Day: July 9, 2024

Trump Judge Deals Legal Blow to RNC Protesters  Newsweek

The post Bon voyage Peter Navarro! first appeared on The News And Times.

Former Uvalde police chief indicted over response to Robb Elementary shooting  CW33 Dallas

washington — The U.S. intelligence chief on Tuesday accused Iran of egging on protests inside the United States against the Gaza war, including by paying demonstrators.

Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, stressed she was not alleging that Americans taking to the streets against Israel or U.S. policy were insincere or doing Iran’s bidding, but said Tehran was stepping up efforts.

“In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years,” Haines said in a statement.

“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” she said.

“The freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” she said.

Iran’s clerical state supports Palestinian militants Hamas, whose massive attack on Israel on October 7 has triggered a relentless Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip.

Iranian state-backed media seized on pro-Palestinian protests that swept U.S. campuses and accused the United States of hypocrisy in the crackdowns on some of the demonstrations.

Iran, an arch-nemesis of the United States since the 1979 Islamic revolution toppled the pro-Western shah, has faced frequent charges of trying to target dissident voices in the West.

The United States has repeatedly condemned what it calls disinformation campaigns by China and especially Russia, including through deceptive social media posts.

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(JTA) — WASHINGTON — Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, said Iran was seeking to interfere in the U.S. election and was stoking protests against Israel as it wages war with Hamas, including through funding demonstrations.

“In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years,” Haines said in a comment posted to the DNI website. “We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests, and even providing financial support to protesters.”

Haines, who is Jewish, said that Iran’s activities should not taint genuine protesters or inhibit robust speech. She said targeted protesters may not be aware they are interacting with a foreign government.

“I want to be clear that I know Americans who participate in protests are, in good faith, expressing their views on the conflict in Gaza – this intelligence does not indicate otherwise,” she said. “Moreover, the freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes.”

American security agencies have tracked foreign interference from Russia, China and Iran since at least 2016, when Donald Trump was elected. Federal agents in 2021 filed charges against two Iranian hackers for interference in the election the previous year, in which, according to a U.S. attorney, they sought “to undermine faith and confidence” in the vote.

The post Director of national intelligence warns that Iran is funding anti-Israel protests in US appeared first on The Forward.

Sen. Sherrod Brown (D., Ohio) said he is “not a pundit” when asked about whether President Joe Biden should remain at the top of the ticket this November. But Brown’s high-profile wife, Connie Schultz, is happy to play that role.

Schultz, a former newspaper columnist, often shares her musings about politics on a Substack called “Hopefully Yours.” On July 4, a week after the presidential debate, Schultz appeared despondent at the state of the race.

“There’s no denying last week’s debate was a disaster, on all fronts,” Schultz wrote. She added later: “The debate was a potent reminder that it’s never a good idea to put all our faith in one human being.”

Schultz’s writings highlight the civil war playing out within the Democratic Party over what to do with Biden, whose approval ratings are the lowest in the history of modern polling. Brown, considered one of the most vulnerable incumbents in a state former president Donald Trump won by more than 7 points in 2016 and 2020, has remained coy on whether Biden should step aside.

Brown declined to answer that question just days after the debate and he hasn’t directly said what he thinks of Biden’s cognitive abilities. He told a local news outlet on July 2 that “my focus is on my job, that means fighting for women’s rights, it means, and focus on this campaign and the contrast between me and [my Republican opponent] Bernie Moreno and that will continue to be my focus.”

On Monday, Brown’s tune changed slightly. He told an NBC News reporter that, although “I’m not a pundit, I’ve talked to people across Ohio. They have legitimate questions about whether the president should continue his campaign, and I’ll keep listening to people.”

Brown’s office did not respond to a request for comment.

But Schultz, an outspoken progressive, has no problem weighing in. The morning after the debate, Schultz posted on X, formerly Twitter, that “The demands of punditry require instant wisdom, and we are seeing the folly of that right now. Our first thought is seldom our best take,” in an apparent jab at Democratic pundits and lawmakers who panicked at Biden’s performance.

Nor is Schultz the average senator’s wife. She is highly involved in Brown’s reelection campaign and hosts fundraisers where he is not even present.

Politico called her Brown’s “louder half,” who would “redefine the role of campaign spouse” in 2018.

“You won’t see a candidate’s spouse like her—we never have, and you won’t see for a long time—that’s as accomplished as she is, that is as outspoken as she is, that has a reach like she does,” Brown said at the time. “You will not see that in any other candidate team, if you will.”

Other Democrats have had no problem calling on Biden to drop out of the race, including at least 10 members of the House. Outlets such as Politico have reported that many other Democratic incumbents share the same belief, but are too afraid to speak out publicly.

Brown already faced an uphill battle before Biden’s catastrophic debate performance. He is one of Biden’s most reliable votes in the Senate and has staked out far-left positions that do not appear in line with Ohio’s red electorate.

In March, Brown introduced a resolution “declaring racism a public health crisis” and called on the federal government to do more about “microaggressions” and the “forms of violence” that black Americans face when “jogging in neighborhoods.”

The next month, Schultz held a fundraiser cosponsored by anti-Trump group Grass Roots Resistance and attacked the former president as well as “heteronormal men.”

The post Sherrod Brown Is Dodging Biden Questions. His Wife Says Biden’s Debate Performance ‘Was a Disaster’ appeared first on .

In the weeks since President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate performance reignited questions about his fitness to serve, Climate Defiance has emerged as one of the loudest voices on the left calling for the president to step aside.

“F—king pass the torch already. What is the game plan here? Stay til election day so that Trump can win? Go down in history books as a dithering old man whose lust for power snuffed out democracy and incinerated earth? Tell us! Tell us!” the group wrote in an X post on Monday evening.

Climate Defiance, which has made headlines for disrupting high-profile events to protest federal officials and politicians in attendance, has received much of its funding via a shadowy pass-through group named the Climate Emergency Fund (CEF), according to Influence Watch. CEF has, in turn, received thousands of dollars from well-known Hollywood elites, left-wing millionaires, and former secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s progressive political action organization Onward Together.

While it is unclear whether Onward Together’s financial support for CEF has directly benefited Climate Defiance—the use of a pass-through shields from public view where the funds were specifically directed—it underscores how closely intertwined Clinton’s group is with activists calling for Democrats to replace Biden at the top of the ticket. Onward Together, CEF, and Climate Defiance did not respond to requests for comment.

In 2021, Onward Together reported wiring $300,000 to CEF, by far its largest grant of the year, federal tax filings reviewed by the Washington Free Beacon show. Then, during the 12-month period ending in March 2023, the same month Climate Defiance was founded, it reported giving another $200,000 to CEF. That second grant represented more than 43 percent of Onward Together’s total contributions to outside groups. Both grants were earmarked for “climate advocacy.”

Onward Together stated that, broadly, its donations were made to encourage people to organize, get involved, and run for office “in order to advance progressive values and work to build a brighter future for generations to come.”

Overall, with the help of Clinton’s nonprofit operation and other left-wing interest groups, CEF raised $6.1 million in 2022, a 165 percent increase compared to the $2.3 million it raised in 2021. According to the group, it received more than 50 individual anonymous contributions worth thousands of dollars each. More than 10 were worth more than $100,000, with the largest contribution exceeding $1.2 million and two more exceeding $500,000 each.

“Climate Emergency Fund supports a variety of domestic activism, particularly focused on raising awareness about the emergency, ending the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure, and securing climate legislation,” CEF states on its own tax filing, also reviewed by the Free Beacon.

Shortly after the presidential debate last month, CEF beneficiary Climate Defiance became one of the first progressive groups to formally call on Biden to withdraw from the race. Since then, the Washington, D.C.-based group has likened Biden’s reelection bid to both the Titanic and a car that is “about to explode.”

On Tuesday, the group announced that it would “converge” on Wilmington, Delaware, to stage a “historic action” at Biden’s presidential campaign headquarters.

“We will not leave. To beat Trump we must replace Biden. Period. Full stop,” the group stated.

In addition to Onward Together, Abigail Disney, the heiress of the Disney fortune and a leading Democratic Party donor, has also given thousands of dollars to CEF. In its annual report published late last year, CEF thanked Disney for her support and included a quote from her lauding CEF grantees for inspiring “hope in their relentless belief that we can stand together and change the world.”

Disney, like Climate Defiance, has called on Biden to step aside in recent days. She said she would withhold all future donations to the Democratic Party until the president drops out of the race, CNBC reported.

The post ‘F—king Pass the Torch’: Clinton-tied Climate Activist Group Goes Scorched Earth Attacking Joe Biden appeared first on .

High COVID Vaccination Rates Reduce Asthma Flare-Ups in Children  Inside Precision Medicine