Federal Birther Lawsuit Filed Against Ted Cruz

The political campaign warfare between neo-Fascist Donald Trump and extremist Ted Cruz has intensified as a birther law suit is filed against Ted Cruz.  While Trump is not outwardly connected to the federal lawsuit, many suspect that Trump supporters are behind the filing which seems aimed at kneecapping Cruz in advance of the Iowa and New Hampshire primaries.  Bloomberg Business looks at the lawsuit and some of the likely political machinations behind it. The lawsuit can be viewed here.  Here are some article highlights.

Republican presidential contender Ted Cruz should be disqualified from the race because he isn’t a “natural-born citizen,” a fellow Texan claims in a “birther” challenge filed against the senator in a U.S. court.

The suit seeks a court definition of the term to clarify whether Cruz -- who was born in Canada to an American mother -- can or can’t serve if elected.

“This 229-year question has never been pled, presented to or finally decided by or resolved by the U.S. Supreme Court,” Houston attorney Newton B. Schwartz Sr. said in his 28-page complaint. “Only the U.S. Supreme Court can finally decide, determine judicially and settle this issue now.”

Claiming that “time is of the essence” because of the rapidly approaching Iowa caucuses and March 1 Super Tuesday primaries, Schwartz asked that the case be expedited for resolution by the nation’s highest court as soon as possible.

Republican front-runner Donald Trump pressed the issue during a televised candidate debate Thursday evening in South Carolina, saying he’s bringing up Cruz’s Canadian birthplace “because now he’s doing a little bit better” in the polls. Trump insisted that Cruz receive a judgment from the courts because it would be bad for Republicans to have the issue hanging over their presidential or vice-presidential nominee.

“There is a big overhang. A big question mark on your head,” Trump told Cruz. “You can’t do that to the party.”

Schwartz, 85, said in a phone interview he isn’t connected to any particular campaign, though he personally “probably” supports Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator seeking the Democratic nomination.

The case is Schwartz v. Cruz, 4:16-cv-00106, U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas (Houston).

Virginia House of Delegates Subcommittee to Consider Marriage Ban Repeal

As previously noted, one GOP controlled committee in the House of Delegates killed any consideration of a repeal of the vile anti-gay Marshall-Newman Amendment.  However, as the Washington Blade is reporting that a different committee may breathe at least temporary life into efforts to repeal Virginia's ban on any legal recognition of gay relationships.   One does have to wonder whether recent court rulings in Utah and Oklahoma are starting to pressure the Virginia GOP to defy the dictates of The Family Foundation, a hate group except for formal designation.  Here are story excerpts:

The Washington Blade has learned a Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee on Jan. 20 is scheduled to consider a bill that would repeal the commonwealth’s statutory same-sex marriage ban.
The House Civil Law Subcommittee is expected to take up the measure — House Bill 939 — that state Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax County) introduced last week.

“This is the first time the House of Delegates will get to actually address Virginia’s statutory ban on same-sex marriage in the Code of Virginia in at least the last five years as opposed to the Constitution of Virginia,” Surovell told the Blade on Tuesday. “While marriage rights face an uphill battle in the heavily Republican Virginia House of Delegates, I am encouraged to learn that it will at least hold a hearing on the bill.”

State Del. Mark Cole (R-Fredericksburg), chair of the House Privileges and Elections Committee, on Jan. 9 announced it will not consider any so-called first reference constitutional amendments during the 2014 legislative session. These include proposed resolutions that sought to repeal the state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

The House Constitutional Amendments Subcommittee last year killed Surovell’s proposed resolution that sought to repeal a 2006 constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.

State Del. Rob Krupicka (D-Alexandria) last week introduced a proposed resolution that sought to amend the state constitution to allow same-sex marriage in Virginia. The proposal would have also allowed the commonwealth to recognize gay nuptials legally performed in Maryland, D.C. and other jurisdictions.

Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Norfolk on Jan. 30 is scheduled to hold a hearing in a federal lawsuit that challenges the commonwealth’s same-sex marriage ban. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia in August filed a class action federal lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples from the Shenandoah Valley who lack marriage rights in the state.

Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring all support nuptials for gays and lesbians.

One thing is certain: the issue of gay marriage is not going away in Virginia no matter what the Virginia GOP and its puppet masters at The Family Foundation try to do.

Cuccinelli Sued By Former Assistant Attorney General for Wrongful Firing

 

GOP gubernatorial candidate and certifiable egomaniac/nutcase Ken "Kookinelli" Cuccinelli has been sued in federal court by a former Assistant Attorney General who had worked in the AG's office for six years before being fired by Kookinelli because he "suspected" she might have been the author of an anonymous post that called Kookinelli an "egomaniac."  Worse yet, the anonymous poster said Kookinelli was "NEVER" in the office and that he was merely using the post of Attorney General for "self-promotion."  Note, it was apparently never proven that the fired Assistant Attorney Genaral had in fact been the author of the post.  Mere suspicion was what Kookinelli and his henchman cited to justify the firing.  With over 300 attorneys and staff in the AG's office, why did Kookinelli's suspicions focus on the fired staffer?   There were plenty of people who saw how Kookinelli was abusing his office.  Here are highlights from the Washington Post:

An ex-assistant attorney general in Ken Cuccinelli II’s office is suing her former boss, claiming he fired her inappropriately after she was suspected of posting unflattering comments about him on a Washington Post blog.

In a lawsuit filed late last week in federal district court in Virginia, Samantha Vanterpool claims that Cuccinelli fired her about a month after comments appeared online that called the attorney general and Virginia gubernatorial candidate an “egomaniac” who was “NEVER in the AG’s office and solely uses the position for self promotion.” The comments — posted anonymously by the user “bzbzsammy” — came in response to a May 2012 Washington Post blog about Lt. Gov. Bill Bolling’s criticism of Cuccinelli’s planned trip to Iowa.

Richard Patrick, Vanterpool’s lawyer, said officials in the attorney general’s office told Vanterpool as they moved to fire her that they suspected she had posted the comment as “bzbzsammy.” He said they also gave her a copy of the office’s media policy, which prohibits attorney general staffers from talking to reporters without permission.  

The suit — which names Cuccinelli and his former chief deputy Charles E. James Jr. as defendants — claims she was unfairly retaliated against for exercising her free speech rights and asks that she be reinstated and awarded damages and back pay.

Patrick declined to say whether Vanterpool — who worked for the attorney general’s office for about six years — had posted the comment. Since she was fired, Vanterpool, of Annandale, has not been able to get another job, he said. 

Cuccinelli of all people ought to know that "suspicion" does not equate to the legal standard required in a civil suit.  He ought to also know that one is innocent until proven guilty.  Do we really want a petty tyrant/egomaniac in the Governor's mansion - especially after Bob "Pay Me a Bribe" McDonnell?  The only good news for Cuccinelli is that he wasn't accused of sexual harassment.  Of course, if he were to engage in sexual harassment, the closeted Cuccinelli would probably have been harassing cute male Assistant Attorney Generals (Note: the staff in the AG's office includes a chief deputy attorney general, five deputy attorneys general and about 150 assistant attorneys general, 40 additional full-time lawyers appointed as special counsel to particular agencies, and 140 legal assistants, legal secretaries and other professional support staff).