Montana Republicans lose battle against American Prairie Reserve's bison

Darrell Ehrlick, Daily Montanan
October 14, 2022

Shutterstock.

A federal administrative law judge has denied appeals by both Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte and a separate one filed by Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen that disagreed with a decision by the Bureau of Land Management to extend and add leasing acreage for American Prairie’s bison herd.

The state, in several separate appeals, challenged the BLM’s decision to continue leases it currently holds with American Prairie, and one new leased parcel. Knudsen and Gianforte argued that fencing requirements were inappropriate, that bison could spread disease to cattle, and that allowing American Prairie would economically cripple the area, including Phillips County.

However, Judge Veronica I. Larvie denied the appeal, saying that neither Gianforte nor Knudsen had presented specific evidence to support their claims.

The appeal is another chapter in a long simmering battle with Gianforte and Knudsen opposing American Prairie’s vision of restoring prairie land by private land acquisition and leasing, as well as creating more public access to land and hunting, and adding bison herds. Gianforte and Knudsen have routinely opposed the organization’s plans, saying that it harms Montana’s agricultural community by taking land from commercial agriculture production and shifting it toward conservation.

Neither Knudsen’s office, nor Gianforte’s office immediately responded to a request for comment on this story.

While Larvie said that the BLM’s findings and plans for fencing were at times unclear and possibly even contradictory, that alone did not invalidate the permit or create enough of an issue for Montana to warrant staying, or stopping, the agency’s decision.

“(Gianforte and Knudsen) have not prevailed on their burden to show that there is a likelihood of immediate and irreparable harm, therefore their stay petitions must be denied,” the 40-page ruling said.

Repeatedly both Knudsen and Gianforte raised concerns about the requirements of the Taylor Grazing Act, which governs livestock grazing and production on publicly owned land. However, Larvie dismissed concerns quickly.

“They fail to marshal facts or legal authority to show that these inadequacies would be successful in a merits review,” Larvie said.

The judge also found that the state’s argument about economic harm done because of bison grazing compared to commercial cattle production unconvincing.

“(The state) does not attempt to provide any detailed comparison of the monetary contributions of an operation like APR’s current cattle operation in the four allotments with those of a non-production bison operation,” she pointed out. “The net result is that the record does not adequately show the extent of economic harm, if any… Appellants bear the burden of making this showing and they have failed to do so.”

Knudsen and Gianforte also raised the specter of disease transmission from bison to domestic cattle, therefore jeopardizing the economic health of central Montana. In a lengthy discussion about the different diseases and research, Larvie said the state had failed to make a convincing case, rooted in scientific and animal management research.

“They offer no evidence or analysis to show that the disease would likely be transmitted to humans,” the judge said. “In sum, appellants have failed to show that immediate and irreparable harm is likely from disease being transmitted from bison to wildlife, cattle, or humans.”

Knudsen also argued in his appeal that bison, because of being fenced in on the grazing tracts, will cause more environmental harm than cattle, and that the fencing decisions made by the BLM will only exacerbate the overgrazing.

“The Attorney General also argues that Montana’s public lands will be irreparably damaged, but without explanation or evidence to support this dire prediction,” Larvie ruled. “More importantly, the Attorney General presents no evidence to support his conclusion that the bison will overgraze and damage the range.”

Leaving the door open for a legal challenge

However, Larvie in her ruling, did suggest a legal path to challenge the BLM ruling.

“(Gianforte and Knudsen) rightfully express confusion about the specifics of BLM’s fencing plan and their inability to decipher what range improvement projects will occur where and what the final outcome will be. The fencing specifications are not immaterial or of little concern to the interested public or of negligible potential to the environment,” she said. “Appellants raise concerns about whether fencing can simultaneously be both wildlife-friendly and effective at containing bison.”

“It raises concerns whether BLM’s ultimate decision was ‘fully informed and well-considered’ As such this is ‘fair ground for litigation and more deliberative investigation.’”

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and Twitter.

'Sad state of affairs' as Forest Service considers Montana resort proposal: Save Holland Lake

Keila Szpaller,

 Daily Montanan
October 15, 2022

Holland Lake Lodge / Shutterstock

Thousands of people are raising objections to a controversial plan to expand Holland Lake Lodge, especially after the U.S. Forest Service admits it made errors at the beginning of the process.

For one, a group that formed to fight the expansion on public land noted the number of acres currently permitted — 10.53 acres, according to the Forest Service — wasn’t presented accurately at first. Thursday, a Flathead National Forest spokesperson said mapping is underway to clarify the acreage currently in use.

“This process has been confusing from the beginning,” said Bill Lombardi, with Save Holland Lake, the group opposing the expansion and calling for greater scrutiny. “The public is confused, and now the Forest Service is confused. Seriously. And that is a sad state of affairs.”

In April, Holland Lake Lodge Inc., submitted a plan to the Forest Service to expand its resort on a pristine and popular lake in the Swan Valley. As proposed, the expansion would more than double the number of guests at the lodge from 50 to at least 90 or as many as 156, extend operations into winter, and possibly double the acres in use.

Christian Wohlfeil, majority owner of the lodge, said his interest is in selling the property to an owner who has the ability to invest in much needed upgrades and who shares his values of stewardship. For example, he said he’s never waterskied on the lake even though he grew up with the sport, and he could legally rent out jet skis, but he doesn’t.

“We’re trying to look at the long term future and have the lodge be viable for the future,” Wohlfeil said. “And that’s what this plan is.”

But the plan has not been popular with the public, in part because the Forest Service said it may not complete a full environmental assessment or more extensive environmental impact statement, or EIS, before approving the project. More than 6,500 public comments have been submitted to the Forest Service, and Save Holland Lake estimated nearly 99 percent of them opposed the project.

“The Holland Lake area is already heavily impacted. The project will change the culture and the ecology of the area. Scale back,” one commenter wrote.

Said another: “Keep it Montana.”

In their plan, property owners requested an exception, called a “categorical exclusion,” from a full scale environmental review, and the Forest Service said its initial decision is to grant the request. Typically, the exception means no EIS and no environmental assessment.

However, one week following a contentious public meeting about the proposal, Flathead National Forest Public Information Officer Tami MacKenzie said the Forest Service will conduct some type of environmental review, although the agency has not determined the extent of it, nor is it legally bound to complete an environmental study. She also confirmed a second public comment period will take place after more analysis and “acreage clarifications.”

“This really is just the beginning of this process,” MacKenzie said. “I know they (the public) feel like they were blindsided, but this is really step one. I would encourage everyone to just continue through this process with us and see where it ends up.”

In the meantime, Holland Lake Lodge is marching forward. Thursday, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality noted it had received the lodge’s application to construct two public water wells so they can be tested for quality and quantity. DEQ said if they both are acceptable, they may be used to serve the development in the future.

A lodge for the future

Wolfheil, who has owned the lodge for 20 years, recently sold minority shares to POWDR, a ski resort and “adventure life” company, in anticipation of a full transfer in the future. He said POWDR, based in Utah, can make the investments necessary to build an “eco-friendly” resort, upgrade parts of the property in disrepair, and maintain it all.

“Right now, the foundation of the lodge is crumbling, and we’d like to put it on an actual foundation and preserve it for future generations,” Wolfheil said.

He said the Forest Service needs to confirm the acreage in question. Generally, he said his interest is in increasing overnight guest capacity to an average 130, or more than doubling it, upgrading the infrastructure, including sewer, parking and power, creating employee housing, and potentially running at least some services all year long.

“If we can do year round operations, it would be at least 20 year round jobs, which we could then do full medical, dental, vision and 401K benefits,” Wolfheil said.

Although he admits the capacity at the lodge would be at least twice its current limit, he also said the number of additional visitors should be viewed in the context of all of the use at the lake. For example, the Forest Service estimates peak use at 500 people a night for the campground, group site and Owl Packer Camp, not including the day-use area.

The lodge sits in a grizzly corridor, so Wolfheil said he can submit a proposal, or “master development plan,” to the Forest Service just once every 10 years. That means the current proposal should include anticipated expansion plans for the next decade, he said.

“So we have to ask for as much as we want to do now,” he said.

Some members of the public have called for him to scale back the project, and Wolfheil said it’s possible to downsize, but doing so would mean pushing up rates for the project to pencil out. Currently, he said the lodging range is estimated at $200 to $240 a night for a smaller cabin that sleeps two people, and $400 to $450 a night for a cabin that sleeps four to six, not including meals (“no glamping,” he said).

The current nightly rate for two people is $340, including meals.

POWDR doesn’t need a return on its investment right away, he said, but it needs a return sooner or later. Just this summer, he said he received 4,000 inquiries via email alone about cabins, and he was sold out from April through September.

“My point is there is demand,” Wolfheil said.

If he was starting from scratch, he said, he would understand the call for a full environmental study, but the Forest Service suggested the owners ask for a “categorical exclusion” because the resort is already in operation. Plus, he said, the exclusion won’t bypass a review, it will allow for a less intensive analysis.

Over the years, he said he’s worked 70 or 80 hours a week at the lodge and worn every hat, so it’s not easy for him to hear impassioned public comment against the expansion. He also said the project represents one of the tensions in a state that’s growing.

“Montana people are sort of sensitive to all the people moving in and all the crowds coming with Covid,” he said. “It’s a Catch-22 because we also need tourism in our state that helps our economy.”

‘Fouled up’ process

But the proposal and process both have raised the ire of residents of the Swan Valley.

What will happen to water quality? Grizzly bears? How much acreage is permitted anyway? And what happens if people responded to a proposal that wasn’t totally accurate?

Kristine Akland, with the Center for Biological Diversity, said the Forest Service’s preliminary decision to grant a “categorical exclusion” doesn’t square with a proposal to possibly triple capacity at the lodge. She said that type of exception can be used for expanding a toilet or a shower facility or replacing a chairlift.

“There are a lot of people that believe the use of a categorical exclusion would be illegal,” said Akland, a lawyer for the Center for Biological Diversity.

She also said POWDR has a helicopter skiing business, and another concern is whether the company would eventually apply for a permit to do heliskiing in the Swan Valley. The current plan does not mention helicopter skiing, but Akland said that doesn’t preclude the company from making a request in the future.

She said she didn’t know if a lawsuit would end up being filed, but one of the concerns with granting an exception to an environmental assessment or more in depth environmental impact statement is work can start right away — and the proposal notes changes will begin in 2023.

“That’s why that’s so concerning to us and a lot of the locals and local groups, is that if the Forest Service decides to utilize a categorical exclusion, they can issue a decision immediately and begin ground disturbing activities,” Akland said. “ … We don’t get the opportunity to make sure they’re considering all the important resources.”

In the meantime, Lombardi pointed to grizzly bears, lynx, bull trout, elk, loons, the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex, and said they all merit a rigorous environmental review. And he said the Forest Service needs to know — and present accurately to the public — the actual scope of the permit and project.

“It’s just a very pristine valley that has all kinds of wildlife, so we’re just puzzled and concerned why the Forest Service one, would propose a categorical exclusion, and two, didn’t tell anyone until September when they’ve had this planned until at least April of this year,” Lombardi said.

At the public meeting last week, Flathead Forest Supervisor Kurt Steele admitted to the public the Forest Service initially presented the scope of the project as a footprint of 15 acres, same as the current resort, according to the Missoulian. But the Forest Service later said the permit was for 10.53 acres, and Thursday, MacKenzie said the agency still needs to confirm the acreage in question.

But thousands of people have already submitted comments based on the original plan, Lombardi said: “What is the administrative procedure now that they don’t know? … The process has been fouled up from the beginning.”

Complicated acreage, process

MacKenzie, with the Flathead National Forest, said the Forest Service has not yet made a decision to use a categorical exclusion. She said Thursday she anticipates a decision will be made in the next week or two.

However, she said typically, a categorical exclusion doesn’t include a second period of public comment, but she said the Forest Service will hold one open in this case even if it grants the exception. She said an environmental assessment or EIS are still possible.

“I think the next step is for us to really get deep into the public comment,” MacKenzie said.

She also said the Forest Service will conduct some sort of environmental review even if it grants a categorical exclusion. However, she said the Forest Service has discretion over how much related documentation it needs to provide.

She also said questions about acreage still need to be answered, and figuring out boundaries is not straightforward. If the Forest Service considers all the infrastructure currently in place, she said it’s greater than 15 acres based on a preliminary assessment.

“The acreage is a complicated one,” she said. “So we have 100 years of permits for this thing, and no two permits are really giving us the same layout and acreage.”

She said the request from Holland Lake Lodge was for 15 acres — the plan notes a wastewater area of 3.8 acres is separate — but it appears to be currently permitted for 10.53 acres. However, she said the boundary for the permit is “still pretty unknown” because modern mapping tools haven’t been used on the property.

“So we have people going out to do the mapping portion of it,” she said.

If the project moves forwards, she said the Forest Service will prepare an analysis to present to the public and open another public comment period likely after the first of the year.

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and Twitter.

Scientists scour global waters testing ocean plankton and pollution

Agence France-Presse
October 16, 2022

Tara left Lorient, France, in December 2020 for a 70,000 kilometer journey (AFP)

After a near two-year "Microbiome" mission around the world, scientists said on Saturday they had gathered thousands of samples of marine micro-organisms in a bid to better understand ocean plankton and pollution.

The survey was carried out from the 33-year-old Tara research schooner, which returned to her home port of Lorient on France's western coast at the weekend.

From Chile to Africa, via the Amazon and the Antarctic, nearly 25,000 samples were collected over the 70,000 kilometer (43,000-mile) route.

"All this data will be analyzed," Tara Ocean Foundation director Romain Trouble told a press conference.

"Within 18 months to two years we will start to have the first discoveries from the mission," he said.

At the base of the food chain, micro-organisms were the "invisible people of the sea", accounting for two-thirds of marine biomass, said Trouble.

"They capture atmospheric CO2 (carbon dioxide) and supply half of the oxygen we breathe."

Trouble said the mission sought to find out how it all works.

"How do all these marine viruses, bacteria, micro-algue manage to interact to produce oxygen?"

"And how will that change tomorrow with climate change and pollution?"

The Tara team paid particular attention to the impact on the oceans of the River Amazon, which has a water flow rate of 200 million liters (53 million gallons) per second.

They wanted to test a theory that deforestation and the spread of agriculture has increased nitrate fertilizer discharge, leading to an abundance of toxic algae along river banks and coasts, particularly in the Caribbean.

The 22-month odyssey also sought to trace the sources of plastic pollution at river mouths, to understand distribution and the types of material involved.

The mission was Tara's 12th global journey and involved 42 research institutions around the world.

Next spring, Tara sets off to research chemical pollution off European coasts.

© Agence France-Presse

Earth’s oxygen has varied dramatically over time – here’s how our data could help us spot alien life

The Conversation
October 16, 2022

Earth (AFP Photo/NASA)

Are we alone in the universe? This is a question that has intrigued humans for centuries and inspired countless studies and works of fiction. But are we getting closer to finding this out? Now that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) is in operation, we might have taken one giant leap in being able to answer this one day.

One of the four main objectives of the JWST is to study exoplanets – planets which reside outside of our solar system – and determine what gases their atmospheres are composed of. Now our new research into the variation of oxygen on Earth over geological time has offered clues about what to actually look for.

To try and comprehend how, when and why life might evolve on other planets, it makes sense to look to the only planet we currently know of which hosts life: Earth. Understanding our own planet’s complicated evolutionary history might provide the key to finding other planets capable of supporting life.

Life and oxygen

We know that animals require oxygen in order to survive, although some, such as sponges, require less than others. Yet, while oxygen is readily available today, making up 21% of the atmosphere, we also know that this was not true for the majority of Earth’s history.

If we travelled deep into our past, beyond around 450 million years ago, we would need to carry a handy supply of oxygen tanks with us. But what we are less certain of is the absolute amount of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans through time and whether rises in oxygen levels fueled the evolution of animal life, or vice versa. These questions have in fact sparked numerous debates and decades of research.

The current thinking is that oxygen levels have risen in three broad steps. The first, called the “great oxidation event”, occurred around 2.4 billion years ago, transforming the Earth from a planet essentially devoid of oxygen in the atmosphere and oceans to one with oxygen as a permanent feature of it. The third occurred around 420 million years ago and is called the “Paleozoic oxygenation event”, which saw a rise in atmospheric oxygen to present day levels.

But in between, some 800 million years ago, lies the second step: the “Neoproterozoic oxygenation event” or NOE. Initially, information extracted from sedimentary rocks formed on the ocean floor suggested that it was during this time that oxygen rose to something like modern levels.

However, more data gathered since has suggested a more intriguing oxygen history. Importantly, the NOE occurred just before evidence of the very first animals, appearing around 600 million years ago.


James Webb image of a cluster of galaxies about 4 billion light years from Earth.
NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

Modeling oxygen levels

We set out to explore and reconstruct atmospheric oxygen levels during the NOE to see what conditions the first animals appeared under. To do this, we built a computer model of the Earth, incorporating knowledge about the various processes which can deliver oxygen to the atmosphere or remove it.

We investigated carbon-bearing rocks, deposited worldwide, to calculate ancient photosynthesis rates. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants and microbes use sunlight, water and carbon dioxide to create oxygen and energy in the form of sugars – the main source of oxygen on Earth.

Carbon naturally exists in many isotopes – atoms with a different number of neutrons in their nucleus (the nucleus is made up of protons and neutrons). Different isotopes therefore have slightly different sizes and masses from one another.

We looked at isotopes of carbon known as carbon-12 and carbon-13, which do not undergo radioactive decay. Plants prefer to use carbon-12 - the lightest isotope - during photosynthesis, leaving the seawater and subsequently the rocks which form on the ocean floor enriched in carbon-13 instead.

When we analyze these rocks, millions or even billions of years later, if we find more carbon-13 than carbon-12 we can predict that more photosynthesis, and thus more oxygen production, occurred. We then modelled volcanic activity, which can release gases that react with oxygen, removing it from the atmosphere.

This approach might sound a little strange, and you might ask why there was nothing more direct for us to measure. This is because most geological evidence from this time is not preserved, and these carbon isotope ratios are one of the few well-defined data sets we have through this time period.

What we found is that, rather than a simple jump in oxygen levels during the Neoproterozoic era, the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere changed significantly and, on geological timescales, very rapidly. While 750 million years ago, oxygen made up 12% of the atmosphere, in just a few tens of millions of years, it had dropped to about 0.3% – a tiny fraction – before rising again a few million years later.

Our research shows that atmospheric oxygen probably continued this dance between high and low levels until plants gained a foothold on the land some 450 million years ago.

Searching for alien life

These results are intriguing for a number of reasons. We have often thought that the relative stability that Earth has experienced for much of the last 4.5 billion years is necessary for life to flourish. After all, when big events, such as asteroid impacts, have occurred it has not gone well for some of Earth’s inhabitants (sorry, dinosaurs).

But if the first animals did evolve against a backdrop of highly variable oxygen levels, it suggests that some dynamic changes might instead be required in order to foster ecological innovation.

Our results suggest that periods of low atmospheric oxygen levels could have been important for developing more complex life by driving the extinction of some simple organisms and allowing the survivors to expand and diversify when oxygen levels rose again. So, we should not rule out taking a closer look at exoplanets that have a poorly oxygenated atmosphere.

Of course, this is a very Earth and even animal-centric view. Alien life may be completely different to life on Earth. For example, it could well exist on planetary bodies such as Titan – one of Saturn’s moons – which has seas of liquid methane and ethane. But as a starting point in our search for extra-terrestrial life, understanding the history of atmospheric oxygen on Earth is a useful guide.

Alex Krause, Research Fellow in Earth System Modeling, UCL and Benjamin J. W. Mills, Associate Professor of Biogeochemical Modeling, University of Leeds

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Changing climate claims railways, houses and beaches in California

Agence France-Presse
October 16, 2022

The sea is swallowing homes, tracks and California's beautiful beaches Robyn Beck AFP

Steve Lang can see catastrophic erosion worsened by climate change happening in real time along one of the world's most scenic railroad lines, where the sea is swallowing homes, tracks and California's beautiful beaches.

"Every day I come here and watch this, and it makes me want to cry," the 68-year-old tells AFP on rail tracks he crosses to go surfing.

Powerful waves wash in from the Pacific over the rails where the "Pacific Surfliner" runs, ferrying sightseers through the stunning coastal landscapes of southern California.

Not long ago, the railway was cushioned by hundreds of feet (tens of meters) of golden sand. But violent southern swells have washed that sand away.

With the beach gone, there was nothing to protect the rails from the fury of Tropical Storm Kay as it lashed the coast in September, eating away at the land on which they stood.

The track, which carries 8.3 million passengers annually between San Diego and San Luis Obispo, is now closed for emergency work.

- Climate change -

In the luxury Cyprus Shore settlement, an enclave of about a hundred plush villas that was once home to former president Richard Nixon, residents look on uneasily.

Without the beach to protect it, the hillside on which it is built is being eaten away and multi-million dollar homes are sliding towards the sea.

The cliffside parking lot is collapsing and two villas with cracked walls are now officially uninhabitable.


"These homes were valued at minimum $10 million each," says Lang.

"We've been trying to raise the alert for years, but we don't get much traction."

The tragedy of the encroaching waters is not limited to San Clemente, says acting mayor Chris Duncan, but a problem for the whole state.


"This area here in Cyprus Shore... is a microcosm," he says.

"The entire California coast is threatened by climate change and threatened by coastal erosion."

Erosion is a natural phenomenon that has helped shape our continents over millennia.


But scientists say it is being speeded up by the warming of the planet; exacerbated by rising sea levels brought about by melting ice caps and glaciers, and by the more powerful waves that warmer oceans hold.

Humanity's unchecked burning of fossil fuels since the industrial revolution has pushed average global temperatures up by 1.2 degrees celsius. They are expected to continue rising.

- 'Lost battle' -


By 2050, between $8 billion and $10 billion of infrastructure could be underwater in California, and other construction valued at $6 billion to $10 billion will be in a high-tide hazard zone, according to a 2019 study released by California's state legislature.

In San Clemente, local transport authorities are trying to stabilize the shifting tracks.

By 2050, between $8 billion and $10 billion of infrastructure could be underwater in California Robyn Beck AFP


Every day, tons of rocks are dumped to reinforce the seawall and protect them, in a $12 million project expected to last more than six weeks.

But "it's a losing battle," Duncan sighs.

The line was closed in September 2021 to add 18,000 tons of rock, and that didn't solve the problem.


"While the rock might temporarily stabilize the slope, it causes exponential sand loss," he says.

"Because now when the waves hit, it doesn't hit a soft beach. It hits a hard rock, bounces off, takes all other sand with it."

Duncan wants federal money to build back the beaches.


"I'm talking about breakwaters, about living shorelines, about possibly groins where it might be appropriate."

Every day tons of rocks are dumped to reinforce the seawall Robyn Beck AFP

Some advocate a more radical solution to save the railway line.


"The best would be to move (the track) back away from the coast," says Joseph Street, a geologist at the California Coastal Commission.

"But of course that's obviously a big, big effort to do that, very expensive."

And, he points out, it does nothing to protect the homes that are at risk behind the track.
Retreat

"A lot of our urban planners and decision makers have really dragged their feet on responding to this problem," says Stefanie Sekich-Quinn, of Surfrider Foundation.

The environmental NGO advocates moving the line away from the coast, an option put forth in a 2009 federal report.

The tragedy of the encroaching waters is not limited to San Clemente, says acting mayor Chris Duncan, but a problem for the state of California Robyn Beck AFP

California has a handful of such initiatives. On the same rail line, authorities in nearby San Diego announced this year a $300 million project to relocate a portion of tracks further inland.

But in San Clemente, that's really a last resort, says Duncan.

"People are going to want officials like me to work to save our homes, to save our rail corridor, and not just give up," he says.

© 2022 AFP

Trump's Truth Social broke the law, says former VP — who gave the Feds the evidence: report

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

(Shutterstock.com)

Federal investigators have received evidence of crimes from a former executive at the Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs his Truth Social clone of Twitter, according to a bombshell new report by The Washington Post that was published online on Saturday afternoon.

The newspaper reports the company's former senior vice president of operations, Will Wilkerson, is pursuing whistleblower status from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Wilkerson believes Trump forced out company co-founder and former contestant on the TV show "The Apprentice" Andy Litinsky for not handing over shares in the company to his wife, Melania Trump. Wilkerson provided the newspaper with an email from Litinsky saying the former president was retaliating against him.

"The email — one of hundreds of previously unreported company messages, documents, photos and audio recordings that Wilkerson has provided to the SEC in connection with a whistleblower submission — reveals a stunning portrait of the animosity that has built up inside Trump Media since its high-profile debut last year," the newspaper reported.

Shortly before midnight on Friday evening, Trump posted that "Truth Social was Number One on the Internet today!"

"Promoted as the centerpiece of Trump’s post-presidential business ambitions, the company had marketed itself as a budding media empire, with enterprises planned in social media, video streaming, live events and online payments — a powerful rival not just to Twitter but Disney, Google and Amazon," the newspaper reported. "But inside the company, Wilkerson said, those plans gave way to bitter infighting, technical failures and a chaotic jockeying for power among Trump allies that undermined its potential and left some employees crying at their desks."

The newspaper reports Wilkerson filed a whistleblower complaint in August and was fired on Thursday after speaking to Post reporter Drew Harwell.

"Wilkerson is cooperating with investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, said his attorneys, Phil Brewster, Patrick Mincey and Stephen Bell," the newspaper reported. "Among the materials he filed with the SEC’s whistleblower office is a detailed, day-to-day computer log compiled by company co-founder Wes Moss, Litinsky and Wilkerson about their daily company-related activities. He also provided to The Post a copy of that log as well as numerous other memos, photographs and videos that chronicled the creation of Trump Media."

Read the full report.

America First megadonor Peter Thiel seeks citizenship from Mediterranean island: report

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

Gage Skidmore.

One of the largest individual donors in the 2022 midterm elections is seeking to obtain citizenship in Malta, The New York Times reported on Saturday.

The newspaper based its report on documents it had viewed and "three people with knowledge of the matter."

"Mr. Thiel, 55, is in the process of acquiring at least his third passport even as he expands his financial influence over American politics," the newspaper reported. "Since backing Donald J. Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, the technology investor has become one of the largest individual donors in the midterm elections next month, spending more than $30 million on more than a dozen right-wing Congressional candidates who have decried globalization and pledged to put America first."

Thiel also has a New Zealand passport.

"There is no obvious tax benefit to Mr. Thiel to gaining Maltese citizenship, lawyers and immigration experts said, though wealthy Saudi, Russian and Chinese citizens sometimes seek a passport from the island nation for European Union access and to hedge against social or political turmoil at home," The Times reported. "What is clear is that a Maltese passport would give Mr. Thiel an escape hatch from the United States if his spending doesn’t change the country to his liking."

Thiel has been a major backer of the U.S. Senate campaigns of Blake Masters in Arizona and J.D. Vance in Ohio.

"Both candidates have espoused a form of nationalism that, in part, blames globalization and leaders’ involvement in international affairs for American stagnation," the newspaper reported. "Mr. Thiel has endorsed that worldview with his money and in speeches, including one at the National Conservatism Conference last year where he called nationalism 'a corrective' to the 'brain-dead, one-world state' of globalism."

Read the full report.

In conservative Florida, LGBT community fights to make its voice heard

Agence France-Presse
October 16, 2022

A Pride parade in Orlando transforms the Florida city into a rainbow island in a US state more and more associated with the conservative politics of its governor(AFP)

A Beyonce hit thumped in the background as Pride parade participants marched on Saturday through the streets of Orlando, transforming the Florida city into a rainbow island in a US state more and more associated with the conservative politics of its governor.

Behind their beaming smiles and vibrant outfits, the state's LGBT community is having a tough year.

"We're definitely headed back in time," said Donna Marie, a 55-year-old nurse in a rainbow hat.

"And if this continues, the next thing is going to be gay marriage," she added, referring to the fear of a potential political threat to same-sex unions.

In March, Florida's Republican Governor Ron DeSantis, one of the most prominent conservative politicians in the United States, signed a law prohibiting the discussion of sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school classrooms.

The controversial bill -- dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by its detractors -- was a major topic of discussion at the Pride parade, with signs encouraging participants to not only "say gay," but also to "shout gay" and "yell gay" too.

For 22-year-old Brianna Johnson, the political environment made her appearance at Pride all the more meaningful, because, she said, "We still show who we are, and nobody can stop us from that."

Johnson, a manager with Disney, said she has known she was a lesbian since But her religious family has been a long-time obstacle on the path to embrace her true identity.

Stopping young people from expressing themselves, as Florida's law could, is "very harmful and hurtful," according to Johnson.

"It hurts my heart," she said.

Pulse

Not far from a stand selling signs exclaiming "I love my gay son," 61-year-old Morgan Manry shares his own concerns.

The non-profit worker recalls how the 2016 massacre at Pulse, in which 49 people were killed in a shooting at the gay nightclub in Orlando, "brought together the city" and helped the LGBT community become more accepted around town.


Now, the current political climate is "dismantling a social understanding that took years to develop," Manry said.

Transgender student Jason Humphrey says he is facing the indirect consequences the "Don't Say Gay" law.

Even though the new rule is directed at younger students, 19-year-old Humphrey says his own teachers are also now reluctant to discuss his gender identity or name change.

"They were worried about getting in any trouble," he told AFP, calling the situation "horrible."

"We're citizens of Florida too, come on. It's not appropriate," he said of the law, carrying a large python around his arm -- and hurrying to clarify that the animal does not bite.

'Get out and vote'

Coming just weeks before decisive midterm elections, the Pride parade cannot help but take on a political tone.

Local Democratic candidates work campaign stands along the route, and US Senate candidate Val Demings marches right in the middle of the procession, rainbow flag in hand.

The campaigning helps to both differentiate candidates from DeSantis and use the social issue to motivate Democratic voters to show up to the polls.


For some Pride attendants, such as Aubrey Robinson, the strategy seems to be working. Next to a button reading "respect all pronouns," the 43-year-old is wearing another one in support of a Democratic candidate, who, "I'll be honest with you, I don't know anything about him," she said.

But campaigners told Robinson the candidate is opposed to the governor's policies.

"Anybody that is against DeSantis and getting in there and that is for the community, I'm for," she said.


"I think that it's very important to get out and vote. More so than ever now."

© Agence France-Presse

'Seemingly invincible' Chuck Grassley is in his tightest ever re-election battle in Iowa

Bob Brigham
October 15, 2022

Chuck Grassley / Gage Skidmore
HE WAS MADE FOR TERM LIMITS

Republican Chuck Grassley has been an Iowa lawmaker since 1959, but appears to be in a tight battle for political survival as he seeks his eighth term in the U.S. Senate.

On Saturday night, the Des Moines Register released it's latest Mediacom Iowa Poll, showing Grassley only leading retired Admiral Mike Franken by three points, 46% to 43%.

The poll, conducted by pollster J. Ann Selzer, has often been called the gold standard of Iowa polling.

Selzer told the newspaper the poll "says to me that Franken is running a competent campaign and has a shot to defeat the seemingly invincible Chuck Grassley — previously perceived to be invincible."

The poll shows Democrats may have a chance to flip a seat in a largely overlooked seat.

"Election analysts for months have rated the race in Grassley’s favor, and national Democratic groups have indicated they don’t plan to spend money supporting Franken, instead focusing on states where they see greater potential for victory," the newspaper reported. "But the poll indicates weaknesses for Grassley beyond his head-to-head race with Franken. His job disapproval rating is a record high for him in the Iowa Poll. The percentage of Iowans who view him unfavorably also hit a peak. And nearly two-thirds of likely voters say the senator’s age is a concern rather than an asset."

Grassley, 89, was first elected to the Iowa House of Representatives in the 1958 midterm elections. He served eight terms in the legislature, then three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives, before first being elected to the U.S. Senate when he shared the ballot with Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Nate Silver of 538 wrote, "The reason this is interesting is not because Grassley is going to lose (probably not) and not even because the Selzer poll has been accurate (though it has been) but because she's a pollster who will publish what her numbers tell her and not herd toward the conventional wisdom."

Also on Saturday, Grassley posted a video explaining how much corn farming has changed during his time as a farmer.

Watch below or at this link:

GRASSLEY GOT IOWA ON THE BIOFUEL TAX CREDIT KICK WAAAAAAY BACK IN 1984

UNDER RONALD REAGAN

'OFF THE DEEP END'

Inside the Jerry Falwell Love Triangle: Pool Boy Tells All

In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Giancarlo Granda reveals how he fell into a scandalous relationship with the evangelical leader and his wife.

BY GIANCARLO GRANDA, MARK EBNER

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Giancarlo Granda, the Miami hotel "pool boy" whose accusations of a marital affair helped lead to Jerry Falwell's resignation from Liberty University 

TONI L. SANDYS/THE WASHINGTON POST/GETTY IMAGES

BEFORE THE EVENTS related in this excerpt, Giancarlo Granda was just another 20-year-old Miami high school graduate: pool attendant at an iconic Miami Beach hotel, eager to please, ambitious, open to suggestion. A chance poolside encounter with Becki and then Jerry Falwell Jr., first-born son of an evangelical legend and his attractive 40-ish wife intrigued him. He acted on a lark, and was suddenly in the middle of a complex sexual affair with Becki. The affair gave Granda a firsthand view of immense wealth, unexpurgated power and unwavering faith, as well as the duplicity and destruction it takes to maintain their illusion.

(The Falwells have denied Granda’s account and insist that Jerry was not a participant in the affair.)

A decade later, it all looks very different. Their predatory nature, abuse of power, complete lack of moral compass and monumental hypocrisy is breathtaking to look back across the full sweep of it. In this excerpt from their new book Off the Deep End: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty, co-authors Giancarlo Granda and Mark Ebner recount how those first few tentative steps set Granda on a dizzying path to near destruction.

At the tail end of the high season at the Fontainebleau hotel in Miami, on March 13, 2012, I was close to ending my shift at around 4:00 p.m, when I noticed a woman staring at me. She was camped out in my section—maybe in her mid-forties, attractive, fit, and very charismatic, stretched out on one of the poolside daybeds in a bikini. Daybeds are way more comfortable than the lounge chairs, and the going rate was $150 a day, so anyone with a daybed already had my attention.

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Her dark brown eyes locked on to me, and I felt her watching me wherever I went. She had a deep, penetrating stare, and when she caught my eye she didn’t look away. It was a little disconcerting. The next time I was within earshot, she said, “Oh, these girls don’t know what they’re doing. You need someone older.”

She was being flirty, saying it as a joke, so I flirted back. She asked my name, and when I shook her hand, she complimented me on my handshake. We talked for a few minutes—“Do you go to school?”; “What kind of stuff are you interested in?”—and then I told her I had to get back to work. Every time I cycled through, there was a little more banter and a little more flirtation. She said her name was Becki.

It all seemed innocent enough, but then near the end of my shift, she asked me to sit down next to her on the daybed, where nobody could hear us, and in a conspiratorial tone asked me, “Hey, do you want to come back to my room?”

Not what I was expecting.

When I didn’t say no right away, she added, “There’s just one thing . . . My husband wants to watch.”

 


There was a lot to unpack in that sentence: a sexy rendezvous is about to happen, but wait, she’s married, but no, her husband’s okay with it and in fact he’s coming along to have a look. That was too many hairpin turns, and the resulting whiplash made me a little queasy. She knew it was shocking, and there was a slight catch in her voice when she said it. I must have recoiled ever so slightly, because she was quick to add, “Oh don’t worry, he’ll hide in the corner and watch us. That’s his thing. You won’t even know he’s there.”

By way of explanation, she said that she and her husband had visited Miami Velvet, a local swingers club in Doral. A lot of swingers stayed at the Fontainebleau, so Miami Velvet was well known to all of us who worked there. She confessed they had been curious about these sorts of places, having had no experience with them, but it was all gross, nothing sensual or erotic about it, people having faceless mechanical sex everywhere you looked, so they left. All I really knew about Miami Velvet was that it served as a punch line for the locals. I had never known anyone who had actually been there, and I had the sense that it was for an older age group. But now the conversation was charged with sex, and I wanted her to stay on topic.

I was conflicted. On the one hand, she was in her bikini, touching her neck, fussing with her hair, paying me compliments, sipping on her drink while she stared into my eyes. I found it all very intriguing. But it was also weird and unlike anything I had ever done before. I asked her if we could meet up alone first, but she said that would go against their agreement. I told her I needed some time to think about it and asked her to call me after my shift, which ended in another hour. She typed my number into her phone. She didn’t give me hers.

I had seen her surreptitiously taking pictures of me, in between chatting me up, and I surmised that she must have been texting her husband the whole time. Later, after she sent me a batch of the photos, I realized that at least one of them was taken from outside my section, which means she would have had to move into my section, which I suppose makes it a surveillance photo.

Soon after, her husband came down and joined us, and she introduced him as Jerry. He wore Speedo briefs, with his belly hanging over his waistband. It was a little awkward, and he largely avoided eye contact, but he shook my hand and said, “Nice to meet you, Gian,” with his thick southern accent. He pronounced Gian like “John,” and this became his nickname for me for as long as I knew him.

Some of my coworkers and at least one manager could see what was going on, and they encouraged me to go for it. We all agreed it was strange but also hilarious. When Jerry left, he told me he’d see me later. In the parking lot my cell buzzed and the number came up as blocked. It was Becki. She had mentioned that they were staying in a suite in the Trésor Tower, which is between $1,000 and $1,500 a night, so while I didn’t know who they were, they obviously had money. Still, they suggested we meet at a Days Inn around the corner from the Fontainebleau so we could avoid any issues with hotel management if anybody recognized me. With traffic, it took me an hour to get home to my parents’ house, shower, change into jeans and a black T-shirt, and then a half hour to get back. I called my sister on my way home and told her what was happening, including what hotel we would be at, in case Becki and Jerry turned out to be serial killers. She thought the whole thing was hysterical. She was in her late twenties at this point, and a confidant and best friend, so she knew all about my dating life. She asked me, “Do you think this is a good idea?” laughing as she said it. I told her, “Probably not.” But then, you’re only twenty once.

I arrived at the Days Inn around 8:30 or 9:00 p.m. Becki was sitting on a couch in the lobby. I was nervous, and I guess she was too, because she poured whiskey from a fifth of Jack Daniel’s into a plastic cup. She wore nightclub attire: a tight dress that finished at mid-thigh, not see-through but suggestive, and black heels. We passed the cup back and forth between us to calm our nerves. At one point, she said, “I can’t believe we’re going to do this. This is crazy.”

At the time I had the impression they had never done this before, but a decade later I think that’s highly unlikely. Regardless, we made small talk as she lightly stroked my arms and inner thigh. I rested my hand on her leg, and soon we were comfortable enough with each other that she told me, “All right, let’s go upstairs.” On the elevator up she backed up against me, and I folded my arms around her.

Jerry Falwell Jr. ETHAN MILLER/GETTY IMAGES

I followed her into a clean, generic room with two queensize beds. Jerry lay on the one closest to the door, dressed, but with his jeans unbuttoned and fanned open so you could see his underwear; shoes off, with his shirtsleeves rolled up to the elbows. It was awkward at first, but he was already drunk, and he greeted me with “Hey, Gian,” and then let out a giggle. That was a little disconcerting, but it also served to break the ice, since it added to the absurdity. He had a drink, which he kept sipping while we talked.

I told him, “If you get jealous at any point, just let me know and I’ll get the hell out of here. I will not hesitate.” I was still worried that he might attack me and stove in the back of my head. But he told me, “Don’t worry about it. You guys do what you want to do.”

I kissed Becki, and she was practically vibrating. I picked her up and carried her over to the second bed. She was surprisingly light. She wasn’t wearing any panties, which is the kind of thing that makes an impression on you at twenty, and she half whispered, “Our rule is anything but intercourse,” meaning no penetration. I nodded that was fine. I went down on her, and when she finished, she told me, “My turn. Lay back.”

At some point, Jerry got up and walked to the side of the bed to get a better angle. I had a moment of near panic, thinking, What is he doing? and I told him to back off—not in a hostile way, just establishing some boundaries. He apologized and quickly walked back toward the entrance and stood right outside the bathroom. After that I was able to put blinders on and block him out. Becki rarely lost eye contact with me, but for all her forwardness, she seemed submissive in the moment, eager to please.

Afterward, they were elated that we’d managed to pull it off. She was buzzing, electric, and Jerry continued to giggle with excitement. I was happy, but this was enough pathfinding for one day. I told them, “All right, guys—I’m outta here.” Becki kissed me on the lips and then walked me down to the lobby. As I drove home, I was pretty sure I’d never hear from them again.

The next day, my cell phone rang as I was walking across campus. I picked up to hear Becki’s voice. “Hey, what’s up?” she said. “You want to see me again before I leave?”

I paused, then thought, Why not?

From OFF THE DEEP END: Jerry and Becki Falwell and the Collapse of an Evangelical Dynasty by Giancarlo Granda and Mark Ebner, published by William Morrow. Copyright © 2022 by Giancarlo Granda. Reprinted courtesy of HarperCollinsPublishers