thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Joe Biden's Balancing Act Filling His Cabinet

“ Frankly , he was so smart to reach out very early to Elizabeth [ Warren ] and other key @ @ @ @ @ their ideas in the very early stages of the election campaign , ” said Sen. @ @ @ @ @ .
“ He has been so inclusive so as to put himself in a position @ @ @ @ @ have to worry so much about these fights .
He ’ s got a platform @ @ @ @ @ .
Had he not adjusted his platform , then people might be much more concerned @ @ @ @ @

President-elect Joe Biden introduced his nominees and appointees to key foreign policy positions on Nov. 24. Carolyn Kaster/Associated Press
President-elect Joe Biden won with a large coalition. He had the left. Centrists. Republicans who were disaffected with Donald Trump. Black voters. Millennials.
And so far, he’s managed to keep the party largely satisfied with his choices for his Cabinet and other top administration jobs. They’re the Goldilocks nominees. Maybe not everyone’s ideal picks, but they work.
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“I think he’s done a very good job,” said Sen. Doug Jones (D-Ala.), a Biden friend who lost his reelection bid and has been discussed as a possible attorney general. “I think he has been thoughtful, deliberative and done a good job carrying his promise to get both talented and diverse selections.”
“We’re thrilled with the economic team who understands we have to raise wages and put money in people’s pockets as a key metric of the health of this economy, not simply whether the stock market is doing better,” said Mary Kay Henry, president of the 2-million-member Service Employees International Union. “So for us, it’s a huge shift and a welcome set of leaders, and we fully support the picks that he’s made.” Henry has been in frequent contact with the Biden transition team.
Still, there are warnings of trouble as Biden fills in names for the remaining 15 of his 23 Cabinet positions, with the transition team planning to announce its health policy team next week.
Black, Asian and Latino lawmakers and groups are increasingly voicing frustration that, although Biden has named a diverse slate of nominees and appointees, the highest-ranking officials are largely white. Progressives have also promised bruising battles if certain people are chosen, and a Democratic senator has already said he will oppose a leading candidate for CIA director if Biden chooses him.
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But putting in place an economic team that managed to keep most of the party happy was no small feat. The left wing of the party wanted major structural reforms to the economy but came around to accept that Biden didn’t run for president on that agenda. Still, he showed he was open to listening to the progressive community during the campaign, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), in particular, had his ear on policy.
For many on the left, Warren was their top choice for treasury secretary, even though she was always a longshot. Even as her allies were pushing her for the job, behind the scenes, Warren was privately advocating for Janet Yellen, the former chair of the Federal Reserve, to get the job, according to a person familiar with the discussions. Yellen, if confirmed, will be the first female treasury secretary.
Before Biden announced publicly that he would indeed be choosing Yellen, he personally called Warren to let her know about his decision, and the two had a “good, warm call,” according to the source who requested anonymity to speak candidly.
Few if any of Biden’s economic appointments have gone to figures who would have landed big jobs in a more progressive administration of Warren or Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). But they have for the most part been policymakers whom Warren and Sanders find acceptable.
Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers ― Cecilia Rouse, Jared Bernstein and Heather Boushey ― were all fringe members of the Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama economic establishment who espouse broadly progressive views. During the Obama years, they were typically given positions on panels stacked with more conservative thinkers and ignored. They will now be running the shop.
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Yellen is an academic economist at a job typically reserved for Wall Street attorneys. Her policy record includes support for most of the major conservative reforms of the Clinton era ― the shift to the North American Free Trade Agreement and bank deregulation ― but she is viewed as a student of data rather than a free-market fundamentalist.
Given concerns during the fall that Biden would import his economic team from private equity firms and Silicon Valley giants, the staff decisions have mostly come as a relief to progressive watchdogs. Even the appointments that grate ― Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden, a prolific tweeter, at the Office of Management and Budget, BlackRock executive Brian Deese at the National Economic Council ― are viewed as creatures of politics rather than ideologues bent on reviving the bad ideas of the 1990s.
“Frankly, he was so smart to reach out very early to Elizabeth [Warren] and other key progressives and include them and their ideas in the very early stages of the election campaign,” said Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.). “He has been so inclusive so as to put himself in a position where he doesn’t have to worry so much about these fights. He’s got a platform regardless of who he picks. Had he not adjusted his platform, then people might be much more concerned about these picks.”
The policy consensus among economists has been shifting over the past few years. Experts in the field are friendlier to big budget deficits than they were during the Obama presidency and more conscious of the problems for workers and foreign policy generated by globalization. It is not a progressive discipline, but middle-of-the-road economists today espouse more nuanced views than those of a decade prior.
So far, no Democratic senators have indicated any opposition to Biden’s economic choices. Sanders supporters are livid about the choice of Tanden, who has had a tense and combative relationship with the senator and his backers since the 2016 presidential campaign. Yet Sanders himself has so far stayed silent, allowing the controversy to simmer rather than bubble over into a full-blown mess. GOP senators, however, have already promised to oppose her ― a bigger problem for Biden if Republicans retain the Senate next year.
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Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) called the GOP blowback “predictable” and praised Tanden, saying he was ready to defend her during the confirmation process.
“I’m on the budget committee, so I’m really looking forward to that hearing. I love jousting with Lindsey Graham,” Kaine added, referring to his combative South Carolina Republican colleague.
Personnel As Policy
President-elect Joe Biden has tapped former Fed Chair Janet Yellen to be his treasury secretary. Andrew Harnik/Associated Press
The fact that the left is largely satisfied with Biden’s Cabinet selections is not an accident. It came about after years of laying down infrastructure around the importance of making sure that the right personnel are in place, following the maxim that personnel is policy. And it emerged from disappointment with Obama’s first term, when many progressive activists acknowledge that they simply didn’t realize the importance of influencing personnel at the time.
“The enormous amount of outreach that the transition began in the middle of the summer is a direct result of so many people taking ‘personnel as policy’ to heart,” said Anita Dunn, a close Biden adviser who was also in Obama’s inner circle.
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“There was a lot more focus on policy during the [Obama] transition from allied groups than personnel. And I think many of them have talked openly about taking a different approach this time,” she added. “I think the transition has recognized that, and that was one of the reasons why there has been such broad engagement. I think they’ve done a very good job, but that’s certainly a significant difference from 2008.”
“Progressives are much better educated about how power works in Washington in November 2020 than they were in November 2008,” said Jeff Hauser, executive director of the Revolving Door Project, which is focusing on executive branch personnel. “As a result ... the transition process will be monitored extremely closely. That did not occur in 2008. Progressives weren’t really even necessarily super familiar with who Tim Geithner was, let alone worry he might become treasury secretary.”
Biden’s economic team is a departure from Obama’s. Obama brought in people who were on Wall Street or pushed by Wall Street, deficit hawks and officials who openly denigrated the left. Biden has had those options as well, but he chose differently. Gary Gensler, a former Wall Street executive who became known for cracking down on Wall Street as an Obama administration official, is now overseeing Biden’s team reviewing financial regulatory agencies. Julie Siegel, a top Warren adviser and former Consumer Financial Protection Bureau official, is on the staff of Biden’s transition team.
Even in cases where someone does have ties to a financial institution, they’re not seen as hostile to the left. Wally Adeyemo spent two years at private equity giant BlackRock, but he also formed a strong relationship with Warren and her allies while working as chief of staff at the CFPB and was on the board of the progressive economic think tank Demos. He had a reputation for keeping an open door and listening to progressive activists, even if he wasn’t a person who emerged from the movement.
“Let me tell you – Sen. Warren really likes you,” Biden told Adeyemo when he announced his nomination for deputy treasury secretary on Dec. 1.
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Hauser’s Revolving Door Project was originated to influence a potential Hillary Clinton administration after the 2016 election. That outcome obviously didn’t happen, and he’s had four years to get ready for the current moment, working closely with the progressive group Demand Progress to send signals to the Biden team on nominations and appointments.
Revolving Door Project, Demand Progress and a number of other progressive groups have a No Corporate Cabinet site identifying potential candidates that they want Biden to avoid for top administration jobs.
“The Biden team would be wise to take revolving door concerns more seriously, as for many people who’ve been chosen or are under consideration, multilayered private-sector entanglements represent a huge vulnerability with the public, and potentially with senators of both parties. An attitude of ‘Trump did it, so we can too’ won’t cut it: Two wrongs don’t make a right ― or guarantee confirmation,” said David Segal, co-founder of Demand Progress.
The influence of progressives goes beyond Biden consulting Warren on the treasury secretary. A background in corporate America is now seen as a potential liability in a way that it wasn’t in 2008.
The Biden team has generally received high marks from activists too on officials’ outreach and willingness to hear their priorities and concerns.
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“We’ve found them both very open to conversations and suggestions, as well as very receptive and responsive and communicative of input ― and that’s both personally and for the reproductive freedom and justice coalition who engages with them, both from a gender equity and a health lens,” said Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “So far, I think they’ve done a good job on that front, with the caveat that a lot of positions have not been named yet. So we’re keeping an eye on that, obviously.”
Ai-jen Poo, senior adviser to Care in Action, has also been in discussions with the Biden transition team, noting that officials have been meeting recently with organizations focused on the rights of women, immigrants and workers.
“I think the transition team has done a really good job of listening and engaging with different constituencies who are really key and who are really on the front lines of crisis right now. ... That process is really important, and ultimately, there’s a lot that we’re going to need them to deliver on,” she said, citing the disparate effects of the coronavirus pandemic on women and people of color. “So the more information they can gather from constituencies, the better.”
Rumblings Of Dissatisfaction
Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) has called on Biden to name more Black leaders to top administration jobs. Graeme Jennings/Pool via Associated Press
Biden’s foreign policy choices were generally met without much widespread objection, even if some on the left found them a bit predictable and not enough of a break with the foreign policy establishment as they may have liked.
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Former Rep. Tom Perriello (D-Va.), a progressive who served as special envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo during the Obama administration, called Biden’s choices ― including Tony Blinken for secretary of state and Jake Sullivan for national security adviser ― “a promising group.”
“They both have the gravitas of having been in the room where it happens before, but have also shown they’re capable of bringing some fresh thinking,” he said.
But the front-runner for CIA director is already creating controversy. One Democratic senator is already publicly promising to break from the president-elect if he chooses Mike Morrell for the position.
Morrell was deputy CIA director under Obama. But Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, has called him a “torture apologist” for defending the CIA’s use of waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, and said his nomination would be a “nonstarter.” Sens. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) have also expressed concerns, according to CNN.
Some in the party would also have liked to have less of a reliance on people who have long been in government and more openness to individuals willing to shake things up.
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“If you fell asleep in 2016 and woke up to see the names coming from the presidential transition, you wouldn’t be faulted for believing this was Hillary Clinton’s team,” said one senior Democratic official who requested anonymity to speak freely. “The names of Ron Klain, Neera Tanden, Brian Deese, Jake Sullivan, Alejandro Mayorkas, Janet Yellen, Heather Boushey, Avril Haines and so on were very likely going to be hers, too.”
The past few days have been especially rocky for the Biden team, with increasingly public calls to ensure that his remaining nominees are more racially diverse and with heightened pressure by outside groups to choose their favored candidates.
“I would love to see more diversity in the future picks, especially people of color and women of color.” - Ai-jen Poo, executive director of the National Domestic Workers Alliance
Biden already has nominated the first female treasury secretary, the first woman of color to lead the Office of Management and Budget, the first woman of color to chair the Council of Economic Advisers and the first Latino and immigrant to lead the Department of Homeland Security. His entire senior press team will be women. But two of the “big four” Cabinet positions that he has filled ― treasury secretary and secretary of state ― have gone to white candidates, and many of his allies want to see the attorney general and defense secretary posts go to non-white nominees.
“It’s really important to note about all of these picks that they weren’t picked because of checking off any kind of box,” said Dunn. “They were picked because they’re highly qualified people who are right for their jobs. ... The mix of them is going to make this one of the strongest groups of people ever in an administration because of the diversity of viewpoints, of backgrounds. People who come from different parts of the political spectrum but who have a set of shared values.”
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During a call between transition officials and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) confronted incoming White House chief of staff Ron Klain over what he viewed as the mistreatment of New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who is a co-chair of the transition team. News reports indicated that she was not a serious front-runner for secretary of health and human services and had turned down an offer to be secretary of the interior. The Interior Department offer irked many of Lujan Grisham’s allies, since the job, focused heavily on public lands, would have been an odd fit for the former New Mexico state health secretary. To her allies, it seemed like she wasn’t being treated fairly.
Close Biden ally Rep. James Clyburn (D-S.C.) and other Black lawmakers have advocated for Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio) to serve as agriculture secretary. They’ve been joined by liberal groups, who see her as a better alternative to centrist Heidi Heitkamp, a former Democratic senator from North Dakota.
Clyburn has openly expressed his disappointment that there aren’t more Black nominees for top jobs.
“I want to see where the process leads to, what it produces, but so far it’s not good,” he said in an interview with The Hill.
Biden’s team has tapped three Black leaders for top roles: Adeyemo, a Nigerian American economist; Rep. Cedric Richmond of Louisiana, named as a top White House adviser; and former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield, selected to be the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.
“I would love to see more diversity in the future picks, especially people of color and women of color,” Poo, of the National Domestic Workers Alliance, told HuffPost.
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“Obviously groups are doing their job, which is to push us. And we appreciate that,” Dunn said. “But we feel like we’re doing our job, which is to keep the commitment that Joe Biden made. And that at the end of this process, people are going to see a Cabinet that ... looks like America.”
Biden told reporters on Friday that he remains steadfast in his plan to create a diverse administration.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Donald Trump Orders Withdrawal Of U.S. Troops From Somalia

ADDIS ABABA , Dec 5 ( Reuters ) - President Donald Trump ’ s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Somalia in the waning days of his presidency triggered dismay on Saturday from some Somalis , who appealed to the incoming U.S. president to reverse the decision .
“ The U.S. decision to pull troops out of Somalia at this critical stage in the successful fight against al-Shabaab and their global terrorist network is extremely regrettable , “ Senator Ayub Ismail Yusuf told Reuters in a statement , referring to the al Qaida-linked al Shabaab insurgency .
“ U.S @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and had great impact on the training and operational effectiveness of Somali soldiers , ” said Yusuf , a member of Somalia ’ s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee .
The Somali government could not immediately be reached for comment early on Saturday to Friday ’ s decision to withdraw almost all the roughly 700 U.S. troops by Jan. 15 .
Somalia ’ s fragile internationally-backed government is due to hold parliamentary elections this month and national elections in early February , a precursor to the planned drawdown of the 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Somalia , mostly supporting Somalispecial forces known as Danab in operations against al Shabaab , whose attacks in nations like Kenya and Uganda have killed hundreds of civilians , including Americans .
Danab punches above its weight because regular forces are often poorly trained and equipped , frequently desert their posts or become enmeshed in power struggles between the national and regional governments .
If the withdrawal is permanent , “ it will have a huge toll on counterterrorism efforts , ” said Colonel Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh , who served for three years @ @ @ @ @ @ @ He fought alongside U.S. forces , he said , and during his command two Americans and more than a hundred of his own men had died .
Both U.S. and Somali forces opposed the withdrawal , he said .
The U.S. program to expand Danab to 3,000 men was supposed to continue until 2027 , Sheikh said , but its future is unclear .
Airstrikes will likely continue from bases in Kenya and Djibouti , which could also provide a launchpad for cross-border operations .
Rights group Amnesty International says the airstrikes have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ past three years .
The U.S. withdrawal comes at a turbulent time in the region .
Ethiopia , which is a major troop contributor to the peacekeeping forces and has thousands more troops in Somalia bilaterally , is distracted by an internal conflict that broke out last month .
It has disarmed hundreds of its peacekeepers already .
Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991 , but the entry of the peacekeeping force in 2008 helped incubate fledgling government structures that allowed for gradual reforms of the military , such as @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the formation of Danab .
But many problems with the Somali military remain , including corruption and political interference .
Perhaps a withdrawal will force Somalia to confront them , said Sheikh .
Or perhaps it will make them worse .

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ADDIS ABABA, Dec 5 (Reuters) - President Donald Trump’s decision to pull U.S. troops out of Somalia in the waning days of his presidency triggered dismay on Saturday from some Somalis, who appealed to the incoming U.S. president to reverse the decision.
“The U.S. decision to pull troops out of Somalia at this critical stage in the successful fight against al-Shabaab and their global terrorist network is extremely regrettable,“ Senator Ayub Ismail Yusuf told Reuters in a statement, referring to the al Qaida-linked al Shabaab insurgency.
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“U.S. troops have made a huge contribution and had great impact on the training and operational effectiveness of Somali soldiers,” said Yusuf, a member of Somalia’s Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
He tagged U.S. President-elect Joe Biden in a tweet criticizing the decision.
The Somali government could not immediately be reached for comment early on Saturday to Friday’s decision to withdraw almost all the roughly 700 U.S. troops by Jan. 15.
Somalia’s fragile internationally-backed government is due to hold parliamentary elections this month and national elections in early February, a precursor to the planned drawdown of the 17,000-strong African Union peacekeeping force.
U.S. troops have been in Somalia, mostly supporting Somalispecial forces known as Danab in operations against al Shabaab, whose attacks in nations like Kenya and Uganda have killed hundreds of civilians, including Americans.
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SUPPORTING SOMALI FORCES
Danab punches above its weight because regular forces are often poorly trained and equipped, frequently desert their posts or become enmeshed in power struggles between the national and regional governments.
If the withdrawal is permanent, “it will have a huge toll on counterterrorism efforts,” said Colonel Ahmed Abdullahi Sheikh, who served for three years until 2019 as the Danab commander.
He fought alongside U.S. forces, he said, and during his command two Americans and more than a hundred of his own men had died. Both U.S. and Somali forces opposed the withdrawal, he said.
The U.S. program to expand Danab to 3,000 men was supposed to continue until 2027, Sheikh said, but its future is unclear.
Airstrikes will likely continue from bases in Kenya and Djibouti, which could also provide a launchpad for cross-border operations. Rights group Amnesty International says the airstrikes have killed at least 16 civilians in the past three years.
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The U.S. withdrawal comes at a turbulent time in the region. Ethiopia, which is a major troop contributor to the peacekeeping forces and has thousands more troops in Somalia bilaterally, is distracted by an internal conflict that broke out last month. It has disarmed hundreds of its peacekeepers already.
Somalia has been riven by civil war since 1991, but the entry of the peacekeeping force in 2008 helped incubate fledgling government structures that allowed for gradual reforms of the military, such as a biometric system to pay soldiers and the formation of Danab.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--49 Celebrity Christmas Gift Ideas That Will Be Perfect Under Your Tree

Considering we are dealing with a once-in-a-century pandemic , it ’ s understandable if you ’ re having trouble focusing on holiday shopping .
Don ’ t worry .
Celebrities are here for you .
Yes , many stars of TV , film , music , sports and social media have their own branded products that might make perfect gifts for the fans on your list .
Our very extensive sampling , below , includes everything from celeb-branded booze to celeb-branded makeup and celeb-branded CBD .
Oh , and don ’ t forget the celeb-branded clitoral stimulator .
We promise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ more than , say , a video of a bunch of the famous singing “ Imagine.
” • Megan Thee Stallion made a lot of green this year in the music world .
Now she 's expanding her empire to include , among other things , a new line of blue jeans .
• You knew podcast host and comedian Joe Rogan would come out with his own CBD beverage .
And you were right .
• Dwayne Johnson is hoping to rock the liquor world with his own line of tequlia .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ have their own wines , weed or CBD brands .
The singer Lily Allen is going even further with her own sex toy .
Viva la difference !
• Martha Stewart 's latest addition to her product line -- CBD goodies -- is more in the category of house weed than housewares , but that 's still a good thing .
• Kate Hudson is going a different route with a line of green powder ,  perfect for when you want to add vitamins to your smoothies .
• Post Malone is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ big splash .
• Serena Williams is taking a swing at fashion with her stylish `` S '' Dress .
• Actor Jim Belushi 's latest project is n't a sitcom or a movie -- it 's a line of joints inspired by his late brother John 's classic film `` The Blues Brothers . ''
• Metal band Metallica now has its own brand of whiskey called `` Blackened '' that , in fairness , is actually a pleasant dark brown color .
• Selena Gomez 's new ice cream brand takes @ @ @ @ @ @ @ A lot of women who watched `` Lizzie McGuire '' as tweens are now having kids of their own -- and Hilary Duff is there with a box of curated baby gifts .
• Actor Alicia Silverstone is n't clueless about health , so she created a line of organic vitamins that come in both gummies and sprays .
• If seeing is believing , actor Rashida Jones believes you 'll enjoy these glasses she 's curated .
 • Anyone who follows YouTuber Emma Chamberlain knows she 's a fan of iced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ brand of java is definitely on-brand .
• All the martinis Pierce Brosnan drank while playing James Bond must have left him shaken and stirred , because now he has his own line of tequila .
• Rapper Nicki Minaj is bubbling over with excitement about her new moscato wines .
• MMA champion Conor McGregor is celebrating his Irish background with a proper Irish whiskey , appropriately called Proper No .
Twelve .
• Food Network star and celebrity chef Geoffrey Zakarian had a grape time creating his own wine collection .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ star John Schneider is n't driving the General Lee , but hopes to drive sales for his new CBD brand .
• Paris Hilton is adding a little pizazz to phone cases by making them holographic .
And a grateful world rejoices .
• Hall of Fame football star Terrell Davis is hoping to score in the cannabis space with a line of CBD soft drinks .
• Actor Dave Franco could thicken his bank account with this new product : a really thin wallet .
• Nile Rodgers is one of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ history .
Naturally his Bulova watch is also good at keeping time .
• Since Hallmark Channel heroine Candice Cameron Bure is probably on your TV during the holidays , why not keep her on the tree with this Christmas ornament .
• Model and fashion designer Kimora Lee Simmons is putting her money where her mouth is -- in the form of lip gloss .
• A lot of celebrities have their own branded wines .
But what about Sarah Jessica Parker ?
The answer is yes .
• Mark Cuban is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' and into the wardrobe business .
His Three Commas brand offers hats and shirts .
The brand name references his billions , not his love for grammar .
• Tori Spelling not only makes the most entertaining Lifetime movies ( `` Mother , May I Sleep With Danger '' is a classic ) , but she 's also a bit of a wine connoisseur with her new line of curated vinos .
• Director Paul Feig wants to help you gin up some holiday fun with his own line of gin .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the BET series `` Twenties , '' she works on StarMagicbyAshli , a line of intentional candles , including one promising to `` permanently remove obstacles from the path of your desires . ''
• Mexican actor Luis Gerardo Méndez 's latest project is Ojo de Tigre , which is not a film , but a brand of tequila .
• When actor Liza Koshy is n't starring in films or YouTube clips , she keeps busy promoting her new cosmetics line. • Rapper Boosie Badazz has his own CBD line .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ pitches his as a `` male enhancer . ''
• The hip-hop mogul known as Diddy has long had his own booze brand , Ciroc .
His latest addition to the liquor lineup is a version of vodka made with white grapes .
• Reggaeton singer J. Balvin hails from Colombia , but his whisky ?
Strictly Scotch .
• Actor Suzanne Somers popularized the Thigh Master .
Her latest product is less strenuous : Peppermint Creme Body Butter .
• Considering that Boys II Men made some of the 1990s ' best @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 'd want to enhance romance in other ways with their line of imported French wines .
• Rickey Thompson What Do You Meme Expansion Pack Internet personality Rickey Thompson is maximizing his brand with a personalized expansion pack for the popular game `` What Do You Meme ? ''
• Jonathan Cheban is best known for being Kim Kardashian 's good friend , but now he is attempting to get known as a `` food god '' with his own brand of truffle ketchup .
• You might not know the name Pat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hit song recorded by his band Redbone : `` Come And Get Your Love . ''
The song is still heard regularly , but the band 's story as America 's first big Native American rock group has n't been as heralded .
That tragedy has been rectified with this graphic novel about the group 's history .
• Kristen Bell is hoping her new line of snack bars , ThisSavesLives , provides food for thought about childhood hunger .
Each bar sold helps fund lifesaving nutrition for a malnourished kid .
• @ @ @ @ @ @ @ line Attitude Is Free donates all proceeds to the Center for the Intrepid , a rehabilitation facility in San Antonio , Texas , that treats amputees and burn victims .
• Famed architect Frank Gehry is known for the curvy lines of his buildings .
He applied the same trademark approach to the Hennessy Cognac bottle .
• The rock-reggae band Sublime With Rome is hoping to light up fans with their own personal brand of cannabis .
• `` Chicago Med '' / '' One Tree Hill '' star Torrey DeVitto is @ @ @ @ @ @ @ tote bags to empower survivors and victims of modern day slavery .
• Singer-actor Jason DeRulo is hoping to rock the liquor world with his new vodka brand .

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thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Jimmy Fallon's Viewers Ruin Holiday Songs With Just One Word

Viewers of “ The Tonight Show ” got in the holiday spirit this week by ruining festive songs .
Host @ @ @ @ @ add one word to the title of a Christmas track and share the result on @ @ @ @ @ hashtag .
Suggestions that Fallon read on the show included a dig at Rudy Giuliani @ @ @ @ @ President Donald Trump , and a post from “ Star Wars ” actor Mark Hamill @ @ @ @ @ here :


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--New Jersey Governor Lashes Rep. Matt 'Putz' Gaetz Over Potential Superspreader Event In His State

New Jersey Gov .
Phil Murphy ( D ) shredded Rep. Matt Gaetz ( R-Fla. ) for blithely featuring in an indoor event that could become a COVID-19 superspreader in Jersey City — and warned the health regulation-busting Republican to stay out of his state .
“ Matt — You are not welcome in New Jersey , and frankly I don ’ t ever want you back in this state , ” Murphy said in a tweet Friday .
Gaetz was the featured speaker at a secret “ gala fundraiser ” Thursday for the New York Young Republican Club which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ behavior to another state .
Gaetz filled in for Tea Party supporting former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin , who bailed on the event because of her fears about the pandemic , The New York Times reported .
The event , with dozens of participants packed together in photos , clearly ignored New Jersey ’ s social distancing and mask regulations designed to help stem the spread of deadly COVID-19 amid a record surge of cases in the nation .
Gaetz was also subject to state quarantine rules since he likely flew in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ home state of Florida , the Times noted .
“ It is beyond the pale that anyone would willingly endanger people in another state , ” Murphy complained on Twitter Friday .
Murphy added that it is “ also beyond the pale that ‘ Matt Putz ’ — I mean Rep. Matt Gaetz — would participate in this .
What a fool.
” The governor posted a photo of Gaetz in a gas mask on the floor of the House earlier this year .
Gaetz wore the mask to mock restrictions to protect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the @ NYYRC allegedly snuck into Jersey City to hold a “ gala fundraiser ” – ignoring our social distancing and mask rules .
It is beyond the pale that anyone would willingly endanger people in another state .
Jersey City law enforcement is investigating this matter .
pic.twitter.com/OX2ug8S1e3 — Governor Phil Murphy ( @ GovMurphy ) December 4 , 2020 It is also beyond the pale that Rep Matt Putz – I mean @ RepMattGaetz – would participate in this .
What a fool .
Matt – You are not welcome in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ t ever want you back in this state .
pic.twitter.com/j67x9Z2lAf — Governor Phil Murphy ( @ GovMurphy ) December 4 , 2020 The GOP club initially posted on Facebook that the event was being held in Manhattan .
When New York City officials challenged those plans , the Young COVID Republicans referred to critics who are Jewish as “ court Jews ” while also accusing New York Gov .
Andrew Cuomo of being antisemitic .
Everyone deserves accurate information about COVID-19 .
Support journalism without a paywall — and keep it free @ @ @ @ @ @ @ member today

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New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) shredded Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) for blithely featuring in an indoor event that could become a COVID-19 superspreader in Jersey City — and warned the health regulation-busting Republican to stay out of his state.
“Matt — You are not welcome in New Jersey, and frankly I don’t ever want you back in this state,” Murphy said in a tweet Friday.
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Gaetz was the featured speaker at a secret “gala fundraiser” Thursday for the New York Young Republican Club, which jumped the river to bring their superspreading behavior to another state. Gaetz filled in for tea party-supporting former vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, who bailed on the event because of her fears about the pandemic, The New York Times reported.
The event, with dozens of participants packed together in photos, clearly ignored New Jersey’s social distancing and mask regulations designed to help stem the spread of deadly COVID-19 amid a record surge of cases in the nation.
Gaetz was also subject to state quarantine rules since he likely flew in from Washington, D.C., or his home state of Florida, the Times noted.
New Jersey law enforcement officials are investigating.
“It is beyond the pale that anyone would willingly endanger people in another state,” Murphy complained on Twitter Friday.
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Murphy added that it is “also beyond the pale that ‘Matt Putz’ — I mean Rep. Matt Gaetz — would participate in this. What a fool.”
The governor posted a photo of Gaetz in a gas mask on the floor of the House earlier this year. Gaetz wore the mask to mock restrictions to protect people from COVID-19.
The COVID-19 death toll has reached 281,000 Americans and counting.
Last night, the @NYYRC allegedly snuck into Jersey City to hold a “gala fundraiser” – ignoring our social distancing and mask rules.
It is beyond the pale that anyone would willingly endanger people in another state.
Jersey City law enforcement is investigating this matter. pic.twitter.com/OX2ug8S1e3 — Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 4, 2020
It is also beyond the pale that Rep Matt Putz – I mean @RepMattGaetz – would participate in this. What a fool.
Matt – You are not welcome in New Jersey, and frankly I don’t ever want you back in this state. pic.twitter.com/j67x9Z2lAf — Governor Phil Murphy (@GovMurphy) December 4, 2020
The GOP club initially posted on Facebook that the event was being held in Manhattan. When New York City officials challenged those plans, the group referred to critics who are Jewish as “court Jews” while also accusing New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo of being antisemitic.
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A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Oregon Doc's Medical License Suspended After He Boasts He And His Staff Never Wear Masks

Oregon ’ s state medical board voted Thursday to suspend a physician ’ s license indefinitely after he boasted that he and his staff have “ not once ” worn masks in his clinic to help stem the spread of COVID-19 .
The board issued an “ emergency ” order to immediately suspend Dr. Steven LaTulippe ’ s medical license , “ due to the Board ’ s concern for the safety and welfare ” of his “ current and future patients , ” according to a statement on the board ’ s website .
LaTulippe , who owns the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Dallas , southwest of Portland , dismissed the importance of masks in a Nov. 7 speech at a “ Stop the Steal ” rally in Salem .
“ I want to expose what I call corona mania , ” LaTulippe declared at the rally , as seen in a video posted to YouTube by the group Multnomah County Republicans .
He called on people to “ take off the mask of shame.
” “ I hate to tell you this , I might scare you , but I and my staff , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mask in my clinic , ” he added to cheers from the crowd .
“ And how many problems did we have in our clinic from that ?
Zero.
” He claimed that his clinic had treated about 75 people with COVID-19 .
LaTulippe told the crowd : “ We have been utterly duped , and I want you to know that this is insanity , and the purpose was only to shut down the American people .
This is a threat to your freedom , a threat to our Constitution.
” He @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ask patients who believe they have COVID-19 , or who have symptoms , to wear a mask in his clinic .
LaTulippe said he treats them in a “ back room ” that ’ s disinfected , according to NBC .
“ I ’ m very interested in sound medical practice , and I ’ m interested in good science , ” he said .
“ When science and medicine become perverted with corrupt politics , then I ’ m up for a fight , and that ’ s what made me go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ said.
” The documents noted that he allegedly told a patient seeking guidance about COVID-19 in July that asymptomatic people should not get tested and that a mask does not prevent transmission .
According to NBC , LaTulippe allegedly told the patient not to self-isolate because exposure to others would somehow “ provide immunity ” to the coronavirus .
Infectious disease experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend face masks as one of the most basic and effective protections against the transmission of COVID-19 .

Oregon’s state medical board voted Thursday to suspend a physician’s license indefinitely after he boasted that he and his staff have “not once” worn masks in his clinic to help stem the spread of COVID-19.
The board issued an “emergency” order to immediately suspend Dr. Steven LaTulippe’s medical license, “due to the Board’s concern for the safety and welfare” of his “current and future patients,” according to a statement on the board’s website.
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LaTulippe, who owns the family practice clinic South View Medical Arts in Dallas, southwest of Portland, dismissed the importance of masks in a Nov. 7 speech at a “Stop the Steal” rally in Salem.
“I want to expose what I call corona mania,” LaTulippe declared at the rally, as seen in a video posted to YouTube by the group Multnomah County Republicans. He called on people to “take off the mask of shame.”
“I hate to tell you this, I might scare you, but I and my staff, none of us, once wore a mask in my clinic,” he added to cheers from the crowd. “And how many problems did we have in our clinic from that? Zero.” He claimed that his clinic had treated about 75 people with COVID-19.
LaTulippe told the crowd: “We have been utterly duped, and I want you to know that this is insanity, and the purpose was only to shut down the American people. This is a threat to your freedom, a threat to our Constitution.”
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LaTulippe erroneously equated the coronavirus to a “common cold” virus. More than 279,000 Americans have died of COVID-19.
He told NBC News Wednesday that he does ask patients who believe they have COVID-19, or who have symptoms, to wear a mask in his clinic. LaTulippe said he treats them in a “back room” that’s disinfected, according to NBC.
“I’m very interested in sound medical practice, and I’m interested in good science,” he said. “When science and medicine become perverted with corrupt politics, then I’m up for a fight, and that’s what made me go to that rally and say what I said.”
State board online documents obtained by NBC News noted that LaTulippe’s license was suspended for engaging in “unprofessional conduct or dishonorable conduct.”
The documents noted that he allegedly told a patient seeking guidance about COVID-19 in July that asymptomatic people should not get tested and that a mask does not prevent transmission. According to NBC, LaTulippe allegedly told the patient not to self-isolate because exposure to others would somehow “provide immunity” to the coronavirus.
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Infectious disease experts and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend face masks as one of the most basic and effective protections against the transmission of COVID-19.
The indefinite suspension of LaTulippe’s medical license bars him from practicing medicine anywhere in the state.
HuffPost could not immediately reach LaTulippe for comment.
Check out LaTulippe’s boast about not wearing a mask in his clinic in the video up top. His comments about COVID-19 begin at 0:55.
A HuffPost Guide To Coronavirus


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Georgia Gov. Pushes Back Against Trump's Last-Ditch Attempts To Subvert Election

During a phone call on Saturday , Kemp refused a request from Trump to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to overturn the outcome of last month ’ s election , The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported .
Trump wants state lawmakers to throw out the result ― which favored his opponent , President-elect Joe Biden ― and appoint electors who will back him instead .
Georgia has 16 votes in the Electoral College .
During his call with Kemp , Trump also urged the governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeatedly said he has no authority to fulfill .
Trump has made baseless claims of widespread election fraud and other irregularities in Georgia .
He and his allies have alleged , without a shred of evidence , that state election officials accepted absentee ballots in cases where they were unable to verify signatures on the envelopes .
Trump repeated this allegation of “ large scale discrepancies ” in Georgia in a Saturday tweet .
He also took a swipe at Kemp , saying he would “ easily & quickly win Georgia ” if @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s Republican secretary of state , would “ permit a simple signature verification ” ― something that election officials have stressed won ’ t change the result .
Biden bested Trump in Georgia by about 12,500 votes .
Trump and his allies have attempted to challenge that result by filing multiple lawsuits in the state .
One of those suits has already been dismissed , while two others are still pending .
In his response to Trump ’ s tweet , Kemp alluded to his earlier phone call with the president and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for a signature audit three times ... to restore confidence in our election process.
” Kemp has repeatedly called on Raffensperger to “ take reasonable steps , ” including conducting a sample audit of signatures , to address the allegations raised by Trump and his allies .
The governor has said , however , that Georgia law prohibits him from “ interfering in elections.
” Trump is slated to hold a rally in Valdosta , Georgia , on Saturday evening to throw his support behind the state ’ s two GOP senators , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are facing competitive runoff elections in January .
Those contests could determine which party controls the Senate in 2021 .
Kemp said he won ’ t be attending the event as he mourns the death of Harrison Deal , an aide to Loeffler who died in a traffic accident on Friday .
In a statement , Kemp described Deal as the “ Kemp son and brother we never had .
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Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R), once a close ally of President Donald Trump, has reportedly pushed back against Trump’s last-ditch attempts to interfere in the state’s presidential election results.
During a phone call on Saturday, Kemp refused a request from Trump to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to overturn the outcome of last month’s election, The Washington Post and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Trump wants state lawmakers to throw out the result ― which favored his opponent, President-elect Joe Biden ― and appoint electors who will back him instead. Georgia has 16 votes in the Electoral College.
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According to the Journal-Constitution, this isn’t the first time Kemp has declined Trump’s demand for a special legislative session.
Georgia @GovKemp is still on Trump’s bad side, after again refusing his demands to illegally overturn the state’s election results ahead of the president’s rally tonight. #gapol #gasen https://t.co/bCYnBQEKfQ — Greg Bluestein (@bluestein) December 5, 2020
During his call with Kemp, Trump also urged the governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the state — a request that Kemp has repeatedly said he has no authority to fulfill.
Trump has made baseless claims of widespread election fraud and other irregularities in Georgia. He and his allies have alleged, without a shred of evidence, that state election officials accepted absentee ballots in cases where they were unable to verify signatures on the envelopes.
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Trump repeated this allegation of “large scale discrepancies” in Georgia in a Saturday tweet. He also took a swipe at Kemp, saying he would “easily & quickly win Georgia” if the governor or Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s Republican secretary of state, would “permit a simple signature verification” ― something that election officials have stressed won’t change the result. Biden bested Trump in Georgia by about 12,500 votes.
Trump and his allies have attempted to challenge that result by filing multiple lawsuits in the state. One of those suits has already been dismissed, while two others are still pending.
In his response to Trump’s tweet, Kemp alluded to his earlier phone call with the president and said he’d “publicly called for a signature audit three times ... to restore confidence in our election process.”
Kemp has repeatedly called on Raffensperger to “take reasonable steps,” including conducting a sample audit of signatures, to address the allegations raised by Trump and his allies. The governor has said, however, that Georgia law prohibits him from “interfering in elections.”
As I told the President this morning, I’ve publicly called for a signature audit three times (11/20, 11/24, 12/3) to restore confidence in our election process and to ensure that only legal votes are counted in Georgia. #gapol https://t.co/xdXrhf1vI2 — Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) December 5, 2020
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Once a close ally of Trump’s, Kemp has been in the president’s bad books since the election.
Trump said in a recent Fox News interview that Kemp had “done nothing” to help him challenge Georgia’s election results.
“I’m ashamed that I endorsed him,” Trump said of Kemp, whom he supported during Georgia’s gubernatorial election in 2018.
The president also reportedly referred to Kemp as a “moron” and a “nut job.”
Trump is slated to hold a rally in Valdosta, Georgia, on Saturday evening to throw his support behind the state’s two GOP senators, David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who are facing competitive runoff elections in January. Those contests could determine which party controls the Senate in 2021.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Rudy Giuliani's 'Voter Fraud' Witness Accused Of Framing Woman For Stealing Sex Videos

But Carone , in an interview with HuffPost on Saturday , claimed that it was actually her fiance , Matthew Stackpoole , who sent the explicit videos to his ex-wife and that she took a plea deal only because they didn ’ t want to spend any more time in court .
Stackpoole also admitted to HuffPost in a text message that he sent the videos and suggested that police officers knew he had done so when officers “ took [ Carone ’ s ] official ‘ confession.
’ ” Provided with a summary of HuffPost ’ s reporting , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Loeckner , confirmed that he represented her in the case but said he couldn ’ t offer any details of the case .
HuffPost asked the attorney whether the public should take any of her voter fraud claims seriously given what he knows about Carone .
Carone , based on her social media track record , has lived an eventful life .
The charges that led to her probation grew out of a long-running dispute with Stackpoole ’ s ex-wife .
An official with the Lincoln Park Police Department told HuffPost that there @ @ @ @ @ @ @ forth contact ” between the couple and Stackpoole ’ s ex-wife , with somewhere between 15 and 20 police reports involving the trio dating back to 2017 .
Police in Southgate , Michigan , brought the case that led to Carone ’ s probation .
The Southgate detective assigned to the case did not respond to HuffPost ’ s multiple requests for comment , but Stackpoole ’ s ex-wife said he eventually determined the videos were emailed from a public Wi-Fi network .
Stackpoole now admits that he sent the videos , but @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Park police earlier that “ he is not sure how someone would get sexual videos of him and his girlfriend ” and that he thought his ex-wife “ somehow was able to access his Google account to view his pictures and videos that he had stored on his Google account .
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A Donald Trump supporter who gave bizarre and discredited testimony about voter fraud in Detroit was recently released from probation after being accused of sending pornographic videos to her fiancé’s ex-wife and framing the woman for stealing them, HuffPost has learned.
Mellissa Carone, a contract information technology worker for a voting systems company, made sweeping allegations about mass voter fraud when she testified in hearings before the Michigan Senate and House last week.
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She was previously charged under the name Mellissa Wright with first degree obscenity and using a computer to commit a crime. Under a plea agreement, she reduced her charge to disorderly conduct and received 12 months of probation, a spokeswoman for the Wayne County, Michigan, prosecutor’s office told HuffPost. Her probation ended on Sept. 13, just weeks before Election Day, when a temporary staffing agency employed Carone to assist Dominion Voting Systems in Detroit.
Police records obtained by HuffPost, which were first reported by Deadline Detroit, say that Carone lied to police about sending explicit videos of herself to her fiancé’s ex-wife, but then confessed that she had done so after being confronted with information obtained from search warrants. Carone even confessed that she had told her fiancé “to get a new router and get a new wifi company” to cover her tracks, police said.
Mellissa Carone, police say, confessed to sending her fiancé's ex-wife pornographic videos of herself. Southgate Police
But Carone, in an interview with HuffPost on Saturday, claimed that it was actually her fiancé, Matthew Stackpoole, who sent the explicit videos to his ex-wife and that she took a plea deal only because they didn’t want to spend any more time in court. Stackpoole also admitted to HuffPost in a text message that he sent the videos and suggested that police officers knew he had done so when officers “took [Carone’s] official ‘confession.’”
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“The reason I got charged for it is it was sent off of my phone,” Carone, a self-proclaimed cybersecurity analyst, told HuffPost. “I just said screw it, I’m going to have to take it.”
Carone’s alleged computer crime and false accusations about hacking are directly relevant to her credibility.
The Trump campaign and the president’s personal lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, put Carone forward, presented her as a credible witness and asked state legislators to disenfranchise millions of Michigan voters and declare Trump the winner of Michigan’s electoral votes based in large part on Carone’s claims.
“There is no rule that people coming off probation are incredible as a matter of law,” Giuliani texted HuffPost when asked about Carone’s credibility. “I don’t know her circumstances, but her testimony is corroborated by other witnesses, documentary evidence and expert testimony.” Giuliani also took the opportunity to point out that Hunter Biden used cocaine.
The Trump campaign stands by Mellissa Carone's wild accusations. JEFF KOWALSKY via Getty Images
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Stackpoole’s ex-wife, the target of the pair’s wrath, provided HuffPost with a prosecutor’s letter naming her as Carone’s victim, and her former attorney corroborated her story. She told HuffPost that the couple had torn her life apart. (HuffPost is not identifying the ex-wife out of concern for the privacy of Stackpoole’s minor son.)
Explicit videos featuring Carone and Stackpoole came from an address with the ex-wife’s maiden name on it, which Stackpoole’s ex-wife believes Carone set up. Stackpoole, according to police records, claimed his ex-wife unlawfully accessed his account, a false allegation that Carone also made.
Carone later denied to police that she sent the videos but then confessed she did send them, adding that she wanted to send her boyfriend’s ex-wife “over the top” according to police records.
Now Carone is telling a much different story, despite what she reportedly told police. Carone admitted in a phone interview that she initially told police she believed her fiancé’s ex-wife unlawfully obtained the videos. But she argued that she didn’t make a false allegation at the time because she honestly believed that was the case.
“I didn’t make a false accusation. That is what I thought at the time. That is what I assumed to be the truth at the time,” Carone said. “He had not yet came out and told me that he had sent it.”
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Stackpoole told HuffPost in a text message that he sent the explicit videos to his ex-wife.
Nevertheless, Carone insisted that Americans should still believe she told the truth about voter fraud in Detroit. “I’m 100% credible,” Carone said. “I’ve already talked to Trump and Giuliani about this.”
When pressed on her claim that she spoke to the president, Carone revised her story. “I’ve talked directly to Giuliani that has spoken directly to Trump,” Carone said.
Mellissa Carone's testimony alongside Rudy Giuliani was a viral sensation. Michigan government
A staffing agency hired Carone to provide temporary assistance to Dominion Voting Systems at the TCF Center in Detroit.
She later appeared on Lou Dobbs’ show on Fox Business to float a conspiracy theory that vans of food for election workers might have secretly been filled with ballots. Giuliani repeated her claims on Fox Business and Fox News in mid-November.
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A Michigan judge declared Carone’s wild accusations “simply are not credible.” Like many of the Michigan conservatives who made outlandish claims about the vote count in Detroit, Carone has posted a number of stories from conspiracy websites about mass voter fraud.
But it was her testimony alongside Giuliani that went viral last week. Carone made sweeping, baffling, wholly noncredible accusations of mass criminality. “Everything that happened at that TCF Center was fraud,” Carone claimed at one point. “Every single thing.”
A clip of Carone’s testimony posted by this reporter racked up more than 21 million views as Twitter users compared her to Cecily Strong’s “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started a Conversation With at a Party” character on “Saturday Night Live.”
The video also made the rounds of the late night shows. Jimmy Fallon asked whether Giuliani found her on “LinkedInsane.” Jimmy Kimmel wondered if she was wearing a “Rosé All Day” tank top under her scarf. And Stephen Colbert joked that Carone ended her testimony by saying she’d “like to speak to America’s manager.”
Decided to mix in clips of the SNL “Girl You Wish You Hadn’t Started A Conversation With at a Party” character. It’s uncanny. https://t.co/A4pNFzaQZ1 pic.twitter.com/Al3s9JHfWb — Parker Molloy (@ParkerMolloy) December 3, 2020
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Even Giuliani, who twice appeared to audibly flatulate during his testimony, seemed embarrassed by Carone’s behavior. Giuliani tried to shush her and calm her down when she faced off with a Republican legislator asking basic questions about Carone’s conspiracy theories.
Provided with a summary of HuffPost’s reporting, Carone’s former attorney, David Loeckner, confirmed that he represented her in the case but said he couldn’t offer any details of the case. HuffPost asked the attorney whether the public should take any of her voter fraud claims seriously given what he knows about Carone.
“I do not have any comment,” Loeckner replied.
Todd Barron, an attorney for Carone’s victim, hadn’t seen any of Carone’s eye-opening testimony when he spoke to HuffPost. But he also wasn’t shocked once he was filled in.
“Let me say I’m not surprised,” Barron said.
Carone, based on her social media track record, has lived an eventful life. The charges that led to her probation grew out of a long-running dispute with Stackpoole’s ex-wife. An official with the Lincoln Park Police Department told HuffPost that there was “a lot of back and forth contact” between the couple and Stackpoole’s ex-wife, with somewhere between 15 and 20 police reports involving the trio dating back to 2017. Police in Southgate, Michigan, brought the case that led to Carone’s probation.
Stackpoole’s ex-wife said the Southgate detective assigned to the case eventually determined the videos were emailed from a public Wi-Fi network. Stackpoole now admits that he sent the videos, but police records showed that Stackpoole told Lincoln Park police earlier that “he is not sure how someone would get sexual videos of him and his girlfriend” and that he thought his ex-wife “somehow was able to access his Google account to view his pictures and videos that he had stored on his Google account.”
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Stackpoole’s ex-wife said Stackpoole’s false report to the Lincoln Park police led to an investigation that cost her a lot of money. She said she eventually took a lie-detector test to show that she hadn’t unlawfully accessed her ex-husband’s account.
Barron, the attorney for Stackpoole’s ex-wife, said that he recalled that Carone “testified that my client had sent these videos out or had hacked [Stackpoole’s] phone” and was “adamant that she was appalled that these videos had gotten out.”
Stackpoole’s ex-wife has known Carone for years and said the pair were like sisters at one point. But she said she “never heard a political word out of her mouth” until recently and thinks Carone is simply seizing an opportunity for publicity.
Carone has posted plenty of Trump content on social media. Minutes after she testified that she “had to get rid of social media,” Carone posted images of herself with Giuliani and Trump attorney Jenna Ellis on Facebook.
“I just think this was an easy bandwagon for her to jump on,” Stackpoole’s ex-wife said. “She is a very calculating and methodical person.”
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Carone still pushes her discredited conspiracy theories about mass voter fraud in Detroit. In a conversation with HuffPost on Saturday, she declined to say how much actual training she received on how the voting process works but said HuffPost would “blow up” if it wrote about a 10-minute video she found on her phone that was going to expose a mass criminal conspiracy to steal the election for Joe Biden.
“You guys are acting stupid about it. You’re acting like you don’t know what’s going on. You’re acting, like, ‘Oh, my God, you guys are crazy,’” Carone said. “But you know what I just found? I just found something on my phone that is going to blow this all up in about three days.”
Stackpoole said that HuffPost shouldn’t focus on the false claims he and Carone made against his ex-wife and should instead look into the mass voter fraud conspiracy theories floated by his fiancé.
He, too, appears to have bought fully into Trump’s false claims of a stolen election and still believes there’s a path for the Supreme Court to toss out the actual results and declare Trump the president for four more years.
“Once again, the left media is going to look ridiculous when SCOTUS overturns this election,” he texted HuffPost.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Trump's 'Stupid' Gov. Kemp Call 'Bordered On Criminality': Former Senate Leader Harry Reid

Trump called Kemp to demand that the governor take action to nullify the votes that gave Joe Biden a victory in the state .
“ Georgia is not going to have its reputation ruined by some stupid damn thing that Trump is trying to do that ’ s outside the realm of reality , ” the former senator said .
“ Trump is ... out of touch with reality , ” Reid said earlier .
“ The Republican secretary of state in Georgia has been very strong .
Georgia is a state that is not going to allow this foolishness @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They ’ ve proved it .
They ’ ve certified it.
” Reid said the president ’ s move to undermine the election is “ one of many things Trump has done that bordered on criminality , ” presumably because of election interference .
It was at least the second time Trump demanded Kemp do something to overturn his loss in the state — and the second time the governor turned him down , according to media reports .
Kemp explained that he doesn ’ t have the power to countermand a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pushed Kemp on Saturday to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to throw out the results and appoint electors who would back Trump instead , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported .
Trump also urged the governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the state — a request that Kemp has repeatedly said he has no authority to fulfill .
“ As the governor has said repeatedly , he will continue to follow the law and encourage the secretary of state to take reasonable steps — including a sample audit @ @ @ @ @ @ @ address serious issues that have been raised , ” the statement said .
Georgia ballots have already been counted three times — and have been certified — yet Trump has repeatedly claimed with no evidence that the election was rigged .
Lawsuits challenging the vote have so far not gained any traction in several states .
Trump on Sunday said he was disappointed that Kemp did “ absolutely nothing ” to interfere in the election .
“ I ’ m ashamed that I endorsed him , ” the president said angrily on Fox @ @ @ @ @ @ @ blast the Republican governor at a Saturday rally in Georgia — causing dissension and confusion among GOP residents — instead of working to get the vote out for Republican Sens .
Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue , both of whom are engaged in competitive reelection campaigns ahead of a runoff election on Jan. 5 .
The winners of that election will determine which party controls the Senate .
Let ’ s speak truth about @ SenLoeffler & @ sendavidperdue .
Why are they doing little or nothing to support efforts by GA citizens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ BrianKempGA to order special session of legislature ?
If not fixed , I will NOT vote in GA runoff .
Will you ?
— Lin Wood ( @ LLinWood ) November 21 , 2020

Trump called Kemp to demand that the governor take action to nullify the votes that gave Joe Biden a victory in the state.
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“Georgia is not going to have its reputation ruined by some stupid damn thing that Trump is trying to do that’s outside the realm of reality,” the former senator said.
“Trump is ... out of touch with reality,” Reid said earlier. “The Republican secretary of state in Georgia has been very strong. Georgia is a state that is not going to allow this foolishness to continue. They had an election. They’ve proved it. They’ve certified it.”
Reid said the president’s move to undermine the election is “one of many things Trump has done that bordered on criminality,” presumably because of election interference.
It was at least the second time Trump demanded Kemp do something to overturn his loss in the state — and the second time the governor turned him down, according to media reports. Kemp explained that he doesn’t have the power to countermand a presidential election in a democracy.
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Trump pushed Kemp on Saturday to call a special session of the Georgia legislature to throw out the results and appoint electors who would back Trump instead, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
Trump also urged the governor to order an audit of absentee ballot signatures in the state — a request that Kemp has repeatedly said he has no authority to fulfill.
Kemp’s office said in a statement to NBC News that Georgia law prohibited the governor from interfering in elections.
“As the governor has said repeatedly, he will continue to follow the law and encourage the secretary of state to take reasonable steps — including a sample audit of signatures — to restore trust and address serious issues that have been raised,” the statement said.
Georgia ballots have already been counted three times — and have been certified — yet Trump has repeatedly claimed with no evidence that the election was rigged. Lawsuits challenging the vote have so far not gained any traction in several states.
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Yet Trump has relentlessly blasted the governor he previously endorsed for refusing to interfere in election results.
CNN, citing unnamed sources, reported Friday that Trump called Kemp a “moron” and a “nut job” in a recent phone call.
Trump on Sunday said he was disappointed that Kemp did “absolutely nothing” to interfere in the election. “I’m ashamed that I endorsed him,” the president said angrily on Fox News.
Republicans fear that Trump will blast the Republican governor at a Saturday rally in Georgia — causing dissension and confusion among GOP residents — instead of working to get the vote out for Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, both of whom are engaged in competitive reelection campaigns ahead of a runoff election on Jan. 5. The winners of that election will determine which party controls the Senate.
Some Republicans are urging voters to boycott the runoff unless an investigation is launched into the presidential election results.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-12-05--Brandon Bernard Is Scheduled To Be Executed. 5 Jurors Who Sentenced Him Don't Think He Should Die.

Brandon Bernard is scheduled to be executed today. If the execution goes forward, he will die for acting as an accomplice in a crime that happened when he was 18. Five of the nine surviving jurors who voted 20 years ago to condemn Bernard to death now support sparing his life. So does a former federal prosecutor who defended Bernard’s death sentence on appeal.
Bernard and his lawyers are fighting a desperate battle to avoid execution: He has a clemency petition pending before President Donald Trump and has filed motions in federal court. If his execution date gets pushed back even six weeks, his fate would be determined by a new administration led by Joe Biden, who says he opposes the death penalty.
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Last week, Bernard dialed into a court hearing on Zoom from death row at the federal prison in Terre Haute, Indiana. Judge Alan Albright, who was nominated to the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas by Trump, started the call by complimenting one of Bernard’s lawyers on the guitars hanging on the wall behind him. One of the guitars turned out to be a baritone ukulele. After a couple of minutes of small talk, they got to the matter at hand: whether Bernard would be killed the following week.
Federal public defender John Carpenter argued on behalf of Bernard that the government cannot legally execute him because he has not yet exhausted all of his appeals. In 2018, Bernard’s lawyers discovered that, years earlier, the government had withheld evidence during his trial that may have helped Bernard, a form of prosecutorial misconduct known as a Brady violation. After being denied relief by lower courts, Bernard has until April to seek review from the Supreme Court, which his lawyer said he plans to do if he lives.
Federal prosecutor Mark Frazier argued that Bernard already had several opportunities to challenge his conviction and review his sentence and that he does not have any pending matter before the court that would block the government from killing him. As the lawyers argued over legal technicalities, Bernard watched silently, his eyes angled forward, slightly down. When his glasses slid down his nose, he raised his cuffed hands awkwardly to push them into place.
After about an hour, Albright made his decision: The execution could go forward as planned. Bernard was “lucky” to have such competent and dedicated lawyers, Albright said, adding that it gave him “no joy” to make his ruling.
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“So,” the judge said, “I wish you the very best of luck, to both sides.”
Bernard was part of a group of people involved in a botched carjacking plot in 1999 that ended in the killing of Todd and Stacie Bagley in Central Texas. Bernard was not present when his friends abducted the Bagleys, and he was not the one to shoot them dead. Two of the people involved, who were at least as culpable in the Bagleys’ deaths as Bernard, were minors at the time of the crime and received 20-year sentences, which they have since completed. Because Bernard was 18, just a little older than his friends, he was eligible for the death penalty.
The scheduled execution is part of a wave of rushed executions by the Trump administration during its final weeks in power. After a 17-year pause in federal executions, the result of legal challenges to the practice and drug availability issues, the government resumed carrying out the death penalty in July, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic. Since then, the Trump administration has executed eight people ― including Christopher Vialva, Bernard’s co-defendant, who shot the victims when he was 19. One of the executions took place after Trump lost his reelection to Biden, a Democrat who opposes capital punishment. The Trump administration is trying to kill five more people, including Bernard, before Biden’s Jan. 20 inauguration. This is the first time since 1889 that a federal execution has been carried out by an outgoing administration after it lost an election.
Carrying out executions during the pandemic puts the people who live and work in the prison — as well as the surrounding community — at an increased risk of contracting COVID-19. Because of limitations on travel, it is difficult for people on death row to meet with their lawyers and prepare potentially lifesaving clemency petitions and litigation. It also puts the friends and family of the condemned in an impossible situation: In order to bear witness to the killing, people must assume the risk of contracting a disease that could kill them.
When U.S. Attorney General William Barr announced plans to resume federal executions, he claimed the punishment was reserved for the “worst criminals.” That’s not true. Some of the people targeted for execution ended up on death row after being represented by ineffective court-appointed lawyers. Some have an intellectual disability or a mental illness that was untreated at the time of their crime. Some had just barely reached legal adulthood when they were sentenced to death. Relative to the U.S. population, the group is disproportionately Black, a reminder of the racist origins of the death penalty.
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Bernard, who is Black, was a churchgoing, family-oriented teen with no previous violent criminal history when he was sentenced to death by a nearly all-white jury — several of whom changed their minds about the appropriate punishment after learning more information about the case. Bernard expressed remorse immediately after the crime and has spent the past two decades trying to encourage young people to learn from his mistakes.
“He is not by any measure the offender for whom the average person contemplates the death penalty,” Bernard’s lawyers wrote in his clemency petition. “Brandon Bernard is someone who should not be on Death Row, and would not be if the system had not misfired.”
Brandon Bernard with his family. Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos courtesy of Brandon Bernard’s defense team
Bernard spent most of his childhood in Killeen, Texas, near the Fort Hood military base. His mother worked as an Army nurse, and his father bounced between jobs. His dad had a bad temper and sometimes whipped him with a belt that had a large metal buckle.
He “took his anger out with a belt,” Bernard said of his dad, according to Jill Miller, a forensic social worker who conducted an assessment of Bernard’s background in 2004.
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When Bernard was 12, his dad assaulted his mom, striking her in the chest where she had recently had open-heart surgery and spraying her with mace. His parents divorced soon after, and Bernard worried whether his dad, who struggled to keep a home and a job and was later diagnosed as HIV-positive, would survive. His mom saw signs that Bernard was depressed, Miller wrote.
With his dad out of the house, Bernard took care of his younger brother and sister after school until his mom got home. He made sure they did their chores and homework, but he would also play with them and take them to the park. He received low grades at school but was well-behaved, a teacher reported. When Bernard was in high school, his cousin Melsimeon Pollock came to live with him. The two became friendly, and Pollock encouraged Bernard to help him break into homes and steal.
“Brandon stole things with me because Brandon knew I needed the money and Brandon wanted to support me and feel a sense of belonging,” Pollock wrote in a 2016 declaration. “Brandon would not have broken into these houses on his own. He is not a mastermind, Brandon just followed what others had planned.”
Eventually they got caught. Bernard bounced between his parents’ homes, did a stint at a juvenile residential living facility and switched schools several times. His juvenile probation officer remembers him as “really quiet, respectful, and mannerful,” with a “safe, calming presence,” Miller reported.
Bernard became involved with a loosely organized gang of neighborhood friends. They sometimes claimed to be “Bloods,” but they weren’t formally affiliated with a national gang. They were just kids “looking for attention, looking for love, wanting to be a part of something,” a former member of the group said.
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Bernard remained active in his Seventh Day Adventist church, obeying the Sabbath and distributing food to those in need. He continued to struggle in school, but he had dreams of going to college and becoming a neurosurgeon or a fighter pilot. He was “getting tired of hanging around the streets,” Miller wrote, but he “just didn’t seem to be able to take the steps” to get out of his situation.
On June 20, 1999, three of Bernard’s friends, Vialva, Christopher Lewis and Tony Sparks, came up with a plan to steal some money. The plan, according to court documents, was to ask someone for a ride and, once inside the car, pull out a gun to intimidate the victim into handing over their cash, ATM card and PIN number.
Bernard heard about the plan the next day when the group decided the .22-caliber pistol they had was too small to scare anyone. They got a larger handgun, a Glock .40. That afternoon, the five friends drove in Bernard’s car to a couple of supermarkets in search of a victim. The original three plotters tried to get someone to pick them up while Bernard and another friend, Terry Brown, waited in the car.
Eventually Bernard and Brown wandered into a laundromat to play video games. It didn’t seem to them like the robbery was going to happen. When they came back out, their friends were gone. Bernard and Brandon looked briefly for the rest of their group, submitted job applications at a grocery store, went to a friend’s house and then went home.
They didn’t know it at the time, but the other three had successfully gotten picked up by Todd and Stacie Bagley, youth ministers for an evangelical Christian church. The Bagleys were the type of people who were always looking to help others, their family members would later say. Vialva followed the plan: He showed the couple the gun and demanded their wallet, purse and jewelry. With the Bagleys locked in the trunk of their car, Vialva, Sparks and Lewis tried to withdraw cash with the Bagleys’ ATM card and pawn Stacie’s wedding ring.
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Bernard didn’t meet up with the group until around 7:30 p.m. The group had seemed to settle on a plan of taking the Bagleys’ car to a park, leaving it there with them inside and calling the police. They needed someone with a car to escape in, so they called Bernard. After he rejoined the group, Vialva told Brown he couldn’t let the Bagleys go because his fingerprints were all over their car. Even so, Brown didn’t think Vialva would harm the couple, Brown testified at the trial.
Brown and Vialva went to a convenience store to buy lighter fluid with money provided by Vialva. Then the two cars were driven to a remote area of Fort Hood, an Army post — landing their crime in federal jurisdiction. There, Vialva covered his face with a mask, opened the trunk of the car and shot Todd and Stacie in the head. Todd died instantly, and Stacie lost consciousness. Instructed by Vialva, Bernard and Brown poured lighter fluid in the car. Brown testified that Bernard was the one who lit the car on fire, although he admitted he could not see it happen.
Brandon Bernard was 18 at the time of his crime. He was sentenced to death along with Christopher Vialva, who was executed in September. Illustration: Damon Dahlen/HuffPost; Photos: Courtesy of Brandon Bernard’s defense team
Bernard and Vialva, the only legal adults involved in the crime, were tried together. The government sought death sentences for the teens who, at 18 and 19, were barely old enough to be legally eligible for the punishment.
Because their friends were slightly younger, they escaped the harshest punishment. Lewis — who, at 15 participated in abducting and robbing the Bagleys and was present at their killings — was sentenced to 20 years. So was Brown, who was 17 and had a similar level of involvement in the crime as Bernard. Lewis and Brown have completed their sentences. Sparks, who was 16, received a sentence of life imprisonment, but it was later reduced to 35 years after the Supreme Court held in 2012 that life without parole was unconstitutional for juveniles.
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The court appointed Bernard an attorney who had no federal death penalty experience. His letter to the government requesting that it not seek a death sentence was less than 400 words long. After months of handling the case alone, the lawyer had the court appoint his son as co-counsel.
“Ultimately, the father and son team responsible for Brandon’s defense collectively logged just 20% of the preparation time typically spent on a federal capital case, and compressed most of what they did into the eight weeks immediately preceding trial,” Bernard’s lawyers wrote in the clemency petition.
Bernard’s lawyers made no opening statement at trial and didn’t try to sever Bernard from Vialva, a move that jurors later said caused them to see Bernard as similarly culpable to Vialva in the Bagleys’ deaths.
“I think that Brandon was prejudiced by being on trial with Christopher Vialva. It made it hard for me to disassociate Mr. Vialva’s role in the crimes from Mr. Bernard’s role,” Jason Fuller, one of the jurors in the trial, wrote in a statement in 2016.
Throughout the trial, the government leaned on junk science and questionable forensic evidence that went largely unchallenged by Bernard’s lawyers. One of the government’s “experts,” psychiatrist Richard Coons, testified that anyone involved in a gang outside of prison would inevitably join the same gang in prison and become increasingly violent. Although Coons’ testimony was technically against Vialva, it likely influenced jurors’ views on Bernard as well. The highest criminal court in Texas has since found that Coons should not have been allowed to testify in another capital case because his findings are unscientific and unreliable.
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Bernard’s trial lawyers also failed to expose flaws in the government’s claim that Stacie was still alive when the car was burned, information that proved critical for jurors in choosing to sentence him to death rather than life in prison. A forensic medical examiner who testified for the prosecution said that the fact that Stacie’s autopsy showed black soot in her airways was evidence she was still alive and breathing after being shot.
Years later, Bernard’s post-conviction legal team hired Stephen Pustilnik, then the chief medical examiner for Galveston County, to review the autopsy report and trial transcripts of the doctors who testified at the trial. Pustilnik concluded that Stacie was “medically dead” after suffering “an unsurvivable gunshot wound that damaged the structures of her brain.” This meant that she would have died even if the car hadn’t been set on fire and that she did not suffer while it happened.
“If Mr. Bernard’s attorneys had contacted any reasonably competent pathologist in 1999-2000,” Pustilnik wrote, “that person could have explained to counsel the distinction between medical death and forensic death, and how the autopsy findings with respect to the soot in Mrs. Bagley’s airways and the carbon monoxide in her blood are consistent with physiological processes occurring in the wake of medical death from traumatic brain injury.”
There is also evidence that prosecutors withheld evidence during the trial that could have helped Bernard. Before the trial, the government’s own gang expert assessed that Bernard occupied the lowest level of the gang he was involved with. Prosecutors never made that information available to the defense — and suggested to jurors that Bernard was an unreformable gangster. Bernard’s post-conviction legal team became aware of this information only because the government disclosed the expert’s assessment of the gang hierarchy during a 2018 resentencing for another participant in the crime.
During the penalty phase of Bernard’s trial, his lawyers let his mother choose which witnesses to call and didn’t prepare any of them to testify. Jurors never heard about Bernard’s difficult childhood or about how he expressed remorse immediately after the crime.
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“Brandon was penitent and expressed regret for his role in the killing of the Bagleys,” according to Adam Andreassen, a youth pastor at the time of the trial who met with Bernard when he was in jail. “Had I been called to serve as a character witness for Brandon, I would have gladly conveyed my experiences with him, and the regret and concern that he had expressed for the victims and their families,” he wrote.
Andreassen, who is now a clinical psychologist, wrote that he is acutely aware of how Bernard’s age and lack of maturity factored into his role in the crime. “Brandon was only a teenager at the time of the incident. As such, he likely lacked the impulse control and ego strength that would have allowed him to assert himself and prevent the crimes from happening,” he wrote.
In the summer of 2000, the jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts against Bernard. They recommended he face life sentences without the possibility of release for the carjacking and the murder of Todd — and the death penalty for the murder of Stacie. Vialva was sentenced to death on all three counts and was executed in September.
After fighting for his life for the past 20 years, Bernard is scheduled to be executed just six weeks before a new president enters office — one who would likely allow him to live. Biden, whose team declined to comment on Bernard’s case, has pledged to work with Congress to pass legislation to eliminate the federal death penalty.
If the execution goes forward, it will be carried out at the height of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S. At a time when Americans are being told to avoid gathering indoors with people outside of their household, an execution team of hundreds of prison staffers will have to work closely together to plan and carry out the killing. Data obtained by the American Civil Liberties Union through a public records request show that recent executions at the federal prison in Terre Haute may have caused a COVID-19 spike at the facility.
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Prisons are already high-risk environments for the transmission of COVID-19. Last month, two lawyers defending Lisa Montgomery — the only woman on the federal death row — contracted the coronavirus after traveling to visit their client multiple times. So did Yusuf Ahmed Nur, a professor who administered last rites to Orlando Hall, who was executed last month. Two people who are incarcerated at Terre Haute filed a lawsuit last month asking the government to pause executions until the threat of COVID-19 has passed, arguing that the executions put the entire prison population at risk — including people nearing the ends of their sentences.
Robert Owen, a lawyer who has worked with Bernard since 2000, is in a high-risk group for COVID-19 and is not planning to travel to Indiana if the execution of his client proceeds. “I can’t take the chance. And I’m deeply disappointed at that. I’m angry about it,” he said in an interview.
“I know that it can be really important to the client to have counsel present close to, or even at the time of the execution, and I would like to be able to offer that comfort to Brandon, and I’m frustrated that I can’t do it safely,” Owen said.
Bernard’s last chance at survival is for Trump to either grant his clemency request or for the federal courts to intervene. Kim Kardashian West, the reality TV star who has helped convince Trump to grant clemency to individuals facing excessive sentences, has urged her millions of followers to let Trump know that Bernard’s death sentence is “unjust.”
Bernard and his lawyers have fought for years for the chance to present information that wasn’t introduced during his trial, but a judge has never allowed proceedings to move forward.
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“There is the appearance of elaborate process, in that there are lots of courts you can file papers with and they will all give you some kind of ruling,” Owen said. But “what you need is not just the opportunity to write things down and hand them to a court on paper — but a hearing. You need the opportunity to bring in the witnesses who never testified, to have the court listen to them and decide what difference it would have made if these witnesses had had a role in the actual trial.”
Although the information uncovered after Bernard’s conviction hasn’t swayed judges, it has moved the jurors who sentenced him to death. Five of the nine surviving members of Bernard’s jury now support a sentence of life imprisonment instead of execution.
“I am grateful to have this opportunity to clear my conscience by speaking what has always been in my heart. I hope that my speaking up can help Mr. Bernard have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence.” - Gary McClung Jr., a juror at Brandon Bernard's trial
“Though we ended up agreeing at the time that Brandon should receive a death sentence, we had limited information available to us that would have guided us in choosing a different sentence based on the two options available to us,” Fuller wrote in his statement. Fuller noted that jurors never heard about Bernard’s expressions of remorse, his childhood or the medical examiner’s assessment that Stacie was medically dead when the car was set on fire.
“I voted for death for Brandon Bernard because of the autopsy report presented by the prosecution. It stated that Stacie Bagley did not just die from the gunshot wound but also from smoke inhalation. There was no rebuttal to this. Brandon’s attorneys did not do anything to dispute this. I have since reviewed Dr. Pustilnik’s report and learned that it was likely that Mrs. Bagley was medically dead immediately after she was shot by Mr. Vialva and the fire did not cause her death,” Fuller added. “If the information presented in this report had been presented at trial, I would have made a different decision at sentencing.”
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At least one of the jurors, a man named Gary McClung Jr., felt uncomfortable sentencing Bernard to death even at the time of the trial. He felt that Bernard was only involved in the crime because of pressure from his friends and that he would not have participated if he’d known anyone would be killed. It seemed to McClung as if Bernard’s lawyers were “phoning it in” during the trial, and he sensed there might be more to Bernard’s story.
“During the deliberation, there was a lot of strong feelings about it, which is understandable. And just, I don’t know, I guess, in the past, I’ve had a kind of a struggle standing up when an opinion is different from mine, just standing on what I really believe,” McClung said in an interview. “And I regret that now.”
McClung has always wondered whether there was anything he could do to try to change Bernard’s sentence. When Bernard’s lawyers contacted McClung earlier this year to request a statement for Bernard’s clemency petition, he felt “like it was an answer to a prayer.”
“I am grateful to have this opportunity to clear my conscience by speaking what has always been in my heart. I hope that my speaking up can help Mr. Bernard have his death sentence commuted to a life sentence. I never thought this opportunity would come. I pray that President Trump rights this wrong and commutes Mr. Bernard’s sentence to life imprisonment,” McClung wrote in his statement.
The federal prosecutor who defended Bernard’s death sentence on direct appeal has also come out against his execution. Angela Moore, the former prosecutor, said in an interview she was aware of some troubling factors in Bernard’s case at the time of his appeal, but she had “to follow the jurisprudential precedent that was available.”
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Moore went on to work as a public defender and now opposes the death penalty. When she learned that Bernard was scheduled to be executed, she vowed to do anything she could to prevent his death.