thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--Brian Stelter Slams Lara Trump For Declaring Trump Voters Don't 'Feel' That He Lost

CNN host Brian Stelter took down Lara Trump Sunday for complaining that the people who voted for her father-in-law , President Donald Trump , don ’ t “ feel ” that the presidential election ’ s results are accurate .
“ Feel ?
” Stelter said on CNN ’ s “ Reliable Sources.
” “ Facts do not care about your feelings.
” “ That ’ s what conservative commentator Ben Shapiro famously said several years ago .
And it ’ s still true today .
The facts are the facts .
[ President-elect Joe ] Biden ’ s win @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to Lara Trump ’ s argument that every Donald Trump voter ― just under 74 million people ― is in agreement .
“ Not every Trump voter [ is ] .
But 77 % of Americans who backed Trump did tell pollsters from Monmouth that they believe voter fraud tipped the scales for Biden , ” Stelter said .
“ This conspiracy crap is just like Trump ’ s anti-media ‘ enemy of the people ’ smear .
It ’ s a slow-acting poison that is crippling the American body politic.
” Lara @ @ @ @ @ @ @ There are about 74 million people out there who do not FEEL like the result of this election that has been presented is accurate.
`` That 's why I had to invoke the `` facts do not care about your feelings '' line on @ reliablesources ... pic.twitter.com/FE0ofx9iLO — Brian Stelter ( @ brianstelter ) November 22 , 2020 Lara Trump , who served as an adviser to her father-in-law ’ s reelection campaign , pushed her unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and a rigged election on Fox News earlier Sunday .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ surrogates airtime to spout misinformation and claims of electoral fraud that have already been debunked by bipartisan senior election officials .
Donald Trump , his allies and legal team are fighting to overturn the results of the election with a series of long-shot lawsuits and a stream of baseless conspiracy theories about widespread voter fraud after the president spent months eroding trust in the democratic process ahead of Election Day .

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CNN host Brian Stelter took down Lara Trump Sunday for complaining that the people who voted for her father-in-law, President Donald Trump, don’t “feel” that the presidential election’s results are accurate.
“Feel?” Stelter said on CNN’s “Reliable Sources.” “Facts do not care about your feelings.”
“That’s what conservative commentator Ben Shapiro famously said several years ago. And it’s still true today. The facts are the facts. [President-elect Joe] Biden’s win is being certified.”
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He also pointed to Lara Trump’s argument that every Donald Trump voter ― just under 74 million people ― is in agreement.
“Not every Trump voter [is]. But 77% of Americans who backed Trump did tell pollsters from Monmouth that they believe voter fraud tipped the scales for Biden,” Stelter said.
“This conspiracy crap is just like Trump’s anti-media ‘enemy of the people’ smear. It’s a slow-acting poison that is crippling the American body politic.”
Lara Trump on Fox earlier today: "There are about 74 million people out there who do not FEEL like the result of this election that has been presented is accurate. "
That's why I had to invoke the "facts do not care about your feelings" line on @reliablesources... pic.twitter.com/FE0ofx9iLO — Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) November 22, 2020
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Lara Trump, who served as an adviser to her father-in-law’s reelection campaign, pushed her unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud and a rigged election on Fox News earlier Sunday.
The network has given Donald Trump’s surrogates airtime to spout misinformation and claims of electoral fraud that have already been debunked by bipartisan senior election officials.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--Arrest Made In Shooting At Sonic Restaurant That Left 2 Dead, 2 Wounded

BELLEVUE , Neb .
( AP ) — Authorities arrested a 23-year-old man in an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and killed , two were wounded and officers responding to a report of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot arrived to find the vehicle on fire .
Roberto Carlos Silva Jr. , of Omaha , was booked into Sarpy County jail early Sunday on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in Saturday night ’ s attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Bellevue , the Omaha @ @ @ @ @ @ @ without bond Sunday before making his initial court appearance .
In a news release early Sunday , Lt. Andy Jashinske said Bellevue police received a call at 9:23 p.m. Saturday about a possible bomb in a U-Haul truck parked outside of the restaurant in the Omaha suburb .
A minute later , the call was updated to a possible shooting , he said .
Roberto Carlos Silva , of Omaha , is seen after arrested in connection to an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who arrived found the moving truck burning and four people who had been shot .
Two were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and the other two were declared dead at the scene , Jashinske said .
The victims ’ names were withheld so that their families could be told first .
Video tweeted by Omaha TV station KETV showed crews battling the truck fire late Saturday .
The Omaha Police Department ’ s bomb squad was at the scene early Sunday to check on a “ device , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the area was safe , Jashinske said .
Video obtained by news outlets showed a vehicle on fire in the restaurant 's parking lot where four people were shot .
The attack came days after Silva was arrested outside of the restaurant after allegedly using someone else ’ s Sonic app account to buy a total of $ 57 worth of hamburgers and corn dogs in four separate purchases at that location , the World-Herald reported .
Silva was released from jail on Thursday after posting 10 % of his $ 1,500 bail @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , police seized three firearms from Silva , Jashinske said Sunday .
Officials at Sonic ’ s headquarters in Oklahoma didn ’ t immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press on Sunday .

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BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities arrested a 23-year-old man in an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and killed, two were wounded and officers responding to a report of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot arrived to find the vehicle on fire.
Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., of Omaha, was booked into Sarpy County jail early Sunday on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in Saturday night’s attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Bellevue, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Silva was being held without bond Sunday before making his initial court appearance.
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In a news release early Sunday, Lt. Andy Jashinske said Bellevue police received a call at 9:23 p.m. Saturday about a possible bomb in a U-Haul truck parked outside of the restaurant in the Omaha suburb. A minute later, the call was updated to a possible shooting, he said.
Roberto Carlos Silva, of Omaha, is seen after arrested in connection to an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and killed and two others wounded. Sarpy County Jail via AP
Officers who arrived found the moving truck burning and four people who had been shot. Two were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and the other two were declared dead at the scene, Jashinske said. The victims’ names were withheld so that their families could be told first.
Video tweeted by Omaha TV station KETV showed crews battling the truck fire late Saturday. The Omaha Police Department’s bomb squad was at the scene early Sunday to check on a “device,” as a precaution to make sure the area was safe, Jashinske said.
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Video obtained by news outlets showed a vehicle on fire in the restaurant's parking lot where four people were shot. Chris Machian/Omaha World-Herald via AP
The attack came days after Silva was arrested outside of the restaurant after allegedly using someone else’s Sonic app account to buy a total of $57 worth of hamburgers and corn dogs in four separate purchases at that location, the World-Herald reported. Silva was released from jail on Thursday after posting 10% of his $1,500 bail. At the time of that arrest, police seized three firearms from Silva, Jashinske said Sunday.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--Trump's Attempts To Overturn The Election And Stay In Power Outrage Voters Of Color

Kent Nishimura via Getty Images DETROIT , MI - NOVEMBER 04 : Election workers process a ballot final stretch of absentee ballot counting at the Detroit Department of Elections Central Counting Board of Voting absentee ballot counting center at TCF Center , Wednesday , Nov. 4 , 2020 in Detroit , MI .
With the surge in vote by mail/absentee ballots , analysts cautioned it could take days to count all the ballots , leading some states to initially look like victories for President Trump only to later shift towards democratic Presidential candidate Joe Biden .
( Kent Nishimura / @ @ @ @ @ @ @ McGhee , 58 , has spent more than two decades working with Detroit youth and educating them on the electoral process .
He said it was “ outrageous ” to see hard-fought Black voter-mobilization efforts threatened .
“ I thought , these are the ultimate executioners , if you will , put in place so that quietly they could take what belongs to us , ” he said .
President-elect Joe Biden was in part powered to victory in Michigan , Wisconsin , Pennsylvania and Georgia by Black voters , many of them @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Philadelphia and Atlanta where he received a significant share of their support .
Since Election Day , President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to expose voter fraud that simply does not exist in these and other overwhelmingly Black population centers .
Such a plainly racist strategy to contest the election could erode Black voters ’ trust in elections .
Voting-rights advocates say they stand ready to beat back any efforts to water down the Black vote .
But fears persist that Trump ’ s allies will undermine democracy and disenfranchise Black @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Two Republican canvassers tried to block the routine certification , which provoked an outcry from people attending the meeting and civil rights leaders who questioned whether race was a factor .
The two GOP board members eventually reversed their votes and certified the results .
They later tried to revert to their original position and were rebuffed by state officials who said the certification could not be rescinded .
“ I do not believe that Trump has created racism amongst people , but I do think he was the safety net and the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in practicing their racism and their prejudiced beliefs publicly , ” Small said .
“ The themes we see that persist here are this : ‘ Black people are corrupt .
Black people are incompetent , and Black people can ’ t be trusted , ’ ” she said on a call with the nonpartisan Voter Protection Program .
Beyond Michigan , the Trump campaign sought a partial recount in Wisconsin — in Milwaukee and Dane counties , which include the majority of the state ’ s Black population .
On Thursday , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of voter fraud and impropriety during mail-in vote counting in Pennsylvania , naming Philadelphia and nearby Camden , New Jersey , which is also predominantly Black .
Black voters are not the only targets .
A Trump-allied group behind challenges in four states , True the Vote , filed a lawsuit alleging officials relaxed voter ID requirements for absentee voters in Menominee County , Wisconsin , which is essentially the Menominee Nation Indian reservation .
Most of the group ’ s lawsuits have been tossed out or withdrawn .
Another lawsuit seeks nullification @ @ @ @ @ @ @ irregularities .
The Trump campaign and Nevada Republicans alleged the Nevada Native Voter Project illegally enticed Native American voters with gift cards , gas cards , raffle tickets and T-shirts if they voted early or on Election Day .
That lawsuit has been dismissed .
And in Arizona , the Trump campaign and the state Republican Party jointly asked courts to halt certification of votes in Maricopa County , which includes Phoenix and a significant portion of the state ’ s Hispanic population .
The lawsuit sought a hand-count of a sampling of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ dismissed that lawsuit on Thursday .
Black voters and other voters of color were guaranteed free and fair access to the polls through the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965 .
Prior to its passage , Black voters , primarily in the South , were routinely subjected to intimidation and deadly violence for simply registering to vote .
In places where they could register , some voters faced literacy tests and poll taxes that effectively left them disenfranchised .

DETROIT (AP) — When longtime Detroit community advocate Frank McGhee watched two Republican canvassers vote against certifying election results in the majority Black city, he was furious.
McGhee, 58, has spent more than two decades working with Detroit youth and educating them on the electoral process. He said it was “outrageous” to see hard-fought Black voter-mobilization efforts threatened.
“I thought, these are the ultimate executioners, if you will, put in place so that quietly they could take what belongs to us,” he said.
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President-elect Joe Biden was in part powered to victory in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia by Black voters, many of them concentrated in cities such as Detroit, Philadelphia and Atlanta where he received a significant share of their support. Since Election Day, President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to expose voter fraud that simply does not exist in these and other overwhelmingly Black population centers.
Such a plainly racist strategy to contest the election could erode Black voters’ trust in elections. Voting-rights advocates say they stand ready to beat back any efforts to water down the Black vote. But fears persist that Trump’s allies will undermine democracy and disenfranchise Black Americans and other voters of color.
Trump renewed his attack on Motown voters Thursday, tweeting without evidence, “Voter Fraud in Detroit is rampant, and has been for many years.”
The GOP effort in Michigan came to a head Tuesday, when the Wayne County Board of Canvassers initially deadlocked on a vote to certify election results that included ballots from Detroit, the nation’s largest Black-majority city.
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Two Republican canvassers tried to block the routine certification, which provoked an outcry from people attending the meeting and civil rights leaders who questioned whether race was a factor. The two GOP board members eventually reversed their votes and certified the results. They later tried to revert to their original position and were rebuffed by state officials who said the certification could not be rescinded.
“I think it’s a dose of reality of the times that we are living in,” said Nicole Small, vice chair of the Detroit Charter Commission, who believes the vote was a “blatant attempt at voter suppression.”
“I do not believe that Trump has created racism amongst people, but I do think he was the safety net and the vehicle for people to be more active in practicing their racism and their prejudiced beliefs publicly,” Small said.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel blasted the Trump campaign and other groups for filing election-related lawsuits that were frivolous and lacked evidence.
“The themes we see that persist here are this: ‘Black people are corrupt. Black people are incompetent, and Black people can’t be trusted,’” she said on a call with the nonpartisan Voter Protection Program.
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Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said the Republican canvassers’ conduct was part of the ongoing effort “to disenfranchise voters on a scale that is simply unprecedented in modern times.”
Beyond Michigan, the Trump campaign sought a partial recount in Wisconsin — in Milwaukee and Dane counties, which include the majority of the state’s Black population. On Thursday, Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani renewed unproven claims of voter fraud and impropriety during mail-in vote counting in Pennsylvania, naming Philadelphia and nearby Camden, New Jersey, which is also predominantly Black.
In Philadelphia, state Sen. Sharif Street said Trump’s attacks on the city are neither new nor surprising, given his “abject failure” around COVID-19 and the resulting economic fallout.
“This is an attempt to delegitimize our voters, but it only served to delegitimize himself.”
During a news conference Thursday in Wilmington, Delaware, Biden said Americans are “witnessing incredible irresponsibility. Incredibly damaging messages are being sent to the rest of the world about how democracy functions.”
Black voters are not the only targets. A Trump-allied group behind challenges in four states, True the Vote, filed a lawsuit alleging officials relaxed voter ID requirements for absentee voters in Menominee County, Wisconsin, which is essentially the Menominee Nation Indian reservation. Most of the group’s lawsuits have been tossed out or withdrawn.
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Another lawsuit seeks nullification of votes in Nevada over fraud and irregularities. The Trump campaign and Nevada Republicans alleged the Nevada Native Voter Project illegally enticed Native American voters with gift cards, gas cards, raffle tickets and T-shirts if they voted early or on Election Day. That lawsuit has been dismissed.
And in Arizona, the Trump campaign and the state Republican Party jointly asked courts to halt certification of votes in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix and a significant portion of the state’s Hispanic population. The lawsuit sought a hand-count of a sampling of ballots from the county. A judge dismissed that lawsuit on Thursday.
The rate of dismissal proves “there’s really no there there to the challenges,” said Anne Houghtaling, deputy director of the Thurgood Marshall Institute, which houses the NAACP Legal Defense Fund’s voting rights projects.
“It’s all sort of tilting at windmills,” Houghtaling said.
Black voters and other voters of color were guaranteed free and fair access to the polls through the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965. Prior to its passage, Black voters, primarily in the South, were routinely subjected to intimidation and deadly violence for simply registering to vote. In places where they could register, some voters faced literacy tests and poll taxes that effectively left them disenfranchised.
In some states, voter discrimination complaints worsened after a 2013 Supreme Court ruling gutted a section of the voting rights law requiring states with a history of discrimination to get federal approval before changing voter regulations. States have passed strict voter ID requirements, carried out voter roll purges and limited early voting in places where minority voters were disproportionately affected.
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Election officials from both political parties have stated publicly that the 2020 election went well, and international observers confirmed there were no serious irregularities.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-23--TSA Screens 2 Million Passengers While Americans Were Supposed To Be Staying Home

More than 2 million airline passengers were screened by Transportation Security Administration personnel on Friday and Saturday , while Americans were supposed to be curbing Thanksgiving holiday travel to help stem the skyrocketing spread of COVID-19 .
More than 1 million flyers were screened Friday , only the second day since March to hit a million airline passengers , according to the TSA .
The worrisome travel indicator emerged as the nation ’ s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday that people crowded at airports are “ going to get us into even more trouble than @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The real toll of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings won ’ t be known for weeks , but heedless Americans will further fuel the pandemic as it spirals further out of control heading into colder weather and the December holidays , Fauci said on “ Face The Nation ” on CBS .
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned this month that virtual holiday celebrations would be safest , especially as COVID-19 cases and deaths surge to new records .
The agency issued an even stronger caution on Thursday , urging people to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ have been living in their households for at least 14 days .
“ As we ’ re seeing exponential growth in cases , and the opportunity to translocate disease or infection from one part of the country to another , leads to our recommendation to avoid travel at this time , ” Henry Walke , the CDC ’ s COVID-19 incident manager , said in a call with reporters .
TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CNN that he expects the busiest travel days are yet to come : the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was 40 % of the number of flyers the Friday before Thanksgiving last year ― but that was before COVID-19 .
“ I think these times are tough .
It ’ s been a long outbreak , almost 11 months now , and people are tired , and we understand that people want to see their relatives and their friends in the way they ’ ve always done it , ” Walke said .
“ But this year , particularly , we ’ re asking people to be as safe as possible , @ @ @ @ @ @

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More than 2 million airline passengers were screened by Transportation Security Administration personnel on Friday and Saturday, while Americans were supposed to be curbing Thanksgiving holiday travel to help stem the skyrocketing spread of COVID-19.
More than 1 million flyers were screened Friday, only the second day since March to hit a million airline passengers, according to the TSA.
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The worrisome travel indicator emerged as the nation’s top infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci warned on Sunday that people crowded at airports are “going to get us into even more trouble than we’re in right now.”
The real toll of Thanksgiving travel and gatherings won’t be known for weeks, but heedless Americans will further fuel the pandemic as it spirals further out of control heading into colder weather and the December holidays, Fauci said on “Face The Nation” on CBS.
“As we’re seeing exponential growth in cases, and the opportunity to translocate disease or infection from one part of the country to another, leads to our recommendation to avoid travel at this time,” Henry Walke, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager, said in a call with reporters.
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TSA Administrator David Pekoske told CNN that he expects the busiest travel days are yet to come: the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the Sunday afterward. Travel on Friday was 40% of the number of flyers the Friday before Thanksgiving last year ― but that was before COVID-19.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-23--AstraZeneca, Oxford University Say Their COVID-19 Vaccine Has Average 70% Efficacy

A coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University , in collaboration with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca , shows an average efficacy of 70.4 % , AstraZeneca said .
The UK government has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine — called AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 .
Interim analysis from the latest phase three trial shows an average efficacy of 70.4 % from combining two doses .
Professor Andrew Pollard , who is leading the vaccine trial , said the results would “ save many lives.
” In a statement , he said : “ Excitingly , we ’ ve found @ @ @ @ @ @ @ be around 90 % effective and if this dosing regime is used , more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply .
“ Today ’ s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial , and the hard-working and talented team of researchers based around the world.
” Today marks an important milestone in the fight against # COVID19 .
Interim data show the # OxfordVaccine is 70.4 % effective , & tests on two dose regimens show that it could be 90 % , moving us one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ cost around the world > > https : //t.co/fnHnKSqftT pic.twitter.com/2KYXPxFNz1 — University of Oxford ( @ UniofOxford ) November 23 , 2020 The vaccine is made from a genetically engineered virus and resumed its combined phase 2/3 trial in the U.K. after a brief pause in September .
Findings from the first phases of the study earlier this year showed “ promising ” results which suggested the vaccine is “ safe and causes few side effects ” for healthy adults aged 18-55 .
The phase two research demonstrated a strong immune response in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19 could build immunity .
The vaccine is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees .
The vaccine was developed at the University of Oxford ’ s Oxford Jenner Institute and is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees .
It is based on earlier work to produce a treatment for MERS ( Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus ) .
The chimpanzee virus is modified and engineered to express the coronavirus spike @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like coronavirus to trigger a strong immune response in the human body .
Incredibly exciting news the Oxford vaccine has proved so effective in trials .
There are still further safety checks ahead , but these are fantastic results .
Well done to our brilliant scientists at @ UniofOxford & @ AstraZeneca , and all who volunteered in the trials .
https : //t.co/84o8TKhQga — Boris Johnson ( @ BorisJohnson ) November 23 , 2020 “ We are on the cusp of a huge scientific breakthrough that could protect millions of lives .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ at the University of Oxford , said : “ The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by SARS-CoV-2 .

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A coronavirus vaccine developed by Oxford University, in collaboration with the pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca, shows an average efficacy of 70.4%, AstraZeneca said.
The UK government has already ordered 100 million doses of the vaccine — called AZD1222 or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19.
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Here are some of the key findings:
One dosing regimen was shown to be 90% effective, the other 62%
It was shown to work in different age groups, including the elderly
The vaccine can be stored, transported and handled at 2-8 degrees Celsius for at least eight months
It is hoped 3 billion doses of the vaccine could be supplied around the world by the end of 2021
Here is how the vaccine works
Interim analysis from the latest phase three trial shows an average efficacy of 70.4% from combining two doses.
Professor Andrew Pollard, who is leading the vaccine trial, said the results would “save many lives.”
In a statement, he said: “Excitingly, we’ve found that one of our dosing regimens may be around 90% effective and if this dosing regime is used, more people could be vaccinated with planned vaccine supply.
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“Today’s announcement is only possible thanks to the many volunteers in our trial, and the hard-working and talented team of researchers based around the world.”
Today marks an important milestone in the fight against #COVID19. Interim data show the #OxfordVaccine is 70.4% effective, & tests on two dose regimens show that it could be 90%, moving us one step closer to supplying it at low cost around the world>> https://t.co/fnHnKSqftT pic.twitter.com/2KYXPxFNz1 — University of Oxford (@UniofOxford) November 23, 2020
The vaccine is made from a genetically engineered virus and resumed its combined phase 2/3 trial in the U.K. after a brief pause in September.
Findings from the first phases of the study earlier this year showed “promising” results which suggested the vaccine is “safe and causes few side effects” for healthy adults aged 18-55.
The phase two research demonstrated a strong immune response in older adults — suggesting one of the groups most vulnerable to serious illness and death from COVID-19 could build immunity.
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The vaccine is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees. ASSOCIATED PRESS
The vaccine was developed at the University of Oxford’s Oxford Jenner Institute and is made from a genetically engineered virus that causes the common cold in chimpanzees. It is based on earlier work to produce a treatment for MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus).
The chimpanzee virus is modified and engineered to express the coronavirus spike protein so it “looks” more like coronavirus to trigger a strong immune response in the human body.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the news was “incredibly exciting.”
Incredibly exciting news the Oxford vaccine has proved so effective in trials. There are still further safety checks ahead, but these are fantastic results.
Well done to our brilliant scientists at @UniofOxford & @AstraZeneca, and all who volunteered in the trials. https://t.co/84o8TKhQga — Boris Johnson (@BorisJohnson) November 23, 2020
Business secretary Alok Sharma also tweeted: “Very promising data from the Oxford/AstraZeneca Phase III clinical trials.
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“We are on the cusp of a huge scientific breakthrough that could protect millions of lives.
“The UK has secured early access to 100m doses of their vaccine – on top of 255m doses from other developers.”
Professor Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at the University of Oxford, said: “The announcement today takes us another step closer to the time when we can use vaccines to bring an end to the devastation caused by SARS-CoV-2.
“We will continue to work to provide detailed information to regulators.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-23--Carl Bernstein Names 21 Republican Senators Who've Privately Ripped Trump

Journalist Carl Bernstein on Sunday night called out Republicans in the Senate who he said have privately ripped Donald Trump while publicly remaining silent as the president attempts to undermine the results of the election via lawsuits based on false claims .
In a Twitter thread , Bernstein identified 21 lawmakers who he said have “ expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS ” behind the scenes .
The Watergate reporter said he wasn ’ t breaking any promises of confidentiality because these senators have all expressed their disdain for Trump to others , including staff @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I 'm not violating any pledge of journalistic confidentially in reporting this : 21 Republican Sens–in convos w/ colleagues , staff members , lobbyists , W. House aides–have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS .
( 1/3 ) — Carl Bernstein ( @ carlbernstein ) November 23 , 2020 With few exceptions , their craven public silence has helped enable Trump ’ s most grievous conduct—including undermining and discrediting the US the electoral system .
More from my appearance earlier on @ cnn : https : //t.co/c1jZXMR0Pv @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ carlbernstein ) November 23 , 2020 Most Republican lawmakers have been loath to criticize Trump publicly throughout his presidency .
However , several of the senators that Bernstein named have publicly urged Trump to move on from the election , including Sen. Lisa Murkowski ( R-Alaska ) , who said on Sunday that “ it is time to begin the full and formal transition process ” for President-elect Joe Biden .
On Saturday , Sen. Pat Toomey ( R-Pa. ) did the same , telling Trump that he has now “ exhausted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s time to concede .
Republican Sens .
Mitt Romney ( Utah ) , Susan Collins ( Maine ) and Ben Sasse ( Nebraska ) have all acknowledged Biden ’ s victory .
Sen. Marco Rubio ( R-Fla. ) referred to Biden as the “ president-elect , ” and Sen. John Cornyn ( R-Texas ) said Biden would “ probably ” be inaugurated and called for him to receive intelligence briefings .

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Journalist Carl Bernstein on Sunday night called out Republicans in the Senate who he said have privately ripped Donald Trump while publicly remaining silent as the president attempts to undermine the results of the election via lawsuits based on false claims.
And he’s naming names.
In a Twitter thread, Bernstein identified 21 lawmakers who he said have “expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS” behind the scenes.
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The Watergate reporter said he wasn’t breaking any promises of confidentiality because these senators have all expressed their disdain for Trump to others, including staff, lobbyists and White House aides.
I'm not violating any pledge of journalistic confidentially in reporting this: 21 Republican Sens–in convos w/ colleagues, staff members, lobbyists, W. House aides–have repeatedly expressed extreme contempt for Trump & his fitness to be POTUS. (1/3) — Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
The 21 GOP Senators who have privately expressed their disdain for Trump are: Portman, Alexander, Sasse, Blunt, Collins, Murkowski, Cornyn, Thune, Romney, Braun, Young, Tim Scott, Rick Scott, Rubio, Grassley, Burr, Toomey, McSally, Moran, Roberts, Shelby. (2/3) — Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
With few exceptions, their craven public silence has helped enable Trump’s most grievous conduct—including undermining and discrediting the US the electoral system.
More from my appearance earlier on @cnn: https://t.co/c1jZXMR0Pv (3/3) — Carl Bernstein (@carlbernstein) November 23, 2020
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Most Republican lawmakers have been loath to criticize Trump publicly throughout his presidency. However, several of the senators that Bernstein named have publicly urged Trump to move on from the election, including Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), who said on Sunday that “it is time to begin the full and formal transition process” for President-elect Joe Biden.
On Saturday, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) did the same, telling Trump that he has now “exhausted all plausible legal” challenges and that it’s time to concede.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-23--Pennsylvania’s Lt. Gov. Trolls Trump, ‘Dopey’ GOP Lawsuits In Epic Tweetstorm

Pennsylvania Lt. Gov .
John Fetterman on Sunday mocked President Donald Trump ’ s false claims of election fraud and the failed attempts by Republican attorneys to contest President-elect Joe Biden ’ s victory in court .
Fetterman , a Democrat , ridiculed the notion that there are enough uncounted Trump votes in his state to overcome Biden ’ s lead , currently at more than 81,000 : I spent all weekend triple checking that there is *not* a lost , enchanted village in Pennsylvania with 90,000 Trump voters that we forgot to count .
— John Fetterman ( @ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ wondered aloud why Trump would want to distance himself from his conspiracy-theorist attorney Sidney Powell , who was unceremoniously removed from the legal effort after days of increasingly outlandish claims : I don ’ t get why Trump cut Sidney Powell loose .
How is she any less warped or tragic than any other of their cases or attorneys in PA ?
Nearly 3 weeks after the election , my dude in Forty Fort + his dead mom still represents *50 % * of the total voter fraud in PA out of 7M @ @ @ @ @ @ @ JohnFetterman ) November 22 , 2020 I legitimately have as much proof Joe Biden won Texas as the President has he won Pennsylvania .
— John Fetterman ( @ JohnFetterman ) November 22 , 2020 Fetterman again referenced a case in Forty Fort , in which a Republican voter was charged with forging the name of his late mother on an absentee ballot application .
Let me be clear , if you take away all of the voter fraud in Pennsylvania that involved illegally voting for Trump , you do not have one @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Pennsylvania .
— John Fetterman ( @ JohnFetterman ) November 23 , 2020 He also pointed out a huge logical flaw Trump ’ s failed lawsuit : The GOP lawsuits are so dopey that if PA doesn ’ t certify the vote , after November 30th , we literally don ’ t have a PA House + 1/2 of the Senate , both of which are controlled by Republicans .
And they accuse me of smoking too much weed .
pic.twitter.com/usRIu3Yit6 — John Fetterman ( @ JohnFetterman ) November 23 , 2020 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ GOP Texas Lt. Gov .
Dan Patrick ’ s offer of a bounty of $ 1 million for evidence of voter fraud .
Fetterman had previously mockingly submitted evidence of the Forty Fort voter to Patrick ― then asked for his $ 1 million reward in the form of gift cards for the Pennsylvania-based Sheetz convenience store chain :

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Fetterman, a Democrat, ridiculed the notion that there are enough uncounted Trump votes in his state to overcome Biden’s lead, currently at more than 81,000:
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I spent all weekend triple checking that there is *not* a lost, enchanted village in Pennsylvania with 90,000 Trump voters that we forgot to count. — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 23, 2020
He wondered aloud why Trump would want to distance himself from his conspiracy-theorist attorney Sidney Powell, who was unceremoniously removed from the legal effort after days of increasingly outlandish claims:
I don’t get why Trump cut Sidney Powell loose.
How is she any less warped or tragic than any other of their cases or attorneys in PA?
Nearly 3 weeks after the election, my dude in Forty Fort + his dead mom still represents *50%* of the total voter fraud in PA out of 7M votes. — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 22, 2020
I legitimately have as much proof Joe Biden won Texas as the President has he won Pennsylvania. — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 22, 2020
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Fetterman again referenced a case in Forty Fort, in which a Republican voter was charged with forging the name of his late mother on an absentee ballot application.
Let me be clear, if you take away all of the voter fraud in Pennsylvania that involved illegally voting for Trump, you do not have one single, documented case of voter fraud in Pennsylvania. — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 23, 2020
He also pointed out a huge logical flaw Trump’s failed lawsuit:
The GOP lawsuits are so dopey that if PA doesn’t certify the vote, after November 30th, we literally don’t have a PA House + 1/2 of the Senate, both of which are controlled by Republicans.
And they accuse me of smoking too much weed. pic.twitter.com/usRIu3Yit6 — John Fetterman (@JohnFetterman) November 23, 2020
And he concluded with a reference to GOP Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s offer of a bounty of $1 million for evidence of voter fraud.
Fetterman had previously mockingly submitted evidence of the Forty Fort voter to Patrick ― then asked for his $1 million reward in the form of gift cards for the Pennsylvania-based Sheetz convenience store chain:
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--New Jersey Lawmaker Pushes To Disbar Rudy Giuliani For Deceitful, 'Absurd' Election Cases

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell has filed a complaint with New York ’ s attorney disciplinary officials , calling for the disbarment of Rudy Giuliani for “ fraud ” and “ deceit ” in his actions attempting to overturn the presidential election without any justification .
“ Mr .
Giuliani has participated in the filing of a series of absurd lawsuits seeking to overturn the will of the voters ... and has caused irreversible damage to the public trust in the fair administration of our elections , ” Pascrell wrote Friday to the Grievance Committee for three New York @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who is leading Donald Trump ’ s attack on the results of the presidential election , of “ clearly ” violating the state ’ s Rules of Professional Misconduct that prohibit “ dishonesty , fraud , deceit ” and “ misrepresentations.
” He “ should face the severest sanction your body can mete out : revocation of his law license , ” Pascrell added .
Here is a copy of my complaint to the New York State judicial conduct body calling for Rudy Giuliani ’ s law license to be stripped .
Similar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ against Trump lawyers .
pic.twitter.com/NkwfmYVOnM — Bill Pascrell , Jr. ( @ PascrellforNJ ) November 20 , 2020 Pascrell filed similar complaints in New York and other states against 22 other lawyers involved in the Trump assault on the vote .
“ The pattern of behavior by these individuals to effectuate Mr. Trump ’ s sinister arson is a danger not just to our legal system but is also unprecedented in our national life , ” he wrote in those complaints .
Though the president and Giuliani have cried fraud , they have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ repeatedly failed in court in bids to throw out votes .
A federal judge Saturday jettisoned the latest case in Pennsylvania with a brutal takedown of its multiple flaws .
The court was “ presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations ” that weren ’ t tied to the complaint nor supported by evidence , U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote .
“ In the United States of America , this can not justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter , let alone all the voters of its @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and institutions demand more , ” Brann ruled .

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New Jersey Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell has filed a complaint with New York’s attorney disciplinary officials, calling for the disbarment of Rudy Giuliani for “fraud” and “deceit” in his actions attempting to overturn the presidential election without any justification.
“Mr. Giuliani has participated in the filing of a series of absurd lawsuits seeking to overturn the will of the voters ... and has caused irreversible damage to the public trust in the fair administration of our elections,” Pascrell wrote Friday to the Grievance Committee for three New York Judicial Districts.
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He accused Giuliani, who is leading Donald Trump’s attack on the results of the presidential election, of “clearly” violating the state’s Rules of Professional Misconduct that prohibit “dishonesty, fraud, deceit” and “misrepresentations.”
He “should face the severest sanction your body can mete out: revocation of his law license,” Pascrell added.
New York also prohibits attorneys from filing frivolous lawsuits.
Here is a copy of my complaint to the New York State judicial conduct body calling for Rudy Giuliani’s law license to be stripped. Similar letters were sent to four other states against Trump lawyers. pic.twitter.com/NkwfmYVOnM — Bill Pascrell, Jr. (@PascrellforNJ) November 20, 2020
Pascrell filed similar complaints in New York and other states against 22 other lawyers involved in the Trump assault on the vote.
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“The pattern of behavior by these individuals to effectuate Mr. Trump’s sinister arson is a danger not just to our legal system but is also unprecedented in our national life,” he wrote in those complaints.
Though the president and Giuliani have cried fraud, they have yet to reveal any evidence and have repeatedly failed in court in bids to throw out votes.
A federal judge Saturday jettisoned the latest case in Pennsylvania with a brutal takedown of its multiple flaws. The court was “presented with strained legal arguments without merit and speculative accusations” that weren’t tied to the complaint nor supported by evidence, U.S. District Court Judge Matthew W. Brann wrote.
“In the United States of America, this cannot justify the disenfranchisement of a single voter, let alone all the voters of its sixth-most-populated state. Our people, laws and institutions demand more,” Brann ruled.
Giuliani did not immediately respond to a request from HuffPost to comment.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--Joe Biden To Name Foreign Policy Hand Tony Blinken As Secretary of State: Reports

President-elect Joe Biden will tap Tony Blinken as his secretary of state on Tuesday , Bloomberg and The New York Times reported Sunday night .
The move elevates a longtime Biden aide with deep experience in foreign policy who is popular among U.S. allies abroad and with many officials at the State Department , which has seen morale plummet under President Donald Trump .
Biden ’ s choice also indicates the importance he plans to place on global affairs : he ’ s giving the job of top diplomat to one of his chief advisors after speaking repeatedly during his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ damaged image abroad .
Blinken served as the deputy secretary of state , the second-highest job at Foggy Bottom , during President Barack Obama ’ s second term .
He previously worked for Biden in the Senate for years when the president-elect helmed the chamber ’ s foreign relations committee and before that worked in the Clinton administration .
He ’ s seen as respecting and deeply understanding other nations while believing in strong U.S. global leadership ; he helped design Obama ’ s intervention to prevent a massacre by Libyan dictator Muammar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ action against Syria ’ s Bashar Assad .
But like Biden and many in his orbit , Blinken has over time become more cautious about the risky consequences of assertive U.S. actions and he ’ s a loud supporter of diplomatic solutions to international crises , serving in recent years as one of the biggest boosters of the Obama-era deal to limit Iran ’ s nuclear program .
Biden hopes to quickly rejoin the deal , which Trump abandoned but Britain , France , Germany , Russia , China and Iran continue to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and reinvigorating the State Department will likely be Blinken ’ s first priorities .
He ’ s also certain to emphasize joint international action against climate change ; Biden wants to recommit the U.S. to the Paris accord on limiting global carbon emissions , which Trump left , and take further steps to prevent further warming in concert with foreign partners .
Blinken ’ s journey to actually entering the job could be hindered by two important groups : progressives and Republicans .
Some figures on the left are wary of him for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ administration and believe he is too committed to traditional Washington ideas about American shows of force on the world stage .
The GOP , which could complicate Blinken ’ s Senate confirmation , could press him hard on Iran , which many Republicans want to continue pressuring , and on Obama-era foreign policy choices they see as problematic .
Given their close relationship of nearly 20 years , however , Biden will likely advocate heavily for Blinken to succeed .
The president-elect will soon reveal additional appointments for key foreign policy jobs , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ White House and his defense secretary .
Former State Department official Jake Sullivan is the prime contender for the former post , per Bloomberg ; Michèle Flournoy will almost certainly take the latter , becoming the first woman to run the Pentagon .
Biden will also appoint Linda Thomas-Greenfield , a veteran diplomat , as ambassador to the United Nations , making her the second-ever Black woman in the role , Axios reported earlier on Sunday .

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President-elect Joe Biden will tap Tony Blinken as his secretary of state on Tuesday, Bloomberg and The New York Times reported Sunday night. The move elevates a longtime Biden aide with deep experience in foreign policy who is popular among U.S. allies abroad and with many officials at the State Department, which has seen morale plummet under President Donald Trump.
Biden’s choice also indicates the importance he plans to place on global affairs: he’s giving the job of top diplomat to one of his chief advisors after speaking repeatedly during his campaign about restoring America’s badly damaged image abroad.
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Blinken served as the deputy secretary of state, the second-highest job at Foggy Bottom, during President Barack Obama’s second term. He previously worked for Biden in the Senate for years when the president-elect helmed the chamber’s foreign relations committee and before that worked in the Clinton administration.
He’s seen as respecting and deeply understanding other nations while believing in strong U.S. global leadership; he helped design Obama’s intervention to prevent a massacre by Libyan dictator Muammar al-Qaddafi and was open to stronger American action against Syria’s Bashar Assad. But like Biden and many in his orbit, Blinken has over time become more cautious about the risky consequences of assertive U.S. actions and he’s a loud supporter of diplomatic solutions to international crises, serving in recent years as one of the biggest boosters of the Obama-era deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program.
Biden hopes to quickly rejoin the deal, which Trump abandoned but Britain, France, Germany, Russia, China and Iran continue to largely abide by. Achieving that goal and reinvigorating the State Department will likely be Blinken’s first priorities. He’s also certain to emphasize joint international action against climate change; Biden wants to recommit the U.S. to the Paris accord on limiting global carbon emissions, which Trump left, and take further steps to prevent further warming in concert with foreign partners.
Blinken’s journey to actually entering the job could be hindered by two important groups: progressives and Republicans. Some figures on the left are wary of him for advising wealthy private companies after the Obama administration and believe he is too committed to traditional Washington ideas about American shows of force on the world stage. The GOP, which could complicate Blinken’s Senate confirmation, could press him hard on Iran, which many Republicans want to continue pressuring, and on Obama-era foreign policy choices they see as problematic.
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Given their close relationship of nearly 20 years, however, Biden will likely advocate heavily for Blinken to succeed.
The president-elect will soon reveal additional appointments for key foreign policy jobs, including his national security adviser at the White House and his defense secretary.
Former State Department official Jake Sullivan is the prime contender for the former post, per Bloomberg; Michèle Flournoy will almost certainly take the latter, becoming the first woman to run the Pentagon.
Biden will also appoint Linda Thomas-Greenfield, a veteran diplomat, as ambassador to the United Nations, making her the second-ever Black woman in the role, Axios reported earlier on Sunday.


thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-22--Trump Campaign Sidelines Sidney Powell From Legal Team

President Donald Trump ’ s campaign appeared to distance itself from Sidney Powell , a controversial attorney who ’ s been serving prominently on the legal team while Trump tries to steal the 2020 election through baseless allegations of voter fraud .
The unexpected pivot came on Sunday in a short statement from the campaign disavowing its association with Powell , who also represents former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn .
The campaign ’ s statement did not directly say whether Powell was fired , nor did it provide context for the sidelining .
“ Sidney Powell is practicing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and campaign legal advisor Jenna Ellis said in the statement .
“ She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team .
She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.
” The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to HuffPost ’ s request for clarification on if it has officially fired Powell , though the president , Giuliani and Ellis had previously identified her as being on the legal team .
The attorney quickly made headlines after the presidential election when @ @ @ @ @ @ @ frivolous lawsuits across the country , making outrageous claims about voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities without providing any evidence to support them .
Powell herself has participated in the increasingly brazen claims , constantly vowing to “ release the kraken ” of evidence but never following through .
“ I understand today ’ s press release , ” she told the network .
“ I will continue to represent # WeThePeople who had their votes for Trump and other Republicans stolen by massive voter fraud through Dominion and Smartmatic , and we will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will fall where they may , and we will defend the foundations of this great Republic .
# KrakenOnSteroids.
” In a bizarre press conference on Thursday by the Trump campaign , Powell claimed without evidence that Venezuela , Cuba , Antifa , George Soros , the Clinton Foundation and the deceased Hugo Chávez , among others , were responsible for rigging the election .
The allegations appeared too far-fetched even for Fox News host Tucker Carlson , a notorious Trump ally and conspiracy theorist .
During his show on Thursday , Carlson @ @ @ @ @ @ @ evidence to support her election claims “ despite a lot of requests , polite requests , not a page.
” Carlson said on his show that when his crew continued to press her for evidence , Powell “ got angry and told us to stop contacting her.
” Powell has also accused election officials in several states of committing crimes , and recently attacked Georgia ’ s Republican Gov .
Brian Kemp , a Trump ally .
Kemp helped certify President-elect Joe Biden ’ s victory in the state on Friday after a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democrat winning Georgia .
But in a Saturday interview with conservative outlet Newsmax , Powell baselessly claimed that Kemp was bribed by a voting machine company in a conspiracy to defeat Trump .
She also threatened a “ biblical ” lawsuit against Kemp , startling Trump allies like former New Jersey Gov .
Chris Christie who said Sunday that the conduct of Trump ’ s legal team is “ a national embarrassment.
” “ Sidney Powell accusing Gov .
Brian Kemp of a crime on television yet being unwilling to go on TV @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that she supposedly has , this is outrageous conduct by any lawyer , ” Christie , a Republican and longtime Trump adviser , said on ABC ’ s “ This Week.
” “ And notice … they won ’ t do it inside the courtroom , ” he continued .
“ They allege fraud outside the courtroom but when they go inside the courtroom , they don ’ t plead fraud and they don ’ t argue fraud.
” Trump ’ s legal team , which until Sunday included Powell , has so @ @ @ @ @ @ @ from the courtroom .
Federal judges in several states have shut down the team ’ s lawsuits , criticizing Trump ’ s attorneys for demanding measures that so obviously undermine democracy , and without providing evidence to support their demands .
Powell has long been a figure in conservative media , particularly after she gained notoriety for representing Flynn in his lengthy attempt to reverse a guilty plea for lying to the FBI about his 2016 communications with Russia .
Flynn fired his legal team last year and replaced them with Powell , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his guilty plea .

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President Donald Trump’s campaign appeared to distance itself from Sidney Powell, a controversial attorney who’s been serving prominently on the legal team while Trump tries to steal the 2020 election through baseless allegations of voter fraud.
The unexpected pivot came on Sunday in a short statement from the campaign disavowing its association with Powell, who also represents former Trump national security adviser Michael Flynn. The campaign’s statement did not directly say whether Powell was fired, nor did it provide context for the sidelining.
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“Sidney Powell is practicing law on her own,” Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani and campaign legal advisor Jenna Ellis said in the statement. “She is not a member of the Trump Legal Team. She is also not a lawyer for the President in his personal capacity.”
The president has sidelined Sidney Powell, who is also Mike Flynn’s lawyer, for reasons unknown. pic.twitter.com/KpsRCd2um2 — Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) November 22, 2020
The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for clarification on if it has officially fired Powell, though the president, Giuliani and Ellis had previously identified her as being on the legal team.
The attorney quickly made headlines after the presidential election when Trump and his legal team began filing frivolous lawsuits across the country, making outrageous claims about voter fraud and ballot-counting irregularities without providing any evidence to support them. Powell herself has participated in the increasingly brazen claims, constantly vowing to “release the kraken” of evidence but never following through.
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Powell herself did not respond to HuffPost, but released a statement to CBS in response to the campaign’s attempt at distancing itself.
“I understand today’s press release,” she told the network. “I will continue to represent #WeThePeople who had their votes for Trump and other Republicans stolen by massive voter fraud through Dominion and Smartmatic, and we will be filing suit soon. The chips will fall where they may, and we will defend the foundations of this great Republic. #KrakenOnSteroids.”
In a bizarre press conference on Thursday by the Trump campaign, Powell claimed without evidence that Venezuela, Cuba, Antifa, George Soros, the Clinton Foundation and the deceased Hugo Chávez, among others, were responsible for rigging the election.
The allegations appeared too far-fetched even for Fox News host Tucker Carlson, a notorious Trump ally and conspiracy theorist. During his show on Thursday, Carlson called out Powell for not providing him evidence to support her election claims “despite a lot of requests, polite requests, not a page.” Carlson said on his show that when his crew continued to press her for evidence, Powell “got angry and told us to stop contacting her.”
Powell has also accused election officials in several states of committing crimes, and recently attacked Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, a Trump ally. Kemp helped certify President-elect Joe Biden’s victory in the state on Friday after a recount affirmed the original result showing the Democrat winning Georgia.
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But in a Saturday interview with conservative outlet Newsmax, Powell baselessly claimed that Kemp was bribed by a voting machine company in a conspiracy to defeat Trump. She also threatened a “biblical” lawsuit against Kemp, startling Trump allies like former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie who said Sunday that the conduct of Trump’s legal team is “a national embarrassment.”
Chris Christie describes Trump's legal team as "a national embarrassment." pic.twitter.com/F6VN0kbdjq — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) November 22, 2020
“Sidney Powell accusing Gov. Brian Kemp of a crime on television yet being unwilling to go on TV and defend and lay out the evidence that she supposedly has, this is outrageous conduct by any lawyer,” Christie, a Republican and longtime Trump adviser, said on ABC’s “This Week.”
“And notice … they won’t do it inside the courtroom,” he continued. “They allege fraud outside the courtroom but when they go inside the courtroom, they don’t plead fraud and they don’t argue fraud.”
Trump’s legal team, which until Sunday included Powell, has so far failed to bring any meaningful wins from the courtroom. Federal judges in several states have shut down the team’s lawsuits, criticizing Trump’s attorneys for demanding measures that so obviously undermine democracy, and without providing evidence to support their demands.
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thehuffingtonpost--2020-11-23--United Way Accused Of Retaliation Against Women Employees

From Marketer Of The Year To Fired She Was My Protector

Top photo by Peyton Fulford for HuffPost
Three former female executives at United Way Worldwide, one of the largest nonprofits in the country, say that they were retaliated against by the organization after speaking up about sexual harassment, HuffPost has learned.
After reporting the misconduct, these women were abruptly sidelined by leadership, according to three separate claims filed in the past 18 months with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that handles civil rights claims. Two were fired. The CEO unsuccessfully pushed for the other woman’s termination. The man whom she complained about has received a promotion.
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A beloved institution, recently named America’s Favorite Charity by the Chronicle of Philanthropy, United Way had an opportunity to lead the way on how to handle sexual harassment in the nonprofit sector, the women said. Instead, the organization did everything it could to bully them into silence.
One of the women, former marketing chief Lisa Bowman, filed charges in March alleging sex discrimination and retaliation. Bowman was fired in January by United Way Worldwide’s CEO Brian Gallagher, months after she made a formal complaint about the behavior of a male colleague to human resources, according to the EEOC charge.
Bowman told HR not only how this man treated her — a pattern of ogling and inappropriate comments about her body — but how he had also flirted and “stalked” a female administrative staff member at a public event, even as she was gunning for a promotion onto his team, according to the complaint.
After filing the formal complaint, Bowman’s standing at United Way began to sink. Some of the employees on her team were moved over to the alleged harasser’s team. She was still required to do the same amount of work, with fewer resources, she said. Those left on her team were burning out, she told HuffPost. In hindsight, she views this as a “deliberate” effort to get her to quit. She didn’t.
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In Gallagher’s office at the beginning of 2020, the longtime CEO bluntly told her he “no longer needed her,” according to Bowman’s complaint. She burst into tears. “It was a shock. So much a piece of my identity,” she told HuffPost. “I’ve lost my job when I shouldn’t have, through no fault of my own.”
When Gallagher recruited her to United Way Worldwide in 2015 from an executive position at the shipping company UPS, Bowman, now 53, told him she wanted to spend the rest of her career at the nonprofit. “I wanted to work for an organization to make people’s lives better,” she said. “To use what I do to make a difference.”
The firing crushed her expectations and instantly changed her career plans. Now Bowman is nervous about her job prospects and still looking for work. “I feel like I had 10 years of my career stolen from me,” she said.
Brian Gallagher, president and chief executive officer of United Way Worldwide, speaking during the 2018 World Economic Forum on Latin America in São Paulo. Patricia Monteiro/Bloomberg/Getty Images
Another female executive went to HR about the same man Bowman had complained about. A woman who worked for her had said that this man was flirting with her at a work event in an uncomfortable way.
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After reporting the incident, the executive also started experiencing backlash, according to her EEOC filing and an interview with HuffPost. The woman asked to remain anonymous out of fear of retaliation.
“My whole lot changed at United Way after I went on record with that,” she said. This woman filed her EEOC charge in March, and left United Way shortly after for another job.
In the case with perhaps the most egregious allegations, United Way’s former vice president for labor participation, Ana Avendaño, said she was fired after Richard Trumka, the president of the AFL-CIO (the largest labor organization in the U.S.), complained to CEO Gallagher about Avendaño’s work on sexual harassment within the labor movement.
The AFL-CIO, a federation of 55 labor unions that covers nearly 13 million workers, is one of the United Way’s oldest fundraising partners, with union members donating hundreds of millions to the nonprofit every year.
Through her work, Avendaño had uncovered sexual harassment in this network, according to her complaint. Some local labor leaders were propositioning and groping female United Way workers who were hired to coordinate union fundraising. When these women spoke up about mistreatment to their local United Way leadership, their complaints were ignored or they faced retaliation, according to Avendaño’s filing.
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Avendaño was trying to change this. She had addressed the issue publicly at several United Way events and at labor conferences. She reached out to these women to tell them they should not have to put up with this behavior, and advocated on their behalf. Avendaño also published articles about sexual harassment in the labor movement, and posted about it on her Facebook page.
She believed United Way would drive the unions to do better. Instead the AFL-CIO pushed United Way Worldwide to silence her, according to her EEOC complaint filed in June 2019, which HuffPost obtained.
“President Trumka oversees a nearly 13 million-member federation of unions that is dedicated to improving the lives of America’s workers. The task is enormous. And that’s his focus every single day, not personnel decisions at another organization,” Tim Schlittner, an AFL-CIO spokesman, said in response to questions about Trumka’s involvement in Avendaño’s situation. He did not respond to the specifics of her complaint.
Avendaño was not able to speak directly to HuffPost about her claims against United Way. To settle her legal case, she signed a restrictive nondisclosure agreement that forbids her from discussing how she was treated there, and prevents her from disparaging the nonprofit.
But throughout her fight to address harassment within the organization, and later in her legal negotiations with the nonprofit, she confided in a friend and a trusted colleague, Linda Seabrook, the general counsel at the social justice organization Futures Without Violence. Seabrook had also cohosted conferences on sexual harassment in the labor movement with Avendaño, and was able to share Avendaño’s story with HuffPost.
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“Ana’s fearless. She’s always going to be an advocate,” Seabrook said, adding that Avendaño is driven to improve circumstances for women in the workplace. “She just wants to make change.”
Ana Avendaño stands for a portrait at Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park in Meridian, Idaho, in November 2020. Kyle Green for HuffPost
United Way Worldwide did not respond to any of HuffPost’s specific questions, citing an ongoing investigation by the law firm Proskauer Rose into “allegations of misconduct.” The firm is also conducting an “independent” review of the nonprofit’s policies, according to a statement from Pamela Rucker Springs, United Way’s vice president of communications.
“United Way Worldwide (UWW) takes all workplace issues and reports of misconduct very seriously,” said Rucker Springs in an email. “Any type of misconduct is met with zero tolerance and UWW has strong policies and procedures in place to report and address this type of behavior; including protections for those who lodge complaints about misconduct.”
The charges against United Way demonstrate that three years after #MeToo got the world to listen to women about sexual misconduct, there is still a difficult road ahead for those who speak up. Seven in 10 women who report sexual harassment are retaliated against, according to a recent study from the Time’s Up Foundation.
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Retaliation included being sued for defamation, losing out on promotions, and even physical harm, but its most common form was firing. This kind of blowback occurs regardless of where women are in their careers or on the socio-economic ladder — whether you’re someone like Bowman (an executive earning a high six-figure salary) or a union worker in a manufacturing plant, as Avendaño uncovered.
“No matter how high up you can go, this can happen,” said Sharyn Tejani, the director of Time’s Up Legal Defense Fund.
A Boys’ Club
The United Way is a sprawling organization. The Worldwide office, which Gallagher runs, functions like a franchise owner, taking a cut of the money raised by the more than 1,200 local United Way branches around the world that fundraise for their communities’ specific needs.
Though the Worldwide office describes itself as a $5 billion operation, that includes money raised by all of its affiliates. Practically, the Worldwide arm had $218 million in revenue in 2018, the last year for which public information is available. That includes the locals’ fees and grants from big companies and their nonprofits. In 2018, the Pepsi Foundation gave $7 million, the Citi Foundation donated $20 million, and AT&T gave $4.6 million, according to data provided to HuffPost by Candid.org, a nonprofit that tracks philanthropic giving.
Since COVID-19 hit earlier this year, United Way has raised enormous sums to help communities around the world deal with the fallout by stocking food banks, distributing personal protective equipment, and helping parents who have children doing distance learning.
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In addition to the three women who filed official complaints, HuffPost spoke to six other women who used to work at United Way Worldwide about how the nonprofit treats women. All asked for anonymity, fearing career fallout and citing United Way’s outsized influence in the nonprofit community. All of them also emphasized the importance of the nonprofit’s work and mission.
They were hesitant to publicly criticize an organization that does so much good, but added that this reticence allows harassment and misconduct to flourish unchecked.
“Within the United Way [network], we’re all cautious because we don’t want to harm the brand that helps people,” said one former employee. “So people have kept their mouths shut. We don’t want to cause problems for the mission.”
““A lot of the old white guys, that’s been their entire career. I don’t think they ever had a moment where it’s like, the world has moved on.”” - Former United Way employee
Under Gallagher, the 133-year-old nonprofit is run like a boys club, where women have to work harder to get ahead, those who spoke with HuffPost said. That means going along with the men, including tolerating problematic conduct, to succeed.
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Bowman, the former chief marketing officer, described the culture as “sexist.”
“You couldn’t get opportunities. You couldn’t compete. There was favoritism,” said one woman who left United Way after working there for a decade. She recalled being told she wasn’t seasoned enough to get a promotion, only to watch a man the same age as her — with less experience — get it instead. “That’s the kind of environment it was.”
Gallagher, who launched his career at United Way in 1981, has long presided over an old-fashioned culture, she said, echoing the comments of the other women who spoke with HuffPost.
“A lot of the old white guys, that’s been their entire career,” she said. “I don’t think they ever had a moment where it’s like, the world has moved on.”
Gallagher was working at a local United Way branch back in 1992 when the nonprofit’s then CEO William Aramony was forced to resign amid a sex and financial scandal that reads like an episode of a 1980s primetime soap opera.
“The case was a humiliation for the United Way,” the New York Times reported in 2011 in Aramony’s obituary. The disgraced CEO had stolen $600,000 from the nonprofit, and spent some of its money on an extramarital affair with a woman 42 years younger than him that included flights on the Concorde, vacations around the world, and “even a fax machine to send love notes.”
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He was indicted and jailed for fraud.
Even those who criticized the culture said the United Way has moved on from Aramony’s era, and that working there taught them a lot about the nonprofit sector. One former employee told HuffPost that United Way isn’t much different than any other large organization mainly run by men.
“I wish there were more women in leadership at the United Way Worldwide just like I wish there were more women in leadership at every other organization that I see,” said Nicole McNamara, who left United Way Worldwide in 2015 and said she had a great experience there. She still works with the nonprofit in a pro-bono capacity. “I don’t think this is endemic to them.”
Still, there’s a sense that it’s past time for donors to hear the truth.
Bowman said as much in a letter to several members of the United Way Worldwide board of directors in October, informing them of her charges.
“Like me, I truly believe that all of you became involved in United Way for good reasons, based in a desire to improve your communities by serving others in need,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, Mr. Gallagher’s leadership at United Way is jeopardizing those noble goals and putting your reputations — and the reputations of the companies you represent — at risk.”
As of press time, the board had not responded to her email beyond confirming its receipt.
Board members did not respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
‘Don’t Mess With The Unions’
Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO, speaks at a labor conference in February 2020. Avendaño believes that her anti-harassment work upset Trumka and that he pushed United Way Worldwide to fire her. Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/Bloomberg/Getty Images
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Since World War II, the United Way and the AFL-CIO have run a program through which union members donate money to their local United Way directly through their paychecks. Avendaño’s job was managing the relationships between United Way and the unions, which bring in an estimated $250 million a year to local United Way branches.
The local branches run the program by hiring “labor liaisons,” men and women who are typically union members (and part of the AFL-CIO) who help raise awareness and drum up money for the local United Way.
A couple years into her job, Avendaño learned that female labor liaisons were getting sexually harassed by union leaders. She received a report in the fall of 2016 that a liaison from Florida resigned after being sexually harassed by a labor leader, according to her complaint.
The woman had reported the incident to her United Way supervisor, whose only suggestion was that she work remotely. Meanwhile, her union representative accused her of having an affair with the man who harassed her, Avendaño alleges in her complaint.
“I was shocked and appalled,” she said in her EEOC complaint.
Avendaño convened a conference call with labor liaisons, and told them this behavior was not tolerated. She said she had their back. More liaisons came forward to tell her their own stories, the complaint said.
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At the same time, Avendaño and her boss went to Gallagher to figure out what to do. He gave the go-ahead to address the issue by providing a code of conduct to local United Ways outlining what kind of behavior would constitute sexual harassment, according to the complaint.
Back then, Avendaño also reached out to the national AFL-CIO about the Florida case. She was told that there was nothing they could do.
In response to a question about the Florida incident, the AFL-CIO didn’t address specifics. “All harassment is unacceptable and the labor movement is fully committed to eradicating it from our society, including our own ranks,” Schlittner said in an email.
Even within the bounds of her nondisclosure agreement, Avendaño was able to talk with HuffPost about the pattern of harassment she says she found.
“These women were fundraisers and the men harassing them had control over their ability to raise money,” she told HuffPost. “They complained to their bosses or their local entities and they found nothing changed. So they turned to me at Worldwide.”
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Avendaño said she worked with these women to address the issue and to raise awareness. “We learned together,” she said.
Still, Avendaño was clearly wading into treacherous waters. The AFL-CIO is a powerful and influential partner to United Way.
“You don’t mess with the unions at United Way,” one former employee told HuffPost. “That is a no-no.” Others familiar with the relationship said it was extremely important to the nonprofit.
Sara Wilder outside her home in Topeka, Kansas. Wilder was a labor liaison when she was sexually harassed by a member of her local United Way’s board of directors. Chase Castor for HuffPost
In Avendaño’s EEOC charge, she describes a series of talks about sexual harassment she convened or participated in, beginning in 2016, through which she drew attention to the problems faced by labor liaisons and talked more generally about sexual harassment in the labor movement, as part of her work for United Way.
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At first, the arrangement seemed to work.
At a conference about sexual harassment hosted by United Way Worldwide and Seabrook’s organization in the fall of 2016, Gallagher gave the opening remarks, declaring the nonprofit’s commitment to taking on the issue, according to the complaint. He praised Avendaño’s work. A Canadian labor leader talked about how they handle harassment up north. The AFL-CIO adopted some of those practices, according to the complaint.
The following spring she received a $1,000 bonus and “superior” rating during her annual performance review based on that work, according to the complaint.
In August 2017, Avendaño hosted a conference bringing together labor liaisons from around the country.
Then something changed. In October 2017, the Me Too movement took off, after The New York Times published revelations about Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein.
As part of the fallout, many other organizations came under the spotlight, including the AFL-CIO. On Nov. 7 of that year, a Bloomberg article reported on allegations against Terry Stapleton, a Trumka aide, who was accused of sending lewd messages to a secretary. He told her he’d protect her from a round of layoffs if she’d have a sexual relationship with him, according to the report.
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Stapleton was sent to mandatory training by the AFL-CIO, but then resigned months later, after Bloomberg News asked the labor organization about the allegations.
Three days after the Bloomberg story, Avendaño and Seabrook co-authored a post for a labor blog called “Top 10 Things Unions Can Do Right Now To Address Sexual Harassment in the Workplace.” This was with United Way’s backing, Seabrook said.
That same month, at another conference hosted by Futures Without Violence, Avendaño talked about the situation with labor liaisons at United Way Worldwide.
That may have been a tipping point.
In February 2018, the AFL-CIO removed Avendaño’s name from a list of people invited to a sexual harassment meeting at its headquarters, she said in the EEOC complaint.
At that meeting, titled “Labor has a Special Responsibility to Stop Sexual Harassment.” Trumka gave a powerful speech affirming his commitment to its code of conduct and combating harassment.
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In his response to HuffPost, the AFL-CIO spokesman sent HuffPost a transcript of Trumka’s remarks.
“I’ve worked hard to get where I am today. But there is no denying I am a white man in a position of power,” Trumka said. “Social and cultural norms have been specifically enforced to benefit people like me.” He also acknowledged that labor has “been part of the problem.”
“The sexism and misogyny in our ranks has been tolerated for far too long. Some of you have personally experienced it. The looks. The comments. The innuendo,” he said. “This old boys’ club mentality must die, and it must die today.”
After that, Avendaño was excluded from all AFL-CIO meetings on the topic, according to her complaint.
She was still speaking out about sexual harassment in the labor movement in other venues, at universities and at United Way Worldwide conferences.
In the summer of 2018, she hosted a conference that appears to have been her last for United Way that included another panel on sexual harassment in the labor movement. This appears to have set in motion her dismissal, according to the events outlined in the complaint.
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After that panel ended, United Way Worldwide CEO Gallagher got a call from AFL-CIO president Trumka, who was “upset,” according to the complaint.
Avendaño found out about the call the next day when Gallagher relayed the conversation. According to the complaint, Trumka was upset that Avendaño posted an article about him possibly endorsing President Donald Trump to her Facebook page. Trumka also said he didn’t like the title of the panel, “Sexual Harassment and the Labor Movement,” according to the complaint.
“Trumka objected to me ‘defaming good guys who have passed through his shop’ and ‘got caught up in the #MeToo stuff,’” Avendaño said she was told.
She offered to meet with Trumka, which wasn’t unusual; the two met often. But that meeting never transpired, according to the complaint.
“[M]onths before the emergence of #MeToo, the AFL-CIO Executive Council adopted a comprehensive code of conduct that is read at all federation gatherings and reiterates our commitment to ensuring safe workplaces, activities, meetings and events,” Schlittner, the AFL-CIO spokesman, said. He also pointed HuffPost to guidelines the AFL-CIO issued last year on how to handle harassment.
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Avendaño told HuffPost that she advocated for the creation of those guidelines.
Avendaño is pictured at Julius M. Kleiner Memorial Park in Meridian, Idaho on Nov. 18, 2020. Kyle Green for HuffPost
Trumka may have been upset with Avendaño’s work, but the labor liaisons — who’d long had their complaints overlooked — were thrilled to finally have someone on their side.
After hearing Avendaño discuss sexual harassment on that first conference call in 2016, Wilder, the former United Way labor liaison in Topeka, reached out to Avendaño and told her that at fundraising events where there was alcohol, she had been groped and propositioned by a local United Way board member repeatedly over the years. He was also a member of her union (part of the AFL-CIO network) in Topeka, where she works at a manufacturing plant.
When she’d complained about harassment in the past, union leadership offered no help, essentially telling her to deal with it herself. She kept quiet until the fall of 2016.
At a Halloween fundraising event, according to Wilder, the board member who had been harassing her actually paid a waitress $20 so he could “motorboat” her, e.g., place his mouth between her breasts and blow. The incident, widely witnessed, caused a stir.
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Wilder was asked about it by leaders at her local United Way, and revealed that this man had harassed her for years. Her local United Way said it was obligated to investigate her claim that she had been harassed by him. And even though Wilder asked to keep her name private, the branch did not.
What happened next was a nightmare for Wilder. Word got out that she reported the board member. The backlash from her fellow union members and her local United Way was swift, she said.
She ran into a fellow union member, who “walked by and whispered in my ear, ‘fucking cunt,’” Wilder told HuffPost.
In 2017, when the man was kicked off the local United Way board, it was too late for Wilder, who left her position at the nonprofit.
Wilder said the one person throughout this ordeal who helped her was Avendaño. “Ana was the only person I had in my corner,” she said.
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When Avendaño was fired last year, Wilder had no doubt why. “I know Ana was fired because of her work with sexual harassment,” she told HuffPost. “She has balls of steel and isn’t afraid to call people out.”
Meanwhile At Headquarters
Lisa Bowman had spent decades in marketing, rising to the top of her profession in an executive role at UPS, where she spent 15 years. From there, she jumped to United Way Worldwide in 2015 with high hopes of spending the rest of her career at the esteemed nonprofit.
She took a high-paying position and worked directly for Gallagher, the CEO. Her base salary the year she was fired was $305,000, plus a 15% bonus.
The future looked bright, until the day in 2018 that she met a man brought in by Gallagher from a United Way branch to interview for a vice president position.
At the request of Bowman and the other female executives interviewed for this story, HuffPost is not publishing the vice president’s name. Their issue now isn’t with him, but with how the nonprofit handled their complaints about him, they said.
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Bowman said the new VP acted strange around her from the start. At a job interview before he was hired, he looked down at Bowman, who is 5 feet tall, and sarcastically told her she was “intimidating,” Bowman said.
Afterward, Bowman told Gallagher she thought the man was “awkward,” but qualified for the job. Since he was a peer, she didn’t have decision-making capability anyway. He was hired.
From then on, he continued to comment on her appearance frequently and would look at her in a way that was creepy, she said. In meetings and conversations at work, he’d never comment on her actual work; instead, it was always something personal about how she looked.
The feeling of being objectified in a professional setting can be humiliating, especially for someone so senior. It’s a signal that your worth isn’t about your professional success or expertise but purely your looks.
It was “degrading,” Bowman said.
“It felt really uncomfortable. It was hard to engage with him for work. I was always afraid there was going to be some comment or something,” she said. “I don’t expect any male colleague to ever be commenting on how something fits my body. I don’t think it’s appropriate.”
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““She replied, ‘Oh, that’s just him.' I said, 'It’s inappropriate.'” - Lisa Bowman
She didn’t formally speak to HR, though, until February 2019, when the situation reached a tipping point. The man approached her at a United Way conference and looked her body up and down. “That skirt looks great on you,” he said, according to Bowman.
“That was the snap moment for me,” she said.
Bowman was standing with a woman subordinate to her in the organization and felt like she needed to be a role model. “I’d been enduring comments and looks from him for a really long time, but he did this in front of other people,” she said. “It was really embarrassing for me.”
She later sent the other woman an email saying, “I’m sorry you had to see that.”
“She replied, ‘Oh, that’s just him,’” Bowman told HuffPost. “I said, it’s inappropriate.”
A male colleague suggested Bowman speak to HR, and she did, according to her EEOC charge. Bowman later heard from HR that the man had been spoken with.
After that, the retaliation started, according to the charge. Bowman had staff pulled off her team and moved to different roles, with some now reporting to the man she had complained about. Her team was still required to do the same amount of work, and Bowman herself was working harder than ever, but felt like she wasn’t doing well. Her performance rating was downgraded, she said in her complaint.
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Bowman felt like she was being targeted and didn’t understand why. “Something had absolutely changed,” she said.
Lisa Bowman at her home in Atlanta in November. Peyton Fulford for HuffPost
Meanwhile, another executive at United Way headquarters had also gone to HR in February 2019 to lodge a complaint about the same man, the VP. Like Bowman, this woman said she was retaliated against for coming forward and has also filed an EEOC charge against United Way.
The executive has since left United Way Worldwide, and asked that HuffPost not publish her name out of fear of retaliation.
She made the report on behalf of a subordinate, who had complained that the VP flirted with her and made her feel uncomfortable. United Way Worldwide’s sexual harassment policy requires supervisors to “immediately report” any potential incident of harassment, the executive said. But ultimately, the subordinate decided not to file a complaint of her own.
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That makes what happened next even more stunning: Gallagher asked the executive’s boss to fire her, despite her having no performance issues, according to the charges she filed at the EEOC. When the executive’s boss asked Gallagher why, he only said that she was “bad for culture.”
“He wanted to shut me up by getting rid of me,” the executive told HuffPost.
United Way declined to respond to specific allegations, citing its ongoing internal investigation.
Like Bowman, this woman had planned on becoming a United Way “lifer,” spending the rest of her career there.
She’d taken all the harassment training the nonprofit had to offer, an increasing amount in recent years, she said. When the executive brought her subordinate’s complaint to HR, she believed she was simply following the nonprofit’s rules.
“I was all-in,” she said. “I worked my ass off. And because I did what’s right, everything changed.”
Finally, a few months after she first went to HR — and after her own boss ignored Gallagher’s order to fire her — the executive found a new job and left United Way Worldwide.
It turned out that other women had complained about the VP. In April 2019, Bowman’s then-executive assistant, a Black woman, said that she had a “creepy” encounter with the man, according to Bowman’s complaint. He had picked up one of the executive assistant’s braids and made a comment about how good her hair looked.
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Apparently, HR was conducting a full investigation into other complaints about the VP’s “inappropriate” behavior, Bowman said in her EEOC charge. (Bowman had also lodged a complaint on behalf of the woman whose hair was touched by the VP.)
That investigation came to an abrupt end, according to Bowman’s complaint, because the HR executive’s role at the organization was eliminated.
It’s unclear if anything ever came of those complaints. The VP still works at United Way Worldwide and has been promoted at least once.
The women who complained are the ones who are gone.
United Way declined to answer specific questions about the situation.
From Marketer Of The Year To Fired
In January 2020, Gallagher called Bowman into his office and fired her. He said her position was no longer needed because he’d hired someone else to handle her role. And that was it. There was no other explanation, she said.
“I was beyond blindsided,” Bowman told HuffPost. “I’d never been reprimanded, fired — nothing less than a stellar review.”
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Up until that point, the Bowman had had a spectacular career. Only the month before, she had been named 2019 Marketer of the Year by a national trade magazine. United Way’s chief of staff was quoted in the magazine saying glowing things about her.
In 2017, Gallagher himself praised Bowman in print when she was awarded Nonprofit Marketer of the Year by the American Marketing Association.
“Thanks to Lisa’s vision and willingness to challenge the status quo, we’re raising our awareness, motivating more people to engage with the issues that matter to them and becoming the place people turn to create social change in the 21st century,” he said.
It took getting fired for her to get a clear picture of what changed.
“I sat back and was like, ‘What just happened’?” she said. It didn’t hit her until she sat down and sketched out the timeline.
“Oh my god. This is retaliation,” she recalled realizing.
She got a lawyer and filed her EEOC complaint in March.
Recently, she made her case to Gallagher’s bosses, the board of directors at United Way Worldwide.
“I firmly believe my termination was a direct result of the reports of sexual harassment I made to HR,” she said, in a letter to them sent on Oct. 14 that she shared with HuffPost.
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Bowman, who lives in Atlanta, knows the risks in coming out publicly against the powerful nonprofit. But she felt compelled to speak up, she told HuffPost repeatedly.
“Please know that it was not an easy decision for me to come forward with my story, but I simply could not continue to remain silent,” she wrote to the board members. “To do so makes me also complicit. I am speaking out on behalf of all of those other employees who are too afraid or intimidated to do so.”
While the board acknowledged they received her letter, as of publication, they had not sent Bowman a substantive response.
‘It’s Your Tone’
Things went rapidly downhill for Avendaño, the VP for labor at United Way, after her August 2018 meeting with Gallagher about AFL-CIO chief Trumka’s complaints, according to her EEOC complaint.
About two months later, she had a medical issue — a pinched nerve — and asked to work remotely. Instead of granting the accommodation, she was told to go home and not to work.
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After intense negotiations, she was permitted to do some remote work — which was odd. According to Avendaño’s complaint, other employees frequently worked remotely without issues.
Then, her boss, a vice president named Mary Sellers, along with an HR representative, told her that employees had complained about her attitude. There were reports she was bullying them, and Avendaño was under investigation, she was told.
“It’s your tone,” Lori Malcolm, United Way Worldwide’s chief culture officer told her, according to Avendaño’s EEOC complaint. “You are very aggressive.”
Employees had complained that Avendaño was “reacting emotionally, angry and mean,” Malcolm told her in a subsequent conversation that is described in the EEOC filing.
Avendaño was never provided with specifics, but defended herself, according to the complaint, admitting that at times, she could be irritable or curt — especially given her current pain issues — but she had never yelled at anyone or threatened or bullied a worker.
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Until this period, Avendaño had only gotten good performance reviews, and there was no record of complaints against her at United Way Worldwide, according to her EEOC filing.
HuffPost spoke to several people who know Avendaño; they all said she is a fighter and a tough advocate, but certainly not a bully.
“Avendaño wrote that United Way Worldwide’s response to her complaint rests on portraying her as an 'angry Latina' and a 'tyrannical supervisor.'”
Nevertheless, on a conference call with her direct boss and Malcolm on March 5, 2019, while she was still at home, Avendaño was told “there is no way back,” according to her complaint.
She was told she was fired because of United Way’s “nonviolent workplace policy.”
“I was shocked,” Avendaño said in the EEOC charge, adding that she is concerned about the reason given for her abrupt termination. After 25 years spent defending workers’ rights, being accused of bullying subordinates could be career ending.
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Sellers, the vice president, did not respond to HuffPost’s interview request, nor did Malcolm. United Way declined to respond to these specific allegations.
Avendaño filed her charges against United Way Worldwide in June 2019.
“I believe I was also subjected to a discriminatory and retaliatory work environment on the basis of my gender,” Avendaño said in the complaint, “because I brought the issue of sexual harassment of women within our industry to the forefront, and was a frequent lecturer and presenter on these issues.”
This summer, the nonprofit settled her charges for $300,000 and required her to sign a nondisclosure agreement, although she remains free to talk about the pattern of labor liaison harassment she discovered.
In June, as she was negotiating the settlement with United Way Worldwide, Avendaño wrote an email to the chair of the board, a copy of which was obtained by HuffPost, protesting the “onerous” restrictions in the NDA.
In the email, Avendaño wrote that United Way Worldwide’s response to her complaint rests on portraying her as an “angry Latina” and a “tyrannical supervisor.”
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This is “both demonstrably false and sexist,” she said. “I do not believe that the public or a jury will take well to UWW casting me in the trope of the Angry and Emotional Latina. “
Avendaño had believed that United Way would want to help with her mission to root out sexual harassment inside labor. She never dreamed it would go south the way it did, Seabrook — whom Avendaño confided in and is not bound by the NDA — told HuffPost.
“She thought United Way would step up,” she said.
Seabrook said she’d tried to talk Avendaño out of filing a case at the EEOC: Making a complaint against a big, well-funded enterprise is a challenging endeavor, she said.
“It’s so hard. Financially. Emotionally. Professionally.”
These things usually don’t come to light — even now three years into the post-Me Too era — because of the impact cases can have on a woman’s career.
Bowman, the former chief marketing officer, said something similar. She doesn’t know what’s next for her professionally, and she knows that speaking up will have a cost.
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“People will say, ‘Oh yeah, we’re not going to hire her. She ratted out her company,’” Bowman told HuffPost. “I’m a believer that you have to do the right thing.”
She Was My Protector
Wilder outside her home in Topeka. Chase Castor for HuffPost
Not one to stay silent, Avendaño is now writing a bill — and hopes to push it through Congress — that would prohibit nonprofits from requiring victims of harassment, sex discrimination and retaliation to sign nondisclosure agreements. Part of the bill would require nonprofits to disclose to donors how sexual harassment complaints are handled.
“Speaking generally, not about any particular nonprofit, I do believe that it is highly questionable whether nonprofits should have the right to require that anybody sign NDAs,” she told HuffPost. “[T]hat shields important information from donors and others who might hold the organizations accountable.”
Wilder, the former labor liaison from Topeka, had been organizing a working group with other women focused on combating sexual harassment in the labor movement. She said Avendaño’s departure put a halt to that work.
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“I stopped that immediately. I was like, I am not going to get targeted,” she told HuffPost, adding that though United Way told her Avendaño wasn’t fired because of this work, it didn’t offer an alternate explanation.
Wilder said there’s no way she could continue without Avendaño.
“She was like my protection. She was my great white shark. She was gone. That right there sent a very clear signal as to what happens to people that speak out.”
Wilder pointed out that it absolutely didn’t have to end this way. The unions and United Way could’ve taken action on this issue and been leaders in making work better for women and fighting sexual harassment.
“They’re supposed to support people,” Wilder said, referring to unions and the United Way. “The working class. Well, it just depends on what your problems are.”
Do you have a story of workplace harassment and retaliation you’d like to share with us? Email: emily.peck@huffpost.com