Florida voters will head to the polls on Tuesday to determine which candidates will have the chance to face off in this November’s general election. Voters will cast ballots in races for the governorship and Congress, all the way down to circuit courts and local school boards.
Democrats are competing to run against the state’s governor, Ron DeSantis, and US senator Marco Rubio, both of whom are considered potential Republican presidential candidates for 2024. On the House side, a new congressional map drawn by DeSantis is expected to give Republicans a hefty advantage in the November midterms.
Although Florida has long been considered a swing state, Republicans have a considerable edge heading into this election season. Republicans last year overtook Democrats in Florida’s voter registration rolls. And Donald Trump carried the state by three points in the 2020 presidential race, although Joe Biden defeated him in the electoral college while also winning the national popular vote by four points.
Since then, DeSantis has approved new voting restrictions to limit access to voting by mail and ballot drop boxes in Florida, sparking allegations from the justice department of racial discrimination. Those methods were more likely to be used by Biden supporters in 2020 than voting at a polling place on election day, according to the Pew Research Center.
[…]
The anticlimactic forecast for Florida’s House races has many election watchers turning their attention to statewide races. All eyes will be on Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, with Charlie Crist, a Democratic congressman and former governor, running against Nikki Fried, the state’s agriculture commissioner.
Crist and Fried have attacked DeSantis over his aggressive approach to culture war issues in Florida, which may preview the governor’s 2024 presidential campaign. Just this month, DeSantis drew a lawsuit from a state prosecutor whom the governor suspended after the attorney said he would not enforce a 15-week abortion ban.
DeSantis last week also announced charges against 20 people for illegally voting, a move meant to highlight the work of a new office aimed at uncovering voter fraud. The governor provided few details about the charges, and voting rights advocates have denounced the arrests as voter intimidation.
[continues]
“Massive dark money windfall: New conservative group got $1.6 billion from single donor”
“The nonprofit, Marble Freedom Trust, received the contribution in the form of stock and then funneled more than $200 million to other conservative organizations last year, a tax form CNN obtained from the IRS shows.”
“Marble Freedom is led by Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the conservative Federalist Society, who advised former President Donald Trump on his Supreme Court picks and runs a sprawling network of other right-wing nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors, which are often referred to as dark money groups”
“…the donation to Barre Seid, a low-profile, 90-year-old Chicago electronics company executive and philanthropist who has previously been tied to smaller anonymous contributions to other right-wing groups.”
“The massive donation instantly makes the Utah-based group one of the most well-funded organizations bankrolling conservative causes in the US — a staggering distinction for a group with zero public profile or even a website.”
“This is the kind of money that can help these political operatives and their allies start to move the needle on issues like reshaping the federal judiciary, making it more difficult to vote, a state-by-state campaign to remake election laws and lay the groundwork for undermining future elections.”
“Groups on both sides of the political spectrum have increasingly turned to dark money in recent years to sway voters or push agendas without revealing their ultra-wealthy benefactors — but the Marble Freedom donation dramatically eclipses even the largest of the previously known groups.”
“Marble Freedom’s tax return covers its initial year of existence between May 2020 and April 2021. The gift of just over $1.6 billion came in the form of 100% of the stock of a privately held company, which Marble Freedom then sold to another company, according to the tax form.
The arrangement likely saved Seid a large amount of money in taxes…”
“Seid was born in 1932 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents and grew up on the South Side of Chicago.[3]
Seid attended the University of Chicago under a special bachelor’s degree program. He served two years in the US Army…”
“Leo assisted Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings and led campaigns to support the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.”
“Currently he is paid a $350,000 annual salary as CEO of Marble Freedom Trust, founded in 2020, The Trust has $1.6 billion in funding donated in 2021 by Illinois industrialist Barre Seid. It supports conservative political causes. The Trust is a 501(c)4 organization, which under Internal Revenue Service rules means it supports “social welfare”. It is allowed to spend up to 50% of its budget on political advocacy, but that spending is taxed by the IRS. On other spending it is exempt from paying taxes. [1]”
Is Facebook profiting off hate? It’s complicated.
A new report alleges that Facebook is profiting off white supremacy. The reality is a little more complicated.
[…]
The errors documented in the Tech Transparency Project report don’t indicate that Facebook is intentionally letting white supremacism slide so much as Facebook is trying to fight white supremacism on its platform — but that it is too often failing. It’s impossible to avoid all mistakes when trying to purge a service of prohibited content. But that means it’s all the more important not to make avoidable mistakes. These revelations show that Facebook still has work to do in that regard. They also show, however, that white supremacism is so vexing a scourge that even a company pouring ample resources into the area can’t scrub it out. Meanwhile, myriad less mainstream sites aren’t even trying — and as long as hate is this prevalent off of the internet, it’s bound be prevalent on the internet, too. This is a problem that can’t possibly be fixed in Menlo Park alone.
are they profiting off of hate? [sigh] what and who online isn’t out there…
Former President Donald Trump allegedly had more than 700 pages of classified material in his possession, according to a May 10 letter from the National Archives to a lawyer representing Trump.
The text of the letter was posted by conservative journalist John Solomon on Monday evening.
The National Archives then posted a link to the letter on its FOIA website early Tuesday afternoon.
The 700 pages of classified material referenced were found in the 15 boxes that the Archives retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January, according to the letter.
Trump had authorized Solomon as one of his liaisons to the National Archives to review documents from his presidency.
The posted version of the letter confirms ABC News’ previous reporting that documents with the highest levels of classification, including some labeled “Special Access Program” were found.
“As the Department of Justice’s National Security Division explained to you on April 29, 2022: There are important national security interests in the FBI and others in the Intelligence Community getting access to these materials. According to NARA, among the materials in the boxes are over 100 documents with classification markings, comprising more than 700 pages,” the letter reads.
“Some include the highest levels of classification, including Special Access Program (SAP) materials. Access to the materials is not only necessary for purposes of our ongoing criminal investigation, but the Executive Branch must also conduct an assessment of the potential damage resulting from the apparent manner in which these materials were stored and transported and take any necessary remedial steps.”
While Solomon framed this as President Joe Biden taking a more direct role than previously known in Justice Department’s investigation of classified materials at Mar-a-Lago, the letter actually shows how Biden deferred all decisions regarding executive privilege assertions entirely to top DOJ lawyers.
[…]
The letter provides insight into the back and forth between Trump’s team and the National Archives and shows that even though the original 15 boxes were retrieved from Mar-a-Lago in January, federal investigators did not ultimately gain access to them until months later because of negotiations with Trump’s lawyers.
The letter also reveals that DOJ and National Archives determined that there is no basis to assert privilege over the 15 boxes of records obtained.
The letter also makes clear that Trump’s representatives for the Archives must have the proper level of security clearance to review documents they request to review.
as to the line “Trump had authorized Solomon as one of his liaisons to the National Archives to review documents from his presidency” my question is does (or did at the time of review) solomon have clearance to see classified docs?
The letter also revealed that an assessment of threats to national security posed by Trump’s possession of the documents was already underway, well before members of Congress were informed.
Senate Intelligence Chair Mark Warner (D-Va.) and Vice Chair Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) have already asked the intelligence community to provide such an assessment, and the broader entity on Capitol Hill that’s privy to the most sensitive national security secrets has asked to view the documents themselves.
U.S. officials in the national security community expressed shock and concern at the former president’s cavalier treatment of classified material. One official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive topic, said they were astonished at the “recklessness” of the move.
It’s an “affront” to “those people who’ve spent their lives protecting and enforcing a rules-based order only to have someone come along and use his special access to unlawfully collect and retain highly classified documents,” the person said.
It can take up to a decade to declassify certain information, said one former defense official who still holds a security clearance, so the fact that Trump took hundreds of pages of classified material is “one of the worst things I’ve ever heard.”
“There’s not gray area here. I’m just appalled,” the person said.
latest LP ad
Aug 22, 2022Kari Lake wants to fire the federal government. A vote for her could cost Arizona everything.
Fire the federal government. I swear, if that woman had a brain she’d take it out and play with it.
Charlie Crist blowing out FL Dem primary at 61%. DeSantis is not unbeatable.
Florida voters head to primary polls as Democrats look to break losing streak | Florida | The Guardian
https://www.cnn.com/2022/08/22/politics/dark-money-donation-conservative-group-invs/index.html
“Massive dark money windfall: New conservative group got $1.6 billion from single donor”
“The nonprofit, Marble Freedom Trust, received the contribution in the form of stock and then funneled more than $200 million to other conservative organizations last year, a tax form CNN obtained from the IRS shows.”
“Marble Freedom is led by Leonard Leo, the co-chairman of the conservative Federalist Society, who advised former President Donald Trump on his Supreme Court picks and runs a sprawling network of other right-wing nonprofits that don’t disclose their donors, which are often referred to as dark money groups”
“…the donation to Barre Seid, a low-profile, 90-year-old Chicago electronics company executive and philanthropist who has previously been tied to smaller anonymous contributions to other right-wing groups.”
“The massive donation instantly makes the Utah-based group one of the most well-funded organizations bankrolling conservative causes in the US — a staggering distinction for a group with zero public profile or even a website.”
“This is the kind of money that can help these political operatives and their allies start to move the needle on issues like reshaping the federal judiciary, making it more difficult to vote, a state-by-state campaign to remake election laws and lay the groundwork for undermining future elections.”
“Groups on both sides of the political spectrum have increasingly turned to dark money in recent years to sway voters or push agendas without revealing their ultra-wealthy benefactors — but the Marble Freedom donation dramatically eclipses even the largest of the previously known groups.”
“Marble Freedom’s tax return covers its initial year of existence between May 2020 and April 2021. The gift of just over $1.6 billion came in the form of 100% of the stock of a privately held company, which Marble Freedom then sold to another company, according to the tax form.
The arrangement likely saved Seid a large amount of money in taxes…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barre_Seid
“Seid was born in 1932 to Russian Jewish immigrant parents and grew up on the South Side of Chicago.[3]
Seid attended the University of Chicago under a special bachelor’s degree program. He served two years in the US Army…”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Leo
“Leo assisted Clarence Thomas in his Supreme Court confirmation hearings and led campaigns to support the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.”
“Currently he is paid a $350,000 annual salary as CEO of Marble Freedom Trust, founded in 2020, The Trust has $1.6 billion in funding donated in 2021 by Illinois industrialist Barre Seid. It supports conservative political causes. The Trust is a 501(c)4 organization, which under Internal Revenue Service rules means it supports “social welfare”. It is allowed to spend up to 50% of its budget on political advocacy, but that spending is taxed by the IRS. On other spending it is exempt from paying taxes. [1]”
editorial board’s
Opinion | White supremacy on Facebook can’t be solved by Meta alone – The Washington Post
are they profiting off of hate? [sigh] what and who online isn’t out there…
‘Incredible’ Jupiter images revealed by NASA’s James Webb telescope
Here’s a link to the high-resolution moon image, made by earth-based amateur astronomers, that news outlets are mentioning, this week
https://i.redd.it/zm4nfgq29yi91.jpg
ABCnews:
as to the line “Trump had authorized Solomon as one of his liaisons to the National Archives to review documents from his presidency” my question is does (or did at the time of review) solomon have clearance to see classified docs?
from politico:
latest LP ad
Aug 22, 2022 Kari Lake wants to fire the federal government. A vote for her could cost Arizona everything.
Fire the federal government. I swear, if that woman had a brain she’d take it out and play with it.
Charlie Crist blowing out FL Dem primary at 61%. DeSantis is not unbeatable.
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