“New reporting shows Trump rejected an attorney’s plan to settle the documents case last year. See the timeline and choices Trump made to get to this point including alleged obstruction and conspiracy. In this special report, MSNBC Chief Legal Correspondent Ari Melber breaks down Smith’s timeline.”
Friday love to all our loyal followers!
“We don’t think fifteen year olds are children.” – Jessica Dunker, President & CEO-Iowa Restaurant Association
Reduced Protection for Minors –
Ethical Perspectives On the News
Moderator: Bob Rush
Panelists: Jessica Dunker, President & CEO – Iowa Restaurant Association
Nate Boulton, Iowa Senator – District 20
Cesar F. Rosado Marzan, Professor of Law – University of Iowa
Teacher sues over claim she ‘slandered’ governor over ban on mask mandatesby Clark Kauffman, Iowa Capital Dispatch
June 12, 2023
A former Waukee schoolteacher is suing the school district, alleging she was forced to resign after being accused of slandering Gov. Kim Reynolds over the state’s ban on schoolhouse mask mandates.
Katherine Rinken is seeking unspecified damages from the Waukee Community School District for alleged freedom-of-speech violations, retaliation and gender-based discrimination.
In her lawsuit, Rinken states that in 2019, she was hired by the Waukee schools to teach world history at Prairieview School. Gov. Kim Reynolds signed a new law May 19, 2021, banning public schools from requiring students and staff to wear masks to inhibit the spread of COVID-19. Rinken alleges that when she learned of the action the next day, she expressed outrage in a private Snapchat message and in doing so she used some form of “vulgar” terminology that’s not specified in the lawsuit.
Later that day, Prairieview High School Principal Mark Stallman informed Rinken that a member of the public had sent him a screenshot of the Snapchat message, according to the lawsuit. Stallman allegedly told Rinken the comment had created a “distraction to the learning environment” and he suspended Rinken for the remainder of the school year.
According to the lawsuit, on the same day Rinken posted her private Snapchat message, a male teacher had posted a message to his publicly accessible Facebook page that said, “F— Kim Reynolds.” That teacher, the lawsuit claims, was not disciplined. In addition, a male teacher who had recently been convicted of drunken driving, and whose mugshot was being circulated by students, was not disciplined, the lawsuit claims.
Later in the week, Rinken alleges, she learned she was being investigated by school officials due to false rumors that she was running a pornographic site on OnlyFans, a subscription-based social media platform commonly used by sex workers.
The lawsuit alleges that on May 28, Stallman, Associate Superintendent Terry Hurlburt and the district’s human resources director met with Rinken and told her there was “compelling evidence” that she operated an OnlyFans site, asked her about unfounded rumors that she had once been under the influence of drugs or alcohol at work, and also asserted that she had “slandered” the governor in her private Snapchat post.
To fight the allegations, Rinken says, she would have had to endure a public hearing “like she was on trial for being a witch,” and where parents “could line up to speak against her.” She claims that she resigned with the understanding that the district would extend her teaching license and would “write positive letters of recommendation” for her.
Her lawsuit was recently transferred from state court, where it was filed last month, to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa. The school district has yet to file a response.
Iowa Capital Dispatch is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Iowa Capital Dispatch maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Kathie Obradovich for questions: info@iowacapitaldispatch.com. Follow Iowa Capital Dispatch on Facebook and Twitter.
ZW did a superb job on Iowa Press as always. He nailed every question from the Republican friendly panel by re-framing and informing. He has the ability to make the best of the panel’s odd, sometimes hostile questioning. He educates viewers while neutralizing the Republican talking points the panel brings forth. He is a visionary and a natural leader that has the added advantage of youth that Iowa Democrats sorely need.
So allow me to digress a bit to lament that his colleagues chose to ditch him as Minority Leader for someone from the old guard. Not knocking anyone and I admit to not knowing much about the situation other than what I’ve read on public posts and Wahls’ email about it. In his email he took the high road, focusing on how important it is for Democrats to keep fighting for our state and not give up.
“..my Democratic colleagues in the Iowa Senate chose a new caucus Leader, Senator Pam Jochum. After serving as Leader the past two-and-a-half years, I know how critically important this job is, not just for Iowa Democrats, but for all Iowans. Her success is vital to the wellbeing and betterment of our state, and I will continue working hard everyday to serve my constituents, help Leader Jochum and the Iowa Senate Democrats, and elect more Democrats in Iowa.”
One would think the Dems could have found a better solution to deal with what they were upset about. His swift and decisive removal as leader was breathtaking. One wishes the party could show that same organizing ability and verve when dealing with Republicans or winning elections. It feels like a step backwards to many Democrats that I’ve talked to.
But on to the program. I’ve frequently been critical of Iowa Press for not asking follow-up questions – of Republicans that is. They regularly demand answers from Dems as Dave Price weirdly did in this episode. Watch the exchange starting around 5:30.
Caleb McCullough lobbed the first question about the school voucher bill. This is what I mean by hostile questioning. Mentioning Odyssey, the out of state 3rd party that will be administering the program, McCullough asked, “won’t that system that I just described kind of help prevent the fraud that you all were concerned about?” They’re defending Reynolds farming out the administration of the voucher program by suggesting it is fraud prevention? And putting that on Democrats, like, “that’s what you wanted, isn’t it?”
Wahls responded by explaining the lack of transparency and information is a bad deal for Iowa and came back with better questions than the panel asked all night. “Why couldn’t the Department of Education perform this oversight? Why do they need that third-party vendor from an out-of-state company? Isn’t there a company in Iowa that could have done that?” Pretty sure nobody on the panel was curious about that when the governor was on the program May 12.
Dave Price follows up with “In the end, isn’t raising private teacher pay a good thing?” Good old Republican framing, flipping reality around to trap the interviewee into agreeing.
Wahls responds patiently explaining, “I don’t have a problem with private school teachers having their wages increased. What I do have a problem with is taking public taxpayer money to fund those programs… I think that what we need to stay focused on is Iowa has a long tradition of a strong public education system that educates every Iowa kid. That was a huge part of what has made Iowa, Iowa. And this private school voucher scheme is a radical departure from that. And so, I would certainly support increasing teacher pay for Iowa’s public school teachers. I don’t support using those public taxpayer dollars to go put that money into the private schools.”
Price: “…So, is your goal to try to recapture the majority and then take it away?”
Really is anyone seriously losing sleep about Democrats recapturing the majority any time soon? Where is this coming from? This professional journalist seemingly missed the entire 2023 legislative session or he would not be worried about Democrats taking things away from people who send their kids to private schools.
Wahls answers in part, “Look, our goal is to make sure that every Iowa kid can get the best world class education that they deserve and that they need in order to be successful later in life…” and I figure Price has to be done now. But no.
Price comes back with “So, get rid of it or not?”
You will never hear the Iowa Press panel talk this way to Republicans. This hard line I-want-an-answer-to-my-question style of interviewing is for Democrats, while Kim Reynolds and Republican guests are served milk and cookies.
Watch if you dare.
“This indictment was voted by a grand jury of citizens in the Southern District of Florida,” said special counsel Jack Smith in a news conference Friday afternoon. “And I invite everyone to read it in full, to understand the scope and the gravity of the crimes charged.”
Trump indicted on 37 counts over classified documents
| 31 counts | Willful retention of national defense information Related to Trump’s alleged unauthorized possession of national defense documents and his failure to turn them over to law enforcement officials |
| 3 counts | Withholding or concealing documents in a federal investigation Related to Trump and an aide allegedly concealing boxes of classified documents from law enforcement officials and the grand jury |
| 2 counts | False statements Related to false statements about classified documents being turned over to law enforcement and an alleged scheme to hide Trump’s continued possession of the materials |
| 1 count | Conspiracy to obstruct justice Related to an alleged conspiracy between Trump and an aide to keep classified documents Trump took from the White House |
If you don’t have the time to read the 49 page indictment you can listen to the audio/podcast.
Here is the scariest part and why Trump must be held accountable.
Page 2:
“3. The classified documents TRUMP stored in his boxes included information regarding defense and weapons capabilities of both the United States and foreign countries; United States nuclear programs; potential vulnerabilities of the United States and its allies to military attack; and plans for possible retaliation in response to a foreign attack. The unauthorized disclosure of these classified documents could put at risk the national security of the United States, foreign relations, the safety of the United States military, and human sources and the continued viability of sensitive intelligence collection methods.”
Read the full 44-page indictment below.
https://www.politico.com/news/2023/06/09/trump-2nd-indictment-full-document-text-00101294
4 minutes:
Sorry we didn’t remind those among us who are Supreme Court watchers last week that it is June and time for the SCOTUS to wrap up its term with their usual end of term pronouncements that may totally change the direction of the country on a dime.
What days decisions will be handed down is announced by the Court as the month goes on. Usually at the end of an announcement day it announces the next announcement day. So far they have announced decisions on the first two Thursdays of the month. The next day for decisions will be next Thursday, June 15th.
One of the best places for a quick synopsis of the decisions and discussion on the impacts scotusblog.com. There are some extremely sharp folks discussing the decisions there. I often check in daily during June to see if any news or rumors are filtering out.
So far the SCOTUS has only ruled on a few cases. There are something like 27 left including the potential block buster of Moore v. Harper arising from North Carolina. Moore v. Harper is the case that is pushing the so-called “independent legislature theory.” That is whether a state legislature can overturn the popular vote for president and give the electoral votes to the losing candidate in their state.
Last Thursday were as a truly surprising decision. In a case involving gerrymandering in Alabama that appeared to be in direct violation of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Court watchers fully expected that the heavily right wing Court would use this opportunity to pretty much nullify the Voting Rights Act.
But we were all surprised when the SCOTUS decided that the gerrymandering in Alabama DID violate the Voting Rights Act. The decision was 5 to 4 with Roberts and Kavanaugh joining liberals Jackson, Sotomayor and Kagan voting in the majority.
Here is an excerpt from NBC News:
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down Republican-drawn congressional districts in Alabama that civil rights activists say discriminated against Black voters in a surprise reaffirmation of the landmark Voting Rights Act.
The court in a 5-4 vote ruled against Alabama, meaning the map of the seven congressional districts, which heavily favors Republicans, will now be redrawn. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Brett Kavanaugh, both conservatives, joined the court’s three liberals in the majority.
In doing so, the court — which has a 6-3 conservative majority — turned away the state’s effort to make it harder to remedy concerns raised by civil rights advocates that the power of Black voters in states like Alabama is being diluted by dividing voters into districts where white voters dominate.
In 2013, Roberts authored a ruling that gutted a separate, important provision of the Voting Rights Act and has long argued that various government efforts to address historic racial discrimination are problematic and may exacerbate the situation.
As I said – a real surprise. Stay tuned, there may be more!
Patrick Baughman of Sioux City West made a stand for trans rights and against banning books as his school’s valedictorian last Saturday. A full story and a video of his stand can be seen here at iowastartingline. Excellent job, Patrick. People like you give us hope. (1 minute):
Well, was it all you expected Thursday night as details slowly rolled out about the indictment of perhaps the most in-our-faces criminal ever. Trump has been committing his crimes pretty much out in the open and daring someone to do something about it. He no doubt felt his stature and his braggadocio would somehow shield him from paying for his crimes.
The very act of indicting the former president is indeed a super stress test for our democracy. For a nation founded on the principal that no person is above the law, this is really the first time it has been tested with someone of Trump’s stature. Were there no indictments it would signal a huge and possible fatal flaw in our system.
But the test is only beginning. The former guy has a huge contingent of believers who will be more than willing to take the country down rather than let their hero face justice. We have already seen a preview of that 2.5 years ago. Believe me, Trump truly believes he can intimidate the country into letting him go free.
In other news President Biden continues have a great presidency, even as Trump backers in congress try to create bogus charges for an impeachment.
Good grief – but boy what a week!
A) Trump will be arraigned in Miami next Tuesday. What is the next day (Wednesday) in Trump’s life?
B) Speaking of spy stuff, what extremely notorious Soviet double agent died in maximum security prison in Colorado Monday?
C) Significant news in the world of cats this week. Science has come up with a shot that could act as a potential what for cats for as much as a lifetime?
D) Gay Pride: We often hear of the Stonewall riots. What city did the Stonewall riots take place in?
E) When the indictment was unsealed Friday, how many counts was Mr. Trump charged with?
F) In Iowa, how many people applied for money for private school vouchers?
G) How much of a dent will those vouchers put in the public school funding next school year?
H) Big news in Russia’s invasion of Ukraine: a dam over what river in Ukraine caused massive flooding and other damage last week?
I) The first act by lawyers for Donald Trump after the indictments were announced was to do what?
J) In Washington, DC a woman sued her neighbor and won because of the problems caused by the neighbors use of what?
K) The play “The Laramie Project” deals with the aftermath of the murder of what 21 year old gay man in Laramie, Wyoming?
L) In Iowa politics this week what Senate Minority Leader was removed and replaced in leadership by Pam Jochum?
M) President Biden sent firefighters to help what country as more than 400 wildfires raged out of control in that country?
N) One of the spurs to President Biden’s action was smoke choking the air in what part of the US?
O) What televangelist who was one of the leaders in mixing evangelicals and extreme right wing politics died this week at age 93?
P) The Biden Administration was sued by what drug company that alleged that the Medicare Negotiation Law forced them to sell their products at government determined prices?
Q) Mexican President Obrador has told Mexican-Americans not to vote for what presidential candidate due his policies that are hostile to Latinos?
R) While it was labeled a ‘merger’ the truth was that it was a hostile takeover of the PGA golf tour and its counterpart in Europe by whom?
S) What state approved the first publicly funded religious charter school in the nation last week?
T) The year long downward spiral low lighted by a ‘town hall’ with Donald Trump ended last week for what CNN CEO?
Mike Pence is wrong. Indicting a former President does NOT send “the wrong” message to the world. Conversely, it sends the EXACT message to the rest of the world that we want to have communicated. Mike Pence continues to be a coward. – Jack Hopkins tweet
Answers:
A) His 77th birthday. Happy birthday, ~~~*&%$^
B) Robert Hanssen, notorious double agent responsible for many CIA deaths etc.
C) birth control shot that could last years, maybe for life
D) NYC
E) 37
F) 10,000
G) $76,000,000
H) Dnipro
I) Resign as Trump’s lawyers
J) Medical Marijuana
K) Matthew Shepard
L) Zach Wahls
M) Canada
N) the northeastern states mostly – New York and Pennsylvania
O) Pat Robertson
P) Merck
Q) Florida governor DeSantis
R) The Saudi Arabian backed LIV golf tour
S) Oklahoma – this one really smells
T) Chris Licht.
DeSantis Rounds Up Disney Characters and Puts Them on Bus to New York. – Andy Borowitz
Tip of the hat to http://all-hat-no-cattle.blogspot.com
6 Minutes:
I had almost forgotten about this Bob Dylan masterpiece. Someone online posted it in connection with the death of Pat Robertson. Robertson who was safely away from the hate and destruction he worked for or supported. Robertson was kind of a poster boy for those who foment the hate and violence that is so endemic in our country these days.
I believe the term for someone like a Pat Robertson is a stochastic terrorist – someone whose demonization of a person or group incites violence against that group or person. Robertson had many groups he demonized. In his case the most demonized was certainly the LGBTQ folks.
Honestly I have only seen a few clips of Robertson. Charlatans and hypocrites like him make my blood boil. But it was no secret that Robertson blamed anything and everything he considered evil was a consequence of people who were born gay. Two that stick in my mind were Hurricane Katrina and 9/11.
Robertson’s constant demonization of gays in particular no doubt is helping feed the current epidemic of hate that is sweeping the country against gays and trans people. The manifestation of this hate in book banning that include potential felonies for librarians stocking banned books is a particularly ugly turn of events. Several states opt for hate over learning and understanding based on their base fears stoked by the likes of Robertson.
Seems almost cosmic that Robertson would die during pride month and give his perceived enemies something to celebrate. Clarence Darrow has been credited with saying “I never killed a man, but I have read many obituaries with great pleasure.”
Interestingly, one of the groups that is spreading hate for gays and using it as their claim to fame – Moms For Liberty – gained a bit of notoriety last week when they were named as a the group by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Kudos to the SPLC for calling a spade a spade – that hate is hate no matter how you think you may have dressed it up.
Robertson and fellow phony and hypocrite Jerry Falwell were among those who made institutional hate for LGBTQ acceptable. They seemed to be cheering on the AIDS virus as it spread fear and death particularly among the LGBTQ community. Robertson and his ilk were evil.
Sadly, Robertson, Falwell and their ilk were able to roll their evil and hate into political power finding a very welcoming home in the Republican Party. As we in Iowa are being apprised of every move of Republican hopefuls we note that all of their campaigns are based on some degree of hate.
Ron DeSantis whole schtick is hating gays, banning books and trying to shut down companies that are friendly to gays. DeSantis’ game is playing well in Iowa. Donald Trump spews his hate a little bit more through code words but he is also playing well.
For anyone who is not named DeSantis or Trump, they must cozy up to the book banning and code words to even get to play. Watch in particular for the word “WOKE” in their speeches as they try to attract voters. Being anti-woke – a code word for being anti-gay – is the price of admission to the Republican Party nomination.
A note for Iowans: Remember that among those who are cuddling up with Moms For Liberty include their Governor, Kim Reynolds. Back in February, Reynolds spoke to the group at a town hall they (Moms For Liberty) organized and were then represented as Reynolds signed a law restricting access (read ‘banning’) certain books that some parents found objectionable.
Thus is the legacy of the self-styled man of God – lots of hate that spawned the current Republican Party.
Sorry we are late with this. There are some events this weekend and all other weekends this month. As far as I can tell here is no one exhaustive list, so I took this one from One Iowa. They are usually one of the best sources for the LGBTQ+:
June 2023
FRI
9
June 9 – June 11
SUN
11
June 11 @ 11:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Capital City Pride Parade 2023
Lucas Building Parking Lot 321 E 12th St, Des Moines, IA
THU
15
June 15 @ 3:30 PM – 9:00 PM
(Editor’s note: This is Fort Madison)
SAT
17
June 17 @ 11:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Pedestrian Mall 221 E Washington St,, Iowa City, IA
FRI
23
June 23 @ 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM
Career Queers: Honoring Your LGBTQ Identity in the Workplace
FRI
23
June 23 @ 5:00 PM – 9:00 PM
SAT
24
June 24 @ 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Burlington Pride in the Park 2023
SAT
24
June 24 @ 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Fort Dodge Pride Festival 2023
SAT
24
June 24 @ 12:00 PM – 4:00 PM
SAT
24
June 24 @ 3:30 PM – 9:00 PM
FRI
30
the river Center 340 SW 3rd St, Des Moines, 50309
While the attack on LGBTQ rights has been unprecedented this year, we have also seen a united force for change – Iowans across the state have joined the fight for LGBTQ equality. We are excited to celebrate that collective spirit at the 14th Annual One Iowa Gala on Friday, June 30th, at The River Center! […]
If your area does not have something listed here please check with google to see if there is an event.
Have fun but be safe. As we all know the things may not be as friendly as they have been before.
Rob Sand’s appearance this week on All in with Chris Hayes.
Blog For Iowa 