Month: August 2022

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US

Wray says FBI downplaying Hunter Biden information is ‘deeply troubling,’ as Republicans demand answers

Tom Fitton on FBI bias in Hunter Biden probe: This is a scandal

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FBI Director Christopher Wray said whistleblower allegations claiming FBI agents falsely labeled derogatory information on Hunter Biden as disinformation are “deeply troubling,” but Republicans are calling on him to further acknowledge broader “politicization” within the bureau.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, Wray was asked by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., about allegations “highly credible whistleblowers” at the Justice Department and FBI shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office last week.

Grassley, in a letter to Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland last week, detailed the allegations and indicated that the whistleblowers said there was “a scheme in place among certain FBI officials to undermine derogatory information connected to Hunter Biden by falsely suggesting it was disinformation. “

The whistleblowers also alleged a “pattern of active public partisanship” at the agencies pertaining to investigations into the Trump campaign and suppression of information on the Hunter Biden probe.

GRASSLEY PRESSES DOJ, FBI FOR TRANSPARENCY ON ‘PARTISAN’ POLITICIZATION OF AGENCIES, HUNTER BIDEN PROBE

“When I read the letter that describes the kinds of things that you’re talking about, I found it deeply troubling,” Wray testified Thursday.

The whistleblowers alleged a “pattern of active public partisanship” by Assistant Special Agent in Charge Timothy Thibault and others.

Grassley warned Wray and Garland in his letter last week that Thibault’s “partisanship likely affected investigations briefed to, and approved by, senior Justice Department and FBI officials.”

According to Grassley, the whistleblowers say that DOJ and FBI employees must follow strict substantial factual predication in order to open an investigation and that Thibault did not follow these policies.

Wray, during the hearing, promised that those whistleblowers would be protected.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, Wray was asked by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., about allegations that "highly credible whistleblowers" at the Justice Department and FBI shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley's office last week.

During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing Thursday, Wray was asked by Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., about allegations that “highly credible whistleblowers” at the Justice Department and FBI shared with Sen. Chuck Grassley’s office last week.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

Wray also removed Thibault from his supervisory role.

But Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., is calling for further action with regard to partisanship within the FBI.

“It’s about time Director Wray acknowledges that the politicization of the FBI is ‘deeply troubling,'” Johnson told Fox News Friday. “Unfortunately, this has been obvious during his entire tenure of him as director, and he’s done nothing about it.”

Johnson was referring to politicization related to the FBI’s investigation into whether President Trump’s first campaign colluded with Russia to influence the 2016 presidential election.

“I suppose better late than never,” Johnson said. “But I’m not holding my breath.”

Johnson last week demanded that the Justice Department open an internal investigation or appoint a special counsel following the new whistleblower allegations and further claimed that the FBI had been “weaponized” against sitting members of the Senate.

Both Johnson and Grassley recounted events between July 2020 and October 2020, during which the FBI, including Thibault, FBI Supervisory Intelligence Analyst Brian Auten and Democratic senators gave Republicans investigating the Hunter allegations the runaround on information, falsely alleging that the GOP was advancing “foreign disinformation” regarding Biden’s son.

GOP senators allege an Aug. 6, 2020 meeting after whistleblower corroboration was explicitly intended to “undermine” their investigation into Hunter Biden.

"It's about time Director Wray acknowledges that the politicization of the FBI is 'deeply troubling,'" Sen. Ron Johnson told Fox News Friday. "Unfortunately, this has been obvious during his entire tenure as director, and he's done nothing about it."

“It’s about time Director Wray acknowledges that the politicization of the FBI is ‘deeply troubling,'” Sen. Ron Johnson told Fox News Friday. “Unfortunately, this has been obvious during his entire tenure of him as director, and he’s done nothing about it.”
(Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

“If these recent whistleblower revelations are true, it would strongly suggest that the FBI’s August 6, 2020, briefing was indeed a targeted effort to intentionally undermine a Congressional investigation,” Johnson wrote in a letter to Biden administration officials last week.

“The FBI being weaponized against two sitting chairmen of US Senate committees with constitutional oversight responsibilities would be one of the greatest episodes of Executive Branch corruption in American history.”

Johnson said that, for nearly two years, he has “sought to get information from the FBI and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) about the purpose of, and who ordered, this briefing.”

FLASHBACK: GOP-LED COMMITTEES RELEASE INTERIM REPORT ON HUNTER BIDEN, BURISMA PROBE

The Aug. 6, 2020, briefing, according to sources familiar with the meeting, was unsolicited. It was delivered by the FBI on behalf of the intelligence community and was “not specific” and “not connected” to Johnson and Grassley’s ongoing work.

Johnson and Grassley were working at the time on a joint investigation into Hunter Biden’s role on the board of Ukrainian natural gas firm Burisma Holdings and his “extensive and complex financial transactions.”

At the time of the release of their investigation’s interim report in September 2020, Grassley and Johnson said their probe “faced many obstacles” from Democrats and executive agencies that “failed to comply with document requests.”

Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson's report also revealed that they obtained records from the US Treasury Department that "show potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals."

Chuck Grassley and Ron Johnson’s report also revealed that they obtained records from the US Treasury Department that “show potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family, and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals.”
(Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

The 87-page report stated that Obama administration officials “knew” that Hunter Biden’s position on the board of Burisma was “problematic” and that it interfered “in the efficient execution of policy with respect to Ukraine.”

Hunter Biden joined Burisma in April 2014 and, at the time, reportedly connected the firm with consulting firm Blue Star Strategies to help the natural gas company fight corruption charges in Ukraine. During the time Biden was on the board of the company, Joe Biden was vice president and running US-Ukraine relations and policy for the Obama administration.

Grassley and Johnson’s report also revealed that they obtained records from the US Treasury Department that “show potential criminal activity relating to transactions among and between Hunter Biden, his family and his associates with Ukrainian, Russian, Kazakh and Chinese nationals.”

HUNTER BIDEN UNDER FEDERAL INVESTIGATION FOR ‘TAX AFFAIRS;’ LINKS TO CHINA FUNDS EMERGE, SOURCES SAY

Grassley and Johnson said they received records that Hunter Biden “sent thousands of dollars” to individuals who have “either been involved in transactions consistent with possible human trafficking; an association with the adult entertainment industry; or potential association with prostitution.”

“Some recipients of those funds are Ukrainian or Russian citizens,” the report states, adding that “the records note that it is a documented fact that Hunter Biden has sent funds to nonresident alien women in the United States who are citizens of Russia and Ukraine and who have subsequently wired funds they have received from Hunter Biden to individuals located in Russia and Ukraine.

“The records also note that some of these transactions are linked to what ‘appears to be an Eastern European prostitution or human trafficking ring,'” the report stated.

Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News.

Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News.
(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)

Meanwhile, the report states that Senate investigators found millions of dollars in “questionable financial transactions” between Hunter Biden and his associates and foreign individuals, including the wife of the former mayor of Moscow as well as individuals with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.

According to the report, an investment firm co-founded by Hunter Biden, Rosemont Seneca Thornton, “received $3.5 million in a wire transfer” from Elena Baturina, the wife of the former mayor of the Russian capital.

The report went even further and alleged that not just Hunter Biden but other members of the Biden family “were involved in a vast financial network that connected them to foreign nationals and foreign governments across the globe.”

Following the 2020 presidential election, Hunter Biden himself revealed he was under federal investigation for his “tax affairs.”

Hunter Biden has been under federal investigation since 2018, a source familiar with the matter told Fox News.

Fox News has learned that the investigation has now reached a “critical stage,” as officials are looking into whether to charge President Biden’s son with various tax violations, possible foreign lobbying violations and more.

Vice President Joe Biden and sons Hunter Biden, left, and Beau Biden walk in the Inaugural Parade Jan. 20, 2009, in Washington, DC

Vice President Joe Biden and sons Hunter Biden, left, and Beau Biden walk in the Inaugural Parade Jan. 20, 2009, in Washington, DC
(David McNew/Getty Images)

A separate source told Fox News that the federal grand jury looking into Hunter Biden’s business dealings wrapped up its latest term late last month but said no charges have been filed.

The investigation is being conducted by Delaware US Attorney David Weiss, a prosecutor appointed by former President Donald Trump.

HUNTER BIDEN REQUESTED KEYS FOR NEW ‘OFFICE MATES’ JOE BIDEN, CHINESE ‘EMISSARY’ TO CEFC CHAIRMAN, EMAILS SHOW

The source told Fox News Wednesday that Weiss and Justice Department officials were looking into whether to charge Hunter Biden with various tax violations and, more seriously, possible foreign lobbying violations. The source said Hunter Biden could face possible false statements charges.

Fox News first reported in December 2020 that Hunter Biden was a subject/target of the grand jury investigation, according to a well-placed government source. According to the source, a “target” means that there is a “high probability that person committed a crime,” while a “subject” is someone you “don’t know for sure” has committed a crime.”

The federal investigation into Hunter Biden was predicated, in part, by suspicious activity reports (SARs) regarding suspicious foreign transactions.

Another source familiar with the investigation told Fox News in December 2020 that the SARs related to funds from “China and other foreign nations.”

A Treasury Department official, who did not comment on the investigation, spoke broadly about SARs, telling Fox News that SARs are filed by financial institutions “if there is something out of the ordinary about a particular transaction.”

The official told Fox News that the mere filing of a SAR does not mean there has been a criminal act or violation of regulations. Instead, it’s a flag that a transaction is “out of the ordinary” for the customer. The official noted, though, that an SAR could be part of a money laundering or tax investigation.

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“I take this matter very seriously, but I am confident that a professional and objective review of these matters will demonstrate that I handled my affairs legally and appropriately, including with the benefit of professional tax advisors,” Hunter Biden said in December 2020.

Brooke Singman is a Fox News Digital politics reporter. You can reach her from her at [email protected] or @BrookeSingman on Twitter.

Categories
Business

how a Kilmore private school fell into financial ruin

how a Kilmore private school fell into financial ruin

Wittmer defended the annual payments of $520,000 as a fair reward for capital he provided to the school in its early years.

The recently renamed Colmont School was last week placed into administration and declared insolvent.

The recently renamed Colmont School was last week placed into administration and declared insolvent. Credit:Jason South

“I had hocked myself to the hilt and thrown a lifetime of business at the highest level into it,” he said. He declined to disclose the 2019 sale price, but said the property holdings alone were worth $25 million.

The Chinese company that bought the Kilmore school assets operates a school in the island province of Hainan and another in central China. Its spokesman, Locke Wang, said the company wanted the school to be successful and had planned to redevelop part of the Kilmore site into a Timbertop-style campus to immerse overseas students in Australian culture. “Regrettably, such a plan did not attract genuine engagement from the school board,” he said.

The company’s two local directors are a husband-and-wife team, Chien-long Tai and Yuyu Chen. Tai said an offer of rent relief and a proposed bailout involving unidentified investors had been rejected by the administrators.

Administrator Paul Langdon, from Vince & Associates, told a creditors’ meeting on Friday that no restructuring plan had been put, or any additional funding offered, that would allow the school to stay open.

The creditors, who are mostly parents and teachers from the school owed fees and unpaid entitlements, voted to dump the Vince & Associates team and appoint new administrators – Rachel Burdett and Bruno Secatore from the firm Cor Cordis – to explore the Chinese company’s proposal to reopen the school.

Former school directors told The Age this week that Steven Scroggie, the business manager for the Kilmore International School between 2016 and 2020, delved into the school’s contractual history with Wittmer and raised concerns with the school about what he found.

It is understood that Scroggie told school board members in the months leading up to the pandemic that despite its strong run of cash-positive years, the school was facing three years of financial losses. He urged the school to disentangle itself from its long-term licensing contracts and leases, wind up the Kilmore International School and rebrand under a new name.

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For his troubles, Scroggie was sacked and escorted off the school premises in February 2020. He declined to comment when contacted by TheAge, but his advice to the board proved prescient.

In the two years since he left, the school has posted losses totaling $5 million and no longer has enough money to meet its operating costs.

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Australia’s borders shut and an exodus of international students smashed a $6 million hole in the school’s revenue. School chairman Rod Dally and principal Peter Cooper severed the school’s international marketing and licensing obligations and explored the possibility of relocating the school to a proposed new development site in the nearby town of Wallan.

Half of the board’s six directors quit at the start of this year. A former director said the board became divided and dysfunctional, meetings were increasingly haphazard and that it was difficult to obtain financial information.

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“It went to a culture where there was a lack of transparency and basic culture,” they said.

Under a corporate structure devised by Wittmer, the land, buildings and intellectual property of the school were housed within companies he controlled, and a separate company was established, with no assets, to govern the operations of the school.

In addition to the licensing fee, the school paid up to $1.75 million in rent and a fixed $1.6 million fee for international marketing services to the Wittmer companies. The international marketing services included the travel costs for overseas agents, translation services and pastoral care of students.

Wittmer said a business consultancy engaged by the school, Verve Advisory, examined the international marketing and student services his company provided to the school and concluded they represented value for money. The author of the report did not reply to questions from The Age.

The 2020 whistleblower complaint painted a different picture. It claimed that the school paid $180,000 rent to Wittmer for an abandoned Catholic primary school site that was never used by Kilmore for classes and, at one point, paid him a salary of $70,000 to be a member of the school’s maintenance staff.

The whistleblower was critical of the school board for allowing the arrangements to continue.

“Unless the business model is changed, I believe the school will become insolvent,” the whistleblower warned. “It is in my opinion that the board of this school places more value on protecting the income stream of RW than acting in the best interests of the school.”

A school insider put it more succinctly. “It got sucked dry,” he said.

The demise of the 32-year-old school has rekindled a bitter feud between Wittmer, his supporters and his detractors.

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A board-supported plan to shift the school away from Kilmore provoked allegations of conflict of interest against Walter Mott, a former school director.

Mott is a director of the Crystal Group, a property development company involved in the creation of St Hilaire, a new town planned on the southern boundary of Wallan that will eventually be home to 180,000 people.

During Mott’s time on the board, the school registered St Hilaire International Grammar School as a business name. Hilaire is Walter Mott’s middle name.

Mott’s daughter Celine Mott, also a director of the Crystal Group, said her father stood down from the board to avoid a conflict of interest once it became clear the school was considering potential sites in the St Hilaire development. The school has since been renamed the Colmont School.

The motives of the Chinese company have also been questioned.

The 12.5 acres of school land it owns in central Kilmore, a fast-growing regional town, consists of 41 separate titles and a road running through its centre. If the land was zoned for residential instead of education, its value would dwarf the personal fortune that Wittmer made from the school.

Wang insisted his company had no such plans. “Mr Tai and Ms Chen acquired the company which holds the school brand and two contracts with the school with the motivation of facilitating the educational advancement of the school,” he said.

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Categories
Technology

The Beats Studio Buds are back on sale for $100

The Beats Studio Buds are back on sale for $100

We called the Beats Studio Buds the best device from the company for most people when they came out last year, and it remains one of our top picks if you’re looking for a pair of relatively affordable wireless earbuds. They’re an even better buy when you can grab them on sale — Amazon currently has the Beats Studio Buds for $100, which is a record low and a return to their Prime Day price. The discount applies to all color options, too, including the newer moon gray and ocean blue schemes.

Buy Beats Studio Buds at Amazon – $100

Normally priced at $150, the Beats Studio Buds impressed us with their small, comfortable design, solid sound quality and good active noise cancellation. In addition to being compact and lightweight, these buds have an IPX4 water-resistant rating, making them good for sweaty workouts, and they have onboard controls that let you play/pause, skip tracks and adjust ANC on the fly. Our biggest flu with the overall design is that the Studio Buds’ case doesn’t support wireless charging.

As far as sound quality goes, Beats has come a long way. In addition to supporting Apple’s spatial audio, the Studio Buds produce well-tuned sound with punchy bass that doesn’t overwhelm. Noise cancellation does a good job of blocking out environmental noises, and Transparency mode lets you easily jump in and out of conversations happening around you.

The Beats Studio Buds also include Apple’s H1 chipset inside, which will allow them to quickly pair with iPhones and other Apple devices. Similarly to AirPods, they should provide seamless switching between those devices as well. But Android users have not been left out in the dust — the Studio Buds also support Fast Pair and Find My Device on Android gadgets, so all of those features make them a good pick, regardless of which OS you prefer.

If you’re willing to pay a bit more, the new Beats Fit Pro earbuds are also on sale right now for $180. While not the record low we saw during Prime Day last moth ($160), this $20 discount is a decent one for Beats’ latest offering. These buds have a similar design to the Beats Studio Buds, but they include wingtips that help keep the buds in your ears comfortably. We like them for their solid sound quality, strong ANC and spatial audio support with dynamic head tracking.

Buy Beats Fit Pro at Amazon – $180

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Categories
Sports

Corey Oates try forward pass video, Roosters vs Broncos score

Corey Oates try forward pass video, Roosters vs Broncos score

Nothing seemed to go right for Brisbane Broncos on Thursday evening, but Kevin Walters’ men were perhaps lucky to be awarded their second try against the Sydney Roosters at the SCG.

The Broncos were trailing by 20 points in the 60th minute when five-eighth Ezra Mam floated a pass over the Roosters defensive line towards winger Corey Oates, who dived over for the try.

But replays suggested the pass was forward, with Mam releasing the ball behind the 10m line and Oates catching it approximately eight meters out.

Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Start your free trial now >

The referee believed the ball was passed backwards but floated forwards — which is legal. The Sydney crowd didn’t agree though, with a chorus of boos echoing around the stadium when replays were shown on the big screen.

“Man, that’s way forward,” Channel 9 commentator Mathew Thompson said. “Oh he’s going to let it go. He’s let it go!

“It can’t have been thrown back either.”

Melbourne Storm legend Cameron Smith continued: “Seriously? Unless it’s come off a Rooster’s hand … I think that ball has drifted forward about three meters.”

Former New South Wales representative Michael Ennis agreed on Fox League. “The pass from Ezra Mam looked like it was two meters forward out of his hands from him,” he said.

“It certainly went forward.”

Regardless, the Roosters have taken another important step towards securing a top eight berth after beating Brisbane 34-16.

Trent Robinson’s men weren’t at their ruthless best, but a fourth straight win has put their premiership rivals on notice.

The Roosters started the round at risk of dropping to ninth but will finish the weekend either seventh or eighth, keeping their closest pursuers at bay for at least another week.

They have a tough run home over the closing month – meeting North Queensland, Wests Tigers, Melbourne and South Sydney – but who would be foolish enough to declare the Chooks won’t reach the finals for a sixth straight season?

And any team featuring James Tedesco, Joey Manu, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Luke Keary, Victor Radley and Joseph Suaalii will be a threat come September.

“We feel like we’ve worked hard enough this year and tried different things (and) it’s time to play better,” Robinson said.

“The last month has been good and we’re improving but we’ve got to keep going.”

Skipper Tedesco added: “We’re still chasing that 80-minute performance but we’re getting better and better.”

The Roosters led this must-win game 18-0 after as many minutes, pouring through the Broncos’ ineffectual defense and eating up the meters with ease.

It took the hosts just five minutes to open the Broncos up, a lovely bat-on pass from Tedesco handing Paul Momirovski an open passage to the line.

Sam Walker engineered the next try three minutes later with a clever chip kick into the in-goal for Nat Butcher to reach out and ground the ball with his fingertips.

When Angus Crichton pushed through some Brisbane’s flimsy right-edge defense to reach out and score, the Roosters were headed for an 18-0 lead and complete control of a one-sided contest.

Luke Keary of the Roosters celebrates with teammates. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty ImagesSource: Getty Images

Then they took the foot from the throat, inviting Brisbane back into the game.

The Broncos scored through Corey Oates to narrow the gap to 14 as the Roosters’ completion rate went through the floor.

Robinson told the Tricolours to park the fancy stuff in the second half – and they did – but they still came up with three tries to snuff out any hope of a Brisbane revival.

Keary was superb, putting the finishing touches on a standout performance with a brilliant individual try 12 minutes from the end.

We were expecting a strong response from the Broncos following their shock loss to Wests Tigers, but they fired a few decent shots in another worrying performance.

Their attack was pedestrian and clunky for most of the night and there wasn’t much in the way of whack in defense.

The visitors were chasing the game from the outset and did well to avoid a blowout, although they never really looked like mounting any sort of concerted comeback.

“At 18-0 we got a bit of momentum back and (then) a couple of things didn’t go to plan,” Brisbane skipper Adam Reynolds said.

“It’s obviously disappointing, but it’s a learning curve. We’re still a young team that’s figuring it out.”

Brisbane could finish the round as low as seventh if Parramatta and Souths win their respective matches.

With Adam Lucius, NCA NewsWire

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Categories
US

Alex Jones on trial: Jury finds Infowars founder should pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to Sandy Hook parents

Alex Jones on trial: Jury finds Infowars founder should pay $45.2 million in punitive damages to Sandy Hook parents


New York
CNN Business
—

A Texas jury has decided to penalize Alex Jones with $45.2 million in punitive damages in a lawsuit filed by the parents of Sandy Hook shooting victim Jesse Lewis.

The award, which the judge could reduce, came one day after the jury settled on $4.1 million in compensatory damages.

The jurors began deliberating around 12:30 pm CT on Friday, after Judge Maya Guerra Gamble reminded them that in a default judgment against him Jones was already found liable for defamation and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” against Lewis’ parents, Scarlett Lewis and Neil Hesslin.

In an emotional closing argument Friday, Lewis and Heslin’s attorney Wesley Todd Ball said to the jury, “We ask that you send a very very simple message, and that is, stop Alex Jones. Stop the monetization of misinformation and lies. Por favor.”

Ball urged the jurors to “deter Alex Jones from ever doing this awfulness again” and “to deter others who may want to step into his shoes.”

Jones’ attorney, Federico Andino Reynal, argued for a far lower sum, suggesting that the jurors should multiply Jones’ purported earnings per hour of $14,000 and the 18 hours that he said Jones talked about Sandy Hook on Infowars, for a sum of around a quarter million dollars.

On Thursday, in the first phase of the trial, the jury awarded the parents $4.1 million in compensatory damages, a far smaller amount than the $150 million the parents’ attorneys had sought. In his closing argument, Ball thanked the jury for their decision to award the $4.1 million, saying it had already made a huge difference in the parents’ lives, and asked them to award enough in punitive damages to bring the total to $150 million.

Bernard Pettingill testifying on August 5.

Punitive damages are a form of punishment for a defendant’s behavior. Jones, the head of the conspiratorial media outlet Infowars, repeatedly lied about the Sandy Hook massacre. I have stoked conspiracy theories about the victims and their families, prompting multiple defamation lawsuits. He has since acknowledged that the mass shooting occurred.

Jones claimed in his testimony that a jury award of just $2 million would destroy him financially. But on Friday morning the jurors heard testimony about Jones’ wealth from an economist, Bernard Pettingill, Jr., who estimated Jones has a net worth of between $135 million and $270 million.

Pettingill, Jr., who examined several years of records for Jones and Infowars’ parent Free Speech Systems, said Jones used a series of shell companies to hide his money.

Jones used two large loans to make it appear he was broke when in fact he was not, Pettingill, Jr. testified.

“Alex Jones knows where the money is, he knows where that money went and he knows that he is going to eventually benefit by that money,” Pettingill, Jr. said.

After one of the jurors asked about the difference between Jones’ money and his company’s money, Pettingill, Jr. said “you cannot separate Alex Jones from the companies. He is the companies.”

Jones “monetized his shtick,” he added, even suggesting that Jones could teach a college course about his techniques.

Jones’ fear-mongering rants on Infowars have, for many years, been paired with ads for supplements, documentaries, and other products Infowars sells. Pettingill, Jr. said the money poured in, identifying nine different companies that are owned by Jones.

“He is a very successful man, he has promulgated some hate speech and some misinformation, but he made a lot of money and he monetized that,” Pettingill, Jr. said on the stand. “My thinking about him is he didn’t ride a wave, he created the wave.”

Jones testified earlier in the week about his alleged financial troubles after social media giants like Facebook and Twitter banned his content from their platforms.

“I remember him saying that, but the records don’t reflect that,” Pettingill, Jr said.

During closing arguments, Ball asserted that Jones has even more money hidden away in other places and argued that $4.1 million was a drop in Jones’ proverbial bucket. “He’s probably already made it back in donations” from fans, Ball said.

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Categories
Business

Elon Musk’s desperate plea to his dad ignored: ‘Please keep quiet’

Elon Musk's desperate plea to his dad ignored: 'Please keep quiet'

Elon Musk has begged his father to “please keep quiet” after he gave an interview about their relationship to the Kyle and Jackie O show on Kiss FM.

Errol Musk, 76, told the Australian radio station he was not proud of his billionaire son when quizzed on the matter live on air earlier in the week.

But the retired electrical engineer later said he misspoke at the time because he hadn’t heard the question properly.

Speaking to the Daily Mail Australia, Errol said his three daughters were so upset with the comments he made on Kyle and Jackie O they refused to speak to him for days.

“Elon knows it’s not true, so he would never get upset about it. He just laughs this kind of stuff off,” Errol said.

“But the last message Elon sent to me was: ‘Dad, the press play you like a fiddle so please keep quiet’.”

It comes after Elon accused Twitter of fraud, alleging the social media platform misled him about key aspects of his business before he agreed to a $44 billion buyout, as their court battle heats up.

The Tesla boss lodged the claim late Thursday as he fights back against Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to force him to close the deal, which he has tried to cancel.

Elon argued in the filing to a Delaware court that the number of users who can be shown advertising on the platform is far below the firm’s figures.

“Twitter’s disclosures have slowly unraveled, with Twitter frantically closing the gates on information in a desperate bid to prevent the Musk Parties from uncovering its fraud,” the claim alleged.

In its own filing, Twitter rejected the mercurial billionaire’s argument, calling it “as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds.” “According to Musk, he – the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers – was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement,” Twitter said.

Elon last week filed his countersuit, which was finally made public on Thursday, along with a legal defense against Twitter’s claim that the billionaire is contractually bound to complete the takeover deal.

‘Distortion, misrepresentation’

“The counterclaims are a made-for-litigation tale that is contradicted by the evidence and common sense,” Twitter argued in the filing.

A five-day trial that will consider Twitter’s lawsuit against Elon has been scheduled for October 17.

The Tesla boss wooed Twitter’s board with a $54.20 per-share offer, but then in July announced he was ending their agreement because the firm had misled him regarding its tally of fake and spam accounts.

Twitter, whose stock price closed at $41.06 on Thursday, has stuck by its estimates that less than five per cent of the activity on the platform is due to software “bots” rather than people.

Twitter told the court that Elon’s claim that the false account figure tops 10 per cent is “untenable.” The company also disputed Elon’s assertion that he has the right to walk away from the deal if Twitter’s bot count is found to be wrong, since he didn’t ask anything about bots when he made the buyout offer.

Twitter accuses Elon of contriving a story to escape a merger agreement that he no longer found attractive.

“Twitter has complied in every respect with the merger agreement,” the company said in the filing made to Chancery Court in the state of Delaware.

“Musk’s counterclaims, based as they are on distortion, misrepresentation, and outright deception, change nothing.” The social media platform has urged shareholders to endorse the deal, setting a vote on the merger for September 13.

Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Elon has said should allow any legal speech – an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.

– With AFP

Read related topics:Elon Musk

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Categories
Technology

Galaxy Z Fold 3 Long-term durability report: Here’s what Samsung still can’t get right

Here's what Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 3 looks like after a year in the real world.

Foldable phones are still kind of awkward, unknown devices. But over the last three generations (with a fourth presumably on the way), Samsung has made major strides with its designs, paving the way for innovative (though sometimes quite pricey) alternatives to the typical glass brick. And when you combine that with sales of nearing 10 million devices last year, it feels like Samsung’s foldables are finally beginning to break into the mainstream.

But despite a number of improvements over the years, there’s one aspect of Samsung’s foldable that still needs a lot of work: durability. Last year, after purchasing my own Z Fold 2, I documented some of the issues I faced after owning it for 10 months. And after upgrading to the Z Fold 3 last fall, I’m here to report back on how Samsung’s latest flagship foldable is holding up just shy of one year later.

Even after a year, the Z Fold 3's exterior screen is still nearly pristine
Aside from one scratch at the bottom (which I take sole blame for), my Galaxy Z Fold 3’s exterior Cover Screen is still almost pristine.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Now at this point, some people might be wondering why I upgraded at all. The bubbles my Z Fold 2’s screen suffered from were certainly annoying, but they weren’t so bad I considered switching back to a standard candy bar handset. Instead, my main goal for buying the model (aside from professional curiosity) was to get a foldable that might better survive a newborn.

Compared to typical smartphones, the Z Fold 2’s lack of water resistance was all but guaranteed to become a problem after my son was born. It felt like I would have to keep the phone in a separate room, lest I chance some small amount of spit up or drool ruining the device. And that simply wasn’t something I wanted to do, which is what drew me to the Z Fold 3 and its IPX8 rating. I figured if a phone can withstand sitting in water for up to 30 minutes at a depth of up to five feet, it could handle anything a baby could throw (or spit) at it too.

The back of the phone has also held up very well, apart from one ding on the edge of the frame.
The back of the phone has also held up very well, apart from one ding on the edge of the frame.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

Thankfully, I think my strategy worked, because even though it cost around $800 to upgrade after trading in my Z Fold 2, that money has already paid for itself. My Z Fold 3 has been peed on, it’s been vomited on and it’s had milk splashed all over it, and it’s been totally fine. The phone has also been gnawed on more than a handful of times to no effect. So while the addition of water resistance to Samsung’s foldables might not be all that exciting, considering regular phones that have had it for years, it’s a huge enhancement to everyday usability.

The rest of the phone’s body has held up pretty well too. There’s a relatively large scratch on its frame and a couple of scuffs on its hinge, but those are all cosmetic dings. I should also mention I’m not someone who puts phones in skins or cases, this thing has lived naked since the day I got it. So while I haven’t been traveling much, the sheer number of times this phone has endured being knocked out of my hand or fallen on the floor while rushing to grab my kid after a nap is kind of impressive. Even dust and crumbs have been handled by the extra bristles Samsung put inside its hinge.

There are also some small scuffs on the hinge, but that's sort of to be expected considering I never put the phone in a case.
There are also some small scuffs on the hinge, but that’s sort of to be expected considering I never put the phone in a case.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

The big exception to the Z Fold 3’s improved durability is once again its built-in screen protector. For this model, Samsung says it switched away from the TPU material it used on the Z Fold 2 to a new PET film while also using a stickier adhesive, which was designed to prevent bubbles from forming between the protector and the display itself. But in my experience, none of that helped.

For the first six months I had it, my Z Fold 3’s screen was pristine. There were no blemishes, bubbles or anything. But then one winter day while I was walking down the street, I opened the phone and heard a crack. At first, I feared the worst, thinking its exterior cover screen had shattered or something important inside had broken. But upon closer inspection, I noticed there was a fine line running down the middle of the phone near the crease, as if the protector had been pulled or stretched.

This is what the bubbling looked like in June, when I first attempted to get it repaired.
This is what the bubbling looked like in June, when I first attempted to get it repaired.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

And while I’m still not sure what the exact cause was, my theory is that after pulling the phone out of my pocket, the cold winter air made the screen protector unusually brittle, causing it to snap instead of bend when I opened the phone . This is an issue a number of other Z Fold owners have run into, and once you suffer that initial crack, it’s only a matter of time until bubbles begin to form. Over the past few months, those bubbles have grown into an air gap that runs down the entire middle of the screen, and no amount of pressing or trying to smooth things out has much of an effect. Recently, some dust has gotten wedged between the protector and the screen itself, which is frankly kind of gross. And because I’m trying to abide by Samsung’s insistence that the screen protector should only be replaced by certified technicians, I haven’t tried to fix it on my own.

Naturally, the next step was to take the phone to one of Samsung’s retail locations to have it serviced, at which point I discovered I’m far from the only person dealing with this. When I arrived, there were three other people already on the waitlist — and all of them were waiting to get the screen protector on their Z Fold replaced. Admittedly, this is merely an anecdotal observation, and I’m sure my choice to go to Samsung’s flagship 837 location in NYC had something to do with the unusually high concentration of $1,800 foldable phones.

This more close-up shot shows how gross the display can get after dust and dirt finds its way beneath the Z Fold 3's built-in screen protector.
This close-up shot shows how gross the display can get, because once bubbles start forming, there isn’t much you can do to stop dust and first from getting beneath the screen protector.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

But, this wasn’t a coincidence either. After talking to two of the other customers, I learned that they were also running into issues with bubbles around the six to eight month mark. On top of that, one of the Samsung Care+ reps I talked to essentially confirmed that this was a somewhat widespread issue, saying that screen protector replacements are the most commonly requested repair for Samsung’s foldables. Unfortunately, because it takes about an hour to have the screen protector replaced and I was fourth in line, I couldn’t wait around to get my Z Fold fixed. So here’s a pro tip, if your phone needs to be serviced, make sure to schedule your appointment online, so you can avoid the line.

In the end, while I plan on returning to have my screen protector replaced, my big take away after owning both a Z Fold 2 and a Z Fold 3 is that there’s a good chance you’re going to run into bubbles after half a year or so And without some sort of radical upgrade to the screen construction, the company’s next generation of Z devices will probably suffer the same fate. That’s kind of a bummer, because having to sit around for hours to fix something that’s probably going to happen again sucks. And that goes double or triple for anyone who has to mail in their device because they don’t live near a certified repair location.

This is how my Z Fold 3's screen looks after one year. The bubble now covers the entire height of the display. And while its appearance is more tolerable indoors, it's still far from ideal.
This is how my Z Fold 3’s screen looks after one year. The bubble now covers the entire height of the display. And while its appearance is more tolerable indoors, it’s still far from ideal.

Sam Rutherford/Engadget

As it stands, the bubbling is certainly annoying and not very pretty. Thankfully, the side effects are much less noticeable indoors or at night, so while it’s far from ideal, it’s tolerable. I will also admit that I had not been planning on writing this story, I would have gotten the screen protector replaced months ago. And if you’re running into a similar issue with your Z Flip or Z Fold, I’d highly suggest you address any bubbling as soon as possible, before any other related issues pop up.

But if Samsung ever wants its foldables to be as popular as the S or A-series phones, the screen protectors bubbling is an issue that needs to be solved sooner rather than later. As for me, while I haven’t decided if I want to upgrade again or not, I’m just hoping that anyone on the fence will now have a slightly more realistic idea of ​​what living with a foldable phone is actually like.

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Categories
Sports

F1 world reacts to McLaren sacking Daniel Ricciardo: ‘Done dirty’

F1 world reacts to McLaren sacking Daniel Ricciardo: 'Done dirty'

Daniel Ricciardo might sit well outside the top 10 in the F1 driver rankings but he remains one of the sport’s most popular figures.

And his army of supporters was out in full force after it was revealed McLaren plans to replace him with young Australian driver Oscar Piastri next season despite Ricciardo being contracted for 2023.

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The 33-year-old’s career has been on some what of a downward spiral since his days of outdriving Sebastian Vettel and regularly challenging Max Verstappen at Red Bull. But no one wants to see it end this way.

ESPN’s Nate Saunders reported four teams have sounded Ricciardo out recently to “see where his head is at” and slammed McLaren for its treatment of the Aussie.

“It reflects very poorly on Brown and McLaren how they have treated Ricciardo over the past six months,” Saunders wrote. “Ricciardo, the only McLaren driver to have won an F1 race since 2012, has been the first to admit his performances have not been up to the standards he set at Red Bull and Renault but it feels as though he has been made as a scapegoat to deflect away from deeper problems at the team.”

He wasn’t alone in hailing the Aussie’s class during a turbulent season.

“Amid all the rumpus and pressure you have to commend Ricciardo on his grace and professionalism over these last few months,” tweeted Tom Gaymor. “El Says everything about him as a man, he is a class act and I hope he keeps smiling and doing it his way.”

But others saw it differently, believing Ricciardo is a spent force and he’s replacement is part and parcel of the cut throat nature of F1.

“Ricciardo is getting a taste of his own medicine when he left Renault to join McLaren and this is proof that that was not right move for him,” tweeted Sahil Mohan Gupta. “Now, he will probably end up at Alpine if not leave F1. This is crazy.”

“I’ll always be a fan of Ricciardo, but can you really blame McLaren?” added Gannon Burgett. “They’re paying him out the ass for a driver who’s scored only 20% of the team’s points so far.”

“Please Alpine don’t take him back!” Tiff Needell tweeted. “Love Daniel but he’s had 12 years in F1, stuffed a few million in the bank and there’s lots of other motorsport he could do. So give someone else a chance!”

Despite the rapid turn of events this week Ricciardo’s future could take a long time to settle because McLaren will likely face a challenge from Alpine over its poaching of Piastri.

The West Australian could spend a year with McLaren’s IndyCar team to see out his deal, or could receive a pay out and join another team. That team could even be Alpine if Piastri is able to leave.

Who is Oscar Piastri?

Born in Melbourne, Piastri joined Alpine’s academy after clinching the Formula Renault Eurocup title in 2019, securing seven wins.

He carried the form into the Formula 3 series in 2020, winning the opening race on his debut and holding his nerve to claim the title by three points in one of the most closely fought championships ever.

The following year he was on the Formula 2 grid, where he clocked six wins to unequivocally announce his arrival on the world stage, becoming just the third rookie champion after Charles Leclerc (2017) and George Russell (2018). They are both now in F1.

Despite his rapid rise Piastri was overlooked for a drive in Formula One this season because of a lack of available seats, instead lurking on the sidelines at Alpine ready to replace either Esteban Ocon or Alonso if they were forced to miss a race.

He’s managed by fellow Aussie and nine-time F1 race winner Mark Webber. “Does he deserve to be in F1? Absolutely, we all know that,” Webber says. “It’s not a question of if, but when.”

The Piastri family say they are “petrol heads” with his father Chris telling The Sydney Morning Herald that “Oscar’s bedtime stories were mainly car books”.

He started racing remote-controlled cars aged six and by nine had graduated to piloting go-karts.

“I think he’s got the determination and the ability and the intellect,” his mother Nicole told The Age newspaper this year of her son’s progression to Formula One.

“I think he’s got everything that’s required to be able to get there and to do a good job, but that’s only one very small factor.

“There are a lot of other things that come into getting a Formula One seat – politics, money, availability of seats.”

Chris Piastri pinpointed Webber’s involvement from Formula 3 onwards as key to helping their son reach his goal, opening funding and sponsorship doors to help with the soaring costs that come with making it as a racing driver.

“Mark knows everybody,” he said. “It was at that point that he started taking over the reins, dealing with the teams, managing Oscar up into the visibility of the teams.”

Webber said it was a “no-brainer” to help out. “It’s hard to turn heads, especially in the F1 paddock, as they are pretty hard to please,” he said.

“But there’s not many people who haven’t mentioned him to me – how impressed they are with him, what he’s doing, the trajectory he is on.”

– with AFP

Read related topics:Daniel Ricciardo

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Categories
Australia

Albanese gets off on the right foot

Albanese gets off on the right foot

“This is what Jennifer Westacott, the CEO of the Business Council of Australia, has said—that this legislation has ‘brought Australia a step closer to ending the climate wars that have put a handbrake on progress and become a serious economic barrier.’”

John Connor, chief executive of the Carbon Market Institute, an industry association of companies leading the transition to net-zero, says: “It is a historic moment, and it is exciting now to move into the reality of policy.”

That reality must include an investment boom. The National Australia Bank published research last week estimating that about half a trillion dollars in net new investment will be needed in Australia to achieve the 2050 target of net-zero emissions.

The Liberal Party, however, chose to stand outside all this – outside the unifying policy, outside the consensus, outside the business community, and outside half a trillion dollars’ worth of new investment.

Peter Dutton made a captain’s call months ago that the Liberals would not oppose the 43 per cent and net-zero targets, but they would not vote to legislate them, either. Instead, the Liberals decided to follow their Coalition partner, the Nationals, into a fringe fetish.

The Coalition has decided to investigate nuclear power. Not that this is a fringe in the global energy system. It’s simply unrealistic in this country’s. Nuclear power has never been economic in Australia. It couldn’t compete with cheap Australian coal; it can’t compete with even cheaper Australian solar energy.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese endorsing the government's Climate Change Bill in the lower house on Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese endorsing the government’s Climate Change Bill in the lower house on Thursday.Credit:alex ellinghausen

The Liberals’ decision opened them to Albanese’s ridicule. He not only mocked them for ignoring the power of “the biggest nuclear reactor of all” as he pointed skywards, he also brought simpsons into Question Time.

Giving the opposition’s energy spokesman Ted O’Brien carriage of an inquiry into nuclear power “bears an uncanny resemblance to Mr Burns putting Homer Simpson in charge of nuclear power safety in Springfield” Albanese jibed. “No one loves a reactor like a reactionary.”

He went on: “Remember when the Liberal Party used to have a relationship with business? Remember that? But what we saw today was them isolated and alone, stuck in the same old trench fighting a fight that has passed them by. They were by themselves with their arms crossed, saying, ‘No, no, no.’”

The May 21 election showed that Australia was ready for a more active climate policy. By standing against it, the Coalition government chose oblivion. Now that it has refused to negotiate on the climate bill, it has chosen irrelevance.

If the Liberals ever hope to win another election, “they have to have the conversation about restoring the broad church,” a church embracing moderates and not only conservatives, argues Walter. “They can’t only follow a small nutty segment” on the populist fringe.

“They have to be able to bring back the disaffected Liberals who voted for teal candidates, and still manage to persuade people in the region that they have their interest at heart.”

Even after Dutton’s captain’s call, the leaders of the moderate faction in the Liberal Party argued that they should change position and support the 43 per cent target. It would be a sign that they’d heard the voice of the electorate. But Simon Birmingham, Marise Payne and Paul Fletcher lost the argument in the shadow cabinet on Monday night.

One moderate said, “we picked the wrong fight – the fight shouldn’t be about the 43 per cent target, it should be about how we meet the target”. Because that will be the hard part.

Is Dutton missing the unmissable message from the electorate? Not at all. For him, it’s about priorities. Does he try to win the next election today, or does he try to hold the Coalition together as it regroups after a devastating loss?

Opposition leader Peter Dutton addresses his coalition colleagues in Canberra on Tuesday.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton addresses his coalition colleagues in Canberra on Tuesday.Credit:James Brickwood

“Dutton’s calculus was that if we supported 43 per cent we’d have more trouble from the Nationals and from Liberals crossing the floor than we’ll have from moderate Libs by opposing it – and he was right.” Only one Liberal, Tasmania’s Bridget Archer, crossed the floor to vote with the government on the emissions target.”

“The next election will not be fought on the 2030 emissions targets,” observes the Liberal. Indeed, the government soon will need to start working on Australia’s targets for 2035, which must be lodged by 2025. “If it suddenly looks like we are struggling to meet the 2030 target, then the picture changes.”

The other major force in Parliament now are the teals. How did they conduct themselves? They, much like the Greens, campaigned for more ambitious targets but chose to support the government bill as the only available route to any progress at all.

All of which tells us what to expect from all these groups in the future. The Greens will continue to push for more, yet compromise in the service of practicality over ideology.

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So, for example, on Albanese’s draft proposal for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, “we will take the same approach on the Voice that we did on climate,” says the Greens leader in the Senate, Larissa Waters. “We said we want progress on all elements of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and we are heartened by the minister [Linda Burney] saying that’s possible.

“We will push to get improvements and push to get practical progress for Indigenous justice” including deaths in custody and the Bringing them Home Report, Waters tells me. Unsaid is that the Greens won’t veto possible gains in pursuit of impossible ones.

Albanese will continue to operate from the political centre, seeking to advance center left priorities such as climate policy and the Voice, while also working on center right areas such as a firmly defending Australian interests against Chinese Communist Party demands. Labor intends dominating the centre; the intention is to force the Coalition to either support the government or move further to the right fringe and unelectability.

And Dutton will continue to do what he can to hold together a shattered Liberal party, to survive as a leader long enough to regroup and refocus on the next election. Leading a defeated government into opposition is a high-risk task. For Dutton, survival, not relevance, is today’s imperative. Three years is a long time in politics.

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Categories
US

Florida Governor Appoints New State Supreme Court Judge Renatha Francis

Florida Governor Appoints New State Supreme Court Judge Renatha Francis

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of a new Florida Supreme Court judge while in West Palm Beach on Friday morning.The latest: WPBF 25 News coverage on PoliticsIt happened at 11 am at the Richard & Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History MuseumJudge Renatha Francis accepted the appointment with her family and will start the new position in September.”I know I’ve said this before on prior occasions, but I’ll say it again,” Francis said as she accepted the role, “I am the epitome of the American dream.”Francis will fill a vacant role left by Judge Al Lawson. To be considered, a Judicial Nominating Commission agrees and selects qualified names, which are then investigated before being presented to the governor. The governor then has 60 days to choose from that list. “Judge Renatha Francis has an incredible life story that epitomizes the American dream and proves that those who come to our country have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and, through hard work and the application of their God-given talents, reach the highest heights of whatever field they choose,” said DeSantis. Video below: DeSantis announces appointmentDeSantis had chosen Francis for the same job in 2020, but she did not meet the requirements of being a member of the Florida Bar for a decade. The appointment was struck down, and Judge Jamie Grosshans was chosen for the role. Stay informed: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News“I’m incredibly honored and humbled by Governor DeSantis’ unwavering support for my ascension to the Florida Supreme Court,” said Francis. “I may be taking my seat on the bench two years later than anticipated, but as a student of history I continue to be in awe of this country’s respect for the rule of law and the freedoms guaranteed in the text of the United States Constitution. As a Supreme Court Justice I will apply the law as written by the people’s duly-elected representatives, knowing that I am a member of the judiciary in a system with separation of powers.” Francis is currently a judge in the 15th Circuit, which is Palm Beach County. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of The West Indies and her Juris Doctorate from Florida Coastal Law School. Francis has a husband and two young sons. There will now be a 4-3 majority for DeSantis-appointed judges on the Florida Supreme Court. Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla.—

Gov. Ron DeSantis announced the appointment of a new Florida Supreme Court judge while in West Palm Beach on Friday morning.

Latest: WPBF 25 News coverage on Politics

It happened at 11 am at the Richard & Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum

Judge Renatha Francis accepted the appointment with her family and will start the new position in September.

“I know I’ve said this before on prior occasions, but I’ll say it again,” Francis said as she accepted the role, “I am the epitome of the American dream.”

Francis will fill a vacant role left by Judge Al Lawson. To be considered, a Judicial Nominating Commission agrees and selects qualified names, which are then investigated before being presented to the governor. The governor then has 60 days to choose from that list.

“Judge Renatha Francis has an incredible life story that epitomizes the American dream and proves that those who come to our country have the opportunity to pursue their dreams and, through hard work and the application of their God-given talents, reach the highest heights of whatever field they choose,” said DeSantis.

Video below: DeSantis announces appointment


DeSantis had chosen Francis for the same job in 2020, but she did not meet the requirements of being a member of the Florida Bar for a decade.

The appointment was struck down, and Judge Jamie Grosshans was chosen for the role.

Stay informed: Local coverage from WPBF 25 News

“I’m incredibly honored and humbled by Governor DeSantis’ unwavering support for my ascension to the Florida Supreme Court,” said Francis. “I may be taking my seat on the bench two years later than anticipated, but as a student of history I continue to be in awe of this country’s respect for the rule of law and the freedoms guaranteed in the text of the United States Constitution. As a Supreme Court Justice I will apply the law as written by the people’s duly-elected representatives, knowing that I am a member of the judiciary in a system with separation of powers.”

Francis is currently a judge in the 15th Circuit, which is Palm Beach County. She received her bachelor’s degree from the University of The West Indies and her Juris Doctorate from Florida Coastal Law School. Francis has a husband and two young sons.

There will now be a 4-3 majority for DeSantis-appointed judges on the Florida Supreme Court.

Follow us on social: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

This is a developing story and will be updated as information becomes available.