After speaking out against crypto for years, Donald Trump went to a major conference of crypto-linked investors and promised to fire Gary Gensler, SEC Chairman who wants to regulate crypto as securities.
Monday, July 29, 2024
Sunday, July 28, 2024
Prosecutor: Trump business fraud verdict should stand
Trump claims that the NY City conviction on business fraud should be overturned under the immunity case because some of the evidence used in the trial related to communications that occurred during his term as President. Prosecutor Alvin Bragg has filed a response stating that the amount and weight of such evidence amounts to a "sliver" in the "mountains" of proof that led to Trump's conviction.
Saturday, July 27, 2024
J.D. Vance gave a culture war speech to Leonard Leo group
ProPublica has a copy of the September 21 speech in which Vance criticized the " transnational financial elite" for their cultural sins, calling them sex perverts and objecting to protections for LGBTQ+ people. (You can read or view the half-hour speech on ProPublica's website.) He bemoans the fact that corporate leaders are donating to Democrats.
Vance does not mention that Leo's network using corporate money has pushed the Supreme Court to issue many pro-corporate, anti-worker rulings. He implies that the entire difference between right and left in the U.S. is cultural and not economic.
"Adding Vance to the ticket bolsters the connections between Leo's network and the Trump 2024 campaign [and with] the Project 2025 blueprint. . . . In a recent TV interview, Vance said the document contained "some good ideas" but claimed that 'most Americans couldn't care less about Project 2025' and that the Trump campaign wasn't affiliated with it."
Dan Cox-linked group has sued Maryland over perceived voting system woes
Former Maryland State Delegate and gubernatorial candidate Dan Cox is linked to a group that is suing Maryland in federal court over alleged violations of federal voting laws.
Friday, July 26, 2024
Tuesday, July 23, 2024
Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduces bill to reverse Supreme Court deregulatory ruling
In Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo and Relentless, Inc. v. Department of Commerce, the corprate-owned justices overturned the "Chevron deference" precedent that had been recognized for four decades. Where laws are ambiguous, Chevron deference allowed federal agencies to make regulations. Under the new ruling, federal judges would substitute their judges for that of agency experts in a wide range of technical fields. Warren's bill will restore the deference rule by statute. Warren believes that the Court's ruling will open the door to giant corporations to get favorable judicial rulings that endanger the general public, workers, and consumers.
Charlie Cooper
Upstart beats City Council veteran using public campaign funds
Zac Blanchard defeated Eric Costello - a darling of the local business community - by 48 votes out of 7,000. He used Baltimore's relatively new public campaign finance fund. One item that motivated Blanchard was that Costello took campaign contributions from towing companies and then voted to raise towing fees.
Charlie Cooper
Financier give $30 billion to establish center for Supreme Court reform
A private equity manager who describes himself as a political moderate has established a center for reform of the Supreme Court and given $30 million to support the work. He says he is opposed to the Citizens United decision and to Trump v. United States. The latter case established far-reaching immunity for a President that seems to turn the Constitution upside down. The new center will operate within the Brennan Center for Justice.
Charlie Cooper
Monday, July 22, 2024
The states that are dropping out of ERIC are accused of intent to suppress the vote
In this op-ed a long-time journalist charges that Republicans are leaving ERIC (a national multi-state facility that is intended to help states maintain accurate voter lists) because it encourages states to register those who are eligible but unregistered. The author alleges that Republicans want to purge certain voters.
Charlie Cooper
Saturday, July 20, 2024
Pro-Trump multimillionaire and election denier boosts funds to far-right voter-conspiracy groups | Donald Trump | The Guardian
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jul/20/patrick-byrne-trump-election-deniers
A multi-million dollar election denier his funding groups around the country that will try tamper with election administration and suppress unwanted votes. This article focuses on Arizona where a key beneficiary group is led by a woman who is obsessed with anti-Semitic conspiracy theories.
Sheila Ruth
Wednesday, July 17, 2024
Trump Super PAC can coordinate with his campaign
After posting numerous times that mail-in voting is fraud-prone (a lie), Elon Musk is donating $180 million to America PAC, a Super PAC that will take advantage of a new loophole to encourage Trump voters to vote by mail.
"In a March 20 advisory opinion, the FEC decided that "canvassing literature and scripts are not public communications, and as a result are not coordinated communications under Commission regulations." That means that America PAC, which is focusing on canvassing to increase absentee voting in swing states, can coordinate its messaging directly with the Trump campaign."
Also, "A database maintained by the right-wing Heritage Foundation, which supports restrictions on mail-in voting, reported '1,200 cases of vote fraud of all forms' from 2000 to 2020. Of those cases, '204 involved the fraudulent use of absentee ballots.' This amounts to 'one case [of fraud using mail-in ballots] per state every six or seven years," or "about 0.00006 percent of total votes cast.'"
Tuesday, July 16, 2024
Christian 501(c)(3) seeks to swing election to Republicans
This ultra-conservative Christian group is powered by a few very rich families. They may be violating the law by trying to purge Democratic-leaning voters and via other partisan activities.
Charlie Cooper
Big crypto money flows to Republicans. Dems try to slow the stampede
Democrats have failed to rein in cryptocurrency abuses during Biden's term. Now with leadership of Ro Khanna, a left-liberal leader from Silicon Valley, they are courting crypto to try to reduce the flow of money to the Republicans.
Charlie Cooper
Katyal rebuts Cannon documents trial dismissal forcefully and in detail
The author of the regulations authorizing DOJ to appoint special prosecutors shows how both Congress and prior Supreme Court rulings will likely lead the Appeals Court to overturn Judge Cannon's ruling that special prosecutors lack Constitutional authority.
Charlie Cooper
Friday, July 12, 2024
Raskin and Whitehouse introduce bill to curb foreign influence in elections
The bill would prevent "foreign-owned, foreign-controlled, or foreign-influenced" corporations from spending money to influence U.S. elections.
Charlie Cooper
Thursday, July 4, 2024
Biden campaign funds if he withdraws
Funds in the campaign can be transferred to Harris if she is the nominee. It's harder to transfer the funds to any other candidate. There is $91 million in the Biden-Harris campaign. There is $240 million in Democratic Party linked entities that can be used regardless of the nominee.
Charlie Cooper
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