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Aug. 3, 2021 - Epoch Times
23:49
Audit Team Announces that 50% of Ballots Completed; PA Senators Come to Observe Audit | Facts Matter
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Good evening.
Just yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a new bill which bans transgender athletes from competing in women's sports across both schools as well as universities in all of Florida.
Meanwhile, mothers of several young black people who were killed by the police, they recently came out and heavily criticized the Black Lives Matter organization, saying essentially that they are being played.
And lastly, over in Arizona, not only have they just completed recounting one million ballots, but they also recently announced something very interesting.
Several lawmakers over in Pennsylvania are flying to Arizona in order to tour the Maricopa County audit facility.
Why?
Well, let's go through that together.
This is your daily Facts Matter update, and I'm your host, Roman, from The Epoch Times.
And today, I actually have a very special announcement.
We here at The Epoch Times are expanding our operations, and we are now actually hiring.
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Simply send an email over to careers at epictimes.com and we can connect.
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And now let's begin today's discussion over in Arizona.
As you likely already know, the large-scale audit of the 2020 election over in Maricopa County has officially restarted.
As a part of that audit, the Arizona State Senate, they're doing a hand recount of 2.1 million ballots.
They're looking for any possible IT breaches that might have occurred.
And they're also examining close to 400 election tabulation machines, which were used during the 2020 contest.
Now, just yesterday, Ken Bennett, who is the audit liaison, he announced that the recount has now reached 50% completion, meaning that they have now counted over 1 million ballots.
Here's what he released as a part of a statement.
Great election audit news.
We surpassed counting 50% of the Maricopa ballots last week.
Now, when you look at a timeline of his announcements over the past month and a half, you will see that the counting of ballots has noticeably quickened.
For instance, in the first month of the audit, they were only able to review about 500,000 ballots.
Then they, of course, took about a week-long break.
However, once they restarted, within a few days, they were up to 800,000 ballots.
And then, five days after that, they reported being at a million.
And so, indeed, the recount seems to be accelerating.
Now, Kelly Ward, who is the chairwoman of the Arizona Republican Party, she said that the progress in the audit is in large part due to more volunteer counters in place.
And then, furthermore, in that same statement, she added that attacks on the audit have never waned, Now, in addition to that, it was also announced by Ken Bennett that they will be adding a third shift to the review team, starting as of yesterday.
For your reference, the audit team has, for weeks now, been trying to add a third shift, but they have been struggling to onboard enough new people to fill those slots, which it looks like they now successfully have done.
And if they are able to keep this pace, or even accelerate the counting process, then they will likely indeed finish by June 30th, which is the deadline which is when the contract with the venue expires.
Now besides this development with the number of ballots that have been counted, it was also just reported that a delegation of Pennsylvania lawmakers will be traveling over to Arizona in order to observe the election audit.
The plan is for this delegation to visit the Arizona Capitol, to meet with members of the Arizona legislature, and then to go on a tour of the audit happening at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum.
Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we got a chance to speak to these Pennsylvania lawmakers, and here's what one of them told us.
I kind of see this as a fact-finding mission to see what's happening on the ground in Arizona.
Now, in total, this delegation from Pennsylvania will include three lawmakers, Rob Kaufman, Doug Mestriano, and Chris Dush.
And all three of them are Republicans.
And so given that, we asked them if this trip could lead to a similar audit taking place in Pennsylvania, to which one of the lawmakers responded by saying this.
I can't say that yet, but if we bring some substantial information back with us, I could see it happening.
Now, we here at the Epoch Times, we also reached out to Ken Bennett, who is, of course, the audit liaison, and we asked him what this Pennsylvania delegation is up to.
But he told us that he does not have any further information on this visit beyond what his team posted already on Twitter.
And for your reference, this is what they posted on Twitter.
On Wednesday, a Pennsylvania delegation consisting of State Senator Doug Mestriano, State Senator Chris Dush, and State Representative Rob Kaufman will visit the Arizona Capitol to meet with members of the Arizona legislature and then tour the Arizona audit to receive a brief from the forensic audit team.
And so as you can see, thus far, it's not been publicly revealed what their plans are.
However, there is a piece of the puzzle that might give us a glimpse into what these Pennsylvania lawmakers have in mind.
That's because back in November of last year, in November of 2020, two of these Pennsylvania lawmakers, they released a joint statement calling for a statewide audit of the 2020 election out in Pennsylvania.
Here's what that statement said in part.
And so we'll just have to wait and see what ultimately comes of their trip and if a similar investigation, similar audit springs up over in Pennsylvania in the near future.
Now, as always, if you would like to watch the audit for yourself, you can do so over at azaudit.org, which is the website that was set up by the Arizona Senate, which allows you to watch the audit in real time from nine different camera angles.
And maybe, if you're lucky and if you time it right, you might be able to watch the Pennsylvania lawmakers touring the facilities in real time.
Although, it's not been made public exactly when they're touring, so you just have to, I guess, sit there and watch.
The link to azaudit.org, as well as all the other links to the stories we discussed, will all be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And now, actually, I want to mention something.
There is something happening out in Georgia in regards to their audit.
There appears to have been a security breach, I believe, yesterday or the day before.
However, there are certain elements of that story which I just don't feel comfortable talking about here on YouTube.
Not because it's not factual, but because sometimes the algorithm picks up on certain words...
And I just, I don't want to deal with that.
So, we will be publishing that episode exclusively over on Epic TV in the coming few days.
If you want to check it out, as well as all the other awesome content over on Epic TV, the link to that will be at the top of the description box.
Right there at the top, there's a link to Epic TV where you can check out all of the awesome programs, not just for Facts Matter, but for all the other Epic Times programs as well, like The Larry Elder Show, Crossroads with Joshua Phillip, American Thought Leaders, China in Focus, Life in Times, as well as some of the awesome documentaries that we have been putting together.
Again, that link will be at the top of the description box.
Hope you subscribe and check out our exclusive content that's over on Epic TV.
And now let's head on over to Florida.
To start with, just yesterday, Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law a new bill which bans transgender athletes from competing in women's sports across both schools as well as universities in Florida.
Now, the bill is called the Fairness in Women's Sports Act, and upon signing it, here's what Governor Ron DeSantis had to say.
Girls are going to play girls sports, and boys are going to play boys sports.
We believe in the state of Florida protecting the fairness and integrity of women's athletics.
Furthermore, during the signing ceremony, Kelly Stargle, who is a state senator out in Florida, and she's the one who actually sponsored this piece of legislation, she said that biological men possess significant physical advantages over women.
And furthermore, during that signing event, she played a videotape of a transgender athlete competing against high school girls, and she added this.
I've always heard as a kid, you run like a girl.
And when you're looking at that video, it's evident the woman, the transgender woman who competed, or self-identified woman, ran very differently than the others in the competition.
It's physiologically different.
Men are stronger.
They have bigger lung capacity, stronger muscles.
Now, Florida's Democratic Party, they were against this law being passed and accused both Ron DeSantis as well as the Republicans of being discriminatory.
Here's what the Florida Democrat Party said as a part of their statement.
The language denigrating trans youth incorporated in this bill shows how little the Republican-led legislature regards equal treatment for all our young people.
However, Kelly Stargill, who is again the state senator who sponsored this bill, she pushed back against those claims and said that the Republicans are not against any particular group and that instead this bill is about fairness.
Here's part of what she said as a reply.
This is not about that.
This is about sports and having a competitive advantage and having the ability to compete.
Now, besides pushback from Florida's Democrat Party, there was also a pressure campaign that was levied by both large corporations as well as the NCAA, who said that they might pull out of Florida because of this bill.
Now, in case you're not aware, the NCAA has taken a fairly strong position on allowing transgender athletes to compete in women's sports.
In fact, back in April, they released a statement which said this in part.
The NCAA Board of Governors firmly and unequivocally supports the opportunity for transgender student athletes to compete in college sports.
When determining where the championships are held, NCAA policy directs that only locations where hosts can commit to providing an environment that is safe, healthy and free of discrimination should be selected.
And for your reference, back in 2017, the NCAA did in fact pull events out of North Carolina after they passed a similar bill out there.
However, this pressure campaign did not sway Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the bill anyway, and responded by saying this.
Some of these organizations say they're not going to hold events if you do this.
Just let me say very clearly, in Florida, we're going to do what's right.
We'll stand up to corporations.
They are not going to dictate the policies in this state.
We will stand up to groups like the NCAA, who think that they should be able to dictate the policies in different states.
Now, while we're on the topic of Florida, there is another case that's worth discussing that's centered around cancel culture.
Just yesterday, the Florida State University settled a discrimination lawsuit for close to $100,000 with a Catholic student who was suing the school for violating his First Amendment rights.
What happened in this case was that last year, this Catholic student was the president of the Student Senate.
However, he was kicked out of his position after some comments that he made in a private text group were made public.
Now, in that private text group, which by the way was for members of the Catholic Student Union, so it was essentially Catholics talking amongst themselves, this student, this Catholic student, he gave his opinion on some social happenings.
He advised members of this group, who again were Catholics, to not donate money to Black Lives Matter, to the ACLU, or another group that's called Reclaim the Block, because he said that those organizations all advocate for things that are explicitly anti-Catholic.
One of his fellow students asked what he exactly meant by that, and here's how he responded in the text group.
BlackLivesMatter.com fosters a queer-affirming network and defends transgenderism.
The ACLU defends laws protecting abortion facilities and sues states that restrict access to abortion.
Reclaim the Block claims less police will make our communities safer and advocates for cutting law enforcement budgets.
This is a little less explicit, but I think it's contrary to the church's teaching on the common good.
And so, if you have been on a university campus in the last decade or two, you can imagine what happened once his comments were leaked to the public.
It caused an uproar on campus.
For instance, the local chapter of the College Democrats group, they denounce the messages saying that they demonstrate a clear lack of respect for our black and LGBTQ plus students.
Then an online petition began circulating, demanding that the Student Senate remove this Catholic student as president for his transphobic and racist behavior.
And they ultimately did.
The Student Senate indeed removed him from his position as the president of the Senate.
However, this Catholic student then filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging that he had been discriminated against for his Catholic beliefs.
And then the legal battle went back and forth for nearly a year until yesterday.
That was when the Florida State University agreed to settle the lawsuit.
As a part of their settlement, the school agreed to pay the student $1,050 in lost wages, $10,000 in compensatory damages, and $84,000 in attorney's fees.
It's kind of amazing the disparity between what the student gets and what the attorney gets.
Anyway, besides the monetary compensation, the university also agreed to post a public statement reinforcing that the student government is open to all students, regardless of their religious beliefs.
Here's what the school statement says in part.
Florida State University remains committed to protecting the rights of its students to hold and practice their religious beliefs free of persecution.
Every student, no matter their religion, has the right to participate in student organizations and hold positions in student government.
Now, this case actually took so long to go through the courts that this Catholic student has now actually graduated, and he is currently working as a legislative assistant to a Republican lawmaker out in North Carolina.
Regardless, if you would like to read more about the details of this case, or about this new sports bill that was just signed into law by Governor Ron DeSantis, the links to those articles will be down there in the description box below this video for you to check out.
Sorry.
Hello?
Hey Roman, it's me.
No, I'm just kidding.
I wanted to take a quick moment and introduce our sponsor for today's episode, which is an awesome company called AMAC, or A-M-A-C, and it stands for the Association of Mature American Citizens.
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The first is the money-saving benefit because they partner with a ton of retailers across the country and offer you discounts on things like vitamins, insurance policies, and so on.
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The second is that members get a subscription to their magazine.
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And then the third benefit, which a lot of people say is their favorite, is that AMAC fight on Capitol Hill against what they're calling the socialist storm that's brewing in America.
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It's not too expensive.
It's only $16 per year, but it looks like the benefits outweigh the cost by a wide margin.
Again, you can go over to amac.us forward slash facts matter or just click in the link in the description box below.
And AMAC, thank you so much for sponsoring our episode.
Now, Roman in the studio, back to you.
And now let's talk a little bit about BLM.
And to start with, just for total clarification, during our discussion, when we talk about Black Lives Matter, we are discussing the Black Lives Matter organization.
That's the one that was founded by self-proclaimed Marxists, that's the one whose stated goals are communist in nature, and that's the one that you can find over at blacklivesmatter.com.
We, I'd like to make very clear, are not talking about Black Lives Matter, the truism, the statement of fact that Black Lives Matter.
We are specifically instead talking about the BLM organization.
Now, having said that, two days ago, the mothers of several people whose names are regularly invoked by BLM activists, they criticized very heavily the Black Lives Matter organization.
For instance, Samaria Rice, who is the mother of a young boy who was shot by the police over in Cleveland, she said this during an interview with the New York Post.
They are benefiting off the blood of our loved ones, and they don't even talk to us.
She further added that she actually reached out to Black Lives Matter in order to get help in reopening a federal investigation into her son's death.
However, after exchanging a few emails with Patrisse Cullors, who is the co-founder of BLM, she said nothing came of it.
Now, Ms.
Patrisse Cullers, she recently stepped down from her post at Black Lives Matter shortly after it was revealed that she had been building up a fairly large real estate portfolio, which includes at least one mansion, and she was also found to be raking in $20,000 a month, serving as chairwoman of a jail reform group out in Los Angeles.
However, Ms.
Samaria Rice was not convinced that this was being done in good faith.
Here's what she had to say on the matter.
I don't believe she's going anywhere.
It's all a facade.
She's only saying that to get the heat off her right now.
Furthermore, another mother, Ms.
Lisa Simpson, whose son was killed by the LAPD in 2016, she also criticized this BLM co-founder.
Here's what she said.
Now, it's worth noting that Black Lives Matter revealed to the Associated Press that they took in about $90 million after the death of George Floyd.
And included in that figure was about $5,000, which was allegedly raised in order to pay for the funeral of Ms.
Simpson's son.
However, according to Ms.
Simpson, she never received any of that money.
In fact, these two mothers released a joint statement which said this in part: "We never hired them to be the representatives in the fight for justice for our dead loved ones murdered by the police.
The activists have events in our cities and have not given us anything substantial for using our loved ones' images and names on their flyers.
We don't want or need y'all parading in the streets accumulating donations, platforms, movie deals, etc. off the death of our loved ones, while the families and communities are left clueless and broken." Likewise, the mother of Breonna Taylor, she criticized local Black Lives Matter activists for using her daughter's death for their own benefit.
Here's what she said in a Facebook post.
I could walk in a room full of people who claim to be here for Brianna's family who don't even know who I am.
I've watched y'all raise money on behalf of Brianna's family, who has never done a damn thing for us, nor have we needed it or asked.
So talk about fraud.
It's amazing how many people have lost focus.
Now, when I mentioned earlier that Black Lives Matter, the organization again, was founded by self-avowed Marxists, well, there seems to be more and more evidence of that fact coming out every week.
Now, we already discussed in a previous episode how Ms.
Patrice Cullors, who is again one of the co-founders of BLM, was seen on a videotape describing her ideology as being decidedly Marxist.
For your reference, here's what she said in that video.
The first thing, I think, is that we actually do have an ideological frame.
We are trained Marxists.
We are super-versed on sort of ideological theories.
And I think that what we really try to do is build a movement that could be utilized by many, many black folk.
However, just yesterday, another video surfaced which shows Alicia Garza, who is another co-founder of BLM, invoked the words of Mao Zedong during a speech back in 2016.
During her speech, here's what she said.
We too are navigating the tension between allowing a thousand flowers to bloom, while at the same time distinguish between what are flowers and what are in fact weeds that threaten to consume the entire ecosystem.
Now, what's really worth mentioning here is that the phrase, let a thousand flowers bloom, is a direct reference to a Mao Zedong political campaign from the 1950s, which was called, let a hundred flowers bloom.
That was when, you might remember if you've studied history, that was when Mao Zedong invited criticism of the Communist Party.
He actually told people to openly criticize the Chinese Communist Party.
He told all the people of China, the professors, the leaders in the military, the intellectuals, all people throughout China, that they can openly criticize the Chinese Communist Party in order to make it better.
And so what happened was that people throughout China, they wrote articles, they wrote essays, which gave feedback to the communists, telling them where they can do better.
But then, instead of implementing any of these changes, Mao Zedong turned around and persecuted those people who dared to criticize the Chinese Communist Party.
They were labeled as rightists, as counter-revolutionaries, and then the criticisms that they wrote about the Chinese Communist Party, the criticisms that Mao Zedong himself invited, they were used as evidence against them, as proof that their thoughts were not politically correct.
And so this Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom campaign, which the co-founder of BLM was invoking, was actually a communist trap.
It was a communist trap to identify, persecute, and silence critics of the party.
And actually, I just really want to pause here for a moment and mention how genuinely impressed I am with Marxists as well as with communists.
They are so good at marketing.
I wish I was that good at marketing.
They are able to market their terrible ideas so well that even though historically it is completely known, it's unequivocally known, that these ideas and these movements are dangerous, they're murderous, and they're pretty much garbage, it still sounds so appealing.
I mean, let a hundred flowers bloom.
Who doesn't want to let a hundred flowers bloom?
It sounds so lovely.
They're so good at this type of marketing, which is of course why young people fall for it the most, especially nowadays when the school system has pretty much abdicated their responsibility and they do not teach young people about communism's murderous history.
And now, almost unbelievably, the Black Lives Matter flag, the flag of this group, which was founded by self-described Marxists, is now flying across embassies, across American embassies, alongside the American flag, around the world.
That's because on May 25th, which was the anniversary of George Floyd's death, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, he authorized embassies as well as consulates around the world to fly the BLM flag.
Here's what he wrote as a part of his memo.
And so, following that memo, following that memo, here are just a few examples of what happened.
This is our consulate over in Greece, flying the BLM flag alongside the American flag.
That picture was taken in a Greek city called Thessaloniki.
Furthermore, here is a video from our embassy over in Athens, which is also in Greece.
And this here is a photo from our embassy in Bosnia.
Now again, just as we mentioned at the beginning, during our discussion here, we are drawing a clear distinction between Black Lives Matter, the true statement, and Black Lives Matter, the Marxist organization.
And it's worth noting that the flags which are being flown overtop our embassies and consulates are from the latter, from the BLM organization.
Now, in response to this, several Republican lawmakers introduced a new bill which would prohibit American embassies and American consulates from flying political flags, such as those associated with the BLM movement.
Here's how one of the co-sponsors of this new bill described the need for it.
Now, as to whether this bill will actually pass Congress, well, we'll just have to wait and see.
If you would like to read anything more about what we discussed regarding the BLM organization, all those links will be in the description box below this video for you to check out.
And lastly, as we already mentioned in several previous episodes, on the same day that Joe Biden was sworn into office, YouTube made the unilateral decision to demonetize our program.
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They are essentially snuffing out our ability to monetize our independent journalism.
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