Wildfire ActBlue ‘Donation’ Scandal Explodes, Elizabeth Warren Implicated While Obama Bros Go Berserk

Outrage is exploding over a push by numerous Democrats to get people to donate to wildfire “relief funds” facilitated through ActBlue, the party’s scandal-ridden fundraising apparatus.

As RedState reported on Saturday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom made the ill-advised move to go on “Pod Save America,” a far-left show run by former Barack Obama staffers, while large parts of Los Angeles County still burned. His attempt to pass the buck and paint himself as an innocent bystander amid a laundry list of government failures was bad enough, but then came the plea for donations.

Within hours, Sen. Elizabeth Warren put up a similar donation link, again directing people to ActBlue. At the top of the donation screen sits her campaign logo.

Why exactly are Democrats trying to get people to donate relief funds through a partisan fundraising operation? Especially since that operation skims off 3.95 percent, and that’s assuming every single other dime ends up passing through untouched. To put it lightly, that’s hardly a benefit of the doubt ActBlue and these Democrat politicians should be receiving.

But while many suspected these donation links, which require the entry of an email, are being used to build political contact lists, the manipulation may go much deeper than initially expected. According to the DC Reporter, one political laid out how this affects the Super PAC in question, calling it “the most evil **** I have ever seen.”

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We can hope this stick 3 years from now, making the 2028 race much more interesting as Newsom was pretty much considered to be a strong probable.

Palisades Fire Incinerates Future Career of Mayor Karen Bass, Gavin Newsom’s Presidential Aspirations.

have been following the progress of the Palisades fire and several others in the Los Angeles area since my initial post last night.

According to Watch Duty, the blaze charring Pacific Palisades now covers over 15,000 acres and is ZERO percent contained…just as the Santa Ana winds are about to begin peaking.

However, other significant wildfires are burning through the region as well. The Eaton Fire in the Altadena/Pasadena area has already destroyed 10,000 acres and claimed five lives. The Hurst Fire around Sylmar has already hit 700 acres. There is also ZERO percent containment for both of these blazes.

Of course, it is hard for understaffed firefighters to suppress wildfires when there is no water to quench them.

 

The lack of firefighting resources is just one of the long-term problems that contributed to the historic destruction of Los Angeles. The magnitude of destruction is so vast that any of our nation’s terrorist enemies would be delighted to claim responsibility for it.

However, the state and local leaders ultimately created all the conditions that resulted in a disaster that will likely outstrip Maui’s total devastation in our collective memories. I will note many of these problems have been discussed at Legal Insurrection whenever we have reviewed wildfires in California previously.

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The Machine Gun Win Now Before the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals
United States v. Morgan (24-3141)
Charles Nichols

Last August, Federal District Court Judge John W. Broomes issued two findings. The first was that the two machine guns the defendant was charged with illegally possessing are ““bearable arms within the original meaning of the [Second” amendment.” The second was “the government has failed to establish that this nation’s history of gun regulation justifies the application of 18 U.S.C. § 922(o) to Defendant.”

Judge Broomes then dismissed the charges. The Federal government filed a timely appeal, and filed its opening brief on appeal on December 12th. On December 29th, the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence filed an Amicus brief in support of the government. On Monday, January 6th, the Defendant filed a disfavored (but unopposed) motion for a thirty-day extension to file his answering brief on appeal. The motion was granted the same day. I am reliably informed that an Amicus brief will be filed in support of the Defendant.

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There are several important facts to keep in mind about this case. Judge Broomes did not say that the government couldn’t have met its burden of proof, but it failed to do so in this case, and so the government lost, as is required by the United States Supreme Court decision in NYSRPA v. Bruen.

Judge Broomes also said that some kinds of machine guns are not arms protected by the Second Amendment, and his decision says nothing about what restrictions or prohibitions the government could place on the carrying (bearing) of machine guns because the Federal law only makes it a crime to possess unregistered machine guns, not carry them.

Additionally, this is an interesting case because the case was prosecuted in the district court, and the opening brief on appeal was filed by the Biden administration. The reply brief and all further proceedings from January 20th onward will be by the Trump administration. The Trump DOJ attorney can simply acquiesce in the case, meaning he can concede that the law is unconstitutional but assert that President Trump will continue to enforce the law, including in this case. The latter is particularly important because if the President does not aver that he will continue to enforce the law, including against the Defendant, then the Court of Appeals could simply dismiss the appeal without deciding the case for lack of a “live case or controversy.”

Putting machine guns to the side for the moment, this quote from the Defendant’s motion for an extension of time is particularly telling, “The government’s brief is 36 pages long. The table of authorities is an additional 15 pages long and includes citations to roughly 200 cases, statutes, and legal texts. Many of the sources relied on by the government are hundreds of years old and were not cited by the government in the district court.”

The Federal criminal court system is rigged against defendants. Had the Defendant’s attorney failed to cite authorities or make properly worded objections in the proper manner at the appropriate time(s) in the trial court, then his failure would be subject to what is called “plain error review” on appeal, and he would almost certainly lose.

Will the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals afford the Federal government a more deferential standard of review? Will the Court of Appeals contrive some way around the NYSRPA v. Bruen mandate that the burden of proof lies with the government?

Time will tell. The appeal should be fully briefed in two months, after which the Court of Appeals can make a decision at any time.

You can read many of the briefs for free from CourtListener at the following links.

United States v. Morgan (24-3141) 10th Circuit Court of Appeals Docket.

United States v. Morgan (6:23-cr-10047) District Court, D. Kansas Docket.

Homeless man, 69, won’t face charges after stabbing thugs who terrorized him on subway, killing 1: DA

Dramatic video footage captured the moment a 69-year-old homeless man stabbed the thugs who mercilessly terrorized him on a Queens subway train, killing one and wounding another.

In a twist of transit justice, it’s the surviving goons who are now behind bars, prosecutors said.

“The victim was accosted, without provocation, and our investigation has shown that he defended himself while attempting to retrieve his property,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said in a statement Wednesday.

“As a result, my office will not be filing charges for the fatality.”

Gripping footage of the violent encounter on a 7 train on Dec. 22 shows the victim sleeping on the train shortly before 12:30 a.m. when two of the brutes — identified by prosecutors as Stalin Moya and Oswaldo Walter — grab one of the man’s bags and take it into a second car.

Moya then goes back and grabs more of the victim’s bags — waking him up in the process. That’s when things got violent.

The unidentified victim followed Moya into the second car to try to get his things back, only to be attacked and pounded by several men in the group as they scattered and hid his bags.

The footage shows the victim then being shoved and slugged repeatedly by the group — until he has enough and pulls out a long knife and slashes his attackers, wounding at least two.

The cowardly thugs then scatter — one is seen stumbling away, bleeding from his wounds — as the victim stands in the middle of the empty subway car, still clutching the knife.

Queens prosecutors said Moya was killed and defendant Phillipe Pena was wounded.

Pena, 26, Walter, 29, and two others — Jose Valencia, 35, and Henry Toapanta, 32 — have been indicted by a grand jury on robbery and assault charges in the incident. The DA’s office said all of the suspects are also homeless.

“Our subways must be safe for the millions of people who depend on public transportation,” Katz said in her statement. “The New York City subway system has been outfitted with cameras and the video recovered in this case is vital to our prosecution.”

The incident comes amid a recent jump in subway violence and has similarities to earlier instances when straphangers fought back against transit thugs.

Most notable is the case of Daniel Penny, a Marine who was acquitted in the chokehold death of vagrant Jordan Neely on a Manhattan F train in 2023.

HONORING A HERO

Supporting the Family of
Sergeant Major Anders T. Johansson

Sergeant Major Anders Johansson proudly served his country for over two decades, enlisting as an infantryman in 2003. His unwavering dedication to duty saw him rise through the ranks within 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group as a Special Forces Engineer Sergeant and then within the United States Army Special Operations Command, where he held numerous leadership positions.

His bravery and commitment were recognized with numerous awards and badges, including a Silver Star, a Purple Heart, eight Bronze Stars, and was posthumously awarded the Legion of Merit. Sergeant Major Johansson bravely deployed on multiple occasions in support of combat operations during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM, Operation NEW DAWN, Operation IRAQI FREEDOM, and Operation INHERENT RESOLVE.

Beyond his military service, Sergeant Major Johansson was married to his loving wife, Sarah.  Together, they built a beautiful life filled with laughter and love. They were blessed with four children: Anders, Gunnar, Arete and Eowyn who will forever cherish their father’s memory.

Sergeant Major Johansson will be remembered for his strength, courage, and unwavering devotion to his family and country. His legacy of service and sacrifice will continue to inspire generations to come.

Governor signs 2 BFA-backed bills to prohibit firearms liability insurance, sales tracking, registries.

On Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025, Gov. Mike DeWine signed Senate Bill 58, which prohibits requiring firearm liability insurance or being required to pay a fee for the possession of a firearm, part of a firearm, its components, its ammunition, or a knife.

Senate Bill 148, which was amended into SB 58, prohibits financial institutions from tracking firearms purchases and prohibits government entities from maintaining a registry of firearms or firearm owners.

Both SB 58, sponsored by Sens. Terry Johnson (R-McDermott) and Theresa Gavarone (R-Huron), and SB 148, sponsored by Sen. Terry Johnson, fight recent efforts by gun control advocates to make gun ownership more expensive and less private for law-abiding gun owners instead of cracking down on the actual criminal misuse of firearms.

Buckeye Firearms Association strongly backed both bills and thanks the governor for signing these vital pieces of legislation. These new laws go into effect in 90 days.

You can read BFA’s testimony for these bills here.