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Tag: Harri Leigh

  • Ohio GOP lawmaker to vote for measure to release more Epstein files

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — The House of Representatives is poised to move forward on a bill to force the release of files related to Jeffrey Epstein, opening another chapter in the ongoing controversy around the late convicted sex offender and disgraced financier’s relationship with President Donald Trump.

    What You Need To Know

    • Enough lawmakers signed a petition to force a vote on legislation to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein

    • Though President Trump warned Republicans against joining efforts to release more files, Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, said he would vote for the measure

    • House Speaker Johnson said the House will vote on the measure next week

    On Nov. 12, enough lawmakers signed a petition to force a vote on legislation that would mandate the Justice Department release all files related to Epstein, minus identifiable information about his victims, within 30 days of the bill passing.

    Trump, who has argued the Epstein controversy is a distraction, is opposing the measure. House Speaker Mike Johnson has also opposed the measure and refused to bring it up for a vote, resulting in Democrats and four Republicans signing the discharge petition to force a vote.

    The action comes after Democrats on the House Oversight Committee released emails Wednesday from Epstein that referenced Trump. One email from 2019 said that Trump “knew about the girls.”

    Though the emails make clear that Epstein and Trump were once friends, as Trump has acknowledged, they do not allege any criminal behavior by the president.

    Rep. Shontel Brown, D-Ohio, who sits on the Oversight Committee, said she supports the measure to release more files.

    “The bottom line is we want the files should be released so that we can get to the bottom of this and give those who have been impacted by this pedophile the justice that they are long overdue,” she said.

    Trump this week warned Republicans against joining efforts to release more files, posting on Truth Social, “Only a very bad, or stupid, Republican would fall into that trap.”

    That admonition is not deterring Rep. Warren Davidson, R-Ohio, who said he plans to vote for the measure.

    “If crimes have been committed, I want the Attorney General of the United States or the Attorneys General in the U.S. district courts to bring charges against individuals, for the evidence to come out at trial, where there’s convictions and jail time. That’s what I think the people want,” Davidson said.

    Davidson added he thinks the files will not reveal any improper conduct by the president.

    Even if the bill passes the House, it faces a frosty reception and uphill battle in the Republican-controlled Senate.

    Speaker Johnson said the House will vote on the measure next week.

    Harri Leigh

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  • Lawmakers hoping new buyer will avert planned closure of Chillicothe paper mill

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — After successfully negotiating to pause the planned shutdown of the Pixelle Chillicothe paper mill, Ohio lawmakers are looking for a solution to keep the mill open.

    What You Need To Know

    • Pixelle agreed to pause the announced closure of its Chillicothe paper mill after pushback from Ohio lawmakers

    • Sen. Bernie Moreno wrote a letter criticizing the business practices of the paper mill’s owner, H.I.G. Capital

    • The paper mill in Chillicothe, known as “Paper City,” has been in operation since 1812

    The paper mill in Chillicothe, known as “Paper City,” has been printing book pages and other specialty papers since 1812.

    Last week, the mill’s owner, H.I.G. Capital, announced it would shutter the mill and phase out about 800 layoffs over several weeks.

    H.I.G. Capital is a private equity firm that manages businesses worth $69 billion.

    Sen. Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, sent a scathing letter on April 17 to Pixelle and H.I.G., writing that “somehow your collective greed and/or inept business choices managed to close the doors to a paper mill that survived the Great Depression, Pearl Harbor, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, the transition to the digital age, and a global pandemic.”

    “And it has to be able to survive a private equity company,” Moreno added at a press conference opposing the closure on April 18.

    Several Ohio lawmakers attended the press conference, including Sen. Jon Husted, R-Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine and Attorney General Dave Yost.

    Several accused H.I.G. of using predatory practices.

    “There are so many private equity firms that have bought up companies in this state and in this country, and chopped them up and made profits off of the pieces, and left the communities and the workers and the people who relied on those jobs, they’ve left them with nothing,” Husted said.

    Following Moreno’s letter, Pixelle announced it would postpone the closure of the mill until the end of the year, writing in a statement,

    “This is a moment of optimism. Our commitment now is to our employees, our customers, and to doing the hard work that comes with turning this opportunity into a positive outcome.”

    Moreno added he wanted to enact more guardrails to prevent private equity firms from buying companies only to strip their assets for a profit at the cost of workers.

    Rep. Dave Taylor, whose district includes Chillicothe, said he and other lawmakers were hoping to facilitate a new buyer of the mill that would keep it in operation.

    “You lose 800 jobs in a town like Chillicothe. That’s just a decimating thing,” Taylor said. “There are a number of ways forward now. I think the most likely, the most appealing path forward would be to find another interested party and run it like it’s been run for two centuries, successfully and profitably. Because it doesn’t seem like Pixelle and H.I.G. are really in this as a long-term business concern.”

    Harri Leigh

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  • Rep. Dave Joyce appointed to task force investigating Trump shooting

    Rep. Dave Joyce appointed to task force investigating Trump shooting

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, was among the 13 lawmakers appointed to the bipartisan House task force investigating the July 13 attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump.

    What You Need To Know

    • The bipartisan House task force investigating the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump includes seven Republicans and six Democrats

    • The task force will investigate security failures and recommend changes

    • A final report is expected by Dec. 13

    In a rare sign of unity, House members voted unanimously, 416-0, to create the task force, which includes six Democrats and seven Republicans.

    Joyce was chosen as one of the Republicans. The former prosecutor has a deep background of handling official investigations. As a member of the House Ethics Committee, Joyce led the investigation that resulted in the expulsion of then-Rep. George Santos from the House.

    “I was honored that Speaker Johnson, put me on that task force,” Joyce said. “I appreciate the fact that he had confidence in my ability to do a long-term investigation like this and to make sure it’s something that the American people are going to be proud.”

    Several officials have already testified about  the security lapses that allowed a gunman to take a clear shot at Trump, including former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle. Her failure to answer basic questions about those security failures at an Oversight Committee hearing prompted both Republicans and Democrats to demand that she resign, which she did the next day.

     “I don’t think Director Cheadle’s, testimony before our committee was very worthwhile. So you’d probably have been better off staying home than coming in and doing what she did, because that seemed to infuriate a lot of folks,” Joyce said.

    The task force will draw on additional testimony given by officials in the weeks following the assassination attempt. The panel also has the power to subpoena other officials.

    Joyce said protecting presidential candidates was especially important heading into the November election.

    “Presidential protection details have to be not-fail missions. They can’t afford to panic,” he said. “And so it’s important to make sure that if there’s an issue with training, if there’s an issue with scope of duties, whatever it is, we get to the bottom of it and fix that and make sure it never happens again.”

    The task force’s final report is expected to detail what went wrong in the minutes and hours before the shooting, as well as lay out recommendations to prevent such a security failure from happening again.

    The findings will be released Dec. 13.

    Harri Leigh

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  • House Republicans pushing universities to crack down on campus protests

    House Republicans pushing universities to crack down on campus protests

    WASHINGTON, D.C. — Amid ongoing protests on campuses across the country, Republicans on Capitol Hill said universities had let the expression of free speech slide into violence. Their calls for accountability add more pressure to university officials already struggling to manage pro-Palestinian protests and allegations of antisemitism, all while balancing free speech against personal safety.

    What You Need To Know

    • Amid ongoing pro-Palestinian protests, Republican lawmakers said universities had let expression of free speech slide into violence

    • At least four House committees are investigating universities where protests have occurred

    • Free-speech watchdogs warned against censorship

    Some Republicans called to investigate groups funding the protests, such as Jewish Voice for Peace and Within Our Lifetime.

    “Especially when you have very obvious signs of lawless agitation and you know that there are some funding sources that are actually paying people to break the law, then you ought to prosecute the people who are breaking the law. You also have to look into the people who are paying for them to break the law,” said Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio. “I think that’s an important and a good way to combat this stuff.”

    “We just need to find out where the money is coming to support these hate groups. Hate is hate in whatever form it is and that’s who supporting these efforts on college campuses,” said Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio.

    One bill introduced in the House, for example, would revoke nonprofit status and thus tax exemptions for “terrorist supporting organizations.”

    Jewish Voice for Peace responded in a statement.

    “Bills like S.4136/H.R. 6408 are efforts to strip charities of their tax-exempt status based entirely on political motives, and are incredibly dangerous attacks on our rights to free speech and public protest, two vital elements in any democracy… Inaccurately accusing these protests of antisemitism for holding the Israeli government accountable for its war crimes not only fails to make Jewish students safe, but actively distracts from real incidents of antisemitism and the dangers of white nationalism.”

    Within Our Lifetime did not respond to a request for comment.

    Rep. Carey sits on the House Ways and Means Committee, which has threatened to cut funding to and end the tax-exempt status of universities that do not adequately protect students from discrimination, as required under Title XI.

    The committee also held a closed-door meeting Tuesday on additional strategies to address rising antisemitism in higher education.

    At least four other House committee chairs have launched separate investigations into university protests, part of what Speaker Mike Johnson called a House-wide probe of antisemitism in America.

    Free-speech watchdogs, however, warned Congress not to over-regulate universities even if they disapprove of how protests were handled.

    “Because [lawmakers] have legitimate authority, they should be exercising that authority in a way that does not encourage institutions to censor constitutionally protected speech on campus,” said Tyler Coward, lead counsel for government affairs for the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE).

    Democrats have largely said universities and local law enforcement should decide how to deal with protests.

    “Colleges and universities have their own rules that they can enforce,” said Rep. Pete Aguilar, D-Calif.

    The accountability efforts by Republicans come amid the presidential election, while President Joe Biden is struggling to unite Democrats behind his Israel policy.

    At the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony on Tuesday, Biden said the U.S. “must give hate no safe harbor against anyone.”

    Correction: This story has been corrected to clarify that the organization IfNotNow isn’t funding any protests. (May 8, 2024)

    Harri Leigh

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