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North Carolina Governor Signs Bill to Legalize Sports Betting

Matt OHern
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North Carolina Governor Signs Bill to Legalize Sports Betting

The Tar Heel State started a new era for sports this week, as Governor Roy Cooper signed House Bill 347, Sports Wagering/Horse Racing Wagering, into law. The bipartisan legislation will authorize and regulate wagering on professional, college and amateur sports and on horse racing in North Carolina.

“This legislation will help North Carolina compete, make sure taxpayers receive a share, create many good-paying jobs and foster strong economic opportunity,” Cooper said. “As we move forward, we should work to make sure more of the revenue is used to invest in our public schools, teachers and students.”

Home to NFL, NHL and NBA teams, as well as college basketball juggernauts Duke and UNC, North Carolina is a state with a high percentage or residents who passionately follow sports.

Governor Cooper was joined by representatives from professional sports organizations including the Charlotte Hornets, Carolina Panthers, Carolina Hurricanes, Charlotte Football Club, NASCAR and the PGA Tour. The Governor was also joined by Rep. Zack Hawkins, Rep. Jason Saine and Sen. Paul Lowe for the bill signing.

According to a press release from Gov. Cooper, House Bill 347 charges the North Carolina State Lottery Commission with regulating sports wagering and will be responsible for issuing licenses and collecting any license application fees. Licenses will be valid for five years and types of licenses include interactive sports wagering license, service provider license and sports wagering supplier license.

The legislation will create two ways to place a sports wager – in-person at a place of public accommodation or as a registered player via an interactive account. The interactive sports wagering operator would be responsible for ensuring the identity and age of any person trying to place a wager. To place a wager, a person must be at least 21 years of age.

Sports wagers would be authorized on professional sports, college sports, electronic sports, amateur sports or any other event approved by the Commission.

According to Cooper, proceeds collected will go to the Department of Health and Human Services for gambling addiction education and treatment programs; North Carolina Amateur Sports; 13 public universities; major events fund to help bring sporting events and festivals to the state; the North Carolina Outdoor Heritage Advisory Council and the state’s General Fund among other purposes.

After Trump Indictment, Matt Gaetz Demands Records of Special Counsel Jack Smith

Matt OHern
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After Trump Indictment, Matt Gaetz Demands Records of Special Counsel Jack Smith

U.S. Congressman Matt Gaetz, a Republican from Florida’s 1st District, sent a letter this week to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland demanding that the Department of Justice preserve and produce all records from the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith.

In his letter to Garland, Rep. Gaetz expresses what he believes to be a pattern of partisan influence in the office of Special Counsel Smith.

Rep. Gaetz has requested these specific documents to be provided to his office by July 7, 2023.

Gaetz letter to Garland reads:

Attorney General Garland:

I write to you today with a simple ask. Please produce to my office, in writing, by July 7, 2023:

1) All staff rosters, phone lists, or similar records, within the custody or control of the Department of Justice, depicting all employees hired by or detailed to the office of Special Counsel Jack Smith;

2) All communications of the Office of Special Counsel, whether electronic or otherwise, relating to overcoming or piercing any legal claim of privilege, whether executive privilege, attorney-client privilege (including crime-fraud exception), work product, or any other privilege, including but not limited to policy documents; and

3) All communications between the Office of Special Counsel and: (1) any state bar association; or (2) the 65 Project. As you are undoubtedly aware, the work of Special Counsel Jack Smith is both highly irregular and of extraordinary public concern. Indeed, it is of such concern that the Department of Justice has fielded multiple requests of Congress, from individual member offices and full Committees. My office alone fields numerous calls of constituents asking about the Special Counsel, his authorities, and how his office is structured. It is beyond debate that this simple staff list cannot be withheld from Congress or the public on the basis of attenuated and entirely fantastic privacy concerns.

This information is not only of public interest in the abstract but is highly critical to the ongoing oversight work of the federal Congress. It is already public that one of Jack Smith’s deputies, Karen Gilbert, resigned in 2009 from her position as head of the narcotics section of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida after misconduct which DOJ stated it “deeply regrets” and which cost the American taxpayer over $600,000 in a settlement.1 This misconduct was both referred to the DOJ Office of Professional Responsibility and the Florida Bar. Furthermore, Federal Election Commission records indicate that Ms. Gilbert has made thousands of dollars in donations to “Biden for President,” “Obama for America,” the “DNC Victory Fund,” “Obama Victory Fund 2012,” and associated partisan organizations.

While there are innumerable valid legislative purposes for this request, it should be obvious that doing due diligence in vetting an office that has apparently done no vetting of its own personnel, or worse, might affirmatively be seeking to staff with sanctioned lawyers and partisan hatchet-men (and women), is an entirely appropriate purpose and one small reason I am requesting this information. The 118th Congress has procedural tools in place to allow for targeted recission of funds from components or subcomponents of agencies that are not operating in the public interest.

Finally, it is a matter of public record now that at least 27 devices used in the Mueller probe were unlawfully wiped clean of records, often by senior prosecutors on that probe, including Andrew Weismann and Greg Andres, or by more junior staff, such as Kyle Freeny and Rush Atkinson. I am deeply concerned that such flagrantly illegal, and debarrable conduct, seeking to cover up prosecutorial misconduct, will be repeated by Special Counsel Jack Smith and his team. As a result: 1) Please take care to comply with all applicable recordkeeping laws; and 2) Please provide my office with copies of all applicable notices and training provided to staff within the Office of Special Counsel Jack Smith, giving staff notice of their obligations under federal law and Department of Justice policy, by the date specified above.”

Poll Shows Orlando Area Republicans Divided Over Trump vs. DeSantis

Matt OHern
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Poll Shows Orlando Area Republicans Divided Over Trump vs. DeSantis

Recent polling from Victory Insights shows strong support for Ron DeSantis in his effort to remove Disney’s special district. The poll, which surveyed registered Republicans in House District 35, also revealed that those Republican voters split over Donald Trump and DeSantis for the 2024 Republican Presidential Primary nomination.

According to Victory’s poll, 69% of voters said they support DeSantis’ decision to take on the company. About 25% oppose it. When asked about a wide field of candidates, almost 38% favored Trump and nearly 37% favored DeSantis, with the 1-percentage-point difference well within the poll’s margin of error. The rest of the field takes 15%, and about 10% are still undecided. When Trump and DeSantis were presented as the only two choices, DeSantis moves ahead, but the race is still within the margin of error. DeSantis sits near 45%, while Trump is above 43%.

According to data analyzed by Victory, Congressional District 35, which includes portions of Orange County and Osceola could be considered a microcosm of suburban America. Although there are voters across all ten steps of the socioeconomic ladder, the highest 57% of voters falling within this upper-middle class category. An additional 24% are in the 5 to 6 range, also in the middle class. Seniors make up a sizeable portion of the electorate, with 46% of voters aged 60 or older.

Another 38% are between the ages of 40 and 59, while only 15% are 39 or younger.

Victory’s poll also found a Republican electorate opposed to abortion. Almost 66% of voters call themselves pro-life, with 18% calling themselves “strictly pro-life” and 47% considering themselves pro-life but favoring some meaningful exceptions. About 35% of Republicans consider themselves pro-choice.

The poll was conducted June 7-9, 2023 among registered Republican voters throughout Florida’s 35th State House District, meaning that Trump’s indictment had yet to be officially announced.

Alabama Senator Katie Britt Votes Against Confirming Biden Economist

Matt OHern
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Alabama Senator Katie Britt Votes Against Confirming Biden Economist

U.S. Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.), a member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, released the following statement as the Senate prepares to vote on the nomination of Dr. Jared Bernstein to serve as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors (CEA).

“Make no mistake, Jared Bernstein has been one of the primary architects of the Biden Administration’s disastrous economic policies, Britt said. “The last thing that he deserves is a promotion. While hardworking Americans are struggling to make ends meet amid persistent inflation, Dr. Bernstein has pledged to double down on the same reckless tax-and-spend policies that have caused crushing pain around kitchen tables nationwide. The Senate should overwhelmingly reject this nomination and send a message to the White House that it’s past time to restore American energy dominance, slash burdensome regulations, lower taxes, and onshore good-paying jobs,”

During Dr. Bernstein’s appearance before the Senate Banking Committee in April, Senator Britt brought to light that he wants to double down on the very policies that have fueled inflation and exasperated America’s workforce shortage since January 2021.

Britt asked Bernstein:

“Do you still stand by your past comments indicating that inflation is transitory?”

Bernstein replied, “The problem with the word transitory, is that it’s become an unhelpful, and much too ambiguous term to describe the trajectory of inflation. It is true that that word, or any other word temporary, or any synonym, suggests a condition that, where inflation accelerates and then decelerates, and slows down. Now inflation peaked at nine percent in June, and most recently was seen at five percent, that’s its lowest annual grate since November of 2021. So in that sense, the view of acceleration then deceleration was correct. Transitory, however, was too temporally ambiguous a term.”

Sen. Britt replied: “OK, So you do agree, then, that the term should not have been used?”

Bernstein replied: “I think that the term was far too ambiguous, to give people a clear sense of what we were dealing with.

Sen. Britt replied: “Ya. So one of the things we need you to do as a leader and someone who advises is give the public very clear indications of what we can expect. Unfortunately, the word “transitory” for many, means temporary, it means that it would be short-lived. That’s certainly not what we’ve seen. We have seen inflation above five percent every single month, for 23-straight months, and real wages have gone down for two-straight years. One of the things that chairman Brown said about you, and it was indicated in the letter, is that you’re open to changing your mind. So once again, I just want to directly ask, that word, transitory, should never have been used.”

Bernstein replied: “I don’t want to say it should never have been used. I think that the word is not a helpful term. I think that it’s too ambiguous. I think that it doesn’t clearly. It, does not clearly delineate either what we believe to be the case, or the actual trajectory. Now, that said, it is true that we saw inflation accelerate, and we’ve seen inflation cool, but we have a lot more to go.”

Britt replied: “Would you agree that it’s lasted longer than you anticipated when you first used that term?

Bernstein replied: “Yes.”

For Britt’s second question, she asked Bernstein: “How can the American people expect different results when this administration and its economic advisers tend to look like they’re doubling-down on what I believe has not worked?”

Bernstein replied: “Thank you for the question, Senator. I respectfully would like to challenge the way you teed up some issues there. First of all, the rescue plan was actually fiscally smaller than the CARES Act, so, if that was massive, then the CARES Act was even more massive. The Inflation Reduction Act more than pays for itself. It actually reduces the budget deficit by over $200 billion over 10 years. In terms of the budget, the President’s Budget, once again, that not only pays for the proposals in the budget, but reduces the deficit by almost three trillion over 10 years. So I think that those characterizations go in a different direction that some of those that you’re suggesting, respectfully.”

Britt: “And respectfully, I would disagree. I think if we were producing more energy, I think if we were spending less money, I think inflation would not have been “transitory”, as you first put forth.”

Biden’s CDC Director Nominee Opposed by 6 Senators, Including North Carolina Sen. Budd

Matt OHern
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Biden’s CDC Director Nominee Opposed by 6 Senators, Including North Carolina Sen. Budd

North Carolina’s junior Senator Ted Budd (R) co-wrote a letter to President Biden that opposed the nomination of Dr. Mandy Cohen to be the next director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The letter was signed by six U.S. Senators, and 22 House members.

According to recent news reports, you intend to appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen as the next Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). We write to express our opposition to Dr. Cohen’s appointment and to urge you to withdraw your reported selection.

Dr. Cohen is unfit for the position. Dr. Cohen has politicized science, disregarded civil liberties, and spread misinformation about the efficacy and necessity of COVID vaccinations and the necessity of masks, during her time as the Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. She also has a history of engaging in partisan left-wing politics.

As Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, Dr. Cohen was a proponent of unnecessary, unscientific COVID restrictions on school children, stating in July 2021 that “Schools with students in K-8th grade should require all children and staff to wear masks indoors, regardless of vaccination status. Schools with students in 9th-12th grades should ensure that anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated, including students, wear a mask indoors.” After a North Carolina school district followed the science by declining to institute unscientific mask mandates and voted with an overwhelming majority to end “contact tracing” and curtail other unproven and largely hysterical quarantine policies, Dr. Cohen threatened to bring legal action against the district. Dr. Cohen’s willingness to threaten the school district put politics over the well-being of children and is just another example of the litany of public health abuses the American people endured at the hands of bureaucrats throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

While Dr. Cohen claims to have acted on scientific data, her account of her decision-making during the pandemic indicates that she merely arbitrarily copied her friends’ actions in similar positions of power, without considering scientific evidence or the decisions of elected officials. For instance, she recounted a conversation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services in Massachusetts, the person whom Dr. Cohen claimed she “called the most” for advice on COVID policy: “I’d be like, so when are you going to think about lightening up on masks? [she’d be like] ‘Next Monday’ and I’d be like ‘Okay! Next Monday.’”

To further illustrate the point, in August 2020, Dr. Cohen publicly sported a Dr. Fauci-themed cloth mask, asserting that “face coverings are one of our strongest tools to slow the spread of COVID-19”. This was despite scientific data showing that face coverings largely fail to stop the spread of COVID-19, including experts finding that “we continue to conclude that cloth masks and face coverings are likely to have limited impact on lowering COVID-19 transmission.”

Despite being tasked to serve in a purportedly nonpartisan agency, Dr. Cohen has an extensive history of publicly campaigning for Democrats and supporting radical, left-wing policies. In 2009, she served as the National Outreach Director for the group “Doctors for Obama,” later known as “Doctors for America,” a partisan political association that not only campaigned for Obama’s presidency but also endorsed an unconstitutional ban on semi-automatic rifles and lobbied to classify climate change as a “public health crisis.” 10 She also participated in the misleading “White Coat Rally” at the White House supporting Obamacare as a tense debate raged and as recently as August of 2022 hosted fundraisers for Democrats running for office.

Given her strong affiliation with the Democrat Party and the COVID-19 lockdowns, it will be difficult for the American people to trust Dr. Cohen to run the CDC as a nonpartisan actor who makes objective decisions rooted in scientific data, and not in political expediency. Therefore, we urge you to reverse course on Dr. Cohen’s reported appointment to the Director of the CDC.

Sen. Katie Britt Meets with Alabama, Auburn Coaches, SEC Commissioner to Discuss Athlete Pay, NIL

Matt OHern
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Sen. Katie Britt Meets with Alabama, Auburn Coaches, SEC Commissioner to Discuss Athlete Pay, NIL

Senator Katie Britt (R-Ala.) this week met with coaches and administrators from the University of Alabama and Auburn University as well as the Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference to discuss their advocacy to have Congress establish uniform name, image, and likeness (NIL) rules at the federal level.

“What we have right now is essentially a race to the bottom,” said Britt said. “With every state coming up with their own rules and regulations, what we’re left with is this hodge-podge across the country. We heard from coaches about how challenging it is to work and recruit across jurisdictions in this confusing, rapidly changing environment. What they’re asking for are simply some rules of the road that apply across the board. I want to ensure that student-athletes and fans are able to enjoy the collegiate athletics experience that our families love, from revenue generating sports to our women’s sports and Olympic sports.”

Senator Britt met with SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey, University of Alabama President Stuart Bell, UA Athletic Director Greg Byrne, UA head football Coach Nick Saban, Auburn University President Chris Roberts, Auburn Athletic Director John Cohen, Auburn head football Coach Hugh Freeze, Auburn men’s basketball Coach Bruce Pearl, and Auburn women’s basketball Coach Johnnie Harris.

Sen. Britt is married to former University of Alabama offensive lineman Wesley Britt, who went on to play for three seasons in the NFL with Tom Brady at the New England Patriots.

In 2019, California became the first state to allow student-athletes to enter into business deals that allow them to profit from the use of their name, image, and likeness. Other states have adopted different combinations of laws and regulations that have resulted in incongruous system across the country. The advocates from the SEC are asking Congress to pass legislation that will instead set a national standard and a level regulatory playing field.

West Virginia Senator Cosponsors Bill to Thwart ‘Smash and Grab’ Crimes

Matt OHern
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West Virginia Senator Cosponsors Bill to Thwart ‘Smash and Grab’ Crimes

With 22 fellow Senators by her side, West Virginia Republican Senator Shelley Moore Capito joined the efforct to re-introduce the Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) Protection Act of 2023. According to a press release from Capito, the act would reduce number of “smash-and-grab” thefts targeted at federally licensed gun dealers.

The FFL Protection Act would Increase the statutory maximum penalty for knowingly stealing any firearm in an FFL’s business inventory from 10 to 20 years. enhance penalties for criminals who steal firearms from federally licensed firearms and ammunition dealers. It would also impose a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years for burglary from an FFL and 5 years for robbery from an FFL, and Criminalize the attempted theft of a firearm from a licensed importer, manufacturer, dealer, or collector.

“Burglaries of gun dealerships continue to rise, which is why we must put solutions forward that deter these would-be criminals from committing these robberies and endangering our communities. I’m proud to support this legislation that implements swift and strong penalties for these crimes, and further protects our communities,” Capito said.

Other than Capito and Graham, the Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) Protection Act of 2023 is also cosponsored by U.S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Dr. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Pete Ricketts (R-Neb.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), and Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

The legislation is supported by the National Sports Shooting Foundation (NSSF).

Tennessee Congressman Scott DesJarlais Comments on Trump Federal Indictment Reports

Matt OHern
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Tennessee Congressman Scott DesJarlais Comments on Trump Federal Indictment Reports

Below is an official statement from Tennessee Congressman Scott DesJarlais regarding the indictment of former President Donald Trump.

“It was not too long ago in American history that it was sacrosanct that the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation remain non-political. 

Despite the appointment of a Special Prosecutor, the actions and statements of the investigators and attorneys involved leave many unanswered and disturbing questions about this principle.  The Justice Department should unseal this indictment immediately and share with the American people all of the facts and information that it has gathered. 

Justice should be blind, and it should be applied evenly, fairly, and consistent with previous actions by other former Presidents and the current President.  It should never be used as a means to a political end game. 

What is happening now is a dangerous moment for our country, and it has the potential of permanently scarring the confidence and trust of Americans in the federal justice system.”

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