Tag: democrats

California Democrats Block Bill to Make Sex Trafficking of Minors a Felony — Again

California Democrats in the State Assembly are once again blocking a bill that would make the sex trafficking of minors a felony — this time for victims age 16 and 17 — preferring instead to give prosecutors discretion.

Notably, some of those prosecutors would be George Soros-backed prosecutors who have avoided enforcing the law in the name of “criminal justice reform,” and whom voters have begun to oust across the state.

The blocking effort is the latest chapter in a saga that began in 2023. As Breitbart News reported at the time, Republican State Senator Shannon Grove (R-Bakersfield) had introduced a bill to make sex trafficking of minors a “serious felony.” It passed unanimously in the State Senate, but Democrats on the State Assembly’s Public Safety Committee blocked the bill, since they did not want to increase criminal penalties generally.

Faced with public embarrassment, Democrats struck a deal in 2024 with Grove, under which the bill would advance but only if it was limited to victims under the age of 16. Now, a Democrat, State Assemblymember Maggy Krell (D-Sacramento), is trying to make trafficking minors aged 16 and 17 a felony, too — and fellow Democrats are refusing to allow the bill to advance.

Sacramento-area NBC affiliate KCRA reported Monday:

California lawmakers in the Assembly Public Safety Committee are blocking a proposal that would make it a felony to purchase 16 and 17-year-old children for sex.

Assemblyman Nick Shultz, the Democratic chairman of the committee, confirmed AB 379, a bill to crack down on the consumers of the child sex trafficking industry, will move forward on Tuesday, but without the proposed felony charge.

…

“My perspective as chair, there was a carefully crafted deal last year,” Shultz said. “We’re not saying no, but what we’re saying is if we’re going to be thoughtful policy makers, we really need to dive deep into this issue.”

The proposed bill, even without the provisions that Democrats on the Public Safety Committee are blocking, will roll back some of a bill that Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) signed in 2022 that prevented police from arresting prostitutes for loitering — a bill that led to an explosion of street prostitution, including child sex trafficking.

The bill recalls efforts by State Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) to decriminalize various sex crimes involving minors in their late teens, arguing that these penalize the LGBTQ community disproportionately.

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California Democrat Lawmaker Wants to Decriminalize Welfare Fraud Under $25,000

Welfare fraud under $25,000 in California could be decriminalized due to Senate Bill 560, which was introduced by State Sen. Lola Smallwood-Cuevas (D) in February.

The bill would decriminalize welfare fraud under that amount in the state for administrative errors, Fox News reported on Monday.

According the outlet’s Bill Melugin, “Smallwood-Cuevas represents a large chunk of Los Angeles County, including Mar Vista, West LA, Baldwin Hills, Ladera Heights, Century City, Playa Vista, and part of downtown LA.,” he wrote in a social media post on Monday.

Smallwood-Cuevas told Fox the state’s safety net should help residents and not keep them in poverty. She also wrote in a recent social media post, “This bill is about keeping families out of the criminal justice system from making administrative errors on raising the threshold for welfare fraud prosecutions.”

The bill is set for a hearing on May 5. The Legislative Counsel’s Digest regarding the bill reads:

Existing law establishes criminal penalties for welfare fraud, defined as willfully and knowingly, with the intent to deceive, by specified means, including a false statement or representation, obtaining or retaining aid through designated public social services for oneself or for a child who is not in fact entitled thereto, as specified. Existing law makes any person who knowingly uses, transfers, sells, purchases, or possesses CalFresh or federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits in any manner not authorized, as specified, guilty of a misdemeanor or felony depending on the face value of the benefits.

This bill would delete the provision that establishes criminal penalties for an attempt to commit welfare fraud. The bill would delete criminal penalties for welfare fraud when the total amount of aid obtained or retained is above or below $950, and instead make welfare fraud when aid was obtained or retained in the total amount of $25,000 or more punishable by specified imprisonment in a county jail, by a fine, or by imprisonment and fine.

“In Los Angeles County, field investigators handle 15,000 to 20,000 fraud cases or referrals, according to the Department of Public Social Services,” Monday’s Fox article said.

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Michelle Obama Claims Deportation Issue Keeps Her up at Night – After Her Husband Deported 3 Million Illegals

Former First Lady Michelle Obama recently appeared on a liberal podcast and claimed that the issue of the deportation of illegal aliens keeps her up at night. She has apparently forgotten that when her husband was president, he was frequently described as the ‘deporter in chief.’

It’s likely that Ms. Obama simply made these comments in service to the Democrat party, which clearly thinks it has found a winning issue in defending people who are in the country illegally.

It’s just another case of virtue signaling that the left has become known for.

Breitbart News reports:

Michelle Obama Fears Trump Deportation Policy: Not Enough Advocates; ‘It Keeps Me Up at Night’

Former first lady Michelle Obama is frightened by President Donald Trump’s deportation policy, she discussed during an episode of the On Purpose with Jay Shetty podcast.

Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, discussed fears they had growing up dealing with race issues, when she was asked to identify the “hardest recent test of that fear.”

“In this current climate, for me it’s, you know, what’s happening to immigrants,” the former first lady replied, explaining that she is no longer fearful for herself — due to her celebrity status — but is instead fearful for illegal immigrants.

“I drive around in a four-car motorcade with a police escort. I’m Michelle Obama. I do still worry about my daughters in the world even though they are somewhat recognizable,” Obama said. “So, my fears are for what I know is happening out there in streets all over the city.”…

“And we know that those decisions aren’t being made with courts and with due process,” Obama said, suggesting the Trump administration is making these types of decisions based on looks alone — not actual legal status or criminal history, as is reality.

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Indian-Born Democrat Congressman Introduces SEVEN Articles of Impeachment Against President Trump – Team Trump Issues a Funny Response

Another radical-left Democrat has contracted a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome (TDS) and is proposing a hopeless strategy in response. And the Trump White House has taken notice.

On Monday, Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-MI), a native of India, flew back into DC after yet another unwarranted congressional vacation and decided to file a whopping SEVEN articles of impeachment against President Trump. And unsurprisingly, the catalyst for Thanedar filing articles of impeachment was Trump daring to deport a dangerous MS-13 gangster and alleged wife-beater.

“Trump has already done real damage to our democracy,” Thandedar whined. “But defying a unanimous 9-0 Supreme Court ruling? That has to be the final straw.”

“The court said the wrongfully deported Kilmar Garcia must be allowed to return and receive due process,” he continued. “Trump ignored it. He ignored the Constitution, he ignored the very checks and balances that keep our democracy intact.”

Thanedar went on to introduce a whopping SEVEN articles of impeachment against Trump. Below are the seven articles listed in order, and Thanedar’s silly reasoning behind each one.

• Obstruction of justice and abuse of executive power. “From denying due process to unlawful deportations, Trump defied court orders.”

• Taking away Congress’s power of the purse. “Trump dismantled agencies and froze funds without permission from Congress.”

• Abuse of trade powers and international aggression. “He imposed damaging tariffs and threatened military invasions of our allies.”

• Violation of First Amendment rights. “He has retaliated against journalists, attorneys, and critics for exercising their right to free speech.”

• Creation of an unlawful office. “Establishing the so-called Department of Government Efficiency, DOJ, and giving Elon Musk unconstitutional power over our government and personal data.”

• Bribery and corruption. “He has dismissed criminal cases and solicited payments from foreign governments and coerced legal settlements for personal and political gain.”

• Tyrannical overreach. “Finally, and most importantly, he is attempting to consolidate unchecked power and erode the constitutional limits of the presidency. In this country, we have presidents, not kings.”

“That’s not just misconduct, it’s impeachable misconduct. This isn’t leadership, it’s tyranny.”

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President Trump Now Demands ActBlue and Adam Schiff Be Thrown in Jail — ‘Crooked’ Adam Schiff Responds in Full Panic

President Donald Trump signed a powerful memorandum last week ordering a full federal crackdown on illegal campaign donation practices — specifically targeting the embattled Democrat fundraising platform ActBlue and calling for “crooked” Adam Schiff to be thrown behind bars.

The directive comes amid mounting investigations led by Rep. Bryan Steil (R-WI) and 19 state Attorneys General — including officials from Texas, Arkansas, Florida, and Missouri — exposing explosive evidence that ActBlue was complicit in laundering illegal donations, including potentially illicit foreign money, into Democrat campaigns across the country.

The memorandum, as highlighted by The Gateway Pundit, states:

“Federal law (52 U.S.C. 30121 and 30122) strictly prohibits making political contributions in the name of another person, as well as contributions by foreign nationals… Press reports and congressional investigations have uncovered deeply troubling evidence that online fundraising platforms have enabled schemes to launder excessive and prohibited contributions.”

[…]

“These activities undermine the integrity of our electoral process… I direct the Attorney General, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, to use all lawful authority to investigate these allegations and take appropriate actions to enforce the law.”

Investigations have revealed staggering levels of fraud: ActBlue allegedly detected at least 22 significant fraud campaigns, many with a foreign nexus.

A House investigation uncovered 237 donations made using foreign IP addresses and prepaid gift cards during a single 30-day window in 2024 alone.

As The Gateway Pundit first reported, a team led by Peter Bernegger, Chris Gleason, Draza Smith, and supported by James O’Keefe, uncovered “voter mule” operations — with individuals often listed as making hundreds or even thousands of small-dollar donations, sometimes totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, to Democrat campaigns through ActBlue.

The funds fueled the campaigns of radical leftist candidates like Mark Kelly, Raphael Warnock, and Tammy Baldwin, among many others.

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Schumer Slips: Admits Democrats’ Real Goal Is to Take Down Trump, Not Serve Justice

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) is floating the idea of impeachment, accusing President Donald Trump of “violating the rule of law.” Despite Trump being out of office, Democrats seem unwilling to let go of their long-standing obsession with targeting him. Schumer’s comments, made during a recent interview, hint at yet another attempt to weaponize impeachment for political gain, raising eyebrows among conservatives who see this as more about settling scores than upholding the Constitution.

On Sunday, during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schumer said he would consider articles of impeachment against Trump if Democrats took control of Congress. He accused Trump of consistently violating the rule of law, admitting that Democrats are opposing him on all fronts every day. He said the party’s main goal is to continually expose Trump’s actions—regarding the economy, tariffs, foreign policy, and legal issues—to the American public to highlight how harmful they believe he is. Schumer acknowledged that the next election is still far off, adding that Democrat’s focus is on daily efforts to reveal Trump’s behavior and impact, which he claims is influencing public opinion.

“You’re not ruling out,” host Dana Bash said. 

“The American people are realizing,” Schumer replied. 

Bash added, “You’re not saying no,” to which Schumer said “Look, it’s too far away to even, it’s too far away to even judge.”

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The New York Times Downplays ActBlue’s Suspect Behavior To Run Cover For Democrats

When President Donald Trump directed the DOJ to investigate the Democrat cash machine ActBlue, The New York Times was quick to paint it as partisan — claiming it “steps up Republicans’ effort to cripple their opponents’ political infrastructure.” But Trump’s direction is based on evidence that suggests the platform could be breaking federal law.

Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi on April 24 to “investigate and take appropriate action” regarding allegations of “‘straw’ or ‘dummy’ contributions and … foreign contributions” to American elections through ActBlue and similar services. As The Federalist previously reported, concerns about loopholes and potentially illegal activity have led to multiple probes into the platform.

The Times interviewed Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center, as one of the few voices defending Trump’s call for investigation in the recent article. He “suggested that the memorandum was about compliance with election law, and was not an effort to undermine Democrats’ electoral prospects,” according to the outlet, though it buried his statement near the end of the story and quickly dismissed his points.

Walter also told The Federalist he was “disappointed the New York Times, in … recent stories on ActBlue and other left-wing infrastructure groups, has failed to include crucial facts about ActBlue its own reporting put on the record.”

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Washington state Democrats pass bill effectively legalizing infanticide

Washington state Democratic legislators have sent to Governor Bob Ferguson a bill that, if enacted, will make it more difficult for law enforcement to investigate infanticide and sex trafficking. 

Deceptively titled “an act relating to dignity in pregnancy loss,” substitute Senate Bill 5093 (SSB 5093) “repeals the crime of concealing a birth and guts the authority of coroners to investigate suspicious infant deaths unless there’s an obvious, provable crime attached,” according to conservative talk show host Jason Rantz.  

“Democrats are disguising it as a measure about ‘dignity in pregnancy loss,’” noted Rantz. “It’s not. It amounts to a state-sanctioned shield for traffickers, abusers, and anyone else looking to cover up a dead infant.”

“Unless a baby is clearly murdered with intent and there’s a smoking gun, no one’s allowed to ask questions. That’s not compassion. That’s enabling murder,” said Rantz.

Republican State Representative Brian Burnett, a former sheriff, had urged his colleagues during a floor discussion to amend the bill to hold traffickers accountable, according to a report by The Center Square.  

Burnett shared the harrowing story of his own adopted daughter’s experience with human trafficking.  

“She was impregnated many times at a very young age,” recounted Burnett, “from miscarriage to forced abortion to delivering some of those premature babies not knowing what happened to them and even later bringing back a different baby and telling her, ‘You will care for it now until we say different.’”

Unmoved, speaker pro tempore, Rep. Chris Stearns, a Democrat, shut Burnett down, accusing him of impugning the arguments of others. 

“These are often very young girls who end up pregnant because they are being used as sex objects and the pimps and traffickers abuse them and often beat them up because they got pregnant and cause a miscarriage,” Rep. Jim Walsh, a Republican, told The Center Square. 

“Sometimes a baby is born and neglected and dies; I mean it’s horrible stuff,” said Walsh. “The reason the law should stay on the books is it gives prosecutors and cops a tool for investigating these situations where a baby is born and dies and make sure there is no criminality involved.”

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Illinois Governor JB Pritzker Announces Punitive Actions Against El Salvador in Defense of Deported MS-13 Illegal Alien – “The State of Illinois will Stand Up for the Rule of Law”

Sanctuary State Governor JB Pritzker of Illinois has directed state agencies to take actions against the country of El Salvador in hopes of influencing the release of Kilmar Garcia Abrego, a deported MS-13 terrorist who was living illegally in Maryland.

“The United States Constitution guarantees due process. We are witnessing Donald Trump erode our fundamental Constitutional rights in real time, and we must fight to restore the balance of power,” he reportedly said. “The State of Illinois will stand up for the Rule of Law and do everything in our power [to] stop the Trump Administration from ripping apart our most basic rights.”

The Gateway Pundit has reported extensively on the controversy over Garcia Abrego’s deportation and far-left politicians’ attempts to smuggle him back into the United States.

The MS-13 member was deported and returned to his home country by the Trump Administration over his ties to MS-13, which President Trump has designated a foreign terrorist organization.

However, the Democrats and leftist media describe the El Salvadoran illegal and gangster as a “Maryland man” and “father of three,” who was wrongfully deported after a judge previously protected him from deportation when he was arrested in 2019, citing alleged safety concerns if he returned to his home country.

The order blocking his deportation was granted before President Trump designated him as a foreign terrorist, making him “no longer eligible for any form of immigration relief in the United States,” says White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

When he was arrested in 2019, he was with two other members of MS-13, and he was known by investigators to be affiliated with the gang, but the judge still allowed him to stay in the country illegally. He was further detained in December 2022 and accused of engaging in human trafficking by a Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) officer. Still, the FBI ordered his release.

Additionally, as The Gateway Pundit reported, Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez, previously petitioned the court for two different protective orders against Garcia for domestic violence. According to a 2021 order of protection, Garcia Abrego punched Vasquez, ripped off her shirt, grabbed, and bruised her.

This hasn’t stopped radical Democrats from glorifying him and attempting to rescue him from El Salvador’s CECOT prison.

Inspired by Democratic Maryland Senator Chris Van Hollen’s visit to El Salvador earlier this month, where he met and shared margaritas with Garcia Abrego, several House Members traveled to El Salvador to demand his release. Reps. Robert Garcia (CA), Maxwell Frost (FL), Yassamin Ansari (AZ), and Maxine Dexter (OR) traveled to El Salvador on Monday to try to facilitate the release of Abrego Garcia, but they were promptly denied.

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Pharma-Friendly Public Health Officials Launch New Project to ‘Shore Up U.S. Vaccination Policy’

A group of public health figures has launched a new project they hope will “shore up U.S. vaccination policy,” which they believe is under threat from U.S. Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

The “Vaccine Integrity Project,” launched Thursday, is funded by iAlumbra, a nonprofit founded by Walmart heiress and philanthropist Christy Walton. It will be based at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP).

Michael Osterholm, Ph.D., CIDRAP director and a member of the COVID-19 Advisory Board under the Biden administration, said the project “acknowledges the unfortunate reality that the system that we’ve relied on to make vaccine recommendations and to review safety and effectiveness data faces threats.”

Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Margaret Hamburg and Dr. Harvey Fineberg, former president of the Institute of Medicine and current president of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, will co-chair an eight-member steering committee leading the initiative.

The group behind the project cited “a growing chorus of voices” in the U.S. questioning the safety and efficacy of vaccines as one of the inspirations for launching the project, Fierce Biotech reported.

In an op-ed published in STAT News, Hamburg and Fineberg said the project will use “the best available evidence” to “safeguard vaccine policy, information and utilization.”

The project will hold information-gathering sessions with public health stakeholders and share its recommendations with “nongovernment entities … that are free of outside influence and focus on protecting Americans from vaccine-preventable diseases.”

According to a press release, the project’s recommendations will be “grounded in the best available science.”

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