Speier Says Democrats Plan To Release Transcripts Of Impeachment Testimony This Week

California Democrat Rep. Jackie Speier told CBS’s “Face The Nation” that the transcripts from the House impeachment inquiry are going to be released in the coming week, calling them “very telling.”

A member of the House Intelligence Committee, Speier says that the public will see “all of the transcripts that are going to be released, probably within the next five days.”

“I think the transcripts are going to start to be released next week, and that’s going to give the American people an eye on exactly what we have heard, and what we have heard is growing evidence of grounds for impeachment,” she said.

“I don’t know if they’re all going to be released on the same day, but they’re going to be very telling to the American people. There’s no question now whether there’s a quid pro quo,” she said.

“I don’t know if they’re all going to be released on the same day, but they’re going to be very telling to the American people,” she added. “There is no question now whether there was a quid pro quo, and now the question the Republicans are trying to throw out is, ‘Well, was there corrupt intent?’ Wel corrupt intent is defined in part by whether the president has lied.”

“I think they’re going to begin very soon,” Speier said. “We have one more week of interviews that will take place and then I’m pretty confident we’re going the move into a public hearing setting in which the House Intelligence Committee, along with the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Oversight Committees, will start to place in the public’s hands the information.”

November 4, 2019 0

CENSORSHIP: TWITTER ANNOUNCES NEW RESTRICTIONS FOR WORLD LEADERS

Big Tech moving to block Trump’s reach to public as election season heats up

Jamie White – OCTOBER 15, 2019

In a move surely meant to muzzle President Trump, Twitter has announced new rules for the accounts of world leaders, making clear that certain content will result in “enforcement action,” according to a press release.

“There continues to be meaningful public conversation about how we think about Tweets from world leaders on our service,” Twitter stated Tuesday. “We welcome the conversation and want to share more context on our principles and process for reviewing reported Tweets from these accounts.

“When it comes to the actions of world leaders on Twitter, we recognize that this is largely new ground and unprecedented. We understand the desire for our decisions to be “yes/no” binaries, but it’s not that simple. The actions we take and policies we develop will set precedent around online speech and we owe it to the people we serve to be deliberate and considered in what we do.”

“Our mission is to provide a forum that enables people to be informed and to engage their leaders directly. We also have a responsibility to the people who use Twitter to better explain why we make the decisions we make, which we will do here.”

Twitter then lays out their “Enforcement scenarios” that would limit a world leader’s account or the ability of users to share their posts.

“The below areas will result in enforcement action for any account on our service (without consideration of the potential public interest value in allowing the Tweet to remain visible behind a notice):”

– Promotion of terrorism;

– Clear and direct threats of violence against an individual (context matters: as noted above, direct interactions with fellow public figures and/or commentary on political and foreign policy issues would likely not result in enforcement);

– Posting private information, such as a home address or non-public personal phone number;

– Posting or sharing intimate photos or videos of someone that were produced or distributed without their consent;

– Engaging in behaviors relating to child sexual exploitation; and

– Encouraging or promoting self-harm.

“In other cases involving a world leader, we will err on the side of leaving the content up if there is a clear public interest in doing so.”

Notably, if Twitter believes a world leader violated these policies, the company will freeze other users’ ability interact with that leader’s post.

“We haven’t used this notice yet, but when we do, you will not be able to like, reply, share, or Retweet the Tweet in question,” Twitter stated. “You will still be able to express your opinion with Retweet with Comment.”

Though Twitter made a similar announcement back in June, these new restrictions are far more severe than simply “down-ranking” a post.

Democrats will likely pressure Twitter relentlessly to enforce these limitations on Trump because they’re triggered by everything he says or tweets.

2020 presidential candidate Kamala Harris already demanded that Twitter outright remove Trump’s account earlier this month because he could “harm” people with his words.

Other Democrats also called for Twitter to remove Trump’s account, including former DNC Deputy Chairman Keith Ellison and Rep. Jackie Speier (Calif.).

Regardless of what Democrats try to do, Twitter has clearly decided it will serve as the gatekeeper for what information you can and cannot disseminate from your elected leaders.

October 16, 2019 0

GOOGLE REFUSES TO REMOVE APP LETTING SAUDI MEN CONTROL WIVES’ TRAVEL

App allows Saudi men to grant, rescind travel permission, lets them know when women leave country

Chris White | Daily Caller News Foundation – MARCH 4, 2019

Google is reportedly refusing to remove a feature in the company’s app store allowing Saudi men to track the whereabouts of women, according to online outlet Insider.

Google reviewed the Absher app and concluded it does not violate the company’s agreements, the report noted Saturday. Google communicated its decision to Democratic California Rep. Jackie Speier, who is demanding the company ding the feature. Democratic Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan joined their California colleague to ask Apple and Google to remove the app.

Saudis can use the app to interact with the state — but it also allows Saudi men to grant and rescind travel permission for women, and pings men when women leave the country. Neither Apple nor Google have responded to The Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment about whether either company is preparing to change policies to disallow similar apps in the future.

“The responses received so far from Apple and Google are deeply unsatisfactory,” Speier told reporters. “As of today, the Absher app remains available in both the Apple App store and the Google Play Store even though they can easily remove it.”

Allowing people continued access to the app only perpetuates more harm to women trying to flee brutal regimes, she said.

Speier added: “Facilitating the detention of women seeking asylum and fleeing abuse and control unequivocally causes harm. I will be following up on this issue with my colleagues.”

New of the Absher app comes less than three months after reports showed Google launched an application in November 2018 allowing citizens to report what they consider instances of blasphemy to the Indonesian government. People found guilty of such laws face a maximum of five years in prison.

The so-called Smart Pakem app was created through the Google Play platform and allows users to report “deviant” religious ideas directly to Indonesian authorities. The country’s anti-blasphemy laws target “those who disgrace a religion” or who otherwise express “hostility” to religion.

Dozens of Google employees signed a letter in November 2018 calling on the company to scrap involvement in a controversial program called Project Dragonfly, a Chinese search product that enables the government to censor search results in real-time. They also called for whistleblowers to receive more protections.

March 4, 2019 0