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Former Federal Worker Sues, Alleging Anti-Gay Bias At Aviation Agency

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FAA Administrator Michael Huerta, left, and Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx

Andrew Harnik / AP

WASHINGTON — David Baldwin is asking a federal court to order the Obama administration to pay up for alleged anti-gay discrimination he claims to have faced while working for the Federal Aviation Administration in Miami.

Baldwin's lawyer told BuzzFeed News that the purpose of the lawsuit is much larger, though, aimed at expanding the scope of a recent agency ruling that found anti-gay discrimination is barred by existing civil rights laws.

"Mr. Baldwin’s case has the ability to affect more people than the [Supreme] Court’s Obergefell [marriage] case because there are more gay men and women who have jobs than same sex couples who want to get married," Baldwin's lawyer, Lowell Kuvin, told BuzzFeed News on Monday evening.

Baldwin — who alleges that he was passed over for promotions at the FAA's Miami Tower Terminal Radar Approach Control facility because he is gay — took his case to federal court this past week, following up on a ruling in his favor this summer from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that allowed his case to move forward.

Baldwin argued — and the EEOC agreed — that the ban on sex discrimination in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 includes a ban on discrimination based on a person's sexual orientation.

"[A]llegations of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation necessarily state a claim of discrimination on the basis of sex," the EEOC ruled in July in Baldwin's challenge. Baldwin then had 90 days to decide whether to take the case to federal trial court.

In the complaint, filed in federal court in Miami on Oct. 13, Baldwin sued Transportation Sec. Anthony Foxx and FAA administrator Michael Huerta in their official capacities. Baldwin claims that he "was not selected for a permanent position as a [Front Line Manager] at the Miami Tower facility" and that sex — specifically, the fact that he is gay — was the "motivating factor" for the fact that he was not promoted.

Baldwin alleges that he "was singled out due to his sexual orientation and treated differently than heterosexual co-workers by his supervisors due to inappropriate gender stereotyping," according to the complaint.

From Baldwin's complaint:

From Baldwin's complaint:

As legislative efforts to pass explicit LGBT protections have stalled in Congress, the argument that sexual orientation discrimination should be or is covered under existing civil rights laws has been advanced in recent years by some advocates and, this summer, by the EEOC.

While only the Supreme Court could issue a definitive ruling on the interpretation, EEOC decisions are given significant deference by federal courts. For now, however, the EEOC's decision is only binding on federal agencies.

"While the decision by the EEOC in Baldwin v. Foxx was a giant step forward for extinguishing sexual orientation discrimination by allowing federal employees to pursue sexual orientation claim under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title VII, it was just a small step forward for non-government employees," Kuvin, Baldwin's lawyer, told BuzzFeed News on Monday evening. "The next logical step for Mr. Baldwin, who would like to see the protection of Title VII extended to non-government employees alleging sexual orientation discrimination, was to bring the issue to the federal courts."

Kuvin added that Baldwin only decided to take the matter to federal court "once it became apparent that the issues were not going to be resolved" through conciliation with the FAA, which Kuvin said "never responded" to Baldwin's attempts to resolve the matter without litigation.

The move on sexual orientation coverage by the EEOC is not surprising. In 2012, the EEOC took similar action regarding the coverage of anti-transgender discrimination, finding in a case brought by Mia Macy that gender identity-based discrimination is covered under the sex discrimination bar in Title VII. The Obama administration has since concurred with that interpretation, but it has not announced such agreement with the EEOC's interpretation as to anti-gay discrimination.

Baldwin's case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Kathleen Williams, appointed to the bench in 2011 by President Obama.

One leading advocate of the EEOC's cases encouraged others to file similar cases.

"The EEOC’s strongly reasoned Baldwin ruling deserves deference from federal courts across the country, and we hope the federal district court in Florida will join federal courts in Washington state and Washington, D.C. in ruling that gay plaintiffs can bring Title VII claims," Freedom to Work's Tico Almeida told BuzzFeed News. "More LGBT Americans should follow the lead of courageous people like David Baldwin and Mia Macy by filing claims under the sex discrimination bans in the Civil Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and other existing federal statutes."

Messages were left with the Transportation Department and FAA press offices seeking comment on the lawsuit.

Read the complaint:


Clinton And Sanders Campaigns Neck-And-Neck On Diversity Hiring

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John Locher / AP

The Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton campaigns released diversity hiring data after the third quarter that shows them on equal footing percentage-wise when it comes to diversity hiring.

After public urging by diversity hiring initiative Inclusv, a project of Obama campaign veterans that crunched the hiring numbers unofficially this summer, Clinton released statistics showing 32.2% of its 511 staffers are people of color, noting that 37.5% of senior staff are minorities. The Sanders campaign told BuzzFeed News its figure is 33% of 193 staffers. The Clinton campaign numbers stayed steady, since July, while Sanders ticked up from 25%.

Martin O'Malley's campaign, which has struggled to fundraise, and is much smaller, had 34 white staffers out of 41, at 82.9%.

Alida Garcia, a co-founder of Inclusv said she was thrilled to see the top three Democratic candidates self-report diversity figures and that while each campaign has room for growth, their tracking of these numbers leads to accountability as the election progresses.

"This is a historic first step to build from that acknowledges that accountability toward diversity is a necessary value to prioritize within any progressive organization," she said in an email. "Cycle-after-cycle, people of color have had to unnecessarily fight for this type of transparency. We hope that the patterns of cycles' past begin to end and that this effort will be powerfully norm-setting for politics long-term."

Steve Phillips, a top Democratic donor and Inclusv co-founder, noted this summer that 42% of Obama’s voters were people of color.

“In order for Democrats to win they have to inspire and generate enthusiasm in the communities of color,” he said.

You Don't Have To Wait In Line For "Star Wars" Tickets If You Just Give This Congressman A $250 Donation

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The biggest Star Wars fan in Congress is holding a secret screening of Star Wars the day before it officially opens. Tickets are $250 each, unless you’re a corporation. Then they’re $750.

This is Rep. Derek Kilmer, Democrat of Washington.

This is Rep. Derek Kilmer, Democrat of Washington.

Rep. Derek Kilmer's Facebook page / Via Facebook: derek.kilmer

Kilmer really, really likes Star Wars. Here he is with his daughters Tess (as Han Solo) and Sophie (as Leia) last May 4, known to Jedi everywhere as Star Wars Day.

Kilmer really, really likes Star Wars. Here he is with his daughters Tess (as Han Solo) and Sophie (as Leia) last May 4, known to Jedi everywhere as Star Wars Day.

Via Facebook: derek.kilmer

"I showed them to them exactly the way I saw them," he told BuzzFeed News. "I didn't want my kids' first exposure to Star Wars to involve Jar Jar Binks."

So Kilmer is a true fan. There's literally a cardboard Luke Skywalker in this guy's Capitol Hill office.


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Ohio Cancels Upcoming Executions, Reschedules Them For Starting In 2017

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Ohio Gov. John Kasich

Darren Mccollester / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Ohio has canceled all of its scheduled 2016 execution dates due to difficulties the state has had securing execution drugs, state officials announced Monday evening. The executions were rescheduled for dates beginning in January 2017.

Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican presidential candidate, issued reprieves for the dozen death row inmates whose executions were rescheduled, according to the Associated Press. The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction "continues to seek all legal means to obtain the drugs necessary to carry out court ordered executions, but over the past few years it has become exceedingly difficult to secure those drugs because of severe supply and distribution restrictions," according to a statement from DRC announcing the rescheduled dates.

Those new dates, per the DRC statement, "are designed to provide DRC additional time necessary to secure the required execution drugs."

Ohio's most recent execution was that of Dennis McGuire in January 2014, the first of three problematic, extended executions across the country in 2014, all of which involved the use of the drug midazolam in the execution protocol.

In responding to the news, one of the inmates's lawyers pointed to a recent newspaper editorial questioning the state's use of the death penalty.

"We are glad to see that the State of Ohio has decided to do the right thing and postpone executions, rather than attempting further executions with illegal or experimental drugs," Allen L. Bohnert, assistant federal public defender, told BuzzFeed News. "Perhaps, as the Columbus Dispatch suggested just a few days ago, continuing to maintain the death penalty in this state is no longer worth the effort."

Ohio's Revised Execution Schedule:

Ohio's Revised Execution Schedule:

Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction

Axelrod: I Only Went To D.C. After Obama Said I Could Still Tell Him To Go Fuck Himself

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Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images

David Axelrod, the former top adviser and chief campaign strategist to President Barack Obama, said he only went to Washington, D.C. in 2008 after he was promised that he would still be able to tell Obama to go fuck himself as president.

"It was a total adjustment, and I was frightened about it. I honestly – I had spent a career staying out of Washington," Axelrod told the Kick Ass Politics podcast in an interview on his career. "You know, I have a lot of great friends in Washington, I revere the institutions, I'm proud – particularly as the son of an immigrant – I'm proud of America's institutions, and I think sometimes we take them for granted too much. But there's a pathology to Washington that I – you know, it's who's up and who's down, and very bright, insecure people trying to kneecap each other, keeping the other guy out of the meeting to elevate their own importance.

"And so, I knew all that. And I actually had this interesting conversation with Obama after the election – or, it was probably in the final weeks of the election, when we were thinking about, we knew we were gonna win," declared Axelrod. "And I said 'I don't, you know, I don't know if I can go.' And he said 'Why not?' And I said, 'Well, first of all,' I said, 'I've spent my whole life setting myself up so I could tell anybody I wanted to go fuck themselves. And I've walked out of campaigns, and work situations, when I thought it wasn't right. And, I said, 'and you can't say that to the president of the United States.'"

Obama said it would be okay to still drop F bombs on him, just not do so in front of other people.

"And he said 'Well, you know, that's probably true. You can't really say that to the president,' he said, 'but...' And then he made the case why it was important, and so on and so forth," continued Axelrod. "At the end of it, he said 'And one other thing.' 'What's that,' I said. He said: 'You can tell me to fuck myself. Just don't do it in front of anybody else.' So I went."

Still, Axelrod said his biggest disappointment of the Obama administration was an inability to change Washington.

"I think my biggest disappointment was that we really weren't able to change the tenor of politics in Washington," said Axelrod. "In fact, if anything it got worse, because I think the Republican leadership made a judgement very early that we had huge majorities, we were in the middle of really difficult decisions, and they were gonna let us wrestle with them, because that was the smartest and shrewdest way to get some of their, to get their seats back, and to get back to equilibrium. And I regret that decision, I don't think it was the best decision for the country, but I understand the strategy behind it."

w.soundcloud.com

Huckabee: Women Won't Allow Themselves To Be "Victimized" By Abortion Providers When I'm President

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“Well I would like to believe that rather than her thinking that was her only option, she would not allow herself to be victimized by an industry that has exploited women for 42 years, and made a lot of money off of them.”

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee says that under his administration, women seeking abortions would not allow themselves to "victimized" by abortion providers who he characterized as lying to women about the physical and emotional implications of receiving an abortion.

"Well I would like to believe that rather than her thinking that was her only option, she would not allow herself to be victimized by an industry that has exploited women for 42 years, and made a lot of money off of them," stated the former Arkansas governor on Concord News Radio."Never told them the full story of the physical implications of this surgical procedure and especially never told them the emotional perspective.

Huckabee singled out the recent controversy surrounding Planned Parenthood and videos that purported to show staff members at the organization discussing the sale of fetal tissue as an example of profiteering by abortion providers. Planned Parenthood denied it profited from fetal tissue donation but announced last week that it would stop taking reimbursement for the costs associated with procuring the tissue.

"And I think we need to stop exploiting women, making money off of em' and l lying to them, that they are just having a little, minor surgical procedure, like a tooth extraction," Huckabee said.

Huckabee said abortion provided the justification for ending any human life because it was too expensive.

"I just want to remind people, that once you've accepted the premise that you can end a human life, because it represents a financial burden, or a social distraction -- you say 'gee I can't finish law school, or that's going to be too expensive' -- once you've made that decision, that you can end a human life, because of those two reasons, which are the justifications, for the system we have today, then I would suggest that at any point of that person's life, you've given us justification, to take a person's life if it becomes too expensive or if it represents a huge social disruption in the family's life" said Huckabee.

"That does not bode well for those of us getting older, when our children are going to be making decisions about our long term care, and if it gets expensive, and it means they have to mess up their weekends to come check on us, we've already written for them the rulebook and given them the guidelines to give us the lethal injection and put us out of their misery. I don't think Americans have thought that through and they need to."

Trump Reverses Course, Says Biden Shouldn't Run And Emails Won't Sink Clinton

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“I personally can’t see why he would cause I don’t think he’s going to win and he’s got a legacy,” Trump said of Biden.

Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump says he doesn't think Vice President Joe Biden will run for president because current Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton has "too much of a head start."

In August, Trump had told Breitbart.com he expected Clinton would be forced out by her use of a private email server and Biden would be the Democratic nominee.

But on Tuesday, Trump appeared to changed his tune, telling Boston Herald Radio of a possible Biden run and Hillary Clinton's emails, "I personally can't see why he would cause I don't think he's going to win and he's got a legacy. He can go out now, he can go out on a high, but look, he's somebody who's been in campaigns but don't forget he's done it two or three times before and he's failed very badly, he's done very poorly. I think she's got too much of a head start on him. The email thing, I believe she's being totally protected on the emails by the Democrats. If she were a Republican she would have been in jail about two years ago -- when it first came out or a year ago. But she's being protected by the Democrats.

"I think it's a very serious thing that she did," added Trump of Clinton's email use.

Take a listen:

Activists Call On Democrats To Hold Black Lives Matter Focused Debate

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Joe Raedle / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — The Black Lives Matter network is calling for more debates from the Democratic National Committee, and is demanding a Black Lives Matter-themed presidential primary debate.

It's not clear when or how the network wants to do this, but the network is enabling people to share instantly their support for the idea to their Twitter or Facebook accounts when they sign up.

The call for the debate comes as many activists were displeased with how CNN and Democrats handled the first question of the debate program regarding the movement.

"It is not enough to poll the presidential candidates on whether or not they think 'black lives matter' or 'all lives matter' — we deserve substantive responses — including and in addition to criminal justice reform, what will the presidential candidates do to ensure that black lives matter?" a portion of the network's statement reads on its website.

Some black members of the media, including Roland Martin, perhaps in an effort to ramp up public pressure on the Democrats, had been increasingly vocal in the weeks leading up to the first debate that Black Lives Matter's impact in the presidential election warranted a debate or forum in which candidates could go toe-to-toe with each other on issues important to the movement.

"I think very action that Black Lives Matter has taken has really led up to now," said Elle Hearns, an activist for GetEQUAL and an Black Lives Matter strategic partner who was instrumental in the planning and execution of the Movement for Black Lives convention in Cleveland this past summer.

"Take Netroots or the Seattle confrontation, for instance, and especially how Bernie Sanders was really uncomfortable then," Hearns said. "And now what we've seen is really a 360 in terms of him embracing #BlackLivesMatter and #SayHerName. So right now it's just really time to have a more substantive conversation."

Hearns said that until now, the candidates have been spouting rhetoric, but the debates would give them the chance to give them the chance to talk about substantive policy and what they would do for black lives as president.

"What we're demanding is for more substance, not just rhetoric, because we know that a lot of the candidates are depending on black voters," Hearns told BuzzFeed News, citing a report by the Center for American Progress explaining the crucial impact women of color have on electoral politics.

Hearns argued the safety of black trans women, incarceration rates, police violence, "economic disenfranchisement," and efforts to defund Planned Parenthood as issues that needed to be discussed in a debate setting.

The plea is something of a departure for the network's two dozen chapters. In August, in response to a resolution the party passed at its summer meeting in Minnesota supporting the movement, the organization issued a tersely-worded statement saying that while it "applauds political change towards making the world safer for Black life" the network was not endorsing the Democratic Party.

Now, Black Lives Matter activists are clear: They want more debates and they want their own.

"Limiting the number of debates unfairly privileges some candidates over others, and cheats voters out of the opportunity to fully engage candidates on issues we care about," the statement from Black Lives Matter reads.

On Tuesday, Clinton's campaign responded to Black Lives Matter's call for more debates.

"Hillary Clinton looks forward to continuing to debate and lay out why she’s running for president and who she’ll fight for," a Clinton aide told BuzzFeed News. "As she has said, she will follow the DNC schedule and looks forward to a good exchange of ideas and to make sure that Democratic voters see exactly what she stands for."


Stop What You're Doing And Watch "Star Wars" Characters Face Donald Trump On "The Apprentice"

This Is The Man In India Who Is Selling States Illegally Imported Execution Drugs

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Eight thousand miles from the execution chamber at the Nebraska State Penitentiary is Salt Lake City — a planned satellite town in Kolkata, the capital city of India’s West Bengal state. It’s a modern mecca of swanky office complexes, colleges, shopping malls, and restaurants. Here, on the eighth floor of a plush glass building overlooking a lake, is an office where Nebraska’s lethal injection drug supplier says he makes his drugs.

A laminated paper sign stuck on the door of room 818 reads “Harris Pharma - manufacturer and distribution.” The office, with powder-blue walls and a frosted glass facade, is one of 61 spaces on the floor rented out to various companies.

This is the facility in India where a man named Chris Harris, a salesman without a pharmaceutical background, claims his manufacturing and distribution business is based. He has sold thousands of vials of execution drugs for corrections officials in the U.S. who are desperate to find drugs to carry out the death penalty.

An employee who works at the facility, however, said the office is not being used to make drugs.

Saurav Bose, a customer relations officer at the office rental company who has met Harris twice since he started working here a few months ago, said Harris did not manufacture drugs in this rented office.

Left: The building in Salt Lake City in India. Right: The office Harris rents.

Tasneem Nashrulla

Harris’s office, which was shut on a Tuesday morning when a reporter from BuzzFeed News visited, is much like the other ready-to-use, standardized workspaces available to rent by Regus — an international firm operating in 900 cities across the world, including the more well-known Salt Lake City in Utah. It appeared highly unlikely that the rented office would accommodate laboratory equipment required to manufacture pharmaceutical drugs.

“He comes only two to three times in a month,” Bose said, adding that most of his communication with Harris was limited to email. Bose, who described Harris as being “fickle” with his visits to the office, said he rarely had any clients or other people in the office.

BuzzFeed News identified several such inconsistencies after reviewing thousands of pages of court records, emails, and invoices; interviewing his past business partners; and visiting the locations in India from which Harris claims to run his business.

Chris Harris

Facebook

BuzzFeed News spent more than four months trying to talk to Harris over emails, via phone calls and during a visit to his office in India. Each time, Harris refused to talk.

“Quote me on this. I don’t speak to reporters as they always say what is not true,” Harris told BuzzFeed News when first contacted for comment in June.

After months of reporting on his sale to Nebraska, Harris again declined to talk with BuzzFeed News in September, writing, "Do and say what you want. But I will never give a reporter 2 min of my time. As all print what they want. Not the true story. They need a scandal to get sales and keep they jobs."

BuzzFeed News has been able to confirm four times that Harris sold execution drugs illegally to four death penalty states, and documents indicate there is likely a fifth. His sales follow a typical script: The legal issues are fixed this time, don’t worry about it. Other states are buying it, too. You aren’t the only one. You just need to make it a “minimum order” to make it worth the while. Payment in advance.

The documents show little effort by states to investigate Harris’s qualifications or the legalities of importing drugs.

Harris has gotten states to pay tens of thousands of dollars for his drugs, but each time, after concerns were raised over the legality of the purchase, the drugs have gone unused.

Somehow, states are still falling for it.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts had a problem. In a few days, the state legislature would vote on repealing the death penalty in his state. He needed to convince a few of them that the death penalty in Nebraska was salvageable, that the state’s prior problems with the death penalty were just logistical issues that he, a new governor, could fix.

So, on May 14, he announced that he had found a way for Nebraska to get execution drugs — something that many states have struggled to find.

“The functionality of the death penalty in Nebraska has been a management issue that I have promised to resolve,” Gov. Ricketts said, announcing the purchase a day before the legislature would vote to advance the repeal. “Through the work of [Department of Correctional Services] Director Frakes, the department has purchased the drugs that are necessary to carry out the death penalty in Nebraska in the near future.”

Despite having only 10 men on its death row and no executions in the state for more than 15 years, Rickett’s Department of Correctional Services placed an order to Harris for enough drugs to conduct hundreds of executions. As BuzzFeed News reported this summer, Nebraska did so because Harris said he would sell to the state only if they agreed to buy a “minimum order” of 1,000 vials.

Nebraska sent Harris a check for $54,400.

The state legislature voted to repeal the death penalty anyway, overriding Ricketts’ veto, and Ricketts’ management has led Nebraska to a stand-off with the Food and Drug Administration, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Customs over illegally importing the drugs.

Many reputable drug makers have enacted stringent guidelines that keep their products out of the hands of executioners. In turn, states — disregarding federal laws on importing drugs — have sometimes turned to foreign suppliers like Harris as they’ve become more desperate to get a hold of lethal drugs. The drug Nebraska purchased, sodium thiopental, is an out-of-date anesthetic that stopped being used in executions after the sole FDA-approved manufacturer quit making it to keep it away from death penalty states.

Other death penalty states have turned to different drugs, but Nebraska had few options because the state’s protocol calls for sodium thiopental. Changing it to a more modern execution drug would have required public meetings, and that would take time that Ricketts and his DOC did not have.

Sodium thiopental is not used in the U.S. anymore, but it’s still widely used in India and in parts of the developing world as an anesthetic. So when Harris approached Nebraska in April, it might have seemed like an easy choice for the state.

"He told us that if he gets the consignment his life will be made."

“He used to sit at home all day long. How did he manage to sell lethal injection drugs to the U.S.?” Pijush Kantibairag wondered aloud, as he sat smoking in his 1,050-square-foot apartment in Kasba, a suburban maze of narrow lanes and ramshackle buildings in southern Kolkata, nearly eight miles away from Harris’s office in Salt Lake City.

Two floors above him is Flat C1, where Harris used to live. Kantibairag and Harris were neighbors. Harris's flat, however, is now empty and bolted shut. Flat C1, a residential apartment, also is one of the office addresses of Harris Pharma — the company owned by Harris.

This is Harris’s second listed business location — the location he tells the DEA and Nebraska that Harris Pharma is based out of. But he hasn’t lived here in more than two years, both his former neighbor and his landlord told BuzzFeed News.

Harris lived in the apartment with his second wife, Sanjukta Harris, but left the building in 2013 ago without paying seven months’ rent and electricity bills, his landlord, Abhijit Majumder, told BuzzFeed News.

Majumder said Harris was behind rent and utility payments. “But on April 14 [2013] — I still remember the date — he suddenly handed over the keys to the caretaker and just left the building,” said Majumder, who rents out two apartments in the building but does not reside there. He also claimed some items in the apartment were destroyed after Harris left.

Majumdar said that he rented out the flat to Harris for “residential purposes only” and was unaware that Harris had registered it as an office. “He told me he was a computer professional dealing in software.”

Kantibairag, the former neighbor, said Harris told him he manufactured and sold “sexual feel drugs” on a website. Kayem Pharmaceuticals, for which Harris was a broker during this time, sells drugs to enhance male sexual performance. Kantibairag said that Harris never seemed to have money to pay for rent, yet spent excessively: “Every day there was a new car outside the building.”

While Kantibairag said he was shocked to read the news about Harris’s $54,000 deal with Nebraska, he recalled that Harris had hinted about a business deal with the U.S. at a birthday party he hosted on the building’s terrace for his wife. Kantibairag said Harris bragged to his neighbors about getting a “big consignment” from the U.S.

According to Kantibairag, Harris told his guests that America needed lethal injection drugs for the death penalty and that he was manufacturing the drugs for them.

“He told us that if he gets the consignment his life will be made,” Kantibiarag said. This was back before Harris had started his own company and was working with the Mumbai-based firm Kayem Pharmaceuticals. Kantibiarag said Harris showed them his business cards that named him the director.

Majumder said Harris made excuses for not paying the rent, saying he was going through “financial losses.”

“In February 2013, I told him, ‘You must give me rent or otherwise you leave the apartment.’ He told me he was trying to get the money and to give him some time,” Majumder said.

But Harris left the apartment two months later without informing Majumder, who said he didn’t file a police complaint because he thought it wasn’t worth the time and the effort.

“He and his wife stopped answering my calls and his mobile number was later disabled,” Majumder said.

Using a colloquial Hindi saying, Kantibairag summed up his feelings on Harris: “10 paise ki aukat hai, aur 2 lakh ki baat karta hai” — He is worth only 10 paise (less than a penny), but he talked like he was worth 2 lakh rupees (around $3,000).

Harris's former apartment

Tasneem Nashrulla / BuzzFeed News

Jim Webb Is Maybe Still A Democrat, And Definitely Still Against The Modern Democratic Party

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Alex Wong / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — Jim Webb is back to confusing everyone about his politics.

The former Reagan administration official, Republican, and finally one-term Democratic senator dropped his quixotic bid for the Democratic presidential nomination Tuesday, saying the Democratic nomination process was stacked against him.

"It’s been very difficult in the Democratic primary process with the dominance of one candidate, not only in her candidacy but in the structure of the Democratic Party, the traditional financing structures, the hierarchies themselves, the DNC," he said at a press conference. "It’s been a very careful process that I’ve put forward here, and, again as I’ve said, I have issues that I care about that maybe aren’t in line with that particular hierarchy.”

Webb, who did little actual campaigning during his primary campaign, said he'd embark on a listening tour to test the waters for an independent bid for the White House. Aides at his event were sporting buttons with a new logo that simply read "Jim Webb 2016" in clean, capital letters. His Democratic primary signs read "Jim Webb '16: Leadership You Can Trust" in a lowercase font with a star for the "i."

Webb railed against what he said was a rising extremism in both parties that left a vast independent middle yearning for a third option. He said that option might be him, considering he's been both a Democrat and Republican.

"I’ve worked with both sides, and I have a lot of respect for many people who are members of both parties. I know how broken our system really is," he said. "This country needs a totally new dynamic that respects and honors our history and our traditions but is not a slave to the power structures that are failing us."

But Webb wasn't ready to leave his current political party yet.

"Do you still consider yourself a Democrat, though?" Dan Merica, a reporter from CNN, asked Webb. "Would you use that term to describe yourself?"

"We'll think about that," Webb said.

Webb touted his connections to organized labor — a union firefighter actually stood up during the press conference, thanked him, and offered the Vietnam vet a challenge coin — and his history of pissing off leadership in both parties as evidence that he can connect with the frustrated white, working-class voter he promised to rally when he embarked on his quest for the Democratic nomination.

He didn't mention the various moments this year when he struggled to embrace the changing Democratic Party. An early and vocal proponent of the criminal justice reform movement driving a large part of progressive social politics at the moment, Webb failed to connect with the left pushing for changes to the prison system and to the "war on drugs" due in large part to questioning the efforts like the Black Lives Matter movement.

Webb criticized efforts to remove the Confederate flag from official state sites across the country, declined an opportunity at the debate to stand with Black Lives Matter, and struggled with a debate question about his past criticism of affirmative action.

Asked by BuzzFeed News if those were the areas where he felt the Democratic Party had become too "extreme," Webb said the party's leadership had become alienating to some.

"I’m not trying to stand here and attack the Democratic Party, but these are areas where I think there were strong differences between the party hierarchy and myself," he said. "The Democratic Party has heavily invested in the notion of interest group politics, and interest group politics if you’re not careful can exclude people who also need a voice in the corridors of power."

Essentially, Webb argues the Democratic Party has gotten carried away with itself.

He repeated his answer about affirmative action from the debate — the program was designed for black students, and they deserve special treatment due to their special history, he said. But the programs should end there.

"Once you expand that into what we call diversity programs for anyone who happens to be a person of color, by definition, what's you're actually doing is you're hurting poor blacks and you're hurting poor whites," he said, adding, "We should be making sure that we're serious when we're talking about having a level playing field and still giving special consideration to the journey of African-Americans. But for everybody else, welcome to America. You have the best shot in the world here at having a great future."

On the Confederate flag, Webb again joined the ranks of critics who feel opponents are trying to erase the Confederacy from history.

"With respect to the issue of the Confederate flag, what I said was that, yes, the Confederate flag should come down but I’m a historian, and that we need to be very careful about examining the fairness of our history," he said. "There are people who do not view, have not viewed the confederate battle flag as a symbol of racism and so let’s take them down from public places but let’s not get carried away here in terms of how our own history played out during the period."

Fired Gilmore Campaign Staffer Was Charged Last Month With Harassing A Woman On Facebook

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Richard Lowrance, who lives and works in New Hampshire, is currently in South Carolina wearing a GPS ankle bracelet after he was arrested for harassment. The campaign fired Lowrance, but would not specify when or why.

Former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore

Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

In early September, a staffer for former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore's struggling presidential campaign was arrested for sending more than 100 Facebook messages — some sexually suggestive — to a woman in South Carolina.

The Gilmore campaign told BuzzFeed News that the accused operative, Richard Lowrance, was fired shortly after he was brought onto the campaign, but would not specify the date or reason for his termination.

Lowrance, who is charged with 1st degree harassment, is not allowed to leave South Carolina, though he lives in New Hampshire. He is required to wear an ankle bracelet that monitors his movements.

FEC records show that the Gilmore campaign paid Lowrance $5,000 on Sept. 1 to serve as state organization director in New Hampshire (one of Gilmore's largest expenses, according to Politico). Dick Leggitt, a Gilmore spokesman, said the money was an advance to get Lowrance started and that he started work on the day he was paid.

Two days after he was paid, however, Lowrance was arrested after a woman contacted the police department of Greer, S.C., to complain that he had sent her dozens of "strange messages" between Dec. 27, 2014, and Jan. 11 of this year. According to the police report, the content of the messages, 81 of which went unreturned, ranged from Lowrance describing a dream he had of the alleged victim to "insinuating that" they "were in a current relationship."

After receiving a message in which Lowrance wrote he was "not going to be happy, whatsoever," if she did not pick up a call from him, the alleged victim responded, and said that the behavior was unacceptable. She asked him not to contact her again.

The messages resumed on Aug. 30, according to the police report. The Greer police officer, who says the alleged victim provided him with 33 pages of Facebook messages from Lowrance, reports that Lowrance sent 46 messages to her between that day and the next. One read, "I now understand why I was getting so horny in the morning, you using this technology on me to instigate situations." Lowrance also sent her a package via UPS.

The woman told the police officer that she last saw Lowrance in 2012.

Lowrance was released from jail on Sept. 11 on a bond of $7,000, according to the solicitor's office of Greenville County. The terms of his bond stated that he must remain in South Carolina, though the solicitor's office says his lawyer has filed a motion, to be heard on Monday, to allow him to return to his home in New Hampshire.

A spokesperson for Gilmore's campaign told BuzzFeed News that Lowrance worked for the Gilmore campaign for "less than a matter of weeks," before later saying that it was "a matter of days" before the operative was let go.

"We learned things about him him after he was hired that made it very plain he wasn't someone we wanted connected with us," Leggitt said, adding that, though Lowrance was "given certain duties to fulfill," the campaign didn't believe "he fulfilled any of them."

"So basically we were another victim of his activities," Leggitt said.

Reached by phone on Monday, Jim Gilmore himself stated of Lowrance, "He does not work for us anymore. Has not for quite some time," but would not confirm the precise reason for Lowrance's dismissal.

Lowrance told BuzzFeed News he couldn't comment on the arrest and referred to his position with the campaign as "field director."

According to the police report, Lowrance confirmed to the police officer that he had sent a "package of flowers" to the victim's address. He said that the ordeal "must have been a misunderstanding" and also said he was sorry. He expressed a wish that the woman had contacted him "one more time" to tell him to stop harassing her.

On Tuesday, a day after being contacted by BuzzFeed News, Gilmore sent out a press release announcing Anne Smith as his new New Hampshire state coordinator.

Gilmore, who falls short of 1% in most polls, is largely self-funding his campaign.

Paul Ryan Will Run For Speaker If Every Republican Caucus Supports Him

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Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images

Rep. Paul Ryan finally answered calls from veteran members of his party Tuesday evening and said he would run for speaker in a closed-door meeting — but only if he is a unifying figure for the party.

Ryan told colleagues he will decide by Friday, and will only run if he has the support of the caucuses inside the Republican Party, some of which have become major political forces on Capitol Hill in terms of disrupting the plans made by Republican leadership.

"I have shown my colleagues what I think success looks like, what I think it takes to unify and lead and how my family's commitments come first," Paul told reporters after the meeting. "I have left this in their hands and should they agree with these requests, then I'm happy and I am willing to get to work."

Although not a yes yet, Ryan's move toward a decision could bring some order to the House, which has been in a state of complete chaos since House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy dropped his bid to replace Speaker John Boehner, who is expected to step down at the end of the month.

House Republicans who attended the meeting applauded loudly after hearing from Ryan.

The Wisconsin Republican, who has young kids, had previously said the job was for an "empty nester." On Tuesday evening, he said a major criteria for him to run for speaker would be not traveling as much to fundraise as previous speakers have done. "I cannot and will not give up my family time," he told reporters.

He framed his decision as a difficult one. "I consider whether to do this with reluctance," he said. And I mean that in the most personal of ways. Like many of you, Janna and I have children who are in the formative, foundational years of their lives. I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them. Will they experience the viciousness and incivility that we all face on a daily basis?

"But my greatest worry is the consequence of not stepping up. Of some day having my own kids ask me, when the stakes were so high, 'Why didn’t you do all you could? Why didn’t you stand and fight for my future when you had the chance?'"

Several House Republicans wasted no time in throwing their support behind Ryan.

Whether the conservatives on Capitol Hill — including the House Freedom Caucus, the group of conservative members whose demands were a source of trouble for Boehner, and ultimately his would-be successor, McCarthy — will support Ryan is less clear.

The former vice presidential nominee would need 218 votes to be able to replace Boehner. Whether he can secure those votes has been a point of speculation in recent weeks, even as Ryan has been pressured by party leaders to step up and run.

Ahead of the meeting, Ryan, who currently serves as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, spent the afternoon meeting with lawmakers including members of the House Freedom Caucus — a group of conservatives credited with Boehner’s resignation and McCarthy’s decision to pull out of the race.

Coming out of Tuesday evening's meeting, members of the Freedom Caucus said they weren't sold on Ryan. Some pointed to his past support for comprehensive immigration reform and others said they want more specifics on how Ryan would change the way the House operates.

To the broader public, Ryan remains best known as Mitt Romney's running mate in 2012.

John Gress / Getty Images

Following the loss in 2012, Ryan eventually gained the chairmanship of the Ways and Means Committee, which he had reportedly long sought, and became particularly interested in advancing policy positions to address poverty.

After the meeting, Ryan's spokesman, Brendan Buck, released the following statement:

Tonight, Congressman Ryan laid out to his colleagues why he believes we are in this situation and what he thinks is needed for us to move forward as a team.

He did not announce a final decision on the speakership, but he did discuss what’s necessary, in his view, for the next speaker to be successful.

First, he said our next speaker needs to be visionary: more focused on communicating our agenda and laying out big ideas. The next speaker needs to use the platform to create a clear policy choice for the country.

In addition, he told his colleagues that he encourages changes to our rules and procedures, but he also believes that those changes must be made as a team. They affect everyone, so everyone should have the opportunity for input.

As part of those rules changes, he believes there needs to be a change to the process for a motion to vacate the chair. No matter who is speaker, they cannot be successful with this weapon pointed at them all the time.

He also made clear that family comes first. And a successful speaker must be able to maintain a healthy work-family balance. Less time on the road can be compensated for with a greater focus on communicating our message to the public.

Finally, he believes that for the next speaker to be successful, we need to unify now. Unless the speaker is a unifying figure across the conference, he or she will face the same challenges that have beset our current leadership.

With that, Chairman Ryan encouraged the members to discuss and consider his requests, and he asked that they make clear whether they support them by this Friday.

If the members agree with his requests and share his vision, and if he is a unity candidate—with the endorsement of all the conference’s major caucuses—then he will serve as speaker. He will be all in.

But if he is not a unifying figure for the conference, then he will not run and will be happy to continue serving as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee.

Outside Lawyers Were Hired In Oklahoma As January Execution Mix-Up Was Revealed

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Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin speaks during a news conference in Oklahoma City, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2015.

Sue Ogrocki / AP

The private lawyers representing Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin's office and the state's Department of Corrections were hired more than a week after a drug mix-up led Richard Glossip’s Sept. 30 execution to be called off — but just as news was made public that the state had executed Charles Warner with the wrong drug.

On Tuesday morning, when Oklahoma officials arrived for a grand jury hearing resulting from the execution drug questions, officials from the governor's office and the corrections department were represented by private lawyers — one of whom questioned the propriety of the matter even being before the grand jury.

Fallin's chief counsel, Steve Mullins, and Department of Corrections (DOC) Director Robert Patton were among those to testify Tuesday before the multicounty grand jury, according to a report from the Oklahoman. Ordinarily, both would be represented by attorneys from Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt's office. This was not, however, an ordinary circumstance.

On Sept. 30, the scheduled execution of Glossip was called off at the last minute after officials discovered the state had received potassium acetate, and not potassium chloride, as its approved execution protocol requires.

It was revealed a week later on Oct. 8, after Pruitt announced an investigation of that mix-up and successfully sought a hold on future executions during the investigation, that DOC had received and used the same incorrect drug in its January execution of Charles Warner.

Soon after that — and not after the Sept. 30 mix-up — it was announced that both Fallin's office and the Department of Corrections had hired outside attorneys to provide them with independent legal representation. Pruitt's office, meanwhile, has said his investigation also would include an examination of the Warner execution.

Fallin has retained Robert McCampbell of Fellers Snider at a cost of $250 an hour, per a copy of the engagement letter provided by Fallin's office to BuzzFeed News. McCampbell, a former federal prosecutor, served as the U.S. Attorney in Oklahoma City from 2001 through 2005. Fallin previously appointed McCampbell to serve as chair of the Public Employees Relations Board.

"There are a lot of entities that have been involved in the execution protocols that have been developed, a lot of agencies, and I wanted an outside independent legal adviser to my office to look at the legal process and to look at the system itself and to give me outside advice," Fallin told the Oklahoman in announcing the move to hire outside counsel.

From Gov. Fallin's agreement with McCampbell:

From Gov. Fallin's agreement with McCampbell:

Via assets.documentcloud.org

According to records reviewed by BuzzFeed News, McCampbell agreed to represent Fallin's office on Oct. 7 — the day before news broke that Oklahoma had used the wrong drug in its January execution of Warner. The notice of the proposed contract form, however, was not submitted by the governor's office to the attorney general's office until Oct. 8 and was accepted on that date.

The Department of Corrections, meanwhile, has hired Drew Edmondson at a cost of $300 an hour, per a copy of the contract between the agency and lawyer that was provided by DOC to BuzzFeed News. Edmondson, the former and longtime attorney general of the state, served as attorney general from 1995 through 2011.

In a motion filed on Oct. 13 in litigation that was pending over the state's lethal injection protocol, lawyers in Pruitt's office, then representing the DOC, raised questions about their ability to represent DOC officials due to ongoing state proceedings.

"Counsel have concerns regarding their attorney-client privilege under state law in state proceedings, and the effects that may have on representation in this federal litigation," the lawyers wrote. "[A] potential lack of privilege between [DOC] Defendants and their [Attorney General's Office] Counsel will prevent the free flow of information that is necessary for Counsel to represent Defendants in this litigation."

Several portions of the contract between DOC and Edmondson were redacted in the copy provided to BuzzFeed News. The redactions include the entirety of two of six sections detailing Edmondson's duties and scope of work, as well as partial redactions of two of the other sections. Additionally, a portion of the purpose for the contract was redacted.

Asked for the reason for the redactions, DOC spokesperson Alex Gerszewski told BuzzFeed News, "The redactions were a decision made by DOC legal. I wasn’t given any more specifics than that."

From the DOC's agreement with Edmondson:

From the DOC's agreement with Edmondson:

Via assets.documentcloud.org

Edmondson agreed to the contract on Oct. 9, although DOC's Patton did not sign the contract until Oct. 13 — the day Pruitt's lawyers raised questions about their ability to represent DOC officials. Per the contract, it was to take effect beginning Oct. 9 and will be in effect until June 30, 2016 — although that time period could be extended.

It was Edmondson who challenged the use of the multicounty grand jury at all, telling NewsChannel 4 last week that "a grand jury shouldn’t be involved because officials have not been accused of a crime."

On Tuesday, however, his request to quash the subpoenas was denied, per the Oklahoman, and the closed proceedings went forth.

That Time Ted Cruz Wrote A 16-Page Love Letter To George W. Bush

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Ted Cruz's abiding love for George W. Bush may be unrequited, but it is certainly not undocumented.

When the former president announced his distaste for the Texas senator to a roomful of Republican donors Sunday — reportedly telling the crowd, "I just don't like the guy" — Cruz responded by saying he had "great respect" for Bush and had "no intention of reciprocating" the attack. "I met my wife Heidi working on [Bush's} campaign," Cruz told Politico, "and so I will always be grateful."

This pronouncement of gratitude was no mere act of calculated politeness. In fact, Cruz was once so filled with admiration for the 43rd president that he was moved to pen a 16-page chapter for a 2004 book titled Thank You, President Bush.

The long-forgotten, and little-read, tome was published during Bush's re-election bid, and featured essays by an array of high-profile Republicans heaping praise on the embattled incumbent and vigorously defending his legacy. Today, the out-of-print book serves as a quaint relic from culture wars of yore. For example, according to its abandoned Amazon page, its small conservative publisher — which was soon after acquired by the fringe right-wing website WorldNetDaily — "offered to exchange copies of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11 for Thank You, President Bush in an effort to counter Moore's fabrications."

The book's promotional material promised an "all-star cast of contributors," and indeed, the various co-authors represented some of the era's leading voices on the right, from Phyllis Schlafly, to James Dobson, to Art Laffer. Mike Huckabee, then governor of Arkansas, contributes a chapter, and Bush's brother, Jeb, writes the foreword. Cruz, by comparison, seems out of place in the book. At the time of its publication he was in his thirties and serving as Texas solicitor general — universally acknowledged by careful court-watchers as a skilled appellate litigator, but certainly not a well-known figure in the conservative movement.

Sure enough, Cruz's contribution to the book at the time rankled many of his former colleagues in the Bush administration, according to two sources familiar with the situation. They felt he was straining to suggest a proximity and importance to the president that he never had. Unlike his wife — who ascended to an important post in the National Security Council directly under Condoleezza Rice, and who also contributed a chapter to the book — Ted Cruz never really thrived in the administration, shuffling between various low-profile jobs before finally fleeing Washington, leaving a trail of unfavorable impressions in his wake. And yet somehow he maneuvered his way into a book alongside GOP pre-eminences.

Cruz's campaign declined to comment when asked about the episode, but one of the candidate's aides requested anonymity to say, "It's no surprise that anonymous Bush supporters are finding ways to criticize Cruz, one of Jeb's main competitors."

(One of the sources who related the story to BuzzFeed News is a supporter of Jeb Bush's 2016 candidacy; the other is not.)

Cruz's contribution toThank You, President Bush is titled "The Rise of Opportunity Conservatism," and it's notable both for the intensity and focus of its lionization of Bush. Over the course of the chapter, Cruz defends against conservative criticism of the president's fiscal policy; heralds him as an "outspoken defender" of school choice while lauding his education reforms; and compares Bush's presidential legacy to those of Ronald Reagan and Abraham Lincoln.

In some cases, Cruz's praise in the book stands in direct contradiction with his more recent criticism of the Bush administration.

For example, Cruz has repeatedly condemned Bush's lack of fiscal restraint, recently telling National Journal, "I think a great many of us ... were disappointed at the end of the day that the administration lost sight of some of the principles on which we campaigned to begin with. It’s not a good thing for a Republican president to grow the national debt from $5 trillion to $10 trillion. ... It is go­ing to take lead­ers willing to stand up to the Washington cartel, to the career politi­cians in both parties, to rein in the out-of-con­trol spend­ing and stop bank­rupt­ing our kids and grandkids."

In 2004, however, Cruz brought that same zeal and rhetorical flare to the task of defending Bush's fiscal record against recriminations from deficit hawks. He seems committed in Thank You, President Bush to reciting the Republican campaign talking points widely dispensed by the "Washington cartel" at the time:

To be sure, some fiscal conservatives have criticized President Bush because government spending has continued to grow over the past four years. But those concerns are often overstated—not giving proper weight, for example, to the enormous additional military and homeland security spending required by September 11. Domestic discretionary spending unrelated to defense or homeland security grew 15 percent in the last year of the Clinton administration; in the first three years of the Bush administration, that number dropped to 6 percent, then 5 percent, then 3 percent.

Nevertheless, there is much to be said for the lament that government continues to grow too fast. But a president cannot stop it alone. With a congress seemingly addicted to spending … rather than tilt at windmills the president has focused instead on articulating and advancing the opportunity conservative message.

While Cruz's political brand today is built around ideological purity, in 2004 he commended Bush for eschewing rigid small-government politics in favor of a more appealing brand of conservatism:

Of course, reducing the size and reach of government is important … making that argument, however, has a green eyeshade character to it. Abstract political theory has a bit less salience in an era of reality TV. As President Bush put it in the 2000 campaign, when voters hear “Abolish the Department of Education,” a lot of voters just hear “Abolish education” and back away.

Cruz has routinely called for shuttering the Department of Education, in addition to several other federal agencies.

Asked about these apparent discrepancies in rhetoric, the Cruz aide said the book was published "in the middle of Bush's tenure. No one had the retrospective then that we do today regarding the administration's record."

Not everything in Cruz's 2004 tribute to Bush has changed. Then, as now, he enthusiastically supported the president's efforts to overhaul social security by creating private accounts. In the book, he touts Bush's "courage" to "grab the 'third rail' of politics," and recounts a heroic story from the campaign trail:

I’ll never forget sitting with President Bush and a number of other advisors early in the campaign, in the summer of 1999, and discussing Social Security reform. Many of the advisors counseled caution, or even suggested avoiding the issue altogether. It was too politically dangerous, they said. With a steel look in his eye, Governor Bush literally pounded the table and said “I’m running for a reason. It’s the right thing to do, and I’m going to fight for it.”

That is the passion of the opportunity conservative.

The chapter concludes with a Cruzian flourish of dramatic rhetoric, placing the political fights of 2004 in a sweeping historical context, as though the fate of the republic hinged on the outcome of the election. In this context, Bush is described not just a lesser-than-two-evils "career politician," but as a hero and savior:

It is only fitting that the party of Abraham Lincoln — who heralded our nation, “conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal" — would champion opportunity, and defend increased choice and freedom for all Americans.

Today President George W. Bush carries the mantle of Lincoln as an opportunity conservative, defending the promise of the Declaration and the vision of our great nation. And the future of the Grand Old Party depends upon ensuring that that vision comes to pass, that the policies we espouse facilitate the ability of every man, woman, and child to hope for and be able to realize the American dream.


Stop Hillary PAC Launches New Ad Before Benghazi Testimony

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Ahead of Hillary Clinton’s much-awaited testimony before the Benghazi Select Committee on Thursday, a conservative outside group is going up with a new ad urging viewers to hold the former secretary of state — “the one person who has answers” — accountable for the attacks in Libya.

Stop Hillary PAC's 30-second spot, which was shared first with BuzzFeed News, uses clips from Clinton’s last testimony on the Benghazi attacks and highlights her response — “I’m still standing” — to a question about the email controversy in last week’s debate.

"Not everyone is still standing," a narrator says as the ad shows the grave of Christopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya who was killed in the Benghazi attacks.

It follows a similar ad the group aired during CNN’s Democratic presidential debate.

The digital ad is set to run in Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, as well as Washington, D.C., and New York City. The initial buy is for $15,000, but the group plans to spend more in the days to come. According to PAC officials, the PAC will spend $10,000 of the buy on video ad targeting through BuzzFeed. The advertising division of BuzzFeed is separate from BuzzFeed's editorial division.

"Hillary asks 'what difference does it make' and casts herself as the victim of the terrorist attack with 'I'm still standing.' The reality is it makes a world of difference, because four men are no longer standing," said Dan Backer, the group's general counsel.

"She still hasn't explained why she shot down Ambassador Stevens' repeated and detailed requests for proper security. She still hasn't explained why she absolved terrorists of fault by claiming the attacks were a popular response to an Internet video, when her internal emails show she knew it was al Qaeda,” Backer said.

Clinton’s campaign and allies have maintained that the Republican-led Benghazi investigation is purely partisan driven.

Stop Hillary PAC had raised nearly $800,000 in the first half of the year, according to reports filed in July with the Federal Election Commission.

Joe Biden Announces He Is Not Running For President

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Win Mcnamee / Getty Images

After months of speculation, Vice President Joe Biden announced he will not run for president.

Biden announced the news from the White House Rose Garden. He said on Wednesday that, as he had said before, that he knew the grieving process over the death of his son might continue past the point that he could realistically launch a bid for the presidency.

“I’ve said all along what I've said time and again to others: that it may very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president,” Biden said.

“I’ve concluded it has closed.”

Biden's elder son, Beau, died from brain cancer earlier this year. Widely mourned, Beau Biden had served in the military, as Delaware's attorney general, and was the father to two young children.

Months after his son's death earlier this year, increased speculation about a late Biden entrance into the presidential field began, particularly as Hillary Clinton faced continued questions over her email protocol as secretary of state and particularly driven by the media. In the process, Biden passed reported deadline after reported deadline for a decision — first it was to be the end of the summer, then the end of September, then before the first Democratic debate, then, aides suggested, perhaps not until Christmas.

And now it's decided.

"While I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent," Biden said on Wednesday, before outlining his belief in President Obama's legacy, emphasizing the middle class, child care, and a more limited foreign policy.

"We have to accept the fact that we can't solve all the world's problems — we can't solve many of them alone," he said. "The argument that we just have to do something when bad people do bad things isn't good enough; it's not a good enough reason for American intervention."

Clinton is often seen as more hawkish than Biden — and Biden did not seem unaware of Clinton in his remarks, once again implicitly criticizing her answer in the Democratic debate last week that Republicans were her political enemy. He called the idea that Republicans would be the enemy "naive."

In a statement released after Biden's announcement, Clinton praised the vice president as a "good man."

"Like millions of others, I admire his devotion to family, his grace in grief, his grit and determination on behalf of the middle class, and his unyielding faith in America’s promise," Clinton said.

Biden also spoke at length about taking a "moon shot" to find and develop a cure for cancer, and concluded his remarks by telling the assembled: "We can do so much more."

Biden had run twice before — in 1988 and in 2008 — to little success. Instead, Biden served out six full terms as a senator before becoming vice president.

A late entrance would have posed significant challenges for Biden: Clinton and Bernie Sanders have already raised millions, employed hundreds of Democratic operatives, and spent months campaigning in the early states, and especially in New Hampshire and Iowa.

The decision removes the last and likely the most serious challenge to Clinton's candidacy — although Sanders has significant support among progressives, particularly in the early states, Clinton remains popular with Democrats and a significantly more credible national candidate.

Here's What Joe Biden Said About His Decision To Not Run For President

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“Unfortunately, I believe we’re out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination.”

Associated Press

Here's a partial transcript of his announcement, which was made at the White House Rose Garden, flanked by his wife and President Obama:

BIDEN: Please, please, sit down.

Mr. President, thank you for lending me the Rose Garden for a minute.

OBAMA: It's a pretty nice place.

BIDEN: As the family and I have worked through the -- the grieving process, I've said all along what I've said time and again to others: That it may very well be that that process, by the time we get through it, closes the window on mounting a realistic campaign for president. That it might close.

I've concluded it has closed. I know from previous experience that there's no timetable for this process. The process doesn't respect or much care about things like filing deadlines or debates and primaries and caucuses.

But I also know that I could do this if the —I couldn't do this if the family wasn't ready. The good news is the family has reached that point, but as I've said many times, my family has suffered loss, and — and I — I hope there would come a time — and I've said this to many other families — that, sooner rather than later, when — when you think of your loved one, it brings a smile to your lips before it brings a tear to your eyes.

Well, that's where the Bidens are today. Thank god. Beau -— Beau is our inspiration.

Unfortunately, I believe we're out of time, the time necessary to mount a winning campaign for the nomination. But while I will not be a candidate, I will not be silent.

I intend to speak out clearly and forcefully, to influence as much as I can where we stand as a party and where we need to go as a nation.

And this is what I believe.

I believe that President Obama has led this nation from crisis to recovery, and we're now on the cusp of resurgence. I'm proud to have played a part in that. This party, our nation, will be making a tragic mistake if we walk away or attempt to undo the Obama legacy.

The American people have worked too hard, and we have have come too far for that. Democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record. They should run on the record.

Democrats should not only defend this record and protect this record, they should run on the record.

We've got a lot of work to get done over the next 15 months, and there's a lot that the president will have to get done. But let me be clear, that we'll be building on a really solid foundation.

LINK: Joe Biden Announces He Is Not Running For President


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Hardline Republicans To Paul Ryan: Family Time Isn’t In The Job Description For Speaker

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Alex Wong / Getty Images

WASHINGTON -- Hardline conservatives were skeptical of Rep. Paul Ryan's potential bid for speaker almost immediately after he announced it, but it's not just differences in policy or process they are wary of. It's also the Wisconsin Republican's desire to spend time with his family as part of his list of demands.

It's not necessarily directed as a criticism -- just a reality of the job, Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, told reporters Wednesday morning.

"You can't do the job 9 to 5, Monday through Friday," he said. "That's not a criticism. The speaker has to work on weekends. I'm not running for speaker. I've got young kids at home and there's plenty of jobs I'm unable to do. But the time commitment isn't 40 hours a week. And I think that's going to be part of the discussion."

Huelskamp went so far as to almost praise Speaker John Boehner, who is stepping down at the end of month. The Kansas Republican is among the group of conservatives credited with Boehner's resignation.

"Speaker John Boehner raised $50 million," he said. "The speaker has to work more than 40 hours a week."

Other conservatives including Alabama Rep. Mo Brooks said one of the things the Freedom Caucus will have to "ascertain is whether or not (Ryan) has time to do the job."

The group is expected to meet with Paul on Wednesday.

And conservatives in the House weren't the only ones bringing up Paul's emphasis on having enough time with his family.

Laura Ingraham, a popular conservative talk radio host, expressed outrage on Twitter regarding Ryan not willing to give up weekends with his family.



Ryan is expected to announce whether he will pursue a bid for speaker on Friday. He laid out a few conditions Tuesday evening for his colleagues to agree to if they want him to be speaker. Family time was one of the main conditions.

Ryan has been hesitant to run for speaker because he believes the job is best suited for "an empty nester."

"I cannot and will not give up my family time,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

"Like many of you, Janna and I have children who are in the formative, foundational years of their lives. I genuinely worry about the consequences that my agreeing to serve will have on them," he added.

In response to concerns about Ryan not spending enough time on the road on weekends to raise campaign cash for House Republicans, Boehner expressed confidence Wednesday that Ryan could balance the speakership well while spending time with his family.

"I frankly outlined over the last week or so the way Paul could do this differently than the way I did," Boehner told reporters.

Ohio Rep. Steve Stivers, a Boehner ally, also said the fundraising aspect would "all work out" should Ryan choose to run and be elected speaker.

"God forbid he wants to spend time with his family," he added. "As the father of two kids, we should encourage that. Families are what keep us grounded and why we do all this. I hope he gets to spend a decent amount of time with his family because that's a pretty important role he's got too."

Mike Huckabee Estimates U.S. Could Defeat Islamic Terrorists In "10 Days Or 10 Months"

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“So we better just put our big boy britches and decide that we’re gonna win this war and if it takes ground troops let’s suit up and get it done. But let’s not do it in 10 years, let’s do in more like 10 days or 10 months and be done with it.”

Justin Sullivan / Getty Images

In a radio interview this week, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee slammed the Obama administration's handling of the rise of ISIS in Syria and Iraq and said that he thought Islamic extremists could be defeated in 10 days or 10 months time.

"I'd love to sprinkle some fairy dust on the whole situation and believe in unicorns and say we can pull all our troops out and everything will be just fine," Huckabee said on the situation in Syria to New Hampshire Now radio this week.

"Look we're facing a global threat of immense proportion, Islamic jihadism is real," he added. "It's not just ISIS it's Hamas, it's Hezbollah, it's the Iranians, it's al-Qaeda it's Boko Haram, it's all of those various aspects of a insidiously dangerous racial Islam and the result, and I don't think this is something we can minimize is that these people don't want a little piece of real estate. There's nothing to negotiate they want to kill us and take what's left an uncivilized world and push it back to the 7th century."

Earlier this year, Huckabee said the "fierceness" of U.S. forces would give them the ability to defeat all of Islamic terrorism within only 10 days, a claim he seems to have revised upward now to just under a year's time.

"So we better just put our big boy britches and decide that we're gonna win this war and if it takes ground troops let's suit up and get it done," he said. "But let's not do it in 10 years, let's do in more like 10 days or 10 months and be done with it."

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