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Trump pushed fraud claims publicly after his staff dismissed claims : recap
USA TODAY 6/13/2022 Ella Lee, Bart Jansen, Rebecca Morin, Dylan Wells, Chelsey Cox, Erin Mansfield, Joey Garrison and Katherine Swartz, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON – Following Thursday's prime-time introduction to the Jan. 6 committee investigating the Capitol attack's findings, the second of eight hearings will dig into the details of former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
A hopeless challenge: Trump campaign officials say they told Trump that challenging the 2020 election results based on theories about election fraud almost certainly would be unsuccessful.
Who was Trump listening to? Testimony from campaign insiders suggested Trump listened to Rudy Giuliani, who witnesses said was drunk, about how to react to the election results instead of advisers who told him he lost.
Advisers caution against declaring victory: Some of Trump's top campaign advisers told the committee during depositions that they discouraged the president from declaring victory prematurely on election night 2020.
AG Garland is 'watching'
Attorney General Merrick Garland said Monday that he has been watching the first public hearings staged by the special House committee investigating the Capitol assault and intends to view them all as the panel offered up dramatic evidence Monday in which top aides to former President Donald Trump repeatedly counseled that his pursuit of election fraud claims were baseless.
"I can assure you the Jan. 6 prosecutors will be watching," Garland told reporters at an unrelated Justice Department gun enforcement briefing.
Garland's remarks were his first public comments on the hearings since they opened Thursday and as pressure has mounted for the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against Trump and other former administration officials.
The attorney general, however, defended the pace of the ongoing criminal investigation, which has so far resulted in charges against 800 people in the past 17 months.
"We are not obstructed from proceeding in any way," Garland said, emphasizing the need for the inquiry to proceed in "secret."
"We will follow the facts and the law wherever they lead," he said.
Debunked PA, GA claims of voter fraud: A panel of witnesses during the committee's second session debunked conspiracy theories about a "suitcase" full of ballots in Georgia and claims that thousands of dead voters cast ballots in Pennsylvania.
Watch live:View the Jan. 6 committee's hearing here
Monday's hearing adjourns, next hearing is set for Wednesday morning
Committee Chair Rep. Bennie Thompson, a Democrat from Mississippi, adjourned today's January 6 hearing after giving a glimpse of what is to come in future hearings, showing a video of January 6 protestors. "We know they were there because of Donald Trump," said Thompson.
"I know exactly what's going on right now, fake election. They think they're gonna f—ing cheat us out of our vote?" said one protestor. Another protestor referred to the Dominion voting machine conspiracy theories often espoused by Trump, saying they "can't really trust the software."
The committee's next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday at 10:00am.
- Kenneth Tran
- Kevin Johnson
Rep. Lofgren led Monday's Jan. 6 hearing. She's the only member to participate in all four modern impeachments.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., led Monday's second public Jan. 6 hearing, where the committee presented evidence that Trump dismissed voter fraud claims even after advisers told him they were wrong.
Lofgren, who is a former lawyer, has participated in four impeachment investigations.
In 1974, Lofgren helped prepare articles of impeachment against President Richard Nixon as a staffer for the House of Judiciary Committee. Lofgren, who assumed office in 1995, also participated in former President Bill Clinton's impeachment in 1998.
Lofgren in January 2020 served as one of seven impeachment managers for President Donald Trump's impeachment investigation. Trump was impeached twice by the House of Representatives.
- Rebecca Morin
Jan. 6 committee members: 'Trump World' told former president he lost 2020 election
Members of the House Jan. 6 committee said the hearing Monday featuring Trump administration officials and campaign experts proved former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election and was told so repeatedly by his aides in the campaign and in government.
"These were his people. This is Trump World telling the president what he was saying was false," said Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., who led the questioning of witnesses. "This is Trump World telling the president what he was saying was false."
The chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said two former attorneys general appointed by Trump and their aides each told Trump that his claims of widespread election fraud were wrong.
"I f you can't believe the person who is put in charge of all the law enforcement in the country, who can you believe?" Thompson asked.
- Bart Jansen
Trump lawyer to another Trump lawyer: 'Are you out of your effing mind?'
The committee previewed a future hearing by playing a video of a Trump lawyer telling another Trump lawyer to stand down from voter fraud claims after the Jan. 6 insurrection.
White House lawyer Eric Herschmann said he told private attorney John Eastman: "Are you out of your effing mind? ... I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition."
The tape did not provide context, but Eastman is the attorney who told Trump that Vice President Mike Pence had the authority to throw out electoral votes that elected President Joe Biden.
Pence, Herschmann, and other White House officials disagreed with Eastman, and some blamed him in part for the Jan. 6 violence.
- David Jackson
Lofgren says Trump campaign 'misled' donors on where funds were going
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., in a closing statement said the Trump campaign "misled" campaign donors that their funds would be used for election fraud claims.
Lofgren said that Trump and his campaign used voter fraud claims to "raise millions of dollars" from Americans.
"Those donors deserve the truth about what those funds will be used for," Lofgren said. "Throughout the committee's investigation, we found evidence that the campaign and its surrogates misled donors as to where their funds would go and what they would be used."
© Josh Morgan, USA TODAY Benjamin Ginsberg a Republican election lawyer testifies to the select committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol on June 13, 2022 in Washington.
Election lawyer: Trump campaign did not make its case'
Benjamin Ginsberg, who has represented Republican presidential candidates in three elections (200,2004, 2012), said former President Donald Trump filed dozens of legal challenges for alleged voter fraud, but none were substantiated.
In 2000, the victory margin in the key state of Florida in favor of George W. Bush was 537 votes. In 2020, the closest margin was more than 10,000 votes in Arizona and Trump would have needed several states to change their results. "You just don't make up those sorts of numbers in recounts.
Trump's campaign lost 61 cases challenging the election in state and federal courts.
"The simple fact is that the Trump campaign did not make its case," Ginberg said.
Committee shares threats against Schmidt after Trump tweet
Al Schmidt, the only Republican city commissioner overseeing the 2020 presidential election in Philadelphia, said that the threats against him became more specific and graphic after Trump tweeted about him. He said the threats also included the names and ages of members of his family.
Former Philadelphia city commissioner recalls death threats after Trump tweeted about him
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Rep. Ayanna Pressley: 'I'm so tired of Black men being killed unjustly at the hands of police'
Memphis PD deactivates Scorpion unit after police beating of Tyre Nichols The Memphis Police Department permanently deactivated its Scorpion unit following the police killing of 29-year-old Tyre Nichols. The five fired Memphis officers charged with second-degree murder were part of the special unit. American Voices' Alicia Menendez and her panel discussed the need for police reform following the senseless death at the hands of police. MSNBC
More accountability demanded from Memphis police department The Memphis police department has deactivated its Scorpion Unit following the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols at the hands of five Memphis police officers. The unit was created to combat crime in the city and the five officers who assaulted Nichols were a part of that unit. But some former law enforcement officials say that's not enough. The say the police chief and other officers who arrived at the scene, but did not step in to help Nichols, should also be held accountable. Retired Los Angeles police department sergeant Cheryl Dorsey, as well as retired New York Police Department detective and director of The Black Law Enforcement Alliance Marq Claxton joined American Voices to discuss. MSNBC
Rep. Ayanna Pressley: 'I'm so tired of Black men being killed unjustly at the hands of police' MSNBC'S Alicia Menendez is joined by Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-MA) to discuss the steps Congress must make to pass police reform measures, including an end to qualified immunity in order to better seek accountability. Rep. Pressley also explains the EACH Act she and fellow Democrats are pushing in order to expand access to reproductive care. MSNBC
On screen, the committee showed a screenshot of an email and a text targeting Schmidt. The text read "Perhaps 75cuts and 20bullets will soon arrive … Rino stole election we steal lives."
The email to Schmidt's spouse threatened his children, said he would be fatally shot, and read "HEADS ON SPIKES. TREASONOUS SCHMIDTS."
– Dylan Wells
Former GOP Philadelphia city commissioner says they found no evidence of fraud
Testifying to the January 6 committee, Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner from Philadelphia, says after investigation, he found no claims of voter fraud in the City of Brotherly Love.
Democratic Rep. Zoe Lofgren from California questioned Schmidt, specifically asking about a claim from Trump adviser Rudy Giuliani "that 8,000 dead people voted in Pennsylvania."
"Not only was there not evidence of 8,000 dead voters voting in Pennsylvania, there wasn't even evidence of eight," replied Schmidt. "We took seriously every case that was referred to us, but no matter how fantastical, no matter how absurd, we took every one of those seriously, including these."
© Josh Morgan, USA TODAY Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner of Philadelphia testifies to the select committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol on June 13, 2022 in Washington.
Georgia officials: Trump's claims about voter fraud in the Peach State are false
The committee returned from recess to hear video testimony by a former official from Georgia about how Trump's claims of voter fraud in that state were simply false.
Former U.S. Attorney Byung "BJay" Pak broke down one such claim: "We found that the suitcase full of ballots, the alleged black suitcase that was being seen pulled from under the table, was actually an official lock box where ballots were kept safe."
Trump's pressure on Georgia officials to "find" votes from these kinds of false claims are the subject of a grand jury investigation in Atlanta.
© Josh Morgan, USA TODAY BJay Pak, a former U.S. attorney in Atlanta testifies to the select committee to investigate the January 6th attack on the US Capitol on June 13, 2022 in Washington.
Members of Congress, police officers injured on Jan. 6 watching the hearing
Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn – in uniform – stopped by the Cannon Caucus room in advance of the second day of hearings.
Former D.C. police officer Michael Fanone was also present watching in the hearing room. Fanone was beaten unconscious as he tried to protect the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Both Dunn and Fanone testified before he panel last year.
Some members of Congress were also in the audience, including Democratic Reps. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and G.K. Butterfield of North Carolina, though less than the crowd that watched during the first primetime hearing Thursday.
- Dylan Wells
Committee took short recess after first half of hearing dominated by one theme: Trump 'knew' he lost and lied about claims
The House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 attack of the U.S. Capitol took a recess shortly after noon ET after a first half of testimony that focused on how Trump knew he lost the 2020 election but ignored the advice of his top aides who shot down the president's claims of election fraud.
The hearing leaned heavily on videotaped testimony of former Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien and former Attorney General Barr. The latter said he determined Trump was "detached from reality" because of some of his fantastical election fraud claims and that were "completely bogus and silly and usually based on complete misinformation."
The first half of the hearing also detailed how Trump was aware that mail ballots cast late on election night would heavily favor Joe Biden but that Trump falsely claimed victory anyway.
The committee is back from its recess.
- Joey Garrison
Trump aides report no widespread election fraud
Several aides to former President Donald Trump told the House Jan. 6 committee he was told repeatedly allegations of election fraud weren't substantiated through investigations.
Former Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen said Trump was told he received bad information that wasn't correct. Derek Lyons, a former assistant to the president, said no allegations were substantiated for litigation. Alex Cannon, a former Trump campaign lawyer, said trade adviser Peter Navarro accused him of being a member of the 'Deep State' for dismissing technology concerns in Georgia based on a hand recount of ballots.
"In our point of view, it was debunked," Rosen said of election fraud.
Former deputy attorney general said he told Trump many of the voter fraud theories were 'false'
Richard Donoghue, former deputy attorney general, said he told Trump "much of the info you're getting is false" when the former president asked about voter fraud theories.
Donoghue said he told Trump that many of the theories were not supported by evidence gathered. He noted that while Trump would accept that one allegation was false, he would move on to another conspiracy theory.
There were so many of these allegations, that when you gave him a very direct answer on one of them, he wouldn't fight us on it, but he would move to another allegation," Donoghue said.
Former AG Barr testifies to Jan 6 committee he worried Trump had 'detached from reality'
Barr expected to get fired for saying election was legitimate
Then-President Donald Trump summoned his attorney general Bill Barr up to his office after Barr told a news reporter there was no amount of fraud in the 2020 election that would have changed the outcome.
"The president was as mad as I'd ever seen him and he was trying to control himself," Barr, who had told his secretary she may have to pack up if he gets fired, told the House committee investigating Jan. 6. "The president said, 'Well this is killing me. You didn't have to say this. You must have said this because you hate Trump. You hate Trump.'"
Then the president went into a conspiracy theory about votes in Detroit, at which point Barr debunked his theory and pointed out that Trump did better in Detroit in 2020 than in 2016.
"I told him that the stuff that his people were shoveling out to the public was bull—," Barr said. "He was indignant about that."
- Erin Mansfield
Former AG Barr: "If he really believes this stuff, he's become detached from reality."
Former Attorney General Bill Barr told the January 6 committee that Trump was convinced of a conspiracy theory that voter fraud was conducted through Dominion voting machines. If Trump truly believed the theory, Barr said "he's become detached from reality."
Trump "went off on a monologue saying that there was now definitive evidence involving fraud through the Dominion machines," he said.
Trump also told Barr that the Dominion report was "absolute proof that the Dominion machines were rigged. The report means I am going to have a second term." Looking through the report, Barr said "it looked very amateurish to me" and he "didn't see any real qualifications."
"I was somewhat demoralized, because I thought, boy if he really believes this stuff, he's become detached from reality, if he really believes this stuff," Barr said.
More BS: Panel reprises Bill Barr's use of barnyard epithet to describe Trump's claims of voter fraud
The committee replayed then-Attorney General Bill Barr's pungent description of Trump's false claims of voter fraud.
"The stuff that his people were shoveling out to the public was bull----, that the claims of fraud were bull---- and he was indignant about that," Barr said in video testimony.
Barr used the same term in his book and the committee played a clip of him on Thursday night using the traditional barnyard epithet.
Who is Dan Scavino, in charge of Trump's social media accounts?
In video testimony, Former Attorney General William Barr said he asked Dan Scavino, "How long is (Trump) going to carry on with this stolen election stuff?"
Trump's tweeter: He writes Trump's tweets and has been with Trump's campaign since day one
Scavino served in the Trump administration as White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Communications from 2017 to 2021. As director of social media, Scavino was the man behind many of Trump's tweets.
- Katherine Swartz
Meadows and Kushner told Barr they thought Trump would end talk of stolen election
Former Attorney General William Barr recounted a conversation in the days after the election that he had with Jared Kushner and Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who were both convinced that Trump was ready to tamp down his wild claims of a stolen election.
"Look, I think that he's becoming more realistic and knows that there's a limit to how far he can take this," Meadows told Barr, according to videotaped testimony from Barr.
Kushner told Barr: "Yeah, we're working on this."
Kushner, Barr thought Giuliani's approach to spread voter fraud theories was a bad idea
Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and one of his top advisers, testified Monday that Rudy Giuliani's approach to claim victory in the 2020 presidential elections and promote voter fraud conspiracy theories was a bad idea.
Former Attorney General Bill Barr and Bill Stepien, Trump's former campaign manager, also said they expressed that they were against Giuliani's approach. Barr said he didn't want to be part of that approach and attributed it as to one of the reasons he decided to leave the administration.
© Getty Jared Kushner
Kushner said he told Trump that it is "not the approach I would take if I was you."
"'I have confidence in Rudy,'" Kushner recalled Trump saying.
-- Rebecca Morin
Stepien fine being called part of 'Team Normal' for Trump
Bill Stepien, former President Donald Trump's campaign manager, told the House Jan. 6 committee he had no trouble with his team being labeled separately from Trump's legal team led by Rudy Giuliani challenging election results.
"I didn't mind be characterized as being part of Team Normal," Stepien said in a videotaped deposition.
In contrast, Stepien said Giuliani pursued complaints about thousands of illegal immigrants casting votes when the contested ballots were actually mailed from citizens overseas. Stepien said he earned a reputation for honesty and professionalism during 25 years of representing candidates as varied as Trump, John McCain, George W. Bush and Chris Christie.
"I didn't think what was happening was necessarily honest or professional at that time," Stepien said.
Why did Arizona matter in the 2020 election?
With 11 electoral votes, Arizona is a key swing state with the power to push a close election in one direction or another.
Trump won Arizona in the 2016 election by just 4 percentage points. But Democratic candidates broke through later in key statewide elections, including Sen. Kyrsten Sinema in 2018. Democrat Mark Kelly also won a special election in 2020 after the death of Senator John McCain, defeating Republican Martha McSally.
Biden won Arizona by a slim margin, coming down to Maricopa county -- home to Arizona's largest city Phoenix -- which leans bluer than more rural areas of the state which Trump carried.
Trump replaced campaign team out of frustration due to debunked claims of fraud
Bill Stepien, former campaign manager to Trump, told the January 6 committee that Trump grew increasingly frustrated with debunked claims of election fraud to the point of replacing his campaign's legal team, which "paved the way . . . for Mayor Giuliani to be moved in."
Trump's campaign team was forwarded a claim that "illegal citizens" were voting in Arizona's election. After the investigation, the team found no evidence of fraud and informed Trump. After continually finding no tangible evidence of voter fraud, Trump "was growing increasingly unhappy with his team," said Stepien.
Former Fox News editor: No chance that Trump would have won in a recount
Former President Donald Trump had no chance of winning the election in a recount, even in the most generous of circumstances, according to Chris Stirewalt, the former political editor for Fox News who led the team that called Arizona for Biden before any other major news organization.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif., asked Stirewalt Monday morning the chances, after Nov. 7, that Trump could have won the election. Stirewalt responded, "After that point? None."
Stirewalt said recounts traditionally tend to uncover hundreds of ballots, and at times may even uncover thousands, but he said the history of recounts show a recount would not have changed the outcome.
'Very bleak:" Witnesses say it was obvious from Election Night that Trump had lost
A slew of witnesses are backing the committee's claim that Trump protested the 2020 election even though he was shown plenty of data that he had in fact lost – one of them being Trump's own campaign manager.
In his videotaped testimony, Stepien said that Trump's chances of victory were "very, very, very bleak" in the hours after Election Day ended – and that Trump knew it.
Yet Trump persisted in claiming election fraud, a campaign that ended with the Jan. 6 insurrection, committee members said – his self-knowledge is a key legal point should the former president be prosecuted for inciting a riot.
Trump cried election fraud 'out of the box' in anticipation of shift for Biden, Barr says
Trump's Attorney General William Barr told the committee that the president started falsely claiming voting fraud early on election night.
"Right out of the box on election night, the president claimed that there was major fraud underway," Barr said in videotaped testimony. "I mean, as far as I could tell, before there was actually any potential evidence."
Barr said Trump's claims seemed to hinge on the fact that mail ballots that would be counted later would favor Biden – a dynamic called the "blue shift" and "red mirage."
"That seemed to be the basis for this broad claim that there was major fraud. And I didn't think much of that because people had been talking for weeks and everyone understood for weeks that that was going to be what happened on election night," he said.
Former Fox News political editor says Trump tried to exploit 'red mirage'
Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, said he felt it was necessary to be honest with viewers about the "red mirage," which was showing Trump ahead of votes on election day, but began to drop behind as mail-in votes came in.
Stirewalt explained that Republican candidates typically have a higher voter count from same day election votes, while Democrats typically vote early or by mail. He said "the Trump campaign and the President had made it clear that they were going to try to exploit this anomaly."
© Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images Chris Stirewalt, former Fox political editor, takes his seat at the start of the second hearing by the Select Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the U.S. Capitol in the Cannon House Office Building on June 13, 2022 in Washington, DC.
"We wanted to keep telling viewers, 'hey, look, the number that you see here is sort of irrelevant, because it's only a small percentage of these votes,'" Stirewalt said.
Trump campaign aides said election night too uncertain to declare victory
Former President Donald Trump's campaign officials told the House Jan. 6 committee that 2020 election results were too uncertain to declare victory that night, but that Trump and his lawyer Rudy Giuliani each sought to claim they won.
Jason Miller, a campaign spokesman, said in a videotaped deposition it was too early to declare victory. Bill Stepien, Trump's final campaign manager, said in a videotaped deposition he recommended for any speech that night Trump should say votes were still being counted and it was too early to call, but that the campaign was proud of the race.
"The president disagreed with that. He thought I was wrong. He told me so. He was going to go in a different direction," Stepien said.
"This is a fraud on the American people," Trump said that night. "Frankly, we did win this election."
Ivanka says she did not say whether to concede or challenge election results
Ivanka Trump said she did not press her father to concede or to declare victory on election night, even if other people on the former president's team were forming strong opinions on the matter.
Ivanka's insight: What else does Ivanka Trump know about Jan. 6? Election lies, phone records and other possibilities
"I don't know that I had a firm view as to what he should say in that circumstance," Ivanka Trump said. "The results were still being counted. It was becoming clear that the race would not be called on election night."
What happened with Arizona and Fox News in the 2020 election?
On election night 2020, Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden ahead of any other network, with Biden ahead by 7 percentage points in the race.
Fox White House correspondent John Roberts noted there were hundreds of thousands of votes left to be counted when Fox made the call.
Arizona or Biden: Fox News second-guessed calling Arizona for Biden. It was 100% election night's best moment
After Fox made the call, Arizona still was one of the closest states on election night, and one later targeted by Trump and his supporters demanding a recount. An audit conducted actually increased Biden's margin of victory in the state.
'The mayor was definitely intoxicated': says senior adviser to Trump
In opening the hearing, Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said "Trump rejected the advice of his campaign experts on election night and instead followed the course recommended by an apparently inebriated Rudy Giuliani to just claim he won."
And in deposition to the January 6 Committee, Senior Adviser to Trump's re-election campaign Jason Miller said Trump lawyer and former mayor of New York City Rudy Giuliani was "definitely intoxicated" on the night of the election.
"The mayor was definitely intoxicated, but I do not know his level of intoxication when he spoke with the president for example," said Miller. "There were suggestions by I believe it was Mayor Giuliani to go and declare victory and say we'd won it outright."
Witnesses talk about Trump's anger over Fox News projecting his loss in Arizona
The committee heard video from witnesses about the anger from Trump and top aides over the fact that Fox News called Arizona for Joe Biden well in advance of other networks.
Adviser Jason Miller quoted Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani as saying "we won it, they're stealing it from us."
The Arizona call – which held up – began promotion of what committee members called the "Big Lie" of voter fraud, leading to the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Trump aides told him that Dominion claims were nonsense
Liz Cheney said Trump's campaign experts repeatedly told him that his claims about irregularities in voting machines from Dominion Voting Systems were false but that he pushed the lies nonetheless.
"I never saw any evidence whatsoever to sustain those allegations," Trump attorney Eric Herschmann said in a videotaped deposition presented by the committee.
Trump Attorney General William Barr called the allegations "complete nonsense."
Cheney says hearing will focus on Trump's initial plan to convince Americans the 'election was stolen'
Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., vice chair of the Jan. 6 committee, said Monday's hearing will look at the initial part of former President Donald Trump's plan to overturn the 2020 presidential election.
Cheney said Trump's effort was "to convince millions of Americans that the election was stolen from him by overwhelming fraud."
"A federal court has already reviewed elements of the committee's evidence on this point, and said this: 'In the months following the election, numerous credible sources from the President's inner circle to agency leadership and statisticians informed President Trump and Dr. (ohn) Eastman that there was no evidence of election fraud,' sufficient to overturn the 2020 presidential election."
Thompson: Trump "betrayed the trust of the American people'
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said Monday's hearing would show how former President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election, knew he lost and "as a result decided to wage an attack on our democracy."
"He betrayed the trust of the American people," Thompson said. "He lied to his supporters and the country."
Biden win verified: Fact check: Joe Biden legally won presidential election, despite persistent contrary claims
"In doing so, he lit the fuse that led to the horrific violence of Jan. 6 when a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol, sent by Donald Trump the transfer of power," Thompson said.
Former U.S. attorney to testify about Trump pressure in Georgia
BJay Pak, a former U.S. attorney in northern Georgia, is expected to testify Monday about former President Donald Trump pressuring Georgia state officials to overturn 2020 election results.
Trump urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger during a Jan. 2 call to "find" 11,780 votes he needed to beat Joe Biden in the state. Pak, who had already announced his departure as U.S. attorney but was still in office, sped up his departure after Trump called him a "never Trumper" during the call.
Richard Donoghue, the former acting deputy attorney general, told the committee Trump wanted to fire Pak during a Jan. 3 Oval Office meeting, but that Pak had been vetted and was doing his job. White House counsel Pat Cipollone called the proposal "ridiculous" because Pak was already leaving, according to Donoghue.
Who is Al Schmidt? Former Philadelphia city commissioner testifying at Jan. 6 hearing
Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia, is testifying before the Jan. 6 committee Monday.
Schmidt, the only Republican city commissioner overseeing the 2020 presidential election in Philadelphia, defended the 2020 presidential election results. Former President Donald Trump criticized Schmidt days after the election for his stance, calling him a RINO — Republican in name only — who was "being used big time by the Fake News Media to explain how honest things were with respect to the Election in Philadelphia."
© Susan Walsh, AP Former Washington Metropolitan Police Department officer Michael Fanone talks with U.S. Capitol Police Sgt. Harry Dunn before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol continues to reveal its findings of a year-long investigation, at the Capitol in Washington, Monday, June 13, 2022.
Schmidt resigned as city commissioner in November 2021 and currently serves as CEO of the Committee of Seventy, an independent and nonpartisan advocate for better government in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.
Stepien lawyer says Trump campaign manager's wife went into labor this morning
Kevin Marino, Bill Stepien's lawyer, is appearing in his place at the Capitol after Stepien's wife went into labor this morning.
Marino said "Mr. Stepien was in town preparing for his testimony here today in response to the subpoena," before his wife went into labor.
Marino said it was his understanding that there would be video testimony from Stepien showed during the hearing.
Fox News exec expected to testify about Trump loss in Arizona
Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor, is expected to testify Monday at the House Jan. 6 committee hearing about how he helped the network become the first to declare former President Donald Trump's loss in Arizona in the 2020 election.
Arizona, which President Joe Biden won, was one of seven states that Trump contested after the election and that submitted alternate slates of fake electors to deny Biden the White House.
© Drew Angerer, Getty Images Chris Stirewalt, Former Fox Political Editor, arrives for a hearing on the January 6th investigation in the Cannon House Office Building on June 13, 2022 in Washington, DC.
Stirewalt was let go after the controversial election call and Bill Sammon, managing editor of Fox's Washington bureau, retired. Two days after the call, Stirewalt said in his last appearance on air that "Arizona is doing just what we expected it to do and we remain serene and pristine."
– Bart Jansen
Start of Jan. 6 hearing delayed
The committee said the hearing would start a half-hour later than the 10 a.m. scheduled time.
Trump campaign manager Bill Stepien won't testify Monday
Bill Stepien, who was former President Donald Trump's final campaign manager, won't be testifying Monday as scheduled at the latest House Jan. 6 committee hearing.
"Due to a family emergency, Mr. William Stepien is unable to testify before the Select Committee this morning. His counsel will appear and make a statement on the record," the committee announced.
What does Bill Stepien know about Trump's fraud claims?
The committee was expected to ask Bill Stepien, former President Donald Trump's final campaign manager, about evidence Trump knew he lost the 2020 election and pursued baseless claims of election fraud anyway. Stepien will not testify Monday.
The committee sought Stepien's testimony about converting the election campaign to focus on "Stop the Steal" messaging and related fundraising, according to other witnesses. The messaging included false claims about unreliable voting machines and an internal campaign memo in which campaign staffers determined the claims were false, according to the committee.
"President Trump invested millions of dollars of campaign funds purposely spreading false information, running ads he knew were false, and convincing millions of Americans that the election was corrupt and he was the true President," the committee vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., said Thursday. "As you will see, this misinformation campaign provoked the violence on Jan. 6."
Jan. 6 hearings schedule: When are the next Jan. 6 hearings?
Monday's hearing is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET.
There are two more hearings this week: Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET and Thursday at 1 p.m. ET.
The remaining four hearings have not yet been scheduled.
– Ella Lee
'It was carnage, it was chaos': Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards recounts Jan. 6
Who are Monday's witnesses at the Jan. 6 hearing?
The first panel of witnesses Monday features Bill Stepien, Trump's former campaign manager, and Chris Stirewalt, a former Fox News political editor. In testimony revealed Thursday, a campaign spokesman and Trump campaign lawyer each said Trump was told election results showing he lost. The spokesman, Jason Miller, later said Trump didn't believe his aides.
Stirewalt helped Fox News declare Trump's loss in Arizona. The committee request for testimony from Stepien said the campaign reportedly urged state and party officials to delay or deny certification of election results by sending alternates slates of electoral votes to Congress.
The second panel of witnesses features Benjamin Ginsberg, an election attorney; BJay Pak, a former U.S. attorney for northern Georgia; and Al Schmidt, a former city commissioner in Philadelphia.
Pak reportedly expedited his departure from the U.S. attorney's office after Trump complained during his Jan. 2 call with Georgia state officials he considered Pak a "never Trumper" who opposed his efforts to overturn the election.
© Andrew Harnik, AP Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., speaks as the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol holds its first public hearing to reveal the findings of a year-long investigation, on Capitol Hill, Thursday, June 9, 2022, in Washington.
Who is on the Jan. 6 committee?
Chairman, Rep. Bennie Thompson, D-Miss.
Vice chair, Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.
Rep. Elaine Luria, D-Va.
Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md.
Rep. Stephanie Murphy, D-Fla.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.
Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.
Rep. Zoe Lofgren, D-Calif.
Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.
Why is Pence central to the Jan. 6 investigation
The House committee investigating the attack will focus during its June hearings on Pence's key role presiding over the Electoral College vote count.
Rather than single-handedly rejecting electors from states then-President Donald Trump lost, as the president and his allies urged, Pence refused to interfere with or delay the count certifying President Joe Biden's victory while a mob ransacked the Capitol and threatened the vice president's life.
Thompson said lawmakers discussed having Pence testify, but that it might not be necessary because of cooperation from his top advisers. Pence's chief of staff, Marc Short, and counsel, Greg Jacob, were among more than 1,000 witnesses, including more than a dozen from the White House, who met with the committee.
Here's who testified about the Jan. 6 Capitol attack Thursday
Thursday's hearing featured two witnesses: a U.S. Capitol Police officer who was injured during the riot and a documentarian who filmed parts of the violence.
U.S. Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards was the "first law enforcement officer injured by rioters storming the Capitol grounds on January 6, 2021," according to the committee. She told lawmakers Thursday that she was called "Nancy Pelosi's dog" and "a traitor to my country, my oath and my constitution" during the violence, describing the Capitol grounds as an "absolute war zone."
British documentarian Nick Quested filmed the leaders of two far-right groups, Proud Boys leader Enrique Tarrio and Oath Keepers founder Stewart Rhodes, meeting in a parking garage near the Capitol. He told lawmakers Thursday that he met up with hundreds Proud Boys at about 10:30 a.m. on Jan 6, noting he was "confused to a certain extent" why they were walking away from the president's speech because "that's what I felt we were there to cover."
-Marina Pitofsky, Ella Lee
What Bill Barr, Ivanka Trump told the Jan. 6 committee
Former Attorney General William Barr told the House panel investigating the Capitol attack he resigned in December 2020 from the Trump administration rather than challenge the election results.
Ivanka Trump, the former president's daughter and senior adviser, said she accepted the Justice Department's finding of no fraud sufficient to overturn the 2020 – in contrast to her father.
Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards described how she suffered a concussion while grappling with rioters over bike racks. "I was slipping in people's blood," she said. "I was catching people as they fell. It was carnage." She also recalled seeing Officer Brian Sicknick, who died the next day, turn ghostly white after being sprayed with chemicals.
What it was like in the room during Thursday's Jan. 6 hearing
During first of eight hearings held by the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, the room remained mostly quiet, the crowd engaged, aside from reporters' rapid typing on computers during moments of new information. Revelations evoked murmurs and sometimes tears from the audience.
Audience members' moods abruptly shifted when a video chronicling the events of Jan. 6, 2021, played, many shifting in their seats and visibly on edge. During the video, Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn embraced the widows of two officers who died as a result of the attack, who used tissues to wipe tears from their eyes.
In gripping testimony often stifled by emotion, Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards recalled navigating a "war zone" that day, slipping on the blood of fellow officers and catching them as they fell while the rioters stormed the Capitol.
Testimony: 'It was carnage, it was chaos': Capitol Police Officer Caroline Edwards recounts Jan. 6
Takeaways from the Jan. 6 committee's first hearing on its findings
Members of a House Committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol began Thursday outlining their case that the insurrection was the final act of an intricate scheme orchestrated by former President Donald Trump to overturn the 2020 election.
The committee said that Trump knew he lost the 2020 presidential election, and despite that, enacted a "sophisticated seven-part plan" to overturn the election results. But not all Trump loyalists – or family – went along with Trump's plans, the committee said.
The committee also sought to tie Trump to the actions of the Proud Boys, framing the extremist organization as a vehicle for Trump that was inspired to attack the Capitol by the former president.
– Joey Garrison, Ella Lee
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump pushed fraud claims publicly after his staff dismissed claims : recap
More From USA TODAY
'We're here:' Donald Trump hits the campaign trail again in New Hampshire, South Carolina
Video released of brutal police beating of Tyre Nichols: More protests planned, SCORPION unit permanently deactivated


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The Skywriters were an indie pop band from Philadelphia that spanned from 1998-2000. We're releasing a retrospective cassette tape and Jigsaw Records is handling the CD edition. Big shout out to The Skywriters for wanting to make a tape and Jigsaw for asking us to get involved with this release. This is music that makes you feel real good. All smiles, no frowns here.
The material is sourced from a self released 7 song cassette tape, a 5 song CDEP, a 4 song Japanese 7" record, and a handful of compilation tracks. Members went on to play in The Snow Fairies, Scary Monster, Rabbit In Red, The Escargo-gos and Plow United; to name a few.
CD edition on Jigsaw Records.


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What's bigger news than the awarding of a major prize? The decision not to award a major prize. The literary world is agog with the news that the Pulitzer prize for fiction will not be awarded in 2012, for the first time in 35 years.
Why? The Pulitzer board couldn't reach a consensus on the three books nominated by the judges: Karen Russell's idiosyncratic, wildly imaginative debut Swamplandia, David Foster Wallace's posthumously completed The Pale King, and Denis Johnson's novella Train Dreams (first published, in full, in the Paris Review in 2002, first published in book form in 2011).
Former Pulitzer fiction judge Laura Miller, a senior writer for Salon, believes that the result may say more about the the state of American reading in 2012 than the quality of American fiction published in 2011 (she calls it 'an exceptional year').
The Pulitzer is unusual in that there is an extra tier of decision-making above the level of the three judges (usually an academic, a critic and a writer), who come up with three titles to recommend to the Pulitzer Board, who pick the actual winner.
The board consists not of literary insiders, but of working journalists and journalism professors, 'most with a deep respect for literature but relatively little familiarity with the literary world'.
While this is one of the prize's strengths, says Miller (including its 'excellent record at singling out literary works that also appeal to a lot of readers'), it is also a limitation.
Geordie Williamson: ''What's happened is a disconnect between ... reading communities and the people who actually it falls on to decide the award'.
'Past boards might have been able to settle on a title that most of them had read even if it wasn't offered as a finalist by the jury; reading at least a few of the 'big' novels published during the year was something a lot more people did before the internet and cable TV came along'.
Geordie Williamson, chief literary critic of the Australian, agrees. 'What's happened is a disconnect between … reading communities and the people who actually it falls on to decide the award,' he told PM.
Miller concludes that the fact that the board – representatives of the average educated American reader – don't read widely enough to agree on an alternate choice when they disagree with the three books put forward, is the really worrying thing about this year's lack of a Pulitzer winner.
The fiction jury was comprised of Michael Cunningham (who won a Pulitzer for The Hours in 1999), former books editor Susan Larson and critic Maureen Corrigan.
'When I heard, the first word that went through my head was "inexplicable". Then the second reaction was just anger on behalf of those three novels,' Corrigan told the New York Times.
Susan Larson told NPR that all three judges are 'shocked, angry and very disappointed'. She said, 'This was a lot of work … I think we all would have been happy if any of [the three] books had been selected'.
There was speculation that the Pulitzer board might have considered the selected titles to be too unconventional to be worthy of a Pulitzer.
The Pulitzer for fiction has been withheld ten times since its inception in 1917, and three times during the 1970s.
Australia's most prestigious literary prize, the Miles Franklin, has been withheld twice, in 1973 and 1983. There was also controversy over last year's uncharacteristically short shortlist, of just three novels (out of a longlist of nine.
'If I feel disappointment as a writer and indignation as a reader, I manage to get all the way to rage as a bookseller,' said Ann Patchett, who opened a bookshop, Parnassus Books, in Nashville last year.
She pointed out that the Pulitzer sells books like no other literary prize – and that with both the bookselling and publishing businesses increasingly under pressure, it's particularly bad timing to withhold the prize.
In the absence of a Pulitzer-picked fiction winner, many commentators are stepping in to suggest their own picks.
Ann Patchett's favourites include Edith Pearlman's Binocular Vision: New and Selected Stories, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Prize and a finalist for the National Book Award – and Dennis Johnson's Train Dreams, one of the three titles nominated by the Pulitzer fiction judges.
His top picks were Ann Patchett's State of Wonder, Bonnie Jo Campbell's Once Upon a River or Mary Doria Russell's Doc.
Jeffrey Eugenides' The Marriage Plot was seen as another worthy alternative by both Patchett and Charles.
Publisher's Weekly has published a list of 'the good books the Pulitzer didn't pick'.
What are your picks? What do you think of the decision to award no prize?


Herman Thiessen was born 29 May 1919 in Stutthof-Stoerbuderkamfe, West Prussia to Herman and Katharina (Bench) Thiessen and married to Liesbech Maekelborger on 23 Dec 1942. Herman fled from Prussia in April 1945 via the Baltic Sea to Denmark. He worked in various agricultural marketing positions. Herman and Liesbeth have three children. While in Burgdorf, Germany, Herman compiled five family histories: Martin Thiehsen und seine Nachkommen, 1937-1977 (1977); Bartholamaeus Tiessen: 350 Jahre Familientradition (1986); Familiengeschichte den Familie Bench (1989); Peter Heydebrecht und Seine Nachkommen (1990); Die Familie Mekelburger (1992).
The records were acquired by Herman Schirmacher (1967- ) who donated them to the Mennonite Library and Archives at Bethel College, North Newton, Kansas in 2001. Microfilm copies of were donated to the MHSA by Tim Janzen.
The fonds consists of Thiessen's genealogical correspondence and various materials he collected while compiling his books. In addition to the files of correspondence and notes, there are three card files with male Thiessesn, female Thiessens, and a "SuchIndex" which apparently includes all Mennonites he found who were born before 1820 or were baptized before 1840. The first folder contains some introductory and explanatory notes by Herman Thiessen. There is also some correspondence added by Herman Schirmacher, so it is not quite clear where Thiessen's materials end and how much of Schirmacher's material is included.
Description extensively extracted from the description prepared by Mennonite Library and Archives in Kansas, folder descriptions aided by Don Fehr, and images migrated with the assistance of Tim Janzen and Don Fehr.
Part of the Tim Janzen collection.


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Our Children's Chapel will be taking a break during the month of January, and will resume February 5th! Remember that children of all ages are always welcome in our worship services, and that the back row of pews is reserved for families with little ones. To find out more, please visit our Children's Ministries page!
When: Feb. 5, 2017, 10:00 a.m.
Where: Children and teachers are invited to Children's Chapel during the 10:00 a.m. service.


This work was presented to the Museum as a 'self-portrait' of Giovanni Belzoni, the Egyptologist but is not thought to be authentic.
Professor Jason Thompson considers that this is certainly not a portrait of Giovanni Belzoni, who although a good amateur artist could not not have produced a portrait of this quality. It bears no resemblance to any known portrait of Belzoni. There is some resemblance to the celebrated Egyptologist Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (1787-1875), whose portrait by Henry Wyndham Philips is at Calke Abbey, Derbyshire (National Trust).


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'Subliminal' advertising experiments
This is a report of an experiment that compares embedded imagery in real ads with modified versions of the same ads. The results were presented at the International Interdisciplinary Conference on Figuring Addictions/Rethinking Consumption. University of Lancaster, United Kingdom, 4-5th April, 2002.
As can be noted by reviewing the literature on so-called subliminal advertising. or reading one of the few accurate summaries e.g. as produced by Ji-Young Hong at the University of Texas at Austin, little attention is actually paid to the practice of advertising. Most of the commentary draws upon studies into subliminal perception and have little to say about advertising. The study reported in the Powerpoint Presentaton is an attempt to rectify this situation and place 'subliminal' advertising in an appropriate perspective.
Psychologists, Marketing and Advertising specialists have managed to bamboozle the public (and possibly themselves to some extent) by inappropriate generalisations from related fields such as subliminal perception and the extrapolation of conclusions relating to subliminal perception to the world of advertising. Further confounding the matter has been disingenuous and inappropriate use of the term subliminal. This is perhaps not surprising given the lack of evidence regarding 'subliminal' advertising.
The present study used extracts from a number of recent adverts incorporating secondary or 'subliminal' elements. Three sets of images were produced for the purposes of comparison. Set 1 comprised original imagery extracted from ads. Each extract contained an element that, in the opinion of the author and his colleague Jonathan Ling, would be considered 'subliminal' ie not part of the overall context of the ad and with a distinctly different meaning. Set 2 comprised the same images with the 'subliminal' component modified so that it no longer was 'recognisable' as a separate entity. Set 3 modified a different area of the original extract as a means of ensuring that any judgements arising from a comparisoin of Sets 1 and 2 would not simply be due to changing the image. Psychologists would call this third set a 'control condition'. The rationale of this approach is as follows. If changes in judgements were due simply to change having been made to the original extract then judgements made regarding Sets 2 and 3 should be similar. If the results were due due to removal of the embedded, 'subliminal' image rather than simply change per se, then the results for Sets 1 and 3 should be similar - these both contained the 'subliminal' image. With such a result it could thus be inferred that any differences were due to the meaning attributable to the embedded image.
It was suggested to the author that a more appropriate control condition would have been the substitution of another 'image' in place of the 'images' identified by the author and Jonathan Ling. In some respects this would be true. However, the validity of such a substitution would hinge on whether there were, in fact, images embedded in the ad extracts. As there is currently no evidence to determine that this is so, there is simply the views of the two authors. So, prior to any study making use of changes in imagery (which ought to focus on the meaning associated with the embedded content) it is necessary to first of all demonstrate that the embedded imagery does exist. This can be achieved by demonstrating that the images referred to (regardless of what they may represent) does impact on the judgement of viewers.
The results of the study supported the author's view that secondary or 'subliminal' elements existed in the ad extracts and that these secondary elements were meaningful to viewers. One of the subjects reported, when asked, that they thought the study concerned subliminal advertising. This subject had previously attended a talk by one of the authors on the subject of subliminal advertising. His results were removed from the data before analysis. Data from the remaining viewers, even though they did not consciously perceive the embedded secondary elements, indicated that they did respond to them in a manner that indicated preconscious preception.
The judgements of the viewers fell into the anticipated pattern. Results were similar for Sets 1 and 3, containing the secondary 'subliminal' imagery, and Sets 1 and 3 differed from the judgements for Set 2, in which a 'neutral' aspect of the imagery had been changed. One can therefore conclude from these results that 'subliminal' advertising can influence viewers, even although they may not consciously perceive the contents of the ad.
The authors study is not an isolated one, nor is the conclusion unique, although it is the only one that has taken secondary elements from adverts and examined them in an experimental situation. However, in the few empirical studies of simulated advertising reported in the literature, when these have shown notable results, they have been downplayed on the basis that 'they only influence judgements, not behaviour'. This type of conclusion is grossly misleading as it implies that advertising does influence behaviour in the short term. This is not true.
Most advertising is designed to keep customers aware of products. It is only over time, rather than at the point of viewing, that advertising can be proven to influence behaviour - and then on the basis of sales figures rather than experimental outcomes. The exceptions are sale announcements and special offers: these are likely to have customers beating an immediate path to their local store. Advertising thus functions pretty much the same way as 'subliminal' elements in ads and influences judgements, views and values. The impact of ads when compared with 'subliminal' thus differ only in degree of influence.
If 'subliminal' elements in ads can influence the judgements of the relatively few viewers in the authors study (and equivalent numbers in undergraduate studies), it seems likely that the long term and unethical use of 'subliminal' advertising by major companies has 'seduced' a financially worthwhile response from consumers. If one wishes to be even more critical, where such ads emanate from tobacco and alcohol companies, one can translate commercial success into ill health, preventable disease and the premature death of some consumers.
The subjects in the study only viewed a sections of ads, rather the full ads. It has often been stated that (if 'subliminal' advertising exists) the impact of 'secondary' imagery will be 'washed out' by the overwhelming impact of more salient aspects of ads. This is an issue that needs further research. However, the authors contend that, in carefully executed ads, where the 'secondary' content is relevant to the subject matter being advertised, the influence of 'secondary' images is unlikely to be 'washed out'. Additionally, one should note that adverts can and do present the same message repeatedly, sometimes for many years. This is rarely the case in the best of experimental studies, where stimuli are generally presented once only - at best, on a few occasions. Such long term exposure is likely to ensure that preconscious processing will occur on at least some occasions when consumers view an ad.
A second experiment into the nature and impact of 'subliminal' ads carried out by an undergraduate student addressed this issue and made use of full page and double page ads for Marlboro cigarettes. This study used reproductions of Marlboro ads containing 'subliminal' elements and compared these with similar quality reproductions of the same ads with the 'subliminal' element removed. The outcome showed that, despite the complexity of the whole ads, viewers still responded to the 'subliminal' element.
On the basis of such studies, it therefore seems unreasonable to accept standard pronouncements that 'subliminal' advertising is ineffective. When used appropriately but, needless to say, unethically, such ads are likely to be commercially effective. But the extent to which they influence consumers over time can only be determined by analysis of sales figures associated with different advertising campaigns ie information that is virtually always considered commercially confidential (see the Coke pages for the views of one company on this matter).
The evidence presented above - and the unwillingness of companies making use of 'subliminal' techniques to engage in dialogue over their practices - would seem to justify closer scrutiny of 'subliminal' advertising. In particular, tobacco and alcohol advertising over the past decade need to be examined. The relevant companies and their ad agencies also need to disclose whether or not their use of 'secondary' imagery was effective. Additionally, where health issues are involved, the public needs to know who such ads influence and to what extent they are influential.
Click for the Download page for a copy of the Powerpoint presentation slides reporting this experiment.
Click for thumbnails, links to full size copies of the images used in the experiment and links to commentary and illustrations of the ads from which the experimental extracts were taken.
Click to view Expert.htm for alternative sources of information and other views on the issue of whether 'subliminal' ads influence consumers.
Commentary and information about any of the ads or requests on this Web site can be sent by e-mail to the Webmaster
To the best of the author's knowledge none of the illustrations, in the format used on this site, are subject to copyright. If copyright has been inadvertently breached please contact the author in order to rectify the matter. All brands and logos referred to or illustrated on this site are the property of the relevant companies and copyright holders. However, commentary and other information produced by the author can be freely copied and distributed. Similarly, illustrations of ads, so long as they are accompanied by commentary or are presented in the form of parody, can also be copied and distributed but please acknowledge subliminalworld.com as the source. Translation of tobacco company ads and relevant commentary into languages other than English will be particularly welcomed.
Last Revised: 3rd January, 2003


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Silk dress with short sleeves.


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Home » New York » Mayoral election 2021: The leading candidates and issues at stake for Haitians
Posted inNew York
Mayoral election 2021: The leading candidates and issues at stake for Haitians
by Sam Bojarski Mar. 17, 2021 Apr. 01, 2021
By Sam Bojarski | Sam@haitiantimes.com
From top left: Andrew Yang, Kathryn Garcia, Eric Adams, Scott Stringer, Maya Wiley and Ray McGuire. Photos courtesy of candidates' social media, collage by Sam Bojarski
Over the winter months, Haiti's constitutional crisis has blanketed the airwaves on Radio Soleil, the radio station popular with the Haitian diaspora in New York City. But Ricot Dupuy, the station's manager, said that will change over the spring as the city's June 22 primary elections approach, given the importance of the mayoral race to the Haitian community.
"The policy priorities established by the mayor have a tremendous and immediate impact upon their lives, they will want to participate," Dupuy said, of Haitian-American voters. "I would want to hear what the candidates have to say about their stance on non-citizens voting in New York elections."
New York City's mayoral race features more than 20 candidates. In the weeks leading up to the June primary, The Haitian Times will publish profiles of the leading candidates, along with coverage of the issues at stake for the community. For Haitian New Yorkers, these issues include recovering from the deadly coronavirus pandemic after many of them felt a toll exacerbated by crowded living conditions and a lack of affordable housing.
This year's mayoral candidates have articulated plans to address these issues, reform law enforcement and ensure integration of the city's immigrant communities, as top priorities to address. Some have said expanding some of Mayor Bill deBlasio's initiatives, like the 2015 IDNYC program that gave all city residents access to an identification card, can help immigrants.
For the undocumented in particular, having identification can diminish their fear when dealing with police, Dupuy said. During the next administration, Dupuy said he hopes more institutions, including banks, start accepting the IDNYC card.
Compared to previous mayoral administrations, de Blasio has opened a larger share of new affordable housing to extremely low-income renters ‒ or those earning less than 30% of the area median income. That's according to The New School research university.
But it hasn't been enough to solve the city's affordable housing crisis. More than 29% of all renters and 78% of extremely low income renters spend more than half their income on housing, according to a 2020 study by The New School.
"You have not only social issues but you also have economic issues [in] our community," said Dr. Pierre Exuma, a physician and entrepreneur in Brooklyn's Mill Basin neighborhood.
"Especially here in Brooklyn, one of the most recent [isses] is housing," Exuma also said. "There is very little that is done in terms of supporting the community."
Holding Creole-language town halls, Exuma said, could help the next mayoral administration improve communication with the Haitian community, on issues ranging from affordable housing to law enforcement.
Exuma said there is much room for improvement, when it comes to the mayor's communication with the Haitian community.
"We [would] know what the community needs from us and what we need from the community," Exuma said, on the importance of strong communication. "We could find the right balance, in order to be part of the community, to be more integrated."
The leading candidates
One early public opinion poll, conducted March 4-6 by PIX11, NewsNation and Emerson College, showed former Democratic presidential contender and entrepreneur Andrew Yang in the lead as the first choice for 32% of people surveyed. Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (19%), former counsel to the mayor Maya Wiley (9%), city Comptroller Scott Stringer (6%) and former sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia (5%) trailed Yang. No other candidate received more than 5% approval.
While he wasn't a leading candidate in the PIX11 poll, former banking executive Ray McGuire, is among the leading fundraisers, raising over $5 million for his campaign thus far. McGuire also finished first in a recent poll by Crain's Business. With his business acumen, McGuire has touted himself as the candidate who can handle New York City's post-pandemic budget, also pushing for job creation and wage subsidies at small businesses.
While other candidates cannot be discounted, The Haitian Times took a look at the proposals from this year's frontrunners, in the early stages of the race:
Andrew Yang, entrepreneur
Public health and COVID recovery: One of Yang's signature proposals is to invest in New Yorkers left behind during the pandemic, with an annual basic income of $2,000 for 500,000 low-income city residents. He has also pledged, via his website, to ensure that members of New York City's hardest-hit communities have a vaccination site within walking distance.
Affordable housing: Yang has proposed turning hotels and unused office buildings into affordable apartments, by providing grants to building owners who agree to these conversions. On his website, he said City Hall can prioritize the acquisition of land via community land trusts, allowing neighborhoods to have more control over development plans.
Immigrants and integration: On his campaign website, Yang has pledged to expand and grow the New York Immigrant Family Unity Project (NYIFUP), which provides legal representation in immigration proceedings. He will also push for real-time language translation, through an NYC App, for those accessing city services.
Law enforcement: A Yang administration would name a civilian NYPD commissioner. Yang has also called for the use of technology and data to prevent and deter violent crime.
Eric Adams, Brooklyn borough president
Public health and COVID recovery: On his website, Adams has proposed raising taxes on those who make more than $5 million per year, to fund testing and vaccination programs. He has also published a plan to provide universal broadband access, allowing more New Yorkers to access telehealth services and making remote learning easier.
Affordable housing: As opposed to adding apartments in lower-income areas, Adams has advocated for building affordable housing in wealthy neighborhoods and allowing lower-income New Yorkers to move in. This would be done by eliminating the community preference rule that gives community board residents first dibs on half of all new government-subsidized units.
Immigrants and integration: Adams supports allowing all immigrants with work authorization to vote in city elections. To serve non-English speaking students, he has pledged to create a professional development program to ensure public school educators are culturally responsive.
Law enforcement: Adams has proposed expanding NYPD recruitment efforts in minority neighborhoods. He will also seek to outsource administrative and clerical tasks to less expensive civilian workers, and invest the savings in crime reduction initiatives.
Maya Wiley, attorney and activist
Public health and COVID recovery: Wiley's Universal Community Care model would divert $300 million from law enforcement, toward an annual stipend that supplements the wages of primary caregivers. She supports a universal health insurance mandate for all residents. She has also proposed a massive $10 billion capital spending program for job creation, stimulating the post-COVID economy.
Affordable housing: To expand the affordable housing stock, Wiley has suggested utilizing properties vacated during the pandemic. She supports housing development by nonprofits, including community land trusts. Her anti-eviction plan also includes $251 million in federal stimulus dollars for rent relief to small landlords, which could keep tenants in their homes.
Immigrants and integration: Wiley has proposed that all city services and information be provided in an applicant's native language. She also supports the right of all city residents to vote, regardless of immigration status.
Law enforcement: A former chair of the Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) under de Blasio, Wiley supports diverting money from the $6 billion police budget, into a participatory justice fund that could offer job training and gun violence prevention resources.
Scott Stringer, New York City comptroller
Public health and COVID recovery: Stringer will push for a comprehensive vaccination program in every neighborhood, to ensure racial equity. He has also pledged to expand emergency stockpiles of heath care equipment and prioritize construction of primary care facilities in underserved neighborhoods.
Affordable housing: Stringer's "universal affordable housing" program would replace de Blasio's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) which only applies to development in rezoned areas. Stringer's plan would set aside 25% of units in most new developments for affordable housing, capping rents so those making an average of 60% of area median income (AMI) would pay less than 30% of their income on rent. Sixty percent of AMI comes out to $58,000 for a family of three.
Immigrants and integration: Stringer backs universal legal services for immigrants in the city and seeks to expand existing language-access efforts at city agencies. He also supports allowing all city residents, regardless of status, to vote.
Law enforcement: Expanding the CCRB and eliminating police commissioner review of complaints is a key part of Stringer's law enforcement plans. He has also called for a stronger auditing of NYPD data and surveillance, as well as barring officers guilty of major offenses from serving in the police force.
Kathryn Garcia, former New York City sanitation commissioner
Public health and COVID recovery: To vaccinate New Yorkers, Garcia has proposed opening vaccine sites at every Department of Education building. Activating these plans would depend on how well the rollout goes throughout the rest of 2021. Drawing on her experience as de Blasio's emergency food czar last year, Garcia has also proposed developing the infrastructure to provide nutritious meals in underserved neighborhoods.
Affordable housing: Investing in the creation of 50,000 "deeply affordable" units, available to those making less than 50% AMI, is a key piece of Garcia's platform. She has also stressed comprehensive rezoning for affordable housing, focusing on neighborhoods with a multitude of transit and job options.
Immigrants and integration: Garcia has voiced support for making New York a sanctuary city, shielding immigrants from federal immigration enforcement. She has also stressed the need for more investment in English-language programs for bilingual students.
Law enforcement: Garcia's police reform plans involve revamping training to focus on conflict mediation and implicit bias education. She also supports using mental health and domestic violence professionals to help officers respond to certain 9-1-1 calls.
Tagged: haitian voters, mayoral election, new york city
Sam Bojarski
sambojarski11@gmail.com
Sam is a reporter for The Haitian Times and a 2020 Report for America corps member. He has covered Haiti and its diaspora since 2018. His work has also appeared in USA Today, the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Haiti Liberte. Sam can be reached at sam@haitiantimes.com or on Twitter @sambojarski.
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