ReportWire

Tag: drug crimes

  • Surveillance plane helping take fentanyl pills off the streets faces extinction | CNN Politics

    Surveillance plane helping take fentanyl pills off the streets faces extinction | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]


    Washington
    CNN
     — 

    GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who also serves as a pilot in the Air National Guard, is sounding the alarm about plans to cut funding for a little-known military surveillance aircraft that law enforcement officials tell CNN is an essential tool for dismantling drug trafficking organizations and has helped them take tens of thousands of illegal fentanyl pills off the streets last month alone.

    Kinzinger is among a small group of Air National Guard pilots who operate the twin-engine RC-26 aircraft and have helped law enforcement agencies target large shipments of fentanyl that are flowing into the US from across the border.

    But despite being described as an essential asset for law enforcement officials on the ground as they carry out raids and serve search warrants, the aircraft currently finds itself on the chopping block as Air Force leaders are planning to scrap the program, he told CNN.

    “Law enforcement lives have been saved by having this asset available,” according to Kinzinger. “We can see anything weird that’s going to happen,” he said, adding that pilots can also follow suspects with their aerial camera without them knowing, allowing agents to maintain the element of surprise.

    “We’ve been saving it every year piecemeal,” he said. “The guard has made it very clear. It’s gone in April.”

    Law enforcement officials from around the country and National Guard pilots who fly the RC-26 have appealed directly to Air Force leaders in Washington to keep the plane or provide a capable replacement, according to multiple sources familiar with those discussions.

    But despite self-imposed limits to the types of operations that can be flown by RC-26 National Guard pilots, Air Force leaders have now decided they no longer want to fund piloted reconnaissance assets for border and counter-drug missions, claiming unmanned drones can be offered up to fill that need, Kinzinger said.

    Supporters of the aircraft like Kinzinger say, in reality, the Air Force does not currently have a plan to replace the capabilities provided by the RC-26 if the program is shuttered.

    The Air Force has determined that divestment of the RC-26 “leaves no capability gap” and the service possesses sufficient “Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance assets” to support the needs of law enforcement authorities, Air Force spokesperson Ann Stefanek told CNN in response to questions about the future of the aircraft.

    A law enforcement official who spoke to CNN under the condition of anonymity to speak frankly about his opposition to the Air Force’s plans to get rid of the aircraft, said doing so would take away the biggest advantage officers have over drug trafficking organizations that are currently “flooding the market” with large quantities of fentanyl and killing swaths of Americans in the process.

    “I know the Air Force is trying to say there are other options … but they don’t have the same capabilities,” the law enforcement official, who has routinely requested assistance from Air National Guard pilots operating the RC-26, said.

    “It would be a great loss for us in law enforcement,” he added, noting it allows police departments to work more cases and spend less money on things like overtime for officers.

    While the RC-26 is used for a variety of missions, it has proven to be very effective in helping law enforcement agencies not only seize large amounts of fentanyl but also arresting and building cases against violent drug traffickers bringing the deadly substance into the US.

    Outfitted with a range of surveillance gear, including infrared imaging systems and secure radio communications, the Air Force’s small fleet of RC-26 aircraft has played a prominent role in several recent operations targeting illicit shipments of fentanyl by serving as the preverbal eye-in-the sky for agents and officers on the ground, according to current and former officials.

    An agent or police officer is often on-board the aircraft to direct the pilot where to go and, working in tandem, they are able to collect information to help inform the decision-making of law enforcement officials on the ground in real time as they execute search warrants and conduct raids.

    Over the last two weeks in Arizona, the relatively obscure turboprop plane was involved in three separate fentanyl seizures of 22,500 pills each, according to law enforcement data obtained by CNN.

    Each seizure prevented 10,000 potential deaths, according to a US official familiar with the operations, who noted that the DEA says four pills in 10 have a lethal amount of fentanyl in them.

    But despite proving itself to be a valuable asset for drug interdiction, particularly at a time when the Biden administration is facing increasing pressure to stop the flow of fentanyl coming into the US from across the border, funding for the RC-26 aircraft is again on the chopping block.

    Air Force officials believe that the relatively small amount of money used to keep the current fleet of 11 RC-26 planes in the air would be better spent elsewhere. If a House amendment to provide more funding for the aircraft fails to make it through conference and is not included in Congress’ next defense spending bill, the plane will be “gone in April,” according to Kinzinger.

    The cost of maintaining all 11 RC-26s is between $25 and $31 million per year, according to a source familiar with the program, who note that is a “less than a drop in the bucket” considering the annual defense spending bill ranges in the hundreds of billions of dollars.

    Kinzinger has sent a letter to the Armed Services Committees requesting they keep the current language related to funding for the RC-26 in its next defense spending bill, which would keep the aircraft around for at least one more year and require an independent assessment of how the National Guard could replace it, with a cost analysis.

    But even if that happens, the aircraft’s long-term survival remains in question, as does the future success of the specialized missions it currently flies.

    Kinzinger is not alone in his support of the RC-26. CNN spoke with current and former law enforcement officials working in what are known as High Intensity Trafficking Areas who were adamant that the plane is a critical tool for stopping the flow of illicit drugs into the US.

    “I think of the RC-26 as my state bird,” said Rand Allison, a recently retired narcotics officer who spent over a decade working with RC-26 pilots as part of federal task forces focused on intercepting shipments of illicit drugs.

    Heightened public awareness about the dangers of fentanyl, bipartisan concerns and law enforcement statistics obtained by CNN also underscore how the RC-26 remains relevant despite claims by some air Force officials that it is too old.

    For example, data provided to CNN by the Southern Nevada High Impact Narcotics Task Force shows law enforcement agencies have used the RC-26 to seize 134,009 fentanyl pills and 15.7 pounds of pure fentanyl powder this year alone – a dramatic increase compared to the roughly 67,000 pills and 2.7 pounds of powder seized in 2021.

    In 2020, the task force documented its first seizures of fentanyl pills and powder, underscoring how the dramatic rise in law enforcement operations focused on these trafficking operations in particular.

    If the RC-26 program is ultimately scrapped, law enforcement officers would lose their best asset for dismantling trafficking operations bringing fentanyl into the US from across the border, Allison told CNN.

    The RC-26 aircraft was also used in three separate drug busts over the last three weeks where law enforcement agencies seized more than 60,000 fentanyl pills in total, according to federal drug task force data obtained by CNN.

    The first operation took place on October 18 in Las Vegas, Nevada, where the DEA seized 21,500 fentanyl pills.

    Exactly one week later, agents with the Department of Homeland Security Investigations division carried out the bust in Tucson that yielded more than 25,000 pills. The next day, a HIS team in Phoenix, Arizona seized an additional 5,000 pills and are building a much larger case, according to a law enforcement official familiar with operation.

    Still, one law enforcement official who regularly works with Air National Guard pilots to conduct counter-drug operations acknowledged feeling like they are “winning many battles but losing the war when it comes to fentanyl,” making the RC-26’s survival even more imperative.

    Over the last eight years, Kinzinger has been at the forefront of efforts to save his plane from extinction and preserve its ability to fly the type of missions that have endeared it to law enforcement officials across various agencies.

    Now, the RC-26 is again at risk of being phased out due to the shifting priorities of Air Force leaders that do not include flying border or counter-drug missions, according to the Republican lawmaker, who opted not to run for re-election but is using the final months of his time in Congress, in part, to advocate for the aircraft’s survival.

    If that happens, the Air Force will also lose more than 60 Air National Guard pilots who are trained to fly the RC-26, Kinzinger added, noting the service is already suffering from a pilot shortage.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 2 Black comedians file lawsuit over police jet bridge stops at Atlanta airport | CNN

    2 Black comedians file lawsuit over police jet bridge stops at Atlanta airport | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Police officers stopped Eric André as he boarded a flight from Atlanta to Los Angeles in April 2021 and, a few months earlier, the same thing happened to another Black comedian in the same place, a lawsuit alleges.

    André and fellow comedian Clayton English filed the lawsuit claiming the stops were the result of racial profiling.

    “Police officers came out of nowhere in like, almost like an ambush style and started, singled me out. I was the only person of color on the jet bridge at the time,” André said in a news conference Tuesday.

    “They singled me out. They asked me if I was selling drugs, transporting drugs, what kind of drugs I have on me,” he said.

    A lawsuit filed Tuesday by André and English alleges that this stop was part of an anti-drug trafficking program carried out by the Clayton County Police Department in Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport that unfairly targets Black fliers.

    “It was clearly racial profiling. The experience was humiliating and dehumanizing, degrading, I had all the other passengers squeezing by me on this claustrophobic jet bridge gawking at me like I was a perpetrator,” André said.

    Police stopped English on a flight, also to Los Angeles, in October 2020.

    CNN has reached out to both the police department and the Atlanta Department of Aviation for comment.

    “I was almost on the plane when, in the jet bridge two officers popped out, showed their badges and started asking questions whether I had illegal drugs like cocaine, and I feel cornered in a jet bridge and I felt the need to comply,” English said in the news conference.

    After the incident involving André, Clayton County police denied any wrongdoing, CNN affiliate WSB-TV reported.

    The station published this statement released then by the police:

    “On April 21, 2021, the Clayton County Police Department made a consensual encounter with a male traveler, later identified as Eric Andre, as he was preparing to fly to California from the Atlanta Airport. Mr. Andre chose to speak with investigators during the initial encounter. During the encounter, Mr. Andre voluntarily provided the investigators information as to his travel plans.

    “Mr. Andre also voluntarily consented to a search of his luggage but the investigators chose not to do so. Investigators identified that there was no reason to continue a conversation and therefore terminated the encounter. Mr. Andre boarded the plane without being detained and continued on his travels. The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Atlanta Police Department did not assist in this consensual encounter.”

    The lawsuit claims that the Clayton County Police Department describes the “jet bridge interdiction program” as “consensual encounters” carried out at “random,” but argues that in a post-9/11 flying atmosphere, encounters with law enforcement in airports are unlikely to be seen as anything but required.

    The two name multiple members of the Clayton County Police Department in their lawsuit and allege that the department carries out these stops and searches in a way that targets Black passengers. The filing cites Clayton County Police Department records showing 56% of passengers (or 378 individuals whose races are listed) stopped in this manner are Black.

    “The Clayton County Police Department, along, sometimes, with the county district attorney’s office has been conducting interdiction of passengers on jet bridges as they’re getting on their airplanes to ask them about whether they have drugs on them,” Barry Friedman, an attorney for the plaintiffs, said in the news conference.

    “It’s not a very successful interdiction program,” Friedman said. Clayton County Police Department records show that out of 402 jet bridge stops from August 2020 to April 2021, only three seizures were made, according to the lawsuit,.

    “They’ve come up with very little drugs, but they’ve taken a lot of cash off of passengers,” Friedman said. The lawsuit filing calls the jet bridge program “financially lucrative.”

    “Over the 8-month period in question, the program seized $1,036,890.35 in cash and money orders via 25 civil asset forfeitures,” the filing reads.

    Civil asset forfeiture allows law enforcement to seize property they allege is connected to a crime. Organizations like the ACLU have criticized it as a legal way for police to steal from civilians, as obtaining one’s property after it’s been seized is notoriously difficult.

    “Yet, of the 25 passengers who had cash seized, 24 were allowed to continue on their travels, often on the same flight, and only two were ever charged with any related crime.”

    “The Clayton County Police Department has described this program as a drug interdiction program. For what we’re able to see by simply looking at the open records information that we’ve received, it seems to be a distinctly unsuccessful drug interdiction program, if that’s what it is,” Richard Deane, another member of the plaintiff’s legal team, said in the news conference.

    “What appears to be happening is that this is organized largely in order to seize money from people, on the hope that they’re not going to thereafter make the claim for those funds,” he said.

    André called the experience “traumatizing.”

    “When two cops stop you, you don’t feel like you have the right to leave, especially when they start interrogating you about drugs. The whole experience was traumatizing. I felt belittled,” he said. “I want to use my resources and my platform to bring national attention to this incident so that it stops.”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month | CNN

    New York City announces its largest fentanyl seizure in history, eclipsing record bust from last month | CNN

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Days after federal officials announced the largest fentanyl seizure in New York City history, an even greater quantity of the highly addictive substance has been found, authorities say.

    Two people have been arrested and charged with multiple drug and firearm charges in connection to the seizure on October 7 at a Bronx apartment building, prosecutors said in a news release.

    Authorities found roughly 300,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills inside two closets in the apartment, and more than 22 pounds of the drug in powdered form were wrapped in clear plastic packaging in multiple rooms, according to the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York. The total sum of the drugs is worth about $9 million in street value, officials said.

    The historic seizure saved lives, according to DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino.

    “Hundreds of thousands of lethal pills were lying in wait in a Bronx apartment to be unleashed onto our streets. In today’s world, the potential to overdose is dangerously high,” Tarentino said. “There is no quality control in these fake pills and it only takes two milligrams of fentanyl to be lethal.”

    The seizure comes after federal officials announced last week that a woman has been charged with concealing about 15,000 rainbow-colored fentanyl pills in a Lego box as part of a drug trafficking scheme in September. That seizure at the time was also deemed the largest of fentanyl in New York City’s history.

    Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that’s highly addictive. It can be up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, the US Centers for Disease Prevention and Control said.

    Rainbow fentanyl comes in bright colors and can be used in pill form or powder.

    “Rainbow fentanyl is the latest threat we face in our fight against the opioid epidemic that sadly continues to ravage our communities – a multi-colored poison specifically designed to attract younger users,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly said.

    And as Halloween nears, officials have been warning families to be especially vigilant regarding their children’s candy before they consume it.

    The dangerous drug has been a major driver of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in the US as well as the opioid epidemic.

    Although there has been a slight decrease in recent months in drug overdose deaths, the numbers remain high. About 108,000 people died of a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending May 2022 – which is down from the record high of more than 110,000 deaths reported in the 12-month period that ended March 2022, CDC provisional data published Wednesday shows.

    The latest overdose death figure remains 32% than it was two years earlier and higher than any other period before November 2021, according to the CDC data. Synthetic opioids, including fentanyl, were involved in more than two-thirds of deaths in the 12-month period ending May 2022, and psychostimulants were involved in nearly a third.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Here’s who is not eligible for Biden’s marijuana pardon | CNN Politics

    Here’s who is not eligible for Biden’s marijuana pardon | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that he’s pardoning individuals charged with simple marijuana possession on a federal level, but his decision does not affect broad groups of Americans and non-citizens charged with the crime.

    There’s historical precedent for mass application of the presidential pardon power, but the sheer size of Biden’s pardon list stands out among most recent predecessors. The White House estimates “6,500 people with prior federal convictions” and “thousands of such convictions under (Washington, DC) law could benefit from this relief.”

    While Biden is issuing pardons for federal charges of simple marijuana possession, his move on Thursday did not decriminalize the drug and it remains a federal crime to possess small amounts of marijuana on federal land. Biden did announce an expedited review of how marijuana is scheduled under federal law – a move that could change how the drug is regulated in the United States and could help guide criminal laws.

    In a video announcing his executive actions, Biden said that “no one should be in jail just for using or possessing marijuana.”

    “It’s legal in many states, and criminal records for marijuana possession have led to needless barriers to employment, housing, and educational opportunities,” he continued. “And that’s before you address the racial disparities around who suffers the consequences. While White and Black and Brown people use marijuana at similar rates, Black and Brown people are arrested, prosecuted and convicted at disproportionate rates.”

    But despite those words, there is still a broad set people who will not see immediate relief from Biden’s recent actions – some who he could have pardoned and some who he doesn’t have the power to pardon.

    Among those who Biden does not have power to pardon are thousands of individuals who have faced state charges for simple marijuana possession.

    While Americans’ attitudes about marijuana consumption are changing – smoking weed is becoming more popular than smoking tobacco, and 19 states, two US territories, and DC have legalized small amounts of marijuana – there are still laws in most states that criminalize possessing small amounts of marijuana.

    The full scope of individuals who could be pardoned as a result of state clemency for simple marijuana possession is unclear, but available law enforcement data analyzed by the American Civil Liberties Union found that in 2018, for example, there were almost 700,000 marijuana arrests, which accounted for more than 43% of all reported drug arrests. Not all drug arrests, however, lead to charges nor are they all categorized as simple marijuana possession.

    The President’s presidential pardon power is limited to federal criminal cases and does not extend to state criminal charges. As part of his moves Thursday, Biden called on governors to issue similar pardons to those with state marijuana offense convictions.

    Biden’s presidential proclamation states that his pardon “does not apply to individuals who were non-citizens not lawfully present in the United States at the time of their offense.”

    This suggests that undocumented immigrants will not be pardoned for existing federal charges for simple marijuana possession.

    But a senior administration official on Thursday noted that as a result of Biden’s proclamation, “anyone who has committed that offense could not be prosecuted federally, at this point, based on that conduct.”

    The official did not make a distinction between citizens and non-citizens.

    Data from the US Sentencing Commission indicates that during fiscal year 2021 some 72% of federal offenders in a case of marijuana possession were non-citizens. But it’s not clear how many non-citizens count as “lawfully” or “unlawfully” present in the country.

    Matt Cameron, a Boston-based immigration attorney who also teaches immigration policy at Northeastern University, told CNN that the decision to not include non-citizens who were not lawfully present could have dire consequences for some people.

    “If you’re in deportation proceedings or applying for a visa or applying green card, and you’re charged for possession, you will be denied. And you won’t be eligible for a waiver,” he said.

    He added, “You could be denied a green card and you would be denied for life.”

    The Department of Justice says that federal marijuana possession offenses that occur after October 6, 2022 – the date of the presidential proclamation – will not protect individuals from being charged down the road.

    “The proclamation pardons only those offenses occurring on or before October 6, 2022. It does not have any effect on marijuana possession offenses occurring after October 6, 2022,” DOJ says.

    However, the pardon does apply to pending federal simple marijuana possession charges, including those where conviction has not been obtained by October 6.

    In a statement about his presidential proclamation, Biden emphasized that “even as federal and state regulation of marijuana changes, important limitations on trafficking, marketing, and under-age sales should stay in place.”

    While Biden’s pardons will impact thousands who face simple possession charges, the act of clemency will not apply to all types of federal marijuana offenses.

    “Conspiracy, distribution, possession with intent to distribute, and other charges involving marijuana are not pardoned by the proclamation,” the Justice Department says.

    The DOJ also says the pardon does not apply to individuals who were convicted of possessing multiple different controlled substances in the same offense – including a charge related to possessing marijuana and another controlled substance in a single offense.

    “For example, if you were convicted of possessing marijuana and cocaine in a single offense, you do not qualify for pardon under the terms of President Biden’s proclamation,” the Justice Department explained. “If you were convicted of one count of simple possession of marijuana and a second count of possession of cocaine, President Biden’s proclamation applies only to the simple possession of marijuana count, not the possession of cocaine count.”

    The move also is not expected to remove any individuals from prison.

    The administration official speaking to reporters on Thursday said that “there are no individuals currently in federal prison solely for simple possession of marijuana.”

    Individuals seeking additional guidance regarding federal pardon eligibility and procedures should visit https://www.justice.gov/pardon for more information.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • 14 promises Donald Trump has made in his campaign for a second term | CNN Politics

    14 promises Donald Trump has made in his campaign for a second term | CNN Politics

    [ad_1]



    CNN
     — 

    Former President Donald Trump has hit the 2024 campaign trail and is giving voters a preview of what a second Trump presidency could look like if he’s elected. He’s made many campaign promises – many of which are often vague and lacking in details or specifics – including ending the war in Ukraine, building 10 new cities and giving drug smugglers the death penalty.

    Here are some of the policies he says he would enact if elected for a second term.

    “The drug cartels are waging war on America—and it’s now time for America to wage war on the cartels,” former President Donald Trump said in a January campaign video.

    If elected, Trump said in his November 2022 campaign announcement that he would ask Congress to ensure that drug smugglers and human traffickers can receive the death penalty for their “heinous acts.” The former president also vowed to “take down” drug cartels by imposing naval embargos on cartels, cutting off cartels’ access to global financial systems and using special forces within the Department of Defense to damage the cartels’ leadership.

    “When I am president, we will put parents back in charge and give them the final say,” Trump said in a January campaign video, speaking about education

    The former president said he would give funding preferences and “favorable treatment” to schools that allow parents to elect principals, abolish teacher tenure for K-12 teachers, use merit pay to incentivize quality teaching and cut the number of school administrators, such as those overseeing diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

    Trump also said in the campaign video that he would cut funding for schools that teach critical race theory and gender ideology. In a later speech, Trump said he would bring back the 1776 Commission, which was launched in his previous administration to “teach our values and promote our history and our traditions to our children.”

    Lastly, the former president said he would charge the Department of Justice and the Department of Education with investigating civil rights violations of race-based discrimination in schools while also removing “Marxists” from the Department of Education. A second Trump administration would pursue violations in schools of both the Constitution’s Establishment and Free Exercise clauses, which prohibit the government establishment of religion and protect a citizen’s right to practice their own religion, he said.

    “I will revoke every Biden policy promoting the chemical castration and sexual mutilation of our youth and ask Congress to send me a bill prohibiting child sexual mutilation in all 50 states,” Trump said at the 2023 Conservative Political Action Conference in March.

    Trump added in a campaign video that he would issue an executive order instructing federal agencies to cut programs that promote gender transitions, as well as asking Congress to stop the use of federal dollars to promote and pay for gender-affirming procedures. The former president added that his administration would not allow hospitals and healthcare providers to meet the federal health and safety standards for Medicaid and Medicare if they provide chemical or physical gender-affirming care to youth.

    Trump said in two February campaign videos that, if “Marxist” prosecutors refuse to charge crimes and surrender “our cities to violent criminals,” he “will not hesitate to send in federal law enforcement to restore peace and public safety.”

    Trump added that he would instruct the Department of Justice to open civil rights investigations into “radical left” prosecutors’ offices that engaged in racial enforcement of the law, encourage Congress to use their legal authority over Washington, DC, to restore “law and order” and overhaul federal standards of disciplining minors to address rising crimes like carjackings.

    Addressing policies made in what Trump calls the “Democrats’ war on police,” the former president vowed in a campaign video that he would pass a “record investment” to hire and retrain police, strengthen protections like qualified immunity, increase penalties for assaulting law enforcement officers and deploy the National Guard when local law enforcement “refuses to act.” The former president added that he would require law enforcement agencies that receive money from his funding investment or the Department of Justice to use “proven common sense” measures such as stop-and-frisk.

    “Shortly after I win the presidency, I will have the horrible war between Russia and Ukraine settled,” Trump said at a New Hampshire campaign event, adding in another speech that it would take him “no longer than one day” to settle the war if elected. Trump offered no details on how he would end the war in Ukraine.

    Trump further addressed his strategy of stopping the “never-ending wars” by vowing to remove warmongers, frauds and “failures in the senior ranks of our government,” and replace them with national security officials who would defend America’s interests. The former president added in a campaign video that he would stop lobbyists and government contractors from pushing senior military officials towards war.

    Trump said he would restore his “wonderful” travel ban on individuals from several majority-Muslim countries to “keep radical Islamic terrorists out of our country” after President Joe Biden overturned the ban in 2021.

    Trump said in multiple campaign videos that he would spearhead an effort to build Freedom Cities to “reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination, and give hundreds of thousands of young people and other people, all hardworking families, a new shot at home ownership and in fact, the American Dream.”

    In his plan, the federal government would charter 10 new cities on federal land, awarding them to areas with the best development proposals. The former president said in a campaign video that the Freedom Cities would bring the return of US manufacturing, economic opportunity, new industries and affordable living.

    In the March video, Trump added that the US under a second Trump administration would lead in efforts to “develop vertical-takeoff-and-landing vehicles for families and individuals,” not letting China lead “this revolution in air mobility.” The former president said these airborne vehicles would change commerce and bring wealth into rural communities.

    “When I am president, this whole rotten system of censorship and information control will be ripped out of the system at large. There won’t be anything left,” Trump said in a January video.

    To address the “disturbing” relationship between technology platforms and the government, the former president said he would enact a seven-year cooling off period before employees at agencies such as the FBI or CIA can work for platforms that oversee mass user data.

    Trump added in multiple campaign releases that he would task the Department of Justice with investigating and prosecuting the online censorship “regime,” ban federal agencies from “colluding” to censor citizens, fire bureaucrats who are believed to engage in federal censorship and suspend federal money to universities participating in “censorship-supporting activities.”

    On false information, the president would ban the use of taxpayer dollars to label any domestic speech as mis- or disinformation, as well as stopping federal funding of nonprofits and academic programs that study mis- or disinformation.

    Under the proposed Trump Reciprocal Trade Act, the former president said if other countries impose tariffs in the US, “we charge THEM – an eye for an eye, a tariff for a tariff, same exact amount.”

    Trump vowed in a campaign video to impose the same tariffs that other countries may impose on the US on those countries. The goal, the former president said, is to get other countries to drop their tariffs.

    As part of a larger strategy to bring jobs back into the US, Trump said he would also implement his America First trade agenda if elected. Setting universal baseline tariffs on a majority of foreign goods, the former president said Americans would see taxes decrease as tariffs increase. His proposal also includes a four-year plan to phase out all Chinese imports of essential goods, as well as stopping China from buying up America and stopping the investment of US companies in China.

    “With victory, we will again build the greatest economy ever,” Trump said in his November campaign announcement. “It will take place quickly. We will build the greatest economy ever,” though he didn’t provide specific policy proposals or explain how he would improve the economy.

    Trump said he would repeal Biden’s tax hikes, “immediately tackle” inflation and end what he called Biden’s “war” on American energy production.

    At CPAC, Trump promised to, “fire the unelected bureaucrats and shadow forces who have weaponized our justice system like it has never been weaponized before…” Trump also said in a campaign video that he would reinstate a 2020 executive order to remove “rogue” bureaucrats and propose a constitutional amendment for term limits on members of Congress.

    Trump also pledged to “appoint US Attorneys who will be the polar opposite of the Soros District Attorneys and others that are being appointed throughout the United States.” The former president added on to this message, vowing to end the “reign” of such investigations and district attorneys and overhaul the Department of Justice and the FBI.

    “I will take Biden’s executive order directing the federal government to target the firearms industry, and I will rip it up and throw it out on day one,” Trump said at the 2023 National Rifle Association Institute for Legislative Action leadership forum in April.

    The former president also promised in the speech that the government would not infringe on citizens’ Second Amendment rights and that he would push Congress to pass a concealed carry reciprocity.

    “I will create a special team to rapidly review every action taken by federal agencies under Biden’s ‘equity’ agenda that will need to be reversed. We will reverse almost all of them,” Trump said in a campaign video.

    Trump added in multiple campaign videos that he would revoke Biden’s equity executive order that required federal agencies to deliver equitable outcomes in policy and conduct equity training. If elected, Trump said he would also fire staffers hired to implement Biden’s policy, and then reinstate his 2020 executive order banning racial and sexual stereotyping in the federal government.

    “When I’m president, I will ensure that America’s future remains firmly in American hands just as I did when I was president before,” Trump said in a campaign video.

    Trump vowed to restrict Chinese ownership of US infrastructure such as energy, technology, telecommunications and natural resources. The former president also said he would force the Chinese to sell current holdings that may put national security at risk. “Economic security is national security,” he said.

    Trump vowed in a June campaign video to reinstate his previous executive order that the US government would pay the same price for pharmaceuticals as other developed countries to “end this global freeloading on American consumers for once and for all.”

    Some of the former presidents’ pharmaceutical policies were overturned by Biden. Trump said in the video his administration would pay the best prices offered to other countries, who he said often pay lower pharmaceutical prices than Americans. This policy, Trump believes, would cause the pharmaceutical industry to raise prices for other countries while lowering costs for Americans.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Arash Hashemi to Speak at Mesereau Free Legal Clinic

    Arash Hashemi to Speak at Mesereau Free Legal Clinic

    [ad_1]

    Los Angeles Criminal Defense Attorney, Arash Hashemi, to Discuss Drug Laws on February 18, 2017

    Press Release
    –


    updated: Jan 16, 2017


    Los Angeles, California, January 16, 2017 (Newswire.com)
    –
    The Mesereau Free Legal Clinic announced that Los Angeles Attorney, Arash Hashemi, will be speaking about “Drug Crimes” on Saturday, February 18, 2017. The talk will go over the different types of charges, defenses, and penalties surrounding Drug Crimes in California. The lecture will also discuss the new California Laws regarding recreational marijuana.

    “Since 2002, I have taken on numerous cases involving drug crimes,” said Arash Hashemi. “Anyone interested in Drug Laws is encouraged to attend this free lecture. A number of questions will be answered regarding Drug Crimes and what to do to move your case forward.”

    The Mesereau Free Legal Clinic will host Arash Hashemi February 18, 2017 at 11:00AM.

    Arash Hashemi is the author of Drug Crimes & Penalties in California, a book filled with crucial information and tips for individuals facing criminal charges in the State of California. He has handled a wide variety of cases, ranging from simple misdemeanors to complicated felonies, as well as high profile cases. 

    About the Mesereau Free Legal Clinic

    The Mesereau Free Legal Clinic has been meeting the needs of the community through free access and education for many years. The Free Legal Clinic is co-founded by Attorney Thomas A. Mesereau, Jr., who is well known for his representation of musical legend Michael Jackson, actor Robert Blake, Boxer Michael Tyson and many more celebrities.   

    Source: Law Offices of Arash Hashemi

    [ad_2]

    Source link