Seattle councilwoman rips departing police chief, calls Trump, Barr support ‘revealing’

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In a long statement and series of Twitter messages Thursday night, a Seattle councilwoman tore into the city’s soon-to-depart police Chief Carmen Best, claiming it was “no accident” that “right-wing” figures such as President Trump and Attorney General William Barr were sorry that Best planned to step down.
“They recognize the service [Best] has provided the capitalist class in pushing back against the Black Lives Matter movement at the height of its power,” socialist Councilwoman Kshama Sawant wrote, according to Seattle’s KIRO-TV.
Best, who has been Seattle’s police chief since August 2018, revealed in an email Monday that she planned to retire, effective Sept. 2. Her announcement came after the Seattle City Council voted to slash the police department budget, including Best’s own salary.
“I hate to see her go,” Sawant quoted Trump as saying about Best. The president made the remark at a news briefing Tuesday, according to a White House transcript.
“In the face of mob violence, she drew the line in the sand,” Sawant quoted Barr as saying about the departing chief. Barr also made the comment Tuesday, according to the Justice Department website.
The council’s Monday action came as backers of the “Defund the police” movement across the U.S. seek to reduce or even eliminate funding for the nation’s police departments, pointing to what they say is a history of police mistreatment of African-Americans and other minority groups.
In her statement Thursday, Sawant claimed the council’s cut of $3 million from the city’s police budget – expected to result in the loss of 100 officers through layoffs and attrition – represented a 2% reduction but was a far cry from the 50% slash that some Democrats on the council had promised protesters weeks earlier.
But that 2% cut “was too much for Best,” Sawant wrote.
“Best also cried foul at the City Council curbing bloated police executive pay to allow the funds to instead be used for Black and Brown community needs, saying the 7 percent cut to her over quarter-of-a-million-dollar ($294,000) salary, ‘felt vindictive and punitive,’” Sawant wrote.
Before the proposed cut, Best’s salary was 45% above the national average for police chiefs while nine of the city’s top police executives were paid higher salaries than all 50 U.S. governors, Sawant claimed, according to KIRO.
‘Earthquake in American politics’
The councilwoman claimed that Best and other police chiefs around the U.S. have stepped down in recent weeks because the Black Lives Matter movement “has been nothing short of an earthquake in American politics, exposing the endemic racism and police violence of U.S. capitalism and putting mayors, police chiefs and political establishments across the country on the defensive.”
Sawant, 46, is a native of India and former software engineer who has served on Seattle’s city council since 2014, representing the Socialist Alternative party.
In early July, Sawant called for the overthrow of capitalism, including the seizure of Fortune 500 companies.

Kshama Sawant speaks in Seattle, Nov. 4, 2013. (Associated Press)

On Tuesday, Best described the council’s budget cut as a betrayal of the city’s police department, which had been working to emerge from federal oversight after the U.S. Justice Department in 2012 detected a pattern of unconstitutional use of force.
“The council gave us $1.6 million to make sure we hire the best and the brightest and the most diverse and brought them on," Best said Tuesday. "And less than a year later, we’re going to just turn them all away. It feels very duplicitous. I have my convictions. I cannot do that.”
Seattle has been among the top cities for frequent protests and rioting since the May 25 death of George Floyd in police custody in Minneapolis.
In late July, Best lashed out against rioters after an explosive device left an eight-inch hole in a wall of a city police precinct building.
“What we saw today was not peaceful,” Best said at the time, according to the Seattle Times. “The rioters had no regard for the public’s safety, for officers’ safety or for the businesses and property that they destroyed.”

Barr teases Friday 'development' in Durham probe, says investigation won't be 'dictated to' by election

There will be "a development" Friday in Connecticut U.S. Attorney John Durham's investigation into the origins of the Russia investigation, Attorney General William Barr told Fox News' Sean Hannity in an exclusive interview Thursday.
Barr said that the development would not be "earth-shattering," but would be "an indication that things are moving along at the proper pace as dictated by the facts in this investigation."
"There are two different things going on, Sean," Barr said. "I said the American people need to know what actually happened, we need to get the story of what happened in 2016 and '17 out. That will be done.
"The second aspect of this is, if people crossed the line, if people involved in that activity violated criminal law, they will be charged. And John Durham is an independent man, highly experienced, and his investigation is pursuing apace. There was some delay because of COVID, but I'm satisfied with the progress and I've said there are going to be developments, significant developments, before the election.
"But we're not doing this on the election schedule," Barr added. "We're aware of the election. We're not going to do anything inappropriate before the election. But we're not being dictated to by this schedule.
"What's dictating the timing of this are developments in the case."

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Pro-life journalist David Daleiden rips Kamala Harris' 'radical disrespect and contempt' for First Amendment

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Center for Medical Progress founder David Daleiden blasted Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., Wednesday for what he described as her "radical disrespect and contempt" for the First Amendment.
"I hope that all Americans ... are going to be able to come together to oppose the kind of radical disrespect and contempt for the First Amendment and for First Amendment civil liberties that Kamala Harris has demonstrated throughout her career," Daleiden told "Hannity."
As California's attorney general, Harris sued Daleiden through an unprecendented application of an eavesdropping law, which he alleges was intended to supress his work. In 2015, Daleiden released secretly recorded videos of Planned Parenthood officials discussing fetal tissue procurement. The videos sparked a media firestorm and prompted federal scrutiny that continues five years after their release.
In December 2019, a judge pared down the eavesdropping case, which carries criminal charges, lopping off five charges the court said lacked "probable cause to establish" that some of the recorded conversations were "confidential communications" under law. At the end of last month, a judge dropped three more charges in the case.
"I have been on the receiving end of her abuse of power," Daleiden told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
Under Harris, California authorities raided Daleiden's home for evidence -- prompting questions about her relationship with Planned Parenthood, which has donated to her and many other Democrats. In May, Daleiden filed a lawsuit alleging that Harris conspired to violate his civil rights through a bogus prosecution.
Planned Parenthood has described Daleiden as a "discredited journalist."
"David Daleiden and the Center for Medical Progress intentionally waged a multi-year illegal effort to manufacture a malicious campaign against Planned Parenthood," Acting CEO Alexis McGill Johnson said in November.
For Daleiden and others, the core of the ongoing saga is whether Planned Parenthood violated federal law by selling fetal tissue. Unsealed documents revealed Planned Parenthood charged a biospecimen company nearly $25,000 for fetal tissue and maternal blood samples in 2012.
Planned Parenthood has defended itself by claiming that its charges related to transportation and time spent by staff. The invoices don't mention either of those, however, nor do they contain the word "reimbursement." Instead, they assign a fee per body part. Specifically, the previously released contract between those organizations showed that the exchanges were based on "POC determined in the clinic to be usable."

DeVos accuses teachers unions of concern with 'alternative agendas' like 'defunding police' over students

Teachers unions have shown themselves as being more concerned with political agendas and posturing than offering students a fulfilling learning experience, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos told "The Ingraham Angle" Wednesday.
DeVos told guest host Mike Huckabee that she was glad to see Democratic Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Andrew Cuomo of New York support reopening schools this fall, and said that it is imperative for families "not to be held captive to other people's fears or agendas."
However, Murphy backtracked Wednesday on his initial requirement that all Garden State school districts have some form of in-person learning, instead allowing schools to begin the autumn session online if they meet certain specifications, according to NJ.com.
"We have seen all too many districts and all too many schools across the country not actually addressing the needs of students and anticipating school in the fall," DeVos said. "We all want to ensure students and teachers are safe when they are in school again, but those things can be done and can be clearly accomplished. The science is very clear on this."
The secretary added that some teachers unions have prioritized using the pandemic to push a leftist political agenda, including "defunding the police, universal health care, destroying charter schools, eliminating the D.C. Scholarship Opportunity Program, and these are what teachers unions are demanding in order for kids to go back to school."
"Kids have got to be together, they have got to be with their peers and in classrooms with their teachers, and we need to ensure that this happens," DeVos went on.
The secretary also echoed President Trump's sentiment that parents should retain some of what they pay in school taxes if their district won't let their children learn in-person.
"Families need to have options, they need to have choices, they need to be able to find the right fit for their child or their children, and it's becoming ever more clear, in the last few months, that this is more and more necessary for families across the country," DeVos said.
"We've had an education system that's been static for decades; a one-size-fits-all approach, and if we've learned anything in the last several months, it's that children are not one-size-fits-all, and their education needs are not one-size-fits-all, and the response to this has not been a one-size-fits-all."

Pennsylvania restaurant owners plan ‘revolution’ against Dem governor’s coronavirus limits: report

Some restaurant and tavern owners in western Pennsylvania say they’re not happy with Democrat Gov. Tom Wolf’s orders limiting the number of patrons they can serve because of the coronavirus.
The disgruntled business owners in Allegheny County say they plan to fight back beginning Friday with what they’re calling a “Restaurant Revolution.”
Organizers are asking participating businesses to open their establishments to full capacity – instead of the 25% capacity ordered by the governor to help limit spread of the virus, Pittsburgh’s KDKA-TV reported.
The group said it would otherwise adhere to recommendations set out by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, such as six feet of social distancing between patrons, the station reported.
Organizers said they held talks with the governor’s office in Harrisburg for about a month – but claim the governor ignored a recent deadline for getting back to them with a decision, KDKA reported.

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf.

Last month, Wolf announced a series of tougher restrictions in a bid to contain the spread of the virus, after state health officials reported an "unsettling" climb in new infections.
“If we don’t act now, medical experts are projecting that this new surge in cases could soon eclipse the peak in April,” Wolf wrote on Twitter at the time. His new rules took effect July 16.
Several state Republicans voiced opposition to what one described as the governor's "countless, confusing orders."
This week, local elected officials and health experts in Allegheny County quickly spoke out against the restaurant owners’ planned action.
“The law is the law,” Allegheny County Executive Rich Fitzgerald told KDKA. “We can’t just have people breaking the law. The state has put these restrictions in place and we support their decision.”
He warned that the county’s COVID-19 task force would continue making inspections of restaurants and taverns and issue citations to violators.
Der. Debra Bogen, director of the county’s health department, pleaded with the business owners to rethink their plan.
“I would put out a plea: Please, please don’t do that,” she told KDKA. “It is a critical time with schools and all of our college students returning to town over the next few weeks. It is our time to focus on the return to education.”
On Aug. 6, more than 100 business owners rallied in the parking lot of a restaurant in Bethel Park, calling on Wolf to ease the restrictions, KDKA reported.
Across the state in Philadelphia and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania, restaurant owners said they too were frustrated by the governor’s rules but were trying to comply as best they could.
“We’ve learned to just try to adapt,” Josh Divers, co-owner of a brew pub in Bethlehem, told Philadelphia’s FOX 29 last month.
Meanwhile, Allegheny County health authorities ordered a Pittsburgh restaurant and nightclub called Seven to shut down for a week over allegations that it violated coronavirus rules, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reported.
The alleged violations included the restaurant’s employees not wearing masks, according to the outlet. Other violations included allowing patrons to sit at the bar and serving alcohol to customers who did not also order food, the report said.
The restaurant also allegedly denied entry to a county health inspector until the inspector received assistance from Pittsburgh police, the report said.
In addition to the weeklong shutdown, the restaurant was ordered to pay a $532 fine, according to the outlet.

Trump touts administration’s guidelines for reopening schools

President Trump touted his administration’s guidelines for reopening schools Tuesday, saying the Centers for Disease Control could deploy teams to assist schools with safely reopening in the fall.
“Today I am pleased to announce that we will provide up to 125 million reusable masks to various school districts around the country," Trump said during a Wednesday news conference. "My administration also stands ready to deploy CDC teams to support schools that are opening and schools that need help in safety and in order to safely reopen.”
The recommendations call on all students, teachers and staff to self-assess their health each morning and encourage frequent hand-washing or sanitizing throughout the day. They call for “high standards” of ventilation and hygiene in classrooms, and minimal indoor group gatherings.
The guidelines also call on teachers, staff and students to socially distance around high-risk individuals and encourage the use of masks where social distancing is not possible.
The president again emphasized that “99.95 percent of all fatalities are adults” and “children often only have mild symptoms.” He said that for children with underlying conditions, the flu resulted in more deaths than COVID-19 “by far.”
Still, he said that families should be “empowered to make the decision” about whether or not to return to school. In this vein, Trump said that school funding should go directly to students rather than school districts.
“We want it to follow the child, if school is closed, they can go to another school or area.”
He hit House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Sen. Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as being “controlled” by teachers’ unions.
“Democrats don’t like doing anything unless it means doing it for the union, which controls Nancy and Chuck.”
Trump made sure to praise teachers.
“There’s nothing wrong with the union, very few people do I respect more than a great teacher, they are so underappreciated,” Trump continued. ”The great ones among the most important people, but they will be great at a charter school.”
Minority communities, particularly African Americans, “want it so badly," Trump said referring to reopening schools for in-person instruction.
In an event Wednesday, Trump sought to reopen negotiations with the House on school funding, outlining a model that would have money “follow the student,” where students could switch school systems if their current one wanted to remain closed while they wanted to get back to campus.
“I would like the money to follow the students and in this way you can make your own choice," the president said at the event. "If a school is closed, why are we paying the schools?"
"We know for students and their families they can't be held captive to the people's fears and politics," Education Secretary Betsy DeVos added.

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