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The chairman of the Committee on House Administration has subpoenaed the heads of 14 executive departments as well as the director of the Office of Management and Budget — all members of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet — to obtain information about how each has implemented or plans to implement one of Biden’s executive orders.
In a Thursday news release (full text below), the committee said that it had begun an investigation into Biden’s Executive Order 14019, “Promoting Access to Voting,” soon after Biden signed it, which was in March of 2021, according to Fox News.
Committee Chairman Bryan Steil requested documents from the 15 Cabinet members on May 15 about what he called “Bidenbucks” and described as an “attempt by the Biden Administration to tilt the scales ahead of 2024,” and had received no response after nearly a month. Thus, the subpoenas.
Among other things, Biden’s order requires that “[e]xecutive departments and agencies (agencies) should partner with State, local, Tribal, and territorial election officials to protect and promote the exercise of the right to vote, eliminate discrimination and other barriers to voting, and expand access to voter registration and accurate election information.”
In the cover letter accompanying the subpoenas, Steil wrote that his committee “has concerns about the implementation of E.O. 14019, particularly regarding its compatibility with provisions of the National Voter Registration Act (NRA) of 1993.”
His argument is that Congress — not the president — funds the executive departments and grants them the authority to engage in specific acts.
“Congress’s delegation of authority to [the departments] does not include using funds and resources to provide Americans with voter registration materials,” he wrote.
The Wisconsin Republican told Fox in a statement that the order was a “scheme” designed to get the federal agencies to engage in “partisan activities” that Congress has never funded.
“[I]t’s no wonder Team Biden is using their authority and resources to target welfare populations with a federally funded get-out-the-vote effort,” Foundation for Government Accountability president and CEO Tarren Bragdon told Fox.
“If they are allowed to fully execute their plan, it could swing the election outcome,” Bragdon added.
In the Senate, a number of Republicans in November asked the White House for details about how the order was being carried out, and then later wrote a letter to Biden himself “admonishing” him for the administration’s lack of response.
“In April, a lawsuit challenging the executive order alleged it targeted key demographics to benefit the president’s political party and his own re-election,” Fox reported.
That suit by 27 Republican lawmakers was later dismissed, but has since been appealed to the Supreme Court.
You can read the news release from the Committee on House Administration in its entirety below.
Today, Committee on House Administration Chairman Bryan Steil (R-WI) issued subpoenas to 15 Biden Administration cabinet officials for documents related to the Biden Administration’s Executive Order on Promoting Access to Voting. President Biden’s Executive Order 14019 directs federal agencies to promote access to voting through the use of federal agency resources. Evidence already shows that the Executive Order partners federal employees with partisan advocates to register voters ahead of the 2024 elections.
The Committee on House Administration began an investigation into this Executive Order shortly after it was announced. Chairman Steil first requested documents related to the cabinet secretaries work related to E.O. 14019 on May 15, 2024 and, to date, has not received any materials in return.
“Elections are partisan, but our election administration should never be partisan. Allowing federal employees from the Biden Administration to flood election administration sites threatens election integrity and reduces Americans’ confidence,” Chairman Steil said. “This Executive Order is another attempt by the Biden Administration to tilt the scales ahead of 2024. I will continue working to provide transparency and accountability on this Administration’s latest scheme as Congress did not appropriate taxpayer funds for partisan activities.”
Read the full subpoena cover letter to the Administration officials here.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post House Committee Subpoenas 15 Biden Cabinet Secretaries Over Alleged Scheme to ‘Tilt the Scales’ in 2024 Election appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
A former college lecturer on “criminal justice issues” is going to get some first-hand experience in the subject after he was sentenced to spend five years and three months in prison on Thursday.
Gary Stephen Maynard had pleaded guilty in January to starting a number of fires in California that could have had much more disastrous results than they did.
Maynard, 49, had formerly lectured at Santa Clara University and Sonoma State University, KCRA reported.
The former lecturer admitted to starting at least four fires in July and August of 2021, according to a Justice Department news release, and pleaded guilty to three counts of arson.
One count of arson was dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to court records cited by The New York Times.
Maynard was charged with starting fires behind firefighters who were working to contain the Dixie Fire, which eventually destroyed more than 1,000 homes and spread over 1,500 square miles, according to KCRA.
“He intentionally made a dangerous situation more perilous by setting some of his fires behind the men and women fighting the Dixie fire, potentially cutting off any chance of escape,” Phillip A. Talbert, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of California, said in a statement (available in full below).
It eventually grew to become the second-largest fire in California history, according to the outlet.
“Maynard faced the possibility of up to 20 years in prison and a $750,000 fine,” KCRA reported. “Besides the prison sentence of more than five years, he was ordered to pay $13,081 in restitution.”
His attorney argued that Maynard was “suffering from untreated and significant mental health issues when he set the fires and has sought treatment since then,” according to Fox News.
“A Santa Clara University colleague of Mr. Maynard, who was not identified, told the police in October 2020 that Mr. Maynard was struggling with anxiety, depression, split personality, and wanted to kill himself, the complaint said,” according to The Times.
You can read the news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California below in its entirety.
Gary Stephen Maynard, 49, of San Jose, was sentenced today to five years and three months in prison, three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $13,081 in restitution for three counts of arson on federal property, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
“Maynard went on an arson spree on federal land while California faced one of the worst fire seasons in history. He intentionally made a dangerous situation more perilous by setting some of his fires behind the men and women fighting the Dixie fire, potentially cutting off any chance of escape,” said U.S. Attorney Talbert. “It is only because of the quick response by the U.S. Forest Service — and the actions of civilian witnesses — that those fires were extinguished as quickly as they were. Today’s sentence underscores the danger that Maynard’s fires created and serves as a reminder that federal law enforcement takes seriously the threats to life, property, and our national forests caused by arson.”
U.S. Forest Service Assistant Special Agent in Charge Tony Magarrell praises the actions of his Agents and fellow cooperating law enforcement agencies who identified Maynard early in the investigation, “These actions led to the quick arrest of Maynard before more damage was done to Forest Service lands and increasing the threat of firefighter lives. This is a great example of how cooperation between law enforcement agencies serves our public and makes us safe.”
According to court documents, Maynard set a series of fires in the Shasta Trinity National Forest and in the vicinity of the then-ongoing Dixie Fire in the Lassen National Forest. Maynard set some of his fires behind firefighters who were actively fighting the Dixie Fire, effectively surrounding these firefighters as they responded to one of the largest wildfires in California history. Maynard admitted to setting the following fires during this arson spree: the Cascade Fire (July 20, 2021), the Everitt Fire (July 21, 2021), the Ranch Fire (Aug. 7, 2021), and the Conard Fire (Aug. 7, 2021).
This case was the product of an investigation by the U.S. Forest Service with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, CalFire, the California Highway Patrol, and the Lassen County Sheriff’s Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Shea J. Kenny and Sam Stefanki prosecuted the case.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Disgraced Professor Sentenced for Action That Could Have Trapped Firefighters in Deadly Blaze appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
Ivanka Trump had a very special message for her dad, former President Donald Trump, following the Thursday guilty verdict from a Manhattan jury on all 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
Ivanka Trump posted an Instagram story of a picture of herself as a young child being held by her father, along with the caption, “I love you dad” and a heart emoji.
The picture was perhaps 40 years old, but the message was timeless.
According to the New York Post, the message represented the first public remarks Ivanka Trump had made since her father’s conviction Thursday.
The paper also said it had been told by unnamed sources that “Ivanka is fully supportive of her dad and loves him very much despite his conviction.”
The 12-person New York City jury found Donald Trump guilty on the second day of deliberations.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg charged the former president with the 34 felony counts relation to a payment made to adult film star Stormy Daniels through his then-personal attorney Michael Cohen before the 2016 presidential election.
The jury indicated to Judge Juan Merchan that its had reached its verdict shortly after 4:30 p.m.
The jury had requested testimony from publishing executive David Pecker be read back to it, as well as testimony from Cohen. The jurors also wanted portions of its instructions read back to it on Thursday by the judge.
Trump was expected to appeal the verdict. His attorneys cited multiple rulings Merchan made that they argued unfairly prejudiced the trial.
One was denying testimony from former Federal Election Commission Chairman Bradley Smith, who said he would have testified that the payments to Daniels did not qualify as campaign expenses or donations.
Another decision legal experts have honed in on was Merchan’s instructions to the jury that they did not have to agree on what crime Trump committed in relation to allegedly falsifying business records.
Trump has consistently asserted his innocence.
Following the verdict Trump told reporters, “This was a disgrace. This was a rigged trial by a conflicted judge who was corrupt.”
“The real verdict is going to be November 5th by the people,” he added.
“It’s OK. I’m fighting for our country. I’m fighting for our Constitution,” Trump said. “This is long from over.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Ivanka Breaks Her Silence, Posts Emotional 4-Word Response to Trump’s Guilty Verdict appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
California Assemblyman Vince Fong appears to have handily won California’s special election yesterday, bringing the Republican Party’s slim majority in the House up to five.
With 87 percent of the votes in, The New York Times had Fong up over opponent and fellow Republican Mike Boudreaux 60.2 to 39.8, making it essentially impossible for Boudreaux to win unless something happens to change that math.
Fong won the special election to replace former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who resigned at the end of 2023 after being ousted from the speakership and endorsed Fong in the race.
Fong had also been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, who quickly celebrated Fong’s victory on social media.
Fong and Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux were the top two vote-getters in California’s March primary, which pitted them against each other in the run-off according to California’s election system, which is unlike most other states.
Fong, a former aide to McCarthy according to NBC News, will now serve out the remainder of his former boss’s term as the representative for California’s 20th Congressional District.
Once he’s sworn in, Republicans will enjoy a five-vote majority in the House, giving House Speaker Mike Johnson a little more breathing room in the contentious political body.
The timing of that ceremony has not yet been set, according to The Associated Press, and will be scheduled by Johnson, but one presumes he’d like that to happen as soon as practical.
Fong will face Boudreaux again in November’s general election, the outlet noted.
“The 20th District contest was the first of three House special elections taking place for vacant GOP seats over the next five weeks,” CNN reported late Tuesday.
“The next is on June 11 in Ohio’s 6th Congressional District. Voters there will decide on a successor to former Rep. Bill Johnson, who resigned to become the president of Youngstown State University,” the outlet noted. “Then, on June 25, Colorado’s 4th District will hold a special election to succeed former Rep. Ken Buck, a hard-line conservative who clashed with his own party at times. Following his resignation announcement in March, Buck told CNN in March that Congress had ‘devolved into this bickering and nonsense and not really doing the job for the American people.'”
Fong also celebrated his victory on social media, saying that the early voting results filled him with “humility and gratitude.”
“With the campaign over, the real work begins,” he added. “In Congress, I will remain focused on solving the tough issues facing our community — securing the border, supporting small business, bringing investment in water storage and infrastructure, unleashing our energy industry, and keeping the United States safe amidst the grave security threats facing our nation.”
— Vince Fong (@vfong) May 22, 2024
“Now is the time to unite and work together to fight for our way of life,” he added.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
The post Trump-Backed Candidate Wins House Special Election in California, Adding to GOP’s Majority appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.
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