truthout--2020-10-25--Silicon Valley Campaign Cash Complicates Democrats’ Plan to Break Up Tech Giants

The stage is being set for Democrats to clash next year over a push to rein in Silicon Valley oligarchs .
Earlier this month , House Democrats called for the break-up of major tech giants , but Democratic candidates in key Senate races are comfortably out-fundraising their Republican counterparts in campaign cash from the tech industry .
Earlier this month , after a lengthy investigation led by the House judiciary subcommittee on antitrust , Democratic lawmakers on the panel called for regulators to force significant divestment by U.S. tech giants .
“ As they exist today , Apple , Amazon @ @ @ @ @ @ @ significant market power over large swaths of our economy .
In recent years , each company has expanded and exploited their power of the marketplace in anticompetitive ways , ” said Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler of New York and Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline of Rhode Island in a joint statement summarizing the results of their inquiry .
The lawmakers also said that regulators should prevent dominant companies from buying competitors and firms with complementary products — i.e.
, they should reconsider Facebook ’ s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ However , Democratic candidates running for Senate seats in Maine , Colorado , North Carolina , Arizona and Iowa are all raising more money from Silicon Valley than their Republican incumbent opponents by a wide margin , according to the latest data from the Center for Responsive Politics .
If all five win as they ’ re expected to , Democrats will take back majority control of the Senate , even if Republicans pick up a Senate seat in Alabama , as many observers are anticipating .
While Democrats are pulling in more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , in a trend driven by the unpopularity of President Trump , Republicans still maintain their money-raising advantage from employees in many key industries .
Republicans in all the aforementioned races are taking in more donations from the finance industry , with the exception of Martha McSally ( R-Arizona ) .
And all five Republicans are raising more than their Democratic challengers from the agribusiness , defense and energy industries .
But the Democratic quintet likely to flip seats is raising much more , many times over , from people employed in communications @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Gideon has raised $ 3.68 million , while Sen. Susan Collins has raised $ 532,890 ; Former Colorado Gov .
John Hickenlooper has raised $ 2.3 million , while Sen. Cory Gardner has raised $ 826,070 ; North Carolina State Sen. Cal Cunningham ’ s has raised $ 2.59 million , while Sen. Thom Tillis has raised $ 637,510 ; Iowa Senate hopeful Theresa Greenfield has raised $ 2.44 million , while Sen. Joni Ernst has raised $ 428,590 ; and former astronaut Mark Kelly has raised $ 3.96 million , while his @ @ @ @ @ @ @ raised $ 502,870 .
What will this cash influx mean for Democrats ’ future policy-making in relation to tech oligarchy ?
The industry cash creates hurdles for House Democrats already facing an uphill battle in their initiative to break up big tech companies .
Industry observers told MarketWatch this month that they already don ’ t expect a Biden administration to aggressively pursue antitrust cases .
Biden himself has repeatedly told rich donors not to expect any real deviation from the status quo .
“ No one ’ s standard of living will @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Biden told attendees of one fundraising event last year .
In June , he told donors at an event hosted virtually by Tony Jones , CEO of the private equity firm Blackstone , that corporate America needed to change , but that , “ It ’ s not going to require legislation .
I ’ m not proposing any.
” If he wins , however , Biden does look set to inherit landmark antitrust litigation against Google .
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on October 20 against the company , accusing @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” to maintain its search engine monopoly .
According to The Wall Street Journal , the case is set to drag on for years and could result in a court ordering Google to downsize .
But House Democrats are looking for the government to go even further .
In addition to using their inquiry to target Facebook , Amazon and Apple for court ordered break-ups , they also urged regulators to take a much more aggressive stance toward examining mergers , saying that giant companies should be forced to prove that their acquisitions @ @ @ @ @ @ @ investigation also recommended that companies be restricted from selling their own products on their own marketplaces — a threat to the profits of Amazon and the obscene net worth of the company ’ s CEO , Jeff Bezos , the richest person on Earth .
“ Our investigation leaves no doubt that there is a clear and compelling need for Congress and the antitrust enforcement agencies to take action that restores competition , improves innovation , and safeguards our democracy , ” said Nadler and Cicilline .
Biden doesn ’ t seem to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ needed another excuse to protect tech behemoths being targeted by his colleagues in the House , he might have five of them next year : Democratic senators who accepted showers of campaign cash from Silicon Valley en route to flipping seats from Republicans in a wave election .

The stage is being set for Democrats to clash next year over a push to rein in Silicon Valley oligarchs. Earlier this month, House Democrats called for the break-up of major tech giants, but Democratic candidates in key Senate races are comfortably out-fundraising their Republican counterparts in campaign cash from the tech industry.
Earlier this month, after a lengthy investigation led by the House judiciary subcommittee on antitrust, Democratic lawmakers on the panel called for regulators to force significant divestment by U.S. tech giants.
“As they exist today, Apple, Amazon, Google, and Facebook each possess significant market power over large swaths of our economy. In recent years, each company has expanded and exploited their power of the marketplace in anticompetitive ways,” said Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler of New York and Antitrust Subcommittee Chair David Cicilline of Rhode Island in a joint statement summarizing the results of their inquiry.
The lawmakers also said that regulators should prevent dominant companies from buying competitors and firms with complementary products — i.e., they should reconsider Facebook’s acquisition of WhatsApp and Instagram, and Google’s purchase of YouTube.
However, Democratic candidates running for Senate seats in Maine, Colorado, North Carolina, Arizona and Iowa are all raising more money from Silicon Valley than their Republican incumbent opponents by a wide margin, according to the latest data from the Center for Responsive Politics. If all five win as they’re expected to, Democrats will take back majority control of the Senate, even if Republicans pick up a Senate seat in Alabama, as many observers are anticipating.
While Democrats are pulling in more campaign cash than Republicans across the board, in a trend driven by the unpopularity of President Trump, Republicans still maintain their money-raising advantage from employees in many key industries. Republicans in all the aforementioned races are taking in more donations from the finance industry, with the exception of Martha McSally (R-Arizona). And all five Republicans are raising more than their Democratic challengers from the agribusiness, defense and energy industries.
House Democrats called for the break-up of major tech giants, but Democratic candidates in key Senate races are comfortably out-fundraising their Republican counterparts in campaign cash from the tech industry.
But the Democratic quintet likely to flip seats is raising much more, many times over, from people employed in communications and electronics: Maine House Speaker Sara Gideon has raised $3.68 million, while Sen. Susan Collins has raised $532,890; Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has raised $2.3 million, while Sen. Cory Gardner has raised $826,070; North Carolina State Sen. Cal Cunningham’s has raised $2.59 million, while Sen. Thom Tillis has raised $637,510; Iowa Senate hopeful Theresa Greenfield has raised $2.44 million, while Sen. Joni Ernst has raised $428,590; and former astronaut Mark Kelly has raised $3.96 million, while his opponent, Sen. Martha McSally, has raised $502,870.
What will this cash influx mean for Democrats’ future policy-making in relation to tech oligarchy?
The industry cash creates hurdles for House Democrats already facing an uphill battle in their initiative to break up big tech companies. Industry observers told MarketWatch this month that they already don’t expect a Biden administration to aggressively pursue antitrust cases. Biden himself has repeatedly told rich donors not to expect any real deviation from the status quo.
“No one’s standard of living will change. Nothing would fundamentally change,” Biden told attendees of one fundraising event last year. In June, he told donors at an event hosted virtually by Tony Jones, CEO of the private equity firm Blackstone, that corporate America needed to change, but that, “It’s not going to require legislation. I’m not proposing any.”
If he wins, however, Biden does look set to inherit landmark antitrust litigation against Google. The Justice Department filed a lawsuit on October 20 against the company, accusing it of illegally using “exclusionary agreements” to maintain its search engine monopoly. According to The Wall Street Journal, the case is set to drag on for years and could result in a court ordering Google to downsize.
But House Democrats are looking for the government to go even further. In addition to using their inquiry to target Facebook, Amazon and Apple for court ordered break-ups, they also urged regulators to take a much more aggressive stance toward examining mergers, saying that giant companies should be forced to prove that their acquisitions don’t hinder competition. The investigation also recommended that companies be restricted from selling their own products on their own marketplaces — a threat to the profits of Amazon and the obscene net worth of the company’s CEO, Jeff Bezos, the richest person on Earth.
“Our investigation leaves no doubt that there is a clear and compelling need for Congress and the antitrust enforcement agencies to take action that restores competition, improves innovation, and safeguards our democracy,” said Nadler and Cicilline.
Biden doesn’t seem to agree, however. And if he needed another excuse to protect tech behemoths being targeted by his colleagues in the House, he might have five of them next year: Democratic senators who accepted showers of campaign cash from Silicon Valley en route to flipping seats from Republicans in a wave election.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
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truthout--2020-10-26--Book McEnany Gave to Stahl on “60 Minutes” Contained No Actual Health Care Plan

A large book that Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told “ 60 Minutes ” host Lesley Stahl had contained President Donald Trump ’ s health care plan for his second term was , in fact , devoid of any such content .
In a tweet from last week , McEnany touted the book she had handed Stahl after Trump had abruptly ended his pre-recorded interview with the veteran journalist over being upset about having to answer “ tough questions ” during their segment together .
McEnany described the book as being “ just a small part of what President @ realDonaldTrump @ @ @ @ @ @ @ States.
” “ She couldn ’ t believe how HUGE it was , ” McEnany added in the tweet , “ and said , ‘ I can hardly lift this !
! '
” “ Oh my God , this is his health care plan ?
” Stahl asked in the segment , which CBS aired on Sunday night .
In a voiceover , however , Stahl explained that the contents of the document McEnany had given her did not include Trump ’ s long-promised health care plan .
“ It was filled @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ” Stahl said , “ but no comprehensive health care plan.
” The book included 13 executive orders signed by the president , as well as “ other pieces of health-care legislation enacted under Trump , ” according to Rob Crilly of the Washington Examiner , who was granted access to the document before the “ 60 Minutes ” interview aired .
The legislation , however , wasn ’ t directly related to any real health care plan — it included , for instance , Trump ’ s 2017 tax act , which @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s ( ACA ) tax mandate .
Many have questioned the president on plans for health care , especially since there ’ s a strong likelihood that the Supreme Court may in the near future rule the ACA unconstitutional .
If that happens , millions of Americans will be dropped from insurance plans available through the federal health exchange .
Even those with insurance plans through their employers may be in trouble , as the court could also wipe out protections for individuals with preexisting health conditions .
Trump has promised at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to provide a health care plan , only to fail to meet his own deadlines .
In July , he said he would sign “ a health care plan within two weeks.
” After that deadline passed , he said in August he ’ d be introducing a new plan “ sometime , hopefully , prior to the end of the month.
” McEnany told reporters in September that Trump would unveil his plans for health care within “ the next week or so , ” but a plan never materialized .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ economic policy , with his campaign website only listing off supposed accomplishments rather than what policies he might implement if he ’ s reelected .

The book contained executive orders and supposed legislative accomplishments, but no plan for healthcare from Trump.
A large book that Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told “60 Minutes” host Lesley Stahl had contained President Donald Trump’s health care plan for his second term was, in fact, devoid of any such content.
In a tweet from last week, McEnany touted the book she had handed Stahl after Trump had abruptly ended his pre-recorded interview with the veteran journalist over being upset about having to answer “tough questions” during their segment together.
McEnany described the book as being “just a small part of what President @realDonaldTrump has done for healthcare in the United States.”
“She couldn’t believe how HUGE it was,” McEnany added in the tweet, “and said, ‘I can hardly lift this!!'”
“Oh my God, this is his health care plan?” Stahl asked in the segment, which CBS aired on Sunday night.
“Yes,” McEnany replied.
In a voiceover, however, Stahl explained that the contents of the document McEnany had given her did not include Trump’s long-promised health care plan.
“It was filled with executive orders and congressional initiatives,” Stahl said, “but no comprehensive health care plan.”
President Trump’s press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, gave us a heavy book that she described as the president’s health care plan. It was filled with executive orders and congressional initiatives, but no comprehensive healthcare plan. https://t.co/Mn6HRAOwHL pic.twitter.com/WmsoRQP2WJ — 60 Minutes (@60Minutes) October 26, 2020
The book included 13 executive orders signed by the president, as well as “other pieces of health-care legislation enacted under Trump,” according to Rob Crilly of the Washington Examiner, who was granted access to the document before the “60 Minutes” interview aired.
The legislation, however, wasn’t directly related to any real health care plan — it included, for instance, Trump’s 2017 tax act, which merely zeroed out the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) tax mandate.
Many have questioned the president on plans for health care, especially since there’s a strong likelihood that the Supreme Court may in the near future rule the ACA unconstitutional. If that happens, millions of Americans will be dropped from insurance plans available through the federal health exchange. Even those with insurance plans through their employers may be in trouble, as the court could also wipe out protections for individuals with preexisting health conditions.
Trump has promised at various times over the past several months to provide a health care plan, only to fail to meet his own deadlines. In July, he said he would sign “a health care plan within two weeks.” After that deadline passed, he said in August he’d be introducing a new plan “sometime, hopefully, prior to the end of the month.”
McEnany told reporters in September that Trump would unveil his plans for health care within “the next week or so,” but a plan never materialized.
The president has also been mum about prospective economic policy, with his campaign website only listing off supposed accomplishments rather than what policies he might implement if he’s reelected.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-10-26--Study Shows GOP Has Moved to Extreme Right Over Past 20 Years

Is the Republican Party , under President Donald Trump ’ s leadership , veering toward authoritarianism ?
Many already believe that to be the case , but a newly-published study confirms that the GOP has moved in a decidedly autocratic direction over the past 20 years .
The Sweden-based V-Dem Institute study , published on Monday , noted that there is an alarming “ global trend ” of governing parties in democracies becoming “ more illiberal in recent decades.
” The United States is not immune to this drift away from democratic ideals , researchers found .
“ This rise @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about policy issues , ” Anna Luhrmann , a deputy director at V-Dem , explained .
“ Lacking commitment to democratic norms signals a willingness to also erode these norms once in power.
” A shift from democratic to illiberal principles is demonstrated within the study through a number of observable changes , including an increase of demonizing political opponents , an encouragement of violence toward those with opposing political views , a disrespect for minority rights in a given country , and a lower commitment to political pluralism .
V-Dem ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the United States had almost zero shift in its principles on democracy since 2000 .
The Republican Party , meanwhile , has changed dramatically — not altering its views on policy or economic matters but embracing undemocratic viewpoints over the course of the past two decades .
The study also said the GOP is more comparable to autocratic ruling parties like Turkey ’ s AKP ( Justice and Development Party ) and Fidesz in Hungary , than they are to other center-right parties like the Conservatives in the United Kingdom or the Christian @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s aggressive and autocratic behavior as president was largely to blame for the dramatic change in the Republican Party ’ s philosophy .
“ The demonisation of opponents — that ’ s clearly a factor that has shifted a lot when it comes to the Republican party , as well as the encouragement of political violence , ” Luhrmann said , adding that the president ’ s rhetoric has shown “ how he has encouraged supporters to use violence against either journalists or political opponents.
” V-Dem ’ s study observed changes that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and it ’ s likely that more actions taken by Trump over the past two years that weren ’ t observed — such as pressing for persecutions against former Justice Department officials ( not to mention his clamoring for investigations against his 2020 presidential rival , Joe Biden ) , as well as the labeling of political opponents as traitorous or enemies of the U.S. — would likely reinforce the idea that the president ’ s party is shifting toward authoritarianism .
But it isn ’ t just Trump who has deepened the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ years .
Other Republican lawmakers are also taking disturbing turns , including some who have introduced a bill to denote “ antifa , ” the broad anti-fascist movement that some have errantly suggested is a formally organized group , as a “ domestic terrorist organization.
” Indeed , as New York Magazine columnist Jonathan Chait noted in an article over this past weekend , Trumpism will likely persist in the Republican Party even if he loses the election next month .
“ Even if his presidency ends in complete ruin and repudiation , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ never had before : the performance of a despot — bullying his rivals , criminalizing anybody who challenges him , violating the law with impunity , ” Chait wrote .
“ They have a taste for it now .
They will crave more .
”

The study said Republicans resemble Turkey’s AKP more than the UK’s Conservatives in terms of democratic viewpoints.
Is the Republican Party, under President Donald Trump’s leadership, veering toward authoritarianism? Many already believe that to be the case, but a newly-published study confirms that the GOP has moved in a decidedly autocratic direction over the past 20 years.
The Sweden-based V-Dem Institute study, published on Monday, noted that there is an alarming “global trend” of governing parties in democracies becoming “more illiberal in recent decades.” The United States is not immune to this drift away from democratic ideals, researchers found.
“This rise of illiberalism is not like mere disagreement about policy issues,” Anna Luhrmann, a deputy director at V-Dem, explained. “Lacking commitment to democratic norms signals a willingness to also erode these norms once in power.”
A shift from democratic to illiberal principles is demonstrated within the study through a number of observable changes, including an increase of demonizing political opponents, an encouragement of violence toward those with opposing political views, a disrespect for minority rights in a given country, and a lower commitment to political pluralism.
V-Dem’s study noted that the Democratic Party in the United States had almost zero shift in its principles on democracy since 2000. The Republican Party, meanwhile, has changed dramatically — not altering its views on policy or economic matters but embracing undemocratic viewpoints over the course of the past two decades.
The study also said the GOP is more comparable to autocratic ruling parties like Turkey’s AKP (Justice and Development Party) and Fidesz in Hungary, than they are to other center-right parties like the Conservatives in the United Kingdom or the Christian Democratic Union in Germany.
Trump’s aggressive and autocratic behavior as president was largely to blame for the dramatic change in the Republican Party’s philosophy.
“The demonisation of opponents — that’s clearly a factor that has shifted a lot when it comes to the Republican party, as well as the encouragement of political violence,” Luhrmann said, adding that the president’s rhetoric has shown “how he has encouraged supporters to use violence against either journalists or political opponents.”
V-Dem’s study observed changes that took place from 2000 to 2018, and it’s likely that more actions taken by Trump over the past two years that weren’t observed — such as pressing for persecutions against former Justice Department officials (not to mention his clamoring for investigations against his 2020 presidential rival, Joe Biden), as well as the labeling of political opponents as traitorous or enemies of the U.S. — would likely reinforce the idea that the president’s party is shifting toward authoritarianism.
But it isn’t just Trump who has deepened the GOP’s autocratic tendencies in recent years. Other Republican lawmakers are also taking disturbing turns, including some who have introduced a bill to denote “antifa,” the broad anti-fascist movement that some have errantly suggested is a formally organized group, as a “domestic terrorist organization.”
Indeed, as New York Magazine columnist Jonathan Chait noted in an article over this past weekend, Trumpism will likely persist in the Republican Party even if he loses the election next month.
“Even if his presidency ends in complete ruin and repudiation, Trump has given his party something it never had before: the performance of a despot — bullying his rivals, criminalizing anybody who challenges him, violating the law with impunity,” Chait wrote. “They have a taste for it now. They will crave more.”
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
Copyright © Truthout. May not be reprinted without permission.


truthout--2020-10-26--Trump Aims to Convince Supporters That a Loss Means Election Is “Rigged”

One of the more interesting ( and somewhat confounding ) polling results in this election cycle has been the belief among members of both parties that Donald Trump will win re-election , regardless of who they ’ re actually planning to vote for .
His approval rating has been stuck in the low 40s throughout his term , which is unprecedented , and he ’ s been behind in the polls from the beginning of the campaign .
Yet most Americans still remain convinced that he is going to win .
This is from Gallup in early October : How @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course it all depends on what the definition of “ win ” is .
The explanation for the Democrats and many Independents is obvious .
With all of Trump ’ s talk about mail-in voter fraud and lawsuits and promises of intimidation at the polls , they believe it ’ s possible that he will pull out all the stops to create or fake a victory regardless of the legitimate electoral outcome .
With his statements to the press that he wants the ninth Supreme Court seat filled in order to ensure a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ all that paranoid to assume it could happen .
Meanwhile , the Republicans are living in an alternate universe in which Trump holds a massive lead in all the polls and is heading for a landslide .
They believe this because he tells them that every day .
It ’ s unlikely we will have full results on election night next week , since some states won ’ t even begin counting mail-in votes until that day , while others allow ballots to arrive some time after Election Day .
There ’ s @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are close .
Nonetheless , we will probably know the winner within a few days — Trump ’ s scenario that it could take “ months ” is hot air — and it ’ s worth pondering how the two sides will react .
According to this Reuters-Ipsos poll , more than four in 10 voters on either side will not accept the results of the election .
It doesn ’ t go into details , except to say that 22 % of Biden supporters and 16 % of Trump supporters say they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ if the other side prevailed .
But let ’ s look at the reasons that might happen .
Obviously , if Trump prevails there will be an uproar among Democrats despite the fact that a large number of them believe he ’ s going to win anyway .
But in the unlikely event that he wins outright without any legal shenanigans , partisan court victories , discarding of valid votes or intimidation at the polls , I suspect they will be even more shell-shocked than in 2016 , but will accept the outcome @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to the streets under that circumstance , it might be to stage a protest against pollsters for their overwhelming incompetence .
Joe Biden has had a steady and substantial lead in all the polls for months now .
On the other hand , if despite a clear defeat at the ballot box , Trump nonetheless finds a way to “ win ” through lawsuits decided by right-wing judges who throw out legal votes or takeovers by GOP state legislatures , there will be a massive outcry .
People understand that Republicans might try @ @ @ @ @ @ @ mean they ’ ll stand for it .
In that scenario , our nation would face the worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War .
God help us if that comes to pass .
But what about Republicans ?
They ’ re already living in a miasma of disinformation , conspiracy theories and lies .
Alex Wagner of Showtime ’ s “ The Circus ” interviewed a bunch of fanatical Trump-supporting militia members and reported that for whatever reason they believe Trump will win in a landslide : Reporting from Trump rallies on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even among the more mainstream voters .
Trump ’ s supporters simply do not believe that he can legitimately lose .
And why should they ?
Their Dear Leader — the only source of information they trust — has said so explicitly , over and over again .
In fact , that claim has already been institutionalized : Every single day , Trump is out on the campaign trail threatening to defy the election results .
His newest rationale ( one of many ) is that “ they spied on his campaign ” @ @ @ @ @ @ @ “ friendly transition ” in 2016 , so he sees no reason to give the Democrats one in 2020 : What this adds up to is this : if the polls are right and Biden wins the election by a healthy margin , Trump voters almost certainly won ’ t accept the results .
Put yourself in their shoes and it isn ’ t that hard .
Four years ago , a lot of Hillary Clinton voters felt as if they ’ d had the wind knocked out of them by that shocking @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what these Trump voters are going to feel , except that the dissonance will be a thousand times worse .
They are expecting a Trump landslide , and have been told by him that the only way he can possibly lose is through fraud on a massive scale .
The difference between then and now , of course , is that Clinton and Barack Obama and every Democratic official immediately accepted the results and their supporters largely agreed voters that Trump had won , at least under the antediluvian constitutional machinery of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to think that Trump will do quite the opposite , and I ’ m afraid there ’ s no reason to believe we can depend upon Republican officials to step up and do the right thing .
And there ’ s that undeniable pall that hangs over the whole process , with the possibility that well-armed Trump supporters who have been told they simply can not lose the election will try to take matters into their own hands .
After all , some militia-style goons have already plotted to kidnap and “ try @ @ @ @ @ @ @ We can ’ t predict how far they ’ ll be willing to go if their world is turned upside down by an unexpected electoral defeat .
Shortly after the election in 2016 , I wrote a column about the “ sore winner ” syndrome , in which angry Trump supporters were assaulting Democrats and screaming at them on the streets , even though their guy had won the election .
This reflects a longstanding attitude among this political faction in which it ’ s never enough to win by normal means — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ until they force their rivals to admit they were wrong and offer an unconditional surrender .
Imagine what these people might do when they lose .

Trump’s been telling his fans for weeks that there’s no way he can lose. So they’re primed for a vicious backlash.
One of the more interesting (and somewhat confounding) polling results in this election cycle has been the belief among members of both parties that Donald Trump will win re-election, regardless of who they’re actually planning to vote for. His approval rating has been stuck in the low 40s throughout his term, which is unprecedented, and he’s been behind in the polls from the beginning of the campaign. Yet most Americans still remain convinced that he is going to win. This is from Gallup in early October:
Regardless of whom they personally support, 56% of Americans expect Trump to prevail over Biden in the November election, while 40% think Biden will win. Republicans are more likely to believe Trump will win (90%) than Democrats are to think Biden will (73%). Fifty-six percent of independents predict that Trump will win.
How can this be? Well, of course it all depends on what the definition of “win” is.
The explanation for the Democrats and many Independents is obvious. With all of Trump’s talk about mail-in voter fraud and lawsuits and promises of intimidation at the polls, they believe it’s possible that he will pull out all the stops to create or fake a victory regardless of the legitimate electoral outcome. With his statements to the press that he wants the ninth Supreme Court seat filled in order to ensure a victory, it’s not being all that paranoid to assume it could happen.
Meanwhile, the Republicans are living in an alternate universe in which Trump holds a massive lead in all the polls and is heading for a landslide. They believe this because he tells them that every day.
It’s unlikely we will have full results on election night next week, since some states won’t even begin counting mail-in votes until that day, while others allow ballots to arrive some time after Election Day. There’s certainly the possibility of lawsuits if contests are close. Nonetheless, we will probably know the winner within a few days — Trump’s scenario that it could take “months” is hot air — and it’s worth pondering how the two sides will react.
According to this Reuters-Ipsos poll, more than four in 10 voters on either side will not accept the results of the election. It doesn’t go into details, except to say that 22% of Biden supporters and 16% of Trump supporters say they would engage in street protests or violence if the other side prevailed. But let’s look at the reasons that might happen.
Obviously, if Trump prevails there will be an uproar among Democrats despite the fact that a large number of them believe he’s going to win anyway. But in the unlikely event that he wins outright without any legal shenanigans, partisan court victories, discarding of valid votes or intimidation at the polls, I suspect they will be even more shell-shocked than in 2016, but will accept the outcome with depressed equanimity. If they take to the streets under that circumstance, it might be to stage a protest against pollsters for their overwhelming incompetence. Joe Biden has had a steady and substantial lead in all the polls for months now.
On the other hand, if despite a clear defeat at the ballot box, Trump nonetheless finds a way to “win” through lawsuits decided by right-wing judges who throw out legal votes or takeovers by GOP state legislatures, there will be a massive outcry. People understand that Republicans might try this, but that doesn’t mean they’ll stand for it. In that scenario, our nation would face the worst constitutional crisis since the Civil War. God help us if that comes to pass.
But what about Republicans? They’re already living in a miasma of disinformation, conspiracy theories and lies. Alex Wagner of Showtime’s “The Circus” interviewed a bunch of fanatical Trump-supporting militia members and reported that for whatever reason they believe Trump will win in a landslide:
.@alexwagner discusses her conversations with militia leaders w/ @NicolleDWallace: “They are entirely certain that Donald Trump is going to win in a landslide which is something you hear Trump say too. Trump has not opened the door up to this even being a close election.” pic.twitter.com/pBX7F7OVOl — Deadline White House (@DeadlineWH) October 22, 2020
Reporting from Trump rallies on cable news inevitably shows the same attitude even among the more mainstream voters. Trump’s supporters simply do not believe that he can legitimately lose. And why should they? Their Dear Leader — the only source of information they trust — has said so explicitly, over and over again. In fact, that claim has already been institutionalized:
Multiple social media analyses, including one conducted by a group of nonprofit researchers on behalf of NBC News, have detailed how a collection of the president’s relatives and members of his inner circle, along with far-right media manipulators and an online army of disciples, has created or spread false or misleading content that supports his “rigged” narrative, while his campaign is urging supporters to join an “army” and “defend their vote.”
Every single day, Trump is out on the campaign trail threatening to defy the election results. His newest rationale (one of many) is that “they spied on his campaign” and he didn’t get a “friendly transition” in 2016, so he sees no reason to give the Democrats one in 2020:
Trump came into office with a peaceful transition of power. Hillary conceded promptly. Obama tutored him. To suggest that it wasn’t a peaceful transition is ludicrous and to use that as some excuse for him to not transition is absurd. https://t.co/CqKXDOQ3z6 — Touré (@Toure) October 25, 2020
What this adds up to is this: if the polls are right and Biden wins the election by a healthy margin, Trump voters almost certainly won’t accept the results. Put yourself in their shoes and it isn’t that hard. Four years ago, a lot of Hillary Clinton voters felt as if they’d had the wind knocked out of them by that shocking and unexpected result. That’s what these Trump voters are going to feel, except that the dissonance will be a thousand times worse. They are expecting a Trump landslide, and have been told by him that the only way he can possibly lose is through fraud on a massive scale. The difference between then and now, of course, is that Clinton and Barack Obama and every Democratic official immediately accepted the results and their supporters largely agreed voters that Trump had won, at least under the antediluvian constitutional machinery of the Electoral College. There is every reason to think that Trump will do quite the opposite, and I’m afraid there’s no reason to believe we can depend upon Republican officials to step up and do the right thing. And there’s that undeniable pall that hangs over the whole process, with the possibility that well-armed Trump supporters who have been told they simply cannot lose the election will try to take matters into their own hands. After all, some militia-style goons have already plotted to kidnap and “try” Democratic officials for “treason.” We can’t predict how far they’ll be willing to go if their world is turned upside down by an unexpected electoral defeat. Shortly after the election in 2016, I wrote a column about the “sore winner” syndrome, in which angry Trump supporters were assaulting Democrats and screaming at them on the streets, even though their guy had won the election. This reflects a longstanding attitude among this political faction in which it’s never enough to win by normal means — they can’t be happy about until they force their rivals to admit they were wrong and offer an unconditional surrender. Imagine what these people might do when they lose.
Tired of reading the same old news from the same old sources? So are we! That’s why we’re on a mission to shake things up and bring you the stories and perspectives that often go untold in mainstream media. But being a radically, unapologetically independent news site isn’t easy (or cheap), and we rely on reader support to keep the lights on.
If you like what you’re reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation today. We’re not asking for a handout, we’re asking for an investment: Invest in a nonprofit news site that’s not afraid to ruffle a few feathers, not afraid to stand up for what’s right, and not afraid to tell it like it is.
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truthout--2020-10-26--Survivor Deported After Speaking Out About Medical Abuse in ICE Jails

An independent medical review team has submitted a report to Congress on a lack of informed consent and “ disturbing pattern ” of questionable gynecological surgical procedures at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia , after an account from a nurse whistleblower in September prompted congressional and federal investigations .
At least 19 women , most of whom are Black and Latina , have come forward to allege they were pressured into “ unnecessary ” gynecological treatment and surgeries — including procedures that left them sterile — while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement .
We speak @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of medical abuse and neglect at Irwin who was the original source of the information about medical abuse by Dr. Mahendra Amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report .
“ From day one that I met Dr. Amin , he said , ‘ OK , you need surgery , ’ ” Navarro says .
“ They were really trying to do the surgery on me , for whatever reason .
They wanted to take my womb out.
” We also speak with Dr. Maggie Mueller , an assistant professor of obstetrics @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report , and Adriano Espaillat , Democratic congressmember from New York who visited the Irwin County Detention Center in September as part of a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus .
This is a rush transcript .
Copy may not be in its final form .
AMY GOODMAN : At least 19 women have now come forward to allege they were pressured into unnecessary gynecological treatment and surgeries , including procedures that left them sterile , while they were imprisoned by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ County Detention Center in Georgia .
The women are mostly Black and Latina .
They were all patients of Dr. Mahendra Amin , the primary gynecologist linked to the jail .
In a shocking new report submitted to Congress Thursday , an independent medical review team of nine board-certified OB-GYNs and two nursing experts examined more than 3,200 pages of the women ’ s medical records and said they found a lack of informed consent and a , quote , “ disturbing pattern ” of questionable gynecological surgical procedures .
Today they ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic Caucus .
This comes after whistleblowing nurse Dawn Wooten first spoke out in September about an alarmingly high rate of hysterectomies performed on women at the ICE jail , prompting congressional and federal investigations .
An ICE spokesperson said the allegations in the new report raise , quote , “ serious concerns that deserve to be investigated quickly and thoroughly.
” Meanwhile , the private prison company that operates Irwin , LaSalle Corrections , said it could not comment during the impending investigation .
For more , we ’ re joined by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a survivor of medical abuse and neglect at Irwin .
She was the original source of the information about a medical abuse by Dr. Mahendra Amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report .
She is in Mexico right now .
Also with us , from Chicago , Illinois , is Dr. Maggie Mueller .
She was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report .
She ’ s an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medical Center .
And we ’ re joined by Democratic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ who was part of a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that visited the Irwin County Jail in September , where he met with jailed women who allege Dr. Amin conducted unnecessary medical procedures on them without their full knowledge and consent .
Congressmember Espaillat is the first Dominican American and the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress .
We welcome you all to Democracy Now !
I want to begin with the doctor .
Dr. Mueller , if you can talk about what you found happened at Irwin ?
DR. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ what we were able to identify , there is really what we think is a concerning pattern of , number one , overly aggressive management of women ’ s complaints , or lack thereof complaints , actually , as well as significant lack of informed consent for these women who underwent procedures , that they then acknowledged they didn ’ t understand they were going to undergo .
AMY GOODMAN : And talk about how extensive this was , what these procedures were .
We ’ re not talking about one woman or @ @ @ @ @ @ @ about at least 19 women .
What were they told ?
Where did this happen ?
And how many do you understand were actually given hysterectomies without their knowledge ?
DR. MAGGIE MUELLER : Yeah , so , I think that ’ s a very important point of clarification .
So , as you said , we did review 19 cases where we had medical records of women who received care with Dr. Amin .
What I mentioned is a pattern , the pattern of overly aggressive procedures .
This is not necessarily @ @ @ @ @ @ @ but still important surgical procedures that can have implications later on in life , so , for example , taking a patient that really didn ’ t have any gynecologic complaints , not working them up appropriately , and then performing additional procedures like a dilation and curettage or a diagnostic laparoscopic procedure , and then recommending even more aggressive therapy .
AMY GOODMAN : What does he gain by doing this ?
I ask this because in 2013 Georgia and federal investigators sued Dr. Amin — this is like seven years ago @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a group of other doctors over allegations they falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid .
Does he make money off of these hysterectomies ?
DR. MAGGIE MUELLER : Well , honestly , I think that ’ s outside of my ability to make a determination .
I am an expert medical witness .
I ’ m able to review medical records and determine whether or not the standard of care was breached .
I can ’ t comment as to what the motivation behind this was , but certainly it warrants further investigation @ @ @ @ @ @ @ are asking for with this report .
AMY GOODMAN : Well , I want to go to Jaromy Floriano Navarro .
We are speaking to you in Aguascalientes , Mexico .
Can you talk about when you were held at Irwin and what happened to you ?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : Yes , of course .
I was held in Irwin from October 18th , 2019 , all the way to September 15th , 2020 .
And I met Dr. Amin March of 2020 , because I told the nurse that I had @ @ @ @ @ @ @ was some medication , like ibuprofen or something .
But instead , she sent me to Dr. Amin for my cramps , and I also had an infection , a vaginal infection .
And from day one that I met Dr. Amin , he said , “ OK , you need surgery.
” He did a ultrasound , vaginal ultrasound , with a wand .
And I didn ’ t even know he was going to do that .
To be honest with you , I didn ’ t know that I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ off or lay on that bed and let him look at me .
I didn ’ t know that .
Nobody ever told me that I was going have a vaginal ultrasound .
And from the moment — AMY GOODMAN : Was he doing this in his office or at the Irwin jail ?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : No , it was not at the Irwin County Jail ; it was at his office , yes .
AMY GOODMAN : So you were brought there from the detention facility .
So , go @ @ @ @ @ @ @ : Yes , they took me there .
I was there about 40 times from March to September , to be honest with you .
He told me right off the bat ; he said , “ You have a cyst .
And it ’ s not big , but it could grow .
And we need to do a surgery.
” That was the first time I had ever heard I had a cyst or seen him , and he told me right off the bat .
I was super afraid .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ cyst was or how it formed .
He didn ’ t explain to me none of the above .
He didn ’ t care .
He just wanted to do the surgery .
He gave medication for my infection , and then he said that he was going to put a Depo shot on me , because that would help the cyst go away .
Basically , I didn ’ t have a choice .
He said that Irwin County Detention Center is no good at keeping up with any medication and that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ effective and that it would work for my favor because I didn ’ t have to depend on Irwin County Detention Center to give me my pills , which it would be any other type of medication for hormones .
So , I was left with no choice , and so I had to pick the Depo .
After the Depo , I was bleeding .
I wasn ’ t bleeding heavy , but I was spotting for an entire month .
And I told the nurse that I was spotting after the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
I ’ ve had the Depo before .
I had never experienced those type of symptoms .
They took me back to see Dr. Amin from March to July at least 25 times .
They would take me out constantly to go see him .
He would — he would always check me .
If it wasn ’ t with his fingers , then it would be with the wand .
And to be honest with you , it was uncomfortable each and every time .
I didn ’ t like anything @ @ @ @ @ @ @ t like his posture .
I didn ’ t like the way he stood in front of me or rested his hand on my knee as he did the vaginal search or whatever he was doing .
And it was uncomfortable , to be honest with you .
He kept telling me , every single time I would see him , that I was going to have a surgery .
But for some reason , I never knew when the surgery was going to be .
Finally , when it came time for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my second dose , whatever , my second round of the Depo shot , which was July 31st — JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : Yes , yes .
He gave me that shot in March .
Then he gave me that shot again in July , about the middle of July .
He was supposed to give me the shot by the endings of June , but he didn ’ t .
And that was the first red flag that I realized , because I thought to myself , “ How is it that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ it ’ s my third-month mark ?
He ’ s not even giving me the shot the way it ’ s supposed to be or by the time it ’ s supposed to be .
How is it that my cyst is going to go away if he ’ s not doing this properly ?
” So , that was my first concern .
And I told the nurse ; I told her , “ How is it that he doesn ’ t have any medical records on his computer ?
Doesn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ s supposed to be the third month ?
I don ’ t understand why he didn ’ t give me the shot by the endings of June.
” When I complained , they took me back to see him , around June 12th .
It was around the second week of July .
It was me and Yuridia .
We both went to see him .
And he told her and me that we both needed surgery .
That was also Yuridia ’ s first time seeing Dr. Amin .
AMY GOODMAN : @ @ @ @ @ @ @ at Irwin .
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : Yes .
She had the surgery performed .
I denied it .
So , July 31st was two weeks after we went to see him , and that was the day that it was recorded for me to have my surgery .
To my knowledge , as far as the information I was able to collect , I knew that I was going to have my cyst drained , and that was it .
That morning , when Ms. Vaughn [ phon . ]
picked me @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they were putting on the chains on me , she asked me , “ Do you know where you ’ re going , what procedure you ’ re going to have ?
” And I was like , “ No .
I think I ’ m going to see Dr. Amin to have my cyst drained.
” And she smirked .
She said , “ Hmm !
” And that was it .
And I knew I heard her , but I was just like , “ OK , that was odd .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ me to the hospital , which is about — conveniently , it ’ s about 15 — 15 to 10 minutes from Irwin County Detention , top .
And so , we get to the hospital , and , you know , because of the pandemic , they have to do tests on us .
They did the nose swab , and they checked my blood .
They took me to the room to prep me .
I had to sign papers saying — to my knowledge , because the nurse didn ’ @ @ @ @ @ @ @ even though I wanted to .
She didn ’ t allow me to read the paper , the consent form , which said that if anything happens to me during the surgery , they weren ’ t responsible .
So I knew that she said that that ’ s what it said .
And I thought it was just crazy .
Like , how am I signing this paper , although Dr. Amin is telling me that I need this surgery before anything happens to the cyst inside my body ?
I signed @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the room .
They prepped me up .
They put the IV .
I had to take my clothes off , wait for the anesthesia person to come and put the anesthesia on me to go to sleep .
Before the anesthesia person could come in and put me to sleep , Ms. Vaughn and I were speaking .
And we were getting to know each other .
She was very polite .
She was showing me pictures of her kids , and we were talking there for a minute , when at @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , “ You know you ’ re having a hysterectomy.
” I was going to have my womb removed .
And I had heard that word before a lot in Irwin County , so I knew that a hysterectomy was to remove our woman parts .
And when she said that , I looked at her , and I didn ’ t say anything .
I just automatically prayed .
I said , “ Lord , did you hear what she said ?
That ’ s outrageous .
What is she talking about @ @ @ @ @ @ @ finished my thought , the other officer , who went to get food for them to eat , came back , and he told her , “ Hey , they need to speak with you.
” So , my heart just raced when he said that .
My heart was already beating fast when she said I was going to have a hysterectomy , but when he said , “ They need to speak with you , ” I knew something wasn ’ t right .
And she came back in the room @ @ @ @ @ @ @ They can ’ t do the surgery because you have antibodies for COVID.
” My whole world sinked at the moment , and I thought I was going to die because of COVID .
I mean , I ’ ve been locked in there .
It ’ s dirty .
They don ’ t feed us correctly .
They don ’ t take care of us .
They don ’ t care how many medical requests we put for COVID .
They didn ’ t care .
So , I just was like @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a place locked up all day every day with no sunlight , under constant LSD lights .
It ’ s just constant illumination .
It ’ s like a low grade of torture .
So , I just — all of that just ran through my mind as they were telling me I had COVID , antibody COVID .
And luckily , they couldn ’ t do the surgery on me .
They couldn ’ t perform the surgery on me because of the antibodies .
And the nurse came in the room @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to be pissed because he wasn ’ t going to be able to perform the surgery on me .
And she took the IVs out , and they just told me they ’ ll reschedule it .
And Ms. Vaughn took me back to Irwin County Detention Center .
They had to isolate me for a minute .
And when they took me back to Irwin County Detention Center , they wouldn ’ t tell the other ladies that I had COVID .
They told the ladies that I was going home , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ taking out my stuff from the pod .
But I was able to kind of tell them before I left , through the window , that I had COVID and that the reason why I wasn ’ t going back in there and they were taking my things out of there was because I had COVID .
And they rescheduled the surgery for August the 14th .
They were in a rush to do this to me .
I was supposed to be gone by the endings of July — by the endings @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , August .
I was supposed to be gone by August , but they held me there , just trying to do the surgery on me for an entire month and a half .
That ’ s not normal .
My appeal was over July 31st .
I should have been gone two weeks after that , to be honest with you .
That is how the process goes .
My appeal lasted six months .
I was already there for a long time .
After that month of July , I was @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a week or two weeks later .
But , no , they held me there .
They were really trying to do the surgery on me .
For whatever reason , they wanted to take my womb out .
I refused it , though .
August the 14th , I refused that surgery .
Before August the 14th , I was speaking with Ms. Hughes , and I was telling her , “ Hey , there ’ s something not right , because the officer said I was going to have my womb @ @ @ @ @ @ @ appreciate that at all , because that ’ s not what I signed for .
You guys never told me that ’ s what you guys were going to do .
Dr. Amin said he was going to do a D & C .
He said he was going to drain my cyst .
He never said anything about going into my vagina , doing anything through my vagina .
He said he was going to drain a cyst , that it was a 20-minute process , three holes on my stomach — @ @ @ @ @ @ @ womb and down , one a little under my womb by my vagina .
That ’ s all he said .
He never said anything about going to my vaginal area.
” But when I told Ms. Hughes this , she changed her story about four times .
She said that Dr. Amin had to request a heavy bleeding procedure , a heavy bleeding surgery on me , because , if not , then ICE would have not approved this process , this procedure .
AMY GOODMAN : Jaromy , when did you @ @ @ @ @ @ @ FLORIANO NAVARRO : In this process , I got deported September 16 , which is the day after the whistleblower report came out .
And I was in shock when I found out that the day after this came out , I got deported , to be honest with you .
After that — AMY GOODMAN : Do you feel like they were deporting you so that you would not speak out ?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : Of course .
Of course that ’ s why they were deporting me .
I knew @ @ @ @ @ @ @ my deportation September 15th , which was the same day that I went back to see Dr. Amin .
And he was pissed .
He was like , “ Why didn ’ t you get the surgery ?
Who told you to say no ?
” And I was like , “ Excuse me ?
It was a misunderstanding .
Stories were being changed .
How was I supposed to say yes ?
I ’ m not going to undergo a surgery that I have no knowledge of.
” He was angry , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
And that ’ s the day I found out , August — excuse me , September 15th , I found out that there was a report that went viral .
And everybody in Irwin County Detention Center , the officers were all asking if it was me who had spoken up .
And I just — I was like , “ Yes , it was me .
I told .
I told a lawyer that you guys were doing illegal surgeries here , because that ’ s how I felt.
” AMY @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Adriano Espaillat .
You went down to Irwin .
You spoke with women there .
You are Dominican American .
You ’ re the first undocumented immigrant to be elected to Congress , formerly undocumented .
Can you talk about what you found , how typical is Jaromy ’ s experience , and what the hearing today is all about in Congress ?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT : Well , Amy , just first let me congratulate this young lady for her courage , as well as the whistleblower , who we met with @ @ @ @ @ @ @ correctional detention center .
Look , as I heard her tell her story , the one thing that stood out is that she is very fluent in English .
And most of the ladies there are not .
And so , imagine being subjected to this kind of treatment and not really understanding what ’ s being said to you .
So , this is a critical piece , because to have informed consent , as you said , Amy , you must understand what they ’ re telling you .
You must @ @ @ @ @ @ @ your condition is .
And so , when we met with the ladies there , let me just say that I was really taken aback by the level of fear that they expressed .
And there was one thing that they consistently asked for , was for us to protect them .
They felt that if they spoke out , they would wind up in solitary confinement .
And so , as the young lady just said , this was sort of like a low grade of torture .
And they expressed how @ @ @ @ @ @ @ doctor .
In fact , there was eight women that we spoke to , and two of them were Asian women from China , and they couldn ’ t — they didn ’ t have a translator there , so we couldn ’ t really speak to them .
But out of the other six , four of them had been treated by Dr. Amin , so — and they all expressed concern as to the aggressiveness of the tests , the lack of information and , as such , the lack of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ this is the critical piece right here .
Were they consenting to these very aggressive treatments or procedures ?
And if so — and if not , then , you know , they ’ re clear violation .
And we ’ re calling for — I ’ m calling for the shutdown of the center and the arrest — any doctor that would subject his patients to this type of treatment anywhere in America could be subject to be arrested .
And so — AMY GOODMAN : So you ’ re calling for @ @ @ @ @ @ @ AMY GOODMAN : — clearly , the detention center was working with him .
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT : Well , that ’ s part of the — that should be part of the investigation .
The detention center , as you know , is run by a privately owned corporation , LaSalle .
We ’ ve got to follow the money and see whether there was any profit incentive to aggressively submit these women to these very aggressive procedures , that I suspect are also more expensive .
And so they cost more @ @ @ @ @ @ @ see whether there was also a profit incentive to subject the women to this kind of what the young lady calls low grade of torture .
So , yes , there should be a very deep and extensive investigation on this .
We want to know if this is just isolated , or is it a common practice in detention centers across America , as well .
AMY GOODMAN : How do you know the women who are being held there right now are not being subjected to the same thing ?
REP. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
They could continue to be — this doctor has a problem history with Medicaid fraud .
And , as well , the women have expressed to us , the ones that we spoke to , their fear that they will be subjected to solitary confinement .
We don ’ t know if they ’ re still big subjected to the same kind of treatment that they have been subjected to for many , many years .
So , we are concerned .
The whistleblower was very specific as to her denunciations .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ courage , as well .
But this must be investigated .
This is horrendous .
One of the women that I spoke to , a Dominican woman , told me that she was treated like an animal .
And we were able to contact the Dominican Consulate in Georgia and Florida , in Miami , Florida .
And five of the Dominican women , who wanted to either be released or deported back home , were sent back home .
ICE alleged that the Dominican government never gave them the documents that they @ @ @ @ @ @ @ government , the consulate , they told us that they were never contacted .
So , this hurry to extend the stay there for as long as possible to get in these procedures is highly questionable , if not criminal .
AMY GOODMAN : Jaromy , two quick questions before we go .
Did you say you were chained to the bed ?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO : No , no , I was not chained to the bed .
AMY GOODMAN : And are you asking to be let back into the United @ @ @ @ @ @ @ course I am .
I deserve .
I deserve to be let back in the United States .
AMY GOODMAN : And so , let me ask Congressmember Adriano Espaillat : Can Jaomy Floriano Navarro — how could this deportation be reversed , given what she has identified here ?
A Cameroonian , one of the Cameroonian women — two were deported , but one whose sterilization became very well known was actually taken off the flight in Chicago to be deported , so she has remained now in the United States .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ facilitate her return ?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT : We will fight to bring her back .
She is a victim .
And she was subject to what she called a low grade of torture , what I think is also a low grade of torture .
She should be allowed back in and treated .
Certainly , my office will be willing to work with the lawyers and with her to see if there ’ s a way that we can bring her back to the United States .
I am also concerned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ushered out of the United States to prevent them , to silence them , to keep them from saying their stories as the story was well and eloquently said today .
It ’ s horrendous .
This is the same kind of stories that we heard from the women that we interviewed at the detention center .
And this must be fully investigated .
Irwin must be shut down .
Dr. Amin must be arrested .
AMY GOODMAN : I want to thank you all for being with us .
Congressmember Adriano Espaillat @ @ @ @ @ @ @ New York , again , the first formerly undocumented immigrant to become a member of Congress .
Jaromy Floriano Navarro , speaking to us from Mexico , where the U.S. deported her to , she is demanding to be let back into the United States , a survivor of Dr. Amin .
And Dr. Maggie Mueller of the Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago , who has done the big report , that we will link to , talking about the number of women — almost 20 — that they know of , who @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sterilizations or surgeries without proper informed consent .
When we come back , we share the story of a Palestinian American family living in Trump country , in the very conservative town of Appomattox , Virginia .
We ’ ll speak to filmmaker Nadine Natour about her family .
Stay with us .

An independent medical review team has submitted a report to Congress on a lack of informed consent and “disturbing pattern” of questionable gynecological surgical procedures at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia, after an account from a nurse whistleblower in September prompted congressional and federal investigations. At least 19 women, most of whom are Black and Latina, have come forward to allege they were pressured into “unnecessary” gynecological treatment and surgeries — including procedures that left them sterile — while they were detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. We speak with Jaromy Floriano Navarro, a survivor of medical abuse and neglect at Irwin who was the original source of the information about medical abuse by Dr. Mahendra Amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report. “From day one that I met Dr. Amin, he said, ‘OK, you need surgery,’” Navarro says. “They were really trying to do the surgery on me, for whatever reason. They wanted to take my womb out.” We also speak with Dr. Maggie Mueller, an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medical Center who was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report, and Adriano Espaillat, Democratic congressmember from New York who visited the Irwin County Detention Center in September as part of a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: At least 19 women have now come forward to allege they were pressured into unnecessary gynecological treatment and surgeries, including procedures that left them sterile, while they were imprisoned by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Irwin County Detention Center in Georgia. The women are mostly Black and Latina. They were all patients of Dr. Mahendra Amin, the primary gynecologist linked to the jail.
In a shocking new report submitted to Congress Thursday, an independent medical review team of nine board-certified OB-GYNs and two nursing experts examined more than 3,200 pages of the women’s medical records and said they found a lack of informed consent and a, quote, “disturbing pattern” of questionable gynecological surgical procedures. Today they’ll present their findings to the Senate Democratic Caucus.
This comes after whistleblowing nurse Dawn Wooten first spoke out in September about an alarmingly high rate of hysterectomies performed on women at the ICE jail, prompting congressional and federal investigations. An ICE spokesperson said the allegations in the new report raise, quote, “serious concerns that deserve to be investigated quickly and thoroughly.” Meanwhile, the private prison company that operates Irwin, LaSalle Corrections, said it could not comment during the impending investigation.
For more, we’re joined by three guests. Jaromy Floriano Navarro is a survivor of medical abuse and neglect at Irwin. She was the original source of the information about a medical abuse by Dr. Mahendra Amin that was eventually included in the whistleblower report. She is in Mexico right now.
Also with us, from Chicago, Illinois, is Dr. Maggie Mueller. She was part of the independent medical review team that produced the new report. She’s an assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Northwestern Medical Center.
And we’re joined by Democratic Congressmember Adriano Espaillat of New York, who was part of a delegation from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus that visited the Irwin County Jail in September, where he met with jailed women who allege Dr. Amin conducted unnecessary medical procedures on them without their full knowledge and consent. Congressmember Espaillat is the first Dominican American and the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress.
We welcome you all to Democracy Now! I want to begin with the doctor. Dr. Mueller, if you can talk about what you found happened at Irwin?
DR. MAGGIE MUELLER: Absolutely. So, what we were able to identify, there is really what we think is a concerning pattern of, number one, overly aggressive management of women’s complaints, or lack thereof complaints, actually, as well as significant lack of informed consent for these women who underwent procedures, that they then acknowledged they didn’t understand they were going to undergo.
AMY GOODMAN: And talk about how extensive this was, what these procedures were. We’re not talking about one woman or two women; we’re talking about at least 19 women. What were they told? Where did this happen? And how many do you understand were actually given hysterectomies without their knowledge?
DR. MAGGIE MUELLER: Yeah, so, I think that’s a very important point of clarification. So, as you said, we did review 19 cases where we had medical records of women who received care with Dr. Amin. What I mentioned is a pattern, the pattern of overly aggressive procedures. This is not necessarily focusing on hysterectomy or sterilization procedures, but still important surgical procedures that can have implications later on in life, so, for example, taking a patient that really didn’t have any gynecologic complaints, not working them up appropriately, and then performing additional procedures like a dilation and curettage or a diagnostic laparoscopic procedure, and then recommending even more aggressive therapy.
AMY GOODMAN: What does he gain by doing this? I ask this because in 2013 Georgia and federal investigators sued Dr. Amin — this is like seven years ago — the Hospital Authority of Irwin County and a group of other doctors over allegations they falsely billed Medicare and Medicaid. Does he make money off of these hysterectomies?
DR. MAGGIE MUELLER: Well, honestly, I think that’s outside of my ability to make a determination. I am an expert medical witness. I’m able to review medical records and determine whether or not the standard of care was breached. I can’t comment as to what the motivation behind this was, but certainly it warrants further investigation. And that’s what we are asking for with this report.
AMY GOODMAN: Well, I want to go to Jaromy Floriano Navarro. We are speaking to you in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Can you talk about when you were held at Irwin and what happened to you?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Yes, of course. I was held in Irwin from October 18th, 2019, all the way to September 15th, 2020. And I met Dr. Amin March of 2020, because I told the nurse that I had heavy cramps and that all I wanted was some medication, like ibuprofen or something. But instead, she sent me to Dr. Amin for my cramps, and I also had an infection, a vaginal infection.
And from day one that I met Dr. Amin, he said, “OK, you need surgery.” He did a ultrasound, vaginal ultrasound, with a wand. And I didn’t even know he was going to do that. To be honest with you, I didn’t know that I was going to have to take my pants off or lay on that bed and let him look at me. I didn’t know that. Nobody ever told me that I was going have a vaginal ultrasound. And from the moment —
AMY GOODMAN: Was he doing this in his office or at the Irwin jail?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: No, it was not at the Irwin County Jail; it was at his office, yes.
AMY GOODMAN: So you were brought there from the detention facility. So, go on from there.
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Yes, they took me there. I was there about 40 times from March to September, to be honest with you. He told me right off the bat; he said, “You have a cyst. And it’s not big, but it could grow. And we need to do a surgery.” That was the first time I had ever heard I had a cyst or seen him, and he told me right off the bat. I was super afraid. I didn’t know what a cyst was or how it formed. He didn’t explain to me none of the above. He didn’t care. He just wanted to do the surgery.
He gave medication for my infection, and then he said that he was going to put a Depo shot on me, because that would help the cyst go away. Basically, I didn’t have a choice. He said that Irwin County Detention Center is no good at keeping up with any medication and that the Depo shot would be the most effective and that it would work for my favor because I didn’t have to depend on Irwin County Detention Center to give me my pills, which it would be any other type of medication for hormones. So, I was left with no choice, and so I had to pick the Depo.
After the Depo, I was bleeding. I wasn’t bleeding heavy, but I was spotting for an entire month. And I told the nurse that I was spotting after the Depo. And I have two kids. I’ve had the Depo before. I had never experienced those type of symptoms.
They took me back to see Dr. Amin from March to July at least 25 times. They would take me out constantly to go see him. He would — he would always check me. If it wasn’t with his fingers, then it would be with the wand. And to be honest with you, it was uncomfortable each and every time. I didn’t like anything he ever did. I didn’t like his posture. I didn’t like the way he stood in front of me or rested his hand on my knee as he did the vaginal search or whatever he was doing. And it was uncomfortable, to be honest with you.
He kept telling me, every single time I would see him, that I was going to have a surgery. But for some reason, I never knew when the surgery was going to be. Finally, when it came time for me to have my second round or my second dose, whatever, my second round of the Depo shot, which was July 31st —
AMY GOODMAN: You’re talking about the drug Depo-Provera.
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Yes, yes. He gave me that shot in March. Then he gave me that shot again in July, about the middle of July. He was supposed to give me the shot by the endings of June, but he didn’t. And that was the first red flag that I realized, because I thought to myself, “How is it that he doesn’t even know when it’s my third-month mark? He’s not even giving me the shot the way it’s supposed to be or by the time it’s supposed to be. How is it that my cyst is going to go away if he’s not doing this properly?” So, that was my first concern.
And I told the nurse; I told her, “How is it that he doesn’t have any medical records on his computer? Doesn’t that tell him when it’s supposed to be the third month? I don’t understand why he didn’t give me the shot by the endings of June.” When I complained, they took me back to see him, around June 12th. It was around the second week of July. It was me and Yuridia. We both went to see him. And he told her and me that we both needed surgery. That was also Yuridia’s first time seeing Dr. Amin.
AMY GOODMAN: She, too, an immigrant prisoner at Irwin.
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Yes. She had the surgery performed. I denied it. So, July 31st was two weeks after we went to see him, and that was the day that it was recorded for me to have my surgery. To my knowledge, as far as the information I was able to collect, I knew that I was going to have my cyst drained, and that was it. That morning, when Ms. Vaughn [phon.] picked me up, she asked me — as they were putting on the chains on me, she asked me, “Do you know where you’re going, what procedure you’re going to have?” And I was like, “No. I think I’m going to see Dr. Amin to have my cyst drained.” And she smirked. She said, “Hmm!” And that was it. And I knew I heard her, but I was just like, “OK, that was odd. Whatever.”
And so, they took me to the hospital, which is about — conveniently, it’s about 15 — 15 to 10 minutes from Irwin County Detention, top. And so, we get to the hospital, and, you know, because of the pandemic, they have to do tests on us. They did the nose swab, and they checked my blood. They took me to the room to prep me. I had to sign papers saying — to my knowledge, because the nurse didn’t allow me to read the paper even though I wanted to. She didn’t allow me to read the paper, the consent form, which said that if anything happens to me during the surgery, they weren’t responsible. So I knew that she said that that’s what it said. And I thought it was just crazy. Like, how am I signing this paper, although Dr. Amin is telling me that I need this surgery before anything happens to the cyst inside my body? I signed the paper. They took me to the room. They prepped me up. They put the IV. I had to take my clothes off, wait for the anesthesia person to come and put the anesthesia on me to go to sleep.
Before the anesthesia person could come in and put me to sleep, Ms. Vaughn and I were speaking. And we were getting to know each other. She was very polite. She was showing me pictures of her kids, and we were talking there for a minute, when at the end of the conversation she said, “You know you’re having a hysterectomy.” I was going to have my womb removed. And I had heard that word before a lot in Irwin County, so I knew that a hysterectomy was to remove our woman parts. And when she said that, I looked at her, and I didn’t say anything. I just automatically prayed. I said, “Lord, did you hear what she said? That’s outrageous. What is she talking about?”
And as soon as I finished my thought, the other officer, who went to get food for them to eat, came back, and he told her, “Hey, they need to speak with you.” So, my heart just raced when he said that. My heart was already beating fast when she said I was going to have a hysterectomy, but when he said, “They need to speak with you,” I knew something wasn’t right.
And she came back in the room, and she told me, “They can’t do the surgery because you have antibodies for COVID.” My whole world sinked at the moment, and I thought I was going to die because of COVID. I mean, I’ve been locked in there. It’s dirty. They don’t feed us correctly. They don’t take care of us. They don’t care how many medical requests we put for COVID. They didn’t care. So, I just was like lost, you know, being in a place locked up all day every day with no sunlight, under constant LSD lights. It’s just constant illumination. It’s like a low grade of torture. So, I just — all of that just ran through my mind as they were telling me I had COVID, antibody COVID. And luckily, they couldn’t do the surgery on me. They couldn’t perform the surgery on me because of the antibodies. And the nurse came in the room and said that Dr. Amin was going to be pissed because he wasn’t going to be able to perform the surgery on me. And she took the IVs out, and they just told me they’ll reschedule it.
And Ms. Vaughn took me back to Irwin County Detention Center. They had to isolate me for a minute. And when they took me back to Irwin County Detention Center, they wouldn’t tell the other ladies that I had COVID. They told the ladies that I was going home, and that’s why they were taking out my stuff from the pod. But I was able to kind of tell them before I left, through the window, that I had COVID and that the reason why I wasn’t going back in there and they were taking my things out of there was because I had COVID.
And they rescheduled the surgery for August the 14th. They were in a rush to do this to me. I was supposed to be gone by the endings of July — by the endings of, excuse me, after July, August. I was supposed to be gone by August, but they held me there, just trying to do the surgery on me for an entire month and a half. That’s not normal. My appeal was over July 31st. I should have been gone two weeks after that, to be honest with you. That is how the process goes. My appeal lasted six months. I was already there for a long time. After that month of July, I was supposed to be gone, at least a week or two weeks later. But, no, they held me there. They were really trying to do the surgery on me. For whatever reason, they wanted to take my womb out.
I refused it, though. August the 14th, I refused that surgery. Before August the 14th, I was speaking with Ms. Hughes, and I was telling her, “Hey, there’s something not right, because the officer said I was going to have my womb removed, and I don’t appreciate that at all, because that’s not what I signed for. You guys never told me that’s what you guys were going to do. Dr. Amin said he was going to do a D&C. He said he was going to drain my cyst. He never said anything about going into my vagina, doing anything through my vagina. He said he was going to drain a cyst, that it was a 20-minute process, three holes on my stomach — one by my belly, by my womb and down, one a little under my womb by my vagina. That’s all he said. He never said anything about going to my vaginal area.” But when I told Ms. Hughes this, she changed her story about four times. She said that Dr. Amin had to request a heavy bleeding procedure, a heavy bleeding surgery on me, because, if not, then ICE would have not approved this process, this procedure.
AMY GOODMAN: Jaromy, when did you get deported in this process?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: In this process, I got deported September 16, which is the day after the whistleblower report came out. And I was in shock when I found out that the day after this came out, I got deported, to be honest with you. After that —
AMY GOODMAN: Do you feel like they were deporting you so that you would not speak out?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Of course. Of course that’s why they were deporting me. I knew it. I came back from signing my deportation September 15th, which was the same day that I went back to see Dr. Amin. And he was pissed. He was like, “Why didn’t you get the surgery? Who told you to say no?” And I was like, “Excuse me? It was a misunderstanding. Stories were being changed. How was I supposed to say yes? I’m not going to undergo a surgery that I have no knowledge of.” He was angry, and they deported me the next day.
And that’s the day I found out, August — excuse me, September 15th, I found out that there was a report that went viral. And everybody in Irwin County Detention Center, the officers were all asking if it was me who had spoken up. And I just — I was like, “Yes, it was me. I told. I told a lawyer that you guys were doing illegal surgeries here, because that’s how I felt.”
AMY GOODMAN: Let me bring in Congressmember Adriano Espaillat. You went down to Irwin. You spoke with women there. You are Dominican American. You’re the first undocumented immigrant to be elected to Congress, formerly undocumented. Can you talk about what you found, how typical is Jaromy’s experience, and what the hearing today is all about in Congress?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: Well, Amy, just first let me congratulate this young lady for her courage, as well as the whistleblower, who we met with the day before we visited the Irwin correctional detention center.
Look, as I heard her tell her story, the one thing that stood out is that she is very fluent in English. And most of the ladies there are not. And so, imagine being subjected to this kind of treatment and not really understanding what’s being said to you. So, this is a critical piece, because to have informed consent, as you said, Amy, you must understand what they’re telling you. You must understand what your options are and what your condition is.
And so, when we met with the ladies there, let me just say that I was really taken aback by the level of fear that they expressed. And there was one thing that they consistently asked for, was for us to protect them. They felt that if they spoke out, they would wind up in solitary confinement. And so, as the young lady just said, this was sort of like a low grade of torture.
And they expressed how aggressively they were being treated by this doctor. In fact, there was eight women that we spoke to, and two of them were Asian women from China, and they couldn’t — they didn’t have a translator there, so we couldn’t really speak to them. But out of the other six, four of them had been treated by Dr. Amin, so — and they all expressed concern as to the aggressiveness of the tests, the lack of information and, as such, the lack of an informed consent.
And so, this is the critical piece right here. Were they consenting to these very aggressive treatments or procedures? And if so — and if not, then, you know, they’re clear violation. And we’re calling for — I’m calling for the shutdown of the center and the arrest — any doctor that would subject his patients to this type of treatment anywhere in America could be subject to be arrested. And so —
AMY GOODMAN: So you’re calling for Amin’s arrest. Also —
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: I’m calling for —
AMY GOODMAN: — clearly, the detention center was working with him.
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: Well, that’s part of the — that should be part of the investigation. The detention center, as you know, is run by a privately owned corporation, LaSalle. We’ve got to follow the money and see whether there was any profit incentive to aggressively submit these women to these very aggressive procedures, that I suspect are also more expensive. And so they cost more money. So, we want to see whether there was also a profit incentive to subject the women to this kind of what the young lady calls low grade of torture. So, yes, there should be a very deep and extensive investigation on this. We want to know if this is just isolated, or is it a common practice in detention centers across America, as well.
AMY GOODMAN: How do you know the women who are being held there right now are not being subjected to the same thing?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: That’s correct. They could continue to be — this doctor has a problem history with Medicaid fraud. And, as well, the women have expressed to us, the ones that we spoke to, their fear that they will be subjected to solitary confinement. We don’t know if they’re still big subjected to the same kind of treatment that they have been subjected to for many, many years. So, we are concerned. The whistleblower was very specific as to her denunciations. And we’re proud of her courage, as well. But this must be investigated. This is horrendous.
One of the women that I spoke to, a Dominican woman, told me that she was treated like an animal. And we were able to contact the Dominican Consulate in Georgia and Florida, in Miami, Florida. And five of the Dominican women, who wanted to either be released or deported back home, were sent back home. ICE alleged that the Dominican government never gave them the documents that they needed. When we called the Dominican government, the consulate, they told us that they were never contacted. So, this hurry to extend the stay there for as long as possible to get in these procedures is highly questionable, if not criminal.
AMY GOODMAN: Jaromy, two quick questions before we go. Did you say you were chained to the bed?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: No, no, I was not chained to the bed.
AMY GOODMAN: And are you asking to be let back into the United States?
JAROMY FLORIANO NAVARRO: Of course I am. I deserve. I deserve to be let back in the United States.
AMY GOODMAN: And so, let me ask Congressmember Adriano Espaillat: Can Jaomy Floriano Navarro — how could this deportation be reversed, given what she has identified here? A Cameroonian, one of the Cameroonian women — two were deported, but one whose sterilization became very well known was actually taken off the flight in Chicago to be deported, so she has remained now in the United States. Can Jaromy Floriano Navarro — can you facilitate her return?
REP. ADRIANO ESPAILLAT: We will fight to bring her back. She is a victim. And she was subject to what she called a low grade of torture, what I think is also a low grade of torture. She should be allowed back in and treated. Certainly, my office will be willing to work with the lawyers and with her to see if there’s a way that we can bring her back to the United States.
I am also concerned that these women were readily and speedily ushered out of the United States to prevent them, to silence them, to keep them from saying their stories as the story was well and eloquently said today. It’s horrendous. This is the same kind of stories that we heard from the women that we interviewed at the detention center. And this must be fully investigated. Irwin must be shut down. Dr. Amin must be arrested.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to thank you all for being with us. Congressmember Adriano Espaillat is speaking to us, congressmember from New York, again, the first formerly undocumented immigrant to become a member of Congress. Jaromy Floriano Navarro, speaking to us from Mexico, where the U.S. deported her to, she is demanding to be let back into the United States, a survivor of Dr. Amin. And Dr. Maggie Mueller of the Northwestern Medical Center in Chicago, who has done the big report, that we will link to, talking about the number of women — almost 20 — that they know of, who experienced these kinds of threats or actual sterilizations or surgeries without proper informed consent.
When we come back, we share the story of a Palestinian American family living in Trump country, in the very conservative town of Appomattox, Virginia. We’ll speak to filmmaker Nadine Natour about her family. Stay with us.


truthout--2020-10-26--Amid Staff COVID Outbreak, Democrats Call on Pence to Stop Presiding Over Senate

With multiple members of Vice President Mike Pence ’ s senior staff now confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus — and Senate Republicans scheduled to ram through the final confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as early as Monday afternoon or evening — Democratic leaders in the Senate are calling on Pence to forgo his plans to preside over the chamber in the name of public health and out of concern for all who work there .
With at least five members of Pence ’ s office now under quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19 , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of gross negligence for refusing to leave the campaign trail .
A letter sent directly to the vice president by Democrats on Sunday night said it was equally disturbing to learn of his plans to attend Monday ’ s confirmation vote in the Senate .
“ Not only would your presence in the Senate Chamber tomorrow be a clear violation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ( CDC ) guidelines , it would also be a violation of common decency and courtesy , ” the letter stated .
“ Your presence alone @ @ @ @ @ @ @ — not just Senators , but to all the truly essential staff — both Democratic and Republican — who must be physically present inside the U.S. Capitol for it to function .
These men and women are the Capitol Police officers , the custodians , the food service workers , the floor staff , and everyone else that makes the Capitol complex work .
On their behalf , please reconsider your decision to attend.
” The letter was signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer ( D-N.Y. ) , Senate Democratic Whip Dick @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Democratic Leader Patty Murray , ( D-Wash. ) , Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow ( D-MIch. ) , Vice Chair of the Conference Senator Elizabeth Warren ( D-Mass . )
, Vice Chair of the Conference Senator Mark Warner ( D-Va. ) , Chair of Steering Committee Senator Amy Klobuchar ( D-Minn. ) , Chair of Outreach Senator Bernie Sanders ( I-Vt. ) , Vice Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Senator Joe Manchin ( D-W.V . )
, and Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Senator Tammy Baldwin @ @ @ @ @ @ @ progressive activists have expressed outrage over the Republicans ’ rush to confirm Barrett — despite being in the middle of both a presidential election and a deadly pandemic — the Democratic senators said the decision by Pence , who has tested negative for the virus , to enter the chamber despite his recent exposure to so many infected people is made even worse because his presence is so unnecessary to the process .
“ Nothing about your presence in the Senate tomorrow can be considered essential , ” the Democrats said to Pence @ @ @ @ @ @ @ will not need to cast the deciding vote to break a tie .
Your presence tomorrow would be purely ceremonial .
We believe that if you and President Trump finally began to take this crisis seriously , instead of taking actions that could further increase the spread , we would all be safer and better off .
”

With multiple members of Vice President Mike Pence’s senior staff now confirmed to be infected with the coronavirus — and Senate Republicans scheduled to ram through the final confirmation vote for Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as early as Monday afternoon or evening — Democratic leaders in the Senate are calling on Pence to forgo his plans to preside over the chamber in the name of public health and out of concern for all who work there.
With at least five members of Pence’s office now under quarantine after testing positive for Covid-19, Pence has been under fire and accused of gross negligence for refusing to leave the campaign trail. A letter sent directly to the vice president by Democrats on Sunday night said it was equally disturbing to learn of his plans to attend Monday’s confirmation vote in the Senate.
“Not only would your presence in the Senate Chamber tomorrow be a clear violation of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines, it would also be a violation of common decency and courtesy,” the letter stated. “Your presence alone could be very dangerous to many people — not just Senators, but to all the truly essential staff — both Democratic and Republican — who must be physically present inside the U.S. Capitol for it to function. These men and women are the Capitol Police officers, the custodians, the food service workers, the floor staff, and everyone else that makes the Capitol complex work. On their behalf, please reconsider your decision to attend.”
The letter was signed by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (D-Il.), Assistant Democratic Leader Patty Murray, (D-Wash.), Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow (D-MIch.), Vice Chair of the Conference Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Vice Chair of the Conference Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.), Chair of Steering Committee Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Chair of Outreach Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Vice Chair of the Democratic Policy and Communications Committee Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), and Senate Democratic Conference Secretary Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
While Democrats and progressive activists have expressed outrage over the Republicans’ rush to confirm Barrett — despite being in the middle of both a presidential election and a deadly pandemic — the Democratic senators said the decision by Pence, who has tested negative for the virus, to enter the chamber despite his recent exposure to so many infected people is made even worse because his presence is so unnecessary to the process.
“Nothing about your presence in the Senate tomorrow can be considered essential,” the Democrats said to Pence in their Sunday letter. “You will not need to cast the deciding vote to break a tie. Your presence tomorrow would be purely ceremonial. We believe that if you and President Trump finally began to take this crisis seriously, instead of taking actions that could further increase the spread, we would all be safer and better off.”
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