Conservatives' 'Turn California Red' rally could attract Antifa counter-protesters: report

---

The grounds outside the California state Capitol in Sacramento, seen Aug. 31, 2018, are expected to be the site of Sunday's "Turn California Red" rally. (Associated Press)

Californians aiming to promote conservative leaders and causes ahead of Tuesday’s election plan to gather in Sacramento on Sunday, potentially setting the stage for a clash with counter-protesters.
Organizers of the “Turn California Red” rally say supporters will assemble outside the state Capitol at 1 p.m. local time. The organizers obtained a permit for up to 500 people to attend the event, according to the California Highway Patrol.
“Let’s show these Democrat politicians that we are no longer silent and their seats are no longer safe,” the event page reads.
By Saturday night, 150 people had posted they planned to attend and more than 650 claimed they were interested.
The gathering comes as some California conservatives have grown tired of the state's liberal politics. Event planners said Democrats have made the state "unlivable for normal citizens."
But Sunday's gathering could draw a counter-protest. An anti-fascist group called Antifa Sacramento warned its members on the group’s Facebook page that “the far-right is descending." The group urged people to “Show up against bigotry” as long as they’re “capable of intervening in the event of street harassment or attacks.”
Event organizer Chris Ross acknowledged to the Sacramento Bee that the rally comes as rhetoric by conservatives is facing intense scrutiny in light of a Florida man who allegedly mailed bombs being sent to several Democratic politicians and liberals.
“In the midst of recent events some may be feeling discouraged heading into the midterms and into this rally,” he wrote. “We cannot and will not allow the actions of one man (to) influence our passion to complete our mission. Stay the course, Patriots.”
He urged people on the event page to refrain from inflammatory rhetoric to jeopardize the event.
He also wrote that all signs and flags must be mounted on yardsticks -- with no pipes, thick posts or "anything in that category" allowed, he wrote.
Officials in Sacramento are expected to be on high alert, the San Diego-Union Tribune reported. If you're a conservative and are sick and tired of Antifa, maybe you should request that Facebook take down Antifa's Facebook Page at  https://www.facebook.com/antifasac/photos/a.1289998694427682/1954239171336961/?type=3&theater. These people should not be allowed to spread their hate.

'No evidence' to back Kavanaugh accusers' claims, Senate panel's report on FBI probe finds

Brett Kavanaugh testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.  (Fox News)

An investigation into sexual misconduct allegations against Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh by multiple women found that no witnesses could provide evidence to substantiate their claims, a letter to Senate Republicans from the Senate Judiciary Committee chairman said Friday.
According to the 414-page report released by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, investigators interviewed more than 40 people, monitored social media and news reports and reviewed evidence provided by the judge and his accusers.
“Following the separate and extensive investigations by both the Committee and the FBI, there was no evidence to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault made against Justice Kavanaugh,” the report states.

“Following the separate and extensive investigations by both the Committee and the FBI, there was no evidence to substantiate any of the claims of sexual assault made against Justice Kavanaugh.”
— Report by Senate Judiciary Committee

The sexual misconduct allegations came during the committee's hearings to decide whether Kavanaugh, whom President Trump nominated in July to succeed retiring Justice Anthony Kennedy, would be confirmed. Kavanaugh's nomination set off a battle between Republicans, most of whom defended the judge, and Democrats, who pushed for a large-scale investigation into the women's allegations.
Among those questioned, the report said, were Mark Judge, PJ Smyth, and Leland Keyser, the three individuals whom accuser Christine Blasey Ford claimed were present in the house when Kavanaugh allegedly threw her on a bed and sexually assaulted her sometime in the 1980s.
Grassley last month requested that the FBI investigate accuser Julie Swetnick and her attorney, Michael Avenatti, who also represents porn star Stormy Daniels in her allegations against President Trump. Swetnick’s credibility was questioned after an ex-boyfriend told Fox News that "she exaggerated everything" and threatened to kill his unborn child.
TRUMP CHALLENGES DEMS AFTER KAVANAUGH ACCUSER ALLEGEDLY ADMITS TO MAKING FALSE RAPE CLAIM
Investigators found no evidence to support either woman’s claims. Swetnick also made several contradictory statements about her claims during television interviews and refused to speak with committee investigators, the letter said.
“Indeed, the evidence appears to support the position that Julie Swetnick and Mr. Avenatti criminally conspired to make materially false statements to the Committee and obstruct the Committee’s investigation.”

“Indeed, the evidence appears to support the position that Julie Swetnick and Mr. Avenatti criminally conspired to make materially false statements to the Committee and obstruct the Committee’s investigation.”
— Chairman Chuck Grassley, Senate Judiciary Committee

Other alleged incidents involving Kavanaugh, said to have occurred in three states, were found not to be credible.
Grassley also requested an investigation into Judy Munro-Leighton, who anonymously claimed Kavanaugh slapped her and forced her to perform oral sex on him.
KAVANAUGH ACCUSER REFERRED TO DOJ FOR FALSE STATEMENTS, GRASSLEY'S OFFICE ANNOUNCES
Munro-Leighton contacted the committee in October claiming she wrote an anonymous letter accusing the judge of sexual misconduct. Grassley said she later recanted authorship and admitted to not knowing Kavanaugh under questioning from the committee.
“She later admitted that she was not the author of it and merely used it as a “ploy” to “get attention” and had never met Justice Kavanaugh,” according to the letter.
In September, President Trump ordered a limited FBI probe into allegations by Ford and accuser Deborah Ramirez.
The investigation found no evidence of wrongdoing on Kavanaugh’s part.

Beto Cartoons

Obama's Good Old Days Cartoons

McSally, Sinema target Arizona's undecided voters as Senate race enters final days

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema and Republican Martha McSally locked in tight race to replace Jeff Flake; national correspondent William La Jeunesse reports from Gilbert, Arizona.

U.S. Reps. Martha McSally and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona are spending the final days of their bid for a U.S. Senate seat locked in a statistical dead heat. While their strategies for winning the election differ, their goal is the same: rally last-minute undecided voters.
McSally, the Republican, and Sinema, the Democrat, are tied at 46 percent support among Arizona’s likely voters, according the latest Fox News Poll released Wednesday. Both camps hope to tip the scale in their favor by focusing on residents who did not take part in early voting.
According to the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, nearly 80 percent of the ballots cast for the election will have been filled out before Tuesday’s election.
“The work we're doing over these last five days is to communicate with voters who have not turned in their early ballot,” Sinema told reporters at a media availability at a Phoenix phone bank on Thursday. “I'm just working hard to earn the vote and the support of Arizona.”
McSally will spend the weekend and Monday appearing at events hosted by the Arizona Republican Party, meaning she will often be alongside Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who is vying for a second term. The Fox News Poll released Wednesday has Ducey with an 18-point lead over Democrat David Garcia, among likely voters.
ARIZONA SENATE RACE: MCSALLY SUPPORTERS TRY CAPITALIZING OFF SINEMA'S 'CRAZY' REMARK
Unlike McSally, Sinema has largely avoided her fellow Democrat on the campaign trail, including at two high-profile rallies held in late October with U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the 2016 Democratic presidential candidate.
While Sinema's record in the Arizona state Senate strongly leans left, she has moved closer to the center since beginning her three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2012. She has also supported President Trump on some issues, including backing his $1.3 billion spending bill earlier this year.
But while Sinema’s congressional district – Arizona’s 9th, composed of communities in Maricopa County, east of Phoenix -- was won by Hillary Clinton in 2016 by a double-digit margin, her state has not backed a Democrat in a presidential race since President Bill Clinton’s re-election in 1996.
While Sinema’s bid for outgoing U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake’s seat is largely on message with other Democrats, she has stayed away from overly partisan rhetoric.
MCSALLY BLASTS DEM OPPONENT SINEMA: 'CHUCK SCHUMER'S TOP RECRUIT'
"Our campaign message has been the same from day one,” Sinema told reporters Thursday. "I'll be a voice for everyday Arizonans and I'm just working hard to earn the vote and the support of Arizona.”
McSally, meanwhile, has been getting help from her party at the highest levels. President Trump held a “Make America Great Again” rally in Mesa on Oct. 19 to remind his supporters to cast ballots for the two-term congresswoman from Tucson. McSally first won her House seat -- in state’s 2nd Congressional District -- in the tightest race of the 2014 midterms, besting the incumbent Ron Barber by only 167 votes.
"It'll be one of the best votes you've ever had," President Trump told the crowd in Mesa.  "I need you to get your friends, get your family, get your neighbors, get your co-workers and get out and vote for Martha McSally.”
KYRSTEN SINEMA GETS BOOST IN ARIZONA SENATE RACE AS GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE DROPS OUT, BACKS HER
Donald Trump Jr. echoed his father’s push for a high Republican turnout numbers during three events alongside McSally on Thursday in the Phoenix area.
“We need your help, we need you to get out there,” the younger Trump told supporters at a meet-and-greet reception. “He needs people like Martha fighting for him.”
“The only poll that matters is when they count up the ballots on Election Night,” McSally told FOX News at the event. “I know the importance of making sure we get to every last voter out there who is maybe sitting on the sidelines build enthusiasm and make sure we get across the finish line.”

Ruling on Georgia's 'Exact Match' voting law a setback for GOP governor candidate

Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp

Of course it's a set back for the GOP because of who Stacey Abrams was endorsed by :-)

Georgia must make changes to its procedures to make it easier for people flagged under a state law to vote, a federal judge ruled Friday.
Civil rights groups raised concerns about the "Exact Match" law, accusing Republican gubernatorial candidate and Secretary of State Brian Kemp of engaging in voter suppression of minorities amid a tight race against Democratic opponent Stacey Abrams.
GEORGIA UNDER SCRUTINY FOR ALLEGED VOTER SUPPRESSION: WHAT'S GOING ON?
U.S. District Judge Eleanor L. Ross said Kemp’s restrictions raised  “grave concerns for the Court about the differential treatment inflicted on a group of individuals who are predominantly minorities,” the Washington Post reported.
Civil rights groups sued Kemp for purging thousands of inactive voters from the rolls and enforcing the law, which placed more than 50,000 voter registrations in limbo because information on their applications appeared different from government records.
The law flags voter registrations found to have discrepancies, such as a dropped hyphen. Voters can settle the discrepancies by providing proof of identity.
Under Kemp, who oversees state elections, state procedures require that those flagged as potential noncitizens be cleared first by a deputy registrar.
Ross’ injunction requires the state to change its procedures to allow more than 3,100 people prove their citizenship more easily, such as by showing a U.S. passport or other documentation -- and only to a poll manager.
“With respect to Tuesday’s election, we deem this a total victory in our fight against Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s exact match scheme,” said Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. “Our goal in filing this lawsuit was to ensure that no eligible voter was unfairly denied the right to vote because of this discriminatory voter suppression effort."
'THIS AIN'T HOLLYWOOD!': PENCE CALLS OUT OPRAH, WILL FERRELL IN GA STUMP SPEECH
Kemp was also ordered to issue a news release explaining how potential voters who are flagged could still vote by proving their citizenship, as well as a phone number for them to call with questions.
Kemp’s spokeswoman, Candice L. Broce, called the ruling “a minor change to the current system.”
Kemp's involvement in the election procedures while a candidate has also drawn scrutiny. During a debate against Abrams he said he would not recuse himself in other election-related issues.
The race has drawn national attention, with Abrams receiving endorsements from Oprah Winfrey and former President Barack Obama.
Vice President Mike Pence has campaigned for Kemp at rallies in Augusta and Dalton, while President Trump is expected to support the candidate in Macon on Sunday.
A spokeswoman for the state attorney general's office declined to comment on whether it would appeal the ruling.

Kavanaugh accuser referred to DOJ for false statements, Grassley’s office announces

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley on Friday referred a woman who'd accused Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh of raping her “several times” in the backseat of a car to the Justice Department for “materially false statements” and “obstruction.”
Kavanaugh, confirmed to the high court on Oct. 6, was infamously accused by multiple women of sexual assault and misconduct before the confirmation.
Judy Munro-Leighton, according to Grassley’s office, “alleged that Justice Kavanaugh and a friend had raped her ‘several times each’ in the backseat of a car.”
Those accusations were made via a "Jane Doe" letter provided to Sen. Kamala Harris, a California Democrat and committee member, Grassley’s office wrote.
Upon further investigation, however, inconsistencies in the story emerged.
“Given her relatively unique name, Committee investigators were able to use open-source research to locate Ms. Munro-Leighton and determine that she: (1) is a left-wing activist; (2) is decades older than Judge Kavanaugh; and (3) lives in neither the Washington DC area nor California, but in Kentucky,” Grassley’s office wrote.
“Under questioning by Committee investigators, Ms. Munro-Leighton admitted, contrary to her prior claims, that she had not been sexually assaulted by ... Kavanaugh and was not the author of the original 'Jane Doe’ letter,” Grassley’s office wrote in a Friday referral to the DOJ.
“When directly asked by Committee investigators if she was, as she had claimed, the ‘Jane Doe’ from Oceanside California who had sent the letter to Senator Harris, she admitted: ‘No, no, no. I did that as a way to grab attention. I am not Jane Doe . . . but I did read Jane Doe’s letter. I read the transcript of the call to your Committee. . . . I saw it online. It was news.”
“In short, during the Committee’s time-sensitive investigation of allegations against Judge Kavanaugh, Ms. Munro-Leighton submitted a fabricated allegation, which diverted Committee resources. When questioned by Committee investigators she admitted it was false, a ‘ploy,’ and a ‘tactic,’” Grassley’s office wrote. “She was opposed to Judge Kavanaugh’s confirmation.”
Friday’s referral to the DOJ was not the first time Grassley has asked for an investigation into Kavanaugh’s accusers.
Last week, Grassley referred attorney Michael Avenatti and client Julie Swetnick -- who'd accused Kavanaugh of sexual misconduct -- for criminal investigation regarding a potential “conspiracy” to provide false statements to Congress and obstruct its investigation.
Avenatti is also a potential 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and works as the attorney for adult film star Stormy Daniels, who maintains she had a sexual encounter with President Trump years before his election. Avenatti represented Swetnick, who accused Kavanaugh during confirmation proceedings of being involved in or present at “gang” and “train” rapes at high school parties in the 1980s.
Kavanaugh denied all the claims against him.

Heitkamp endorses state Dems' false claim that ND's hunters could lose licenses if they vote

Who does this look a lot like ? :-)

 U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp Democrat

In the latest gaffe in her bid for re-election, U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp, D-N.D., endorsed false claims made in a Facebook ad paid for by her state's Democratic Party that say the state’s hunters could lose their hunting licenses in nearby states if they vote Tuesday.
Heitkamp, who’s trailing Republican challenger Kevin Cramer on average by 11 points, hasn't backpedaled from the endorsement, telling reporters that it is “really important that people understand the consequences of voting.”
She also said the ad is true. “Voting means you are a resident, it means you pay taxes here, it means that if you want a residential hunting license in Minnesota, it means you’re not going to get that, if you vote here,” Heitkamp said.
The Facebook ad, paid by the North Dakota Democratic-NPL, warns North Dakota hunters that they may have to forfeit their out-of-state licenses if they vote in this election.
NORTH DAKOTA DEMOCRATIC PARTY DISCOURAGES HUNTERS FROM VOTING, CLAIMS THEY COULD LOSE OUT-OF-STATE LICENSES
“If you want to keep your out-of-state hunting licenses, you may not want to vote in North Dakota,” the ad says, linking to a similar warning on the North Dakota Democratic-NPL website.
“By voting in North Dakota, you could forfeit your hunting licenses. You MUST be a resident of North Dakota to vote here. And if you are a resident of North Dakota, you may lose hunting licenses you have in other states,” the website said.

"If you want to keep your out-of-state hunting licenses, you may not want to vote in North Dakota."
— Statement in North Dakota Democratic Party ad

HEITKAMP APOLOGIZES FOR NAMING SEXUAL ASSAULT, ABUSE VICTIMS IN NEWSPAPER AD
But the warning pushed by Heitkamp and the state Democratic Party is false, according to left-leaning fact-checker PolitiFact, which rated the claim that hunters could lose their licenses as a result of voting as “Pants on Fire.”
“It’s hard to interpret this in any way except that it seeks to discourage people from voting. But voting will not cost anyone their hunting licenses,” the fact-checker’s verdict read.

"It’s hard to interpret this in any way except that it seeks to discourage people from voting. But voting will not cost anyone their hunting licenses."
— PolitiFact

The state Republican Party slammed the Democrats for pushing the falsehood.
“Heidi Heitkamp is using her anti-Kavanaugh campaign coffers to suppress voter turnout in North Dakota,” Jake Wilkins, the North Dakota GOP spokesman, told Fox News, adding she’s “made it clear that she only cares about winning re-election, not helping her constituents.”
The efforts to suppress the voters follow Heitkamp's decision to essentially throw in the towel in the race, giving away nearly $3 million of her campaign money to the state Democratic Party to support other races in the state.
This came after a series of gaffes and voting decisions that gave a significant boost to her Republican opponent.
Last month, she was forced to apologize after publicly naming victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse in an attack ad aimed at her Republican challenger without their consent.
“I deeply regret this mistake and we are in the process of issuing a retraction, personally apologizing to each of the people impacted by this and taking the necessary steps to ensure this never happens again,” she said in a statement.
Then she was called out for Facebook post that used a photo of a World War II veteran without his permission.
But the most damaging was Heitkamp’s decision to vote against the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. She voted against Kavanaugh even as all the polling showed North Dakotans were less likely to support her if she voted no.
“That spectacle proved to be perhaps the greatest political gift I’ve been given in a very long time,” Cramer told Fox News, referring to the Kavanaugh confirmation process.
Fox News' Kaitlyn Schallhorn contributed to this report.