thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Republican Sen. Thom Tillis Defeats Democrat Cal Cunningham In North Carolina

Sen. Thom Tillis has won reelection in North Carolina , defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham and spoiling Democrats ’ hopes of gaining a seat in what has been the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history .
Tillis , 60 , delivered a devastating blow to Democrats , who had identified him as a target in their quest to take back the Senate majority .
The one-term senator had low approval ratings in North Carolina and was unknown to one-third of the electorate .
He had been consistently trailing Cunningham , 47 , in the lead-up to November , stymied by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the state .
“ The voters have spoken and I respect their decision , ” Cunningham said in a statement after conceding the election .
“ While the results of this election suggest there remain deep political divisions in our state and nation , the more complete story of our country lies in what unites us : our faith and sense of confidence in our democracy , our civic values and common humanity , our shared aspiration to care for one another , and our belief that we live in a country @ @ @ @ @ @ @ October , Tillis tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to quarantine ; Cunningham , who debated Tillis just a day prior to the senator ’ s diagnosis , was forced off the campaign trail out of caution .
Tillis recovered quickly .
What followed was likely Tillis ’ biggest break in the election , when texts between Cunningham and a woman in California showed that the Democratic candidate was involved in an extramarital affair .
It was an embarrassing saga that landed Cunningham ’ s private texts in the press .
Tillis @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the opportunity to paint Cunningham as an untrustworthy , secretive and scandal-ridden politician .
Both Tillis and Cunningham had struggled to gain voters ’ trust throughout the cycle , but the scandal gave Tillis an edge in the fight .
Republicans ran ads emphasizing Cunningham as a married man sending “ sexually explicit ” texts to a woman who was not his wife .
Cunningham admitted to the affair and laid low for the final month of his campaign , canceling fundraisers and campaign appearances in favor of unadvertised events with voters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been in lockstep with his party throughout Trump ’ s tenure .
He has kept quiet during Trump ’ s most controversial moments , and been a fierce advocate for tax reform , repealing the Affordable Care Act , and nominating a large slate of conservative judges to the courts .
He supported pushing Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett through the nomination process less than a month before Election Day , and has also backed Trump ’ s response to the coronavirus pandemic .
This tightrope walk has long been a vulnerability @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Carolina is split evenly between registered Republican and Democratic voters , with a small slice of true swing voters , mostly in suburban areas .
Democrats have made huge gains in suburban areas under Trump .
Democrats made significant gains in North Carolina ’ s state House races in the 2018 midterms .
But even then , Republicans had been largely able to fend off challengers in congressional races , and Cunningham ’ s scandal made it easier for Tillis to prevent anti-Trump sentiment in these areas from trickling into his own race @ @ @ @ @ @ @ attacking Cunningham more than he explained his own ideas ; his Senate campaign website didn ’ t even list any policy priorities .
Meanwhile , Republicans painted Cunningham as a “ socialist ” despite his more moderate policy positions .
GOP political ads lied that Cunningham supported programs like “ Medicare For All , ” which moves all Americans to public health insurance , and the Green New Deal , an ambitious progressive framework to address climate change .
Cunningham explicitly ran against those two proposals .

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Sen. Thom Tillis has won reelection in North Carolina, defeating Democrat Cal Cunningham and spoiling Democrats’ hopes of gaining a seat in what has been the most expensive Senate race in U.S. history.
Tillis, 60, delivered a devastating blow to Democrats, who had identified him as a target in their quest to take back the Senate majority. The one-term senator had low approval ratings in North Carolina and was unknown to one-third of the electorate. He had been consistently trailing Cunningham, 47, in the lead-up to November, stymied by President Donald Trump’s poor numbers in the state.
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Cunningham called Tillis to concede on Tuesday, a week after Election Day. The Associated Press has yet to officially call the race.
“The voters have spoken and I respect their decision,” Cunningham said in a statement after conceding the election. “While the results of this election suggest there remain deep political divisions in our state and nation, the more complete story of our country lies in what unites us: our faith and sense of confidence in our democracy, our civic values and common humanity, our shared aspiration to care for one another, and our belief that we live in a country that does exceptional things.”
Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) was one of Democrats' biggest targets in the 2020 cycle. Khadejeh Nikouyeh/News & Record via AP
A late-breaking scandal may have nonetheless helped Tillis to victory.
In early October, Tillis tested positive for COVID-19 and was forced to quarantine; Cunningham, who debated Tillis just a day prior to the senator’s diagnosis, was forced off the campaign trail out of caution. Tillis recovered quickly.
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What followed was likely Tillis’ biggest break in the election, when texts between Cunningham and a woman in California showed that the Democratic candidate was involved in an extramarital affair.
It was an embarrassing saga that landed Cunningham’s private texts in the press. Tillis’ campaign and the Republican Party seized on the opportunity to paint Cunningham as an untrustworthy, secretive and scandal-ridden politician. Both Tillis and Cunningham had struggled to gain voters’ trust throughout the cycle, but the scandal gave Tillis an edge in the fight.
Republicans ran ads emphasizing Cunningham as a married man sending “sexually explicit” texts to a woman who was not his wife. Cunningham admitted to the affair and laid low for the final month of his campaign, canceling fundraisers and campaign appearances in favor of unadvertised events with voters.
Tillis did the opposite, running around the state making the case for another term in office.
A reliable conservative, Tillis has been in lockstep with his party throughout Trump’s tenure. He has kept quiet during Trump’s most controversial moments, and been a fierce advocate for tax reform, repealing the Affordable Care Act, and nominating a large slate of conservative judges to the courts. He supported pushing Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett through the nomination process less than a month before Election Day, and has also backed Trump’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
This tightrope walk has long been a vulnerability for Republicans in swing districts. North Carolina is split evenly between registered Republican and Democratic voters, with a small slice of true swing voters, mostly in suburban areas. Democrats have made huge gains in suburban areas under Trump.
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Democrats made significant gains in North Carolina’s state House races in the 2018 midterms. But even then, Republicans had been largely able to fend off challengers in congressional races, and Cunningham’s scandal made it easier for Tillis to prevent anti-Trump sentiment in these areas from trickling into his own race.
Tillis ran an aggressive campaign, attacking Cunningham more than he explained his own ideas; his Senate campaign website didn’t even list any policy priorities. Meanwhile, Republicans painted Cunningham as a “socialist” despite his more moderate policy positions. GOP political ads lied that Cunningham supported programs like “Medicare For All,” which moves all Americans to public health insurance, and the Green New Deal, an ambitious progressive framework to address climate change. Cunningham explicitly ran against those two proposals.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Biden Calls Trump's Refusal To Accept Election Results 'An Embarrassment'

President-elect Joe Biden expressed his dismay at President Donald Trump ’ s repeated refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election on Tuesday , three days after the race was called in the former vice president ’ s favor .
His comment on Trump ’ s refusal to concede came during remarks Biden was giving on the Republican-led legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act , which was argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday .
Biden has said he would work to strengthen the act ’ s protections during his presidency .
Reporters took the opportunity to ask @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on the election results .
On Monday , Attorney General Bill Barr sent top federal prosecutors a memo authorizing them to investigate any voter fraud allegations in a move that appears aimed at casting doubt on the validity of last week ’ s election .
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier Tuesday afternoon that “ there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.
” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell , meanwhile , has said that Trump is acting within his rights .
This week , he attempted to paint @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for which there are no evidence ― as part of the normal process of presidential elections , saying there ’ s “ no reason for alarm.
” Other sitting Republicans have avoided making any public remarks on Biden ’ s win .
Asked how he plans to work with Republicans if they won ’ t acknowledge him to be the president-elect , Biden said simply : “ They will .
They will.
” Emphasizing his intent to prioritize a new coronavirus relief package during Trump ’ s lame duck session , Biden said @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the “ not too distant future.
” The two have a history of working across the aisle to move legislation through a divided Senate .
When asked if he had any message to give Trump , assuming the president was watching , Biden responded : “ Mr .
President , I look forward to speaking with you.
” Biden asserted that the transition was already “ well underway ” regardless of the Trump administration ’ s relationship to reality .
Trump ’ s stance “ will have no effect ” on the Biden-Harris @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Inauguration Day , which Biden seemed to think will proceed as usual .
“ The whole Republican Party has been put in the position , with a few notable exceptions , of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president , ” he said .
Although it would “ be nice ” for his transition team to be able to access the federal funds required to be given to incoming presidents , Biden said the money is not necessary to have in order to do the work — downplaying tensions between his team and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ re going to be doing exactly what we would be doing if he had conceded and said we won , which we did .
I don ’ t see a need for legal action , quite frankly , ” he said .
Biden has so far spoken with six world leaders about his victory and transition ― including the leaders of the U.K. , France , Ireland , Canada and Germany ― and said he has “ a number of other calls to return .
”

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President-elect Joe Biden expressed his dismay at President Donald Trump’s repeated refusal to accept the results of the 2020 election on Tuesday, three days after the race was called in the former vice president’s favor.
“I just think it’s an embarrassment, quite frankly,” Biden said, wondering aloud, “How can I say this tactfully?”
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He added: “I think that it will not help the president’s legacy.”
His comment on Trump’s refusal to concede came during remarks Biden was giving on the Republican-led legal challenge to the Affordable Care Act, which was argued before the Supreme Court on Tuesday. Biden has said he would work to strengthen the act’s protections during his presidency.
Reporters took the opportunity to ask him about Republican leaders’ obstinate statements on the election results. On Monday, Attorney General Bill Barr sent top federal prosecutors a memo authorizing them to investigate any voter fraud allegations in a move that appears aimed at casting doubt on the validity of last week’s election. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said earlier Tuesday afternoon that “there will be a smooth transition to a second Trump administration.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, meanwhile, has said that Trump is acting within his rights. This week, he attempted to paint the president’s fraud claims ― for which there are no evidence ― as part of the normal process of presidential elections, saying there’s “no reason for alarm.” Other sitting Republicans have avoided making any public remarks on Biden’s win.
Asked how he plans to work with Republicans if they won’t acknowledge him to be the president-elect, Biden said simply: “They will. They will.”
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Emphasizing his intent to prioritize a new coronavirus relief package during Trump’s lame duck session, Biden said he expects to speak with McConnell in the “not too distant future.” The two have a history of working across the aisle to move legislation through a divided Senate.
When asked if he had any message to give Trump, assuming the president was watching, Biden responded: “Mr. President, I look forward to speaking with you.”
Biden asserted that the transition was already “well underway” regardless of the Trump administration’s relationship to reality. Trump’s stance “will have no effect” on the Biden-Harris team’s ability to prepare for Inauguration Day, which Biden seemed to think will proceed as usual.
“The whole Republican Party has been put in the position, with a few notable exceptions, of being mildly intimidated by the sitting president,” he said.
Although it would “be nice” for his transition team to be able to access the federal funds required to be given to incoming presidents, Biden said the money is not necessary to have in order to do the work — downplaying tensions between his team and the Trump administration.
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“We’re going to be doing exactly what we would be doing if he had conceded and said we won, which we did. I don’t see a need for legal action, quite frankly,” he said.
Biden has so far spoken with six world leaders about his victory and transition ― including the leaders of the U.K., France, Ireland, Canada and Germany ― and said he has “a number of other calls to return.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Donald Trump's Mass Voter Fraud Conspiracies Could Get Somebody Killed

“ It ’ s been happening for four years now , but it ’ s still stunning to most of us , I think , that the president does absolutely nothing to try to tamp that down .
In fact , he encourages it , ” Brower said .
“ I know it ’ s very frustrating for law enforcement , but the president doesn ’ t appear to be willing yet to face the facts , encourage his followers to remain calm and accept the fact that he has lost , and move on.
” There ’ s plenty @ @ @ @ @ @ @ by his rhetoric and committing violence .
Trump “ super fan ” Cesar Sayoc , who mailed poorly made explosive devices to Trump critics in 2018 , is in federal prison .
So are three Trump supporters from Kansas who plotting a terrorist attack on Muslims back in 2016 after the then-candidate demonized members of the religion .
( Afterwards , the defendants tried to ask a judge for leniency because of Trump ’ s rhetoric , but the judge didn ’ t buy it . )
A former Coast Guard lieutenant labeled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sentenced earlier this year after he reportedly compiled a hit list of journalists and Trump ’ s political enemies .
There are plenty of other domestic extremists who echoed Trump ’ s rhetoric even without explicitly aligning themselves with him .
In Philadelphia , a heavily Democratic city where Trump nonetheless performed better in 2020 than he did in 2016 , the impact of that increased polarization and the explosive growth of conspiracy theories fueled by the president of the United States have already been felt .
Elections officials in the city , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ death threats , and two armed men who reportedly believed in conspiracy theories about the vote count drove into the city in a Hummer slapped with stickers and hats referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory , which posits that Trump is working to end a global child sex trafficking ring that is plotting against the U.S .

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Enabled by top Republicans, President Donald Trump and his campaign have made wild, unsubstantiated claims about mass voter fraud in the 2020 election that threaten to undermine American faith in the electoral process and representative democracy. They also may put lives at risk.
Current and former law enforcement officials told HuffPost that they’re worried conspiracy theorists will turn violent after latching onto ludicrous claims that election officials engaged in a massive criminal conspiracy to steal the election from Trump.
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There’s no truth to that notion. Not a single credible elections expert will tell you otherwise. Not even the Trump campaign has directly made allegations of mass fraud in court, instead mostly focusing on tangential and routine election complaints that likely won’t have any impact on the vote count in states like Pennsylvania, where President-elect Joe Biden leads by more than 45,000 votes ― surpassing the margin by which Trump carried it four years ago.
But Greg Brower, a former Republican-appointed U.S. attorney and a former FBI official, told HuffPost he was concerned about the potential for extremist violence, and he was sure the FBI and other law enforcement officials were on the watch too. He said it was “stunning” that the president wouldn’t help dismiss conspiracy theories that had the potential to spark violence and would make the jobs of law enforcement more difficult.
“It’s been happening for four years now, but it’s still stunning to most of us, I think, that the president does absolutely nothing to try to tamp that down. In fact, he encourages it,” Brower said. “I know it’s very frustrating for law enforcement, but the president doesn’t appear to be willing yet to face the facts, encourage his followers to remain calm and accept the fact that he has lost, and move on.”
The FBI declined to comment.
A Trump supporter holds a sign outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia after Joe Biden was projected the winner of the 2020 presidential election on Nov. 7. BRYAN R. SMITH via Getty Images
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Law enforcement officials in areas where Trump has focused his bogus allegations are also on alert.
Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner told HuffPost that he was pleased that armed militias didn’t end up hanging out at polling places on Election Day, but said his office ended up getting a lot of calls from individuals who had been taken in by social media disinformation that was unmoored from reality.
“We’re having a conversation with members of his base who believe that there is a satanic, pedophilic, sex ring running out of a pizza parlor,” Krasner said, referring to the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory that targeted a Washington, D.C., restaurant (and landed one conspiracy theorist in prison for firing a weapon in the restaurant). “I have trouble figuring out whether these people are actually part of an elaborate ‘Saturday Night Live’ routine, or if we should be terrified because they like AR-15s.”
The Threat Of Violence
There were widespread fears that the actual voting process last week could be under violent threat from right-wing groups. The threat did not materialize, but that doesn’t mean the danger is gone.
Mary McCord, the Justice Department’s former top national security official, said that with increased law enforcement attention, there have been fewer private, heavily armed vigilante groups on the streets after the election than there were in response to coronavirus-related restrictions and in response to racial justice protests. But conspiracy theories about stolen elections could certainly pose a real threat to the United States.
“There’s no question that the disinformation coming from the president and his surrogates about ballot fraud is fueling far-right groups in ways that present threats to public safety,” McCord said. “But more attention is being paid to them by federal, state and local law enforcement and that is having an impact.”
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Bill Fulton, a former FBI informant and an expert on right-wing domestic terrorism who works with state and federal governments, told HuffPost that domestic extremists were already poised to believe that Democrats are evil and could be pushed past their breaking point by the conspiracy theory ― endorsed by Trump ― that they were stealing the election.
“The latest round of conspiracy theories is just a continuation of the hell that the last four years has been if you work in a counter-domestic extremism capacity,” Fulton said. “This is nothing new, it’s just a little more dangerous now.”
“What we call it is walking them to the edge,” Fulton said. “You have the president of the United States taking these people to the edge, and the second that something happens he’s going to turn around and go, ‘Well, I didn’t tell them to do that.’ It gives him that plausible deniability, and that’s what’s scary.”
The longer this all goes on, Fulton said, the more dangerous it becomes. If people are kept at a heightened state, there’s a larger possibility that someone will snap. They might think it’s their patriotic duty to act.
“You can’t keep people on the edge for that long,” Fulton said. “A lot of these guys think that they’re like defending the United States. They think they’re patriots. That is powerful. Patriots go to war for their country all the time... When you start mixing that, you end up with really, really bad shit happening.”
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There’s plenty of instances of Trump fans being inspired by his rhetoric and committing violence. Trump “super fan” Cesar Sayoc, who mailed poorly made explosive devices to Trump critics in 2018, is in federal prison. So are three Trump supporters from Kansas who plotting a terrorist attack on Muslims back in 2016 after the then-candidate demonized members of the religion. (Afterwards, the defendants tried to ask a judge for leniency because of Trump’s rhetoric, but the judge didn’t buy it.) A former Coast Guard lieutenant labeled a domestic terrorist by federal prosecutors was sentenced earlier this year after he reportedly compiled a hit list of journalists and Trump’s political enemies. There are plenty of other domestic extremists who echoed Trump’s rhetoric even without explicitly aligning themselves with him.
In Philadelphia, a heavily Democratic city where Trump nonetheless performed better in 2020 than he did in 2016, the impact of that increased polarization and the explosive growth of conspiracy theories fueled by the president of the United States has already been felt. Elections officials in the city, as The Philadelphia Inquirer reported, received death threats, and two armed men who reportedly believed in conspiracy theories about the vote count drove into the city in a Hummer slapped with stickers and hats referencing the QAnon conspiracy theory, which posits that Trump is working to end a global child sex trafficking ring that is plotting against the U.S.
Two men were arrested after Philly police got a tip they were armed and making threats against the Philadelphia Convention Center, where votes are being counted. Police seized weapons and a Hummer with stickers on it promoting the QAnon conspiracy theory: https://t.co/zpZPNlZP5k pic.twitter.com/AHA9EsXUsb — NBC10 Philadelphia (@NBCPhiladelphia) November 6, 2020
In Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Proud Boys, white nationalists, QAnon believers and other extremists yelled “Stop the steal!” at a protest outside the state Capitol. A SUV with a Confederate bumper sticker drove around the Capitol with a “Make America Great Again” flag flying out the back, as pro-Trump protesters insisted that their mass voter fraud conspiracies were true.
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A Nonsensical, But Dangerous, Theory
The Trump campaign has offered no meaningful evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 elections, and it requires a series of massive logical leaps to even approach that conclusion. It would mean a disparate group of election officials in several different states — including Republicans, or those in states where the election process is controlled by Republicans — all coordinated to steal tens of thousands of votes, while still making sure Democrats lost almost every consequential House race and retained only a small chance to take the Senate.
Beyond what people may do with that information now, the long-term effects are likely to be disastrous.
David Iglesias, a former Republican-appointed U.S. attorney, told HuffPost that Trump’s outrageous claims of mass voter fraud smell of “desperation.” But, as a broader group of Republican-appointed U.S. attorneys warned, they “have the potential to undermine the rule of law.”
And it’s not just Trump — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) have not disputed the president’s claims, and repeated some of them.
“The longer that Leader McConnell and Leader McCarthy continue to echo the president’s baseless claims, the longer it’s going to take for Americans to accept the outcome and move on,” Brower said.
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Krasner, a Democrat and progressive prosecutor who has been targeted by Trump-appointed U.S. Attorney William McSwain, said he agreed with state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D) who said that Pennsylvania Republicans were “acting more like a cult than a caucus” after they refused to allow mail-in ballots to be counted before Election Day (which delayed the vote count in the commonwealth).
“It’s terrible. It’s incredibly cynical,” Krasner said. “You simultaneously have a Republican Party doing its level best to make sure votes get counted as slowly as possible, then you’ve got Trump hollering that any vote counted after midnight on Election Day don’t count. They knew what was going on. They knew he was going to do that. It’s kind of like a couple of kids raiding the cookie jar, it’s not even clever.”
Republican voters are already highly susceptible to false claims of mass voter fraud, which conservatives have been playing up for years as part of an effort to support voting restrictions that would disproportionately impact Democratic voters. There are, of course, instances of election fraud and very occasional efforts significant enough to impact local races that are decided by just a handful of ballots.
But Trump built his political career promoting the racist conspiracy theory that former President Barack Obama wasn’t a citizen. Now, without any evidence, he’s painting a picture of a much broader criminal conspiracy to steal tens of thousands of votes, an implausible criminal endeavor which would require the cooperation of members of both parties.
It’s worth pointing out how vast a criminal conspiracy would have to be to affect the election in the way Trump has suggested. It defies all logic.
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“It’s easy to identify and prosecute, but more fundamentally, virtually impossible to pull off,” Brower said. “In my experience as a prosecutor, it’s not possible for massive conspiracies like that to exist and be successful. It’s just too many people, it takes too much coordination. Fortunately, for us as law-abiding Americans, it’s just not possible.”
Moreover, Brower said, why would these theoretical criminal mastermind conspirators allow so many Democratic Senate candidates to lose? “It makes no sense,” Brower said.
As U.S. attorney in Nevada, Brower said, he set up a task force to look at voter fraud, but said history has shown that there’s almost never any significant incidents. Brower, who also served as an elected Republican in the Nevada legislature, said he can’t remember a serious discussion about the possibility that fraud impacted the outcome of any election, even close ones.
“There’s never really been any evidence of it in any substantial way,” Brower said. “You don’t hear Republicans complaining about fraud in any races where the Republican won, or any of the states in which President Trump won.”
The Trump campaign hasn’t actually made any substantive allegations of voter fraud in court, either. Brower said Trump’s legal team may eventually convince “some poor sap to swear out an affidavit that’s false” that could generate an investigation, but says it’ll almost certainly fall apart upon scrutiny. “It’s just really kind of pathetic,” he said.
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In Pennsylvania, the campaign is instead complaining about the distance at which Republican (and Democratic) election watchers stood during ballot counting, and the fact that elections officials in Democratic-leaning counties in the commonwealth seemed to do a much better job helping voters who cast mail-in ballots than officials in Republican counties.
Vanita Gupta, the president and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and the former head of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, said that there’s no substance to the complaints brought forward by the Trump campaign, and that voters “overwhelmingly picked” Biden.
“This effort is about disruption, disinformation, sowing chaos and trying to undermine the legitimacy of Biden’s victory,” she said.
‘Insert Underpants Gnome’
All of the lawsuits that have been filed may help soothe Trump’s ego, but there’s almost no chance they’ll have an actual impact on the election. Justin Levitt, an election law expert, compared the Trump campaign’s post-election legal strategy to the business plan of the “underpants gnomes” in an old episode of “South Park,” in that the lawsuits don’t offer any path toward ultimately preventing Trump’s electoral college defeat. (Phase 1: Collect underpants. Phase 2: ? Phase 3: Profit.)
“Some of these lawsuits are nonsense, and will lose. Some are legit on their own terms – modestly incremental access for observers ― and may win, but won’t change the result,” Levitt said.
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“The endgame may be fundraising, or further delegitimization of the process,” he said. “But supporters who believe that the current batch of litigation is going to affect the outcome are skipping some pretty important steps. [Insert underpants gnome.]”
Even some conservatives who have been warning about the threat of voter fraud for years have attempted to clamp down on the unsubstantiated claims of mass voter fraud.
J. Christian Adams, a right-wing former Justice Department official, told The Daily Signal that he’d received more than 20 emails asking for investigations of rumors that had been floating around online. When The Epoch Times ― a foreign-owned publication which The New York Times called “a leading purveyor of right-wing misinformation” ― wrote a story claiming that “10,000 Dead People Returned Mail-in Ballots in Michigan,” Adams wrote on Twitter that it was “100 percent NOT accurate.” Hans von Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, who has been warning of voter fraud for years and has supported strict voter ID laws that would disproportionately impact Democratic voters, said there are “a lot of stories and rumors that turn out not to be true” and that it would be nearly impossible for tens of thousands of ballots to have gone to Biden without any votes going to Trump, as some have falsely claimed.
It wasn’t lost on Krasner that the man he called an “explicitly racist president” had targeted a city with a majority Black and brown population.
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“Their strategy was a racist strategy, and it played out in a way that they weren’t expecting,” Krasner said. “The people who turned out in those enormous numbers who swelled the numbers of Democrats and won the states, were Black and brown, and they were young.”
In other words, Philly doesn’t forget, and it loves a good rivalry.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Trump Administration Removes Official Who Oversees National Climate Assessment

That report concluded that global temperatures are “ rising more rapidly than anything modern civilization has experienced ” and that @ @ @ @ @ only be explained by human activities , especially emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
@ @ @ @ @ allies dismissed the report ’ s findings .
“ I don ’ t believe it @ @ @ @ @ the time .

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The White House has removed the scientist who oversees the National Climate Assessment, the federal government’s definitive report on climate change, The New York Times and The Washington Post reported Monday.
Michael Kuperberg, a climate scientist and executive director of the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP), was reportedly told Friday that he would no longer lead that organization.
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Kuperberg, who has led USGCRP since July 2015, had been expected to stay on through the publication of the Fifth National Climate Assessment. The congressionally mandated, in-depth federal assessments are due every four years. The last report came out in 2018.
“Mike called me on Saturday and said he was just notified that he was let go, that his detail was over and that he should go back to the Department of Energy,” Donald Wuebbles, a climate scientist at the University of Illinois and co-author of the fourth climate assessment, told the Post.
Kuperberg was “shocked” by his ouster, Wuebbles told the Post.
“He was extremely dedicated,” Wuebbles said. “He did a very good job of figuring out how to walk that political line. He had no idea it was coming.”
The White House did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
David Legates, a deputy assistant secretary at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is expected to replace Kuperberg, the Times and the Post reported.
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Legates has falsely claimed, among other things, that increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are good for the planet and dismissed his critics in the scientific community as “a bunch of thugs.”
Kuperberg’s removal and the expected appointment of Legates appear to mark the latest efforts by the White House to kneecap U.S. progress on climate science, which have included reversing Obama-era clean energy policies.
The Trump administration tried to bury the Fourth National Climate Assessment by releasing it the day after Thanksgiving in 2018.
That report concluded that global temperatures are “rising more rapidly than anything modern civilization has experienced” and that “this warming trend can only be explained by human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.” But Trump and his allies dismissed the report’s findings. “I don’t believe it,” Trump said at the time.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Rush Limbaugh: 'No Way Joe Biden Was Legitimately Elected President'

Rush Limbaugh ’ s allegiance to election truthers ― those adopting President Donald Trump ’ s false claims that President-elect Joe Biden stole the election ― should come as no surprise .
“ There ’ s simply no way Joe Biden was legitimately elected president , ” the popular right-wing radio host declared on his show Monday .
“ I just can ’ t believe it .
I do not believe it .
Intellectually ― and as I look at what I have learned and what I have seen over the course of the past four , five days ― @ @ @ @ @ @ @ And he had an idea for finding proof to back Trump ’ s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud .
“ I have been urging people all weekend to name an investigation czar , a vote count czar , whatever you want to call it , ” Limbaugh said .
“ This is a single person that the Trump administration sends out every day to update the people of this country on the latest of the investigation into every state , into every allegation of vote fraud in every state.
” The “ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the American people in an honest , straightforward factual way , ” Limbaugh said .
But Attorney General William Barr may have stepped up .
Barr , who was called Trump ’ s “ fixer ” by Rep. Jerry Nadler ( D-N.Y. ) , on Monday told federal prosecutors they can investigate substantial allegations of voter fraud before the election result is certified , appearing to lend credence to Trump ’ s allegations .

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Rush Limbaugh’s allegiance to election truthers ― those adopting President Donald Trump’s false claims that President-elect Joe Biden stole the election ― should come as no surprise.
“There’s simply no way Joe Biden was legitimately elected president,” the popular right-wing radio host declared on his show Monday. “I just can’t believe it. I do not believe it. Intellectually ― and as I look at what I have learned and what I have seen over the course of the past four, five days ― there’s simply no way.”
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And he had an idea for finding proof to back Trump’s baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
“I have been urging people all weekend to name an investigation czar, a vote count czar, whatever you want to call it,” Limbaugh said. “This is a single person that the Trump administration sends out every day to update the people of this country on the latest of the investigation into every state, into every allegation of vote fraud in every state.”
The “nonpartisan” czar would “report to the American people in an honest, straightforward factual way,” Limbaugh said.
Limbaugh didn’t suggest anyone for the job.
But Attorney General William Barr may have stepped up. Barr, who was called Trump’s “fixer” by Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), on Monday told federal prosecutors they can investigate substantial allegations of voter fraud before the election result is certified, appearing to lend credence to Trump’s allegations.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Tucker Carlson Says 'Let's All Stop Lying.' Twitter Mockingly Agrees.

“ How do we calm things down ?
How do we make an America you want to live in ?
@ @ @ @ @ the only solution , is honesty , ” Carlson continued .
“ Let ’ s @ @ @ @ @ about everything that matters .
Everyday of our lives .
That ’ s what we @ @ @ @ @ Have you noticed ?
How many times did you lie today cause you had to @ @ @ @ @ our national dishonesty mandate .
”

“How do we calm things down? How do we make an America you want to live in? And the only answer, the only solution, is honesty,” Carlson continued. “Let’s all stop lying. Lying about everything that matters. Everyday of our lives. That’s what we’re doing now. Have you noticed? How many times did you lie today cause you had to? Let’s repeal our national dishonesty mandate.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Progressive Candace Valenzuela Concedes House Race In Texas Against Beth Van Duyne

After narrowly trailing Van Duyne for a week after Election Day , Valenzuela , a progressive candidate , conceded on Tuesday , saying in a statement : “ Others told me that I couldn ’ t do it because I lacked gravitas and , as a mother and a woman of color , I didn ’ t fit the image of an elected official .
Even though we didn ’ t win this race , we ’ ve forced the gatekeepers of the political process to reimagine who belongs at the table.
” If Valenzuela had won , the 36-year-old @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Afro-Latina to be elected to the U.S. House .
Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who were behind our powerful grassroots movement .
We came up short , but there is still so much work to be done .
I will continue to be a tireless advocate for all communities across North Texas.https : //t.co/qp2gZUizSh — Candace Valenzuela ( @ candacefor24 ) November 10 , 2020 Democrats had pinned their hopes on flipping the Republican-held seat blue .
The district , which stretches between Dallas and Fort Worth and is currently @ @ @ @ @ @ @ had been rated a “ toss-up.
” Donald Trump won there in 2016 , but Democrat Beto O ’ Rourke also won it in his 2018 Senate race .
Van Duyne lists among her main concerns on her campaign website the threat of “ terrorist jihad ” and socialism being “ on the rise ” in the U.S. She is against creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S. Candace Valenzuela with her husband , Andy , and two children knock on doors as she campaigns for the U.S. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ experienced homelessness as a child , told HuffPost in August that she was running because not many representatives “ know the anxiety of not being able to pay the bills , of the pit in your stomach of not knowing if you have a home tomorrow.
” “ If you have so much say over a system that is life or death for many Americans , somebody has to have experience with it , ” said the former educator and mother of two who has lived in federally subsidized housing , used food @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , who considers herself a progressive , didn ’ t run as far left as some other young progressives — a route that made sense politically in a district with significant Republican support .
She didn ’ t push for “ Medicare for All ” but rather for a public option , with people making less than $ 50,000 fully covered and others getting 90 % of costs covered .
Similarly , she didn ’ t call for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but instead pushed for a pathway to citizenship for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a number of high-profile endorsements , including from former President Barack Obama , EMILY ’ s List , Texas ’ s AFL-CIO , Sens .
Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . )
and Kamala Harris ( D-Calif. ) , as well as Reps. Ayanna Pressley ( D-Mass . )
, Joaquin Castro ( D-Texas ) and the late Rep. John Lewis ( D-Ga. ) .

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Candace Valenzuela conceded her race in Texas’s 24th Congressional District to Republican Beth Van Duyne.
After narrowly trailing Van Duyne for a week after Election Day, Valenzuela, a progressive candidate, conceded on Tuesday, saying in a statement: “Others told me that I couldn’t do it because I lacked gravitas and, as a mother and a woman of color, I didn’t fit the image of an elected official. Even though we didn’t win this race, we’ve forced the gatekeepers of the political process to reimagine who belongs at the table.”
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If Valenzuela had won, the 36-year-old would have made history as the first Afro-Latina to be elected to the U.S. House.
Thank you to all the volunteers and supporters who were behind our powerful grassroots movement. We came up short, but there is still so much work to be done. I will continue to be a tireless advocate for all communities across North Texas.https://t.co/qp2gZUizSh — Candace Valenzuela (@candacefor24) November 10, 2020
Democrats had pinned their hopes on flipping the Republican-held seat blue. The district, which stretches between Dallas and Fort Worth and is currently represented by retiring Rep. Kenny Marchant, had been rated a “toss-up.” Donald Trump won there in 2016, but Democrat Beto O’Rourke also won it in his 2018 Senate race.
The population of Texas’ 24th District is more than half people of color, including a quarter Latino and 13% Black.
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Van Duyne lists among her main concerns on her campaign website the threat of “terrorist jihad” and socialism being “on the rise” in the U.S. She is against creating a path to citizenship for undocumented immigrants already in the U.S.
Candace Valenzuela with her husband, Andy, and two children knock on doors as she campaigns for the U.S. House in February. Candace Valenzuela
Valenzuela, who experienced homelessness as a child, told HuffPost in August that she was running because not many representatives “know the anxiety of not being able to pay the bills, of the pit in your stomach of not knowing if you have a home tomorrow.”
“If you have so much say over a system that is life or death for many Americans, somebody has to have experience with it,” said the former educator and mother of two who has lived in federally subsidized housing, used food stamps and attended public schools.
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Valenzuela, who considers herself a progressive, didn’t run as far left as some other young progressives — a route that made sense politically in a district with significant Republican support. She didn’t push for “Medicare for All” but rather for a public option, with people making less than $50,000 fully covered and others getting 90% of costs covered. Similarly, she didn’t call for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement but instead pushed for a pathway to citizenship for all undocumented immigrants.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Justin Trudeau Says He's First World Leader To Personally Speak With President-Elect Biden

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden discussed a wide array of challenges facing North America during a Monday phone call , which the prime minister ’ s office said made him the first world leader to speak with the president-elect .
Trudeau shared about the discussion on Twitter .
The prime minister was also one of the first international figures to send congratulations to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday when major networks called the presidential race in Biden ’ s favor .
Trudeau said the two men discussed the coronavirus pandemic ; racism in the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ working together with NATO and the G-7 ; the Keystone XL pipeline ; trade agreements ; and the detentions of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig , two Canadian citizens who were charged with espionage by China in a move speculated as retaliation for the 2018 Vancouver detention of Meng Wanzhou , chief financial officer of Huawei .
I just spoke with @ JoeBiden , and congratulated him again on his election .
We ’ ve worked with each other before , and we ’ re ready to pick up on that work and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ two countries - including climate change and COVID-19 .
pic.twitter.com/wldIwLSz5H — Justin Trudeau ( @ JustinTrudeau ) November 9 , 2020 We talked about those specific challenges today , as well as trade , energy , NATO , anti-Black racism , and China ’ s arbitrary detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor .
On these and other issues , President-elect @ JoeBiden and I agreed to keep in touch and work closely together .
— Justin Trudeau ( @ JustinTrudeau ) November 9 , 2020 Also on Monday , Trudeau said he @ @ @ @ @ @ @ process ” when asked if he had congratulated Biden too soon and stated that his office would continue to work with the Trump administration until Jan. 20 , when the president-elect is scheduled to take office .
Notably , the prime minister once paused for about 20 seconds when asked to comment on Donald Trump ’ s call for military action against U.S. protests in the wake of George Floyd ’ s death .
In the aftermath of the first presidential debate in late September , Trudeau was also quick to denounce right-wing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Proud Boys ― which were founded by British-Canadian Gavin McInnes ― when Trump sidestepped doing so .

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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Joe Biden discussed a wide array of challenges facing North America during a Monday phone call, which the prime minister’s office said made him the first world leader to speak with the president-elect.
Trudeau shared about the discussion on Twitter. The prime minister was also one of the first international figures to send congratulations to Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris on Saturday when major networks called the presidential race in Biden’s favor.
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Trudeau said the two men discussed the coronavirus pandemic; racism in the U.S. and Canada; climate change; working together with NATO and the G-7; the Keystone XL pipeline; trade agreements; and the detentions of Michael Spavor and Michael Kovrig, two Canadian citizens who were charged with espionage by China in a move speculated as retaliation for the 2018 Vancouver detention of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei.
I just spoke with @JoeBiden, and congratulated him again on his election. We’ve worked with each other before, and we’re ready to pick up on that work and tackle the challenges and opportunities facing our two countries - including climate change and COVID-19. pic.twitter.com/wldIwLSz5H — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 9, 2020
We talked about those specific challenges today, as well as trade, energy, NATO, anti-Black racism, and China’s arbitrary detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. On these and other issues, President-elect @JoeBiden and I agreed to keep in touch and work closely together. — Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) November 9, 2020
Also on Monday, Trudeau said he had “confidence in the American electoral process” when asked if he had congratulated Biden too soon and stated that his office would continue to work with the Trump administration until Jan. 20, when the president-elect is scheduled to take office.
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Notably, the prime minister once paused for about 20 seconds when asked to comment on Donald Trump’s call for military action against U.S. protests in the wake of George Floyd’s death.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Trump Family Winery Would Benefit From The President's Farmworker Wage Freeze

The Trump administration has rolled out a new regulation freezing wages for foreign guest workers on U.S. farms until 2023 .
After that , most guest workers would see smaller pay increases than they would have under the current system , potentially lowering their earnings for years to come .
The change would be a boon to growers and a major setback for the low-wage farmworkers who have been classified as “ essential ” during the pandemic .
The administration projects the change would save agricultural employers $ 1.68 billion over 10 years by allowing them to pay workers lower @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on H-2A visas come from Mexico and other countries to work temporarily on U.S. farms .
H-2A employers must pay them a prevailing wage that the government determines ― known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate ( AEWR ) ― so they don ’ t undercut the wages of U.S. workers .
If the new regulation goes into effect , employers like Trump Winery may not have to increase their pay rates for H-2A workers over the next two growing seasons , even though they likely would have under the status quo .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ to see smaller pay boosts because the administration wants to change the source that determines the wage rates .
The proposed regulation serves as a reminder of the endless thicket of conflicts of interest the Trump presidency has created .
The Trump family ’ s extensive business dealings in the U.S. and around the world could factor into countless policy decisions coming from the executive branch .
“ This is a thing that could clearly benefit the family business , ” Libowitz said .
“ This is the whole problem with having a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to his name .
Every decision made by his administration , made by the government , has to be looked at through this lens.
” Businesses that want to use H-2A workers have to petition the government before they can hire them .
Trump Winery sought to bring on 23 such workers in 2019 , according to Labor Department data .
The winery proposed paying them $ 12.25 ― the minimum pay required at the time under Virginia ’ s AEWR .
Donald Trump scooped up the winery and estate in 2012 at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , then either sold or gave it to Eric , according to the New York Post .
The winery ’ s website says the business is a “ registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC , which is not owned , managed , or affiliated with Donald J. Trump or any of his affiliates.
” HuffPost left a message for Trump Winery ’ s general manager on Tuesday asking if the property plans to hire H-2A workers next year , what the pay rates might be , and whether anyone from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with administration officials .
The message was not returned .
The Labor Department published the new H-2A rule last week just before the election but has not yet enacted it .
Worker advocacy groups may try to challenge it in court , and it ’ s possible an incoming Biden administration will work to reverse it through the rule-making process .
But doing so would take time .
Even if the president-elect manages to unwind the rule after taking office , the Trump administration may still have managed to freeze wages for at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ pay rates for most H-2A workers are determined by a labor survey of farms done by the Agriculture Department .
The agriculture lobby has complained that the survey produces wage rates that are too high , well above the minimum wage in most states .
In response , the Trump administration moved to eliminate the survey , and wants to determine the minimum pay rates using a wage index from the Labor Department instead .
An analysis by Daniel Costa , an immigration policy expert at the Economic Policy Institute , found that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ increases than the Labor Department ’ s wage index would have .
Costa said fieldworkers ’ wages rose an average of 3.6 % each year between 2010 and 2019 based on the survey ; under the index proposed in the new rule , they would have risen at an annual rate of 2.3 % .
BuzzFeed reported last year that businesses that are associated with Trump or carry his name had tried to hire at least 600 guest workers through various visa programs since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015 .
Critics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ reliance on guest workers because Trump likes to rail that immigrants are stealing Americans ’ jobs .
Bruce Goldstein , president of Farmworker Justice , an advocacy group for migrant workers , said Trump has taken different approaches to different guest-worker programs since taking office .
Even though his Mar-a-Lago resort uses H-2B workers , Goldstein said , the administration has not increased the number of those visas as much as it could have to benefit the hospitality industry through cheaper labor .

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The Trump administration has rolled out a new regulation freezing wages for foreign guest workers on U.S. farms until 2023. After that, most guest workers would see smaller pay increases than they would have under the current system, potentially lowering their earnings for years to come.
The change would be a boon to growers and a major setback for the low-wage farmworkers who have been classified as “essential” during the pandemic. The administration projects the change would save agricultural employers $1.68 billion over 10 years by allowing them to pay workers lower minimum wages under the law.
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One operation that could benefit directly from the new policy is the Trump family’s vineyard in Charlottesville, Virginia, which has employed foreign workers on H-2A visas in the past. The president’s second-eldest son, Eric Trump, owns Trump Winery.
Workers on H-2A visas come from Mexico and other countries to work temporarily on U.S. farms. H-2A employers must pay them a prevailing wage that the government determines ― known as the Adverse Effect Wage Rate (AEWR) ― so they don’t undercut the wages of U.S. workers.
If the new regulation goes into effect, employers like Trump Winery may not have to increase their pay rates for H-2A workers over the next two growing seasons, even though they likely would have under the status quo. After 2023, most farmworkers are likely to see smaller pay boosts because the administration wants to change the source that determines the wage rates.
The proposed regulation serves as a reminder of the endless thicket of conflicts of interest the Trump presidency has created. The Trump family’s extensive business dealings in the U.S. and around the world could factor into countless policy decisions coming from the executive branch.
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HuffPost asked the Labor Department if it was concerned about the conflict of interest such a rule creates for the White House. A spokesperson had not commented as of Tuesday afternoon.
Jordan Libowitz, a spokesperson for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit ethics watchdog, said it’s natural to question the motives in any decision the Trump administration makes regarding work visas. The president’s Mar-a-Lago property also avails itself of guest workers, who are hired on H-2B visas.
“This is a thing that could clearly benefit the family business,” Libowitz said. “This is the whole problem with having a president with a bunch of businesses connected to his name. Every decision made by his administration, made by the government, has to be looked at through this lens.”
Businesses that want to use H-2A workers have to petition the government before they can hire them. Trump Winery sought to bring on 23 such workers in 2019, according to Labor Department data. The winery proposed paying them $12.25 ― the minimum pay required at the time under Virginia’s AEWR.
Donald Trump scooped up the winery and estate in 2012 at a bargain price of $6.5 million, then either sold or gave it to Eric, according to the New York Post. The winery’s website says the business is a “registered trade name of Eric Trump Wine Manufacturing LLC, which is not owned, managed, or affiliated with Donald J. Trump or any of his affiliates.”
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Eric Trump, the president's son, owns Trump Winery in Virginia. ASSOCIATED PRESS
HuffPost left a message for Trump Winery’s general manager on Tuesday asking if the property plans to hire H-2A workers next year, what the pay rates might be, and whether anyone from the winery ever discussed the H-2A program with administration officials. The message was not returned.
The Labor Department published the new H-2A rule last week just before the election but has not yet enacted it. Worker advocacy groups may try to challenge it in court, and it’s possible an incoming Biden administration will work to reverse it through the rule-making process.
But doing so would take time. Even if the president-elect manages to unwind the rule after taking office, the Trump administration may still have managed to freeze wages for at least the 2021 season.
The minimum pay rates for most H-2A workers are determined by a labor survey of farms done by the Agriculture Department. The agriculture lobby has complained that the survey produces wage rates that are too high, well above the minimum wage in most states. In response, the Trump administration moved to eliminate the survey, and wants to determine the minimum pay rates using a wage index from the Labor Department instead.
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An analysis by Daniel Costa, an immigration policy expert at the Economic Policy Institute, found that the survey has produced more robust wage increases than the Labor Department’s wage index would have. Costa said fieldworkers’ wages rose an average of 3.6% each year between 2010 and 2019 based on the survey; under the index proposed in the new rule, they would have risen at an annual rate of 2.3%.
“This is a thing that could clearly benefit the family business.” - Jordan Libowitz, CREW
The text of the rule makes clear it would reduce farms’ labor costs relative to the current system. The administration’s analysis projects that workers would “transfer” an estimated $170.68 million per year to their employers.
BuzzFeed reported last year that businesses that are associated with Trump or carry his name had tried to hire at least 600 guest workers through various visa programs since he launched his presidential campaign in 2015. Critics have mocked the Trump family’s reliance on guest workers because Trump likes to rail that immigrants are stealing Americans’ jobs.
Bruce Goldstein, president of Farmworker Justice, an advocacy group for migrant workers, said Trump has taken different approaches to different guest-worker programs since taking office. Even though his Mar-a-Lago resort uses H-2B workers, Goldstein said, the administration has not increased the number of those visas as much as it could have to benefit the hospitality industry through cheaper labor.
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Goldstein said the administration has done more favors to employers when it comes to H-2A workers, perhaps seeing a political benefit to pleasing farmers as a constituency. He also said farmworkers are “less visible” than others, “so it’s easier to inflict harm on them.”


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Boris Johnson's Congratulations To Biden Also Contains A Message For Trump

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson ’ s congratulatory message to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris went viral on Tuesday after eagle-eyed Twitter users spotted that Johnson ’ s message appeared to be a hasty image edit that still contained traces of President Donald Trump ’ s name .
Johnson first tweeted congratulations to Biden and Harris on Saturday , after major media networks called the presidential race in favor of the Democratic candidates .
While other world leaders opted to voice their applause via Twitter ’ s usual 280-character limit , Johnson tweeted out an image that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
HuffPost can confirm what Twitter users highlighted : If the image that Johnson tweeted out is downloaded , opened in a photo editing program such as Photoshop or Lightroom , and tweaked with adjusted contrast and exposure levels , the words “ Trump , ” “ second term ” and “ the future ” in a smaller font are faintly visible .
This indicates that the congratulatory message to Biden was layered atop what appears to be a longer congratulatory message to Trump that had not been fully deleted .
A number @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for themselves , expressing bafflement that Downing Street had committed such a bizarre photo editing screw-up .
somewhat unbelievably , there really is a hidden message congratulating Trump just about visible underneath the graphic Boris Johnson tweeted congratulating Biden on his win .
I have no idea why Downing Street just did n't start a new image , or why they are so bad at Photoshop pic.twitter.com/RLY0SV0680 — Matthew Champion ( @ matthewchampion ) November 10 , 2020 Woooow ... Boris Johnson 's congratulatory message to Joe Biden was an unfinished photoshop of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ you download the image , lighten it and increase contrast , part of the original text is revealed .
H/t @ GuidoFawkes pic.twitter.com/irbBsPOisk — Naomi O'Leary ( @ NaomiOhReally ) November 10 , 2020 This is completely nuts : there 's the trace of a message for Trump buried underneath Boris Johnson 's tweeted congratulatory message to Biden .
Highlighted by @ GuidoFawkes , I just did some super basic manipulation on my phone and ... well ... they 're not wrong !
pic.twitter.com/XPzg0bEWXM — Tom Barton ( @ tombarton ) November 10 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wondering why letters appear quite distorted , this is because they used an image that was already compressed , to create the second image .
They took a JPG , not original adjustment document , erased the obvious lettering and left the compression artefacts by mistake .
— Jenn 🌍😊 ( @ PhotoJennBo ) November 10 , 2020 I did a bit more adjustment to colour contrast all the artifacts on the layer the old text is on , to make them all more obvious , in case anyone still having trouble seeing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 🌍😊 ( @ PhotoJennBo ) November 10 , 2020 If you invert the image in photoshop you get the message even more clearly .
pic.twitter.com/EkKqkzAmrd — Anna Dillon ( @ Anna_Dillon ) November 10 , 2020 A Downing Street spokesperson addressed the odd graphical gaffe to the BBC , blaming it on a “ technical ” issue .
“ As you ’ d expect , two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election , ” the spokesperson said .
“ A technical error meant that parts of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ background of the graphic.
” Despite the conspiratorial-like nature of the error , Boris Johnson ― a Trump ally who was described by the president himself as “ Britain Trump ” ― called Biden on Tuesday , stating that he looks forward to working with the president-elect ’ s administration come January .
Biden has notably been far less positive toward Brexit than either Johnson or Trump , and has channeled his heritage when addressing the Good Friday Agreement , stressing that the agreement that ended violence between the Republic of Ireland and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ casualty of Brexit .
”

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British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s congratulatory message to President-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris went viral on Tuesday after eagle-eyed Twitter users spotted that Johnson’s message appeared to be a hasty image edit that still contained traces of President Donald Trump’s name.
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Johnson first tweeted congratulations to Biden and Harris on Saturday, after major media networks called the presidential race in favor of the Democratic candidates. While other world leaders opted to voice their applause via Twitter’s usual 280-character limit, Johnson tweeted out an image that had an unusual blunder hidden inside it.
HuffPost can confirm what Twitter users highlighted: If the image that Johnson tweeted out is downloaded, opened in a photo editing program such as Photoshop or Lightroom, and tweaked with adjusted contrast and exposure levels, the words “Trump,” “second term” and “the future” in a smaller font are faintly visible.
This indicates that the congratulatory message to Biden was layered atop what appears to be a longer congratulatory message to Trump that had not been fully deleted.
A number of Twitter users tested the theory out for themselves, expressing bafflement that Downing Street had committed such a bizarre photo editing screw-up.
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somewhat unbelievably, there really is a hidden message congratulating Trump just about visible underneath the graphic Boris Johnson tweeted congratulating Biden on his win. I have no idea why Downing Street just didn't start a new image, or why they are so bad at Photoshop pic.twitter.com/RLY0SV0680 — Matthew Champion (@matthewchampion) November 10, 2020
Woooow... Boris Johnson's congratulatory message to Joe Biden was an unfinished photoshop of one that originally congratulated Trump.
If you download the image, lighten it and increase contrast, part of the original text is revealed.
H/t @GuidoFawkes pic.twitter.com/irbBsPOisk — Naomi O'Leary (@NaomiOhReally) November 10, 2020
This is completely nuts: there's the trace of a message for Trump buried underneath Boris Johnson's tweeted congratulatory message to Biden.
Highlighted by @GuidoFawkes, I just did some super basic manipulation on my phone and ... well ... they're not wrong! pic.twitter.com/XPzg0bEWXM — Tom Barton (@tombarton) November 10, 2020
Clearer when adjusted through lightroom pic.twitter.com/l6yKp2tnVi — Jenn 🌍😊 (@PhotoJennBo) November 10, 2020
P.s. If you're wondering why letters appear quite distorted, this is because they used an image that was already compressed, to create the second image. They took a JPG, not original adjustment document, erased the obvious lettering and left the compression artefacts by mistake. — Jenn 🌍😊 (@PhotoJennBo) November 10, 2020
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I did a bit more adjustment to colour contrast all the artifacts on the layer the old text is on, to make them all more obvious, in case anyone still having trouble seeing the full text. pic.twitter.com/MqmKq8bZxG — Jenn 🌍😊 (@PhotoJennBo) November 10, 2020
+UPDATE+
Boris Johnson’s congratulatory message to Joe Biden..
...still contained Donald Trump’s name from an earlier message they’d prepared assuming Trump had won. pic.twitter.com/gVMNS2zCqq — Nick🇬🇧🇪🇺 (@nicktolhurst) November 10, 2020
If you invert the image in photoshop you get the message even more clearly. pic.twitter.com/EkKqkzAmrd — Anna Dillon (@Anna_Dillon) November 10, 2020
A Downing Street spokesperson addressed the odd graphical gaffe to the BBC, blaming it on a “technical” issue.
“As you’d expect, two statements were prepared in advance for the outcome of this closely contested election,” the spokesperson said. “A technical error meant that parts of the alternative message were embedded in the background of the graphic.”
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Despite the conspiratorial-like nature of the error, Boris Johnson ― a Trump ally who was described by the president himself as “Britain Trump” ― called Biden on Tuesday, stating that he looks forward to working with the president-elect’s administration come January.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Golfer’s Astounding Hole-In-One Goes Viral: ‘What Did I Just Watch?’

All you have to do is skip the golf ball across a pond , onto a green , and then have it roll directly into the hole .
Easy , right ?
It looked that way for Jon Rahm , who ’ s No .
2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and coolly pulled off the shot during a practice round at the 2020 Masters Tournament on Tuesday .
The astounding hole-in-one , which the Spaniard completed on the 16th hole at Georgia ’ s prestigious Augusta National Golf Club , was quickly hailed on social media as one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all time .
A video of it raked in more than 10 million views in a matter of hours .
It ’ s Masters practice round tradition to have a crack at skipping the ball across the pond on No .
16 .
According to Golfweek , players generally get it across in five or six skips , but it ’ s less common for it to make it onto the green , and even rarer that it goes into the hole ― it ’ s happened three times since 2009 .
Rahm @ @ @ @ @ @ @ year and claimed fourth in 2018 .
“ I can ’ t lie , ” he said , according to Fox Sports on Tuesday .
“ I ’ m feeling pretty confident.
” “ I ’ ve been putting in the work and golfing well .
Hopefully something special happens this weekend , ” he added .
It ’ s tough to blame him for feeling optimistic , if that shot was just him warming up .
Here ’ s how sports commentators , spectators and the people of Twitter responded to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ during quarantine and am hopelessly addicted .
This John Rahm shot of the skipping hole-in-one was a serious blow to my golf game .
I can ’ t even get the damn ball to go where I want it and this dude ’ s game is amphibious .
— Armie Hammer ( @ armiehammer ) November 10 , 2020

All you have to do is skip the golf ball across a pond, onto a green, and then have it roll directly into the hole. Easy, right?
It looked that way for Jon Rahm, who’s No. 2 in the Official World Golf Ranking and coolly pulled off the shot during a practice round at the 2020 Masters Tournament on Tuesday.
The astounding hole-in-one, which the Spaniard completed on the 16th hole at Georgia’s prestigious Augusta National Golf Club, was quickly hailed on social media as one of the craziest and most impressive of all time. A video of it raked in more than 10 million views in a matter of hours.
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From pond to pin! Rahm skips to a hole-in-one on No. 16 at #themasters pic.twitter.com/JNNPWgW9OP — The Masters (@TheMasters) November 10, 2020
It’s Masters practice round tradition to have a crack at skipping the ball across the pond on No. 16.
According to Golfweek, players generally get it across in five or six skips, but it’s less common for it to make it onto the green, and even rarer that it goes into the hole ― it’s happened three times since 2009.
Rahm shared ninth place at the Masters last year and claimed fourth in 2018.
“I can’t lie,” he said, according to Fox Sports on Tuesday. “I’m feeling pretty confident.”
“I’ve been putting in the work and golfing well. Hopefully something special happens this weekend,” he added.
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It’s tough to blame him for feeling optimistic, if that shot was just him warming up.
Here’s how sports commentators, spectators and the people of Twitter responded to his mind-blowing ace:
This is the craziest golf shot I've ever seen. https://t.co/cCKsfOF0UH — Dana Goldberg (@DGComedy) November 10, 2020
Jon Rahm just hit the greatest golf shot in the history of the universe... pic.twitter.com/0fcOxgPQ82 — Jake Asman (@JakeAsman) November 10, 2020
Atheists - “There is no God.”
Golf - 👇 https://t.co/LcDg9ZD1qJ — Laurence Fox (@LozzaFox) November 10, 2020
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This isn't golf. This is magic. https://t.co/y9ggp7Qhzp — Dan Primack (@danprimack) November 10, 2020
I started playing golf during quarantine and am hopelessly addicted. This John Rahm shot of the skipping hole-in-one was a serious blow to my golf game. I can’t even get the damn ball to go where I want it and this dude’s game is amphibious. — Armie Hammer (@armiehammer) November 10, 2020


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Wisconsin Teen Charged With Buying Rifle For Kyle Rittenhouse

A 19-year-old Wisconsin man was charged with felony weapons offenses for allegedly purchasing the AR-style rifle that 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of using to kill two people during protests in Kenosha over the summer .
Dominick David Black was charged last week with two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death , according to court records released following a court hearing on Monday .
He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on both counts .
Black used his friend ’ s money to purchase a Smith & Wesson M & P @ @ @ @ @ @ @ because Rittenhouse knew he wasn ’ t old enough to legally purchase the firearm himself , authorities said .
Black stored the weapon in his stepfather ’ s home in Kenosha for Rittenhouse , according to a criminal complaint obtained by Kenosha News .
Kyle Rittenhouse , 17 , of Antioch , Illinois , is accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha , Wisconsin .
On Aug. 25 , as protests erupted in Kenosha over the police shooting of Jacob Blake , Black asked Rittenhouse @ @ @ @ @ @ @ him , even though a citywide curfew was in place , authorities said .
The two teens then went to Black ’ s stepfather ’ s house to retrieve the gun .
Black , armed with his own AR-15 style rifle , told police he was concerned about Rittenhouse having the gun because he wasn ’ t 18 .
He said he expected Rittenhouse “ would have thrown a fit ” if he tried to stop him , according to police .
As the two patrolled the streets , Rittenhouse shot three protesters @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of the victims threw a plastic bag , police said .
Joseph Rosenbaum , 36 , and Anthony Huber , 26 , were killed .
A third man was seriously wounded .
Black said he and Rittenhouse then drove with the gun used in the killings to Rittenhouse ’ s home in Antioch , Illinois , about 10 miles away .
Rittenhouse , who has claimed he shot the protesters in self-defense , faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide .
If convicted , he faces a life prison sentence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County Jail on a $ 2,500 bond on Monday .
Rittenhouse was extradited to Wisconsin in October and is jailed under $ 2 million bond awaiting trial .
Rittenhouse is seen during an extradition hearing in Waukegan , Ill. , in October .
He faces life in prison if convicted of first-degree intentional homicide .

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A 19-year-old Wisconsin man was charged with felony weapons offenses for allegedly purchasing the AR-style rifle that 17-year-old Kyle Rittenhouse is accused of using to kill two people during protests in Kenosha over the summer.
Dominick David Black was charged last week with two counts of intentionally giving a dangerous weapon to a minor causing death, according to court records released following a court hearing on Monday. He faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted on both counts.
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Black used his friend’s money to purchase a Smith & Wesson M&P 15 rifle for hunting earlier this year because Rittenhouse knew he wasn’t old enough to legally purchase the firearm himself, authorities said. Black stored the weapon in his stepfather’s home in Kenosha for Rittenhouse, according to a criminal complaint obtained by Kenosha News.
Kyle Rittenhouse, 17, of Antioch, Illinois, is accused of killing two protesters days after Jacob Blake was shot by police in Kenosha, Wisconsin. ASSOCIATED PRESS
On Aug. 25, as protests erupted in Kenosha over the police shooting of Jacob Blake, Black asked Rittenhouse to help guard a local business with him, even though a citywide curfew was in place, authorities said. The two teens then went to Black’s stepfather’s house to retrieve the gun.
Black, armed with his own AR-15 style rifle, told police he was concerned about Rittenhouse having the gun because he wasn’t 18. He said he expected Rittenhouse “would have thrown a fit” if he tried to stop him, according to police.
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As the two patrolled the streets, Rittenhouse shot three protesters in a scuffle that started when one of the victims threw a plastic bag, police said. Joseph Rosenbaum, 36, and Anthony Huber, 26, were killed. A third man was seriously wounded.
Black said he and Rittenhouse then drove with the gun used in the killings to Rittenhouse’s home in Antioch, Illinois, about 10 miles away.
Rittenhouse, who has claimed he shot the protesters in self-defense, faces charges of first-degree intentional homicide and attempted intentional homicide. If convicted, he faces a life prison sentence.
Black was released from the Kenosha County Jail on a $2,500 bond on Monday. Rittenhouse was extradited to Wisconsin in October and is jailed under $2 million bond awaiting trial.
Black’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Pope John Paul II Promoted Cleric After Learning About Sex Abuse Allegations

But the report also charts the alarm bells that sounded — but were ignored — nearly a decade earlier , when in 1993 a series of six anonymous letters were sent to U.S. church officials and the Vatican ’ s ambassador to the U.S. alleging McCarrick was a “ pedophile ” who would sleep in the same bed with young men and boys .
The ambassador destroyed the letters , and the U.S. church had a policy at the time of not taking action based on anonymous reports of abuse — a practice that was recently reversed by the Vatican @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , 90 , was defrocked by Francis last year after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of allegations that the globe-trotting envoy and successful church fundraiser had sexually molested adults as well as children .
The Vatican had reports from authoritative figures dating back to 1999 that McCarrick ’ s behavior was problematic , yet he continued to rise to become an influential cardinal , kingmaker and emissary of the Holy See ’ s “ soft diplomacy.
” Most significantly , the findings largely gave Francis a pass , saying he never lifted or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a “ diplomatic agent ” for the Holy See and never received any documentation about McCarrick before 2017 .
It didn ’ t say if Francis had sought such documentation after one of his ambassadors purportedly told him in 2013 that McCarrick was a predator .
“ Pope Francis had heard only that there had been allegations and rumors related to immoral conduct with adults occurring prior to McCarrick ’ s appointment to Washington , ” the summary says .
“ Believing that the allegations had already been reviewed and rejected by Pope @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that McCarrick was active during the papacy of Benedict XVI , Pope Francis did not see the need to alter the approach that had been adopted.
” Francis changed course after a former altar boy came forward in 2017 alleging that McCarrick groped him when he was a teenager during preparations for Christmas Mass in 1971 and 1972 in New York .
The allegation was the first solid claim against McCarrick involving a minor and triggered the canonical trial that resulted in his defrocking .
The report contains heartbreaking new testimony from people @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McCarrick ’ s inappropriate behavior , including with children , starting in the mid-1980s .
One woman identified only as “ Mother 1 ” told investigators that at one point she sent a series of anonymous letters to U.S. Catholic leaders , warning them about McCarrick ’ s behavior .
She described how she once discovered McCarrick , a family friend , with his hands rubbing her two sons ’ thighs in the living room .
“ It was more than strange .
It was abnormal .
I almost dropped the casserole dish @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Her letters went unheeded , and McCarrick continued his rise .
While the summary provided new details about what the Vatican knew and when , it didn ’ t elaborate on the internal “ old boys club ” culture that allowed McCarrick ’ s behavior to continue unchecked .
Catholic cardinals and bishops have long been considered beyond reproach and claims of homosexual behavior have been used to discredit or blackmail prelates , so often are dismissed as rumors .
There has also been a widespread but unspoken tolerance of sexually active men @ @ @ @ @ @ @ celibate priesthood .
But the McCarrick scandal , which erupted during the # MeToo era , has demonstrated that adult seminarians and priests can be sexually victimized by their superiors because of the power imbalance in their relationships .
And yet the church ’ s legal system has had no real way to address that type of abuse of authority .
James Grein , whose testimony that McCarrick abused him for two decades starting when he was 11 was key to McCarrick ’ s downfall , said he was pleased the report was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ hopeful it would bring some relief as well as a chance to “ clean ” up the church .
“ There are so many people suffering out there because of one man , ” Grein said .
“ And he thinks that he ’ s more important than the rest of us .
He ’ s destroyed me and he ’ s destroyed thousands of other lives .
...
It ’ s time that the Catholic Church comes clean with all of its destruction.
” “ Reading the document will show that all @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , depend on the commitment and honesty of the people concerned , ” he said .
” ( It will make ) all those involved in such choices more aware of the weight of their decisions or omissions.
” Vigano cited former seminarians who described the harassment and abuse they endured while “ Uncle Ted , ” as McCarrick liked to call himself , was their bishop in New Jersey , and they were forced to sleep in his bed during weekend trips to his beach house .

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ROME (AP) — A Vatican investigation into former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick has found that a series of bishops, cardinals and popes downplayed or dismissed reports of sexual misconduct with seminarians, and determined that Pope Francis merely continued his predecessors’ handling of the predator until a former altar boy alleged abuse.
The Vatican took the extraordinary step Tuesday of publishing its two-year, 449-page internal investigation into the American prelate’s rise and fall in a bid to restore credibility to the U.S. and Vatican hierarchies, which have been shattered by the McCarrick scandal.
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A summary of the report from the Vatican put the lion’s share of blame on a dead saint: Pope John Paul II, who appointed McCarrick archbishop of Washington D.C., in 2000, despite having commissioned an inquiry that confirmed he slept with seminarians. The summary says John Paul believed McCarrick’s last-ditch, handwritten denial.
But the report also charts the alarm bells that sounded — but were ignored — nearly a decade earlier, when in 1993 a series of six anonymous letters were sent to U.S. church officials and the Vatican’s ambassador to the U.S. alleging McCarrick was a “pedophile” who would sleep in the same bed with young men and boys. The ambassador destroyed the letters, and the U.S. church had a policy at the time of not taking action based on anonymous reports of abuse — a practice that was recently reversed by the Vatican for the church at large.
In this file photo from February 21, 2001, Theodore McCarrick kisses Pope John Paul II after being elevated to the position of cardinal. Reuters Photographer / Reuters
McCarrick, 90, was defrocked by Francis last year after a Vatican investigation confirmed decades of allegations that the globe-trotting envoy and successful church fundraiser had sexually molested adults as well as children. The Vatican had reports from authoritative figures dating back to 1999 that McCarrick’s behavior was problematic, yet he continued to rise to become an influential cardinal, kingmaker and emissary of the Holy See’s “soft diplomacy.”
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The findings accused bishops dead and alive of providing the Vatican with incomplete information about McCarrick’s behavior, and of turning a blind eye to his repeated flouting of informal restrictions ordered up in 2006 after Pope Benedict XVI decided not to investigate or sanction him seriously.
Most significantly, the findings largely gave Francis a pass, saying he never lifted or modified those restrictions, never named McCarrick a “diplomatic agent” for the Holy See and never received any documentation about McCarrick before 2017. It didn’t say if Francis had sought such documentation after one of his ambassadors purportedly told him in 2013 that McCarrick was a predator.
In this Sept. 23, 2015 file photo, Pope Francis reaches out to hug Cardinal Archbishop emeritus Theodore McCarrick after the Midday Prayer of the Divine with more than 300 U.S. Bishops at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington. (Jonathan Newton/The Washington Post via AP, Pool, File)
“Pope Francis had heard only that there had been allegations and rumors related to immoral conduct with adults occurring prior to McCarrick’s appointment to Washington,” the summary says. “Believing that the allegations had already been reviewed and rejected by Pope John Paul II, and well aware that McCarrick was active during the papacy of Benedict XVI, Pope Francis did not see the need to alter the approach that had been adopted.”
Francis changed course after a former altar boy came forward in 2017 alleging that McCarrick groped him when he was a teenager during preparations for Christmas Mass in 1971 and 1972 in New York. The allegation was the first solid claim against McCarrick involving a minor and triggered the canonical trial that resulted in his defrocking.
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The report contains heartbreaking new testimony from people who tried to raise the alarm about McCarrick’s inappropriate behavior, including with children, starting in the mid-1980s. One woman identified only as “Mother 1” told investigators that at one point she sent a series of anonymous letters to U.S. Catholic leaders, warning them about McCarrick’s behavior. She described how she once discovered McCarrick, a family friend, with his hands rubbing her two sons’ thighs in the living room. “It was more than strange. It was abnormal. I almost dropped the casserole dish I was holding in my hands.” Her letters went unheeded, and McCarrick continued his rise.
In this photo from April 1, 2005, then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick answers questions from the media following an afternoon mass at Saint Matthew's Cathedral, Friday, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz Ghanbari)
While the summary provided new details about what the Vatican knew and when, it didn’t elaborate on the internal “old boys club” culture that allowed McCarrick’s behavior to continue unchecked. Catholic cardinals and bishops have long been considered beyond reproach and claims of homosexual behavior have been used to discredit or blackmail prelates, so often are dismissed as rumors. There has also been a widespread but unspoken tolerance of sexually active men in what is supposed to be a celibate priesthood.
The church has long considered sex by priests with other adult men or women as sinful but consensual, with flags only raised in recent years when minors were involved.
But the McCarrick scandal, which erupted during the #MeToo era, has demonstrated that adult seminarians and priests can be sexually victimized by their superiors because of the power imbalance in their relationships. And yet the church’s legal system has had no real way to address that type of abuse of authority.
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James Grein, at his house in Sterling, Va., Friday, July 26, 2019, holds a Florida postcard sent to him when he was 15 years old by now-defrocked Cardinal Theodore McCarrick. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
James Grein, whose testimony that McCarrick abused him for two decades starting when he was 11 was key to McCarrick’s downfall, said he was pleased the report was finally released. He said he was hopeful it would bring some relief as well as a chance to “clean” up the church.
“There are so many people suffering out there because of one man,” Grein said. “And he thinks that he’s more important than the rest of us. He’s destroyed me and he’s destroyed thousands of other lives. ... It’s time that the Catholic Church comes clean with all of its destruction.”
Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state whose office prepared the report, said it will have an impact, especially on how bishops are selected.
“Reading the document will show that all procedures, including the appointment of bishops, depend on the commitment and honesty of the people concerned,” he said. ”(It will make) all those involved in such choices more aware of the weight of their decisions or omissions.”
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Francis commissioned the report after the retired Vatican ambassador to the U.S., Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano, issued a blistering expose of the two-decade-long McCarrick cover-up in 2018, naming around two dozen U.S. and Vatican officials who knew of his misconduct but failed to effectively sanction him.
In this photo from April 24, 2002, then-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick answers questions from journalists about what the Catholic Church was doing at the time to address clerical sexual abuse. Next to him is Bishop Wilton Gregory, who replaced McCarrick as Archbishop of Washington in 2019. Reuters Photographer / Reuters
Vigano cited former seminarians who described the harassment and abuse they endured while “Uncle Ted,” as McCarrick liked to call himself, was their bishop in New Jersey, and they were forced to sleep in his bed during weekend trips to his beach house.
Vigano’s most explosive claim was that Francis himself lifted “sanctions” imposed by Benedict and made McCarrick a trusted adviser. Vigano demanded that Francis resign, claiming he had warned the pope in June 2013 that McCarrick had “corrupted generations of seminarians and priests.”
Several of Vigano’s central assertions were confirmed, but not the ones involving Francis. “No records support Vigano’s account and evidence as to what he said is sharply disputed,” it said.
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The summary also cites a previously unreported case in which Vigano in 2012 allegedly failed to act on Vatican instructions to investigate new claims against McCarrick by a Brazilian-born New Jersey priest.
“Vigano did not take these steps and therefore never placed himself in the position to ascertain the credibility,” of the priest’s claims, the summary says.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-10--Experts Warn Of Looming Coronavirus Spike

Michael Osterholm , an infectious disease expert and a member of President-elect Joe Biden ’ s coronavirus task force , @ @ @ @ @ looming coronavirus spikes .

Experts Warn Of Looming Coronavirus Spike
Michael Osterholm, an infectious disease expert and a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s coronavirus task force, gave a sobering warning about looming coronavirus spikes.