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Poll: Most Agree Democrats Are Using Legal System to Take Out Political Opponents

Most voters agree that Democrats are using the legal system to take out their political opponents -- namely, former President Donald Trump -- April's Harvard-Harris survey found.

The post Poll: Most Agree Democrats Are Using Legal System to Take Out Political Opponents appeared first on Breitbart.

EXCLUSIVE: DOJ’s Kristen Clarke Testified She Was Never Arrested. Court Records and Text Messages Indicate She Was.

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL: Before becoming one of the Justice Department’s top leaders, Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke was allegedly involved in a violent domestic dispute, according to court documents, records, and text messages—an incident that ended in her arrest and was ultimately expunged. During her Senate confirmation, Clarke specifically denied ever having been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime.

Clarke was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden on Jan. 7, 2021, and later confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 25, 2021, to lead the DOJ’s “crown jewel,” as former Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. described the Civil Rights Division.

Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris celebrated Clarke as the first black woman to head the Civil Rights Division, promising she would focus on fighting voter suppression and hate crimes “across the country.”

During her confirmation, Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., asked then-nominee Clarke: “Since becoming a legal adult, have you ever been arrested for or accused of committing a violent crime against any person?”

“No,” she responded, according to responses she submitted under oath to “Questions for the Record” from U.S. senators.

Messages as well as records obtained and authenticated by The Daily Signal indicate that Clarke may have been less than forthcoming with this statement.

Screenshot of “Questions for the Record.”

Clarke’s ex-husband, Reginald Avery, alleged to the American Accountability Foundation’s Tom Jones in 2021 that Clarke attacked him with a knife, deeply slicing his finger to the bone, on the night of July 4, 2006, while they were married and living in Maryland.

According to messages and documents reviewed by The Daily Signal, police arrested Clarke that night. She did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Court records obtained by The Daily Signal show that a criminal case against Clarke was initiated in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County, but on Oct. 17, 2006, the Maryland state attorney entered a request of “nolle prosequi” in the case, which effectively dismissed the charge without trial.  

Approximately a year-and-a-half later, Clarke sought an “Order for Expungement of Police and Court Records” in the same case.

Order for expungement of police and court records.

A document obtained by The Daily Signal shows that the district court granted that order in January 2008. The document specifically orders “expungement of police records pertaining to [Clarke’s] arrest, detention, or confinement” on or about July 5, 2006, by a “law enforcement officer of the Prince George’s County Police.”   

Citing the “True Test” stamp on the expungement order, an official at the clerk’s office for the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County confirmed the authenticity of the expungement order to The Daily Signal.   

“That’s a real document,” the official said.

Court records show that Avery and Clarke finalized their contentious divorce in 2009. Clarke had served as a trial attorney for the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division until April 2006, several months before the incident.

When the July 4, 2006, incident occurred, Clarke was leading the left-wing National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Legal Defense Fund’s voting and election efforts.

Expungements: To Disclose or Not to Disclose

It is not immediately clear whether Clarke was legally required to disclose her arrest during her nomination process, though this seems to generally be considered the prudential course of action to take during such a process.

According to Maryland law, Criminal Procedure §10-109, “Disclosure of expunged information about criminal charges in an application, interview, or other means may not be required” by an employer or educational institution of a person who is applying for employment or admission or by a “unit, official, or employee of the State or a political subdivision of the State of a person who applies for a license, permit, registration, or governmental service.”

That Maryland code also says that a person does not need to reveal information about an expunged charge when answering a question concerning a criminal charge that did not result in a conviction.

However, the nonprofit law firm Maryland Legal Aid notes that it is probably prudent to disclose expungement records when applying for certain types of jobs that require a security clearance, such as government or military jobs, since these types of employers are still going to be able to see the criminal charges in a person’s background.

Mark Robbins, who served as general counsel of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management under former Presidents George W. Bush and Donald Trump, believes that a DOJ nominee should indeed disclose an expunged arrest when specifically asked.

Robbins noted that though the expungement processes are typically determined by state law, presidential nominees for Senate confirmation go through a political process. There are two sets of paperwork relevant to a nomination, he said: the first from the White House for clearance before nomination, and the second from the relevant Senate committee.

Both of these sets contain questions about criminal and civil legal actions, Robbins said, as well as an open-ended question to the effect of: “Is there anything else that could even unfairly be seen as a potential hurdle to confirmation?”

“An arrest with an expungement likely has a background and explanation,” he said. “Why not disclose it?  It isn’t particularly relevant what the legal consequence of expungement is. The issue is the political consequence of an arrest becoming public during or after the confirmation process, thus embarrassing the administration and Senate.”

Robbins concluded: “In my service as general counsel at two federal agencies, if a nominee asked me whether to disclose an arrest and expungement, I certainly would advise to either disclose in the paperwork with an explanation, or at the very least, note for the record that you would like to discuss this personally with someone in the White House or on the Senate committee staff.”

US Attorney General Merrick Garland, with Associate Attorneys General Vanita Gupta (L) and Kristen Clarke, speaks during a press conference on the Justice Departments findings of the civil rights investigation into the Louisville Metro Police Department and Louisville Metro Government on March 8, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo: LUKE SHARRETT/AFP via Getty Images)
Attorney General Merrick Garland, with Associate Attorneys General Vanita Gupta, left, and Kristen Clarke, right, speaks during a press conference on March 8, 2023, in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo: Luke Sharrett/Getty Images)

According to the Center for Presidential Transition, every person hired for a federal job is asked to complete a background check, and nominees are asked to complete either a “Questionnaire for National Security Positions,” the SF-86, or a “Questionnaire for Public Trust Positions,” an SF 85P.

The SF-86, for example, specifically says that applicants must report information “regardless of whether the record in your case has been sealed, expunged, or otherwise stricken from the court record, or the charge was dismissed” (though it notes that applicants don’t need to ‘report convictions under the Federal Controlled Substances Act for which the court issued an expungement order under the authority of 21 U.S.C. 844 or 18 U.S.C. 3607.'”

Screenshot of Section 22 of the Standard Form 86

Every presidential administration has its own version of another form that supplements the SF-86—the SF-86 Supplement, according to the Center for Presidential Transition. That form includes questions about whether “you or your spouse” have been “the subject of any civil or criminal case, administrative proceeding, or government investigation, other than a minor traffic incident.”

It also asks: “With as much detail as possible, please provide any other information, including information about other members of your family, which could suggest a conflict of interest, be a possible source of embarrassment, or be used to coerce or blackmail you.”

Clarke, as a nominee for a DOJ position, would have also been required to fill out a “Questionnaire for non-judicial nominees” from the Senate Judiciary Committee—questionnaires submitted before the hearing.

This would include a confidential section, accessible to the Senate Judiciary Committee staff and members, in which Clarke could have revealed the expunged information.

A source with prior experience in the confirmation process told The Daily Signal that it is unlikely Clarke disclosed the arrest and expungement in the confidential portion. If she had disclosed such an arrest, the source said, members would have likely taken the opportunity to request one-on-one meetings with her to discuss, to hold a closed hearing, or to ask her to discuss the matter publicly.

In 2022, for example, Republicans brought up 6th Circuit nominee Andre Mathis’ three traffic tickets and his “failure to appear in court” related to “extended periods of driving without a license”—information they learned about during his vetting process, as Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley said at the time.

“Mr Mathis has agreed to discuss this issue publicly and that made possible his appearance today and I thank him for agreeing to do that,” Grassley said, according to a transcript of the hearing, acknowledging that Mathis had agreed to making the tickets public.

“It just speaks to how the process works–when something comes up in the FBI’s background investigation, it’s shared with all the members on the committee and if they want to ask about it either the nominee waives confidentiality or we have a closed portion of the hearing,” a source close to Clarke’s confirmation process explained to The Daily Signal.

A copy of Clarke’s questionnaire obtained by The Daily Signal does not contain any information or questions about possible arrests. The Daily Signal was not able to obtain a copy of the confidential questionnaire.

Multiple sources familiar with the confirmation process told The Daily Signal that they do not believe Clarke disclosed the arrest, not only because they would have been aware of the matter, but also given the nature of Cotton’s written questions, submitted after her confirmation hearing but before the committee voted on her nomination.

“It’s strange beyond strange that Clarke wouldn’t reveal this in the first place,” said appellate litigator Judd Stone, former Texas solicitor general of Texas and former chief of staff to Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. “Just deeply strange … if you reveal it, and it turns out you can’t get through committee, then they tell you quietly that you can’t proceed with the nomination, it doesn’t go out to the press, you don’t get tarred and feathered, and you go back to what you’re doing.”

“I can’t imagine a Republican nomination getting away with this,” he added.

The Fourth of July Incident

Jones, head of the American Accountability Foundation, began digging into Clarke’s background during her Senate confirmation process. He reached out to Avery as part of his investigation, and text messages between Avery and Jones illustrate the alleged events of the July 4, 2006, incident.

“I was seeing another woman,” Avery shared in the May 2021 text message exchange. “She was angry. Attacked me with a knife. I instinctively grabbed it. As I said earlier, I’m not blameless.”

“That’s the story,” Avery insisted. “That’s what happened. She went to jail.”

Avery confirmed to The Daily Signal that his text conversations with Jones accurately represent what took place that night, including that he did not ultimately press charges and that he was not contacted by federal authorities about the incident. He declined to comment further.

Prince George’s County Police Department records show that the department was called on nine different occasions by someone at Avery’s and Clarke’s Upper Marlboro, Maryland, household between May 2003 and December 2007.

Seven of those calls were for a “threat” or some type of domestic violence, but most were cleared without a report. The July 4, 2006, call was made by “Mr. Reginald” (Avery’s first name) and accompanied by a 760 code, according to a mainframe print-out from Prince George’s County computer-aided dispatch system obtained by The Daily Signal.

That 760 code is the department’s clearance code for “arrest,” the Prince George County Police Department confirmed.

That call was not cleared for four hours, and Avery maintains it was Clarke who was arrested. Clarke has not addressed the matter, though given multiple opportunities to respond.

The DOJ official’s ex-husband also shared with Jones that on the night of the incident, he called 911 due to his injury and the “cops came because [his] finger was cut off.” (Avery clarified to The Daily Signal that the finger was sliced to the bone, not cut off.) Police allegedly decided to arrest Clarke, and Avery said he went to the emergency room in Bowie, Maryland, for the injury. He does not have photos of the injury.

Jones and Avery speculated via 2021 text messages about why Clarke would hide the arrest: “I assume she just thinks she won’t get caught,” Jones queried, to which Avery responded, “Yes, the arrogance has always been there. But I don’t understand lying on a federal application.”

Staffers who worked on Senate Judiciary Committee during Clarke’s confirmation say that, while they looked into rumors of an arrest and contacted Avery, they never had access to the expungement order or charge dismissal notice. The Daily Signal is reporting first on the existence of both documents. 

Avery refused to speak to the Senate staffers who reached out to him in 2021, a Senate source familiar with Clarke’s confirmation process told The Daily Signal. Staff felt they could not just sling allegations at Clarke without more evidence, the source said, but Cotton’s question to Clarke about violent crime was a direct result of the numerous Republican judiciary committee staff discussions surrounding Clarke, Jones’ findings, and the July 4, 2006, incident.

Jones questioned why Avery’s story was not thoroughly examined during the Senate’s review of Clarke’s record and why Clarke’s ex-husband was never contacted by federal officials during the confirmation process.

Jones also published some of his findings online, in which he noted that “congressional staff” confirmed that Avery had never been contacted by the FBI. The FBI declined to comment on the matter to The Daily Signal.

“Speaking to an ex-spouse is some of the most basic type of investigations that one should do when vetting a senior official,” Jones told The Daily Signal.

The DOJ did not respond to requests for comment for this story.

Clarke Faces More Scrutiny

Clarke did face scrutiny during her nomination process for remarks and social media posts made before her DOJ role, such as calling Alliance Defending Freedom a “hate group” and Liberty University a “fundamentalist Christian school.” She also said that those protesting Dr. Anthony Fauci should be “publicly identified and named, barred from treatment at any public hospital if/when they fall ill and denied coverage under their insurance.”

Clarke similarly criticized Republican politicians from Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, to former President Donald Trump. She supported the allegations of Christine Blasey Ford, submitted testimony to the U.S. Senate that Amy Coney Barrett was unfit to serve as a justice because she would likely rule to overturn Roe v. Wade, critiqued pro-life laws and courts that upheld them, and called a law protecting Down syndrome babies “draconian.”

Anti-choice activists are intensifying their work to end abortion.

Conservative evangelical and Catholic groups are pouring money into the #Kavanaugh nomination battle.

Make no mistake — A vote for Kavanaugh, is a vote to overrturn #roevswade https://t.co/uo172qM1aj

— Kristen Clarke (@KristenClarkeJD) July 20, 2018

Former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who now heads the Tucker Carlson Network, ran multiple segments highlighting Clarke’s comments about racial superiority as well as her role in organizing a 1994 event while at Harvard University that hosted a professor who accused Jews of persecuting black people. Clarke, who was the president of Harvard’s Black Students Association, has since said it “was a mistake” to host the professor.

At the time of the event, Clarke defended professor Tony Martin when he received backlash, writing, “Professor Martin is an intelligent, well-versed Black intellectual who bases his information on indisputable fact.”

The Daily Signal previously reported that Clarke, who oversees investigations into violations of the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances (FACE) Act, has used FACE to charge dozens of pro-life individuals since the overturn of Roe v. Wade. This includes Mark Houck, a Catholic father of seven arrested at gunpoint by the FBI and charged with violating FACE in September 2022 (a jury found Houck was not guilty in January 2023, and the DOJ has not commented on this verdict publicly).

Enacted in 1994, the FACE Act prohibits threats of force, obstruction and property damage intended to interfere with reproductive health care services. It applies not only to abortion clinics, but also to pro-life pregnancy centers and houses of worship.

Though Clarke is the helm of the DOJ’s FACE Act enforcements, she is a vocal abortion proponent who has denounced pro-life pregnancy centers, as the Washington Free Beacon’s Chuck Ross previously reported.

The DOJ has charged only five pro-abortion individuals with violating the FACE Act when they attacked pro-life pregnancy centers, even though hundreds of pregnancy centers and Catholic churches have been attacked since May 2022, when the Supreme Court’s draft opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization was leaked, indicating Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned.

DOJ’s Civil Rights Division has charged zero individuals with FACE for attacking Catholic churches, though it has charged other individuals with hate crimes with defacing a synagogue with neo-Nazi symbols and attempting to burn down a church that planned to host drag show events.

The post EXCLUSIVE: DOJ’s Kristen Clarke Testified She Was Never Arrested. Court Records and Text Messages Indicate She Was. appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Praised Obama as ‘Good’ President

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. once praised former President Barack Obama as a "good" president, which serves as a reminder for voters ahead of the presidential election.

The post Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Praised Obama as ‘Good’ President appeared first on Breitbart.

Coalition Government Begins: House Democrats Announce They Will Save Speaker Johnson

Republicans began the Congress with a bold agenda to hold President Joe Biden accountable, but they'll finish it in a coalition government with Democrats despite Republicans maintaining their slim majority.

The post Coalition Government Begins: House Democrats Announce They Will Save Speaker Johnson appeared first on Breitbart.

Donald Trump's Business Records Trial Resumes in New York

Former President Donald Trump will be back in a New York City courtroom Tuesday as his business records trial resumes.

The post Donald Trump’s Business Records Trial Resumes in New York appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden White House signals pessimism about election in surprising way

For President Biden bad poll numbers, disruptive protests at home plus rising threats around the world, sinking consumer confidence and resurgent inflation; all signs point to defeat.

17 States Challenge EEOC Rule Making Employers Accommodate Workers’ Abortions

Seventeen Republican-led states are suing President Joe Biden's Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) for forcing employers across the United States to accommodate workers' abortions.

The post 17 States Challenge EEOC Rule Making Employers Accommodate Workers’ Abortions appeared first on Breitbart.

Pelosi: After Election Dems Will Ditch Filibuster to Legalize Abortion Nationally

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said Monday on MSNBC's "Katy Tur Reports" that if the Democrats win majorities in Congress and the White House, they will ditch the filibuster to legalize abortion nationwide.

The post Pelosi: After Election Dems Will Ditch Filibuster to Legalize Abortion Nationally appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden Administration Lets Another PPE Factory Languish, Leaving U.S. Dependent on China

The Biden administration is letting yet another factory languish that was meant to provide America with critical medical supplies instead of relying on China in the event of another national emergency.

The post Biden Administration Lets Another PPE Factory Languish, Leaving U.S. Dependent on China appeared first on Breitbart.

Leftist Reporters Pretend They’re Not Partisan News Squashers

Eight years ago, the leftist media took great offense to being dismissed by Donald Trump as “fake news,” but they never seemed to grasp this is exactly how they painted the conservative media, as truth-defying propaganda outlets.

When the Trump trial turned to the National Enquirer, we could find national unity that the Enquirer defines “fake news.” The lefties are very excited to remind voters how the Enquirer was a Trump-allied tabloid full of garbage stories. But the liberal media spread some of them.

In May 2016, the Enquirer uncorked some garbage that Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, had cheated on his wife. ABC, CBS, and NBC spent a combined 15-and-a-half minutes spreading the word of this character assassination campaign.

The pro-Biden “media reporters” were still upset last week about the Enquirer and how it played “catch and kill” with Trump accusers, squelching stories that might embarrass Trump. NPR’s David Folkenflik complained to MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace that burying salacious stories is “not a journalistic impulse, it’s not even a tabloid gossip impulse, this is essentially a partisan or propagandistic arm of the Trump campaign in all but name.”

This is coming from NPR, which aggressively trashed the Hunter Biden laptop story as a “pure distraction.” Folkenflik engaged with the story only to dismiss it as “a story marked more by red flags than investigative rigor.”

When The New York Times and The Washington Post published stories acknowledging Hunter’s laptop was real in March and April 2022, Folkenflik didn’t file a story with his regrets. He just kept attacking Fox News, his usual bread and butter.

So on the Hunter laptop, we can throw it back in Folkenflik’s face—NPR’s suppression was not a journalistic impulse, and NPR was essentially a propagandistic arm of the Biden campaign in all but name.

Worse yet, we fund it with our taxes. That gravy train should end.

Ex-CNN reporter Brian Stelter said the same thing on Joy Reid’s MSNBC show about the Enquirer: “It has nothing to do with journalism.” David Pecker’s “not a news man. He’s an advertiser! He’s a marketer, and his product was Donald Trump.” Thanks, Sherlock Stelter. Nobody should define Pecker as a news man.

Like Folkenflik, Stelter squashed the Hunter Biden laptop in 2020 as a Murdoch plot, or as a Russian disinformation campaign, because CNN’s a marketer and its product was anyone but Trump (meaning President Joe Biden).

Stelter also showed up on Alex Wagner’s MSNBC show. Wagner was hopping mad, asking what’s the point of a gag order on Trump when you have a “media-industrial complex that is effectively acting as a public defense line” for Trump? Once again, Wagner can’t imagine MSNBC acting as a “media-industrial complex” for the Democrats.

So, does Wagner wish the judge could issue a gag order for the entire conservative media landscape? No criticism allowed of the get-Trump prosecutors and judge? I thought this was a democracy.

Stelter broke out the usual bravado that the liberals live on “Earth One,” and they must see what’s happening on “Earth Two,” which is an alternative universe of hallucinations. Stelter claimed, “For Jesse Watters, Trump is God, and that is the programming every hour of every day on these other networks.”

That sounds like some crazy religion. Would Stelter survive a little fact-check on whether Fox and Newsmax perpetually pray hourly to the Orange Lord and Savior? Both sides suggest the other side of the media is fake. But both sides are slinging a lot of opinionated hot takes, and Stelter can certainly flip a flapjack on that skillet.

COPYRIGHT 2024 CREATORS.COM

The Daily Signal publishes a variety of perspectives. Nothing written here is to be construed as representing the views of The Heritage Foundation.

The post Leftist Reporters Pretend They’re Not Partisan News Squashers appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Large Alligator Spotted in Texas-Mexico Border River, Governor Warns Migrants

Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued a warning to migrants who might attempt to cross the Rio Grande from Mexico illegally -- “Alligators are in the Rio Grande. FYI there are warning signs posted in some sectors. Cross at your own risk.”

The post Large Alligator Spotted in Texas-Mexico Border River, Governor Warns Migrants appeared first on Breitbart.

CBS Poll: Half of Swing State Voters Say Economy Got Worse Under Biden

With the economy ranked as the top 2024 issue, Biden's poor marks in key swing states is terrible news for the president's reelection hopes. 

The post CBS Poll: Half of Swing State Voters Say Economy Got Worse Under Biden appeared first on Breitbart.

Gallup Poll: Joe Biden Sinks to Historically Lowest Approval Average in 13th Quarter at 38.7%

Biden's terrible approval rating in his 13th quarter in office, which began on January 20 and ended April 19, suggests he will have a difficult time winning reelection. Presidents historically need to average around 50 percent to win reelection. 

The post Gallup Poll: Joe Biden Sinks to Historically Lowest Approval Average in 13th Quarter at 38.7% appeared first on Breitbart.

‘Harassment’: Feds Impose Trans Agenda on Employers for Pronouns, Bathrooms

FIRST ON THE DAILY SIGNAL—Under new federal guidelines, an employer would be guilty of harassment for requiring someone to use a restroom that comports with his or her biological sex, or for referring to someone by a pronoun the person doesn’t want used.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission published the guidance on Monday. The guidance passed on a 3-2 vote, along party lines on Friday, a source familiar with the EEOC confirmed.

“Harassing conduct based on sexual orientation or gender identity includes … repeated and intentional use of a name or pronoun inconsistent with the individual’s known gender identity (misgendering) or the denial of access to a bathroom or other sex-segregated facility consistent with the individual’s gender identity,” the new enforcement guidance says. 

The guidelines would affect most employers, private or public.

The EEOC announced last fall a proposed update of its harassment policy affecting to include sexual orientation and gender identity rules. This prompted opposition from 20 state attorneys general, led by Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti.

In November, the attorneys general contended what was then the proposed “Enforcement Guidance on Harassment in the Workplace” updates would threaten the First Amendment rights of employers, employees, and possibly customers. 

“Here, the proposed guidance would require employers to affirm or convey to employees and customers—often against religious conviction or deeply held personal belief—messages that a person can be a gender different from his or her biological sex, that gender has no correlation to biology, or that they endorse the use of pronouns like ‘they/them,’ ‘xe/xym/xyrs,’ or ‘bun/bunself,” the letter from the attorneys general says.

“This mandate flouts First Amendment freedoms of religion and speech—yet EEOC rejects any role for accommodation of contrary religious beliefs or speech,” the attorneys general add. “Further, EEOC’s for-cause insulation from direct presidential supervision unconstitutionally blurs the lines of accountability for this overhaul of workplaces nationwide.”

In 2021, EEOC Chairwoman Charlotte Burrows attempted, in a statement, to unilaterally include these actions under harassment without public comment or a vote by the full commission. However, a federal court in Tennessee enjoined the guidance from going forward in 2022. A separate federal court in Texas
vacated
Burrows’ guidance altogether. The commission did not appeal the rulings.

Title VII prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It applies to any employer with more than 15 employees.

“Harassment, both in-person and online, remains a serious issue in America’s workplaces,” said Burrows, a Democrat, of the new guidelines in a public statement issued Monday afternoon. “The EEOC’s updated guidance on harassment is a comprehensive resource that brings together best practices for preventing and remedying harassment and clarifies recent developments in the law.” 

Joining Burrows to vote in favor of the updated harassment guidance were two other Democrat commissioners, Jocelyn Samuels and Kalpana Kotagal. The two Republican members, Keith Sonderling and Andrea Lucas, voted against the guidance.

Women’s rights are under attack by the EEOC, said Lucas in a statement issued Monday. 

“Biological sex is real, and it matters. Sex is binary (male and female) and is immutable,” Lucas said in a public statement. She added, “It is not harassment to acknowledge these truths—or to use language like pronouns that flow from these realities, even repeatedly. Relatedly, each sex has its own, unique privacy interests, and women have additional safety interests that warrant certain single-sex facilities at work and other spaces outside the home. It is neither harassment nor discrimination for a business to draw distinctions between the sexes in providing single-sex bathrooms or other similar facilities which implicate these significant privacy and safety interests.” 

In 2020, the Supreme Court held in the case of Bostock v. Clayton County that a firm violates Title VII if it fires an employee “simply for being … transgender.” But, the Republican state attorneys general argued in the November letter, “Bostock gives no license to these and other of EEOC’s novel proposals.”

“Nor, in all events, can EEOC permissibly require these deeply controversial gender-identity accommodations without express congressional authorization—authorization not found in Title VII,” the letter continued.

The guidance does not carry the same weight as a law passed by Congress or a regulation imposed by an agency. However, the guidance essentially states the position of the EEOC. This means an employee inclined to claim harassment regarding a restroom or pronoun dispute would have the guidance to refer to. Also, under private litigation, a plaintiff could refer to the formal position of a federal agency.

“If you still believed that the Biden administration’s pedal-to-the-metal advancing of gender ideology is all about freedom and individual rights, this new EEOC ‘guidance’ should dispel that myth,” Jay Richards, director of the Richard and Helen DeVos Center for Life, Religion, and Family at The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. (The Heritage Foundation founded The Daily Signal.)

“Employers may now find themselves in legal hot water if they prefer to use language, including pronouns, and preserve private spaces that comport with biological reality rather than the bizarre canons of gender ideology,” Richards continued. “We’re dealing with a totalitarian ideology that wants to destroy the present order. The sooner normal people understand that, the sooner we can dispatch this ideology to the history books.”

The EEOC website describes guidance as “official agency policy and explains how the laws and regulations apply to specific workplace situations.”

“The Biden administration is no stranger to twisting federal law to suit its aims, and the publication of the EEOC’s final rule on workplace harassment is a prime example,” Sarah??? Parshall Perry, a senior legal fellow for The Heritage Foundation, told The Daily Signal. 

Perry added:

According to the Biden administration, gender identity and expression are tantamount to ‘sex’ in federal law and require an employer to facilitate an employee’s ‘preferred pronoun’ use and requested bathroom use or face a possible complaint for sexual harassment. 

This is both an untenable conclusion, and not supported by the underlying Supreme Court decision on which the Administration so greatly relies: Bostock v. Clayton County. What’s more, biological women are again rendered to second-class citizens under the EEOC rule and forced to give up any vestige of privacy and security they previously enjoyed. 

And as if that wasn’t enough, the mandatory use of an employee’s requested name and pronouns—those which differ from that employee’s biological sex—is a patent violation of the 1st Amendment, and creates an unavoidable conflict between gender ideology, and freedom of speech and religion. I expect the swift filing of multiple legal challenges against the new rule.

This story was updated to include comments from commission members of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

The post ‘Harassment’: Feds Impose Trans Agenda on Employers for Pronouns, Bathrooms appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Report: Biden Aides Attempted to Replace Karine Jean-Pierre as Press Secretary

Top White House aides launched a failed plan last fall to boot press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre from her position because of poor job performance, sources told New York Post’s Steven Nelson last week.

The post Report: Biden Aides Attempted to Replace Karine Jean-Pierre as Press Secretary appeared first on Breitbart.

Report: Jim Biden Was in Business with Qatari Officials, According to Testimony

Hunter Biden was not the only family member who leveraged ties to President Joe Biden to win business deals with business partners linked to foreign governments, a Politico report details.

The post Report: Jim Biden Was in Business with Qatari Officials, According to Testimony appeared first on Breitbart.

Can You Guess the Most Unpopular Leader in Congress?

It’s no secret that Congress is highly unpopular with the American people. For years, it consistently has ranked near the bottom of U.S. institutions. This month’s Gallup/Newsweek poll put its disapproval at 80%.

But how about its leaders?

Veteran pollster and TV host Scott Rasmussen, president of RMG Research, surveyed 2,000 registered voters last week to see how Congress’ four party leaders stack up.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the longest-serving party leader in the chamber’s history, fares the worst with a 58% unfavorable rating. His counterpart, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., comes in at 43%.

On the House side, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., the newest of the four congressional leaders, has a 31% unfavorable rating compared to 26% for Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y.

More than 1 in 5 voters (22%) say they never heard of Johnson, while nearly one-third (31%) say they haven’t heard of Jeffries.

All four congressional leaders have a higher unfavorable rating than favorable.

Rasmussen also asked voters about President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, neither of whom received positive marks. Disapproval was higher for Biden, at 57%, compared to Harris, who has a 53% unfavorable rating.

Biden’s numbers have hovered around the same mark for months, although they are slightly better today than a few months ago, according to Rasmussen’s tracker.

The president ended last year with a 61% disapproval rate. Harris’ approval, meanwhile, cracked 40% for the first time in nearly a year.

Among the congressional leaders, Johnson’s favorable rating is 29% compared to 31% unfavorable. Jeffries is viewed favorably by 24% of voters compared to 26% unfavorable.

Schumer has a 32% favorable rating and 43% unfavorable rating. McConnell, who tops the charts with a 58% unfavorable rating, is viewed favorably by 23%.

RMG Research’s survey of 2,000 registered voters was conducted April 22 to 25 as Congress was considering a $95 billion foreign aid package. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points.

The post Can You Guess the Most Unpopular Leader in Congress? appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Brazile: Supreme Court Close to Election Interference, 'Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied'

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Democratic strategist Donna Brazile said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that after listening to oral arguments, the Supreme Court was close to "election interference" with their consideration of former President Donald Trump's immunity claim.

The post Brazile: Supreme Court Close to Election Interference, ‘Justice Delayed Is Democracy Denied’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Vance: U.S. Shouldn't Subsidize European Security, We Should Be Focused on China

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Senator J.D. Vance (R-OH) said on this week's broadcast of "Fox News Sunday" that the United States needs to focus on the threat of China not aid to Ukraine.

The post Vance: U.S. Shouldn’t Subsidize European Security, We Should Be Focused on China appeared first on Breitbart.

Exclusive: Rep. Andy Harris Blasts Biden DOJ’s ‘Third-World’ Lawfare Tactics Against Trump, Warns All Conservatives ‘Targets’

The unprecedented “lawfare” being waged against former President Donald Trump by the Biden Department of Justice “goes well beyond” the former president and actually targets “anybody” who supports Trump or is conservative. That was the warning from Maryland Republican Rep. Andy Harris, who cautioned against the use of “third-world tactics” that have no place in the U.S., as well as how many on the left would likely “deny the outcome” of a democratically-elected Trump in 2024.

The post Exclusive: Rep. Andy Harris Blasts Biden DOJ’s ‘Third-World’ Lawfare Tactics Against Trump, Warns All Conservatives ‘Targets’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Ukraine Farm Minister Detained, Latest in Growing List of Corruption Suspects

Ukraine's farm minister was ordered into detention Saturday as he faces organized crime charges, the latest high-profile corruption investigation among dozens now flooding the country's court system.

The post Ukraine Farm Minister Detained, Latest in Growing List of Corruption Suspects appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden Roasts Trump at WHCD: 'I'm a Grown Man Running Against a Six-Year-Old'

President Joe Biden roasted former President Donald Trump while addressing celebrities and journalists attending the White House Correspondents Dinner on Saturday evening.

The post Biden Roasts Trump at WHCD: ‘I’m a Grown Man Running Against a Six-Year-Old’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Migrant Arrests in Arizona Border Sector Rise After Short-Lived Decline

The number of migrants arrested for illegally crossing the border between ports of entry in the Tucson Sector in Arizona is on the rise again following a short-lived decline. During the past week, Tucson Sector agents apprehended approximately 7,600 migrants.

The post Migrant Arrests in Arizona Border Sector Rise After Short-Lived Decline appeared first on Breitbart.

Blinken: There's Evidence China Is Trying to 'Influence and Arguably Interfere' in Our Elections Despite Biden's Warning

During a portion of an interview with CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood on Friday that was aired on Friday’s broadcast of “CNN News Central,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated that “we have seen, generally speaking, evidence of attempts

The post Blinken: There’s Evidence China Is Trying to ‘Influence and Arguably Interfere’ in Our Elections Despite Biden’s Warning appeared first on Breitbart.

'Sopranos' star says many celebs are against Biden agenda, but are 'petrified'

Actress Drea de Matteo told Donald Trump Jr. that there are far more skeptics of Biden's leadership in entertainment than one might think, but said many are too afraid of cancel culture.

Deputy Treasury Sec'y: Biden Helped Lower Inflation, But Food Companies Are Gouging

On Friday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo commented on the PCE inflation report and stated that inflation has dropped and they expect it to continue to do so and that

The post Deputy Treasury Sec’y: Biden Helped Lower Inflation, But Food Companies Are Gouging appeared first on Breitbart.

White House on PCE Inflation Increase: 'Nice to Hit the Expectations' -- Expect 'Bumpy Path Down' to Target Rate

On Friday’s broadcast of Bloomberg’s “Balance of Power,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein reacted to the March PCE report that showed the yearly PCE inflation rate increasing with the annual core rate holding steady along with

The post White House on PCE Inflation Increase: ‘Nice to Hit the Expectations’ — Expect ‘Bumpy Path Down’ to Target Rate appeared first on Breitbart.

'Keep Biden in the Basement and Trump on Trial': Jim Jordan Says Trump Trial 'Driven by Politics'

Friday, during an appearance on FNC's "Hannity," Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, criticized the political motivations behind the Trump trials underway in New York State.

The post ‘Keep Biden in the Basement and Trump on Trial’: Jim Jordan Says Trump Trial ‘Driven by Politics’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Karl Rove: Biden, Trump Debate Would Be 'Most Important' Since 1980

By: Pam Key · Pam Key

Former George W. Bush adviser Karl Rove said Friday on Fox News Channel's "The Story" that a debate between former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden would be the most significant in decades.

The post Karl Rove: Biden, Trump Debate Would Be ‘Most Important’ Since 1980 appeared first on Breitbart.

Xi Jinping Scolds Antony Blinken in Beijing: Avoid 'Vicious Competition'

Secretary of State Antony Blinken met genocidal Chinese dictator Xi Jinping in Beijing on Friday, reportedly receiving stern warnings to "seek common ground" with his violent regime and avoid "vicious competition."

The post Xi Jinping Scolds Antony Blinken in Beijing: Avoid ‘Vicious Competition’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Seven TikTok creators trash Biden over social media hypocrisy: ‘Devastating for my small business’

Seven TikTok creators ripped President Biden for signing a bill that could force the sale of the social media platform while the President's campaign remains on the social media outlet.

White House: 'Not Clear' Israel Can Have Rafah Offensive Plan That Would Satisfy Us

On Friday’s broadcast of MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan stated that it’s “not clear” that it’s even possible for Israel to have “a credible plan” for an invasion of Rafah that the White House

The post White House: ‘Not Clear’ Israel Can Have Rafah Offensive Plan That Would Satisfy Us appeared first on Breitbart.

Consumer Inflation Expectations Unexpectedly Climb

Rising inflation has led consumers to rethink the idea that inflation was going to come down a lot this year.

The post Consumer Inflation Expectations Unexpectedly Climb appeared first on Breitbart.

Blinken: Biden Admin. Taking College Protests 'Into Account' on Israel Policy, But We Won't Cut Israel Off

During a portion of an interview with CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood on Friday that was aired on Friday’s broadcast of CNN International’s “One World,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken reacted to demonstrations on college campuses by stating that “we

The post Blinken: Biden Admin. Taking College Protests ‘Into Account’ on Israel Policy, But We Won’t Cut Israel Off appeared first on Breitbart.

Report: Steven Spielberg 'Involved Strategically' in Biden Campaign, Convention Planning

Multiple reports indicate that Hollywood director Steven Spielberg is strategically working with President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and is helping to plan the Democratic National Convention.

The post Report: Steven Spielberg ‘Involved Strategically’ in Biden Campaign, Convention Planning appeared first on Breitbart.

Watch: Afroman Teams With Nashville Hit Songwriter for 'Hunter Got High'

"Hunter Got High," the new single featuring Grammy-nominated rapper Afroman, debuted this week along with a searing satirical video that brings to life Hunter Biden's many scandals, as well as his miraculous ability thus far to walk away from the political infernos relatively unscathed.

The post Watch: Afroman Teams With Nashville Hit Songwriter for ‘Hunter Got High’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden Wishes He Could’ve Met Trump ‘Head to Head’ ‘In the Neighborhood’

President Joe Biden suggested Friday he would have liked to fight former President Donald Trump when they were children, echoing similar rhetoric he has used, fantasizing about a physical confrontation with his rival.

The post Biden Wishes He Could’ve Met Trump ‘Head to Head’ ‘In the Neighborhood’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The World Is Paying a Deadly Price for Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy

If a belligerent state launched 185 explosive drones, 36 cruise missiles and 110 surface-to-surface missiles from three fronts against civilian targets within the United States, would President Joe Biden call it a “win”?

Would the president tell us that the best thing we can do now is show “restraint”? What if that same terror state’s proxy armies had recently helped murder, rape and kidnap more than 1,000 American men, women and children? What if this terror state were trying to obtain nuclear weapons so it could continue to agitate without any consequences?

This is what Biden and the Barack Obama acolytes, Iranian dupes and Israel antagonists he’s surrounded himself with demand of the Jewish state.

And by “Iranian dupes,” I don’t only mean the Jake Sullivans and Antony Blinkens of the world, who worked to elevate the mullahs over Sunni allies and the Israelis, or even a Hamas bestie like Rob Malley or Israel hater like Maher Bitar. I mean assets of the Islamic State who promised the Iranian government to help out in any way possible.

Their worldview is a cancer that’s metastasized within the Democratic Party. To these people, Israel will always be the villain. And if the Iranian regime’s murder of more than 600 American servicemen couldn’t cool that bromance, 1,200 dead Jews certainly aren’t going to do the trick.

The Trump administration undercut Palestinian terror efforts, stifled Iranian ambitions, and created space for the Gulf states and Israel to enhance ties.

Biden immediately reversed those gains, reverting to Obama-era Iranian boosterism. We’re now experiencing the consequences of pacifying Islamic ideologues. Obama might have sent the mullahs pallets of cash in the middle of the night, but the Biden administration openly subsidized the Revolutionary Guard with a $6 billion ransom payment, at least $25 billion in sanction relief, including $10 billion via a waiver, and so on.

Let’s also remember that one of Biden’s first foreign policy decisions was to overturn Trump-era policy by releasing millions to Gaza that would be sifted off by Hamas, releasing funding to Hamas-allied United Nations Relief and Works Agency, and removing the Iranian-backed Houthis from the terror list.

It should be mind-boggling that Biden likely knew Iran was moving forward with its attack but still gave his goofy and impotent “don’t” when asked about it by the press.

Indeed, the Biden administration’s position seems to be that Israeli military and defense forces exist to allow Iran to have a hissy fit and save face. The Iranian attack is only “symbolic” because it failed.

Just because you shoot at someone and miss doesn’t mean you’re not trying to kill them. Yes, the Iranians were embarrassed. But they almost surely view this as a win. And they also crossed a red line by firing on Israel from their own territory. Yet Israel is apparently the only nation on Earth that is permitted to fully defend itself only if its enemies succeed.

Every conflict against Israel unfurls the same way: Its enemies threaten or attack the country. Israel responds and heads for a victory. Only then does the world demand “restraint.” Finally, the antagonists demand Israel rewind history to a more convenient spot. (Modern Democrats demand that Israel show restraint before it even has a chance to respond. That’s a new twist.)

Those, for instance, who contend that Israel started the conflict when it hit a “diplomatic mission” in Syria last week are engaged in restarting the historical clock when it suits them. There are no Iranian diplomatic missions in Syria. There are buildings where Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps terror leaders coordinate attacks on civilians — against Arabs as well as Jews. Mohammad Reza Zahedi, the “general” Israel killed last week, helped plan the barbarism of Oct 7.

Recall that the United States atomized Qasem Soleimani at a neutral nation’s airport. Though, of course, Obamaites protested that killing as well.

Now, it is something of a cliche to contend that Israel must be right 100% of the time while its enemies only need to be right once. It also happens to be true. Israel, a country the size of New Jersey with a dense population area, relies on deterrence and preemption.

Democrats blamed their strawman, Benjamin Netanyahu, not Hamas or Iran, for trying to “drag” the world into war. The New York Times’ Tom Friedman, perhaps the wrongest person ever to tread on this planet, theorized that the prime minister wanted “a war to shore up his own crumbling political base.”

Axois reports that Netanyahu was reluctant to strike back, while his cabinet wanted to move immediately. The “war hawk” perception of him is a myth, created by the Left because of the prime minister’s open opposition to Obama’s mullah bootlicking.

We have no idea what Israel will do. Maybe caution is the best policy. The notion that the Jewish state simply lashes out in revenge and doesn’t rationally consider all its options is preposterous. Whatever happens, it should be on Israel’s terms, not Iran’s.

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The post The World Is Paying a Deadly Price for Barack Obama’s Foreign Policy Legacy appeared first on The Daily Signal.

'Sopranos' Star Drea de Matteo: People in Hollywood Want to Fight Against Biden But 'Are Petrified'

Emmy-winning actress and "The Sopranos" star Drea de Matteo told Donald Trump Jr. that she knows from personal experience that many Hollywood stars "want to fight" against the "divisive" Biden administration implementing a social agenda, but "are petrified" to go against the leftists in control.

The post ‘Sopranos’ Star Drea de Matteo: People in Hollywood Want to Fight Against Biden But ‘Are Petrified’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Report: Joe Biden, 81, Walks with Aides to Marine One to 'Draw Less Attention' to Awkward Stride  

President Joe Biden, 81, implemented a new strategy of walking to and from Marine One with multiple aides to "draw less attention" to his physical ailments, Axios' Hans Nichols and Alex Thompson reported Friday.

The post Report: Joe Biden, 81, Walks with Aides to Marine One to ‘Draw Less Attention’ to Awkward Stride   appeared first on Breitbart.

White House: We're Not Trying to Harm Coal, We're Trying to 'Speed Up' to Economy that Has 'Less Pollution'

On Thursday’s broadcast of “NewsNation Now,” White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi denied that the Biden administration is attempting to shut down the coal industry or slow any industry down, and stated that the issue is “about how do we speed

The post White House: We’re Not Trying to Harm Coal, We’re Trying to ‘Speed Up’ to Economy that Has ‘Less Pollution’ appeared first on Breitbart.

White House: 'You Don't Eat GDP,' Paychecks Matter 'Most'

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that even with the latest GDP report, we “really haven’t seen much in terms of slow growth yet.”

The post White House: ‘You Don’t Eat GDP,’ Paychecks Matter ‘Most’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Biden does live interview with Howard Stern

President Biden appeared on "The Howard Stern Show" for an interview on Friday, with the longtime radio host saying he was a longtime admirer.

If Howard Stern's not a coward, he should ask Biden these 7 questions

President Biden is sitting down for an interview with Howard Stern. The shock jock has been an active supporter of Democrats over the years. Don't be surprised by all the softballs.

White House: We're OK with Slower GDP Report, 'Underlying Economy Is Solid as Ever'

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Cavuto: Coast to Coast,” White House Council of Economic Advisers Chair Jared Bernstein stated that the White House is okay with the latest GDP report, “especially once you get under the hood,

The post White House: We’re OK with Slower GDP Report, ‘Underlying Economy Is Solid as Ever’ appeared first on Breitbart.

CNN's Weir: New Biden Coal Rules 'The End of Coal as a Power Source'

CNN Chief Climate Correspondent Bill Weir stated that the newly finalized set of rules on coal power plants announced by the Biden administration "essentially signals the end of coal as a power source in the United States."

The post CNN’s Weir: New Biden Coal Rules ‘The End of Coal as a Power Source’ appeared first on Breitbart.

The one piece of Trump’s legacy that haunts Biden

Biden inflation wasn't enough to hurt ordinary Americans. He just announced he's going to let the Trump tax cuts expire. Biden's had three years already to do it, but did nothing.

New York Times: Biden Dodging Press Sets a 'Dangerous Precedent'

The New York Times piled on the criticism of the Biden White House for dodging press interviews, saying it sets a "dangerous precedent." 

The post New York Times: Biden Dodging Press Sets a ‘Dangerous Precedent’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Exclusive: Israel’s Diaspora Minister Slams Antisemitic U.S. Campus Protests as ‘Nightmare of America’

Current antisemitic protests on U.S. campuses are “horrifying” and “the worst that we've seen since the 30s,” according to Israel's Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli, who described the “orchestrated, organized, [and] funded” demonstrations as the “nightmare” of America and Western civilization, arguing that supporters of Hamas are enemies of both.

The post Exclusive: Israel’s Diaspora Minister Slams Antisemitic U.S. Campus Protests as ‘Nightmare of America’ appeared first on Breitbart.

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