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Husband of former 'Squad' Rep. Cori Bush charged with wire fraud linked to COVID relief funds: DOJ

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Husband of former 'Squad' Rep. Cori Bush charged with wire fraud linked to COVID relief funds: DOJ

The husband of former U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a Missouri Democrat, has been charged with defrauding the government after allegedly accepting $20,000 in payments from the pandemic-era Paycheck Protection and Economic Injury Disaster Loan programs, the Justice Department said. 

Cortney Merritts, 46, of St. Louis, falsified details about his purported businesses to obtain loans from the Small Business Administration in 2020 and 2021, federal prosecutors said Thursday. 

He was charged with two counts of wire fraud.

CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN PAYS $17,500 MORE TO HER HUSBAND, BRINGING HIS TOTAL TO $120K, NEW FILINGS SHOW

Former Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., and husband Cortney Merritts, 46, who was charged with wire fraud.  (Getty Images)

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“Mr. Merritts intends to plead not guilty to the charges,” Merritts’ lawyer, Justin Gelfand of Margulis Gelfand DiRuzzo & Lambson, said in a statement. “As with any indictment, this is only the government’s version of the story. We look forward to litigating this case in federal court in Washington, D.C.”

Merritts repeatedly applied for business loans for a company he said he operated while also allegedly misrepresenting his revenue and number of people he employed, authorities said.

CORI BUSH’S CAMPAIGN CONTINUES TO SHELL OUT THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS TO HER HUSBAND FOR PRIVATE SECURITY

Cori Bush concedes Democratic primary

Rep. Cori Bush, D-Mo., delivers her concession speech during a primary election watch party Aug. 6, 2024, in St. Louis. (Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

One July 2020 application for a loan was rejected because it was nearly identical to one he submitted previously, prosecutors said. 

Merritts was indicted a year after the Justice Department opened an investigation into Bush, a former member of the “Squad,” over campaign payments to her husband. 

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Bush was defeated in a primary last year amid controversy over her criticism of Israel’s response to the Oct. 7, 2023, attacks on its citizens by Hamas terrorists. 

The so-called “Squad” Bush formerly belonged to is an informal group of progressive lawmakers in Congress that includes representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.; Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.; Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass.; and Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich.

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Trump Loses Bid to Pause Ruling on Federal Funding Freeze

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Trump Loses Bid to Pause Ruling on Federal Funding Freeze

A federal appeals court on Wednesday left in place a lower court’s ruling that blocked the Office of Management and Budget from enacting a sweeping freeze on federal funding to states, writing that it posed an obvious risk to states that depend on the money.

The decision denied a request from the Trump administration to stay a ruling by Judge John J. McConnell Jr. of the Federal District Court for the District of Rhode Island this month. Judge McConnell found that the administration had effectively subverted Congress in choking off funds in ways that jeopardized state governments and the services they provide their residents.

A coalition of nearly two dozen attorneys general from Democratic-led states had sued in January to halt the freeze. They argued that the funding, including critical disaster relief disbursed by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and early childhood education support provided through Head Start, had all been thrown into doubt.

In their opinion, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit wrote that the freeze would cause the states an array of irreparable harms, including forced taking on of debt, “impediments to planning, hiring and operations,” and disruptions to research projects underway at state universities.

In its original guidance at issue in the lawsuit, the Office of Management and Budget had advised agencies that the pause pertained only to funding streams that were affected by some of President Trump’s early executive orders, such as those aimed at ending diversity, equity and inclusion programs and climate change funds.

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The states behind the lawsuit, however, argued that the pause had been conducted chaotically and had caused significant upheaval, preventing them from gaining access to federal grants that seemed to fall outside those orders.

As an example, in a filing on Wednesday night, an assistant attorney general from Illinois said that the state was still unable to attain money through the Earthquake State Assistance grant program.

In their opinion declining to stay Judge McConnell’s preliminary injunction, the judges wrote that the states had documented numerous cases of “pauses, freezes, and sudden terminations of obligated funds” suggesting that the freeze on federal funds was often indiscriminate. The arbitrary nature of the freeze, they wrote, further suggested that the coalition of states was likely to prevail in the lawsuit.

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Texas DOGE bill passes Senate to streamline state regulations

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Texas DOGE bill passes Senate to streamline state regulations

Texas has passed a bill that would create an efficiency office much like the federal government’s Department of Government Efficiency started by President Donald Trump.

Texas SB14 establishes the Texas Regulatory Efficiency Office and, if passed into law, will attempt to streamline state regulations, reduce unnecessary rules and promises to make massive reductions to the size of the state’s government.

“I prioritized SB 14 because President Trump’s creation of the ‘Department of Government Efficiency’ inspired me to find ways Texas can save taxpayers and businesses money by cutting burdensome regulations. The Texas Miracle will continue long into the 21st century because our common-sense, conservative approach to regulation will keep Texans prosperous and our economy strong,” said Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in a statement Wednesday.

Split image of Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and U.S. President Donald Trump.  (Getty Images)

A regulatory efficiency advisory panel will also be established that will advise the governor’s office and the Efficiency Office. That panel will be composed of members representing regulated businesses, the public, occupational license holders, higher education and state agencies. 

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This bill outlines that it will also increase the public’s access to regulatory information by establishing an interactive website for people to search for state agency rules and information by topic, activity or NAICS code.

DOGE SAYS TEXAS NONPROFIT WITH FORMER BIDEN TRANSITION MEMBER REAPED MILLIONS OPERATING EMPTY FACILITY

Texas State Capitol

The exterior of the Texas State Capitol, is seen on September 05, 2023 in Austin, Texas.  (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

To keep things transparent, the bill would require that the Efficiency Office must submit a biennial report to the governor and the Legislative Budget Board, detailing its activities, findings, and recommendations.

Patrick says this bill was necessary for the people of Texas and will put money back in taxpayers’ pockets.

‘AMERICA HAS DOGE FEVER’: STATES FROM NJ TO TX DRAFT SIMILAR INITIATIVES AS FEDERAL LEADERS CELEBRATE

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Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick

Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick speaks during a press conference. (REUTERS/David ‘Dee’ Delgado)

“The Texas economy is the envy of America and the world. Texans understand that by cutting red tape, more money stays in the pockets of taxpayers. When Texans save money, the private sector is unleashed, Texans start small businesses, jobs are created and our economy grows,” Patrick said.

The bill is now on its way to the House committee before it can be voted on by the Texas House of Representatives. 

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Richard Carlson, former KABC reporter and father of Tucker Carlson, dies at 84

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Richard Carlson, former KABC reporter and father of Tucker Carlson, dies at 84

Richard Carlson, a controversial fixture in West Coast TV journalism during the 1970s, died Monday at his Florida home after a long illness.

Carlson’s death was announced by his son Tucker, the conservative pundit and former Fox News host, in a post on X.

Richard Carlson, who started his award-winning career as a copy boy at the Los Angeles Times, became a familiar presence to Los Angeles TV viewers as an investigative reporter for KABC. He also worked at KGO in San Francisco and KFMB in San Diego.

While at KABC, Carlson aggressively reported on the fall of G. Elizabeth Carmichael, a transgender woman who developed a three-wheeled electric car when the country was dealing with skyrocketing gas prices. Carmichael never produced the car and was convicted for defrauding investors.

Carlson, whose reporting revealed that Carmichael was transgender, was featured prominently in a 2021 HBO documentary about the entrepreneur, “The Lady and the Dale.” Carlson remained unrepentant about outing Carmichael, telling her documentarians, “If Liz’s behavior is normal, then so too is Jeffrey Dahmer’s.”

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While working at KFMB, he outed transgender professional tennis player Renée Richards after she won a women’s singles division title in a La Jolla tournament.

Carlson left journalism shortly after the Richards story, saying he was disillusioned by the global sensation it generated. “There are so many interesting things I think are important and interesting, but the media can be counted on to do handstands over that kind of scandal and sexual sensation,” he told The Times in 1984.

Richard Carlson was born on Feb. 10, 1941. His mother was a 15-year-old Swedish-speaking girl who placed him in an orphanage in Boston. After years in foster homes, Carlson was adopted by a family in Norwood, Mass.

Carlson’s adoptive father, a tannery manager, died when he was 12. He became a juvenile delinquent, arrested and jailed at 17 for car theft. He eventually enlisted in the Marine Corps and was a merchant seaman before pursuing a career in journalism, according to Tucker Carlson’s post.

After his military service, Richard Carlson joined The Times, where he became friends with Carl Brisson, the son of actress Rosalind Russell. They formed a journalistic partnership that included a Look magazine report that linked former San Francisco Mayor Joseph Alioto to organized crime, ending his political career.

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Alioto called the article “character assassination for political purposes” and eventually won a $350,000 libel award. Carlson was not named as a defendant in the case.

In 1971, Carlson moved to TV station KABC, where he earned a Peabody Award for an investigative report on car promotion fraud. He moved to KFMB as a reporter and anchor in 1975.

Carlson’s first wife left him in 1975, leaving him as a single father to raise Tucker and his brother, Buckley. He remarried in 1979 to Patricia Swanson, the heiress to the frozen-food company, who died in 2023.

After leaving television, Carlson joined Great American Federal, a San Diego-based savings and loan. He toyed with a career in politics, making an unsuccessful bid to become mayor of San Diego in 1984 against incumbent Roger Hedgecock, who was under indictment for perjury at the time.

In 1985, Carlson moved to Washington to work for the Reagan administration. He spent five years as the director of the Voice of America, and then moved to the Seychelles as the U.S. ambassador. In 1992, he became the chief executive of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides federal funding to public media.

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In 1997, Carlson joined King World, the syndication company that distributed “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “Jeopardy!” and “Wheel of Fortune” before it was sold to CBS in 1999. He later served as vice chairman for the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, a Washington-based neoconservative think tank.

Along with his two sons, Carlson is survived by five grandchildren.

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