US Election Observer Charged with Felony After Refusing to Wear Mask During 2024 Presidential Count; Ex-NY Gov. Cuomo Loses Bid to Halt Ethics Probe into His $5M COVID Book Deal, and other C-Virus related stories
US election observer charged with felony after refusing to wear mask during 2024 presidential count:
A Washington election observer has been charged with a felony after refusing to wear a mask during the November presidential vote count.
Timothy Hazelo, a Republican from Oak Harbor, was charged last week with unauthorized access to a voting center over a dispute that started when he refused to don a mask while monitoring ballot-counters.
Police were called on the 57-year-old when he refused to follow the mask-mandate that Island County Auditor Shelia Crider had imposed on local ballot-counting rooms — a measure that Hazelo says the elected official had no legal right to establish.
“We have to stand up when we believe something is wrong,” Hazelo told KOMO News.
The hoopla started as Hazelo arrived at the counting rooms, where signs had been posted outside reading “masks required in this room” and offering to provide them if anybody didn’t have one.
Hazelo refused to wear one, arguing the auditor’s mandate had no legal bearing and going about his duties as masked workers tallied ballots around him.
Somebody eventually called the police on Hazelo, and the cops told him he could either put a mask on or leave.
“It was determined Hazelo would be offered one final opportunity to comply with the policy set by the Island County Auditor to wear a mask in the ballot processing rooms, and if he continued to refuse to comply with the policy, he would be asked to exit the room,” an arrest report read. —>READ MORE HERE
Ex-NY Gov. Cuomo loses bid to halt ethics probe into his $5M COVID book deal:
Andrew Cuomo lost his bid to unravel the state’s ethics commission Tuesday — in a huge blow to the former governor that allows the watchdog to reopen its probe into his $5 million pandemic book deal.
New York’s highest court ruled for the state in a split 4-3 decision, finding that the Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government is “not unconstitutional in every conceivable application,” as Cuomo had argued.
The three-term Democrat — who is widely believed to be mounting a run for New York City mayor — had been fighting for nearly two years to unravel COELIG, which ordered Cuomo to fork over proceeds of his COVID-era memoir.
Two lower courts sided with Cuomo.
But the Court of Appeals upheld COELIG — clearing the way for it to resume its investigation into the former governor.
“Neither the Legislature nor the Executive Branch has undue influence over the Commission, a structural characteristic lawfully chosen to ensure the integrity of the Commissioners and to instill public faith in government,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the majority opinion joined by the rest of the court’s more liberal-leaning judges.
COELIG’s predecessor agency, the Joint Commission on Public Ethics, JCOPE, had concluded that Cuomo improperly used state resources to write “American Crisis: Leadership Lessons from the Covid-19 Pandemic” in 2020 and ruled that he needed to return the proceeds.
As litigation over that decision continued, JCOPE was replaced with COELIG — and Cuomo sued shortly after the new commission informed him it would be resuming the case. —>READ MORE HERE
Follow links below to relevant/related stories and resources:
NYC dining sheds’ planned return already making New Yorkers sick: ‘It’s inherently dangerous’
Did COVID-19 Stall Eye Procedures in Medicare Beneficiaries?
USA TODAY: Coronavirus Updates
YAHOO NEWS: Coronavirus Live Updates
NEW YORK POST: Coronavirus The Latest
If you like what you see, please “Like” and/or Follow us on FACEBOOK here, GETTR here, and TWITTER here.
Jesus Christ is King
