Texas Weekly Online

Texas-trans-white
Menu
Menu

Author:

BlackRock adds new proxy advisory firm amid ESG criticism as critics say ‘too little, too late’

BlackRock adds new proxy advisory firm amid ESG criticism as critics say ‘too little, too late’

BlackRock announced Tuesday that it is partnering with a third proxy advisory firm to give its clients a wider range of investment counsel as critics suggested the mammoth asset manager is trying to make up for allegations that it leans into ESG (environmental, social, governance) tenets more than its fiduciary responsibilities merit. In a release obtained by Fox News Digital on Monday, BlackRock officials said the firm remains committed to providing its clients with choices that support their growing range of investment preferences via its Voting Choice program. “We continue to innovate and provide more choice to our clients who wish to take a more direct role in the proxy voting process,” Joud Abdel Majeid, global head of BlackRock Investment Stewardship, said in the release.  “We’re pleased to add a third proxy advisor to our platform and the option for more clients to customize their voting guidelines to reflect their specific goals and objectives.” ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDSHIP IS THE NEW GUISE FOR MERCANTILISM, CAN LEAD TO GLOBAL INSTABILITY: DR KEVIN ROBERTS In that regard, BlackRock will be adding Delaware County, Pa.-based ratings firm Egan Jones as a third proxy adviser beginning in July. Sean Egan, the founder of Egan Jones, was previously ranked by Fortune as the No. 1 prognosticator of the 2008 financial crisis. “With the addition of two Egan Jones guidelines, Voting Choice will give eligible clients more choice with up to 16 distinct voting guidelines across three proxy advisor services, plus BlackRock’s benchmark policy,” the release said. “The majority of BlackRock’s equity investment clients continue to entrust BlackRock’s investment stewardship team with the important responsibility of voting in accordance with BlackRock’s benchmark policy, consistent with BlackRock’s fiduciary duty.” BLACKROCK CEO REPORTEDLY ‘ASHAMED’ OF ESG POLITICAL DEBATE, SAYS IT’S MISUSED BY FAR LEFT AND RIGHT While BlackRock’s partnership with Egan Jones appeared to try to quell critics’ claims about investment politicization, some conservatives were not convinced. A top public policy expert who has long spoken out against the politicization of the financial services sector told Fox News Digital that BlackRock is not successfully affirming any kind of apolitical fiduciary stance by bringing Egan Jones into its advisory fold. Dr. Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation, said BlackRock’s move was tardy at best. “[CEO] Larry Fink may claim that ESG has ‘been weaponized by left and right,’” he said, referencing a July 2023 Fox Business interview with Fink. “But he’s missing the reality: Everyday Americans recognize ESG for the scam it is.” In the interview, Fink told Fox Business host Liz Claman that BlackRock is seeing more new investors than any time in its history, and he responded to ESG-minded critics by saying the firm remains a fiduciary that does “what our clients are asking.” CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP “We have good performance, and we’ve been right on market calls,” Fink said. BlackRock officials also have said they will leave up to shareholder vote whether to adopt any ESG policies. In his 2023 chairman’s letter to investors, Fink somewhat addressed Roberts’ overall criticism, writing that “there are many people with opinions about how we should manage our clients’ money. But the money doesn’t belong to these people. It’s not ours either. It belongs to our clients, and our responsibility and our duty is to them.” In his comments to Fox News Digital, Roberts said many states are nonetheless seeking to “eliminate the politics in boardrooms of America’s companies.” “BlackRock’s move to expand ‘voting choice’ touted under the guise of a ‘commitment to providing clients with choices’ is too little, too late,” he said, pointing to right-wing gains in France and the European Parliament that show citizens are “fed up with being pawns in global elites’ war on common sense.” BlackRock’s release said that prior to the addition of Egan Jones, $600 billion in institutional investment assets under management were entrusted to the Voting Choice program. Fox News Digital also reached out to other financial services experts and lawmakers for comment.

US v Hunter Biden trial enters day 7 with continued jury deliberations: ‘Choices have consequences’

US v Hunter Biden trial enters day 7 with continued jury deliberations: ‘Choices have consequences’

WILMINGTON, Del. – A federal court waits with bated breath for a verdict in the historical U.S. v. Hunter Biden criminal case after jury deliberations kicked off Monday afternoon.  “Choices have consequences and that’s why we’re here,” prosecutor Derek Hines told the court Monday afternoon.  Hunter Biden’s sixth day of trial, which is related to his gun purchase in 2018, kicked off with a brief rebuttal case from prosecutors before both the prosecution and the defense teams hashed out jury instructions with presiding Judge Maryellen Noreika, held closing arguments and finally jury deliberations. The first son is facing three charges related to his Oct. 12, 2018, purchase of a Cobra Colt .38 handgun, including making a false statement in the purchase of a gun, making a false statement related to information required to be kept by a federally licensed gun dealer, and possession of a gun by a person who is an unlawful user of or addicted to a controlled substance. JURORS MIGHT BELIEVE HUNTER BIDEN IS GUILTY AND VOTE TO ACQUIT HIM ANYWAY Hunter Biden, who has a well-established history with drug and alcohol abuse, is specifically accused of lying on a federal gun form, called Form 4473, where he checked a box labeled “No” when asked if he is an unlawful user of drugs or addicted to controlled substances. Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty in the case.  HUNTER BIDEN ENTERS DAY 6 OF CRIMINAL TRIAL WITH POSSIBILITY OF TAKING THE STAND Prosecutor Leo Wise delivered the government’s closing arguments in the case, underscoring the phrase previously used in the team’s opening arguments: “No one is above the law.” Wise told the jury that the evidence and testimony heard in court since last Tuesday has been “personal,” “ugly” and “overwhelming,” but also “necessary.” Throughout the course of the trial, the court heard testimony from Hunter Biden’s ex-wife, Kathleen Buhle, ex-girlfriend Zoe Kestan, sister-in-law-turned-girlfriend Hallie Biden, daughter Naomi Biden, as well as from a series of experts from the FBI and DEA in addition to the trio of gun shop owners involved in the gun sale. Wise told the jury that the prosecution team has sufficiently presented to them evidence that before, during and after the gun purchase, Hunter Biden was a drug addict and knew he was a drug addict before filling out ATF Form 4473. HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 5 AFTER TESTIMONY FROM SISTER-IN-LAW-TURNED-GIRLFRIEND: ‘PANICKED’ “The defendant knew he used crack and was addicted to crack at the relevant time period,” Wise said, noting that the prosecution team did not need to prove to the jury that Hunter Biden used and was addicted to crack cocaine on the specific day of the purchase, just the time period surrounding the gun purchase.  HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS DAY 4 AFTER WILD TESTIMONY FROM EXES ON RAMPANT DRUG USE, TRASHED HOTEL ROOMS The first son’s 2021 memoir “Beautiful Things” again took center stage on Monday. The memoir includes anecdotes from Hunter Biden that he needed crack cocaine every 20 minutes at the height of his addiction, how he met a female drug dealer he nicknamed “Bicycles” who sold him crack cocaine on the streets of Washington, D.C., and how he could serve as a “crack daddy” to dealers due to his spiraling addiction.  “I had returned that fall of 2018, after my most recent relapse in California, with the hope of getting clean through a new therapy and reconciling with Hallie,” Hunter Biden wrote in his memoir of his return to Delaware after a stint in a California rehab. Wise highlighted that portion of the book, pointing to the phrase “hope of getting clean,” which Wise said shows Hunter Biden was using drugs when he traveled back to Delaware where he purchased the gun.  HUNTER BIDEN TRIAL ENTERS 3RD DAY WITH CROSS-EXAMINATION OF FBI AGENT The book was “key evidence that Hunter was using drugs,” Wise argued in his comments to the jury.  Wise also again rehashed text messages Hunter Biden sent others the month of the gun purchase, including telling Hallie Biden one day after the gun purchase that he was “waiting for a dealer named Mookie” behind a stadium, and a day after that, he texted Hallie Biden that he was “sleeping on a car smoking crack on 4th street and Rodney.” “The central issue in this case is whether he was an addict and knew that he was,” Wise said.  “We’ve had his life in our hands, but not now I have to give it to you,” Lowell told the jury Monday afternoon of Hunter Biden.  ‘LIKE A SON’: FORMER TOP BIDEN ADVISER WITH DEEP BUSINESS TIES TO CHINA SPOTTED INSIDE HUNTER BIDEN GUN TRIAL Lowell laid out his argument to the jury Monday that prosecutors have failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Biden knowingly lied about his addiction to crack cocaine when buying the gun at the Wilmington gun shop back in October 2018.  Lowell, instead, accused prosecutors of playing a “magician’s trick,” claiming they rolled out “conjecture” to the jury regarding Hunter Biden’s drug abuse by not presenting evidence showing photos from October 2018 of Hunter Biden’s drug purchases or use, lack of evidence showing the gun he purchased was ever loaded or taken into public, and unable to show who got cocaine residue on the brown pouch that contained the gun when it was eventually collected by police.  HUNTER BIDEN’S WIFE LASHES OUT AT FORMER TRUMP AIDE DURING COURT APPEARANCE: ‘PIECE OF S—‘ Lowell and the defense team do not dispute that Hunter Biden has a long history with substance abuse, with Lowell telling the court earlier in the trial that the first son began abusing alcohol as a teenager before graduating to drugs as an adult. Lowell instead argued that ahead of the gun purchase in October, Hunter Biden had received rehab treatment in August that same year and hired a “sober coach” to help him stay clean.  Lowell argued that on the day of Hunter Biden’s gun purchase,

Crucial primary races to be decided Tuesday, setting up fight for balance of power

Crucial primary races to be decided Tuesday, setting up fight for balance of power

A last-minute endorsement by former President Trump in a key Republican Senate primary, a race to succeed a GOP vice presidential nomination contender, a high-profile Republican representative facing a second straight primary challenge, and a fight to face off with a vulnerable House Democrat. These showdowns are all in the spotlight Tuesday as voters in Nevada, North Dakota, South Carolina and Maine head to the polls to cast ballots in primary elections. For a second straight election, Republican Rep. Nancy Mace is facing a fight for renomination in South Carolina’s competitive Low Country-based 1st Congressional District. Mace, who was first elected to the House in 2020, survived a primary challenge against a Trump-backed Republican two years ago. The former president had targeted Mace after she blamed him for the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters aiming to upend congressional certification of President Biden’s 2020 election victory. MACE CONFRONTS FELLOW GOP LAWMAKER WHO ENDORSED HER PRIMARY CHALLENGER Fast-forward two years and Mace now has Trump’s backing after she endorsed the former president and campaigned for him earlier this year in South Carolina’s crucial GOP presidential primary. But unlike two years ago, when then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy had her back, the now-former House speaker is targeting Mace, who last year was one of eight House Republicans to break ranks and vote to oust McCarthy. NANCY MACE SPARS WITH BILL MAHER, EXPLAINS HER FLIP ON TRUMP Around $9 million has been shelled out to run ads in the primary, according to the national ad tracking firm AdImapct. Nearly half of the money comes from McCarthy aligned outside groups that are targeting Mace. But Mace, who’s also backed by Republican Gov. Henry McMaster, has had roughly $3 million in outside spending on her behalf. Mace’s main rival is Catherine Templeton, the former head of the state health and environment department who unsuccessfully campaigned for governor in 2018. Templeton is backed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and Rep. Joe Wilson of the neighboring 2nd Congressional District. Besides Trump, Mace enjoys the support of current House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mace has faced controversy as several of her congressional staffers quit late last year and early this year. And a former Mace chief of staff briefly launched a primary challenge against his former boss. There’s a third candidate in the primary race, and if no one wins a majority of the vote, there will be a runoff in two weeks. Businessman Michael B. Moore and veteran Mac Deford are vying for the Democrat nod in the 1st District. Two other GOP congressional primaries in South Carolina are worth watching. In the 3rd District – in the northwestern corner of the Palmetto State – a crowded field of seven Republicans is competing for the nomination to replace Rep. Jeff Duncan, who announced in January that he would not seek an eighth two-year term.  And in the 4th District in upstate South Carolina, three-term Rep. William Timmons faces a challenge from state Rep. Adam Morgan, who’s running to Timmons’ right. In Nevada, Trump made a last-minute endorsement in the battleground state’s Republican Senate nomination race. “Sam Brown is a fearless American patriot,” the former president wrote in a social media posting Sunday night, hours before Tuesday’s primary in the key western swing state. “As your next Senator, Sam will fight tirelessly to secure our Border, end Migrant Crime, stop Inflation, grow our Economy, STRONGLY SUPPORT OUR GREAT MILITARY/VETS.” Trump’s endorsement, a couple of hours after he headlined a rally in Las Vegas, cemented Brown’s status as the front-runner in a crowded GOP primary field in the fight to face off with Democrat Sen. Jacky Rosen in November in a race that may determine if Republicans win back the Senate majority.  TRUMP ENDORSEMENT IN KEY BATTLEGROUND STATE ANOTHER VICTORY FOR SENATE GOP CAMPAIGN CHAIR Brown is a former Army captain who was severely burned and permanently scarred in 2008 when his vehicle ran over an explosive device in the war in Afghanistan. The Trump endorsement will boost Brown, who is making his second straight Senate bid, as he aims to fend off a crowded field of rivals, including Jeff Gunter, a wealthy dermatologist who served as the former president’s ambassador to Iceland. Rosen, a first-term senator who the GOP views as vulnerable, faces two long-shot primary challengers. Republicans need a pickup of one to two seats in November to win back the Senate majority. There are also GOP primaries Tuesday for the Democrat-held but competitive 1st, 3rd and 4th congressional districts, which all include portions of the Las Vegas metropolitan area. Republicans are hoping to expand their current razor-thin majority in the House in November’s elections. In North Dakota, Trump running mate contender and two-term Gov. Doug Burgum is not seeking a third term steering the heavily red state. Burgum, who last year ran unsuccessfully for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination before endorsing Trump early this year, is backing Lt. Gov. Tammy Miller in the race to succeed him. Miller is facing off against three-term Rep. Kelly Armstrong, who won the endorsement of the state GOP earlier this year as he runs for governor rather than for re-election to Congress. In Maine, Republicans are once again targeting Marine Corps veteran and moderate Democrat Rep. Jared Golden, who is running for a fourth term in a mostly rural district won by Trump in both 2016 and 2020. State Rep. Austin Theriault, a former NASCAR driver, and state Rep. Mike Soboleski, are facing off in Tuesday’s GOP primary in the race to challenge Golden in the general election. Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.

Ex-New York Gov Andrew Cuomo to face House GOP committee over COVID nursing home deaths

Ex-New York Gov Andrew Cuomo to face House GOP committee over COVID nursing home deaths

Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is paying a visit to Capitol Hill on Tuesday for a closed-door transcribed interview with the House select subcommittee investigating the coronavirus pandemic. Cuomo’s handling of the pandemic as governor has been a significant focus of the panel’s – in particular, a March 25, 2020, executive order by the then-governor that restricted nursing homes from refusing to admit or readmit residents “solely based on confirmed or suspect[ed] diagnosis of COVID-19.” “We want to uncover the circumstances that led to this. There has to be some kind of process where this was written up and he signed it. And we want to make sure that something like this is never repeated,” subcommittee Chair Brad Wenstrup, R-Ohio, told Fox News Digital. “I’m a physician who happens to care. And I’m concerned for my fellow Americans, especially during a very difficult time in a pandemic. So, who advised such things?” Wenstrup said committee investigators have “several hours of questions” lined up for the former governor, such as “Why was he spending so much time writing a book while we had a pandemic going on, while we have this nursing home problem?” and “Why did it take him so long to rescind [the executive order] when it became very obvious that this was a bad plan?” LIBERAL NY TIMES COLUMNIST ADMITS MEDIA, PUBLIC HEALTH WERE ‘TOO DISMISSIVE’ ON LAB LEAK THEORY A spokesperson for the committee’s Democrat minority told Fox News Digital, “The Select Subcommittee Democrats take seriously any effort to evade transparency and mislead the public and remain committed to the forward-looking work of fortifying infection control and prevention to protect America’s nursing homes residents.” A damning report released in March 2022 by the New York State comptroller found Cuomo’s Health Department “was not transparent in its reporting of COVID-19 deaths in nursing homes” and it “understated the number of deaths at nursing homes by as much as 50%” during some points of the pandemic. HIGH-RANKING FAUCI ADVISER USED PERSONAL EMAIL TO AVOID FOIA REQUESTS, DISCUSS COVID ORIGIN Cuomo and his former aide, Melissa DeRosa, have both previously pushed back on assertions that the former Democrat leader was at fault, insisting that New York’s health department was following Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance issued by the Trump administration before Cuomo’s order. “I would ask him for proof of that because it doesn’t comply,” Wenstrup said when asked about Cuomo’s prior explanation. “Believe me, we’ve done the research. And I don’t think that that’s going to prove to be the case. And we’ll present that to him.” Wenstrup subpoenaed Cuomo in March to appear before his committee. A letter accompanying the subpoena said Cuomo’s testimony “is vital to our investigation into the effectiveness of federal guidance and regulations implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic regarding the protection of nursing home residents.” “Further, this investigation may inform legislation to enhance the federal scientific guidance process, including the drafting, publication, and implementation of guidances originating from CMS or CDC,” the letter said. FAUCI ADVISER’S ALLEGED DESTRUCTION OF COVID ORIGIN DOCS MUST BE PROBED BY AG: RAND PAUL That March 5 letter also saw committee Republicans accuse Cuomo of dodging their attempts to interview him, something his lawyer, Rita Glavin, pushed back on in her own letter to Wenstrup the day before. “We repeatedly informed the Select Subcommittee’s staff of Governor Cuomo’s willingness to sit for an interview during communications with them over the last several weeks,” Glavin wrote on March 4. “To be clear, Governor Cuomo has been and remains cooperative…I simply ask that we work together to accommodate his legal obligations and my other professional obligations.” Fox News Digital reached out to Glavin on Monday for follow-up comment on Cuomo’s Tuesday interview.