Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalFlorida IG report: 'Insufficient evidence' for DeSantis critic's claims of Covid cover-up
Source: NBC News
A prominent critic of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ Covid response made “unsubstantiated” and "unfounded" claims that state health officials had fired her because she refused to present manipulated data online, according to an inspector general’s report obtained by NBC News on Thursday.
The 27-page report from the Florida Department of Health’s Office of Inspector General said it found "insufficient evidence" or no evidence to support Rebekah Jones' accusations that she was asked to falsify Covid positivity rates or misrepresent them on the state’s dashboard she helped design. The report also "exonerated" officials accused by Jones of wrongdoing because they removed a data section from the website to ensure that private individual health information was not released publicly.
The independent report paints a portrait of an employee who did not understand public health policy or the significance of epidemiological data, did not have high-level access to crucial information and leveled claims that made professional health officials "skeptical."
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/florida-ig-report-insufficient-evidence-desantis-critics-claims-covid-rcna30647
Congressman Tom Reed resigns, effective immediately, following sexual misconduct accusation
Source: WKBW
WASHINGTON, D.C. (WKBW) — Congressman Tom Reed (R-NY23) announced his immediate resignation from office on the floor of Congress on Tuesday.
The resignation comes after Reed had previously announced in late March that he would not run for public office in 2022.
Reed was accused of sexual misconduct earlier this year, relating to an incident during a political trip to Minnesota in 2017.
His accuser, Nicolette Davis, told the Washington Post that Reed massaged her, unclipped her bra and put his hand on her thigh while at an Irish pub in Minneapolis.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wkbw.com/news/politics/congressman-tom-reed-resigns-effective-immediately-following-sexual-misconduct-accusation%3f_amp=true
Marcos set for landslide win in Philippine presidential election
Source: Nikkea Asia
MANILA -- Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., the son and namesake of the late Philippine dictator, is set to win the country's presidency by a landslide, in a remarkable reversal of fortunes for a political dynasty that 36 years ago was ousted by the "People Power" revolution.
Marcos is on course to secure around 60% of the vote in Monday's election, giving him the strongest mandate for president since his father's rule.
As of 11:24 p.m. and with votes counted from 77.32% of precincts, Marcos has 25.05 million votes, according to multiple local media outlets that cite data from the election commission late on Monday. His closest opponent, Vice President Leni Robredo, was on 11.92 million votes.
Marcos' win concludes a decadeslong effort by his family to reclaim power after the 1986 mass uprising, which abruptly ended his father's 20-year rule and forced the Marcoses into exile in Hawaii until the early 1990s.
Read more: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Philippine-elections/Marcos-set-for-landslide-win-in-Philippine-presidential-election
Shontell Brown defeats Nina Turner again (This time it's a landslide)!
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/05/03/us/elections/results-ohio-us-house-district-11.amp.htmlSupreme Court: Boston can't deny Christian flag if it flies other flags on City Hall flagpole
Source: USA Today
WASHINGTON – The Supreme Court on Monday ruled that Boston may not deny a Christian group the ability to raise a flag at City Hall alongside secular organizations that are encouraged to do so to celebrate the city's diversity.
The unanimous decision was the latest in a series of rulings from the high court in recent years that have favored the protection of religious groups asserting a violation of their rights, only in this case the group had support that transcended traditional ideological and partisan lines. The Biden administration, for instance, sided with the group and against Boston.
"We conclude that Boston’s flag-raising program does not express government speech," Associate Justice Stephen Breyer wrote for the court. "As a result, the city’s refusal to let (the group) fly their flag based on its religious viewpoint violated the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment."
A mix of conservative and liberal justices joined the court's opinion, including Chief Justice John Roberts and Associate Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. There were no dissents.
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2022/05/02/supreme-court-boston-cant-deny-flying-christian-flag-flagpole/6916444001/
Madison Cawthorne is seen with male staff member's hand on his crotch
Source: Daily Mail
New video of scandal-ridden GOP Rep Madison Cawthorn having his crotch felt by a close male friend and staff member is at the center of a complaint calling for an investigation into him and filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics today, DailyMail.com can reveal.
The extraordinary footage, obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com and seen here for the first time today, shows Cawthorn, 26, in a car with his close aide and his scheduler Stephen Smith, 23.
Cawthorn sits in the driver's seat apparently filmed by Smith as he adopts an exaggerated accent and says, 'I feel the passion and desire and would like to see a naked body beneath my hands.'
The camera then pans back to Smith who says, 'Me too' as Cawthorn can be heard laughing. Smith then films himself reaching his hand over and into Cawthorn's crotch
Read more: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10764209/GOP-Rep-Madison-Cawthorn-caught-video-male-staff-members-hand-crotch.html
Exclusive: Madison Cawthorn photos reveal him wearing women's lingerie in public setting
Source: Politico
Photographs obtained by POLITICO appear to show Madison Cawthorn, the embattled Republican congressman from North Carolina who recently accused his GOP colleagues of inviting him to orgies, wearing lingerie in what appears to be a party setting.
Cawthorn, 26, was raised in a conservative Baptist community in Henderson County, North Carolina, and has staked his political persona on arch-traditional Christian principles and the insistence of the importance of a kind of hypermasculinity. His comments about “the sexual perversion” in Washington made on a podcast, which he later admitted were exaggerated, drew the public disapproval and disavowal of Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy as well as other Republican leaders including those in his North Carolina congressional caucus.
The revelation of the two photos is the latest in a series of unflattering headlines for the freshman member of Congress in the run-up to the primary in his first re-election bid. The primary in North Carolina is May 17. Cawthorn has seven Republican opponents who see him as vulnerable.
Cawthorn, who was paralyzed from the waist down as a passenger in a car accident in Florida in 2014, in recent months has called Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy a “thug,” suggested teetotaling Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has a drinking problem, and racked up a collection of traffic transgressions including speeding, driving with expired tags and driving with a revoked license. He has court dates in May and June.
Read more: https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/22/madison-cawthorn-photos-00027286
Supreme Court rules Congress can deny federal disability benefits to residents of Puerto Rico
Source: CNBC
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that Congress is not required to extend a federal disability benefits program to residents of Puerto Rico.
The court ruled 8-1 that because Congress treats Puerto Rico residents differently from those residing in the states when it comes to tax laws, it can do the same when it comes to the Supplemental Income Security, or SSI, benefits program.
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, one of the court's three liberals whose family stems from Puerto Rico, dissented.
SSI benefits are meant to offer regular financial assistance for disabled and elderly people in need. The program is available to people living in the 50 U.S. states, but not to those living in some U.S. territories.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2022/04/21/supreme-court-rules-congress-can-deny-federal-disability-benefits-to-residents-of-puerto-rico.html
Wow. Even two of the court's three liberal justices sided with the Biden Administration on this.
Top Florida Democrat sues Biden administration over marijuana and guns
Source: NBC News
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s lone statewide elected Democrat, Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried, plans to sue the Biden administration Wednesday to try to block a federal rule that prohibits medical marijuana users from buying guns or maintaining concealed-carry permits.
NBC News obtained a draft copy of the lawsuit.
The lawsuit targets a federal form that asks whether the gun buyer is an unlawful user of drugs and specifies that marijuana is illegal under federal law. A person allowed by the state to use marijuana must then check “yes,” which results in denial of the purchase. Lying by checking “no” runs the risk of a five-year prison sentence for making a false statement.
Fried, whose office oversees concealed weapons permits and regulates some aspects of medical marijuana, argues in her lawsuit that the form violates the Second Amendment rights of lawful medical marijuana patients and runs afoul of a congressional budget prohibition on federal agents’ interfering with state-sanctioned cannabis laws.
Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/top-florida-democrat-sues-biden-administration-marijuana-guns-rcna25034
Sarah Palin announces run for U.S. House seat from Alaska
Source: Reuters
Sarah Palin, the Republican nominee for vice president in 2008, announced her run for Alaska's only seat in the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday.
It would be Palin's first run for public office since serving as John McCain's running mate in a campaign that saw Democrat Barack Obama elected president in November 2008.
"America is at a tipping point," Palin said in a statement released on her Twitter account announcing her candidacy. "As I've watched the far left destroy the country, I knew I had to step up and join the fight."
"At this critical time in our nation's history, we need leaders who will combat the left's socialist, big-government, America-last agenda," she said.
Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/sarah-palin-announces-run-u-003759991.html
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