FEC violation complaint filed against Bernie Sanders
For a man who is supposedly so concerned about the integrity of our elections I find it interesting that Bernie Sanders is allegedly violating campaign finance laws by setting up a dark money group to fund his campaign.
Here is more about the new allegations:
A dark money group founded by Sen. Bernie Sanders is violating federal campaign finance law, according to a Federal Election Commission complaint filed Wednesday.
The political nonprofit group Our Revolution, which Sanders founded in 2016, has been violating the federal “soft money” ban by boosting his presidential campaign since its launch in February 2019, the complaint from the watchdog group Common Cause states.
Campaign finance laws state that groups “directly or indirectly established” by federal officeholders such as Sanders can’t “solicit, receive, direct, transfer, or spend funds” for federal electoral activity that exceeds the limitations of the law, which in Our Revolution’s case would be $5,000 per election.
“Because Sanders set up Our Revolution and they have raised and spent money in candidate elections, Our Revolution is required to comply with contribution limits, register with the FEC and discloses its donors — but it hasn’t,” Common Cause attorney Paul S. Ryan told The Associated Press. “It’s his establishment of the group that triggers these laws. That means a $5,000 limit, full donor disclosure and no contributions from prohibited sources.”
“The facts surrounding Our Revolution, including its founding by Sen. Sanders, its receipt of six-figure contributions, its failure to disclose donors to the FEC, and its political spending in Iowa and elsewhere, point to a clear violation of the federal soft money ban,” Ryan added in a separate statement Wednesday.
If I am not mistaken all of the Democratic candidates have vowed to fight against dark money and big donors in politics buying the election and yet once again, if this is true, we find a candidate not quite living up to his promises.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Adam Schiff may have ‘mischaracterized’ Parnas evidence
A man named Lev Parnas has been in the news quite a bit over the last couple of weeks because of some text messages. If I am not mistaken this is supposedly new evidence against the President that was not included during the impeachment hearing. This is supposed to be pretty damning evidence and the left has jumped all over it.
But now, according to this report from the left-leaning Politico, Adam Schiff might have “mischaracterized” this evidence. Here is more:
House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff appears to have mischaracterized a text message exchange between two players in the Ukraine saga, according to documents obtained by POLITICO — a possible error the GOP will likely criticize as another example of the Democrats’ rushed effort to impeach President Donald Trump.
Don’t you just love the way the article says the Republicans will use this new report to attack the Democrats rather than admitting this does call into question some of the truthfulness of the evidence which is being used in an attempt to remove the President from office? But anyway, here is more:
The issue arose when Schiff (D-Calif.) sent a letter to House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) last week summarizing a trove of evidence from Lev Parnas, an indicted former associate of Trump’s personal attorney Rudy Giuliani. In one section of the letter, Schiff claims that Parnas “continued to try to arrange a meeting with President Zelensky,” citing a specific text message exchange where Parnas tells Giuliani: “trying to get us mr Z.” The remainder of the exchange — which was attached to Schiff’s letter — was redacted.
But an unredacted version of the exchange shows that several days later, Parnas sent Giuliani a word document that appears to show notes from an interview with Mykola Zlochevsky, the founder of Burisma, followed by a text message to Giuliani that states: “mr Z answers my brother.” That suggests Parnas was referring to Zlochevsky not Zelensky.
The word document contains a series of questions and answers, but doesn’t identify who is doing the asking or answering. Yet the questions center on the hiring practices at Burisma, while the responses include statements such as “we wanted to build Burisma as [an] international company” and “we also thought it would help in Ukraine to have strong international board figures,” which seems to point to Zlochevsky — not the Ukrainian president — as the respondent.
So let me see if I have this right: Adam Schiff sent a letter to Jerry Nadler about some evidence, some of which was redacted, claiming to summarize the evidence. But when the texts were then unredacted it turns out they were not about the same person Adam Schiff claimed they were about. This does not sound like a “micharacterization” to me, it sounds like an outright and intentional lie.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Hunter Biden and the Russians
Over the course of the last four years the Democratic party has morphed into the new McCarthyite party, they see Russia underneath the same stones they were mocking Mitt Romney for looking under all those years ago when he was running against Barack Obama.
So you would think they might be interested in what Hunter Biden was up to because it turns out his dealings with Ukraine (which the Democrats have impeached Donald Trump over) were apparently just the tip of the iceberg. Here is more:
Hunter Biden forged other business deals with individuals and entities tied with the governments of Russia, China, and Kazakhstan, that reportedly scored him hundreds of millions of dollars.
Hunter Biden and his business partners, in addition to his numerous Rosemont-branded entities and ventures, was deeply involved with an entity called the Burnham Financial Group.
Hunter and his business partner, Devon Archer, used Burnham to make foreign deals with governments and oligarchs
One of those oligarchs included Nurlan Abduov, the associate of another Kazakh oligarch, Kenges Rakishev. Rakishev is the son-in-law of the former vice prime minister of Kazakhstan, Imangali Tasmagambetov. Tasmagamvetov was also formerly the defense minister, and is now the Kazakh ambassador to Russia.
A Morgan Stanley investment account from which Hunter regularly received funds shows money arriving from mysterious sources around the world.
There is a $142,300 deposit in April 2014 from Kazakh oligarch–controlled Novatus Holdings. Kenges Rakishev, whose father-in-law is the former vice prime minister of Kazakhstan and a close ally of Kazakh dictator Nursultan Nazarbayev, runs the offshore firm.
There are many more details if you check out the link but suffice it to say Hunter Biden apparently had his hand in business dealings all around the world and he has his father to thank for the connections. As I wrote above, you would think the Democrats would be interested in this but of course they are not and that is because they have known what was going on all along.
The one thing I do know is that Donald Trump better keep quiet about this or the Democrats will bring up more articles of impeachment against him…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Well, well, well, if this story is true it looks like Joe Biden’s son Hunter was not the only Biden to profit off the family name while the Presidential candidate was Vice President of the United States.
Joe Biden’s brother Frank seems to have gained a sudden interest in Costa Rican property right about the same time Joe Biden visited the nation as part of Barack Obama’s initiative to rebuild relations with Costa Rica. Here is more:
Frank Biden, the youngest brother of former Vice President Joe Biden, saw his business interests benefit from millions of dollars in taxpayer loans to Caribbean nations during the Obama years.
Frank Biden first set his sights on the region in 2009, as the Obama administration began to repair the U.S. relationship with Costa Rica. Tensions between the two countries flared under President George W. Bush, most notably on how to deal with drug trafficking.
When President Barack Obama entered the White House, he set out to mend fences in the region in hopes of inaugurating a new era of global cooperation. Leading the charge on that front was Joe Biden, who had long standing ties to the region from his tenure leading the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Shortly after the new administration took office, Frank Biden began scouting real estate opportunities in Costa Rica. A lawyer by training, Frank was undeterred by his lack of background in international development and decades old legal troubles at home.
Note the lack of experience Frank Biden had in international development, does that sound familiar? Anyway, back to the story:
business opportunities were plentiful for Frank, especially after his brother paid a visit to the country.
“Just months after Vice President [Joe] Biden’s visit, in August, Costa Rica News announced a new multilateral partnership “to reform Real Estate in Latin America” between Frank Biden, a developer named Craig Williamson, and the Guanacaste Country Club, a newly planned resort,” Schweizer writes in his book
And then he moved into the energy field with no experience, again this sounds familiar…
Frank, perhaps sensing a chance to make even more money, entered into a partnership with the Costa Rican National Power and Light Company (CNFL) to build a solar power complex in the country’s northwest region. The new facility would provide enough electricity to Frank’s resort, which was to be built in the vicinity.
The partnership with CNFL was secured even though Frank and his company, Sun Fund Americas, had no experience in the energy sector.
And apparently he did not stop in Costa Rica and before all was said and done Frank Biden secured $54 million in taxpayer loans. There are even more details in the above-linked article but I think I finally understand what is motivating Joe Biden to run for President–his family cannot afford for him to be out of work any longer…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Virginia State Senator warns gun rights people they are being set up ahead of major rally
There is a gun rights rally that happens every year in Virginia and tomorrow is the date the rally is to be held this year. But this year, because of the radical gun laws the State legislature is passing, Virginia’s new, radical, anti-Constitutional, gun-grabbing governor has decided to issue a State Emergency so he could ban guns from the rally. (Note the irony of this move, he is issuing an emergency declaration because of his own actions.)
Because of the draconian laws Virginia is debating he feels there could be violence at the rally, even though these rallies have always been peaceful, or so he says. A Virginia State Senator has a differing opinion, she feels as if the gun rights rally attendees are being set up and provoked into violence with the hope that something will happen even if it takes a government plant.
Here is more:
Senator Chase wrote this on her Facebook page:
I want you to be aware of how we are being set up.
Does the Patriot Act ring a bell?
Does the National Defense Authorization Act ring a bell?
If people show up wearing any kind of uniform, patch or other symbol on their clothing signifying they belong to a militia and something goes wrong, you could/will be held as a domestic terrorist.
If anyone steps out of line, all it takes is one person, it may even be a government plant….if that plant does anything to disrupt the rally, you could/will be arrested as a domestic terrorist.
The Governor, using the media has already set the stage for this to happen.
He has already laid the groundwork to make the entire movement look like insurrection.It will be used to put the rest of the nation on notice of what will happen to you, if you resist.
They have used the Southern Poverty Law Center over the last 15 years to lay the groundwork.
They have labeled us as potential domestic terrorist for a long time now.
Anyone who has ever related to the 3%er’s, a militia, or just belonged to any Patriot group…the groundwork has been laid to brand you as a domestic terrorist.
Some of us have been sounding the alarm for years about the PATRIOT Act and the NDAA with very few people listening to us and now if Senator Chase is right this rally could be the first major instance where these acts come into play against American citizens.
Of course the mainstream media and the alt-left will write this Senator off as a kook, but I do not doubt for a second a plant could be used to set fire to this tinderbox it is an age old strategy which has been proven successful especially with a mainstream media in bed with the radical left. Pressure from above, pressure from below, or if you prefer thesis, antithesis, synthesis, however you frame it this is the Hegelian Dialectic she is warning us about.
In addition to trying to use the Hegelian Dialectic to justify Virginia’s outrageous new gun laws there could be a second reason for this and that is that this is also an attempt to tie one or more of these people to Donald Trump. The media will then be able to claim that the President is stoking domestic terrorism and this will be used eventually on the national level.
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Sunday, January 19th open thread: ‘Metal Health’
“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24 KJV)
Here is this week’s open thread. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.
You can subscribe to America’s Watchtower to receive email updates and you can also follow America’s Watchtower on Facebook and Twitter by clicking the links on the right.
Here is Quiet Riot performing “Metal Health” live in 1983:
Virginia gun groups fight back against the Governor’s state emergency declaration gun ban
The precedent which Donald Trump set when he declared a national emergency in order to fund the border wall after he failed to secure the monies through the Congress is now being used at the state level in Virginia by the governor in order to ban guns from a gun rights rally.
If you are unfamiliar with the story you can catch up a little bit here. Now the groups who are having their Constitutionally guaranteed rights violated by this radical gun-grabbing governor are fighting back ahead of the rally.
Here is more:
“Gun Owners of America is joining VCDL in asking the courts to issue an emergency injunction forbidding the enforcement of the governor’s unlawful ban. The Lobby Day rally is held annually with thousands of participants and without incident. The only difference this year is that, in response to the Democrats’ attempt to eviscerate the Second Amendment, a much larger crowd is expected,” said Pratt.
“GOA is arguing that the governor’s actions violate the Virginia and U.S. Constitutions, as well as, a 2012 state law which strictly limits the governor’s ability to ban guns in a state of emergency,” he added.
Earlier in the day, VCDL ripped the governor’s emergency decree and suggested that Democrats were hoping for violence at the rally so they could “smear” gun owners.
In that alert to some 38,000 supporters, VCDL said:
“VCDL believes that this gun ban is illegal. Our legal team is looking at our options and we will keep you advised as soon as we have a definitive plan. As it stands now, you can carry on 9th Street, or other nearby streets, as long as you don’t go into the fenced-in Capitol grounds area (or into any of the government buildings). There will be 17 magnetometers to speed up security for those wishing to be on the Capitol grounds, which puts you near the stage. You CAN have a knife with a blade LESS THAN 3 inches. Again, wait for final word on the Capitol grounds gun-ban situation over the weekend.”
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, but we do know from watching national politics that almost every single Executive Order, and the national emergency declaration, Donald Trump issued has been challenged through the courts and a stay of the order has been granted so there is reason to be hopeful the same will happen here.
Of course the one order the President issued which has not been challenged in the courts was his gun control Executive Order which banned bump stocks and ordered their confiscation…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
The Justice Department is investigating James Comey for leaking
Color me skeptical on this one but it is being reported that the Department of Justice is investigating James Comey for leaking, here is more:
Federal prosecutors in Washington are investigating a years-old leak of classified information about a Russian intelligence document, and they appear to be focusing on whether the former F.B.I. director James B. Comey illegally provided details to reporters, according to people familiar with the inquiry.
The case is the second time the Justice Department has investigated leaks potentially involving Mr. Comey, a frequent target of President Trump, who has repeatedly called him a “leaker.”
Law enforcement officials are scrutinizing at least two news articles about the F.B.I. and Mr. Comey, published in The New York Times and The Washington Post in 2017, that mentioned the Russian government document, according to the people familiar with the investigation. Hackers working for Dutch intelligence officials obtained the document and provided it to the F.B.I., and both its existence and the collection of it were highly classified secrets, the people said.
Take this for what it is worth but personally I will not believe it until I see it, and possibly not even then…
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
Bernie Sanders pays women staffers more than Elizabeth Warren does
There has been a bit of a spat brewing between Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren over the Vermont socialist’s alleged sexist remarks. Apparently when Elizabeth Warren was considering taking a run for President she talked to Bernie Sanders, who allegedly told her a woman could not win the Presidency. Why she did not bother to mention this until she was floundering in the polls is beyond me however Bernie Sanders is vehemently denying these accusations.
So while all of this is going on how ironic is it that a new report is out which claims the so-called sexist male candidate pays his female staff members more than the woke female candidate? Here is more:
Congressional salary data analyzed by Breitbart News indicates the female employees in Sanders’ Senate office are paid more than those employed by Warren.
According to pay data compiled by Legistorm for the 2019 Fiscal Year—October 1, 2018 through September 31, 2019—the average salary for a full-time female employee working for Sanders was more than $68,000 annually. Female staffers working for Warren on average made only slightly over $63,500-per-year.
Breitbart News also determined the median salary for female employees in both offices to account for the disparity between senior aides and entry-level staffers. For example, the legislative directors of both senators made well over $100,000-per-year, while staff assistants, usually recent college graduates, only made a fraction of that figure.
The median salary for women in Warren’s office was $52,633, but with a less equitable distribution between the top and bottom. Only three female full-time employees made above six figures throughout the entire fiscal year, followed by two women who made between $75,000 and $85,000. The overwhelming majority, though, landed between $39,000 and $64,000-per-year.
Sanders’ office, in comparison, had a median female salary of $59,015, with only two out of 19 women making less than $45,000 annually.
As I was laughing at the irony here I was struck by a second bit of irony. Whoever thought so many capitalists could make so much money working for a man who wants to usher in a new era of socialism for the rest of us?
malo periculosam libertatem quam quietum servitium
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