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Today β€” April 24th 2024Your RSS feeds

Democrats Could Save Speaker Johnson from Potential GOP Ouster Effort

Congressional Democrats appear ready to save Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) from a motion to vacate if one is triggered, according to a report.

The post Democrats Could Save Speaker Johnson from Potential GOP Ouster Effort appeared first on Breitbart.

Yesterday β€” April 23rd 2024Your RSS feeds

Biden Faces Uncommitted Ballot Test in Pennsylvania Democrat Primary

President Joe Biden faces another uncommitted ballot test Tuesday in Pennsylvania as more than 500,000 voters, including in other key swing states have already cast protest votes against him in Democrat nominating contests across the country.

The post Biden Faces Uncommitted Ballot Test in Pennsylvania Democrat Primary appeared first on Breitbart.

Before yesterdayYour RSS feeds

Michael Douglas on Biden’s Mental Acuity: People Say He’s Sharp as a Tack

By: Pam Key Β·Β Pam Key

Actor Michael Douglas said Sunday on CNN's Fareed Zakaria GPS that people say President Joe Biden is as "sharp as a tack" while discussing the president's age.

The post Michael Douglas on Biden’s Mental Acuity: People Say He’s Sharp as a Tack appeared first on Breitbart.

Dem Rep Khanna: I Would Vote to Protect Speaker Johnson

By: Pam Key Β·Β Pam Key

Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) said Sunday on ABC's "This Week" that he wouldΒ vote to table any motion to vacateΒ House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) because he advancedΒ a foreign aid package with separate bills to support Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

The post Dem Rep Khanna: I Would Vote to Protect Speaker Johnson appeared first on Breitbart.

Speaker Mike Johnson Celebrates Democrats Seizing House: 'We're Happy'

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) celebrated Democrats seizing the House by unprecedentedly relying on the opposition party to force President Joe Biden's priority of Ukraine border defense funds toward a full House vote on Saturday.

The post Speaker Mike Johnson Celebrates Democrats Seizing House: β€˜We’re Happy’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Maher: This Year's DNC Will Be a Repeat of 1968 with Pro-Hamas Protesters

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s β€œReal Time,” host Bill Maher predicted that this year’s Democratic National Convention in Chicago will be a repeat of the chaotic 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was also held in Chicago, because there will be

The post Maher: This Year’s DNC Will Be a Repeat of 1968 with Pro-Hamas Protesters appeared first on Breitbart.

The rot runs deep at NPR. This is what we must do now

The audience for National Public Radio aka NPR is made up of mostly liberal listeners. Why should American taxpayers, who lean conservative, support the organization with their money?

Mike Johnson Surrenders: Democrats Seize Control of House Floor

In a stunning historical development, Democrats seized upon a Republican surrender to take control of the agenda of the House floor.

The post Mike Johnson Surrenders: Democrats Seize Control of House Floor appeared first on Breitbart.

Nevada Supreme Court Upholds Ban on So-Called 'Ghost Guns'

The Nevada Supreme Court on Thursday overturned a lower court ruling and upheld the state's ban on so-called "ghost guns."

The post Nevada Supreme Court Upholds Ban on So-Called β€˜Ghost Guns’ appeared first on Breitbart.

House Democrats Vow to Codify β€˜Rights’ to Trans Surgeries, Hormones, Puberty Blockers

House Democrats released an agenda Thursday that includes a vow to codify a right to so-called gender-affirming careβ€”transgender surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers.

The promise came within the Congressional Progressive Caucus’ agenda, which House Democrats first shared with NBC News. That agenda includes a slew of left-wing interests, including promises of a higher minimum wage and stronger antitrust laws.

β€œIf the progressive base is not excited and enthusiasticβ€”and if they don’t feel like we are trying to earn their votes and that they are importantβ€”then I think the horrific idea of a second Donald Trump presidency could become reality,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., who chairs the progressive caucus, told NBC News in an interview. β€œWe cannot afford to let that happen. And we won’t.”

Although NBC claims that the agenda goes β€œlighter on cultural issues,” under the category β€œadvancing justice,” it promises to β€œcodify the rights of transgender, nonbinary and intersex people, including gender-affirming care and health care.”

Jayapal did not respond to requests for comment for this article explaining what, exactly, codifying a right to β€œgender-affirming care” would entail.

Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash.β€”flanked by fellow Democratic Reps. Ann Kuster of New Hampshire and Joe Neguse of Coloradoβ€”speaks to reporters on Wednesday. (Photo: Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images)

In March 2023, she joined with other Democrats in introducing a β€œTrans Bill of Rights,” citing the rise in parental rights laws, laws protecting kids from gender transitions, and laws prohibiting boys from participating in girls and women’s sports.

β€œDay after day, we see a constant onslaught of anti-trans rhetoric and legislation coming from elected officials. Today, we say enough is enough,” Jayapal said at the time. Β β€œOur Trans Bill of Rights says clearly to the trans community across the country that we see you, and we will stand with you, to ensure you are protected and given the dignity and respect that every person should have.”

That legislation would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include gender identity as β€œprotected characteristics.” It would also amend federal education laws to say that they protect kids from being discriminated against based on gender identity.

The Trans Bill of Rights also called for ensuring that β€œevery child has the right to grow up in a supportive environment by having their authentic identity respected in the classroom, ensuring they can participate in school sports with their peers, and ensuring access to an inclusive curriculum.”

It further called for β€œexpanding access” to trans surgeries, hormones, and puberty blockers and codifying rights to abortion and contraception.

Jayapal told NBC News that progressive Democrats assume β€œthis is an agenda for a Democratic president with a Democratic Senate and a Democratic House.”

She added: β€œWe have to excite our base. We have to show them what the path forward isβ€”not just say, β€˜This is the most important election of your life, and we expect you to vote.’ I don’t think that’s going to turn people out. And so, I think this agenda, really, speaks to the needs of poor people, working people, progressives across the country who want us to make that case to them.”

β€œWe are not seeing the momentum that we would like to see,” she told NBC. We’re going to have a tough election. … We know we’re going to have to put together that progressive coalition. And I think this is the thing that allows us to say, β€œβ€˜Look, here’s what we’re fighting for.’”

The post House Democrats Vow to Codify β€˜Rights’ to Trans Surgeries, Hormones, Puberty Blockers appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Report: January 6 Committee Democrats Say They Fear Trump Will Put Them in Jail

House Democrats who led an investigation into former President Donald Trump's role in the January 6 Capitol riot say they are worried about their safety and being arrested if the former president wins reelection.

The post Report: January 6 Committee Democrats Say They Fear Trump Will Put Them in Jail appeared first on Breitbart.

Speaker Johnson: One-Vote Margin Means I Have to Work with a 'Couple of Democrats'

By: Pam Key Β·Β Pam Key

House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) saidΒ Wednesday on CNN's "The Lead" that he had to work with Democrats because he has the smallest margin in U.S. history in the House of Representatives.

The post Speaker Johnson: One-Vote Margin Means I Have to Work with a β€˜Couple of Democrats’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Democrats Losing Voter Registration Edge in Key Swing States

Democrats are slowly losing their voter registration edge in key swing states, recent voter registration data reveals.

The post Democrats Losing Voter Registration Edge in Key Swing States appeared first on Breitbart.

Californians Arming Up for Self-Defense as Illegals Flood into Cities

Californians are arming up for self-defense as the U.S. Border Patrol carries out street drop-offs of illegal immigrants in San Diego.Β 

The post Californians Arming Up for Self-Defense as Illegals Flood into Cities appeared first on Breitbart.

At Least Two Officers Shot in Heavily Gun-Controlled New York

A Syracuse police officer and an Onondaga County sheriff’s deputy were shot in Salina, New York, Sunday shortly before 9 p.m.

The post At Least Two Officers Shot in Heavily Gun-Controlled New York appeared first on Breitbart.

10 Injured, 1 Killed, During Saturday Night Shooting in Mayor Johnson's Chicago

Eleven people were shot, one of them fatally, during a family get together Saturday night at around 9:30 p.m. in Chicago's Back of the Yards neighborhood.Β 

The post 10 Injured, 1 Killed, During Saturday Night Shooting in Mayor Johnson’s Chicago appeared first on Breitbart.

ADL CEO: 'Anti-American' Marxist Strain Among Dems Helped Antisemitism Seep In

On Friday’s broadcast of Newsmax TV’s β€œThe Record,” Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt said that an β€œanti-American” Marxist strain in the Democratic Party is tied to a rise in antisemitism and β€œwe’ve allowed this anti-Zionism, this kind of intolerance to

The post ADL CEO: β€˜Anti-American’ Marxist Strain Among Dems Helped Antisemitism Seep In appeared first on Breitbart.

AOC Bends Knee to DCCC Establishment by Paying Dues for First Time

AOC became a member of Congress in 2019 but failed to pay dues until 2024, representing the completion of a gradual shift towards becoming a member of the Democrat establishment.

The post AOC Bends Knee to DCCC Establishment by Paying Dues for First Time appeared first on Breitbart.

How Taxpayers Will Heavily Subsidize Democrat Boots on the Ground This Election

Progressives are using legal loopholes and the power of the federal government to maximize Democrat votes in the 2024 election at taxpayers’ expense, RealClearInvestigations has found.

The methods include voter registration and mobilization campaigns by ostensibly nonpartisan charities that target Democrats using demographic data as proxies, and the Biden administration’s unprecedentedΒ demandΒ that every federal agency β€œconsider ways to expand citizens’ opportunities to register to vote and to obtain information about, and participate in, the electoral process.”

A dizzying array of overwhelmingly β€œdemocracy-focused” entities with ties to the Democratic Party operating as charities and funded with hundreds of millions of dollars from major liberal β€œdark money” vehicles are engaged in a sprawling campaign to register the voters, deliver them the ballots, and figuratively and sometimes literally harvest the votes necessary to defeat Donald Trump.

These efforts, now buttressed by the federal government, amplify and extend what Time magazineΒ describedΒ  as a β€œwell-funded cabal of powerful people ranging across industries and ideologies,” who had worked behind the scenes in 2020 β€œto influence perceptions, change rules and laws, steer media coverage and control the flow of information” to defeat Trump and other Republicans. The β€œshadow campaigners,” Time declared, β€œwere not rigging the election; they were fortifying it.”

Heading into 2024, β€œthere is not a β€˜shadow’ campaign,” said Mike Howell, executive director of The Heritage Foundation’s Oversight Project. β€œThere is an overt assault on President Trump and those who wish to vote for him occurring at every level of government and with the support of all major institutions.” (The Daily Signal is the news organization of The Heritage Foundation.)

By contrast, Republican Party stalwarts lament that no comparable effort exists on their side. The GOP’s turnout and messaging efforts seek to thread a difficult needle by encouraging early and absentee voting and ballot-harvestingβ€”pandemic-era measures that Trump and supporters blame for his 2020 electoral defeatβ€”while the party simultaneously fights the mainly blue-state laws that made the practices possible. The party’s position is further complicated by its standard-bearer’s warnings of a rigged election bigger than in 2020, which someΒ speculateΒ could turn off moderate swing voters.

Electioneering β€˜Super-Weapons’

TheΒ IRSΒ permitsΒ tax-exempt nonprofit groups to engage in voter registration and get-out-the-vote drives so long as they do not β€œrefer to any candidate or political party” nor conduct their activities β€œin a biased manner that favors (or opposes) one or more candidates prohibited.”

These entities have become magnets for funds not only from wealthy donors, who can contribute without traditional campaign finance limitsβ€”and get a tax break to bootβ€”but also abundantly endowed private foundations that are prohibited from engaging in partisan activities.

In recent years, dozens of progressive-oriented 501(c)(3)s, now pulling in upward of $500 million annually, have engaged in purportedly neutral efforts to impact elections, according toΒ Hayden Ludwig, director of policy research at the election integrity-focused advocacy group Restoration of America.

In practice, critics like Ludwig argue, left-leaning charities flout the law by registering and mobilizing demographics that tend to vote disproportionately Democratic behind a veil of nonpartisan democracy promotion.

During the 2020 election, for example, the Voter Participation Center solicited millions of ballot applications in swing statesβ€”many of them prefilled for respondents. This nonprofit, like its peers, is clear that it isn’t targeting just any voters, but whatΒ itΒ and progressiveΒ activistsΒ have dubbed a β€œNew American Majority” of β€œyoung people, people of color and unmarried women.”

Tom Lopach, a longtime Democratic Party operative and the center’s president and CEO, told RealClearInvestigations in a statement: β€œWe do the work that state election officials typically do not doβ€”seeking out underrepresented voting-eligible Americans … This is difficult but necessary work that brings democracy to eligible Americans’ doorsteps.”

In 2020, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan showed how supposedly neutral efforts can have a partisan impact when they funneled some $400 million through twoΒ progressive–ledΒ but purportedly nonpartisan nonprofits intoΒ election officesΒ across the country.

That moneyΒ disproportionately wentΒ to jurisdictions that Joe Biden won in the pivotal battleground states that delivered his victory, often flowing to left-leaning nonprofits to whom election offices outsourced the administration ofΒ sometimes critical functions.

In April 2022, a primary conduit of these so-called Zuckerbucks, the Center for Tech and Civic Life, announced the launch of a successor to the 2020 effortβ€”the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, a five-year $80 million program β€œto envision, support, and celebrate excellence in U.S. election administration.”

β€œThe left has assembled an impressive β€˜election-industrial’ complex of nonprofit organizations that is constantly working towards goals like β€˜promoting participation’ targeting β€˜underrepresented minorities,’” said Jason Snead, executive director of the conservative Honest Elections Project. Such terms, Snead says, β€œare code for identifying and mobilizing liberal voters.”

Election experts view such activities as potentially decisive.Β 

β€œβ€˜Nonpartisan’ and β€˜charitable’ voter registration and get-out-the-vote groups” are the Democratic Party’s β€œelectioneering super-weapon[s],” said Parker Thayer, an analyst with theΒ conservative-orientedΒ Capital Research Center in Washington, D.C.

β€˜Everybody Votes’—but for Whom?

Of these, Thayer sees the Everybody Votes Campaign as ofΒ paramount importance.

Born of a plan β€œcommissioned by [Hillary] Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, funded by the Democratic Party’s biggest donors, and coordinated with cut-throat Democratic consultants,” Thayer writes in an extensiveΒ analysisΒ of the group’s efforts, β€œthe Everybody Votes campaign [has] used the guise of civic-minded charity to selectively register millions of β€˜non-white’ swing-state voters in the hopes of getting out the Democratic vote.”

It does so by funding and training over 50 community groups to register voters toΒ closeΒ β€œthe voter registration gap in communities of color,” which it attributes to β€œmodern forms of Jim Crow laws,” such as voter ID requirements, the group’s executive director, Nellie Sires, said in a January 2024Β interview.

From 2016-2021, the Everybody Votes Campaign, doing business as three entities, collected overΒ $190 millionΒ from major Democratic Party donors, unions, and environmental activists. Some of theΒ largest donorsΒ include the League of Conservation Voters Education Fund; the New Venture and Hopewell funds, managed by for-profit consulting firm Arabella Advisors; and the George Soros-funded Foundation to Promote Open Societyβ€”all 501(c)(3) public charities or private foundationsΒ forbiddenΒ from supporting β€œvoter education or registration activities with evidence of bias.”

The Everybody Votes Campaign distributed the funds to a slew ofΒ left-leaning state-based voter registration organizationsΒ largely in eight pivotal states from 2016 to 2019β€”Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Ohio, North Carolina, Virginia, and Nevadaβ€”and then to Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin in 2021.

According to Thayer’sΒ analysis, the Everybody Votes Campaign’s voter registration push β€œwould have provided Democrats more votes than the total margins of victory in Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania,” securing Biden’s victory in the 2020 election.

β€˜4 to 10 Times More Cost-Effective’

One notable backer of the Everybody Votes Campaign is Mind the Gap, a β€œMoneyball-style” Silicon Valley Democratic super PAC founded by Stanford law professor Barbara Fried, andΒ connectedΒ to the political activities of her convicted crypto-fraudster son, Sam Bankman-Fried.

The analytics-focusedΒ outfitΒ prepared a confidential strategy memoΒ leakedΒ in advance of the 2020 election, noting that β€œ501(c)(3) voter registration focused on underrepresented groups in the electorate” would be the β€œsingle most effective tactic for ensuring Democratic victoriesβ€β€”β€œ4 to 10 times more cost-effective” on after-tax basis at β€œgarnering additional Democratic votes” relative to alternatives like β€œbroadcast media and digital buys.”

Mind the Gap recommended that donors contribute to three organizations: the Voter Participation Center and its sister organization, the Center for Voter Information for mail-based registration efforts, and Everybody Votes for site-based registration efforts.

The largest grant recipient, receiving $24 million during the 2016-2021 period, wasΒ State Voices, which describes itself as a β€œnonpartisan network of 25 state-based coalitions … that collectively partner with over 1,200 organizations” consisting of β€œadvocates, organizers, and activists … work[ing] together to fight for a healthy democracy and political power for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI), and all people of color (BIPOC).”

Another top recipient, raking in over $10 million, was the Voter Participation Center.

According to the Capital Research Center, the Everybody Votes Campaign wouldΒ collectΒ and spend over $50 million in connection with the 2022 midterm electionsβ€”the most recent period for which financials are available. All told, since its founding in 2015,Β the campaign says,Β its network has registered 5.1 million voters, of whom 76% are people of color; 56% are women; and 47% are under the age of 35.

Last November, the news outlet PuckΒ reportedΒ on a secret memo circulated by Mind the Gap regarding its plans for 2024. β€œOur strategy early in the 2024 presidential race will be to massively scale high-performing voter registration and mobilization programs,” the memo read. The PAC again specifically directed donors to the Everybody Votes Campaign, which did not respond to requests for comment.

Lopach, who has worked in Democratic Party politics his entire career, bristled at RealClearInvestigations’ questions regarding critics’ claims of a partisan bent to its work. β€œThe presumptions baked into the questions … emailed to us are inaccurate and reveal the reporter’s own biases,” he responded, while emphasizing the organization’s targeting of β€œunderrepresented voting-eligible Americans.”

Thayer has dubbed Everybody Votes the β€œlargest and most corrupt β€˜charitable’ voter registration drive in American history.”

Of such organizations’ claims of nonpartisanship, Howell told RealClearInvestigations: β€œIf they were truly interested in an informed participatory constitutional Republic, they would have an even-handed approach to registering voters.”

β€œCall me when they show up to a NASCAR race, Daughters of the American Revolution event, or a gun show,” Howell added. β€œThen we can pretend for a minute that these are beyond just facial efforts to appear somewhat neutral.”

Challenges for GOP

But NASCAR races have not been hubs for GOP-led voter registration efforts either. Restoration of America’s Ludwig estimates that the Right may spend as little as 1% of what the Left spends on voter registration efforts.

A recentΒ memoΒ from the Sentinel Action Fund, a super PAC that aims to elect conservatives, noted that in the 2022 election cycle, while $8.9 billion was spent on federal elections, there were zero large independent expenditure organizations on the Right focused on get-out-the-vote efforts or β€œballot chasing.”

Republican PartyΒ vehiclesΒ and conservative outfits like grassroots-orientedΒ Turning Point Action, a 501(c)(4), are engaged in such efforts in the 2024 cycle, but the scale and sophistication of their political counterparts’ efforts would appear unrivaled at this point.

Election experts attribute this gap to several factors beyond the GOP’s focus on other tactics to win elections, or ineffectiveness. They note that Democratic voters tend to be more concentrated in urban areas and college campuses, making it easier to run efficient registration drives. As regards early and absentee voting and ballot harvesting, it is not clear if these efforts will substantially grow the pool of Republican voters versus merely enabling the party to β€œbank” votes earlier.

With respect to the use of 501(c)(3)s to conduct such activities, Ludwig said some conservatives may still be fearful of running afoul of the IRSβ€”through exploiting tax laws to pursue efforts perceived to be partisan effectively on the taxpayers’ dimeβ€”in the wake of itsΒ targetingΒ of tea party groups for extreme scrutiny during the Obama years.

β€˜Bidenbucks’: β€˜Zuckerbucks’ on Steroids

Since the 2020 election, Democrats have opened a second apparent electioneering front that Republicans could not match even if they wanted to: The rise of so-called Bidenbucks, which uses the β€œunlimited funding, resources, and reach” of the federal government and agency offices located nationwide to turn out favored voters, according to Stewart Whitson, legal director of the conservative Foundation for Government Accountability.

In March 2021, President Joe Biden introducedΒ Executive Order 14019. The directive on β€œpromoting access to voting” orders every federal agency, more than 600 in all, to register and mobilize votersβ€”particularly β€œpeople of color” and others the White House says face β€œchallenges to exercise their fundamental right to vote.” It further directs the agencies to collaborate with ostensibly nonpartisan nonprofits in pursuit of its goals.

As RealClearInvestigations hasΒ previously reported, Executive Order 14019 appears to have been designed by left-leaning think tank Demos and implemented in consultation and sometimes coordination with a slew of progressive, labor, and identity-focused groups with the goal of generating up to 3.5 million new or updated voter registrations annually.

The ACLU and Demos haveΒ reportedlyΒ helped execute the order. RealClearInvestigations additionally found that at least two recipients of grants under the Everybody Votes Campaign, the NAACP and UnidosUSβ€”formerly the National Council of Razaβ€”were also listed on anΒ emailΒ as participants in a July 2021 listening session on the executive order convened by the White House and agency officials.

Whitson, whose organization unearthed that email in its fight to expose details about the order, emphasized that β€œ[U]nlike 2020 wherein the shadow campaign was conducted by private citizens seeking to influence government election operations from the outside, the threat we face in 2024 is being launched fromΒ withinΒ the government itself.”

Facing both congressional scrutiny and litigation, the administration has closely guarded the strategic plans agencies were to develop to carry out the order, how they are implementing them, to what end, and with whom.

Perfunctory press releases, reports from groups supportive of the order, and documents slowly ferreted out via Freedom of Information Act requests and litigation, however, demonstrate that relevant agencies have sought to drive voter registration via public housing authorities, child nutrition programs, and voluntary tax preparation clinics.

In August 2023, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services issuedΒ updated guidanceΒ calling for the agency to register voters at naturalization ceremonies.

More recently, the Department of Education did theΒ same, blessing the use of federal work-study funds to pay students for β€œsupporting broad-based get-out-the-vote activities, voter registration,” and other activities. Scott Walter, president of the Capital Research Center, recently told The Epoch Times that the department had previouslyΒ threatenedΒ schools β€œthat you better be registering students or you could lose your federal funds.”

When asked by RealClearInvestigations to respond to Walter’s claim, the Department of Education would not. Over two dozen Pennsylvania state legislatorsΒ challengedΒ the order via a lawsuit in January. Citing alleged unlawful attempts by several agencies to register Keystone State voters, the lawmakers asserted:

By engaging in a targeted voter registration effort of this magnitude, focused specifically on these agencies and the groups of potential voters they interact with, leveraging the resources and reach of the federal government, this effort appears to be a taxpayer-funded get-out-the-vote effort designed to benefit the current President’s political party.

Echoing this view, Whitson’s Foundation for Government Accountability submitted anΒ amicus briefΒ noting that β€œall of the federal agencies FGA has identified as taking active steps to carry out EO 14019 have one thing in common: They provide government welfare benefits and other services to groups of voters the vast majority of which have historically voted Democrat.”

The plaintiffs alleged the executive order violated both Pennsylvania law limiting voter registration efforts to non-federal actors and constitutional provisions reserving election laws to the states.

On March 26, a district court dismissed the case, claiming the plaintiffs lacked standing. Whitson told RealClearInvestigations that others would likely lodge similar lawsuits, building on the Pennsylvania legislators’ case in the wake of the dismissal. Days later, The FederalistΒ reportedΒ that the plaintiffs intended to appeal their case to the U.S. Supreme Court.

A White House spokesperson did not reply to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiries regarding the executive order.

Opposition and Circumvention

Republicans have had more success opposing the use of Zuckerbucks and other private monies used to finance public elections. More thanΒ two dozen statesΒ would move toΒ ban or restrictΒ such grants in response to the activities observed during the 2020 election.

Most recently, Wisconsin, where some of the mostΒ controversialΒ Zuckerbucks-relatedΒ effortsΒ took place, was added to that list when, on April 2, voters approved a constitutional amendment barring the private funding of elections.

Despite this crackdown and the feds seemingly stepping into the breach, efforts to privately finance election administration persist. The U.S. Alliance for Election ExcellenceΒ bills itselfΒ as an initiative to bolster β€œwoefully unsupported” election offices to β€œrevitalize American democracy.”

The organizationΒ saysΒ it services jurisdictionsβ€”11 listed on its website, ranging across states from Arizona to California and Wisconsinβ€”with β€œtraining, mentorship, and resources.” Alliance officials did not respond to RealClearInvestigations’ inquiry about whether it would be terminating the relationship with the city of Madison, Wisconsin, in light of the passage of the recent ballot measure that would seem to have barred it. Nor did it respond to RealClearInvestigation’ other inquiries in connection with this article.

Most of these partnerships were initiated with jurisdictions in states that have not banned Zuckerbucks, though it has sought toΒ circumventΒ such prohibitions in Georgia and Utah. The stated goal of the Alliance for Election Excellence is to support voters via measures like assisting participating centers in β€œredesigning” forms to make them more intuitive and purchasing infrastructure β€œto improve election security and accessibility.”

Alliance launch partners include entities such as:

  • The Center for Civic Design, which works with election offices β€œusing research, design, accessibility, and plain language to remove barriers in the voter journey and invite participation in democracy.”
  • The Elections Group, to β€œimplement new programs or improve processes for voters and stakeholders.”
  • The Center for Secure and Modern Elections to β€œmodernize the voting system, making elections more efficient and secure.”

Critics argue this seemingly more modest effort is, in reality, an ambitious Zuckerbucks rebrand.

Snead’s Honest Elections Project published aΒ reportΒ in April 2023, based in part on documents received from FOIA requests, indicating β€œthat the Alliance is a reinvention of CTCL’s scheme to use private funding to strongarm election policy nationwide.”

Among other takeaways, it found that:

  • The alliance offers services that touch every aspect of election administration, ranging from β€œlegal” and β€œpolitical” consultation to public relations, guidance, and assistance with recruitment and training.
  • The alliance is gathering detailed information on the inner workings of participating election offices and developing β€œimprovement plans” to reshape the way they operate.

The report shows that many of the alliance’s launch partners, starting with the Center for Tech and Civic Life and the Center for Civic Design, are funded by major Democrat-tied, so-called dark money groups such as the Democracy Fund and Arabella Advisors’ New Venture Fund and Hopewell Fund.

The Democracy Fund is led by Democrat tech billionaire Pierre Omidyar, which has granted some $275 million to like-minded organizations from publications like Mother Jones and ProPublica to the Voter Registration Project since its founding.

The District of Columbia recentlyΒ closed a criminal investigationΒ intoΒ Arabella, whose fund networkΒ reportedlyΒ spent nearly $1.2 billion in 2020 alone, after probing it over allegations itsΒ fundsΒ were pursuing political ends in violation of their tax-exempt statuses. The Center for Secure and Modern Elections, the Honest Elections Project says, pushes β€œleft-wing priorities like automatic voter registration” and is run by the New Venture Fund. The Elections Group’s CEO and co-founder, Jennifer Morrell, previously served as a consultant at the Democracy Fund.

The Capital Research Center’s Walter uses a football analogy to explain why he sees these efforts as untoward. He told RealClearInvestigations:

Election offices are the refs in elections; the parties are teams trying to score. You’d be puzzled if you heard Super Bowl refs say they’re trying to boost points scored. You’d be outraged if you learned those refs had received money and training from people who previously worked for one team’s offensive coaching staff. That’s what left-wing political operatives, using left-wing money, are doing, and it’s clearly unfair.

Non-Trump Lawfare

Democrat-aligned groups continue to engage in litigation, like that brought by chief election lawyer Marc Elias, aimed at loosening election laws to their benefit. Snead told RealClearInvestigations, β€œThere are more than 70 active lawsuits right now targeting voter ID laws, anti-ballot harvesting laws, signature verification, drop box regulations, and more.”

After securing victory in a lawsuit requiring signature verification for mail voting in Pennsylvania, the Republican National Committee touted its engagement as well in 81 election integrity cases this cycle. Swing-state Wisconsin is another major battleground for such efforts.

There, Elias’ legal team has challenged witness signature requirements and bans on election clerks filling address information on mail-in ballots. It and others are alsoΒ workingΒ to overturn a state Supreme Court decision finding drop boxes illegal. The Badger State’s now liberal-majority Supreme Court announced in March it would take up the case.

Cutting against these efforts are not only the state’s citizen-approved Zuckerbucks ban, but another Badger-passed April 2Β ballot measureΒ amending the state’s constitution to prohibit those other than β€œan election official designated by law” from carrying out election-related tasks.

Watchdogs like Howell are concerned that left-leaning electioneers and lawfare forces collectively are pursuing an β€œelection β€˜dis-integrity’ strategy … to greatly expand the universe of ballots while limiting any ability to ensure that they are fairly cast and counted.”

β€œIt’s a basic recipe for fraud.”

EliasΒ saysΒ those seeking to combat such efforts are engaged in β€œvoter suppression and election subversion.”

Democrats also have the federal government working on their side on the litigation frontβ€”and in ways extending beyond the veritable lawfare barrage the Biden Justice Department has leveled at Trump.

Speaking in Selma, Alabama, on the 59thΒ anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the 1965 police assault on civil rights marchers, Attorney General Merrick GarlandΒ declaredΒ that β€œthe right to vote is still under attack.”

Garland vowed the Department of Justice was punching back, including β€œchallenging efforts by states and jurisdictions to implement discriminatory, burdensome, and unnecessary restrictions on access to the ballot, including those related to mail-in voting, the use of drop boxes, and voter ID requirements.”

This article was originally published by RealClearInvestigations and made available via RealClearWire.

The post How Taxpayers Will Heavily Subsidize Democrat Boots on the Ground This Election appeared first on The Daily Signal.

Leonard Leo to Defy Senate Democrats' 'Unlawful and Politically Motivated Subpoena'

An attorney for conservative leader and private citizen Leonard Leo revealed that Leo would not be complying with a subpoena issued by the Democrat Senate Judiciary Committee.

The post Leonard Leo to Defy Senate Democrats’ β€˜Unlawful and Politically Motivated Subpoena’ appeared first on Breitbart.

ATF Rule Forces Background Check System into Private Gun Sales

A proposed rule from the ATF will force private gun sellers to use the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to sell their guns.

The post ATF Rule Forces Background Check System into Private Gun Sales appeared first on Breitbart.

Donald Trump: 'The Democrats Are the Radicals on Abortion'

Democrats are the "radicals" on abortion, former President Donald Trump said after revealing his official position on the issue.

The post Donald Trump: β€˜The Democrats Are the Radicals on Abortion’ appeared first on Breitbart.

Police: 'F*** Everyone' Gang Sledgehammered CA Shops to Steal Nearly $1M in Cigarettes

By: Amy Furr Β·Β Amy Furr

A crew of suspects believed to be part of a gang has been wreaking havoc in California over a two-month period and does not appear to care about possibly getting caught.

The post Police: β€˜F*** Everyone’ Gang Sledgehammered CA Shops to Steal Nearly $1M in Cigarettes appeared first on Breitbart.

Judge Finds Washington State 'High Capacity' Magazine Ban Unconstitutional

On Monday,Β Cowlitz County Superior Court Judge Gary Bashor found Washington state's "high capacity" magazine ban violated both the U.S. Constitution and Washington state's constitution.Β 

The post Judge Finds Washington State β€˜High Capacity’ Magazine Ban Unconstitutional appeared first on Breitbart.

Citing Pro-Life Views, Nebraska State Senator Switches Parties

A Nebraska state legislator is transitioning from blue to red after his own party censured him for having a pro-life stance. Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell officially left the Democratic Party last week after 40 years and became a Republican.

InΒ a written statement explaining his decision, McDonnell wrote: β€œI have asked the Democratic Party to respect my religious based pro-life position. Instead over the last year they have decided to punish me for being pro-life.”

Last month, the Nebraska Democratic PartyΒ voted to censure McDonnell, a Catholic, over his pro-life record, contending that his stance β€œadversely affected the reproductive rights of Nebraskans and the rights of transgender individuals in the state.”

Douglas County Democrats alsoΒ votedΒ in January to deny party funding to McDonnell due to his votes against abortion measures and against gender-transition procedures for minors.

β€œThe state Democratic Party voted to censure me because I am pro-life,” McDonnell wrote. β€œBeing a Christian, a member of the Roman Catholic Church and pro-life is more important to me than being a registered Democrat. Today I am changing my party affiliation to Republican.”

InΒ a speechΒ addressing his decision, McDonnell explained that he registered as a Democrat in 1984 and ran for the state Legislature in 2016.

β€œI wanted to see how we could grow our state and reduce property taxes at the same time,” he said. β€œI asked the Democratic Party of Douglas County to respect that I’m pro-life, that I’m a member of the Roman Catholic Church, and my beliefs are based on that. But Douglas County Democrats, instead of respecting that, they decided to punish it. … I continued to vote pro-life.”

β€œThis is not an easy decision,” the state senator added. β€œAfter 40 years of being a registered Democrat, having your grandfather tell you when you’re 10 years old, β€˜What are we? We’re Irish, we’re Catholic, and we’re Democrats.’ That kind of stuck with me.”

Pointing to his new Republican Party colleagues, McDonnell said: β€œOver the last year, regardless of my decision [on] switching parties, they have been so supportive. … We had great discussions about what the Republican Party is doing, where they’re trying to go, how I potentially could fit in there. But the greatest thing about [it] is now I can participate again.”

U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb., a former governor of the state,Β respondedΒ to McDonnell’s decision by writing on X: β€œI am pleased to welcome Sen. Mike McDowell to the Republican team.” He added: β€œThe extreme new Democrats are pushing commonsense officials and voters to our party.”

McDonnell is far from the only Catholic abandoning the Democratic Party due to what many consider mandatory abortion extremism.

Recent studiesΒ showΒ that white American Catholics have been drifting away from the party for decades, but in increasing numbers over the past two decades, coalescing instead around the GOP.

A survey of Michigan votersΒ foundΒ last month that former President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee credited with appointing three justices to the U.S. Supreme Court who enabled the dismantling of Roe v. Wade, holds a significant lead among Catholic voters over President Joe Biden, a Democrat and self-described Catholic.

A week ago, the Catholic archbishop of Washington, D.C., Cardinal Wilton Gregory,Β called Biden a β€œcafeteria Catholic” due to his rejection of the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion.

In response to McDonnell’s new party affiliation, Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane KleebΒ issued a written statementΒ saying: β€œThe Nebraska Democratic Party will continue to stand up for reproductive freedom and the human rights of the LGBTQ community.”

Kleeb added: β€œOur decision to censure Sen. McDonnell was never about him being a pro-life Catholic. Our decision was based on our party reaffirming our core values to protect women’s ability to make health decisions and to keep politicians out of our personal health decisions.”

Originally published by The Washington Stand

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The post Citing Pro-Life Views, Nebraska State Senator Switches Parties appeared first on The Daily Signal.

John Eastman and the Left’s War on the Legal Profession

John Eastman is a lawyer, a legal scholar, and a friend.

I got to know Johnβ€”a former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, candidate for California attorney general, and dean of Chapman University School of Lawβ€”during my weeklong 2018 legal fellowship with the Claremont Institute, which he oversaw. We have stayed in touch and done at least one event together for Claremont since that time.

Unfortunately, since the 2020 presidential election, John has been put through the wringer more than just about anyone in American public life.

He was forced to retire from the law school where he was a longtime constitutional law professor and even dean. He was let go by the University of Colorado’s Benson Center for Western Civilization, where he was a visiting scholar. Armed Stasiβ€”sorry, FBIβ€”agents accosted him in a parking lot and seized his phone without a warrant. He has been suspended from academic conferences and lost board seats. He and his wife have endured death threats, spikes in their driveway, and threatening graffiti in their neighborhood. He has been debanked by Bank of America and the USAA. He is being criminally prosecuted by scandal-ridden Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis. And last week, State Bar Court of California Judge Yvette Roland devoted 128 pages to explaining why he should lose his law license.

All this because John had the chutzpah to do what every law school student is taught to do in legal ethics class: defend and zealously advocate for one’s client, no matter how unpopular or even disreputable that client may be. In this case, John’s unpopular client was a high-profile one: former President Donald Trump.

There has been an astronomical amount of misinformation about John’s activities in the weeks leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol jamboree, as well as the legal advice that he offered his high-profile client during that time. The corporate media and the Democrat-lawfare complex typically speak of John’s legal advice as encouraging the β€œoverturning of an election” or β€œfomenting an insurrection,” but such hyperbolic talk is irresponsible and wildly off base.

John acquitted himself well in a compelling essay he penned for Claremont’s American Mind online journal on Jan. 18, 2021, titled β€œSetting the Record Straight on the POTUS β€˜Ask.'”

His 12th Amendment argument about the vice president’s more active role in certifying the states’ slates of electors and his accompanying argument regarding the constitutional dubiousness of the Electoral Count of 1887 might not be correct (although it could be), but it is well within the bound of plausible, nonfrivolous legal argumentation an attorney can (indeed, should) press upon an embattled client.

That is doubly so here, because the U.S. Supreme Court has never authoritatively interpreted the relevant 12th Amendment provision. Countless legal arguments more frivolous than this are advanced every day in courtrooms across America.

Nor is John Eastman the only man being prosecuted, and possibly disbarred, for his legal activity after the 2020 election. Former U.S. Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey Clark is also being prosecuted in Georgia, and he was just found by the District of Columbia Bar to have violated an ethics rule, which might lead to his own disbarment thereβ€”all stemming from an internal Department of Justice memo that Clark never even sent.

Once upon a time, the American Left understood the moral imperative of ensuring that all Americans have adequate access to legal representation, no matter one’s popularity in the eyes of the government or societal elites.

Indeed, the definitive American example of such unpopular legal representation actually dates back to before the United States was even independent: In 1770, a young lawyer named John Adams, the man who would become the young republic’s second president, took it upon himself to defend the British soldiers accused of killing five colonists at the Boston Massacre. Years later, in his dotage, Adams reflected that this was β€œone of the most gallant, generous, manly, and disinterested actions of my whole life, and one of the best pieces of service I ever rendered my country.”

Presumably, Willis and Roland would have preferred to see Adams tarred and feathered for his treachery. One also cannot help but wonder how they might have viewed the NAACP’s legal representation in the Deep South during the days of Jim Crow.

The ultimate aim of those Jacobins prosecuting and disbarring lawyers for having the temerity to practice the legal profession is clear: the subordination of the rule of law to the Jacobins’ own friend/enemy-level politics, and the cowing into submission of those lawyers who would so much as consider representing a high-profile Republican client or work in a Republican Department of Justice. Ironically, and without any hint of self-awareness, they do all this in the name of β€œour democracy.”

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Opinion editor explains how political, media elites are 'deplatforming' working class in new book

Journalist Batya Ungar-Sargon spoke to Fox News Digital about her new book, which says the real divide in America is not right and left but the working class and college educated elite.

Nebraska Democrat Censured for Pro-Life Views Before Switching to Republican Party

The Nebraska Democrat party censured State Sen. Mike McDonnell on March 2 for his pro-life views and his refusal to comply with the transgender activist agenda, before he ultimately switched to the Republican Party on Wednesday.

The post Nebraska Democrat Censured for Pro-Life Views Before Switching to Republican Party appeared first on Breitbart.

U-Turn: Oregon's Democrat Governor Signs Bill Recriminalizing Hard Drugs amid Overdose Crisis

By: Amy Furr Β·Β Amy Furr

Oregon's Democrat governor signed a bill on Monday that restores criminal penalties for possessing small amounts of drugs as the problems of addiction and overdose plague residents across the state. Β 

The post U-Turn: Oregon’s Democrat Governor Signs Bill Recriminalizing Hard Drugs amid Overdose Crisis appeared first on Breitbart.

Democrat Ruben Gallego Would Prohibit Arizonans From Buying AR-15s

Senate candidate Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) supports legislation that, if passed into law, would prohibit Arizonans from buying AR-15 rifles.Β 

The post Democrat Ruben Gallego Would Prohibit Arizonans From Buying AR-15s appeared first on Breitbart.

Maine Gov. Mills Pushes to Make it Easier to Have Firearms Confiscated

Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) is pushing legislation to make it easier for gun owners in the state to have their firearms confiscated.

The post Maine Gov. Mills Pushes to Make it Easier to Have Firearms Confiscated appeared first on Breitbart.

Maher: Biden Won't Push Back on Left Wing of Party Because He Doesn't Want a Fight, Doesn't Understand It

On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s β€œReal Time,” host Bill Maher stated that President Joe Biden won’t distance himself from the progressive wing of his party because Biden β€œjust doesn’t want to fight with” the progressive left wing of the Democratic

The post Maher: Biden Won’t Push Back on Left Wing of Party Because He Doesn’t Want a Fight, Doesn’t Understand It appeared first on Breitbart.

Bill Kristol Laments Biden Attending 'Fancy' Fundraiser While Trump Goes to a Slain NYPD Officer's Wake

Never Trumper Bill Kristol lamented the bad optics for Democrats after President Joe Biden opted to go to a multi-million dollar fundraiser thrown by rich Hollywood celebrities while former President Donald Trump attended a wake for a young New York City police officer killed on duty.

The post Bill Kristol Laments Biden Attending β€˜Fancy’ Fundraiser While Trump Goes to a Slain NYPD Officer’s Wake appeared first on Breitbart.

Trouble in Paradise: Division on Left Imperils Joe Biden's Reelection Prospects

Protests and disruptions from pro-Palestinian demonstrators at President Joe Biden's glitzy, elitist fundraiser on Thursday are the latest examples of extreme division on the left regarding his handling of the Israel-Hamas war, which is jeopardizing his reelection prospects.

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