Judicial Watch Goes to Capitol Hill – For Clean Elections!

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Judicial Watch Senior Attorneys Testify before Congress on Election
Integrity and Reform

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Judicial Watch is and has been a national leader in defending the rule
of law – especially in election integrity. This leadership is
evident in the remarkable news that, this week, two of our voting law
experts testified to both House and Senate committees on pending
legislation that could gut free and fair elections.

Senior Attorney Robert Popper testified before the U.S. House
Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil
Rights, and Civil Liberties during a hearing titled “The
Implications of _Brnovich v. Democratic National Committee_ and
Potential Legislative Responses.” Bob leads our election law efforts
and his fully prepared statement is available on our website
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You can watch the hearing here
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Senior Attorney T. Russell Nobile testified on the same topic before
the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the
Constitution in a hearing titled “Restoring the Voting Rights Act
after _Brnovich and Shelby County_.” His remarks are available here
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and you can watch the testimony here.

The ostensible purpose of that hearings was to consider whether
congressional action is called for in the aftermath of the Supreme
Court’s 2013 landmark ruling in _Shelby County v. Holder_
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(570 U.S. 529)
and its recent ruling in _Mark Brnovich, Attorney General of Arizona,
et al. v. Democratic National Committee, et al._
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(Nos.
19-1257 & 1258).

In _Shelby_
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the court rejected forcing states to be under the thumb of the DOJ
based upon voting/race data from the 1960s. The court struck down
Section 4(b) of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA), which provided
the “coverage formula” that determines which states and local
governments are subject to a preclearance requirement under Section 5.
Section 4(b) required certain states and local governments to obtain a
predetermination by the United States Attorney General or a
three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of
Columbia affirming that changes to their voting laws or practices do
not “deny or abridge the right to vote on account of race, color, or
membership in a language minority group” before those changes could
be enforced.

In _Brnovich
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the
court considered two Arizona election policies, one outlawing ballot
harvesting and the other banning out-of-precinct voting. The court
ruled
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that
neither of these election policies violated the Voting Rights Act nor
had a racially discriminatory purpose. We joined with Allied
Educational Foundation (AEF) to file an _amici curiae_ (friends of
the court) brief
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in
this case, arguing that the parties challenging Arizona’s clean
election laws “utterly failed” to show that the challenged voting
procedure caused minorities to have less opportunity to participate in
the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.
The court agreed.

Reacting to the court’s ruling in _Brnovich,_ I called the
court’s decision “a home run for cleaner elections, reaffirming
that states may take action to prevent election fraud without waiting
for it to occur within their own borders. This new decision rightly
rejects the race-baiting of the leftist partisans who pretend that
neutral provisions to combat voter fraud (such as voter ID and bans on
ballot harvesting) are presumptively racist. The decision also
destroys the foundation of the Biden administration’s recent attack
on Georgia’s election reform laws.”

For more than 25 years, we have been known for our aggressive,
leading-edge use of public records laws and lawsuits, as well as
taxpayer, civil rights and whistleblower protection litigation to
fight government corruption. We are a national leader in voting
integrity and voting rights. As part of this effort, we assembled a
team of highly experienced voting rights attorneys who have fought
gerrymandering in Maryland, stopped discriminatory elections in
Hawaii, and cleaned up voter rolls in California, Ohio, Indiana, and
Kentucky, among other achievements
[[link removed]].

In his prepared remarks, Popper notes:

One hears—and large news outlets dutifully report—that there is a
“tsunami” of legislation “restricting the right to vote,” that
states reforming their mail-in voting laws as COVID retreats are
engaged in “voter suppression,” and even that these actions
represent “the new Jim Crow.” These claims are preposterous. At
best, they reveal a startling historical ignorance. The grandfather
laws, absurd literacy tests, poll taxes, intimidation and terroristic
violence of the Jim Crow era have nothing whatever to do with, say,
Ohio’s restriction of early voting from 35 to 29 days, or with
limiting same-day registration. Nor do they have anything to do with
regulating absentee ballots, out-of-precinct voting, or voter ID
requirements, all reasonable electoral integrity measures approved by
the Carter-Baker Commission.

At worst, these statements reveal a startling cynicism, driven by a
desire to inflame passions—and to raise funds. Those who talk this
way are being irresponsible.
In his testimony, Nobile provided historical evidence:

Data, not pop culture nor hyperbole from those that oppose
race-neutral election integrity laws, tells the true story of ballot
access in America. To objectively evaluate whether racial minorities
have an equal opportunity to participate in the electoral process, you
must look at racial registration and turnout data. Looking at the most
recent data, the opportunity to participate is exponentially better
now than it was in 1965. Based on this data, it is hard to contend
that Section 5 needs to be expanded as proposed in H.R. 4.
Registration.

Current data shows that black registration has completely rebounded
and, in some instances, exceeds White registration rates. In fact, the
data shows that eight years after Shelby County, registration
disparities in Texas, Florida, North Carolina, Louisiana, and
Mississippi – all previously covered (in whole or part) by Section 5
– are all below the national average. In fact, black registration in
Mississippi is 4.3% higher than White registration. Registration
disparities in these former Section 5 states are lower than the
disparities in California, New York, Connecticut, D.C., Delaware, and
Virginia. In fact, the four biggest registration disparities, i.e.,
where White registration most exceeds black registration, are found in
Massachusetts, Wisconsin, Oregon, and Colorado, all of which President
Biden won in 2020.
The specifics of the legislation aside, the Left and its partisan
allies are engaged in a cynical, race-baiting assault on free and fair
elections. Judicial Watch is in federal court, in the public square
– and before Congress – to educate and litigate on your behalf to
protect our election system from this dangerous assault.

JUDICIAL WATCH SUES FOR RECORDS OF CRITICAL RACE THEORY TRAINING AT
WEST POINT

Our military classrooms are being invaded by Marxist nonsense. And
we’re taking action. We just filed a FOIA lawsuit against the
Department of Defense for all records related to diversity, inclusion,
and equity training for first-year cadets entering West Point
(_Judicial Watch v. U.S. Department of Defense
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_(No. 1:21-cv-01795)).

We sued after the United States Military Academy failed to respond to
an April 6, 2021, FOIA request seeking:

* Copies of all diversity, inclusion, and equity training materials
for first-year Cadets entering West Point. This includes lists of
reading materials and presentation materials that promote diversity,
inclusion, and equity for first-year Cadets.
* Copies of all contracts between the U.S Military Academy and any
organization or company responsible for coordinating and implementing
diversity, inclusion, and equity programs and training for Cadets at
the United States Military Academy.

In April, Congressman Mike Waltz (R-Fl), a West Point graduate, made
public “examples of Corps of Cadets being mandated to attend
seminars and presentations on critical race theory that included
inflammatory lessons and presentations that are detrimental to the
mission and morale of the U.S. Army.”

In a public letter
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to
the superintendent of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, Waltz
demanding information about the mandated critical race theory training
for cadets:

Information has recently come to my attention from unsettled soldiers,
cadets, and families that raises serious concerns about the U.S.
Army’s introduction of elements of critical race theory into cadet
instruction…In February this year, I understand the U.S. Military
Academy under your leadership required cadets to attend a mandatory
seminar on “Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.” According to the
schedule I received, cadets ‘MUST attend at least one of the
seminars.
---
I was provided a presentation slide from one of the workshops with the
title of ‘White Power at West Point’ and ‘Racist Dog Whistles at
West Point.’ Additionally, another presentation slide shared with me
depicted a lecture by Dr. Carol Anderson of Emory University with the
title “Understanding Whiteness and White Rage.”
Critical race theory is racist, anti-American, and repackaged Marxism.
It has no place in our military, let alone the storied heights of West
Point. The Pentagon needs to immediately follow the FOIA law so the
American people can fully understand and stop the extremist
indoctrination of the U.S. Army’s rising leadership at West Point.

NEW VA RECORDS DOCUMENT CRT WORDING IN VACCINE PLAN

Critical race theory has also crept into the healthcare our veterans
receive, we’ve learned.

This disturbing find is in 75 pages
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of records from the Department of Veterans Affairs that included a
section
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focused entirely on race titled “Addressing health inequities.”

The documents also detail the adverse reactions veterans had to the
COVID-19 vaccines. As of April 2021, Veteran’s Health Services
reported 895 serious reactions which included: 20 cardiac arrests, 36
strokes, 15 cases of deep vein thrombosis, 10 heart attacks, and 19
pulmonary embolisms. They also reported over 26,000 less serious
reactions. The agency withheld
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individual report details, citing alleged privacy and related issues.
To be clear, the fact that an adverse event is reported does not
necessarily mean there is a causal link between a vaccine and the
reported adverse event.

The documents were obtained through a Freedom of Information Act
(FOIA) request on April 14, 2021, for:

* All reports related to any adverse reaction to any COVID-19
vaccine administered at any Department of Veterans Affairs medical
facility. This request includes, but is not limited to, any such
reports transmitted to the Vaccine Adverse Events Reporting System
(VAERS).
* All policies, regulations, or other guidance documents regarding
the reporting and/or tracking of adverse reactions to COVID-19
vaccines.

A document titled “Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting” includes
multiple charts documenting what the VA describes as serious and
non-serious reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. There have been 895
reports of serious events. These events include “Events where Death,
hospitalization, and/or Life-Threatening Event is marked as an
outcome.” There were 24,585 non-serious events. You can see the
chart details here
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* A total of 20 cardiac arrests, 36 strokes, 15 cases of deep vein
thrombosis, 10 heart attacks, and 19 pulmonary embolisms were reported
for employees and veterans who took one of the three vaccines.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine adverse event reports include five
cerebrovascular accidents, four cases of deep vein thrombosis and
three pulmonary embolisms for veteran patients.

* Moderna vaccine adverse event reports include 15 cardiac arrests,
16 cerebrovascular accidents, five cases of deep vein thrombosis, five
myocardial infarctions and seven pulmonary embolisms for veteran
patients. Employees who took the vaccine reportedly suffered five
cerebrovascular accidents, four cases of deep vein thrombosis, two
myocardial infarctions and two pulmonary embolisms.
* Pfizer vaccine adverse event reports include five cardiac arrests,
10 cerebrovascular accidents, one case of deep vein thrombosis, three
myocardial infarctions and seven pulmonary embolisms for veteran
patients. There was one case of deep vein thrombosis in an employee.

A section
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titled “Addressing health inequities” reports that the COVID
vaccine allocation was prioritized to persons of color, in part,
because of “social injustices”:

National U.S. data show that COVID-19 has disproportionately affected
persons of color ... This is attributed to social injustices that
create a higher disease burden and shorter lifespan in this population
… attributed this partly to the concept of “weathering,” that
lifelong exposure to the stresses of racial disparity and injustice
manifests in greater physical and psychological disease burden and
less ready access to quality health care and health-related resources.
In addition, persons of color are more likely to work and live in
settings with higher exposure to SARS-CoV-2. That is, merely being
Black or Hispanic or Native American does not cause one to more easily
contract SARS-CoV-2. Rather, the lifetime social disadvantages
experienced by persons of color make them more likely to have health
problems that predispose them to contract SARS-CoV-2and more often
suffer serious or fatal outcomes. Thus, these individuals, along with
others who are at risk for suffering serious or fatal illness due to
the presence of comorbidities, will be prioritized for COVID-19
vaccine per the allocation plan as a consequence of risk factors.

The VA in a letter to us notes
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that “all COVID-19 vaccine reactions are reported to the Food and
Drug Administration (FDA) and the Center for Disease Control (CDC) via
their FDA/CDC VAERS database. PBM advised that VAERS Data is available
publicly on the Health and Human Services website at: VAERS - Data
(hhs.gov)
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As the VAERS website
notes:

When evaluating data from VAERS, it is important to note that for any
reported event, no cause-and-effect relationship has been established.
Reports of all possible associations between vaccines and adverse
events (possible side effects) are filed in VAERS. Therefore, VAERS
collects data on any adverse event following vaccination, be it
coincidental or truly caused by a vaccine. The report of an adverse
event to VAERS is NOT documentation that a vaccine caused the
event.)
Despite the censorship and suppression by the Biden administration and
Big Tech, the American people benefit from more, not less, information
about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccines. These new
documents show that politics and a pernicious critical race theory
approach infects VA decision-making on the allocation of health
resources to veterans.

‘TEMPORARY’ REPRIEVE EXTENDED FOR FIVE GROUPS OF ILLEGAL
IMMIGRANTS

Following in President Obama’s footsteps, President Biden is
unnaturally eager to abuse immigration law on behalf of illegal
immigrants, including those from a nation dubbed a “hotbed of
terrorism.” Here are the details
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from our _Corruption Chronicles_ blog.

In its short tenure, the Biden administration has extended a special
reprieve for five different groups of illegal immigrants living in the
U.S. The most recent was renewed a few days ago for thousands of
people from Yemen, the Middle Eastern Islamic nation well known as an
Al Qaeda breeding ground. Officially, the provisional amnesty is known
as Temporary Protected Status (TPS), a humanitarian measure designed
to shield undocumented aliens from deportation during emergencies. It
is supposed to be a short-term solution for foreign nationals that do
not qualify as refugees but cannot immediately return home because of
difficulties caused by factors such as violence, natural disasters, or
political and economic instability. TPS, which is typically granted in
18-month increments, not only protects foreign nationals from
deportation it also allows them to work in the U.S.

The Obama administration went crazy with TPS, renewing it for tens of
thousands of Hondurans
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and Nicaraguans
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more
than a decade and a half after a hurricane hit the Central American
nations, prolonging
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it
for Africans two years after originally issuing it due to Ebola, and
repeatedly restoring it for tens of thousands of Haitians years after
an earthquake struck the island. During its two terms, the Obama
administration never missed an opportunity
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to
offer illegal immigrants reprieve, using inclement weather in the
U.S., a virus, natural disasters and tainted water in an American city
to extend the perk. Nationals of Yemen have been protected by both
Democrats and Republicans, receiving TPS over “ongoing armed
conflict” under Obama and two extensions under Trump.

A few days ago, the Biden administration renewed
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the
TPS for Yemenis yet again, protecting approximately 2,180 people.
“Yemen continues to experience worsening humanitarian and economic
conditions that prevent individuals from safely returning to their
homes,” said Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in
a statement
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announcing
the “re-designation.” He added that the administration “will
continue to protect and offer these individuals a place of residency
temporarily in the United States.” The measure will protect Yemenis
who previously benefitted from TPS through March 2023 and will allow
about 480 additional Yemenis to qualify. It marks the fifth TPS
extension issued by the Biden administration since taking office this
year. In January TPS was extended for 6,700 Syrians
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and
1,800 additional Syrians were allowed to file applications for the
18-month reprieve. In early March 320,000 Venezuelans received TPS for
18 months and in mid-March, Burmese nationals
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got it for the same period after a military coup and security
forces’ violence against civilians. Later in March, the
administration extended TPS
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yet
again for more than 100,000 Haitians over the economic crisis that
persists more than a decade after the earthquake that provoked the
original TPS.

Yemen was first designated for TPS by the Obama administration in
2015
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after
a northern opposition group called Houthis initiated a violent,
territorial expansion across the country and forced Yemeni government
leaders to exile in Saudi Arabia. When it expired, the Obama
administration extended it another 18 months on the “dual bases of
ongoing armed conflict and extraordinary and temporary conditions
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When that second extension expired, the Trump administration renewed
it twice, first under Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen in
2018 and again under acting Secretary Chad Wolf. The latest extension
is warranted because, although it is in its seventh year, the
protracted conflict has shown no sign of abating and fighting between
Houthi and government forces continues, according to a Federal
Register announcement
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issued this month.

Yemen is a hotbed of terrorism that serves as the headquarters of Al
Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP). Nevertheless, shortly after
getting elected President Biden revoked
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the
terrorist designation of a Yemen-based militant group, a move that was
followed by a fat “humanitarian assistance” check from American
taxpayers. The Federal register bulletin
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announcing the group’s (Ansarallah, also known as Partisans of God)
terrorist classification says it has committed or has attempted to
commit, or poses a significant risk of committing, or has participated
in training to commit, acts of terrorism that threaten the of U.S.
nationals or the national security, foreign policy, or economy of the
United States. The international community strongly opposed
classifying Ansarallah as a terrorist entity, asserting it would come
with repercussions for humanitarian operations
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Days after rescinding
the terrorist designation, the Biden administration gave Yemen $191
million in assistance
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BORDER PATROL AGENT HELPS SMUGGLE ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT, DRUGS THROUGH
TEXAS CHECKPOINT

Follow the money. That’s pretty much all you need to know about drug
and people smuggling on our southern border. And – no surprise here
– the risk of all this dirty money is that government officials are
too often compromised. Our _Corruption Chronicles_ blog tells one such
story
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As if enough drugs and illegal immigrants are not already being
trafficked into the U.S. through Mexico, a federal agent has been
arrested and charged after helping smugglers pass cocaine and an
undocumented alien through a Texas border crossing. His name is
Oberlin Cortez Peña, and he works for the U.S. Border Patrol (BP),
the frontline Homeland Security agency charged with keeping terrorists
and their weapons out of the U.S., protecting the American people, and
safeguarding our borders. On two separate occasions, Peña took $1,000
in exchange for helping a vehicle carrying at least five kilograms of
cocaine through the checkpoint in Falfurrias, Texas, federal
prosecutors say. The crossing is situated in an area north of the Rio
Grande River that federal authorities say is the nation’s busiest
for “alien and narcotic traffic
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Peña “utilized his knowledge as a BP agent in acting as a scout and
providing information about the inspection lanes and which one to
utilize,” according to a statement
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issued
by the Department of Justice (DOJ) this month.

The disgraced federal agent, who is 22 years old, also gave smugglers
detailed instructions on how to conceal the drugs in a motor vehicle
and tactics to distract the BP canine unit at the checkpoint.
Authorities launched an investigation in the middle of June after
receiving information that a BP agent was involved in human smuggling,
according to a federal complaint
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The feds set up a sting operation and had an informant contact Peña,
who agreed to take money to provide the informant with advice. Peña
said he would drive ahead on his way to work and communicate which
checkpoint lane to smuggle the illegal immigrant, referred to as IA in
the complaint, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Texas over the weekend. “PENA provided detailed
instruction on when the smuggling had a highest rate of success, and
instructions on how to conceal the IA,” the complaint states.
Authorities say that the meeting occurred on June 21.

The following day, the agent met the cooperator at a mall in McAllen,
Texas to discuss smuggling arrangements. The informant said he had
five kilograms of cocaine to smuggle through the BP Falfurrias
checkpoint and the corrupt agent agreed to be paid $1,000 for
conducting countersurveillance, federal prosecutors write in the
complaint. Peña also agreed to check the BP schedule to see which
agents would be working on Friday, June 25, 2021, at 6:30 p.m. The
agent “was willing to transport the 5 kilograms of cocaine if there
were rookie agents working at the time,” the federal complaint
states. He also told the cooperator to relay what type of compartment
the cocaine would be in and the license plates of the load vehicle so
that he could check the plates for any alerts. Peña received a photo
of a Magellan backpack cooler where the cocaine would be hidden and
advised that the drugs be hidden inside the cooler walls with the
insulation.

Here is another scary tidbit involving this story. After checking the
BP schedule Peña discouraged the operation on the originally planned
date because the agents working that day “were good.” He suggested
moving the smuggling to another day when the BP team on duty
“sucks” and all the agents are “rookies.” After the cocaine
passed through the checkpoint, the government source met Peña at a La
Joya, Texas eatery and paid him $1,000. The men coordinated another
cocaine shipment for later in the week and, once again, Peña agreed
to check the BP work schedule, conduct surveillance, and find out if
the vehicle’s license plate had been flagged. After that drug
shipment made it through, the crooked federal agent met the informant
at a gas station in Falfurrias and the informant paid him $1,000.
Peña is charged with attempting to aid and abet possession with
intent to distribute five or more kilos of cocaine and faces up to a
decade in prison. Earlier in the year, Peña was arrested for driving
under the influence, according to a local news report
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Between the start of the 2021 fiscal year in October and May Customs
and Border Protection (CBP) has seized an astounding 92,000 pounds of
drugs from vehicles at the Mexican border, according to
agency figures
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cited
in a national news article
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Another piece
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reveals
federal agents have seen a “staggering 4,000 percent increase in
fentanyl seizures over the last three years,” but not at ports of
entry. The fentanyl is being smuggled by brazen smugglers through the
desert. A chief BP agent is quoted saying that “cartels are very
creative” and that they ‘intimidate migrants and find ways to
illegally have them transport that narcotic into the United States.”
The last thing we need is an American federal agent like Peña helping
them.
Until next week …



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