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Lawsuits Expose FCC’s Failure to Weigh Evidence of Health Impact of Wireless Technology

Lawsuits filed by Children’s Health Defense and the Environmental Health Trust argue the FCC dismissed 1,700 filings of evidence showing radiation contributes to cell damage, DNA damage, infertility, carcinogenicity, cognitive deficits and cardiovascular disruption.

The Defender reports:

Two separate health advocacy organizations have sued the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) over its complete dismissal of evidence of serious health impacts from wireless technology devices and infrastructure, such as cell phones and cell towers.

The cases have been brought after the FCC completely dismissed all evidence presented to it during a six year public inquiry which the FCC opened itself. The FCC, which is “an independent agency of the U.S. government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States,” opened the inquiry in 2013, asking the public to submit comments to the inquiry’s docket as to whether or not the FCC should review its 1996 Radio Frequency (RF) radiation guidelines. The inquiry was closed in December 2019.

During that time tremendous amounts of scientific and human evidence of physical harm caused by radiation emitted from wireless technology such as Wi-Fi and cell towers, was submitted to the FCC in 1,700 filings. The filings contain peer-reviewed studies that show radiofrequency radiation contributes to cell damage, DNA damage, infertility, carcinogenicity, cognitive deficits, and cardiovascular disruption, among a wide array of negative health effects.

Pleas to reconsider radiation limits came from scientists and science organizations, such as the BioInitiative and EMF Scientist, from doctors and medical organizations, and from hundreds of individuals, including parents of children injured by wireless technology.

The scientific studies and testimony of the physical harm caused by RF radiation were requested by the FCC for the purposes of reassessing their “radiofrequency exposure limits and policies” after Congress’s Government Accountability Office recommended such a commission.

But the FCC summarily dismissed the evidence, without explanation.

The FCC declared that “the vast majority of filings were unscientific, and even the filings that sought to present scientific evidence failed to make a persuasive case for revisiting our existing RF limits,” the FCC stated in a resolution to close their inquiry.

The FCC also cited “sister” agencies such as the FDA, stating, “No evidence has moved our sister health and safety agencies to issue substantive policy recommendations for strengthening RF exposure regulation.”

“The Director of FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health advised the Commission, as recently as April 2019, that ‘no changes to the current standards are warranted at this time,’ the FCC continued.

“Upon review of the record, we find no appropriate basis for and thus decline to initiate a rulemaking to reevaluate the existing RF exposure limits,” the FCC concluded, referring to its 1996 RF radiation exposure guidelines.

Their unsupported dismissal of both scientific studies and firsthand experience testimony prompted both the Children’s Health Defense (CHD) and the Environmental Health Trust (EHT) to sue the FCC.

“Children’s Health Defense and the Environmental Health Trust filed separate cases against the FCC, but filed joint briefs,” report Children’s Health Defense. The cases were heard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.

During oral arguments one of the judges, Robert Wilkins, who is a chemical engineer by training, told the FCC, “I am inclined to rule against you.”

That response as well as other remarks by the judges critical of the FCC’s continued adherence to the 1996 guidelines has sparked hope for what the advocacy organizations are calling a “landmark case.”

“I hear all the time from people whose lives are devastated, and they don’t know what to do, they don’t know where to go, and they need help. Some are driven to suicide. And as a society we owe them an answer,” said Scott McCollough, an attorney for CHD, during a press conference which the advocacy organisations held on the case’s oral arguments. McCullough presented the arguments on behalf of the CHD, the EHT, Consumers for Safe Cell Phones, and other petitioners.

“Hundreds of people wrote [to the FCC] with just horrible letters; It tears you up to read what these people told the Commission. They did nothing. They kicked everybody in the teeth. We described it as a gut punch in our brief and that’s exactly what it was,” said McCollough.

CHD and EHT argued in their jointly filed briefs that the FCC did not back up their decision with any evidence of their own. The groups are arguing that the dismissal “lacked evidence of reasoned decision-making” and therefore was “arbitrary.” It was furthermore, they said, a violation of the Administrative Procedures Act as well as the National Environmental Policy Act and the 1996 Telecommunications Act, “because it failed to consider the impact of its decision on public health and safety.”

‘We don’t deal with humans, only frequencies’

The FCC’s approach to claims of RF radiation harm is encapsulated by one phone call, said CHD attorney Scott McCollough while opening his oral argument in court.

“One of the petitioners recently contacted the FCC to seek redress for injuries she attributes to RF exposures. The commission representative said, ‘We don’t deal with humans, only frequencies,’ and hung up,” McCollough revealed.

“They [the FCC] don’t understand biological effects, and they don’t want to. It makes their head hurt,” McCollough later said during the press conference.

That is why, McCollough argues, that the FCC continues to insist there is no evidence that wireless technology causes harm, in the face of the 11,000 pages of scientific and human evidence showing “profound harmful effects and widespread sickness from wireless technology” filed by theCHD, the EHT, and their fellow petitioners in the case.

And these 11,000 pages are only “the tip of the iceberg” regarding the harmful effects of wireless technology, explained attorney Dafna Tachover, CHD’s 5G and Wireless Harms director.  “In these kinds of cases, we have to rely on the evidence that was submitted to the docket,” Tachover said during the press conference.

Included in the 11,000-page “Joint Appendix” are “references to thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies showing DNA damage, reproductive harm, neurological effects such as ADHD, and radiation sickness, which seems to be the most widespread manifestation of wireless harms,” reported CHD.

“The evidence shows effects on the brain, including impaired blood flow and damage to the blood-brain barrier, cognitive and memory problems and effects on sleep, melatonin production and mitochondrial damage,” the CHD report continues.

CHD also reported that the evidence found the “Causal mechanism of harm”: Oxidative Stress, which “was found in 203 out of 225 studies,” and “can lead to cancer, non-cancer conditions and DNA damage.”

Judges critical of the FCC

During a press conference on the oral arguments of the case, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairman of CHD, said that the organizations “were blessed with what we call a ‘hot bench.’”

“A lot of work on the argument was done by the judges who were clearly familiar with the case and were extremely skeptical of FCC’s position,” Kennedy said.

During the oral arguments for the case Judge Millet challenged the FCC attorney multiple times regarding the FCC’s reliance on the FDA, and the inadequacy of the FDA’s input.

“How was it reasonable for the FCC to rely so heavily on a response from the FDA that did not address the very things you asked for information on: devices [other than cell phones], the use of multiple devices and physical harms other than cancer?” Millet asked.

The FCC attorney admitted, “You’re right, that their statements spoke specifically about cell phones.”

The FCC attorney also admitted that even after the FCC “made very clear” that they rely upon “other agencies with expertise in this area,” they were met with silence.”

“We formally solicited the views of other agencies with expertise in this area, we made very clear that we wanted to rely on them. We relied on the views of expert agencies in adopting these limits in the first place,” the FCC attorney told the judges.

When asked by Judge Millet if the FCC relied on agencies besides the FDA, the FCC attorney said: “We formally seek the input of all expert bodies in this area, and we left the docket open for seven years giving ample opportunity to weigh in and not one of these bodies said you need to change your standards. And we’re not arguing that silence should be construed as endorsement, but it shouldn’t be construed as disapproval of the agency’s existing limits.”

Is the regulation of the FCC fit-for-purpose?

Reflecting on this silence of the “expert” agencies during the case press conference, McCullough suggested that the regulation system was no longer fit-for-purpose.

“Over all of this time it has become obvious that agencies that are charged with regulating entities almost inevitably become captured by them,” he said. “They are inculcated in how the industry [works] and they begin to develop some kind of Stockholm Syndrome by these agencies that they have to deal with. Quite frankly, that’s all they see most of the time.”

Tachover asked Kennedy during the case press conference what he thinks is “the most effective thing that our movement can do to create change.”

He replied, “I think we have to keep the pressure up on the agency. The ultimate issue is we’ve gotta get money out of politics, because as Scott pointed out, agency capture is not controversial. There are hundreds of articles that document the process. It occurs, as Scott says, directly and indirectly. In some [agencies] it’s innocent, but in most of them it does become corrupt. And it’s reinforced through budgeting.”

He went on to describe how the agency “capture” process can work.

“As highly visible and powerful regulators approach retirement age, they know that they can quintuple their salary by going to work for the agency that they regulated,” he said.

“And so usually in a year or two, before they approach retirement, they begin doing really extravagant favors, highly visible favors for the industry that they regulate. As it happens, those regulators are the people who chair the departments, and hire new people, and who set the example for their underlings. And gradually the entire agency becomes subsumed in the process,” Kennedy continued.

“The judges in this country, and really everywhere, will not give us victories in a vacuum. We have to lay the public groundwork. We have to show the judge that the public is out there and they want reform. That there are people like you who have been injured. We need to come in with those stories, those very powerful parables about how democracy is failing, it’s being held up to ridicule, and people are being harmed in terrible ways. And we need a grassroots movement to continually promote those stories,” Kennedy concluded.

Originally published by Life Site News.

36-Year-Old Doctor Dies After Second Dose of COVID Vaccine

The Defender reports:

News reports attributed Dr. Barton Williams’ death to multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-A) caused by asymptomatic COVID, though he never tested positive for the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is investigating the death of a 36-year-old doctor in Tennessee who died Feb. 8, about a month after receiving the second dose of a COVID vaccination.

According to news reports, Dr. Barton Williams died from the adult form of multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-A), a condition caused when the immune system attacks the body resulting in multi-system organ failure. MIS-A is considered extremely rare.

The Daily Memphian and other news sources reported that those involved in the investigation believe Williams developed MIS-A in response to an asymptomatic case of COVID-19, not the vaccine.

Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, an infectious disease specialist who treated Williams and is working with the CDC to investigate the death, told a Memphis ABC News affiliate that Williams tested negative for COVID while in the hospital and that Williams had told him that to his knowledge, he had not the virus.

However, Threlkeld said testing revealed “two types of antibodies in [Williams’] system — one type of antibody that results from a natural COVID infection, and a second type of antibody from the vaccine.”

Asked whether the vaccine, rather than an asymptomatic case of COVID, could have caused Williams to develop MIS-A, Threlkeld said: “Everyone who has had [MIS-A], has had the infection. There has been no case published yet of someone who has been documented to have this problem, who has been vaccinated in the past.”

Threlkeld also said: “This is not a reason, not to get the vaccine. It’s a reason to get the vaccine, because only people who have had the infection have had this occur.”

But Lyn Redwood, RN, MSN, president emerita of Children’s Health Defense questioned the preliminary findings that ruled out the vaccine in favor of a rare reaction to an asymptomatic case of COVID.

Redwood pointed to research that described temporal associations between Kawasaki disease (KD), a disease that exhibits symptoms similar to MIS-C such as high fevers, rash and blood vessel inflammation, and a wide variety of vaccines, including hepatitis A and B, rotavirus, influenza, DPT or DTaP, pneumococcal vaccines and yellow fever.

“Scientists who have studied the “distinctive immune system characteristics” of children with Kawasaki disease, a disease which is very similar to MIS-C, acknowledge that the ‘antigenic stimulation’ set in motion by vaccines and other biologics has the capacity to create “immunologic interference,” Redwood said. “Is it possible that the MIS-C and MIS-A are the result of ‘pathogen priming,’ a mechanism that other researchers euphemistically describe as ‘immune enhancement’?”

“Pathogen priming can arise when the proteins in viral vaccines are so similar (‘homologous’) to proteins in humans that they subsequently trigger out-of-control autoimmunity or hypersensitivity reactions such as shock syndrome and delayed anaphylaxis,” Redwood said.

As Redwood reported earlier this week, research has found the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein alone — without the virus — to be a potent inductor of endothelial dysfunction, suggesting that “manifestations of COVID-19 shock syndrome in children can be at least partially attributed to its action.”

MIS-C, the childhood version of multisystem inflammatory syndrome, is also rare, but more common in children than adults. Children with MIS-C often exhibit symptoms similar to Kawasaki disease.

In her Feb. 10 article, Redwood referred to a public comment submitted in December to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from Dr. J. Patrick Whelan, a pediatric rheumatologist, warning about the potential for mRNA vaccines designed to create immunity to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to instead cause injuries.

Both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the only two so far approved for emergency use in the U.S., use mRNA technology.

Whelan’s training (at Harvard, Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine) includes degrees in biochemistry, medicine and rheumatology. For 20 years, he worked as a pediatric rheumatologist. He currently specializes in treating children with multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C), which has been associated with coronavirus infections.

In his comments to the FDA, Whelan wrote:

“I am concerned about the possibility that the new vaccines aimed at creating immunity against the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein have the potential to cause microvascular injury to the brain, heart, liver and kidneys in a way that does not currently appear to be assessed in safety trials of these potential drugs.”

Whelan was referring to the fact that mRNA vaccines work by incorporating the genetic blueprint for the key spike protein on the virus surface into a formula that — when injected into humans — instructs our own cells to make the spike protein.

In theory, the body then will make antibodies against the spike protein to protect against SARS-CoV-2 infection.

“The problem with this scenario,” said Redwood, “is that the spike protein alone — which the mRNA vaccines instruct the body to make — has been implicated as a key cause of injury and death in COVID-19 infections.”

Based on the research conducted to date, Redwood said, it is very likely that some recipients of the spike protein mRNA vaccines will experience the same symptoms and injuries associated with the virus.

Again according to Whelan, “the potential to cause microvascular injury (inflammation and small blood clots called microthrombi) to the brain, heart, liver and kidney … were not assessed in the safety trials.”

Last year, Canadian researchers identified Kawasaki disease as a “condition of interest” for pediatric vaccine safety surveillance, citing ongoing reports of KD to passive systems monitoring adverse events following immunization (AEFI).

Two studies — one conducted in Singapore and one in the U.S. — have highlighted an association between the 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) and Kawasaki disease:

  • The Singapore researchers looked at all young children (under age two) hospitalized for KD in their hospital from 2010 to 2014, considering children in whom KD onset took place within one month of PCV13 vaccination. Writing in Nature in 2019, the authors denied any overall increased risk but reported “an approximate two fold increased risk of Complete KD within the 28 day risk interval following receipt of the first dose of PCV13.” The researchers closed with an “urgent” plea to confirm their findings.
  • The U.S. study, a 2013 Vaccine Safety Datalink analysis by Kaiser Permanente researchers at eight managed care organizations, also looked at children two years and under, comparing those who received PCV13 from 2010-2012 to same-age children who received the Prevnar-7 vaccine (PCV7) in the mid-2000s. For the PCV13-vaccinated infants and toddlers, the likelihood of developing KD was 1.94 times higher than for those who received PCV7 — again representing a finding deserving of “further investigation.”

STUDY: Vitamin D protects from COVID

Social Science Research Network study claims vitamin D significantly reduces deaths related to coronavirus.

The Epoch Times reports:

Providing high doses of vitamin D to patients admitted to hospitals after contracting the CCP virus could reduce deaths by 60 percent, according to a study by the Social Science Research Network.

As part of the research, 551 patients admitted to a hospital in Spain were given calcifediol, a prehormone generated from vitamin D3, resulting in 80 percent of the patients not requiring ICU treatment. The research stated that 36 of the patients treated with calcifediol died from the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus, compared to 57 patients out of 379 in the control group.

World Needs Pandemic Treaty to Ensure Transparency: UK

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday that world powers should clinch a global treaty on pandemics to ensure proper transparency after China’s CCP virus outbreak, which causes the disease COVID-19.

Johnson said he would be keen to agree with a global treaty on pandemics where countries agreed to share data, amid British and U.S. concern over access given to a World Health Organization (WHO) mission to China.

Average US Cases Below 100,000 for 1st Time in Months

Average daily new COVID-19 cases in the United States dipped below 100,000 in recent days for the first time in months, but experts cautioned Sunday that infections remain high and precautions to slow the pandemic must remain in place.

The seven-day rolling average of new infections was well above 200,000 for much of December and went to roughly 250,000 in January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University. That average dropped below 100,000 on Friday for the first time since Nov. 4. It also stayed below 100,000 over the weekend.

Virus Was ‘Circulating Widely’ in Wuhan by Late 2019: WHO

An investigator with the World Health Organization (WHO) said the CCP virus was “circulating widely” in Wuhan, China, in late 2019.

Lead WHO investigator Peter Ben Embarek told CNN that his team found signs of a wider outbreak in the Hubei Province city in late 2019, noting that there were at least 13 strains of the CCP virus, or the novel coronavirus, around Wuhan by late 2019.

Variants-Wary Germany Turns Back 5,000 at Border

German authorities say police have turned back some 5,000 people at the country’s borders with the Czech Republic and Austria’s Tyrol region since tight controls were introduced on Sunday.

Germany imposed checks to slow the spread of the UK CCP virus variant from the Czech Republic and the South African variant from Tyrol. It is restricting entry to German citizens and residents, truck drivers, transport and health service workers, and a few others, including cross-border commuters working in “systemically relevant sectors.”

CDC Director Defends Changing School Distancing Recommendation

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday defended telling educators last year that social distancing in schools of three feet was “quite safe,” while her agency in new reopening guidance says six feet of distancing is recommended.

The CDC’s new guidance, published last week, repeatedly says six feet of distancing should be targeted when reopening schools. Dr. Rochelle Walensky told reporters in a call about the guidance that, along with masking, “physical distance of at least six feet” should be required “across the school environment.”

UK Starts Hotel Quarantine for Arrivals From High-Risk Countries

People arriving in the UK must quarantine in hotels starting Monday as the government tries to prevent new variants of the CCP virus from derailing the country’s vaccination drive.

People arriving in England from 33 high-risk countries must stay in quarantine hotels for 10 days at their own expense. In Scotland, the rule applies to arrivals from any country. Critics say the move comes too late, with the South African variant already circulating in the country.

Israeli Study Finds 94 Percent Drop in Symptomatic Cases

Israel’s largest health care provider on Sunday reported a 94 percent drop in symptomatic CCP virus infections among 600,000 people who received two doses of Pfizer’s vaccine in the country’s biggest study to date.

Health maintenance organization Clalit, which covers more than half of all Israelis, said the same group was also 92 percent less likely to develop severe illness from the virus. The comparison was against a group of the same size, with matching medical histories, who had not received the vaccine.

Stimulus Bill Must Be Passed For Schools to Safely Reopen: Fauci

Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday that in order for schools to safely reopen nationwide, a stimulus bill must first be passed to provide further resources.

Fauci, the head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, made the remarks in response to the Feb. 12 guidelines released by the CDC on the reopening of schools in the United States.

China A Biblical Prophecy Part 1

21 Men Accuse anti-Trump Lincoln Project Co-Founder of Sexual Harassment, FBI Investigating

National Review reports:

The FBI is reportedly investigating allegations that Lincoln Project co-founder and veteran Republican consultant John Weaver sexually harassed minors.

Two individuals have been contacted by FBI agents regarding Weaver. The agents asked whether Weaver ever touched them inappropriately or sent or requested sexually explicit material while they were underage, Yashar Ali reported in his Substack newsletter.

At least 21 individuals have accused Weaver, 61, of harassing them online, including one 14-year-old boy who claims Weaver asked about his body in a series of private messages.

Weaver, who has a wife and two children, leveraged his influential position in politics to lure the younger men, at some points explicitly offering professional and personal aid, such as paying bills, in exchange for sex.

Since the allegations have been reported Weaver has apologized in a statement and claimed he was under the impression that the conversations in question were consensual.

“I am so disheartened and sad that I may have brought discomfort to anyone in what I thought at the time were mutually consensual discussions. In living a deeply closeted life, I allowed my pain to cause pain for others. For that I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down.”

Weaver worked on late Senator John McCain’s presidential campaigns in both 2000 and 2008 as well as former Ohio Governor John Kasich’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The New York Times reports:

John Weaver, a longtime G.O.P. operative who advised John McCain and John Kasich, made sexual overtures to young men, sometimes offering to help them get work in politics.

John Weaver, a longtime Republican strategist and co-founder of the prominent anti-Trump group the Lincoln Project, has for years sent unsolicited and sexually provocative messages online to young men, often while suggesting he could help them get work in politics, according to interviews with 21 men who received them.

His solicitations included sending messages to a 14-year-old, asking questions about his body while he was still in high school and then more pointed ones after he turned 18.

These messages from Mr. Weaver, 61, who helped run John McCain’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 2008 and John Kasich’s in 2016, did not lead to physical encounters except in one consensual case, and none of the men accused Mr. Weaver of unlawful conduct. Rather, many of them described feeling preyed upon by an influential older man in the field in which they wanted to work, and believing they had to engage with his repeated messaging or lose a professional opportunity.

Mr. Weaver sent overt sexual solicitations to at least 10 of the men and, in the most explicit messages, offered professional and personal assistance in exchange for sex. He told one man he would “spoil you when we see each other,” according to a message reviewed by The New York Times. “Help you other times. Give advice, counsel, help with bills. You help me … sensually.”

Lincoln Project leaders, in their first extended comments about Mr. Weaver, said they had not been aware of such allegations until this month, when articles in The American Conservative and Forensic News, and an open letter on Twitter from a data analyst named Garrett Herrin, accused Mr. Weaver of grooming young men online.

Steve Schmidt, a co-founder of the group, said its leaders had learned last summer from social media posts that Mr. Weaver, who has a wife and two children, might be involved in relationships with men, but emphasized, “There was no awareness or insinuations of any type of inappropriate behavior when we became aware of the chatter at the time.” Mr. Weaver denied the claims, Mr. Schmidt said in an interview.

In mid-January, after the allegations gained public attention, Mr. Weaver issued a statement acknowledging he had sent “inappropriate” messages and apologizing “to the men I made uncomfortable,” while saying he had believed all of his interactions to be consensual. He said he would not return to the Lincoln Project from a medical leave that began in the summer.

Interviews with the 21 young men, as well as a review of screenshots of dozens of messages he sent them over the last five years, show that his online behavior was in many cases aggressive and unwanted.

Cole Trickle Miele was 14 when he followed Mr. Weaver on Twitter in 2015 and quickly received a direct message from him. At first, he did not think anything was amiss.

“I remember being a 14-year-old kid interested in politics and being semi-starstruck by John Weaver engaging in a conversation with me,” said Mr. Trickle Miele, now 19. At the time, he supported the Republican Party and was a fan of Mr. Kasich, the Ohio governor whom Mr. Weaver was helping prepare to join the presidential race.

But as the messages kept coming, he became uncomfortable.

In June 2018, Mr. Weaver asked, “Are you in HS still?” — referring to high school — and Mr. Trickle Miele said that he was, and that he would be 18 the next spring. “You look older,” Mr. Weaver replied. “You’ve gotten taller.”

In March 2020, when Mr. Trickle Miele was 18, Mr. Weaver wrote, “I want to come to Vegas and take you to dinner and drinks and spoil you!!,” and in a follow-up message used a term that in sexual banter refers to one’s body: “Hey my boy! resend me your stats! or I can guess! if that is easier or more fun!”

Mr. Weaver, in response to questions about specific allegations, reiterated his statement from earlier this month and said: “I am so disheartened and sad that I may have brought discomfort to anyone in what I thought at the time were mutually consensual discussions. In living a deeply closeted life, I allowed my pain to cause pain for others. For that I am truly sorry to these men and everyone and for letting so many people down.”

Mr. Weaver was one of a handful of veteran Republican operatives who formed the Lincoln Project because, they said, they considered Mr. Trump a danger to the country. With mocking ads that often went viral, the group became a highly visible opponent to the Trump presidency.

Mr. Schmidt said in the interview that the Lincoln Project did not have an office when Mr. Weaver was involved, so the founders and staff were not together. He said the group was “outraged and horrified” to learn of Mr. Weaver’s behavior. After this article was published on Sunday, the Lincoln Project released a statement condemning Mr. Weaver and calling him “a predator, a liar and an abuser.”

Last year, when Cody Bralts was a recent college graduate looking for a job in politics, he replied to one of Mr. Weaver’s tweets and, to his surprise, received a direct message from him. After Mr. Weaver said he traveled to Chicago sometimes, they discussed meeting to talk politics; at one point Mr. Weaver asked what Mr. Bralts did in his free time.

When Mr. Bralts said he ran marathons, Mr. Weaver replied, “At least I know that whatever we end up doing, you could do it multiple times in a row,” with a winking emoticon.

“It just seemed like he was exploiting his power,” Mr. Bralts said. “He was someone very important and high up in a field I want to go into.”

Kyle Allen, 23, said that from 2016 to 2018, Mr. Weaver asked about his height, weight, what he was wearing and whether he was circumcised. He also pushed repeatedly for an invitation to speak at the University of Ottawa, where Mr. Allen was studying, using sexually explicit language to express his eagerness to visit.

“I would try to veer the conversations toward politics, and he would always find a way to bring it back to sexual stuff,” Mr. Allen said.

In at least two cases, Mr. Weaver offered young men work with the Lincoln Project while sending suggestive messages.

One of those men, Anthony Covell, 22, said Mr. Weaver had begun messaging him in July 2019. That exchange tapered off, but on Dec. 3, 2019 — two weeks before the Lincoln Project was publicly announced — Mr. Weaver invited him to join the new initiative.

“He said he was looking for young people who were creative and invested in this upcoming election,” Mr. Covell said, adding, “I was obviously interested.”

Mr. Weaver suggested that Mr. Covell “post a thirst trap” or “send me a pic,” then asked him to call for more details on the project.

“Something inside me was saying, ‘No, don’t do this, he seems kind of sketchy,’” Mr. Covell said.

He decided not to call.

Kitty Bennett contributed research.

Maria Bartiromo, Judge Jeanine Pirro, and Lou Dobbs Move to Dismiss Smartmatic Lawsuit

© Getty Images Bartiromo, Pirro and Dobbs file to dismiss Smartmatic lawsuits

Business wire reports:

Motion Argues “Smartmatic’s 285-page, $2.7 Billion Complaint is not Just Meritless; it is a Legal Shakedown Designed to Chill Speech and Punish Reporting”

Actions Follow FOX News Media’s Motion to Dismiss Filing on Monday

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–FOX News Media’s Maria Bartiromo, Judge Jeanine Pirro and former host Lou Dobbs filed separate motions to dismiss on Thursday night in response to the lawsuit by electronic voting company Smartmatic. The filings follow FOX News Media’s earlier motion to dismiss, which was filed on Monday, February 8th.

FOX News Media commented, “Smartmatic’s headline-seeking, multi-billion-dollar lawsuit thus should be seen—and rejected—for what it is: an unconstitutional attempt by a money-losing company (Smartmatic reported $17 million in losses on just $144 million in revenue in 2019) to try to refill its coffers at the expense of our constitutional traditions.”

The Bartiromo filing, which joins the motion to dismiss filed by FOX News Media earlier this week, further outlines the constitutional problems at the heart of the Smartmatic lawsuit, noting, “Not only has Smartmatic failed to identify anything that could form the basis of a defamation (or disparagement) claim against Bartiromo; it has failed even to adequately plead actual malice.” Notably, the motion points out that, as a “veteran news anchor,” “Maria Bartiromo did her job: She covered the unquestionably newsworthy story” which is fully protected by the First Amendment as it “entitles journalists like Bartiromo to interview people on both sides of a heated and actively litigated controversy (one or the other of which is shading the truth—if not both), so that objectively newsworthy claims can be tested in the crucible of robust debate.” Furthermore, the motion reveals that Bartiromo “invited her other guests to comment on and criticize the President’s claims – an invitation that Smartmatic was extended but ignored,” proving the fact that Smartmatic’s headline-seeking, multi-billion-dollar lawsuit “is, in short, exactly the kind of lawsuit that both the First Amendment and New York’s anti-SLAPP law are designed to eliminate at the threshold.”

As further demonstrated in the Pirro motion, the Smartmatic lawsuit should be dismissed “for its abject failure to make sufficient allegations concerning Pirro herself.” The motion outlines the fact that Pirro’s coverage of “President Trump’s claims and the efforts made by his legal team to challenge the election results both in court and in the public realm” are “matters of public concern and widespread importance” which “lies at the heart of the First Amendment and the protections New York affords through its recently amended anti-SLAPP law.” Additionally, “The constitutional protection for the free press and related concepts like the fair-report and neutral-report doctrines exist precisely to shield commentary like Pirro’s from the threat of lawsuits seeking massive damages.”

The Dobbs motion again illustrates the constitutional issues stemming from the Smartmatic allegations. Noting “by interviewing members of the President’s legal team and offering opinions on their allegations,” former host Lou Dobbs “was fully exercising his rights as a member of the press to address matters of public interest.” Additionally, the motion points to the fact that the Smartmatic complaint “comes nowhere close to alleging the type of intent required to pierce First Amendment protections and hold a commentator liable for reporting on newsworthy matters of the highest order” and should therefore “be dismissed as antithetical to the First Amendment and inconsistent with our nation’s proud heritage of giving the media broad latitude to offer opinion and commentary on newsworthy matters.” In conclusion, the filing demonstrates the fact that “If a wide-open, robust debate ultimately reveals that one side could back up their allegations, that is a sign that the First Amendment is working. It should be a cause for celebration, not an excuse for an outsized lawsuit.”

The three additional motions to dismiss were filed by Kirkland & Ellis on behalf of Maria Bartiromo, Judge Jeanine Pirro and former host Lou Dobbs, and join FOX News Media’s previous filing from Monday, which stated the Smartmatic complaint sought to “stifle that debate and chill vital First Amendment activities.”

FOX News Media operates the FOX News Channel (FNC), FOX Business Network (FBN), FOX News Digital, FOX News Audio, FOX News Books, the direct-to-consumer digital streaming services FOX Nation and FOX News International, and the newly announced platform FOX Weather. Currently the number one network in all of cable, FNC has also been the most watched television news channel for 19 consecutive years, while FBN currently ranks among the top business channels on cable. Owned by FOX Corporation, FOX News Media reaches 200 million people each month.

‘Recall Newsom!’: California Governor Repeatedly Heckled During Press Conference

California Governor Gavin Newsom looks on before speaking to members of the media during a press conference at Petco Park, February 8, 2021 in San Diego, California, during a visit to the Petco Park Vaccination Supersite. The Petco Park Vaccination Supersite, which is hosted in a parking lot next to the ballpark, is a partnership between San Diego County, the San Diego Padres baseball team and UC San Diego Health and has capacity to dole out about 5,000 COVID-19 vaccines per day.SANDY HUFFAKER/POOL/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

Newsweek reports:

Governor Gavin Newsom was heckled by protesters demanding a recall vote during a press conference on California’s latest coronavirus figures.

The embattled politician, who is facing recall efforts that would trigger a fresh gubernatorial election not otherwise scheduled until late 2022, was jeered as he spoke to the press in Fresno and revealed more than 5 million people had received their COVID shot in the state.

Off camera a group of protesters could be heard loudly chanting “Recall Newsom” as he gave an update on efforts to tackle the virus, which has claimed the lives of around 45,000 people in California alone.

He did not respond to the heckles and continued to answer questions on the state’s response to the pandemic.

At the briefing, Newsom revealed the first two cases of the South African variant of the virus had been discovered in the state—one in Alameda County and one in Santa Clara county.

Newsom also said both COVID infections and hospitalizations in California were down significantly on a month ago.

“Real progress is being made,” he said. “We announced new vaccination sites just this week up and down the state of California.”

He said he was now focused on ensuring “underserved and underrepresented communities were getting fair access and distribution of these vaccines,” but added: “We are falling short of our goals of making sure that we truly are being equitable in the distribution and administration of this vaccine.”

It comes as Los Angeles is temporarily closing five COVID vaccination sites after running out of doses this week, with the city’s mayor warning the supply of new vials was “uneven” and “unpredictable.”

L.A. has so far vaccinated nearly 300,000 of its four million residents, but Eric Garcetti said the roll out had hit an “enormous hurdle” which left clinics low on stock and appointments for the weekend canceled.

The “Recall Gavin 2020″ campaign is said to be approaching the 1,495,709 signatures that are needed by March 17.

Newsom’s popularity has waned in recent months. Last spring he was praised for his early response to the COVID-19 pandemic, having issued the nation’s first statewide stay-at-home order.

But he has faced growing opposition to further measures aimed at curbing the deadly toll of the virus, including closing schools and businesses, and his popularity has ebbed according to recent opinion polls.

He is also facing questions over a massive unemployment benefits fraud scandal. In a report released last month, the state auditor said the California Employment Development Department (EDD) had paid around $10 billion in fraudulent claims, blaming failures to boost detection efforts.

Newsweek contacted Newsom’s team for comment.

Deaths Of Elderly Who Recovered From COVID-19, But Died After Vaccine, Raise Questions

From The True Reporter:

Nursing homes in Kentucky and Arkansas have confirmed the deaths of several residents. Four seniors died in Kentucky right after their vaccination. Three of these people had the virus before getting their vaccines.

Four seniors died in Arkansas, too. The deaths were reported a week after they got vaccinated. Each of the seniors tested positive post mortem.

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System has information of the deaths.

Deaths after vaccination may not be related to the vaccine itself. Most seniors are diagnosed with chronic diseases, so they may have died of any existing condition.

Kentucky Nursing Home Death Cases

According to VAERS, Kentucky seniors received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. One of the seniors, an 88-year-old woman was “14+ days post covid” and received the shot while she was “unresponsive in her room.” The lady died an hour and a half later. The same happened to an 88-year-old man. Another woman vomited four minutes after getting the shot, lost her breath, and died later that night. An 85-year-old died two hours after getting the vaccine.

CDC spokesman said experts noted “no pattern … among the [Kentucky] cases that would indicate a concern for the safety of the COVID-19 vaccine.”

“Vaccination should be offered to persons regardless of history of prior symptomatic or asymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 [the virus that causes COVID-19] infection,” CDC said.

CDC’s Dr. Sarah Oliver said, “Data from both clinical trials suggests that people with prior infection are still likely to benefit from vaccination.”

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) disagrees with the information, and the agency corrected the statement.

“CDC is aware of reports of increased reactogenicity (such as fever, chills, and muscle aches) in persons who have had COVID-19,” said a spokesman.

Arkansas Nursing Home Deaths

VAERS reports four deaths in Arkansas too. A 65-year-old got the Moderna vaccine and died two days later. Three other seniors died a week after getting their shot on Dec. 22. An 82-year-old died six days after getting his shot.

 “After vaccination, patient tested positive for COVID-19.”

An unnamed person reported the death of the 90-year-old senior. “The vaccine did not have enough time to prevent COVID 19,” they said, adding that “there is no evidence that the vaccination caused patient’s death. It simply didn’t have time to save her life.” The 78-year-old died  “as a result of COVID-19 and her underlying health conditions and not as a result of the vaccine.”

“Surveillance data to date do not indicate excess deaths among elderly patients receiving COVID-19 vaccinations,” the CDC said of the Arkansas deaths.

Frail groups

In Norway, 23 people died right after getting their shots. These side effects are common in patients vaccinated with the Phizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines. These shots cause fever, nausea, and diarrhea.  The symptoms “may have contributed to fatal outcomes in some of the frail patients.”

“There is a possibility that these common adverse reactions, that are not dangerous in fitter, younger patients and are not unusual with vaccines, may aggravate underlying disease in the elderly,” said Steinar Madsen, medical director of the Norwegian Medicines Agency.

California’s Unscientific Worship Ban (WSJ)

Masked worshipers attend Mass outside the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in San Francisco, July 14, 2020.
PHOTO: DAVID PAUL MORRIS/BLOOMBERG NEWS

The Wall Street Journal reports:

These days “follow the science” has become a cliché especially popular with government leaders. But when it comes to the constitutional right to worship, California began to follow the science only after a recent Supreme Court intervention.

Political elites issuing health orders that they themselves don’t obey—and destroying countless livelihoods without any scientific basis for such action—is infuriating. But it was especially so for us Catholics, who have scientific evidence that positively demonstrates we can celebrate Mass safely indoors. In lifting California’s blanket ban on indoor worship, the high court rightly acknowledged the blatant unfairness of treating religious worship differently from secular activities such as shopping.

It’s been a long fight. Even as the pandemic subsided last summer and secular businesses began to open up, we still had to fight San Francisco City Hall for our right to worship. At the time the local government’s health orders were even more severe than California’s statewide policies. For months, San Francisco banned outdoor gatherings of more than 12 people—even as street protests were conveniently allowed and some city officials even participated.

After numerous attempts at respectful dialogue with the pertinent city officials went nowhere, my patience finally wore out. I began to criticize City Hall publicly and gather groups for multiple simultaneous outdoor Masses. In September, the city raised the numerical limit for outdoor gatherings but issued a ruling that only one person at a time would be allowed in a church for private prayer. That prompted a warning letter from the U.S. Justice Department calling on the city to “immediately equalize its treatment of places of worship to comply with the First Amendment.”

The issue became more intense as Christmas approached. We were already locked out of our churches for Easter, and I could not stomach this happening again. On Dec. 18 I sent my priests a memo giving them permission to bring the congregation indoors if weather or safety required it. The church could be filled only to 20% capacity—then the rule for indoor retail—and strict safety protocols had to be followed: masks, social distancing, sanitation and ventilation. The state health order did not follow the science, and I knew my people had to have access to the Eucharist, rain or shine. Like all the sacraments, it cannot be livestreamed. By mid-January several parishes had begun receiving ominous warnings from government officials, and two were officially cited for violations by the city Department of Public Health.

Read the full story here.

Biden Admin Has ‘No Interest’ in Actually Confronting the CCP: Jack Posobiec

US Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping toast during a State Luncheon for China hosted by US Secretary of State John Kerry on September 25, 2015 at the Department of State in Washington, DC. AFP PHOTO/PAUL J. RICHARDS (Photo credit should read PAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP via Getty Images)

The Epoch Times reports:

The Biden administration, despite calling China the “most serious competitor” to the United States, is in fact unwilling to confront Beijing, according to author and former Naval intelligence officer Jack Posobiec, who has substantial experience living and working under communist rule in China.

“What you’re seeing now is an administration in the United States that is little more than a theater,” said Posobiec during an interview on NTD’s Focus Talk. “It is their window dressing for the global neo-liberal agenda. They have no interest in actually confronting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”

Posobiec, who has seen firsthand the way the Obama-Biden administration dealt with China’s maritime expansion in the South China Sea, told NTD host Jenny Chang that the U.S. government is trying to restore the same type of relations it had with the CCP during Clinton, Bush, and Obama presidencies, which he described as a “failed policy of globalization.”

The U.S. Navy under Obama, in response to China’s militarization of artificial islands in international waters, would practice what Posobiec called “rattling the sabers” by sending its warships and aircraft through the region, a move similar to the dual aircraft carrier drill that took place earlier this month at Taiwan Strait.

“But did the CCP actually respond to any of these? No, not at all,” Posobiec said, noting that the saber-rattling tactic doesn’t matter to Beijing, unless it comes with “economic repercussion” like Donald Trump and Mike Pompeo inflicted upon the communist regime. “The financing is still there, the wealth flow is still there, the money is still there.”Play Video

This unwillingness to continue the Trump-era economic warfare on China, Posobiec argued, is the very reason nearly all the big capital and finance institutions backed Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election.

“All the pro-CCP elements of the U.S. ruling elite backed Joe Biden to go against Trump,” Posobiec said. “Because Trump has been the only person willing to use economic warfare against CCP. This has been the most effective, and the only effective means that we’ve seen used in 30 years of globalization, that has been led by CCP.”

When asked about a potential Chinese invasion and annexation of Taiwan, Posobiec said such a scenario could come about due to the power dynamics within the CCP, and expressed worries that the Biden administration might not intervene.

“Xi Jinping still may be facing some of those threats from other factions of CCP that don’t want him to become this sort of chairman for life,” Posobiec said, suggesting that Xi, who rewrote China’s constitution to give himself indefinite rule, might at one point give up the decadeslong influence campaign on Taiwan to pursue a military takeover as a way to consolidate his power.

“I think that in that situation that Biden would not intervene,” he said. “I don’t think that he would find a meaningful way. What he would do is this: He would claim that he was intervening, but he would then try to seek a compromise. He would say, ‘We need to find something where both sides can come to an agreement.’”

“And the agreement that comes down would absolutely be to the detriment of the people of Taiwan,” he continued. “They would find an agreement that puts Taiwan in the same situation that Hong Kong found itself in 1997. That would be the type of agreement that they would make, and that’s exactly what CCP wants at the end of the day.”

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