Republicans in the Senate this past week blocked a piece of legislation that, among other things, would have banned civilians owning grenade launchers in America. The bill was a new assault weapon ban, but it included the grenade launcher section because those are not explicitly illegal to own. But Republicans can't have any safety measures in this country, as Farron Cousins explains.
Republican Representative Lauren Boebert got a lesson on how math works during a House hearing this week when she tried to attack a Social Security administration official. Boebert tried to paint the agency as failing and the employees as lazy, but Social Security executive Oren "Hank" McKnelly immediately put her in her place by not only letting her know that employees' progress is monitored when they work from home, but also by explaining that the backlog at the agency is due to a lack of funding even as claims increase. He called this a "math problem" that Boebert simply couldn't understand. Ring of Fire's Farron Cousins explains what happened.
An accounting professor slammed allegations against the former president as ‘absurd’
The final defence expert witness for Donald Trump and his co-defendants in a trial stemming from a blockbuster fraud lawsuit was paid nearly $900,000 for his testimony.
Across two days of testimony inside New York County Supreme Court this week, New York University accounting professor Eli Bartov labeled the complaint against the former president, his adult sons and associates under the Trump Organization umbrella “absurd”.
On Thursday, he told the court that he went through New York Attorney General Letitia James’s complaint “allegation by allegation” to “try to find at least something, some proof, that would provide some basis” for them.
“Most of their claims were simply unsupported,” he said. “My main finding is that there is no evidence whatsoever of any accounting fraud.”
On his Truth Social account before Mr Bartov’s second day of testimony on Friday, the former president once again trashed the case against him, touting testimony from the “highly acclaimed finance EXPERT” who “powerfully stated that I did NOTHING WRONG, AND THAT I BUILT A GREAT COMPANY.”
On Thursday, Mr Bartov also snapped at a lawyer for the attorney general’s office after he suggested that Mr Bartov was being paid to say what Mr Trump’s team wanted.
“You make up allegations that never existed,” Mr Bartov said. “I’m here to tell the truth … Shame on yourself, talking to me like that.”
According to a transcript of his pretrial deposition from earlier this year, Mr Bartov said he was paid roughly $520,000 for his testimony from both the Trump Organization and his affiliated Save America PAC, the primary campaign fundraising arm for the frontrunner for the 2024 Republican nomination.
During his testimony on Friday, Mr Bartov said he charged $1,350 an hour for roughly 650 hours of total work on the case, amounting to roughly $877,500.
It is not uncommon for expert witnesses to be paid for their participation, nor is it unusual to be questioned about the reliability of that testimony.
In his deposition, Mr Bartov said he was initially tapped as an expert witness to talk about “generally accepted accounting principles,” the guidelines for crafting statements of financial condition that are at the centre of the case. He said he was “not really familiar” with those guidelines.
During his testimony on Thursday, Mr Bartov said he “couldn’t find a single GAAP provision that was violated” in Mr Trump’s documents. “I couldn’t find one.”
Eli Bartov, left, testifies during Donald Trump’s civil fraud trial in New York under questioning from defence attorney Jesus Suarez on 7 December.
Mr Trump, who has broadly smeared the multiple criminal and civil cases against him as a Democratic conspiracy against him, appeared in court for the first time in more than a month on Thursday to watch Mr Bartov’s testimony.
“This is a highly respected man,” Mr Trump told reporters outside the courtroom. “I don’t know him, but he’s an expert witness, and he found no fraud whatsoever.”
Mr Bartov was among the only defence witnesses to explicitly say that the case should be thrown out, echoing some of Mr Trump’s own rhetoric surrounding the trial.
The professor is expected to return to the witness stand on 12 December to finish his testimony under cross-examination from the attorney general’s office.
Mr Trump also will return to the court on 11 December to testify a second time as a final witness for the defence before the trial – entering its 11th week – draws to a close.
The lawsuit from Ms James accuses the defendants of defrauding financial institutions with grossly inflated estimates of his net worth and assets over a decade.
New York Supreme Court Judge Arthur Engoron has already found the defendants liable for fraud. The trial is set to determine what damages they could face – a ruling that could see tens of millions of dollars in fines and imperil the family’s business and real estate empire in the state – and whether the attorney general succeeds on other claims against the defendants, including insurance fraud and conspiracy.
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/eli-bartov-trump-civil-fraud-trial-b2461066.html
INTERNATIONAL SPAY/NEUTER PROGRAMS ARE THE SOLUTION!
Rescue abandoned dog with duct tape around his mouth wandering around makes an amazing recovery - full Our country has a huge population of stray animals, cats and dogs. We don't have working animal protection laws here, so people often throw out or abuse the animals, especially in smaller towns and villages. We are just two people who try to do the right thing by rescuing as much as we can and finding proper homes for the strays.
Тrսmp АRRЕSТED bу GЕОRGІА РОLІСЕ Whіlе ЕАТІΝG LUΝСН
MeidasTouch host Ben Meiselas reports on how South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace went full MAGA and destroyed her entire life with her depravity and odd behavior.
We couldn’t agree more. After waiting 188 years, the Cherokee Nation should get their promised seat.
In 1835, the U.S. government and the Cherokee Nation signed the Treaty of New Echota, the legal basis to force the Cherokee people to give up their ancestral homelands and move west. In return, the tribe was supposed to get a voice in Congress.
In the following years, thousands of people would die as a result of the forced displacement and ethnic cleansing that today is known as the “Trail of Tears.” And nearly two centuries later, Congress has yet to take the formal action necessary to establish the designated seat.
A Delegate can sit on committees, request meetings with Cabinet officials, and push for new policy proposals. This influence can be crucial, and the Cherokee Nation deserves a seat at the table. But for it to happen, a majority of the House needs to be on board. That’s where you come in — and a day like today, Human Rights Day, is a great moment to make it happen.
You can help generate enough political power to ensure there’s enough support to seat a Cherokee Nation Delegate. Sign now to tell the House: Seat a Cherokee Nation Delegate!
Winning without war means building a world where everyone can thrive without the fear of violence. The fights for Indigenous rights, security, and peace are the same.
Genocide, land theft, forced migration, criminalization, and cultural erasure are woven throughout our history. For too long, U.S. policy — foreign and domestic — has exploited Indigenous people and their lands. It happened when the United States waged an all-out war on Native peoples across the country. It happened when the government instigated coups that repressed Indigenous communities in Latin America.
That history continues today through the destruction of sacred land for oil pipelines and uranium mines, inadequate attention given to violence against Native women, and a centuries-old failure to honor agreements and promises of the past.
Just over a year ago, the House Rules Committee held a hearing on the Cherokee delegate question, but the issue remains unresolved. Today, the obligation to seat a Cherokee Nation delegate is as urgent now as it was in 1835. Tribal leaders continue to push Congress to make good on this promise — can you add your voice to join them?
The United States made a commitment to the Cherokee Nation nearly two centuries ago, and it’s time to make good on that promise. The House of Representatives has the authority to get it done — and they will, if enough people like us push them to do it.
Now, and always, our work must be about more than national security strategy; it has to include how we show up in community with one another. On December 10, Human Rights Day we celebrate the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948.
That’s why today, I hope you’ll help you join us to push Congress to affirm Indigenous rights and correct past wrongs against Native communities by seating a Cherokee Nation delegate as quickly as possible.
Thank you for working for peace,
Shayna, Julien, Sara, and the Win Without War team
A U.S. foreign policy rooted in human rights and justice won’t happen overnight.
Win Without War 2021
1 Thomas Circle NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 656-4999 | info@winwithoutwar.org
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This year, MAGA GOP activists in Georgia attempted to disenfranchise hundreds of students by trying to kick them off the voter rolls. De...
