Also on today’s menu:
NH Police, Firefighters Left Out Of Budget Bill
AG Supports FCC Changes To Prevent Robocalls
Dissident Says Ukraine War Is Against Russian Interests
David Super, a professor at Georgetown University Law Center, told the BCC that indicted former president Donald Trump, who faces seven charges that include mishandling classified documents, making false statements, and obstruction of justice, is still eligible to run for election in 2024. “He can be indicted any number of times and it won’t stop his ability to stand for office,” Super said.
The 76-year-old former president made history as the first former president to face federal charges that could lead to a prison sentence. According to Trump attorney Jim Trusty, those charges include willfully retaining national defense secrets in violation of the Espionage Act, a violation that carries a statutory penalty of up to 10 years.
Trump’s response on TruthSocial:
Page 1: The corrupt Biden Administration has informed my attorneys that I have been Indicted, seemingly over the Boxes Hoax, even though Joe Biden has 1850 Boxes at the University of Delaware, additional Boxes in Chinatown, D.C., with even more Boxes at the University of Pennsylvania, and documents strewn all over his garage floor where he parks his Corvette, and which is "secured" by only a garage door that is paper thin, and open much of the time.
Page 2: I have been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. I never thought it possible that such a thing could happen to a former President of the United States, who received far more votes than any sitting President in the History of our Country, and is currently leading, by far, all Candidates, both Democrat and Republican, in Polls of the 2024 Presidential Election. I AM AN INNOCENT MAN!
Trump immediately issued another fundraising email, saying, “Please make a contribution to peacefully stand with me today and prove that YOU will NEVER surrender our country to the radical Left — for 1,500% impact.” He previously translated the criminal charges he is facing in New York into cash: Since that indictment, he has raised $15.4 million.
NH Police, Firefighters Left Out Of Budget Bill
The only real losers in the New Hampshire budget that passed its final hurdle on June 8 were police and firefighters. The $15.2 billion budget package does not include pension benefits those who, although members of the State Retirement System, were not vested when the formulas for determining benefits were changed in 2013. The House budget proposal had included more than $300 million to address those members.
The House concurred with the Senate’s amended House Bill 1 by 351-25, and House Bill 2 by 326-53. The budget package increases Medicaid provider reimbursements and education funding, grants a 12 percent pay raise for state employees, provides additional money for child care, housing, and the homeless, and gives additional support for higher education — almost as much as the two systems received before the 2012-13 budget slashed state funding for higher education in half.
Representative Stephen Pearson (R-Derry) said the extra money for police and firefighter pensions would only be “restoring something that was stolen from us.” New Hampshire, he said, is the only state to change retirement benefits for current members. “This leaves New Hampshire alone. We will still continue to stick our heads in the sands and ignore the massive problem we have in emergency services hiring and retaining people.”
AG Supports FCC Changes To Prevent Robocalls
“Consumers should have complete control over when and to whom their email and phone number is shared,” writes Attorney-General John Formella in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission. He has joined 27 other state attorneys-general in calling on the Federal Communications Commission to clarify federal rules regarding individual consent between consumers and sellers or business entities to allow telemarketing robocalls and texts. “These proposed changes will close loopholes in current regulations and put control back in the consumer’s hands,” the letter states.
The FCC had sought states’ comments on a proposed rules amendment to clarify that its rule concerning prior express written consent under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act — the National Do Not Call Registry protections — apply also to text messages.
The rule change would close a so-called “lead generator loophole” that currently allows entities that collect personal information from consumers to sell that information to third parties that then use it to solicit goods or services purchases from consumers.
Dissident Says Ukraine War Is Against Russian Interests
Oleg Orlov, 70, is on trial for allegedly breaking Russia’s laws making criticism of the country’s war against Ukraine illegal. A veteran human rights defender, Orlov has been an outspoken critic of the Kremlin’s stifling of dissent as well as its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
Upon entering the courtroom in Moscow, Orlov took a book titled End of the Regime from his briefcase and, holding it up to the television cameras, said, “It’s a good title. I recommend reading it. It’s all about how totalitarian and fascist regimes come to an end.”
In his defense, Orlov said, “First of all, the Russian Constitution guarantees freedom of speech. I wrote an article presenting my assessment of events. Prosecuting me for that violates the Constitution. Secondly, what is happening in Ukraine — let’s be clear and call it a war — it is against the interests of Russia and Russian citizens. As for ‘preserving international peace and security’, that’s a joke. It reminds me of George Orwell’s ‘War is Peace’ and ‘Freedom is Slavery’. Claiming that the war in Ukraine is ‘in the interests of international peace’ is just nonsense.”
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