Alaska legislators fail to overturn governor’s education funding veto as new session opens
Alaska lawmakers opened a new legislative session Tuesday, with the House failing to support an attempt to override Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s veto of $87 million in additional education funding last year. Under the state constitution, the Legislature has the first five days of the regular session for a veto override attempt. If a joint session were held to consider a veto override, three-fourths of lawmakers — or 45 members — would need to vote in favor of an override for it to be successful. House Minority Leader Calvin Schrage, an Anchorage independent, proposed Tuesday that the chamber meet in joint session with the Senate Thursday to debate a veto override, but that motion failed on a 20-20 vote. Schrage later noted the close vote and left open the possibility that the issue could be raised again before the window closes. NATURAL GAS PIPELINE LEAK REPORTED IN ALASKA’S FAR NORTH Lawmakers last year passed a one-time funding boost of $175 million for K-12 schools but Dunleavy vetoed half that amount after the Legislature adjourned. School officials have pleaded for a permanent increase in the per-pupil school funding allocation, citing the toll of inflation on their budgets. A House committee on Wednesday plans to hear a draft rewrite of a measure that began as a school internet bill that would include other education-related provisions, including a $300 increase in the per-pupil allocation and Dunleavy’s proposal that would over three years pay teachers a bonus as a way to retain them. Schrage said the proposed increase in the per-pupil allocation in the draft falls short of what schools need. Rep. Craig Johnson, an Anchorage Republican and chair of the House Rules Committee, which plans to hear the draft, said the proposed increase is a starting point and could be changed through the amendment process. “We hope it’s something that can allow the schools to plan a little further out,” said Johnson, a leader of the Republican-led House majority. “One thing I’ve learned about education is we don’t have enough money to fund everything everybody wants.” The draft also addresses the process for charter school applications and correspondence study funding. Earlier in the day, before the draft was announced, Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, told reporters his bipartisan caucus supports an increase in the per-pupil funding allocation and was waiting to see what the House does. “We’re encouraging them to send us a bill that we can work on and deal with and hopefully agree to,” he said.
Palestinian shop-owner used as human shield by Israeli forces
NewsFeed A Palestinian shop-owner was used as a human shield by Israeli forces after they raided his mobile phone store in Dura, in the occupied West Bank. Ongoing Israeli raids in the territory have caused the worst spike in violence there for almost two decades. Published On 17 Jan 202417 Jan 2024 Adblock test (Why?)
Death threats for a Stalin vandal prompt soul-searching in Orthodox Georgia
Tbilisi, Georgia – When Nata Peradze heard that an icon featuring Joseph Stalin was on display inside Georgia’s largest cathedral, she decided to take action. “It’s my pain,” Peradze told Al Jazeera. “We have no [discussions] about what happened and no memorials for the people who went through hell because of this guy. There were priests on my father’s side and on my mother’s there were dissidents. Some were deported to Siberia and some were lost and we never knew what happened to them.” On January 9, the anticorruption activist and avowed atheist went inside Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral to find the offending painting of the Georgian-born Soviet leader. “I had my method. I had put paint inside three eggs and then waxed them closed. A priest was standing next to me, and I threw the eggs at the painting and he asked, ‘What are you doing?’ I said ‘It’s Stalin, he killed my ancestors!’” The icon was displayed at Tbilisi’s Holy Trinity Cathedral, Georgia’s largest cathedral [Robin Forestier-Walker/Al Jazeera] Debates about her vandalism of the icon, named Holy Matrona of Moscow blesses Stalin, turned ugly on Facebook. Peradze received death threats. Despite archives proving Stalin ordered the executions of thousands of innocent civilians during the Great Terror, including large numbers of clergy, Georgian society is divided over his legacy decades later. Public discussions rage on social media as false narratives that Stalin was secretly a devout Orthodox Christian proliferate. In one popular myth, Stalin ordered an aircraft during the second world war to circle Moscow mounted with a religious icon, saving the Soviet Union’s capital from German occupation. The same narratives argue Stalin did not know about the mass killings or that if he did know, they were necessary and that his kind of leadership is needed now. This month’s scandal has threatened to spiral into a more dangerous phase of polarisation ahead of a highly anticipated general election later this year. While Georgia’s government insists it represents a majority of Georgians who want NATO and European Union membership – it took credit for the EU’s decision to grant Georgia EU candidate status in December – its critics say it is quietly building ties with the Kremlin and spreading Russian disinformation. ‘Stalin’s personality is like a strategic axis’ Giorgi Kandelaki of Sovlab, a Soviet history research organisation which aims to counter what it describes as Russia’s weaponisation of the past, says the icon was a triumph of Moscow’s propaganda. “Cultivation of [an] anti-Western, ethno-religious and chauvinistic strait of Georgian nationalism is [a] key long-term goal of Russia in Georgia and in that project Stalin’s personality is like a strategic axis, an umbrella.” In step with the Kremlin’s rehabilitation of Stalin as a wise and honourable leader who is given all the credit for the defeat of Nazi Germany, there has been a resurgence in Stalin’s popularity in Georgia, with at least 11 new statues of him appearing since the governing Georgian Dream party came to power in 2012. Anti-Russian graffiti in downtown Tbilisi [Robin Forestier-Walker/Al Jazeera] Meanwhile, far-right nationalist parties that claim to defend Georgian traditional values and Orthodox Christianity are emerging. They decry the West as morally corrupt and call for an end to Georgia’s NATO aspirations. One of these parties, the Alliance of Patriots, is alleged to have received strategic and financial support from a Kremlin-affiliated political consultant and donated the painting of Saint Matrona that includes the icon featuring Stalin. Patriots leader Irma Inashvili defended the decision. “When an icon of a saint is painted, episodes of their life are presented on this icon, and one such episode is Stalin’s meeting with Matrona, when the representative of the godless regime, the ruler, had to meet the saint,” she said. While the Georgian Orthodox Church initially defended its decision to display the icon, the church leadership on January 11 – two days after Peradze’s protest – issued a statement requesting that the donors “make changes” or it would do so itself. It said there was “insufficient evidence” that Saint Matrona, a canonised 20th-century Russian holy woman, had ever met Stalin. Police stand guard outside Georgia’s Parliament at a far right rally against the vandalism of the icon on January 13 [Robin Forestier-Walker/Al Jazeera] Sopo Gelava, a researcher with the US-based think tank Atlantic Council’s DFRLab, cast the statement as an apparent climbdown by Georgia’s most powerful spiritual institution. “The Georgian Orthodox Church plays a significant role in maintaining [Stalin’s] image as a religious person. My feeling is that they saw the clash infecting society. It’s going to become very important in 2024 around election time, but right now it’s not [helpful] for the government to have this divisive topic at the moment.” But senior government officials condemned Peradze’s attack. Anri Okhanashvili, who chairs a Georgian parliamentary committee on legal issues, said it was an “anti-Church and a provocative act” as he warned the government would seek to increase penalties for religious insults. Georgia’s Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili said Peradze’s action was part of a coordinated campaign by “radicals” that was both politically counterproductive and damaging to the country. “The radical opposition’s attempts to portray the Georgian Orthodox Church as Russia’s extension in Georgia is not only inaccurate but also deplorable, leading to unnecessary controversy in the society and creating yet another dubious ‘perception’ among our Western partners,” Papuashvili wrote on Facebook. Generational divides? Peradze, who posted a video on Facebook of the painting daubed with blue paint, went into hiding after Alt-Info, another far-right nationalist group, shared her address on its Telegram channel. Like senior government officials, its leaders have sought to portray her action as an attack on the church. “Some monkey, funded by the West, an LGBT [ba****d] ran into Trinity Cathedral and insulted us,” said Giorgi Kardava, chair of Alt-Info’s political wing. Dozens of Alt-Info supporters tried to break into Peradze’s home on January 10. Peradze, who lives with her two sons, said police held back the crowd. “Previously they have said
Will new criminal bills turn India into a police state ahead of 2024 vote?
New Delhi, India – Late last month India’s parliament passed two sets of controversial legislation in the biggest overhaul of the criminal justice system and telecom laws that critics say could greatly increase police powers and facilitate mass surveillance. The first set of legislations comprises three criminal laws – Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) of 2023 – that will replace the colonial-era India Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act. India’s Home Minister Amit Shah asserted that the new bills will free the citizens from “the colonial-era mindset and its symbols”. However, critics claim that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has used the discourse of decolonisation to enact laws that are more draconian than the laws they are replacing. The changes, they say, fit into the ruling party’s larger project of Hindu nationalism, with its projection of the past as a time of humiliation for Hindus, and its narrative that it is “shedding colonial baggage”. The second piece of legislation, the Telecommunications Act of 2023, seeks to modernise India’s century-old telecom law. But some experts warn the new bill will enable indiscriminate surveillance and erode privacy. The new set of crucial laws was passed without substantive debate in the parliament. Critics have accused the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi of pushing through laws in parliament without allowing it to adequately scrutinise them. The new criminal laws will be rolled out in phases by December 2024. The government has not yet notified the implementation of the Telecoms Act. Al Jazeera reached out to India’s home ministry and telecoms ministry for their response but did not hear from them until the time of publication. Here’s what we know about the new laws so far: What do the laws change — and do they threaten civil liberties? Police Custody: The period for which the police can seek direct custody of an accused — before she or he is sent to a jail — has been increased from 15 days to up to 60 days. “Courts have traditionally been extremely reluctant in granting bail when there is a possibility of police custody. Now that the window has increased, it may become even more difficult to get bail,” Bharat Chugh, a former judge at Delhi’s criminal courts and Supreme Court lawyer said. With at least 75 percent of prisoners in India’s overcrowded jails being under-trials (those whose trials are yet to begin), the Supreme Court of India has repeatedly emphasised “bail, not jail” as a rule. With courts hesitant to grant bail during the possibility of police custody, the change in law could have “grave implications for life and personal liberty”, said Chugh. Human rights activists have highlighted how most cases of torture usually happen in police custody. A 2020 report by the National Campaign Against Torture, a platform of NGOs, found that an average of five people die in custody each day in India, with some of them succumbing to torture in police or judicial custody. Convictions remain scarce. Delhi police officers asks a motorist to stop for checking at a checkpoint set up outside the Indian parliament in New Delhi, India [File: Altaf Qadri/AP Photo] Sedition: In 2022, India’s Supreme Court had temporarily suspended the 154-year-old law on sedition, a colonial-era provision that criminalises speech or actions against the government or authority with the possibility of a death sentence. Although the new criminal law makes no mention of the word “sedition” anywhere, experts have argued that it brings back a more draconian version through a back door. The new criminal code criminalises an even more vague action – acts that “endanger sovereignty or unity and integrity of India” – to punish offenders with seven years to life in jail. Experts say such an ambiguous definition of an offence is likely to be misused. Sedition laws are already commonly used against journalists, activists and political dissidents. “These expressions are indeed wide and not very precise,” Chugh, the former judge, said. “This gives too much power to the investigators. A criminal law, given that it impacts personal liberty, has to be specific, precise and unambiguous.” While the law clarifies that criticism of government actions is not an offence as long as it calls for change via lawful and democratic means, critics, including Chugh, argue that it “falls short”. Special offences in ordinary law: The new criminal statutes also incorporate special offences, such as “terrorism” and organised crime, governed by special laws, into ordinary criminal statutes without the accompanying safeguards. For instance, India’s special “anti-terror” Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act of 1967 (UAPA) requires prior sanction by the government and examination of all evidence by an independent authority to prosecute someone on “terrorism” charges. The new criminal statutes do not incorporate any such safeguard while bringing “terrorism” as an offence within them. Even with the — however few — safeguards, the UAPA, which prescribes stringent conditions to grant bail, has according to critics been misused by the government to imprison its critics for long periods. Experts fear that police may now choose to invoke ordinary criminal law over special laws to circumvent safeguards, leading to misuse. “This gives the police officers unchecked discretion to pick one law over the other, or in many cases, invoke both laws. This will lead to a multiplicity of litigation and sometimes, different courts arriving at different conclusions on the same set of facts/evidence,” Chugh said. Is it the end of colonial-era laws, as the government claims? Despite being dubbed “reforms,” experts Al Jazeera spoke to contend that the new laws mostly preserve provisions from their colonial-era counterparts, presenting an “old wine in a new bottle”. Chugh said the evidence law, which governs the admissibility of evidence in courts, sees almost no modifications. The penal code, which defines crimes and provides their punishments, incorporates only a few additional offences and the rearrangement of sections, he says. Some of the changes to the criminal procedure code, such
Defend Texas Liberty promised big primary spending. Then its leader met with an Adolf Hitler fan.
The Defend Texas Liberty PAC gave just $10,000 in the last two months of 2023 and received no new money from its billionaire funders.
New Mexico governor’s State of the State speech disrupted by protesters
New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham outlined an ambitious legislative agenda designed to rein in violent crime, improve public education, expand access to affordable housing and address concerns about climate change and drought in a State of the State speech Tuesday. The speech marked the start of a 30-day legislative session that determines spending priorities for the coming fiscal year amid a multibillion-dollar surplus in general fund income. It was interrupted repeatedly by shouting from dozens of protesters in the state House gallery calling for solutions to climate change and a cease-fire in Gaza amid the Israel-Hamas war. The second-term Democratic governor announced a new proposal to embed experts in low-performing public schools to provide greater support for students, as legislators have expressed frustration with academic proficiency and high school graduation rates that lag below national averages. NEW MEXICO LAWMAKERS CONSIDER BAN ON OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION NEAR SCHOOLS “All of us, including our school districts, all of us have to be accountable for the results that we desire,” Lujan Grisham told a joint session of the state House and Senate. “We need to guarantee that the Legislature’s billions in public education are going to the right places and leading to better outcomes.” Republicans in the legislative minority want a different approach that fosters greater school choices and competition, pitching a proposal to provide tax credits to low-income families who send children to private school. In response to jeers from protesters, Lujan Grisham called on the sergeant of arms to restore order — but also suggested a round of applause to “embrace differences of opinion.” “Even though it’s a disruption … the world is complicated,” she said. Escorted from the Capitol, one group of protesters chanted, “Global war is a war of the rich upon the poor. Stop the bombing and the siege. Palestine will be free.” Protester Zephyr Jaramillo, a member of Youth United for Climate Crisis Action, said she joined the protests in defense of sacred land and aquifers. The 22-year-old with ties to the Native American communities of Isleta and San Felipe pueblos accused the governor of putting the interests of industry ahead of residents in promoting carbon-storage and hydrogen projects. Lujan Grisham announced a proposal to dedicate $170 million from a state financial trust to help develop energy storage projects involving batteries, geothermal electricity production that harnesses underground heat, and hydrogen as a cleaner-burning alternative to fossil fuels. Some environmentalists call hydrogen a false solution because it frequently relies on natural gas as a fuel source. The state expects to draw in a record-setting $13 billion during the fiscal year that starts July 1 — exceeding annual spending obligations by nearly one-third. Leading Democratic legislators are calling for a restrained increase of 5.9% in annual general fund spending totaling $10.1 billion, warning of a slowdown in surging income linked to oil and natural gas production. They want to dial back on borrowing for construction projects, while expanding savings and endowments to help sustain critical government programs in the future, including child care and preschool. Lujan Grisham is recommending a more robust annual spending increase of nearly 10%. Her new spending priorities include a $500 million plan to expand housing assistance and spur residential construction — along with an additional $40 million to launch a statewide effort to reduce homelessness. NM GOV. GRISHAM PUSHES GUN CONTROL, PUBLIC SAFETY AS LEGISLATURE RECONVENES House Democrats on Tuesday emphasized a commitment to improving public safety — including tighter gun restrictions — along with increased spending on early childhood education and legislation designed to attract new investments in clean-energy enterprises that may rein in climate-warming pollution. “We are at a pivotal moment in New Mexico history — record revenues mean great opportunity, and also a tremendous responsibility to deliver for the people of our state,” Democratic House Speaker Javier Martínez of Albuquerque said at a news conference Tuesday. Lujan Grisham has emphasized her support for a broad package of public safety initiates designed to address gun violence, retail crime and hazing. Gun-control proposals would provide a 14-day cooling off period for gun purchases, restrict features on assault-style rifles that make them more deadly and raise the minimum age to 21 for purchases of semiautomatic rifles and shotguns. On Tuesday, she also called on legislators to approve mandatory treatment for addiction for people who repeatedly enter the judicial system for using illicit substances, and she highlighted a proposal to ban panhandling. “Something must shift,” Lujan Grisham said. “We need responsible, accountable and compassionate action that makes a lasting difference. And that means getting these individuals the treatment that they need and, quite frankly, that they deserve.” Republicans in the legislative minority are cautioning against legislation that might infringe on gun rights, while supporting changes to the state’s pretrial detention system that would give authorities more leeway to incarcerate some defendants pending trial. Lujan Grisham also voice support for pretrial detention reforms. New Mexico overhauled the system, starting in 2017, to eliminate money-bail and ensure dangerous individuals can be jailed pending trial. Republican state Sen. Craig Brandt of Rio Rancho said he has met with Democratic officials including the governor on a bill that would bolster laws against organized crime, provisions he says might be used combat illegal sales of guns to minors. Answering to concerns about climate change and fossil fuels, Lujan Grisham wants the state to provide tax credits toward the purchase of electric vehicles. Another proposal would underwrite development of a strategic new source of water for industrial uses — harnessing treated water that originates from the salty byproducts of oil and natural gas drilling. The entire Legislature is up for election in November.
Biden administration relists Houthis as terror organization after reversing Trump move
President Biden will redesignate Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis as a terrorist group — three years after removing them from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list — in response to repeated attacks on shipping vessels in the Red Sea. The Houthis will be placed on the Specially Designated Global Terrorist (SDGT) list, which will trigger sanctions designed to prevent further attacks on global trade in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, according to senior administration officials. “These attacks are a clear example of terrorism and a violation of international law and a major threat to life, global commerce, and they jeopardize the delivery of humanitarian assistance,” a senior administration official told reporters on Tuesday. The decision comes as the Houthis have launched dozens of attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea. The group said the attacks are in response to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. On Tuesday, Houthi fighters launched anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen into the Red Sea. BIDEN ADMINISTRATION TO RELIST YEMEN’S IRAN-BACKED HOUTHIS AS DESIGNATED TERRORISTS AMID RED SEA ATTACKS “We’ve taken this action to pressure the Houthis to cease their terrorist activities, including missile and drone attacks against international shipping. The ultimate goal of sanctions is to convince the Houthis to de-escalate and bring about a positive change in behavior,” the official said. The terrorist designation is set to take effect in 30 days. Officials emphasized that commercial shipments of food, medicine and fuel into Yemeni ports will be exempted so as not to deny humanitarian aid to the Yemeni people amid the civil war between the Houthis and the country’s internationally recognized, Saudi-backed government, “The administration is prioritizing the mitigation of unintended adverse impacts from this designation that may otherwise arise for the people of Yemen,” a second official said. Secretary of State Antony Blinken delisted the Houthis as both a foreign terrorist organization and as specially designated global terrorists in February 2021 as the Biden administration sought to make it easier to get humanitarian aid into Yemen. US CARRIES OUT ADDITIONAL STRIKE IN YEMEN, OFFICIAL SAYS The move was a reversal of former President Trump‘s decision to place the Houthis on the FTO list over the strong objections of human rights and humanitarian aid groups in the waning days of his presidency. The foreign terrorist designation barred Americans and people and organizations subject to U.S. jurisdiction from providing “material support” to the Houthis, which the groups said would result in an even greater humanitarian catastrophe than what was already happening in Yemen. An SDGT designation will also freeze Houthi assets, but unlike the FTO designation, it will not impose immigration restrictions on members, according to the State Department. The SDGT sanctions also will not touch people and organizations who provide “material support” to the Houthis. “It was the correct step in 2021 to revoke the foreign terrorist organization and SDGT designations for the Houthis,” an administration official said, adding that Blinken made that decision “in recognition of a very dire humanitarian situation in Yemen.” CENTCOM RELEASES STATEMENT AFTER HOUTHI ATTACK IN YEMEN: ‘ILLEGAL AND DANGEROUS ACTIONS WILL NOT BE TOLERATED’ According to officials, the SDGT designation is part of a “broader effort” to deter the Houthi attacks along with military action. The recent Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have disrupted global shipping. Linda Thomas Greenfield, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, said last week that 2,000 ships since November have been forced to divert thousands of miles to avoid the Red Sea. Houthi militants have threatened or taken hostage mariners from more than 20 countries. On Tuesday, U.S. forces struck and destroyed four Houthi anti-ship ballistic missiles that were prepared to launch from Yemen, CENTCOM said. “The recent attacks since November are really unacceptable,” the official said. “We cannot sit idly by and watch what the Houthis are doing in the Red Sea and not recognize their actions for what they are.” Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano, Jacqui Heinrich and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
North Carolina confirms ex-felon can run for office
An ex-felon can run for a North Carolina legislative seat this year, the State Board of Elections ruled on Tuesday, upholding a county election board’s determination that he’s been discharged for the crimes from another state. State board members participating in the meeting voted unanimously to confirm last week’s divided decision by the Rockingham County Board of Elections to deny a candidate challenge against Joseph Gibson III and to declare he’s qualified to run for a state House seat. Gibson is set to run in the March 5 Republican primary against Rep. Reece Pyrtle, who defeated Gibson in the 2022 primary with nearly 80% of the vote. The winner will face no Democratic opposition in the fall. NORTH CAROLINA ATTORNEY GENERAL JOSH STEIN HAS RAISED $5.7M SINCE JULY FOR HIS RUN AT GOVERNORSHIP Rockingham County GOP chairwoman Diane Parnell filed a candidate challenge in December, alleging that Gibson may be ineligible to run for office, citing information that Gibson had been convicted of felonies dating back to the 1990s. North Carolina law says a felony offender’s voting rights — and thus the ability to run for office — are restored after the person completes time behind bars and any state supervision as a probationer or parolee. Parnell’s filing said she wasn’t aware that such restoration had occurred. Gibson said during Tuesday’s meeting that he had completed sentences for crimes in Connecticut, which the county board said included his time as a probationer in North Carolina that ended in 2008. While Gibson has no documentation of such a discharge, he is not on a list of convicted felons provided by the State Board of Elections to Rockingham County officials. And a state board attorney said Tuesday that Gibson didn’t necessarily have to show discharge paperwork to qualify. Some state Republican activists who wanted to block Gibson’s candidacy have accused him of holding neo-Nazi beliefs. One of them said Democrats wanted Gibson on a ballot to attempt to embarrass the GOP. Gibson was mentioned in a 2022 report by an arm of the Anti-Defamation League as holding extreme views. Gibson denies the neo-Nazi accusation, telling WRAL-TV last week that he gets callers of all political persuasions to his podcast radio show. His beliefs weren’t discussed in Tuesday’s meeting. The Rockingham board had voted 3-2 along party lines to deny the challenge, with the board’s Democrats in the majority. On Tuesday, the two Republicans on the state board agreed that it was appropriate to defer to the county’s board decision given its scrutiny of a complex matter. “The record is probably sufficient to support whatever conclusion the county board had made,” GOP board member Kevin Lewis said before Tuesday’s 4-0 vote.
Fani Willis who ‘relished in’ Donald Trump prosecution should be removed from case for illicit affair: experts
The chief prosecutor in Georgia spearheading the racketeering case against former President Trump has been having an illicit affair with a lawyer she hired, according to Michael Roman, a Trump co-defendant. Legal experts say the arrangement jeopardizes her legal future. According to court documents filed earlier this month by Roman, Fani Willis, who brought election interference-related charges against Trump, has been having an “improper” affair with special prosecutor Nathan Wade, whom she hired to help prosecute the 2024 GOP frontrunner. According to the court documents, Wade, who has no RICO and felony prosecution experience, billed taxpayers $654,000 since January 2022. Roman’s filing alleges that Wade billed Fulton County for 24 hours of work on a single day in November 2021, shortly after being appointed as a special prosecutor, and that Willis financially benefited from her alleged lover’s padded taxpayer-funded salary by taking lavish vacations together on his dime. TRUMP DELIVERS UNIFYING MESSAGE AFTER LANDSLIDE CAUCUS VICTORY, RECEIVES BIPARTISAN PRAISE However, John Shu, a constitutional law expert who served in both the George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush administrations, says that while Willis’ and Wade’s apparent improprieties could give her some PR or re-election trouble, it does not automatically mean that Trump’s Peach State legal troubles disappear. “Her alleged romantic relationship with Wade, which pre-existed her appointing him, is totally improper if it is true,” Shu said. “It raises the serious question as to why Willis needed to appoint Wade as another special prosecutor and supposed RICO expert when she already had hired Georgia’s most prominent RICO expert, John Floyd, in March of 2021,” he added. However, Shu said that “unless the people of Fulton County clamor for their recusal” he does not see them “voluntarily recusing themselves from the case because it would look like they’re admitting wrongdoing.” Shu noted that according to U.S. Supreme Court precedent, a prosecutor’s failure to disclose a romantic relationship with one of her appointees is not considered honest services fraud in and of itself. TRUMP BLASTS FULTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR FANI WILLIS AFTER ROMANTIC PARTNER ALLEGATIONS: ‘TOTALLY COMPROMISED’ “Hiring one’s romantic partner and knowingly paying his alleged fake bills, however, likely would be considered cheating the county, especially because he is not a RICO expert. Also, Wade would be in hot water if, as alleged, he overbilled fake billable hours and got paid for them,” Shu added. The New York Post reported that Wade was billing the DA’s office nearly double what another prosecutor and RICO expert on the team, John Floyd, billed per hour. Willis addressed the allegations for the first time at Big Bethel AME Church in Atlanta on Sunday. “They only attacked one,” she said. “First thing they say, ‘Oh, she’s gonna play the race card now.’ “But no God, isn’t it them that’s playing the race card when they only question one,” Willis asked. “You cannot expect Black women to be perfect and save the world,” Willis said, adding that “we need to be allowed to stumble. We need grace.” She has not denied the allegations. Jonathan Turley, former prosecutor and law professor at George Washington University, told Fox News Digital that “these types of allegations are rarely resolved in the wholesale rejection of a criminal case.” FULTON COUNTY PROSECUTOR, FANI WILLIS ROMANTIC PARTNER, MET WITH BIDEN WHITE HOUSE TWICE BEFORE CHARGING TRUMP However, he said, there are various remedies that the court can order. “The most obvious is the substitution of the prosecutors. It can also include the removal of the case to a different district. It is rare for the court to treat the underlying criminal case as legally invalid due to the misconduct of the prosecutors,” Turley said. “I think it would be foolish to count on a dismissal of the case based on these allegations. I think it is more reasonable to expect a delay and a possible substitution of prosecutors on the case,” he added. An “interesting dynamic” Turley noted is whether a different prosecutor would pursue Willis’ “sweeping claims.” “Willis is viewed as a highly political district attorney who relished the opportunity to charged Donald Trump.” “I think many prosecutors would have balked at making this type of racketeering case. I think it is a case of overreach. That’s not to say that the case itself is without foundation. Many of these defendants are facing credible charges. It’s the attempt to link all of these parties into an overarching racketeering conspiracy that has left many of us skeptical,” said Turley. “So the question is, would another prosecutor in good faith move forward on the racketeering claim.” Turley added that the ultimate standard in deciding how the case moves forward is “what is in the public interest.” “I can’t imagine how the continued role of either Willis or wade in this case would advance the public interest,” he said. Fox News Digital’s Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
Wisconsin Republicans clash over medical marijuana legalization plan
Wisconsin Republicans appear to be at an impasse over a proposal to legalize medical marijuana. Assembly Speaker Robin Vos said Tuesday that he would not compromise with state Senate Republicans to address their concerns with his proposal. Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu last week said the bill’s proposed creation of state-run dispensaries was a “nonstarter.” Vos said at a news conference that “months and months of negotiations” resulted in a “very detailed bill” he proposed that has the minimum 50 votes needed to pass among Republicans. WI REPUBLICANS INTRODUCE MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL AFTER GOV. EVERS VOICES SUPPORT “Taking and renegotiating the bill means we probably lose votes in our caucus,” Vos said. “So I’d rather get us through to keep the promise we made, which is to have a comprehensive bill that can actually become law as opposed to an ethereal idea that maybe somebody could support someday but it never actually makes it anywhere.” LeMahieu last week said he was open to making changes to the bill in an effort to find a compromise that could pass in the Senate. The highly restrictive bill would limit medical marijuana to severely ill people with chronic diseases such as cancer and allow for it to be dispensed at just five state-run locations. Smokable marijuana would not be allowed. WISCONSIN GOV. EVERS TO CONSIDER MEDICAL MARIJUANA LEGALIZATION PROPOSAL BY REPUBLICANS The proposal would limit the availability of marijuana to people diagnosed with certain diseases, including cancer, HIV or AIDS, glaucoma, multiple sclerosis, inflammatory bowel disease, severe muscle spasms, chronic pain or nausea, and those with a terminal illness and less than a year to live. Wisconsin remains an outlier nationally. Thirty-eight states have legalized medical marijuana and 24 have legalized recreational marijuana. The push for legalization in Wisconsin has gained momentum as its neighbors have loosened their laws. The measure would need to pass the Senate and Assembly and be signed by Democratic Gov. Tony Evers to become law. Evers, who like many Democrats is a proponent of full legalization, said this month that he would support medical marijuana only but was noncommittal on the Assembly’s plan.