thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--FBI Goofs, Reveals Name Of Saudi Official Suspected Of Supporting 9/11 Hijackers

In a portion describing the material sought by lawyers for the 9/11 families , Sanborn refers to a partially declassified @ @ @ @ @ investigation into possible links between the al-Qaida terrorists and Saudi government officials .
That probe @ @ @ @ @ has only become public in the past few years , initially focused on two individuals @ @ @ @ @ Saudi Islamic Affairs official and radical cleric who served as the imam of the King @ @ @ @ @ and Omar al-Bayoumi , a suspected Saudi government agent who assisted two terrorists , Khalid @ @ @ @ @ who participated in the hijacking of the American Airlines plane that flew into the Pentagon @ @ @ @

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WASHINGTON — The FBI inadvertently revealed one of the U.S. government’s most sensitive secrets about the Sept. 11 terror attacks: the identity of a mysterious Saudi Embassy official in Washington who agents suspected had directed crucial support to two of the al-Qaida hijackers.
The disclosure came in a new declaration filed in federal court by a senior FBI official in response to a lawsuit brought by families of 9/11 victims that accuses the Saudi government of complicity in the terrorist attacks.
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The declaration was filed last month but unsealed late last week. According to a spokesman for the 9/11 victims’ families, it represents a major breakthrough in the long-running case, providing for the first time an apparent confirmation that FBI agents investigating the attacks believed they had uncovered a link between the hijackers and the Saudi Embassy in Washington.
It’s unclear just how strong the evidence is against the former Saudi Embassy official — it’s been a subject of sharp dispute within the FBI for years. But the disclosure, which a senior U.S. government official confirmed was made in error, seems likely to revive questions about potential Saudi links to the 9/11 plot.
It also shines a light on the extraordinary efforts by top Trump administration officials in recent months to prevent internal documents about the issue from ever becoming public.
“This shows there is a complete government cover-up of the Saudi involvement,” said Brett Eagleson, a spokesman for the 9/11 families whose father was killed in the attacks. “It demonstrates there was a hierarchy of command that’s coming from the Saudi Embassy to the Ministry of Islamic Affairs [in Los Angeles] to the hijackers.”
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Still, Eagleson acknowledged he was flabbergasted by the bureau’s slip-up in identifying the Saudi Embassy official in a public filing. Although Justice Department lawyers had last September notified lawyers for the 9/11 families of the official’s identity, they had done so under a protective order that forbade the family members from publicly disclosing it.
Now, the bureau itself has named the Saudi official. “This is a giant screwup,” Eagleson said.
(Brett Eagleson)
After being contacted by Yahoo News on Monday, Justice Department officials notified the court and withdrew the FBI’s declaration from the public docket. “The document was incorrectly filed in this case,” the docket now reads.
But FBI and Justice Department officials declined to comment on how the erroneous disclosure had been made. A Saudi government spokesman, meanwhile, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
The Saudi government has consistently denied any connection to the 9/11 hijackers, telling the New York Times and ProPublica in January: “Saudi Arabia is and has always been a close and critical ally of the U.S. in the fight against terrorism.”
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Ironically, the declaration identifying the Saudi official in question was intended to support recent filings by Attorney General William Barr and acting Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell barring the public release of the Saudi official’s name and all related documents, concluding they are “state secrets” that, if disclosed, could cause “significant harm to the national security.”
The declaration was filed by Jill Sanborn, the assistant director of the FBI’s counterterrorism division. Her declaration fleshes out some of the assertions Barr and Grenell have used in their filings, arguing that publicly disclosing internal FBI files — including “interview reports, telephone and bank records, source reporting documents and foreign government information” — would reveal intelligence sources and methods of collection and would hamper the willingness of foreign governments to assist the FBI on sensitive cases.
But while Sanborn’s 40-page declaration blacks out the Saudi official’s name in most instances, in one it failed to do so — a discrepancy first noted this week by a Yahoo News reporter.
In a portion describing the material sought by lawyers for the 9/11 families, Sanborn refers to a partially declassified 2012 FBI report about an investigation into possible links between the al-Qaida terrorists and Saudi government officials. That probe, the existence of which has only become public in the past few years, initially focused on two individuals: Fahad al-Thumairy, a Saudi Islamic Affairs official and radical cleric who served as the imam of the King Fahd Mosque in Los Angeles and Omar al-Bayoumi, a suspected Saudi government agent who assisted two terrorists, Khalid al-Mihdhar and Nawaf al-Hazmi, who participated in the hijacking of the American Airlines plane that flew into the Pentagon, killing 125.
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After the two hijackers flew to Los Angeles on Jan. 15, 2000, al-Bayoumi found them an apartment, lent them money and set them up with bank accounts.
A redacted copy of a three-and-a-half page October 2012 FBI “update” about the investigation stated that FBI agents had uncovered “evidence” that Thumairy and Bayoumi had been “tasked” to assist the hijackers by yet another individual whose name was blacked out, prompting lawyers for the families to refer to this person as “the third man” in what they argue is a Saudi-orchestrated conspiracy.
Describing the request by lawyers for the 9/11 families to depose that individual under oath, Sanborn’s declaration says in one instance that it involves “any and all records referring to or relating to Jarrah.”
The reference is to Mussaed Ahmed al-Jarrah, a mid-level Saudi Foreign Ministry official who was assigned to the Saudi Embassy in Washington, D.C., in 1999 and 2000. His duties apparently included overseeing the activities of Ministry of Islamic Affairs employees at Saudi-funded mosques and Islamic centers within the United States.
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Relatively little is known about Jarrah, but according to former embassy employees, he reported to the Saudi ambassador in the United States (at the time Prince Bandar), and that he was later reassigned to the Saudi mission in Morocco. His current whereabouts are unknown but he is believed to be in Saudi Arabia.
Jarrah has been on the radar screen of the lawyers for the 9/11 families for some time and is among nine current or former Saudi officials who they suspect have important information about the case and have sought to either question them or get access to FBI documents that mention them.
The families have also tapped former agents to help investigate the activities of the potential witnesses, including Jarrah.
Jarrah “was responsible for the placement of Ministry of Islamic Affairs employees known as guides and propagators posted to the United States, including Fahad Al Thumairy,” according to a separate declaration by Catherine Hunt, a former FBI agent based in Los Angeles who has been assisting the families in the case.
Hunt conducted her own investigation into the support provided to the hijackers in Southern California. “The FBI believed that al-Jarrah was ‘supporting’ and ‘maintaining’ al-Thumairy during the 9/11 investigation,” she said in her declaration.
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The Sanborn declaration represents the first public confirmation that the so-called “third man” referred to in the 2012 report was in fact an accredited Saudi diplomat. But all of the FBI evidence the agents had gathered about Jarrah and his communications about the hijackers remain under seal.
Elsewhere in her declaration, Sanborn asserts that the contention that Jarrah “tasked” Thumairy and Bayoumi with assisting the hijackers was more a “theory” of the agents working the case rather than a conclusion based on hard evidence.
One former bureau official familiar with the FBI investigation into the matter, and who asked to speak confidentially, says that agents had developed strong evidence of meetings and communications among Jarrah, Thumairy and Bayoumi in which assistance to Mihdhar and Hazmi, the two hijackers, was believed to have been discussed.
But the agents were unable to prove that Jarrah, who the agents found had flown to Los Angeles to meet with Thumairy, knew that Mihdhar and Hazmi were members of al-Qaida and were plotting the attacks on U.S. soil, resulting in bitter divisions within the bureau about what to make of the contacts the agents had uncovered.
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Yahoo News
“We just didn’t have enough evidence” to move the case forward, said the former official.
Complicating the question is whether FBI agents would ever get an opportunity to question and potentially confront Jarrah. “There was no reason to believe the Saudis would ever give us access to him,” said the former official.
Over time, with the rise of the Islamic State in 2014 and 2015, senior bureau officials grew weary of the issue and reassigned most of the top counterterrorism agents working on the case to what were viewed as more pressing priorities.
“There were definitely people at FBI headquarters who wanted this closed,” the former official said.
Suspicions about a possible Saudi role in 9/11 are as old as the attacks themselves. In the immediate aftermath of the attacks, investigators quickly concluded that 15 of the 19 hijackers were of Saudi origin.
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The 9/11 commission, which extensively investigated the question, ultimately concluded that, while Saudi Arabia had long been viewed as the primary source of al-Qaida funding, “we have found no evidence that the Saudi government as an institution or senior Saudi officials individually funded the organization.”
Yahoo News
But the 9/11 commission also acknowledged there were significant gaps in the record, especially relating to a critical two-week period after Mihdhar and Hazmi flew into Los Angeles in January 2000 after attending an al-Qaida planning summit in Kuala Lumpur that the CIA had monitored.
Moreover, the panel’s investigators had deep suspicions about the role of Thumairy, a radical cleric known for delivering anti-Western sermons, who they believed had lied to them about ever having met the hijackers or even knowing Bayoumi, who did provide extensive support to the hijackers. Thumairy told agents he did not know Bayoumi despite phone records showing the two of them had been in frequent contact.
The lingering questions about the Saudi role prompted the FBI in the mid-2000s to quietly initiate a “subfile” investigation — whose code name, Operation Encore, was first revealed by the New York Times and ProPublica in January — that focused on the activities of Mihdhar and Hazmi in Southern California and their interactions with Thumairy, Bayoumi and others.
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The agents working the case reinterviewed key witnesses and uncovered phone records and other material that the 9/11 commission had never seen. One of the former agents now assisting the 9/11 families, Steven Moore, a former assistant special agent in Los Angeles, wrote in a 2017 declaration for the families that Thumairy “was the primary point of contact for Hazmi and Mihdhar in Los Angeles,” was aware in advance of their travel to the United States and even invited Hazmi, the future hijacker, to lead prayers at the King Fahd mosque.
Moore’s conclusion: “Based on evidence we gathered during the course of our investigation, I concluded that diplomatic and intelligence personnel of the Kingdom of the Saudi Arabia knowingly provided material support to the two 9/11 hijackers and facilitated the 9/11 plot. My colleagues in our investigation shared that conclusion.”
But even while the agents hit a roadblock when they were unable to persuade FBI headquarters about the strength of their evidence, the 9/11 families who wanted to hold the Saudi government accountable got a huge break in 2016, when Congress overrode a veto by then-President Obama and passed the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act, which allowed them to bring a lawsuit against the kingdom in federal court.
The fight for access to key documents and evidence has dragged on ever since, with repeated battles between the lawyers for the families on one side, and lawyers for the FBI, the Justice Department and the Saudi government on the other.
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Last Sept. 11, a group of the families, their lawyers and two of the former agents helping them met with President Trump at the White House and raised their concerns about their lack of access to the material they were seeking.
Yahoo News
“We told him, ‘Please, Mr. President, help us, please declassify the documents. Our government has been covering up the Saudi role,” said Eagleson.
Trump was receptive and even got energized after being told that among those who had resisted disclosure in the past were former FBI directors Robert Mueller and James Comey. Trump at one point said they were “scum” and vowed to help the families.
“Hey Melania,” Trump said at one point, referring to the first lady, who attended the meeting and posed for photos with the family members along with the president, according to one of the former agents present who asked not to be identified. “Listen to these guys — the same scum that is fighting me is now fighting the 9/11 families.”
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Trump vowed to help, according to those in the meetings. “He shook all of our hands and said, ‘Don’t worry, I’m going to help you guys,’” said Eagleson.
“We left that meeting feeling elated,” he said. “We were finally going to see the documents.’”
The White House did not respond to Yahoo News’ request for comment.
The very next day, on Sept. 12, Justice Department lawyers gave the families the identity of the third man — but under the condition that they couldn’t publicly disclose it. That same day, Barr filed his first motion with the court declaring all the material being sought by the families as “state secrets” that could not be shared.
“We felt we had been stabbed in the back,” said Eagleson.
_____
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--Joe Biden And Bernie Sanders Unveil Names For Joint Policy Task Forces

On the task forces are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez ( D-N.Y ) , a progressive firebrand whom Sanders tapped to co-lead the policy task force on climate issues ; as well as prominent labor leaders like Randi Weingarten , the president of the American Federation of Teachers ; and former Obama administration Cabinet members , such as former Secretary of State John Kerry , and Dr. Donald Berwick , who used to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and has become an advocate for Sanders ’ signature “ Medicare for All ” health insurance plan .
Over the last @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ teams have been negotiating the makeup of six joint policy task forces on the economy , education , criminal justice , immigration , climate change and health care , which are meant to represent a united Democratic Party in the campaign to defeat President Donald Trump in November .
Each task force will have eight participants , five of whom have been picked by Biden ’ s team and three of whom were tapped by Sanders .
Each committee will have two co-chairs , representing each man ’ s viewpoint .
Over @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forces , which are a core part of Biden ’ s outreach to the progressive wing of the party and played a major role in Sanders ’ endorsement of Biden after he dropped out of the Democratic primary on April 8 — will be asked to offer policy recommendations as well as influence the kind of personnel Biden would bring to the White House and his Cabinet .
The hope is they could also arm Biden with possible executive orders that he could issue quickly should he be elected president .
“ A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Trump this November and moving our country forward through an unprecedented crisis , ” former Vice President Biden said in a statement about the task forces .
“ As we work toward our shared goal , it is especially critical that we not lose sight of the pressing issues facing Americans.
” Progressive academics on the task forces include Darrick Hamilton , an Ohio State University economist who has become one of the leading academics on the racial wealth gap in the United States , and Stephanie Kelton , an economist at Stony @ @ @ @ @ @ @ theory , the idea that governments can never run out of money and that deficit spending on major domestic programs would lead to economic growth .
Biden ’ s campaign has also selected several members of Congress , including Rep. Bobby Scott ( D-Va. ) , who was most recently behind the House proposal to expand subsidies for COBRA , the federal program that allows the newly jobless to retain their employee health insurance but at full cost .
It has also asked Sonal Shah , who was national policy director for Pete @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , to be on the economic policy task force .
Faiz Shakir , Sanders ’ former campaign manager who has been the lead negotiator with the Biden campaign , told HuffPost that their team was looking for people that could “ persuade others ” — though understanding that there are some ideas , like Medicare for All , that the Biden campaign is unlikely to adopt .
“ He is really trying to build a dynamic of folks who represent progressive principles but also represent communities that are struggling out there in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like to be struggling , ” Shakir said , adding that he thinks the list of names from Biden ’ s team is also promising .
Biden has come under some scrutiny for his ties to Obama-era advisers mistrusted by the left , such as economist Lawrence Summers .
Two groups aligned with Sanders ― Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement ― started a petition advocating for Biden to no longer go to Summers as an adviser .
But notably , those names have been left out of these groups .
Biden ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Kay Henry , the president of the Service Employees International Union , to participate in the health care task force .
As HuffPost ’ s Dave Jamieson reported last year , Henry was “ genuinely angered ” by Biden ’ s argument that proposals like Medicare for All would hurt unions , calling it a “ false choice.
” Biden , who largely did not emphasize policy in his campaign over the course of the last year , has signaled an openness to making some adjustments to his platform , crediting Sen. Elizabeth @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In the last two months , Biden has backed making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students from families with incomes less than $ 125,000 a year , eliminating student debt for those making less than $ 125,000 a year and lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60 .
Sanders supporters and surrogates , including Ocasio-Cortez , have called those changes too modest .
Now with a more active seat at the table , the Sanders team is hoping it can have more influence on Biden ’ s general election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yet to build a substantial in-house policy team and has largely relied on outside advisers to inform policy and positions throughout the campaign .
“ I think the fruits of the task forces are limitless , ” Shakir said .
“ If they are doing well and the camaraderie is working , the product is good , my anticipation is that the Biden campaign would like to see some engagement on things like debate prep , transition personnel , to critique what Trump has put out today .
”

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Joe Biden and his former presidential primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), have unveiled a list of 48 lawmakers, activists, union leaders and academics who will work to craft a compromise Democratic policy platform and shape a possible Biden administration.
On the task forces are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y), a progressive firebrand whom Sanders tapped to co-lead the policy task force on climate issues; as well as prominent labor leaders like Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers; and former Obama administration Cabinet members, such as former Secretary of State John Kerry, and Dr. Donald Berwick, who used to run the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and has become an advocate for Sanders’ signature “Medicare for All” health insurance plan.
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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) at a campaign stop in Durham, New Hampshire, on Feb. 10. Sanders ended his Democratic presidential run on April 8. Andrew Harnik/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Over the last month, Biden’s and Sanders’ teams have been negotiating the makeup of six joint policy task forces on the economy, education, criminal justice, immigration, climate change and health care, which are meant to represent a united Democratic Party in the campaign to defeat President Donald Trump in November.
Each task force will have eight participants, five of whom have been picked by Biden’s team and three of whom were tapped by Sanders. Each committee will have two co-chairs, representing each man’s viewpoint.
Over the next six weeks, these task forces, which are a core part of Biden’s outreach to the progressive wing of the party and played a major role in Sanders’ endorsement of Biden after he dropped out of the Democratic primary on April 8 — will be asked to offer policy recommendations as well as influence the kind of personnel Biden would bring to the White House and his Cabinet. The hope is they could also arm Biden with possible executive orders that he could issue quickly should he be elected president.
Advertisement
“A united party is key to defeating Donald Trump this November and moving our country forward through an unprecedented crisis,” former Vice President Biden said in a statement about the task forces. “As we work toward our shared goal, it is especially critical that we not lose sight of the pressing issues facing Americans.”
Progressive academics on the task forces include Darrick Hamilton, an Ohio State University economist who has become one of the leading academics on the racial wealth gap in the United States, and Stephanie Kelton, an economist at Stony Brook University who has championed modern monetary theory, the idea that governments can never run out of money and that deficit spending on major domestic programs would lead to economic growth.
Biden’s campaign has also selected several members of Congress, including Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), who was most recently behind the House proposal to expand subsidies for COBRA, the federal program that allows the newly jobless to retain their employee health insurance but at full cost. It has also asked Sonal Shah, who was national policy director for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 Democratic presidential campaign, to be on the economic policy task force.
Faiz Shakir, Sanders’ former campaign manager who has been the lead negotiator with the Biden campaign, told HuffPost that their team was looking for people that could “persuade others” — though understanding that there are some ideas, like Medicare for All, that the Biden campaign is unlikely to adopt.
Sanders, who along with his wife, Jane Sanders, signed off on the task forces, spoke with his appointed representatives Monday night and is expected to have some guiding role with the task forces, Shakir said.
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“He is really trying to build a dynamic of folks who represent progressive principles but also represent communities that are struggling out there in the world and know what it’s like to be struggling,” Shakir said, adding that he thinks the list of names from Biden’s team is also promising.
Biden has come under some scrutiny for his ties to Obama-era advisers mistrusted by the left, such as economist Lawrence Summers. Two groups aligned with Sanders ― Justice Democrats and the Sunrise Movement ― started a petition advocating for Biden to no longer go to Summers as an adviser. But notably, those names have been left out of these groups. Biden’s team tapped progressive labor leader Mary Kay Henry, the president of the Service Employees International Union, to participate in the health care task force. As HuffPost’s Dave Jamieson reported last year, Henry was “genuinely angered” by Biden’s argument that proposals like Medicare for All would hurt unions, calling it a “false choice.”
“It’s clear to me that they are offering a willingness to have a fresh start with these names,” Shakir said of the committee members Biden’s team has appointed. “I hope that that’s a good harbinger of things to come.”
Biden, who largely did not emphasize policy in his campaign over the course of the last year, has signaled an openness to making some adjustments to his platform, crediting Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sanders. In the last two months, Biden has backed making public colleges and universities tuition-free for students from families with incomes less than $125,000 a year, eliminating student debt for those making less than $125,000 a year and lowering the Medicare eligibility age from 65 to 60.
Sanders supporters and surrogates, including Ocasio-Cortez, have called those changes too modest. Now with a more active seat at the table, the Sanders team is hoping it can have more influence on Biden’s general election campaign. Biden’s campaign has yet to build a substantial in-house policy team and has largely relied on outside advisers to inform policy and positions throughout the campaign.
Advertisement
“I think the fruits of the task forces are limitless,” Shakir said. “If they are doing well and the camaraderie is working, the product is good, my anticipation is that the Biden campaign would like to see some engagement on things like debate prep, transition personnel, to critique what Trump has put out today.”
Here is the full list of the task forces:
Climate Change
Sanders’ picks:
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), co-chair
Varshini Prakash, co-founder of the Sunrise Movement
Catherine Flowers, founder of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice
Biden’s picks:
Former Secretary of State John Kerry, co-chair
Rep. Kathy Castor (D-Fla.)
Kerry Duggan, former Obama policy adviser
Former EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy
Rep. Donald McEachin (D-Va.)
Criminal Justice Reform
Sanders’ picks:
Chiraag Bains, director of legal strategies at Demos, co-chair
Linn County, Iowa, Supervisor Stacey Walker
South Carolina state Rep. Justin Bamberg
Biden’s picks:
Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.), co-chair
Tennessee state Sen. Raumesh Akbari
Former Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta
Former Attorney General Eric Holder
Symone Sanders, Biden campaign adviser
Economy
Sanders’ picks:
Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, co-chair
Stephanie Kelton, Stony Brook University
Darrick Hamilton, Ohio State University
Biden’s picks:
Rep. Karen Bass (D-Calif.), co-chair
Jared Bernstein, chief economist and chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden
Ben Harris, chief economist and chief economic adviser to Vice President Biden
Lee Saunders, president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
Sonal Shah, policy director for Pete Buttigieg’s 2020 presidential campaign
Education
Sanders picks:
Heather Gautney, Sanders policy adviser, co-chair
Alejandro Adler, Center for Sustainable Development, Columbia University
Professor Hirokazu Yoshikawa, New York University
Biden’s picks:
Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio), co-chair
Lily Eskelsen García, president of the National Education Association
Maggie Thompson, executive director of Generation Progress
Christie Vilsack, literacy advocate
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers
Health Care
Sanders’ picks:
Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), co-chair
Dr. Donald Berwick, former director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, former Michigican gubernatorial candidate
Biden’s picks:
Former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, co-chair
Mary Kay Henry, president of the Service Employees International Union
Professor Sherry Glied, New York University
Chris Jennings, Obama administration health care policy adviser
Rep. Robin Kelly (D-Ill.)
Immigration
Sanders’ picks:
Marielena Hincapié, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, co-chair
Marisa Franco, director of Mijente
Javier Valdés, co-executive director of Make the Road
Biden’s picks:
Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-Calif.), co-chair
Cristóbal Alex, Biden campaign adviser
Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas)
Juan Gonzalez, adviser to Vice President Biden
Nevada Lt. Gov. Kate Marshall


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-13--GOP Group Exposes 'King' Trump's Legal Shell Game In Blistering New Fox News Ad

A group of Republicans opposed to President Donald Trump is calling him out for a series of maneuvers they equate to a legal shell game to avoid being held accountable .
And they ’ re doing it with an ad on one of his favorite networks : Fox News .
“ Our nation ’ s founders fought a war to get rid of a king , ” the spot begins .
“ So when they wrote our Constitution , they designed a government in which everybody ― even the president ― must obey the law.
” That led to the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ branches , the spot from Republicans for the Rule of Law notes .
But Trump is telling Congress it has to go to court to obtain documents and then telling the courts they can ’ t weigh in because he ’ s accountable to Congress .
“ That ’ s not how it ’ s supposed to work in America , ” the spot warns .
“ No one is above the law , and no one gets special treatment.
” Republicans for the Rule of Law linked up with the nonpartisan group @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attorneys ― for the video .
A shorter version aired on several Fox News shows , including “ Hannity ” and “ Tucker Carlson Tonight ” in Washington D.C. on Tuesday .
The two groups also released a joint statement accusing Trump of flouting the fundamental principle of checks and balances .
“ Neither the president , nor Congress , nor the courts can have unlimited power , ” they said .
“ But President Trump blatantly flouts that notion , abusing his power and then playing a dangerous shell game to avoid @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Law also released a video featuring former New Jersey Gov .
Christine Todd Whitman ( R ) explaining what ’ s at stake :

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A group of Republicans opposed to President Donald Trump is calling him out for a series of maneuvers they equate to a legal shell game to avoid being held accountable.
And they’re doing it with an ad on one of his favorite networks: Fox News.
“Our nation’s founders fought a war to get rid of a king,” the spot begins. “So when they wrote our Constitution, they designed a government in which everybody ― even the president ― must obey the law.”
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That led to the creation of checks and balances between the branches, the spot from Republicans for the Rule of Law notes. But Trump is telling Congress it has to go to court to obtain documents and then telling the courts they can’t weigh in because he’s accountable to Congress.
“That’s not how it’s supposed to work in America,” the spot warns. “No one is above the law, and no one gets special treatment.”
Republicans for the Rule of Law linked up with the nonpartisan group Protect Democracy ― launched by ex-Obama administration attorneys ― for the video. A shorter version aired on several Fox News shows, including “Hannity” and “Tucker Carlson Tonight” in Washington D.C. on Tuesday.
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The two groups also released a joint statement accusing Trump of flouting the fundamental principle of checks and balances.
“Neither the president, nor Congress, nor the courts can have unlimited power,” they said. “But President Trump blatantly flouts that notion, abusing his power and then playing a dangerous shell game to avoid any accountability.”
Republicans for the Rule of Law also released a video featuring former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman (R) explaining what’s at stake:


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--Classes To Be Largely Online At California State University Schools This Fall

California State University announced Tuesday that its 23 campuses will officially be conducting classes online this fall semester , with a few possible exceptions , in response to the coronavirus pandemic .
CSU is the nation ’ s largest four-year public university system , with around 480,000 students enrolled in schools that stretch the state and include San Francisco State , Cal State Los Angeles , and San Diego State University .
Courses will be “ primarily delivered virtually ” during the fall term , Chancellor Timothy P. White said at Tuesday ’ s board of trustees meeting .
“ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ classes that can ’ t be done online , such as clinical sessions for nursing students or labs for students in the sciences , he said .
He added that in those cases , the classes will follow “ rigorous ” social distancing and other protective protocols .
“ Our university , when open without restrictions and fully in-person , as the traditional norm of the past , is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity to each other on a daily basis .
That approach sadly @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now , ” White said .
The chancellor cited the “ health and safety and welfare ” of students , employees and local communities as a priority in the decision .
He noted the lack of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus , as well as experts ’ forecasts of waves of cases of COVID-19 , the disease caused by the coronavirus , later this summer and again in late fall .
To eliminate the chance of the disease spreading further , the university system “ must do its part , ” he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Washington , federal infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about the dangers of businesses and school systems reopening too quickly , leading to a possible spike in the spread of the coronavirus .
California has reported more than 69,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday , and over 2,800 deaths .
The state reached a new milestone of administering over 1 million tests , according to Gov .
Gavin Newsom ( D ) , but infection and death rates have plateaued rather than declined in recent weeks .
CSU ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , along with most colleges and universities , due to the pandemic .
One of its campuses , Cal State Fullerton , announced in mid-April it was preparing to conduct classes online in the fall .
So far , most of the nation ’ s colleges and universities have said they intend to reopen with in-person classes in the fall , but are making plans for conducting courses online if needed , according to The New York Times .
In his remarks Tuesday , CSU chancellor White acknowledged the double-edged sword of canceling @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will “ positively affect ” the community by minimizing the spread of the virus , but “ negatively affect ” local economies by reducing commerce .
He added it would have been irresponsible to wait until the summer to make the announcement .

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California State University announced Tuesday that its 23 campuses will officially be conducting classes online this fall semester, with a few possible exceptions, in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
CSU is the nation’s largest four-year public university system, with around 480,000 students enrolled in schools that stretch the state and include San Francisco State, Cal State Los Angeles, and San Diego State University.
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Courses will be “primarily delivered virtually” during the fall term, Chancellor Timothy P. White said at Tuesday’s board of trustees meeting. “Limited” exceptions may be made for classes that can’t be done online, such as clinical sessions for nursing students or labs for students in the sciences, he said. He added that in those cases, the classes will follow “rigorous” social distancing and other protective protocols.
“Our university, when open without restrictions and fully in-person, as the traditional norm of the past, is a place where over 500,000 people come together in close and vibrant proximity to each other on a daily basis. That approach sadly just isn’t in the cards now,” White said.
The chancellor cited the “health and safety and welfare” of students, employees and local communities as a priority in the decision. He noted the lack of a vaccine for the novel coronavirus, as well as experts’ forecasts of waves of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, later this summer and again in late fall.
To eliminate the chance of the disease spreading further, the university system “must do its part,” he said.
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At a Senate hearing Tuesday in Washington, federal infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci warned about the dangers of businesses and school systems reopening too quickly, leading to a possible spike in the spread of the coronavirus.
California has reported more than 69,000 confirmed coronavirus cases as of Tuesday, and over 2,800 deaths. The state reached a new milestone of administering over 1 million tests, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), but infection and death rates have plateaued rather than declined in recent weeks.
The CSU announces plans to conduct a majority of classes virtually at all 23 campuses for the fall 2020 term, with limited exceptions. Campuses will remain open and ready to serve students.
Read Chancellor White's statement for more information. https://t.co/hWJitX8OCy — The CSU (@calstate) May 12, 2020
CSU’s campuses moved to virtual learning in March, along with most colleges and universities, due to the pandemic. One of its campuses, Cal State Fullerton, announced in mid-April it was preparing to conduct classes online in the fall.
So far, most of the nation’s colleges and universities have said they intend to reopen with in-person classes in the fall, but are making plans for conducting courses online if needed, according to The New York Times.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--Trump Rails Against Ballot Fraud – But Under GOP Definitions, Committed It In March

There at the White House , Trump and his wife marked ballots that an intermediary had received from elections officers in Florida .
Those ballots were then hand-delivered back to West Palm Beach for tabulation — a process that is legal under Florida law , but which Trump himself has equated to fraud .
Using political operatives to handle absentee ballots is among the practices most prone to fraud and abuse by Democrats , many Republicans argue ― even though it was a North Carolina GOP operative in a congressional race who has provided the most dramatic example of this @ @ @ @ @ @ @ faces numerous charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy and is accused of systematically collecting , filling and submitting ballots on behalf of the candidate he was working for in 2016 and 2018 .
Trump has acknowledged voting absentee in Florida ’ s March 17 presidential primary , but the White House would not say how his and first lady Melania Trump ’ s ballots made their way from Garcia , who picked them up in Florida on March 9 , to the White House , and then back to the elections office @ @ @ @ @ @ @ were dropped off on March 16 .
“ I ’ m allowed to , ” Trump said at an April 7 news conference in which he railed against voting by mail .
“ That ’ s called ‘ out of state.
’ You know why I voted ?
Because I happen to be in the White House and I won ’ t be able to go to Florida to vote.
” In a tweet the following morning , Trump wrote : “ Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who can ’ t get to the polls on Election Day .
These ballots are very different from 100 % Mail-In Voting , which is ‘ RIPE for FRAUD , ’ and shouldn ’ t be allowed.
” Republicans have claimed that they are only interested in stopping ineligible people from casting ballots , while Democrats counter that they are simply trying to make it more difficult for poor people , students , Black people and Latinos from voting at all .
Democrats have long campaigned on the idea that if all eligible @ @ @ @ @ @ @ win far more often .
In some Republican-controlled states , such as Alabama or Texas , what Trump did — have someone other than a spouse or relative handle his ballot — is illegal , and could have been prosecuted .
That Trump himself used that method while simultaneously calling it fraudulent is no longer surprising , said Myrna Perez , the director of voting rights and election projects at the Brennan Center for Justice .
Ironically , Trump made Democrats ’ argument about the actual purpose of voting restrictions for them in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 30 , explaining why he opposed Democratic efforts to include an expansion of mail voting in the coronavirus relief legislation .
“ They had levels of voting , that if you ever agreed to it , you ’ d never have a Republican elected in this country again , ” Trump said .
“ I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting , ” the president said at an April 3 news conference .
“ It shouldn ’ t be mail-in voting .
It should be : You go to a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ You don ’ t send it in the mail where people pick up — all sorts of bad things can happen by the time they signed that , if they sign that — if they signed that by the time it gets in and is tabulated.
” At the briefing four days later where he defended his own ability to vote by mail , Trump claimed , without any evidence : “ There ’ s a big difference between somebody that ’ s out of state and does a ballot and everything is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
You see what you have to do with the certifications .
And you get thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody ’ s living room , signing ballots all over the place .
”

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WASHINGTON – Under definitions used by President Donald Trump and many of his Republican allies, election fraud has been taking place at the nation’s most prominent address: 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.
There at the White House, Trump and his wife marked ballots that an intermediary had received from elections officers in Florida. Those ballots were then hand-delivered back to West Palm Beach for tabulation — a process that is legal under Florida law, but which Trump himself has equated to fraud.
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According to documents HuffPost obtained under Florida’s open records law, the person who picked up the ballots was named Alejandro Garcia — the same name as one of the Republican National Committee’s top Florida operatives.
Garcia declined to discuss the matter with HuffPost and referred questions to RNC headquarters. A spokesman there did not respond to queries.
“That’s ballot harvesting, isn’t it?” joked Mac Stipanovich, a longtime Florida Republican consultant and onetime chief of staff to former GOP Gov. Bob Martinez.
Using political operatives to handle absentee ballots is among the practices most prone to fraud and abuse by Democrats, many Republicans argue ― even though it was a North Carolina GOP operative in a congressional race who has provided the most dramatic example of this. Leslie McCrae Dowless, 64, faces numerous charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy and is accused of systematically collecting, filling and submitting ballots on behalf of the candidate he was working for in 2016 and 2018.
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“It’s OK for the RNC Florida guy to harvest Trump’s ballot. But it’s not OK for a friend to harvest a ballot for a neighbor,” Stipanovich said. “This is just voter suppression, is all it is.”
Despite his own use of a mail ballot, though, Trump has recently been on a crusade against their use.
“Mail in ballots substantially increases the risk of crime and VOTER FRAUD!” Trump wrote in an April 11 tweet.
“GET RID OF BALLOT HARVESTING, IT IS RAMPANT WITH FRAUD,” he wrote three days later in a rare, all-capital-letters screed. “THE USA MUST HAVE VOTER I.D., THE ONLY WAY TO GET AN HONEST COUNT!”
Trump has acknowledged voting absentee in Florida’s March 17 presidential primary, but the White House would not say how his and first lady Melania Trump’s ballots made their way from Garcia, who picked them up in Florida on March 9, to the White House, and then back to the elections office in West Palm Beach, where they were dropped off on March 16.
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“It’s OK for the RNC Florida guy to harvest Trump’s ballot. But it’s not OK for a friend to harvest a ballot for a neighbor. This is just voter suppression, is all it is.” - Mac Stipanovich, longtime Florida Republican consultant
While some states make using third parties to handle ballots a crime, neither Trump nor the first lady appears to have violated any Florida laws by having their ballots delivered to them and then returned to Florida.
“I’m allowed to,” Trump said at an April 7 news conference in which he railed against voting by mail. “That’s called ‘out of state.’ You know why I voted? Because I happen to be in the White House and I won’t be able to go to Florida to vote.”
In a tweet the following morning, Trump wrote: “Absentee Ballots are a great way to vote for the many senior citizens, military, and others who can’t get to the polls on Election Day. These ballots are very different from 100% Mail-In Voting, which is ‘RIPE for FRAUD,’ and shouldn’t be allowed.”
Trump’s statement, however, is false. Absentee mail ballots work precisely the same way as standard mail-in ballots. And in Florida, any voter — not just those who happen to be out of state — is permitted to vote that way.
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Indeed, the state Republican Party there mastered the strategy of banking votes early in the weeks leading up to an election in the 1980s and 1990s, long before Democrats began countering it with their own absentee ballot program.
“We have no-fault absentee. We have been voting that way forever,” said Stipanovich, who, after working for Martinez in the late 1980s, then ran Jeb Bush’s first, unsuccessful campaign for governor in 1994. “Republicans have been historically ahead of Democrats in mining absentee ballots.”
Most experts agree that election fraud is an extremely rare occurrence in a country where over 100 million votes are cast each election cycle. Still, Republicans have recently made it a top priority to pass laws requiring state-issued photo identification documents at polling places and imposing restrictions on early and absentee voting.
Republicans have claimed that they are only interested in stopping ineligible people from casting ballots, while Democrats counter that they are simply trying to make it more difficult for poor people, students, Black people and Latinos from voting at all. Democrats have long campaigned on the idea that if all eligible voters actually voted, Democratic candidates would win far more often.
In some Republican-controlled states, such as Alabama or Texas, what Trump did — have someone other than a spouse or relative handle his ballot — is illegal, and could have been prosecuted. That Trump himself used that method while simultaneously calling it fraudulent is no longer surprising, said Myrna Perez, the director of voting rights and election projects at the Brennan Center for Justice.
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“This is not the first time we heard this president say something like that,” she said. “That is a common lie.”
President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus during a press briefing in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 11, 2020, in Washington. ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ironically, Trump made Democrats’ argument about the actual purpose of voting restrictions for them in an interview with Fox News on March 30, explaining why he opposed Democratic efforts to include an expansion of mail voting in the coronavirus relief legislation. “They had levels of voting, that if you ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again,” Trump said.
That statement was just one in a number of largely false attacks Trump has made against mail balloting in recent weeks as elections officials around the country in both parties push for more of it in this November’s election.
“I think a lot of people cheat with mail-in voting,” the president said at an April 3 news conference. “It shouldn’t be mail-in voting. It should be: You go to a booth and you proudly display yourself. You don’t send it in the mail where people pick up — all sorts of bad things can happen by the time they signed that, if they sign that — if they signed that by the time it gets in and is tabulated.”
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At the briefing four days later where he defended his own ability to vote by mail, Trump claimed, without any evidence: “There’s a big difference between somebody that’s out of state and does a ballot and everything is sealed, certified, and everything else. You see what you have to do with the certifications. And you get thousands and thousands of people sitting in somebody’s living room, signing ballots all over the place.”
Former Florida Democratic congresswoman Gwen Graham said Trump’s statements prove his willingness to say anything to win. “Trump tells his base to grab their pitchforks and protest vote-by-mail, while grabbing a pitchfork and ‘harvesting’ his own ballot. Different day, same story. Lies and hypocrisy from Donald Trump,” she said.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-13--Trump’s Failed Policy Set The Stage For The Botched Venezuela Coup Attempt

Ever since the U.S. recognized Venezuelan assemblyman Juan Guaidó as the country ’ s legitimate leader in January 2019 , @ @ @ @ @ a simplistic and confused approach to the crisis in Venezuela , with the White House @ @ @ @ @ seeming to offer varying messages or plans .
Trump and his advisers routinely hinted that @ @ @ @ @ to remove Maduro if necessary , even though that was widely regarded as an empty @ @ @ @ @ and the administration argued that a corrupt authoritarian strong enough to ruin Venezuelan democracy and @ @ @ @ @ own benefit was sitting on a house of cards ready to collapse with the faintest @ @

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It reads like a plot ripped straight from a bad Hollywood script, or an agitprop network television show gone wrong: In the morning hours of Sunday, May 3, a ragtag crew of supposed mercenaries, backed by a small-time security consulting firm in the United States, attempted to raid Venezuela and take down socialist President Nicolás Maduro.
The plan failed miserably, the mercenaries’ first speedboat thwarted immediately by the Venezuelan military and their second by offshore fishermen, in no small part because its backers repeatedly telegraphed their plans to Venezuelan security forces and the world alike.
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“We knew everything,” Maduro said during a state TV appearance in which he declared that eight of the raiders had been killed. At least a dozen more were initially arrested, including two American military veterans who remain in Venezuelan custody.
Ex-Green Beret Jordan Goudreau, who owns the Florida-based security consulting firm Silvercorp USA, took credit for the comically botched operation on Twitter and in interviews with the press, and insisted that despite the incredible and widely mocked failure, he had men in Venezuela and his efforts against Maduro would continue.
President Donald Trump, who has sought to bring down Maduro since the beginning of his presidency, claims he and the United States knew nothing.
There is no evidence (yet) that the Trump administration endorsed the plot, and even skeptics of its “maximum pressure” campaign to oust Maduro say Goudreau’s attempt was far too shoddy to have U.S. fingerprints on it.
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“There is no way that I can see any kind of U.S. involvement,” said Fernando Cutz, who served as a Latin America adviser on the National Security Council under both Obama and Trump, but left the White House in 2018. “There were no logistics, the numbers were a joke, they clearly didn’t have any intel. A group of high schoolers would have done a better job.”
But that doesn’t mean Trump and the United States bear no responsibility for the bizarre and ham-fisted coup attempt. The administration’s strategy helped create the atmosphere in which a rogue mission like Goudreau’s could take place by fostering the belief that such a slapdash attempt to topple Maduro could actually succeed.
“I’m surprised Dog The Bounty Hunter hasn’t shown up. Our posture generates this kind of stuff. This level of goofiness.” - Former senior administration official
Ever since the U.S. recognized Venezuelan assemblyman Juan Guaidó as the country’s legitimate leader in January 2019, the Trump administration has taken a simplistic and confused approach to the crisis in Venezuela, with the White House and the State Department often seeming to offer varying messages or plans. Trump and his advisers routinely hinted that they would use military force to remove Maduro if necessary, even though that was widely regarded as an empty threat and implausible option, and the administration argued that a corrupt authoritarian strong enough to ruin Venezuelan democracy and siphon its resources for his own benefit was sitting on a house of cards ready to collapse with the faintest touch.
Trump fueled hopes among many Venezuelans, especially those living in the U.S., that a savior was coming from the north, only to dash them at the same time with a strategy many observers regard as an effort to win Florida in November by energizing the Cuban and Venezuelan American voters who oppose Maduro and his allies in Cuba’s Communist regime.
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“Trump likes to say that all options are on the table, which of course has never been true,” said Mark Feierstein, who advised Obama on Latin America from the NSC. “But I think that the risk of that has been, number one, it’s raised expectations for some people in Venezuela that there’s some sort of external force that’s going to save them. And number two, that they are sort of free to pursue all sorts of crazy, dangerous, counterproductive operations like the one we just saw.”
*****
Goudreau made many mistakes. One of them was that he took Trump’s claims about Venezuela literally, not seriously ― and with the Department of Justice offering a multimillion-dollar bounty for Maduro’s capture, it was only inevitable that someone would do exactly that.
“When you start identifying the problem in Venezuela as a single individual, when you insist that it’s not a legitimate government at all but just a narco-trafficking cartel, when you put rewards on their heads ― I’m surprised Dog The Bounty Hunter hasn’t shown up,” a former senior Trump administration official said this week.
“Our posture generates this kind of stuff,” the former official said. “This level of goofiness.”
Since recognizing Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader in January 2019, the Trump administration has rested its campaign on a handful of assumed truths: that Maduro is a completely illegitimate leader with little popular support; that the military backing him would flip to support a credible opposition movement; and that pressure from the outside would force his government to fall.
Since recognizing Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s legitimate leader in January 2019, the Trump administration has rested its campaign on a handful of assumed truths: one being that President Nicolás Maduro, pictured, is a completely illegitimate leader with little popular support. ASSOCIATED PRESS
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The reality has proven a bit different. Maduro was stronger than the crises plaguing his country ― an economic collapse has spurred an estimated 4 million Venezuelans to seek refuge abroad ― made him seem. Guaidó had little actual power. And the United States was always unlikely to start a war, or even conduct small-scale military operations, in South America, where even a new crop of right-wing leaders wouldn’t want to deal with the bad politics of backing the U.S. military or the ugly mess a violent overthrow would likely create.
The first two salvos from the U.S. and Guaidó’s opposition were unsuccessful. A February 2019 effort to provoke a confrontation with Maduro via delivery of a humanitarian aid package across the border with Colombia was a counterproductive propaganda affair. Two months later, Guaidó orchestrated a botched military uprising. Few members of the military flipped; it fizzled within hours.
The failures helped fuel the belief among Maduro’s most hard-line opponents that the primary reason he remained in power was that the U.S. hadn’t taken the military action it constantly threatened, and a close follower of Trump’s hawkish rhetoric ― say, a Special Forces vet with a security contracting company aching to build an international portfolio ― might have surmised that invading Venezuela was a plausible next step. Instead, Guaidó began negotiations with Maduro, and the U.S. continued to ramp up the economic sanctions that have become the central part of its strategy.
In September, Trump suddenly fired national security adviser John Bolton, a notorious hawk who authored some of the administration’s most aggressive rhetoric toward Maduro. In Washington, most Latin America experts dismissed Bolton’s actions, including his clear display of notes about possible troop deployments during a White House press briefing, as mere posturing. But his firing made it clear even to hard-liners who’d fantasized about an invasion that the United States had no such intentions and was merely rattling sabers.
“There were a lot of folks in the Venezuelan diaspora who started to really believe that the 101st Airborne was gonna show up in the streets of Caracas,” said Cutz. “As you internalize this thought, and then you realize that the United States wasn’t actually about to invade, people get very disappointed and frustrated. And that’s where you see some people start to take it on themselves.”
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*****
Guaidó’s opposition movement is a loose coalition of moderates who favor diplomacy, radicals who think that’s a waste of time, and figures in between. And when Guaidó turned back toward negotiations last summer, the most radical members of the opposition began to see him as “a politician who surrendered and didn’t seize his opportunity,” said Temir Porras, a former adviser to Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez, who is now a critic of Maduro’s government.
Stuck in a tenuous position, Guaidó apparently directed the opposition to begin plotting “Plan C” ― an effort to kidnap Maduro and overthrow his government, The Washington Post reported last week.
Meanwhile, Goudreau had taken an interest in the Venezuelan crisis early on. According to a since-deleted Instagram post, Silvercorp USA provided security for a charity concert organized by billionaire Richard Branson that took place in Cucuta, Colombia alongside the supposed humanitarian aid mission the U.S. and Guaidó hoped would help undermine Maduro.
That May, after Guaidó’s failed military uprising, Goudreau accompanied former Trump bodyguard Keith Schiller to a Florida meeting with members of the opposition. (Apparently unimpressed, Schiller claims to have stopped talking to Goudreau after the meeting.) Later, Goudreau connected with Clíver Alcalá, a hard-line former Venezuelan general who was plotting to overthrow Maduro with the supposed help of 300 Venezuelan military defectors, whom Goudreau offered to train, The Associated Press reported. In August, the former Green Beret pitched an invasion plan to investors in the U.S., the Military Times reported last week.
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“Plan C” gave Goudreau a direct opening. In September, he took his idea to JJ Rendón, the Miami-based Venezuelan exile Guaidó put in charge of developing Plan C, the Post said. Goudreau offered to overthrow Maduro for a $212.9 million reward ― less than half of what other suitors demanded.
It’s unclear how serious “Plan C” ever was. Rendón and Goudreau reached a contractual agreement, but the opposition eventually backed out, fearing the former Green Beret was erratic. Guaidó allegedly had no knowledge of the contract. The opposition provided no financial backing for the eventual operation.
But that it existed at all is a sign of the desperation that festered inside the opposition as the strategy from the U.S. became increasingly empty and aimless, beyond repeated pleas for more pressure from European and Latin American governments. “Plan C,” too, was essentially an endorsement of the idea that all options were on the table for the opposition, even if they weren’t for the U.S. president.
When the Venezuelan opposition backed out too, the rogues were on their own. Trump and Guaidó, now, had each hinted that a militarized approach would be necessary, and each refused to go that far. Goudreau’s plan relied on many of their initial assumptions: that toppling Maduro was merely a matter of entering Venezuela, flipping disaffected members of the military and state security forces, and providing weary Venezuelans an alternative option. Unlike the two politicians, Goudreau was apparently committed to moving forward with the action.
He set up camps in Colombia to train Venezuelan military defectors for an eventual operation, and, by playing up his apparent connections to Trump (Silvercorp provided security for a Trump campaign rally in 2018, Bellingcat reported), Goudreau managed to convince the Venezuelans working for him that he had backing from the U.S. government.
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The already-shoddy plot began to collapse in late March when the Department of Justice indicted Maduro and other top officials on drug trafficking charges and placed a $15 million bounty on his head. Alcalá, the former general working with Goudreau, was among the indicted officials. After broadcasting plans for the coup attempt on social media, he turned himself in to Colombian officials and was deported to the U.S., where he is currently in prison. Then, on May 1, The Associated Press reported that “pretty much everything” with the plot had gone wrong.
Two days later, Goudreau’s men attempted to enter Venezuela anyway. Disaster ensued.
“One of the reasons they think that a maximum pressure campaign is going to work is that they don’t really think things through very carefully, and this sort of underlines that.” - David Smilde, Venezuela expert at Tulane University
Stuck in Florida, Goudreau did not participate, and did not respond to requests for comment. But he seems to have been fueled by delusions of grandeur and the prospect of a big payday.
“There’s a bubble in certain parts of South Florida, where some folks are really, really gung-ho on taking down the Cuban regime and taking down the Venezuelan regime by force,” said Cutz, the former NSC official. “You start to have rumors and conspiracy theories that swarm in that bubble. I think that whoever was behind this operation must have been too deep into that bubble.”
It’s easy to laugh at Goudreau for his Rambo-like pursuit of Maduro, but the Trump administration is also deeply ensconced in that bubble. Mauricio Claver-Carone, the White House’s chief Latin America adviser and architect of the “maximum pressure” strategy, is a veteran of the South Florida hard-line community who spent most of his career as a lobbyist against efforts to relax the embargo on Cuba and is considered, even in Washington, one of the hardest of the hard-liners.
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If Trump’s campaign in Venezuela has been based on distorted reality, Goudreau distorted it to its disastrous extreme.
“One of the reasons they think that a maximum pressure campaign is going to work is that they don’t really think things through very carefully, and this sort of underlines that,” said David Smilde, a Venezuela expert at Tulane University and a senior fellow at the Washington Office of Latin America, a think tank. “This sort of neo-conservative perspective that the U.S. has to come in and liberate Venezuela ― it’s always this underestimation of the sociology of dictatorships. It’s underestimation of the complexity on the ground. This harebrained operation took place in that context.”
*****
The botched raid has embarrassed the Venezuelan opposition and raised questions about whether Guaidó can survive politically. He was already bordering on irrelevancy, Smilde said; now, Maduro has hyped the opposition’s links to Goudreau, and Silvercorp USA’s tenuous ties to the Trump administration, to accuse the U.S., Colombia and the opposition of plotting a coup.
There is broad agreement in Washington that the failed raid highlights serious deficiencies in the United States’ strategy, which has continued to vary by the day and the department, as diplomatic efforts butt heads with more aggressive tactics.
It provided “a moment of recognition that the Guaidó gambit, and the whole strategy of trying to collapse Maduro by identifying his successor and then trying to knock the pegs out from under him one at a time, hasn’t worked,” the former senior Trump official said.
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Roger Noriega, a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute and a former Latin America adviser to George W. Bush, agrees that the United States’ strategy needs to change. But Noriega, who favors a hard-line approach that would include a “surgical” use of force, saw Goudreau’s overthrow attempt as an indication that efforts to find a diplomatic solution through the opposition had failed.
“This episode ... is just another example of how fouled up the policy is,” Noriega said. “It’s a very tough leadership line, but it’s an incredibly inept ground game. [Trump]’s not the problem. The hard-liners are not the problem. It’s the ground game with these career diplomats. … How is it that this [Goudreau] was all going on, and these pros at the State Department know nothing about it? It is a scandal. It is the most ridiculous foreign policy thing in Latin America that I’ve seen in 30 years.”
No one seems satisfied with what might come next, either. Maduro is still facing massive challenges, including global drops in oil prices that are further devastating Venezuela’s economy and a coronavirus outbreak that could further destabilize his country. But negotiations will be hard to restart with an emboldened leader who feels his fears of a U.S.-led invasion have been validated, especially as he continues to target critics and opponents.
“The political side of the opposition will pay the price for this,” said Porras, the former Chávez adviser who is now a visiting professor at Sciences Po university in Paris. “This will be an excuse for the government to escalate. My fear is that when people are basically pushing the main political actors to resume talks and solve this thing once and for all, these types of radical actions and idiotic initiatives take us further away from a political resolution.”
Hard-liners like Noriega, meanwhile, have argued the amateur operation bolsters their view that only military force will bring down Maduro.
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But Noriega also conceded that it’s unlikely to happen.
“In that case, we should stop pretending and start looking for other ways to mitigate that toxic regime, and do something about the humanitarian crisis that might arise,” he said.
Venezuela’s situation seems destined to worsen now. But Trump’s continued bandying about what a U.S. invasion would have accomplished suggests neither his policy nor his rhetoric will change ― especially not six months from the election that has defined his entire approach, said Alexander Main, a Venezuela analyst at the Center for Economic Policy Research, a progressive think tank that supports negotiations led by Norway or other international mediators.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--Anti-Semitic Incidents Reached Record Level In 2019, Anti-Defamation League Says

The ADL recorded 2,107 incidents of assault , vandalism and harassment against American Jews in 2019 ― higher than in any year since the Jewish advocacy group began tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979 .
The uptick included a 56 % increase in assaults compared with the previous year , a surge marked by deadly attacks at a synagogue in Southern California , a kosher market in New Jersey and a rabbi ’ s home in New York .
In total , the ADL counted 61 physical assault cases directly linked to anti-Semitic hatred last year .
Five people were killed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s anti-Semitic assaults took place in New York City , with 25 happening in Brooklyn , the ADL reported .
Jewish communities in New York sounded alarms throughout last year about Hasidic Jews being attacked while walking through their Brooklyn neighborhoods , culminating in a flurry of assaults during Hanukkah .
Jonathan A. Greenblatt , the CEO of the league , said that these attacks have contributed to a “ rising climate of anxiety and fear in our communities.
” In fact , an ADL survey from January found that nearly two-thirds of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ did a decade ago .
Most ( 51 % ) said they were worried about a violent attack or vandalism at their synagogue .
“ It ’ s clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent antisemitism and denounce it in all forms , wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents , ” Greenblatt said in a statement .
A couple embraces at a memorial near the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway , California , on April 29 , 2019 .
A @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about 100 people were there during Passover .
Most of the perpetrators were not linked to extremist groups , according to Oren Segal , vice president of the ADL ’ s Center on Extremism .
“ The perpetrators that we know of are often your Average Janes , your Average Joes , ” Segal said during a Tuesday news conference , according to The Times of Israel .
“ They are kids , they are adults ; they ’ re in poor areas , they come from more affluent areas ; it ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
These incidents are not constrained by politics or even ideology .
This report , which comes out every year , shows how anti-Semitism can be found in pretty much all segments in society.
” The ADL ’ s annual anti-Semitism audit counted both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment .
The report was compiled using information provided by victims , law enforcement and community leaders , the group said .
In order to stem the rise of anti-Semitism , the ADL is calling on Congress to increase funding for security enhancements for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The group is also calling on lawmakers to bolster law enforcement officials ’ ability to document and respond to hate crimes .
The ADL has not yet quantified anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic .
But Greenblatt said that new manifestations of anti-Semitism are emerging .
He pointed to instances of “ Zoombombings ” of virtual Jewish gatherings and to extremists displaying Nazi imagery at anti-lockdown protests .
“ As with any public health crisis , we ’ re deeply concerned that as things get harder for folks economically @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of Jews being blamed and scapegoated , ” Greenblatt said during the news conference .
“ We ’ ve already seen manifestations of this , and if you look to Jewish history , we clearly have good reason for concern in these hateful times .
”

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Anti-Semitic incidents hit a four-decade high last year, according to an Anti-Defamation League report released Tuesday.
The ADL recorded 2,107 incidents of assault, vandalism and harassment against American Jews in 2019 ― higher than in any year since the Jewish advocacy group began tracking anti-Semitic incidents in 1979.
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The uptick included a 56% increase in assaults compared with the previous year, a surge marked by deadly attacks at a synagogue in Southern California, a kosher market in New Jersey and a rabbi’s home in New York. In total, the ADL counted 61 physical assault cases directly linked to anti-Semitic hatred last year. Five people were killed.
Over half of last year’s anti-Semitic assaults took place in New York City, with 25 happening in Brooklyn, the ADL reported. Jewish communities in New York sounded alarms throughout last year about Hasidic Jews being attacked while walking through their Brooklyn neighborhoods, culminating in a flurry of assaults during Hanukkah.
A rabbi's home in Monsey, New York, north of Manhattan, was the site of a stabbing during a Hanukkah celebration on Dec. 29, 2019. Allyse Pulliam/ASSOCIATED PRESS
The ADL also recorded 919 acts of vandalism, a 19% increase from 2018, and 1,127 incidents of harassment, a 6% increase.
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Jonathan A. Greenblatt, the CEO of the league, said that these attacks have contributed to a “rising climate of anxiety and fear in our communities.”
In fact, an ADL survey from January found that nearly two-thirds of Jews reported feeling less safe than they did a decade ago. Most (51%) said they were worried about a violent attack or vandalism at their synagogue.
“It’s clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent antisemitism and denounce it in all forms, wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents,” Greenblatt said in a statement.
A couple embraces at a memorial near the Chabad of Poway synagogue in Poway, California, on April 29, 2019. A gunman opened fire on the synagogue as about 100 people were there during Passover. Greg Bull/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Most of the perpetrators were not linked to extremist groups, according to Oren Segal, vice president of the ADL’s Center on Extremism.
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“The perpetrators that we know of are often your Average Janes, your Average Joes,” Segal said during a Tuesday news conference, according to The Times of Israel. “They are kids, they are adults; they’re in poor areas, they come from more affluent areas; it’s online, it’s offline. These incidents are not constrained by politics or even ideology. This report, which comes out every year, shows how anti-Semitism can be found in pretty much all segments in society.”
The ADL’s annual anti-Semitism audit counted both criminal and non-criminal acts of harassment. The report was compiled using information provided by victims, law enforcement and community leaders, the group said.
Emergency responders at a Jersey City kosher market where four people died during a shootout, including two Jewish Americans, on Dec. 11, 2019. Seth Wenig/ASSOCIATED PRESS
In order to stem the rise of anti-Semitism, the ADL is calling on Congress to increase funding for security enhancements for at-risk houses of worship and other institutions. The group is also calling on lawmakers to bolster law enforcement officials’ ability to document and respond to hate crimes.
The ADL has not yet quantified anti-Semitic incidents that have occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. But Greenblatt said that new manifestations of anti-Semitism are emerging. He pointed to instances of “Zoombombings” of virtual Jewish gatherings and to extremists displaying Nazi imagery at anti-lockdown protests.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-12--1 Out Of 3 Gay Men Feel Unsafe At Home Amid Coronavirus, Survey Finds

LONDON , May 12 ( Thomson Reuters Foundation ) - Almost a third of gay and bisexual men report feeling vulnerable at home during the new coronavirus pandemic , with Brazilians particularly concerned , a global survey found on Tuesday , highlighting its wider mental health impacts .
According to research conducted by the U.S.-based gay social network Hornet for the Thomson Reuters Foundation , 30 % of almost 3,500 respondents , which included transgender men , said they felt physically or emotionally unsafe in their own homes .
“ Think of how it feels to be 21 years old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ unsupportive and constantly haranguing you about marrying a woman , ” said Alex Garner , senior health innovation strategist at Hornet .
“ We have to challenge ourselves to think of how to support people in environments where they feel unsafe.
” Coronavirus restrictions have seen billions of people - both gay and straight - sequestered under tight stay-at-home rules , leading to a rise in domestic abuse , with particular pressure on LGBT+ people in conservative families that do not accept them .
Garner said he was hopeful that the community would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and1990s .
“ Gay and bisexual men do have the skills to get through this , but we do need to prioritize the mental health of ourLGBTQ community , ” he added .
Hornet sent the questionnaire to its 30 million users worldwide , with 18 % of responses coming from Brazil , a further 10 % from France and Russia respectively and 9 % from Turkey .
Many said lockdowns had impacted their mental health , with72 % experiencing anxiety since the pandemic began and 24 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , co-founder of PrEPster , a British LGBT+ sexual health organization , said the true scale of mental health issues would only be revealed after restrictions were lifted .
“ If we think we have mental health problems now , wait until post-lockdown , ” he said .
” ( We will see ) post-traumatic stress disorders not just from the LGBT+ community but society as a whole .

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LONDON, May 12 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Almost a third of gay and bisexual men report feeling vulnerable at home during the new coronavirus pandemic, with Brazilians particularly concerned, a global survey found on Tuesday, highlighting its wider mental health impacts.
According to research conducted by the U.S.-based gay social network Hornet for the Thomson Reuters Foundation, 30% of almost 3,500 respondents, which included transgender men, said they felt physically or emotionally unsafe in their own homes.
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“Think of how it feels to be 21 years old and living with a family that is unsupportive and constantly haranguing you about marrying a woman,” said Alex Garner, senior health innovation strategist at Hornet.
“We have to challenge ourselves to think of how to support people in environments where they feel unsafe.”
Coronavirus restrictions have seen billions of people - both gay and straight - sequestered under tight stay-at-home rules, leading to a rise in domestic abuse, with particular pressure on LGBT+ people in conservative families that do not accept them.
Garner said he was hopeful that the community would rally round, as they did during the HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and1990s.
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“Gay and bisexual men do have the skills to get through this, but we do need to prioritize the mental health of ourLGBTQ community,” he added.
Hornet sent the questionnaire to its 30 million users worldwide, with 18% of responses coming from Brazil, a further 10% from France and Russia respectively and 9% from Turkey.
Many said lockdowns had impacted their mental health, with72% experiencing anxiety since the pandemic began and 24% feeling very lonely.
Will Nutland, co-founder of PrEPster, a British LGBT+ sexual health organization, said the true scale of mental health issues would only be revealed after restrictions were lifted.
“If we think we have mental health problems now, wait until post-lockdown,” he said. ”(We will see) post-traumatic stress disorders not just from the LGBT+ community but society as a whole.
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“The fallout of this is going to be huge.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-13--Rick Bright To Testify That Trump Admin Was Unprepared For COVID-19

Rick Bright , the recently ousted government vaccine official , will testify before Congress on Thursday that the Trump administration was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic and that the U.S. may soon face its “ darkest winter in modern history.
” CNN and Axios were the first to report on Bright ’ s testimony on Wednesday , after a copy of his prepared remarks was published on the House website .
“ The world is confronting a great public health emergency which has the potential to eclipse the devastation wrought by the 1918 influenza which globally claimed over 50 million @ @ @ @ @ @ @ say in his prepared remarks .
He also lays out the need for a coordinated national response , as opposed to President Donald Trump ’ s efforts to push the burden onto states and local leaders .
He will testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce ’ s health subcommittee .
“ Our window of opportunity is closing , ” he says .
“ If we fail to develop a national coordinated response , based in science , I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged , causing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel after he was ousted from his role as the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority ( BARDA ) , in which he oversaw the federal government ’ s search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines .
He has alleged that his removal was in retaliation for his opposition of the broad use of a drug that Trump frequently touted as a coronavirus treatment despite no evidence it worked .
“ I spoke out then and I am testifying today because science — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the way to combat this deadly virus , ” Bright says .
In the testimony he prepared , Bright recounts pushing the Department of Health and Human Services to get a head start on preparing a for a potential coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. early this year , only to be shot down .
“ In January of this year , I pushed for our government to obtain virus samples from China and to secure more funding for BARDA to be able to get started quickly on the development of critical medical countermeasures @ @ @ @ @ @ @ leadership was dismissive about my dire predictions about what I assumed would be a broader outbreak and the pressing need to act , and were therefore unwilling to act with the urgency that the situation required.
” He will also testify that when he warned throughout the first three months of the year that the U.S. needed to increase “ production of masks , respirators and other critical supplies , such as medicine , syringes and swabs , ” HHS again dismissed his urgency and cut him out of high-level meetings regarding a @ @ @ @

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Rick Bright, the recently ousted government vaccine official, will testify before Congress on Thursday that the Trump administration was unprepared for the coronavirus pandemic and that the U.S. may soon face its “darkest winter in modern history.”
CNN and Axios were the first to report on Bright’s testimony on Wednesday, after a copy of his prepared remarks was published on the House website.
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“The world is confronting a great public health emergency which has the potential to eclipse the devastation wrought by the 1918 influenza which globally claimed over 50 million lives,” Bright is expected to say in his prepared remarks.
He also lays out the need for a coordinated national response, as opposed to President Donald Trump’s efforts to push the burden onto states and local leaders. He will testify before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce’s health subcommittee.
“Our window of opportunity is closing,” he says. “If we fail to develop a national coordinated response, based in science, I fear the pandemic will get far worse and be prolonged, causing unprecedented illness and fatalities.”
Bright filed a whistleblower complaint with the Office of Special Counsel after he was ousted from his role as the head of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), in which he oversaw the federal government’s search for COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. He has alleged that his removal was in retaliation for his opposition of the broad use of a drug that Trump frequently touted as a coronavirus treatment despite no evidence it worked.
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“I spoke out then and I am testifying today because science — not politics or cronyism — must lead the way to combat this deadly virus,” Bright says.
In the testimony he prepared, Bright recounts pushing the Department of Health and Human Services to get a head start on preparing a for a potential coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. early this year, only to be shot down.
“In January of this year, I pushed for our government to obtain virus samples from China and to secure more funding for BARDA to be able to get started quickly on the development of critical medical countermeasures,” he says. “HHS leadership was dismissive about my dire predictions about what I assumed would be a broader outbreak and the pressing need to act, and were therefore unwilling to act with the urgency that the situation required.”
He will also testify that when he warned throughout the first three months of the year that the U.S. needed to increase “production of masks, respirators and other critical supplies, such as medicine, syringes and swabs,” HHS again dismissed his urgency and cut him out of high-level meetings regarding a COVID-19 response plan.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-13--Jared Kushner Walks Back Alarming Comments On Election Postponement

Jared Kushner , son-in-law to President Donald Trump and a senior White House adviser , has clarified his recent comments causing speculation that the White House may try to push back the November election .
By law , the general election must take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November , and the president ― let alone a single staffer ― does not have sole authority to change that .
It would require an act of Congress .
But Kushner raised eyebrows with his comments in a video interview released Tuesday about the economic crisis wrought @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a Time magazine reporter asked whether the election could be postponed past Nov. 3 , Kushner replied : “ It ’ s not my decision to make , and I ’ m not sure I can commit one way or the other , but right now that ’ s the plan.
” He continued : “ Hopefully by the time we get to September , October , November , we ’ ve done enough work with testing and with all the different things we ’ re trying to do to prevent a future @ @ @ @ @ @ @ us shut down again.
” Kushner issued a clarifying statement to NBC News , saying that he has “ not been involved in ” nor is he “ aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the Presidential election.
” “ Mark my words , I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow , come up with some rationale why it can ’ t be held , ” Biden told supporters during an online fundraiser .
As the coronavirus crashed plans for the Summer Olympics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Democratic National Convention , some have wondered whether the U.S. general election will be held as planned .
Experts say that massive , widespread testing — to identify even asymptomatic people with the virus so they can be quarantined to protect the general population — is the key to returning to a more normal life .
But the U.S. has lagged so far in its testing capabilities , which are now focused mainly on essential workers and people with symptoms .
Dr. Anthony Fauci , the nation ’ s leading expert on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see “ a real degree of normality ” in American life by Nov. 3 .
To protect people who might still feel uncomfortable going to the polls even if testing is adequate by then , however , congressional Democrats are pushing for greater access to mail-in voting .
While Trump has responded to Biden ’ s assertion by stating that the election will definitely occur as scheduled , he has repeatedly brought up unsubstantiated concerns that mail-in voting will lead to voter fraud , sparking fear that he may challenge the election @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .

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Jared Kushner, son-in-law to President Donald Trump and a senior White House adviser, has clarified his recent comments causing speculation that the White House may try to push back the November election.
By law, the general election must take place on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, and the president ― let alone a single staffer ― does not have sole authority to change that. It would require an act of Congress.
Advertisement
But Kushner raised eyebrows with his comments in a video interview released Tuesday about the economic crisis wrought by the coronavirus in America.
When a Time magazine reporter asked whether the election could be postponed past Nov. 3, Kushner replied: “It’s not my decision to make, and I’m not sure I can commit one way or the other, but right now that’s the plan.”
He continued: “Hopefully by the time we get to September, October, November, we’ve done enough work with testing and with all the different things we’re trying to do to prevent a future outbreak of the magnitude that would make us shut down again.”
Kushner issued a clarifying statement to NBC News, saying that he has “not been involved in” nor is he “aware of any discussions about trying to change the date of the Presidential election.”
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Former Vice President Joe Biden, the Democratic party’s presumed presidential nominee, warned late last month that Trump may try to postpone the election.
“Mark my words, I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” Biden told supporters during an online fundraiser.
As the coronavirus crashed plans for the Summer Olympics, a number of festivals and even the Democratic National Convention, some have wondered whether the U.S. general election will be held as planned.
Experts say that massive, widespread testing — to identify even asymptomatic people with the virus so they can be quarantined to protect the general population — is the key to returning to a more normal life. But the U.S. has lagged so far in its testing capabilities, which are now focused mainly on essential workers and people with symptoms.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading expert on infectious disease, has said he hopes to see “a real degree of normality” in American life by Nov. 3.
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To protect people who might still feel uncomfortable going to the polls even if testing is adequate by then, however, congressional Democrats are pushing for greater access to mail-in voting.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-05-13--Republicans Flip Katie Hill's Old House Seat

Garcia , a defense industry executive , and Smith , a state assembly member , were competing to replace former Rep. Katie Hill , a Democrat who resigned last year amid a scandal .
Garcia will complete the rest of Hill ’ s term and will face Smith again in November in a general election for the term that begins in January 2021 .
“ While it ’ s critical that we ensure every vote is counted and recorded , we believe that the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor in the May 12th special election , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ As such , I ’ d like to congratulate him.
” Before her resignation , Hill was a progressive hero in California ’ s 25th District .
Despite running in a district long held by conservative men , she centered her 2018 campaign around progressive issues , including Medicare for All .
But less than a year into her term , a conservative news site published nude pictures of Hill without her consent and exposed her affair with a campaign aide .
The main authors of the articles were former campaign advisers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Hill defeated in 2018 .
After stepping down , Hill recruited Smith , whose state assembly district overlaps with much of the congressional district , to run to replace her .
Smith received the most votes in the jungle primary , crushing her main Democratic rival Cenk Uygur , founder of The Young Turks , who portrayed Smith as an establishment centrist .
Garcia , who came in second in the primary , split most of the Republican vote with Knight .
The race , the first special election during the coronavirus pandemic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smith was endorsed by former President Barack Obama , Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass. )
.
Garcia received endorsements from President Donald Trump , former U.N .
Ambassador Nikki Haley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy ( R-Calif. ) Because of health risks associated with in-person voting during the coronavirus crisis , all 25th District voters were sent mail-in ballots .
There were also a handful of in-person voting centers .
Days before the election , Trump accused Democrats of “ trying to steal another election ” after the party @ @ @ @ @ @ @ minority-majority part of the district that wasn ’ t initially set to have that option .
“ These votes must not count .
SCAM !
” Trump tweeted .
The earliest vote count showed Garcia with a large lead , and Trump declared Republican victory the morning after the election ― even before all of the mail-in ballots were received .
When Democrats pointed out that it was far too early to be sure which candidate would win , far-right propagandists suggested that if later votes showed a Democratic victory , it would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ kind of disinformation is likely a preview of what is to come in November ’ s presidential election , which is expected to have a dramatic increase in the number of mail-in votes because of the coronavirus pandemic .
Despite the special election loss , Democrats are hoping Smith has a better chance of winning the general election in November , when there will be a larger voter turnout and a greater focus on Trump , who is unpopular in the district .

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Republican Mike Garcia defeated Democrat Christy Smith in Tuesday’s special election for a vacant congressional seat in a swing district in the Los Angeles suburbs.
Garcia, a defense industry executive, and Smith, a state assembly member, were competing to replace former Rep. Katie Hill, a Democrat who resigned last year amid a scandal. Garcia will complete the rest of Hill’s term and will face Smith again in November in a general election for the term that begins in January 2021.
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Although votes are still being counted, Smith conceded on Wednesday.
“While it’s critical that we ensure every vote is counted and recorded, we believe that the current tally shows Mike Garcia is the likely victor in the May 12th special election,” Smith said in a statement. “As such, I’d like to congratulate him.”
Before her resignation, Hill was a progressive hero in California’s 25th District. Despite running in a district long held by conservative men, she centered her 2018 campaign around progressive issues, including Medicare for All.
But less than a year into her term, a conservative news site published nude pictures of Hill without her consent and exposed her affair with a campaign aide. The main authors of the articles were former campaign advisers to Steven Knight, the Republican incumbent Hill defeated in 2018.
After stepping down, Hill recruited Smith, whose state assembly district overlaps with much of the congressional district, to run to replace her. Smith received the most votes in the jungle primary, crushing her main Democratic rival Cenk Uygur, founder of The Young Turks, who portrayed Smith as an establishment centrist. Garcia, who came in second in the primary, split most of the Republican vote with Knight.
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The race, the first special election during the coronavirus pandemic, quickly took on national significance. Smith was endorsed by former President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.). Garcia received endorsements from President Donald Trump, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
Because of health risks associated with in-person voting during the coronavirus crisis, all 25th District voters were sent mail-in ballots. There were also a handful of in-person voting centers.
Days before the election, Trump accused Democrats of “trying to steal another election” after the party secured an in-person voting center in a minority-majority part of the district that wasn’t initially set to have that option. “These votes must not count. SCAM!” Trump tweeted.
With a large number of mail-in votes, it will take days to confirm the final results.
The earliest vote count showed Garcia with a large lead, and Trump declared Republican victory the morning after the election ― even before all of the mail-in ballots were received.
Garcia’s campaign put out a press release the same day stating: “Election results make Garcia victory clear.”
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When Democrats pointed out that it was far too early to be sure which candidate would win, far-right propagandists suggested that if later votes showed a Democratic victory, it would be because of voter fraud.
This kind of disinformation is likely a preview of what is to come in November’s presidential election, which is expected to have a dramatic increase in the number of mail-in votes because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Despite the special election loss, Democrats are hoping Smith has a better chance of winning the general election in November, when there will be a larger voter turnout and a greater focus on Trump, who is unpopular in the district.