Category: THE SENATE

Report: Hollywood Trade Association Executive Fired from MPAA After Arrest

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By Matthew Boyle

Variety reports Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) Senior Executive Vice President and Global General Counsel Steven Fabrizio has been fired following his arrest last Friday by Washington, D.C., detectives. His apprehension was first reported by Breitbart News late Monday night.

Charles Rivkin, former President Barack Obama’s former ambassador to France and a former top State Department official under Obama who was Obama’s 2008 campaign co-chair and has since taken over the MPAA as its chairman, announced on Monday morning to the board of the MPAA that Fabrizio has been terminated as a result of the arrest.

Rivkin took over the MPAA from former Sen. Chris Dodd (D-CT), a longtime top Democrat who ran for president and has deep connections in Washington. When he retired from the Senate in 2011 after 30 years, he took the job at MPAA as its chairman. Rivkin took over for Dodd in 2017, after the former Democrat senator stepped down to join a top D.C. law firm. Variety’s Nate Nickolai and Matt Donnelly wrote:

Steven Fabrizio, a top executive at the Motion Picture Association of America, has been fired following charges of second degree sexual abuse and blackmail. Fabrizio served as general counsel to the trade group, which represents the interests of Hollywood on Capitol Hill. He was charged on Saturday in Washington, D.C. On Monday morning, MPAA Chairman and CEO Charles Rivkin informed his board — which includes all of the major studios and Netflix — that Fabrizio was dismissed ‘for violating certain terms of employment.’ Daniel Robbins has been appointed interim general counsel as a replacement is found, Rivkin added.

Variety’s report follows Breitbart News’ publication of Fabrizio’s arrest, including details from a police report reviewed by Breitbart News detailing how detectives arrested Fabrizio after a relationship he struck up with a woman from an online “dating website” went awry.

As Breitbart News reported late Monday before this new report from Variety, the police allege the woman called for help after what the detectives describe as a series of encounters between the woman and Fabrizio, which she claims she attempted to end multiple times.  The report then describes messages sent by the woman to Fabrizio that “were largely composed and sent in consultation with members of the Metropolitan Police Department.” Detectives then orchestrated Mr. Fabrizio’s arrest outside the woman’s

The police report reviewed by Breitbart News reads.:

Once the Defendant had parked his vehicle, Detectives [redacted] and [redacted] pulled up behind the Defendant’s vehicle. Detective [redacted] approached the defendant’s vehicle and asked the defendant for his driver’s license to confirm the defendant’s identity. The defendant provided Detective [redacted] his driver’s license, and the defendant’s identity was confirmed by his Maryland Driver’s License to be Steven Bernard Fabrizio born on [date redacted here]. The defendant was asked to step out of his vehicle. The Defendant walked to the rear of his vehicle and was placed in handcuffs. Sergeant [redacted] was already on scene as Detectives [redacted] and [redacted] walked up. As Detective [redacted] approached the defendant the defendant was heard asking Detective [redacted] to retrieve his cell phone from inside the vehicle. Detective retrieved the defendant’s cellphone and placed it in the defendant’s left cargo pocket. The defendant asked why he was stopped and he was advised by Detective [redacted] that he was being arrested for Rape and Blackmail and that if there were something he wished to tell the Detectives they would take him to the Detectives’ Office, mirandize him and interview him. The suspect declined, and asked if he could call a lawyer. The defendant was informed that he could make a phone call once he was at the police station. The defendant, Steven Bernard Fabrizio, was placed under arrest and transported to the Second District for processing.

The MPAA, Fabrizio, and Metropolitan Police Department have still not replied to requests for comment, but now with Variety’s report that Hollywood’s man in Washington has been arrested–a report that confirms Breitbart News’ account of the arrest, and adds he was charged on Saturday in D.C. court and awaits prosecution.

The Variety report quotes more details from the police report on the matter:

According to a police affidavit, Fabrizio is accused of threatening a woman he met on a “sugar daddy” dating site. The police allege that Fabrizio and the woman had consensual sex once on Aug. 19, after which he paid her $400. After that, she did not want to see him again. According to the affidavit, Fabrizio sent numerous texts insisting on a second meeting, and threatening to expose her if she did not comply.

“I know where you live,” he allegedly wrote. “I know where you work. Don’t think — Hospital would be happy to know that it’s young nurses are having sexual for money / Same for your landlord.”

Fabrizio allegedly used those threats to coerce her into having sex again, according to the affidavit. The police allege that he then sent additional texts threatening to tell her parents if she did not continue to have sex with him a couple times a month. The woman called the police. After arranging for another meeting, Fabrizio was arrested outside the woman’s apartment on Friday morning, according to the document.

Variety also includes a background quote from an anonymous MPAA spokesperson who told the outlet of the charges against its own lawyer Fabrizio that “if true, are both shocking and intolerable to the association. We had no prior knowledge of this behavior before these charges were publicly filed.”

Fabrizio’s deep connections in Washington, D.C., especially to top Democrats around town, are only beginning to become clear publicly. He first took the job at the MPAA in 2013 as its in-house chief counsel after serving as its outside counsel for some time.

Trump allies in Washington quickly shared the news that a top leftist Hollywood ally had fallen in D.C.:

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Donald Trump, Jr., President Trump’s eldest son, also shared the news, commenting that Hollywood and the leaders of “the Resistance” against his father are “truly sick”:

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In a Hollywood Reporter story about his hiring, Dodd–the top Democrat former senator who was then running the MPAA–said he thought the world of Fabrizio.

“Steve has been one of the entertainment industry’s most effective advocates for years, and has the perfect blend of knowledge, skill, and experience to lead the MPAA’s already talented legal team,” Dodd said. “As the MPAA’s new Global General Counsel, he will continue to protect the rights of our industry’s creators and makers so they can do what they do best: tell stories that entertain audiences across the globe.”

Fabrizio later, in early 2014, sat for a major interview with the Hollywood Reporter in which he explained his plans for the industry to pursue in Washington, D.C. He laid out various litigation he already been involved in, and major policy fights ahead that Hollywood envisioned.

Fabrizio was very highly-paid, according to IRS 990 forms that the MPAA filed. Politico Influence reported on his salary–which was into seven figures at $1.1 million annually–back in late 2017, according to a report based on 2016 IRS 990 documents from the MPAA.

The organization in 2016, per these documents according to Politico raised $57.8 million and spent $66.7 million. Its highest paid staffers that year were Dodd, who made $3.4 million, and Fabrizio who made $1.1 million. Next up was MPAA’s COO Diane Strahan who made $1 million in 2016.

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60 MILES OF NEW BORDER WALL ERECTED WHERE ILLEGALS ONCE STORMED AMERICA

60 Miles of New Border Wall Erected Where Illegals Once Stormed America

Border Patrol footage shows the difference one administration makes

By Kelen McBreen – August 26, 2019

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unveiled 60 miles of new border wall near San Luis, Arizona on Saturday, showing before and after footage of the location.

In the “before” footage, dozens of illegals can be seen running into the United States, and in the “after” footage, a “triple-layered enforcement zone which includes an 18’ bollard wall” occupies the same space.

According to CBP, the Trump administration plans on building over 400 miles of wall in California, Arizona, New Mexico and Texas by 2020.

“CBP has constructed over 60 miles of new border wall system along the SW border since 2017 and expects to complete 450 miles by the end of 2020.”

U.S. Border Patrol Chief Carla Provost tweeted out a time-lapse of the San Luis portion of the border wall being built, saying, “This new system improves impedance & denial of illegal entries, making the border safer for both my agents, & our nation.”

This is what Americans asked for when they voted for Donald Trump and this is what they can expect more of after he wins again in 2020.

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OBAMA JUDGE RULES MEDICAID MUST PAY FOR TRANSGENDER SEX REASSIGNMENT SURGERY

Obama Judge Rules Medicaid Must Pay For Transgender Sex Reassignment Surgery

Federal judge is forcing Wisconsin taxpayers to provide costly sex reassignment surgery and hormonal procedures for low-income transgender residents

JudicialWatch.org – AUGUST 23, 2019

An Obama-appointed federal judge is forcing Wisconsin taxpayers to provide costly sex reassignment surgery and hormonal procedures for low-income transgender residents who get free medical care from the government.

In a recently issued ruling U.S. District Judge William M. Conley writes that Medicaid, the publicly funded insurance that covers 65.7 million poor people, cannot deny the medical treatment needs of those suffering from “gender dysphoria.” Officials estimate it will cost up to $1.2 million annually to provide transgender Medicaid recipients in the Badger State with treatments such as “gender confirmation” surgery, including elective mastectomies, hysterectomies, genital reconstruction and breast augmentation. The intricate operations are typically done by plastic surgeons.

The ruling culminates a lawsuit filed more than a year ago by two transgender Wisconsinites, who accuse the federal and state-funded insurance program of providing them with disparate and inferior health care on the basis of sex. Cody Flack of Green Bay and Sara Makenzie of Baraboo say they suffer from severe gender dysphoria that requires costly surgery. Flack, a woman, claims to be ashamed of her breasts and wants to have them surgically removed as she transitions into a man’s body. To make a case for the government to pay for her surgery, she claims that she engages in “binding,” which flattens her breasts and causes sores, skin irritation and respiratory distress. Flack also has difficulty binding her breasts due to a disability, according to court documents. Makenzie, a man who legally changed his name to Sara and wears women’s clothing, says his “male-appearing genitalia” causes him “great distress” and negatively affects his sexuality and social life. Showering and seeing his body in a mirror is “painful,” court records state, and Makenzie fears someone will be able to see his “male genitals” through his clothing.

Last summer Judge Conley issued a preliminary injunction ordering Wisconsin to cover sex reassignment surgery for Flack and Makenzie while state health officials appealed. The permanent ruling directing the state-federal insurance for the poor to pay for all gender confirmation operations in the state was issued last week. To lay the foundation, Conley writes in the injunction that gender dysphoria is a serious medical condition, which if left untreated can cause adverse symptoms. “As a group, transgender individuals have been subjected to harassment and discrimination in virtually every aspect of their lives, including in housing, employment, education, and health care,” according to the document. “Their own families, acquaintances and larger communities can be sources of harassment. For some transgender individuals, though certainly not all, the dissonance between their gender identity and their naturally assigned sex can manifest itself in the form of gender dysphoria, a serious medical condition recognized by both sides’ experts and the larger medical community as a whole.”

Though Medicaid initially denied Flack’s chest reconstructive surgery, it was eventually completed at taxpayer expense after the judge’s injunction. A plastic surgeon performed a double mastectomy and male chest construction last fall. “Following the surgery, Cody’s gender dysphoria was greatly diminished,” according to Conley’s final ruling, because his “outward appearance matched his male gender” and he “would no longer be misgendered because of his breasts.” Makenzie got a bilateral orchiectomy and vaginoplasty to create “female appearing external genitalia” after the judge determined that the surgeries are medically necessary. Because Medicaid refused to cover chest reconstruction surgery prior to the lawsuit, Makenzie obtained a personal loan to pay a plastic surgeon at the University of Wisconsin Hospital for the operation in 2016. Court documents say Makenzie contends that the surgery helped alleviate his gender dysphoria.

In his decision, Judge Conley cites guidelines issued by the World Professional Association of Transgender Health to treat transsexual, transgender and gender nonconforming people. Treatments include psychotherapy, hormone therapy and “a number of surgical procedures” to eliminate the development of unwanted secondary sex characteristics of the assigned sex, develop secondary sex characteristics of the sex associated with the patient’s gender identity and enhance the patient’s ability to “pass” as the sex associated with the patient’s gender identity to decrease harassment, mistreatment and other forms of discrimination.

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New Jersey Awarded $3.8 Million in Financial Aid to Illegal Aliens

DACA-protester-DREAMers-deportations-ICE-illegal-immigration

By TOM CICCOTTA

A local news report revealed that the state of New Jersey awarded $3.8 million in financial aid to illegal immigrants during the 2018-2019 school year.

According to a report from NJ.com, the state of New Jersey gave $3.8 million in financial aid to 749 illegal immigrant students in the last academic year. More than a quarter of the funding went to 328 illegal immigrants that attend Rutgers University.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy signed a law last year that allowed illegal immigrants to apply for financial aid. Prior to the signing, illegal immigrants were permitted to apply to pay in-state tuition at public universities but they were not eligible for financial aid.

Murphy, who supports the spending, hit back at Republican critics by arguing that giving financial aid to illegal immigrants is compatible with American values.

“I’d even invite any of those folks who have that attitude, beginning with our president, to come on into this room and allow me or any of us to say, ‘This is the United States of America,’” Murphy said at the time.

David J. Socolow, executive director of the state’s Higher Education Student Assistance Authority, defended the state’s decision to offer financial aid to illegal immigrants.

“This financial assistance offers these New Jersey students a life-changing opportunity,” Socolow said in a brief comment.“The successes of these first 513 students, who are now attending county colleges, state colleges and universities, and independent institutions around the state, will have a positive impact on countless additional lives.”

According to the report, there is currently no limit on the amount of illegal immigrant students that are permitted to receive financial aid from the state of New Jersey. State lawmakers forecast that they will spend approximately $5 million on financial aid for illegal immigrants each year.

 

 

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OBAMAS TO RELEASE ANTI-TRUMP MOVIE ON NETFLIX

Obamas To Release Anti-Trump Movie On Netflix

Film aims to undercut Trump’s job number claims

Steve Watson  – AUGUST 21, 2019

Ahead of the 2020 election, the Obamas are set to release a documentary via Netflix that has been described by Politico as anti-Trump.

The movie, scheduled to be released this week, titled American Factory, focuses on the economy in the heartland of the US.

The review states:

The documentary, which debuts on Netflix on August 21, never mentions President Donald Trump by name—but its message is clear: Trump’s promise to reinvigorate the industrial heartland is going to take a lot more than a campaign slogan. There are no easy solutions. And if some manufacturing jobs do come back, they’re going to look nothing like they used to. Americans will have to accept a new reality to stay competitive in the global marketplace—one that they might not like, and one that Trump doesn’t acknowledge.

it’s a message that echoes Obama’s declaration in 2016 that some jobs in the manufacturing sector are “just not going to come back.”

The movie argues that Trump’s efforts to reinvigorate manufacturing have not been successful, despite there being more employed in factory jobs now than before Trump was elected.

The message is clear. The Obamas are trying to hit Trump where it matters ahead of the election, in an effort to prevent history repeating.

Last year, when the Obamas inked the deal with the streaming service, the former president declared that the projects would focus on “training the next generation of leaders.”

“I continue to believe that if we are hearing each other’s stories and recognizing ourselves in each other, then our democracy works,” Obama said at the time.

WATCH: Why You Should Cancel Netflix

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(GLOBALIST AT WORK) – Mitt Romney: Putin, Kim Deserve ‘Censure,’ Not ‘Flattery’

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 14: Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) walks through the U.S. Capitol prior to the Senate voting to overturn the President's national emergency border declaration, at the U.S. Capitol on March 14, 2019 in Washington, DC. 12 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against President Trumps emergency declaration. (Photo …

By Joshua Caplan

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) on Monday took a veiled swipe at President Donald Trump’s diplomatic approach to Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, arguing they “deserve a censure rather than flattery,” reports the Salt Lake Tribune.

Romney, an outspoken critic of the administration, jabbed the president without naming him in a prepared speech at an event held by the Sutherland Institute, a right-of-center think tank based in Salt Lake City.

“I think demonstrating personal character is one of the most important responsibilities of a leader of the land,” the Utah Republican continued. In an attempt to denuclearize a belligerent North Korea, President Trump has participated in two summits with Kim and exchanged several letters. The president also met with Putin in Helsinki, Finland, in a bid to repair ties left in tatters by the Obama administration.

Romney, who was soundly defeated by President Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election, has heavily criticized President Trump — most notably during the 2016 election, describing him as a  “con man,” and a “fake.” However, in a show of unity, president-elect Trump put aside Romney’s criticism and interviewed him for the position of Secretary of State, a job which ultimately went to former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson.

During the 2018 midterm election, President Trump endorsed Romney, which the then-senate candidate gladly accepted. Just when the pair’s relationship appeared to be on the mend, Romney once again attacked President Trump with a Washington Post opinion-editorial published two days before he was sworn into office. The Utah Republican recently slammed President Trump for suggesting he may be open to receiving opposition research on his political opponents from foreign governments, calling the idea “unthinkable.” Days later, the president rejected the hypothetical scenario, saying he would alert federal authorities if his campaign was approached.

Later in his speech before the think tank, Romney criticized far-left proposals such as the Green New Deal and “Medicare for All,” advocated by several 2020 White House hopefuls.

At one point, Romney also conceded his “slice of Republican Party these days is about that big,” placing his hands closely together, before claiming he is not “100 percent sold on everything my current party’s establishment is doing.”

“I am aligned with the Republican conservative philosophy and believe that our Democratic friends are taking us in a very different direction, which would be most unfortunate to our future,” said the lawmaker.

 

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Democrat Ilhan Omar: Israel Is NOT an Ally and is NOT a “Democracy” – Must Give Palestinians Freedom of Movement into Israel (VIDEO)

By Jim Hoft

Anti-Semitic Democrats Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) lashed out at the Israeli government on Monday in a joint press conference in Minnesota.

On Thursday Democrats Rashida Tlaib and Ilhan Omar were banned from entering Israel after months of their frequent attacks on the Jewish state and their promotion of the anti-Semitic BDS movement.
Their trip was planned by the antisemitic, pro-terror Miftah organization.

On Monday the radical Democrats lashed out at Israel for blocking their entry.

** Rashida Tlaib lashed out at the Israel security wall that eliminated terrorist attacks in their country.

The two Democrats also threatened US aid to the Jewish State.

Rep. Ilhan Omar: We give Israel more than $3 million in aid every year. This is predicated on them being an important ally in the region and (airquotes) “the only democracy” in the Middle East. But denying a visit to duly elected members of Congress is not consistent with being an ally and denying millions of people freedom of movement, or expression or self determination is not consistent with being a democracy. We must be asking as Israel’s ally the Netanyahu government stop the expansion of settlements on Palestinian land and ensure full rights to Palestinians if we are to give them aid. These are not just my views.

 

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