Day: February 11, 2021

Impeachment Blunder: Author of Tweet Introduced at Trial Says It Was Falsified, Misinterpreted

Virginia Star Staff

The author of a tweet introduced by Democrats at the Senate impeachment trial said Thursday her statement “we are bringing the Calvary” was a clear reference to a prayer vigil organized by churchgoers supporting Trump and not a call for military-like violence at the Capitol riot as portrayed by Rep. Eric Swalwell.

Jennifer Lynn Lawrence also said she believes the California Democrat and House impeachment manager falsified her tweet, adding a blue check mark to the version he introduced at the trial suggesting she was a verified Twitter user with more clout when in fact her Twitter account never had a blue check and has never been verified.

“I noticed when they put my tweet on the screen that all of a sudden my tweet had a blue checkmark next to it,” she said during an interview on the John Solomon Reports podcast. “… This way, if he entered that into congressional testimony, it’s a verified account, and it has, it could be applicable in law. Secondly, he wanted to show that my Twitter account had more gravitas than it actually did. He wanted to show that the president was trying to use me to bring in the cavalry.”

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Gubernatorial Candidate Cox Rolls Out Big Tech Accountability Plan

Eric Burk

Gubernatorial candidate Delegate Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights) announced a plan Wednesday to hold Big Tech accountable for protecting free speech. The plan expands regulation and enforcement with transparency requirements, bans on de-platforming elected officials, and $100,000-per-day fines for violating tech companies.

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Commentary: The Coming Military Purge

Virginia Star Staff

One of Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s first actions after confirmation has been to order a “60 day stand down” to combat extremism. This follows the widespread and mostly baseless establishment fantasy that “right-wing extremists” and “white supremacists” are running rampant and pose some immediate threat to the country. 

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Troops Fear SecDef Austin’s Stand-Down Will Single Out One Form of Extremism, Ignore Others

Virginia Star Staff

The pending military stand-down to address “extremism in the ranks” may bring results that go beyond what Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin expected to achieve, according to active duty service members who are scheduled to attend the mandatory sessions.

Austin on Friday ordered all uniformed and civilian leaders in the Defense Department to set aside a day soon to discuss “impermissible behaviors” related to extremism.

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Commentary: Congress vs. Normal People

Virginia Star Staff

In the 1960s, Moscow inaugurated special “ZiL Lanes” or “Chaika Lanes.” Named after the Soviet limousines reserved for high government officials (the ZiL was a copy of the ’63 Lincoln, the Chaika a copy of the ’56 Packard) these were roads that, like the limousines, were reserved for high government officials. ZiL Lanes allowed the Nomenklatura to whiz from the Kremlin to their country dachas in comfort, while their inferior comrades were stuck in jams on the Kutuzovsky Prospect. The Soviets built several ZiL Lanes, and the one along the Kutuzovsky Prospect is still in use today serving Putin’s pals. 

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House Oversight Chairwoman Demands Information About Financing of Parler

Virginia Star Staff

Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.), the chairwoman of the House Oversight Committee, is demanding information from the alternative social media company Parler with regards to its finances, as reported by The Hill.

Maloney sent a letter to the tech company baselessly accusing Parler of having a role in the organization of the mostly peaceful protests that took place at the United States Capitol on January 6th. In the letter, she claims that “numerous Parler users have been arrested and charged for their roles, with the Department of Justice citing in several instances the threats that individuals made through Parler.”

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Pentagon Estimates D.C. Security Costs at Nearly $1 Billion by March 15

Virginia Star Staff

The Defense Department estimates the National Guard deployment at the Capitol through March 15 will cost nearly $483 million, in addition to $500 million it has already spent, Fox News reported Monday.

Approximately 26,000 National Guard troops from across the country were sent to Washington D.C. after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The number has gradually reduced, however there are still more than 7,000 troops guarding the Capitol building with plans to gradually decrease its presence through the end of March, to fewer than 3,000 troops, according to Fox News.

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Safety Concerns Make a Third of Americans Hesitant to Receive the Coronavirus Vaccine, Poll Shows

Virginia Star Staff

Approximately a third of Americans say that they are unlikely to receive the coronavirus vaccine due to perceived safety concerns, according to an Associated Press poll released Wednesday.

While 67% of Americans said that they either planned to receive the vaccine or had already done so, 17% said that they were unlikely to receive it and 15% said that they were definitely not going to receive it, the poll showed. Among those who expressed vaccine hesitancy, the majority cited concerns over possible side effects and doubts over whether it was really safe, and nearly 40% said that they did not believe that they needed a vaccine.

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Fourteen Republican Attorneys General Reviewing Legal Options over Biden Keystone Pipeline Action

Virginia Star Staff

Fourteen Republican state attorneys general wrote a letter to the White House, informing the president they were reviewing all legal options over his decision to nix the Keystone XL Pipeline permit.

The officials told President Joe Biden they were writing to him “with alarm” and urged him to reconsider his Keystone XL Pipeline executive order in the letter sent Tuesday.

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Michigan Woman Who Gave Viral Testimony During Voter Fraud Hearing Running for State Office

Virginia Star Staff

Melissa Carone, the Michigan woman whose testimony during an election fraud hearing went viral, plans to run for a seat in Michigan’s House of Representatives.

Carone claims about widespread voter fraud were spoofed by Saturday Night Live, and after her testimony, she clarified that she was not drunk while speaking. She filed to run in Michigan’s 46th House district in the outskirts of metro Detroit.

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Cotton, Rubio Blast Biden over Decision on China’s Confucius Institutes

Virginia Star Staff

Two Republican senators on Tuesday blasted President Joe Biden for withdrawing a proposed rule that would require U.S. schools to disclose their partnerships with Confucius Institutes, which some U.S. officials and lawmakers have alleged serve as front groups for the Chinese Communist Party.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, both known as China hawks, criticized Biden on Tuesday following reports that the administration had withdrawn the rule, which the Trump administration proposed to the Department of Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Dec. 31.

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Senator Chase Sues the Republican Party of Virginia

Eric Burk

Senator Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield), who is running for the GOP gubernatorial nomination, announced Tuesday that she is suing the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV). Chase has been critical of the RPV decision to hold a nominating convention since the decision was first announced in December. Now, after months of fractious debate in the RPV over that decision, Chase is suing, arguing that she is harmed by the RPV choosing a nominating method currently illegal under Executive Order 72, which bans large gatherings like an in-person convention.

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