Trump threatens to withhold California fire aid, citing state's 'gross mismanagement' of forests

Just hours after President Trump issued an emergency declaration to provide funds to help firefighters in California as they battle at least three major wildfires across the state, the president threatened to withhold the federal payments -- citing the state's "gross mismanagement" of its forests.
Tweeting from Paris early Saturday, Trump wrote that “there is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly fires in California.” He added that “billions of dollars are given each year, with so many lives lost, all because of gross mismanagement of the forests. Remedy now, or no more Fed payments!”
His comments were his first regarding the wildfires that ravaged the state. They include the Camp Fire in Northern California, which has destroyed nearly 6,500 homes and killed at least nine people, and the Woolsey Fire in Southern California, which has killed at least two people.

French President Emmanuel Macron greets U.S. President Donald Trump at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, July 13, 2017. Trump has returned to Paris for ceremonies commemorating the end of World War I. (Reuters)

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. (PG&E), the utility company that provides much of the state with natural gas and electricity, told state regulators Friday that it would cooperate with investigators into the cause of wildfire - dubbed the Camp Fire - in the northern part of the state.
The company said one of its electrical transmission lines in Butte County experienced a problem at 6:15 a.m. Thursday, where Cal Fire (California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection) officials said the blaze began several minutes later.
The president's declaration of an emergency in the state would allow the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to coordinate disaster relief efforts with state officials, the Los Angeles Times reported.
“This action will help alleviate the hardship and suffering that the emergency may inflict on the local population,” a White House release said.

The Woolsey Fire burns a home near Malibu Lake in Malibu, Calif. (Associated Press)

The help will attempt to “avert the threat of a catastrophe” across six California counties -- Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura and Butte.
FEMA installed Mark Armstrong as the coordinator for federal assistance for the fires.
The announcement came as Trump arrived in Paris on Friday for events marking the 100th anniversary of the armistice that ended World War I.
The fierce wildfires have raged throughout the state this week. In the southern part of the state, Santa Ana winds were fanning two major wildfires.
The Woolsey Fire had grown to more than 35,000 acres and at least 75,000 homes were under evacuation orders, including the entire city of Malibu, which is home to some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.
The Hill Fire near Thousand Oaks began Thursday, the day after a gunman killed 12 people at a local bar.
In total, around 250,000 people in Southern California were forced from their homes.

Ballot mixup puts more heat on Broward elections official as key Florida races remain unresolved

 Brenda Snipes

15 minutes of  fame, over, and over, and over!

A Florida election supervisor mixed some invalid ballots along with about 200 valid ones, according to a report, in the latest example of what Republicans say has been the incompetent handling of votes as the state braces for a possible recount.
The error was found after Brenda Snipes, a Broward County official who has a long history of controversies involving vote counting, agreed to present 205 provisional ballots to the county’s canvassing board for inspection, the Miami Herald reported.
BRENDA SNIPES, BROWARD ELECTIONS OFFICIAL AT CENTER OF BALLOT STORM, HAS HISTORY OF CONTROVERSY
The canvassing board declared Friday that 20 of the 205 provisional ballots were illegal due to mismatched signatures. The 205 ballots had been set aside then counted in a voting machine, though the results weren’t added to the election's final total vote count, the report said.
As of Friday night, no solution to the mistake had been found.
Snipes agreed to present the ballots for inspection to the board after Republican attorneys objected to Snipes’ initial plan to handle the ballots administratively.
“We have found no clear authority controlling the situation faced by the board,” said Broward County Attorney Andrew Meyers, according to the newspaper.
Broward County collected more than 600 provisional ballots on the Election Day, but the vast majority were declared invalid by the board for reasons such as the voter had registered too late or had voted at the wrong precinct.
Just over 200 ballots were also deemed neither valid nor invalid due to an issue related to the system that looks up voter registrations. Some voters apparently swiped their ID, but the precinct system couldn’t confirm whether they were registered voters, prompting staffers to ask such voters to fill out provisional ballots.
GOP SENATE CANDIDATE RICK SCOTT FILES BOMBSHELL LAWSUITS ACCUSING DEM FLORIDA ELECTION OFFICIALS OF TRYING TO 'STEAL THE ELECTION'
Republican lawyers pressed Snipes, using the latest case to argue that she has been mismanaging the voting procedure, and asked whether the 205 votes will be counted. She reportedly declined to answer.
Broward County is mandated to provide its unofficial vote total from the midterm elections to the state by midday Saturday.
The county and Snipes have come under heavy scrutiny because Broward -- Florida's No. 2 most populous county, with more than 1.9 million residents -- could be the area that decides two key races: the U.S. Senate election between Democratic incumbent Bill Nelson and Republican challenger Gov. Rick Scott, and the Florida governor race between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis.

Democrats And The Election Cartoons

'America's Got Talent' alum loses gig on ZZ Top guitarist's tour after posing in MAGA hat, holding Chick-fil-A

Benton Blount says this photo cost him a gig as the opening act for the solo tour of ZZ Top's Billy Gibbons. (Facebook)

“America’s Got Talent” alum Benton Blount abruptly lost his opening-act gig on ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons' concert tour after his pro-Trump Facebook post got him temporarily banned from the social media website.
Blount was four shows into the seven-show slot when he learned he was kicked off the tour, South Carolina’s Greenville News reported.
The post showed Blount wearing a red “Make America Great Again” hat and an “I Voted” sticker on Election Day while holding a Chick-Fil-A sandwich and drink. The photo carried the caption, "Someone reading this just got offended multiple times. My work here is done! #Vote."
“Drove down here (Atlanta) from Greenville, South Carolina to the venue. I get a call from my friend from California who informs me that not only have I been banned from Facebook but as a result from being banned from Facebook I was pulled off of the Billy Gibbons tour, effectively immediately,” Blount said in a Facebook Live video.

Billy Gibbons, right, of ZZ Top. (Charles Gallay / WireImage)

“But suppression of Conservative opinion doesn’t happen and it doesn’t effect (sic) your career!,” he posted.
Blount told the Greenville News on Thursday that he never spoke with Gibbons personally and that he often shares politically charged themes and pokes fun at politics on his podcast page.
Representatives for Gibbons contacted by the State newspaper in Columbia, S.C., did not return requests for comment.
No reason was given for Blount's removal from the tour, only that the post “did not meet community standards,” Blount said.
His Facebook page shows several posts in support of President Trump and Republicans and others bashing Democrats and liberals.
“I thought that it would be OK for me to post that I voted. I thought that it would be OK for me to say who I supported,” Blount said. “I had a MAGA hat on. For that reason, and that reason alone ... my career is on hold for the week.”

“I thought that it would be OK for me to post that I voted. I thought that it would be OK for me to say who I supported. I had a MAGA hat on. For that reason, and that reason alone ... my career is on hold for the week.”
— Benton Blount, “America’s Got Talent” alum 

He vowed that the incident won’t curb him from speaking his mind.
“As cool as this tour is, I’m not going to start not posting a picture of me voting because somebody might realize I voted for somebody they don’t like,” he said on Facebook.
Blount was featured in 2015 as a contestant on “America’s Got Talent,” which was won by ventriloquist Paul Zerdin.
The exposure revived his stalling country music career after his label, Golden Music Nashville, folded in 2010.

Democrat Kyrsten Sinema takes paper-thin lead over Martha McSally in Arizona Senate race

Arizona Democratic Senate candidate Kyrsten Sinema suddenly took a narrow 9,600-vote lead over GOP opponent Martha McSally late Thursday, with some 400,000 votes left to count in a closely-watched race that will determine the size and influence of the Republican Senate majority in January.
The whirlwind reversal in the race to replace retiring Republican Sen. Jeff Flake was a striking reminder that Election Day, though it concluded on Tuesday, might not be out of surprises. McSally had consistently led Sinema since Election Day, and was ahead by 17,000 votes as of early Thursday.
But Sinema pulled ahead by just 2,000 votes that afternoon, and her lead expanded by approximately another 7,000 votes the next hour.
Sinema now has 932,870 votes statewide, while McSally has 923,260 and Green Party candidate Angela Green currently has 43,838, according to results provided by election officials at 8 p.m. EST.
Some 345,000 votes are yet to be counted in Maricopa County alone, including a bevy of mail-in ballots dropped off at polling places on Election Day. Republicans expect those votes to lean for McSally.
As the tense process proceeded Thursday, McSally, who previously flew close air support combat missions in an A-10 warplane above Iraq and Kuwait, lightened the mood by tweeting a picture of herself at the dentist's office.
"With half a million ballots left to count, we remain confident that as votes continue to come in from counties across the state, Martha McSally will be elected Arizona's next Senator," McSally campaign head Jim Bognet said.
Still, Republican Gov. Doug Ducey, who easily cruised to reelection on Tuesday, was significantly outperforming McSally in several GOP-leaning areas of Arizona. Some analysts, including Fox News host Laura Ingraham, said it's very unlikely McSally will reclaim the lead.
Though she has only a little more than 2 percent of the overall vote, Green is playing an outsized role in the proceedings. The Green Party candidate, who dropped out of the race before Election Day and threw her support behind Sinema, is facing accusations of playing a potential "spoiler" role in the contest.
APPROPRIATELY-NAMED GREEN PARTY CANDIDATE ANGELA GREEN DENIES THAT SHE PLAYED SPOILER IN ARIZONA SENATE RACE
“I know the Democrats think all 3rd party voters would’ve chosen them, but I’m sorry to say that’s just not the case. Same goes for the Republicans,” Green wrote on her campaign website. “No 3rd party candidate should have to endure accusations of being 'spoilers' just because the 'winner takes all' two-party system is severely broken. This is a complete travesty. It’s time for change.”
She added:  “I knew I wasn’t going to win, so being a true candidate for the people and not the politics, I felt that if I withdrew and could endorse a candidate closest to the ideas and views of those whom I represent, then at least I can feel as though this withdrawal from the Senate race will not be in vain.”
Arizona GOP officials sent mailers to Democratic voters during the campaign that highlighted Green's liberal views and tied her to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, in a roundabout bid to convince them to support Green instead of Sinema.

GOP Senate candidate Rick Scott files bombshell lawsuits accusing Dem Florida election officials of trying to 'steal the election'

Accusing Democrats of conducting a coordinated effort to "steal" elections in a campaign of possibly "rampant fraud," Republican Senate candidate Rick Scott filed explosive lawsuits late Thursday against the top election officials in two heavily Democratic counties, as they continue to report new votes and three major races in the state appear headed for recounts.
In their lawsuit against Broward County, Scott and the National Republican Senatorial Committeee (NRSC) allege that officials there are hiding critical information about the number of votes cast and counted. And in a parallel suit against Palm Beach County, Scott and the NRSC charge that the election supervisor there illegally used her own judgment to determine voter intent when reviewing damaged or incorrectly filled-out absentee ballots, while refusing to allow impartial witnesses to monitor the process.
"I will not stand idly by while unethical liberals try to steal an election," Scott, who is currently Florida's governor, said at a press conference outside the Governor's Mansion, as he slammed potential "rampant fraud" in the race.
Scott is running against longtime incumbent Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. On Thursday, a Nelson spokesperson tersely dismissed Scott's effort: “The goal here is to see that all the votes in Florida are counted and counted accurately. Rick Scott’s action appears to be politically motivated and borne out of desperation.”
The bombshell litigation comes hours after Florida GOP Sen. Marco Rubio, in an extraordinary series of tweets that alleged incompetence if not outright complicity by Florida officials, charged that Democratic lawyers were "descending on" the state in a calculated attempt to "change the results" and "try and steal" several statewide races.
Also late Thursday, President Trump threw another wrench into the evening, announcing on Twitter that "Law Enforcement is looking into another big corruption scandal having to do with Election Fraud in #Broward and Palm Beach." He did not elaborate, but speaking to Fox News' "Hannity," Scott said he had directed a Florida law enforcement agency to probe the matter.
"Late Tuesday night, our win was projected to be around 57,000 votes," Scott told reporters. "By Wednesday morning, that lead dropped to 38,000. By Wednesday evening, it was around 30,000. This morning, it was around 21,000. Now, it is 15,000."
He continued: "On election night, Broward County said there were 634,000 votes cast. At 1 a.m. today, there were 695,700 ballots cast on election day. At 2:30 p.m. today, the number was up to 707,223 ballots cast on Election Day. And we just learned, that the number has increased to 712,840 ballots cast on Election Day. In Palm Beach County, there are 15,000 new votes found since election night.
"So, it has been over 48 hours since the polls closed and Broward and Palm Beach Counties are still finding and counting ballots – and the Supervisors – Brenda Snipes and Susan Bucher – cannot seem to say how many ballots still exist or where these ballots came from, or where they have been," Scott said.
A mandatory recount now appears imminent not only in Scott's race, but also in the agricultural commissioner contest and Florida's high-profile gubernatorial brawl between Democrat Andrew Gillum and Republican Ron DeSantis, based on new vote totals -- even though Gillum has already conceded. Florida law requires a machine recount when candidates are within 0.50 percentage points of each other.

"I will not stand idly by while unethical liberals try to steal an election."
— GOP Florida Senate candidate Rick Scott

Speaking to "Hannity" Thursday night, Scott said, "We don't know how many votes they're gonna come up with. But it appears they're going to try to come up with as many votes as it takes to win this election. ... We're gonna fight this, and we're gonna win."
Earlier in the evening, he was just as direct: "No ragtag group of liberal activists or lawyers from D.C. will be allowed to steal this election from the voters in the state of Florida," he said outside his residence.
Scott's first emergency complaint accuses Broward County Supervisor of Elections Brenda Snipes of being "unwilling to disclose records revealing how many electors voted, how many ballots have been canvassed, and how many ballots remain to be canvassed," and charges that the uncertainty "raises substantial concerns about the validity of the election process."
GOP VOTERS WIN GERRYMANDERING LAWSUIT AGAINST DEMS, FORCING MARYLAND TO REDRAW MAP BEFORE 2020
The NRSC specifically allege that Snipes is in violation of the Florida Constitution and the Florida Public Records Act. They demand an emergency hearing, as well as a court order requiring Snipes to turn over information about ballots in Broward County.
Scott's complaint against Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher, meanwhile, alleges first that officials there illegally refused to allow Republicans, or any witnesses, to monitor the county's handling of damaged absentee ballots.
"Even more alarmingly," Scott additionally claims, Bucher "failed to allow the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board" to determine, as required by law, which damaged or improperly filled-out absentee ballots were valid and how the voters of those ballots had intended to vote. Instead, Scott and the NRSC argue, Bucher and her staff simply used their own judgment when determining voters' intent.
The suit against Bucher demands an injunction requiring Bucher to make and compare duplicate copies of all damaged absentee ballots in the presence of Scott's representatives, and to allow the Palm Beach County Canvassing Board to determine voters' intent when counting those ballots.
Rubio, in his barrage of broadsides against Snipes earlier in the day, pointed to the "slow drip" of tens of thousands of additional ballots that were reported throughout the day Thursday, most of which were favorable to several Democratic candidates. Rubio said those late disclosures violated Florida election law, which necessitates that mail-in and early voting ballots be counted within 30 minutes of polls closing.
"Bay County was hit by a Cat 4 Hurricane just 4 weeks ago, yet managed to count votes & submit timely results," Rubio wrote. "Yet over 41 hours after polls closed #Broward elections office is still counting votes?"
GEORGIA DEMOCRATIC GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE STACEY ABRAMS REFUSES TO CONCEDE
Rubio and Scott both made it clear they have no confidence in Snipes' integrity.
"A U.S. Senate seat & a statewide cabinet officer are now potentially in the hands of an elections supervisor with a history of incompetence & of blatant violations of state & federal laws," Rubio wrote, linking to a Miami Herald article describing several scandals that have gripped Broward County’s Elections Department.
Earlier this year, a judge found that Snipes had illegally destroyed ballots in a 2016 congressional contest, leading the secretary of state's office to assign election monitors to supervise her.
“I think the problems are blown out of proportion,” Snipes said in October, in an interview with The Miami Herald. “Broward is nitpicked to the bone. Other places have the same problems, different problems. It’s just that they are not spotlighted like we are.”
At his Thursday press conference, Scott outlined some of Snipes' troubled history.
"In 2016, Brenda Snipes’ office posted election results half an hour before polls closed – a violation of election law," Scott said. "That same year, her office was sued for leaving amendments off of ballots. In 2014, Brenda Snipes’ fellow Democrats accused her of individual and systemic breakdowns that made it difficult for voters to cast regular ballots. All Floridians should be concerned about that."
Vote totals in several major races in the state are changing rapidly, on an irregular schedule and sometimes late into the evening. Scott was ahead of Nelson by roughly one-fourth of one percentage point as of Thursday morning, according to The Tampa Bay Times. The paper also said the agriculture commissioner candidates were separated by only 0.06 points. That race flipped in favor of the Democratic candidate on Thursday afternoon.
Broward County reported that significantly more votes were received in the agriculture commissioner contest than the much higher-profile Senate election. An attorney for Nelson's campaign suggested a computer error might explain that anomaly.
In the closely watched gubernatorial race, DeSantis held a narrow 0.52-percentage-point edge over Gillum as of Thursday morning, extremely close to the 0.5 percent threshold needed to trigger a machine recount. Gillum has conceded the race, although his decision is nonbinding.
But by Thursday afternoon, unofficial figures had DeSantis up by just 38,515 votes out of the more than 8 million cast -- a lead of just 0.47 percent, low enough to trigger a mandatory recount, according to The Tallahassee Democrat. No recount has yet been announced by Florida's secretary of state; the first unofficial vote count is expected to be verified Saturday.
"On Tuesday night, the Gillum for Governor campaign operated with the best information available about the number of outstanding ballots left to count," Gillum's campaign said in a statement Thursday evening. "Since that time, it has become clear there are many more uncounted ballots than was originally reported. Our campaign, along with our attorney Barry Richard, is monitoring the situation closely and is ready for any outcome, including a state-mandated recount."
Without providing legally sufficient justification, Rubio said, Democrat-controlled Broward and Palm Beach counties on Wednesday afternoon continued to report new ballots, cutting into Scott's already-thin lead and flipping the state's agriculture commissioner race to Democrats.
Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Susan Bucher told Fox News that Palm Beach is still counting about 2,000 mail-in ballots where voters circled or highlighted (by drawing an arrow pointing at the candidate’s name) their choice, instead of filling in the appropriate bubbles.
Bucher told Fox News that elections department staff is going through each of the 2,000 mail-in ballots, and where voter intent is determined, a worker is filling in a new ballot on behalf of the voter. Where voter intent cannot be determined, the ballot is sent to the canvassing board to undergo review.
Elections officials are also reviewing 1,500 military and overseas ballots which are still being counted. Florida law allows military servicemembers to mail or fax ballots in. A provisional vote report is due in Tallahassee on Saturday by noon.
"#Broward election supervisors ongoing violation of #Florida law requiring timely reporting isn’t just annoying incompetence," Rubio wrote. "It has opened the door for lawyers to come here & try to steal a seat in the U.S. Senate & Florida Cabinet."
Florida law dictates that if the margin in any race hits 0.25 percent or lower, a manual recount of any ballots set aside from the machine recount will be ordered -- reminiscent of the scene in the 2000 presidential election, when the country was gripped by images of poll workers counting votes deciphering hanging chads by hand.
Broward County election officials did not return Fox News' multiple requests for comment.

CNN's Jim Acosta Cartoons

South Carolina voter told to remove 'Trump' shirt in order to vote: report

A man trying to vote in South Carolina was reportedly told to remove his "Trump" shirt before he could cast a ballot in the midterm election Tuesday. (Todd Price via Storyful)

Vote Trump, no service?
A man in South Carolina who was donning a T-shirt that showed his support of President Trump was reportedly told to remove the article of clothing if he wanted to vote in Tuesday's midterm election.
The unidentified man was trying to vote at a polling location in Murrells Inlet when he was asked to remove his shirt, WPDE-TV reported. Photos posted online don't clearly show what graphics are on the shirt.
Voter Todd Price wrote on Facebook that officials "made this poor guy take off this Trump shirt to vote. I thought it was ok as long as the shirt wasn't for someone on the ballot?"
According to Georgetown County's Board of Elections, "campaign materials" are not allowed within 200 feet of a polling precinct or inside of the voting location. "This includes buttons, hats, T-shirts, bumper stickers, etc."
Based on South Carolina election laws, people are specifically not allowed to display "political literature and displays" within 200 feet of a voting precinct.
The county's board of elections did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.