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Year: 2024

Fani Willis crisscrosses country fundraising with Democrat allies in DC, LA

Fani Willis crisscrosses country fundraising with Democrat allies in DC, LA

Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis has been crisscrossing the country to attend fundraisers for her re-election campaign with Democratic allies in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and beyond.  Earlier this month, Willis traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend her own “2024 Re-Election Fundraising Reception” on Sept. 13.  “All contributions up to $3,300 are appreciated,” the invitation read.  Willis also headlined a panel in Washington, D.C., during the Annual Congressional Black Caucus Weekend with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, where they discussed ways to “clapback against MAGA.”  Last week, Willis continued her fundraising swing, holding another “Re-Election Fundraising Reception” in Los Angeles on Sept. 17.  That event drew different levels of contributions.  “Team Fani” donors were asked to give $101; “Ally” donors were asked for $250; “Partner” donors were asked for $500; and “Supporter” donors were asked for $1,000, with maximum contributions of $3,300 requested.  Willis, on Sept. 13, had been subpoenaed to testify before Georgia’s State Senate Special Committee on Investigations.  That committee was holding a hearing as part of its investigation into allegations that Willis had profited off former President Donald Trump’s prosecution and colluded with Democrat officials to bring charges against the former president.  FORMER SENATOR LAUNCHES 6-FIGURE AD BLITZ AGAINST FANI WILLIS AHEAD OF GEORGIA ELECTION The subpoena compelled Willis to testify and also to provide documents related to the investigation, and to her relationship with former special prosecutor Nathan Wade. Willis reportedly had an “improper affair” with Wade, who she hired to help bring the case against Trump. Wade later resigned from his position.  Willis filed an emergency motion to stop the subpoena from compelling her testimony before the Georgia State Senate committee.  A Fulton County judge, however, denied her motion.  While in Washington, D.C., Willis also headlined a panel during the Annual Congressional Black Caucus Weekend with Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, where they discussed ways to “clapback against MAGA.”  This week, Willis continued her fundraising swing, holding another “Re-Election Fundraising Reception” in Los Angeles on Tuesday, Sept. 17.  That event drew different levels of contributions.  “Team Fani” donors were asked to give $101; “Ally” donors were asked for $250; “Partner” donors were asked for $500; and “Supporter” donors were asked for $1,000, with maximum contributions of $3,300 requested.  There were more fundraisers for Willis on Friday and Sunday in Houston. “Instead of doing her job, Fani Willis is gallivanting across the U.S. raising money and rubbing elbows with her radical cronies in California and Washington — abandoning the families of Fulton County, and her oath to uphold the law,” Greater Georgia Chairwoman and former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler told Fox News Digital.  “Time and time again, she puts her financial and political interests above serving our citizens,” Loeffler said. “No amount of blue state cash can hide the fact that she’s only fighting for herself.”  GEORGIA JUDGE DISMISSES TWO CRIMINAL COUNTS AGAINST TRUMP IN FANI WILLIS’ 2020 ELECTION INTERFERENCE CASE Loeffler launched Greater Georgia in 2021. It is the only organization in the state working to oust Willis ahead of the Nov. 5 election.  The conservative advocacy group launched a $100,000 ad campaign against Willis earlier this month, aimed at exposing her “failures” ahead of Election Day.  Meanwhile, earlier this month, Fulton County Judge Scott McAfee dismissed two criminal counts in Willis’ Georgia 2020 election interference case against Trump, ruling that Georgia prosecutors had no authority to bring the charges that related to the alleged filing of false documents in federal court.  McAffee, earlier this year, dismissed six other charges against Trump, saying Willis failed to allege sufficient detail.  Trump had pleaded not guilty to all counts.  In June, the Georgia Court of Appeals paused the proceedings until it hears the case to disqualify Willis in October. The Georgia Court of Appeals said it would hear Trump’s argument to have Willis disqualified on Dec. 5 — a month after the 2024 presidential election.  In a separate decision earlier this month, though, McAfee upheld the racketeering charge in the case, which has been brought against all the defendants. 

Piling on: A tsunami of anti-Trump pieces offer a stark contrast with Kamala’s upbeat coverage

Piling on: A tsunami of anti-Trump pieces offer a stark contrast with Kamala’s upbeat coverage

In just the last few days, there’s been a tremendous media pile-on against Donald Trump. Whether you think that’s warranted or not – much of it is based on his own words – we are back to a Trump-centric universe. Kamala Harris is making little or no news, despite such spectacles as the Oprah show, and Trump, as usual, is back to driving each news cycle. I have been telling people since 2015 that negative stories are good for Trump because the ensuing debate then unfolds on his terms. In fact, he deliberately uses provocative or inflammatory language as catnip for the press, knowing that even if he’s denounced that will drive coverage for at least a couple of days. The vice president generally gets such favorable press that many people assume she’s got this race wrapped up. When an NBC poll shows her leading Trump by 5 points, she’s said to have the momentum, although national surveys are basically meaningless. SCANDALS, FAILED ASSASSINATIONS AND POLITICAL RHETORIC: BOTH SIDES GO HIGH AND LOW And a New York Times poll shows Trump leading in the key Sunbelt states that the Harris camp hoped to pick off. He has a 5-point lead in Arizona, a 4-point lead in Georgia and a 2-point lead in North Carolina. That’s within striking distance and in some cases a statistical tie. But the Times piece says that many voters believe Trump “improved their lives when he was president – and worry that a Kamala Harris White House would not.” That’s the thing. Trump’s already had four years in the Oval Office. And while there was no shortage of chaos – two impeachments, January 6th – plenty of folks remember a strong economy. And they want more details about whether Harris would take the country in a more liberal direction, even as she puts her rhetorical focus on the middle class and small business (as well as abortion rights). Plus, it’s hard to run as a change candidate when you’re part of the incumbent administration and large numbers see the country as being on the wrong track. Virtually everyone in America has a set-in-stone view of the former president. His MAGA loyalists have been with him since he said in his first campaign that “I could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue” and not lose support.  That takes on a more ominous tone now that Trump has barely escaped assassinaton twice – and, after the Florida golf course attempt, blamed the attacks on “danger to democracy” language by Harris and the Democrats. Many in the media have made Hitler comparisons, and the truth is both sides have used incendiary language. Sometimes Trump just resorts to trolling – “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!” – to get chattering classes chattering, even though he much wanted her endorsement. Let’s look at the coverage in recent days: TRUMP INDICATES HE WON’T MAKE ANOTHER PRESIDENTIAL RUN IN 2028 IF UNSUCCESSFUL THIS TIME The Washington Post describes “Donald Trump’s imaginary world,” where “Americans can’t venture out to buy a loaf of bread without getting shot, mugged or raped. Immigrants in a small Ohio town eat their neighbors’ cats and dogs. World War III and economic collapse are just around the corner. And kids head off to school only to return at day’s end having undergone gender reassignment surgery. “The former president’s imaginary world is a dark, dystopian place, described by Trump in his rallies, interviews, social media posts and debate appearances to paint an alarming picture of America under the Biden-Harris administration. It is a distorted, warped and, at times, absurdist portrait of a nation where the insurrectionists who stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, to deadly effect were merely peaceful protesters, and where unlucky boaters are faced with the unappealing choice between electrocution or a shark attack. His extreme caricatures also serve as another way for Trump to traffic in lies and misinformation, using an alternate reality of his own making to create an often terrifying — and, he seems to hope — politically devastating landscape for his political opponents.” Trump also accused Tim Walz speaking positively about “execution” after a baby is born–though Washington Post’s Fact-Checker says the governor never said that, and that fewer than 1 percent of abortions are performed after 21 weeks of pregnancy. In the New York Times, conservative writer David French uses self-described “Black Nazi” and pro-slavery GOP candidate Mark Robinson, who’s running for North Carolina governor, to slam Trump. French says he’s endorsed Kamala “because I believe that a Harris victory gives Republicans ‘a chance to build something decent’ from the ruins of a Trump defeat. “After enduring weeks of lies about the Haitian immigrants who live in Springfield, Ohio, and an entire news cycle devoted to covering Trump’s connection with Laura Loomer, one of the most overtly racist figures in MAGA America (she once spoke at a conference of white nationalists and declared, ‘I consider myself to be a white advocate, and I openly campaigned for the United States Congress as a white advocate’) — I’m hardening my view. Trump loses now or the Republicans are lost for a generation. Maybe more… “This has changed the composition of the party. While many decent people remain — and represent the hope for future reform — Trump’s Republican Party has become a magnet for eccentrics and conspiracy theorists of all stripes.”  64 DAYS: KAMALA HARRIS HAS YET TO DO FORMAL PRESS CONFERENCE SINCE EMERGING AS DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE Back at the Washington Post, the Trump campaign is described as imploding:  “In a single 24-hour span at the end of last month, for example, he amplified a crude joke about Harris performing a sex act; falsely accused her of staging a coup against President Joe Biden; promoted tributes to the QAnon conspiracy theory; hawked digital trading cards; and became embroiled in a public feud with staff and officials at Arlington National Cemetery. “The Swift attack was especially concerning to Trump’s advisers, who are worried about attracting female

Gunman who killed 10 in Colorado grocery store found guilty of murder

Gunman who killed 10 in Colorado grocery store found guilty of murder

Jury rejects defence plea that Ahmad Alissa was insane and hearing voices prior to 2021 shooting. A gunman who fatally shot 10 people at a grocery store in Colorado in 2021 has been found guilty of murder and could face life in prison. On Monday, a jury rejected the defence’s argument that 25-year-old Ahmad Alissa should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The defence had argued that Alissa was diagnosed with schizophrenia and could not distinguish the meaning of his actions when he opened fire at the King Soopers grocery store in the city of Boulder. “This tragedy was born out of disease not choice,” defence lawyer Kathryn Herold told the jury during closing arguments. District Attorney Michael Dougherty, meanwhile, argued that the nature of the attack showed Alissa was intentional in his actions. “He is methodical and he is brutal,” Dougherty told jurors. Whether Alissa was responsible for the shooting and the details of the attack were never in question during the trial, which began earlier this month. Alissa had started shooting within moments of arriving in the car park of the store, killing three people before heading inside. He chased several of those he shot and sought out others who were hiding. Prosecutors pointed to those decisions as evidence that Alissa was acting sanely during the attack. They also argued that the illegal magazines and steel-piercing bullets Alissa carried showed the attack was deliberate. State forensic psychologists said that Alissa’s fear of being arrested or killed by the police showed he was sane at the time of the killings. Still, psychologists said they could not provide full confidence in their finding – a point seized on by the defence. Alissa had repeatedly told the psychologists he heard what he described as “killing voices”, but he did not provide further details. Alissa’s family also reported that he had become withdrawn and spoke little, and that he had become increasingly paranoid and heard voices in the years leading up to the attack. They said he had not received any mental health treatment prior to the attack. The state forensic psychologists also concluded that voices likely played a role in the attack and that they did not believe it would have happened if he did not have a mental illness. Still, Colorado law draws a distinction between mental illness and insanity. It defines the latter as having a mental disease so severe that it is impossible for a person to tell right from wrong. The verdict capped a trial filled with harrowing testimonies from survivors of the attack. One survivor, an emergency room doctor, said she crawled onto a shelf and hid among bags of potato chips. A pharmacist at the grocery store testified that she heard Alissa say, “This is fun” at least three times as he fired throughout the store with a semi-automatic pistol resembling an AR-15 rifle. Prosecutors said Alissa, who was born in Syria and emigrated to the US with his family as a small child, had researched locations for possible attacks. However, they did not provide any other motive. Adblock test (Why?)

Myanmar anti-coup forces target Mandalay in struggle to oust military

Myanmar anti-coup forces target Mandalay in struggle to oust military

Myanmar’s second-biggest city is beginning to feel like a city under siege. But while armed groups might be at the gates of Mandalay, most residents do not consider them the enemy. “I’ve lived in Singu since I was born and we’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Tun, a 47-year-old resident of a small town in the Mandalay region, roughly 80km (50 miles) north of the city. He asked to be identified by only part of his name for security reasons. “At first, most residents didn’t flee from the town because we had no experience with war. When the fighting got more intense near the town, we understood we couldn’t stay here.” While Myanmar’s borderlands, home to many of the country’s ethnic minorities, have been ravaged by conflict for decades, the mostly Bamar areas in the heart of the country had not seen conflict since World War II. That all changed when the military overthrew Aung San Suu Kyi’s democratically elected government in 2021, plunging the country into a political crisis and civil war. Since then, the Myanmar military has suffered stunning defeats at the hands of longstanding ethnic armed groups and more-recently-established pro-democracy militias. But perhaps no development has been as unexpected as the recent capture of four towns in northern Mandalay, leaving the anti-coup alliance within striking distance of a city with a population of nearly 2 million people. Tun said he was “very happy” that resistance groups seized Singu, even though it has had a devastating effect on the town. Public services have collapsed and nearly every resident has fled as the military launches air and artillery attacks in an attempt to reclaim it. Mandalay saw huge protests after the coup in February 2021 [AP Photo] Tun has been sheltering in a village not too far from the town and, like other Singu residents, would occasionally go back to check on his house. But after air strikes in July, he returned to find only ashes and splinters. “Everything is gone,” he said. “Our house was very precious. It was made of teak wood and it was the only thing I inherited from my parents. When I told my wife, she sobbed.” Mandalay, Myanmar’s old royal capital and cultural centre of the Buddhist heartland, saw some of the largest protests after the coup – and some of the most brutal crackdowns. Many of those young protesters fled to territory controlled by ethnic armed groups to get weapons and training. They are now returning – armed and determined. Pyay, 22, was a university student in Mandalay city before the coup. His parents were public school teachers who joined a mass strike of civil servants while he hit the streets to protest. On March 27, 2022 – a year after the military shot dead at least 40 civilians in Mandalay in a nationwide crackdown on opposition to its coup – he decided to join an armed resistance group called the Madaya People’s Defence Team. On August 5 this year, he and his troops were recuperating at an outpost on the outskirts of Madaya, the last town between the anti-coup fighters and Mandalay. “Suddenly, a military aeroplane came and we dived to crawl on the ground. The military must have got some information that there were revolutionary groups based in the area,” said Pyay, who also asked to use just part of his name for security reasons. But instead of striking their outpost, the bombs fell directly on a village, destroying homes and injuring three civilians. “I felt so angry,” Pyay said. “The residents are innocent and there was no reason to attack them… but they don’t dare fight us on the ground so they use artillery and aeroplanes.” ‘Operational depth’ Groups like Pyay’s are generally loyal to the National Unity Government (NUG), a parallel administration of elected lawmakers removed in the coup. But the most effective units typically operate under the guidance of an ethnic armed group. The most powerful of all may be the Mandalay People’s Defence Force (PDF), which fights under the command of the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) and has been central to the operations in northern Mandalay. “Without the Mandalay PDF, we can’t take Madaya,” Pyay conceded. Anthony Davis, an analyst with the Janes defence and security publications, said the Mandalay PDF has become so powerful because it operates as “a virtual extension of the TNLA”. The TNLA fights for the autonomy of the ethnic Ta’ang people, who largely live in the mountains of northern Shan State, some of the least developed parts of Myanmar. There is a long history of Ta’ang armed movements but the modern TNLA was founded in 2009. It enjoys a close relationship with China and has seized an unprecedented swath of territory from the military in an offensive that began in October last year. Morgan Michaels, from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, agrees with Davis. “The Mandalay PDF’s success is directly attributable to the training, weapons, command and control, and operational depth the group has been afforded by the TNLA. The outfit was raised by the TNLA,” he said.  “There is no operation under way where it’s purely the Mandalay PDF on its own. They still rely on the command and control of the TNLA.” Both analysts agree the Mandalay PDF would need TNLA support to seize the city. But it is unclear whether the TNLA would provide such support. Its closest ethnic armed group ally, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, recently announced it had no intention to march on Mandalay, seemingly in response to Chinese pressure to rein in the conflict. Even if the resistance does not push south towards Mandalay city, capturing the northern Mandalay region is still significant to the fight because it connects opposition-controlled territories. Davis said the “logistical and operational connectivity between now-contiguous swaths of resistance-dominated territory… will be critically important, perhaps decisive.” Analysts also warn that an attack on a city like Mandalay would carry immense risk for the people