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TOPICS:

1. Voting, 2024 Presidential election,
2. METRO offers free rides to polling centers through Nov. 5;
3. Flood control calls tax rate election to fund aging maintenance projects;
4. Hollins asks to expand pay-to-play investigation to Whitmire’s state of the city address;
5. New research on political animosity reveals an “ominous” trend;
6. National politics now a key factor in local prosecutor election outcomes;
7. Texas Supreme Court justice’s oversight of trust belonging to millionaire with dementia raises ethics concerns;
8. Arizona official who delayed 2022 election certification pleads guilty;
9. S. intel officials say Russia is behind attempts to smear Tim Walz;
10. ‘Do not waste time on theatrics’: Journalists tour alleged Hezbollah hospital bunker in Beirut;

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Except for timely election info, the extensive list of voting resources will now be at the end.

1. ELECTION INFO:
   1. The general election is Nov. 5, less than 2 weeks away. I’ve already sent in my mail-in ballot. I checked the HarrisVotes Ballot Tracking link, and my ballot was recorded to have arrived on October 22.
   2. As a matter of public record, I voted NO on the HISD bonds. The Harris County Democratic and Republican Parties have both advised a “no” vote, and even the Houston Chronicle is recommending a “no” vote. For a school bond issue, this must be unprecedented.
   3. The deadline to apply for a mail ballot has passed.
   4. Early Vote Centers are open and will run through Friday, November 1 (Open Mon-Sat: 7a.m.–7 p.m., and Sun: 12 p.m.-7p.m.)
   5. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, Voting Centers will accept voters from 7a.m.–7p.m. If you’re already in line by 7PM, you cannot be turned away.
   6. In Harris County, you can visit the “What’s on my Ballot?” link at the HarrisVotes[dot]com page and enter your name or address to see all the contests and candidates on your personal ballot!
   7. To aid you in voting on a ballot in person, you can bring handwritten notes or printed sample ballots to the voting booth; just be sure to take them with you when you leave.
   8. Outside of Harris County … At the bottom of every show post, I have links to the various county clerks or election clerks in counties adjacent to Harris. For Texas generally, you can reach the Texas Secretary of State by going to VoteTexas[dot]gov.
   9. I also provide below this post, over a half-dozen links to various voting information reference resources that you may find useful.
   10. REFERENCE: Voting and elections — USA.GOV (Find out how to register to vote, where your voting location is, how presidential elections work, and more about voting in the United States.)
   11. REFERENCE: Texas Election Code
   12. REFERENCE: Texas Secretary of State, Alicia Pierce, Assistant Secretary of State for Communications,
   13. REFERENCE: Brennan Center for Justice, Sean Morales-Doyle,  Director, Voting Rights Program
   14. REFERENCE: Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector & Voter Registrar
   15. REFERENCE: Fort Bend County Election Administrator, John Oldham
   16. REFERENCE: League of Women Voters, Texas
   17. REFERENCE: BALLOTPEDIA — BALLOTPEDIA.ORG
   18. REFERENCE: S. Election Assistance Commission
   19. REFERENCE: 1993 National Voter Registration Act
2. METRO offers free rides to polling centers through Nov. 5; By Cassandra Jenkins | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 1:16 PM Oct 21, 2024 CDT / Updated 1:16 PM Oct 21, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Elections, Polling Places, Metro,
   1. The Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County will offer registered voters a free-round trip ride to vote in the 2024 November elections.
   2. … According to a news release Oct. 19, residents can receive a free ride by showing a voter ID or another form of approved documentation to the bus operator or fare inspector. Services include METRORail, METROLift, METRORapid, curb2curb and the local bus lines.
   3. Free rides will be available within all METRO’s service areas during: Early voting: 21-Nov. 1; [and] Election Day: Nov. 5.
   4. Residents can find the nearest polling location and how to get there through METRO services by visiting ridemetro.org or using the METRO app.
   5. … To see more information on where to vote, voting procedure and what’s on the ballot, visit communityimpact.com/election.
   6. MIKE: I would encourage anyone who needs a ride to a polling station to consider this offer from Metro as an option.
3. Flood control calls tax rate election to fund aging maintenance projects; By Aubrey Vogel, Melissa Enaje | COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM | 2:52 PM Oct 21, 2024 CDT / Updated 2:52 PM Oct 21, 2024 CDT. TAGS: Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD), Bond Election,
   1. Harris County Flood Control District [HCFCD] officials said aging infrastructure and deferred maintenance projects are among the most pressing flood mitigation concerns facing the county.
   2. Nearly 40% of flood control infrastructure has less than 10 years left on its overall lifeline, with 35% of projects needing serious repairs in the next 20 years, officials said. In the upcoming Nov. 5 election, Harris County voters will choose whether to fund the HCFCD’s proposed tax rate of $0.04897 per $100 of valuation—a roughly 58% increase from the previous fiscal year.
   3. “Maintaining flood infrastructure is an ongoing responsibility and an ongoing task, and so tax revenues are the best way to cover ongoing operational costs, like repairs, like mowing [and] upkeep,” Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones said.
   4. If the tax rate increase passes, HCFCD officials said an additional $113 million would go directly into a dedicated maintenance fund supporting critical maintenance projects, staffing needs, and new resident-focused communication.
   5. … Flood control seeks [a] tax rate increase for aging projects. HCFCD officials shared 36 maintenance projects as examples that could be funded should the increase pass, including eight in Precinct 4.
   6. In the Katy area, the projects include two drainage ditches leading to South Mayde Creek and one at Northside Mason Creek. The projects focus on erosion repair, channel rehabilitation, sediment removal and pipe replacement, according to HCFCD project documents.
   7. The maintenance projects aim to protect community businesses and residential homes near flood zones, including the more than 32,000 acres of land and over 300 homes that flooded during Hurricane Harvey in 2017, Briones said.
   8. [Briones said,] “We saw the vast devastation and impact. We know that that region has the Addicks and Barker dams, which are two of the most dangerous dams in the United States. We know that these weather events will continue, and we need to be as prepared as possible.”
   9. To educate voters on the proposed tax rate increase, the HCFCD hosted a series of in-person and virtual meetings through Oct. 19.
   10. … With the county’s continued population growth, the number of assets the flood control district has to oversee and maintain also grew. At least $1 billion in project maintenance costs have already been deferred, [said] HCFCD Executive Director Tina Petersen.
   11. While local tax incentives have supported various flood control projects, she said necessary maintenance funding has remained relatively flat over the past decade.
   12. “This is a problem decades in the making. [The HCFCD] is 87 years old. Many large investments have been made in the organization’s history, but quite a number of them were in the ‘50s and ‘60s,” Petersen said.
   13. As Harris County commissioners approved the countywide fiscal year 2024-25 budget on Sept. 19, at least $10 million dedicated to maintenance assistance will come from the approved budget, flood control officials said.
   14. Since 2000, the number of county flood assets has doubled, but maintenance investments have stayed flat, causing the life cycle of assets to grow, Briones said.
   15. [Petersen said,] “Maintaining our infrastructure is essential to protecting the safety of residents and the resilience of our region. The funding increase would be transformative for our maintenance practices.”
   16. … If voters approve the measure, average Harris County homeowners with a $379,030 home and a homestead exemption would see a $60 increase per year in annual taxes, according to the county’s Office of Management and Budget.
   17. “While residents cannot do anything to stop the above-average increase being levied on them by Harris County, one place where they can send a signal that they feel their property taxes are increasing too much is by a no-vote for the flood control district proposition,” said Mark Jones, political science professor at Rice University.
   18. MIKE: There are informative maps and charts included in the original story at CommunityImpact[dot] COM, which I’ve linked to in my blog post.
   19. MIKE: Flood mitigation bonds are an automatic “Yes” vote for me. Adequately built and maintained flood mitigation infrastructure doesn’t just defend property, which is vitally important, as anyone who has sustained major damage to their homes, making them uninhabitable, will tell you. Even more importantly, flood mitigation helps to protect life and limb, and can also ultimately help keep your homeowners and flood insurance premiums lower.
   20. MIKE: And while it’s important to build infrastructure, it’s also important to maintain that infrastructure adequately.
   21. MIKE: The Reagan administration deferred a lot of highway and bridge maintenance in order to finance massive federal budget deficits during the 1980s. The price we’re paying for that now is a mountain of expense for necessary transportation infrastructure repair and replacement.
   22. MIKE: Harris County is already behind on essential flood control infrastructure and maintenance. So my recommendation is to vote “Yes” on the Harris County Flood Control District bond proposal.
4. Hollins asks to expand pay-to-play investigation to Whitmire’s state of the city address; by Hanna Holthaus | HOUSTONLANDING.ORG | October 22, 2024 @ 5:16 pm . TAGS: City Controller Chris Hollins, Office of Inspector General and City Council Ethics Committee, Mayor John Whitmire,
   1. City Controller Chris Hollins wants [an] investigation into his office’s fundraising practices to extend to the Mayor’s State of the City event, he said in a letter to the Office of Inspector General and City Council Ethics Committee.
   2. Following Mayor John Whitmire’s public call last week for city employees not to attend the controller’s annual Investor’s Conference and for an Office of Inspector General investigation into the event’s sponsorship offers, Hollins requested any OIG inquiries extend to the mayor’s events, which he said use similar sponsorship methods to raise money.
   3. [Hollins said in a news release Tuesday,] “Bias has no place in public service. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let me be clear: I do not consider the marketing practices of either event to be unlawful. But I do believe the same set of rules should apply equally to both the Mayor’s and Controller’s fundraising activities.”
   4. Whitmire held a news conference last week to criticize Hollins’ changes to the investor conference’s fundraising practices, which included tiered sponsorships ranging from $10,000 to $100,000, with benefits such as a private dinner with Hollins and prime advertising. 
   5. Hollins said the funds would support the nonprofit Houston Forward, which supports a banking equity initiative Bank on Houston that originally was housed in the controller’s office.
   6. Whitmire said it gave the appearance of a pay-to-play system and would negatively impact the city’s credit rating. Whitmire had known about the sponsorships for two weeks without questioning Hollins’ office and said he instead wanted to be transparent with the public about the issue.
   7. In a statement issued in response to Hollins’ call to expand any investigation, Whitmire said, “It is the practice of the mayor’s office not to comment on active investigations. I did my job by bringing this to light.”
   8. City employees scheduled to speak at the conference did not participate, according to the Houston Chronicle.
   9. [Whitmire said during last week’s press conference,] “We will continue in my administration to assure transparency, and conflicts of interest will not be allowed if I learn of them.”
   10. Hollins countered in a press conference later that day that Whitmire was a “walking conflict of interest.” The State of the City event also offers tiered corporate sponsorships with benefits like access to VIP receptions and “premier brand placement.”
   11. Hollins said in his Tuesday letter that he did not believe either office had committed ethics violations, but any investigation should be expanded to the mayor’s event to “ensure fairness, transparency and adherence to ethical standards.”
   12. The request is now in the hands of the Office of Inspector General, a branch of the Legal Department. The Legal Department answers to the mayor. 
   13. MIKE: If there’s one thing I’ve learned to my great disappointment, it’s that Mayor John Whitmire rarely finds an issue that’s above politics.
   14. MIKE: To my knowledge, he’s only met with County Judge Lina Hidalgo once, apparently still miffed that Hidalgo supported Shiela Jackson Lee for mayor.
   15. MIKE: In spite of demonstrable need, he insists on following Republican ideas about taxation. It’s increasingly obvious why Lt. Governor Dan Patrick appointed Whitmire to the Senate Criminal Justice Committee chair in the Republican controlled State Senate. Whitmire was the only Democrat to be appointed to any chairperson position, over the objections of many Senate Republicans.
   16. MIKE: Now, Whitmire is refusing to take a rare legal opportunity to raise Houston’s property tax rates to deal with budget shortfalls, the fireman’s compensation agreement deal he made, substantial disaster cleanup expenses, and the need to replenish the city’s rainy-day funds, apparently preferring to cut services further. His refusal to submit a plan for tax increases will also boost the likelihood of increased fees for services like garbage pickup. Note that such fees amount to a flat tax regardless of ability to pay.
   17. MIKE: Are these patterns of political behavior by Whitmire in anticipation of a second run as Houston Mayor? Whitmire is currently 75-years old. If he runs for Mayor again, he’ll be 78 before the 2027 election. Personally, I wish that Whitmire would see himself as a one-term mayor with the opportunity to make the truly hard decisions that benefit the city in the long term, without a need to consider his political future. I think that would make him a historically important Houston mayor instead of just another politician running for office.
5. Two related articles from PSYPOST[dot]ORG — New research on political animosity reveals an “ominous” trend; by Vladimir Hedrih | PSYPOST.ORG | October 20, 2024. TAGS: Political Psychology,
   1. Usually, political tensions in the United States intensify as elections approach but return to pre-election levels once the elections pass. However, a new analysis of tens of thousands of interviews revealed that this did not happen after the 2022 elections. Individuals with more exposure to the campaign tended to be more polarized, and this sentiment endured after the elections. This trend held true for partisans on both sides of the political spectrum. The study, published in Science Advances, highlights the persistence of polarization in current American politics.
   2. For over a century, scholars have believed that elections based on the universal right to vote help facilitate collective decision-making and strengthen social cohesion. However, in the short term, elections tend to be polarizing events. Political parties compete for votes, which often leads to periods of intense animosity between them.
   3. Elections can strengthen partisan identity, emphasizing political affiliation over other identities, such as national, professional, or familial ones. This can contribute to increased political polarization. In the past, research suggested that after elections, there is usually a cooling-off period, during which tensions between political opponents return to pre-election levels.
   4. One explanation for the rise in polarization during the pre-election period is the negative tone of modern campaigns. Politicians frequently highlight policy disagreements and social divisions during this time, often portraying their opponents in a negative light. Another possible explanation is that repeated exposure to campaign messages and events solidifies voters’ party loyalties, hardening their partisan identities.
   5. Study author Neil Fasching and his colleagues sought to explore whether it is the proximity of elections that activates partisan identities, leading to stronger political tensions and polarization. They analyzed data from 66,000 respondents interviewed between September 16, 2022, and October 12, 2023, covering both the period before and after the 2022 elections.
   6. [MIKE: The story then goes into the methodology used by the researchers, saying in part …]
   7. … The average age of participants was 51 years, and 54% were female. The political breakdown of the sample included 51% Democrats, 31% Republicans, and 18% who identified as Independents. The study focused on three key indicators of partisan animosity: affective polarization, support for democratic norm violations, and support for political violence.
   8. The results showed that partisan animosity was not affected by the proximity of the 2022 elections. Instead of a typical surge in polarization before the elections and a decline afterward, the researchers found that affective polarization—the difference in feelings toward one’s own party versus the opposing party—remained consistently high throughout the election cycle. While affective polarization was slightly elevated in the pre-election period, it remained stable as Election Day approached and showed no significant decline after the elections. This finding challenges the conventional view that political tensions ease in the aftermath of elections.
   9. Similarly, support for democratic norm violations (such as supporting actions that undermine democratic processes like reducing polling stations in opposition-leaning areas or allowing party leaders to bypass judicial rulings) remained stable before and after the election. There was no significant change in attitudes toward violating democratic norms, indicating that these views are also relatively ingrained in the electorate.
   10. Support for political violence—measured by respondents’ tolerance for acts such as vandalism or assaults against members of the opposing party—remained low overall. There was a slight increase in support for political violence as the election drew closer, but the increase was so small that it is unclear whether it represents a meaningful shift or simply a random variation. In short, political violence remained a minor concern but did not spike in any significant way during the election period.
   11. The study also explored how exposure to political campaigns influenced polarization. Individuals who lived in areas with higher levels of campaign activity (for example, in states with competitive Senate or gubernatorial races) were more polarized than those in less politically active areas.
   12. However, this difference in polarization was constant over time—that is, people in high-campaign exposure areas were already more polarized before the election, and this polarization did not increase further during or after the election. This suggests that campaign exposure can deepen existing divisions, but it does not cause new surges in polarization around the time of elections.
   13. The researchers also found no evidence that partisans who voted for the winning candidate became less polarized after the election. Contrary to earlier theories suggesting that election winners might experience a post-election reduction in animosity toward the opposing party, both winners and losers remained equally polarized after the results were in. This was true whether the analysis focused on national races or state-level contests (such as Senate or gubernatorial races).
   14. [The study authors concluded that,] “For defenders of American democracy, our results arguably provide some grounds for optimism as they suggest that efforts by opportunistic candidates to stoke animus and division during campaigns are likely to prove ineffective, particularly when the rhetoric encourages partisans to violate established norms or turn to violence. On the other hand, political animosity has become such a durable feature of public life that it no longer ‘cools off’ in the aftermath of contentious political campaigns. The implications of such entrenched polarization could be ominous.”
   15. The study sheds light on the trends of political polarization around the 2022 U.S. elections. However, it is important to note that the polarization trend observed in this study may be a product of the unique blend of political factors currently shaping U.S. society. Future elections or elections in other countries could yield different results, depending on the political context.
   16. MIKE: This is an interesting study, as far as it goes, but there is no real attempt to explain why political animosity between election periods doesn’t seem to ebb in the way it used to, which I understand. Speculation as to cause was not part of their research.
   17. MIKE: I am under no such constraints, so I’m free to speculate. My guess is that they didn’t see the kind of historical inter-election reduction in political polarization because there is no longer any such thing as an inter-election period. Therefore, there is no longer any such thing as “pre-election” and “post-election” periods.
   18. MIKE: Democrats are certainly not innocent of this new dynamic, but I feel that it’s Conservatives generally, and Republicans specifically, that have put us in this new era. They are constantly instigating and perpetuating culture wars, and using statements to create perpetual animosity and conflict against “the other”, using accusations and complaints often devoid of truth.
   19. MIKE: Now and for the past, perhaps, decade or more, we seem to be in perpetual campaign mode. I would suggest that this historically-aberrant perpetual political campaigning is a major culprit for this new perpetual partisan animosity that they observed.
   20. MIKE: It used to be quite common for talking heads on election night to almost immediately start speculating about the next biennial Congressional elections and the subsequent presidential elections after that. But believe it or not, as recently as the 1970s, actual campaigns started only 6-12 months before the actual elections.
   21. MIKE: Now, with 24-hour news cycles to fill, and with all the new and old media seeking eyeballs, the campaigning in one form or another never seems to stop, so the partisan agitation and inter-election polarization never has a chance to ease.
   22. MIKE: Campaigning in one form or another has even affected governance more than ever as one party — pick your preference — would rather raise campaign issues for the next election than actually participate in bipartisan governance.
   23. MIKE: There are democracies that govern actual campaign periods. Campaigns are considered to have actual starting dates and termination dates. There are even blackout periods for a week or more before balloting — a sort of cooling-off period — where campaign activity is literally illegal.
   24. MIKE: Maybe the US should consider reforms of this nature in order to provide inter-election cooling-off periods in order to lower the political temperature the rest of the time.
   25. REFERENCE: The paper, “Persistent polarization: The unexpected durability of political animosity around US elections,” was authored by Neil Fasching, Shanto Iyengar, Yphtach Lelkes, and Sean J. Westwood.
6. In a related story, also from ORG — National politics now a key factor in local prosecutor election outcomes; by Eric W. Dolan | PSYPOST.ORG | October 20, 2024. TAGS: Political Psychology,
   1. A new study published in Political Research Quarterly has shed light on the growing trend of nationalization in local elections, particularly focusing on elections for local prosecutors. Traditionally, local elections in the United States have been heavily influenced by local factors like the candidate’s experience or ties to the community. However, the new study shows that local prosecutor elections are increasingly affected by voter preferences at the national level. This change highlights how national political dynamics are now influencing even the most localized electoral contests.
   2. Prosecutors play a significant role in the criminal justice system, deciding on cases ranging from local crimes to high-profile national issues. These elections used to be low-salience, non-competitive events but have garnered more attention in recent years, particularly with the rise of progressive prosecutors advocating for criminal justice reform.
   3. This new wave of prosecutors, supported by high-profile donors like George Soros, has faced criticism from conservative politicians who tie these races to larger national political debates. Given the polarized nature of current U.S. politics, the researchers wanted to investigate how these dynamics influence the chances of incumbent prosecutors winning re-election and whether they face challenges in their races.
   4. [Said Jamie L. Carson, the UGA Athletic Association Professor of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia and author of Nationalized Politics,] “My co-authors and I have been interested in the subject of nationalized politics and elections for several years and we were increasingly seeing evidence that nationalization was influencing down-ballot elections in recent years,”
   5. “[W]e decided to investigate whether these races were also being affected by nationalized politics (i.e., who was at the top of the ticket). That is exactly what we found in this article illustrating that all politics is now nationalized. …”
   6. [MIKE: The story then goes into the methodology used by the researchers, which I’m skipping over.]
   7. The researchers found strong evidence that national-level political dynamics have a substantial influence on local prosecutor elections. Incumbents who were from the same political party as the presidential candidate who had won their district were significantly more likely to win re-election and face fewer challengers.
   8. For example, an incumbent prosecutor aligned with the district’s winning presidential candidate had a nearly 20% greater chance of winning their election, and they were 25% more likely to run unopposed. This demonstrates that the success of a prosecutor’s party at the national level plays an increasingly important role in these local elections, overshadowing traditional factors such as incumbency and local reputation.
   9. [Carson told PsyPost,] “For years, the adage of ‘all politics is local’ … seemed to accurately sum up what was happening in American politics. That has clearly changed during the past few decades, such that who is at the top of the ticket is now driving politics and political choices down the ballot. This is especially important in the current election year since who wins the presidential race will have far reaching implications for affiliated candidates lower down on the ticket.”
   10. The study also found that the size of the district mattered. Prosecutors running in larger, more populous districts were more likely to face challengers and lose re-election compared to those in smaller districts. Larger districts, often urban, tend to have more competitive elections, which can erode the advantages incumbents usually enjoy. Additionally, prosecutors in nonpartisan elections were more likely to win, as voters in these districts had fewer partisan cues to influence their decision-making, allowing the incumbent’s reputation to play a bigger role. …
   11. [Carson said,] “The nationalization of local elections does indeed have a downside. Local officials could end up running on issues they don’t actually have the power to directly affect rather than those more pertinent to the local level.”
   12. Another notable finding was that female incumbents faced more challenges in prosecutor elections compared to their male counterparts. Female prosecutors were more likely to be opposed in elections, and they had a slightly lower probability of winning compared to male incumbents. The study noted that this gender disparity is consistent with findings in other political offices, where women candidates often face greater scrutiny and competition.
   13. [Carson told PsyPost,] “Based upon our analysis, we found that incumbent prosecutors gain a meaningful advantage if they are the same party as the U.S. president, one that’s not easy for challengers to overcome. Other influences were statistically significant, although smaller when compared to the presidential party boost: Higher crime rates tend to give an advantage to an incumbent, for example, and female incumbents are less likely to win, likely due to the influence of gender stereotypes.”
   14. Despite its comprehensive nature, the study has some limitations. One limitation is its focus on high-population districts, which may not fully represent the dynamics in smaller, more rural districts where prosecutor elections are often less competitive and less nationalized. Another limitation is that the study only analyzed data up to 2020, so it may not capture more recent developments in national politics and local prosecutor elections. Future research could expand to include smaller districts and explore the role of media coverage and campaign finance, particularly the influence of outside money in local races.
   15. [Carson said,] “We are currently working on subsequent papers that take a deeper look at the subject of prosecutorial elections. … We hope to highlight the relevancy and importance of prosecutor elections, especially given the enormous discretion they have in the criminal justice system. They are powerful officials, and these elections are becoming more salient and competitive given the increasingly nationalized state of American politics.”
   16. MIKE: I think this ties in really well with the previous story, and it speaks again not only to the nationalization of local elections, but also to my thoughts on perpetual campaigning.
   17. MIKE: On the question of prosecutors and others running in non-partisan local elections, I’ve come to be opposed to non-partisan elections. I suppose that this may be a function of the nationalization of local politics, but given the drastic differences between the thinking and governing philosophies of liberals, moderates, and conservatives, I now feel that non-partisan elections are almost false advertising.
   18. MIKE: While there may be candidates that bridge the ideological divides by having nuanced ideas of how to run their offices, those are rarely the choices confronting us.
   19. MIKE: I now wish that party affiliation was made known during the campaigns and balloting periods. Personally, I make it a point to research candidates’ party affiliations during campaigns so that I have an idea on where to start in my evaluation of them. It adds context to their campaign statements and claims.
   20. MIKE: I advise that practice as standard procedure in so-called non-partisan elections.
   21. REFERENCE: The study, “The Increasing Nationalization of Local Elections: The Case of Prosecutors,” was authored by Jamie L. Carson, Damon Cann, Jeffrey L. Yates, and Ronald F. Wright.
7. I think that there are good reasons to read this story, which I’ll delve into in my comments — Texas Supreme Court justice’s oversight of trust belonging to millionaire with dementia raises ethics concerns; By Robert Downen | TEXASTRIBUNE.ORG | Oct. 22, 2024/12 hours ago. TAGS: Elvie Kingston, Justice John Devine, Texas Supreme Court (SCOTx), Texas Judicial Ethics Rules, State Commission on Judicial Conduct, Legal Guardianships,
   1. In January 2022, Elvie Kingston’s dementia took a turn for the worse. The 76-year-old millionaire and longtime conservative activist was declared by a doctor to be partially incapacitated, after which she signed legal documents that removed her family’s right to make decisions about her health and finances.
   2. Two years later, those powers remain almost entirely in the hands of a state Supreme Court justice and his wife.
   3. Justice John Devine has said Kingston is essentially In public political appearances, he’s described their relationship as loving — like mother and son — and said he and others helped rescue Kingston “from a really dire situation.”
   4. But legal experts say Devine’s control of Kingston’s trust is a clear violation of Texas ethics rules that prohibit judges from overseeing the trust or estates of non-family.
   5. At the same time, his wife, Nubia, serves as Kingston’s legal guardian. The arrangement gives the Devines broad control over Kingston’s personal, financial and medical decisions — despite objections from Kingston’s niece and three of her friends, who say she was once close with the Devines but, in the years before her mental health declined, made it clear that she didn’t like or trust them.
   6. [Said Dorothea Hosmer, who said she has been Kingston’s close friend for 25 years,] “She didn’t want anything to do with them. So when I found out John Devine basically has control of her, I was dumbfounded.”
   7. Devine didn’t respond to requests for comment for this story. But publicly he has shared pictures of him and his family eating meals with Kingston, dancing and traveling together, and brushing her hair.
   8. “My commitment to [Kingston] was (that) as long as she could enjoy life, we would protect her and keep her,” he said of him and his wife.
   9. In August 2022, Kingston’s niece, Michelle Hartman, filed a complaint against John Devine with the State Commission on Judicial Conduct, accusing him of flagrantly violating the judicial ethics code and using her aunt’s trust for his own financial benefit. The commission declined to comment on the complaint or confirm any related investigation.
   10. In court filings, however, Nubia Devine accused Hartman of trying to exploit her aunt’s finances. She said, under Hartman’s watch, Kingston was living in squalid conditions that posed an “imminent danger” to her health and necessitated that Nubia Devine step in.
   11. John Devine said through an attorney that he has fully complied with all disclosure requirements as set out in the trust and under Texas law. Nubia Devine and her attorney did not respond to requests for interviews or a detailed list of questions.
   12. A spokesperson for the Texas Supreme Court said “the court is aware of the claims involving Justice Devine and has no comment on the matter.” The court did not respond to a follow-up question about whether any exemption was granted to Devine that would allow him to continue serving in that role.
   13. The Texas Code of Judicial Conduct states that “a judge shall not serve as executor, administrator or other personal representative, trustee, guardian, attorney in fact or other fiduciary, except for the estate, trust or person of a member of the judge’s family, and then only if such service will not interfere with the proper performance of judicial duties.”
   14. Devine has for years faced questions about his ethics as a judge. He is one of three Republicans on the all-GOP Supreme Court who is up for reelection this year, running against Harris County District Court Judge Christine Weems.
   15. Earlier this year, Devine was confronted by a private media firm working for his GOP primary opponent about his relationship with Kingston. He denied that he was violating ethics rules because they considered each other family. “She’s held me out to be her son for 30 years,” he said, according to a video of the exchange.
   16. Legal and judicial ethics experts disagree. “The rules are pretty clear,” said Heather Zirke, director of the Miller Becker Center for Professional Responsibility at the University of Akron School of Law. “A judge can serve in that capacity for their own family. But serving as a trustee or administrator for a non-family member still creates the potential for a conflict of interest and serving as a trustee or administrator for a non-family member is prohibited by the Code of Judicial Conduct.” …
   17. Zirke and two other legal experts said Devine’s oversight of Kingston’s trust raises a litany of other concerns about conflicts of interest that they said could undermine the broader credibility of the courts.
   18. Texas’ judicial code explicitly demands that judges avoid even the appearance of impropriety. But as a justice, experts said, Devine could end up ruling on cases that affect trust law or the tens of thousands of dollars in monthly oil royalties included in the trust. …
   19. The Kingston case marks the latest questions about John Devine’s judicial ethics dating back to his time as a Harris County district judge in the 1990s, when he was sanctioned by the State Commission on Judicial Conduct for hosting a campaign event in his chambers. In 2002, Devine also had to correct eight years of financial disclosures after the Texas Ethics Commission found that he had failed to note his position as the president of a real estate company. …
   20. Devine has for decades been a fixture of Texas’ conservative Christian legal movement. He has called church-state separation a “myth,” once fought to have the Ten Commandments posted in his courtroom and, in his 2011 bid for the Texas Supreme Court, claimed to have been arrested 37 times at anti-abortion protests before becoming a judge. …
   21. Kingston was friends for years with Devine, who was similarly well known in Harris County conservative circles for his time as a district judge and frequent candidate for elected office.
   22. In 2007, according to court records, Kingston and her husband amended their trust to name John Devine as the sole trustee once they both died or became incapacitated — unless he was disqualified, in which case the Kingstons’ niece, Hartman, would become trustee. After Kingston’s death, Hartman and her brother were also set to be the main beneficiaries of the trust, along with a local church.
   23. Speaking to the group that Kingston co-founded in 2023, John Devine said he had no idea that he was named as trustee of Kingston’s trust until 2022. …
   24. [A]round 2016, three of Kingston’s friends separately told the Tribune that they recalled a dramatic shift in how she spoke about the Devines.
   25. “Things got sour,” said Mary May, who said she’s been Kingston’s close friend for roughly 30 years. “She was so sideways with him in the end – to the point where if I asked her about him, she’d become very agitated and holler, ‘I don’t want to talk about him. Don’t talk about him or his family – ever.’”
   26. The other two friends similarly recalled Kingston expressing a distrust of the Devines because she believed they had a history of financial problems. (Court records show that around 2010, John Devine was sued for tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt). ..
   27. Kingston felt the opposite about her niece, and made it clear that she expected her to eventually handle Kingston’s affairs, according to the three friends, who were connected to the Tribune by Hartman. Hartman was previously Kingston’s power of attorney. …
   28. Documents provided by Hartman show that, in 2018, Kingston met with her longtime estate attorney to draft changes that apparently would have given full control of her will, estate and trust to Hartman and Hartman’s daughter in the event of her death — and supplanted Devine as successor trustee. Kingston paid the firm $3,250 for a consultation, but was refunded after deciding not to move forward with the changes, according to a note on the invoice. Kingston’s attorney did not respond to an interview request, and it’s unclear why she did not proceed with the plan.
   29. Around 2019, Kingston’s friends said they started noticing signs of her mental decline. …
   30. As Kingston’s health precipitously declined, an acrimonious dispute over her care played out — complete with accusations of negligence and exploitation from parties on both sides. Ethics experts say that the subsequent legal drama shows precisely why judges should not be involved in such disputes, a sentiment shared by Hartman and others who said they feel that John Devine’s status as a sitting Supreme Court justice has tipped the scales in his favor.
   31. In November 2021, Kingston contracted a severe case of COVID-19 that required hospitalization and, eventually, for her to be placed in a long-term care facility, according to court records. …
   32. Kingston was [later] moved to a new [more secure] facility …, emails from Hartman show. Three weeks later, Kingston left with two friends to get dinner. Hartman reminded one of the friends that Kingston could only be gone for four hours at a time because of her condition, according to text messages Hartman provided. Nearly 24 hours later, Kingston had not returned to the facility as Hartman begged the women to get her back there so she could receive medication, according to the text messages.
   33. Instead, Kingston and the friends went to an attorney, where she signed documents that removed her niece’s power to make legal, medical and financial decisions on her behalf. In court affidavits, the friends accused Hartman of having “locked down” Kingston and “intentionally isolating” her in a “filthy” psychiatric ward. They also alleged Kingston was physically abused by workers there — though it’s unclear if they filed any reports with authorities. Hartman provided emails showing that she was trying to get Kingston into a nicer residence around that time — a process made more difficult by her aunt’s documented behavioral problems, she said.
   34. A day later, the attorney had Kingston examined via a webcam by a doctor who said she was “partially incapacitated” and incapable of doing many basic tasks, including managing a bank account, or bathing or using the bathroom without assistance. But, the doctor reported, Kingston was adamant about barring Hartman from handling her affairs, according to a copy of the medical examination and other court records. …
   35. MIKE: The article is an investigative piece and runs quite a bit longer. There are more details about how the Devines came to be her legal guardians, a lot of back and forth that amount to legal “she said/they said”, whether Kingston is now being kept isolated from some friends and family members who would like to see her, and so on.
   36. MIKE: So why have I spent so much time on this story? I felt that there were good political, social, and public safety reasons to go into some detail about this dispute.
   37. MIKE: Politically, I think it’s important to note again from this story that Justice Devine is up for re-election this year. You have the opportunity to vote him out of office this election cycle.
   38. MIKE: Also politically, I think it’s troubling that the State Commission on Judicial Conduct has to this point failed to rule on or disclose the existence of any investigation into the ethics complaints against Justice Devine. After 30 years of Republican domination of Texas state politics, is this another indication that Republican governance is so entrenched that different parts of the government that are supposed to act as watchdogs have perhaps gotten too cozy with each other to properly do their jobs?
   39. MIKE: Again, this is an election year, and elections have consequences.
   40. MIKE: One of the symptoms of dementia is an increase in distrust and paranoia. As early as 2016, was this an early but unrecognized symptom of Ms. Kingston’s decline when she claimed newfound animosity toward the Devines? Possibly. But that still doesn’t address the ethical concerns about Justice Devine’s participation in her guardianship.
   41. MIKE: Then, there are the social issues raised in this story.
   42. MIKE: According to a law firm’s lay description, elder abuse can be defined as follows: Physical abuse … occurs when a person causes injuries to an elderly person; Emotional abuse … may include name-calling, harassment, intimidation and threats. Sexual abuse … often involves sexual activity but can also include unwanted touching and fondling. Financial abuse … means using an elderly person’s resources for your own personal gain, such as stealing money, credit cards and financial account information. Confinement … involves unnecessary restraint or isolation. Deprivation … means intentionally depriving an elderly person of essentials such as food, water, shelter, medication or physical assistance unless the person desires to go without such care. Neglect … occurs when a caregiver unintentionally fails to provide an elderly person with food, water, shelter, clothing, medical care and other essentials.
   43. MIKE: Any time I hear that someone is being kept isolated from family members and old friends, it raises red flags for me. Among the non-elderly, that is one of the definitions of abuse by a spouse, partner, or family member. There have been public cases relating to famous individuals such as Stan Lee of Marvel Fame, and Casey Kasem, famous for his Top 40 musical hits lists, among others.
   44. MIKE: This becomes a more common problem when large sums of money or family feuds get into the mix.
   45. MIKE: Aside from legal and ethical questions about conflicts of interest around Justice Devine and his wife, the refusal of the Devines to allow visits from certain people should always raise questions around their reasons and motivations.
   46. MIKE: The public safety reasons I have in mind apply to all of us at some point in our lives. Eventually, many of us will face a need for guardianship. It might be because of Alzheimer’s disease or some other form of dementia, but none of us are immune at any age. Other reasons for a guardianship might include accidents, illness, physical frailty, mental health issues possibly but not necessarily related to aging, and a general decline in mental acuity short of actual dementia.
   47. MIKE: If we live long enough, we’ll likely confront one or more of these limitations requiring some form of assistance, guardianship, power of attorney documents, etc. As is apparent from this story, even wealthy, well-informed, and well-advised people are not immune from being caught up in these sorts of legal conflicts regarding their elder care and protection.
   48. MIKE: I don’t have answers. At 73 and in good general, this is of more than academic interest to me. Several months ago, I suddenly ended up in the hospital for a week. If you want to start feeling your mortality, spend a week in the hospital.
   49. MIKE: I’ve tried to keep my legal house in order, but I know I should be doing more. Yet even so, we have the example of Ms. Kingston, a wealthy woman who appears to have had good legal representation all her life, and yet has become a pawn in this high-stakes legal guardianship battle — high stakes certainly for her, but also for the legal combatants, each for their own reasons.
   50. MIKE: So what are average folks to do in order to better protect themselves? I have no idea, but it’s certainly something all of us should be thinking about.
   51. REFERENCE: What Constitutes the Crime of Elder Abuse in Texas? — TEXASDEFENSEFIRM.COM
8. Arizona official who delayed 2022 election certification pleads guilty; By Associated Press | CNN.COM | Updated 6:38 PM EDT, Mon October 21, 2024. TAGS: Election 2024, Arizona, Vote Canvassing, Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd,
   1. One of two rural Arizona county supervisors who faced criminal charges for refusing to canvass the 2022 midterm results pleaded guilty Monday to a misdemeanor count of failing to perform her duty as an election officer.
   2. Coming two weeks before the November 5 general election, the acknowledgment of guilt by Cochise County Supervisor Peggy Judd was seen by some as a warning to other Arizona county officials who might once again be pressured by election conspiracists not to certify the results. …
   3. Peter Bondi, managing director of the nonprofit group Informing Democracy, said in a statement that Judd’s plea “is a clear reminder that the duty to certify is not optional, and should deter every election official from attempting to subvert the will of voters.” …
   4. Judd avoided a possible felony charge by entering the plea under an agreement reached in Maricopa County Superior Court, where the criminal case was filed. Judd will be sentenced to unsupervised probation for not less than 90 days and she will pay a maximum $500 fine, said a spokesperson for Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes. …
   5. Judd and Tom Crosby, her fellow Republican on the three-member board, were indicted last yearon felony charges of conspiracy and interference with an election officer after they delayed the canvass. The third member of the board, Democrat Ann Crosby, had voted to certify the election. The Cochise County results were ultimately certified past the deadline after a judge ordered Judd and Crosby to carry out their legal duties. …
   6. MIKE: And there is more in the story.
   7. MIKE: We always hear that the law has deterrent value. I guess that in a few weeks in Arizona at least, we’ll see if that’s true.
9. US intel officials say Russia is behind attempts to smear Tim Walz; By Shannon Bond | NPR.ORG | Updated October 22, 2024@2:23 PM ET. TAGS: Russia, Election Interference, Tim Walz, Iran, China,
   1. Russia was behind salacious false claims against Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz that circulated widely on social media last week, according to U.S. intelligence officials.
   2. “The intelligence community assesses that Russian influence actors created and amplified content alleging inappropriate activity committed by the Democratic vice presidential candidate during his earlier career,” an official from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told reporters at a briefing on Tuesday. …
   3. Last week, posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, accused Walz of wrongdoing when he was a high school teacher and football coach. That included a video purporting to show a former student making allegations against Walz, which was shared by an X account that has promoted the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory. However, the Washington Post interviewed the actual former student, who is not the man in the video and who said the alleged incident never occurred.
   4. Other posts making unverified accusations against Walz were also quickly debunked by users on X and fact checkers, who noted that screenshots of what was supposed to be an email from an alleged victim contained inconsistencies, including what appeared to be a cursor still visible in the text of one image.
   5. The claims were boosted by pro-Trump accounts with large followings. They racked up millions of views on X and other platforms. The post by the QAnon account had more than 4.3 million views before it was deleted, according to Wired.
   6. The intelligence official said the video showed “several indicators of manipulation” consistent with Russian influence operations.
   7. “This video is consistent with the pattern of Russian influence actors seeking to undermine the Democratic presidential ticket by fabricating allegations against them,” the official said. “One of their tactics they use is these staged direct-to-camera videos and trying to make them go viral.”
   8. That includes a video from earlier this year that intelligence officials say Russia staged in which a woman claimed to be the victim of a hit-and-run accident by Vice President Kamala Harris in 2011. The false claim was spread via a website claiming to be a local San Francisco TV station. There is no evidence any such incident occurred, and the purported TV station does not exist.
   9. Researchers say such tactics are hallmarks of a Russian propaganda operation dubbed “Storm-1516”, uncovered by Clemson University’s Media Forensics Hub last fall, that manufactures purported whistleblower videos and other faked evidence and then tries to make them go viral, according to NBC News.
   10. Other Russian influence operations have created websites spoofing real U.S. news outlets to share fake articles generated by artificial intelligence. In September, the justice department indicted two employees of Russian state broadcaster RT in a scheme to funnel nearly $10 million to right-wing American influencers who posted videos opposing aid to Ukraine, praising Trump, and denigrating Democrats. The influencers have said they did not know the company paying them was linked to Russia.
   11. At Tuesday’s briefing, intelligence officials said efforts by geopolitical adversaries to divide Americans will “intensify” in the lead up to Election Day and continue after polls close.
   12. [The ODNI official said,]”Foreign actors, particularly Russia, Iran, and China, remain intent on fanning divisive narratives to divide Americans and undermine Americans’ confidence in the U.S. democratic system. These activities are consistent with what these actors perceive to be in their interests, even as their tactics continue to evolve.”
   13. The U.S. says Russia would like to see former President Trump win the election, while Iran favors Harris. China does not have a preference in the presidential contest but is trying to sway downballot races, officials have said.
   14. Intelligence officials say foreign adversaries are better prepared to exploit the potential uncertainty of the post-election period this year, thanks to what they learned from the 2020 cycle and a better understanding of what happens after polls close.
   15. Both Russia and Iran are “probably willing to at least consider” inciting violence, including by stoking threats towards election workers and amplifying protests, officials said.
   16. Russia in particular is expected to boost anything that questions the integrity of the election, no matter who wins, “because Russia believes election controversies distract and weaken the United States,” the intelligence official said.
   17. But if Harris wins, the official said, Russia is expected to become even more aggressive.
   18. MIKE: Be alert to any stories you encounter that seem surprising, improbable, or are not substantiated by other reliable sources. If a story seems like it should be covered more widely but isn’t, that should be a red flag for disinformation.
10. ‘Do not waste time on theatrics’: Journalists tour alleged Hezbollah hospital bunker in Beirut; By JERUSALEM POST STAFF | JPOST.COM | OCTOBER 22, 2024 @ 18:12. TAGS: Hezbollah, IDF, Lebanon, Hospital, Middle East, Beirut,
    1. Reporters were given access to tour the Al-Sahel Hospital Beirut on Tuesday, where it was revealed by the IDF on Monday to be located above a Hezbollah bunker. 
    2. The hospital invited journalists to tour the hospital to refute the claim, media outlets reported. 
    3. In one instance, BBC journalist Orla Guerin was taken on a hospital tour and reported from the facility. In her report, doctors took the BBC through the building, including to the first and second levels below ground, where staff insisted there was no bunker or Hezbollah facility underneath. 
    4. “This hospital is private and not affiliated with any entity,” N12 quoted the manager of the Al-Sahel Hospital as saying. … However, N12 reported that these journalists were not given access to the bunker where at least half a billion dollars were [allegedly] hidden. 
    5. IDF Arabic Spokesperson Avichay Adraee addressed the organized visit to Al-Saleh in a post to X/Twitter on Tuesday. 
    6. Adraee stated, “To the media personnel who are currently participating in the media tour inside Haret Hreik: go to the specific locations we have revealed and do not waste your time on theatrics inside the medical departments.”
    7. The spokesperson gave directions to the journalists, saying, “Go down to Hezbollah’s private shelter. Dargham Street, Building No. 7, Airport Road, Haret Hreik. Entrance and exit in the Al-Ahmadi Building and Sahel Center Building. Go there.”
    8. IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari revealed on Monday night that a Hezbollah bunker hosting gold and half a billion dollars in cash were stored underneath the Al-Sahel Hospital in Dahiyeh. 
    9. The IDF said that Nasrallah used the site as an emergency bunker. As such, the hospital was evacuated following Israeli claims a Hezbollah cash bunker was located beneath it.
    10. Hospital director Fadi Alameh denied the allegations to Reuters. 
    11. MIKE: I’m not going to make any assertions about which side has the greater veracity, but if the IDF has given a specific address with instructions on how to find this bunker, and if any reporters were not given the opportunity to search for it, I think that makes a statement worth considering.