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Alleged victim of George Santos fraud: 'Being deceived is a terrible feeling'

January 5, 2023 Published by The Hill

A former shop clerk from Brazil who was allegedly defrauded by Rep.-elect George Santos (R-N.Y.) commiserated with those who voted for the incoming congressman in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, calling Santos a “professional liar.”

“I was very frustrated,” Bruno Simões told CNN of his encounter with Santos nearly 15 years ago. “Being deceived is a terrible feeling.”

Santos allegedly visited the store where Simões worked in 2008 and paid for more than $1,300 in merchandise with two stolen checks, according to CNN.

When the checks were revealed to be fraudulent, Simões said the store’s owner demanded that he repay the full amount, although his boss would eventually waive some of it.

“Unlike being mugged by someone with a gun who robs you, you might get angry, but being deceived, being fooled, someone acting in bad faith to steal from you, to me, it’s an even worse feeling,” Simões said.

Santos confessed to using the forged checks in a social media message to Simões in 2009 and in a statement to Brazilian police in 2010, according to CNN. Despite acknowledging that he “screwed up,” Santos never repaid him, Simões said.

The investigation into the incident has remained on hold for more than decade, as police were previously unable to locate Santos. However, Brazilian authorities recently said they had reopened the case, as Santos’s location became known amid scrutiny over his background.

After a report from The New York Times raised questions about his resume, Santos admitted last week to lying about his educational and professional background. Despite his previous claims, Santos never attended Baruch College and did not work for Goldman Sachs or Citigroup.

Santos has also come under fire for claiming to be a “proud American Jew” after he clarified that he identifies religiously as Catholic.

The incoming congressman from Long Island is currently also facing investigations from the district attorney for Nassau County and the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York.

Simões told CNN that it was a “mix of shock and a comical scene” to realize that Santos had been elected to the U.S. Congress.

“I saw his photo and I remembered very clearly the photos I had seen of him when he was 19 years old. I said, ‘How is it possible for a criminal, an embezzler, to be elected as a congressman?’ To me that was unbelievable,” he said.

The former shop clerk added that it appears as though Santos “hasn’t learned and is still investing in this career of fraud, faking information and lying.”

“Some people make mistakes and regret them, and others seem to never regret and end up living their whole lives as a fraud,” Simões said. “I believe that is the case with George.”

However, Santos has recently denied any wrongdoing in the Brazilian case.

“I am not a criminal here — not here or in Brazil or any jurisdiction in the world,” he told the New York Post in an interview last week. “Absolutely not. That didn’t happen.”

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Former lawmaker Justin Amash mocked for suggesting he should be speaker: ‘We’ve seen it all folks’

January 5, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Former congressman Justin Amash faced mockery on Twitter Wednesday for suggesting that he should be voted House speaker as a compromise amid Rep-elect Kevin McCarthy’s, R-Calif., struggles to secure the leadership position.

“Former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) is standing just outside the Speaker’s Lobby telling reporters that he’s willing and interested in serving as a compromise Speaker,” Alex Bolton, a staff writer for The Hill, reported.

Amash, who was first elected in 2010, was at the Capitol as the House still debated and voted on who should be speaker. Republicans control a slim five-seat majority in the lower chamber, which has left McCarthy struggling to get the 218 votes needed to become speaker. After six failed votes, McCarthy and his allies are negotiating with the 20 Republican holdouts.

However, there is discussion about the possibility of moderate Republicans joining Democrats to nominate and vote for a moderate Republican as speaker. Amash, the former Republican turned Independent turned Libertarian, threw his name out as a possibility.

CONSERVATIVE HEAVYWEIGHTS CALL FOR NEW HOUSE GOP LEADERSHIP AFTER MCCARTHY FAILED TO CLINCH HOUSE SPEAKER

Sarah Ferris, a congressional reporter for Politico, tweeted “Ok now we’ve seen it all folks Former Justin Amash is here outside House chamber pitching a different kind of speaker candidate: himself ‘I’m here in case they want that as a possibility.'”

“To that end, I am on standby if Bill Gates needs someone to inherit his wealth,” conservative author Eddie Scarry replied.

“Amash is the definition of a jabroni,” Greg Price, a political strategist, tweeted.

“Me pitching myself as the next boyfriend for Ana de Armas,” podcast producer Isaac Lee joked.

Former Obama senior advisor David Pfeiffer shared a gif with the text “What about me?”

BYRON RENOLDS ADDRESSES HOUSE SPEAKER NOMINATION: REPUBLICAN VOTERS ARE ‘NOT HAPPY’ WITH PARTY LEADERSHIP

However, Amash did receive some praise from fellow Libertarians,

Bekah Congdon, managing editor of Cato Institute, tweeted “With our country facing so many challenges, we need a #Speakerofthehouse who can heal divisions. @JustinAmash is the perfect candidate for this role. He is a thoughtful, even-handed leader who is respected across party lines for his integrity and dedication to principle.”

Ryan Graham, political director of the Libertarian Party of Georgia, tweeted “Justin Amash for Speaker of the House!”

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Amash left the Republican Party during the Trump administration and voted to impeach Trump during the first impeachment trial.

McCarthy lost his sixth vote for House speaker Wednesday evening. A group of conservative populist Republicans including Rep. Matt Gaetz, Fla., and Rep. Lauren Boebert, Colo., among others have said they will not support McCarthy.

Ronna McDaniel’s challenger for RNC chair says after unsuccessful leaders ‘typically move on’

January 5, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Ronna McDaniel has served three terms as chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, but a rising conservative figure believes it’s time for new leadership.

Harmeet Dhillon, a civil rights attorney and national committeewoman for the RNC, is challenging McDaniel after a string of GOP losses in the 2020 presidential election and 2022 midterm elections.

“I think we really need to focus on our party where we’re all working in the party together. This is not personal. I have no personal issue with Ronna,” Dhillon tells Fox Digital.

McDaniel would become the one of the longest serving RNC chairs in over 100 years if she were elected to a fourth term. Since her announcement, roughly 73% of GOP voters want the RNC to move on from McDaniel, according to a December poll by the Convention of States Action.

RNC CHAIR RONNA MCDANIEL SAYS HER SUPPORT IS ‘PRETTY SOLID’ AS SHE FACES CHALLENGERS IN RE-ELECTION BID

After losing the White House and missing what some Republicans predicted would be a “red wave” in the midterms, a chorus of conservative voters are asking what went wrong within the RNC.

“We don’t have the White House now, we don’t have the presidency. So, you know, we are effectively the leaders of the party,” said Dhillon. “If we’re not clearly articulating what our message is, why voters should vote for us, then we are losing. And in fact, we are always playing catch up with the Democrats.”

RNC NAMES MILWAUKEE AS 2024 GOP CONVENTION HOST CITY

The RNC raised over $327 million and spent about $391 million in the 2021-2022 election cycle.

Despite calls for changes in leadership at the RNC, McDaniel says she has instituted several changes that has enhanced the party’s outreach.

“I think I have provided a lot of change under my leadership,” McDaniel told Fox Business’ Stuart Varney in December. “I’m always open to new ideas and ways to move forward.”

Republicans spent nearly twice as much money as Democrats on fundraising efforts during the 2022 midterm elections, according to Open Secrets. But Democrats outspent the GOP by more than $100 million in media while Republicans spent $93.4 million on campaign strategy and communications consulting.

“We pay hundreds of thousands of dollars this year to messaging consultants who are not providing good messaging,” said Dhillon. “We have our small dollar donor program, which I think is sometimes…quite abusive to our donors. They’re kind of harassing messages. I think we need to really change our tone and welcome people back into the party.”

Critics of McDaniel argue November’s midterm losses and the current fight over who will lead the RNC reveal deeper issues about the ambitions of the party’s leadership.

“I trust most of the members of the RNC to vote not in their self-interest, but rather in the interest of the party,” said Dhillon. “Ronna has a large staff at the RNC that she’s using in this campaign. I think that’s somewhat questionable, but she is doing that.”

The candidacy of Dhillon and McDaniel is problematic for former President Trump. Dhillon played a key role in the former president’s legal feuds with the January 6th committee. But Trump hand-picked McDaniel to be his RNC chair in 2017. Trump says that he likes both candidates and is declining to endorse either.

“I don’t think anybody can doubt my integrity,” said Dhillon, about whether her relationship with the former president would impact her decisions as RNC chair — which has bylaws that require an even playing field in the 2024 presidential primary.

Dhillon denies that she is leaning on her relationship with Trump trying to win the chair. She says she plans to better deliver the party’s message on social issues like abortion and not rely heavily on consultants while boosting small dollar donations.

While McDaniel has sought to claim success in broadening the party’s appeal to minority voters, Dhillon says the RNC chairwoman must bare responsibility for Republicans’ failure to win the Senate and have an even larger House Majority.

“Life is unfair in many ways. However, when you have successive losses, be it and a sports team or being in a corporation or being as a leader of the party too, people typically move on.”

European Union agrees on response to China's Covid wave — but it's not mandatory

January 5, 2023 Published by Politico

European diplomats have agreed a raft of travel-related measures including facemasks, pre-flight testing and wastewater surveillance in response to the COVID wave currently engulfing China — raising the prospect of retaliatory action from Beijing.

However, none of the agreed measures are mandatory, leaving it to individual countries to decide whether to implement them.

At a crisis meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, national diplomats agreed on a “coordinated precautionary approach” in light of the surging COVID wave in China the Swedish presidency said in a statement.

The diplomats agreed that EU countries would recommend all passengers on flights to and from China wear high-grade face masks, and would issue advice to travelers on hygiene and health measures.

However, the wording of the remaining actions leaves countries with a fair bit of wiggle room. They are “strongly encouraged” to introduce requirements for negative pre-departure tests 48 hours before leaving China, as well as “encouraged” to randomly test passengers arriving from China and sequence positive results.

Countries are also “encouraged” to test and sequence wastewater samples from airports and aircraft from China, and to promote vaccine-sharing and immunization campaigns.

The measures, if implemented, risk retaliation from China, which warned this week that any restrictions on travelers from China were “unacceptable,” and would risk “countermeasures.” That’s despite even stricter travel restrictions for arrivals to China since the start of the pandemic, which ease somewhat on January 8.

While there is a lack of scientific consensus on whether such measures will reduce the risk of another variant landing in Europe, there has been pressure to introduce them nonetheless.

“Lots of countries actually want a restrictive approach a lot, but scientific evidence is not too supportive of this,” one diplomat told POLITICO.

Peter Piot, special adviser to the Commission, and former head of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, said he was “happy” that member states now agree that “person-oriented restrictions” should be taken for travelers with COVID coming from China, and “certainly not a full travel ban.” “Not acting now, and in the absence of reliable information from China, would be hard to understand considering the principle of precaution,” Piot said.

The integrated political crisis response (IPCR) meeting brought together national diplomats who work in the fields of health and border controls to nail down these measures after health ministers drafted proposals during two previous meetings over the last week.

The coordinated approach comes after several EU countries including Italy, Spain and France introduced unilateral travel measures. The U.K. also requires pre-departure tests specifically due to the lack of reliable data from China, it said. The U.S., Japan and India have all implemented similar measures while Morocco has banned Chinese arrivals entirely.

EU countries agreed to reassess the situation and review these measures by mid-January.

Stuart Lau contributed reporting.

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California Republicans fear McCarthy’s loss would be theirs as well

January 5, 2023 Published by Jeremy B. White and Lara Korte

Politics, Policy, Political News Top Stories

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rep. Kevin McCarthy might be on the brink of losing the speaker’s gavel. California Republicans could be losing even more.

For many GOP lawmakers in California, McCarthy is not only a friend and former colleague. He’s a source of campaign cash and proof that their party could still be relevant — at least outside the state. Now, that seems to be slipping away along with his grip on the speakership.

Those who have known him since his earliest days in California politics praise him as a savvy operator who built coalitions and secured victories despite strong Democratic opposition. His Republican allies back home were looking forward to what he would do for the country, and for them, as Speaker of the House. That is now in peril, after six failed votes.

“He has been the most important Republican in California for the past decade,” said Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant who worked under former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger when McCarthy was in the state Legislature.

“It’s not healthy for the [California Republican Party] if he were to lose this.”

McCarthy wielded outsize power and influence as the presumed future speaker. That goes away if he can’t muster the votes — though he’d still likely retain his seat in his Republican-favorable district and have access to GOP voters and donors.

After decades of work in the political trenches, McCarthy has become synonymous with the California Republican Party. While the state GOP has diminished since the days when it produced luminaries like Ronald Reagan, McCarthy has helped sustain it. His hometown of Bakersfield sits in the conservative heartland of the Central Valley, an area of farms and oil derricks that bears little resemblance to liberal coastal enclaves like San Francisco and Los Angeles.

McCarthy rose from a role with the Young Republicans in the 1990s to a job with then-Rep. Bill Thomas and then a seat in the state Assembly, where he would lead the Republican caucus — and establish a reputation as a relationship-builder willing to work with Democrats — before departing for Congress.

“This has been his life since high school, really,” said former Rep. Connie Conway, who recalled then-Assemblymember McCarthy encouraging her to run for the state Assembly, where she would also come to serve as minority leader.

McCarthy proved himself to be a constant advocate for the party and someone who could do the nuts-and-bolts work of campaigning, said Assemblymember James Gallagher, who worked under McCarthy as a fellow in the early 2000s and now leads the Republican caucus in Sacramento.

McCarthy has been key to Republican wins in both Congress and the Legislature, he said.

“He’s already been very helpful to us. Obviously as the speaker, that would bring a lot of weight,” Gallagher said. “A lot of us are kind of disappointed out here to see a handful of people are just not getting together and being united and supporting the guy who has been in the fight with us.”

The would-be speaker’s ascent has also divided him from some conservative former allies who believe he has put ambition — and fealty to Trump — over principle. Thomas, the former Republican Congress member and onetime mentor, denounced his former aide in 2021 for enabling Trump’s “lies” about the election.

As his national profile rose — thanks in part to his unswerving loyalty to Trump — McCarthy became indispensable to his home state’s beleaguered party. He worked to recruit candidates and woo California-based donors whose dollars buoyed Republican prospects both around the country and in California.

“He has carried the party in California, not just from a fundraising base but from a grassroots organization,” said former Rep. Jeff Denham, who served with McCarthy in the Assembly and Congress. “He’s been someone who’s been very involved with the California Republican Party and helping to recruit candidates at all levels.”

Fittingly, a McCarthy protégé now helms the California Republican Party. With McCarthy’s support, party Chair Jessica Millan Patterson beat back further-right challengers in 2019 to secure the position.

After a disastrous 2018 cycle, the party flipped its first seat in a generation with Rep. Mike Garcia and, last fall, defended its frontline members. Those Republicans, who voted in lockstep to elevate McCarthy as speaker, benefited from McCarthy’s prolific fundraising machine.

“McCarthy’s extremely important to the California Republican Party and to anyone running for office in California as a Republican. He’s the leader of the party, he’s the most proficient fundraiser we’ve ever had,” said Republican consultant Dave Gilliard, who has run several California Republican House races. “I think that’s why the California delegation has been so united in support of him.”

Republicans and Democrats who worked with McCarthy in Sacramento remember him as more of a pragmatist than an ideologue. That’s why some are not surprised to see him hemmed in by more intransigent elements of his party.

“The Kevin I know has always been the moderate,” said Democratic former Assemblymember Dean Florez, who served in the Assembly with McCarthy in the mid-2000’s representing a different swathe of the Central Valley. Of the Republicans opposing him, Florez said, “I don’t think they’d even let Tom McClintock into the freedom caucus, he’s too liberal — and he was the party of ‘no’ when we were here” in Sacramento.

The “Bakersfield boy,” as Schwarzengger once called him, has tried to adapt to changes in his party as new-era Republicans throw high hurdles in his path, said Stutzman, the consultant who worked under Schwarzengger.

“They just want to see the world burn,” he said.

For now, California Republicans are watching the standoff in Washington unfold with a mixture of incredulity and frustration — and hoping their fellow Californian prevails.

“I’m very troubled by what appears to be an active preference of a minority of elected officials that believe throwing bombs is their key to success,” said former Republican State Sen. Roger Niello, who served in the Assembly with McCarthy. “ Kevin McCarthy is not a bomb-thrower.”

Hannity and Boebert spar over House speaker chaos: Shouldn’t ‘you pack it in?’

January 5, 2023 Published by

Latest & Breaking News on Fox News

Fox News host Sean Hannity sparred Wednesday with House Freedom Caucus member Lauren Boebert, one of the approximately 20 members of Congress who do not support Rep-elect. Kevin McCarthy’s, R-Calif., bid to become the next Speaker of the House.

Boebert, R-Colo, expressed distrust that McCarthy would follow through on some of the pledges he has made in recent times, while Hannity repeatedly pressed the congresswoman to explicitly name a lawmaker she would support instead of the Californian.

Hannity keyed into Boebert’s earlier comments invoking former President Donald Trump, who signaled fervent support for McCarthy.

“Even having my favorite president call us and tell us we need to knock this off, I think it actually needs to be reversed,” Boebert said as she nominated Rep.-elect Byron Donalds, R-Fla., ahead of the fifth round of voting. “The president needs to tell Kevin McCarthy that sir, you do not have the votes, and it’s time to withdraw.”

HOUSE SPEAKER VOTE DERBY THE ‘ANTI-GROUNDHOG DAY’: CRITICS

In response, Hannity asked Boebert why she and her 19 other no-McCarthy colleagues should withdraw their objection instead, given the erstwhile Minority Leader enjoys the support of ten times as many members in the latest tally.

“Let me turn the tables, Congresswoman. Kevin McCarthy has 202-203 votes. Your side has 20. So if I’m going to use your words and your methodology and your math, isn’t it time for you to pack it in and your side to pack it in – considering he has over 200 and you have 20?” the host asked.

Boebert replied she understands the frustration at the standoff, to which Hannity said he isn’t frustrated but wanted a direct answer.

The lawmaker claimed McCarthy didn’t want to listen to concerns from her and other lawmakers until the 2022 elections awarded Republicans a much narrower majority than he originally envisioned.

CHIP ROY DEFENDS ‘NO’-VOTE ON MCCARTHY AMID HOUSE SPEAKER CHAOS

“We all want a unified party. But this isn’t chaos. It’s a functioning constitutional republic when everything is said and done House Republicans will be stronger and more prepared to lead than ever before,” she said.

Hannity pressed again, questioning how the 20-strong conservative group will unify around a non-McCarthy candidate if they have not been consistent with who they have nominated. He pointed out how on Tuesday, the group nominated Rep.-elect Jim Jordan, unsolicited, then moved on to Donalds on Wednesday.

“Tomorrow, I don’t know who you’re going to vote for, but the bottom line is you still only have 20 votes… You’re proving that 20 people don’t want Kevin McCarthy at this time.”

When asked if Boebert supports McCarthy’s Commitment to America campaign, which included tenets of border security, energy independence, and debt reduction – in addition to separate support for investigating alleged Biden family influence peddling and the behavior of former NIAID Director Anthony Fauci, the lawmaker said she does.

MCCARTHY NOT BACKING DOWN FROM SPEAKER BID AFTER HEATED MEETING WITH GOP: ‘I’M NOT GOING ANYWHERE’

“Of course I do. But I do not trust Kevin McCarthy at this point to deliver on those promises,” she said.

“Especially when I go into good faith negotiations with him. And then he comes out and lies about what those conversations were saying that members.”

Hannity underlined that such a statement was a characterization, and that McCarthy was not present to defend against the assertion.

The host again asked who Boebert’s group plans to nominate Thursday when the House reconvenes, to which the lawmaker proffered she may want to nominate Trump – as the Speaker does not have to be a sitting lawmaker.

Hannity replied the atmosphere around the changing non-McCarthy nominations has the air of a game show.

“[McCarthy has] 203 people and you have 20. I respect the 20 of you. But I’m asking you based on your own words… Who do you want? Who will you only support to be speaker? It’s not that hard.”

“I’m willing to have conversations with the Republican Conference to come up with a consensus candidate,” Boebert replied.

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Earlier Wednesday, Donalds was nominated in successive votes, at one point by House Freedom Caucus Chairman Scott Perry, who gave an impassioned speech in support of a non-McCarthy alternative.

Democrats unanimously nominated Rep.-elect Hakeem Jeffries of New York, who is likely to serve as House Minority Leader.

Two Democrats – Reps.-elect Marcy Kaptur of Ohio and Ro Khanna of California – had separately stated they could in one scenario support certain Republicans to break the logjam.

EXPLAINER: What to expect on Day 2 of House speaker election

January 5, 2023 Published by The Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — What was expected to be a day of triumph for House Republicans coming into the majority turned into chaos Tuesday as interparty fighting over who should lead them in their new reign ended with no speaker in the rostrum.

Republicans failed to elect a speaker after Kevin McCarthy could not overcome opposition from the right flank of his party following an hourslong series of votes on the first day of the new Congress.

The opposition from 20 lawmakers, including some of the chamber’s most conservative members, to McCarthy’s speakership handicapped the House’s ability to start its work and delayed the ceremonial swearing-in of hundreds of returning members and freshmen.

GOP lawmakers on Wednesday will try once again to elect a speaker despite uncertainty over how McCarthy could rebound after becoming the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel with his party in the majority.

What to know as the House heads into the second day of the speaker election:

___

WHY IS THERE NO SPEAKER?

Needing 218 votes in the full House, McCarthy received just 203 in the first two rounds of voting on the first day — less even than Democrat Hakeem Jeffries in the GOP-controlled chamber — and fared even worse with 202 in round three.

A growing chorus of detractors warned for months that the California Republican did not have the votes to win the constitutionally mandated office, which would make him second in line to the presidency. In response, McCarthy negotiated endlessly with members, including Reps. Andy Biggs, Scott Perry and Matt Gaetz, to win their support.

The negotiations went up until Monday night when members of the ultra-conservative Freedom Caucus presented McCarthy with their final offer, which included demands for certain committee assignments in exchange for their votes.

McCarthy refused to oblige, saying he had gone far enough to appease the lawmakers.

“For the last two months, we worked together as a whole conference to develop rules that empower all members, but we’re not empowering certain members over others,” McCarthy told reporters early Tuesday.

As a result, those members and more than a dozen others openly opposed him on the floor.

___

WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR THE CHAMBER?

Without a speaker, the House cannot fully form since that person effectively serves as the chamber’s presiding officer and the institution’s administrative head.

Swearing in members, naming committee chairs, engaging in floor proceedings and launching oversight investigations will all be delayed until a speaker is elected and sworn into office.

“The spotlight needs to be put on these 19 — now 20 — that are stopping the business of Congress that we got elected to do,” Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said. “It’s on them.”

___

HOW WILL IT GET RESOLVED?

It remains unclear if and when McCarthy passes the threshold to become the next speaker of the House. The current number of Republicans who have pledged support to other candidates is at 20, with some suspecting that list will grow.

The House is scheduled to begin another round of voting for speaker at noon on Wednesday. Once the House is in a quorum — meaning the minimum number of members are present to proceed — the speaker nominee from each party will be read aloud by the respective leaders before a roll-call vote to elect a new speaker.

On Tuesday, Republicans opposing McCarthy nominated a slew of other candidates, including Biggs, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio and even former Rep. Lee Zeldin of New York.

“I rise to nominate the most talented, hardest-working member of the Republican conference, who just gave a speech with more vision that we have ever heard from the alternative,” Gaetz said Tuesday while nominating Jordan.

To be sure, none of them reached a majority of the votes, but it was enough to detract support from McCarthy, who in a 222-213 majority can’t afford to lose more than a handful of votes.

The candidate to become speaker needs a majority of the votes from House members who are present and voting. Every lawmaker voting “present” lowers the overall tally needed to reach a majority.

Should McCarthy come up short again on Wednesday, the clerk will repeat the roll call vote until he is able to garner a majority or a motion to adjourn is approved.

___

HAS THIS EVER HAPPENED BEFORE?

The last time the House did not elect a speaker on the first ballot was 1923 when the election stretched for nine ballots.

At the time, Republicans had won the majority despite losing a staggering 77 seats, shrinking their margin over Democrats from 171 to just 18. The majority party had named incumbent Rep. Frederick Gillett, R-Mass., to the position, but several other candidates, including a Democrat, received votes during the roll call.

This resulted in a series of ballots over three days before House Majority Leader Nicholas Longworth, R-Ohio, held an emergency meeting with those opposing. Their concern, similarly to those issued against McCarthy, was over a series of rules changes that they believed deserved a fair hearing. Longworth obliged and the next day Gillett garnered the 215 votes he needed to remain speaker.

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

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Adams rips de Blasio administration: ‘left the house in total disarray’

January 5, 2023 Published by Olafimihan Oshin

Just In | The Hill

Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams (D) accused the previous city mayor, Bill de Blasio (D), and his administration of leaving the city in “total disarray.”

During a news conference on Wednesday, Adams lashed out at the recent criticism from former De Blasio administration top aides about the way Adams is running the city, noting Adams’ handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, education, and ongoing issues at Rikers Island correctional facility, according to the New York Times.

“I am so tired of the previous administration and their antics,” Adams said at the news conference, noting the current, ongoing issues that still plague the city after De Blasio’s eight-year tenure as mayor ended.

Adams, who is in his second year in the position, succeeded De Blasio as NYC mayor after being sworn in on New Year’s Day 2022.

“But we have the previous administration that just left the house! They just left! They left the house in total disarray!” Adams said, according to the New York Post. “And then they come and say, ‘Look at the mess…that you created, Eric.’ No! It’s the mess we inherited.”

“They had eight years to do their job — eight years to fix Rikers, eight years to deal with crime, eight years to deal with education, eight years to deal with early childhood education for children with disabilities, eight years to fix [the New York City Housing Authority] NYCHA,” Adams added. “They had all that time to do their job.”

In response to Adams’ remarks, De Blasio shared that he has spoken with the current mayor about the difficulties of running the city, advising the city public to hope that Adams can succeed as mayor “and should help in any way we can.”

“I sympathize with his frustration with certain critics but want to emphasize this: no one speaks for me but me,” De Blasio wrote in a Twitter thread. “Finally, for all the members of my team who served this city with tremendous devotion, especially during the pandemic, I want to thank you. You made this city better.”

In a statement to the Times, Bill Neidhardt, who served as De Blasio’s press secretary during the mayor’s second term in office and was referred to by Adams as the “worst comms guy in the history of communication,” told the newspaper that it is fair to criticize Adams’ record on issues.

“Every New Yorker has a right to speak out when Mayor Adams slashes school budgets, raises rents and echoes right-wing talking points,” Neidhardt told the Times. “Instead of whining and attacking his constituents, the mayor should tackle the crises working people face every day in our city. Grow up.”

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College scam mastermind Rick Singer gets 42 months in prison

January 5, 2023 Published by Politico

Those sent to prison for participating in the scheme include “Full House” actor Lori Loughlin, her fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli, and “Desperate Housewives” star Felicity Huffman. Coaches from schools including Yale, Stanford, Georgetown University and the University of California, Los Angeles, admitted to accepting bribes.

“It was a scheme that was breathtaking in its scale and its audacity. It has literally become the stuff of books and made-for-TV movies,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Frank told the judge Wednesday.

The prosecutor called Singer’s cooperation in the case “unparalleled” but said it was also problematic, noting that Singer admitted to obstructing the investigation by tipping off several of his clients who were under government scrutiny.

Defense attorney Candice Fields said Singer took great personal risk by wearing a wire to record meetings and “did whatever was necessary” to assist the government in its investigation. Fields had requested three years of probation, or if the judge deemed prison time necessary, six months behind bars.

Singer apologized to his family, the schools he embarrassed in the public eye and others. He also promised to work every day of his life going forward to make a positive impact in people’s lives.

“My moral compass was warped by the lessons my father taught me about competition. I embraced his belief that embellishing or even lying to win was acceptable as long as there was victory. I should have known better,” he said.

Singer pleaded guilty in 2019 — on the same day the massive case became public — to charges including racketeering conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. Dozens of others ultimately pleaded guilty to charges, while two parents were convicted at trial.

Authorities in Boston began investigating the scheme after an executive under scrutiny for an unrelated securities fraud scheme told investigators that a Yale soccer coach had offered to help his daughter get into the school in exchange for cash. The Yale coach led authorities to Singer, whose cooperation unraveled the entire scheme.

For years, Singer paid off entrance exam administrators or proctors to inflate students’ test scores and bribed coaches to designate applicants as recruits in order to to boost their chances of getting into the school.

Coaches in such sports as soccer, sailing and tennis took bribes to pretend to recruit students as athletes, regardless of their ability. Fake sports profiles were made to make students look like stars in sports they sometimes didn’t even play. The bribes were typically funneled through Singer’s sham charity, allowing some parents to disguise the payments as charitable donations and deduct the payments from their federal income taxes.

Singer took in more than $25 million from his clients, paid bribes totaling more than $7 million, and used more than $15 million of his clients’ money for his own benefit, according to prosecutors.

“This defendant was responsible for the most massive fraud ever perpetuated on the higher education system in the United States,” prosecutor Frank told the judge Wednesday.

Before Singer, the toughest punishment had gone to former Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst, who got 2 1/2 years in prison for pocketing more than $3 million in bribes.

Punishments for the parents have ranged from probation to 15 months behind bars, although the parent who received that prison sentence remains free while he appeals his conviction.

One parent, who wasn’t accused of working with Singer, was acquitted on all counts stemming from accusations that he bribed Ernst to get his daughter into the school. And a judge ordered a new trial for former University of Southern California water polo Jovan Vavic, who was convicted of accepting bribes.

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Common fatty acid fuels psoriasis pain, but not itch

January 5, 2023 Published by Futurity (National Geo)

A common fatty acid found in the Western diet breaks down into compounds that contribute to increased temperature and pain—but not itch—sensitivity in people with psoriasis lesions, researchers report.

The finding could lead to better understanding of how lipids communicate with sensory neurons, and potentially to improved pain and sensitivity treatments for psoriasis patients.

Linoleic acid is a fatty acid found in vegetable oils, nuts, and seeds, and is one of the predominant fatty acids found in the Western diet. Metabolites from linoleic acid—the products formed when the body breaks it down through digestion—play a role in skin barrier function.

“We noticed high levels of two types of lipids derived from linoleic acid in psoriatic lesions,” says Santosh Mishra, associate professor of neuroscience at North Carolina State University and corresponding author of the research in JID Innovations.

“That led us to wonder whether the lipids might affect how sensory neurons in these lesions communicate. We decided to investigate whether their presence could be related to the temperature or pain hypersensitivity that many psoriasis patients report.”

The research team used mass spectrometry to create lipid profiles of skin from psoriatic lesions. They focused on two types of linoleic acid-derived lipids, or oxylipids: 13-hydroxy-9,10-epoxy octadecenoate (9,13-EHL) and 9,10,13-trihydroxy-octadecenoate (9,10,13-THL). The first form, 9,13-EHL, can convert into the more stable 9,10,13-THL form via interaction with certain enzymes.

The researchers found that while both forms bind to receptors on sensory neurons within the skin, the more stable form—9,10,13-THL—had a longer lasting effect than 9,13-EHL.

They also found that once the lipids bind to the neuronal receptor, they activate the neurons expressing TRPA1 and TRPV1 receptors that are involved in temperature and pain hypersensitivity, opening communications channels to the central nervous system.

Interestingly, the lipids did not have any effect on itch.

“It was surprising that these lipids could create hypersensitivity but not impact itch sensation, which is usually the most troublesome symptom associated with psoriasis,” Mishra says. “This most likely has to do with how the neuron is activated—a mechanism we still haven’t uncovered.”

Now that an association between linoleic acid and hypersensitivity to temperature and pain has been established, the researchers want to further explore exactly how this response is created. They hope that the answers may lead to solutions that can relieve these symptoms in psoriasis patients.

“We know that this lipid moves from one form to another, but don’t yet know what causes that,” Mishra says. “We also know what protein the lipids are binding to, but not where the bond occurs. Answering these questions may hopefully lead to new therapies—or dietary solutions— for some psoriasis sufferers.”

The National Institute on Aging and the National Institutes of Health supported the work.

Source: NC State

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