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Gascón pressed at Los Angeles County DA debate over lax policies on gang-related crime enhancements

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón faced tough questioning during a district attorney debate over his policies on gang-related crime enhancements, including from a mother whose child was killed by a gang member. When Gascón took over as district attorney, he barred prosecutors from pursuing enhanced punishments for gang members, according to Fox 11. Several of the deputy district attorneys who are running against him said at the debate on Thursday in Beverly Hills that they disagreed with this policy. Emma Rivas, whose son was murdered in 2016, confronted Gascón about the impact his policies had on the killer’s sentence. “My child was killed by a gang member, and you have more sympathy for that gang member who killed my child in front of my home. Can you explain to me, because I have been looking for you for four years,” she said. LA TIMES ENDORSES GASCÓN FOR RE-ELECTION, CLAIMS BACKLASH TO CRIME POLICIES IS A MAGA ‘FAIRY TALE’ Gascón responded, “I am broken-hearted for your loss.” The district attorney then defended his stance on criminal justice reform, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result. We as a country have been doing the same thing for generations.” The debate moderator asked the candidates on stage to raise their hands if they supported gang enhancements, and everyone but Gascón raised their hand. Candidate John McKinney called on Gascón to clarify his statement, “When you say the definition of insanity is repeating something that didn’t work, what are you referring to?” LOS ANGELES DA GASCÓN PROMOTES FORMER PUBLIC DEFENDER WHO CALLED LAPD ‘BARBARIANS’ AND AN ‘OCCUPYING ARMY’ Another challenger, Jonathan Hatami, blasted Gascón’s policy. “When George Gascón took office, he ordered all of us to remove allegations and enhancements on every single case,” Hatami said. During the heated back-and-forth and reactions from the audience, an activist accused Hatami of racism, an allegation he rejected. “Emma is a person of color; her son was a person of color, and he was murdered. It’s not racist when you are fighting for justice,” Hatami said. Hatami proceeded to cite several more examples of victims whose killers did not receive enhancements at the direction of Gascón. Gascón has served as Los Angeles County district attorney since December 2020.

Who are the Islamic Resistance in Iraq?

At 9:30pm on Wednesday, a United States drone strike hit a car in the al-Mashtal neighbourhood of east Baghdad. US Central Command claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on X, saying it was a “unilateral strike” in retaliation for attacks on US soldiers at a base in Jordan in late January. Three men from Kataib Hezbollah, part of a coalition of militias-turned-state apparatus called the Popular Mobilisation Forces (PMF), were killed in the US strike, including Wissam Mohammed, the commander in charge of Kataib Hezbollah’s operations in Syria, who went by the nom de guerre Abu Bakr al-Saadi. On January 28, a drone had struck a Jordanian-US outpost called Tower 22 and killed three US soldiers. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq (IRI), an umbrella group of Iran-backed armed groups in the region, claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was carried out in response to US support for Israel’s war on Gaza. But Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh said the drone attack bore the “footprints” of Kataib Hezbollah, adding, “We know Iran is behind it” but not presenting evidence. Iran has denied any involvement in the assault. In recent months, Iranian-backed groups in Iraq and Syria operating under the banner of  the IRI have launched about 170 attacks on US bases. But the attack on Tower 22 was the first to result in the deaths of US military personnel since October 18, the Pentagon said, adding that 143 Americans have been injured overall. The situation has led to what analysts described as a tit-for-tat exchange of fire between the US and Iran-backed groups in the region. On January 4, a US air strike in Baghdad killed Mushtaq Jawad Kazim al-Jawari, aka Abu Taqwa, a commander in Harakat Hizballah al-Nujaba, another PMF militia. The US said he had been involved in attacks on American personnel. “There has been an escalation in frequency but also in casualties,” Renad Mansour, a senior research fellow at the Chatham House think tank’s Middle East and North Africa Programme, told Al Jazeera. “And at the same time, this is not new. There have been moments in the past where this tit-for-tat has occurred.” President Joe Biden, right, meets the bodies of three US soldiers who were killed in a drone attack in Jordan on January 28, 2024, as they are returned to the United States on February 2, 2024 [Matt Rourke/AP] A scramble for influence Over the years since the 2003 US invasion of Iraq, a battle has played out in the country between Iran and the US for government influence. Among those working in alignment with Iran are a number of members of the PMF, a coalition of paramilitary groups that emerged in 2014 to fight ISIL (ISIS). In 2017, the PMF’s legitimacy was codified into law against the wishes of the Iraqi Ministries of Interior and Defence, and they were brought under the oversight of Iraq’s national security adviser. The main targets of US-led assassinations have been commanders in various Iraqi government-linked PMF groups. These many paramilitaries include pro-Iranian militias and some nationalist militias although in recent years the pro-Iranian faction has diluted the nationalist influence. The PMF’s leader, Faleh al-Fayyad, recently demanded that the US-led coalition withdraw from Iraq and warned that “targeting the PMF is playing with fire”. Despite the PMF’s anti-American delineation, recent attacks on the US have been credited to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq instead. The IRI is a vanguard group of armed actors from within the PMF that operates in Iraq and Syria but does not necessarily fall under the PMF’s chain of command. Despite being closely aligned with Iran, it at times act in its own interests and with its own agency. “The real objective of these attacks is to force the Americans to withdraw from Iraq and Syria,” Randa Slim, a senior fellow at the Middle East Institute, told Al Jazeera. The banner of the IRI is useful for both the PMF and the US, analysts said. This way, actors from the PMF and the US can trade attacks without directly implicating their partners in the Iraqi government. Members of the IRI “are on the front line and at times perform the violence on behalf of the wider networks connected to the PMF or Iran, which often prefer deniability”, Mansour said. “Therefore, when something goes wrong, the PMF is not necessarily implicated, even though they fall under the same umbrella group.” Faleh al-Fayyad, leader of the PMF – speaking here on the first anniversary of the US assassination of, from left in mural, Iranian General Qassem Soleimani and Kataib Hezbollah founder Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis – has demanded the US-led coalition pull out of Iraq [File: Murtadha Al-Sudani/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images] Saving face for Iraq After the attack on Tower 22, Kataib Hezbollah released a statement saying it would cease attacks on US interests in the region to keep from embarrassing the Iraqi government, of which the PMF is now officially an extension. But “it was an embarrassment to the Iraqi government to put that in the public statement in itself,” Slim said. Whether Kataib Hezbollah resumes operations in response to Wednesday night’s assault by the US remains to be seen. The US has repeatedly stated it is trying to avoid a wider regional war despite many actors in the region declaring that their actions are connected to US backing of Israel’s war on Gaza. Analysts said the recent US actions amount to an intensification but were also to be expected after the killing of US military personnel. “The red line for the American presidents, including [Donald] Trump, has always been the death [of US soldiers],” Slim said. But the US government may be strategically backing itself into a corner. Domestically, President Joe Biden has come under pressure from parts of the Washington establishment to respond with strength against these attacks. Some have even called for direct attacks on Iran, such as Senator Lindsey Graham who, after the Tower 22 attack, said: “Hit Iran

Football fever grips Jordan before historic AFC Asian Cup 2023 final

Amman, Jordan – For Mohammad Trakhan, a cafe owner in Amman, tennis has always been the sport of choice despite living in a football-mad country. He demonstrates his passion for the game by swinging an imaginary racquet before squeezing a glass of fresh orange juice at his colourful rustic cafe perched upon a hill in the Jordanian capital. This week, however, the 37-year-old has shifted his focus to football. Jordan are in the Asian Cup final for the first time in their history and Trakhan, the reluctant football fan, predicts a 3-1 win for his side over favourites Qatar. Football fever has truly gripped the country of 11 million people. On Tuesday night, when the referee’s full-time whistle confirmed Jordan’s semifinal victory over the mighty South Korea in the AFC Asian Cup 2023, thousands of people poured into the streets to celebrate. Traffic ground to a standstill as fans draped in Jordanian keffiyehs waved flags, belted out football chants and burst into impromptu performances of the traditional dabke dance. In a central thoroughfare located by a quiet residential area, teenagers fired makeshift flares by lighting the spray from aerosol cans, while others climbed on each other, causing the crowd to sway as they lost balance. Stern-faced police officers blared their sirens as they attempted to move the joyous throngs of fans along, but drowned out by the raucous crowds, they soon conceded defeat and stood aside. Jordanian fans climb on a car as they celebrate their semifinal win [Nils Adler/Al Jazeera] ‘Are we France or Argentina now?’ Jordan are ranked 78th in FIFA’s team rankings and their historic footballing achievement has captivated the nation. The fervent atmosphere has sparked an interest in the game for the uninitiated, including Mohammad al-Khayyat, a gregarious marketing manager, who admittedly does not watch a lot of football. “It’s the first time we have reached the final of this tournament, and we are all in shock,” he tells Al Jazeera. “We are asking ourselves: Wait, are we France or Argentina now?” The reference to the Qatar World Cup 2022 finalists is not the only hyperbole. For many Jordanians, including 23-year-old shop assistant Anas Awad, Tuesday evening was the “best night for Jordan”. Looking out at a bustling street in downtown Amman, Awad says the party will be much bigger on Saturday night if Jordan win the final. The men in white celebrate a goal during the AFC Asian Cup semifinal [Sorin Furcoi/Al Jazeera] While most fans of the an-Nashama (the gentlemen) are betting on a win for their team, the more serious ones predict a difficult game. Waseem Mustafa, a sales assistant and avid kickboxer, draws on his own experience in sports and urges caution against predicting an easy win. “Qatar are a strong team,” he says, as he looks at the floor with furrowed brows before going with a 2-1 win to Jordan anyway. Awad, the shop assistant, says he has been impressed with tournament hosts Qatar. He says he would have flown out to see the game at Lusail Stadium if he “had been wealthier”. Thousands of Jordanians have been happy to splash out on the final, be it with last-minute flights to Doha or buying the football team’s shirts in local markets. Sales of replica Jordan football shirts have gone through the roof at Mustafa’s shop. His store manager desperately orders new batches over WhatsApp to meet the demand as a proud father places an order for his three children. A local travel agency told Al Jazeera they had been inundated with requests by football fans desperate to fly to Qatar. A new CHAMPION? Or a REPEAT? 🏆#AsianCup2023 #HayyaAsia pic.twitter.com/1TYHONOxNy — AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 (@Qatar2023en) February 9, 2024 Israel’s war on Gaza overshadows celebrations An-Nashama’s success is the talk of the town, but not everyone celebrated the win on Tuesday. Mohammed al-Barghuti, a soft-spoken customer at a popular clothes store in central Amman, chose to watch the game at home out of respect for the Palestinians facing the wrath of Israel’s war on Gaza. “I felt [we] couldn’t celebrate in public when humans are being killed,” he said solemnly. “If not for the war, you would have seen 10 times more celebrations on the streets than you saw on Tuesday.” Jordan is home to more than two million registered Palestinian refugees, according to UNRWA. Yahya Nasser, a 21-year-old trainee barber and pastry chef, has no intention of celebrating if Jordan wins. Football, he says, is the last thing on his mind. Being a Jordanian of Palestinian origin, he cannot enjoy anything when he sees his people “fighting for their land and their lives”. Trakhan, the cafe owner, is originally from Palestine and says that although he does not mind other people celebrating, he will watch the final in a subdued atmosphere, perhaps on his phone with a few friends. Adblock test (Why?)

Overnight Russian drone attack kills at least seven in Ukraine’s Kharkiv

Three children among the dead, says official, as the Russian attack triggers fire and damages homes. An overnight Russian drone attack has killed at least seven people, including three children, in Ukraine’s eastern city of Kharkiv, officials say. Regional Governor Oleg Synegubov said on Telegram on Saturday three children, aged seven, four, and six months, were among the victims after the strikes hit at least 15 houses, causing large-scale fires. Kharkiv, about 30km (18 miles) from the Russia-Ukraine border, has often felt the brunt of Russia’s winter campaign of long-range strikes that commonly hit civilian areas. On January 23, a barrage of missiles struck Kharkiv and two other Ukrainian cities in one of the heaviest bombardments since the start of the year. At least 11 people were killed as about 5,000 windows in 222 buildings were broken by the blasts and shockwaves throughout the region, officials said. It marked what the United Nations called “an alarming reversal” of a trend last year that saw a drop in civilian casualties from Moscow’s attacks. The city with a pre-war population of 1.5 million is Ukraine’s most vulnerable urban centre. Russia lies north and east of it, and the border of Moscow-annexed Luhansk region is about 150km (90 miles) to the southeast. Since day one of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russian forces have tried to seize Kharkiv, dispatching armed personnel carriers almost to the city centre. Moscow has deployed strategic bombers, ballistic or cruise missiles, and Iranian or Russian-made drones that take just minutes to reach the city from across the border. Unlike the capital, Kyiv, which received advanced Western air defence systems within months, Kharkiv remains almost defenceless. Residents and authorities have had to adapt quickly as any delays mean lost lives. Russian strikes keep Ukrainians on edge while the 1,500-km (930-mile) front line has barely budged. Both sides’ inability to deliver major gains on the battlefield has pushed the fighting towards trench and artillery warfare. Ukraine’s struggles with ammunition and personnel come on the heels of a failed counteroffensive last summer and as European allies try to bump up their military production. To shake things up, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday appointed Oleksandr Syrsky as the new head of Ukraine’s armed forces. The move amounted to the most serious change of the top military brass since the start of the war. Adblock test (Why?)

‘Rahul Gandhi has a policy…’: Union Minister Amit Shah lashes out at Congress leader for questioning PM Modi’s caste

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday tore into former Congress President Rahul Gandhi for questioning PM Narendra Modi’s caste

GOP senator demands answers from Biden admin on ‘confusing’ regulation that could crush farming families

FIRST ON FOX: Iowa GOP Sen. Joni Ernst has penned a bipartisan letter with fellow senators to the Biden administration expressing concern that farmers and their families are being subjected to significant financial harm by a lengthy delay in updating the process of applying for college financial aid. “We write to express continued concern with the impact the delayed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) rollout will have for students and families, in particular those from family farm and small business backgrounds,” Ernst and 13 other senators, including Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester, wrote to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona this week. “The FAFSA Simplification Act was signed into law on December 27, 2020, and yet the Department of Education (Ed) released an incomplete and confusing ‘soft launch’ of the new form exactly three months delayed from the typical October 1 release date,” the letter continued. “In addition, Ed announced on January 30, Institutional Student Information Records (ISIRs) would not be sent to colleges and universities until early March. This creates an untenable timeline for students to review aid offers and compare their school options, with schools already pushing aid offers back to late April or early May.” The senators wrote that Question 22 on the FAFSA form, related to student assets, requires “each student report the net worth of their family’s businesses or for-profit agricultural operations,” which the senators say doesn’t take into account the financial complexities of operating a farm. FARMERS, RANCHERS, LANDOWNERS TAKE AIM AT BIDEN ADMIN FOR LATEST CRACKDOWN “This question fundamentally misunderstands how farm families operate, as the stream of revenue for crops and livestock varies significantly year-over-year, and assets cannot be cashed out to support a loan in the same capacity as traditional investments,” the letter states.  “As defined by Ed, these reported assets may include, ‘fair market value of land, buildings, livestock, unharvested crops, and machinery.’ These assets can range well into the millions of dollars, with the price of a combine harvester alone often exceeding $400,000. This, in combination with projected declines in revenue for nearly every agricultural sector for 2023 harvest, indicates Ed lacked critical insight needed to develop this asset reporting requirement.” BIDEN ADMIN FAILING TO TRACK CHINESE OWNERSHIP OF US FARMLAND: GOVT WATCHDOG The senators say that a farming family with a $60,000 annual income and $1 million in farming assets was previously paying $7,626 annually toward their child’s tuition and that under the new formula, that same family would have to pay up to $41,056. “In this economy, asking Iowa farm families to pay five times more to send their kids to college is a nonstarter,” Ernst told Fox News Digital.  “As a farm kid myself and a recipient of a Pell Grant, I understand how critical federal student aid can be for Iowans. That’s why I’m leading the charge to force Biden’s Department of Ed to reevaluate their FAFSA form and ensure folks of all backgrounds can pursue higher education if they choose to do so. Rural students will not be pushed to the side and ignored under my watch.” The letter asks who the Department of Education consulted in the farming community about the regulation and whether a discussion took place about how it would impact families. “How should families reasonably calculate the value of their family farm holdings i.e., recent appraisals, commensurate value?” the senators asked. “Given that Ed has not provided guidance on a number of important questions involving farm assets.” The senators also asked the Department of Education if it will “conduct an in-depth impact analysis of data throughout the 2024-2025 application process to understand the year-over-year impact of transitioning from the EFC formula to SAI formula?” Ernst was joined on the letter by Sens. John Tester, D-Mont.; Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa; Pete Ricketts, R-Neb.; Thom Tillis, R-N.C.; James Risch, R-Idaho; Cindy Hyde-Smith, R-Miss.; Deb Fisher, R-Neb.; Roger Marshall, R-Kan.; Roger Wicker, R-Miss.; Mike Crapo, R-Idaho; John Boozman, R-Ark.; Kevin Cramer, R-N.D.; and John Hoeven, R-N.D.  Earlier this month, Ernst and Grassley released a factsheet in a press release that explained how the Education Department’s delayed rollout of the streamlined FAFSA system has made it more difficult for students to apply to school and could send the financial contributions of farming families “skyrocketing.” “Prospective college students and their families ought to have ready access to their financial aid offerings. But this year’s FAFSA launch has created more headaches than it’s helped,” Grassley said. “Senator Ernst and I will continue working with the Department of Education to iron out wrinkles in the new FAFSA, so that when the time comes for young Iowans to choose their college, they’ll have the financial information they need.”  The Department of Education did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.

Progressive California mayors back effort to amend crime laws amid ‘rampant’ drugs and theft

Progressive mayors are backing an effort to undo certain policies in a decades-old California crime referendum that downgraded penalties for petty theft and drug possession that critics say has emboldened criminals. The 2014 law in question, Proposition 47, reclassified a number of felonies, including retail and property theft, as misdemeanors. Under Prop 47, petty theft of goods valued under $950 is classified as a misdemeanor, even for multiple offenses. It also took a broad swath of narcotics possession offenses that were previously felonies and converted them to misdemeanors. But a ballot initiative to amend Prop 47, called the Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft Reduction Act, has been earning support from both sides of the political spectrum in the Golden State, and has already received nearly 70% of the petition signatures required to be included on the ballot this November, according to the campaign behind the measure. “This initiative, make no mistake about it… is a very balanced, very measured and thoughtful approach,” Greg Totten, co-chair of Californians to Reduce Homelessness, Drug Addiction, and Theft and CEO of the California District Attorneys Association, told Fox News Digital in an interview. “It’s not blue, it’s not red. It’s just about California.”  NEWSOM SENDING 120 CALIFORNIA HIGHWAY PATROL OFFICERS TO OAKLAND TO CRACK DOWN ON ‘ALARMING’ CRIME SURGE Two Democratic progressive mayors in two of California’s biggest cities — San Francisco Mayor London Breed and San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan — endorsed the reform campaign earlier this week.  Breed, who initially supported Prop 47, said that she’s now seeing unintended consequences of the measure as she tries to crack down on illegal drugs and theft in her city, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.  “Our goal is not to keep people locked up,” she said. “But when there are no real consequences for crimes that are committed in this city, that’s a real problem.” Totten — who, prior to his position with the California District Attorneys Association, served as a prosecutor for four decades — explained to Fox News Digital that, conceptually, Prop 47 was initially presented as a way to drive “more treatment, less jail.” Totten said that while certainly fewer offenders have been jailed, treatment for drug offenders involving hard drugs including cocaine, heroin, methamphetamines, PCP and fentanyl has “gone markedly down.” NEWSOM RECALLS SEEING BRAZEN THEFT, REFUSES PHOTO AND ASKS FOR MANAGER WHEN WORKER BLAMES HIM: LEAKED VIDEO “We used to have robust drug court programs throughout the state, you had robust treatment programs, but now, because there are no consequences in California, people are not going into treatment,” he said. “The historic way that our criminal justice system has been able to influence people into treatment is by essentially having the possibility of jail time and a felony conviction as a means of compelling them to go to treatment. And if they go to treatment, and they don’t go to jail, that’s historically the way it’s operated,” Totten explained. “Well, unfortunately, Proposition 47 took away that incentive.”  An Axis Research poll conducted in November showed that 70% of Californians are likely to support the measure amending Prop 47. The petition to get the measure on the ballot has over 360,000 signatures and is on pace to earn well over the roughly 500,000 signatures needed before the April deadline, the group said. “California and Californians are very much at a tipping point. The public is sick and tired of the rampant open-air drug use, the homelessness issue and the theft that occurs before their eyes,” Totten remarked. “I mean, they walk into stores and products are locked up, inventories reduced, store hours are reduced. Stores are closing, malls are closed. And so the public is ready for change,” he said.  THIS CALIFORNIA CITY WILL STAY IN THE ‘DOOM LOOP’ IN 2024 AS BUSINESSES FLEE AND CRIME RISES, RESIDENT WARNS O. H. Skinner, the executive director for the consumer advocacy group Alliance for Consumers, said, “Proposition 47 is a major consumer protection concern because crime is a major consumer issue.”   “It is hard to get excited about shopping with your family when staring down the threat of unrestrained theft, car break-ins, or seeing a car blow through the storefront as part of a smash-and-grab assault. And the crime in California cities is creating a real risk that some California communities will soon feel like retail deserts, as large and small retailers close up shop in response to crime and theft,” he said.  “California consumers deserve a chance to weigh in on Proposition 47 and the social chaos it has helped foster in their lives,” Skinner added. 

What is ranked choice voting, the contentious election method expanding across the nation?

Thousands of Americans planning to head to the polls this year will use a voting method that has been popularized in recent U.S. history and continues to face backlash from some critics over its effectiveness and fairness. Ranked choice voting (RCV) comes in multiple forms and is used in a variety of states around the U.S. Three states — Alaska, Hawaii and Maine — use RCV statewide. In Alaska and Maine, RCV is used for both federal and statewide elections. In Hawaii, RCV is used in certain statewide elections. Additionally, 13 states have localities that either use or are slated to begin using RCV in municipal elections. While 27 states do not have laws addressing the voting method, five states — Florida, Tennessee, South Dakota, Montana and Idaho — have passed measures prohibiting the use of RCV. Virginia is the only state where RCV is authorized by state law but not in use. WEST VIRGINIA LAWMAKERS ADVANCE BALLOT MEASURE FOR NONCITIZEN VOTING BAN The most popular form of RCV is known as instant-runoff voting, which has been tested in several states, most notably Alaska. This method of ranked choice vote counting operates normally on the first round, where only voters’ first choice is counted. But if no candidate reaches 50% of the vote, then election officials will begin counting the second choice candidates.  The process involves eliminating the candidate with the least number of first-choice votes. From those ballots, election officials tally the second-choice candidate, adding to the total tally of the other candidates. The process is then repeated until a candidate in the race reaches the required 50% threshold. Discussing the voting method with Fox News Digital, AJ Simmons, research director of the Center for State Policy and Leadership at the University of Illinois Springfield, said he believes more states and localities could pass legislation to opt in for various forms of RCV in the future. “In November, Nevada is holding the second of two required referendums to adopt a similar system to what has recently been utilized in Alaska,” he said. “Idaho and Colorado might vote on adopting systems similar to the Alaska version of RCV as well. Oregon is also voting on a system that seems closer to how Maine has adopted it that keeps the current primary system in place. “Other states are at the very least considering adopting some version of it too, either the Alaska or Maine flavor for general elections or only in their primaries,” he added. “You also have this really interesting approach in Utah, too, where the state is funding a pilot program at the local level to test out RCV locally before potentially deciding on it at the state level.” Noting that a “number of localities utilize RCV and there are also a number of localities that have recently voted to adopt it starting in upcoming elections or are considering adopting it,” Simmons said he believes Americans will have a “better understanding” of RCV as it stretches to different regions in the U.S. OREGON SUPREME COURT STOPS 10 GOP LAWMAKERS FROM RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION, SIDING WITH DEMOCRAT’S BALLOT BAN Identifying potential issues with RCV, Simmons said, “When we are talking about how people vote, there are always going to be potential problems. With RCV in particular, there is something called ‘ballot exhaustion.’ “This happens when voters choose not to fill out their ballot fully, and their votes are not utilized in further rounds once the candidates they did rank have been eliminated,” he added. “However, voters in the traditional voting system utilized in America also leave ballots blank or vote for candidates who have dropped out of the race by Election Day, meaning that their votes aren’t counted either.” Another complaint against RCV is its potential partisan impact on elections. “The partisan impact of RCV may look different in different areas depending on which party loses more support to third-party candidates,” Simmons said. “In an area where the Republican Party loses some support to the Libertarian Party, for example, they may benefit from those Libertarian voters listing them as their second choice. The same is true with Democrats and the Green Party, for example.” Despite that, Simmons, to his knowledge, said there is “no across-the-board evidence RCV only benefits one party or another.” Adding to his point, Simmons insisted RCV is likely to enhance a moderate candidate’s chances of being elected. “More broadly, there does seem to be some initial evidence that RCV may benefit more moderate candidates, or at least the candidate with the broadest amount of electoral appeal, regardless of party,” he said. “It’s possible that by promoting more candidates like this who may appeal to a broader set of voters, that a party may perform better electorally than they would otherwise. It’s not just academics saying this sort of stuff. The Virginia state GOP utilizes RCV to select their candidates because, in their own terms, it helps the candidate with the broadest electoral appeal. STACEY ABRAMS’ ONCE-POWERFUL VOTING RIGHTS GROUP FACES MASSIVE LAYOFFS AS IT STRUGGLES WITH MILLIONS IN DEBT “What also may matter is if a party, or candidate, chooses to lean into the system or not,” he added. “For example, there is some evidence that suggests candidates who are willing to ask supporters of other candidates in the race to rank them as an additional choice may benefit electorally from doing so, in comparison to candidates who choose not to do that.” Discussing RCV’s partisan impact, Alaska congressional candidate Nick Begich described his frustrations with the “disingenuous voting process” in comments to Fox News. Begich is a Republican who is making another run this year to represent the state’s at-large congressional district after his defeat in the state’s 2022 midterm election, which used RCV. “A traditional election allows you to have a primary so that each side of the aisle can determine who is the best representative for their point of view and who represents their perspective best. After that, you have an opportunity to move

Biden’s brutal week: president battered by gaffes, damaging special counsel report

President Biden faced a grueling week with a damaging special counsel report questioning his mental sharpness as he simultaneously made several blunders that added to the problem.  Biden has faced questions from critics over his cognitive abilities for some time, but recent days have amplified those concerns perhaps more than any other week in his presidency. Special Counsel Robert Hur’s report on Biden’s mishandling of classified documents, released Thursday, recommended no criminal charges against the president. The investigation, however, uncovered “evidence that Biden willfully retained and disclosed classified materials after his vice presidency when he was a private citizen.” The report also caused Biden and the White House headaches by raising concerns over his memory. It laid out how the president struggled to remember key details of his life during interviews with investigators, including when he served as vice president and when his son Beau passed away. BIDEN’S FRENCH PRESIDENT GAFFE JUST THE LATEST INSTANCE OF HIS CONFUSION ABOUT LONG-DEAD PEOPLE “In his interview with our office, Mr. Biden’s memory was worse,” the report stated. “He did not remember when he was vice president, forgetting on the first day of the interview when his term ended (‘if it was 2013 — when did I stop being Vice President?’), and forgetting on the second day of the interview when his term began (‘in 2009, am I still Vice President?’).” “He did not remember, even within several years, when his son Beau died,” it continued. “And his memory appeared hazy when describing the Afghanistan debate that was once so important to him. Among other things, he mistakenly said he ‘had a real difference’ of opinion with General Karl Eikenberry, when, in fact, Eikenberry was an ally whom Mr. Biden cited approvingly in his Thanksgiving memo to President Obama.” The investigators, who regarded Biden as a “well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory,” ultimately feared his lawyers would use his “limitations” in his defense if it went to trial.  “In a case where the government must prove that Mr. Biden knew he had possession of the classified Afghanistan documents after the vice presidency and chose to keep those documents, knowing he was violating the law, we expect that at trial, his attorneys would emphasize these limitations in his recall,” the report said. BIDEN ‘DID NOT REMEMBER WHEN HE WAS VICE PRESIDENT,’ WHEN HIS SON BEAU DIED, DURING SPECIAL COUNSEL INTERVIEWS In addition to the report laying out concerns about his “hazy” memory, Biden’s week was filled with gaffes that exacerbated the problem. One occurred as he defended his memory following the report when he referred to Egyptian President Abdel Fatah El-Sisi as the “president of Mexico.” Earlier that day, Biden spoke at the House Democratic Caucus Issues Conference and mixed up “red state and blue state” with “red state and green state” while giving his remarks. “When I said — when I pushed these programs — I said I’m going to be the president of everybody we live in a red state or green state,” Biden said. Before that, on Wednesday, Biden spoke at a New York fundraising event and claimed he talked to late German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 2021 while recalling past conversations. Biden said that Kohl asked him what he would say if he learned 1,000 people stormed the British Parliament in an attempt to prevent the next prime minister from assuming office. Kohl, however, did not attend the annual meeting, as he had been dead for four years when it took place. Instead, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel was at the gathering. SPECIAL COUNSEL CALLS BIDEN ‘SYMPATHETIC, WELL-MEANING, ELDERLY MAN WITH A POOR MEMORY,’ BRINGS NO CHARGES And on Sunday, Biden told a Las Vegas crowd he met with François Mitterrand, a French president who has been dead for 28 years. He made the mistake while retelling the story of a gathering with French President Emmanuel Macron at a G7 meeting shortly before he entered the White House. “I sat down, and I said, ‘America’s back,’” Biden told the attendees. “And Mitterrand from Germany — I mean from France — looked at me and said …” Biden then gathered his thoughts to complete the sentence: “Well, how long are you back for?” Mitterrand, meanwhile, was France’s president from 1981 to 1995. He passed away in 1996. Biden’s gaffes from this week accumulated faster than usual. However, he has a history of them involving deceased individuals, from referencing conversations with people who died before he was born to asking where they were during events. In the fall of 2022, Biden told a group of supporters he spoke to the man who “invented” insulin. Insulin was co-discovered by Frederick Banting and John Macleod. Banting died in 1941, while Macleod passed away in 1935. Biden was born in 1942. In September 2022, Biden looked for the late Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski in a crowd while speaking at an event. She died in a car crash the month before. And on the campaign trail in 2019, he told a group of donors that former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who died six years earlier, was worried about the U.S. under President Donald Trump’s leadership. The White House did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment. 

Republican presidential race moves to Haley’s home state of South Carolina after Trump romps in Nevada

Nikki Haley on Saturday launches a two-week bus tour in South Carolina, leading up to her home state’s Feb. 24 Republican presidential primary, the next contest on the GOP nominating calendar. “I’m so excited for the Beast of the Southeast Bus Tour,” the former two-term South Carolina governor who later served as U.N. ambassador in former President Donald Trump’s administration said on social media Friday. Haley faces an uphill climb for the GOP nomination against her former boss, who is the commanding frontrunner as he bids a third straight time for the White House. Trump will also be in the Palmetto state this weekend, returning to campaign in South Carolina for the first time in two months. TRUMP HITS THE JACKPOT IN LAS VEGAS After sweeping Nevada’s GOP presidential caucus Thursday, Trump had his eyes on South Carolina. “Is there any way we can call the election,” a buoyant Trump asked supporters at a victory celebration in Las Vegas, pointing to his double-digit lead in the latest polls in the upcoming primary. The Nevada caucus victory by the former president was never in doubt. Trump was the only major candidate in a contest run by a friendly state party in which only registered Republicans could vote. Trump’s convincing win in Nevada, where 26 delegates were at stake, came hours after he won a landslide victory in a presidential caucus run by the U.S. Virgin Islands GOP. And Thursday’s caucus in Nevada also came two days after he was a winner in Nevada’s state-run Republican presidential primary, even though he wasn’t on the ballot.  Trump’s absence from the primary ballot wasn’t enough to provide a path to victory for Haley, who lost to a “none of these candidates” option by a more than two-to-one margin in a primary where no GOP convention delegates were at stake. HALEY CHARGES NEVADA GOP CAUCUS ‘RIGGED’ FOR TRUMP Voters casting ballots in the primary couldn’t write in Trump’s name, but they could vote for “none of these candidates.” And Trump supporters Fox News interviewed outside of polling stations said that is how they voted. “So I’d like to congratulate none of the above,” Trump said on Thursday night as he mocked Haley. “I was one of them.” Haley, who hadn’t campaigned in Nevada since October, downplayed this week’s primary and caucus in the Silver State, saying in a Fox News Digital interview in Los Angeles Wednesday that they weren’t “anything we were looking at” and charging that the caucus was “rigged” for Trump. Trump won a majority of the vote in the Jan. 15 Iowa caucuses, and he topped Haley by 11 points a week later in the New Hampshire primary, when the nomination battle turned into a two-candidate race. Haley, facing calls from some Republicans to end her White House bid, told supporters in California this week, “I’m in this for the long haul.” FIRST ON FOX: HALEY’S LEFT COAST FUNDRAISING HAUL While South Carolina is home for Haley, the former president enjoys the backing of the state’s governor, nearly the entire congressional delegation and scores of state lawmakers and local officials. Veteran South Carolina-based Republican consultant Dave Wilson pointed to Trump’s “groundswell” in the state and highlighted the former president’s “ground forces.” Wilson also noted that “Nikki Haley is reintroducing herself to South Carolina” because “almost a million people have moved into the statae since she was governor.” But pointing to her undefeated electoral record, Wilson said, “Never underestimate Nikki Haley. Never count Nikki Haley out.” Haley, looking ahead, reiterated that “our focus is on South Carolina, Michigan, Super Tuesday.” WHAT NIKKI HALEY TOLD FOX DIGITAL ABOUT WHAT SHE NEEDS TO DO TO KEEP RUNNING Michigan holds its primary Tuesday, Feb. 27, three days after the South Carolina Republican primary. Fifteen states, including the behemoths of California and Texas, hold contests a week later on Super Tuesday. Haley’s two campaign stops on Wednesday in California were her first to date in any of the Super Tuesday states. The trip also included a series of fundraisers. And as Fox News Digital first reported on Wednesday, Haley hauled in $1.7 million in fundraising during her two days in California. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP Haley told Fox News Digital that, when it comes to campaign finances, “we have been smart.” And she touted that you don’t end up being “the last one standing against Donald Trump if you don’t manage your money well. So, yes, we are focused on making sure we have the resources.” Get the latest updates from the 2024 campaign trail, exclusive interviews and more at our Fox News Digital election hub.