State Lawmakers Strip Four Democrat and Two Republican Governors’ Power After Overreach During COVID-19 Pandemic

State legislatures in six states limited their governors’ emergency powers wielded during the COVID-19 pandemic, arguing executives have overextended their authority.

As of June 2021, lawmakers in 46 states have introduced legislation stripping governors of certain emergency powers, according to USA Today. Legislatures justified their actions as necessary to restore a balance between the branches of state government, pointing to examples of executive overreach and the centralization of power in the hands of governors.

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Georgia Ballots Rejected by Machines Were Later Altered by Election Workers to Count

A day after the November election, as Donald Trump and other Republican candidates clung to evaporating leads in Georgia, vote counters in Atlanta were confronted by a paper ballot known only by its anonymizing number 5150-232-18.

A Dominion Voting machine had rejected the ballot on election night because the voter had filled in boxes for both Trump and his Democratic opponent Joe Biden, an error known as an “overvote.” The machine determined neither candidate should get a tally, and the ballot was referred for human review.

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See Disputed Georgia Ballots Where Election Workers Decided a Vote Was for Biden, not Trump

As part of a review of hundreds of pages of election documents from Georgia’s Fulton County, Just the News reviewed dozens of disputed ballots in which election workers known as “adjudicators” determined that a voter intended to vote for Democratic candidate Joe Biden instead of Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

Just the News’s review of the Fulton documents revealed a system rife with subjective judgment of thousands of ballots on the part of a small number of election workers, all of it governed by a confusing patchwork of state laws that simultaneously seemed to sanction and proscribe the practice of ballot adjudication.

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Rhode Island Teachers Unions Sue Mom to Stop Release of Critical Race Theory Lessons

The Rhode Island mother who turned to public records law to learn what the school district was teaching her daughter is now a defendant in a lawsuit by the state and local teachers union.

The Rhode Island and South Kingstown chapters of the National Education Association sued Nicole Solas and the school district this week to stop the latter from releasing records sought by Solas, including curriculum and policies related to critical race theory, antiracism, gender theory and children’s sexuality.

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The Congressional Budget Office Says the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill Will Increase Deficits by $256 Billion over 10 Years

The Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday that the bipartisan Senate infrastructure bill will add $256 billion to the deficit over the next decade, undercutting its backers’ claims the spending had been offset.

In FY2020, the deficit hit a record $3.1 trillion. So far in FY2021, the deficit is $2.2 trillion. The national debt is climbing to $29 trillion for the first time in U.S. history.

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Republicans Sound Alarm on Biden Border Policy as COVID Spreads

As the number of illegal immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border reaches a 20-year high and COVID-19 cases consequently spike, Republican lawmakers are blasting the Biden administration for the converging security and public health crises.

July saw the highest number of illegal immigrants crossing the border in over 20 years, with a total of 210,000. Simultaneously, fewer MS-13 gang members have been caught crossing the border this year than in each of the previous three years, and COVID-positive migrants are flooding the Texas border town of McAllen.

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DOJ Legal Threats Against State Election Audits Suggest Unease about Potential Findings

The U.S. Department of Justice’s recent guidance on the process of state election audits indicates that the federal agency is apparently deeply unsettled by the string of election audits and election reform efforts carried out by state Republicans since last November’s presidential election.

The guidance, distributed last week and directed in part toward state legislatures, instructs investigators on “how states must comply with federal law” when conducting election audits. It also addresses efforts by some state legislatures to repeal emergency COVID-19 voting rules that other states have in some cases sought to make permanent.

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Twitter Suspends Accounts Documenting Arizona Audit

Twitter permanently suspended several accounts dedicated to documenting the Arizona audit. The social media giant also permanently suspended other similar or affiliated accounts covering the audit or calls for an audit in Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Georgia, and Pennsylvania.

The suspended accounts were: @arizonaaudit, @AuditWarRoom, @AuditMichigan, @AuditWisconsin, @AuditNevada, @AuditGeorgia, @Audit_Arizona and @Audit_PA. The latter 7 accounts are associated with an Instagram account, @auditwarroom, that hasn’t been suspended from the Facebook-owned platform. That account notified the public that it joined GETTR, a social media platform created by former President Donald Trump’s aide Jason Miller.

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Wisconsin Officials Pledge to Conduct Forensic Audit of 2020 Election

Janel Brandtjen

Wisconsin State Representative Janel Brandtjen (R-Menomonee Falls) pledged to conduct a full forensic audit of ballots cast in the state’s November 2020 election.

“I’ve traveled around our state as Chair of the Campaigns and Elections committee, voters have made it clear that they want a thorough, cyber-forensic examination of tabulators, ballot marking devices and other election equipment, which I will be helping facilitate on behalf of the committee as the chair,” Brandtjen, who serves as the head of the Wisconsin Assembly elections committee, said in a statement.

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Attendees Lining Up the Night Before ‘Protect Our Elections’ Rally with Former President Trump Hosted by Turning Point Action

PHOENIX, Arizona – Dozens of good-spirited attendees were already lining up Friday evening outside the Arizona Federal Theatre in anticipation of the “Protect Our Elections” rally Saturday with former President Donald Trump hosted by Turning Point Action.

Most were planning to spend the night, despite the weather forecast that includes thunderstorms during the overnight after a day that started that way and continued with rain showers throughout most of the day.

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Jeff Bezos Gifts $200 Million to Liberal Activists Van Jones and José Andrés

After completing a 10 minute flight to the edge of space, Jeff Bezos announced on Tuesday that he is gifting $100 million each to Van Jones and José Andrés.

According to Bezos, the new philanthropic endeavor, The Courage and Civility Award, awarded to the two “recognizes leaders who aim high, and who pursue solutions with courage, and who always do so with civility.”

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Texas House Democrats Flee State on Private Jets

Sixty-seven Texas House Democrats fled Austin Monday for Washington, D.C. on private planes in a political maneuver that Gov. Greg Abbott said only hurts Texans.

Shortly after 2 p.m., House Democrats confirmed in a statement they were not returning to the state Capitol to complete an ongoing special session, which began July 8 and lasts for 30 days.

By leaving Texas, House Democrats avoided being arrested by a “Call of the House,” which Speaker of the House Dade Phelan could have initiated had the members left Tuesday, when the chamber is scheduled to be back in session. Because the legislature was out of session on Monday, Democrats had time to leave after having met over the weekend.

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Cuba Erupts in Anti-Communist Protest; Biden Official Suggests ‘Rising COVID Cases’ the Cause of Unrest

Massive protests broke out in Cuba on Sunday, with citizens shouting “freedom!” as they demonstrated against the corrupt and incompetent Communist regime. Cubans trapped in dire economic conditions took to the streets in over 32 Cuban cities, according to the Washington Times.

“Down with the dictatorship,” “We want liberty!” protesters reportedly chanted.

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Former President Donald Trump Headlines CPAC in Dallas

Former President Trump took the stage to a standing ovation and a rowdy crowd, while headlining the large gathering of the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in Dallas on Sunday.

In his speech that lasted approximately 90 minutes, the former commander-in-chief highlighted a variety of key areas that Republicans across the country are focused on, including the 2022 midterms, the Biden administration’s policies, and his lawsuit against Big Tech platforms.

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YouTube Deletes Video on Trump’s Big Tech Lawsuit, Blocks His CPAC Speech from the Platform

YouTube deleted the American Conservative Union’s (ACU) video featuring former President Trump announcing his class-action lawsuit against Big Tech, citing an alleged violation of its COVID-19 terms and conditions.

The ACU, which hosts the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), received “a strike” on their account from YouTube on July 9, preventing them from uploading new content for a week. This includes ACU’s CPAC 2021 Part 2 in Dallas, Texas, and Trump’s CPAC speech scheduled for Sunday, the organization said in a statement.

In the deleted YouTube video of Trump’s announcement of a lawsuit against Big Tech, which includes Google, he also cited a medical study on hydroxychloroquine as a therapeutic for COVID-19.

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Newt Gingrich Commentary: Overcoming Defeat and Denial in Afghanistan

With each passing day in Afghanistan the Taliban grows stronger, and the pro-American government forces grow weaker.  Anecdotally, you can see the momentum building in the news coverage.

The Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Long War Journal, which has been tracking war in Afghanistan for years, estimates that as of Sunday the Taliban controlled 213 districts. It reports that the government controls 70 districts, and some 115 districts are being contested. Thus, after the United States, NATO, and our Afghan allies spent 20 years fighting to create a post-Taliban country, the evidence is growing that we have lost.

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Parents Fight Critical Race Theory as Teacher’s Union Commits Over $127k to Advance It

The National Education Association (NEA), the largest labor and teachers’ union in the U.S., has voted to spread critical race theory as parents across the nation are fighting against it.

The union is preparing to commit $127,600 to advance critical race theory, according to the Epoch Times.

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Allen West to Challenge Abbott in Texas Governor’s GOP Primary Next Year

Allen West, a retired Army officer, former congressman and Texas GOP chairman, used Independence Day to launch a Republican primary challenge to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott.

West released a YouTube video and made an appearance at Sojourn Church in Carrollton, Texas, to announce his 2022 bid, saying he was focused on illegal immigration, the Democrat assault on energy resources and human trafficking.

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Commentary: It is Time to Fight for the Rights of Independent Businesses

As a very young man, I was fortunate enough to start my own company out of my apartment using a small amount of investment capital from friends and family. Over time, that business grew to have over 6,000 employees and revenues in excess of $2 billion. Over nearly a 40-year span, my team and I built what some would consider a remarkable track record, as measured by both sales and profits.

Because of my experience growing that business, I feel a special kinship with small, privately owned businesses and their owners. I also come from a middle-class background, one that shaped me into the person I am today. It is through both the lens of entrepreneur and member of the middle-class that I look through when reflecting upon this Independence Day.

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At Florida Rally, Trump Strikes Defiant Pro-America Tone as He Slams Biden Administration

Former President Donald Trump on Saturday struck a brazenly American tone at a Sarasota, Fla. rally, painting the Biden administration as radically un-American as he hailed the country’s legacy stemming from its July 4, 1776 origins.

“The mission of all of us here tonight is to preserve the legacy of July 4, 1776, and to defend our liberty from the radical left movement,” Trump told the enormous crowd at the event.

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Supreme Courts Upholds Arizona Voting Laws Aimed at Increasing Election Security

In a 6-3 vote, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld on Thursday two Arizona rules that were implemented in an attempt to increase overall election security.

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich celebrated the decision handed down by the court. “I am thankful the justices upheld states’ ability to pass and maintain commonsense election laws, at a time when our country needs it most.”

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Trump Weighs in on New York Election Debacle

Former President Donald Trump weighed in on Wednesday on the difficulty and issues facing the New York City mayor Democratic primary.

“Just like in the 2020 Presidential Election, it was announced overnight in New York City that vast irregularities and mistakes were made and that Eric Adams, despite an almost insurmountable lead, may not win the race,” Trump said in a statement while highlighting the issues plaguing the race.

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New York Mayor Race in Chaos, Thousands of Test Ballots Counted, Candidate Questions ‘Irregularities’

The election for the next mayor of New York City is in a state of confusion after the city’s board of elections released a new tally late Tuesday in the Democratic primary, then abruptly removed the tabulations citing a “discrepancy” due to counting thousands of test ballots.

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Tweet by Georgia Public Broadcasting Writer Reveals More Chain of Custody Document Discrepancies in Fulton County Absentee Ballot Transfer Forms

A tweet by Georgia Public Broadcasting (GPB) News writer Stephen Fowler on Saturday revealed more chain of custody document discrepancies in Fulton County’s absentee ballot drop box transfer forms.

The tweet included a partial image – the very top only — of two transfer forms Fowler claims were part of an open records response GPB News received on Wednesday from Fulton County election officials.

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Georgia Public Broadcasting Reports Receiving Transfer Forms from Fulton County Not Provided to The Georgia Star News

Georgia Public Broadcasting building

Georgia Public Broadcasting News, part of the taxpayer-funded network of state PBS television stations and NPR radio stations, reported Wednesday, June 16, 2021, that they received from Fulton County all but eight of the 385 missing absentee ballot drop box transfer forms The Georgia Star News has reported on.

After six months and several open records requests, 385 of the transfer forms that document the chain of custody of absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes and transferred to the county registrar during the November 3, 2020, election have still not been provided to The Star News.

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Former President Trump Praises Georgia Star News Reporter Laura Baigert

Former President Donald Trump released a statement on Thursday praising Georgia Star News journalist Laura Baigert for her investigative reporting efforts.

“Thank you and congratulations to Laura Baigert of the Georgia Star News on the incredible reporting you have done. Keep going! The scam is all unraveling fast!” President Trump said of her reporting.

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Chain-of-Custody Documents: View All the Ballot Transfer Forms from the November 2020 Election Provided by Fulton County to The Georgia Star News

On May 3, 2021, six months after the November 3, 2020 presidential election, Fulton County election officials provided The Georgia Star News with a thumb drive containing 30 files those officials said complied with an Open Records Request made by The Star News. The request made to Fulton County was one in a series of Open Records Requests made to all 159 counties in Georgia to produce all chain of custody documents, known as absentee ballot drop box transfer forms, from that election.

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Leaked Document Shows Biden Department of State Support for Black Lives Matter Movement

A leaked, official document sent to all U.S. “Diplomatic and Consular posts” encourages officials to display signs of support for the Black Lives Matter agenda. 

The document provides officials within the department “talking points” on how to handle and discuss the anniversary of the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last year.

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Judge Allows Audit of 145,000 Georgia Ballots

A ruling issued by a Georgia judge on Friday will allow officials to conduct an audit of roughly 145,000 absentee ballots cast in Fulton County in the 2020 election. 

The scope of the audit will allow for the examination of signatures on these ballots to ensure that they are legitimate. 

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Group Seeks to Share Personal Stories of Critical Race Theory

The Center for Renewing America is seeking to share stories of critical race theory (CRT) in action across the United States.

The group is working with America First Legal, a legal group created by Stephen Miller and other Trump administration officials. The two organizations share the goal of fighting CRT in various formats across the country.

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Joel Greenberg, Matt Gaetz ‘Wingman’, Pleads Guilty in Sex Trafficking Case

Matt Gaetz and Joel Greenberg

As expected, Joel Greenberg, the former elected tax collector in Seminole County (near Orlando) and friend and ally of Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz, plead guilty on Monday to federal charges. The charges included sex trafficking a minor, ID theft, stalking and fraud. Greenberg reached a deal with federal officials which cut the original 33 charges to six, but is still facing the mandatory minimum prison sentence of 12 years.  Greenberg has agreed to “cooperate fully” with federal prosecutors.

Now the focus will turn to Gaetz.

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House Republicans Vote to Remove Rep. Liz Cheney from Leadership Post

House Republicans voted Wednesday morning in favor or removing Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership post.

Cheney was the House GOP conference chairwoman, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber. The vote to remove Cheney occurred via a voice vote, according to Illinois Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger. Following the vote, Cheney told reporters she would work to make sure former President Trump is not elected again.

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John Fredericks Commentary: Analysis and Predictions for the GOP for Saturday’s Nominating Convention

American flag flying above a large crowd.

On Saturday, May 8, up to 53,000 Virginia Republicans who pre-registered as delegates will nominate candidates for state-wide offices in November, including governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general.

It’s been a long time coming.

The nominating process for Republicans, an unassembled convention with about 40 voting locations across the Commonwealth – open for voting from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM – is a convoluted and confusing affair that took months to negotiate and consummate after numerous marathon and agonizing Zoom calls by the Party’s State Central Committee.

It’s been a long time coming.  

The nominating process for Republicans, an unassembled convention with about 40 voting locations across the Commonwealth–open for voting from 9:00 AM-4:00 PM–is a convoluted and confusing affair that took months to negotiate and consummate after numerous marathon and agonizing Zoom calls by the Party’s State Central Committee. 

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Facebook Is Keeping Trump Off Its Platform

Facebook’s oversight board upheld the company’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump Wednesday morning.

“The Board found that, in maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible,” the board said in a statement.

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Bill and Melinda Gates Announce Divorce

Bill and Melinda Gates announced in a statement on Monday that they will be divorcing after more than a quarter century of marriage.

“After a great deal of thought and a lot of work on our relationship, we have made the decision to end our marriage. Over the last 27 years, we have raised three incredible children and built a foundation that works all over the world to enable all people to lead healthy, productive lives,” the former couple said in a statement. “We continue to share belief in that mission and will continue our work together at the foundation, but we no longer believe we can grow together as a couple in this next phase of our lives. We ask for space and privacy for our family as we begin to navigate this new life.”

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Columbus Police Release More Footage and 911 Calls in Shooting Death of 16-year-Old

Columbus Division of Police released body camera footage Tuesday night showing the fatal shooting of 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant that occurred earlier in the day.  Wednesday afternoon, police released additional body cam recordings and two 911 calls.

Interim Chief of Police Michael Woods said it’s uncommon for information to be provided this soon, but officials understand the public’s need, desire and expectation to have transparency about what happened.

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Officer in Minneapolis-Area Shooting Fired Fatal Shot after Mistaking Gun for Taser, Police Say

Brooklyn Center Police

Brooklyn Center Police Chief Tim Gannon described the officer involved shooting that led to the death of Daunte Wright as an “accidental discharge” during a Monday press conference.

Gannon played partial body-camera video from the Sunday incident, which shows a female officer threatening to deploy her Taser and expressing distress after shooting Wright, who was pulled over for a traffic violation around 2 p.m. Sunday.

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Zuckerberg Group Gave Detroit $7.4 Million to ‘Dramatically’ Expand Vote in City Key to Biden Win

Mark Zuckergberg

The Center for Tech and Civil Life (CTCL), a voter advocacy group funded by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, donated $7.4 million last year to Detroit to, among other things, “dramatically expand strategic voter education and outreach” in a blue city key to Joe Biden’s 2020 election win, according to memos obtained by Just the News under an open records request.

Detroit received three grants in 2020 from CTCL for $200,000, $3,512,000, and $3,724,450, according to the records released under Michigan’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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Housing Inventory Remains Sharply Down, Fueling Months-Long, White-Hot Real Estate Market

Housing inventory in the U.S. remains significantly low, driving a white-hot market in which buyers continue to resort to aggressive buying tactics such as inspection-free transfers and hugely inflated offering prices.

Data from the Federal Reserve show housing inventory began declining last summer before dropping sharply in October. From over 1,550,000 units in May of last year, the Fed says stock has dropped to just above 1,000,000.

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GOP Senator: Biden Family Deals in China Pose ‘Enormous Blackmail’ Threat for President

Hunter Biden’s dealings with Chinese nationals, including one who is now a convicted felon, pose an “enormous blackmail” threat to President Biden, a key Republican senator who investigated the matter warns.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., the former chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and current ranking member on the powerful Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, told the John Solomon Reports podcast on Friday that the case of Chinese businessman Patrick Ho chi-Ping illustrates the threat.

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New Social Media Platform Rescues Donald Trump Interview after Facebook Removes It

Trump Interview

When Facebook and Instagram threatened to impose “additional limitations” on Lara Trump for posting her interview with her father-in-law, the former president, she didn’t back down.

The Fox News contributor and former producer for Inside Edition jumped ship for an alternative platform that only left beta testing in November.

Lara Trump’s podcast “The Right View” debuted on Clouthub soon after Facebook and Instagram removed her Donald Trump interview, Clouthub CEO Jeff Brain told Just the News.

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First Battlefront Drawn in Georgia in Epic Fight over Future of American Elections

Over just a few hours Thursday, Georgia’s Legislature and Gov. Brian Kemp drew the first battle line in the high-stakes struggle to decide how American voters will cast ballots in the future after the pandemic-ridden election of 2020.

The Republican-controlled state put itself firmly in the camp of voter ID requirements, limited drop boxes and expanded weekend voting. And depending on the eye of the beholder, it was either a win for election integrity or a return to the era of Jim Crow voter suppression.

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Judge Rules Gourmeltz Can Stay Open While Case Proceeds

Gourmeltz 90’s Music Bar & Drafthouse will stay open for now, after a judge denied a request for an emergency injunction to force the restaurant to close.

Even after being contacted by the health department officials, Gourmeltz owner Matt Strickland has refused to comply with some provisions of Governor Ralph Northam’s COVID-19 Executive Orders.As a result, Strickland’s health certification allowing him to operate legally was rescinded, but Gourmeltz remained open. The Attorney General’s office is now bringing a case against Strickland, but they asked the court for an emergency injunction to close the restaurant while the case proceeds.

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Trump Will Return to Social Media on His Own New Platform, Aide Says

Former President Trump will return to social media on his own new platform in around two or three months, Jason Miller said.

“But I do think that we’re gonna see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here with his own platform,” Miller said during an interview on Fox News Channel’s program Media Buzz. “And this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media. It’s gonna completely redefine the game and everybody is gonna be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does, but it will be his own platform.”

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New Emails Heighten Mystery Around Presidential Vote Count in Georgia’s Largest County

Internal emails from Fulton County election workers obtained by Just the News are heightening the mystery surrounding ballot-processing in Georgia’s largest county during last November’s presidential contest.

Uncertainty arose regarding the ballot processing operation at Fulton County’s State Farm Arena on and after Election Night, when ballot-scanning apparently continued even after most election workers had reportedly been sent home.

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Georgia Secretary of State Official Who Sourced False WAPO Story About Donald Trump Explains Her Actions

The Georgia Secretary of State investigator who was the anonymous source for a Washington Post story about former U.S. President Donald Trump — that people now discredit — said Tuesday the paper got the story correct. This, aside from a few minor mistakes, said Georgia Deputy Secretary of State Jordan Fuchs, the anonymous source.

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