Month: November 2018

Nine individuals were arrested Thursday for their alleged roles in a 2017 voter fraud scheme involving the municipal election in a Texas border town.

These arrests were part of an ongoing investigation into a coordinated effort by political workers to recruit people who would fraudulently claim residential addresses so they could vote in specific races and influence the results of the Edinburg city election held last year, according to information provided by the Office of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“Illegal voting, particularly an organized illegal voting scheme orchestrated by political operatives, is an affront to democracy and results in corruption at the highest level,” said Paxton in a prepared statement.

“Each illegal vote silences the voice of a law-abiding registered voter,” added Paxton. “My office will continue to do everything in its power to uncover illegal voting schemes and bring to justice those who try to manipulate the outcome of elections in Texas.”

The nine Hidalgo County residents arrested were Guadalupe Sanchez Garza, Jerry Gonzalez, Jr., Araceli Gutierrez, Belinda Rodriguez, Brenda Rodriguez, Felisha Yolanda Rodriguez, Rosendo Rodriguez, Cynthia Tamez, and Ruby Tamez. Online jail records show bond was set at $20,000 for both Garza and Ruby Tamez. A $10,000 bond was set for Gonzalez, Gutierrez, Belinda Rodriguez, Brenda Rodriguez, Rosendo Rodriguez, and Cynthia Tamez. Felisha Yolanda Rodriguez’s bail was set at $1,000.

The Office of Hidalgo County District Attorney Ricardo Rodriguez will prosecute the cases.

In May, four other county residents were charged with voter fraud related to the 2017 Edinburg election. One of the accused was also a convicted human smuggler. Another was only charged with making a false statement on a voter registration form, a Class B misdemeanor. In June, they charged a fifth person with two counts of illegal voting.

To date, a total of 14 people stand accused of violating election laws in the 2017 Edinburg city election.

In Texas, it is a state jail felony to vote in an election using fraudulent ballot application information. The crime is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

More arrests are expected in Hidalgo County over last year’s purported illegal voting scheme in Edinburg. The Texas Rangers are assisting the AG’s Election Fraud Unit in this investigation.

Hidalgo County is one of several hotbeds of alleged voter fraud activity where the AG’s office has lent support and assistance to investigations conducted by local district attorneys. In 2015, newly sworn-in Hidalgo County DA Rodriguez vowed to curb public corruption.

This summer, a Hidalgo County grand jury indicted a non-U.S. citizen on a charge of illegal voting for marking a ballot without a voter’s consent in a June 2016 Hidalgo city runoff election. Two of her fellow campaign workers were implicated in the alleged voter assistance scheme. All stand accused of taking advantage of elderly and/or disabled voters.

Earlier this year, Paxton announced a significant voter fraud initiative in the adjacent Starr County where DA Omar Escobar pledged to crack down on voter fraud after questionable registrant records and mail-in ballot applications surfaced. Officials made seven arrests.

Recently, four North Texas women, who allegedly belonged to a paid voter fraud ring in Tarrant County, were indicted on 30 counts of voter fraud following an investigation by the AG’s office. Purportedly, they sought to influence the outcome of certain down-ballot candidate races in the 2016 March Democratic Party primary election. Court documents filed by Paxton’s office accused the county’s former Democratic Party executive director of funding the voter fraud ring’s criminal activities.

The Rio Grande Valley area also made national news before the 2018 election when the Public Interest Legal Foundation released a complaint to county and state officers regarding “altered” voter registration forms circulated by the Texas Democratic Party that were directed to noncitizen residents. The applications featured pre-printed claims of U.S. citizenship. The Texas Secretary of State referred the matter to Attorney General Paxton for further investigation. ProPublica reported that Paxton’s office “does not comment on potential investigations.”

Follow Merrill Hope, a member of the original Breitbart Texas team, on Facebook and Twitter.

Matthew Whitaker’s tenure as acting attorney general may only be able to be measured in hours, but he’s already made a huge impact in how asylum-seekers are processed at the southern border.

According to a new interim final rule from the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, those who enter the country illegally and are captured will no longer be able to claim asylum and will instead be returned to their country of origin on an expedited basis.

“Consistent with our immigration laws, the President has the broad authority to suspend or restrict the entry of aliens into the United States if he determines it to be in the national interest to do so,” Whitaker said in a joint statement with DHS Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.

“Today’s rule applies this important principle to aliens who violate such a suspension or restriction regarding the southern border imposed by the President by invoking an express authority provided by Congress to restrict eligibility for asylum.

“Our asylum system is overwhelmed with too many meritless asylum claims from aliens who place a tremendous burden on our resources, preventing us from being able to expeditiously grant asylum to those who truly deserve it. Today, we are using the authority granted to us by Congress to bar aliens who violate a Presidential suspension of entry or other restriction from asylum eligibility.”

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Translating that out of federalese, this is basically saying that those who cross into America illegally and then are captured cannot claim asylum as pursuant to the Immigration and Nationality Act — the same act that the president used to craft the travel ban, which was ultimately upheld by the Supreme Court.

That law holds that “(w)henever the President finds that the entry of any aliens or of any class of aliens into the United States would be detrimental to the interests of the United States, he may by proclamation, and for such period as he shall deem necessary, suspend the entry of all aliens or any class of aliens as immigrants or nonimmigrants, or impose on the entry of aliens any restrictions he may deem to be appropriate.”

The only way to gain political asylum, therefore, is to present oneself at a port of entry to the United States.

The New York Times crystalized the arguments for and against the move in their article on the new rule.

“Lawyers for immigration advocacy organizations said they violated a founding principle of federal asylum: to judge each person’s asylum claim on its own merits. And the lawyers said federal and international law made it clear that the United States must provide immigrants the opportunity to claim asylum regardless of whether they entered the country legally or illegally,” the Thursday article read.

“Trump administration officials defended the new approach, saying the president is responding to statistics that show that most migrants who seek asylum are eventually denied — but not before many of them skip their court hearings and choose to illegally stay in the United States.”

That last part is generally true. Few asylum seekers are able to establish a credible fear based on political persecution in their home country, which is why their application is typically denied. If they do have a realistic claim, presenting themselves at a port of entry is the proper way of doing things.

As for the legality of that, Bill Hing, general counsel at the Immigrant Legal Resource Center, told Newsweek that, “U.S. and international law does not specify that you have to go to a certain port.”

Whether or not this stands is going to be a matter of considerable debate. Whether it specifies you have to go to a certain port or not, under American law, seems again like it would be subject to the Immigration and Nationality Act — although that will certainly be a matter for the courts.

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As for international law, that and $35 will usually get you an oil change. While there are obviously certain international legal norms everyone is expected to follow, the unsecured southern border represents an especial challenge to the United States. The abuse of the asylum process by individuals who have chosen to broke the law to get into the country in the first place, thus placing a strain on a system that already struggles to deal with legitimate asylum claims, should be an overriding concern in this case.

The Trump administration has also said those illegally in the country could apply for two other smaller programs as opposed to asylum, which would technically satisfy our treaty obligations. Whether treaty signatories buy this, and whether it ends up meaning anything, again remains to be seen.

No matter how this shakes out, it’s a sign that Whitaker is putting his stamp on the office posthaste — even if one gets the idea that President Trump had more than a little to do with the formulation of this policy. Say what you will about that, but Sessions certainly wasn’t willing to take this step.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

As Tuesday night turned into Wednesday morning and the results began shaking out, it looked like Florida Gov. Rick Scott, a Republican, would hold on to a slim upset over incumbent Sen. Bill Nelson, a Democrat.

Then, in one of America’s most corrupt areas, 15,000 ballots suddenly appeared, as if by magic. And lo and behold, county officials won’t let party officials into the room while they’re being counted, a violation of the law.

“Scott says that 15,000 new votes were found in Palm Beach County, that had not been accounted for. In Broward County, Scott says that 78,840 additional election votes have been counted since polls closed,” WFTS-TV reported.

Now, Scott is suing over the ballot-counting practices. He’s also using his authority as governor to call on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate.

In a speech, Scott noted that his lead has been shrinking since election night. What makes that suspicious, he says, is the appearance of new votes.

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“On election night, Broward County said there were 634,000 votes cast. At 1 a.m. today, there were 695,700 ballots cast on Election Day,” Scott said in a speech announcing the lawsuit. “At 2:30 pm today, the number was up to 707,223 ballots cast on election day.”

“And we just learned, that the number has increased to 712,840 ballots cast on Election Day.

“In Palm Beach County, there are 15,000 new votes found since election night,” he continued. “So, It has been over 48 hours since the polls closed and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are still finding and counting ballots — and the supervisors — Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher — cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist or where these ballots came from, or where they have been.”

If you remember the name Brenda Snipes, there might be a good reason. She was named in a lawsuit involving a primary challenge to Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz in which she admitted to illegally destroyed ballots.

“Every Floridian should be concerned there may be rampant fraud happening in Palm Beach and Broward Counties. And the Broward Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes has a history of acting in bad faith,” Scott said.

In addition to that 2016 lawsuit, Scott also noted that there were other problems with Snipes’ record.

“In 2016, Brenda Snipes’ office posted election results half an hour before polls closed – a violation of election law. That same year, her office was sued for leaving amendments off of ballots,” he said.

“In 2014, Brenda Snipes’ fellow Democrats accused her of individual and systemic breakdowns that made it difficult for voters to cast regular ballots. All Floridians should be concerned about that.”

Gov. Rick Scott & the NRSC are filing a public records lawsuit against Broward election supervisor Brenda Snipes for failing to provide them with information about outstanding ballots that have yet to be tabulated

The lawsuit comes as Scott’s margins are shrinking v. Sen Nelson pic.twitter.com/ZZunsV1bPP

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 9, 2018

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And that’s just Broward County. Things aren’t much better in Palm Beach County.

“Palm Beach County is also refusing to provide information to the public,” Scott said. “And they are illegally refusing to allow official party representatives into the ballot counting area and forcing people to stand behind a glass wall with limited visibility and no ability to hear what is going on.

“This is a clear violation of Florida law — and we have just filed a lawsuit.”

Whether or not this will do anything about what’s going on in south Florida is anyone’s guess at this point. However, it’s rare to hear a sitting governor and someone who’s involved in a Senate race actually call voter irregularities fraud.

Given the history of fraud in south Florida, however — and the upcoming recount — it’s something every Floridian ought to be deeply concerned about.

We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.

“On the National Day for the Victims of Communism, we honor the memory of the more than 100 million people who have been killed and persecuted by communist totalitarian regimes,” read the statement. “We also reaffirm our steadfast support for those who strive for peace, prosperity, and freedom around the world.”

It continues:

Since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, we have witnessed the effects of the tyrannical communist ideology—anguish, repression, and death.  Communism subordinates inherent human rights to the purported well-being of all, resulting in the extermination of religious freedom, private property, free speech, and, far too often, life.  These horrors have included Ukrainians deliberately starved in the Holodomor, Russians purged in the Great Terror, Cambodians murdered in the killing fields, and Berliners shot as they tried to escape to freedom.  The victims of these and many other atrocities bear silent testimony to the undeniable fact that communism, and the pursuit of it, will forever be destructive to the human spirit and to the prosperity of mankind.

“Today, we remember all who have been denied the great blessings of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness under oppressive communist regimes,” it concludes. “Together, we mourn the unbearable losses so many have endured under communism, and we renew our pledge to continue advancing the cause of freedom and opportunity for all.”

Marion Smith, the Executive Director of the Victims of Communism Foundation, which seeks to educate people about the stark reality of history’s socialist and communist experiments, welcomed the statments.

Thank you @POTUS for a strong and timely Presidential Message commemorating #VictimsOfCommunismDay! Read @WhiteHouse full statement here: https://t.co/j62Za4aD4V

— Marion Smith (@smithmarion) November 7, 2018

It is now the second year running that the Trump administration has marked the event. Last year observed the 100-year anniversary of the 1917 Russian Revolution.

Since coming to office in January 2017, the Trump administration has generally taken a hard line against communist regimes, particularly in the Americas, where it has rolled back concessions made to the Castro regime in Cuba under Barack Obama and imposed economic sanctions on Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro.

The U.S. has been forced to take a friendlier approach towards the communist regime North Korea in recent months, as the administration seeks to reach a comprehensive peace agreement with regards to their nuclear weaponry.

Follow Ben Kew on Facebook, Twitter at @ben_kew, or email him at bkew@breitbart.com.

The Florida governor’s race is headed for a machine recount, falling below the 0.5 percent margin required by state law before a recount is considered.

The latest returns show Republican candidate Ron DeSantis ahead of Democrat candidate and Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum by less than 39,000 votes, or 0.47 percent, triggering an automatic recount under Florida state law.

🚨 Florida Governor’s race for the FIRST TIME is heading to a recount

DeSantis 49.62%
Gillum: 49.15%

Margin: 0.47%

That’s below the 0.5% trigger for a recount

— Marc Caputo (@MarcACaputo) November 8, 2018

Under Florida state law, a candidate running for office can declare victory if the margin of votes is greater than 0.5 percent of the total vote. If the margin of victory is equal or less than 0.5 percent, state law requires a machine to recount the votes.

If the margin of victory is less than or equal to 0.25 percent, state law requires the recount to be conducted by hand.

Although Gillum conceded the race to DeSantis, Gillum’s campaign said Thursday it was “open” to the idea of asking elections officials to conduct a recount due to late ballots coming in.

“On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count. Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” Gillum spokesperson Johanna Cervone said in a statement.

“Our campaign, along with our attorney Barry Richard, is monitoring the situation closely and is ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount,” Cervone added.

Florida Secretary of State Ken Detzner told state election supervisors in a conference call Thursday morning that they should prepare for the possibility for a statewide recount and be prepared outside media attention.

“The recounts will be nationally watched … (we’re) under a microscope,” Detzner told the Tampa Bay Times.

Marc Elias, the attorney who infamously retained Fusion GPS to produce the largely discredited anti-Trump dossier on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign, has been retained to represent Sen. Bill Nelson’s recount efforts in Florida.

The Florida Senate race is likely headed to a recount after late reporting from Broward County lowered Gov. Rick Scott’s lead to about 17,000 votes, meaning the election is within the .25% margin necessary to require a hand recount.  The race has already reached the 0.5 percent threshold to require a machine recount.

In a conference call with reporters, Elias claimed that optical-scan machines may not have registered ballots that were poorly marked, and he contended that Nelson would emerge victorious from a recount, which has not yet been officially authorized.

“We believe that at the end of this process, Sen. Nelson is going to be declared the winner,” Elias said.

Elias added: “We’re doing this not just because it’s automatic, but we’re doing it to win. A significant number of ballots have not yet been counted and, because of the size of Florida, we believe the results of the election are unknown and require a recount.”

Elias is widely considered one of the most powerful attorneys associated with the Democratic Party. He is chair of the Political Law Group at the Perkins Coie law firm. Elias represented Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign as well as the Democratic National Committee. He was brought in by Nelson’s campaign to oversee official recount efforts.

Last year, the Washington Post reported that in April 2016, Elias and his law firm Perkins Coie retained Fusion GPS to conduct the firm’s anti-Trump work on behalf of both Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign and the DNC. The work resulted in the publication of the dossier authored by former British spy Christopher Steele.

Through Perkins Coie, Clinton’s campaign and the DNC continued to fund Fusion GPS until October 2016, days before Election Day, the Post reported.

While it is not clear how much the Clinton campaign or the DNC paid Fusion GPS, the UK Independent, citing campaign finance records, reported that the Clinton campaign doled out $5.6 million to Perkins Coie from June 2015 to December 2016.

Records show that since November 2015, the DNC paid the law firm $3.6 million in “legal and compliance consulting.”

Steele reportedly met with the FBI on July 5, 2016 to report his purported findings about Trump and Russia. The Steele dossier was reportedly utilized by the FBI in part to conduct its probe into Trump over the unsubstantiated Russia collusion claims.

According to House Intelligence Committee documents, the questionable dossier was also used by Obama administration officials to obtain a FISA warrant to conduct surveillance on Carter Page, who briefly served as a volunteer foreign policy adviser to Trump’s campaign. The political origins of the dossier and issues relating to Steele’s credibility as a source were kept from the FISA court, a House Republican memo documents.

Besides its role in sending funds to Fusion GPS, Perkins Coie also reportedly helped draft the outside firm CrowdStrike to aid with the DNC’s allegedly hacked servers.

CrowdStrike is the third-party company ultimately relied upon by the FBI to make its assessment about alleged Russian hacking into the DNC. The DNC reportedly did not allow the FBI to gain access to servers that were suspected of being hacked, instead coming to an arrangement with the federal agency in which CrowdStrike carried out forensics on the servers and shared details with the FBI.

In Florida, meanwhile, Republican Ron DeSantis, the former Congressman who won the gubernatorial election, is now within the .5% threshold required for a machine recount.

Opponent Andrew Gillum has not officially asked for a recount and that effort is considered a longshot, but Gillum’s campaign on Thursday hinted at challenging the ballot counting.

“On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count. Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported,” stated Gillum’s communications director, Johanna Cervone. “Mayor Gillum started his campaign for the people, and we are committed to ensuring every single vote in Florida is counted.”

Aaron Klein is Breitbart’s Jerusalem bureau chief and senior investigative reporter. He is a New York Times bestselling author and hosts the popular weekend talk radio program, “Aaron Klein Investigative Radio.” Follow him on Twitter @AaronKleinShow. Follow him on Facebook.