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New Kentucky GOP Governor Fulfills Campaign Promise To Kim Davis

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Kentucky’s new Republican governor wasted no time in fulfilling a promise to county clerk Kim Davis.

After Kim Davis was elected Rowan County Clerk last year, she worked hard, from January to July, begging the state legislature to change the law and remove the requirement that the name and signature of the county clerk be included on a marriage license in order for it to be legal.

She failed.

Davis ultimately went to jail rather than comply with that law, and her name has never appeared on any marriage license of a same-sex couple, which she believes would be the same as saying she condones same-sex marriage.

Now, Kim Davis will never again need to worry about having her name and signature affixed to a marriage license of a same-sex couple.

Newly elected Governor Matt Bevin (photo, center, flanked by Davis and her husband) has kept his campaign promise to Davis, and just issued an executive order to circumvent state law. Now, even though Bevin, some say, does not the the legal authority to do so, marriage licenses will not have the county clerk’s name and signature on them in the state of Kentucky.

Many believe Bevin, who is only the second Republican to be elected governor in Kentucky in over 40 years, won because of his vocal support for Kim Davis.

Bevin, a Tea Party Republican who has never before held elected office, issued five executive orders today, including one that revokes the right of convicted felons who have completed their sentences to vote, a right granted by his Democratic predecessor.

“While I have been a vocal supporter of the restoration of rights, for example, it is an issue that must be addressed through the legislature,” Bevin told reporters today, ignoring that the same applies to marriage licenses.

Bevin had advocated for Davis while running for governor, visited her when she was in jail, and publicly asked outgoing Governor Steve Beshear to change the marriage license forms to accommodate Davis. Beshear refused, rightly stating that state lawmakers determine what must appear on that document.

In his first press conference after being elected, Bevin promised one of his first acts would be to make the changes Kim Davis had requested.

“One thing I will take care of right away is we will remove the names of the county clerks from the marriage form,” Bevin had promised.

 

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News

Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’

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March 30, 2023

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Donald Trump’s attorneys were notified Thursday afternoon a Manhattan grand jury had voted to indict him on felony charges related to his alleged hush money payoff of a porn star he reported slept with.

The ex-president’ attorney recently said if indicted Trump would travel to New York to turn himself in.

The Office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has just issued a strongly-worded statement saying it is “coordinating” with Trump’s attorneys for his “surrender.”

“This evening we contacted Mr. Trump’s attorney to coordinate his surrender to the Manhattan D.A.’s Office for arraignment on a Supreme Court indictment, which remains under seal. Guidance will be provided when the arraignment date is selected,” the statement reads.

READ MORE: ‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

The Daily Beast’s Jose Pagliery posted the statement to Twitter.

NBC News explains the process, noting he is expected to be arraigned next week.

“After the indictment, Trump will be arrested and taken into custody. He will likely have a mug shot and fingerprints taken,” NBC reports. “Trump will then appear in court to be arraigned, where he will hear charges and enter a plea. Two sources familiar with the situation told NBC News that the former president is likely to be arraigned next week. Trump will either be jailed or released while pre-trial hearings take place.”

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'INDICTED FOR HIS BEHAVIOR'

‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

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1 hour ago

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March 30, 2023

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Just past 5:00 PM ET The New York Times broke the news that Donald Trump, the ex-president, had been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury on felony charges.

It is a historic moment.

Legal experts are weighing in to help guide Americans through an event that has never before happened in this country.

Former Watergate prosecutor Nick Ackerman says the fact that this is the first time in U.S. history a president is facing criminal charges is itself a problem.

“I think it would have not been a novel event,” Ackerman said on MSNBC, “if we had done this 49 years ago with Richard Nixon, and he had not been pardoned, this will not be a big event [that] it is today.”

READ MORE: New Poll Sends Trump Damning Message About 2024 if He’s Criminally Indicted

“Everybody should be held accountable,” Ackerman added, citing former Trump attorney Michael Cohen’s earlier remarks. Cohen testified repeatedly before the Manhattan grand jury that indicted Trump late Thursday afternoon after a three-hour session.

Ackerman lamented that despite over 30 people being indicted during Watergate, “Richard Nixon was pardoned, he wasn’t held accountable.”

“I think this is very important,” Ackerman continued, “establishing a principle, a line in the sand, that even if you’re the President of the United States, and you commit a crime, you can’t stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and just shoot somebody.”

Ackerman was referring to Trump’s infamous comments during the 2016 election, when he bragged he could “stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters.”

Attorney and civil rights activist Maya Wiley, also on MSNBC, said, “It’s important and sobering that we had somebody who had the highest office of this country who has now ben indicted for his behavior, his acts, in order to win that office, but also faces what are more shoes that will drop, I believe.”

“It is a sobering moment for this country, that we are witnessing this happened to somebody who was entrusted with such power who has now had a jury of his peers, because that is what a grand jury also is, say we believe he had to face the music.”

READ MORE: Here’s How Five Republicans in Congress Are Responding to the Mass Shooting of 3 Children and 3 Adults in Nashville (Video)

Former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, now a professor of law, called this a “moment where we would do well to seriously assess who we are as Americans and who we are not as Americans, because we re all so familiar with Donald Trump’s tactics.”

Watch the video above or at this link.

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News

Donald Trump Indicted by Manhattan Grand Jury on Felony Charges: NYT

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2 hours ago

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March 30, 2023

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Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, has been indicted by a Manhattan grand jury investigating his role in a hush money payoff scheme that allegedly was designed to aid his election chances in 2016, according to multiple news reports.

“Mr. Trump will be the first former president to face criminal charges. The precise charges are not yet known, but the case is focused on a hush-money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign,” The New York Times was first to report. “The unprecedented case against Trump will have wide-ranging implications.”

CNN, citing sources, also reports Trump has been indicted.

Trump’s attorney, Susan Necheles, confirms to CBS News’ Graham Kates that the ex-president has been indicted.

NEW –
Manhattan District Attorney’s Office Says It Is Coordinating With Trump to ‘Surrender’
‘You Can’t Stand on Fifth Avenue and Just Shoot Somebody’: Donald Trump Indicted – Legal Experts Respond

This is a breaking news and developing story.

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