A whole new level’: Harvard law professor says not even Nixon would have made the legal claims Trump is

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In response to a lawsuit from Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), Donald Trump responded that he can’t be sued for anything he did as the president. MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell noted that it sounded a lot like former President Richard Nixon, who said, “when the president does it, it’s not illegal.”

But when Harvard law professor Laurence Tribe reviewed the excuse and explained that not even Nixon would have made the excuses that Donald Trump is. 

In a case involving a civil case against Nixon, the Supreme Court decided that when a president is exercising his/her official duties as president that he/she cannot be liable. It’s hard to claim that Trump’s speech inciting an insurrection because he lost an election is an official duty as president. Continue reading.

In the Know: June 1, 2021

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Attorney General Keith Ellison
Minnesota moves toward taking police prosecutions out of the hands of local officials, Pioneer Press
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison weighs in on plea deals offered in response to innocence claims, KARE 11

Governor Tim Walz & Lt. Governor Peggy Flanagan
Walz appoints first Black judge in Duluth, Star Tribune
Gov. Walz launches ‘Your Shot to Summer’ incentives to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations by July 1, MN Spokesman Recorder
Walz, Klobuchar and Smith visit Fort Snelling for wreath laying ceremony, KARE 11

Minnesota Legislature
Minnesota legislators decide details of $52 billion budget in private, Star Tribune
Minnesota lawmakers agree to spend $70 million on improving broadband access across the state, MinnPost

Continue reading “In the Know: June 1, 2021”

Despite little evidence of fraud, Wisconsin Republican leader hires retired police to probe 2020 election

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A top Republican lawmaker in Wisconsin announced Wednesday that he is hiring retired police officers and an attorney to investigate the November election, joining GOP leaders in several states who have continued to probe election results months after President Biden took office under the cloud of unfounded claims of voter fraud.

Rep. Robin Vos, Wisconsin’s state assembly speaker, told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinelthat the investigators would spend three months probing tips about election problems or voter fraud and pursuing the most credible ones.

“A sizable chunk of people believe the election was illegitimate,” Vos told the Journal Sentinel. “And democracy cannot flourish if both sides don’t believe in the end both sides had a fair shot.” Continue reading.

HC Commissioner LaTondresse Update: May 28, 2021

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Dear Friends and Neighbors,

With many businesses being impacted by COVID-19, Elevate Business HCbegan as a response to the pandemic by offering businesses in Hennepin County free advising and other resources to help them recover from the pandemic and build for future growth. This collaboration between Hennepin County and the Minneapolis Regional Chamber is providing equitable and inclusive support to meet the unique needs of businesses while driving long-term economic growth for our region. Jessie Baker, owner of Munkabeans Coffeehouse in downtown Hopkins and a recent participant of a facilitated peer roundtable, shared her own  positive experience with Elevate Business HC, watch her testimonial here. More resources and events for small businesses can be found here.

Updates in this week’s newsletter:

Continue reading “HC Commissioner LaTondresse Update: May 28, 2021”

‘They wouldn’t care if I was dead’ — staffer fallout from Jan. 6 continues

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Denial of insurrection, always-on work culture piles on trauma

A congressional staffer froze recently when elevator doors opened and there stood a member of the House who has downplayed the violence of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Some congressional employees are shaken by what they see as the whitewashing of the attack, and the denials have reignited lingering trauma.

One House employee who works in the Capitol building and heard the rioters banging on their office door said seeing the lawmakers try to erase the destruction is jarring.

Thirteen staffers interviewed by CQ Roll Call, who were granted anonymity to speak candidly about their mental health and how they are coping, point to comments like those from Rep. Andrew Clyde. Despite helping barricade the House chamber from rioters, the Georgia Republican downplayed the events of Jan. 6 at a hearing earlier this month as“acts of vandalism” and said the rioters were “orderly” and looked like “a normal tourist visit.” Continue reading.

GOP frets behind the scenes over potential Trump 2024 bid

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Trump is indicating he plans to run again so long as he still has a good bill of health. But he may face skepticism from surprising conservative corners of the GOP.

Republicans largely oppose forming a commission to examine the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, hoping to block out further Donald Trump-induced chaos while they try to retake Congress next year.

The former president is making clear he isn’t going anywhere.

Trump is confiding in allies that he intends to run again in 2024 with one contingency: that he still has a good bill of health, according to two sources close to the former president. That means Trump is going to hang over the Republican Party despite its attempts to rebrand during his exile and its blockade of a Trump-centric investigation into January’s insurrection. Continue reading.

Deep-rooted racism, discrimination permeate US military

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For Stephanie Davis, who grew up with little, the military was a path to the American dream, a realm where everyone would receive equal treatment. She joined the service in 1988 after finishing high school in Thomasville, Georgia, a small town said to be named for a soldier who fought in the War of 1812.

Over the course of decades, she steadily advanced, becoming a flight surgeon, commander of flight medicine at Fairchild Air Force Base and, eventually, a lieutenant colonel.

But many of her service colleagues, Davis says, saw her only as a Black woman. Or for the white resident colleagues who gave her the call sign of ABW – it was a joke, they insisted – an “angry black woman,” a classic racist trope. Continue reading.

Trump accused of offering cash to late senator on behalf of New England Patriots to stop investigation of team’s ‘Spygate’ scandal

Donald Trump was accused of trying to influence a 2008 investigation into the New England Patriots’ ‘Spygate’ scandal, according to an ESPN report by Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham. 

According to the report, two people close to Republican senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, who died in 2012, said Trump offered campaign cash to stop investigating the Patriots’ accusation of videotaping opponents’ defensive coaching signals. 

The NFL ultimately concluded that the Patriots were guilty of taping New York Jets’ defensive signals from a prohibited location during a Sept. 9, 2007 game. The league fined Patriots head coach Bill Belichick $500,000, the Patriots $200,000, and took away a 2008 first-round draft pick. Continue reading.

DOJ Demands Steve Wynn Register as Foreign Agent or Face Court Battle

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The Justice Department has notified Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn that he must register as a foreign agent acting on behalf of China or face a court battle, The Wall Street Journalreports. In 2017, Wynn spoke with a Chinese government official about a Chinese billionaire, Guo Wengui, and later lobbied Donald Trump’s administration to deport the businessman from the U.S. back to China, where he’s a wanted fugitive. Guo is charged with sexual assault, bribery, and other crimes; he has denied accusations of wrongdoing and called them political persecution. He has also been linked to former Trump adviser Steve Bannon. The DOJ has told Wynn—who once had business ties to gambling hotspot Macau—that he must register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act or face litigation forcing him to comply. Wynn’s attorney told the Journal, “Steve Wynn never served as an agent or lobbyist for China or anyone else.” Guo welcomed the news in a statement, calling Wynn “a greedy spy of the Chinese Communist Party.” View the post here.