Mediaboss Marketing

NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!

FIRST ON FOX: A Palestinian activist with a history of anti-Semitic social media posts and deep ties to "Squad" Rep.Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., has campaigned with multiple Democrats over the last year, Fox News Digital has learned.

Maher Abdel Qader, who has deep political ties to Democratic politicians and currently serves as a Vice President atAI Engineers in New York, has repeatedly promoted anti-Semitic conspiracy theories over the years, sharing an article on Facebook in 2016 that said Jews are "satanic" and "practice subversion and treason," according to research from TPS shared with and verified by Fox News Digital.

A Palestinian activist with a long history of anti-Semitic posts was on the host committee for at least two of New York City Mayor Eric Adams' fundraisers in 2021 when he was still a candidate. ((Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images))

In 2017, he shared a graphic that included the names of a couple dozen Jewish members of Congress and suggested that they have dual loyalty to Israel and the United States, which is one of the anti-Semitic tropes that got Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., in hot water in 2019.

Despite Abdel Qader's long history of anti-Semitism, he hosted multiple fundraisers forNewYork City Mayor Eric Adams dating back to last year when he was a candidate, including a "selfie" with Adams at a breakfast earlier this month on his Instagram account.

In September and October 2021,Abdel Qader was on the host committeeof two fundraisers for Adams' campaign for mayor.

"Arab and Muslim community leaders met at Marriott hotel - LaGuardia and held a Fundraising for Eric Adams the democratic nominee for New York City mayor,"Abdel Qader posted on Instagram in September 2021. "Event was organized by the Muslim Agenda 2021 Coalition."

RASHIDA TLAIB LISTED AS SPECIAL GUEST FOR EVENTS HOSTED BY CONTROVERSIAL, ALLEGEDLY ANTI-SEMITIC ACTIVIST

In early 2021, Abdel Qader was one of six leaders tojoin Adams on a Zoom callto discuss Adams' "campaign vision [and] issues" in addition to getting "engage[d] in his campaign," adding that Adams "is on board with our community and will stand to support us."

Another Democrat who recently embraced Abdel Qader was Minnesota's Attorney General Keith Ellison, who is running for reelection. Last month, the Palestinian activist posted several pictures on his Instagram page from the New York City fundraiser, including a couple with him and Ellison.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison posed alongside a Palestinian activist with a long history of anti-Semitic social media posts last month at a NYC fundraiser for his reelection campaign. (REUTERS/Eric Miller)

"May 18, 2022, Fundraiser for Keith Ellison the 30th attorney general of the State of Minnesota in Manhattan- New York,"Abdel Qader wrote as the Instagram caption. "Also attended by Michael J. Garner, Chief Diversity Officer, MTA Department of Diversity and Civil Rights"

Two weeks ago, Abdel Qader was on the host committee of a virtual fundraiser for Rev. Jesse Jackson's son, Jonathan Jackson, who is running for the House seat in Illinois' First Congressional District.

US, ISRAELI OFFICIALS CALL OUT BOSTON GROUP GROUP OVER 'MAPPING PROJECT' LINKING JEWISH GROUPS TO MEDIA, GOVERNMENT

In theInstagram post promoting the fundraiser, where tickets start at $1,000, Abdel Qader says, "Jonathan Jackson son of Jesse Jackson/ Chicago is running for congress and needs our support. He is a staunch supporter of Palestine, Palestinians and our Arab American community."

Maher Abdel Qader, a Palestinian activist with a long history of anti-Semitic posts, promoted a fundraiser with Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., in September 2021 and donated $250 to her campaign. (CBSN)

Members of thefar-left Squadhave also participated in fundraisers alongside him.

Missouri Rep. Cori Bush took part in a virtual Zoom fundraiser with Abdel Qader last September, hisInstagram accountshows.

In early November, Abdel Qader posted aBush fundraising flierfor a reception hosted by the St. Louis Palestine Solidarity Committee and the Muslim Community of St. Louis, which solicited donations between $100 and $2,500 for Bush's campaign, according to the flier. It appears he donated $250 to her campaign for the fundraiser.

TLAIB, SQUAD INTRODUCE RESOLUTION RECOGNIZING 'CATASTROPHE' OF ISRAEL'S CREATION

Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib has participated in several events with Abdel Qader over the years, with the most recent fundraiserposted to his Instagram accounton September 25, 2021.

One day after the fundraiser, Abdel Qader posted apicture of himself alongside Tlaibon a Manhattan, New York, rooftop.

Abdel Qader has not only been a key fundraiser for Tlaib, donating$6,500 to her campaignsince 2018, but he was also the chairman of her finance committee during her successful 2018 Congressional campaign. Tlaib introduced Abdel Qader by the title at a campaign event.

And in 2018, Tlaib presented Abdel Qader with a medal as a sign of gratitude for his help with her inaugural campaign.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., has had close ties to a Palestinian activist who has a long history of anti-Semitic social media posts, including calling Jews "satanic." (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Abdel Qader has garnered previous media attention and criticism, particularly for his ties to Tlaib.

In November 2019, theDaily Caller revealedthat in 2018 he had shared an anti-Semitic video that claimed Jews are "satanic" and control the media. The video had also questioned whether 6 million Jews had died in the Holocaust.

Abdel Qader had also espoused anti-Semitic rhetoric in other social media posts, including claiming that Jews aren't actually from Israel, according to the Caller's report.

Abdel Qader even posted a few anti-Semitic posts aimed at former President Trump, including a sign of Trump wearing a yarmulke and holding a Chanukah menorah and an Israeli flag. The sign said, "Hey Donald we thought you said America First!"

CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP

The Palestinian activist also used his Facebook account to promote the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In 2018, he said, "Boycott Apartheid racist state of Israel. Condemn Radical Jewish settlers who are terrorizing Palestinians civilians daily." Another 2018 Facebook post shows several pro-BDS graphics.

Fox News Digital reached out to Abdel Qader and the campaigns of all the Democrats he campaigned with, but none of them responded to media inquiries.

Cameron Cawthorne is a Fox News Digital editor

More:
Activist with history of anti-Semitism campaigned with several Democrats over the last year, posts reveal - Fox News

Iowa Democrats will make their pitch Thursday to the national party to stay first in the nation for the presidential nominating process.

Its the first time since 2006 that the Democratic National Committee is looking at a change to the early state lineup, which allowed Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carola to hold their presidential nominating contests before the first Tuesday in March.

The DNCs Rules and Bylaws committee approved a proposal in April of this year to strip the four states of their early voting status.

The committee announced that all interested states could apply for one of the five waivers allowing them to hold their primary or caucus in February. On Wednesday and Thursday,17 states and one territory Puerto Rico will give their arguments to the committee for why they should earn one of those spots. The committee evaluates each state on three metrics: diversity, competitiveness, and feasibility.

By these three standards, Iowa falls short compared to other Midwestern states hoping the represent the region. Iowa is much less racially diverse than states like Michigan or Illinois, which are also competing for a waiver. Reporting failures during the 2020 Democratic caucuses bring up questions of feasibility. Republicans have made substantial gains in the states recent elections.

Iowa Democrats said the changes theyve proposed to the caucus system will fix some of these issues. More importantly, Iowa offers an in-road for Democrats to appeal to Middle America, party leaders said.

It is crucial that potential Democratic nominees hear the voices of rural Democrats and learn firsthand about the economic, social, and cultural issues that are impacting their lives, Iowa Democratic Party chair Ross Wilburn said in a letter to the Rules and Bylaws Committee. Iowans take this role very seriously. If, as Democrats, we wish to protect and expand our electoral map, presidential candidates must continue to hear these voices.

Iowa is 85% white. Its becoming a more racially diverse state, Scott Brennan, a former IDP chair and current rules committee member said, and it already represents different variations in Americas population. Brennan pointed to economic diversity, and the variety of rural, urban and suburban voters who participate in caucuses.

With Democrats struggling to appeal to working-class rural voters nationally, Iowa is a good testing ground for candidates who hope to win in a general election, he said.

We cant just glom onto a pile of votes on the coasts and a couple big cities and hope thats enough, he said. It isnt enough.

Iowa Democrats also have to persuade the national committee that their caucuses 2020 problems wont happen again. Issues with a mobile application used to report voting totals caused a three-day delay in vote reporting, which led to the resignation of then-party chair Troy Price.

State party representatives will give a 15-minute presentation, then answer questions for 20 minutes. Iowas presentation will highlight its plans to professionalize the reporting process by contracting with an approved vendor or with the Iowa Secretary of State and county auditors.

Theres another roadblock to Iowas place at the top of the Democratic presidential nominating process: Iowas caucus system itself.

The fact of the matter is that the DNC prefers primaries over caucuses, Brennan said. We have a state law that says we have to be a caucus. So were making probably the most dramatic changes weve ever made.

In 2020, Iowa was one of only five states to still hold caucuses instead of primary elections.Democrats have long criticized the caucus system, arguing that it prevents marginalized people from participating as the process requires in-person attendance.

Iowa Democrats hope to address these concerns while still following state law by no longer requiring in-person attendance. In the partys proposal, Democrats participating in a caucus would request a presidential preference card by mail, and have two weeks to 28 days to return the card by mail or in-person on caucus night.

The new process would also eliminate any realignment. Typically, Iowa caucuses have two alignment steps first, voters stand in an area of the caucus room by their candidate of choice, and move to support another candidate if their first pick fails to earn 15% of voters present. Under the proposal, voters would only mark down their top choice.

While Iowa plans to show how caucuses will improve from 2020, other states want to prove theyre better suited to take the mantle. The Michigan Democratic congressional delegation wrote a letter to the rules committee on why the state should join the early lineup, and the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee launched a Move Up Michigan campaign in support of the effort.

After this weeks meetings, the Rules and Bylaws committee will reconvene Aug. 5 and 6 to determine which five states will hold early seats in the nominating process.

Read more from the original source:
Iowa Democrats to make their appeal to keep caucuses first in the nation - Iowa Capital Dispatch

Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) and Sens. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) introduced legislation Tuesday that would bar companies from retaining data about users reproductive health without consent.

The bill would also give people the power to demand companies disclose and delete the data as well as the power to sue companies for violations of the law.

The legislation was drafted in response to a Supreme Court draft leaked in May that showed the court was prepared to overturn Roe v. Wade, a decision that would trigger abortion bans or severe restrictions in a number of U.S. states.

This is some of the most sensitive and personal data that exists. It deserves the highest level of privacy protection that the government can provide and thats what our bill does, Jacobs told The Hill.

The Democrats My Body, My Data Act would protect personal data collected by entities not currently covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), including data collected by apps, cellphones and search engines.

Privacy groups and abortion advocates have warned in the months since the bombshell Supreme Court leak that data from period-tracking apps and other information could be used to target people seeking abortions and possibly lead to criminal action in states where the procedures would become illegal without federal protections.

Right now, there is no real protection in place for this type of data, Jacobs said.

The bill would bar regulated entities from collecting, retaining, using or disclosing personal reproductive or sexual health information without the express consent of the individual.

It would direct the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the law and develop rules to implement the statute.

Jacobs said leadership is tracing this closely. She also noted that on the Senate side, the bill is co-sponsored by Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.).

The bill is being introduced not only as Democrats prepare for the seemingly imminent overturning of Roe v. Wade but also as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have reignited debates over privacy legislation.

A draft of a comprehensive data privacy bill was released earlier this month. The draft has bipartisan support in the House and backing from Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) in the upper chamber.

The comprehensive bill, though, lacks key support from Cantwell.

See the original post here:
Democrats introduce bill to ban collection of reproductive health data - The Hill

Kelly Schulzs campaign for the Republican nomination for governor is warning its supporters that Democrats may soon be meddling in their primary.

In one letter to supporters, Schulz senior campaign advisor Doug Mayer suggested that the Democratic party has focused advertisements against more moderate players instead of fringe Republicans who would have no chance during a general election in November.

The Democratic Governors Association, also known as the DGA, has spent $12 million in Illinois on attack ads to stop a Black Republican U.S. Army veteran from battling the incumbent in the fall. His competition in Illinois has already touted allegiance to former President Donald Trump.

Maryland could be next on the DGA hit list to make Trump-backed Dan Cox the GOP nominee, warned Schulzs campaign advisor.

All of which is to one end goal, which is to defeat Kelly Schulz, so they can end up facing a very fringe Republican in the general election, Mayer said.

The idea is nothing new, both parties have been doing it for decades. But in this case, it has gathered considerable steam and financial support, Mayer said.

But it's unclear whether thats the plan in Maryland.

Brandon Stoneburg, the Democratic party spokesperson, said his party is focused on their primary.

We have a lot of talent and character among our candidates and we're confident we're going to win in November no matter who the Republicans send out there, he said.

Sam Newton, the DGAs deputy communications director, pointed to a recent internal poll that he said found Schulz failing to gain momentum against Cox.

Its telling that her campaign is already looking for excuses, Newton said in a statement.

That poll found Cox defeating Schulz by a wide margin when GOP voters were told of Trumps endorsement of Cox and Gov. Larry Hogans endorsement of Schulz, who served in his cabinet for seven years.

A recent Baltimore Sun-University of Baltimore poll found Schulz leading Cox by six points with about 43 percent of Republican voters remaining undecided.

View original post here:
Could Maryland Democrats tip the scales during the GOP governor's primary? - WYPR

There was plenty of powerful evidence presented during Day 4 of the House select committee hearings on Jan. 6, showing how President Trump and his allies coerced, bullied and schemed at the state level to overturn the results of the 2020 election. Using the same formula that has made much of the previous hearings must-see TV, the committee on Tuesday again wove a narrative culled from its 10-month investigation.

But between all the bombshells, something else remarkable emerged from the smoke: the sight of Republicans and Democrats treating one another with civility and respect on a public stage, no matter the radioactive material that brought them together.

Rep. Adam B. Schiff (D-Burbank) questioned Arizona House Speaker Rusty Bowers, a Republican, about the pressure he was under from Trump and lawyer Rudy Giuliani to help them put a thumb on the scale for the former president. Schiff and Bowers addressed one another respectfully. They allowed one another to finish their thoughts. And above all, they were working toward the same goal: debunking dangerous lies and schemes to protect the future of American democracy.

Bowers testified for about 40 minutes, recounting how he was pressured to challenge the election results: I will not break my oath of office, he told Giuliani. He came off as a reliable and genuine witness whose potent testimony included straightforward statements about the seriousness of his position in the face of corruption and the emotional hardship his family faced after Trump and his allies applied public pressure. He said followers of the president camped outside his home and drove by in video-paneled trucks, with bullhorns, declaring him to be a pedophile. He spoke of an armed man who argued with his neighbor and the distress experienced by his gravely ill daughter due to the harassment.

Like Bowers, nearly every witness who has given testimony about Trumps role in the Jan. 6 insurrection has been a Republican or avowed conservative. And they have regularly been questioned by Democrats, who have a 7-2 majority on the committee. In a hyper-partisan political environment, the faint glimmers of bipartisanship on display with Democrats and Republicans managing to work together, under duress, without bringing the building down are one of the hearings biggest revelations of all.

When was the last time you can remember the two parties sitting anywhere in Washington, D.C., together, and engaging in calm, controlled, professional discourse? As viewers grow accustomed to the rhythm of the proceedings, this courteousness and mutual respect between red- and blue-state officials remains refreshing to see, even if the snippets from depositions of Bill Barr, Ivanka Trump and others tell a tale of putting party, and power, over country..

It appears the livestreams, news coverage and memes coming out of the hearings are having an impact, too: An ABC News/Ipos survey published on Sunday found that 58% of respondents believe that Trump should be charged with a crime for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, up from 52% in an earlier ABC/Washington Post poll this year.

One reason the hearings havent devolved into a prime opportunity to humiliate the opponent may be the fact that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Bakersfield) already withdrew all of his appointees to the committee after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) rejected Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who had spread disinformation, and Jim Banks (R-Ind.), who was directly involved in the push to change the outcome. So there are no Trump apologists on the panel, just two Republicans of conviction and courage: Vice Chair Liz Cheney (Wyo.) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), both victims of the very sort of harassment that witness after witness attested to Tuesday.

What was it like to compete with a president who had the biggest bully pulpit in the world? Schiff asked Georgia election official Gabe Sterling, who is known for his late 2020 press conference pleading with Trump to Stop inspiring people to commit potential acts of violence. Someone is going to get hurt, someones going to get shot, someones going to get killed. " Trying to counter the misinformation was like a shovel trying to empty the ocean he said. Testimony also came from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who Trump famously asked to find enough votes to overturn Bidens victory in a recorded phone call.

Fulton County election worker Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman were publicly accused by Trump and his cohorts of participating in a ballot fraud operation. Except the nefarious USB stick that Giuliani claimed was passed between mother and daughter was in fact a ginger mint. They too were harassed by Trump apologists. Moss teared up on the stand when she testified that her life has been affected in major ways, every way, all because of lies.

There is nowhere I feel safe. Nowhere, said Freeman, who described herself as a small business owner, a mother, a proud American citizen. Do you know how it feels to have the president of the United States target you?

Schiff gave Freeman the last word before apologizing to her and Moss for their ordeal. In his closing remarks about the importance of defending democracy, he quoted George Washington and only one modern-day president: a Republican. He said Ronald Reagan was right when he described Americas peaceful transfer of power as a kind of miracle in the eyes of the world.

The bipartisanship of the Jan. 6 hearings has felt like a miracle in its own right.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

Originally posted here:
The real 'miracle' of the Jan. 6 hearings? Republicans and Democrats working together - Lookout Santa Cruz