Rep. Dean Phillips has begun signaling to fellow House members that he plans to launch a challenge to President Joe Biden.
Two people familiar with the
discussions said that the Minnesota Democrat has told some colleagues of
his intent to run, though a third person who has talked to Phillips
recently said he had demurred when asked. That person said Phillips was
clearly considering it but when asked point blank whether he was
running, replied: “We’ll see.”
Phillips has [...] taken several steps in recent weeks toward launching a presidential run, including calling New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley last week and reaching out to several potential staffers about working in New Hampshire.
Among those he’s approached are Steve
Schmidt, a former Republican consultant, and Bill Fletcher, a
Tennessee-based Democratic consultant, according to a person familiar
with the nascent campaign. Schmidt and Fletcher did not immediately
respond to requests for comment. The Messenger first reported Phillips’ outreach to Schmidt.
Phillips and a spokesperson also did not respond to a request for comment.
A Phillips bid would face steep
challenges. He’s a three-term congressman squaring off against Biden,
who is sitting on more than $91 million in cash and supported by the
entire party machinery. [...]
Phillips, [... has] struggled to hire staffers. Bill Burton, a
longtime Democratic consultant and Barack Obama campaign veteran, said on X
that “someone” approached him “for a conversation” about Phillips, but
it was “not something I took seriously even for a second.”
Should Phillips go through with
announcing, he will need to quickly get himself on the ballot in key
states. He’s already missed the deadline to appear on the ballot in
Nevada, the second presidential nominating state for Democrats. South
Carolina, the first nominating state in the new calendar, has a
balloting deadline of Nov. 10.
Dean of the maybe, maybe not dance, with the clock running while hoping somebody takes him seriously.
If he runs, Kennedy will get more votes than Phillips. Marianne Williamson would be another candidate to top Phillips' charm and appeal, while likely better on policy.
As President, in the years leading up to this I would have been far
more active on behalf of an effort to broker peace between Israel and
the Palestinians. Supporting Israel militarily yet not playing an active
role in emphasizing the need for Palestinian justice was a failure of
American leadership and a transgression against our own values. Once
Trump was out of office, I would have moved the U.S. Embassy back to Tel
Aviv. I would not have allowed the Abraham Accords to minimize the
cause of justice for Palestinians. I would have demanded justice for
Shireen Abu Akleh. I would have demanded that no military assistance
provided to Israel – created by a Congressional Memorandum of
Understanding that extends until 2028 — be used in a way that supports
the occupation of the West Bank, the settlements, or the blockade of
Gaza. I would have stated my opposition to all three. I would have
worked assiduously with Middle East peace builders both there and here. I
would have supported all efforts to create the resurrection of plans
for a two-state solution. I would have used American power to side with
our highest ally: humanity itself.
I do appreciate the moral clarity of President Biden’s speech on
Tuesday. It was clearly from his heart. My clarity and compassion would
have been more universal, however. I would have emphasized to the
American people that Hamas is not the Palestinian people, and the
Palestinian people are not Hamas. Palestinian Americans, just like
Jewish Americans, would have heard in my speech both respect and
support. As an American, and as a Jew, I stand with Israel. But I stand
no less for the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people.
On Wednesday the President met with Jewish American leaders, which I
would have done as well. But I would also have met with Arab-American
leaders, particularly Palestinian, to begin a deeper dialogue on how the
world will go forward from here — specifically, what role America can
play in trying to pick up the pieces at the end of all this. As
President, I will dedicate the power of the U.S. government to creating a
phoenix of peace arising from the ashes of this war. Peacebuilding will
be a cornerstone of my Presidency, and the peacebuilders of the world
will always have my ear. People have asked me what my Department of
Peace would do in this situation? The point is that a Department of
Peace could have helped prevent it.
In the meantime, President Biden is correct to have warned that other
nations – clearly, I assume, a reference to Iran – should be very
careful not to interfere. The President is right to be concerned about
Iran’s involvement; I share that concern. The President of the United
States must always be on heightened alert to protect America’s homeland
as well as our interests abroad, and no American law enforcement,
military or intelligence agency should blithely assume that this
situation couldn’t have repercussions for us as well. I am sure that
they do not.
The day after the invasion, I was sitting at an airport bar in Reno,
Nevada, when I struck up a conversation with a gentleman sitting next to
me. We talked and enjoyed each other’s company, and after a while he
told me he’s a Palestinian-American and I told him I’m a Jew. The irony
was lost on neither of us. Both of us were reminded of the world as it
should be, for we were experiencing it together. It is to the
achievement of that world – for every Palestinian and for every Jew,
indeed for every citizen of the world – that I dedicate my life, and
would dedicate my presidency.
Wordy perhaps. But clear in advancing Two-State peace as the proper ultimate goal. With Phillips doing a straddle, he has scant policy statements online facing grave national issues. There is this. Beyond that level, we might only guess.
Williamson is real. There. Upfront. Committed.
___________FURTHER UPDATE___________
While hating tweets, Crabgrass is not above using one now and again:
View that in context, Alpha News, in part (which Crabgrass hates to cite):
How Phillips differentiates himself from Biden on a policy level remains to be seen, since, as of January, he had voted in line with the president’s agenda 100% of the time, according to FiveThirtyEight.
Westlin’s comments came in response to images of a “Phillips for
President” bus that was spotted traveling through Ohio Tuesday, which
seemed to confirm reports that Phillips will launch a presidential bid Friday in New Hampshire.
It appears Dean will do it. I like Williamson better.
By John C. “Chuck” Chalberg October 21, 2023 — 6:00pm
Consider from the start -
Here's a question for parents: How often have you thought
— or heard someone say — something to the effect that, "Yes, I'm aware
that there are serious problems with our public school system, but my
child's school is just fine"?
Yes, it is a system — a
system largely run by and for Education Minnesota, the teachers union.
From that standpoint, it may well be a system that is doing just fine.
It may not be doing what it was originally designed to do, but in many
respects it is doing exactly just what it is currently designed to do.
Parents were given a glimpse
into the public school system's inner workings during the COVID-induced
shutdowns. Many didn't care much for what they saw. How else to account
for school board elections heating up around the state this fall? Is it
really a case of book burners, racists and Christian nationalists on the
march? Much more likely, parents of all backgrounds and views have
finally, if reluctantly, come to the conclusion that things may not be
"just fine" in their local school after all.
There comes a time in the
history of every institution when a crossroads is reached and serious
questions have to be asked by those in charge — or by others who seek to
be in charge. Are we on the right path? Are we on the originally
intended path? Is it time for some sort of course correction? Or is it
simply time to stop doing what we're doing and chart a new course
altogether?
It goes on at unmerited length, including -
A different arrangement with money could jump start the
process of charting a new course. That would mean vouchers or education
savings accounts, through which taxpayer dollars committed to education
would be directed by parents to the public or private schools of their
choice, systems that already are reality in many states.
When it comes to the education of our young, trust has to be placed somewhere. [...]
What has been called progressives' "long march" through
our institutions, especially our educational institutions, has been
underway since the 1960s. More to the point, that march has been quite
successful.
Determining precisely how
successful that march has been would require outside investigations into
what is specifically being taught in classroom after classroom across
the state. For example, in how many classrooms and in what ways are the
theory and practice of critical race theory the order of the day? What
is the state of sex education? Or of family education in general?
Such investigations would not just be unwelcome in the system. They would spur charges of McCarthyism.
What then can be done? Simply
trust parents first. They are the ultimate consumers. Let them vote
with their vouchers and their children's feet. Let parents, rather than
Education Minnesota, drive the system.
There was a time when
Democratic presidents voiced great concern about public employee unions.
Franklin Roosevelt for one — John Kennedy for another. And those were
days when no one could have imagined using the classroom to advance the
agenda of one political party or faction. But those days are long gone.
Education Minnesota is here
to stay, no doubt. There is also little doubt that the proper purpose of
a union is to advance the interests of its members. Everything else is
secondary, which is as it should be. Need any more be said?
Just this. Education Minnesota is not just an arm of the DFL, it is the driving force behind the DFL.
Clearly: It is propaganda, but that is not the main problem; op-ed items often are propagandistic - advocatorial. Advocating vouchers in this instance.
What to make about that, "Let them vote with their vouchers and their children's feet"? Who's saying that? Who'd benefit, were Chuck's aimed for vouchers approved, ever, by voters in Minnesota?
NOW: Where the bullshit call falls is on the item's footer.
John C. "Chuck" Chalberg, who taught American history at Normandale
Community College and was an MEA member before retirement, writes from
Bloomington.
That's it? His essence?
Why not fully and adequately identify the author? (Ask Strib. They might have a reason beyond blind negligence. Perhaps not.)
Truth is: John C. "Chuck" Chalberg,writes for the Conservative CAE outlet, the Center for the American Experiment, and is a featured Catholic Speaker.
Indeed, to flesh out the latter status, the Catholic Speakers site
I perform and lecture as Catholic writer/convert G.K. Chesterton. Dr. John C. “Chuck” Chalberg is a professional historian
who performs as a number of historical figures. At the top of the list
is Catholic convert and apologist, G.K. Chesterton, a writer famous for
his wisdom, paradoxes, and great good humor.
Chalberg
becomes Chesterton, whether he is performing his one-man show as
Chesterton or lecturing as Chesterton. When he is not writing for such
publications as “Touchstone,” “The Weekly Standard,” “Chronicles,” “The
New Oxford Review,” “Gilbert!,” among a few others, he has also been
known to become Theodore Roosevelt and baseball’s Branch Rickey, among a
few others.
[...] He has also performed
for a large number of colleges, including Notre Dame, Boston College,
Gonzaga, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Duquesne, Villanova among many others. [...]
Lectures/Talks as G.K. Chesterton:
Dueling with Darwin. Hear Chesterton talk about and question the
Darwinian view of the world. In this talk he will also defend the
Catholic Faith.
[...]
Is it irrelevant who, in full reality, is authoring something? You decide.
An experienced Catholic conservative figure who writes for a decidely Republican leaning organ, CAE, submits to Strib a trashing of the DFL and of Education Minnesota and goes unnamed for who he in entirety is? And he wants vouchers.
Is that ending tagline good journalism?
You decide.
Crabgrass holds Strib negligent for hiding big time info under a hat.
Relevant truth, obscured.
Things are cumulative. This "parents decide" putsch is a coordinated thing. A year ago Strib did publish -
Candidates seeking 'apolitical classrooms' emerge in Sartell school board race
Three conservative candidates are running as a slate for the nonpartisan school board.
For the first time in recent
history, three candidates are running together to fill the open spots on
the Sartell-St. Stephen school board. And concern over that bloc of
candidates has prompted the district's teachers union to do something it
has never done before: endorse candidates.
"This year specifically we
are dealing with some extraordinary circumstances," said Stacy Hurdt,
president of the Sartell teachers union. "We have never really seen a
national campaign like this before."
Nine candidates are running
for three seats on the six-member nonpartisan board. The three running
as a slate are Emily Larson, Jen Smith and Scott Wenshau. They did not
return a request for comment but their website [now a dead link] lists their priorities as increased transparency, restoring apolitical classrooms and promoting parental rights.
But critics say the trio is anything but apolitical. Two of the slate's members — Larson and Smith — created a group called Kids Over Politics following the district's involvement in an equity audit
that showed students were concerned about racism, homophobia and
discrimination. The group, which rallied against the audit and its
results, states that its core belief is "character over race every
time."
In recent years, school board
races across the country have become more polarized with conservative
candidates campaigning together as slates. Many question districts about
the teaching of gender and sexuality, and are generally opposed to
equity initiatives. Those groups also have often advocated against mask
mandates and other pandemic safety measures in schools.
In Sartell, the teachers
union invited all nine candidates to participate in the endorsement
process but Larson, Smith and Wenshau declined, stating in a jointly
signed letter they wouldn't participate and wouldn't accept an
endorsement if it was offered. The letter also questioned if the union's
endorsement could harm the relationships between the union, teachers
and the school board.
While past candidates Jensen and Birk have shuttered their Gov-Lt.Gov websites, they were posting education "policy" in similar buzzword fashion. Jensen, stoking the GOP fire, has: https://www.facebook.com/DrScottJensen/
LETTER: Extremists’ code words threaten quality education
To the editor:
Thank
you to the Anoka County UnionHerald for publishing written interviews
of the Anoka-Hennepin School Board candidates on Sept 22. I read each
carefully, checked their websites and sources of support.
I
frequently saw words like “parental rights,” “cultural divisiveness”
and “curriculum transparency.” These are code words that extremists have
used to cloak their real intent. What is really being said is, “we as
parents want our own values (religious) taught to all children, we don’t
want to include other cultures, races, history or facts, and we want to
be able to censor and/or ban books that would have such information?”
American
education has been held up as the highest standard precisely because we
seek to expand children’s views and ideas. Parents’ rights are not
infringed because their child is learning new things. That is the goal!
What would happen if every parent demanded their personal values be
taught in all Minnesota schools?
We
must take into account that those who are raising such a fuss against
our School Board are a small group who are affiliated with groups like
Moms for Liberty and MN Parents Alliance who, instead of working with
school boards and teachers, have been intimidating them all across the
country. They do not represent the vast majority of Minnesotans.
I
think it might be important to remember we fought a long war in
Afghanistan against a government that used religion as a means to
suppress rights. Remember when folks were worried about “sharia law?” It
is the same idea.
Women,
children and education especially do not tend to fare well under these
types of governing bodies nor ultimately does any entire economy.
Watch
and listen for these code words and understand that they are being
distorted. You cannot claim to want to strengthen teacher-parent bonds
when you are harassing the individuals already on the job.
Patti Rysdam - Andover
Not that Dr. John C. “Chuck” Chalberg should not advance and seek publication of his opinions. Censoring that would not be the American Way. The American Way is, however, that you, if a newspaper, do not hide relevant information about an author/advocate when you publish their stuff.
"Chuck" is part of a movement, highly politicized, against educators and how they currently educate, where the skilled professionals are attacked as if against parents influencing their childrens' thought processes and development. They are not. After school, the kids go home, and come from there to go to school. Parents have their say. Weekends parents set church agendas, or not; it is discretionary with each family
It is that universal public education is, by Minnesota's Constitution and by sound common sense, aimed at developing minds of competent voting citizens, regardless of any biases they may experience at home. Home is home. School is school. Each has a place in the development of a next generation of sane, discerning, capable citizens. Of which we seem to never have enough.
Who'd want less?
And why?
________UPDATE________
Something that needs to be said, yet again. It has already been pointed out numerous times that childless taxpayers pay for public secular education because it is a public good to produce a next generation of educated citizens to promote the continuation of a constitutional representative democracy such as we have had and enjoyed as a people since the founding of our nation and our state, Minnesota. We have separation of church and state as a bedrock principle. We should never take money from childless taxpayers and give money to others who'd send the children of those others into religious indoctrination. They pay their own freight, if that's what they want.
Church is church. State is state. Keep one free from encroachment of the other.
(Figure out, which might encroach on the other - in fact, it could cut both ways.)
The UN Secretary-General on Wednesday firmly rebuked what
he described as the “false” claim by top Israeli diplomats that he had
sought to justify the terror attacks of 7 October by Hamas in a speech
he delivered to the Security Council.
Addressing Tuesday’s debate
in the Council on the worsening crisis in Israel and Palestine, the UN
chief said that although nothing could justify the “appalling” attacks
by Hamas of 7 October which triggered the siege and bombardment of Gaza,
it was important to recognize they “did not happen in a vacuum” and did
not justify the collective punishment of Palestinians.
Following Secretary-General António Guterres’
briefing on Tuesday, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan tweeted
that, in effect, Mr. Guterres's speech had sought to justify Hamas's
brutal assault which left some 1,400 dead, mainly civilians.
Resignation demand
He demanded that the UN chief resign, and later said that Israel would now withhold visas from UN officials.
Israel’s
foreign minister Eli Cohen also accused Mr. Guterres of justifying
terrorism and cancelled a planned bilateral meeting with the UN chief on
Tuesday.
Later on Tuesday the UN chief met some of the families
of those taken hostage by Hamas fighters, and reaffirmed his call for
the immediate and unconditional release of all those being held in
violation of international law inside Gaza.
Shocked at misrepresentation
In a statement to correspondents at the stakeout outside the Security Council on Wednesday morning, Mr. Guterres said he was “shocked by the misrepresentation by some of my statement.”
Acknowledging
that he had indeed spoken of Palestinian grievances, he stressed he had
also said in the Council that “the grievances of the Palestinian people
cannot justify the appalling attacks by Hamas.”
Without referring
to Israeli diplomats specifically, the UN chief said it was “necessary
to set the record straight – especially out of respect to the victims
and to their families.”
Without a truthful perspective the Israeli DISPROPORTIONATE infliction of death and destruction against the people who live in Gaza cannot be sanely addressed.
JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli officials were outraged Wednesday over U.N.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ comment that the deadly Hamas attack
on southern Israel “did not happen in a vacuum,” calling it
justification for terrorism. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen canceled a
scheduled meeting with Guterres while Yad Vashem, Israel’s Holocaust
memorial, said the U.N. chief “failed the test.”
“I will not meet with the UN secretary-general. After the October 7 massacre,
there is no place for a balanced approach. Hamas must be erased off the
face of the planet!” Cohen posted Tuesday on social platform X,
formerly known as Twitter.
Israel’s envoy to the U.N. Gilad Erdan
called for his resignation, saying Israel must rethink its relations
with the world body.
“We will refuse to grant visas to U.N. representatives. We have
already refused to give one to Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian
Affairs Martin Griffiths,” Erdan told Army Radio, accusing Guterres of
justifying a slaughter. “It’s time to teach them a lesson.”
It most certainly smells of an Israeli false-outrage attempt to quell true news of what's happening now and likely to be happening once the ground offensive is begun. It is as if saying this will not be tolerated is really saying, try it as an excuse to go ahead with war crimes while having a figleaf excuse to hide the truth as Israel devestates Gazans who have nowhere to go and no blame for what a handful of others did.
Denying UN visas? Why besides to hide ongoing atrocities? "Because we're in a snit" does not cut it. That's bullshit.
Beating the living shit out of civilians by unceasing bombing over weeks, destroying hospitals and closing any flow of medical supplies or fuel into Gaza to keep emergency generators working is not only to bomb the living shit out of civilians, but to add the insult of denying them actual hospital care; which is viewed here as a war crime.
It is absolutely true the Hamas attack did not happen in a vacuum. Israel cannot say it was treating Palestinians fairly. The world knows that is not true.
Settlements and apartheid are real and not illusory. Netanyahu and his ultra right-wing coalition cabinet has not been anything but ham-handed in what they dished out.
That an unacceptable mayhem and murder attack killing under two thousand in southern Israel towns and military areas is wrong is clear.Nobody denies that. Already over five thousand Gazans, many children, have lost their lives from what appears as indiscriminate bombing. Or perhaps targeted bombing against Hamas figures as Israeli intelligence best identifies their location, with no constraint against "unfortunate collateral damage" that being the killing of thousands of ordinary citizens with thousands more maimed.
The ground offensive is yet to begin, and already the unrelenting bombings have terrorized Gaza's civilians with well over twice the number of deaths and maimings as the Oct. 7 Hamas attack left injured and killed.
It is false outrage that these bomb-happy murderers are using to figleaf over their clearly DISPROPORTIONATE, intentional, planned, mayhem - damned be the consequences of plain-citizens people they affirmatively will not allow to evacuate.
When the US destroyed Fallujah civilians were allowed to evacuate before the destruction was started. Notice was given. Time was allowed. That is a difference.
Strib reports, here and here. The second item is subheadlined by Strib, "Emmer's conservative bona fides were called into question by former President Donald Trump and his allies." That is not what Trump questioned. Emmer historically was not a MAGA moron. Bless that good judgment. He recognized Biden had won the election and had no cause to join Trump's crimes. Hence, he voted Jan 6, to confirm Biden's election. Biden is a Catholic.
Emmer has always in the Crabgrass view been a very conservative Catholic candidate. Having a personality to enjoy campaigning, as center of attention and a chance to greet many citizens. His support of normalization of relations with Cuba was a surprise, but in line with best Minnesota outcomes since the state is a net food producer and Cuba imports. Given his Minnesota history, he has been better than Crabgrass expected.
His crypto caucus status has not been impressive, but grounded in belief while also a source of funding for his party.
Move along. Nothing more to see here.
True, he is no Jim Jordan. But that's in his favor. Not crazy Michel either. Just entrenched in CD6 where I live and have not ever voted for him. Life continues. For him and us.
The Gaetz - MTG cabal is toxic. Toxic Trumpists. Rabidly so. Not good for the nation. Trump is our Netanyahu. And we had the sense to vote him out after a single term. Had a stronger, better, sounder 2016 candidate opposed him, he might never have had that one single term. A populist-progressive choice existed. But the Dems ran a sorry corporatist Goldman Sachs indebted individual in 2016. A Clinton. Toxicity has multiple strains. End of story.
___________UPDATE__________
Never trust Crabgrass saying "End of story." This pic: The pair rattling before they strike -
The image is from May, 2021, when the pair went on tour (George Burns and Gracie Allen had a better act). The report, from then, presages the Speaker Roast now going on:
[...] bad news for Trump, whether he knows it or not, as these
attention-hungry creeps are trying to get in on the hustle he’s
monopolized over the last five years.
Gaetz hit the stage first, throwing out a bunch of populist,
demagogic rhetoric (“forever wars,” “socialism,” “rebuild America,”
“world’s policeman,” “deep state”) and pandering (“gun control just
means we have a steady aim!”). He took shots at the Bushes and the
McCains and the Romneys and James Comey and Anthony Fauci. He observed
that “Paul Ryan was giving a speech” in California, and added that after
Ryan ran for vice president, the party “literally needed an autopsy.”
The upshot? “This is Donald Trump’s party and I’m a Donald Trump
Republican,” Gaetz declared. One thing he didn’t talk about was his wingman Joel Greenberg’s guilty pleas for crimes including paying a 17-year-old to have sex with both of them (which Gaetz has previously denied).
Not
to be upstaged, Greene entered the room in a Humvee, before making her
way on stage, grinning from ear to ear. But her smile belied the
populist anger apparently bubbling up inside her. She called out the
Democrats who tear down monuments. “You better bet we’re gonna protect
Stone Mountain’s monument,” she said of America’s largest monument to the Confederacy.
She feigned the Mexican accent of a supposed cartel leader talking
about how much he loved Joe Biden, who she said wants a “woke” military.
She also called the Squad “the Jihad Squad” and Alexandria
Ocasio-Cortez “O’Crazyo-Cortez.” Really classy stuff. You see, she’s not
a politician. She’s just like you. If you’re a jerk like that, at
least.
So why is this happening? First, of course, for attention.
I’m writing about this, and so are lots of others and for this crew,
and especially Greene who’s already been booted from her House
committees so has nothing left, PR like this is its own reward. Indeed,
Gaetz referred to Thursday’s rally as “the greatest political show on
earth.”
Even during the good old days, conservative politics was
probably half Bill Buckley and half P.T. Barnum. We were business up
front and party in the back (OK, maybe we didn’t party quite as hard as
Gaetz—who my Beast colleagues report snorted coke with a model with a no-show government job at a GOP Trump Defender gala in Orlando—and Greene, but you get the point). Today, the entertainment wing has almost completely supplanted the governing wing.
As Gaetz told Vanity Fair a while back, “If you aren’t making news, you aren’t governing.”
These are voted into Congress. Weep over that truth. Rebels without a clue.
Yes, forever wars are a problem. Yes, we have a deep state. And socialism is a problem only because we have far, far too little. Shrinking the government might be okay, too much is spent on weapons and weapon wielders, but redirecting money is more the need than cutting it. Aim for consumer recycling money for a healthy working economy over rich fucks hoarding it. Welfare for the poor vs welfare for California weapons engineers and factories is an issue. Shrink the military academies, since that is where the status quo gets fed newbies. Spotting problems is not the same as giving sound answers. Touting a Confederate monument is touting losers who thought it fine to hold title to humans.
Jenna Ellis speaks with her attorney Franklin Houge after Ellis
plead guilty to a felony count of aiding and abetting false statements
and writings, inside Fulton Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee’s Fulton
County Courtroom, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, in Atlanta. Ellis, an attorney
and prominent conservative media figure, reached a deal with
prosecutors Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023, and pleaded guilty to a reduced
charge over efforts to overturn Donald Trump’s 2020 election loss in
Georgia.(AP Photo/John Bazemore, Pool)
ATLANTA
— Attorney and prominent conservative media figure Jenna Ellis pleaded
guilty on Tuesday to a felony charge over efforts to overturn Donald
Trump’s 2020 election loss in Georgia, tearfully telling the judge she
looks back on that time with “deep remorse.”
Ellis, the fourth defendant in the case to enter into a plea deal
with prosecutors, was a vocal part of Trump’s reelection campaign in the
last presidential cycle and was charged alongside the Republican former
president and 17 others with violating the state’s anti-racketeering
law.
Ellis pleaded guilty to one felony count of aiding and abetting false
statements and writings. She had been facing charges of violating
Georgia’s Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and
soliciting the violation of oath by a public officer, both felonies.
She rose to speak after pleading guilty, fighting back tears as she
said she would have not have represented Trump after the 2020 election
if she knew then what she knows now, claiming that she she [sic] relied on
lawyers with much more experience than her and failed to verify the
things they told her.
“What I did not do but should have done, Your Honor, was to make sure
that the facts the other lawyers alleged to be true were in fact true,”
the 38-year-old Ellis said.
The guilty plea from Ellis comes just days after two other
defendants, fellow attorneys Sidney Powell and Kenneth Chesebro, entered
guilty pleas. That means three high-profile people responsible for
pushing baseless legal challenges to Democrat Joe Biden’s 2020 election
victory have agreed to accept responsibility for their roles rather than
take their chances before a jury.
She was sentenced to five years of probation along with $5,000 in
restitution, 100 hours of community service, writing an apology letter
to the people of Georgia and testifying truthfully in trials related to
this case.
Of interest, "she relied on
lawyers with much more experience than her and failed to verify the
things they told her." Perhaps - just perhaps - these two gentlemen fit that characterization:
Finally, in due respect for Donald J. Trump, his named co-defendants in Georgia, and for the extreme truth level and seriousness of his claims of having won the 2020 election while being defrauded from serving a second consecutive term by extensive voter fraud - music for the third of Trump lawyer critters saying, "Guilty."
