Latest news with #TurningPointAction
USA Today
5 days ago
- Politics
- USA Today
Attorney General Pam Bondi vows to preserve religious freedom against 'emerging threats'
Attorney General Pam Bondi vows to preserve religious freedom against 'emerging threats' Some critics worry the commission lacks a diversity of thought, and a small number of people walked out of the attorney general's speech in protest. Show Caption Hide Caption Trump tells Christians they won't have to vote after this election The GOP presidential nominee delivered the comments during a keynote speech at Turning Point Action's Believers' Summit. President Donald Trump created the Religious Liberty Commission with a May 1 executive order. The commission met for the first time at the Museum of the Bible on June 16 in Washington, D.C. WASHINGTON −U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said religious liberty has 'come under attack' in the nation during the inaugural meeting of President Donald Trump's Religious Liberty Commission. The commission met at the Museum of the Bible and Bondi referenced Trump's May 1 executive order, which established the panel and said Americans must work to 'preserve (religious freedom) against emerging threats.' 'The federal government became complicit in sheltering these threats, becoming the greatest threat itself,' Bondi said before listing events under former President Joe Biden's administration. She mentioned the nearly two-dozen anti-abortion activists whom Trump pardoned in January and claimed Biden 'marked Easter Sunday, the holiest day in the Christian calendar, as Transgender Day of Visibility.' As USA TODAY previously reported, the latter commemoration has long been celebrated on March 31, and Easter also landing on that date in 2024 was coincidental. Bondi said the administration has dropped cases that stemmed from the Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, under which anti-abortion activists have been arrested, and has supported the 'rights of parents to protect their children from transgender books" in public schools. The Supreme Court has yet to rule on a case involving the latter issue. Bondi's message didn't sit well with Guthrie Graves-Fitzsimmons of Interfaith Alliance, who was one of a half dozen people who left the museum's theater during what he described as Bondi's 'very extreme' remarks. 'To see the attorney general use her short remarks to just act aggrieved was disturbing, but expected,' he said. Graves-Fitzsimmons was already skeptical of the commission before June 16, and he found the meeting affirmed his suspicion by having 'very little diversity of thought.' A theme among numerous speakers was a belief that the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment doesn't prevent the government from promoting religion and that it can and should do so. South Texas College of Law professor Josh Blackman said posting the Ten Commandments in a public school classroom, for example, does not violate the clause. Mark David Hall, a Regent University professor who served as a witness at the meeting, said the founders didn't believe religion must be 'scrubbed from the public square.' Such sentiments reflect what Graves-Fitzsimmons described as the commission's 'misuse of religious liberty.' 'I think most Americans believe separation of church and state is good for both, and their voices aren't being heard at all by this commission,' he said. Rabbi Meir Soloveichik supported what he described as the Supreme Court's shift to a 'more accurate' understanding of religious freedom in recent years. Several speakers referenced legal concepts and court cases that they hoped would be revisited in the years to come. Alliance Defending Freedom President Kristen Waggoner, for example, supported challenges to the so-called Johnson Amendment, which prohibits churches from getting involved in politics. Bondi, who previously led the inaugural meeting of the 'Task Force to Eradicate Anti-Christian Bias,' said the Department of Justice will use 'every legal and constitutional tool available' to uphold religious liberty. 'Let this commission serve as a reminder – elections have consequences,' Bondi said. 'And this president and this administration are fully committed to restoring and defending religious liberty for all Americans.' The commission's next meeting will be held in September. BrieAnna Frank is a First Amendment Reporting Fellow at USA TODAY. Reach her at bjfrank@ USA TODAY's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Funders do not provide editorial input.
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Former GOP state Rep. Austin Smith, a Turning Point leader, indicted for forging election documents
Rep. Austin Smith, R-Surprise, on the floor of the Arizona House of Representatives on April 17, 2024. Photo by Jerod MacDonald-Evoy | Arizona Mirror Former Republican state legislator Austin Smith has been indicted on 14 misdemeanor and felony counts for allegedly forging voter signatures on his petitions for reelection last year. Former member of the state legislature's far-right Arizona Freedom Caucus Smith dropped his reelection bid last spring after he was accused of personally forging more than 100 petition signatures to get on the 2024 Republican primary ballot. Around the same time, Smith resigned from his position as senior director at Turning Point Action, the political advocacy arm of Turning Point USA, a far-right organization based in Phoenix that aims to mobilize young conservatives. But according to Smith's Linkedin and X accounts, he was rehired in January as Turning Point Action's strategic director. Smith made his X account private, blocking his biographical information — including his job title — on the morning of June 10, after the news of his indictment was made public. A Maricopa County grand jury indicted Smith on June 2 on four felony counts, for presenting documents he knew were forged to the Arizona Secretary of State's Office, and 10 misdemeanor counts for personally forging the names of electors on his reelection petitions. The felonies each come with a 1-2 year prison sentence; the misdemeanors come with a six-month imprisonment. When the allegations of signature fraud became public in April 2024, Smith vehemently denied them, calling them 'ludicrous' and accusing Democrats of creating a 'coordinated attack' against him. However, 100 of the signatures on his petition to get on last year's Republican primary ballot, along with corresponding addresses, obviously look like they were all written by the same person. And some of the people whose names were on the petition told the court that they never signed it. Smith took no accountability for the allegedly fraudulent signatures and said that he dropped out of the race because didn't want to spend tens of thousands defending himself in the civil elections challenge — as well as a possible criminal case for forgery. Ironically, Smith was a member of the Arizona House of Representatives Municipal Oversight and Elections Committee, where he decried unproven election fraud in Maricopa County, and has even made jokes accusing county officials of mail-in ballot signature fraud on social media. 'Signature verification in Maricopa County is a joke,' Smith wrote on Twitter in May 2023. Smith was one of the many Arizona Republicans who falsely claimed without evidence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from President Donald Trump. 'What happened on November 3rd, 2020 in Maricopa County continues to be a national disgrace and embarrassment,' Smith wrote on his website. 'Not only that, Austin believes it was criminal and will fight every day in the State Legislature to hold those responsible to account.' Multiple audits, including a highly partisan review orchestrated by Arizona Senate Republicans, found no discrepancies in the election. Fraud allegations made in court in the days and weeks following the 2020 election were all rejected because there was no evidence backing up the claims. Neither Turning Point USA Action nor Smith immediately responded to a request for comment. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
A former Arizona lawmaker is indicted on charges that he forged nominating petitions
PHOENIX (AP) — A former Republican lawmaker in Arizona has been indicted on charges that he forged signatures on his nominating petitions for his 2024 reelection campaign. Austin Smith represented an Arizona House district in the suburbs northwest of Phoenix for one term before dropping his reelection bid in April 2024 when questions arose about signatures on his nominating petitions. He also resigned at the time as a leader of the conservative group Turning Point Action. In campaign literature, Smith voiced support for a Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County that ultimately ended without producing proof to support President Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election. The indictment released Tuesday by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes' office charges Smith with four felonies, including one count of fraudulent schemes, and 10 misdemeanor counts of illegally signing election petitions. The Associated Press left a voice message and email with Smith seeking comment. Last year, he cast the allegations as a coordinated attack by Democrats that was 'silly on its face,' but said he would drop out to avoid racking up legal bills. Smith had been a senior director of Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of the youth organizing group Turning Point USA, which has become a major force in Arizona Republican politics.
Winnipeg Free Press
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
A former Arizona lawmaker is indicted on charges that he forged nominating petitions
PHOENIX (AP) — A former Republican lawmaker in Arizona has been indicted on charges that he forged signatures on his nominating petitions for his 2024 reelection campaign. Austin Smith represented an Arizona House district in the suburbs northwest of Phoenix for one term before dropping his reelection bid in April 2024 when questions arose about signatures on his nominating petitions. He also resigned at the time as a leader of the conservative group Turning Point Action. In campaign literature, Smith voiced support for a Republican-backed review of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County that ultimately ended without producing proof to support President Donald Trump's false claims of a stolen election. The indictment released Tuesday by Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes' office charges Smith with four felonies, including one count of fraudulent schemes, and 10 misdemeanor counts of illegally signing election petitions. The Associated Press left a voice message and email with Smith seeking comment. Last year, he cast the allegations as a coordinated attack by Democrats that was 'silly on its face,' but said he would drop out to avoid racking up legal bills. Smith had been a senior director of Turning Point Action, the campaign arm of the youth organizing group Turning Point USA, which has become a major force in Arizona Republican politics.
Toronto Star
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Toronto Star
A former Arizona lawmaker is indicted on charges that he forged nominating petitions
PHOENIX (AP) — A former Republican lawmaker in Arizona has been indicted on charges that he forged signatures on his nominating petitions for his 2024 reelection campaign. Austin Smith represented an Arizona House district in the suburbs northwest of Phoenix for one term before dropping his reelection bid in April 2024 when questions arose about signatures on his nominating petitions. He also resigned at the time as a leader of the conservative group Turning Point Action.
