Source: Tallahassee Democrat

An advocate for the Florida Commission on Ethics recommended the board find probable cause on five separate allegations involving trips former Mayor Andrew Gillum took in 2016 to Costa Rica and New York City, according to documents obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat.

The advocate, who acts as a prosecutor for the commission, recommended probable cause be found that Gillum accepted gifts and "things of value" during the trips when he knew or should have known they were given to influence his official action. The advocate also recommended probable cause be found that Gillum received gifts from lobbyists when he knew or "reasonably believed" the gifts were valued over $100.

Finally, the advocate recommended probable cause be found that Gillum failed to report gifts he received on the two trips.

Read more: https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/2019/01/25/andrew-gillum-florida-ethics-commission-probable-cause-complaint-fbi-costa-rica-new-york-trips/2667336002/?fbclid=IwAR3Mq78LLdnjS8NYze7HZp4-JBP66tT9D0DtIWbCE40F-KOfczQq9gS7eFQ

Source: Tallahassee Democrat

Michael Ertel, the newly appointed Secretary of State of Gov. Ron DeSantis, has resigned after photos emerged of him posing as a Hurricane Katrina victim in blackface at a private Halloween party 14 years ago.

The photos obtained by the Tallahassee Democrat were shown to the Governor's Office on Thursday morning. Hours later it issued a statement.

"The governor accepted Secretary Ertel's resignation," the Governor's Office said.

The photo was taken in 2005, eight months after Ertel was appointed Seminole County supervisor of elections and two months after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

Read more: https://amp.tallahassee.com/amp/2649161002?__twitter_impression=true

Source: The New York Times

WASHINGTON — Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, facing fallout from a lawsuit claiming she fired an aide who said she was sexually assaulted by a supervisor at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, said on Wednesday she had decided to resign as the foundation’s chairwoman.

Ms. Jackson Lee, a Texas Democrat in her 13th term, also stepped aside temporarily from an important House Judiciary subcommittee chairmanship, the committee said.

Ms. Jackson Lee made the decision to step aside from both roles as pressure was growing within her own party to account for the claims in a Jan. 11 lawsuit brought by a woman who worked in her congressional office and who said she was sexually assaulted by a Black Caucus Foundation supervisor. Ms. Jackson Lee has adamantly denied that she fired the woman for retribution after the woman indicated she wanted to pursue legal action, but she planned to say Wednesday that she would step aside nonetheless.




Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/23/us/politics/sheila-jackson-lee-cbc-chairwoman.html

Source: The Jerusalem Post

The Democratic National Committee has dropped its partnership in the Women’s March over anti-Semitism concerns, the Jewish News Syndicate reported Tuesday night.

The Women’s March, slated for January 19, has come under fire in recent months due to its leaders’ handling of allegations of antisemitism, with celebrities and activists openly criticizing the organizers’ actions.

The controversy started when organizer Tamika Mallory attended a speech by, and then praised, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who has a long history of making anti-Jewish and homophobic statements. Though the organizers eventually disavowed Farrakhan’s antisemitism, many felt their response took too long and did not go far enough in denouncing him.

More recently, a report on Tablet online magazine said that Mallory and fellow organizer Carmen Perez had made antisemitic statements at two Women’s March planning meetings, claims the organizers deny

Read more: https://www.google.com/amp/s/m.jpost.com/Diaspora/Womens-March-names-3-Jewish-women-to-its-steering-committee-577446/amp

Source: NY Post

A California lawmaker said he’s ditching contributions from the deep-pocketed Democratic donor who was present when two men died in his home in separate incidents in under two years.

Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu said he would donate $18,500 in contributions from Ed Buck to not-for-profits that support African American and LGBTQ people such as the NAACP and Lambda Legal.



Read more: https://nypost.com/2019/01/10/another-dead-body-forces-lawmaker-to-cut-ties-with-top-donor/amp/?__twitter_impression=true