Category: Back Door Power Grab

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Back Door Power Grab Biden Pandemic Corruption COVID Medicine Politics

Winning. Judge Tosses NYC Vaccine Mandate – Reinstates all Fired City Workers, Orders Back pay

New York – In Richmond County Supreme Court, Judge Ralph Porzio, has ruled that the vaccine mandates issued by the New York City Health Commissioner are unconstitutional and violate the separation of powers.

The ruling permits city employees to return to work effective immediately and orders back pay.

According to attorney Chad Laveglia, the judge ruled “the commissioner’s order mandating private and public employees get vaccinated was arbitrary and capricious.”

“Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid-19,” the judge stated.

[Due to Rumble and the FV player we use here not speaking to each other, we cannot supply the accompanying video, but you can see it here: Judge strikes down nyc vaccine mandate for city workers ]

While Laveglia was representing members of the Dept. of Sanitation in New York (DSNY), this ruling will impact the FDNY, NYPD, Dept. of Corrections and all other city employees who were shut down and forced to resign for refusing to cave in to an experimental emergency use vaccine.  The Gateway Pundit has previously reported on closures of firehouses in New York City that couldn’t remain open due to personnel shortages.  The Gateway Pundit also reported on a mass exodus of NYPD officers; although this was not exclusively related to the vaccine, it does pose a serious problem when the department’s numbers were already impacted greatly by the forced resignations earlier on.

The vaccination mandate for City employees was not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance.

The vaccination mandate for City employees was not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance.

The defendants, of course, filed a Notice of Appeal.  In New York, there are 62 courts, one for each county, representing the Supreme Court.  Despite the name, the Supreme Court in New York is not the highest court.  That position reigns with the New York Court of Appeals.  It appears as though there is still the possibility of one last battle for the DSNY employees and Mr. Laveglia.

The City of New York is represented by the New York City Law Department.  This means that the tax-payers of New York City are funding the fight to take away their own rights to work despite their personal decisions not to take an experimental vaccine that has numerous documented health implications in comparison to all other vaccines since the VAERS system began tracking adverse events.

The tax-payer funded New York City Law Department writes in their appeal:

“Did Supreme Court err in granting the petition, granting declaratory relief, and denying respondents’ cross-motion to dismiss, where, among other things, the petition is time-barred and the underlying employee vaccination requirements are entirely lawful and rational, as multiple courts have held”

In the decision from the Richmond Supreme Court, Judge Porizio writes:

“An administrative agency usurps the authority of the legislative branch when it promulgates a rule that the legislature did not delegate it the authority to make in the first
instance“

As you read the following, specifically the bold print, remember that the New York City Law Department is expending tax payer dollars to appeal this decision while costing the DSNY employees exorbitant legal fees to fight the appeal.  New York is no longer under a state of emergency, Joe Biden declared the pandemic over, and CDC guidelines for vaxxed vs unvaxxed are the same.

“The punishment is the process.”

Judge Porizio continues in his Conclusion:

“It is clear that the Health Commissioner has the authority to issue public health mandates. No one is refuting that authority.

However, the Health Commissioner cannot create a new condition of employment for City employees. The Health Commissioner cannot prohibit an employee from reporting to work. The Health Commissioner cannot terminate employees. The Mayor cannot exempt certain employees from these orders. Executive Order No. 62 renders all of these vaccine mandates arbitrary and capricious. Being vaccinated does not prevent an individual from contracting or transmitting Covid19.

As of the day of this Decision, CDC guidelines regarding quarantine and isolation are the same for vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals.  The Petitioners should not have been terminated for choosing not to protect themselves. We have learned through the course of the pandemic that the vaccine against Covid-19 is not absolute. Breakthrough cases occur, even for those who have been vaccinated and boosted. President Joseph Biden has said that the pandemic is over.  The State of New York ended the Covid-19 state of emergency over a month ago. 

As this Court stated in its decision in the Rivicci matter, this is not a commentary on the efficacy of vaccination, but about how we are treating our first responders, the ones who worked day-to-day through the height of the pandemic.  They worked without protective gear. They were infected with Covid-19, creating natural immunity. They continued working full duty while their exemption requests were pending. They were terminated and are willing to come back to work for the City that cast them aside.

The vaccination mandate for City employees was not just about safety and public health; it was about compliance. If it was about safety and public health, unvaccinated workers would have been placed on leave the moment the order was issued. If it was about safety and public health, the Health Commissioner would have issued city-wide mandates for vaccination for all residents. In a City with a nearly 80% vaccination rate, we shouldn’t be penalizing the people who showed up to work, at great risk to themselves and their families, while we were locked down.

 

Categories
Back Door Power Grab How sick is this? Politics

Biden’s Nuclear ‘Armageddon’ Comments So Egregious, Even French President Macron Speaks Against Him

Twitter fact checks Jow

pResident Joe Biden’s warning about a nuclear “Armageddon” drew a rebuke from French President Emmanuel Macron.

Biden was thought to be speaking ‘off the cuff’ when he said that Vladimir Putin was ‘not joking when he talks about the use of tactical nuclear weapons or biological or chemical weapons,’ at the end of a Democratic fundraising event on Thursday night when he spoke of the potential for Russian leader Vladimir Putin to use nuclear weapons in his invasion of Ukraine. “We have not faced the prospect of Armageddon since Kennedy and the Cuban Missile Crisis,” Biden said according to The New York Times.

He suggested the threat from Putin is real “because his military is — you might say — significantly underperforming.”

Macron said nuclear war is too delicate a subject to be spoken of carelessly, according to the U.K. Daily Mail.

“We must speak with prudence when commenting on such matters,” he said.

“I have always refused to engage in political fiction, and especially … when speaking of nuclear weapons. On this issue, we must be very careful,” he said.

Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin had a response to Biden’s Thursday rumination about how Putin can be given an “off-ramp” to end the war.

“The way out of this conflict is for Russia to leave Ukraine. That is the way out of the conflict,” she said.

European Council President Charles Michel said leaders there take “every escalation very seriously.”

“Threats will not intimidate us. Instead,  we are going to remain calm. We are going to keep cool heads and we will, each time, denounce the irresponsible character of these threats,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.

Kori Schake, the foreign and defense policy studies director at the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank, said Biden’s comment helped no one, according to the Washington Examiner.

“It undercuts deterrence for the president to sound anxious about Russian nuclear threats,” said Schake, a former National Security Council and State Department official, the outlet reported. “That incentivizes nuclear proliferation and encourages efforts at nuclear blackmail.”

Schake also said the time was not right for Biden to make an ad-lib about nuclear war.

“If he wants to prepare Americans for the danger, he shouldn’t do that via leaked off-the-record comments at a private political fundraiser; he should give a public national address,” she said.

Former national security adviser John Bolton also took issue with Biden’s comments, according to CBS News.

“I think any time we contemplate the potential use of nuclear weapons, we’ve got to take it seriously,” Bolton said, according to CBS. “But I also think we’ve got to be very clear-eyed about it. And I think the president’s comment overstated the gravity of the situation we’re in right now.

“I was particularly disturbed when he said, ‘you know, I can’t imagine the use of a tactical nuclear weapon that doesn’t lead to Armageddon.’ And it’s that chain of causality from one demonstration use of a tactical nuclear weapon that Vladimir Putin is currently threatening all the way up to an exchange of nuclear salvos between Russia and the United States,” he said.

“It is not inevitable. But Putin would like us to think it’s inevitable. He’d like to see people nervous. He’s trying to deter us. He has done this several times already after his invasion of Ukraine. He’s been bluffing each time. There is a risk here of the use of nuclear weapons.

“I don’t think we’re in the circumstances where it’s going to happen, although we watch it carefully,” he said. “But it’s very important for the West not to be deterred by Putin’s use of this nuclear threat.”

Bullet points:

  • Macron rebukes Biden over his warning that Putin could start ‘Armageddon’ 
  • White House tried to walk comments back and blamed “Russian irresponsibility”
  • US officials scrambled to assure allies they had no specific intel on Putin’s plans
  • Macron spoke of the need to speak with care on the nuclear threat from Putin
  • Finnish PM also rebuked Biden over his comments that Putin needs an ‘off ramp’ 

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Elections Faked news Politics

Democrat Operatives Running Phony PR Campaigns Disguised As Local News In Swing States

Is it a real news site -- or is it propaganda in disguise instead
Democrat operatives have set up websites disguised as innocent local news to disseminate leftist propaganda and boost blue candidates in swing states ahead of the 2022 midterm elections.

As of October, Local Report Inc., an organization formed just last year, created more than 50 websites masquerading as online news media outlets to influence “local” coverage of key races and issues.

A closer look by Axios found that these sites are also associated with and sometimes even manned by writers from The American Independent, a progressive media group founded by the same Democrat operative, David Brock, who created the leftist propaganda machine Media Matters for America.

For those who remember,  Media Matters for America trained a large group of individuals to troll and disrupt conservative websites during the runup to the 2016 presidential elections, and David Brock was behind it — TPR

The websites target voters in swing states such as Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin with stories that look like news but are actually designed to boost Democrats’ midterm priorities.

That includes amplifying pro-abortion candidates and their unpopular baby-killing agenda, celebrating Democrats’ embrace of the crisis-plagued Biden Administration, and penning hit pieces that target Republican candidates in tight races.

In some cases, Local Report’s websites went so far as to copy the work of other legitimate news organizations and were still rewarded with the attention of Democrats such as Stacey Abrams.

In fact, Axios reports that “Local Report stories have popped up in communications from the Democrat Parties of Georgia and Michigan, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Michigan’s Democratic secretary of state and independent political groups such as Color of Change and the Democratic Coalition.”
By manufacturing “news” websites to influence voters, Local Report joins the efforts of other Democrat propaganda groups including the George Soros-linked Courier Newsroom, which prides itself on disguising leftist narratives as local news. The supervisor tasked with overseeing the launch of Courier admitted in a 2020 interview with Vice that “it’s more effective to create ‘news content’ than to simply run ads for Democratic causes.” 

Seeing as Democrats’ top issues such as abortion and climate change aren’t faring well with voters, who are more concerned about inflation, economic recession, and rising crime, it’s no surprise that they feel the need to hide their shady campaigning behind inconspicuous sites.

Axios calls these actions a “ploy.” Contrast that characterization with a report from Politico, which called GOP efforts to restore the balance in news in the 2018 election cycle “fake” news. Sham fact-checking website Snopes and Harvard’s media arm Nieman Lab used similar framing in the 2020 election cycle when it smeared Republicans for entering the world of media and said their presence was just going to “exacerbate polarization.”

The press is certainly not unfamiliar with harnessing its control of information to influence elections. During the 2020 elections, the corrupt corporate media tried to memory-hole the Hunter Biden laptop bombshell by claiming it was Russian disinformation. Other outlets such as NPR went so far as to pledge not to cover the issue at all. ✪

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Corruption Elections How sick is this? Politics

Biden DOJ Seizes Phones of Two Top Trump Advisors – 40 Subpoenas Issued in Ongoing Harassment Campaign — Surprise, surprise, surprise!

By Cristina Laila   For Gateway Pundit Published September 12, 2022

Biden’s corrupt Justice Department seized phones of two top Trump advisors in the past week.

The Justice Department issued at least 40 subpoenas over the last several days seeking information related to January 6 and Trump’s Save America PAC.

Trump’s top advisors Stephen Miller, Brian Jack and Dan Scavino all received subpoenas.

“Among the recipients of subpoenas from a grand jury sitting in Washington are relatively junior aides from the White House and Mr. Trump’s 2020 campaign. While the subpoenas asked for information concerning the Save America PAC, they also sought communications with several pro-Trump lawyers — like Kenneth Chesebro — who helped devise the electors plan.” – The New York Times reported last week.

According to a new report from The Times, Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman had their phones seized by the DOJ.

The New York Times reported:

The Justice Department has issued about 40 subpoenas over the past week seeking information about the actions of former President Donald J. Trump and his associates related to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, according to people familiar with the situation.

Two top Trump advisers, Boris Epshteyn and Mike Roman, had their phones seized as evidence, those people said.

Among those the department has contacted since Wednesday are people who are close to the former president and have played significant roles in his post-White House life.

Those receiving the subpoenas included Dan Scavino, Mr. Trump’s former social media director who rose from working at a Trump-owned golf course to one of his most loyal aides and has remained an adviser after Mr. Trump left office. Stanley Woodward, one of Mr. Scavino’s lawyers, declined to comment.

The Justice Department also executed search warrants to seize electronic devices from people involved in the so-called fake electors effort in swing states, including Mr. Epshteyn, a longtime Trump adviser, and Mr. Roman, a campaign strategist, according to people familiar with the events. Federal agents made the seizures last week, the people said.

Recall, Trump’s election lawyer John Eastman said the FBI searched and seized his phone in June.

FBI ambushes John Eastman outside restaurant

John Eastman was exiting a restaurant with his wife and friend in New Mexico when FBI agents ambushed him and “forced” him to unlock his phone.

The federal agents then took Eastman’s iPhone 12 Pro.

https://twitter.com/ColumbiaBugle/status/1541587201208852480?s=20&t=5-WG9uwtrhQs-Ltu5eBHcg

Sadly, no one should be surprised at the desperation being exhibited by the Xiden regime’s handlers trying to keep Trump off the 2024 ticket.

And notice how they keep leaking these stories to the NYT?

Coincidence? I think not.

 

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Corruption Economy Leftist Virtue(!) Stupid things people say or do.

Follow Up: California Extends ‘Flex Alert,’ Warns Drivers Not to Charge Electric Cars

BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA - FEBRUARY 16: Traffic moves along Interstate 80 on February 16, 2022 in Berkeley, California. The Biden administration is finalizing a waiver that will allow the State of California to resume setting its own vehicle emissions standards three years after the Trump administration rolled back a waiver that was decades old. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
By Jack Phillips for The Epoch Times
How funny is this? CA Mandates use of EVs, but can’t get enough electricity for their current demand. –TPR

Authorities in California extended a “Flex Alert” telling residents to conserve energy, including not charging their electric vehicles, on Sunday afternoon and evening.

The alert has been in effect for several days in the midst of a heat wave that is slated to last through Labor Day.

The California Independent System Operator, the manager of the state’s power grid, issued the statewide Flex Alert from 4 to 9 p.m. Residents are urged to set their thermostats to 78 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, avoid using major appliances, avoid charging electric vehicles, and turning off unnecessary lights.

“Additional Flex Alerts will likely be called as heat will only intensify through Tuesday, with little relief from triple-digit temperatures seen over the next several days,” the operator wrote. “Daytime high temperatures are forecast at 10-20 degrees above normal in much of the state through the Labor Day weekend and into next week, and record-breaking heat is projected in some parts of California.”

Elliot Mainzer, Cal ISO president, told local media this weekend that Sept. 1 saw the “highest demand for power” since September 2017 in California, adding that it’s “a dress rehearsal for what’s going to be much more significantly stressed conditions here as we get into the heart of the weekend.”

The National Weather Service says 100-degree temperatures are currently hitting Los Angeles, the state’s most populated city, on Sunday. Sacramento and other areas in the Central Valley, meanwhile, are forecast to hit 113 degrees F on Monday and Tuesday. San Jose, another heavily populated city, will see temperatures over 100 F on Monday and Tuesday.

In recent years, the California grid operator has issued flex alerts and made similar statements calling on residents to hold off on charging electric cars.

The operator in mid-July 2021 posted a Twitter message that Californians between 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. should not charge their electric vehicles and other devices.

Electric Vehicle Mandate

Cal ISO issued Flex Alert targeting electric vehicles last week. The move prompted some to criticize a regulation that was passed recently by the California Air Resources Board to phase out the sale of new gas-powered vehicles by 2035 in favor of electric vehicles and some plug-in hybrids. The rule was backed by Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom, who hailed the vote.

Some automotive groups say the new statewide mandates will be very challenging to meet. Other critics noted the recent issuance of Flex Alerts suggests a transition to electric vehicles is not feasible.

Several unnamed California drivers who were interviewed by KTLA-TV questioned the 2035 mandate amid the continuous days of Flex Alerts.

“If we can’t do these things today, how are we going to do when everything needs to be electric?” one driver asked last week.
“Unless you have a home charger it’s an absolute disaster,” an electric vehicle owner, named Rebecca, told the station.

_______________________________________________________

Running out of water, running out of electricity. California is on its way to becoming Utopia.

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Biden Pandemic Leftist Virtue(!) Politics Progressive Racism

Let’s look at Joe’s accomplishments. Yeah right.

President Joe Biden criticizes state legislatures for passing election reforms in a speech July 13, 2021, at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia. (Photo: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Joey gave a speech attacking over 70 million Americans. Let’s look at his accomplishments. Snicker snicker snort snort. So let’s look at the great things he’s done since January 20th, 2021.

First day he put thousands of Americans out of work with his shut down of the pipeline, fracking and drilling on federal land. Those jobs were good paying and most were union. Joe bag of donuts.,000

Price of gas quickly doubled, open borders, defeat and retreat in Afghanistan, Inflation, three vaccines but over 600,000 deaths, and the Russia/ Ukraine war.

Did I mention higher crime rates, out of control spending, higher cost of living, and a DOJ going after American citizens and a former President.

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Education Leftist Virtue(!) Stupid things people say or do.

More Hate from the Progressives. Religious bigotry and hate.

Greenwich, Connecticut – Jeremy Boland, Assistant Principal of Cos Cob Elementary School admitted he discriminates against hiring Catholics. Project Veritas.

Back in the early 70’s I experienced my first example of Religious bigotry. It was working in the steel mill at the time. I was paired up with a guy we’ll call Frank All week he would barely acknowledge me and the conversations were one or two words from him. By the fourth day I lost it and asked him what was his problem? I was Catholic and he was Orange Irish.

Today we still have folks like Frank. Only difference was that Frank was a Republican. Today that hate comes from the left. Project Veritas

caught one of those ass holes.

Greenwich CT Assistant Principal’s Hiring Discrimination Ensures ‘Subtle’ Child Indoctrination; ‘You Don’t Hire’ Catholics Because They Are More ‘Conservative’ … ‘Progressive Teachers’ Are ‘Savvy About Delivering a Democratic Message’

Via Project Veritas:

On this matter, Boland affirms that any teacher who refuses to acknowledge a child’s gender preferences has no place in his Elementary School.

“So, if you have someone [teacher] who is hardcore religious or hardcore conservative, they will probably say something detrimental to the effect, ‘Well, I don’t think kids have enough knowledge to make that decision [gender identity] at this age,’” Boland said.

“You’re out. You’re done,” he concluded.

The Elementary School administrator goes on to say that he discriminates against older individuals as well.

Now his hatred comes across politically, and older folks, but in my experience I’ve found WASP’S more conservative as a group.

 

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Corruption Leftist Virtue(!) Polls Privacy

Report Critical of Group Managing Voter Rolls in 33 States & DC

A voter fills out his ballot in Palos Hills, Illinois, on primary day June 28, 2022. (Cara Ding/The Epoch Times)
By Beth Brelje for Epoch Times Aug. 21, 2022 Updated: Aug. 23, 2022

Personal information of 56 million voters shared

Your voter registration shouldn’t be used by another person to cast a ballot.

When someone moves or dies, their name should be removed from the registered voters’ roll so it can’t be used to vote. The National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) of 1993 requires states to make a reasonable effort to remove ineligible people from voter rolls.

It’s usually handled at the county or state level, but today, 33 states and the District of Columbia, are outsourcing parts of this task to the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

According to a report by Verity Vote, ERIC, which claims that it’s nonpartisan, is actually connected to left-leaning backers and engages in a host of troubling practices that could sway elections across the nation.

Verity Vote is a group of citizen volunteers with professional data research and investigation backgrounds who examine election integrity throughout the country.

New Jersey and Massachusetts joined ERIC in August. The other ERIC member states are Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin, plus Washington, D.C.

In a July 13 letter, Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin gave notice that the state was officially dropping its ERIC membership. This followed a January statement in which Ardoin announced that Louisiana was suspending participation in the voter registration agreement “effective immediately,” citing concerns about questionable funding sources and the possibility of partisan actors having access to ERIC data for political purposes, potentially undermining voter confidence.

The Epoch Times has reached out to ERIC and a connected organization, the Center for Election Innovation and Research (CEIR), for comment. Neither of the nonprofit organizations responded.

Partisan Leanings

David Becker is CEIR’s director and founder. He also founded and is still a board member of ERIC. Becker didn’t respond to a request for comment.

According to its website, “CEIR’s mission is to restore trust in the American election system and promote election procedures that encourage participation and ensure election integrity and security.”

But CEIR leans to the left with its assertion dismissing the election integrity concerns of many Republicans over the 2020 election, saying: “The 2020 general election was the most secure in American history.”

It calls claims that the 2020 election was fraudulent “The Big Lie,” and the CEIR website states that the majority of the GOP and Trump supporters see conspiracies—some of which U.S. media outlets had previously raised concerns about—assume the worst about election integrity, and are pushing harmful, unnecessary new election laws.

Before forming ERIC and CEIR, Becker was a senior staff attorney at the left-leaning People for the American Way and director of election initiatives at Pew Charitable Trusts, according to Influence Watch.

In 2020, CEIR received nearly $70 million from the left-leaning Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and distributed $64 million in grants to fund “urgent voter education assistance” in 23 different states, with the largest amounts going to Pennsylvania ($13.2 million) and Michigan ($11.9 million).

On its tax-exempt 990 form, ERIC describes itself as working to improve the accuracy of U.S. voter rolls by providing member states with information on voter registration records that are inaccurate because of voters moving or dying. ERIC provides lists of possible ineligible voters, then states may contact them by mail to verify the information, then adjust the voter rolls.

Verity Vote found that states are slightly better at this than ERIC. While non-ERIC states removed an average of 2.3 percent from voter rolls, ERIC states removed an average of 1.9 percent.

Using the data that states provide, ERIC also runs a get-out-the-vote operation, giving lists of eligible but unregistered (EBU) residents to states a minimum of every 425 days. As per the ERIC agreement, states must contact every person on the list and inform them how to register to vote.

This results in a significant swelling of voter rolls. The report shows EBU additions consistently exceed suggested removals—by 10 times.

Sharing Private information

Member states give ERIC more than voter registration records. By agreement, they also hand over all records of individuals who went to the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) and other places where people are given a chance to register to vote.

In Pennsylvania, that includes state offices that provide public assistance or services to people with disabilities, armed forces recruitment centers, area agencies on aging, county mental health/mental retardation offices, centers for independent living, and the county clerk of court. It’s similar in other states.

In the right hands, personal information gleaned from these agencies could predict which political party a person may belong to.

Since voter registration is offered in these places, all personal information is shared with ERIC, even if the individual didn’t register to vote, Verity Vote found.

“This appears to violate federal law,” the report reads. “The NVRA prohibits states from sharing any records that relate to a declination to register to vote, or to the identity of a voter registration agency through which any particular voter is registered.”

ERIC’s website states that it has handled 56 million voters.

Although ERIC is required to protect personally identifiable information, the report documents how ERIC shares the data with CEIR.

“CEIR is creating the lists of voters who should be targeted for voter registration efforts and laundering the lists back through ERIC for distribution to the states,” the report reads.

In September 2021, Pennsylvania Republican lawmakers investigating the 2020 election subpoenaed the Department of State, requesting detailed voter lists including name, date of birth, driver’s license number, last four digits of Social Security number, address, and, date of last voting activity.

The Democratic governor, state lawmakers, and secretary of state went to court to block access, citing the protection of voters’ personal information.

In court papers, the Department of State stated that it couldn’t provide the information to investigators because “bad actors who gain access to this information would have all the data they need to control the voters’ registrations, and even their votes.”

Verity Vote noted in its report that the Department of State “was comfortable sharing data about voters and citizens who have chosen not to register to vote with Zuckerberg funded CEIR but went to court to keep that data from the Pennsylvania Senate.”

Targeted Communication

Imagine the power to text targeted voters on election day. CEIR is launching a free service for election officials called REVERE, aimed at combating disinformation in real time, according to the report.

It’s unclear who gets to define what constitutes disinformation.

In a communication from Becker to an official in Georgia, Becker describes REVERE’s power.

“REVERE will enable states to draw on phone numbers and email addresses contained in the voter file, and send texts, emails, and even voicemails to any set of voters (a particular precinct or county, older voters, etc.) rapidly. This will allow states to proactively communicate with voters about how to vote effectively (deadlines, early voting, etc.), send links to official websites (drop box and early voting locations), and rapidly respond to disinformation,” he wrote.

In its report, Verity Vote asks if it’s proper to entangle the private motivations of CEIR and ERIC with the governmental role to execute elections, placing the power to judge what’s disinformation—and whom to distribute it to—in the hands of this public/private partnership.

 

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Corruption Crime Elections

Follow-up: The Curious Case of Jinhua Konnech Inc. and YU Jianwei (于建伟)

How free is an election that uses software written in Wuhan, China?

In the first article, I explained how Konnech Inc., a U.S. software company based out of East Lansing, Michigan, helps manage the poll workers, poll locations, campaigns, assets, mail-in ballots, and supplies necessary to run elections in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

Although, the American technology company is used by the U.S. Department of Defense and ‘thousands of election offices across North America’, Konnech Inc., which was founded in 2002, previously built a ‘communication platform’ called ChineseBrief.com for the Confucius Institute.

Furthermore, many of the company’s software engineers and employees graduated from Chinese universities such as Zhejiang University, Nanjing University, University of Science and Technology of China, Beijing Language and Culture University, China Agricultural University, and HuaZhong University of Science and Technology.

For instance, Eugene Yu, the CEO of Konnech Inc., graduated from Zhejiang University in Zhejiang, China, with a bachelors degree in 1982 before receiving his MBA from Wake Forest University in 1988.

Moreover, in Queensland, Australia’s 2020 elections, “count reporting problems on election night” were partly the result of “a new computer system not being tested as planned because ‘coding resources’ were locked down in Wuhan”, according to the digital news company InQueensland.

In fact, these Wuhan coding resources led to four members of the Queensland Parliament — MP Crandon, MP Lister, MP Simpson, and MP Robinson — asking the Queensland Premier on July 15, 2020, why Konnech was given the contract to produce the software administering Queensland’s elections using “China based coders”?

MP Robinson questioned the Premier, “Can the Premier guarantee that Konnech, Inc. does not have a connection to the Chinese Communist Party through its China based subsidiary Jinhua Konnech Inc.?”

And that is where today’s story begins.

Jinhua Konnech Inc.

Consider that a patent application was filed in China for a system of “network voting of absent electorates” by Jinhua Konnech Inc. on February 4, 2015, under two inventors named Chen Wei (陈伟) and Shao Guojun (邵国君).

The rights of that patent were then transferred on October 7, 2015, from Jinhua Konnech Inc. to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. (金华鸿正科技有限公司), a Chinese election technology company also founded in 2015.

https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/CN-104618378-A
https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/CN-104618378-A

Rather impressively, Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. is a software provider for the National People’s Congress (NPC) of the People’s Republic of China.

Hongzheng Technology builds hardware and software including mobile applications for more than 400 NPC clients in more than 20 provinces across China.

Hongzheng Technology is also partnered with Lenovo, Huawei, China Telecom, China Unicom, and China Mobile and has branch offices in Hangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanjing, Wuhan among other places, according to the company’s website.

http://hongzhengtech.cn
Source: Apple App Store

 

Here are some of Hongzheng Technology’s election products:

http://www.hongzhengtech.cn/product/176.html
http://www.hongzhengtech.cn/product/54.html
http://www.hongzhengtech.cn/product/58.html
http://www.hongzhengtech.cn/product/59.html
http://www.hongzhengtech.cn/product/326.html

Interestingly, Hongzeng Tech. was only established on April 13, 2015 which is relatively recent for such a successful company.

The company started with seven investors, two of which that had the last name Yu, which should be familiar to you at this point in the story.

In China, first names and last names are reversed so Yu Lin (于林) would own 99.4% of the company and Yu Jun (于君) along with five other investors would each receive 0.1% of Hongzeng Tech.

Shao Guojun (邵国君), the aforementioned Chinese inventor listed on the Jinhua Konnech Inc. patent, which was transferred to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd., was also one of the initial investors 0.1% of the company.

The total equity was distributed as follows:

  • He Qiong (何琼) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Jiang Zhaoling (江照灵) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Shao Guojun (邵国君) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Tang Ruixin (汤瑞新) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Yu Jun (于君) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Zhao Xiangkun (赵祥坤) Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%
  • Yu Lin (于林) Contribution: 497; Percentage: 99.4%

Incredibly, once upon a time, on April 18, 2012, Shao Guojun (邵国君) and Yu Jun (于君) co-applied for a U.S. patent with none other than Konnech Inc. and Eugene Yu.

co-applied for a U.S. patent with none other than Konnech Inc. and Eugene Yu.

https://portal.unifiedpatents.com/patents/patent/US-20130104090-A1

Meaning Shao Guojun (邵国君) not only turns up on a patent with Eugene Yu and Konnech Inc. in the United States, but his name also appears on a Chinese voting technology patent transferred from Jinhua Konnech Inc. to Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd in 2015.

A company which Shao Guojun (邵国君) is a part owner of and a company that is actively building software technology for the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China and openly partnered with Lenovo, Huawei, and numerous Chinese government-owned telecom giants.

A deeper dive into the internet archives on Eugene Yu further reveals that he was once a financial advisor at Prudential Securities Inc. after graduating from Wake Forest University.

https://archive.ph/MDNFc.

To better understand Eugene Yu, an archived 2005 magazine produced by the China Association for Science and Technology in the United States and the American Zhu Kezhen Educational Foundation reveals that Yu was an officer of the American Zhu Kezhen Education Foundation in 2000 and 2001, a foundation which stated mission is to bridge Zhejiang University with American universities.

Most importantly, you will notice that the 2005 magazine list Eugene Yu followed by a Chinese name, Yu Jianwei (于建伟).

https://archive.ph/OFVCf.
Web Cached Magazine

That same magazine with a cover page that says, “Overseas Scholars” provides this paragraph (translated via Google) on Yu Jianwei validating that he is none other than Konnech Inc’s CEO Eugene Yu:

“During this period, I was honored to have Wang Feiyue, Zhu Cheng, Yu Luping (Chemistry 82) and Yang Fang to join the senior Yu Jianwei (Thermophysics 81). Huge help. Under the auspices of Yu Xin (Biochemical 82) and President of Zhejiang University Pan Yunhe, Jianwei holds an MBA degree.

He was the financial advisor of Prudential Company, which seriously held the annual department of Zhu Kezhen’s famous scholar with the support of the famous American. He gave us a lecture, Every year, I invite several academic masters to talk about the same leading into many professional financial systems and investment approaches.

He later studied the frontier progress in the field, which made a huge frontier progress in the academic improvement of Zhejiang University, which made a huge contribution to the academic improvement of Zhejiang University, construction and installation of communications equipment.”

To understand the timeline of how all of these events coincide, I must now introduce you to the Substack article that I stumbled across on Thursday evening that led me to these patents, Shao Guojun (邵国君), and Yu Jianwei (于建伟).

diggersleuth’s Newsletter
A dive into a voter software company
Konnech Inc. was incorporated in 2002 in Michigan by Eugene Yu. In 2005, Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China with $130,000 USD funds by Yu Jianwei, a person who was a “foreign national person” to China. Is Eugene the Americanized name of Jianwei…

Read more

4 days ago · 1 like · 2 comments · diggersleuth

This next segment will be a timeline featured directly from the author’s excellent analysis that further explains all of these connections.

Timeline

(all domains noted below were registered to Konnech)
  • 2002-03-20 Konnech Inc. Incorporated in Michigan ID Number: 800599006. Eugene Yu holds all officer titles: President, Treasurer, Secretary, and Director of Konnech, Inc. (2021 is the most recent Annual Report with officers listed)3
  • 2002-03-30 konnech.com domain created
  • 2005-11-29 Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China with $130,000 USD funds. Principal of the company is Yu Jianwei (于建伟), a foreign natural person (ie, a US resident).4
  • 2006-01-16 bestbrief.com domain created
  • 2006-01-16 schoolbrief.com domain created
  • 2009-01-08 pollchief.com domain created (Election management software, Election services, Poll worker training)
  • 2009-03-25 Konnech filed for PollChief trademark. Serial Number 77698702, Registration Number 39513965
  • 2010-11-12 abvote.com domain created
  • 2011-04-26 Trademark registered for PollChief
  • 2011-09-07 Konnech filed for ABVote trademark. Serial Number 85416420, Registration Number 43845776
  • 2012-04-18 US Patent application US-20130104090-A1 “Device and method for selection of options by motion gestures“.7 8
    Inventors:

    Eugene Yu (Okemos, MI)

    Jun Yu (Zhejiang)

    Guojun Shao (Jinhua) (See 2015-04-13 and 2015-10-07)

  • 2012-09-05 ipetitioner.com domain created (Signature Verification Software)
  • 2012-09-26 plocation.com domain created
  • 2012-10-12 Konnech filed for iPetitioner trademark. Serial Number 85752482, Registration Number 43910139
  • 2013-04-25 US Patent granted “Device and method for selection of options by motion gestures”. 10 11
  • 2013-08-13 Trademark registered for ABVote
  • 2013-08-27 Trademark registered for iPetitioner
  • 2014-2015 Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. engaged in “Research and Development of Network Election Backend Server Subsystem”.12 [Translated via Google]
  • 2014-06-06 votedge.com domain created (a Konnech shake to vote app)
  • 2015-04-13 Jinhua Hongzheng Technology Co., Ltd. established13
    Initial Investors
    He Qiong 何琼 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Jiang Zhaoling 江照灵 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Shao Guojun 邵国君 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Tang Ruixin 汤瑞新 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Yu Jun 于君 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Zhao Xiangkun 赵祥坤 Contribution: 0.5; Percentage: 0.1%

    Yu Lin 于林 Contribution: 497; Percentage: 99.4%

  • 2015-07-31 hongzhengtech.cn domain created14
  • 2015-10-07 Transfer of patent application right for a Chinese Patent (CN-104618378-A & CN-104618378-B). System and data processing method for network voting of absent electorates. Rights transferred from JINHUA KONNECH, INC., TO JINHUA HONGZHENG TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.15

    Inventors:

    Chen Wei 陈伟

    Shao Guojun 邵国君

2015-10-07 Transfer of patent application right for a Chinese Patent (CN-104618378-A & CN-104618378-B). System and data processing method for network voting of absent electorates.

For starters, you will notice that Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co., Ltd. (金华宇联网络科技有限公司) was established in Jinhua City, Zhejiang Province, China on November 29, 2005 by Yu Jianwei (于建伟), a “foreign natural person” to China.

Furthermore, utilizing Chinese search engines, you will find business registrations claiming that Jinhua Yulian Network Technology Co. is the “China R&D subsidiary of Konnech Inc.”

Nothing to see here folks. Move along.

Categories
Back Door Power Grab Elections Politics

U.S. Election Software Company Previously Built Confucius Institute ‘Communication Platform’

Created communications platform for the CCP befroe creating election software.

Konnech Inc., an American election technology company founded in 2002 based in Okemos outside of East Lansing, Michigan, previously built ChineseBrief.com, a ‘unique interactive communication platform and Chinese language learning tool’ for the Confucius Institute, according to the company’s Facebook page and an archived Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute webpage.

According to Konnech’s website, the company’s ‘PollChief’ software products, which include the ‘Election Worker Management System’, ‘Asset Management System’, and the ‘MyBallot Tracking System’ are used by “thousands of Election Offices across North America”.

Konnech’s software helps manage the poll workers, polling locations, campaigns, assets, mail-in ballots, and supplies necessary to run elections in the United States, Canada, and Australia.

In December 2006, the company posted on their Facebook page, “… Confucius Institute at Michigan State University has reached an agreement with Konnech, Inc. to build ChineseBrief.com—a unique interactive communication platform and Chinese language learning tool.”

Source: Konnech’s Facebook (https://archive.ph/6s5HU)

In February 2007, an archived webpage of the Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute announced, “The Confucius Institute recently signed an agreement with the Okemos, MI based company Konnech to offer daily 3-5 minute Mandarin lessons delivered to your phone. The phonecasts are sent based on a schedule setup by the user with an on-line interface. The service will be initially free for a limited time. Registration for the service will be available soon.”

Source: Michigan State University’s Confucius Institute
A May 19, 2020, article published at InQueensland explained that the Queensland Department of Housing and Public Works conceded it had been a “difficult few years” after the “failure of the election reporting system” — starting with the former commissioner’s “decision to acquire the Konnech system”.

The Queensland digital news company stated, “count reporting problems on election night” were partly the result of “a new computer system not being tested as planned because “coding resources” were locked down in Wuhan”.

Queensland Chief Digital Officer Chris Fechner said: “The delivery of the project was further impacted in the final development and bug fixing stages during January and February 2020, as most of the coding resources were based in Wuhan China and were negatively impacted by the COVID-19 lock-down”.

On July 15, 2020 according to records of the proceedings in Queensland Parliament, MP Fiona Simpson asked the Queensland Premier why, “foreign owned company Konnech was given an important contract to produce the software to administer Queensland’s elections using China based coders over every Queensland coding firm?”

At least three other Members of Parliament — Mr. Lister, Mr. Crandon, and Dr. Robinson — asked similar questions about Konnech, according to Queensland Parliament records.

 

Source: Queensland Parliament

According to his Linkedin, Eugene Yu, the CEO of Konnech Inc., graduated from Zhejiang University in Zhejiang, China, with a bachelors degree in 1982 and from Wake Forest University with an MBA in 1988. He is a native Chinese and English speaker.

Eugene Yu at the 2014 National Association of Secretaries of State Conference Source: Linkedin
Konnech CEO Eugene Yu speaks at the Lansing Economic Area Partnership organized by the Michigan State University Foundation in July 2022. Source: Linkedin

An October 26, 2018 article written in The West Australian entitled ‘Hacking over new software management system at Queensland’s Electoral Commission’ says: “Yu has acknowledged that he uses a team of software developers in China for his election-related projects, including the new system expected to be operational in Queensland for the March 2020 local government poll.”

Source: The West Australian

George Giddings, who worked for Konnech Inc. in 2007, states on his Linkedin page that his experience from the company consisted of, “Was in charge of the day to day business. Driving to detriot to help out the clients. Increase sales and traffic. Talk to the engineers in china during the night”, according to his Linkedin page.

Source: https://www.linkedin.com/in/george-giddings-8266067b/

Konnech Software Engineer, Wang Xiang, graduated from China’s Nanjing University with a bachelors degree in Computer Science in 2012. He speaks English and Chinese and went on to get his M.S. in Computer Science at the University of New Mexico where he managed the website of the ‘Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) of the University of New Mexico’, according to his Linkedin.

The CSSA is the official organization for overseas Chinese students and scholars registered in most colleges, universities, and institutions outside of the People’s Republic of China.

Journalists and human rights groups have referred to the CSSA as government-organized non-governmental organizations used to surveil and report on Chinese students abroad.

In a 2017 New York Times article, chapters of CSSA were described as having “worked in tandem with Beijing to promote a pro-Chinese agenda and tamp down anti-Chinese speech on Western campuses.”

Since The Confucius Institute  is linked to the CCP, why the %^@*! was Konnech ever allowed to write voting software for ANY country?

Oh, that’s right. Follow the Yuans……