegally from Romania, one of whom “completed a sleight of hand” by only paying for $3,600 of the $9,600 for the purchase of eight gold coins.

The two were later seen at another coin vendor in Florida.

“Subject crossed illegally through the southwest border and was subsequently apprehended by Border Patrol,” a note on the alert for the two suspects, who were both identified as Romanian, read.

In April, Florida law enforcement stopped a vehicle with two Romanian nationals they discovered were in the U.S. illegally who possessed “fraudulent passports, fraudulent credit cards, $4,000 in U.S. currency, covert cameras concealed to hide (for possible ATM PIN harvesting), (3) skimming devices, a thumb drive, and an ATM pin pad cling device,” an official alert stated.

A device seized from the vehicle possessed bank information of “thousands of victims.”

“Customs and Border Patrol placed an immigration detainer on the subjects and an FCIC/NCIC check confirmed that one of them has an active INTERPOL warrant out of Sweden for theft,” the alert states.

One senior Border Patrol official working along the southern border said many of them have criminal histories that mainly include theft, larceny, fraud, domestic violence and driving under the influence when they’re apprehended.

“They all have criminal records when they show up. Rarely single adults. They usually show up in family units, and it’s a pain in the ass too get approval for family separation, so that we can house, prosecute the offender,” the senior Border Patrol official told the DCNF.

“They all claim asylum/credible fear, just like everyone else. Hoping that we’ll process them and release them to the NGOs,” the official said.

A Border Patrol agent also working along the northern border, which has also experienced an uptick in Romanians illegally crossing, told the DCNF that many of them have “INTERPOL [International Criminal Police Organization] hits,” adding that those subjects are “removed.”

“Last one we caught had an asylum court date, but missed it because he decided to go back to Romania,” the agent said.

An international alert in February notified law enforcement of three Romanians with “open cases with ICE for deportation.” The three individuals were part of an operation to install “skimming devices” in Pennsylvania Walmart self-checkouts.

Yonkers Police arrested the group in New York, which also had “pawn records” showing they sold “numerous pieces of jewelry, to include a Rolex watch and gold coins,” the alert stated.

AUTHOR

JENNIE TAER

Investigative reporter.

RELATED ARTICLE: Border Agents Arrest Illegal Migrants With Drugs, Thousands In Cash At Northern Border

EDITORS NOTE: This Daily Caller column is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.

All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.

‘Horrifying’: 21 State AGs Back Florida Parents’ Lawsuit against School for Secret Trans Talks with Daughter

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On Wednesday, 21 state attorneys general filed a joint amicus brief in support of two Florida parents who are suing their daughter’s middle school for engaging in private talks with the then 13-year-old about her gender identity without her parents’ knowledge or consent.

The lawsuit filed by January and Jeffrey Littlejohn alleges that school officials at Deerlake Middle School in Tallahassee implemented a “transgender support plan” after their daughter questioned her gender at school without informing them. When January Littlejohn found out about the situation and confronted the school, she was “told by the school guidance councilor [sic] and vice-principal that they could not disclose what had been talked about in the meeting, and that Littlejohn’s daughter needed to give consent by-law for her parents to be informed about or be present for future discussions.”

“Eventually we did see the transgender support plan, which was a six-page document that they completed with my daughter, [who] was 13 at the time behind closed doors, where they asked her questions that would have absolutely impacted her safety, such as which restroom she preferred to use and which sex she preferred to room with on overnight field trips,” Littlejohn said.

The document also asked what names and pronouns the student preferred, as well as whether or not the student wanted to inform their parents about the transition. “The plan also stated to use her birth name when speaking to us in effect to deceive us of the social transition that had occurred,” Littlejohn explained.

After a federal district court in Florida sided with the school, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen led a coalition of 21 state AGs in filing an amicus brief in support of the Littlejohns’ continued legal fight.

“This is a very seminal case,” he contended on Thursday’s edition of “Washington Watch with Tony Perkins.” “I mean, look, you’ve got a situation here where a public school has basically inserted itself between a child and the child’s parents, and that should horrify everyone. What’s even more horrifying is that a federal district court in Florida found that that was okay, which is why we’re going up to the 11th Circuit.”

Knudsen continued, “It’s a long-standing facet of American jurisprudence that parents are the primary decision makers for their children. We call them minors for a reason. They haven’t reached the age of majority yet, to use a legal term. We don’t let minors join the military. We don’t let them consume alcohol. We don’t let them vote until they’re 18. And there’s good reason for that because their brains are not fully developed. We know this from science, but we also know from thousands of years of just being humans that parents are in a better place to make decisions for their children.”

In addition to Montana, the states who signed on to the brief include: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and West Virginia.

In response to Perkins’s question about where a court ruling against the parents could lead, Knudsen was frank. “Does it go next to actual transitioning? Does it go to surgery? … You’re asking the right question — where does this end? That’s what’s so concerning about this.”

The Montana attorney general went on to assert that alternative forms of schooling have only increased in stature in recent years as a result of a variety of public education controversies.

“I would argue that between COVID and some of these crazy decisions that we’re getting out of some school districts, this has been a boon for homeschooling,” Knudsen said. “It’s been a boon for Christian education. It’s been a boon for private schooling. School choice has really benefited from this. And I don’t think the schools probably intended on that. But I think it’s a positive outcome here.”

Perkins concurred, commending Knudsen for his leadership in support of parental rights. “We’ve got to make sure that we have individuals like you that are protecting the rights of parents to make those decisions, because don’t think they’ll stop just with their gender transition. They’ll reach to try to keep [parents] from making educational choices.”

AUTHOR

Dan Hart

Dan Hart is senior editor at The Washington Stand.

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EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

Under Investigation for Partisan Behavior, DOJ Commits More Partisan Behavior

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House Republicans have threatened to initiate contempt proceedings against FBI Director Christopher Wray over his defiance of a House Oversight Committee subpoena, which demands an unclassified document it suspects will expose Joe Biden’s complicity in his family influence-peddling scheme. Wray reportedly agreed to turn over the document on Friday. At the same time that it has seemingly stonewalled Congress to protect Democrats, the Department of Justice (DOJ) — of which the FBI is a part — is unashamedly pursuing other legal battles that are widely perceived as partisan.

In a May 3 subpoena, the House Oversight Committee directed Wray to turn over all FD-1023 forms containing the word “Biden” produced during June 2020 by Tuesday, May 30. An FD-1023 form is a standard form for internal FBI communications. The highly specific request was based on “whistleblower disclosures” alerting them to the existence of “an unclassified FD-1023 form that describes an alleged criminal scheme involving then-Vice President Biden and a foreign national relating to the exchange of money for policy decisions,” wrote House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) in an accompanying letter. “It has been alleged that the document includes a precise description of how the alleged criminal scheme was employed as well as its purpose.”

However, the FBI refused to comply with the subpoena or even acknowledge the existence of the document. “They are not above the law,” said House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), who called Wray and told him to send the document on Tuesday, the deadline. “We have jurisdiction over the FBI, which they seem to act like we do not.”

In a Tuesday press release, Chairman Comer announced, “Today, the FBI informed the Committee that it will not provide the unclassified documents subpoenaed by the Committee. The FBI’s decision to stiff-arm Congress and hide this information from the American people is obstructionist and unacceptable.” He stated his intention of “taking steps to hold the FBI Director in contempt of Congress for refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena.”

After talking to Wray, Comer issued another press release on Wednesday, “Today, FBI Director Wray confirmed the existence of the FD-1023 form alleging then-Vice President Biden engaged in a criminal bribery scheme with a foreign national. However, Director Wray did not commit to producing the documents subpoenaed by the House Oversight Committee.” Wray “offered to allow us to see the documents in person at FBI headquarters,” but Comer made “clear that anything short of producing these documents … is not in compliance with the subpoena” and would result in contempt proceedings.

In response to mounting pressure and possible contempt charges, Wray agreed to turn over the document on Friday.

Wray’s pretense for withholding the document was that it might reveal a confidential human source. But Grassley responded, “The FBI has apparently leaked classified information to the news media in recent weeks, jeopardizing its own human sources,” yet refuses “to provide a specific unclassified record” to Congress.

Wray’s action (or inaction) constitutes “defiance of a legitimate congressional subpoena,” Grassley warned. Former federal prosecutor Andy McCarthy agreed, writing that Wray is “about to be held in contempt of Congress for defying a subpoena that he has no lawful basis to defy.” He explained that “the executive branch can legitimately defy congressional subpoenas” in circumstances where the legislature attempts “to usurp or undermine the constitutional authority of the president,” but that those circumstances are irrelevant to the FBI, which Congress created.

The only plausible reason for Wray’s stonewalling tactics is to shield President Biden by withholding information that is at best embarrassing and at worst criminal. The House Oversight Committee is conducting a widespread investigation into the Biden family, which has begun to unearth what appears to be a sordid web of foreign influence-peddling. From a partial review of bank records, the committee has already tracked over $10 million in foreign cash — from places like China, Ukraine, and Romania — through 21 shell corporations to at least nine members of the Biden family — for no discernable reason other than Biden’s influential position as vice president under Barack Obama.

Oddly enough, the DOJ’s protection of the Biden family seems to do less with his position as president and more with his affiliation as a Democrat. Earlier this month, news broke that a former federal prosecutor had reported bribery allegations to the DOJ as early as October 2018 — while Biden held no governmental office, and while Trump was in the White House — but was ignored.

Meanwhile, political figures who are not Democrats can expect the DOJ to target them and their family members just as zealously as they shield the Bidens. On Wednesday, May 31 — the same day Wray told Comer he would not deliver the subpoenaed document — the DOJ announced it had filed a civil action against 13 coal companies owned or operated by Jim Justice III, son of West Virginia Governor Jim Justice, Jr. (R), to collect $7.6 million in penalties. The press release alleged the companies had committed 130 violations of federal law over a five-year period (2018-2022) and had received “over 50 cessation orders.”

The timing of this announcement raised suspicions. A poll conducted last week of the West Virginia Senate race showed Governor Justice leading incumbent Senator Joe Manchin (D) by 22 points. It’s too much to ask anyone to believe that, after 50 cessation orders over five years, the DOJ just happened to file suit a week after a poll showed Justice III’s father with a massive lead over an incumbent Democratic senator. “Utterly brazen,” responded Senator Ted Cruz (R-Texas). “When I said the Biden DOJ is the most political & partisan DOJ in history, I wasn’t kidding…” It’s also noteworthy that the alleged violations began in 2018, the year after Governor Justice switched to the Republican party.

The DOJ’s political interference was also on display in its refusal to prosecute Rachael Rollins. As U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Rollins leaked “non-public, sensitive” information acquired in her official capacity in an attempt to help Boston City Councilman Ricardo Arroyo in the Democratic primary for Suffolk district attorney against Kevin Hayden, then the interim D.A., according to a 161-page report published in May by the DOJ’s internal watchdog agency, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Rollins, who resigned in May, then “falsely testified under oath” by denying she had leaked non-public information. Although the OIG recommended prosecution, the DOJ declined to prosecute Rollins.

It’s not that the DOJ is too busy to investigate alleged wrongdoing by those on the political Left. No, they’re working hard not to investigate. An IRS whistleblower who participated in the DOJ’s investigation into Hunter Biden, the president’s son — which has dragged on since at least 2018 without charges — said last week, “There were multiple steps that were slow-walked — were just completely not done — at the direction of the Department of Justice.” He added that the “deviations from the normal process” were “way outside the norm.” Instead of correcting the discrepancies or speeding up the investigation, the DOJ (not knowing the whistleblower’s identity) got the IRS to remove the entire team from the investigation.

To the uninitiated, the notion that America’s premier federal law enforcement agency has hopelessly prostituted the integrity of its mission for the short-term benefit of left-wing politicians sounds far-fetched, even conspiratorial. But when one monitors their actual behavior, evidence of politicization soon becomes overwhelming. The question, “is the DOJ politically biased?” becomes such a foregone conclusion that it seems to belong in a TV advertisement, right after the question, “Can Geico really save you 15% or more on car insurance?”

Republican presidential candidate Ron DeSantis said last week, “I think the DOJ and FBI have lost their way. I think that they’ve been weaponized against Americans who think like me and you, and I think they’ve become very partisan.” He said he would replace Wray on Day One and “[clear] out people who are not doing the job.” He isn’t the only one who thinks that should be done.

AUTHOR

Joshua Arnold

Joshua Arnold is a staff writer at The Washington Stand.

RELATED VIDEO: Obama’s Russia Collusion

EDITORS NOTE: This Washington Stand column is republished with permission. All rights reserved. ©2023 Family Research Council.

The Washington Stand is Family Research Council’s outlet for news and commentary from a biblical worldview. The Washington Stand is based in Washington, D.C. and is published by FRC, whose mission is to advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and the culture from a biblical worldview. We invite you to stand with us by partnering with FRC.

J6 Patriot John Strand’s Story of Persecution and Prosecution for Doing Nothing Wrong

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“They destroyed my life for a lie—now they’re threatening me with 24 years potential prison over January 6. But it’s not just me on trial, not just me they want to crush—it’s all of us.” — John Strand, Artist • Activist • American. 

If you have not heard the story of John Strand then please visit his website to understand why he is being targeted. Watch what really happened on January 6th, 2021 at the Capitol.

What happened to him can happen to all of us. #We’reNext!

Here is John Strand’s compelling story:

Read John’s statement on his website:

On September 27th, 2022, a Washington, D.C. jury declared me guilty of all five J6 charges brought against me by the federal government.

I will appeal every charge.

I am completely innocent of these charges, both as a legal matter and as a moral matter before God.

I know this with absolutely certainty, because the law requires mens rea[sic] to convict a person of these charges; I alone know my true intent and my state of mind during the events of January 6th, and they were never inappropriate or criminal. As I testified at my trial, my sole purpose for being in D.C. that week and in the vicinity of the Capitol that day was to protect and support my employer in fulfilling her prearranged and permitted speaking obligations.

I did not condone or encourage any of the violent or criminal activities at the time, and now that I have learned much more specifically of the trauma and damages inflicted on brave officers and other innocent persons, I am even more deeply grieved and angered by the terrible actions of some that caused so much pain and destruction for so many. This unlawful and inexcusable behavior greatly undermined the noble pursuit of upholding the rule of law, which was the primary purpose of many prior protests in 2020 leading up to January 6, and of the protest scheduled on that day as well.

I am grateful to the judge presiding over my case for handling the courtroom in a fair and reasonable manner, and for kindly permitting me to remain on pre-trial release conditions pending my sentencing.

It is with immense gratitude that I acknowledge the Herculean efforts of Mr. Stephen Brennwald and my entire legal defense team, as well as the fervent prayers and support of my family and many American citizens across the nation. I humbly request your continued prayers as I follow God’s calling in my life to stand for truth and pursue justice, both on my own behalf and for every American.

To God be the glory.

🇺🇸 #WeAreJ6

THE TRUTH IS ON TRIAL

John writes,

Corruption and selective prosecution are the hallmarks of a totalitarian regime; they excuse their behavior by classifying it as “lawful”…but they arbitrarily determine when, where, and who to apply only those laws that advance their agenda, and they maliciously change and control both definitions and access to information. Thanks to Tucker Carlson, we can see they knowingly lied, and actively hid exculpatory evidence–an explicit and outrageous violation of the law.

In reality, this is a complete subversion of the rule of law, violating the sacred Constitutional principle of Equal Protection. They operate using lies and confusion to keep the public compliant—and to crush any dissent.

RULE OF LAW IS ON TRIAL

J6 is just the most recent political opportunity instigated and weaponized to target anyone departing from the regime’s approved narrative and their ruthless agenda, and to further terrorize and demoralize the public into instinctive self-censorship—intimidating them from even the thought of exercising independence and free speech.

FREE SPEECH IS ON TRIAL

Sadly, it has largely succeeded—most Americans, even those generally committed to classical values and Constitutional integrity, have wilted into silence and apathetic disassociation, abandoning the hundreds of innocent citizens caught in the tyrannical machinery.  Most defendants have succumbed to the intense pressures of a completely biased and weaponized DOJ, accepting abhorrent plea deals under threat of certain conviction by an utterly dishonest and politicized kangaroo court circus.

IT MUST STOP.

Which means, it must BE stopped, by a choice—an intentional decision to disrupt the endless momentum of the runaway totalitarian bureaucratic state.

Amen. May God protect John and the many others who have been falsely imprisoned for simply attending a mostly peaceful rally in Washington, D.C. on January 6th, 2021.

The only violence done on J6 was done by the Capitol police and others who killed Ashly Babbit. This violence continues and is aimed at “we the people” by our own government.

Who will speak for we the people?

The only way to free John and the other J6 political prisoners is to elect a patriot to become president.

©2023. John Strand. All rights reserved.

RELATED ARTICLE: Security Footage from J6 Confirms Over 300 Protesters Entered Capitol Through Open Door

DOCTORED EVIDENCE: Democrat-Led J6 Panel Added Audio to Silent Security Video for Primetime Hearings

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It was a show. Hollywood produced, remember?

This is textbook, how to stage a coup. Every totalitarian movement used these same tactics for destruction.

Hollywood Show Trials

Doctored evidence? Democrat-led J6 panel added audio to silent security video for primetime hearings

J6 Unmasked: Silent Capitol Police security footage altered by adding audio from another source during a montage that aired at the select committee’s first primetime hearing last June.

By: John Solomon and Nicholas Ballasy, Just The News, June 2, 2023:

The Democrat-led House Select Committee to Investigate Jan. 6 doctored a key piece of its evidence, adding audio to silent U.S. Capitol Police security footage used to create a dramatic video montage for the opening of its primetime hearings last summer, according to a Just the News review of the original raw footage and interviews.

Read more.

AUTHOR

Pamela Geller

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EDITORS NOTE: This Geller Report is republished with permission. ©All rights reserved.