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Column: A small-city mayor takes on big money and political propaganda

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Column: A small-city mayor takes on big money and political propaganda

Steve Younger might have loved a pleasant, quiet retirement on this charming waterfront neighborhood within the northern a part of the Bay Space.

However Younger is a sociable kind and was wanting to make new acquaintances after he and his spouse moved right here in 2012. He’s not the type to hang around in bars, the 70-year-old Younger stated, and he doesn’t play any aggressive sports activities. So one method to meet of us, he figured, was to serve on an area board or fee.

After a number of interviews, Younger landed a spot on Benicia’s Planning Fee; it helped that he had spent his profession in native authorities, retiring as a pacesetter of Sacramento’s Housing and Redevelopment Company. His appointment to the fee led to his election to the Metropolis Council, which in flip positioned Younger for a profitable 2020 run for mayor — and a struggle with the oil firm that looms giant on this small metropolis.

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Younger’s victory, and the deep-pocketed marketing campaign towards him, has positioned him on the intersection of two of the extra insidious developments in politics at this time: the flood of limitless cash and the gutting of native information media, which has left a void too simply stuffed by propaganda and misinformation.

“I perceive that it’s authorized,” Younger stated of the unimaginable quantities of money sloshing round campaigns from the White Home to Metropolis Corridor. “I perceive the Supreme Court docket stated it’s OK. But it surely’s not proper. And in my opinion it’s not democratic.”

So Younger is pushing again as finest he can, recruiting unbiased marketing campaign fact-checkers and searching for a municipal ordinance to forestall digital manipulation of political advertisements and different willful deceit.

“Individuals can say no matter they need,” Younger stated, “and in case you don’t have the cash to refute it, it can stick to voters.”

Benicia, which is one in every of California’s oldest cities, is residence to about 28,000 residents, a thriving artists colony and a sprawling oil refinery owned by Valero Vitality Corp. The San Antonio-based agency is town’s largest employer and taxpayer, a serious political power and a supply of appreciable native controversy.

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The 2 worst refinery accidents within the Bay Space in recent times occurred in Benicia. Final month, San Francisco public radio station KQED reported the plant had launched extreme ranges of hazardous chemical compounds for greater than 15 years earlier than regulators found the emissions.

Naturally, the place there’s smoke, there’s an try to achieve political affect.

Within the final two elections, Valero spent tons of of hundreds of {dollars} supporting its most well-liked candidates for mayor and Metropolis Council, and concentrating on these, like Younger, who favored tighter regulation of its refinery. (The title of Valero’s political motion committee, Working Households for a Robust Benicia, is clearly extra palatable than Massive Oil Firm Spending Enormous Sums to Preserve Small Neighborhood Underneath Its Thumb.)

Main companies definitely have a proper to weigh in on issues affecting their companies, their workers and the communities the place they function. Based on the Supreme Court docket, that constitutes political speech protected by the first Modification. Companies are entitled to as a lot speech as they care to buy, which is significantly greater than your typical voter or candidate for native workplace can presumably afford.

“Companies can primarily purchase elected officers … by pumping cash into getting their most well-liked candidates into workplace,” or by opposing these “not as beholden or sympathetic,” stated Sean McMorris of California Frequent Trigger, a nonprofit good-government group.

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In Benicia, the high-priced marketing campaign towards Younger by Valero and its allies included mailers that darkened his complexion — presumably to make him seem extra sinister — and distorted his voting file and efficiency on the Metropolis Council. A number of assertions, Younger stated, have been patently false.

He gained however.

As we took a driving tour of town — beneath a cloud of blossoming Bradford pears, previous white picket fences and Craftsman houses, by means of the economic park that homes Valero — Younger spoke of the pleasures, and frustrations, of serving as mayor. The job pays $525 a month and comes with healthcare advantages. That’s not loads given the fixed calls for, plus added pressure over masks and vaccinations, however it’s rooted Younger locally and, as he as soon as hoped, launched him to a lot of individuals.

“I prefer it,” he stated of his place, after temporary consideration.

What he can’t abide is the outsized political affect of town’s company Goliath. Elections in a spot like Benicia must be decided, Younger stated, by candidates knocking on doorways and assembly voters, not by whoever wields the heftiest pockets.

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So together with Vice Mayor Tom Campbell, Younger got here up with two proposals to manipulate campaigns and attempt to stem Valero’s affect.

The primary sought to determine a form of municipal reality fee. However the metropolis legal professional famous the excessive authorized bar dealing with lawmakers in the event that they sought to enter the marketing campaign fact-checking enterprise.

Younger then approached the native newspaper, the Benicia Herald, in hope its meager employees will start truth-squadding political advertisements. If the paper is prepared, candidates “might use that in some future mailing or social media submit, saying a 3rd celebration has checked out this and it’s false.”

The second proposal, to forestall digital manipulation — like casting a candidate in shadow — and different types of digital fakery, is about to go earlier than town’s Open Authorities Fee for consideration.

“I need to have one thing in entrance of the council by summertime,” Younger stated because the solar glinted off the Carquinez Strait, “as a result of clearly this must be in place earlier than individuals begin voting.”

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At a time when democracy is underneath assault, the decimation of native media — typically a neighborhood’s solely supply of professionally gathered information — has turn into extra worrisome than ever. With out somebody protecting a watchful eye and holding the highly effective to account, these with the cash and means to have their approach will solely develop extra influential.

Younger’s effort is one small step in a single small metropolis. But it surely’s one thing, and a worthy instance others would possibly select to comply with.

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Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'

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Appeals court rules Texas has right to build razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration: 'Huge win'

A federal appeals court on Wednesday ruled that Texas has the right to build a razor wire border wall to deter illegal immigration into the Lone Star State. 

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced the ruling on X, saying President Biden was “wrong to cut our razor wire.” 

“We continue adding more razor wire border barrier,” the Republican leader wrote. 

Wednesday’s 2-1 decision by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals clears the way for Texas to pursue a lawsuit accusing the Biden administration of trespassing without having to remove the fencing.

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It also reversed a federal judge’s November 2023 refusal to grant a preliminary injunction to Texas as the state resisted federal efforts to remove fencing along the Rio Grande in the vicinity of Eagle Pass, Texas.

U.S. Border Patrol agents cut an opening through razor wire after immigrant families crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 27, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

Circuit Judge Kyle Duncan, a Trump appointee during the president-elect’s first term, wrote for Wednesday’s majority that Texas was trying only to safeguard its own property, not “regulate” U.S. Border Patrol, and was likely to succeed in its trespass claims.

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Duncan said the federal government waived its sovereign immunity and rejected its concerns that a ruling by Texas would impede the enforcement of immigration law and undermine the government’s relationship with Mexico.

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TEXAS BORDER RAZOR WIRE

A Venezuelan immigrant asks Texas National Guard troops to let his family pass through razor wire after they crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico in Eagle Pass, Texas, Sept. 27, 2023. (John Moore/Getty Images)

He said the public interest “supports clear protections for property rights from government intrusion and control” and ensuring that federal immigration law enforcement does not “unnecessarily intrude into the rights of countless property owners.”

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton called the ruling a “huge win for Texas.” 

“The Biden Administration has been enjoined from damaging, destroying, or otherwise interfering with Texas’s border fencing,” Paxton wrote in a post on X. “We sued immediately when the federal government was observed destroying fences to let illegal aliens enter, and we’ve fought every step of the way for Texas sovereignty and security.”

Texas border

Migrants attempt to cross the southern border in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, in February. (David Peinado/Anadolu via Getty Images)

The White House has been locked in legal battles with Texas and other states that have tried to deter illegal immigration. 

In May, the full 5th Circuit heard arguments in a separate case between Texas and the White House over whether the state can keep a 1,000-foot floating barrier on the Rio Grande.

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The appeals court is also reviewing a judge’s order blocking a Texas law that would allow state officials to arrest, prosecute and order the removal of people in the country illegally.

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Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations

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Rep. Katie Porter obtains temporary restraining order against ex-boyfriend on harassment allegations

U.S. Rep. Katie Porter (D-Irvine) secured a temporary restraining order Tuesday against a former boyfriend, saying in dozens of pages of court filings that he had bombarded her, as well as her family and colleagues, with hundreds of messages that she described as “persistent abuse and harassment.”

Porter, 50, alleged in a filing with Orange County Superior Court that her ex-boyfriend Julian Willis, 55, was contacting her and her family with such frequency that she had a “significant fear” for her “personal safety and emotional well-being.”

Judge Stephen T. Hicklin signed a restraining order Tuesday barring Willis from communicating with Porter and her children until a mid-December court hearing. He also barred Willis from communicating about Porter with her current and former colleagues.

In the court filing, Porter said that Willis had been hospitalized twice since late 2022 on involuntary psychiatric holds and had a history of abusing prescription painkillers and other drugs.

She said in a statement to The Times that Willis’ mental health and struggles with addiction seemed to have gotten worse since she asked him in August to move out of her Irvine home. She said she sought the court order after his threats to her family and colleagues “escalated in both their frequency and intensity.”

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“I sincerely hope he gets the help he needs,” Porter said.

Willis declined to comment. He will have an opportunity to file a legal response to the temporary restraining order and challenge Porter’s allegations.

Porter is leaving the House of Representatives in January after losing in California’s U.S. Senate primary in March. She has been discussed as a front-runner in the 2026 governor’s race in California after Gov. Gavin Newsom is termed out, but has not said whether she will launch a campaign.

The 53-page court filing, first reported by Politico, included 22 pages of emails, text messages and other communications among Porter, family members and colleagues who had received messages from Willis, as well as messages that Willis sent to Porter’s attorney and to her political mentor Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

The filing also included messages between herself and Willis’ siblings as they discussed trying to help him during his psychiatric holds and while he was staying in a sober-living facility.

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Porter said that since she ordered Willis to move out, he had sent her more than 1,000 text messages and emails, including texting her 82 times in one 24-hour period in September, and 55 times on Nov. 12 before she blocked his number.

Porter said in the filing that her ex-boyfriend had “already contacted at least three reporters to disseminate false and damaging information” about her and her children, which she said “poses a serious risk to [her] career and personal reputation.”

The filing includes an email that Porter said Willis sent to her attorney late Monday, in which Willis said he had visited Porter’s son at college in Iowa and told him that he would “bring the hammer down on Katie and smash her and her life into a million pieces.”

Another screenshot shows Willis telling Porter’s attorney that he would file a complaint about Porter, who has children ages 12 and 16, with child protective services.

One of Porter’s congressional staff members received a text message from Willis saying he would “punish the f—” out of him if he did not agree to “cooperate” with a New York Times reporter and Willis’ attorneys, according to a screenshot included in the court document.

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Willis previously made the news in 2021, when he was arrested after a fight that broke out at a Porter town hall at a park in Irvine.

Times staff writer Christopher Goffard contributed to this report.

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Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats

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Homan taking death threats against him ‘more seriously’ after Trump officials targeted with violent threats

Incoming Trump border czar Tom Homan reacted to news of death threats against Trump nominees on Wednesday and said he now takes the death threats he has previously received seriously. 

“I have not taken this serious up to this point,” Homan told Fox News anchor Gillian Turner on “The Story” on Wednesday, referring to previous death threats made against him and his family. 

“Now that I know what’s happened in the last 24 hours. I will take it a little more serious. But look, I’ve been dealing with this. When I was the ICE director in the first administration, I had numerous death threats. I had a security detail with me all the time. Even after I retired, death threats continued and even after I retired as the ICE Director. I had U.S. Marshals protection for a long time to protect me and my family.”

Homan explained that what “doesn’t help” the situation is the “negative press” around Trump. 

HARRIS NEVER LED TRUMP, INTERNAL POLLS SHOWED — BUT DNC OFFICIALS WERE KEPT IN THE DARK

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President Elect Donald Trump, left, and new appointed Tom Homan, right (Getty)

“I’m not in the cabinet, but, you know, I’ve read numerous hit pieces. I mean, you know, I’m a racist and, you know, I’m the father of family separation, all this other stuff. So the hate media doesn’t help at all because there are some nuts out there. They’ll take advantage. So that doesn’t help.”

Homan’s comments come shortly after Fox News Digital first reported that nearly a dozen of President-elect Donald Trump’s cabinet nominees and other appointees tapped for the incoming administration were targeted Tuesday night with “violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” prompting a “swift” law enforcement response.

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Donald Trump in a blue suit and red tie pumps his fist in the air and looks up

Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump pumps his fist as he arrives to speak at a campaign event at Nassau Coliseum, Wednesday, Sept.18, 2024, in Uniondale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

The “attacks ranged from bomb threats to ‘swatting,’” according to Trump-Vance transition spokeswoman and incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt.

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“Last night and this morning, several of President Trump’s Cabinet nominees and administration appointees were targeted in violent, unAmerican threats to their lives and those who live with them,” she told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. “In response, law enforcement acted quickly to ensure the safety of those who were targeted. President Trump and the entire Transition team are grateful for their swift action.” 

Sources told Fox News Digital that John Ratcliffe, the nominee to be CIA director, Pete Hegseth, the nominee for secretary of defense, and Rep. Elise Stefanik, the nominee for UN ambassador, were among those targeted. Brooke Rollins, who Trump has tapped to be secretary of agriculture, and Lee Zeldin, Trump’s nominee to be EPA administrator, separately revealed they were also targeted. 

Threats were also made against Trump’s Labor Secretary nominee, GOP Rep. Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and former Trump attorney general nominee Matt Gaetz’s family. 

Trump holds fist

Republican candidate Donald Trump is seen with blood on his face surrounded by secret service agents as he is taken off the stage at a campaign event at Butler Farm Show Inc. in Butler, Pennsylvania, July 13, 2024.  Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)

Homan told Fox News that he is “not going to be intimidated by these people” and “I’m not going to let them silence me.”

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“What I’ve learned today I’ll start taking a little more serious.”

Homan added that he believes “we need to have a strong response once we find out is behind all this.”

“It’s illegal to threaten someone’s life. And we need to follow through with that.”

The threats on Tuesday night came mere months after Trump survived two assassination attempts.

Fox News Digital’s Brooke Singman contributed to this report

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