NV Dems File Ethics Complaint Against Adam Laxalt for Abusing AG’s Office, Submit FOIA Request for Secret Recording

NV-AG Adam Laxalt

Laxalt reportedly pressured the chairman of the Gaming Control Board to intercede in a lawsuit on behalf of Nevada’s wealthiest casino magnate

The Nevada State Democratic Party filed a complaint today with the Nevada Commission on Ethics requesting an investigation into reports that Attorney General Adam Laxalt used the powers of his office to try to help his largest campaign donor and failed to avoid his own conflicts of interest on the matter.

Laxalt recently sought to pressure the chairman of the Gaming Control Board to intercede in a lawsuit on behalf of Nevada’s wealthiest casino magnate, prompting the regulator to secretly record his conversation with Laxalt and turn over the tape to the FBI. The Gaming Control Board recently confirmed the existence of that recording last week, and the Nevada State Democratic Party’s complaint includes a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for its release in conjunction with the ethics complaint.

“Nevadans have a right to know if Adam Laxalt engaged in unethical behavior at the request of his largest campaign donor,” said Roberta Lange, Chair of the Nevada State Democratic Party. “Adam Laxalt clearly tried to use the powers of his office as Nevada’s chief law enforcement officer to act as a personal attorney for his favorite billionaire. One can only imagine the abuse of power Amoral Adam would engage in as Nevada’s Governor. We’re submitting public records requests for the recording of Attorney General Laxalt’s inappropriate conversation with Nevada’s chief gaming regulator, and we’re asking the Nevada Commission on Ethics to immediately investigate this matter for ethical violations. Voters deserve to know the full extent of Laxalt’s unscrupulous behavior.”

Rep. Titus to NV-AG Laxalt

Given that Nevada’s economy is heavily reliant on tourism, Rep. Dina Titus (NV-CD1) sent an official letter today to Nevada’s Attorney General, Adam Laxalt, imploring that he join with other states’ AGs to oppose and reject the president’s executive edict discriminating against not just Muslims entering our country (for business or vacation) from seven specific middle eastern majority-muslim countries, but an edict that impacts individuals who have lived in our country for years and who have “green cards” identifying them as LEGAL resident aliens.

View this document on Scribd

So far all we’ve heard from Mr. Laxalt is crickets, but for the moment, let’s talk a little bit about Green Card holders.

Muslim GREEN CARD holders, meaning resident LEGAL aliens, who just happen to have gained their “right to life” through the misfortune of being born in certain countries our apprentice president wants to scapegoat, have been prohibited from reentering the country for 90 days if they happened to be traveling. They were detained at airports and prohibited from returning to their homes.

Do you understand what this means?

It means that if they have lived in New Jersey for 20 years with their family and were just unlucky enough to have been traveling for business or just merely on vacation, they are now forbidden to return HOME for 90 days. Will they lose their jobs? Will they lose their homes? Where will they go in the meantime? Will they stay at a hotel? Or will they be residing as homeless folks on some street corner in some other nation?

It also means that if a mother happened to have gone to her father’s funeral abroad at this unlucky time and tried to return home to her children, she was prohibited from doing so by executive fiat. She’s not allowed to do so for 90 days. Who’s taking care of her children? Will she lose her job that helps to put food on the table for her children? Will some state take them away from her for abandonment?

Don’t even try to tell me this is just about the need to conduct proper vetting. These people are GREEN CARD holders. A green card holder is a LEGAL alien. He or she has essentially the same rights as a citizen with respect to residency and employment. They HAVE been properly vetted. These actions against them are 100% ILLEGAL.

But the absurdities with this Executive Edict doesn’t stop with Green Cards.

Already, Doctors coming to our country to perform critical care for U.S. patients have been turned away. People who need critical surgeries that have been scheduled at major critical care hospitals, e.g., Johns Hopkins, Mayo Clinic, etc., are being told they will not be allowed to travel to the U.S. and enter the U.S. for critical surgeries which in some cases will lead to their imminent deaths.

Interpreters who worked closely with our troops in hostile areas, who have already gone through extensive vetting, and whose lives would be in jeopardy in their home country, who have the proper paperwork and visas in hand were being refused.  Luckily, legal personal stepped in to remedy the situation.

The acting U.S. Attorney General has indicated the Justice Dept. will NOT defend the president’s executive order.  But, Sen. Jeff Sessions, the president’s choice for US-AG will be up for a vote shortly and it’s rumored that Mr. Sessions is in lock step with the president.  Given that, you need to realize that if it can be them today, it can be you and me tomorrow! And if that doesn’t scare the hell out of you, you are not paying attention. Those are NOT actions that take place under a Democracy.

Just 7 Weeks ’til the County Caucus

2016 has finally rolled in, which means we’re now seven weeks away from holding caucuses across the state, the first in the west caucuses to select the Democratic candidate for President. Thus, it’s time to identify folks who will serve as Precinct Chairs, Check-in Desk workers, and Same-Day Registration workers.

There are three tiers to the process for selecting our state’s nominee for President. Tier one involves holding Precinct Caucuses throughout our County.  Tier two involves holding a County Convention. And, tier three involves participating in the State Convention:

County Democratic Caucuses:  Saturday, February 20, 2016
County Democratic Convention: Saturday, April, 2, 2016
State Democratic Convention: Fri-Sun, June 3-5, 2016

To participate at the State Democratic Convention, you would need to participate in both the County Caucus AND the County Convention.  To participate and be elected as a delegate to the National Convention, you would need to participate in all three events. (The NV Dems “Delegate Selection Plan” details the full process from Caucus to State Convention.)

What is a caucus?
A caucus is a gathering of neighbors who meet to discuss grassroots politics. Democrats will join with others in their precinct to pledge their support for their favorite presidential candidate and thereby award delegates to the candidates.

What happens at a caucus?

Who Can Attend a Precinct Caucus?

• Precinct caucuses are open meetings. Anyone can attend and observe, but only registered Democrats (including 17 year olds who will be 18 by November 8, 2016 and register as Democrats) can participate.
• Young people who will NOT be 18 by November 8, 2016 are encouraged to attend as Youth Attenders. They can not participate in the caucus. They are there strictly to observe.

Who Can Participate?

• All participants must be Democrats registered to vote in their precinct. A list of registered Democrats will be available at the caucuses. If you are not on the list and are not registered to vote, you will be able to register as a Democrat at the caucus.
• Seventeen-year-olds, who will be 18 by the general election on November 8, 2016, will be allowed to fully participate. They will be required to fill out a voter registration card and register as a Democrat if they have not done so already.
• Participants may register to vote at the caucus. Republicans, nonpartisans and others can change registration to become a Democrat that day.
• NOTE: Should a Republican change his/her registration to Democrat, s/he will NOT be able to participate in the Republican Caucus on Tuesday, February 23, 2016.  The GOP Delegate selection plan subsection states: No person shall be allowed to participate in the Presidential Preference Poll at the Precinct Meeting who does not already appear as a registered Republican on the voter rolls for that precinct not less than ten (10) days prior to the day of the meeting. Same day registration is prohibited

Does it cost anything to participate?
No.

Is there a way to vote early or cast an absentee vote?
No.

How the Rising Share of Latino Voters Will Impact the 2016 Elections

— by Anna Chu and Charles Posner

A volunteer for President Barack Obama’s re-election campaign, left, registers someone to vote as volunteers register new voters at a table set up in front of campaign headquarters at a local shopping plaza in Phoenix, June 2012.

The United States is undergoing a historic demographic shift, with people of color expected to make up a majority of the population by 2044. Despite the seemingly long trajectory of these changes, the political implications are already being felt. The most significant of these shifts is the sharp increase in the number of Latino voters and their share of the electorate. In the 2012 presidential election, Latino voters—71 percent of whom supported President Barack Obama—helped create a firewall for President Obama in key states. In Colorado, for example, the rising share of Latino voters was enough to win the state for Democrats despite white voters’ support for President Obama dropping by 6 percentage points from 2008.

The rising share of Latino voters in key states may have an even more significant impact on the 2016 presidential election, especially if voter turnout rates are high. To gain a better understanding of the growing Latino influence, the Center for American Progress Action Fund conducted an electoral simulation of the six states with the largest projected share of Latino eligible voters in 2016 and for which 2012 exit polling data are available.

Read more and explore our findings.

In Nevada, Latino voters could make up more than a fifth of all voters, spelling trouble for Republicans. If Democrats are able to hold onto 2012 levels of support from voters of color and turnout rates remain the same in 2016 (Simulation 1), the Democratic margin of victory in Nevada could increase nearly 3 percentage points. Even if Republicans are able to regain their higher support levels from voters of color from 2004 as well as their high support levels from white voters from 2012 (Simulation 3), Democrats would still have a three-point margin of victory.

See Also: Key Facts About Nevada Voting Demographics: How Changing Demographics and DAPA-Affected Voters Could Impact the 2016 Elections

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This material [the article above] was created by the Center for American Progress Action Fund. It was created for the Progress Report, the daily e-mail publication of the Center for American Progress Action Fund. Click here to subscribe. ‘Like’ CAP Action on Facebook and ‘follow’ us on Twitter

NOT Good Enough for the Fearful?

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson explains the Syrian refugee screening process

In the days since the terrorist attack in Paris, there has been a huge debate in the United States over Syrian refugees. While the U.S. has committed to taking 10,000 people fleeing the Syrian civil war, some have argued that there is no way to ensure that terrorists won’t enter the country posing as refugees. The Obama administration has responded by saying that the vetting process is extremely rigorous.

So, putting aside emotional rhetoric about this issue, what exactly is that process?

According to Secretary Jeh Johnson, more than 23,000 potential refugees have been referred to the U.S. and that only 2,000 have made it past the screening. But according to the GOP fearmongers, our process isn’t good enough for them.  Is that because 2,000 worthy souls actually made it through the process?

Head more …. HERE