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Category: Politics

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February 3, 2024
News
Politics
TECH

Meta Oversight Board Member Says 2020 Election Meddling Was Not Enough, Will Do More In 2024.

Pamela San Martín, a member of Meta’s oversight board, suggested in an interview that Facebook did not do enough to control user speech during previous election cycles — Meta is the parent company of Facebook. Despite actions taken against the New York Post‘s distribution of news on Hunter Biden’s laptop and former President Donald Trump’s removal from both Facebook and Instagram, San Martín claimed that more needed to be done to address potential misuse of the platform, including coordinated campaigns and bot activity aimed at undermining electoral trust and stability.

In the run-up to the 2020 elections, measures were taken by Facebook to restrict the distribution of certain news and remove ads making false claims about voter fraud. Responses from Facebook included taking down posts, flagging content for fact-checking, and promising a ban on political ads making false claims, especially concerning voter fraud. Despite these efforts, San Martín insists these attempts to control user speech were insufficient.

San Martín praised Meta’s recent efforts to further control content related to election issues, including working with electoral authorities, adding labels to politically related posts, redirecting users to reliable information sources, and implementing message forwarding limits on WhatsApp. However, she emphasized a need for Facebook to continue capturing the impact of its own algorithms and recommendation systems on the democratic process, indicating she wants to see more of such efforts, not less. San Martín told Wired, “Social media platforms need to learn from past mistakes to be able to address them better this year.”

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Pamela San Martín, a member of Meta's oversight board, suggested in an interview that Facebook did not do enough to control user speech during previous election cycles — Meta is the parent company of Facebook. Despite actions taken against the New York Post's distribution of news on Hunter Biden's laptop and former President Donald Trump's removal from both Facebook and Instagram, San Martín claimed that more needed to be done to address potential misuse of the platform, including coordinated campaigns and bot activity aimed at undermining electoral trust and stability. show more
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Bidenomics
February 3, 2024
William Upton
Economy
News
Politics

U.S. Faces Recession Risk In Second Half Of 2024.

The global head of credit for Vanguard — the second-largest global asset manager with $8.6 trillion in investments — has warned that there are signs the United States could slip into an economic recession in the second half of 2024. Chris Alwine, who leads the global credit team at Vanguard, says he believes the Federal Reserve hasn’t yet pulled off its ‘soft landing’ and that strong jobs numbers will likely delay any interest rate cuts until much later in the year.

“The challenge that the Fed has is that to be able to land that soft landing, which is always a low probability, they have to be able to ease policy at the exact correct time, which is difficult, and they need a little bit of luck,” Alwine said in a recent interview with Barron’s. He added that 2024 is likely to be “a tale of two halves” with greater economic risks emerging in the 3rd and 4th quarters.

“What would precipitate that shallow recession is that corporations are just not hiring, with a modest increase in layoffs,” Alwine noted.

Strong job market numbers over the past few months, cheered by the Biden government, will likely cause the Federal Reserve to push back an expected cut to interest rates until at least the 3rd quarter of 2024. With rates remaining elevated, layoffs in capital-intensive industries are likely to continue — eventually causing the hot job market to cool.

Despite the positive employment reports, voter confidence in the economy remains low. High interest rates, continued worries about inflation, sluggish GDP projections, and fears of a recession are all likely drivers of President Joe Biden’s low economic approval rating.

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The global head of credit for Vanguard — the second-largest global asset manager with $8.6 trillion in investments — has warned that there are signs the United States could slip into an economic recession in the second half of 2024. Chris Alwine, who leads the global credit team at Vanguard, says he believes the Federal Reserve hasn't yet pulled off its 'soft landing' and that strong jobs numbers will likely delay any interest rate cuts until much later in the year. show more
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February 2, 2024
Jack Montgomery
News
Politics

Trump’s Mar-a-Lago, Valued at $18m by NY Judge, Sold for $20m in 1981.

Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate, valued at just $18 million by Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud trial against the former president, sold for $20 million in 1981.

“In 1981, the New York Times reported that Mar-a-Lago was for sale for $20 million,” commented America First lawmaker Rep. Matt Gaetz, sharing a clipping of the story.

“Now, 43 years later New York Judge Engoron expects you to believe that Mar-a-Lago has not appreciated a cent and is actually worth $18 million.”

The discrepancy is even worse than Gaetz suggests, however, as $20 million in 1981 was the equivalent of roughly $70 million by 2023, due to decades of inflation.

The fraud case against Trump, brought by Democrat Attorney General Letitia James, hinges mainly on allegations Trump overvalued his business empire when applying for bank loans.

Engoron valuing Mar-a-Lago at just $18 million has been one of the most contentious events of the trial, with an expert witness valuing the property at over a billion dollars.

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Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate, valued at just $18 million by Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud trial against the former president, sold for $20 million in 1981. show more
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February 2, 2024
William Upton
Election 2024
News
Politics

Former DeSantis Donor Robert Bigelow Backs Donald Trump With $20M Donation.

Hotel magnate and aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow has announced he’s made several sizable donations to a SuperPAC and a legal defense fund aligned with former President Donald Trump. Bigelow says he’s given $1 million towards the former President’s legal defense and has committed to donate $20 million to one of his SuperPACs.

Bigelow previously supported Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’s Republican presidential primary bid — and was at one point the single largest donor to the pro-DeSantis SuperPAC Never Back Down. Early on during the Republican primary, however, Bigelow and other major donors jumped ship after raising concerns the DeSantis campaign was too reliant on the SuperPAC, out-of-touch with voters, and unable to raise small-dollar donations.

Late last year, the billionaire donor signaled he was considering redirecting his financial resources to the Trump campaign. “Who would you want as a commander? I’d want somebody that would be a hell of an ass-kicker if he needed to be,” Bigelow said in an interview at the time, concluding: “On the face of it, you lean toward Trump.” He continued: “I think Trump is too strong.”

The contributions made by Bigelow to the Trump campaign suggest major donors are beginning to come to terms with the inevitability of another Trump White House run. In the first two contests of the Republican presidential primary, Donald Trump posted historic wins, easily defeating DeSantis and former South Carolina Gov. Nimarata ‘Nikki’ Haley in Iowa and defeating Haley again in New Hampshire.

Political observers believe the former President is likely to win by double digits again in South Carolina, effectively ending any hopes Haley has of remaining in the primary.

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Hotel magnate and aerospace entrepreneur Robert Bigelow has announced he's made several sizable donations to a SuperPAC and a legal defense fund aligned with former President Donald Trump. Bigelow says he's given $1 million towards the former President's legal defense and has committed to donate $20 million to one of his SuperPACs. show more
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February 2, 2024
William Upton
Corruption
News
Politics

Anti-Trump DA Fani Willis Admits Affair With Prosecutor, Claims It Isn’t ‘Disqualifying.’

Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis now admits she has a ‘personal relationship’ with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. In a 176-page court filing, Willis acknowledged her “improper” affair with Wade, who she appointed to prosecute the Georgia RICO case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others for allegedly interfering with the 2020 election.

Last month, Michael Roman, one of Trump’s remaining 14 co-defendants, accused Willis of engaging in a clandestine romantic relationship with Wade. Roman also alleged Willis and Wade of personally enriching themselves, with Wade having been paid almost $654,000 in legal fees authorized by the DA since his appointment in January 2022. Wade is said to have used this money to take Willis on vacations to Florida, Napa Valley, and on Caribbean cruises.

In the court filing made earlier today, Willis pushed back against the accusations of impropriety, stating, “any personal relationship among members of the prosecution team does not amount to a disqualifying conflict of interest or otherwise harm a criminal defendant.”

The filing additionally argues, “Defendants have done nothing to establish an actual conflict of interest, nor have they shown that, in the handling of the case, District Attorney Willis or Special Prosecutor Wade have acted out of any personal or financial motivation.”

Scott McAfee, the Fulton County Superior Court judge overseeing the RICO trial, has set an evidentiary hearing for February 15th to review Roman’s accusations. The filing by Willis indicates she and Wade both intend to file motions to quash subpoenas filed by Roman’s attorneys, compelling them to testify at the hearing.

When the allegations of Willis’s affair with Wade first surfaced, she claimed the accusations were motivated by racism. Willis argued the allegations were only made because of the color of her and Wade’s skin — since no allegations of impropriety were leveled against the two white prosecutors working with Wade.

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Fulton County, Georgia District Attorney Fani Willis now admits she has a 'personal relationship' with special prosecutor Nathan Wade. In a 176-page court filing, Willis acknowledged her "improper" affair with Wade, who she appointed to prosecute the Georgia RICO case against former President Donald Trump and 18 others for allegedly interfering with the 2020 election. show more
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February 2, 2024
Jack Montgomery
News
Politics
War
World

Zelensky to Fire Popular Armed Forces Chief Who Admitted War Was ‘Stalemate’ – Report.

President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly told General Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), that he is being fired after months of friction between the two.

A senior Ukrainian official says Zaluzhny was told on Monday that his removal will be finalized with a presidential decree in the coming days. Sources say he clashed with Zelensky over mobilization at their meeting, with the general insisting the military needs an additional 500,000 conscripts, which the president does not believe he can afford to arm or even pay.

Zaluzhny embarrassed Zelensky in 2023 by publicly admitting that a Ukrainian counter-offensive using troops armed and trained by the West would achieve no “deep and meaningful breakthrough.” He also admitted the war had become a “stalemate” – which Zelensky denies.

Zaluzhny, who has resisted pressure to continue expansive offensive operations without more men and materiel, enjoys strong personal popularity, with an approval rating of 88 percent. Removing him could damage Zelensky, whose own approval rating has crashed from 84 percent at the end of 2022 to just 62 percent.

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President Volodymyr Zelensky has reportedly told General Valery Zaluzhny, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), that he is being fired after months of friction between the two. show more
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February 2, 2024
William Upton
Media
News
Politics

Kassam: E. Jean Carroll’s Giddy Media Tour Is ‘Laughing In The Face of Real Rape Victims.’

The National Pulse’s editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam appeared on One America News’s (OAN) Tipping Point, detailing the bizarre post-defamation trial behavior of E. Jean Carroll. The writer and advice columnist who last week won a ‘ludicrous’ $83.3 million judgment against former President Donald Trump has undertaken a whirlwind media tour, most recently appearing on MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow Show.

Carroll, appearing giddy, offered to take the liberal MSNBC host shopping for a completely new wardrobe adding, “Rachel, what do you want? A penthouse? It’s yours, Rachel!” As she continued, Carroll’s plans for spending the judgment became more nonsensical with her suggesting to Maddow they go fishing in France. For her part, Carroll appears to sincerely enjoy the newfound media attention, going so far as to throw a victory party at the ‘Flower Shop’ bar in the Lower East Side.

Speaking with OAN’s Kara McKinney, Kassam noted the grotesque nature of the public display Carroll has put on since her legal victory against Trump. Addressing Carroll’s changing story and off-color comments before, during, and after her two defamation trials against the former President, he explained: “They’ve given us an insight into a character who is – appears to be – wildly delusional.”

“Remember what we’re talking about here. This is a situation where she is alleging and continues to allege – and it’s not allowed now to have any pushback for fear of defamation cases – that a man, Donald Trump in this instance, forced himself on her,” Kassam told Kinney, before continuing: “And yet she’s on national television joking about shopping sprees and fishing trips and laughing along.”

He added: “They’re laughing in our faces. They’re laughing in President Trump’s face… They’re laughing in the faces of ordinary Americans. And quite frankly they’re laughing in the face of rape victims with this attitude. This cavalier attitude. This political attitude.”

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The National Pulse's editor-in-chief Raheem Kassam appeared on One America News's (OAN) Tipping Point, detailing the bizarre post-defamation trial behavior of E. Jean Carroll. The writer and advice columnist who last week won a 'ludicrous' $83.3 million judgment against former President Donald Trump has undertaken a whirlwind media tour, most recently appearing on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show. show more
Discuss
desantis
February 2, 2024
William Upton
Election 2024
News
Politics

DeSantis PAC Blew $9,000 of Donor Cash On Vanity Jackets.

A new report revealed that Never Back Down, the SuperPAC that supported the failed Ron DeSantis campaign, spent $9,000 of donor money on customized zip-up jackets.

Expenditures like expensive, customized jackets became the norm for Never Back Down — partly explaining why the SuperPAC sustained such a high burn rate of donor cash throughout the early Republican primary contest. From the start of the DeSantis campaign in the spring of 2023 to its implosion after the Iowa Republican Caucus earlier this month, Never Back Down blew through a staggering $131 million. On the other hand, the DeSantis campaign committee raised far less, resulting in a total spend of just $28.2 million. For comparison, former President Donald Trump’s campaign committee raised just shy of $20 million in the 4th Quarter of 2023 alone.

Pitfalls Of A Campaign Run Through the SuperPAC

Weak fundraising forced the DeSantis campaign early on to rely on the Never Back Down SuperPAC to run many operations that the campaign committee would typically handle. The SuperPAC took on not just ad spending — typical for such an entity — but funded ground-game operations in several states to the tune of $23 million.

The $131 million spent by Never Back Down was partly sourced from money DeSantis raised during his 2022 gubernatorial re-election campaign in Florida. As previously reported by The National Pulse, at the start of his presidential campaign, DeSantis transferred $82.5 million from his gubernatorial campaign PAC to Never Back Down. At least $21 million in funds supplied to DeSantis’s 2022 re-election by the Republican Governor’s Association may have ended up in Never Back Down’s accounts.

When all was said and done, the DeSantis campaign spent $1,697.96 per vote to come in a distant second in Iowa with just 21.2 percent of the vote. Former President Donald Trump captured 51 percent in his historic win.

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A new report revealed that Never Back Down, the SuperPAC that supported the failed Ron DeSantis campaign, spent $9,000 of donor money on customized zip-up jackets. show more
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February 2, 2024
Immigration
Politics

Biden Officials Met With Far-Left ‘Abolish ICE’ Group Amid Border Crisis.

Last week, senior officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency held discussions with an activist group, the Detention Watch Network, which aims to abolish immigration detention in the United States. According to an ICE statement, this meeting — attended by three other left-leaning organizations — was part of a stakeholder gathering.

The meeting took place amidst the ongoing crisis at the southern border, which is seeing an unprecedented number of illegal border crossings. According to law enforcement, they have encountered over 5.5 million illegal aliens since President Joe Biden took office, with most of them being released into the country.

The Detention Watch Network is a leading force in attempts to ‘Abolish ICE.’ The federal agency claims the meeting aimed to create open communication lines with stakeholders regarding its operations. The Detention Watch Network has expanded beyond its activism and doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to like-minded grassroots movements since 2022.

Immigrant deportations have seen a considerable drop since Biden assumed office. The Center for Immigration Studies estimates there’s been a 67 percent decrease in criminal aliens’ deportations and a 57 percent reduction in criminal illegal aliens’ arrests in comparison with the Trump era. Furthermore, there’s been a 26 percent decrease in sexual assault convicts’ deportations and a 17 percent drop in deportations for homicides.

The U.S. Senate has been engaged in protracted negotiations for a bipartisan deal projected to alleviate the southern border’s strain. However, the scant details that have become public have drawn ire from conservatives who point out that the presumed provisions do little to address the surge in illegal immigration into the United States.

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Last week, senior officials from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency held discussions with an activist group, the Detention Watch Network, which aims to abolish immigration detention in the United States. According to an ICE statement, this meeting — attended by three other left-leaning organizations — was part of a stakeholder gathering. show more
Source
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February 2, 2024
William Upton
Election 2024
News
Politics

Andrew Yang: ‘If Election Were Held Today, Biden Would Lose to Trump.’

In an interview earlier this week former Democratic presidential candidate and businessman Andrew Yang, who last ran for New York City Mayor, warned that Democrat voters are becoming increasingly concerned about Joe Biden’s ability to win re-election and said that Biden would lose the election to former President Donald Trump if held today.

Democrat Voters Don’t Think Biden Can Beat Trump

According to Yang, voters in several swing states and South Carolina have expressed concerns that Joe Biden is too old and insulated from criticism to realize that the Trump campaign could win in November. Yang said he’s heard concerns about Biden’s viability, especially among older Black female voters in states like South Carolina. He also pointed to the Democratic National Committee’s move to restrict primary challenges to Biden, which is dampening overall enthusiasm among Democrats he says.

“I had some conversations like that in South Carolina over the last number of days where people would actually come to me and say, do you really think Joe could lose to Trump?” Yang said, adding: “And I would say, not only could he lose to Trump, but if the election were held today, he would lose to Trump and the poll numbers are generally getting worse, not better.”

He continued: “The most extreme thing the DNC has done to stifle democracy is canceling the primaries in Florida and North Carolina and attempting to do so in another state or two.”

Democrat Establishment Is Content Risking Trump Win

Yang has been traveling the country on behalf of Congressman Dean Phillips (D-MN), who is challenging Biden for the Democrat presidential nomination. The Phillips campaign surrogate said he believes a lot of the potential primary challengers to Biden — like California Governor Gavin Newsom — declined to run because they’re content running in 2028 even if that means “…throwing the country to Trump who is beating Joe Biden in most every national poll and in the all-important swing states.”

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In an interview earlier this week former Democratic presidential candidate and businessman Andrew Yang, who last ran for New York City Mayor, warned that Democrat voters are becoming increasingly concerned about Joe Biden's ability to win re-election and said that Biden would lose the election to former President Donald Trump if held today. show more
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