bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Has Matt Drudge Logged Off?

Has Matt Drudge Logged Off?

It was the kind of story that would once have had Matt Drudge deploying font sizes that newspapers used to reserve for declarations of war. On Oct. 14, Twitter and Facebook blocked users from spreading a New York Post article alleging that Hunter Biden had brokered meetings between his father, then the vice president of the United States, and executives at a Ukrainian energy firm where the younger Biden held an $80,000-a-month sinecure. The Post’s article included photos of what appeared to be an exhausted and intoxicated-looking Biden in various states of undress.
Yet the controversy over tech companies restricting the spread of a story unflattering to the Democratic presidential contender was nowhere to be seen in the upper half of The Drudge Report—once the most coveted and agenda-setting real estate in right-of-center media. “RECORD TURNOUT ALARMS REPUBLICANS... BIDEN +7 GA,” screamed the top headlines on Oct. 15.
“People have noticed that Drudge has basically become a liberal site over the past two years,” a senior figure in conservative media told me that week.
“Liberal” might be a stretch, but it’s hard to argue with the claim that The Drudge Report has changed over the past few years. At the very least, it became an anti-Trump site. “YOU’RE FIRED!,” the top story on Drudge read on Nov. 7 when Joe Biden’s Electoral College win was first projected, appearing above a full page of links celebrating the former vice president’s victory—Drudge screenshotted the headline in a rare tweet that same day. During the campaign, the site had touted any and all bad news for Drudge’s once-preferred candidate and sometimes-host at the White House—a fact that didn’t go unnoticed by the Media Critic-in-Chief.
“Our people have all left Drudge,” the president tweeted on Sept. 14. “He is a confused mess.”
Drudge has always been an enigma, but aspects of Trump’s critique appear to be accurate. The Drudge Report once cycled through 40-50 links in a single five-hour period. The page is now updated only once or twice a day and almost never reacts to breaking news, as if it’s being run by someone who simply doesn’t care anymore. Traffic has reportedly lagged, with Comscore data suggesting a 45% plunge in the year before this past September. In the glory days even a midpage Drudge link could pull a million views; the number is now down to the high tens of thousands. Drudge pulled the report’s app from Apple’s and Google’s app stores, only to later link to it in the Drudge sidebar after switching ad brokers without explanation in mid-2019. And unlike in past years, when the page had multiple staffers working morning and afternoon shifts, Drudge watchers have no idea who, if anyone else, works for the site. The last reported employee was Daniel Halper, a former Weekly Standard editor hired on in 2017, though it is unclear whether he still works there. When reached by Tablet, Halper would not comment on any past or current involvement with The Drudge Report.
In interviews with over a half-dozen various former Drudge associates, about half suggested that the site may no longer be under his control. For these people, politics alone couldn’t explain all the changes at the site. The humor, the oddball stories about sex robots and exorcisms, and the obsession with weather events are all almost entirely gone, along with any pretense to original reporting.
One former confidante cited a story in apparently wide circulation among the small number of people who know or knew Drudge: In the early 2010s, this person said, Drudge fantasized that he would keep the DrudgeReport.com domain forever, and that the site would simply go black one day without explanation. Others asserted that Drudge, reportedly a globetrotting lover of expensive cars, hotels, and real estate, actually would sell for the right amount. Two floated the theory to Tablet that the site had been bought by a liberal billionaire.
One of the few ex-Drudge associates who would discuss him on-record in any depth is the New York literary agent Lucianne Goldberg, a figure of some notoriety for her role in revealing then-president Bill Clinton’s affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Goldberg is a former close confidante who said she had not spoken with Drudge in over five years. She believes he no longer runs the site. “It’s a totally different publication,” she told me. What was the biggest sign? I asked. “Oh, every line of the page,” she replied. “It’s just so obvious that he’s not interested, that somebody else is doing it.” This was just one of several theories volunteered by people who had been close to Drudge, though none was forthcoming with proof. Drudge himself did not respond to multiple requests for comment through both the email address listed on The Drudge Report and an intermediary.
“We don’t think Matt is there anymore,” tweeted the polling company Rasmussen last December. “Word is he sold, just waiting for confirmation. Now that will be a story.” (When reached for comment, Scott Rasmussen said he left the company in 2013 and was not aware of the tweet. Email requests for comment from Rasmussen the company went unreturned.) In mid-October the New York Post reported on “rumors that Drudge is looking for an investor” that were then “sweeping the publishing and financial world,” though without offering any further detail.
Tracy Sefl, a veteran Democratic Party strategist and the point of contact between Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign and Drudge, also doubts he’s still in charge. “The writing’s on the wall that it’s not quote ‘him,’” she said. In December of 2017, a nine-song public Apple Music playlist attributed to a Matt Drudge was uploaded and linked to on the semi-official Drudge Report Archives website—with songs including “Let Go” by Connie Constance, “Life Goes On” by E^ST, “Say Goodbye” by Tom Chaplin, and “Easy Way Out” by Other Lives. It concludes with Seal’s “Still Love Remains.”
No one who spoke with Tablet really knows why the once-mighty Drudge Report has changed so much. The truth behind the site that adapted the fast pace and ethical flexibility of tabloid news to the web may be too tangled for a catchy 30-point font headline to capture, as it lies beneath a tangle of obscure family connections, complicated business arrangements, and the personal saga of a shadowy man who made himself an enigma at the height of his fame. But while there is no smoking gun or definitive final answer, there are still scattered clues as to what could be going on behind The Drudge Report’s curtain.
For instance, a 2007 New York magazine article probed the tortured relationship between Matt and his father, Bob Drudge, a Maryland social worker who started an AOL-era website called Refdesk. Robert had sometimes seemed to resent his depressive and occasionally delinquent son, whose life he turned around by buying him a Packard Bell computer in 1994. Refdesk is now owned by a California-based woman named Margaret Otto, who also owns the obscure web marketing company that became The Drudge Report’s sole ad broker in mid-2019—the contact number in the Refdesk “contact” page now redirects to her cellphone.
Perhaps in founding and then selling Refdesk, Bob Drudge created a means by which his son could finally leave behind the online economy of rumor and sensationalism that the younger Drudge had helped bring to life. Maybe Matt Drudge achieved something that’s proven all but impossible for polarizing media and political figures in the internet era: an exit that manages to be mysterious, lucrative, and, by his standards, strangely dignified.
The Drudge Report is one of the most influential websites in history. In 1998, Drudge, who ran a popular newsletter buoyed in part by information he’d dig out of trash cans near his job at the gift shop at CBS studios in Los Angeles, reported that Newsweek had spiked an article about an extramarital affair between Bill Clinton and a White House intern. Being first to a story that resulted in the impeachment of a president was a mere entree: In the 2000s, The Drudge Report became the only news aggregator that absolutely everyone read. A Drudge link had the power to kick off entire news cycles. Editors and reporters across the media often assigned stories and composed headlines as if they were writing for an audience of one.
Drudge’s political beliefs have always been a subject of speculation. But editors often had an idea of the types of stories that would catch Drudge’s attention. Freak weather events, signs of war between the United States and either China or North Korea, and the alleged invasion of undocumented immigrants were Drudge mainstays. Few would dispute the gossip-mongering media curator’s fascination with the salacious side of American politics—images of the future first son smoking a crack pipe in bed are newsworthy in part because of Drudge. Insomuch as Drudge has any clear convictions, they involve an intense suspicion of concentrated power and the glorification of his own free will. “You’re playing in Google’s hell pit,” Drudge—or at least a shadowy outline of Drudge—fumed to Alex Jones, America’s leading conspiracy-theory-based entertainer, during an October 2015 appearance on Infowars, Drudge’s last extended interview. “Make your own place. The internet allows you to make your own dynamic, your own universe. Why are you gravitating towards somebody else’s universe?” In the closest Drudge has come to a mission statement since the early 2000s, he described his website as “a correction to this groupthink.”
Drudge remained an opaque figure since ending his weekly radio show in the late 2000s, giving almost no interviews and making no public appearances. Early in the Trump presidency, he popped up for a 12-minute segment on the heterodox far-right-winger Michael Savage’s radio show to warn that Trump’s passivity in the face of both the Democratic and Republican parties’ various alleged conspiracies against him was endangering his young presidency. Drudge had been an early backer of Trump during the 2016 campaign, and had reportedly been shepherded through the White House by Jared Kushner. Drudge, like Trump, embodied the increasingly blurry barrier between serious politics and playacting, with the public square offering a venue for a lucrative brand of cynical yet spellbinding performance art. But the differences soon outweighed the similarities: As one Drudge confidante noted, the tone on The Drudge Report was hardly funereal when the Republicans were wiped out in the 2018 midterms. The pivot away from Trump began not long after that.
In early 2017, when Drudge and Trump were still on good terms, the news maven’s father, Bob Drudge, sold his website, Refdesk.com, to a California couple. A dry-as-dust compendium of web-based research tools, Refdesk had its moment of fame during the early Bush years when The New York Times reported that it was then-Secretary of State Colin Powell’s favorite website. According to filings on the Maryland secretary of state’s website, Refdesk was transferred to Margaret and Adrian Otto, both identified as “director and manager of Refdesk Holdings, LLC,” that January. The California corporation that would assume ownership, the aforementioned Refdesk Holdings, Inc., had been registered in California in December of 2016.
According to her LinkedIn page, Margaret Otto resides in Mountain View, California, the Silicon Valley gold coast town that is home to Google, LinkedIn, and other tech giants. Mountain View is hardly a right-wing bastion—Reid Hoffman, the LinkedIn founder, is a Democratic Party megadonor. It turns out that Drudge’s connections to the big tech “hell pit” are personal. Margaret’s husband, Adrian Otto, is currently the technical director of the office of the chief technical officer at Google, where he helps design and maintain the web giant’s cloud computing systems. Adrian’s Drudge association goes back to the very beginning, according to Margaret: “That was 25 years ago, probably,” she said when asked about her husband’s involvement with The Drudge Report.
As Buzzfeed reported last year, an archived version of the website for HA Hosting, a company Adrian Otto founded and that both Ottos managed, boasted in 2005 that it maintained the servers for the Drudge Report, helping the site to withstand a surge of 36 million unique visitors on election day in 2004. Otto was also responsible for hosting Andrew Breitbart’s website and was thanked in one of the late Drudge assistant’s books. According to a source with first-hand familiarity with The Drudge Report’s operations, Adrian Otto continued to serve as the site’s de facto webmaster as late as 2019, overseeing its connection to the internet, communicating with its Japan-based developer, and addressing various back-end issues. A reference to an “Adrian” still shows up in the Drudge Report’s source code, at the very bottom of the page: “” (based on a search of the Wayback Machine, this line first appeared in 2009).
In the summer of 2019, Drudge abruptly ended his relationship with Intermarkets, a Virginia-based web marketing firm and the only ad broker his site had ever used. He replaced it with a company called Granite Cubed whose California corporate filings listed Margaret Otto, the owner of Refdesk, as the entity’s CEO, secretary, chief financial officer, and director. Drudge provided his former ad broker with no explanation for the move and was similarly tight-lipped with Otto. “I have no idea, actually,” she said when asked why Drudge hired her company. “It was very sudden and yeah, I was never informed as to any details.”
I had reached Otto by accident, fairly early in the reporting process. The Refdesk contact page lists a Maryland telephone number, to be used for “reporting emergencies.” Instead of reaching Bob Drudge, whom directory listings place in or near Ocean City, Maryland, the number redirected to the cellphone of Otto, some 3,000 miles to the west. Otto was tight-lipped over the course of our unexpected 20-minute conversation—she was vague in addressing the question of whether it was at least notable that she’d ended up deeply enmeshed in both of the Drudges’ websites. Subsequent attempts to reach her again by phone and email were unsuccessful.
Advertising on one of the world’s most-trafficked news websites was suddenly the responsibility of a one-person shop run by a person who had no apparent experience in the complex world of online advertising but who served as the owner and operator of Bob Drudge’s website and whose husband had long-standing ties to The Drudge Report. Otto’s advertising company eventually changed its name to Voranda, and has only one other listed employee on LinkedIn, aside from Otto. That person worked in digital marketing at the conservative website World Net Daily for eight years, according to LinkedIn.
Otto claimed Voranda currently has six clients, including Refdesk and Drudge. She would not give an exact number of employees at Voranda, saying only that it had “a few.” She did not know who, if anyone, still works at The Drudge Report. “He’s doing a great job, however he manages it,” she said of Matt Drudge. Otto is one person close to Drudge—and the only person I spoke to with a current known business relationship with Drudge—who vouches on-record for Drudge still having an active role in the site.
Otto says that Refdesk Holdings, Inc. owns only its namesake website. Still, Refdesk Holdings, LLC and Refdesk.com, Inc. are two different entities in California. In November of 2019, Refdesk Holdings changed its description in required California state corporate filings from an “online reference site” to a “holding company.” Voranda and Refdesk.com, Inc. also share the same corporate address, a street and suite number that correspond to the location of a UPS store in Mountain View.
There is notable overlap between Refdesk and Drudge that goes beyond the connection to the Otto family. The sites’ ads.txt pages, which list information identifying the online sales channels through which ads are served on a given website, list over 20 direct ad IDs that appear on no other websites. “DIRECT only account IDs shared across on Refdesk/Drudge proves it’s a tight network, with the two orgs pooling data and money within these accounts,” explained Zach Edwards, a California-based data expert, founder of the boutique analytics firm Victory Medium, and longtime Drudge Report watcher. Edwards also observed similarities in the two sites’ application programming interface (API), the software by which the sites interact with other users and pages—they run a similar script to check if visitors are from California, which has more stringent privacy standards than the other 49 states. As Edwards puts it, the sites “have an overlapping data layer, generated from ads.txt, javascript, and the requests that are sent out to third-party companies and the responses those companies send back.”
This is to be expected: Both Drudge and Refdesk share an exclusive ad broker, Voranda. A mid-October search of scores of direct ad ID numbers in the Drudge and Voranda ads.txt page turned up no sites other than The Drudge Report and Refdesk that identified themselves as Voranda clients. Otto claimed that the marketer worked with a handful of other websites, although it is unclear who the company’s other clients might be.
Reclusion gives Drudge something his firebrand media peers never had: an escape hatch. Share → Twitter Facebook Email Print Link Copied link
The Ottos’ Drudge connection is both personal and mysterious: Margaret Otto was active in the Junior League of Los Angeles, and was on the board of the FBI Los Angeles Citizens Academy Alumni Association. In addition to being one of the most prominent tech-side employees at Google, Adrian Otto is a founder of Open Stack, a freely available cloud computing program. There is no hint of a political agenda or of any malfeasance or graft in either person’s background—although there isn’t much of a hint of an interest in web advertising, either.
The online advertising business is both highly technical and nearly unregulated. A broker like Voranda is selling real estate on a given site through a constellation of online middlemen who buy space on behalf of their clients—the companies that actually serve web ads often operate under multiple names and have only a vague existence in the physical world. Sales shops like Voranda are selling more than just real estate, though. Advertisers sometimes also buy the privilege to cookie a site’s visitors and can gain a fairly granular understanding of who its users are.
Above all, online ad brokers are faced with the still-unsolved riddle of how to monetize people’s attention on the internet. If you’re The New York Times, your answer to the defining problem of 21st-century media is to produce quality content and hope that deep-pocketed brands will want to hand over money to access your discerning upper-middle-class customer base. If you’re servicing ads on the trashier end of the web spectrum—on say, an illegal streaming site—the answer is to pack in as many ads as possible, no matter how annoying they are and no matter what they’re for. If you’re selling ads for a site where the audience is reportedly falling and the former readership is puzzled or even openly hostile, one possible answer to your monetization problem is to skirt the boundaries of the existing industry standards—knowing, perhaps, that these standards are extremely vague and can be manipulated without taking on any legal risk, and also that the site’s namesake is too checked out to really care and had loose standards to begin with.
On Oct. 19 of this year, the top line of Drudge included a link to a plagiarized New York Times story hosted on an obscure website called Dnyuz.com. A Dnyuz link led the entire site on Oct. 21. There were multiple Dnyuz stories somewhere on the page for much of October, which is the kind of prime election-season Drudge placement editors might once have traded their expense accounts for—at least back in the days when editors had expense accounts and Drudge was seen as the kingmaker behind the entire American political information ecosystem.
According to a May article in Buzzfeed, Dnyuz is an Armenia-based website that rips off articles from American news outlets without permission. Buzzfeed reported that Google kicked Dnyuz off of its advertising network but did not suspect any business relationship between Drudge and Dnyuz.
Still, websites can profit off of one another without any kind of formal business ties. Some 89% of Dnyuz’s 2 million monthly total visits are from referrals, over 96% of which come from Drudge, according to the analytics website SimilarWeb. In other words, without Drudge, Dnyuz would barely have an audience to sell ads against.
The websites’ businesses turn out to be oddly similar, too. Advertising on the internet works through third-party networks communicating with websites where they serve ads, often through rapid-fire auctions. Each individual ad has its own bidding identification number, which is publicly viewable for any website by opening its domain followed by /ads.txt. These distributions, the vast majority of which are automated, happen through so-called direct ads, which advertisers prefer because they can know with certainty exactly where and when their ads will appear. Less desirable are reseller IDs, which might wind up just about anywhere. Direct ads are meant to be unique to a single corporate owner; reseller IDs can show up on tens of thousands of domains, and are more common on sites that lack the capacity, or the credibility, to fill out their page with direct ads. Thus there is a built-in incentive to disguise reseller ads as direct ads, slapping an expensive label on what is inevitably a much cheaper product. Per an analysis by Rocky Moss, a co-founder and CEO of DeepSee, a company whose programs help web advertisers detect and avoid fraudulent practices among online publishers, Drudge IDs show up across 40,000 different sites, while Dnyuz IDs appear on some 13,000. This is a sign that both organizations at least tolerate and perhaps even profit from this kind of rampant ad mislabeling, according to Moss.
The sites also seem to belong to the same corner of the same ecosystem. While Drudge and Dnyuz don’t share any direct IDs, they do share 13 reseller IDs. Moss found that these IDs are collectively shared by another 15,000 sites. But only 185 of these sites, some 1.2% of them, also share all 13 of the IDs common to Dnyuz and Drudge. Among them are several dozen U.S.-based local news websites, like FremontTribune.com and BillingsGazette.com, along with a smattering of red-meat conservative infotainment-type pages, like CarlHigbie.com, DrewBerquist.com, StacyOnTheRight, and Lifezette.
Edwards noted that several of the ad servicing companies that show up in Dnyuz’s ads.txt also lack much in the way of a clear grounding in physical space, with their sites offering little in the way of contact information—Surgeprice.com “doesn’t even seem to exist.”
Meanwhile, Edwards and Moss found a number of oddities in The Drudge Report’s advertising practices. In mid-October, Moss discovered that The Drudge Report was running a script that would load advertisements that do not render on the site’s publicly visible page. The existence of the hidden ads was further concealed through “detection evasions”—Moss found that the ads disappeared when they were examined with standard web developer tools. Advertisers paid for ads that were supposed to be featured on the site but which remained hidden, with steps taken to conceal the very fact of their being hidden. The advertisers, who are almost always represented by computer programs that make lightning-fast automated bids on available web real estate, are paying to place ads that a user simply never sees. Moss explained the discovery in a YouTube video, which was made after Tablet brought various other irregularities to Moss’ attention:
Drudge seems to have had a habit of gaming the web advertising economy, as Buzzfeed reported last year, citing online advertising industry concerns over the site’s suspiciously fast auto-refresh rate. Online ads are often priced based on the number of users expected to see a given ad. According to a source with first-hand familiarity of The Drudge Report, in early 2018, Google determined that Drudge’s suspiciously fast auto-reload rate artificially inflated the impressions for ads that the web giant was serving to the site. Drudge has manually tinkered with the automatic page refresh rate over the years, according to Edwards, a longtime watcher of the site’s HTML. Frequent automatic reloads were ostensibly meant to make users aware of content updates on the page, but they had the effect of also refreshing the ads, thus driving up the number of eyeballs recorded as seeing those ads. Google declared that it would halve its advertising payout to Drudge, though it’s unclear how badly this cut into the site’s bottom line, or how angry Google was at a website that had generated significant revenue for them over the years. Industry experts estimated The Drudge Report’s revenue at somewhere between $9 million and $30 million over the previous year, Buzzfeed reported in August of 2019.
The Dnyuz links, mislabeled ad inventory, hidden ads, and recent history of inflating ad impression numbers—even if not illegal—point to a once highly influential news operation whose highest concern is now the extraction of monetary value from its audience. Still more proof of The Drudge Report’s mercenary outlook comes from a review of which websites share a Google ads publisher identification number with The Drudge Report. Google ads IDs and account numbers are typically linked to bank accounts through which websites are paid for advertising space. Buzzfeed identified the alleged owner of Dnyuz partly by looking at common ID numbers shared on Adsense, one of Google’s advertising platforms—the numbers are sometimes shared by sites that have a direct business relationship.
Moss discovered that some 960 websites share one of three Google publisher ID numbers with The Drudge Report. These IDs are associated with three online marketing companies that sell reseller inventory on Drudge: Saamba, PixFuture Media, and Project Agora, Ltd. Drudge is in a continent-spanning, if totally automated, revenue-sharing relationship with these 960 pages, a number of which also share direct IDs with Drudge. Interestingly, scores of the sites that share direct IDs, which typically only recur among sites that have the same publisher, are English-language media outlets based in foreign countries—the Deccan Herald, the daily newspaper of Karnataka, a state in southwestern India, shares some 40 direct advertising ID numbers with Drudge, to take just one of numerous examples. It’s at least theoretically possible the two websites have a common owner. For Moss, it’s likelier that these direct labeled ad IDs are falsified reseller ads, and that the shared Adsense ID indicates that the Deccan Herald and Drudge are cashing in on the same opaque ad market. However this arrangement came to be, it provides yet another monetization shortcut for a site that still claims 20 million page views a day.
Some of The Drudge Report’s unusual activity appears to have begun within the past four months—the hidden ads first showed up in early August. Moss noted “a significant change in the script profile” beginning around the same time late this summer, along with “a stark increase of the average number of ad frames loaded per-session” and an almost total reorganization of the site’s ad stack, which is the range of programs and companies serving ads to Drudge (see below). “The shared IDs have changed a ton over the past year,” Edwards also observed.
Drudge’s disenchantment with Trump predates these changes. Perhaps The Drudge Report’s new ad broker wanted to cash in on higher traffic during the stretch run of the presidential election. Or—if there’s any truth to the rumors— maybe its new owners did.
Perhaps the unusual practices reflect decisions made by Drudge himself rather than any change in ownership. But Drudge would be under no obligation to disclose a new owner—a former confidante speculated that if The Drudge Report ever sold, the only two people who would know about it would be Drudge and his buyer. One possibility is that Drudge has remained the site’s owner on paper while the meaningful decisions are made elsewhere—perhaps in Mountain View, where his ad broker and long-serving webmaster and the owner of his father’s website are located. The Ottos might not own both The Drudge Report and Refdesk, but they have a great deal of potential control over how both sites operate, along with valuable information about their audiences.
An exclusive web broker can act as a kind of gatekeeper for a website: Visitor data is part of the reason advertisers pay for space on other people’s pages in the first place. Drudge currently runs between 200 and 300 “cookies” through which advertisers can track users’ web activity; as Moss notes, the default version of the site at the time he examined it in mid-October, and then again in mid-November, was the “unsecured” page, leaving users unusually exposed to bad actors (unsecure pages are identifiable by the prefix “http” in their web address). In both cases the default soon changed back to the secure “https” version but for some span of time the election-season Drudge Report was a potential free-for-all for anyone looking to gather valuable and potentially identifying data on visitors to the site.
Even now, The Drudge Report is an information bonanza. Traffic may be down, but the site still claims tens of millions of daily visitors, on par with major news networks and newspapers. The question is: Whose bonanza is it?
I asked Lucianne Goldberg if Drudge’s old friends ever speculate about where he might be. “Gone,” she said. Not gone in the sense of dead, she quickly clarified. “Gone” in the sense of finished with his old life: “I think he was a little surprised he made it as far as he did, and that he was as quote ‘important’ to the general press scene as he was ... He had a cool operation. He didn’t have to work very hard, went swimming once a day in the ocean, and he liked going to parties. And he liked his hat.”
Multiple former acquaintances of Drudge’s theorize that his disappointment with Trump is sincere, and similar to that of his friend Ann Coulter’s: Both turned on the president because of his unseriousness in pursuing their agenda, particularly the construction of a U.S.-Mexico border wall. Drudge is famous for discarding friends over forgotten or half-invented slights, according to both news accounts like the New York magazine profile and to several former acquaintances who still aren’t quite sure why the web publisher cut them out of his life. In the greatest possible demonstration of his jealously guarded independence, Drudge may have done the same thing to a president of the United States whose White House he could freely crash.
Maybe Drudge decided he was sick of it all—and perhaps this was a wise move. Right-of-center media can be a bestiary of lightning rods and public villains. Former Breitbart chief Steve Bannon is under indictment on allegations of tax fraud; Tucker Carlson is subject to a nearly full-on advertiser boycott despite having the highest-rated show on cable. Twenty-five years into his career, Drudge, by having effectively disappeared, has become an object of fascination rather than scorn.
Reclusion gives Drudge something his firebrand media peers never had: an escape hatch. Tracy Sefl is one of the most unexpected of the former Drudge acquaintances, and thus someone with a unique vantage into his psychology. She is a professional Democrat who spent years working to advance the presidential aspirations of Hillary Clinton, perhaps the public figure that looms largest in Drudge’s tangled psyche. Sefl proved successful in placing stories during the 2008 campaign, during which Drudge emerged as somewhere between an affable adversary and an unlikely friend. “What I have to imagine is that there’s no joy in it anymore for Matt,” she said. “And that may be what it comes down to. What fun is it anymore to follow all of this for someone who’s been doing it as long as he has, someone who’s ridden the roller coasters that he helped build? What fun is it in 2020 to be mucking around in these news cycles?”
Sefl believed that Drudge was never all that political. He cared about “personalities—personalities of the principals, the candidates, the elected officials, personalities in media. He was attuned to those. He had opinions about them. I imagine he still does.” He had few rooting interests outside of himself. “I’ve never believed that he has a side that is a partisan side. His side is capitalism.”
Lucianne Goldberg had a similar read. “I don’t think he had any politics at all,” she said.


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Gov. Cuomo Blasts NYPD Members Who Won’t Enforce Onerous Thanksgiving Restrictions

Gov .
Andrew Cuomo blasts NYPD for refusing to enforce Thanksgiving restrictions : Those people are n't real law enforcement @

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) blasted members of the NYPD for refusing to enforce restrictions on indoor gatherings ahead of Thursday's Thanksgiving holiday.
What's a brief history here?
Last week, Cuomo issued updated COVID-19-related restrictions — which included a 10-person limit on indoor gatherings — to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
His latest remarks come on the heels of New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea's recent announcement that the NYPD has no plans to break up indoor gatherings despite the state limit being 10 people per home.
What are the details?
According to a Wednesday New York Post report, Cuomo blasted police for turning a blind eye to such gatherings, and for allegations that many officers themselves refuse to wear masks.
"A lot of police officers don't wear a mask," he said. "[W]ell, how are you then supposed to enforce other people wearing a mask when they see you not wearing a mask? 'I violate the law but you can't.' No! Nobody said you were above the law! I don't believe that person is a law enforcement officer. I don't want a law enforcement officer who says, 'I'm only enforcing the law that I like or think should be enforced.'"
Last week, Shea told NY1, "We're not planning on breaking up Thanksgiving celebrations. ... We have to be smart. We're encouraging everyone to use common sense here and to get New York City through this. No one in large gatherings, we think at this point that's common sense."
Anything else?
According to the New York Post, several New York state sheriffs announced a refusal to enforce Cuomo's mandate on Thanksgiving gatherings.
One such law enforcement official is Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino, who took to Facebook and wrote, "Frankly, I am not sure it could sustain a Constitutional challenge in Court for several reasons including your house is your castle. And as a Sheriff with a law degree I couldn't in good faith attempt to defend in Court, so I won't. ... We have limited resources and we have to set priorities, so obtaining a Search Warrant to enter your home to see how many Turkey or Tofu eaters are present is not a priority."
Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard, and Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo also echoed Giardino's sentiments, according to the outlet.
In a news release, Zurlo said, "I can't see how devoting our resources to counting cars in citizens' driveways or investigating how much turkey and dressing they've purchased is for the public good."


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Oregon Governor Encouraged BLM Protests but Now Doesn’t Want You to Enjoy Thanksgiving

The governor of Oregon who cheered massive Black Lives Matter protests told citizens to “ uninvite ” family members and loved ones for Thanksgiving .
“ This is hard , but making difficult sacrifices now will save lives , ” Democratic Oregon Gov .
Kate Brown tweeted Tuesday afternoon .
“ This Thanksgiving , keep it small .
Uninvite them.
” ( RELATED : Portland Rioters Hurl Massive Molotov Into Crowd Of Officers , Light Police Precinct On Fire ) The governor accompanied the tweet with a video playing cheerful music and showing the following message : “ Uninvite your @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Uninvite your argumentative aunt .
Uninvite your favorite aunt .
Uninvite your bragging brother .
Uninvite your best friend .
Uninvite your half-sister .
Uninvite your vegan niece .
This Thanksgiving , keep your gathering small .
Limit groups , save lives.
” Though Brown urged Oregon citizens to stay home and away from their loved ones , Brown supported the massive Black Lives Matter protests in the early spring and summer of this year .
( RELATED : One Person Shot Dead In Portland After Clash Between Pro-Trump Caravan And BLM @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ve had enough political grandstanding from DC , ” she tweeted in July .
“ The President ’ s plan to ‘ dominate ’ the streets of American cities has failed .
And today , federal troops are preparing to leave downtown Portland .
We will protect free speech and the right to protest peacefully.
” “ The massive and non-violent protests led by Black Lives Matter activists have inspired the nation , ” she continued .
“ Let ’ s get to work and make this vision a reality.
” Brown has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ on people violating the new COVID-19 restrictions .
“ This is no different than what happens if there ’ s a party down the street and it ’ s keeping everyone awake , ” Brown said .
“ What do neighbors do [ in that case ] ?
They call law enforcement because it ’ s too noisy .
This is just like that .
It ’ s like a violation of a noise ordinance.
” Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ has recommended avoiding travel during the Thanksgiving holiday and instead hosting a virtual Thanksgiving with friends and family .
CDC guidance has warned that “ the closer you are to other people who may be infected , the greater your risk of getting sick , ” noting that indoor spaces are “ more risky than outdoor spaces where it might be harder to keep people apart and there ’ s less ventilation.
” Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of our original content , please contact licensing @ dailycallernewsfoundation.org .

The governor of Oregon who cheered massive Black Lives Matter protests told citizens to “uninvite” family members and loved ones for Thanksgiving.
“This is hard, but making difficult sacrifices now will save lives,” Democratic Oregon Gov. Kate Brown tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “This Thanksgiving, keep it small. Uninvite them.” (RELATED: Portland Rioters Hurl Massive Molotov Into Crowd Of Officers, Light Police Precinct On Fire)
The governor accompanied the tweet with a video playing cheerful music and showing the following message: “Uninvite your new boyfriend. Uninvite your drunken uncle. Uninvite your argumentative aunt. Uninvite your favorite aunt. Uninvite your bragging brother. Uninvite your best friend. Uninvite your half-sister. Uninvite your vegan niece. This Thanksgiving, keep your gathering small. Limit groups, save lives.”
This is hard, but making difficult sacrifices now will save lives. This Thanksgiving, keep it small. Uninvite them. pic.twitter.com/4OLOv6s6A0 — Governor Kate Brown (@OregonGovBrown) November 24, 2020
Though Brown urged Oregon citizens to stay home and away from their loved ones, Brown supported the massive Black Lives Matter protests in the early spring and summer of this year. (RELATED: One Person Shot Dead In Portland After Clash Between Pro-Trump Caravan And BLM Counter-Protesters)
“I think we’ve had enough political grandstanding from DC,” she tweeted in July. “The President’s plan to ‘dominate’ the streets of American cities has failed. And today, federal troops are preparing to leave downtown Portland. We will protect free speech and the right to protest peacefully.”
“The massive and non-violent protests led by Black Lives Matter activists have inspired the nation,” she continued. “Let’s get to work and make this vision a reality.”
Brown has also said that residents should call police on people violating the new COVID-19 restrictions.
“This is no different than what happens if there’s a party down the street and it’s keeping everyone awake,” Brown said. “What do neighbors do [in that case]? They call law enforcement because it’s too noisy. This is just like that. It’s like a violation of a noise ordinance.”
In Oregon, you can be jailed for having too many people over for Thanksgiving. But if you want to riot and loot in Portland, no sweat! — Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) November 16, 2020
Brown did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recommended avoiding travel during the Thanksgiving holiday and instead hosting a virtual Thanksgiving with friends and family.
CDC guidance has warned that “the closer you are to other people who may be infected, the greater your risk of getting sick,” noting that indoor spaces are “more risky than outdoor spaces where it might be harder to keep people apart and there’s less ventilation.”
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--President Trump Calls Into Pennsylvania Hearing on Election Irregularities

Following one day after Pennsylvania certified its election results that formalized Democratic nominee Joe Biden 's win over President Donald Trump in the state 's presidential race , Trump phoned into the election irregularities hearing in Gettysburg .
In a grand entrance unseen , the president was preceded by an eruption of applause as he spoke from the Oval Office .
`` This was an election that we won easily .
We won it by a lot , '' Trump announced , citing the pro-Trump energy industry in the battleground Keystone State .
Trump , unable to join allying attorney @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : `` This election was rigged and we ca n't let that happen .
We ca n't let it happen for our country .
And this election has to be turned around , because we won Pennsylvania by a lot .
And we won all these swing states by a lot . ''
“ Anybody watching television the night of the election was saying , 'Wow . '
I was called by the biggest political people .
'Congratulations , sir , on a big win . '
And all of a sudden ballots @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a lot of horrible things happened , ” Trump asserted .
Then Trump thanked those willing to sign sworn affidavits , the speakers defending him , and all the `` great patriots '' who rallied behind him .
`` Between the voter suppression and all of the horrible things that happened to poll watchers , '' he went on to claim that Team Trump has written testimonies `` piled up to the ceiling . ''
`` The poll watchers were n't allowed to watch .
In many cases , they were whisked out @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` People were reporting that they had to use binoculars .
If you were a Republican poll watcher , you were treated like a dog .
And the Democrats had no problem .
They were literally pushed out and it was rough tactics . ''
Trump argued that the election appeared `` virtually over '' at 10:00 p.m. on Election Night , but then `` very weird things happened '' that were n't questionable to Dominion Voting Systems or election officials .
`` This election was lost by the Democrats .
They @ @ @ @ @ @ @ It was a fraudulent election . ''
Urging to `` turn over the election '' where more votes exist than there are voters and where mail-in votes were illegally processed after Nov. 3 , the president fired : `` The whole world is watching the United States of America . ''
`` It 's a disgrace that this is happening to our country , '' Trump lambasted the left .
During the meeting , one witness came forward to allege a suspicious ballot dump that favoured Biden .
`` Normally , you would @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up , not any big spikes , '' the witness testified , referencing the `` anomalies of loading those votes '' and pointing to a `` prime indicator of fraudulent voting . ''
Giuliani asked him to confirm the volume of votes counted in 90 minutes .
The witness then identified 337,000 votes in that time span .
`` When you look at this entire curve—with all these spikes—can you calculate how much of a vote was counted for Biden and how much for Trump ? ''
Giuliani pressed .
The witnessed replied @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ] .
I think our figures were about 570-some-odd-thousand that all those spikes represent over time . ''
`` For Biden ? ''
Giuliani questioned .
`` Correct , '' the witnessed responded , counting only `` a little over 3,200 '' votes for Trump .
The crowd then erupted into gasps and laughter .
`` How about that ? ''
one attendee uttered on camera .

Following one day after Pennsylvania certified its election results that formalized Democratic nominee Joe Biden's win over President Donald Trump in the state's presidential race, Trump phoned into the election irregularities hearing in Gettysburg.
In a grand entrance unseen, the president was preceded by an eruption of applause as he spoke from the Oval Office. "This was an election that we won easily. We won it by a lot," Trump announced, citing the pro-Trump energy industry in the battleground Keystone State.
Trump, unable to join allying attorney Rudy Giuliani in-person, declared over speakerphone: "This election was rigged and we can't let that happen. We can't let it happen for our country. And this election has to be turned around, because we won Pennsylvania by a lot. And we won all these swing states by a lot."
“Anybody watching television the night of the election was saying, 'Wow.' I was called by the biggest political people. 'Congratulations, sir, on a big win.' And all of a sudden ballots were dumped all over the place and a lot of horrible things happened,” Trump asserted.
Then Trump thanked those willing to sign sworn affidavits, the speakers defending him, and all the "great patriots" who rallied behind him. "Between the voter suppression and all of the horrible things that happened to poll watchers," he went on to claim that Team Trump has written testimonies "piled up to the ceiling."
"The poll watchers weren't allowed to watch. In many cases, they were whisked out of the room," Trump fired. "People were reporting that they had to use binoculars. If you were a Republican poll watcher, you were treated like a dog. And the Democrats had no problem. They were literally pushed out and it was rough tactics."
Trump argued that the election appeared "virtually over" at 10:00 p.m. on Election Night, but then "very weird things happened" that weren't questionable to Dominion Voting Systems or election officials.
"This election was lost by the Democrats. They cheated," Trump charged. "It was a fraudulent election."
Urging to "turn over the election" where more votes exist than there are voters and where mail-in votes were illegally processed after Nov. 3, the president fired: "The whole world is watching the United States of America."
"It's a disgrace that this is happening to our country," Trump lambasted the left.
During the meeting, one witness came forward to allege a suspicious ballot dump that favoured Biden.
"Normally, you would expect to see a smooth curve going up, not any big spikes," the witness testified, referencing the "anomalies of loading those votes" and pointing to a "prime indicator of fraudulent voting."
Giuliani asked him to confirm the volume of votes counted in 90 minutes. The witness then identified 337,000 votes in that time span.
"When you look at this entire curve—with all these spikes—can you calculate how much of a vote was counted for Biden and how much for Trump?" Giuliani pressed.
The witnessed replied: "Close to 600,000 [votes]. I think our figures were about 570-some-odd-thousand that all those spikes represent over time."
"For Biden?" Giuliani questioned. "Correct," the witnessed responded, counting only "a little over 3,200" votes for Trump. The crowd then erupted into gasps and laughter. "How about that?" one attendee uttered on camera.


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Argentinian Soccer Legend Diego Maradona Dies at 60

Diego Maradona passed away on Wednesday at the age of ...

Diego Maradona, one of the greatest soccer players of all time, died Wednesday at the age of 60.
The Argentinian legend, who led his country to a World Cup victory in 1986, died of a heart attack, his spokesman, Sebastian Sanchi, told the Associated Press. Maradona had recently undergone brain surgery to remove a blood clot and was released from the hospital on Nov. 11.
Upon news of Maradona’s death, Argentina president Alberto Fernández declared three days of national mourning.
“You took us to the top of the world,” Fernández wrote on Twitter. “You made us incredibly happy. You were the greatest of all.”
On the way to Argentina’s 1986 World Cup title, Maradona cemented his legacy when he scored two goals in a quarterfinal win over England — one known as the “Hand of God” for an uncalled handball as he punched it into the net, and the other four minutes later after dribbling 60 yards by himself through the defense. He later earned the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.
In 91 career international appearances for Argentina, including four World Cups, Maradona scored 34 goals.
“You will always be in our hearts,” the Argentine Football Association wrote on Twitter.
Maradona, who also had a less successful stint as coach of the Argentina national team from 2008-10, previously survived two heart attacks in addition to undergoing gastric bypass surgery after suffering from obesity. He was still involved in the game as recently as this year, coaching a local club, Gimnasia y Esgrima, since 2019.
After being released from the hospital eight days removed from brain surgery earlier this month, Maradona was moved to a rehab facility to recover from his alcohol dependency, according to reports.
During his career, Maradona battled cocaine addiction, once calling it his “toughest rival.”
Maradona was known as a masterful midfielder, using his powerful 5-foot-5 frame to carve through opponents. He played at the club level for Barcelona and Napoli, among others, and was named a co-winner, along with Pelé, of the FIFA Player of the Century award.
“There is much more to say, but for now may God give his family strength,” Pelé said in a statement. “One day, I hope, we will play soccer together in the sky.”
Other tributes to the man who wore No. 10 came pouring in on social media Wednesday.
“The world awaits our words but there are no words to describe the pain we’re going through. Now is the time to grieve. Diego,” Napoli, the club Maradona played for from 1984-91, posted to its official Twitter account.
“A very sad day for all Argentines and football,” Argentina and Barcelona star Lionel Messi wrote in an Instagram post, according to a translation. “He leaves us but does not leave, because Diego is eternal.”
“Today I say goodbye to a friend and the world says goodbye to an eternal genius. One of the best ever,” Cristiano Ronaldo wrote in a tweet, according to a translation. “An unparalleled magician. He leaves too soon, but leaves a legacy without limits and a void that will never be filled. Rest in peace, ace. You will never be forgotten.”
All UEFA Champions League matches this week will observe a pregame minute of silence for Maradona.
“I am deeply saddened to hear of the death of Diego Maradona, one of world football’s greatest and most iconic figures,” UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said in a statement. “He achieved greatness as a wonderful player with a genius and charisma of his own.
“He will go down in history as someone who set football alight and thrilled fans young and old with his brilliance and skill.”


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Citibank Predicts $2,500 Gold in 2021

Citibank Predicts $2,500 Gold in 2021

Citigroup in recent weeks came out with a $ 2,500 price target on the yellow metal for 2021 , comparing its mosaic of catalysts to that of gold 's 1970-1980 bull market .
Those catalysts are `` very much in place , '' GraniteShares founder and CEO Will Rhind told CNBC 's `` ETF Edge '' on Monday .
`` The stimulus ... would be probably the most obvious one , the one that 's certainly driven gold prices for the majority of this year in 2020 , '' he said .
On top of that , the weaker dollar @ @ @ @ @ @ @ yields and ongoing market volatility should all continue to boost prices , said Rhind , whose firm runs the GraniteShares Gold Trust ( BAR ) .
`` The conditions that drove gold to an all-time high this year are very much still in place .
I think it 's just natural that once you get to an all-time high in an asset class , there 's some consolidation afterwards and that 's what we 're seeing right now in terms of the price , '' he said .
`` But the fundamental conditions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they will be here for the next 12-15 months minimum as well . ''
ETF Trends ' Dave Nadig — `` not a big gold bug , '' by his own proclamation — flagged several more bullish catalysts .
`` I 'm the first one to point out that gold is a nonproducing asset .
It 's a psychological commodity , meaning it 's only worth what somebody else will pay for it , '' Nadig , chief investment officer and director of research at ETF Trends and ETF Database , said in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
`` That being said , it 's hard to argue with thousands of years of history of folks looking to gold as a store of value in times of crisis , and I do n't know what we 're in if it 's not a time of crisis , '' he said .
Beyond the macroeconomic drivers Rhind listed , there 's a push and pull at play on the more `` micro '' side of gold 's story , Nadig said .
`` Remember , the gold mining industry is an @ @ @ @ @ @ @ been hit by Covid just like every other industry all the way from the mine to distribution to manufacturing .
All of that 's been constrained , '' he said .
`` So , the supply remains very constrained and at the same time , demand has really never been higher .
Investment demand , particularly ETF investment demand , for gold is at all-time highs . ''
Gold 's resurgence will likely only add to that sentiment , the ETF analyst predicted .
`` Whether it 's just investors realizing a 5 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ way to provide some counter-correlation in the portfolio or whether it 's folks just speculating that the price is going up over the next six months , that demand 's going to be there , '' he said .
`` So , you 've got these big macro drivers and at the same time , the fundamental micro-economic structure of the gold market is bullish as well . ''
Gold prices moved higher on Wednesday to around $ 1,815.10 , fueled by dollar weakness .
The yellow metal is up more than 17 @ @ @ @

Gold's 2021 prospects look bright.
Citigroup in recent weeks came out with a $2,500 price target on the yellow metal for 2021, comparing its mosaic of catalysts to that of gold's 1970-1980 bull market.
Those catalysts are "very much in place," GraniteShares founder and CEO Will Rhind told CNBC's "ETF Edge" on Monday.
"The stimulus ... would be probably the most obvious one, the one that's certainly driven gold prices for the majority of this year in 2020," he said.
On top of that, the weaker dollar, rising inflation expectations, falling real yields and ongoing market volatility should all continue to boost prices, said Rhind, whose firm runs the GraniteShares Gold Trust (BAR).
"The conditions that drove gold to an all-time high this year are very much still in place. I think it's just natural that once you get to an all-time high in an asset class, there's some consolidation afterwards and that's what we're seeing right now in terms of the price," he said. "But the fundamental conditions are still here and I believe that they will be here for the next 12-15 months minimum as well."
ETF Trends' Dave Nadig — "not a big gold bug," by his own proclamation — flagged several more bullish catalysts.
"I'm the first one to point out that gold is a nonproducing asset. It's a psychological commodity, meaning it's only worth what somebody else will pay for it," Nadig, chief investment officer and director of research at ETF Trends and ETF Database, said in the same "ETF Edge" interview.
"That being said, it's hard to argue with thousands of years of history of folks looking to gold as a store of value in times of crisis, and I don't know what we're in if it's not a time of crisis," he said.
Beyond the macroeconomic drivers Rhind listed, there's a push and pull at play on the more "micro" side of gold's story, Nadig said.
"Remember, the gold mining industry is an industry like any others and it's been hit by Covid just like every other industry all the way from the mine to distribution to manufacturing. All of that's been constrained," he said. "So, the supply remains very constrained and at the same time, demand has really never been higher. Investment demand, particularly ETF investment demand, for gold is at all-time highs."
Gold's resurgence will likely only add to that sentiment, the ETF analyst predicted.
"Whether it's just investors realizing a 5% allocation to gold is a nice way to provide some counter-correlation in the portfolio or whether it's folks just speculating that the price is going up over the next six months, that demand's going to be there," he said. "So, you've got these big macro drivers and at the same time, the fundamental micro-economic structure of the gold market is bullish as well."
Gold prices moved higher on Wednesday to around $1,815.10, fueled by dollar weakness. The yellow metal is up more than 17% this year.
Disclaimer


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Pennsylvania Judge Halts Certification of State’s Election Results

On Wednesday , a Pennsylvania judge has ordered officials to stop the certification process for the recent election for that state , pending a hearing on Friday .
Commonwealth Justice Patricia McCullough had mandated that the state of Pennsylvania not move forward in certifying any and all election results in the state , until an election contest has been decided , pursuant to the hearing mentioned above .
McCullough wrote in her judicial order , `` To the extent that there remains any further action to perfect the certification of the results of the 2020 General Election for the offices @ @ @ @ @ @ @ United States of America , respondents are preliminarily enjoined from doing so , pending an evidentiary hearing to be held on Friday .
`` Respondents are preliminarily enjoined from certifying the remaining results of the election , pending the evidentiary hearing . ''
According to the legal complaint , the plaintiffs ( a group of state Republican lawmakers , among them Representative Mike , Republican PA House candidate Sean Parnell , and PA House of Representatives candidate Wanda Logan ) are alleging that Act 77 , the statute which allows for voting by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
The complaint states that `` Act 77 is the most expansive and fundamental change to the Pennsylvania voting code , implemented illegally , to date . ''
`` As with prior historical attempts to illegally expand mail-in voting by statute , which have been struck down going as far back as the Military Absentee Ballot Act of 1839 , Act 77 is another illegal attempt to override the limitations on absentee voting prescribed in the Pennsylvania Constitution , without first following the necessary procedure to amend the constitution to allow for the @ @ @

On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania judge has ordered officials to stop the certification process for the recent election for that state, pending a hearing on Friday.
Commonwealth Justice Patricia McCullough had mandated that the state of Pennsylvania not move forward in certifying any and all election results in the state, until an election contest has been decided, pursuant to the hearing mentioned above.
?BREAKING: Pennsylvania Court grants hearing in election integrity case challenging the constitutionality of Act 77 (mail-in ballots). pic.twitter.com/eHqtjnf4by — Jenna Ellis (@JennaEllisEsq) November 25, 2020
McCullough wrote in her judicial order, "To the extent that there remains any further action to perfect the certification of the results of the 2020 General Election for the offices of President and Vice President of the United States of America, respondents are preliminarily enjoined from doing so, pending an evidentiary hearing to be held on Friday. "Respondents are preliminarily enjoined from certifying the remaining results of the election, pending the evidentiary hearing."
According to the legal complaint, the plaintiffs (a group of state Republican lawmakers, among them Representative Mike, Republican PA House candidate Sean Parnell, and PA House of Representatives candidate Wanda Logan) are alleging that Act 77, the statute which allows for voting by mail, violates the state's Constitution. The complaint states that "Act 77 is the most expansive and fundamental change to the Pennsylvania voting code, implemented illegally, to date."
"As with prior historical attempts to illegally expand mail-in voting by statute, which have been struck down going as far back as the Military Absentee Ballot Act of 1839, Act 77 is another illegal attempt to override the limitations on absentee voting prescribed in the Pennsylvania Constitution, without first following the necessary procedure to amend the constitution to allow for the expansion."


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--An Overview of Andrew Cuomo’s Nursing Home Disaster

The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book “ Dumb and Dumber : How Cuomo and De Blasio Ruined New York.
” If New York were its own country , it would have more coronavirus deaths per capita than any other in the entire world .
At the center of Andrew Cuomo ’ s litany of errors is his now infamous “ March 25 advisory ” issued to nursing home administrators , directors of nursing , and hospital discharge planners .
The order put nursing homes in the position where they ’ d be forced to treat those infected @ @ @ @ @ @ @ one can immediately see how such a policy would cause mass death .
While a sane individual would prioritize the safety of the elderly against a virus that disproportionately kills the elderly , logic was lost on the Cuomo administration .
The rules were simple ; that if a hospital determined that a patient who could be sent to a nursing home was stable , the home had no choice but to take them .
As many as 4,500 patients infected with coronavirus were sent to nursing homes .
What could possibly go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in their June 16th report excoriating Cuomo ’ s policy : In the weeks that followed the March 25 order , COVID-19 tore through New York state ’ s nursing facilities , killing more than 6,000 people — about 6 % of its more than 100,000 nursing home residents .
States that issued orders similar to Cuomo ’ s recorded comparably grim outcomes .
Michigan lost 5 percent of roughly 38,000 nursing home residents to COVID-19 since the outbreak began .
New Jersey lost 12 percent of its more than 43,000 residents .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ barred , just 1.6 percent of 73,000 nursing home residents died of the virus .
Meanwhile , the Republican County Executive of Rensselaer County rightly saw Cuomo ’ s advice as absurd and defied it .
The only nursing home run by the county saw a total of zero coronavirus deaths .
After roughly 6,000 of New York ’ s nursing home residents had died , Cuomo was asked on May 20th about calls for a federal probe into the state ’ s handling of the coronavirus .
In character for a Democrat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the default position of blaming President Donald Trump for his mess .
“ Anyone who wants to ask why the state did that with COVID patients in nursing homes , it ’ s because the state followed President Trump ’ s CDC ’ s guidance , ” Cuomo said .
“ So they should ask President Trump.
” It must be noted that nearly all the states that had similarly disastrous nursing home policies were run by Democrats , so it would certainly be odd for only Democrat leaders to head the advice @ @ @ @ @ @ @ turn around and blame Trump for taking his advice .
Regardless , there ’ s no need to “ ask President Trump ” anything because Cuomo ’ s defense is a lie he knows he can get away with because no one in the media will fact check him .
In the CDC ’ s guidance Cuomo is referencing , issued two days before his March 25th order , the CDC cited two key factors to determine if a patient with coronavirus should be discharged to a nursing home .
Those factors were @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the discharge , and if the nursing home can safely care for an infected patient by implementing all recommended protocols to stop spread of the virus .
The U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ( CMS ) , which is the federal regulator of nursing homes , also issued guidance – and says that Cuomo didn ’ t follow it .
The CMS ’ top administrator made it clear that nursing homes were only to accept those patients for which they can care ( as per guidance the CMS issued on March @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a week after Cuomo ’ s order that new long-term care patients should be screened for coronavirus testing “ if available.
” CMS guidance also states that nursing homes should dedicate a specific wing exclusively to returning residents to quarantine for 14 days .
And Cuomo ’ s guidance didn ’ t allow for that .
As previously mentioned , New York was the only state that prevented testing of those being placed or returning to nursing homes .
It ’ s for reasons like these that the AMDA-Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term @ @ @ @ @ @ @ 26 opposing the order : “ We find the New York State Advisory to be over-reaching , not consistent with science , unenforceable , and beyond all , not in the least consistent with patient safety principles.
” When it comes to the true nursing home death toll , New York Health Commissioner Howard Zucker does not have an answer .
Upon being pressed about it by the New York State Assembly and Senate at a hearing he said he would “ get back ” to them ( which is a polite way @ @ @ @ @ @ @ get back to them ) .
An Associated Press report noted that New York is the only state that only counts residents who died on nursing home property from coronavirus and not those who were transported to hospitals and died there as nursing home deaths .
In other states , nursing home resident deaths make up 44 percent of total coronavirus nursing home deaths , which would imply an additional 11,000 nursing home deaths in New York if that percent holds constant ( and in reality , it ’ s probably larger ) @ @ @ @ @ @ @ over the true number of nursing home deaths , Cuomo laughably claims that there ’ s no need for any independent investigation into that – and says that you ’ d “ have to be blind ” to not think calls for such an investigation are anything but political .

The following is an excerpt from the forthcoming book “Dumb and Dumber: How Cuomo and De Blasio Ruined New York.”
[...]


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Biden National Security Adviser Pick Said “Al-Qaeda Is On Our Side” in Syria

Joe Biden ’ s pick for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan already has more red flags than a communist parade .
Sullivan previously served as an adviser for Hillary Clinton ’ s 2016 campaign , and worked as Deputy Chief of Staff to Hillary when she served as Secretary of State .
Sullivan has appeared on China State TV in the past to criticize President Trump , and in a 2017 lecture he argued that we should support China ’ s rise economically as a way to improve relations between our two countries .
Biden has denied the economic threat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ also helped negotiate the disastrous Iran Nuclear deal , and played a large role in shaping the Obama administration ’ s policies in Syria and Libya .
Libya would become a failed state not long after the failed intervention there .
Obama himself said his failure to plan after the death of Moammar Gadhafi was his biggest mistake .
As for policy in Syria , one of Sullivan ’ s emails to Hillary Clinton takes the logic of “ the enemy of my enemy is my friend ” to an absurd extreme and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
In an email to Hillary on February 12 , 2012 , Sullivan begins the email “ See last item – AQ [ Al-Qaeda ] is on our side in Syria.
” The email contained a spot report on activity in Syria , with the last item reading : “ AL-ZAWAHIRI URGES MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR OPPOSITION ( U ) Al-Qaida leader al-Zawahiri called on Muslims in Turkey and the Middle East to aid rebel forces in their fight against supporters of Syrian President Assad in an interne video recording .
Al-Zawahiri also urged @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the AL , Turkey , or the United States for assistance.euters ) .
His supposed logic here is that because America had backed rebel groups fighting Assad in the Syrian Civil War , and Al-Qaeda was also fighting against Assad , that they ’ re “ on our side.
” The other two people Biden chose to lead his foreign policy team are Antony Blinken and Linda Thomas-Greenfield .
All three are alumni of the Obama administration .

Joe Biden’s pick for National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan already has more red flags than a communist parade.
Sullivan previously served as an adviser for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, and worked as Deputy Chief of Staff to Hillary when she served as Secretary of State.
Sullivan has appeared on China State TV in the past to criticize President Trump, and in a 2017 lecture he argued that we should support China’s rise economically as a way to improve relations between our two countries. Biden has denied the economic threat that China poses to the U.S.
Sullivan also helped negotiate the disastrous Iran Nuclear deal, and played a large role in shaping the Obama administration’s policies in Syria and Libya. Libya would become a failed state not long after the failed intervention there. Obama himself said his failure to plan after the death of Moammar Gadhafi was his biggest mistake.
As for policy in Syria, one of Sullivan’s emails to Hillary Clinton takes the logic of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” to an absurd extreme and he refers to Al-Qaeda as an ally.
In an email to Hillary on February 12, 2012, Sullivan begins the email “See last item – AQ [Al-Qaeda] is on our side in Syria.”
The email contained a spot report on activity in Syria, with the last item reading: “AL-ZAWAHIRI URGES MUSLIM SUPPORT FOR OPPOSITION (U) Al-Qaida leader al-Zawahiri called on Muslims in Turkey and the Middle East to aid rebel forces in their fight against supporters of Syrian President Assad in an interne video recording. Al-Zawahiri also urged the Syrian people not to rely on the AL, Turkey, or the United States for assistance.euters).
His supposed logic here is that because America had backed rebel groups fighting Assad in the Syrian Civil War, and Al-Qaeda was also fighting against Assad, that they’re “on our side.”
The other two people Biden chose to lead his foreign policy team are Antony Blinken and Linda Thomas-Greenfield. All three are alumni of the Obama administration.


bonginoreport--2020-11-25--Obama Criticizes Hispanics for Supporting Trump

Former President Barack Obama attacked Hispanic Trump supporters , insisting that those voters overlooked President Trump saying “ racist things about Mexicans ” because they agreed with him on social issues such as “ gay marriage or abortion.
” The former president appeared to be reacting to a massive surge in Hispanic support for President Trump experienced during the 2020 election .
In 78 of the nation ’ s 100 majority-Hispanic counties , President Trump outperformed with Hispanics compared to 2016 .
What ’ s more , he improved his margins with the demographic “ in exit polls of each @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Politico reports .
Peddling false narratives about how President Trump placed illegal immigrants in cages ( built by Obama ) , President Obama speculated as to why Hispanic voters would overlook this alleged fault : There ’ s a lot of evangelical Hispanics who , the fact that Trump says racist things about Mexicans , or puts detainees , you know , undocumented workers in cages , they think that ’ s less important than the fact that he supports their views on gay marriage or abortion .
He also analyzed why @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they see themselves as “ victims.
” Obama continues , noting this view “ doesn ’ t gibe with both history and data and economics .
”

Former President Barack Obama attacked Hispanic Trump supporters, insisting that those voters overlooked President Trump saying “racist things about Mexicans” because they agreed with him on social issues such as “gay marriage or abortion.”
The former president appeared to be reacting to a massive surge in Hispanic support for President Trump experienced during the 2020 election. In 78 of the nation’s 100 majority-Hispanic counties, President Trump outperformed with Hispanics compared to 2016. What’s more, he improved his margins with the demographic “in exit polls of each of the top 10 battleground states,” Politico reports.
Peddling false narratives about how President Trump placed illegal immigrants in cages (built by Obama), President Obama speculated as to why Hispanic voters would overlook this alleged fault:
There’s a lot of evangelical Hispanics who, the fact that Trump says racist things about Mexicans, or puts detainees, you know, undocumented workers in cages, they think that’s less important than the fact that he supports their views on gay marriage or abortion.
Obama on @breakfastclubam: “… There’s a lot of evangelical Hispanics who, the fact that Trump says racist things about Mexicans, or puts undocumented workers in cages, they think that’s less important than the fact that he supports their views on gay marriage or abortion." pic.twitter.com/8OpocwYrLV — The Recount (@therecount) November 25, 2020
He also analyzed why white males vote Republican, insisting that they see themselves as “victims.” Obama continues, noting this view “doesn’t gibe with both history and data and economics.”


bonginoreport--2020-11-26--Veronique de Rugy: Giving Thanks and Maintaining Perspective, Even in a Pandemic

Every Thanksgiving , we make a conscious effort to give thanks .
This year , even in the midst of a pandemic , I 'd encourage you to be genuinely grateful for everything you may take for granted .
There is still so very much .
Let 's be thankful that we continue to do so much better on a global scale .
Dwelling on apocalyptic headlines might lead some to think otherwise , but a new book by Reason 's science correspondent Ronald Bailey and the Cato Institute 's senior fellow Marian Tupy shows that this pessimism is unwarranted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Smart Person Should Know , '' they outline 78 improving global and U.S. trends that should put a smile on everyone 's face .
For instance , you learn that conservation efforts are growing , in part because the share of land devoted to agriculture is shrinking , and the share of wildlands and oceans that are preserved is on the rise .
Global absolute poverty is falling .
In the 1800s , 90 % of people lived in poverty , on $ 2 a day .
Today , that number has dropped @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the world 's population living in slums has declined drastically .
Vaccination rates continue to increase , saving the lives of millions of adults and children around the world who , not too long ago , would have been killed by diseases that we no longer worry about today .
Child labor is declining .
So are workplace accidents , as are most forms of violence and infant mortality .
The list goes on and on .
Let 's also be thankful for the globalization of science that has allowed for the fastest @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the history of medicine to combat the novel coronavirus .
The intense , international and fast-sharing world we live in has allowed scientists and companies to exchange knowledge , learn what worked and what did n't , and provide products that will save lives around the globe .
Let 's be thankful for the billionaire and millionaire investors who , at their own risk , have invested billions of dollars to make new drugs , new tests and , eventually , new vaccines .
Let 's not forget the billionaires and millionaires who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Apple or Walmart , either .
In the best-case scenario , we take these entrepreneurs for granted .
At worst , we drag them through the mud and accuse them of being greedy and self-interested jerks .
Self-interested they may be , though their innovations benefit us all enormously .
In fact , those inventions benefit us much more than they benefit the entrepreneurs .
Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus ' work shows that successful innovators in the United States during the second half of the 20th century personally captured , on average , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ value of their innovations ; 98 % of the value created by their innovations went to consumers .
Back in 2019 , the American Enterprise Institute 's Michael Strain did a little back-of-the-envelope calculation based on Nordhaus ' findings to see how much of a benefit some of the billionaires that people routinely complain about have created for the rest of us .
According to that year 's Forbes 400 list , he writes : `` Jeff Bezos is worth $ 114 billion .
This implies that the total value Mr. Bezos has @ @ @ @ @ @ @ up to $ 5.2 trillion .
Bill Gates has created $ 4.8 trillion for the rest of society .
Larry Ellison , co-founder , executive chairman , and chief technology officer of Oracle : $ 3 trillion .
Larry Page and Sergey Brin , cofounders of Google : $ 5 trillion . ''
Finally , let 's give thanks for this wonderful country we live in and the generous people within it .
We just experienced a terrible year .
Tragedy , deaths , the pandemic and political fights tore us apart .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ through yelling and screaming , through the many tears shed , it 's important to recognize all of the remarkable acts of charity and love that fellow Americans have shown one another : young people delivering food to elderly neighbors housebound by the virus , breweries making hand sanitizers for their consumers and communities , church volunteers feeding the poor , donors filling the coffers of thousands of charitable organizations devoted to those in need .
America 's civil society is like no other that I know of .
Americans are the most @ @ @ @ @ @ @ I , for one , am grateful to live in such a place and call it home .
I hope you are , too .
Happy Thanksgiving !
Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University .
To find out more about Veronique de Rugy and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists , visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com .

Every Thanksgiving, we make a conscious effort to give thanks. This year, even in the midst of a pandemic, I'd encourage you to be genuinely grateful for everything you may take for granted. There is still so very much.
Let's be thankful that we continue to do so much better on a global scale. Dwelling on apocalyptic headlines might lead some to think otherwise, but a new book by Reason's science correspondent Ronald Bailey and the Cato Institute's senior fellow Marian Tupy shows that this pessimism is unwarranted. In "Ten Global Trends Every Smart Person Should Know," they outline 78 improving global and U.S. trends that should put a smile on everyone's face.
For instance, you learn that conservation efforts are growing, in part because the share of land devoted to agriculture is shrinking, and the share of wildlands and oceans that are preserved is on the rise.
Global absolute poverty is falling. In the 1800s, 90% of people lived in poverty, on $2 a day. Today, that number has dropped to 8%. The size of the world's population living in slums has declined drastically. Vaccination rates continue to increase, saving the lives of millions of adults and children around the world who, not too long ago, would have been killed by diseases that we no longer worry about today. Child labor is declining. So are workplace accidents, as are most forms of violence and infant mortality. The list goes on and on.
Let's also be thankful for the globalization of science that has allowed for the fastest development of vaccines and pharmaceutical treatments in the history of medicine to combat the novel coronavirus. The intense, international and fast-sharing world we live in has allowed scientists and companies to exchange knowledge, learn what worked and what didn't, and provide products that will save lives around the globe.
Let's be thankful for the billionaire and millionaire investors who, at their own risk, have invested billions of dollars to make new drugs, new tests and, eventually, new vaccines. Let's not forget the billionaires and millionaires who create innovative companies such as Amazon, Apple or Walmart, either. In the best-case scenario, we take these entrepreneurs for granted. At worst, we drag them through the mud and accuse them of being greedy and self-interested jerks.
Self-interested they may be, though their innovations benefit us all enormously. In fact, those inventions benefit us much more than they benefit the entrepreneurs. Nobel Laureate William Nordhaus' work shows that successful innovators in the United States during the second half of the 20th century personally captured, on average, a mere 2% of the social value of their innovations; 98% of the value created by their innovations went to consumers.
Back in 2019, the American Enterprise Institute's Michael Strain did a little back-of-the-envelope calculation based on Nordhaus' findings to see how much of a benefit some of the billionaires that people routinely complain about have created for the rest of us. According to that year's Forbes 400 list, he writes: "Jeff Bezos is worth $114 billion. This implies that the total value Mr. Bezos has created for the rest of society adds up to $5.2 trillion. Bill Gates has created $4.8 trillion for the rest of society. Larry Ellison, co-founder, executive chairman, and chief technology officer of Oracle: $3 trillion. Larry Page and Sergey Brin, cofounders of Google: $5 trillion."
Finally, let's give thanks for this wonderful country we live in and the generous people within it. We just experienced a terrible year. Tragedy, deaths, the pandemic and political fights tore us apart. And yet, through it all, through yelling and screaming, through the many tears shed, it's important to recognize all of the remarkable acts of charity and love that fellow Americans have shown one another: young people delivering food to elderly neighbors housebound by the virus, breweries making hand sanitizers for their consumers and communities, church volunteers feeding the poor, donors filling the coffers of thousands of charitable organizations devoted to those in need.
America's civil society is like no other that I know of. Americans are the most generous people in the world. And I, for one, am grateful to live in such a place and call it home. I hope you are, too. Happy Thanksgiving!
Veronique de Rugy is a senior research fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University. To find out more about Veronique de Rugy and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate webpage at www.creators.com.


bonginoreport--2020-11-26--Trump Has Granted Clemency Less Than Any President in Modern History

As he enters the home stretch of his White House tenure , Donald Trump has used his clemency power less often than any president in modern history , according to data from the U.S. Department of Justice .
Trump ’ s sparse use of pardons , commutations and other forms of official leniency stands in sharp contrast to his predecessor , Barack Obama , who used the clemency power more frequently than any chief executive since Harry Truman .
As of Nov. 23 , Trump had granted clemency 44 times , including 28 pardons and 16 commutations .
That ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ since at least William McKinley , who served at the turn of the 20th century .
Obama , by comparison , granted clemency 1,927 times during his eight-year tenure , including 212 pardons and 1,715 commutations .
The only modern president who granted clemency almost as infrequently as Trump is George H.W .
Bush , who granted 77 pardons and commutations in his single term .
President Donald Trump ’ s use of the clemency power is in the news , so we conducted this analysis to see how he compares to his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ commutations he has granted to date .
The analysis is based on a U.S. Justice Department database that tracks clemency petitions and grants for every president since William McKinley .
Pardon and commutation statistics for Trump are current as Nov. 23 , 2020 , while statistics about the number of petitions he has received are current through the end of the 2020 fiscal year ( Sept. 30 ) .
The number of grants and the number of petitions Trump has received may change before the end of his tenure .
Looking at the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ granted clemency to less than half of 1 % of the more than 10,000 people who petitioned him for it through the end of the 2020 fiscal year ( which ended Sept. 30 ) , according to the Justice Department .
That , too , is the lowest percentage of any president on record , though George W. Bush came close , granting clemency to just 2 % of the more than 11,000 people who asked him for it during his eight years in office .
Clemency refers to multiple forms of presidential @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are pardons , which forgive past crimes and restore civil rights , and commutations , which completely or partially reduce sentences for those in prison or on community supervision .
Two less-common forms are remissions , which reduce financial penalties associated with convictions , and respites , which are temporary reprieves that are usually granted to inmates for medical reasons .
The Justice Department ’ s statistics , it ’ s important to note , do not count clemency granted through proclamation or executive order , such as the actions taken by Presidents @ @ @ @ @ @ @ thousands of Vietnam-era draft dodgers .
The DOJ numbers also count some clemency recipients twice – for example , in cases where someone received both a pardon and a commutation .
While rare so far , Trump ’ s use of presidential clemency has caused controversy because of the nature of his pardons and commutations .
Many of Trump ’ s clemency recipients have had a “ personal or political connection to the president , ” according to a July analysis by the Lawfare blog , and he has often circumvented the formal @ @ @ @ @ @ @ considered .
But Trump is far from the only president who has faced scrutiny over his use of clemency .
Obama ’ s frequent use of commutations , particularly for prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes , prompted criticism from Republicans , who said it benefited “ an entire class of offenders ” and infringed on the “ lawmaking authority ” of the legislative branch .
And President Bill Clinton drew bipartisan condemnation for pardoning a fugitive commodities trader , Marc Rich , on his last day in office in 2001 .
Presidents have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at least when looking at the proportion of clemency requests they have granted .
Every president from McKinley to Carter granted clemency to at least 20 % of those who asked for it , according to the Justice Department data .
But the percentages have fallen to the single digits for every president since George H.W .
Bush , including Obama , who granted clemency to just 5 % of those who petitioned him for it .
Obama ’ s relatively low percentage , however , is largely due to the fact that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ for leniency under a program known as the Clemency Initiative .
The program , which launched in April 2014 and ended in 2017 when Obama left office , allowed “ qualified federal inmates ” – those who met certain Justice Department criteria – to apply to have their prison sentences commuted .
The initiative led to a surge in petitions and helps explain why Obama ’ s use of clemency tilted so heavily toward sentence commutations , rather than pardons .
Overall , Obama received more than 36,000 clemency petitions during his time @ @ @ @ @ @ @ total of any president on record .
Petitions have declined considerably during Trump ’ s tenure .

President Donald Trump signs a pardon for Alice Johnson, who was serving a life sentence on drug-related charges, on Aug. 28, 2020, in Washington. (Evan Vucci/AP)
Despite a burst of pardons and commutations in his last hours in office, Donald Trump used his executive clemency power less frequently than nearly every other president since the turn of the 20th century, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Justice Department data.
Trump granted 237 acts of clemency during his four years in the White House, including 143 pardons and 94 commutations. Only two other presidents since 1900 – George W. and George H.W. Bush – granted fewer acts of clemency than Trump.
His predecessor, Barack Obama, granted clemency 1,927 times over the course of eight years in office, the highest total of any president going back to Harry Truman. Obama’s total was skewed heavily toward commutations (1,715) instead of pardons (212).
How we did this Donald Trump ended his presidency with a wave of pardons and commutations for those convicted or accused of federal crimes. This analysis examines how Trump compares with other modern presidents in his overall use of executive clemency. All findings in this analysis are based on data from the U.S. Justice Department, accessed Jan. 22, 2021. Pardons and commutations under Trump are through the end of his term, but requests are only through December 2020. The number of requests Trump received could be higher than reported here because of additional requests he may have received in January 2021. All pardons and commutations issued by Trump are counted as requests granted, even in cases when recipients did not formally petition for clemency.
Looking at the same data another way, Trump granted clemency to just 2% of the 11,611 people who petitioned him for it. Only George W. Bush granted clemency to a similarly small proportion of applicants (2%). Trump’s final percentage still could end up being the lowest on record because the Justice Department has not yet published data on the number of applications he received in January 2021, during his final three weeks in office.
Clemency refers to multiple forms of presidential mercy. The two most common forms are pardons, which forgive past crimes and restore civil rights, and commutations, which completely or partially reduce sentences for those in prison or on community supervision. Two less-common forms are remissions, which reduce financial penalties associated with convictions, and respites, which are temporary reprieves that are usually granted to inmates for medical reasons.
The Justice Department’s statistics do not count clemency granted through proclamation or executive order, such as the actions taken by Presidents Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter to forgive thousands of Vietnam-era draft dodgers.
While rare overall, Trump’s use of presidential clemency caused controversy because of the nature of his pardons and commutations. Many of Trump’s clemency recipients had a “personal or political connection to the president,” and he often circumvented the formal process through which clemency requests are typically considered, according to analyses by the Lawfare blog.
Trump was far from the only president to face scrutiny over his use of clemency. Obama’s frequent use of commutations, particularly for prisoners convicted of drug-related crimes, prompted criticism from Republicans, who said it benefited “an entire class of offenders” and infringed on the “lawmaking authority” of the legislative branch. And President Bill Clinton drew bipartisan condemnation for pardoning a fugitive commodities trader, Marc Rich, on his last day in office in 2001.
Trump also wasn’t the only president to save many of his pardons and commutations for his last hours on the job. In fact, every president from Ford to Trump issued pardons or commutations in his last days in the White House, according to the Justice Department. Obama, for example, granted 330 acts of clemency on Jan. 19, 2017, and Clinton granted 177 on Jan. 20, 2001.
Trump, however, still granted an unusually large percentage of pardons and commutations late in his term. More than eight-in-ten of his total acts of clemency (84%) came in his final fiscal year in office (the period between Oct. 1 and Jan. 20). That was far higher than the share for other recent presidents, including Obama (61%), Clinton (56%) and George H.W. Bush (49%).
Presidents have generally become less forgiving over time, at least when looking at the proportion of clemency requests they have granted. Every president from William McKinley to Carter granted clemency to at least 20% of those who asked for it, according to the Justice Department data. But the percentages have fallen to the single digits for every president since George H.W. Bush, including Obama, who granted clemency to just 5% of those who petitioned him for it.
Obama’s relatively low percentage was largely due to the fact that his administration encouraged federal prisoners to apply for leniency under a program known as the Clemency Initiative. The program, which launched in April 2014 and ended when Obama left office in 2017, allowed “qualified federal inmates” – those who met certain Justice Department criteria – to apply to have their prison sentences commuted.
Overall, Obama received more than 36,000 clemency petitions during his time in office, by far the largest total of any president on record. Petitions declined sharply after Trump took office.
Note: This is an update of a post originally published on Dec. 9, 2016, and previously updated on Nov. 24, 2020.


bonginoreport--2020-11-26--Post Editorial Board: Is Fame Going to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Head?

Is it fame going to Gov .
Cuomo ’ s head ?
We ’ re not even sure he realizes how many New Yorkers rolled their eyes at news that he ’ d won an Emmy for , in the words of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences , “ effective use of television during the pandemic.
” Yep , Hollywood loves him , and not just for the Empire State ’ s most-generous-in-the-nation subsidies for the entertainment industry : The glitterati also see him as an excellent counter to President Trump .
And never mind the coming @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the thousands of nursing-home residents dead after his order made it impossible to keep the coronavirus out .
Clearly , it matters more that a bevy of celebrities — Robert De Niro , Spike Lee , Rosie Perez , Billy Crystal , Billy Joel — fawned all over him in a montage tribute , hailing him as “ the nation ’ s governor ” and “ the epitome of New York tough.
” If “ tough ” looks like blaming Trump and drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna for being too fast in coming up @ @ @ @ @ @ @ last week — fine , award him an Emmy .
Not that this gov needs his vanity fed .
This is a guy who wrote a book about his own magnificent leadership during the pandemic — even as the virus still rages .
The latest sign he ’ s lost any real common touch came Monday , when Cuomo mentioned that his 89-year-old mother , Matilda , and two of his daughters would join him up in Albany for Thanksgiving .
This , when he ’ s been urging everyone else not to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The screams of disbelief and fury prompted the gov to change his plans , but wow .
Worst of all , The Cuomo Show isn ’ t close to being done , and likely won ’ t be until he signs a deal with E !
to replace “ Keeping Up With the Kardashians .
”

Is it fame going to Gov. Cuomo’s head?
We’re not even sure he realizes how many New Yorkers rolled their eyes at news that he’d won an Emmy for, in the words of the International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, “effective use of television during the pandemic.”
Yep, Hollywood loves him, and not just for the Empire State’s most-generous-in-the-nation subsidies for the entertainment industry: The glitterati also see him as an excellent counter to President Trump.
And never mind the coming combined $63 billion deficits, nor the thousands of nursing-home residents dead after his order made it impossible to keep the coronavirus out.
Clearly, it matters more that a bevy of celebrities — Robert De Niro, Spike Lee, Rosie Perez, Billy Crystal, Billy Joel — fawned all over him in a montage tribute, hailing him as “the nation’s governor” and “the epitome of New York tough.”
If “tough” looks like blaming Trump and drugmakers Pfizer and Moderna for being too fast in coming up with coronavirus vaccines, as Cuomo did last week — fine, award him an Emmy.
Not that this gov needs his vanity fed. This is a guy who wrote a book about his own magnificent leadership during the pandemic — even as the virus still rages.
The latest sign he’s lost any real common touch came Monday, when Cuomo mentioned that his 89-year-old mother, Matilda, and two of his daughters would join him up in Albany for Thanksgiving. This, when he’s been urging everyone else not to travel or gather for the holiday. The screams of disbelief and fury prompted the gov to change his plans, but wow.
Worst of all, The Cuomo Show isn’t close to being done, and likely won’t be until he signs a deal with E! to replace “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”