McCloskeys plead guilty to lesser charges, forfeit guns from encounter with rioters
The St. Louis couple who became famous last year for displaying guns at protesters trespassing on their property have agreed to plead guilty to misdemeanor crimes and to give up the firearms they brandished in the incident.
Mark and Patricia McCloskey, both attorneys, had originally been charged with felonies.
What are the details?
KHOU-TV reported that Mark McCloskey pleaded guilty to a count of fourth-degree assault, a Class C misdemeanor, and will pay a $750 fine. Patricia McCloskey pleaded guilty to second-degree harassment, a Class A misdemeanor, and will pay a $2,000 fine.
The couple both originally faced felony charges of unlawful use of a weapon and tampering with physical evidence.
As part of the deal, the McCloskeys agreed to allow their guns held in the incident to be turned over to the state and destroyed. Their attorney had requested that the couple be able to auction the firearms off for a charity.
Mark McCloskey told Fox News following the deal, "The good news is we're not in front of charges now, so I don't have any problem getting myself another AR."
Mr. McCloskey, who is currently running for U.S. Senate as a Republican, told the outlet:
They dropped all the weapons charges and they charged me with the lowest level of misdemeanor, which is something called assault four, which alleges that I purposely placed at least one other person in apprehension of immediate physical injury. I said, "Well, I guess I did. That was all point of the guns."
"It's the value of the Second Amendment," he added. "It's kind of humorous for me at any rate, the charge they finally settled on for me, because it's exactly what I did do. That's the whole point of the Second Amendment. We stood out there with guns, and that placed them in imminent fear of physical injury, and they back off."
What's the background?
The McCloskeys confronted rioters outside their home last June, standing guard with weapons after the activists broke down the fence to their private neighborhood purportedly en route to the mayor's house.
The couple, who said the rioters physically threatened them, became a symbol of defiance against the violence that emerged out of several 2020 protests following the death of George Floyd.
St. Louis Circuit Attorney Kim Gardner originally charged the couple with the felonies, but was removed from the case after she exploited their prosecution in fundraising emails.
The nine protesters arrested and charged with trespassing on the McCloskeys' property were not prosecuted.
NY Gov. Cuomo set to pocket more than $5M from COVID-19 leadership book
Scandal-plagued New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is set to make $5.1 million from his book, "American Crisis: Leadership Lessons form the Covid-19 Pandemic," and has already pocketed $3.12 million from the deal struck during the thick of the pandemic.
Most of the funds he's received so far have been funneled to his daughters' trust fund.
What are the details?
The New York Times reported the governor disclosed his income from 2020 showing the $3.12 million, and state officials explained that the publisher, Crown, agreed to pay the governor another $2 million over the next two years.
However, the newspaper called the book a "minefield" for Cuomo and Crown, who canceled promotions of the memoir months ago as scandals against the governor grew. The publisher did not immediately respond to The Times' question of whether they would still pay out the remainder of the governor's advance.
The book was published in mid-October "as the public health crisis raged," the New York Post noted, in a deal made by Cuomo "despite his administration being accused of sending COVID-positive patients back into nursing homes." The Cuomo administration was also accused of underreporting fatalities from the facilities over concerns about political fallout, which could also impact book sales.
Cuomo spokesman Richard Azzopardi told the Times that the governor received $1,537,508 in net proceeds after expenses and taxes for the book deal in 2020.
"From that net income, the governor donated a third to the United Way of New York State for statewide Covid relief and vaccination effort, and is giving the remainder in a trust for his three daughters equally," Azzopardi said in a statement.
Anything else?
The Daily Caller reported that "Cuomo's office had previously said the governor would donate a 'significant portion' of his book earnings to a COVID-related charity." Azzopardi did not immediately respond to the outlet's request for explanation on why the majority went to Cuomo's adult daughters.
New York Attorney General Letitia James (D) opened an investigation on whether Cuomo used state resources on his book, following reports that staffers from the governor's office assisted in promoting his memoir.
James is also investigating several sexual harassment and misconduct claims against Cuomo, who has refused to step down despite several Republicans and fellow Democrats calling for him to do so.
NAACP asks NFL to 'rethink its relationship' with Fox, says Fox News spreads 'hatred, bigotry, lies and racism'
NAACP President Derrick Johnson penned a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urging the league to "rethink its relationship" with Fox Corporation, saying their media agreements "should not be complicit in helping to increase the profits of Fox News" — which Johnson says spreads "hatred, bigotry, lies and racism."
What are the details?
"We are aware the NFL is currently negotiating carriage agreement renewals with broadcast partners," Johnson wrote, saying that while the NACCP looks "forward to wide distribution of American's favorite sports pastime, we have grave concerns about the ancillary implications of the League's affiliation with Fox."
He added in bold, highlighted text, "The NFL's programming should not be sued as a bargaining tool for [Fox Corporation owner] Rupert Murdoch to help fund Fox News' hatred, bigotry, lies and racism."
The NAACP president argued, "The NFL, a league where nearly 70 percent of the players are Black, should not be complicit in helping to increase the profits of Fox News, a leading voice in condemning those same players for peaceful demonstrations against systemic racism."
Johnson also asked for a meeting with NFL leadership to discuss the issue.
Johnson's letter is dated March 9, and was disclosed by multiple news outlets on Thursday — within hours of the NFL announcing its new long-term distribution agreements with its media partners.
USA Today reported that "The NFL did not immediately return a request for comment," adding:
The NFL did respond in another way, however. It announced a mega-deal on Thursday afternoon with television partners CBS, Fox, NBC, and ESPN/ABC, also, the league shifted its Thursday night package to Amazon Prime.
It's another indication of the power of the NFL. It also demonstrated that while the NAACP made a strong statement to the NFL in its letter, in the end, the NFL showed, money is the main driving force in football.
According to The Associated Press, the NFL's new deals will "nearly double its media revenue to more than $10 billion a season."
The NFL said in its press release that Fox renewed its agreement to produce its NFC package of Sunday afternoon games, and that it expanded its digital rights.
However, Fox lost its Thursday night NFL coverage to Amazon.
The AP reported:
Amazon has partnered with the league to stream Thursday night games since 2017, but it will take over the entire package from Fox, which has had it since 2018 after CBS and NBC shared the package for two seasons.
Ousted Parler CEO John Matze says he didn't want deal with Trump
Former Parler CEO John Matze says he was against a deal that gave former President Donald Trump partial ownership of the social media firm in exchange for making the site his exclusive platform, disclosing in a new interview that he believes Trump "might have bullied people inside the company."
What are the details?
Matze, who was terminated by Parler's board of directors last week, sat down with "Axios on HBO" and confirmed to the outlet that Parler and Trump representatives discussed a potential agreement to serve both parties — but Matze was against it.
Buzzfeed News first reported Friday that Parler was in talks with Trump associates before he left office regarding a proposal that would have granted the Trump Organization "a 40% stake in the company" if Trump would "make Parler his primary social network."
"I didn't like the idea of working with Trump, because he might have bullied people inside the company to do what he wanted," Matze told Axios. "But I was worried that if we didn't sign the deal, he might have been vengeful and told his followers to leave Parler."
Buzzfeed reported that the deal was never finalized, but legal experts said the discussions alone, which occurred while Trump was still in office, raise legal concerns.
According to the outlet:
During a subsequent phone interview, Matze told Axios the Mar-a-Lago meeting was set up by Jeffrey Wernick, an early Parler investor and its eventual chief operating officer. He says it lasted a few hours and that he didn't sleep over at the private club in Florida where Trump now lives.
Matze adds he doesn't know if the first offer was made by Wernick or by Trump campaign officials.
What's the background?
Parler has been almost entirely de-platformed after major tech firms Apple and Google pulled the app from cellphones last month and Amazon then refused to provide server hosting for the social networking firm over accusations that the company was not doing enough to moderate content in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Parler became a safe haven for conservative voices since it launched in 2018, by marketing itself as a free speech alternative to censor-loving networks Twitter and Facebook.
The company's future is not clear, and Matze's position as chief executive was a casualty as the company works to find a hosting service willing to make it widely available online once again.
Matze told Fox Business he is still not entirely sure why he was let go as CEO from the company he founded.
Former Parler CEO John Matze speaks out on why he was fired www.youtube.com
House passes bipartisan spending deal by a landslide, averting government shutdown
The House of Representatives passed a bipartisan spending bill by a landslide late Tuesday night, which, if passed by the Senate and signed by President Donald Trump, will continue funding the federal government through Dec. 11.
What are the details?
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced in a statement ahead of the vote that she had reached a deal with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Republicans for a continuing resolution that would "add nearly $8 billion in desperately needed nutrition assistance for hungry schoolchildren and families."
"We also increase accountability in the Commodity Credit Corporation, preventing funds for farmers from being misused for a Big Oil bailout," she said.
The Washington Post reported that the stopgap measure passed "overwhelmingly" in a 358-to-57 vote, noting that Republicans had rejected an earlier "partisan bill" put forward by Democrats the day before.
Not one Democrat voted against the legislation, but 56 Republicans did along with former GOP member Libertarian Justin Amash (Mich.).
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted Tuesday night, "Pelosi got caught trying to jam through a bill that ignored kids & hurt farmers. Republicans stopped her, & we just won a vote to keep the government operating for ALL Americans. It's not perfect. But it's a heck of a lot better than what Democrats tried to pull."
🚨 BREAKING 🚨 Pelosi got caught trying to jam through a bill that ignored kids & hurt farmers. Republicans stopped h… https://t.co/KlyjZKErmY— Kevin McCarthy (@Kevin McCarthy)1600820625.0
According to The Hill, the Senate is expected to take up the CR as early as next week. The outlet noted, "Both parties are strongly incentivized to avoid a government shutdown, given the proximity to the November elections and the ongoing coronavirus pandemic."
CBS News reported that "The resolution funds the government until December 11, avoiding a possible shutdown at the end of September."
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