freebeacon--2020-06-05--American Civilization and Its Discontents

In 1969 , Irving Kristol was appointed Henry R. Luce professor of urban values at New York University 's Stern School of Business .
He delivered his inaugural lecture the following spring .
Its title , `` Urban Civilization and Its Discontents , '' a play off of Sigmund Freud 's Civilization and Its Discontents , guaranteed the audience a typically wide-ranging presentation from a New York intellectual in the middle of a journey from anti-Communist liberal to neoconservative godfather .
Kristol 's theme was the degradation of the American experiment from the Founding to the social unrest of the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ to say that we experience the crisis of our cities , it is equally proper to say that we are the urban crisis , '' he began .
`` And what I want to suggest further is that one of the main reasons we are so problematic to ourselves is the fact that we are creating a democratic , urban civilization while stubbornly refusing to think clearly about the relation of urbanity to democracy . ''
The images of mass protests , of vandalism , arson , theft , and violence that have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ George Floyd in late May sent me back to Kristol 's talk .
As analogies to 1968 have filled the air , I thought it worthwhile to revisit how the foremost spokesman of the emerging neoconservative point of view interpreted his historical situation .
The ethnic , racial , ideological , political , educational , and generational cleavages of Kristol 's time seem to have been transposed on our own .
And , like the generation of '68 , the Millennial and Z generations contest not just the failure of America to live @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , the ideals themselves .
Kristol 's ideas help to explain why .
American democracy , Kristol told his audience in April 1970 , is based on two pillars .
The first is the `` new science of politics '' described by Publius in The Federalist .
It consists of a complex and delicate constitutional architecture of separate and enumerated powers , checks and balances , and other devices of representative government in an extended republic .
The second pillar is more elusive .
It has been called many things—republican morality , civic @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Founders believed that a `` spiritual order '' was a necessary precondition for their government to work .
`` What they had constantly in mind , '' Kristol said , `` was the willingness of the good democratic citizen , on critical occasions , to transcend the habitual pursuit of self-interest and devote himself directly and disinterestedly to the common good . ''
Over time , Kristol argued , the agrarian ethos the Founders believed to be more conducive to republican virtue and to self-government gave way to an urban spirit of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , self-interest , and , ultimately , self-seeking .
The government that the Founders had intended to act as an instrument of restraint for the purpose of securing natural rights became a mechanism for the satisfaction of appetitive special interests .
The `` middle class '' took its place as the largest special interest of all .
By the middle of the 20th century , Kristol said , in words that echo in the present , the American people were `` behaving in a way that would have alarmed the founding fathers even @ @ @ @ @ @ @ To put it bluntly , they are more and more behaving like a collection of mobs . ''
How did this happen ?
The neoconservative analysis goes like this : Beginning in the 19th century , writers , artists , philosophers , and intellectuals adopted an adversarial stance toward the dominant `` bourgeois '' ethos of orthodox religiosity , marital fidelity , conventional morality , and traditional manners .
With the advent of mass media and the rise of higher education in the 20th century , the adversarial impulse permeated the institutions of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ each rising generation .
What Roger Scruton described as a `` culture of repudiation '' revised inherited understandings of history , politics , economics , society , art , psychology , and behavior .
The philosophy of Darwin , Marx , and Freud deprived individuals of agency .
It reduced them to mere products of the environment .
The will of `` the people , '' no matter its direction , was considered a good in itself .
`` What we may call the transcendental-populist religion of democracy , '' Kristol said , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ democracy . ''
The population fought over the dispensation of entitlements .
But it shared a state of mind .
`` It is , to be precise , that state of mind , '' Kristol went on , `` which lacks all those qualities that , in the opinion of the founding fathers , added up to republican morality : steadiness of character , deliberativeness of mind , and a mild predisposition to subordinate one 's own special interests to the public interest . ''
The most important question , Kristol liked to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? ''
Why not do drugs , consume porn , abandon your children , break into and steal from a Target store ?
The institutions that once supplied the answers to such questions—the family , the church , the community—receded in importance and withered in strength against the power of an adversary culture that embedded itself in media and government and the liberation of desires that accompanied conditions of security and affluence .
It became difficult to justify submission of the will to external moral authority .
That those authorities were often bigoted @ @ @ @ @ @ @ demand of justice as a precondition of civil peace and order .
But this was a non sequitur .
Order is the basis of justice , not the other way around .
`` To demand ‘ justice ' as a precondition for political or social stability , '' Kristol wrote in 1979 , `` is to make a demand on this world which the world has ever refused to concede . ''
In his NYU lecture , Kristol ascribed the discontents of America 's urban civilization to an absence of values that functioned @ @ @ @ @ @ @ No one was willing to restrain themselves for the public interest , to sacrifice in the present so others may benefit in the future .
`` The radicals of the 1960s , '' he wrote later in the decade , `` were what they were because American society and American culture—which means we , the adults , permitted them ( sometimes encouraged them ) to grow up to be what they were . ''
These words never felt more relevant than in recent days , as I watched prominent figures in media and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ neighborhoods in which ethnic and racial minorities live and pray and work as legitimate expressions of anger and frustration .
And yet I also could not help thinking that there is a difference between Kristol 's description of the student rebellion of the '60s and the current social unrest .
It has to do with exactly this question of values .
Kristol saw an absence of values then .
I see them everywhere now .
What has been remarkable about the George Floyd protests is not so much the destruction and violence that @ @ @ @ @ @ @ numbers , scope , and duration .
The unjustifiable death of Floyd was a catalyst for demonstrations grounded not in spiritual torpor but in righteous conviction .
This is a mass movement amplified by social and digital media and , in all probability , helped along by the joblessness and boredom that have accompanied months of coronavirus lockdowns .
And it is a mass movement that most definitely stands for a set of values : what is known as `` social justice '' in its racial , sexual , economic , and environmental @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Founders it is not .
But , in its expansiveness , adaptability , and popularity , the ethos of social justice is as close as America gets to having a public philosophy .
It would be not only wrong but self-defeating to dismiss or pathologize the beliefs that inspire fellow citizens to march in the streets , post to Facebook , Instagram , and Twitter , and vote for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primaries .
The ideas that motivate such activities are not the product of a conspiracy .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
What they are instead is the leading edge of an earnest and egalitarian new progressive morality that , through the prism of antiracism , understands American democracy to be fundamentally corrupt and based on a lie .
True , the means by which this new progressivism seeks to achieve its ends of `` bold structural change '' are somewhat hazy and repel most people .
But the new progressivism nonetheless commands the devoted allegiance of millions , has a disproportionate influence on the media that shape American culture and thought , and @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
If the '60s were in Kristol 's view nihilistic , the past decade has been nothing if not moralistic .
But it has been a jumble of fractured and competing moralities , each seeking to impose itself on unwilling and hostile competitors .
After all , the very phrase `` virtue signaling '' presupposes the existence of a virtue to signal .
In the case of the new progressivism , such virtue is identified with antiracism , diversity , affinity , authenticity , and environmental consciousness .
What has been missing from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the practices associated with republican virtue : temperance , prudence , moderation , self-control .
For the most part , of course , the new progressives are upstanding citizens whose personal lives are as prosaic as that of any bourgeois .
But this part of their lives is just that—personal—and when they go into public the new progressives are more content to preach the gospel of diversity , equality , and # resistance .
Where did the new progressives come from ?
One clue is that the most vocal and radical members of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of 35 .
Colin Kaepernick , for example , is 32 ; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is 30 .
If you are someone who has come of age during the last two decades , you have witnessed a fantastic disparity between the operations of the public sphere and the conventions of the private sphere .
There has been little accountability for government officials who presided over terrorist attacks , unsuccessful wars , financial crises , bailouts of financial institutions , bureaucratic dictates , a flawed response to a global pandemic , Depression-era levels of unemployment @ @ @ @ @ @ @ The relationship between economic input and output has gone haywire .
Young people find it hard to earn and save enough to escape debt , buy a home , and start a family .
Voting with the majority does not guarantee majority rule .
Racism persists despite Herculean efforts to suppress it .
Global warming threatens the fate of the planet , but no one does much about it .
No rationalization that elites provide for the status quo is persuasive to you .
And so you begin to look elsewhere for answers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ All Her Loveliness'—Some Reflections on Capitalism and the ‘ Free Society , ' '' published in the fall 1970 issue of the Public Interest , the magazine he co-edited with , at that time , Daniel Bell , Kristol admonished classical liberal and libertarian thinkers for neglecting the inherent weaknesses of democratic capitalism .
`` For a system of liberal , representative government to work , '' Kristol wrote , `` free elections are not enough .
The results of the political process and of the exercise of individual freedom—the distribution of power @ @ @ @ @ @ @ seen as in some profound sense expressive of the values that govern the lives of individuals . ''
In a stable society , people believe their conduct in private bears some relation to their behavior in public .
People believe their effort is in some sort of harmony with their reward .
People accept that the inequality endemic to a free society corresponds to some idea of distributive justice .
`` If it does not—if the principles that organize public life seem to have little relation to those that shape private lives—you have @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and a melting away of established principles of authority , '' Kristol wrote .
In the absence of institutions that cultivate republican virtue and leaders who model it , Americans , young ones in particular , have turned to the moral certitudes of the new progressivism .
It is the failure of American elites to articulate a compelling justification for the state of our economy and society that has brought the nation to this perilous impasse .
And until the defenders of the Founding are able to explain , in language persuasive to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ republican virtue are necessary for freedom and order and justice , they will continue to be on the defensive .
If the advocates of a free society wish to shape the future in any way , they had better get started reaffirming and demonstrating the moral basis of American civilization .
And soon .

In 1969, Irving Kristol was appointed Henry R. Luce professor of urban values at New York University's Stern School of Business. He delivered his inaugural lecture the following spring. Its title, "Urban Civilization and Its Discontents," a play off of Sigmund Freud's Civilization and Its Discontents, guaranteed the audience a typically wide-ranging presentation from a New York intellectual in the middle of a journey from anti-Communist liberal to neoconservative godfather.
Kristol's theme was the degradation of the American experiment from the Founding to the social unrest of the 1960s. "If it is proper to say that we experience the crisis of our cities, it is equally proper to say that we are the urban crisis," he began. "And what I want to suggest further is that one of the main reasons we are so problematic to ourselves is the fact that we are creating a democratic, urban civilization while stubbornly refusing to think clearly about the relation of urbanity to democracy."
The images of mass protests, of vandalism, arson, theft, and violence that have fixated the world since the killing of George Floyd in late May sent me back to Kristol's talk. As analogies to 1968 have filled the air, I thought it worthwhile to revisit how the foremost spokesman of the emerging neoconservative point of view interpreted his historical situation. The ethnic, racial, ideological, political, educational, and generational cleavages of Kristol's time seem to have been transposed on our own. And, like the generation of '68, the Millennial and Z generations contest not just the failure of America to live up to its ideals but, increasingly, the ideals themselves. Kristol's ideas help to explain why.
American democracy, Kristol told his audience in April 1970, is based on two pillars. The first is the "new science of politics" described by Publius in The Federalist. It consists of a complex and delicate constitutional architecture of separate and enumerated powers, checks and balances, and other devices of representative government in an extended republic. The second pillar is more elusive. It has been called many things—republican morality, civic virtue, republican virtue—but in essence, the Founders believed that a "spiritual order" was a necessary precondition for their government to work. "What they had constantly in mind," Kristol said, "was the willingness of the good democratic citizen, on critical occasions, to transcend the habitual pursuit of self-interest and devote himself directly and disinterestedly to the common good."
Over time, Kristol argued, the agrarian ethos the Founders believed to be more conducive to republican virtue and to self-government gave way to an urban spirit of flux, experimentation, ambition, self-invention, self-interest, and, ultimately, self-seeking. The government that the Founders had intended to act as an instrument of restraint for the purpose of securing natural rights became a mechanism for the satisfaction of appetitive special interests. The "middle class" took its place as the largest special interest of all.
By the middle of the 20th century, Kristol said, in words that echo in the present, the American people were "behaving in a way that would have alarmed the founding fathers even as it would have astonished them. To put it bluntly, they are more and more behaving like a collection of mobs."
How did this happen? The neoconservative analysis goes like this: Beginning in the 19th century, writers, artists, philosophers, and intellectuals adopted an adversarial stance toward the dominant "bourgeois" ethos of orthodox religiosity, marital fidelity, conventional morality, and traditional manners. With the advent of mass media and the rise of higher education in the 20th century, the adversarial impulse permeated the institutions of culture. It gained more adherents in each rising generation.
What Roger Scruton described as a "culture of repudiation" revised inherited understandings of history, politics, economics, society, art, psychology, and behavior. The philosophy of Darwin, Marx, and Freud deprived individuals of agency. It reduced them to mere products of the environment. The will of "the people," no matter its direction, was considered a good in itself. "What we may call the transcendental-populist religion of democracy," Kristol said, "superseded an original political philosophy of democracy."
The population fought over the dispensation of entitlements. But it shared a state of mind. "It is, to be precise, that state of mind," Kristol went on, "which lacks all those qualities that, in the opinion of the founding fathers, added up to republican morality: steadiness of character, deliberativeness of mind, and a mild predisposition to subordinate one's own special interests to the public interest."
The most important question, Kristol liked to say, was, "Why not?" Why not do drugs, consume porn, abandon your children, break into and steal from a Target store? The institutions that once supplied the answers to such questions—the family, the church, the community—receded in importance and withered in strength against the power of an adversary culture that embedded itself in media and government and the liberation of desires that accompanied conditions of security and affluence.
It became difficult to justify submission of the will to external moral authority. That those authorities were often bigoted or unjust gave rise to the additional demand of justice as a precondition of civil peace and order. But this was a non sequitur. Order is the basis of justice, not the other way around. "To demand 'justice' as a precondition for political or social stability," Kristol wrote in 1979, "is to make a demand on this world which the world has ever refused to concede."
In his NYU lecture, Kristol ascribed the discontents of America's urban civilization to an absence of values that functioned as the equivalent of republican virtue. No one was willing to restrain themselves for the public interest, to sacrifice in the present so others may benefit in the future. "The radicals of the 1960s," he wrote later in the decade, "were what they were because American society and American culture—which means we, the adults, permitted them (sometimes encouraged them) to grow up to be what they were."
It is not, as some think, that we failed to impose our adult beliefs upon our children. That would be an absurd enterprise. What we failed to do is to transmit adult values to them—values affirming the way one holds beliefs, which would have encouraged them to take their own and others' beliefs seriously, and to think coherently about them. And precisely because we adults encouraged our twenty-year-old children to be 'kids,' their rebellion so often resembled a bewildering and self-destructive tantrum.
These words never felt more relevant than in recent days, as I watched prominent figures in media and politics dismiss or justify the destruction of neighborhoods in which ethnic and racial minorities live and pray and work as legitimate expressions of anger and frustration.
And yet I also could not help thinking that there is a difference between Kristol's description of the student rebellion of the '60s and the current social unrest. It has to do with exactly this question of values. Kristol saw an absence of values then. I see them everywhere now.
What has been remarkable about the George Floyd protests is not so much the destruction and violence that accompanied some of them as their overall numbers, scope, and duration. The unjustifiable death of Floyd was a catalyst for demonstrations grounded not in spiritual torpor but in righteous conviction. This is a mass movement amplified by social and digital media and, in all probability, helped along by the joblessness and boredom that have accompanied months of coronavirus lockdowns. And it is a mass movement that most definitely stands for a set of values: what is known as "social justice" in its racial, sexual, economic, and environmental forms. The republican virtue of the Founders it is not. But, in its expansiveness, adaptability, and popularity, the ethos of social justice is as close as America gets to having a public philosophy.
It would be not only wrong but self-defeating to dismiss or pathologize the beliefs that inspire fellow citizens to march in the streets, post to Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and vote for Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren in the Democratic primaries. The ideas that motivate such activities are not the product of a conspiracy. They do not exist in a vacuum. What they are instead is the leading edge of an earnest and egalitarian new progressive morality that, through the prism of antiracism, understands American democracy to be fundamentally corrupt and based on a lie.
True, the means by which this new progressivism seeks to achieve its ends of "bold structural change" are somewhat hazy and repel most people. But the new progressivism nonetheless commands the devoted allegiance of millions, has a disproportionate influence on the media that shape American culture and thought, and exerts considerable pressure on the Democratic Party. If the '60s were in Kristol's view nihilistic, the past decade has been nothing if not moralistic. But it has been a jumble of fractured and competing moralities, each seeking to impose itself on unwilling and hostile competitors.
After all, the very phrase "virtue signaling" presupposes the existence of a virtue to signal. In the case of the new progressivism, such virtue is identified with antiracism, diversity, affinity, authenticity, and environmental consciousness. What has been missing from the public square—on both left and right—are the practices associated with republican virtue: temperance, prudence, moderation, self-control. For the most part, of course, the new progressives are upstanding citizens whose personal lives are as prosaic as that of any bourgeois. But this part of their lives is just that—personal—and when they go into public the new progressives are more content to preach the gospel of diversity, equality, and #resistance.
Where did the new progressives come from? One clue is that the most vocal and radical members of the new progressivism are under the age of 35. Colin Kaepernick, for example, is 32; Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is 30. If you are someone who has come of age during the last two decades, you have witnessed a fantastic disparity between the operations of the public sphere and the conventions of the private sphere. There has been little accountability for government officials who presided over terrorist attacks, unsuccessful wars, financial crises, bailouts of financial institutions, bureaucratic dictates, a flawed response to a global pandemic, Depression-era levels of unemployment, and egregious failures in policing.
The relationship between economic input and output has gone haywire. Young people find it hard to earn and save enough to escape debt, buy a home, and start a family. Voting with the majority does not guarantee majority rule. Racism persists despite Herculean efforts to suppress it. Global warming threatens the fate of the planet, but no one does much about it.
No rationalization that elites provide for the status quo is persuasive to you. And so you begin to look elsewhere for answers. In "'When Virtue Loses All Her Loveliness'—Some Reflections on Capitalism and the 'Free Society,'" published in the fall 1970 issue of the Public Interest, the magazine he co-edited with, at that time, Daniel Bell, Kristol admonished classical liberal and libertarian thinkers for neglecting the inherent weaknesses of democratic capitalism. "For a system of liberal, representative government to work," Kristol wrote, "free elections are not enough. The results of the political process and of the exercise of individual freedom—the distribution of power, privilege, and property—must also be seen as in some profound sense expressive of the values that govern the lives of individuals."
In a stable society, people believe their conduct in private bears some relation to their behavior in public. People believe their effort is in some sort of harmony with their reward. People accept that the inequality endemic to a free society corresponds to some idea of distributive justice. "If it does not—if the principles that organize public life seem to have little relation to those that shape private lives—you have 'alienation,' and anomie, and a melting away of established principles of authority," Kristol wrote.
In the absence of institutions that cultivate republican virtue and leaders who model it, Americans, young ones in particular, have turned to the moral certitudes of the new progressivism. It is the failure of American elites to articulate a compelling justification for the state of our economy and society that has brought the nation to this perilous impasse. And until the defenders of the Founding are able to explain, in language persuasive to every American, why both constitutionalism and republican virtue are necessary for freedom and order and justice, they will continue to be on the defensive. If the advocates of a free society wish to shape the future in any way, they had better get started reaffirming and demonstrating the moral basis of American civilization. And soon.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--QUIZ: Who Said It: Activist or Journalist?

For some time now , the commentary from political journalists has been increasingly hard to distinguish from the commentary from political activists .
Think you can tell the difference ?
Read the quotes .
Take the quiz .
Watch the video to find the answers .
1 ) `` The president seems to think that dominating black people , dominating peaceful protesters is law and order .
It 's not . ''
2 ) `` American history is one in which white Americans , by and large , have been taught to have indifference or even contempt for black life @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a white nation where people of color are here on a guest pass . ''
3 ) `` Let 's be clear : Donald Trump wants to divide and conquer America so he can loot us all . ''
4 ) `` It is for the folks that he knows will stick with him no matter what .
It is for , he thinks , dumb faith leaders who will fall for this stunt… .
We 're seeing the depths and the darkness of those culture wars and where he is willing to @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' 5 ) `` Please , show me where it says that protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful .
Because I can show you that outraged citizens are the ones who have made America what she is . ''
6 ) `` What is happening in America is that white nationalism ideology is running wild , and the reason why buildings are burning is because this city , this state , would prefer preserving that white nationalism and that white supremacist mindset over arresting , charging , and helping to convict @ @ @ @ @ @ @ . ''
7 ) `` Yes , it is disturbing to see property being destroyed , it is disturbing to see people taking property from stores , but these are things… .
Destroying property , which can be replaced , is not violence . ''
8 ) `` Racism is not just against black people , it is against democracy itself . ''
9 ) `` Open your eyes , America .
Open your eyes .
We are teetering on a dictatorship .
This is chaos… .
Is the president declaring war on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' 10 ) `` You can ’ t curfew the truth .
It will find a way out .
Truth crushed to earth shall rise again . ''

For some time now, the commentary from political journalists has been increasingly hard to distinguish from the commentary from political activists. Think you can tell the difference? Read the quotes. Take the quiz. Watch the video to find the answers.
1) "The president seems to think that dominating black people, dominating peaceful protesters is law and order. It's not."
2) "American history is one in which white Americans, by and large, have been taught to have indifference or even contempt for black life. We have defined the country as a white nation where people of color are here on a guest pass."
3) "Let's be clear: Donald Trump wants to divide and conquer America so he can loot us all."
4) "It is for the folks that he knows will stick with him no matter what. It is for, he thinks, dumb faith leaders who will fall for this stunt.... We're seeing the depths and the darkness of those culture wars and where he is willing to go in a moment like this."
5) "Please, show me where it says that protesters are supposed to be polite and peaceful. Because I can show you that outraged citizens are the ones who have made America what she is."
6) "What is happening in America is that white nationalism ideology is running wild, and the reason why buildings are burning is because this city, this state, would prefer preserving that white nationalism and that white supremacist mindset over arresting, charging, and helping to convict four officers who killed a black man."
7) "Yes, it is disturbing to see property being destroyed, it is disturbing to see people taking property from stores, but these are things.... Destroying property, which can be replaced, is not violence."
8) "Racism is not just against black people, it is against democracy itself."
9) "Open your eyes, America. Open your eyes. We are teetering on a dictatorship. This is chaos.... Is the president declaring war on Americans? What is happening here?"
10) "You can’t curfew the truth. It will find a way out. Truth crushed to earth shall rise again."
ANSWERS:


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Appeals Court Bench Blocks Universal Vote-By-Mail In Texas

The Fifth U.S .
Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday blocked an order requiring Texas officials to make mail-in ballots available to any voter who wants one due to the coronavirus ahead of elections in July .
Mail-in ballots are available in Texas if the applicant is over the age of 65 .
Voters under 65 must demonstrate that they will be outside the state or have a disability to vote by mail .
Texas Democrats challenged those rules , arguing among other things that they violate equal protection and the 26th Amendment 's bar on age discrimination in voting @ @ @ @ @ @ @ with the Democratic plaintiffs in a May 19 order requiring the state to make vote-by-mail available to virtually all Texans .
The Fifth Circuit decision includes pointed rebukes of Biery 's order , predicting his decision `` will be remembered more for audacity than legal reasoning . ''
Voters will cast ballots on July 14 in about 30 primary races where no candidate attained a majority of the vote .
Among numerous other state and federal races , Democrats M.J. Hegar and Royce West are vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in the November general election .
Early voting for the primary runoffs begins on June 29 .
State officials expanded the early voting period to disperse turnout and reduce the possibility that polling precincts will become vectors of transmission .
After Thursday 's decision , mail-in ballots will only be available to those who ordinarily qualify under the state 's rules .
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said the decision would ensure the integrity of the election .
`` Allowing universal mail-in ballots , which are particularly vulnerable to fraud , would only @ @ @ @ @ @ @ lawful voters .
The unanimous Fifth Circuit ruling puts a stop to this blatant violation of Texas law . ''
Judge Jerry Smith delivered the court 's opinion .
Judge James Ho joined Smith 's ruling and wrote his own separate opinion .
Judge Gregg Costa concurred in the bottom-line outcome only .
Smith , relying on a 1969 Supreme Court precedent , said the Texas rules do not jeopardize the right to vote , since the precinct place is open to all comers .
He said the case simply presents `` a @ @ @ @ @ @ @ '' which the state can lawfully deny for any number of reasons .
`` That [ rule ] , which is designed to make voting more available to some groups who can not easily get to the polls , does not itself deny the plaintiffs the exercise of the franchise , '' Smith wrote .
`` The plaintiffs are welcome and permitted to vote , and there is no indication that they are in fact absolutely prohibited from voting by the state . ''
He elsewhere noted that elections officials are implementing various @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` Texas plans to implement measures to protect those who go to the polls , '' he wrote .
`` Those measures include the bread and butter of social distancing , such as protective masks for election workers , plentiful cleaning wipes and hand sanitizer , cotton swabs for contacting touch screens , and floor decals inside the polling places that show where voters should stand . ''
The decision includes particularly sharp criticisms of Biery 's order , noting his decision cites among other authorities `` the Declaration of Independence , the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ various poems . ''
In one section of his decision , Biery said Texas 's refusal to extend vote by mail during the pandemic suggests a ploy to keep younger voters away from the polls `` because of the way they may vote . ''
`` Instead of searching for a conceivable basis for the rules , the court jerry-rigged some straw men and proceeded to burn them , '' Smith wrote of Biery 's contention .
In a separate opinion , Ho argued that Biery 's order would actually undermine voting rights @ @ @ @ @ @ @ groups unequally , they must fix the problem by extending equal treatment to everyone or scrap the benefit altogether .
If Biery is correct , Ho warned , then this case calls for abolishing Texas 's entire vote-by-mail system .
`` Surely plaintiffs do not want a ‘ leveling-down ' injunction—after all , depriving the elderly of mail-in voting would seem antithetical to the spirit of their lawsuit , '' Ho wrote .
`` But it may be the only relief courts are authorized to provide . ''
The case is No .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @

The Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Thursday blocked an order requiring Texas officials to make mail-in ballots available to any voter who wants one due to the coronavirus ahead of elections in July.
Mail-in ballots are available in Texas if the applicant is over the age of 65. Voters under 65 must demonstrate that they will be outside the state or have a disability to vote by mail. Texas Democrats challenged those rules, arguing among other things that they violate equal protection and the 26th Amendment's bar on age discrimination in voting.
U.S. District Judge Fred Biery sided with the Democratic plaintiffs in a May 19 order requiring the state to make vote-by-mail available to virtually all Texans. The Fifth Circuit decision includes pointed rebukes of Biery's order, predicting his decision "will be remembered more for audacity than legal reasoning."
Voters will cast ballots on July 14 in about 30 primary races where no candidate attained a majority of the vote. Among numerous other state and federal races, Democrats M.J. Hegar and Royce West are vying for the Democratic nomination to challenge Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) in the November general election. Early voting for the primary runoffs begins on June 29. State officials expanded the early voting period to disperse turnout and reduce the possibility that polling precincts will become vectors of transmission. After Thursday's decision, mail-in ballots will only be available to those who ordinarily qualify under the state's rules.
Texas attorney general Ken Paxton said the decision would ensure the integrity of the election.
"Allowing universal mail-in ballots, which are particularly vulnerable to fraud, would only lead to greater election fraud and disenfranchise lawful voters. The unanimous Fifth Circuit ruling puts a stop to this blatant violation of Texas law."
Judge Jerry Smith delivered the court's opinion. Judge James Ho joined Smith's ruling and wrote his own separate opinion. Judge Gregg Costa concurred in the bottom-line outcome only.
Smith, relying on a 1969 Supreme Court precedent, said the Texas rules do not jeopardize the right to vote, since the precinct place is open to all comers. He said the case simply presents "a claimed right to receive absentee ballots," which the state can lawfully deny for any number of reasons.
"That [rule], which is designed to make voting more available to some groups who cannot easily get to the polls, does not itself deny the plaintiffs the exercise of the franchise," Smith wrote. "The plaintiffs are welcome and permitted to vote, and there is no indication that they are in fact absolutely prohibited from voting by the state."
He elsewhere noted that elections officials are implementing various public health measures to protect voters.
"Texas plans to implement measures to protect those who go to the polls," he wrote. "Those measures include the bread and butter of social distancing, such as protective masks for election workers, plentiful cleaning wipes and hand sanitizer, cotton swabs for contacting touch screens, and floor decals inside the polling places that show where voters should stand."
The decision includes particularly sharp criticisms of Biery's order, noting his decision cites among other authorities "the Declaration of Independence, the Gettysburg Address, the Bible, and various poems." In one section of his decision, Biery said Texas's refusal to extend vote by mail during the pandemic suggests a ploy to keep younger voters away from the polls "because of the way they may vote."
"Instead of searching for a conceivable basis for the rules, the court jerry-rigged some straw men and proceeded to burn them," Smith wrote of Biery's contention.
In a separate opinion, Ho argued that Biery's order would actually undermine voting rights. When courts find a law treats groups unequally, they must fix the problem by extending equal treatment to everyone or scrap the benefit altogether. If Biery is correct, Ho warned, then this case calls for abolishing Texas's entire vote-by-mail system.
"Surely plaintiffs do not want a 'leveling-down' injunction—after all, depriving the elderly of mail-in voting would seem antithetical to the spirit of their lawsuit," Ho wrote. "But it may be the only relief courts are authorized to provide."
The case is No. 20-50407 Texas Democratic Party v. Abbott.
Texas Democratic Party v. A... by Washington Free Beacon on Scribd


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Hickenlooper Guilty on Ethics Charge

Hickenlooper Guilty on Ethics Charge

A state ethics committee ruled on Friday that former Colorado governor and current Senate candidate John Hickenlooper ( D. ) violated a ban on accepting gifts while in office .
The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission decided that Hickenlooper 's flight on a campaign donor 's private jet , as well as his attendance at a conference in Italy , violated the ban , according to the Colorado Sun .
Hickenlooper initially refused to appear at the hearing , prompting the condemnation of a federal judge and members of the commission .
`` If we allow this kind of special privately @ @ @ @ @ @ @ accentuates the cynicism in the public that led to Amendment 41 , '' one commission member said .
The amendment , adopted in 2006 , placed a ban on elected officials accepting gifts while in office .
The commission unanimously voted to hold Hickenlooper in contempt of court after he refused to appear at a remote hearing .
He became the first person in the state to be held in contempt by the commission , and he eventually appeared on Friday .
Hickenlooper defied both a judge 's order and a subpoena from @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
He claimed the remote format , adopted because of the coronavirus pandemic , would not lead to a fair trial .
His Senate campaign spokeswoman also called the complaints `` politically motivated . ''
The Public Trust Institute filed two complaints against Hickenlooper alleging that the plane travel violated Amendment 41 and that Hickenlooper 's administration covered up the trips by redacting the travel expenses from the public record .
The commission found that two other charges relating to other private flights did not violate the ban .
Despite his rhetoric decrying @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Hickenlooper 's senatorial campaign has accepted more than $ 1 million in corporate donations , along with hundreds of thousands in donations from corporate-backed PACs .
The failed presidential candidate is vying for the opportunity to take on incumbent senator Cory Gardner ( R. , Colo. ) in November .
The Democratic primary is set to be held on June 30 .
UPDATED : 8:14 p.m .
This article has been updated with the development that the commission found Hickenlooper responsible for a second violation for his attendance at a conference in @ @

A state ethics committee ruled on Friday that former Colorado governor and current Senate candidate John Hickenlooper (D.) violated a ban on accepting gifts while in office.
The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission decided that Hickenlooper's flight on a campaign donor's private jet, as well as his attendance at a conference in Italy, violated the ban, according to the Colorado Sun. Hickenlooper initially refused to appear at the hearing, prompting the condemnation of a federal judge and members of the commission.
"If we allow this kind of special privately financed treatment for elected officials it just accentuates the cynicism in the public that led to Amendment 41," one commission member said. The amendment, adopted in 2006, placed a ban on elected officials accepting gifts while in office.
The commission unanimously voted to hold Hickenlooper in contempt of court after he refused to appear at a remote hearing. He became the first person in the state to be held in contempt by the commission, and he eventually appeared on Friday.
Hickenlooper defied both a judge's order and a subpoena from the commission to appear at the hearing. He claimed the remote format, adopted because of the coronavirus pandemic, would not lead to a fair trial.
His Senate campaign spokeswoman also called the complaints "politically motivated."
The Public Trust Institute filed two complaints against Hickenlooper alleging that the plane travel violated Amendment 41 and that Hickenlooper's administration covered up the trips by redacting the travel expenses from the public record.
The commission found that two other charges relating to other private flights did not violate the ban.
Despite his rhetoric decrying the influence of corporate money in politics, Hickenlooper's senatorial campaign has accepted more than $1 million in corporate donations, along with hundreds of thousands in donations from corporate-backed PACs.
The failed presidential candidate is vying for the opportunity to take on incumbent senator Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) in November. The Democratic primary is set to be held on June 30.
UPDATED: 8:14 p.m. This article has been updated with the development that the commission found Hickenlooper responsible for a second violation for his attendance at a conference in Italy.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Wisconsin Officials Change Guidance for Religious Gatherings After Legal Pressure

Public health officials in Wisconsin changed their coronavirus guidance to lift a cap on in-person gatherings for religious services .
The new order treats religious gatherings the same as businesses rather than mass gatherings .
In addition to changing the guidance , the Dane County public health department issued a joint press release with the city of Madison saying that the changes were made to avoid a legal battle with the Madison Catholic Diocese .
The new guidance removes a cap on 50-person gatherings and now caps religious gatherings at 25 percent capacity .
Previous guidance had treated religious congregations @ @ @ @ @ @ @ like sporting events , concerts , or festivals .
The guidance limited these events to a 50-person maximum while allowing businesses to operate at 25 percent capacity .
In addition to limiting capacity , businesses and religious entities are required to provide written policies for cleaning , hygiene , and social distancing , according to the new order .
The county stated the change was made to avoid `` spending tens of thousands of dollars on costly legal proceedings '' and will allow the county to continue focusing on the coronavirus crisis .
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ law firm , wrote a letter to the department on behalf of the diocese criticizing the department 's order for limiting religious gatherings `` without regard to the size or configuration of the venue , mitigation precautions in effect , or any other scientifically-relevant , event-specific consideration . ''
`` To be clear , the Church has no particular interest in litigation or in a protracted dispute or an uncooperative relationship with civil authorities , '' the letter said .
`` However , the Church is legally and morally entitled to be treated @ @ @ @ @ @ @ that have been permitted to reopen up to 25 percent capacity . ''
The letter also explained the measures churches would take to minimize the risk of virus transmission .
The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison praised the decision , saying `` in a time of deep division , it is more important than ever for the Church to provide solace and comfort to all , in the great tradition of American religious freedom . ''
Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the previous order was specifically intended to prevent coronavirus @ @ @ @ @ @ @ of this order was to reduce the risk of a flare-up of COVID-19 occurring in churches that could quickly overwhelm Public Health contact tracing and our healthcare systems , '' she said .
`` I am appreciative of the number of religious denominations that are being mindful of the risk of congregating large groups in enclosed spaces right now . ''

Public health officials in Wisconsin changed their coronavirus guidance to lift a cap on in-person gatherings for religious services. The new order treats religious gatherings the same as businesses rather than mass gatherings.
In addition to changing the guidance, the Dane County public health department issued a joint press release with the city of Madison saying that the changes were made to avoid a legal battle with the Madison Catholic Diocese.
The new guidance removes a cap on 50-person gatherings and now caps religious gatherings at 25 percent capacity. Previous guidance had treated religious congregations the same as other mass gatherings, like sporting events, concerts, or festivals. The guidance limited these events to a 50-person maximum while allowing businesses to operate at 25 percent capacity.
In addition to limiting capacity, businesses and religious entities are required to provide written policies for cleaning, hygiene, and social distancing, according to the new order.
The county stated the change was made to avoid "spending tens of thousands of dollars on costly legal proceedings" and will allow the county to continue focusing on the coronavirus crisis.
The Becket Fund, a religious liberty law firm, wrote a letter to the department on behalf of the diocese criticizing the department's order for limiting religious gatherings "without regard to the size or configuration of the venue, mitigation precautions in effect, or any other scientifically-relevant, event-specific consideration."
"To be clear, the Church has no particular interest in litigation or in a protracted dispute or an uncooperative relationship with civil authorities," the letter said. "However, the Church is legally and morally entitled to be treated equally with other similarly situated nonreligious associations that have been permitted to reopen up to 25 percent capacity."
The letter also explained the measures churches would take to minimize the risk of virus transmission.
The bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison praised the decision, saying "in a time of deep division, it is more important than ever for the Church to provide solace and comfort to all, in the great tradition of American religious freedom."
Madison mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said the previous order was specifically intended to prevent coronavirus outbreaks in churches.
"The intent of this order was to reduce the risk of a flare-up of COVID-19 occurring in churches that could quickly overwhelm Public Health contact tracing and our healthcare systems," she said. "I am appreciative of the number of religious denominations that are being mindful of the risk of congregating large groups in enclosed spaces right now."


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Behold the Next Frontier in Corporate Wokeness

An idea is percolating in the hive mind of social media wokeness .
`` Defund the police , '' says @ @ @ @ @ Brian Fallon .
`` Disband [ the police ] and reimagine public safety , '' @ @ @ @ @ D. , Minn. ) .
`` Abolish the police , '' say all the wokest @ @ @ @ @ a matter of time before America 's largest corporations start lining up to express their @ @ @ @ @ .
MORE : Woke Capitalism On The March : Corporate Ads Are Getting Thirstier And @ @ @ @ @ first in line… And other companies looking to cash in… Followed by everyone else…

An idea is percolating in the hive mind of social media wokeness.
"Defund the police," says former Obama Justice Department spokesman Brian Fallon. "Disband [the police] and reimagine public safety," says Rep. Ilhan Omar (D., Minn.). "Abolish the police," say all the wokest libs.
It is only a matter of time before America's largest corporations start lining up to express their performative allegiance to the cause.
MORE: Woke Capitalism On The March: Corporate Ads Are Getting Thirstier And Thirstier
Nike would obviously be first in line...
Followed by Big Tech...
And other companies looking to cash in...
Followed by everyone else...


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Whitmer Dodges Coronavirus Oversight Probe

Michigan 's Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer refused an invitation to testify before a special oversight committee created by the state legislature to examine her widely criticized handling of the coronavirus pandemic .
Republican state lawmakers on Thursday requested that Whitmer testify before the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic , which was created after the governor awarded a lucrative coronavirus-related contract to a major Democratic consulting firm that had previously worked for her campaign .
Whitmer said she would not testify during a Friday press conference , citing the legislature 's ongoing lawsuit over her use of executive authority @ @ @ @ @ @ @ point we are in a legal battle and I do n't think that testifying in front of the committee makes a lot of sense , '' Whitmer said .
`` So I wo n't be accepting the invitation . ''
Committee chairman Matt Hall slammed Whitmer 's decision in a Friday statement , saying the governor `` did n't even wait 24 hours to decide she was not willing to be honest and forthright with them . ''
`` The COVID-19 outbreak has ushered in unprecedented times for our state , altering lives @ @ @ @ @ @ @ they do n't have a voice as decisions are being made , '' Hall said .
`` Our committee has allowed people to have a platform to make their voice heard , so I am disappointed the governor will not offer Michigan residents the clarity they need and deserve by testifying before our select committee . ''
Whitmer , a potential vice presidential candidate , initially said she would `` absolutely '' allow administration officials to testify before the committee if requested during a May press conference .
Her spokeswoman later walked back @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` do their best to accommodate requests to participate . ''
The committee currently has the power to subpoena documents but can not compel state officials to testify .
Whitmer rescinded the state 's contact tracing contract—which would have paid Democratic political consultant Mike Kolehouse and liberal data firm NGP VAN to collect sensitive health data—just hours after announcing it .
She went on to blame the decision on the state 's health department , saying `` when it was brought to my attention , I told them to cancel it . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ Whitmer aides gave the deal the `` green light '' after changing the names of the organizations listed in the contract to appear less partisan .
`` We got the green light from EOG [ executive office of the governor ] to move forward with a slightly different organizational arrangement of the contact tracing volunteer work , '' health department senior adviser Andrea Taverna wrote .
`` This would still be working with Mike Kolehouse , so work there is n't lost—it 's just organized somewhat differently . ''
The emails also show @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , which would have seen Kolehouse earn nearly $ 200,000 , days before it was signed .
`` Why are we spending money on this instead of trying to work with google or Microsoft on tracing through smartphones , '' department senior deputy director Elizabeth Hertel wrote .
`` This seems a bit antiquated . ''
Whitmer 's office did not respond to a request for comment on the decision and did not reveal whether Whitmer would be willing to testify following the conclusion of the lawsuit .

Michigan's Democratic governor Gretchen Whitmer refused an invitation to testify before a special oversight committee created by the state legislature to examine her widely criticized handling of the coronavirus pandemic.
Republican state lawmakers on Thursday requested that Whitmer testify before the Joint Select Committee on the COVID-19 Pandemic, which was created after the governor awarded a lucrative coronavirus-related contract to a major Democratic consulting firm that had previously worked for her campaign. Whitmer said she would not testify during a Friday press conference, citing the legislature's ongoing lawsuit over her use of executive authority throughout the pandemic.
"At this point we are in a legal battle and I don't think that testifying in front of the committee makes a lot of sense," Whitmer said. "So I won't be accepting the invitation."
Committee chairman Matt Hall slammed Whitmer's decision in a Friday statement, saying the governor "didn't even wait 24 hours to decide she was not willing to be honest and forthright with them."
"The COVID-19 outbreak has ushered in unprecedented times for our state, altering lives and livelihoods. Many people feel like they don't have a voice as decisions are being made," Hall said. "Our committee has allowed people to have a platform to make their voice heard, so I am disappointed the governor will not offer Michigan residents the clarity they need and deserve by testifying before our select committee."
Whitmer, a potential vice presidential candidate, initially said she would "absolutely" allow administration officials to testify before the committee if requested during a May press conference. Her spokeswoman later walked back the pledge, saying state officials would "do their best to accommodate requests to participate." The committee currently has the power to subpoena documents but cannot compel state officials to testify.
Whitmer rescinded the state's contact tracing contract—which would have paid Democratic political consultant Mike Kolehouse and liberal data firm NGP VAN to collect sensitive health data—just hours after announcing it. She went on to blame the decision on the state's health department, saying "when it was brought to my attention, I told them to cancel it." However, internal emails show that top Whitmer aides gave the deal the "green light" after changing the names of the organizations listed in the contract to appear less partisan.
"We got the green light from EOG [executive office of the governor] to move forward with a slightly different organizational arrangement of the contact tracing volunteer work," health department senior adviser Andrea Taverna wrote. "This would still be working with Mike Kolehouse, so work there isn't lost—it's just organized somewhat differently."
The emails also show that health department officials questioned the contract, which would have seen Kolehouse earn nearly $200,000, days before it was signed.
"Why are we spending money on this instead of trying to work with google or Microsoft on tracing through smartphones," department senior deputy director Elizabeth Hertel wrote. "This seems a bit antiquated."
Whitmer's office did not respond to a request for comment on the decision and did not reveal whether Whitmer would be willing to testify following the conclusion of the lawsuit.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Ossoff: Local Law Enforcement Should Not Enforce Federal Immigration Law

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff said Saturday that local law enforcement should not enforce federal immigration law because it betrays the `` bonds of trust '' police should have with the community .
`` I do n't think it 's the role of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law , '' he said during an online town hall with the College Democrats of Georgia .
`` It is important that there be bonds of trust between local law enforcement and local communities… .
We ca n't live in a society where people are afraid to call the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ their home , because everyone 's going to get their papers checked when the local PD arrives . ''
College Democrats of Georgia president Bhavin Patel , who asked Ossoff about his immigration views , told the Washington Free Beacon he took the answer as an endorsement of so-called sanctuary cities .
The term refers to municipalities that do not enforce federal immigration laws .
Some cities , counties , and even entire states prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement ( ICE ) or Customs @ @ @ @ @ @ @ `` I agreed with Jon that local law enforcement should not be required to enforce federal immigration law , which I understood as an endorsement of sanctuary cities , '' he wrote in an email .
`` Jon explained that there should be ‘ bonds of trust between local law enforcement and communities . '
I agree with Jon because it is profoundly unsafe to have local law enforcement act as de facto federal immigration agents for enforcing the federal immigration law . ''
Ossoff 's campaign did not respond to multiple requests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ sanctuary cities .
Ossoff also called the 287 ( g ) program—a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act enabling state and local law enforcement to assist federal immigration authorities— '' misguided . ''
Renewed by the Georgia Department of Corrections in February , it is a voluntary program that deputizes law enforcement agencies to assist ICE in identifying and apprehending illegal immigrants .
`` Nobody is compelling them to enforce federal immigration laws , '' Federation for American Immigration Reform spokesman Ira Mehlman said .
`` Many police departments have been using @ @ @ @ @ @ @ simply local governments deciding on their own that this is beneficial to their community . ''
Ossoff also said he would target those who hire illegal immigrants and that the country needs border control .
`` That 's what makes us a country… .
This is n't something that a lot of Democrats say , '' he said .
`` It is right that we have a problem that we do n't know and ca n't control who 's flowing across our borders .
We need to fix that problem . ''
In @ @ @ @ @ @ @ in Georgia , Ossoff is hoping to face off against Sen. David Perdue ( R. ) .
He faces Democrats Teresa Tomlinson and Sarah Riggs Amico in Tuesday 's primary to receive the party 's nomination .

Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Jon Ossoff said Saturday that local law enforcement should not enforce federal immigration law because it betrays the "bonds of trust" police should have with the community.
"I don't think it's the role of local law enforcement to enforce federal immigration law," he said during an online town hall with the College Democrats of Georgia. "It is important that there be bonds of trust between local law enforcement and local communities.... We can't live in a society where people are afraid to call the police while someone's being assaulted in their home, because everyone's going to get their papers checked when the local PD arrives."
College Democrats of Georgia president Bhavin Patel, who asked Ossoff about his immigration views, told the Washington Free Beacon he took the answer as an endorsement of so-called sanctuary cities. The term refers to municipalities that do not enforce federal immigration laws. Some cities, counties, and even entire states prevent local law enforcement from cooperating with federal agencies like Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) or Customs and Border Protection against illegal immigration.
"I agreed with Jon that local law enforcement should not be required to enforce federal immigration law, which I understood as an endorsement of sanctuary cities," he wrote in an email. "Jon explained that there should be 'bonds of trust between local law enforcement and communities.' I agree with Jon because it is profoundly unsafe to have local law enforcement act as de facto federal immigration agents for enforcing the federal immigration law."
Ossoff's campaign did not respond to multiple requests for comment on his immigration policy and sanctuary cities.
Ossoff also called the 287(g) program—a section of the Immigration and Nationality Act enabling state and local law enforcement to assist federal immigration authorities—"misguided." Renewed by the Georgia Department of Corrections in February, it is a voluntary program that deputizes law enforcement agencies to assist ICE in identifying and apprehending illegal immigrants.
"Nobody is compelling them to enforce federal immigration laws," Federation for American Immigration Reform spokesman Ira Mehlman said. "Many police departments have been using these programs for years. This is simply local governments deciding on their own that this is beneficial to their community."
Ossoff also said he would target those who hire illegal immigrants and that the country needs border control.
"That's what makes us a country.... This isn't something that a lot of Democrats say," he said. "It is right that we have a problem that we don't know and can't control who's flowing across our borders. We need to fix that problem."
In one of the two 2020 Senate races in Georgia, Ossoff is hoping to face off against Sen. David Perdue (R.). He faces Democrats Teresa Tomlinson and Sarah Riggs Amico in Tuesday's primary to receive the party's nomination.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Students Press Universities To Cut Ties with Cops

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities ( UMN ) announced it will end contracts with the Minneapolis Police Department following the death of George Floyd , sparking nationwide calls for colleges to cut ties with local law enforcement .
UMN president Joan Gabel announced in a letter the school would no longer contract with the Minneapolis Police Department to provide law enforcement support for large university events , such as football games .
The order extends not only to crowd control , but to `` specialized services , '' including bomb detection dogs .
UMN 's divestment came after Jael @ @ @ @ @ @ @ body president , demanded the university cease all partnerships with the Minneapolis police .
`` We clearly and without hesitation DEMAND that the University of Minnesota Police Department ceases [ sic ] any partnerships with the Minneapolis Police Department immediately , '' Kerandi wrote in a letter to top university officials .
`` A man was murdered .
It is our job as an institution to exert whatever pressure we can to keep our students safe and demand justice in our city and state .
We expect a reply to this concern within @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signed the note as `` Jael Kerandi A black woman . ''
She did not respond to request for comment .
A spokesman for UMN said the college `` will partner with other law enforcement agencies '' for security needs that campus police can not handle .
He said UMN is in the process of `` considering its options for these services in the future , '' but noted the current health pandemic does not currently permit the university to host any large events .
UMN 's police chief and the Minneapolis Police @ @ @ @ @ @ @ comment .
The movement to sever ties with local police departments has spread nationwide thanks to a petition that has won the support of graduate students , union members , and campus activists .
The statement calls for universities to break ties with police departments and `` private security companies , '' redirect divested funds to provide educational opportunities for communities impacted by police violence , commit resources to community-led police alternatives , propose plans to stop racial profiling by campus police , and issue statements condemning the murder of Floyd .
As @ @ @ @ @ @ @ signatures from 113 unions and organizations and 2,255 individuals .
The petitioners also called on union organizations—including the nation 's largest labor group , the AFL-CIO—to break ties with all police unions .
The AFL-CIO did not respond to requests for comment .
Calls for police divestment are not unique to colleges .
On Tuesday , Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar ( D. ) called for all public schools to end contracts with the police , including police resource officers .
`` Police brutality does n't just happen in the streets… .
It happens @ @ @ @ @ @ @ .
Some Democrats in Congress are calling to completely defund and abolish the police .
Rep. Rashida Tlaib ( D. , Mich. ) , said police should be defunded because of `` decades of structural racism that created the system that allows police officer after police officer off the hook for murders . ''

The University of Minnesota Twin Cities (UMN) announced it will end contracts with the Minneapolis Police Department following the death of George Floyd, sparking nationwide calls for colleges to cut ties with local law enforcement.
UMN president Joan Gabel announced in a letter the school would no longer contract with the Minneapolis Police Department to provide law enforcement support for large university events, such as football games. The order extends not only to crowd control, but to "specialized services," including bomb detection dogs. UMN's divestment came after Jael Kerandi, the school's undergraduate student body president, demanded the university cease all partnerships with the Minneapolis police.
"We clearly and without hesitation DEMAND that the University of Minnesota Police Department ceases [sic] any partnerships with the Minneapolis Police Department immediately," Kerandi wrote in a letter to top university officials. "A man was murdered. It is our job as an institution to exert whatever pressure we can to keep our students safe and demand justice in our city and state. We expect a reply to this concern within 24 hours of receipt."
Kerandi signed the note as "Jael Kerandi A black woman." She did not respond to request for comment.
A spokesman for UMN said the college "will partner with other law enforcement agencies" for security needs that campus police cannot handle. He said UMN is in the process of "considering its options for these services in the future," but noted the current health pandemic does not currently permit the university to host any large events. UMN's police chief and the Minneapolis Police Department did not respond to requests for comment.
The movement to sever ties with local police departments has spread nationwide thanks to a petition that has won the support of graduate students, union members, and campus activists. The statement calls for universities to break ties with police departments and "private security companies," redirect divested funds to provide educational opportunities for communities impacted by police violence, commit resources to community-led police alternatives, propose plans to stop racial profiling by campus police, and issue statements condemning the murder of Floyd.
As of June 5, the petition had signatures from 113 unions and organizations and 2,255 individuals. The petitioners also called on union organizations—including the nation's largest labor group, the AFL-CIO—to break ties with all police unions. The AFL-CIO did not respond to requests for comment.
Calls for police divestment are not unique to colleges. On Tuesday, Minnesota representative Ilhan Omar (D.) called for all public schools to end contracts with the police, including police resource officers. "Police brutality doesn't just happen in the streets.... It happens in our schools," she said.
Some Democrats in Congress are calling to completely defund and abolish the police. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D., Mich.), said police should be defunded because of "decades of structural racism that created the system that allows police officer after police officer off the hook for murders."


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Mob Rule at the New York Times

Mob Rule at the New York Times

Sen. Tom Cotton ( R. , Ark . )
made a compelling argument on Wednesday for deploying federal troops to quell the rioting and looting that has afflicted cities across the country .
But instead of bringing order to the streets , Cotton 's column has hurled a Molotov cocktail into the New York Times .
The still-raging fire has revealed a near-total breakdown of leadership and discipline at the paper and put the lie to long-running claims by Times brass about the distinction between the paper 's news and editorial arms .
The wokest cub reporters and graphic designers @ @ @ @ @ @ @ now liquidating dissenters .
`` The buck stops here '' is a worthy precept for managers .
It is not one that the Times ‘ s editorial page editor , James Bennet , seems willing to adhere to under threat of mob justice for the accomplices to Cotton 's thought crimes .
His response to the backlash was to disclaim any involvement in the column 's publication .
Instead , Bennet told staffers that he had n't actually read the piece before publication and declined an interview request with his own paper on @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , James Dao .
The Times ‘ s news report on the controversy blamed a 25-year-old editor whose use of emojis on an internal Slack channel has now been leaked and dissected .
That Bennet , a former White House correspondent and Jerusalem bureau chief at the paper , is among the handful of executives contending to succeed Times executive editor Dean Baquet tells you everything you need to know about the state of leadership at the Times .
Compare Bennet 's response with the Wall Street Journal ‘ s handling of protests @ @ @ @ @ @ @ a recent opinion section headline they argued was offensive to China .
The powers that be at Dow Jones expressed regret for causing offense but remained unmoved , even when the Chinese revoked the credentials of its news reporters operating in their country .
Unlike at the Times , the news and opinion sections have no revolving door or cross-pollination .
Bennet 's underlings have comported themselves with the same childishness as their boss .
When opinion contributor Bari Weiss shared her analysis of the `` civil war '' convulsing the paper , @ @ @ @ @ @ @ her views , they accused her of willful dishonesty and of acting in bad faith , the new catchall for any argument suddenly beyond the pale of woke discourse .
A member of the Times editorial board , Carol Giacomo , retweeted the following sentiment about Weiss : `` Anyone who has participated in this person 's rise in the journalism world should be ashamed . ''
As the members of the opinion pages treated each other , so were they treated by Times brass .
Just hours after Bennet issued a statement @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ? )
to publish Cotton 's op-ed , a spokeswoman for the paper announced that , actually , the piece did not meet unidentified editorial standards .
Cotton 's office has said it received no advance notice that the paper would denounce what it had previously sanctioned and no explanation for what standards the senator 's work had failed to meet .
The entire incident has confirmed the cynical view of many on the right that there is no meaningful distinction between the Times ‘ s editorial and news operations .
Consider the @ @ @ @ @ @ @ ’ s 1619 Project is , ostensibly , a news project , and that Baquet , the paper 's news chief , has called his hiring of Hannah-Jones `` one of the proudest moments '' of his career .
The paper 's newly anointed newsletter scribe , David Leonhardt , has moved seamlessly between the paper 's news and editorial sides .
( Baquet reportedly expressed his pride at the solidarity Times staffers showed in the face of dissenting opinion .
It is unclear whether he praised their collegiality . )
Six of @ @ @ @ @ @ @ board are former news-side reporters , with most of the rest coming from likeminded publications like the Boston Globe , which was previously owned by the Times .
Both Bennet and Dao , his deputy , are former Times reporters , with Bennet enmeshed in the Medici-like intrigue surrounding the succession of the news throne .
That makes it easier to understand their spinelessness in the face of an uproar from the paper 's newsroom , of which they were once members .
It is unclear how the Times retroactively concluded that Cotton @ @ @ @ @ @ @ no factual issues , did not meet its editorial standards .
The mystery and , indeed , the entire sordid episode , is a sign of the rot at the Times , where internal politics and nastiness are trumping any effort at making the country 's leading journalistic institution a hospitable place for ideas that do n't sit in the coffee shops of Park Slope and Montclair .

Sen. Tom Cotton (R., Ark.) made a compelling argument on Wednesday for deploying federal troops to quell the rioting and looting that has afflicted cities across the country. But instead of bringing order to the streets, Cotton's column has hurled a Molotov cocktail into the New York Times.
The still-raging fire has revealed a near-total breakdown of leadership and discipline at the paper and put the lie to long-running claims by Times brass about the distinction between the paper's news and editorial arms. The wokest cub reporters and graphic designers have led a successful coup and are now liquidating dissenters.
"The buck stops here" is a worthy precept for managers. It is not one that the Times's editorial page editor, James Bennet, seems willing to adhere to under threat of mob justice for the accomplices to Cotton's thought crimes.
His response to the backlash was to disclaim any involvement in the column's publication. Instead, Bennet told staffers that he hadn't actually read the piece before publication and declined an interview request with his own paper on the subject, as did his deputy, James Dao. The Times's news report on the controversy blamed a 25-year-old editor whose use of emojis on an internal Slack channel has now been leaked and dissected.
That Bennet, a former White House correspondent and Jerusalem bureau chief at the paper, is among the handful of executives contending to succeed Times executive editor Dean Baquet tells you everything you need to know about the state of leadership at the Times.
Compare Bennet's response with the Wall Street Journal's handling of protests from reporters on its news side over a recent opinion section headline they argued was offensive to China. The powers that be at Dow Jones expressed regret for causing offense but remained unmoved, even when the Chinese revoked the credentials of its news reporters operating in their country. Unlike at the Times, the news and opinion sections have no revolving door or cross-pollination.
Bennet's underlings have comported themselves with the same childishness as their boss. When opinion contributor Bari Weiss shared her analysis of the "civil war" convulsing the paper, her colleagues didn’t just assail her views, they accused her of willful dishonesty and of acting in bad faith, the new catchall for any argument suddenly beyond the pale of woke discourse. A member of the Times editorial board, Carol Giacomo, retweeted the following sentiment about Weiss: "Anyone who has participated in this person's rise in the journalism world should be ashamed."
As the members of the opinion pages treated each other, so were they treated by Times brass. Just hours after Bennet issued a statement defending the decision (was it his?) to publish Cotton's op-ed, a spokeswoman for the paper announced that, actually, the piece did not meet unidentified editorial standards. Cotton's office has said it received no advance notice that the paper would denounce what it had previously sanctioned and no explanation for what standards the senator's work had failed to meet.
The entire incident has confirmed the cynical view of many on the right that there is no meaningful distinction between the Times's editorial and news operations. Consider the fact that the deeply partisan Nikole Hannah-Jones’s 1619 Project is, ostensibly, a news project, and that Baquet, the paper's news chief, has called his hiring of Hannah-Jones "one of the proudest moments" of his career. The paper's newly anointed newsletter scribe, David Leonhardt, has moved seamlessly between the paper's news and editorial sides. (Baquet reportedly expressed his pride at the solidarity Times staffers showed in the face of dissenting opinion. It is unclear whether he praised their collegiality.)
Six of the 15 members of the Times editorial board are former news-side reporters, with most of the rest coming from likeminded publications like the Boston Globe, which was previously owned by the Times. Both Bennet and Dao, his deputy, are former Times reporters, with Bennet enmeshed in the Medici-like intrigue surrounding the succession of the news throne. That makes it easier to understand their spinelessness in the face of an uproar from the paper's newsroom, of which they were once members.
It is unclear how the Times retroactively concluded that Cotton's piece, which appears to have no factual issues, did not meet its editorial standards. The mystery and, indeed, the entire sordid episode, is a sign of the rot at the Times, where internal politics and nastiness are trumping any effort at making the country's leading journalistic institution a hospitable place for ideas that don't sit in the coffee shops of Park Slope and Montclair.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Iran Expands Footprint in Iraq With American-Sanctioned Electricity Deal

Iran deepened its foothold in Iraq on Thursday , signing an $ 800 million two-year deal to provide electricity services to the war-torn country .
Iraq relies heavily on Iran for its electricity and is currently permitted to continue the relationship with Tehran due to a contested U.S. sanctions waiver endorsing the arrangement .
Iran experts worry the Trump administration is making a mistake by issuing the sanctions waiver , arguing that it helps Iran gain access to much-needed cash as it continues to fund terror operations across the Middle East .
In addition to the cash assets , Iran @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Iraqi government .
`` Iraq is now a top trade partner of Tehran and a key hub for IRGC 's terrorism financing and sanctions-busting operations , '' Saeed Ghasseminejad , an Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies , told the Washington Free Beacon .
`` Thanks to the waivers , Tehran generates billions of dollars in revenue , which it uses to target the United States and its allies in the region .
It is not clear what Washington receives in exchange for the waivers it issues . ''
@ @ @ @ @ @ @ the total sale , around $ 400 million , which will keep Iranian electricity flowing into Iraq through 2021 .
An Iranian delegation was in Baghdad this week to finalize the arrangement .
The commander of the Iranian Quds Force , a military group that has aided anti-U.S. Iraqi militia groups , was part of that delegation .
The military leader 's presence in the delegation is a sign that Iran remains committed to using its economic leverage in Iraq as a means to boost its military footprint .
The State Department announced @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the electricity sanctions waiver .
`` Under a U.S.-issued sanctions waiver , Iraq is permitted to engage in financial transactions related to the import of electricity from Iran , '' State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said at the time .
`` The purpose of this waiver , which the United States is renewing today , is to meet the immediate energy needs of the Iraqi people . ''
The State Department last month also issued new sanctions on entities tied to Iran 's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for its malign activities in Iraq @ @ @ @ @ @ @ can keep the waiver in place while preventing the IRGC and its affiliates from expanding their influence in Iraq .

Iran deepened its foothold in Iraq on Thursday, signing an $800 million two-year deal to provide electricity services to the war-torn country.
Iraq relies heavily on Iran for its electricity and is currently permitted to continue the relationship with Tehran due to a contested U.S. sanctions waiver endorsing the arrangement.
Iran experts worry the Trump administration is making a mistake by issuing the sanctions waiver, arguing that it helps Iran gain access to much-needed cash as it continues to fund terror operations across the Middle East. In addition to the cash assets, Iran can also expand its regional influence into the Iraqi government.
"Iraq is now a top trade partner of Tehran and a key hub for IRGC's terrorism financing and sanctions-busting operations," Saeed Ghasseminejad, an Iran expert at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told the Washington Free Beacon. "Thanks to the waivers, Tehran generates billions of dollars in revenue, which it uses to target the United States and its allies in the region. It is not clear what Washington receives in exchange for the waivers it issues."
Iraq reportedly paid Iran for half of the total sale, around $400 million, which will keep Iranian electricity flowing into Iraq through 2021.
An Iranian delegation was in Baghdad this week to finalize the arrangement. The commander of the Iranian Quds Force, a military group that has aided anti-U.S. Iraqi militia groups, was part of that delegation. The military leader's presence in the delegation is a sign that Iran remains committed to using its economic leverage in Iraq as a means to boost its military footprint.
The State Department announced late last month that it was extending the electricity sanctions waiver.
"Under a U.S.-issued sanctions waiver, Iraq is permitted to engage in financial transactions related to the import of electricity from Iran," State Department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus said at the time. "The purpose of this waiver, which the United States is renewing today, is to meet the immediate energy needs of the Iraqi people."
The State Department last month also issued new sanctions on entities tied to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps for its malign activities in Iraq.
The State Department maintains that it can keep the waiver in place while preventing the IRGC and its affiliates from expanding their influence in Iraq.


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Black Lives Matter Sues Trump, Barr For Clearing Lafayette Square

Black Lives Matter 's Washington , D.C. , affiliate is suing President Donald Trump over the measures his administration took to disperse protesters in Lafayette Square ahead of his June 1 visit to St. John 's Episcopal Church .
In a new federal lawsuit , the affiliate 's ACLU lawyers say the government had `` no legitimate basis '' to clear the square , arguing that the use of flash bombs and rubber bullets against protesters `` is a continuation of an unlawful history of oppression of civil rights activists . ''
Attorney General William Barr , Secretary of Defense @ @ @ @ @ @ @ and unidentified law enforcement officers are also named as defendants .
The lawsuit accuses Trump , Barr , and others of constitutional violations and conspiracy to violate civil rights .
The plaintiffs are also bringing Bivens claims against law enforcement at the scene , a cause of action available against police for unconstitutional conduct under a 1971 Supreme Court case .
The government 's move to clear the square sits at the apex of an ongoing national debate over the use of force against demonstrations prompted by the killing of George Floyd by @ @ @ @ @ @ @ the Lafayette Square suit is the first of many actions it plans to bring against authorities around the country for what they call police brutality .
BLM and the ACLU claim the decision to clear the square and the dispersal measures used violated free speech rights and the Fourth Amendment right to protection from unwarranted seizure .
They claim the defendants ' actions were `` the manifestation of the very despotism against which the First Amendment was intended to protect . ''
The status of Lafayette Square will be a major issue in @ @ @ @ @ @ @ square is a historic venue frequently used by activists given its proximity to the White House .
But government lawyers may counter that it had a special interest in protecting the White House campus during a period of unrest , justifying the actions taken to scatter the crowd .
In a Thursday press conference , Barr situated the June 1 protest within the broader trend of unrest and rioting in the preceding days , much of which centered around the White House .
He said he made the decision to extend the perimeter @ @ @ @ @ @ @ earlier in the day , after rioters burned a historic building on Lafayette Square over the weekend , attacked St. John 's , and wounded police during clashes in the area .
The U.S. Park Police said in a statement that officers found caches of `` glass bottles , baseball bats , and metal poles '' hidden in the area .
They also cited contested reports that protesters hurled projectiles and `` caustic liquids '' in the moments before the square was cleared .
The plaintiffs vigorously dispute claims that the June 1 @ @ @ @ @ @ @ incurred at some length , including cuts and bruises .
The lawsuit cites Trump 's tweets , press conferences , and a call with the nation 's governors in which he urged authorities to `` dominate '' criminals , saying they manifest threats against First and Fourth Amendment rights .
Trump is not named in connection with more specific claims relating to clearing the square itself .
The plaintiffs requested compensatory and punitive damages , as well as attorneys fees .
The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story .
The @ @ @ @ @ @ @ Dabney Friedrich .
The case is Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia .

Black Lives Matter's Washington, D.C., affiliate is suing President Donald Trump over the measures his administration took to disperse protesters in Lafayette Square ahead of his June 1 visit to St. John's Episcopal Church.
In a new federal lawsuit, the affiliate's ACLU lawyers say the government had "no legitimate basis" to clear the square, arguing that the use of flash bombs and rubber bullets against protesters "is a continuation of an unlawful history of oppression of civil rights activists." Attorney General William Barr, Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, various agency heads, and unidentified law enforcement officers are also named as defendants.
The lawsuit accuses Trump, Barr, and others of constitutional violations and conspiracy to violate civil rights. The plaintiffs are also bringing Bivens claims against law enforcement at the scene, a cause of action available against police for unconstitutional conduct under a 1971 Supreme Court case.
The government's move to clear the square sits at the apex of an ongoing national debate over the use of force against demonstrations prompted by the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers. The ACLU said the Lafayette Square suit is the first of many actions it plans to bring against authorities around the country for what they call police brutality.
BLM and the ACLU claim the decision to clear the square and the dispersal measures used violated free speech rights and the Fourth Amendment right to protection from unwarranted seizure. They claim the defendants' actions were "the manifestation of the very despotism against which the First Amendment was intended to protect."
The status of Lafayette Square will be a major issue in the suit. The complaint says the square is a historic venue frequently used by activists given its proximity to the White House. But government lawyers may counter that it had a special interest in protecting the White House campus during a period of unrest, justifying the actions taken to scatter the crowd.
In a Thursday press conference, Barr situated the June 1 protest within the broader trend of unrest and rioting in the preceding days, much of which centered around the White House. He said he made the decision to extend the perimeter around the White House by one block earlier in the day, after rioters burned a historic building on Lafayette Square over the weekend, attacked St. John's, and wounded police during clashes in the area.
The U.S. Park Police said in a statement that officers found caches of "glass bottles, baseball bats, and metal poles" hidden in the area. They also cited contested reports that protesters hurled projectiles and "caustic liquids" in the moments before the square was cleared. The plaintiffs vigorously dispute claims that the June 1 demonstration was unruly and catalogue injuries demonstrators incurred at some length, including cuts and bruises.
The lawsuit cites Trump's tweets, press conferences, and a call with the nation's governors in which he urged authorities to "dominate" criminals, saying they manifest threats against First and Fourth Amendment rights. Trump is not named in connection with more specific claims relating to clearing the square itself.
The plaintiffs requested compensatory and punitive damages, as well as attorneys fees. The Department of Justice declined to comment for this story.
The matter was assigned to U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich. The case is Black Lives Matter D.C. v. Trump in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Complaint Black Lives Matte... by Washington Free Beacon on Scribd


freebeacon--2020-06-05--Hickenlooper Dragged to Ethics Hearing After Commission Holds Him in Contempt

Democratic Senate candidate and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper appeared before an ethics hearing Friday after he was held in contempt of court for refusing to appear .
Hickenlooper attended the ethics hearing remotely after Colorado 's Independent Ethics Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to hold him in contempt .
He is the first person in the state to be held in contempt of court by the Independent Ethics Commission .
`` By failing to honor the subpoena of the commission , [ Hickenlooper ] has indicated a disrespect for the rule of law , disrespect for the commission , disrespect @ @ @ @ @ @ @ parties and the witnesses , '' commissioner Bill Leone said in a statement Thursday .
`` The defendant has imposed a tremendous amount of cost and inconvenience on the commission , on the Attorney General 's Office , on the courts , on witnesses and all those who have an interest in this hearing . ''
Hickenlooper 's hearing will determine whether the former governor improperly received corporate gifts , in the form of travel expenses , while he was an elected official .
Colorado has a state ban on all elected officials @ @ @ @ @ @ @ , Hickenlooper has often campaigned against the unwelcome influence of corporate money on politics .
On Wednesday , a judge ruled against Hickenlooper 's petitions to reschedule the ethics hearing .
His attorney argued that the hearing , which was being conducted remotely due to coronavirus concerns , would not afford his client a fair trial .
The Public Trust Institute filed the ethics complaint against the former Colorado governor in October 2018 and filed a subsequent complaint in November 2018 .
The complaints also allege that Hickenlooper expunged public records of gifts @ @ @ @ @ @ @ his state 's ban on gifts , and his campaign spokeswoman has called the accusations `` politically motivated . ''
If he triumphs in the primary , Hickenlooper will face incumbent senator Cory Gardner ( R. , Colo. ) in November .
The primary is set to take place on June 30 .

Democratic Senate candidate and former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper appeared before an ethics hearing Friday after he was held in contempt of court for refusing to appear.
Hickenlooper attended the ethics hearing remotely after Colorado's Independent Ethics Commission voted 5-0 Thursday to hold him in contempt. He is the first person in the state to be held in contempt of court by the Independent Ethics Commission.
"By failing to honor the subpoena of the commission, [Hickenlooper] has indicated a disrespect for the rule of law, disrespect for the commission, disrespect for the process, disrespect for the parties and the witnesses," commissioner Bill Leone said in a statement Thursday. "The defendant has imposed a tremendous amount of cost and inconvenience on the commission, on the Attorney General's Office, on the courts, on witnesses and all those who have an interest in this hearing."
Hickenlooper's hearing will determine whether the former governor improperly received corporate gifts, in the form of travel expenses, while he was an elected official. Colorado has a state ban on all elected officials accepting such gifts. As a candidate, Hickenlooper has often campaigned against the unwelcome influence of corporate money on politics.
On Wednesday, a judge ruled against Hickenlooper's petitions to reschedule the ethics hearing. His attorney argued that the hearing, which was being conducted remotely due to coronavirus concerns, would not afford his client a fair trial.
The Public Trust Institute filed the ethics complaint against the former Colorado governor in October 2018 and filed a subsequent complaint in November 2018. The complaints also allege that Hickenlooper expunged public records of gifts he accepted.
Hickenlooper has denied violating his state's ban on gifts, and his campaign spokeswoman has called the accusations "politically motivated."
If he triumphs in the primary, Hickenlooper will face incumbent senator Cory Gardner (R., Colo.) in November. The primary is set to take place on June 30.