Cyber Ninjas Whine As Arizona ‘Audit’ Is Proved Utterly Pointless

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It’s been three weeks since the Arizona “audit”—a process that involved the most partisan of Trump partisans searching for “bamboo ballots” and the ghostly fingerprints of Hugo Chavez, under the supervision of a firm created expressly to bolster conspiracy theories—apparently came to a close. That is, the audit farce is still officially underway, but three weeks ago Cyber Ninjas tweeted out an announcement that they were done pretending to count ballots, and had moved onto the most critical part of the process: terminal whining.

As CBS News reports, Cyber Ninjas is now complaining that they “don’t have enough information” to complete the audit. Because getting to finger every single ballot, take control of the voting machines (which will now be discarded after the auditors did who knows what to them), and initiating a plan to go door-to-door asking people how they voted just isn’t enough. As has happened several times in the process, the Ninjas, along with supporters in the Arizona Senate, are directing fingers at the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors—the Republican-controlled Board of Supervisors—for failing to “cooperate” enough in an audit where they’ve turned over every ballot, every machine, and every scrap of paper related to the election. That’s not enough, say the Ninjas. They want … well, it might be easier to say what they don’t want. 

Until they get everything on their unreasonable list, and whatever unreasonable list comes after this, the “auditors” insist that they are not going to issue a report. Since July 2, all the ballots, machines, and accoutrements of Ninjaing have been parked at an unairconditioned building on the Arizona state fairgrounds. It’s unclear whether anyone is actually working there. Continue reading.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump Makes False Claims About Arizona Audit

Former President Donald Trump issued three statements in two days claiming that voting fraud and irregularities cost him Arizona’s electoral votes.

PHOENIX (AP) — Former President Donald Trump issued three statements in two days falsely claiming that voting fraud and irregularities cost him Arizona’s electoral votes.

Trump relied on comments made Thursday by contractors hired by state Senate Republicans to oversee a partisan review of the 2020 vote count in Maricopa County, which includes metro Phoenix.

The “forensic audit,” as Senate GOP leaders are calling their review, is overseen by Cyber Ninjas, a small computer security firm with no election experience before Trump began questioning the 2020 results. Its CEO, Doug Logan, spread false conspiracy theories about the election before he was hired to lead the Arizona review. Continue reading.

GOP teeing up critical race theory for midterms in Minnesota, across the nation

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GOP seizes on critical race theory as partisan divider. 

ASHBY, MINN. – Jason Kirchenwitz wanted to know more about an issue arising often now in his conversations, and he suspected others did too, especially Republican activists he helps organize in rural Grant County.

He was right. Nearly 100 people filed into a gymnasium in this town of fewer than 500 people last week for a meeting he called. They all came to hear about critical race theory.

“I have kids in school,” said Kirchenwitz. “I don’t want them pressured or pushed into other views.” Continue reading.

Current, former police officers charged in new Proud Boys indictment in Capitol riot

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A father and son, who are current and former Florida police officers, and a North Carolina man have been charged with joining alleged Proud Boys members in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, according to a new, five-co-defendant indictment unsealed in Washington on Friday.

Kevin “Tito” Tuck, 51, and Nathaniel A. Tuck, 29, of central Florida were arrested and released on $25,000 unsecured bond Thursday by a U.S. magistrate judge in Tampa, court records show.

Edward George Jr. was also arrested Thursday and was scheduled to appear in federal court Friday in Raleigh, according to court records. Continue reading.

The Memo: Trump is diminished but hasn’t faded

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Tuesday marks six months since former President Trump left the White House.

Back then, Trump helicoptered off the South Lawn having become the only president in history to be twice impeached. The tumult of the Jan. 6 insurrection was still reverberating.

Where he stands now is a more complicated question. Continue reading.

Fox News’s embarrassing blunder in the White House briefing room

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The White House press briefing room has been a little more boring over the past six months, which is probably a good thing. But there are occasional fireworks, mostly when Fox News’s Peter Doocy asks press secretary Jen Psaki to comment on the culture-war issue du jour on his network.

But seldom has that effort been as poorly conceived as it was Friday.

The White House announced a new effort this week to combat coronavirus misinformation on social media, particularly Facebook. It’s an effort that carries legitimate questions about what role the government should play in policing (or, in this case, helping to police) such things.

But that’s quite different from what Doocy accused the government of doing. And he did so based upon nothing but innuendo and a dumbfoundingly apparent lack of research. Continue reading.

Trump says Gen. Mark Milley should be ‘court-martialed’ if he thought the former president potentially sought a coup

Former President Donald Trump on Friday said that General Mark Milley should be “court-martialed and tried” if he believed that the former president sought to carry out a coup, referencing an excerpt from a forthcoming book by Washington Post reporters Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker.

Trump has pushed back against the excerpt from “I Alone Can Fix It: Donald J. Trump’s Catastrophic Final Year,” which said that Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, discussed the possibility of a coup with friends, legislators, and colleagues.

“The writings within these third-rate books are Fake News, and ‘General’ Milley (who [former Defense Secretary James] Mattis wanted to send to Europe in order to get rid of him), if he said what was reported, perhaps should be impeached, or court-martialed and tried,” the former president said in a statement. “He tries to be a tough guy, which he is not, but he choked beyond belief as soon as a microphone was stuffed in front of his face or, at the mere sight of the Fake News Media.”

Strike 3: ‘America First’ Rally Axed in Anaheim After 2 Cancellations Elsewhere

Hometown of Disneyland was not the happiest place on Earth and nixed plans for a rally with Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene

An “America First” Rally featuring speeches by controversial GOP representatives Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz was scheduled for Saturday night at Anaheim Event Center following cancellations at two other Southern California venues, but Anaheim also backed out on Saturday morning.

The City of Anaheim — home to Disneyland — was not the happiest place on Earth over the news, reported Saturday morning by City News Service, with the city issuing a statement Saturday saying it planned to act fast on the plans. And it did, cancelling the event with a follow-up statement, citing public safety concerns.

“The city of Anaheim shared public safety concerns with the operator, and those concerns are shared by the operator,” the statement said in part. “As a city we respect free speech but also have a duty to call out speech that does not reflect our city and its values.” Continue reading.

QAnon congresswoman complains about her and Matt Gaetz being so politically toxic

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Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) complained about “communists” on Friday after she and Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) faced backlash over plans for an “America First” rally in California.

The two were disinvited from a location in legendary GOP stronghold of Orange County. After failing to find another venue in the OC that would take them, the two moved the spectacle to Riverside County.

But even after securing a second venue, the two faced protests as they were holding their event at the city-owned convention center. Continue reading.

Have you seen the MAGA-inspired ‘Freedom phone’? Here’s why you should stay as far away from it as possible

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Have you seen the new MAGA-inspired “Freedom Phone”? The mobile device hitting the market appears to be one that addresses the concern of right-wing supporters who are fed up with so-called Big Tech “spying” and “censorship.” 

According to Gizmodo, the phone is being marketed by Erik Finman, described as a 22-year-old cryptocurrency millionaire who says he “wants America’s patriots to take ‘back control’ of their lives from the tech oligarchy.”

“This is the first major pushback on the Big Tech companies that attacked us – for just thinking different,” Finman tweeted Thursday morning. “We’re finally taking back control.” Continue reading.