Category Archives: News

News

Senators to reintroduce bipartisan criminal justice bill

The bill, originally introduced in 2015, would reduce mandatory minimum sentences for certain drug offenses and armed career criminals while increasing mandatory minimums for other offenses such as domestic violence.
 
“While the political landscape in Washington has changed, the same problems presented by the current sentencing regime remain,” Grassley said in a statement.
 
Durbin, noting senators have been working on the issue for five years, called it the “best chance in a generation to right the wrongs of a badly broken system.”
 
“We believe this legislation would pass the Senate with a strong bipartisan vote — it’s time to get this done,” he said.

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Property rights attorney to lead BLM

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Budd-Falen’s appointment to head up BLM is the stark contrast between her background and that of Obama’s BLM Director, Neil Kornze. While Budd-Falen has decades of broad experience in law, natural resources policy, and Western property rights, Neil Kornze’s primary experience was as a political staffer for then-United States Senator, Harry Reid. Budd-Falen’s appointment, the firings and reassignments of thousands of Interior employees, Zinke’s monuments revisions, and new emphasis on responsible development of public lands, all signal a serious change of direction for the Bureau of Land Management

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To Agree or Disagree Respectfully. Why is it so Difficult in Todays World?

Our country was founded over 200 years ago after enough colonists agreed that the rule by the King of England no longer made sense for the colonies.  They did not agree on every aspect of the how and the why, but they all agreed that it must change.  The biggest aspect of agreement and disagreement in the birth of our Nation was the right of each human to agree and disagree.  There foremost ideal that drove the creation of our constitution, can be said to be creating a government that could stand for and thrive while maintaining this and other freedoms.

This turned out to be a humongous task and goal. First and foremost the procedure and processes for dealing with disagreement had to be agreed upon. There will always be different beliefs and ideals.  However, most of all they understood that in order to have peace while preserving everyone’s ability to exercise their Freedoms, they must have a process and rules for dealing with Disagreement or conflicts of personal Freedoms between all people. This is where the concept of Liberty was created and defined. Liberty, for the sake of our constitution, would be the definition of civility and common agreement on how to deal with Freedoms in all situations, including when there is disagreement.

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Shrink at least 4 national monuments and modify a half-dozen others, Zinke tells Trump

WASHINGTON – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended that President Trump modify 10 nationalmonuments created by his immediate predecessors, including shrinking the boundaries of at least four western sites,according to a copy of the report obtained by the Washington Post.

The memorandum, which the White House has refused to releasesince Zinke submitted it late last month, does not specify exactreductions for the four protected areas Zinke would have Trumpnarrow – Utah’s Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante,Nevada’s Gold Butte, and Oregon’s Cascade-Siskiyou – or thetwo marine national monuments – the Pacific Remote Islands andRose Atoll – for which he raised the same prospect. The two Utah sites encompass a total of more than 3.2 million acres, part of the reason they have aroused such intense emotions since their designation.

The secretary’s set of recommendations also would change theway all 10 targeted monuments are managed. It emphasizes theneed to adjust the proclamations to address concerns of localofficials or affected industries, saying the administration shouldpermit “traditional uses” now restricted within the monuments’ boundaries, such as grazing, logging, coal mining andcommercial fishing.

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White House hits back at Oregon’s senators over appeals court nomination

In the ongoing dispute between the state’s two U.S. senators and the Trump administration, the White House counsel accuses the lawmakers of failing to consider the administration’s pick for a judicial vacancy on a federal appellate court.

The White House last week nominated Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Bounds, a young, politically conservative federal prosecutor, for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Sens. Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, both Democrats, want U.S. District Judge Marco A. Hernandez, a Republican, for the vacancy.

Wyden and Merkley have vowed to block Bounds’ nomination, saying that he wasn’t vetted through their bipartisan judicial selection committee.

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Other FBI agents at scene of LaVoy Finicum shooting testified before grand jury

Other members of the FBI’s Hostage Rescue Team involved in the stop of refuge occupation spokesman Robert “LaVoy” Finicum testified before a federal grand jury that returned an indictment against their colleague, Agent W. Joseph Astarita. 

Prosecutors have asked the court for permission to share transcripts of the agents’ testimony with a nationally recognized ballistics and trajectory expert who they may call as a witness at trial.

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Gary Hunt was by court order ,ordered to remove all “prohibited material” related to Informants working under cover for the Feds.

Gary Hunt was by court order ,ordered to remove all “prohibited material” related to Informants working under cover for the Feds. This would be the Burns Oregon Event. A national News Station aired material of this very nature to millions without any sort of action to date. Gary Is Patriot reporter that works out of his home. For the last 30 plus years. He has no team of lawyers like the MSM stations do so of course Gary was a soft easy target. As a result what you will find at http://outpost-of-freedom.com/blog/?page_id=1702 Articles that have lost all information that has been redacted. I guess what we could expect now Is yet more statues to fall , then mass book burning , I am sure will follow. Much like all supporting documentation that was Ordered by the court to be destroyed. Below the quote, In red text was written By Gary Hunt.

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Ranchers urge permanent repeal of ‘Death Tax’

On September 8, the National Cattlemen and Beef Association (NCBA) issued a statement of support for President Trump’s tax reform proposals. Not surprisingly, the association, comprised largely of ranchers with small to medium private operations, is focusing ‘heavily on the death tax.’ Landowners, farmers and ranchers, are often property rich but cash poor, and the estate inheritance tax, known popularly as the ‘death tax’ is daunting to those who want to keep their land and ranching assets in the family. The NCBA statement says:

“We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to enact truly comprehensive tax reform, and we can’t afford to let this opportunity pass or to get it wrong,” said NCBA President and Nebraska cattleman Craig Uden. “Family ranchers and farmers deserve a full and permanent repeal of the onerous death tax, which charges them in cash on the often-inflated appraised value of their property and equipment. This campaign will shine a spotlight on the stories of real ranchers who have had to deal with this issue, and it will also highlight current tax provisions that we need to maintain, such as stepped-up basis, cash accounting, and deducibility of interest payments.”

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IFF presses Zinke for help in Bunkerville standoff trial

The Idaho Freedom Foundation, in partnership with the Nevada Policy Research Institute, pressed U.S. Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke to weigh in on the Bunkerville standoff trial situation.

Here’s a copy of IFF and NPRI’s letter to Zinke:

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APNewsBreak: Its Official! US agent Dan Love out at BLM after Burning Man probe

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A federal agent who had been scrutinized for his handling of rare evidence as well as behavior at the counterculture Burning Man festival is no longer an employee of the Bureau of Land Management, authorities said Friday.

Daniel Love, who played a command role in federal agents’ 2014 standoff with Nevada rancher and states’ rights figure Cliven Bundy, no longer works for the agency, spokeswoman Megan Crandall told the Associated Press.

She did not answer questions about the timing or circumstances of his departure, citing federal privacy laws.

A lawyer for Love, Lisa Kleine, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. There was no answer at a publicly listed phone number for him.

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Idaho lawmakers to Sessions: Drop it already

Republican Idaho representative Dorothy Moon and more than one-third of the other legislators in her state sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions encouraging him to drop the charges against two Idaho men being charged in association with the April 2014 “Bundy standoff, to establish a fair bail for one, and to give one a “time served” sentence.

Eric Parker and O. Scott Drexler, both from Idaho, have been tried twice in US District Court under Judge Gloria Navarro. Both trials resulted in a hung jury, and the men were both acquitted of most charges in the second trial.

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Welcome to the Bundy administration

Stone, however, is far from the only friend of the Bundy family in the Trump administration. In 2014, as Bundy’s followers were pointing rifles at law enforcement officers from the Bureau of Land Management, the future president himself told Sean Hannity, “I like him, I like his spirit, his spunk and the people that are so loyal,” adding that Cliven Bundy “ought to go out and cut a great deal.”

Now Cliven Bundy’s own lawyer could be headed for a plum job in the Trump administration — overseeing the very agency she and her former client have spent a lifetime trying to undermine. Attorney Karen Budd-Falen is rumored to be at the top of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke’s list to run the Bureau of Land Management.

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Thomas Mitchell Editorial: Learn from the mistakes of the past, not erase them

This paroxysm of efforts to eradicate all monuments and place names that memorialize historic leaders of the Confederacy serves as merely a distraction from real problems, wasting time and money that could be devoted to worthy endeavors.

The latest target of this futile campaign appears to be the name of Jeff Davis Peak in Great Basin National Park.

According to the park’s website, the monicker was first attached to what is now Wheeler Peak, the tallest point in the park and the second tallest in Nevada. It was given that name by Lt. Col. Edward Steptoe of U.S. Army Corps of Topographical Engineers in 1855 while Jefferson Davis served as secretary of the War Department, a half dozen years before the Civil War began.

After the Civil War, during which Davis served as president of the Confederacy, an Army mapping expedition headed by Lt. George Montague Wheeler, named the peak for Wheeler and the Jeff Davis tag was shifted to a shorter nearby peak.

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Hyperloop One Claims First Successful Test, Pulls Two ‘G’s In Nevada Desert

Hyperloop One says it has successfully sent a vehicle inspired by Elon Musk’s near-supersonic transit concept down its ‘DevLoop’ test track using magnetic levitation for the first time.

The company claims this amounts to “the world’s first full systems Hyperloop test in a vacuum environment,” via a release sent to reporters Wednesday.

The test saw a sled coast down a track for just over 5 seconds, reaching 70 miles per hour and a level of acceleration that falls somewhere between a Bugatti and an amusement park ride. It doesn’t look like much, but the company says they’ve achieved their phase one target goal and the next phase will target speeds of 250 mph.

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Wild horse adoption event to feature Utah’s own Cedar Mountain and Sulphur horses

DELTA — The Bureau of Land Management and the Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility will host an open house adoption Sept. 23 featuring wild horses gathered from the Cedar Mountain and Sulphur herd management areas in western Utah.

Approximately 180 horses, featuring Cedar Mountain weanlings and Sulphur yearling horses, will be available for adoption from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“I encourage anyone that is interested in adopting a beautifully colored weanling to come visit the facility,” Heath Weber, Delta Wild Horse and Burro Facility manager, said. “This is one of the nicest bunch of young horses we’ve had at the facility in a long time.”

Facility gates will open at 9 a.m., with viewing until 10 a.m. Competitive bidding will begin at 10 a.m. All remaining animals will be available on a first-come, first-served basis at 11 a.m. For qualified adopters, the adoption fee begins at $125, then Adopt-a-Buddy for $25.

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House votes to curb asset seizures

The House voted Tuesday to curb the law enforcement practice of seizing cash and property from people who are suspected of illegal activity but who have not necessarily been charged.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers pushed an amendment to a government-spending package for 2018 that would prohibit the Trump administration from using funds to remove restrictions on the use of asset forfeiture. The practice allows law enforcement to seize cash and property and keep at least part of the proceeds.

Opposition to relaxing asset-forfeiture limits produced a strange-bedfellows effort by members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus and liberal progressives. Sponsors of the amendment included Reps. Justin Amash (R-Mich.), Mark Sanford (R-S.C.), Raúl Labrador (R-Idaho), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) and Don Beyer (D-Va.).

Their amendment would specifically restrict the use of what’s known as “adoptive forfeiture,” which allows the federal government to take assets seized by local authorities.

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Did Navarro Cause the Jury to Nullify?

The recent case of the Bunkerville Retrial ended with 34 of 40 charges to be found ‘Not Guilty’ and the remaining charges to be 11-1 in favor of acquittal by the jury.

This trial had an unusual element involved, specifically allowing the jury to ask questions of the witnesses. This is not unheard of in lower level courts, but almost never used at the Federal level. It was not allowed in the first trial of these defendants.

Judge Navarro rarely censored any jury question for the prosecution witnesses. However it became very apparent that she would not allow the jury to ask their pressing questions when it came to the defense.

Defendant Eric Parker attempted to testify, yet was removed from the witness stand by Judge Navarro after a few minutes. The jury saw this, and was left in confusion when it was not explained.

We learned from the transcripts what was said during the sidebars:

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Upcoming Bundy Ranch Trial: Prosecution Files First Documents And They’re Gonna Be Using Facebook & Youtube

The prosecution in the upcoming Bundy Ranch trial has filed its first documents, known as the Rule 16 document, which lists the witnesses they plan to call to testify, what their expertise is and what their specific testimony is to be about.

“RULE 16 IS REVISED TO GIVE GREATER DISCOVERY TO BOTH THE PROSECUTION AND THE DEFENSE. SUBDIVISION (A) DEALS WITH DISCLOSURE OF EVIDENCE BY THE GOVERNMENT. … THE LANGUAGE OF THE RULE IS RECAST FROM “THE COURT MAY ORDER” OR “THE COURT SHALL ORDER” TO “THE GOVERNMENT SHALL PERMIT” OR “THE DEFENDANT SHALL PERMIT.”

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California man who outed FBI informants in refuge takeover case found in civil contempt of court

A federal judge has found California resident Gary Hunt, who published the names of confidential informants who helped the FBI during the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, in contempt of a court’s protective order.

U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown has given Hunt until noon on Wednesday to remove the articles on his blog that reference the informants and destroy all government documents he received on the informants.

If he doesn’t, he’ll face more “coercive sanctions,” the judge wrote in her 23-page ruling.

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Gary Hunt : Notice – Get Them While You Can

In a “Finding
of Facts and Conclusions of Law Finding Gary Hunt in Civil
Contempt”, Judge Anna Brown has determined that Hunt has
violated judge made law in excerpting information from FBI Form
1023s in his series of articles about informants.  

Through thorough
investigation of those forms, Hunt was able to determine who
informants involved in the occupation of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge were. To  provide proof of his assertions,
rather than simply make unfounded accusation, necessity required
proof of those claims be included in the articles..

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Plan to grow Las Vegas includes monument protection

Las Vegas officials have a new vision for developing a unique piece of land surrounded by sensitive land packed with environmental and cultural resources.

The plan sets out expectations for future development of 1,000 acres situated between the Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Paiute tribal lands and the Las Vegas Wash, a channel that drains water from the valley into Lake Mead.

The plan conceives of “villages” with pockets of development separated by open spaces with open wash corridors and connected by walking, bike and equestrian trails at the northwestern reaches of the city’s Ward 6.

“Please send your money immediately to Ward 6,” Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman quipped last week, before the City Council approved the plan.

The city’s plan for the site establishes guidelines for future building in the quickly growing area, with green space buffers and open wash corridors, to curb the impact of development on the surrounding natural areas.

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Schuyler Barbeau Sentenced to 27 Months in Prison

Schuyler Barbeau plead guilty to two Federal charges, including possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of a machine gun, on June 6th. Each count could have carry up to a maximum of 10 years in Prison plus hefty fines. Judge Robert Jones waived the fines and ordered minimum fees of $100.00 per count.

Today, Barbeau was given 27 months for the two counts, plus three years of probation. He has also lost his rights to possess firearms.

Barbeau has been incarcerated since December 2015. If he were to serve the entire sentence he would not be released prior to March 2018, another 6 months. However, he is eligible for early release, totaling 108 days. This means that he is expected to return home before Christmas.

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Oregon’s U.S. senators urge Trump to keep U.S. Attorney Billy Williams

Oregon’s U.S. senators have urged President Trump to retain Billy J. Williams as the state’s top federal prosecutor.

Sens. Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden say Williams is a prosecutor with integrity who enjoys bipartisan support and should remain Oregon’s U.S. attorney.

The two signed an Aug. 16 letter to White House counsel Donald F. MGahn II  and included a letter of support from the Oregon State Sheriff’s Association.

So far, no word has come from the Trump administration regarding the post.

Williams was named acting U.S. attorney in April 2015 after Amanda Marshall resigned amid a sexual harassment investigation. Early last year, he was appointed to the post by Chief U.S. District Judge Michael W. Mosman.

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Roger Stone Will Call On Trump To Pardon Bundy and Supporters

Longtime GOP strategist Roger Stone will petition his former boss, President Donald Trump, to pardon the ringleader of a 2014 armed standoff with federal agents.

Stone announced on Twitter Friday night that he would appeal to Trump on behalf of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who will stand trial Oct. 10 for inciting a rebellion against Bureau of Land Management officials that attempted to stop Bundy from illegally grazing his cattle on federal land.

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