US coronavirus plan would evacuate some Americans from quarantined cruise ship in Japan: report

Hundreds of Americans quarantined on a cruise ship docked off the coast of Yokohama, Japan, for more than a week due to a coronavirus – now called COVID-19 -- outbreak onboard will have the chance to evacuate, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, according to a report.
Approximately 380 Americans and their families on the Diamond Princess will be offered seats on two flights that could arrive at Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, Calif., as early as Sunday, a CDC official told The Wall Street Journal.

A group of quarantined passengers exercise on the Diamond Princess cruise ship Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, in Yokohama, near Tokyo. (Associated Press)

A CDC team will screen passengers and those exhibiting symptoms won’t be allowed on the flights.
Passengers were placed under in a two-week quarantine Feb. 5 and since then the number of cases onboard has climbed to 218, including some Americans, in the largest outbreak outside of China.
There are a total of 428 Americans onboard the ship, The New York Post reported.

The quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship is shown in Yokohama, near Tokyo, Feb. 11, 2020. (Associated Press)

In a letter, nine U.S. House representatives, led by Rep. Phil Roe, R-Tenn., had urged the Trump administration to evacuate the Americans. Roe is a physician and the ranking member of the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
“From firsthand accounts, we are concerned about the existing level of care available on the ship, particularly to the 428 US citizens aboard, as well as the national security concerns posed by reported quarantine conditions,” the lawmakers wrote, according to The Post.

“From firsthand accounts, we are concerned about the existing level of care available on the ship, particularly to the 428 US citizens aboard, as well as the national security concerns posed by reported quarantine conditions.”
— Letter from U.S. lawmakers, urging evacuation of Americans aboard cruise ship

Roe said he has been in contact with Dr. Arnold Hopland, a physician from Elizabethton, Tenn., who is aboard the ship. Hopland told Roe that crew members have been doing their best to protect the quarantined pasengers, the Johnson City Press reported.
Once in the U.S., the evacuated passengers will either be quarantined for two weeks at the California base or at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, The Journal reported.
Around 230 Americans who were evacuated from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus, are already in quarantine at Travis. The arriving cruise ship passengers would be kept separate from them.
Earlier this week, the cruise ship company said Japanese health officials would remove some passengers to finish their quarantine at an onshore facility.
More than 66,000 people have been sickened in mainland China and more than 1,500 have been killed by the virus as of Friday evening.
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In Beijing, state-run TV Friday announced residents returning from Lunar New Year celebrations must quarantine themselves for two weeks and could face legal consequences otherwise, according to The Times.

Maxine Waters Cartoons

Maxine Waters says California deserves more clout in Dem primaries: ‘We are supplying tremendous dollars’

Democrat

Thanks to a bill that former Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in 2017, California will hold its presidential primary election in March this year rather than June, giving the 2020 Democratic candidates an earlier shot at capturing the Golden State’s nearly 500 delegates.
But U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters argues that her home state – the nation’s most populous (because of Illegals), with nearly 40 million residents -- is still getting shortchanged when it comes to influencing which Democrat carries the party’s banner in presidential elections.
“A lot of people have come to the conclusion that it should not simply be Iowa and New Hampshire, that certainly they are not reflective of the makeup of this country,” the Los Angeles-area congresswoman told CNBC on Thursday. “And so, California has a role to play.”
Waters, 81, who has served in Congress since 1991, noted that few other states can match California when it comes to fundraising for Democratic candidates.
“We have candidates who fly out to Los Angeles from everywhere to raise money," Waters told CNBC host Kelly Evans, the Washington Free Beacon reported. “You would have two, three, four at a time in Beverly Hills having dinners and some of our contributors, who are very rich, were holding fancy parties, trying to accommodate the requests for donations and contributions.”
According to Waters, “The thinking is that if we are supplying tremendous dollars to candidates, we ought to have more say.”

U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is seen at the Capitol in Washington, Dec. 18, 2019. (Associated Press)

“More say” was said to be the intention behind the bill that Brown signed in 2017.
“Candidates will not be able to ignore the largest, most diverse state in the nation as they seek our country's highest office," California Secretary of State Alex Padilla said at the time, according to NPR. “California has been a leader time and time again on the most important issues facing our country — including immigration, education, and the environment.”
He added that the date change would “help ensure that issues important to Californians are prioritized by presidential candidates from all political parties."
Last year, state Democratic Party spokesman Roger Salazar told Fox News that the earlier primary would also help California pull the national party in a more progressive direction.
“The Democratic electorate [in California] is much more progressive than almost any state,” Salazar said at the time. “All of that is going to help bring up some of the core issues Californians care about.”
He listed the environment, health care, immigration and economic injustice as top issues among California Democrats.
That may explain why progressive candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., leads in four major California polls, according to Politico.
Ironically, Waters’ remarks about the “tremendous dollars” being donated by Californians come amid a primary battle in which some of the party faithful are accusing New York billionaire Michael Bloomberg of trying to “buy” the nomination.
Since the start of 2020, the former mayor of New York City has spent $13 million on advertising in California and opened 20 regional offices with a total of 300 staffers, Politico reported.
Bloomberg also got a head start on other candidates in California by spending time there earlier this month, after deciding to skip the Iowa and New Hampshire races.
As for who is taking the most money from California, that title belongs to former South Bend, Ind., Pete Buttigieg, who has raised more than $9 million in the state, according to Federal Election Commission data, the outlet reported.

Florida governor orders probe of agency whose CEO received nearly $5M in paid time off

Democrat Tiffany Carr

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered an investigation following financial disclosures of a private anti-domestic violence agency, hired by the state, whose former CEO received an annual salary of more than $700,000 -- and who reportedly received a total of nearly $5 million in paid time off over a four-year period.
The contract of Tiffany Carr, who led the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence for two decades, granted her 50 paid days off per year since 2010, the Miami Herald reported, in addition to other perks such as a car allowance and time at "an executive retreat at the place of her choosing."
At least two staffers working under Carr also received lucrative time-off arrangements, according to the newspaper.
Carr stepped down from the job, citing a "significant health diagnosis," following a joint Herald and Tampa Bay Times investigation in July 2018 into her compensation and a subsequent order by the state Department of Children and Families to audit Carr's agency, the Herald reported.
Details of the agency's finances were finally revealed to state lawmakers Thursday, prompting the governor's call for an investigation.
"After many months of obstruction by the Florida Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the governor’s office received deeply disturbing information regarding the organization’s practices over the past several years,’’ DeSantis’ office said in a statement. “These practices include exorbitant compensation payouts, abuse of state dollars, withholding of information, and breach of public trust."
The Florida House also voted to subpoena Carr and the agency's board of directors as the state examines thousands of pages of newly released documents, according to the Associated Press.
DeSantis, a Republican who took office in January 2019, also ordered the head of the state's child welfare agency to review contracts with the domestic-violence organization, which distributes state and federal money to organizations that help victims of abuse.
“My administration will not tolerate wasteful or fraudulent spending, particularly by an organization that purports to serve the vulnerable victims of domestic violence,” DeSantis said.

“My administration will not tolerate wasteful or fraudulent spending, particularly by an organization that purports to serve the vulnerable victims of domestic violence.”
— Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks at news conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Jan. 29, 2019. (Associated Press)​​​

“As to the measures that we're taking, they're extraordinary, I would say, but these are extraordinary circumstances,” Republican House Speaker Jose Oliva told reporters after the vote on subpoenas.
The House had been seeking more information about Carr's pay ever since the newspapers first raised questions in 2018, The Associated Press reported.
Scott Howell, the coalition's president of internal and external affairs, did not immediately respond to an AP message seeking comment.
During House floor debate, Democratic Rep. Anna Eskamani said Carr's salary was appalling.
“When we work at our local domestic shelters, we know that every penny counts, and when you have a CEO being paid that much money as survivors need support, it should be something that appalls each one of us,” she said.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.

Los Angeles mayor says he's the 'older, straighter' Mayor Pete: report

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti compared himself to 2020 presidential contender Pete Buttigieg Thursday, alluding to a handful of similarities between himself and the former South Bend mayor.
According to the Los Angeles Times, 49-year-old Garcetti said he is an "older, straighter Pete" during a Thursday speech.
Garcetti toyed with a White House run earlier in the election cycle, but he decided to stay out of the crowded presidential field early last year, saying Los Angeles is, "where I want to be and this is a place where we have so much exciting work to finish."

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti returned Ed Buck's donation in November of last year. (AP)

LOS ANGELES MAYOR GARCETTI SIGNS CITY's ENHANCED 'GREEN NEW DEAL
Garcetti also made a similar joke last month in The Atlantic, the newspaper pointed out.
The mayor raised his national profile in 2018 by campaigning and raising money for Democratic candidates and state parties around the country. His $2.5 million-plus in party fundraising included $100,000 each for the state parties in each of the first four presidential nominating states of Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina. He made stops in several of those states and other longtime battlegrounds like Ohio, where he frequently talked about the city’s transit-building boom
Garcetti, according to The Times, is also a Rhodes Scholar and a piano player, like Buttigieg, and both have served in the U.S. Navy Reserve.
Garcetti has also defended the idea of a mayor as a presidential candidate, saying a mayor's experience as chief executive squared well with the job in the White House. Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is beginning to turn some heads in the Democratic primary with his aggressive spending in Super Tuesday states, while former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Miramar, Fla. Mayor Wayne Messam each ran unsuccessful campaigns and have dropped out of the Democratic primary.
When asked about his future plans early last year, Garcetti didn't rule out a different bid for higher office in the future.
“Who knows what the future is,” he said, adding later, “Life is long.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Prosecutors recommend nearly 5-year sentence for ex-Baltimore mayor in 'Healthy Holly' scandal

Democrat

Prosecutors reportedly recommended 57 months in prison Thursday for former Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh who pleaded guilty last November to conspiracy and tax evasion linked to her self-published "Healthy Holly" children’s books.
Pugh was indicted for allegedly running a multiyear scam using her books to boost her political career and pad her coffers.
In a 37-page sentencing memorandum, U.S. Attorney Robert Hur wrote, Pugh's scheme was “a recurring pattern of well-executed steps that built on each other, becoming more audacious and complex leading up to the mayoral election,” according to WJZ-TV.
Prosecutors said her plan to rip off nonprofits and taxpayers began in 2011 when she was a state senator.
Among other things, the indictment against Pugh accused her of claiming taxable income in 2016 of $31,020, with $4,168 tax due, "when in fact, Pugh's taxable income was $322,365, with an income tax due of approximately $102,444."
Pugh's books have included "Healthy Holly: Exercising is Fun" and "Healthy Holly: Fruits Come in Colors like the Rainbow." Most were sold directly to nonprofits and foundations that did – or tried to do – business with the state or with Baltimore.
Prosecutors said Pugh arranged fraudulent sales of her books to schools, libraries and a medical system to pay for her mayoral bid as well as to buy and renovate a house in Baltimore City.
The memorandum also says Pugh used a business she co-owned to launder a $20,000 check into her campaign from a donor who had already given the $6,000 limit, WJZ reported.
Pugh also lied to FBI agents, according to the memorandum, when they came to her house for her personal cell phone. She said she didn’t have it and gave them a work phone but agents heard it ringing from under a pillow in her bedroom when they called it a short time later, according to the station.
“Almost immediately, the agents heard a vibrating noise emanating from her bed. Pugh became emotional, went to the bed and began frantically searching through the blankets at the head of the bed. As she did so, agents starting yelling for her to stop and show her hands,” prosecutors wrote, the Baltimore Sun reported.
“The facts establish that Pugh deliberately engaged in a broad range of criminal acts while serving as Maryland State Senator and Mayor of Baltimore City,” Hur added.
“As an educated businesswoman and successful politician, Pugh had countless opportunities for self-reflection, occasions when she could have checked her moral and ethical compass and chosen to change course," he said. "She did the opposite, and chose to double down on a path of rampant criminal deception to fulfill her ambitions."
Specifically, Pugh pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud the United States and two counts of tax evasion. The four counts collectively carried a maximum sentence of decades behind bars.
She did not plead guilty to seven individual counts of wire fraud.
“The chronology of events since 2011, comprising Pugh’s seven-year scheme to defraud, multiple years of tax evasion, election fraud, and attempted cover-ups, including brazen lies to the public, clearly establishes the deliberateness with which she pursued financial and political gain without a second thought about how it was harming the public’s trust,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin J. Clarke and Leo J. Wise, according to the Sun.
Pugh resigned last May. She had been under investigation since February 2017.
Her defense said they strongly disagree” with the recommendation and said their position "as to a fair and appropriate sentence will be laid out in a sentencing memorandum which will be made public pending order of court,” WJZ reported.
She is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 27.
Fox News' Barnini Chakraborty contributed to this report. 

Democrat Party Implosion Cartoons

AP Exclusive: Pro-Trump effort raises over $60M in January

WASHINGTON (AP) — Pro-Trump groups raised more than $60 million in January and have more than $200 million on hand for this year’s general election, shattering fundraising records on the path toward a goal of raising $1 billion this cycle.

The Republican National Committee and President Donald Trump’s campaign have raised more than $525 million since the start of 2019 together with two joint-fundraising committees. The RNC and the Trump campaign provided the figures to The Associated Press. The January haul coincided with most of the Senate’s impeachment trial, which resulted in the Republican president’s acquittal earlier this month.

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said, “We already have 500,000 volunteers trained and activated, and this record-breaking support is helping us grow our grassroots army even more.”

Trump’s 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, said Democrats’ “shameful impeachment hoax and dumpster fire primary process” have contributed to the “record-breaking financial support” for Trump’s reelection.

“With President Trump’s accomplishments, our massive data and ground operations and our strong fundraising numbers,” Parscale said, “this campaign is going to be unstoppable in 2020.”

The pro-Trump effort said it has gained more than 1 million new digital and direct mail donors since Democrats launched their push to impeach Trump in September 2019. The investigations proved to be a fundraising boon for Trump’s campaign, even as the president was personally frustrated by the scar it will leave on his legacy.

The Trump team’s haul and cash on hand were twice that of former President Barack Obama’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee at the same point ahead of his 2012 reelection.