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William H. Regnery II, 80, Dies; Bankrolled the Rise of the Alt-Proper,

William H. Regnery II, 80, Dies; Bankrolled the Rise of the Alt-Right,

Mr. Regnery attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he studied political science and joined the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, a conservative student organization co-founded by Mr. Buckley. He left before graduating to work on Senator Barry Goldwater’s 1964 presidential campaign.

In the 2017 interview with Buzzfeed, one of the few times he spoke to the news media, he claimed that his efforts on behalf of Mr. Goldwater included what he called “Operation Dewdrop,” in which he attempted to deter Democratic voters in Philadelphia by hiring a plane to seed the skies with dry ice, in the hopes of making it rain. He failed — though, he recalled, he burned his fingers on the ultracold dry ice containers.

Mr. Regnery later returned to Chicago, where he worked for Joanna-Western Mills. He became the company’s president in 1980 but was ousted a year later, after several quarters of poor financial performance. According to his own account, he spent the rest of his career in a variety of businesses, while also dabbling in Illinois politics.

In his memoir, he recounted how he first began to turn against the Republican Party after listening to a speech in 1993 in which the economist Milton Friedman declared that the end of the Cold War meant that the free-market economic doctrines of the Reagan era had won. In an early sign of that break, according to a 2017 profile in Mother Jones, Mr. Regnery ran unsuccessfully for Illinois secretary of state in 1994 on the Term Limits and Tax Limits Party ticket

Five years later, he convened a Who’s Who of white supremacists for a conference in Florida, where he delivered a speech, “For Our Children’s Children,” in which he said the only way to save America’s white identity was for it to break up into several smaller countries, one each for the country’s various ethnic groups.

His racism grew more explicit. He announced plans in 2004 to start a whites-only dating site. It never happened, but he continued to worry that white people were in danger of extinction: In 2006 he delivered a speech in Chicago in which he said, “The white race may go from master of the universe to an anthropological curiosity.”

By then he had severed most of his ties with mainstream Republicans, and they with him. T hat same year the leadership of the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, which he had joined in college, removed him from its board.

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Matt Gaetz’s marketing campaign paid $20,000 to Trump crony Roger Stone’s firm

Matt Gaetz's campaign paid $20,000 to Trump crony Roger Stone's company

Florida Republican Republican Matt Gaetz’s campaign committee paid at least $ 20,000 to a company the Justice Department claims was used by GOP politician Roger Stone and his wife to avoid taxes, such as campaign funding reports showed.

Gaetz’s campaign paid Drake Ventures LLC for three months for “Strategic Campaign Consulting,” according to the quarterly filings of the Federal Electoral Commission committee, the latest of which was released Thursday.

That filing showed that the campaign raised approximately $ 1.45 million and spent more than $ 1.9 million between April and June, and also revealed that more than $ 825,000 was spent on the Logan Circle Group , who hired PR firm Gaetz when news surfaced that he was involved in a federal investigation into sex trafficking. Gaetz is not charged with criminal law and denies any wrongdoing.

The Logan Circle Group is run by Harlan Hill, who was banned from appearing on Fox News after tweeting that Vice President Kamala Harris “comes across as such an unbearable lie.”

Gaetz’s campaign also paid $ 50,000 in legal fees for the quarter, half of which went to the law firm of Marc Fernich, the defense attorney whose notable clients include the late sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein, convicted drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman and the long-dead belong gang boss John Gotti.

The Gaetz campaign paid Stone’s company in four separate portions of $ 5,000, the documents showed. The FEC filings list a Fort Lauderdale address for Drake Ventures associated with Stone, who lives near the coastal city of Florida.

The first of those rates came in late March, less than a week before the New York Times first reported that the Justice Department was investigating whether Gaetz had a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old girl and was paying for her travel with him. Three days after the news broke, a second payment of $ 5,000 was made to Stone.

Gaetz’s friend, former Seminole County tax collector Joel Greenberg, pleaded guilty to a number of crimes in May in the case that reportedly led to the investigation of Gaetz. Greenberg cooperates with the federal prosecutor’s office.

The other two payments to Drake Ventures came after the DOJ filed a civil lawsuit against Stone and his wife, Nydia Stone, in mid-April alleging the couple used the company as an “alter ego” to “get their personal income off the ground.” protect”. forced collection and finance a lavish lifestyle. “

“They used Drake Ventures to obtain payments to be made to Roger Stone personally to pay for their personal expenses, protect their assets and avoid reporting taxable income to the IRS,” the DOJ wrote in its appeal .

The Stones owe nearly $ 2 million in unpaid federal taxes and other fees, the DOJ alleged in the lawsuit filed in Fort Lauderdale federal district court.

Federal prosecutors also accused the Stones of “defrauding the United States” by using assets in Drake Ventures’ accounts to buy their home on behalf of a separate trust.

Stone has described the lawsuit as “politically motivated”.

“Our FEC filings speak for themselves,” said a Gaetz spokesman on Thursday evening in an email to CNBC. “Despite an endless barrage of lies from the media, Congressman Gaetz continues to be one of the greatest fundraisers in Congress and the only Republican not to accept donations from federal lobbyists or PACs. He thanks his tens of thousands of donors and pledges “to always fight for them.”

Hardly any information was given about the company’s “strategic campaign advice” for the Gaetz campaign.

“I’m not interested in talking about the case or anything on record,” said Brian Harris, an attorney representing Stone and Drake Ventures on the DOJ lawsuit, in a brief phone call with CNBC before hanging up .

Stone did not respond to CNBC’s inquiries about Gaetz’s campaign committee payments. Two other attorneys representing the Stones and Drake Ventures, Derick Vollrath and Jeffrey Neiman, made no comment.

Stone and Gaetz are both Florida based and both are loyal to former President Donald Trump, who has lived at his Palm Beach golf club since leaving office in January.

In late December, Trump pardoned 68-year-old Stone, who had been convicted of lying to Congress under oath.

– CNBC’s Brian Schwartz contributed to this report.

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Biden Will Press Merkel on China and Russia

Biden Will Press Merkel on China and Russia

WASHINGTON – President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed their shared values ​​on Thursday as a sign that the US-European alliance remained strong after the tensions of the Trump era, despite both admitting the differences in a major Russian pipeline and how to best approach to China.

During the White House meetings, Mr Biden’s agenda included several of his most pressing geopolitical priorities, such as curbing Chinese influence, curbing Russian aggression and lifting intellectual property restrictions on coronavirus vaccine manufacturers.

While there were no apparent breakthroughs, the visit was a way to show a unified front after President Donald J. Trump’s hostile exchanges with Ms. Merkel over NATO contributions, trade and multilateralism severely disrupted ties. The meeting will also take place before the Chancellor’s term of office expires and a new German government will be sworn in after the elections on September 26th.

“Good friends may disagree,” said Biden, who appeared next to Ms. Merkel at a press conference in the East Room after the meeting.

For the most part, the trip appeared to be a triumph of the personal over politics. Mr Biden joked that Ms. Merkel, who has worked with four US presidents, “knows the Oval Office as well as I do”. The Chancellor referred to the President several times as “Dear Joe” when she praised the friendly relationship that has lasted since his time in the Senate. But the warmth couldn’t hide the fact that neither leader had turned away from their main disagreements.

Mr Biden said he had raised the controversial issue of the $ 11 billion Nord Stream 2 pipeline, a natural gas pipeline that is being built between Germany and Russia and is expected to be completed by the end of the year. The president and his predecessors attacked the project only as a means of coercion against Ukraine and other allies.

“We have come to different assessments,” said Merkel about the project.

Mr Biden said the two agreed that they “are united in our belief that Russia should not be able to use energy as a weapon”.

The president waived congressional sanctions against the Russian company that built the pipeline and its German chairman that year, practically admitting that an attempt to halt the project was not worth the expected cost to German-American relations was.

Ms. Merkel kept her comments on fighting China nonspecific, whose influence Biden believes poses an existential threat to American democracy.

“There is great agreement that China is our competitor in many areas,” said the Chancellor, taking care not to come into conflict with Germany’s largest trading partner. She added that “trade with China must be based on the assumption that we are on a level playing field”.

The two leaders also signaled that they will remain separate in their approach to containing the pandemic. Ms. Merkel has not committed to revoking patents on coronavirus vaccines, and Mr Biden has not raised the issue in front of reporters. Ms. Merkel said she asked the president if his government would lift a travel ban on Europeans, but he had not made a commitment to lift it.

“I raised the issue,” said the Chancellor, “and got the same answer that the President gave you: the Covid team is looking into the matter.”

Nevertheless, the heads of state and government repeatedly emphasized their one-on-one relationship in their public appearances, a sharp deviation from Ms. Merkel’s frosty and stilted interactions with Mr. Trump, who slandered her as “prisoners of Russia”. When asked to compare Mr. Biden’s management style with that of his predecessor, the Chancellor was characteristically reserved and emphasized that she and Mr. Biden had a “very friendly exchange”.

“We are not just partners and allies,” said Merkel, “but are very close friends.”

At the start of the event, the President expressed his condolences to the Germans for the loss of life and property caused by the recent floods. He thanked the Chancellor for “an exemplary life with pioneering services for Germany”.

Mr Biden has been asked to deal with cases of diplomatic unrest closer to his home, including protests in Cuba and civil unrest following the assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse. He told a reporter that other than sending marines to guard the US embassy, ​​he would not send any American troops there.

Addressing a wave of demonstrations across Cuba, Mr. Biden accused his government of being a “failed state” that “oppresses its citizens” and said he would change the rules against payments Americans can make to their Cuban relatives, not pick it up because he couldn’t be sure the government wouldn’t take it.

“I wouldn’t do that now,” he said, “because the fact is that the regime would most likely confiscate these transfers or large chunks.”

The president became irritated when asked about his top domestic economic priorities. When asked if he was confident that a $ 3.5 trillion budget created by the Democrats would be enough to pass with every Democratic Senator on board, Mr Biden blamed the news media as preemptively advising that the plan, along with negotiating an infrastructure deal, was on the way to failure.

“I am very confident that everything will work out perfectly,” he said dryly. “I’ve seen and heard the press so far have declared my initiative dead. I don’t think it’s dead. I think it’s still alive. “

Aside from sensitive political issues, Merkel’s visit before the end of her term in office was a kind of diplomatic victory round. She started her day with a cheese soufflé breakfast with Vice President Kamala Harris.

Later in the day, the Chancellor received an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins University and added to her collection of degrees from Harvard and Stanford. Arrived at the White House, Ms. Merkel and the President exchanged compliments in the Oval Office.

The exchange was not particularly warm, but a lot more collegial than at Merkel’s previous meeting in the Oval Office. When she asked Mr. Trump in 2017, “Would you like to have a handshake?” Mr. Trump apparently not.

Just as Ms. Merkel reacted mildly to Mr. Trump for years, she was not always overzealous to follow Mr. Biden’s requests to restore normality in American-German relations. Speaking of US relations during this year’s virtual Munich security conference, she said that “our interests will not always converge”.

At the time of Thursday’s press conference, Mr Biden and Mrs Merkel seemed more interested in continuing their farewell party than discussing what parted them.

After the press conference, they attended dinner with longtime allies, including Hillary Clinton. California minority representative Kevin McCarthy was also slated to visit Mr. Trump at his New Jersey golf club after traveling earlier in the day.

After the two leaders asked questions, Mr. Biden distracted Ms. Merkel from reporters.

“If we don’t leave immediately,” he said to her, “we’ll miss dinner.”

Glenn Thrush contributed to the coverage.

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Biden, Merkel agree Russia can not use Nord Stream pipeline as weapon

Biden, Merkel agree Russia cannot use Nord Stream pipeline as weapon

US President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel hold a joint press conference in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC, July 15, 2021.

Saul Loeb | AFP| Images

President Joe Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel agreed on Thursday that they will oppose any effort by Russia to use the contentious Nord Stream pipeline as a weapon against neighboring nations such as Ukraine.

The completion of Nord Stream 2, an $11 billion gas pipeline that would run directly to Germany from Russia under the Baltic Sea, has long been a source of tension between Washington and Berlin, otherwise close NATO allies.

“While I reiterated my concerns about Nord Stream 2, Chancellor Merkel and I are absolutely united in our conviction that Russia must not be allowed to use energy as a weapon to coerce or threaten its neighbors,” Biden said. 

“My view on Nord Stream 2 has been known for some time. Good friends can disagree, but by the time I became president, it was 90% completed and imposing sanctions did not seem to make any sense,” he said.

The president waived sanctions against Swiss-based company Nord Stream 2 AG, which is running the pipeline project, and its German CEO in May. Nord Stream 2 AG is owned by the Russian state energy company Gazprom.

Biden has opposed the completion of the pipeline over concerns that it would allow Moscow to gain increased political leverage over other European nations and more control over energy reserves. 

In particular, the U.S. fears that the pipeline would threaten the security and economy of Ukraine by depriving it of crucial gas transport revenues.  

The route of a proposed new gas pipeline from Russia to Europe.

nord-stream2.com

Merkel has supported the pipeline, but emphasized on Thursday that Nord Stream would not replace Ukraine’s transit pipelines for natural gas. 

“Our idea is and remains that Ukraine remains a transit country for natural gas, that Ukraine, just as any other country in the world, has the right to territorial sovereignty,” Merkel said at the joint press conference.

“We will be actively acting should Russia not respect this right of Ukraine that it has as a transit country,” Merkel said. 

Biden said he and Merkel asked their teams to examine practical measures that can be taken to determine if Europe’s energy security is “strengthened or weakened based on Russian actions.”

The pipeline was among the several global issues that the two leaders addressed at the White House on Thursday in what is likely to be Merkel’s last visit to Washington before she steps down from office. 

The two leaders also announced a climate and energy partnership, which Biden said will support energy security and the development of sustainable energy in emerging economies in Central Europe and Ukraine. 

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Biden and Merkel also signed a pact, called the Washington Declaration, which reaffirms the U.S. and Germany’s commitment to democratic principles and outlines a joint vision to address global issues guided by those values. 

“Both our nations understand the imperative of proving that democracies can deliver the needs of our people in the second quarter of the 21st century,” Biden said.  

Among the other issues that the two leaders addressed were China, climate change, security issues in Afghanistan and combating Covid-19. Biden said the U.S. is reviewing when it can lift Covid-related travel restrictions that ban most Europeans from entering the U.S., an issue that Merkel had raised prior to the joint news conference.

Merkel’s visit serves as a stark contrast to former President Donald Trump’s notorious clashes with her during his term, which contributed to the deterioration of the two nations’ relationship. 

Trump publicly called out Merkel for not meeting the 2% GDP spending goal established at the 2014 NATO summit in Wales, claiming that Germany owed “vast sums of money” to the U.S. Trump also hammered Merkel on trade and moved to withdraw nearly 12,000 U.S. troops from Germany. 

In response, Merkel often pushed back on Trump’s rhetoric and criticized policy decisions such as his travel ban targeting citizens of several mainly Muslim countries. 

Biden has made it a priority to repair relationships with Germany and other European nations. Merkel is the first European leader to meet with Biden at the White House, and her visit serves as a final farewell to the U.S. as she approaches the end of a historic political career that has lasted nearly 16 years.

Merkel’s visit will end with a dinner hosted by the president and first lady Jill Biden in the State Dining Room. The dinner will be attended by Vice President Kamala Harris, second gentleman Dough Emhoff and others who are boosters for Germany’s relationship with the U.S. 

“I know that the partnership between Germany and the United States will continue to grow stronger on the foundation that you’ve helped to build,” Biden said to Merkel. 

“But on a personal note, I must tell you, I’ll miss seeing you at our summit, I truly will. So thank you again for making the journey, for a productive meeting today and for your friendship,” he said. 

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Chairwoman of Congressional Black Caucus is arrested whereas protesting on Capitol Hill.

Chairwoman of Congressional Black Caucus is arrested while protesting on Capitol Hill.

Congressional Black Caucus Chairwoman Joyce Beatty was arrested on Capitol Hill Thursday along with eight campaigners demonstrating for the right to vote.

“You can arrest me. You can not stop me. You can’t shut me up, ”wrote Ms. Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, in a tweet after she was arrested by the US Capitol Police in the atrium of a Senate office building. A reporter at the scene noted on Twitter that her hands had been zipped up before she was taken away.

The Capitol Police said in a statement the protesters violated a Washington law against overcrowding or blocking streets or certain spaces in public buildings. The demonstrators had been warned of their arrest, the police said.

Ms. Beatty and a group of activists protested in Congress against the disappearance of the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and For the People Act. The two bills aim in part to protect and expand access to voting, but both face great opportunities to become law.

Democrats, who have narrow majorities in Congress and need Republican votes to overcome a filibuster in the Senate, have for months expressed frustration at their inability to pass their major voting revisions as Republican parliaments rush to pass laws that restrict voting rights across the country.

President Biden this week called the fight against restrictive electoral laws the “most significant test of our democracy since the civil war,” despite seemingly having to acknowledge that the law had little hope of getting through.

In a statement made after her arrest, Ms. Beatty remained defiant.

“I stand in solidarity with black women and allies across the country in defense of our constitutional franchise,” she said. “We have come too far and fought too hard to see everything being systematically dismantled and restricted by those who want to silence us.”

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FTE Networks executives charged with securities fraud conspiracy

FTE Networks executives charged with securities fraud conspiracy

SEC report on FTE Networks’ management team: Michael Palleschi as CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors and David Lethem, CFO.

Source: SEC

The former top executives of FTE Networks, a former telecommunications company whose shares were delisted from the New York Stock Exchange last year, were separately indicted on Thursday by the federal and Manhattan prosecutors on a number of criminal charges.

The two men, Michael Palleschi and David Lethem, have also been sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission on a civil lawsuit for the same conduct that underlies the criminal charges against them in federal court.

Palleschi, the ex-CEO of FTE Networks, and Lethem, the company’s former chief financial officer, are charged in federal proceedings and SEC complaint of a comprehensive plan to fraudulently conceal FTE Networks’ deteriorating financial condition from 2016 to 2019.

The men are also accused in these cases of embezzling millions of dollars from the company to pay for the use of private jets, luxury cars, personal credit cards, unauthorized transfers, stock issues and unapproved salary increases.

The grand jury’s indictment received from Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance Jr.’s office allegedly stole more than $ 28 million in property trust from Manhattan-based Benchmark Builders as of November 2018.

The men allegedly diverted these assets from the company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of FTE Networks, to repay millions in loans received from FTE. In this case, you are accused of serious first-degree theft.

Palleschi, a 46-year-old Naples, Florida resident, was arrested Thursday morning in New York state while Lethem, 62, was arrested in Florida.

They are due to appear in separate federal courts later on Thursday.

Palleschi was Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of FTE from 2014 to May 2019, while Lethem, of Fort Meyers, Florida, was CFO from June 2014 to March 2019.

The federal indictment accuses them of working with others in “a complex scheme to fraudulently misrepresent investors, lenders and accountants” that the company’s financial condition was better than it actually was.

The program, which allegedly ran from 2016 to 2019, included hiding the convertible and warrant features of the company’s $ 22 million convertible bonds and recognizing more than $ 12 million in fake revenue, the indictment said Grand jury that was unsealed on Thursday.

The obfuscation of the debt features eventually led FTE Networks to re-estimate a net loss of $ 92 million for 2017, the indictment reads.

This indictment states that Palleschi and Lethem, along with others, made these false statements and omitted key facts in financial documents “to mask a trend of rising RTD operating losses” and to avoid a fall in the company’s shares.

The indictment states that if FTE’s share price had fallen below certain levels, it would have resulted in debt clauses on the company and forced it into bankruptcy.

The two men are charged on six counts, including conspiracy to commit securities fraud, wire transfer fraud, improperly influencing the conduct of audits, and aggravated identity theft.

The case is being prosecuted by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, based in Manhattan.

“Palleschi and Lethem have instead chosen to lie about FTE’s finances to make the company appear financially healthier than it was, defrauding FTE’s shareholders and lenders,” said SDNY US attorney Audrey Strauss.

“Rather than being open to their investors, Palleschi and Lethem have chosen the easy way to make money by hiding the real financial health of RTD through fake documents and fake signatures.”

The SEC complaint accuses Palleschi and Lethem of directly violating or aiding and abetting violations of the anti-fraud, reporting, and proxy solicitation provisions of securities laws.

FTE Networks is currently renting out residential properties. The company’s current interim CEO, Michael Beys, is an attorney and former federal attorney in the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, the sister jurisdiction of the SDNY.

Beys said in an interview with CNBC on Thursday, “The company has partnered and will continue to work with SDNY and SEC.”

“We look forward to justice being served,” Beys said.

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“The company continues to move forward and hopefully brings back value for shareholders in the company,” he said. “We are the good guys and will continue to try to recover from the chaos that Palleschi and Lethem have left behind.”

Benchmark Builders, which was acquired by FTE Networks in 2017, said Thursday that executives from that company had alerted the Manhattan prosecutor’s office to the alleged crimes of Palleschi and Lethem.

“Today’s charges are the culmination of a difficult decision we made to protect our subcontractors and customers in late 2018 when we contacted the Manhattan District Attorney about the misuse of trust funds,” Benchmark Builders said in an email to CNBC .

“We invested our own personal resources in the company to protect the subcontractors and their workers and parted ways with RTD almost 2 years ago,” the company said.

“Not a single subcontractor or customer was affected by these events, and not a single worker missed a paycheck. Construction in this city can be tough business, but we’ve always put integrity first and that’s what led to today’s events. We We are pleased to have this behind us and will work with a new focus on customer care.

The SEC lawsuit calls for permanent injunctions, penalties, and a ban on both men from acting as officers and directors of public companies, as well as “skip and prejudice interest and a recovery of the stock-based compensation paid to Palleschi during the alleged fraud.” said the SEC.

Eric Bustillo, director of the SEC’s Miami regional office, said: “The defendants have engaged in an outrageous scheme to fraudulently increase RTD revenues in order to misrepresent the company’s financial position while holding millions of dollars Abusing dollars for their own personal use. “

“We pledge to hold executives accountable who provide materially false financial reports to the public and those who rob companies for their personal gain,” said Bustillo.

FTE, based in New York and Naples, Fla., Had previously traded its shares on the OTCQX over-the-counter market, but was trading on the NYSE US market in December 2017.

It was suspended from trading on the NYSE two years later and delisted on May 21, 2020.

A press release released in late 2019 said the company was notified of delisting because the NYSE found that FTE or its management were engaged in “business that the exchange believed to be contrary to the public interest.”

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U.S. Surgeon Common Calls Covid Misinformation ‘Pressing Menace’

U.S. Surgeon General Calls Covid Misinformation ‘Urgent Threat'

President Biden’s surgeon general on Thursday used his first formal advisory to the United States to warn against the dangers of health misinformation, calling it an “urgent threat to public health” and urging all Americans — and specifically tech and social media companies — to do more to curb the spread of falsehoods about Covid-19.

The official warning by Dr. Vivek Murthy is unusual; surgeons general have traditionally used their official “advisories” — short statements that call the American people’s attention to a public health issue and provide recommendations for how it can be addressed — to talk about health matters ranging from tobacco use to opioid addiction, suicide prevention and breastfeeding.

But this new advisory, contained in a 22-page report with footnotes, occurs in a more political context. Fox News hosts like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham, along with their guests, are among those who have been casting doubt on Covid-19 vaccines, which studies show are highly effective at preventing death and hospitalization from the disease.

Health misinformation about social distancing, mask use, treatments and vaccines has been rampant during the coronavirus pandemic. The report is a sign that the Biden administration, faced with a steep decline in vaccination rates, is moving more forcefully to confront it. Fewer than 50 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated, and many top health experts have called for the president to do more to reach people who have yet to be get shots.

While virus numbers remain at some of the lowest levels since the beginning of the pandemic, they are once again slowly rising, fueled by the spread of the more contagious Delta variant; vaccines are effective against the variant. Counties that voted for Mr. Biden average higher vaccination levels than those that voted for Donald Trump. Conservatives tend to decline vaccination far more often than Democrats.

“Health misinformation is a serious threat to public health,” Dr. Murthy said in the report. “It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, harm people’s health, and undermine public health efforts.”

In a statement, he added, “From the tech and social media companies who must do more to address the spread on their platforms, to all of us identifying and avoiding sharing misinformation, tackling this challenge will require an all-of-society approach, but it is critical for the long-term health of our nation.”

But calling out tech and media companies is tricky business, and the White House has danced around the question of whether it would try to regulate companies like Facebook that have become platforms for health disinformation. Asked about this at her Wednesday briefing, the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, was noncommittal.

“Obviously, decisions to regulate or hold to account any platform would certainly be a policy decision,” she said. “But in the interim, we’re going to continue to call out disinformation and call out where that information travels.”

The report is assiduously apolitical, and does not name any specific purveyors of misinformation. But it comes as some Republican leaders, concerned that the virus is spreading quickly through conservative swaths of the country, are beginning to promote vaccination and speak out against media figures and elected officials who are casting doubt on vaccines.

Health misinformation is not a recent phenomenon — and is not limited to news media. In the 1990s, the report notes, “a poorly designed study” — later retracted — falsely claimed the measles, mumps, rubella vaccine causes autism.

“Even after the retraction, the claim gained some traction and contributed to lower immunization rates over the next twenty years,” the report said.

Dr. Murthy is expected at Thursday’s White House briefing to discuss his report. It cites evidence of the spread of misinformation, including a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that found, as of late May, that 67 percent of unvaccinated adults had heard at least one Covid-19 vaccine myth and either believed it to be true or were unsure of its truthfulness; and a Science Magazine analysis of millions of social media posts found that false news stories were 70 percent more likely to be shared than true stories.

Another recent study showed that even brief exposure to misinformation made people less likely to want a Covid-19 vaccine, the surgeon general said.

This is Dr. Murthy’s second turn at being surgeon general; he also served under former President Barack Obama. The position, often referred to as the “nation’s doctor,” offers little formal policymaking authority, but derives its strength from the surgeon general’s bully pulpit, and past surgeons general have made powerful impacts on the nation’s health.

Dr. Murthy’s advisory drew immediate plaudits from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, an organization that is particularly concerned about false information suggesting Covid-19 vaccines might be harmful to pregnant women. There is no evidence of that.

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Kamala Harris fundraiser Jon Henes to launch company advisory agency

Kamala Harris fundraiser Jon Henes to launch corporate advisory firm

Vice President Kamala Harris’ former national campaign finance chair is opening a strategic advisory firm that will aim, in part, to guide corporations and C-suite executives through handling social justice and politically charged issues.

Jon Henes, a longtime corporate restructuring attorney at the prominent law firm Kirkland & Ellis, plans to launch his new New York-based firm around Labor Day, according to people briefed on the matter.

The firm is planning to hire at least 15 people at first, and it could expand operations to Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco, a person said.

The advisory firm will have a multipronged approach, including a corporate strategic advisory arm that would do the traditional counseling on hiring practices such as union inclusion. It will also have a team that will focus on environmental, social and corporate governance, and workplace diversity, equity and inclusion, these people said.

The people cited in this story declined to be named because details for the new venture have yet to be finalized.

A Kirkland & Ellis press release announcing Henes’ departure noted he was on his way to starting a strategic advisory firm but provided no further details.

“Over the past few years, in addition to my work at Kirkland, I have had the opportunity to immerse myself in the world of politics and policy, opening my eyes to the critical business need for helping CEOs navigate the convergence of business, finance and law with social justice, diversity, inclusion and politics,” Henes said in the release. “It is bittersweet to leave my Kirkland colleagues, many of whom I think of as family, but I’m excited to embark on this new chapter of my career.”

He did not return CNBC’s follow-up requests for comment.

The firm’s launch comes as corporations experience pushback from consumers and employees over their stances on social justice and environmental issues.

After voting laws that have been deemed restrictive by critics were passed in Georgia, corporations felt pressured to respond. Several did, including Major League Baseball, which moved its All-Star Game from Georgia to Colorado.

In a recent example of the pressure, Toyota halted giving campaign contributions to Republican lawmakers who challenged the results of the election.

The competition for advisory firms like these is fierce, but many, especially those run by people with high-level contacts, are often successful.

Teneo, which was co-founded by Bill Clinton’s former right-hand man, Doug Band, has been known as an influential advisory group that has links to massive corporations.

The same can be said for WestExec Advisors, which has seen over 15 consultants head into the Biden administration, according to reporting by The Intercept and The American Prospect. Antony Blinken co-founded WestExec and is now secretary of State.

One of the other expected leaders of Henes’ firm is Alvin Tillery, according to the sources. Tillery is an associate professor at Northwestern University and director of the school’s Center for the Study of Diversity and Democracy.

Tillery has experience running an advisory firm of his own. He is the founder of Analytic Insights Consulting, which, according to the firm’s website, “advises corporate, nonprofit, and governmental entities seeking to build more diverse, equitable, and inclusive work environments.” The firm’s listed previous clients include MGM International Resorts, Baker Demonstration School, the City of Evanston, and Exelixis.

If Tillery and Henes reach an official agreement, Tillery would continue his work at the school and will have a leadership role at the newly created advisory business, a person said. Analytic Insights Consulting is potentially folded into the new firm founded by Henes, this person noted.

Tillery did not respond to a request for comment.

Henes was Harris’ national finance chair while she was running for president during the 2020 election, helping her raise at least $400,000 before he started raising money for Joe Biden, CNBC previously reported.

Henes also led fundraising efforts both for Democrat Jaime Harrison’s bid for South Carolina’s U.S. Senate seat last year and former Citigroup executive Ray McGuire’s campaign for New York mayor in the Democratic primary this year.

While the Harris, Harrison and McGuire runs were unsuccessful, his fundraising efforts were key for Henes in developing contacts and potential partners and clients for his new firms. Harris went on to be vice president, and Harrison is the new chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Henes also developed strong corporate ties when he worked for clients as a restructuring and corporate governance advisor. Kirkland’s website shows that his past clients include Ion Media, Avaya and J.Jill.

Categories
Politics

Invoice to Change How Navy Prosecutes Felonies Faces Resistance

Bill to Change How Military Prosecutes Felonies Faces Resistance

WASHINGTON – After years of opposition from Pentagon leaders, New York Democrat Senator Kirsten Gillibrand appeared to be nearing victory over a fundamental change in the way the military handles sexual assault cases. However, their emphasis on including all serious crimes in the measure for reasons of racial justice now threatens to weaken their support.

Ms. Gillibrand’s push to remove commanders from decisions in prosecuting sexual assault cases had received bipartisan support despite opposition from military leaders. Last month, President Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III endorsed a similar change recommended by an independent military body.

But Mr. Austin and some of Mrs. Gillibrand’s strongest allies in Congress on this issue are reluctant to make broader changes to the military justice system. Some lawmakers say they only recently focused on the details of the measure after months of discussion.

“Your bill is much broader than I thought,” said Senator Susan Collins, Republican of Maine and an early proponent of Ms. Gillibrand’s move. “I believe she has made a compelling case for sexual assault and related allegations to be removed from the chain of command.”

But Ms. Collins said she didn’t think there was any justification for removing other alleged crimes from the military justice system.

Ms. Gillibrand’s bill would overturn the decision to prosecute serious crimes such as sexual assault and other crimes such as murder from military commanders to military prosecutors. The Pentagon panel proposed a more limited change: that a special victim unit should be set up within the military for cases of sexual assault and some other crimes.

But Ms. Gillibrand argues that this would create an unequal system and has said that her proposal would also help fight racial injustice.

A bill that would cover most crimes is “necessary,” she said in the Senate on Tuesday, “because the current military justice system simply does not provide justice, especially for soldiers of color.”

This tactic has helped attract other voices to their cause.

“Racial and gender bias in the military has resulted in inadequate prosecution of sexual assault cases and excessive prosecution of black and brown officers,” said Anthony Brown, Rep. Anthony Brown, Democrat of Maryland, a veteran and former Army Attorney General an interview this week.

While there have been differences in prosecution in the military over time, he said, “I think after the tragic murder of George Floyd, it really got a lot of us to say, ‘Hey, this is a real opportunity here, this one Fix inequalities and differences. ‘“

Studies over the years have identified racial differences in the military justice system, including the way in which discipline is exercised.

The tensions over Ms. Gillibrand’s move and the closer changes recommended by the Military Commission are potentially difficult terrain for Mr. Austin. He said strengthening the fight against sexual assault, racism and extremism in the ranks is a top priority.

Many military leaders who oppose changes in sexual assault cases may also oppose the loss of other prosecutorial powers. But focusing on other crimes could also alienate some of Ms. Gillibrand’s supporters – many of whom were brought back after years of courting.

“My inclination now is to commit sexual assault,” said Senator Angus King, Maine Independent, after previously saying he would register with Ms. Gillibrand. “That has been the goal of our work for eight years.”

Among the 70 or so senators from both parties who joined this spring, Ms. Gillibrand still seems to enjoy support. Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, has been with their side for years, while some Democrats, like Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, recently joined their efforts.

“There are many reasons to professionalize crime-dealing,” said Kaine, who previously worked as a lawyer. “Kirsten has a bright line that was maybe a little different from the one she drew earlier. But it’s a line that makes sense for us lawyers. “

Republican Senator Josh Hawley from Missouri agreed. “As a lawyer and former prosecutor, I think there is some value in having continuity and saying that every crime is handled the same way no matter what it is. I like that as a former prosecutor and I like it as a defense attorney. For me it’s a plus. “

Both men said they support the bill in writing but welcome further debate on the proposed changes that would require a Congressional resolution.

Senator Jack Reed, Democrat of Rhode Island and chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, now supports changing the prosecution for sexual assault after years of opposition. But he is a leading voice against extending this trial to other crimes.

Data on racial differences is mixed and sometimes inconclusive, in large part due to the military’s lack of consistent data on race and the justice system, several reports say.

A recent report by the Government Accountability Office found that black and Hispanic military personnel were more likely than whites to be tried in a military trial, but that race “was not a statistically significant factor in conviction.”

A report by the Air Force Inspector General last year found that black service members were 1.64 times more likely to be suspicious in Office of Special Investigations criminal cases, but said that “identifying racial differences does not automatically imply racial bias or racism available”. . “

Categories
Politics

Mnuchin refuses to sentence Trump election lie, Cybereason accepts Biden win

Mnuchin refuses to condemn Trump election lie, Cybereason accepts Biden win

The CEO of Cybereason said he and his company accept the results of the 2020 presidential election after one of their investors, Steven Mnuchin, declined to acknowledge that ex-President Donald Trump was spreading a lie about the contest being rigged.

In an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday morning, Mnuchin was asked several times to acknowledge that Trump was lying about the 2020 election. Each time, he dodged the question, attempting to change the subject to his firm’s investment in the Israeli cybersecurity company.

“I’m focused on our investments, our business going forward,” Mnuchin said. He said he stayed out of the 2020 campaign and its aftermath.

After he was asked about Trump’s election lie a final time, he said he believed American democracy is working – and that he hopes Trump will think about running again.

“We have a great democracy. It’s working. It worked. I hope the president [Trump] considers running again down the road,” said Mnuchin, a wealthy businessman, investor and film financier.

Trump has continued to push what has become known as “the Big Lie” in statements to the media and in interviews with sympathetic television hosts, such as Fox Business’ Maria Bartiromo.

The House of Representatives, including several Republican members, voted to impeach Trump for stoking the deadly Jan. 6 riot on Capitol Hill, which followed a “Stop the Steal” rally the then president headlined. The pro-Trump invaders – some of whom chanted “Hang Mike Pence,” who was vice president – delayed congressional confirmation of Joe Biden’s election victory by several hours.

The Senate acquitted Trump after he left office, although several GOP senators voted to convict.

Mnuchin was joined for the interview on “Squawk Box” by Cybereason CEO Lior Div, announcing that the former Treasury secretary’s new private equity firm is leading a $275 million investment in the company.

Div suggested in a follow-up statement to CNBC that Mnuchin’s answers were being misconstrued, and that his position would have no bearing on the company’s business relationship with the former Treasury secretary’s firm, Liberty Strategic Capital.

“Respectfully, I do not think that is what the Secretary said and, regardless, it certainly has no bearing on his relationship with Cybereason,” Div said in a statement provided to CNBC by a company spokesman on Wednesday.

“We have no political motivations and have chosen to work with Liberty because of their massive network and the understanding of the financial and government markets that Secretary Mnuchin and General Dunford bring to Cybereason. For example, the executive order issued by the Biden administration has accelerated the importance of EDR solutions like ours in the public market, and Liberty has the relationships to help accelerate our go-to-market strategy in the federal sector.”

A spokesman for Cybereason initially did not return requests for additional comment before publication.

After publication, the spokesman sent another comment from Div, in which he said the company backs the outcome of the 2020 election and President Biden’s administration.

“Cybereason supports the 2020 election results and the Biden administration. Our connection to Liberty is not political, it is a strategic partnership designed to help us further penetrate key markets, including the government,” Div said. “Both Secretary Mnuchin and General Dunford (appointed by [President] Obama to his Joint Chiefs of Staff) are part of Liberty Strategic Capital. Secretary Mnuchin will join our Board of Directors and General Dunford is joining our Advisory Board.”

Div himself also supports the 2020 election results and the new Biden administration, a spokeswoman told CNBC.

The incident is the latest example of how companies consider whether they should be speaking out on political issues, particularly if it pertains to their investors and employees.

After voting laws that have been deemed restrictive by critics were passed in Georgia, corporations felt pressured to respond. Several did, including Major League Baseball, which moved its All-Star Game from Georgia to Colorado.

In a recent example of the pressure, Toyota halted giving campaign contributions to Republican lawmakers who challenged the results of the election.