In closing arguments at Tina Peters' trial, prosecutor Janet Drake argued that the former clerk allowed a man posing as a county employee to take images of the election system's hard drive before and after a software upgrade in May 2021.
Drake said Peters observed the update so she could become the “hero” and appear at Lindell's symposium on the 2020 presidential election a few months later. Lindell is a prominent promoter of false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the election from Donald Trump.
On August 7, 2022, Peters pled not guilty to all charges related to the alleged election machine tampering, and a trial was set for March 2023.[65] On August 20, 2022, Peters and Sherronna Bishop appeared in a documentary released by Mike Lindell titled "[S]election Code".[66][67][68]
On August 25, 2022, Knisely pled guilty to three misdemeanor counts of trespass, official misconduct and violation of duty, having cut a plea deal with prosecutors to keep her out of prison in exchange for testifying against Peters and others in the case. If Knisley fails to testify against Peters, then all charges could be reinstated, and her plea deal would be vacated. Court documents say Knisely admitted she knew about and participated in a “scheme with Tina Peters and other identified people to deceive public servants from both the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office and Mesa County."[69] The document continues to state, “This scheme, which was significantly directed by Tina Peters, ultimately permitted an unauthorized individual to gain access to secure areas inside the Mesa County Clerk and Recorder’s Office so that this person — fraudulently held out to be improperly titled as Gerald Wood, but who was later identified to actually be Conan Hayes — could participate in Mesa County’s trusted build with Tina Peters and Sandra Brown.”[70]
On November 30, 2022, Sandra Brown pled guilty to attempting to influence a public servant, a felony, and official misconduct, a misdemeanor, as part of a plea agreement that required her to testify against Tina Peters and her performance on the witness stand would play a factor in her eventual sentencing. Brown’s deal, which Judge Matthew Barrett did not decide whether to accept until sentencing, would allow her to serve up to 30 days in jail for the misdemeanor and would allow the felony conviction to be erased after two years if she complied with conditions he sets, such as requiring community service, for those two years. The judge agreed to those terms, as during her plea Brown stated “There were things going on that I should have questioned and I didn’t,” Brown told Judge Barrett.[71]
On March 3, 2023, Peters received a Mesa County jury trial for charges related to her video recording court proceedings of Brenda Knisley with an iPad on February 7, 2022, and her obstructing investigators who tried to execute a search warrant to seize her iPad with the video footage at the Main Street Bagels cafe the next day on February 8. During the trial, testimony and statements from Peters’ attorney revealed that Tammy Bailey was an alias that Peters had created for herself; during the time of the search warrant, Peters repeatedly had told investigators that the iPad did not belong to her and that she could not provide the password because it belonged to someone else named Tammy Bailey. The jury ultimately convicted her on a misdemeanor charge for obstruction of government operations, but acquitted her on the charge that she obstructed a peace officer.[72][42]
On April 10, 2023, the court sentenced Peters to four months of house arrest in which she was ordered to wear an ankle monitor, fined $786.35, and ordered to perform 120 hours of community service, which she planned to appeal.[73][74]
On April 28, 2023, Sandra Brown began her 30 day sentence for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor of official misconduct. Brown’s deal would allow her felony conviction of attempting to influence a public servant to be expunged after two years if she complies with the conditions set by Judge Matthew Barrett.[75]
On May 5, 2023, Peters was held in contempt of court for lying to district court Judge Matthew Barrett about recording court proceedings involving Belinda Knisley using her iPad on February 7, 2022. Eagle County District Judge Paul Dunkelman gave Peters a fine of $1,500.[41] On September 6, 2023, Peters pled not guilty to 3 counts of attempting to influence a public servant (Felony), conspiracy to commit attempting to influence a public servant (Felony), Criminal impersonation (Felony), 2 counts of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation (Felony), identity theft (Felony), first-degree official misconduct (Misdemeanor), Violation of duty (Misdemeanor), failing to comply with the secretary of state (Misdemeanor).[76] Her trial was pushed back to February 9, 2024,[77] with the jury selection process to take place on the two preceding days.[78]
On July 19, 2023, Tina Peters fired her attorney Harvey Steinberg and hired new attorneys, Douglas Richards and Madalia Maalik. They requested to push the trial to October 18-30, 2023.[79]
On October 4, 2023, the Colorado Office of Administrative Courts fined Peters $15,400 for violating the Fair Campaign Practice Act by failing to register as a candidate and by failing to file accurate campaign donations and expenditures while running for reelection for Mesa County Clerk and Recorder. Although she formally filed on January 13, 2022, the violations occurred between September 2021 to February 2022, before she dropped out of the race on February 14, 2023 to run and lose as a candidate for Secretary of State in the Colorado Republican primary.[39][40]
On November 13, 2023, Peters filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Denver, Colorado against the United States, US Attorney General Merrick Garland, 21st Judicial District Court Attorney Daniel Rubinstein, and Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold. The suit alleged that these government officials violated her constitutional rights by retaliating with investigations and charges against her for her alleged misconduct as an election official when she raised election integrity concerns in the 2020 General Election.[80]
On February 9, 2024 Peters was scheduled to go to court for her criminal case, but had fired her attorneys yet again, this time claiming to have COVID-19. Attorney Michael Edminister took over the case from Douglas Richards and other attorneys in the Richards Carrington law firm, making him the fifth attorney of record, and the fourth time her case has been postponed.[81] It has since been pushed back to July 19 through August 12, 2024.[82]
On May 20, 2024, US District Court Judge Nina Y. Wang dismissed Peters' motion to dismiss the criminal investigation citing a failure to state a claim, a lack of standing, and a lack of jurisdiction to dismiss the case. [83][84]
On June 21, 2024, the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals denied her appeal of that decision, with a unanimous 3-0 ruling affirming the lower court's decision.[85][86] Her court date is set for July 31.
Between the lines: The Trump loyalists who sought to access the records and rally to her cause included election denier Mike Lindell, MyPillow CEO, and Sherronna Bishop, who calls herself "America's Mom" and is a close ally of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert
- The judge repeatedly rejected the defense team's attempt to highlight falsities related to Dominion Voting Systems machines, though Peters' attorney suggested without evidence that the CIA was involved in the case against his client.
Concretely, a study by HighGround shows Gallego with a double-digit lead over Lake, getting 49.6% of the support compared to 38.6% for the Republican. Another 9.2% said they didn't know or refused to answer, while the remaining 2.6% said they would vote for another candidate.
"These polling numbers follow a disappointing primary performance where Lake greatly underperformed in a primary she was expected to dominate," the study said. It went on to say that Gallego is also "slightly outperforming (Vice President Kamala) Harris among Democrats, picking up 88.2% of the vote."
In contrast, Lake is underperforming Donald Trump by nearly five points, earning the support of 74.7% of Republican voters. Her trailing by 18 percentage points among independents (50.7% to 32.8%) add to the challenges she faces to take the senate seat.
"Iraq snapshot" (THE COMMON ILLS):
Most provocatively, Vance has suggested in a series of interviews this year that Trump should defy the Supreme Court if the justices invalidated the eThe episode is worth scrutinizing not just because the proposal is a key piece of Trump’s likely governing agenda if he wins in November. It also suggests Vance, whom Trump touts as a Yale-educated lawyer, is oblivious to the underlying legal and practical mechanics of this sweeping overhaul as well as the realities of today’s Supreme Court.
The fact is this proposal is almost certainly unlawful and unworkable — but that doesn’t mean the court would block it. The conservative supermajority on the Supreme Court has proved more than willing to contort itself to achieve Republican goals, so there’s no reason to assume any legal challenge to such a policy would result in a clash between Trump and the court.
If Vance isn’t ignorant of the law, then he is instead merely eager to play the role of demagogue and further inflame an already bitter political debate. Ultimately, neither scenario is ideal for a potential vice president.
On the merits, Schedule F is a controversial idea — one that would undermine the civil service system as it has existed for more than a century and severely impair the integrity and effectiveness of the federal government, with grave consequences.
Currently, the vast majority of federal employees who keep the government running are career civil servants with employment protections and who serve from one administration to the next regardless of party. This is a key part of the “deep state” that Trump and Vance want to eradicate; Schedule F would convert these workers into political appointees who could then be summarily fired by the president and replaced with partisans loyal only to Trump.
Vance was chosen under the assumption that they were headed
toward a landslide victory and therefore it really wouldn’t matter, even
by the standards of vice presidential picks. Running against an
81-year-old incumbent who struggled to string two sentences together,
Vance was probably a fine pick. Voters and the media weren’t really
going to focus on him; Democrats had bigger problems to worry about.
Vance would be fine.
Running against Harris and
not Biden, however, means that they are engaged in a real campaign. And
Vance’s weaknesses are far more glaring than they were previously. He is
a liability on several fronts: an inexperienced and off-putting
politician with views that are far outside the mainstream.
If Trump still had juice, that likely wouldn’t matter in a tight election because he would be sucking all of the attention away. But Trump isn’t doing that this cycle in the same way—because he is old.
A pair of surveys by Blueprint, the centrist Democratic pollster backed by Reid Hoffman, one taken July 21 - July 22, two days after Vance was announced as Donald Trump’s running mate, and then again two weeks later on August 4, showed Vance’s net favorability falling from -7 to -11 with fewer voters unsure either way. That’s similar to other public polling, which has also shown Vance making a poor first impression since joining the Republican ticket.
The main shift in how respondents viewed Vance: He’s become more and more identified with his particular brand of conservatism and less with his famed biography as an author, veteran, and politician. Presented with a list of options to describe Vance in August, the most common answers were “conservative,” “anti-woman,” and “weird,” while more positive options like “young,” “smart,” and “businessman” declined from July. The percentage calling him “extreme” shot up 13 points.
Yet another school bombed. Ramy Inocencio (CBS NEWS) notes that "at least four schools in Gaza City" were already bombed this week. While most outlets are going with five schools bombed in seven days, some aid agencies are saying it was seven schools bombed in the last seven days. Barbara Plett Usher and Thomas Mackintosh (BBC NEWS) add, "According to the United Nations, 477 out of 564 school buildings in Gaza had been directly hit or damaged as of 6 July, with more than a dozen targeted since." Wafaa Shurafa and Samy Magdy (AP) help with the count by noting that "at least 21 -schools have been attacked] since July 4 leaving hundreds dead, including women and children. " So we're looking at approximately 498 schools at least (adding BBC and AP's totals and remember there's an overlap of two days which is why I'm saying "approximately") 498 of 564 schools have been bombed during this never ending assault on Gaza. That's 88.297% of the schools in Gaza.
, Abeer Salman, Ibrahim Dahman, , and CNN) quote Francesca Albanese (UN Special Rapporteur for the Palestinian Territories stating that the Israeli government actions were "genociding the Palestinians one neighborhood at the time, one hospital at the time, one school at the time, one refugee camp at the time, one 'safe zone' at the time." Nagham Mohanna (THE NATIONAL) reports:
Sarah Esleem said she was looking for her father and brother, who had attended the fajr prayer in the mosque. She had been searching for them along with her mother and sisters, but without success.
“My father and brother are our pillars in life. We hope they are still alive and that we don’t lose them because our lives without them won’t be easy at all,” she told The National.
“I just want to understand why innocent civilians praying are being targeted in such a brutal way. Israel keeps claiming it has military targets, but that’s a lie, as everyone being killed is a civilian, mostly children and women,” she said.
Sofia Ferreira Santos (BBC NEWS) reports:
US Vice-President Kamala Harris has condemned the loss of civilian life in an Israeli air strike against a school building in Gaza on Saturday.
[. . .]
Ms Harris said "far too many" civilians had been killed "yet again"and reiterated calls for a hostage deal and a ceasefire, echoing comments made by the White House.
[. . .]
Speaking at a campaign event in Phoenix, Arizona, Ms Harris said Israel had a right to "go after Hamas" but also has "an important responsibility" to avoid civilian casualties.
The Democratic Party's presidential candidate also reiterated calls for a ceasefire and a hostage deal.
Vice President Kamala Harris has displayed greater empathy for the people of Gaza than both President Joe Biden and Former President Donald Trump, according to Salima Suswell, the founder and chief executive of the Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund. In a recent interview with NBC, Suswell praised Harris for her calls for a ceasefire and her efforts to ensure aid reaches Gaza, noting, “She has repeatedly called for a ceasefire and has shown deep empathy toward civilian life.”
The Black Muslim Leadership Council Fund, a 501(c)(4) organization, is known for its advocacy on behalf of the Black Muslim community in the United States. Established by Suswell, the fund focuses on a range of issues including social and criminal justice, economic equity, and environmental justice. The organization has been particularly vocal about the need for a balanced US foreign policy, especially concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Nada AlTaher (THE NATIONAL) reports, "Egypt has accused Israel of deliberately hindering Gaza ceasefire talks after an air strike on a school that killed more than 100 people and injured dozens of others on Saturday morning." Arpan Rai, Alexander Butler and Salma Ouaguira (INDEPENDENT) add, "The Iranian foreign ministry has condemned the attack and accused Israel of carrying out 'genocide and crimes against humanity'." IRAQI NEWS AGENCY notes:
Iraq condemned the Zionist aggression on the Al-Taba’een school in Gaza on Saturday.
According
to a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received by the
Iraqi News Agency (INA), the ministry expressed its strong condemnation
of the "barbaric Zionist attack" that targeted the school in the Daraj
neighborhood of Gaza City early this morning.
And ALJAZEERA notes:
- Action for Humanity said Israel has attacked seven schools in Gaza in the past seven days and said the UK cannot continue to export arms to Israel “while there is a clear and evident risk they could be used to violate international law”.
- Medical Aid for Palestinians said that further statements of concern or condemnation from the UK government will “not be enough” and that civilians in Gaza need “decisive and immediate action” to end their humanitarian catastrophe.
- Islamic Relief said it was “horrified” and “appalled” at the “massacre of dozens of civilians at one of the school shelters where we have been distributing daily hot meals to displaced families”. It said that Israel’s policy of displacing civilians, denying them aid and then attacking the schools they shelter in is “completely inhumane”.
Algeria has called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to take place on Tuesday after an Israeli strike on a Gaza school killed about 100 people at the weekend, according to state media.
The request was made "based on the recent dangerous developments in the occupied Palestinian territories," including the school strike, the Algerian Press Service said.
The strike on Gaza city's Al Tabaeen school early on Saturday morning killed about 100 people and wounded hundreds more, according to local authorities, prompting renewed outrage at continuing attacks against civilians in the enclave.
Algeria's request was submitted in consultation with Palestinian authorities and has support from other Security Council members, APS added.
Mr. Biden said "it's still possible" that a Gaza cease-fire deal can be reached before the end of his term. Last month, when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Washington, the president urged him to accept a cease-fire deal with Hamas.
In a statement issued after the July 26 meeting with Netanyahu, the White House said Mr. Biden communicated "the need to close the remaining gaps, finalize the deal as soon as possible, bring the hostages home, and reach a durable end to the war in Gaza."
"The plan I put together, endorsed by the G7, endorsed by the U.N. Security Council, et cetera, is still viable," Mr. Biden told Costa. "And I'm working literally every single day – and my whole team – to see to it that it doesn't escalate into a regional war. But it easily can."
John Kirby, coordinator for strategic communications at the White House National Security Council, told reporters on Wednesday that "we are as close as we think we have ever been" to negotiating a cease-fire.
"The
gaps are narrow enough that they can be closed. What we're talking
about here is recognizing the fact that we've come an awful long way,"
Kirby said during the Wednesday briefing. "There is a good proposal
before both sides, and they need to both accept that proposal so we can
get this in place."
- Truest statement of the week
- A note to our readers
- Gaza
- Media: We usually get our twists and turns from TV
- Book Talk (Stan, Rebecca, Ava and C.I.)
- Book List
- The continued attack on women and girls in Iraq
- Tweet of the week
- Idiot of the Week
- The Olympic moment we'll remember forever
- Best DAILY SHOW clip of the week
- News video of the week
- This edition's playlist
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The Mortgage Wall1 day ago
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