Donald Trump (image public domain/White House)The New York Times reports Donald Trump reached out to the top Republican in Phoenix twice via phone as his aides were attempting to overturn Arizona’s 2020 results, according to the official, who said he let the calls go to voice mail.
Clint Hickman, then the chairman of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, said in an interview on Friday that he let the calls — made in late December and early January — go to voice mail and did not return them. “I told people, ‘Please don’t have the president call me,’” he said.
At the time, Mr. Hickman was being pressed by the state Republican Party chairwoman and Mr. Trump’s lawyer Rudolph W. Giuliani to investigate claims of fraud in the county’s election, which Mr. Biden had won by about 45,000 votes.
The Arizona Republic obtained the records of the phone calls from Mr. Trump and Mr. Giuliani after a Freedom of Information Act request.
There were no significant irregularities in Maricopa’s vote tallies, according to election officials there who have repeatedly refuted Trump’s claims.
(screen capture via YouTube) Remember all those social media posts where the Capitol insurrectionists were all sooooo proud they did something…? From the AP:
They flaunted their participation in the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol on social media and then, apparently realizing they were in legal trouble, rushed to delete evidence of it, authorities say. Now their attempts to cover up their role in the deadly siege are likely to come back to haunt them in court.
An Associated Press review of court records has found that at least 49 defendants are accused of trying to erase incriminating photos, videos and texts from phones or social media accounts documenting their conduct as a pro-Donald Trump mob stormed Congress and briefly interrupted the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s election victory.
Experts say the efforts to scrub the social media accounts reveal a desperate willingness to manipulate evidence once these people realized they were in hot water. And, they say, it can serve as powerful proof of people’s consciousness of guilt and can make it harder to negotiate plea deals and seek leniency at sentencing.
Funny how that works… Did they really think they’d get their anti-American jollies done and not have anything happen to them??? More than a dozen Capitol rioters have already pleaded guilty, out of more than 510 defendants. And prosecutors are filing new cases at a steady clip.
Tyler Posey (via Instagram) Some news items you might have missed: • NME: Former Teen Wolf star Tyler Posey says he’s still figuring out his sexuality. “I’ve been with everybody under the sun, and right now I’m in the best relationship that I’ve ever been in with a woman, and she’s queer too. She’s helped me realize that I fit under the queer umbrella and that I’m sexually fluid, I guess.” • them: Around 1,000 people made history this week by taking part in the first-ever Pride event at one of America’s most conservative Mormon colleges. On Monday, current and former students of Brigham Young University (BYU) gathered at Provo, Utah’s Joaquin Park before walking a mile to Kiwanis Park, a grassy expanse just east of campus. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQ1IlrXhI19/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link • PBS: New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced Wednesday that Andrew Bruck would be appointed acting attorney general for the remainder of Murphy’s term. Bruck will be the first openly gay attorney general in state history. • Instinct Magazine: Gilead Sciences is looking to get its ‘once every six months’ HIV inhibitor injection, Lenacapavir, approved by the FDA. • The Advocate: Sha’Carri Richardson, who made headlines recently for thanking her girlfriend after qualifying for the Olympics, will now miss at least part of the games due to a positive marijuana test.
USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson won’t be allowed to run in the Olympic 100-meter race due to a one-month ban for a positive marijuana test, but she could compete in relays pic.twitter.com/UpqEguoT2f
My home state of Nevada is not doing great in the COVID vaccination department. From Jennifer Solis at the Nevada Current:
Nevada has continued to report a slow rise in COVID-19 cases over the past two weeks as the positivity rate — or percentage of tests that came back positive — increased to 4.0%, from 3.9%.
The Department of Health and Human Services reported 447 new coronavirus cases on Wednesday — the highest daily number of cases in over a month.
Confirmed and suspected COVID-19 hospitalization cases rose to 281 on Wednesday, after falling as low as 178 on June 12.
Vaccination rates for Clark County are at about 42% — lower than the national average of 45% and significantly lower than Washoe County’s 54% vaccination rate.
By comparison, Los Angeles County in California, with a population five times as large as Clark County, boasts a 7-day average positivity rate of 0.8% and reported only 260 new cases and 230 hospitalizations on Wednesday. Los Angeles County also has a significantly higher vaccination rate of 58%, according to California data.
The state, meanwhile, is offering financial motivation to encourage people to get vaccinated. Nevada will distribute $5 million in cash prizes to residents who have been vaccinated at least once.
John Duff in ‘High Heels’ (screen capture)John Duff makes our Friday that much better as he drops the larger-than-life, over-the-top music video for “High Heels.” The banging dance floor filler not only has fantastic video effects but features the vocal talents of Tony Award winner Lilias White.
“High Heels” is the first single from Duff’s new EP Homo•Sapien.Billboard’s Stephen Daw calls the collection “some truly incredible dance-floor ready melodies.” Daw added, “It’s on lead single ‘High Heels,’ featuring Broadway legend Lillias White, that Duff shines the brightest, reaching a musical pinnacle equivalent to a confetti cannon exploding as he declares ‘If I looked the way that I feel, I’d be wearing high heels/ Cause you’ve got me feeling elevated.'” You can find my previous coverage of Duff’s audacious music here. https://www.instagram.com/p/CQrUelZsMZV/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
The U.S. Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by anti-LGBTQ florist Barronelle Stutzman of Washington state who refused to sell flowers to a same-sex couple for their wedding.
Stutzman’s petition is listed on Friday’s orders list indicating the high court had denied certiorari, or refused to take up the case. No reason was given although the orders note that Justice Thomas, Justice Alito, and Justice Gorsuch would have granted the petition to hear the case. In the Supreme Court, at least four justices have to agree to take up a case.
The decision means the ruling by the Washington Supreme Court will stand.
The sad story began in 2013 when Rob Ingersoll and Curt Freed, longtime customers of Arlene’s Flowers owned by Stutzman, approached the florist for flowers for their dream wedding. Stutzman refused claiming doing so would violate her religious beliefs.
In 2017, the case had made its way up to the Washington state high court which ruled Stutzman had violated the state’s anti-discrimination laws which prohibit discrimination against LGBTQ people in public accommodations. The florist was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.
Stutzman appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court in 2018 wherein SCOTUS vacated the lower court’s decision and asked the Washington court to review the case in light of a narrow ruling in the case of Jack Phillips, owner of the Colorado bakery Masterpiece Cakeshop.
A year later, in June 2019, the Washington Supreme Court reaffirmed its decision finding there had been no animosity involved against Stutzman in the original ruling.
Today’s decision is the end of the road in terms of legal options for Stutzman.
The Supreme Court is once again effectively saying that non-discrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people can stand.
“After Curt and I were turned away from our local flower shop, we cancelled the plans for our dream wedding because we were afraid it would happen again. We had a small ceremony at home instead,” Ingersoll told ABC News in a statement. “We hope this decision sends a message to other LGBTQ people that no one should have to experience the hurt that we did.”
Alphonso David, president of Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement, “The Supreme Court has once again said that critical nondiscrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people are legally enforceable and has set a strong and definitive precedent.”
Kristen Waggoner, general counsel for the virulently anti-LGBTQ legal organization Alliance Defending Freedom, called the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the case “tragic.”
So ends the saga of Barronelle Stutzman, who the hate group ADF has been fundraising off for the better part of a decade.
She lost before *and* after Masterpiece Cakeshop in the lower courts. LGBTQ nondiscrimination protections aren't going to be totally overturned this week. https://t.co/y8pLVIyYHl
This is the third high profile LGBTQ-related case addressed by the Supreme Court.
In June, SCOTUS issued a unanimous but very narrow ruling in favor of Catholic Social Services (CSS) in Philadelphia which had refused to certify same-sex couples who applied to become foster parents.
The ruling was not the broad ‘license to discriminate’ anti-LGBTQ advocates had hoped for. Instead, the justices found in favor of CSS because the city hadn’t applied its own policy of exemptions uniformly. The decision only applies to CSS and its contract with Philadelphia.
And earlier this week, SCOTUS also rejected to hear an appeal by a Virginia school board seeking ban transgender students from using bathrooms that align with their gender identity. That decision sets precedent regarding restroom discrimination in schools in at least five states.
The Labor Department reports employers added a better-than-expected 850,000 jobs to the U.S. economy in June. Additionally: • Average hourly earnings have risen 3.6% from a year ago, which continues the trend of the past two months. • U.S. consumer confidence rose to 127.3 – a 16-month high. • The stock market continues strong as the S&P 500 closed out the first half of the year at a record high of 4,297.50. • The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Thursday that the economy was on track to recover all the jobs lost in the pandemic by the middle of next year.
850,000 new jobs, more than a third of which were in leisure and hospitality. Wages are up.
So it turns out that you can find workers, you just have to pay a better wage than in the past because wages of low-wage workers are going up. — Betsey Stevenson (@BetseyStevenson) July 2, 2021
If we were to continue at the pace of the last 3 months, we would return to Feb 2020’s level in June 2022 and to the pre-pandemic trend in Sept 2023. pic.twitter.com/4opGboffV4
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), in a masterful power move, has named Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) to serve on the select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol by a mob of pro-Trump supporters. You can’t say it’s not a bipartisan committee when you CHOOSE a member of the other party to take part. From The Hill:
To lead the committee, Pelosi tapped Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.), the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee who had authored the bill creating the independent commission.
Pelosi’s other picks are House Administration Committee Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Calif.), Rep. Stephanie Murphy (D-Fla.), Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) and Rep. Elaine Luria (D-Va.).
House Minority Leader Andrew McCarthy will be allowed to name 5 members to the select committee. Republicans could have elected to form a bipartisan investigation committee but voted that down.
Pelosi is pretty darn brilliant – she uses her 8 picks naming 7 Democrats and Liz Cheney to the Jan 6 committee. This further undermines the GOP argument of the committee and its findings being partisan. https://t.co/4TEPFp8nmN
• Cycling News: A spectator who held up a cardboard sign on the opening day of the Tour de France accidentally struck cyclists (above) causing dozens to crash. The 30-year-old French woman has been arrested and charged with involuntarily causing injury and faces a fine of 1,500 euros.
• Vanity Fair: Following her very public statement last week, Britney Spears’s request to have her father, Jamie Spears, removed from her conservatorship has been denied by the judge overseeing the case.
• WPRI: Chase Allen, 25, of Seekonk, was apprehended by FBI agents for allegedly taking part in the violent invasion of the U.S. Capitol building. Allen is accused of participating in the destruction of thousands of dollars worth of media equipment during the riots. Photos capturing a man wearing the exact same outfit as Allen show him stomping on cameras outside the Capitol building. He claims he was there to document the events as a journalist.
• JoeMyGod: South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noam has literally rented out 50 members of the state’s National Guard to an auto scrap billionaire to head down to the Texas/Mexico border.
• Nevada Independent: Nevada casinos collected a single-month record of $1.23 billion in gaming revenues during May, a stunning figure given that most COVID-19 capacity restrictions weren’t fully lifted until June 1.
• People: Out singer/songwriter Hayden Joseph tells the pop culture magazine, “Mainstream country radio is still controlled by a couple of conglomerates, and they still play one-dimensional country music, all signed by a boy’s club that looks and sounds the exact same.” I wrote about his latest single, “Out,” here.
Hayden Joseph Says ‘They Still Play One-Dimensional Country Music’ as He Speaks on His Journey https://t.co/CQSC5QCPKb
The economy of the U.S. is rebounding faster than expected as experts say all the jobs lost during the pandemic could be regained by mid-2022, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). From the New York Times:
New forecasts that incorporate the $1.9 trillion stimulus package that President Biden signed into law in March give little credence to warnings by Republican lawmakers and some economists that runaway inflation from all that spending could cripple the economy. Instead, the budget office predicted that a recent spike in prices for cars, airline tickets and other products would be temporary and begin to recede this year.
Administration officials downplayed the deficit projections and focused instead on the predictions for economic growth, saying the strong numbers validate Mr. Biden’s push to douse the economy in stimulus and reinforce their view that inflation poses little threat to the recovery.
The budget office, which is nonpartisan, predicted the economy would grow 6.7 percent for the year, after adjusting for inflation. That would be the fastest annual growth in the United States since 1984. It is significantly faster than the budget office and the Biden administration had each projected this year.
The CBO also anticipates that the unemployment rate will fall below 4 percent next year. Many say Biden’s push for vaccine distribution helped to accelerate the economy. Read the full article here.
