Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee, a Republican, announced Wednesday she would briefly serve as Acting Governor of the state.
“I have been notified that I will be serving as Acting Governor beginning later this evening until mid-morning tomorrow. While I am pleased to step into this role, I will refrain from naming directors to the 13 agencies that currently have vacancies and will not call the Arizona Legislature into session to confirm them. That being said, I do hope when the Governor returns to Arizona, she will promptly name qualified directors to these important state agencies and remove the legal uncertainty that exists for all of the regulatory actions taken by the agencies. I expect to see a swift resolution to this matter, so we can get back to getting the work done for Arizona taxpayers. The people of Arizona deserve leaders who follow the rule of law,” Yee said in a released statement.
The reason for Yee stepping into the Acting Governor role was unknown Wednesday night.
Yee is fourth in line on the Arizona succession of gubernatorial power. After governor, the line of succession is secretary of state, attorney general and then state treasurer. The attorney general is out of state until Friday morning.
Why did the fourth individual in line of succession become Acting Governor?
According to Just the News, Katie Hobbs, Secretary of State Adrian Fontes (D), and Attorney General Kris Mayes (D) were out of state when Joe Biden arrived in Arizona this week.
Were they all trying to avoid a meeting with Biden?
“Joe Biden arrived in Arizona last night. Katie Hobbs, Adrian Fontes, & Kris Mayes all arranged to be out of town during his visit, forcing the Republican Treasurer to assume control of our state. Why did our entire illegitimate state government leave town at the same time?” Kari Lake War Room asked.
When Biden arrived in Arizona, he was met on the tarmac as he deplaned from Air Force One by Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego (D), as the congressional Democrats from the state were in Washington, D.C., amid the possible government shutdown.
Biden was in Arizona to announce the creation of the John S. McCain III National Library at Arizona State University’s Tempe campus and attend a fundraising event.
Hobbs arrived back in the state in time to attend the announcement of the late senator’s library on Thursday. However, in her press release regarding her speech at the announcement, there is no mention of Biden.
“Today, Governor Katie Hobbs spoke at the announcement of the construction of the John S. McCain Education and Community Center in Tempe,” the press release reads. “It will be housed within Arizona State University as a new multi-purpose facility to provide education, work, and health monitoring programs for underserved communities.
“During the event, Governor Hobbs was joined by members of the McCain family, including Ambassador Cindy McCain,” the release continued. “The State of Arizona was instrumental in securing funding for the Library, leading the application through the federal government’s Capital Projects Fund.”
“Either something very strange is going on, or every top Dem in the state just fled rather than getting their photo taken w Biden. Not that anyone should expect our local Democrat Operatives w/ Bylines to ask any questions,” said Breaking Battlegrounds co-host Sam Stone.
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According to the Associated Press, Arizona’s top Democrats traveled to Washington D.C. for meetings.
Slater confirmed Friday that the governor met with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in D.C. on Wednesday.
Hobbs was back Thursday morning and spoke later that day at the Tempe Center for the Arts, where officials announced the construction of a library honoring the late U.S. Sen. John McCain, of Arizona.
On Friday, Hobbs headed to Flagstaff to speak with the state Board of Regents, according to Slater.
Meanwhile Secretary of State Adrian Fontes returned to Arizona on Friday after meeting with U.S. Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, of Arizona, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and White House staff regarding the impact of the looming federal government shutdown on election operations, Paul Smith-Leonard, his spokesperson, said Friday.
State Attorney General Kris Mayes was also back in the state Friday after meeting with officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency on efforts to combat the state’s fentanyl crisis, according to spokesperson Richie Taylor.
She also spoke with U.S. Department of Agriculture officials on the proposed merger between grocery chains Albertsons and Kroger and its potential impact to local food suppliers.
CNN also reported that Katie Hobbs attended the announcement for the construction of the McCain library.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is calling on governments around the globe to criminalize so-called “climate inaction” with severe penalties for offenders.
In a recent article from Klaus Schwab’s unelected organization, the WEF demands that failing to comply with the globalist green agenda should be classed as a “human rights violation.”
In most civilized nations around the world, human rights violations are serious crimes that carry harsh punishments.
In the United States, punishments for human rights violations vary from a fine or imprisonment of up to one year, or both, according to the FBI.
If bodily injury results or if such acts include the use, attempted use, or threatened use of a dangerous weapon, explosives, or fire, offenders are fined or imprisoned for up to ten years or both.
If a human rights violation results in death, or if such acts include kidnapping or an attempt to kidnap, aggravated sexual abuse or an attempt to commit aggravated sexual abuse, or an attempt to kill, a person can be sentenced to imprisonment for any term of years or for life or may be sentenced to death, the FBI states.
By making “climate inaction” a human rights violation, those found guilty of “denying” so-called “global warming” could be sentenced to the death penalty.
According to the WEF, this would be the appropriate way to advance the green agenda.
“Is climate inaction a human rights violation?” the WEF asks in an article posted on its website.
In the article, the WEF suggests that there will be an increasing number of climate-related lawsuits in the coming years.
“Climate-related litigation generally seems poised for expansion,” the article states.
The WEF goes on to argue that “climate deniers” are responsible for the “record-breaking number of heat-related deaths.”
According to the Global Climate Change Litigation database, there have been over 130 cases worldwide that have brought human rights-based claims against governments.
Furthermore, a legal advocate for climate litigation, Clémentine Baldon, told the WEF last year that there is a strong expectation that human rights-related climate claims “will continue to increase.”
On Wednesday, a lawsuit went to the European Court of Human Rights, brought forth by six young individuals against 32 European countries.
The six individuals are alleging that the countries have failed to address the “climate crisis” allegedly caused by human activities.
“It’s being described as ‘unprecedented’ in terms of potential impact,” the WEF claims.
“A win could push some of the wealthiest countries in the world to ramp up their responses to a changing climate; a loss could affect the numerous other legal efforts now underway to target inaction.”
Last year, Norwegian Finance CEO and WEF speaker Kjerstin Braathen said that people should be prepared to suffer “pain,” inflation, and “energy shortages” in order to advance the green agenda of the WEF and United Nations (UN).
“We need to accept that there will be some pain in the process,” Braathen said.
“The pace that we need [to end climate change] will open up for missteps.
“It will open up for shortages of energy.
“It will create inflationary pressures, and maybe we need to start talking about that — that that pain is actually worth it.”
A contractor for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) escaped significant charges Friday with a single criminal charge from the Department of Justice (DOJ) for leaking thousands of prominent tax records, including those of former President Donald Trump, which were leaked shortly before the 2020 presidential election.
Charles Littlejohn, a 38-year-old IRS consultant in Washington D.C., was charged by federal prosecutors with one count of unauthorized disclosure of tax returns and return information.
A press release from the Justice Department claims Littlejohn “stole tax return information associated with a high-ranking government official” and then “disclosed it to a news organization.” Prosecutors did not name either the “high-ranking government official” or the news organization in question, but ABC News reported that a “person familiar with the matter confirmed … the unnamed high-ranking government official is Trump.”
President Donald Trump’s taxes were leaked to The New York Times weeks ahead of the 2020 election.
Federal prosecutors also accused Littlejohn of stealing “tax return information for thousands of the nation’s wealthiest individuals, and disclos[ing] this tax return information to another news organization.” That news organization was left-wing smear factory ProPublica, according to Fox News reporting.
In the summer of 2021, ProPublica published “The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax.” Individuals whose tax records were released include Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Michael Bloomberg.
“ProPublica has obtained a vast trove of Internal Revenue Service data on the tax returns of thousands of the nation’s wealthiest people, covering more than 15 years,” the group reported. “The data provides an unprecedented look inside the financial lives of America’s titans, including Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Rupert Murdoch and Mark Zuckerberg. It shows not just their income and taxes, but also their investments, stock trades, gambling winnings and even the results of audits.”
If convicted, Littlejohn faces a maximum of five years in prison.
The single charge against Littlejohn follows criticism of the Justice Department from IRS whistleblowers who claim the agency sought to hamper a federal tax investigation into Hunter Biden. Whistleblowers say the DOJ thwarted investigative efforts, slow-walked cooperation with tax agents, and even concealed critical evidence implicating President Joe Biden in a criminal bribery scheme. The most significant felonies of which Hunter Biden was suspected, said veteran IRS agent Gary Shapley this summer, “were left off the table.”
A motorcyclist, part of the Rolling Thunder convoy, navigates through the crowd during a rally in Ottawa on April 29, 2022.A musician who attended the Rolling Thunder event that paid homage to veterans in Ottawa last April has been cleared of all charges stemming from his arrest at the event.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) announced on Sept. 29 that the Ontario Court of Justice has acquitted Courtney John Dugas of charges of disarming a peace officer and assaulting a peace officer.
The decision by Justice David Berg on Sept. 26 came after a two-day trial in which the judge ruled that video evidence, as well as discrepancies in the testimony of police officers, combined to create sufficient reasonable doubt for the charges to be dropped, according to JCCF in a news release.
“This is one of many acquittals in cases where Canadians were criminally charged for doing nothing other than peacefully exercising their Charter freedoms of expression, association, and peaceful assembly,” said Justice Centre president John Carpay in the release.
Mr. Dugas attended the Rolling Thunder event on April 29, 2022, said the JCCF. The event followed the weeks-long Freedom Convoy protest last February that called for the removal of COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.
Rolling Thunder organizer Neil Sheard said at the time that the three-day event involving hundreds of motorbikes was to pay homage to veterans by “driving around and saluting” the National War Memorial. However, the route designated by the city of Ottawa wouldn’t allow it.
“Our event has always been about the veterans. It's always been about the monument. And it's always been about the bikes driving around and saluting the monument. Plain and simple,” he said in a video released on April 27, 2022.
The event started on April 29, 2022. Several thousand participants and supporters of the motorcycle convoy arrived in Ottawa as part of a wider movement calling for personal freedoms.
Waving Canadian and Quebec flags, around 1,000 protesters marched along Wellington St. heading east toward CF Rideau Centre while chanting “freedom” amid a heavy police presence at the time.
‘Innocent’
The Justice Centre said Mr. Dugas, in addition to joining Rolling Thunder during the first day, was scheduled to perform at the event the following day.
It said police officers testified in court that as they formed a line to clear protesters from Rideau Street on the first day of the event, Mr. Dugas allegedly grabbed an officer’s baton and threw a punch.
“However, the officers’ accounts differed with respect to the timing of the alleged assault and the arrest,” the release said. “Mr. Dugas, testifying in his own defence, denied the allegation. His testimony was corroborated in court by a friend who was with him that day.”
The Justice Centre said that, during the trial, the defence played video taken from Rebel News Livestreams that showed the moments leading up to and including the arrest of Mr. Dugas—which corroborated his account of the events.
Justice Berg ruled that the video evidence and the differing accounts provided by the police create sufficient reasonable doubt and that the charges pressed against Mr. Dugas be dropped, the release added.
Mr. Dugas said he is thankful to all who supported him along the way.
“I thank God for watching over me through these difficult times,” he said in a release on Sept. 29. “I also want to thank everyone who has supported me and prayed for me through this time.”
Hatim Kheir, JCCF lawyer and counsel to Mr. Dugas, said he was “pleased to see that justice prevailed” and that his client was acquitted.
“This result confirms again the importance of independent journalists who are on the ground recording events,” he said in a release on Sept. 29.
“In this case, the video evidence showed that Mr. Dugas was innocent.”
House before the House finally approved a 'clean' stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown (which has since been sent to the Senate for consideration before the midnight funding deadline), Socialist Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) was caught pulling the fire alarm in a House office building Saturday in order to try and delay a vote on ta House GOP stopgap spending bill.
The incident in the Cannon Building was caught on camera and confirmed by several witnesses, Politico reports.
"This is the United States Congress, not a New York City high school. To pull the fire alarm to disrupt proceedings when we are trying to draft legislation to AVERT A SHUTDOWN is pathetic…even for members of the socialist squad," Staten Island GOP Rep. Nicole Malliotakis wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
"Rep Jamaal Bowman pulled a fire alarm in Cannon this morning," House Administration Committee Chairman Bryan Steil wrote on X. "An investigation into why it was pulled is underway."
According to Bowman spox Emma Simon, "Congressman Bowman did not realize he would trigger a building alarm as he was rushing to make an urgent vote. The Congressman regrets any confusion."
In other words, he's claiming to be too stupid to have known what he did - and don't believe your lying eyes!
Needless to say, the memes are already flying.
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Meanwhile, the House cleared the 'clean' stopgap bill without funding for Ukraine or the border, by a vote of 335-91. One Democrat and 90 Republicans voted against the measure.
* * *
Update: (1335ET): With a government shutdown just hours away, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has turned to Democrats for help passing a temporary bill, after House Freedom Caucus members dug their heels in over no funds for Ukraine.
"What I am asking, Republicans and Democrats alike, put your partisanship away," said McCarthy. "Focus on the American public."
McCarthy needs a two-thirds majority to pass their Continuing Resolution (CR), which would require a significant number of Democrats - who have strongly supported more Ukraine aid - to cross the aisle.
The House GOP bill would be a 'clean' Continuing Resolution, which won't include Ukraine funding or border assistance.
"We will put a clean funding stopgap on the floor to keep government open for 45 days for the House and Senate to get their work done," said McCarthy following a meeting. "We will also, knowing what had transpired through the summer, the disasters in Florida, the horrendous fire in Hawaii, and also the disasters in California and Vermont. We will put the supplemental portion that the president asked for in disaster there too."
"Keeping the government open while we continue to do our work to end the wasteful spending and the wokeism and most important, secure our border," McCarthy said.
If the bill does not pass, Republicans plan to bring up several measures to mitigate the effects of a government shutdown, multiple members said.
Those include bills to continue paying service members and extending authorization of the Federal Aviation Administration and National Flood Insurance Program, both of which are also set to expire at midnight unless Congress takes action. Republicans are also examining measures to continue pay for border patrol agents. -The Hill
The Democrats, meanwhile, have been using parliamentary tactics to slow down the vote so they can more carefully read the GOP proposal.
Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), one of the key holdouts in the House, called McCarthy's bipartisan appeal "disappointing," and said that McCarthy's speakership is "on tenuous ground."
When asked what his next move will be, Gaetz said "I guess we'll have to see how the vote goes."
What's next?
According to Goldman, there's a 90% probability of a shutdown before the Oct. 1 deadline.
That said, there will be three upcoming catalysts in the next few weeks that may result in passage.
1) All members of the US military are due to be paid on Oct. 13, and a missed pay date would have serious political ramifications; there is a good chance the House will vote to reopen before or shortly after that date;
2) A few House Republicans have said they might bring a “motion to vacate” that would remove McCarthy as Speaker unless a majority of the House supports him. Whatever the outcome of such a vote, getting past it could set the stage for a reopening;
3) There are procedural moves (a “discharge petition” is the most frequently discussed) that Democrats can make to pass an extension of spending authority in the House over Speaker McCarthy’s objections. However, this would require support from at least 5 House Republicans (assuming that all Democrats sign on). This will not help avoid a shutdown, but could come into play over the next two weeks, as political pressure to reopen grows (particularly when combined with the first point on military pay).
In light of the above, Goldman doesn't expect this to last more than 2-3 weeks, and that the Oct. 13 military pay date will become a focal point in the timeline.
* * *
Update (2157ET): It looks like the Senate isn't willing to strip Ukraine funds from the continuing resolution. In a Friday night tweet, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) said that the "misguided Senate bill has no path forward and is dead on arrival."
Meanwhile, according to Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman and Josh Bresnahan, McCarthy is floating a CR that would last until Nov. 17 at FY2023 funding levels, which would not include border funds or Ukraine funding.
* * *
In an 11th hour Hail Mary in the hopes of averting a government shutdown, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) announced that the only way the House will pass a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the government through October is to drop Ukraine funding.
"I think if we had a clean one without Ukraine on it, we could probably be able to move that through," McCarthy toldCNN's Manu Raju.
The comment comes hours after McCarthy lost a game of chicken with the House Freedom Caucus, failing to pass a CR which left McCarthy will few options to try and avert a shutdown in less than 36 hours. McCarthy was hoping that the House bill's border security provisions would win over enough holdouts to pass.
Meanwhile, the White House slammed the failed bill over the 'elimination of 12,000 FBI agents,' and 'almost 1,000 ATF agents.'
Of note, House Republicans on Thursday narrowly passed the annual defense spending bill, but only after they removed $300 million in Ukraine aid from the legislation (which then cleared in a separate vote because a bunch of Democrats then voted).
Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who failed twice last week to advance the bill to the floor, finally locked down enough Republican votes to pass the bill after the House stripped $300 million to arm Ukraine from the text.
The separate bill carved out to allocate those funds for Kyiv passed Thursday in a 311-117blowout bipartisan vote. Republicans had won a close procedural vote earlier in the day to separate the Ukraine money from the Pentagon bill, a move meant to flip a handful of GOP holdouts. -Politico
Democrats framed the optics as Kremlin-friendly, with House Armed Services ranking Democrat Adam Smith saying "The Russians are good at propaganda... It will be played as America backing off of its commitment for Ukraine."
Republicans responded that by carving Ukraine out of the defense bill, it allows opponents of either measure (Ukraine aid or the defense bill) to voice their opinions on each independently.
"Why don’t we make sure this gets through? I mean, I’m just mystified that this is somehow a problem," said House Rules Chair Tom Cole (R-OK), according to Politico. "We guarantee you something you want is going to pass the House and you’re upset about it."
And now, McCarthy says there's no way to avert a government shutdown unless the House, and the Senate, agree to nix Ukraine aid from the 30-day stopgap.
Fire and Brimstone...
On Friday, White House top economic adviser Lael Brainard said that a shutdown would pose an "unnecessary risk" to what he described as a resilient economy with moderating inflation.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen then chimed in, warning that all of Bidenomics could be negatively impacted.
"The failure of House Republicans to act responsibly would hurt American families and cause economic headwinds that could undermine the progress we’re making," Yellen said from Port of Savannah, Georgia, adding "A shutdown would impact many key government functions from loans to farmers and small businesses, to food and workplace safety inspections, to Head Start programs for children.
"And it could delay major infrastructure improvements."
Goldman has predicted that a shutdown will last 2-3 weeks, and that a 'quick reopening looks unlikely as political positions become more deeply entrenched.' Instead, as political pressure to reopen the government builds, pay dates for active-duty military (Oct. 13 and Nov. 1) will become key dates to pay attention to.
In addition, they think a shutdown could subtract 0.2pp from Q4 GDP growth for each week it lasts (adding the same to 1Q2024, assuming it's over by then).
What's more, all data releases from federal agencies would be postponed until after the government reopens.
More via Goldman:
What are the odds the government shuts down?
A shutdown this year has looked likely for several months, and we now think the odds have risen to 90%. The most likely scenario in our view is that funding will lapse after Sep. 30, leading to a shutdown starting Oct. 1. That said, a short-term extension cannot be entirely ruled out. In the event that Congress avoids a shutdown starting Oct. 1, we would still expect a shutdown at some point later in Q4.
While there is likely sufficient support in both chambers of Congress to pass a short-term extension of funding—this is known as a “continuing resolution” (CR)—that is “clean” with no other provisions attached, the majority of that support would come from Democrats. The Senate is considering a CR that includes aid for disaster relief and Ukraine. House Republican leaders are under political pressure to pass a CR that includes Republican policy priorities that can pass with mainly or exclusively Republican support. At the moment, neither chamber looks likely to pass the other chamber's CR.
The outlook seemed bleak ahead of the debt limit deadline earlier this year, but Congress resolved it in time; why shouldn’t we expect a last-minute deal once again?
The smaller economic hit from a shutdown puts less pressure on Republican leaders to override the objections of some in their party to reach a deal. Ahead of the debt limit deadline earlier this year, Republican leaders reached a deal over the objections of some in their party because the potential hit to the economy from an impasse would have been unpredictable and severe, and even lawmakers most strongly opposed to a compromise agreed that the debt limit must be raised. By contrast, the economic hit from a shutdown would be smaller and more predictable, as there have already been two protracted shutdowns over the last decade. While most lawmakers on both sides of the aisle would prefer to avoid a shutdown, both sides appear more willing to take the chance it occurs.
