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Emails, Texts Shed New Light on How Inept State Officials Were in Responding to Flood of HB2 Critics

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North Carolina Commerce Department Officials, Governor’s Office Struggled to Defend HB2 in the Days Following Passage of the Anti-Trans ‘Bathroom Bill’

Recently released emails from the North Carolina Department of Commerce show officials struggling to counter intense criticism in the days following passage of HB2, a state law banning transgender individuals from using public facilities consistent with their gender identity.

In an effort to calm negative reaction to the law, state Commerce Department officials sent out an email titled, “Myths vs Facts: What New York Times, Huffington Post and other media outlets aren’t saying about common-sense privacy law.” The document attempts to minimize the impact and implications of the law, telling business that they “are not limited by this bill. Private individuals, companies and universities can adopt new or keep existing nondiscrimination policies.”

One displeased recipient responded, “This type of message should be sent by political campaigns, not taxpayer funded agencies,” according to the Charlotte Observer, which obtained the emails through an information request.

In a March 29 email to North Carolina Commerce Secretary John Skvarla (photo, second from right), NCDC Chief of Staff Cecilia Holden recommended this approach when addressing the concerns of PayPal. The financial services tech giant had recently announced plans to base their new global operations center in the Tar Heel state. Holden wrote, “Each company can decide what works best for it as a company so nothing has changed for them. Did you share that with them? If not, maybe you should.” Holden concluded by adding a smiley face emoji.

The email blast and other attempts at damage control failed. On April 5, PayPal announced they had canceled the planned expansion. No formal notification was given to blindsided North Carolina officials, who had hawked the jobs growth on the governor’s website. State officials learned about the decision only when news broke on the internet, which us unsurprising given Paypal’s prior attempts. The day of the HB2 vote, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts (photo, second from left) desperately tried to get someone in the governor’s office to talk with Paypal, which was very concerned about the anti-LGBT legislation. “PayPal wants to call Gov. McCrory but no one is picking up phone,” she ultimately texted the city’s lobbyist. No one ever spoke with them.

In mid April, NC Commerce Dept. Secretary Skvarla told reporters, “HB2 will not impact job growth.” He added, “At the end of the day I don’t see a concern.” A recent Williams Institute study shows HB2 will cost North Carolina well over 1250 jobs and $5 billion annually.

Criticism flooded in from all over. James Blair, a managing director for site selection firm Navigator Consulting wrote to officials, “We are concerned about any legislation that North Carolina would put in place and defend by calling it ‘common sense’ privacy law,” adding that the North Carolina General assembly “continues to legislate its interpretation of moral values rather than to defend the individual rights of your state’s citizens.”

Novelist Robert J. Crane, known for the popular book series “Girl in the Box,” wrote an email on March 26 voicing his intention not to do business with the state. “If this is the law the people of NC wanted passed it’s unfortunate due to the dramatic job loss and economic toll it will take on your state’s economy.”

Intense pressure to repeal the law has been building steadily since passage of the bill on March 23. Deutsche Bank canceled a planned North Carolina expansion. Hulu, Fox and A&E announced they would no longer produce programming in the state. Several musicians, including Pearl Jam, Bruce Springsteen, and Ringo Starr have canceled scheduled concert appearances in protest.

The U.S. Justice Department has filed suit in federal court to block enforcement of the bill, calling it a clear violation of the Civil Rights Act.

 

Photo: March 13, announcing PayPal’s move to North Carolina, left to right: Mecklenburg County Commission Chairman Trevor Fuller, Charlotte Mayor Jennifer Roberts, Senior VP Global Ops for PayPal John McCabe, Gov. Pat McCrory, Commerce Secretary John Skvarla, and NC Chamber of Commerce president Bob Morgan.
Image via Facebook

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Fox News Host Suggests Trump ‘Force’ Court to Throw Him in Jail – by Quoting Him

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April 19, 2024

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The Fox News host who targeted a juror serving on Donald Trump’s criminal New York trial is now suggesting the ex-president should violate his gag order and “force” the court to throw him in jail, by quoting the Fox News host.

Jesse Watters came under fire earlier this week for profiling juror number two, sharing possibly identifying information published by a myriad of reporters but then using that information to pass judgment on her ability to serve.

“I’m not so sure about juror number two,” Watters concluded on Fox News.

Jurors, at the judge’s direction, were to remain anonymous, for their protection and the protection of the trial.

The judge excused her, after she said she felt she was not able to be impartial because friends and family were calling her asking if she had been chosen to serve on the Trump trial, after the media blitz.

New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan admonished the press for reporting the information, but some news outlets appeared to ignore his warning.

Watters on Wednesday “did a segment with a jury consultant, revealing details about people who had been seated on the jury and questioning whether some were ‘stealth liberals’ who would be out to convict Trump,” the Associated Press reported.

READ MORE: Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

Trump later posted Watters’ quote on his Truth Social platform, leading some, including New York prosecutors, to ask the judge to cite him for allegedly breaking his gag order.

Judge Merchan ordered Trump to not mention witnesses, jurors, prosecutors, court staff, or the family members of prosecutors and court staff, CNN has reported.

New York prosecutors told Juge Merchan Trump has violated the gag order at least ten times.

“Prosecutor Christopher Conroy described the ‘most disturbing’ example as a social media message Trump posted on Wednesday evening quoting a Fox News host as saying, ‘They are catching undercover Liberal Activists lying to the Judge in order to get on the Trump Jury,'” Politico reports.

That host was Jesse Watters.

RELATED: ‘Afraid and Intimidated’: Trump Trial Juror Targeted by Fox News Dismissed

Friday afternoon, Watters appeared to egg Trump on, urging the ex-president to violate the gag order.

“I would make them put me in jail,” Watters said on Fox News. “I would have a tweet about something perhaps I said on ‘The Five’ or ‘Jesse Watters Primetime,’ and I would force them to throw me in jail.”

Watch Watters’ remark below or at this link.

 

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Gaetz: ‘Corrupt’ Republicans Could ‘Take a Bribe’ and Throw House to Dems, Blocking Trump Run

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April 19, 2024

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U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) says some of his fellow House Republicans would “take a bribe” to throw the razor-thin GOP majority to the Democrats if a far-right faction calls up a motion to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, allowing Democrats to hand the gavel to the Minority Leader, Hakeem Jeffries. he warned if that happens, Democrats would immediately declare Trump ineligible to be President, pack the U.S. Supreme Court, and pass numerous laws like the American Rescue Plan.

“I do believe in a one seat majority there could be one or two or three of my colleagues who would take a bribe in one form or another in order to deprive the Republicans of a majority at all,” Gaetz said Friday on his podcast (video below.)

He added, “the risk that one or two of my corrupt Republican colleagues might take a bribe, take a walk, feign an ailment and flip this thing to the Democrats is a risk that is too high for me at this time.”

Gaetz’s fellow far-right Florida Republican member of Congress, Anna Paulina Luna, told listeners, “I heard that when, if and when the motion vacate is introduced, that there will be immediate resignations of a couple of more moderate members of Congress. And in the event that that happens, that ultimately means it does go to a Democrat speaker.”

RELATED: Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) last month filed a “motion to vacate,” which she can use at any time to force a vote to oust the GOP Speaker, Mike Johnson. U.S. Rep. Tim Massie (R-KY) and just today, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) has signed on as co-sponsors.

Congressman Gaetz told listeners if Democrats do take the House through a force vote to remove Johnson, Democrats would “be declaring Donald Trump an insurrectionist and setting up a barrier to him being able to become the president United States.”

“That’ll be their leadoff hitter, and then the chaser to that shot will be a massive spending package that looks a lot more like the American Rescue Plan. They will blow past every concept of every cap ever imagined. You’ll be looking at Universal Basic Income, you could be looking at packing the Supreme Court.”

Watch a short clip of Gaetz’s remarks below or at this link.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

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Jeffries Vows Democrats Will Ensure Ukraine Aid Passes as Johnson Defectors Grow

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12 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries vowed Friday the majority of Democrats will support Republicans’ Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and Gaza foreign aid legislation as Republican Speaker Mike Johnson lost support of another member of his conference to a faction determined to oust him.

“Democrats will provide a majority of our majority as it relates to funding Israel, humanitarian assistance, Ukraine, and our allies in the Indo Pacific,” Minority Leader Jeffries said. “It remains to be seen what Republicans will do in terms of meeting the national security needs of the American people, but it was important for House Democrats to ensure that the national security bills are going to be considered.”

Despite Republicans having a one-vote majority, more Democrats on Friday voted to move the critical and long-awaited foreign aid bills forward than did Republicans.

READ MORE: ‘Stop Bringing Up Nazis and Hitler’: Marjorie Taylor Greene Smacked Down by Democrats

The 316-94 vote included 165 Democrats and 151 Republicans voting yes, and 55 Republicans and 39 Democrats voting no.

Axios’ Juliegrace Brufke posted the list of Republicans voting against their party’s legislation.

Calling it a “rare” moment in modern congressional history to have to rely on opposition party votes to pass legislation, BBC News reports Speaker Johnson’s “hold on power is tenuous, and the legislators who oppose him – and his bid to provide aid to Ukraine – occupy some key positions within the House’s power structure.”

Amid the procedural vote to move the foreign aid funding bills forward, U.S. Rep. Paul Gosar, a far-right Republican of Arizona, announced he is joining Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), and Congressman Tim Massie (R-KY) in formally announcing their will vote to oust Speaker Johnson.

Gosar, like Greene, is reportedly a Christian nationalist. In 2022 CNN reported his “lengthy ties to White nationalists, [a] pro-Nazi blogger and far-right fringe received little pushback for years.”

RELATED: ‘Repercussions’: Democrats and Republicans Stand Against ‘Pro-Putin’ House GOP Faction

“We’ve been very honest in our assessment of the situation from the beginning,” Jeffries on Friday also declared. “At the appropriate time as House Democrats, we will have a conversation about how to deal with any hypothetical motion to vacate.”

“Moscow Marjorie Taylor Greene, Massie, and Gosar are quite a group. But central to our conversation is to make sure that the national security legislation in totality is passed by the House of Representatives.”

Watch the videos above or at this link.

 

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