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Newt Gingrich Sued By Band “Survivor” For Illegal “Eye Of The Tiger” Use

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Newt Gingrich has just been sued by the band “Survivor,” for the campaign’s illegal use of the song, “Eye of the Tiger,” according to reports in Variety and TMZ.

Variety’s Ted Johnson writes:

One of the members of the band Survivor has sued Newt Gingrich and his campaign for unauthorized use of the song “Eye of the Tiger” at campaign events.

The suit, first reported by TMZ, is only the latest litigation that musicians have taken against candidates, typically Republicans. During the last cycle, Jackson Browne sued the McCain campaign over the use of his music in a commercial spot, and Tom Petty’s attorneys sent Michele Bachmann’s campaign a cease and desist letter last year demanding that she stop using “American Girl.”

This is also not the first time that Gingrich has been hit with legal threats: Last year, an attorney repping Steve Perry of Journey sent Gingrich’s campaign a cease and desist letter to get them to stop playing “Don’t Stop Believin.”

TMZ adds:

Rude Music Inc. — owned by a member of the band Survivor — filed the suit today in federal court in Illinois … claiming Newt has jacked the song made famous in “Rocky III” to push his political agenda.

According to the lawsuit, Newt has been using the song at various political events since 2009.

In the suit, Rude Music claims Gingrich used the song at the Conservative Political Action Conference in 2009, 2010 and 2011 … as well as the Southern Republican Leadership Conference in 2010.

RMI claims Gingrich — along with his campaign team, Newt 2012, Inc. — recently  usedthe song during a campaign event in Doylestown, Pennsylvania … claiming, “Mr. Gingrich entered the packed Moose Lodge for a speech as the song ‘pulsed,’ according to the the Newt 2012, Inc. website.”

RMI is also suing the American Conservative Union — claiming it has republished various clips featuring Newt and the “Eye of the Tiger” song without permission.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ynr43Tu2ud8%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

Perhaps Gingrich would like to contact Judy Collins to license her music, instead? It would be more appropriate:

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XHwahpfhJHo%3Fversion%3D3%26hl%3Den_US

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No Regrets: Tuberville to Continue Blocking 4-Star Generals While Releasing Hold on Other Officers

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U.S. Senator Tommy Tuberville (R-AL), facing mounting pressure from Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer as well as his fellow Republican colleagues, on Tuesday announced he is releasing his near-10-month blockade more than 450 top U.S. Military officers whose promotions must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate — but he will continue to block all four-star officers, among the most important to the nation’s defense.

“I’m releasing everybody. I still got a hold on, I think, 11 four-star generals. Everybody else is completely released from me.” Tuberville told reporters Tuesday afternoon, NBC News reported. “But other than that, it’s over.”

The Alabama Republican Senator told Punchbowl News’ Andrew Desiderio he has no regrets that he held up the promotions, pay increases, and life plans of over 450 U.S. Military officers and their families.

READ MORE: ‘Years to Recover’: Tuberville’s 300+ Military Holds to Have Long Impact Says Top Biden Navy Pick

“We didn’t get the win that we wanted. We’ve still got the bad [abortion] policy. We tried to stand up for the taxpayers,” Tuberville added.

Fox News Radio’s Ryan Schmelz also reports “Tuberville says he has no regrets about his tactics used in combating the DOD’s military abortion policy and responds to those saying he caved.”

Those eleven four-star generals, according to Desiderio, include the Commander of Pacific Air Forces, Commander of US Pacific Fleet, Air Component Command for INDOPACOM, Commander for Air Combat Command, the head of the Navy’s Nuclear Propulsion Program, the head of Northern Command, the head of U.S. Cyber Command, along with the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Vice Chief of Space Operations, and Vice Chief of Naval Operations.

Just last Thursday The Washington Examiner reported Tuberville “has insisted he will not be lifting his hold on every nominee and would be still enforcing holds on Biden nominees he deems ‘woke.'”

Tuberville back in August revealed his plan to target what he called “woke” Biden military nominations, claiming he was doing so to keep politics out of the military. The Alabama freshman Senator had teamed up with a right-wing dark money group, The American Accountability Foundation. AAF’s founder in 2021 told Fox News he wanted to throw “a big handful of sand” in the gears of the Biden administration.

READ MORE: ‘Jaw Dropping’: Democratic Senator Slams Tuberville’s ‘Open’ Talk About ‘White Supremacy’

“I see the group right now as getting up every morning and with the goal of making it as difficult as possible for the Biden administration and their allies on the Hill to implement their agenda,” said AAF’s founder, Tom Jones.

Tuberville on social media had promoted AAF’s attacks on individual military officers, which targeted one officer who allegedly “joined a ‘Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion panel,’” and one who “celebrated Ruth Bader Ginsburg.”

Sen. Tuberville, who has a history of defending white nationalism, also reportedly had emailed out those posts, which attack career military officers’ comments supporting LGBTQ equality, embracing diversity, pledging to address systemic racism, and more.

In May, Tuberville declared white nationalists are simply “Americans.”  He also said, “I look at a white nationalist as a, as a Trump Republican. That’s what we’re called all the time.”

Tuberville’s blockade was allegedly a response to the Pentagon’s policy of reimbursing service members forced to travel out of state to obtain abortion services. Tuberville opposes abortion. He admitted anger that Pentagon chiefs refused to budge or negotiate with him on the policy, which was put in place after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. Some experts have said the policy was legally required to ensure all members of the U.S. Armed Forces have equal access to health care.

But even if Tuberville had succeeded in forcing the Pentagon to scrap its policy, he would not have reduced the number of abortions service members have. He would only have reduced an already negligible dollar amount the military incurred on travel and related expenses.

READ MORE: Tuberville ‘Aiding and Abetting Communist Regimes’ US Military Chief Charges, Leading to Experts Slamming GOP Senator

 

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‘Aiding and Abetting’: Speaker Johnson Blasted for Blurring Faces of J6 Participants

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Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson is once again under fire, this time for intentionally blurring the faces of people caught on camera in the massive 40,000 hours of January 6 videos he ordered to be released to the public.

Speaker Johnson “said Republicans are blurring out the faces of people on the Jan. 6 tapes ‘because we don’t want them to be retaliated against and be charged the DOJ,'” Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman first reported Tuesday (video below).

Federal law enforcement agencies have used those videos to identify, arrest, charge, prosecute, and convict hundreds of criminals who acted unlawfully during the January 6, 2021 insurrection. The FBI set up a public tip line specifically for their Capitol investigation. While not everyone who was on Capitol grounds acted illegally, the videos provided evidence of wrongdoing. Countless social media users worked together to help identify some of the participants, as was detailed in NBC News’ justice reporter Ryan J. Reilly’s book, “Sedition Hunters.”

During his remarks Tuesday Johnson also claimed the U.S. House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack was “a partisan exercise” that produced a “biased report” and “hid some of the important evidence.”

READ MORE: Florida GOP Chair Could Face ‘Censure or Discipline’ After Rape Allegation and Three-Way Sex Claim

The Speaker’s comments are in direct conflict with his recent statement defending his march toward an impeachment investigation of President Joe Biden.

Johnson, who frequently reminds reporters he is “a constitutional attorney,” was labeled by The New York Times recently as “a key architect of his party’s objections to certifying President Biden’s victory” in the 2020 election.

Last week, in promoting what some critics – and the White House – say are House Republicans’ baseless allegations against the President, Johnson also told reporters Republicans are “the rule of law team.”

The Speaker was quickly criticized for, as former GOP congressman Joe Walsh said, “aiding and abetting.”

“The party of the police; the party of law and order,” mocked MSNBC’s Mehdi Hasan. Top national security attorney Brad Moss similarly wrote, “Party of ‘law and order.'”

“The House Republican Speaker doesn’t want people who broke the law on January 6 to be charged with a crime … and he said this publicly,” notes MSNBC columnist Michael A. Cohen.

READ MORE: RNC Chair Falsely Claims ‘Biden White House’ Killed Hunter Laptop Story in 2020

“Wait. I thought the GOP said they were just tourists? Show their faces or admit they weren’t orderly tourists,” wrote former U.S. Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D-NH).

Watch the videos of Johnson above or at this link.

 

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Florida GOP Chair Could Face ‘Censure or Discipline’ After Rape Allegation and Three-Way Sex Claim

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Christian Ziegler, the Donald Trump-endorsed Florida Republican Party chair who is reportedly under criminal investigation for alleged rape, and had a consensual three-way sexual relationship with his wife and the woman who is now accusing him, could face some form of discipline from party leadership if he does not resign.

Florida Republican Party Vice Chair Evan Power is calling for a special meeting to consider Ziegler’s future, according to Florida Politics.

Ziegler, who is opposed to the special meeting which could decide his fate with the party, wants to wait until the board’s scheduled meeting in February to discuss the allegations against him. He has refused to resign.

“In an act of respect for the Chairman, this evening, I phoned him to request he call an executive board meeting,” Power wrote in an email to board members. “He declined and said the matters could be taken up in February. It is the opinion of the many members that it is not an acceptable timetable.”

READ MORE: ‘Given My Experience’: Gaetz Waiting to ‘Render Judgment’ on Florida GOP Chair Accused of Rape

“Because of my role as Vice Chairman, I now offer the following call for a Special Meeting with an option for each of you to sign on to,” Power added. “I hope that we are able to move the Party forward in a positive manner as the 2024 elections are the most important elections we face in my lifetime. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to reply to this email or give me a call or text.”

Ziegler’s wife Bridget Ziegler is an an elected school board member and a co-founder of the anti-LGBTQ Moms for Liberty, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated as an anti-government extremist group. She told police “that she and her husband had previously engaged in a ‘sexual encounter’ with the woman. The following day, [Christian] Ziegler was interviewed by police with his attorney present. He told them the encounter with the woman was consensual and said he’d taken a video of it,” according to the Florida Center for Government Accountability’s Trident news site.

Power has “as laid out an agenda for a meeting” that “includes potential censure or discipline for Ziegler following party rules. That includes determining if Ziegler must be deemed unfit for office and whether his actions have hurt the ‘good name of the RPOF,'” Florida Politics adds. He also wants the board to discuss suspending Ziegler’s responsibilities, pay, and holding a no-confidence vote.

READ MORE: ‘Authoritarianism’: Florida Says Its Public Schools Exist to ‘Convey Government’s Message’

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