What is happening?
At the Florida gubernatorial debate last night, Republican Gov. Rick Scott refused to go stage for seven minutes because his opponent, former Gov. Charlie Crist, had an electric fan under his podium to keep him cool, which was against the debate rules.
This is a real thing that happened.
When Scott was asked about why he refused to debate over a fan, Scott gave this answer:
Former California judge Lisa Foster to head office aimed at increasing availability of lawyers for those who cannot otherwise afford counsel. A BuzzFeed News exclusive.
United States Attorney General Eric Holder
Gary Cameron / Reuters
WASHINGTON — A former California judge who had been the head of California Common Cause, Lisa Foster, has been named the director of the Justice Department's "Access to Justice" Initiative, officials familiar with the appointment told BuzzFeed News.
The initiative, started by Attorney General Eric Holder in March 2010, aims "to address the access-to-justice crisis in the criminal and civil justice system" by helping to ensure that the justice system is accessible to all people, regardless of income.
The initiative, according to the Justice Department, has worked "within the department, across federal agencies, and with state, local and tribal justice system stakeholders" to increase the availability of legal counsel and related assistance to people who cannot afford lawyers.
Most recently, in September, the initiative resulted in the Justice Department backing a class-action lawsuit in which indigent criminal defendants have sued because, they claim, they "have been constructively denied the right to counsel" in four New York counties "due to systemic failures."
Foster most recently served for the past year as a judicial fellow for Sen. Ed Markey, but before that had a long history in the legal communities in San Diego and Los Angeles.
She spent ten years as a judge in California's Superior Court in San Diego, where she presided over criminal, civil and family law matters. Foster previously was a staff attorney at the Center for Law in the Public Interest in Los Angeles and later the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles. After then, she served as the executive director of California Common Cause and taught at University of San Diego Law School. She later worked at the Phillips & Cohen law firm before becoming a judge. She graduated from Stanford University and then Harvard Law School.
A temporary hold on the marriages that a federal appeals court granted on Wednesday expires on Friday.
As same-sex couples marry in North Carolina, similar weddings are on hold for now in Alaska.
Davis Turner / Reuters
WASHINGTON — Alaska officials have asked the Supreme Court — specifically, Justice Anthony Kennedy — to put a trial court ruling that allows same-sex couples to marry on hold during the state's appeal of the ruling.
The filing followed a Wednesday night order from the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals providing the state with a temporary hold on the marriages so that it could seek such a stay from the Supreme Court.
The 9th Circuit's temporary stay expires at noon PT Friday, meaning an order from the Supreme Court would need to come by 3 p.m. ET or same-sex couples would, again, be allowed to get marriage licenses in Alaska.
In the filing on Thursday, state officials said that they will be filing a request with the 9th Circuit next week asking the court to hear its appeal "en banc," meaning by the full court.
“Your account has been permanently deactivated due to hateful statements regarding Uber through Social Media.” UPDATE: Uber says it canceled the account because of “an error by the local team” and has reactivated the driver.
Handout / Reuters
If you want to drive for Uber, don't tweet bad things about Uber.
At least that's the message the company is sending based on an email a former driver said he received Thursday.
Christopher Ortiz, who runs a startup in New Mexico called NewsCastic, wanted to start driving for Uber again to supplement his income. So he emailed the company about new documentation that he might need to submit, since there were new forms that weren't required the last time he drove for them back in July.
Here was Uber's response:
Sorry Christopher. Your account has been permanently deactivated due to hateful statements regarding Uber through Social Media. "Driving for Uber, not much safer than driving a taxi"
Best of luck.
UBER on!
-John H.
Uber Operations ManagerRefer your friends, earn money!
On Gov. Tom Corbett’s campaign website. Update (6:58 p.m.): The Corbett campaign says the “whole website footer graphic” is Photoshopped, including a stock image of a black woman.
A black woman smiling in the background of a group picture that appears at the bottom of every page of Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett's campaign website is actually a stock image, photshopped in.
Everyone else in the graphic was photoshopped in, too.
The Corbett campaign told BuzzFeed News on Thursday evening, "The whole website footer graphic is a work of Photoshop."
Asked if everyone else in the photoshopped image were stock photos as well the Corbett campaign told BuzzFeed News, "the graphic has both stock photos and actual photos in it.."
Corbett is current battling in a tough campaign for re-election in the Keystone State against Democrat Tom Wolf.
The Corbett campaign also criticized Wolf.
"Governor Corbett has a strong record of inclusion, while our opponent, Tom Wolf, was even criticized by members of his own party for his ties serving as the campaign chairman to an admitted racist arrested for murder and for handing out ammunition at a race riot."
Via d3n8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net
Shutterstock page / Via shutterstock.com
The National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland.
Larry Downing / Reuters / Reuters
On a quiet street in Ellicott City, Maryland, a blue-grey two-story clapboard house, set back from the road, is shaded by two sycamores and a towering maple. It’s the unassuming home of one of the National Security Agency’s most powerful officials, Teresa H. Shea.
In September, BuzzFeed News disclosed a potential conflict of interest involving Shea, the director of Signals Intelligence. Called SIGINT in espionage jargon, it refers to all electronic eavesdropping and interception, including the controversial domestic surveillance program that collects information about Americans’ phone use.
As BuzzFeed News reported, there’s a private SIGINT consulting and contracting business based at Shea’s home in that quiet neighborhood. Shea’s husband, a business executive in the small but profitable SIGINT industry, is the resident agent for the firm, Telic Networks.
In addition, James Shea also works for a major SIGINT contracting firm, DRS Signal Solutions Inc., which appears to do SIGINT business with the NSA.
DRS declined to comment, and the NSA declined to answer questions related to the Sheas, Telic Networks, or DRS.
Now there’s a new wrinkle, which the NSA has also declined to discuss: Yet another company, apparently focused on the office and electronics business, is based at the Shea residence on that well-tended lot.
This company is called Oplnet LLC.
Teresa Shea, who has been at the NSA since 1984, is the company’s resident agent. The company’s articles of organization, signed by Teresa Shea, show that the firm was established in 1999 primarily “to buy, sell, rent and lease office and electronic equipment and related goods and services.” An attorney who also signed the document, Alan Engel, said he couldn’t comment on client matters.
BuzzFeed News found no evidence that the firm has done business with the federal government, and it is unclear what electronics or office business the firm deals in. The firm is listed as active at the Maryland Department of Assessment and Taxation. One document on file at the Federal Aviation Administration lists Teresa Shea as the “sole member” of the LLC.
Records show Oplnet does own a six-seat airplane, as well a condominium property with an assessed value of $275,000 in the resort town of Hilton Head, South Carolina.
This summer the NSA turned down a Freedom of Information Act request for Shea’s public financial disclosure form. The agency said that, unlike every other federal agency, it could withhold the disclosure because of a sweeping 1959 law that allows it to keep almost everything secret.
Financial disclosure forms are central to public monitoring of ethics and potential conflicts of interests by federal officials. Without that form, journalists or concerned citizens must comb through corporate incorporations, property records, UCC filings, and court records to learn about an official’s financial interests outside of office. Often, these documents are not online and are in offices scattered across different states.
This year, the NSA was sued by Vice News journalist Jason Leopold after it withheld the financial disclosure records of Gen. Keith Alexander, who retired in March as director of the NSA. Ultimately, the agency released the records to Leopold.
This week, the NSA told Buzzfeed News it would “process” a formal request for Shea’s financial disclosures forms, “expeditiously.” If the NSA releases those forms, they might reveal more about the business interests of her and her husband.
The NSA has been under fire recently, in part because of the controversial domestic surveillance program run by Teresa Shea’s office. Using “bulk metadata analysis,” the program collects data on the phone calls of virtually all Americans, including the phone numbers dialed and the length of time of every phone call. The metadata program does not routinely record actual conversations, but much can be learned by knowing when and with whom a person communicates. Some of the details of that program were disclosed by Edward Snowden, the former agency contractor.
Teresa Shea, as head of SIGINT, has defended the program in declarations in two federal court cases.
The timeline of Shea’s career at the NSA, and her husband’s path in the SIGINT business, shows that the two have been successful in both tracks.
In 1984, according to Teresa Shea’s bio (which is posted at the website of the Armed Forces Communications and Electronics Association), she joined the NSA as an engineer working in SIGINT issues.
Her husband has been involved in SIGINT as a private contractor and engineer since at least 1990, when he set up a company called Sigtek Inc., which would get hundreds of thousands of dollars in contracts with the federal government, according to a federal contracting database. On his LinkedIn page, James Shea says the company’s key markets included “Defense SIGINT.”
In 1999 Teresa Shea, still at the NSA, herself registered Oplnet, with its “office and electronics” focus.
Then, the next year, James Shea’s Sigtek was sold to a British firm, in a deal reportedly worth $20 million. Shea remained at the new firm, which was called Filtronic Sigtek, as president.
In 2002, Teresa Shea’s firm acquired a 1972 Beechcraft Bonanza aircraft, according to paperwork. It is unclear what the aircraft is used for. Over the years, according to data from Flightaware, a flight tracking company, the plane was flown to various spots on the eastern seaboard including Norfolk, Virginia; Flagler County, Florida; and Hilton Head, South Carolina, where the company’s condominium is located. The plane flies several times a month. In 2014, records show 28 flights.
BuzzFeed News
FAA records show that James Shea has a pilot’s license. The same records show no such license for Teresa Shea.
It was in 2007 that James Shea set up Telic Networks, which specializes in SIGINT, according to its website, and which was based at the Shea residence.
During the last decade, Teresa Shea rose rapidly at the NSA. She was the head of Tailored Access Operations, which generally included hacking operations aimed at special lines of communications, and was part of the SIGINT directorate.
In 2010, Teresa Shea was appointed the director of all SIGINT at the NSA, after a period working in London. The same year, James Shea became vice president at a major SIGINT contracting firm, DRS Signal Solutions, a subsidiary of DRS Technologies.
As BuzzFeed reported in its first story on the Sheas, neither the NSA nor DRS will comment on whether the company has contracts with Teresa Shea’s directorate.
The NSA isn’t required to disclose its contracts. But there is evidence DRS has, at a minimum, been trying to get a SIGINT contract at the NSA: It’s recruiting SIGINT experts for jobs at Fort Meade, Maryland, the headquarters of the NSA.
Asked if there was a conflict of interest, DRS spokesman Michael Mount said “I understand your story, and we’ll still decline to comment.” He said that when responding to BuzzFeed News about questions concerning James Shea, the company has coordinated with the NSA.
The NSA did not answer specific written questions about any of these issues, instead emailing a general statement to BuzzFeed News saying that “the agency takes Federal ethics laws quite seriously” and that it takes steps to identify and deal with any potential or actual conflicts of interest.
Matthew Aid, who has written a book about the NSA, The Secret Sentry, said it would be difficult to understand why Oplnet, this second home-based business, was set up by Ms. Shea, without knowing more.
But he adds that the fact that Shea’s husband works for a SIGINT contractor, and has a SIGINT related company at the couple’s home, is confounding.
“From a purely financial point of view, there’s so much potential of conflict of interest.”
He said he’s perplexed that the NSA won’t answer questions about the issue.
“The fact that the NSA will not respond to your request raises in my mind a host of questions. If there was nothing there, they could have come back to you and said, ‘She’d been diligent. She’s in compliance.’ Then there’s no story. But they’ve said nothing. That to me is what could potential signal some problems.”
Aram Roston can be reached at aram.roston@buzzfeed.com and his pgp fingerprint is C21A 2C8F 128D 81D5 766D 227C FC9B C4E1 1546 9FDC
“I think it is deplorable and there should be an apology.”
The parents of an American journalist beheaded by ISIS militants in a video in August are asking for the ad to be pulled and an apology.
BuzzFeed News reported Wednesday that James Foley, the American journalist murdered by ISIS militants, made a cameo in a series of web ads from Secure America Now.
Secure America Now is a right-wing nonprofit national security organization that lists on its advisory board people such as former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Ambassador John Bolton.
The advertisements targeted Democrats running for the Senate in competitive midterm election races.
"I think it is deplorable and there should be an apology," said John Foley, the father of James, to New England Cable News.
Foley's mother Diane called it "very sad."
Here's the NECN segment below:
At the big midterms fundraiser in New Hampshire, Democrats seem “READY” for 2016. “Hillary is coming in a few days, you know,” Bill says.
New Hampshire Democratic Party / Twitter / Via Twitter: @NHDems
MANCHESTER, N.H. — Ready For Hillary's point man in New Hampshire stood in the back corner of the Armory Ballroom, waiting along with the rest of the 1,200 assembled here for a Democratic Party dinner, for Bill Clinton's speech.
When approached by a reporter, he reached for his pocket, retrieved a bright blue "READY" sticker, and hurriedly pressed it to his jacket lapel.
Just about every person at the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner on Thursday night, a staple of Democratic politics in this early-voting state, was sure to wear the sticker or a pin, or wield a sign with some variant of the Ready for Hillary brand.
Traces of the group, a super PAC that supports what many hope will be another Hillary Clinton campaign, could be seen from the lobby to the wood-paneled ballroom of the Radisson Hotel in downtown Manchester.
In the ballroom, where Clinton delivered a 40-minute speech, a sign waited on every seat: "Ready for Maggie," "Ready for Jeanne," or "Ready to Vote." Print-outs saved spots in the first and second rows: "Reserved for Ready for Hillary." And on stage, two giant posters flanked either side of the lectern: "Ready."
None of the signage had Hillary Clinton's name on it, of course. The annual party gathering was a fundraiser for Democrats running in New Hampshire this year, including Gov. Maggie Hassan and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen. Bill Clinton, who had come from another rally in Massachusetts, was there for the 2014 races, too.
But the word "READY" — a trademark that fast became synonymous with the next presidential race — hung over the event like an obvious reminder:
Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Hillary Clinton.
Raymond Buckley, the chair of the New Hampshire Democratic Party and the host of the Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, said the event had sold out before Thursday because of interest in Hassan, Shaheen, and of course, Bill Clinton. "Nearly everyone in this room feels like they have a personal relationship with Bill Clinton," he said, but added: "This is all about Jeanne Shaheen and Maggie Hassan."
And the Ready for Hillary branding around the room? Buckley shrugged.
"Well, it is New Hampshire."
The PAC co-sponsored the dinner, putting down a $5,000 contribution to go toward organization costs. To date, Ready for Hillary has transferred $60,000 to New Hampshire Democrats, according to an aide. And earlier this year, the group purchased the state's Democratic voter file. More than 20 people affiliated with Ready for Hillary, including college volunteers, attended the event.
The group made a similar showing at the Iowa Steak Fry, the annual fundraiser hosted by Sen. Tom Harkin, where the Clintons spoke last month.
"We came up with a menu of things for them to select from, and the cost that that would be," Buckley recalled, "And they said, 'We'll take it all.'"
In Clinton's speech — an unscripted riff on trickle-down economics, raising the minimum wage, combating Ebola, the Reagan years, and his "love" of New Hampshire — the former secretary of state made repeated cameos.
"I'm really quite comfortable being here to campaign for women and taking orders," he said at one point, grinning. "It's like being at home."
Toward the end of his remarks, he promised, "If you like what happened when I was president, I'm telling you it will be way better than that going forward."
After the speech, Clinton worked the ropeline for about 20 minutes.
Asked if he was happy to be back in New Hampshire, he said, "Are you kidding? Is it obvious or what?"
"Hillary is coming in a few days, you know," said Clinton.
She is scheduled to return to New Hampshire on Nov. 2 to campaign for Shaheen and Hassan. It will be her first visit to the state since the 2008 election. During the primary, voters here delivered Clinton a crucial victory against Barack Obama.
Gov. Martin O'Malley headlined the same Jefferson-Jackson dinner last year. But the Maryland governor, who is also considering a White House bid, drew about a third as many people as Bill Clinton did on Thursday night.
"I think we had about 400 people last time. And it definitely was not sold out," Buckley said. "We stopped selling tickets days ago, but people were still after us all day trying to squeeze in. It's really a phenomenal turnout."
At last year's dinner, another Democratic trademark made its debut. The co-founder of the liberal group, Progressive Change Campaign Committee, passed out stickers that read, "I'm from the Elizabeth Warren wing of the Democratic Party."
In a seeming counter to the effort, a single advisor from Ready for Hillary passed out lapel buttons bearing the group's logo.
The PCCC, as it's known, did not make an appearance at this year's dinner.
Buckley, who has supported the Clintons in the past, seemed to welcome and encourage the sentiment behind the "READY" messaging.
Before the event began, a projector beamed old photos of the Clintons onto a large screen behind the stage. And overhead, the campaign song from Bill Clinton's first presidential race, "Don't Stop" by Fleetwood Mac, filled the ballroom.
"You can't beat Fleetwood Mac," Buckley said with a smile.
Judge also refuses to put his ruling on hold during any possible appeal. [Update: Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne will not appeal, says clerks “can issue licenses for same sex marriages immediately.” ]
Following an appeals court ruling allowing Idaho same-sex couples to marry, a federal judge also struck down Arizona's ban on same-sex couples' marriages.
Patrick Sweeney / Reuters
WASHINGTON — Arizona's ban on same-sex couples' marriages is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled on Friday.
U.S. District Court Judge John Sedwick struck down the state's ban based on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals' decision striking down Idaho and Nevada's similar bans.
Additionally, he refused to grant a stay of his opinion, meaning the decision goes into effect immediately.
Ron Klain is a longtime Beltway insider and former chief of staff to Vice Presidents Gore and Biden.
Larry Downing / Reuters
After weeks of speculation, the White House Friday named Ron Klain, a longtime Democratic political operative, as "Ebola czar."
The appointment of Klain, most recently in public service as the chief of staff to Vice President Joe Biden, follows weeks of debate about whether the White House should appoint a senior official to lead the central effort against Ebola. A Beltway insider who served as chief of staff to Vice Presidents Al Gore and Joe Biden, Klain is not a health care expert — but he is a political one.
Klain is a longtime veteran of Washington and Democratic campaign politics, also serving as chief of staff to Vice President Al Gore and as a key player in presidential debate preparations. During his tenure as chief of staff to Biden, he most drew headlines for his role in shaping the federal stimulus (and, in not ideal episode, for signing off on President Obama's visit to Solyndra, the federal-backed company whose failure became a political issue during the 2010 midterms). In the 2000s, he was a lobbyist for a variety of interests; his current role in the private sector is president of Case Holdings and general counsel of the investment firm Revolution.
Those that served with him praised what they said was a tenacious spirit and, most importantly, a deep understanding of how the levers of power work. As Ebola czar, Klain will involve coordinating a vast bureaucratic response to Ebola domestically and abroad — but it will also entail shoring up public perceptions of the White House's Ebola response, particularly after a series of public missteps by the Centers for Disease Control.
"If the problem is one of coordination and not one of science, then Ron Klain is a great guy for that job," said Ken Baer, a former top Obama administration official who worked with Klain beginning with Baer's time as a top speechwriter for Al Gore in the Clinton administration. Baer said Klain's expertise is a mixture of understanding the weeds of policy while also having a strong eye for communications and politics.
"There are few if no people in Washington who have as much experience at the highest level of the White House, the Hill, and the federal government generally. He just knows how all those places work," Baer said. "And that's a huge asset for what it seems like this job will be doing." Early criticisms of the Klain selection pointed to his lack of specific expertise in Ebola, but Baer said what the effort needs is someone to wrangle the various components of the government response rather than another infectious disease expert.
"He's going to be working as hard and as long as anybody else. He's not having a morning meeting and then going out for breakfast and saying, 'See you later, report back to me,'" he said. "He's very hands-on. In a very quick amount of time, no one will know more about Ebola and public health and the U.S. response to it than Ron Klain. He will get so smart on this so quick in a way that very few people can."
Former White House press secretary Jay Carney, who was hired by Klain for his first administration job in Biden's office, noted that Klain ran cross-government efforts during the implementation of both the stimulus and Obamacare.
"He has one of the quickest minds in Washington. And he's unrelenting in his focus. When I worked with him in VP Biden's office, he was very effective — he expected a lot from the staff but was also enormously helpful as a manager," Carney said. "I don't think there's anyone I've learned more from, about more things, in less time."
Carney said Klain has a strong relationship with Obama, a powerful tool when trying to wrangle things in Washington.
"I know the president thinks very highly of Ron," he said. "And people across government involved in the Ebola response will know Ron is acting on the president's behalf."
A senior Republican Senate staffer complained about the pick Friday morning, saying that Klain's role during the push to pass the Obama administration's economic stimulus bill was to undercut Republicans at every turn, and called Klain a partisan.
"I don't think that characterization is accurate at all," said Herbie Ziskend, who worked directly with him for two years at the White House and two years at an investment firm, and actually pointed to the stimulus in his defense of Klain. "I think he has shown that he works with people on both sides. The stimulus is a recent example of that."
Ziskend, who is now chief of staff for Arianna Huffington — a role unconnected to the editorial department at the Huffington Post — said Klain did a fine job working with Republicans outside of Washington during the stimulus implementation. Other White House allies also pointed to the Recovery Act to burnish Kiain's bipartisan cred.
Klain assured that Biden would personally return the call from any mayor or governor who reached out to the White House with questions within 24 hours, Ziskend said, "regardless of party."
"That was how Ron views attacking big problems," he said. "He did that successfully during those years as chief of staff."
Canceling events in New York and Rhode Island, Obama on Thursday met with members of his cabinet on the crisis, including National Security Advisor Susan Rice and CDC Director Dr. Tom Frieden. His remarks afterward hinted a czar reporting directly to him was necessary as Ebola threatens to spiral out of control in pockets of West Africa, and new infections to health care workers here in the U.S. forced the nation's largest nurses union to issue a warning that its workers may not be prepared to handle the crisis.
His naming of Klain is a concession to the chorus of voices arguing that a team of Lisa Monaco, assistant to the president for Homeland Security, Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, and Frieden was not the most effective way to monitor the government's response.
Lauding their work, Obama said, "It may be appropriate for me to appoint an additional person, not because the three of these folks have not been doing an outstanding job ... they are also responsible for a whole bunch of other stuff."
"It may make sense for us to have one person ... after the initial surge of activity [who will] make sure we're crossing all the T's and dotting all the I's," Obama said. "When I appoint somebody, l'll let you know."
Some lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Jerry Moran, have been calling for the appointment of a key point person to address the Ebola response in recent weeks.
The man for the job, Democratic lawmakers were quick to say on Friday, is Klain, who has strong relationships in Washington and is known as an effective manager. "I've known Ron Klain for over 20 years," New York Sen. Chuck Schumer said Friday. "He is smart, aggressive, and levelheaded; exactly the qualities we need in a czar to steer our response to Ebola. He is an excellent choice."
Sen. Chris Coons was pleased the White House named Klain to the post, calling him a "capable leader respected throughout government."
"He is a brilliant strategist and is known for his ability to manage large, complex operations," said Coons. "Ron also understands the importance of clear communications to the containment of a crisis like this. Ron has my trust and confidence, and I'm glad the president has selected him for this critical responsibility."
At least one Republican criticized the White House's selection on Friday, because Klain has no medical experience. "Worst Ebola epidemic in world history and Pres. Obama puts a government bureaucrat with no healthcare experience in charge. Is he serious?" Rep. Andy Harris tweeted Thursday.
John Stanton and Kate Nocera contributed reporting.
Delaware County charges Everhart after bitter dispute at The Strategy Group.
The consultant at the heart of the 2013 meltdown of a major Republican consulting firm has been indicted in Ohio for alleged hacking.
Nick Everhart was forced out of Strategy Group — controlled by consultant Rex Elsass — after an attempt to displace Elsass over grievances including alleged overspending and breaches of the company's Christian values, a battle that ended in civil litigation between Everhart and the firm.
But an indictment in Delaware County Court this morning charges Everhart with two felony counts of "unauthorized use of cable or telecommunication property."
The indictment, below, doesn't include the details of the charges. Everhart said in a brief email Friday afternoon that he had just learned of the indictment.
As BuzzFeed News reported last year, Strategy Group has been an influential force in Republican politics over the past several election cycles, counting as its recent clients Rand Paul, Ted Cruz, Michele Bachmann, and Newt Gingrich.
Until last year, Everhart was the company's president and a loyal right hand to Elsass; the two worked side by side for years as they built the firm into a major political player. But multiple sources familiar with the company's inner workings said the relationship between the two men deteriorated over time, with Everhart and other managers complaining that Elsass was prone to disruptive mood swings, and unwise business decisions. Some employees also claimed that Elass's lifestyle was out of step with the company's religious culture and Christian ideals.
Elsass, meanwhile, suspected Everhart of disloyalty to the company, and believed he was trying to turn other employees against him.
The internal tension culminated in a dramatic meeting in April, 2013, when several employees, led by Everhart, demanded changes to the company's management structure — and Elsass's personal life — and laid hands on their boss to pray for his soul. Everhart was eventually forced out of the company.
Rick Tyler, the newly installed president of Strategy Group, told BuzzFeed News last year that Everhart's actions "demonstrate a measure of delusion that remains unfathomable to me. The idea that employees could present to the owner of a company a list of demands with which they would take ownership of the company is a delusion that I can't reconcile with reality."
A spokesman for Strategy Group declined to comment on Everhart's indictment Friday.
“Okay, well, part of their creed would be to bring persons who have Ebola into our country.”
A Republican congressman says terrorists from Hamas could purposely infect themselves with the Ebola virus and then travel to America.
Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina was asked Thursday, during a question-and-answer after a speech, about the threat of Ebola entering the country through the U.S.-Mexico border. Referring to the "hypothetical," Wilson said, "I'm very concerned. We had people who, I'll repeat it, the creed of Hamas: We value death more than you value life. What? That's their creed."
The South Carolina congressman suggested that to promote their ideology, Hamas militants could send themselves to the United States, a situation he said could be avoided by sealing the southern border.
"Okay, well, part of their creed would be to bring persons who have Ebola into our country. It would promote their creed. And all this could be avoided by sealing the border, thoroughly. C'mon, this is the 21st century."
Earlier, Wilson called for Ebola-related travel ban and said we should "seriously seal the southern border."
"I'm absolutely convinced, too, that we've got to seriously seal our southern border," said Wilson. "If you have tens of thousands of children coming across the border who could have potential health issues the thought of other people coming across to me just should be stopped and avoided."
"We need to have secure borders," concluded Wilson.
The ruling is on hold until Oct. 23 or until government officials say they are not appealing the decision. [Update: Gov. Matt Mead says the state will not appeal.]
Bonnie Robinson, left, and her partner, Anne Guzzo, give a thumbs-up to a passing motorist while speaking with Carl Oleson and his partner, Rob Johnston, right, before a hearing on Thursday, Oct. 16, 2014, at the Ewing T. Kerr Federal Building in Casper, Wyo.
AP Photo/Casper Star-Tribune, Ryan Dorgan
WASHINGTON — A federal judge has declared that Wyoming cannot deny marriage licenses to same-sex couples.
U.S. District Court Judge Scott Skavdahl put his ruling on hold until Oct. 23 to provide time for government officials to attempt an appeal if they wish. The ruling could go into effect sooner if government officials inform the court that they do not plan to appeal the decision.
Skavdahl was nominated to the bench by President Obama in 2011. The ruling parted ways from many others in recent months because he made it clear that he would not have reached an independent ruling striking down the Wyoming ban on same-sex couples' marriages if it were not for the fact that the appeals court to which his cases are appealed had not already struck down other states' bans.
The 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, over the summer, struck down Utah and Idaho's bans on same-sex couples' marriages. Earlier this month, the Supreme Court denied both states' requests for the high court to hear its appeal of the ruling — letting the rulings stand and making those rulings the law that all lower courts within the circuit must follow.
"It is not the desire or preference of this Court to, with the stroke of a pen, erase a State's legislative enactments," Skavdahl wrote. "Nonetheless, the binding precedent of [the 10th Circuit cases striking down other bans] mandate this result, and this Court will adhere to its Constitutional duties and abide by the rule of law."
Worries of terrorists using Ebola against the United States grow amongst Republicans.
Another Republican member of Congress is raising the alarm about a possible Ebola-based attack on the homeland, warning American-born terrorists could purposefully return to the country carrying the virus.
"Bioterrorism is the other part of this," said Rep. Mike Kelly of Pennsylvania on NewsMaxTV's Steve Malzberg Show Friday. "I know you and I have talked before about this. I want people to think about this. We have American citizens who have left our country and gone to other parts of the world to learn how to do horrible things. Come home, blow themselves up in a ball, and take lives."
Kelly says an American citizen terrorist could travel and inflict themselves with Ebola with the goal of returning to America and infecting U.S. citizens.
"Think about the job they could do, the harm they could inflict on the American people by bring this deadly disease into our cities, into schools, into our towns, and into our homes. Horrible, horrible."
There is no evidence that terrorists are attempting to weaponize Ebola, or that they possess the capabilities to obtain the virus.
But that hasn't stopped Republicans from raising the alarm. Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina also said Thursday at a speech that terrorists from Hamas could purposely infect themselves with the Ebola virus and then travel to America.
On Wednesday, Republican Sen. Ron Johnson said the threat of ISIS terrorists using Ebola was a "real and present danger."
The Obama Administration so far has dismissed concerns of terrorists using Ebola as a threat.
The director of the FBI said Thursday there were no concerns about ISIS militants using Ebola.
The Department of Homeland Security has likewise dismissed the claims.
"We've seen no specific credible intelligence that ISIS is attempting to use any sort of disease or virus to attack our homeland," DHS chief Jeh Johnson said in remarks to the Association of the United States Army Monday.
The New Hampshire Republican talked with Brian Kilmeade Friday morning about Ebola and the 2012 Republican nominee for president.
WASHINGTON — Scott Brown told Fox News' Brian Kilmeade Friday that Ebola wouldn't be a problem for America if Mitt Romney had won in 2012.
"Gosh can you imagine if Mitt was the president right now?" Brown said. "He was right on Russia, he was right on Obamacare, he was right on the economy. And I guarantee you we would not be worrying about Ebola right now and, you know, worrying about our foreign policy screw ups."
Brown spoke about Romney and Ebola on Kilmeade's Fox News Radio show.
James Foley’s parents asked for the ad to be removed.
Murdered journalist James Foley.
Louafi Larbi / Reuters
A conservative group's ad campaign that featured images of murdered journalist James Foley has been pulled from YouTube and replaced. The ads from the organization Secure America Now targeted Democrats in competitive Senate races.
Footage of James Foley, the American journalist who was beheaded by ISIS militants in August in their public video "Message to America," was featured at the beginning of the series of web ads.
Foley's parents had asked for the ad to be pulled and to receive an apology.
"I think it is deplorable and there should be an apology," said John Foley, the father of James, to New England Cable News.
Foley's mother Diane called it "very sad."
Secure America Now is a right-wing nonprofit national security organization that lists on its advisory board people like former Gov. Mike Huckabee and Ambassador John Bolton.
The pulled advertisements were part of the organization's "launch of a new advocacy campaign in Arkansas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, and New Hampshire."
The new ads feature footage of ISIS militants as covered on Fox News.
After BuzzFeed News revealed that the Drug Enforcement Administration had created a phony Facebook page using a real woman’s name — without her knowledge — the company has told the agency it committed a “serious breach” of Facebook’s terms of service.
DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart.
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
Facebook has bluntly told the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration to stop using phony accounts and posing as real people in its investigations.
The company's rebuke, delivered Friday in a sharply critical letter to the law enforcement agency, comes after BuzzFeed News disclosed that a DEA agent had created a bogus Facebook account, impersonated an upstate New York woman, and posted racy photos of her and an image of her young son from her seized cell phone — all without her knowledge. The agent used the account to contact suspected criminals.
Lawyers from the U.S. Department of Justice have defended the agent's actions in court filings. But Facebook strongly disagreed.
"We regard the DEA's conduct to be a knowing and serious breach of Facebook's terms and policies," the social media site's chief security officer, Joe Sullivan, wrote in the letter to DEA Administrator Michele Leonhart. He also said the company is "deeply troubled" by the agency's legal position.
Facebook removed the fake profile after BuzzFeed News revealed that it had been created by the agent, and a Justice Department spokesman responded to the story by saying, "The incident at issue in this case is under review by Justice Department officials."
In a statement about Facebook's letter, the spokesman said, "That review is ongoing, but to our knowledge, this is not a widespread practice among our federal law enforcement agencies." The Associated Press first reported on the letter.
The actions by the DEA agent, Timothy Sinnigen, came to light because the woman he impersonated, Sondra Arquiett, is suing him and the government in federal court, saying the bogus profile violated her privacy and placed her in danger.
Law enforcement officers had arrested Arquiett in 2010, accusing her of being part of a drug ring. But evidence emerged that she was a bit player. She accepted responsibility and pled guilty, and a judge sentenced her to probation, which she has completed.
But while she was awaiting trial, Sinnigen created a Facebook page using her real name, which was then Sondra Prince. He posted photos from her phone, including one of her posing, legs spread, on the hood of a BMW and another of her with her son and niece, who were young children.
When BuzzFeed News disclosed the profile's existence, it was still viewable by anyone with a Facebook account.
In a court filing, a U.S. Attorney stated that Sinnigen sent a friend request to a fugitive, accepted other friend requests, and used the account "for a legitimate law enforcement purpose."
The government offered a defense of Sinnigen's actions in a court document: "Defendants admit that Plaintiff did not give express permission for the use of photographs contained on her phone on an undercover Facebook page, but state the Plaintiff implicitly consented by granting access to the information stored in her cell phone and by consenting to the use of that information to aid in an ongoing criminal investigations [sic]."
Facebook's letter addresses this claim, saying, "Facebook is deeply troubled by the DEA's claims and legal position." Facebook's Sullivan wrote that "our terms and Community Standards — which the DEA agent had to acknowledge and agree to when registering for a Facebook account — expressly prohibit the creation and use of fake accounts." He added, "Facebook has long made clear that law enforcement authorities are subject to these policies."
The decision prompts a strong rebuke from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
AP Photo/Eric Gay, File
WASHINGTON — More than two hours before sunrise on Saturday morning, with no reasoning given to explain its decision, the Supreme Court declined to stop Texas' strict voter ID law from being used in the upcoming election.
Texas' law allows seven forms of acceptable identification for voters — the list includes concealed handgun licenses, but excludes college student IDs, which are accepted in other states with similar voting restrictions, the Associated Press reported.
The court's decision, on its face, appeared to echo other recent decisions from the court in election law cases, with a result that aims at preventing late-minute election law changes from disrupting upcoming elections with confusion.
The ruling also, though, sparked an outcry from Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who warned that the court's decision could have the effect of "prevent[ing] more than 600,000 registered Texas voters (about 4.5% of all registered voters) from voting in person for lack of compliant identification" — noting that a "sharply disproportionate percentage of those voters are African-American or Hispanic."
The court's principle for keeping the law in effect — although not laid out in any opinion on Saturday — appears to come from a 2006 Supreme Court case called Purcell v. Gonzalez, in which the court declared, "Court orders affecting elections, especially conflicting orders, can themselves result in voter confusion and consequent incentive to remain away from the polls. As an election draws closer, that risk will increase."
In cases out of Ohio, North Carolina, and then Wisconsin, the justices — in similar unexplained actions — granted or refused to grant requests, as the case presented the issue, that ensured no last-minute changes would take effect.
In the Texas case, a federal district court judge, after a multi-day trial, ruled on Oct. 9 that the law is unconstitutional — at one point likening the restrictions to a poll tax. Less than a week later, however, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals put the trial court ruling on hold pending the outcome of the state's appeal — putting the law back into effect for the upcoming election. Civil rights groups and the Justice Department had asked the Supreme Court to vacate the 5th Circuit's stay — which would have halted enforcement of the law.
The Supreme Court, however, denied the request in a decision released by the court at 5:05 a.m. Saturday morning.
Asked about the timing of the decision, SCOTUSblog's Lyle Denniston, who has covered the court for decades, said it was very unusual. "I would have to go back and look at some of the process of Bush v. Gore, but my best recollection is that most of the orders in that case came out when normal people were up and functioning," he told BuzzFeed News Saturday evening. "I do not remember even a death penalty case being held until 5 in the morning, frankly."
He wrote that he guessed there were "heavy negotiations" over the decision, leaving Ginsburg to write her opinion overnight. "But that is only my best surmise," he added. "I have no hard evidence other than, of course, the remarkable passage of time through the night."
NPR's Nina Totenberg — another longtime Supreme Court reporter — echoed Denniston, telling BuzzFeed News, "These election cases in days gone by were hairy too but ... I just don't remember a 5 am release" — cautioning that she couldn't trust her memory on the issue. At the same time, however, she noted that "they couldn't do it at 5 am in the old days" because there would have been "no way to release it" — a contrast to the email containing the order that reporters covering the Supreme Court action on the Texas case received.
In all of these recent voting cases, the Supreme Court action relates only to whether a lower court decision should be allowed to go into effect during the state or plaintiffs' appeal of those rulings. The Supreme Court has not ruled on whether any of the voting restrictions are themselves constitutional.
In Ginsburg's strongly worded dissent on Saturday morning — in which she was joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan — she said the request out of Texas was different from the Ohio, North Carolina, and Wisconsin cases.
"True, in Purcell and in recent rulings on applications involving voting procedures, this Court declined to upset a State's electoral apparatus close to an election," Ginsburg wrote. "Since November 2013, however, when the District Court established an expedited schedule for resolution of this case, Texas knew full well that the court would issue its ruling only weeks away from the election. The State thus had time to prepare for the prospect of an order barring the enforcement of Senate Bill 14."
After detailing the history of challenges to Texas' voting restrictions, Ginsburg concluded: "The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters." For that reason, she wrote, she would not have allowed the law to remain in effect during the upcoming election.
Alison Vingiano contributed to this report.
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Progressives, for the most part invigorated by the work of the attorney general, look for a steady hand to take the reins at the Justice Department.
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
WASHINGTON — Progressives have some advice for President Obama as he prepares to choose the nation's next attorney general: Don't change anything.
In interviews with about a dozen major progressive legal advocates, including some who have clashed repeatedly with the administration, almost all said they wanted the Justice Department to look the same as it does today after the exit of current Attorney General Eric Holder. There's a belief among many on the left that the department — already arguably the most liberal part of Obama's administration — has taken steps in the second term to align the Justice Department even more closely with progressives' aim.
With the next attorney general, in other words, the left's main goal is seeing that the trajectory Holder has set continues.
Representing a broad swath of causes from opposition to restrictive voting laws to those pushing for the expansion of LGBT rights, the only real area any advocates flagged for improvement was in the area of civil liberties, particularly in relation to terrorism issues.
Even Floyd Abrams, the First Amendment attorney who has fought the administration in court on multiple occasions over its extraordinary war on leaks, said he doesn't want to see significant changes to the Justice Department after Holder's gone.
"There's good reason for hope that whether or not Attorney General Holder remains in office for the totality of the remaining years of President Obama's tenure that things will cool off a bit and there will be greater attention paid to avoiding conflict between the administration and the press," Abrams said.
He said that the latter years of Holder's term as attorney general were notable for a change in tone when it comes to the press. Abrams thinks that change was significant — and that reporters battling the Obama administration to protect their sources will face a better situation going forward.
"I think that's true even if he stays," Abrams said of Holder. "I think he has made a number of statements that indicate a desire to seek some sort of reconciliation with the press and I think he would take great care in provoking new conflict with the press."
For advocates who haven't fought as hard with Holder as Abrams has, there's even less of an incentive to see any drastic changes at the Justice Department after he leaves.
Last week, Obama signaled he too wants to keep the status quo at the Justice Department when it was reported that he would be nominating longtime progressive activist Vanita Gupta to head the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division.
What her nomination means, however, depends on who Obama picks to lead the Justice Department. Obama's reported shortlist of Holder replacements includes Kathy Ruemmler, Obama's former White House counsel and a close personal ally, but an option who lacks a strong background in the progressive legal community. On the other end of the shortlist spectrum is a name that Latino advocates and other progressive groups have rallied around as their pick: Labor Secretary Tom Perez.
Many of the progressive advocates steered clear of naming names when asked who they want to see be the next attorney general. But Perez worked under Holder and helped spearhead many of the Justice Department pushes of which progressives are most proud. The big question going forward: Was Gupta a peace offering to the left before more White House-allied nominee is announced, or was her selection a sign that Obama wants to heed the left's call for a new Justice Department that looks pretty much like the current one and will continue to press progressive causes?
Leaders from organizations across the progressive spectrum who spoke with BuzzFeed News pointed to the importance of the Justice Department's work on voting issues — specifically, joining in court challenges to states making changes to voting laws — as critical.
"I think whoever the next attorney general is will have to share Attorney General Holder's understanding that the right to vote is fundamental," said Caroline Fredrickson, the president of the progressive legal group, the American Constitution Society. "And it is not only the appropriate role but an absolutely necessary role for the Department of Justice to be fully engaged in protecting that right.
Fredrickson called Holder's voting rights work "very consequential" — and also praised the selection of Gupta this past week, and said she believes Gupta will bring "devotion" to voting issues.
The admiration for Holder among progressives on voting issues is real. Michele Jawando, Center for American Progress' Legal Progress vice president, called Holder an "icon for so many in the progressive community" and highlighted in particular his work on voting. Specifically, she praised the work of the department in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2013 decision in the Shelby County case that effectively gutted Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which required advance clearance from the department before several places in the country could make changes to their voting laws.
"As you continue the last two years of the Obama administration," Jawando said, "the work that the Justice Department will do will have an impact that will remain beyond the remaining time of the administration. We definitely would want someone who can speak to his work in voting rights, curbing racial profiling — that's also been something that he's really been engaged in — and hate-crimes prosecutions."
Tom Perez
Andrew Burton / Getty Images
Sen. Rand Paul says a potential travel ban is “reasonable” and should be “considered.” Ron Paul says the idea is “politically motivated.”
On Ebola, it's OB/GYN Dr. Paul vs. ophthalmologist Dr. Paul.
Speaking on NewsMaxTV's America's Forum Monday, former Republican Rep. Ron Paul said an Ebola travel ban from West African countries hit by the outbreak of the deadly disease came out of political not medical concerns.
"Right now I would say a travel ban is politically motivated more than something done for medical purposes," said Ron Paul.
Ron Paul said talk about an Ebola travel needs to be "put in perspective," and cited deaths from TB, the AIDS virus, and the flu.
Speaking on John Gibson's radio program last week, Sen. Rand Paul said "a temporary hiatus on flights" was "only reasonable."
Rand Paul said the travel ban "ought to be considered."
Rand Paul also said on CNN last week "a temporary suspension of flights should be definitely considered."
