Jose Garcia
Jose Garcia's JournalCanova sues for access to ballots from 2016 primary loss to Wasserman Schultz
Tim Canova, who has suggested he might not really have lost his 2016 primary challenge to U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, is suing the Broward Supervisor of Elections Office to gain access to the ballots from the election.
Canova is challenging Wasserman Schultz again in the 2018 primary. In June, when he announced his plan for a rematch, he said election integrity would be a top priority, and vowed to seek a recount of the results regardless of the outcome.
In the lawsuit filed June 6 in Broward County Circuit Court, Canova said Lulu Friesdat, a person acting on his behalf, has been unsuccessful in getting access to the 2016 primary ballots under the state’s public records law. He wants Circuit Judge Raag Singhal to order the Supervisor of Elections Office to provide the records, which he said Snipes has refused to produce for “copying and/or scanning.”
Burnadette Norris-Weeks, counsel for Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes, asked Singhal to dismiss the case. On July 5, Norris-Weeks wrote in her argument for dismissal that the Canova team can’t show its side has actually made an attempt to get the records he requested. Also, she said, Canova’s side never asked for photocopies, but instead wanted to bring in scanning equipment.
more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/politics/fl-reg-tim-canova-ballots-lawsuit-20170810-story.html
Sentencing postponed for doctor accused of bribing senator
Source: The Associated Press
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) - A sentencing hearing in a Medicare fraud case against a prominent Florida eye doctor accused of bribing New Jersey Democratic Sen. Bob Menendez has been postponed.
Attorneys for Dr. Salomon Melgen said in court documents filed Thursday they and prosecutors have agreed to cancel Friday's scheduled sentencing hearing until December.
That would be after next month's scheduled joint bribery trial against Menendez and Melgen in New Jersey.
Melgen's attorneys say in court documents the delay is necessary because the hearing could take longer than a day. Federal prosecutors declined comment.
Read more: http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/congressional/20170810_ap_4572cae5dffa4ccb817a21ffcaffcca7.html
Death of federal prosecutor found on beach was suicide, investigators say
Source: The Sun-Sentinel
Thhe death of a federal prosecutor whose body was found on the beach in Hollywood has been ruled a suicide, Hollywood police said Thursday.
Beranton J. Whisenant Jr. 38, was found dead by a beachgoer in Hollywood near Magnolia Terrace shortly before 6:30 a.m. on May 24.
Detectives and a medical examiner found Whisenant died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Hollywood police said.
He was assigned to the Miami office of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and been hired as federal prosecutor a few months earlier.
Read more: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/hollywood/fl-sb-hollywood-whisenant-ruled-suicide-20170810-story.html
Conservative Koch Brothers Are Secret Investors in 'Wonder Woman'
Source: Hollywood Reporter
Though they might be the most reviled figures among Hollywood's liberal crowd, the Koch brothers have been a silent investor in Warner Bros.' slate of movies for four years.
Sources say Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch — who are worth a combined $96.2 billion and wield enormous power in political circles as major backers of right-wing politicians — took a significant stake valued at tens of millions of dollars in RatPac-Dune Entertainment. Now-Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin brought the brothers in as investors as part of a $450 million deal struck in 2013 — a move that was never disclosed because RatPac-Dune is a private company.
Though Mnuchin is no longer involved with the slate financing facility, having recently put his stake into a blind trust in order to avoid a conflict of interest, the Koch brothers continue to be stakeholders in such films as Wonder Woman, Dunkirk and Steven Spielberg's upcoming Ready Player One.
A RatPac spokesperson didn't respond to a request. A spokesperson for Koch Industries says, "Charles Koch, David Koch and Koch Industries do not have any involvement with this investment."
Read more: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/conservative-koch-brothers-are-secret-investors-wonder-woman-1027376
Venezuela election results were manipulated, voting company says
Source: The Miami Herald
CARACAS - In a stunning admission that fueled opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, the company that runs the South American country’s voting technology said the results of widely condemned election Sunday had been manipulated.
The chief executive of Smartmatic, a company founded by Venezuelans specifically to supply voting software for the administration of the late President Hugo Chávez, acknowledged Sunday’s results had been inflated by at least 1 million votes.
“It is with the deepest regret that we have to report that the turnout numbers on Sunday, July 30, for the constituent assembly in Venezuela were tampered with,” Antonio Mugica said in a London news conference.
Due to the lack of audits and other electoral controls, Mugica said his firm couldn’t stand by the government’s results, which claimed nearly 8.1 million ballots cast. Mugica lay some of the blame on Maduro’s opponents for boycotting the election, which meant its representatives weren’t present at the polls as a safeguard.
Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/venezuela/article164968042.html
Maryland Rep. Delaney is running for president in 2020
Source: CNN
Washington (CNN)Maryland Rep. John Delaney on Friday became the first Democrat to announce he would run for president in 2020.
The 54-year-old three-term congressman revealed his plans in a Washington Post op-ed. He won't run for re-election and is bypassing a run for Maryland governor in 2018.
He enters the race an extreme longshot -- with no national profile among Democrats and a moderate record that appears out of sync with the party's progressive primary electorate.
Delaney is a self-made businessman who has launched two companies and could pour millions of dollars of his own money into the campaign.
Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/07/28/politics/john-delaney-democrat-president-2020/index.html
India Elects Untouchable President From Lowest Dalit Caste
Source: NBC News
LONDON — India chose an “untouchable” as its next president Thursday after the first contest in which both candidates were from the lowest tier of the country's caste system.
Ram Nath Kovind, nominated by the ruling BJP party, had been clear favorite for the largely ceremonial post, which is decided by 4,800 lawmakers across the country.
Under India’s constitution, the prime minister and his ministers wield executive power but the president sometimes plays a role such as deciding which party should form a government if a general election is inconclusive.
Kovind, 72, is not the first president to be “Dalit,” a term that means “oppressed” in Sanskrit and refers to members of the lowest caste. Kocheril Raman Narayanan took office in 1997 more than half a century after Gandhi pledged to end the country’s ancient system of discrimination.
Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/india-elects-untouchable-president-ram-nath-kovind-lowest-dalit-caste-n784726
Dems get top challenger for Nevada Senate fight
Source: The Hill
Freshman Democratic Rep. Jacky Rosen announced her Nevada Senate bid Thursday, hoping to take on Republican Sen. Dean Heller in 2018's general election.
The Nevada race represents one of the few offensive opportunities for Democrats, who face a daunting Senate map elsewhere in the country with many incumbents defending their seats. Landing a perceived top-tier candidate like Rosen in Nevada, a state that Democrat Hillary Clinton won in 2016, boosts their hopes of taking Heller's seat.
Rosen blasted the Trump administration in a Thursday statement announcing her bid, making it clear that opposition to President Trump will be a centerpiece of her bid against Heller.
"Now more than ever, Nevadans deserve a Senator they can trust to be an independent voice standing up to President Trump, not his enabler. Senator Heller might not sound like President Trump, but his voting record shows he supported Trump’s agenda 100% of the time in his first 100 days," she said.
Read more: http://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/340799-heller-gets-dem-challenge-for-nevada-senate-seat
Trump announces pick for last open labor board seat
Source: The Hill
Business groups are lauding President Trump for announcing his intent to fill the last open seat on the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) with labor-law attorney William Emanuel.
Emanuel, who represents employers in labor and employment law matters at Littler Mendelson in Los Angeles, would round out the panel, which had two vacancies when Trump took office.
“It is long past time that these vacancies on the National Labor Relations Board are filled,” Mark Mix, president of the National Right to Work Committee and the National Right to Work Foundation said in a statement.
“The Senate should quickly confirm these qualified nominees.”
Read more: http://thehill.com/regulation/administration/339844-trump-announces-second-labor-board-pick
Profile Information
Member since: Fri Dec 2, 2016, 01:17 PMNumber of posts: 2,611
