YOUR CALL! IS THE BILLIONAIRE CLASS AN EVEN GREATER THREAT TO AMERICA THAN THE DEMOCRAT PARTY. BUT HOW CAN YOU SEPARATE THE TWO???
Peter Schweizer, author of “Secret Empires: How the American Political Class Hides Corruption and Enriches Family and Friends,”
For George Soros it was about control to gain influence, access, and special treatment. After the election Biden formed a transition team that staffed itself with people connected to Soros.
But his money also played a part. Soros spent over $70 million on activities that backed Biden's candidacy. Soros bought frequent access to Obama. That access returned under Biden. Biden's Kampf
Meet the Texas Billionaire Quietly Becoming the New George Soros
John Arnold has spent nearly $50 million on progressive criminal justice reforms
A Texas billionaire is on track to replace George Soros as the largest donor in the fight to remake America's criminal justice system.
Former Enron executive John Arnold has poured more than $46 million into criminal justice efforts since 2019, exceeding the $40 million that Soros has spent over the past decade to elect liberal prosecutors across the country. Arnold's efforts are largely focused on his Public Safety Assessment program, a free algorithm that recommends whether judges should grant bail. Arnold tapped Democratic staffers and Obama administration officials to lead the program, which has a history of recommending bail for repeat offenders.
Arnold's bail tool uses an algorithm to predict the likelihood that a defendant will commit crimes while out on bail from jail and whether the defendant will show up to court if released. If the suspect scores low enough, the tool will recommend that the judge grant bail.
But the tool has a poor track record. In 2017, a New Jersey judge freed a man, Jules Black, who was facing a felony gun charge, based on a favorable score from Arnold's Public Safety Assessment tool. A week later, Black was arrested for the murder of Christian Rogers, whom he shot 22 times.
In 2022, Arnold's tool recommended that a New Mexico judge release Muhammad Syed, who was facing two first-degree murder charges. Though Syed was accused of lying in wait to "hunt" his victims with a scoped AK-47, the tool assessed Syed's risk of committing additional criminal activity on a score of two out of six and his failure to appear a three out of six. The judge rejected the Arnold tool's recommendation.
"The decision to detain defendants before a jury trial should be based on their risk to communities and risk of flight, not on their ability to pay a cash bail," an Arnold Ventures spokesman told the Washington Free Beacon. "In too many instances, people who commit violent crimes can buy their way out of jail, while poor, nonviolent defendants remain incarcerated."
The Public Safety Assessment tool is free to use, a major reason it has been widely employed across the country since its public release in 2018. Five states and 59 counties use the program as of this writing. It is a "non-binding risk assessment tool that courts can choose to use as just one part of a broader decision-making process," according to the Arnold Ventures spokesman.
Arnold tapped Virginia Bersch, who was the chief of policy, research, and training at the Maryland Governor's Office of Crime Control & Prevention under former Democratic governor Martin O'Malley, to lead the Public Safety Assessment tool's rollout. Arnold Ventures vice president Juliene James, who oversees Arnold's criminal justice reform efforts, served four years in the Obama Justice Department as a senior policy adviser.
Bersch and James are among the several liberal government staffers whom Arnold has hired to help push his criminal justice reform policies, according to an American Accountability Foundation report.
Arnold in 2019 contributed $39 million to support bail reform efforts, according to Fox News. Much of that money went to New York groups that supported former governor Andrew Cuomo's (D.) bail reform law, which eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanor and nonviolent felony cases. Arnold in 2022 pledged an additional $7.4 million to "rigorously study prosecutor office policies" with the aim of making the criminal justice system "more racially just and equitable."
The full extent of Arnold's contributions to support criminal justice reform efforts is unclear. Unlike most private foundations—which are required to publicly report their finances—Arnold Ventures is an LLC and as such is not required to disclose information about its finances.
Until recently, Arnold Ventures on its website disclosed detailed information about the grants it provides.
An Arnold Ventures spokesman told the Free Beacon the grant database was taken offline as part of efforts to improve the organization's website "as a resource for grantees, prospective grantees, and other website visitors."
Published under: #DefundThePolice , bail reform , Crime , Criminal Justice Reform , Democratic Donors , George Soros
Joe Biden’s DOJ to Fight D.C.’s Violent Crime Surge in Election Year
President Joe Biden’s Department of Justice (DOJ) launched an initiative on Friday to curb the soaring crime rates in the Democrat-controlled city of Washington, DC, just as the 2024 presidential election cycle swings into focus.
The timing of the initiative suggests the Biden administration recognizes soaring crime as a political vulnerability for the Democrat party.
Crime in the Democrat-controlled city spiked in 2023, according to police department data:
- Homicides: Up 35 percent
- Robberies: Up 67 percent
- Violent Crime: Up 39 percent
- Motor Vehicle Theft: Up 82 percent
In response, Biden’s DOJ will allocate additional federal prosecutors, agents, analysts, and other resources to tamp down the crime, Attorney General Merrick Garland announced in a press release Friday. “This surge in law enforcement resources will build on the Department’s efforts to target the individuals and organizations that are driving violent crime in the nation’s capital,” he said.
Residents in the District blame Biden-appointed U.S. attorney Matthew Graves for the crime surge. Graves refused to prosecute 67 percent of those arrested who would have been put on trial in the D.C. Superior Court, according to 2022 District statistics. In 2023, he did not prosecute 56 percent of those arrested.
Graves’ track record in court prosecuting cases before the D.C. Court of Appeals is not much better, he admitted in October, although he blamed the court with a majority of Democrat-appointed justices for the lack of convictions. The D.C. Court of Appeals is made up of nine justices appointed by Democrat presidents and five appointed by Republican presidents. President Joe Biden appointed three.
“We have been surgically targeting and prosecuting those driving violence within our community,” Graves said Friday. “The surge of resources to these efforts will allow us to continue to expand on these efforts and to take even more drivers of violence off our streets.”
Much of the crime is carried out by juveniles. For instance, 65 percent of those arrested for carjacking are juveniles, according to police data. In the first ten months of 2023, 760 carjackings occurred.
Stock photo via Getty
Graves said in August that his office would crack down on some crimes committed by juveniles, but his office generally does not prosecute them. Because the D.C. juvenile court maintains jurisdiction over delinquent acts, prosecutors in juvenile court must file a petition to transfer juveniles to criminal court for prosecution as adults. The U.S. Attorney’s Office then prosecutes the juveniles in the adult system from a statutory list of serious crimes. Graves has the first right of refusal to accept the petitioned case.
Whether Democrat-appointed Graves or judges are responsible for the District’s soft-on-crime position, former President Donald Trump vowed to restore law and order if reelected. Sharing a Breitbart News exclusive in October titled “D.C. Residents Fear Crime Surge Turning Area into U.S. War Zone,” the former president called the town run by Democrats a “dirty, crime ridden death trap,” pledging that reforms will be a part of his reelection platform.
RELATED — Rep. Cuellar on D.C. Carjacking: ‘Young Punks with Guns’ Stole My Car, Phone, and Sushi
Wendell Husebo is a political reporter with Breitbart News and a former GOP War Room Analyst. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality. Follow Wendell on “X” @WendellHusebø or on Truth Social @WendellHusebo.
At Least 18 Shot in Chicago During First Two Days of Christmas Weekend
At least 18 people were shot, two of them fatally, during the first two days of the Christmas weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chicago.
The weekend’s first shooting fatality occurred at 12:44 p.m. Saturday when a 28-year-old man was shot “in the 2400 block of West 55th Street” while on the sidewalk, CBS News reported. The shots were fired by someone inside a vehicle.
The 28-year-old was struck in the head and transported to a hospital, where he died.
ABC 7 / Chicago Sun-Times noted that the weekend’s second shooting fatality occurred at 9:40 p.m. Saturday, when a 24-year-old man was shot in the backyard of a residence “in the 8700 block of South Cregier Avenue.”
Two men approached the 24-year-old and opened fire, striking him multiple times. He died at the scene.
Breitbart News noted that a concealed carry permit holder foiled an alleged armed robbery Saturday afternoon in Chicago, shooting and killing one of the suspected robbers, according to reports.
CWB Chicago reported that the incident occurred just prior to 5:00 p.m. “in an alley behind the 1700 block of West Cortez,” and that one of the alleged robbers was fatally wounded. The deceased is a 19-year-old man who was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest and pronounced dead upon arrival.
The concealed carry permit holder is a 68-year-old man.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
Chicago: 30-Year-Old Woman Shot in Head While Driving Day After Christmas
A 30-year-old woman was shot in the head and killed while driving the day after Christmas in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chicago.
ABC 7 reported that police received reports of a vehicle crash “in the 4800-block of West Thomas Street” around 8:44 p.m. Tuesday. They responded to find a 30-year-old woman with a gunshot wound to the head behind the wheel of a vehicle that had hit two others.
The woman was deceased.
Witnesses reported seeing a man and a woman fleeing the deceased woman’s vehicle after the crash.
Breitbart News noted at least 18 people were shot in Chicago during the first two days of the Christmas weekend alone, and two of those shooting victims succumbed to their wounds.
A homicide database maintained by the Chicago Sun-Times indicates that 580 people were killed in Chicago January 1, 2023, through December 26, 2023.
In other news, a concealed carry permit holder foiled an alleged armed robbery Saturday afternoon in Chicago, shooting and killing one of the suspected robbers, according to reports.
CWB Chicago reported that the incident occurred just prior to 5:00 p.m. “in an alley behind the 1700 block of West Cortez,” and that one of the alleged robbers was fatally wounded. The deceased is a 19-year-old man who was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound to his chest and pronounced dead upon arrival.
The concealed carry permit holder is a 68-year-old man.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
At Least 21 Shot During Weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s Chicago
At least 21 people were shot, four of them fatally, during the weekend in Mayor Brandon Johnson’s (D) Chicago.
CBS News reported that the first of the weekend’s shooting fatalities was discovered at 8:50 p.m. in “the 6000 block of South Laflin Street.” An 18-year-old with a gunshot wound to the head was found in the driver’s seat of a vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene.
Around 10:00 p.m. on Friday, 42-year-old Ismael Yanez was shot in the back of the head while driving his vehicle “in the 4500 block of South Pulaski Road.” Yanez was transported to a hospital, where they pronounced him dead.
A 44-year-old man was shot and fatally wounded during an exchange of gunfire Saturday at 1:17 a.m. He was riding in a car with someone who allegedly opened fire on a 31-year-old concealed carry permit holder. The 31-year-old returned fire and one of his rounds struck the 44-year-old.
The fourth fatal shooting of the weekend was discovered at 9:16 p.m. Saturday, when a 32-year-old man with gunshot wounds to the chest was found inside a vehicle “in the 0-100 block of West Cermak Road.” ABC 7 noted that the 32-year-old was found in the driver’s seat of the vehicle.
The Chicago Sun-Times maintains a database, which shows 555 people were killed in Chicago from January 1, 2023, through December 10, 2023.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in 2010, a speaker at the 2023 Western Conservative Summit, and he holds a Ph.D. in Military History, with a focus on the Vietnam War (brown water navy), U.S. Navy since Inception, the Civil War, and Early Modern Europe. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.
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