Video: Rashida Tlaib claims her bill to end federal prisons would not 'just release everybody.' Axios fact-checks her to her face, points out her bill will do just that



Progressive "Squad" member Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) reiterated her support for legislation that would empty federal prisons within 10 years in a recent interview, appearing to be dismissive of the potential ramifications of that policy.

On Sunday's episode of "Axios on HBO," reporter Jonathan Swan asked the Democratic lawmaker about her support for the BREATHE Act, a sweeping far-left reform bill written by the Movement for Black Lives that would defund federal law enforcement and the prison system. The proposal would also abolish life sentences, abolish mandatory minimum sentencing laws, abolish Immigration and Customs Enforcement, cut the Department of Defense budget, and repeal the bipartisan 1994 crime bill.

"The BREATHE Act proposes emptying federal detention facilities within 10 years. To what extent have you wrestled with any potential downsides of releasing into society every single person who's currently in a federal prison?" Swan asked.

"Yeah, again, I think that everyone's like, 'OMG we're going to just release everybody.' That's not what I'm saying," Tlaib replied.

"That's what it says!" Swan protested, observing that the legislation calls for closing federal prisons.

"Yeah, but did you see how many people are mentally ill that are in prison right now?" Tlaib said, dismissing his point.

Swan then pressed her on the fact that the bill she endorsed says everyone gets released, including human traffickers and child sex predators, not just mentally ill people.

"Oh, I know," Tlaib said while denying that she supports the blanket release of people from federal prison.

"What I'm saying is look at who's in prison right now. No, look at the folks that are mentally ill, that have substance abuse problems."

.@jonathanvswan presses Rep. Tlaib on backing a bill to end federal prisons: To what extent have you wrestled w/ potential downsides? \n\nTlaib: I think everyone's like, oh my god, we're going to just release everybody.\n\nSwan: But the act you endorsed actually says release everyonepic.twitter.com/ZBX3T9wxQy
— Axios (@Axios) 1637596854

"I'm not disagreeing with you that there are people who shouldn't be in prison," Swan said before Tlaib interrupted him.

"Yeah, but then why aren't you asking me about them? You're asking me about human traffickers and others that should stay [in prison]."

"What I'm trying to understand, because it is such a sweeping concrete proposal, do you believe that there are still categories of people who should be behind bars?" Swan asked.

"There are absolutely folks that — I don't under— you know, I don't know," Tlaib responded. "Because right now, the way the prison system was supposed to be like rehabilitary [sic], you know, it's supposed to be rehabilitation, right? ... I don't think there's any rehabilitation happening right now."

"Do you think all people can be rehabilitated?" Swan asked in a follow-up question.

"I don't think so. I've been very clear about that. And I only tell you that because, as somebody that has worked in the legal field and others, I don't even know if our society would even know how to be able to rehabilitate every single person that wants to harm people," Tlaib answered.

She added that what concerns her are statistics showing that many people who were incarcerated at a young age were put in prison with mental health or other issues and don't receive rehabilitative care that might keep them from re-offending. For instance, researchers in one study that examined prison populations found that about 7% of prison population growth from 1980 to 2000 — about 40,000 to 72,000 people — would have likely been placed in mental institutions in the past.

As for those that should remain behind bars, Tlaib said, "I would have to look at each case individually and figure that all out."

Oversight board says Trump violated Facebook rules but company was wrong to 'indefinitely' suspend him



Former President Donald Trump will not be returning to Facebook in the immediate future after the company's oversight board upheld the decision to restrict Trump's access to his Facebook page and Instagram account.

However, the board also found that Facebook's decision to suspend Trump indefinitely was arbitrary and violated its own stated policies. It accused the company of applying a "vague, standardless penalty" on Trump and then seeking to avoid responsibility for its decision by handing the matter over to the oversight board. The board refused to tell Facebook what its policy should be and has ordered the company to review the matter and "justify a proportionate response that is consistent with the rules that are applied to other users of its platform" within six months.

In a statement responding to the ruling, Trump accused big tech companies of suppressing free speech.

"What Facebook, Twitter, and Google have done is a total disgrace and embarrassment to our Country. Free Speech has been taken away from the President of the United States because the Radical Left Lunatics are afraid of the truth, but the truth will come out anyway, bigger and stronger than ever before," Trump said. "The People of our Country will not stand for it! These corrupt social media companies must pay a political price, and must never again be allowed to destroy and decimate our Electoral Process."

The much-anticipated ruling creates a precedent for how Facebook will manage content from political leaders and may also create a framework for other social media platforms to follow.

Last year, Facebook spent $130 million to create and fund its independent oversight board, which is an international team of academics, law professors, journalists, human rights activists, and other experts with backgrounds related to global politics and digital content moderation. The purpose of the board is to review appeals to the social media platform's content moderation decisions and independently determine whether Facebook made the right decision according to its own policies. The board's decisions are binding, but Facebook is ultimately responsible for following the board's instructions.

On Wednesday, the oversight board ruled that Trump's social media posts on Jan. 6 during the violence at the U.S. Capitol "severely violated Facebook's Community Standards and Instagram's Community Guidelines," which prohibit praise or support of people engaged in violence.

"The Board found that, in maintaining an unfounded narrative of electoral fraud and persistent calls to action, Mr. Trump created an environment where a serious risk of violence was possible," the decision states. "At the time of Mr. Trump's posts, there was a clear, immediate risk of harm and his words of support for those involved in the riots legitimized their violent actions."

"Given the seriousness of the violations and the ongoing risk of violence, Facebook was justified in suspending Mr. Trump's accounts on January 6 and extending that suspension on January 7," the board said, but it added that "it was not appropriate for Facebook to impose an 'indefinite' suspension."

"It is not permissible for Facebook to keep a user off the platform for an undefined period, with no criteria for when or whether the account will be restored," the board explained before going on to criticize Facebook's actions.

In applying this penalty, Facebook did not follow a clear, published procedure. 'Indefinite' suspensions are not described in the company's content policies. Facebook's normal penalties include removing the violating content, imposing a time-bound period of suspension, or permanently disabling the page and account.

It is Facebook's role to create necessary and proportionate penalties that respond to severe violations of its content policies. The Board's role is to ensure that Facebook's rules and processes are consistent with its content policies, its values and its human rights commitments.

In applying a vague, standardless penalty and then referring this case to the Board to resolve, Facebook seeks to avoid its responsibilities. The Board declines Facebook's request and insists that Facebook apply and justify a defined penalty.

The board is requiring Facebook to undergo a review of its "arbitrary penalty" on Trump and within six months develop a clear and defined penalty for the former president consistent with its stated policies and "based on the gravity of the violation and the prospect of future harm."

In a statement responding to the decision, Facebook Vice President of Global Affairs and Communications Nick Clegg said Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts will remain suspended while the company reviews the board's decision.

"We will now consider the board's decision and determine an action that is clear and proportionate. In the meantime, Mr. Trump's accounts remain suspended," he said.

The board also called on Facebook to clarify how content moderation decisions on users with large audiences are made.

"Facebook should publicly explain the rules that it uses when it imposes account-level sanctions against influential users," the board said. It further recommended that Facebook specifically explain how it assigns strikes and penalties against users and provide users with accessible information on how many violations, strikes, and penalties have been assigned to them, among other recommendations.

Republicans were quick to attack the decision.

"Our right to freedom of speech comes from the Constitution, not Facebook's 'Oversight Board,'" RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel tweeted. "Big Tech has become an extension of the left's woke mob and Congress should hold them accountable."

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) accused Facebook of "acting like a Democrat Super PAC" instead of "a platform for free speech and open debate."

"A House Republican majority will rein in big tech power over our speech," he said.

Facebook is more interested in acting like a Democrat Super PAC than a platform for free speech and open debate.I… https://t.co/uO7Yb34edW

— Kevin McCarthy (@GOPLeader) 1620222045.0

Several Republican lawmakers called on Congress to break up Facebook's "monopoly" with an "antitrust agenda."

If Republicans take back power it’s a pretty safe bet they’ll go after Facebook in a concerted way this time. Here’… https://t.co/CJleurdwto

— Jonathan Swan (@jonathanvswan) 1620224771.0

Facebook’s status as a monopoly has led its leaders to believe it can silence and censor Americans' speech with no… https://t.co/hgGVvSxlmI

— Congressman Ken Buck (@RepKenBuck) 1620226985.0

Break them up. https://t.co/J6nnipCG6v

— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) 1620221871.0

Mark Meadows, the former White House chief of staff under Trump, blasted the decision on Fox News, calling it a "sad day for America."

Mark Meadows' immediate reaction to Trump remaining banned: "It's a sad day for America. It's a sad day for Faceboo… https://t.co/XhfsSGUGFv

— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) 1620221631.0

With conservative lawmakers infuriated over Facebook's decision, Meadows predicted that the "wild, wild West kind of regulatory environment" surrounding big tech companies is "going to change."

Jen Psaki spars with reporter who asked where promised 'green' jobs are for laid-off pipeline​ workers



White House press secretary Jen Psaki engaged in a testy exchange with Fox News reporter Peter Doocy on Monday, when the journalist pressed her on when fossil fuel industry workers laid off due to President Joe Biden's climate initiatives can expect the "green jobs" the administration has promised.

What are the details?

"When is it that the Biden administration is going to let the thousands of fossil fuel industry workers, whether it's pipeline workers or construction workers, who are either out of work or will soon be out of work because of the Biden EO, when it is and where it is they can go for their green job?" Doocy asked Psaki. "That is something the administration has promised. There is now a gap, so I'm just curious when that happens, when those people can count on that?"

"Well, I'd certainly welcome you to present your data of all the thousands and thousands of people who won't be getting job," the press secretary replied.

"Maybe next time you're here you can present that," she added, in a response that The New York Post interpreted as "mocking" Doocy.

The Daily Caller pointed out:

On Biden's first day in office he signed an executive order revoking the Presidential permit granted for the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which was expected to run from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. This action is expected to cost roughly 11,000 American jobs. TC Energy, the company behind the construction of the pipeline, said on Jan. 20 that there could be an immediate loss of 1,000 construction jobs.

Doocy went on to ask Psaki about AFL-CIO President Richard Trumpka's comments to Axios over the weekend, when the union chief criticized his longtime friend, Biden, for imposing the layoffs without accompanying options for the impacted workers.

"I wish he hadn't done that on the first day," Trumpka told Axios' Jonathan Swan of Biden. "It did and will cost us jobs...I wish he had paired that more carefully with the thing he did second where he is talking about creating jobs."

AFL-CIO president @RichardTrumka to @jonathanvswan on Biden canceling the Keystone XL pipeline: "I wish he hadn't d… https://t.co/GPlLYEOgUr
— Axios (@Axios)1612739649.0

Psaki noted to Doocy that "Trumka also indicated in the same interview was that President Biden has proposed a climate plan with transformative investments and infrastructure, and laid out a plan that will not only create millions of good union jobs, but also help tackle the climate crisis."

She added, "And, as the president has indicated when he gave his prime time address to talk about the American Rescue Plan, he talked about his plans to also put forward a jobs plan in the weeks or months following. He has every plan to do exactly that."

Doocy replied, "But there are people living paycheck to paycheck. There are now people out of jobs once the Keystone pipeline stops construction … So what do these people who need money now, when do they get their green jobs?"

Psaki responded, "The president and many Democrats and Republicans in Congress believe that investment in infrastructure, building infrastructure, that's in our national interests, boosts the U.S. economy, creates good-paying union jobs here in America, and advances our climate and clean energy goals, are something that we can certainly work on doing together, and he has every plan to share more about his details of that plan in the weeks ahead."

Fox's Doocy challenges Psaki: When are Keystone workers getting their green jobs?www.youtube.com

Anything else?

The Biden administration has taken heat from critics on both sides of the political aisle for shutting down the Keystone XL pipeline project and leaving behind the affected workers.

John Kerry, Biden's climate envoy, made headlines last month when he suggested fossil fuel industry workers who find themselves out of a job due to the administration's environmental policies would have "better choices" such as making solar panels.

Hollywood elitists lose their minds after Trump's election morning speech: 'Staging a coup'



Hysterical celebrities flocked to Twitter in the wee hours of Wednesday morning after President Donald Trump told supporters and members of the press that he believed he had won the 2020 presidential election.

In his remarks, Trump also promised to go to the Supreme Court in order to stop counting ballots.

What are the details?

Comedienne Kathy Griffin wordlessly shared the now-infamous photo of her holding the likeness of a decapitated Trump head.

https://t.co/HG3wwVO8hm
— Kathy Griffin (@Kathy Griffin)1604475784.0

Actor Josh Gad accused the president of "staging a coup."

"Thankfully he is doing it like a Rodeo clown," Gad added.

The man is staging a coup. Thankfully he is doing it like a Rodeo clown. https://t.co/sqySIsWvIq
— Josh Gad (@Josh Gad)1604476485.0

Actor Jeffrey Wright wrote, "Donald Trump came out at 2:30 AM to remind America — from the WH — that he's the biggest criminal a**hole you know."

Hysterical-sounding actress Sophia Bush wrote, "We have sent troops to other nations to stop dictators from doing what Trump just did. This is NOT how our elections work. We WILL #CountEveryVote."

Bush's remarks came in response to the New York Times' Maggie Haberman, who wrote, "Trump has now done what @jonathanvswan reported and what Trump denied he would do — came out and said 'we did win this election' and called the current vote counting 'a fraud on our nation.' Says he will go to Supreme Court to stop counting."

We have sent troops to other nations to stop dictators from doing what Trump just did. This is NOT how our election… https://t.co/CHU89X0d6V
— Sophia Bush (@Sophia Bush)1604476403.0

"Star Trek" actor-turned-activist George Takei wrote, "You don't get to declare yourself the winner, Donald. The American people choose the winner through the Electoral College. We do this through our votes. You can't change that."

You don’t get to declare yourself the winner, Donald. The American people choose the winner through the Electoral C… https://t.co/0MzKa01OMh
— George Takei (@George Takei)1604475196.0

"Star Wars" actor Mark Hamill chimed in, "#DespotDonald declares victory as votes are still being counted-Calls election 'a fraud on the American public, so we'll be going to the Supreme Court & we will win this[.]' It's so weird to have an authoritarian who undermines democracy in the WH."

#DespotDonald declares victory as votes are still being counted-Calls election "a fraud on the American public, so… https://t.co/TgE8Lqik5n
— Mark Hamill (@Mark Hamill)1604480269.0

Actress Chelsea Peretti added, "He hasn't won. 'As far as I'm concerned we already have won' It's about counting votes, end of story — we knew he would lie and manipulate as always. And pence as always is the epitome of a vacant tool and f***boi."