Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Milwaukee Press Club 'Excellence in Wisconsin Journalism' 2020 & 2021 Award Winners

What Did Mayor Cavalier Johnson Know? ‘It Ran Through the Family That He Shot Me,’ Shooting Victim Says

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Asked whether he believes it’s true that Cavalier Johnson didn’t know his brother was wanted for a shooting, the victim, Eddie Knox, expressed doubt, telling Wisconsin Right Now that the news quickly “ran through the family.”

The home at 2313 N. 41st St., where Acting Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson’s brother was arrested for shooting a man named Eddie Knox in the head after two months on the run from police, has a “Cavalier Johnson” for mayor sign planted prominently in its front yard. It’s the first thing you notice on this hardscrabble corner of Milwaukee, a residential neighborhood of sprawling, weathered duplexes with gated doors and menacing guard dogs, across the street from a liquor store.

Mayor cavalier johnsonWe set out on a mission to gather as many facts as we could about the questions: What did Johnson know and when?

A neighbor described for us how the mayor’s mother, Denise Hardwick-Townsend, also called Denise Townsend, showed up at the scene when Allen Addison was arrested on March 29, and made a scene of her own, “screaming” from across the street, as a police SWAT team surrounded the home because Johnson’s brother wouldn’t come out for hours. Yet Johnson wants the public to believe he didn’t figure out his brother was arrested or had been wanted since January, until the next day, when he saw a post on social media. His spokesman won’t say which post.

Police sources confirmed Johnson’s mother showed up; they claim that Hardwick-Townsend mentioned her son was the mayor to police swarming the scene; the neighbor could not confirm that but didn’t hear everything that was said. Johnson’s spokesman did not respond to a question asking about it. The neighbor did hear Hardwick-Townsend yelling at Addison, who is her son and Johnson’s half-brother, to come out; the neighbor launched into a fiery defense of Johnson, saying she believes the media are “painting a negative picture” of Johnson because he’s black; he’s not responsible for his grown brother, she said.

To be sure, Johnson is not responsible for what his grown brother did during the shooting, and his life story, making it out of one of the state’s toughest zip codes, 53206, for a life of community service, is inspiring.

What the acting mayor is responsible for, however, is his own honesty and transparency when it comes to the difficult situation: A felon brother allegedly committing a serious drive-by shooting while the mayor campaigns for office by suddenly shifting to a tough-on-crime persona, emphasizing public safety. What did Johnson know, and when did he know it, during the two months his brother was on the lam, and what did he do with the information he had? Those things are relevant, but the media seem incredibly uninterested in digging into them. If Johnson did know about the warrant and shooting investigation, one certainly would have expected him to do everything in his power to bring his brother in.

Rank-and-file officers are suspicious that the Milwaukee Police Department, helmed by a Johnson ally who owes his job in part to Johnson’s support, did everything in its power to keep the story of Addison’s arrest quiet before Tuesday’s election, when Johnson will face former Ald. Bob Donovan, who has criticized his public safety record. It didn’t work, if so. Word, however, eventually leaked out to Wisconsin Right Now through sources.

A Two-Hour Standoff

Johnson wants the public to believe that he did not know, until the next day, that his brother was involved in a two-hour standoff with the police agency he helps fund with his mother screaming on a city street nearby.

Seven to eight officers initially showed up in unmarked vehicles and a K-9 shortly after 3 p.m. on March 29, 2022, looking like members of a special team, the neighbor said; they knocked for two hours before finally getting Addison out of the house, which Wisconsin Right Now has discovered has ties to the Cavalier Johnson family. “They banged on that door for a couple hours,” she said (the woman did not want her name printed.) Police used loudspeakers and had a large SWAT vehicle, she said. (We asked Johnson’s spokesman, Jeff Fleming, if he was concerned about the claims that Johnson’s mother brought up his title and name at the scene; he did not respond.) We learned from sources that police eventually obtained a search warrant for the residence. “She was definitely loud and screaming,” the neighbor told Wisconsin Right Now of the brothers’ mom.

On social media, Denise Townsend has posted a series of pro-BLM, anti-police comments. We’ve learned that the house has ties to a now-deceased close relative of Denise, Chevy Johnson, and Addison. Her daughter referred to the man as her uncle.

In short, it was quite a commotion; a big police operation.

Despite all of this uproar, the acting mayor of the city, who controls the funding for the Milwaukee Police Department and appoints the commissioners who select the chief, insisted in a statement given through Fleming that it took until Wednesday for word to trickle out to him, although he won’t say exactly where he saw the post. Certainly, it wasn’t in the media; the story did not break until Friday morning on WRN, where it was quickly picked up by the other major Milwaukee news outlets.

“The mayor had no knowledge of the shooting, the warrant, or the arrest before a social media post on Wednesday,” Johnson’s spokesman, Jeff Fleming, told Wisconsin Right Now, not answering a question that queried about which one.

“The only caveat I will add is that his office did receive the same notification all news media received on January 4th regarding the three different shootings that afternoon. There were no details beyond the age and sex of the victim and the statement that police were looking for an unknown suspect. The Mayor had no information from his mother or anyone else about this prior to the arrest.”

Johnson has demonstrated a pattern of misleading voters in campaign ads about his record relating to funding Milwaukee police. He has a long history of comments and votes seeking to slash the police budget, implying police are racists who kill and maim black people, opposing mandatory minimums, such as those for violent felons who carry guns, and the like, but has remade himself at election time into a supposed pro-public safety candidate (see a round-up of his record on public safety here).

If he’s not being honest about when he last saw his brother and when he knew he was wanted or learned of the arrest, it would raise a host of serious questions. The mayor’s spokesman paints him as clueless about the fact that, for two months, the Milwaukee Police Department was searching for his brother for allegedly shooting a man multiple times, including in the head, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. But if he’s telling the truth, it raises another question: Why didn’t MPD ask Johnson to help them find his brother? Why didn’t they release the suspect information to TV and other media when Addison was charged in January to help find him? Why didn’t they ask him to help them get Addison out of the house safely on March 29?

MPD won’t say whether the agency told Johnson it was looking for his brother. If the agency did not do so, it raises questions about how hard police were looking for the brother of the man who pushed the appointment of its chief.

These are all serious questions the media seem uninterested in exploring.

Is it plausible that the mayor learned about all of this hullabaloo through social media AFTER it all went down, as he claims? Or is the mayor lying? That’s up for you to decide, although, if he’s telling the truth, one certainly can’t accuse him of having his finger firmly on the pulse of the city or family.

We asked a series of other questions, including, “Has mayor Johnson had any contact with his brother in any way since the warrants were issued in January – and when and in what way and for what?”

Fleming wrote at one point, “I’m unlikely to have a chance to speak with the Mayor on this in the near term.” He added, “Actually, he just texted me – the last time he saw his brother was last November around Thanksgiving.”


The Victim: “It Spread Through the Family’

The man who was shot, allegedly by Addison, believes the news that Addison was wanted for the crime “spread through the family,” referring to Cavalier Johnson’s family. Johnson and Addison share a mother and multiple half-siblings.

Eddie Knox, who did home improvement work but can’t anymore because of his wounds, told Wisconsin Right Now in an exclusive interview that he told the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s office in January 2022 that he’d learned Addison might be staying at the home of Cavalier’s mom on Wright St.

We tracked down Knox through the address listed in the criminal complaint, which gives his name as only “E.K.” We knocked on the window, and he came out, willing to talk. He said that no one, not even police, told him that Addison was arrested for shooting him; that he learned from TV news. Not a single other journalist attempted to talk to him.

Eddie knox mayor cavalier johnson
Eddie knox

He described the extensive injuries he sustained in the shooting; the criminal complaint describes how a man police say was Addison, already a felon child abuser, pulled up in a truck and opened fire without provocation at Knox, shooting him multiple times as he sat in a vehicle.

“I had to have my arm rebuilt,” he said. “They had to put a rod from here down to here with plates and screws and everything.” Standing right by the spot where he was shot in January, Knox said he suffered two broken shoulders. He was shot in the head, he said, revealing a dent where the bullet entered.

Eddie knox
Eddie knox gunshot scars to head and neck

Knox said that he went to get some dog food, and pulled up on his street, when the shooter “pulled up along the side of me and called my name and started shooting.”

He says that he knew “it was Allen” because he had known the 37-year-old man since he was 18. “My son chased him down and got the license plate,” he said, adding that he picked Addison out of a photo lineup. However, the criminal complaint does not contain those details; it says that Knox could not identify Addison for sure because the windows were tinted, and that his son chased him, but it doesn’t mention him getting a license plate. It does say that police found casings in Addison’s truck and that a neighbor identified him as the driver right after the shooting. The complaint says the motive is tied up in Knox preventing Addison from beating up Addison’s girlfriend in a previous incident.

Knox said Addison also had a problem with his son because his son dated the mother of Addison’s children. Knox dates her sister.

Knox said he’s baffled how he survived the shooting, as were hospital personnel.

“I don’t know why he shot me,” he said.

He believes the police did a good job investigating, saying, “They have so many shootings a day now. They can’t really just focus on one shooting.”

Knox said police immediately tried to track Addison down because he was the suspect from day one.

“I don’t think they should have come down on the mayor like that, it’s not his fault. You can’t control your family. It’s a grown man,” said Knox.

But he believes multiple members of the family knew quickly that Addison was wanted for the shooting.

“Two weeks out of the hospital, I heard he (Addison) was by his mother’s house. I told the district attorney, the district attorney…sent the cops over there to investigate,” he said.

Allen addison jr cavalier johnson's brother
The brothers. Addison and johnson are on right.

Does he believe Johnson is telling the truth when he says he didn’t know his brother was wanted until seeing it on social media after his March 29 arrest?

“I can’t accept that part because if the mother knew her son was wanted, I think it would spread through the family,” Knox said. “I assume she (the mother) did know because the police came there to investigate. That’s the address they had. I am quite sure they made a few attempts going back to that house. I am quite sure she knew, and I am quite sure it was through the family because the kids knew.”

Asked which kids he meant, he said the three teenage children of Addison. “They talk to my kids. They’re all related. They just talked between each other and said that he was wanted. Ever since the day it happened. The kids knew who shot me. They was here and, they found out who shot me. It ran through the family that he shot me.”

Knox laughed and rolled his eyes when asked about Johnson’s denial.

About the mother, he said, “Yeah, c’mon, she gotta know. C’mon. If she told anyone, I don’t know.” Of Johnson, he repeated, “I think he probably did know.” But he can’t say for sure.

He noted, “If he’s acting mayor, I’m quite sure he knows what goes on at the police department.”


Family bonds

Mayor cavalier johnson

Social media posts show that Johnson is close to his mother and brother. His mother has posted photos with her son, the mayor, and a photo of Johnson with Addison. One of the only posts visible on Addison’s Facebook page is a birthday shout-out to Johnson in November 2021. “Happy Birthday Brother,” Addison wrote, along with a photo of him with Cavalier and another person. “…your (sic) the one I look up too (sic) Lil bro. Love you unconditionally…” Johnson replied, “Thanks, bro. Love you…”

Mayor cavalier johnson

Johnson has posted glowing tributes to his mom on Facebook, writing, “How did a friendly, mild mannered boy make it up from 53206, off to college, and commit to public service? Discipline instilled in him by his momma.”

The Milwaukee Police Department is run by a Johnson ally, Chief Jeffrey Norman. Johnson, then-Common Council president, pushed his appointment as chief. The pair holds press conferences together, recently touting the thousands of municipal tickets cops were writing to combat reckless driving (they didn’t mentioned that 7,200 were lost in the system).

We asked MPD:

1, Did police tell Cavalier Johnson or anyone in the mayor’s office about the arrest? When?

2, Did they seek his help in locating his brother during the last two months when he was wanted on serious felony warrants? Why or why not?

3, Did police tell Cavalier Johnson or anyone in the mayor’s office that his brother was wanted on a warrant? When?

4, How did police locate Addison, and where was he arrested?

We received this response from a MPD spokesman: “MPD will not discuss investigative steps about any case whether it involves an elected official or a member of our community. Ultimately, MPD respects and appreciates all the sources that provide information that lead to successful apprehension and prosecution of offenders. We do not discuss which particular source shared information for the safety of that individual. You are welcome to submit an open records request to obtain records at [email protected]. You can also direct questions to Mayor Johnson’s Office that may pertain to him.”

We submitted an open records request to both MPD and the mayor’s office. They are pending.

Norman’s silence isn’t doing much to dispel concerns about MPD’s transparency on this matter. Even cops who are usually in the know came up short on knowledge of the Addison arrest, although word filtered through the ranks of retired officers eventually. Multiple jail sources told us an assistant chief demanded that Addison be released from the city lockup and sent to the county jail, where he was quickly arraigned, bail set at $25,000. They described this as unusual. The police blotter shows that Addison was arrested on March 29; the county jail booking database says he was in that facility by March 31, when word finally spread. Wisconsin Right Now was first to break the story of Addison’s arrest, doing so on Friday, April 1. Within hours all of the local media had joined in.

Thus, one would think Norman’s MPD would be bending over backwards to be transparent about the arrest and investigation into the brother of his political ally.

The MPD has done the opposite, releasing only vague statements. The department would not even release the address where Addison was arrested. We were told to check the police blotter and waited two hours at district one before receiving it. That’s how we learned the address of the arrest was 2313 N. 41st St.

But whose house is that?


A Tie to the Johnson Clan

We found ties between that address and Johnson’s family circle. His family is complicated, to be sure; he has nine siblings. At least some, including Addison, are half-siblings. He has four brothers with the same mother, Denise Hardwick-Townsend.

A check of online records shows that a Marvin C. Hardwick once lived there. City records show the house is owned by a woman named Cassandra Patterson.

Mayor cavalier johnson

Johnson’s mother, Denise Hardwick-Townsend, has two other sons with the last name Hardwick, Forrest and Blake (the latter is also a felon). An elderly woman who answered the door said Denise “don’t live here,” that Marvin Hardwick “is deceased,” and became extremely angry and slammed the door when we asked about Addison and Cavalier Johnson. “We’re not going to do that,” she said.

A man named Dennis Hardwick wrote on Facebook, “Kicking it with family! Man I love having a twin sister Denise Hardwick-Townsend.” That indicates that Denise’s maiden name is Hardwick.

The neighbor wouldn’t provide the family members’ names, but said she did not believe that Addison, Johnson, or their mother were frequent visitors or had lived there. She did not know the Johnson link until the story hit the news.

To be sure, Marvin C. Hardwick died in February 2021.

His Facebook page is still active. Three years ago, the sister of Johnson and Addison wrote on Hardwick’s comment thread, “Uncle Bear living your best life.” Marvin was Facebook friends with Allen Addison, his two Hardwick surnamed brothers, Denise Townsend (also known as Denise Hardwick-Townsend), and….Acting Mayor Cavalier “Chevy” Johnson. A tribute post to Marvin by a relative tagged Johnson, his mom, and Addison.

Mayor cavalier johnson

A truck in the backyard of the home contained a similar logo to a lawn service, Trimmers Landscaping LLC. Addison posed for a selfie in front of a truck with that logo on Facebook. That company’s registered agent is out of Appleton, according to Wisconsin state records.

Mayor cavalier johnson

Fleming also released this statement on behalf of Johnson:

“The Mayor has been direct and upfront about his siblings. He has frequently noted he has one brother who is a warden at a state prison, and another brother who has been an inmate in that prison.

He has also stated his belief in accountability — to the community and to the criminal justice system — for those who break the law.

Cavalier Johnson brings a background and perspective to the Mayor’s Office unlike any other mayor in recent history. His experiences provide valuable insight as he addresses the serious challenges Milwaukee faces.

To your questions, the Mayor tells me he was not aware of the arrest warrant for his brother until recent days. As to his perception of police, he stands solidly behind has statement that the police play an important role in reducing crime and making Milwaukee safer.”

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Wisconsin Bans AI Porn, Child Sex Dolls

(The Center Square) – Consider it a sign of the times.

Wisconsin’s newest laws deal with AI-generated porn and new, lieflike child sex dolls.

Gov. Tony Evers signed more than two dozen new laws, including bans on child sex dolls and child porn created by artificial intelligence.

“We’re working to address the cycle of violence, prevent crime, and keep our schools, streets, and communities safe across Wisconsin,” Evers said in a statement.

One of the new laws creates the new crime of possession of virtual child pornography. Prosecutors say the law is needed because even AI generated images feed into child pornography and often the pictures or videos are created based on real images.

Another new law bans the sale, possession, manufacture or advertisement of child sex dolls.

“Protecting our kids is one of my highest priorities. As technology increases access and availability to new forms of abuse for pedophiles, we have to adjust our laws. We will always take a stand against those looking to prey upon our children,” Sen. Jesse James, R-Altoona, said after the governor's action.

The child sex doll ban makes it a felony to have one but adds years to any sentence if the doll is made to look like a specific child.

Rep. Joy Goeben, R-Hobart, said the new law is not something Wisconsin would have needed even just a few years ago.

“Law enforcement across the county is reporting an increase in child sex dolls. The dolls are anatomically correct life-like versions of children ranging from infants to teens. Dolls include accessories with programmable child voices, warming devices, and cleaning tools. They can resemble photos of real children and can contain software enabling the owner to simulate rape. Frequently, these dolls are seized during investigations into child sexual abuse material,” Goeben said.

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New Bill Would Require Feds to Screen Border Crossers Against Terror Watch List

A congressman from north Texas has introduced a bill that would require federal agents to screen everyone who enters the country illegally against the federal terrorist watch list.

The bill was introduced as more than 200 known or suspected terrorists (KSTs) have already been apprehended attempting to enter the country this fiscal year.

U.S. Rep. Roger Williams, a Republican whose district lies west and northwest of Fort Worth, introduced HR 7733, the Identifying Potential Terrorist at the Border Act of 2024. It would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to require U.S. Customs and Border Protection to “take into and maintain custody over an alien until the commissioner cross references the name of such alien with the terrorist screening database and a result for such cross reference is received by the commissioner.”

When announcing the bill, Williams said, “We are a land of laws, and it is past time this Administration acts like it. [President] Joe Biden is encouraging a deadly invasion of fighting-age men on American soil and each day this Democrat-created influx of illegal aliens allows bad actors to slip past Border Patrol undetected.”

Williams, Texas’ Secretary of State under former Gov. Rick Perry, last month also introduced a bill to have the federal government reimburse Texas for its border security costs.

Current law does not require illegal border crossers to be screened against the terrorist watch list. CBP agents at ports of entry and Border Patrol agents between ports of entry do follow the practice and apprehend KSTs.

Every month, CBP reports the number of KSTs apprehended at the northern and southern borders. CBP Office of Field Operations agents working at land ports of entry are tasked with stopping “inadmissables,” or illegal foreign nationals, including KSTs, as well as contraband, prior to U.S. entry. U.S. Border Patrol agents working between ports of entry patrolling the borde are tasked with apprehending foreign nationals, including KSTs, who’ve already illegally entered the U.S.

General practice has been to screen inadmissibles against the Terrorist Screening Dataset, the federal database that contains sensitive information on terrorist identities. It originated as a consolidated terrorist watchlist “to house information on known or suspected terrorists but evolved over the last decade to include additional individuals who represent a potential threat to the United States, including known affiliates of watchlisted individuals,” CBP explains.

“Under current law, CBP is not required to screen migrants against the terrorist watchlist database, and as we have seen too often, dangerous criminals are released into our nation who go on to harm American citizens and communities,” Williams said. “Now more than ever, we must be aware of who is in our country as Republicans fight to restore law and order and end Biden’s deadly open border policies that are destroying America.”

In fiscal 2023, the greatest number of KSTs, 736, were apprehended at the northern and southern borders, The Center Square reported. A significant majority – 66% – were apprehended at the northern border, 487; 249 were apprehended at the southwest border.

The apprehension data excludes gotaways, which Border Patrol agents and others have warned inevitably includes KSTs. “Gotaways” is the official CBP term that refers to those who illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry, don’t return to Mexico or Canada, and are not apprehended. An estimated two million have illegally entered since January 2021, The Center Square has reported. However, Border Patrol chiefs say this number is underreported by an estimated 20%.

The trend is continuing in fiscal 2024. The fiscal year started Oct. 1, 2023, and goes through Sept. 30, 2024. KST northern border apprehensions outpaced those at the southwest border in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, The Center Square reported.

As of Jan. 26, 2024, 144 KSTs were apprehended, the majority, 90, were apprehended at the northern border.

As of March 22, the total number climbed to 210, according to CBP data. The majority, 127, were apprehended at the northern border; 83 were apprehended at the southwest border.

The number of KSTs apprehended under the Biden administration has increased every year. In fiscal 2022, 478 KSTs were apprehended, up from 173 apprehended in fiscal 2021.

Last fall, FBI Director Christopher Wray testified before the U.S. Senate about terrorist threats facing Americans including from Iranians. More than a month after he spoke, northern border agents apprehended an Iranian with terrorist ties.

Retired FBI officials also warned Congress in January that a terrorist attack was likely imminent and preventable.

Earlier this month, Wray testified again before the Senate acknowledging that a smuggling organization working with the terrorist group ISIS is funneling criminals through the U.S. border. He said the FBI was investigating its operations that “we’re very concerned about.”

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Biden Administration Defends Decision to Nix Union Accountability Effort

The Biden administration has removed a federal webpage dedicated to union transparency and accountability and apparently has no plans to replace it.

The Center Square on Tuesday exclusively obtained a letter from the U.S. Office of Personnel Management to 10 U.S. senators defending its decision to remove a webpage built to hold unions accountable.

After the accountability webpage disappeared last year, an OPM spokesperson told The Center Square "previous reports on official time are not currently available because OPM is reorganizing our website to improve navigation and customer experience."

Since then, OPM has declined to comment on the issue multiple times.

As The Center Square previously reported, the Office of Personnel Management created the webpage in question to track “official time,” a practice when federal employees who are union members conduct union business during normal work hours, which means taxpayers pick up the tab.

The practice has gone on for decades, but concerns about abuse and accountability led lawmakers to push for more reporting. Until last year, OPM had a webpage dedicated to official time accountability with a history of past reports.

Now, in its letter to lawmakers, OPM points out it has moved the official time data to an “agency reports” webpage. However, the last official time report on the site is from fiscal year 2019, meaning none have been completed since Biden took office.

No other official time reports are listed on the OPM reports page.

“Most tellingly, Director [Kiran] Ahuja offered no apology for the removal of the official time webpage, made no commitment to restoring it, and declined to commit OPM to producing any additional estimates of taxpayer-funded union time use and costs in the future…” Maxford Nelsen, a labor policy expert at the Freedom Foundation, told The Center Square.

OPM has released the reports regularly since the Clinton administration, but in the letter pointed out they are not legally required to do so.

In the letter, OPM said the official time reports were taken down to improve the website and that the decision “was not based on any discussions with outside parties such as federal unions, other agencies, or the White House.”

The Center Square, however, exposed coordination between the Biden administration and labor unions at taxpayer expense in the past.

A national labor union representing over 100,000 federal employees boasted in a document online that they had persuaded the Biden administration to use taxpayer resources to make it easier for unions to recruit new members. After The Center Square reported on the issue, the document was taken down.

In OPM’s letter this week, the agency says its decision was not political but was part of a larger overhaul to the website.

From OPM’s letter:

As part of modernizing and consolidating our webpages, we routinely remove or migrate information to ensure our web content is up to date and to improve the customer Experience. In the course of updating our website, official time reports were taken down from their original location. The most recent of those reports, from 2019, was migrated along with numerous other documents to the Agency Reports page of OPM’s website. OPM made the decision to remove official time reports for the reasons described above; the decision was not based on any discussions with outside parties such as federal unions, other agencies, or the White House.

Annual reports on official time usage are not mandated by statute, and these statistics have not been reported on a consistent basis for more than a decade. In the past ten years, official time reports have only been issued four times. The most recent estimates on official time are included in the Fiscal Year 2019 report. Agencies reported that bargaining unit employees spent a total of 2,606,390 official time hours representing 1,329,222 non-Postal federal civil service employees. This represents a decrease of 28.26 percent in the use of official time compared to the previous report, which covered Fiscal Year 2016.

Nelsen pointed out that President Joe Biden has repeatedly stated his pro-union stance and his plans to be the “the most pro-union president in history,” so no official coordination was needed, though its unclear whether OPM’s claim of no coordination is true.

Nelsen pushed back, saying Ahuja “made no effort to explain how deletion of the federal government’s sole repository of official time information and historic data – which was perfectly functional and up-to-date until the day of its removal last summer – helps improve the public’s access to data.”

As The Center Square previously reported, “official time” was codified in 1978. Almost immediately, though, accountability became a major concern.

The Government Accountability Office reported in 1979 that “no one knows how much official time is authorized for Federal employees” because of “widespread failure” when it comes to keeping records. The GAO made similar comments again in 1996 before Congress.

“Overall, it’s fair to say that the Biden administration has zero interest in the public knowing the extent to which federal employees are working for unions instead of performing the public service roles for which they were hired and continue to be compensated by taxpayers,” Nelsen said.

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11 Million IllegalsmSouthern Border Arrests

More Than 11 Million Illegals Have Entered U.S. Since Fiscal 2021

According to U.S. Customs and Border protection data, 9.4 million foreign nationals illegally entered the U.S. in fiscal years 2021, 2022, 2023 and through the end of February 2024.

Including another more than 2 million gotaways, reported by The Center Square, combined, they total an estimated 11.4 million, more than the population of 43 U.S. states.

They also total more than the population of all individual U.S. cities, including the largest city of New York City, and are greater than the populations of roughly 150 countries.

With February’s record 256,094 illegal border crossers, and more than 120,000 gotaways in the first quarter of fiscal 2024, the number of illegal border crossers in fiscal 2024 through February total more than 1.6 million, the highest in U.S. history.

Record numbers came through in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 both at the northern and southwest borders, the highest of any quarter and per month in U.S. history.

If fiscal 2024 numbers continue at the current trajectory, they will likely be the largest number on record, surpassing last year’s record.

Last fiscal year, nearly 4 million, including gotaways, were reported to have illegally entered the U.S., The Center Square first reported.

“Gotaways” is the official term used by Border Patrol agents to describe foreign nationals who intentionally illegally enter the U.S. between ports of entry and don’t return to Mexico or Canada. CBP doesn’t publicly report gotaway data. The Center Square first began reporting it to provide a more accurate picture of the number of illegal border crossers entering the U.S. every month under the current administration.

Illegal border crossers (fiscal year 2021 through fiscal 2024 through the end of February 2024) total more than 19 Wyomings, 17.5 Vermonts, 15.5 Alaskas, 14 North Dakotas, 12 South Dakotas, and nearly 11 Delawares, President Joe Biden’s home state.

Put another way, they total 29% of California’s entire population, nearly 37% of Texas’ population, and nearly half of Florida’s population, the country's three most populous states.

They total 58% of New York’s population, 88% of Pennsylvania’s population, 91% of Illinois’ population and nearly as much as Ohio’s population. They total more than the eighth most populous state of Georgia and the rest of the U.S. states and territories.

The Center Square first reported on the number of illegal border crossers totaling more than the population of individual states. In June 2022, more than three million had illegally entered the U.S., totaling more than the individual populations of 23 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia.

By August 2022, that number had increased to total more than the population of 25 states and more than 100 countries and territories.

Now, they total more than roughly 150 countries, outranking the 83rd most populous country of Jordan with 11.3 million people. They total more than the populations of the Dominican Republic, Cuba, Sweden, Honduras, Greece, Portugal, Hungary, Israel, Austria, Switzerland, Libya and Nicaragua.

They also total more than double the populations of Finland, Norway, Lebanon, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Ireland, Panama and Kuwait.

They more than triple the populations of Georgia, Uruguay, Jamiaca and Qatar.

The numbers exponentially increased after Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas implemented policies to create a “legal pathway” for millions of foreign nationals who otherwise would be prohibited from entry. More than half of U.S. states sued over them, arguing they are illegal. The U.S. House Committee on Homeland Security identified over a dozen parole policies Mayorkas created that it argues are illegal included as reasons for which he was impeached last month, The Center Square reported.

Reduces $464M Bond Leaked Trump's Taxes Michaela Murphy Shenna Bellows Kicking Trump Off 2024 Ballot Fake Electors Lawsuit Classified Documents Trial Donald Trump Poll Documents Trial Trump’s Poll Numbers Spike After Indictment

Appeals Court Reduces $464M Bond in Trump’s Fraud Case, Gives Him More Time

A New York appeals court on Monday gave former President Donald Trump a lifeline in his New York fraud case, allowing Trump to post a much lower bond while he appeals the verdict in the case.

Trump was expected to come up with $464 million or a bond for that amount Monday to appeal a ruling by Superior Court Judge Arthur Engoron in a civil fraud lawsuit brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James in 2022.

In an order, the five-judge state appeals court panel said it would give the Trump Organization and top executives 10 days to post a $175 million bond.

Engoron found that Trump, his company and top executives – including his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump – deceived banks and insurers by inflating the value of his family's wealth on financial statements used to secure loans.

Trump said Monday that he planned to comply with the order.

"We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division, and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash," he posted on Truth Social. "This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous Engoron's original decision was at $450 Million."

Trump's attorneys previously said he couldn't get a bond for the full amount and asked to put up a $100 million bond instead. James wanted Trump to have to put up the full amount and had said she will seek "judgment enforcement mechanisms in court" if Trump can't come up with the money.

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