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Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Karine Jean-Pierre: "The Secret Service did a thorough investigation. That's what we believe”

Katie Pavlich: Speaking to reporters at the White House Monday afternoon, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre blew off inconclusive results of a Secret Service investigation into cocaine found at the White House two weeks ago (Townhall). RNC Research: KARINE JEAN-PIERRE on the White House cocaine scandal: “We believe that Secret Service did a thorough investigation … there are hundreds of visitors that travel through this area where the cocaine was found” (Twitter). Townhall: REPORTER: “Is the president satisfied with the explanation that someone was able to bring an illegal substance into the White House because there are hundreds of people who come here?!” KJP: “The Secret Service did a thorough investigation. That’s what we believe” (Twitter).

Talk Radio Talent Dennis Prager and Seth Leibsohn to Testify Today at Arizona State Legislature

On behalf of free speech, after ASU cancelled an event for Prager and Charlie Kirk and subsequently firing staff. American Greatness: Arizona State University (ASU) is facing two major crises at once, staring down the barrel of an investigation from the state legislature while at least one top donor has withdrawn his funding. The controversy began with the university’s firing of Ann Atkinson, executive director of the T.W. Lewis Center for Personal Development at ASU’s Barrett Honors College. Atkinson says she was laid off last month after she organized an event titled “Health, Wealth and Happiness,” featuring the conservative commentators Dennis Prager and Charlie Kirk. ASU, by contrast, says that she was fired because the center lost funding, while claiming that the event nevertheless “was well attended and was successful.” But the sponsor of the T.W. Lewis Center, millionaire Tom Lewis, announced that he had withdrawn his annual donation of $400,000 after Atkinson’s firing, saying that he had witnessed “alarming and outright hostility” from faculty and students alike in response to the conservative event (American Greatness). Ann Atkinson: The biggest losers here are unquestionably ASU students, who have now been taught that success requires conformity rather than free thought. Additionally, the campus will no longer be able to benefit from the Lewis Center, which has helped countless students prepare for job interviews, build professional networks, manage their finances, and master important life skills (Wall Street Journal). Just the News: Following the free speech controversy at Arizona State University, the state Legislature is forming a new joint committee to examine “freedom of expression” in the state’s public universities (Just the News).

Evidence Gathers on FTC Targeting Musk’s Twitter for Supporting Free Speech

Federalist: The Federal Trade Commission inappropriately pressured an independent third-party auditing firm to find Twitter had violated the terms of its settlement agreement with the FTC, a motion filed last week in federal court reveals. That misconduct and the FTC’s own repudiation of the terms of the settlement agreement entitle Twitter to vacate the consent order, its lawyers maintain. This latest development holds significance beyond Twitter’s fight with the FTC, however, with the details providing further evidence that the Biden administration targeted Twitter because of its owner Elon Musk’s support for free speech on his platform (Federalist). Jim Jordan: Why’s Joe Biden’s FTC afraid of free speech (Twitter)? Ed Morrissey: This is not the first time that we’ve heard about a potential FTC vendetta against Musk over the Twitter Files. The exposure of internal communications revealed a massive censorship regime within federal agencies that suppressed and punished dissent and conservative views on social media platforms, and that exposure came almost entirely through Musk. Back in March, the demand letters got leaked to the Wall Street Journal and forced the FTC to retreat temporarily from its attempts to police journalism (HotAir).

BlackRock Slowly Backs Away From ESG Amidst Vocal Shareholder Backlash

Jerry Bowyer: Recently, the CEO of the firm Larry Fink distanced himself from the investment trend he himself fostered. He announced a rebranding away from ESG, saying that he was embarrassed to have been involved in this political debate and said that ESG had been weaponized by the far left and the far right (Townhall Review). Corporatesecretary: BlackRock has announced plans to extend pass-through voting to its largest ETF in a move that would hand retail investors a greater say on company matters. The world’s biggest asset manager said on Monday it would expand its voting choice service to the iShares Core S&P 500 ETF, which has $305 billion in assets under management. Investors in the ETF would have the chance to choose from a range of third-party voting policies, including from ISS and Glass Lewis, or to continue to follow the recommendations of BlackRock’s investment stewardship team. They would not, however, be able to tailor their votes for individual companies (Corporatesecretary). Tara Bull: Vivek explains how the White House uses private actors like BlackRock to implement what they can’t get passed through Congress, label it ESG, and claim it’s good for the environment. NOW: House Republicans to launch an investigation into BlackRock and Vanguard (Twitter).

Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge Connecting Russia to Annexed Territory

Washington Post: Ukraine attacked the Crimean Bridge, a key link from Russia to the illegally annexed Crimean peninsula, killing two people and disrupting vehicle traffic early Monday, Russian and Ukrainian officials said. A railroad line over the bridge — which is a vital artery for Russian troops and military supplies — escaped damage and quickly resumed service. The strike on the bridge occurred hours before the Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, announced that Russia would resume its military blockade of Ukrainian grain, canceling a deal that has allowed shipments from ports on the Black Sea despite wartime hostilities. The agreement, brokered by Turkey and backed by the United Nations, enabled crucial food supplies to reach developing countries, particularly in the Middle East and Africa. The twin developments on Monday showed that Russia’s war in Ukraine continues to wreak havoc even as Moscow’s forces have made little progress toward the Kremlin’s stated aim of fully occupying and annexing four regions in southeastern Ukraine in addition to Crimea (Washington Post). Wall Street Journal: Footage from the Kerch Bridge, which runs 12 miles and cost $4 billion to build, showed a westbound span of the highway collapsed and the parallel eastbound span displaced. This means that it would likely take weeks, if not months, for traffic on the vital artery to resume. A separate rail bridge, which is more important for military supplies, was intact. Rail traffic across the Kerch Strait resumed Monday (Wall Street Journal).

Rep. Pramila Jayapal Retracts Statement Where She Claimed Israel is a Racist State

Daily Wire: Far-left Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) attempted to walk back anti-Israel statements she made Saturday, including “Israel is a racist state,” as she faces condemnation from fellow House Democrats over the comments. Jayapal made the comment during a panel with fellow hardliners Reps. Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) and Chuy Garcia (D-AZ) when anti-Israel demonstrators chanted the phrase at the lawmakers. “I want you to know that we have been fighting to make it clear that Israel is a racist state, that the Palestinian people deserve self-determination and autonomy,” Jayapal said. The comments drew scattered applause and cheers from people in the audience but soon led to a rebuke from fellow Democrats. “Israel is not a racist state,” a letter from the House Democratic leadership read without explicitly naming Jayapal (Daily Wire). NBC: Jayapal later walked back her remarks Sunday, issuing a lengthy statement to clarify her remarks while defending the sentiment behind them. Jayapal said she was trying to “defuse a tense situation” at the conference and offered “my apologies to those who I have hurt with my words” (NBC).

AT&T Stock Falls to 30-Year Low

Fox Business: Shares of AT&T have fallen to a three decade low amid a sharp decline in traditional cable television subscribers and the use of landlines. On Monday, shares for the telecommunications company are targeting their weakest finish since March 24, 1993, when the stock ended the session at $13.92. Year-to-date, shares have fallen over 26%, after plummeting roughly 34% the last 12 months (Fox Business). Wall Street Journal: Verizon marked its lowest close since December 2010. The declines come after Wall Street analysts reacted to the Journal investigation by raising questions about liabilities related to the cables. One analyst estimated it could cost $59 billion for the telecom industry to remove all the lead cables nationwide (Wall Street Journal).

Ford Cuts Prices of EV F-150 Lightning by Nearly $10,000

Wall Street Journal: Ford Motor is slashing prices of its electric F-150 Lightning pickup by up to nearly 17%, one of the automaker’s deepest cuts to date on an EV model and another sign that demand for the technology is easing, after years of hype. Ford said Monday that the reductions, which effectively dropped the Lightning’s starting price by almost $10,000 to $49,995, were the result of lower material costs and the company having more factory output. Some versions will get a steeper price cut than others. The move comes after Tesla reported a surge in second-quarter deliveries that was helped by sharp price cuts and discounts rolled out earlier this year (Wall Street Journal). Fox Business: Meanwhile, EV builders in the U.S. continue to ramp up production with GM’s recent announcement to build a $3 billion EV battery center in Indiana and Hyundai and LR partnering on a $4.3 billion EV plant in Georgia. Last week, Kia announced a $200 million investment into its EV plant in West Point, Georgia (Fox Business).

CCP Rewrites the Bible

Fox News: As part of a push to “sinicize” religion, the Chinese Communist Party has embarked on a 10-year project to rewrite the Bible and other religious texts. In the Gospel of John, Jesus famously confronts the accusers a woman caught committing adultery, saying “let the one among you who is guiltless be the first to throw a stone at her.” The chastened accusers slink away and Jesus says to the woman, “‘Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she replied. ‘Neither do I condemn you,’ said Jesus. ‘Go away, and from this moment sin no more.'” A beautiful story of forgiveness and mercy. Unless you’re a CCP official. Then it’s a story of a dissident challenging the authority of the state. A possible sneak preview of what a Bible with socialist characteristics might look like appeared in a Chinese university textbook in 2020. The rewritten Gospel of John excerpt ends, not with mercy, but with Jesus himself stoning the adulterous woman to death (Fox News).

10.

“Sound of Freedom” Eclipses $100 Million at the Box Office

Daily Wire: “Sound of Freedom” is projected to hit the $100 million mark this week after its second weekend in theaters, with the audiences increasing by more than 37% over the film’s first weekend at the box office. The Jim Caviezel-led project, which deals with the horrors of human trafficking, has earned more than $85 million at the domestic box office over a 13-day run through Sunday (Daily Wire). PJ Media: The studio that developed the extremely popular faith-based television series “The Chosen” are the same folks behind “Sound of Freedom” (PJ Media).