Tag: politicians

Joe Biden’s Political Origin Story Is Almost Certainly Bogus. It May Land Him In Legal Trouble.

For nearly two decades, President Joe Biden has told a story about why he devoted his life to politics. He repeated the tale, at the risk of facing criminal charges for lying to a federal agent, while speaking to Special Counsel Robert Hur in October 2023.

Fresh out of law school and working as a clerk at a high-powered Wilmington, Delaware, law firm, Biden, in his telling, was tapped to defend a construction company sued by a 23-year-old welder who “lost part of his penis and one of his testicles” to a fire that broke out when he was working inside a chimney at a Delaware City plant. Thanks to Biden’s shrewd legal defense on the construction company’s behalf, the injured man lost the case.

“I wrote this memo. And son of a b—, it prevailed,” Biden told Hur on Oct. 8. “And I looked over at that kid…and I thought, ‘son of a b—, I’m in the wrong business, I’m not made for this.’”

Biden said he was so wracked with guilt that he concocted an excuse to avoid a celebratory lunch with one of the firm’s named partners and walked into the public defender’s office to ask for a job that very day. It’s “the only time I ever lied,” Biden told Hur on Oct. 8. Thus began, according to a New York Times report on the special counsel interview, “a career that would one day take him to the White House.”

But this story is almost certainly a complete work of fiction.

Although Biden did work at a law firm tapped to defend a construction company in a negligence suit like the one he described to Hur, the case concluded in 1968, while Biden was still in law school. And the welder won, walking away with $315,000, more than $2.8 million in 2024 dollars.

Biden, whose 1988 presidential campaign collapsed amid allegations that he had plagiarized speeches and a law school paper, has a long record of embellishments and yarn spinning. Over the years, he has told several stories about himself that don’t stand up to scrutiny. Those fibs range from the small and peculiar—he claimed in November 2023 that he was offered a spot on the Naval Academy’s football team—to the mendacious, such as his insistence that he never spoke with his son, Hunter Biden, about the latter’s foreign business dealings.

This report is based on a review of court records obtained from the National Archives as well as contemporaneous news reports and interviews with Biden’s former law firm colleagues and federal court clerks.

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Supreme Court Rules Public Officials May Block Their Constituents on Social Media

Public officials may block people on social media in certain situations, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously on March 15.

At the same time, the court held that public officials who post about topics pertaining to their work on their personal social media accounts are acting on behalf of the government. But such officials can be found liable for violating the First Amendment only when they have been properly authorized by the government to communicate on its behalf.

The case is important because nowadays public officials routinely reach out to voters through social media on the same pages where they discuss personal matters unrelated to government business.

“When a government official posts about job-related topics on social media, it can be difficult to tell whether the speech is official or private,” Justice Amy Coney Barrett wrote for the nation’s highest court.

The case is separate from but brings to mind a lawsuit that several individuals previously filed against former President Donald Trump after he blocked them from accessing his social media account on Twitter, which was later renamed X. The Supreme Court dismissed that case, Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute, in April 2021 as moot because President Trump had already left office.

At the time of the ruling, the then-Twitter had banned President Trump. When Elon Musk took over the company he reversed that policy.

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Federal Judge Rules That Congress Violated Constitution Passing $1.7 Trillion Spending Bill

In a landmark decision, a federal judge in Texas has ruled that a $1.7 trillion government funding bill was passed unconstitutionally in 2022 because lawmakers voted by proxy rather than in person because of a pandemic-era rule.

U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, an appointee of former President Donald Trump, issued a memorandum opinion and order on Feb. 27 finding that lawmakers violated the Constitution’s Quorum Clause when, in December 2022, they passed the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023, the largest ever spending package in U.S. history.

The Biden administration, which was sued over the matter by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, argued that the court didn’t have the power to address the issue “because it cannot look to extrinsic evidence to question whether a bill became law,” per the order.

Judge Hendrix disagreed because, as he said in the order, the court was interpreting and enforcing the U.S. Constitution rather than second-guessing the vote count.

“The Court concludes that, by including members who were indisputably absent in the quorum count, the Act at issue passed in violation of the Constitution’s Quorum Clause,” the judge wrote.

The judge gave the Department of Justice (DOJ), which was representing the Biden administration in the case, a week to file an appeal.

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Fireworks Erupt After Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears Refers to Transgender State Senator as ‘Sir’

Fireworks erupted in the Virginia State Senate on Monday afternoon after Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears referred to transgender Senator Danica Roem as “sir” during floor deliberations.

The chamber was forced into recess twice over Democrat tantrums because Sears initially refused to apologize.

“I understand Senator Roem is upset,” Sears said. “I’m not here to upset anyone. I’m here to do the job the people of Virginia have called me to do.”

Yahoo News reports, “Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears eventually said she was sorry, but she did not specifically say that to Sen. Danica Roem, D-Prince William County. Instead, she looked at each section of the chamber and said, ‘I apologize.’”

“However, she appeared agitated in making that apology, saying that while she meant no disrespect in her comment, she chastised Senate Democrats for what she claimed was ‘showing disrespect towards me,’” the report added.

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Lawmakers and Tech CEOs Push Online Age and ID Verification Proposals During Hearing on Child Safety

As we reported previously, US lawmakers are intent on pushing online ID, age verification, and causing an end to online anonymity – despite constitutional concerns.

And during a hearing today, tech CEOs supported proposals that would greatly expand the requirements for online ID verification and erode the ability to use the internet without connecting your online activity to your identity.

The proposals are being pushed in the name of protecting children online but would impact anyone who doesn’t want to tie all of their online speech and activity to their real ID – over surveillance or censorship concerns.

In response to criticism from lawmakers, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushed for far-reaching online age verification standards that would impose age verification at the app store level — a proposal that would mean the vast majority of mobile app usage could be tied to a person’s official identity.

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House Republican: Jeffrey Epstein flight logs not released because colleagues would be ‘compromised’

A House Republican contended that the flight logs from accused child sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein’s private jet haven’t been made public because too many lawmakers could be “compromised.”

Rep. Tim Burchett, Tennessee Republican, touched on Congress’ hesitance to release the flight records of Epstein’s Lolita Express, allegedly used to shuttle young women to the financier’s private island and homes throughout the country and world.  

“Too many of my colleagues I’m afraid are compromised in this area for whatever reason,” Mr. Burchett told Newsmax this week. “Somebody whispered in their ear saying, ‘Hey, you don’t want something to come out on something else, you better keep your mouth shut on this.’ That’s exactly what they’ve done.”

Numerous politicians, actors and public figures were reportedly on Epstein’s plane, including former Presidents Bill Clinton and Donald Trump, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Prince Andrew, billionaire Bill Gates and actor Kevin Spacey.

Mr. Burchett’s jab at the lack of transparency on the Lolita Express’ flight records follows the announcement that a New York court intends to release the names of 177 of  Epstein’s associates early next year.

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Left-Wing Politician Who Campaigned For Mass Migration Brutally Beaten by ‘North African’ Men in France

A left-wing politician who campaigned for the rights of migrants was brutally beaten by a gang of ‘North African’ men yards from her own front door in France.

Oriane Filhol, the deputy mayor to Mathieu Hanotin of the Socialist Party (PS) in Saint-Denis, was hospitalized after being “hit violently in the face and body with punches.”

The assault took place at around 9:30pm on the driveway to her home.

“The left-wing politician managed to escape the attack and ran on foot to a friend’s house located a few streets away but was reportedly chased by the attackers who dealt further blows before fleeing in a getaway vehicle,” reports Remix News.

A police source told Le Figaro that the men had “their faces hidden behind a surgical mask and hooded” but were “North African” in appearance.

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Irish politician says those who protested after children were stabbed in Dublin should be ‘shot in the head’

During a meeting of Limerick City and County Council on Monday, members took turns voicing their opinions about the fiery, but mostly peaceful, protests that broke out in Dublin four days earlier in response to reports that the man who stabbed a woman and three children in the Irish capital was an Algerian migrant.

While most of the council members condemned the actions of those who took part, one went further than the rest. Azad Talukder, who serves as Cathaoirleach of the LCCC’s Metropolitan District, suggested the protestors should be “shot in the head.”

“I strongly believe that this is not the face of Ireland,” Talukder said, according to the Limerick Post. “This is just some criminals looting the shops. I don’t think they follow any ideological purpose. They come to the streets and just rob. They should get punishment.”

“Not even an animal does these kind of thing,” he added. “It is very shameful and they should get public punishment.”

Talukder went on to state, in no uncertain terms, that he’d “like to see them shot in the head or bring the public in and beat them until they die.”

His comments were quickly withdrawn after being objected to by Labour Party councillor Conor Sheehan, who reminded him that “you can’t call for people to be shot in the council chamber.”

Talukder apologized, saying his emotions had gotten the better of him.

As the Immigrant Council reports, Talukder is originally from Bangladesh, and moved to Ireland in 2000 to start a family. Nearly 20 years later, he was elected as the first Muslim councillor in the nation’s history.

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Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s Car Stolen Just Before Joe Biden’s Arrival for Campaign Event

Democrat Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s car was stolen on Tuesday, just before Joe Biden arrived in the blue city.

Denver has been plagued with crime and rising auto thefts in recent years.

Biden landed in Denver Tuesday afternoon for a campaign event and was greeted by Johnston at Air Force One.

A spokesperson for Johnston’s office confirmed that his car was stolen but declined to offer additional details about what had happened — or where.

“The spokesperson declined to share more details about where it happened or what the vehicle looks like ‘to protect the safety of Mayor Johnston and his family.’ So it’s unclear whether the theft happened in Denver or elsewhere,” Fox31 reports.

According to the report, “Colorado’s auto theft rate climbed by the fastest rate in the nation from 2011 to 2020, jumping 144% during those years.”

“In Denver, the picture is no better, where rising auto theft makes up a large chunk of overall crime. That includes thefts at Denver International Airport, where police saw more theft than ever this year.”

Johnston himself had campaigned on addressing the issue of car theft.

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Tiny Fraction Of Global Elites Emit As Much Carbon As Bottom Two-Thirds Of Humanity

Critics who rail against the hypocrisy of wealthy global elites jet-setting on carbon-spewing private planes while pontificating about the need for the rest of us to cut our climate footprints just got a boost from a new study.

It turns out that the world’s richest 1 percent emit about the same amount of carbon as the world’s poorest two-thirds, according to an analysis from the nonprofit Oxfam International.

This means that a small sliver of global elites, or 77 million people, have produced as much carbon as the 5 billion people that make up the bottom 66 percent by wealth, per the study.

The study also estimates that it would take roughly 1,500 years for someone in the bottom 99 percent to produce as much carbon as the wealthiest billionaires do in just one year.

The study was based on research compiled by the Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) and examined the emissions of various income groups up to 2019. In summary, it suggested that the private jet-setting class of global leaders and policymakers, who take private planes to lead summits addressing the assumed dangers of climate change, may warrant charges of hypocrisy.

The analysis was published as global leaders prepare to meet for climate talks at the COP28 summit in Dubai later in November, where, much like other climate conferences, some elite participants will likely pontificate on the need for ordinary folk to end their reliance on cheap fossil fuel energy to make their ends meet.

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