JUICE — Florida Politics' Juicy Read — 6.16.2021 —America is a Rotten Place?— Crist Defends Fried— Murphy vs. Sabatini— More...

DeSantis Says Critical Race Theory Teaches Kids that ‘America is a Rotten Place’ by The Floridian's Javier Manjarres

Scott Accuses Twitter of ‘Editorializing’ For the People Act," by The Floridian's Jim McCool

Murphy Calls Sabatini an ‘Extremist Trump Supporter’ by The Floridian's Jim McCool

Biden Assembles Former Trump Officials To Help Prepare For Putin Summit by The Floridian's Mona Salama

“Castor Says Biden’s Climate Change Policy Is ‘Very Ambitious’” by The Floridian’s Jacier Manjarres – President Joe Biden’s new “Clean Energy Revolution” has been praised by both Progressive and liberal Democrats in the House of Representatives, including Rep. Kathy Castor, who chairs the House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis, and is backing the Democratic alternative to the Green New Deal and climate change measure put forth by House Progressives. The climate measure in question that Rep. Castor is responsible for, is not title after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s Green New Deal, but it includes many of the same tenents woven into the Greene New Deal.

“Biden White House Unveils Strategy Combating Domestic Terrorism ‘Laser-Focused’ On ‘White Supremacy’ And ‘Militia Extremists’” by The Floridian’s Mona Salama – The White House released its new strategy for addressing domestic terrorism, outlining specific steps that pledge to curb the spread of the “militia violent extremists” and “white supremacy” the administration argues currently presents the “most persistent and lethal threats.” “Domestic terrorism – driven by hate, bigotry, and other forms of extremism— is a stain on the soul of America. It goes against everything our country strives for and it poses a direct challenge to our national security, democracy, and unity,” President Biden said in a statement.

“DeSantis-Appointed Elections Boss Denies Fox News Interview Over Zuckerbucks” by The Floridian’s Jim McCool – A large portion of Republican voters are still convinced the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump. 7 months after President Trump’s election day loss, Conservative Journalist and Congressional candidate Laura Loomer (R-FL), who is branded as Florida’s most canceled woman, confronted Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections Wendy Sartory Link after she accepted a $6.8 million “Zuckerbucks” grant from Mark Zuckerberg. Sartory Link asserts she never interviewed with Fox News about receiving the “Zuckerbucks” and using them during the election, but the Fox News report quotes her on several occasions.

“DeSantis Says Critical Race Theory Teaches Kids that ‘America is a Rotten Place’” by The Floridian’s Javier Manjarres – It appears as if Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has made the controversial and “divisive” Critical Race Theory the focal point of his legislative agenda, as the popular governor asserted his disdain for the education concept and his effort to defund it during a recent appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity” political show. “We’re happy to have abandoned it in Florida, it’s not going to be allowed in Florida classrooms,” stated Gov. DeSantis, before adding that “spending tax dollars to teach kids that America is a rotten place is absolutely unacceptable.”

“Murphy Calls Sabatini an ‘Extremist Trump Supporter’” by The Floridian’s Jim McCool – As we quickly approach the 2022 midterm elections, candidates are starting to fire up their respective political campaigns. One of the most highly anticipated Florida Congressional House races is the contest between incumbent Congresswoman Stephanie Murphy (D-FL) and challenger, state Rep. Anthony Sabatini (R-32). Rep. Sabatini threw the first jab at Rep. Murphy, but Murphy has countered with a body blow, calling Sabatini an “extremist Trump supporter” in her latest campaign fundraising email. Representative Murphy who calls herself a “Blue Dog Democrat,” has since kicked off fundraising in hopes to outraise Rep. Sabatini who she has since called a “far-right politician,” as he has previously Tweeted that Dr. Anthony Fauci should be sentenced to life in prison.

“Biden Assembles Former Trump Officials To Help Prepare For Putin Summit” by The Floridian’s Mona Salama – President Biden studied long and hard for Wednesday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, assembling a group of Russia experts — including former Trump officials who reportedly helped briefed the commander-in-chief to be well prepared ahead of the showdown. According to Axios, a group of roughly a dozen experts briefed Biden, including Fiona Hill, a former National Security Council (NSC) official who testified in Trump’s first impeachment trial and several Obama-era officials.

“DeSantis, Fried clash over cops, local control, environment appointee at Cabinet meeting” by Sun Sentinel’s Gray Rohrer – Gov. Ron DeSantis and Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried clashed over local control of police budgets and DeSantis’ appointment power Tuesday, during the first Cabinet meeting since Fried announced she is running for the Democratic nomination to replace DeSantis in 2022. The only statewide elected Democrat in Florida, Fried has been a consistent critic of DeSantis, but only made her gubernatorial run official on June 1. At the meeting in Tallahassee, Fried asked DeSantis when he would appoint a new Secretary of the Department of Environmental Protection. DEP deputy secretary Shawn Hamilton took over as interim leader of the agency on June 4, when Noah Valenstein left the office.

“Legal losses mount for Broward Sheriff’s Office” by Sun Sentinel’s Rafael Olmeda – Broward Sheriff Gregory Tony was wrong to suspend the president of the police union last April and should allow him to return to work immediately, a panel of the state’s Public Employee Relations Commission has ruled. Jeff Bell, president of the Broward Sheriff’s Deputies Association union, was suspended from his job as a deputy with 24 years of service after he wrote a South Florida Sun Sentinel opinion column criticizing his employer for his early response to the coronavirus pandemic. The commission found that Bell was acting in his capacity as a union chief and that his criticisms were protected, rejecting the sheriff’s argument that Bell made dishonest statements and conducted himself in an unbecoming manner.

“Florida Misses Deadline On Federal Schools Money” by CBS Miami – Florida is among 21 states that have not submitted plans to the U.S. Department of Education detailing how they intend to use the latest round of federal stimulus funds earmarked for schools. The department on Monday released a list of plans submitted by 29 states and the District of Columbia. Florida missed a June 7 deadline to submit its plan, citing a delay “due to (the) legislative session and required State Board review,” according to the federal agency. The Florida Department of Education did not immediately respond to questions from The News Service of Florida about when the State Board of Education will review a plan and submit it to Washington.

“Mackenzie Scott makes large gifts to 3 Florida schools” by Associated Press – The former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has donated $40 million each to two state universities in Florida. She also made a $30 million gift to Broward College, a community college in South Florida. Philanthropist Mackenzie Scott and her current husband, Dan Jewett, made the donations Tuesday to Florida International University in Miami and the University of Central Florida in Orlando without any restrictions on their use. In the case of UCF, the $40 million gift was the largest in the school’s history. "We are honored by Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett’s trust and confidence in the University of Central Florida," UCF President Alexander N. Cartwright said in a statement. "Their transformational gift validates the work our faculty and staff do to foster student success and we are thankful these funds will enable us to increase our impact for generations of students.

“Florida congressional candidate accuses rivals of plotting to kill her” by New York Post’s Tamar Lapin – A Florida congressional candidate has accused her potential rivals in the GOP primary of plotting to kill her. Anna Paulina Luna, who has previously been endorsed by former President Donald Trump in the race, obtained a temporary restraining order Friday against fellow Republican William Braddock, the Tampa Bay Times reported. Luna claimed in court papers that Braddock and her other “political opponents” Matt Tito and Amanda Makki were working together to “take her out,” the report said. “I received information yesterday (at midnight) regarding a plan (with a timeline) to murder me made by William Braddock in an effort to prevent me from winning the election for FL-13,” Luna wrote in her petition for an injunction last week.

“Congressman Wants Beleaguered Florida Manatees Listed As Endangered, Rather Than Threatened” by WLRN’s Amy Green – Sarasota Congressman Vern Buchanan is calling on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reinstate the manatee’s status as endangered, rather than threatened. That’s as a staggering 761 of the animals have died since the start of the year, many of them in the Indian River Lagoon. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service downlisted the manatee in 2017 to threatened rather than endangered, citing the animal’s rebounding population and habitat. Today some 6,500 manatees are estimated to be in Florida, up from only a few hundred in the 1970s. Buchanan says he opposed the change in designation at the time and believes the manatee now needs the highest level of federal protections and conservation efforts.

“Florida Elections Law Draws Another Challenge” by News Service of Florida – As challenges to a new Florida elections law stack up, a case filed Monday in federal court alleges that part of the law placing requirements on voter-registration organizations is unconstitutional. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of the groups HeadCount and the Harriet Tubman Freedom Fighters Corp., is the fourth challenge to the law, which was passed in April by the Republican-controlled Legislature and signed in May by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The latest case is narrowly tailored to one section of the law that involves what are known as third-party voter-registration organizations. The law, in part, requires the organizations to inform voter-registration applicants that the organizations might not meet legal deadlines for delivering forms to elections officials. Also, the organizations are required to tell applicants how to register online.

National:

“Former CDC director Redfield explains why he believes COVID-19 emerged from lab, WHO 'compromised'” by Fox News’ Thomas Barrabi – Robert Redfield, the former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, explained the reasoning behind his opinion that a lab leak was the most likely explanation for the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins, in a wide-ranging interview with Fox News. The former CDC director discussed the ongoing debate over the COVID-19 pandemic’s origins during a lengthy interview this past weekend with Dr. Marc Siegel, a professor of medicine at the NYU Langone Medical Center and a Fox News contributor. While Dr. Anthony Fauci and other leading members of the science community have long argued that human contact with an infected animal started the pandemic, calls to investigate the lab leak theory have intensified in recent days.

“House Republican presses Navy chief on why critical race theory was placed on voluntary reading list” by Fox News’ Ronn Blitzer – Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., expressed concern that the U.S. Navy is promoting discrimination by including books about critical race theory on a recommended reading list, specifically pointing at Ibram X. Kendi's "How to Be an Antiracist." At a Tuesday House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Navy's 2022 budget request, Lamborn asked Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Michael Gilday why that book was on the Navy's professional reading list. "[I}t argues that the entire American system is corrupted from top to bottom by racial prejudices which account for all differences in outcomes in our society," Lamborn said. "And one sentence out of that book says, ‘The only remedy to past discrimination is present discrimination. The only remedy to present discrimination is future discrimination.’"

“President Biden puts decades of experience to the test in high-stakes meeting with Vladimir Putin” by CNN’s Kevin Liptak and Phil Mattingly – President Joe Biden convenes the highest-stakes talks of his long career Wednesday when he joins Russia's Vladimir Putin for a summit, an encounter set to test his decades of experience on the world stage and lay down an early marker of his diplomatic skills. Depending on its outcome, the meeting could shadow Biden as he returns home to help revive his domestic agenda. He'll arrive to the 18th-century villa on Lake Geneva, a stunning summit site, bolstered by support from western allies he spent the past week consulting ahead of his face-to-face with the Russian President, who left Russia for Geneva on Wednesday, approximately two hours before the summit was set to begin, according to state-owned media.

“Senate unanimously passes a bill making Juneteenth a federal holiday” by CNN’s Ted Barrett and Alex Rogers – The Senate unanimously passed a resolution on Tuesday establishing June 19 as Juneteenth National Independence Day, a US holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. The legislation has gained momentum since the massive Black Lives Matter protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd last year and the Democrats' takeover of the White House and Congress. But Wisconsin Republican Sen. Ron Johnson blocked the bill in 2020, saying that the day off for federal employees would cost US taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Johnson dropped his objection this week despite his concerns, paving the way for the bill's passage in the Senate.

“Israeli Airstrikes Hit Gaza After Nationalists’ March Stokes Jerusalem Tensions” by WSJ’s Dion Nissenbaum and Dov Lieber – Israeli police fired rubber bullets at Palestinians trying to disrupt a right-wing nationalist march in Jerusalem, while Hamas militants launched incendiary balloons into Israel that triggered Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, raising the specter of renewed violence in the region. The Israeli military said it carried out a limited series of airstrikes on the militant group’s compounds across the Gaza Strip, marking the first time the rival forces have traded blows since the two sides agreed to a May 21 truce that brought an end to an 11-day conflict. The surge of violence poses an early test for Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his two-day-old coalition government, which must figure out how to prevent renewed tensions from escalating.

“Federal Judge Stops Biden Administration From Blocking New Oil and Gas Leases” by WSJ’s Timothy Puko and Katy Stech Ferek – A federal judge in Louisiana issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Biden administration from pausing new oil and gas leases on federal land. Judge Terry A. Doughty of the U.S. District Court in Monroe said the administration doesn’t have the legal right to stop leasing federal territory for oil-and-gas production without approval from Congress. The judge, appointed by former President Donald Trump, also said that states suing the federal government—largely southern and coastal states—will be harmed immediately as the pause prevents them from collecting lease bids and bonuses from oil-and-gas prospectors.

“Standoff in House as opposing parties weigh retaliation against Omar and Greene” by Politico’s Melanie Zanona, Olivia Beavers and Sarah Ferris – Republicans and Democrats in the House are locked in a game of chicken over punishing controversial members from the other party. Rank-and-file members in both parties are threatening to formally censure lawmakers across the aisle who have become lightning rods for different reasons: Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) on one side, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on the other. Yet it’s still unclear who’s going to court a collision, if at all — a sign that lawmakers are nervous about the prospect of a tit-for-tat should they choose to go down that punitive route. The fear of retaliation, especially with such tight margins in the House, is exactly why lawmakers have been cautious about pursuing censure or other similar punishment in the past.

“‘Shocking failure’: Pentagon and FBI come under fire for Jan. 6 response” by Politico’s NICHOLAS WU, NICK NIEDZWIADEK and JOSH GERSTEIN – Days before the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection, social media company Parler flagged dozens of worrying messages to the FBI — warnings that appeared to go unanswered. "Don’t be surprised if we take the Capitol building," says a post from a Parler user who concluded, "Trump needs us to cause chaos to enact the Insurrection Act." At a House Oversight Committee hearing on Tuesday, Chair Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) disclosed the message, one of dozens Parler sent to the FBI on Jan. 2 — four days before the insurrection. FBI Director Christopher Wray said he did not “recall” hearing of the posts but that some were routed to FBI squads investigating domestic terrorism. The FBI is now reviewing whether that information was handled appropriately, Wray said.